About the death of a brother

Two books “On the Death of a Brother” (378 or 379) by St. Dedicates Ambrose of Milan to his beloved elder brother Satyr. In the first book, the saint mourns the death of a loved one, depicts his Christian virtues and thanks God for having such a brother. The words were spoken at the burial of Satyr. In the second book, “On the Hope of the Resurrection,” the saint seeks consolation in the Christian faith in the resurrection of the dead and eternal life. The words were spoken at the grave of the late brother 7 days after the funeral. The saint says that a Christian should not cry or indulge in excessive sorrow, for the soul moves from earthly things to those above. *The title of the first book in Latin is De excessu fratris Satyri. Contents Book One * Book Two. About the hope of resurrection Now we, dear brothers, performed a sacrifice, an immaculate and godly sacrifice, for my lord and brother Satyr. I remembered that he was mortal, and I was not deceived in that, but grace abounded. So, it is fitting for me not to complain, but rather to thank God, for I have always wished that if any disturbances threatened either the Church or me, they would mainly fall on me and my house. Thank God that during this general fear, when everyone fears barbaric advances, the sadness of everyone ended with my own, and what I feared for everyone turned to me alone. And may God please that my sorrow be a common atonement. Although, as far as such a brother is concerned, there was nothing more dear and pleasant to me in the world, but the public benefit exceeds my own. If someone asked him about this, he would rather die for others than live for himself; for this is why Christ died in the flesh for everyone, so that we might learn to live not only for ourselves. At the same time, I cannot be ungrateful to God; it is more appropriate to rejoice that you had such a brother than to regret that you lost him; for this is a gift, and a gift is a debt. So, while it was possible, I used the value entrusted to me, but the one who determined the pledge took it again. Locking yourself in a given pledge and lamenting that it has been returned means the same thing. In both cases, faith is doubtful and salvation is in danger. Is it fair to refuse money and is it pious not to make a sacrifice? For the moneylender can be deceived. The creator of nature and the lender - no way. And therefore, the greater the growth, the more pleasant it is to use. Therefore, we cannot be ungrateful towards our brother: for he returned what is common to all by nature; on the contrary, he deserved what is a work of special grace. Who will deny a common destiny? Or should we sympathize with the taking away of our own pledge, when for our consolation the Father gave His only begotten Son to die for us? Who will think of himself that he should be delivered from the state of death, when he is not free from the fate of birth? The mystery of great piety is that Christ was not delivered from bodily death, but being the Lord of nature, he did not renounce the law of the flesh he took upon himself. And I inevitably need to die, but he didn’t need to. He who spoke of the servant: If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? Couldn’t he himself remain like this if he wanted; but if he lived forever, he would take away the importance from himself, and the sacrifice from me. So, what greater consolation can there be for us than that Christ also died in the flesh? And why should I mourn my brother when I am sure that such piety cannot perish? Why should I mourn more than others for the one whom you all mourn? My own sadness is dissolved in the general one, and especially since my tears give nothing, but yours confirm faith and bring comfort. The rich weep, and by your weeping you prove that abandoned wealth adds nothing to salvation, for money cannot delay death, and the rich, as well as the wretched, are snatched away by the last day. You old people cry because you fear a similar fate for your children and, since you cannot continue your physical life, instruct your children not only in physical exercises, but in virtue. You also weep, for the end of nature is not mature old age. The poor also mourned, (and what is most precious) washed away his sins with tears. These tears are redeeming, these groans hide the sadness of death, this condolences with eternal joy smoothes over the feeling of a former illness. So, although the burial is private, the mourning is common; why this crying cannot continue forever, for everyone’s hearts were disposed towards this. Why should I mourn you, dear brother, who was taken from me as if you were everyone’s brother? For I have not lost communication with you, but only changed it, before you were not separated from me by body, but now you remain with me in spirit and will remain forever. During your treatment of us, you were not kidnapped from my fatherland, and you yourself never preferred it to me, but now you have given me another fatherland, which is why here I am beginning to no longer be a stranger or a wanderer, for the best part of me is found there. For I was never whole in myself, but in one of us there is a large part of both; both were in Christ, in whom is everything and the part of each separately. This coffin is more pleasant to me than natural earth, for in it lies the fruit not of nature, but of grace; This soulless body was my best position, for in this body with which I am clothed lies most of you. Oh, if I could devote everything to your memory, friendship and your life, and half of my years would go to you! For those who always had an indivisible parental inheritance should, it seems, have had an indivisible life time: or, at least, those who lived together should have ended their lives together. Now where will I go? Where should I go? The ox regrets the will that is similar to itself, sees its loss, and with its frequent lowing testifies to love, if there is no one with whom it is used to driving the plow: how, truly, can one not sympathize with you, brother? Can I ever consign to oblivion the one with whom I have always carried the burden of this life? You are the lowest in labor, but the most allied in love; I am not as capable in my talents as I was bearable in your patience; Out of brotherly love, you have always protected my shortcomings with your help; you were like a brother with love; diligence, like a father; care as an elder; with respect, like a junior. So, only through kinship did you fulfill many obligations towards me; therefore I lost not one, but many. No kindness was noticed in you, but your respect was obvious to everyone. You, having zealous respect for me, did not need to pretend, so you yourself did not act like that, and you could not expect it from me. But remembering the close union of brotherhood, having forgotten my position, out of immeasurable sadness, where do I rush? The apostle brings me back and, as it were, curbs my condolences, saying, as we have already heard: I do not want to leave you, brethren, in ignorance about the dead, so that you do not grieve like others who have no hope. Forgive me, dear brothers, for not all of us can say about ourselves: imitate me, as I imitate Christ; you have someone to imitate; Not everyone is capable of teaching others; it would be enough if everyone were capable of accepting the teaching! But by our crying we have committed no great sin; for not all crying is a sign of unbelief or weakness; some sadness is an action of nature, while others come from unbelief; it is necessary to both desire what you had and sympathize with what you lost. It is not only sadness that produces tears; they also flow from joy. Love also incites crying, prayer moistens the bed, and prayer, according to the prophetic word, washes the bed. Great weeping and weeping also occurred during the burial of the patriarchs. Why do tears reveal love, and not attract sadness and lamentation? I also cried, I confess, but our Lord also cried: He was about a stranger, I was about a brother; He wept for everyone in one, and I will mourn for you in all, beloved brother! The Lord shed tears as a man, for the Divinity cannot have tears: he shed tears according to the nature for which he was mournful, crucified, died and buried. About him we have now heard the prophet say: About Zion they will say: such and such a man was born in it, and the Most High Himself strengthened it. He shed tears for humanity, after whom he called Zion mother, born in Judea, descended from the Virgin, but according to the Divinity he could not have a mother, for He himself is the culprit of the mother. So in another place: For unto us a child is born; A son is given to us. In the youth is the name of age, and in the Son is the perfection of the Divinity. Came from the mother, born from the Father, but the same was born and was given. For there is one Son of God, begotten of the Father and descended from the Virgin; although it differs in order, it is similar in name, as these words mean: such and such a man was born in him, and the Most High Himself strengthened him. Man in body, but Supreme in power. God and man differ in nature, but are the same in both. One is characteristic of His nature, and the other is common to us, but in both natures one and the same and in both is perfect. So we should not be surprised, because God created both the Lord and Christ. He created Jesus, who took the name according to the flesh, as the forefather David writes about him: And about Zion they will say: such and such a man was born in it; for he is distinguished not according to the Divinity, but according to the body, not separated from the Father, but divided by office, having the same power, but separated in the sacrament of suffering. This requires many explanations to prove the power of the Father, the property of the Son, and the unity of the whole Trinity; but my intention is towards consolation, and not towards such reasoning; although the spirit is usually consoled by the power of reasoning. But it is more necessary for me to moderate my sadness than to change my inclination, so that my desires are reduced and not destroyed. It is unpleasant for me to divert my thoughts from my brother to other exercises, when this word is perceived as if to see him off, so that feelings will follow the one who departs, and so that the one reclining before my eyes will be embraced by thought. I would like to fix all my eyes on him, to remain with him with all the zeal of my spirit, to show him all kinds of affection. In the delight of the spirit, it seems to me that I have not yet lost it, for I survey it; it seems that his spirit is still in him, until I need his services, to which I have devoted my whole life. What will I repay for such favor, for such work? I, dear brother, appointed you as heir, and you left me to them; I wanted your days to exceed the number of mine, but first you parted with me. For your gifts I offered desires as a reward; now I have lost them too, but have not lost your blessings. What will I do if I accept the inheritance? What gratitude, what gifts will I bring you? Truly, nothing but tears, but maybe you don’t need them either. For while you were still alive, you forbade me to cry and assured me that it would not be death itself, but our sadness, that would be regrettable to you. Tears prevent you from spreading further, and your deeds themselves also prevent you, so that we, mourning you, do not seem to despair of your merits. And of course, you yourself also reduce the severity of this sadness; I, having worried about you before, now have nothing to fear, I have nothing that the light could steal from me. Although a sister survived, respectable in her integrity, similar in morals and talents, we both were more afraid for you, and it seemed to us that all the pleasantness of our life lay in you. It was pleasant for you to live, for you it was not disgusting to die; We both wanted to keep you alive, but you didn’t want to outlive us. When your spirit did not tremble at the imagination of such danger, how much did your thoughts become agitated at the news of your illness? We see lifeless the one with whom we hoped to be forever; Now we are sure that through your prayers you asked the holy martyr Lawrence for your departure. Oh, when you prayed not for departure, but for long-term life: of course, you could ask for yourself many years when you could ask for care. But thank you, Almighty God! For the great consolation that you favored our dear brother to return from the Sicilian and African countries, for soon after his return we lost him, and he was returned to us as if only for a meeting with his brothers. Now I have a deposit that no amount of wandering can take away from me; I have remains to embrace; I have a coffin, which I will cover with my body, and it is pleasing to God that I will die on the bones of the holy corpse. Oh, when I could also offer my body against your death! If you were pierced with swords, then I would rather give myself up to the slaughter instead of you; If I could return your outgoing soul, then of course I would offer my own. It did not help me that I drew the last breaths, that I breathed into the mouth of a dying man: I thought that either I would accept your death myself, or I would give my life to you. O unfortunate, yet pleasant, these last pledges of kissing! O poor embrace, between which the soulless body became numb and the last breath disappeared! Squeezing his hand, but was already deprived of whom he was holding; the last spirit gathered with its lips in order to be an accomplice in death, but I don’t know how this spirit became vital for me and seemed pleasant in death itself. But since I could not continue your life with my spirit, I would like that at least the liveliness of your breath would flow into my thought and my spirit would have your purity and purity. Oh, that you, dear brother, would leave me this inheritance, which would encourage me not to cry and lament, but to pleasant memories. What will I do now, having lost all the pleasures, all the amusements and all the beauties of this life? You alone were my consolation at home, and outside it - an honor and adornment, you were my judge in advice, a participant in my labors, an intercessor in business, a persecutor of sadness, a defender of my affairs and intentions, you alone bore the burden of domestic and public cares. I testify with your holy soul that in the establishment of the Church I often feared your displeasure in some way. Returning, you condemned my “slowness; So, in the priesthood you were both my judge and mentor, not leaving me to take care of household and general affairs. And I rightly attribute this praise to you, because you ruled your brother’s house without any blemish and brought honor to his priesthood. I feel that my spirit is tormented when I list your merits and virtues, but in this very torment I calm down, and although these deplorable memories renew the illness, they are also dissolved by a certain pleasure. Can I not think about you, or when can I think without tears? Can I not remember about you, or remember without some pleasant tears? What amused me when it happened, didn’t it come from you? What, I say, was it pleasant for me without you or for you without me? What do we not have in common? Almost vision and sleep were shared together. Was there any disagreement in our will? Didn't one follow the other everywhere? So almost to say, when I moved from one place to another, it was as if you, or I, were making a movement to my body. When it happened that one was without the other, then it seemed as if something was missing and the face was not cheerful, and the spirit was sad. Then the usual pleasantness and liveliness were hidden, and this separation disturbed the imagination of the illness of the absent one. It seemed so strange to everyone to be separated from us! I, not tolerating my brother’s absence and keeping him fresh in my memory, often looked for him with my eyes as if he was coming and seemed to be talking to him and seeing him; but when there was no longer any hope for that, then it seemed to me as if I, hanging my head, was dragging some kind of yoke; He walked with difficulty then, was ashamed to show himself and was in a hurry to return, because it was unpleasant to go out without him. On the contrary, when we both went out together, then there were no more footprints on the way than we had words, no more steps than conversations, and the procession did not bore us with the pleasantness of reasoning. For one hung on the lips of the other. They did not look at the road with an attentive eye, but listened to each other’s mutual reasoning, drew pleasant glances and experienced all kinds of brotherly pleasure. How I secretly marveled at your virtues. How I rejoiced that the Lord gave me a brother so chaste, so sharp and capable, so good-natured and simple, so that, thinking about your good morals, I did not hope to find sharpness in you, but seeing sharpness and ability, I did not think of being good-natured in you! But