Pope Shenouda III on Pentecost

In honor of the Feast, here is an article on that topic by the Coptic Pope, Shenouda III.

The Feast of Pentecost
by Pope Shenouda III

The Glorified Lord Christ lived with them in His body until He rose to Heaven then promised them the Holy Spirit to stay with them forever, the Spirit of truth, the Comforter. So what should we know about the Holy Spirit?

The Holy Spirit is God’s Spirit, therefore it existed since ever. We read about it in the first verses of the Genesis Book. The divine response says: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” (Gn 1:1, 2).

And Isaiah talks about the Holy Spirit and gives Him names in his saying: “The Spirit of the LORD…The Spirit of wisdom and understanding, The Spirit of counsel and might, The Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.” (Is 11:2).

And we add to that in the third Hour Prayer (Terce) of every day and say: “a spirit of prophecy and chastity, a spirit of holiness, justice and authority” and call Him by saying: “O Heavenly King, the Comforter, the Spirit of truth, who is present in all places and fills all, the treasury of good things and the Life-Giver”.

And the Lord says about Him in the St John’s Gospel “the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father” (Jn 15:26). And the doctrine of being proceeded from the Father was mentioned by the Ecumenical Council in Constantinople in the Faith Creed. Yet our brothers, the Catholics add to it “Filioque” meaning “and from the Son”. And this is opposing to the Holy Trinity Doctrine. In assimilating the Holy Trinity to Fire we say: "Fire brings forth heat; and light proceeds from it” and we do not say that the light proceeds from heat! But the light and the heat both come from the origin, which is the fire and not one from the other.

The Holy Spirit used to work in the Old Testament as well.

In the story of Samson we read that “the Spirit of the LORD began to move upon him at Mahaneh Dan” (Judges 13:25). And we also read that after Saul was anointed as king that “the Spirit of God came upon him, and he prophesied” (1 S 10:10). This also happened when David was anointed by Prophet Samuel to be king “the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward” (1 Sam 16:13). And the way the Holy Spirit came upon both Saul and David was through the Anointing Oil that the Lord ordered them to prepare in Exodus Book (Ex 30:22-31). And Aaron was anointed as a high priest when Moses poured from this holy anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him (Lv 8:12), as we say in the psalm “It is like the precious oil upon the head, Running down on the beard, The beard of Aaron, Running down on the edge of his garments.” (Ps 133:2). And with this anointing oil the tent of meeting along with the altars and the utensils were anointed and became holy (Ex 40, Lv 8). With this anointing oil also kings and prophets were anointed (1 Kings 19). And as a result to the anointing, the Holy Spirit comes upon them and so comes His gifts as well.

And we read in prophet Joel the Lord’s saying: “And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions.” (Joel 2:28).

And this is what happened on the fiftieth day (the Day of Pentecost), as St Peter the Apostle explained this verse from Prophet Joel’s Book (Ac 2:16, 17).

The Holy Spirit also could be transferred from one person to another.

This happened to the seventy elders on the days of Prophet Moses when the Lord said to him: “Gather to Me seventy men of the elders of Israel. Then I will come down and talk with you there. I will take of the Spirit that is upon you and will put the same upon them” (Nm 11:16, 17). And here the bible says: “Then the LORD came down in the cloud, and spoke to him, and took of the Spirit that was upon him, and placed the same upon the seventy elders; and it happened, when the Spirit rested upon them, that they prophesied” (Nm 11:25).

We notice that before Moses, when Joseph the Righteous interpreted the Pharaoh’s dream, “Pharaoh said to his servants, "Can we find such a one as this, a man in whom is the Spirit of God?"” (Gn 41:38). And here was the Holy Spirit’s gift interpreting dreams, i.e., the Spirit of knowledge.

Also there is another work for God’s Spirit in every art, so as to what the tent of meeting needed “Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying: "See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship, to design artistic works, to work in gold, in silver, in bronze, in cutting jewels for setting, in carving wood, and to work in all manner of workmanship” (Ex 31:1- 5).

Here we see that the Holy Spirit works even in the talent of workmanship that is given to some even in jewelry and carving woods.

Among the most important characteristics of the Holy Spirit is that it is Who spoke in the prophets.

This is a statement in the content of the Faith Creed. This means that the Holy Spirit is the source of the divine response of the Holy books. the Holy Spirit was the source of all what the prophets and apostles said in the holy books.

In this St Peter the Apostle said in his second epistle “for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (2 P 1:21).

Nowadays, in the New Testament, the Holy Spirit is given through three ways: The holy anointing, laying priests’ hands and the holy breath.

As for the holy breath, it was written in St John’s Gospel that our Lord Jesus, after His Resurrection, when He appeared to His disciples, the saints, in the upper room, He told them “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and said to them, "Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained."” (Jn 20:21-23).

In the ordination of the bishop or the priest we breathe in his face and say “Accept the Holy Spirit”, so he opens his mouth to accept the holy breath and says with the psalm “I opened my mouth and accepted myself a spirit”.

As for laying hands, the Holy Spirit in the time of our fathers the apostles was given through the apostles laying hands. This was mentioned in giving the Holy Spirit to the People of Samaria. The Apostles Synod in Jerusalem sent them St Peter and St John “Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit” (Ac 8:14-17). And the same was done to the People of Ephesus “And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them” (Ac 19:7). Same applied to the Priesthood Sacrament, St Paul the Apostle said to his disciple Timothy “I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands” (2 Ti 1:6).

The holy anointing was also known in the apostolic age. St John the Apostle says about that: “But you have an anointing from the Holy One…” (1 Jn 2:20) “… But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you” (1 Jn 2:27).

We, in anointing children after baptism: we anoint them with the Holy Chrism (Myron) and lay hands on them and breathe in their faces. And say to them: “Receive the Holy Spirit”.

With the Holy Anointing Sacrament, we become temples for the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit dwells in us. St Paul the Apostle talks about that in his first epistle to Corinthians and says: “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1 Co 3:16), and “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you” (1 Co 6:19). Then every one of should remember that on the day he was anointed with the Holy Chrism (Myron) that he became a temple for the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit became dwelling in him.

