Two Deaths

Sequere me, et dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos. Duplicem necesse est mortem nos intelligere, alteram corporis, et alteram animae, quasi dicat: Dimitte mortuos in peccatis sepelire mortuos in corpore, non ideo prohibet sepelire patrem, quod non sit magnae humanitatis sepelire mortuos, sed, quia melius officium est praedicare Evangelium, et resuscitare in anima mortuos, et minora bona pro majoribus sunt aliquando postponenda. Aliter secundum Gregorium, quod tamen non pertinet ad praesentem locum. Mortui mortuos sepeliunt, quando adulatores fovent in peccatis peccatores, unde dicitur: Linguae adulantium alligant animas in peccatis, et sepeliunt; quia, cum laudant peccatum, quasi negant peccatum, et sic peccatorem tegunt. Notandum est quod nuntiat patrem mortuum, sed quoniam non rogatur Christus pro illo, non resuscitat illum. Sic non resuscitat mortuum in peccatis, postquam nec ipse nec alius orat pro eo. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput VIII Source: Migne PL 162.1323d-1324b

Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead. 1 It is necessary to understand death in a twofold way, one of the body and the other of the soul, as if He said: 'Leave those who are dead in their sins to bury the dead in the body.' Therefore He does not prohibit him from burying his father, as if it were not a matter of great humanity to bury the dead, but because the better duty is to preach the Gospel and to revive dead souls, and lesser goods are sometimes set aside for greater goods. On the other hand, according to Gregory, this does not pertain to the present passage, but the dead bury their own dead when people take delight in praising sinners in their sins, 2 whence it is said, 'The tongues of adulators bind souls in sin and bury them.' 3 because when they praise a sin, just as when they deny it, so they cover up a sinner. It must also be noted that though the man announces his father's death, yet because he does not ask anything from Christ for him, He does not revive him. So he does not revive the dead in their sin, for after it neither he nor any other prays for him. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 8 1 Mt 8.22 2 Greg Moralia Job 3.52 3 Aug Enarr Ps 9.23

A Bishop And Judgement

Scio integram in pectore pietatis vestrae dilectionem non solum apud me, sed apud omnes amicos firmiter permanere, quae probabitur in adversis, laudabitur in prosperis: in cujus pennis sanitas, in cujus gressibus scala, quam somniavit Jacob patriarcha, ascensio ad eum, qui ait: In hoc cognoscent omnes quia discipuli estis, si dilectionem habueritis ad invicem. Ecce signum discipulatus Christi! Ecce coelestis regni janua! Ecce vitae nostrae fundamentum et culmen! Sed vix ibi creditur firma esse, ubi indicio quolibet non apparet, sive in solatio pauperum, sive in exhortatione ad fratres qui proximi sunt, sive in scribendo ad longinquos corpore, proximos siquidem spiritu. Doleo te, frater! doleo ex intimo cordis moerore propter negotia saecularia, quae impediunt quadam nubium concretione charitatis radios, qui ex pectoris vestri flamma multos irradiare potuissent, si non calignine terrenarum occupationum obscurarentur. Tamen vigilet in corde, et foras temporibus opportunis fulgorem exerat, ut luceat omnibus qui in domo Dei sunt; qui non sunt caeci ad videndum vel surdi ad audiendum. Quid est tui officium nominis, nisi apertum habere os ad omnes in veritatis testificatione, per eum qui ait: Aperi os tuum, et ego implebo illud. Non neglige gratiam quae data est tibi; sed ut magis et magis proficiat, intende. Multae sunt tribulationes justorum; quia inter multos vocatos pauci eliguntur: et quo rariores inveniuntur, eo instantius verbum Dei eis praedicare necesse est. Pene omnes quaerunt quae sua sunt, et pauci, quae Christi esse videntur. Pastores curae turbant saeculares, qui Deo vacare debuerunt. Vagari per terras, et milites Christi saeculo militare coguntur, et gladium verbi Dei inter oris claustra, qualibet cogente necessitate, recondunt: quem, heu, proh dolor! perpauci possident, quamvis plurimi  se promittant eum habere: sed in die certaminis mercenarios se ostendunt, non milites. His consideratis diligentius, dilectissime Pater, teispum considera, circumspice et intende, quis sis, vel quo vadas, vel quid dicas in judicio, in praesentia illius qui te speculatorem posuit populi sui. Alcuinus, Epistola CLI, Ad Arnonem Archiepiscopum Source: Migne PL 100.399b-400b

I know that in the heart of your piety there is secure love not only for me, but that it firmly endures for all your friends, which being proved in adversity shall be praised in prosperity. In his wings are health, by which up the steps of the ladder which the Patriarch Jacob dreamed 1 we make ascent to Him who said, 'In this I know my disciples, if they have love for one another.' 2 Behold the sign of a disciple of Christ! Behold the gate of the celestial kingdom! Behold the foundation and summit of our life! But scarcely can one believe love to be firm where no indication of it appears, either in care for the poor, or in exhortation of brothers who are near, or in writing to those who are distant in body yet near in spirit. I grieve for you, brother! I grieve from the depths of my heart, lamenting because of worldly affairs, which like some thick cloud obscure the rays of charity, the many flames of which you should be able to kindle from your heart, if it were not that darkness chokes them with worldly occupations. But let him be watchful in heart, and outside the events of time lightning shall come, so that all who are in the house of God will be enlightened, 3 those who are not 'blind in vision or deaf in hearing.' 4 What is the meaning of the name of your office unless to open your mouth to all in testimony of truth, through Him who said, 'Open your mouth and I shall fill it,' and 'Do not neglect the grace which is given to you.' 5 which, let it be understood, is that there will be more and more improvement. 'Many are the tribulations of the righteous,' because though many are called, it is few who are chosen, 6 and rarer yet are those in whom the preaching of the word of God is an urgent necessity. Certainly all seek what is theirs, 7 and few, it seems, the things which are of Christ. The cares of the times trouble the shepherds, who should have peace for God. Roaming about the world, even the soldiers of Christ are forced to struggle, and the sword of the God's word is sheathed in the mouth, which under the force of necessity they should draw out, but, alas, for shame, few are able to do this, although many promise to themselves they will, and yet on the day of strife they show themselves mere mercenaries and not soldiers. 8 Think on these things more diligently, most beloved father, consider yourself, look around and observe who you are and where you are going, 9 and what you shall say in judgement in the presence of the One who has established you as a watchman of his people. 10 Alcuin of York, from Letter 151, To Arno The Archbishop 1 Gen 18, 12-, Malachi 4.2 2 Jn 13.35 3 Mt 5.15 4 Isaiah 43.18 5 Ps 80.11, 1 Tim 4.14 6 Ps 33.20, Mt 22.14 7 Phil 2.12 8 Jn 10.12 9 Gen 32.13 10 Ezek 33.6-7

