Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The generals of Antiochus Eupator, notwithstanding the peace, harass the Jews; the people of Joppa drown two hundred in the sea; the people of Jamnia intend similar things, but Judas slaughters and burns both; he overcomes the Arabs, routs Timothy, takes the cities of Casphin and Ephron by storm, puts Gorgias to flight, and finally, at verse 39, he arranges for sacrifices to be offered for his men who had fallen in battle, offering twelve thousand drachmas.
Vulgate Text: 2 Maccabees 12:1-46
1. When these agreements had been made, Lysias was going to the king, and the Jews were attending to agriculture. 2. But those who had remained behind, Timothy, and Apollonius son of Gennaeus, as well as Hieronymus, and Demophon besides these, and Nicanor the Cyprarch, did not allow them to live in silence and quiet. 3. But the people of Joppa perpetrated a certain shameful crime: they invited the Jews who lived among them to board boats which they had prepared, with their wives and children, as though there were no hostilities between them. 4. According to the common decree of the city, therefore, and since they acquiesced, and for the sake of peace suspected nothing: when they had gone out into the deep, they drowned no fewer than two hundred. 5. When Judas learned of this cruelty done against his people, he gave orders to the men who were with him: and having invoked God the just judge, 6. he came against the murderers of his brothers, and set fire to the port by night, burned the boats, and killed by the sword those who had fled from the fire. 7. And when he had done this, he departed as though he would return again to uproot all the people of Joppa. 8. But when he learned that those who were in Jamnia also wished to do the same to the Jews living with them, 9. he attacked the Jamnites also by night, and set fire to the port with its ships: so that the light of the fire was visible at Jerusalem from two hundred and forty stadia away. 10. When they had gone from there nine stadia, and were on the march toward Timothy, they engaged with him the Arabs, five thousand men and five hundred horsemen. 11. And when the battle was fierce, and with God's help had gone favorably, the surviving Arabs, defeated, begged Judas to give them the right hand of peace, promising they would provide pastures and be useful in other things. 12. Judas, judging them truly useful in many things, promised peace: and having received the right hand, they withdrew to their tents. 13. He also attacked a certain fortified city, surrounded by bridges and walls, which was inhabited by a mixed multitude of Gentiles, named Casphin. 14. But those who were inside, trusting in the solidity of the walls and their store of provisions, acted negligently, provoking Judas with insults and blaspheming and speaking what is not lawful. 15. But Maccabeus, having invoked the great Prince of the world, who without battering rams and siege engines in the time of Joshua brought down Jericho, fiercely rushed the walls: 16. and having taken the city by the Lord's will, he made innumerable slaughters, so that the adjacent pool, two stadia wide, seemed to flow with the blood of the slain. 17. From there they departed seven hundred and fifty stadia, and came to Characa, to those called Tubianeans, who were Jews: 18. and they did not find Timothy in those places, and having accomplished nothing, he had departed, leaving a very strong garrison in a certain place. 19. But Dositheus and Sosipater, who were commanders with Maccabeus, killed ten thousand men left by Timothy in the garrison. 20. But Maccabeus, having arranged six thousand around himself and organized them into cohorts, advanced against Timothy, who had with him one hundred and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and two thousand five hundred horsemen. 21. When Timothy learned of Judas's approach, he sent ahead the women and children and the rest of the baggage, to the garrison called Carnion: for it was impregnable and difficult of access because of the narrowness of the terrain. 22. And when the first cohort of Judas appeared, fear was struck into the enemy, from the presence of God, who sees all things, and they turned to flight one from another, so that they were thrown down more by their own men, and weakened by the blows of their own swords. 23. Judas pressed on fiercely, punishing the profane, and laid low thirty thousand men of them. 24. Timothy himself fell into the hands of Dositheus and Sosipater: and with many entreaties he begged to be released alive, because he held parents and brothers of many of the Jews, whom his death would ruin. 25. And when he had given his word that he would restore them according to the agreement, they released him unharmed for the sake of the brothers' safety. 26. Judas then went out to Carnion, having killed twenty-five thousand. 27. After the flight and slaughter of these, he moved the army to the fortified city of Ephron, in which a multitude of diverse nations dwelt; and strong young men stationed at the walls resisted fiercely: and in this city there were many siege engines and stores of weapons. 