Homilia in Christi resurrectionem

A discourse of our father among the saints Epiphanius, bishop of Cyprus, on the holy resurrection of Christ. Lord, give your blessing. The three-day Sun of righteousness has risen today and illumined all creation; the three-day and pre-eternal Christ, the vine-cluster, has sprouted and filled the inhabited world with gladness. Let us behold the unsetting dawn; let us rise before dawn today, and we have been filled with the joy of light. The gates of Hades were opened by Christ, and the dead arose as from sleep. Christ arose, the resurrection of the fallen, and raised Adam with him; Christ arose, the resurrection of all, and freed Eve from the curse; Christ arose, the resurrection, and adorned and brightened that which was previously unadorned. The Lord arose as from sleep, and having struck down all his enemies, put them to shame. He arose and gave joy to all creation; he arose and the prison of Hades was emptied; he arose and transformed the corruption of nature into incorruption; Christ arose and restored Adam to the ancient dignity of immortality. The new creation in Christ is renewed by the resurrection; the new world in Christ—let us, the unadorned, be adorned; the Church in Christ is a new heaven today, a heaven more beautiful than the visible heaven. For it is not clothed with the daily setting sun, but with the Sun which, reverenced on the cross, this servant sun caused to set; the Sun concerning which the prophet says, "A Sun of righteousness will rise for those who fear Jesus"; the Sun with which the Church is ever-radiantly clothed, on account of which Scripture says—

The Sun came down to earth, and Lot, as a type of the law, entered into Zoar, which is interpreted as smallness. This Sun makes wise the unwise; this Sun is established in the firmament together with our faith. Because of this Sun of righteousness, Christ, the Church has become heaven; it has not a waxing and waning moon, but possesses a grace that always shines; it does not bring forth certain wandering stars, but brings up newly baptized stars from the font; the Church has not rain-bearing clouds, but teachers who are theologians; it is not suspended over murky waters, but is founded upon sacred doctrines; it does not send forth a winter storm, nor does it enroll men by the cries of birds, but by the voices of teachers. This is the day which the Lord made; let us rejoice spiritually and be glad in a manner befitting God on this day. This is for us the feast above all feasts; this is the feast concerning which the Holy Spirit commands, saying: “Keep a feast among those who both cover and warm, up to the horns of the altar”; this is the feast of the whole world, both a dedication and a salvation. This feast is the summit and acropolis of all feasts; this is the day which God blessed, he sanctified it, because on it he rested from all his works, having completed the salvation of both the earthly and the subterranean. On it he put an end to the rites and dances of idols and beasts; on it he put an end to the power of all adversaries. On this day he put an end to feasts and demonic festivals; on this day he put an end to the savor and sacrifices of idolatrous blood.

In this [day] he put an end to the error of impiety; in this [day] he put an end to the power of the tyrant and the sting of the people; in this [day] he put an end to bloody sacrifices and new moons. In this [day] he established new boundaries and laws for creation; in this [day] he put an end to the Passover of the law and of the Jews; in this [day] he fulfilled every type, shadow, and prophecy. Our Passover, the true Passover, Christ was sacrificed, and that which is in Christ is a new creation, that which is in Christ is a new faith, new laws, a new people of God; new, but not the old Israel, and a new Passover; a new and spiritual circumcision; a new and bloodless sacrifice; a new and divine covenant. Be renewed today, and renew a right spirit in your hearts, so that you may receive the mysteries of the new and true feast, and today enjoy a truly heavenly delight, and depart illuminated by the non-aging mysteries of the new Passover instead of the old antitypical mysteries; so that you may understand how great the distance and difference is between our things and those of the Jews, and what comparison there is between the types and the truth.

Let us begin the matters of Christ’s Pascha, the resurrection, and the contemplation, from what follows. Once the lawgiver Moses was sent from God from a high mountain for the salvation of the people, for the type of the law; the Lord, the lawgiver and God from God, a mountain from the mountains of heaven, was also sent for the salvation of our people, that of the truth. But Moses delivered from Pharaoh and the Egyptians; Christ delivered us from the devil and the demons. But Moses killed the one who wronged the Jew, burying him in the sand; Christ also put the devil to death, consigning him to the abyss. Moses reconciled his two brothers who were fighting; Christ also reconciled his two peoples, uniting the heavenly with the earthly. There the daughter of Pharaoh, going to bathe, found and took up Moses; the Church of Christ, the daughter, receives Christ in baptism, not from a basket as a three-month-old, like Moses, but from the tomb as a three-day-old, instead of Moses. There Israel celebrated the Pascha typologically and by night; here we celebrate the Pascha luminously and by day. There toward evening of the day; here toward evening of the ages of the world. There the doorposts were anointed with blood; here the hearts of the faithful are sealed with the blood of Christ. There the sacrifice was nocturnal, and the crossing of the Red Sea was by night; here there is salvation, and the Red Sea of baptism is luminous, and the fire of the Spirit blazes.

