About the cemetery and the cross

“Conversation about the cemetery and about the Cross of the Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ” (3 chapters) delivered by St. John Chrysostom, probably in Antioch on Good Friday 391 or 392. In it, the saint talks about why Christians call death dormition: before the Incarnation, death was called death or even hell, but Christ conquered death, and now it is called sleep or dormition. St. John discusses Christ’s victory over the devil through the tree of the cross, which, from an instrument of execution, became a banner of victory over sin and death: “The virgin, the tree and death were signs of our defeat: Eve was a virgin...; the tree was the tree of paradise; death was Adam's punishment. But... these signs of defeat became signs of victory. Instead of Eve - Mary; instead of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - the Tree of the Cross; instead of Adam's death - the death of Christ. Do you see that by what the devil conquers, he himself is conquered?” At the end of the conversation, the saint exhorts us to approach the sacrament of the Eucharist with fear, reverence and reverence: “Think about what is being presented and for what reason. The Lamb was slain for you, and you look with disdain at Him being slain.” *Title of the work in Greek – Εἰς τὸ ὄνομα τοῦ κοιμητηρίου κα εἰς τὸν σταυρὸν τοῦ Κυρίου. *The title of the essay in Latin is De coemeterio et de cruce. About the name of the cemetery and about the Cross of the Lord and God, our Savior Jesus Christ. – The reason for delivering the conversation outside the city. - About how Christ conquered death. – By what the devil conquered, he himself was defeated. – This victory was achieved without our labor. – Why was the veil in the church torn? - About how one should approach St. Communion. – Invocation of the Holy Spirit. 1. I often thought to myself why our fathers, having gone around the houses of prayer located in the cities, established that today they would gather outside the city and here (to perform divine services); It seems to me that they did it not in vain and not without reason. I searched for the reason, and by the grace of God I found a just and thorough reason, befitting the present holiday. What is this reason? We make remembrance of the cross; and the one crucified on the cross was crucified outside the city: that’s why they take us out of the city. After the shepherd, it is said (in Scripture), the sheep follow; where there is a king, there are warriors, and where there is a corpse, there are eagles. That is why we are outside the city (we are gathering) - but it is better to prove in advance from the divine scriptures that this is exactly why. So that you do not think that this is our guess, I will bring you Paul as a witness. What does he say about victims? “For whose blood of animals is brought into the Holy Place for sins by the high priest, these bodies are burned outside the camp” (Heb. 13:11). Therefore Jesus, in order to sanctify the people with his blood, suffered outside the gates. Let us go out to Him outside the camp, enduring His humiliation. Paul said this, commanded; we obeyed and left. So, outside (the city) we gather therefore. But why exactly in this church of martyrs, and not in some other one? By the grace of God, our city is surrounded on all sides by the remains of saints. Why did the fathers command us to gather here, and not in another church of the martyrs? Because many dead people are buried here. Since today Jesus descended to the dead, we gather here. Therefore, the place itself is called a tomb (κοιμητηριον), so that you know that those who have died and those lying here have not died, but are resting and sleeping. Before the coming of Christ, death was called death. “In the same day you cut down the tree,” it is said, “you will die” (Gen. 2:17); and again: “The soul that sins will die” (Ezek. 18:20). And David says: “The death of sinners is cruel” (Ps. 33:22); and again: “honorable before the Lord is the death of His saints” (Ps. 116:6). Also Job: “death... rest for the husband” (Job 3:23). And not only was it called death, but also hell. Listen to David, who says: “Either God will deliver my soul from the hand of hell when He receives me” (Ps. 49:16); and Jacob: “You will bring my old age with sorrow to hell” (Gen. 42:38). Our demise had such names before; but when Christ came and died for the life of the world, then death is no longer called death, but sleep and dormition. And that it is really called dormition is evident from the fact that Christ said: “Lazarus our friend has come to rest” (John 11:11). He didn’t say “died,” although he was already dead. And so that you know that this name for death by dormition was not usual, look how the disciples, having heard this, were embarrassed and said: “Lord, if he succeeds, he will be saved” (John 11:12); so they still did not know what these words meant. Paul also says to some: “For those who have fallen asleep are lost” (1 Cor. 15:18)? And in another place he says about the dead: “we who live... are not imams to precede those who have fallen asleep” (1 Thess. 4:15); and in another place: “Arise, sleep” (Eph. 5:14); and, in order to show that he is saying this about the dead, he adds: “and rise from the dead.” You see how everywhere death is called sleep; Therefore, this place is called a tomb, since this very name is useful for us and filled with great wisdom. So, when you escort a dead person here, do not be distressed, because you are escorting him not to death, but to sleep. This name is enough for you to console yourself in misfortune. Know where you are accompanying him - to the tomb; and when you see him off, after the death of Christ, when the bonds of death have already been broken. Thus, both from place and from time, you can receive great consolation. Our words especially apply to women, since this sex is predominantly sensitive and prone to despondency. You have sufficient medicine against despondency - the name of the place. That's why we're gathering here. 2. Today our Lord went around all the places of hell; today he “break down the gates of brass and the ropes of iron” (Ps. 106:16; Is. 45:2). Notice the precision of the expression. It is not said “open the copper gates,” but “break down the copper gates,” so that the prison becomes unusable; and did not remove the faith, but “break” them, so that the guard became powerless. Where there is neither a door nor a bolt, no one will be held back, even if someone enters. So, when Christ has broken, who else will be able to repair? What God destroys, who will then restore it? Kings, when they intend to release prisoners, do not do so when sending instructions, but leave both the doors and the guards of the prison, and thereby show that it is necessary to enter there again, either by those who are being freed, or by others in their place. But Christ did the wrong thing: wanting to show that death had come to an end, He crushed its “brass gates.” The prophet called them copper not because these gates were made of copper, but to show the cruelty and inexorability of death. And in order for you to be convinced that copper and iron here mean only severity and inflexibility, listen to what He says to one shameless one: “Your neck is iron, and your forehead is copper” (Is. 48:4); He said this not because he had an iron vein or a copper forehead, but because he looked stubborn, shameless and fierce. Do you want to know how death was stubborn, inexorable and hard, like a diamond? For such a long time, no one persuaded her to release anyone in her power, until the Lord of the Angels, descending, forced her to do so. First He bound the strong man, and then He plundered his vessels; That’s why the prophet adds: “dark treasures... invisible” (Is. 45:3). Although these expressions are the same, their meaning is twofold - because there are dark places, but those that can often be visible, as soon as a lamp and light are brought in, and this place of hell was the darkest and most joyless and never participated in the nature of light: therefore He called them “dark, invisible.” And truly, they were dark until the Sun of Truth descended there, illuminated it and made hell heaven - because where Christ is, there is heaven. He calls hell dark treasures; and rightly so: great wealth was kept there. All human nature, which constitutes the wealth of God, was robbed by the devil who seduced the first man and delivered into the bonds of death. And that all human nature was wealth for God, this is expressed by Paul when he says: “The God of all, make riches among all who call on Him” (Rom. 10:12). Just as another king, having caught the leader of robbers who attacked cities, robbed everywhere and hid in a cave and hid wealth there, binds this robber and puts him to death, and transfers his treasures to the royal treasury, so did Christ: the chief of the robbers and the prison guard, the devil and death, He bound by his death, and transferred all the wealth, that is, the human race, to the royal treasury. Paul expresses this when he says: “Deliver us from the power of darkness and deliver us into the kingdom... of Your love” (Col. 1:13). And the amazing thing is that the King Himself appeared; Meanwhile, no king would ever deign to do this, but they usually release prisoners through their servants. But here it is not so, but the King Himself came to the prisoners, and was not ashamed of the prisoners - because He would not be ashamed of the one whom He created - crushed the gates, broke the faith, appeared in hell, rendered all its security powerless and, taking the prison guard bound, thus returned to us. The tormentor was brought captive, the strong one was bound, death itself, throwing down its weapon, ran naked to the feet of the Tsar. Do you see the wondrous victory? Do you see the effects of the cross? Shall I tell you something else, more surprising? Find out the way to win, and then you will be even more amazed. By what the devil overcame, Christ overcame him; taking his own weapons, He defeated him with them; but how, listen. The virgin, the tree and death were signs of our defeat: Eve was a virgin, since then she had not yet known her husband; the tree was the tree of paradise; death was Adam's punishment. But here again the maiden, the tree and death, these signs of defeat, became signs of victory. Instead of Eve - Mary: instead of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil - the Tree of the Cross; instead of Adam's death - the death of Christ. Do you see that by the way the devil conquers, he himself is conquered? The devil struck Adam through the tree; Christ overcame the devil through the Cross; that tree cast them into hell, and the same tree brought those who departed from there. And again, that tree covered the naked prisoner, the same tree from above revealed the naked Victor to everyone. Likewise with death: those who would live after it were condemned to that death, and this same death also resurrected those who lived before it. “Who will proclaim the mighty powers of the Lord” (Ps. 105:2)? Through death we became immortal; such are the effects of the Cross. Did you recognize victory? Did you find out the way to win? Find out how easily (for us) this matter was accomplished. We did not stain our weapons with blood, we did not stand in formation, we did not receive wounds and did not see battle, but we received victory; the feat is the Lords, and the crown is ours. So, if this victory has become ours, then all of us, like warriors, will now exclaim a victorious song; let’s say, chanting the Lord: “death was sacrificed in victory. Where is the sting, death? Where is the victory" (1 Cor. 15:54-55)? This is what the Cross has done for us; The cross is a trophy against demons, a weapon against sin, the sword with which Christ pierced the serpent; The Cross is the will of the Father, the glory of the Only Begotten, the joy of the Spirit, the adornment of angels, the establishment of the Church, the praise of Paul, the stronghold of the saints, the light of the whole universe. Just as in a house enveloped in darkness, someone, lighting a lamp and placing it on a raised platform, drives away the darkness, so Christ, in a universe enveloped in darkness, having raised the Cross, like some kind of lamp, and raising it high, dispelled all the darkness on earth. And just as the lamp contains light above at its top, so the Cross above at its top had the shining Sun of Truth. Seeing Him nailed, the world trembled, the earth shook, the stones fell apart. But, although the stones disintegrated, the insensibility of the Jews did not disintegrate; the veil was torn, but their wicked unanimity was not torn. Why was the veil torn? Because the church could not see the Lord crucified; by what happened to his veil, he, as if encouraging, said: now let everyone who wants to trample on the Holy of Holies. What good is it to me when such a sacrifice has been made outside of it? What good does a covenant benefit me? What use is the law to me? It was in vain and in vain that I taught them for such a long time. The prophet expressed the same thing, crying out: “The nations are reeling, and the people have learned in vain” (Ps. 2:1)? They heard that “like a sheep is led to the slaughter, and like a lamb before its shearers is silent” (Is. 53:7), and, having studied this prophecy for such a long time, they did not believe when the event took place. Do you see how they “learned from vain”? For this reason, the tearing took place in the church, in order to foreshadow the desolation that would be there constantly after this. 3. Since this evening we too will see him nailed to the cross, like a lamb slain and sacrificed, let us approach, I exhort you, with fear, with great reverence and reverence. Don't you know how the angels stood at the tomb that did not have His body, at the empty tomb? Since he completely absorbed the body of the Master, they give great honor to the place itself. Angels, surpassing our nature, stood at the tomb with such reverence and reverence; and we, intending to approach not the empty tomb, but the very table containing the Lamb, will we approach with noise and confusion? What kind of apology will we have after that? It is not in vain that I say this, but because I see how many this evening are making noise, shouting, crowding each other, pushing, scolding and rather preparing for themselves punishment than salvation; that is why I address this admonition to them. What are you doing, man? When the priest stands before the table, raising his hands to heaven, calling on the Holy Spirit to come down and touch what is presented, there is great silence, great silence. When the Spirit bestowed grace, when He descended, when He touched the gifts that were laid out, when you see the Lamb already slain and finished, then you begin to make noise, then confusion, then argument, then warfare? How can you partake of this sacrifice, approaching the meal with such confusion? It is not enough for us that we approach with sins, but even during the approach itself we do not want to abstain from sins? In fact, when we argue, when we make noise, when we bite each other, how will we be without sins? Why are you in a hurry, tell me? Why are you crowded when you see the slain Lamb? Even if I had to look at this sacrifice all night long, then tell me, could such a sight really produce satiety? You waited all day, spent most of the night, and you lose and destroy such a feat in a short moment of time? Think about what it is and for what reason. The Lamb was slain for you, and you look with disdain at Him being slain. “Where,” it is said, “there is a corpse, there and orli” (Matthew 24:28). And we approach not like eagles, but like dogs; such is our shamelessness! Thoughts that were once shed. This is blood, the blood that blotted out the handwriting of sins, the blood that cleansed your soul, that washed away your impurities, that triumphed over the principalities and powers, for “he brought to shame, says the apostle, the principalities and powers, and brought them to shame by his boldness, exposing them” on the cross (Col. 2:15). This trophy, he says, has many signs of victory on it, and the spoils are hung high on the top of the Cross. Just as a courageous king, having ended a difficult war with victory, displays on a high trophy the armor, shield and weapons of the ruler and his defeated warriors, so Christ, having ended the war against the devil with victory, hung on the top of the Cross, as if on some trophy, all his weapons - death, an oath, so that everyone could see this trophy, and the powers on high, which are in heaven, and the people living below - on earth, and themselves defeated evil demons. So, if we have received such a great gift, then we will show ourselves, to the best of our ability, worthy of the blessings given to us, in order to be worthy of the Kingdom of Heaven, the grace and love for mankind of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom and with whom to the Father, with the Holy Spirit, be glory, honor, power, forever and ever. Amen. The discourse is believed to have been delivered on Good Friday 392. You might be interested in: