Sermon on the Three Youths · §1 · Cyril of Alexandria

A timely remembrance of the martyrs

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Cyril, archbishop of Alexandria, opens a sermon to the congregation on the death of the holy three young men and the all-wise Daniel, urging them to honor the martyrs.

Beloved, a timely occasion has arisen to bring remembrance of good martyrs. This remembrance imitates the celebration of the heavenly orders, for the intercession and salvation of our souls. So all of you who know God, stretch out your ears here today, so that you may be deemed worthy of the prize of the martyrs now being spoken of. For these are the ones we must praise and marvel at: they had not yet seen the incarnation of Christ, nor the death of the Immortal One, nor the resurrection from the dead, and yet even before the bodily coming they were his confessors and martyrs.

Greek

ΚΥΡΙΛΛΟΥ ΑΡΧΙΕΠΙΣΚΟΠΟΥ ΑΛΕΞΑΝ∆ΡΕΙΑΣ ΛΟΓΟΣ ΕΙΣ ΤΗΝ ΤΕΛΕΥΤΗΝ ΤΩΝ ΑΓΙΩΝ ΤΡΙΩΝ ΠΑΙ∆ΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΝΣΟΦΟΥ ∆ΑΝΙΗΛ. Πρόφασις καιρῶν παρέστη, ἀγαπητοὶ, μαρτύρων ἀγαθῶν ἐνέγκαι μνήμην· αὕτη γὰρ ἡ μνήμη μιμεῖται τὴν πανήγυριν τῶν οὐρανίων ταγμάτων, ἐπὶ πρεσβείαν καὶ σωτηρίαν τῶν ἡμετέρων ψυχῶν· ὅσοι οὖν τὸν Θεὸν ἐπιγινώσκετε, σήμερον ἐνταῦθα τὰς ἀκοὰς ὑμῶν προτείνατε, ὅπως ἀξιωθῆτε τοῦ βραβείου τῶν ἀρτίως λεγομένων μαρτύρων· τούτους γὰρ ἐπαινεῖσθαι καὶ θαυμάζειν χρὴ τοὺς μήπω θεασαμένους ἐνανθρώπησιν Χριστοῦ, καὶ θάνατον ἀθανάτου, καὶ ἀνάστασιν ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ πρὸ τῆς ἐνσάρκου παρουσίας, ὁμολογητὰς καὶ μάρτυρας αὐτοῦ