Matthew 27:52 (WEB)
The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised;
Catechism · 1
“Jesus did not descend into hell to deliver the damned, nor to destroy the hell of damnation, but to free the just who had gone before him.” — Catechism footnote: Cf. Council of Rome (745): DS 587; Benedict XII, Cum dudum (1341): DS 1011; Clement VI, Super quibusdam (1351): DS 1077; Council of Toledo IV (625): DS 485;…
Fathers and councils · 37
Origen
- Origen, Against Celsus II.33Book II
“…and the tombs opened, and the veil of the temple rent in twain from top to bottom, and that darkness prevailed in the day-time, the sun failing to give light?”” — editor's note: Cf. Matt. xxvii. 51, 52; cf. Luke xxiii. 44, 45.
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Irenaeus of Lyons
- Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies Fragments from.28Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenæus
“This event was also an indication of the fact, that when the holy soul of Christ descended [to Hades], many souls ascended and were seen in their bodies.” — editor's note: Matt. xxvii. 52.
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Athanasius of Alexandria
- Athanasius of Alexandria, Against the Arians III.6Discourse III
“Nor is it lawful to say that the Lord was in terror, at whom the keepers of hell’s gates shuddered and set open hell, and the graves did gape, and many bodies of the saints arose and appeared to their own people.” — editor's note: Vid. Matt. xxvii. 52, 53, similar passage supr. p. 88.
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Cyril of Jerusalem
“He not only rose, but had also the dead with Him when He rose.” — editor's note: Matt. xxvii. 52.
Read the whole comment“…reminding you, let me mention the ruler of the synagogue’s daughter, and the rending of the rocks, and how there arose many bodies of the saints which slept, their graves having been opened.” — editor's note: Matt. xxvii. 52.
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Augustine of Hippo
“If we suppose this relates to those whose flesh life has left, great wonders have been wrought among the dead, inasmuch as some of them have revived: and in our Lord’s descent into Hell, and His ascent as the conqueror of death, a great wonder was wrought among the dead.” — editor's note: Matt. xxvii. 52.
Read the whole comment“Matthew proceeds thus: “And the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; and the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of the graves after the resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxvii. 51–53.
Read the whole comment“…just as at the time of Christ’s passion many bodies of the saints arose, and after His resurrection appeared, according to Scripture, to many in the holy city.” — editor's note: Matt. xxvii. 52, 53.
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John Chrysostom
“For, “many bodies of the saints which slept, arose,” it is said, “and went into the holy city, and appeared to many.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxvii. 52, 53. [Slightly abridged, and with a few minor variations, not appearing in one New Testament mss.—R.]
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Jerome
“And therefore at His rising again “many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and were seen in the heavenly Jerusalem.”” — editor's note: Matt. xxvii. 52, 53.
Read the whole comment“Even the graves were opened at our Lord’s passion when the sun fled, the earth trembled, and many of the bodies of the saints arose, and were seen in the holy city.“Who is this,” says Isaiah, “that cometh up from Edom, with shining raiment from Bozrah, so beautiful in his glistening robe?”” — editor's note: Matt. xxvii. 52.
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Ephrem the Syrian
“While He was slain, He opened the graves; while He was in the womb, He opened wombs.” — editor's note: Mat. xxvii. 52.
Read the whole comment“For our Lord bare His cross and went forth according to the will of Death: but He cried upon the cross and brought forth the dead from within Sheol against the will of Death.” — editor's note: St. Matt. xxvii. 50–52.
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Tertullian
“And so the “pressure” must be maintained up to that hour in which the orb—involved from the sixth hour in a general darkness—performed for its dead Lord a sorrowful act of duty; so that we too may then return to enjoyment when the universe regained its sunshine.” — editor's note: See Matt. xxvii. 45–54; Mark xvi. 33–39; Luke xxiii. 44–47.
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Ambrose of Milan
“…and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and, going forth out of the tombs after His resurrection, came into the holy city and appeared unto many.”” — editor's note: S. Matt. xxvii. 50–53.
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Hilary of Poitiers
“…the tree, the earth quaked: when He hung on the cross, sun and day were put to flight: that He left His own body, yet called life back to the bodies of others: was buried a corpse and rose again God: as man suffered all weaknesses for our sakes, as God triumphed in them all.” — editor's note: Allusion to St. Matt. xxvii. 52, “many bodies of the saints that had fallen asleep were raised.”
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Hippolytus of Rome
“And again he exclaims, “The dead shall start forth from the graves,” that is, from the earthly bodies, being born again spiritual, not carnal.” — editor's note: Matt. xxvii. 52, 53.
