| Giovanni
Damasceno About the Dormition 2, 17 Why are
you seeking in a tomb the woman who has been elevated to the celestial tabernacle? Why are
you asking the reason of her disappearing? I can't go against God's will. When He left the
Shroud, which had sanctified me too, giving me a light perfume and turning me into a
divine temple, the holy body was removed and left, with the angels, archangels and all
celestial powers. Now, angels, guard me, the grace of God lives in me. I became the
medicine that heals the ill, I became the eternal spring of healing, the defence from
demons; I became the city where everyone who needs shelter can be safe.
Girolamus, Homily on Johns
Gospel, second part
This is the reason of my surprise: how could a virgin be
born from a virgin, and how could the virgin remain virgin after His birth. There is no
doubt on the fact that the doors were locked. The doors were closed and Jesus came in.-
The man who came in through the locked doors was not a ghost, He was not a spirit, He was
a real human body. In fact this is what He says: "Look, watch: a spirit does not have
flesh nor bones as, you see, I have". He was made in flesh and bones and the doors
were locked. How could flesh and bones come in with the doors locked? The doors are closed
and, in spite of this, somebody that we do not see coming in, comes in. Where did He come
through? All the walls are intact, there is not a passage that could let Him in, and
nonetheless we find somebody inside and we can not understand how He did it. You do not
know what happened and you explain it with the power of God. You ascribe the fact that
somebody was born from a virgin and that the virgin remained virgin even after giving
birth to the power of God. Ezechiel, when he talks about the construction of the Temple,
he says: "this door placed on the East side, that looks toward East, will always be
locked, and nobody could go through it but the pontiff" The door is closed and nobody
opens it but the pontiff. The sepulcher of the savior was dug in a very hard stone, a
solid stone that had no weak spot; and it is written that in a sepulcher nobody had ever
been buried, since the sepulcher was new. (…)
You should watch out, Pharisees, you should be careful:
God cannot be kept locked, it is not possible to hold God buried in a sepulcher. He, who
created Earth and heaven, He, who holds Earth and heaven in his fist, He, who holds the
world with three fingers cannot be kept in a sepulcher.
Gregory Nazianzen.
Christ's Passion, 1446- 1453.
(Mary is talking to Joseph and Nicodemus.)
Take the body to the new tomb, that is waiting for Him. Go! Entomb Him in a sepulcher that
will become wonderful! It has all kinds of drapes that are proper for those who are in the
underworld, little consolation for the dead. I am sure there is not much difference for
the dead if someone gets rich funereal offers: these are not but vanity for the living!
Gregory Nazianzen,
Christ's Passion, 1466-1474.
(Mary is talking to Joseph and Nicodemus.)
Take the body to the new tomb, that is waiting for Him. Go! Entomb Him in a sepulcher that
will become wonderful! It has all kinds of drapes that are proper for those who are in the
underworld, little consolation for the dead. I am sure there is not much difference for
the dead if someone gets rich funereal offers: these are not but vanity for the living!
Gregory of Nazianzo,
Theological Speeches, 29:20
He leaves His life but He has the power to take it back,
the veil (of the temple) is torn - since the things are revealed from above- but rocks
break, the dead come back to life in advance. He dies but He "gives life" and
with His death He destroys death. He is buried but He will resurrect. He goes to Hell, but
He will lift souls up, He goes to Heaven, but He will come to "judge the living and
the dead" and will test the commitments just like those you have made. If some words
may give you the chance to make mistakes, let other words destroy your mistakes!
Gregory of Nissa.
Christian’s Perfection, 192:8.
"Those who eat and drink (the
Eucharistic banquet) when they are not worth of it, condemn themselves with this act. In
my opinion the evangelist, knew about this necessity, and undoubtedly he refers to it when
he says that just after the Mystic Passion of Jesus a righteous member of the council
wrapped the body of the Lord in a pure and unstained shroud, and he placed it in a new and
pure sepulcher: as a consequence, both the apostle’s teaching and the scrupulous
observance mentioned by the evangelist, have became law for us. That law that tells us to
welcome the Sacred Body with pure consciousness, washing with water the stains made by the
sin.
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