For The Benefit Of Souls

Ita ut elegit nos in ipso ane constitiutionem mundi, ut essemus sancti.. Ergo mysterio quod hic implevit, et carne, et cruce, et morte, et resurrectione, subventum est animis: etsi in Christo fides sumatur, ille suscipit hujusmodi animas et adjuvat et liberat. Christum enim credere, et in Christum fidem sumere, jam spiritaliter sentire, et jam tolli a desideriis carnalibus et materialibus: et ex hoc veluti cognatio intelligendi nos jungit et sociat Christo: et dum Christo sociaverit, inquit, et Deo. Per Christum enim Deo jungimur, neque spes ulla salutis nostrae nisi Christum credere. Hoc est spiritaliter jam sentire, et capere sensum, et mundi et materiae motibus non exagitari: quibus omnibus homo totus in spiritu vero est, et ex hoc jam in Christo est vita: cum autem in Christo vita est; jam mysterio acto a Christo recipimur, et per Christum in numerum filiorum suscipimur a Deo, spiritales facti, ut nos quoque de mundo resurgamus et de morte per Dei voluntatem, sed in Christo tamen. Hoc enim et nunc, et saepe et ubique praecipitur, ut in Christo tota sit vita nostra, tota spes, totus intelligendi labor. Omnis enim ratio aeternitatis nostrae et gloriae et salvationis, et Christus est, et in Christo est, si projicientes omnia spiritaliterque sentientes, separemus a nobis mundanas cogitationes, mundanos affectus, carnalia quodammodo desideria, carnales dignitates, carnales potestates, et mundi etiam velle potentias vel dignitates. Omne enim quidquid mundanum est, licet coeleste sit in mundo etiam vel aetherium vel quodlibet aliud divinum nominatur secundum mundum et aeternum, sed secundum mundum tamen, neque divinum est neque aeternum est; etenim materiale: et quicquid materiale est, et temporale est et caducum et corruptibile. Victorinus Afrus, In Epistolam Pauli ad Ephesios, Liber Primus, Caput I Source: Migne PL 8.1240c-1241a

Thus He chose us before the establishment of the world, so that we would be holy... 1 Therefore in a mystery He fulfills it, and the flesh and the cross and the death and the resurrection were for the benefit of souls. Even if we have taken up faith in Christ, He is the one who takes up souls and helps and frees them. For to believe in Christ and to take up faith in Christ is to understand spiritually, and so to be taken from carnal desires and things. And from this, with a certain likeness of understanding, we are joined and associated with Christ, and while we associate with Christ, he says, it is also with God. For it is through Christ that we are joined to God, and there is no hope of salvation unless to believe in Christ. This is to understand spiritually, and to grasp the sense, and not to be troubled by the changes of the world and matter, because of which the whole man becomes truly spiritual, and through this there is now life in Christ, and when there is life in Christ we are received by Christ in mystery, and through Him we are taken up into the number of the sons of God, having been made spiritual, so that we also rise up from the earth and from death by the will of God, but in Christ. Indeed here and now, and often and everywhere, it is exhorted that our whole life, our whole hope, the whole work of our understanding, should be in Christ. For every cause of our eternity and glory and salvation is Christ, and is in Christ, if advancing in all spiritual understanding we separate ourselves from worldly thought, and from worldly loves, and from every carnal desire and honour and power, and every office and dignity of the world. For everything worldly, even if named celestial, ethereal, or divine, is named according to the world and eternity, but according to the world there is nothing divine nor anything eternal, for matter, and whatever is of matter, is transient, and passes away and is corruptible. Victorinus Afrus, On the Letter of Saint Paul to the Ephesians, Book One, Chapter One 1 Ephes 1.4

Troubles And Cure

Triplici loco laborat genus humanum: principio, medio, fine, id est, nativitate, vita, morte. Nativitas erat immunda, vita perversa, mors periculosa. Venit ergo medicus coelestis; et contra hunc triplicem morbum triplex attulit remedium. Natus enim est, vixit, obiit. Ejus nativitas purgavit nostram; ejus vita instruxit nostram; ejus mors destruxit nostram. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber V, Tit XXV, De triplici labore hominis, et triplici ejus remedio Source: Migne PL 177.760a

The race of men labours in a threefold manner, in the beginning, in the middle and at the end, that is, in birth, in life, and at death. Birth was unclean, life perverse, death ruinous. Then the heavenly physician came and brought the remedy for this threefold sickness. For He was born, and He lived, and He died. His nativity cleansed ours, His life instructed ours, His death destroyed ours. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 5, Chapter 25, On The Threefold Labour of a Man and His Threefold Remedy