you connected both virtues with some kind of wonderful force. What we both could not determine, you alone accomplished. Prosper was glad, as I hear, that he did not think of returning what he had stolen: but he experienced the severity of one of you more than the severity of two. I paid everything, thanks for your moderation and without breaking the shame, thanks for your meekness and without complaining about severity. But who were you looking for this for? For we desired that your labors should receive the same reward as your example and instruction. Having completed everything, you have returned and the only one preferred by everyone is taken away from us, and as if you had not first given up your spirit, so that you may fulfill the duty of piety and acquire the crown of diligence and achievement, How unpleasant were the very honors of this century for us because they divided us among ourselves! We took them upon ourselves not because their radiance seemed to seduce us, but so that they would not appear as vile hypocrites, or perhaps they were given to us so that we (since you saddened us with your untimely death) alone would learn to live. I admit that the fear of my precognitive thoughts was justified when I remember everything that I wrote to you. I did not advise you to go to Africa yourself, but it would be better to leave it to someone else. My spirit was overwhelmed with extreme fear when I sent you on your journey and trusted the waves, but you finished your journey and established affairs, and, on the contrary, having boarded an old, as I heard, vessel, you entrusted yourself to the waters. For in a hurry, he abandoned caution and, wishing for our benefit, did not look at his own danger. Deceptive joy! The course of human things is unknown; we thought that our brother, who returned from Africa and was saved from shipwreck, would in no way be taken away from us, but now on earth we are experiencing the most severe shipwreck; for we see him lifeless who escaped death by swimming on the fierce sea. What amusement is left for us when beauty has disappeared and our light has gone out, in which not only our family, but also the whole fatherland found its honor? I bring you, dear brothers, my gratitude that you impute my illness to your own, that you take part in my misfortune and testify to your condolences from the whole city, from every rank and age of people. For this is not a private regret, but a kind of public debt. When you sympathize with my loss, then I have abundant fruit, I have a guarantee of your love. I would like to see my brother alive, but public duty is more kind in happiness and more pleasant in misfortune. And this is a work worthy of praise, for it is not in vain that in the Acts of the Apostles, at the death of Tabitha, weeping widows are described; also in the Gospel there are many people weeping as they see off the coffin of a dead young man; but widows mourned this Tabitha, and the whole city mourned the young man. Therefore, without a doubt, your tears will earn the patronage of the apostles; Without a doubt, I say, your crying prompted Christ to show mercy. Although He did not touch his tomb now, He accepted the soul into His bosom, and although He did not call out with a bodily voice to the deceased, He delivered him with His Divine power from the torments of death and from the attacks of the enemy, and although the deceased did not sit in the tomb, but fell asleep in Christ, although he did not argue with us, he nevertheless sees us from above and, contemplating, rejoices more. For through what we read in the Gospel we know the future, and the appearance of the present is a sign of the future. Temporary resurrection was not necessary for those who were destined for eternal life. So, why should someone return to the sad and deplorable vale of this life, about whom they should rejoice, who was removed from the coming evils and dangers? When in peacetime no one mourned Enoch, who was caught up into heaven, but moreover, the prophet praised him, as Scripture says about him: caught up, so that malice would not change his mind. This is especially true now, when in evil times life itself is doubtful. Caught up into heaven so as not to fall into the hands of barbarians; caught up so as not to see the destruction and end of the world; so as not to see the death of relatives and fellow citizens and also the desecration of holy virgins and widows, which is more regrettable than any death. So, blessed are you, brother, both because of your flourishing life and because of your timely death. For you were caught not from us, but from disasters; He lost not his life, but the coming sorrows. When you heard that an enemy was approaching Italy, then, out of pity for your own, how much would you sympathize that all our salvation lies in being surrounded by the Alpine mountains and a wall of shame is being built for us with heaps of trees! With what sadness would you learn that your relatives are in such great danger from an enemy, from an enemy inhuman, shameless and careless about salvation! It would be unbearable for you to see what we will be forced to endure, and [what is more difficult], perhaps, to see girls kidnapped, small children taken from their mother’s arms and stabbed to death with spears, bodies desecrated, dedicated to God. All this would be unbearable for you, who, with his last breath, perhaps forgetting himself, but still remembering us, admonished us to beware of the barbarian raid. This is perhaps because you foresaw your death, and you did this not out of weakness of spirit, but out of piety, and although you were weak for us, you were cheerful for yourself. When Symmachus, a noble man, represented to you that war was raging in Italy, and you were abandoning yourself to danger and into the hands of the enemy, then you answered that this is why you were coming, to be an accomplice in our disaster. So, blessed are you with such a timely death, for you are delivered from this sorrow. Of course, more blessed is the sister who, having lost your consolation, cares about her chastity, and having previously been happy with two siblings, is now immersed in sorrows: she cannot follow one, and cannot leave the other; your grave is its inn and your grave is its home. But – oh, if only this hotel were safe! Food in weeping, drink in tears, for you have fed us with the bread of tears and given us tears to drink in moderation, and perhaps even beyond measure. What can I say about myself, for whom it is not good to die, but I will not leave my sister? And I’m also reluctant to live, so as not to be separated from you? For what could be pleasant without you, in whom all of us found pleasure? Or what is the benefit of staying longer on earth, on which it was pleasant to live while they lived inseparably? Even if something could amuse us here, it cannot amuse us without you, and even if we wanted to continue our lives at some point, we would not want to be without you. All this is intolerable. For without you, a companion in life and an accomplice in my labors and positions, what can be bearable? I couldn’t even think ahead about your fall, so that it would be more bearable, my spirit was so afraid to think anything like that about it! And this did not happen because I did not know his condition, but a certain desire extinguished in me the feeling of general decay; so he thought only good things about him. When I was overcome by some serious (and, oh, mortal!) illness, then I only regretted that you were not at my bedside, and that, in accordance with the common desire of my sister, you would not have covered my eyes with your fingers. What did I want? What am I repaying? What vows are missing? What kind of service followed? Did you prepare something else, but are you forced to do something else? Now they are not burying me, but I am burying myself. O fierce eyes that could see a dying brother! O cruel and brutal hands that closed such eyes in which I saw more! O cruel shoulders that could bear such a deplorable burden, although this obedience is filled with some consolation! You, brother, all the more should have done this; I expected this service from you; Now what consolation will I accept, when you alone consoled me in sorrow, encouraged me to joy, drove away sorrow? Now I see you silent and not giving me a single kiss. Although such love resided in both of us that it was nourished more by internal zeal than by external affection, for we, with mutual friendliness, did not demand others. The strength of our kinship was so real in us that we proved mutual love not by caresses, but by inner spirit fervor, why there was no need for pretense when the very image showed mutual love; for I do not know by what image of the spirit and likeness of the body one of us was seen in the other. Who, looking at you, did not think that he saw me in you? When I congratulated someone, but if he himself congratulated you first, he said that he had already seen me, and what was said to you was considered to be said to me. What great pleasure this mistake gave me, for I had nothing to fear from your deeds and words. But when someone explained that he had announced something to me, then I, grinning with pleasure, answered: don’t tell that to your brother. For although we had everything in common, an inseparable spirit, an inseparable heart, we did not share friendly secrets, not as if we were afraid to announce them to each other, but only in order to maintain fidelity. If you needed advice on anything, this advice was always general, but it was not always a common secret. Although our friends told us that we repeated their words to each other, for the most part the fidelity of the secret was so much observed that brother did not announce it to brother. For it was a sure sign that something was not told to a stranger that was not announced to the brother himself. I confess that, being proud of such great blessings, I was no longer afraid that I might remain alive, because I considered him most worthy of life; and for this reason I now bear a blow that I cannot bear; for this wound would have been more bearable if I had thought about it in advance. Now who will give me consolation in my sorrow? Who will I share care with? Who will deliver me from the vanities of this world? You directed affairs, supervised ministers, judged the brethren, and gave rise not to quarrels, but to pious deeds. When I had to consult my sister about something, then we took you as a judge, who did no harm to anyone and, wanting to please both, maintained love and revealed his opinion, through which you attracted gratitude to yourself. When you yourself proposed something for discussion, then how pleasant was your argument? How gentle is your indignation! Your reprimands to the servants themselves did not cause almost any grief, for you treated them as brothers, and not out of passion. For our knowledge does not allow us to do this, and you yourself, brother, did not allow us to do this, promising to take revenge and at the same time wanting to moderate and soften the matter. And this was a sign of immediate wisdom, for, in the opinion of the sages themselves, the first of the blessings is to know and honor God, to love with all one’s thoughts the coveted beauty of eternal truth. The second good is to extend one’s respect to one’s neighbor from the Divine and heavenly source, which the wisest of the world have learned from our laws. For they could not take this from human teaching, except from this heavenly Divine source - the law of God. Why should I preach how reverent and respectful he was to God? Before receiving the most perfect sacraments, seeing himself in danger of shipwreck, he was not afraid of death, but of not losing the sacrament, which is why he asked the faithful to honor him with it, and he did this not out of curiosity, but in order to receive the help of his faith. So, he threw himself into the sea, not looking for any plank that had fallen away from the ship's connection for help, but looking for the weapon of one faith, with which he protected himself, and did not want any other help. It is also worth mentioning his generosity, for when the ship was destroyed, he grabbed the board not as an unfortunate, but as brave in himself, accepted the reinforcement of his virtue and was not deceived in his hope. Finally, the first one was saved from the waves and sailed to the shore, he saw his bishop, to whom he trusted himself, and seeing also his other servants who had been delivered, immediately, without regret and without asking about the loss, he sought the Church of God in order to bring gratitude and learn the eternal sacraments; for, he said, there is no greater duty than to give thanks. If not thanking a person is considered similar to murder, then how unlawful is it not to thank God? So, the task of a prudent person is to know himself and, as the sages say, to live according to nature. For what is more natural for us than to give thanks to the Creator? Look at the sky: does it not give thanks to its Creator, according to the Psalmist: The heavens proclaim the glory of God, and the work of His hands speaks firmly. The sea itself, when it is quiet and calm, is a sign of the Divine favor, while excitement shows the wrath of the highest. Are we not all rightly amazed at the grace of God when we notice that insensible nature somehow holds back the waves in a sensible way, and water recognizes its boundaries? What can I say about the earth, which, in obedience to the Divine command, supplies food to all animals and which returns the received seeds with increase and interest? So, having naturally understood with my thoughts the guilt of the Divine deed, I knew that, firstly, I must bring gratitude to my Savior; but since he was unable to repay him, he could at least have it. For such is the power of gratitude that by giving, one can have it in the heart and, having it in one heart, give back, why, in giving gratitude, he showed faith. His courage and generosity are sufficiently visible from the fact that after the destruction of the ship, despising life, he swam across the seas and crossed different countries with an invincible spirit; finally, at this very time, he did not run away from danger, but approached it, enduring need and cold, and-oh! whenever he had at least taken precautions. But in this way he is blessed that he used the strength of his body to fulfill his youthful position, so that while living he did not know weakness. With what praise shall I praise its simplicity? For it is a certain moderation of morals and sobriety of spirit. Let me talk a little more at length about someone with whom I can no longer talk. It is not useless for you to know that you are fulfilling this duty not out of some weakness, but out of reason, and you are prompted to do this not by regret about death, but by reverence for virtue: A charitable soul will be satisfied. There was such a simple-heartedness that in him, as if in a youth, immaculate simplicity, the image of perfect virtue and a certain mirror of the purest morals shone. So, enter the kingdom of heaven, for you believed the word of God, like a youth you rejected flattery, you endured insults better than took revenge; he was more inclined to complain than to flattery and deceit; disposed towards satisfaction, but not towards ambition; He is holy in modesty, so that in him shame could often be considered unnecessary rather than necessary. But the foundation of virtues is never superfluous: for modesty is not an obstacle, but a praise of office. In the very meeting of men, out of modesty, he rarely opened his lips, rarely raised his eyes and spoke; and this modesty corresponded to bodily purity. For he retained the gifts of holy baptism: he was pure in body, still pure in heart, he maintained not only the purity of the body, but also the purity of words. As for purity, which he loved so much that he did not even want to enter into marriage. And regarding this he showed himself to be so unfrank that in response to our admonitions he showed his intention to postpone rather than avoid marriage. And this alone I did not believe even to my brothers, not because of some doubt or out of modesty. Who wouldn’t be surprised by a husband, middle-aged between brother and sister, but equal in generosity, who fulfilled two of the greatest titles, for he had both the purity of a sister and the holiness of a brother, not in rank, but in virtue. So, when lust and anger give rise to other vices, then, of course, purity and mercy produce some virtues, although piety is also the beginning of all goods and the source of other virtues. What can I say about his frugality and pure desire to have something. He who keeps his own does not seek what belongs to others, and he who is content with his own does not desire what is superfluous. Why did he want to return only his own, and then not to enrich himself, but so as not to be deceived. He rightly called those who seek alien things money lovers. Since the love of money is the root of all evil, he who does not seek money escapes