Sermons Hitherto Ascribed to Saint Ambrose

Wherefore we exhort you to give alms more abundantly in these days, to gather more frequently at the Church, to make confession of your sins most purely: and not only to abstain most diligently from all uncleanness, but even from your own wives: and likewise to drive far from you hatred, anger and indignation, clamor and blasphemy, pride and boasting, together with every fleshly delight; so that when the day of the Lord's nativity shall come, you may be able to celebrate it in a wholesome manner. And just as many are anxious about worldly riches and costly garments, that they may appear more honorable than others on that day; so be you more anxious about spiritual riches and vestments; because as the soul is better than the flesh, so spiritual delights are better than carnal ones. And it is much better to adorn the soul with virtues, than to clothe the body with precious garments.

This admonition, brothers, has been made to you for this reason, that those who are good may become better through it; and that those who acknowledge themselves to be evil may most certainly be converted; that all alike may deserve to rejoice spiritually on the day of the Lord's nativity: through the grace of Him who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns through infinite ages of ages, amen.

1. Washing Away Sin's Stains Before Christmas

I believe I have said sufficiently and abundantly on the previous Lord's Day how we ought to receive the birthday of the Lord with fullness and cleanliness, and to hold fast the coming feast with every diligence. To hold fast, I say, so that even if the day of its solemnity passes, the blessedness of its sanctification may nevertheless remain with us; for this is the grace of the nativity of the Lord Savior, that it may pass on into the future for the predestined, and remain in the past for the devout. We ought therefore to be pure in holiness, clean in chastity, resplendent in honesty; so that the nearer we perceive the feast day drawing near, the more carefully we should walk. For if little women, when about to observe some feast days, are wont to wash the stains from their garments with water; why should not we, who are about to receive the Lord's birthday, wash away the stains of our souls with tears?

2. Almsgiving and Fasting to Purge Sin

And indeed, if they are so deeply stained and darkened with filth that water alone does not remove the stains, they add the softness of oil, and even the sharpness of soap: so too we, if the sin be so grave that it is by no means washed away by tears alone, let us add to the oil of mercy the sharpness of fasting. For no sin is so grave that it cannot be purged by abstinence, or extinguished by alms; for the holy prophet says: As water extinguishes fire, so alms extinguishes sin. Great, then, is almsgiving, which cools the burning masses of crimes with the fount of its benevolence, and overwhelms with a certain irrigation of generosity the fires of misdeeds; so that although God is offended, although provoked by crimes, He is compelled by alms to set free him whom He had determined to punish for his sins.

For He is in a manner compelled by us, since He is constrained by our deeds to change His sentence, and in one and the same man to be now moved by the severity of a judge, now to be gentle with a father's love. For God is our Father when we act well: He is our judge when we sin. The Lord, then, is compelled by our works to bestow upon us His mercy; and therefore He Himself says in the holy Gospel: From the days of John the Baptist the kingdom of heaven suffers violence. Let us see what meaning this saying holds.

3. The Kingdom of Heaven Suffers Violence

The kingdom of heaven is none other than Christ the Lord, who reigns in the heavens. Now the word "to be compelled" is wont to be used when something rarer is made dense by continual working. From the time, then, that John the Baptist announced the coming of the Savior, from that time the kingdom of heaven, which before lay loose and slack among the Jews, began through the constancy of believing peoples to be made dense, and all that thinness of the kingdom to be solidified by the frequency of preachings; for so thin was the kingdom among the Jews that it passed over to the Gentiles: so loose that it flowed forth to the peoples. Now, however, it is made so dense by the density of believers that it remains fixed and solid without end, as Scripture says: And of His kingdom there shall be no end. We compel, then, the kingdom of heaven, and in a manner do violence to it, as the Gospel reading says: And the violent bear it away.

Violence, I say, we do to the Lord, not by compelling, but by weeping: not by provoking with injuries, but by beseeching with tears: not by blaspheming through pride, but by mourning through humility. O blessed violence! Which is not struck down by indignation, but pardoned by mercy: blessed, I say, is the violence which draws out goodness to him who suffers force, and confers benefit on him who inflicts it: an evil deed is committed, and no one complains of the injury: violence is done, and religion is propagated. For whoever shall have been more violent toward Christ, will be reckoned by Christ the more religious. We attack, then, the Lord on the way, since He Himself is the way, and in the manner of robbers we strive to strip Him of His goods, we desire to take from Him His kingdom, His treasures, and His life: but He is so rich and so generous that He does not refuse, does not resist; and though He has given all things, He nonetheless possesses all things Himself.

We attack Him, I say, not with iron, not with a club, not with a stone: but with gentleness, and good works, and chastity.

4. Plunderers of Christ's Kingdom from the Synagogue

These are the arms of our faith, with which we fight in the contest. But that we may be able to use these arms in the attack, let us first do a kind of violence to our own bodies: let us storm the vices of our members, that we may obtain the rewards of the virtues; for we must first ourselves reign within ourselves, that we may be able to seize the kingdom of the Savior. The Gospel says, then: And the violent bear it away. We are, therefore, plunderers; but plunderers seize nothing but what belongs to another. I acknowledge that saying to be true: for the Church plundered Christ from the Synagogue, and by doing violence took possession of the kingdom of an alien people. For the Savior, sent under the Law, born under the Law, brought up according to the Law, while neglected by the Jews, is seized upon by the Gentiles: and while lost by the priests, is found by sinners, as He Himself says: Publicans and harlots go before you into the kingdom of heaven.

We are, therefore, plunderers.

5. The Wolf of Benjamin and the Watch at Christ's Tomb

It is not to be wondered at, seeing that we descend from such an ancestor; for it is written of our patriarch Benjamin: A ravenous wolf; for he seizes what is not his own. So we too, like children of a ravenous wolf, snatch away by our intent the shepherd of another's sheep, as He Himself says: I was not sent but to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. Christ, then, is seized, when He is let go by the Jews, and preached by foreigners. Christ is seized, when He is killed by the Jews, and buried by us. Christ is seized by the watchful disciples, lost by the sleeping Pharisees; as they themselves confessed by lying, when they set guards at the tomb, after the Lord's resurrection, saying: His disciples came by night, and stole him away while we slept.

From this we understand spiritually that all who sleep lose Christ, and those who watch find Him; and therefore the Apostle says: Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten thee. You see, then, that he is dead who so sleeps that he does not guard the Savior; and therefore those Pharisees, being as it were dead, could not keep watch over the living One. Therefore, brothers, let us not sleep, but let us watch around our Lord and Savior Himself; that with guards continually posted, no one may carry Him away from the tomb of our breast, nor may we ever say: They came, and while we slept, stole him away. For we have enemies, who strive to carry Christ away from our hearts, if we should fall asleep. Wherefore let us, with wakeful care, keep Him in the sepulcher of our souls; there let Him rest, there let Him sleep; there let Him rise again when He will.

6. Adorning the Conscience, Not the Body, for Christmas

Therefore, brothers, as we are about to receive the Lord's birthday, let us cleanse our consciences from every dreg; and let us take care to adorn ourselves not with silken garments, but with precious works. For bright vestments can clothe the limbs, but they cannot adorn the conscience; except that it is a matter of greater shame to walk splendid in one's members, and defiled in one's senses. Let us therefore first adorn the affection of the inner man, that the clothing of the outer man too may be adorned; let us wash away spiritual stains, that fleshly garments may shine upon us. But it profits nothing to shine in garments, and be foul with wickedness. For where the conscience is darkened, the whole body is somewhat dim. But we have the means by which to wash away the stains of conscience, as it is written: Give alms, and behold, all things are clean unto you.

Good is the commandment of almsgiving, by which we labor with our hands, and are cleansed in heart, through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever, amen.

1. The Census of Augustus and the Census of Faith

As we celebrate the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers, let us consider the sense of this Gospel reading, which has just now been read; for the holy Evangelist says that by the edict of Caesar Augustus the whole world professed a census, and that on this account Joseph went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; that he might there be enrolled together with Mary his wife, who was with child, and pay the tax for them both, as being of the same family. So great indeed was the peace, when the Son of God appeared in the flesh, for twelve years, that all, according to the prophecy of Isaiah, beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles. Therefore truly the Son of God, the Author of peace, is born in a time of peace; that He might teach all His followers to love peace.

For just as Caesar Augustus sent Cyrinus to exact the census; so the true God, the true Augustus, sent preachers into the world to exact the census of faith. Let us therefore, brothers, pay the tax of faith and of good action. Let none remain behind, let all of us go up from Galilee, that is, from the instability of the world, into Judea, that is, into the region of right confession; that we may deserve to be Bethlehem, that is, the house of bread, namely of Him who says: I am the living bread, which came down from heaven.

2. The Mystery of the Swaddling Clothes and Manger

The Gospel further relates that when the blessed ever-Virgin Mary had brought forth Christ, she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger: which things too are not devoid of mystery; for Christ willed to be wrapped in cloths, that He might loose us from the snares of death. And it says well: They were going; to show that He is born on the way: this because He had come to show Himself to us as the Way. He willed to be placed in a narrow manger, who had come to prepare for us the breadth of the heavenly kingdom. Not in silken or gilded cloths, but in mean ones did He will to be wrapped, who had come to render to us the robe of immortality. He allowed Himself to be bound with these, who was hastening to loose our feet and hands for the doing of good works. What is to be said to these things, brothers?

We must cry out with the Psalmist: What shall I render to the Lord for all that He has rendered to me? He indeed found a cup, which He will render: but let us render what we can, that is, alms, vigils, tears, peace: let us forgive those who sin against us, that our sins may be forgiven us by God.

3. The Shepherds and the Angel's Good Tidings

The shepherds, moreover, who, when the Son of God was born, were watching over their flock, and saw the angels, signify the holy preachers: who, the greater care they have for souls, the more frequently deserve to have revelations by angelic address. But when the angel appeared, the shepherds were troubled; because it is of human nature to fear at the sight of angels, and it is the part of good angels to offer consolation to those who fear. Wherefore the angel at once addresses the shepherds, saying: Fear not, and adds the reason why: Behold, he says, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all the people. He says beautifully: To all the people; because out of every people they came to the faith.