Wrath And Treasure

Secundum duritiam autem tuam, et cor impoenitens, theasurizas tibi ipsi iram in die irae, et revelationis justi judicii Dei, qui reddet unicuique secundum opera ejus. Cor durum in Scripturis dici videtur, cum mens humana velut cera frigore iniquitais obstricta signaculum imaginis divinae non recipit. Hoc idem alibi cor crassum appellatur, sicut cum dicitur: Incrassatum est cor populi hujus. Contrarium vero est duro molle,quod in Scripturis cor carneum nominatur; et crasso subtile, vel tenue, quod Apostolus spiritalem hominem vocat eum qui examinat omnia. Igitur cum quis scit quae bona sunt,et non agit bona,per duritiam cordis contemptum omnium bonorum habere credendus est. Crassitudo vero cordis est, ubi subtilis et spiritalis intelligentiae non recipitur sensus; et ita  cor impoenitens effectum thesaurizat sibi ipsi iram in die irae, et revelationis justi judicii Dei, dum bonum opus non agitur per duritiam; intellectus vero bonus per crassitudinem is excluditur. De ira autem Dei et superius, quantum res pati voluit, et in aliis locis saepe dissertum est. Quod vero dicit, Thesaurus tibi ipsia iram in die irae, considerandum est. Thesaurus appelatur, quo diversi generis opes, et divitiae congregantur. Hujus in Scripturis significantiam triplicem legimus. Dicitur enim in Evangelio thesaurus esse quidam in terris, in quo prohibet Dominus thesaurizari: et alius thesaurus in coelo, in quo jubet fideles quosque opes suas recondere: et hic nunc Apostolus dicit irae thesauros. Omnes ergo homines per haec quae agunt in hoc mundo, in uno aliquo ex istis tribus congregant thesauros. Aut enim infidelis est quis et iniquus, et per duritiam cordis, et cor impoenitens in thesauro irae actus suos recondit. Aut terrenus est, et de terra sapit, ac de terra loquitur, et cum ei attulerit ager fructus uberes, destruit horrea sua, et majora aedificat, et theasaurizat in terra. Et ille quidem durus, hic autem stultus appellatur. Dicitur enim ad eum, Stulte, hac nocte repetent abs te animam tuam, et quae parasti, cujus erunt? Aut sapiens est, et in Deum dives, et in terris ambulans conversationem habet in coelis, atque omnia quae agit digna sunt regno coelorum: et iste talis divitiarum suarum thesauros condit in coelis. Ita igitur uniuscujusque thesauri possessor et conditor potest alius quidem carnalis, alius vero animalis homo, alius autem spiritualis appellatur. Origenes, Commentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Romanos, Liber II, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 14.875a-876a

According to your hardness and an impenitent heart, you have heaped up the treasure of anger for yourself on the day of wrath and the revelation of the just judgement of God, who shall return to each one according to his works. 1 It seems that a hard heart is spoken of in the Scriptures when the human mind like wax inured by the frost of wickedness does not receive the impress of the Divine image. Elsewhere this same thing is called a dull heart, as when it is said, 'The heart of this people has become dull.' 2 On the contrary, however, hardness is softened when in the Scriptures the heart is named fleshly, and dullness becomes a light or tenuous weight, which the Apostle calls the spiritual man who examines all things. 3 Therefore when someone knows what good things are and does not do those goods things because of hardness of heart, he should be thought to have contempt for all goods. But dullness of heart is when the mind does not receive the subtle and spiritual understanding. And thus the impenitent heart heaps up for itself wrath on the day of wrath and the revelation of the just judgement of God while it does not perform good works because of hardness, but good understanding is prevented by dullness. Regarding the anger of God above, how great are the things ordained to be suffered has often been spoken of in other places, but what is said with 'a treasure of wrath for yourself on the day of wrath,' must be considered. What is named a treasure is something in which there are different types of wealth and a gathering of riches. We read a threefold meaning of this in the Scriptures. For it is said in the Gospel that there is a certain treasure on the earth that the Lord prohibits us to heap up, and another treasure in heaven, which He commands the faithful to store up, 4 and here the Apostle speaks of a treasure of anger. Therefore because of what they do in the world all men gather their treasure in one of these three ways. For either a man is faithless and wicked and through hardness and impenitence of heart he heaps up a treasure of wrath with his deeds. Or he is a worldly fellow and knows the things of the earth and speaks of the things of the earth, 5 and when he has gathered up the rich yield of his field he tears down his barns and makes bigger ones, and his treasure is on the earth, and that man is hardened, but he is called a dull fellow, for it is said to him, 'Fool, this night your soul is asked of you, and what you have prepared, whose shall it be?' 6 Now the wise man is rich in God, and walking on the earth he has his conversation with heaven, 7 and everything which he does is worthy of the kingdom of heaven, and he is the one who stores up the treasure of his riches in heaven. Thus one may call each one of these a possessor and founder of his treasure, and one is a carnal man, and one is an animal man, and one is a spiritual man. Origen, from the Commentary on the Letter of Paul to the Romans, Book 2, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 Rom 2.5-6 2 Mt 13.15, Isaiah 6.10 3 Ezek 11.19, 36.26, 1 Cor 2.15 4 Mt 6.19-20 5 Jn 3.31 6 Lk 12.16-18 7 Phil 3.20