from vices. I did not have a magnificent table, except when I called friends, for I sought to satisfy only nature, and not voluptuousness. And of course, in regard to his possessions he was not poor, but he was poor in spirit. There is no doubt about his bliss, for he, like a rich man, did not rejoice in wealth, even, like a beggar, he considered what he had as small. Now, in conclusion of the main virtues, it is necessary to mention the parts of justice. For although the virtues are all connected to each other, each of them has a special image, especially justice. For this virtue, so to speak, is stingy and thrifty for itself, but out of common love for others, as merciless towards itself, it squanders everything it has. But there are different types of this virtue. There is another justice for relatives, another for each person, another in consideration of God’s reverence or helping the poor. So, how he treated everyone proves the goodwill of the provincial residents over whom he was in charge: they called him rather their father than a judge. What he was like between the brothers (although he showed himself to be favorable to everyone), is proved by an indivisible inheritance. For in his last words he announced that he had no intention of entering into marriage, lest he be separated from his brethren; Nor was there his will to leave his spiritual will, so as not to offend us in any way. Although he did not agree to our requests and prayers, he did not forget the poor, asking us to share as much as we considered fair. Only through this alone did he demonstrate enough evidence of the fear of God and an example of human piety. For what he gave to the poor, he entrusted to God himself: for “He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord” (Prov. 19:17) and demanding what is fair, he left not a little, but everything: For righteousness requires that one’s possessions be sold and given to the poor. For whoever “wasted gave to the poor; his righteousness endures forever” (Ps. 112:9). So, he left us as stewards, and not as heirs, for the inheritance is left to the heir, but the stewards are obligated to the poor. The words of the Psalmist now read are very fitting for him: “He whose hands are innocent and whose heart is pure, who has not sworn with his soul in vain and has not sworn falsely to his neighbor... Such is the race of those who seek Him” (Ps. 23:4, 6). Why will he “go up to the mountain of the Lord”, or “stand in His holy place” (Ps. 23:3), “who walks blamelessly, and does righteousness, and speaks the truth in his heart” (Ps. 14:2). All this gave me pleasure then, but now I remember it with annoyance and chagrin; however, all this will not pass away like a shadow, for virtue does not perish along with the body, and the end of good deeds is not the same as the end of nature, although nature itself does not perish forever, but temporarily receives a kind of rest. So, now I will mourn my husband, adorned with virtues, removed from disasters; I will mourn, I say, more according to my desire than by discussing the loss. For the very timing of death convinces one to rejoice more than to sympathize. For, according to scripture, one must leave one’s own in the general sadness. Because the prophetic words concern not just this woman, but everyone, for they were spoken to the Church. Why does the Heavenly Scripture also cry to me: do you teach this, do you instruct God’s people? Isn't everyone, like your example, a disaster for others? Or did these words not touch your ears? It is a sign of arrogant shamelessness to want to deserve what the saints themselves are not given to know. “God is no respecter of persons” (Acts 10:34). For although He is merciful, if He accepted everyone’s prayers, He would no longer act out of free will, but out of some kind of need, and no one would die, for everyone asks for it. How many do you ask for every day, or should God’s decree destroy you for your sake? Pina, why do you condole about something that cannot always be asked about? “Oh, the craziest,” he says, “of all wives! Don’t you see our grief and what has happened to us - that Zion, our mother, grieves immensely, is extremely humiliated, and cries bitterly? And now, when we all mourn and grieve, because everyone is sad, will you grieve for your one son? Ask the earth, and it will tell you that it must mourn the fall of so many born on it; for all those born from it from the beginning and others who are to come, almost all perish, and a great many of them are given over to destruction. So who should grieve more than she who has lost so many, and not you, who grieve for one?” ( 3Ezra 10:6-11 ). So, let our own sadness be absorbed by the common one! We should not sympathize with those whom we see delivered; it is not in vain that at this time we commemorate the holy souls who have been freed from bodily bonds. For, as if by some divine determination, we see pious widows dying at the same time, so that this does not reveal itself as death, but as if by some kind of journey, so that the aged purity does not fall into danger. This unpleasant memory causes me such great grief! Although sorrows always touched my heart, yet in the sorrow itself, in the very loss of blossoming actions, the general state of nature consoled me, and my sorrow, having a single object, the cruelty of a common cry, was softened by the appearance of domestic piety. I also repeat the comforting words of Holy Scripture, because it is useful to practice its sayings and commandments. How much easier is it for heaven and earth to pass away than for one trait to perish from the law? But let us listen again to the Scripture: “Therefore, now refrain from your grief, and courageously endure the loss that has happened to you. For if you recognize God’s decree as righteous, then in due time you will receive a son, and you will be glorified among wives.” ( 3Ezra 10:15, 16 ). When this is said to a woman, how much more befits a priest. When it is said about a son, it is not indecent to mention this about the loss of brothers (although if I had a son, I would no longer love him). For just as in the death of children, vain labors and vainly accepted illnesses increase sadness and despair, so in the case of brothers, habit and fellowship kindle the flame of illness. But I hear the scripture again saying: “Do not do this, but listen to my advice. For how many troubles does Zion have? Comfort yourself for the sake of Jerusalem's sorrow. For you see that our sanctuary is desolate, our altar is overthrown, our church is destroyed, our psalter is despised, our songs are silent, our joy is gone, the light of our lamp is extinguished, the ark of our covenant is plundered, our holy place is profaned, and the name that is called upon us is almost desecrated, our children are disgraced, our priests are beaten, our Levites are carried away to captivity, our maidens were defiled, our wives suffered violence, our righteous were carried away, our youths perished, our youths were in slavery, our strong men were exhausted; and what is most painful of all, the banner of Zion is deprived of its glory, because it is delivered into the hands of those who hate us. Therefore, leave your great sorrow and put aside your many sorrows, so that the Mighty One may have mercy on you, and the Most High may grant you peace and relief from your labors” (3 Esdras 10:20-24). Let the flow of our tears cease, let us submit to the means of salvation, for there must be some difference between the faithful and the unfaithful. Let those who have no hope of resurrection cry, which they are deprived of not by God’s determination, but by their own unbelief. Let there be a difference between the servants of Christ and the idolaters; let them cry for their own, whom they expect to perish forever. May their tears never cease, may their sadness be endless, like those who do not expect peace for the dead. For us, who consider death not the end of nature, but only of this life, let the event of death wipe away all our tears. When those who consider death the end of feelings and the destruction of nature have invented certain consolations for themselves, how much more do we, to whom conscience itself promises a better reward after death for good deeds. The pagans have their own consolations, for they consider death to be a relief from all evils, and, not having the fruit of life, they think as if they had no sense of evil in the world, the weight of which we constantly bear. We must be more encouraged by the reward and encouraged by consolation to be more patient, for we are not deprived, but only in advance we send those whom not death, but eternity will accept into its bosom. May the tears truly cease! If they cannot stop, then I, dear brother, will mourn you in a general cry, and I will hide my own groans under the illness of everyone. How can they stop if they pour out at every memory of your name, when habit itself, producing in me the imagination of you, renews the disease? When and in what exercises do you not introduce yourself to me? You, I say, are present and always turn around me; I embrace you with my thoughts, I see you, I talk, I kiss you; I will comprehend in the very stillness of the night and on a clear day. The very nights that during your life seemed to me the most boring, for they were an obstacle to mutual contemplation; I say that the very dream that, to mutual displeasure, interrupted our conversations, is already beginning to be pleasant to me, because it returned you to me. So, blessed are we when presence is not lacking, and care is not diminishing, and pleasantness is increasing, for death is like sleep. When in the peace of the night souls, still bound by bodily ties, can see the highest and most distant, then how much more clearly they see that, no longer having any bodily obstacles. What we could not have in life will now remain with us forever. Then not everything could be before our eyes, for mutual contemplation, hugs and kisses did not amuse us everywhere and not at all times. The imaginations of the soul were always with us, although sometimes we did not see each other; they have not disappeared even now, but are always present, and the greater the desire, the greater the multitude. So I have not lost you, dear brother, and neither death nor even time will take you away from me. The very crying, the very lamentation and tears are pleasant to me: for they muffle the heat of the soul and, as it were, the addiction is exhausted: for I cannot be without you, I cannot help but remember and remember without tears. O sorrowful days in which I see the union interrupted! O mournful nights that have lost such a good comrade and inseparable companion! Although your death is untimely, you are blessed in that you do not see yourself forced to sympathize with the loss of your brother, whose absence you could not bear, but soon returned to meet. If then you were in a hurry to drive away the boredom of my solitude and ease the thoughts that burdened my brother with sadness, all the more now should you often visit the offended spirit and soften the illness received from you. But why do I hesitate, why do I expect our speech with you to die together and be buried, as it were? Although the very image of a soulless body gives pleasure to the eyes, let us hasten to the tomb, but first in front of the people I will say for the last time, forgive me, kiss you and proclaim peace. Go first to this common house, which is most desirable to me. Prepare peace for your guest, and just as we had everything in common here, let there be nothing separate there. May you wait for me while I hasten, and help me, and, in case of my slowness, deign to call me. For we were never separated from each other for a long time: usually you visited me, now let’s go to you when you can no longer return. The very state of our lives was equal, health and illness were always common: so that when one was ill, the other also felt illness, and when one recovered, both were also healthy. How did we lose our right? Weakness was and now common, why not common death? Almighty God! I entrust to you my immaculate soul and offer my sacrifice: graciously accept the brotherly gift, the offering of the priest. In this pledge I send myself and come to You: deign to soon call such a great debtor to You. The advantages of brotherly love are obvious, and the lot of nature, adorned with virtue, is also not bad. I can bring this if I am soon forced to return the favor. Book two. About the hope of resurrection In the first book, we somewhat followed passion with the intention that with merciless medicine we would not irritate a fresh wound more than alleviate the disease. For since we were talking with our brother and had him before our eyes, it was not indecent to give some relief to the natural inclination, which feeds more on tears, is softened by crying and is stopped by delight. Because kindred love is very tender, so that it flees from everything violent, harsh and cruel: patience is tested by communication, and not by resistance. After the death of my brother, my spirit was completely enveloped in mournful glances: now, having come again to his tomb on the seventh day, a day that is a sign of future peace, it is not useless to turn my thoughts to the general broadcast of everyone so that not all feelings are occupied with the memory of my brother and, moreover, without losing respect for him, would also not leave him. And, of course, we ourselves will increase sorrow if we are completely silent about it in the present word. Why did we, dear brothers, accept the intention of comforting ourselves with a common fate and not considering it as intolerable what awaits everyone? Death is unworthy of mourning, firstly, because it is common to everyone, moreover, it delivers us from the sorrows and sorrows of this age and, like sleep, after calming down from worldly labors, restores vitality and strength. The grace of resurrection can remove all sorrow and illness when we believe that with death nothing perishes, but, moreover, it leads to incorruption and eternity. So, in a general admonition, let us show our brother our zeal and will not stray far from him, if in our word we imagine him alive in the hope of the resurrection and glory of the future age. So, first of all, we are not supposed to mourn the death of our neighbors. For what could be more obscene than to mourn what is prescribed and awaits everyone as something special? This means nothing more than to inflate the spirit beyond its condition, not to accept the general law, to deny the union of nature, to philosophize carnally and not to understand the measure of the flesh itself. What could be more obscene than not to know who you are and to desire what you cannot be? Or what is more reckless than not enduring an adventure that you already know will happen? Nature itself, with its kind of consolation, distracts us from such condolences. What illness could be so serious or such a cruel cry, in which the spirit would sometimes not have peace? The property of nature is such that although people are sometimes in deplorable circumstances, they nevertheless distract their thoughts somewhat from sadness. They say that there were certain peoples who mourned the day of human birth; on the contrary, they celebrated the day of death. For they did not foolishly think that those who entered the sea of ​​life are worthy of all regret; on the contrary, those who have left the worries of this world should rightly be greeted with joy. And we ourselves consign the birthday of the dead to oblivion, but we solemnly celebrate the day of their repose. It is not proper, therefore, to give ourselves over to grave sadness by nature, lest we thereby show that we are either appropriating to ourselves some superior exception, or denying the common destiny. For death is equal to all: one death for the poor, and the same death for the rich, “therefore, as through the crime of one there is condemnation for all men” (Rom. 5:18); therefore, if we do not turn away from the author of our birth, then let us not avoid the author of death, and let it be for us, as through one man death, through one also the resurrection, may we not flee sorrow, but may we achieve grace: “for the Son of Man came to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10); “and he came to life to be dominion over both the dead and the living” (Rom. 14:9). I fell in Adam, was expelled from paradise in Adam, died in Adam: how will he seek and save me if he does not find me in Adam, guilty of death in Adam, but justified in Christ? When it is a debt of death, the payment must be bearable; but we’ll leave that for a later discussion. Our intention is to prove that we should not grieve and sympathize with death much, for this is contrary to nature itself. They say that the Lycians have a law that commands men to put on a woman’s dress if they indulge in sadness: for, according to their reasoning, crying should not take place in a husband, and indeed, for those who, for faith, for piety, for the fatherland, for truth and