Burning The Tree

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

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

The Shadow Of Death And True Death

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

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

Concerns About Damnation

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

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

The Fear Of Separation

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

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

An Epicurean Warned

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

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

Considerations Of The Flesh

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

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

Coverings Of Death And Life

Fecit quoque Dominus Deus Adae et uxori ejus tunicas pelliceas, et induit eos.   Et hoc significationis gratia factum est, sed tamen factum. Nam hujusmodi indumento Dominus eos mortales jam factos fuisse insinuat. Pelles quae nonnisi mortuis pecudibus subtrahuntur, mortis figuram continent. Ita, cum contra praeceptum, non imitatione legitima, sed illicita superbia Deus esse appetit homo, usque ad belluarum mortalitatem dejectus est. Et quidem ipsi sibi fecerunt perizomata de foliis fici, quibus pudenda tegerent; sed Dominus fecit illis tunicas pelliceas, quibus omne corpus illorum induit, quia ipsi, perdita per praevaricationem gloria innocentiae, praetenderunt sibi velamen excusationis, qua suam culpam in Conditorem transfunderent; et ipse Conditor illos per sententiam justi judicii, ablato statu vitae immutabilis, in anima simul et carne mutavit poena mortalitatis. Narrat autem evangelica parabola quia pius pater revertenti ad se per poenitentiam filio luxurioso, inter alia munera, etiam stolam primam proferri et eum indui praeceperit, mystice insinuans quia electi habitum immortalitatis, quem in Adam in exordio saeculi perdiderunt, in fine saeculi sint recepturi in Christo, et quidem ampliore gratia. Nam Adam ita immortalis factus est, ut posset non mori si praeceptum servaret; filii autem resurrectionis ita erunt immortales, ut nec mori unquam, nec metu mortis possint affici. De cujus receptione stolae dicit Apostolus: Oportet enim corruptibile hoc induere incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induere immortalitatem. Ubi induere sonat, ablatam utique significat nuditatem, quam Adam in se et Heva post peccatum agnitam erubescebant. Sanctus Beda, Hexameron Liber I Source: Migne PL 91.60b-d

And the Lord God also made for Adam and his wife tunics of skins, and He covered them. 1 And this was done for the sake of a sign, yet done. For with such covering the Lord declared that they were made mortal. The skins being nothing but that they had been drawn under the death of beasts, containing the figure of death. Thus when against the command, not by legitimate imitation, but by illicit pride, man desired to be God, man was cast down to the mortality of the beasts. And certainly they had made for themselves coverings of fig leaves, by which they covered their private parts, but the Lord made them tunics of hides, with which He covered the whole body, because they, destroying by trespass the glory of innocence, then extended it by the veil of excuse, by which they tried to transfer the fault to their Maker, and He, by the sentence of just judgement, removed them from the state of immutable life, and in both soul and flesh made change unto the punishment of mortality. Now it is related in the Gospel parable that the pious father, for his own son returning by penance from luxury, among other gifts, commanded that the finest robe be brought and that he be covered with it, 2 mystically signifying that he had received the immortality of the elect, which had been ruined in Adam at the beginning, and at the end is received in Christ, and certainly with more grace. For Adam was created immortal, that he was able not to die if he had guarded the command, and the sons of the resurrection shall be immortal, that they not die anymore, nor be afflcited with the fear of death. Concerning the reception of this robe the Apostle says: 'For this corruption shall be clothed in incorruption and this mortality in immortality.' 3 Where saying clothed, he signifies that nakedness shall be removed, which Adam and Eve after sin, aware of it in themselves, were ashamed. Saint Bede, Hexameron, Book 1   1 Gen 3.21 2 Lk 15.22 3 1 Cor 15.53