The Holy Spirit works in priesthood and priesthood is granted through the Holy Spirit. It has the power of forgiving sins. But someone may say: How is that? And no one can forgive sins except God alone! We say: Yes, the Holy Spirit that is in the priest is one who forgives sins. As we say in the Holy Liturgy “be absolved by my mouth through the Holy Spirit,” so it is the Holy Spirit that forgives sins. And this forgiveness comes from the priest’s mouth. And the absolution that the priest gives through the absolution prayer in which he says: may God absolve you, may God pardon you, may God forgive you. And the Holy Spirit is present also in all the Church Sacraments. He also is present in all the Holy Synod decisions. In the first decision that came from the Synod in Jerusalem on the days of our fathers the apostles, they said: “it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us” (Ac 15:28).

The Holy Spirit works in the Service too. The Church fathers, the apostles did not start the service until the Holy Spirit came upon them and the Lord’s promise saying: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me” (Ac 1:8) was fulfilled in them. The Holy Spirit was the One choosing the servants, like when He said: “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them” (Ac 13:2, 4). And it was Him who directed the servants in their paths and worked in them and using them.

Asking for the Holy Spirit is a point of our daily prayer of the Third Hour (Terce). We ask it to come upon us and purify us from all defilement of body and spirit. And we cry to God saying: Your Holy Spirit, O Lord, do not take away from us.

It is part of our freedom to accept the Holy Spirit, work with Him, and go into the “Holy Spirit Partaking”. And we are also free to reject and quench the Spirit and fight the Spirit. And the most serious thing is to blaspheme against the Holy Spirit, meaning to reject it completely all through the life. But how beautiful is the bible’s saying: “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God” (Ro 8:14).

Here I would like to warn those who are deceived and think that every spirit that leads them is God’s Spirit!! The apostle says: “do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 Jn 4:1).

Pope St. Gregory the Great on Doubting Thomas

The following is an excerpt from the homilies of Pope St. Gregory the Great (known in the East as "St. Gregory the Dialogist"). In both East and West, the Sunday after Easter (Pascha) is devoted to "the beautiful unbelief of Thomas," whose doubt stands as a proxy, making our own unnecessary:

Thomas, one of the twelve, called the Twin, was not with them when Jesus came. He was the only disciple absent; on his return he heard what had happened but refused to believe it. The Lord came a second time; He offered His side for the disbelieving disciple to touch, held out His hands, and showing the scars of His wounds, healed the wound of his disbelief.

Dearly beloved, what do you see in these events? Do you really believe that it was by chance that this chosen disciple was absent, then came and heard, heard and doubted, doubted and touched, touched and believed? It was not by chance but in God’s providence. In a marvelous way God’s mercy arranged that the disbelieving disciple, in touching the wounds of his Master’s body, should heal our wounds of disbelief. The disbelief of Thomas has done more for our faith than the faith of the other disciples. As he touches Christ and is won over to belief, every doubt is cast aside and our faith is strengthened. So the disciple who doubted, then felt Christ’s wounds, becomes a witness to the reality of the resurrection.

Touching Christ, he cried out: My Lord and my God. Jesus said to him: Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed. Paul said: Faith is the guarantee of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen. It is clear, then, that faith is the proof of what can not be seen. What is seen gives knowledge, not faith. When Thomas saw and touched, why was he told: You have believed because you have seen me? Because what he saw and what he believed were different things. God cannot be seen by mortal man. Thomas saw a human being, whom he acknowledged to be God, and said: My Lord and my God. Seeing, he believed; looking at one who was true man, he cried out that this was God, the God he could not see.

What follows is reason for great joy: Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. There is here a particular reference to ourselves; we hold in our hearts One we have not seen in the flesh. We are included in these words, but only if we follow up our faith with good works. The true believer practices what he believes. But of those who pay only lip service to faith, Paul has this to say: They profess to know God, but they deny him in their works. Therefore James says: Faith without works is dead.

Let us confirm our faith by stretching forth our hand to aid the needy.

See also: St. Augustine on Doubting Thomas.

(Hat Tip for St. Gregory's excerpt: The Crossroads Initiative)

An Additional Celtic Hymn for St. Patrick's Day

To honor St. Patrick's Day, here is another Celtic hymn, though not one written by the saint himself. The words are traditionally attributed to Ireland's blind poet-saint, St. Dallan Forgaill (d. 598). A recording is below (which is far from perfect, but the most reverent and least "Christian contemporary" I could find online.)

Be Thou My Vision

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
Be all else but naught to me, save that Thou art;
Be Thou my best thought in the day and the night,
Both waking and sleeping, Thy presence my light.

Be Thou my wisdom, be Thou my true Word,
Be Thou ever with me, and I with Thee Lord;
Be Thou my great Father, and I Thy true son;
Be Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one.

Be Thou my breastplate, my sword for the fight;
Be Thou my whole armor, be Thou my true might;
Be Thou my soul's shelter, be Thou my strong tower:
O raise Thou me heavenward, great Power of my power.

Riches I heed not, nor man's empty praise:
Be Thou mine inheritance now and always;
Be Thou and Thou only the first in my heart;
O Sovereign of Heaven, my treasure Thou art.

High King of Heaven, Thou Heaven's bright sun,
O grant me its joys after victory is won;
Great Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
Still be Thou my vision, O Ruler of all.

Be Thou My Vision - The Irish Tenors

(The poem contains an interesting, pre-Schism reference to the Heart, as well....)

St. Patrick's Breastplate

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, here is a hymn traditionally attributed to the Apostle to Ireland himself. The words have been set to music, which is below.

The Breastplate of St. Patrick ("I Bind Unto Myself Today")

I bind unto myself today
The strong Name of the Trinity,
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.

