The Book Of God

...et in libro tuo omnes scribentur. Ego pro his rogo, non pro saeculo rogo, sed pro his quos dedisti mihi. Pro his ergo orat ut in libro Dei scribantur. Et si qui forte ambigant cur non in libro viventium scripti sunt, mihi majoris dignitatis videtur esse in libro Dei scribi; quia peccatores de libro viventium delentur, justi autem in libro Dei scribuntur. Quod utrumque sub his dictis significatur: Deleantur de libro viventium, et cum justis non scribantur. Pro resurrectionis enim diversitate, quia stella ab stella differt in gloria, plures in libro viventium erunt. Justi autem in libro Dei scribentur, quia peccatores non modo cum justis non scribentur, sed ne in libero quidem viventium relinquentur. Sanctus Hilarius Pictaviensis, Tractatus super Psalmos, Tractatus in Psalmum CXXXVIII Source: Migne PL 9.811a-c

...and in your book all things shall be written. 1 'I ask for these, not for the world, but for these you have given me.' 2 For these He asks, that they shall be written in the book of God. And if perhaps someone wonders why they were not written in the book of the living, it seems to me to be of greater merit to be written in the book of God, because sinners are removed from the book of life, and the righteous are written in the book of God. Both these meanings are signified by the words, 'Let them be removed from the book of the living and let them not be written with the righteous.' 3 Because there is difference in the resurrection, since star and star differs in glory, 4 more shall be found in the book of the living. But the righteous shall be written in the book of God, for sinners shall not only not be written with the righteous, but neither shall they remain in the book of the living. Saint Hilary of Poitiers, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 138 1 Ps 138.16 2 Jn 17.9 3 Ps 68.29 4 1 Cor 15.41

Death's Defeat

Neutra igitur vel ad instans in statu permanet conditionis, quo vocatur ad esse, sed vitium originis redit ad non esse, eum incipit esse, ut mirabiliter et miserabiliter non prius inchoet esse quam non esse; venire quam redire; ascendere quam descendere, nec incipiat miserabiliter anima prius vitam dare quam mortem dare, ut sit et caro mortificans, a quo vivificatur, et anima vivificans, a quo mortificatur. Hic occurrunt lugubres illae nuptiae septem virae et toties homicidae filiae Raguelis, quam Tobis filius Tobia sine periculo ducere protuit, qui daemone fortiorem angelum comitem, imo ducem, habuit Tobias et Tobias, pater et filius, vetus et novus, caecus et videns: Adam et Adam, primus et secundus, pater et filius, vetus et novus, caecus et videns, homo et hominis filius. Sed de homine vel filio hominis aliquando secundum carnem, aliquando secundum animam, aliquando secundum utrumque sermo conficitur. Nunc ergo hic Tobias animam significat filii hominis, Sara vero communiter carnem hominis, angelus autem dux et comes Tobiae Dominum Dei Verbum, quam animae quam semel suscepit, sapienter ducatum praestitit, fideliter comitatum, fortiter auxilium, prudenter consilium. Septem vero viri morti magis quam mulieri conjugati, universas, praeter Christi animam, quae non prius carni quam morti unitae sunt, propter carnem tamen morti unitae, et propter mortem a carne separatae. Daemon suffocans, naturalis illa originalisque concupiscentia datur intelligi: quae de domo Raguelis et cubiculo Sarae, nisi fortior supervenerit, minime ejicitur. Superveniente itaque fortiore Verbi virtute fortis ejicitur, fugatur, ligatur, vasa ejus, id est naturalia, quae captiva tenebantur, diripiuntur. Ducitur captiva captivitas, thalamus purgatur; liberatur domus, Sara sine periculo ducitur, pater miratur, mysterium agnoscit, angelo gratias agit, epulas parat, vicina invitat. Plena sunt haec mysteriis, redundant sacramentis. Isaac, Cisterciensis Abbas, Sermo VII, In Dominica Infra Octavas Epiphaniae I Source: Migne PL 194.1714d-1715c

Therefore not for an instant does either the soul or the body remain in its state which it is called to be, but Original Sin returns to non-being, even as it begins, so that mysteriously and wretchedly there is no beginning to be without not being, no coming without going, no rising without falling, nor does, most miserably, the soul give life but it gives death, so that the flesh brings death from what gives it life, and the soul gives life from what brings death. Here there is a reminder of those woeful marriages of the seven murdered husbands of the daughter of Raguel, and how Tobit's son Tobias was able to take her in marriage without danger, since Tobias had an angel as a companion, and indeed guide, who was stronger than the demon. 1 These two, father and son, old and young, blind and seeing, are both Adam, the First Adam and the Second Adam, 2 father and son, old and new, man and the Son of Man. When we speak of the Son of Man, sometimes it refers to the flesh, sometimes to the soul, sometimes to both. Here with us now Tobias signifies the soul of the Son of Man, but Sara means the flesh of man in general, and the Angel, the guide and companion of Tobias, is the Lord, the Word Of God, which as soon as He takes up a soul, is the wise guide, the loyal companion, the strong helper, the prudent counsellor. As for the seven husbands who were joined to death rather than a wife, they are all souls, apart from Christ's, which as soon as they are united to the flesh are bound to death, and because of the flesh are joined with death and because of death are separated from the flesh. The choking demon is to be understood as the concupiscence natural to our fallen nature, that lurks in Raguel’s house and Sara's bed chamber unless someone stronger should come. 3 Therefore with yet stronger virtue the strong one is cast out and driven off, and bound, and the vessels of our nature which he held captive are stripped from him. 'Captivity is led captive,' 4 the marriage chamber is cleansed, the house is freed. Sara's marriage without peril amazes her father, and he recognizes the mystery and thanks the angel, and he prepares a banquet and invites the neighbours. All this abounds with mysteries and overflows with secrets! Isaac of Stella, from Sermon 7 On The Sunday Within the Epiphany Octave 1 Tobit 3.7-8, 6.14 2 1 Cor 15.45-47 3 Lk 11.22 4 Ephes 4.8

Man And Nature

Βούλομαί σοι σφοδρότερον τῆς κτίσεως ἐνιδρυνθῆναι τὸ θαῦμα, ἵν᾿ ὅπου περ ἂν εὑρεθῇς, καὶ ὁποίῳ δήποτε γένει τῶν φυομένων παραστῇς, ἐναργῆ λαμβάνῃς τοῦ ποιήσαντος τὴν ὑπόμνησιν. Πρῶτον μὲν οὖν ὅταν ἴδῃς βοτάνην χόρτου καὶ ἄνθος, εἰς ἔννοιαν ἔρχου τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης φύσεως, μεμνημένος τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ σοφοῦ Ἡσαΐου, ὅτι Πᾶσα σὰρξ ὡς χόρτος, καὶ πᾶσα δόξα ἀνθρώπου ὡς ἄνθος χόρτου. Τὸ γὰρ ὀλιγοχρόνιον τῆς ζωῆς, καὶ τὸ ἐν ὀλίγῳ περιχαρὲς καὶ ἱλαρὸν τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης εὐημερίας, καιριωτάτης παρὰ τῷ προφήτῃ τετύχηκε τῆς εἰκόνος. Σήμερον εὐθαλὴς τῷ σώματι, κατασεσαρκωμένος ὑπὸ τρυφῆς, ἐπανθοῦσαν ἔχων τὴν εὔχροιαν ὑπὸ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἡλικίαν ἀκμῆς, σφριγῶν καὶ σύντονος, καὶ ἀνυπόστατος τὴν ὁρμήν, αὔριον ὁ αὐτὸς οὗτος ἐλεεινὸς, ἢ τῷ χρόνῳ μαρανθεὶς, ἢ νόσῳ διαλυθείς. Ὁ δεῖνα περίβλεπτος ἐπὶ χρημάτων περιουσίᾳ· καὶ πλῆθος περὶ αὐτὸν κολάκων· δορυφορία φίλων προσποιητῶν τὴν ἀπ᾿ αὐτοῦ χάριν θεραπευόντων· πλῆθος συγγενείας, καὶ ταύτης κατεσχηματισμένης· ἑσμὸς τῶν ἐφεπομένων μυρίος τῶν τε ἐπὶ σιτίων καὶ τῶν κατὰ τὰς χρείας αὐτῷ προσεδρευόντων, οὓς καὶ προϊὼν καὶ πάλιν ἐπανιὼν ἐπισυρόμενος ἐπίφθονός ἐστι τοῖς ἐντυγχάνουσι. Πρόσθες τῷ πλούτῳ καὶ πολιτικήν τινα δυναστείαν, ἢ καὶ τὰς ἐκ βασιλέων τιμάς· ἢ ἐθνῶν ἐπιμέλειαν· ἢ στρατοπέδων ἡγεμονίαν· τὸν κήρυκα μέγα βοῶντα πρὸ αὐτοῦ· τοὺς ῥαβδούχους ἔνθεν καὶ ἔνθεν βαρυτάτην κατάπληξιν τοῖς ἀρχομένοις ἐμβάλλοντας τὰς πληγάς· τὰς δημεύσεις· τὰς ἀπαγωγάς· τὰ δεσμωτήρια, ἐξ ὧν ἀφόρητος ὁ παρὰ τῶν ὑποχειρίων συναθροίζεται φόβος. Καὶ τί μετὰ τοῦτο; Μία νὺξ, ἢ πυρετὸς εἷς, ἢ πλευρῖτις, ἢ περιπνευμονία, ἀνάρπαστον ἐξ ἀνθρώπων ἀπάγουσα τὸν ἄνθρωπον οἴχεται, πᾶσαν τὴν κατ᾿ αὐτὸν σκηνὴν ἐξαπίνης ἀπογυμνώσασα, καὶ ἡ δόξα ἐκείνη ὥσπερ ἐνύπνιον ἀπηλέγχθη. Ὥστε ἐπιτέτευκται τῷ προφήτῃ ἡ πρὸς τὸ ἀδρανέστατον ἄνθος ὁμοίωσις τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης δόξης. Ἅγιος Βασιλειος Καισαρείας, Εις Την ῾Εξαημερον, Ὁμιλὶα E' Source Migne PG 29.97c-100b

