John Chrysostom, On the Resurrection of the Lord

In resurrectionem domini

Of our father among the saints John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, a sermon on the resurrection of

our Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Glorious are the symbols of the Lord's resurrection; deceit has ceased and envy is banished, battle is trodden down, peace is honored and war is dissolved. No longer do we mourn Adam the first-formed, but we glorify the second Adam, no longer do we reproach the transgressing Eve, but we bless Mary the Theotokos, no longer do we turn away from the tree, but we bear the cross of the Lord, no longer do we fear the serpent, but we entreat the Holy Spirit, no longer do we descend to earth, but we run up to the heavens, no longer are we outside of paradise, but we dwell in the bosom of Abraham, no longer do we hear in the Jewish manner "I have likened" your day "to the night," but we sing spiritually: "This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Why? because no longer is the sun darkened, but all things are illumined, no longer is the veil torn, but the church is made known, no longer do we carry palm branches, but we lead about the newly illumined.

2 "This is the day which the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." This is the day, this and no other; for there is one kingdom and not many tyrannies. This is the day named for the Lord, the trophy-bearer, the custom of the resurrection and the beautifier of grace and the distributor of the rational lamb, the milk-giver of the reborn and the stewardess of the poor. "Let us rejoice and be glad in it," not running to taverns but hastening to the shrines of the martyrs, not honoring drunkenness but loving moderation, not leaping in the Jewish manner but delighting in the apostolic way, not playing in the marketplaces but singing psalms in our homes. The present day is of resurrection, not of insolence. No one who is dancing ascends to heaven, no one who is drunk stands before the king. Let none of us, therefore, dishonor this day, the one prefigured of old through the law, the one promised with a threat, the one proclaimed through the prophetic voice, the one awaited through the promise of the fathers, the one fulfilled by the eyewitness account of the apostles, the one received through the faith of the church.

3 This is the day on which Adam was freed, on which Eve was released from sorrow, on which savage death shuddered, on which the power of the mighty stones was paralyzed, having been broken, and the locks of the tombs, having been rent asunder, were opened, on which the bodies of those long dead were delivered to their former life, on which the ever-strong and firm laws of the underworld are defeated, on which, as the Lord Christ rose up, the heavens were opened, on which the flourishing and fruitful plant of the resurrection, as in a garden, sprouted for the human race in the inhabited world, on which the lilies of the newly illumined sprang up, on which the streams of sinners were dried up, on which the sinews of the devil were paralyzed, on which the battalions of demons were scattered, on which the multitudes of the Jews were put to shame, on which the ranks of the faithful rejoice, on which the crowns of the martyrs blossom anew. "Therefore, this is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it," by the grace of Christ who through his resurrection illumined the whole inhabited world "sitting in darkness and the shadow of death," with whom to the Father, together with the Holy Spirit, be glory and worship unto the ages of ages. Amen.

In resurrectionem domini

Τοῦ ἐν ἁγίοις πατρὸς ἡμῶν Ἰωάννου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου λόγος εἰς τὴν ἀνάστασιν τοῦ

κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.

1 Λαμπρὰ τῆς δεσποτικῆς ἀναστάσεως τὰ σύμβολα· πέπαυται δόλος καὶ φθόνος ἐξώρισται, καταπεπάτηται μάχη, εἰρήνη τιμᾶται καὶ διαλέλυται πόλεμος. Οὐκέτι πενθοῦμεν Ἀδὰμ τὸν πρωτόπλαστον ἀλλὰ τὸν δεύτερον Ἀδὰμ δοξάζομεν, οὐκέτι τὴν παραβᾶσαν ὀνειδίζομεν Εὕαν ἀλλὰ τὴν θεοτόκον Μαρίαν μακαρίζομεν, οὐκέτι τὸ ξύλον ἀποστρεφόμεθα ἀλλὰ τὸν σταυρὸν τοῦ κυρίου βαστάζομεν, οὐκέτι τὸν ὄφιν φοβούμεθα ἀλλὰ τὸ Πνεῦμα τὸ ἅγιον δυσωποῦμεν, οὐκέτι εἰς γῆν κατερχόμεθα ἀλλ' εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀνατρέχομεν, οὐκέτι ἔξω τοῦ παραδείσου γινόμεθα ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς κόλποις τοῦ Ἀβραὰμ αὐλιζόμεθα, οὐκέτι ἀκούομεν ἰουδαϊκῶς "νυκτὶ ὡμοίωσα" τὴν ἡμέραν σου ἀλλὰ ψάλλομεν πνευματικῶς· "Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ." ∆ιὰ τί; ὅτι οὐκέτι ὁ ἥλιος σκοτίζεται ἀλλὰ πάντα φωτίζεται, οὐκέτι τὸ καταπέτασμα ῥήγνυται ἀλλ' ἡ ἐκκλησία γνωρί ζεται, οὐκέτι βαΐα τῶν φοινίκων βαστάζομεν ἀλλὰ τοὺς νεοφωτίστους περιφέρομεν.

