Nicetas of Remesiana

In his own words on Isaiah

• Isaiah 26:9

  And now, beloved, I ought to say a word about the antiquity of the tradition and the utility of vigils. It is easier to begin a work if we keep before our eyes how useful it is. The devotion to vigils is very old. It has been a household tradition among the saints. It was the prophet Isaiah who cried out to the Lord: "My soul has yearned for you in the night. Indeed, my spirit within me seeks you early in the morning."

  VIGILS OF THE SAINTS 4

• Isaiah 26:19

  To remove all doubt about the resurrection of the body, take a single illustration from the course of nature. The apostle reminds us, "What you yourself sow is not brought to life, unless it dies." Here you have a grain of wheat, dead and dry and sown in the earth. It is softened by the rain from heaven. Only when it decays does it spring to life and begin to grow. I take it that he who raises to life the grain of wheat for the sake of humankind will be able to raise to life the person himself who has been sown in the earth. He both can and wills to do this. What the rains do for the seed, the dew of the Spirit does for the body that is to be raised to life. Thus Isaiah cries to Christ, "Your dew is health for them," true health, since, once the bodies of the saints have been raised to life, they feel no pain, they fear no death. They will live with Christ in heaven, who lived on earth according to the words and ways of Christ. This is the eternal and blessed life in which you believe. This is the fruit of all our faith and holy works. This is the hope on account of which we are born, believe and are reborn. It was on account of this that the prophets, apostles and martyrs sustained such endless toil and accepted death with joy.

  EXPLANATION OF THE CREED 12