I want creation to infuse you with such great wonder that wherever you may be, you are brought to distinct remembrance of the Creator by whatever growing thing is at hand. Firstly when you see the grass of the fields and the flower of it, think of human nature, and recall the likeness of the wise Isaiah. 'All flesh is grass, and all the glory of man is as the flower of the field.' 1 For the shortness of the time of this life, and the brevity of the delight and pleasure of man's happiness, most appropriately suits the comparison of the prophet. Today a man is vigorous in body, he has been plumped up by luxury, and with a complexion like fair flowers, in the prime of life, he is strong and firm and has an energy that can hardly be resisted, but tomorrow this same man is pitiful, withered by age or ruined by sickness. Another man is celebrated for his abundant wealth, and a crowd of flatterers surround him, a guard of false friends prey on his favours, and a mob of dissembling kinsmen also, and a cloud of servants follow who attend to his nourishment and other needs, and in his comings and goings this troop which he drags after him arouses the envy of those he encounters. To wealth one may add political power, and honours given by royalty, or the government of a province, or the command of armies, and a herald going before him who cries out in a loud voice, with lictors on this side and that, whose blows fill his subjects with fear, and then confiscations, banishments, imprisonments, by which he imbues all those he rules with unbearable terror. And what then? One night, a fever, or a pleurisy, or an inflammation of the lungs, snatches him away from the midst of men, and in a moment he is stripped bare of all that he had on the stage, and all that glory is revealed to be a mere dream. Thus did the Prophet compare human glory to the frailest flower. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Hexameron, from Homily 5 1 Isaiah 40.6

Lives And Lengths

Dicit aliquis: Cur ergo psalmus dixit: Psallam Deo meo quamdiu vivo, et non dixit: Psallam Deo meo semper? Ubi enim dicitur: Quamdiu vivo, quasi finis significatur, sed si non intellegatur. Si putas de hac vita dictum, quamdiu vivo, discute vitam istam utrum hic sit diu. Quantumcumque hic vixeris, diu non est. Quomodo est diu, quod te non satiat? Dicit puer diu vixisse hominem, quem videt senem. Sed cum pervenerit quo ille pervenit, tunc videt quam non fuerit diu. Prorsus sic volat aetas, ita in se momenta transcurrunt, ut videamus nudius tertius fuisse nos pueros, heri iuvenes, hodie senes. Ubi ergo putas de hac vita esse dictum, quamdiu vivo, psallam Deo meo, ideo quia dixit quamdiu vivo, ibi verax intellectus est de hac vita non esse dictum, quia dixit quamdiu. Numquam enim diceret veritas quamdiu de ista vita, ubi nihil est diu. Potuerunt hoc videre sapientes huius mundi, et non hoc possunt videre christiani? Quidam sapientum mundi, eloquentissimus homo dixit: Quid enim hoc ipsum diu, in quo est aliquid extremum? Omnino negavit diu, esse, quod ad finem quandocumque potuerit pervenire. Prorsus quandocumque, non quousque tu vixisti, si forte ad senectutem ultimam pervenisti. Unius enim hominis vita, praesertim hoc tempore, vapor est ad modicum apparens. Hoc, quod dixi, Scriptura dixit. Exultantibus hominibus, et per superbiam multa pollentibus, et an continuo moriantur nescientibus, Scriptura divina dixit, et eos ita superbientes et in vanis fidentes suae transitoriae fragilitatis admonuit. Quae est enim, inquit, vita vestra? Vapor est ad modicum apparens, deinceps exterminabitur. Qui ergo se erigit in elatione, confidit in vapore; extollitur in honore, et perit cum vapore. Reprimenda est ergo superbia, et quanta possumus intentione calcanda. Et intellegendum nos in hac terra mortaliter vivere, et cogitandum esse de fine ubi non erit finis. Non enim si tu, ut dicere coeperam quicumque senuisti, valde extolleris, si putas te diu vixisse qui aliquando finiturus es, sed ipse Adam si adhuc viveret, et non modo, sed in fine saeculi moreretur, nihil haberet diu, in quo aliquid esset extremum. Et verissime dictum est, et prudenter intellectum est, et verum esse non tantum praedicatur, sed etiam ab auditoribus agnoscitur. Referamus animum ad psalmum quem cantavimus, et inveniamus quia ille non diceret: Psallam Deo meo, quandiu vivo, nisi de illa vita ubi diu est. Si enim in ista vita ideo nihil diu, quia est aliquid extremum, non ad istam vitam desiderandam vocamur, quando christiani efficimur. Non enim propterea christiani efficimur, ut bene nobis sit in hac vita. Si enim propterea putaverimus nos fieri christianos, ut hic nobis bene sit secundum vitam istam temporalem, secundum felicitatem volaticam et vapoream valde erramus, et nutabunt pedes nostri Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermones Inediti, Sermo 33a, De versu Psalmi CXLV: Laudabo Dominum in vita mea, psallam Deo meo quamdiu vivo Source: Migne PL 46.918-919

Someone says, 'Why does the Psalm say, 'I shall sing to my God as long as I live?' 1 and it does not say, 'I shall sing to my God always?' for where it is said, 'As long as I live,' it is as if an end is signified.' But that is only if it is misunderstood. If you think this life was spoken of with 'as long as I live,' consider how long this life is. However long you have lived here, it is not long at all. How can that be long which does not satisfy you? A boy who sees an old man says he is a man who has lived a long time. But when he comes to where that man is then he will see that it is not long at all. Indeed, how a life flies by, how the moments run into one another, so that it seems it was just two days ago we were boys, and only yesterday we were young men, and today we are old men. When, then, you think it was spoken of this life when it was said 'as long as I live, I shall sing to my God,' then because he said 'as long as I live,' so the true understanding does not concern this life, because he said 'as long as.' For never would the truth say 'as long as' about this life, when it is hardly anything at all to live. The wise of this world are able to see this, and do Christians not see it? A certain wise one of the world, the most eloquent man, said, 'What is this 'as long', in which there is some limit?' 2 Here he denies 'long' can come to an end at any time. Certainly it will, at some time or other, whatever length of time you have lived here, if perhaps you come to extreme old age. For the life of a man, especially at this time, is a mist appearing for a little while. 3 Scripture says what I say. While men exult, and through pride would do much, ignorant that they might perish in a moment, Scripture says it. Even so it has admonished men in their pride and vanity about their transitory fragility. What is it, then, your life? It is a mist appearing for a little while, and then it disappears. Therefore he who raises himself up in elation, he puts his trust in a mist, and he who is exalted by honours, he perishes with the mist. Thus is pride reproved, and thus with firm intention we are able to trample it under foot. We should understand that we live mortally on this earth, and we should think of that end where there is no end. For it is not only that you, as I said, who have aged, who exalt yourself, should think while living that you shall at some time come to an end, but even Adam himself should, if yet he lived, and not only that, but at the end of the world died, for even then he would have nothing 'long', since he had some limit. It truly has been spoken, and wisely it has been understood, when there is not only the preaching of the truth but also the understanding of those who hear. Let us turn our minds back to the Psalm we have sung, and we shall find that he would not have said 'I will sing to my God as long as I live,' unless he had meant that life where 'long' really is. For if there is nothing 'long' in this life because there is always some limit, then we are not called to desire this life when we become Christians. We did not become Christians that it go well for us in this life. If that is why we thought we became Christians, so that things would go well for us in this temporal life, which is a fleeting happiness like a mist, we are very gravely in error, and our feet will stumble. Saint Augustine of Hippo, Unpublished Sermons, from Sermon 33, On the verse of Psalm 145, 'I shall praise the Lord in my life, I shall sing to my God while I live.' 1 Ps 145.2 2 Cicero, Orat pro M Marcello 28 3 Jam 4.15

Life And Death

Quid igitur tantopere vitam istam desideramus, in qua quanto diutius quis fuerit, tanto majore oneratur sarcina peccatorum? Ipse Dominus ait: Sufficit diei malitia sua. Et Jacob dixit: Dies annorum vitae meae quos habeo, centum triginta minima et mali, sed quia nobis acessu dierum malitiae incrementa cumulantur. Nullus enim dies sine nostro peccato praeterit. Unde egregie Apostolis ait: Mihi enim vivere Christus est, et mori lucrum, aliud ad necessitatem vitae referens, aliud ad mortis utilitatem. Christus enim nobis vivere est, cui servimus, cui oportet ut a sanctis suis in Evangelii praedicatione deferatur obsequium. Denique et Simeon qui ait: Nunc dimittis servum tuum, propter Christum exspectabat. Christus enim rex noster est; et ideo quod rex jubet, deserere non possumus et contemnere. Quantos imperator terrae hujus in peregrinis locis aut honoris specie, aut muneris alicujus causa jubet degere. Numquid hi inconsulto imperatore discedunt? Et quanto amplius est divinis parere, quam humanis! Vivere ergo sancto Christus est et mori lucrum. Unde Apostolus quasi servus; non enim refugit vitae obsequium, et quasi sapiens lucrum mortis amplecitur. Lucrum est enim evasisse incrementa peccai, lucrum fugisse deteriora, et ad meliora transisse. Et addidit: Dissolvi enim, et cum Christo esse multo melius: permanere autem in carne magis necessarium propter vos. Aliud melius, aliud necessarium. Necessarium propter fructum operis, melius propter gratiam et copulam Christi. Sanctus Ambrosius Mediolanensis, De Bono Mortis, Caput II Source: Migne PL 14.542a-c

Why, then, should we so greatly desire this life, in which the longer someone is so the much more he adds to the burden of his sins? The Lord Himself says: 'Sufficient for the day is its evil.' 1 And Jacob said: 'The days of my life are a hundred and thirty years, so few and evil,' 2 because when no day passes without us sinning, then for us the increase of days heaps up evils. Whence the Apostle admirably says, 'For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain,' 3 referring on the one hand to the necessity of living and on the other to the usefulness of death. Because for us to live is Christ, whom we serve, in which it is necessary that the required service is carried out by his holy ones in the preaching of the Gospel. Then there is Simeon who said, 'Now dismiss your servant,' 4 on account of his hope for Christ. For Christ is our king, and therefore commands as a king, one whom we cannot desert or disregard. How much does an emperor of this world command be done in foreign places, as a matter of honour or for the reason of some other duty? Are these things issued by a reckless commander? And how much more should Divine things be obeyed than human! To live, therefore, is Christ, to die is gain. Whence the Apostle is as a servant, for he does not flee from obedience, and he is like a wise man in embracing death as gain. For it is a gain to have avoided an increase of sin, and to have fled worse things and passed on to better things. And he adds: 'I would be dissolved and be with Christ, which is better by far, but to remain in the flesh is more needful for your sake.' 5 One thing is better, another needful. Necessary on account of the fruit of the work, better because of grace and being with Christ. Saint Ambrose, On the Good of Death, from Chapter 2 1 Mt 6.34 2 Gen 47.9 3 Phil 1.21 4 Lk 2.29 5 Phil 1.23-24

