Greek Source: https://catholiclibrary.org/library/view?docId=Fathers-OR/Gregory_of_Nyssa__De_tridui_inter_mortem_et_resurrectionem_domini_nostri_Jesu.gr.html;chunk.id=00000003
Translated by ChatGPT

Of the three days between the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus

If any blessing of the patriarchs possesses certainty by the Holy Spirit, if any good of the spiritual law through promise is hoped for by those who accomplish it, if through the historical enigmas the prefiguration of truth is believed to be, if any prophetic voice announces the supernatural, all those things are the present grace. And just as in the case set before our eyes, a spectacle, one light flashing around our sights from thousands of torches gathered, so all the blessing of Christ, shining like a torch by itself, produces for us this great light, which is composed of the many and varied rays of the scriptures; for it is possible to take from each of the divinely inspired examples what is suitable for the present solemnity. You seek the blessing of Abraham; you have what you seek present before you. Do you see the stars of heaven? These, I mean the stars that have recently risen upon us from the Spirit and have densely made the church a heaven, whose grace shining from the soul is distinguished by the beams of torches. And one saying this would truly not be mistaken to call the children of Abraham, those born to him from the promise, similar to the stars of heaven in truth. Do you marvel at the lofty Moses, who comprehended all of God's creation with the power of knowledge? Behold, for you, the blessed Sabbath of the first creation, recognize through that Sabbath this Sabbath as the day of rest, which God blessed above all other days. For on this day, as truly, the only begotten God rested from all his works through the economy of death in the flesh, having kept the Sabbath, and to which he again returned through the resurrection, raising up all that was laid down for himself as life and resurrection, dawn and morning, and day for those in darkness and the shadow of death. The story of the related blessing is also complete for you; the father of Isaac, that beloved one, sparing him not and becoming the only offering and sacrifice, and the lamb being slaughtered in his stead. For it is possible to see in the story the whole mystery of piety. The lamb was hung from the wood, held by its horns, and the only-begotten carries on himself the wood for the burnt offering. Do you see how the one who upholds all things by the word of his power also carries the burden of our woods and is lifted up by the wood, bearing as God and as a lamb, thus dividing the great mystery of the Holy Spirit typologically between both the beloved Son and the lamb that was shown with him, so as to show in the lamb the mystery of death, but in the only-begotten, the life not interrupted by death. If you wish, you can also see Moses with the extension of his hands drawing the cross and by this form defeating the Amalekite; you are allowed to see in truth the type and Amalek falling beneath the cross. You also have Isaiah, not contributing a small grace to the present; for from him, you were taught beforehand about the unwed mother, the fatherless flesh, the painless labor, the unblemished birth, thus the prophet saying: "Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel," which means "God with us." That the labor was painless, let the likelihood first instruct you; for since every pleasure has associated pain, it is necessary that in things considered together, if one is not present, neither is the other. Therefore, where the pleasure of childbirth did not lead, necessarily the pain did not follow. Then, the word of the prophet also confirms the statement, having it thus: "Before the pain of childbirth came, she escaped and bore a male," or as another of the interpreters says, "Before she travailed, she gave birth." From this virgin mother, a child was born to us, a son was given to us, whose government was upon his shoulder, and his name is called the angel of great counsel, wonderful counselor, mighty God, prince of peace, father of the future age. This child, this son, was led like a sheep to the slaughter and like a lamb before its shearer is silent, indeed as Jeremiah says, this is the innocent lamb that is led to be sacrificed, this bread into which enemies insert the wood, both of the bread and of the wood. Rather, let's take from the prophecy the most naked and evident thing through which the mystery is clearly prefigured, I mean Jonah, who was swallowed by the whale without suffering and emerged from the whale without harm, who also prefigured the Lord's stay in Hades for three days and three nights in the belly of the whale.

You must seek and select such things from every scripture; for all those things you see through the present and in the current brightness, "The whole law hangs and the prophets," as the Gospel says somewhere, and every God-breathed word and law is summed up in this grace according to the voice of Paul. For this is both the end of gloom and the beginning of blessings, I mean to say: Death reigned from Adam, taking its start from the corrupting power (but its evil dominion lasted until Moses, the law not having lessened the wicked power of death); the kingdom of life came, and the dominion of death was destroyed, and there was another birth, another life, another form of life, a transformation of our very nature.

