OF THE BLESSED JOHN, ON THOSE WHO HAVE FALLEN ASLEEP IN THE FAITH, AND HOW THEY ARE AIDED BY THE LITURGIES AND ALMSGIVING PERFORMED ON THEIR BEHALF.
A 584 1. When sweet and exquisite dishes are set out, it often happens that not only the hungry are drawn to eat, but sometimes even those who are already sated are stimulated to do so; just as, with most sweet and fragrant beverages, not only those who are thirsty, but even those who have slaked their thirst are wont to be enticed to drink. Similarly, those who crave wealth, when they have attained the most ample riches, are always driven by covetousness to seek opportunities from every quarter by which they may increase their resources day by day. In the same way, O most excellent members of the Church of God, priests and Fathers, brothers and mothers, and dearest children, it is not a famine of divine utterances, nor any thirst for sacred teachings, nor again a lack of divine knowledge that induces you to sit down at these banquets of discourse which we now set before you; but a desire, truly most abundant in divine graces, which moves us from virtue to virtue, from grace to grace, and from memory to recollection. For often that which has escaped those of mature age, a child has found; and what the wise have overlooked, the unlearned have stumbled upon; and what has been hidden from masters has become obvious to disciples. Although, I am not permitted to use such language toward you; but rather, like those who have gathered a cluster of grapes left after the vintage, or an ear of corn omitted after the reaping of the harvest due to the sheer abundance of produce, or even a few apples after the orchard fruits have been gathered, so shall we, with the help of Christ, who is the true God and who confirms the word through deeds and proofs, entertain those who wish it with these banquet dishes.
B 2. Therefore, that serpent who writhes and is slaughtered, the enemy who is the author of blood-guilt, tormented in his inmost vitals by all excellent and God-pleasing actions and thoughts, he who is struck down by brotherly love, shattered by faith, put to death by hope, and shaken by mutual compassion—that lawless one, I say, has attacked some with a crude and alien...
[GREEK COLUMN] τριον, καὶ τῶν ἱερῶν θεσμῶν εἰς ἅπαν ἀντίθετον ὡς ὅτι τὰ μετά θάνατον πάντα τὰ θεοφιλῆ ἔργα οὐδὲ τοὺς προλαβόντας ὀνίνησιν. A ὁ 'Απέκλεισε γάρ, φησίν, ὁ Θεὸς κατ' αὐτῶν· καὶ, « Κομιεῖται ἕκαστος τὰ διὰ τοῦ σώματος πρὸς ἃ ἔπραξεν, εἴτε ἀγαθόν, εἴτε φαῦλον· » καὶ, ὅτι « Ἐν τῷ ᾅδῃ τίς ὁμολογήσεταί σοι; » καὶ πάλιν, « Ὅτι σὺ ἀποδώσεις ἑκάστῳ κατὰ τὰ ἔργα αὐτοῦ· » καὶ, « Ὅτι ὃ ἔσπειρεν ἕκαστος, τοῦτο καὶ θερίσει. » Ἀλλ᾽, ὦ σοφοί, εἴπωμεν πρὸς αὐτούς, ἐρευνήσατε καὶ διδάχθητε, ὅτι πολὺς μὲν ὁ φόβος τοῦ τῶν πάντων Δεσπότου Θεοῦ, πολλῷ πλέον ἡ ἀγαθότης· καὶ φοβεραὶ μὲν αἱ ἀπειλαί, ἀνείκαστος δὲ ἡ τοῦ Θεοῦ φιλανθρωπία· καὶ φρικταὶ πάλιν αἱ καταδίκαι, ἄφατον δὲ τῶν οἰκτιρμῶν αὐτοῦ τὸ πέλαγος.
γ΄. B Ἴδετε γὰρ τί φησιν ἡ θεία Γραφή· ὡς Ἰούδας ὁ Μακκαβαῖος ἐν τῇ Σιών τῇ πόλει τοῦ Βασιλέως τοῦ μεγάλου, ὁπηνίκα τεθανατωμένον εἶδε τὸν ὑπ' αὐτὸν λαὸν ὑπὸ τῶν ἀλλοφύλων ἐχθρῶν, ἐρευνήσας αὐτῶν τοὺς κόλπους καὶ τούτων ἔνδοθεν εὑρὼν εἰδωλεία, ἐξιλασμὸν αὐτίκα ὑπὲρ ἑκάστου τούτων πρὸς τὸν εἰς οἶκτον ἕτοιμον Κύριον προσενήνοχε, πανευσεβῶς ποιήσας καὶ φιλαδέλφως λίαν, ὅθεν καὶ παρὰ τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ, ὡς ἐν πᾶσι, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ τεθαυμάστωται. Οἱ δέ γε μύσται καὶ αὐτόπται τοῦ λόγου, οἱ τὸν τοῦ κόσμου γύρον ζωγρήσαντες μαθηταὶ τοῦ Σωτῆρος καὶ θεῖοι ἀπόστολοι, ἐπὶ τῶν φρικτῶν καὶ ἀχράντων καὶ ζωοποιῶν μυστηρίων μνήμην ποιεῖσθαι τῶν πιστῶν κοιμηθέντων ἐθέσπισαν· C ὁ καὶ κατέχει βεβαίως καὶ λίαν ἀναντιῤῥήτως ἡ τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ Θεοῦ ἀπὸ περάτων μέχρι περάτων ἀποστολικὴ καὶ καθολικὴ Ἐκκλησία, ἐκ τότε μέχρι τοῦ νῦν, καὶ τῆς τοῦ κόσμου λήξεως ἄχρι· οὐκ ἀλογίστως πάντως, οὐδὲ ματαίως, οὐδὲ εἰκῆ καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε τοῦτο θεσπίσαντες. Οὐδὲν γὰρ ἀνόνητον ἡ τῶν Χριστιανῶν ἁπλανὴς θρησκεία παρείληφεν, καὶ εἰς αἰῶνα κατέσχεν ἀπαρασάλευτον, ἀλλὰ πάντα ἐπωφελῆ καὶ θεάρεστα καὶ λίαν ὀνησιφόρα, καὶ σωτηρίας μεγίστης πρόξενα.
