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

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fifth Sunday of Easter

I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples. (John 15:1–8)

Rely on the truth and fear not, my brothers,
for our Lord is not weak that He should desert us in trials.
He is the power on Whom depend the creation and its inhabitants.
On Him depends the hope of His church.
Who is able to cut off its heavenly roots?
Blessed is He Whose power came down and was mingled with his churches!

Bestow on yourselves, my brothers, the treasure of consolation
from the word our Lord spoke about His church,
“The bars of Sheol cannot conquer her.”
If, indeed, she is mightier than Sheol,
who among mortals can frighten her?
Blessed is He Who made her great yet has tested her that she might be greater!

Reach out, indeed, your hands toward the Branch of Truth
that has torn asunder the arms of warriors without being bent.
She bent down from her height and came down to the contest.
She tested the true, who hung on her,
but those hanging with an [ulterior] motive withered and fell.
Blessed is He Who brought her down to go up in triumphs!

Elijah, then, was drunk with the love of the True One,
and without fear he seethed and confronted the house of Ahab,
who demeaned the Creator and worshiped creatures:
Jezebel led her retinue to Sheol.
The crowns of seven thousand men were glorious.
Blessed is He Who revealed to his servant concerning hidden treasure!

The sons of truth, then, grow large on this Branch of Truth;
they have been perfected and have become fruits fit for the kingdom.
But, although the Branch is living, on it are also
dead fruits that blossom [only] apparently.
The wind tested them and shook down the wild grapes.
Blessed is He Who crowned by it those who held fast in Him!…

Jesus, bend down to us Your love that we may grasp
this Branch that bent down her fruits for the ungrateful;
they ate and were satisfied, yet they demeaned her who had bent down
as far as Adam in Sheol.
She ascended and lifted him up and with him returned to Eden.
Blessed is He Who bent her down toward us that we might seize her and ascend on her.

Who indeed will not weep that although the Branch is great,
the weakness of one unwilling to seize her greatness
maintains that she is a feeble branch—
she who has conquered all kings and cast a shadow
upon the entire world! By suffering her power has increased.
Blessed is He Who made her greater than that vine from Egypt!

Who will not hold fast to this Branch of Truth?
She bore the true ones; she shed the false.
Not because they were too heavy for her did she shed them.
For our sake she tested them in the breeze;
it shook down the shriveled; it ripened the firm.
Blessed is He Who rejected the vineyard that was a source of wild grapes!

Ephrem the Syrian, Against Julian: On the Church 1–5, 8–10

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Fourth Sunday of Easter

I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But a hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. As the Father knows Me, even so I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep. And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and one shepherd. Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father. (John 10:11–18)

For the sake of His flock the shepherd was sacrificed as though He were a sheep. He did not refuse death. He did not destroy His executioners as He had the power to do, for His passion was not forced on Him. He laid down His life for His sheep of His own free will. “I have the power to lay it down,” He said, “and I have the power to take it up again.” By His passion He made atonement for our evil passions, by His death he cured our death, by His tomb He robbed the tomb, by the nails that pierced His flesh He destroyed the foundations of hell.

Death held sway until Christ died. The grave was bitter, our prison was indestructible, until the Shepherd went down and brought to His sheep confined there the good news of their release. His appearance among them gave them a pledge of their resurrection and called them to a new life beyond the grave. “The good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep” and so seeks to win their love.

Basil of Seleucia, Homily 26.2

The Devil, too, while he aimed at man, made an attempt on God. While he grows furious at the guilty one, he runs up against his Judge. While he inflicts pain, he incurs torture. While he is issuing a sentence, he receives one. And death, which lives by feeding upon mortals, dies while it is devouring the Life. Death, which swallows guilty men, gets swallowed while it is gulping down the Author of innocence. Death, accustomed to destroy all, perishes itself while it tries to destroy the salvation of all.

