The Coming And The Way

Deus meus, immaculata est via eius. Deus meus non venit in homines, nisi mundaverint viam fidei qua veniat ad eos; quia immaculata est via eius. Eloquia Domini igne examinata. Eloquia Domini igne tribulationis probantur. Protector est omnium sperantium in se Et omnes qui non in seipsis, sed in illo sperant, eadem tribulatione non consumuntur; spes enim sequitur fidem. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, Enarrationes In Psalmos, Psalm XVII Source: Migne PL 36.152

'My God, His way is undefiled.' 1 My God does not come to men, unless they have cleansed the way of faith, whereby He may come to them, because 'His way is undefiled.' 'The words of the Lord have been proved by fire.' The words of the Lord are tried by the fire of tribulation. 'He is the Protector of those who hope in Him.' And all that hope not in themselves, but in Him, are not consumed by that same tribulation. For hope follows faith. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Expostions On The Psalms, Psalm 17 1 Psalm 17.30

Appearances Night And Day

Jam tunc videtur Dominus nocte in columna ignis, et per diem in columna nubis, praecedens populum, et dux itineris factus. Nubes ista praecedens Christus est: Idem etiam columna, quia rectus, et firmus, et fulcieus infirmitatem nostram. Per noctem lucens, per diem non lucens, ut qui non vident videant, et qui vident caeci fiant. Potest et sic non incongrue accipi, quod Christi sacramentum tanquam in die manifestatum est in carne, tanquam in nube; in judicio vero tanquam in terrore nocturno, quia tunc erit magna tribulatio saeculi tanquam ignis, et lucebit justis, et ardebit injustis. Sanctus Isidorus Hispalensis,Mysticorum Expositiones Sacramentorum Seu Quaestiones In Vetus Testamentum, In Exodum, Caput XVIII Source: Migne PL 83.296a-b

Now the Lord appears in the night as a column of fire, and by day as a column of cloud, going before the people, a leader on the way. 1 This cloud which goes before is Christ, and He is a column because He is upright and firm and our support in our weakness. Through the night He shines, and through the day He does not, that those who do not see might see and those who see are made blind. 2 And it is not out of place to receive this as the mystery of Christ on the day when he was manifested in the flesh, as in a cloud. In the judgement, however, it is as a night terror, for then shall be the great tribulation of the world like fire, and it shall illuminate the righteous and burn the unrighteous. Saint Isidore of Seville, Expositions of Sacred Mysteries or Questions on the Old Testament, On Exodus, Chap 18 1 Exodus 13.21 2 Jn 9.39

Sleep And Death

Hoc enim vobis dicimus in verbo Domini, quia nos, qui vivimus, qui residui sumus in adventum Domini, non præveniemus eos qui dormierunt. Quoniam ipse Dominus in jussu, et in voce archangeli, et in tuba Dei descendet de cælo: et mortui, qui in Christo sunt, resurgent primi. Deinde nos, qui vivimus, qui relinquimur, simul rapiemur cum illis in nubibus obviam Christo in aëra, et sic semper cum Domino erimus. Itaque consolamini invicem in verbis istis. Sunt qui hunc locum ita edisserant: Vivi appellantur qui nunquam peccato mortui sunt; qui autem peccaverunt, et in eo quod peccaverunt, mortui sunt, et postea conversi ad poenitentiam purgant antiqua delicta, mortui appellantur, quia peccaverunt; in Christo autem mortui, qui plena ad Deum mente conversi sunt. Porro qui vivunt et habent testimonium fidei, et necdum receperunt promissionem Dei, qui et de aliis melius quiddam cogitant, ut non absque his qui justi sunt coronentur, in eo habent beatitudinem quod fruuntur bono conscientiae, et vivunt, et relicti sunt in adventu Domini Salvatoris. Sed quia clemens est Deus, et vult salvare etiam eos qui dormierunt, et in Christo mortui sunt, non praevenient illos, neque soli rapientur in nubibus; sed, juxta exemplum evangelicae parabolae, unum denarium unamque mercedem et undecimae horae operarii, et primae, qui in vineam missi sunt, salutis pretium accipient. Nec hoc alicui videatur injustum, ut dispar labor unum praemium consequatur. Magna quippe diversitas est eorum qui post vulnera mortis sanati, et eorum qui nunquam viderunt mortis errorem. De his puto dictum: Quis est homo qui vivat et non videat mortem? redimet de morte animam suam? Neque enim, ut quidam putant, quis, pro eo quod est nullus accipitur: sed quasi dixerit: Quis putas? juxta illud quod scriptum est: Quis sapiens et intelliget haec? Et in alio loco: Domine, quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo? Et iterum: Quis cognovit sensum Domini. Residui ergo erunt de credentibus pacui qui adventum Domini videant secundum id quod Deus Verbum factum est, nequaquam in vilitate carnis, sed in gloria triumphantis. Et considerandum quomodo primum dormientes appellaverit: deinde in Christo mortuos, quos viventes praevenire non poterunt. Qui enim non custodierunt hoc quod scriptum est: 'Ne dederis somnum oculis tuis, neque palpebris tuis dormitationem, ut salvus fias sicut caprea de vinculis, et sicut avis de laquies,' dormiet et culpabili sopore torpescet; cumque dormierit, transibit in mortem. Sicut enim movetur qui vigilat, sic qui dormit jacet immotus, et mortis torpet similitudine. Quod autem dormitationem sequatur mors, et prima ad Corinthios Epistola docere nos poterit, in qua ita scriptum est: Nunc autem Christus surrexit ex mortuis, primitiae dormientium: quia per hominem mors, et per hominem resurrectio mortuorum; et post paululum: Non omnes dormiemus, sed omnes immutabimur, in momento, in ictu oculi, in novissima tuba. Canet enim tuba, et mortui resurgent incorrupti, et nos immutabimur. Cum ergo haec de dormitione dicantur et morte, et illud legamus in Apostolo, Surge qui domis, et exsurge de mortuis, et illuminabit te Christus juremus Domino, et votum faciamus Deo Jacob, unusquisque dicens in corde sui: Si ascendam super stratum meum, si dedero somnum oculis meis et palpebris meis dormitationem, donec inveniam locum Domino, haud dubium quin in anima sua tabernaculum Deo Jacob, ut Deus in illo aeterna sede requiescat. Origenes, In Epistolam I Ad Thessalonicenses Source: Migne PG 14. 1300a-1301b

We tell you this as a word from the Lord, that we who are living, who are left for the coming of the Lord, will not come before those who have fallen asleep. Because the Lord Himself will summon, with the cry of an archangel and the trumpet of God, coming down from heaven, and those who died in Christ shall rise first. Only after that shall we who remain be as one with them taken up into the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and so we shall be with the Lord for ever. Tell one another this for your consolation. 1 There are those who here have taught that those are named the living who never have died amid sin; for those who have sinned, in that they have sinned are dead, and having turned to penance they are purged of old errors, dead they are named, because they have sinned. They indeed are dead in Christ who have turned to God with the whole mind. Then they are those who live and have the testament of faith, and have not yet received the promise of God, who are thought better than the others, not as among the righteous who are crowned, in having the blessing which is the enjoyment of good conscience, and living are left behind for the coming of the Lord our Saviour. But because God is merciful and wishes to save even those who sleep and are dead in Christ, they shall not come first, not only they shall be siezed in the clouds, but, in accordance with the teaching of the Gospel parable, that one denariius and one reward is given to the workers, both those who come at the eleventh hour and those who come at the first hour, who have been sent into the vineyard, both will receive the reward of salvation. 2 Nor should this seem unjust to some, that for differing labours one reward follows. Certainly there is a great difference between those who are healed after the wounds of death and those who have never seen the error of death. Concerning this I think it is said: 'Who is the man who lives and does not see death? Who redeems his own soul from death? 3 For not, as some think, does this 'who' mean that 'no one' is to be understood; but it is as if it is said: 'Who do you think?' According to which it is written, 'Who is wise and understands these things?' 4 And in another place: 'Lord, who shall dwell in your tabernacle?' 5 And again, 'Who knows the mind of the Lord?' 6 Remaining, then, there shall be from the believers a few who shall see the coming of the Lord according to what God the Word has determined, not at all in the vile flesh but in glory triumphant. And one must consider how He shall first call those who sleep, then the dead in Christ, before whom the living are not able to come. For they who shall not keep what is written: 'You shall not give sleep to your eyes, nor touch on your slumbers, that you may be saved like a deer from bonds, and like a bird from the snare ' 7 he shall sleep and doze in culpable slumber, and sleeping he shall pass into death. For as he is animated who keeps watch, so he who sleeps is cast down immobile, and his sleep is a likeness of death. For what is that sleep that follows death, the first letter to the Corinthians is able to teach us, in which it is written: 'For now Christ has risen from the dead, the first fruits of those who sleep,' and after a little: 'Not everyone sleeps but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead shall rise uncorrupted and we shall be changed.' 8 When, then, these things are said concerning sleep and death, and we may read in the Apostle: 'Rise up, you who sleep, and rise from the dead, and Christ shall illuminate you,' 9 let us swear to God and make a vow to the God of Jacob, each saying in his own heart, 'Shall I climb upon my bed, shall I will give sleep to my eyes and enter into my rest, until I find the place of the Lord?' 10 by no means doubting that in his own soul is the tabernacle of the God of Jacob, that God might come to rest in that eternal seat. Origen, On the First Letter to the Thessalonians 1 1 Thess 4.15-16 2 Mt 20.1 3 Ps 88.49 4 Hosea 14.10 5  Ps 14.1 6 Rom 11.34 7 Prov 6.4 8 1 Cor 15. 20, 21, 51 9 Ephes 5.14 10 Ps 131. 2,4,5

