Justin Martyr. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Sums Up All Righteousness

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the law? And Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets (Matt. 22:36-40).”

Justin Martyr: “For God sets before every race of mankind that which is always and universally just, as well as all righteousness. Every race knows that adultery, and fornication, and homicide, and such things (Matt. 15:18-19; Mark 7:20-22, 10:19; Ex. 20:12-17; Deut. 5:16-21) are sinful; and though they all commit such practices, they still do not escape from the knowledge that they act unrighteously whenever they do so, except for those who are possessed with an unclean spirit and who have been debased by education, by wicked customs, by sinful institutions, and who have lost, or rather quenched and buried their natural conscience. For we may see that such persons are unwilling to submit to the same things which they inflict upon others, and reproach each other with hostile consciences for the acts which they perpetrate.

"Consequently, I think that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ spoke well when He summed up all righteousness and piety in two commandments. They are these: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, soul and mind, and with all thy strength, and thy neighbor as thyself (Mark 12:30-31, Matt. 22:37-39, Luke 10:27, Deut. 6:5)." For the man who loves God with all his heart and with all his strength, being filled with a God-fearing mind, will reverence no other god (Ex. 20:2-6, Deut. 5:6-11, Matt. 4:10, Luke 4:8)…. And the man who loves his neighbor as himself will wish for him the same good things that he wishes, for himself for no man will wish evil things for himself. Accordingly, he who loves his neighbor would pray and labor that his neighbor may be possessed of the same benefits as himself…. Therefore, since all righteousness is divided into two branches in so far as it regards God and men; whoever, says the Scripture, loves the Lord God with all the heart and all the strength, and his neighbor as himself, would be truly a righteous man." (Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho Ch. 92, 132-135 A.D. Scripture references added for all who want to read these truths directly from the written and living Word of God.)

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Cyril of Jerusalem. Glory in the Cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus

The following is part of a lecture given by St. Cyril of Jerusalem to the catechumens during Lent of 347 A.D..  Presented here for the first Friday of the Lenten stations of the cross:

St. Cyril of Jerusalem: "Every deed of Christ is a cause of glorying to the Catholic Church, but Her greatest of all glorying is in the Cross; and knowing this, Paul says, But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of Christ (Gal. 6:14). For it was indeed wondrous that one who was blind from his birth should receive sight in Siloam (John 9:1-7); but what is this compared with the blind of the whole world? It was a great thing, surpassing nature, for Lazarus to rise again on the fourth day (John 11:1-44); but the grace extended to him alone, and what was it compared with the dead in sins throughout the world? It was marvelous that five loaves should pour forth food for the five thousand (Matt. 14:14-21, Mark 6:34-44, Luke 9:11-17, John 6:5-13); but what is that to those who are famishing in ignorance throughout all the world? It was marvelous that she should have been loosed who had been bound by Satan eighteen years (Luke 13:10-16); yet what is this to all of us, who were bound fast in the chains of our sins? But the glory of the Cross led those who were blind through ignorance into light, loosed all who were held fast by sin and ransomed the whole world of mankind (Matt. 20:28, Mark 10:45, 1 Tim 2:6).

"Let us then not be ashamed of the Cross of our Saviour, but rather glory in it. For the word of the Cross is to Jews a stumbling-block, and to Gentiles foolishness (1 Cor. 1:23), but to us salvation, and to them that are perishing it is foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God (1 Cor. 1:18). For it was not a mere man who died for us, as I said before, but the Son of God, God made Man. Further, if the lamb under Moses drove the destroyer far away [Passover Lamb, Ex 12:21-23], did not much rather the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29), deliver us from our sins? The blood of a silly sheep gave salvation; shall not the Blood of the Only-begotten much rather save…."

"Jesus then really suffered for all men; for the Cross was no illusion, otherwise our redemption is an illusion also. His death was not a mere show, for then our salvation is also without reality [imaginary, mythical]. If His death was but a show, they were true who said, We remember that that deceiver said, while He was yet alive, After three days I rise again (Matt. 27:63). His Passion then was real: for He was really crucified and we are not ashamed of that; He was crucified and we do not deny it, no, I rather glory to speak of it.

