Hell and Advent

Ποιῆσαι ἔλεος μετὰ τῶν πατέρων ἡμῶν καὶ μνησθῆναι διαθήκης ἁγίας αὐτοῦ Ὡς οἶμαι καὶ οἱ πατέρες ἡμων Ἀβραὰμ, καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακὼβ καὶ ὅλος ὁ χορὸς τῶν ἁγίων αὐτοῦ προφητῶν καὶ δικαίων, ἀπήλαυσσαν τῆς παρουσίας τοῦ Χριστοῦ. Εἰ γὰρ εἰρηνοποίησε διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ σταυροῦ αὐτοῦ τά τε ἐν γῇ καὶ τὰ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ κατὰ τὸν θεϊον Ἀποστολον τί ὀκνεῖς παραδέξασθαι, ὅτι καὶ πρὸς τοὺς πατέρας ἡ επισκοπὴ, καὶ τοῦτο ἡ εἰς τὸν ᾄδην αὐτοῦ ἄφιξις ἑπραγματεύσατο διὰ τὸ ἀνεξιχνίαστον αὐτοῦ ἔλεος; Τοῦτο δὲ, εἰ καὶ νῦν γέγονεν, ἀλλ' ἔκπαλαι προανεφωνήθη· καὶ ἀδύνατον ἧν μὴ ἐκβῆναι αὐτοὺς λόγους εἰς ἔργον. Ὄρκῳ γὰρ ἐβεβαίωσε τὰς ἐπαγγελίας διὰ τὸ ἀπαράνατον, ὅτι πάντως ἔσται. Καὶ νῦν οἱ πιστοὶ ἀφόβως ἐκ χειρὸς τῶν νοητῶν ἐχθρῶν ῥύονται. Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Το Κατα Λουκαν Εὐαγγελιον, Κεφ Α'

So He would be merciful to our fathers and remember His holy covenant. 1 I think that even our fathers Abraham and Issac and Jacob and all the host of holy Prophets and righteous men profited by the advent of Christ. For if ' He brought peace through the blood of His cross  to things in earth and heaven, 2 as the holy Apostle says, why delay to admit that by our fathers he was seen, and that He had His coming to hell, on account of His incomprehensible mercy? And this, if now it has happened, from of old was proclaimed, and that it was impossible does not harmonise with the intent of these words. He swore his promise, and it is unalterable, and certainly it shall come to pass. 3 And now the faithful, without fear, from the hand of the spiritual enemies are freed. 4 Origen, Commentary On Luke, Chap 1, Fragment 1 Lk 1.72 2 Col 1.20 3 cf Heb 6. 16, 17 4 Lk 1.74

Dying and Rising

Confiteamur igitur, dilectissimi, quod beatus magister gentium Paulus apostlus gloriosa voce confessus est, dicens: Fidelis sermo et omni acceptione dignus, quia Christus Jesus venit in hunc mundum peccatores salvos facere. Hinc enim mirabilior est erga nos misericordia Dei, quod non pro justis, neque pro sanctis, sed pro iniquis et impiis Christus est mortuus: et cum mortis aculeum recipere non posset natura deitatis, suscepit tamne, nascendo ex nobis, quod posset offerre pro nobis. Olim enim morti nostrae mortis suae potentia minabatur, dicens per Oseam prophetam: O mors, ero mors tua, ero morsus tuus, inferne. Leges enim inferni moriendo subiit, sed resurgendo dissolvit: et ita perpetuitatem mortis incidit, ut eam de aeterna faceret temporalem. Sicut enim omnes in Adam moriuntur, ita et in Christo omnes vivificabuntur. Fiat itaque, dilectissimi, quod apostolus Paulus ait, 'Ut qui vivunt, jam non sibi vivant, sed ei qui pro omnibus mortuus est et resurrexit; et quia vetera transierunt, et facta sunt omnia nova, nemo in carnalis vitae vetustate remaneat, sed omnes de die in diem proficiendo, per pietatis augmenta renovemur. Quantumlibet enim quisque justificatus sit, habet tamen, dum in hac vita est, quo probatior esse possit et melior. Qui autem non proficit, deficit; et qui nihil acquirit, nonnihil perdit. Currendum ergo nobis est fidei gressibu, misericordiae operibus, amore justitiae, ut diem redemptionis nostrae spiritaliter celebrantes, non in fermento veteri malitiae et nequitiae, sed in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis, resurrectionis Christi mereamur esse participes. Sanctus Leo Magnus, Sermo LIX

Let us confess, therefore, beloved, what the blessed teacher of the nations, the Apostle Paul, confessed, saying, 'Faithful the saying, and worthy of all reception, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners' 1. For indeed the mercy of God for us is the more wonderful that Christ died not for the righteous nor for the holy, but for the sinful and impious; 2 and though the nature of the Godhead cannot suffer the sting of death, yet at His birth He took from us that which He might offer for us. For of old He threatened our death with the power of His death, saying by the mouth of Hosea the prophet, 'O death, I will be your death, and I will be your destruction, O hell .' 3 For by dying He underwent the laws of hell, but by rising again He broke them, and so destroyed the continuity of death as to make it temporal instead of eternal. 'For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive' 4 . And so, beloved, let that come to pass which the Apostle Paul speaks, 'That they that live should henceforth not live to themselves but to Him who died for all and rose again.' 5  And because the old things have passed away and all things have become new, let none remain in his old carnal life, but let us all be renewed by daily progress and growth in piety. For however much a man be justified, yet so long as he remains in this life, he can always be more approved and better. And he that is not advancing is going back, and he that is gaining nothing is losing something. Let us run, then, with the steps of faith, by the works of mercy, in the love of righteousness, that keeping the day of our redemption spiritually, 'Not in the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth' 6, we may deserve to be partakers of Christ's resurrection. Pope Leo the Great, from Sermon 99 1  1 Tim 1:15 2  Rom 5.6 3 Hosea 13:14 4 1 Cor 15.22 5 2 Cor 5:15 6 1 Cor 5:8

Death and Change

Nunc vero sermonem convertimus ad nonnullos nostrorum, qui vel pro intellectus exiguitate, vel explanationis inopia, valde vilem et abjectum sensum de resurrectione corporis introducunt. Quos interrogamus, quomodo intelligant animale corpus gratia resurrectionis immutandum, et spiritale futurum; et quomodo quod in infirmitate seminatur, resurrecturum sentiant in virtute; quod in ignobilitate, quomodo resurgat in gloria; et quod in corruptione, quomodo ad incorruptionem transferatur. Quod utique si credunt Apostolo, quia corpus in gloria et virtute et incorruptibilitate resurgens, spiritale jam effectum sit, absurdum videtur et contra sensum Apostoli dicere id rursum carnis et sanguinis passionibus implicari, cum manifeste dicat Apostolus: ' Quonaim caro et sanguis regnum Dei non possidebunt; neque corruption incorruptionem possidebit'  Sed illud quomodo accipiunt quod dicit Apostolus: 'Omnes autem immutabimur'  Quae utique immutatio secundum illum ordinem quem superius docuimus, exspectanda est; in qua sine dubio dignum aliquids divine gratia sperare nos convenit: quod futurum credimus hoc ordine quo 'nudum granum frumenti aut alicujus caeterorum' in terra seminatum describit Apostolus cui 'Deus dat corpus prout vult'  cum primum granum ipsum frumenti mortuum fuerit. Ita namque etiam nostra corpora velut granum cadere in terram putanda sunt; quibis insita ratio ea quae substantiam continet corporalem, quamvis emortua fuerint corpora et corrupta atque dispera, verbo tamen Dei ratio illa ipsa quae semper in substantia corporis salva est, erigat ea de terra et restituat ac reparet, sicut ea virtus quae est in grano frumenti, post corruptionem ejus et mortem reparat ac resituit granum in culmi corpus et spicae. Et ita his quidem qui regni coelorum haereditatem consequi merebuntur, ratio illa reparandi corporis quam supra diximus, Dei jussu ex terreno et animali corpore corpus reparat spiritale, quod habitare possit in coelis; his vero qui inferioris meriti fuerint, vel abjectioris, vel etiam ultimi et abstrusi, pro uniuscujusque vitae atque animae dignitate, etiam gloria corporis et dignitas datur; ita tamen it etiam eorum qui ad ignem aeternum, vel ad supplicia destinandi sunt, per ipsam resurrectionis permutationem ita corpus incorruptum sit quod resurgit, ut ne suppliciis quidem corrumpi valeat et dissolvi. Origenes, De Principiis, Liber II, Cap X