Therefore, by giving a pattern like this, the Shepherd went before His sheep; He did not run away from them. He did not surrender the sheep to the wolves, but He consigned the wolves to the sheep. For He enabled His sheep to pick out their robbers in such a way that the sheep, although slain, should live; although mangled, should rise again and, colored by their own blood, should gleam in royal purple, and shine with snow-white fleece.

In this way, when the good Shepherd laid down His life for His sheep, He did not lose it. In this way He held His sheep; He did not abandon them. Indeed, He did not forsake them, but invited them. He called and led them through fields full of death, and a road of death, to life-giving pastures.

Peter Chrysologus, Selected Sermons 40

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Third Sunday of Easter

Now as they said these things, Jesus Himself stood in the midst of them, and said to them, “Peace to you.” But they were terrified and frightened, and supposed they had seen a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled? And why do doubts arise in your hearts? Behold My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself. Handle Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His feet. But while they still did not believe for joy, and marveled, He said to them, “Have you any food here?” So they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish and some honeycomb. And He took it and ate in their presence. Then He said to them, “These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me.” And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures. Then He said to them, “Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things. 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 24:36–49)

When He had quieted their reasonings by what He said, by the touch of their hands, and by partaking of food, He then opened their mind to understand, that “so it behooved Him to suffer,” even upon the wood of the cross. The Lord therefore recalls the minds of the disciples to what He had before said: for He had forewarned them of His sufferings upon the cross, according to what the prophets had long before spoken: and He opens also the eyes of their heart, so as for them to understand the ancient prophecies.

The Savior promises the disciples the descent of the Holy Ghost, which God had announced of old by Joel, and power from above, that they might be strong and invincible, and without all fear preach to men everywhere the divine mystery.

He says unto them now that they had received the Spirit after the resurrection, “Receive ye the Holy Ghost,” and adds, “But tarry ye at Jerusalem, and wait for the promise of the Father, which ye have heard of Me. For John indeed baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost;” in water no longer, for that they had received, but with the Holy Ghost: He does not add water to water, but completes that which was deficient by adding what was wanting to it.

Having blessed them, and gone a little in advance, He was carried up unto heaven, that He might share the Father’s throne even with the flesh that was united unto Him. And this new pathway the Word made for us when He appeared in human form: and hereafter in due time He will come again in the glory of His Father with the angels, and will take us up to be with Him.

Let us glorify therefore Him Who being God the Word became man for our sakes: Who suffered willingly in the flesh, and arose from the dead, and abolished corruption: Who was taken up, and hereafter shall come with great glory to judge the living and the dead, and to give to every one according to his deeds: by Whom and with Whom to God the Father be glory and power with the Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on Luke 24

Patristic Wisdom: Looking to the Second Sunday of Easter

Then, the same day at evening, being the first day of the week, when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, “Peace be with you.” When He had said this, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. So Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you! 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.” Now Thomas, called the Twin, one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. The other disciples therefore said to him, “We have seen the Lord.” So he said to them, “Unless I see in His hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.” And after eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:19–31)

But when Thomas had heard from his fellow disciples that they had seen the Lord, he responded: Unless I see the nail-marks and put my hand into his side, I shall not believe (v. 25). Why does Thomas seek this kind of basis for faith? Why is he so harsh in his investigation of the Resurrection of One who suffered with such loving devotion? Why does the hand of a faithful disciple in this fashion retrace those wounds which an unholy hand inflicted? Why does the hand of a dutiful follower strive to reopen the side which the lance of an unholy soldier pierced? Why does the harsh curiosity of a servant repeat the tortures imposed by the rage of persecutors? Why is a disciple so inquisitive about proving from his torments that He is the Lord, from his pains that He is God, and from His wounds that He is the heavenly Physician?

The power of the devil has crumbled, the prison of hell has been thrown open, the shackles of the dead have been broken, the graves of those who have risen have been torn asunder, on account of the Lord’s Resurrection the whole condition of death has been rendered insignificant, the stone has been rolled back from that most sacred tomb of the Lord, the linen cloths have been taken off, and death has fled before the glory of the Risen One, life has returned, and flesh has arisen incapable of further harm.