4. The Multitude of Angels Singing Glory to God

So while one angel was speaking with the shepherds, suddenly a multitude of angels appeared and uttered this voice: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will. By which deed we are admonished morally, that while one brother reads, or teaches, or does whatever good work, a multitude of the faithful should burst forth into the praise of God, and rise up to imitate the good which it beholds. But at the appearing of the Son of God in the flesh, glory to God in the highest is sung, and peace on earth is announced to men of good will. Let us also, brethren, be men of good will, that we may deserve to live in peace.

5. Correcting Vices at the Lord's Nativity

Yet the sense of the Gospel reading, both on account of the brevity of the day and the length of the divine office, we touch upon briefly, so that we may be able to admonish you concerning those things which pertain especially to your salvation. For we must be admonished to strive to reckon the affliction that has come upon us on account of the discord of kings to our own sins. Therefore, that you may deserve to be freed both from this persecution and from eternal damnation, let each one correct on this day, in which the Son of God is born, whatever he recognizes as reprehensible in himself; that is, let him who was an adulterer vow chastity to God; let the covetous vow generosity; the drunkard, sobriety; the proud, humility; let the detractor vow charity, and pay it, according to that verse of the psalm: Vow, and pay to the Lord your God. Let us vow faithfully; he will give the ability to pay.

6. Offering Ourselves as Gifts to the Lord

It is indeed very fitting, brethren, that there be no one who does not offer something to the Lord today. To kings or friends, once received, we give gifts, and shall we give nothing to the creator of all things when he comes to us? For he requires nothing more from us than ourselves. Let us therefore offer him ourselves, that, freed by his ineffable mercy both from present evils and from eternal torments, and received into the blessedness of the heavenly kingdom, we may be able to rejoice forever; through the grant of the same our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ, to whom is all honor and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit through infinite ages of ages, amen.

1. Christ Must Increase, John Must Decrease

True is what Saint John the Baptist says of the Lord Savior, saying: He must increase, but I must decrease. Indeed this is approved even by the times themselves in the first place; for behold, at the birth of Christ the day increases, and at the birth of John it decreases: with him rising the light advances, with this one being born it is diminished. For the very seasons, in a certain manner serving their offices, suffer diminishment when a servant is born; but when the Lord is born, they receive increase. The day plainly makes progress when the Savior of the world arises; it suffers decline when the last prophet is born; for it is written: The Law and the Prophets were until John. And therefore it was necessary that the observance of the Law be obscured where the call, where the grace of the Gospel, shone forth; and that the prophecy of the Old Testament should cease, when the grace of the New Testament succeeded. Therefore at the Nativity of the Lord the day advances.

2. The Nativity and the Growing Light of Day

It is no wonder that the day advances, in which the new sun of righteousness gleams; it is no wonder that the day advances, which the most splendid light of truth illumines; for the evangelist says of Christ the Lord: He was the true light, which enlightens every man. Therefore if he was the true light which enlightens man, why would he not enlighten the world? And so the day which gave birth to light for the human race first itself shone with the brightness of that same light, and, its already narrowed spans of nights being dispersed, cast off the darkness by the brightness of the Lord's light.

For the length of the nights had occupied the whole day, had not the coming of Christ shone forth in the very brevity of the day; who, just as by his rising he dispersed the darkness of the sins of the human race, so also by the day of his nativity he cut away the darkness of gloom, and by one and the same rising brought light equally to men and to days. Whence it is no wonder if the day increases, which is clothed with a twofold splendor of brightness.

3. The Law's Decline and the Church's Increase

But let us see further how the Lord Savior increases, and John the Baptist decreases. We said above that John indeed bore the figure of the Law and the prophets; it was necessary therefore that the Law should fail, as the Gospel gleamed; and that the Jewish people should be diminished, as the Christian people rose up. For who doubts that at the Nativity of the Lord the assemblies of the Synagogue were emptied, the congregations of the Church multiplied, and that, in a wondrous manner, Christ daily increases through his Christians, while John is diminished through the Jews? That these shine with the splendor of the Lord's day, while those labor in the darkness of nights? For night, in a certain way, settled more heavily upon the Jews, from the time they said concerning the killing of the Savior: His blood be upon us, and upon our children. They are plainly darkened with greater shadows of night, from the time they attempted to put to death the day of truth.

4. Contrasting Signs at the Births of Christ and John

But that we may be able to prove more truly what we are saying, let us briefly set forth the nativity of each. For behold, when Christ is born, the angels rejoice, the shepherds keep vigil, the Magi arrive, a star goes before; and all things that are most beautiful in the heavens and on earth are brought to the Lord himself. For glory is brought to him by the angels, splendor by the star, devotion by the Magi, simplicity by the shepherds: and because these things were to belong to him alone in the future, therefore all things serve him at his birth. But when John is conceived, Zachariah is struck dumb, the solemn priest falls silent, Elizabeth the mother is hidden, signifying, after his birth, the silence of the Law, the loss of the priesthood, the hiding places of the Synagogue. Nor is it doubtful that John, once born, took away from the Pharisees the righteousness of the Law, just as, once conceived, he took from his father the service of speech.

Therefore the Lord always increases, John the Baptist is diminished.

5. John the Lamp Outshone by the Sun

He is not diminished in this sense, that anything is taken away from his merits; but because the Savior's glory is heaped up daily, he seems to become the lesser. Indeed John is called a lamp, the Lord saying: He was a burning lamp. The light of a lamp, then, is obscured when the ray of the sun shines forth; and it suffers a certain failing of its flame when overcome by the splendor of a brighter light. For what wise man seeks a lamp in the sunlight? Not indeed that it is extinguished, but it is not needed; that is, why should one come to John's baptism of repentance, when one can be saved by the Savior's baptism? Not indeed that the former is condemned, but this latter is judged more useful and necessary; because in it the remission of sins is granted.

1. The Praise Owed to Christ's Nativity

With what grace, or with what praises, I should proclaim this day of the Lord's nativity, I utterly do not know; for in so great a festivity human speech does not suffice to magnify God. For if, when Christ was being born, he was praised by the voice of angels, should he not now be praised the more by human voice, when he reigns? For our solemnity surpasses the festivity of that time; since then they only marveled at the Lord being born, whereas we look up to him being born, rising again, and reigning likewise. So much the more abundant, therefore, ought the praise of this time to be, as the miracles are greater.

2. Glory to God and Peace to Men of Good Will

But since human frailty cannot offer worthy proclamation, let us betake ourselves to the heraldings of the Angels; and because we cannot equal them in merit, let us accompany them in devotion; that is, in this festivity, let us leap for joy with the same sentiment, though not the same joy as theirs, saying: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will. Truly a worthy and just sentence, which at the Nativity of Christ both represents honor to God in the heavens, and represents peace to men on earth; for before the Savior's rising, neither did the heavenly things pay reverence, nor did earthly things possess rest. But see what the sentence itself says: Peace to men of good will. Not to just any men, but to men of good will; that you may understand that the peace of Christ is not owed as a debt, but as a merit; for it is not one's condition that merits it, but one's will.

3. Shepherds Know the Savior's Birth Before Princes

With this the angels leapt for joy on that night in which the shepherds, keeping watch over their flock, learned before all others, before all men, the birth of the Lord; for they, first before all men, recognized the rising of the Savior, the angels announcing it. Whence it is a marvel that the shepherds of the world were able to know of the redemption of the world before the princes; for the angels did not announce it to kings, not to judges, but to rustic men. It is, then, no longer a marvel if innocence deserved to know the grace of Christ before power did; and simple rusticity to recognize the truth before proud dominion; for what the shepherds knew, the princes could not know. Whence also the blessed Apostle says: Whom none of the princes of this world knew, and so on. Therefore at the Nativity of the Lord the angels rejoiced together with the shepherds, proclaiming glory to God on high; for with neighboring and joined choirs, as it were, they proclaimed the glory of God.

4. Angels Rejoicing with Priests as Shepherds of the People

Whence I also believe that these same angels rejoice with us in neighboring fashion, with like gladness, at the same festivity of the same Lord; for those who are wont, on account of Christ's rising, to speak to shepherds, cannot fail, on account of the joy of that same Christ, to seek out priests. Since indeed that which they said then to those keeping watch over their flock in the dead of night designated the mystery of this present time. For by that deed this was shown: that the flock is the people, the night is the world, and the shepherds are the priests, who, watching with constant care over the people, are by no means abandoned by the angels for Christ's sake.

5. The Hidden and Secret Birth of Christ

Today, then, the Lord was born according to the flesh, in such secrecy, such silence, that the world was entirely ignorant of his birth. For the world was ignorant of it; because he was born even beyond the knowledge of his father, and was conceived beyond the order of nature. For Joseph received as his son one he did not beget: Mary bore a child whom she did not conceive by the ordinary custom of her sex. Thus, then, was the Lord born, so that no one might suspect his coming birth, no one might believe it, no one might perceive it. How would they have believed it would happen, when even after it happened, they scarcely believe that it happened?

6. The Prophecy of Rain Upon the Fleece

For that the Savior would descend so hiddenly and secretly into the Virgin, David the prophet had already testified beforehand, saying: He shall come down like rain upon the fleece. For what happens so silently and without noise as when a shower is poured into a fleece of wool? It strikes no one's ears with sound, it sprinkles no one's body with the moisture of scattered dew; but without disturbing anyone, drawing to itself, through its many parts, the whole shower poured over it, throughout its whole body, it knows no rupture of a single passage, in its solid softness offering many passages: and what appears closed on account of its density is open on account of its fineness.

