the Christian cemetery

The Words of the Fathers No. I (XIII) / 2022 A homily by [John] Chrysostom, the Holy One, on the name of the cemetery and on the Cross of the Lord our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ The Saint Ioan Gură de Aur

This homily, attributed to Saint John Chrysostom, explains why the faithful gather outside the city, at a martyrion, to celebrate the Cross and Christ’s Descent into Hell, since the Saviour suffered outside the city gates. The sermon explores the theme of Christ’s victory over death and the devil through the Cross, highlighting the symmetry between Adam’s fall through wood and the salvation of the human race through the wood of the Cross.

Studia Theologica No. II (XII) / 2021 ‘That is why this place is called a cemetery’: The veneration of the departed in the writings of pagan and Christian antiquity Rev. Dr. Ștefan Zară

This article examines funerary practices in Greco-Roman antiquity and their transformation within Christianity, exploring themes such as the etymology and theology of the term κοιμητήριον, the use of wreaths at graves, commemorative feasts of the Parentalia type, and the concept of refrigerium, as found in the writings of Tertullian, Saint Cyprian, Blessed Augustine and Saint John Chrysostom.

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