28. But when they had invoked the Almighty, who by His power shatters the strength of the enemy, they took the city: and of those who were within, they laid low twenty-five thousand. 29. From there they went to the city of the Scythians, which was six hundred stadia from Jerusalem. 30. But when the Jews who were among the Scythopolitans testified that they were treated kindly by them, and that even in times of misfortune they had dealt moderately with them: 31. giving them thanks, and exhorting them to be kind to their people also in the future, they came to Jerusalem when the solemn day of Weeks was approaching. 32. And after Pentecost they marched against Gorgias, the governor of Idumea. 33. He came out with three thousand foot soldiers and four hundred horsemen. 34. When they clashed, it happened that a few of the Jews fell. 35. But a certain Dositheus, a horseman of Bacenoris, a strong man, seized Gorgias: and when he wished to capture him alive, a certain horseman from among the Thracians rushed upon him and cut off his shoulder: and so Gorgias escaped to Maresa. 36. But when those who were with Esdrin had been fighting for a long time and were exhausted, Judas called upon the Lord to be their helper and leader of the battle: 37. beginning with his native speech and raising a cry with hymns, he struck the soldiers of Gorgias with panic. 38. Judas then, having assembled his army, came to the city of Odollam: and when the seventh day came, having purified themselves according to custom, they kept the sabbath in that place. 39. And the following day Judas came with his men to take up the bodies of the slain, and to place them with their relatives in their ancestral tombs. 40. But under the tunics of the slain they found some of the offerings of the idols which had been at Jamnia, from which the law forbids the Jews: so it was made manifest to all that this was the reason they had fallen. 41. All therefore blessed the just judgment of the Lord, who had made hidden things manifest. 42. And turning to prayers, they begged that the offense that had been committed might be consigned to oblivion. But the most valiant Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, seeing before their eyes what had happened because of the sins of those who had fallen. 43. And having made a collection, he sent twelve thousand drachmas of silver to Jerusalem to be offered as a sacrifice for the sins of the dead, thinking well and devoutly about the resurrection. (44. For unless he hoped that those who had fallen would rise again, it would seem superfluous and vain to pray for the dead;) 45. and because he considered that those who had fallen asleep in piety had the most excellent grace stored up for them. 46. It is therefore a holy and salutary thought to pray for the departed, that they may be loosed from sins.
Verse 1: The Jews Were Attending to Agriculture
1. The Jews were attending to agriculture. — Gorionides adds, book III, chapter XVII, that the peace and quiet of the Jews lasted for eight months: in the meantime Judas Maccabeus had taken action against certain rebellious Jews: Jews and Macedonians had lived together in several cities of Judea, especially along the seacoast, and had conducted business; but "the people of Joppa and Jamnia" had treacherously used that occasion for the destruction and ruin of the Jews.
Verse 2: Those Who Had Remained Behind
2. But those who had remained behind (in Judea), Timothy and Apollonius, as well as Hieronymus and Demophon besides these (so it should be read with the Roman and Greek texts, not "superbus," as Dionysius and Emmanuel Sa read), and Nicanor the Cyprarch did not allow them to live in silence and quiet. — These five generals of Antiochus occupied many cities of Judea, such as Joppa and Jamnia, about which see verse 3 and following; and continued to harass the Jews notwithstanding the peace already made with Lysias: both because they were accustomed to this, and had long been placed in Judea by Antiochus for this purpose, to either wear it down or subject it securely to themselves, and therefore were always hostile and aggressive toward the Jews; and because they lived off plunder from the Jews. Indeed, the soldier does not love peace, since he enriches himself in war with spoils and plunder: therefore when peace is entered into after war, commanders must labor greatly to restrain the soldier, or occupy him with another war or labor, lest he turn to mutiny, especially if his wages have not been fully paid, and plunder and lay waste the commander's own regions, or desert to the enemy, or create a new prince for himself, as we often read has happened in histories, and in this age have actually seen. Therefore Vegetius, in book II, On Military Affairs, chapter XXIII, teaches that the soldier must be kept busy and exercised with constant labor, whether fighting, shooting arrows, digging, running, fortifying camps, etc., lest he grumble and rebel, or plunder, or become idle and unwarlike; "and from this exercise," he says, "the army (exercitus) received its name." And he adds: "The younger and newer soldiers were exercised morning and afternoon in every kind of weapons.
