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