δ΄. D Ἔφη τοιγαροῦν ὁ πολὺς τὰ θεῖα καὶ βαθὺς Διονύσιος ἐν τῇ περὶ τῶν κεκοιμημένων μυστικῇ θεωρίᾳ οὑτωσὶ λέξας· ἵν᾿ ἐκ τῶν αὐτοῦ θείων τε καὶ σεβαστῶν λόγων πρὸς ἐναργῆ ἀπόδειξιν ἐφαψώμεθα· ὡς « Αἱ τῶν ἁγίων προσευχαί, καὶ κατὰ τὸν τῇδε βίον, μήτιγε μετά θάνατον, εἰς τοὺς ἀξίους ἱερῶν εὐχῶν, ἔγουν εἰς τοὺς πιστοὺς ἐνεργοῦσι. » Τὸ δὲ, μήτιγε, πάντως ἐνταῦθα μηδὲν ἕτερον ἢ τὸ, πόσῳ γε μάλλον, ὑποληπτέον. Καὶ μετ' ὀλίγον· « Οὐ γὰρ ὁ θεῖος ἱεράρχης, ὁ τῆς θεαρχικῆς δικαιώσεως ὑπο-
ὑπο- φήτης, ἐζήτει ποτὲ τὰ μὴ τῷ Θεῷ προσφιλέστατα, καὶ πρὸς αὐτοῦ δοθήσεσθαι θειωδῶς ἐπηγγελμένα· διὰ τοῖς ἀνιέροις, ἤγουν τοῖς ἀφωτίστοις, οὐκ ἐπεύχεται ταῦτα κεκοιμημένοις. Καὶ αὖθις· « Οὐκοῦν ὁ θεῖος ἱεράρχης ἐξαιτεῖται τὰ φίλα Θεῷ, καὶ πάντως δωρηθησόμεθα. » Καὶ πάλιν· « Ἡ μὲν οὖν εὐχὴ τῆς θεαρχικῆς ἀγαθότητος, δεῖται πάντα μὲν ἀφιέναι τὰ δι' ἀνθρωπίνην ἀσθένειαν τῶν κεκοιμημένων πταίσματα· τάξαι δὲ τοῦτον ἐν χώρᾳ ζώντων εἰς κόλπους A Ἀβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκ καὶ Ἰακώβ, ἐν ᾧ ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη καὶ στεναγμός· παρορώσης ἀγαθότητι τῆς θεαρχικῆς εὐσθενείας τὰς ἐγγενομένας τῷ κεκοιμημένῳ ἐξ ἀνθρωπίνης ἀσθενείας κηλίδας, ἐπεὶπερ, ὡς τὰ λόγια φησίν, οὐδεὶς καθαρὸς ἀπὸ ῥύπου. » Βλέπεις, ὁ ἀντιλέγων, πῶς βεβαιοῖ ἐπωφελεῖς ὑπάρχειν τὰς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐν ἐλπίδι θείᾳ κατοιχηθέντων δεήσεις;
5. Περὶ Γρηγορίου τοῦ Θεολόγου.
Μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον αὖθις ὁ τῆς θεολογίας ἐπώνυμος θεοῤῥήμων Γρηγόριος ἐν τῷ εἰς Καισάριον τὸν ἀδελφὸν ἐπιταφίῳ λόγῳ, περὶ τῆς ἰδίας μητρὸς « Ἠκούσθη, φησί, κήρυγμα πάσης ἀκοῆς ἄξιον, καὶ μητρὸς πάθος κενοῦται δι᾿ ὑποσχέσεως καλῆς καὶ ὁσίας, δοῦναι τὰ πάντα τῷ παιδὶ τὸν ἐκείνου πλοῦτον ὑπὲρ ἐκείνου δῶρον ἐπιτάφιον. » Καὶ μεθ᾿ ἕτερα· « Τὰ μὲν οὖν παρ' ἡμῶν τοιαῦτα· καὶ τὰ μὲν ἀποδέδωκεν, τὰ δὲ δώσομεν, τὰς δι' ἔτους προσφέροντες τιμάς τε καὶ μνήμας, οἵ γε τῷ βίῳ περιλειπόμενοι. » B Ὁρᾷς πῶς βεβαιοῖ, καὶ καλὰς καὶ ὁσίας καλεῖ, τὰς ὑπὲρ τῶν κατοιχομένων τῷ Θεῷ προσαγωγὰς, καὶ τὰς ἐτησίους μνήμας εἰσδέχεται;
6. Περὶ Ἰωάννου τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου.
Εἶτα μετ' αὐτὸν ὁ χρυσοῤῥήμων ὄντως καὶ χρυσεπώνυμος Ἰωάννης, ὁ τῆς φιλοπτωχίας καὶ τῆς μετανοίας ὁδηγὸς καὶ διδάσκαλος, ἐν τῇ πρὸς Φιλιππησίους αὐτοῦ καὶ Γαλάτας θεοφεγγεῖ ἑρμηνείᾳ, « Εἰ γὰρ Ἕλληνες, φησί, συγκατακαίουσι τοῖς ἀπελθοῦσι τὰ ἑαυτῶν, πόσῳ γε μάλλον σὲ τὸν πιστὸν συμπαραπέμψαι δεῖ τῷ πιστῷ τὰ οἰκεῖα, οὐχ ἵνα τέφρα γένωνται, καθὼς ἐκεῖνα καὶ ταῦτα, ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα μείζονα τούτῳ περιβάλῃς τὴν δόξαν· καὶ εἰ μὲν ἁμαρτωλὸς ὁ τεθνηκὼς ᾖ, ἵνα τὰ ἁμαρτήματα λύσῃ, εἰ δὲ δίκαιος, ἵνα προσθήκη γένηται μισθοῦ καὶ ἀνταποδόσεως. » C Καὶ πάλιν ἐν ἑτέρῳ λόγῳ, « Ἐπινοήσωμεν, φησί, τοῖς ἀπελθοῦσιν ὠφέλειαν· δῶμεν αὐτοῖς τὴν προσοῦσαν βοήθειαν, ἐλεημοσύνας λέγω, καὶ προσφοράς· καὶ φέρει τούτοις πολλὴν τὸ πρᾶγμα τὴν ὄνησιν, καὶ μέγα τὸ κέρδος καὶ τὴν ὠφέλειαν. Καὶ γὰρ εἰκῆ καὶ ὡς ἔτυχε ταῦτα νενομοθέτηται, καὶ τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ Ἐκκλησίᾳ ὑπὸ τῶν αὐτοῦ πανσόφων μαθητῶν παραδέδοται, φημὶ δὴ τὸ ἐπὶ τῶν φρικτῶν μυστηρίων εὐχὴν ποιεῖσθαι τὸν ἱερέα ὑπὲρ τῶν ἐν D φιλανθρωπίας, ἀποδεδώκαμεν.
for those who have died in the faith, were they not aware that they derive much gain and great benefit from this.
