Cyril of Alexandria concerning the departed...

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DTK

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This is one comment from Cyril of Alexandria on the departed from his commentary on John.

Cyril of Alexandria (patriarch 412-444) commenting on John 19:30 & Luke 23:46: For, I think, we ought to believe, and for this belief there is much ground, that the souls of Saints, when they quit their earthly bodies, are, by the bountiful mercy of God, almost, as it were, consigned into the hands of a most loving Father, and do not, as some infidels have pretended, haunt their sepulchres, waiting for funeral libations; nor yet are they, like the souls of sinful men, conveyed to the place of endless torment, that is, to hell. Rather, do they hasten into the hands of the Father of all, by the new way which our Saviour Christ has prepared for us; for He consigned His Soul into the hands of His Father, that we also, making it our anchor, and being firmly rooted and grounded in this belief, might entertain the bright hope that when we undergo the death of the body, we shall be in God’s hands; yea, in a far better condition than when we were in the flesh. Therefore, also, the wise Paul assures us that it is better to depart, and be with Christ. Cyril of Alexandria, Commentary on John, A Library of Fathers of the Holy Catholic Church, Vol. 48, trans. Thomas Randell (London: Walter Smith, 1885), Vol. 2, Book XII, Chapter XIX, p. 638.
Greek text:
δεῖν γὰρ οἶμαι διακεῖσθαι, καὶ μάλα εἰκότως, ὅτι τῶν ἀπὸ γῆς σωμάτων αἱ τῶν ἁγίων ἀποδημοῦσαι ψυχαὶ, καθάπερ εἰς χεῖρας φιλοστοργοτάτου Πατρὸς, τῇ τοῦ Θεοῦ χρηστότητι καὶ φιλανθρωπίᾳ μονονουχὶ παρατίθενται καὶ οὐ, καθάπερ τινὲς τῶν ἀπίστων ὑπειλήφασι, τὰς ἐπιτυμβίους περιμένουσαι χοὰς ἐμφιλοχωροῦσι τοῖς μνήμασιν, ἀλλʼ οὐδὲ καθάπερ αἱ τῶν φιλαμαρτημόνων εἰς τὸν τῆς ἀμέτρου κολάσεως κατακομίζονται τόπον, τουτέστιν, εἰς ᾅδου· τρέχουσι δὲ μᾶλλον εἰς χεῖρας τοῦ πάντων Πατρὸς, καὶ ταύτην ἡμῖν ἐγκαινίσαντος τὴν ὁδὸν τοῦ Σωτῆρος ἡμῶν Χριστοῦ· παρέδωκε γὰρ εἰς χεῖρας τοῦ ἰδίου γεννή τορος τὴν ψυχὴν, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς, ἀρχὴν λαβόντες ὡς ἐν ἐκείνῃ καὶ διʼ ἐκείνης, λαμπρὰς ἔχωμεν τὰς ἐλπίδας, ἀραρότως διακείμενοι καὶ πεπιστευκότες, ὅτι τὸν τῆς σαρκὸς ὑπομείναντες θάνατον ἐν χερσὶν ἐσόμεθα Θεοῦ, καὶ πολὺ δὴ λίαν ἐν ἀμείνοσιν ἤπερ ἦμεν μετὰ σαρκός. διὸ καὶ ὁ σοφὸς ἡμῖν ἐπιστέλλει Παῦλος ὅτι κρεῖττον τὸ ἀναλῦσαι καὶ σὺν Χριστῷ εἶναι. Commentarium in Evangelium Joannis, Liber XII, Caput xix, v. 30, PG 74:669.
 
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