Heat and Blows

Διεσώθη ἀπὸ καύματος υἱὸς νοήμων ἀνεμόφθορος δὲ γίνεται ἐν ἀμήτῳ υἱὸς παράνομος. Ἀκούει ὁ φυσικὸς νοήμων, Ἡμέρας ὁ ἥλιος οὐ συγκαύσει σε, οὐδὲ ἡ σελήνη τὴν νύκτα. Τὰς βιωτικὰς φροντίδας καῦμα καλεῖ· τοὺς ὑπ' αὐτοῦ δὲ ξηραινομένους καλεῖ χόρτον· ὁ δὲ Σωτὴρ διὰ τῆς παραβολῆς τὰς θλίψεις δηλοῖ· τὰς κατὰ τοῦ λόγου δὲ καὶ τοὺς διωγμοὺς ἐκάλεσε καῦμα. Ὃς ἐκ χειλέων προφέρει σοφίαν ῥάβδῳ τύπτει ἄνδρα ἀκάρδιον Ὁ σοφὸς ἐπιτιμητικῷ λόγῳ εἰς αἴσθησιν ἄγει τὸν βαρυκάρδιον. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Παροιμιας, Κεφ' I’ Source: Migne PG 39.1633b

It is a son of ruinous thoughts who keeps himself from the heat, and in the harvest he is worthless. 1 Hear what the physician of the soul says, 'During the day the sun shall not scorch you, nor shall the moon at night.' 2 He calls worldly cares 'heat', and he who burns up in them 'grass'. And the Saviour in the parable speaks of tribulations, and He calls 'heat' those who are persecutors opposed to the sacred teaching. 3 He who sends forth wisdom from his lips strikes the thoughtless man with a rod. 4 With a word of rebuke the wise man drives a dull hearted man to sense. Didymus the Blind, Commentary On Proverbs, Chapter 10 1 Prov 10.5 LXX 2 Ps 120.6 3 Mt 13.5-6, 20-21 4 Prov 10.13 LXX

Many Kingdoms

Qui quaesierit, inquit, animam suam salvare, perdet et qui perdiderit eam, salvabit eam. Martyres quaerunt salvare animam suam: propterea perdunt, ut salvent eam. Qui vero volunt salvare animam suam, ut non perdant eam, hi et corpus corpus et animam perdunt pariter in gehennam. Quamobrem nolite timere eos, ait, qui possunt corpus occidere, sed timete magis eum qui potest animam et corpus perdere in gehennam. Hoc ad propositum, juxta vires ingenii nostri breviter dixerimus. Animalis autem non recipit ea quae sunt spiritus: et idcirco salvari non potest. Seminatur corpus animale, surgit corpus spiritale. Porro qui adhaeret Domino, spiritus unus efficitur. Si ergo qui Domino copulatur, cum animalis esset per id in spiritalem vertitur, et unus est spiritus: nos quoque perdamus animam nostram, ut adhaerentes Domino in unum spiritum transformemur. Sed et de regno Dei interrogatus, respondit Salvator Pharisaeis: Quando venerit, inquit, non venit regnum Dei cum observatione, neque dicunt, ecce hic, aut ecce ibi. Regnum enim Dei intra vos est. Non omnibus Salvator dicit, regnum Dei intra vos est: siquidem in peccatoribus regnum peccati est, et absque ulla ambiguitate, aut regnum peccati, aut regnum Dei in corde nostro imperat. Unde sive quae facimus, sive quae loquimur, sive quae cogitamus, contemplemur attentius, et tunc videbimus utrum Dei imperium regnet in nobis, an imperium delictorum. Quam diversitatem sciens Apostolus, quosdam commonet, dicens: Non regnet peccatum in mortali vestro corpore. Si quis nostrum desiderat regnum Dei, regnatur ab eo. Si quis avaritiae ardore cruciatur, regnatur ab avaritia. Porro qui injustitiam reginam habet, regnatur ab ea. Qui vanae gloriae ambitione sustollitur, regnat ei aura popularis. Qui moeret, qui aliquid reformidat, qui amat, qui desiderat, imperant ei singula, prout perturbationibus variis possidetur. Quae omnia cognoscentes, et quam multa sint genera regnorum, surgamus precemurque Deum, ut auferat a nobis regnum inimici, et possimus sub regno esse Dei omnipotentis, id est sub regno sapientiae, pacis, justitiae, veritatis, quae cuncta in unigenito Dei Filio intelliguntur, cui est gloria et imperium in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Origenes, Homiliae in Lucam, Homilia XXXVI, De eo quod scriptum est: Qui voluerit animam suam salvare, perdet eam, usque ad eum locum ubi ait: Regnum Dei intra vos est, Interprete Sancto Hieronymo Source: Migne PG 13.1894b-1895b

'He who seeks to save his soul,' He says 'shall lose it, and he who loses it shall save it.' 1 Martyrs seek to save their souls , because of which they perish so that they might save them. However, he who wishes to save his soul so that he might not lose it, he loses both his body and soul in hell. 'Do not fear those, He says, 'who can kill the body, but fear more Him who can destroy the soul and the body in hell. 2 Concerning this, according to the men of our understanding, we shall speak briefly. 'But the animal man cannot receive the things of the spirit,' and thus cannot be saved. 'The animal body is sown, the spiritual body rises up.' 3 But he who adheres to the Lord is made one spirit. Therefore if he who is bound to the Lord by that turns what is animal into what is spiritual, the spirit is one, and we lose our own souls, so that adhering to the Lord we might be transformed into one spirit. Then questioned about the kingdom of God, the Saviour answers the Pharisees: 'When it comes, the kingdom of heaven does not come before the eye, nor will they say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' but the kingdom of God is within you.' 4 He does not say 'the kingdom of God is within you,' to everyone, for certainly the kingdom of sin reigns in those who sin, and without any doubt either the kingdom of sin or the kingdom of God reigns in us. Therefore let us carefully think on what we do and what we say and what we think, and then we shall see whether it is the kingdom of God that reigns in us or the kingdom of the wicked. Which difference the Apostle understood, warning them: 'Do not let sin reign in your bodies.' 5 If one of us desires the kingdom of God, it reigns in us. If someone is troubled by avarice, avarice reigns in him. But he who has the kingdom of unrighteousness, he is ruled by that. He who is puffed up with the vainglory of ambition is ruled by the whims of the people. He who groans or fears something, and he who desires, he is ruled by that, and without doubt possessed by various troubles. Which all knowing, let us rise up and pray to God, that as there are many types of kingdoms, He will take from us the kingdom of the enemy, even so that we are able to come under the reign of almighty God, that is, under the reign of wisdom and peace and righteousness and truth, which are all understood in the only begotten Son of God, to whom be glory and rule forever. Origen, Homilies on Luke, from Homily 36, , On that which is written: 'He who wishes to save his soul shall lose it...' to where it is said, 'the kingdom of God is within you.' Translated by Saint Jerome 1 Lk 17.33 2 Lk 12.4-5 3 1 Cor 2.14, 1 Cor 15.44 4 Lk 17.20-21 5 Rom 6.12

The True Vine

Sed quaeritur hic de hoc quod dicit: Ego sum vitis vera. Obiicit Augustinus: Si vitis de Christo dicitur, sicut dicitur leo, lapis; et ista dicuntur non per proprietatem , sed per simiUtudinem ; et illa dicuntur vera, quae dicuntur per proprietatem: non videtur, quod deberet dicere: Ego sum vitis vera, sed similitudinaria. Et respondet Augustinus, quod addens vera, ab illa se discernit, cui dictum est: Quomodo conversa es in amaritudinem, vitis aliena? leremiae secundo: Quomodo conversa es in pravum, vinea aliena? Unde non dicitur vera, quia non per similitudinem; sed vera, quia non aliena. Potest tamen dici, quod sicut vinum verum est, quod habet operationem vini; sic vitis vera, quae habet operationem vitis. Vitis igitur ad litteram, tunc est vera, quando vinum producit ; non vera, quae non fructificat. Sic et simililudinaria dicitur vera , quae habet actum vitis ; non vera, quae non habet. Sic et Christus, quia verum abet actum vilis, veravilis est. Sed synagoga non, de qua Isaiae quinto: Exspectavit, ut faceret uvas, fecit autem spinas. Sanctus Bonaventura, Commentarius In Evangelium Ioannem, Caput XV Source: Here, p448