in which the Spirit of God is truly borne along together, and appears, and upon the same water, where the head of the serpent is crushed, and of the ruler of the serpents, the demonic peoples of the devil. There Moses baptizes Israel by night; there a cloud shelters the people; but the power of the Most High overshadows the people of Christ. There, when the people were saved, Moses’ Miriam danced; here, when the people of the nations are being saved, the Church of Christ with all her Churches celebrates. There Moses flees to the rock of creation; here the people flee to the rock of faith. There the tablets of the law are shattered, signifying both the transgression of the law and its obsolescence; here the divine laws are preserved unbroken. There a calf was melted down for the punishment of the people; here the Lamb of God is sacrificed for the salvation of the people. There a rock is struck with a rod; here Christ the rock is pierced in the side. There water comes forth from the rock; here blood and water spring from the life-giving side. They received quail meat from heaven; we receive the dove of the Spirit from on high. They ate temporary manna and died; for we eat bread for eternal life. But those things, as old and shadowy, have grown old and have been completed; while the things of our people grow and flourish, remaining forever.

This is the prototype of our Pascha; this is the shadowy crossing of the legal ordinances. Thus understand the matters of the feast; thus examine the things of Moses and the prophets concerning the day, that you may be persuaded of the resurrection. For all are clothed in the veil of unbelief. It has many types, and indescribable ones, of the resurrection from the dead and of revival. A trustworthy witness of this is the sacrifice of Isaac; a type of this is the pit of Joseph, into which he was cast by his brothers, whence he came forth deathless; a type of this is the pit of Jeremiah, whence he once came up from the corruption and the mire. A type of Christ's resurrection is the sea-monster of Jonah, from which he emerged on the third day. You have also another type of the prison of Hades: the prison of Joseph, where the adulterous synagogue shut him up, from which he came forth unharmed and after three years, as Christ after three days from the dead. Along with these, Daniel's den of lions prefigures the tomb of the Saviour, from which living Jesus came forth, as one rescued from the lions of Hades and death. Through these refute the Jews; through these rebuke them; thus plead for the passion and resurrection of Christ. These weapons the Word bestows upon you today for your aid; these mysteries the feast teaches you. Then what after this? Do we celebrate alone, or shall we also care for our neighbor? Shall we hold festival, or is our discourse about others?

Necessarily, let there be a common groan of the Church to God, at once pleasing to God and acceptable, for our feast; and let us make remembrance of our brethren in distress, of our own who are being examined in the distresses of the deserts. Let us become as though bound together with those who are bound; let us become as though suffering together with those who suffer distress; for if one member suffers, all the members suffer together. Let us therefore sympathize with our brethren, our members: some by means of money, others by means of words, and others by means of good works, but all by means of supplication to God on their behalf. Let there be, I implore, a common intercession to God of all today, for our captivity is common. Let there be, I implore, a common entreaty, for the discipline is common. Let us hear the one who says, "Pray for one another that you may be saved." Let us hear Christ saying, "If two or three agree together in prayer, concerning any request they ask, it will be granted to them." Great, brethren, is the weapon of the prayer of the Church; great, brethren, is the wall to God of the prayer of concord, and especially of a faithful people in captivity. Let no one dare to say that God does not hear sinners. He receives the entreaty of the humble all the more, and especially of those who are oppressed, scourged, imprisoned, afflicted, reviled by enemies for the sake of His name, and have not denied the faith of Christ. Among these there are many men and women in our present people of Christ who have become confessors, and are quickly heard by Him. Great, beloved, is the weapon of their prayer; for Christ regards all of them with awe, through whom they are in danger every day.

Therefore, trusting in their prayers and looking to their boldness before God, let us pray together and earnestly for our brethren in distress, because often royal benevolence on feast days grants release and deliverance to many condemned persons. Great, I say again, brothers, is the prayer of the Church, and especially the faith of captivity. For indeed, a king is often moved by the entreaty of the people and grants condemned persons to a crowd that beseeches him. Therefore we beseech all your love to remember earnestly our brethren in distress; and at that very most awesome hour, in which we will receive the priceless pearl of Christ’s body in our hands. Thus let us pray earnestly for our brethren, and let us say to Christ: You alone, the one who then and now is the good God and philanthropic Master, who through Passover delivered Israel from Egyptian slavery and through the blood of the lamb granted them freedom, now also through your pure body and precious blood, grant deliverance from bitter slavery to your world. The one who accepted the weeping of the sinful harlot, accept today also your Church and the groan of captivity; the one who accepted the entreaty of the faithful thief, accept the supplication of your faithful people; the one who accepted Peter’s repentance and groan, accept also our weeping, the weeping of the poor.