B 7. Then, along with these, the all-wise Gregory of Nyssa says again: "Nothing is done without careful consideration, nor to no purpose by the heralds and disciples of Christ; it has been delivered and has prevailed throughout the Church of God everywhere; rather, the matter is altogether beneficial and pleasing to God, namely that we perform the memorial during the divine and most luminous celebration of the mysteries for those who have died in the true faith."
B 8. For the statement that "You shall render to each according to his works," and "Everyone shall reap what he has sown," and whatever follows these, refers altogether to the presence of the Creator, to the then-terrible judgment, and to the completion of this world. For then there will be no time for help at all, but every intercession will be fruitless. For when the gathering has dispersed, there is no opportunity for trade. For where will the poor be then? Where are the ministers? Where are the psalteries? Where the acts of kindness? Where the good deeds? Therefore, before that hour arrives, let us help one another and offer the things of brotherly love to the brotherly, philanthropic, and soul-loving God. For He accepts it most gladly; and to those who have departed from life prematurely, and, so to speak, unprepared, He reckons the offerings made for them by their kin and those near to them as replacements for the duties omitted, and counts it as if they themselves had performed these works. For the philanthropic Lord desires to be entreated in this way, C and when asked, He grants those things that contribute to the salvation of His creatures, and He is moved all the more completely then; not when someone struggles only for his own soul, but when he does this for the sake of his neighbor. For from this, he is fashioned in the likeness of God, asks for the gifts for others as if they were graces to be granted to himself, grasps the definition of perfect love, provides for himself the blessing resulting from this, and benefits his own soul as much as possible along with that of his neighbor.
C 9. And why is the matter even thought to be burdensome? Did not the first-martyr [Thecla] save Falconilla after death? But perhaps you will say that she obtained this because she was the first among martyrs, and it was right that her prayer should be heard. D I, for my part, say to this: You speak well that she was the first-martyr there. But consider again for whom the request was made: namely, that it was for a Greek, an idolater, and—
κριτοῦ, A a priestess of an altogether unholy and alien lord. Here, however, a believer pours out prayers to the same Lord on behalf of a believer. Compare, therefore, the one with the other, so that the matter may be made equal and no doubt may remain.
10. Compare yet again these things with others of the same kind and power: namely, to the historical book of Palladius to Lausus, in which are described with the highest faith and truth the miracles that the great and wonder-working Macarius performed. For he, having inquired of an arid skull of one of those who had died, learned everything. And when he inquired further, "Have you never received any consolation?" (for it was the custom of the holy man to pray for the departed, and he desired to know if those prayers were of any benefit), the Lord, who loves souls, desiring to reveal this to His servant, breathed a true word into that dried-out skull. "At the time," it said, "that you offer prayers for the dead, at that moment we experience some small consolation."
11. Again, to another of the God-bearing Fathers whose pupil had lived negligently B and had reached the end of his life in that negligence, the most merciful and soul-loving Lord, moved by the old man's tears and prayers, showed him the man, like the rich man mentioned in the parable of Lazarus 14, burning in the fire up to his neck. When the elder had afflicted himself with many toils, beseeching God with constant weeping, he saw him again immersed in the conflagration of flames up to his waist. Finally, after the holy man had added toils upon toils, God showed him to the elder in a vision, set entirely free and delivered from the fire.
12. C And who could recount in sequence the testimonies of these things, which are contained in the lives of the saints—I mean in martyrdoms and divine revelations—which clearly show that even after death it greatly profits the departed to have prayers, liturgies, and alms made on their behalf? For nothing of those things which we lend to God perishes entirely, but it is repaid by Him with the greatest interest.
13. Concerning what the Prophet says, "In hell, who shall confess to you?" 15, we have said above that the threats of the All-seeing are indeed terrible; but D [the mercy of the Lord] prevails...
[Note: [original-script column: see facsimile]]
[Variæ Lectiones: * Edit. adds 'sincerity' or 'addition'.]
[Notæ: (2) "Confer to further..." is discovered in the Apophthegmata Patrum which the illustrious Cotelerius edited, vol. 1, Eccles. Mon. Gr. on Macarius. Leo Allatius... [index: entries preserved]]
A these, His ineffable philanthropy. For indeed, after the Prophet had spoken these things, there occurred by all means in Hades a confession—I mean of those among them who believed in the salvific descent of the Master. For the Life-giver did not simply save everyone, but, as has been said, those even there who believed.
Some, therefore, say that those who had believed beforehand—who are the fathers and prophets, the judges, kings with them, and toparchs, and some others of the people of the Hebrews, few in number and manifest to all—[they say that these attained salvation]. B To these things we shall respond to those who think this way, that it is neither a gift nor any wondrous and paradoxical thing for Christ to save those who have believed; since He alone is the just Judge, and everyone who has believed in Him shall not perish. Therefore, it was necessary for all these to be saved and to be set free from the chains of Hades by the descent of God and Master. And that which also happened by His providence.
