State super vias et videte et interrogate de semitis antiquis quae sit via bona et ambulate in ea et invenietis refrigerium animabus vestris

30 Nov 2018

Rest And Blessings

Ἐπίστρεψεν, ψυχή μου, εἰς τὴν ἀνάπαυσιν σου, ὅτι Κύριος εὑηργέτησέ σε.

Ἑαυτῷ προσάγει τοὺς παρακλητικοὺς λόγους ὁ καλὸς ἀγωνιστὴς, παραπλησίως, τῷ Παύλῳ λέγων· Τὸν ἀγῶνα τὸν καλὸν ἠγώνισμαι, τὸν δρόμον τετέλεκα, τὴν πίστιν τετήρηκα· λοιπὸν ἀπόκειταί μοι ὁ τῆς δικαιοσύνης στέφανος. Ταῦτα λέγει καὶ πρὸς ἑαυτὸν ὁ Προφήτης· Ἐπειδὴ ἰκανῶς τοῦ βίου τούτου τὸν δολιχὸν ἐξεπλήρωσας, Ἐπίστρεψον λοιπὸν εἰς τὴν ἀνάπαυσίν σου, ὅτι Κύριος εὐηργέτησέ σε. Πρόκειται γὰρ ἀνάπαυσις αἰωνία τοῖς νομίμως τὸν ἐνταῦθα διαθλήσασι βίον, οὐ κατὰ ὀφείλημα τῶν ἔργων ἀποδιδομένη, ἀλλὰ κατὰ χάριν τοῦ μεγαλοδώρου Θεοῦ τοῖς εἰς αὐτὸν ἠλπικόσι παρεχομένη. 


Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΜΗ' Ψαλμον 

Source: Migne PG 29 492 

'Turn, my soul, to your rest, because the Lord has blessed you.' 1

The good athlete proposes these words of consolation to himself, just as Paul says, 'I have fought the good fight, I have run the race, I have served faithfully, henceforth awaits for me a crown of righteousness.' 2 And also the Prophet says such things to himself: 'Because you have come to the end of the long course of this life, turn now from other things to your rest, for the Lord has blessed you.' For eternal rest is the reward for those who have struggled rightly in this life, which yet is given not on account of debt for works, but is bestowed from the munificent grace of God on those who have hoped in Him.


Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 114

1 Ps 114.7
2 2 Tim 4.7-8

29 Nov 2018

Lost Glory

Καταδιώξαι ἂρα ὁ ἐχθρὸς τὴν ψυχήν μου, καὶ καταλάβοι, καὶ καταπατήσαι εἰς γῆν ζωήν μου, καὶ τὴν δόξαν μου εἰς χοῦν κατασκηνώσαι, κ.τ.ἑ

Ἡ ζωὴ τοῦ ἔτι τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ χοῖκοῦ φοροῦντος καταπεπάτηται ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐχθροῦ εἰς γῆν. Οὗτος δὲ, κἂν δοξάζεσθαι ποτε δοκῇ, κατεσκήνωσεν αὐτοῦ ἡ δόξα εἰς χοῦν, ὡς τῶν ποιούντων τι διὰ δόξαν καὶ τὸν παρὰ πολλῶν ἔπαινον, ἢ τὴν παρ' αὐτῶν ἀποδοχήν.

Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος Ζ'

Source: Migne PG 12.1180 
'Let my enemy pursue my soul and seize it, and crush my life in the earth and lead my glory into the dust.' 1

He who in his life yet bears an image of dust is crushed into the earth by the enemy. His glory, even if it seems to be celebrated at some time, yet it has been led into the dust, and they are those who act for the praise and glory of the many, that they be approved by them.


Origen, On the Psalms, from Psalm 7

1 Ps 7.6

28 Nov 2018

A Noble Warned

Ἔθος ἐστὶ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, εἰ καὶ τῶν θείων ἀλλότριον νόμων, ὅμως ἐπὶ πολλοῖς ἢ γένει, ἢ φρονήσει, ἢ κτήσει, ἢ κάλλει, ἢ ἀξίᾳ ἐπαίρεσθαι. Οὐδὲν δὲ ὠφελεῖ πρὸς ὑπερηφανίαν αὐτοὺς τοὺς ἐκ τῆς γῆς ὄντας, καὶ πάλιν πρὸς αὑτὴν ὑποοστρέφοντας. Τούτων ὅτι οὐδέν σοι τὸ σύνολον πρόσεστιν, οὐδ' ἂν αὐτὸς ἀρνηθείης. Εἰ οὖν πάντων τῶν πρὸς ἔπαρσιν φυσώντων ἐστέρησαι, δυσγενὴς ὧν καὶ πτωχὸς καὶ δύσνους καὶ ἰδιώτης καὶ δύσμορφος, τί ὡς πάντων ἐπιδοξότερος, πολλῶν· αὑτῇ γίνη θορύβων ἀρχηγός; Ἥ γνῶθι τοίνυν σαυτὸν, καὶ σύμμετρον κτησᾶι τὸν τρόπον τῆς οὐδενείας σου, ἢ πρὸς πόνους καὶ κινδύνους παράταξαι, οἶς σε οἱ ἐν δυνάμει ἀμειψονται. Χρυσοῦ γὰρ ἀπορεῖς τοῦ ὁμαλίζοντος πολλάκις τὰς τῶν περιστάσεων καὶ μαστίγων τραχύτητας.

Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ϟΘ'  Γελασιῳ Δουκι

Source: Migne PG 78.249
There is this custom found in many men, which makes them alien to the Divine Laws, that they set up either their lineage, or cleverness, or ability, or physical attractiveness, or honour, as something worthy to glory in. But nothing should incline one to be proud which rising from the earth again into earth perishes. For nothing of these things all together belong to you, nor do they not. If then all these things which inflate nature are stripped away  and you are as one of low birth and poverty and ignorance and baseness and deformity, why act as one most illustrious among many? Know yourself, and have the measure and mark of your own nothingness, preparing against toil and danger, by which you shall be recommended to those who have power. For then you shall be without gold for softening the regular roughness of trials and blows.

Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 99, To the Duke Gelasius

27 Nov 2018

Movements Of The Soul

Timor, amor, laetitia, tristitia, libido, concupiscentia, ira, miseratio, zelus, admiratio, hi motus animi vel affectus a Domino ab initio hominis exsistunt conditi, et naturae humanae utiliter et salubriter sunt inserti, ut per eos ordinate et rationabiliter regendo se homo, virtutes bonas viriliter agendo exercere possit, per quas a Domino perpetuam accipere vitam juste meruisset. Hi namque animi motus intra fines proprios coarctati, hoc est in bona parte positi, in praesenti virtutes bonas et in futuro aeterna praemia parant; extra metas vero suas affluentes, hoc est in malam partem declinantes, vitia et iniquitates exsistunt et aeternas poenas pariunt.

Lactantius, Fragmentum

Source: Migne PL 7.275
Fear, love, joy, grief, lust, desire, anger, pity, zeal, admiration, these movements or promptings of the soul were established by the Lord from the beginning of man, and usefully and profitably inserted in human nature, that with them ordered and rationally guided a man is able to exert himself in the performance of good virtues, by which he may justly merit to receive from the Lord eternal life. For these movements of the soul kept within their proper limits and set to proper function are in the present good virtues preparing in the future eternal reward, but when they go beyond their measure they fall into evil works and as iniquitous vices prepare eternal punishments.

Lactantius, Fragment

26 Nov 2018

The Death Of A King

Ἐκ τῶν περὶ τὸν θάνατον τῳ βασιλεῖ Ἀχαὰμ συμβεβηκότων ἔστι θαυμάσαι, πῶς τὸ χρεὼν οὐδὲ προμηνυόμενον διαφυγεῖν οἶόν τε. Ὑπέρχεται γὰρ τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ψυχὰς ἐλπίσι θωπεῦον χρησταῖς, καὶ περιάγει αὐτὰς ἐκεῖσε, ὅθεν αὐτῶν βεβαίως κρατήσει καὶ περιέσται.

Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΟΖ' Εὐλογιῳ Αναγηωστῃ

Source: Migne PG 78.520
From those things which touch on the death of king Ahab, one may wonder, how he was not able to escape what he was warned about beforehand. For the souls of men cleverly he comes up upon, beguiling them with happy hopes, and he encircles them, so that he will securely seize and conquer them. 1

Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 2, Letter 77, To Eulogius the Lector


1. 3 Kings 22, esp 20-23
 

25 Nov 2018

Royal Service

Καὶ νῦν, βασιλεῖς σύνετε· παιδεύθητε πάντες οἱ κρίνοντες τὴν γῆν.