Like The Dead Of The World

Quia persecutus est inimicus animam meam, humiliavit in terra vitam meam, collocavit me in obscuris sicut mortuos saeculi. Obscuritas per corporis vitia effunditur: et cum per diaboli laqueos in cupiditates carnis incidimus, a cognitionis luce depulsi in obscuris collocamur, gentilium tenebris demersi, et saecularium operum nocte detenti. Sed quantumlibet persequens animam inimicus, et humilians in corpore tamquam mortuum saeculi collocet in obscuro; spiritalis tamen viri anxietas his corporis tenebris non tenetur, et cor super hac ipsa naturae suae infirmitate turbatur, repugnansque vitiis hominem suum in memoriam primae suae constitutionis et in meditationem Dei operum convertit. Non enim eum inimicus in obscuris mortuum saeculi, sed tamquam mortuum saeculi collocavit: per quod libertas spiritus semper in se anxii reservatur.    Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXLII Source: Migne PL 9.839b-c

Because the enemy has sought my soul, he has pressed down my life into the earth, he has gathered me into the darkness like the dead of the world. 1 The faults of the body pour forth darkness, and when we fall into the snares of the devil by corporeal desires, being cast down from knowledge of the light, we are gathered into darkness, and we sink into the darkness of the heathen, and we are held in the night of worldly works. But as much as the enemy seeks the soul, and presses down in the body, that it is as a gathering in the darkness of the long dead, however by the worry of the spiritual man in this he is not held in this bodily darkness, his troubled heart is raised above the infirmities of his own nature, and rejecting the faults of his own humanity in the recollection of his first creation, he turns to meditation on the works of God. For the enemy has not definitely gathered him among the dead of the world, but 'like' the dead of the world, from which he is kept by the freedom of the spirit being always in him by his anxiety. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 142 1 Ps 142.3

The Inheritors

Καὶ ἔτι ὀλίγον, καὶ οὐ μὴ ὑπάρξη ἁμαρτωλός.  Διερμηνεύει τὰ ἀνωτέρω λελεγμένα, τὸ μὲν, Ὅτι ὡσει χόρτος ταχὺ ἀποξηρανθήσονται, καὶ ὡσεὶ λάχανα χλόης ταχὺ ἀποπεσοῦνται, διὰ τοῦ, Ἔτι ὀλίγον, καὶ οὐ μὴ ὑπάρξη ὁ ἁμαρτωλός· καὶ ζητήσεις τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ καὶ οὐ μὴ εὕρῃς· τὸ δὲ Κατατρύφησον τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ δώσει σοι τὰ αἱτήματα τῆς καρδίας σου, σαφέστερον ᾱποδίδυσι διὰ τοῦ, Οἱ δὲ πραεῖς κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γὴν, καὶ κατατυφήσουσιν ἐπὶ πλήθει εἰρήνης. Πῶς γάρ τις κατατρυφήσει τοῦ Κυρίου παρίστησι, πλῆθος εἰρήνης παρ' αὐτῷ εἶναι λέγων· οὐ πλήθους εἰρήνης ἀπολαύσουσιν οἱ τοῦ Κυρίου κατατρυφήσαντες. Διὰ τούτων δὲ ὁ λόγος σαφῶς ἑτέραν τινὰ γῆν ἀγαθὴν τὴν τοῖς πραέσι δοθησομένην διδάσκει, καὶ τρυφὴν καὶ πλῆθος εἰρήνης εἰς μέλλουσιν ἀναπέμπει ζωήν. Οὐ γὰρ ἠγνόει, ὅτι ὁμοίως τοῐς ἁμαρτωλοῖς κατὰ τὸν παρόντα βίον καὶ οἱ δίκαιοι τελευτήσουσιν, ὡς δύνασθαι καὶ περὶ αὐτῶν λέγεσθαι τό· Ἔτι ὀλίγον, καὶ οὐ μὴ ὑπάρξῃ ὁ δίκαιος, καὶ ζητήσεις τὸν τόπον αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐ μὴ εὕρῃς· τελευτῶσι γὰρ ὁμοίως τοῖς ἁμαρτωλοῖς καὶ αὐτοί. Οὐκ ἂν δὲ εἰπε περὶ τῆς παρούσης γῆς τόδε· Οἱ παρεῖς κληρονομήσουσι τὴν γὴν, σαφῶς ὁρων τῶν πάντων πραότατον Μωῦσεα, πάλαι ἐξ ἀνθρώπων γενόμενον καὶ τῆς παρούσης γῆς ἀπηλλαγμένον.   Εὐσέβιος ὁ Καισάρειος, Ὑπομνηματα Ἐις Τους ψαλμους. ψαλμος ΛϚ' Source: Migne PG 23.328b-c

'And a little while and the sinner shall not be.' 1  Here is expounded what was said above, that is: 'Because as grass they will suddenly burn up and like herbs of grass suddenly wither,' 2 and so: 'And a little while and the sinner shall not be, and you shall seek his place and you will not find it,' 1 but: 'Delight in the Lord and He shall give to you the petitions of your heart,' 3 and to this openly answers: 'The meek even shall inherit the earth and delight in an abundance of peace.' 4 For someone who delights in presence of the Lord, it says, has the fullness of peace from Him, his being the abundance of peace of those who delight in the Lord. By these things, then, it is taught that another good earth will be given to the meek, who shall receive in the future life an abundance of peace. For he is not ignorant that in this life the righteous and the sinner must die, so that concerning these matters he would also be able to say: 'A little while and the righteous shall not be and you shall seek his place and not discover it.' For they also die even like sinners. Neither does he speak of this earth when he says that the meek shall inherit the earth, for he clearly knows that Moses, the most meek of all men of old, was taken from the midst of men and this earth. Eusebius of Caesarea, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 36 1 Ps 36. 10 2 Ps 36.2 3 Ps 36.4 4 Ps 36.11