But those, in my opinion, who have been saved by the grace of philanthropy alone are all those who had a most pure life C and performed every excellent action, living strictly, temperately, and chastely, yet did not grasp the pure and divine faith, not having been trained in it at all, but remaining entirely untaught. The provider of all and Master drew these to Himself; He caught them with divine nets. And He inclined them to believe in Him, casting divine rays upon them and showing them the light of truth. For He who is compassionate by nature D did not endure that their labors should turn out to be in vain. For they had possessed a most demanding life, laborious and narrow beyond measure; having become masters of the passions, and having simultaneously spurned pleasures, having practiced every kind of poverty, and again temperance with vigil, and simply every excellent work—not piously, indeed, but nevertheless having carried them through, worshipping the highest providence as they thought, most excellently, yet mistakenly. There are some, however, who grasped the divine glory of the all-powerful Trinity, weakly and dimly; yet they worshipped, nevertheless. Others said that the Word was made flesh [alt-version omitted]
and holy passions, and his resurrection; A others [spoke of] the birth from the Virgin, and declared her name beforehand—for he says that Mary is the name of the girl. Again, others recounted all the supernatural miracles performed by Christ: those for the dead, for the lame and the mute, for the lepers, for the deaf, and for those with fevers, for the paralytics and for those possessed by demons, for those suffering from dropsy, and for those with withered hands; they spoke of his walking upon the sea, the blessing of the loaves and fishes, the changing of water back into wine, [the healing of] the woman with the issue of blood and the bowed woman—proclaiming these things together with many others. The divine power of the Word, B I say, did not suffer these to fall into destruction, nor did it allow the reward for deeds rightly done to be lost; for that portion of time which he has granted, as we have said before, does not pass into obscurity; but, having been preserved, it is returned to all those who have lived well, with an increase in measure. But those who have led a shameful life, and have done nothing at all that is good, possessing not even a seed or a fruit, but having fallen away in every possible fashion—in life, in speech, and in faith—and not having been irrigated by the divine rain from heaven, have brought forth no sprout at all. For they did not sow any seed, as I was saying, nor did they bloom when the true sun of glory shone, because they were utterly sterile. C Christ was of no benefit to these at all; nor, as I think, did he raise them up with him when they had fallen, as they were entirely unworthy of salvation. Indeed, I do not believe they even believed in him. For the exaltation of darkness, the first dragon whom they had served from their earliest youth, had blinded their minds and the spiritual eyes of their hearts, so that, as the oracle says, seeing they might not see, and understanding they might not understand. Yet all the others who had possessed a seed blossomed when the light of the sun appeared, D and they sprouted when the rain was sent down. See to what point our discourse has brought us, that we might, with God’s help, loosen and clarify a matter that was almost entirely hidden; and this not by delivering a formal judgment—for our unworthiness does not permit this—but by indulging in reasons and conjectures, as charity demands. These, then, as I believe, are they to whom Christ brought salvation in Hades.
A 14. Thus it is shown, through Christ’s cooperation, that a confession occurred even in Hades. We say this, not to overturn prophecy—far be it!—but to make it plain that the Lord, who exceeds all goodness, is overcome by His own philanthropy. Just as in the case of the saying, "Nineveh shall be overturned," and yet it was not overturned, for goodness conquered the severity of the sentence. And in the case of Hezekiah: "Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live," 17 and yet he did not die. And in the case of Ahab: "I will bring evils," 18 and yet He did not bring them, but said: "Did you see how Ahab was pricked to the heart? Wherefore I will not bring the evils in his days." 19 Here too, goodness again prevailed over the sentence, as it has in very many other judgments, and it will always prevail until the final retribution, when the market of this life shall be closed and the time for help will no longer exist. Now, however, is the time for business, the time for exchange, the time for labor, running, and toil; and blessed is he who has not flagged, nor grown weary in hope; but more blessed is he who has labored both for himself and for his neighbor.
B 15. For this more than anything delights and gladdens the merciful Lord: that each person should hasten to the help of his neighbor. The merciful One both wills and desires this, that we may all mutually benefit one another, both while we are living and after death. For otherwise He would not have given us the starting-point of making, at the time of the bloodless sacrifice, a remembrance of those who have preceded us, and again, the third, the ninth, and the fortieth days, and annual commemorations and rites—things which the Catholic and Apostolic Church, and her God-gathered and most pious people, hold firmly and inviolably against all gainsaying, had this not been straight in His sight. For surely, if the matter were a mockery, C and profitless and useless, when so many God-bearing holy patriarchs, Fathers, and teachers had appeared, one of them would have launched an effort to stop the error. But no one of them ever deemed it fit to overturn this; rather, they have confirmed it, and as the days go by, the practice grows and increases, receiving addition upon addition.
16. It is therefore necessary to mention other histories in addition to these. Therefore, Gregory the Dialogist, the bishop of Elder Rome, a man, as all know, famous both in holiness and knowledge, to whom, they say, when he was officiating, a heavenly and divine angel served as a fellow-officiant. This man, while he was walking along the paved road, stopping on purpose, offered up fervent prayers to the soul-loving Lord for the forgiveness of the sins of the King Trajan; and straightway, by a voice...
A divinely sent to him, he heard these words: "I have heard your prayer and I grant forgiveness to Trajan; but do not henceforth bring prayers to me for the impious." And that this is genuine and beyond reproach, the whole East and West bear witness. Behold, this is superior to the case of Falconilla. For she was the cause of no other evil, whereas he had brought about a bitter death for many martyrs.
17. Marvelous are you, O Master, and marvelous are your works; and we glorify your ineffable compassion, because you always incline toward the humanitarian, and grant to your servants the occasions for brotherly love, and for a sure faith and hope in you. And you taught us through your servants to perform good deeds on behalf of one another—expiations and burnt offerings, hymns and psalmody and prayers—not in vain or for nothing. For you are unerring and easily entreated, and to all who offer anything for your glory you repay with a thousandfold return; and nothing at all that is done in your name is useless. B
18. Therefore, let no one, Brothers and Fathers, think that whatever is offered to God with faith does not bring back a manyfold return, both to him who offers and to those for whose sake they are presented. For just as oil, or other holy unguent, the one who wishes to anoint a sick person first partakes of the unction himself—that is, the one who anoints—and then afterwards anoints the afflicted one; so too, everyone who struggles for the salvation of his neighbor first benefits himself, then the neighbor. For God is not unjust so as to forget his work, according to the divine Apostle. C
19. Athanasius again, the Great, in his discourse on those who sleep D ... let it be so, then, and [that of the] King of kings. And Cyril the most wise and Bishop of the city of the Alexandrians, in his discourse entitled, "Against those who dare to say that one ought not [to pray] for the...
