“If the passage about John the Baptist not being worthy to untie Jesus' shoes

possesses a hidden meaning, we ought not to pass over it. I think that the

incarnation, when the Son of God takes on flesh and bones, is one of the

shoes, and the descent into hell is the other. It is said in Psalm 16: "You will

not leave my soul in hell." And Peter, in his general epistle, mentions Jesus'

descent into hell. Therefore, the one who can show the meaning of both

sojourns in a worthy manner, is able to unloose Jesus' shoes.”

“Christ, he asserts, not merely opened, but broke in pieces the gates of brass, in order to make the prison useless; where there is neither door, nor bar, whosoever enters is not detained. What God destroys, who can set up again?

Earthly kings indeed set free prisoners, yet leave untouched the prison gates; but Christ broke in pieces the gates of brass. Christ went to the utterly black and joyless portion of hades, and turned it into heaven, transferring all its wealth, the race of man, into His royal treasury.

In this, too, Christ surpasseskings, for they send messengers, but He went in person to set the captives free. So again, he says: 'Our Lord, when He was in hades, set free all who were kept prisoners by death.'”