"I confess the Cross because I know of the Resurrection; for if, after being crucified, He had remained as He was, I might not have confessed it. I might have concealed both it and my Master, but now that the Resurrection has followed the Cross, I am not ashamed to declare it." (St. Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem, Excerpts from his Catechesis (Lecture 13) during lent of 347 A.D. when Cyril was still a Priest).

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Cyprian of Carthage. The Lord's Prayer and Prayer of the Heart

"Pray then like this: Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; And forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven our debtors; And lead us not into temptation, But deliver us from evil (Matt. 6:9-13)."


St. Cyprian of Carthage: "... what can be a more spiritual prayer than that which was given to us by Christ, by whom also the Holy Spirit was given to us? What praying to the Father can be more truthful than that which was delivered to us by the Son who is the Truth, out of His own mouth?

"Therefore, beloved brethren, let us pray as God our Teacher has taught us. It is a loving and friendly prayer to beseech God with His own word, to come up to His ears in the prayer of Christ. Let the Father acknowledge the words of His Son when we make our prayer, and let Him also who dwells within our breast Himself dwell in our voice. And since we have Jesus as an Advocate with the Father for our sins, let us, when as sinners we petition on behalf of our sins, put forward the words of our Advocate. For since He says, that 'whatsoever we shall ask of the Father in His name, He will give us (Jn 15:16, 16:23),' how much more effectually do we obtain what we ask in Christ’s name, if we ask for it in His own prayer.

"But when we pray, let our speech and petition be disciplined, observing quietness and modesty. Let us consider that we are standing in God’s sight. We must please the divine eyes both with the habit of body and with the measure of voice. ...Moreover, in His teaching the Lord bids us to pray in secret — in hidden and remote places, in our very bedrooms (Matt. 6:6) — which is best suited to faith, that we may know that God is everywhere present, and hears and sees all, and in the abundance of His majesty penetrates even into hidden and secret places, as it is written, 'I am a God at hand, and not a God far off. If a man shall hide himself in secret places, shall I not then see him? Do I not fill heaven and earth (Jer. 23:23, 24).' And again: 'The eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good  (Prov. 15:3).' And when we meet together with the brethren in one place, and celebrate divine sacrifices with God’s priest, we ought to be mindful of modesty and discipline — not to throw abroad our prayers indiscriminately, with unsubdued voices, nor to cast to God with tumultuous wordiness a petition that ought to be commended to God by modesty; for God is the hearer, not of the voice, but of the heart.



"Take as an example, Hannah (1 Sam 1:9-13)...she did not pray to God with a clamorous petition, but silently and modestly, within the very recesses of her heart. She spoke with hidden prayer, but with manifest faith. She spoke not with her voice, but with her heart, because she knew that God hears; and she effectually obtained what she sought because she asked it with belief. Divine Scripture asserts this, when it says, 'She spoke in her heart, and her lips moved, and her voice was not heard (1 Sam 1:13);' but God heard her. We read also in the Psalms, 'Speak in your hearts, and in your beds...(Ps. 4:4).' The Holy Spirit, moreover, suggests these same things by Jeremiah, and teaches, saying, 'But in the heart ought God to be adored by you (Baruch 6:6).'" (St. Cyprian (190-258 AD) Bishop of Carthage (248-258 AD) Excerpts from Treatise IV, On the Lord's Prayer)
 

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Cyprian of Carthage. Born Again in the Water of Baptism

Jesus answered, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a man be born again of water and the Holy Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God (John 3:5)".  

Caecilius Cyprian to Donatus sends, greeting:  “While I was still lying in darkness and gloomy night, wavering here and there, tossed about on the foam of this boastful age, and uncertain of my wandering steps, knowing nothing of my real life, and remote from truth and light, I regarded it a difficult matter, especially difficult in respect of my character at that time, that a man should be capable of being born again (Jn 3:3-8) — a truth which the divine mercy had announced for my salvation. How is it that a man, quickened to a new life in the laver of saving water, should be able to put off what he had previously been and still retaining all his bodily structure, should himself be changed in heart and soul. How, said I, is such a conversion possible, that there should be a sudden and rapid divestment of all which, either innate in us has hardened in the corruption of our material nature, or acquired by us has become addictive by long accustomed use? These things have become deeply and radically engrained within us. For as I myself was held in bonds by the innumerable errors of my previous life, from which I did not believe that I could be delivered, I despaired of better things. I was inclined to give in to my clinging vices and indulge my sins as if they were actually parts of me and indigenous to me. These were my frequent thoughts.

"But after that, by the help of the water of new birth, the stain of former years had been washed away, and a light from above, serene and pure, had been infused into my reconciled heart. By the agency of the Spirit breathed from heaven, a second birth had restored me to a new man. Then, in a wondrous manner, doubtful things at once began to become sure to me, hidden things to be revealed, dark things to be enlightened. What before had seemed difficult began to suggest a means of accomplishment; what had been thought impossible, to be capable of being achieved. I was enabled to acknowledge that what previously, being born of the flesh, had been living in the practice of sins, was of the earth and earthly, had now begun to be of God, and was animated by the Spirit of holiness… 

"That we sinned before was the result of human error whereas now that we do not sin it is the beginning of the work of faith. All our power is of God; I say, of God. From Him we have life, from Him we have strength. By power derived and conceived from Him we do, while yet in this world, foreknow the indications of things to come. Only let fear be the keeper of innocence, that the Lord, Who of His mercy has flowed into our hearts…may be kept by righteous submissiveness in the frame of a grateful mind, that the assurance we have gained may not lead to carelessness, and so the old enemy creep upon us again.” (St. Cyprian of Carthage (190-258 AD). Excerpts from his 1st Epistle "To Donatus" shortly after his Baptism about 246 AD. Bishop of Carthage, AD 248 until his martyrdom in 258.)

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Cyril of Jerusalem. Jesus, the Beloved Son of God, is Baptized

"And when Jesus was baptized, he went up immediatey from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon him; and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt. 3:16, 17)". Also, Mark 1:10, 11; Luke 3:21, 22. 

St. Cyril of Jerusalem: "Jesus sanctified Baptism by being Himself baptized. If the Son of God was baptized, what godly man would despise Baptism? But Jesus was baptized not that He might receive remission of sins, for He was sinless; but being sinless, He was baptized, that He might give to those who are baptized a divine and excellent grace. For since the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also Himself likewise partook of the same (Heb 2:14), that having been made partakers of His presence in the flesh we might be made partakers also of His Divine grace: thus Jesus was baptized, so that we again by our participation might receive both salvation and honour. According to Job, there was in the waters the dragon that draws up Jordan into his mouth (Job 40:23). Since, therefore, it was necessary to break the heads of the dragon in pieces (Ps 74:14), Jesus went down and bound the strong one in the waters, that we might receive power to tread upon serpents and scorpions (Luke 10:19). The beast was great and terrible. No fishing-vessel was able to carry one scale of his tail; destruction ran before him (Job 40:26, 41:13 LXX*), ravaging all that met him. The Life encountered him, that the mouth of Death might from then on be stopped, and all we who are saved might say, O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory (1 Cor 15:55)? The sting of death is extracted by Baptism.

For you go down into the water bearing your sins, but the invocation of grace, having sealed your soul, will afterwards not allow you to be swallowed up by the terrible dragon. Having gone down dead in sins, you come up quickened in righteousness. For if you have been united with the likeness of the Saviour’s death (Rom 6:5), you shall also be deemed worthy of His Resurrection. For as Jesus took upon Himself the sins of the world and died, that by putting sin to death He might rise again in righteousness; so you also, by going down into the water, and being in a manner buried in the waters... are raised again and walking in newness of life (Rom. 6:4)." (St. Cyril (315-386 AD) Bishop of Jerusalem, Doctor of the Church. Part of his Catechesis during Lent in 347 AD when Cyril was still a Priest.)

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*LXX:. Job 40:26: And all the ships come together would not be able to bear the mere skin of his tail; neither shall they carry his head in fishing-vessels. 41:13: And power is lodged in his neck, before him destruction runs. (Septuagint [LXX] the Greek Translation of the Old Testament, the Early Church Scriptures)