those who have fallen asleep in faith," whose beginning is: "Those who direct the eyes of their own mind"—speaking in his most harmonious discourse, says this: "Even if he who has died in piety be deposited in the air, do not refuse to invoke Christ God, and to kindle oil and wax at his tomb. For these things are acceptable to God, and bring from Him a great reward; for oil and wax are as a burnt offering, but the divine and bloodless sacrifice is an expiation; and kindness toward the poor is an addition to every good reward. Let the purpose, therefore, of him who makes the offering for the one who has fallen B asleep, be as follows: when one has an infant child, and it is altogether inarticulate and weak, and then it happens that this child is sick, he brings candles and incense with oil into the divine temple with faith, and he offers these as a burnt offering on behalf of the child—not that the child itself grasps and offers these, as is the case with renunciations and covenants in divine regeneration. Consider, in such a way, that he who has died in the Lord also holds and offers the candles and the oil, and all things that are offered for his redemption. And thus, by the grace of God, the intent of the one who acts with faith will not be in vain. For the God-inspired apostles, and the ministering teachers, and the Spirit-bearing Fathers, having been, C as much as is allowed, in the possession of the divine, and having in some measure partaken of His ecstatic power, have with divine mouth and in love for God decreed the liturgies, and prayers, and psalmody, and annual memorials of those who have gone before, which even until now, by the grace of the man-loving God, increase and are multiplied from the risings of the sun unto the settings, and the north, and the south, to the glory and praise of the Lord of lords and King of kings."
20. Then the adversary says: "If these things are so, all will be saved, and no one will fail." Well said, and would that it were so! For this is the very thing which the all-good Lord thirsts for, and wills, and seeks, and desires, so that no one may fail of His divine gifts. For did He prepare D the rewards and crowns for the angels? Did He come upon earth for the sake of saving the heavenly intelligences, and was He incarnate immaculately from the Virgin, and did He become mortal, and did He taste of passions and death, so that He might save the heavenly minds? Is He going to say to the angels, "Come, you blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you"? You who contradict cannot say this. But since He has suffered all things for the sake of man, so also has He prepared all things. For who, in making a banquet, and inviting one's friends, does not wish for all to have come and to have been filled with his own good things?
For why did He prepare the feast, if not to welcome his own kin as friends? And if this is an earnest concern for us, what shall we say of the magnificent God, who alone is by nature exceedingly good and a lover of mankind? He who, in dispensing and giving, rejoices and exults more than he who receives, and thus secures for Himself the greatest salvation. A
21. Consider this, therefore, anyone who disputes the things said: that if any man has gathered a small leaven of virtue, but has not managed to bake it into bread—though he intended to do so, yet could not, by reason of sloth, or negligence, or cowardice, or the putting off from day to day—and is unexpectedly caught or "reaped" B before he expects, he shall not be forgotten by the just Judge and Master. Rather, the Lord will raise up for him, after his death, his kin, and next of kin, and friends, and will direct their minds, and draw their hearts, and incline their souls toward the upbringing and assistance of this man; and they will hasten, moved by God, and with the Master touching their hearts, to fulfill the things left undone by the departed. C But he who has led a wicked life, entangled throughout with thorns and full of unclean matters, who never let his conscience guide him, but remained shamelessly and indifferently stuck in the filth of pleasures, performing all the lusts of the flesh and caring nothing at all for his soul, having entirely carnal thoughts, and having thus reached the end of his life: to him no one will reach out a hand. Rather, all things concerning him will come to pass in such a way that he will not be helped at all by a spouse, or children, or brothers, or relatives, or friends, because God does not even account him as anything.
22. For my part, and for whoever is a friend to me, may it be that, if possible, I might assist myself, and leave no duty unfulfilled. But if, by the duty not being fulfilled, death should overtake me, may the Lord, who is rich in mercy, be willing to incline my relatives and next of kin, and to inflame their spirits and hearts, so that they may assist me most readily through good and God-pleasing works, and if I have, as a human, left any duty unfulfilled, they may fulfill it on my behalf after death. Grant, O Lord, who art the God of wonders and the provider for the needy, that at Thy coming nothing—whether small or great—may be found lacking of what pertains to me, or to any of those who trust in Thee. For so does that god-uttered Chrysostom, whom I mentioned above, clearly teach and cry out, so that I may again touch upon his most excellent sayings: "If," he says, "you have not succeeded while living in this life D
in composing your soul in every part as was right, at least at the end of your life command and order that after your decease your A goods be sent on to you, and that they be for your relief through good works, I mean through alms and offerings. Thence you might reconcile the Redeemer; for these things are acceptable and useful to Him." And again, in another place: "Write," he says, "in your own testament, along with your children and kinsmen, the Lord also as a co-heir. Let the document possess the name of the Judge, and let there be no lack of remembrance of the poor; and I myself am surety for these." We do not, therefore, give grounds and excuses for anyone while alive not to perform alms, but rather to save these up for after death; for this would be entirely strange, profane, and alien to the divine law. But it is also most beautiful and pleasing to God, and in every way acceptable, that every god-fearing and Christ-loving man should purify himself through all kinds of good works, abstaining from all impurity, and holding fast to the luminous commandments of God, so that when he has arrived at the end, he may B say with confidence to the Lord: "My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready; and thus he may joyfully go to meet the inviting and urging angels." But this is for few and rarely, according to the word of the Lord, since "few," He says, "are those who are being saved." Although the Wisdom of all did not say this simply, but as one might say, wonderingly, that "few are those who are being saved," henceforth we, knowing that it is very difficult for anyone to be found of the first rank, necessarily bring in the second, adhering to the Apostolic and Patristic statements, so that the departed also may be benefited by the goodness of God, and brotherly love may be increased, and the hope of the resurrection may be strengthened, and prayer toward God may be fortified, and the gathering to the divine temples may be more fervently multiplied, and charity toward the poor may be broadened.
C 23-24. Behold in how many ways this matter is profitable and beneficial, and from what a number of reasons the benefit of the departed comes; for it becomes an occasion for the salvation of those who have been enumerated. For if you take away the cause, it is necessary that those things which follow it are also taken away. For what necessity would persuade those of faint heart to arise and perform this, unless they have confidence that they will benefit their own? And the portions of the poor written down in testaments will cease, and along with these the liturgies for the dead, and the hymns and psalmody, and the fortieth-day and third-, ninth-, and annual remembrances, which were not devised by the teachers in vain.
Far be it from us, therefore, to think anything of the sort, or to omit any of these.