But question may be asked about this which He says: 'I am the true vine.'1 Augustine objects. 'If the vine is spoken of concerning Christ as it is with 'lion' and 'rock', then these things are not said properly but as a likeness, yet those things are spoken of as true which are said properly, therefore it does not seem He should have said: 'I am the true vine,' but a likeness. And Augustine answers: 'True' is added to distinguish Himself from that about which it has been said; 'How you have turned to bitterness, foreign vine?' in the second chapter of Jeremiah, 'How you have become wicked, O foreign vine?' Whence 'true' is not said because it is not a likeness, but 'true' because it is not foreign. 2 3 However, it is possible to say that as He is the true vine He has the work of the vine, just as a true vine is one which functions as a vine. A vine therefore literally is 'true' when it produces wine, and is 'not true' when it does not give its fruit. So even a likeness is called true when it has the work of the vine, and not true when it does not have it. So indeed Christ who has the true work of the vine is the true vine. But not the synagogue, concerning which it is said in the fifth chapter of Isaiah, 'He hoped that it would give grapes, but it gave thorns.' 4 Saint Bonaventura, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint John, Chapter 15 1 Jn 15.1 2 Jerem 2.21 3 Aug Trac Jn 80.1 4 Isaiah 5.2

Seeing The Face

Verumtamen iusti confitebuntur nomini tuo, et habitabunt recti cum vultu tuo. Designatur hoc debere fieri inter quaslibet temporis graves amarasque pressuras. Tunc enim magna virtus est laudare Dominum, quando se istius saeculi blandimenta subducunt. Bonus enim fuit Iob, cum Dominum dives colebat, sed quanto melior, dum eum sub multiplici afflictione laudabat! Tunc ergo amplius desideremus gratias agere, quando nos tentator conatur affligere. Facilius enim inimicus discedit, cum viderit excedere non posse quos deprimit. Nam vide quid sequitur, quia cum vultu eius habitare non desinunt, qui recti sunt. Visio infastidibilis atque perpetua illum semper videre, a quo se solet omnis rationabilis creatura reficere, sicut et in quintodecimo psalmo iam dictum est: Adimplebis me laetitia cum vultu tuo. Ille enim vultus praemiorum omnium munus est, nec potest esse cuiusquam bonitatis indignus, qui illum meruerit habere conspectum. Sed cum legatur: Nemo Deum vidit unquam, istud ad illud tempus referendum est, quando beati Dominum non per speculum, sed, ut ait Apostolus, facie ad faciem contuentur. Cassiodorus, Expositio In Psalterium, Psalmus CXXXIX Source: Migne PL 70.998c-d

Certainly they will rejoice in your name and the righteous will dwell with your face. 1 This speaks of those who have endured amid the heavy and bitter pressures of the time. For indeed it is a great virtue to praise the Lord when the allures of this world would corrupt, as Job was good when as a rich man he revered the Lord, but it was much better that he praised Him while he was suffering many afflictions. Therefore we should have greater desire to give thanks when the tempter tries to afflict us. For the enemy swiftly flees when he sees he cannot cast down those he presses on. Then see what follows, that those who are righteous shall not cease to dwell with His face. They shall always see an inexhaustible and endless vision of Him, in which every rational creature finds its rest, as it has already been said in the fifteenth Psalm, 'In joy you shall embrace me with your face.' 2 For that face is the greatest of all rewards, and it is not possible that anyone unworthy of this good shall merit to see it. But when we read: 'No one has seen the face of God,' 3 then what we have here in this Psalm must refer to that time when the blessed do not look on the Lord 'in a mirror' but, as the Apostle says, 'face to face'. 4 Cassiodorus, Commentary On The Psalms, from Psalm 139 1 Ps 139.14 2 Ps 15.11 3 Jn 1.18 4 1 Cor 13.12

Death And Resurrection

Ἀρχὴ δὲ γενέσθω τοῦ λόγου τῶν θεοπνεύστων ῥημάτων ἡ μνήμη ἐπὶ λέξεως ἔχουσα οὕτως· Ἀνέστην ἐγὼ ἀνοῖξαι τῷ ἀδελφιδῷ μου· αἱ χεῖρές μου ἔσταξαν σμύρναν, οἱ δάκτυλοί μου σμύρναν πλήρη, ὅτι μὲν οὖν οὐκ ἔστιν ἄλλως ἐν ἡμῖν γενέσθαι τὸν ζῶντα λόγον, τὸν καθαρὸν λέγω καὶ ἀσώματον νυμφίον τὸν δι’ ἀφθαρσίας καὶ ἁγιότητος ἑαυτῷ τὴν ψυχὴν συνοικίζοντα, εἰ μή τις διὰ τοῦ νεκρῶσαι τὰ μέλη τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς περιέλοιτο τὸ τῆς σαρκὸς παραπέτασμα καὶ οὕτως ἀνοίξοι τῷ λόγῳ τὴν θύραν, δι’ ἧς εἰς τὴν ψυχὴν εἰσοικίζεται, δῆλόν ἐστιν οὐ μόνον ἐκ τῶν θείων τοῦ ἀποστόλου δογμάτων ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐκ τῶν νῦν εἰρημένων παρὰ τῆς νύμφης· Ἀνέστην γάρ, φησίν, ἀνοῖξαι τῷ ἀδελφιδῷ μου διὰ τοῦ ποιῆσαι τὰς χεῖράς μου τῆς σμύρνης πηγὰς ἀφ’ ἑαυτῶν ῥεούσας τὸ ἄρωμα καὶ πλήρωμα τῶν δακτύλων δεῖξαι τὴν σμύρναν. τὸν γὰρ τρόπον, δι’ οὗ ἀνοίγεται τῷ νυμφίῳ ἡ θύρα, φησὶ διὰ τῶν εἰρημένων ὅτι διὰ τοῦ Συνταφῆναι αὐτῷ διὰ τοῦ βαπτίσματος εἰς τὸν θάνατον ἀνέστην· οὐ γὰρ ἂν ἐνήργησεν ἡ ἀνάστασις μὴ προκαθηγησαμένης τῆς ἑκουσίου νεκρότητος. ἐνδείκνυται δὲ τὸ ἑκούσιον ἡ ἐκ τῶν χειρῶν αὐτῆς ἀπορρέουσα τῆς σμύρνης σταγὼν καὶ τὸ πεπληρῶσθαι τοὺς δακτύλους αὐτῆς τοῦ ἀρώματος τούτου· οὐ γὰρ ἑτέρωθεν ἐγγενέσθαι τῇ χειρὶ λέγει τὴν σμύρναν, ἦ γὰρ ἂν ἐνομίσθη διὰ τούτου περιστατικὸν αὐτῇ καὶ ἀκούσιον συμβῆναι τὸ διὰ τῆς σμύρνης δηλούμενον, ἀλλ’ αὐτάς φησι τὰς χεῖρας, σημαίνει δὲ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν τὰς ἐνεργητικὰς τῆς ψυχῆς κινήσεις, ἀφ’ ἑαυτῶν στάξαι τὴν σμύρναν, τὴν οἴκοθεν ἐκ προαιρέσεως τῶν σωματικῶν παθημάτων γινομένην νέκρωσιν διὰ τούτου σημαίνων, ἣν ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς δακτύλοις πεπληρῶσθαι λέγει, τὰ καθ’ ἕκαστον εἴδη τὰ διῃρημένως δι’ ἀρετῆς σπουδαζόμενα τῷ τῶν δακτύλων διερμηνεύων ὀνόματι· ὡς εἶναι πάντα τὸν νοῦν τῶν λεγομένων τοιοῦτον, ὅτι ἔλαβον δύναμιν ἀναστάσεως διὰ τοῦ νεκρῶσαι τὰ μέλη μου τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ἑκουσίως μοι τῆς τῶν τοιούτων μελῶν ἐνεργηθείσης νεκρώσεως, οὐ παρ’ ἄλλου ταῖς χερσὶν ἐντεθείσης τῆς σμύρνης ἀλλ’ ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς προαιρέσεως ἀπορρεούσης, ὡς καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς κατ’ ἀρετὴν ἐπιτηδεύμασιν, ἅπερ δακτύλους ὠνόμασεν, ἀνελλιπῆ τὴν τοιαύτην ἐνορᾶσθαι διάθεσιν· Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος Νύσσης, Ἐξηγησις Του Αἰσματος Των Ἀσμάτων, Ὁμιλία IB’ Source: Migne PG 44.1016c-1017b

Let the beginning of our speech be from the Divinely inspired words, which my recollection of the text has as: 'I rose up to open to my beloved; my hands dripped myrrh, my fingers were covered with myrrh,' 1 for there is no other way in which the living Word comes within us, and I speak of the pure and incorporeal Bridegroom, who makes the soul dwell with Him through incorruptibility and holiness, that is, if by mortifying one’s earthly members one removes the veil of the flesh 2 and thus opens the door to the Word through which He makes the soul His home, which is clear not only from the Divine teachings of the Apostle but also from what the Bride says here. For saying, 'I rose up to open to my beloved by making my hands founts of myrrh from which its scent pours forth, and by showing my fingers to be covered with myrrh,' she declares the way in which the door is opened to the Bridegroom, that is, she says 'by being buried with him through baptism into His death I have risen up, 3 for there is no real resurrection that is not preceded by a voluntary death.' This voluntary nature is shown by the drops of myrrh that drip from her hands and because her fingers are covered with its scent, for she does not say that the myrrh came on her hands from an outside source, since that would make one think that what the myrrh signifies happened to her accidentally and involuntarily, but she says that her hands themselves, by which she means those motions of the soul that bring actions about, drip myrrh by their very own agency, and by myrrh she refers to the mortification of bodily passions that comes about through a choice that originates in oneself, which, she says, attains fullness in all her fingers, and by the name of 'fingers' she signifies the particular ways among us of the cultivation of virtue. Thus the whole sense of what is said is: 'I have received the power of the resurrection by mortifying my earthly members, which mortification of such members was enacted voluntarily. The myrrh was not placed on my hands by another, but it flowed forth from my own choice, so that in all virtuous pursuits,' which she names fingers, 'a state of this kind is always observed.' Saint Gregory of Nyssa, Commentary on The Song of Songs, from Homily 12 1 Song 5.5 2 2 Cor 3.16, Colos 3.5 3 Rom 6.4

Judith's Blessing

Joacim autem summus pontifex de Jerusalem venit in Bethuliam cum universis presbyteris suis ut videret Judith. Quae cum exisset ad illum, benedixerunt eam omnes una voce, dicentes: Tu gloria Jerusalem; tu laetitia Israel; tu honorificentia populi nostri: quia fecisti viriliter, et confortatum est cor tuum, eo quod castitatem amaveris, et post virum tuum, alterum nescieris : ideo et manus Domini confortavit te, et ideo eris benedicta in aeternum. Et dixit omnis populus : Fiat, fiat. Quid per Joachim summum pontificem de Jersualem nisi Redemptor noster intelligitur, qui factus est a Deo nobis pontifex in aeternum secundum ordinem Melchisidech, per quem habemus accessum ad Patrum, et spem vitae aeternae. Quod etiam nominis ejus interpretatio exprimere videtur: interpretatur enim Joachim Domini resurrectio. Unde ipsa Veritas in Evangelico ait: Ego sum resurrectio et vita: qui credit in me, non morietur in aeternum. Hic ergo pontifex venit de Jerusalem in Bethuliam, cum de coelis descendit in uterum virginis, ex qua carnem assumens homo factus est pro nobis. Unde elegit discipulos, quos ipse fratres suos in Evangelico nominavit; qui merito presbysteri propter honoris dignitatem et sapientiae perfectionem nominantur, ut videret Judith, ut probaret scilicet Ecclesiae suae fidem et confessionem. Quae cum exisset ad illum, hoc est, devotionem mentis sua bona operatione ostenderet, benedixerunt illam omnes una voce dicentes: Tu gloria Jerusalem, tu laetitia Israel, tu honorificentia populi nostri. Benedixit ergo Ecclesiam suam Dominus, cum eam gratiarum suarum ubertate replet, et omnibus laudabilem esse demonstrat, pro quo et ad Patrem gratias agens in Evangelio ait: Confiteor, tibi, Pater, Domine coeli et terrae, quia abscondisti haec a sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis. Hinc e per Salomonem dicitur: Surrexerunt filii ejus, et beatissimam praedicaverunt; vir ejus, et laudavit eam. Gloria ergo Jersulaem est sancta Ecclesia, quia ad coelestem pertinet civitatem Dei, et societatem et beatitudinem sanctorum angelorum, quae fecit viriliter, contra mundi confligens principatum, contemnendo minas e persecutione hostium; castitatem amavit, quia sinceritatem fidei servavit, per quam omnem multitudinem fidelium Apostolus se colesti regi deponasse gloriabatur dicens: Desponsavi enim vos uni viro, virginem castam exhibere Christo. Cujus thoro immaculatam ipsa se custodit, nec haereticoum errori communicare ullo modo consentit. Ad benedictionem pontificis e presbyterorum respondit: Fiat, fiat, hoc est: Amen, amen: quia a majoribus sive minoribus filiis matris Ecclesiae ipsa sola in toto orbe predicabitur, et condigna coelesti sponso ubique et semper laudabitur. Rabanus Maurus, Expositio in Librum Judith, Caput XIII Source: Migne PL 109.579b-580a

Joachim the high priest came from Jerusalem to Bethulia with all his elders to see Judith. When she had come out to him, they all blessed her with one voice, saying, 'You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel, you are the honour of our people, for you have acted bravely and your heart has been strengthened because you loved chastity, and after your husband you have not known any other, therefore the hand of the Lord has strengthened you and you will be blessed forever.' And all the people said: 'So be it, so be it.' 1 What is to be understood by Joachim the high priest coming from Jerusalem but that he is our Redeemer, who was made by God a high priest for us in eternity according to the order of Melchizedek, through whom we have access to the Father, and hope of eternal life. Whence his name seems to be expressed by the interpretation 'the raising of the Lord,' 2 and the Truth Himself says in the Gospel: 'I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me shall not die in eternity.' 3 Therefore this high priest comes from Jerusalem to Bethulia when from heaven He descended into the womb of the Virgin, from whom He took up flesh and was made man for us. Whence He chose disciples, who He names in the Gospel His brothers, 4 and who are rightly named here elders on account of the dignity of their honour and consummate wisdom, and so he sees Judith so that He might approve the faith and confession of the Church. And she came out to him, that is, she showed the devotion of her mind in good works, and all blessed her with one voice, saying, 'You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel, you are the honour of our people.' Thus the Lord blessed His Church, filling it abundantly with His graces, and He shows it to be worthy of praise by everyone, for which He gives thanks to the Father in the Gospel, saying, 'I confess to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and the clever and revealed them to children.' Whence He says through Solomon, 'Her children have risen up, and they have spoken blessings, and her husband praised her.' 5 Therefore the Church is the glory of Jerusalem, because it refers to the heavenly city of God and the society and blessedness of the holy angels. And she acted bravely by fighting against the powers of the world, and by scorning the threats of the enemy's persecutions, and living chastely, by which she guarded the purity of the faith, and through the whole multitude of the faithful the Apostle himself glories in having presented her to the heavenly king, saying, 'I have espoused you to one man, exhibiting you as a chaste virgin to Christ.' 6 And she guarded herself unstained for His throne by not consenting to any touch of the errors of heretics. And then to the blessing of the high priest and elders it was answered, 'So be it, so be it,' because by the greatest and the least of the sons of mother Church she herself, the Church, will alone be proclaimed throughout the whole world, and everywhere and always praised as being worthy of the heavenly husband. Rabanus Maurus, Commentary On Judith, Chapter 13 1 Judith 15.9-12 2 The Hebrew translates litterally as 'God raises up' 3 Jn 11.25 4 Jn 20.17 5 Mt 11.25, Prov 31.28 6 2 Cor 11.2