We now turn our attention to not a few of our own, who, either from poverty of intellect or lack of instruction, propose a very poor and abject opinion concerning the resurrection of the body. We ask them how they understand that an animal body will be changed by the grace of the resurrection into a spiritual one, and how what is sown in weakness will be in the power of the resurrection, and how what is in dishonour will arise in glory, and how what was sown in corruption will be transformed into a state of incorruption. Because if they believe the Apostle, that a body which arises in glory, and power, and incorruptibility, has already become spiritual, it seems absurd and opposed to the Apostle's meaning to say that again it will be embroiled with the passions of flesh and blood, seeing that the Apostle openly says: 'Flesh and blood shall not inherit the kingdom of God, nor shall corruption inherit incorruption.' 1 But how do they understand the speech of the Apostle: 'We shall all be changed?' 2 This change, according to the order which we have taught above, must be expected, and in it, without doubt, it befits us to hope for something worthy of Divine grace, and this we believe will happen in the order in which 'a bare grain of corn, or of any other fruit,' 3 in the earth is sown, as the Apostle describes, to which 'God gives a body as it pleases Him,' 4 as soon as the grain of the crop is dead. For in like manner our bodies should be supposed to fall into the earth like grain, in which is implanted that which contains the bodily substance, and although the bodies die, and become corrupted and are scattered, yet by the word of God that same germ, always safe in the substance of the body, raises them from the earth and restores and repairs, as the power which is in the grain of wheat, after its corruption and death, repairs and restores the grain into a body of stalk and ear. And so it will be to those who shall deserve to obtain an inheritance in the kingdom of heaven, that germ of the body's restoration of which we have spoken, by God's command, restoring out of the earthly and animal body a spiritual one, which is able to dwell in the heavens, while to those who are of inferior merit, or more abject, or indeed accounted the least and thrust aside, even to these is given, in accordance with the dignity of life and soul, a glory and dignity of body, in such a way, that even those who are destined to go to eternal fire or to severe punishments, are by the same change of the resurrection given a body so incorruptible that it cannot be destroyed or dissolved even by torments. Origen, On First Principles, Book 2 Chap 10, 1 1 Cor 15.50 2 1 Cor 15.15 3 1 Cor 15 37,38 4 Is 50.11

Illumination and Revelation

Προσέλθετε πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ φωτίσθητε· καὶ τὰ πρόωπα ὑμῶν οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ. Τοῖς καθημενοὶς ἐν σκότει καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου, τούτοις παρακελεύεται προσελθεῖν τῷ Κυρίῳ, καὶ ἐγγίσαι αὐτοῦ ταῖς ἀκτϊσι τῆς θεότητος, ἵν' ἐκ τοῦ προσεγγισμοῦ ἐλλαμφθέντες τῇ ἀληθείᾳ, χάριτι τὸν φωτισμὸν αὐτοῦ εἰς ἑαυτοὺς χωρήσωσιν. Ὥσπερ γὰρ τὸ αἰσθητὸν τοῦτο φῶς οὐ πᾶσιν ὁμοίως ἀνατέλλει, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἔχουσιν ὀφθαλμοὺς, καὶ ἐγρηγορόσι, καὶ ὑπ' οὐδενὸς κωλύματος ἀπολαύειν δυναμένοις τῆς τοῦ ἡλίου ἐπιδημίας· οὕτω καὶ ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἥλιος, Τὸ ἀληθινὸν φῶς, ὅ φωτίζει πάντα ἄνωρωπον ἐρχόμενον εἰς τὸν κόσμον, οὐ πᾶσι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ φαιδρότητα χαρίζεται, ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀξίως αὐτοῦ πολιτευομένοις. Φῶς, γὰρ, φησιν, ἀνέτειλε μὲν ὁ ἥλιος, οὐχὶ τῷ ἁμαρτωλῷ, ἀλλὰ τῷ δικαίῳ. Ὡς γὰρ ἀνέτειλε μὲν ὁ ἥλιος, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ ταῖς νυκτερίσιν, οὐδὲ τοῖς ἄλλοις ζώοις τοῖς νυκτινόμοις· οὑτω καὶ τὸ φῶς τῇ μὲν ἑαυτοῦ φύσει λαμπρόν ἐστι καὶ φαιδρυνικόν· οὐ πάντες δὲ αὐτοῦ τῆς λαμπηδόνος μεταλμαβάνουσιν. Οὕτω καὶ Πᾶς ὁ τὰ φαῦλα πράσσων μισεῖ τὸ φῶς, καὶ οὐκ ἔρχεται πρὸς τὸ φῶς, ἵνα μὴ φανερωθῇ αὐτοῦ τὰ ἔργα. Προσέλθετε πρὸς αὐτὸν, καὶ φωτίσθητε· καὶ τὰ πρόωπα ὑμῶν οὐ μὴ καταισχυνθῇ. Μακάριος ὁ ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῆς δικαιοκρισίας τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὅταν ἔλθῃ ὁ Κύριος φωτίσαι τά κρυπτὰ τοῦ σκότους, καὶ φανερῶσαι τὰς βουλὰς τῶν καρδιῶν, τολμήσας ὑπὸ τὸ φῶς ἐκεῖνο τῶν ἐλέγχων γενέσθαι, καὶ ἐπανελθὼν ἀνεπαίσχυντος τῷ ἀμόλυντον ἔχειν τὸ συνειδὸς ἀπὸ πονηρῶν ἔργων. Οἱ γὰρ τὰ φαῦλα πράξαντες εἰς ὀνειδισμὸν καὶ αἰσχύνην ἀναστήσονται, ἐνορῶντες ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὸ αἴσχος καὶ τοὺς τύπους τῶν ἡμαρτημένων. Καὶ τάχα φοβερωτέρα τοῦ σκότους καὶ τοῦ πυρὸς τοῦ αἰωνίου ἡ αἰσχύνη ἐστὶν, ᾗ μέλλουσι συνδιαιωνίζειν οἱ ἁμαρτωλοὶ, ἀεὶ ἐν ὀφθαλμοῖς ἔχοντες τὰ ἴχνη τῆς ἐν σαρκὶ ἁμαρτίας, οἰονεί τινος βαφῆς ἀνεκπλύτου, τῇ μνήμῃ τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτῶν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς παραμένοντα. Ὁλίγων δέ ἐστι τὸ προσελθεῖν τῷ φωτὶ τῷ ἀληθινῷ, καὶ ἀποκαλύψαι, καὶ μετὰ τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν κρυπτῶν, μὴ ἀπελθεῖν αἰσχυνθέντας τὰ πρόσωπα. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΛΓ' Ψαλμον