The Sacrifice

Et ambulate in dilectione, sicut Christus dilexit nos, et tradidit semetipsum pro nobis hostiam et oblationem Deo in odorem suavitatis. Sicut Dei Patris imitatores nos esse vult in benignitate et misericordia, ita et Christi filii ejus in dilectione; ut sicut ille dilexit nos, tradens se pro nobis, ita et nos invicem pro nobis etiam animas ponere debeamus. Quod etiam Joannes apostolus dixit, Exemplo Domini pro fratribus animas ponendas. Si itaque Christi mors in odorem suavitatis est Deo, mortem ejus libenter Deus accepit. Quod si verum est, non peccaverunt qui illum secundum Dei voluntatem crucifixerunt. Sed non ita est, quia Christus Deo se dicitur obtulisse, dum occidi se passus est, in Dei Patris sui voluntate perdurans; quia qui juste occiditur diabolo se offerens, voluntatem ejus facit, ut occidi mereatur. Ita et Christus dum Dei voluntati adhaeret, diabolo displicuit, et ideo illum occidit, quia Deo se obtulit, justitiam exsequendo. In oblatione enim justitia signatur et veritas; hanc enim respicit Deus, et hoc est ejus sacrificium acceptum. Itaque immeritus, qui occiditur, placet Deo; non quia occiditur, sed quia usque ad mortem justitiam conservavit. Suscepit enim hanc mortem Christus ad vitam; unde et odor suavitatis appellatur Deo: ad Romanos tamen dicit quia Deus illum tradidit pro nobis omnibus. Nunc quaerendum est quomodo illum Deus tradidit, aut quomodo se ipse obtulit Deo; nam hoc quantum ad verba pertinet, videtur contrarium. Deus illum tradidisse dicitur, dum illum occidi permisit, sicut dicit Dominus ad Pilatum: Non haberes adversum me potestatem, nisi data tibi esset desuper. Data est enim ei, sed volenti, potestas, hoc est, permissum est illi facere quod voluit, et hoc est tradere: dum enim dissimulat, tradit; si enim noluisset permittere, non fuisset occisus. Permisit ergo occidi eum, sed ab eis qui eum volebant non coacte, sed sponte occidere. Non ergo immunes a poena sunt, quia hoc eis permissum est, quod volebant; damnatio enim in eo competit, quia voluerunt. Quod ideo tamen permisit Deus; quia scivit istum adversum diabolum futurum pro multis. Dignum enim fuit ut quod inimicus impraescius futurorum contra se, quasi pro se facere putabat, permitteretur ei; ut impraescientiam suam sibi imputans, facti sui poenitentia torqueretur. Quod autem Christus ipse se obtulit, aut Deus illum tradidit, unum est; quia amborum una voluntas est. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam ad Ephesios, Caput V Source: Migne PL 17.394a-c

And walk in love, as Christ loved us, He who gave Himself for us, a sacrifice and an oblation to God, a sweet fragrance. 1 As he wishes us to be imitators of God the Father in kindness and compassion, so even as His sons of Christ in love, so that as He loved us, giving Himself for us, so even we should lay down our souls for one another. Which indeed is what John the Apostle said, 'With the example of the Lord let us lay down our souls for our brothers.' 2 If, then, the death of Christ is a sweet fragrance to God, God readily accepts His death. Which if true means that they did not sin who crucified Him according to the will of God. But it is not so, because Christ, it is said, offered Himself to God, and suffered in His death, cleaving to the will of God His Father. He who is slain justly, offering himself to the devil, makes his will, so that he deserves to be killed. So while Christ adhered to the will of God, He vexed the devil, and he killed Him, because He offered Himself to God and accomplished righteousness. For in the offering righteousness is a sign of truth, and God looks on this and His sacrifice is acceptable. Thus it is not right to say that he who is killed pleases God , because it is not that he is killed, but that He cleaves to righteousness until death. For Christ took up this death for life, hence He is named a sweet fragrance to God. In the letter to the Romans, however, it says that God handed Him over for all of us. 3 Now it must be asked how God handed Him over and how He offered Himself to God, for according to the letter these statements seem to be contrary. God is said to have handed Him over because he allowed Him to be killed, as the Lord said to Pilate, 'You do not have power over me, unless it has been given to you from above.' 4 For power was given to Him to will, that is, he was permitted to do to Him what He wished, and this is to give Him over, for while it seems He does not, He does give Him over, for had He had he not wished it to happen, He would not have been killed. Therefore He permits Him to be killed, but by those who without any coercion but of their own wills wish to kill him. Therefore they are not immune from punishment because they were allowed to do what they wished, but they have condemnation from Him because they wished it. And therefore God permitted it, because He knew this would be in opposition to the devil for the future. It was right to permit it so that the enemy who did not know what would be set against him in the future, thought that he acted for himself, and then attributing his lack of foresight to himself, he would be tormented by regret for what he had done. And that Christ offers himself, or God hands him over, is one, because both are one will. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Letter of Saint Paul To The Ephesians, Chapter 5 1 Ephes 5.2 2 1 Jn 3.16 3 Rom 8.32 4 Jn 19.11