So why, Thomas, do you alone, a little too clever a sleuth for your own good, insist that only the wounds be brought forward in testimony to faith? What if these wounds had been made to disappear with the other things? What a peril to your faith would that curiosity have produced? Do you think that no signs of his devotion and no evidence of the Lord’s Resurrection could be found unless you probed with your hands his inner organs which had been laid bare in such a way by the cruelty of the Jews?

Brothers, his devotion sought these things, his dedication demanded them, so that in the future not even godlessness itself would doubt that the Lord had risen. But Thomas was curing not only the uncertainty of his own heart, but also that of all human beings; and since he was going to preach this message to the gentiles, this conscientious investigator was examining carefully how he might provide a foundation for the faith needed for such a mystery. Certainly at issue is prophecy more than hesitation; for why would he be seeking such things unless he had come to know by the prophetic Spirit that the only reason that the Lord had kept His wounds was as evidence of his Resurrection? And so, the request that he made because he was late was something that in the end he provided spontaneously for others.

Peter Chrysologus, Selected Sermons 84. 8

Patristic Wisdom for Easter

Now when the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, that they might come and anoint Him. Very early in the morning, on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. And they said among themselves, “Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?” But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away—for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples—and Peter—that He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him, as He said to you.” So they went out quickly and fled from the tomb, for they trembled and were amazed. And they said nothing to anyone, for they were afraid. (Mark 16:1–8)

You have heard the lesson from the holy Gospel on the Resurrection of Christ. Our faith has been established on the Resurrection of Christ. Pagans, wicked people, and Jews believed in the Passion of Christ; Christians alone believe in His Resurrection. The Passion of Christ discloses the miseries of this life; the Resurrection of Christ points to the happiness of the life to come. At present, let us labor; let us hope for the future. Now is the time for work; then, for reward. He who is lazy in doing his work here is shameless if he demands recompense. You have heard what the Lord said to His disciples after the Resurrection. He sent them to preach the Gospel and they carried out His command; the Gospel was preached; it has come to us. Behold: ‘Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world.’ By one journey after another the Gospel came to us and to the farthest limits of our country. In a few words the Lord sketched His plan for us, telling His disciples what we were to do and what we were to hope for. As you heard when the Gospel was read, He said: ‘He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.’ Faith is demanded of us; salvation is offered to us. ‘He who believes and is baptized shall be saved.’ Precious is the gift which is promised to us; what is bidden is fulfilled without cost.

Augustine of Hippo, Sermons for the Easter Season 233.1

Christ descended into hell to liberate its captives. In one instant He destroyed all record of our ancient debt incurred under the law, in order to lead us to heaven where there is no death but only eternal life and righteousness. By the baptism which you, the newly enlightened, have just received, you now share in these blessings. Your initiation into the life of grace is the pledge of your resurrection. Your baptism is the promise of the life of heaven. By your immersion you imitated the burial of the Lord, but when you came out of the water you were conscious only of the reality of the resurrection.… The grace of the Spirit works in a mysterious way in the font, and the outward appearance must not obscure the wonder of it. Although water serves as the instrument, it is grace which gives rebirth. Grace transforms all who are placed in the font as the seed is transformed in the womb. It refashions all who go down into the water as metal is recast in a furnace. It reveals to them the mysteries of immortality; it seals them with the pledge of resurrection. These wonderful mysteries are symbolized for you, the newly enlightened, even in the garments you wear. See how you are clothed in the outward signs of these blessings. The radiant brightness of your robe stands for incorruptibility. The white band encircling your head like a diadem proclaims your liberty. In your hand you hold the sign of your victory over the devil. Christ is showing you that you have risen from the dead. He does this now in a symbolic way, but soon He will reveal the full reality if we keep the garment of faith undefiled and do not let sin extinguish the lamp of grace. If we preserve the crown of the Spirit, the Lord will call from heaven in a voice of tremendous majesty, yet full of tenderness: Come, blessed of my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you since the beginning of the world. To him be glory and power for ever, through endless ages, amen.

Basil of Seleucia, Easter Homily