The Saving Of The Righteous

Eἰ ὁ μὲν δίκαιος μόλις σῴζεται ὁ ἀσεβὴς καὶ ἁμαρτωλὸς ποῦ φανεῖται Ἀσεβὴς τοίνυν, φησὶν, ὁ τὸν Θεὸν μισῶν· ἁμαρτωλὸς δὲ, ὁ περὶ τὰς πράξεις πονηρός· δίκαιον δὲ ἐνταῦθα τὸν πρακτικὸν μετὰ λόγου καὶ ἐπιστήμης λέγει· πολλὴ γάρ ἐστιν ἡ τῆς δικαιοσύνης ἀκρίβεια. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Παροιμιας, Κεφ' Δ’ Source: Migne PG 39.1633d

If the righteous man can scarcely be saved, how does it appear for the godless man and the sinner? 1 The godless man he speaks of is he who scorns God, but the sinner is he who is wicked in his acts. And the righteous man here is the one whose conduct is in accordance with reason and knowledge, for the rigour of righteousness is great. Didymus the Blind, On Proverbs, Chapter 11 1 Prov 11.31 LXX, 1 Peter 4.18

Death And Susanna

Ingemuit Susanna, et ait: Angustiae mihi sunt undique. Undique enim mors; hinc quidem corporea, inde spiritualis. Si hoc, inquit, egero, mors mihi est; si autem non egero, non effugiam manus vestras. Vestras, o Pharisaei, manus nec adultera effugit, nec pudica: vestras accusationes nec sanctus, nec peccator evadit. Dissimulatis peccata vestra, ubi inveneritis aliena: alioquin si quis forte suum non habet, vestrum ei impingitis crimen. Quid tamen Susanna facit, inter mortem et mortem, animae scilicet et corporis, undique angustata? Melius est mihi, inquit, absque opere incidere in manus hominum, quam derelinquere legem Dei mei. Nimirum sciebat ista, quam horrendum sit incidere in manus Dei viventis. Nam homines quidem, cum occiderint corpus, animae non habent ultra quid faciant: ille autem timendus est, qui potestatem habet et corpus et animam mittere in gehennam. Quid familia Joachim tardat? Irruat per posticum, nam in pomerio clamor auditur; clamor autem luporum gravium, et balantis oviculae inter eos. Sed non patitur ab eis innoxiam devorari, qui ab ipsis eorum faucibus tam dignanter eripuit etiam eripi non merentem. Merito proinde cum duceretur ad mortem, erat cor ejus fiduciam habens in Domino, quem usque adeo timuisset, ut timorem omnem postposuisset humanum, et ipsius legem et simul vitae praeposuisset, et famae. Non enim dictus fuerat sermo hujuscemodi aliquando de Susanna. Sed et parentes ejus justi erant, et vir ejus honoratior omnium Judaeorum. Merito igitur a justo Judice justam de injustis obtinuit ultionem, quae tam vehementer justitiam esurivit, ut propter eam contemneret mortem corporis, opprobrium generis, luctum inconsolabilem amicorum. Et nos, fratres, si a Christo audivimus: Nec ego te condemnabo, si peccare jam nolumus contra ipsum, si in Christo volumus pie vivere; necesse est sustineamus persecutionem, ne malum pro malo, aut maledictum pro maledicto reddamus. Alioquin qui patientiam non servaverit, perdet justitiam; hoc est, vitam perdet; hoc est, perdet animam suam. Mihi vindictam, et ego retribuam, dicit Dominus. Ita prorsus est. Ipse retribuet, sed si ei vindictam serves, si non tollas ab eo judicium, si non reddas retribuentibus tibi mala. Faciet judicium, sed injuriam patienti; in aequitate judicabit, sed pro mansuetis terrae. Sanctus Bernardus Clarae Vallensis, Sermones De Sanctis, In Festo Annuntiationis Beatae Mariae Virginis, Sermo III Source: Migne PL 183.395a-396a

Susanna groaned and said, 'There is anguish for me on all sides...' 1 For death is on all sides, here of the body, there of the spirit. 'If I shall do this it is death for me,' she says, 'but if I do not, I shall not escape your hands.' Your hands, O Pharisees, that do not turn away from an adulteress, 2 nor a modest woman. Neither a holy woman, nor a sinful one escaped your accusations. You disregard your sins where you come on those of another. Perhaps only if someone did not have yours, would you impute your crime to them. But what does Susanna do between death and death, the death of the body and the death of the soul, with anguish on all sides? 'Better it is for me,' she says, 'to fall into the hands of men, than to abandon the law of my God.' Certainly she knew that it is a terrible thing to fall into hands of the living God. For when men kill the body, beyond what they do, they do not take hold of the soul, but He is fearful who has the power to send both the body and the soul to hell. 3 Why did the family of Joachim delay? They slipped in through a side door. In the orchard a cry was heard, a cry of great wolves and the bleating of a little sheep among them. But it was not permitted they she who was harmless be devoured by them, she who was worthy to be seized from their throats did not deserve to be seized by them. With merit, then, when she was lead to death her heart had confidence in the Lord, who even then she feared, so that she set Him above every human fear, and at the same time set His law above her life and honour. For though not a word was said anywhere about this regarding Susanna, yet it was said that her parents were righteous, and her husband was a man who was most honoured among the Jews. With merit therefore, vengeance was obtained from the righteous judge against unjust men, since she so vehemently hungered for justice, and because of that cared not for this body of death, 5 and the opprobrium of the people, and the inconsolable grief of friends. And so it is with us, brothers, if we have been heard by Christ. I shall not condemn you if you have no wish to sin against Him, if you wish to live piously in Christ. It is necessary that we should endure persecution and not return evil for evil, nor a curse for a curse. 4 For he who does not cleave to patience ruins righteousness, and he ruins his life, that is, he ruins his soul. 'Vengeance is mine and I shall repay,' says the Lord. 6 So it will be. He shall repay if you guard His vengeance, if you do not take judgement away from Him, if you do not return evil to those who have given it to you. He shall give judgement, but for the one who endures wrongdoing. He shall judge fairly, but for the meek of the earth. 7 Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Sermons On The Saints, On The Feast Of The Annunciation, from Sermon 3 1 Dan 13.22 2 Jn 8.3-11 3 Heb 10.31, Mt 10.28 4 Mt 5.6, Rom 7.24 5 1 Pet 3.9 6 Rom 12.19 7 Isaiah 11.4

Seeds And Bodies

Γεγράφηκας, ὅτι Τὸν κόκκον τοῦ σίτου ἀλέσω, καὶ ποιήσω ἄλευρον. Κἂν μυριάκις σπείρω αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν γῆν, οὐκ ἔτι ζωογονεῖται, ἀλλ' οὐδ' ἐξανίσταται, οὐ μὴ βλαστήσει ποτὲ, οὐ μὴ καρποφορήσει· οὕτω δὴ καὶ τὸ σῶμα σποδιὰ καὶ κόνις γενόμενον, οὐκ ἂν δύναιτο ἔτι ἐξαναστῆναι, ἤ ζῆσαι παντάπασιν. Ἀλλ' ἐγώ σοι πᾴλιν καὶ νῦν τὰ αὐτὰ προσαγάγοιμι σύν πραότητι ῥήματα, ἄπερ καὶ πάλαι ἐπέσταλκα, ὅτι ὥσπερ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἐκ χοὸς ἄνθρωπος ἀνεδείχθη τῇ δυνάμει καὶ τῇ τέχνῇ τοῦ πανσόφου καὶ πάντα ἰσχύοντος Κυρίου, οὕτω καὶ ἐν τῷ τέλει τοῦ παρόντος αἰῶνος ἐκ τῆς σποδιᾶς γενήσεται ἡ ἀνάστασις τοῦ ἐφθαρμένου σώματος, καὶ ἐξαναστήσεται ὁ ἄνθρωπος ζωοποιηθείς τε καὶ ψυχωθεὶς, τὴν μὲν προλαβοῦσαν φθορὰν ἀποτιναξαμενος, ἐπενδυσάμενος δὲ τὴν θείαν ἀφθαρσίαν. Ἅγιος Νειλος, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολὴ ΡΙΑ' Ἀφονιῳ Σαμαριτῃ Source: Migne PG 79.129d-132a

You have written that wheat seed is ground down and made into flour, and that when thousands of seeds are sown in the earth, not all survive, and not all shoot up, and not all bud, and not all produce fruit, and likewise it is for this body of dust and ash, that there cannot be a wholesale raising up and living. But again I exhort you, even now the same things with meek words, that this has been told of old, for as the power and wise art of the almighty Lord took man from the earth in the beginning, 1 so even in the end of present things He shall fashion the resurrection of this body of dust and raise man up with life and soul, and that with the old corruption cast off, endowed with the Divine incorruption. 2 Saint Nilus of Sinai, Book 1, Letter 111, to Aphthonius the Samaritan 1 Gen 2.7 2 1 Cor 15.42, 53-54