7. Mary as the Fleece Bearing the Lamb

Rightly, then, do we compare Mary to the fleece, who so conceived the Lord that she drew him in with her whole body, and did not suffer any rupture of that same body; but was soft for compliance, solid for sanctity. Rightly, I say, is Mary compared to the fleece, from whose fruit garments of salvation are woven for the peoples. Mary is plainly the fleece; since from her soft bosom the Lamb went forth, who, himself bearing his mother's wool, that is, his flesh, covers the wounds of all peoples with soft fleece. For every wound of sin is soaked with the wool of Christ, is soothed by the blood of Christ; and that it may receive healing, it is clothed with the garment of Christ.

1. The Nativity Called the New Sun

Well, in a certain manner, does the common people call this holy day of the Lord's nativity the new sun, and confirms this by such general agreement that even Jews and gentiles consent in this expression. Which we should gladly embrace; because with the rising of the Savior not only is the salvation of the human race, but also the very brightness of the sun itself, renewed, as the Apostle says: That through him he might restore all things, whether in the heavens or on the earth. For if the sun is darkened when Christ suffers, it must needs shine more splendidly than usual when he is born. And if it poured darkness upon the Jews as they wrought death, why should it not show brightness to Mary as she brought forth life? Or why should we not believe that, at the birth of Christ, the sun came more brightly to render service, since a brighter star went before to give sign to the Magi?

And if the star, in its office belonging to another's time, ministered by day; why should we not believe that the sun also, on its part, by an earlier arrival, took away something from the hours of night? From this, indeed, I think it came about that the night grew shorter, while the sun, hastening on account of service to the Lord's nativity, brought forth its light to the world before the night had completed the course of its own time.

2. Nature's Unusual Homage at Christ's Birth

Rather I would say that it was not night at all, nor had it any darkness, in which shepherds keep watch, angels exult, the stars are in service. Nor ought we to marvel that at the nativity of Christ all things were made new, since this very thing was new, that a Virgin gave birth. But if the nativity came about beyond the usual course, so too beyond the usual course were the acts of homage rendered. Therefore, at the rising of the Lord, shepherds keep watch, angels exult, the sun does homage, a star is in attendance. And indeed the angels and the shepherds attend their joys with voice or with speech; but these elements, since they could not do so with voice, attest their joys by their office. The sun, then, shone forth at dawn on this feast beyond its custom. Nor is this to be wondered at.

For if at the prayer of Jesus the son of Nun it stood fixed in the day, why should it not hasten to advance at night at the nativity of Jesus Christ?

3. The Old Sun and the New Sun Compared

The common people, then, call this day a "new sun"; and when they say "new," they thereby also show that there is an "old" one: and I would call old the sun of this world, which suffers eclipse, which is shut out by walls, which is darkened by clouds: I would call old the sun which is subject to vanity, which fears corruption, which dreads judgment. For it is written: The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood. Old, I say, would I call it, which is present at the crimes of men, does not shrink from adulteries committed, does not turn away from murder. And whereas every kind of man is unwilling to be a mere bystander when some crime is committed, this alone stands present at all misdeeds.

4. Christ as the New Sun Foretold by the Prophets

Therefore, since it is clear that this is the old sun, whom shall we find to be the new, if not Christ the Lord? Of whom it is written: The sun of justice shall arise for you (Malachi 4:2); of whom also, in the person of sinners, the prophet says: The sun has not risen for us, and the light of justice has not shone upon us (Wisdom 5:6). For this sun, when the whole world was oppressed by the darkness of the devil, and a fog full of crimes possessed the age, deigned in the last time, that is, with night already pressing on, to pour forth the rising of his nativity. First indeed, before the light, that is, before the sun of justice gave light, he sent as it were a certain morning oracle of the prophets, just as it is written: I sent my prophets before the light (Jeremiah 7:25).

But afterward he himself shone forth with his own rays, that is, with the brightness of his apostles, and dispelled the fog of the world with so great a light of truth that no one stumbled in the darkness of the devil.

5. The New Sun Gives Life and Judges Justly

This, then, is the new sun, who penetrates the bars, unlocks the underworld, searches out hearts. This is the new sun, who by the Holy Spirit gives life to the dead, restores the corrupt, raises up what has already perished: who by his heat cleanses what is filthy, dries up what is fluid, boils away what is faulty. He himself, I say, is the one who in all our deeds discerns all our works, and does not so much condemn crimes as amend them. This plainly is the just and wise sun, who does not, without discrimination, shine equally upon the good and the wicked as does the sun of this world, but by a certain judgment of truth shines upon the holy and sets upon the sinner. But this is the difference between the two suns: that the one fears judgment, this one threatens judgment; that the one is a minister of corruption, this one is the Lord of eternity; that the one is a creature, this one is the creator.

6. John the Baptist as the Lamp Before the Sun

Yet before this sun of the world rises, while it is still before light, for the necessary uses of men a lamp is wont to go before. But Christ the sun also has his lamp, which went before him, as the Prophet says: I have prepared a lamp for my Christ. And what this lamp is, the Lord shows, saying of John the Baptist: He was a burning and shining lamp. And John himself, as a small light going before, says: Behold, there comes after me one whose shoe's latchet I am not worthy to loose; he shall baptize you in the Holy Spirit and fire. At the same time also, understanding that his own light was to be dimmed by the sun's rays, he foretells: He must increase, but I must decrease. For just as the brightness of a lamp is destroyed by the coming of the sun, so too John's baptism of repentance was emptied out by the coming grace of Christ.

7. The Twofold Birth of Christ the Carpenter's Son

Let us see, then, from what source this our new sun is born. As it is true that he arises with God as author, so he is the son of divinity; of a divinity, I say, incorrupt, entire, unstained. I plainly understand the mystery; for the second birth was through the immaculate Mary for this reason, that the first birth had stood unstained through divinity; so that as the first birth was glorious for him, the second should not become a matter of reproach: that is, that just as divinity, being a virgin, had brought him forth, so also the virgin Mary should bear him. He is also written to have a father among men, as we read in the Gospel, the Pharisees saying: Is not this the son of Joseph the carpenter, and is not his mother Mary (Matthew 13:55)? In this too observe the mystery. A carpenter is called the father of Christ.

And plainly a carpenter is the Father, God, who fashioned the works of the whole world: and plainly a carpenter, but one who arranged for the ark to be built in the flood of Noah. A carpenter, I say, is he who ordered the tabernacle of Moses, established the ark of the Testament, raised up the temple of Solomon. I would call him a carpenter who softens rigid minds, cuts away proud thoughts, exalts humble deeds. But this carpenter uses a curved iron tool upon trees, as we read in the Gospel, John saying: Now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear fruit shall be cut down, and cast into the fire (Matthew 3:). For his whole aim in this is that he may set in place, in the structure, the trees useful for the heavenly building, but that the unfruitful ones, torn up by the roots, he may consume with the burning of the flames.

1. A Complaint Against Celebrating Pagan Feast Days

I have, brethren, a not small complaint against many of you: I speak of those who, celebrating the Lord's nativity with us, have given themselves to the feast-days of the pagans, and after that heavenly banquet have prepared for themselves a meal of superstition; so that those who had before been made glad by holiness are afterward made drunk by vanity, not knowing that whoever wishes to reign with Christ cannot rejoice with the world: and whoever wishes to find justice ought to decline luxury. For one is the reasoning of eternal life, another the desperation of temporal wantonness: to the one we ascend by virtue, to the other we descend by ruin.

2. No Partnership Between the Temple of God and Idols

And therefore whoever wishes to be a partaker of divine things ought not to be an associate of idols; for it is the portion of an idol to make the mind drunk with wine, to distend the belly with food, to twist the limbs in dances: and thus to be occupied with wicked deeds, so that you are compelled to forget that there is a God. Whence the holy Apostle, foreseeing these things, says: What partnership has justice with iniquity? Or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what part has the faithful with the unfaithful? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? Therefore if we are the temple of God, why in the temple of God is the feast of idols celebrated? Why, where Christ dwells, who is abstinence, temperance, chastity, is revelry introduced, drunkenness, and wantonness? For the Savior says: No one can serve two masters (Matthew 6:24), that is, God and mammon.

How then can you religiously attend to the Epiphany of the Lord, you who have already, as far as it lay in you, most devotedly celebrated the Kalends?

3. The Kalends of January and the Cult of Janus

For Janus was a man, the founder of one city, which is called Janiculum, in whose honor the Kalends of January were named by the pagans; whence whoever observes the Kalends of January sins, since he renders the homage due to divinity to a dead man. Hence it is that the Apostle says: You observe days, and months, and seasons, and years; I fear lest I have labored among you in vain (Galatians 4:10). For he observes a day and a month who on these days either has not fasted, or has not gone forth to the Church: he observed the day, who yesterday did not go forth to the Church, but went forth to the field. Therefore, brethren, let us with all zeal avoid the festival and holidays of the pagans; so that when they feast and are joyful, then we may be sober and fasting; that they may understand their gladness to be condemned by our abstinence.

4. On Avoiding the Company of the Jews

But we ought to avoid the company not only of the pagans, but also of the Jews, whose very conversation is a great pollution. For these insinuate themselves into men's affairs by craft, they penetrate homes, they enter the halls of judgment, they trouble the ears of judges and of the public; and they prevail all the more, the more shameless they are. But this is not a recent evil among them, but an inveterate and original one. For of old they also persecuted the Lord Savior within the praetorium, and condemned him by the governor's judgment (Matthew 27:2 ff. In the praetorium, then, by the Jews innocence is oppressed, a secret is betrayed, religion is condemned. For when Christ is slain, all truth and justice in him is condemned; since he himself is innocence, the religion of holiness, and the mystery.

1. The Joys of the Epiphany Following the Nativity

We ought to exult, most dear brethren, that vows follow upon vows, that joys are heaped upon joys; for behold, our hearts still leap for joy at the solemnity of the Lord's nativity, and already we glory in the feast of the holy Epiphany. We ought therefore to give thanks to the Lord, who visits us frequently, that he may often make us glad: and who seeks us out the more often, that he may bless us the more abundantly. Although the pagans, though vainly, rejoice in a numerous solemnity on account of the diversity of their gods; yet the visitation of the one God bestows on us more festivals than does the superstitious presumption of their many demons. For just as we conquer them by the truth of religion, so we surpass them in the number of our devotions.