Come to Him and be illuminated, and your faces shall not be confounded. 1 Those sitting in darkness and in the shadow of death are exhorted to come to the Lord 2 and to draw near to His divine rays, that by drawing near they be lit by the truth, by grace receiving His light, for like the material light it does not come to everyone alike but to those who have eyes and who are watchful, and who are without any impediment that they might be able to see the presence of the sun. So even comes the sun of righteousness, 'The true light, which illuminates every man coming into the world'.  3 Not to everyone is His splendor given but to those who are worthy to receive it. 'For the light,' it says, ' has risen' not on the sinner, but 'on the righteous'. 4 For as the sun rises, but not to those dwelling in the evening, nor to any of the animals that wander at night, so even His light, which like natural light illuminates and is splendid, but it is not that everyone may participate in its clarity. So even ' Everyone who does evil, hates the light, and he does not come to the light, that his works may be made manifest' 5 ' Come to Him and be illuminated and your faces shall not be confounded.' Blessed the one who on the day of the righteous judgement of God, when the Lord comes to illuminate all things hidden in darkness and to make manifest the counsels of the heart, dares to come into the light of examination, and does not turn away on account of shame, who does not have a conscience contaminated with depraved works. For those who have done evil will arise in blame and disgrace and on them will be seen the marks of their sins. And perhaps more fearful than eternal darkness and fire is the disgrace, that sinners ever being together shall have always in their eyes a covering of sins on the flesh, like a dye that will not fade, which will remain without cease in the memory of the soul. Few indeed are they who will come to the true light, and be revealed, and after the revelation of hidden things, will not go off with their faces disgraced. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, Psalm 33 1 Ps 33.6 2 Lk 1.79 3 Jn 1.9 4 Ps 96.11 5 Jn 3.20

Death and the Shadow

Ὡδήγησε με ἐπὶ τρίβους δικαιοσύνης ἔνεκεν τοῦ ὀνονματος αὐτοῦ. Ταῦτα, φησὶ, πράττει, ὡς ἂν μὴ βλασφημῆται αὐτοῦ προβάτων ἀπολλυμένων, ἢ κακῶς ἀγομένων. Ἐὰν γὰρ καὶ πορευθῶ ἐν μέσῳ σκιᾶς θανάτου, οὐ φοβηθήσομαι κακὰ, ὅτι σὐ μετ' ἐμοῦ εἴ. Μακρὰν γὰρ ἡ ἁμαρτία παντὸς συνόοντος Θεῷ. Σκιὰν θανάτου τὸν κοινόν φησι θάνατον, καὶ τὴν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπὸ τοῦ σώματος λύσιν, πρὸς ἀντιδιασολὴν τοῦ θανάτου τῆς ψυχῆς, καθ' ὅ εἴρηται· Ψυχὴ ἁμαρτάνουσα, αὔτη ἀποθανεῖται· καὶ, Ἔστιν ἁμαρτία πρὸς θάνατον. Οὐκ ἔστι γὰρ σκιὰ θανάτου· ἀλλ' ἀληθινὸς θάνατος ἡ τῆς ψυχῆς ἀπώλεια τυγχάνει. Ἐπει οὖν μεμαθήκασιν, ὡς ἄπα ὁ πιστεύων εἰς τὸν Υἰὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ οὐ μὴ ἀποθάνῃ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα, μεταβέβηκε δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ θανάτου εἰς τὴν ζωὴν, σφόδρα ἀκριβῶς οὐ φασὶ θάνατον ἐπιέναι αὐτοῖς ἀλλ' ἢ ἄρα σκιὰν θανάτου· ταύτῃ δηλοῦντες τοὺς κατὰ ἄνθρωπον κινδύνους καὶ τὸν σωματικὸν θάνατον οὐδὲν ἕτερον ὄντα ἢ χωρισμὸν ψυχῆς ἀπὸ σώματος. Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους, ψαλμος ΚΒ'

He led me on the paths  of righteousness for the sake of His name. 1 These things, he says, He does, lest He be blasphemed by him who is one of the lost sheep, or we act wickedly. For even if I walk in the midst of the shadow death, I shall fear no evil, because you are with me. For sin is far from any association with God. The shadow of death he calls that common death, the separation of the soul from the body, to distinguish it from the death of the soul, concerning which it is said, 'Every soul which sins, will die.' 2 and it is a sin to death. 3 For the destruction of the soul is not the shadow of death but the true death. Thus when it has been learned, with belief in the Son of God, that one shall not die in eternity but be translated from death to life, so it is said that this is not death but the shadow of death, by which the real dangers to man are made manifest, and that the dead body is nothing else but the separation of the soul from the body. Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 22 1 Ps 22.3 2 Ezek 18.4 3 Jn 5.17

Death and Freedom

Ergo quoniam docuit Apostolus eum qui evaserit ex hoc corpore, si meruerit tamen, cum Christo futurum, quid sit mors, quid etiam vita consideramus. Itaque Scriptura docente, cognovimus quia mors absolutio est animae et corporis, et quaedam hominis separatio. Solvitur enim hoc nexu animae et corporis, cum recedimus. Unde et David ait: ' Dirupisti vincula mea: tibi sacificabo hostiam laudis. Vincula autem vitae hujus, id est, conjunctionis nostrae quae ex anima constat et corpore, significari docet superior versiculus pslami hujus: Pretiosa in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum ejus. Et ideo quasi Propheta praevidens se cum sanctis, et qui pro devotione animas suas in Christo deposuerunt, futurum, laetatur; quia et ipse obtulit se fideliter pro Dei populo adversus Goliam, cum singulari certamine dimicaret, et solus commune periculum et crimen refelleret, vel cum se morti pro Domini placanda offensione promptus objiceret, vel cum se pro salute populi laborantis divinae ultioni paratus offerret. Sciebat enim gloriosius pro Christo mori, quam regnare in hoc saeculo. Quid enim praestantius quam fieri Christi hostiam? Itaque cum frequenter ab eo legamus Domino oblata esse sacrificia, hoc tamen loco addidit: Tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis. Non sacrifico, inquit, sed sacrificabo, significans illud perfectum esse, quando unusquisque Domino, corporis vinculis absolutus assisteret, et offerret se hostiam laudis, quia ante mortem nulla est perfecta laudatio: neque quisuqam in hac vita potest definito praeconia praedicari, cum posteriora ejus incerta sint. Mors igitur solutio est animae et corporis, Denique et in Apostolo docuimus lectum: Dissolvi et cum Christo esse multo melius. Solutio autem ista quid agit, nisi ut corpus resolvatur et quiescat, anima autem convertatur in requiem suam, et sit libera, quae si pia est, cum Christo futura sit? Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Bono Mortis, Caput III

Therefore because the Apostle taught that a man who has passed out of this body, if he merits it, will be with Christ, 1 let us consider what is death and what is life. From the teaching of Scripture we know that death is a removal of the soul from the body, and a sort of separation of man, for we are freed from this bond between body and soul when we depart. Whence David says, 'You have broken my chain; to you I will offer a sacrifice of praise' 2 The chain of this life, that is, our being joined, which consists of soul and body together, the preceding verse of the same Psalm teaches, saying 'Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his holy ones'  3. And so like a Prophet foreseeing he will be with the saints and those who have laid down their lives for love of Christ, he rejoices, because he has also offered himself faithfully for the people of God, when he fought against Goliath in single combat and alone repelled the common danger and reproach, 4 or when He readily offered himself to die to atone for his offense against the Lord, and when he offered himself, prepared to suffer God's vengeance, for the salvation of an afflicted people. 5 For he knew that it was more glorious to die with Christ than to rule in this world. What is more excellent than to become a victim for Christ? While we often read that sacrifices were offered by him to the Lord, he yet adds in this Psalm: 'To you I will offer a sacrifice of praise' 6 He does not say 'I offer sacrifice' but 'I will offer sacrifice' signifying that it will be perfected when one comes to the Lord freed of the chains of the body and offers oneself as a victim of praise, because before death no praise is prefect, nor could anyone in this life be definitively acclaimed, since later actions are uncertain. Death, then, is the freeing of the soul from the body. Thus we have taught what was written by the Apostle: 'far better to be released and to be with Christ' 7 And what does this unbinding do but that the body is relaxed and at rest while the soul turns to its repose and is free, which if it is devout, will be with Christ? Saint Ambrose, On the Good of Death, Chapter 3 1 Phil 1.23, 24 2 Ps 115 16 -17 3 Ps 115.15 4 1 Kings 17.40-54  5 2 Kings 24.17  6 Ps 115.17  7 Phil 1.25

