[8.] "But I know not whither he hath gone," say you. Wherefore knowest thou not, tell me? For according as he lived well or otherwise, it is evident whither he will go. "Nay, on this very account I lament," say you, "because he departed being a sinner [318] ." This is a mere pretext and excuse. For if this were the reason of thy mourning for the departed, thou oughtest to have formed and corrected him, when he was alive. The fact is thou dost every where look to what concerns thyself, not him.
But grant that he departed with sin upon him, even on this account one ought to rejoice, that he was stopped short in his sins and added not to his iniquity; and help him as far as possible, not by tears, but by prayers and supplications and alms and offerings. For not unmeaningly have these things been devised, nor do we in vain make mention of the departed in the course of the divine mysteries, and approach God in their behalf, beseeching the Lamb Who is before us, Who taketh away the sin of the world;--not in vain, but that some refreshment may thereby ensue to them. Not in vain doth he that standeth by the altar cry out when the tremendous mysteries are celebrated, "For all that have fallen asleep in Christ, and for those who perform commemorations in their behalf [319] ." For if there were no commemorations for them, these things would not have been spoken: since our service is not a mere stage show, God forbid! yea, it is by the ordinance of the Spirit that these things are done.
Let us then give them aid and perform commemoration for them. For if the children of Job were purged by the sacrifice of their father, why dost thou doubt that when we too offer for the departed, some consolation arises to them? since God is wont to grant the petitions of those who ask for others. And this Paul signified saying, "that in a manifold Person [320] your gift towards us bestowed by many may be acknowledged with thanksgiving on your behalf." (2 Cor. i. 11.) Let us not then be weary in giving aid to the departed, both by offering on their behalf and obtaining prayers for them: for the common Expiation of the world is even before us. Therefore with boldness do we then intreat for the whole world, and name their names with those of martyrs, of confessors, of priests. For in truth one body are we all, though some members are more glorious than others; and it is possible from every source to gather pardon [321] for them, from our prayers, from our gifts in their behalf, from those whose names are named with theirs. Why therefore dost thou grieve? Why mourn, when it is in thy power to gather so much pardon for the departed?
[9.] Is it then that thou art become desolate and hast lost a protector? Nay, never mention this. For thou hast not surely lost thy God. And so, as long as thou hast Him, He will be better to thee than husband and father and child and kinsman: since even when they were alive, He it was who did all things.
These things therefore think upon, and say with David, "The Lord is my light and my Saviour [322] , whom shall I fear? (Ps. xxvii. 1.) Say, Thou art a Father of the fatherless, and a Judge of the widows: "(Ps. lxviii. 5.) and draw down His aid, and thou shalt have Him to care for thee now more than before, by how much thou art in a state of greater difficulty.
Or hast thou lost a child? Thou hast not lost it; say not so. This thing is sleep, not death; removal, not destruction; a journeying from the worse unto the better [323] . Do not then provoke God to anger; but propitiate Him. For if thou bearest it nobly, there will thence accrue some relief both to the departed and to thyself; but if the contrary, thou dost the more kindle God's anger. For if when a servant was chastised by his master, thou didst stand by and complain, thou wouldest the more exasperate the master against thyself. Do not then so; but give thanks, that hereby also this cloud of sadness may be scattered from thee. Say with that blessed one, "the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away." (Job i. 21.) Consider how many more well-pleasing in His sight have never received children at all, nor been called fathers. "Nor would I wish to have been so," say you, "for surely it were better not to have had experience than after having tasted the pleasure to fall from it." Nay, I beseech thee, say not so, provoke not thus also the Lord to wrath: but for what thou hast received, give Him thanks; and for what thou hast not to the end, give Him glory. Job said not that which thou sayest unthankfully, "it were better not to have received," but both for the one he gave thanks, saying, "The Lord gave;" and for the other he blessed God, saying, "The Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord for ever." And his wife he thus silenced, justifying himself against her, and uttering those admirable words, "Have we received good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil?" And yet after this a fiercer temptation befel him: yet was he not even thus unnerved, but in like manner bore it nobly and glorified God.
This also do thou, and consider with thyself that man hath not taken him, but God who made him, who more than thyself cares for him and knows what is good for him: who is no enemy nor lier-in-wait. See how many, living, have made life intolerable to their parents. "But seest thou not the right-hearted ones?" say you. I see these too, but even these are not so safe as thy child is. For though they are now approved, yet it is uncertain what their end will be; but for him thou hast no longer any fear, nor dost thou tremble lest anything should happen to him or he experience any change.