I bind this day to me forever,
By power of faith, Christ's Incarnation;
His baptism in the Jordan River;
His death on Cross for my salvation;
His bursting from the spiced tomb;
His riding up the heavenly way;
His coming at the day of doom:
I bind unto myself today.

I bind unto myself the power
Of the great love of cherubim;
The sweet "Well done" in judgment hour;
The service of the seraphim;
Confessor's faith, apostles' word,
The patriarchs' prayers, the prophets' scrolls;
All good deeds done unto the Lord,
And purity of virgin souls.

I bind unto myself today
The virtues of the star lit heaven,
The glorious sun's life giving ray,
The whiteness of the moon at even,
The flashing of the lightning free,
The whirling wind's tempestuous shocks,
The stable earth, the deep salt sea,
Around the old eternal rocks.

I bind unto myself today
The power of God to hold and lead,
His eye to watch, His might to stay,
His ear to hearken to my need;
The wisdom of my God to teach,
His hand to guide, His shield to ward;
The word of God to give me speech,
His heavenly host to be my guard.

Christ be with me, Christ within me,
Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

I bind unto myself the Name,
The strong Name of the Trinity;
By invocation of the same,
The Three in One, and One in Three.
Of Whom all nature hath creation;
Eternal Father, Spirit, Word:
Praise to the Lord of my salvation,
Salvation is of Christ the Lord. Amen.

Here is a link to the music of this hymn, as well:

Two Milestones in One Day

St. Aristibulus of the Seventy, Bishop of Britain

Today is not merely the Second Sunday in Lent, but it is also the day our friend Aristibule "Ari" Adams can point to the Byzantine Menologion and say, "See? 'Aristibule' is a saint's name!" (Depending on the Menologion; at least one lists this saint on March 16.)

Happy Name Day to Aristibule!

Holy Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy, Bishop of Britain

March 15

Reading:

Saint Aristobulus, the brother of Saint Barnabas, was ordained to be bishop in Britain by the Apostle Paul, who mentions him in his epistle to the Romans (16:10). He suffered many afflictions at the hands of the pagans, but also brought many to Christ. Having established the Church there, he finally reposed in peace.

Apolytikion in the Third Tone

O Holy Apostle Aristobulos, intercede with the merciful God that He grant unto our souls forgiveness of offences.

- From the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese website.

A bit fuller life:

The Holy Apostle Aristobulus of the Seventy was born on Cyprus. He was chosen by Christ and sent out to preach (Luke 10:1). He and his brother, the holy Apostle Barnabas of the Seventy, accompanied the holy Apostle Paul on his journeys. Saint Aristobulus is mentioned by the Apostle Paul in the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:10).

Saint Paul made Aristobulus a bishop and sent him to preach the Gospel in Britain, where he converted many to Christ. He endured the torments and malice of the pagans, and eventually baptized them. He later became a bishop to the Celts of northern Spain and Britain and is known as the Apostle of Britain.

Saint Aristobulus died in Britain among the people he had evangelized. His memory is celebrated on October 31 and also on the Synaxis of the Seventy Apostles January 4.

Saint Aristobulus is also commemorated on March 16, and on October 31 together with Saints Stachys, Amplias, Urban, Narcissus, Apelles.

- from the website of St. Nicholas of South Canaan Orthodox Church (OCA), Billings, Montana.

(Hyperlinks to Scripture added.)

May we mark both the Sunday and the saint's day with appropriate joy.

Incarnation: This is No Zeus

A sermon from Fr. Charles Dinkler, RIP.

God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world.” Hebrews 1:1-2.

Everyone knows that a Christian has to stay on the straight and narrow way. One thing this means is that if he finds himself falling off the horse on one side, he must not overcompensate by getting back on the horse and then falling off on the other side.

The same is true of theology.

In the first 1000 years of Christianity, more time was spent defending the humanity of Jesus Christ than his divinity. Influenced by the pagan world and its sensibilities, many then could never conceive of God actually becoming a man. The flesh was too fallen, low, mortal, undivine, ungodly for there ever to be union betwixt the two.

Nestorious taught - amongst other egregious and grievous errors - that the Son of God “passed through Mary as water through a pipe.” He meant that she was merely a conduit. Jesus took nothing of her, nothing of her nature. He and she were not in any way consubstantial - i.e., He was not in any way, shape, or form of the same nature as she was.

The Church during the Christmas and Epiphany holidays takes special care to dispute this heresy. The feast we celebrate, the hymns we sing, the evidence we hear all rebut it. They keep his divinity in union with his humanity.

St. Paul says in Hebrews that Christ was made of a woman. “When the fullness of time was come, God sent forth his son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.” He is made of her, he takes something of her nature, just as a merely human baby takes on his mother’s nature.

And the Word became flesh. It says “became”. Not “posed as” or “pretended to be” or “projected an image that looked like” flesh. He actually became flesh. He actually became a human like us.

Whatever there was of humanity, he became it. He took it all on. He became in every way like us, except for one thing: sin.

Sin is not of our human essence. It is the destructor of our essence. It is an addition to our humanity - or more accurately, a subtraction of it. We are less, not more, human when we sin.

Christ became human, he did all of this, without ever ceasing to be God.

Take the hymn we sing at the Christmas liturgy, Hymn No. 20: Of The Father’s Love Begotten. This hymn comes down to us from Prudentius in the 5th Century. Christians have been singing it for 1500 years.

The first verse nails down Christ’s divinity. The opening words are: “Of the Father’s love begotten/Ere the worlds began to be.” Look at that word “begotten”. That means that he partakes of everything the father partakes. He is “the express image of the father.” As C. S. Lewis notes, beavers beget beavers, dogs beget dogs, god begets god. Whatever is begotten is of the same nature as what begat it.

“Ere the worlds began to be.” Before one iota of creation came into being, God the Son existed. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” Colossians 1:16-17. The last gospel reminds us of this every week: All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made.

It applies as well to everything that shall be made in the future. Because all things are made for him. Everything that comes into existence is equally subject to him, equally made by him. He is very god of very god. He truly is the Son of the Living God.