virtue, need to bravely resist death, it is indecent to sympathize with something that in itself in the case is desirable. How can you avoid doing for yourself what you regret in someone else? Put aside sadness if you can, but if it’s impossible, hide it. Sadness should either be completely averted or held back. Why is it mainly not the mind, but the day that eases your illness? What time cannot atone for can be tamed by prudence. It seems to me that we act disrespectfully towards the memory of those whose loss we regret: for we would rather consign them to oblivion than to be consoled; We would rather remember with horror and sighing than with pleasantness and pleasure. When we are afraid to remember those whom we should have enjoyed imagining, we thereby prove that we despair more than we are filled with hope about the deeds of the dead and, as it were, consider them condemned rather than transmigrated to immortality. But you say, we have lost those we loved. Isn’t this what we have in common with the world itself and the elements! For we cannot keep what we have entrusted for a time forever. The earth sighs under the plows, is beaten by the rain, crushed by the storm, constrained by the frost, scorched by the sun, so that it produces annual fruits and, clothed with various flowers, takes off its decoration. How many predators does it have? But she does not regret the loss of her fruit, which she gave birth to in order to lose it; and henceforth does not deny it, although he knows that its fruits will be stolen. The sky itself does not always shine with shining stars, with which it is decorated, as it were, with some kind of crowns. It does not always shine with the rising light and turn purple with the rays of the sun, but alternately this pleasant face of the world is covered with the darkness of the night. What's nicer than light? What's nicer than the sun? But although they hide from our eyes every day, we do not regret their entry, for we hope for their return. This teaches you to have patience in your own changes. When you don’t mourn the loss of your superiors, why do you mourn about human deprivation? However, let regret be softened by patience; moderation should be maintained in misfortune, as well as in happiness. When it is absurd to rejoice immensely, is it proper to cry immensely? Direct evil is not to moderate sadness or fear death. Such immoderation led to the death of so many, armed so many with the sword, who could not bear death and wanted it, thereby revealing their madness and stupidity. For what they fled as evil, they accepted instead of a means and refuge. So, unable to bear what is inherent in nature, they fell into the opposite of this with their desire and forever moved away from those whom they wanted to follow. But this is something rare, for nature itself holds, although madness sometimes rushes to destruction. We often see this in women who publicly cry out, as if fearing that their sadness would be unknown: they put on unsuitable clothes, as if there was a feeling of illness in the clothes, they do not comb their hair and dirty their heads, and in some places they walk around in torn rags. With contented piety, she mourns her husband who retains shame and does not abandon fidelity. Then we pay due respect to the dead when they are always in our minds, when we direct our love and zeal towards them. She who lives chastely has not lost her husband, and she who has not changed her husband’s name is not widowed. So you have not lost an heir when you help a co-heir and change the fate of one who shares the fate of immortals to one who inherits perishable things. You have someone who can present you with an heir: pay the poor thing what belongs to the heir, so that he will survive not only his mother’s or father’s old age, but also his own life: you will leave more to your heir if his fate is used not for the luxury of the present, but for the redemption of the future. But we want to see those whom we have lost, for two things primarily torment us: either the desire of those whom we have lost, as I experience with my own example, or the opinion that, having lost the pleasantness of life, they have also lost the fruits of their labor. The passion of love is so tender that its illness can only be tamed, and not completely destroyed, for it seems pious to desire what is lost, while weakness is covered by the appearance of virtue. But why do you think that she should experience greater patience, who sent her dear son to wander and received the news that he had sailed many seas for the sake of war, for the sake of fulfilling an assigned position, or for the sake of trade; more, I say, to test patience than you, who stay not by chance or for money, but by the law of nature? But, you say, there is no hope of return, as if it is always known that the wanderer will return? Doubt worries us more when danger is before our eyes, and it is more painful to fear any adventure than to actually endure it. One increases fear, and in the other we expect the end of illnesses. When masters have the right to transport their slaves wherever they want, doesn’t God have this right? It is not enough to wait for the one who returns, however, it is enough to follow the previous one. A short life has taken away a little from the one who preceded it and will not hold you back for long. You cannot tame your desire, but is it fair to want the order of things to be changed for you? The desires of lovers are the most ardent, but are moderated in case of need; Although they condole the separation, they do not shed tears; being abandoned, they are ashamed to love with impatience. So, it is more commendable to patiently endure the heat of your desire. But what can I say about those who think that the dead are deprived of the pleasures of life? There can be no pleasure between the sorrows and sorrows of this life, born either from the weakness of the body itself, or from external misadventures, for we, having a restless spirit, doubt joy itself, are worried by the unknown, expecting the doubtful for the known, the bad for the good, the perishable for the permanent: our desires are unstable, and our will is powerless. If anything happens against our will, we consider ourselves lost; in a word, misfortunes disturb our spirit more than we enjoy the fruit of happiness. So, what is lacking in those who are kidnapped especially from evils and disasters? Health is more beneficial than displacing and insulting infirmity; wealth is more a pleasure than a burden to poverty; in the same way, having children is more pleasant in comparison with how deplorable it can be to be deprived of them; youth is sweeter compared to how pitiable old age is. How much we sometimes regret our desires, we grieve over what is given, but what kind of fatherland can reward exiles and other cruel executions? What kind of amusements that, although they exist sometime, are weak, either because there is no longer any desire to use them, or there is no desire to completely lose them. Let the course of human life be free from illness and filled with sweets and amusements; However, what benefit can a soul receive, imprisoned in bodily bonds and bound by tight limbs, when our flesh escapes prison, hates everything that can constrain and not give free rein (for it seems to alienate itself from itself with its senses of hearing and sight)? All the more, our soul desires to get out of this bodily prison - our soul, which does not know where it comes from and where it is going. However, we know that the spirit lives after the body and, having laid aside the bonds of feelings, freely sees what it could not see in the body before. We can prove this by the example of those sleeping, whose spirit, as if leaving the body, ascends to the highest, sees the absent and the heavenly. When carnal death delivers us from the sorrows of this age, then it is not evil, since it returns freedom and takes away illness. Now we will begin to prove that death is not evil, for it is a refuge from all disasters and sorrows, a reliable haven of safety and tranquility. What misadventures do we not experience in this life? What storms and waves do we not endure? What worries do not oppress us? To whose merits is there mercy? The holy forefather Israel fled from his fatherland from his brother and neighbors, was forced to change his home, was forced to mourn the desecration of his daughter and the killing of his son-in-law, endure hunger, was deprived of burial, for he asked that his bones be transferred. Saint Joseph experienced the hatred of his brothers, the deceit of envious people, obeyed slaves, was forced to listen to merchants, suffered slander from his mistress and was imprisoned. Saint David lost two sons: one a fornicator, and the other a murderer. Such children are a shame, but it is also sad to lose them. He also lost the third, youngest, whom he loved. He cried about this last one, who was still alive, but did not regret about the dead one, for we read: “David prayed to God for the child, and David fasted, and spent the night in solitude, lying on the ground” (2 Samuel 12:16). When he learned that the boy had died, “David rose from the ground and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his clothes, and went to the house of the Lord and prayed” (2 Sam. 12:20). Since this seemed surprising to his youths, David answered them that it was not in vain that he fasted and cried during the youth’s life, for he rightly imagined that God could have mercy on him; after his death, there is no reason for him to fast, for he can no longer bring back the dead: “Why should I fast? Can I return it? I will go to him, but he (i.e. the child - ed.) will not return to me” (2 Samuel 12:23). What great consolation to the mourner! How just is the reasoning of the wise! How amazing is the wisdom of the employee that, that is, no one should grumble about any unfortunate adventure and complain that he was punished against his merits! Who are you? - Measure your merits first. Why do you want to get ahead of the Heartbreaker? Why do you take away judgment from him who has to judge? This is not allowed even to the most holy ones, who would otherwise bear the punishment. David recognizes himself as worthy of punishment for this, saying: “And behold, these wicked ones prosper in this age, increasing wealth. And I said, “Has it not been in vain that I have purified my heart and washed my hands in innocence, and exposed myself to stripes every day and to reproof every morning?” (Ps 73:12–14). Although Peter was filled with faith, however, not realizing human weakness, he proudly said to the Lord: “I will lay down my life for You” (John 13:37). For this arrogant opinion, he fell into temptation before the rooster crowed. Although such temptation was a guide to salvation, let us learn not to despise carnal weakness, so that, despising, we do not fall into temptation. If Peter was tempted, then who will think of himself that he cannot be tempted? Peter, without a doubt, was tempted for us: for in the strongest there was no danger from temptation, but that we might learn from him how to resist persecution, desiring to preserve our lives, and that we might overcome temptation with patience. Let no one consider it a contradiction in Scripture that David wept for the dead murderer, but did not mourn the innocent. In his sorrow he said: “My son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom, who will give death to me instead of you?” (2 Samuel 18:33) From this it is clear that he mourns not only Absalom, he mourns the murderer, he mourns Ammon: he weeps for the criminal, but does not weep for his dear son. What is the reason for this? Of course, one faith. He cried for those dead, but did not consider it good to mourn the dead youth: for about the first he thought that they had died, and in relation to the latter he hoped that he would be resurrected. But we will talk about the resurrection later; Now let's turn to our judgment. We said that holy men in this world also suffered much grievous evil, despite their great deeds; why David says: “The days of a man are like grass” (Ps. 102:15). “Man is like a breath; his days are like a shifting shadow” (Ps. 143:4). In fact, what could be poorer than us, who seem to have been robbed and thrown naked into this life, with a corruptible body, a heart full of sinful tendencies, a weak spirit, lazy in work, prone to sensuality and luxury? So, it is much better not to be born, according to the wise Solomon, which the most excellent philosophers followed. He says in Ecclesiastes: “And I have blessed the dead, who died long ago, more than the living, who live to this day; and he is more blessed than both of them. who has not yet existed, who has not seen the evil deeds that are done under the sun. I also saw that every work and every success in business produces mutual envy between people. And this is vanity and vexation of spirit!” ( Eccl. 4:2–4 ). These words were spoken by one who asked God for wisdom in order to know the composition of the earth, the strength and actions of the elements, the course of the year, the location of the stars, the properties of animals, the wrath of animals, the winds of effort and the thoughts of people. When he knew heavenly things, how could he not know mortal things? When he could know the thoughts of a wife appropriating someone else’s baby for herself, when the properties of animals were not hidden from him by the inspiration of God’s grace, could he have made a mistake in reasoning about his own nature? This is not the opinion of Solomon alone. Saint Job also says: “Perish the day on which I was born” (Job 3:3). This great man knew that birth is the beginning of all evils, and therefore he wanted to die on the day of his birth in order to accept the day of resurrection. Solomon also heard his father saying: “Lord, tell me my end and the number of my days, what it is, so that I may know what my age is” (Ps. 39:5). David knew that it was impossible to grasp here what is perfect, and for this he rushed to the future: for now we understand and know in part, then we will know what is perfect, then with a frank face we will see, not in fortune-telling, but in fact the greatness and eternity of God. However, no one would rush to the end if he did not avoid the disasters of this life; and therefore David explained the reason for this by saying: “Behold, Thou hast given me days as inches, and my life as nothing before Thee. Truly, every man who lives is complete vanity” (Ps. 39:6). So, why are we slow to escape from the hustle and bustle? Why is it pleasant for us to worry in vain in this age, to collect treasures and not know to which heir we will leave them? Let us wish to shake off disasters from ourselves and come out of the evil age, not to have incessant wanderings and to return to that fatherland and our natural home. For here on earth we are strangers and strangers: we must go back to where we came from, we must wish and pray carefully that we may be delivered from the flattery and wickedness of slanderers. David, although he knew the remedy against it, nevertheless regretted that his days continued and he dwelt with sinners and the wicked. What will I do, who am filled with sins and do not know the remedy? Jeremiah also mourns his birth with the following words: “Woe is me, my mother, that you gave birth to me as a man who argues and quarrels with all the earth! I have not lent money to anyone, and no one has lent money to me, but everyone curses me” (Jeremiah 15:10). And when holy men run away from life, and although their life is useful to us, yet in their judgment they regard it as useless, then what should we do, who cannot bring benefit to others and whose life is day by day more burdened with sins, just as money grows in growth? “I die every day” (1 Cor. 15:31) - says the apostle. This apostolic saying is better than those who called meditation on death philosophy: for they approved of effort and effort, but this one practiced the experience of death by deed. And those - for themselves, but Paul, being perfect himself, died not for his own, but for our weakness. Thinking about death is nothing more than a kind of separation from body and soul: for death itself means nothing more than the separation of the soul from the body; but this is the general opinion. According to Scripture, death is threefold. One is when we die to sin and live for God. Therefore, blessed is this death, which, being free from guilt and devoted to the Lord, separates us from the mortal and devotes us to the immortal. Another death is the departure from this life, the forefather Abraham, the forefather David died with it and were buried with their fathers: that is, when the union of the soul with the body is destroyed. The third death, about which it is said: “let the dead bury their dead” (Matthew 8:22). With this death, not only the body, but also the soul dies. “The soul that sins shall die” (Ezek. 18:4). For he dies for God, not through the weakness of his nature, but through guilt. But this death is not the loss of life, but