2 "Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἣν ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος· ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ." Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα, αὕτη καὶ οὐκ ἄλλη· μία γὰρ βασίλεια καὶ οὐ πολλαὶ τυραννίδες. Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἡ κυριώνυμος, ἡ τροπαιοῦχος, ἡ τῆς ἀναστάσεως ἔθιμος καὶ τῆς χάριτος καλλωπίστρια καὶ τοῦ λογικοῦ ἀμνοῦ διαμερίστρια, ἡ τῶν ἀναγεννηθέντων γαλακτοδότρια καὶ τῶν πενήτων οἰκονομήτρια. "Ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ", μὴ εἰς καπηλεῖα τρέχοντες ἀλλ' εἰς μαρτύρια σπεύδοντες, μὴ μέθην τιμῶντες ἀλλὰ συμμετρίαν ἀγαπῶντες, μὴ ἰουδαϊκῶς σκιρτῶντες ἀλλ' ἀποστολικῶς τρυφῶντες, μὴ ἐν ταῖς ἀγοραῖς παίζοντες ἀλλ' ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις ψάλλοντες. Ἀναστάσεως ἡ παροῦσα ἡμέρα οὐχ ὕβρεως. οὐδεὶς ὀρχούμενος εἰς οὐρανοὺς ἀναβαίνει, οὐδεὶς μεθύων βασιλεῖ παρίσταται. Μηδεὶς τοίνυν ἡμῶν ταύτην τὴν ἡμέραν ἀτιμάσῃ, τὴν διὰ τοῦ νόμου πάλαι τυπωθεῖσαν, τὴν μετὰ ἀπειλῆς ἐπαγγελθεῖσαν, τὴν διὰ τῆς προφητικῆς φωνῆς κηρυχθεῖσαν, τὴν διὰ τῆς τῶν πατέρων ἐπαγγελίας προσδο κηθεῖσαν, τὴν διὰ τῆς τῶν ἀποστόλων αὐτοψίας πληρω θεῖσαν, τὴν διὰ τῆς ἐκκλησιαστικῆς πίστεως προσδεχθεῖσαν.

3 Αὕτη ἡ ἡμέρα ἐν ᾗ ὁ Ἀδὰμ ἠλευθερώθη, ἐν ᾗ ἡ Εὕα ἀπηλλάγη τῆς λύπης, ἐν ᾗ ὁ ἀνήμερος θάνατος ἔφριξεν, ἐν ᾗ τῶν κραταιῶν λίθων ἡ δύναμις παρελύθη ῥαγεῖσα καὶ τὰ τῶν μνημείων κλεῖθρα διασπασθέντα ἀνέθη, ἐν ᾗ τὰ τῶν τελευτησάντων πάλαι σώματα τῇ προτέρᾳ ζωῇ παρεδόθη, ἐν ᾗ οἱ διὰ παντὸς ἰσχυροὶ καὶ βέβαιοι τῶν καταχθονίων νόμοι ἥττηνται, ἐν ᾗ ἐξανισταμένου τοῦ δεσπότου Χριστοῦ οἱ οὐρανοὶ ἀνεῴχθησαν, ἐν ᾗ τὸ τῆς ἀναστάσεως εὐθαλὲς καὶ εὔκαρπον ὡς ἐν κήπῳ τῇ οἰκουμένῃ τῷ γένει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐβλάστησεν, ἐν ᾗ τὰ τῶν νεοφωτίστων ἀνεφύησαν κρίνα, ἐν ᾗ τὰ τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν ἐξηράνθησαν ῥεῖθρα, ἐν ᾗ τὰ τοῦ διαβόλου παρελύθησαν νεῦρα, ἐν ᾗ τὰ τῶν δαιμόνων ἐσκορπίσθησαν τάγματα, ἐν ᾗ τὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων κατῃσ χύνθησαν πλήθη, ἐν ᾗ τὰ τῶν πιστῶν εὐφραίνονται τάγματα, ἐν ᾗ τὰ τῶν μαρτύρων ἀναθάλλουσι διαδήματα. "Ταύτην τοίνυν τὴν ἡμέραν ἐποίησεν ὁ κύριος, ἀγαλλιασώμεθα καὶ εὐφρανθῶμεν ἐν αὐτῇ", χάριτι τοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ διὰ τῆς αὐτοῦ ἀναστάσεως τὴν σύμπασαν οἰκουμένην "ἐν σκότει καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου καθημένην" φωτίσαντος, μεθ' οὗ τῷ Πατρὶ σὺν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πνεύματι δόξα καὶ προσκύνησις εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας τῶν αἰώνων. Ἀμήν.