Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the First Sunday of Advent

But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. Then two men will be in the field: one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding at the mill: one will be taken and the other left. Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect. (Matt 24:36–44)

Concerning the end of that time, the Lord removed the weight of our anxiety by saying that no one knows that day. Not only are the angels ignorant of it, but He Himself. O inestimable mercy of the divine goodness! Has God the Father denied the Son knowledge of that day by hiding His intentions, even though the Son said, All things have been committed to Me by My Father? How could everything be committed to Him if there is something denied to Him? But He delivered to us everything which He received from the Father. The Word possesses in Himself the certainty, not so much of future events that will happen, as of the events that have happened. For this reason the day has been set but without further qualification. Even though God permits a generous amount of time for our repentance, He recognizes our anxiety, always a fear of the unknown. By telling no one about His will when it comes to setting this day, He prevents any further qualification of His words. As it was at the time of the flood, that great day will burst into the course of our lives, into the midst of all our business and misery.

And so that we should realize that His ignorance of the day is kept secret for us all, not without a reason for the usefulness of silence, He warned us to be watchful for the coming of the thief, and to adhere assiduously to prayer as those who are occupied with all the works of His teaching. For He shows that the devil is a watchful thief who seeks to take away spoils from us and who attacks the houses, of our bodies, in order to break into them with the arrows of enticement and of his purposes, while we are negligent and given to sleep. It is appropriate that we be prepared therefore because ignorance of the day exacerbates the stressful anxiety of anticipation held in suspense.

Hilary of Poitiers, Commentary on Matthew 26.4, 5

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Last Sunday of the Year

Simone Martini, “Crucifixion”

He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. (Colossians 1:13–20)

Freed thus from the condition of darkness, that is, plucked from the infernal place, in which we were held by the devil both because of our own and because of Adam's transgression, who is the father of sinners, we were translated by faith into the heavenly kingdom of the Son of God. This was so that He might show us by what love God loved us, when, raising us from deepest hell, He led us into heaven with His true Son.

Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Colossians

The Savior endured all this, “making peace through the blood of the cross, for all things whether in the heavens or on the earth.” For we were enemies of God through sin, and God had decreed the death of the sinner. One of two things, therefore, was necessary, either that God, in His truth, should destroy all men, or that in His loving-kindness, He should remit the sentence. But see the wisdom of God; He preserved the truth of His sentence and the exercise of his loving-kindness. Christ took our sins “in His body upon the tree; that we, having died to sin,” by his death “might live to righteousness.” [1 Pet 2:24] He who died for us was of no small worth; He was no material sheep; He was no mere man. He was more than an angel, He was God made man. The iniquity of sinners was not as great as the righteousness of Him who died for them. The sins we committed were not as great as the righteousness He wrought, who laid down His life for us.

Cyril of Jerusalem, Catechetical Lectures 13.33

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twenty-Third Sunday after Pentecost

But when you hear of wars and commotions, do not be terrified; for these things must come to pass first, but the end will not come immediately.” Then He said to them, “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be great earthquakes in various places, and famines and pestilences; and there will be fearful sights and great signs from heaven. But before all these things, they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons. You will be brought before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. But it will turn out for you as an occasion for testimony. Therefore settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. You will be betrayed even by parents and brothers, relatives and friends; and they will put some of you to death. And you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. But not a hair of your head shall be lost. By your patience possess your souls. (Luke 21:9–19)

Since all these disorders come, not from the injustice of the one who chastises, but from the fault of the world that suffers them, the Lord first describes the injustice of the depraved men in these terms: But before all this they will lay hands on you and persecute you; you will be dragged into the synagogues, you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. It is as if he were saying clearly: “It is first the hearts of men, then the elements that will be upset.” Thus one sees clearly what this confusion of the order of things comes to punish. For although it depends on the very nature of the world to have an end, the Lord, having in view all the perverse men, indicates which are those who deserve to be crushed under the ruins of the world: They will bring you before the kings and governors because of my name. All these things will come to your testimony. As a testimony against those who put you to death when they persecute you, or who do not imitate you when they see you. If, indeed, the death of the righteous is a help to the good ones, it bears witness against the wicked, so that even that which serves to bring the elect to good so that they live, removes all excuses from the wicked when they perish.

