Chapter XV.—Concerning the honour due to the Saints and their remains.

To the saints honour must be paid as friends of Christ, as sons and heirs of God: in the words of John the theologian and evangelist, As many as received Him, to them gave He power to became sons of God1060    St. John i. 12.. So that they are no longer servants, but sons: and if sons, also heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ1061    Gal. iv. 7; Rom. viii. 17.: and the Lord in the holy Gospels says to His apostles, Ye are My friends1062    St. John xv. 14.. Henceforth I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth1063    Ibid. 15.. And further, if the Creator and Lord of all things is called also King of Kings and Lord of Lords1064    Apoc. xix. 16. and God of Gods, surely also the saints are gods and lords and kings. For of these God is and is called God and Lord and King. For I am the God of Abraham, He said to Moses, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob1065    Ex. iii. 6.. And God made Moses a god to Pharaoh1066    Ibid. vii. 1.. Now I mean gods and kings and lords not in nature, but as rulers and masters of their passions, and as preserving a truthful likeness to the divine image according to which they were made (for the image of a king is also called king), and as being united to God of their own free-will and receiving Him as an indweller and becoming by grace through participation with Him what He is Himself by nature. Surely, then, the worshippers and friends and sons of God are to be held in honour? For the honour shewn to the most thoughtful of fellow-servants is a proof of good feeling towards the common Master1067    Basil, Orat. in 40 Martyr..

These are made treasuries and pure habitations of God: For I will dwell in them, said God, and walk in them, and I will be their God1068    Levit. xxvi. 12; 2 Cor. vi. 16.. The divine Scripture likewise saith that the souls of the just are in God’s hand1069    Wisd. iii. 1. and death cannot lay hold of them. For death is rather the sleep of the saints than their death. For they travailed in this life and shall to the end1070    Ps. xl. 9, 10., and Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints1071    Ibid. cxvi. 15.. What then, is more precious than to be in the hand of God? For God is Life and Light, and those who are in God’s hand are in life and light.

Further, that God dwelt even in their bodies in spiritual wise1072    διὰ τοῦ νοῦ., the Apostle tells us, saying, Know ye not that your bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you?1073    1 Cor. iii. 16., and The Lord is that Spirit1074    2 Cor. iii. 17., and If any one destroy the temple of God, him will God destroy1075    1 Cor. iii. 17.. Surely, then, we must ascribe honour to the living temples of God, the living tabernacles of God. These while they lived stood with confidence before God.

The Master Christ made the remains of the saints to be fountains of salvation to us, pouring forth manifold blessings and abounding in oil of sweet fragrance: and let no one disbelieve this1076    Aster., Hom. in SS. Mart.. For if water burst in the desert from the steep and solid rock at God’s will1077    Ex. xvii. 6. and from the jaw-bone of an ass to quench Samson’s thirst1078    Judg. xv. 17., is it incredible that fragrant oil should burst forth from the martyrs’ remains? By no means, at least to those who know the power of God and the honour which He accords His saints.

In the law every one who toucheth a dead body was considered impure1079    Num. xix. 11., but these are not dead. For from the time when He that is Himself life and the Author of life was reckoned among the dead, we do not call those dead who have fallen asleep in the hope of the resurrection and in faith on Him. For how could a dead body work miracles? How, therefore, are demons driven off by them, diseases dispelled, sick persons made well, the blind restored to sight, lepers purified, temptations and troubles overcome, and how does every good gift from the Father of lights1080    Jas. i. 17. come down through them to those who pray with sure faith? How much labour would you not undergo to find a patron to introduce you to a mortal king and speak to him on your behalf? Are not those, then, worthy of honour who are the patrons of the whole race, and make intercession to God for us? Yea, verily, we ought to give honour to them by raising temples to God in their name, bringing them fruit-offerings, honouring their memories and taking spiritual delight in them, in order that the joy of those who call on us may be ours, that in our attempts at worship we may not on the contrary cause them offence. For those who worship God will take pleasure in those things whereby God is worshipped, while His shield-bearers will be wrath at those things wherewith God is wroth. In psalms and hymns and spiritual songs1081    Ephes. v. 19., in contrition and in pity for the needy, let us believers1082    Text, πιστοί. Variant, πίστει in Reg. 1. worship the saints, as God also is most worshipped in such wise. Let us raise monuments to them and visible images, and let us ourselves become, through imitation of their virtues, living monuments and images of them. Let us give honour to her who bore God as being strictly and truly the Mother of God. Let us honour also the prophet John as forerunner and baptist1083    Almost all read τὸν πρόδρομον ᾽Ιωάννην, ὡς προφήτην, &c., as apostle and martyr, For among them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist1084    St. Matt. xi. 11., as saith the Lord, and he became the first to proclaim the Kingdom. Let us honour the apostles as the Lord’s brothers, who saw Him face to face and ministered to His passion, for whom God the Father did foreknow He also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of His Son1085    Rom. viii. 29., first apostles, second prophets1086    1 Cor. xii. 24., third pastors and teachers1087    Ephes. iv. 11.. Let us also honour the martyrs of the Lord chosen out of every class, as soldiers of Christ who have drunk His cup and were then baptized with the baptism of His life-bringing death, to be partakers of His passion and glory: of whom the leader is Stephen, the first deacon of Christ and apostle and first martyr. Also let us honour our holy fathers, the God-possessed ascetics, whose struggle was the longer and more toilsome one of the conscience: who wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; they wandered in deserts and in mountains and in dens and caves of the earth, of whom the world was not worthy1088    Hebr. xi. 37, 38.. Let us honour those who were prophets before grace, the patriarchs and just men who foretold the Lord’s coming. Let us carefully review the life of these men, and let us emulate their faith1089    Ibid. xiii. 7. and love and hope and zeal and way of life, and endurance of sufferings and patience even to blood, in order that we may be sharers with them in their crowns of glory.