But the veterans and experienced soldiers exercised once a day without interruption in arms. For neither length of age nor number of years imparts military skill, but continuous practice of training: after however many terms of service you wish, an unexercised soldier is always a recruit." He gives the reason: "For both bodily speed is acquired by practice itself, and the skill of striking the enemy and protecting oneself, especially if they fight with swords at close quarters. But this is more important, that they learn to keep their ranks." He then adds other military exercises: "It is very useful for younger men to be trained at the stake or with practice swords, when they learn to strike at the sides, feet, or head with thrust and cut. They should also become accustomed equally to making leaps and strikes, to spring up stamping on the shield, and to crouch down again, now to leap forward eagerly with a bound, now sitting to spring backward. They should also practice striking the very stakes from a distance with javelins, so that both the skill of aiming and the strength of the right hand may increase." And near the end he adds this: "On all other days, if only the snows and rains had ceased, they were compelled to exercise in the field; lest, with the practice interrupted, the spirits and bodies of the soldiers should weaken. To cut timber, carry loads, leap over ditches, swim in the sea or rivers, walk at full pace, or even run in armor with their packs, it is most important to do frequently, so that the habit of daily labor in peace may not seem difficult in war. Whether they are legions or auxiliaries, let them be exercised constantly."
Verse 3: To Board the Boats
3. To board the boats, — as if going to fish in the sea, or to play, or to cross over to some nearby island for recreation.
4. According to the common decree of the city, therefore. — The entire city therefore had decreed to drown the Jews by this fraud; wherefore the whole city as guilty was condemned to destruction by Judas Maccabeus, at verse 7.
Verse 5: He Gave Orders to the Men
5. He gave orders to the men, — to take up arms and avenge the slaughter of their brothers.
7. He departed as though he would return again to uproot all the people of Joppa. — The Greek text adds that Judas by this sudden attack was unable to capture the city, since it was fortified; therefore he attacked the port, burned the boats, and killed as many as were present; and so departed with the intention of returning with battering rams and ballistae, to storm and destroy the city.
Verse 9: He Attacked the Jamnites by Night
9. He attacked the Jamnites also by night, and set fire to the port with its ships, so that the light of the fire was visible at Jerusalem from two hundred and forty stadia away. — For Jamnia was distant from Jerusalem by 240 stadia, that is, ten Gallic leagues, or thirty Italian miles: for a stadium is an eighth part of an Italian mile, or of a thousand paces, namely comprising 125 paces: for this is the eighth part of a thousand paces.
Moreover, the soldiers of Judas plundered the shrines of idols in places near Jamnia, and stole offerings from them, which was forbidden by law, as we shall hear at verse 40.
Verse 10: The Arabs Engaged in Battle
10. The Arabs engaged (in battle) with him, — who in Greek are called Nomads, that is, occupied with pasturing flocks: for their wealth consists of livestock and herds, with which they graze successively through all the provinces: for nemein means to pasture.
Verse 13: The City of Casphin
13. Casphin — is a city which Adrichomius places in the tribe of Dan near Jamnia; but this passage indicates that it was situated much farther south toward Arabia. So says Salianus.
14. They acted negligently. — In Greek anagogoteron, which Vatablus translates as, They showed themselves more obstinate. For anagogos means stubborn, obstinate, untamed, intractable, uneducated, one who has lacked discipline, and has been raised laxly and indulgently; and therefore has become more insolent, more dissolute, more intemperate, more impudent. For a lax and soft education makes men stubborn, according to that saying of Sirach XXX, 8: "An untamed horse becomes hard, and a son raised too indulgently becomes headstrong." They acted negligently, therefore, that is, devoted to their pleasures they neglected and despised Judas, and insolently insulted him, because they presided over their walls and thought themselves impregnable.