But the hearts of the still weak disciples could have been troubled to hear so many terrifying things; so the Lord adds a consolation, adding immediately: Put this in your mind: you do not have to prepare your answers, for it is I who will give you a language, and a wisdom to which none of your adversaries can resist or answer. It is as if he clearly said to his infirm members: “Do not be afraid; do not be afraid. It's you who go to fight, but I'm the one leading the fight. You say the words, but it's me who speaks.”

The text continues: You will be delivered even by your parents and your brothers, your relatives and your friends; they will condemn to death many of you. Evils cause less pain if they are brought to us by strangers. But they make us suffer more if we suffer them from those we trusted, because to the suffering of the body comes then to join that of having lost a friendship. This is why the Lord, through the mouth of the psalmist, says about Judas who betrayed him: If my enemy had cursed me, I would have endured it; and if he who hated me uttered proud words about me, I would have kept myself hidden from him. But you who were one with me, my guide and my friend, who shared with me the sweet food of my table, we walked in full agreement in the house of God (Ps 55:12-14). And elsewhere: Even the man who was my friend, who trusted me and ate my bread, raised his heel against me (Ps 41:9). It is as if he were saying clearly about the one who betrayed him: “I suffered all the more from his betrayal that I felt it coming from the one who seemed to be all mine.”

Thus, all the elect, because they are the members of the supreme head, also follow in suffering their leader: they must suffer in death the enmity of those whose life inspired them confidence, and they see the reward of their works increase all the more as the loss of a friendship makes more progress in virtue.

But as these predictions of persecution and death are very harsh, the Lord speaks immediately after the consolation and joy of the resurrection: Not a hair of your head shall perish. We know it, my brethren, the flesh suffers when cut, but not hair. The Lord therefore declares to his martyrs: Not a hair of your head will perish, which means in plain language: “Why fear to see the suffering of death when you cut it, since even that which in you does not suffer when you the cup can not perish?”

The text continues: It is by your patience that you will possess your souls. If the possession of the soul lies in the virtue of patience, it is because patience is the root and protector of all virtues. It is through patience that we possess our souls, for it is only by learning to dominate ourselves that we begin to possess ourselves. Patience consists in suffering serenely the evils coming from others and in being tormented with no resentment against the one who inflicts them.

Gregory the Great, Homilies on St. Luke 15.2-4

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Twenty-Second Sunday after Pentecost

Johannes Brenz

Jesus answered and said to them, “The sons of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are counted worthy to attain that age, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry nor are given in marriage; nor can they die anymore, for they are equal to the angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection. But even Moses showed in the burning bush passage that the dead are raised, when he called the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’ For He is not the God of the dead but of the living, for all live to Him.” (Luke 20:34–38)


And thus much for our own argument in refutation of the infidelity of the Jews: but let us see also what Christ said unto them: “The children indeed of this world,” He says, those, that is, who lead worldly carnal lives, full of fleshly lust, for the procreation of children “marry and are married:” but those who have maintained an honorable and elect life, full of all excellence, and have therefore been accounted worthy of attaining to a glorious and marvelous resurrection, will be necessarily raised far above the life which men lead in this world; for they will live as becomes saints, who already have been brought near unto God. “For they are equal with the angels, and are the children of God.” As therefore all fleshly lust is taken away, and no place whatsoever is left in them for bodily pleasure, they resemble the holy angels, fulfilling a spiritual and not a material service, such as becomes holy spirits; and are at the same time counted worthy of a glory such as that which the angels enjoy.