What is this birth? Not of blood, nor of the will of man, nor of the will of the flesh, but of God. How so? I will clearly present to you the grace through the word: This birth is carried through faith, brought to light through the regeneration of baptism, the Church is its nurse, the teachings are its milk, the bread from above is its food, the completion of its age is the high polity, marriage is the cohabitation with wisdom, hopes are the children, the kingdom is the house, inheritance and wealth are the delight in paradise, and the end, instead of death, is eternal life in the blessedness that lies ahead for the worthy. And the great Zechariah sees the beginning of the change towards the good and questions about the calling of the name, what should properly be said to describe the present grace; having gone through the other miracles about the passion, he also says about this time that "It is neither day nor night," which indicates that it cannot be called day for there is no sun, and it is not night since there is no darkness; for God called the darkness night, as Moses says. Therefore, since according to time it is night but according to light it is day, for this reason the prophet says: "And it is neither day nor night." If, therefore, according to the prophet's word, this time is neither day nor night, the present grace is certainly something beyond all these and is named as such. Do you wish me to say what I have conceived? This is the day which the Lord has made, a day unlike those at the beginning of creation, by which time is measured, this day is the beginning of a new creation; for in it, God makes a new heaven and a new earth, as the prophet says. What kind of heaven? The firmament of faith in Christ. What kind of earth? The good heart, I say, as the Lord said, the earth that drinks the rain coming upon it and produces a crop useful to those for whom it is farmed. In this creation, the sun is the pure life, the virtues are the stars, the air is the transparent polity, the sea is the depth of the wealth of wisdom and knowledge, the grass and plants are the good teaching and the divine doctrines, which the people of the law, that is, the flock of God, feeds upon, and the trees producing fruit are the practice of the commandments. In this creation, the true man is also created, made in the image and likeness of God. Do you see what kind of world begins with This day, which the Lord has made, about which the prophet says, it is neither day like the other days nor night like the other nights? And yet, the excellence of the present grace has not been fully declared. This grace has loosened the pangs of death, this grace has brought forth the firstborn from the dead, in this grace the iron gates of death were shattered, in this grace the bronze bolts of Hades were broken. Now the prison of death is opened, now liberation is proclaimed to the captives, now sight is granted to the blind, now those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death are visited by the rising from on high.