The King And The Cellar

Introduxit me rex in cellaria sua... Secundum allegoraim autem Ecclesia a Christo per gratiam in sacram Scripturam tracta dicit: Introduxit me rex in cellaria sua. Cellaria, in quibus varii potus servantur, sunt libri sacrae Scripturae, de quibus variae sententiae sitientibs justitia propinantur. Cum enim lectio de Joseph legitur, quasi poculum contra adulterium porrigitur; cum vero Judith Scriptura recitatur, quasi castitatis propinatur. In haec cellaria Christus sponsam introduxit, quando sensum ei aperuit, ut intelligeret Scripturas. Christus autem proprie rex dicitur secundum carnem, qua humano generi a Patre praeficiutr, ut scriptum est: Ego autem constitutus sum rex ab eo. Et item ad Pilatum: Tu dicis: Quia rex sum ego. Item: Data est mihi omnis potestas in caelo et in terra. Et iterum: Ipse est qui constitutus est a Dei judex vivorum et mortuorum. Hic solus potest introducere in Scripturam, qui solus potuit septem signacula libri solvere, quae erant ejus incarnatio, nativitas, passio, inferni spoliatio, resurrectio, ascensio, futurum judicium. Honorius Augustodunensis, Expositio in Cantica Canticorum, Caput I Source: Migne PL 172.366d-367a

The King brought me into his cellar.. 1 According to the allegorical sense, 'the king brought me into his cellar,' speaks of the Church that has been drawn into Sacred Scripture by the grace of Christ. The cellar, in which various drinks are kept, are the books of Sacred Scripture and by the drinking of the various passages those who drink are brought closer to righteousness. For when they read of Joseph, it is as they take a drink against adultery, and when Judith is recited it is as if they are brought near to chastity. Into this cellar Christ has brought the bride when He opens her mind so that she might understand the Scriptures. And Christ is called king according to the flesh since He has been set over the human race by the Father, and thus it is written: 'I have established a king for them.' 2 And again to Pilate: 'You say that I am a king.' 3 Again, 'All power is given to me in heaven and earth.' 4 And again: 'He has been established by God as the judge of the living and the dead.' 5 He alone brings us into the Scriptures, He alone is the one who is able to unseal the seven seals of the book, 6 which were His Incarnation, His Nativity, His Passion, His Despoiling of Hell, His Resurrection, His Ascension, and Final Judgement. Honorius of Autun, Commentary on The Song of Songs, Chapter 1 1 Song 1.2 2 Ps 2.6 3 Jn 18.37 4 Mt 28.18 5 Acts 10.42 6 Apoc 5

Asking And Receiving

Καὶ προσπορεύονται αὐτῷ Ἰάκωβος καὶ Ἰωάννης, οἱ υἱοὶ Ζεβεδαίου, λέγοντες· Διδάσκαλε, θέλομεν ἕνα ὁ ἐὰν αἰτήσωμεν, ποιήσῃς ἡμῖν. Ὁ δὲ εἶπεν αὐτοῖς · Τί θέλετε ποιῆσαί με ὑμῖν ; Οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ· Δὸς ἡμῖν ἵνα εἷς ἐκ δεξιῶν σου , καὶ εἷς ἐξ εὐωνύμων σου καθήσωμεν ἐν τῇ δόξῃ σου. Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Οὐκ οἶδατε τί αἰτεῖσθε. Δύνασθε πιεῖν τὸ ποτήριον ὁ ἐγὼ πίνω, καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὁ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι, βαπτισθῆναι; Οἱ δὲ εἶπον αὐτῷ· Δυνάμεθα. ῎Αλλος εὐαγγελιστής φησιν ὅτι ἡ μήτηρ αὐτῶν προσἦλθε τῷ Χριστῷ . Εἰκὸς δὲ ἐστιν ἀμφότερα γενέσθαι· καὶ τοὺς ἀποστόλους αἰσχυνομένους προβαλέσθαι τὴν μητέρα αὐτῶν , εἶτα καὶ αὐτοὺς προσελθεῖν ἰδίᾳ· διὸ καὶ ὁ εὐαγγελιστὴς ἐπισημαίνεται τοῦτο, λέγων· Προσπορεύονται , ἀντὶ τοῦ, ἰδίᾳ προσέρχονται, τῶν ἄλλων ἀποχωρισθέντες. Τί δὲ ἦν ὁ ᾐτοῦντο, μάθωμεν. Ἐνόμιζον ὅτι τοῦτο ὁ ἀνέρχεται εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, διὰ τὸ βασιλεύσειν ἀνέρχεται αἰσθητὴν βασιλείαν. Καὶ μετὰ τὸ βασιλεῦσαι, τότε πείσεται ὁ ἔμελλε παθεῖν. Ταῦτα οὖν ἐννοοῦντες, αἰτοῦνται καὶ τὴν ἐκ δεξιῶν καὶ τὴν ἐξ εὐωνύμων καθέδραν· διὸ καὶ ὁ Κύριος ἐπιτιμᾷ αὐτοῖς ὡς ἀνόητόν τι ζητοῦσιν. Οὐκ οἶδατε γὰρ, φησὶ, τί αἰτεῖσθε . Ὑμεῖς γὰρ νομίζετε αἰσθητὴν εἶναι τὴν ἐμὴν βασιλείαν, καὶ αἰσθητὴν τὴν καθέδραν αἰτεῖσθε. Οὐκ ἔστι δὲ τοῦτο· ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πάντα ὑπὲρ νοῦν εἰσι. Καὶ τὸ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου μέγα ἐστὶ , καὶ τὰς ἀγγελικὰς ὑπερβαῖνον τάξεις, καὶ ὑμεῖς μὲν ἐπὶ δόξαν κεχήνατε, ἐγὼ δὲ εἰς θάνατον ὑμᾶς καλῶ. Ποτήριον γὰρ καὶ βάπτισμα τὸν σταυρὸν ὀνομάζει· ποτήριον μὲν, ὡς εἰς ὕπνον εὐθὺς ἄγον καὶ ὡς ἡδέως ὑπ᾿ αὐτοῦ προσδεχθέν· βάπτισμα δὲ, ὡς καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενον· οἱ δε, μὴ νοήσαντες τί λέγοι, ὑπέσχοντο, νομίζοντες λέγειν περὶ ποτηρίου αἰσθητοῦ, καὶ βαπτίσματος οἶῳ ἐβαπτίζοντο οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι, πρὸ τοῦ φαγεῖν πλυνόμενοι. Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς εἶπεν αὐτοῖς· Τὸ μὲν ποτήριον ὁ ἐγὼ πίνω, πίεσθε, καὶ τὸ βάπτισμα ὁ ἐγὼ βαπτίζομαι, βαπτισθήσεθε. Τὸ δὲ καθίσαι ἐκ δεξιῶν μου καὶ ἐξ εὐωνύμων μου, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι , ἀλλ᾿οἷς ἡτοίμασται. Τὸ μὲν μαρτύριον, φησὶν, ὑπεισελεύσεσθε, καὶ ἀποθανεῖσθε τὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς ἀληθείας θάνατον. Τὸ δὲ καθίσαι, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι. Ἐνταῦθα δὲ δύο τινὰ ζητοῦνται. Εν μὲν τόδε. ῎Αρα ἡτοίμασταί τινι τὸ καθίσαι; ἕτερον δὲ, ἆρα ὁ πάντων Δεσπότης οὐ δύναται ταύτην τὴν καθέδραν δοῦναι; Λέγομεν οὖν ὅτι οὐδεὶς ἐκ δεξιῶν καθίσει ἢ ἐξ ἀριστερῶν. Ἀλλὰ κἂν πολλαχοῦ τῆς Γραφῆς καθέδρας ἀκούῃς, μὴ καθέδραν νόει, ἀλλὰ τιμὴν ὑπερβάλλουσαν. Τὸ δὲ, Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν δοῦναι, τοιοῦτον ἔχει τὸν νοῦν· Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμοῦ τοῦ δικαίου κριτοῦ, τὸ δοῦναι ὑμῖν κατὰ χάριν τὴν τιμὴν ταύτην· οὐ γὰρ ἂν δίκαιο; εἴην· ἀλλὰ τοῖς ἀγωνισαμένοις, ἐκείνοις ἡτοίμασται ἡ τιμὴ αὕτη , ὥσπερ ἂν εἰ βασιλεὺς δίκαιος προεκάθητο ἀγῶνός τινος , εἶτα προσέλθοιεν αὐτῷ τινες φίλοι αὐτοῦ, καὶ εἴποιεν · Δὸς ἡμῖν τοὺς στεφάνους , εἶπεν ἂν , Οὐκ ἔστιν ἐμὸν τὸ δοῦναι , ἀλλ᾿εἴ τις ἀγωνίσεται καὶ νικήσει, ἐκείνῳ ἡτοίμασται ὁ στέφανος· ὥστε καὶ ὑμεῖς , οἱ τοῦ Ζεβεδαίου παῖδες, μαρτυρήσετε μὲν ὑπὲρ ἐμοῦ, ἐὰν δὲ τις εὑρεθείη μετὰ τοῦ μαρτυρίου, καὶ τὴν ἄλλην πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν ἔχων ὑπὲρ ὑμᾶς, ἐκεῖνος προάξει ὑμᾶς Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατά Μάρκον, Κεφαλ. I’ Source: Migne PG 123.605a-607a