2. The Meaning of the Word Epiphany

We attend, then, today to the joys of the Epiphany.

Someone may perhaps ask what this word means, namely that ἐπιφαίνειν in Greek is said "to appear" in Latin. Therefore, because then for the first time the Savior appeared in the world, that very day was named by the same word, Epiphany.

3. How Christ Appeared to Faith Rather Than Sight

Let us inquire, however, how he appeared, not because he had not been in the world before, since the world was made through him: but because then for the first time Christ God, by signs and miracles, shone upon the hearts of believers, and into the darkened consciences of men the splendor of faith came. Since, then, God is everywhere, and possesses all things, he is said to have appeared as though not seen before. But he appeared not so much to the eyes of men as to their salvation: for even though, having been born of the Virgin, he was seen before with carnal eyes, yet he did not "appear"; because the gaze of faith still did not know his power. Whence it is said to the Jews through the prophet: Seeing you shall see, and shall not see (Isaiah 6:9), that is, the Savior whom they beheld with bodily eyes, they would not see with spiritual light.

For afterward, when he declared his divinity by wonders, appearing to human minds as new and unlooked-for, he poured in, as it were, certain eyes of the heart; so that the understanding might know what the sight had not known. Whence it comes about that we contemplate by faith the Lord Christ, whom we have never seen: but the Jews, who beheld him with their eyes, touched him with their hands, to this day do not see him.

4. The First Miracle Water Turned into Wine

Let us inquire, then, what sign he wrought, that he might declare his divinity to the peoples. It is said that he did this as his first miracle, that he changed water into wine. A great sign indeed, and sufficient for the majesty of God to be believed. For who would not marvel that the elements were changed into something other than they were? For no one can change nature, except one who is lord of nature.

5. The Miracle's Deeper Purpose Beyond the Wedding Feast

It is to be believed already from this that mortal man can be converted into immortality, since a cheap substance was converted into a precious substance. For I do not wish, hearer, that you regard only the names of wine and water, but, if you wish to prove the power, look to the virtue of the things; for by this deed something loftier than it seems is shown. For when the Lord turned water into wine, he was not so much doing this so that the guests at table should not lack for revelry, but that eternity might come about for believers. Since indeed for this reason Christ came into the world, not that he might procure the cellars of banquets, but that he might provide for the salvation of men: not that he might fill jars with a substance of good odor, but that he might irrigate souls with the grace of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, when he wished the guests to taste from cheap water the flavor of the best wine, much more did he wish believers to taste, from this cheap flesh, the wisdom of the heavenly resurrection.

6. Water and Wine as Signs of Resurrection

For this sign wholly contains the mystery of the resurrection; for water, cheap, pale and cold, turned into wine, that is, precious, red, or as it were fiery, signifies this: the substance of man, mortal in condition, cheap in weakness, pale with death, to be changed in the resurrection into glory, which is precious with eternity, colored with glory, set afire with the spirit of immortality. This, then, is worthy to be believed, that the Lord wished to work it, so that through this earthly sign the heavenly mystery yet to come might even then be seen by the wise. For if it is indeed marvelous to have supplied wines which had failed for the guests; how much more marvelous is it to have restored life, which was drained away, for men! And if it is glorious to change water into wine, how much more glorious is it to change sins into justice; and to temper morals rather than cups!

7. The Water Jars Supply Righteousness to the World

I dare say that those water-jars supplied that precious substance not only to that banquet, but to the whole world, save that they administer it better to us. For it is agreed that from those very vessels they drew drunkenness, we draw righteousness: that they received a cup of wine, we receive the cup of salvation: and if it is lawful to say so, with them what they had drunk passed away; but with us what we have received remains.

1. The Apostles' Belief Recorded for Our Benefit Too

Your holiness, brethren, recalls our earlier preaching, in which we described the blessed apostles, upon seeing one miracle—that is, water changed by the Savior into wine—as having straightway believed in him; for so the Evangelist says of the Lord: And he manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. This deed was not written down only so that the glory of faith might be shown in those under whom it was done, but also for our sake, who by the same example of devotion are stirred to the glory of belief. For what Christ wrought, he did not work for those alone whom he then had present, but also for us who were to follow afterward; so that although our forefathers preceded us in time, yet they did not go before us in the grace of signs.

For the power that was shown to them in wonders of present things, the same power has been preserved for us in the treasury of letters; so that the page might furnish for us what history enacted for them: nay, it was enacted for us, whatever is set forth to us through the intimation of the mirror of the Scriptures, and we might behold with spiritual light the power of the Lord, which they beheld with fleshly eyes.

2. The Disciples' Faith and Their Own Transformation

And he manifested, it says, his glory to his disciples, and his disciples believed in him. How well does the devotion of the little servants follow upon the power of the Lord; and what the master teaches by work, the disciples inscribe with their heart! Behold, to you now believing the power of the one working is manifested, and the faith of the believing apostles is manifestly proclaimed. Truly to be proclaimed is the faith of the apostles, which, having seen one sign, believed in the omnipotence of the Savior: and the apostles, while marveling that water was turned into wine, were themselves likewise converted from all the dregs of sin, and, after the likeness of the miracle wrought, were transferred from the base superstition of the Gentiles into the precious devotion of believers. And as water turned into wine is seasoned with flavor, ruddiness, and warmth, so knowledge, what was in them unsavory, received flavor: what was pale, took on the color of grace: what was cold, grew warm with the ardor of immortality.

3. The Apostles' Ready Faith Contrasted with Our Doubt

Therefore to be magnified is the faith of the apostles, which was for this reason described in the evangelical discourse, that it might be both for their praise and profit us as an example. But what is worse, their praise remains theirs, while examples do not move us; for the later we are in time, the more inferior we are in merit. For they, having seen one sign, straightway believed the Lord; we, having received so many wonders of benefits even now, doubt: we doubt, I say; because we love present things too much, while we do not believe in things to come: we love riches in this world, while we delay to receive them from Christ: we are immoderately puffed up with wrath, while we do not fear the judgment of retribution.

But he who knows that it is written: With what judgment you shall judge, with the same shall it be judged of you, is without doubt gentle, moderate, and mild: and compels more by goodness than he drives by severity: a friend of indulgence, familiar with pardon; so that while he frequently grants it, he may always receive it from the Lord. If indeed it belongs to a prudent ruler so to conduct earthly honors that he may acquire the honor of heavenly dignity.

4. An Exhortation to Preach and to Listen Well

And if at times the weakness of the body dulls the vigor of my speech, yet by the zeal of your devotion we are made stronger. For the more diligently you listen, the more gladly we preach; and the power of speaking is added to us when you apply your ear to understanding. For who would not strive to sow the seeds of the heavenly word there, where the fruitful earth of a pure heart may receive it? Who, I say, would not wish to place the word of the Savior there, where the anxiety of worldly cares does not choke it, but the power of spiritual disciplines nourishes it? Therefore, brethren, since on the holy Epiphany we rejoiced seeing the miracles of the Savior, we ought to do what the disciples of that time then did.

5. The Wonders of Christ Renewed Every Day

Now as to what I said, that we have just now seen what was once done: we have plainly seen, and we see it daily. For such are the wonders of Christ, that they do not pass away with age, but grow strong with grace: they are not buried in oblivion, but are renewed with power. For with the omnipotence of God nothing is abolished, nothing is past: but according to his greatness all things are present to him, all time to him is today. Whence the holy Prophet also says: A thousand years before your eyes are as one day. But if all the time of ages is one day to the Lord, on the same day on which the Savior worked wonders for the Fathers, he worked them also for us. We too, therefore, like our forefathers, have seen the wonders of the Lord, since we have gazed upon them with equal amazement as they.

We too have tasted, as they did, from those same water-jars; since they drank from them a cup of wine, we have received the cup of salvation.

6. Believing by Deed and Not Merely by Word

We ought, then, having seen the sign of the Lord, to do what our forefathers did; for if the same grace of divinity has shone forth in us, the same devotion of faith ought also to be among us. For the evangelist says of the Lord, this miracle having been performed: And he manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. We ought, therefore, to believe, just as the apostles then believed. But another says: We too are Christians, and we believe in the Lord the Savior. But it is necessary to believe by deed, not by speech: not with the tongue, but with the heart; lest it be said also of us: This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me?

1. Two Wonders Attributed to the Day of Epiphany

Many recall that up to this point, on this holy day of Epiphany, wonders were done by the Lord: that, having been invited to a wedding, he changed the substance of water into the appearance of wine, and by his blessing transformed the liquid of the springs into a better use: that the servants drew water from the wells, and found wine in the water-jars; and by a more profitable expenditure lost what they had filled, and found what was lacking: and that then for the first time by this wondrous sign he declared the power of his divinity. But some testify that on this holy day he was baptized by John in the Jordan, and that God the Father was present speaking in the grace of that washing, and the Holy Spirit also descended.

Nor is it strange if in the Lord's washing the mystery of the Trinity was not lacking, since our washing fulfills the sacrament of the Trinity; for the Lord could not but first display in himself what he was afterward to enjoin upon the human race, since he did all things not for his own sake, but for the grace of our salvation.

2. Christ Baptized for Our Sake and Not His Own

But surely he did not wish to be baptized for his own sake, since he had no sin, as Peter says: Who did no iniquity, neither was guile found in his mouth? But for our sake indeed, who, bound by the sins of many crimes, had need to be cleansed in the baptism of Christ; and therefore the Lord came to the washing, not that he himself might be purified by the waters, but that he might purify the streams of the waters for us; for from the moment he plunged himself into the waters, from that moment he blotted out the sins of all believers. But it is necessary that he blotted out the sins of all, since he took upon himself the sins of all; as the evangelist says: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. In a wondrous manner, then, one is plunged in, and the salvation of all is restored.