Πάντων γὰρ ἡμῶν βασιλεὺς, ὁ πάλαι δόξας μόνων Ἰουδαίων κρατεῖν.

Δουλεύσατε τῷ Κυρίῳ ἐν φόβῳ, καὶ ἀγαλλιᾶσθε αὐτῷ ἐν τρόμῳ.

Οὐ γὰρ δεῖ μόνῃ τῇ φιλανθρωπίᾳ θαῥῥῆσαι, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὴν ταύτῃ συνημμένην δικαιοσύνην, ἀγαλλομένους ἐπὶ τῇ σωτηρίᾳ καὶ χαίροντας, δεδιέναι καὶ τρέμειν.  Ὁ γὰρ δοκῶν, φησὶν, ἑσταναι, βλεπέτω μὴ πέσῃ. [Ἐπειδ' ἂν γὰρ φοβηθέντες τὸν Δεσπότην τὰ προσήκοντα διαπραξώμεθα, πλείστην ἐκ τῶν πραχθέντων ἡμῖν ἔχομεν τὴν εὐφροσύνην ἐγγινομένηνμ τοῦ συνειδότος ἀγαθοῦ μὲν τυγχάνοντος, μεγίστην δὲ ἡμῖν διὰ τούτου τὴν χαρὰν παρεχομένου.] Ἐν τρόμῳ δὲ, τουτέστιν ἐν κατανύξει· μήποτε ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ χαρὰ εἰς τοῦ κόσμου μεταπέσῃ χαράν.

Δράξασθε παιδείας, μήποτε ὀργισθῇ Κύριος, καὶ ἀπόλησθε ἐξ ὁδοῦ δικαίας.

Οὐκ ἀρκεῖ γὰρ μόνη τῆς θεογνωσίας ἡ κτῆσις εἰς τελειότητα· ἀλλὰ χρὴ καὶ τὴν πρακτικὴν μετελθεῖν ἀρετήν, ἧς ἐπιλαμβανόμενοι τὴν ἀπλανῆ πορείαν ὁδεύσετε.

Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Β'

Source: Migne PG 80.884 
'And now, kings, understand, and be learned all you judge the earth.' 1

For He is king of all of us who before seemed to rule the Jews alone.

'Serve the Lord in fear and rejoice in Him in trembling.'

For one must not only be cheered by His benevolence to men but even join this to His justice, and rejoicing and delighting in salvation also fear and tremble. For, as it is said, he who thinks he stands, let him take care lest he fall. 2 [For when we make ourselves one of those who fear the Lord, as befits, we have good conscience in our deeds from which comes to us the greatest joy.] 3 And 'in trembling', that is, in compunction, lest joy in God fall into joy in the world.

'Attend to discipline, lest at sometime the Lord be angry and you perish from the way of righteousness.'

For it is not enough for perfection to possess only the knowledge of God, but we should also take to practical virtue, which taking up we shall walk in the safe and sure way.

Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Interpretation of the Psalms, from Psalm 2

1 Ps 2.10
2 1 Cor 10.12
3 Passage between brackets not found in certain MSS

24 Nov 2018

The Land Of The Living

Εὐαρεστήσω ἐνώπιον Κυρίου ἐν χώρᾳ ζώντων.

Ὁ κόσμος οὗτος αὐτός τέ ἐστι θνητὸς, καὶ χωρίον ἀποθνησκόντων ἐστίν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ σύνθετός ἐστι τῶν ὀρωμένων ἡ σύστασις· τὸ δὲ σύνθετον ἂπαν διαλύεσθαι πέφυκεν· ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ ὄντες, μέρος ὄντες τοῦ κόσμου, ἀναγκαίως τῆς τοῦ παντὸς φύσεως ἀπολαυόμεν· ἐκεῖ δὲ οὐκ ἔστιν ἀλλοίωσις, οὔτε σώματος, οὔτε ψυχῆς. Οὐδὲ γάρ ἐστι λογισμοῦ παρατροπὴ, οὐδὲ μετάθεσις γνώμης, οὐδεμιᾶς περιστάσεως τὸ εὐσταθὲς καὶ ἀτάραχον τῶν λογισμῶν ἀφαιρουμένης. Χώρα ἐστὶν ἐκείνη τῶν ἔτι ζώτων, ἐν ᾗ μάλιστα εὐρεστήσειν τῷ Θεῷ ὁ προφήτης κατεπαγγέλεται, ὡς ὑπ' οὐδενὸς μέλλων τῶν ἔξωθεν διακόπτεσθαι ζώντων. Ἐκείνη χώρα ἐν ᾗ οὐκ ἔνι νὺξ, οὐκ ἔνι ὕπνος τὸ του θανάτου μίμημα, οὐκ ἔνι βρῶσις, οὐκ ἔνι πόσις τὰ τῆς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ὑπερείσματα, οὐ τῶν ἔξωθέν τι περιστατικῶν· ἀλλὰ χώρα ζώντων, οὐκ ἀποθνησκόντων διὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας, ἀλλὰ χώρα ζώντων τὴν ἀληθινὴν ζωὴν τὴν ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ.

Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους Ψαλμους. Ψαλμος ΡΙΔ'


Source: Migne PG 23.1357d-1360a
'I shall please in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living.' 1

This world itself is mortal, even the place of the dying, for it is composed in its constitution by visible things and all composed things shall be resolved, and so when we are in the world and a part of the world it is necessary that we are dissolved along with universal nature, and it may not be otherwise, either with body or soul. For there is no aberration of thought, nor variation of knowing, only when there is nothing surrounding which steals away tranquility and imperturbability of thought. And that is the place of the living, which the Prophet pronounces as the pleasing of God, that he not be separated by anything external from the living. It is the place in which there is no night, no sleep, that image of death, no eating or drinking to support our infirmities, nor any trouble which may come from without, for the land of the living is not for those who have died by sin, but the land of the living is true life in Christ.

Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 114

1 Ps 114.9

23 Nov 2018

The Fear Of Death


Quod si terribilis apud viventes aestimatur, non mors ipsa terribilis est, sed opinio de morte, quam unusquisque pro suo interpretatur affectu, aut pro sua conscientia perhorrescit. Suae igitur unusquisque conscientiae vulnus accuset, non mortis acerbitatem. Denique justis mors quietis est portus, nocentibus naufragium putatur. Certe iis quibus gravis est timor mortis, non est grave mori, sed grave est vivere sub metu mortis. Non ergo mors gravis, sed metus mortis. Metus autem opinionis est: opinio vero nostrae infirmitatis, contraria veritati. Nam per veritatem virtus, per opinionem infirmitas. Opinio autem non mortis utique, sed vitae est. Ergo illud grave vitae magis invenitur esse. Liquet igitur quia mortis metus non ad mortem referendus est, sed ad vitam. Non enim habemus quod in morte metuamus, si nihil quod timendum sit vita nostra commisit. Etenim prudentibus delictorum supplicia terrori sunt: delicta autem non mortuorum actus sunt, sed viventium. Vita igitur ad nos refertur, cujus actus in nostra potestate est: mors autem nihil ad nos; est enim separatio animae et corporis: anima absolvitur, corpus resolvitur. Quae absolvitur, gaudet: quod resolvitur in terram suam, nihil sentit: quod nihil sentit, nihil ad nos.

Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Bono Mortis, Cap VIII


Source: Migne PL 14.555

For though it may thought terrible to those who live, it is not death itself that is terrible but the thought concerning it, which each one interprets according to his state, or on account of his conscience it horrifies him. Therefore it is the wound of conscience that accuses, not the bitterness of death. For the righteous death is a peaceful haven, and by the wicked it is thought to be a shipwreck. Certainly to those whom death is a grave fear, the weight of it is not death but living beneath the fear of death. Death, then, is not a burden, but rather the fear of death is. Fear is of opinion, truly with the thought from of our infirmity, being contrary to truth. For by truth is power, with opinion there is weakness. Opinion is not a thing of death but of life. Therefore it is found to be more heavy in life than it is. And it passes away because the fear of death does not pertain to death but to life. For we do not have fear in death if we have nothing to fear on account of our lives. Indeed to the wise punishments for crimes are terrible, but crimes are not the deeds of the dead but the living. Life, then, is our interest and its deeds  which are in our power; death is nothing to us. For it is a separation of soul and body; the soul is released, the body dissolved. And that which is released rejoices, that which is resolved into the earth knows nothing, and that which is senseless is nothing to us.

Saint Ambrose, from On the Good of Death, Chap 8

22 Nov 2018

The Two Deaths

Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ ὁ μνημονεύων σου.