And the sons of Zebedee, James and John, came to Him, saying, 'Teacher, we wish to ask you to do one thing for us.' And He said to them, 'What do you wish?' They said to Him, 'Grant to us that one of us may sit at your right hand and one at your left hand in your glory.' Jesus said to them, 'You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the cup I shall drink and be baptised with the baptism with which I shall be baptised?' And they said to Him, 'We can.' 1 Another evangelist says that it was their mother who approached Christ. But both accounts are true, for it was out of modesty that the apostles first sent their mother, and then they themselves approached. Therefore the evangelist here attends to the latter pair, saying that they came to Him, that is, they brought themselves near and so separated themselves from the others. What it was they sought, let us consider. They thought that He was going up to Jerusalem to reign in some temporal kingdom and that after He had reigned those things which He had spoken of that He would suffer would occur. Thinking such things they sought a seat at his right and at His left hand, and therefore the Lord warned them that they were asking foolishly. 'You do not know,' He said, 'what you are asking.' 'For you believe my kingdom to be a material thing and you seek a temporal seat, but it is not so, but all these things are above the minds of men. And to sit at my right hand is a great thing and excels the angelic orders. You are certainly keen for glory, but I am called to death.' For He speaks of the cross under the name of a cup and baptism. Certainly the cup is what swiftly brings sleep and because of that is taken up with joy, and baptism is purification from sins. But they did not understand what He said was promised, thinking He spoke of a material cup and the washing the Jews would perform so as to be clean before eating. Jesus said to them, 'The cup I shall drink, you shall drink, and the baptism with which I shall be baptised you shall be baptised, but to sit at my right and left is not for me to give, but it is for those for whom it is prepared.' 2 You shall come to martyrdom, He says, and die for the truth, but to give the seat is not mine to give. In this place two questions are often asked: firstly, for whom is the seat prepared, and then how is it that the Lord of all things is not able to give this seat? We say, then, that no one shall actually sit at His right hand and at His left hand. For when you often hear in Scripture about a seat you should not understand a seat, but an excellence of dignity. And 'it is not for me to give,' has this meaning: it is not for me, the righteous judge, to give to you this honour for free, for that would not be right, but this dignity is prepared for those who labour. It is as if a righteous king presided over a contest and then certain friends approached him and said, 'Give us laurels.' He would say 'That is not for me to give, but if a man will compete and triumph, for him a crown is prepared.' And thus even you, O sons of Zebedee. You shall be martyrs for me, but if some youth shall come to martyrdom, and if he possess all the other virtues more than you, he shall precede you.' Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Mark, Chapter 10 1 Mk 10.35-39 2 Mk 10.39-40

Death And Memory

...ὅτι οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν τῷ θανάτῳ ὁ μνημονεύων σου... Οἱ περὶ τοῦ κοινοῦ θανάτου ὑπονοοῦτες εἰρῆσθαι τὰ προκείμενα, σφάλλονται, μᾶλλον δὲ ἀσεβοῦσιν· οἱ γὰρ ἅγιοι ἄνδρες οὐ τότε μόνον μνήμην ἔχουσι Θεοῦ, ὅτε τὴν κοινὴν ζωὴν ἔχουσιν, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὅτε χωρίζονται τοῦ φθαρτοῦ σώατος. Τί οὖν φησίν; Ἐπεὶ οὐδεὶς μεμνημένους σου ἐν θανάτῳ γίνεται, ὄν ἡ ἁμαρτία ἀποτίκτει· οὗτος δέ ἐστιν ὁ χωρίζων ἐναρέτου ζωῆς τὴν ἁμαρτάνουσαν ψυχήν· ποθῶ δὲ μνήμην σου ἔχειν, εἰς τοῦτ' αὐτὸ ῥέψας τὴν ἀγαθότητά σου, σῶσόν με, ἵνα μὴ ἰσχυσάσης κατ' ἐμου τῆς προσούσης ἀσθενείας καὶ ταραχῆς, καταποθῶ ὑπὸ τοῦ θανάτου. Οὐ γὰρ εἴρηται, Οὐ μέμνηται Θεοῦ ὁ ἐν θανάτῳ, ἀλλ' Ὁ μνημονεύων αὐτοῦ οὐκ ἔστιν ἐν θανάτῳ, περὶ οὗ φησιν ὁ Σωτήρ· Ὁ τὸν λόγον μου ἀκούων, θάνατον οὐ θεωρεῖ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα. Δίδυμος Αλεξανδρεύς, Εἰς Ψαλμούς, Ψαλμος Ϛ’ Source: Migne PG 39.1177b-c

...for in death there is no memory of you... 1 They lie who say this speaks of the common death, or rather they think impiously. For holy men are not only mindful of God while they are in possession of this common life, but much more when they are separated from this corruptible body. What, then, does this say? That no one who is mindful of God falls into that death which sin fashions, for that is the death which separates the sinning soul from the virtuous life. I, however, am mindful of you, and immediately turning to your benevolence, you save me, lest I am overcome amid my weakness and confusion and devoured by death. Therefore he does not say here, 'There is no one who is mindful of you in death,' but 'he who is mindful of you does not fall into that death,' concerning which the Saviour said, 'He who hears my word shall not see eternal death.' 2 Didymus the Blind, Commentary on The Psalms, from Psalm 6 1 Ps 6.6 2 Jn 8.51