The second verse of the hymn nails down Christ’s humanity.

O that birth forever blessed
When the Virgin, full of grace
By the Holy Ghost conceiving
Bare the savior of our race
And the babe, the world’s redeemer
First revealed his sacred face.

He was conceived by God the Holy Ghost. So God is involved in all of this. God, who is the Father of His only-begotten Son before all time, remains His Father now in His Incarnation. This is truly an act of God.

But it is not an act of God alone. Mary is a participant. By the Holy Ghost overshadowing her, Mary conceived. It is a virginal - but real -- conception. It entails real growth and development. She is his mother. Christ is a real partaker of her nature, which is our nature, though she is more pure and blessed. He is really divine, and really human.

Some might say “Bully for him. But what does all this abstract theological speculation have to do with me?” To put the question theologically, who cares if the Arians went around saying “there was a time when He was not”? Who cares if the Nestorians believed Christ to be divine, but not fully, completely, absolutely human. So what if He did pass through Mary as water through a pipe? Isn’t that better, since he therefore is uncontaminated by her humanity?

No. The Fathers have a saying: “What is not joined to God is not saved.” If our humanity is not made one with God through the incarnation, then our humanity is not saved. Our salvation is not merely by thinking good thoughts, or having some kind of bodiless mind-link with God. That might have been sufficient if God had created us as unfleshly, disincorporate minds, floating around freely anywhere we choose. But that’s not how we’re made. We are flesh and blood. And the way we’re made was good. God has chosen to redeem our life. He redeemed all of it: body, soul, spirit, humanity, human nature, the cosmos.

Christ takes all of it on. He consecrates all life anew. He hallows every moment of it from conception to death. Everything.

Are we conceived? So is He. Did we dwell in our mother’s womb for 9 months? So does He. Did we undergo birth? He was born too, just the way we are. If, as some new age psychologists say, people are messed up by birth trauma, he redeems that too.

He whom the heavens and the earth and the universe cannot contain is contained and constrained to dwell for 9 months in the womb. This is genuine birth. This is not some pagan god pretending to be a baby in a manger. This is not like those stories of the Zeus posing as a human for some sneaky or amorous purpose. Our god does it for real: He really becomes a human embryo and from there - like us - is born, grows up, and dies.

It’s not a case of “I was a teenage Messiah”. Or “My time as a baby miracle worker.” His humanity remains his forever.

Remember the words from another Christmas hymn, Hark the Herald Angels Sing: “Mild he lays his glory by”. Does this mean he ceases to be God? No. Not for one moment does he cease to be God. He retains the fullness of his divinity, but he lays it aside, he voluntarily forgoes it. He willingly forsakes the heavens and his godly prerogatives and power and glory and dominion - all for our sakes.

Note the well-balanced theology in the hymn: “Offspring of the Virgin’s womb” -- he has her human nature. “Veiled in flesh the Godhead see” - - he remains God. Then the two points are put together: “Hail the incarnate Deity”.

He was “pleased as man with man to dwell”. What does it mean to dwell as a man, as a human? When we’re babies do we get hungry and need to be fed by our parents? Yes, and so does he. Do we need our nappies changed? So did he. Do we have to obey and be subject to our parents? He does that too. Do we grow in wisdom and stature - at least in stature? St. Luke tells us explicitly that He grew in wisdom and stature.

Every aspect of our life, our humanity is joined to Him who at all times remains God and at all times since the incarnation is man, fully and completely. Our job is to continue in this union forever and ever, even through and beyond death.

So at this holiday time, we sing: Mild he lays his glory by, born that man no more may die. Born to raise the sons of earth. Born to give them second birth.

St. Augustine on the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Dearly beloved brethren, the day for which we have longed, the Feast-day of the Blessed and Worshipful and Alway-Virgin Mary, that day is come. Let our land laugh and sing with merriment, bathed in the glory of this great Virgin's rising. She is the flower of the fields on which the priceless lily of the valleys hath blossomed. This is she whose delivery changed the nature that we draw from our first parents, and cleansed away their offence. At her that dolorous sentence which was pronounced over Eve ended its course ; to her it was never said : In sorrow thou shalt bring forth children. She brought forth a Child, even the Lord, but she brought him forth, not in sorrow, but in joy.

Eve wept, but Mary laughed. Eve's womb was big with tears, but Mary's womb was big with gladness. Eve gave birth to a sinner, but Mary gave birth to the sinless One. The mother of our race brought punishment into the world, but the Mother of our Lord brought salvation into the world. Eve was the foundress of sin, but Mary was the foundress of righteousness. Eve welcomed death, but Mary helped in life. Eve smote, but Mary healed. For Eve's disobedience, Mary offered obedience ; and for Eve's unbelief, Mary offered faith.

Let Mary now make a loud noise upon the organ, and between its quick notes let the rattling of the Mother's timbrel be heard. Let the gladsome choirs sing with her, and their sweet hymns mingle with the changing musick. Hearken to what a song her timbrel will make accompaniment. She saith : My soul doth magnify the Lord, and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour. For he hath regarded the lowliness of his handmaiden, for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed. For he that is Mighty hath magnified me. The new miracle of Mary's delivery hath effaced the curse of the frail backslider, and the singing of Mary hath silenced the wailing of Eve.

— St. Augustine of Hippo, from the Second Nocturne of Matins.

Thursday Within the Octave of Dormition/Assumption

O most prudent Virgin, whither goest thou, shining resplendent like the glowing dawn? Daughter of Sion, thou art all comely and beautiful, fair as the moon, clear as the sun.

— Antiphon on the Magnificat from I Vespers of the Feast.

A Homily on the Dormition/Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God

This day the holy and animated Ark of the living God, which had held within it its own Maker, is borne to rest in that Temple of the Lord, which is not made with hands. David, whence it sprang, leapeth before it, and in company with him the Angels dance, the Archangels sing aloud, the Virtues ascribe glory, the Principalities shout for joy, the Powers make merry, the Dominions rejoice, the Thrones keep holiday, the Cherubim utter praise, and the Seraphim proclaim its glory. This day the Eden of the new Adam receiveth the living garden of delight, wherein the condemnation was annulled, wherein the Tree of Life was planted, wherein our nakedness was covered.