Hell Dead and Alive

Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ ὁ μνημονεύων σου, ἐν δὲ τῷ ᾅδῃ τίς ἐξομολογήσεται; κ.τ.ἑ.  Ὁ μνημονεύων Θεοῦ τοῦ λέγοντος· Ἐγω εἰμι ἡ ζωὴ, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ θανᾴτῳ. Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ τῷ ἐσχάτῳ ἐχθρῷ Θεοῠ τυγχάνοντι μεμνῆσθαι σου· διὸ ῥῦσαί με ἀπ' αὐτοῦ, ἵνα πάλιν μνημονεύω σου. Διὰ τοῦτο δὲ καὶ οἱ πρὸ θανάτου ἁμαρτάνοντες οὐ μέμνηνται τοῦ Θεοῦ. Ἥτοι ἐν ᾅδῃ οὐδεὶς ἐξομολογήσεται, ἢ πάνυ ὀλίγοι· τοῦτο γὰρ ἐμφαίνει ἀπὸ ταύτης, καὶ μήποτε δια τό· Ἐλθέτω δὴ θάνατος ἐπ' αὐτοὺς, καὶ καταβήτωσσαν εἰς ᾅδου ζῶντες. Οἱ ζῶντες εἰς ᾅδου καταβαίνοντες μεμνῆσθαι δύνανται τοῦ Θεοῦ ὡς οὐκ ὄντες ἐν θανάτῳ, καὶ ἐξομολογεῖσθαι αὐτῷ.  Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος Ϛ' Source: Migne PG 12. 1176

For in death there is not one who is mindful of you; and in hell who confesses? 1 He who is mindful of the saying of God, 'I am the life,' 2 he is not in death. He is not in death which is the ultimate enemy of God, who is mindful of you; therefore save me from that, that again I may be mindful of you. And so those who before death are sinners are not mindful of God. Truly in hell no one confesses Him, or scarcely few. For because of this he declares, 'May death come upon them, and may they descend into hell alive.' 2 The living who are falling into hell are able to remember God  because they are not yet dead and confessing Him. Origen, On the Psalms, Psalm 6 1 Ps 6.6 2 Jn 14.6 3 Ps 54.16

The Dead, The Living, and The Unborn

Et laudavi ego mortuos, qui jam mortui sunt, super viventes quicumque ipsi vivunt usque nunc. Et melior super hos duos qui nondum natus est, qui nondum vidit opus malum, quod factum est sub sole. Ad comparitionem miseriarum, quae in hoc saeculo mortales premunt, feliciores judicavi mortuos, quam viventes, secundum illud Job de inferis disputantis: 'Ibi requieverunt lassi corpore, cum his qui vincti fuerant, jam securi, non audientes vocem exactoris  Melior autem est his duobus, vivente videlicet et defuncto, qui necdum natus est. Alius enim adhuc mala patitur, alius quasi de naufrasgio nudus evasit. Porro qui necdum natus est, in eo felicior est, quod necdum mala mundi expertus est. Hoc autem dicit, non quod qui necdum natus est, ante sit quam nascatur, et in eo felicior sit, quia necdum corpore praegravatus est: sed quod melius sit omnino non esse, nec sensum habere substantiae, quam infeliciter vel esse, vel vivere. Quomodo et de Juda Dominus loquitur, futura ejus tormenta significans: Melius erat non nasci homini illi  quod melius ei fuerit omnino non esse, quam aeternos cruciatus perpeti. Alii vero hunc locum ita intelligunt: Meliores esse dicentes eos, qui mortui sunt, ab his qui vivunt, licet ante fuerint peccatores. Viventes enim adhuc esse in praelio, et quasi clausos corporis ergastulo retentari; qui vero mortem obierint, jam esse securos, et peccare desisse. Sicut et Joannes, quo major non fuit in natis mulierum , minor est eo, qui minimus est in regno coelorum, et corporis onere liberatus, nescit cum Apostolo dicere: Miser ego homo, quis me liberabit, de corpore mortis hujus  Meliorem autem his duobus esse eum, qui necdum natus est, nec vidit mala, quibus in mundo homines deprimuntur.  Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten, Liber I

'And I praised the dead, who had already died, over the living who now were living. And better than these two those who have not yet been born, who have not yet seen the evil that is done beneath the sun.' 1  By a comparison of miseries, which presses on the mortal men of this age, happier he judges the dead than living, according to which Job argues concerning those deceased: There rest the weary bodies, with those who were conquered, now safe, not hearing the voice of the exactor.' 2 Better than these two, the living and the dead, is he who has not been born. For the one suffers evils now and the other is as one who has escaped naked from a shipwreck. However, he who has not yet been born, in this is happier, that he has not yet experience of the evils of the world. He says not that he who is not yet born before he is born in that is happier, because the body does not yet weigh down, but better it is not to be, not to have sense of things, than to be unhappy or to live so. And the Lord said to Judas signifying his future punishment, 'Better it were that that man had not been born' 3 that better it were to him not to have been than to undergo the eternal torments. But others understand this passage in this manner: better are those who are dead than those who live, if it were that before they were sinners. For they live now in struggle, and as locked up in the prison of the body, but those who have met with death, they are already secure and have ceased to sin. So even John, compared to whom no one greater was born of woman,4 is less than him, he who is least of all those who are in the kingdom of heaven, and from the burden of the body freed, who does not know with the Apostle to say, 'A wretched man I am, who will free me from this body of death?'  5 Yet better than these is he who is not yet born, nor has seen the evils by which men in the world are oppressed. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Book 1 1 Eccl 4. 2-3 2 Job 3. 17-18 3 Mat 26.24 4 Mat 11.11 5 Rom 7.14

Watching Out for Death and the Devil

Ὠφέλιμον ἔσται σοι, καὶ ἄγαν καρδαλέον, τὸ ἔχειν ἀεὶ πρὸ ὀφθαλμῶν τὴν ἔξοδον τοῦ βίου, καὶ φεύγειν τοῦ διαβόλου τὰ πολύπλοκα δίκτυα.  Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΑΓ' Θεοπεμπτῳ Προτηκτορι

It shall benefit you, and be of great profit, to have always before your eyes your exit from this life and that you should flee the intricate nets of the Devil. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 233, To Theopemptus