Confidence And Greatness

Hi in curribus, et hii in equis: nos etiam in nomine Domini Dei nostri magnificabimur. Fidei suae sinceritate confidens, quae muneribus erat Domini contriibuta , propheta laetatur, despiciens illos qui pomposis curribus evecti, in temporali potius dignitate praesumunt. Duo enim apud antiquos erant genera triumpborum: unum majus in curribus, quod laureatum dicebatur; aliud minus in equiis, quod ovatio nuncupabatur. Sed ista saecularibus relinqnens, in nomine Domini se magnificalum esse confirmat. Non enim currus aut equus magnificant, quamvis in hoc mundo extollere videantur honoribus; sed nomen Domini, quod ad praemia aeterna perducit. Quae figura Graece dicitur syncrisis, Latine comparatio, dum comparatione quadam justiorem causam nostram, quam adversarii demonstramus. Ipsi obligati sunt et ceciderunt; nos autem surreximus, et erecti sumus. Potenter aperuit fructum praecedentium rerum. Nam humanis honoribus praesumentes, laqueati pravis desideriis suis in mortis foveam corruerunt. Et quia dicturus erat, ceciderunt, praemisit, obligati, quod necesse est illis contingere, qui se videntur nexuosis erroribus obligare. Resurgere enim duobus modis dicitur Christianus: quando a vitiorum morte in hoc mundo per gratiam liberatus, in divinis justificationibus perseverat, sicut sapientissimus Salomon dicit Septies cadit justus, et resurgit. Dicitur et generalis illa resurreciio, in qua justi praemia aeterna consequentur. Sed hic utramque convenire manifesium est; ubi ideo posuit, erecti sumus, quia in qualibet resurrectione, fideles ab humilitate consurgunt , et ad divina praemia sublevantur. Quod argumentum in topicis dicitur a rebus ipsis, quando et adversarios corruisse dicimus, et nos erectos esse testamur. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XIX Source: Migne PL 70.146a-c

These in chariots, and these in horses, but we in the name of the Lord are made great. 1 Confident in the uprightness of his faith, which the gifts of the Lord have fortified, the prophet rejoices, despising those who are borne about in the pomp of chariots, and who rather have confidence in temporal dignities. Among the ancients there were two kinds of triumphs, the greater one with chariots, which was called the laureatum and the lesser one with horses which was named the ovatio. But forsaking these worldly things, he confirms himself to be made great in the name of the Lord. For it is not a chariot or a horse that makes one great, although in this world they seem to lift one up with honour, but the name of the Lord which leads to eternal rewards. This figure of speech  is named 'syncrisis' in Greek and 'comparatio' in Latin, where with a certain comparison our more righteous cause is demonstrated against an adverse one. They were bound and the fell, but we rose and stood. He forcefully reveals the fruit of the preceding speech. For confident in human honours, they tumbled down amid their degenerate desires into the pit of the snare of death. And because he has said they fell, he firstly sets down that they were bound to touch on how necessity bound them. The Christian is said to rise up in two ways, when he has been delivered by grace from the death of the vices in this world and he perseveres in the Divine justifications, as the most wise Solomon says, 'The righteous man falls seven times and he rises,' 2 and it is said of the general resurrection in which the righteous receive eternal rewards. But here it was fitting to set forth both, when it says we stand, because in either resurrection the faithful rise up from humiliation and are lifted up to the Divine reward.  Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 19 1 Ps 19.8 2 Prov 24.16

Scripture And Life

Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς Γραφὰς, ὅτι ὑμεῖς δοκεῖτε ἐν αὐταῖς ζωὴν αἰώνιον ἔχειν· καὶ ἐκεῖναί εἰσιν αἱ μαρτυροῦσαι περὶ ἐμοῦ, καὶ οὐ θέλετε έλθεῖν πρὸς με, ἴνα ζωὴν ἔχητε . Δόξαν παρὰ ἀνθρώπων οὐ λαμβάνω, ἀλλ᾽ ἔγνωκα ὑμᾶς , ὅτι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς. Εἶπεν αὐτοῖς, ὅτι, Ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ, τουτέστιν, αἱ Γραφαὶ αἱ περὶ ἐμοῦ μαρτυροῦσαι, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν ὑμῖν. Διδάσχων οὖν πῶς δυνήσονται σχεῖν τὸν λόγον τοῦ Θεοῦ, φησίν· Ἐρευνᾶτε τὰς Γραφάς· ἐν αὐταῖς γὰρ δοκεῖτε ὑμεῖς ζωὴν ἔχειν. Ὄρα δὲ πῶς οὐκ εἶπεν, Ἔχετε ζωὴν, ἀλλ᾽, Ὅτι δοκεῖτε· δοκεῖτε δὲ εἰπε, δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐδὲν κατὰ ἀλήθειαν ἐκεῖθεν έκαρποῦντο, ἀπὸ τῆς ἀναγνώσεως μόνης σώζεσθαι προσδοκῶντες, πίστεως μὴ προσούσης. Ἐκεῖναι μὲν γάρ εἰσιν αἱ μαρτυροῦσαι περὶ ἐμοῦ· ἀλλ' ὑμεῖς οὐ θέλετε ἐλθεῖν πρός με, ἵνα ζωὴν ἔχητε. Ὥστε κἀντεῦθεν μανθάνωμεν, ὡς ἐκ προαιρέσεως ἦσαν κακοί. Οὐκ εἶπε γὰρ , ὅτι Οὐ δύνασθε ἐλθεῖν, ἀλλ᾿ ὅτι Οὐ θέλετε ἐλθεῖν. ᾿Ακουέτωσαν Μανιχαῖοι, ὅτι οὐ φύσει τὸ κακὸν, ἀλλὰ προαιρέσει συνίσταται. Ἐπεὶ δὲ ἀνέμνησεν αὐτοὺς τῆς Ἰωάννου μαρτυρίας, καὶ τῆς τοῦ Πατρὸς, καὶ τῆς δια τῶν ἔργων αὐτοῦ, διὰ τὴν σωτηρίαν αὐτῶν μόνον ταῦτα ποιῶν· εἰκὸς δὲ ἦν πολλοὺς ὑποπτεύειν, ὅτι δόξης ἔρωτι ταῦτα λέγει· διὰ τοῦτό φησιν, ὅτι Δόξαν παρὰ ἀνθρώπων οὐ λαμβάνω· τουτέστι, Δόξης οὐ δέομαι· οὐδὲ γὰρ φύσιν ἔχω τοιαύτην, ὥστε δεῖ σθαι τῆς παρὰ ἀνθρώπων δόξης. Ὑμεῖς δὲ διώκετέ με προφασιζόμενοι, ὅτι δι' ἀγάπην Θεοῦ τοῦτο ποιεῖτε. ᾿Αλλ' οὐκ ἔστι τοῦτο, οὐκ ἔστι. Ἔγνωκα γὰρ ὑμᾶς , ὅτι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ ἔχετε ἐν ἑαυτοῖς· κἂν ἄνω καὶ κάτω τοῦτο προβάλλοισθε, τὸ διὰ τὸ διώκειν με. Εἰκότως οὖν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι τὴν ἀγάπην τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐκ εἶχον, ἐπεὶ ἐδίωκον τὴν αὐτο αγάπην, τὸν Υἱὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ. Εἰκότως καὶ τὸν λόγον αὐτοῦ οὐκ εἶχον μένοντα ἐν αὐτοῖς· τὸν γὰρ Λόγον καὶ Θεὸν παρῃτοῦντο . Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ιὠαννὴν, Κεφαλὴ E' Source: Migne PG 123.1280a-c