Passing Away

Κύριε, τίς παροικήσει ἐν τῷ σκηνώματί σου;   Ἥ παροικία ἐστὶ διαγωγὴ πρόσκαιρος, οὐχ ἱδρυμένην ζωήν, ἀλλὰ παροδικὴν, ἐπ' ἐλπίδι τῆς ἐπὶ τὰ κρείττονα μεταστάσεως, ὑποφαίνουσα. Ἁγίου δὲ ἀνδρὸς, παροδεύειν μὲν τὸν βίον τοῦτον, ἐπείγεσθαι δὲ πρὸς ἑτέραν ζωῄν. Διὸ καὶ ὁ Δαβιδ περὶ ἑαυτοῦ φησι· Πάροικος ἐγώ εἰμι παρὰ σοὶ, καὶ παρεπίδημος, καθὼς οἱ πατέρες μου. Πάροικος γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ, οὐδε βῆμα ποδὸς ἰδίας γῆς κεκτημένος, ἀλλ' ὁτε ταφῆς αὐτῷ ἐδέησεν, ἀργυρίου κτησάμενος ταύτην φαίνεται· δεικνύντος τοῦ λόγου, ὅτι ζῶντα μὲν ἐν τῇ σαρκὶ πάροικον εἶναι προσήκει, μεταβαίνοντα δὲ ἀπὸ τῆς ζωῆς ταύτης, τοῖς οἰκείοις τόποις ἐναναπαύεσθαι. Διὰ τοῦτο ἐν μὲν τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ παροικεῖ τοῖς ἀλλοφύλοις, ἐν δὲ τῇ ταφῇ οἰκείαν ἑαυτῷ τὴν δεξομένην αὐτοῦ τὸ σῶμα γῆν ἐπραγματεύσατο. Μακάριον δὲ τῷ ὄντι, μὴ ὡς οἰκείοις προστετηκέναι τοῖς ἐν τῇ γῇ, μηδὲ ὥσπερ πατρίδος τινὸς φυσικῆς  ἀντέχεσθαι τῶν ἐνταῦθα, ἀλλ' εἰδέναι τὴν ἀπὸ τῶν βελτιόνων ἀπόπτωσιν, κιὰ τὴν ἐκ καταδίκης ἐνθάδε διαγωγὴν βαρυνόμενον, οὔτω παροικεῖν ὡς οἱ ὑπὸ δικαστῶν τινων ἐπί τισι πλημμελήμασιν εἰς τὴν ὑπερορίαν ἐκ τῆς ἐνεγκούσης ἀπελαθέντες. Σπάνιος δὲ ὁ τοιοῦτος, ὁ μὴ ὡς ἰδίοις προσέχων τοῖς παροῦσιν· ὁ τοῦ πλούτου τὴν χρῆσιν πρόσκαιρον ἐπιστάμενος· ὁ τοῦ σώματος τὴν εὐεξιαν ὀλιγοχρόνιον τιθείς· ὁ γνωρίζων τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης δόξης τὸ ἄνθος ἀβεβαιον. Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, Ὁμιλία Ἐις Τους Ψαλμούς, Εἰς Τον ΙΔ' Ψαλμον  Source: Migne PG 29.252a-c

O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? 1 This sojourning is the passing of temporal things, in this life not stable, and he speaks of it as a sojourning because of the hope of going off to better things. For it is of the holy man that he is passing from this life and hurrying to another life. Therefore David says about himself: 'An alien I am before you, and a wanderer like all my fathers.' 2 Abraham was a foreigner, he did not possess one foot of land for his own, but when a tomb become needful, he gave money to purchase it. 3 Certainly Scripture shows that living in the flesh, one should be as an alien, moving on from this life into the proper places of rest. So in this life he is among foreign peoples, in the tomb however his body receives the land which is proper to it. And certainly he was blessed not because he was bound to any earthly things as his own, nor because he clung to present things as to his natural fatherland; but knowing that fall from better things, and being burdened here with the passing of things on account of condemnation, and thus sojourned, as they who because of error received the judgement of expulsion into exile. Rare is that man who does not desire present things as his own, who knows how to use riches given for the time, who judges the housing in the body to be of brief duration, who recognises the fragile flower of human glory.. Saint Basil of Caesarea, Homilies on the Psalms, from Psalm 14 1 Ps 14.1 2 Ps 38.13 3 Gen 23.16