This day the stainless maiden, who had been defiled by no earthly lust, but ennobled by heavenly desires, returned not to dust, but, being herself a living heaven, took her place among the heavenly mansions. From her true life had flowed for all men, and how should she taste of death? But she yielded obedience to the law established by him to whom she had given birth, and, as the daughter of the old Adam, underwent the old sentence, which even her Son, who is the very Life Itself, had not refused ; but, as the Mother of the living God, she was worthily taken by him unto himself.

— St. John of Damascus, from the second nocturn of Matins (Roman Breviary).

Merits of the Saints: St. Peter Chrysologus

Over on Conversi ad Dominum, Fr. John W. Fenton quotes St. Peter Chrysologus' sermon of the feast of St. Lawrence (celebrated Sunday), which ends thus:

Therefore let us honor and esteem the merits of the martyrs as being the gifts of God. Let us beg for them, and add the inclination of our own will.

Fr. Fenton notes the the term "merits" is familiar to most of us only through the medieval dispute over works of supererogation, etc., but intimates it may not be inexplicably bound up with such notions. He writes:

St Peter Chrysologus, however, is certainly not medieval, and does not, to my mind, evidence "pre-medieval" tendencies (whatever these may be). Hence, his use of the term "merits" suggests that, perhaps, there is a proper use of the term that neither reactively requires its deletion nor unthinkingly compels it to be understood in a scholastic context.

Of St. Chrysologus, "the Western Chrysostom," Fr. Fenton is certainly correct.

Subdn. Benjamin Andersen has a few comments on Fr. Fenton's post, which are, as always, enlightening.

We had a discussion of merits on this blog in March, 2006. I was humbled that discussion spurred Subdn. Benjamin Andersen to write an outstanding blog entry on the topic, which I link for those able to access his blog. For those who can't, I quoted and commented upon his entry here.

Though this discussion is in a most embryonic stage, Fr. Fenton's post alludes to a fascinating question: to what degree would the term "merits" be applicable within Orthodox theology, and should such use then be made of it? Everyone agrees further study is needed; I would love to see such be undertaken. Surely somewhere there must be an Orthodox philanthropist or medievalist willing to underwrite such research? Or someone with the appropriate grounding in patristics and Western history willing to read? Is Bp. HILARION (Alfeyev) out there somewhere? :)

As I wrote before, this merits discussion.

Pope Shenouda III: Pentecost (and His Health)

For those who hadn't heard, we're sorry to report Pope Shenouda III, the head of the Coptic Church, broke his femur last week and had to have surgery. According to his hospital, the 84-year-old is "recovering well." Thank God for his recovery. Although we are not in communion with the pope nor his church, we have wished him well in the past, and he continues to preside over Christians living amidst adverse conditions. In honor of the Feast of Pentecost, and with wishes for his full and speedy recovery, here is one of his articles on the operation of the Third Person of the Trinity.

The Holy Spirit in the Church of the Apostles
by Pope Shenouda III

The descending of the Holy Spirit was the beginning of the work of the Christian Church. The Lord Jesus Christ started forming the Church when He chose the twelve apostles and sent them out (Matthew 10:1-16). He also appointed seventy others whom He also sent out (Luke 10:1-20), with separate groups of His beloved ones and disciples. Even though He appointed the apostles, He allowed them to start preaching only after the descending of the Holy Spirit upon them. This great occurrence was the point of great conversion in the beginning of preaching on the largest scale.

The Holy Spirit was the One who gave the necessary power for the work of preaching. The sending of the Holy Spirit was a promise from the Lord (John 14:26, 15:26, 16:7), however, despite this He said to them, "Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:29). Where will this power come from? He said to them regarding this, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me" (Acts 1:8).

The Spirit of God was essential to them for they could not work without Him. The Holy Spirit worked with them in preaching and teaching. They waited according to the Lord's command. Their previous preparation for service which lasted more than three years did not dispense them of the Holy Spirit and His work in and with them. Perhaps these ten days which they waited were days of prayer and hope, from the heart, in preparation for the coming work.

How did the Holy Spirit descend?

1. The Holy Spirit descended upon them in the shape of tongues of fire. The result was that, "they were all filled with the Holy Spirit" (Acts 2:4). They spoke the tongues of all the nations gathered on that great day (people from about 15 nations), speaking about the glories of God (Acts 2:9-11). Peter spoke and the result was that the audience were cut to the heart, accepted the words with joy; three thousand were baptized on that day (Acts 2:37,41).
2. Thereafter, they granted the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands, just as had occurred to the people of Samaria; the Bible says that the apostles sent Peter and John to them, "who when they had come down prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit...Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit" (Acts 8:15,17). Likewise with the people of Ephesus, as the book of the Acts of the Apostles states, "And when Paul had laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied" (Acts 19:6).
3. The Holy Spirit was then granted by the Holy Anointment. This is because there was no opportunity for the laying on of hands by the apostles after the spread of Christianity in many countries. Therefore, Christianity usd what is now known as the Holy Myron (Chrism). Saint John the Apostle alluded to this anointment by saying, "But you have an anointing from the Holy One...: (1 John 2:20) and, "But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you..." (1 John 2:27) (Also see 2 Corinthians 1:21).
4. As for the priesthood, the apostles received this through the Holy Breath. The Lord Jesus Christ breathed on them, "...and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained" (John 20:22,23).
   

Thus, the Holy Spirit who was in them forgave or retained sins through them. The apostles then granted the Holy Spirit through the sacrament of priesthood by the laying on of hands. Here we remember the saying of Saint Paul the Apostle to his disciple Timothy, the bishop of Ephesus, "Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands" (2 Timothy 1:6). He also said to him regarding the ordination of others, "Do not lay hands on anyone hastily nor share in other people's sins" (1 Timothy 5:22).