Περὶ τῶν ἁγίων καὶ τῆς τῶν λειψάνων αὐτῶν τιμῆς

Τιμητέον τοὺς ἁγίους ὡς φίλους Χριστοῦ, ὡς τέκνα καὶ κληρονόμους θεοῦ, ὥς φησιν ὁ θεολόγος εὐαγγελιστής: «Ὅσοι δὲ ἔλαβον αὐτόν, ἔδωκεν αὐτοῖς ἐξουσίαν τέκνα θεοῦ γενέσθαι». «Ὥστε οὐκέτι εἰσὶν δοῦλοι, ἀλλ' υἱοί: εἰ δὲ υἱοί, καὶ κληρονόμοι, κληρονόμοι μὲν θεοῦ, συγκληρονόμοι δὲ Χριστοῦ». Καὶ ὁ κύριος ἐν τοῖς ἱεροῖς εὐαγγελίοις τοῖς ἀποστόλοις φησίν: «Ὑμεῖς φίλοι μού ἐστε. Οὐκέτι ὑμᾶς καλῶ δούλους: ὁ γὰρ δοῦλος οὐκ οἶδε, τί ποιεῖ αὐτοῦ ὁ κύριος». Εἰ δὲ καὶ «βασιλεὺς βασιλέων καὶ κύριος κυριευόντων» καὶ «θεὸς θεῶν» ὁ δημιουργὸς τῶν ἁπάντων καὶ κύριος λέγεται, πάντως οἱ ἅγιοι θεοί τε καὶ κύριοι καὶ βασιλεῖς. Τούτων θεὸς ὁ θεὸς καὶ κύριος καὶ βασιλεύς ἐστι καὶ λέγεται. «Ἐγὼ γάρ εἰμι», φησὶ τῷ Μωσεῖ, «θεὸς Ἀβραὰμ καὶ θεὸς Ἰσαὰκ καὶ θεὸς Ἰακώβ». Καὶ θεὸν Φαραὼ τὸν Μωσῆν ὁ θεὸς ἐποίησεν. Θεοὺς δὲ λέγω καὶ βασιλεῖς καὶ κυρίους οὐ φύσει, ἀλλ' ὡς τῶν παθῶν βασιλεύσαντας καὶ κυριεύσαντας καὶ τὴν τῆς θείας εἰκόνος ὁμοίωσιν, καθ' ἣν καὶ γεγένηνται, ἀπαραχάρακτον φυλάξαντας (βασιλεὺς γὰρ λέγεται καὶ ἡ τοῦ βασιλέως εἰκών) καὶ ἑνωθέντας θεῷ κατὰ προαίρεσιν καὶ τοῦτον δεξαμένους ἔνοικον καὶ τῇ τούτου μεθέξει γεγονότας χάριτι, ὅπερ αὐτός ἐστι φύσει. Πῶς οὖν οὐ τιμητέον τοὺς θεράποντας καὶ φίλους καὶ υἱοὺς τοῦ θεοῦ χρηματίσαντας; Ἡ γὰρ πρὸς τοὺς εὐγνώμονας τῶν ὁμοδούλων τιμὴ ἀπόδειξιν ἔχει τῆς πρὸς τὸν κοινὸν δεσπότην εὐνοίας.

