Fathers

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What the Fathers say

Matthew 27:45

Eastern Fathers

John Chrysostom

This is the sign which before He had promised to give them when they asked it, saying, "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas;" meaning His cross, and His death, His burial, and His resurrection. …

Homily on the Gospel of Matthew 88 ↗

Theophylact of Ohrid

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. The darkness which occurred was not according to the natural order of events, as when a solar eclipse occurs in nature. For there is never a solar eclipse on the fourteenth day of the lunar cycle; rather, solar eclipses occur when there is a so-called "new moon." The day of the crucifixion was certainly the fourteenth day of the lunar cycle, as that is when the Jews celebrate the Passover. Therefore the incident was beyond nature. …

Commentary on Matthew ↗

Western Saints

Jerome

But at the sixth hour, darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour. Those who wrote against the Gospels suspect a solar eclipse, which usually occurs at certain fixed times, as the reason for the disciples of Christ being misunderstood about the resurrection of the Lord: since a solar eclipse only occurs when the moon is rising. However, there is no doubt that during the time of Passover, the moon was full. …

Commentary on Matthew ↗

Thomas Aquinas

"Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over the whole earth." Above, the Evangelist narrated how the Lord suffered on the cross; here, how he worked magnificent things. And first, he sets forth what he worked before death; second, what happened after death, at "and Jesus again crying with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost." Concerning the first, he does two things. …

Commentary on Matthew ↗