We can also see in the sending of Barnabas and Saul that, "...having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away. So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia..." (Acts 13:3,4). Therefore, by the laying on of hands they were sent by the Holy Spirit. Likewise in the ordination of the seven deacons, "whom they set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid hands on them" (Acts 6:6).

In this way we can see that the laying on of hands was accompanied by certain prayers, which are presently the rites of ordination. We can also see that the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples from God directly, as there is none higher than them to whom He may grant the Holy Spirit. They became, "...stewards of the mysteries of God" (1 Corinthians 4:1). They became stewards of God who then granted the Holy Spirit with the laying on of their hands and their prayers, as in the ordination of bishops, priests and deacons. Or by the laying on of hands initially and then by anointing as with granting the Spirit to the believers in general. In this way the Spirit who is in them is transferred to others in the way that we mentioned.

At present we practice the Sacrament of the Holy Myron (Chrism) or the Sacrament of Anointing, after Baptism. During the rites of this sacrament, we anoint the child with the Myron (Chrism) on many parts of his body, and we also lay the hand on his head and breathe in his face saying to him, "accept the Holy Spirit...". With respect to ladies, the bishop can lay his hand on the woman's head with prayers to accept the Holy Spirit and anoints the visible parts of her body such as her head and hands.

May that Holy Spirit fully heal Pope Shenouda III.

A Patristic View of Signs and Wonders Pt. 2

This passage also answers the question, "Why am I not physically healed when I pray for it?"

It is easy now, when we see everything heading for destruction, to disengage our minds from love of the world. But then it was very difficult, because they [the apostles] were sent to preach the unseen kingdom of Heaven at the very time when everyone far and wide could see the kingdoms of earth flourishing. And so miracles were granted to the holy preachers, that their evident power might lend credence to their words, and that those who preached something new might perform something new. It is said in the same reading [St. Matthew 10], "Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast our demons."

With the world flourishing, the human race increasing, the body enduring long in this life, riches abounding, who would believe that there was another life when he heard of it, who would prefer invisible to visible things? But with the sick returning to health, the dead rising to life, lepers being cleansed, demoniacs being snatched from the power of unclean spirits -- when so many visible miracles had been performed, who would not believe what he heard about invisible things? In truth visible miracles shine forth to attract the hearts of those who see them to faith in invisible things, so that from the wonder done externally what is interior and far more wonderful may be realized.

So now too, when the number of believers has grown, there are many within the holy Church who pursue the life of the virtues, but they lack the signs of the virtues, because it is useless for a miracle to be shown externally if there is nothing to be done interiorly. It was for this reason that Paul said that "signs are for unbelievers, not believers"; for this reason that this outstanding preacher raised up Eutychus by his prayer in the presence of all unbelievers, when he slept during his preaching and fell from the window and died; but he did not cure Timothy, his companion on his travels from the weakness of his stomach by a word, but restored him by his healing art, saying: "Use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses." If he revived by prayer a weak unbeliever who was, as we believe, dead, why did he not save his sick companion by a prayer? It is undoubtedly because the former who was still inwardly not alive had to be healed outwardly by a miracle so that an inner power might bring him to life through what the exterior one made manifest, whereas the signs were not to be displayed outwardly in the case of the sick believer, who was completely alive inwardly.

— Pope St. Gregory the Great. Homily 17 from Forty Gospel Homilies. (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1990), pp. 122-3.

Read Post One, quoting St. Isaac the Syrian.

Augustine on Ascension

St. Augustine of Hippo strikes a familiar note to patristic commentators on the Feast of Ascension: Christ has ascended, and His followers must as well:

But what said the Lord Jesus? “Why are ye troubled, and why do thoughts ascend into your hearts?” If thoughts ascend into your heart, the thoughts come from the earth. But it is good for a man, not that a thought should ascend into his heart, but that his heart should itself ascend upwards, where the Apostle would have believers place their hearts, to whom he said, “If ye be risen with Christ, mind those things which are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Seek those things which are above, not the things which are upon the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ your life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.” In what glory? The glory of the resurrection. In what glory? Hear the Apostle saying of this body, “It is sown in dishonour, it shall rise in glory.”

— St. Augustine of Hippo, "Homilies on the Gospels," Sermon LXVI.

St. Augustine on Doubting Thomas

“But Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said unto him, We have seen the Lord. But he said unto them, Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe. And after eight days, again His disciples were within, and Thomas with them. Then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith He to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and put it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. Thomas answered and said unto Him, My Lord and my God.” He saw and touched the man, and acknowledged the God whom he neither saw nor touched; but by the means of what he saw and touched, he now put far away from him every doubt, and believed the other. “Jesus saith unto him, Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed.” He saith not, Thou hast touched me, but, “Thou hast seen me,” because sight is a kind of general sense. For sight is also habitually named in connection with the other four senses: as when we say, Listen, and see how well it sounds; smell it, and see how well it smells; taste it, and see how well it savors; touch it, and see how hot it is. Everywhere has the word, See, made itself heard, although sight, properly speaking, is allowed to belong only to the eyes. Hence here also the Lord Himself says, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands:” and what else does He mean but, Touch and see? And yet he had no eyes in his finger. Whether therefore it was by looking, or also by touching, “Because thou hast seen me,” He says, “thou hast believed.” Although it may be affirmed that the disciple dared not so to touch, when He offered Himself for the purpose; for it is not written, And Thomas touched Him. But whether it was by gazing only, or also by touching that he saw and believed, what follows rather proclaims and commends the faith of the Gentiles: “Blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” He made use of words in the past tense, as One who, in His predestinating purpose, knew what was future, as if it had already taken place. But the present discourse must be kept from the charge of prolixity: the Lord will give us the opportunity to discourse at another time on the topics that remain.

— St. Augustine of Hippo, "Homilies on the Gospel of John" (Tractate CXXI).