Dying Wickedly

Nec in his verbis quae dixi: Vivite bene, ne moriamini male, attendatis eos qui forte male vixerunt, et in lectulis suis mortui sunt; et acta est pompa funeris eorum, et positi sunt in pretiosis sarcophagis, in sepulcris pulcherrime et operosissime fabricatis: et quia forte dicit sibi unusquisque vestrum, Vellem sic mori, putetis me rem vanam dicere voluisse; quoniam dixi velle me ut bene vivatis, ne male moriamini. Contra forte occurrit aliquis, qui et bene vixit, et secundum opinionem hominum male est mortuus: forte a ruina est mortuus, a naufragio mortuus est, a bestiis mortuus est; et dicit unusquisque carnalis in corde suo, Quid est bene vivere? Ecce ille sic vixit, et sic est mortuus. Redite ergo ad cor; et si fideles estis, invenietis ibi Christum; ipse vobis loquitur ibi. Ego enim clamo: ille vero in silentio plus docet. Ego loquor per sonum sermonis: ille intus loquitur per timorem cogitationis. Ergo ipse inserat in corde vestro verbum meum: quoniam dicere ausus sum, Bene vivite, ne male moriamini. Ecce quoniam fides est in cordibus vestris, et ibi est Christus, et ipse habet docere quod ego cupio personare Recordamini in Evangelio divitem illum, et pauperem illum: divitem indutum purpura et bysso, et quotidianis epulis saginatum; pauperem vero illum iacentem ante ianuam divitis, esurientem, et de mensa eius micas requirentem, ulceribus plenum, a canibus linctum. Recordamini ergo: unde recordamini, nisi quia ibi est Christus in cordibus vestris? Dicite mihi quid ipsum intus interrogaveritis, et responderit vobis. Sequitur enim, et dicit: Contigit mori inopem illum, et auferri ab Angelis in sinum Abrahae. Mortuus est autem et dives, et sepultus est in infernum. Cum autem in tormentis esset, levavit oculos suos, et vidit Lazarum requiescentem in sinu Abrahae. Tunc clamavit, dicens: Pater Abraham, miserere mei, et mitte Lazarum, ut intingat digitum suum in aquam, et stillet in linguam meam, quia crucior in hac flamma 4. Superbus temporis, mendicus inferni. Pauper enim ille perveniebat ad micam: ille vero non perveniebat ad guttam. De duobus ergo istis, dicite mihi, quis est bene mortuus, et quis est male mortuus? Nolite oculos interrogare, ad cor redite. Si enim oculos interrogaveritis, falsa vobis respondent. Multum enim splendida sunt, et saeculariter fucata, quae illi diviti morienti exhiberi potuerunt. Quae potuerunt agmina plangentium esse servorum et ancillarum? quae pompa clientium? qui splendor funeris? quod pretium sepulturae? Credo eum aromatibus obrutum. Quid ergo dicturi sumus, fratres, bene istum mortuum, an male mortuum? Si oculos interrogatis, optime mortuus est: si magistrum vestrum interiorem requiritis, pessime mortuus est. Sanctus Augustinus Hipponensi, Sermo CII, De Verbis Evangellii Qui Vos Spernit, Me Spernit Source: Migne PL 38.611-612

Nor in these words which I have said, 'Live well, lest you die wickedly,'  think of those who have lived wickedly, and on their beds have perished, and there is great pomp at their funerals, and they are placed in precious tombs, and in sepulchers beautifully and exquisitely wrought, and because of this perhaps one of you say to yourself, 'I wish to die so,' and you think it a vain thing what I chose to say, because I said it was my wish that you live well lest you die wickedly. In opposition to this it may perhaps occur to someone that another fellow has lived well, and according to human opinion is dead, and perhaps by some disaster he is dead, or by shipwreck, or slain by beasts, and this someone says in the carnality of his heart: 'What is it to live well? Behold, he lived so, and so he died.' Turn to your heart 1 and if you are faithful, you shall find Christ there, who speaks to you there. For I cry out, He in silence teaches more. I speak with the sound of words, He  speaks within through the fear of thought. Therefore He shall sow in your heart my word, because I have dared to say,' Live well, lest you die wickedly.' Behold, because you are faithful in your heart, and so there is Christ, so He can teach what I desire to shout out. Remember in the Gospel that rich man and the poor man, the rich man wore purple and jewels and every day he feasted plentifully, the poor man, however, lay down at the door of the rich man, hungering, and from his table sought crumbs, and he was covered with ulcers which the dogs licked. 2 Remember, then, how you remember: how unless Christ is in your hearts? Tell me what you would ask Him within and He shall answer you. Then it continues and says: 'Death touched the poor man and the angels carried him off into the lap of Abraham. And the rich man died and was buried and went to hell. And when he was in torment he lifted up his eyes and he saw Lazarus resting in the lap of Abraham. Then he cried out, saying, 'Father Abraham, be merciful to me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip his finger into water and drop a little on my tongue because I am tormented in his fire.' A great man he was in his time, now he is a beggar in hell. The poor man approached for a crumb, the other never neared the gutter. Therefore concerning these two, tell me, who died well and who died wickedly? Do not ask your eyes, turn to your heart. For if you question your eyes, lies will be told you. Many splendid things there are, many adornments of the world, which dying rich men can show. Are they not able to exhibit the floods of tears from servants and handmaids? And the pomp of dependents? And the splendour of their funeral? And the reward of a tomb? And I believe he was smothered with aromatics. What shall I say then, brothers? That this fellow has died well or wickedly? If you ask the eye, he has died excellently; if you seek the teacher of the interior, he has the worst death. Saint Augustine of Hippo, from Sermon 101, On the words of the Gospel: 'He who spurns you, I spurn.' 1 Isai 46.8 2 Lk 16, 19-21.

Wealth And Death

Quid ergo, fratres, putatis habere aurum esse divitias? Ego dixerim majores esse divitias aurum non habere: pretiosior enim mens ejus, quae aurum despicit quam quae aurum requirit, majores plane sunt divitiae non habere aurum, sed aurum habentibus eminere. Qui enim propriis abundant bonis, saeculi thesauros non requirit; bona enim sunt propria, honestas, sobrietas, misericordia, castitas: quae bona omnia auro magis sunt pretiosa; ut sciatis qui his ita viliora sunt metalla: auri talenta emi possunt: argenti vasa comparari possunt; honestas enim non emitur, sed acquiritur; quia non constat pretio, sed virtute. Tu igitur, qui aurum possides, si placet, bona invicem conferamus. Tu cum peregre proficisceris, thesauri tui necessario domi remanent, quibus longe a te positis, semper trepidus, sempet incertus es, ne cum domum redieris, non habeas quod habebas. Ita dum semper amissionem eorum metuis, apud conscientiam tuam nudus et pauper es. Ego autem quocunque iero, meae divitiae me sequuntur, nec separari possunt a me bona, quoniam non terreno specu, sed pectoris thesauro retinentur. Tu cum recedis a saeculo relinquendo, tuas divitias perdidisti; ego autem, cum mihi de hoc mundo migrare contingit, divitias meas mecum ad paradisum veho; tuas divitias post mortem, exemplo illius purpurati divitis, ignis et tenebrae subsequentur; meas divitias, exemplo Lazari, sinus Abrahae et beatitudo suscipiet. Sanctus Maximus Taurinensis, Homilia LXXXII, De Sanctis Martyribus Source: Migne PL 57.432a-c