You study the Scriptures because you think you will find eternal life in them, and they bear witness to me, and you do not wish to come to me that you might have life. I do not receive glory from men, but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. 1 He said to them, that is, the word of God said, that the Scriptures which testify about me, they are not in you. Then teaching how one is able to have the word of God, He says, 'You study the Scriptures because you think you will find eternal life in them.' Note how He does not say 'You have eternal life,' but 'you think' showing that they do not gather according to truth there who hope to be saved from reading alone, not coming near to faith. For 'they bear witness to me, and you do not wish to come to me, so that you might have life.' Hence we learn from this that they were wicked. For He does not say, 'You are not able to come,' but 'You do not wish to come,' Let the Manicheans hear that nothing is evil by nature, but it is established in the will. Then having borne witness to John and the Father, and the works He had performed for their salvation, He says that they scorned many of them, as if they were done for the love of glory. Therefore He says, 'I do not receive glory from men,' that is, 'I do not lack it, but nor do I have a nature which values human glory. But you persecute me, saying that is on account of the love of God that you do this, but it is not so. I know that you do not have the love of God in you, even if you boast of it, because you persecute me because of God.' Rightly, then, it is said that the Jews do not have the love of God, since they persecute that same love which is the Son of God. Hence rightly are they said not to have the word of God abiding in them, for they rejected the Word and God. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 5 1 Jn 5.39-42

Corruption And Resurrection

Corruptio duobus modis accidere dicitur: corporaliter et spiritaliter. Corporaliter accidit, cum evenerit illud quod scriptum est: Si quis templum Dei corruperit, corrumpet illum Deus. Spiritaliter vero, cum illud acciderit quod nihilominus Apostolus dicit: Vereor autem ne sicut serpens Evan seduxit astutua sua, sic corrumpantur sensus vestri a simplicitate fidei, quae est in Christo Jesu. Si quis ergo ab his quae supra diximus manserit corpore et spiritu incorruptus, iste incorruptionem quaerere dicitur, quo scilicet per hanc observantiae incorruptionem, illam quae ex resurrectione est incorruptionem consequi mereatur. Quid autem detur haec requirentibus videamus. Vita, inquit, aeterna, illa de qua Salvator docet, cum dicit: Haec est autem vita aeterna, ita cognoscant te solum verum Deum, et quem misisti Jesum Christum. Per quod ostendit in agnitione Dei, et Christi Jesu, vitae aeternae manere substantiam. Agnitio vero Dei quomodo haberi possit, docemur in Psamlis, cum dicitur: Vacate et agnoscite quoniam ego sum Deus. Origenes, Commentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Romanos, Liber II, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 14.882c-883a

Corruption is said to happen in two ways, bodily and spiritually. It happens bodily when there comes about what has been written, 'If someone shall corrupt the temple of God, God shall corrupt him.' 1 But it is spiritual when it happens as the Apostle says, 'I fear lest as the serpent seduced Eve with its cleverness, so they are corrupting your minds from the simplicity of the faith which is in Jesus Christ.' 2 Therefore if someone keeps himself uncorrupted from the things we have spoken about, he is said to be one who seeks incorruption, because of which, through this observance of incorruption, he shall merit that incorruption which follows after the resurrection. Let us consider what is given to those who seek this. 'Eternal life,' it is said, concerning which the Saviour teaches when He says, 'This is eternal life, that they know that you alone are the true God, and Him whom you sent, Jesus Christ.' 3 By which it is shown that the substance of eternal life is found in the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ. And we are taught how it is possible to have this knowledge of God in the Psalms when it is said, 'Be at peace and know that I am God.' 4 Origen, from the Commentary on the Letter of Paul to the Romans, Book 2, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 1 Cor 3.17 2 2 Cor 11.3 3 Jn 17.3 4 Ps 45.11