Death Of Body And Soul

Corpus quomodo moritur? Anima deserente. Anima, inquam, deserente moritur corpus: et jacet cadaver paulo ante appetibile, modo aspernabile. Insunt membri, oculi, aures: sed hae fenestrae sunt domus, habitator abscessit. Qui plangit mortuum, ad fenestras habitaculi frustra clamat: non est intus qui audiat. Quanta dicit plangentis affectus, quanta enumerat, quanta commemorat; et per quantam, ut ita dixerim, doloris insaniam quasi cum sentiente loquitur, cum loquatur cum absente? Enumerat mores, enumerat indicia benevolentiae circa se. Tu es qui mihi illud dedisti; illud et illud praestitisti: tu es qui sic et sic me dilexisti. Si attendas, si intelligas, si insaniam doloris premas, qui te dilexit abscessit: frustra te domus patitur pulsatorem, in qua non potes invenire mansorem. Redeamus ad causam quam paulo ante dicebam. Mortuum est corpus. Quare? Quia discessit vita eius, hoc est, anima. Vivit corpus, et impius est, infidelis est, ad credendum durus, ad corrigendos mores ferreus: vivente corpore mortua est anima, per quam corpus vivit. Tanta enim res est anima, ut idonea sit vitam praestare corpori etiam mortua. Tanta, inquam, res est anima, tam excellens creatura, ut idonea sit etiam mortua carnem vivificare. Nam ipsa anima impii, anima infidelis, anima perversi, duri, mortua est: et tamen per ipsam mortuam vivit corpus. Ideo ibi est: movet ad operandum manus, ad ambulandum pedes, ad videndum intendit obtutum, ad audiendum auribus inclinatur; sapores diiudicat, dolores refugit, appetit voluptates. Omnia haec corporis viventis indicia, sed ex animae praesentia. Interrogo corpus, an vivat. Respondet mihi: Vides ambulantem, vides operantem, audis loquentem, cernis appetentem et fugientem, et non intellegis corpus vivere? Per haec opera animae intus constitutae, intellego corpus vivere. Et interrogo ipsam animam, an vivat. Habet et ipsa opera sua, per quae ostendat vitam suam. Pedes ambulant, intellego corpus vivere, sed animae praesentia. Quaero, utrum vivat anima. Pedes isti ambulant. Ecce de uno motu. De vita interrogo corpus et animam. Ambulant pedes, intellego corpus vivere. Sed quo ambulant? Ad adulterium, inquit. Ergo mortua est anima. Sic enim veracissima Scriptura dixit: Mortua est vidua quae in deliciis vivit. Cum multum intersit inter delicias et adulterium, quomodo potest anima, quae in deliciis mortua dicitur, in adulterio vivere? Mortua est. Sed nec sic quidem agens mortua est. Loquentem audio, vivit corpus. Non enim lingua in ore moveretur, et percuteret quibusque locis articulares sonos, nisi intus habitator esset; et quasi ad hoc organum musicus, qui lingua sua uteretur. Prorsus intellego. Hoc modo corpus loquitur, corpus vivit. Sed interrogo, utrum et anima vivat. Ecce loquitur corpus, vivit. Quid loquitur? Quomodo dicebam de pedibus, Ambulant, ecce vivit corpus; et quaerebam, Quo ambulant? ut intellegerem utrum et anima viveret: sic etiam cum audio loquentem, intellego quia corpus vivit; quaero quid loquatur, utrum et anima vivat. Mendacium loquitur. Si mendacium loquitur, ergo mortua est. Unde hoc probamus? Ipsam veritatem interrogemus, quae ait: Os quod mentitur, occidit animam. Quaero, Quare mortua est anima? Quod paulo ante dicebam, quaero, Quare mortuum est corpus? Quia discessit vita eius anima. Quare mortua est anima? Quia deseruit eam vita eius Deus. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensis, Sermons ad Populum, Sermones De Scripturis Veteris et Novi Testamenti, Sermo LXV Source: Migne PL 38.428-9

How does the body die? It is abandoned by the soul. The soul, I say, departing, the body dies, and the corpse which was desirable is now bitter. The members remain, the eyes, the ears, but these are the windows of the house from which the dweller has departed. He who cries out to the dead body vainly cries at the windows of a little dwelling; there is no one within to hear. How much the emotion of the mourner tells, how much it says, how much it recalls, for so much, as I have said, is the madness of grief that it speaks as if to something aware, speaking to something not there. It tells the deeds, it tells the tales of goodness concerning him. 'You are he who gave me this, in this and that you excelled, you loved me for in this and that way.' If you attend, if you understand, if you suppress the madness of grief, he who loved you has gone, and vainly you exert yourself knocking at the door of that house in which you are not able to find the owner. Let us return to the matter of which I was speaking a little while ago. The body is dead. Why? Because it has been cut off from life, that is, the soul. A body that lives, and is impious and unfaithful, and reluctant to believe, which is iron in the face of correction, is a living body with a dead soul, that by which the body lives. Such a thing is the soul, so excellent a creation, that it is able to give life to a body even when it is dead. For the soul of an impious man, an unfaithful man, a perverse man, a cruel man, is dead, and however in its death the body lives. Therefore here we find that the hands move to deeds, the feet walk, vision looks on living things, ears incline to hearing, tastes are distinguished, suffering is fled, pleasures are desired. All signs of a living body, but because of the presence of a soul. I ask the body: do you live? It answers me: 'You see that I walk, you see that I act, you hear that I speak, you discern that I desire and I am averse, and you do not understand that the body lives?' By these works of the soul established within I understand that a body lives. I ask the soul: do you live? It has its works by which is shows that it lives. By feet that walk I understand that the body lives, but with the presence of the soul. I wonder if the soul lives. The feet walk. Behold, one motion. I ask the body and soul about life. The feet walk, I understand the body lives. But where does it walk? To adultery, it says. Therefore the soul is dead. So truly Scripture has said, 'Dead is the widow living in vice.' 1 When it is found among errors, even adultery, how can the soul, of which it is said that it is dead in sin, live in adultery? It is dead. But nothing that acts is dead. I heard it said: the body lives. For the tongue would not move in the mouth, and striking in whatever place articulate its sounds, unless it had its dweller within, for as a musical instrument, so the tongue is used. I understand perfectly. Spoken of in this manner, the body lives, But I ask whether the soul lives. Behold the body says that it lives. What does it say? I spoke concerning the feet, they walk, and behold the body lives, and then I asked: where do they go? That I might understand whether the soul lives. So when I hear speech, I understand that the body lives, but I seek that which I said, whether the soul lives. It speaks a lie. If it tells a lie it is dead. How do I prove this? The truth we have questioned says: 'The mouth which speaks a lie kills the soul.' 2 I ask, why is the soul dead? A little earlier I asked: why is the body dead? Because its life, the soul, has gone. Why is the soul dead? Because it's life, God, has gone. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Sermons on the Old and New Testament, from Sermon 65 1 1 Tim 5.6  2 Wis 1.11

The Reward Of Servants

Et attendit Dominus, et audivit, et scriptus est liber monumenti coram eo timentibus Dominum, et cogitantibus nomen ejus. Et erunt mihi, ait Dominus exercituum, in die qua ego facio, in peculium: et parcam eis, sicut parcit vir filio suo servienti sibi. Et convertemini, et videbitis quid sit inter justum et impium, et inter servientem Deo et non servientem ei.  LXX: Et attendit Dominus, et audivit, et scripsit librum monumenti in conspectu suo his qui timent Dominum, et qui reverentur nomen ejus. Et erunt mihi, dicit Dominus omnipotens in die ego facio, in acquisitionem, et eligam eos sicut eligit homo filium  suum qui servit ei: et converimini, et videbitis quid sit inter justum et iniquum, et inter servientem Dei, et eum qui non servit ei.  Haec justis loquentibus, et timentibus Deum, singulis cum proximo suo, qui verba blasphemiae, nec audire voluere nec dicere, attendit Dominus et audivit, et scriptus et liber monumenti coram eo, timentibus, et cogitantibus nomen ejus, ut cum dies judicii venerit, reddat et blasphemantibus poenas, et timentibus praemia. Liber autem scriptus est, de quo in Daniele legimus: Throni positi sunt, et liberi aperti sunt. Et erunt Domino exercituum in peculium timentes Dominum, in die qua judicii tempus advenerit. Pro peculio in Hebraeo legitur scolla סְגֻלָּה; quod Aquila περιούσον, et caeteri περιποίυσιν interpretati sunt. Timentes igitur Dominum, qui locuti sunt cum proximo suo, et ad verba blasphemiae responderunt, erunt in die judicii in peculium, et parcet eis: quia omnis homo sub peccato. Sive eliget eos, sicut eligere solet homo filium suum servientem sibi. In quo duplex effectus est, et pietatis in filum, et servitutis in famulum. Et tunc qui nunc blasphematis et dicitis: Quod emolumentum, quia custodivimus praecepta ejus, et ambulavimus tristes coram Domino? ex illorum electione et beatitudine, et vestram miseriam cognoscetis, et versi in poenitentiam, videbitis quid sit inter justum et impium, et inter servientem Deo, et non servientem ei. Sanctus Hieronymous, Commentarium In Malachiam Prophetam, Cap III Source: Migne PL 25.1573c-1574b

And the Lord attended, and He heard, and the book of rememberance was written before Him of those who revere Him and those who meditate on His name. 'And they shall be to me,' says the Lord of Hosts, 'on the day I act, a valued servant, and I shall spare them, as a man is merciful to his son who attends to him. And you shall turn and you shall see what separates the righteous and the impious, and those who serve God and those who do not.' 1 The Septuagint has: And the Lord attended and heard, and He wrote the book of remembrance set in His sight of those who revered the Lord and those who adored His name. 'And they shall be to me,' says the Lord Almighty, 'on the day I act, a possession, and I shall choose them like a man chooses his son to attend to him, and you shall turn and you shall see what separates the righteous and the iniquitous, and those who serve God and those who do not.' 1 These things are for the righteous speakers and those who revere God, each one who with his neighbour neither wishes to hear or to speak words of blasphemy, that the Lord has attended and heard, and that the book of remembrance is written before Him, of those who revere Him and those who think on His name, that when comes the day of judgement, punishment shall be given to the blasphemers and reward to the reverers. For the book is written, as we read in Daniel: 'His throne has been placed and the books are opened.' 2 And they shall be a servant to the Lord of Hosts who revere the Lord in the time when the day of judgement has come. And for servant in Hebrew it is said ' סְגֻלָּה' 'scolla' that is, possession, which Aquila translates as περιούσον 'treasure' and others 'a thing preserved.' The reverers of the Lord, therefore, are those who have spoken with their neighbours and have answered their blasphemous words, and they will be a valued servant on the day of judgement, and He shall have mercy on them, for every man is a sinner. Or He shall choose them, like a man is accustomed to chose his son to attend to him. In which two things are accomplished: piety as a son, service as a servant. And then for those who now blaspheme and say, 'What reward when we have kept his commandments, and have walked in grief before the Lord?' 3 It is from their blessedness and the choosing of them that you shall know your wretchedness and turn to regret, and you shall thus see what separates the righteous and the impious, and those who serve God and those who do not serve. Saint Jerome, from the Commentary on The Prophet Malachi , Chapter 3 1 Malachi 3.16-18 2 Daniel 7.9 3 Malachi 3.14