The Medicine Of Death

ΕΡΩΤ Μ’ Τι ἐστι τὸ Ἰδου γέγονεν Ἀδὰμ ὡς εἰς ἐξ ἡμῶν; Ἐπειδὴ διάβολος εἶπεν, Ἔσεσθε ὡς θεοὶ, γινωσκοντες καλὸν καὶ πονηρὸν, ἐδεξατο δὲ τοῦ θανάτου τὸν ὄρον τὴν ἐντολὴν παραβὰς, εἰρωνικῶς τοῠτο εἴρηκεν ὁ τῶν ὅλων Θεὸς, δεικνὺς τῆς διαβολικῆς ἐπαγγελίας τὸ ψεῦδος. Μεταλαβεῖν δὲ αὐτὸν τοῦ καρποῦ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς διεκώλυεν· οὐ φθονῶν αὐτῷ τῆς ἀθανάτου ζωῆς, ἀλλὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας ἐπέχων τὸν δρόμον. Ἰατρεία τοίνυν ὁ θάνατος, οὐ τιμωρία ἐστιν. Ἐπέχει γὰρ τῆς ἁμαρτίας τὴν ὁρμήν. Ὁ γαρ ἀποθανὼν, φησὶ, δεδικαίωται ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας. Καταντικρὺ δὲ τοῦ παραδείσου διάγειν αὐτὸν προσέταξεν· ἵνα τῆς ἀλύπου βιοτῆς εἰς μνήμην ἐρχόμενος, μισῇ τὴν ἁμαρτίαν, ὡς πρόξενον τῆς ἐπιπόνου ζωῆς. Θεοδώρητος Ἐπίσκοπος Κύρρος, Εἰς Τὴν Γένεσιν Source: Migne PG 80.137b

Question 40 Why was it said, 'Behold, Adam has become one like us'? 1 Since the devil said, 'You shall be like gods, knowing good and evil,' 2 and Adam received the sentence of death because he transgressed the commandment, the God of all things spoke ironically, exposing the lie of the diabolic promise. God did not prohibit him from taking from the tree of life because He begrudged man eternal life, but that He might restrain him from the way of sin. Therefore death is a medicine and not a punishment, for it curbs the drive to sin. 'For he that is dead is justified from sin.' 3 Then God commanded Adam to go out from the region of paradise, so that in sorrow he might recall to his memory the loss of his former life, and in hatred of it drive out sin, which is the author of his toil and his wretched life. Theodoret of Cyrrhus, Questions On Genesis 1 Gen 3.22 2 Gen 3.5 3 Rom 6.7

Sin And Death

Ἐπειδὴ τοίνυν ἀποστὰς τῆς τῶν ἀγαθῶν παγκαρπίας ὁ ἄνθρωπος τοῦ φθοροποιοῦ καρποῦ διὰ τῆς παρακοῆς ἐνεπλήσθη, ὄνομα δὲ τοῦ καρποῦ τούτου ἡ θανατοποιὸς ἁμαρτία, εὐθὺς ἐνεκρώθη τῷ κρείττονι βίῳ τὴν ἄλογον καὶ κτηνώδη ζωὴν τῆς θειοτέρας ἀνταλλαξάμενος. Kαὶ καταμιχθέντος ἅπαξ τοῦ θανάτου τῇ φύσει συνδιεξῆλθε ταῖς τῶν τικτομένων διαδοχαῖς ἡ νεκρότης. Ὅθεν νεκρὸς ἡμᾶς διεδέξατο βίος αὐτῆς τρόπον τινὰ τῆς ζωῆς ἡμῶν ἀποθανούσης· νεκρὰ γὰρ ἄντικρύς ἐστιν ἡμῶν ἡ ζωὴ τῆς ἀθανασίας ἐστερημένη. Διὰ τοῦτο ταῖς δύο ταύταις ζωαῖς μεσιτεύει ὁ Ἐν μέσῳ τῶν δύο ζωῶν γινωσκόμενος, ἵνα τῇ ἀναιρέσει τῆς χείρονος δῷ τῇ ἀκηράτῳ τὰ νικητήρια. ὥσπερ τοίνυν τῷ ἀποθανεῖν τῇ ἀληθινῇ ζωῇ ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἰς τὸν νεκρὸν τοῦτον μετέπεσε βίον, οὕτως ὅταν ἀποθάνῃ τῇ νεκρᾷ ταύτῃ καὶ κτηνώδει ζωῇ, πρὸς τὴν ἀεὶ ζῶσαν ἀντιμεθίσταται, ὡς ἀναμφίβολον εἶναι ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῇ μακαρίᾳ γενέσθαι ζωῇ μὴ νεκρὸν τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ γενόμενον. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων Ὁμιλία ΙΒ' Source: Migne PG 44.1021c-1024a

Now Adam, who turned away from the rich assortment of the fruits that are good, because of this disobedience, was filled with the fruit that works corruption, and the name of this fruit is sin the death-dealer, and immediately he died to the better life, exchanging the more Divine life for an irrational and brutish one. And once death had been mixed with human nature, deadness spread through the successions of offspring. Thus there was a reception of a dead form of existence, since, in a certain manner, life itself was dying, for as soon as our life is stripped of immortality it is a dead thing. Because of this, there is one set in the midst of these two kinds of life, he who in the midst of the two is known, 1 so that by the removal of what is worse He may award the spoils of victory to the one who is undefiled. Therefore just as by dying to the true life man fell into this dead form of existence, and that when he dies to this dead and animal life he is directed toward the eternal life, so it is certain that the blessed life is not possible without being dead to sin. Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 12 1 Hab 3.2

Two Deaths

Sequere me, et dimitte mortuos sepelire mortuos suos. Duplicem necesse est mortem nos intelligere, alteram corporis, et alteram animae, quasi dicat: Dimitte mortuos in peccatis sepelire mortuos in corpore, non ideo prohibet sepelire patrem, quod non sit magnae humanitatis sepelire mortuos, sed, quia melius officium est praedicare Evangelium, et resuscitare in anima mortuos, et minora bona pro majoribus sunt aliquando postponenda. Aliter secundum Gregorium, quod tamen non pertinet ad praesentem locum. Mortui mortuos sepeliunt, quando adulatores fovent in peccatis peccatores, unde dicitur: Linguae adulantium alligant animas in peccatis, et sepeliunt; quia, cum laudant peccatum, quasi negant peccatum, et sic peccatorem tegunt. Notandum est quod nuntiat patrem mortuum, sed quoniam non rogatur Christus pro illo, non resuscitat illum. Sic non resuscitat mortuum in peccatis, postquam nec ipse nec alius orat pro eo. Anselmus Laudunensis, Enarrationes In Matthaeum, Caput VIII Source: Migne PL 162.1323d-1324b

Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead. 1 It is necessary to understand death in a twofold way, one of the body and the other of the soul, as if He said: 'Leave those who are dead in their sins to bury the dead in the body.' Therefore He does not prohibit him from burying his father, as if it were not a matter of great humanity to bury the dead, but because the better duty is to preach the Gospel and to revive dead souls, and lesser goods are sometimes set aside for greater goods. On the other hand, according to Gregory, this does not pertain to the present passage, but the dead bury their own dead when people take delight in praising sinners in their sins, 2 whence it is said, 'The tongues of adulators bind souls in sin and bury them.' 3 because when they praise a sin, just as when they deny it, so they cover up a sinner. It must also be noted that though the man announces his father's death, yet because he does not ask anything from Christ for him, He does not revive him. So he does not revive the dead in their sin, for after it neither he nor any other prays for him. Anselm of Laon, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Chapter 8 1 Mt 8.22 2 Greg Moralia Job 3.52 3 Aug Enarr Ps 9.23

A Bishop And Judgement

Scio integram in pectore pietatis vestrae dilectionem non solum apud me, sed apud omnes amicos firmiter permanere, quae probabitur in adversis, laudabitur in prosperis: in cujus pennis sanitas, in cujus gressibus scala, quam somniavit Jacob patriarcha, ascensio ad eum, qui ait: In hoc cognoscent omnes quia discipuli estis, si dilectionem habueritis ad invicem. Ecce signum discipulatus Christi! Ecce coelestis regni janua! Ecce vitae nostrae fundamentum et culmen! Sed vix ibi creditur firma esse, ubi indicio quolibet non apparet, sive in solatio pauperum, sive in exhortatione ad fratres qui proximi sunt, sive in scribendo ad longinquos corpore, proximos siquidem spiritu. Doleo te, frater! doleo ex intimo cordis moerore propter negotia saecularia, quae impediunt quadam nubium concretione charitatis radios, qui ex pectoris vestri flamma multos irradiare potuissent, si non calignine terrenarum occupationum obscurarentur. Tamen vigilet in corde, et foras temporibus opportunis fulgorem exerat, ut luceat omnibus qui in domo Dei sunt; qui non sunt caeci ad videndum vel surdi ad audiendum. Quid est tui officium nominis, nisi apertum habere os ad omnes in veritatis testificatione, per eum qui ait: Aperi os tuum, et ego implebo illud. Non neglige gratiam quae data est tibi; sed ut magis et magis proficiat, intende. Multae sunt tribulationes justorum; quia inter multos vocatos pauci eliguntur: et quo rariores inveniuntur, eo instantius verbum Dei eis praedicare necesse est. Pene omnes quaerunt quae sua sunt, et pauci, quae Christi esse videntur. Pastores curae turbant saeculares, qui Deo vacare debuerunt. Vagari per terras, et milites Christi saeculo militare coguntur, et gladium verbi Dei inter oris claustra, qualibet cogente necessitate, recondunt: quem, heu, proh dolor! perpauci possident, quamvis plurimi  se promittant eum habere: sed in die certaminis mercenarios se ostendunt, non milites. His consideratis diligentius, dilectissime Pater, teispum considera, circumspice et intende, quis sis, vel quo vadas, vel quid dicas in judicio, in praesentia illius qui te speculatorem posuit populi sui. Alcuinus, Epistola CLI, Ad Arnonem Archiepiscopum Source: Migne PL 100.399b-400b