the fall of sin. So, one death is spiritual, another is natural, and the third is a punishment. But natural death is not the same as punishment: for the Lord gave death not instead of execution, but instead of a remedy and cure. For Adam who sinned, something else was prescribed instead of execution, and something else was prescribed instead of healing and salvation: instead of execution, when it is said: “Because you listened to the voice of your wife and ate from the tree, about which I commanded you, saying: You shall not eat from it, cursed is the ground because of you; you will eat from it in sorrow all the days of your life; She will bring forth thorns and thistles for you; and you will eat the grass of the field; By the sweat of your face you will eat bread until you return to the land from which you were taken” (Gen. 3:17-19). In death you have the cessation of plagues: for against the thorns of this world and the cares of the world, and the whims of wealth, suppressing the word of God, death was given instead of a cure as the end of all evils. For he did not say: because you listened to the voice of your wife, you will return to the earth; this definition would be condemnatory, just like that: the earth is cursed, thorns and thistles it will produce for you; but he said. “By the sweat of your face you will eat your bread until you return to the land” (Gen. 3:19). This proves that death is, rather, the end of our executions, which ends the course of this life. From this it follows quite clearly that death is not only not evil, but is good. People desire it as a good thing, as it is written: “In those days people will seek death, but will not find it” (Rev. 9:6). Those who will seek her will say to the mountains: “fall on us,” and to the hills: “cover us” (Luke 23:30). The sinning soul will also seek it. The rich man in hell is looking for him, who wants his tongue to be cooled by the finger of Lazarus. So we see that this death is gain, but life is punishment. Why does Paul say: “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). For what is Christ if not the death of the body and the spirit of life? And for this purpose let us die with Him, that we may also abide with Him. May we always wish to die: may our soul learn to protect itself from carnal lusts and elevate itself so that earthly passions cannot attract it to itself, may it accept the image of death, may it not be subject to the penalty of death. For the law of the flesh opposes the law of the mind, as the Apostle Paul revealed to us, saying: “But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin that is in my members” (Rom. 7:23). We all have a sensitive war within us, but we do not all get rid of it, and therefore I am an unhappy person if I do not look for a remedy against it. But what remedy? “Who will deliver me from this body of death?” ( Rom.7:24 ) The grace of God is in Jesus our Lord. We have a doctor - let us follow the healing; Our healing is the grace of Christ, and the mortal body is our body. And for this, let us wander from the body, so that we do not move away from Christ and, being in the body, let us not follow those of the body: let us not abandon the rights of nature, but only desire more gifts of grace, as the apostle says: I have a desire to be resolved and to be with Christ, because this is incomparably better; but remaining in the flesh is more necessary for you. But not everyone needs this. Lord Jesus! I don’t need someone who is of no use to anyone, and to die is gain for me, so that I may not sin again. To die is a gain for me, who, while consoling others, follows the wishes of my brother: for I cannot consign him to oblivion. Now I love him more, and I desire him more, and that’s why I’m mainly writing this, so that he won’t be torn out of my memory. And I do this not against Scripture, which commands that my desire should be impatient, and that regret should be softened by patience. You, brother, have created so that I am not afraid of death - and oh, that my soul would die in your soul! This is what Balaam desires for himself as the greatest good, being gifted with the spirit of prophecy: “Let my soul die,” he says, “the death of the righteous, and let my end be like theirs!” (Numbers 23:10) Rightly, Balaam, in the spirit of prophecy, desires this: for he saw the birth of Christ, saw His victory, saw death, saw in Him the eternal resurrection of people and therefore does not fear death, desiring the resurrection. So, let my soul not die in sin, and not even accept sin: but let it die in the soul of the righteous, let it receive his righteousness. Anyone who dies in Christ becomes a participant in His grace in baptism. So, death is not terrible: it is not sad for the poor, not hard even for the rich, not unfair even in the judgment of the old, not weakening the brave, not eternal for the faithful, not unexpected for the wise. How many have decorated their lives with the name of a good death! How many have life been dishonorable, but death praiseworthy and useful! We learned that through the death of one many nations were delivered; through the death of the Emperor, enemy troops were driven away, which in life he could not defeat. By the death of martyrs, piety is protected, faith is increased. The Church has been established, the dead have won, the persecutors have been defeated, and those whose lives are unknown to us, we glorify death; why David prophetically boasted in the delight of his thoughts: “The death of His saints is in the sight of the Lord,” he said. ( Ps 116:6 ) With these words he prefers death to life. The very death of martyrs is the reward of life. Moreover, death destroys the hatred and malice of enemies. In a word, the world was redeemed by the death of the One. For Christ could not have died when He wanted, but He did not deign to flee death, as if weak and powerless, and otherwise He could not have delivered us better than through His death. So His death is the life of all. We are marked by His death, we proclaim and preach His death when we pray and make sacrifices: His death is a victory, a sacrament and an annual celebration of peace. What else can we say about His death, when the Divine example teaches us that death alone sought immortality and redeemed itself? Why is it not necessary to sympathize with death, for the cause is common salvation; there is no need to run away from it, for the Son of God Himself did not disdain it. The order of nature is inviolable, and what is common to all cannot be excluded in each. Death did not exist in nature, but it later turned into nature. For at first God did not establish death, but gave it instead of a medicine. Let us delve into this with our reasoning, so that it does not seem disgusting to anyone. For when good is death, why is it written: “God did not create death”; “but through the envy of the devil death entered the world”? (Wis.1:13, 2:24). In fact, God’s creation did not need death when man, being in paradise, was rewarded with all the blessings, but after the Fall, human life became miserable with constant labor and unbearable groans, which is why it was necessary to determine the end of the evil, it was necessary for death to return what life had lost, for immortality without grace is more painful than useful. This death does not come from nature, but from anger: nature remains, anger dies. Resurrects what was; and oh, to rise up, both free from sin and free from previous guilt! That death does not depend on nature is proven by the fact that we will be the same as we were. Therefore, we will either suffer punishment for our sins, or we will receive grace for good deeds. Nature will also rise, as the apostle says: “The dead in Christ will rise first; Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord” (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17). Those are the first, those who live are the second; they are with Jesus, and living through the same Jesus. So, there is no reason to fear death and sympathize with it, when life, taken from nature, is returned to it, or squandered on an office that presupposes faith and virtue. For no one wished for himself to remain like this. They said about John that he was promised immortality, but this was not given to him. We understand words, but we form opinions about them ourselves. John himself admits that he was not promised not to die, lest this example serve as a vain hope for others. When there is a daring hope to wish for it, how daring it is to immensely regret an ordinary event. Pagans console themselves, for the most part, either with the right of nature, or with the immortality of the soul, or with the fact that disasters are common to all. Oh, if only they were constant in this opinion and would not change the poor soul into different funny forms! But for us, whose destiny is the resurrection, what should we do? Many do not believe this resurrection, although they cannot deny its grace. And for this we will try to prove it in every possible way. Every thing is probable either by reason, or by example, or by what is appropriate for it. Experience, for example, is supposed to deal with the fact that we move; the mind reasons that the mover is endowed with special power; An example is when, from the fact that a field has given fruit, we note that it will continue to do so; It is decent not to abandon acts of virtue even where we do not at all hope for any result. The hope of resurrection is confirmed by three proofs: reason, universal example, and the testimony of events, for many have been resurrected. By reason: for since our whole life consists in the community of body and soul, and the resurrection will be a reward for good deeds or execution for the wicked, then the body must be resurrected, whose deeds will be judged together. And since the soul will appear in court without a body, when must it give an answer for itself and for the body? The resurrection is promised to everyone, but because it is difficult to believe in it, it is not our merit, but God’s gift. The hope of resurrection is affirmed by the world itself, by the state of things, by the order of births, one after another, by the signs of birth and death, by the change of day and night, which follow each other every day. The earth itself could not bear its fruits if the moisture, evaporated by the heat of the sun by Divine disposition, were not restored by the night dew. What can I say about the fruits? Do they not die when they fall, and are they not resurrected when they rise again? What is sown is resurrected, and what is dead is raised and transformed into the same genera and species. As the earth returns its fruits, so our nature imitates the same kind of resurrection. Why do you doubt that a body cannot be resurrected from a body? Grain is sown, and grain is raised; the apple falls, and the apple is resurrected: the grain is decorated with color and clothed with skin. “For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15:53). The color of resurrection is immortality and incorruptibility. For what could be more desirable than eternal peace and security? These fruits are manifold, with which human nature abounds after death. But you wonder how the rotten will be strengthened, the scattered will be united and the lost will be restored. You are not surprised how the seeds, destroyed by the steam and constriction of the earth, turn green, for they, uniting with the earth, are destroyed and rot, and then, being revived by the sap of the earth and a certain heat of life, they give off the spirit of green grass. Then they gradually grow into a stem, and nature, like a protective mother, allocates special places for them in order to thereby protect them from severe frost and excessive heat of the sun; The fruit itself, as if still coming out of swaddling clothes, is fenced off with ears of corn so that the rain cannot knock it out, the wind cannot scatter it, and small birds do not peck it off. So, why are you surprised that the earth returns people accepted into its depths again, when it revives, restores, clothes, protects and protects the accepted seeds? Stop doubting that faith entrusts the guarantee of the human race to the earth, which returns the seeds entrusted to it in abundance and also does not keep the guarantee of the human race. Trees grow from the seed planted, and with their revived fertility they resurrect rotten fruits, giving them their former appearance, and this rebirth, which continues for many years, overcomes centuries itself in its longevity. The berry rots, the branch rises; a branch is planted, a tree is born. Or does Divine Providence concern only the restoration of trees, while there is no care for people? When God does not allow what He has given for human use to perish, will He allow man created in His image to perish? But it seems incredible to you that the dead should come to life; "Reckless! what you sow will not come to life unless it dies” (1 Cor. 15:36), every dry fruit sown is resurrected. But, you say, it has juice in itself. – Yes, and our body has blood, has its own moisture, this is the juice of our body. Some, arguing that a dry branch cannot grow, conclude the same in relation to our flesh. But our flesh is not dry, for all flesh is from the earth, and the earth is full of moisture. Moreover, many things are born from dry sandy earth, because the earth itself has sufficient moisture. Or does the earth, which gives birth to every thing, only change its properties in man? From this it is clear that something happens more by nature than against nature: by nature, everything that is born is resurrected, but perishing is against nature. The pagans, embarrassed, for the most part dare to object: how is it possible for the earth to return those who were either swallowed up by the sea or torn to pieces by wild beasts? Through this, it seems that they doubt not about the resurrection itself, but about part of it. Let us assume that the torn bodies will not be resurrected, but others will be resurrected; this also does not refute the resurrection when one condition is excluded. However, I am surprised that they doubt this too, as if not everything that exists from the earth returned again to the earth and was allowed onto the earth. The sea itself, the human bodies absorbed by it, being beaten by the waves, for the most part throws onto the shores. But even if this were not the case, would it be difficult to unite what was scattered and to bring together what was squandered to God, Whom the world listens to and to Whom the silent elements obey? Is it not a greater miracle to revive the dust of the earth than to unite it? In Arabia there is a bird named Phoenix, which after its death comes to life again; We just don’t believe that people can be resurrected. They say that this bird, having lived five hundred years allotted to it and, naturally foreseeing the end of its life, makes itself a nest of incense and myrrh and other incense and, having completed its work, enters this nest and dies. After that, from the moisture of this bird a worm is born and gradually grows into the same form, and, having received wings, begins its renewed life by performing the office of piety. For this nest or coffin with the body is carried from Ethiopia to Lycaonia, and thus the inhabitants of those places, after the resurrection of this bird, know that five hundred years have passed. Some people think that this bird itself lights its nest and comes to life again from the ashes. But since the properties of nature are many different, then perhaps this faith is doubtful and, perhaps, our spirit returns to the beginning of its origin. Men and women know the human composition and, although unknown to some, we all think that we are born from nothing, being so small, we grow so great! You can guess where our speech is going. Where does this chapter and this wonderful face come from? We don’t see him as an artist, but we can clearly see his work. Where does the straight look, the tall figure, the ability to do and walk, the liveliness of feelings come from? Although the tools of nature are unknown to us, their use is known. You were a seed, and your body is the seed of a body that must be resurrected. Listen to Paul and know that you are a seed: “it is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; sown in humiliation, raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in strength; the natural body is sown, the spiritual body is raised” (1 Cor. 15:42–44). And you are sown like others. Why are you surprised that you will rise up like the others? Therefore you believe what you see with your eyes, but you don’t believe it because you don’t see: “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). But until the time comes, we don’t believe the first one: for not every time is capable of resurrecting seeds. In another, wheat is sown, in another, it is born, in another, a grape tree is planted, in another, branches and leaves grow and berries ripen, in another, an olive tree is planted, in another, laden with fruits, it bends down. Fruits are not born before their