“Lazarus, come out!” Laid to rest in the tomb, you heard the resounding call. Is there any voice greater than that of the Word? Then you came out, you who were dead not merely for four days but for a very long time indeed. You were raised with Christ (…); your burial bands fell to the ground. Do not fall back again now into death; do not rejoin those who dwell in the tombs; do not allow yourself to be stifled by the burial bands of your sins. For would you be able to come back to life once again? Would you be able to bring out from the death of here below the resurrection of all men at the end of time? (…) So let the Lord’s call resound in your ears! Do not close them today to the teaching and admonitions of the Lord. If you used to be blind, without light in your tomb, open your eyes lest you sink into the sleep of death. In the light of the Lord, behold light; in the Spirit of God, fix your eyes on the Son. If you take to yourself the Word in its entirety then you focus onto your soul all the power of Christ who heals and restores to life (…). Don’t be afraid to put some work into preserving your baptismal purity and set the ways that lead to the Lord within your heart. Take care to preserve the act of acquittal, which you received through pure grace (…).
Saint Gregory Nazianzen (330-390), Bishop and Doctor of the Church
Sermon on Holy Baptism