Why then, brothers, think that the possession of gold is wealth? I would say that it is greater wealth to have no gold; for more precious is the mind of a man which despises gold than he who seeks it; greater are they who are wealthy not possessing gold but who outshine those who do possess it. For he who abounds with his own goods, does not seek the wealth of the world, for he has his own goods, uprightness, sobriety, compassion, chastity, every one of which is more precious than gold, and so know that every metal is more vile than them. They are able to be bought with talents of gold, that are able to be acquired with vessels of silver, but uprightness they cannot buy, yet it is acquirable, being valued not by price but by virtue. You, therefore, who possess wealth, if it pleases, let us compare our goods. You, when you make a journey, must leave behind your wealth in your house, placing yourself far from it, always fearful because of it, always uncertain, that when you return to your home you no longer posses what you have. Thus while you always fear its loss, your conscience is weak and poor. My goods are not able to be separated from me, because they are not from some pit of the earth, but they are carried in the treasury of the heart. When you are required to leave the earth, you lose your wealth; I, however, when it comes that I must depart this world, I bear my wealth with me to paradise. Your riches after death, if we recall the example of that finely garbed rich man, are consigned to fire and darkness, my wealth, by the example of Lazarus, gain the lap of Abraham and blessedness. 1 Saint Maximus of Turin, from Homily 82, On The Holy Martyrs 1 Lk 16.19-31

Knowledge And Heaven

Ἄρτι γινώσκω ἐκ μέρους, ἔφη ὁ ἱερὸς Ἀπόστολος, γινώσκων ὅτι τὸ Θεῖον  κἀνταῦθα τὴν περιουσίαν τῆς οἰκείας σοφίας ἔδειξεν ἂν, εἰ τὸ δεξόμενον ἰκανὸν ἧν δέξασθαι τὴν νυνὶ μὲν ἀχωρητον γνῶσιν, χωρηθησομένην δὲ κατὰ τὸ ἐνδεχόμενον ἐν τῷ μέλλοντι αἰῶνι. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβίον Β', Ἐπιστολὴ ΝΛ', Αλφειῳ Ὑποδιακονῳ Source:  Migne PG 78.376a-b

'Now we know in part,' 1 says the holy Apostle, knowing that the Divine abundance of the house of wisdom which he revealed was so, compared to the whole knowledge he could have revealed if he had received it, but which shall fill us in the age to come according to the ability to receive it. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 2, Letter 56, To Alphius the Subdeacon 1 1 Cor 13.9

