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and separated. For to separate and to fold and place this apart, and that apart, was the act of someone doing it with care, and not in a random, hurried way. 5. But you, when you hear that the Lord arose naked, cease from this madness for funerals. For what is the point of this excessive and useless expense, which brings much loss to those who conduct the burial, and no gain to the departed, but if I must say something, even harm? For the lavishness of the burial has often become a cause for grave-robbing, and has caused the one who was carefully buried to be cast out naked and unburied. But oh, the vainglory! how much tyranny it shows even in mourning, how much folly! Indeed, many, so that this may not happen, having cut up those fine linens, and having filled them with many spices, so that they become doubly useless to those who would violate them, have thus committed them to the earth. Is this not the act of madmen; is this not the act of the insane? to display ambition, and then to destroy it? Yes, he says; so that it may lie safely with the dead body, we contrive all these things. What then? If the grave-robbers do not take them, will not the moths and the worms take them? And what? if the moths and the worms do not take them, will not time and corruption destroy them? But let us suppose no grave-robbers, no moths, no worms, no time, nor anything else consuming what is laid there; but that the body 59.466 remains untouched until the resurrection, and that these very things 59.466 are kept new and fresh and fine, what more gain is there from this for the departed, when the body is raised naked, but these things remain here, and help us in no way for those accounts? For what reason then, he says, did this happen in the case of Christ? First of all, do not compare these things with human affairs; since the sinful woman also poured ointment on His holy feet. But if it is necessary to speak about these things, first, it was done by those who did not know the doctrine of the resurrection. For this reason it says, "As was the custom for the Jews." For those who honored Christ were not of the twelve, but those who did not honor Him exceedingly. The twelve, at any rate, did not honor Him in this way, but by death and slaughter, and by dangers on His behalf. For that was also an honor, but much less than this of which I have spoken. Besides, as I have already said, our discourse is now about men; but then these things were done for the Lord. And that you may learn that Christ takes no account of these things, He said, "I was hungry, and you fed me; and thirsty, and you gave me drink; and naked, and you clothed me." And nowhere did He say, "And dead, and you buried me." And I say these things, not to abolish burial—may it never be!