St. Augustine: "Touch Me Not"

“Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; to my God, and your God.” There are points in these words which we must examine with brevity indeed, but with somewhat more than ordinary attention. For Jesus was giving a lesson in faith to the woman, who had recognized Him as her Master, and called Him so in her reply; and this gardener was sowing in her heart, as in His own garden, the grain of mustard seed. What then is meant by “Touch me not”? And just as if the reason of such a prohibition would be sought, He added, “for I am not yet ascended to my Father.” What does this mean? If, while standing on earth, He is not to be touched, how could He be touched by men when sitting in heaven? For certainly, before He ascended, He presented Himself to the touch of the disciples, when He said, as testified by the evangelist Luke, “Handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have;” or when He said to Thomas the disciple, “Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and put forth thy hand, and thrust it into my side.” And who could be so absurd as to affirm that He was willing indeed to be touched by the disciples before He ascended to the Father, but refused it in the case of women till after His ascension? But no one, even had any the will, was to be allowed to run into such folly. For we read that women also, after His resurrection and before His ascension to the Father, touched Jesus, among whom was Mary Magdalene herself; for it is related by Matthew that Jesus met them, and said, “All hail. And they approached, and held Him by the feet, and worshipped Him.” This was passed over by John, but declared as the truth by Matthew. It remains, therefore, that some sacred mystery must lie concealed in these words; and whether we discover it or utterly fail to do so, yet we ought to be in no doubt as to its actual existence. Accordingly, either the words, “Touch me not, for I am not yet ascended to my Father,” had this meaning, that by this woman the Church of the Gentiles was symbolized, which did not believe on Christ till He had actually ascended to the Father, or that in this way Christ wished Himself to be believed on; in other words, to be touched spiritually, that He and the Father are one. For He has in a manner ascended to the Father, to the inward perception of him who has made such progress in the knowledge of Christ that he acknowledges Him as equal with the Father: in any other way He is not rightly touched, that is to say, in any other way He is not rightly believed on. But Mary might have still so believed as to account Him unequal with the Father, and this certainly is forbidden her by the words, “Touch me not;” that is, Believe not thus on me according to thy present notions; let not your thoughts stretch outwards to what I have been made in thy behalf, without passing beyond to that whereby thou hast thyself been made. For how could it be otherwise than carnally that she still believed on Him whom she was weeping over as a man? “For I am not yet ascended,” He says, “to my Father:” there shalt thou touch me, when thou believest me to be God, in no wise unequal with the Father. “But go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father.” He saith not, Our Father: in one sense, therefore, is He mine, in another sense, yours; by nature mine, by grace yours. “And my God, and your God.” Nor did He say here, Our God: here, therefore, also is He in one sense mine, in another sense yours: my God; under whom I also am as man; your God, between whom and you I am mediator.

— St. Augustine of Hippo, "Homilies on the Gospel of John" (Tractate CXXI).

St. Augustine on the Resurrection

Is it at this day a thing incredible, that the Body of the Lord rose again from the sepulchre? The whole cleansed world has believed it; whoso has not believed it, has remained in his uncleanness. Yet at that time it was incredible: and persuasion was addressed not to the eyes only, but to the hands also, that by the bodily senses faith might descend into [the Apostles'] heart, and that faith so descending into their heart might be preached throughout the world to them who neither saw nor touched, and yet without doubting believed. “Have ye,” saith He, “anything to eat?” How much doeth the good Builder still to build up the edifice of faith? He did not hunger, yet He asked to eat. And He ate by an act of His power, not through necessity. So then let the disciples acknowledge the verity of His body, which the world has acknowledged at their preaching.

- St. Augustine of Hippo. Homilies on the Gospels, Sermon LXVI.

St. Leo the Great Paschal Sermon II

For which reason the very feast which by us is named Pascha, among the Hebrews is called Phase, that is Pass-over, as the evangelist attests, saying, “Before the feast of Pascha, Jesus knowing that His hour was come that He should pass out of this world unto the Father.” But what was the nature in which He thus passed out unless it was ours, since the Father was in the Son and the Son in the Father inseparably? But because the Word and the Flesh is one Person, the Assumed is not separated from the Assuming nature, and the honour of being promoted is spoken of as accruing to Him that promotes, as the Apostle says in a passage we have already quoted, “Wherefore also God exalted Him and gave Him a name which is above every name.” Where the exaltation of His assumed Manhood is no doubt spoken of, so that He in Whose sufferings the Godhead remains indivisible is likewise coeternal in the glory of the Godhead. And to share in this unspeakable gift the Lord Himself was preparing a blessed “passing over” for His faithful ones, when on the very threshhold of His Passion he interceded not only for His Apostles and disciples but also for the whole Church, saying, “But not for these only I pray, but for those also who shall believe on Me through their word, that they all may be one, as Thou also, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us.”

In this union they can have no share who deny that in the Son of God, Himself true God, man’s nature abides, assailing the health-giving mystery and shutting themselves out from the Easter festival. For, as they dissent from the Gospel and gainsay the creed, they cannot keep it with us, because although they dare to take to themselves the Christian name, yet they are repelled by every creature who has Christ for his Head: for you rightly exult and devoutly rejoice in this sacred season as those who, admitting no falsehood into the Truth, have no doubt about Christ’s Birth according to the flesh, His Passion and Death, and the Resurrection of His body: inasmuch as without any separation of the Godhead you acknowledge a Christ, Who was truly born of a Virgin’s womb, truly hung on the wood of the cross, truly laid in an earthly tomb, truly raised in glory, truly set on the right hand of the Father’s majesty.

— Pope St. Leo the Great, "On the Lord's Resurrection, II" (Sermon LXXII) .

Christ Killed What Was Killing Everyone

Fr. Fenton has posted a nice extract from St. Peter Chrysologus:

[H]aving abolished the authority of death, having destroyed the prison of hell, and having annihilated the very power of death, Christ now should not be anointed as a dead man, but should be adored as Victor.

Read it all here.

