The Resurrection And Children

Magnum fratres et mirabile donum concessit vobis Deus, hunc Paschae salutarem diem, in quo resurgens Dominus resurrectionem praestitit universis; et de imis ad altiora conscendens, nos quoque ad superiora de inferioribus in suo corpore sublevavit. Sumus enim secundum Apostolum omnes Christiani corpus Christi et membra, resurgente igitur Christo omnia necessario cum eo sua viscera surrexerunt. Dum enim ille ab inferis transit ad superos, nos de morte transire fecit ad vitam. Pascha enim Hebraice transitus dicitur, vel profectus, scilicet quia per hoc mysterium de pejoribus ad meliora transitur. Bonus transitus est transire de peccatis ad justitiam, de vitiis ad virtutes, ad infantiam de senectute; infantiam autem dixerim, non aetatis, sed simplicitatis; habent enim et merita aetates suas, in occiduis enim prius constituti eramus senio peccatorum, resurgente Christo renovati sumus innocentia parvulorum. Habet et Christiana simplicitas infantiam suam; sicut enim infans nescit irasci, fraudare non novit, referire non audet; ita et Christianitatis infantia laedentibus non irascitur; spoliantibus non resistit, caedentibus non repugnat. Denqiue, sicut jussit Dominus, etiam orat pro inimicis, auferentibus tunicam relinquit et pallium, verberantibus maxillam praebet et alteram; nisi quod in hoc melior est Christi infantia quam naturae; illa enim peccare nescit, ista contemnit; ila per infirmitatem innoxia est; ista est innocens per virtutem. Atque ideo laudi magis ascribendum est, non tam malefacere non posse quam nolle. Ergo, sicut diximus, aetates quaedam sunt meritorum; nam et senectus morum invenitur in pueris, et innocentia infantum repetiur in senibus. Denique quod in junioribus senectus quaedam sit honestatis, dicit Propheta: Senectus enim venerabilis non diuturna, nec annorum numere computata; cani enim sunt sensus hominis. Ad apostolos autem jam seniores, et majores natu dicit Dominus: Nisi fueritis, et efficiamini sicut puer iste non intrabitis in regnum coelorum. Revocat igitur eos ad orignis suae fontem, et retrorsum ad infantiam redire compellt, scilicet, ut qui corpore fragili senuerant, innocentiae moribus renascantur, sicut ait Salvator: Nisi quis renatur fuerit ex aqua et Spriitu sancto, non intrabit in regnum Dei. Dicitur ergo apostolis: Nisi conversi fueritis, et efficiamini sicut puer iste. Non dicit sicut pueri isti, sed sicut puer iste; unum eligit, unum proponit. Videamus igitur quis ille tantus sit qui discipulis proponitur imitandus. Non hunc arbitror esse de plebe, non de publico, non de multitudine caeterorum, praecipue qui per apostolos universo mundo tribuit sanctitatis exemplum; non, inquam, hunc de publico esse arbitror, sed de coelo. Ipse est enim de coelo puer, de quo dicit Isaias propheta: Puer natus est nobis, filus datus est nobis. Ipse plane puer est, qui sicut innocens, cum malediceretur, non remaledixit; cum percuteretur, non repercussit; quin potius in ipsa passione pro suis oravit inimicis, dicens: Pater, dimitte eis; nesciunt enim quid faciunt. Ita simplicitatem, quam infantibus natura tribuit, Dominus misericordiae bonitate cumulabat. Iste ergo puer est, qui imitandus parvulis proponitur, et sequendus; nam ipse dicit: Tolle crucem tuam, et sequere me. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia LVIII, De Paschae Solemnitate IV Source: Migne PL 57.363c-366b

A great and wonderful gift God has given to us, this salutary day of the Pasch, in which the rising Lord set the resurrection before all, and with His rising from the depths to the heights, we are also lifted up from inferior to superior things in His body. For according to the Apostle we Christians are all members of the body of Christ, 1 and therefore, with Christ's rising, it must be that all the parts have arisen with Him. For while He passed from the depths to the heights, He makes us pass over from death to life. The Hebrew Pasch means 'a passing over', or 'a going forward', and so through this mystery we pass over from things worse to things better. A good passing over is to pass over from sin to righteousness, from vices to virtues, from old age to childhood; a childhood, I say, not of years, but of simplicity. Years have their merits, for before in our ways we were old in sin, but with the rising of Christ we are renewed in the innocence of little ones. Christian simplicity has its childhood, for as an infant does not know wrath, nor how to deceive, nor strikes back, so even the childhood of Christianity is not angered by blows, it does not resist thieves, it does not return the blows of those who assail. And then, as the Lord commands, we pray for our enemies, we give up our shirt and cloak to those who would carry them off, and we offer the other cheek to those who strike. Unless in this the childhood of Christ is better than that of nature, for the latter does not know how to sin, the former spurns it, the latter by weakness is harmless, the former by the strength of the virtues. And, therefore, more praise must be ascribed to that which does not wish to do evil than that which is incapable of doing it. Thus, as we have said, the years have their merits, for even an old age of conduct is found in children, and an innocence of infants in the old. And then in youths a certain old age may be noble, as the Prophet says: 'Venerable old age is not measured by length of time, nor the number of years, but by white hair is understanding for men.' 2 For the Apostles were all adults, and to those old by birth the Lord says: 'Unless you turn and become as this child, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.' 3 He thus recalls them to the fount of their origin, and He compels them to return to childhood, that they who age in the fragile body be renewed in the innocence of conduct, as the Saviour says: 'Unless a man is born of water and the Holy Spirit, he shall not enter the kingdom of God.' 4 And therefore it is said to the Apostles: 'Unless you turn and become as this child.' And He does not say 'like these children', but 'like this child'. He chooses one. He proposes one. Let us consider, then, who this might be who is proposed to the disciples that they should imitate. I do not think him to be from the common people, nor from the wider public, nor from other multitudes, especially since he through the Apostles was given as an example of holiness to the whole world. No, I say, he is not from the public, but from heaven. For He is that child from heaven of whom Isaiah says: 'A boy is born for us, a son is given to us' 5 This plainly is the boy, who is innocent, who when cursed, does not return the curse, when struck, does not return the blow, but rather in his suffering prays for enemies, saying: 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.' 6 Thus the simplicity which nature gives to infants, the Lord heaped up with the kindness of mercy. He, then, is the child, the little one who is proposed for imitation and for following, for He says: 'Take up your cross and follow me.' 7 Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 58, On The Paschal Solemnity 4 1 1 Cor 12.27 2 Wisd 4.8-9 3 Mt 18.3 4 Jn 3.3 5 Isaiah 9.6 6 Lk 23.34 7 Mt 16.24