Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday after Pentecost

Keep the Sabbath day to sanctify it, the way the Lord your God commanded you. Six days you shall work and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. You shall not do any work on it, you and your sons and your daughter, your servant and your female servant, your bull and your draft animal, and any of your livestock, the sojourner who lives near with you; for in six days the Lord made both the heavens and the earth and the sea and all the things in them, that your servant and your female servant might rest, just as you also. And you shall remember that you were a household slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God led you out from that place with a strong hand and with a mighty arm; on account of this, the Lord your God appointed you; therefore keep the Sabbath day and sanctify it. (Deut 5:12–15)

And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” (Mark 2:27–2)

The third precept is: Remember to keep holy the Sabbath day. In this third commandment is suggested a certain idea of freedom, a repose of the heart or tranquillity of the mind which a good conscience effects. Indeed, sanctification is there because the Spirit of God dwells there. Now look at the freedom or repose; our Lord says: Upon whom shall I rest but upon the man who is humble and peaceable, and who trembles at my words? Therefore, restless souls turn away from the Holy Ghost. Lovers of strife, authors of calumnies, devotees of quarrels rather than of charity, by their uneasiness they do not admit to themselves the repose of a spiritual sabbath. Men do not observe a spiritual sabbath unless they devote themselves to earthly occupations so moderately that they still engage in reading and prayer, at least frequently, if not always. As that Apostle says: Be diligent in reading and in teaching; and again: Pray without ceasing. Men of this kind honor the sabbath in a spiritual manner. However, restless souls are continually involved in earthly activity, and of them it is written: “The burdens of the world have made them miserable.” They are unable to have a sabbath, that is, repose. In reply to their restlessness, it is said that they should have, as it were, a sabbath in their heart and the sanctification of the Spirit of God: Be swift to hear, it says, but slow to answer. Cease your uneasiness, let there not be a tumult in your heart because of phantoms flying about to corrupt you, disturbing and pricking you like flies. You are to realize that God is saying to you: Desist! and confess I am God. By your restlessness you do not want to be still; blinded by the corruption of your contentions you demand to see what you cannot. Notice the opposite third plague which is contrary to this commandment. Sciniphs sprang up out of the mud in the land of Egypt, very tiny flies, exceedingly restless, flying around in confusion, rushing into one’s eyes, not allowing a man to rest, coming back while they are being driven away, returning again even when expelled. Restless men are like these little flies, when they refuse to observe the sabbath in a spiritual manner, that is, to be zealous for good works and to engage in reading or prayer. Doubtless, such are the phantoms of quarrelsome hearts; just as the human body is tormented by those flies, so their hearts are disturbed and pricked by opposing thoughts. Keep the commandment, but guard against the plague.

Caesarius of Arles, Sermon 100.4

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Holy Trinity Sunday

Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know… Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. (Acts 2:22, 29–33)

But the reason why, after His resurrection, He both gave the Holy Spirit, first on earth, and afterwards sent Him from heaven, is in my judgment this: that “love is shed abroad in our hearts,” by that Gift itself, whereby we love God and our neighbors, according to those two commandments, “on which hang all the law and the prophets.” And Jesus Christ, in order to signify this, gave to them the Holy Spirit, once upon earth, on account of the love of our neighbor, and a second time from heaven, on account of the love of God. And if some other reason may perhaps be given for this double gift of the Holy Spirit, at any rate we ought not to doubt that the same Holy Spirit was given when Jesus breathed upon them, of whom He by and by says, “Go, baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit,” where this Trinity is especially commended to us. It is therefore He who was also given from heaven on the day of Pentecost, i.e. ten days after the Lord ascended into heaven. How, therefore, is He not God, who gives the Holy Spirit? Nay, how great a God is He who gives God!

Augustine of Hippo, On the Trinity XV.26.46

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to Pentecost Sunday

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.” So they were all amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “Whatever could this mean?” Others mocking said, “They are full of new wine.” But Peter, standing up with the eleven, raised his voice and said to them, “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and heed my words. For these are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:

And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved.” (Acts 2:1–21)

What need was there
that from that land
a river should flow forth
and divide itself,
except that the blessing of Paradise
should be mingled by means of water
as it issues forth
to irrigate the world,
making clean its fountains
that had become polluted by curses
—just as that “sickly water”
had been made wholesome by the salt.
Thus it is with another spring,
full of perfumes,
which issues from Eden
and penetrates into the atmosphere
as a beneficial breeze
by which our souls are stirred;
our inhalation is healed
by this healing breath
from Paradise;
springs receive a blessing
from that blessed spring
which issues forth from there.
A vast censer
exhaling fragrance
impregnates the air
with its odoriferous smoke,
imparting to all who are near it
a whiff from which to benefit.
How much the more so
with Paradise the glorious:
even its fence assists us,
modifying somewhat
that curse upon the earth
by the scent of its aromas.
When the blessed Apostles
were gathered together
the place shook
and the scent of Paradise,
having recognized its home,
poured forth its perfumes,
delighting the heralds
by whom
the guests are instructed
and come to His banquet;
eagerly He awaits their arrival
for He is the Lover of mankind.
Make me worthy through Your grace
to attain to Paradise’s gift
—this treasure of perfumes,
this storehouse of scents.
My hunger takes delight
in the breath of its fragrance,
for its scent gives nourishment to all
at all times,
and whoever inhales it
is overjoyed and forgets his earthly bread;
this is the table of the Kingdom—
blessed is He who prepared it in Eden.