I know that in the heart of your piety there is secure love not only for me, but that it firmly endures for all your friends, which being proved in adversity shall be praised in prosperity. In His wings are health, and up the steps of the ladder that the Patriarch Jacob dreamed of 1 we make ascent to Him who said, 'By this all shall know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.' 2 Behold the sign of a disciple of Christ! Behold the gate of the celestial kingdom! Behold the foundation and summit of our life! But scarcely can one believe love to be firm where no indication of it appears, either in care for the poor, or in exhortation of brothers who are near, or in writing to those who are distant in body yet near in spirit. I grieve for you, brother! I grieve from the depths of my heart, lamenting because of worldly affairs, which like some thick cloud obscure the rays of charity, the many flames of which you should be able to kindle from your heart, if it were not that darkness chokes them with worldly occupations. But let him be watchful in heart, and outside the events of time lightning shall come, so that all who are in the house of God will be enlightened, 3 those who are not 'blind in vision or deaf in hearing.' 4 What is the meaning of the name of your office unless to open your mouth to all in testimony of truth, through Him who said, 'Open your mouth and I shall fill it,' and 'Do not neglect the grace which is given to you.' 5 which, let it be understood, is that there will be more and more improvement. 'Many are the tribulations of the righteous,' because though many are called, it is few who are chosen, 6 and rarer yet are those in whom the preaching of the word of God is an urgent necessity. Certainly all seek what is theirs, 7 and few, it seems, the things which are of Christ. The cares of the times trouble the shepherds, who should have peace for God. Roaming about the world, even the soldiers of Christ are forced to struggle, and the sword of the God's word is sheathed in the mouth, which under the force of necessity they should draw out, but, alas, for shame, few are able to do this, although many promise to themselves they will, and yet on the day of strife they show themselves mere mercenaries and not soldiers. 8 Think on these things more diligently, most beloved father, consider yourself, look around and observe who you are and where you are going, 9 and what you shall say in judgement in the presence of the One who has established you as a watchman of his people. 10 Alcuin of York, from Letter 151, To Arno The Archbishop 1 Gen 18, 12-, Malachi 4.2 2 Jn 13.35 3 Mt 5.15 4 Isaiah 43.18 5 Ps 80.11, 1 Tim 4.14 6 Ps 33.20, Mt 22.14 7 Phil 2.12 8 Jn 10.12 9 Gen 32.13 10 Ezek 33.6-7

Wrath And Treasure

Secundum duritiam autem tuam, et cor impoenitens, theasurizas tibi ipsi iram in die irae, et revelationis justi judicii Dei, qui reddet unicuique secundum opera ejus. Cor durum in Scripturis dici videtur, cum mens humana velut cera frigore iniquitais obstricta signaculum imaginis divinae non recipit. Hoc idem alibi cor crassum appellatur, sicut cum dicitur: Incrassatum est cor populi hujus. Contrarium vero est duro molle,quod in Scripturis cor carneum nominatur; et crasso subtile, vel tenue, quod Apostolus spiritalem hominem vocat eum qui examinat omnia. Igitur cum quis scit quae bona sunt,et non agit bona,per duritiam cordis contemptum omnium bonorum habere credendus est. Crassitudo vero cordis est, ubi subtilis et spiritalis intelligentiae non recipitur sensus; et ita  cor impoenitens effectum thesaurizat sibi ipsi iram in die irae, et revelationis justi judicii Dei, dum bonum opus non agitur per duritiam; intellectus vero bonus per crassitudinem is excluditur. De ira autem Dei et superius, quantum res pati voluit, et in aliis locis saepe dissertum est. Quod vero dicit, Thesaurus tibi ipsia iram in die irae, considerandum est. Thesaurus appelatur, quo diversi generis opes, et divitiae congregantur. Hujus in Scripturis significantiam triplicem legimus. Dicitur enim in Evangelio thesaurus esse quidam in terris, in quo prohibet Dominus thesaurizari: et alius thesaurus in coelo, in quo jubet fideles quosque opes suas recondere: et hic nunc Apostolus dicit irae thesauros. Omnes ergo homines per haec quae agunt in hoc mundo, in uno aliquo ex istis tribus congregant thesauros. Aut enim infidelis est quis et iniquus, et per duritiam cordis, et cor impoenitens in thesauro irae actus suos recondit. Aut terrenus est, et de terra sapit, ac de terra loquitur, et cum ei attulerit ager fructus uberes, destruit horrea sua, et majora aedificat, et theasaurizat in terra. Et ille quidem durus, hic autem stultus appellatur. Dicitur enim ad eum, Stulte, hac nocte repetent abs te animam tuam, et quae parasti, cujus erunt? Aut sapiens est, et in Deum dives, et in terris ambulans conversationem habet in coelis, atque omnia quae agit digna sunt regno coelorum: et iste talis divitiarum suarum thesauros condit in coelis. Ita igitur uniuscujusque thesauri possessor et conditor potest alius quidem carnalis, alius vero animalis homo, alius autem spiritualis appellatur. Origenes, Commentariorum In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Romanos, Liber II, Interprete Rufino Aquileiense Source: Migne PG 14.875a-876a

According to your hardness and an impenitent heart, you have heaped up the treasure of anger for yourself on the day of wrath and the revelation of the just judgement of God, who shall return to each one according to his works. 1 It seems that a hard heart is spoken of in the Scriptures when the human mind like wax inured by the frost of wickedness does not receive the impress of the Divine image. Elsewhere this same thing is called a dull heart, as when it is said, 'The heart of this people has become dull.' 2 On the contrary, however, hardness is softened when in the Scriptures the heart is named fleshly, and dullness becomes a light or tenuous weight, which the Apostle calls the spiritual man who examines all things. 3 Therefore when someone knows what good things are and does not do those goods things because of hardness of heart, he should be thought to have contempt for all goods. But dullness of heart is when the mind does not receive the subtle and spiritual understanding. And thus the impenitent heart heaps up for itself wrath on the day of wrath and the revelation of the just judgement of God while it does not perform good works because of hardness, but good understanding is prevented by dullness. Regarding the anger of God above, how great are the things ordained to be suffered has often been spoken of in other places, but what is said with 'a treasure of wrath for yourself on the day of wrath,' must be considered. What is named a treasure is something in which there are different types of wealth and a gathering of riches. We read a threefold meaning of this in the Scriptures. For it is said in the Gospel that there is a certain treasure on the earth that the Lord prohibits us to heap up, and another treasure in heaven, which He commands the faithful to store up, 4 and here the Apostle speaks of a treasure of anger. Therefore because of what they do in the world all men gather their treasure in one of these three ways. For either a man is faithless and wicked and through hardness and impenitence of heart he heaps up a treasure of wrath with his deeds. Or he is a worldly fellow and knows the things of the earth and speaks of the things of the earth, 5 and when he has gathered up the rich yield of his field he tears down his barns and makes bigger ones, and his treasure is on the earth, and that man is hardened, but he is called a dull fellow, for it is said to him, 'Fool, this night your soul is asked of you, and what you have prepared, whose shall it be?' 6 Now the wise man is rich in God, and walking on the earth he has his conversation with heaven, 7 and everything which he does is worthy of the kingdom of heaven, and he is the one who stores up the treasure of his riches in heaven. Thus one may call each one of these a possessor and founder of his treasure, and one is a carnal man, and one is an animal man, and one is a spiritual man. Origen, from the Commentary on the Letter of Paul to the Romans, Book 2, Translated by Rufinus of Aquileia. 1 Rom 2.5-6 2 Mt 13.15, Isaiah 6.10 3 Ezek 11.19, 36.26, 1 Cor 2.15 4 Mt 6.19-20 5 Jn 3.31 6 Lk 12.16-18 7 Phil 3.20

The Cursing Of The Fig Tree

Τὴν συκῆν οὐκ ἁπλῶς ὁ Κὺριος κατηράσατο, μὴ τοῦτο νόμιζε, ὦ τῶν θείων ἀκόρεστε, ἀλλ' ἵνα δείξῃ τοῖς ἀγνώμοσιν Ἰουδαίοις, ὅτι ἔχει δύναμιν καὶ πρὸς τιμωρίαν ἀκροῦσαν. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς θαύμασιν οὐδὲν αὐτὸν παραχόντα τινὶ λυπρὸν ἑωράκεισαν, μόνον εὐργετεῖν αὐτὸν ὑπελάμβανον δύνασθαι, οὐκ ἔχοντα κακοῦν τοὺς πονηροὺς ἐξουσίαν. Ἐκ τῆς ἀψύχου τοίνυν οὐσίας, πείθει τὸν ἀχάριστον δῆμον, ὅτι καὶ ἀμύνασθαι δύναται, καὶ ὡς ἀγαθὸς οὐ βεδούλευται. Ἐξηράνθη οὖν ξύλον, ἵνα φοβήσῃ ἀνθρώπους. Ἄμα δέ τις τούτῳ καὶ ἀπόῥῥητος συμπέπλεχται λόγος, παρὰ γερόντων εἰς ἡμᾶς σοφῶν διαφοιτήσας· ὅτι τὸ ξύλον τῆς παραβάσεως τοῦτο, οὖ καὶ τοῖς φύλλοις εἰς σκέπην οἱ παραβάντες ἐχρήσαντο. Καὶ κατηράθη παρὰ Χριστοῦ φιλανθρώπως, μηκέτι καρπὸν ἐνεγκεῖν αἴτιον ἁμαρτίας. Ἐπειδὴ δευτέρα Θεοῦ παρουσία, πρὸς ἐνανθρώπησιν μὲν οὐκ ἔστι, πρὸς δὲ τίσιν τῶν πεπραγμένων ἐκάστῳ. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΝΑ’ Θεοπομπῳ Τριβουνῳ Source: Migne PG 78.213b-c

Do not think, O insatiable one for things Divine, that the Lord cursed the fig tree in mindless fashion, 1 but it was so that He might show to the ingrate Jews what power He possessed, and that He might use it for punishment. Since in His miracles they did not perceive anything troubling to themselves, therefore they thought that He could only do what was beneficial, and that He did not possess that power which is able to afflict the wicked with evil. But by this thing without a soul He admonishes a thankless people that He is indeed able to bring requital on crimes, though on account of His own goodness He is unwilling. That tree withered, then, so that men might be touched with fear. And there is also a certain secret message bound up in this, which wise elders have spread among us, that is, that this is the tree of transgression, whose covering of leaves sinners make use of. And it was cursed by the benevolent Christ so that it would no longer bear fruit on account of fault. For at the Second Coming He shall not be kind to those who err, but return to each man according to his deeds. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 51, to Theopompus the Tribune 1 Mk 11.12-14

The Two Chambered Tomb

Abraham conjugem mortuam in spelunca duplici sepelivit... Quia viator animam suam a mundi actibus mortuam, sub bonae operationis et contemplationis regimine abscondit. Activa enim sepulcrum est, ut quae a pravis operibus mortuos sepelit, sed contemplativa perfectius tegit: quae a cunctis mundi desideriis, suspectos in intimis, funditus dividit, quales erant de quibus Paulus ait: Mortui estis, et vita vestra abscondita est cum Christo in gloria. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber IV, Tit XXVII Quid sit in spelunca duplici sepeliri Source: Migne PL 177.710b