Truth And Lies

Κωφώθητε οὖν, ὅταν ὑμῖν χωρὶς Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ λαλῇ τις, τοῦ ἐκ γένους Δαυείδ, τοῦ ἐκ Μαρίας, ὃς ἀληθῶς ἐγεννήθη, ἔφαγέν τε καὶ ἔπιεν, ἀληθῶς ἐδιώχθη ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου, ἀληθῶς ἐσταυρώθη καὶ ἐπιγείων καὶ ὑποχθονίων. Ὄς καὶ ἀληθῶς ἠγέρθη ἀπό νεκρῶν, ἐγείραντος αὐτὸν τοῦ Πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, κατὰ τὸ ὁμοίωμα ὃς καὶ ἡμᾶς τοὺς πιστεύοντας αὐτῷ οὕτως ἐγερεῖ ὁ Πατὴρ αὐτοῦ ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, οὗ χωρὶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ζῆν οὐκ ἔχομεν. Εἰ δέ, ὥσπερ τινὲς ἄθεοι ὄντες, τουτέστιν ἄπιστοί, λέγουσιν, τὸ δοκεῖν πεπονθέναι αὐτόν, αὐτοὶ ὅντες τὸ δοκεῖν, ἐγὼ τί δέδεμαι, τί δὲ καὶ εὔχομαι θηριομαχῆσαι; δωρεὰν οὖν ἀποθνήσκω. ἄρα οὖν καταψεύδομαι τοῦ Kυρίου. Φεύγετε οὖν τὰς κακὰς παραφυάδας τὰς γεννώσας καρπὸν θανατηφόρον, οὗ ἐὰν γεύσηταί φυτεία πατρός. Eἰ γὰρ ἦσαν, ἐφαίνοντο ἂν κλάδοι τοῦ σταυροῦ, καὶ ἦν ἂν ὁ καρπὸς αὐτῶν ἄφθαρτος· δι’ οὗ ἐν τῷ πάθει αὐτοῦ προσκαεῖται ὑμᾶς ὄντας μέλη αὐτοῦ. Oὐ δύναται οὖν κεφαλὴ χωρὶς γεννηθῆναι ἄνευ μελῶν, τοῦ θεοῦ ἕνωσιν ἐπαγγελλομένου, ὅ ἐστιν αὐτός. Ἅγιος Ἰγνάτιος Ἀντιοχείας, Προς Τραλλιανοίς Επιστολή Source: Migne PG 5.681b-684a

Be deaf, then, to anyone who speaks to you without Christ, He who was born of David, from Mary, He who truly was born, and who ate and drank, and suffered beneath Pontius Pilate, and was truly crucified and buried and placed under the earth, and who was really raised from the dead, being raised by His Father, in which likeness those who are faithful to Him will by raised by the Father in Jesus Christ, since without Him we have no true life. And if His sufferings were mere appearance, as some godless folk say, that is, those without faith, people who are themselves mere appearance, why am I now in chains, why do I pray to contend with the beasts? For then I die for nothing. Then I tell lies about the Lord. 1 Flee then these evil deadly outgrowths from which fatal fruit is born, they who are not of the planting of the Father. 2 For if they were His, they would appear as branches of the cross and there would be no corruption in their fruit. It is through His passion that He calls you to be His members. A head cannot exist without its members, but the promise of God is unity, and it is Himself. Saint Ignatius of Antioch, from the Letter to the Tralllians 1 1 Cor 15.13-20 2 Mt 15.13

Resurrection and Transformation

Nostra autem conversatio in coelis est; unde et Salvatorem exspectamus Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, qui transfigurabit corpus humilitatis nostrae conforme corpori gloriae suae, secundum operatione suam, qua possit etiam subjicere sibi omnia. Spiritalia curantes in coelis agere dicuntur, cum ipsi adhuc sint in terris; quomodo mali Principes et Potestates, cum sint adhuc ipsi in firmamento, conversatione tamen in terris sunt. Christianorum ergo actus in coelis sunt, ubi et spes salutis eorum est, qui est Christus, quem omnis fidus exspectat ad transfigurationem corporis carnis; ut quod ex humo est, indutum spiritali veste, conforme efficiat adventu majestatis suae corpori gloriae suae, juxta operationem suam, id est secundum virtutem suam, qua possit subjicere sibi omnia: hoc est, quia per resurrectionem mortuorum et immutationem in gloria apparebit virtus Domini manifestata, comprimens omnes Principes et Potestates; ut manifestetur ipse Deus et Dominus esse omnium Ambrosiaster, In Epistolam Beati Pauli Ad Philippenses, Caput III Source: Migne PL 17.417c-418a

Our conversation is in heaven, from whence we should expect our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall transfigure the body of our humility to conform to the body of His glory, according to his own work, which can subject everything to Him. 1 Those who care for spiritual things are said to conduct themselves as if in heaven while they are yet on the earth, and the wicked princes and powers while yet in the firmament are on the earth because of their cares. Therefore the conduct of Christians is in heaven, where is the hope of their salvation, who is Christ, whom the whole faith expects for the transfiguration of the body of flesh, so that what is from the earth may be endowed with spiritual vestments and be fashioned in conformance with the body of His glory in the coming of His majesty, by his own work, that is according to his power, which can subject everything to Him, and this is because in the resurrection and transformation of the dead the power of the Lord will appear in manifest glory, casting down all princes and powers, thus to reveal Him as God and Lord of all things. Ambrosiaster, Commentary On The Epistle of Saint Paul To Philippians, Chapter 3 1 Phil 3.20-21

The Twofold Resurrection

Sicut enim propter justifictionem nostram mortuus est, ita resurrexit propter nostram glorificationem. Christus semel mortuus, semel resurrexit. Nos autem qui mortui sumus, anima et corpore duplici indigemus resurrectione. Et beatus qui habebit partem in resurrectione prima. Prima resurrectio est partim in copore, partim in anima: secunda perfecta est in utroque. Cum autem venerit quod perfectum est, tunc evacuabitur quod ex parte est. Tunc enim reformabitur corpus humilitatis nostrae, quod modo deformatum est; tunc, inquam, reformabitur corpus claritatis suae. Prima specialier est animae, secunda corporis. Propheta utramque desiderans, sed plus resurrectionem carnis quam animae, nam in illa est perfectio gloriae, dicit: Sitivit in te anima mea, quoniam, multipliciter tibi, quod multum placuit tibi, caro mea. Prima resurrectio significatur ibi: Veniet hora, et nunc est, quando veniet audient Filii Dei, et qui audierint vivent. Quasi diceret: Qui modo mortui sunt Christo, et vivunt mundo, audient verbum Evangelii, et credendo et bene operando, suscitabuntur a morte peccati. De secunda habes: Venit hora, qunado mortui qui in monumentis sunt, audient vocem Filii Dei. Quod siquidem erit in voce archangeli in novissima tuba, quando Christus ad judicium veniet, dabitque voci suae vocem virtutis. Mali tunc resurgent in resurrectionem judicii. Boni vero qui per primam resurrectioem, judicaverunt et justificaverunt se, resurgent in resurrectionem vitae. Justi nunc judicant se: et sic resurgunt a morte animae per justificationem. Impii non timentes terribl judicium, adhuc in immunditiis suis jacent. Sicut scriptum est, quia non resurgent impii in judicio, neque peccatores in consilio justorum. Et quod consilium justorum? Verbum Prophetae est: Consilium meum justificationes tuae. Si nosmetipsos dijudicaremus, non utique judicaremur. Cum autem judicamur, a Domino corripimur. Ita non absque ejus cura in hoc mundo damnemur. Petrus Blenensis, Sermo XXI, In Dei Resurrectione Source: Migne PL 207.622a-c