3. The Father's Voice and the Spirit's Dove at the Baptism

God the Father, then, is present when the Lord is baptized: the Holy Spirit is present. Behold the benevolence of the Savior, by which he alone submitted himself to insults in the passion, in the washing he alone sought no grace, he wishes others to be sharers of glory. There is present, then, as I said, the Father, and the Holy Spirit is present: and because God cannot be seen, the Spirit descends in a dove, the Father descends in a voice: and what alone was necessary for establishing faith in men, he shows forth as Savior. For our faith is not established except by hearing and sight; therefore the Spirit subjects himself to the eyes in a dove, the Father supplies himself to the ears in a voice; for unless it had been necessary for these things to happen for the sake of our credulity, the Father and the Spirit, being invisible God, could have descended to the Word the Son by an invisible gliding.

Therefore for the sake of our faith, heaven having been opened, the Spirit descends to Christ, the Father to the Son, the voice descends to the Word; for Christ is the Word, of whom it is written: In the beginning was the Word. Well, I say, is the Father called a voice, and the Son called the Word, because the Word proceeds from nothing but a voice. Thus voice and Word are fitted to one another, and provide for the salvation of men by the fellowship of the mystery.

4. The Dove as a Type of Christ and the Church

Let us see, however, by what reasoning the Holy Spirit descended upon Christ in the form of a dove: whether there is some likeness between the dove and the Lord, as there is between the voice and the Word. There is plainly no small likeness; for I would call the Lord himself a dove; because he is lively, gentle, and simple. He is a dove, because he commanded his saints to be as doves, saying: Be simple as doves. But that Christ is the dove, the Prophet says in his own person, describing his return to heaven after the passion: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly away and be at rest? When, therefore, Christ the Lord initiated the sacraments of the Church, a dove came down from heaven.

I understand the mystery, I recognize also the sacrament; for it is the same dove which now comes to the Church of Christ in baptism, which once hastened to the ark of Noah in the flood, then announcing security to it by the olive branch, now conferring eternity on this one by the token of divinity. Then bringing a sign of peace in its mouth, now itself, Christ the peace, pouring peace over it by its own substance.

5. The Jordan Turned Back as Sins Are Undone

In the Jordan, then, the Lord was baptized. Scripture recalls that many wonders were often done in this river, saying among other things: And Jordan was turned back. But I think it more wonderful what was done there when the Lord Jesus Christ was placed there; for before, the waters were turned backward, but now sins were turned backward: and as then the rush of the river lost the channel of its course, so now the rush of sins has lost the dominion of its error. This indeed I think had already been done at that time in the prophet Elijah; for as Elijah made a division of the waters in the Jordan, so also Christ the Lord in that same Jordan wrought a separation of sins: he commanded the streams to stand, this one, the sins. And as under Elijah the waves sought again the beginnings of the springs from which they had come out, so also under Christ the Lord men returned to their origin, from which in infancy they had come forth.

1. Both Epiphany Signs Joined in One Mystery

I believe, brethren, that my preaching on the holy day of Epiphany has reached all of you, and especially you catechumens: in which we described then, some asserting that water was turned into wine: while very many testified that on that same day the Lord was baptized in the Jordan. And although it may be believed by different people that one or the other of these was done, I nevertheless affirm that both were done, and that one sign is contained within the other. For both were done; for when the Lord was baptized, he both instituted the mystery of the washing, and converted the human race—like base water—into the eternal substance of divinity by its savor. Likewise also, when he turned the water-jars full of the liquid of springs into wine, he worked both effects: he supplied a form more needful for the wedding, and demonstrated that the bodies of men through the washing of the Holy Spirit are to be filled with spiritual substance.

Which the Lord himself elsewhere declared more openly, saying that new wine is to be stored in new wineskins; for in the newness of the wineskins is signified the purity of the washing, and in the wine, the grace of the Holy Spirit.

2. Catechumens Likened to Cold and Tasteless Water

Therefore it was fitting that you catechumens should have heard this more diligently, since it is more necessary for you, that your understanding, which now grows cold like water through ignorance of the Trinity, should grow warm like wine through the acknowledgment of the mystery, and that the cheap and thin liquid of your souls should be transformed into precious and strong grace; that in place of wine we may savor what is good, exhale the fragrance of what is sweet, and be able to say that word of the Apostle: For we are the good odor of Christ unto God; for the catechumen, before he is baptized, lies like water, cold and pale: but the faithful is like wine, strong and red. The catechumen, I say, like water, has no flavor, no odor, no worth, is neither sufficient for use, nor delightful for refreshment, nor tolerable to be kept.

For just as water, when kept too long, turns for the worse and putrefies and stinks within itself; so too the catechumen, when he remains a catechumen too long, is turned for the worse and grows vile and perishes within himself. For the Lord says: Unless a man be reborn of water and the Holy Spirit, he shall not enter the kingdom of heaven: and he who does not enter the kingdom necessarily remains in the netherworld.

3. The Faithful Compared to Wine Improving with Age

Rightly, however, is the faithful compared to wine; for as, from the substance of all created things, everything else perishes with age, wine alone improves with age; so too, from every kind of man, while all others perish with antiquity, the Christian alone improves with age. And just as wine, day by day boiling away its harshness, acquires sweetness of flavor and pleasantness of fragrance; so too the Christian, as time passes, boiling away the harshness of his sins, takes on for himself the wisdom of the Godhead and the benevolence of the Trinity.

4. Christ's Birth and Baptism as Twin Feasts

Therefore on this holy day the Lord was baptized. See how well he ordained it, that he was born on his birthday, and reborn on the Epiphany; so that the vows of human salvation would not be far distant from each other, and we might continually render eternal thanks to the Savior.

5. David's Dance Before the Ark of the Covenant

Then also our vows were celebrated, when the Church was joined to Christ, as John says: He who has the bride is the bridegroom. For these nuptials, therefore, it is fitting that we dance; since indeed King David, likewise a prophet, though he sang much, is said to have danced before the Ark of the Testament; for, lifted up with joy, he broke forth into dancing. For he foresaw in the Spirit that through Mary, from his own stock, the Church of Christ would be joined in the bridal chamber, of whom he says: And he himself, as a bridegroom, coming forth from his chamber. And therefore, beyond the other authors of the prophets, he sang more; because more joyfully than all he was, through these joys, betrothing his descendants: and inviting all nations to their own vows more sweetly than usual, he also taught us what we ought to do at that wedding, since he himself, before the wedding, rejoiced with total exultation.

1. Christ Comes to the Jordan for Baptism

The evangelic scripture relates, as we have just heard read, that the Lord came to the Jordan for the sake of baptism, and wished to consecrate himself to heavenly mysteries in that same river. We ought not to marvel why the Lord and Master of baptism himself did this, because he himself says: Whoever shall do so, and shall teach so, shall be called greatest in the kingdom of heaven. He wished, therefore, first to do what he was commanding all to do; that, as a good teacher, he might not so much instill his doctrine by words as put it into practice through his deeds, and thereby confirm us both in taste and in understanding, to the end.

2. The Baptism as a Second Nativity

Now that all this was accomplished on this very day is manifest: which we can gather to be true by this very reasoning; for reason demands that, after the day of the Lord's Nativity, though with years interposed, this festival should follow at the same season, which I think ought itself also to be called a nativity feast. For then he was born to men, today he was reborn through the sacraments: then he was brought forth through the Virgin, today he was begotten through the mystery.

For thus the Lord arranged it, that the vows of men should not be far distant from one another, so that at one time they might rejoice on earth over him whom they were congratulating as born, and rejoice in heaven that he was sanctified; that they who possessed the Virgin's offspring, the angels announcing it, might also retain the Son of God, the heavens bearing witness; and that men might be certain that he whom the Virgin had borne was indeed the Son of God, since the Godhead itself acknowledged him; for a new birth deserves new homage. There, when he is born according to man, his mother Mary cherishes him in her bosom: here, when he is begotten according to the mystery, the Father, God, embraces him with his voice; for he says: This is my Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear him.

The mother, therefore, caresses him with the softness of a lap at his birth; the Father, by his loving testimony, serves the Son: the mother, I say, presents him to be adored by the Magi; the Father makes him known to the nations to be worshiped: he is held, then, in his mother's bosom when he is born; but the Father continually supplies him the warmth of his own bosom. For we read that he rests without intermission in the bosom of the Father, the Evangelist saying: No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father.

3. The Bosom Where Christ Rests

The Lord, therefore, willingly rests in the bosom of the saints; whence also he willingly chose the bosom of John the Evangelist, that he might recline upon it. The bosom, then, in which Christ rests, is not prepared by the lap of the body, nor arranged by any ostentation of garments, but is gathered together by the working of heavenly virtues. For the bosom of Christ was, in John the Evangelist, faith; in God the Father, divinity; in Mary the mother, virginity. There is the bosom of Christ, where there is the dwelling-place of the virtues: there he lays his head, where he finds a home for his heavenly precepts. For to sinners and unbelievers he therefore says: The foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests: but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. Therefore the Lord Jesus came today to baptism, and willed that his own holy body be washed with water.

4. Christ Sanctifies the Waters Through His Baptism

Someone perhaps will say: He who is holy, why did he wish to be baptized? Hear then: Christ is baptized, not that he might be sanctified by the waters, but that he himself might sanctify the waters, and by his own purification purify those streams which he touches; for the consecration of Christ is a greater consecration than that of the element. For when the Savior is washed, then already the whole of the water is cleansed for our baptism, and the fountain is purified, that the grace of the washing might be ministered to the peoples who would follow afterward. Christ, therefore, goes before through baptism, that Christian peoples might confidently follow after him.