Crowns and Victory

Corona victoriae non promittitur nisi certantibus. In divinis autem Scripturis assidue invenimus promitti nobis coronam, si vicerimus. Sed ne longum sit multa commemorare, apud apostolum Paulum manifestissime legitur: Opus perfeci, cursum consummavi, fidem servavi; iam superest mihi corona iustitiae. Debemus ergo cognoscere quis sit ipse adversarius, quem si vicerimus coronabimur. Ipse est enim quem Dominus noster prior vicit, ut etiam nos in illo permanentes vincamus. Et Dei quidem Virtus atque Sapientia, et Verbum per quod facta sunt omnia, qui Filius Dei unicus est, super omnem creaturam semper incommutabilis manet. Et quoniam sub illo est creatura etiam quae non peccavit, quanto magis sub illo est omnis creatura peccatrix? Ergo quoniam sub illo sunt omnes sancti Angeli, multo magis sub illo sunt omnes praevaricatores angeli, quorum diabolus princeps est. Sed quia naturam nostram deceperat, dignatus est unigenitus Dei Filius ipsam naturam nostram suscipere, ut de ipsa diabolus vinceretur, et quem semper ipse sub se habet, etiam sub nobis eum esse faceret. Ipsum significat dicens: Princeps huius mundi missus est foras. Non quia extra mundum missus est, quomodo quidam haeretici putant: sed foras ab animis eorum qui cohaerent verbo Dei, et non diligunt mundum, cuius ille princeps est; quia dominatur eis qui diligunt temporalia bona, quae hoc mundo visibili continentur: non quia ipse dominus est huius mundi, sed princeps cupiditatum earum quibus concupiscitur omne quod transit; ut ei subiaceant qui neglegunt aeternum Deum, et diligunt instabilia et mutabilia. Radix enim est omnium malorum cupiditas; quam, quidam appetentes, a fide erraverunt, et inseruerunt se doloribus multis. Per hanc cupiditatem regnat in homine diabolus, et cor eius tenet. Tales sunt omnes qui diligunt istum mundum. Mittitur autem diabolus foras, quando ex toto corde renuntiatur huic mundo. Sic enim renuntiatur diabolo, qui princeps est huius mundi, cum renuntiatur corruptelis, et pompis, et angelis eius. Ideoque ipse Dominus iam triumphantem naturam hominis portans: Scitote, inquit, quia ego vici mundum. Multi autem dicunt: Quomodo possumus vincere diabolum quem non videmus? Sed habemus magistrum, qui nobis demonstrare dignatus est quomodo invisibiles hostes vincantur. De illo enim dixit Apostolus: Exuens se carne, principatus et potestates exemplavit, fiducialiter triumphans eos in semetipso. Ibi ergo vincuntur inimicae nobis invisibiles potestates, ubi vincuntur invisibiles cupiditates: et ideo quia in nobis ipsis vincimus temporalium rerum cupiditates, necesse est ut in nobis ipsis vincamus et illum qui per ipsas cupiditates regnat in homine. Quando enim dictum est diabolo: Terram manducabis; dictum est peccatori: Terra es, et in terram ibis. Datus est ergo in cibum diaboli peccator. Non simus terra, si nolumus manducari a serpente. Sicut enim quod manducamus, in nostrum corpus convertimus, ut cibus ipse secundum corpus hoc efficiatur quod nos sumus: sic malis moribus per nequitiam et superbiam et impietatem hoc efficitur quisque quod diabolus, id est, similis eius; et subiicitur ei, sicut subiectum est nobis corpus nostrum. Et hoc est quod dicitur, manducari a serpente. Quisquis itaque timet illum ignem qui paratus est diabolo et angelis eius, det operam triumphare de illo in semetipso. Eos enim qui foris nos oppugnant, intus vincimus, vincendo concupiscentias per quas nobis dominantur. Et quos invenerint sui similes, secum ad poenas trahunt. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Agone Christiano

The crown of victory is not promised unless to those who struggle. In the Divine Scriptures continually we find a crown promised to us, if we conquer. But lest it take too long for many to recall these things, most manifestly in the Apostle Paul it says: The work completed, the course run, the faith kept, a crown of righteousness is ready for me. 1 We should therefore know who it is who is our adversary, him whom if we conquer we shall be crowned. He is the one over whom our Lord has been victorious, that even in Him remaining we might conquer. And certainly of God is virtue and wisdom, 2 and the Word through whom everything was made, 3 He who is the only Son of God, over every creature always unchangeably remaining. And because beneath him is every creature which has not sinned, how much more beneath him is every creature that is a sinner? Therefore, because beneath him are all the holy angels, much more beneath him are all the rebellious angels, of whom the devil is the prince. But because he ensnared our nature it is was right the Unbegotten Son of God himself take up our nature, that by it the devil might be conquered, and that he whom He always has beneath himself, He should make to be beneath us. He himself declares this, saying, 'The prince of this world is cast out.' 4 Not because he has been cast out from the world, which certain heretics think, but because he is outside of those souls who adhere to the word of God, and who do not love the world, of which he is the prince, for he rules those who delight in temporal things which this visible world contains, not because he is lord of this world, but because he is prince of their desires, by which they desire everything which passes; thus to him they are subject who neglect the eternal God and delight in things unstable and changeable. For the root of all evil is cupidity, which in its desires wanders from the faith, embroiling a man in many griefs. 5 Through this cupidity the devil rules over a man and he holds his heart. Such are all those who love this world. The devil is cast out when from the whole heart this world is renounced. So even is the devil renounced, who is prince of this world, when corruptible things are renounced, and pomp, and his angels. Therefore the Lord himself already bears the triumphant nature of man: 'Know,' He says, 'that I have conquered the world.' 6 But many say: 'How can we conquer the devil whom we do not see?' Yet we have a teacher, who thought it right to show to us how invisible enemies may be conquered. Concerning this the Apostle says, ' Putting off the flesh, despoiling the dominions and powers, faithfully triumphing over them in Himself'  7 There, then, the invisible hostile powers are conquered by us, where the invisible desires are conquered. And so that we conquer desires for temporal things in us ourselves, necessary it is that in us we conquer him who through desires rules a man. When it was said to the devil: 'Earth you shall eat,' it was said to the sinner, 'Earth you are and into earth you shall go.' 8 Thus the sinner is given as food to the devil. We are not earth if we are not eaten by the serpent. As even what we eat we convert into our own body so that the food be used in accordance with the body that we are, so by wicked ways, through evil and pride and impiety, a man is made like the devil, that is, similar to him, and subject to him, as our bodies are subject to us. And this is what it means to be eaten by the serpent. Whoever then fears that fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels, 9 let him work for the victory in himself. For those who oppose us without, within we conquer in the conquering of the desires by which they rule us. And those discovered to be like them, with them will be dragged off to punishment. Saint Augustine of Hippo, On The Christian Struggle 1 2 Tim 4. 7-8 2 1 Cor 1.24 3 Jn 1. 1-3 4 Jn 12.31 5 1 Tim 6.10 6 Jn 16.33 7 Col 2.15 8 Gen 3.14-19 9 Mt 25.41

The Mourning Of Salvation

Accedit et tetrius: Beati qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. Quis nobis iste luctus intelligendas est salutaris? Utique non ille, qui ex rerum detrimentis, non qui ex amissione charorum, nec qui ex jactura saecularium dignitatum: quae utique omnia jam pauper factus spiritu non dolebit. Hic est luctus salutaris, qui agitur pro peccatis, pro recordatione divini judicii. Nam quia prius inter innumeras saeculi occupationes et asperitates animus constituis, de se ipse cogitare non poterat; jam securus et mitis effectus, incipit se ipsum propius intueri, examinare actus suos diurnos atque nocturnos: et sic praeteritorum criminum vulnera incipiunt apparere, et tunc luctus ac lacrymae subsequuntur salutares, et adeo salubres, ut mox coelestis consolatio occurrat: verus enim qui dixit: Beati qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur Sanctus Chromatius Aquileiensis, Sermo De Octo Beatitudinibus

He comes to the third: Blessed are those who mourn, because they shall be comforted. 1 Who among us has understanding of the mourning of salvation? Certainly not the one who mourns for things lost, or for the taking away of moveables, or for being cast out of worldly honours, all things which certainly the one who has already been made poor of spirit shall not grieve. This is the mourning of salvation: the one who on account of sin recalls the Divine judgement. For since before amid innumerable worldly occupations and troubles the soul was placed, concerning oneself one was not able to think, but now secure in meekness, one begins to study oneself, to examine one's acts day and night, and so begin to appear the wounds of past criminality, and then follows salutary grieving and tears, and so comes the benefit, that soon the consolation of the heavens draws near, for truly He said: 'Blessed are those who mourn because they shall be comforted.' Saint Chromatius of Aquileia, Sermon on the Eight Beatitudes 1. Mt 5.5