Verse 15: He Fiercely Rushed the Walls
15. He fiercely rushed the walls, — shaking and bringing them down with a battering ram or ballista. Gorionides however asserts that Judas coated the gates with pitch, and piled thorns from the desert against them, and thus, having set fire to the gate, penetrated into the city, and finally made such a slaughter in the city that the pool, broad in every direction for two stadia, flowed with blood as if with water.
Verse 17: Seven Hundred and Fifty Stadia to Characa
17. From there they departed seven hundred and fifty stadia, — which make 93 Italian miles with six stadia, that is, almost thirty Gallic leagues.
And they came to Characa, to those called Tubianeans, who were Jews. — Salianus thinks this place was called Characa because it was fortified by a notable rampart, either natural or artificial: for charax means a rampart.
"Tubianeans" were named from the place Tubin which they inhabited, about which see book I, chapter V, verse 12. Therefore what Rabanus writes, and from him St. Thomas (if he is indeed the author of this Commentary on Maccabees) is irrelevant: "I have heard," he says, "a certain Hebrew discussing that those Jews are called Tubianeans who, called together from among foreigners, came to the aid of Judas, and were called Tubianeans, as if hired by foreign trumpets (tubis)." For the Tubianeans were Hebrews, not Latins: therefore they were named not from trumpets (tubis), but from Tubin, perhaps from the Hebrew tob, that is, good, as if Timothy had persecuted Jews who had received their name from their excellent goodness; and therefore was repressed by Judas. So says Sanchez.
Verse 20: Two Thousand Five Hundred Horsemen
20. And two thousand five hundred horsemen. — The Greek text has 1,500; but twenty thousand foot soldiers easily required 2,500 horsemen. So say Vatablus, Salianus, and others.
21. The garrison (citadel or fortified place) called Carnion, — and therefore different from the city called Carnaim, that is, of the two horns, or two-horned, about which see book I, chapter V. The battle here is therefore one thing; that narrated there is another. If someone nevertheless wishes them to be the same, I will not engage in a contentious tug-of-war with him; indeed, with all things duly considered, this opinion seems more probable to me, as it does to Salianus.
Verse 22: Fear Struck the Enemy from the Presence of God
22. Fear was struck into the enemy from the presence of God. — From what was said in chapter X, verses 29 and 30, and chapter XI, verse 8, one may suspect that Michael, the protector of the Synagogue, that is, of Judas and the Jews, either in person or through Angels subject to him and the guardians of Judas and the Jews, appeared visibly with a terrible and threatening countenance to the Timothean enemies of the Jews: indeed, that he rushed upon them with a horrific assault, and thus brought upon them terror, flight, madness, and destruction. So says Salianus; whence shortly afterward Judas with the Angel's help killed 30,000, as is said at verse 23: and captured Timothy himself alive at verse 24.
Verse 24: Timothy Falls into the Hands of Dositheus
24. Timothy himself fell into the hands of Dositheus and Sosipater (who were commanders of Judas Maccabeus fighting with him and for him), and with many entreaties he begged to be released alive, because he held parents and brothers of many of the Jews (as captives and in his power), whom his death would cause to be neglected (perhaps one should read "despised," for the Greek is alygēthenai, that is, neglected, Vatablus translates), — that is, if you despise and kill me, my men will likewise despise your Jews, whom they hold captive, and will kill them in vengeance for my blood.
25. And when he had given his word that he would restore them according to the agreement, — that is, according to the promise and pact.
Verse 26: Judas Went Out to Carnion
26. Judas then went out to Carnion. — The Greek text adds: kai to Atergateion, and the Atergateion, which was the temple of the Goddess of the Syrians called Atargate, to which therefore many of the enemy had fled as to a sanctuary; and therefore Judas hastened there, profaned the temple, and killed the fugitives, up to 25,000. Hear what the ancients say about this Goddess. Pliny, book V, chapter XXIII: "Hierapolis," he says, "is called Magog by the Syrians; there the wondrous Atargatis is worshipped; but she is called Derceto by the Greeks."
