ST. CHRYSOSTOM
THE BLESSINGS OF DEATH[1]
(About 880)
Born in 347, died in 407; Presbyter at Antioch about 886; made Patriarch of Constantinople in 398; exiled to Cappadocia in 404.
Believe me, I am ashamed and blush to see unbecoming groups of women pass along the mart, tearing their hair, cutting their arms and cheeks, and all this under the eyes of the Greeks. For what will they not say? What will they not utter concerning us? Are these the men who philosophize about a resurrection? Indeed! How poorly their actions agree with their opinions! In words, they philosophize about a resurrection: but they act just like those who do not acknowledge a resurrection. If they fully believed in a resurrection, they would not act thus; if they had really persuaded themselves that a deceased friend had departed to a better state, they would not mourn. These things, and more than these, the unbelievers say when they hear those
- ↑ From one of his sermons preached while a presbyter at Antioch, where Chrysostom won high reputation for preaching and especially by his homilies on the "Statutes" of the Emperor Theodosius. His works, consisting mainly of homilies, commentaries, treatises, epistles, and liturgies, in the best edition (folio, Paris, 1718-1738) comprise thirteen volumes. Translations of some of the homilies and commentaries are given in the Oxford "Library of the Fathers."
3