As it was on account of our justification that He died, so He rose for our glorification. Christ died once and rose once. But we who are dead have need of a twofold resurrection, of the soul and of the body. 'And blessed is he who has a part of the first resurrection.' 1 The first resurrection is partly in the body and partly in the soul, the second resurrection is the perfection of both. 'When that which is perfect comes, then what is from a part passes away.' 2 Then the body of our humility shall be refashioned, that which now is deformed. Then, I say, the body shall be reformed according to His glory. 3 The first resurrection is of the soul, the second of the body. The prophet desiring both, but more the resurrection of the body than the soul, for in that is the perfection of glory, says, 'My soul thirsts for you,' since, 'and in so many ways,' 4 that is, it has often pleased you, 'my flesh.' The first resurrection is signified here: 'The hour will come, and now it is, when they shall hear the Son of God, and they who hear shall live.' 5 As if he said, 'Those who are now dead in Christ, and live in the world, they shall hear the word of the Gospel, and believing and doing good works, they shall be taken up from the death of sin.' Concerning the second resurrection we have: 'The hour will come when the dead who are in their tombs shall hear the voice of the son of God.' 6 Which shall be the voice of the archangel blowing the last trumpet, when Christ shall come in judgement, and he shall give to his own voice the voice of power. Then the wicked shall rise into the resurrection of judgement, but those who are good through the first resurrection, having judged and justified themselves, shall rise into the resurrection of life. The righteous now judge themselves and so through justification they rise from the death of the soul. The wicked, who do not fear the terrible judgement, yet exult in their own filth. As it is written, 'The wicked will not rise in judgement, nor sinners in the counsel of the righteous.' 7 What is the counsel of the righteous? The word of the prophet is: 'Your justifications are my counsel.' 8 'If we shall judge ourselves, we are not thus judged. But when we are judged, we are corrected by the Lord.' 9 Thus let us not, lacking His care, be damned in this world. Peter of Blois, from Sermon 47, On The Feast of All Saints 1 Apoc 20.6 2 1 Cor 13.10 3 Phil 3.21 4 Ps 62.2 5 Jn 5.25 6 Jn 5.29 7 Ps 1.5 8 Ps 118.24 9 1 Cor 11.31-32

Understanding and Revelation

Et respondens unus, cui nomen Cleophas, dixit ei: Tu solus peregrinus es in Jerusalem, et non cognovisti quae facta sunt in illa his diebus? Peregrinum putabant eum, cujus vultum non agnoscebant. Sed et revera peregrinus erat eis a quorum naturae fragilitate percepta jam resurrectionis gloria longe distabat. Peregrinus erat eis, a quorum adhuc fide, ut pote resurrectionis ejus nescia, manebat extraneus. Quibus ille dixit: Quae? Et dixerunt ei: De Jesu Nazareno, qui fuit vir propheta, potens in opere et sermone coram Deo et omni populo. Prophetam et magnum fatentur, Filium Dei tacent, vel scilicet nondum perfecte credentes, vel solliciti ne inciderent in manus Judaeorum persequentium, quia nesciebant quis esset cum quo loquebantur, quod verum credidere celantes. Et quomodo tradiderunt eum summi sacerdotes et principes nostri in damnationem mortis, et crucifixerunt eum. Nos autem sperabamus quia ipse esset redempturus Israel. Merito tristes incedebant, quia et seipsos quodammodo arguebant, quod in illo redemptionem speraverint, quem jam mortuum viderant, et nec resurrecturum credebant. Et maxime dolebant eum sine culpa occisum, quia noverant innocentem. Et nunc super haec omnia, tertia dies est hodie quod haec facta sunt. Sed et mulieres quaedam ex nostris terruerunt nos, quae ante lucem fuerunt ad monumentum, et non invento corpore ejus, venerunt, dicentes se etiam visionem angelorum vidisse, qui dicunt cum vivere. Terruisse dicuntur merito eos, quorum mentibus plus de non invento corpore dominico moestitiam qua dolebant addere, quam denuntiata per angelos ejus resurrectione, gaudium quo recrearentur videre potuerunt. Et abierunt quidam ex nostris ad monumentum, et ita invenerunt sicut mulieres dixerunt, ipsum vero non invenerunt. Cum ipse Lucas supra Petrum dixerit cucurrisse ad monumentum, et nunc Cleopham dixisse, ipse retulerit quod quidam eorum cucurrerant (0626D)ad monumentum, intelligitur attestari quod duo ierint ad monumentum. Sed Petrum solum primo commemoravit, quia illi primitus Maria nuntiaverit. Et ipse dixit ad eos: O stulti et tardi corde ad credendum in omnibus quae locuti sunt prophetae. Nonne haec oportuit pati Christum, et ita intrare in gloriam suam? Et incipiens a Moyse et omnibus prophetis, interpretabatur illis in omnibus Scripturis quae de ipso erant. Hoc nobis in loco non ulla Scripturam interpretandi, sed gemina nosipsos humiliandi necessitas incumbit, qui neque in Scripturis quantum oportet edocti, neque ad implenda quae discere forte potuimus quantum decet sumus intenti. Nam si Moyses et omnes prophetae Christum locuti sunt, et hunc per angustiam passionis in gloriam suam intraturum qua ratione se gloriantur esse Christianos, qui juxta virium suarum modulum neque Scripturas qualiter ad Christum pertineant investigare, neque ad gloriam quam cum Christo habere cupiunt, per passiones tribulationum desiderant attingere? Et appropinquaverunt castello quo ibant, et ipse se finxit longius ire, et coegerunt illum dicentes: Mane nobiscum, quoniam advesperascit, et inclinata est jam dies. Et intravit cum illis. Nihil simplex veritas per duplicitatem fecit, sed quod dicitur: Finxit se longius ire, talem se exhibuit discipulis in corpore, qualis apud illos in mente erat. Probandi autem erant si hi qui eum etsi necdum ut Deum diligerent, saltem ut peregrinum amare potuissent. Sed quia esse extranei a charitate non poterant hi cum quibus veritas gradiebatur, eum ad hospitium quasi peregrinum vocant. Cur autem dicimus vocant, cum illic scriptum sit: Et coegerunt illum? Ex quo nimirum exemplo colligitur, quia peregrini non solum ad hospitium invitandi sunt, sed etiam trahendi. Et factum est dum recumberet cum illis, accepit panem, et benedixit ac fregit, et porrigebat illis, et aperti sunt oculi eorum, et cognoverunt eum. Quem in Scripturae sacrae expositione non cognoverunt, in panis fractione cognoscunt. Audiendo praecepta Dei illuminati non sunt, faciendo illuminati sunt. Quia scriptum est: Non auditores legis justi sunt apud Deum, sed factores legis justificabuntur. Quisquis ergo vult audita intelligere, festinet ea quae jam intelligere potuit, opere implere Sanctus Beda, In Lucae Evangelium Expositio, Liber VI, Caput XXIV Source: Migne PL 92.626a-627b

And the one named Cleophas answered and said to Him: 'Are you alone a stranger in Jerusalem that you do not know what has happened these past days?' 1 They thought He was a stranger, they did not recognise His face. And indeed He was certainly a stranger to them since by the weakness of their nature they were distant from the glorious teaching of the resurrection. He was a stranger to them because of their faith that was yet ignorant of the resurrection and thus He remained apart from them. He said to them,' What is this?' They said to Him, 'It is about Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet, powerful in deed and speech before God and all the people.' They called Him a great prophet, but were silent about the Son of God, either because they were not yet perfect believers, or they were worried lest they might fall into the hands of persecuting Jews, and since they did not know who it was they were speaking to they concealed what they truly believed. 'And they handed Him over to the chief priests and our leaders who condemned Him to death, and they crucified Him. But we were hoping that He would be the one who would save Israel.' Rightly they were aggrieved because they reproved themselves, since they had hoped He was to be the redeemer, Him whom they had then seen dead, and they did not believe He would be resurrected. And they also grieved for Him slain without fault because they knew Him to be innocent. 'And now after all these things, today it is three days since they were done. But certain women of ours who were at the tomb before dawn did not find His body there and they were terrified, and they came and said they had seen a vision of angels who said that He was alive.' They are rightly said to have been terrified, and more in their minds at not finding the body which they had come to mourn than by the message of the angels about His resurrection in which they would have rejoiced had they been able to see it. 'And some men of ours went to the tomb and they found it just as the women had said, and they did not find Him.' When Luke previously said that Peter had run to the tomb and now he says Cleophas speaks of certain men of theirs running to the tomb, it is understood to bear witness that two had gone to the tomb. But he first recalls Peter only, because Mary had first spoken to him. And He said to them, 'O foolish and slow of heart to believe in everything which the prophets have spoken. Was it not necessary that Christ suffer and thus enter into His glory?' And He began to interpret from Moses and all the prophets all the Scriptures about Himself No interpretation of Scripture is given to us here, but it imposes on us the necessity of humility who are neither learned in the Scriptures nor zealous to practice what perhaps we were able to learn as much as it befits. For if Moses and all the prophets had spoken of Christ and that He was to enter into His glory through the anguish of the passion, for what reason should Christians glorify themselves who according to the rule of their own people neither strive to investigate the Scriptures for Christ, nor desire to have that glory with Christ which they attain through the suffering of tribulations? And as they went they came near a village and He made to go onwards, but they imposed on Him, saying, 'Stay with us, for evening falls and the day has passed.' And He went in with them. This is no simple truth He made through concealment, but when it is said, 'He made to go onwards,' in such a way he showed Himself in the body to the disciples as He was in their minds. For they were being tested, so that if they did not yet love him as God, they might yet be able to love Him as a stranger. But because they were estranged from the love of the truth He was not able to walk with them, and they called Him into the inn as a stranger. But why do we say that they called Him when it has been written, 'They imposed on Him,'? It is arranged so for the sake of example, because strangers are not only invited but even drawn. And when they sat with Him, He took bread and blessed it and broke it and he held it out to them, at which their eyes were opened and they knew Him. In the breaking of bread they knew Him whom they did not know in the exposition of the sacred Scriptures. They were not illuminated by hearing the teachings of God, but by the act they were enlightened. Whence it is written, 'It is not the hearers of the Lord that are righteous before God, but they are righteous who are doers of the law.' 2 Thus whoever wishes to understand what they have heard, let him make haste to fulfill in works what he has been able to understand. Saint Bede, Commentary On The Gospel of Saint Luke, Book 6, Chapter 24 1 Lk 24.18 2 Rom 2.13