Οἱ περὶ τοῦ κοινῦν θανάτου ὑπονοοῦντες εἰρῆσθαι τὰ προκείμενα, σφάλλονται, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀσεβοῦσιν· οἱ γὰρ ἅγιοι ἄνδρες οὐ τότε μόνον μνήμην ἔχουσι Θεοῦ, ὅτε τὴν κοινὴν ζωὴν ἔχουσιν, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὅτε χωρίζονται τοῦ φθαρτοῦ σώματος. Τί οὖν φησίν; Ἐπεὶ οὐδεὶς μεμνημένος σου ἐν θανάτῳ γίνεται, ὄν ἡ ἁμαρτία ἀποτίκτει· οὕτος δέ ἐστιν ὁ χωρίζων ἐναρέτου ζωῆς τὴν ἁμαρτάνουσαν ψυχήν· ποθῶ δὲ μνήμην σου ἔχειν, εἰς τοῦτ' αὐτὸ ῥέψας τὴν ἀγαθότητα σου, σῶσόν με, ἵνα μὴ ἰσχυσάσης κατ' ἐμου τῆς προσούσης ἀσθενείας καὶ ταραχῆς, καταποθῶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου. Οὐ γὰρ εἴρηται, Οὐ μέμνηται Θεοῦ ὁ ἐν θανάτῳ, ἀλλ', Ὁ μνημονεύων αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν θανάτω, περὶ οὗ φησιν ὁ Σωτήρ· Ὁ τὸν λόγον μου ἀκούων, θάνατον οὐ θεωρεϊ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος Ϛ'

Migne PG 39.1177
'For in death there is no memory of you.' 1

Those who think that this speaks of the common death are deceived, or rather they speak impiously. For holy men are not only then mindful of God when they possess the common life but much more so when they are separated from the common body. What then does he say? That none who is mindful of you will fall into that death which sin begets, for this death by sin separates the soul from the life of virtue. But desiring to be mindful of you, quickly turning to your kindness, save me, lest being overwhelmed in my weakness and confusion I am devoured by death. For he does not say there is no memory of God in the one who dies, but that he who is mindful of you does not die, concerning which the Saviour said, 'He who hears my word shall not see death into eternity.' 2
 
Didymus the Blind, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 6

1 Ps 6.6
2 Jn 8.51

21 Nov 2018

Death and Memory

Ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ ὁ μνημονεύων σου.

Ὁ γὰρ ἅπαξ τοῖς τοῦ θανάτου βρόχοις ἀλοὺς, ἀπρακτήσει ἂν πρὸς πᾶσαν ἀρετήν. Οὐκ ἔστιν, φησὶν, ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ ὁ μνημονεύων σου. τουτέστιν ὁ τὰς ἐντολὰς τηρῆσαι δυνάμενος, τῆς βοηθείας τοῦ πνεύματος μὴ συμπαρούσης.


Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τους Ψαλμους, Ψαλμός Ϛ

Source: Migne PG 69.745  
'For in death there is no memory of you.' 1

Certainly he who is once bound in the chains of death is no longer able to practice any virtue, and so it is said  'In death there is no memory of you.' That is, one cannot keep the commandments without the help of the Spirit.


Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 6

1   Ps 6.6

20 Nov 2018

The Life And Death Of Memories

Ἐπειδὴ οὐκ ἔστι μνεία τοῦ σοφοῦ μετὰ τοῦ ἄφρονος εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

Παροδικὰ μὲν γὰρ τὰ τοῦ βίου συμπτώματα, εἴτε καθέστηκε λυπηρὰ, περὶ ὦν φησιν· Καθότι ἤδη τὰ πάντα ἐπελήσθη· ἐπειδὴ χρόνου μικροῦ παραδραμόντος, λήθῃ τὰ συμβαίνοντα βιωτικὰ τοῖς ἀνθρώποις σβέννυται. Καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ οἶς ταῦτα συμβένηκεν, οὐκ ὁμοίως μνημονεύονται, εἰ καὶ συμπτώμασι βιωτικοῖς παραπλησίως ὑπήντησαν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπὸ τούτων μνημονεύονται, ἀλλ' ὥσπερ ἂν σοφίας ἔσχον ἢ ἀφροσύνης, ἀρετῆς ἢ κακίας. Τούτων γὰρ αἱ μνῆμαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις, διὰ τὰς ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ἀμοιβὰς, οὐ σβέννυνται. Διὰ τοῦτο ἀκολούθως ἐπήγαγε· Καὶ πῶς ἀποθανεῖται ὁ σοφὸς μετὰ τοῦ ἄφρονος; Θάνατος μὲν γὰρ ἁμαρτωλῶν πονηρός· μνήμη δὲ δικαίου μετ' ἐγκωμίων γίνεται· ὄνομα δὲ ἀσεβοῦς σβέννυται.


Διονύσιος Αλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τον Ἐκκλησιασην,  Κεφ Β'


Source: Migne PG 10.1585 
'For just as with the fool there is no remembrance of the wise man forever.' 1

For the things which befall in this life are transitory, even the painful incidents, concerning which he then says, 'As everything now shall be forgotten.' For after a short time has passed all the things that have befallen men in life perish in forgetfulness. And even those to whom these things have happened are not remembered alike, even if they have undergone similar chances in life. For they are not remembered for these things, but only as they took to wisdom or folly, virtue or vice. And these memories of men and how they acted concerning what befell them do not perish. For which reason this follows: 'And how shall the wise man die with the fool? The death of sinners is indeed evil, but the memory of the righteous comes with praise, and the name of the wicked is extinguished.' 2

 
Dionysius of Alexandria, from On Ecclesiastes, Chap 2

1 1 Eccl 2.16
2 Prov 10.7

19 Nov 2018

A Time For Dying

Καιρὸς τοῦ τεκεῖν καὶ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀποθανεῖν.
 
Δῆλον ἂν εἴη, πῶς καὶ ἐν καιρῷ ἀποθνῄσκομεν, οἷον πᾶς τῷ ἁγίῳ Παύλῳ καιρὸς τοῦ ἀγαθοῦ θανάτου εὔκαιρος ἦν. βοᾷ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις λόγοις, ἔνορκον τρόπον τινὰ ποιούμενος, ἐν οἷς φησιν, ὅτι Καθ' ἡμέραν ἀποθνῄσκω, νὴ τὴν ὑμετέραν καύχησιν, καὶ τὸ Ἕνεκα σοῦ θανατούμεθα πᾶσαν ἡμέραν, καὶ Αὐτοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς τὸ ἀπόκριμα τοῦ θανάτου ἐσχήκαμεν. πάντως δὲ οὐκ ἄδηλον, πῶς ἀποθνῄσκει καθ' ἡμέραν ὁ Παῦλος ὁ μηδέποτε τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ ζῶν, ὁ ἀεὶ τὰ μέλη τῆς σαρκὸς νεκρῶν καὶ τὴν νέκρωσιν τοῦ σώματος τοῦ Χριστοῦ ἐν ἑαυτῷ περιφέρων, ὁ πάντοτε Χριστῷ συσταυρούμενος, ὁ μηδέποτε ἑαυτῷ ζῶν, ἀλλὰ ζῶντα ἔχων ἐν ἑαυτῷ τὸν Χριστόν. οὗτος ἂν εἴη, κατά γε τὴν ἐμὴν κρίσιν, ὁ εὔκαιρος θάνατος, ὁ τῆς ἀληθοῦς ζωῆς γινόμενος πρόξενος. Ἐγὼ γάρ, φησίν, ἀποκτενῶ καὶ ζῆν ποιήσω, ὡς πεπεῖσθαι ἀληθῶς θεοῦ δῶρον εἶναι τὸ νεκρωθῆναι τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ καὶ ζωοποιηθῆναι τῷ πνεύματι· διὰ γὰρ τοῦ ἀποκτεῖναι ζωοποιεῖν ἐπαγγέλλεται ἡ θεία φωνή.


Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Εἰς Τον Ἐκκλησιασην, Ὁμιλια Ϛ'
'There is a time to be born and a time to die.' 1

It should also be clear how we die at the right time, like saint Paul who at every time was ripe for a good death. For he cried out in his own words, as if making an oath, saying 'Each day I die for your glorification', 2 and 'For your sake we are put to death every day,' 3 and again, 'We have the sentence of death in ourselves.' 4 It is not altogether unclear how Paul dies daily, he who never lives in sin, 5 who is always mortifying his bodily members 6 and bears the death of the body of Christ in himself, 7 who is always crucified with Christ and never lives for himself but has Christ living in him. 8 According to my judgment this timely death is a privilege of a true life. For the Lord says 'I kill and I bring to life' 9 in order to truly believe that it is a gift of God to make one dead to sin and alive in the spirit. 10 By which the Divine voice promises to kill and to bring to life.