5. The Pillar of Fire as a Type of Baptism

I understand, then, the mystery; for thus also the pillar of fire went before through the Red Sea, that the children of Israel might follow an undaunted path: and it itself first passed through the waters, that it might prepare a path of travel for those coming after it. Which event, as the Apostle says, was a mystery of baptism: it was indeed in some manner a baptism, where a cloud covered the men, and a wave carried them. But all these things were wrought by the same Christ the Lord who works also now, who, just as then through the sea he went before the children of Israel in the pillar of fire, so now through baptism he goes before Christian peoples in the pillar of his own body.

He, I say, is that pillar to them, which then furnished light to the eyes of those following, and now supplies light to the hearts of believers: then it made the path solid amid the surging of the waves, now it strengthens the footsteps in the washing of faith; through which faith, like the children of Israel, whoever shall walk undaunted will not fear the Egyptian pursuer.

1. An Opening Admonition to Devotion and Correction

You yourselves know, brethren, that from the day I began to be among you, I have not ceased to admonish you all with the Lord's commandments, and, partly by exhorting, partly by rebuking, to press upon you the precepts of the Godhead; so that for the most part I have been a devoted father, but to some I have shown myself a stern teacher. For he has congratulated himself on having me as a father, whoever has willingly embraced my discourse: but he has felt me a stern teacher, who has grieved that his conscience was struck by my preaching. But it matters nothing to me, provided that, whether by devotion or by censure, Christ is proclaimed among you; although even that very censure is itself devotion, which is applied toward the more negligent children for this reason, that they may learn to fear what they had neglected to love.

Not that a father does not love all his children equally, but that it is the indulgence of a father to show the affection of devotion according to the diversity of characters; so that he provokes the gentle child by exhortation, but meets the stubborn one with sternness, being secure nonetheless as to the correction of each; since he scourges the one with love, he chastises the other with severity, as the blessed Apostle says: Now all chastisement for the present indeed seemeth not to bring joy, but sorrow: but afterward it will yield, to them that are exercised by it, the peaceable fruit of justice. Therefore, since I believe you have profited by so many of my discourses, it pleases me to expound to you certain things of the divine writings; that I may understand that you grasp with a living faith what I shall have said.

2. The Parable of the Leaven Introduced

The Lord says in the holy Gospel: The kingdom of heaven is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was leavened. But in another place he says thus: Whereunto shall I liken the consecration of the element. Shall I esteem the kingdom of God? It is like unto leaven, which a woman took and hid in meal, till the whole was leavened. There is no doubt that the force and power of leaven is known to all. For though it be small in size, simple in appearance, common in nature; it carries within itself such strength, that when it has been hidden in meal, its own essence causes the whole mass to become what it itself is; and it so spreads itself through the whole mound by the vigor of its own sprinkling, that it makes the entire mass of flour become leaven: and thus the thing itself, by its own strength, acquires for itself a mass proportionate to its own vigor.

Now this is what women do, that they may diligently provide for their husbands a more wholesome bread and useful food. But since the Law is spiritual, and the Gospel subsists spiritually in the narrative of parables; let us see what the leaven is, what the woman, what the meal.

3. Christ Compared to Leaven and the Grain of Wheat

We read in the holy Gospel, the Lord Christ saying of himself: Unless a grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remains alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

Therefore if the Lord is wheat, and the Lord is leaven; because leaven is not usually made except from wheat: rightly, then, is the Lord compared to leaven, because, though he was in appearance man, small in humility, cast down in weakness, he was inwardly so strong in the power of wisdom, that the world itself could scarcely contain his teaching: which teaching, when it began to spread through the whole world by the vigor of his divinity, immediately by its own power drew the whole race of men into its own substance; that it might pour the yoke of his Holy Spirit into all, and might make all Christians to be what Christ is. For since the man, the Lord Jesus, was one and alone in the world as leaven hidden in a mass, he brought it about that all men should be what he himself is. Whoever, therefore, has adhered to that leaven of Christ, is himself made leaven, as useful to himself as fit for all others; both certain of his own salvation and secure regarding the gaining of others.

4. Christ's Passion as Leaven Uniting Mankind

Therefore, just as leaven, when it is to be scattered into a mound of meal, is broken, crushed, dispersed, and itself is wholly dissolved; that it may bind together into one, by its own vigor, that scattered multitude of meal, and reduce it into a solid body, which in the manner of dust was languishing through that very diminution; and may make, by its own union, a useful mass out of what by its own dissolution seemed useless: so too the Lord Jesus Christ, since he was the leaven of the whole world, was broken by diverse sufferings, torn and dissolved, and his own essence was poured out for our salvation—that is, his precious blood—that by the admixture of himself he might make solid the whole human race, which before lay dissolved through various dispersals; for thus, as it were like some leaven, we, who seemed to be meal from the nations, have adhered to him.

We, I say, who throughout the whole world lay utterly scattered and diminished, have by the vigor of Christ's passion been gathered back into his own body, as the blessed Apostle says: For we are the body of Christ, and members. We, therefore, who from the nations were being cast about like dust from the face of the earth, have by the sprinkling of the Lord's blood grown into the solid mass of his body.

5. The Woman Who Hid the Leaven Is the Church

Now that woman, who is said to have hidden the leaven in the meal, who is she, if not the holy Church, which strives daily to hide the teaching of Christ in our hearts? She, I say, is the woman who in another place is also said to grind, as the Lord says: There shall be two women grinding: one shall be taken, and one shall be left. For the holy Church grinds through the Law, through the apostles, through the prophets, when she makes catechumens, and dissipates and crushes the harshness of gentile ways; that having softened them, in the manner of meal, she may make them fit to adhere to the leaven of the Lord's blood. For I would call the leaven the whole passion of the Lord; for the leaven of our salvation is that very symbol which is handed down, without which leaven, or symbol, no one can merit the substance of eternal life.

6. The Church and Synagogue as Two Women Grinding

And because the Gospel describes two women grinding, and we have said that the Church is the one who grinds wholesomely; whom else must we understand the other to be, but the Synagogue? For she too grinds, through Moses and the prophets: but she grinds without profit, as the Apostle says of the Jews: They have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. Uselessly, I say, does the Synagogue grind; because the teaching of Christ does not season her mass. And therefore the Lord bade the Synagogue's leaven be shunned, saying: Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees. For it was seasoned with the bloodshed and cruelties of the Jews who said of the Lord: His blood be upon us, and upon our children. Whence the Gospel says: There shall be two grinding, one shall be taken and one left.

For holy Church shall be taken up into eternal rest, she who has ground out the food of holiness for the Lord: the bloodstained Synagogue shall be left at the millstones, ever to suffer the wheel-turning of her own faithlessness.

1. Renewing Life in the New Season of Septuagesima

Redeem yourselves, while you have the price: when, dearest brethren, you begin a new season, you ought to renew your life. In the whole year no day is called seventieth, except this one; nor sixtieth, except the following Sunday; nor fiftieth, except the third from now; nor fortieth, except the fourth Sunday from now; and because this season has new names, therefore every Christian ought to renew his life. For the Apostle admonishes this, saying: Be renewed in the spirit of your mind; likewise: Though our outward man is corrupted, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

2. The Old Man and the New, Adam and Christ

For just as he is renewed who passes from evil to good; so he is renewed who passes from good to better. He who passes from lust, or any impurity whatsoever, to chastity, has renewed his life. He who had been accustomed unjustly to seize the goods of others, if he begins mercifully to distribute his own, renews his life. He who, being proud, has passed over to humility, and he who loved to speak evil of the brethren, if he begins to love the brethren, without doubt renews his life; because he who was a member of the devil by living wickedly begins to be in the body of the new man, that is, of our Lord Jesus Christ, through right faith and good work. You have often heard, dearest brethren, that there are two men, that is, Adam and Christ: the one is called old, the other is called new.

And therefore he who is evil is old, imitating him who was proud and disobedient in paradise; but he who is good is new, following him who says: Learn of me, for I am meek, and humble of heart; and of whom the Apostle says: He became obedient unto death. But because this season bears a new name, we therefore admonish those who are old through evil living, that they may become new through good conduct.

3. Continual Renewal Through Perseverance in Good Works

We admonish those who are already new through good works, that they strive to renew themselves in this new season through better works: for example, one who is new through chastity, ceasing from evil deed, let him be renewed by ceasing even from the delight of that deed. Likewise, one who is humble and obedient and merciful and patient must necessarily be renewed daily, so that by advancing he may grow in these very virtues, according to that which is written: They shall go from strength to strength. Let none of us, dearest brethren, be secure because he is baptized; since, just as not all who run in the race receive the prize, that is, the appointed reward, but he who by running arrives first; so not all who have faith are saved, but only those who persevere in the good work which they have begun. And just as one who fights against another abstains from all things; so you too ought to abstain from all vices, that you may be able to overcome the devil, your persecutor.

Wretched men, at peril of their lives and with immense labors, serve an earthly king for a benefit soon to pass away and perish; why do you not serve the King of the heavenly kingdom, who enjoys blessedness and bestows it upon those who labor? Now since through faith you have been called by the Lord to the vineyard, that is, to the unity of holy Church; live and conduct yourselves in such a way that you may be able to receive the denarius, that is, the happiness of the heavenly kingdom, by God's bounty.

4. No One Should Despair, Whatever the Age

Let no one despair over the greatness of his sins, saying: My sins are many, in which I have persisted even to old age and decrepit years; now I shall not be able to deserve pardon, especially since sins have left me, not I them. Far be it that such a one should despair of God's mercy; for some are called to God's vineyard at the first hour, some at the third, some at the sixth, some at the ninth, some at the eleventh, that is, some in boyhood, some in adolescence, some in youth, some in old age, some in decrepit age are drawn to God's service. And just as no one ought to despair, in whatever age he may be, if he is willing to turn to the Lord; so no one ought to be secure by faith alone, but rather to fear that which is said: For many are called, but few are chosen. That we are called by faith, we know; but whether we are chosen for eternal life, we do not know.

Each one, therefore, ought to be the more humble, the more he is ignorant whether he is chosen.