The Angel And The Tomb

Ὀψὲ δὲ σαββάτων, τῇ ἐπιφωσκούσῃ εἰς μίαν σαββάτων, ἦλθεν Μαριὰμ ἡ Μαγδαληνὴ καὶ ἡ ἄλλη Μαρία θεωρῆσαι τὸν τάφον. Kαὶ ἰδοὺ σεισμὸς ἐγένετο μέγας: ἄγγελος γὰρ Kυρίου καταβὰς ἐξ οὐρανοῦ καὶ προσελθὼν ἀπεκύλισεν τὸν λίθον καὶ ἐκάθητο ἐπάνω αὐτοῦ. Ἦν δὲ ἡ εἰδέα αὐτοῦ ὡς ἀστραπὴ, καὶ τὸ ἔνδυμα αὐτοῦ λευκὸν ὡς χιών. Ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ φόβου αὐτοῦ ἐσείσθησαν οἱ τηροῦντες καὶ ἐγενήθησαν ὡς νεκροί. ἀποκριθεὶς δὲ ὁ ἄγγελος εἶπεν ταῖς γυναιξίν: μὴ φοβεῖσθε ὑμεῖς: οἶδα γὰρ ὅτι Ἰησοῦν τὸν ἐσταυρωμένον ζητεῖτε. Oὐκ ἔστιν ὧδε: ἠγέρθη γὰρ, καθὼς εἶπεν: δεῦτε ἴδετε τὸν τόπον ὅπου ἔκειτο. Kαὶ ταχὺ πορευθεῖσαι εἴπατε τοῖς μαθηταῖς αὐτοῦ ὅτι ἠγέρθη ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν... Τὸν δὲ ἄγγελον ὁ μὲν Ματθαῖος ἔφη καθῆσθαι ἐν τῷ λίθῳ· ὁ δὲ Μάρκος ἀποκυλίσαντα τὸν λίθον, ἔνδον τοῦ μνημείου καθῆσθαι , ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς· ἄρ᾽ οὖν ἐναντιομωνοῦσιν; Οὐχι· ἀλλ᾽ εἰκὸς ἐστι φανῆναι πρῶτον τὸν ἄγγελον καθήμενον ἐν τῷ λίθῳ , εἶτα εἰσελθουσῶν τῶν γυναικῶν, προάγειν τὸν ἄγγελον, καὶ πάλιν φανῆναι ἐντὸς τοῦ μνημείου καθήμενον ἐν τοῖς δεξιοῖς. Εἶπε δὲ πρὸς τὰς γυναῖκας Μὴ φοβεῖσθε ὑμεῖς, τουτέστιν, Οἱ μὲν φύλακες ἄξιοί εἰσι φοβεῖσθαι· ὑμεῖς δὲ αἱ τοῦ Κυρίου μαθήτριαι , μὴ φοβεῖσθε . Μεθ᾽ ὁ δὲ ἀπαλλάττει αὐτὰς τοῦ δέους, εὐαγγελίζεται αὐταῖς τὴν ἀνάστασιν. Ἔδει γὰρ πρότερον ἐκβαλεῖν τὸ δέος, εἶτα εὐαγγελίσασθαι. Οὐκ αἰσχύνεται δὲ ἐσταυρωμένον ὀνομάζων τὸν Κύριον. Τῷ γὰρ σταυρῷ ὥσπερ τροπαίῳ τινὶ ἐγκαυχᾶται , πάντα τὰ ἀγαθὰ προεξενηκότι ἡμῖν. Θεοφύλακτος Αχρίδος, Ἑρμηνεία Εἰς Τὸ Κατὰ Ματθαιον, Κεφαλὴ KH' Source: Migne PG 123.480c

On the night after the Sabbath, at  dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen and the other Mary came to look at the tomb. And, behold, there was a great shaking of the earth, for an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and he rolled away the stone and sat on it. His face shone like lightning and his garments were white as snow, and the guards shook with fear and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, 'Do not be afraid. I know you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for He has risen, as He said. Come, see the place where He lay. Then go quickly and tell His disciples that He has risen from the dead...' 1 Matthew says that the angel sat on the stone, but Mark that he rolled away the stone and sat within the tomb, on the right side. Is there not disagreement between them here? 2 Hardly, for it appears that first the angel sat on the stone and then went in before the women, and was seen there in the tomb sitting on the right side. And he said to the women, 'Do not be afraid,' that is, 'It is fitting that the guards should be struck with fear, but since you are followers of the Lord, do not be afraid.' And after he had delivered them from their fright, he evangelizes them as regards the resurrection, for it is first necessary to cast out fear, and then to evangelize. Nor does he blush to speak of the Lord as Him who was crucified. For one should boast of the cross, since by it every good is given to us. Theophylact of Ochrid, Commentary On The Gospel Of Saint Matthew, Chapter 28 1 Mt 28.1-6 2 Mk 16.5

Tearing The Veil

Ἡ τῶν ἁγίων ὁδὸς ἐν ναῷ κρυπτομένη, καὶ καταπετάσματι διειργομένη, μήπω δεδόσθαι τὸν ἁγιασμὸν ὑπεδείκνυ τῇ του Κυρίου ἡμῶν φυλαττόμενον παρουσίᾳ. Ἡνίκα διαῥῥήξας τὸ καταπέτασμα, καὶ γυμνώσας τοῖς ἔθνεσι τὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀπόῥῥητα, κεκαλυμμένα Ἰουδαίοις ὡς ἀγνώμοσιν, ὡδοποίησεν ἡμῖν πρὸς τὴν ἄνω συγγένειαν. Ἅγιος Ἰσίδωρος Του Πηλουσιώτου, Βιβλιον Πρῶτον, Ἐπιστολή ΣΝΒ’ Ἀλφειῳ Πρεσπυτερῳ Source: Migne PG 78.336a

In the temple the way to the holy of holies was hidden by the curtain and this indicated that it was not yet time for the veiled presence of the Lord to be revealed. But when that cover was torn, 1 the secrets of holy things, which the Jews had hidden as sacred, were revealed to the Gentiles, and a way was given to us to gain knowledge of heavenly things. Saint Isidore of Pelusium, Book 1, Letter 252, To Alpheius the Priest 1 Mk 15.38