E01748: Gregory of Nyssa in his Encomium On *Theodoros (soldier and martyr of Amaseia and Euchaita, S00480), of the 380s, talks of the special grace of the remains of martyrs. He describes the saint’s shrine which included a painted representation of the martyr's death, and a coffin (thēkē) with relics, occasionally opened to grant closer contact. Pilgrims take dust from the surface of the reliquary. Written in Greek in Pontus (northern Asia Minor).

Gregory of Nyssa, On *Theodoros (CPG 3183, BHG 1760)

For the context of this passage, see E01747

ed. Cavarnos p. 62.3-64.10

Καί μοι λοιπὸν τὸν νοῦν ἐπιστήσαντες διασκέψασθε, οἱ τῆς καθαρᾶς ταύτης θρησκείας ὑπηρέται καὶ φιλομάρτυρες, ἡλίκον χρῆμα δίκαιος καὶ ὅσων ἀξιοῦται τῶν ἀμοιβῶν, τῶν ἐν κόσμῳ τέως, λέγω, καὶ τῶν παρ᾽ ἡμῖν· τῶν γὰρ ἀοράτων οὐδεὶς ἱκανὸς λογίσασθαι τὴν μεγαλοπρέπειαν· (……) τὴν παροῦσαν ἴδωμεν τῶν ἁγίων κατάστασιν ὅπως καλλίστη ἐστὶ καὶ μεγαλοπρεπής. ψυχὴ μὲν γὰρ ἀνελθοῦσα περὶ τὸν ἴδιον κλῆρον ἐμφιλοχωρεῖ καὶ ἀσωμάτως τοῖς ὁμοίοις συνδιαιτᾶται, σῶμα δὲ τὸ σεμνὸν καὶ ἀκηλίδωτον ἐκείνης ὄργανον οὐδαμοῦ τοῖς ἰδίοις πάθεσι βλάψαν τῆς ἐνοικησάσης τὴν ἀφθαρσίαν, μετὰ πολλῆς τιμῆς καὶ θεραπείας περισταλὲν σεμνῶς ἐν ἱερῷ τόπῳ κατάκειται, ὥσπερ τι κειμήλιον πολυτίμητον τῷ καιρῷ τῆς παλιγγενεσίας τηρούμενον, πολὺ τὸ ἀσύγκριτον ἔχον πρὸς τὰ ἄλλα τῶν σωμάτων· οὐδὲ γὰρ κοινῷ καὶ τῷ τυχόντι διελύθη θανάτῳ καὶ ταῦτα ἐν ὁμοίᾳ ὕλῃ τῆς φύσεως ὄν. τὰ μὲν γὰρ ἄλλα τῶν λειψάνων καὶ βδελυκτὰ τοῖς πολλοῖς ἐστι καὶ οὐδεὶς ἡδέως παρέρχεται τάφον, ἢ καὶ ἀνεῳγότι περιτυχὼν ἐκ τοῦ παραδόξου, ἐπιβαλὼν δὲ τὴν ὄψιν τῇ ἀμορφίᾳ τῶν ἐγκειμένων πάσης ἀηδίας πληρωθεὶς καὶ βαρέα καταστενάξας τῆς ἀνθρωπότητος παρατρέχει.

