Death And Resurrection

Ἀρχὴ δὲ γενέσθω τοῦ λόγου τῶν θεοπνεύστων ῥημάτων ἡ μνήμη ἐπὶ λέξεως ἔχουσα οὕτως· Ἀνέστην ἐγὼ ἀνοῖξαι τῷ ἀδελφιδῷ μου· αἱ χεῖρές μου ἔσταξαν σμύρναν, οἱ δάκτυλοί μου σμύρναν πλήρη, ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως ἐν ἡμῖν γενέσθαι τὸν ζῶντα λόγον, τὸν καθαρὸν λέγω καὶ ἀσώματον νυμφίον τὸν δι’ ἀφθαρσίας καὶ ἁγιότητος ἑαυτῷ τὴν ψυχὴν συνοικίζοντα, εἰ μή τις διὰ τοῦ νεκρῶσαι τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς περιέλοιτο τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς παραπέτασμα καὶ οὕτως ἀνοίξοι τῷ λόγῳ τὴν θύραν, δι’ ἧς εἰς τὴν ψυχὴν εἰσοικίζεται, δῆλόν ἐστιν οὐ μόνον ἐκ τῶν θείων τοῦ ἀποστόλου δογμάτων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν νῦν εἰρημένων παρὰ τῆς νύμφης· Ἀνέστην γάρ, φησίν, ἀνοῖξαι τῷ ἀδελφιδῷ μου διὰ τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὰς χεῖράς μου τῆς σμύρνης πηγὰς ἀφ’ ἑαυτῶν ῥεούσας τὸ ἄρωμα καὶ πλήρωμα τῶν δακτύλων δεῖξαι τὴν σμύρναν. τὸν γὰρ τρόπον, δι’ οὗ ἀνοίγεται τῷ νυμφίῳ ἡ θύρα, φησὶ διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων ὅτι διὰ τοῦ Συνταφῆναι αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος εἰς τὸν θάνατον ἀνέστην· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐνήργησεν ἡ ἀνάστασις μὴ προκαθηγησαμένης τῆς ἑκουσίου νεκρότητος. ἐνδείκνυται δὲ τὸ ἑκούσιον ἡ ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῆς ἀπορρέουσα τῆς σμύρνης σταγὼν καὶ τὸ πεπληρῶσθαι τοὺς δακτύλους αὐτῆς τοῦ ἀρώματος τούτου· οὐ γὰρ ἑτέρωθεν ἐγγενέσθαι τῇ χειρὶ λέγει τὴν σμύρναν, ἦ γὰρ ἂν ἐνομίσθη διὰ τούτου περιστατικὸν αὐτῇ καὶ ἀκούσιον συμβῆναι τὸ διὰ τῆς σμύρνης δηλούμενον, ἀλλ’ αὐτάς φησι τὰς χεῖρας, σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν τὰς ἐνεργητικὰς τῆς ψυχῆς κινήσεις, ἀφ’ ἑαυτῶν στάξαι τὴν σμύρναν, τὴν οἴκοθεν ἐκ προαιρέσεως τῶν σωματικῶν παθημάτων γινομένην νέκρωσιν διὰ τούτου σημαίνων, ἣν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς δακτύλοις πεπληρῶσθαι λέγει, τὰ καθ’ ἕκαστον εἴδη τὰ διῃρημένως δι’ ἀρετῆς σπουδαζόμενα τῷ τῶν δακτύλων διερμηνεύων ὀνόματι· ὡς εἶναι πάντα τὸν νοῦν τῶν λεγομένων τοιοῦτον, ὅτι ἔλαβον δύναμιν ἀναστάσεως διὰ τοῦ νεκρῶσαι τὰ μέλη μου τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἑκουσίως μοι τῆς τῶν τοιούτων μελῶν ἐνεργηθείσης νεκρώσεως, οὐ παρ’ ἄλλου ταῖς χερσὶν ἐντεθείσης τῆς σμύρνης ἀλλ’ ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς προαιρέσεως ἀπορρεούσης, ὡς καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς κατ’ ἀρετὴν ἐπιτηδεύμασιν, ἅπερ δακτύλους ὠνόμασεν, ἀνελλιπῆ τὴν τοιαύτην ἐνορᾶσθαι διάθεσιν· Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων, Ὁμιλία IB’ Source: Migne PG 44.1016c-1017b

Let the beginning of our speech be from the Divinely inspired words, which my recollection of the text has as: 'I rose up to open to my beloved; my hands dripped myrrh, my fingers were covered with myrrh,' 1 for there is no other way in which the living Word comes within us, and I speak of the pure and incorporeal Bridegroom, who makes the soul dwell with Him through incorruptibility and holiness, that is, if by mortifying one’s earthly members one removes the veil of the flesh 2 and thus opens the door to the Word through which He makes the soul His home, which is clear not only from the Divine teachings of the Apostle but also from what the Bride says here. For saying, 'I rose up to open to my beloved by making my hands founts of myrrh from which its scent pours forth, and by showing my fingers to be covered with myrrh,' she declares the way in which the door is opened to the Bridegroom, that is, she says 'by being buried with him through baptism into His death I have risen up, 3 for there is no real resurrection that is not preceded by a voluntary death.' This voluntary nature is shown by the drops of myrrh that drip from her hands and because her fingers are covered with its scent, for she does not say that the myrrh came on her hands from an outside source, since that would make one think that what the myrrh signifies happened to her accidentally and involuntarily, but she says that her hands themselves, by which she means those motions of the soul that bring actions about, drip myrrh by their very own agency, and by myrrh she refers to the mortification of bodily passions that comes about through a choice that originates in oneself, which, she says, attains fullness in all her fingers, and by the name of 'fingers' she signifies the particular ways among us of the cultivation of virtue. Thus the whole sense of what is said is: 'I have received the power of the resurrection by mortifying my earthly members, which mortification of such members was enacted voluntarily. The myrrh was not placed on my hands by another, but it flowed forth from my own choice, so that in all virtuous pursuits,' which she names fingers, 'a state of this kind is always observed.' Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 12 1 Song 5.5 2 2 Cor 3.16, Colos 3.5 3 Rom 6.4