Ephrem the Syrian, Hymns on Paradise 11.11–15

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Seventh Sunday of Easter

Holy Father, keep through Your name those whom You have given Me, that they may be one as We are. While I was with them in the world, I kept them in Your name. Those whom You gave Me I have kept; and none of them is lost except the son of perdition, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth. As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also may be sanctified by the truth. (John 17:11–19)

In a word, what the soul is to the body, Christians are to the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians throughout the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body but is not of the body. Likewise, Christians dwell in the world but are not of the world. The soul, which is invisible, is confined in the body, which is visible. In the same way, Christians are recognized as being in the world, and yet their religion remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul and wages war against it, even though it has suffered no wrong, because it is hindered from indulging in its pleasures. Similarly, the world also hates the Christians, even though it has suffered no wrong, because they set themselves against its pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it and its members, and Christians love those who hate them. The soul is enclosed in the body, but it holds the body together. And though Christians are detained in the world as if in a prison, they in fact hold the world together. The soul, which is immortal, lives in a mortal dwelling. In a similar way, Christians live as strangers amid perishable things, while waiting for the imperishable in heaven. The soul, when poorly treated with respect to food and drink, becomes all the better. And so Christians when punished daily increase more and more. Such is the important position to which God has appointed them, and it is not right for them to decline it.

Letter to Diognetus 6.

Thus we shall become, according to the word of the Lord, like those about whom the Lord was speaking to his Father in the Gospel: “They are not of this world, just as I am not of this world.” And again, in speaking to the apostles themselves: “If you were of this world, the world would indeed love what was its own, but because you are not of this world, but I have chosen you from this world, therefore the world hates you.”… No one can understand the truth and power of this except the person who has perceived the things that are being spoken about with experience as his teacher—that is to say, if the Lord has turned the eyes of his heart away from all present things, so that he considers them not as about to take place but as already over and done with, and sees them dissolved into nothing like empty smoke.… Therefore, if we desire to achieve true perfection we ought to strive so that, just as with our body we have disdained parents, homeland, wealth, and the pleasures of the world, we may also in our heart abandon all these things and not turn back again in our desires to what we have left behind, like those who were led out by Moses.

John Cassian, Conference 3.7.2, 4–5

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Sixth Sunday of Easter

Then Peter opened his mouth and said: “In truth I perceive that God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him. The word which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace through Jesus Christ—He is Lord of all—that word you know, which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, and began from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. Him God raised up on the third day, and showed Him openly, not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen before by God, even to us who ate and drank with Him after He arose from the dead. And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by God to be Judge of the living and the dead. To Him all the prophets witness that, through His name, whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins.” While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Then Peter answered, “Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days. (Acts 10:34–48)

What then? Was he “a respecter of persons” beforetime? God forbid! For beforetime likewise it was just the same: “anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.” As when Paul says, “When Gentiles who have not the law do by nature what the law requires,” and “who fears him and does what is right,” he assumes both doctrine and manner of life “is acceptable to him.” For, if he did not overlook the magi, nor the Ethiopian, nor the thief nor the harlot, much more shall he not overlook those who do what is right. “What say you then to this, that there are reasonable and civilized people, and yet they are not willing to believe?” There you yourself have named the cause: they do not want to believe. But besides the reasonable person that he speaks of here, is not this sort of person the one “that works righteousness,” that is, the one who in all points is virtuous and irreproachable when he has the fear of God as he ought to have it? But whether a person is such, God only knows. See how this man was acceptable. See how, as soon as he heard, he was persuaded. “And now,” you say, “if an angel were to come, anyone, no matter who he may be, would believe.” But the signs of today are much greater than these here, and many still do not believe.

John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles 23

Since the rule of the church is that the faithful are baptized in the name of the holy Trinity, a question arises as to how it is that in the whole text of this book Luke bears witness to the giving of baptism only in the name of Jesus Christ. The blessed Ambrose resolves this question as follows. “Through the unity of the name the mystery is completed. If you say ‘Christ,’ you have designated at the same time God the Father, by whom the Son was anointed, and the Son who was himself anointed, and the Spirit with whom he was anointed, for it is written, ‘Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed him with the Holy Spirit.’ If you say, ‘the Father,’ you also indicated at the same time his Son and the Spirit of his mouth (if, moreover, you also comprehend this in your heart). And if you say, ‘the Spirit,’ you have also named God the Father, from whom the Spirit proceeds, and also the Son, because the Spirit is also the Son's. Hence, as authority may be joined to reason, Scripture indicates that we can also properly be baptized in the Spirit when it says, ‘But you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit.’” And the apostle says, “For in one body we were all baptized into one Spirit.” According to another way of looking at the question, it is particularly appropriate for us to be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, since, as the apostle says, “All of us who have been baptized in Christ Jesus have been baptized in his death,” and so forth.

Bede, Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles 10.48