True Victory

Οὗτός ἐστιν, oὗτος ὁ ἀθλητὴς ἀληθῶς ὁ ἐν τῷ μεγάλῳ σταδίῳ, τῷ καλῷ κόσμῳ, τὴν ἀληθινὴν νίκην κατὰ πάντων στεφανούμενος τῶν παθῶν. ὅ τε γὰρ ἀγωνοθέτης ὁ παντοκράτωρ θεός, ὅ τε βραβευτὴς ὁ μονογενὴς υἱὸς τοῦ θεοῦ, θεαταὶ δὲ ἄγγελοι καὶ θεοί, καὶ τὸ παγκράτιον τὸ πάμμαχον οὐ πρὸς αἷμα καὶ σάρκα, ἀλλὰ τὰς διὰ σαρκῶν ἐνεργούσας πνευματικὰς ἐξουσίας ἐμπαθῶν παθῶν τούτων περιγινόμενος τῶν μεγάλων ἀνταγωνισμάτων, καὶ οἷον ἄθλους τινὰς τοῦ πειράζοντος ἐπαρτῶντος καταγωνισάμενος, ἐκράτησε τῆς ἀθανασίας· ἀπαραλόγιστος γὰρ ἡ τοῦ θεοῦ ψῆφος εἰς τὸ δικαιότατον κρῖμα. Κέκληται μὲν οὖν ἐπὶ τὸ ἀγώνισμα τὸ θέατρον, παγκρατιάζουσι δὲ εἰς τὸ στάδιον οἱ ἀθληταί· καὶ δὴ ἐκ τούτων περιγίνεται ὁ πειθήνιος τῷ ἀλείπτῃ γενόμενος. Πᾶσι γὰρ πάντα ἴσα κεῖται παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ ἔστιν αὐτὸς ἀμεμφής, ἑλεῖται δὲ ὁ δυνάμενος καὶ ὁ βουληθεὶς ἰσχύσει· ταύτῃ καὶ τὸν νοῦν εἰλήφαμεν, ἵνα εἰδῶμεν ὃ ποιοῦμεν, καὶ τὸ γνῶθι σαυτὸν ἐνταῦθα, εἰδέναι ἐφ' ᾧ γεγόναμεν. Γεγόναμεν δὲ εἶναι πειθήνιοι ταῖς ἐντολαῖς, εἰ τὸ βούλεσθαι σῴζεσθαι ἑλοίμεθα. Αὕτη που ἡ Ἀδράστεια, καθ' ἣν οὐκ ἔστι διαδρᾶναι τὸν θεόν. Τὸ ἄρα ἀνθρώπειον ἔργον εὐπείθεια θεῷ σωτηρίαν κατηγγελκότι ποικίλην δι' ἐντολῶν, εὐαρέστησις δὲ ὁμολογία. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ εὐεργέτης προκατάρχει τῆς εὐποιίας, ὁ δὲ μετὰ τῶν δεόντων λογισμῶν παραδεξάμενος προθύμως καὶ φυλάξας τὰς ἐντολὰς πιστὸς οὗτος, ὁ δὲ καὶ εἰς δύναμιν ἀμειβόμενος δι' ἀγάπης τὴν εὐποιίαν ἤδη φίλος. Μία δὲ ἀμοιβὴ κυριωτάτη παρὰ ἀνθρώπων, ταῦτα δρᾶν ἅπερ ἀρεστὰ τῷ θεῷ· [καὶ] καθάπερ ἂν ἰδίου γεννήματος καὶ κατά τι συγγενοῦς ἀποτελέσματος ὁ διδάσκαλος καὶ σωτὴρ ἀναδέχεται τὰς ὠφελείας τε καὶ ἐπανορθώσεις τῶν ἀνθρώπων εἰς ἰδίαν χάριν τε καὶ τιμήν, καθάπερ καὶ τὰς εἰς τοὺς πεπιστευκότας αὐτῷ βλάβας ἰδίας ἀχαριστίας τε καὶ ἀτιμίας ἡγούμενος. Τίς γὰρ ἄλλη ἅπτοιτ' ἂν ἀτιμία θεοῦ; διόπερ ἄλλην τοσοῦδε οὐδὲ ἔστιν ἀμοιβὴν κατ' ἀξίαν σωτηρίας ἀποδιδόναι πρὸς τὴν παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου ὠφέλειαν. Ὡς δὲ οἱ τὰ κτήματα κακοῦντες τοὺς δεσπότας ὑβρίζουσι, καὶ ὡς οἱ τοὺς στρατιώτας τὸν τούτων ἡγούμενον, oὕτως τοῦ Κυρίου ἐστὶν ἀνεπιστρεψία ἡ περὶ τοὺς καθωσιωμένους αὐτῷ κάκωσις. ὅνπερ γὰρ τρόπον ὁ ἥλιος οὐ μόνον τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ τὸν ὅλον κόσμον φωτίζει γῆν τε καὶ θάλασσαν ἐπιλάμπων, ἀλλὰ καὶ διὰ θυρίδων καὶ μικρᾶς ὀπῆς πρὸς τοὺς μυχαιτάτους οἴκους ἀποστέλλει τὴν αὐγήν, οὕτως ὁ λόγος πάντῃ κεχυμένος καὶ τὰ σμικρότατα τῶν τοῦ βίου πράξεων ἐπιβλέπει. Κλήμης ὁ Ἀλεξανδρεύς, Στρωματεων, Λόγος Ζ', Κεφ Γ' Source: Migne PG 9.424c-428a

