Nothing Better

Deprehendi, nihil esse melius, quam laetari hominem in opere suo. Id est, praesentialiter delectari, sicut carnales faciunt, de quibus Isaiae quinquagesimo sexto: Venite, sumamus vinum et impleamur ebrietate, et erit sicut hodie, sic et cras et multo amplius. Et ista commendatio est erronea, quia non ponit aliam remunerationem nec aliam vitam; unde subdit: Et hanc esse partem illius, quasi nihil aliud exspectet; unde Isaiae vigesimo secundo in persona talium dicitur: Comedamus et bibamus; cras enim moriemur; et Sapientiae secundo: Ubique relinquamus signa laetitiae, quoniam haec est pars nostra, et haec est sors. Et erronea opinio ista ortum suum habet a iudicii incertitudine; propter quod dicit: Quis enim eum adducet, ut post se futura cognoscat? id est, quis ostendet illi, quod futura sint atque bona, quae debeat exspectare? quasi dicat: nullus. Et certe nullus persuadebit, nisi elevetur ad spiritualia contemplanda; non contemplantibus nobis, quae videntur, sed quae non videntur; quae enim videntur temporalia sunt, quae autem non videntur, aeterna, secundae ad Corinthios quarto. Quia vero carnalis homo non respicit nisi visibilia, ideo non exspectat aeterna; ideo primae ad Corinthios secundo: Animalis homo non percipit ea quae Dei sunt. Ideo si vult futura bona cognoscere, necesse est carnalitatem deponere. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Caput III Source: Here, p36

And I found there was nothing better than for a man to rejoice in his work... 1 That is, to delight in present things, as worldly men do, concerning whom it says in the forty sixth chapter of Isaiah, 'Come, let us take up wine and let us be filled with drunkenness, and today shall be like tomorrow and many more.' Thus commendation is erroneous, because it does not consider any other reward nor any other life, whence he adds here, 'And this is his lot.' because they hope for nothing else, as in the twenty second chapter of Isaiah, in the person of such people it is written, 'Let us eat and let us drink, for tomorrow we must die.' 2 And in the second chapter of Wisdom, 'Let us leave signs of our joy everywhere, because this is our part and this is our fate.' 3 This erroneous opinion has arisen from uncertainty in judgement, because of which it is then said here, 'For who shall guide him that he might know the things of the future after him?' 1 That is, who shall reveal to him the future and the things he should expect? As if he said, 'No one'. Certainly no one will be persuaded unless they are lifted up to the contemplation of spiritual things. 'Our contemplation is not of what is seen but of what is not seen, for what is seen is transitory but what is not seen is eternal.' says the fourth chapter of the second letter to the Corinthians. 4 But because wordily men see nothing but visible things, therefore they do not expect eternal things, and thus in the second chapter of first letter to the Corinthians, 'The animal man does not grasp the things which are of God.' 5 Therefore if a man wishes to know future goods he must be rid of worldliness. Saint Bonaventura, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 1 Eccles 3,22 2 Isaiah 46.12, 22,13 3 Wisd 2.9 4 2 Cor 4.18 5 1 Cor 2.14

Commandments And Evil

VERANUS. Quid est quod ait: Qui custodit praeceptum Dei, non experietur quidquam mali|? Quomodo nihil mali experietur qui praecepta Dei custodit, cum sancti viri qui praecepta Dei custodierunt, multa perpessi sint in hoc saeculo? SALONIUS. Verum est, quia qui praecepta Dei custodit, id est omne quod iussit et praecepit Deus non experietur quidquam mali in futuro, hoc est nullum malum patietur, nullum malum sustinebit in die iudicii. Quamvis enim aliqua mala patiatur in hac vita, levia sunt et transitoria; in futura autem vita nihil mali patietur qui pervenerit ad aeternae beatitudinis gloriam. Salonius Viennensis, Expositio Mystica in Ecclesiasten Source: Migne PL 53.1006c

Veranus: Why is it said, 'He who keeps the commandments of God shall not experience any evil?'  1 How does he experience no evil who keeps the commandments of God when holy men who have kept the commandments of God have suffered many things in this world? Salonius: It is true, because he who keeps the commandments of God, that is, everything that God has ordered and commanded, shall not experience any evil in the future, he shall not suffer any evil nor endure any evil on the day of judgement. For although he must suffer evils in this life, they are light and transitory, and in the future life he shall not suffer any evil who comes to the glory of eternal beatitude. Salonius of Geneva, A Spiritual Exposition of Ecclesiastes 1 Eccl 8.5

Mourning And Healing

Μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται. Ἔστι μὲν οὖν ἐκ τοῦ προχείρου μακαριστὸν ὑπο λαβεῖν ἐκεῖνο τὸ πένθος, τὸ ἐπὶ πλημμελήμασι καὶ ἁμαρτίαις γινόμενον, κατὰ τὴν τοῦ Παύλου περὶ τῆς λύπης διδασκαλίαν, τοῦ φήσαντος, μὴ ἒν εἶναι λύπης εἶδος, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν κοσμικὸν, τὸ δὲ κατὰ Θεὸν ἐνερ γούμενον. Καὶ τῆς μὲν κοσμικῆς λύπης, θάνατον εἶναι τὸ ἔργον· τὴν δὲ ἑτέραν, σωτηρίαν ἐκ μετανοίας τοῖς λυπουμένοις ἐργάζεσθαι. Τῷ ὄντι γὰρ οὐκ ἔξω τοῦ μακαρίζεσθαι τὸ τοιοῦτον τῆς ψυχῆς πάθος ἐστὶν, ὅταν ἐν αἰσθήσει γενομένη τοῦ χείρονος, τὸν ἐν κακίᾳ βίον ἀπολοφύρηται. Καθάπερ γὰρ ἐπὶ τῶν σωματικῶν ἀῤῥωστημάτων, οἷς ἂν πάρετον ἐξ ἐπηρείας τινὸς γένηταί τι μέρος τοῦ σώματος, σημεῖον τοῦ νενεκρῶσθαι τὸ παρειμένον ἡ ἀναλγησία γίνεται· εἰ δὲ κατά τινα τέχνην ἰατρικὴν ἡ ζωτικὴ πάλιν αἴσθησις ἐπαναχθείη τῷ σώματι, χαίρουσιν ἤδη πονοῦντος τοῦ μέρους, αὐτός τε ὁ κάμνων καὶ οἱ τὴν θεραπείαν προσάγοντες, τεκμηρίῳ χρώμενοι τοῦ πρὸς ὑγίειαν τρέψαι τὸ πάθος, τὸ ἐν αἰσθήσει τῶν δριμυσσόντων ἤδη γενέσθαι τὸ μέλος· οὕτως ἐπειδὰν, καθώς φησιν ὁ Ἀπόστολος, ἀπηλγηκότες τινὲς παραδῶσι τῷ καθ' ἁμαρτίαν βίῳ ἑαυτοὺς, νεκροί τινες ὄντως καὶ πάρετοι τοῦ κατ' ἀρετὴν βίου γενόμενοι, οὐδεμίαν ἔχουσιν ὧν ποιοῦσιν τὴν αἴσθησιν. Εἰ δὲ καθάψαιτό τις αὐτῶν ὁ ἰατρεύων λόγος, οἷον διά τινων θερμῶν τε καὶ διακαιόντων φαρμάκων, λέγω δὲ τῶν σκυθρωπῶν τῆς μελλούσης κρίσεως ἀπειλῶν, καὶ διὰ βάθους τὴν καρδίαν τῷ φόβῳ τῶν προσδοκωμένων δριμύξειεν, γεέννης φόβον, καὶ πῦρ μὴ σβεννύμενον, καὶ ἀτελεύτητον σκώληκα, καὶ βρυγμὸν ὀδόντων, καὶ κλαυθμὸν ἀδιάλειπτον, καὶ σκότος ἐξώτερον, καὶ ἅπαντα τὰ τοιαῦτα, οἷόν τινα θερμὰ καὶ δριμέα φάρμακα τῷ νεναρκηκότι διὰ τῶν καθ' ἡδονὴν παθημάτων ἐντρίβων καὶ ἀναθάλπων, εἰς αἴσθησιν αὐτὸν ἀγάγοι τοῦ ἐν ᾧ ἦν βίου, μακαριστὸν αὐτὸν ἀπεργάσηται, τὴν ὀδυνηρὰν αἴσθησιν τῇ ψυχῇ ἐμποιήσας. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τους Μακαρισμους, Logos Γ', Μακάριοι οἱ πενθοῦντες, ὅτι αὐτοὶ παρακληθήσονται Source: Migne PG 44.1220d-1221b