Holy Mourning

Post praedictionem hujus felicissimae paupertatis, addidit Dominus, dicens: 'Beati qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. Luctus hic, dilectissimi, cui consolatio aeterna promittitur, non est cum mundi hujus afflictione communis; nec beatum quemquam faciunt ista lamenta quae totius humani generis deploratione funduntur. Alia ratio est sanctorum gemituum, alia beatarum causa lacrymarum. Religiosa tristitia aut alienum peccatum luget aut proprium; nec de hoc dolet quod divina justitia agitur, sed de eo moeret quod humana iniquitate committitur; ubi magis plangendus est faciens maligna quam patiens, quia injustum malitia sua demergit ad poenam, justum autem tolerantia ducit ad gloriam.  Sanctus Leo Magnus, Sermo XCV

After the assertion of this most happy poverty, the Lord continued, saying, 'Blessed are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted .' 1 This mourning, beloved, to which eternal consolation is promised, is not like the affliction of this world, nor do those laments which are poured out in the sorrowing of the whole human race make anyone blessed. There is another reason for the groaning of the holy, another cause of blessed tears. Religious grief mourns sin, either that of others' or one's own. It does not mourn that which is done by Divine justice but it grieves over that which is committed by human iniquity, where more to be deplored is he who does wrong than he who suffers it, because the wickedness of the unrighteous plunges him into punishment, but the endurance of the righteous leads to glory. Pope Leo the Great, Sermon 95 1 Mt 5:5

Remembering Death

Ἡ ὑπακοὴ τῆς θείας προστάξεως ζωὴν και ἀφθαρσίαν χαρίζεσθαι πέφυκεν, ἡ δέ γε παρακοὴ νεκρότητα καὶ φθοράν. Ἐπειδὴ οὖν ὁ Ἀδὰμ παρακούσας τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν τῷ φαγεῖν τὸ κεκωλυμένον, θάνατον ἐπεσπάσατο, διὰ τοῦτο ὁ Θεὸς ἐνδιδύσκει αὐτὸν χιτῶνα δερμάτινον, ὅπως ἂν μνημονεύῃ, καὶ μὴ ἐπιλανθάνηται τοῦ οἰκείου σφάλματος, καὶ ἧσπερ αὐθαιρέτως ἐπεσπάσατο θνητότητος καὶ φθορᾶς. Τὰ γὰρ νεκρὰ δέρματα δηλοῦσι νεκρότητα καὶ φθοράν.  Ἅγιος Νειλος,Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΜΑ', Σωσανδρῳ Πριμισκρινιῳ

Obedience to the Divine precepts graced with life and immortality but disobedience brought death and corruption. When, then, Adam, disobeying God in the eating of that which was prohibited, had called upon himself death, God put on him a garment of skin, 1 that he might remember and not forget that it was his own error and own will that brought mortality and corruption upon him. For the dead skins clearly indicate death and corruption. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 241, To Sosandros, 1 Gen 3.21

Consoling A Widow

Εἰ μὲν μόνην τοῦ συμβεβηκότος ὑμῖν πάθους ἐλογιζόμην τὴν φύσιν, τῶν ψυχαγωγούτων ἄν ἐδεήθην κἀγὼ, οὐ μόνον τῷ τὰ ὑμέτερα οἰκεῖα κρίνειν, καὶ τὰ θυμήρη, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὁποῖά ποτ' ἂν ᾗ. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τῷ τὴν θαυμασίαν ἐκείνην καὶ ὅντως αξιέπαινον κεφαλήν διαφερόντως ἠγαπηκέναι. Ἐπειδὴ δὲ ὅπος αὐτὸν θεῖος ἐνθένδε μετέστησε, καὶ εἰς τὴν ἀμείνω μετέθηκε βιοτὴν, καὶ ἐκ τῆς ἑμαυτοῦ ψυχῆς ἀποσκεδάννυμι τῆς ἀθυμίας τὸ νέφος, καὶ τὴν σὴν παρακαλῶ σεμνοπρέπειαν νικῆσαι τῆς ἀθυμίας τὸ πάθος τῷ λογισμῷ, καὶ εἰς καιρὸν προσενεγκεῖν τῇ ψυχῇ τῶν θείων λόγων τὴν ἐπῳδήν· τούτου γὰρ δὴ χάριν εὐθὺς ἐκ σπαργάνων οἶόν τινα θηλὴν ἔλκομεν τῆς ἱερᾶς Γραφῆς τὴν μελέτην, ἴν' ὅταν ἡμῖν προσπέσῃ πάθος, προσενέγκωμεν ἀλεξίκακον φάρμακον τὴν διδασκαλίαν τοῦ Πνεύματος. Οἴδαμεν δὲ ὡς παγχάλεπον, καὶ λίαν ἐστὶν ἀλγεινὸν, ἀξιεράστου τινὸς ἐν πείρᾳ γεγενημένον ἔρημον ἐξαπίνης τοῦ ποθουμένου γενέσθαι, καὶ ἐν εὐκληρίᾳ γενόμενον δυσκληρίᾳ περιπεσεῖν. Ἀλλὰ τοῖς γε νοῦν ἔχουσι, καὶ σώφρονι λογισῷ κεχρημένοις, οὐδὲν τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων ἀδόκητον· οὐδὲν γὰρ τούτων σταθερὸν, ούδε βέβαιον ού καλλος, οὐ πλοῦτος, οὐκ εὐεξία σώματος, οὐκ ἀξιώματος ὅγκος· οὐκ ἄλλο τι τῶν παρὰ τοῖς πλείστοις θαυμαζομένων. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ ἐξ ἄκρας εὐπορίας εἰς πενίαν ἐσχάτην μετέπεσον· οἱ δὲ τὴν ὑγίειαν ἀποβαλόντες, παντοδαποῖς παλαίουσι πάθεσιν· ἀλλοι περιφανείᾳ συμνυνόμενοι γένους, τὸν βαρύτατον ἔλκουσι τῆς δουλείας ζυγόν. Τῷ δὲ κάλλει τοῦ σώματος καὶ νόσος λωβᾶται, καὶ γῆρας λυμαίνεται. Μάλα δὲ σοφῶς τῶν ὅλων ὁ Πρύτανις οὐδὲν τούτων εασε διαρκὲς, οὐδὲ μόνιμον· ἵνα τὰς μεταβολὰς δεδιότες οἱ τούτων τετυχηκότες, καταστέλλωσι τὴν ὀφρὺν, καὶ τὸν τούτων εὔριπον ἐπιστάμενοι, μὴ τοῖς προσκαίροις θαῥῥῶσιν, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸν τῶν ἀγαθῶν χορηγὸν ἔγωσι τὰς ἐλπίδας. Ταῦτα τὴν σὴν εἰδῦαν θαυμασιότητα, τὴν ἀνθρωπείαν φύσιν καταμαθεῖν αξιῶ· εὐρήσεις γὰρ αὐτὴν θνητὴν οὔσαν, καὶ ἐξ ἀρχῆς δεξαμένην τοῦ θανάτου τὸν ὅρον. Πρὸς γὰρ τὸν Ἀδὰμ ὁ τῶν ὅλων ἔφη Θεος· 'Γη εἴ καὶ εἰς γῆν ἀπελεύσῃ.' Ἀψευδὴς δὲ ὁ τὴν ψῆφον ἐξενεγκὼν, καὶ μάρτυς ἡ πεῖρα. Μία γὰρ πάντων εἴσοδος εἰς τὸν βίον, κατὰ τὴν  θείαν Γραφὴν, ἔξοδός τε ἴση, καὶ πᾶς γεννώμενος προσμένει τὸν τάφον. Καὶ οὐδὲ ἴσον ἂπαντες βιοτεύουσι χρόνον· ἀλλ' οἱ μὲν πρόωροι τελευτῶσιν, οἱ δὲ εἰς ἄνδρας τελέσαντες, οἱ δὲ καὶ τῶν τοῦ γήρως ἀνιαρῶν πειραθέντες· οὕτω καὶ οἱ τοῦ γάμου δεξάμενοι τὸν ζυγὸν διαζεύγνυνται· ἀνάγκη γὰρ ἢ τὸν ἂνδρα προαπελθεῖν, ἢ τὴν γυναῖκα προτέραν δέξασθαι τοῦ βίου τὸ τέλος. Καὶ οἱ μὲν εὐθὺς μετὰ τὴν παστάδα τοὺς θρήνους ἐδέξαντο· οἱ δὲ ὀλιγον συμβιώσαντες χρόνον. Ἀπόχρη τοίνυν καὶ τὸ κοινὸν τοῦ πάθους ἀφορμὴν τῷ λογισμῳ παρασχεῖν εἰς τὸ νικῆσαι τὸ πάθος. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἐπιστολή ΙΔ', Ἀλεξάνδρᾳ Source: Migne PG 83.1185d-1188d