—but to cut off extravagance and unseasonable ambition. For emotion, he says, and pain, and sympathy for the departed persuade these things. These are not acts of sympathy for the departed, but of vainglory. For if you wish to grieve with the dead, I will show you another way of burial, and I will teach you to provide garments which will rise with him, and make him appear glorious. For these garments are neither consumed by moths, nor worn out by time, nor are they stolen by grave-robbers. What are these then? The clothing of almsgiving. For this robe rises with him; for the seal of almsgiving is with him. From these garments shine those who will then hear, "I was hungry, and you fed Me." These make them distinguished, these make them illustrious, these place them in safety; but the present things are nothing else than food for moths and a banquet for worms. And I say these things, not forbidding burial, but that you do this with moderation, so as to cover the body, and not to commit it naked to the earth. For if while living he commands us to have nothing more than a covering, much more so for the dead. For the dead body does not have such need of garments as the living and breathing one. For while living, both for the sake of cold and for modesty, we need the covering of garments; but when we have died, for none of these reasons, but so that the body may not lie naked, we need burial cloths. And even before the burial cloths we have the most beautiful covering, the earth, which is more fitting for such a nature of bodies. If therefore, where there are so many needs, it is not necessary to seek anything superfluous;

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καὶ διῃρημένα. Τὸ γὰρ διελεῖν καὶ χωρὶς μὲν τοῦτο, χωρὶς δὲ ἐκεῖνο θεῖναι ἑλίξαντα, τινὸς ἦν μετ' ἐπιμελείας ποιοῦντος, καὶ οὐχ ὡς ἔτυχε θορυβουμένου. εʹ. Σὺ δὲ ὅταν ἀκούσῃς, ὅτι γυμνὸς ὁ ∆εσπότης ἀνέστη, παῦσαι τῆς πρὸς τὴν κηδείαν μανίας. Τί γὰρ βούλεται ἡ περιττὴ αὕτη δαπάνη καὶ ἀνόνητος, πολλὴν μὲν φέρουσα τοῖς κηδεύουσι ζημίαν, τῷ δὲ ἀπελθόντι κέρδος οὐδὲν, ἀλλ' εἰ χρή τι εἰπεῖν, καὶ βλάβην; Ἡ γὰρ πολυτέλεια τῆς ταφῆς τυμβωρυχίας αἰτία γέγονε πολλάκις, καὶ γυμνὸν καὶ ἄταφον ἐποίησεν ἐῤῥῖφθαι τὸν ἐπιμελῶς ταφέντα. Ἀλλ' ὢ τῆς κενοδοξίας! πόσην καὶ ἐν τῷ πένθει τὴν τυραννίδα ἐπιδείκνυται, πόσην τὴν ἀνοίαν! Πολλοὶ γοῦν, ἵνα μὴ τοῦτο γένηται, τὰς λεπτὰς ἐκείνας ὀθόνας διατεμόντες, καὶ πολλῶν τῶν ἀρωμάτων ἐμπλήσαντες, ὥστε διπλῇ γενέσθαι τοῖς ἐπηρεάζουσιν ἄχρηστα, οὕτω τῇ γῇ παραδεδώκασι. Ταῦτ' οὖν οὐ μαινομένων· ταῦτ' οὐ παραπαιόντων; φιλοτιμίαν ἐπιδείκνυσθαι, καὶ πάλιν αὐτὴν ἀφανίζειν; Ναὶ, φησίν· ἵνα μετὰ ἀσφαλείας κέηται παρὰ τῷ νεκρῷ, ταῦτα πάντα μηχανώμεθα. Τί οὖν; ἂν οἱ τυμβωρύχοι μὴ λάβωσιν, οἱ σῆτες οὐ λήψονται καὶ οἱ σκώληκες; Τί δέ; ἂν οἱ σῆτες καὶ οἱ σκώληκες μὴ λάβωσιν, ὁ χρόνος καὶ ὁ ἰχὼρ οὐκ ἀπολεῖ; Θῶμεν δὲ μὴ τυμβωρύχους, μὴ σῆτας, μὴ σκώληκας, μὴ χρόνον, μὴ ἄλλο μηδὲν δαπανᾷν τὰ κείμενα· ἀλλὰ καὶ τὸ σῶμα 59.466 ἀνέπαφον εἶναι μέχρι τῆς ἀναστάσεως, καὶ αὐτὰ δὴ ταῦτα 59.466 καινὰ καὶ νεοπαγῆ καὶ λεπτὰ τηρεῖσθαι, τί πλέον ἐντεῦθεν τοῖς ἀπελθοῦσι γίνεται, ὅταν γυμνὸν μὲν τὸ σῶμα ἐγείρηται, ταῦτα δὲ ἐνταῦθα μένῃ, καὶ μηδὲν ἡμᾶς ὠφελῇ πρὸς τὰς εὐθύνας ἐκείνας; Τίνος οὖν ἕνεκεν, φησὶν, ἐπὶ τοῦ Χριστοῦ γέγονε; Μάλιστα μὲν μὴ παράβαλλε ταῦτα τοῖς ἀνθρωπίνοις· ἐπεὶ καὶ μύρον ἐξέχεεν ἡ πόρνη ἐπὶ τοὺς ἁγίους πόδας ἐκείνου. Εἰ δὲ χρὴ καὶ περὶ τούτων εἰπεῖν. πρῶτον μὲν οὐκ εἰδότων τὸν περὶ ἀναστάσεως λόγον τῶν ποιούντων ταῦτα ἐγίνετο. ∆ιὰ τοῦτό φησι· Καθὼς ἔθος ἦν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις. Οὐ γὰρ τῶν δώδεκα ἦσαν οἱ τὸν Χριστὸν τιμήσαντες, ἀλλ' ἐκεῖνοι οἱ μὴ σφόδρα αὐτὸν τιμῶντες. Οἱ γοῦν δώδεκα οὐχ οὕτως αὐτὸν ἐτίμων, ἀλλὰ θανάτῳ καὶ σφαγῇ, καὶ τοῖς ὑπὲρ αὐτοῦ κινδύνοις. Ἦν μὲν γὰρ καὶ ἐκείνη τιμὴ, πολλῷ δὲ ἐλάττων ταύτης ἧς εἶπον. Ἄλλως δὲ, ὅπερ ἔφην εἰπὼν, περὶ ἀνθρώπων ἡμῖν ὁ λόγος νῦν· τότε δὲ ταῦτα περὶ τὸν ∆εσπότην ἐγίνετο. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι τούτων οὐδεὶς τῷ Χριστῷ λόγος, εἶπε· Πεινῶντά με εἴδετε, καὶ ἐθρέψατε· καὶ διψῶντα, καὶ ἐποτίσατε· καὶ γυμνὸν, καὶ περιεβάλετε. Καὶ οὐδαμοῦ εἶπε, Καὶ τεθνεῶτα, καὶ ἐθάψατε. Καὶ ταῦτα λέγω, οὐ ταφὴν ἀναιρῶν· μὴ γένοιτο· ἀλλὰ τὴν ἀσωτίαν ἐκκόπτων καὶ τὴν ἄκαιρον φιλοτιμίαν. Τὸ γὰρ πάθος, φησὶ, καὶ ἡ ὀδύνη, καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸν ἀπελθόντα συμπάθεια ταῦτα πείθει. Οὐκ ἔστι ταῦτα συμπαθείας τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἀπελθόντα, ἀλλὰ κενοδοξίας. Ἐπεὶ εἰ βούλει συναλγῆσαι τῷ τεθνηκότι, δείκνυμί σοι ἑτέραν ὁδὸν κηδείας, καὶ διδάσκω σε ἱμάτια τιθέναι, τὰ συνανιστάμενα αὐτῷ, καὶ λαμπρὸν ἀποφαίνοντα. Ταῦτα γὰρ τὰ ἱμάτια οὔτε ὑπὸ σητῶν ἀναλίσκεται, οὔτε ὑπὸ χρόνου δαπανᾶται, οὐδὲ ὑπὸ τυμβωρύχων κλέπτεται. Ποῖα δὴ ταῦτά ἐστιν; Ἡ τῆς ἐλεημοσύνης περιβολή. Αὕτη γὰρ μετ' αὐτοῦ ἀνίσταται ἡ στολή· ἐλεημοσύνης γὰρ σφραγὶς μετ' αὐτοῦ. Ἀπὸ τούτων λάμπουσι τῶν ἱματίων οἱ τότε ἀκούοντες, Πεινῶντά με ἐθρέψατε. Ταῦτα ἐπισήμους ποιεῖ, ταῦτα περιφανεῖς, ταῦτα ἐν ἀσφαλεία καθίστησι· τὰ δὲ νῦν, οὐδὲν ἕτερόν ἐστιν, ἢ δαπάνη σητῶν καὶ τράπεζα σκωλήκων. Καὶ ταῦτα λέγω, οὐ κηδεύειν κωλύων, ἀλλὰ μετὰ συμμετρίας τοῦτο ποιεῖν, ὥστε σκέπειν τὸ σῶμα, καὶ μὴ γυμνὸν παραδιδόναι τῇ γῇ. Εἰ γὰρ ζῶντας μηδὲν ἔχειν πλέον κελεύει, ἀλλ' ἢ σκέπασμα· πολλῷ μᾶλλον τελευτήσαντας. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτω τετελευτηκὸς τὸ σῶμα δεῖται ἱματίων, ὡς ζῶν καὶ ἐμπνέον. Ζῶντες μὲν γὰρ, καὶ ψύχους ἕνεκεν καὶ εὐσχημοσύνης, δεόμεθα τῆς τῶν ἱματίων περιβολῆς· τελευτήσαντες δὲ, τούτων μὲν οὐδενὸς ἕνεκεν, ἵνα δὲ μὴ γυμνὸν κέηται τὸ σῶμα, δεόμεθα τῶν ἐνταφίων· καὶ πρὸ τῶν ἐνταφίων δὲ ἔχομεν κάλυμμα κάλλιστον τὴν γῆν, καὶ τῇ τοιαύτῃ τῶν σωμάτων φύσει πρεπωδέστερον. Εἰ τοίνυν ἔνθα τοσαῦται χρεῖαι, οὐδὲν δεῖ περιττὸν ἐπιζητεῖν·