E02541: John Chrysostom, in his oration Against the Jews I, condemns the visits of Christians to the Jewish shrine of the cave of Matrona in the Antiochene suburb of Daphne, where they practice incubation. Written in Greek at Antioch (Syria), 386.

John Chrysostom, Against the Jews I (CPG 4327), Section 6

Col. 852] Καὶ τοῦτο οὐ περὶ τῆς ἐνταῦθα λέγω συναγωγῆς μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς ἐν Δάφνῃ· πονηρότερον γὰρ ἐκεῖ τὸ βάραθρον, ὃ δὴ καλοῦσι Ματρώνης. Καὶ γὰρ πολλοὺς ἤκουσα τῶν πιστῶν ἀναβαίνειν ἐκεῖ, καὶ παρακαθεύδειν τῷ τόπῳ. Ἀλλὰ μὴ γένοιτό ποτε τούτους πιστοὺς προσειπεῖν. Ἐμοὶ καὶ τὸ Ματρώνης καὶ τὸ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος ἱερὸν ὁμοίως ἐστὶ βέβηλον. Εἰ δέ τίς μου τόλμαν καταγινώσκει, πάλιν ἐγὼ τὴν ἐσχάτην αὐτοῦ καταγνώσομαι μανίαν. Εἰπὲ γάρ μοι, ὅπου δαίμονες οἰκοῦσιν, οὐχὶ ἀσεβείας χωρίον ἐστὶ, κἂν μὴ ξόανον εἱστήκῃ; Ὅπου Χριστοκτόνοι συνέρχονται, ὅπου σταυρὸς ἐλαύνεται, ὅπου βλασφημεῖται Θεὸς, ὅπου Πατὴρ ἀγνοεῖται, ὅπου Υἱὸς ὑβρίζεται, ὅπου Πνεύματος ἀθετεῖται χάρις, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν ὄντων δαιμόνων, οὐ μείζων ἐντεῦθεν ἡ βλάβη;

‘I am saying this not just about the synagogue here in town, but also the one at Daphne. For the place of perdition is even more wicked there – they call it the shrine of Matrona. I have heard indeed that many of the faithful go up there and sleep beside the place. But God forbid that we should ever call these people faithful! To me both the shrines of Matrona and Apollo are equally profane. And if anyone accuses me of rashness, I shall accuse him of utter madness. Tell me, isn’t the place where demons dwell a place of impiety, even if no statue stands there? A place where Christ’s murderers come together, where the cross is driven away, where God is blasphemed, where the Father is ignored, where the Son is offended, where the grace of the Spirit is overturned? Rather, since they are demons themselves, isn’t the harm coming from there greater?’

Text: Migne 1862, 852.
Translation: E. Rizos.