Strabo, in book XVI, near the end, says Atargata was called Athara by a corrupted barbarian word, whom Ctesias, he says, called Derceto. Athenagoras in his Apology says that this Derceto was the mother of Semiramis, a lustful and murderous woman, who, as Diodorus writes in book III, bore a daughter from a lustful young man; with Venus her mother acting as procuress, she gave the daughter to be nourished by doves, and herself, out of shame for her disgrace, threw herself into a pool, where she was turned into a fish, and her daughter into a dove. Therefore, he says, the Syrians abstain from fish, and built a temple on the shore of the pool; they worshipped an image of Derceto with the face of a beautiful woman, and the rest of the body a fish.
Verse 27: He Moved the Army to Ephron
27. He moved the army to Ephron. — The Greek text adds that Lysias, guardian of Antiochus Eupator, used to reside in it (though he was now absent); and therefore there was a great influx of various nations to it: for which reason Judas attacked it fiercely. Judas first stormed this city in the year 148 of the Greeks, while Antiochus Epiphanes was still alive, book I, chapter V; but then captured the same city, having recovered, in the year 149 or 150 of the Greeks, under Antiochus Eupator; indeed Salianus maintains that this storming in this chapter is the same as that reviewed in book I, chapter V. For there too, the fight against Timothy is at Carnaim, from Carnaim one proceeds to Ephron, then to Bethshan, which the Greeks called Scythopolis. Therefore those things which are said in book I, chapter V, up to verse 8, were done under Antiochus Epiphanes; but those narrated from verse 8 to the end were done under Antiochus Eupator, although Scripture, for the sake of brevity, does not distinguish these, nor assign the times of the two kings, and this is sufficiently plausible.
Verse 29: To the City of the Scythians
29. From there to the city of the Scythians (which was therefore called Scythopolis) which was six hundred stadia from Jerusalem, — which make 75 Italian miles, each of which contains a thousand paces; for the eighth part of such a mile is a stadium, containing 125 paces, as I said above. The Scythians moreover restored this city and inhabited it. It is situated on this side of the Jordan in the tribe of Manasseh, and was the greatest of the Decapolis. See Adrichomius.
Verse 31: They Came to Jerusalem at the Feast of Weeks
31. They came to Jerusalem when the solemn day of Weeks was approaching. — He means the feast of Pentecost, which is called "of Weeks," because after seven weeks, or after 49 days from the Passover, it is celebrated on the next, fiftieth day, Leviticus XXIII, verse 18.
See here the speed of Judas Maccabeus, who swept through everything like lightning. For in the space of about one month (namely from the month Xanthicus, that is April, about which see chapter XI, last verse, up to the end of May, when they celebrated Pentecost that year), in various places he laid low more than a hundred thousand of the enemy; namely from the camps of Timothy at verse 23, he killed thirty thousand, from the inhabitants of Carnion at verse 26, twenty-five thousand, from Ephron at verse 28, the same number. Add the countless people of Joppa and Jamnia slain by him at verses 6 and 9, and the Arabs at verse 10, and the inhabitants of Casphin at verse 16, whom he slaughtered in such a way that the pool of two stadia seemed to flow with blood.
33. He came out with three thousand foot soldiers and four hundred horsemen. — "He came out," namely Judas against Gorgias: for the latter's army was far more numerous. So say Vatablus, Salianus, and others. Whence you may infer that from time to time Judas had horsemen in addition to foot soldiers, but few.
Verse 35: Dositheus the Horseman of Bacenoris
35. But a certain Dositheus of Bacenoris, — that is, of the camp, who evidently belonged to the camp of Bacenoris the military commander, and followed him as a soldier. This is clear from the Greek, although Gorionides and from him Serarius think that this Dositheus was the general of the army, mentioned at verse 19, who was a son or grandson of Bacenoris.
Verse 36: Esdrin and His Men Fighting Long
36. But when those who were with Esdrin had been fighting for a long time. — "Esdrin" was one of the captains of Judas, who when they were exhausted by prolonged fighting, Judas, with ardent spirit and voice invoking God, routed the enemy and put an end to the battle. Therefore the Basilican codex incorrectly puts "Gorgias" the enemy of Judas in place of "Esdrin."