The Setting Sun

Vespere autem facto, obtulerunt ei multos daemonia habentes... Solis occubitus passionem mortemque designat illius qui dixit: Quandiu in mundo sum, lux sum mundi, et sole occidente plures daemoniaci quam ante, et plures sanantur aegroti, et qui temporaliter vivens in carne, paucos Judaeorum docuit, calcato mortis regno, omnibus per orbem gentibus fidei dona transmisit, cujus ministris tanquam vitae lucisque praeconibus Psalmista dicit: Iter facite ei qui ascendit super occasum. Ascendit super occasum, quando in passione occubuit; majorem resurgendo suam gloriam manifestavit. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput VIII Source: Migne PL 162.1323a

And when it was evening, they brought to Him many who had demons... 1 With the sun's setting His passion and death is signified, He who said, 'While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.' 2 And with the sun's death there are more demoniacs than before and more who are healed of their sicknesses, for He who while He was living temporally in the flesh taught a few of the Jews, having crushed down the kingdom of death, then sent forth through the world the gift of faith to all peoples, He whose servants are as preachers of life and light, as the Psalmist says, 'You make a way for Him who ascends over the setting sun.' 3 He ascends over the setting sun, when having set in His passion He manifests His greater glory in His rising. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 8 1 Mt 8.16 2 Jn 8.12 3 Ps 67.5

The Writing On The Cross

Ἡ της σανίδας γραφή, ἣν Πιλᾶτος πρὸ τῆς Κυριακής έπηξε κεφαλῆς, τὴν τοῦ Κυρίου ἐπλήρου φωνήν, Ἐπειδὰν ὑψωθῶ, λέγοντος, πάντας ἑλκύσω πρὸς ἐμαυτόν. Ἐδήλου τοίνυν ἡ ἐκεῖθεν ἀνάγνωσις, οὐχ ὑπὲρ Ἰουδαίας μόνης, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ πάσης Ελληνος καὶ βαρβάρου γεγενῆσθαι τὸ σωτήριον πάθος. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΥϟA' Εὐτονιῳ Διακονῳ Source: Migne 78.449c

The writing on the tablet that Pilate had fixed above the head of the Lord fulfills this saying of the Lord, 'When I shall be lifted up, I shall draw all things to myself.' 1 Clearly then this writing indicates that the salvific passion was not just for the Jews, but even for all the Greeks and the barbarians. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 491 To Eutonoius the deacon 1 Jn 12.32

Apperances After The Resurrection

Illa existimans, quod hortulanus esset etc. Nota, quod Dominus post resurrectionem in triplici specie se ostendit: in specie hortutani; unde hic: llla existimans, quod hortulanus esset etc. In specie peregrini; unde Lucae ultimo: Tu solus peregrinus es in lerusalem? In specie crucifixi; unde in eodem: Videte manus meas et pedes meos, quia ego sum. Nota igitur, quod specialiter in specie hortulani se ostendit incipientibus, in quibus plantat germina virtutum; in specie peregrini proficientibus, quos deducit per viam mandatorum; in specie crucifixi perfectis, quos accendit ad imitationem passionis. Sanctus Bonaventura, Collationes In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput XX, Collatio LXXIV Source: Here, p622

She, thinking that He was the gardener... 1 Note that after the resurrection the Lord revealed Himself in three forms. In the form of a gardener, hence here, 'She, thinking He was the gardener...' In the form of a traveller, as in the last chapter of Luke, 'Are you the only traveller in Jerusalem?' And in the form of the crucified, where in the same place, 'See my hands and my feet, it is me.' 2 Note, therefore, that He especially shows himself in the form of a gardener to those who are beginners, in whom He plants the seeds of the virtues, and as a traveller to those who are advancing, who He leads on the way of the commandments, and in the form of the crucified to the perfect, in whom He kindles a fire for the imitation of the passion. Saint Bonaventura, Observations On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 20 1 Jn 20.15 2 Lk 18.24, 18.39

Joseph And The Resurrection

Et accesserunt, inquit, ad illum, et dixit: Ego sum Joseph frater vester, quem vos tradidistis in Aegyptum. Nunc ergo nolite moesti esse, neque obis durum videatur, quoniam huc me vendidistis. Ad vitam enim vestram misit me Deus ante vos. Quam fraterna pietas, quam dulcis germanitas, ut etiam parricidale excusaret admissum, dicens divinae illud providentiae fuisse, non impietatis humanae: quandoquidem non ab hominibus oblatus ad mortem, sed a Domino missus sit ad vitam. Quid aliud habet illa Domini nostri Jesu Christi, qui fratres omnes pietate superavit, in cruce positi intercessio pro plebe, dicentis: Pater, dimitte illis; non enim sciunt quid faciunt? Quid aliud illa appellatio sanctitatis in medio discipulorum dicentis: Pax vobis: ego sum, nolite timere? Et cum conturbati et conterriti existimarent se spiritum videre, iterum dixit ad illos: Quid turbatis estis, et quare cogitationes ascendunt in corda vestra? Videte, ecce manus meas, et pedes meos, quia ego sum ipse. Palpate, et videte, quia spiritus carnem et ossa non habet, sicut me videtis habere. Haec ergo jam tunc futura posterioribus temporibus mysteria revelata sunt. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Jospeph Patriarca, Caput XII Source: Migne PL 14.667c-668a

