John Chrysostom, On All Saints

In omnes sanctos

Encomium of John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, on All the Saints.

Come today, brothers, let us joyfully celebrate the memory of the holy martyrs. Come, let us partake of this heavenly grace; for martyrs are a defense for the betrayal in paradise, propitiations for our fallen nature, gifts for humanity that has stumbled, subscriptions for the shaken race, bulwarks against the robber-chief's breach, pledges of the hope of the faithful, divinely-inscribed tablets of endurance, mystical quivers of Christianity, unspeakable bows of the One crucified beforehand, strong arms of piety, trees more flourishing after being cut, roots more thriving after decay, nets hidden for the demons; for sparrows walking about in the fields are not so caught by hidden snares as demons, grazing among the tribes of the holy martyrs, are scorched by the hidden ash and suffer something similar to Cain; for they shudder at those whom they slew, as he did at the slain Abel.

And since there are demons in this air, barbarous and savage and always stirring up wars and enemies of peace, He has set against them the armies of the angels, so that by their appearance alone they may restrain them, so that they may always secure peace for us. And so that you may learn that there are angels of peace, hear the priests and deacons always saying in the prayers: Ask for the angel of peace. You see that both angels are present and martyrs .... of this festival of all the saints. The martyrs gain a wealth that brings about immortality; they have obtained that glory, whose kingdom is eternal, having laid up the whole treasure of life in heaven; for such is the victory of the saints as to choose even death for the sake of immortal goods. Their flesh was scraped by tortures, but the purpose of the soul remained unfeeling; their limbs were cut by swords, but their longing for heaven was not cut off .... the teeth of wild beasts tore their entrails, but they did not tear away the pious reasoning of the heart. Truly a shield and breastplate for the souls of the martyrs were their bodies; for these alone are wounded by the arrows of the tyrants; for by which the good soldier of the faith, persuading his limbs to receive the arrows, offers his body naked to the war and works a victory, in those things in which he is thought to be vanquished; for the devil has been vanquished by torturing the bodies of the martyrs. And the proof of this is the power of the relics, putting demons to flight with an invisible blow. These trophies glorify the martyrs; these showed that those who willed to die thus lived immortally; these the armies of the angels call blessed; these creation holds everywhere as pledges of salvation.

For henceforth each city and country of the inhabited world finds as patrons those martyrs it possesses; for just as much as we piously run to them with honors, so much do we find in them guardians in all things. But honor for a martyr is the uprightness of one's way of life, a good conscience toward God; for the martyrs are our teachers of piety and fellow citizens, having Christ as their guide; thanks to the philanthropic Master, who has also given to the earth as treasures all the saints; for in it have been placed the heirlooms of the heavens, the precious pearls, the tested gold, the chosen vessels; for these are the relics of the martyrs, and for a time heaven has yielded them to the earth, allowing the life of men to be blessed; for there is the pleasing sojourn of the martyrs, there the much-desired rest from their struggles, there the precious [prizes] of victory

In omnes sanctos

Ἰωάννου ἀρχιεπισκόπου Κωνσταντινουπόλεως τοῦ Χρυσοστόμου ἐγκώμιον εἰς τοὺς ἁγίους πάντας.

∆εῦτε σήμερον, ἀδελφοί, τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων τὴν μνήμην φαιδρῶς πανηγυρίσωμεν. ∆εῦτε κοινωνήσωμεν αὐτῆς τῆς ἐπουρανίου χάριτος· μάρτυρες γὰρ τῆς ἐν παραδείσῳ προδοσίας ἀπολογία, τῆς σφαλείσης ἱλαστήρια φύσεως, τῆς προσκρουσάσης ἀνθρωπότητος δῶρα, τοῦ γένους τοῦ σαλευθέντος ὑπογραφαί, τῆς τοῦ ληστάρχου διορυγῆς προμαχίονες, τῆς τῶν πιστῶν ἐλπίδος ἐνέχυρα, καρτερίας θεόγραφοι πίνακες, μυστικαὶ χριστιανισμοῦ βελοθῆκαι, τόξα τοῦ προσταυρωθέντος ἀπόρρητα, ἰσχυροὶ τῆς εὐσεβείας βραχίονες, δένδρα μετὰ τομὴν ἀνθηρότερα, ῥίζαι μετὰ φθορὰν εὐθαλέστεραι, κεχωσμένα τοῖς δαίμοσι δίκτυα· οὐχ οὕτω ταῖς ἀρούραις ἐμπεριπατοῦντες στρουθοὶ τοῖς κεχωσμένοις συλλαμβάνονται βρόχοις ὡς ταῖς φυλαῖς τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων ἐμβοσκώμενοι δαίμονες τῇ κεχωσμένῃ περιπυροῦντες τέφρᾳ καὶ πάσχουσι τοῦ Κάϊν παρόμοιον· οὓς γὰρ ἔσφαξαν φρίττουσιν, ὡς ἐκεῖνος ἐσφαγμένον τὸν Ἄβελ.

Ἐπειδὴ καὶ δαίμονές εἰσιν ἐν τῷ ἀέρι τούτῳ βάρβαροι καὶ ἄγριοι καὶ πολέμους ἐγείροντες ἀεὶ καὶ τῆς εἰρήνης ἐχθροί, ἀντεκατέστησεν αὐτοῖς τὰ στρατόπεδα τῶν ἀγγέλων, ἵνα φαινόμενοι μόνον αὐτοὺς καταστέλλωσιν, ἵνα τὴν εἰρήνην ἡμῖν ἀεὶ πρυτανεύωσι. Καὶ ἵνα μάθῃς ὅτι ἄγγελοι εἰρήνης εἰσίν, ἄκουσον ἐν ταῖς εὐχαῖς ἀεὶ λεγόντων καὶ διακόνων· τὸν ἄγγελον τῆς εἰρήνης αἰτήσατε. Ὁρᾷς ὅτι καὶ ἄγγελοι πάρεισι καὶ μάρτυρες .... τῆς πανηγύρεως ταύτης τῶν ἁγίων πάντων. Πλοῦτον κερδαίνουσιν οἱ μάρτυρες ἀθανασίας πρόξενον· δόξης ἐκείνης ἐπέτυχον, ἧς ἡ βασιλεία αἰώνιος ὅλον εἰς οὐρανοὺς τὸν τῆς ζωῆς θησαυρὸν ἀποθέμενοι· τοιαύτη γὰρ τῶν ἁγίων ἡ νίκη ὡς ὑπὲρ τῶν ἀθανάτων ἀγαθῶν ἑλέσθαι καὶ θάνατον. Ἐξέοντο τούτων τοῖς βασάνοις οἱ σάρκες, ἀλλ' ὁ τῆς ψυχῆς σκοπὸς ἀνάλγητος ἔμενεν· ἐκόπτοντο τὰ μέλη τοῖς ξίφεσιν, ἀλλ' ὁ πρὸς οὐρανὸν οὐκ ἐτέμνετο πόθος .... θηρίων ὀδόντες διεσπάραττον σπλάγχνα, ἀλλὰ τὸν τῆς καρδίας εὐσεβῆ λογισμὸν οὐκ ἀπέσπασαν. Ὄντως ἀσπὶς καὶ θῶραξ ταῖς ψυχαῖς τῶν μαρτύρων τὰ σώματα· ταῦτα γὰρ καὶ μόνα τοῖς τῶν τυράννων τιτρώσκεται βέλεσιν· οἷς γὰρ ὁ τῆς πίστεως καλὸς στρατιώτης πείθων τὰ μέλη δέχεσθαι βέλη προσίεται γυμνὸν τῷ πολέμῳ τὸ σῶμα καὶ νίκην ἐργάζεται, ἐν οἷς νικᾶσθαι νομίζεται· νενίκηται γὰρ διάβολος τῶν μαρτύρων αἰκίσας τὰ σώματα. Καὶ τούτου ἀπόδειξις τῶν λειψάνων ἡ δύναμις ἀοράτῳ πληγῇ φυγαδεύουσα δαίμονας. Ταῦτα τοὺς μάρτυρας δο 304 ξάζει τὰ τρόπαια· ταῦτα τοὺς οὕτω θανῆναι θελήσαντας ἀθανάτως ἔδειξε ζήσαντας· ταῦτα τῶν ἀγγέλων αἱ στρατιαὶ μακαρίζουσι ταῦτα ἡ κτίσις ἐνέχυρα κατέχει πανταχοῦ σωτηρίας.

Ἑκάστη γὰρ λοιπὸν τῆς οἰκουμένης πόλις καὶ χώρα προστάτας εὑρίσκεται τοὺς μάρτυρας κατέχουσα· ὅσον γὰρ αὐτοῖς ταῖς τιμαῖς εὐσεβοῦντες τρέχομεν, τοσοῦτον αὐτοῖς ἐν ἅπασι κηδεμόνας εὑρίσκομεν. Τιμὴ δὲ μάρτυρι ἡ τῆς πολιτείας ὀρθότης, τὸ πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν εὐσυνείδητον· διδάσκαλοι γὰρ ἡμῶν εὐσεβείας καὶ πολῖται οἱ μάρτυρες Χριστὸν ἔχοντες ὁδηγὸν χάρις τῷ φιλανθρώπῳ δεσπότῃ, τὸ καὶ τῇ γῇ δεδοκότι θησαυροὺς τοὺς ἁγίους Πάντας· ἐν αὐτῇ γὰρ ἐπετέθη τῶν οὐρανῶν τὰ κειμήλια, οἱ τίμιοι μαργαρῖται, τὸ χρυσίον τὸ δόκιμον, τὰ σκεύη τὰ ἐκλεκτά· ταῦτα γάρ ἐστι τῶν μαρτύρων τὰ λείψανα καὶ τέως ὁ οὐρανὸς τῇ γῇ παρεχώρησε συγχωρῶν εὐλογεῖσθαι τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸν βίον· ἐκεῖ γὰρ ἡ καταθύμιος διαμονὴ τῶν μαρτύρων, ἐκεῖ τῶν ἀγώνων ἡ περιπόθητος ἄνεσις, ἐκεῖ οἱ τῆς νίκης πολύτιμοι