The Cursing Of The Fig Tree

Τὴν συκῆν οὐκ ἁπλῶς ὁ Κὺριος κατηράσατο, μὴ τοῦτο νόμιζε, ὦ τῶν θείων ἀκόρεστε, ἀλλ' ἵνα δείξῃ τοῖς ἀγνώμοσιν Ἰουδαίοις, ὅτι ἔχει δύναμιν καὶ πρὸς τιμωρίαν ἀκροῦσαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς θαύμασιν οὐδὲν αὐτὸν παραχόντα τινὶ λυπρὸν ἑωράκεισαν, μόνον εὐργετεῖν αὐτὸν ὑπελάμβανον δύνασθαι, οὐκ ἔχοντα κακοῦν τοὺς πονηροὺς ἐξουσίαν. Ἐκ τῆς ἀψύχου τοίνυν οὐσίας, πείθει τὸν ἀχάριστον δῆμον, ὅτι καὶ ἀμύνασθαι δύναται, καὶ ὡς ἀγαθὸς οὐ βεδούλευται. Ἐξηράνθη οὖν ξύλον, ἵνα φοβήσῃ ἀνθρώπους. Ἄμα δέ τις τούτῳ καὶ ἀπόῥῥητος συμπέπλεχται λόγος, παρὰ γερόντων εἰς ἡμᾶς σοφῶν διαφοιτήσας· ὅτι τὸ ξύλον τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦτο, οὖ καὶ τοῖς φύλλοις εἰς σκέπην οἱ παραβάντες ἐχρήσαντο. Καὶ κατηράθη παρὰ Χριστοῦ φιλανθρώπως, μηκέτι καρπὸν ἐνεγκεῖν αἴτιον ἁμαρτίας. Ἐπειδὴ δευτέρα Θεοῦ παρουσία, πρὸς ἐνανθρώπησιν μὲν οὐκ ἔστι, πρὸς δὲ τίσιν τῶν πεπραγμένων ἐκάστῳ. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΝΑ’ Θεοπομπῳ Τριβουνῳ Source: Migne PG 78.213b-c

Do not think, O insatiable one for things Divine, that the Lord cursed the fig tree in mindless fashion, 1 but it was so that He might show to the ingrate Jews what power He possessed, and that He might use it for punishment. Since in His miracles they did not perceive anything troubling to themselves, therefore they thought that He could only do what was beneficial, and that He did not possess that power which is able to afflict the wicked with evil. But by this thing without a soul He admonishes a thankless people that He is indeed able to bring requital on crimes, though on account of His own goodness He is unwilling. That tree withered, then, so that men might be touched with fear. And there is also a certain secret message bound up in this, which wise elders have spread among us, that is, that this is the tree of transgression, whose covering of leaves sinners make use of. And it was cursed by the benevolent Christ so that it would no longer bear fruit on account of fault. For at the Second Coming He shall not be kind to those who err, but return to each man according to his deeds. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 51, to Theopompus the Tribune 1 Mk 11.12-14

The Two Chambered Tomb

Abraham conjugem mortuam in spelunca duplici sepelivit... Quia viator animam suam a mundi actibus mortuam, sub bonae operationis et contemplationis regimine abscondit. Activa enim sepulcrum est, ut quae a pravis operibus mortuos sepelit, sed contemplativa perfectius tegit: quae a cunctis mundi desideriis, suspectos in intimis, funditus dividit, quales erant de quibus Paulus ait: Mortui estis, et vita vestra abscondita est cum Christo in gloria. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber IV, Tit XXVII Quid sit in spelunca duplici sepeliri Source: Migne PL 177.710b

Abraham buried his wife in a two chambered tomb... 1 Because the pilgrim has a soul dead to the acts of the world, he hides beneath the discipline of good works and contemplation. The active life is the tomb which buries the dead from all evil works, but the contemplative life covers it more completely, so that those taken deep within are utterly separated from every desire of the world, in which likeness they were, concerning whom Paul said: 'You are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in glory.' 2 Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 4, Chapter 27, On The Burial In The Two Chambered Tomb 1 Gen 23.17-19 2 Colos 3.3

The Entombed Soul

Nunquid enarrabit aliquis in sepulcro misericordiam tuam? Hoc negative legendum est, ut illud posuit intelligi, quia vivi homines et fideles misericordiam ejus narrare consuerunt. Sepulchrum enim significat infidelium mentes, de quibus supra dictum est: Sepulcrum patens est gutter eorum. Et meriot sepulcrum dicitur, ubi anima peccatis mortua continetur; id est, illos vult intelligi qui non sunt Domino credituri; quia nullus eis misericordia Domini videtur narrasse, quam non voluerunt devota mente percipere. Illic enim provenisse dicimus actum, ubi aliquem audiens praestat effectum. Tale est et istud quod sequitur, aut veritatem tuum in perditione; quia nemo putatur veritatem dixisse, quem videtur neligens praeterire. Perditio quippe juste vocata est, ubi veritas non admittitur, sed sola obstinatio custoditur. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, LXXXVII Source: Migne PL 70.626a-b