And they came near to him and he said, 'I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold off to Egypt. Now do not be troubled, nor let it seem hard to you, because you sold me here, for God sent me before you for your life.' 1 What fraternal piety, what sweet fellowship, that he would even excuse a murderous deed in saying it was a matter of Divine providence and not human wickedness, and that he was not handed over to death by men but sent by the Lord for life. Does this not have something of our Lord Jesus Christ in it, He who exceeded all brothers in piety and who placed on the cross prayed for the people, saying, 'Forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they do?' 2 Does it not have something of that appeal of sanctity which in the midst of the disciples said, 'Be at peace. It is me. Do not be afraid.'? And when they were troubled and thought him a ghost, again He said to them, 'Why are you troubled and why do your thoughts leap up in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, it is me. Touch and see, because a spirit does not have flesh and blood, as you see I have.' 3 Therefore even then the mysteries that were to come to be in later times were already revealed. Saint Ambrose, On The Patriarch Joseph, Chapter 12 1 Gen 45.4-5 2 Lk 23.34 3 Lk 23.38-39

The Glory Of This Resurrection

Est aliud in quo resurrectionis hujus innotescat gloria singularis. Quis enim in caeteris omnibus suscitavit aliquando semetipsum? Ineffabile istud est, ut a morte se excitet ipse qui dormit: singulare est; non est qui faciat, non est usque ad unum. Eliseus propheta mortuum suscitavit, sed alterum, non semetipsum. Ecce enim quot annis jacet in monumento, quod a se non potest, sperans ab alio suscitari; ab eo utique qui triumphavit mortis imperium in seipso. Inde est quod caeteros quidem dicimus suscitatos, Christum resurrexisse, qui solus virtute propria victor prodiit de sepulcro: siquidem et in hoc vicit leo de tribu Juda, Quantum poterit, immo quid non posse videbitur vivens, et dicens Patri: Resurrexi, et adhuc sum tecum; qui tam potens exstitit deputatus cum mortuis, sed inter mortuos liber? Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Tempore, In Die Sancto Paschae Source: Migne PL 183.277d-278a

There is something else in which the singular glory of this resurrection is known. Who among all other men was ever able to raise himself? It has never been told that anyone who slept was able to raise himself from death. It is unheard of, there is not one that could do it, not even one. Elisha the prophet raised a dead man, but it was another man, not himself. 1 Behold how many years he lays in the tomb who is not able to raise himself but hopes for another, that is, apart from Him who triumphed over the empire of death in Himself. Hence we say that others were raised up, but Christ has risen, He who alone is the victor, who with His own power comes forth from the tomb. Here the lion of Judah conquers. How much will he be able to do, indeed, what will he not seem able to do, who lives and says to the Father, 'I have risen, and I am yet with you.' 2 Who is so powerful when set among the dead, but he who is a free man among the dead. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons for the Year, On Easter 1 4 Kings 4.35 2 Apoc 5.5, Ps 138.18, Ps 87.6

Doubt And The Resurrection

Quod resurrectionem dominicam discipuli tarde crediderunt, non tam illorum infirmitas quam nostra, ut ita dicam, futura firmitas fuit Ipsa namque resurrectio illis dubitantibus per multa argumenta monstrata est: quae dum nos legentes agnoscimus, quid aliud quam de illorum dubitatione solidamur? Minus enim mihi Maria Magdalene praestitit, quae citius credidit quam Thomas qui diu dubitavit. Ille etenim dubitando vulnerum cicatrices tetigit, et de nostro pectore dubietatis vulnus amputavit. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Homiliarum in Evangelia Liber III, Homilia XXIX Source: Migne PL 76.1213c

That the disciples were slow to believe in the Lord's resurrection 1 was not so much a matter of their weakness as, so to speak, for our future strength, for the resurrection had been shown to them through many arguments, which reading and recognising, are we anything but strengthened amid their doubts? Mary Magdalene who was quick to believe stands in less rank to me than Thomas who doubted for a long time. Indeed he was doubting even as he touched the scars of the wounds, by which he cut off the wound of doubt from our hearts. 2 Saint Gregory the Great, Homilies On The Gospels, Book 3, from Homily 29 1 Mk 16.11 2 Jn 20.24-29

The Resurrection And The Seals

Flebat Joannes in Apocalypsi quia non inveniebat qui solveret septem signacula signati libri. Cum enim Joannes Baptista, qui major erat inter natos mulierum, iam se publice judicasset indignum solvere corrigiam calceamenti: perinde erat ac si diceret: Non sum dignus solvere signaculum libri. Nihil est aliud signaculum libri quam ligatura calceamenti. Unus autem de senioribus dixit ei: Ne fleveris. Dignus est Agnus, qui occisus est, accipere librum, et solvere septem signacula ejus. Hic est liber involutus, sicut in propheta legitur, scriptus digito Dei, in pergameno uteri virginalis. Liber iste in quo legunt angeli delectationes aeternas. Septem fuerunt hujus libri signacula. Deus enim gloriam suae majestis in carne abscondens, pretium nostrae redemptionis quasi in sacculo consignavit. Nonne saccus fuit carnis mortalis assumptio? Posuitisti, inquit vestimentum meum cilicium. Et iterum: Conscidisti saccum meum et circumdedisti me laetitia. In hoc sacculo attulit species pretiosas, veniam peccatorum, profectum virtutum, praemium meritorum. Haec saccum texuit divina sapientia novem mensibus: nam de illa legitur: Manum suam misit ad fortia et dirigit ejus apprehenderunt fusum. Hunc saccum in Jordane lavit, in passione torsit, in cruce siccavit. Humanitas Christi vocatur liber, quia in eo est scientia vitae et disciplinae. Fuit ergo vivum signaculum, ut non posset ejus divinitas comprehendi, dispensatio Virginis, corporis infirmitas, circumcisio, fuga in Aegyptum, fames in deserto, humilitas crucis, sepultura. Quae licet ultimum signaculum, multum tamen clausit et abscondit de gloria divinae majestatis. Haec omnia Christus hodie solvit, non rupit; nam omnibus quae ad dispensationem carnis assumptae pertinebant, obedienter impletis, hodie de miseri humanitatis resurgit in gloriam deitatis. Opportebat siquidem Christum pati, et resurgere et sic intrare in gloriam suam. Suam dico, imo et nostram. Non enim per aliud ostium intrabit caput, et per aliud membra. Volo, inquit, ut ubi ego sum, illic sit et minister meus. Petrus Blenensis, Sermo XXI, In Resurrectione Source: Migne PL 207.621a-d

In the Apocalypse John wept because he was not able to find anyone to undo the seven seals of the sealed book. 1 For when John the Baptist, compared to whom no one greater was born among woman, openly proclaimed that he was not worthy to undo a strap of His sandal, it was as if he had said, 'I am not worthy to undo a seal of the book.' 2 There is no difference between the seal of the book and the strap of the sandal. Then one of the elders said to John, 'Do not weep. The lamb who was slain is worthy to receive the book and undo the seven seals.' This is the book that is bound up, as is read in the prophet, 3 and was written by the finger of God on the parchment of the Virgin's womb. This is the book in which the angels read all the eternal joys. There were seven seals on this book. For leaving the glory of His majesty for the flesh, God consigned the reward of our redemption as if in a sack. Was this sack not the taking up of mortal flesh? 'And I made haircloth my garment.' And again, 'You have cut off my sackcloth and surrounded me with joy.' 4 In this sack He brought precious wealth, the forgiveness of sins, the perfection of virtue, the reward of merit. The Divine wisdom fashioned this sack in nine months, for concerning it we read, 'She has put her hand to strong things and her fingers have taken hold of the spindle.' 5 He washed this sack in the Jordan, He wrung it in the Passion, He dried it on the Cross. The book he speaks of is the humanity of Christ, because in it is the knowledge of life and discipline. It then had a living seal, so that it was not possible to understand His Divinity, the dispensation to the Virgin, the infirmity of the body, the circumcision, the flight into Egypt, the hunger in the desert, the humility of the cross, or the tomb. This last seal hid and obscured much of the glory of the Divine majesty. Today Christ undoes all these, and does not break them, for He obediently fulfilled everything of the dispensation of the taking up of the flesh, and today He rises from the wretchedness of humanity to the glory of Godhood. It was necessary that Christ suffer and rise and so enter into His glory. 6 His own, I say, and even ours. For it is not that the head enters through one gate and the members through another. 'I wish,' He says, 'that where I am, that there is my servant.' 7 Peter of Blois, from Sermon 21, On The Resurrection 1 Apoc 5.4 2 Lk 7.28, Lk 3.16 3 Ezek 2.9 4 Ps 68.12, Ps 29.12 5 Prov 31.19 6 Lk 24.26 7 Jn 12.26