If I had only considered the character of your suffering, I also would have been in need of consolation, not only because I think that what concerns you, be it agreeable or otherwise, concerns me, but because I dearly loved that worthy and wonderful man. But since the Divine decree has taken him from here and translated him to the better life, I therefore scatter the cloud of sorrow from my soul, and call on you to vanquish grief's pain by the power of reason, and in this hour to bring your soul under the spell of God's word; for why from the very cradle do we suck the instruction of the Sacred Scriptures, like milk from the breast, but that when suffering falls on us we may be able to apply the teaching of the Spirit as a balm for our pain? I know how sad and how very grievous it is when one has experienced the worth of some loved object, suddenly to be deprived of it, and in a moment to fall from happiness to misery. But to them who have good good sense, and employ prudent reason, no human event is unexpected; for nothing human is stable, nothing lasting; neither beauty, nor wealth, nor health, nor high dignity; nor any of all those things that most consider wonderful. Some tumble from height of opulence to lowest poverty, and some lose their health and struggle with various forms of disease, and some proud of the splendour of their lineage come to drag the crushing yoke of slavery. Sickness mars the beauty of the body and old age destroys it, and very wisely has the supreme Ruler not allowed any of these things to continue nor be stable forever, so that their possessors, in fear of change, may restrain proud looks, and, knowing how all such things flow away, may cease to put their confidence in what is transient, and found their hopes upon the One who gives all that is good. These things knowing, most excellent lady, consider human nature; for you will find that it is mortal and from the beginning received the doom of death . It was to Adam the God of all said 'Dust you are and to dust you shall return.' 1 Truthful is He who gave the sentence, and experience is witness. 'All have one entrance into life and one is the exit,' 2 Divine Scripture tells us, and for every one born the grave waits. And all do not live an equal length of time; some men come to an end too soon; some in their manhood, and some after they have experienced the trials of old age; and likewise they who have taken on the marriage yoke are released from it, and it must be that either husband depart first or wife reach life's end before him. And some have just entered the bridal chamber when comes lamentation, and some live together a little while. Enough, then, to remember that the grief is common to give reason space to conquer grief. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Letter 14, To Alexandra 1 Gen 3.19 2 Wis 7.6

The Failing Flesh

Tunc caro deficiet, et homo in cinerem per humilitatem revertitur.   Simul enim omnis caro deficit, quando iam nullis suis moribus servit, quia praesidens spiritus cuncta eius fluxa restringit, et quodam districtionis suae gladio omne quod in illa male vivebat, interficit. Hoc nimirum disciplinae gladio semetipsum Ieremias interfecerat, cum dicebat: Postquam convertisti me, egi poenitentiam; et postquam ostendisti mihi percussi femur meum. Quid enim in femore, nisi voluptas carnis accipitur? Et quid est quod ait: Postquam ostendisti mihi, percussi femur meum, nisi quod postquam superna spiritaliter vidit, omne quod in se inferius aliter vivebat exstinxit, ut quanto magis summa patescerent, tanto amplius ima quae tenuerat non liberent? Nam quanto incipit quisque superius vivere, tanto et inchoat inferius interire. Iuxta affectum namque carnalis operationis omnis caro Pauli simul interierat, cum dicebat: Vivo autem iam non ego, vivit vero in me Christus.  Peccator mortalitatis suae obliviscitur, secus iustus. Bene etiam Eliu hoc loco subdidit: Et homo in cinerem revertetur. In peccato enim quisque positus mortalitatis suae obliviscitur, et terram se esse non meminit, dum adhuc per superbiam inflatur. Post conversionis vero suae gratiam, cum humilitatis spiritu tangitur, quid esse se aliud quam cinerem recordatur? Iam in cinerem David reversus fuerat, cum dicebat: Memento, Domine, quod pulvis sumus. Abraham in cinerem reversus fuerat, dicens: Loquar ad Dominum meum, cum sim pulvis et cinis. Et si viventem carnem necnon in terra mors solverat, hoc tamen apud se erant, quod se futuros absque dubitatione praevidebant. Hinc alias dicitur: Auferes spiritum eorum, et deficient, et in pulverem suum revertuntur . Qui autem spiritus, nisi spiritus superbiae nominatur? Tollatur ergo spiritus eorum ut deficiant, id est subducto superbiae spiritu, nihil se de se esse cognoscant. Et revertantur in pulverem, id est humilientur ex infirma conditione. Propter hunc pulverem, ad cuius memoriam qui semetipsos considerant revocantur, per Sapientiam dicitur: Iusti fulgebunt, et sicut scintillae in arundineto discurrent . Sancti enim viri dum peccatoribus permiscentur, eos exemplorum suorum igne succendunt,  atque omne quod nitent, in cinerem redigunt, quia pietatis flamma consumpti, dum infirmitatem conditionis suae conspiciunt, nihil aliud quam favillam se esse cognoscunt, ut a superbiae suae duritia resoluti, per poenitentiam dicant id quod supra protulimus: Memento, Domine, quia pulvis sumus . Bene ergo dicitur quia cum ad se spiritum hominis Dominus trahit, deficiet omnis caro simul, et homo in cinerem revertetur. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber XXIV, Cap XXII

