An ancient Holy Saturday homily. In modern liturgy, it is the second reading at Lauds on Holy Saturday.Something
strange is happening — there is a great
silence on
earth today, a great silence and
stillness. The whole earth keeps silence because the
King is asleep. The earth trembled and is still because
God has fallen asleep in the
flesh and he has
raised up all who have
slept ever since the world began. God has
died in the flesh and
hell trembles with
fear.
He has gone to
search for our
first parent, as for a
lost sheep. Greatly desiring to visit
those who live in darkness and
the shadow of death, he has gone to free from
sorrow the
captives Adam and Eve, he who is both God and the son of
Eve. The Lord approached them bearing
the cross, the
weapon that had won him the
victory. At the
sight of him Adam, the first man he had created, struck his
breast in
terror and cried out to everyone: "My Lord be with you all." Christ answered him: "And with your spirit." He took him by the
hand and
raised him up, saying, "Awake, O sleeper, and rise from the dead, and
Christ will give you
light.
"I am your God, who for your sake have become your son. Out of love for you and for your
descendants I now by my own
authority command all who are held in
bondage to come forth, all who are in darkness to be
enlightened, all who are sleeping to arise. I order you, O
sleeper, to awake. I did not create you to be held a
prisoner in hell. Rise from the dead, for
I am the life of the dead. Rise up, work of my
hands, you who were created
in my image. Rise, let us leave this place, for
you are in me and I am in you; together we
form only one person and we cannot be
separated.
"For your sake, I, your God, became your son; I, the Lord, took the
form of a
slave; I, whose home is above the
heavens, descended to the earth and
beneath the earth. For your sake, for the sake of man, I became like a man without
help, free among the dead. For the sake of you, who left a garden, I was betrayed to the
Jews in a
garden, and I was crucified in a garden.
"See on my face the
spittle I received in order to
restore to you the life I once breathed into you. See there the
marks of the blows I received in order to refashion your
warped nature in my image. On my back see the marks of the
scourging I endured to remove the
burden of sin that weighs upon your back. See my hands,
nailed firmly to a
tree, for you who once wickedly stretched out your hand to a tree.
"I
slept on the cross and a
sword pierced my side for you who slept in
paradise and brought forth Eve from your side. My side has healed the pain in yours. My sleep will
rouse you from your sleep in hell. The sword that pierced me has
sheathed the sword that was turned against you.
"Rise, let us leave this place. The
enemy led you out of the earthly paradise. I will not
restore you to that paradise, but I will
enthrone you in heaven. I forbade you the tree that was only a
symbol of life, but see, I who am life itself am now one with you. I appointed
cherubim to
guard you as slaves are guarded, but now I make them
worship you as God. The throne formed by cherubim awaits you, its bearers
swift and
eager. The
bridal chamber is adorned, the
banquet is ready, the
eternal dwelling places are prepared, the treasure houses of all good things lie open. The
kingdom of heaven has been prepared for you from all eternity."