time, and the one who gives birth has no control over the time of birth: you see the most common mother of all, now ugly and naked, now prosperous and full of fruits, now withered and without any adornment. It would be desirable, it seems, for her not to take off at all times the golden robe of the harvest and green meadows: but she herself remains in want and receives no reward for bringing benefits to others. Thus, although you do not believe the resurrection by faith, you do not believe by example, but you will believe by experience itself. The last part of the year contributes to the ripening of grapes, olives and other various fruits: so the end of the world, as if the last part of the year, is determined for our resurrection. And this is excellent so that after the resurrection we will not again be transported into this evil age. For Christ suffered in order to deliver us from these evil days, so that we would not again be subject to the temptations of the world. Moreover, there would be no benefit in being reborn if one were reborn into torment. So, we know the reason for the resurrection, and the time is also known: the reason - for nature in all fruits is equally consistent with itself and does not differ in the birth of people one after another; time - for everything is born at the end of the year. There are times of light for one year, and is it surprising that everything is counted as one year when there is one day? One day the Lord hired laborers to work in the grapevines, saying: “Why do you stand here all day idly” (Matthew 20:6)? The cause of birth is seeds. The teacher of languages ​​calls the human body a seed. Consequently, when there is sowing, there is also resurrection. If there were no being or reason, then perhaps someone would consider it difficult for God to regenerate people, no matter how he wanted: God, who quickly commanded light to be from nothing, so quickly became from nothing. Look at the sky, look at the earth: where did the shining of the stars come from? Where does the circle of the sun and its rays come from? Where is the moon from? Where do the mountain peaks, strong stones and forests come from? Where did the air spill or water come from? If God created all this out of nothing. “He spoke, and they became, he commanded and they were created” (Ps. 149:5), is it surprising that something that already existed was born again, when we see something born that was not before? It is worthy of surprise that the pagans, although they do not believe in the resurrection of the dead, nevertheless, so to speak, mercifully provide so that the human race does not perish, and therefore they claim that souls pass into other bodies. But let them themselves say what is more difficult: for souls to move into other bodies, or to return again to their own? Let them doubt, being not taught, but we, reading the law, the prophets, the apostles and the Gospel, consider it obscene. For who will doubt, reading the following words in Daniel the prophet: “But at that time all of your people who are found written in the book will be saved. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awaken, some to eternal life, others to everlasting reproach and disgrace. And those who have understanding will shine like the lights of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars, forever and ever” (Dan. 12:1-3). The prophet said beautifully: many of those who sleep, so that through this you will know that death is not eternal, but is likened to sleep, for a certain time, through this it is also shown that the life to come after death is better than the one that we experience before death in sorrows and illnesses. For that one is compared to the stars, and this one is connected with sorrows and sorrows. Saint Job, having experienced the misfortune of this life and overcoming all misfortunes with his patience, promises himself resurrection for present evil as a reward, saying: “My Redeemer lives, and on the last day He will raise from the dust this decaying skin of mine, and I will see God in my flesh” (Job 19:25–26). Also, Isaiah the prophet, announcing the resurrection to the nations, says: “Death will be swallowed up forever... for so says the Lord” (Is. 25:8). What the nations say according to the word of the Lord is further explained: “They were pregnant, they were tormented, and they gave birth, as it were, to the wind; salvation was not brought to the earth, and the other inhabitants of the universe did not fall. Your dead will live, your dead bodies will rise! Rise up and rejoice, you cast down in the dust: for Your dew is the dew of plants, and the earth will cast out the dead. Go, my people, enter your chambers and lock your doors behind you, hide yourself for a moment until the wrath passes away” (Is. 26:18-20). He beautifully called the tombs of the dead a church in which we hide little, so that with less burden we can come to the judgment of God, the severity of which we will rightly bear for our iniquities. And so the one who hides lives, as if giving in and running, so that the heaviest bonds of the sorrows of the world do not overtake him. For the Divine utterance with a prophetic voice promises the joy of resurrection and the healing of bodies revived by the Divine dew. And when dew revives all the fruitful seeds of the earth, is it surprising that the ashes of our scattered body from the heavenly dew will become fruitful and, having received vital moisture, will be transformed into the composition of our members? The holy prophet Ezekiel also describes with full explanation how dry bones will again receive their strength, feeling and movement, how the veins and bodies of the human body will be formed again, the composition will return to its former strength, how the dried bones will be clothed with new flesh, the veins and blood streams will be covered with skin. When we read the prophetic words, it seems that human bodies are rising, and it is as if we see that the most extensive fields are producing new seeds. The ancient sages considered it probable that in the Phebanian country many armed men were born from the scattered teeth of hydrinas. But when all seeds cannot change their natural properties and produce another fruit, as for example, so that people are born from a snake, flesh grows from teeth, it is all the more necessary to believe that what is sown returns to its nature, without differing from its property: the soft does not come to life from the hard, nor the hard from the soft, poison does not turn into blood, but flesh is restored from flesh, bone from bones, blood from blood, moisture from moisture. So, you pagans deny the transformation of nature, but affirm its change. You don’t believe God’s sayings, the Gospel and prophecies; on the contrary, you believe empty fables. But let us listen to the prophet himself, who says: “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and the Lord brought me out in the spirit and set me in the middle of a field, and it was full of bones, and led me around around them, and behold there were very many of them on the surface of the field, and behold they were very dry. And he said to me: Son of man! will these bones live? I said: Lord God! You know it. And he said to me: Prophesy against these bones and say to them: “Dry bones! listen to the word of the Lord!” Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will put breath into you, and you will live. And I will cover you with sinews, and I will grow flesh on you, and I will cover you with skin, and I will bring breath into you, and you will live, and you will know that I am the Lord. I prophesied as I was instructed; and when I prophesied, there was a noise, and behold a movement, and bones began to come together, bone to bone” (Ezek. 37:1-7). Here the prophet shows that hearing and movement are poured into the bones first, rather than the spirit of life. For withered bones are commanded first to hear, as if they had a sense of hearing: and the prophetic words here mean that each bone was united into its own composition: “and the bones began to come together, bone to bone. And I saw: and behold, sinews were on them, and flesh grew, and skin covered them above, but there was no spirit in them” (Ezek. 37:7-8). God's great mercy! That the prophet appears as a witness to the future resurrection, so that we too can see it with our own eyes. For not everyone could have been witnesses to this, but we are all witnesses of one thing: since a holy man and such a great prophet cannot be suspected of lies or error. And this is not unworthy of the belief that, at the command of God, the bones are transformed into their composition, for we have countless examples of nature obeying heavenly commands. This is how the earth was destined to sprout grass - and it did; when the rod struck, water came out of the stone for the thirsty nations; the rod turned into a serpent. This means nothing more than that, by the grace of God, something sensible can come from something intangible. Or is it less worthy of belief that the bones copulate than that the river turns back and the sea runs, as the prophet narrates: “The sea saw and ran; The Jordan turned back" (Ps. 113:3). There is no doubt that two peoples, one by their salvation, and the other by their destruction, clearly proved that the flow of water had stopped, and some were immersed in the sea, while others remained safe and sound. In the Gospel itself, didn’t the Lord prove that with one word the waves subside, the clouds are driven away, the winds give way and the silent elements work for God? But let us hear how the dead are quickened by the spirit of life, how those lying in their tombs are raised. “Then He said to me, Prophesy to the spirit, prophesy, O son of man, and say to the spirit, Thus says the Lord God: Come from the four winds, O spirit, and breathe on these slain, and they will live. And I prophesied as He commanded me, and the spirit entered into them, and they lived and stood on their feet—a very, very great army. And He said to me: Son of man! these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say: “Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost, we are cut off from the root.” Therefore prophesy and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and bring you, My people, out of your graves and bring you into the land of Israel. And you will know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you My people out of your graves, and put My spirit within you, and you will live, and place you in your land, and you will know that I, the Lord, have spoken and done it, says the Lord” (Ezek. 37:9-14). We have seen how the dead receive the spirit of life and rise from their graves. Is it surprising that, at the command of the Lord, the tombs of the dead are opened, when the whole earth shakes within its boundaries with a single thunder, the sea emerges from its borders, and again holds the flow of its waters! “Suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed” (1 Cor. 15:52). He who believes this will first of all be caught up to the meeting of the Lord in the air, but the unbeliever will remain and by his unbelief will subject himself to judgment. The Lord shows you in the Gospel how we will be resurrected: for He did not raise Lazarus alone, but the faith of all. When you believe while reading, then your thought, which was dead, comes to life in Lazarus. That the Lord, coming to the tomb, “called out with a loud voice: Lazarus! Get out” (John 11:43); He did this in order to show the image and example of the future resurrection. Why did he cry out with his voice, when he could have acted with his spirit, when he could have commanded silently! Of course, in order to show what is written: “Suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed” (1 Cor. 15:52). For the trumpet makes its sound by raising its voice. And he cried: Lazarus, get out. Why is the name also added? Of course, so that one rebel would not be mistaken for another, or the resurrection would not seem accidental, and not something that happened by command. So, the dead man heard and came out of the coffin: his arms and legs were wrapped in burial shrouds, and his face was tied with a scarf. Can you understand how Lazarus came out of the tomb with his eyes and legs blindfolded? There were bonds on him, but they did not hold him: his eyes were covered, but they saw. For by the power of the Divine command, nature abandoned its action, abandoned its order, obeying the Creative voice, the bonds of death were resolved before the bonds of the grave: the Divine power acted before he began to walk. If this is surprising to you, then find out who commanded it, so that you will cease to be surprised: Jesus Christ, God's power, life, light, resurrection of the dead: power raised him who was lying on his feet, gave life to walk, light drove away darkness, restored sight, and resurrection gave life. But perhaps what confuses you is that the Jews then took away the stone and released Lazarus; or are you also thinking about someone who would roll away the stone from your tomb? Could not the one who again poured in the spirit of life take away the stone? Or untie the bonds that allow the bound one to walk? Or open your face, giving light to your closed eyes? Couldn't the stone that raised the dead be destroyed? But at least they believed their eyes when they didn’t want to believe with their thoughts. They take away the stone, see the corpse, feel the stench, allow the bandaging: they cannot deny the deceased, seeing him risen from the dead, they see the signs of death, they also see the gifts of life. But when they hear that, do they even believe their ears? And seeing, are they strengthened with their own eyes? When resolving ties, do you resolve your thoughts? Are the people freed when Lazarus' clothes are taken off? Do they return to the Lord, leaving Lazarus to go? However, it is written: “Then many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus had done believed in Him” (John 11:45). But Jesus the Lord showed more than just this example: He also raised others, so that we, seeing many examples, would believe. He resurrected the young man, convinced by the cries of his widowed mother: “And, approaching, he touched the bed; those carrying them stopped, and He said: young man! I'm telling you, get up! The dead man got up, sat down and began to speak” (Luke 7:14-15). As soon as he heard it, he immediately sat down and began to talk. For there is another power of grace and another order of nature. And is it surprising that the soul returns to the voice of God, the skin returns to the bones, when from a single touch of the prophetic body the dead are resurrected. Elijah prayed and resurrected the dead boy. Peter, in the name of Christ, commanded Tabitha to get up and walk; and many then poor people, rejoicing, thought that life had been returned to them for giving alms, but we still do not believe for salvation. They asked for the resurrection of their neighbor with their tears, but we do not believe in the existence of resurrection even for the suffering of Christ. When Jesus gave up his ghost to show that he died for our resurrection, then he revealed the very order of the resurrection. For it is written: “Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up the ghost. And behold, the curtain of the church was torn in two, from top to bottom; and the earth shook; and the stones dissipated; and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were resurrected, and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection, they entered the holy city and appeared to many” (Matthew 27:50-53). When such amazing things happened at the emission of the spirit of Christ, why are they incredible to us during the coming of Christ to judgment? Moreover, this resurrection is proof of the future resurrection and an example of future truth, but an example is less than the truth itself. But who, during the Lord’s suffering, opened the coffins, gave a hand to the rebels and showed the way to the holy city? If there was no one, then the power of God was and acted in the bodies of the dead. You look for human help where you see the work of God. Divine works do not require human help. God commanded the sky to be - and it was done; He determined to create the earth - and it was created. Who collected the stones and by what means? Who served the creative God? In the blink of an eye it all happened. Do you want to know how soon? No sooner said than done. (In the translation: Reche and bysha. - Ed.) When, according to the word of the Lord, the elements rise, then why, according to His word, do not the dead rise, who, although dead, once lived and had the spirit of feeling, had the strength to act? Otherwise, it is better to be soulless and have no feelings. The devil said to the Savior: “Tell this stone to become bread” (Luke 4:3). The devil admits that by the command of the Lord nature can be transformed, but you do not believe that by the word of the Lord the same nature can be transformed. Philosophers talk about the course of the sun