Abraham buried his wife in a two chambered tomb... 1 Because the pilgrim has a soul dead to the acts of the world, he hides beneath the discipline of good works and contemplation. The active life is the tomb which buries the dead from all evil works, but the contemplative life covers it more completely, so that those taken deep within are utterly separated from every desire of the world, in which likeness they were, concerning whom Paul said: 'You are dead, and your life is hidden with Christ in glory.' 2 Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 4, Chapter 27, On The Burial In The Two Chambered Tomb 1 Gen 23.17-19 2 Colos 3.3

The Entombed Soul

Nunquid enarrabit aliquis in sepulcro misericordiam tuam? Hoc negative legendum est, ut illud posuit intelligi, quia vivi homines et fideles misericordiam ejus narrare consuerunt. Sepulchrum enim significat infidelium mentes, de quibus supra dictum est: Sepulcrum patens est gutter eorum. Et meriot sepulcrum dicitur, ubi anima peccatis mortua continetur; id est, illos vult intelligi qui non sunt Domino credituri; quia nullus eis misericordia Domini videtur narrasse, quam non voluerunt devota mente percipere. Illic enim provenisse dicimus actum, ubi aliquem audiens praestat effectum. Tale est et istud quod sequitur, aut veritatem tuum in perditione; quia nemo putatur veritatem dixisse, quem videtur neligens praeterire. Perditio quippe juste vocata est, ubi veritas non admittitur, sed sola obstinatio custoditur. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus LXXXVII Source: Migne PL 70.626a-b

Shall someone in a tomb tell of your mercy? 1 This should be spoken negatively, as he set it down to be understood, because it is living and faithful men who are accustomed to speak of His mercy. The tomb signifies the minds of the faithless, concerning which it has been said, 'Their throat is an open tomb.' 2 And when sin encloses the soul it is rightly called a tomb. That is, he wishes them to be understood as those who will not believe in the Lord because none of them are seen to have spoken of the mercy of the Lord, that which they were not willing to receive with a devout mind. For so we say a word has had an effect when he who hears responds to it. Such is what follows, 'Or your truth in ruin.' Because no one is thought to have spoken the truth who appears to have negligently passed it by. It is rightly called ruin when the truth is not admitted but the only thing clung to is obstinacy. Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 87 1 Ps 87.12 2 Ps 5.11

The Shadow Of Death

Quoniam autem ignorantia Dei umbra est mortis, testatur propheta dicens: Et declinasti semitas nostras a via tua, et cooperuit nos umbra mortis. Sine dubio enim operiet eum ignorantia Dei, cujus vita de via Dei fuerit declinata. Regio autem mortis mundus est iste. Sicut enim illa terra vivorum est, de qua dicitur: Credo videre bona Domini in terra viventium: sic terra haec regio mortis est. Propterea ad plenum Deo placere non possumus, degentes in ea, quia ipsi etsi vivi sumus propter opera viva et fidem Christi, teman quia in mundo vivimus, cui diabolus principatur, coinquinati sumus. Ideo et Paulus: Quis liberabit de corpore mortis hujus. Corpus enim hoc, corpus est mortis, quia non vitalibus, sed mortiferis voluptatibus est subjectum. Opus Imperfectum in Matthaeum, Homilia VI Source: Migne PG 56.672

That the ignorance of God is the shadow of death, the prophet bears witness, saying, 'And you lower our paths from your way, and the shadow of death covers us.' 1 Without doubt the ignorance of God shall cover him whose life shall have declined from the way of God. And the realm of death is this world. For as there is a land of the living, concerning which it is said, 'I believe I shall see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living, 2 so this earth is the realm of death. Whence we are not able to please God fully while we dwell in it, because even if we live according to the works of life and the faith of Christ, yet because we live in the world, of which the devil is the prince, we are defiled. Therefore even Paul says: 'Who will free me from this body of death.' 3 For this body is the body of death, because it is not subject to life giving but death bringing pleasures. Opus Imperfectum on Matthew, from Homily 6 1 Ps 43.19-20 2 Ps 26.13 3 Rom 7.24

Considering The Dead

Ἀλλ' ἢ ὅτι οὐδὲ τὸν τυχόντα καιρὸν παραπολλύναι χρὴ, κἂν μυρία τὰ κατεπείγοντα ᾖ, ἀλλὰ πάντων καὶ τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων τὰ πνευματικὰ προτιθέναι, καὶ εἰδέναι, τί μὲν ζωὴ, τί δὲ θάνατος. Πολλοὶ γὰρ καὶ τῶν ζῇν δοκούντων νεκρῶν οὐδὲν διαφέρουσιν, ὅταν ἐν κακίᾳ ζῶσι· μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ἐκείνων οὗτοι χείρους. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ ἀποθανὼν, φησὶ, δεδικαίωται ἀπὸ τῆς ἁμαρτίας· οὗτος δὲ δουλεύει τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ. Μὴ γάρ μοι τοῦτο εἴπῃς, ὅτι Ὑπὸ σκωλήκων οὐ κατεσθίεται, οὐδὲ ἐν λάρνακι κεῖται, οὐδὲ ἀπέκλεισε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς, οὐδὲ κειρίαις δέδεται. Καὶ γὰρ ταῦτα χαλεπώτερα ὑπομένει τοῦ τετελευτηκότος, οὐ σκωλήκων αὐτὸν κατεσθιόντων, ἀλλὰ θηρίων σφοδρότερον τῶν παθῶν τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτὸν σπαραττόντων. Εἰ δὲ ἀνεῴγασιν οἱ ὀφθαλμοὶ, καὶ τοῦτο πολὺ χεῖρον πάλιν τοῦ μεμυκέναι. Οἱ μὲν γὰρ τοῦ νεκροῦ οὐδὲν ὁρῶσι πονηρόν· οὗτος δὲ μυρίας ἑαυτῷ συνάγει νόσους, ἀνεῳγμένων αὐτοῦ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν. Καὶ ὁ μὲν ἐν λάρνακι κεῖται, πρὸς πάντα ἀκίνητος ὤν· οὗτος δὲ ἐν τῷ τάφῳ τῶν μυρίων κατορώρυκται νοσημάτων. Ἀλλὰ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ σηπόμενον οὐχ ὁρᾷς; Καὶ τί τοῦτο; Πρὸ γὰρ τοῦ σώματος αὐτοῦ ἡ ψυχὴ διέφθαρται καὶ ἀπόλωλε, καὶ πλείονα ὑπομένει τὴν σηπεδόνα. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ δέκα ὄδωδεν ἡμέρας· οὗτος δὲ ἅπαντα τὸν βίον δυσωδίας ἀποπνεῖ, στόμα ἔχων ὀχετῶν ἀκαθαρτότερον. Ὥστε τοσοῦτον αὐτοῦ διενήνοχεν ἐκεῖνος, ὅσον ὁ μὲν τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς φύσεως ὑπομένει μόνον φθορὰν, οὗτος δὲ μετ' ἐκείνης καὶ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀσωτίας ἐπεισάγει σηπεδόνα, μυρίας καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν ἐπινοῶν ὑποθέσεις διαφθορᾶς. Ἀλλ' ἐφ' ἵππου φέρεται; Καὶ τί τοῦτο; Καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος ἐπὶ κλίνης· καὶ τὸ δὴ χαλεπὸν, λυόμενον μὲν ἐκεῖνον καὶ σηπόμενον οὐδεὶς ὁρᾷ, ἀλλ' ἔχει τὴν λάρνακα παραπέτασμα· οὗτος δὲ ὀδωδὼς πανταχοῦ περίεισι, καθάπερ ἐν τάφῳ τῷ σώματι νενεκρωμένην ψυχὴν περιφέρων. Καὶ εἴγε ἦν ψυχὴν ἀνδρὸς ἰδεῖν τρυφῇ καὶ κακίᾳ συζῶντος, εἶδες ἂν ὅτι πολὺ βέλτιον ἐν τάφῳ κεῖσθαι δεδεμένον, ἢ ταῖς τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν σφίγγεσθαι σειραῖς· καὶ λίθον ἔχειν ἐπικείμενον, ἢ τὸ βαρὺ τῆς ἀναισθησίας πῶμα. ∆ιὸ δὴ μάλιστα τοὺς τούτοις προσήκοντας τοῖς νεκροῖς, ἐπειδὴ οὗτοι ἀναλγήτως διάκεινται, προσιέναι δεῖ περὶ αὐτῶν τῷ Ἰησοῦ, καθάπερ ἡ Μαρία τότε ἐποίησεν ἐπὶ τοῦ Λαζάρου. Κἂν ὀδωδὼς ᾖ, κἂν τεταρταῖος ᾖ, μὴ ἀπογνῷς, ἀλλὰ πρόσελθε, καὶ τὸν λίθον ἄνελε πρῶτον. Καὶ γὰρ τότε ὄψει κείμενον, ὥσπερ ἐν τάφῳ, καὶ ταῖς κειρίαις δεδεμένον. Καὶ εἰ βούλεσθε, τῶν μεγάλων τινὰ καὶ περιφανῶν εἰς μέσον ἀγάγωμεν. Ἀλλὰ μὴ δείσητε· ἀνωνύμως γὰρ ἐρῶ τὸ ὑπόδειγμα· μᾶλλον δὲ, εἰ καὶ τὴν προσηγορίαν ἔλεγον, οὐδὲ οὕτω δεδοικέναι ἐχρῆν. Τίς γάρ ποτε νεκρὸν δέδοικε; Καὶ γὰρ ὅσα ἂν πράξῃ, μένει νεκρὸς ὤν· νεκρὸς δὲ ζῶντα οὐ μικρὸν, οὐ μέγα ἀδικῆσαι δύναται. Ἴδωμεν τοίνυν τὴν κεφαλὴν αὐτῶν δεδεμένην. Καὶ γὰρ ὅταν μεθύωσι διηνεκῶς, καθάπερ οἱ νεκροὶ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐπιβλήμασιν ἐκείνοις καὶ ταῖς κειρίαις, οὕτω πάντα τὰ αἰσθητήρια ἀποκλείεται καὶ δεσμεῖται. Εἰ δὲ βούλει καὶ τὰς χεῖρας ἰδεῖν, ὄψει καὶ ταύτας τῇ γαστρὶ προσδεδεμένας, καθάπερ τῶν οἰχομένων, καὶ περιεσφιγμένας, οὐ κειρίαις, ἀλλ' ὃ πολλῷ χαλεπώτερόν ἐστι, τοῖς τῆς πλεονεξίας δεσμοῖς. Οὐ γὰρ ἀφίησιν αὐτὰς ἐκταθῆναι πρὸς ἐλεημοσύνην ἐκείνη, οὐδὲ πρὸς ἄλλο τι τῶν τοιούτων κατορθωμάτων, ἀλλὰ τῶν νενεκρωμένων ἀχρηστοτέρας ἐργάζεται. Βούλει καὶ τοὺς πόδας ἰδεῖν συνδεδεμένους; Ὅρα αὐτοὺς πάλιν περιεσφιγμένους φροντίσι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο οὐδέποτε δυναμένους εἰς οἶκον Θεοῦ δραμεῖν. Εἶδες τὸν νεκρόν; βλέπε καὶ τὸν ἐνταφιαστήν. Τίς οὖν ἐστιν ὁ ἐνταφιαστὴς τούτων; Ὁ διάβολος, ὁ ἀκριβῶς αὐτοὺς περισφίγγων, καὶ οὐκ ἀφιεὶς λοιπὸν τὸν ἄνθρωπον ἄνθρωπον φαίνεσθαι, ἀλλὰ ξύλον ξηρόν. Ὅπου γὰρ οὐκ ὀφθαλμὸς, οὐ χεῖρες, οὐ πόδες, οὐκ ἄλλο τῶν τοιούτων οὐδὲν, πῶς ἂν ὁ τοιοῦτος ἄνθρωπος φανείη; Οὕτω καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν αὐτῶν ἐσπαργανωμένην ἔστιν ἰδεῖν, καὶ εἴδωλον μᾶλλον ἢ ψυχὴν οὖσαν. Ἅγιος Ἰωάννης ὁ Χρυσόστομος, Υπόμνημα Εἰς τὸν Ἅγιον Ματθαίον Εὐαγγέλιον, Ὁμιλία ΚΖ´ Source: Migne PG 59.348-9

It is needful that no time be lost, though a thousand things press, but before everything, before even the most necessary things, let us attend to what is spiritual, even that we might know both what is life and what is death. For many, even though they seem to live, are no different from the dead, since they live in wickedness. Or rather they are worse than the dead, 'For he that is dead,' it is said, 'is freed from sin,' 1 but this man is a slave to sin. For do not say this to me, that he is not worm-eaten, nor does he lie in a coffin, nor are his eyes closed, nor is he bound in cerements. He suffers these things more wretchedly than the dead, for though no worms devour him, yet the passions of his soul tear him to pieces more fiercely than beasts. And if his eyes are open, this again is much worse than having them closed up. For the eyes of the dead man see no evil, but this man, with his eyes wide open, gathers to himself a thousand infections. And while one man lies in a coffin, unmoved by anything, this man is buried in a tomb of countless diseases. You do not see his body rotting? What of that? Before his body his soul is corrupted and destroyed, and it suffers from a worse rottenness. The body stinks for several days, but for the whole of his life his soul breathes out evil odors, with a mouth more unclean than any sewer. So the one differs from the other, by just so much as this, that the one man suffers that decay that comes of nature, but the other, along with that, brings in that rottenness born of intemperance, every day fashioning a thousand causes of corruption. Is he carried along on horseback? What of that? So the other man is carried along on a bier. And this is worse, that while the one man is not seen by anyone in his rotting state and his decay, but he has a coffin covering him up, the other is going about everywhere with his foul stench, bearing about, as in a tomb, a dead soul in his body. If you could see the soul of a man who is living amid luxury and vice, you would know that it is far better to lie bound up in a tomb than to be wrapped tightly in the chains of sins, and to have a stone laid over you rather than the heavy weight of senselessness. Therefore, above all things, it very much befits the associates of these dead folk who have themselves passed beyond feeling, to approach Jesus on their behalf, as Mary once did for the sake of Lazarus. 2 Though he stinks, though he has been dead for four days, do not despair, but approach and first remove the stone, for then you will see him lying as in a tomb, and bound in cerements. And if you will have it, let it be someone who is great and celebrated whom we present to you in such a manner. But do not fear, for I will speak the example without a name, or rather, if I may mention a name, there need be no fear, for who fears a dead man? Whatever one may do, he remains dead, and the dead cannot harm the living, neither a little or much. Let us then behold the head which has been bound up. For indeed when such folk are always drunk, so are all their senses closed and bound up, just as the dead with their many cloths and cerements. And if you will look to their hands, you shall see these again fixed to their belly, like the departed, and fastened not by the cerements, but with what is far worse, the bonds of covetousness, for they have no allowance to reach their hands out for the giving of alms, or for any other good deed, but rather their hands are made more useless than the hands of the dead. Will you also look to see their feet tied together? See them again fastened with cares, because of which they are never able to hurry to the house of God. Do you see the dead? Look also to the embalmer. Who embalms these folk? It is the devil who carefully binds them up, he who does not allow a man to seem to be a man, but a dried up lump of wood. For where there are no eyes, nor hands, nor feet, nor any other such thing, how can one appear to be a man? Thus see the soul bound up, or rather an image, not a real soul. Saint John Chrysostom, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, from Homily 27 1 Rom 6.7 2 Jn 11.17-

Flight And Prayer

Προσεύχεσθε δὲ, ἵνα μὴ γένηται ἡ φυγὴ ὑμῶν χειμῶνος, μηδὲ ἐν Σαββάττῳ. Τοῦτο αἰνίττεται ὁ Χριστός· εὔχεσθαι ἡμᾶς μὴ γενέσθαι ἐν ἐκδυμίᾳ τοῦ σώματος, μήτε ἐν ἀργίᾳ ὄντας τῶν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἔργῶν, ὃ ὑποσημαίνει τὸ Σάββατον· μήτε ἐνοχλουμένους ἐν ταῖς βιωτικαῖς τύρβαις τε καὶ ταραχαῖς· ὅπερ δηλοῖ ὁ χειμών. Ἅγιος Κύριλλος Ἀλεξανδρείας, Ἐξὴγησις Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον Εὐάγγελιον Source: Migne PG 72.441a

But pray that your flight is not in winter, nor on the Sabbath. 1 Christ means this: pray that in the departure from the body the works of virtue are not wanting, which is what the Sabbath indicates. And that one is not embroiled in worldly confusions and tribulations, which is what winter signifies. Saint Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Fragment 1 Mt 24.20

Exaltation And Downfall

Kαὶ σύ, Καφαρναούμ, μὴ ἕως οὐρανοῦ ὑψωθήσῃ; ἕως ᾅδου καταβήσῃ ὅτι εἰ ἐν Σοδόμοις ἐγενήθησαν αἱ δυνάμεις αἱ γενόμεναι ἐν σοί, ἔμεινεν ἂν μέχρι τῆς σήμερον. Πλὴν λέγω ὑμῖν ὅτι γῇ Σοδόμων ἀνεκτότερον ἔσται ἐν ἡμέρᾳ κρίσεως ἢ σοί. Ἡ Καπερναοὺμ ὑψώθη διὰ τὸ εἶναι πόλις τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ἐδοξάζετο γὰρ ὡς δῆθεν πατρὶς αὐτοῦ, ἀλλ' οὐδὲν ὠφελήθη, διὰ τὸ μὴ πιστεῦσαι. Τούναντιον γὰρ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο μᾶλλον κατακέκριται ἕως ᾅδου, ὅτι τοιοῦτον ἔχουσα οἰκήτορα, οὐδὲν ὠφελήθη ἐξ αὐτοῦ. Ἐπεὶ δὲ Καπερναοὺμ ἑρμηνεύται χωρίον παρακλήσεως, βλέπε ὅτι κᾶν ἀξιωθῇ τις γενέσθαι χωρίον τοῦ Παρακλήτου, τοῦ ἁγίου δηλαδὴ Πνεύματος, εἴτα ὑψηλοφρονήσῃ, κιὰ ἐπαρθῇ ἄχρις οὐρανοῦ, καταπίπτει λοιπὰν διὰ τὴν ὑψηλοφροσύνην. Φρίξον οὖν, ὦ ἄνθρωπε. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ ΙΑ' Source: Migne PG 123.256b-c

And you, Capernaum, shall you be lifted up to heaven? You shall fall even to hell. For if the miracles that were done in you were done in Sodom, it would have stood to this day. I say this to you, that it shall be less hard for Sodom on the day of judgement than for you. 1 Capernaum was exalted because it was the city of Jesus, it was glorified as His fatherland, but it received no benefit from that because it did not believe, and therefore on the contrary it was condemned, even to hell, because though such wonders were done there, it was not improved by them. But because Capernaum has been interpretated by some to mean 'field of consolation,' let it be observed that if someone merits to be a field of the Paraclete, that is, the Holy Spirit, and thus comes to know high things, and is exalted even to heaven, so he may yet be cast down on account of pride. Be fearful, then, O man. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 11 1 Mt 11.25

The Two Gates Of Death

Qui cupiditate peccant sumant David exemplum, ut resurgent. Qui timore peccant sumant Petrum exemplum, ut resurgent. Uterque cecidit, et uterque resurrexit, quia Christus utrumque respexit, alterum per se, alterum per prophetam suum. Istae sunt duae portae mortis: cupiditas et timor; quae si cui clauduntur, non erit quo mundus ingrediatur. Hugo De Sancte Victore, Miscellanea, Liber I, Tit CXXXIII, De mortis duabus portis Source: Migne PL 177.549d-550a

They who sin because of desire may take up David as an example, so that they may rise. They who sin because of fear may take up Peter as an example, that they may rise. For both fell, and both rose, because Christ looked upon both, one through himself, another through his prophecy. 1 Desire and fear, these are the two gates of death, and to whom they are closed the world shall not find a way to enter. Hugh Of Saint Victor, Miscellanea, Book 1, Chapter 133, On The Two Gates Of Death 1 Lk 22.61-62, 2 Kings 11-12

Four Types Of Tears

Beati qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur. Notandum autem quod quattor modis fit planctus sanctorum, cum priora peccata deplorant cum in infernum cadentes plangunt, cum in peccatis viventes, cum pro desiderio regni coelestis admodum tristes fiunt, et quatuor species lacrymarum natura continet. Sunt quidem lacrymae humidae, ut abluant sordes peccatorum, et restituant perditum baptismum; sunt salsae et amarae, ut restringant carnis fluxum, et terent dulcedinem voluptatum; sunt calidae, ut praevaleant contra infidelitatis frigus. Sunt purae, ut a pristinis erroribus mundatos, in pura constituant conversatione. Hae ergo pro amissis charis saepius fiunt, ut nos admoneant quatenus amissa bona opera reparemus, et ad desertam a nobis propter praevaricationem paradisi patriam per mandatorum Dei custodiam redeamus. Semper enim luctus inter duas laetitias consistit, id est, inter mundi praecedentem, et coelestis regni appropinquantem, et beatus cui temporalis tristitia aeternam parturiet laetitiam. Rabanus Maurus, Commentariorum In Matthaeum, Liber II, Cap V Source: Migne PL 107.796a-b

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 1 It should be noted that there are four ways of weeping for those who are holy, first when they deplore sins once committed, then when they weep over the descent to hell, then when there is living in sin, and then when they are made tearful because of longing for the kingdom of heaven. And these four types of tears are found in nature. There are tears of water, so that the filth of sins may be washed away and the ruin of baptism restored. There are salty and bitter tears that restrain the urges of the body and wear away the sweetness of pleasures, There are warm tears that prevail against the frigidity of faithlessness. And there are pure ones that cleanse from old errors and establish one in a wholesome way of living. And all these most frequently come from a lack of love and admonish us to look to the repair of a lack of good deeds, that from the waste made by us because of sin we may return to the fatherland of paradise by the keeping of the commandments of God. For grief is always found between two joys, between the preceding things of the world and the approaching things of the kingdom of heaven, and blessed is he who in temporal sorrow gives birth to eternal joy. Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Matthew, Book 2, Chapter 5 1 Mt 5.5

Death And Judgement And Perfection

Εἴπε πάλιν· Μέμνησο διαπαντὸς τῆς ἐξόδου σου, καὶ μὴ ἐπιλάθῃ κρίσεως αἰωνίου· καὶ οὐκ ἔσται πλημμέλεια ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ σου. Ἀποφθέγματα Των Ἁγίων Γερόντων, Παλλαδιος Source: Migne PG 65.173d

Again Father Evagrius said: 'Always be mindful of your death and do not forget eternal judgement, and there will be no defect in your soul' Sayings of the Desert Fathers, Palladius of Galatia

The Time Of Sowing

Ergo, dum tempus habemus, operemur bonum ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Tempus sementis, ut diximus, tempus est praesens, et quam currimus. In hac licet nobis quod volumus seminare; cum ista vita transierit operandi tempus aufertur. Unde et Salvator ait: Operamini dum dies est: veniet nox, quando jam nullus poterit operari. Ortus est nobis Dei sermo, sol verus, et congregatae sunt bestiae recedentes in cubilia sua: procedamus ut homines ad opus nostrum, et usque ad vesperam laboremus, sicut mystice cantatur in psalmo: Posuisti tenebras, et facta est nox. In ipsa pertransibunt bestiae silvae, catuli leonum rugientes, ut rapiant, et quaerant a Deo escam sibi. Ortus est sol, et congregatae sunt, et in cubilibus suis dormierunt. Egredietur homo ad opus suum, et ad operationem suam usque ad vesperam. Sive aegrotamus, sive sani sumus, humiles, vel potentes, pauperes, divites, ignobiles, honorati, esurientes, sive vescentes, omnia in nomine Domini cum patientia et aequanimitate faciamus, et implebitur in nobis illud quod scriptum est: Diligentibus autem Dominum, omnia cooperantur in bonum. Ira ipsa et libido, et injuria quae desiderat ultionem, si me refrenem: si propter Deum taceam: si per singulos commotionis aculeos, et incentiva vitiorum, Dei desuper me videntis recorder, fiunt mihi occasio triumphorum. Ne dicamus in largiendo: Ille est amicus, hunc nescio: hic debet accipere, iste contemni. Imitemur Patrem nostrum, qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos, et pluit super justos et injustos. Fons bonitatis omnibus patet. Servus et liber, plebeius et rex, dives et pauper, ex eo similiter bibunt. Lucerna cum accensa fuerit in domo, omnibus lucet aequaliter. Quod si in cunctos indifferenter liberalitatis frena laxantur, quanto magis in domesticos fidei, et in Christianos, qui eumdem habent Patrem, ejusque magistri appellatione censentur! Videtur autem mihi locus iste posse et superioribus cohaerere, ut domesticos fidei, magistros nominet, quibus supra omnia quae putantur bona, ab auditoribus suis jusserat ministrari. Breve est vitae istius curriculum. Hoc ipsum quod loquor, quod dicto, quod scribo, quod emendo, quod relego, de tempore meo mihi aut crescit, aut deperit. Titus, filius Vespasiani, qui in ultionem Dominici sanguinis, subversis Jerosolymis, Romam victor ingressus est, tantae dicitur fuisse bonitatis, ut cum quadam nocte sero recordaretur, in coena, quod nihil boni die illa fecisset, dixerit amicis: Hodie diem perdidi. Nos putamus non perire nobis horam, diem, momenta, tempus, aetates, cum otiosum verbum loquimur, pro quo reddituri sumus rationem in die judicii? Quod si hoc ille sine Lege, sine Evangelio, sine Salvatoris, et apostolorum doctrina, naturaliter et dixit, et fecit: quid nos oportet facere, in quorum condemnationem habet et Juno univiras, et Vesta virgines, et alia idola continentes? Beatus Joannes evangelista cum Ephesi moraretur usque ad ultimam senectutem, et vix inter discipulorum manus ad ecclesiam deferretur, nec posset in plura vocem verba contexere, nihil aliud per singulas solebat proferre collectas, nisi hoc: Filioli, diligite alterutrum. Tandem discipuli et fratres qui aderant, taedio affecti, quod eadem semper audirent, dixerunt: Magister, quare semper hoc loqueris? Qui respondit dignam Joanne sententiam: Quia praeceptum Domini est, et si solum fiat, sufficit. Hoc propter praesens Apostoli mandatum: Operemur bonum ad omnes: maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Sanctus Hieronymus, Commentariorum in Epistolam ad Galatas, Liber III, Cap VI Source: Migne PL 26.432b-433c

Therefore while we have time, let us do good to everyone, especially to the servants of the faith. 1 The time of sowing, as we have said, is the present time, in which we run. In this we are permitted to sow what we will, and when this life shall have passed by the time of such labouring is finished. Whence the Saviour says: 'Work while it is still day. The night shall come when no one will be able to work.' 2 The sun of the word of God has risen on us, the true sun, and the beasts have been gathered up and withdrawn into their lairs, and so let us as men go to our work, and even to the evening let us labour, as is spiritually sung in the Psalm: 'You set down darkness and it was night. In it pass all the beasts of the wood, the roaring of lion whelps, that they might seize, and they seek from God food for themselves. The sun has risen, and they have been gathered up and in their lairs they sleep. Man goes out to his work, and to his labour until the evening.' 3 Whether we are sick or healthy, humble or powerful, poor or rich, obscure or honoured, hungry or full, let us do everything in the name of the Lord in patience and contentment, and we shall fulfill in ourselves what has been written: 'But for the lovers of the Lord everything works together for goodness.' 4 If I restrain myself from anger and lust and the injury that seeks vengeance, if for the sake of God I am silent, if through every sharp disturbance and incentive for vice I remind myself that God watches from above, there shall be for me an occasion of triumph. Let us not say in plenty, 'That fellow is a friend, this one I do not know. This one should be received, that one scorned.' Let us imitate our Father who makes the sun rise over the good and the wicked, and makes it rain upon the righteous and the unrighteous. 5 He opens the fount of kindness to all and from that slave and free, commoner and king, rich and poor, all likewise drink. A lamp that has been lit in a house shines equally on everyone, 6 whence if the reign of generosity is loosed impartially for everyone, how much more for those who are servants of the faith and Christians, who have the same Father, and those who are reckoned to be His teachers? It seems to me that it is possible to join this passage with those before, so that from hearers he exhorts service of those he names servants of the faith and teachers, whom are thought as goods above all. Brief is the time of this life. This which I say, and dictate, and write, and correct, and review, grows or perishes in my time. Titus, the son of Vespasian, who in revenge for the blood of the Lord, overthrew Jerusalem, entered Rome as victor, and it is said that such was his benevolence, that when late one night at a feast he remembered that he had done no good that day, he said to his friends, 'Today I have wasted a day.' Shall we not think that we have wasted an hour, a day, a moment, a year, an age, when we speak worthless words, for which we shall have to give a reason on the day of judgement? 7 If this fellow without the Law, without the Gospel, without the Saviour and the teaching of the Apostles, naturally said this and acted so, what is needful for us to do, for the condemnation of whom he had Juno of one husband, and the Vestal Virgins, and a collection of other idols? Blessed John the Evangelist, while he remained in Ephesus until final old age, had to be carried to the church by the hands of his followers, and unable to compose his voice for many words, he was accustomed to offer nothing else to the congregation but this: 'Little children, love one another.' 8Then when his pupils and brothers drew near, and being troubled with the repetition of what they always heard, said, 'Master, why do you always say this?' John replied with a worthy statement: 'Because it is the teaching of the Lord, and if this alone is done, it is enough.' Hence the command of this Apostle: 'Let us do good to everyone, especially to the servants of the faith.' Saint Jerome, Commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, Book 3, Chapter 6 1 Galat 6.10 2 Jn 9.4 3 Ps 103.20-23 4 Rom 8.28 5 Mt 5.45 6 Mt 5.15 7 Mt 12.36 8 cf 1 Jn 3.18