Do you wish to learn something about the three-day period as well? It suffices to say that in such a brief span of time, the all-powerful wisdom, having become the heart of the earth, managed to disgrace that great mind dwelling within it; thus, the prophet names him, calling him a great mind and an Assyrian. Since the heart is a hearth of the mind (for it is believed that the commanding faculty resides there), thus the Lord becomes present in the heart of the earth, which is the dwelling place of that evil mind, in order to foil his plan, as the prophecy says, to catch the wise in his craftiness and to turn his wise schemes to the opposite effect. For it was impossible for the prince of darkness to mix with the presence of light without seeing some portion of flesh in Him, for this reason, when he saw the God-bearing flesh and also the miracles performed through it by the deity, he hoped, if he could conquer the flesh through death, to also overpower all the force within it. For this reason, the bait of the flesh, encircling the hook of deity, was swallowed, and thus the dragon was drawn by the hook, as he who foretold through himself what would happen says to Job, "You will pull the dragon with a hook." But let us hear from the voice of the prophet what was it that the heart of the earth plotted against the whole when it opened its mouth against the flesh of the Lord. What does Isaiah say, rebuking his thoughts? "You said in your heart: I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of the north; I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." This evil heart plotted against itself. And even before these, let's hear again from the voice of Isaiah about the great mind in evil, the wicked Assyrian, what he said to himself: "By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a valiant man; and my hand has found as a nest the riches of the people; and as one gathers eggs that are left, have I gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or peeped." After this hope, he received within himself the One who out of philanthropy visited those below; but what instead of his hopes happened to him, the prophecy clearly narrates, saying about his suffering: "How have you fallen from heaven, O morning star? How were you crushed to the earth, which did undermine the nations, whose garment becomes the wrapping of worms?" And all else about his destruction proceeds, which one can learn in detail from the written texts if they wish. But for me, the argument must be reclaimed towards the goal; for this reason, true wisdom becomes manifest in this boastful heart of the earth, so as to eliminate from it the great mind in wickedness, illuminate the darkness, and have the mortal swallowed by life, and evil to proceed into non-existence with the ultimate enemy being abolished, who is death. These things have been accomplished for you in the three-day period of time. Is grace slow? Has such great good been established through a long period? Do you wish to know the surpassing greatness of the power of those things accomplished in so short a time? Count for me all the generations of men from the first entry of evils until the dissolution, how many people per each generation, numbered in how many myriads. Is it possible to number the multitude, whose wickedness expanded through successions, and the wealth of evil, being distributed to each in turn, became greater with each one? And thus, wickedness, multiplying and proceeding together with the generations always coming into being, was poured out in multitude towards the infinite, until, having reached the utmost measure of evil, it completely overpowered all of human nature. Thus, the prophet universally declared that "All have turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one." Therefore, this great accumulation of evil, gathered from the foundation of the world until the economy of the Lord's Passion, has the demonstration of the surpassing power made small for you in three days, is it not more powerful than all the wonders recorded in the histories? Just as the wonder of Samson is greater not only in his subduing of the lion but in tearing it apart effortlessly, with his bare and unarmed hands, as if playing, thus also the Lord, without any labor, to make such a great evil vanish, is a greater demonstration of surpassing power. Not by infinite torrents falling from the upper cataracts onto the land below, nor by abysses exceeding their own limits and flooding the land with seas, nor by the whole world being covered by the depths as if by a ship without a crew, nor by mountains becoming deep places and the peaks of mountains underwater, nor by the fiery rains of Sodom cleansing the corrupted with fire, nor by any such thing, but by a simple and incomprehensible visitation, the mere presence of life and light has made a complete eclipse and disappearance of both darkness and death for those sitting in darkness and the shadow of death.

Shall I say something else in addition to what has been said? Evil originated in the serpent, the woman was defeated by the serpent's temptation, and after that, the man was defeated by the woman. Through three, evil came into being; why does this memory occur to me? It is possible to discern a certain order of the good through the order of evil. I see these three receptacles of evil: first, in which it first coalesced, second, to which it then flowed, and third, in which it thereafter occurred. Therefore, since in these three the wickedness was full, I mean in the devilish nature, and in the gender of women, and in the entirety of men, for this reason, in three days the disease disappears, each category of those who have been sick with wickedness being allotted one day for healing; in one day, the men are cleansed of the disease, on the second day, the gender of women is treated, and on the last day, the ultimate enemy, death, is abolished, and the principalities, authorities, and powers surrounding him are obliterated with the powers that oppose the foreordained plan. Do not be surprised if the creation of the good is divided into chronological intervals; for even from the first genesis of the world, the divine power did not hasten to perfect all beings in an instant, but rather includes, along with the creation of beings, the chronological intervals, as this part of creation was to be perfected on the first day, and another on the second, and so forth, until all beings were completed in the specified days by God harmonizing the entire creation. Thus, here too, according to his ineffable word of wisdom, in three days the evil of beings is exorcised, from men, from women, and from the genus of serpents, in which first the nature of wickedness had its genesis. But as for the reasoning behind the number of days, we have speculated, whether rightly or not, we shall leave to the judgment of the listeners; for the discourse is not a decree, but an exercise and a quest. If you seek to see with precision in the suffering of these days the deadline (for there is no small difference, if you were to count the time after the ninth hour of preparation from which the spirit was committed with paternal hands), hold on a little longer and perhaps the discourse will provide you clarity about this. What then is the discourse? Look up to the majesty of the divine power and you will not be ignorant of what is sought in this place; remember the sovereign decree, what declares about himself the one who possesses the might of all, how with imperial authority and not by necessity of nature he separates the soul from the body, in which he says, "No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again." Let this stand for me, and the matter sought is clarified. For the one who arranges all by sovereign authority does not wait for the necessity arising from betrayal, the violent assault of the Jews, and the unlawful judgment of Pilate, so that their wickedness might become the leader and cause of the common salvation of men. Rather, he preempts the assault with his economy in the ineffable manner of the priesthood, and as priest and also as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he offered himself as an invisible offering and sacrifice for us. When did this happen? When he made his own body to be eaten and his blood to be drunk by those present; for it is evident to all that a sheep would not be eaten by a person unless it was slaughtered before consumption. Therefore, the one who gave his body to the disciples for eating clearly demonstrates that the sacrifice of the lamb had already been completed; for the body of the priest would not be suitable for food if it were still alive. Therefore, when he offered to the disciples to eat of the body and to drink of the blood, already, by the hidden authority of the one administering the mystery, the body was sacrificially offered in an unspeakable and invisible manner, and the soul was in those things where it was deposited by the authority of the administrator, together with the divine power entrusted to it, encompassing that place in the heart.