(Hat Tip: Fr. John Fenton)

Patristic "Proofs" of the Resurrection

[S]uppose I should show you a dead man raised and alive, even this you would disbelieve. God indeed exhibits to you many proofs that you may believe Him. For consider, if you please, the dying of seasons, and days, and nights, how these also die and rise again. And what? Is there not a resurrection going on of seeds and fruits, and this, too, for the use of men? A seed of wheat, for example, or of the other grains, when it is cast into the earth, first dies and rots away, then is raised, and becomes a stalk of corn. And the nature of trees and fruit-trees,—is it not that according to the appointment of God they produce their fruits in their seasons out of what has been unseen and invisible? Moreover, sometimes also a sparrow or some of the other birds, when in drinking it has swallowed a seed of apple or fig, or something else, has come to some rocky hillock or tomb, and has left the seed in its droppings, and the seed, which was once swallowed, and has passed though so great a heat, now striking root, a tree has grown up. And all these things does the wisdom of God effect, in order to manifest even by these things, that God is able to effect the general resurrection of all men. And if you would witness a more wonderful sight, which may prove a resurrection not only of earthly but of heavenly bodies, consider the resurrection of the moon, which occurs monthly; how it wanes, dies, and rises again. Hear further, O man, of the work of resurrection going on in yourself, even though you are unaware of it. For perhaps you have sometimes fallen sick, and lost flesh, and strength, and beauty; but when you received again from God mercy and healing, you picked up again in flesh and appearance, and recovered also your strength. And as you do not know where your flesh went away and disappeared to, so neither do you know whence it grew, Or whence it came again. But you will say, “From meats and drinks changed into blood.” Quite so; but this, too, is the work of God, who thus operates, and not of any other.

— St. Theophilus of Antioch, "To Autolycus."
Chapter XIII: "The Resurrection Proved by Examples."

Easter Sermon of Pope St. Leo the Great

Accordingly, since the Apostle says, “the first man is of the earth earthy, the second man is from heaven heavenly. As is the earthy, such also are they that are earthy; and as is the heavenly, such also are they that are heavenly. As we have borne the image of the earthy, so let us also bear the image of Him Who is from heaven,” we must greatly rejoice over this change, whereby we are translated from earthly degradation to heavenly dignity through His unspeakable mercy, Who descended into our estate that He might promote us to His, by assuming not only the substance but also the conditions of sinful nature, and by allowing the impassibility of Godhead to be affected by all the miseries which are the lot of mortal manhood. And hence that the disturbed minds of the disciples might not be racked by prolonged grief, He with such wondrous speed shortened the three days’ delay which He had announced, that by joining the last part of the first and the first part of the third day to the whole of the second, He cut off a considerable portion of the period, and yet did not lessen the number of days. The Saviour’s Resurrection therefore did not long keep His soul in Hades, nor His flesh in the tomb; and so speedy was the quickening of His uncorrupted flesh that it bore a closer resemblance to slumber than to death, seeing that the Godhead, Which quitted not either part of the Human Nature which He had assumed, reunited by Its power that which Its power had separated.

And then there followed many proofs, whereon the authority of the Faith to be preached through the whole world might be based. And although the rolling away of the stone, the empty tomb, the arrangement of the linen cloths, and the angels who narrated the whole deed by themselves fully built up the truth of the Lord’s Resurrection, yet did He often appear plainly to the eyes both of the women and of the Apostles not only talking with them, but also remaining and eating with them, and allowing Himself to be handled by the eager and curious hands of those whom doubt assailed. For to this end He entered when the doors were closed upon the disciples, and gave them the Holy Spirit by breathing on them, and after giving them the light of understanding opened the secrets of the Holy Scriptures, and again Himself showed them the wound in the side, the prints of the nails, and all the marks of His most recent Passion, whereby it might be acknowledged that in Him the properties of the Divine and Human Nature remained undivided, and we might in such sort know that the Word was not what the flesh is, as to confess God’s only Son to be both Word and Flesh.

The Apostle of the Gentiles, Paul, dearly-beloved, does not disagree with this belief, when he says, “even though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now we know Him so no more.” For the Lord’s Resurrection was not the ending, but the changing of the flesh, and His substance was not destroyed by His increase of power. The quality altered, but the nature did not cease to exist: the body was made impassible, which it had been possible to crucify: it was made incorruptible, though it had been possible to wound it. And properly is Christ’s flesh said not to be known in that state in which it had been known, because nothing remained passible in it, nothing weak, so that it was both the same in essence and not the same in glory. But what wonder if S. Paul maintains this about Christ’s body, when he says of all spiritual Christians “wherefore henceforth we know no one after the flesh.” Henceforth, he says, we begin to experience the resurrection in Christ, since the time when in Him, Who died for all, all our hopes were guaranteed to us. We do not hesitate in diffidence, we are not under the suspense of uncertainty, but having received an earnest of the promise, we now with the eye of faith see the things which will be, and rejoicing in the uplifting of our nature, we already possess what we believe.

Let us not then be taken up with the appearances of temporal matters, neither let our contemplations be diverted from heavenly to earthly things. Things which as yet have for the most part not come to pass must be reckoned as accomplished: and the mind intent on what is permanent must fix its desires there, where what is offered is eternal.

...Let God’s people then recognize that they are a new creation in Christ, and with all vigilance understand by Whom they have been adopted and Whom they have adopted. Let not the things, which have been made new, return to their ancient instability; and let not him who has “put his hand to the plough” forsake his work, but rather attend to that which he sows than look back to that which he has left behind.

...These thoughts, dearly-beloved, must be kept in mind not only for the Easter festival, but also for the sanctification of the whole life, and to this our present exercise ought to be directed, that what has delighted the souls of the faithful by the experience of a short observance may pass into a habit and remain unalterably, and if any fault creep in, it may be destroyed by speedy repentance.

— "Sermon on the Lord's Resurrection, delivered on Holy Saturday in the Vigil of Easter" (Sermon LXXI)

(P.S.: Yes, I'm going back to bed....!)