and the station of the sky, and many believe their reasoning, although they themselves do not know what they are saying. For none of them ascended to heaven, did not measure the axes and did not see the whole world with their own eyes, for no one was with God in the beginning, none of them said about God: “When He prepared the heavens, I was there. ...was an artist with Him, and was a joy every day” (Prov. 8:27-30). So, we believe the philosophers, but we do not believe God who says: “For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will create, will always be before Me, says the Lord, so will your seed and your name be. Then from month to month and from Sabbath to Sabbath all flesh will come before Me to worship, says the Lord. And they will come out and see the corpses of the people who have departed from Me: for their worm will not die, and their fire will not be quenched; and they shall be an abomination to all flesh” (Isaiah 66:22–24). If earth and heaven are renewed, then how can we doubt the renewal of man, for whom earth and heaven were created? If the criminal is saved for execution, then why does the righteous not live forever to glory? If the worm of sins does not die, then why will the flesh of the righteous perish? This is the resurrection, as the word of God itself depicts: what has fallen will rise, what has died will come to life. The order of justice requires that when the actions of the soul and the body are common (for what the spirit thinks, the body puts into action), then both of them must be brought to judgment, both must be handed over either to execution or observed for glory, since the law of the flesh is opposed to the law of the spirit and the spirit mostly does what it hates. Because the sin of the flesh that lives in man is active, it is indecent and unjust for one soul, being involved in guilt, to be punished, while the flesh should enjoy peace, being the cause of sorrows, for one soul to be condemned, which was not the only one to sin, or for one soul to receive glory, which was not alone in war. Just cause! But I do not demand a reason from Christ, for if I am convinced by a reason, then I deny faith. Abraham believed God, and we must believe, so that we, descending from his family, would be participants in his faith. David also believed, and we also believe: “knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will raise us up through Jesus and place us before Himself with you” (2 Cor. 4:14). This is promised from the true God forever, promised from the truth that says in the Gospel: “Now this is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all that He has given Me I should lose nothing, but raise it all up at the last day” (John 6:39). And again he repeats: “This is the will of Him who sent Me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in Him may have eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day” (John 6:40). This is said by the one who by his death raised many bodies of the dead. If we don’t believe God, then we don’t believe His example: we don’t believe what He promised, although He did something that He didn’t promise. What reason did God himself have to die if he did not have a reason to rise again? For God could not die, wisdom could not die; and what did not die could not be resurrected, and so the flesh, which can die, is accepted so that what has died can be resurrected. For the resurrection could not be otherwise than through a person: “For as death was through a man, so through a man was the resurrection of the dead” (1 Cor. 15:21). So, man is resurrected, because man died; restored man, restored to God. Then in the flesh was man, but now in all things God, for now in the flesh we no longer know Christ, but only have the grace of His flesh, that we may know His firstborn, risen from the dead. The first fruits are of the same kind and properties as the others: the first are offered to God for the sake of fertility, as if a sacred gift instead of all, and as if some kind of sacrifice of renewed nature. Why is Christ the firstborn of the dead, but is it his own dead, who, as if not participating in death, enjoy a certain sleep, or all the dead! “As in Adam all die, so in Christ all shall live” (1 Cor. 15:22). Therefore, just as the beginning of death is in Adam, so the beginning of resurrection is in Christ. All rise up, let no one despair: let the righteous not grieve over the common fate of the resurrection, expecting the special fruit of virtue. Everyone will be resurrected, but each, as the Apostle says, in his own order. The fruit of Divine mercy is common, but the order of merit is different. The day shines for everyone, the sun warms all peoples, the rain of everyone makes the earth fruitful. We are all born, and we will all be resurrected, but the state of both life and resurrection is different. “Suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet; for the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed” (1 Cor. 15:52). Saint Paul awakens the sleeping person to life, saying: “Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and Christ will give you light” (Eph. 5:14). The sleeper is excited to live and be like Paul, and could say: “we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will not warn those who have died” (1 Thessalonians 4:15). For Paul does not speak here of the general use of breath and life, but of the merit of the resurrection. Because, having said: “And the dead in Christ will rise first,” he adds: “Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air” (1 Thess. 4:16-17). Paul died, and through his glorious suffering he changed his physical life into immortal glory. So, did he deceive who wrote about himself that he was caught up alive in the clouds to meet Christ? We read this about Enoch and Elijah: but you will also be caught up in spirit. These chariots of Elijah, these lights, although they are invisible, are being prepared, so that the righteous may be carried from earth to heaven and live forever. The apostles did not know death, which is why it is said: “Truly I say to you, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom” (Matthew 16:28). For he lives who has nothing that could die in him, who does not have a boot or any obligation from Egypt, but removes it from himself before laying down his bodily position. Therefore, Enoch is not the only one alive, for he is not the only one caught up: Paul is also caught up when he meets Christ. The patriarchs are also alive, for otherwise the Holy Scriptures would not have mentioned: the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, the God of Jacob; because “God is not the God of the dead, but of the living” (Luke 20:37–38). We too will live if we imitate the deeds and morals of our forefathers. We are amazed at the reward of our forefathers, let us follow their obedience, praise the grace given to them, and imitate their obedience, so that, carried away by the charms, we do not fall into the snares of the century. Let us not abandon good times, let us accept the dictates of the law, the merciful title, the desire for suffering. The forefathers came out of their land, may we also flee the power and violence of the body with our intention; we - by intention, and they - by flight from the fatherland, but the forefathers did not consider this to be exile, for they did it out of piety, and not under compulsion. They exchanged earth for earth, and we will exchange earth for heaven, they with habitation, and we with spirit. Wisdom showed them the sky sparkling with stars, but for us, may she enlighten the eyes of our hearts. Thus, the type and the truth and the truth and the type are similar. Abraham, always ready to receive strangers, faithful to God, zealous and quick to serve, saw the Holy Trinity in a prototype: he decorated his hospitality with piety, accepting Three, but worshiping One, maintaining the separation of persons, he named one Lord, honoring one power in the Three. For it was not teaching that worked in him, but grace, and he believed better, being unlearned, than we who are taught. For no one allowed deception in the type of truth, and therefore Abraham, seeing the Three, revered the One. He takes three measures of pure flour, lays one calf, assuring himself that the gift brought to the Three is a single sacrifice. For reading about the four kings in the book of Genesis, who does not understand that Abraham, as a sign of the prototype of the passion of the Lord, conquered both the material elements and everything earthly? He was faithful in war, moderate in victory and wanted to enrich himself with divine gifts more than human ones. Abraham believed that even in his old age he could have a son; he did not hesitate to sacrifice his son; fatherly love did not tremble in him; for his hand was strengthened by piety. Assuring himself that his son will be a pleasant sacrifice to God, he brings him to the slaughter, and does not restrain himself from mutual exclamations: father and child! These exclamations were pleasant to him, but the command of God was more pleasant. So, although the hearts were compassionate, the desire did not cease. With a fatherly hand he accepted the sword for the execution of his son and was afraid not to make a mistake when striking, he felt love, but did not abandon his pious work. He hastened to show obedience even at the very time when he heard the Divine voice. Why should we prefer God to everyone we love - prefer our father, brothers, mother, so that He will preserve our loved ones for us, as we see in Abraham. The father sacrificed his son, but God is appeased not with blood, but with reverence and fear for Him. Instead of a man, God showed a ram so that the son could be returned to his father and so that the priest would not be deprived of the sacrifice. So, Abraham did not bloody his hands, and the sacrifice was made to God. Obeying the Divine voice, he willingly changed the man to a ram. And this is all a sign of how reverent his sacrifice was. Why is it that when you bring a gift to God, you don’t lose it? But we are blinded by stinginess. God gave up His only begotten Son to death for us, and we feel sorry for our children. Abraham learned the mystery that our salvation would be accomplished on the tree. So, let us imitate the piety of Abraham, let us imitate the kindness and purity of Isaac. Truly this last husband was kind-hearted, zealous for God and chaste towards his wife, he did not take revenge on his insults, but was more yielding and gave his love and friendliness to those who repented, avoided quarrels and was easily inclined to forgive. May we also imitate in Jacob the sign of Christ, may our deeds be at least somewhat similar to his deeds. Jacob obeyed his mother, gave in to his brother, served his father-in-law, and demanded rewards for his efforts not from the herd itself, but from its offspring. The ladder, reaching from earth to heaven, foreshadowed that through the cross of Christ angels and people would unite. “The joint of Jacob’s thigh was damaged when he wrestled with Him” (Gen. 32:25) so that he would know his heir, and damage to the thigh would foreshadow misfortune and suffering for the same heir. Why is heaven open to virtue? “Many,” it is written, “will come from the east and the west and lie down with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven” (Matthew 8:11), enjoying eternal peace without any confusion of soul. Let us follow Abraham with our rights, so that he may accept us into his bosom, like Lazarus, adorned with meekness and other virtues. We can be heirs of the holy forefather not in body, but in our good deeds. The Apostle says: Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. From this we see how great a sacrilege it is not to believe in the resurrection, for if we are not resurrected, therefore, Christ died in vain, therefore, Christ did not rise from the dead, if he did not rise for us, then, consequently, he never rose again, having no need for resurrection. The world was resurrected in Him, the heaven was resurrected, the earth was resurrected. For the heavens will be new and the earth will be new. Was resurrection necessary for Himself when mortal bonds did not hold Him back? Although He died as a man, He was free in hell itself. Do you want to know how free you are? For “the Lord knows,” it is written, “the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish” (Ps. 1:6). And of course, He was free who could resurrect Himself, as it is written: “Destroy this church, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). Of course, he who came down to redeem others is free. Having become like a man (In the translation: To be like a man - Ed.) not in appearance, but in truth, and who will know this man? “But he made himself of no reputation, taking the form of a servant, and becoming in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man; He humbled himself, becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on the cross” (Phil. 2:7–8); so that through this obedience we may see “His glory, the glory as of the only begotten from the Father” (John 1:14). And this was said so that in Christ both the glory of the only begotten and the nature of perfect man would be preserved. So, the one who created the light did not require an assistant in redemption. Not a messenger or messenger, but the Lord Himself will save Him. “For He spoke, and it was done” (Ps. 33:9); The Lord Himself saved Him: who is His helper when “all things depend on Him” (Col. 1:17)? Who is His helper when He does all things in the twinkling of an eye and raises the dead at the last trumpet? It is written at the last trumpet, and not at the first, second or third, and this is in order to maintain order. It's time for us to mention the type of trumpets; for our word is already coming to an end, so that the trumpet will also be a sign of this end. Saint John in his Apocalypse mentions seven trumpets taken by seven angels. “And the seventh angel sounded, and there were loud voices in heaven, saying: The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and he will reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11:15). The trumpet is also taken to be a voice, for it is written: “After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice, which I heard like the sound of a trumpet, speaking to me, said: Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this” (Rev. 4:1). We also read: “Blow the trumpet at the new moon” (Ps. 80:4). And in another place: “Praise Him with the sound of a trumpet” (Ps. 150:3). What the mentioned trumpets mean, we must take into account in our reasoning, without considering it as a fable unworthy of writing. For when we read: “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but... against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12), then “the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty in God for the pulling down of strongholds” (2 Cor. 10:4). It is not enough to see a trumpet and hear its voice, but one must know the properties of the sound. For if the sound of the trumpet is unknown, how can anyone prepare himself for war? Why should we know the power and properties of the trumpet, so that we do not appear rude and unskillful when we hear the voice of the trumpet? And for this we must pray that the Holy Spirit Himself will interpret them for us. From the ancient scriptures, which mention the trumpets, we see that the festivals prescribed for the Jews by law are a shadow of the highest and heavenly triumph. For here is the shadow, and there is the truth: through the shadow we will try to achieve the truth. In the books of Leviticus it is written: “And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel: In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, let you have a rest, a feast of trumpets, a holy convocation; Do not do any work, but offer sacrifice to the Lord” (Lev.23:23-25). In Numbers it is written: “And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Make yourself two trumpets of silver, hammered, make them, so that they may serve you for convening the congregation and for taking down the camps; when they blow the trumpet, the whole congregation will gather to you at the entrance of the tabernacle of meeting; When one trumpet is blown, the princes and captains of Israel will gather to you; when you sound the alarm, the camps standing towards the east will rise; when you sound the alarm for the second time, the camps stationed to the south will rise; when you sound the alarm for the third time, the camps will rise and stand towards the sea; when you sound the alarm for the fourth time, the camps stationed to the north will rise; let the alarm be sounded as they set off on their journey; and when it is necessary to call a meeting, sound the trumpet, but not the alarm; The sons of Aaron, the priests, shall sound the trumpets: this shall be a statute for you forever throughout your generations; And when you go to war in your land against the enemy who is advancing against you, sound the alarm with trumpets, and you will be remembered before