Promises And Rewards

Ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτὸν ἐξανθήσει τὸ ἁγίασμα μου. Τί ἐστιν, Ἐπὶ δὲ αὐτὸν; Ἐπὶ τὸν λαόν. Τὸ ἁγίασμα ἕτερος Τὸ κέρας εἶπεν. Ἄλλος Ἀφόρισμα αὐτοῦ. Ἄλλος, Τὸ ἀφωρισμένον αὐτοῦ. Τί ποτ' οὖν ἐστι τὸ εἰρημένον; Ἐμοὶ δοκεῖ τὴν εὐπραγίαν λέγειν, τὴν ἀσφάλειαν, τὴν ἰσχὺν.Ἄπερ ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἀφώρισα αὐτῷ, ταῦτα μενεῖ ἀνθοῦντα, φησὶ, βρύοντα, οὐ μαραινόμενα, οὐδε καταπίπτοντα· ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πάντα ἔσται, τοῦ διορισμοῦ τοῦ ἔμπροσθεν εἰρημένου μένοντος. Ποίου δὴ τούτου; Ἐὰν φυλάξωνται οἱ υἱοί σου τὴν διαθήκην μου. Οὐ γαρ μόναι αἱ ὑποσχέσεις τοῦ Θεου παρέχουσαιν ἡμῖν τὰ ἀγαθὰ, ἂν μὴ καὶ ἡμεῖς τὰ παρ' ἑαυτῶν ποιῶμεν, οὐδὲ χρὴ τούτοις προσέχοντας ἀναπεπτωκέναι, καὶ ὑπτίους εἶναι. Πολλὰ γὰρ καὶ τῶν ἀγαθῶν ὦν ἐπηγγείλατο ὁ Θεὸς οὐ ποιεῖ, τῶν τὰς ἐπαγγελίας δεξαμένων ἀναξίων εὑρισκομένων· ὥσπερ καὶ τὰ κακὰ, ἂ ἠπείλησεν, εἰς ἔργον οὐκ ἄγει, τῶν παροξυνάντων αὐτὸν ὕστερον μεταβαλλομένων, καὶ τὴν ὀργὴν ἀποκρουσαμένων. Ταῦτα οὖν εἰδότες, μήτε διὰ τὰς ὑποσχέσεις ῥᾳθυμῶμεν, ἵνα μὴ καταπέσωμεν, μήτε διὰ τὰς ἀπειλὰς ἀπογινώσκωμεν, ἀλλὰ μεταβαλλώμεθα. Οὕτω γὰρ δυνησόμεθα τῶν μελλόντων ἐπιτυχεῖν ἀγαθῶν. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος Εἰς Τον ΡΛΑ´ Ψαλμον Source: Migne PG 55.384

Over him my sanctification shall flourish. 1 What is this, 'Over him?' Over the people. That which is called sanctification is also named a horn. 2 Otherwise His separated ones. What then is said here? It seems to me that it speaks of prosperity, security, and strength. Those which I separated from the beginning, these, He says, shall continue to flourish, prospering, not withering, not falling away. But all these things shall be only if the first condition spoken of shall remain. What is this? 'If your sons guard my testament.' 3 God does not only give promises of good things to us, but we must also do things for them, not neglecting our care for them and turning away. For God does not bring about the many goods promised if those who received the promises are then found to be unworthy, just as when evils are threatened against the doing of some deed, if those who had vexed later change, then the anger is put aside. Thus knowing these things, let us not be neglectful of those things which have been promised, lest we be ruined. Nor let us dismiss threats, but change. Thus we shall be able to come to future goods. Saint John Chrysostom, On The Psalms, from Psalm 131 1 Ps 131.18 2 Ps 131.17 3 Ps 131.12

Death And Revival

Sciendum quoque est, quod tres illi modi peccantium iuxta descensus sui ordinem facilius corriguntur, quartus vero iste difficilius emendatur. Unde et Redemptor noster puellam in domo, iuvenem extra portam, in sepulcro autem Lazarum suscitat. Adhuc quippe in domo mortuus iacet, qui latet in peccato. Iam quasi extra portam educitur, cuius iniquitas usque ad inverecundiam publicae perpetrationis aperitur. Sepulturae vero aggere premitur, qui in perpetratione nequitiae etiam usu consuetudinis pressus gravatur. Sed hos ad vitam miseratus revocat, quia plerumque divina gratia, non solum in occultis, sed etiam in apertis iniquitatibus mortuos, et mole pravae consuetudinis pressos, respectus sui lumine illustrat. Quartum vero mortuum Redemptor noster nuntiante discipulo agnoscit, nec tamen suscitat, quia valde difficile est ut is quem post usum malae consuetudinis etiam adulantium linguae excipiunt, a mentis suae morte revocetur. De quo et bene dicitur: Sine mortuos sepelire mortuos suos. Mortui enim mortuos sepeliunt, cum peccatores peccatorem favoribus premunt. Quid enim aliud est peccare, quam occumbere; et sepelire, quam abscondere? Sed qui peccantem laudibus prosequuntur, exstinctum sub verborum suorum aggere abscondunt. Erat autem et Lazarus mortuus, sed tamen non a mortuis sepultus. Fideles quippe mulieres illum obruerant, quae et eius mortem vivificatori nuntiabant. Unde et protinus ad lucem rediit, quia cum in peccato animus moritur, citius ad vitam reducitur, si super hunc sollicitae cogitationes vivunt. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Moralia, sive Expositio in Job, Liber IV, Caput XXVII Source: Migne PL 75.663b-664a

We must also know that the three ways of being sinners are more easily corrected as they come in their order downwards, but the fourth is not corrected but with difficulty. And hence our Saviour raises the young girl in the house, 1 the young man outside the gate, 2 but Lazarus from the grave. 3 For the one who sins in secret is as yet laying dead in the house, and he is already being carried outside the gate whose wickedness is done openly, even to the shamelessness of public performance. But the sepulchral mound presses down on him who in the performance of sin is heavily pressed down upon by the use of habit. But all these in mercy He recalls to life, because it often happens that Divine grace enlightens with the light of its regard not only those dead in secret sins, but likewise those with openly evil practices, and those who are pressed down beneath the weight of depraved habit. But the fourth one our Saviour knows is dead by a disciple's proclamation, and He does not raise him, because it is very hard that anyone can be recovered from the death of the soul, who after continuance in evil habit the tongues of flatterers have got hold of. Concerning whom it is well said, 'Let the dead bury their own dead.' 4 For the dead bury the dead when sinners heap approval on sinners. For what else is it to sin but to meet with death? And what is it to bury but to conceal it? So they who pursue the sinner with their praise hide the dead man under the heap of their words. Now Lazarus too was dead, but he was not buried by the dead. For the faithful women had buried him and announced his death to Him who revives. Whence he was quickly returned to the light, because when the soul dies in sin, it is swiftly brought back if anxious thoughts live over it. Saint Gregory the Great, Moralia, or Commentary on Job, Book 4, Chap 27 1 Mt 9.18-26 2 Lk 7.11-15 3 Jn 11.17-44 4 Lk 9.60

The Poor And Judgement

In die mala liberabit eum Dominus... Qui se novet per mala saeculi vitam ducere, eleemosynae semper secum auxilium ducat, ad praesidium sibi turmas pauperum vocet, in pastu pauperum largus prorogator exuberet, pauperum frequentet donum, non trepidet erogando; deficere nescit cui porrigit manum parcus acceptor; exhauriri thesaurus is non potest, de quo sufficit nummus: In die mala liberabit eum Dominus. In die mala illi Deus liberator assistet, qui a malis pauperem liberavit. In angustiis illum Deus clamantem audiet, qui pauperem cum clamaret audivit. Non videbit diem malum, qui dies bonos habere pauperem fecit. Videbit diem malum, qui diem judicii sine advocatione paupertatis intraverit: Sine causa accusant peccata, quem pauper excusat. Excusari non potest, quem fames pauperis accusarit. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo XIV, De Fructibus Eleemosynae, In Psalmum XL Source: Migne PL 52.233a-b

'On the day of evil the Lord will free him...' 1 He who knows that he spends his life among the evils of the world, let him always have alms-giving as a help to him, let him call crowds of the poor to come to him for his protection, let him lavishly increase his abundance in feeding the poor, and with frequent giving let him not fear to be generous, for he knows no lack who welcomes the outstretched hand, that treasury which cannot be exhausted, from which a coin is enough. 'On the day of evil the Lord will free him.' On the day of evil God will be there to deliver the one who has delivered the poor man from evil. God will hear him who cries out in distress, he who has heard the poor man when he was crying out. He who has allowed the poor man to have good days shall not see the day of evil. But he will see the day of evil who comes to the day of judgement without a poor man for his advocate. The one whom a poor man excuses, sins accuse without cause. But he cannot be excused whom the poor man's hunger shall accuse. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 14, On The Fruits of Almsgiving, on Psalm 40 1 Ps 40.2