25. But if any should object regarding the strangers and the poor, saying that they possess no one to struggle on their behalf, and are unable to leave behind their share in liturgies or charitable distributions: “What then,” he says, “of these? Because they are destitute, and are foreigners and disregarded, and have no one to share their labor, will they fall short of salvation? Is God then unjust, that He will give to him who has, but will provide nothing to him who has not?” Away with such a thought, whoever you are, for it is a thing most absurd. For God is indeed just and Lord; or rather, to speak more truly, He is Justice itself, and Wisdom, and Goodness, and Subsistent Power. Therefore, in His justice, He will measure out abundantly to the destitute; by His wisdom, He will supply the things that were lacking; by His power, He will break the strong and strengthen the weak; and by His goodness, He will save the work of His own hands, unless someone is openly a man of reprobate wickedness and has cast off the right faith, so that the left-hand scale B sinks down heavily by reason of its weight. For men taught by God say that the actions of men are weighed as if in a balance at the final breath of life; and if the right-hand scale exceeds the other, it is manifest that the person will expire among the angels on the right. If, however, the momentum on both sides is equal, the philanthropy of God prevails entirely. But as those who speak of God say, even if the balance should incline somewhat to the left, even then the mercy of God will supply what is lacking. Behold, there are three divine judgments of the Lord: the first is just, the second is philanthropic, and the third is more than good. Then from these follows the fourth, whenever wicked actions weigh down the scale too heavily. Alas, brethren, for this one also is absolutely most just, ordaining only what is just for those who are judged.
26. But if some should object regarding blessed Basil, the luminary of the world, saying that he said: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked. C A dead man is not brought forward for a sacrifice. Bring a living sacrifice, he says. Can you welcome the king’s purple-clad courtiers with the remnants from your table? For he who brings from that which is leftover is not acceptable. But you, do you not hesitate to offer to the Benefactor those things that have been left over to you after the passage of your life?” To this we answer that Great Basil speaks and teaches rightly; but I would have you observe to whom he addresses his discourse. It is, of course, to the avaricious, to the rapacious, to men alien to every covenant of humanity and mercy, as he himself testifies when he says: “We are speaking to a stony heart.” And: “Because he D
A lives a time, indulging in his way of life and dissolving in luxury, he does not even deign to look upon the poor. And when you have died, what wage is owed for your labor?” And again, that “The house of my neighbor casts a shadow over me,” and that “The covetous man respects neither time nor recognizes boundaries, but like fire, he seizes and consumes everything, and like a rushing river, he sweeps away with his force whatever stands in his path,” and other things similar to these, which all who have diligently pored over the most holy book of this man know to have been pronounced against those who not only have bestowed nothing upon the poor but have even snatched away what they had, the discourse is focused.
27. And let no one say: “And where, pray, is such a man to be found, flourishing in wealth and not pitying the poor?” Truly, he is indeed found, just as it has been said before in many other times, in which also in the times of the celebrated and most holy John the Merciful B, the man who passed from heartlessness to complete mercy and holiness, Peter the former tax collector was found. For it is recorded in the book of his most blessed life, that when he had once fallen into an ecstasy and beheld his own deeds being weighed, he is said to have seen a loaf of fine bread on the right pan of the balance, which he himself had C in anger thrown like a stone at the face of a certain poor man; by which vision this blessed Peter was shown to have arrived at the highest godliness.
28. Behold, therefore, it is known beyond doubt toward what kind of people the great Basil prepared his discourse. For a famine, both intense and great, had occurred at that time; and while the rich, overcome by parsimony, held back their wealth, the poor, oppressed by want, were perishing from starvation. Therefore, this divine Shepherd opened the storehouses of those who possessed them, with his sharp and piercing—and at the same time most astonishing—words. For if he had not shown them this, the poor would not have been fed, nor would the rich have been bent toward mercy. And such were his words.
29. But let us strive as much as we are able, so that
A in that horrific and dreadful judgment, or rather in the second coming of our Judge, we may not be accused by our own kin on the grounds that we neglected what was owed to them—especially by those who had received commissions and deposits from them. For let no one imagine that at that dreadful gathering, there will be no recognition of one another. Most certainly, everyone will recognize their neighbor, not by the shape of the body, but by the discerning eye of the soul. From where, you ask, do we prove this? Hear the Lord Christ, who clearly teaches this in the parable of the poor Lazarus; for it says, “The rich man lifted up his eyes and recognized the beggar Lazarus sitting in the bosom of the patriarch Abraham,” B and likewise Abraham also recognized him. And let no one say that because this is a parable, the point is unproven. For the divine parables of our Savior are of things that endure, things that can happen, and things that have been clearly demonstrated.
30. Furthermore, John Chrysostom says this: “We shall recognize not only those whom we knew here, but also those we have never seen. For you have never seen Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob, nor the patriarchs, nor the prophets, nor the apostles, nor the martyrs; yet, when you see them at that universal and terrible assembly, you will recognize them and say: Behold Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and all the rest of the patriarchs. Behold Peter and Paul, and all the apostles. Behold David the ancestor of God, and the throng of the prophets. C Behold the forerunner John, and Stephen the first martyr, and the multitude of the saints.” Then again, Basil, who is great in divine matters, speaking to the greedy, says: “Will you not set the judgment seat of Christ before your eyes? When those whom you have injured will surround you on all sides and follow you with cries. For wherever you turn your eyes, you will perceive clear images of your wickedness. Here orphans, there widows; elsewhere the poor whom you have treated badly, the servants whom you have lacerated with lashes, the neighbors whose spirits you have offended,” and so on.
31. Blessed Ephrem, who was most accurately initiated into the second coming of Christ, teaches likewise: D “Then,” he says, “children will condemn their parents, because they did not perform good works. And the miserable will see those they know at that hour; and when they see some of them placed on the right, they will separate from them and lament their final farewell.” And again, the one who derives his title from theology says: “Then I shall behold Caesarius, radiant, glorious, and joyful, just as you appeared to me in a dream, most beloved of brothers.” Finally, Athanasius, in life
A and doctrine clear, and column of the Church, speaks in this manner concerning those who have died in the Lord: “And this too God has granted to those who will be saved, that until the general resurrection they may dwell and rejoice together in spirit, awaiting the divine benefits that await them. Sinners, on the contrary, are deprived even of this consolation, because they have no means of recognizing one another. But in that general theater, just as the actions of all will be laid bare, so too will the faces of all be known and visible to all, until the final separation of all is made; and everyone will be sent to the place which he has prepared for himself. The righteous will indeed be with God and with one another; but the sinners, in outlandish places, even if they are with one another, yet will be so without recognition. For they are deprived, as was said before, even of such consolation.”