Obedience And Salvation

Ὑμεῖς οὖν οἱ τὴν καταβολὴν τῆς στάσεως ποιήσαντες ὑποτάγητε τοῖς πρεσβυτέροις καὶ παιδεύθητε εἰς μετάνοιαν κάμψαντες τὰ γόνατα τῆς καρδίας ὑμῶν. Μάθετε ὑποτάσσεσθαι ἀποθέμενοι τὴν ἀλαζόνα καὶ ὑπερήφανον τῆς γλώσσης ὑμῶν αὐθάδειαν· ἄμεινον γάρ ἐστιν ὑμῖν, ἐν τῷ ποιμνίῳ τοῦ Χριστοῦ μικροὺς καὶ ἐλλογίμους εὑρεθῆναι, ἢ καθ’ ὑπεροχὴν δοκοῦντας ἐκριφῆναι ἐκ τῆς ἐλπίδος αὐτοῦ. Οὕτως γὰρ λέγει ἡ πανάρετος σοφία· Ἰδοὺ προήσομαι ὑμῖν ἐμῆς πνοῆς ῥῆσιν, διδάξω δὲ ὑμᾶς τὸν ἐμὸν λόγον. Ἐπειδὴ ἐκάλουν καὶ οὐχ ὑπηκούσατε, καὶ ἐξέτεινον λόγους καὶ οὐ προσείχετε, ἀλλὰ ἀκύρους ἐποιεῖτε τὰς ἐμὰς βουλάς, τοῖς δὲ ἐμοῖς ἐλέγχοις ἠπειθήσατε· τοιγαροῦν κἀγὼ τῇ ὑμετέρᾳ ἀπωλείᾳ ἐπιγελάσομαι, καταχαροῦμαι δέ, ἡνίκα ἂν ἔρχηται ὑμῖν ὄλεθρος καὶ ὡς ἂν ἀφίκηται ὑμῖν ἄφνω θόρυβος, ἡ δὲ καταστροφὴ ὁμοία καταιγίδι παρῇ, ἢ ὅταν ἔρχηται ὑμῖν θλῖψις καὶ πολιορκία. Ἔσται γάρ, ὅταν ἐπικαλέσησθέ με, ἐγὼ δὲ οὐκ εἰσακούσομαι ὑμῶν· ζητήσουσίν με κακοί, καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσουσιν. Ἐμίσησαν γὰρ σοφίαν, τὸν δὲ φόβον τοῦ Κυρίου οὐ προείλαντο, οὐδὲ ἤθελον ἐμαῖς προσέχειν βουλαῖς, ἐμυκτήριζον δὲ ἐμοὺς ἐλέγχους. Τοιγαροῦν ἔδονται τῆς ἑαυτῶν ὁδοῦ τοὺς καρποὺς καὶ τῆς ἑαυτῶν ἀσεβείας πλησθήσονται. Ἀνθ’ ὧν γὰρ ἠδίκουν νηπίους φονευθήσονται, καὶ ἐξετασμὸς ἀσεβεῖς ὀλεῖ· ὁ δὲ ἐμοῦ ἀκούων κατασκηνώσει ἐπ’ ἐλπίδι πεποιθὼς καὶ ἡσυχάσει ἀφόβως ἀπὸ παντὸς κακοῦ. Ὑπακούσωμεν οὖν τῷ παναγίῳ καὶ ἐνδόξῳ ὀνόματι αὐτοῦ φυγόντες τὰς προειρημένας διὰ τῆς σοφίας τοῖς ἀπειθοῦσιν ἀπειλάς, ἵνα «κατασκηνώσωμεν πεποιθότες» ἐπὶ τὸ ὁσιώτατον τῆς μεγαλωσύνης αὐτοῦ ὄνομα. Δέξασθε τὴν συμβουλὴν ἡμῶν, καὶ ἔσται ἀμεταμέλητα ὑμῖν. Ζῇ γὰρ ὁ Θεὸς καὶ ζῇ ὁ Κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς καὶ τὸ πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον, ἥ τε πίστις καὶ ἡ ἐλπὶς τῶν ἐκλεκτῶν, ὅτι ὁ ποιήσας ἐν ταπεινοφροσύνῃ μετ’ ἐκτενοῦς ἐπιεικείας ἀμεταμελήτως τὰ ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ δεδομένα δικαιώματα καὶ προστάγματα, οὗτος ἐντεταγμένος καὶ ἐλλόγιμος ἔσται εἰς τὸν ἀριθμὸν τῶν σῳζομένων διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, δι’ οὗ ἐστὶν αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἅγιος Κλήμης Ῥώμης, Ἐπιστολή πρὸς Κορινθίους, Source: Migne PG 1 324a-328a

You, then, who are at the root of this revolt, make submission to the clergy and be educated to repentance with the bending of the knee of your hearts. Learn to submit yourselves, putting aside proud and overbearing speeches, for it is better for you to be lowly and respected members of the flock of Christ than to be apparently enjoying positions of eminence, but in fact to be cast out of all hope of Him. In the Wisdom of Perfection it says: 'Behold, I will bring out to you a saying of my breath, and I will teach you my word. Because I called and you did not obey and I held out words and you did not attend to them, but made my councils of no effect and were unpersuaded by my corrections, therefore I will laugh at your destruction, and I will rejoice over you when ruin comes upon you and when dismay suddenly overtakes you and your calamity is near like a whirlwind, or when the trials of a seige come to you. For it will be that you call on me and I will not hear you, and the wicked will seek me and they will not find me. For they hated wisdom and they did not choose the fear of the Lord, nor did it please them to heed my counsel, but they mocked my reproofs. Therefore they shall eat the fruits of their own way and they shall be filled with their own impiety. Because they mistreated babes, they shall be slain, and visitation shall destroy the ungodly. But he that hears me shall dwell trusting in hope and shall have rest from all fear of every evil.' 1 Let us, then, be obedient to His all holy and glorious name by which we flee the doom that was pronounced by Wisdom on the godless, and that we may dwell trusting in the most sacred name of His majesty. Receive our counsel and you will have no regrets. For as God lives, as Jesus Christ lives, and the Holy Spirit also, on whom are set the faith and hope of God's elect, so surely the man who in all humility and fitting zeal, not to be repented, keeps the divinely appointed decrees and statues, will be enrolled with honour among the number of those who are saved through Jesus Christ, through whom God is glorified for ever and ever. Saint Clement of Rome, from the Letter to the Corinthians 1 Prov 1.23-33

Hope, Mercy And Eternity

Speravi in misericordia Dei mei in aeternum et in saeculum saeculi. Spes in misericordia Dei in saeculum et in saeculum saeculi est. Non enim ipsa illa justitiae opera sufficient ad perfectae beatitudinis meritum, nisi misericordia Dei etiam in hac justitiae voluntate humanarum demutationum et motuum vitia non reputet. Hinc illud Prophetae dictum est: Melior est misericordia tua super vitam: quia qumavis probabilis per justitiae operationem vita justorum sit, tamen per misericordiam Dei plus meriti consequetur. Ex hac enim vita in vitam proficit aeternam: et operationem justitiae in tantum misericordia Dei muneratur, ut miserans justitiae voluntatem, aeternitatis quoque suae justum quemque tribuat esse participem. Idcirco in saeculum et in saeculum saeculi misericordiae spes est: sed confessio tantum in saeculo, non etiam in saeculum saeculi. non enim confessio peccatorum nisi in hujus saeculi tempore est: dum voluntati suae unusquisque permissus est, et per vitae licentiam habet confessionis arbitrium. Decedentes namque de vita simul et de jure decedimus voluntatis. Tunc enim ex merito praeteritae voluntatis lex jam constituta, aut quietis aut poenae excedentium ex corpore suscipit voluntatem. Cujus temporis non jam liberam, sed necessariam voluntatem ostendit Propheta, cum dicit: Non est mihi in diebus illis voluntas. Cessante enim voluntatis liberate, etiam voluntatis, si qua erit, cessabit effectus. Transire namque ad Abraham volens dives, chao medio non sinitur: cum tamen per libertatem voluntatis in Abrahae sinibus esse potuisset. Interclusa est ergo libertas voluntatis, quia confessio nulla est mortuis, secundum id quod dictum est: In inferno autem quis confitebitur tibi? Sperans ergo Propheta misericordiam in saeculum et in saeculum saeculi, confitetur tantum in saeculo: temporaria confessionis officia saeculi tempore gerens, spem vero aeternam saeculorum aeternitate protendens. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis,Tractatus Super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum  LI Source: Migne PL 9.322b-323c