Therefore, from the time the sacrifice was offered to God by the great High Priest, who officiated the sacrifice of his own lamb for the common sin in an unspeakable and invisible manner, from then on, anyone counting the time of the truth's abiding in the heart will not err; for it was evening when that sacred and holy body was eaten, and the night followed that evening before the Preparation. Then the day of Preparation, cut through by the ensuing night, is accounted for as one night and two days; for if God called the darkness night, and there was darkness over the whole earth for three hours, this is the night innovated at midday, outlining two segments of the days through itself, one from dawn to the sixth hour, and the other from the ninth hour to the evening, so that up to this point there are two nights and two days. Then, the night before the Sabbath and after this the day of the Sabbath, you have the three days and three nights. Seek from me then the hour of resurrection, and you will find the truth in what has been said. When, therefore, did this happen? "In the end of the Sabbath," Matthew cries out. This is for you the hour of the resurrection according to the clarity of the gospel, this the term of the Lord's sojourn in the heart; for it was late in the evening (and the evening was the beginning of that night, which is followed by the first day of the weeks) then the earthquake happened, then the angel in shining garments rolled back the stone from the tomb. And the women, having risen early with the light of day already beginning to dawn, as if a solar radiance from the east was surpassing, then they report the resurrection already having taken place, who recognized the wonder but were not taught the hour; for that he had risen the angel told them, but the when was not added to his words. But the great Matthew alone of all the evangelists precisely marked the time by saying it was the evening of the Sabbath as the hour of the resurrection. If these things are thus, the deadline stands for us from after the fifth evening to the evening of the Sabbath, the time of the intervening night being measured, as it has been said, with the Preparation splitting into two days and one night. For the one reigning in his power over the age, it was necessary not to extend the works according to the set measures of time out of necessity, but to innovate the measures of time according to the need of the works, and to design the measures of time more concisely for the quicker enactment of the goods by the divine power, so that the time is neither counted less than the three days and the respective nights, since this number the mystical and secret discourse seeks, nor the usual intervals of days and nights awaiting to hinder the swift action of the divine power; for he who had the authority to lay down his life of his own accord and take it up again when he wished had the authority as the creator of the ages not to be enslaved by time through his works, but to make time according to the works.

But the discourse has not yet touched upon the greatest of chapters; for it is likely that the more studious will seek, how in the same time the Lord gives himself to three places: to the heart of the earth, to Paradise with the thief, and to the paternal hands; for to the Pharisees he says that as Jonah was in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth for a three-day period of time, but to the thief that "Today you will be with me in Paradise," and to the Father that "Into your hands I commit my spirit." For neither in the underworld could one say that Paradise exists, nor in Paradise the underworld, so to be in both at the same time or to say that these are the hand of the Father. But this, for those who reason piously, may not even be worthy of inquiry; for the one who is everywhere by divine power is present to all and is absent from none. And I know another discourse about this, which I will briefly explain to those who wish. When the Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin and the power of the Most High overshadowed her for the new human being to be established in her (thus named new, because he was created according to God, not according to human custom, so as to become an unmade vessel of God; for the Most High does not dwell in handmade things, those constructed by humans, I mean), then she herself was building the house of wisdom, and with the shadow of the power like a type of seal, the creature was inwardly fashioned. Then, to both elements through which human nature is constituted, I mean the soul and the body, the divine power mixed itself suitably to each. For both of these, having been deadened through disobedience (since death was the estrangement of the soul from true life, and corruption and dissolution for the body), by the mixing of life, death was to be expelled from both.