B 32. But what shame will there be for those who are put to shame, if they are not manifest to all? For then the shame is grievous and greatest, when one both recognizes and is recognized by another. For everyone who is ashamed, feels shame before those who have known him; since for one who acts among those who are unknown, there is little need of shame when he is affected by ignominy. That we shall therefore all recognize one another is entirely beyond doubt and controversy. And then the conviction of all those who have lived improperly will take place before the eyes of everyone.
33. Alas, then, to all who are like me; and woe, to use the words of the divine Ephraim, to those who are allotted C the left-hand position. But blessed and thrice-blessed are those whom the Master will place on his right. May we all who have kept the orthodox faith be deemed worthy to hear the blessed voice [*] which he will cause them to hear, and to be filled with all those good things whose beauty no eye of mortals has seen, nor have ears heard at all, nor has the mind ever contemplated. Amen. So be it, life-giving Master, through the intercessions of your all-pure Mother, and of your incorporeal and venerable minds, and of all your saints from all ages who have been well-pleasing to you, O Word. Amen.
[*] Matth. xxv, 34.
VARIE LECTIONES. R. 1, Colb. Regius alter: Quos a dextris Dominus collocabit, et regni cœlorum fieri compotes concedet; quod et nos adipisci contingat munere et clementia Domini nostri Jesu Christi, cum quo sit Patri et Spiritui sancto, gloria, majestas, et honor, nunc et semper, et in sæcula. Amen.
598 ADMONITION ON THE EPISTLE CONCERNING CONFESSION
A I received the Epistle concerning confession and the power of binding and loosing, inscribed under the name of John of Damascus, from England, sent by that man of distinguished learning, the illustrious Thomas Gale, Dean of York, who also kindly sent me the Latin translation which he himself had prepared, to be published together with the text. I shall first speak of the subject of this little work, and then I shall prove that my Damascene is not its author.
The epistle we present answers someone who had inquired by what right monks, who were not presbyters or priests, received the confessions of the faithful and reconciled them by pronouncing absolution. Although such a custom did not take root among the Latins, it is certain that it prevailed among the Greeks, and the author confesses that it is attested to in the books of the divine ascetics. We do not today have at hand the records that he himself had consulted. But to omit what is not clearly or distinctly narrated, and what is read in the sixth Anastasian question, Nicephorus, Patriarch of Constantinople, in a canonical epistle where he responds to the 16th question, *On orthodox presbyters*, or even to Hilarion and the monk Eustathius, as to whether they had the power to impose censures of penance, declares this: "Since the inquiry indicates, if one who does not have the priesthood should give [absolution] in the absence of a priest, according to the faith of the one approaching, it is not unreasonable for a simple monk to also..." For since the interrogation suggests whether one who is not a priest can impose penance where a priest is not present, according to the faith of the one who approaches, there is nothing discordant in a simple monk granting the censure of penance.
Wherefore, in the ninth act of the eighth synod, Theodorus the Protospatharius declared before the Fathers that he had confessed a perjury against holy Ignatius of Constantinople to a certain distinguished Stylite monk, and had undergone the penance enjoined by him up to that day: "And I confessed the sin, and I received the penances, and I keep these up to this day." Emperor Romanus Lecapenus, finding himself bound by a similar crime of perjury, having summoned three hundred monks from everywhere, recited all his sins from a scroll while those present heard them, and as all the monks gave their absolution, he soon obtained communion. The uncertain continuator of the history of Constantine Porphyrogennetis relates this. John of Antioch, patriarch, who was writing at the end of the eleventh century, in his epistle *Against donations made to monasteries by laymen*, asserts that for four hundred years, and especially since the rise of the Iconoclastic heresy, when Leo the Isaurian and his son Copronymus particularly vexed the monks, the monastic order had been raised to such honor "that even the confessions and declarations of sins, and the penances and absolutions for them, were transferred to monks," as we see happening even now. B Yet this custom still flourished among the Greeks in the thirteenth century. For Baldwin, the Latin Emperor of Constantinople, in an epistle *To all Christians throughout the world*, among other things charges the schismatics with this: "This is a race which deems all Latins not worthy of the name of men, but of dogs, whose blood it is considered almost a merit to shed, nor do they give satisfaction by any penance, these lay-monks, in whose hands, with the priests removed, the entire authority of binding and loosing consists."
I find this perturbation of ecclesiastical discipline prohibited by canon 44 of the *Nomocanon*, which Cotelier published in Volume I of *Monumenta Ecclesiæ Græcæ*. For it holds thus: "He who receives confessions must be either a secular priest or a monastic presbyter; let him not receive a monk (a simple one, at least)." Perhaps to this contributes what Balsamon declares in his exposition of the Carthaginian canon, that those consecrated, or monastic priests, do wrong by receiving confessions without C the permission of the bishop, and much more so those who are not priests. From this law he does not exempt even the heads of monasteries. I omit his response to the 19th question to Mark, which can be seen in the *Jus Græco-Romanum*.
More distinctly, Nicephorus Chartophylax disapproves of and opposes this abuse in an epistle to the aforementioned Theodosius, which is held on page 342 of the *Jus Græco-Romanum*: "But as for monks who are not priests," he says, "receiving the thoughts of some, and binding and loosing, let them know that they do this uncanonically." "Monastic priests, who receive the reasonings or confessions of others, binding and loosing, let them know that they do this against the canons. For the holy Fathers do not even want priests themselves to reconcile penitents without the command of the local bishop, as the sixth and other canons of the Carthaginian synod declare. Now, however, I do not know how such a constitution is despised." But we report what is written.