5. A Prayer for Perseverance to the Promised Land

May almighty God grant you that you be not of the number of those who crossed the Red Sea with dry footstep, ate manna in the desert, and drank spiritual drink, and yet perished in the wilderness on account of their murmuring; but rather of those who entered the land of promise, and by laboring faithfully in the vineyard of the Church, deserved to receive the denarius of everlasting blessedness; that you, who are members of Christ our head, may be able to reign with him through infinite ages of ages.

at Milan are wont to be observed do not agree, as can be gathered from our Note in the book On Elijah and Fasting.

1. The Meaning of Sexagesima Explained

The season is at hand, dearest brethren, which is called Sexagesima; and therefore it is necessary that your life be changed, your morals corrected, the world despised, and the heavenly homeland loved more ardently. For the number six, from which sixty, and sexagesima, and six hundred, and six thousand are derived, signifies perfection. Hence it is that he who made man on the sixth day willed to redeem him in the sixth age, and on the sixth day of the week, and at the sixth hour. Wherefore, since you have already celebrated Septuagesima, and today celebrate Sexagesima, and thereafter, God willing, are to celebrate Quinquagesima and Quadragesima, we ought to disclose to you the mysteries of these names.

2. How the Pre-Lenten Seasons Got Their Names

Quadragesima assuredly has six weeks, to which Pope Telesphorus added a seventh week, and this season was called Quinquagesima; then by others an eighth week was added, and that same season was called Sexagesima; afterward, however, a ninth week was added, and it was called Septuagesima. Since, just as from four comes Quadragesima, and from six Sexagesima, so from seven Septuagesima is named. Whence, if anyone now were to add a tenth week, we would not call it "Decagesima," but "Octogesima," the order of the numbering being preserved; because after seven, from which Septuagesima comes, comes eight.

3. Why Each Fasting Season Has Its Length

Quadragesima is observed for this reason: because Moses, and Elijah, and the Saviour are read to have fasted forty days and nights. Quinquagesima is observed by some for this reason, in which there are fifty days: because if you subtract from these the seven Sundays, there remain in abstinence no more than forty-two days: and on two of these very days some fast, some do not, namely on the Lord's Supper and on Holy Saturday. Sexagesima is celebrated for this reason, in which there are eight weeks, that is, fifty-six days: if you subtract the eight Sundays, and the eight Thursdays, only forty days of fasting remain.

But Septuagesima, from which to Easter there are nine weeks, that is, sixty-three days, is observed by some for this reason: because if you subtract nine Sundays on account of the Lord's resurrection, and nine Thursdays on account of the Lord's Supper, and as many Saturdays, lest we seem to sabbatize with the Jews, no more than thirty-six days remain for fasting: which may Christ our Lord grant you to observe with all devotion, who lives and reigns with God the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through all ages, amen.

1. The Healing of the Withered Hand on the Sabbath

I believe, brethren, that you have listened attentively to the Gospel reading which was recently read, where the Lord Jesus Christ, entering the Synagogue on the sabbath, healed by spiritual medicine a man there having a withered hand, with no juices of herbs applied, with no compounded ointments of medicaments; but by commanding with a word, and enjoining in anger, he poured back health into the body Anger, I say, as the Evangelist says, restored the vigor of the right hand. Whence we understand of what sort is the healing of the Lord's benignity, whose indignation is such a remedy; or how it profits when he, once appeased, has mercy, who so shows mercy even while angered. He commands, therefore, with a word, that he might pour the juices of the veins into the withered right hand.

It is no wonder that he restored the withered right hand, who created so many bodies out of withered dust, and by the command of his word restored what he had established in the beginning of the work of creation: as its own author acknowledging the creature, recognizing that the things of the world and of the body—namely riches and honors—he set in the lesser part; but wisely he preferred the virtue of the soul and the grace of attaining immortality: For length of days is in his right hand. Finally, because this right hand had already withered in man, therefore the Lord Jesus, entering the Synagogue on the sabbath, healed by spiritual medicine a man there having a withered right hand, as another Evangelist relates; for thus it reads: And it came to pass also on another sabbath, that he entered into the Synagogue, and taught: and there was a man there, and his right hand was withered.

And the scribes and Pharisees watched whether he would heal on the sabbath, that they might find an accusation against him: but he knew their thoughts. And he said to the man who had the withered hand: Rise, and stand forth in the midst; and rising he stood; and after a little: And looking round upon them all, he said to the man: Stretch forth your hand; and he stretched it forth, and his hand was restored, sound as the other. I believe, brethren, that you have heard attentively how Christ the Lord, with nothing applied knowing, a small portion obeys him, to whom the whole mass owes itself.

2. What the Withered Hand Signifies

But let us see what the withered hand in the Synagogue may be, which profits the body nothing, since it has withered by its works; let us also ask when it first began to be withered; for it is not the case of one man only that is enacted through the Saviour, nor is the weakness of one man alone attended to, but the infirmity of the whole human race is healed. But it is doubtful to no one that the right hand, or the more excellent portion of the whole body, performs this office; that it supplies daily nourishment to its own body, and by a certain providence feeds and nourishes the other members so that life may be enjoyed.

3. The Scribes and Pharisees as the Withered Hand

This right hand, then, I should say, is in the Jewish people the scribes, or teachers, who, as the more excellent portion appointed by the Lord in the body of the Pharisees, neglected to offer to their other members also the oracles of the prophets as the food of eternal life: and therefore their teaching withered like a helpless hand; because it did not seek the fountain of perennial wisdom. For this reason, finally, it came to pass that, as if a contracted right hand, it could not hold the key of knowledge, as the Lord says: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, who hide the key of knowledge, and so on. But this key is Christ the Lord, by whom the secrets of hearts are unlocked for the belief of faith. This key, as the Lord says to Peter: To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven.

Therefore the right hand of the Synagogue withered, abandoning Christ: that hand which formerly was among the princes of the Jews grew worse; for whoever forsakes the fountain of Christ is at once weakened, and withers.

4. Moses as the Once-Healthy Right Hand

But I find that this very hand was once better than the other members; for holy Moses, leader of the Jewish people, was as it were the more illustrious right hand of his body, when he deserved to receive the Law to deliver from the divinity. The right hand, I say, was holy Moses, who nourished the sons of Israel with heavenly manna as it were by a provident hand. This plainly is the right hand which overcame the magicians Jannes and Mambres by the brightness of its snow-white splendor. For thus you have it written: And so the darkness of the magicians was destroyed, because the shining right hand, by the merits of Moses, gleamed forth.

5. The Hand Withered Since Adam's Sin

But let us see when this hand first began to be withered or dead. I affirm that it first withered in Adam, when against the Lord's prohibition he plucked the fruit of the forbidden tree, and then he lost the sap of immortality. And it was in a certain manner dried up, when it caused man, made in the image of God, to be dissolved into dust by his own sin. And would that the hand alone were held liable to sin! What is more grave, the whole body was condemned to death, since it sinned first through the right hand. Nor should you wonder if the member of the right hand did not remain whole in Adam; for that vigor of eternity dried up. For just as the right hand of Moses, keeping the commandments of the Lord, shone with a snow-white brightness; so too the right hand of Adam, transgressing the precept, was contracted with a deadly pallor.

6. Christ Heals Adam's Hand Through Mercy and Almsgiving

This, then, is the hand of Adam which the Savior heals in the Synagogue, that is, he hastens to heal the weakness of the whole human race; for he says also to that man: Stretch forth your hand, you who contracted it by sacrificing to idols. He says to him: Stretch forth your hand, whose right hand withered by taking usury. Stretch forth your hand, you who through it seize the goods of orphans and widows by deeds of violence. But you too, who think you have a hand pure and sound, take care lest it be contracted by avarice: rather stretch it out often in mercy toward the poor, often in hospitality toward the stranger: stretch it out always toward the Lord for your sins: be merciful, be generous. Observe what the prophet says: Let not your hand be stretched out to receive, and contracted to give. For thus your hand can be sound, if it be contracted from evils, but stretched out for good works.

1. Approaching Lent With Vigils, Fasting, and Almsgiving

Behold, the holy days draw near, and the acceptable time, dearest brethren, of which it is written: Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation; therefore you ought to be more diligent in vigils, in fasts, in almsgiving, and in prayers. He who has given alms until now, let him give more in these days; because as water quenches fire, so almsgiving quenches sin. He who has fasted and prayed until now, let him now fast and pray more; because there are certain sins which are not forgiven except through prayer and fasting. If anyone holds anger against another, let him forgive from the heart: if anyone has unjustly taken anything from another, let him restore it to the one from whom he took it, if he desires to have God propitious.

For although at every time the Christian ought to abstain from curses, and reproaches, and oaths, and excessive laughter, and idle words; yet most of all on these holy days, which have been established for this purpose, that the sins of the whole year may be blotted out through penance in these forty days.

2. The Promise of Pardon Through Penance and Confession

Believe, and believe most firmly, that if in these days you make a pure confession, and do penance in the manner we have said, you will obtain from the most merciful Lord remission of all your sins along with the Ninevites, who deserved to be delivered by doing penance in sackcloth and ashes: so also you, if with your whole heart, following their example, you cry out to God, will call forth divine mercy upon yourselves; to such a degree that you will celebrate the day of the Lord's resurrection more joyfully and securely; and, happy, will pass after this life to the heavenly homeland, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns through all ages of ages, amen.

1. The Acceptable Time and Christ the Physician

The holy Apostle bears witness concerning the prophets, saying: In an acceptable time, he says, I have heard you, and in the day of salvation I have helped you. And he himself continues: Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation. Whence I too testify to you that these are the days of redemption, that this is, in a certain manner, the time of heavenly medicine, in which time we shall be able to heal the stain of all our vices and all the wounds of our sins, if we faithfully entreat the physician of our souls, so that we, as suitable patients received into his care, should by no means despise his precepts. For then the sick man finds the medicine for his illness, if with all diligence he keeps the physician's commands; because if he does otherwise, when otherwise is commanded, as the disease increases, the fault lies not with the physician, but with the transgressor.