Ἐλθὼν δὲ εἴς τι χωρίον ὅμοιον τούτῳ, ἔνθα σήμερον ὁ ἡμέτερος σύλλογος, ὅπου μνήμη δικαίου καὶ ἅγιον λείψανον, πρῶτον μὲν τῇ μεγαλοπρεπείᾳ τῶν ὁρωμένων ψυχαγωγεῖται οἶκον βλέπων ὡς θεοῦ ναὸν ἐξησκημένον λαμπρῶς τῷ μεγέθει τῆς οἰκοδομῆς καὶ τῷ τῆς ἐπικοσμήσεως κάλλει, ἔνθα καὶ τέκτων εἰς ζῴων φαντασίαν τὸ ξύλον ἐμόρφωσε καὶ λιθοξόος εἰς ἀργύρου λειότητα τὰς πλάκας ἀπέξεσεν. ἐπέχρωσε δὲ καὶ ζωγράφος τὰ ἄνθη τῆς τέχνης ἐν εἰκόνι διαγραψάμενος τὰς ἀριστείας τοῦ μάρτυρος, τὰς ἐνστάσεις, τὰς ἀλγηδόνας, τὰς θηριώδεις τῶν τυράννων μορφάς, τὰς ἐπηρείας, τὴν φλογοτρόφον ἐκείνην κάμινον, τὴν μακαριωτάτην τελείωσιν τοῦ ἀθλητοῦ, τοῦ ἀγωνοθέτου Χριστοῦ τῆς ἀνθρωπίνης μορφῆς τὸ ἐκτύπωμα, πάντα ἡμῖν ὡς ἐν βιβλίῳ τινὶ γλωττοφόρῳ διὰ χρωμάτων τεχνουργησάμενος σαφῶς διηγόρευσε τοὺς ἀγῶνας τοῦ μάρτυρος καὶ ὡς λειμῶνα λαμπρὸν τὸν νεὼν κατηγλάϊσεν· οἶδε γὰρ καὶ γραφὴ σιωπῶσα ἐν τοίχῳ λαλεῖν καὶ τὰ μέγιστα ὠφελεῖν· καὶ ὁ τῶν ψηφίδων συνθέτης ἱστορίας ἄξιον ἐποίησε τὸ πατούμενον ἔδαφος.

Καὶ τοῖς αἰσθητοῖς οὕτω φιλοτεχνήμασιν ἐνευπαθήσας τὴν ὄψιν ἐπιθυμεῖ λοιπὸν καὶ αὐτῇ πλησιάσαι τῇ θήκῃ, ἁγιασμὸν καὶ εὐλογίαν τὴν ἐπαφὴν εἰναι πιστεύων. εἰ δὲ καὶ κόνιν τις δοίη φέρειν τὴν ἐπικειμένην τῇ ἐπιφανείᾳ τῆς ἀναπαύσεως, ὡς δῶρον ὁ χοῦς λαμβάνεται καὶ ὡς κειμήλιον ἡ γῆ θησαυρίζεται. τὸ γὰρ αὐτοῦ τοῦ λειψάνου προσψαύσασθαι, εἴ ποτέ τις ἐπιτυχία τοιαύτη παράσχοι τὴν ἐξουσίαν, ὅπως ἐστὶ πολυπόθητον καὶ εὐχῆς τῆς ἀνωτάτω τὸ δῶρον, ἴσασιν οἱ πεπειραμένοι καὶ τῆς τοιαύτης ἐπιθυμίας ἐμφορηθέντες. ὡς σῶμα γὰρ αὐτὸ ζῶν καὶ ἀνθοῦν οἱ βλέποντες κατασπάζονται, τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς, τῷ στόματι, ταῖς ἀκοαῖς, πάσαις προσάγοντες ταῖς αἰσθήσεσιν, εἶτα τὸ τῆς εὐλαβείας καὶ τὸ τοῦ πάθους ἐπιχέοντες δάκρυον, ὡς ὁλοκλήρῳ καὶ φαινομένῳ τῷ μάρτυρι τὴν τοῦ πρεσβεύειν ἱκεσίαν προσάγουσιν, ὡς δορυφόρον τοῦ θεοῦ παρακαλοῦντες, ὡς λαμβάνοντα τὰς δωρεὰς καὶ ταύτας παρέχοντα ὅταν ἐθέλῃ ἐπικαλούμενος.