Saint Gregory of Nyssa, On Ecclesiastes, from Homily 6

1 Eccl 3.2
2 1 Cor 15.31
3 Rom 8.36
4 2 Cor 1.9
5 Rom 6.6
6 Col 3.5
7 2 Cor 4.10
8 Gal 2.19-20
9 Deut 32.39
10 1 Pet 3.18

18 Nov 2018

The Living And The Dead


Est confidentia, quoniam canis vivens melior est a leone mortuo: quia viventes sciunt quod moriantur, et mortui nesciunt quidquam, et non est eis amplius merces. In oblivione enim venit memoria eorum. Sed et dilectio eorum, et odium eorum, et zelus eorum jam periit: et pars non est eis  adhuc in saeculo in omni quod fit sub sole.

Quia supra dixerat, cor filiorum hominum impleri malitia et procacitate, et post haec omnia morte finiri: nunc eadem complet et repetit, donec vivunt homines, posse eos justos fieri, post mortem vero nullam boni operis dari occasionem. Peccator enim vivens potest melior esse justo mortuo, si voluerit ad ejus transire virtutes. Vel certe eo, qui se in malitia, potentia, procacitate jactabat, et mortuus fuerit, melior potest quis pauper esse et vilissimus. Quare? quia viventes metu mortis possunt bona opera perpetrare: mortui vero nihil valent ad id adjicere, quod semel secum tulere de vita: et oblivione involuta sunt omnia, juxta illud quod in Psalmo scriptum est: Oblivioni datus sum, tanquam mortuus a corde. Sed et dilectio eorum, et odium, et aemulatio, et omne quod in saeculo habere potuerunt, mortis finitur adventu; nec juste quidquam jam possunt agere, nec peccare, nec virtutes adjicere, nec vitia. Licet quidam huic expositioni contradicant, asserentes, etiam post interitum crescere non posse et decrescere, et in eo quod nunc ait: Et pars non erit eis adhuc in saeculo, in omni quod factum est sub sole, ita intelligunt, ut dicant eos in hoc saeculo, et sub hoc sole quem nos cernimus, nullam habere communionem: habere vero sub alio saeculo de quo salvatior ait: Non sum ego de hoc mundo; et sub sole justitiae; et non excludi opinationem, quae contendit, postquam de hoc saeculo migraverimus, et offendere posse creaturas rationabiles, et promereri. Aliter referebat Hebraeus versiculum istum, in quo dicitur: Melior est enim canis vivens super leone mortuo, ita apud suos exponi: Utiliorem esse quamvis indoctum, et eum qui adhuc vivat et doceat, a praeceptore perfecto, qui jam mortuus est. Verbi causa, ut canem intelligeret unum quemlibet de pluribus praeceptorem: et leonem Moysem, aut alium quemlibet prophetarum. Sed quia nobis haec expositio non placet, ad majora tendamus: et Chananaeam illam, cui dictum est: Fides tua te salvam fecit: canem esse juxta Evangelium dicamus; leonem vero mortuum, circumcisionis populum, sicut Balaam propheta dicit: Ecce populus, ut catulus leonis consurget, et ut leo exsultans. Canis ergo vivens nos sumus ex nationibus: leo autem mortuus Judaeorum populus a Domino derelictus. Et melior est apud Dominum iste canis vivens, quam leo ille mortuus.


Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarius Ecclesiasten, Cap IX


'Here is hope, a living dog is better than a dead lion, because the living know that they will die and the dead know nothing, and they have no reward. The memory of them goes to oblivion, and their delight and hatred and zeal has already perished and no part do they have anymore in anything that is done in the world beneath the sun.' 1

Because he said in the previous passage that the hearts of men are filled with wickedness and impudence and after this that death brings to an end, now the same thing returning to he completes, saying that while men live they are able to become righteous, but after death there is no occasion given for good work. For the living sinner, if he should turn to the virtues, is able to become better but not the dead righteous man. Certainly compared to him who glories in wickedness and power and impudence and dies, better he is who is poor and most vile. Why? Because living in the fear of death they can perform good works, the dead however are not able to add to them once they have been taken from life and everything is wrapped up in oblivion. As it is written in the Psalms: 'I was given to oblivion, as one dead from the heart' 2 For their delights and hatred and envy and everything which they were able to do in the world the coming of death has ended. They are neither able to act rightly, nor to sin, nor to add to their virtues, nor to their vices. Some dispute this explanation, saying that when it is said that after death it is not possible to grow or decline, it is said in reference to that which is then written: 'And a part they will have no more in the world, in everything which is done beneath the sun.' And this they understand as saying that they have no communion with those whom we discern in this world and beneath this sun, but they have it with another world concerning which the Saviour spoke when He said, 'I am not of this world,' 3 and so beneath the sun of righteousness, and not to be dismissed is the opinion which contends that after we have passed on from this world, rational creatures will be able to offend and gain merit. In another manner a Hebrew referred to that verse which says, 'Better it is to be a living dog than a dead lion', and expounded it: More useful to be, though uneducated, even yet he who may live and teach from a flawless preceptor who is yet dead. And he understands the dog as one of the many teachers, and the lion as Moses, or one of the other Prophets. But this explanation is not convincing to us, and to a greater one we hold, concerning that Canaanite woman of whom it was said, 'Your faith has saved you' and to whom the Evangelist refers to as a dog. 4 The dead lion, however, is the people of the circumcision, as Balaam the Prophet says, 'Behold a people rising up like a lion's whelp, and like a lion exulting.' 5 Therefore we who are from the Gentiles are a living dog and the dead lion is the Jewish people forsaken by the Lord. And better is to be a living dog with the Lord than that dead lion.


Saint Jerome, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chap 9

1 Eccl 9. 4-6
2 Ps 30.13
3 Jn 8.23

4 Mt 15.21-28
5 Num 23.24

17 Nov 2018

Man's Judgement


Λογιζόμενος δέ τις, ὡς καλὸς μὲν ὁ ἥλιος, ἡδὺς δὲ οὗτος ὁ βίος, ἀγαθὸν δὲ καὶ τὸ πολυχρόνιον γενέσθαι διαπαντὸς εὐφραινόμενον, καὶ ὡς φοβερὸν ὁ θάνατος, καὶ ἀΐδιον κακὸν, καὶ εἰς τὸ μηδὲν ἄγων, οἴεται χρῆναι, πάντων μὲν ἀπολαύειν τῶν παρ όντων καὶ δοκούντων ἡδέων. Συμβουλεύει δὲ καὶ τοῖς νέοις, τῇ ἑαυτῶν ὥρᾳ καταχρῆσθαι ἀνέντας τὰς ἑαυτῶν ψυχὰς εἰς πᾶσαν ἡδονὴν, καὶ χαρίζεσθαι μὲν ἐπιθυμίαις, πράττειν δὲ τὰ αὐτοῖς δοκοῦντα, καὶ βλέπειν τὰ τέρποντα, καὶ ἀποστρέφεσθαι τὰ μὴ οὕτως ἔχοντα. Πρὸς ὃν τοσοῦτον λέξω· Ὅτι ἀνοηταίνεις, ὦ οὗτος, μὴ προσδοκῶν τὴν ἐφ' ἅπασι τούτοις ἐκ Θεοῦ κρίσιν ἐσομένην. Πονηρὸν δὲ ἀσωτία καὶ ἀσέλγεια, καὶ ῥυπαρὰ σωμάτων ἡμετέρων ὕβρις ὀλέθριος. Νεότητι μὲν γὰρ ἄνοια παρέπεται· ἄνοια δὲ ἄγει εἰς ὄλεθρον.

Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ο Θαυματουργός, Μετάφρασις εἰς τον Ἐκκλησιαστήν του Σολομώντος, Κεφ. ΙΑʹ

A man who judges that the sun is fair and that this life is sweet and that it is a good to have much time in which he can delight himself continually, and that death is fearful and an endless evil, and that which makes us nothing, thinks that he must enjoy himself in all the present and apparent pleasures. And he also gives this as counsel to the young, that they should use their youth in the giving of their souls to every pleasure and indulge their desires and do all that seems good to them, and look upon that which delights and turn away from that which does not do so. But to this man I shall say: You are mindless, O man, in that you do not look to the judgment on all these things that will come from God. And prodigality and licentiousness are evil, and the sordid wantonness of our bodies is ruin. For folly accompanies youth, and folly works ruin. 1

Saint Gregory Thaumaturgus, from A Metaphrase of Ecclesiastes, Chap 11


1 cf Eccl 11. 7-10

16 Nov 2018

Heaven's Guide


Κύριε, ὁδήγησόν με ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου ἕνεκα τῶν ἐχθρῶν μου.