This is the true athlete, he who in the great stadium, the fair world, is crowned for the true victory over all the passions. For He who presides over the contest is Almighty God, and He who assigns the prizes is the only begotten Son of God. Angels and holy ones are spectators, and the contest which embraces all the varied exercises, is 'not against flesh and blood,' 1 but against the spiritual powers of vehement passions working through the flesh. He who prevails in these great struggles, as with certain contests overthrowing the tempter in judgement, he seizes on immortality; for the sentence of God in most righteous judgment is infallible. The spectators are summoned to the contest, and the athletes contend in the stadium, and the one previals who has obeyed  the trainer. For to all, all rewards proposed by God are equal, and He is faultless. And he who has power receives mercy, and he who has chosen is mighty; for which we have received reason, that we may know what we do, and 'Know yourself' here means to know for what we were born. And we are born to be obedient to the commandments, if we choose to be willing to be saved. This is the Adrastia, through which there is no escape from God. Thus the work of man is obedience to God, who has proclaimed salvation manifold through the commandments, and confession is thanksgiving. For the benefactor first begins to do good. And he who with fitting thoughts readily receives and keeps the commandments, is faithful, and he who as far as able returns benefits on account of love is already a friend. One recompense among men is of most importance: the doing of what is most pleasing to God. As His own production, and so akin to Himself, the Teacher and Saviour receives assistance and improvement on the part of men as favour and honour, as also deems injuries inflicted on those who have faith in Him as to His own ingratitude and dishonour. For what other dishonour can affect God? Whence it is impossible to render a return at all equivalent to the salvation received from the Lord. And as those who mistreat property insult the owners, and those who mistreat soldiers insult the commander, so also the ill use of His consecrated ones is contempt for the Lord; for just as the sun not only enlightens heaven and the whole world, shining over land and sea, but also through windows and small chinks sends its beams into the innermost chambers of houses, so the Word diffused everywhere looks upon the smallest deeds of one's life. Clement of Alexandria, from the Stromata, Book 7, Ch 3 1 Ephes 6.12

The Two Trumps

Exsurgent, inquit Isaias, mortui, et resurgent qui in monumentis sunt. Et Dominus: Veniet hora quando mortui audient vocem Filii Dei; et qui audierint, vivent. Ad haec Apostolus: In momento, in ictu oculi, in novissima tuba; canet enim tuba, et mortui resurgent incorrupti. Quae ista tuba, quae inferis infert bellum, sepulchri resolvit moles, intonat mortuis vitam, resurgentibus in lucem perpetem dat triumphum? Quae est? Illa quam superius Dominus dixit: Mortui audient vocem Filii Dei. Tuba non quae arctato spiritu per concavum cornu ligni vel aeris trsitem bellantibus dat mugitum, sed quae de corde Patris, ore Filii, vitalem simul et inferis et superis dat clamorem. Et in novissima tuba; tuba quae in principio mundum vocavit ex nihilo, ipsa in novissimo mundum revocabit ex perdito; et quae initio hominem suscitavit ex limo, ipsa in fine hominem resuscitabit ex pulvere. Sanctus Petrus Chrysologus, Sermo CIII, De Filio Viduae Excitato a Mortuis, deque Corporum Resurrectione Source: Migne PL 52 487c-488a

'The dead,' says Isaiah, 'will come forth, and those who are in the tombs shall rise.' 1 And the Lord: 'The hour will come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.' 2 And the Apostle says, 'In a instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trump, the trump shall sound and the dead will rise imperishable and we shall be changed.' 3 'At the last trump.' What is this trump, which wages war on the underworld, dislodges tombstones from graves, signals life for the dead, and bestows victory on those who rise to perpetual light? What is it? It is what the Lord said above: 'The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God.' This trumpet is not a horn of wood or bronze that gives a grim bellow to the soldiers by a breath compressed through its hollows, but from the heart of the Father and the mouth of the Son it sends forth a summons to life, simulataneously both to those in the underworld and to those above. 'At the last trump.' The trump which in the beginning called forth the world out of nothing, is the same one which on the last day will call the world back from destruction, and the trump which in the beginning raised man from the mud, is the same one that in the end will raise man again from the dust. Saint Peter Chrysologus, from Sermon 103, On The Son of the Widow Raised from the Dead and the Resurrection of the Body 1 Is 26. 29 2 Jn 5.28 3  1 Cor 15.52