Noah And The End

Sicut autem in diebus Noe ita erit.. Sicut ante diluvium, recedente ab hominibus Dei timor, nihil faciebant homines ad gloriam Dei, sed omnia propter solam carnem: sive enim manducabant aut bibebant, non ad gloriam Dei manducabant aut bibebant, sicut mandat Apostlus, sed propter solam voluptatem carnalem: sic erit circa saeculi finem. Sicut enim homines, qui in totum carni subjecti sunt, quamvis habeant animam, tamen solummodo carnes dicuntur, testante Scriptura: Non permanebit spiritus meus in hominibus istis, quoniam sunt carnes. In quibus autem pars animae praevalet, quamvis sint carnales, spirituales dicuntur, sicut dicit Apostolis: Vos autem non estis carnis, sed spiritu, si tamen spiritus Dei habitet in vobis. Sic opera hominum, quamvis sint spiritualia, si facta fuerunt propter causam carnis, utputa, si quis opus bonum propter homines faciat, invenitur esse carnale: et quamvis sit carnale, si propter causam spiritualem fuerit factum, id est, propter gloriam Dei, invenitur spirituale esse propter causam spiritualem. Sicut fuit in diebus Noe. Id est, sic erit generalis interitus, sic subitaneus, Sicut tunc omnis creatura deleta est, sola autem area evasit, de trabibus quadratis facta, octo animas bajulans: ita et in consummatione omnes haereses interibunt, una tantummodo arca salvabitur, id est, Ecclesia Christi, de justis hominibus congregata. Sicut tunc quicquid fuit extra arcam periit,sic in fine quicumque fuerit extra unam Ecclesiam veritatis, peribit. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia L Source: Migne PG 56.922

As it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be... 1 As it was before the deluge, when reverence for God withdrew from men, and men did nothing for the glory of God, but everything was for the flesh alone, so that when they ate or drank, they did not eat or drink for the glory of God, as the Apostle commands, 2 but on account of the pleasure of the flesh, so it shall be at the end of the world. For men who are utterly subjected to the flesh, though they have souls, are said to be just flesh, with Scripture bearing witness: 'My spirit shall not remain in men forever, because they are flesh.' 3 But when the part of the soul prevails, though they are in the flesh, they are named spiritual, as the Apostle says, 'But you are not in the flesh but in the spirit, if the spirit of God dwells in you.' 4 So the works of men, although they are spiritual, if they are performed for the sake of the flesh, that is, if a good work is done on account of men, 5 it is found to be carnal, and likewise if a work is carnal, but it is done for the sake of a spiritual cause, that is, the glory of God, it is found to be spiritual on account of the spiritual cause. 'As it was in the days of Noah.' That is, there shall be a sudden and general ruin. So then all creatures shall be destroyed, and only that place shall be spared where is the work from the square-cut beams, 6 and the eight who bear souls. Thus in the consummation all heresies shall be destroyed, and only the one ark of salvation shall save, that is the Church of Christ, where the righteous are gathered. As, then, whatever was outside the ark perished, so in the end whatever is outside the true Church shall perish. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 50 1 Mt 24.37 2 1 Cor 10.3-4 3 Gen 6.3 4 Rom 8.9 5 Mt 6.1 6 Gen 6.14 LXX

Righteousness And Light

Iustitiae Domini rectae, laetificantes corda. Revera rectae, quia non aliter cognoscitur fecisse quam docuit: quia illorum iustitia recta non est, quibus aliud est in ore, aliud in opere. Laetificantes corda, subaudi iustorum, qui de iudicio Dei laetificantur: quia norunt se misericordiae Domini praemia consecuturos, sicut dicit Apostolus: De reliquo reposita est mihi corona iustitiae, quam reddet mihi Dominus in illa die iustus iudex. Praeceptum Domini lucidum, illuminans oculos. Revera lucidum, quia sincere purum et immaculatum, quale Patre luminum prodire docet. Hoc illuminat oculos, non istos carnales quos et pecora nobiscum possunt habere communes, sed illos utique interiores qui divine munere spiritualiter clarificantur. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XVIII Source: Migne PL 70.140d-141a

The righteousness of the Lord is flawless, rejoicing hearts... 1 Truly flawless, because it is not known that He has done differently from what He has taught, for the righteousness of those is not right who have one thing in the mouth and another in the deed. 'Rejoicing hearts,' that is, of the righteous, who take joy in the judgement of God, because they know the reward of the merciful Lord shall be given to them, as the Apostle says, 'As for the rest, a crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me on that day.' 2 The commandment of the Lord gives light, enlightening the eyes... 3 Truly light giving, because he teaches that what the Father of lights sends forth is truly pure and immaculate. 4 This illuminates the eyes, but not these carnal ones which we have in common with animals, but those interior ones which are spiritually enlightened by the Divine gift. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 18 1 Ps 18.9 2 2 Tim 4.8 3 Ps 18.10 4 cf James 1.17

Death Of Men And Beasts

Quaeritur de hoc quod dicit: Nihil habet homo amplius iumento, et quod aequa est utriusque conditio. Quod istud sit falsum , videtur 1. Genesis secundo dicitur: Adae non inveniebatur adiutor similis ei , ergo nullum iumentum est homini simile: ergo habet aliquid amplius iumento. 2. Item, certum est, quod homo deliberat de futuris et praeterita discernit et conceptiones suas exprimit; hoc autem non iumentum: ergo etc. 3. Praeterea, homo domat iumenta, sed nullum iumentum hominem: ergo homo aliquid plus habet iumento. Quod autem non habeat, videtur: quia nascitur, vivit et moritur et in terram vadit, sicut et iumentum. Respondeo: quidam dicunt, quod hoc dicit in persona carnalis, qui nihil credit habere hominem plus iumento. Aliter dici potest, quod in propria persona loquatur; et verum dicit secundum suum intellectum. Intendit enim ipse ostendere incertitudinem remunerationis animae per similitudinem ad iumentum. Illam autem similitudinem ponit et intellegit quantum ad visibilia, quae possunt sensu discerni; et per hoc non concludit similitudinem de spiritualibus, sed dubitationem; unde dicit: Quis novit etc. Dicendum est igitur, quod secundum veritatem homo habet ultra bestias rationem, communicat autem in corruptibilitate, vita et respiratione; et quia ratio non est quid sensibile, sed intelligibile; et ipse de sensibilibus loquitur: ideo nulla est in hoc omnino instantia. II. Dubitatur de hoc quod dicit: Quis scit, utrumspiritus filiorum Adam ascendat sursum? Quod autem sic, videtur: 1. Primo per corporis dispositionem , cuius dispositio et organizatio attenditur secundum congruentiamad sursum. Si igitur 'os homini sublime dedit caelumque tueri', et respicit sursum: ergo spiritus fertur sursum. 2. Item, omnes naturaliter appetunt beatitudinem; sed, constans est, nullum beatum esse posse in miseriis , maxime cui mors cedit invite: ergo si non potest habere beatitudinem in hac vita, natus esthabere post hanc vitam spiritum separatum: ergo etc. 3. Praeterea, intellectus noster est impermixtus, unde omnia intelligit, ergo non dependet a corpore quantum ad actum, ergo multo minus quantum ad esse: ergo corpore descendente, possibile est , ascendere spiritum. 4. Item, per rationem ipsius Ecclesiastae: quia, si aliqui habent bona, et aliqui mala; et videmus, quod in praesenti mala bonis et bona malis contingunt:si ergo necesse est unum rectorem ponere,necesse est aliud tempus et remunerationem ponere, in quo impium et iustum iudicet Deus.. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Ecclesiasten, Cap III Source: Here, p 36

One must enquire into this which he says: 'A man has nothing more than a beast, and both their states are alike... 1 This seems to be false. 1 In the second chapter of Genesis: 'Adam did not find a helper like himself.' 2 Therefore there is no animal like man, and so he has something more than a beast. 2 Likewise it is certain that man deliberates concerning the future and considers the past, and expresses his ideas, but no animal does this. 3 Besides, man tames beasts but no beast tames man, therefore man has something more than a beast. And yet it seems he does not: 'Because he is born, he lives, and he dies, and into the earth he goes, like a beast.' 3 I respond: some say that this is spoken in the person of worldly man, one who thinks that man has nothing beyond a beast. But it is possible to say that he does speak in his own person, and what is true according to his own understanding. For his intention is to show the uncertainty of the reward of the soul by this likening to an animal. Thus he sets forth the likeness and understands it as much as it pertains to visible things, which the senses are able to discern, and because of this he does not consider a likeness to spiritual things, but there is doubt, whence he says: 'Who knows...?' Therefore it must be said that according to truth man has reason beyond the beasts, but he shares their corruptibility, life, and breath, and because the mind is not a sensible thing but an intelligible thing and he speaks only of sensible things, thus there is nothing truly of great force here. He then expresses doubt when he says, 'Who knows if the spirit of the sons of Adam ascends above?' 4 But so it seems. 1 First according to the disposition of the body concerning which disposition and arrangement is it fit from things above. If therefore, 'The face of man is given to look on heaven,' 5 and to gaze at high things, therefore the spirit is carried above. 2 Likewise everyone naturally desires happiness, but it is certain that no one is able to be happy in wretchedness, especially one on whom death unwillingly falls, therefore if he cannot have happiness in this life, he is born to have it after this life, when the spirit is separated. 3 Besides, our intellect is unmixed, whence it may understand everything, 6 and it does not depend on the body for its operation, and therefore much less for its existence. So when the body descends, it is possible that the spirit ascends. 4 Likewise by reason of this same Ecclesiastes, because if some have goods and some have evils, and we see that in the present evils come to good people and goods to evil people, 7 if therefore it is necessary to appoint at corrector, it is necessary that at some time a reward is given, in which 'God shall judge the wicked and the righteous.' 8 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary on Ecclesiastes, Chapter 3 1 Eccl 3.19 2 Gen 2.20 3 Eccl 3.20 4 Eccl 3.21 5 Ovid Metamorph 1.83-86 6 Arist De Anima 3.4 7 Eccle 8.14 8 Eccl 3.17