Ὅρᾷς πῶς οὐδὲν ἐπίκηρον αἰτεϊ, καὶ πῶς δεϊται τῆς  ἄνωθεν συμμαχίας; Οἱ γὰρ ταύτην ὁδεύοντες τὴν ὁδὸν, ἐκείνης μάλιστα δέονται τῆς ῥοπῆς. Δικαιοσύνην δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὴν καθολικήν φησιν ἀρετήν. Καὶ καλῶς εἶπεν, Ἐν τῇ δικαιοσύνῃ σου. Ἔστι γὰρ καὶ ἀνθρώπων δικαιοσύνῃ, ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν νόμων τῶν ἔξωθεν, ἀλλ' εὐτελὴς, καὶ οὐκ ἔχουσα τὸ τέλειον καὶ ἀπηρτισμένον, καὶ ἐξ ἀνθρωπῖνων συγκειμένη λογισμῶν. Ἐγὼ δὲ τὴν σὴν αἰτῶ δικαιοσύνην, τὴν ἀπὸ σοῦ κατενηνεγμένην τὴν εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν χειραγωγοῠσαν, καὶ τὴν συμμαχίαν, ὥστε ταύτην ἐπισπᾶσθαι τὴν δικαιοσὺνην.


Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Εἰς Τους Ψαλμους, Ψαλμός Ε'




'Lord, guide me in your righteousness on account of my enemies.' 1
 
You see how he asks for nothing mortal and how he prays for heaven's aid? For those who are travelling on this way are certainly in need of help. And the righteousness he speaks of is universal virtue. And rightly he says, 'In your righteousness.' For the righteousness of men, which proceeds from laws foreign to it, is vile, having nothing perfect or complete, being fashioned from human thought. But I seek your righteousness, which from you is given, which leads to heaven, and also your aid, that I might obtain this righteousness. 


Saint John Chrysostom, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 5

1 Ps 5.9

15 Nov 2018

Hope And Mercy

Ἰδοὺ οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ Κυρίου ἐπὶ τοὺς φοβουμένους αὐτὸν, τοὺς ἐλπίζοντας ἐπὶ τὸ ἔλεος αὐτοῦ. 

Ὁ μὴ προσοδκῶν ἐξ ἔργων δικαιωθῆναι, μόνην ἔχει ἐλπίδα σωτηρίας τοὺς οἰκτειρμοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ· ὅταν γὰρ ἀκούσῃ ὅτι ὁ Θεὸς ἀποδώσει ἐκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ, καὶ λογίσηται ἑαυτοῦ τὰ ἔργα τῆς ἁμαρτίας, φοβεῖται μὲν τὴν κόλασιν, καὶ ὑποπτήσσει τοῖς ἀπειλουμένοις. Πρὸς δὲ τὸ μὴ καταποθῆναι ὑπὸ τῆς λύπης, εὔελπίς ἐστι πρὸς τοὺς οἰκτειρμοὺς τοῦ Θεοῦ, καὶ τὸ φιλάνθρωπον ἀποβλέπων.

Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΙΔ', Πτολεμαιῳ
'Behold the eyes of the Lord are over those who fear Him, those who hope in His mercy. 1 

He who does not have hope in righteous deeds, only has hope in the mercy of the Lord, for when he hears that God returns to each one according to his works, 2 and he thinks of his sinful deeds, he fears punishment, and by warnings he is terrified, lest he be utterly crushed by distress, and so He turns away from human hope to the mercy of God.


Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 14 To Ptolemaius

1 Ps 32.18
2 Ps 61.12

14 Nov 2018

Charity And Salvation

De judicii enim tempore adventuque commemorat, quo fideles ab infidelibus separabit, atque ab infructuosis fructuosa discernet, haedos ab agnis, et in dextera ac sinistra collocans unumquemque, digna aut bonitatis aut malitiae suae sede constituet: indicans se in minimis suis, id est, iis qui sibi cum humilitatis suae exspectatione famulentur, et esurientibus ali, et sitientibus potari, et peregrinantibus confoveri, et nudis contegi, et infirmis visitari, et sollicitis consolari. Ita enim in universorum fidelium corporibus mentibusque transfunditur, ut haec humanitatis officia, aut gratiam suam impensa mereantur aut offensa negata commoveant.

Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, In Evangelium Matthaei Commentarius, Cap XXIX
The Lord brings to mind the judgement of the coming time, when He shall separate the faithful and the unfaithful, and distinguish the fruitful from the unfruitful, the kids from the lambs, and on the right and left gather each one, those worthy of goodness or wickedness at his seat, showing himself in his little ones, that is, to those who shall serve Him in the expectation of His humility, and give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty, welcome to the wanderer, covering to the naked, who shall visit the sick and comfort the distressed. Thus even in the bodies and the minds of all the faithful He is transported, that these offices of charity merit either the giving of grace or, with offence denying it, distress. 1

Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on the Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 29


1 Mt 25.31-46

13 Nov 2018

Pondering Positions Of Judgement

Τὸ πρᾶον καὶ ἥμερον, καὶ περιβολῆς καὶ σκέπης ἐπίκουρον πρόνατον, ἐκ δεξιῶν στήσεσθαι Θεοῦ, ὁ θεῖος λέγει χρησμός· τὸν δὲ τραχὺν καὶ παμφάγον καὶ ἄγριον, ἐξ εὐωνύμων βληθήσεσθαι ἔριφον. Τὰς τοιάασδε πολιτείας δηλῶν, κατάλληλον ἑαυταῖς κληρουμένας κατάστασιν. Θατέραν τοίνυν στυγήσαντες, τῆς ἑτέρας ἀπρὶξ ἀντισχώμεθα.


Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβίον Α', Ἐπιστολὴ ΣΠΗ' Ἑρμινῳ Κομητι
Divine Scripture tells that we should be meek and gentle and clad in that vestment and covering that we stand at the right side of God, while the bitter and devouring and wild goats are placed on the left side. 1 With such states being clearly manifested what position one would inherit should be pondered. Then hating one side, let us cleave firmly to the other.
 
Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 288, To Count Herminos


1 Mt 25.32-33

12 Nov 2018

Positions And Judgement

Nec eos audiamus, qui negant ad dexteram Patris sedere Filium. Dicunt enim: Numquid Deus Pater habet latus dextrum aut sinistrum, sicuti corpora? Nec nos hoc de Deo Patre sentimus: nulla enim forma corporis Deus definitur atque concluditur. Sed dextera Patris est beatitudo perpetua, quae sanctis promittitur; sicut sinistra eius rectissime dicitur miseria perpetua, quae impiis datur: ut non in ipso Deo, sed in creaturis hoc modo, quo diximus, intellegatur dextera et sinistra. Quia et corpus Christi, quod est Ecclesia, in ipsa dextera, hoc est in ipsa beatitudine futurum est, sicut Apostolus dicit, quia et simul nos suscitavit, et simul sedere fecit in coelestibus. Quamvis enim corpus nostrum nondum ibi sit, tamen spes nostra iam ibi est. Propterea et ipse Dominus post resurrectionem iussit discipulis quos piscantes invenit, ut in dexteram partem mitterent retia. Quod cum fecissent, ceperunt pisces, qui omnes magni erant, id est, iustos significabant, quibus dextera promittitur. Hoc significat, quod etiam in iudicio dixit se agnos ad dexteram, haedos autem ad sinistram esse positurum.

Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, De Agone Christiano
Nor should we listen to those who deny the Son sits at the right hand of the Father. For they say, 'Does God the Father have a left side and a right side as if He had a body?' Nor do we think this concerning God the Father, for by the form of the body God is neither limited nor encompassed. But of the right hand of the Father is eternal blessedness, which is promised to the holy, and on his left side is most rightly said to be endless misery, which is given to the impious, so not in God himself is it to be understood, but in creatures alone this is, by which we say, left and right. Because the body of Christ, which is the Church, is on His right, that is in the same blessedness to come, as the Apostle said, because at the same time he raised us up, at the same time he made us sit in heaven. 1 For although our body is not yet there, however our hope is. On account of which the Lord after the resurrection commanded His disciples who were seeking fish that they cast their nets on the right hand side, which when they had done so, they caught fish, which were all great, 2 that is, signifying the righteous, to whom the right hand side is promised. And this signifies that in judgement the sheep are to be placed on the right and the goats on the left.

Saint Augustine of Hippo, On The Christian Struggle

1 cf Ephes 2.6 
2 Jn 21.6-11

11 Nov 2018

The Years Of The Web

Anni nostri ut aranea meditabuntur.