Mockery And The Cross

Et praetereuntes blasphemabant eum, moventes capita sua, et dicentes: Vah qui destruis templum Dei, et in tribus diebus reaedificas: salvum fac temetipsum, descendens de cruce. Tangitur hic de irrisione crucifixi: irrisio autem haec facta est a tribus generibus hominum: scilicet , praetereuntibus, sacerdotibus, et latronibus et secundum haec tria recipit divisionem. Irrisio praetereuntium habet tria: blasphemiam, motus capitis, et improperium in verbis. Dicit igitur et prætereuntes qui vagos in mundi vanitatibus significant, stabiliter in veritate non manentes. Ierem, Populus hic dilexit movere pedes suos, et Domino non placuit. Vir vanus in superbiam erigitur, et tanquam pullunt onagri se natum liberum putat. Blasphemabant eum: dicentes eum virtutes quas fecerat in principe daemoniorum perfecifle. Qui blasphemaverit in Spiritum sanctum, non habebit remissionem in aeternum. Isa, Dereliquerunt Dominum blasphemaverunt ſanctum Israel, abalienati sunt retrorsum, in signum comminationis et irrisionis: unde de Sennacherib dicitur Ifa. Post te movebit caput virgo filia Sion. Et haec irrisio per comminationem Propheticam est causa captivitatis ipsorum, Caput circuitus eorum, labor labiorum ipsorum operiet eos. Quia movendo capita circumdabant ipsum, et dicentes, improperando, Vah, Interietio est indignantis. Cum audierit sonitum buccinae, dicet vah. Qui destruis templum Dei, sicut dixisti Ioan, et in tribus diebus reaedificas tua virtute, quae nunc tam infirma apparere. Habac. Ibi abscondita eſt fortitudo eius. Salvum fac temetipsum. Virtute quam de te in potestate reaedificandi templum praedicasti Descendens de cruce. Sed isti non cognoverunt quod non venerat ut seipsum temporaliter salvaret, sed omnes: et ideo non descendat de cruce, sed potius ascendat, loan, Ego si exaltatus fuero a terra, omnia traham ad me ipsum. Si serpens de palo deponitur Num, nullus a morsu serpentis liberatur . Ioan, Sicut Moyses exaltavit serpentem in deserto: ita exaltari oportet filium hominis, ut omnis qui credit in ipsum non pereat, sed habeat vitam aeternam Sanctus Albertus Magnus, Commentarium In Evangelium Divi Marci, Caput XV Source: Here p183

And passers by blasphemed Him, and shook their heads saying, 'Ha, you who would destroy the temple of God and rebuild it in three days, save yourself and come down from the cross.' 1 He touches here on the mockery of the crucified, and the mockery is performed by three types of men, that is, by the passers by and by the priests, and by the thieves, and according to these three the division is made. The mockery of the passers by has three parts, blasphemy and the shaking of the head, and the insult in words. It speaks, then, of the passers by as being those who wander in the vanity of worldly things, and who do not remain in the truth. 2 In Jeremiah, 'This people love to move their feet, and it does not please the Lord.' 3 The vain man is lifted up in his pride and as a wild ass brought forth he thinks himself nobly born. They had blasphemed Him before, saying that the powers He showed were performed by demons, as previously in the third chapter of Mark. 'He who blasphemes the Holy Spirit shall not have forgiveness in eternity.' 4 In Isaiah, 'They forsake the Lord, they blaspheme the Holy One of Israel, they have turned their backs,' 5 as a sign of condemnation and mockery. Hence is it said of Sennacherib in Isaiah, 'Behind you the virgin daughter of Sion shall shake her head. ' 6 And through the warning of the prophet this mockery is the cause of their captivity. 'Their heads surrounded me, the toil of their lips shall cover them.' Because with the shaking of their heads they surrounded him, 7 saying insultingly, 'Ha,' which is an indignant interjection. 'When he hears the sound of the trumpet, he will say, Ha.' 8 You who would destroy the temple, as was said in John, and in three days rebuild it with your power, that appears so very weak now, In Habakkuk, 'There his strength is lost,' 9 'Save yourself,'  with the power of the rebuilding of the temple which you foretold for yourself. But they do not know that He did not come to save Himself in temporal things, but to save all men, and therefore He does not come down from the cross, but rather He rises up to it. In the twelfth chapter of John, 'And if I am lifted up from the earth, I shall draw all things to myself.' If the serpent is not set up in Numbers, no one is delivered from the bite of the serpent. In the third chapter of John, 'As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so it is necessary that the Son of man shall be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.' 10 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Mark, Chapter 15 1 Mk 15.29 2 Jn 8.44 3 Jerem 14.10 4 Mk 3.22-30 5 Isaiah 1.4 6 Isaiah 37.22 7 Ps 139.10 8 Job 39.25 9 Jn 2.19, Hab 3.4 10 Jn 12.32, Numb 21, Jn 12.14-15

The Denials

Τρὶς τὸν Κύριον ἀρνησάμενος τῶν ἀποστόλων ὁ ἔξαρχος, τὴν τῶν ἀνθρώπων πάντων ἁμαρτίαν ὑπο ἔδειξε, τρὶς ἀθετησάντων τὸν Κτίσαντα, ἐν τῇ δόσειτῆς πρώτης ἐντολῆς , ἐν τῇ θέσει τοῦ νόμου τοῦ γραστοῦ, ἐν τῇ σαρκώσει τοῦ Λόγου καὶ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν· ἣν τριπλῇ πάλιν μεταγνώσει ἰάσατο, ἀνάλογον τῷ τραύματι πορισάμενος καὶ τὸ φάρμακον, καὶ δείξας ὡς πάντων τῶν κακῶν θεραπεία, ἡ τοῦ Κυρίου γέγονε παρουσία. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΤΝϚ’, Σελευκῳ Source: Migne 78.385b

The prince of the Apostles' denial of the Lord three times points to the sin of all men who rejected the Lord three times, in the giving of the first command, in the establishment of the written law, in the putting on of humanity by the Word and God, 1 which three time denial is again healed by penance, which is as the bringing of medicine to a wounded man, for which reason the Lord came, showing care for every evil. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 356, To Seleucus 1 Gen 2.16-17, Exod 32, Jn 1.11