Οὗτοι ταμιεῖα θεοῦ καὶ καθαρὰ γεγόνασι καταγώγια: «Ἐνοικήσω γὰρ ἐν αὐτοῖς», ὁ θεός φησι, «καὶ ἐμπεριπατήσω καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῶν θεός». Ὅτι μὲν οὖν «ψυχαὶ δικαίων ἐν χειρὶ θεοῦ, καὶ οὐ μὴ ἅψηται αὐτῶν βάσανος», φησὶν ἡ θεία γραφή: ὁ θάνατος γὰρ τῶν ἁγίων ὕπνος μᾶλλόν ἐστι ἢ θάνατος. «Ἐκοπίασαν γὰρ εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα καὶ ζήσονται εἰς τέλος», καί: «Τίμιος ἐναντίον κυρίου ὁ θάνατος τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ». Τί οὖν τιμιώτερον τοῦ ἐν χειρὶ εἶναι θεοῦ; Ζωὴ γάρ ἐστιν ὁ θεὸς καὶ φῶς καὶ οἱ ἐν χειρὶ θεοῦ ὄντες ἐν ζωῇ καὶ φωτὶ ὑπάρχουσιν.

Ὅτι δὲ διὰ τοῦ νοῦ τοῖς σώμασιν αὐτῶν ἐνῴκησεν ὁ θεός, φησὶν ὁ ἀπόστολος: «Οὐκ οἴδατε, ὅτι τὰ σώματα ὑμῶν ναὸς τοῦ ἐνοικοῦντος ἐν ὑμῖν πνεύματος ἁγίου ἐστίν;» «Ὁ δὲ κύριος τὸ πνεῦμά ἐστι», καί: «Εἴ τις τὸν ναὸν τοῦ θεοῦ φθείρει, φθερεῖ τοῦτον ὁ θεός». Πῶς οὖν οὐ τιμητέον τοὺς ἐμψύχους ναοὺς τοῦ θεοῦ, τὰ ἔμψυχα τοῦ θεοῦ σκηνώματα; Οὗτοι ζῶντες ἐν παρρησίᾳ τῷ θεῷ παρεστήκασι.

Πηγὰς ἡμῖν σωτηρίους ὁ δεσπότης Χριστὸς τὰ τῶν ἁγίων παρέσχετο λείψανα πολυτρόπως τὰς εὐεργεσίας πηγάζοντα, μύρον εὐωδίας βρύοντα. Καὶ μηδεὶς ἀπιστείτω. Εἰ γὰρ ἐξ ἀκροτόμου πέτρας ὕδωρ ἐν ἐρήμῳ, ἐπήγασε βουλομένου θεοῦ καὶ ἐκ σιαγόνος ὄνου τῷ Σαμψὼν διψῶντι, ἐκ μαρτυρικῶν λειψάνων μύρον εὐῶδες ἀναβλύζειν ἄπιστον; Οὐδαμῶς, τοῖς γε εἰδόσι τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ δύναμιν καὶ τὴν τῶν ἁγίων παρ' αὐτοῦ τιμήν.

Ἐν τῷ νόμῳ πᾶς ὁ νεκροῦ ἁπτόμενος ἀκάθαρτος ἐχρημάτιζεν, ἀλλ' οὐχ οὗτοι νεκροί. Ἀφ' οὗ γὰρ ἡ αὐτοζωή, ὁ τῆς ζωῆς αἴτιος, ἐν νεκροῖς ἐλογίσθη, τοὺς ἐπ' ἐλπίδι ἀναστάσεως καὶ τῇ εἰς αὐτὸν πίστει κοιμηθέντας οὐ νεκροὺς προσαγορεύομεν. Νεκρὸν γὰρ σῶμα πῶς θαυματουργεῖν δύναται; Πῶς οὖν δι' αὐτῶν δαίμονες ἀπελαύνονται, ἀσθενεῖς θεραπεύονται, τυφλοὶ ἀναβλέπουσι, λεπροὶ καθαίρονται, πειρασμοὶ καὶ ἀνίαι λύονται, πᾶσα δόσις ἀγαθὴ ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς τῶν φώτων δι' αὐτῶν τοῖς ἀδιστάκτῳ πίστει αἰτοῦσι κάτεισι; Πόσα ἂν ἔκαμες, ἵνα προστάτην εὕρῃς θνητῷ σε βασιλεῖ προσάγοντα καὶ ὑπὲρ σοῦ πρὸς αὐτὸν τοὺς λόγους ποιούμενον; Τοὺς οὖν προστάτας τοῦ γένους παντὸς τοὺς τῷ θεῷ ὑπὲρ ἡμῶν τὰς ἐντεύξεις ποιουμένους οὐ τιμητέον; Ναὶ μὴν τιμητέον, ναοὺς ἐγείροντας τῷ θεῷ ἐπὶ τῷ τούτων ὀνόματι, καρποφορίας προσάγοντας, τὰς τούτων μνήμας γεραίροντας καὶ ἐν αὐταῖς εὐφραινομένους πνευματικῶς, ἵνα οἰκεία τῶν συγκαλούντων ἡ εὐφροσύνη γένηται, ἵνα μὴ θεραπεύειν πειρώμενοι τοὔμπαλιν αὐτοὺς παροργίσωμεν. Οἷς μὲν γὰρ θεὸς θεραπεύεται, καὶ οἱ τούτου θεράποντες εὐφρανθήσονται: οἷς δὲ προσοχθίζει θεός, καὶ οἱ τούτου προσοχθιοῦσιν ὑπασπισταί. «Ἐν ψαλμοῖς καὶ ὕμνοις καὶ ᾠδαῖς πνευματικαῖς» καὶ κατανύξει καὶ τῶν δεομένων ἐλέῳ τοὺς ἁγίους πιστοὶ θεραπεύσωμεν, οἷς μάλιστα καὶ θεὸς θεραπεύεται. Στήλας αὐτοῖς ἐγείρωμεν ὁρωμένας τε εἰκόνας καὶ αὐτοὶ ἔμψυχοι στῆλαι καὶ εἰκόνες αὐτῶν τῇ τῶν ἀρετῶν μιμήσει γενώμεθα.