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted 1 Firstly, then, one can take that mourning to be blessed which follows the errors of sins, according to the teaching of Paul on sorrow, which says that there is not just one kind of sorrow, but there is one of the world and one that is brought about by God, and the work of the worldly sorrow is death, but the other in those mourning works salvation through repentance. 2 For truly such suffering cannot be excluded from the sorrow that is called blessed when a soul bewails its wicked life because it feels its badness. It is as with bodily disorders, so that if because of some accident a limb of the body has become paralysed, then a lack of a sense of pain is a sign that the afflicted limb has gone dead, but if the physician's art restores to the body the sensation of life, there is gladness over the suffering of the part because it is a sign that health is being restored since the limb can now sense that which causes pain. Thus, as the Apostle says, if people give themselves to sin because they no longer feel pain in it, then they have become truly paralyzed and are dead to the virtuous life, for they have no feeling for what they are doing. But if a healing word lays hold of them like some bitter medicine, and I speak here of the fierce threats of the judgement to come, and it pierces the heart to its depths with the fear of the things that are to be expected, the terror of hell, and the unquenchable fire, and the worm that does not die, and the gnashing of teeth, and the perpetual weeping, and the outer darkness, all these things are administered like bitter medicines so that the man who has died by the passions and pleasures is revived again and senses the sort of life he had been leading, and he is made blessed by the pain he feels in his soul. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On The Beatitudes, from the Third Oration, on 'Blessed are they who weep for they shall be comforted.' 1 Mt 5.4 2 2 Cor 7.10

Delivering From Evil

Sed libera nos a malo, amen. Qua impetrata, contra omnia quae diabolus et mundus operantur securi stamus et tuti Sed hoc in praesenti fit, quantum divinum examen nobis utile esse prospexerit. Unde dicit Apostolus: Fidelis est Deus, qui non patitur vos tentari supra id quod potestis, sed facit cum tentatione proventum, ut possitis sustinere. Orandum est enim ut non solum non inducamur in malum quo caremus, quod sexto loco petimus, sed ab illo etiam liberemur, quo jam inducti sumus. Quod cum factum fuerit, nihil remanebit formidolosum, nec omnino metuenda erit ulla tentatio. Quod tamen in hac vita, et quandiu istam mortalitatem circumferimus, ubi serpentina persuasione inducti sumus, non sperandum posse fieri, sed tamen aliquando futurum sperandum est. Opportuno autem tempore perficietur beatitudo, quae in hac vita inchoata est, et cui capessendae atque obtinendae aliquando nunc omnis conatus impenditur.  Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Matthaeum, Liber V, Caput XIII Source: Migne PL 107.821a-b

But deliver us from evil. Amen 1 Which is sought against all the works of the devil and the world, so that we may stand securely and in safety. And this is done in the present as much as the Divine examination is useful for us, hence the Apostle says, 'God is faithful and shall not suffer you to be tried beyond your strength, but with the coming of temptation He acts so that you will be able to endure.' 2 And one must pray that we are not only not led into the temptation we lack, as we sought in the sixth passage of this prayer, but that we are delivered from what we have been led into. When that is accomplished nothing shall be formidable, nor shall there be any trial to be feared. In this life, however, while we will carry around this mortality, where the serpent's persuasion has led us, we should not think it to be possible, but rather one should hope for it at some future time. For then is the right time for the perfection of blessedness, which in this life is just beginning, and that we are all now exhorted to try to seize and obtain sometime.  Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 5, Chapter 13 1 Mt 6.13 2 1 Cor 10.13

Humility And Knowledge And Damnation

Οὐκ ἔστι συνειδήσεως κατάγνωσις ἡ ταπεινοφροσύνη, ἀλλὰ χάριτος Θεοῦ καὶ συμπαθείας ἐπίγνωσις. Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Τῶν Οἰομένων Ἐξ Ἔργων Δικαιοῦσθαι Source: Migne PG 65.945a

Humility is not consciousness of damnation but the understanding of the grace and compassion of God Saint Mark The Ascetic, On Those Who Think Themselves Justified By Works

