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cheerfulness, this is more graceful than the one expected, since then it is necessary to see also those who are lamenting, whose sins are revealed, but now good feeling is unsusceptible to the gloomy. For both the righteous one rejoices and he whose conscience is not clean awaits the correction that comes from repentance and all grief is put to sleep on the present day, and no one is so sorrowful as not to find relief in the magnificence of the feast. Now the prisoner is loosed, the debtor is released, the slave is set free by the good and philanthropic proclamation of the church, not being disgracefully struck on the cheek and by a blow released from his suffering, nor being shown to the people as in a procession on a high platform, having indignity and blushing as the beginning of his freedom, but being released in such a seemly way as is recognized. He who still remains in slavery is also benefited; for even if his sins are many and grievous, surpassing entreaty and pardon, the master, respecting the calm and philanthropic nature of the day, receives the one who was cast off and seen among the dishonored as Pharaoh received the cupbearer from the prison; for he knows that according to the appointed time of the resurrection, which we honor in the present day as a likeness, he himself also needs the forbearance and the goodness of the Master and by lending mercy here, he expects 9.251 the repayment in due time. You masters have heard, keep the word as something good, do not slander me among the slaves as one who falsely praises the day, take away the grief of afflicted souls as the Lord took away the deadness of bodies, transform the dishonored to honor, the afflicted to joy, the silenced to boldness of speech, lead out from the corner those who have been cast down as from tombs, let the beauty of the feast blossom like a flower for all. For if the birthday of a human king or a triumphal feast opens a prison, will Christ, having risen, not release the afflicted? You poor, embrace your nurturer, you whose bodies are wasting away and maimed, the one who heals your misfortunes; for because of the hope from the resurrection both virtue is pursued and vice is hated, since with the resurrection taken away, one saying will be found to prevail among all: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.

Looking to this day, the apostle despises the day of this transient life, but desires the one to come, and disparaging the things that are seen, he says: If in this life only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable. Because of this day men are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. Because of this day, whatever part of the body flesh-eating birds ate a thousand years ago will be found not lacking, and whatever sea monsters and dogs and marine animals devoured will rise up together with the rising man, and whatever fire consumed and the worm in tombs devoured and simply all the bodies, which after birth corruption has made to disappear, will be given back 9.252 from the earth complete and whole and, as Paul teaches, in the twinkling of an eye the resurrection will be accomplished (for a twinkling of an eye is a closing of the eyelids); and nothing could be swifter than this speed. But you, reasoning in a human way and according to your own power, how many intervals of time do you draw in your soul? First, that the decayed and earth-turned parts of the bones might be joined together into their hardness and smoothness, and having been united from their crumbling, they might come together again into a rhythm of harmony and their natural connection; then you imagine the molding of flesh and the stretched-out connections of sinews and the fine channels of veins and arteries spread beneath the skin, and a countless and innumerable multitude of souls moving from some secret dwellings, with each one recognizing its own body as a special garment and swiftly dwelling in it again, having an unerring discernment among so great a multitude of kindred spirits. For consider the souls from Adam and the things from him

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εὐθυμίαν, αὕτη τῆς προσδοκωμένης χαριεστέρα, ἐπειδὴ τότε μὲν ἐπάναγκες καὶ τοὺς ὀδυρομένους ὁρᾶσθαι, ὧν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι ἀποκαλύπτονται, νῦν δὲ ἀνεπίδεκτος τῶν σκυθρωπῶν ἐστιν ἡ εὐπάθεια· ὅ τε γὰρ δίκαιος εὐφραίνεται καὶ ὁ τὸ συνειδὸς μὴ καθαρεύων ἀναμένει τὴν ἐκ τῆς μετανοίας διόρθωσιν καὶ πᾶσα λύπη ἐπὶ τῆς παρούσης ἡμέρας κοιμίζεται, οὐδεὶς δὲ οὕτω κατώδυνος, ὡς ἄνεσιν μὴ εὑρέσθαι τῇ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ τῆς ἑορτῆς. νῦν ὁ δεσμώτης λύεται, ὁ χρεώστης ἀφίεται, ὁ δοῦλος ἐλευθεροῦται τῷ ἀγαθῷ καὶ φιλανθρώπῳ τῆς ἐκκλη σίας κηρύγματι οὐ ῥαπιζόμενος ἀσχημόνως κατὰ τῆς παρειᾶς καὶ πληγῇ τῆς πληγῆς ἀφιέμενος οὐδὲ ὥσπερ ἐν πομπῇ τῷ δήμῳ δεικνύμενος ἐφ' ὑψηλῷ βήματι, ὕβριν δὲ ἔχων καὶ ἐρυθριασμὸν τὴν ἀρχὴν τῆς ἐλευθερίας, ἀλλ' οὕτω κοσμίως ἀφιέμενος ὡς γινώσκεται. εὐεργετεῖται καὶ ὁ μένων ἐπὶ τῆς δουλείας ἔτι· εἰ γὰρ καὶ πολλὰ καὶ βαρέα τὰ ἁμαρτήματα παραίτησιν ὑπερβαίνοντα καὶ συγγνώμην, αἰδούμενος ὁ δεσπότης τὸ τῆς ἡμέρας γαληνὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον δέχεται τὸν ἀπερριμμένον καὶ ἐν τοῖς ἀτίμοις ὁρώμενον ὡς ὁ Φαραὼ τὸν οἰνοχόον ἐκ τοῦ δεσμωτηρίου· οἶδε γὰρ, ὡς κατὰ τὴν προθεσμίαν τῆς ἀναστάσεως, ἧς καθ' ὁμοιότητα τὴν παροῦσαν τιμῶμεν, χρῄζει καὶ αὐτὸς τῆς ἀνεξικακίας καὶ τῆς ἀγαθότη τος τοῦ δεσπότου καὶ δανείζων ἐνταῦθα τὸν ἔλεον προσδοκᾷ 9.251 τὴν ἀπόδοσιν ἐν καιρῷ. ἠκούσατε οἱ δεσπόται, φυλάξατε τὸν λόγον ὡς ἀγαθόν, μὴ διαβάλητέ με παρὰ τοῖς δούλοις ὡς ψευδῶς τὴν ἡμέραν ἐγκωμιάζοντα, ἀφέλετε τὴν λύπην τῶν θλιβομένων ψυχῶν ὡς ὁ κύριος τῶν σωμάτων τὴν νέκρωσιν, μεταμορφώσατε τοὺς ἀτίμους εἰς ἐπιτιμίαν, τοὺς θλιβομένους εἰς χαράν, τοὺς ἀπαρρησιάστους εἰς παρρησίαν, ἐξαγάγετε τῆς γωνίας τοὺς ῥιφέντας ὡς τάφων, ἐπανθησάτω τὸ τῆς ἑορτῆς κάλλος ὡς ἄνθος τοῖς πᾶσιν. εἰ γὰρ βασιλέως ἀνθρώπου γενέθλιος ἡμέρα ἀνοίγει δεσμωτήριον ἢ ἐπινίκιος ἑορτή, Χριστὸς ἀναστὰς οὐκ ἀφήσει τοὺς τεθλιμμένους; οἱ πτωχοὶ τὴν ὑμετέραν τροφὸν ἀσπάσασθε, οἱ διερρυηκότες καὶ λελωβημένοι τὰ σώματα τὴν ἰωμένην ὑμῶν τὰς συμφοράς· διὰ γὰρ τὴν ἀπὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἐλπίδα καὶ ἀρετὴ σπουδάζε ται καὶ κακία μισεῖται, ἐπεὶ ἀναστάσεως ἀνῃρημένης εἷς παρὰ πᾶσι κρατῶν εὑρεθήσεται λόγος· Φάγωμεν καὶ πίωμεν, αὔριον γὰρ ἀποθνῄσκομεν.

Πρὸς ταύτην βλέπων ὁ ἀπόστολος τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς ζωῆς τῆς ἐπικαίρου καταφρονεῖ, ἐπιθυμεῖ δὲ τῆς μελλούσης, ἐξευτελίζων δὲ τὰ ὁρώμενά φησιν· Εἰ ἐπὶ τῇ ζωῇ ταύτῃ ἠλπικότες ἐσμέν, ἐλεεινότεροι πάντων ἀνθρώπων ἐσμέν. διὰ ταύτην τὴν ἡμέραν κληρονόμοι θεοῦ ἄνθρωποι καὶ συγκληρονόμοι Χριστοῦ. διὰ ταύτην τὴν ἡμέραν, ὅπερ οἱ σαρκοβόροι ὄρνιθες ἔφαγον πρὸ χιλίων ἐνιαυτῶν μέρος τοῦ σώματος, εὑρεθήσεται μὴ λεῖπον, καὶ ὅπερ κήτη καὶ κύνες καὶ τὰ ἐνάλια ζῷα κατεβοσκήθησαν, ἐγειρομένῳ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ συναναστήσεται, καὶ ὅπερ διέφλεξε πῦρ καὶ σκώληξ ἐν τάφοις κατεδαπάνησε καὶ ἁπλῶς πάντα τὰ σώματα, ὅσα μετὰ τὴν γένεσιν ἠφάνισεν ἡ φθορά, ἀνελλιπῆ καὶ ἀκέραια ἀναδοθήσεται 9.252 ἐκ τῆς γῆς καὶ, ὡς Παῦλος διδάσκει, ἐν ῥιπῇ ὀφθαλμοῦ τελεσθήσεται ἡ ἀνάστασις (ῥιπὴ δὲ ὀφθαλμοῦ ἐπίμυσις βλεφάρων ἐστί)· καὶ τούτου τοῦ τάχους οὐκ ἂν ἕτερον ὀξύτερον γένοιτο. σὺ δὲ ἀνθρωπικῶς καὶ κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν τὴν σαυτοῦ λογιζόμενος πόσα διαστήματα χρόνων διαγράφεις ἐν τῇ ψυχῇ σου; πρῶτον, ἵνα τὰ διασαπέντα τῶν ὀστέων καὶ γεωθέντα εἰς τὴν σκληρότητα καὶ λειότητα συμπαγῇ, ἑνωθέντα δὲ ἐκ τῆς θρύψεως πάλιν εἰς ῥυθμὸν ἁρμονίας καὶ τὴν φυσικὴν συνέλθῃ συνάφειαν· εἶτα ἐπινοεῖς τὴν τῶν σαρκῶν περίπλασιν καὶ νεύρων ἀποτεταμένας συνδέσεις καὶ φλεβῶν καὶ ἀρτηριῶν λεπτοὺς ὀχετοὺς ὑφηπλωμένους τῷ δέρματι, ψυχῶν δὲ ἀμύθητον καὶ ἀναρίθμητον πλῆθος ἔκ τινων οἰκήσεων ἀπορρήτων κινούμενον, γνωρίζουσαν δὲ ἑκάστην ὡς ἱμάτιον ἐξαίρετον τὸ ἴδιον σῶμα καὶ τούτῳ πάλιν ἐνοικοῦσαν ὀξέως, ἀπλανῆ δὲ ἔχουσαν τὴν διάκρισιν κατὰ πλήθους τοσούτου ὁμοφύλων πνευμάτων. ἐννόησον γὰρ τὰς ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ ψυχὰς καὶ τὰ ἀπ' ἐκείνου