Τὴν θεοτόκον ὡς κυρίως καὶ ἀληθῶς θεοῦ μητέρα τιμήσωμεν: τὸν προφήτην Ἰωάννην ὡς πρόδρομον καὶ βαπτιστὴν ἀπόστολόν τε καὶ μάρτυρα («οὔτε γὰρ ἐν γεννητοῖς γυναικῶν μείζων Ἰωάννου ἐγήγερται», ὡς ὁ κύριος ἔφησε, καὶ τῆς βασιλείας αὐτὸς πρῶτος κῆρυξ γεγένηται): τοὺς ἀποστόλους ὡς ἀδελφοὺς τοῦ κυρίου καὶ αὐτόπτας καὶ ὑπηρέτας τῶν αὐτοῦ παθημάτων, οὓς «προγνοὺς καὶ προώρισε συμμόρφους τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ» ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατήρ: «πρῶτον ἀποστόλους, δεύτερον προφήτας, τρίτον ποιμένας καὶ διδασκάλους»: τούς τε τοῦ κυρίου μάρτυρας ἐκ παντὸς τάγματος ἐκλελεγμένους ὡς στρατιώτας Χριστοῦ καὶ τὸ αὐτοῦ πεπωκότας ποτήριον τό τε τοῦ ζωοποιοῦ αὐτοῦ θανάτου βαπτισθέντας βάπτισμα ὡς κοινωνοὺς τῶν παθημάτων αὐτοῦ καὶ τῆς δόξης, ὧν ταξίαρχος ὁ πρωτοδιάκονος Χριστοῦ καὶ ἀπόστολος καὶ πρωτομάρτυς Στέφανος: καὶ τοὺς ὁσίους πατέρας ἡμῶν τοὺς θεοφόρους ἀσκητὰς τοὺς τὸ χρονιώτερον καὶ ἐπιπονώτερον μαρτύριον τῆς συνειδήσεως διαθλήσαντας, οἱ «περιῆλθον ἐν μηλωταῖς, ἐν αἰγείοις δέρμασιν, ὑστερούμενοι, θλιβόμενοι, κακοχούμενοι, ἐν ἐρημίαις πλανώμενοι καὶ ὄρεσι καὶ σπηλαίοις καὶ ταῖς ὀπαῖς τῆς γῆς, ὧν οὐκ ἦν ἄξιος ὁ κόσμος»: τοὺς πρὸ τῆς χάριτος προφήτας, πατριάρχας, δικαίους τοὺς προκατηγγελκότας τὴν τοῦ κυρίου παρουσίαν. Τούτων πάντων ἀναθεωροῦντες τὴν πολιτείαν ζηλώσωμεν τὴν πίστιν, τὴν ἀγάπην, τὴν ἐλπίδα, τὸν ζῆλον, τὸν βίον, τὴν καρτερίαν τῶν παθημάτων, τὴν ὑπομονὴν μέχρις αἵματος, ἵνα καὶ τῶν τῆς δόξης στεφάνων αὐτοῖς κοινωνήσωμεν.