Therefore, to each of the parts of man, the deity being suitably mixed, through both, the characteristics of the surpassing nature were evident; for the body indicated the deity within it by performing healings through touch, and the soul showed the divine power with that potent will. Just as the sense of touch is specific to the body, so too is the movement according to choice specific to the soul. The leper, already decaying and weakened in body, approaches. How does the healing occur by the Lord? The soul wills, the body touches, and through both, the affliction flees; "Immediately," he says, "the leprosy left him." Again, to those many thousands who had followed him in the desert, he does not wish to send them away fasting, but with his hands he breaks the loaves. You see, how through both, the deity that accompanies each is manifested both in the active body and in the impulse of the will occurring in the soul. And why should we go through all the miracles similarly performed, which would make the discourse too lengthy? But for the sake of what has been mentioned, I will move on to that point.

How is the Lord simultaneously in Hades and in Paradise? The solution to this question is twofold: one, that nothing is impassable for God, in whom all things consist; and another, to which the discourse now turns, that by mixing all of man into the divine nature through His assimilation to Himself during the time of the Passion economy, not one part once embraced departed (for God's gifts are irrevocable), but the deity voluntarily separated the soul from the body, yet showed itself remaining in both; for through the body, in which He did not accept corruption from death, He nullified the one having the power of death, and through the soul, He made a way for the thief into Paradise. Both actions are performed simultaneously through both aspects of the deity accomplishing the good, through the incorruptibility of the body achieving the dissolution of death, and through the soul, hastening to its own abode, the return of humans to Paradise. Since the human composition is dual, yet the nature of the deity is simple and uniform, at the time of the body's separation from the soul, the indivisible does not split with the composite, but becomes one again; for by the unity of the divine nature, equally present in both, the separated elements are reunited with each other. And thus, death comes from the separation of the combined elements, and resurrection from the union of the separated elements. If you seek, how being in Paradise, He commits Himself to the hands of the Father, the lofty Isaiah will interpret for you the question concerning this matter; for he spoke from the perspective of God about the higher Jerusalem, which we believe to be none other than Paradise, saying, "Your walls are continually before Me." If, therefore, Jerusalem, which is Paradise, has been inscribed in the hands of the Father, clearly, He who was in Paradise dwells wholly within the paternal palms, in which the divine city holds its description. And so much for that, but regarding what we hear of the Jews vehemently criticizing the doctrine, it would be worthwhile to add briefly to the discourse; for they say that in the discourse concerning the Passover, it was legislated by Moses to the Jews that the fourteenth day of the lunar cycle and the eating of unleavened bread for seven days along with the bitter herbs should be observed. "If, therefore, the observation of the fourteenth day is carefully kept by you, let the bitterness and the unleavened bread also be preserved," says the Jew. "But if these are deemed unworthy of observance, what then is the zeal about that? For surely, it is not that of the same lawgiver, some things are deemed just and beneficial for the soul, and others useless and to be discarded, as it is necessary either for all that is narrated about the Passover to be rightly observed by you, or for you to hold to none of it." What then for us? Let us remember the one who commanded us not to fear the reproach of men nor be defeated by their contempt; for we know the spiritually beneficial observance of the unleavened bread, the gain from the bitter herbs, and the utility of the fourteenth day. This is the discourse we will briefly examine: the law that holds the shadow of the good things to come looks towards one goal according to what was previously stated, so that through the various commandments, man might be purified from the wickedness mixed with his nature. This is achieved in circumcision, in the Sabbath, in the observation of the festivals, in the varied animal sacrifices, in the observances required by the law at each instance. It would indeed be lengthy to precisely lay out how each aspect mentioned by the law enigmatically contributes to the purification of life. Just as through spiritual circumcision, nature sheds its passivity by cutting off the carnal way of life, and through the Sabbath, inactivity in evil is taught, so too does animal sacrifice extinguish passions, and the mandated distinction concerning unclean foods advises you to alienate yourself from a defiled and impure life. Similarly, this feast shows you that other feast, towards which the soul is prepared through the eating of unleavened bread for seven days, purging the leavened consumption, the enigma of which is such: the number of the seven days reveals to you this temporal time, cycling through weeks, during which you must with diligence ensure that no residue of yesterday's evil is preserved to the present day, so that the mixing of yesterday's malice would not ferment and sour today's mixture. "Do not let the sun go down on your anger," says the Apostle, commanding us not to celebrate with the old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. What we have learned about one form of evil, we are analogously taught about the other forms of evil. Bitterness expels what is slack and dissolute in life and introduces a life of self-control, rigor, and difficulty in sensation, since all discipline seems not to be of joy at the present, but of sorrow.