Shall someone in a tomb tell of your mercy? 1 This should be spoken negatively, as he set it down to be understood, because it is living and faithful men who are accustomed to speak of His mercy. The tomb signifies the minds of the faithless, concerning which it has been said, 'Their throat is an open tomb.' 2 And when sin encloses the soul it is rightly called a tomb. That is, he wishes them to be understood as those who will not believe in the Lord because none of them are seen to have spoken of the mercy of the Lord, that which they were not willing to receive with a devout mind. For so we say a word has had an effect when he who hears responds to it. Such is what follows, 'Or your truth in ruin.' Because no one is thought to have spoken the truth who appears to have negligently passed it by. It is rightly called ruin when the truth is not admitted but the only thing clung to is obstinacy. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 87 1 Ps 87.12 2 Ps 5.11

The Shadow Of Death

Quoniam autem ignorantia Dei umbra est mortis, testatur propheta dicens: Et declinasti semitas nostras a via tua, et cooperuit nos umbra mortis. Sine dubio enim operiet eum ignorantia Dei, cujus vita de via Dei fuerit declinata. Regio autem mortis mundus est iste. Sicut enim illa terra vivorum est, de qua dicitur: Credo videre bona Domini in terra viventium: sic terra haec regio mortis est. Propterea ad plenum Deo placere non possumus, degentes in ea, quia ipsi etsi vivi sumus propter opera viva et fidem Christi, teman quia in mundo vivimus, cui diabolus principatur, coinquinati sumus. Ideo et Paulus: Quis liberabit de corpore mortis hujus. Corpus enim hoc, corpus est mortis, quia non vitalibus, sed mortiferis voluptatibus est subjectum. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia VI Source: Migne PG 56.672

That the ignorance of God is the shadow of death, the prophet bears witness, saying, 'And you lower our paths from your way, and the shadow of death covers us.' 1 Without doubt the ignorance of God shall cover him whose life shall have declined from the way of God. And the realm of death is this world. For as there is a land of the living, concerning which it is said, 'I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living, 2 so this earth is the realm of death. Whence we are not able to please God fully while we dwell in it, because even if we live according to the works of life and the faith of Christ, yet because we live in the world, of which the devil is the prince, we are defiled. Therefore even Paul says: 'Who will free me from this body of death.' 3 For this body is the body of death, because it is not subject to life giving but death bringing pleasures. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 6 1 Ps 43.19-20 2 Ps 26.13 3 Rom 7.24

Considering The Dead

Ἀλλ' ἢ ὅτι οὐδὲ τὸν τυχόντα καιρὸν παραπολλύναι χρὴ, κἂν μυρία τὰ κατεπείγοντα ᾖ, ἀλλὰ πάντων καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων τὰ πνευματικὰ προτιθέναι, καὶ εἰδέναι, τί μὲν ζωὴ, τί δὲ θάνατος. Πολλοὶ γὰρ καὶ τῶν ζῇν δοκούντων νεκρῶν οὐδὲν διαφέρουσιν, ὅταν ἐν κακίᾳ ζῶσι· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐκείνων οὗτοι χείρους. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀποθανὼν, φησὶ, δεδικαίωται ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας· οὗτος δὲ δουλεύει τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. Μὴ γάρ μοι τοῦτο εἴπῃς, ὅτι Ὑπὸ σκωλήκων οὐ κατεσθίεται, οὐδὲ ἐν λάρνακι κεῖται, οὐδὲ ἀπέκλεισε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, οὐδὲ κειρίαις δέδεται. Καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα χαλεπώτερα ὑπομένει τοῦ τετελευτηκότος, οὐ σκωλήκων αὐτὸν κατεσθιόντων, ἀλλὰ θηρίων σφοδρότερον τῶν παθῶν τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτὸν σπαραττόντων. Εἰ δὲ ἀνεῴγασιν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ, καὶ τοῦτο πολὺ χεῖρον πάλιν τοῦ μεμυκέναι. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ νεκροῦ οὐδὲν ὁρῶσι πονηρόν· οὗτος δὲ μυρίας ἑαυτῷ συνάγει νόσους, ἀνεῳγμένων αὐτοῦ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐν λάρνακι κεῖται, πρὸς πάντα ἀκίνητος ὤν· οὗτος δὲ ἐν τῷ τάφῳ τῶν μυρίων κατορώρυκται νοσημάτων. Ἀλλὰ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ σηπόμενον οὐχ ὁρᾷς; Καὶ τί τοῦτο; Πρὸ γὰρ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ ἡ ψυχὴ διέφθαρται καὶ ἀπόλωλε, καὶ πλείονα ὑπομένει τὴν σηπεδόνα. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ δέκα ὄδωδεν ἡμέρας· οὗτος δὲ ἅπαντα τὸν βίον δυσωδίας ἀποπνεῖ, στόμα ἔχων ὀχετῶν ἀκαθαρτότερον. Ὥστε τοσοῦτον αὐτοῦ διενήνοχεν ἐκεῖνος, ὅσον ὁ μὲν τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως ὑπομένει μόνον φθορὰν, οὗτος δὲ μετ' ἐκείνης καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀσωτίας ἐπεισάγει σηπεδόνα, μυρίας καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐπινοῶν ὑποθέσεις διαφθορᾶς. Ἀλλ' ἐφ' ἵππου φέρεται; Καὶ τί τοῦτο; Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἐπὶ κλίνης· καὶ τὸ δὴ χαλεπὸν, λυόμενον μὲν ἐκεῖνον καὶ σηπόμενον οὐδεὶς ὁρᾷ, ἀλλ' ἔχει τὴν λάρνακα παραπέτασμα· οὗτος δὲ ὀδωδὼς πανταχοῦ περίεισι, καθάπερ ἐν τάφῳ τῷ σώματι νενεκρωμένην ψυχὴν περιφέρων. Καὶ εἴγε ἦν ψυχὴν ἀνδρὸς ἰδεῖν τρυφῇ καὶ κακίᾳ συζῶντος, εἶδες ἂν ὅτι πολὺ βέλτιον ἐν τάφῳ κεῖσθαι δεδεμένον, ἢ ταῖς τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν σφίγγεσθαι σειραῖς· καὶ λίθον ἔχειν ἐπικείμενον, ἢ τὸ βαρὺ τῆς ἀναισθησίας πῶμα. ∆ιὸ δὴ μάλιστα τοὺς τούτοις προσήκοντας τοῖς νεκροῖς, ἐπειδὴ οὗτοι ἀναλγήτως διάκεινται, προσιέναι δεῖ περὶ αὐτῶν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, καθάπερ ἡ Μαρία τότε ἐποίησεν ἐπὶ τοῦ Λαζάρου. Κἂν ὀδωδὼς ᾖ, κἂν τεταρταῖος ᾖ, μὴ ἀπογνῷς, ἀλλὰ πρόσελθε, καὶ τὸν λίθον ἄνελε πρῶτον. Καὶ γὰρ τότε ὄψει κείμενον, ὥσπερ ἐν τάφῳ, καὶ ταῖς κειρίαις δεδεμένον. Καὶ εἰ βούλεσθε, τῶν μεγάλων τινὰ καὶ περιφανῶν εἰς μέσον ἀγάγωμεν. Ἀλλὰ μὴ δείσητε· ἀνωνύμως γὰρ ἐρῶ τὸ ὑπόδειγμα· μᾶλλον δὲ, εἰ καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν ἔλεγον, οὐδὲ οὕτω δεδοικέναι ἐχρῆν. Τίς γάρ ποτε νεκρὸν δέδοικε; Καὶ γὰρ ὅσα ἂν πράξῃ, μένει νεκρὸς ὤν· νεκρὸς δὲ ζῶντα οὐ μικρὸν, οὐ μέγα ἀδικῆσαι δύναται. Ἴδωμεν τοίνυν τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτῶν δεδεμένην. Καὶ γὰρ ὅταν μεθύωσι διηνεκῶς, καθάπερ οἱ νεκροὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐπιβλήμασιν ἐκείνοις καὶ ταῖς κειρίαις, οὕτω πάντα τὰ αἰσθητήρια ἀποκλείεται καὶ δεσμεῖται. Εἰ δὲ βούλει καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἰδεῖν, ὄψει καὶ ταύτας τῇ γαστρὶ προσδεδεμένας, καθάπερ τῶν οἰχομένων, καὶ περιεσφιγμένας, οὐ κειρίαις, ἀλλ' ὃ πολλῷ χαλεπώτερόν ἐστι, τοῖς τῆς πλεονεξίας δεσμοῖς. Οὐ γὰρ ἀφίησιν αὐτὰς ἐκταθῆναι πρὸς ἐλεημοσύνην ἐκείνη, οὐδὲ πρὸς ἄλλο τι τῶν τοιούτων κατορθωμάτων, ἀλλὰ τῶν νενεκρωμένων ἀχρηστοτέρας ἐργάζεται. Βούλει καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἰδεῖν συνδεδεμένους; Ὅρα αὐτοὺς πάλιν περιεσφιγμένους φροντίσι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐδέποτε δυναμένους εἰς οἶκον Θεοῦ δραμεῖν. Εἶδες τὸν νεκρόν; βλέπε καὶ τὸν ἐνταφιαστήν. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ὁ ἐνταφιαστὴς τούτων; Ὁ διάβολος, ὁ ἀκριβῶς αὐτοὺς περισφίγγων, καὶ οὐκ ἀφιεὶς λοιπὸν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἄνθρωπον φαίνεσθαι, ἀλλὰ ξύλον ξηρόν. Ὅπου γὰρ οὐκ ὀφθαλμὸς, οὐ χεῖρες, οὐ πόδες, οὐκ ἄλλο τῶν τοιούτων οὐδὲν, πῶς ἂν ὁ τοιοῦτος ἄνθρωπος φανείη; Οὕτω καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῶν ἐσπαργανωμένην ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, καὶ εἴδωλον μᾶλλον ἢ ψυχὴν οὖσαν. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Υπόμνημα Εἰς τὸν Ἅγιον Ματθαίον Εὐαγγέλιον, Ὁμιλία ΚΖ´ Source: Migne PG 59.348-9

It is needful that no time be lost, though a thousand things press, but before everything, before even the most necessary things, let us attend to what is spiritual, even that we might know both what is life and what is death. For many, even though they seem to live, are no different from the dead, since they live in wickedness. Or rather they are worse than the dead, 'For he that is dead,' it is said, 'is freed from sin,' 1 but this man is a slave to sin. For do not say this to me, that he is not worm-eaten, nor does he lie in a coffin, nor are his eyes closed, nor is he bound in cerements. He suffers these things more wretchedly than the dead, for though no worms devour him, yet the passions of his soul tear him to pieces more fiercely than beasts. And if his eyes are open, this again is much worse than having them closed up. For the eyes of the dead man see no evil, but this man, with his eyes wide open, gathers to himself a thousand infections. And while one man lies in a coffin, unmoved by anything, this man is buried in a tomb of countless diseases. You do not see his body rotting? What of that? Before his body his soul is corrupted and destroyed, and it suffers from a worse rottenness. The body stinks for several days, but for the whole of his life his soul breathes out evil odors, with a mouth more unclean than any sewer. So the one differs from the other, by just so much as this, that the one man suffers that decay that comes of nature, but the other, along with that, brings in that rottenness born of intemperance, every day fashioning a thousand causes of corruption. Is he carried along on horseback? What of that? So the other man is carried along on a bier. And this is worse, that while the one man is not seen by anyone in his rotting state and his decay, but he has a coffin covering him up, the other is going about everywhere with his foul stench, bearing about, as in a tomb, a dead soul in his body. If you could see the soul of a man who is living amid luxury and vice, you would know that it is far better to lie bound up in a tomb than to be wrapped tightly in the chains of sins, and to have a stone laid over you rather than the heavy weight of senselessness. Therefore, above all things, it very much befits the associates of these dead folk who have themselves passed beyond feeling, to approach Jesus on their behalf, as Mary once did for the sake of Lazarus. 2 Though he stinks, though he has been dead for four days, do not despair, but approach and first remove the stone, for then you will see him lying as in a tomb, and bound in cerements. And if you will have it, let it be someone who is great and celebrated whom we present to you in such a manner. But do not fear, for I will speak the example without a name, or rather, if I may mention a name, there need be no fear, for who fears a dead man? Whatever one may do, he remains dead, and the dead cannot harm the living, neither a little or much. Let us then behold the head which has been bound up. For indeed when such folk are always drunk, so are all their senses closed and bound up, just as the dead with their many cloths and cerements. And if you will look to their hands, you shall see these again fixed to their belly, like the departed, and fastened not by the cerements, but with what is far worse, the bonds of covetousness, for they have no allowance to reach their hands out for the giving of alms, or for any other good deed, but rather their hands are made more useless than the hands of the dead. Will you also look to see their feet tied together? See them again fastened with cares, because of which they are never able to hurry to the house of God. Do you see the dead? Look also to the embalmer. Who embalms these folk? It is the devil who carefully binds them up, he who does not allow a man to seem to be a man, but a dried up lump of wood. For where there are no eyes, nor hands, nor feet, nor any other such thing, how can one appear to be a man? Thus see the soul bound up, or rather an image, not a real soul. Saint John Chrysostom, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, from Homily 27 1 Rom 6.7 2 Jn 11.17-

Flight And Prayer

Προσεύχεσθε δὲ, ἵνα μὴ γένηται ἡ φυγὴ ὑμῶν χειμῶνος, μηδὲ ἐν Σαββάττῳ. Τοῦτο αἰνίττεται ὁ Χριστός· εὔχεσθαι ἡμᾶς μὴ γενέσθαι ἐν ἐκδυμίᾳ τοῦ σώματος, μήτε ἐν ἀργίᾳ ὄντας τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἔργῶν, ὃ ὑποσημαίνει τὸ Σάββατον· μήτε ἐνοχλουμένους ἐν ταῖς βιωτικαῖς τύρβαις τε καὶ ταραχαῖς· ὅπερ δηλοῖ ὁ χειμών. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source: Migne PG 72.441a

But pray that your flight is not in winter, nor on the Sabbath. 1 Christ means this: pray that in the departure from the body the works of virtue are not wanting, which is what the Sabbath indicates. And that one is not embroiled in worldly confusions and tribulations, which is what winter signifies. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 24.20

Exaltation And Downfall

Kαὶ σύ, Καφαρναούμ, μὴ ἕως οὐρανοῦ ὑψωθήσῃ; ἕως ᾅδου καταβήσῃ ὅτι εἰ ἐν Σοδόμοις ἐγενήθησαν αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ γενόμεναι ἐν σοί, ἔμεινεν ἂν μέχρι τῆς σήμερον. Πλὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι γῇ Σοδόμων ἀνεκτότερον ἔσται ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως ἢ σοί. Ἡ Καπερναοὺμ ὑψώθη διὰ τὸ εἶναι πόλις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἐδοξάζετο γὰρ ὡς δῆθεν πατρὶς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ὠφελήθη, διὰ τὸ μὴ πιστεῦσαι. Τούναντιον γὰρ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μᾶλλον κατακέκριται ἕως ᾅδου, ὅτι τοιοῦτον ἔχουσα οἰκήτορα, οὐδὲν ὠφελήθη ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ Καπερναοὺμ ἑρμηνεύται χωρίον παρακλήσεως, βλέπε ὅτι κᾶν ἀξιωθῇ τις γενέσθαι χωρίον τοῦ Παρακλήτου, τοῦ ἁγίου δηλαδὴ Πνεύματος, εἴτα ὑψηλοφρονήσῃ, κιὰ ἐπαρθῇ ἄχρις οὐρανοῦ, καταπίπτει λοιπὰν διὰ τὴν ὑψηλοφροσύνην. Φρίξον οὖν, ὦ ἄνθρωπε. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ ΙΑ' Source: Migne PG 123.256b-c

And you, Capernaum, shall you be lifted up to heaven? You shall fall even to hell. For if the miracles that were done in you were done in Sodom, it would have stood to this day. I say this to you, that it shall be less hard for Sodom on the day of judgement than for you. 1 Capernaum was exalted because it was the city of Jesus, it was glorified as His fatherland, but it received no benefit from that because it did not believe, and therefore on the contrary it was condemned, even to hell, because though such wonders were done there, it was not improved by them. But because Capernaum has been interpretated by some to mean 'field of consolation,' let it be observed that if someone merits to be a field of the Paraclete, that is, the Holy Spirit, and thus comes to know high things, and is exalted even to heaven, so he may yet be cast down on account of pride. Be fearful, then, O man. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 11 1 Mt 11.25

The Two Gates Of Death

Qui cupiditate peccant sumant David exemplum, ut resurgent. Qui timore peccant sumant Petrum exemplum, ut resurgent. Uterque cecidit, et uterque resurrexit, quia Christus utrumque respexit, alterum per se, alterum per prophetam suum. Istae sunt duae portae mortis: cupiditas et timor; quae si cui clauduntur, non erit quo mundus ingrediatur. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Tit CXXXIII, De mortis duabus portis Source: Migne PL 177.549d-550a

They who sin because of desire may take up David as an example, so that they may rise. They who sin because of fear may take up Peter as an example, that they may rise. For both fell, and both rose, because Christ looked upon both, one through himself, another through his prophecy. 1 Desire and fear, these are the two gates of death, and to whom they are closed the world shall not find a way to enter. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chapter 133, On The Two Gates Of Death 1 Lk 22.61-62, 2 Kings 11-12

Four Types Of Tears

Beati qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. Notandum autem quod quattor modis fit planctus sanctorum, cum priora peccata deplorant cum in infernum cadentes plangunt, cum in peccatis viventes, cum pro desiderio regni coelestis admodum tristes fiunt, et quatuor species lacrymarum natura continet. Sunt quidem lacrymae humidae, ut abluant sordes peccatorum, et restituant perditum baptismum; sunt salsae et amarae, ut restringant carnis fluxum, et terent dulcedinem voluptatum; sunt calidae, ut praevaleant contra infidelitatis frigus. Sunt purae, ut a pristinis erroribus mundatos, in pura constituant conversatione. Hae ergo pro amissis charis saepius fiunt, ut nos admoneant quatenus amissa bona opera reparemus, et ad desertam a nobis propter praevaricationem paradisi patriam per mandatorum Dei custodiam redeamus. Semper enim luctus inter duas laetitias consistit, id est, inter mundi praecedentem, et coelestis regni appropinquantem, et beatus cui temporalis tristitia aeternam parturiet laetitiam. Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Matthaeum, Liber II, Cap V Source: Migne PL 107.796a-b

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 1 It should be noted that there are four ways of weeping for those who are holy, first when they deplore sins once committed, then when they weep over the descent to hell, then when there is living in sin, and then when they are made tearful because of longing for the kingdom of heaven. And these four types of tears are found in nature. There are tears of water, so that the filth of sins may be washed away and the ruin of baptism restored. There are salty and bitter tears that restrain the urges of the body and wear away the sweetness of pleasures, There are warm tears that prevail against the frigidity of faithlessness. And there are pure ones that cleanse from old errors and establish one in a wholesome way of living. And all these most frequently come from a lack of love and admonish us to look to the repair of a lack of good deeds, that from the waste made by us because of sin we may return to the fatherland of paradise by the keeping of the commandments of God. For grief is always found between two joys, between the preceding things of the world and the approaching things of the kingdom of heaven, and blessed is he who in temporal sorrow gives birth to eternal joy. Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 2, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.5

Death And Judgement And Perfection

Εἴπε πάλιν· Μέμνησο διαπαντὸς τῆς ἐξόδου σου, καὶ μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ κρίσεως αἰωνίου· καὶ οὐκ ἔσται πλημμέλεια ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ σου. Ἀποφθέγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65.173d

Again Father Evagrius said: 'Always be mindful of your death and do not forget eternal judgement, and there will be no defect in your soul' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

The Time Of Sowing

Ergo, dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Tempus sementis, ut diximus, tempus est praesens, et quam currimus. In hac licet nobis quod volumus seminare; cum ista vita transierit operandi tempus aufertur. Unde et Salvator ait: Operamini dum dies est: veniet nox, quando jam nullus poterit operari. Ortus est nobis Dei sermo, sol verus, et congregatae sunt bestiae recedentes in cubilia sua: procedamus ut homines ad opus nostrum, et usque ad vesperam laboremus, sicut mystice cantatur in psalmo: Posuisti tenebras, et facta est nox. In ipsa pertransibunt bestiae silvae, catuli leonum rugientes, ut rapiant, et quaerant a Deo escam sibi. Ortus est sol, et congregatae sunt, et in cubilibus suis dormierunt. Egredietur homo ad opus suum, et ad operationem suam usque ad vesperam. Sive aegrotamus, sive sani sumus, humiles, vel potentes, pauperes, divites, ignobiles, honorati, esurientes, sive vescentes, omnia in nomine Domini cum patientia et aequanimitate faciamus, et implebitur in nobis illud quod scriptum est: Diligentibus autem Dominum, omnia cooperantur in bonum. Ira ipsa et libido, et injuria quae desiderat ultionem, si me refrenem: si propter Deum taceam: si per singulos commotionis aculeos, et incentiva vitiorum, Dei desuper me videntis recorder, fiunt mihi occasio triumphorum. Ne dicamus in largiendo: Ille est amicus, hunc nescio: hic debet accipere, iste contemni. Imitemur Patrem nostrum, qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos, et pluit super justos et injustos. Fons bonitatis omnibus patet. Servus et liber, plebeius et rex, dives et pauper, ex eo similiter bibunt. Lucerna cum accensa fuerit in domo, omnibus lucet aequaliter. Quod si in cunctos indifferenter liberalitatis frena laxantur, quanto magis in domesticos fidei, et in Christianos, qui eumdem habent Patrem, ejusque magistri appellatione censentur! Videtur autem mihi locus iste posse et superioribus cohaerere, ut domesticos fidei, magistros nominet, quibus supra omnia quae putantur bona, ab auditoribus suis jusserat ministrari. Breve est vitae istius curriculum. Hoc ipsum quod loquor, quod dicto, quod scribo, quod emendo, quod relego, de tempore meo mihi aut crescit, aut deperit. Titus, filius Vespasiani, qui in ultionem Dominici sanguinis, subversis Jerosolymis, Romam victor ingressus est, tantae dicitur fuisse bonitatis, ut cum quadam nocte sero recordaretur, in coena, quod nihil boni die illa fecisset, dixerit amicis: Hodie diem perdidi. Nos putamus non perire nobis horam, diem, momenta, tempus, aetates, cum otiosum verbum loquimur, pro quo reddituri sumus rationem in die judicii? Quod si hoc ille sine Lege, sine Evangelio, sine Salvatoris, et apostolorum doctrina, naturaliter et dixit, et fecit: quid nos oportet facere, in quorum condemnationem habet et Juno univiras, et Vesta virgines, et alia idola continentes? Beatus Joannes evangelista cum Ephesi moraretur usque ad ultimam senectutem, et vix inter discipulorum manus ad ecclesiam deferretur, nec posset in plura vocem verba contexere, nihil aliud per singulas solebat proferre collectas, nisi hoc: Filioli, diligite alterutrum. Tandem discipuli et fratres qui aderant, taedio affecti, quod eadem semper audirent, dixerunt: Magister, quare semper hoc loqueris? Qui respondit dignam Joanne sententiam: Quia praeceptum Domini est, et si solum fiat, sufficit. Hoc propter praesens Apostoli mandatum: Operemur bonum ad omnes: maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber III, Cap VI Source: Migne PL 26.432b-433c

Therefore while we have time, let us do good to everyone, especially to the servants of the faith. 1 The time of sowing, as we have said, is the present time, in which we run. In this we are permitted to sow what we will, and when this life shall have passed by the time of such labouring is finished. Whence the Saviour says: 'Work while it is still day. The night shall come when no one will be able to work.' 2 The sun of the word of God has risen on us, the true sun, and the beasts have been gathered up and withdrawn into their lairs, and so let us as men go to our work, and even to the evening let us labour, as is spiritually sung in the Psalm: 'You set down darkness and it was night. In it pass all the beasts of the wood, the roaring of lion whelps, that they might seize, and they seek from God food for themselves. The sun has risen, and they have been gathered up and in their lairs they sleep. Man goes out to his work, and to his labour until the evening.' 3 Whether we are sick or healthy, humble or powerful, poor or rich, obscure or honoured, hungry or full, let us do everything in the name of the Lord in patience and contentment, and we shall fulfill in ourselves what has been written: 'But for the lovers of the Lord everything works together for goodness.' 4 If I restrain myself from anger and lust and the injury that seeks vengeance, if for the sake of God I am silent, if through every sharp disturbance and incentive for vice I remind myself that God watches from above, there shall be for me an occasion of triumph. Let us not say in plenty, 'That fellow is a friend, this one I do not know. This one should be received, that one scorned.' Let us imitate our Father who makes the sun rise over the good and the wicked, and makes it rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous. 5 He opens the fount of kindness to all and from that slave and free, commoner and king, rich and poor, all likewise drink. A lamp that has been lit in a house shines equally on everyone, 6 whence if the reign of generosity is loosed impartially for everyone, how much more for those who are servants of the faith and Christians, who have the same Father, and those who are reckoned to be His teachers? It seems to me that it is possible to join this passage with those before, so that from hearers he exhorts service of those he names servants of the faith and teachers, whom are thought as goods above all. Brief is the time of this life. This which I say, and dictate, and write, and correct, and review, grows or perishes in my time. Titus, the son of Vespasian, who in revenge for the blood of the Lord, overthrew Jerusalem, entered Rome as victor, and it is said that such was his benevolence, that when late one night at a feast he remembered that he had done no good that day, he said to his friends, 'Today I have wasted a day.' Shall we not think that we have wasted an hour, a day, a moment, a year, an age, when we speak worthless words, for which we shall have to give a reason on the day of judgement? 7 If this fellow without the Law, without the Gospel, without the Saviour and the teaching of the Apostles, naturally said this and acted so, what is needful for us to do, for the condemnation of whom he had Juno of one husband, and the Vestal Virgins, and a collection of other idols? Blessed John the Evangelist, while he remained in Ephesus until final old age, had to be carried to the church by the hands of his followers, and unable to compose his voice for many words, he was accustomed to offer nothing else to the congregation but this: 'Little children, love one another.' 8Then when his pupils and brothers drew near, and being troubled with the repetition of what they always heard, said, 'Master, why do you always say this?' John replied with a worthy statement: 'Because it is the teaching of the Lord, and if this alone is done, it is enough.' Hence the command of this Apostle: 'Let us do good to everyone, especially to the servants of the faith.' Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 3, Chapter 6 1 Galat 6.10 2 Jn 9.4 3 Ps 103.20-23 4 Rom 8.28 5 Mt 5.45 6 Mt 5.15 7 Mt 12.36 8 cf 1 Jn 3.18

Fear And Hope

Ab auditu malo non timebit, paratum est cor ejus sperare in Domino... Illum auditum malum dicit, quem audituri sunt impii: Ite in ignem aeternum, et reliqua. Malus enim illis videtur qui justa serveritate plectendi sunt: quia fas dicit non est, nisi justum Domini semper esse judicum. Et ne solum beatos putares poenas noxias non timere, sequitur, paratum cor ejus sperare in Domino, ut promissa ipsius percipiant, qui saeculi illecebras ejus juvamine calcaverunt; quibus ipse dicturus est: Venite benediti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod vobis paratum est ab origine mundi. Cor autem positum est pro rectae mentis affectu, quod sine aliqua cunctatione promissa novit expetere. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, CXI Source: Migne PL 70.806d

He shall not fear the hearing of evil, his heart is prepared to hope in the Lord... 1 He speaks of that hearing of evil that the wicked will hear: 'Go into eternal fire,' 2 and the rest. For it seems evil to them that they are struck with just severity, because one does not speak rightly unless that the judgement of the Lord is always just. And lest you might think that the blessed lack only that fear of woeful punishments, he continues: 'his heart is prepared to hope in the Lord,' that receiving His promises, with His help, they crush down worldly snares, to whom He shall then say, 'Come blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the beginning of the world.' 3 For the heart established in the disposition of a right mind knows how to have hope in the promises without any hesitation. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 111 1 Ps 111.7 2 Mt 25.41 3 Mt 25.34