These things also do thou consider respecting a good wife and guardian of thine house, and for all things give thanks unto God. And even if thou shalt lose a wife, give thanks. Perhaps God's will is to lead thee to continence, He calls thee to a nobler field of conflict, He was pleased to set thee free from this bond. If we thus command ourselves, we shall both gain the joy of this life and obtain the crowns which are to come, &c. &c.
[308] su o speireis.
[309] "Our apostle's inference is as firm and strong, as it is emphatical; Stulte! Tu quod seminas &c. O fool! That which THOU sowest &c. The force or emphasis may be gathered thus. If God doth give a body unto that seed which thou sowest for thine own use and benefit, much more will the same God give a body unto the seed which He Himself doth sow, seeing the end why He sows it, is not thy temporal benefit or commodity, but His own immortal glory." Dr. Jackson's Works, vol. iii. 438. See also vol. iii. 433-443.
[310] This seems like a different reading: but it appears afterwards that S. Chrysostom read the verse as it stands. He quotes it therefore here in substance, not verbatim.
[311] ten auten phthoran. The reading is perhaps corrupt.
[312] phuetai.
[313] tes psuches he zoe: "the life of the animal soul:" alluding to the threefold being of the perfect man, in spirit, and soul, and body: c.f. 1 Thess. v. 23.
[314] toutou choris. i.e., the remains, when deprived of the natural life, are an empty vessel without the Holy Ghost, in that Its quickening Power is not put forth in them for the time.
[315] i.e. It is true the body may be called spiritual, because of the Spirit's indwelling: but it is not wholly and entirely so. For sometimes the Spirit leaves men when they sin, and even when the Spirit does not leave them, vitality leaves the body, which then becomes untenanted; whereas at the resurrection the body being quickened, the Spirit remains in them for ever. [This seems to be a satisfactory explanation of a passage difficult in the original, (satis tenebricosa as Dr. Field says,) and quite uncertain as to the text. C.]
[316] i.e. Why does the worst principle come first? Why is the natural principle wholly developed not only in Adam, the first-fruits, but in us and all mankind? And why is the spiritual principal which is to produce the resurrection, not yet developed in us, but only in Christ our first-fruits? The answer is, So is the will of God, by whose ordinance it is that the natural should come first, the spiritual afterwards.
[317] meizona skammata.
[318] Bingham observes, lib. xv. cap. 3. sect. 16. "Another reason for praying for the dead was, they conceived all men to die with some remainders of frailty and corruption, and therefore desired that God would deal with them according to His mercy, and not in strict justice according to their merits." "These prayers," he proceeds to say, see lib. xxiii. cap. 3. sect. 3. and 13. "are not made upon the Romish supposition of the soul's being in purgatory or any place of torment, but on principles that perfectly overthrow it." For they call those for whom they offer, Saints including among them the Blessed Virgin, the Apostles and Prophets: and they represent them as having pleased God,' "being at rest," "sleeping in Christ," "departed in His Faith," and other equivalent expressions. Vid. Brett's Liturgies, p. 270-272. Ed. 1838. See also Bp. Bull, vol. ii. 261. Oxford Ed.
[319] These expressions are not verbatim either in St. Chrysostom's or in any other of the Liturgies translated by Brett, but in substance they are in all.
[320] en pollo prosopo: "in a great Person," "the Person of a manifold Being, i.e., of the whole Church." The common reading is ek pollon prosopon. St. Chrysostom may have thought that the Apostle was alluding to the Liturgical Service as the voice of the whole mystical Body of Christ. See his comment on the place in Hom. 2 on 2 Cor. §. 3, 4. Ed. Bened. [The singular reading of Chrysostom in this place does not seem to be sustained by any Greek mss., but is represented in several codices of the old Itala version. On the principle of the durior lectio it might claim attention, but surely on no other ground. C.]
[321] sungnomen.
[322] soter LXX.
[323] The same idea is thus expressed by Tertullian. "Why mourn, if thy faith be that he hath not perished? Why bear impatiently his being withdrawn for a while, of whom thou believest that he will return? It is but a journey, which thou accountest death. It is not meet to mourn for him who is gone before, but simply to miss him and long for him." De Patient. c. 9.