Therefore, the one who throughout the week of this life keeps untainted by old wickedness and unleavened the ever-present day, making temperance the food of life, separates himself from all dark admixture; for this is what the fourteenth day of the lunar cycle indicates. Since there are in total twenty-nine and a half days in the lunar cycle, during which the moon, having been completed in its increase from the new moon, again returns through decrease to the total eclipse of light, it is evident that the half of the mentioned number is fourteen and a little more. Therefore, when the moon is at this phase in its cycle, since it advances along its own path, adding the remainder to the night interval so that, being filled with light, it may blend its beams with the day’s light, ensuring that neither in the evening nor at dawn does any patch of darkness interrupt the continuity of light in the succession of the elements, with the brilliance remaining undivided. For before the solar ray precisely sets, the moon appears directly opposite the sun across the diameter and illuminates the area below with its own light. And again, before its entire disk passes below the horizon, the day's light mingles with the remnants of the lunar light, thus on that day of the full moon, darkness is eliminated both at dawn and in the evening by the succession of the luminaries shining brightly. Therefore, what happens with the visible light on the fourteenth day, being unmistakable through all night and day from the mixture of darkness, the spiritual law wants to become a symbol for those who celebrate spiritually, so that throughout the week of their life they may accomplish one Passover, luminous and without darkness, for the entire time of their life. This is the stance of the commands concerning Passover for Christians. For this reason, we look towards the fourteenth, through this tangible and material light, we grasp the concept of the immaterial and intelligible, as though the moon seeking to fill appears to us, offering its light continuously throughout the night, but in truth, it is a law for us that the observance of being continuously bright through all time, measured by night and day, and untainted by the works of darkness.