Then flesh shall fail and man shall on account of lowliness return to ashes 1 For all flesh fails together, when it is no longer a servant to its own flaws, because the spirit presiding restrains all its waverings, and, as it were, destroys with the sword of its severity all evil which lived therein. Jeremiah had, in truth, slain himself with this sword of discipline, when he said, 'After You converted me, I did penance, and after You revealed it to me, I struck my thigh.' 2 For what is understood by the thigh, but carnal pleasure? And what is he saying with, 'After You revealed it to me, I struck my thigh,' except that after he spiritually beheld heavenly things, he extinguished every infirm carnal desire which used to live in him, that as higher things opened to him he might feel less pleasure in those inferior things to which he had held? For the more a man begins to live to things above, so he begins to die to things below. For as far as concerns the love of carnal doings, the whole flesh of Paul had perished together when he said, 'I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.' 3 Eliu also properly spoke well in this place, saying, 'And man shall return to ashes.' 1 For every one who is involved in sin forgets his mortal condition, and while he is still puffed up with pride, remembers not that he is earth. But when, after the grace of his conversion, he is touched with the spirit of humility, what does he call to mind that he is, but ashes? David had already returned to ashes when he said, 'Remember, Lord, that we are dust.' 4 And Abraham had returned to ashes, saying, I will speak to my Lord, though I am dust and ashes. 5 And though death had not yet dissolved their living flesh into earth, yet in their own opinion they were that which they foresaw without doubt they were about to be. Hence it is said in another place, You will take away their breath and they will fail, and they will return to their dust. 6 And what is meant by their breath, but the breath of pride? Let their breath then be taken away, that they may fail, that is, feel themselves to be nothing in themselves when the breath of pride is withdrawn. And let them return to dust, that is, let them be humbled by their infirm condition. It is on account of this very dust, to the recollection of which those are recalled who ponder themselves, that it is said by Wisdom, 'The righteous shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds. 7 For the holy while they mix with sinners, kindle them by the fire of their example, and reduce to ashes all their brilliancy, for consumed by the flame of holiness, looking at the infirmity of their condition, they discern themselves to be nothing but ashes, so that when loosened from the hardness of their pride they may use the words we have quoted: Remember, O Lord, that we are dust. 8 It is well said, then, that when God draws the breath of a man to Himself, all flesh will fail together, and man will return to ashes. Saint Gregory the Great, Dialogues, Moralia on Job, Book 24, Chapter 22 1 Job 34. 15 2 Jer. 31. 19  3 Gal. 2. 20  4 Ps. 103. 14  5 Gen. 18. 27  6 Ps. 104. 29  7 Wis. 3. 7  8 Ps 102.15

Final Thoughts

Cum angustiaretur in me anima mea, Domini recordatus sum. LXX: Cum deficeret ex me anima mea, Domini recordatus sum.  Cum, inquit, nullum aliud sperarem auxilium, recordatio Domini mihi saluti fuit, juxta illud: Recordatus sum Domini, et laetatus sum. Et in alio loco: Recordatus sum dierum antiquorum, et annos aeternos in mente habui. Ego cum desperarem salutem, et carnis fragilitas in medio ventre ceti nihil me de vita sperare permitteret, quidquid impossibile videbatur, Domini recordatione superatum est. Videbam me clausum in utero ceti, et tota spes mea Dominus erat. Ex quibus discimus juxta Septuaginta eo tempore quo deficit anima nostra, et a corporis compage divellitur, non nos debere alio cogitationem vertere, nisi ad eum, qui et in corpore et extra corpus noster est Dominus. Sanctus Hieronimus, Commentarius In Jonam Prophetem

'When my soul was in torment in me, I remembered the Lord.' The Septuagint has: 'When my soul forsook me, I remembered the Lord.' 1 When, he says, I had hope of nothing else, I recalled to myself the salvation of the Lord, according to which, 'I remembered the Lord and I was joyful 2 And in another place: ' I remembered the days of old, and the endless years I had in my mind. 3 When I was desperate for salvation, and the weakness of the flesh in the belly of the whale allowed me no hope of life, however impossible it seem, by recollection of the Lord, I was saved. I saw myself closed up in the body of the whale and all my hope was in the Lord. From which learn from the Septuagint that it is that time when the soul passes away and breaks away from the bond of the body that we should turn to no thought but to him who is Lord in and outside of the body. Saint Jerome, Commentary on Jonah 1 Jonah 2.8  2 Ps 76.4. 3 Ps 76.6

The Living And The Dead

Sed quis est homo qui non moriatur, eum resurrectio nisi mortui esse non possit? Quamvis de Enoch et Elia nullam mortem corporis acceperimus, et de Evangelista Joanne Dominus dixerit: 'Sic eum volo manere donec venio; tamen quoniam non de uno Joanne hoc putamus expressum, sed generale de multis hoc esse praeceptum; non hic mors corporis, sed animae denegatur. Sunt enim qui mortui vivunt; quoniam sunt qui viventes mortui sunt, sicut vidua illa quae 'vivens mortua est' , sicut scriptum est: Veniat mors super eos, et descendant in infernum viventes' Si ergo vivus quis in infernum descendit, peccato enim mortuus in inferni descendit habitaculum, sunt profecto quibus nec in morte corporis interruptus sit ordo vivendi, sicut Abraham, Isaac, et Jacob, quos vivere divinae sententiae auctoritate comperimus; quoniam cum sit Deus Abraham, Issac, et Jacob, non utique mortuorum est Deus, sed viventium Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, Evangelii secundum Lucam, Liber VII

But who is the man who does not die? 1 For unless he is of the dead there is no resurrection for him. Although of Enoch and Elijah we do allow the death of the body, the Lord says concerning the evangelist John, ' So I wish him to remain until I come.' 2 however because not just about John do we judge this expression but that it is a precept concerning many in general, then here is indicated not the death of the body but the soul. For even those who are living may be dead, like that widow who 'living is dead' 3, and as it is written: 'May death come over them and may they descend living into hell,' 4 If, therefore, someone living falls into hell, for dead by sin he descends into the dwelling place of hell, there are undoubtedly those for whom bodily death was not an interruption of the order of life, like Abraham and Issac and Jacob, whom we judge by sense of Divine authority to be alive, because the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, is not the God of the dead but the living. 5 Saint Ambrose, On The Gospel of Luke, Book 7 1 Lk 9.27 2 Jn 21.22 3  1 Tim 5.6 4 Psal 54.16 5 Mt 22.32

A Feast Of Saints

Hi vero qui secundum apostolorum sensum theoriam Scriptuarum recipiunt, sperant manducaturos quidem esse sanctis, sed panem vitae qui veritatis et sapientiae cibis nutriat animam, et illuminet mentem, et potet eam divinae sapientiae poculis, sicut dicit Scriptura divina: Quia spaientia praeparavit mensam suam, jugulavit victimas suas, miscuit in cratere vinum suum, et summa voce clamat: Divertite ad me, manducate panes quos paravi vobis, et bibite vinum quod miscui vobis. Quibus sapientiae escis nutrita mens ad integrum et perfectum, sicut ex initio factus est homo, ad imaginem et similitudinem Dei reparetur; ut etiamsi quis ex hac vita minus eruditis abierit, probabilia tamen opera detulerit, instrui poterit in illa Jerusalem sanctorum civitate, id est edoceri et informari, et effici lapis vivus, lapis pretiosus et electus, pro eo quod fortiter et constanter pertulerit agones vitae, et certamina pietatis; ibique hoc quod jam hic praedictum est, verius manifestiusque cognoscet, quod non in pane solo vivit homo, sed in omni verbo quod procedit de ore Dei. Origenes, De Principiis, Liber II, Cap XI

Those, however, who receive the insights of Scripture according to the understanding of the Apostles, have hope the saints will eat indeed, but that it will be the bread of life which with the food of truth and wisdom nourishes the soul, and enlightens the mind, and it will be given to drink from the cup of divine wisdom, as Holy Scripture says: 'Wisdom has prepared her table, she has killed her beasts, she has mingled her wine in her cup, and she cries with a loud voice, Come to me, eat the bread which I have prepared for you, and drink the wine which I have mixed.' 1 Which food of wisdom nourishes the mind to a complete and perfect condition, like that in which man was made at the beginning, being restored to the image and likeness of God, so that, although someone may leave this life less perfectly instructed, but who has performed commendable works, he will be capable of receiving instruction in that Jerusalem which is the city of the saints, that is, he will be educated and shaped, and made a living stone, a stone elect and precious, because he has undergone with firmness and constancy the struggles of life and the trials of holiness, and he will there come to a truer and clearer knowledge of that which here has already been proclaimed, 'That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceeds from the mouth of God.' 2 Origen, On First Principles, Book 2, Chap 11 1 Prov 9 1-2,3-5 2 Deut 8.13, Mt 4.4