Death Of Body And Soul

Quod dicit Iesus de sua propinquante morte: Ego autem recurro viam, sicut et omnes qui super terram; in ea interpretatione quae est ex hebraeo invenimus, ingredior viam. Ita ergo accipiendum est quod Septuaginta dixerunt, recurro, sicut dictum est homini: Donec revertaris in terram unde sumptus es; ut secundum corpus dictum intellegatur. Secundum animam vero, si voluerimus ita accipere, quemadmodum in Ecclesiaste positum est: Et spiritus revertetur ad Deum qui dedit eum; non arbitror de omnibus posse dici, sed de iis qui sic vixerint, ut ad Deum redire mereantur, tamquam ad auctorem a quo creati sunt. Neque enim hoc et de illis recte intellegi potest, de quibus dicitur: Spiritus ambulans et non revertens. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Quaestionum In Heptateuchum, Liber VI Source: Migne PL 34.788d-789a

Concerning what Joshua says when he is near to dying, 'But I hurry back on the way like all those who are on the earth,' 1 in the translation made from the Hebrew we find: 'I enter on the way.' Thus the word 'I hurry back' which is used by the Septuagint should be received just as it was said to the man, 'Until you return to the earth from which you were taken,' 2 which is understood to refer to the body. But if we wish to refer to the soul, it is given in Ecclesiastes: 'And the spirit returns to God who gave it.' 3 Which I do not think it is possible to say of all men, but only about those who have lived in such a way that they deserve to return to God, as its owner, who has created them. For this cannot be correctly understood of those of whom it is said: 'A spirit going and not returning.' 4 Saint Augustine of Hippo, Questions on The Heptateuch, Book 6 1 Josh 23.14 2 Gen 3.19 3 Eccl 12.7 4 Ps 77.39

The Death Of A Good Man

Germanus: Ergo si interemptus justus non solum nihil mali perpessus est, sed etiam mercedem passionis assequitur, quomodo in reatum vocabitur, qui non nocuit mortem inferendo, sed profuit? Theodorus: Nos de proprietate boni malique, vel ejus quod diximus esse medium disputamus, non de affectu eorum qui ista committunt. Nec enim quis impius vel iniquus idcirco impunitus erit, quia malitia sua justo nocere non potuit. Tolerantia enim et virtus justi non illi qui mortem vel supplicia intulit, sed illi proficit ad mercedem qui illata sibi patienter excepit. Ideoque et hic merito punietur pro crudelitatis saevitia, qua malum voluit inferre, et ille nihilominus nihil mali perpessus est, quia, virtute animi sui patienter tentationes doloresque sustentans, ea quae malo proposito illata sunt, ad profectum melioris status et aeternae vitae fecit beatitudinem pertinere. Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, Collationes, Collatio IV, De Nece Sanctorum, Caput VII-VIII Source: Migne PL 49.654b-655a

Germanus: Therefore if a righteous man who is slain not only suffers no evil by being killed, but indeed gains a reward from his suffering, how shall he be called guilty who has done him no harm by killing him but advantaged him? Theodore: We are discussing the actual properties of things good and bad, and what we call indifferent, and not the characters of those who do these things. Nor should any impious or evil man go unpunished because his wickedness was not able to harm a righteous man. For the endurance and virtue of a righteous man does not profit the one who causes death or suffering, but he who patiently endures what is inflicted on him advances to the reward. Thus he who meant to do evil is rightly punished for savage cruelty, and the other suffers no evil, because in the virtue of his soul he patiently endures his trial and suffering, by which the evil deliberately inflicted upon him is to his advantage for a better state, and leads to the bliss of eternal life. Saint John Cassian, Conferences, Conference 6, On The Death of the Saints, Chaps 7-8

A Cause Of Damnation

Ἐνεπάγησαν ἔθνη ἐν διαφθορᾷ ᾗ ἐποίησαν ἐν παγίδι ταύτῃ ᾗ ἔκρυψαν συνελήμφθη ὁ ποὺς αὐτῶν Τῆς ἀρετῆς ἀφθαρσίας λεγομένης ἐν τῳ, Ἡ χάρις μετὰ τῶν ἀγαπώντων τὸν Κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἐν ἀφθαρσίᾳ, ἡ ἀπεναντίως ἔχουσα κακία, διαφθορὰ καὶ φθορὰ ἀκολούθως κληθήσεται. Παρίσταται τὸ φθορὰν τὴν κακίαν λέγεσθαι, ἐκ τοῦ· Εἴ τις τὸν ναὸν τοῦ Θεοῦ φθείρει· καὶ ἐκ τοῦ ἐν τῷ προφήτῃ λεγομένου πρὸς τοὺς φαύλους Ἔνεκεν ἀφθαρσίας διεφθείρητε φθορᾷ. Σύμφωνον τούτοις καὶ τὸ, Τῇ διαφθορᾷ σου, Ἰσραὴλ, τίς βοηθήσει; Ἥ οὕτω λεγομένη διαφθορὰ, ἐν τῷ πράττεσθαι τὸ εἴναι ἔχουσα, πεποιῆσθαι ὑπὸ τῶν ἐχόντων αὐτὴν ἐπαγγέλλεται. Φησὶν ὁ λόγος ἐμπεπῆχθαι τὰ ἔθνη ἐν ᾖ ἐποίησαν διαφθορᾷ· οὐ γὰρ ἄλλος τῇ ἄλλου ἀσεβείᾳ καὶ ἁμαρτία ἐνέχεται· ἔκαστος γὰρ τῇ ἑαυτοῦ ἁμαρτίᾳ ἀποθανεῖται. Εἴτ' ἐπεὶ οἱ κακοὶ πρότερον ἑαυτοὺς βλάψαντες, καὶ ἑτέρους εἰς τὴν αὐτὴν βλάβην δι' ἀπάτης ἄγειν πειρῶνται, σκευάζουσιν καὶ λόγοις αὐτῶν, ἐπὶ τῷ ἀγρεῦσαι τὸν ἀπροοράτως ἔχοντα· αὐτῇ δὲ τῇ παγίδι ᾖ ἔκρυψαν τιμωροῦνται· δίκας γὰρ διδόασιν καὶ δι' οὔς ἡπάατησαν. Γίνεται δὲ τὸ παθεῖν οὕτως διακρίσει τοῦ προνοουμένου Θεοῦ. Πῶς γὰρ οὐ κρῖμα αὐτοῦ, τὸ ἐν τοῖς ἔργοις αὐτοῦ συλλαμβάνεσθαι τὸν ἁμαρτωλὸν, ἔχοντα τὴν πρόφασιν τοῦ καταδικάζεσθαι ἐξ ὦν ἔδρασεν πονηρῶς; Τούτῳ συνᾴδει τὸ ὀλίγῳ πρότερον λεχθὲν, ἔχον ὦδε· Ὁ ὀρύσσων βόθρον τῷ πλησίον, ἐμπεσεῖται εἰς αὐτόν. Δυδύμος του Ἀλεξανδρέως, Εἰς Ψαλμους, Ψαλμος θ' Source: Migne PG 39.1196b-c

'The peoples have been caught in the corruption they have wrought; their feet have been seized in the snares which they hid;' 1 Here virtue is named incorruption, 'Grace be to those lovers of our Lord Jesus Christ in incorruption,' 2 and that which is its utter opposite is vice, which is rightly named a corrupting influence and a corruption. So vice is invoked under the name of corruption, whence it says, 'If someone corrupts the temple of God.' 3 And similarly the Prophet says to the unclean: 'On account of incorruption you have become corrupt.' 4 And accordingly it says, 'Who will be of help in your corruption, O Israel?' 5 And this corruption spoken of is possessed by the practitioners of it, they being made so by the possession of it. So here it says that the nations are fixed in the corruption which they have made, for no other impiety or sin has hold of them; each man perishes because of his own sin. Then the wicked, before they destroy themselves, they deceitfully strive to drive others into the same damnation; they construct traps with cunning counsel and words, so that the careless might be caught up in them. But to him who sets down the trap, the trap is a punishment, because those who deceive shall have their reward. They shall suffer the same by the judgement of the provident God. For what is His judgement, but that the sinner is caught in his own works and foretells his own damnation by the wicked acts he performs? Thus it befits that a little while before this it was said, 'He who digs a pit for his neighbour, he shall fall into it.' 6 Didymus the Blind, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 9 1 Ps 9.16 2 Ephes 6.24 3 1 Cor 3.17 4 Mich 2.10 5 Lam 2.13 6 Ps 7.16

