Death and Faith Quotes by the Fathers of the Church

DEATH AND FAITH QUOTES BY THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH

1. “We understand what shall be through the Gospels” – St Ambrose Of Milan

“Though Christ has not touched the bier, yet He has received the spirit commended to Him, and if He has not called the dead by the bodily voice, yet He has by the authority of His divine power delivered my brother’s soul from the pains of death and from the attacks of wicked spirits. And though he that was dead has not sat up on the bier, yet he has found rest in Christ; and if my brother has not spoken to us, yet he sees those things which are above us, and rejoices in that he now sees higher things than we. For by the things which we read in the Gospels we understand what shall be, and what we see at present is a sign of what is to be.”
St Ambrose of Milan, On the death of his brother Satyrus, Book I, 29

2. “Grieve, but not without hope” – St Augustine Of Hippo

“Of necessity we must be sorrowful when those whom we love leave us in death. Although we know that they have not left us behind forever but only gone ahead of us, still when death seizes our loved one, our loving hearts are saddened by death itself. Thus the apostle Paul does not tell us not to grieve but “not to grieve like those who are without hope. Let us grieve, therefore, over the necessity of losing our loved ones in death but with the hope of being reunited with them. If we are afflicted we still find consolation. Our weakness weights us down, but faith bears us up. We sorrow over the human condition, but find our healing in the divine promise.”
St Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 172

Thank you to Fr Jonathan Farrugia from Malta and Mike Aquilina from Canada for their support in compiling the Fathers Of The Church quotes.

Death and faith quotes