I have hoped in the mercy of my God into eternity and into the age of the ages. 1 The hope in the mercy of God is in time and eternity. For it is not that the works of righteousness are sufficient for the reward of perfect blessedness unless the mercy of God is in this choice of righteousness, not reckoning the faults of human caprice and perversion. Whence that Prophet has said. 'Better is your mercy than life.' 2 For though it is probable that by the work of righteousness there is life for the righteous, yet by the mercy of God a greater reward follows. For from this life into the life eternal it advances, and the work of righteousness is rewarded only by the mercy of God, that being merciful in the choice of righteousness, He also grants to the righteous man that he be a participent in His eternity. Therefore in time and in eternity there is the hope for mercy, but confession is only in time, and not eternity. For there is no confession of sinners unless in the time of this world, while it is allowed that each work his will, and in the freedom of life he has the choice of confession. For cut off from life instantly he is cut off from the right of choosing. For then from the merit of this past choice the law is thus established that it makes choice either for the peace or the punishment of those who have gone out from the body. And that such time is not for the free but the necessary will, the Prophet shows when he says: 'In those days there is no freedom for me.' 3 For with the freedom of the will ending, even the effect of choice, what might be, ceases. That rich man wished to pass over to Abraham, but was not permitted by the chasm between; 4 into which lap, however, he had been able to come by free will. Blocked then is the freedom of will, because the dead do not confess him, according to which it has been said: 'In hell who shall confess you?' 5 Thus the Prophet, hoping for mercy in time and in eternity, confesses only in time, the office of temporal confession being done in the time of the world, hope however reaches into the endless age of eternity. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 51 1 Ps 51.10 2 Ps 62.4 3 Eccles 12.1 Septuagint 4 Lk 16.26 5 Ps 6.6

Considering Last Judgement

Εἴ τις προφανῶς ἀμαρτάνων καὶ μὴ μετανοῶν, οὐδὲν ἔπαθεν ἕως ἐξόδου, τούτου νόμιζε ἀνίλεων εἴναι τὴν κρίσιν ἐκεῖ Ἅγιος Μάρκος ὁ Ἐρημίτης, Περὶ Νόμου Πνευματικοῦ Source: Migne PG 65.920b

If someone brazenly sins and does not repent, and suffers not at all for it until death, consider how merciless that judgement will be. Saint Mark The Ascetic, On The Spiritual Law.

Lamenting The Dead

Τὸ καλῦσον ἐπὶ νεκρῷ, ὅτι ἐκλέλοιπε φῶς, οὐχὶ πάντας τοὺς τεθνεῶτας λέγει καταθρηνεῖσθαι· ἀλλὰ τὸν ἔργοις νεκρωθέντα, καὶ τὴν ζῶσαν ἀνὰστροφὴν μὴ μετελθόντα, κλαίεσθαι βούλεται, ὡς τοῦ μέλλαντος φωτὸς ἀποτυχόντα. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΤΛΔ' Ἑρμινῳ Κομητι Source:  Migne PG 78.376a-b

'Weep over the dead man because his light has perished,' 1 does not mean that one should lament all who have died but him who has perished in his works, who did not turn and live; him it bids be wept over as one has lost the light. Saint Isidore of Pelusium,  Book 1, Letter 334, to Count Herminus 1 Sirach 22.10

Patience and Bereavement

Ne illa quidem inpatientiae species excusatur in amissione nostrorum, ubi aliqua doloris patrocinatur adsertio. Praeponendus est enim respectus denuntiationis apostoli, qui ait: Ne contristemini dormitione cuiusquam sicut nationes quae spe carent.  Et merito: credentes enim resurrectionem Christi, in nostram quoque credimus, propter quos ille et obiit et resurrexit. Ergo cum constet de resurrectione mortuorum, uacat dolor mortis, uacat et inpatientia doloris.  Cur enim doleas, si perisse non credis? Cur inpatienter feras subductum interim quem credis reversurum? Profectio est quam putas mortem. Non est lugendus qui antecedit, sed plane desiderandus. Id quoque desiderium patientia temperandum: cur enim inmoderate feras abisse quem mox subsequeris? Ceterum inpatientia in huiusmodi et spei nostrae male ominatur et fidem praevaricatur, et Christum laedimus cum evocatos quosque ab illo quasi miserandos non aequanimiter accipimus. Cupio, inquit Apostolus, recipi iam et esse cum Domino. Quanto melius ostendit votum! Christianorum ergo votum, si alios consecutos inpatienter dolemus, ipsi consequi nolumus! Tertullianus, De Patientia Source: Migne PL 1.1263b-1264a

Not even that type of impatience on account of the loss of our own is excused, where some assertion of grief acts as patron of it. For the consideration of the Apostle's declaration must be put before us, which says, 'Be not saddened by the falling asleep of any one, like the peoples who are without hope.' 1 And rightly, for believing in the resurrection of Christ, we also believe in our own, for whose sake He both died and rose. Since, then, there is certainty concerning the resurrection of the dead, there is no room for grief for death, there is no room for the impatience of grief. For why should you grieve if you believe that he has not perished? Why should you bear impatiently for a time the withdrawal of him who you believe will return? That which you think to be death is departure. He who goes before is not to be lamented, though certainly wanted. That longing also must be tempered with patience, for why should you bear without moderation the going away of him whom you will soon follow? Besides, impatience in matters of this kind bodes ill for our hope, and fails in its duty to the faith, and we wound Christ when those called away by him we deem as ones to be pitied, not accepting it with equanimity. 'I desire,' says the Apostle, 'to be received now, and to be with the Lord.' 2 How far better a wish does he exhibit! If, then, we grieve impatiently over others who attain the wish of Christians, we ourselves are unwilling to attain it. Tertullian, On Patience 1 1 Thes 4.13 2 Philip 1.23

Simeon's Example

Nunc dimittis, Domine, servum tuum in pace, quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum. Nos ergo dilectissimi fratres, hujus sanctissimi senis Simenois exemplum sequentes, Dominum Christum in mundum venisse credamus, ulnis sincerissimae dilectionis adventus ejus memoriam fideliter amplectentes, ei utpote membra capiti conjungamur, ita ut non ab eo separemus, usque dum eum in templo gloriae suae videre mereamur. Vitam quoque istam fallecem et caducam fugientes, ad illam quae vera et permanens est, toto mentis desiderio tendamus, auxiliante Domino nostro Jesus Christo, qui est, ut ipse dicit, via, veritas et vita: via, videlicet recte gradientium; veritas, veritatem amantium; vita, bene viventium. Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo III, De Purificatione Sanctae Dei Genitricis Mariae Source: Migne PL 142.1001b-c

Now dimiss your servant in peace, O Lord, for my eyes have seen your salvation.1 Let us then, dearest brothers, following the example of this most holy old man Simeon, believe that the Lord Christ has come into the world, in our arms faithfully embracing the memory of his coming with dearest love, as members joined to Him the head, that we be not separated from Him, until we merit to see Him in the temple of His glory. Fleeing this deceitful and fallen life, let us hold to what is true and permanent with all the desire of our heart, with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is, as He Himself says, The Way, The Truth and The Life. 2 The way certainly of those who walk correctly; the truth of the lovers of truth, the life of those who live well. Saint Odo of Cluny, from Sermon 3, On The Purification of Mary, The Holy Mother Of God 1 Lk 2.29-30 2 Jn 14.6