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Clement of Alexandria
“Further the Gospel says, “that many bodies of those that slept arose,”—plainly as having been translated to a better state.” — editor's note: Matt. xxvii. 52.
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Catena Aurea on Matthew
- OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
Great things were done at the moment that Jesus cried with a great voice.
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
The wording sufficiently shews that the veil was rent just when He gave up the ghost. If he had not added, “And, lo!” but had merely said, “And the veil of the temple was rent,: it would have been uncertain whether…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
It is understood that there were two veils; one veiling the Holy of Holies, the other, the outer part of the tabernacle or temple. In the Passion then of our Lord and Saviour, it was the outer veil which was rent…
Read the whole comment - Leo the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
The sudden commotion in the elements is a sufficient sign in witness of His venerable Passion, “The earth quaked, and the rocks rent, and the graves were opened.”
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
It is not doubtful to any what these great signs signify according to the letter, namely, that heaven and earth and all things should bear witness to their crucified Lord.
Read the whole comment - Hilary of PoitiersCatena Aurea on Matthew
“The earth quaked,” because it was unequal to contain such a body; “the rocks rent,” for the Word of God that pierces all strong and mighty things, and the virtue of the eternal Power had penetrated them; “the graves…
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
When He remained on the cross they had said tauntingly, “He saved others, himself he cannot save.” But what He would not do for Himself, that He did and more than that for the bodies of the Saints. For if it was a…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
As Lazarus rose from the dead, so also did many bodies of the Saints rise again to shew forth the Lord’s resurrection; yet notwithstanding that the graves were opened, they did not rise again before the Lord rose,…
Read the whole comment - Remigius of AuxerreCatena Aurea on Matthew
But some one will ask, what became of those who rose again when the Lord rose. We must believe that they rose again to be witnesses of the Lord’s resurrection. Some have said that they died again, and were turned to…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
These same mighty works are still done every day; the veil of the temple is rent for the Saints, in order to reveal the things that are contained within. The earthquakes, that is, all flesh because of the new word…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
It is no contradiction here that Matthew says, that “The centurion and they that were with him, watching Jesus, feared when they saw the earthquake, and the things that were done;” while Luke says, that he wondered…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
Observe, that in the very midst of the offence of His passion the Centurion acknowledges the Son of God, while Arius in the Church proclaims Him a creature.
Read the whole comment - Rabanus MaurusCatena Aurea on Matthew
Whence with good reason by the Centurion is denoted the faith of the Church, which, when the veil of heavenly mysteries had been rent by the Lord’s death, immediately asserts Jesus to be both very Man, and truly Son…
Read the whole comment - Leo the GreatCatena Aurea on Matthew
From this example then of the Centurion let the substance of the earth tremble in the punishment of it Redeemer, let the rocks of unbelieving minds be rent, and those who were pent up in these sepulchres of mortality…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
It was a Jewish custom, and held no disgrace, according to the manners of the people of old, for women to minister of their substance, food, and clothing to their teachers. This Paul says, that he refused, because it…
Read the whole comment - OrigenCatena Aurea on Matthew
In Mark the third is called Salome.
Read the whole comment - John ChrysostomCatena Aurea on Matthew
These women thus watching the things that are done are the most compassionate, the most sorrowful. They had followed Him ministering, and remained by Him in danger, shewing the highest courage, for when the disciples…
Read the whole comment - JeromeCatena Aurea on Matthew
‘See,’ says Helvidius, ‘Jacob and Joseph are the sons of Mary the Lord’s mother, whom the Jews call the brethren of Christ. [marg. note: Mark 6:3] He is also called James the less, to distinguish him from James the…
Read the whole comment - Augustine of HippoCatena Aurea on Matthew
We might have supposed that some of the women stood “afar off,” as three Evangelists say, and others “near the cross,” as John says, had not Matthew and Mark reckoned Mary Magdalen among those that stood afar off,…
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Cross-references · 10
Cited together in Jerome on Matthew 27:51–56 (5) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Harmony of the Gospels III.21.
Cited together in Against Celsus II.33.
Cited together in Augustine of Hippo on Matthew 27:51–56 (Catena Aurea) and 1 other place.
Cited together in Harmony of the Gospels III.21.
Cited together in Jerome on Matthew 27:51–56 (5) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Jerome on Matthew 27:51–56 (5) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Origen on Matthew 27:51–56 (2) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Jerome on Matthew 27:51–56 (5) (Catena Aurea).
Cited together in Against Heresies Fragments from.28.