But the Savior also demonstrated the great ignorance of the Sadducees, by bringing forward their own authority Moses, as well and clearly acquainted with the resurrection of the dead. For he has set before us God, He says, as saying in the bush, “I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.” But of whom is He God, if, according to their argument, these have ceased to live? for He is the God of the living: and therefore certainly and altogether they will rise, when His almighty right hand brings them thereunto; and not them only, but also all who are upon the earth.

And for men not to believe that this will happen, is worthy perhaps of the ignorance of the Sadducees; but altogether unworthy of those who love Christ. For we believe in Him who says, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” For He will raise the dead, “suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For it shall resound, and the dead in Christ shall rise incorruptible, and we shall be changed.” For Christ, our common Savior, shall transfer us unto incorruption, and to glory, and to a life incorruptible.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on the Gospel of St. Luke 136

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to All Saints’ Sunday

Jean Duvet, “The Apocalpse: An Innumerable Multitude
which stand before the Throne”

After these things I looked, and behold, a great multitude which no one could number, of all nations, tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” All the angels stood around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom,
Thanksgiving and honor and power and might,
Be to our God forever and ever.
Amen.”

Then one of the elders answered, saying to me, “Who are these arrayed in white robes, and where did they come from?” And I said to him, “Sir, you know.” So he said to me, “These are the ones who come out of the great tribulation, and washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve Him day and night in His temple. And He who sits on the throne will dwell among them. They shall neither hunger anymore nor thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any heat; for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Rev 7:9–17)

The innumerable myriads of the nations who received the faith of Christ and who had gained their share in blessedness were allotted the honored place of standing before the Lord and his Father’s throne, as was said earlier. Being clothed in white robes is a description of their purity during their life. The palm branches, which are a symbol of victory, indicate that they are promised the victory of Christ over their spiritual and earthly enemies. And they cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb!” confessing that salvation is with them, because they had preserved the servants of God who had been sealed from the total destruction of the world. At the end of this act of thanksgiving, the ranks of worshipers in heaven, together with the elders, answered Amen, giving their approval to what was said. Then the divine angels, too, offer their own praise to God, honoring him seven times with their worship, which, as has been mentioned earlier, symbolizes the ceaseless nature of the adoration of the angels; for seven is a perfect number.

When one of the elders asked the evangelist who these were from the nations who were clothed in white robes, he did not ask out of ignorance but as a challenge to find out about them. So he goes on to say, These are they who are coming out of the great tribulation. For it was not a slight contest but a truly great one which the righteous had in overcoming the Antichrist. He says, And they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Yet it should follow that robes dipped in blood would turn out to be scarlet rather than white. So how did they become white? Because baptism enacted into the death of the Lord, as Paul in his great wisdom said, purges all filth resulting from sin and renders those who are baptized in it white and pure. But participation in the life-giving blood of Christ also bestows this favor. For the Lord says concerning his own blood that it is being poured out “for many” and “on behalf of many, for the forgiveness of sins.” Thus these serve God for ever, and God dwells among them. Indeed, the dwelling-place of God, said one of God’s saints, is where the souls of his saints continually remember him; therefore God naturally dwells with those who serve him day and night.

They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more: formerly those from the nations went through every trial; but now they will be sated with innumerable good things. He says, Nor shall the sun strike them: in some places of the divine Scripture the sun metaphorically stands for temptation, as when the prophet says, “The sun shall not burn you by day, neither the moon by night,” or as when the evangelist writes that the sun shone and scorched the seeds which had sprung up on stony ground, interpreting the sun as temptation. Therefore he now says that temptation would in future never harm them, for they had been found worthy to be shepherded by Christ and nourished at the waters of life. And God, he says, will wipe away every tear from their eyes. So those who have lived and struggled with unprofitable cares have no need of a tear, nor of “weeping and gnashing of teeth,” but deserve everything good and wonderful.

Oecumenius, Commentary on the Apocalypse 5.3