Patristic Quote of the Day

For the first man was indeed in the beginning in the paradise of delight, being ennobled by the absence both of suffering and of corruption; but when he despised the commandment that had been given him, and fell under a curse and condemnation, and into the snare of death, by eating the fruit of the forbidden tree, Christ, as I said, by the very same thing restores him again to his original condition. For He became the fruit of the tree by having endured the precious cross for our sakes, that He might destroy death, which by means of a tree had invaded the bodies of mankind. He bore suffering that He might deliver us from sufferings; He was despised and not esteemed, as it is written, that He might make us honorable; He did no sin, that He might crown our nature with similar glory; He Who for our sakes was man submitted also to our lot; and He who giveth life to the world submitted to death in the flesh. Is not, therefore, the mystery profound? -- St. Cyril of Alexandria, Homily 153 on St. Luke