Trees And Fire

Ἑκουσίως γὰρ ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας, οὐκέτι περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπολείπεται θυσία, φοβερὰ δέ τις ἐκδοχὴ κρίσεως, καὶ πυρὸς ζῆλος, ἐσθίειν μέλλοντος τοὺς ὑπεναντίους Τῶν δένδρων ὅσαπερ ἂν φυτευθέντα, καὶ χειρῶν γεωργικῶν καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ἐπιμελείας ἀπολαύσαντα, μηδεμίαν παρέχηται τῶν πόνων ἀμοιβὴν, πρόῤῥιζα ἀνασπασθέντα τῷ πυρὶ παραδίδοται. Τοιοῦτον δή τι καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ φωτίσματος γίνεται. Ἐπειδὰν γὰρ ἡμᾶς ὁ Χριστὸς φυτεύσῃ, καὶ τῆς ἀρδείας ἀπολαύσωμεν τῆς πνευματικῆς, εἶτα βίον ἄκαρπον ἐπιδειξώμεθα, πῦρ ἡμᾶς ἀναμένει τὸ τῆς γεέννης, καὶ φλὸξ ἄσβεστος. Ὁ τοίνυν Παῦλος παρακαλέσας εἰς ἀγάπην καὶ καρποφορίαν ἔργων ἀγαθῶν, προτρέψας τε ἀπὸ τῶν χρηστοτέρων, ποίων δὴ τούτων; ὅτι εἴσοδον ἔχομεν εἰς τὰ ἅγια, ἣν ἐνεκαίνισεν ἡμῖν ὁδὸν πρόσφατον, καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν σκυθρωποτέρων πάλιν τὸ αὐτὸ τοῦτο ποιεῖ, οὕτω λέγων. Εἰπὼν γάρ· Μὴ ἐγκαταλείποντες τὴν ἐπισυναγωγὴν ἑαυτῶν, καθὼς ἔθος τισὶν, ἀλλὰ παρακαλοῦντες, καὶ τοσούτῳ μᾶλλον, ὅσῳ βλέπετε ἐγγίζουσαν τὴν ἡμέραν καὶ αὕτη γὰρ εἰς παράκλησιν ἱκανή· ἐπήγαγεν· Ἑκουσίως γὰρ ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας. ∆εῖ, φησὶν, ἔργων ἀγαθῶν, καὶ σφόδρα δεῖ· Ἑκουσίως γὰρ ἡμῶν ἁμαρτανόντων μετὰ τὸ λαβεῖν τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας, οὐκέτι περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπολείπεται θυσία. Ὃ δὲ λέγει, τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν· Ἐκαθάρθης, ἀπηλλάγης ἐγκλημάτων, γέγονας υἱός. Ἂν τοίνυν ἐπὶ τὸν πρότερον ἔμετον ἐπιστρέψῃς, πάλιν ἀποκήρυξις μένει καὶ πῦρ, καὶ ὅσα τοιαῦτα· οὐ γὰρ ἔστι θυσία δευτέρα. Πάλιν ἐνταῦθα ἡμῖν ἐπιφύονται οἱ τὴν μετάνοιαν ἀναιροῦντες, καὶ ὅσοι πρὸς τὸ βάπτισμα ὀκνοῦσιν ἐλθεῖν·ἐκεῖνοι μὲν λέγοντες, ὅτι οὐκ ἀσφαλὲς αὐτοῖς τῷ βαπτίσματι προσελθεῖν, εἴ γε οὐκ ἔστιν ἄφεσις δευτέρα· οὗτοι δὲ φάσκοντες, οὐκ ἀσφαλὲς εἶναι μεταδοῦναι μυστηρίων τοῖς ἡμαρτηκόσιν, εἴ γε μὴ ἔστιν ἄφεσις δευτέρα. Τί οὖν πρὸς ἀμφοτέρους ἐροῦμεν; Ὅτι οὐ σκοπῷ τοιούτῳ ἐνταῦθα τοῦτό φησι, οὐδὲ τὴν μετάνοιαν ἀναιρεῖ, ἢ τὸν διὰ μετανοίας ἐξιλασμὸν, οὐδὲ ὠθεῖ καὶ καταβάλλει διὰ τῆς ἀπογνώσεως τὸν ἐπταικότα· οὐχ οὕτως ἐχθρός ἐστι τῆς σωτηρίας τῆς ἡμετέρας· ἀλλὰ τί; τὸ δεύτερον ἀναιρεῖ λουτρόν. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν· Οὐκέτι ἐστὶ μετάνοια, οὐδὲ, Οὐκέτι ἐστὶν ἄφεσις, ἀλλὰ, Θυσία οὐκέτι ἐστὶ, τουτέστι, σταυρὸς δεύτερος οὐκέτι ἐστι· θυσίαν γὰρ τοῦτο καλεῖ. Μιᾷ γὰρ θυσίᾳ, φησὶ, τετελείωκεν εἰς τὸ διηνεκὲς τοὺς ἁγιαζομένους· οὐχ ὥσπερ τὰ Ἰουδαϊκὰ, οὐδὲ πολλάκις. ∆ιὰ γὰρ τοῦτο τοσαῦτα ἄνω καὶ κάτω διελέχθη περὶ τῆς θυσίας, ὅτι μία καὶ μία, οὐ τοῦτο μόνον βουλόμενος δηλῶσαι, ὅτι διενήνοχε Ἰουδαϊκῶν τούτῳ, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀσφαλεστέρους ποιῆσαι, ὥστε μηκέτι προσδοκᾷν κατὰ τὸν Ἰουδαϊκὸν νόμον ἄλλην θυσίαν. Ἑκουσίως γὰρ, φησὶν, ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν. Ὁρᾷς πῶς συγγνωμονικός ἐστιν; Ἑκουσίως, φησὶν, ἁμαρτανόντων ἡμῶν.Ὥστε τοῖς ἀκουσίως συγγνώμη ἐστί.Μετὰ τὴν ἐπίγνωσιν τῆς ἀληθείας. Ἤτοι τοῦ Χριστοῦ φησιν, ἢ τῶν δογμάτων ἁπάντων.Οὐκέτι περὶ ἁμαρτιῶν ἀπολείπεται θυσία. Ἀλλὰ τί; Φοβερὰ δέ τις ἐκδοχὴ κρίσεως, καὶ πυρὸς ζῆλος ἐσθίειν μέλλοντος τοὺς ὑπεναντίους. Ὑπεναντίους οὐ τοὺς ἀπίστους μόνον φησὶν, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς ἐναντία πράττοντας τῇ ἀρετῇ·ἢ ὅτι καὶ τοὺς οἰκείους τὸ αὐτὸ λήψεται πῦρ, ὅπερ καὶ τοὺς ὑπεναντίους. Εἶτα τὸ διαβρωτικὸν αὐτοῦ δηλῶν, ὥσπερ ἐψύχωσεν αὐτὸ, Πυρὸς ζῆλος, εἰπὼν, ἐσθίειν μέλλοντος τοὺς ὑπεναντίους. Καθάπερ γὰρ θηρίον παροξυνόμενον καὶ σφόδρα χαλεπαῖνον καὶ ἐξηγριωμένον οὐκ ἂν παύσαιτο, ἕως ἂν λάβοι τινὰ καὶ καταφάγοι· οὕτω καὶ τὸ πῦρ ἐκεῖνο, καθάπερ τις ὑπὸ ζήλου κεντούμενος, ὧν ἂν ἐπιλάβηται, οὐκ ἀφίησιν, ἀλλὰ τρώγει καὶ διασπᾷ Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Εἰς τὴν πρὸς Ἑβραίους Ἐπιστολὴν, Ὁμιλια Κ' Source: Migne PG 63.143-144

For if we sin willfully, after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there is no longer a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful looking out for judgment, and fiery indignation which shall devour adversaries. 1 Trees which have been planted, and have benefited from the labours of cultivators and other cares, and yet give no return for such toils, are pulled up by the roots and handed over to the fire. And so it is in a certain way in the matter of our enlightenment. For when Christ has planted us, and we have benefited from the watering of the Spirit, and then we exhibit a fruitless life, the fire of Hell awaits us and the flame unquenchable. Thus Paul, having exhorted them to love, and to the bringing forth the fruit of good works, and having urged from kindlier considerations that by doing these things we have an entrance into the holy of holies by the new way which He has inaugurated for us, 2 does the same again in the case of gloomier considerations, speaking so. For saying: 'not forsaking the gathering of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the day approaching,' 3 and this being sufficient consolation, he added, 'For if we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth.' There is need, he says, of good works, and that greatly, 'For if we sin willfully after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins.' And he means: you were cleansed; you were set free from charges held against you, you have become a son. If then you return to your vomit, there waits for you condemnation and fire and whatever such things there are, for there is no second sacrifice. Again we are here pressed upon by those who take away repentance and by those who delay to come to baptism; the latter saying that it is not safe for them to come to baptism, since there is no second forgiveness, the former proclaiming that it is not safe to impart the mysteries to those who have sinned, if there is no second forgiveness. What, then, shall we say to both? That this is not what he says here: for he does not take away repentance, nor the propitiation through repentance, nor does he thrust away and cast down with despair the fallen. He is not thus an enemy of our salvation. But what? He takes away the second washing. For he did not say there is no more repentance, nor that there is no more forgiveness, but that there is no longer a sacrifice, that is, there is no longer a second cross. For this is what he calls the sacrifice. 'For by one sacrifice,' he says, 'He has perfected forever the sanctified,' 4 not like the Jewish rites, not done repeatedly. For this reason he has spoken so much throughout of the sacrifice, that it is one, one only, not wishing to show only that it differed from the Jewish, but also to make men more steadfast, so that they no longer expected another sacrifice according to the Jewish law. 'For,' he says, 'if we sin willfully.' See how he is disposed to pardon. He says, 'if we sin willfully,' so that for those who do so unwillingly there is pardon. 'After receiving the knowledge of the truth.' He speaks of Christ, or of all the teachings. 'There is no longer a sacrifice for sins,' But what is there? 'A certain fearful looking out for judgment and fiery indignation which shall devour adversaries.' By adversaries he does not speak only of unbelievers, but those also who act against virtue, or that the same fire shall also receive those associated with them, as the adversaries. Then clarifying its devouring nature, he says, as if giving it life, 'fiery indignation which shall devour adversaries.' For as a wild beast when irritated, and very fierce and savage, will not rest until it lays hold on some one and devours him, so that fire, like one provoked by indignation, does not let go of whatever it can lay hold of, but devours and tears it apart. Saint John Chrysostom, On Saint Paul's Letter to The Hebrews, from Homily 10 1 Heb 10.26 2 Heb 10.20 3 Heb 10.25 4 Heb 10.14