Ut aranearum telae sunt futiles et caducae, et ad omnen tactum cito pereunt: ita vita nostra fragilis et morti proxima est. Quod quidem melius Aquila interpretatus est, dicens: 'Anni nostri similes loquenti' : quod scilicet ad conpartionem sermonis humani praetereant, dum subsistunt. 'Dextram tuam sic notam fac mihi, et eruditos corde sapientia. Hoc melius Symmachus transtulit, dicens: Dies nostros sic notos fac, ut veniamus corde sapienti.' Precatur ergo, ut tempus vitae nostrae Deus indicet nobis: quo possimus corde sapienti eius nos praeparare iudicio.


Sanctus Hieronimus, Commentarioli, Ps LXXXIX
'Our years shall be considered as a cobweb.' 1

Like those threads of the web that are so weak and break, swiftly perishing at the touch of anything, so are our fragile lives near to death. Which Aquila has interpreted better, saying, 'Our years are like a thing spoken,' for indeed they pass away like a piece of human speech which has been spoken, as soon as they come to be. 'Make known your right hand  to me and those wise in heart'. 2 This Symmachus has translated better, saying, 'Our days make known to us, that we may come to wisdom of heart.' He prays therefore that God indicate the time of our life to us, by which we are able with a wise heart to prepare ourselves for judgement.


Saint Jerome,The Little Commentary on the Psalms, Psalm 89


1 Ps 89.9
2 Ps 89.12

10 Nov 2018

Times Of Forgiveness

Multiplex misericordia Dei ita lapsibus subvenit humanis, ut non solum per baptismi gratiam, sed etiam per poenitentiae medicinam spes vitae reparetur aeternae, ut qui regenerationis dona violassent, propio se judicio condemnantes, ad remissionem criminum pervenirent: sic divinae bonitatis praesidiis ordinatis, ut indulgentia Dei nisi supplicationibus sacerdotum nequeat obtineri. Mediator enim Dei et hominum homo Christus Jesus hanc praepositis Ecclesiae tradidit potestatem, ut et confitentibus actionem poeniteniae darent, et eosdem salubri satisfactione purgatos, ad communionem sacramentorum per januam reconciliationis admitterent. Cui utique operi incessabiliter ipse Salvator intervenit, nec umquam ab his abest quae ministris suis exsequenda commisit, dicens, Ecce ego vobiscum sum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi: ut si quid per servitutem nostram bono ordine et gratulando impletur effectu, non ambigamus per Spiritum sanctum fuisse donatum. Si autem aliquis eorum pro quibus Domino supplicamus, quocumque interceptus obstaculo, munere indulgentiae praesentis exciderit, et priusquam ad constituta remedia perveniat, temporalem vitam humana conditione finierit, quod manens in corpore non recepit, consequi exutus carne non poterit. Nec necesse est nos eorum qui sic obierint merita actusque discutere, cum Dominus Deus noster, cujus judicia nequent comprehendi, quod sacerdotale ministerium implere non potuit, suae justitiae reservaverit: ita potestatem suam timeri volens, ut hic terror omnibus prosit, et quod quibusdam tepidis aut negligentibus accidit, nemo non metuat. Multum enim utile ac necessarium est ut peccatorum reatus ante ultimum diem sacerdotali supplicatione solvatur. His autem qui in tempore necessitatis et in periculi urgentis instania praesidium poenitentiae et mox reconciliationis implorant, nec satisfactio interdicenda est, nec reconciliatio deneganda: quia misericordiae Dei nec mensuras possumus penere, nec tempora definire, apud qum nullas patitur vaniae moras vera conversio, dicente Spiritu Dei per prophetam: Cum conversus ingemueris, tunc salvus eris. Et alibi: Dic tu iniquitates tuas prior, ut justificeris. Et iterum: Quia apud Dominum misericordia est, et coposia apud eum redemptio. In dispensandis itaque Dei donis non debemus esse difficles, nec accusantium se lacrymas gemitusque negligere, cum ipsam poenitendi affectionem ex Dei credamus inspiratione conceptam, dicente Apostolo: Ne forte det illis Deus poenitentiam, ut resipiscant a diaboli laquies, a quo captivi tenentur ad ipsius voluntatem. Unde oportet unumquemque Christianum conscientiae suae habere judicium, ne converti ad Deum de die in diem differat, nec satisfactionis sibi tempus in fine vitae suae constituat: quia periculose hac se conditione fragilitas et ignorantia humana concludit, ut ad paucaruum horarum se reservet incertum; et cum possit pleniore satisfactione indulgentiam promereri, illius temporis angustias eligat, quo vix inveniat spatium vel confessio poenitentis, vel reconciliatio sacerdotis. Verum, ut dixi, etiam talium necessitati ita auxiliandum est, ut et actio illis poenitentiae, et communionis gratia, si eam, etiam amisso vocis officio, per indicia integri sensus postulant, non negetur. At si aliqua vi aegritudinis ita fuerint aggravati, ut quod paulo ante poscebant, sub praesentia sacerdotis significare non valeant, testimonia eis fidelium circumstantium prodesse debebunt, ut simul et poenitentiae et reconciliationis beneficium consequantur; servata tamen regula canonum paternorum circa eorum personas qui in Deum a fide discedendo peccarunt.

Sanctus Leo Magnus, Epistula CVIII, Ad Theodorum Forojuliensem Episcopum
The manifold mercy of God so helps folk in their falls that not only by the grace of baptism but also by the medicine of penitence is the hope of eternal life repaired, that they who have violated the gifts of regeneration, in their own judgment condemning themselves, may come to forgiveness of their errors, the provisions of the Divine Goodness having ordained that God's indulgence cannot be obtained without the supplications of priests. For the Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, has given this power to those that are set over the Church, that they should both grant a course of penitence to those who confess, and, when they are cleansed by salutary correction, admit them through the door of reconciliation to communion in the sacraments. In which work assuredly the Saviour Himself unceasingly takes part and is never apart from those things which He has committed to his ministers to perform, saying: 'Behold, I am with you all the days even to the end of the age,' 1 so that whatever is accomplished through our service in good order and with satisfactory effects we doubt not that it has been given through the Holy Spirit. But if any one of those for whom we pray to God be prevented by some obstacle and he be cut off from the gift of immediate absolution, and before he come to the remedies appointed, the time of his life in human state is brought to an end, that which he did not receive while in the body he will not be able to obtain stripped of the flesh. And there is no need for us to weigh the merits and acts of those who have thus died, when the Lord our God, whose judgments cannot be comprehended, has reserved for His own judgement that which our priestly ministry could not fulfill, for He wishes His power to be so feared that this fear may benefit all, that all we be in fear of what happens to the tepid or negligent. It is most useful and essential that the guilt of sins should be loosed by priestly supplication before the last day of life. And yet to those in the time of their need and in pressing danger who implore the aid of penitence and then reconciliation, neither amendment nor reconciliation must be forbidden, because we cannot place limits on God's mercy nor set times for Him with whom true conversion suffers no delay of forgiveness, as the spirit God says by the Prophet, 'When you have turned and lamented, then will you be saved.' 2 And elsewhere, 'Tell your iniquities beforehand, that you may be justified.' 3 And again, 'For with the Lord there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.' 4  And so in dispensing God's gifts we must not be severe, nor neglect the tears and groans of those who accuse themselves, when we believe the very affection of penitence is inspired by God, as the Apostle says, 'Lest perhaps God will give them repentance that they may save themselves from devil's snares, by whom they are held captive at his will.'  5  Hazardous as deathbed repentance is, the grace of absolution must not be refused even when it can be asked for only by signs. Hence it befits each one to attend to the judgment of his own Christian conscience, lest he defers the day of conversion to God and fix the time  at the end of his life, for it is very dangerous for human frailty and ignorance to enclose itself in  the uncertainty of a few hours and instead of gaining indulgence by fuller amendment to choose the narrow limits of that time when scarcely space is found for the penitent's confession or the priest's absolution. But truly, as I said, even such folk's needs must be so assisted that the act of penitence and the grace of communion be not denied them, even if they demand it when their voice is lost by the signs of an undamaged intellect. And if they are so distressed by the force of of their sickness that they cannot signify in the priest's presence what they had just been asking for, the testimony of the faithful standing near must be theirs that they may obtain the benefit of penitence and reconciliation simultaneously, insofar as the regulations of the canons of the Fathers are observed concerning those who have sinned against God by forsaking the faith.

Pope Leo the Great, from Letter 108, to Theodore, bishop of Forum Julii


1 Mt 28:20
2 Is 30.15 LXX 
3 Is 43.26, LXX 
4 Ps 129.7 
5 Tim 2:25-26 

9 Nov 2018

Books Of Judgement

Judicium sedit, et libri aperti sunt.

