01 May 2006
Patristic Quote for the Day
So, since we are full of good cheer we sing over our corpses psalms that urge us to feel confident about death. "Commit, my soul, into your rest," it says, "because the Lord has been kind to you." (Ps. 114.7) Do you see that death is a kindness and a rest? For the person entering that resting rests from their labors, just as God did from his own affairs. - St. John Chrysostom, *Homily on Saints Bernike, Prosdoke, and Domnina* par. 10
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
What a great quote! I'm sure you'll also like this one, also from Chrysostom, "On the Holy Martyrs," par. 2:
"Do you see God's wisdom, how the greatest of evils, the ultimate disaster for us, which the Devil introduced (I mean death), how this changed into our honor and glory, because it led the athletes towards the prizes of martyrdom? So what? Should we give thanks to the Devil for death? Heaven forbid! For this isn't the outcome of his intent, but the gift of God's wisdom. He (sc. the Devil) introduced it so that it would destroy, and so that, when he brought it down to earth, he might cut off all hope of salvation; but Christ took it and converted it and, through it, led us back up to heaven."
Then Chrysostom calls the holy martyrs both a "chorus" and a "squadron": "For they (sc. the martyrs went to meet their tortures with joy as if they were dancing, and as if they were in battle they displayed complete courage and strength and conquered their opposition."
Randy Asburry
Post a Comment