The Tree's Fruit

Ἐκ καρποῦ δικαιοσύνης φύεται δένδρον ζωῆς ἀφαιροῦνται δὲ ἄωροι ψυχαὶ παρανόμων Καρπὸς δικαιοσύνης καὶ δένδρον ζωῆς, ὁ Χριστός ἐστιν· ὁ μόνος ἀνθρωπίνως πᾶσαν δικαιοσύνην πληρώσας· καὶ ὡς αὐτοζωὴ τοὺς τῆς γνώσεως καὶ ἀρετῆς καρποὺς ὡς δένδρον ἐβλάστητεν, ἐξ οὗ οἱ ἐσθίοντες ἀειζωῗαν λήψονατι, καὶ τοῦ παραδείσου τοῦ δένδρου τῆς ζωῆς ἀπολαύσονται, σὺν Ἀδαμ καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς δικαίοις· αἱ δὲ τῶν παρανόμων ψυχαὶ ἀφαιροῦνται μὲν ἄωροι ἐκ προσώπου τοῦ Θεοῦ, παρὰ τὸ παρορᾷν αὐτὸς ἐν τῇ φλογὶ τῆς βασάνου. Ἅγιος Ἱππόλυτος Ρώμης, Εἰς Τας Παροιμίας Source:  Migne PG 10 696d-697b

From the fruit of righteousness the tree of life grows; but the unripened souls of the unrighteous are borne away. 1 The fruit of righteousness and the tree of life is Christ. He alone as man fulfilled all righteousness. And with His own underived life He brought forth the fruits of knowledge and virtue like a tree, from which they who eat shall receive eternal life and shall enjoy the tree of life in paradise, with Adam and all the righteous. But the unripened souls of the unrighteous are borne off from the sight of God, by whom they are overlooked in the flame of torment.  Saint Hippolytus of Rome, Fragment On Proverbs 1 Prov 11.30

Burning The Tree

Omnis ergo arbor quae non facit fructum bonum... Mala arbor fructus malos facit. Fructus eorum inutiltes, et acerbi ad manducandum. Excidetur. Succide eam: ut quid etiam terram occupat? Duplici enim ex causa exciditur, scilicet, si nullos, et si malos fructus facit.  Nonne radicem eius evellet, et fructus eius distringer, et siccabit omnes palmites germinis eius, et arescent. Descendit vigil, et sanctus de coelo, et clamavit fortiter, et ait: Succidite arborem, et praecidite ramos eius, et excutite folia eius, et dispergite fructus eius. Et in ignem mittetur. Uniuscuiusque quale fit opus ignis comprobabit. Succensa est ab heri Tophet: nurtimenta eius ignis, et ligna multa: et flatus Domini sicut torrens sulphuris succendens eam. Mittetur foras, et arescet: et colligent eum, et in ignem mittent: et ardet. Sanctus Albertus Magnus Commentarium in Mattheum, Cap III Source: Volumen 9, pdf p30

Therefore every tree which does not give good fruit... 1 The bad tree produces bad fruit. 'Their fruit is useless, and bitter for the eating.' 2 Shall be cut down... 'Cut it down, why should it have a place on the earth?' 3 So for two reasons the tree is cut down: that is, if it produces no fruit, or if it produces bad fruit. 'Its roots shall be torn up, and its fruit pulled off, and every shoot of its seed shall dry up.' 4 'And in my vigil a holy one came down from heaven and he cried out: Cut down the tree, cut off its branches, strip off the leaves, scatter the fruit.' 5 And it shall be sent to the fire... 'What the work of each one is shall be proved by fire.' 6 'Since yesterday Tophet has been kindled, fed with flaming wood in abundance; and the breath of the Lord like a stream of brimstone inflames it.' 7  'The branch shall be cast out and it shall wither; and they shall gather it and they shall send it into the fire, and it shall burn.' 8 Saint Albert The Great, Commentary On The Gospel of St Matthew, Chap 3 1 Mt 3.10 2 Wisdom 4.5 3 Lk 13.7 4 Ezek 17.9 5. Dan 4.10-11 6 1 Cor 3.13 7 Isaiah 30.33 8 Jn 15.6

The Shadow Of Death And True Death

Ἐὰν γὰρ καὶ πορευθῶ ἐν μέσῳ σκιᾶς θανάτου...  Νοοῖτο δ' ἂν σκιὰ θανάτου καὶ ὁ φυσικὸς καὶ κοινὸς θάνατος, πρὸς ἀντιδιαστολὴν τοῦ προαιρετικοῦ θανάτου, τοῦ τῆς ψυχῆς, φημὶ, ὂς οὐκ ἔστι σκιὰ θανάτου, ἀλλὰ θάνατος ἀληθής. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Εἰς Τους Ψαλμους, Ψαλμός ΚΒ' Source: Migne PG 69.841b

'For if I walk in the shadow of death...' 1   One may think that the shadow of death is the physical and common death, to distinguish it from the death that is by choice, I mean, of the soul, which is not the shadow of death but true death. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 22 1 Ps 22.4

Concerns About Damnation

Τρεῖς γέροντες παρέβαλον τῷ ἀββᾷ Σισόῃ, ἀκούσαντες τὰ περὶ αὐτοῦ. Καὶ λέγει αὐτῷ  πρῶτος· Πάτερ, πῶς δύναμαι σωθῆναι ἀπὸ πυρίνου ποταμοῦ; Ὁ δὲ οὐκ ἀπεκρίθη αὐτῷ. Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ δεύτερος· Πάτερ, πῶς δύναμαι σωθῆναι ἀπὸ τοῠ βρυγμοῦ τῶν ὀδόντων, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ σκώληκος τοῦ ἀκοιμήτου; Λέγει αὐτῷ ὁ τρίτος· Πάτερ, τί ποιήσω, ὅτι ἡ μνήμη τοῦ ἐξωτέρου σκότους φονεύει με; Ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ γέρων εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Ἐγω οὐδενὸς τούτων μέμνημαι· φιλεύσπλαγχνος γὰρ ὤν ὁ Θεὸς, ἐλπίζω ὅτι ποιεῖ μετ' ἐμου ἔλεος. Ἀκούσαντες δὲ τὸν λόγον τοῦτον οἱ γέροντες ἀπῆλθον λυπούμενοι. Μὴ θέλων δὲ ὁ γέρων ἐᾶσαι αὐτούς λυπουμένους ἀπελθεῖν, ὑποστρέψας αὐτοῖς εἶπε· Μακάριοί ἐστε, ἀδελφοί· ἐζήλωσα γὰρ ὑμᾶς. Ὁ πρῶτος γὰρ ὑμῶν εἶπε περὶ τοῦ πυρίνου ποταμοῦ, καὶ ὁ δεύτερος περὶ τοῦ Ταρτάρου, καὶ ὁ τρίτος περὶ τοῦ σκότους. Εἰ οὖν τοιαύτης μνήμης κυριεύει ὁ νοῦς ὑμῶν, ἀδύνατον ὑμᾶς ἁμαρτῆσαι. Τί δὲ ποιήσω ἐγὼ ὁ σκληροκάρδιος, μὴ συγχωρούμενος εἰδέναι ὅτι κἄν ἐστι κόλασις τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· καὶ ἐκ τούτου, ἐν πάσῃ ὥρᾳ ἁμαρτάνω; Καὶ μετανοήσαντες αὐτῷ εἶπον· Καθάπερ ἠκούσαμεν, οὕτως καὶ εἴδομεν. Ἀποφθεγματα των ἀγιων γεροντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65.397d-399a

Three old men came to see Father Sisoes, having heard about him. The first said to him, 'Father, how shall I save myself from the river of fire?' He did not answer him. The second said to him, 'Father, how can I be saved from the gnashing of teeth and the worm that does not die?' The third said, 'Father, what shall I do, for the remembrance of the outer darkness is killing me?' And answering them the old man said, 'I do not keep in mind the remembrance of any of these things, for since God is compassionate, I hope that He will show me His mercy.' Having heard this, the old men turned away upset. But the elder, not wishing to let them go away troubled, said to them, 'Blessed are you, my brothers; I envy you. The first speaks of the river of fire, and the second of Tartarus, and the third of darkness. Now if your mind is ruled by such remembrances, it is impossible for you to sin. But what shall I do? I who am hard of heart and to whom it has not been given to know whether there is punishment for men? And because of this I sin every hour.' And apologising to him, they said, 'As we have heard, so we have seen.' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

The Fear Of Separation

Φοβοῦμαι φησὶν ὁ Ἰὼβ, μὴ γνόφῳ με ἐκρτίψει ὁ Κύριος· τουτέστι, μήποτε ἐξορίσας με τῆς μερίδος τῶν ἰκανωθέντων ἐν τῷ φωτὶ τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ, παραδῷ τῇ αἰωνᾳ σκοτίᾳ. Διόπερ μὴ χαύνως, καὶ ἀμερίμνως τὸν βίον ὀδεύσωμεν.. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΤΙΔ' Δρακοντιῳ Source: Migne PG 79.196c-d

'I fear,' says Job,' lest the Lord cover me in darkness;' 1 that is, lest ever from the state of those who have been made fit to share in the light of His glory, separating me, He hands me over to the eternal darkness. Thus let us pass our lives neither sluggishly nor securely. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 314, to Dracontius 1 Job 9.17

An Epicurean Warned

Ἐπίκουρος μὲν ό ποιμὴν τῆς ἀγέλης σου, αύτοσχεδίως πάντα γεγενῆσθαι, καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ὡς οὐχ ὑπάρξαντα ἔσεσθαι ἀσεβῶς ἀπεφήνατο. Χριστὸς δὲ ὁ πάνατων ποιητὴς καὶ Πατὴρ καὶ Θεὸς καὶ Σωτὴρ, ἤξειν ἐν δόξῃ ἐπηγγείλατο, καὶ ἀποδοῦναι ἐκάστῳ ὡς ἔπραξεν. Εἰ τοίνυν ἀξιόπιστος οὕτος μᾶλλον ἐκείνου, τῆς σῆς ἐστι συνιδεῖν δυσκατανύκτου καρδίας, μήποτε φθασθῆς καταφρονῶν, καὶ τότε μεταμέλεσθαι ζητῇς, ὅτε τόπος μεταμέλῳ οὐκ ἔστι. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΥΞ', Μαρτινιανῳ Source:  Migne PG 78.436b

Epicurus, the pastor of your flock, he who ventured to produce all things by chance and after that reduces them to nothing, has spoken impiously. Christ is the Creator of all things and Father and God and Saviour, who will come in glory, and has promised to return to each according to his works. If then He is more worthy of faith than the other, admit knowledge into your benighted heart, lest you be found contemptuous, for after that you will seek penitence in a place where there is no penitence. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 460, To Martianus

Considerations Of The Flesh

Non dissonat, dilectissimi, ab hac fide magister gentium apostolus Paulus, cum dicit: Etsi cognovimus secundum carnem Christum, sed non jam non novimus. Resurrectio enim Domini non finis carnis, sed commutatio fuit, nec virtutis augmento consumpta substantia est. Qualitas transiit, non natura defecit; et factum est corpus impassibile, quod potuit crucifigi; factum est immortale, quod potuit occidi; factum est incorruptibile, quod potuit vulnerari. Et merito dicitur caro Christi in eo statu quo fuerat nota, nesciri: quia nihil in ea passibile, nihil remansit infirmum, ut et ipsa sit per essentiam, et non sit ipsa per gloriam. Quid autem mirum, si hoc de corpore Christi profitetur, qui de omnibus Christianis spiritalibus dicit: Itaque nos ex hoc neminem novimus secundum carnem? Ex hoc, inquit, initium nobis factum est resurrectionis in Christo, ex quo in eo qui pro omnibus mortuus est, totius spei nostrae forma praecessit. Non haesitamus diffidentia, nec incerta exspectatione suspendimur, sed accepto promissionis exordio, fidei oculis quae sunt futura, jam cernimus; et naturae provectione gaudentes, quod credimus jam tenemus. Non ergo nos rerum temporalium occupent species, nec ad se contemplationem nostram a coelestibus terrena deflectant. Pro transactis habeantur quae ex maxima parte jam non sunt; et mens intenta mansuris, ibi desiderium suum figat, ubi quod offertur aeternum est. Quamvis enim spe salvi facti simus, et corruptibilem adhuc carnem mortalemque gestemus, recte tamen dicimur in carne non esse, si carnales nobis non dominentur affectus; et merito ejus rei deponimus nuncupationem, cujus non sequimur voluntatem. Cum itaque Apostolus dicat: Carnis curam ne feceritis in desideriis, non ea nobis interdicta intelligimus quae saluti congruunt et quae humana poscit infirmitas. Sed quia non omnibus desideriis serviendum, nec quidquid caro concupiscit implendum est, de adhibendo temperantiae modo admonitos nos esse cognoscimus, ut carni, quae sub animi est constituta judicio, nec superflua concedamus, nec necessari denegemus. Unde idem Apostolus alibi ait, Nemo enim umquam carnem suam odio habuit, sed nutrit et fovet eam: cum utique non ad vitia, non ad luxuriam , sed ad debitum sit alenda et fovenda famulatum: ut teneat ordinem suum renovata natura, nec perversa ac turpiter superioribus inferiora praevaleant, aut inferioribus superiora succumbant, et vitiis animum superantibus, ibi fiat servitus ubi debet esse dominatus. Sanctus Leo Magnus, Sermo LXXI Cap IV-V Source: Migne PL 54.388c-389b

The Apostle Paul, teacher of the Gentiles, most dearly beloved, does not disagree with this belief, when he says, 'Even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet not now do we know Him.' 1 For the resurrection of the Lord was not the ending of the flesh, but the changing of it, and by an increase in virtue His substance was not destroyed. The quality altered, the nature did not pass away; the body that was able to be crucified was made impassible; that which was able to be wounded was made incorruptible. And rightly is it said that Christ's flesh is not known in that state in which it had been known, because nothing remained passible in it, nothing remained weak, so that it was the same in essence and not the same in glory. But why wonder if he maintains this about Christ's body, when he says of all spiritual Christians 'Thus henceforth we know no one according to the flesh.' 2 Henceforth, he says, is the beginning in us of the resurrection in Christ, since that time when in Him, who died for all, the form all our hopes were foreshown. We do not hesitate in diffidence, we are not held up in uncertain expectation, but having received the first example of the promise, we now see with the eyes of faith the things which will be, and rejoicing in the uplifting of nature, what we believe we already possess. Therefore let us not be occupied by the appearances of temporal things, nor lower our contemplation from heavenly things to worldly things. As accomplished let things be which have not for the most part come to be, and the mind intent on things that persist, there let its desire be fixed, where that which is offered is eternal. For though by hope we are saved, 3 we yet bear corruptible and mortal flesh, and yet rightly we are said not to be in the flesh, if we not dominated by carnal affections, 4 and rightly we do not have the name of what we have put aside, not following its will. When then the Apostle says: 'Do not have care for the flesh in its desires,' 5 we do not understand that these things are prohibited to us which befit health and are demanded by human infirmity. But because not every desire should be attended to, nor whatever the flesh desires be fulfilled, we know that we are admoinished to cleave to temperance, so that to the flesh, which in judgement is set below the soul, we do not concede things which are superflouous, nor do we deny what is necessary. Whence the same Apostle says elsewhere: 'No one ever hates his own flesh but he nourishes it and cares for it,' 6 that is, when he nourishes and cares for it not for vice, not for luxury, but as a duty to a servant, that nature restored holds to its order, the inferior not prevailing in perversity and baseness over the superior, nor the higher succumbing to the inferior, so that the soul is overcome with vice and there is servitude when there should be rule. Pope Leo the Great, from Sermon 71, Chap 4-5 1 2 Cor 5.16 2 2 Cor 5.16 3 Rom 8.24 4 Rom 8-8-11 5 Rom 13.14 6 Ephes 5.29