Considerations Of Judgement

Εἰ μὲν τῆς θείας τυγχάνεις ἀγέλης, ἡ θεία Γραφὴ παιδευέτω σε, μὴ ἄκριτα εἶναι τὰ ἐνταῦθα πραττόμενα, ἀλλ' εἰς ἡμέραν φρικτὴν ἐξετάσεως φυλαττόμενα. Εἰ δὲ τῆς Ἰουδαίων μερίδος, Ἠσαῗας ὁ μεγαλοφρονέστατος διδαξάτω σε, ὅτι ἤξει Κύριος ὡς πὺρ, καὶ ὡς καταιγὶς, τὰ ἅρματα αὐτοῦ, ἀποδοῦναι ἐκδίκησιν ἐν θυμῷ, καὶ ἀποσκορακιμὸν ἐν φλογὶ πυρός. Εἰ δὲ Ἑλληνικῆς συμμορίας ἢ θρησκείας ὑπάρχεις ἐραστὴς, καὶ τῇ προσπαθείᾳ τὴν ἀληθῆ περιφρονεῖς ἐπαγγελίαν, Πλάτων σε καὶ οἱ ἐκείνου Κωκυτοὶ καὶ Πυριφλεγέθοντες καὶ τὰ ῥόθια τῶν πυριπνόων ποταμῶν σωφρονιζέτωσαν κύματα. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΤΟΘ' Μαρωνι Source: Migne PG 78.396d-397a

If you are one of the Divine flock, let Holy Scripture teach you that the things you do here shall not go unjudged but may come to guard you on the fearful day of judgement. But if you are of the party of the Jews, let the great souled Isaiah teach you that the Lord shall come as a fire, and as a storm shall be His chariots, that He impose punishment in ire, even casting into flames of fire. 1 But if you are of the company of the Pagans and a lover of that piety, and by passionate attachment you scorn the aforementioned promises, let Plato with his Cocytus and Phlegethon, even those rushing waves of fire bearing torrents, 2 make you more prudent. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 379, to Maron 1 Isaiah 66.15 2 Plat Phaedo 113b-114b

The End Of Death And Death

Ecce tabernaculum Dei cum hominibus, etc. Ipse Deus erit electis aeternae beatitudinis praemium, quod ab eo possessi possidebunt in aeternum. Et absterget Deus omnem lacrymam ab oculis eorum. Tanta illius civitatis et tam celsa de Dei munere claritas apparebit, ut nulla remaneant vestigia vetustatis. Quandoquidem et corpora coelestis incorruptio sublimabit, et mentes aeterni Regis pascet intuitus. Et mors ultra non erit, etc. Praedixerat enim mortem in stagnum ignis missam. Nam etiam sic eadem potest sententia intelligi, ut, sancta civitate novissimo judicio glorificata, dolor, luctus, et mortalitas tantum in gehenna remaneant. Sanctus Beda, Explanatio Apocalyspsis, Liber III, Caput XXI Source: Migne PL 93.194d-195a

Behold the tabernacle of God with men... 1 God Himself shall be the reward of the eternal blessedness of the elect, which gaining from Him they shall possess forever. And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes... So great shall appear the light of that city and the high gift of God, that there will remain no trace of what has passed. When bodies are glorified by heavenly incorruption, then even the vision of the eternal king shall feed minds. And death shall be no more... He has spoken of the death which sends into the lake of fire. 2 So it is possible to understand the same meaning, that with the holy city glorified in the last judgement, grief, sorrow and mortality shall be found in hell alone. St Bede, Commentary On The Apocalypse, Book 3, Chapter 21 1 Apoc 21.3 2 Apoc 20.9

Losing The Light

Si autem non credideris ei, et fugeris manus eius, erit causa imperfectionis in te, qui non obedisti, sed non in illo, qui vocavit. Ille enim misit, qui vocarent ad nuptias; qui autem non obedierunt ei, semetipsos privaverunt a regia coena. Non igitur ars deficit Dei; potens est enim de lapidibus suscitare filios Abrahae; sed ille qui non consequitur eam, sibimet suae imprefectionis est causa. Nec enim lumen deficit propter eos qui semetipsos excaecaverunt: sed illo perserverante quale et est, excaecati per suam culpam in calignine constituuntur. Neque lumen cum magna necessitate subjiciet sibi quemquam: neque Deus coget eum qui nolit continere ejus artem. Qui igitur abstiterunt a paterno lumine, et transgressi sunt legem libertatis; per suam abstiterunt culpam, liberi arbitrii et suae potestatis facti. Sanctus Ireneaus Lugdunensis, Adversus Haereses, Liber IV Cap XXXIX Source: Migne PG 7.1110d-1111b

But if you will not believe in Him, and will flee from His hands, the cause of imperfection shall be in you, who did not obey, and not in Him who called. For He sent out to call people to the marriage, but those who did not obey Him deprived themselves of the royal feast. 1 Therefore the work of God is not defective, for He has the power to raise up children from stones for Abraham, 2 but the man who does not obtain it is the cause to himself of his own imperfection. For light does not fail because of those who have blinded themselves, but while it remains the same as ever, those who have been blinded are established in darkness through their own fault. The light does not enslave any one by any overwhelming necessity, nor does God force anyone who is unwilling to be part of His work. Therefore those who have fallen from the paternal light and transgressed the law of liberty, have fallen through their own fault, since they were made free willed and possessed power over themselves. Saint Ireneaus of Lyons, Against Heresies, Book 4, Chap 39 1 Mt 22.3 2 Mt 3.9

Causes Of Ruin And Salvation

Διὰ τοῦτο ἡγούμενοι λαοῦ μου ἀπορριφήσονται ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν τρυφῆς αὐτῶν, διὰ τὰ πονηρὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν ἐξώσθησαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ, φησὶ, οἱ ταῖς εἰσηγήσεσι καὶ ταῖς νουθεσίαις ὕφελεν δυνάμενοι τοὺς ὑπεζευγμένους, οἱ χειραγωγοὶ, καὶ πατέρες, οἱ ποιμένες, καὶ ἐπιστάται, τὴν δορὰν αὐτου ἐξέδειραν, καὶ ἀφείλοντο τὴν ἐλπίδα τὴν εἰς Θεὸν, δῖ ἧς εὐκόλως ἦν πάντα συντρίβεσθαι πόλεμον, ταύτῃτοι δικαίως τὰ οἴκοι μεθέντες ἀγαθὰ, τῶν ὅτι μάλιστα φιλαιτάτων ἐστερημένοι, τέρψεώς τε καὶ τρυφῆς ἀπωλισθηκότες, βαδιοῦνται πρὸς ἐχθροὺς, καὶ πικροὺς τῆς ῥᾳθυμίας καὶ τῆς φαυλότητος ἀποτίσουσι λόγους. Ὅτι δὲ τοῦ παθεῖν οὐχ ἕτερός τις αῡτοῖς, αὐτοὶ δὲ μᾶλλον σφισιν αὐτοῖς γεγόνασιν ἀφορμὴ, σαφηνίζει λέγων· Διὰ τὰ πονηρὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν ἐξώσθησαν. Οὐ γὰρ ἀδίκως ἐκτείνεται δίκτυα πτερωτοῖς, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον. Λὺτοὶ γὰρ οἱ φόνου μετέχοντες, θησαυρίζουσιν ἑαυτοῖς κακά. Αὐτοὶ δὴ οὖν ἡμεῖς ἑαυτοὺς ἀδικήσομεν, εἰ δρᾷν ἐθέλομεν ἂ μὴ θέμις. Ἐκπεμπόμεθα δὲ καὶ ἐξ οἴκων τρυφῆς. Οἱ γὰρ Θεῷ προσκρούοντες, τὰς ἄνθ καὶ ἐν οὐρανοῖς οὐκ ὄψονται μονὰς, ἀμέτοχοι δὲ μενοῦσι, καὶ τῆς τῶν ἁγίων ἐλπίδος, καὶ τῆς εἰς αἰῶνα τρυφῦς, Ἀλλ' οἴγε σοφοί τε καὶ ἀγαθοὶ, καὶ πρὸς πᾶν ὀτιοῦν τῶν ἐπαινουμένων διανενευκότες, οὐκ ἐν τούτοις ἔσονται, φησὶ, ἔξουσι δὲ πάλιν τὴν ἐν οὐρανοῖς Ἐκκλησίαν, καὶ ταῖς ἄνω μοναῖς ἐνδιαιτήσονται, καὶ τοῖς οὐρανίοις ἐντρυφήσουσιν ἀγαθοῖς. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τον Προφήτην Μιχαίαν, Κεφαλὴ Β' Source: Migne PG 71.674a-c

Because of this the leaders of my people shall be cast out of the dwellings of their delight, and because of their wicked ways they shall be driven out. 1 Because, he says, they were able to seduce those under them with teachings and exhortations, the guides and fathers and shepherds and the great men, who thus stripped the skin off them and took from them their hope in God, by which they were able to crush down every conflict without difficulty, therefore it is right that they should lose their domestic goods, and the ones who are dearest to them, and their delights and pleasures, and tramp off to the enemy, and pay back the bitter account of their carelessness and wickedness. And no one else inflicts this on them, but they themselves are the cause, which he shows, saying: 'Because of their wicked ways they shall be driven out.' For not in vain is the net stretched out for birds, according to Scripture. 2 They are the makers of their own ruin, heaping up evils for themselves. Therefore we wound ourselves if we do not wish to do what is right. We shall be driven out from the houses of our joys. For those who set themselves against God shall not see the supernal dwellings in heaven, nor shall they be partakers of the hope of the saints and eternal joy. But those who are wise and good, ever eager for everything that is praiseworthy, they shall not be like them, but rather they shall be gathered with those assembled in heaven, and in dwellings above they shall live, and in the heavens they shall delight in eternal goods. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Prophet Micah, Chapter 2 1 Micah 2.9 Sept 2 Prov 1.17-18