Conscientiae et opera singulorum in utrimque partem, vel bona, vel mala omnibus revelantur. Bonus liber ille est, quem saepe legimus, liber viventium. Malus liber, qui in accusatoris tenetur manu, qui est inimicus, et vindex, de quo et in Apocalyspi legimus: Accusator fratrum nostrorum. Liber iste terrenus est, de quo et Propheta dicit: In terra scribentur.


Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentaria in Daniel, Caput VII
'He sat in judgement and the books were opened.' 1
 
The thoughts and the works of each one are revealed to everyone as either a part of the good or the wicked. The good book is, as we often read, the book of the living. The evil book is held in the hand of the accuser, who is the enemy, and the one who punishes, concerning whom in the Apocalypse we read: 'The accuser of our brethren.' 2  This book is of the earth, of which the Prophet says, 'In the earth they shall be written.' 3

 

Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on Daniel, Chapter 7

1 Dan 7.10
2 Apoc 12.10
3 Jer 17.13

8 Nov 2018

Final Judgement And Knowledge


Πυνθάνῃ μου, τὶ φησιν διὰ προφήτου ὁ Θεὸς, ὅτι  Ἀποκαλύψω τὰ ὁπίσθιά σου ἐπὶ πρόσωπόν σου, καὶ τότε ὀφθήσεται πᾶσα ἡ ἀτιμία σου. Ἐν γὰρ τῷ θείῳ ἐκείνῳ καὶ φρικτῳ δικαστηρίῳ πάντα σοι παραστήσεται εἰς πρόσωπον τὰ κακὰ, ἄπερ ἐνταῦθα πέπραχας, ἵνα βλέπων, καὶ ἐπιγνοὺς εἰς αἰσχύνην καὶ φόβον καὶ τρόμον κατενεχθῇς. 

Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΤΔ' Σευηρῳ Προτευοντι
You ask me why it is that God said through the Prophet, 'I shall uncover your backs before your face and then shall appear all your disgrace.' 1 For in that Divine and fearful judgement everything evil which you have done here shall be presented before your eyes, that seeing and knowing shame and fear and trembling you depart.

Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 304, To Severus the Primate 

1 Jer 13.26

7 Nov 2018

Confused And Spurned

Id enim sequitur: Confusi sunt, quia Deus sprevit illos. Confunditur quisque, et pudore dedecoris sui, et comparatione honoris alieni. Et hic illud est, quod Apostolus significat dicens Omnes quidem resurgemus, sed non omnes immutabimur . Sed et propheta et confusionem resurrectionis et honorem discernit, ita dicens: Et resurgent alii quidem in vitam, alii autem in confusionem aeternam. Confundentur ergo quorum ossa dispersa sunt, quos sprevit Deus, quos tamquam indignos ne conformes essent gloriae suae et resurrectionis abjecit. Resurrecturi adeo, ut confundantur: non immutabuntur vero, et ex eo confundentur. Haec enim resurrectionis statua conditio est: et idcirco tamquam ex praeterito pro decreti definitione fit sermo, quia id ut ita maneat sit statutum.

Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum LII
It follows: 'They were confused because God spurned them.' 1 And they shall be confused because of the shame of dishonour and the acquirement of averse repute. And this is what the Apostle means saying, 'All will rise, but not all will be changed.' 2 And also the Prophet discerns the confusion and the glory of the resurrection, saying, 'And some will rise into life and some into eternal confusion.' 3 They are confused, then, whose bones are scattered, whom God spurns, 1 whom He casts out as unworthy to conform to His glory and the resurrection. For this is the foreordained state of the resurrection, and therefore as in the past the word of the decree was made, so it shall be.

Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 52


1 Ps 52.6
2 1 Cor 15.51
3 Dan 12.2

6 Nov 2018

The Final Interrogation


Κύριος ἐξετάζει τὸν δίκαιον καὶ τὸν ἀσεβῆ. 

Ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν οὖ τῷ βήματι φανερωθῆναι πάντας δεῖ, ἵνα κομίσηται ἔκαστος τὰ διὰ τοῦ σώματος πρὸς ἂ ἔπραξεν, εἴτε ἀγαθὸν εἴτε κακόν. Εἰπὼν δὲ ὑπὸ Κυρίου ἐξέτασιν γινομένην τοῦ δικαίου καὶ τοῦ ἀσεβοῦς, ἐπιφέρει, ὡς μισεῖ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ ψυχὴν, ὁ τὴν κακίαν, οὖσαν ἀδικίαν, ἀγαπῶν, ποιῶν αὐτὴν κολαστέαν, διὰ τοῦ ἁμαρτάνειν· ᾦ ἐναντίον ποιεῖ ὁ δικαίως ἐνεργῶν, ἀγαπῶν τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτοῦ, καὶ τὸν πλησίον ὡς ἑαυτὸν, ὁ εἰς ἀρετὴν αὐτὸν ἄγων. Οὐ μάχεται τὸ, Δικαιος ἐξετάζει τὸν δίκαιον καὶ τὸν ἀσεβῆ, τῷ μὴ ἀνίστασθαι ἀσεβεῖς ἐν κρίσει· τὸ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς πάντη ἀθέους σημαίνει· τὸ δὲ, τοὺς διὰ τὸ ἁμαρτάνειν καταφρονοῦντας Θεοῦ. Πλέονες γὰρ Γραγαὶ δηλοῦσι τοῦτο, μάλιστα ἡ λέγουσα, Ἔσται ὁ δίκαιος ὡς ἀσεβής; ἐν Γενέσει.


Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος Ι'


'God interrogates the righteous and the impious.' 1

Christ is the one before whom all shall appear on the tribunal that each one be given according to what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. 2 Now after it says that the righteous and the impious are interrogated, it says that he who loves wickedness hates his own soul, thus making him accountable for the punishment of his sin. And on the contrary, he who acts righteously loves his own soul, and also his neighbour as himself, whom he leads to virtue. It is not to be disputed that the righteous one interrogates both the righteous and the impious because it is said that 'the impious do not rise in judgement,' 3 for that passage signifies all those who are irreligious and that on account of sin they are contemptuous of God. Many places in Sacred Scripture make this clear, and certainly in Genesis when it is said 'Shall the righteous be as the impious?' 4


Didymus the Blind, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 10

1 Ps 10.6
2 2 Cor 5.19
3 Ps 1.5
4 Gen 18.23

5 Nov 2018

Dead Works

Οὐ μόνον δυσώδη καὶ ἄκαρπα, ἀλλὰ γὰρ καὶ νεκρὰ κλητέον τὰ ἔργα τῆς ἁμαρτίας

Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΟϚ Φιλαργιῳ Ἀναγηωστῃ
Not only wicked and fruitless should the works of sin be named but even dead.

Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 176, to Philagrius The Lector

4 Nov 2018

The Tomb Dwellers

Ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἄφρων καὶ ἄνους ἀπολουνται, καὶ καταλείψουσιν ἀλλοτρίοις τὸν πλοῦτον αὐτῶν. Καὶ οἱ τάφοι αὐτῶν οἰκίαι αὐτῶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

Τούτων δὲ αἱ οἰκίαι, τοῦ ἄφρονος καὶ τοῦ ἀνοήτου, τάφοι εἰσὶν εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Ὥν γὰρ  ὁ βίος νεκρῶν ἔργων τῶν ἀπὸ πάσης ἁμαρτίας πεπλήρωται, τούτων γενόμενος τοῖς παραπτώμασιν οὐκ οἰκίαν οἰκεὶ, ἀλλὰ τάφον, τῆς ἑαυτοῦ ψυχῆς νενεκρωμένης. Οἰκίαν μὲν γὰρ οἰκεῖ ὁ ἄδολος τὸ ἦθος καὶ ἁπλοὺς Ἰακὼβ, περὶ οὗ γέγραπται, ὅτι ἧν Ἄνθρωπος ἄπλαστος καὶ ἀγαθὸς, οἰκῶν οἰκίαν· τάφον δὲ οἰκεῖ ὁ παμπόνηρος, μηδὲ θεμέλιον μετανοίας καταβαλλόμενος ἀπὸ νεκρῶν ἔργων, ἀλλὰ παροιμοιάζων τάφῳ κεκεονιαμένῳ· ὃς ἔξωθεν μὲν ἐμφανὴς ὤν, ἔσωθεν δὲ γέμων ὀστέων νεκρῶν καὶ πάσης ἀκαθαρσίας. Διόπερ ὁ τοιοῦτος φθεγγόμενος οὐχὶ στόμα ἀνοίγει λόγῳ Θεοῦ, ἀλλὰ τάφον ἔχει ἀνεῳγμένον τὸν λάρυγγα αὐτοῦ. Εἴ τις οὖν εἰς Χριστὸν πιστεύων, μὴ ἀκολούθως τῇ πίστει τὰς πράξεις ἀποδίδωσιν, οὗτος διὰ τὸ μοχθηροῖς δόγμασι προσεσχηκέναι, διὰ τὸ παρτῇ πέτρᾳ μνημεῖον. 


Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΜΗ' Ψαλμον

'Alike the foolish and witless perish and they leave their goods to strangers and their tombs are their houses into eternity.' 1 

The houses of these, the foolish and witless, are tombs into eternity, for their life being replete with the dead works of every sin, their dead souls bring them to dwell not in a house but a tomb. For the innocent and simple Jacob kept to his dwelling, concerning which it is written, 'He was a man honest and good, keeping his dwelling,' 2 but in a tomb dwells the man who is altogether evil, and not making a foundation of penance for his dead works he is like the whitened tomb, which from the outside shines, but within it is full of bones and every uncleanliness. 3 Thus such a one when he speaks does not open the mouth with the word of God but his throat is like an open tomb. 4 And if one of them has faith in in Christ, he does not yield deeds consonant with the faith, for taking to the corrupting of the teachings he carves in stone his tomb. 

Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 48

1 Ps 48.11-12
2 Gen 25.27
3 Mt 23.27
4 Ps 5.11, Ps 13.3

3 Nov 2018

The Death Of The Wise

Ὅτι οὐκ ὄψεται καταφθορὰν, ὅταν ἴδῃ σοφοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας, ἐπιτοαυτὸ ἄφρων καὶ ἄνους ἀπολοῦνται, κ.τ.ἑ.

Ὀψόμεθα τοὺς σοφοὺς τοῦ κόσμου τούτου ἐν τῷ αἰῶνι τῷ μέλλοντι στερηθέντας τῆς ζωῆς τῆς εἰπούσης· Ἐγω εἰμι ἡ ζωή. Τίνες δὲ οὖτοι οἱ ἀποθνήσκοντες σοφοὶ, ἢ περὶ ὦν λέλεκται· Ἀπολῶ τὴν σοφίαν τῶν σοφῶν, ἀφ' ὦν ἔκρυψεν ὁ Θεὸς τὰ μυστήρια ἂ νηπίπις ἀπεκάλυψε; Λέγει δὲ σοφοὺς τοὺς πανούργους κατὰ τὸ, Σοφοί εἰσι τοῦ κακοποιῆσαι, καὶ τοὺς μαθητὰς τῶν ἀρχόντων τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου· ὦν τὸν θάνατον οὐκ ὄψεται ὁ λυτρωθεὶς ὑπὸ τοῦ εὐδοκήσαντος διὰ τῆς μωρίας τοῦ κηρύγματος σῶσαι τοὺς πιστεύοντας. Ὁ πεπληροφορημένος περὶ τῆς μελλούσης κρίσεως, ὅταν ἴδῃ τοὺς σοφοὺς ἀποθνήσκοντας, οὐ νομίσῃ τὸ γινόμενον καταφθορὰν ὁμοῦ ψυχῆς τε καὶ σώματος, ὡς ἐκεῖνοι ζῶντες τὸν θάνατον ὡριζοντο, ἀλλὰ μετοικίαν εἰς κόσμον ἕτερον.


Ὠριγένης, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος ΜΗ'
'Because he shall not see death, when he sees the wise dying, alike  the foolish and witless perish.' 1

We see the wise of this world in the future age shall be deprived of the life of Him who said, 'I am the life'. 2 For who are these wise who die unless concerning which it was said, 'I shall destroy the wisdom of the wise,' 3 from whom God conceals his mysteries which he reveals to little ones? 4 And the wise are even named the wicked , according to which it is said, 'They are wise in the doing of evil,' 5 and they are the disciples of the prince of this age. And he who shall not see death is that one who is redeemed by Him who is pleased through the foolishness of the preaching to save the faithful. 6 He who shall be justified in the future judgement when he sees the wise dying, not thinking that the soul is dissolved along with the body, as those ones living defined death, but a passing over to another world.


Origen, On the Psalms, from Psalm 48

1 Ps 48.5
2 Jn 14.6
3 1 Cor 1.19

4 Lk 10.21
5 Jer 4.22
6 1 Cor 1.21 

2 Nov 2018

Different Deaths

Ἐὰν τις τὸν λόγον τὸν ἐμὸν τηρήσῃ, θάνατον οὐ μὴ θεωρήσει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.

Τοῦ Σωτῆρος εἰρηκότος, μὴ θεωρήσειν θάνατον τὸν τηροῦντα τὸν λόγον, οἱ παρόντες Ἰουδαῖοι σφαλέντες, τὸ θεωρεῖσθαι θάνατον, ταυτὸν εἶναι τῷ γεύσασθαι αὐτοῦ ὑπέλαβον. Δοκεῖ γὰρ αὐτοῖς, ὅσον ταῖς αὐτῶν λέξεσιν, ἐκεῖνον μὴ γεύσασθαι θάνατον, τὸν πεῖραν τοῦ κοινοῦ μὴ λαβόντα θανάτου. Τοῦτο δὲ δοκεῖ ἀνατρέπειν τὴν Κυριακὴν ἐπαγγελίαν, τεθνηκότων καὶ τῶν τηρησάντων αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον· γέγονε δὲ αὐτοῖς ἀπάτη, τὸ θέλημα πανούργως σοφίσασθαι ἐξ ὁμωνυμίας. Ὁ γὰρ τηρῶν τὸν Ἰησοῦ λόγον, τὸν ἐπόμενον τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ θάνατον οὐ μὴ θεωρήσει, εἰ καὶ γεύσεται τοῦ κοινοῦ καὶ σωματικοῦ θανάτου· ἐπεὶ δὲ καὶ ἀπροσδιορίστως εἶπον, Οἱ προφῆται ἀπέθανον, μὴ προσθέντες, πάντες, οὐ μάχεται τὸ μὴ τεθνάναι Ἐνὼχ καὶ Ἐλίαν.


Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ἰωαννην Εὐαγγελιον
'If someone keeps my word he shall not see death into eternity.'  1
 
By the speech of the Saviour, that one would not see death to eternity who kept his word, the Jews standing near were confused, thinking that the seeing of death was the same as to taste it. For it seemed to them, as it accorded to their speech, that he does not taste death who does not experience the common death. And this seemed to subvert the Dominical promise, since they also died who kept the word of Christ. But the cause of error was a will hostile to understanding the homonym. For he who keeps the word of Jesus, does not see the death from sin, even though he shall taste the common death. And even when they said, 'The Prophets died,' they did so without exactness, by no means adding 'all', that they not dispute that Enoch and Elijah did not die.


Didymus The Blind, On the Gospel of John, Fragment


1 Jn 8.51

1 Nov 2018

Bringing The Soul To Life

Inposuisti homines super capita nostra, transivimus per ignem et aquam et induxisti nos in refrigerium. Introibo in domum tuam in holocaustis, reddam tibi vota mea

Tentationum autem  genera et diversas martyrium victorias contuentes, scimus quibus modis anima ponatur in vitam, cujus contemptu desaevientibus poenarum ingeniis, a fidei gressu et testimonio non moventur. Alii enim in vinculis carcerum gloriantur, alii caesi in verberibus gratulantur, alii potestati irreligiosorum desecanda felicium capitum colla submittunt: plures in exstructos rogos currant, et trepidantibus poenae ministris, ignem saltu devotae festinationis insiliunt: alii in profundum demergendi, non in aquas necaturas; sed in refrigerium aeternae beatitudinis decidunt, toto ipso se corpore Deo hostiam tamquam holocausta praebentes.

Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum LXV

Source: Migne PL 9.432c
'You placed men over our heads, we passed through fire and water, and you led us into rest. I shall enter into your house with sacrifices, I shall return my vow to you.' 1

Observing the types of trial and the victories of the martyrs, we know by what ways the soul is brought to life, of which is contempt for the savage cunning of punishments, that they do not move one from the position of faith. Some gloried in prison's chains, some rejoiced amid a flurry of blows, others submitted the necks of their happy heads to the cleaving power of the irreligious, many ran to the heaped pyre and amid the fearsome ministers of punishments leaped into the fire with swift and devout bound, others in the depths were drowned, not into killing waters but passing into the rest of eternal life, offering the whole body to God as sacrifice.

Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 65

1 Ps 65.12-13