37. Beginning with his native speech, (not as if Judas had spoken Greek at other times; but rather Hebrew, which was his native language, but "native" here means courageous, confident, strong, exalted, noble, loud, as truly befitted Judas, a Jew, invoking God, he obtained strength from Him, by which he would immediately overthrow the enemy; hence explaining he adds:) and raising a cry with hymns, he struck the soldiers of Gorgias with panic. — See what I said about the native speech in chapter VII, verses 8 and 27.
38. Having purified themselves — from the shedding of enemy blood and the contact with corpses.
39. The following day (namely the first day after the sabbath, which for us is Sunday), Judas came with his men to take up the bodies of the slain (among whom were some of the bravest Hasmoneans, says Gorionides), and to place them with their relatives in their ancestral tombs. — For this is the honor owed to fallen soldiers; this is the last duty of piety, namely that their bodies be buried reverently, so much so that among the Romans and other Gentiles, to neglect or even deny burial to an enemy was a great disgrace, inhumanity, and barbarism. Whence Quintus Curtius, book V: "Scarcely any duty," he says, "is so solemn in war as burying one's own."
Verse 40: Idol Offerings Found Under the Tunics of the Slain
40. They found under the tunics (the Greek adds: hekastou, that is, of each one) of the slain some of the offerings of the idols which had been at Jamnia (as I said, verse 9) from which the law forbids, — ordering them to be burned as an abomination of idols and idolatry. For thus it is ordained in Deuteronomy VII, 23: "You shall burn their graven images with fire; you shall not covet the silver and gold from which they are made; nor shall you take anything from them for yourself, lest you offend, because it is an abomination to the Lord your God. Nor shall you bring anything from an idol into your house, lest you become an accursed thing, as it is; you shall detest it as filth, and abhor it as defilement and uncleanness you shall hold it in abomination, because it is accursed."
It was therefore made manifest to all that this was the reason they had fallen, — because only those had fallen who had taken away these offerings, as is clear from the Greek; but the rest were unharmed and alive. Hence conclude that the victories of Judas were admirable and heavenly, being bloodless, in which none of his men was killed unless he himself through theft or some other crime had given the guilt of his heart, and had turned away from himself the guardianship and protection of the offended God. Whence up to this point we do not read that Judas buried the bodies of the slain after battle, because namely none of his men had fallen.
Let soldiers learn here to abstain from plunder and crimes. For thus God will preserve them, indeed He will make them victorious; for victory is sometimes taken away by the crime of one or a few, as the theft of Achan took it away, Joshua chapter VII.
Verse 42: They Prayed That the Sin Be Blotted Out
42. They begged that the offense that had been committed might be consigned to oblivion. — In Greek: be completely blotted out. They supposed therefore that the slain had repented of the theft before death, and had deleted its principal part, namely the guilt, through contrition: therefore only the other part remained, namely the liability for punishment to be paid after this life in Purgatory, which was to be expiated through sacrifices, so that the sin might be completely blotted out, and thus their souls, freed from the punishments of Purgatory, might be transferred to the limbo of the fathers, or to Abraham's bosom.
Additionally, the sin of some was not mortal but venial, both because some, being uneducated soldiers, did not know the law forbidding these thefts from idols, or at least thought it only obligated under venial sin; and because some were in grave or extreme necessity, in which they thought it was lawful to steal for the preservation of life; and because some had stolen very little, for whom the lightness of the matter excused them from mortal sin. For expressly, at verse 45, it says that they had received their falling asleep (that is, death) "in piety." They were therefore in a state of grace. Finally, it was just and pious that Judas and his men should judge and hope that some of them had sinned only venially, or if mortally, had repented before they expired; and therefore had applied to them the prayers and suffrages customarily offered for the departed, as the Church still applies them to sinners. For by every reason and means by which she can help the souls of the faithful and free them from punishments, she strives to do so. For piety and charity demand this, as does the very communion of saints.
But the most valiant (Greek gennaios, that is, noble) Judas exhorted the people to keep themselves free from sin, — because their strength consisted in innocence and justice; for God preserved the innocent and just in battles and made them victors; but the guilty and rapacious He allowed to be conquered and killed, as they saw with their own eyes had happened here, as follows.
43. Twelve thousand drachmas of silver (which make a thousand gold pieces, if the drachmas were Attic; but if Hebrew, they make two thousand gold pieces, with which many victims for sin could be purchased and offered) he sent (Judas as Pontiff) to Jerusalem to be offered for the sins of the dead. — Hence therefore it is clear that Judas the Pontiff believed in Purgatory, in which souls after this life are purified from sins. For this was the faith of the Synagogue and of the ancient Jews as well as of the modern ones, as is evident from their Rituals, Commentaries, and writings, which Serarius here, Genebrard, Bellarmine, and others writing about Purgatory cite. The same is clearly evident from that passage of Tobit IV, 18: "Place your bread and your wine upon the tomb of the just." See what I said there.
Thinking well and devoutly (Greek asteios, that is, in a refined, elegant, beautiful, skillful, worthy manner) about the resurrection. — For it is refined, civil, honorable, and worthy to help one's fellow citizens who have departed this life with prayers, so that they may rise to the blessed resurrection, which is full of all elegance, beauty, and glory.
Verse 44: Unless He Hoped They Would Rise Again
44. For unless he hoped that those who had fallen would rise again, it would seem superfluous and vain to pray for the dead. — You will object: This would not be vain, because the soul, which is immortal, would be freed from punishments through prayers; even if the body did not rise again. I respond that because the soul is immortal, it therefore demands the resurrection of the body. For the soul naturally inclines toward the body, as form toward matter. Therefore the state of the soul would be violent if it were to endure forever without the body. For this reason these two things, namely the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the body, are so connected that whoever posits and believes one, posits and believes the other; and whoever denies and rejects one, denies and rejects the other.
Verse 45: Those Who Had Fallen Asleep in Piety
45. Those who had received their falling asleep in piety (that is, fighting in a state of grace, and contending for the true faith, piety, and worship of God), — that is, they had died. For death in Scripture is called sleep by analogy and similarity; for death is like a long sleep, and sleep is like a brief death; but above all death is called sleep because of the hope of the resurrection, in which we shall awaken as if from sleep to eternal life.
Verse 46: A Holy and Salutary Thought to Pray for the Departed
46. It is therefore a holy and salutary (Greek eumelēs, that is, pious) thought to pray for the departed, that they may be loosed from sins (that is, from the punishments of sins). — This is the epiphonema of the Canonical Writer, which clearly establishes the faith of the ancient Synagogue concerning Purgatory and suffrages for the souls detained in it. This therefore was the faith of the Church from every age, certain and undoubted.
Therefore the sacrifice for the departed is holy, because it is offered in a holy manner to the holy God. It is likewise pious: for the souls, whom it liberates from the horrible torments and fires of Purgatory; for the blessed in heaven, whose number, and thereby joy and glory, it increases; for the Church, to which it gains new patrons and advocates before God; and for the one offering the sacrifice himself, to whom the souls liberated by him repay a reciprocal grace, praying to God constantly for his salvation. Therefore it is very pious and useful to pray frequently for the departed, and many benefits are gained for the one who prays: as our Martin de Roa learnedly shows in his little book published on this subject.
Hear St. Augustine, book I: "In the books of the Maccabees," he says, "we read that sacrifice was offered for the dead; but even if this were nowhere read in the ancient Scriptures, the authority of the universal Church, which is distinguished in this custom, is not small, where in the prayers of the priest, which are poured out to the Lord God at His altar, the commendation of the dead also has its place." And Damascene, in his Oration for the Departed: "Consider," he says, "what Sacred Scripture has handed down to memory concerning Judas Maccabeus, namely that, in Zion the city of the great king, when he had seen the people over whom he presided cut down and slaughtered by foreign enemies, and shaking out their garments, had discovered idols hidden on their persons, immediately, for the sake of expiating this crime, with the Lord ready and willing to show mercy, he offered gifts for each one of them, and in this matter discharged the office of the highest piety and charity. Whence it also came about that divine Scripture, just as by all other titles, so also by this title exalted him with the highest praises, and wonderfully commended him."