the Lord your God, and you will be saved from your enemies. and on the day of your gladness, and on your feasts, and on your new moons, you shall blow the trumpets for your burnt offerings and for your peace offerings, and this will be a memorial of you before your God” (Num. 10:1-10). Well, will we honor the holidays by spending them eating and drinking? But let no one judge us for our food: “The law is spiritual, but I am carnal” (Rom. 7:14). “Let no one condemn you for food or drink, or for any holiday, or new moon, or Sabbath: this is a shadow of the future, and the body is in Christ” (Col. 2:16-17), which was revealed to us, as if at the last trumpet, by the Father’s voice from heaven when the Jews exclaimed: “this is thunder” (John 12:29); the body of Christ, which, on the other hand, at the last trumpet will appear to us: “for the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the Archangel and the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). The seventh trumpet signifies the rest of the week, which is not only counted in days and years and also periods, but also includes the seventieth year, when the people of Israel returned to Jerusalem, having been in captivity for seventy years. In hundreds and thousands, the sacred number is also not omitted; for it was not in vain that God said: “I have left among the Israelites seven thousand men; All these knees did not bow to Baal, and all these lips did not kiss him” (1 Kings 19:18). Therefore, the shadow of future rest in days, months and years is depicted as the time of the world itself, and for this purpose, through Moses, the children of Israel are commanded that in the seventh month, on one day, everyone should have rest in memory of the trumpets, and then, without doing any work, they would offer a sacrifice to God, because at the very end of the week, as if on the Sabbath of the world, spiritual works are required, not carnal ones. For the carnal is subject to slavery, because the flesh serves the spirit, integrity makes free, and guilt makes it slave. So, spiritual things had to be through a mirror and in fortune-telling, as the Apostle says: “Now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12); Now we fight in the flesh, but then in the spirit we will see the Divine mysteries. And therefore let the mark of the true law be depicted in our morals, as we walk in the image of God: for the shadow of the law has already come, the shadow for the fleshly Jews, the image for us, and the truth for those who are to be resurrected. We came to know these three things, that is, the shadow, the image and the truth, according to the law: the shadow in the law, the image in the Gospel, the truth in the judgment. But the whole essence is Christ, and everything is in Christ, whom we cannot truly see now, but we see Him as in some image of the future, the shadow of which we recognized in the law, why Christ is not a shadow, but the image of God, not an empty image, but the truth. And for this “the law was given through Moses” (1 John 1:17), for the shadow is through man, the image is through the law, the truth is through Jesus. Because truth comes from truth. Whoever wants to see this image of God must love God, and God Himself will love him, and he will not be a slave, but a friend, doing the will of the Lord, and will be able to enter the cloud where the Lord Himself is. Let him make for himself two silver trumpets, that is, decorated with an invaluable word, from which would not come a terrible sound, but unceasing gratitude to the highest God. For by the sound of such trumpets the dead are awakened, being quickened not by the sound of brass, but by the word of truth. And perhaps these two trumpets are those through which St. Paul exclaimed with the Divine spirit, saying: “I will pray with the spirit, I will also pray with the mind; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding” (1 Cor. 14–15). For one cannot be perfect without the other. But not everyone is supposed to sing with both trumpets and gather the whole assembly, and this advantage is given only to the priests and servants of God, that everyone, hearing their voice, marches to the tabernacle of meeting, filled with the glory of the Lord, to see the works of God and receive that legal and eternal dwelling for their hereditary possession. For then the war is fought and the enemy is driven away: when the grace of the spirit sings, the mind will sing. Those trumpets are saving if you believe with your heart and confess with your lips: “For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth one confesses unto salvation” (Rom. 10:10), says the apostle. With this deep trumpet we reach that holy land, to grace, that is, the resurrection, and for this purpose let those trumpets always sound for you, so that you always hear the voice of God, always let angelic and prophetic sayings encourage you to zealously strive for the highest. Saint David always carried this thought in his mind, saying: “Because I walked among the multitude, I entered with them into the house of God with the voice of joy and praise of the celebrating multitude” (Ps. 41:5). For with the sound of these trumpets not only are enemies defeated, but also new moons and festivals cannot take place without them. He who does not accept God’s promises and does not believe His word cannot rejoice and celebrate the new moon, cannot abandon the exercises of the age and desire to be filled with the light of Christ. The sacrifices themselves also cannot be acceptable to God without the oral confession of the priests, which prompts the people to ask for God's grace. Truly let us praise the Lord with the sound of a trumpet, imagining His power not in anything small and vile, but in that which can fill the mind and penetrate the secrets of the conscience; let us not consider what is proper to the body as becoming to the Divine. Let us not measure the greatness of God's power by human strength: we should not seek how someone will be resurrected, with what body he will be raised, or how what has been destroyed will be united and what has fallen will be restored. For this will be fulfilled according to the will of God. What is expected here is not the sensual hearing of trumpets, but an invisible heavenly force will act - also in relation to God, “wanting” is the same as “acting.” Let us not seek how we will be resurrected, but only expect the result of the resurrection, which we will receive if, having renounced vices, we have the perfection of the spiritual sacrament, if the renewed flesh receives grace from the spirit and the soul receives from Christ the shining of eternal light. But these sacraments also apply to each individual. Take note of the foreshadowing of the law and the order of grace. When the first trumpet sounds, the noblest and chosen ones from the east gather together. When the second trumpet sounds, those who are equal in merit are gathered together who dwell on Mount Lebanon and have left the playgrounds of the nations. When the third trumpet sounds, those who, as if turbulent on the sea, are gathered together, wavering with the waves of this age. At the sound of the fourth, those who could not sufficiently soften the cruelty of their minds with the Divine word gather. Therefore, although everyone will be resurrected in the blink of an eye, everything will be according to their own merits. And therefore, first of all, those who have accepted the rays of the eternal sun for their piety and faith will be resurrected. Here I mean the forefathers according to the Old Testament or the apostles according to the Gospel. The second to be resurrected are those who, leaving the customs of the pagans, joined the Church. And therefore those first are from the fathers, and these second are from the pagans: from them the light of faith began, in these the accepted faith will remain until the end of the world. The third and fourth from the south and north will be resurrected. With these four the earth is divided, with these four the year is concluded, with these four the world is filled, with these four the Church is gathered. For all who join the holy Church will receive the benefit of the resurrection and the grace of eternal enjoyment, for it is written: “And they will come from the east and the west and the north and the south, and will lie down in the kingdom of God” (Luke 13:29). For Christ illuminates His world with no small light: “from the edge of heaven his departure” (Ps. 18:7), and his march to their edge, and nothing is hidden from his warmth. He mercifully enlightens everyone, does not reject the wicked, but wants to correct, does not excommunicate the hardened from the Church, but wants to soften, and for this purpose in the Song of Songs the Church, in the Gospel Christ calls them, saying: “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest; take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:28–29). The Church also calls, exclaiming: “Rise the wind from the north and come from the south, blow over my garden, and its fragrances will flow!” “Let my beloved come to his garden and eat its sweet fruits” (Song. 4:16). (Song. 5:1 in the modern Synodal translation: “I came into my garden, my sister, my bride; I gathered my myrrh with my spices, I ate my honeycomb with my honey, I drank my wine with my milk. Eat, friends, drink and be satisfied, beloved!” - Ed.) Blessed indeed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book, which revealed to us the resurrection by clear evidence, saying: “And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and the books were opened, and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their deeds. Then the sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and hell gave up the dead that were in them (Rev. 20:12-13). Therefore, do not doubt how those whom hell will spew out and the sea will return will rise. It is worthy of your attention that grace is promised to the righteous: “And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying: Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them; they will be His people, and God Himself with them will be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death; There will be no more mourning, nor crying, nor pain, for the former things have passed away” (Rev. 21:3-4). Now compare, if you wish, this life with that life, and choose, if you can, the everlasting physical life, combined with work, filled with changes, sorrows, boredom and displeasure. Would it please you, even if He wished it to last forever? For when life in itself is unpleasant, how much more should we desire eternal peace after the resurrection, where sin will not reign. Who is so patient in illness, constant in weakness, generous in sorrow, that he would not rather die than lead a life filled with weakness and sorrow? When we don’t like ourselves in this life, although we know that the end will befall us, how much more boring would this life be for us if we foresaw that these bodily labors would be endless. So who doesn't want to be a part of death? And what could be more painful than immortality filled with disaster? “And if,” says the apostle, “in this life alone we hope in Christ, then we are the most miserable of all men” (1 Cor. 15:19). This does not mean that trusting in Christ is disastrous, but that He has prepared another life for those who hope in Him. For this life is subject to sin, and that life is given reward. How deplorable and woeful to us is the very brevity of life! The youth desires to reach the years of youth, the youth thinks about reaching the age of perfection and, being dissatisfied with the flourishing years, desires the respect of the old. And so we all naturally desire change, because everything present is unpleasant to us. And our desires themselves, when fulfilled, do not please us, and what we wanted to get, we half turn away. Why was it not in vain that the holy men condoled the continuation of their wanderings: David condoled, Jeremiah condoled, and Elijah condoled. We see that those very ones in whom the Spirit of God spoke strived for the best: if we examine the opinions of Others, then how many were there who preferred death to illness, preferred to fear? For they reasoned that the fear of death is worse than death itself, so that death in considering one’s own evils is not terrible, but in considering the misfortunes of life it is preferable; For we desire the lot of the dying, but we flee from the fear of the living. But let us suppose that resurrection is preferred to this life. The philosophers themselves have invented a certain kind of life after death, but what is more desirable for us: this kind of life or resurrection? As for me, they, while affirming the immortality of the soul, cannot sufficiently console me by redeeming one part of me. For what pleasantness can there be where I move not intact? What kind of life will there be if the work of God in me perishes? What justice is there if the end of nature is death common to the just and the unjust? Is it true that the soul is considered immortal only because it moves itself and is always in motion? They say that we have a body similar to that of beasts, and what was done before the body is unknown; The truth is not confirmed by contrary evidence, but rather refuted. Is the opinion worthy of acceptance that our souls, leaving the body, transmigrate into the bodies of animals and various animals? But philosophers themselves regard this opinion as an invention of poets. For is it possible to believe that people can change into animals, and even more so that the ruler, the human soul, can take on a brutal property, contrary to itself, and, having reason, turn into an unreasonable animal? You, who teach this, refute it yourself: for you have invented a wonderful kind of transformation. Poetsers rave like this, philosophers refute it, and what they invent about the living, they affirm about the dead. The same ones who invented this did not want to establish their fable through this, but only to laugh at the errors of philosophers who thought that the soul, accustomed to conquering anger, accepting patience, abstaining from bloodshed, can also be inflamed by a lion’s rage, thirst for blood and desire murder, and which with its prudence moderated and tamed various popular indignations, it itself can supposedly at crossroads and in deserts, in the custom of wolves, howl, or who sighed under a heavy plow, that same one, having changed into a human form, is looking for horns on her smooth forehead, or who, with her soaring wings, rose through the air to the sky, that same one later desires to fly and regrets that her body with its weight has made her slow and lazy. All this is how incredible and how indecent! So, is it not more appropriate by nature, by the fruits of others and by the example of actions to believe the prophetic sayings, to believe the promise of Christ? What is more excellent than to think that the work of God cannot perish and that what was created in His image and likeness cannot turn into the image of beasts? For the image of God is not in the body, but in the soul. And how can a person, who has conquered other kinds of animals, transfer the best part of himself into the animal that he has conquered? Nature does not tolerate this, but even if nature allowed it, grace would not allow it. You pagans, I dare to ask you, what do you think about yourselves? But it is not surprising that you believe that you can change into beasts: for you worship beasts. However, I would like you to think better about yourself, I would like you to believe that you will not be among beasts, but in the community of angels. Of course, the soul from this earthly body will move to the highest and will sing praises to the Lord, as we read in the Apocalypse: “Great and wonderful are Your works, Lord God Almighty! righteous and true are Your ways, King of saints! Who will not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? for You alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before You, for Your judgments have been revealed” (Rev. 15:3-4). Saint David desires this more than others, saying: “I have asked one thing of the Lord, this only I seek, that I may abide in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to contemplate the beauty of the Lord and to visit His holy church” (Ps. 26:4). It is useful to believe this, it is pleasant to hope and, of course, not to believe it - there is punishment, but to hope is grace. If I sin in that after death I wish it would be better to be in the community of angels than of beasts: I am willing to sin, and as long as I live, I will never abandon this opinion. What consolation is left for me, besides the fact that I hope to come to you soon, dear brother, I hope that our separation will not be long, and you yourself, through your intercession, can quickly acknowledge me, who desires, for whoever does not wish for himself, “this corruptible will be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal will be clothed with immortality” (1 Cor. 15:54). You might be interested in: