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of the saints from of old and of your brethren who have fallen asleep in the Lord, and offer the acceptable eucharist, the antitype of the royal body of Christ, both in your churches and in your cemeteries, and at the departures of those who have fallen asleep, send them forth with singing, if they are faithful in the Lord. "For precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints." And again: "Return, O my soul, to your rest, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you." And in other places: "The memory of the just is with praises," and: "The souls of the righteous are in the hand of God." For those who have believed in God, even if they have fallen asleep, are not dead; for the Savior says to the Sadducees: "But concerning the resurrection of the dead, have you not read what was written, 'I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob'? God is not, therefore, the God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to Him." Therefore of those who live with God, not even their remains are without honor. For Elisha the prophet, after he had fallen asleep, raised a dead man who had been slain by pirates of Syria; for his body touched the bones of Elisha, and rising up, he lived; and this would not have happened, if the body of Elisha had not been holy. And Joseph the chaste embraced Jacob after he had died on the bed, and Moses and Joshua son of Nun carried the remains of Joseph, not considering this a defilement. Wherefore you also, O bishops and the rest, when you touch without scruple those who have fallen asleep, do not think you are defiled, nor abhor their remains, putting aside such observances as being foolish; and adorn yourselves in holiness and chastity, so that you may become partakers of immortality and sharers of the kingdom of God and may receive the promise of God, resting eternally through Jesus Christ the Savior. To him, therefore, who is able to open the ears of your hearts to receive the ministered oracles of God both through the Gospel and through the teaching of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and Herod and fell asleep and rose from the dead and is coming again at the end of the age with much glory and power and raising the dead, and bringing an end to the world, and rewarding each according to his deserts; to him who gave us himself as a pledge of the resurrection and was taken up into heaven by the power of his God and Father in our sight to those who ate with him and drank with him for forty days after

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τῶν ἀπ' αἰῶνος ἁγίων καὶ τῶν ἀδελφῶν ὑμῶν τῶν ἐν Κυρίῳ κεκοιμημένων, καὶ τὴν ἀντίτυπον τοῦ βασιλικοῦ σώματος Χριστοῦ δεκτὴν εὐχαριστίαν προσφέρετε ἔν τε ταῖς ἐκκλη σίαις ὑμῶν καὶ ἐν τοῖς κοιμητηρίοις, καὶ ἐν ταῖς ἐξόδοις τῶν κεκοιμημένων ψάλλοντες προπέμπετε αὐτούς, ἐὰν ὦσιν πιστοὶ ἐν Κυρίῳ. «Τίμιος γὰρ ἐναντίον Κυρίου ὁ θάνατος τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ.» Καὶ πάλιν· «Ἐπίστρεψον, ἡ ψυχή μου, εἰς τὴν ἀνάπαυσιν σου, ὅτι Κύριος εὐεργέτησέν σε.» Καὶ ἐν ἄλλοις· «Μνήμη δικαίων μετ' ἐγκωμίων», καί· «∆ικαίων ψυχαὶ ἐν χειρὶ Θεοῦ.» Oἱ γὰρ Θεῷ πεπιστευ κότες, ἐὰν καὶ κοιμηθῶσιν, οὐκ εἰσὶν νεκροί· λέγει γὰρ ὁ Σωτὴρ τοῖς Σαδδουκαίοις· «Περὶ δὲ τῆς ἀναστάσεως τῶν νεκρῶν οὐκ ἀνέγνωτε τὸ γεγραμμένον, ὅτι ἐγὼ ὁ Θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ ὁ Θεὸς Ἰακώβ; Oὐκ ἔστιν οὖν ὁ Θεὸς νεκρῶν, ἀλλὰ ζώντων, πάντες γὰρ αὐτῷ ζῶσιν.» Oὔκουν τῶν παρὰ Θεῷ ζώντων οὐδὲ τὰ λείψανα ἄτιμα. Καὶ γὰρ Ἐλισσαῖος ὁ προφήτης μετὰ τὸ κοιμηθῆναι αὐτὸν νεκρὸν ἤγειρε πεφονευμένον ὑπὸ πειρατῶν Συρίας· ἔψαυσεν γὰρ τὸ σῶμα αὐτοῦ τῶν Ἐλισσαίου ὀστέων, καὶ ἀναστὰς ἔζησεν· οὐκ ἂν δὲ ἐγεγόνει τοῦτο, εἰ μὴ ἦν τὸ σῶμα Ἐλισσαίου ἅγιον. Καὶ Ἰωσὴφ ὁ σώφρων περιεπλέκετο τῷ Ἰακὼβ μετὰ τὸ ἀποθανεῖν ὄντι ἐπὶ τῆς κλίνης, καὶ Μωϋσῆς καὶ Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ ἐπεφέροντο τὰ λείψανα τοῦ Ἰωσήφ, μολυσμὸν οὐχ ἡγούμενοι τοῦτο. Ὅθεν καὶ ὑμεῖς, ὦ ἐπίσκοποι καὶ οἱ λοιποί, ἀπαρατηρήτως ἁπτόμενοι τῶν κεκοιμημένων μὴ νομίσητε μιαίνεσθαι, μηδὲ βδελύσσεσθε τὰ τούτων λείψανα, περιϊστάμενοι τὰς τοιαύτας παρατηρήσεις μωρὰς οὔσας· καὶ κοσμεῖτε ἑαυτοὺς ἐν ἁγιασμῷ καὶ σωφρο σύνῃ, ὅπως μέτοχοι τῆς ἀθανασίας καὶ κοινωνοὶ τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ γένησθε καὶ τὴν ἐπαγγελίαν τοῦ Θεοῦ λάβητε, ἀναπαυόμενοι διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Σωτῆρος αἰωνίως. Τῷ οὖν δυναμένῳ ἀνοῖξαι τὰ ὦτα τῶν καρδιῶν ὑμῶν εἰς τὸ καταδέχεσθαι τὰ διηκονημένα τοῦ Θεοῦ λόγια διά τε τοῦ Eὐαγγελίου καὶ διὰ τῆς διδασκαλίας Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ Ναζωραίου, τοῦ σταυρωθέντος ἐπὶ Ποντίου Πιλάτου καὶ Ἡρώδου καὶ κοιμηθέντος καὶ ἀναστάντος ἐκ νεκρῶν καὶ πάλιν ἐρχομένου ἐπὶ συντελείᾳ τοῦ αἰῶνος μετὰ δόξης καὶ δυνάμεως πολλῆς καὶ τοὺς μὲν νεκροὺς ἀνεγείροντος, τῷ κόσμῳ δὲ τέλος ἐπάγοντος, ἑκάστῳ δὲ τὰ πρὸς ἀξίαν ἀπονέμοντος· τῷ δόντι ἡμῖν ἀρραβῶνα τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἑαυτὸν καὶ εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναληφθέντι διὰ τῆς δυνάμεως τοῦ Θεοῦ καὶ Πατρὸς αὐτοῦ ἐπ' ὄψεσιν ἡμετέραις τοῖς συμφα γοῦσιν αὐτῷ καὶ συμπιοῦσιν ἐπὶ ἡμέρας τεσσαράκοντα μετὰ