Raising The Dead

In repromissione etiam Dei non haesitavit diffidentia, sed confortatus est fide, dans gloriam Deo: plenissime sciens, quia quaecumque promisit, potens est et facere. Ideo et reputatum est illi ad justitiam. Non est autem scriptum tantum propter ipsum quia reputatum est illi ad justitiam: sed et propter nos, quibus reputabitur credentibus in eum, qui suscitavit Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum a mortuis, qui traditus est propter delicta nostra, et resurrexit propter justificationem nostram. Inquirendum sollicite est quid est quod Apostolus in hoc loco Deum nominans cui credimus et cui Abraham credidit, non dixit, credentibus in Deum excelsu, vel in Deum qui feit coelum et terram; sed tantum, qui suscitavit Dominum Jesum a mortuis. Nimirum quia multum magnificentius est in laudem Dei Dominum Jesum Christum suscitare a mortuis quam creare coelum et terram. Illud enim fuit facere quae non erant; hoc autem est reparare quae perierant. Illud fuit nova instituere; istud fuit perdita restituere. Cujus rei mysterium jam in fide Abrahae praecesserat, cum jussus filium immolare, credidit, sicut dicit Scriptura, quia et a mortuis potens est suscitare Deus. Propter hoc gaudens unicum offerebat, quia in eo non interitum posteritatis, sed reparationem mundi et innovationem totius creaturae cogitabat, quae per resurrectionem Domini futura erat. Hoc ergo modo competenter videbitur habita comparatio fidei Abrahae, et eorum qui credunt in Deum, qui suscitavit Dominum Jesum Christum; quia quod ille credidit futurum, nos credimus factum. Qui traditus est propter delicta nostra, et resurrexit propter justificationem nostram. Mors Christi et significat, et exigit mortificationem veteris hominis nostri, et resurrectionem ad justitiam. Propter quod implacabiliter exesum habere debet homo peccatum suum, propter quod scit traditum esse Dominum suum. Nemo ergo fidem quam habet in eum, arbitretur sibi reputandum ad justitiam, nisi depositio veteri homine cum actibus suis, et novo induto, conformem et comparticipem se fecerit mortis ejus et resurrectionis. Alioqui nulla conventio injustitae ad justitiam. Guillelmus S Theodorici Abbas, Expositio In Epistolam Ad Romanos, Liber II, Caput IV Source: Migne PG 180.588d-590a

Indeed he did not hesitate in distrust of the promise of God, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, fully assured that whatever He has promised, He is able to perform. And therefore it was reputed to him as righteousness. And that was not written only for him, that it was reputed to him as righteousness, but also for us, for it shall be reputed to the believers of Him who raised up Jesus Christ our Lord from the dead, He who was given up for our sins and rose again for our justification. 1 One must enquire carefully why it is that in this place when the Apostle names God, whom we believe in and whom Abraham believed in, he does not say, 'to the believers in God most high,' or 'in God who made heaven and earth,' but only He who raised up the Lord Jesus from the dead. Certainly it is because it is more magnificent for the praise of God to raise up the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead than to create heaven and earth. The latter is to make what was not, the former to repair what has been destroyed. The latter was to establish something new, the former to restore what had been ruined. Already Abraham had preceded the mystery of this in faith, when he was commanded to sacrifice his son, and he believed, as Scripture says, 'that God can raise up the dead.' 2 Because of this, rejoicing, he offered up his only son, because in that was not the ruin of posterity but he thought of the repair the world and renewal of  all created things, which was through the resurrection of the Lord in the future. This therefore seems to have its fitting comparison with the faith of Abraham, and with those who believe in God, who raised up the Lord Jesus Christ, because Abraham believed for the future, and we believe it as something done. 'He who was delivered up for our sins and rose again for our justification.' The death of Christ even signifies and demands the mortification of our old man, and the resurrection to righteousness. Because of which a man should be implacable in scouring off his sin, since he knows that on account of them his Lord was handed over. No one, therefore, who has faith in Him, should judge himself to be reckoned as righteous unless having deposed of the old man with his deeds, and having put on the new man, he is conformed and made a fellow participant in His death and resurrection. There is no gathering of the unrighteous to righteousness. 3 William of St Thierry, Commentary on Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans, Book 2, Chapter 4 1 Rom 4.20-25 2 Heb 11.19 3 Ephes 4.22, Phil 3.10, Ps 1.5

Faith And The End

Φωτὸς δὲ ἀνὰ μέσον καὶ τοῦ σκότους, οὐδὲ ἕν. Ἐν δὲ τῇ ἀναστάσει τῶν πιστευόντων ἀπόχειται τὸ τέλος· τὸ δὲ οὐχ ἄλλου τινός ἐστι μεταλαδεῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἢ τῆς προωμολογημένης ἐπαγγελίας τυχεῖν. Μὴ γὰρ κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν χρόνον ἅμα ἄμφω συνίστασθα!ί φαμεν, τὴν τε πρὸς τὸ πέρας ἄφιξιν καὶ τῆς ἀφέξεως τὴν πρόληψιν· οὐ γάρ ἔστι ταὐτὸν αἰὼν καὶ χρόνος· οὐδὲ μὴν ὁρμὴ καὶ τέλος, οὐχ ἔστι" περὶ ἕν δὲ ἄμφω: καὶ περὶ ἄμφω ὁ εἷς καταγίνεται. Ἔστι γοῦν, ὡς εἰπεῖν, ὁρμὴ μὲν ἡ πίστις ἐν χρόνῳ γεννωμένη τέλος δὲ τὸ τυχεῖν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, εἰς αἰῶνας βεδαιούμενον. Αὐτὸς δὲ ὁ Κύριος σαφέστατα τῆς σωτηρίας τὴν ἰσότητα ἀπεκάλυψεν, εἰπών· Τοῦτο γάρ ἐστι τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Πατρός μου, ἵνα πᾶς ὁ θεωρῶν τὸν Υιὸν, καὶ πιστεύων ἐπ᾿αὑτὸν ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον· καὶ ἀναστήσω αὐτὸν ἐν τῇ ἐσχάτῇ ἡμέρᾳ. Καθόσον μὲν οὖν δυνατὸν ἐν τῷδε τῷ κόσμῳ, ὃν ἐσχάτην ἡμέραν ἡνίξατο, εἰς τότε τηρούμενον ὅτε παύσηται, τελείους ἡμᾶς γενέσθαι πιστεύομεν. Πίστις γὰρ μαθήσεως τελειότης· διὰ τοῦτό φησιν· Ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν Υἱὸν, ἔχει ζωὴν αἰώνιον. Ἐΐ τοίνυν οἱ πιστεύσαντες ἔχομεν τὴν ζωὴν, τί περαιτέρω τοῦ κεκτῆσθαι ζωὴν ἀΐδιον ὑπολείπεται; Οὐδὲν δὲ ἐνδεῖ τῇ πίστει, τελείᾳ οὔσῃ ἐξ αὑτῆς καὶ πεπληρωμένη. Εἰ δὲ ἐνδεῖ τι αὐτῇ, οὖχ ἔστιν ὁλοτελῆς οὐδὲ πίστις ἐστὶ σκάζουσα περί τι· οὐδὲ μετὰ τὴν ἐνθένδε ἀποδημίαν ἀναμένει τοὺς πεπιστευχότας, ἀδιακρίτως ἐνταῦθα ἡῤῥαβωνισμένους. Ἐκεῖνο δὲ τὸ πιστεῦσαι ἤδη προειληφότες ἐσόμενον μετὰ τὴν ἀνάστασιν ἀπολαμβάνομεν γενόμενον· ὅπως τ' ἂν ἐκεῖνο πληρωθῇ τὸ λεχθέν· Γενηθήτω κατὰ τὴν πίστιν σου. Οὗ δὲ ἡ πίστις; ἐνταῦθα ἡ ἐπαγγελία τελείωσις δὲ ἐπαγγελίας ἡ ἀνάπαυσις. Ὥστε ἡ μὲν γνῶσις ἐν τῷ φωτίσματι, τὸ δὲ πέρας τῆς γνώσεως, ἡ ἔσχατον νοεῖται ὁρεκτόν. Καθάπερ᾽ οὖν τῇ πείρᾳ ἣ ἀπειρία καταλύεται, καὶ τῷ πόρῳ ἡ ἀπορία· οὕτως ἀνάγκη τῷ φωτισμῷ ἐξαφανίζεσθαι τὸ σκότος" ἡ ἄγνοια δὲ τὸ σκότος, καθ᾽ ἣν περιπίπτομεν τοῖς ἁμαρτήμασιν, ἀμβλυωποῦντες περὶ τὴν ἀλήθειαν· φωτισμὸς ἄρα ἡ γνῶσίς ἐστιν, ὁ ἐξαφανίξων τὴν ἄγνοιαν, καὶ τὸ διορατιχὸν ἐντιθείς. ᾿Αλλὰ καὶ ἡ τῶν χειρόνων ἀποβολὴ τῶν κρειττόνων ἐστὶν ἀποκάλυψις. Ἃ γὰρ ἣ ἄγνοια συνέδησε κακῶς, ταῦτα διὰ τῆς ἐπιγνώσεως ἀναλύεται καλῶς τὰ δὲ δεσμὰ ταῦτα, ἧ τάχος, ἀνίεται·πίστει μὲν ἀνθρωπίνῃ, θεϊχῇ δὲ τῇ χάριτι· ἀφιεμένων τῶν πλημμελημάτων ἑνὶ Παιωνίῳ φαρμάκῳ, Λογικῷ βαπτίσματι. Πάντα μὲν οὖν ἀπολουόμεθα τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, οὐκέτι δὲ ἐσμεν παρὰ πόδας κακοί. Μία χάρις αὕτη τοῦ φωτίσματος, τὸ μὴ τὸν αὐτὸν εἶναι τῷ πρὶν ἣ λούσασθαι τὸν τρόπον. Ὅτι δὲ ἡ γνῶσις συνανατέλλει τῷ φωτίσματι, περιαστράπτουσα τὸν νοῦν, καὶ εὐθέως ἀκούομεν μαθηταὶ οἱ ἁμαθεῖς· πότερόν ποτέ τῆς μαθήσεως ἐκείνης προσγενομένης; οὗ γὰρ ἂν ἔχοις εἰπεῖν τὸν χρόνον· ἡ μὲν γὰρ κατήχησις εἰς πίστιν περιάγει, πίστις δὲ, ἅμα βαπτίσματι ἁγίῳ παιδεύεται Πνεύματι· ἐπεὶ ὅτι γε μία καθολικὴ τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος σωτηρία, ἡ πίστις, ἰσότης δὲ καὶ κοινωνία τοῦ δικαίου καὶ φιλανθρώπου Θεοῦ, ἣ αὐτὴ πρὸς πάντας, ὁ ᾿Απόστολος σαφέστατα ἐξηγήσατο, ὧδέ πως εἰπών Πρὸ τοῦ δὲ ἐλθεῖν τὴν πίστιν, ὑπὸ γόμον ἐφρουρούμεθω, συγκλειόμενοι εἷς τὴν μέλλουσαν πίστιν ἀποκαλυφθῆγαι. Ὥστε ὁ νόμος παιδαγωγὸς ἡμῶν γέγoνεν εἰς Χριστὸν, ἵνα ἐκ πίστεως δικαιωθῶμεν· ἐλθούσης δὲ τῆς πίστεως, οὐκέτι ὑπὸ παιδαγωγὸν ἐσμεν. Οὐκ ἀκούετε, ὅτι ὑπ᾽ ἐκεῖνον τὸν νόμον οὐκέτι ἐσμὲν, ὃς ἣν μετὰ φόβου· ὑπὸ δὲ τὸν Λόγον, τῆς προαιρέσεως τὸν Παιδαγωγόν; Εἶτα μέντοι ἐπῆγαγε τὴν ἁπάσης ἐκτὸς προσωποληψίας φωνήν Πάντες γὰρ υἱοί ἐστε διὰ πίστεως Θεοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ· ὅσοι γὰρ εἰς Χριστὸν ἐβαπτείσθητε, Χριστὸν ἐνεδύσασθε· οὐκ ἔνι Ιουδαῖος οὔτε “Ελλην· οὐκ ἔνι δοῦλος, οὔτε ἐλεύθερος· οὐκ ἔνι ἄρσεν καὶ θῆλυ· πάντες γὰρ ὑμεῖς εἷς ἐστε ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Ὁ Παιδαγωγός, Λόγος Πρώτος, Κεφ Ϛ’ Source: Migne PG 8.284b-288a

There is nothing between light and darkness. But the end is reserved till the resurrection of the faithful, and it is not the reception of something else but the obtaining of the promise previously made. For we do not say both the arrival at the end and the anticipation of that arrival happen at the same time, for eternity and time are not the same, neither is the attempt and the result, but both concern the same thing, and the one and the same person is involved in both. Faith, so to speak, is the attempt generated in time and the attainment of the promise is the result secured for eternity. Now the Lord Himself has most clearly revealed the equality of salvation, saying, 'For this is the will of my Father, that everyone that sees the Son and believes in Him, shall have everlasting life, and I will raise him up on the last day.' 1 As far as it is possible in this world we believe we are to be perfect, which is expressed by the last day, and which is preserved until the time when it will end. Thus He says, 'He who believes in the Son has everlasting life.' 2 If, then, those who have believed have life, what remains beyond the possession of eternal life? In faith there is nothing lacking, it is perfect and complete in itself. If anything is lacking, it is not wholly perfect. But faith is not defective in any respect, it does not make us wait after our departure from here, we who have believed and received without distinction the token of future good, but having in anticipation grasped that which is to come by faith, we receive it as present after the resurrection, in order that that may be fulfilled which was spoken, 'Let it be according to your faith.' 3 And where faith is, there is the promise, and the consummation of the promise is peace. As in illumination there is knowledge, and the end of knowledge is the last thing hoped for. Just as, then, inexperience comes to an end by experience, and confusion by clarity, so darkness must be dispelled by illumination, and the darkness is ignorance, by which we fall into sins, blind to the truth. Knowledge is the illumination we receive which dispels ignorance and bestows clear vision on us, for the abandonment of what is bad comes with the adoption of what is better. For what ignorance has bound badly, is released well by understanding, and with those bonds quickly slackened by human faith and Divine grace, our transgressions are taken away by one Paeonian medicine, the baptism of the Word. Then we are cleansed from all our sins and no longer have lame feet. This is the one grace of illumination, that our characters are not the same as before our washing. And since knowledge springs up with illumination, pouring its beams into the mind, the moment we hear, we who were untaught become disciples. Does this, I ask, take place at the advent of this instruction? You cannot tell the time. For instruction leads to faith, and faith with baptism is trained by the Holy Spirit. For that faith is the one universal salvation of humanity, and the Apostle most clearly showed that there is the same equality before the righteous and loving God, and the same fellowship between Him and all,  by speaking in this way, 'Before faith came we were kept under the law, shut out from the faith which should afterwards be revealed, so that the law became our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith, but after that faith has come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.' Do you not hear that we are no longer under that law which was accompanied with fear, but under the Word, the master of free choice? Then he added the statement, clear of all partiality, 'For you are all the children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. For as many as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor freeman, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.' 4 Clement of Alexandria, The Teacher, Book 1, Chapter 6 1 Jn 6.40 2 Jn 3.36 3 Mt 9.29 4 Galat 3.23-28

Good Deaths

Sed, Domine, si fuisses hic, frater meus non fuisset mortuus... Nisi morte gratiae, qua morte debet homo mori carni, mundo, et peccato. Debet enim homo spiritualis mori carni. Hac enim morte voluit nos mortificari ille qui pro peccatis nostris mortuus est, ut nos offerret Deo, mortificatus quidem carne, vivificatus autem spiritu; unde ad Romanos octavo: Si spiritu facta carnis mortificaveritis, vivetis. Debet etiam mori mundo, secundum illud ad Galatas sexto: Mihi mundus crucifixus est, et ego mundo; ad Colossenses tertio: Quae sursum sunt quaerite , non quae super terram; mortui enim estis etc. Debet iterum mori peccato; ad Romanos sexto: Qui mortui sumus peccato, quomodo adhuc vivemus in illo? item in eodem: Qui mortuus est iustificatus est a peccato. Sic ergo debet homo spiritualis mori carni, mori mundo et mori peccato, quod est non retinere motum in illis vel sensum. Sunt autem tria, quae occidunt hominem morte spirituali, scilicet studium contemplutionis , affectus dilectionis, humilitas conversationis. Contemplatio suspendit, dilectio transfigit, humilitas vero sepelit et recondit. Debet ergo homo mori per studium contemplationis, ut sit eius meditatio quasi suspendium; unde lob septimo: Elegit suspendium anima mea, et mortem ossa mea. Debet etiam mori per ardorem dilectionis, ut sit eius affectio quasi transfixa, quia, sicut dicitur Canticorum octavo, fortis est sicut mors dilectio, et dura sicut infernus aemulatio; lampades eius quasi lampades ignis atque flammarum. Hac morte quasi transfixa erat quae dicebat: Vulnerata caritate ego sum. Debet etiam mori per humilitatem conversationis, ut sit eius vita quasi sepulta sive abscondita, secundum illud ad Colossenses tertio: Mortui estis, et vita vestra abscondita est cum Christo in Deo. Haec mors quaerenda est et amanda, quia placat Deum, aedificat proximum, locupletat defunctum. Mors ista placat Deum; est enim pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors Sanctorum eius; et bene pretiosa, quia pro illa dat regnum caelorum; unde secundae ad Timotheum secundo: Si commortui sumus, et convivemus; si sustinebimus, et conregnabimus. Item, mors ista aedificat proximum; unde secundi Machabaeorum sexto dicebat ille bonus senex Eleazarus: Adolescentulis forte exemplum relinquam , si pro sanctissimis legibus honesta morte perfungar. Item, mors illa locupletat defunctum; unde loannis duodecimo: Si granum frumenti cadens in terram mortuum fuerit, multum fructum affert. Sanctus Bonaventura, Collationes In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput VIII, Collatio XLII Source: Here, p590

But, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died... 1 Unless it is a death by grace, by which death a man should die to the flesh and the world and sin. For a man should die spiritually to the flesh. He wishes us to be mortified with this death, He who died for our sins, that He might offer us to God mortified in the flesh but alive in the spirit, hence in the eighth chapter of Romans, 'If with the spirit you have mortified the flesh, you shall live.' One should die to the world in the sixth chapter of Galatians, 'The world has been crucified to me and I to the world.' In the third chapter of Colossians, 'Seek the things which are above, not the things of the earth, for you are dead.' One should die to sin in the sixth chapter of Romans 'Who are dead to sin, yet we live in Him.' 3 And in the same place 'He who has died is justified from sin.' 2 Therefore a man should die to the flesh, and die to the world, and die to sin, which is not to have any affection or sense of them. There are, then, three ways by which the spiritual death kills a man, that is, by the zeal of contemplation, the affection of love, and humility of life. Contemplation lifts up, love transfixes, humility buries and conceals. Therefore a man should die through zeal in contemplation, so that his mediation is as a thing lifted up, whence in the seven chapter of Job, 'My soul chooses to be hung, my bones death.' 3 He should be dead through the ardour of love, so that his affection is as a thing transfixed, because as it says in the Song of Songs, 'Love is as strong as death, and jealousy as hard as hell, its lamps are as lamps of fire and flame.' With this death he was transfixed who said, 'I am wounded by love.' 4 One should die through the humility of living, so that life is as a tomb or something concealed, according to which it is said in the third chapter of Colossians, 'You are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.' 5 This death must be sought and loved because it pleases God, it edifies neighbours, it profits the dead. This death pleases God, for 'precious in the sight of God is the death of His holy ones.' 6 and it is truly precious because He gives the kingdom of heaven for it, whence in the second chapter of the second letter to Timothy, 'If we are dead with Him we live with Him, if we endure with Him we shall reign with Him.' 7 Likewise death edifies neighbours, as that good elder Eleazar says in the sixth chapter of the second book of Maccabees, 'And I shall leave an example of fortitude to the young, if with a ready mind and constancy I suffer an honourable death for the most venerable and most holy laws.' And this death profits the dead, whence in the twelfth chapter of John, 'If a grain of wheat failing on the earth shall die, it shall bring forth much fruit.' 8 Saint Bonaventura, Observations On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 8 1 Jn 8.43 2 1 Pet 3.18, Rom 8.13, Gal6.14, Col 3.1, Rom 6.2,7 3 Job 7.15 4 Song 8.6, 2.5 5 Colos 3.3 6 Ps 115.5 7 2 Tim 2.11 8 2 Mac 6.28, Jn 12.24

An Earthly Dwelling's End

Ἲδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι ἐὰν ἡ ἐπίγειος ἡμῶν οἰκία τοῦ σκήνους καταλυθῇ κ.τ.λ Ἐπιγεον ἡμῶν οἰκίαν τοῦ σκήνους αὐτὸ περιφραστικῶς ὀνομάζει τὸ σκῆνος, ἢτοι τὸ σῶμα. Γεγραπται γὰρ ἐν τῷ Ἰώβ· Τοὺς δὲ κατοικοῦντας οἰκίας πηλίνας· ἐξ ὦν καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐκ τοῦ αὐτοῦ πηλοῦ ἐσμεν. Ἴσμεν οὖν ἄρα, φησὶν, ὡς καταλύσαντος τοῦ θανάτου τὴν ἐπίγειον ἡμῶν τοῦ σκήνους οἰκίαν, τουτέστι τὸ σῶμα, διαδέξεται καὶ οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν, κατὰ τὸν τῆς ἀναστάσεως δῆλον ὅτι καιρὸν, οἰκητήιον τὸ ἐξ οὐρανοῦ, τουτέστιν ἡ ἀφθαρσία. Ἄνωθεν δὲ αὐτὴν εἶναί φησι, πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι δοτὸν τὸ χρῆμα ἐστιν· εἴτα πρὸς τούτῳ διάτοι τὸ πάντας τοὺς τὴν ἄνωθεν οἰκοῠντας πόλιν, φημὶ δὴ τὰ τῶν ἁγιων ἀγγέλων συντάγματα, ἐν ἀφθάρτοις καὶ ἀνθλέθροις εἶναι σώμασιν· ἀπήλλακατι γὰρ τῆς γεώδους ταυτησὶ παχύτητος ἡ ἀγγέλων φύσις. Οἰκοδομὴν τοιγαροῦ ἐκ Θεοῦ καὶ ἀχειροποίητον οἰκον καὶ μὴν καὶ αἰώνιον ὀνομάζει, τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τὴν Δευτέραν Ἐπιστολήν Παύλου Πρὸς Κορινθίους, Ἐκλογαι Source: Migne PG 74.939b-c

We know that when this earthly dwelling tent of ours comes to an end... 1 Our earthly dwelling tent is a periphrasis for the tent of our bodies. As it is written in Job, 'Those who dwell in houses of mud,' 2 from which even we are constituted, that is, from mud. 3 Thus we know, he says, that when death dissolves this earthly dwelling tent, He shall receive us, and by no means long after, but clearly in the time of the resurrection, in a heavenly dwelling, that is, in incorruption. He speaks of something supernal, firstly because it is something bestowed, then because every dweller in the heavenly city, that is, the orders of the angels, is in a state of incorruption and not in bodies that shall pass away. The nature of angels lack this earthly burden. Therefore he speaks of incorruption as a temple and the house of God, not one made by any hand, but one that is eternal. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Second Letter to the Corinthians, Fragment 1 2 Cor 5.1 2 Job 4.19 3 Gen 2.7

Goods Now And After

Qui autem me audierit, absque terrore requiescet, et abundantia perfruetur, timore malorum sublato. Potest et in hac vita et in futura intelligi, quia qui Domino perfecte servit, nullis terretur adversis, imo gaudet in adversis, et in ipsa morte quasi de ingressu vitae laetatur, quietumque semper a supervacuis cogitationibus ac tumultibus tentationum, pectus, juvante sancti Spiritus gratia, gerit, quod requies septimi diei in lege mystice designabat. Sed et cum transierit e saeculo hoc, non solum absque terrore malorum, sed etiam in magno gaudio speratae resurrectionis quiescet, ut Lazarus in sinu Abraham. Et abundantia perfruetur, etc. Nunc abundantia bonorum operum, ablato timore etiam eorum qui occidunt corpus, tunc abundantia gaudiorum in praemio. Quanta enim ibi abundantia bonorum omnium, ubi gloriam ejus, a quo sunt omnia bona, licet intueri, ablato prorsus timore omnium, quae aliquid adversi ulterius adferant! Sanctus Beda, Super Parabolas Salomonis, Caput I Source: Migne PL 91.945a-b

But he who shall hear me, shall know rest from terror, and enjoy abundance, and be free from all fear of evil. 1 It is possible to understand this as referring to both this life and to the future life, because he who serves the Lord perfectly shall not be terrified by any adversity but rather rejoice in them, and be glad in death as an entrance into life, and undisturbed by vain thoughts and the tumults of temptation, he bears his heart in the grace of the Holy Spirit, which was signified in the spiritual law by the rest of the seventh day. Then when he passes on from this world, he is not only free from any fear of evil but he rests in great joy in the hope of the resurrection, like Lazarus in the lap of Abraham. 2 And he enjoys abundance now in an abundance of good works, and he is free from all fear of evil from those who kill the body, 3 and then he has the reward of an abundance of joy, for how great there is the abundance of every good, where he shall be able to look on His glory from whom all goods come, immediately free from all fear of evil, that any further adversity may come. Saint Bede, Commentary On Proverbs, Chapter 1 1 Prov 1.33 2 Lk 16.22 3 Mt 10.28

Calling And Choosing

Multi vocati; pauci vero electi. Quatuor sunt vocationes, duae electiones. Prima vocatio est naturae de utero ad lucem; de qua propheta: Dominus vocavit me ab utero. Secunda gratiae, de qua Apostolus: Videte, fratres, vocationem vestram, quia non multi nobiles. Et quos praedestinavit, hos et vocavit. Tertia solutionis, de qua idem Apostolus: Sequor ad bravium supernae vocationis in Christo Jesu. Inde et dies mortis dictus est vocationis. Quarta retributionis, de qua Propheta: Advocavit coelum desursum, et terram discernere populum suum. Multi ergo vocati sunt, pauci vero electi. Multi voacti ad fidem, pauci electi ad justificationem. Multi vocati ad laborem, pauci electi ad requiem. Multi vocati ad judicium, pauci electi ad regnum. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber V, Tit XXXIII, De quatuor vocationibus et duabus electionibus Source: Migne PL 177.764a-b

'Many are called, few are chosen.' 1 There are four callings, and two choosings. The first calling is of nature, from the womb to the light, concerning which the Prophet says, 'The Lord called me from the womb.' 2 The second calling is of grace, concerning which the Apostle says, 'See, brothers, your calling, because none of you are noble.' And 'Those he predestined, those he called.' 3 The third calling is that of dissolution, about which the Apostle says, 'I follow for the prize, the heavenly calling in Jesus Christ.' 4 Hence even the day of death is called a calling. Of the fourth calling the prophet says. 'He called heaven above and earth to look on His people.' 5 Therefore many are called and few are chosen, because many are called to the faith but few are chosen for justification, and many are called to labour but few are chosen for rest, and many are called to judgement but few are chosen for the kingdom. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 5, Chapter 33, On The Four Callings and the Two Choosings 1 Mt 22.14 2 Isaiah 49.1 3 1 Cor 1.26, Rom 8.30 4 Philip 3.14 5 Ps 49.4

The Judgement Of Thoughts

Nunc videamus quod sequitur: Et inter se invicem cogitationibus accusantibus, aut etiam defendentibus in die, cum judicabit Deus oscuta hominum secundum Evangelium meum, per Jesum Christum. Rectum judicium Dei esse quis dubitet, ubi accusatores, et defensores adhibenter et testes? Et quidem de hoc justo Dei judicio nos homines capiamus exemplum, nec putamus unquam sine accusante, et defendente, et testibus justum haberi posse judicium. Deinde videndum est quomodo in illa die, cum judicabit Deus occulata hominum, cogitationes vel accusabunt animam, vel defendent, non utique illae cogitantiones quae tunc erunt, sed istae quae nunc sunt in nobis. Cum enim sive bona, sive mala cogitamus, velut in ceri, ita in corde nostro tam bonarum quam malarum cogitationem notae quaedam et signacula relinquuntur, quae in occulto nunc pectoris posita, in illa die revelari dicuntur a nullo alio, nisi ab eo qui solus potest occulta hominum scire: quorum signorum, vel quarum notarum causas non latere Deum etiam nostra conscientia contestabitur. Quod tamen judicium, secundum Evangelium Pauli hoc est, quod Paulus annuntiat, per Jesus Christum fiet. Pater enim neminem judicat, sed omne judiciu dedit Filio. Marcion tamen, et omnes qui diversis figmenti varias introducant animaum naturas, hoc ex loco apertissime confutantur, cum a Paulo dicitur Deus occulata hominum judicare per Jesum Christum: et ostenditur unumquemque non naturae privilegio, sed propriis cogitationibus accusatum, vel excusatum, conscientiae suae testimonio judicandum. Origenes, Commentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Romanos, Liber II, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 14.894a-c

Now let us see what follows: 'And their thoughts between themselves accusing or defending one another, on the day when God judges the hidden things of men according to my Gospel, through Jesus Christ.' 1 Who shall doubt there is a righteous judgement of God when there are accusing and defending witnesses brought forth? And certainly concerning this just judgement of God, we men are an example, lest we should think anyone can have a just judgement without having accusing and defending witnesses. Then let it be seen how on that day God shall judge the hidden things of men, with thoughts defending or accusing the soul, not as thoughts shall be then, but as they are in us now. When we think either good things or bad things, they leave a certain impression or mark of the thought of good things or of evil things as in wax, which is now set in the hidden place of the heart, but on that day are said to be exposed by none other than Him who alone can know the hidden things of men, which signs, or the causes of the impressions, our conscience shall bear witness to God are not hidden. And this judgement, according to the the Gospel of Paul, that is, what Paul proclaims, shall be by Jesus Christ. 'For the Father judges no one, but He has given all judgement to the Son.' 2 So Marcion and all those who with their many fables introduce differing natures of souls are openly refuted by this passage, when Paul says that God judges the hidden things of men through Jesus Christ, for it is shown there is no privileged nature, but judgement is though the witness of conscience which with its own thoughts is accused or excused. Origen, from the Commentary on the Letter of Paul to the Romans, Book 2, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 Rom 2.15-16 2 Jn 5.22

Putting To Death

Tu quoque si propriam deseras voluntatem, si corporis voluptatibus perfecte renunties, si carnem tuam crucifigas cum vitiis et concupiscentiis, sed et mortifices membra tua, quae sunt super terram: probabis te Pauli imitatorem, qui non facias animam tuam pretiosiorem te ipso; probabis et Christi discipulum, etiam illam perdendo salubriter. Et quidem prudentius eam perdis ut custodias, quam custodis ut perdas. Nam qui voluerit animam suam salvam facere, perdet eam. Quid hic vos dicitis, observatores ciborum, morum neglectores? Hippocrates et sequaces eius docent animas salvas facere in hoc mundo; Christus et eius discipuli, perdere. Quemnam vos e duobus sequi magistrum eligitis? At manifestum se facit qui sic disputat: hoc oculis, hoc capiti, et illud pectori vel stomacho nocet. Profecto unusquisque quod a suo magistro didicit, hoc in medium profert. Num in Evangelio legisti has differentias, aut in prophetis, aut in litteris apostolorum? Caro et sanguis pro certo revelavit tibi hanc sapientiam, non spiritus Patris; est enim carnis haec sapientia. Sed audi quid de ipsa nostri medici sentiant. Sapientia, inquiunt, carnis mors est; item: Sapientia carnis inimica est Deo. Num Hippocratis seu Galeni sententiam, aut certe de schola Epicuri debui proponere vobis? Christi sum discipulus; Christi discipulis loquor: ego si peregrinum dogma induxero, ipse peccavi. Epicurus atque Hippocrates corporis alter voluptatem, alter bonam habitudinem praefert; meus Magister utriusque rei contemptum praedicat. Animae in corpore vitam, quam summo studio iste unde sustentet, ille unde et delectet, inquirit atque inquirere docet, Salvator monet et perdere. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, In Cantica Canticorum, Sermo XXX. Qualiter populus fidelium seu animae electorum per vineas significantur ,quarum Ecclesia custos dicitur; et de prudentia carnis, quae est mors. Source: Migne PL 183.938d-939b

You too, if you abandon your own will, if you perfectly renounce the pleasures of the body, if you crucify your flesh with its passions and desires, and if you 'put to death your members which are on the earth,' 1 you will prove yourself to be an imitator of Paul, because you will not account your life as more precious than yourself. You will prove yourself a disciple of Christ by the loss that saves. It is wiser to lose it in order to save it, than by guarding it to lose it. 'For he who wants to save his life, will lose it.' 2 What do you say to this who are so particular about food and careless about conduct? Hippocrates and his followers teach us to save our lives in this world, Christ and his disciples teach us to lose them. Which of the two do you choose to follow as master? He clearly shows who he does who complains, 'This hurts my eyes, and this my head, and this my chest and my stomach.' Without doubt each of us speaks in the manner of the master he has learned from. Did you read of these distinctions in the Gospel, or in the Prophets, or in the letters of the Apostles? No, it was flesh and blood that revealed this wisdom to you, not the Spirit of the Father, 3 for it is the wisdom of the flesh. But hear what our physicians think of that. 'The wisdom of the flesh,' they say, 'is death;' and 'the wisdom of the flesh is an enemy of God.' 4 Should I propose to you the teaching of Hippocrates or Galen, or even of the school of Epicurus? I am a disciple of Christ, I am speaking to disciples of Christ, if I should introduce strange doctrines here, I sin. Epicurus thought the body's sensual pleasure was best, Hippocrates good health, but my Master preaches contempt for both. What with all zeal each one teaches, how to maintain the body's life or to serve its pleasures, the Savior admonishes us to lose. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Commentary On The Song of Songs, from Sermon 30, How the faithful people or the souls of the elect are signified by the vineyards, of which the Church is the guard, and on the wisdom of the flesh which is death 1 Colos 3.5 2 Mt 16.25 3 Mt 16.17 4 Rom 8.6-7

The Body And Death

Ταλαίπωρος ἐγὼ ἄνθρωπος, τίς με ῥύσεται ἐκ τοῦ σώματος τοῦ θανάτου τούτου; Οὐχὶ τὸ σῶμα θάνατον ὑπάρχειν ἀποφαίνεται ὁ θεῖος Ἀπόστολος, ἁλλὰ τὸν νόμον τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὸν ἐν τοῖς μέλεσιν τοῦ σώματος ὄντα, διὰ τῆς ἐν τῷ Ἀδὰμ παραβάσεως φωλεύοντα ἐν ἡμῖν, καὶ πρὸς τὸν θάνατον τῆς ἀδικίας τὴν ψυχὴν ἐπισπεύδοντα. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΣΜΘ’ Αιλιανῳ Ἀναγηωστῃ Source: Migne PG 79.173d

'I am a wretched man, who shall free me from this body of death?' 1 It is not that the blessed Apostle declares the body to be dead, but the law of sin which is in its members because of transgression, which was in Adam, and is hidden in us, and drives the unrighteous soul to ruin. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 249, To Aelianus The Reader 1 Rom 7.24

A Questioning Of Life

Quid enim est quod haec vita delectet, plena aerumnarum et sollicitudinum, in qua innumerae calumniae et multae molestiae, et multae lacrymae eorum qui afflictantur molestiis, et non est, inquit, qui eos consoletur. Et ideo laudat Ecclesiastes defunctos magis quam viventes. Et optimus, inquit, supra hos duos, qui nondum natus est, qui non vidit hoc malum. Et alibi idem Ecclesiastes meliorem longaevo viro eum asseruit, quem abortu ejecit mater sua; quia non vidit haec mala quae fiunt in hoc mundo, nec in has venit tenebras, nec in vanitate ambulavit saeculi; et ideo requiem hic magis habebit qui in hanc vitam non venit, quam ille qui venit. Quid enim boni est homini in hac vita, qui in umbra vivit, nec expleri potest cupiditatibus suis? Et si expleatur divitiis, fructum quietis amittit, quia cogitur custodire quod misera aviditate quaesierit; ut miserius eas possideat, cui prodesse non poterunt. Quid enim miserius quam ut custodia torqueat, quarum abundantia nihil prosit? Itaque si plena oneris vita, utique finis ejus allevamento est: allevamentum autem est bonum, mors autem finis: mors igitur bonum est. Neque enim aliter gavisus est Simeon, qui responsum acceperat non visurum se mortem, nisi prius videret Christum Domini; et cum eum parentes in templum inducerent, suscepit manibus suis, et dixit: Nunc dimittis servum tuum in pace; quasi necessitate quadam teneretur in hac vita, non voluntate. Ita dimitti petit, quasi a vinculis quibusdam ad libertatem festinaret. Sunt enim velut vincula quaedam corporis hujus, et quod est gravius, vincula tentationum, quae nos alligant, et ad injuriam captivitatis astringunt quadam lege peccati. Denique in exitu ipso videmus quemadmodum anima decedentis paulatim solvat se vinculis carnis, et ore emissa evolet tamquam carcereo corporis hujus exuta gurgustio. Denique festinabat etiam sanctus David de hoc loco peregrinationis exire, dicens: Advena ego sum apud te in terra et peregrinus, sicut omnes patres mei. Et Ideo tanquam peregrinus ad illam sanctorum communem omnium patriam festinabat, petens pro hujus commorationis inquinamento remitti sibi peccata, priusquam discederet e vita. Qui enim hic non acceperit remissionem peccatorum, illic non erit. Non erit autem qui ad vitam aeternam non poterit pervenire, quia vita aeterna remissio peccatorum est. Ideoque dicit: Remitte mihi, ut refrigerer, priusquam abeam, et amplius non ero. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Bono Mortis, Caput II Source: Migne PL 14.541a-542a

What is this life that delights, which is full of sickness and care, and in which there are numerous calamities and many troubles, and many are the tears of those who are afflicted with distress, and as Lamentations says, there is no one to comfort them. 1 Therefore Ecclesiastes praises the dead more than the living. And better than these two, he says, is he who was not born, who did not see this evil. And elsewhere the same Ecclesiastes says that a child stillborn from its mother is better than a man who lives long, 2 because he does not look on the evils which are done in the world, nor does he come into this darkness, nor does he walk in the vanity of the age, and therefore the one who does not come into this life has greater peace than he who does. What good is there for a man in this life, who lives in shadows, and is not able to satisfy his desires? And if he comes into riches he loses the fruit of peace because he is driven to guard what he sought with wretched avidity, so that he is more wretched who possesses and it cannot profit him. Who is more wretched than he who is tormented by guarding, when his abundance does not profit him? Thus if life is full of burdens then its end is an alleviation of them, and the alleviation is a good, and death is the end, and therefore death is good. There was no one so happy as Simeon who received the oracle that he would not see death until he had first looked on the Christ of the Lord, and when his parents brought him into the temple and he took Him in his hands and said, 'Now dismiss your servant in peace,' 3 it was as by necessity he was detained in this life and not by choice. Thus he seeks to be dismissed, as if he was hurrying from chains to freedom. Indeed the things of this body are chains, and what is heavier than temptation which binds us and by the law of sin is tightened to the injury of the captive? Finally in our departure we see that the soul is withdrawing itself little by little from the chains of the flesh, and it flies from the mouth as from the prison of its body, and as from a vile little hut. Finally the blessed David hurries to leave this place of pilgrimage, saying, 'I am a stranger on the earth and a wanderer like all my fathers.' 4 And therefore as a wanderer he makes haste to that common fatherland of ours, seeking against the soiling of his tarrying to be forgiven his sins before he is done with life. For he who does not receive forgiveness of sins here, shall not there. He shall not be able to come to eternal life because eternal life is forgiveness of sin. Therefore he says, 'Forgive me, that I be refreshed, before I go from here and am no more.' 5 Saint Ambrose, On the Good of Death, from Chapter 2 1 Lament 1.2 2 Eccles 4.2-3, 6.3 3 Lk 2.29 4 Ps 38.13 5 Ps 38.14