Furthermore, in a fragment of another, if I am not mistaken, epistle to the same Theodosius, *On the power of binding and loosing*, which exists in Latin in the *Bibliotheca Patrum*, it says again: "The power of binding and loosing was commanded to the pontiffs themselves by our most clement God. For He says to Peter: 'Whatever you bind shall be bound, and whatever you loose shall be loosed.' Whence formerly it was fitting for all to approach the pontiffs themselves, and to disclose their secrets to them; and thus to make either renunciation or disavowal. I am ignorant, however, how it happened that these things are less observed: although I suppose that the pontiffs, fatigued by the tedium of business and the turbulence of a frequent multitude, transmitted this task to the monks, that is, to those who are truly proven and may be useful to others. For they allowed nothing to the inexperienced and unlearned," etc. This is that Nicephorus, whom
they say, wrote in the ninth century; but I have discovered nothing certain regarding his age. Besides his opinions and those of John of Antioch, the author of the Epistle offers this other reason why any monks, although they were not priests, were accustomed to reconcile sinners once their confessions had been heard. It was, of course, that because of the frequent schisms and heresies which their bishops and presbyters repeatedly embraced, and also on account of their ignorance and disorderly conduct—for which they should have been deprived of every ecclesiastical rank and authority according to the canons—the people thought it better to go to the monks, from whom, as being more spiritual, they might learn the method and precepts for changing their lives. A Although the writer of the Epistle says that the power of remitting sins was transferred from bishops and presbyters, he does not judge them to be properly and entirely deprived of it on account of a poorly ordered life, nor does he acknowledge that it is lawful for a monk, not adorned with any priestly rank, to approach for the sake of reconciliation, except by custom alone. Nay, he rather teaches that priests alone can remit sins: *For it is granted to the ministers of sacred rites alone*. However, he confines this only to those who are instructed in the necessary gifts for this office; those who by knowledge, upright conduct, ardent charity, and fervent prayers to God are fit and suitable for calling a sinner back to a better life. For a formula of absolution is pronounced in vain only with the lips if the confessor, acting as another physician, does not first exert every effort to heal the wounds inflicted upon the soul: if he does not, as an advisor, guide the sinner to sincere conversion; and if he does not ultimately procure, by his own prayers offered to God, the reconciliation of that person as if he were a mediator and intercessor, taking upon himself the sins of the penitent, which he expiates together with him. B For the confessor ought to perform these tasks, not as a judge alone, but so that he may truly be *pneumatikos*, or "Spiritual" (for by this name the Greeks designate a confessor). All of which are described at length by the author of the Epistle, and can never be sufficiently impressed upon the ministers of the Church. Although the passage which he subjoins at the end regarding a former master of his—who, even though he was not a priest, he claims truly possessed the power of binding and loosing on account of his exceptional virtues and gifts of soul—scarcely admits of a kindly interpretation, just as he does not hesitate to concede the same power in turn to similar monks.
But our Damascene certainly did not hold this opinion, he who, in his book *On Heresies*, reports this among the errors of the Massalians: that while they displayed an ascetic life, they would promise those who were guilty of various crimes and who approached them *without the authority of the priests* (ἄνευ ἱερέων αὐθεντίας) that they would be cleansed of every stain of sin. C Furthermore, John of Antioch does not believe that that custom—which we are discussing—is older than Copronymus, and therefore he does not believe it to be Damascene’s; but the author, on the contrary, asserts that it was attested by the ascetics who lived long before the year 600; indeed, he insinuates that it began from the age of Saint Pachomius, from the time when he received the rule and habit of the monks from an angel: which is also what the monks were claiming in the twelfth century, in the time of Balsamon.
Truly, it does not seem possible that John of Damascus, who flourished during the eighth century, would cite the ancient Fathers as witnesses to that abuse, since in the seventh century, at least by the middle of it, Anastasius the monk, the Sinaite, in his oration *On the Holy Synaxis*, acknowledges no others as receivers of confessions except priests: *Confess your sins to Christ through the priests* (Ἐξομολόγησαι Χριστῷ διὰ τῶν ἱερέων τὰς ἁμαρτίας σου). That indeed this Anastasius wrote in the seventh century, and was therefore not a different person from him who wrote *The Guide* (*Onygos*) against the Acephali, I infer from his same homily on the sixth Psalm, in which he not only reveals himself to be more recent than the Emperor Maurice, but indeed, in the very place where he speaks of him, D he signifies that he is dwelling in a region which was no longer subject to Christian princes, but rather to Mohammedans, when he uses these words: *In those things which happened in our age under Maurice the emperor of the Christians* (Ἐν οἷς καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ἡμετέρας γενεᾶς ἐπὶ Μαυριτίου τοῦ τῶν Χριστιανῶν βασιλέως). For he would have added the word "Christians" in vain, had not the infidels, and indeed the Saracens, then taken possession of Palestine, in which he was delivering his orations. For the fact that the same author is of both those homilies is recognized not only from the conformity of the name, but also from the consistency of style and diction. And yet Eutychius of Alexandria relates in his *Annals* that Anastasius, who delivered that homily on the sixth Psalm, was that Baanes who, when he had defected from Heraclius at the time the Saracens were invading Syria, fearing the punishment for his treason, took the name of Anastasius and professed as a monk on Mount Sinai. Whence it is further gathered why the Mohammedan Arabs are censured by Anastasius in *The Guide*. [index: entries preserved] And again, because of the agreement between both homilies which I mentioned, I was deterred from even suspecting that the one which is *On the Holy Synaxis* could be attributed to John of Damascus because of the authority of the Palatino-Vatican codex no. 269. But John, the prefect of the monastery of Raithu, testified much more clearly than Anastasius—in the same seventh century—that the priest alone enjoys the power of remitting sins, in a scholion on these words of the fourth grade of John Climacus: *To the confession of sins, without which no one will obtain any remission*. For he says, "We are obligated to confess sins simply, by the necessity of the divine command, as is evident from the apostolic traditions and the rules proposed by them to the Catholic Church through the Holy Spirit, holding whose canons and institutes, we are deemed worthy to receive indulgence and remission by confessing our sins to GOD’S PRIESTS, according to their precept." These things truly prove that the masters of the spiritual life, older than Damascene, were not only ignorant of, but would rather have disapproved of that perverse custom by which monks, who were not priests, reconciled sinners once their confessions had been heard. Moreover, I will never concede that this work of John of Raithu was unknown to John of Damascus. Therefore, my opinion regarding the author of the Epistle is this: that he was neither Syrian nor Palestinian, but from another region that was subject to the Byzantine patriarch: because it is established by no open record that the Eastern Christians tolerated this perturbation of ecclesiastical order, as much the Catholics as the Nestorians and Jacobites; since from the testimonies which were brought forward at the beginning of this admonition, we hold it for certain that it prevailed among the Greeks and the Asians.