He who did not turn away the tears of the Canaanite woman, accept also a small Church interceding on behalf of a great captivity, and crying out to you, God, today and saying: O God, who rose on the third day from the dead, raise up from the enemies your faithful people; you who raised Adam from the dead, raise up the horn of Christians; you, the same God then and now, who took on the form of a servant, ransom from slavery your humble people; you who deigned to become an infant for our sake, save from the sword the multitude of our infants. You, the same God then, who sojourned with a mother in Egypt, recall from long exile the mothers and children; you who were voluntarily sold for the sake of many, stop the sale of the people of the Churches; you who for our sake received on your back the scourges and threats of Pilate, you who labored for our sake on the journey, stop the toils and hardships of your people; you who cried out on the cross, "I thirst," bedew souls terribly thirsting and hungering; you who were condemned by lawless men among lawless men, deliver us also from the counsel of the lawless; you who were stripped like a criminal by lawless men, you yourself, Master, bound by lawless men, loose those fettered in bonds; you who consoled your immaculate mother from the lamentation and weeping of the cross; you who then cried out to the myrrh-bearers, "Rejoice," you now also cry out to your Churches, "Rejoice"; you who were nailed with the precious nails in your hands and feet, loose the hands and feet of peoples bound in irons. Yes, philanthropic Master, you who said:

My soul is grieved by death; deliver your people from grief and from death. You yourself, whose side was pierced by the sword, shatter the sword of the enemies with your mighty hand, and remember, Master, both your faithful thief and your people. You who poured out your immaculate blood for us, stop the confusion of our bloodshed. Save your people, Master; spare your inheritance. Awaken; why do you sleep, Lord? Why do you show forbearance toward the enemies? Why do you turn your face away from us? Arise, and do not cast us off utterly; do not overlook us completely. Remember your cross, remember your people, remember your mercies. You who voluntarily endured temptation for forty days for our sake, Master, remember your peoples who are tempted in deserts, in trackless and waterless places; remember them with us, and before us, good lover of mankind. Help them, go to them; visit them now; those most pitiable of all, those most humble of all on earth; those abandoned by men in deserts; who were driven far from your hand; who were greatly disciplined by your wrath; who were greatly reproved by your anger; who before death were filled as dead men by men; who were condemned to dwell with wild beasts; whose violence no one sees, except

Only your sleepless eye; you, Master, know their necessity, and no one else *** forever. Henceforth, having been separated, removed to the end of the world, forgotten by the churches, ignorant of the day of the feasts. Grant them a little mercy, Master; I do not ask for much. Overtake them, God, who disciplined them; overtake your once children, for they too were once your children, for they too were once Christians, they too were once your flock, they too were once your members, they too once partook of your pure body, and now they partake of the bodies of irrational animals. Therefore, Master, look upon them with your mercies and compassions. See the violence of those pitiable ones, and grant philanthropy; see their nakedness, and grant deliverance; see their deep desolation, and work your compassion. For even if you justly disciplined, yet heal; even if you worthily handed them over, yet gather them. You scourged, now comfort; you handed over, now redeem. Even if we have sinned many times, yet remember us again, and be persuaded by our supplication again, and especially for those in deserts, mountains, caves, and the inaccessible places of the earth, our brothers your Christians, your peoples. For even if we are in churches with the faithful, they are in deserts with enemies; even if we are joyful in feasts, they are in great darkness. Great is their misfortune; great is their suspicion; terrible is their wound, bitter is their calamity.

Their ruin is indescribable, their sting is great, their tragedy is great, O Master. Do not leave us outside, but together with discipline show also your love for humanity, so that the Jews may not boast in the end, so that the nations may not say about us: Where is their God? Where is their Christ? Where is their cross? Where is their hope? Where is the faith of the Christians? So that they may not say these things, may your mercies quickly be seen by us; may your compassions quickly overtake us, Lord, because we have become exceedingly poor, because we have been exceedingly humbled, because we have been exceedingly diminished. Henceforth, let the groan of the fettered come before you; the tears of the innocent infants who are being slaughtered will move you; the lament of mothers being bereaved of children will entreat you. Saying these things, we beseech, we do not fight, O Master; we beseech, but we do not contend with you. We beseech, because we are reproached by lawless men, because we are oppressed by Greeks; we do not fight, but we confess. We weep, because the rest also are in danger. For even if we are sinners, yet we are Christians; even if we are humble, yet we are the people of your faith; even if we are unworthy of love for humanity, yet we are sheep of your Church gathered together as one. This supplication we, the poor, on behalf of a multitude of people in captivity, offer to you on the occasion of your three-day resurrection—priests and laity, young men and virgins, elders with the younger, infants with mothers, every soul of those believing in you.

Redeem them all from every impending threat, and make them worthy of your kingdom, by the grace and love for humanity of your only-begotten Son and Master, God and our Savior Jesus Christ, together with his all-holy and life-giving Spirit; now and always and unto the ages of ages. Amen.