And as for these matters, so much has been said; but as for the meanings contained in the cross, through which the mystery of the Passion is perfected, who could easily clarify them in words? Were there not countless ways leading to death, through which it was possible to fulfill the economy of death for us? Yet among all, this was designated by Him who determined His own Passion with authority. "The Son of Man must," He did not say, "The Son of Man will be persuaded to," as one might simply say, predicting the future, but He decrees with the word in saying that "The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected and be crucified and on the third day rise." Understand for me the meaning of "must," through which it is found that the Passion must necessarily happen in no other way than through the cross, being doctrinally affirmed. What then is the discourse on this matter? It belongs solely to the great Paul, who was instructed by those ineffable words which he heard, having been initiated in the mysteries within the paradise, and he clarifies this mystery for us, as he hinted in part through his words to the Ephesians, saying: "That you may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God." Therefore, the divine eye of the Apostle did not perceive the form of the cross in vain, but clearly showed through it that, having cast off all the scales of ignorance from the eyes, one sees purely the truth of beings; for he saw that this form, divided into four extensions from the central union, signifies the power and providence that was made manifest in it, which pervades all. For this reason, he uniquely names each extension with specific terms, calling the downward extension from the center "depth" and the upward extension "height," while the extensions stretching out laterally from the union on either side he calls "breadth" and "length," as if to say that on one side of the center is breadth and on the other is length. By these terms, it seems to me, he clearly indicates in his discourse that there is nothing in existence that is not utterly sustained by the divine nature, the heavenly, the earthly, and everything stretching out to the ends of existence from every lateral direction; for through the height, it signifies what is above, through the depth, what is below, and with the length and breadth, the extremities in between, held by the power that controls everything. Therefore, let the demonstration of what is said be through the workings in your soul regarding the notion of God. Look up to the heavens and understand the depths below with your reasoning, extend your mind to the sides and the extremities of the whole creation, and consider what power holds these together, acting as a bond of the whole, and you will see how, automatically in your thought about the divine power, the form of the cross is etched, descending from the heights to the depths and stretching laterally to the extremities of the ends. This form was also hymned by the great David in his own words, saying, "Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven (this is the height), you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol (this is the depth), you are there! If I take the wings of the morning (this is the sunrise—the breadth) and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea (thus he calls the west—this is the length)." Do you see how the form of the cross is delineated through what is said? "It is you," he says, "who coming through all things becomes the bond of all things, encompassing all ends within Yourself; you are above, you are below, at this extremity your hand is present, and at the other, your right hand leads." Therefore, when all is fulfilled in faith and knowledge, the great apostle says that the name above all names is to be worshiped in the name of Jesus Christ by those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. Again, through these, he divides the worship of Christ according to the form of the cross: the hypercosmic declaration fills the upper part of the cross with worship for the Lord, the cosmic in the middle, and the chthonic is held by the depth. This is also what the iota with its stroke signifies in my discourse, which is more permanent than the heavens, more stable than the earth, and more enduring than the entire structure of beings. Heaven and earth will pass away, and the form of the entire cosmos will change, but the iota from the law and the stroke will not pass away. The vertical line that descends from above to the depths is called iota, and the line drawn across laterally is named the stroke, as one can also learn from those who sail; for the beam that lies across the sail, from which they also spread the sail, is called the yardarm, named after its form. Therefore, it seems to me that the divine voice of the gospel looks to this, that it is in it, in which all things hold together, the more eternal among those things that it encompasses, which through a kind of enigma and a mirror shows its own power sustaining all beings through the form of the cross. Therefore, he says that the Son of Man must not simply die but be crucified, so that the cross becomes for those with deeper insight a theological declaration of the all-powerful authority of Him who was revealed upon it, proclaiming through its form that He is all in all. Let us not overlook, brothers, nor forget that noble counsellor from Arimathea, Joseph, who took that pure and holy body as a gift, wrapped it in a clean linen shroud, and laid it in a new tomb. Let the act of that honorable counsellor be a law for us too, advising us similarly to act when we receive that gift of the body, not to take it with a conscience defiled by the shroud of sin nor to lay it in the tomb of our hearts, which is tainted by dead bones and all uncleanness, but, as the apostle says, to examine ourselves, so that grace does not become condemnation for him who receives it unworthily. But indeed, while speaking, I find myself dazzled by the bright robe of the angel, and my heart is thrilled with joy by that sweet quake that rolls away the heavy stone of the human tomb, through which the door to the resurrection is opened to all. Let us too draw near to the sight of this marvelous spectacle (for the Sabbath has already passed), not lagging behind the women. Let faith and conscience be the spices in our own hands; for this is the fragrance of Christ. Let us no longer seek the living among the dead; for the Lord repels those who seek him in this way, saying: "Do not cling to me, but when I ascend to the Father, then you may touch me," that is, no longer should you imprint in your faith the bodily and servile form, but worship Him who exists in the glory of the Father, existing in the form of God, and being the Word of God, not the form of a servant.

Let us hear what good news is proclaimed to us, and the woman who surpassed the man through faith did well in this, that through her initiation into good, she may defend herself regarding the cause of evil. What then is the woman's gospel? Indeed, it is not from men nor through men, but through Jesus Christ. Hear, for He commands us to say to you, whom He also calls His brothers, that "I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God." Oh, the good news of such beauty and goodness. He who became one of us, for our sake, so that by becoming like us, He might make us His brothers, brings His own humanity to the true Father, that through Him all kindred might be drawn to Him, no longer to be a reproach to those who served those who by nature are not gods. By being brought back to the living and true God, those who followed the Son through adoption should not become outcasts or excommunicated from the paternal inheritance. He, who made Himself the firstborn among many brothers of the good creation through the flesh, drew all nature, with which He shared, to Himself through the flesh that was united with Him. But since the unleavened bread before Passover has bitterness as its accompaniment, let us see with what sweetness the bread after the resurrection is flavored. You see the bread and a honeycomb in the hands of the Lord when Peter is fishing; perceive how the bitterness of life is transformed. Therefore, having risen ourselves from the fishing of words, let us now hasten to the bread sweetened by the honeycomb of good hope in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and power with the Father and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages, amen.