The Worst Death

Mors peccatorum pessima... Mortem peccatorum illam dicit quae ab homine non potest intueri, quam non solum malam, sed etiam pessimam profitetur esse. Revera pessima, quoniam eam aeterna poena comitatur. Nam si ad istam mortem respicias quae nostris oculis patet, frequenter invenis divitem peccatorem pomposis apparatibus decenter efferri, quem sic familia plangit, ut pium fuisse humanis auribus mentiatur. Amici etiam eum impensis lacryimus prosequuntur; ut revera putes bonorum aliquem ereptum, qui magna cognoscitur lamentatione defletus. Quid de pretiosis referamus odoribus, quibus et port mortem eorum mansua corpora condiuntur, quod tanto studio, tanto apparatu peragitur, ut in funeribus ipsorum superstitum vita recreetur? Ubi est ergo peccatorum mors pessima? Scilicet in inferno, ubi recepti poenas patiuntur aeternas. Quanta enim pompa, ut credimus, purpuratus ille dives ad sepulcra perductus est, qui guttam aquae frigidae ab Lazaro paupere postulavit? Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus XXXIII Source: Migne PL 70.204a-b

The death of sinners is the worst.... 1 That death of sinners of which he speaks cannot be seen by men, which indeed he confesses to be not only bad but the worst. Truly it is the worst because it sends one to eternal punishment. For if you should look to the death which is obvious to our eyes, frequently you shall find that the rich sinner is brought out with honour amid the splendour of pomp, and his family weep over him as if he were a pious man, a lie to human ears. And then his friends follow with freely flowing tears, so that you would truly think that a man of many goods was taken away, this fellow who is acknowledged with such a great flood of lamentation. And what shall we say of those precious unguents which after death are applied to the body which remains, and administered with as much care as his decoration, so that it seems that in such funerals a lingering life is renewed? Where, then, is that death of the sinner which is the worst? Certainly in hell, where being received they suffer eternal punishments. How great was the pomp, let us think, with which that purple robed rich man was taken to the grave, he who after asked the beggar Lazarus for a drop of cold water? 2 Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 33 1 Ps 33.22 2 Lk 16.24

Fear And Death

Primam mortem scilicet corporis, debet peccator timere ob ablationem omnium delectabilium, et ob eternitatem omnium mediarum, et ob multitudinem penarum, et ob desperationem remediorum et suffragiorum post hanc vitam, Iob xxvii: Dives cum dormierit nihil secum aufert, aperiet oculos suos et nihil inveniet, ubi Gregorius sufficienter de hoc Marolaium xviii. Exemplificans de divite epulone sepulto in inferno Luce xvi. et Luce xii de stulto proponente dilatare horrea sua. Cui dictum est, hac nocte repetent animam tuam, que autem parasti cuius erunt. Sapienta v: Quid vobis profuit superbia, et ad pene exaggerationem predicta erunt, et evenient impio tempore quo non estimat, Iob xxxiiii: Subito morientur et media nocte et cetera. Et de hoc Gregoris Moralium xxv: Quod subitum est quod ante non cogitatur, et ideo dicuntur mori subito quia non procogitant, vere ergo mors peccatorum pessima et ideo timenda, Ecclesiastici xliii: O mors quam amara est memoria tua homini iniusto, unde ad maiorem pene aggravationem quibusdam impiis antequam exeant de vita ostendit Deus penas infernales, prout ait Beda De gestis angelorum de quidam insolente, qui cum infirmaretur monuit eum rex Sandereus vel Geuredus ut confiteretur, qui respondit quod tunc non faceret ne sodales ei insultarent, sed cum surgeret ab infirmitate aggravante hoc faceret. Iterato visitavit enim rex, cui ait ille: quod tunc nulla fuit utilitas eum visitare, eo quod duo iuvenes pulci intraverunt, quorum unus portabat librum in quo scripta erant bona que feci, sed pauca postea intravit exercitus malignorum spirituum quorum maior protulit librum horrende visionis, enormis magnitudinis, et ponderis importabilis in iuvenes, quid vos hic, iste noster est, quibus illi, verum est, ducite eum in tumulum damnationis, duo quoque percutiant unus in caput alius in pedes, et cum ad se pervenient ictus moritur, et portatus a demonibus in infernum protrehatur, et sic factum est. Non pro se vidit cui ista non pro fuere, sed pro aliis qui differunt penitere, ait Beda. Ibidem etiam narrat de quodam fabro vivente ignobiliter, et sustentabatur in monasterio a fratribus propter operum necessitatem, serviebat quoque ebrietati, et aliis magisque nocte residere in officina sua consuevit quam ad psallendum ire, qui infirmatus et ad extrema perductus vocavit fratres eisque narravit videre se inferos aprtos, et Sathanam in profundum dimersum cum Caypha et ceteris qui Christum occiderunt, sibi quod locum preparatum iuxta, et cum hortaretur ad penitentiam, ait desperans quod non erat ei locis mutandi vitam, ex quo vidit iudicium suum iam esse impletum, et sine viatico obiit extraque monasterium sepultus est, nec aliquis pro eo oravit hec vidit ut desparata salute miserabilius periret, sicut beatus Stephanus vidit celos apetos ut letius ascenderet. Omni ergo impio est timenda mors prima, et multo etiam magis alle mortes, quia mors carnis non est nisi umbra mortis prout ait Gregorius Moralium xi. super illud Iob xiii producat in lucem umbram mortis. Et somnus est ut ait idem Moralium xii. super Iob xiiii: Nec consurget de somno suo, mors enim peccati sive anime per peccatum magis timenda est quod mors corporis, quia mors anime est cum eam deserit Deus, mors corporis cum ipsum deserit anima, ait Augustinus xiii. De civitate dei capitulo primo: Quanto ergo melior Deus anima tanto peius deseria Deo quam ab anima. Ideo sancti sustinuerunt mortem corporis ut vitarent peccatum prout ait Susanna Danielis xiii: Melius est mihi absque opere incidere in manus vestras quam peccare in conspectu Dei. Johannes Gallensis, Communiloquium sive Summa Collationum, Pars Sexta, Distinctio secunda, Capitulum secundum, Pars Secunda Source: here, p232

The sinner should fear the first death, which is obviously of the body, because of the loss of every delight, and the eternity of being amid a multitude of punishments, and the hopelessness of any remedy and support after this life. 'The rich man when he sleeps takes nothing with him, he opens his eyes and he finds nothing,' 1 which Gregory sufficiently speaks of in the eighteenth book of the Moralia. 2 This is exemplified by the feasting rich man who was buried for hell in the sixteenth chapter of Luke, 3 and in the twelfth chapter concerning the foolish man who proposed to expand his barns, to whom it was said, 'This night your soul is demanded of you; and these things you prepare, who are they for?' 4 In the fifth chapter of Wisdom: 'How did your pride profit you?' 5 Such great gain foretold and in time there comes upon the impious man what he does not expect. 'Suddenly they perish in the middle of the night', 6 And Gregory says in the twenty fifth book of the Moralia: 'That which is sudden is not thought of before and therefore they say that to die suddenly is because it is unforeseen, truly therefore the death of the sinner is the worst,' 7 and so must be feared. Ecclesiasticus chapter forty three: 'O death, how bitter the thought of you to the unrighteous man,' 8 whence it is gravely troublesome to impious folk before they pass away from this life if God should reveal infernal punishment. Which Bede relates in his history of the English, concerning a certain insolent fellow who when he sickened was warned by the king Sandereus or Geuredus that he should confess, 9 and he answered that he would not, lest the warriors mock him, but that when he had recovered from his grave infirmity he would do so. Again the king came to him, and the man said to him that now there was no point in him visiting because two fair youths had come in, one who was carrying a book in which was written all the good things he had done, but a little after, there came in a host of wicked spirits, the greatest of whom brought before them a book hideous to see, of much larger size, and they pressed on the youths most terribly, saying 'Why are you here? This man is ours.' To which they said, 'It is true. Lead him off to the heap of the damned. And also one of two of you strike him on the head and the other on the feet. And when the blow of death comes to him, he shall be borne off by the demons and taken to hell.' And so it was. This man did not see what was to come for his own sake, but for others who defer penitence, says Bede. In the same place he tells the story of a certain smith who lived shamefully, being supported by the brothers of a monastery for his needful works, who was also a slave of drunkenness and was much more accustomed to spend his time with others in his workshop than to go and sing Psalms. Now when he sickened and was reaching his last hours, he called the brothers and told them that he had seen hell opened, and Satan sunk in the depths of it, along with Caiaphas and the others who killed Christ, and that a place had been prepared for him next to them. Then when he was exhorted to penance, he said despairingly that he had no scope to change his own life, and so he saw his own judgement fulfilled, and he died without viaticum and was buried outside the monastery, lest someone pray for him who saw that he must perish wretchedly despairing of his salvation. 10 So saint Stephen saw the heavens opened so that he would ascend joyfully. 11 Thus every wicked man must fear the first death, yet the other deaths are more fearful, because the death of the flesh is nothing but the shadow of death, as Gregory says in the eleventh book of the Moralia on the twelfth chapter of Job 'He brings into light the shadow of death.' 12 And a sleep is the same, he says in the twelfth book of the Moralia on the fourteenth chapter of Job, 'He shall not rise from his sleep,' 13 for the death of the soul by sin should be feared more than the death of the body, since the death of the soul is when it is abandoned by God, and the death of the body is when it is abandoned by the soul, as Augustine says in the thirteenth book On The City of God, in the first chapter: 'By how much better God is to the soul, so much worse is the loss of God from the soul.' 14 Therefore the saints endure the death of the body that they might avoid sin, as Susanna says in the thirteenth chapter of Daniel: 'Better for me to do nothing and fall into your hands than sin in the sight of the Lord.' 15 John of Wales, The Communiloquium, The Sixth Part, Second Distinction, Second Chapter, of The Second Part 1 Job 27.19 2 Gregory Moral 18.28-29 3 Lk 16.22 4 Lk 12.16 5 Wisdom 5.8 6 Job 34.20 7 Greg Moral, Ps 33.22 8 Sirach 41.1 9 Actually Coenred of Mercia, Bede Eccl His 5.13 10 Bede Eccl His 5.14 11 Acts 7.55 12 Greg Moral 11.26, Job 12.22 13 Greg Moral 12.10, Job 14.12 14 Aug Civ De 13.2 15 Dan 13.23

Deliverance And Being Handed Over

Δίκαιος ἐκ θήρας ἐκδύνει ἀντ' αὐτοῦ δὲ παραδίδοται ὁ ἀσεβής ... Τὸ, Ἀντ' αὐτοῦ, οὐχ ὡς ὑποκειμένου τοῦ εὐσεβοῦς τῇ δίκῃ, ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ ἡ παγὶς ἕστηκεν ἀπὸ τοῦ πονηροῦ κατὰ τοῦ δικαίου, ὁ μὲν εὐσεβὴς ῥύεται ἐξ αὐτῆς παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ, ὁ δὲ ἀσεβὴς ἐγκαταλειφθεὶς παρὰ τῆς θείας προνοίας πίπτει ἐν αὐτῇ· ἢ ὅτι ἐπειδὴ ὁ δίκαιος ὑπόκειταί τισιν ὡς ἄνθρωπος ἁμαρτίαις, ἐλθὼν δὲ ὁ ἀσεβὴς καὶ κακοποιήσας τὸν δίκαιον, τῶν μὲν ἁμαρτιῶν καὶ τῶν μελλουσῶν κολάσεων ἐῤῥύσατο αὐτὸν, εἰς ἑαυτὸν δὲ τὰς τιμωρίας ὑπεδέξατο, παραδίδοται δὲ οὐχ ὑπό τινος ἄλλου, ἀλλ' ὑπὸ τῆς ἰδίας κακίας, ὡς προπαραδοὺς ἑαυτὸν εἰς ἀδόκιμον νοῦν. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Παροιμιας, Κεφ' ΙΑ´ Source: Migne PG 39.1633c

The righteous man shall be delivered from ruin and the godless man shall be handed over for him... 1 'For him,' not that the righteous are liable to damnation but that since the snare was placed by the wicked man for the righteous man, the pious man is delivered from it by God, but the impious man, being forsaken by Divine providence, falls into it. Or because when the righteous man is yet a sinner because he is a man, if the impious man comes upon him to do evil, the righteous man is delivered from his sins and future punishment, but the wicked man draws that punishment to himself. Yet he is not handed over for another, unless because of his own wickedness, since he had already given himself over to a wicked mind. Didymus the Blind, On Proverbs, Chap 11, fragment 1 Prov 11.8

Numbers And Salvation

Multi enim sunt vocati, pauci vero electi... Quia et ad fidem plures veniunt, et ad coeleste regnum pauci perducuntur. Ecce enim ad hodiernam festivitatem quam multi convenimus, Ecclesiae parietes implemus, sed tamen quis sciat quam pauci sunt qui in illo electorum Dei grege numerentur? Ecce enim vox omnium Christum clamat, sed vita omnium non clamat. Plerique Deum vocibus sequuntur, moribus fugiunt. Hinc etenim Paulus dicit: Qui confitentur se nosse Deum, factis autem negant. Hinc Jacobus ait: Fides sine operibus mortua est. Hinc per Psalmistam Dominus dicit: Annuntiavi et locutus sum, multiplicati sunt super numerum. Vocante enim Domino, super numerum multiplicantur fideles, quia nonnunquam etiam hi ad fidem veniunt, qui ad electorum numerum non pertingunt. Hic enim fidelibus per confessionem admisti sunt, sed propter vitam reprobam illic numerari in sorte fidelium non merentur. Hoc ovile sanctae Ecclesiae haedos cum agnis recipit; sed, attestante Evangelio, cum judex venerit, bonos a malis separat, sicut pastor segregat oves ab haedis. Neque etenim possunt qui hic carnis suae voluptatibus serviunt, illic in ovium grege numerari. Illic eos a sorte humilium judex separat, qui se hic in superbiae cornibus exaltant. Regnum coelorum percipere nequeunt qui hic et in coelesti fide positi toto desiderio terram quaerunt. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, Homiliarum in Evangelia Liber I, Homilia XIX Source: Migne PL 76.1157a-c

Many are called but few are chosen... 1 Because many come to the faith and few are led to the heavenly kingdom. Behold, even at this feast today where many have gathered, filling the church to the walls, yet who knows how few there are in the flock who are numbered among the elect of God? For, behold, the voices of all cry to Christ, but their lives do not. Many follow Him with their voices, but they flee him with their conduct. Hence Paul says: 'They who confess themselves to know God but with their deeds they deny it.' 2 Hence James says: 'Faith without works is dead.' 3 Hence the Lord says to the Psalmist: 'I have proclaimed and I have spoken, they are multiplied beyond number.' 4 For by the voice of the Lord the faithful are multiplied beyond number, because not a few come to the faith who are not reckoned among the number of the elect. Here the faithful have been admitted by confession, but there on account of a depraved life they shall not merit to be numbered among the lot of the faithful. Here the sheepfold of the holy Church receives goats and lambs, but there, by the testimony of the Gospel, when the judge comes, He shall separate the good from the wicked, just as a shephed separates the sheep from the goats. 5 For they who serve the pleasures of their flesh here are not able to numbered among the flock of the sheep there. There the judge separates them from the lot of the humble, those who lift up their horns in pride here. No one is able to obtain the kindgom of heaven, who here established in the heavenly faith yet with every desire seek the earth. Saint Gregory the Great, Homiles On The Gospels, Book 1, from Homily 19 1 Mt 22.14 2 Titus 1.16 3 James 2.20,26 4 Ps 39.6 5 Mt 25.32

Death And Revival And Judgement

Sicut enim in Adam omnes moriuntur, ita in Christo omnes vivificabuntur. Hoc dicit, quia sicut Adam peccans mortem invenit et omnes ex ejus origine tenuit, ut dissolvantur: ita et Christus non peccans, et per hoc vincens mortem, quia qui non peccat, vincit mortem, quia mors ex peccato, omnibus qui sunt ex ejus corpore, acquisivit vitam, id est, resurrectionem. Quamvis ergo generalem tribuerit resurrectionem, ut sicut in Adam omnes sive justi sive injusti moriuntur; ita et in Christo omnes tam credentes, quam diffidentes resurgant, licet ad poenam increduli; tamen vivificari videntur; quia corpora sua recipient, jam non morituri, sed passuri poenam in eis sine fine: quod credere noluerunt. Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Corinthios Primam, Caput XV Source: Migne PL 17.263d-264a

For as all die in Adam, so all shall be revived in Christ. 1 He says this because Adam found death in sin and so all who are bound to his beginning perish, and thus Christ who does not sin, by this conquers death, because He who does not sin, conquers death because death comes from sin. So for all who are part of his body, He has acquired life, that is, the resurrection. Although, then, He shall give the general resurrection to all, since as all die in Adam, whether they are just or unjust, so all who believe in Christ and all who do not shall rise, yet the disbelievers will rise to punishment, though they appear to be restored to life. For they will receive their bodies and die no more, but they will suffer punishment without end, because they would not believe. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The First Letter of Saint Paul To The Corinthians, Chapter 15 1 1 Cor 15.22

The Damnation Of Wicked Spirits

Spiritalis namque substantia, nec ulla carnis soliditate devincta, ut excusationem exortae in se pravae non recipit voluntatis, ita veniam malignitatis excludit, quia nulla quemadmodum nos ad peccandum impugnatione carnis extrinsecus lacessita est, sed vitio solius malae voluntatis accensa, et ob hoc sine venia peccatum et languor sine remedio est. Sicut enim nulla sollicitante terrena materia corruit, ita nec indulgentiam quidem aut locum poenitudinis obtinere potest. Quibus ex rebus evidenter colligitur quod non solum noxia non sit haec quae contra se invicem suscitatur in nobis carnis spiritusque contentio, verum etiam multam nobis conferat utilitatem. Sanctus Ioannes Cassianus, Collationes, Collatio IV, Caput XIV Source: Migne PL 49.602a-603a

Now a purely spiritual substance, one that is not tied to any material flesh, has no excuse for an evil thought which rises up in it, which also excludes forgiveness for wickedness, because it is not provoked to sin as we are by the assaults of the external flesh, but is inflamed only by the fault of a perverse will, and therefore its sin is without forgiveness and its weakness is without remedy. For as it does not fall because of an attraction of earthly matter, so it can find no pardon or place of repentance. From which we may clearly gather that this dispute which we have in us of the flesh and spirit against one another 1 is not merely harmless, but in truth extremely useful to us. Saint John Cassian, Conferences, Conference 4, Chap 14 1 cf Galat 5.17

The State Of The Impious

Quoniam fumus flatus est in naribus nostris, et sermo scintilla ad commovendum cor nostrum: qua extincta, cinis erit corpus nostrum, et spiritus diffundetur tamquam mollis aër; et transibit vita nostra tamquam vestigium nubis, et sicut nebula dissolvetur quae fugata est a radiis solis, et a calore illius aggravata. Et nomen nostrum oblivionem accipiet per tempus, et nemo memoriam habebit operum nostrorum. Umbrae enim transitus est tempus nostrum... Notandum autem, quod vita et status impiorum dicitur esse fumus propter rationalius obcaecationem, infra eodem capitulo: Excaecavit eos malitia eorum; item ad Romanos primo: Obscuratum est insipens cor eorum. Assimilatur flatui propter inquietam irascibilis perturbationem, Isaiae quinquagesimo septimo: Impii quasi mare fervens; scintillae, propter concupiscibilis inflammationem, Ecclesiastici vigesimo tertio: Anima calida quasi ignis ardens non exstinguetur; aeri, propter intentionis vacuitatem; cineri propter operum infructuositatem, infra tertio: Opera eorum inutilia; nubi densiori, propter gratiae oppositionem; nebulae leviori, propter mentis elevationem sive elationem; umbrae, propter exteriorem simulationem. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Librum Sapientiae, Caput II Source: Here, 365c

Because the breath in our nostrils is like smoke, and reason is a spark made by the beating of our hearts, which extinguished, our bodies shall be ash, and the spirit will dissolve like empty air, and our lives shall pass by like scraps of cloud and dissolve like a mist chased away by the rays of the sun and by its heat suppressed. Our name will be forgotten in time and no one will remember our deeds. Like a shadow our time passes away... 1 It should be noted that the life and state of the impious is said to be 'smoke' because of the blindness of their reason, whence below in the same chapter: 'Their wickedness has blinded them.' 2 Likewise in the first chapter of Romans: 'Their foolish hearts have been darkened.' 3 And 'like breath' because of the disturbing troubles of the irascible passions. In the fifty seventh chapter of Isaiah: 'The impious are like a boiling sea.' 4 'Sparks' because of the inflammation of the concupiscible passions. In the twenty third chapter of Ecclesiasticus: 'The hot soul is like a burning fire that is not extinguished.' 5 'Air' because of the emptiness of their desires. 'Ash' because of the fruitlessness of their works, whence here below in chapter three: 'Their works are useless.' 6 'Clouds,' those which are more dense 7 because of the opposition to grace, and as lighter ones, 8 because of the elevation or elation of their minds, and 'shadows' because of the exterior simulation of life. Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On Wisdom, Chapter 2 1 Wisd 2.2-5 2 Wisd 2.21 3 Rom 1.21 4 Isaiah 57.20 5 Sirach 23.22 6 Wisd 3.11 7 So low ones, mists 8 Clouds in the sky

Empty Hope, Fruitless Labours

Sapientiam enim et disciplinam qui abjecit infelix est; et vacua est spes illorum, et labores sine fructu, et inhabitabilia opera illorum sunt. Nunc ostendit quid sit hoc, quod superius dixerat a Domino recessisse, hoc est, sapientiam et disciplinam abjicere, quorum vacua est spes, et labores sine fructu, quia in vanum sperant se temporalibus perpetualiter uti posse, vel peccata faciendo impunitos posse evadere, horum et labores sunt sine fructu futurae mercedis, et opera illorum inhabitabilia: quoniam operarium ipsorum coelestis habitationis non possunt facere participem. Cui cum iniquorum omnium capite improperando scelera sua Psalmista praedixit dicens: Propterea destruet te Deus, in fine evellet te, et emigrabit te de tabernaculo tuo et radicem tuam de terra viventium. Possunt et haeretici in hac sententia non inconvenienter accipi, qui sapientiam divinam et regulam rectae fidei abjicientes, labores doctrinae suae atque errorum sectas in vacuum et sine fructu vitae aeternae expendunt, quorum intentio stulta et nequissima sunt opera. Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Librum Sapientiae Wisdom, Liber I, Caput VII Source: Migne PL 109.683b-c

He who casts aside wisdom and discipline is abject, and their hope is empty, and their labours are without reward and their works a waste... 1 Now he shows what this may be, what he said previously about withdrawing from the Lord, that it is to cast off wisdom and discipline, and their hope is empty, and their labours fruitless, because in vain they hope they shall have temporal things forever, or that committing sins they shall be able to escape punishment, and the fruitless nature of their labours pertains to the future reward, and their works are a waste because they are not able to make them participants in the celestial mansions. Concerning which, with the condemnation of their crimes through the leader of all the wicked, the Psalmist foretells, saying: 'On account of which God shall destroy you, in the end he shall pluck you out, and tear you from your tabernacle, and your root from the land of the living.' 2 It is also possible to understand heretics in this pronoucement, who casting off the Divine wisdom and the rule of right faith, expend the labours of their teaching and the ways of their errors in emptiness and without the fruit of eternal life, those whose purpose is foolish and their works wicked. Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On Wisdom Book 1, Chapter 7 1 Wisd 3.11 2 Ps 51.7

Eating The Fruit Of Labours

Τοὺς πόνους τῶν καρπῶν σου φάγεσαι. Ψαλμικόν ἐστι μελῴδημα, παντὶ βίῳ χρήσιμον. Καὶ οἱ σεμνότητος φροντίζοντες, φησὶ, φάγεσθε τοὺς καρποὺς αὐτῆς, στεφάνοις παρὰ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀκηράτοις τιμώμενοι· καὶ οἱ ἀκόλαστοι δηλονότι καὶ ἄδικοι, τὰ ἐπέχειρα τῶν κακῶν πράξεων κομιούμενοι. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλίον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΥΙΔ´ Παλλαδιῳ Διακονῳ Source: Migne PG 78.412d

'You shall eat the fruit of your labours.' 1 Here is a Psalm attuned for the good of every sort of life. It is as if he had said, 'You who have care for a holy and upright life, you shall eat the fruit of that, honoured by God with immortal crowns. But you who are intemperate and unrighteous, you shall receive punishment for your evil deeds.' Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 414, To Palladius the Deacon 1 Ps 127.2

Mourning And Hope

Τὸ ἀπαρηγορήτως λυπεῖσθαι, καὶ θρηνεῖν, καὶ νηστεύειν ἐπὶ τῷ τελευτήσαντι συγγενεῖ, ἔλεγχός ἐστι τῆς ἀπιστίας καὶ τῆς ἀνελπιστίας. Ὁ πιστεύων ἐκ νεκρῶν ἀναστήσεσθαι τὸν ἄρτι τεθαμμένον, ἐλπίοι ῥωσθήσεται, Θεῷ εὐχαριστήσει, εἰς εὐθυμίαν μετασκευάσεται τοὺς θρήνους, εὔξεται ἐλέους αἰωνίου τυχεῖν τὸν κοιμηθέντα, πρὸς διόρθωσιν ῥεψει τῶν οἰκείων πταισμάτων. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΤΙΑ´ Θεωνᾳ Πολιτευομενῳ Source: Migne PG 79.196b

To grieve and to lament without consolation, and to refuse food because of the death of a relation, is an indication of a lack of belief and hopelessness. He who believes that the one who is now buried shall be raised from the dead, he shall be strengthened by hope, he shall give thanks to God, he shall change his sighs to joy, he shall pray that the one who sleeps shall partake of the eternal mercy, and he shall turn to the correction of his own errors. Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 311, to Theona The Statesman

Life's Brevity

Πάροικος ἐγώ εἰμι ἐν τῇ γῇ· μὴ ἀποκρύψῃς ἀπ' ἐμοῠ τὰς ἐντολάς σου. Τὴν γῆν οὑ κατοικοῦμεν, ἀλλὰ παροικοῦμεν· βραχὺν γὰρ διαβιώσαντες χρόνον, εἰς ἕτερον μεταβαίνομεν βίον. Τοῦτο δὲ οὐ πάντες ἐθέλουσιν εἰδέναι, ἀλλ' οἱ επὶ τοῖς παροῦσιν ἀγαθοῖς, ὡς ἐπὶ μονίμοις καὶ διαρκέσι βρενθύοντες. Ὁ δὲ τὰ θεῖα πεπαιδευμένος οἶδε τοῦ βίου τὸ πρόσκαιρον. Διὸ δὴ καὶ πάροικον ἑαυτὸν ὀνομάζει, καὶ ἰκετεύει τὰς θείας ἐντολὰς μηδαμῶς ἀγνοῆσαι. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Ἑρμηνεία εἰς Τους Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμός ΡΙΗ´ Source: Migne PG 80.1828b-c

I am a sojourner on the earth, do not conceal your commandments from me. 1 We are not abiding dwellers on the earth, but we sojourn, and when we have passed through the little time of this life, we pass on to another. Yet not all wish to acknowledge this, but rather they exult over the goods of the present as if they were something permanent and stable. However, he who has been instructed in the knowledge of Divine things, he knows the brevity of this life. Therefore he proclaims himself as a mere sojourner and he prays that he shall not be ignorant of the Divine commandments. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Commentary on the Psalms, from Psalm 118 1 Ps 118.19

Death And Mourning

Ordiamur igitur ab eo, ut lugendum nobis nostrorum obitum non esse doceamus. Quid enim absurdius, quam ut id quod scias omnibus esse praescriptum, quasi speciale deplores? Hoc est animum supra conditionem extollere, legem non recipere communem, naturae consortium recusare, mentem carnis inflari, et carnis ipsius nescire mensuram. Quid absurdius, quam nescire qui sis, affectare quod non sis? Aut quid imprudentius, quam quod futurum scias, id cum acciderit, ferre non posse? Natura ipsa nos revocat, et ab hujuscemodi moeroribus quadam sui consolatione subducit. Quis est enim tam gravis luctus, aut tam acerbus dolor, in quo non interdum relaxetur animus? Habet hoc natura, ut quamvis homines in tristibus rebus sint; tamen si modo homines sunt, a moerore mentem paulisper abducant. Fuisse etiam quidam feruntur populi, qui ortus hominum lugerent, obitusque celebrarent. Nec imprudenter; eos enim qui in hoc vitae salum venissent, moerendos putabant: eos vero qui ex istius mundi procellis et fluctibus emersissent, non injusto gaudio prosequendos arbitrabantur. Nos quoque ipsi natales dies defunctorum obliviscimur, et eum quo obierunt diem, celebri solemnitate renovamus. Non est ergo gravis subeundus moeror secundum naturam; ne aut excellentiorem aliquam naturae exceptionem nobis arrogare videamur, aut communem recusare. Etenim mors aequalis est omnibus, indiscreta pauperibus, inexcepta divitibus. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De excessu fratris sui Satyri, Liber II Source: Migne PL 16.1316b-1317a

Let us then begin from this, that we teach that the death of our loved ones should not be mourned by us. For what is more absurd than to deplore what you know is appointed to all as if it were something special? This is to lift up the mind above our state, not to accept the common law, to reject association with nature, to be puffed up in a fleshly mind, and to be ignorant of the measure of the flesh. What is more absurd than not to know what one is and to pretend to be what one is not? Or what is more imprudent than to be unable to bear what one knew would happen when it has happened? Nature herself calls us back and draws us away from this kind of sorrow by a certain consolation of her own. For what mourning is so deep or grief so bitter in which at times the soul may not have relief? Nature is so, that though men may be amid grievous things, yet if they are but men, they sometimes withdraw their thoughts a little apart from grief. Indeed it is said that there were certain peoples who lamented the birth of men and celebrated their deaths. This was not without reason, for they thought that those who had entered upon this sea of life should be mourned, but judged that those who had escaped from the storms and the waves of this world should rightly be accompanied by joy. 1 We also forget the birthdays of the dead and recall with solemn celebrations the day they died. Therefore it is in accordance with nature that one should not fall to excessive grief, lest either we seem to claim for ourselves either an exceptional excellence beyond nature, or we reject what is common. For death is the same for all, without difference for the poor, without exception for the rich. Saint Ambrose, On the Death of His Brother Satyrus, from Book 2 1 cf Herodotus Hist 5.4.1-2

Such Is Our Life

Τοιοῦτος ὁ βίος ἡμῶν, ἀδελφοί, τῶν ζώντων πρόσκαιρα· τοιοῦτο τὸ ἐπὶ γῆς παίγνιον· οὐκ ὄντας γενέσθαι, καὶ γενομένους ἀναλυθῆναι. Ὄναρ ἐσμὲν οὐχ ἱστάμενον, φάσμα τι μὴ κρατούμενον, πτῆσις ὀρνέου παρερχομένου, ναῦς ἐπὶ θαλάσσης ἴχνος οὐκ ἔχουσα, κόνις, ἀτμίς, ἑωθινὴ δρόσος, ἄνθος καιρῷ φυόμενον καὶ καιρῷ λυόμενον. Ἄνθρωπος, ὡσεὶ χόρτος αἱ ἡμέραι αὐτοῦ, ὡσεὶ ἄνθος τοῦ ἀγροῦ, οὕτως ἐξανθήσει· καλῶς ὁ θεῖος Δαβὶδ περὶ τῆς ἀσθενείας ἡμῶν ἐφιλοσόφησεν· καὶ ἐν ἐκείνοις πάλιν τοῖς ῥήμασι· Τὴν ὀλιγότητα τῶν ἡμερῶν μου ἀνάγγειλόν μοι· καὶ παλαιστῶν μέτρον τὰς ἀνθρωπίνας ἡμέρας ὁρίζεται. Τί δ᾿ ἂν εἴποις πρὸς Ἱερεμίαν, ὃς καὶ τῇ μητρὶ μέμφεται τῆς γεννήσεως ἀλγῶν, καὶ ταῦτα ἐπ᾿ ἀλλοτρίοις πταίσμασι; Πάντα εἶδον, φησὶν ὁ Ἐκκλησιαστής, πάντα ἐπῆλθον λογισμῷ τὰ ἀνθρώπινα, πλοῦτον, τρυφήν, δυναστείαν, δόξαν τὴν ἄστατον, σοφίαν τὴν ὑποφεύγουσαν πλέον ἢ κρατουμένην, πάλιν τρυφήν, σοφίαν πάλιν, ἐπὶ τὰ αὐτὰ πολλάκις ἀνακυκλούμενος, γαστρὸς ἡδονάς, παραδείσους, πλῆθος οἰκετῶν, πλῆθος κτημάτων, οἰνοχόους καὶ οἰνοχόας, ᾄδοντας καὶ ᾀδούσας, ὅπλα, δορυφόρους, ἔθνη προσπίπτοντα, φόρους συλλεγομένους, ὀφρῦν βασιλείας, ὅσα περιττὰ τοῦ βίου, ὅσα τῶν ἀναγκαίων, οἷς ὑπὲρ πάντας ἦλθον βασιλεῖς τοὺς ἔμπροσθεν, καὶ τί ἐπὶ πᾶσι τούτοις; Πάντα ματαιότης ματαιοτήτων, τὰ πάντα ματαιότης καὶ προαίρεσις πνεύματος, εἴτ᾿ οὖν ὁρμή τις ψυχῆς ἀλόγιστος, καὶ περισπασμὸς ἀνθρώπου, τοῦτο κατακριθέντος, ἴσως ἐκ τοῦ παλαιοῦ πτώματος· τἀλλά, τέλος λόγου, φησὶ, τὸ πᾶν ἄκουε, τὸν Θεὸν φοβοῦ. Ἐνταῦθα τῆς ἀπορίας ἵσταται· καὶ τοῦτό σοι μόνον τῆς ἐνταῦθα ζωῆς τὸ κέρδος, ὁδηγηθῆναι διὰ τῆς ταραχῆς τῶν ὁρωμένων καὶ σαλευομένων ἐπὶ τὰ ἑστῶτα καὶ μὴ κινούμενα. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λόγος Ζ´, Εἰς Καισὰριον τὸν ἑαυτοῦ ἀδελφὸν ἐπιτάφιος, περιόντων ἔτι τῶν γονέων Source: Migne PG 35.777c-780b

Such is our life, brethren, such is the transient nature of our living, such is our play on the earth. We are not, and we come into existence, and we pass away. We are insubstantial dreams, we are tenuous phantoms, 1 like the flight of a passing bird, a ship that leaves no track on the sea, a speck of dust, a vapour, an early dew, a flower that quickly blooms and quickly fades. The days of a man are like grass, he springs up like a flower of the field. 2 So the blessed David has wisely contemplated our frailty, and again in these words, 'Let me know the shortness of my days,' and he measures the days of man as but a span long. 3 And what might you say to Jeremiah, who made complaint of his mother in sorrow for his birth, and that because of the faults of others? 4 I have seen all things, says the preacher, I have pondered in thought all the things of men, wealth, pleasure, power, unstable glory, wisdom which evades us rather than is grasped; then pleasure again, wisdom again, often revolving around the same things, the pleasures of appetite, orchards, a mass of slaves, heaps of wealth, serving men and maids, singing men and women, arms, spear-men, subject nations, collected tributes, the pride of kings, all the superfluities of life and all the necessary things, in which I surpassed all the kings who were before me. And what does he say of all these things? 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity and an affliction of the spirit,' 5 which, then, is some irrational urge of the soul and restlessness of man, who is perhaps condemned to this from the fall of old. But hear, he says, the end of the whole matter: 'Revere God.' 6 This is his support in perplexity, and this is your only gain from life here, to be guided through the disorder of the things which are seen and shaken, to the things which stand firm and are not moved. 7 Saint Gregory Nazianzus, from Oration 7, Funeral Speech for his brother Caesarius 1 Job 20.8 2 Ps 102.15 3 Ps 101.24, Ps 38.6 4 Jerem 15.10 5 Eccl 1-2 6 Eccl 12.13 7 2 Cor 4.18, Heb 12.27