Eusebius (»Alexandrinus«): De die dominica (Versio A) (1-5)

After the release from church on the holy day of the Lord, while the blessed bishop Eusebius sat down, Alexander came forward and asked him: “I beg you, my Lord, why is it necessary to keep the day of the Lord and not to work? And what kind of gain do we have, if we do not work?” The blessed opened his mouth and said: “Hear, child, and I will tell you, why it is taught to us to keep the day of the Lord and not to work.

When the Lord taught his disciples the mystery (of Eucharist), he took the bread, blessed it and breaking it gave it to his disciples and said: ‘Take, eat, this is my body, which is broken for you, for remission of sins.’ Likewise he also gave them the cup and said: ‘You all, drink from it, this is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for you, the many, for remission of sins. Do that for my remembrance,’ he says.

Well, seven days has the week, God gave us six days to work, and he gave us one for prayer, rest, and deliverance from evil and that we may make atonement for them before God on the day of the Lord, if we did sinful actions during the six days. Get up before dawn in the church of God, come to the Lord, confess him your sins, repent in prayer and with a contrite heart, stay in the divine and holy liturgy, complete your prayer and never leave before the release! Look, how your Lord is cut in pieces and distributed and is not eaten up! And if you have a good conscience, come forward and take part in the body and the blood of the Lord! But if your conscience condemns you for bad and foul deeds, decline the community until you amend yourself in repentance, but stay for the prayer and do not leave the church, if you are not released. Remind yourself of Judas the traitor! The beginning of his destruction was that he did not stay with the others praying. When he (Jesus), it says, took the bread, he (Judas) as first of all left and at once Satan entered him, and he eagerly betrayed the Lord. Now, if you leave before the release, you impersonate Judas. Certainly, you do not want to get judged with Judas because of a little time! Staying doesn’t hurt you. The church has no snow inside, no fire, no other thing tormenting you, but only a small amount of patience is needed and your prayer is perfect.

We keep the day of the Lord only to stay away from work and to have opportunity to pray. But if you stay away from work and do not go to church, you gain nothing. To the contrary, you hurt yourself greatly. Many wait for the day of the Lord, but not all for the same end. Those who have fear for God wait for the day of the Lord, that they may send their prayer to God and enjoy the dear body and blood. But the careless and the negligent wait for the day of the Lord that they may stay away from work and spend their time with bad people. And what happened gives evidence that I do not lie: Go to the main street on any day and you will find nobody. Go on the day of the Lord and you will find some playing the lyre, others beating and dancing, others sitting and joking with their neighbor and scolding, others wrestling, others wrangling with each other, others nodding to bad things, and if somewhere there is a lyre and a dance, then all run. The announcer calls to the church and all display hesitation and inability. A sound of the lyre or of the flute or a beat of dancing is produced, and all come there very fast as if they had wings. What do those who come to church look at? I say it to you: the Lord Christ offered on the holy table while the Seraphim sing the three-holy hymn, the Holy Spirit’s arrival and visit, the prophet and king David celebrating, the praised apostle Paul, who resonates his teaching in the ears of everybody, the hymn of the angels, the never-ending hallelujah, the evangelical voices, the Lord’s commandments, the admonition and counsel of the holy bishops and presbyters, all spirituals, all heavenly things, all relief of salvation and kingdom. Who comes to the church hears that and sees that. What see those who run to the theater? Prostitutes, devilish songs, voices full of filth and anarchy, women dancing, or rather being possessed by a demon. For what does the female dancer? It’s nothing other than that she is voluntarily possessed by a demon. Equally the lyre-player assaults his wooden instrument like a demon. All those spectacles of the theater are demonic, all are causing destruction, all are amusements of demons. That’s why their reward is good-for-nothing. Such was the banquet of Herod. As Herodias entered, she danced and cut off the head of John the Baptist, and (then) she inherited the Hades under the earth. Now, those who loved her lascivious dance have their share and their condemnation with her.

Now, be content, my beloved, to work on six days for your business and to cease wrongdoings on the day of the Lord. I know many who have troubles with each other and are fighting and say: ‘The day of the Lord comes and we have a trial.’ Oh wretched and miserable man! You are ordered to pray on the day of the Lord, not to organize courts of justice! Now the day of the Lord comes and the one who has a trial premeditates the whole night what he has against his neighbor and when the sunrise comes he arms himself against him. This custom is custom with most people that they sit outside when they leave the church and often the presbyter acts like that in the first place, and then they throw affairs at each other, disputes, insolences, reproaches, and such things and even worse things than that. Then they reenter the church and look angrily on each other like wild animals that creak with their teeth. Woe to the presbyter who sets such things in motion or sits in judgment on the day of the Lord and does not give his prayers to the Lord at the set hour! But if someone tastes from the common things before the release, he is liable to great judgment and punishment. And if he had tasted and has communion in the mysteries, then his part is that of the traitor Judas. I know many who tasted and took part on the day of the holy Pascha and woe to their soul, even more, if they are in adult age, that they instead of releasing their sins load even more on themselves. But also who has acknowledged bad deeds to himself and has had communion before he wiped them off through repentance is liable to the same judgment. For the bigger the day the bigger the sin. And those who are not without blame need to be strong until the release and need to have communion in that way. Woe to those who play lyre on the day of the Lord or dance or get judged or sit as judges or work or take an oath or make one swear, that they will be condemned to inextinguishable fire and their part is with the hypocrites. For that day was given to us for prayer and for atonement of evil, for repentance and for salvation, for rest of hired laborers and of servants.

For that is the day that the Lord had made. Let us praise and rejoice in it!

Those far away from you perish.