Ἐκ τούτων πάντων, ὁ εὐσεβὴς λαός, καταμάθετε ὅτι Τίμιος ἐναντίον κυρίου ὁ θάνατος τῶν ὁσίων αὐτοῦ. ἓν μὲν γὰρ καὶ τὸ αὐτὸ σῶμα πάντων ἀνθρώπων, ἐξ ἑνὸς φυράματος ἔχον τὴν σύστασιν, ἀλλὰ τὸ μὲν ἁπλῶς ἀποθανὸν ῥίπτεται ὡς τὸ τυχόν, τὸ δὲ τῷ πάθει τοῦ μαρτυρίου χαραωθέν, οὕτως ἐστὶν ἐράσμιον καὶ ἡδὺ καὶ ἀναμφισβητήσιμον ὡς ὁ προλαβὼν λόγος ἐδίδαξεν. διὰ τοῦτο πιστεύομεν ἐκ τῶν φαινομένων τοῖς ἀοράτοις, ἀπὸ τῆς ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ πείρας τῇ τῶν μελλόντων ἐπαγγελίᾳ.

‘Now, servants of this pure religion [cf. Jas 1:27] and friends of the martyrs, pay attention to me and consider what a great asset a righteous man is, and how many rewards he is honoured with – I mean recent ones, in this world and in our times, because nobody is able to estimate the splendour of the invisible ones. [….....] let us behold the current condition of the saints, how most beautiful and magnificent it is: the soul has gone up and happily entered its lot, joining its peers without the body; as for the body, the soul’s reverend and blameless instrument, which in no way harmed by its passions the immortality of the soul which once inhabited it, it has been buried with great honour and care, and is now lying solemnly at this holy place, like a highly valued treasure, preserved for the moment of its rebirth. Its condition is incomparably different from that of other bodies: for it was not destroyed by a death of a common and random manner, even though it consists of the same matter of nature. Indeed, to most people the remnants of other bodies are abominable and nobody passes by a grave with pleasure. And, if one encounters by chance an open grave and catches a glimpse of the ugliness of its content, they are filled with all feelings of disgust and run away, heavily bemoaning the human condition.

But when coming to a place like this, where our gathering is taking place today, and where the memory of a righteous man and his holy remains are kept, one is first attracted by the magnificence of the spectacle, as they see a house splendidly built like a temple of God, distinguished by the size of its construction and the beauty of its decoration. Here the carpenter has carved the wood into an image of living creatures, and the mason has polished the stones to silver-like smoothness. The painter has painted the blooms of his art, depicting the martyr’s brave deeds in an image: his responses, his tortures, the monstrous figures of the tyrants, the abuses, that blazing furnace, the most blessed end of the athlete, the likeness of the human figure of Christ who was the master of the contest. Depicting all these things for us in colours, he has recounted with clarity, as if in a speaking book, the struggles of the martyr, and has beautified the temple like a splendid meadow. Indeed, although silent on the wall, a painting can speak and be most useful. And the mosaicist has made the floor we are treading worthy of careful observation.

And, having so much pleased the eyes with these visible masterpieces, one then longs to approach the coffin (thēkē) itself, regarding its contact as sanctification and blessing. And if someone gives us to take away some of the dust (konis) lying on the surface of the resting place, that soil (chous) is received like a gift, and the earth (gē) is treasured like a valued possession. But to touch upon the relics themselves, should, at some point, such a great fortune provide an opportunity to do so – those who have experienced it, and have been granted such a great wish, know what a highly desirable thing this is, the granting, indeed, of the loftiest of prayers! For those who behold it embrace it like a living and blooming body, offering their devotion with their eyes, mouth, and hearing, and all their senses. And then, shedding tears of piety and emotion, they address to the martyr, as fully present and visible, their plea to intercede on their behalf, imploring him as a guardsman of God and as one who, when called upon, receives and grants gifts, as he pleases.

From all this, pious people, you must learn that Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his saints [Ps 116 (115):6]. The body of all people is one and the same thing, consisting of the same material: yet the body of a person who has died a common death is thrown away like anything, whereas a body blessed with the grace of suffering martyrdom is dear and cherished and undisputed, as my account has just taught us. Therefore, we believe in the things we cannot see based on things apparent, and, based on our experience in this world, we believe in the promise of the things to come (……)’

Text: Cavarnos 1990, 59-71. Translation: Efthymios Rizos