The Perfect Day

Quia electi quique sic ad bona tendunt, ut ad mala perpetranda non redeant: Qui enim perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit. Et sicut per Salomonem dicitur: Justorum semita quasi lux splendens procedit et crescit usque ad perfectum diem. In eorum namque animis bonum desiderium atque intellectus lucis intimae jam pars diei est, sed quia usque ad finem vitae in virtute proficiunt, ad perfectum diem tunc veniunt, quando, ad regna coelestia perducti, in ea luce quam desiderant jam minus aliquid non habebunt. Sanctus Gregorius Magnus, In Ezechielem Prophetam, Liber Primus, Homilia V Source: Migne PL 76.822d-823a

Because the elect aim at good things that that they might not return to the doing of evil: 'He who perseveres to the end will be saved.' 1 And as Solomon said:'The seed of the righteous is as a light giving out its splendour and it grows even to the full day.' 2 For in the souls of those with good desire, and the understanding of the inner light, even now they are part of the day, but because they advance in virtue up to the end of life, and then come to the perfect day, when they are led to the kingdom of heaven, in that light which now they desire they shall not have something less. Saint Gregory the Great, On the Prophet Ezekiel, Book 1, from Homily 5 1 Mt 10.22 2 Prov 4.18

The Feast Of All Saints

Kalendis Novembris solemnitas omnium sanctorum. Ecce, venerande pater Arne, habes designatam solemnitatem omnium sanctorum, sicut diximus. Quam continue in mente retineas et semper anniversario tempore colere non desistas; adtendens illud et intente considerans, quoniam, si Helias, unus ex illis in vetere testamento, oratione sua, dum voluit, claudere caelum potuit praevaricatoribus et aperire conversis, quanto magis omnes sancti in novo testamento? ubi eis specialiter et patenter claves regni caelestis commissae sunt, et claudere caelum possunt incredulis et aperire credentibus, si intima dilectione honorificantur a fidelibus et coluntur glorificatione eis condigna. Quod ut fieri digne possit a nobis, lumen verum, quod inluminat omnem hominem, Christus Iesus inluminet corda nostra, et pax Dei, quae exsuperat omnem sensum, per intercessionem omnium sanctorum eius, custodiat ea usque in diem aeternitatis. Hanc solemnitatem sanctissimam tribus diebus ieiunando, orando, missas canendo, et elimosinas dando pro invicem sincera devotione precedamus. Alcuinus, Epistola XCII,  Ad Arnonem Archiepiscopum Source: Migne PL 100 296a-b

The Kalends of November is the solemnity of All Saints. See, venerable father Arno, that you have a solemnity established for all the saints, as we have said. Keep it ever in mind and never cease to celebrate it on that date every year; attending to it and intently considering it, seeing that if Elijah, one of those of the Old Testament, with his prayer, as long as he wished, could shut heaven to sinners, and open it to the converted, 1 how much more can all the saints in the New Testament? For to them specially and manifestly have been entrusted the keys of the heavenly kingdom, and they can shut the heavens to unbelievers and open them to believers, if they are honoured with inward devotion by the faithful and are revered with the glorification appropriate to them. And that we may become worthy that this may be done appropriately by us, may the true light that illuminates every man, 2 Jesus Christ, illuminate our hearts, and may the peace of God, which exceeds all understanding, 3 through the intercession of all His saints, guard it until the last day. Let us precede this most holy solemnity by fasting for three days, praying, singing Masses, and giving alms for one another with sincere devotion. Alcuin of York, from Letter 92, To Arno The Archbishop 1 3 Kings 17 2 Jn 1.9 3 Phillip 4.7