2. Christ the Physician Kills Sin and Gives Life

Now the physician is our Lord Jesus Christ, who says: I will kill and I will make alive: I will strike and I will heal. For the Lord in a certain manner kills before he gives life; for he first kills in us homicides, adulteries, crimes, thefts, through baptism: and thus he gives us life, as new men, unto the immortality of eternity. We die, then, to sins, namely through the washing: but we are regenerated unto life through the Spirit, as the holy Apostle says: For you are dead to your sins, and your life is hidden with Christ. For you are buried together with him through baptism into death; for we are in a certain manner killed, when we cease to be what we were. For by a new kind of piety, in one and the same man, death and life work together; for the concupiscence of sins dies, and love of the virtues is quickened.

For in one and the same man the impious and adulterous man is slain, that the merciful and chaste man may be reborn: idolatry is destroyed, that religion may be propagated: the fornicator and the drunkard are extinguished, that the continent and sober man may be brought forth.

3. The Lord's Blows That Heal and Transform

Thus, therefore, the Lord puts to death so that he may bring to life: thus he kills, that he may profit: thus he strikes, that he may correct. This, then, is his whole severity toward his own people; that in them sins may be punished, and the soul preserved: that detestable vices may be taken away, and the best virtues nourished. And to such a degree do we perceive very many, by this pious killing of the Lord, converted and advanced so far toward the better, made from the most pious into the best; that when you see them, you would believe them other men, though when you do not see them, you know that their persons have not been changed. For that which we formerly were is so destroyed, taken away, extinguished in us: that we believe what we afterwards are to have been newly born: whence this second nativity signifies that the end of the former life has already come to pass.

4. Divine Precepts That Strike to Heal

Now as to what he says: I will strike and I will heal; the Lord clearly strikes sinners with his precepts, that he may heal them: he scourges with commandments, that he may correct: he prescribes fasts, enjoins continence, threatens judgment: and instilling the sad fear of hell, he applies medicine; so that while we dread the future, we may correct the present.

5. Paul's Conversion Through a Blinding Blow

Thus indeed he made the apostle Paul whole by striking him; for when he was a persecutor, impious and blasphemous, and indeed was hastening to Damascus to lay waste the churches, he was suddenly struck by the terror of a heavenly lightning, that he might pour over him the light of evangelical splendor: and he punished him with the loss of his bodily eyes, that he might illumine him with the sight of spiritual eyes: he terrified him with weakness of body, that he might save him by devotion of faith. Rising then from the ground, Paul with his outward eyes saw neither men nor the sky: but with the lights of his mind he saw Christ from heaven. In sum, this striking of the Lord profited so much, that from a Jew he became a Christian, from a blasphemer an apostle, from Saul, Paul; and he so changed the old man along with his character, that he even changed his name.

6. The Physician Who Heals by Striking

Having, therefore, such a physician, who heals by striking, who gives life by killing, let us submit to him with all patience to be cured; so that whatever he perceives in us to be shameful, whatever soiled with sins, whatever foul with sores, he may cut, amputate, excise; so that, all the wounds of the devil having been cut away. He may cause this alone to remain in us, which is of God. Now his first precept is this, that in these forty days we devote ourselves to fasts, prayers, vigils; for by fasts the wantonness of the body is chastised, by prayers the devoted soul is fattened, by vigils the snares of the devil are driven away.

Then, when this time has been fulfilled with these observances of the commandments, then the soul, purged and wearied by so many observances, coming to baptism, is refreshed by the flooding of the Holy Spirit: and whatever the heat of various sicknesses had dried up in it is drenched with the dew of heavenly grace; so that, laying aside the corruption of the old man, it may acquire the character of new youth. And in a wondrous way, in one and the same man, holiness succeeds to sins, justice to iniquity, infancy to old age: and by a new kind of birth, he who is reborn is other than he was who sinned.

7. Elijah's Forty-Day Fast as a Figure of Baptism

Thus indeed Elijah, by a continuous fast running for forty days and nights, deserved to quench the long and excessive drought of the whole world with the dew of showers, and to drench the burning thirst of the lands with the abundance of heavenly rain. And we know that this was done as a figure of us, that we too, fasting through the course of these forty days, may deserve the spiritual rain of baptism for our tribes, and that the heavenly shower from above may water our long-parched land, and that the flood of saving washing may sprinkle the long drought of the Gentiles. For whoever is not watered by the grace of baptism suffers the drought and burning of his soul.

8. Moses's Forty-Day Fast and Converse with God

By the fast of these days and nights, then, holy Moses deserved to speak with God, to stand, to remain, and to receive from his hand the precepts of the Law. For although the human condition withdrew him from beholding God, yet the grace of fasting made him near to the fellowship of divinity; for this portion of the virtues is in us of God, that we should fast frequently, since God himself always fasts. In whomever, therefore, he perceives more of his own works to be present, to him he is more familiar, intimate, and a friend, as Scripture says: And Moses spoke with God face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.

9. Christ's Forty-Day Fast Opens Heaven's Gates

Whence also the Lord Jesus Christ, about to receive the glory of the resurrection, consecrated his powers by a fast of forty days and nights; that he might show that man does not live by bread, but by the word of God. By these fasts of forty days, therefore, God is reconciled, the heavens are opened, the infernal regions are unbarred. Let us also, then, most beloved brethren, fast continually and devoutly during this space of time; that the Lord may be more propitious to us: that the heavens may lie open to us, and the infernal regions be unable to hold us.

1. The Single, Unbroken Character of the Lenten Fast

We have often set forth the reason of holy Lent, whose beginning we celebrate today: and why we fast for so great a number of days, we have often taught. For we have said that the Lord Jesus Christ consecrated this same number of the fast, and, taking no food for continuous days and nights, made one single body of fasting: that is, although the order of the day was interrupted by the coming of night, yet the order of the fast was not interrupted. Whence, though there were before God many courses of times, yet the days of abstinence were one: he shows us thus that we ought to fast this number whole; so that, since we cannot embrace the whole of Lent with a solid and single fast, we should at least celebrate it with daily fasts without intermission; so that if anyone should omit fasting for a single day, he would have violated the whole of Lent, and for the food of a brief time would have lost the fruit of great labor.

2. Why Lent Lasts Forty-Two Days

But someone will say: We have received the reason of Lent several times, and we have often heard that it was consecrated by the Lord: but we long to hear why this same Lent contains forty-two days. We read in the Old Testament, when holy Moses delivered the children of Israel from the yoke of Egyptian captivity, so as to lead them into the land of promise, that he arrived at the said land by stages in forty-two days; and that he obtained possession of the promises in as great a number of times as we too rejoice to enjoy the promises made to us by the Savior. By the same number, I say, Moses arrived by stages at rest, by which we too hasten to heaven through fasts; for our fasts are, as it were, certain stages, by which, making our journey spiritually, we walk in the virtues of the soul, and by daily progress we are made nearer to the land promised to us; so that he arrives more quickly who has fasted more devotedly.

For certain swift feet of the soul are faith and fasting, which quickly climb from the humble to the higher things, quickly walk from earthly to heavenly things. Of these feet the Apostle said: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach peace, of those who preach good things! These feet the Lord commanded to be washed, as the Apostle says of the widow: If she has washed the feet of the saints. For worthy of honor are the feet of those preaching peace, who walk over the hearts of men, spiritual and shining with their teaching.

3. Israel at the Jordan as a Figure of Baptism

Also in the count of forty and two years the people of Israel arrived at the streams of the Jordan; in that same course of days the Christian people also arrives at the streams of baptism. And as the Prophet says: The Jordan was turned back: there, when Israel entered the waters of the river, the wave fled away beneath them; here, when the Christian goes down into the font, the sins of his crimes flee away. And in wonderful fashion, there the river, turned backward, returns to its own source: here the man, called back to what lies behind, is restored to the infancy of his origin. There the wave seeks out its own source, from which it had gone forth: here it recognizes its own man, from whom innocence had departed. There the river-bed is emptied of its waves, here hearts are emptied of their crimes; so that there the muddy water does not soak the servants of God, here the foul conscience does not defile the servants of God.

For the Jordan is a kind of fount of the washing, through which whoever passes, leaving filth behind, enters the paradise of the promise.

4. The Red Sea and the Sweetened Waters of Marah

In this same forty-and-two-fold number, then, the people of Israel, leaving Egypt, crossed the streams of the Red Sea; and we too, in that same number, leaving the Egypt of the world, pass over the pools of burning Gehenna. Them the wave sustains amid the waves; us the flame of fire does not burn. For them the water is made solid; for us the fire grows cool; and, contrary to nature's custom, the sea is dried by heat, Gehenna is softened by the font of baptism. In this same mystical number, I say, the children of Israel, arriving at Marah, could not draw the water because of its bitterness (for the spring had water, but not sweetness; it was pleasant to look upon, but not genuine to the taste); when wood was cast into it by Moses, they drank its sweetness pleasantly; for the sacrament of the wood took away the harshness which the harmful water carried.

5. Marah's Bitterness as the Law Tempered by the Cross

This indeed I think was done as a figure; for I judge that the bitter water at Marah represents the Law of the Old Testament, which law, before it was tempered by the cross of the Lord, was harsh; for it commanded eye for eye, tooth for tooth to be given, and, being austere, offered no refreshment of mercy. But when it was tempered by the wood of the evangelical passion, it immediately exchanged its bitterness for sweetness, and showed itself sweet for all to drink, as the Prophet says: How sweet are your words to my palate, above honey and the honeycomb to my mouth! For sweet are the words which command: If anyone strikes you on the right cheek, offer him the other also. If anyone takes away your tunic, leave him your cloak also. This, then, is that bitterness which was changed into sweetness, that is, the austerity of the Law was tempered by the grace of the Gospel.

For the letter of the Law is bitter without the mystery of the cross, of which the Apostle says: The letter kills. But when the mysteries of that passion are joined to it, all its bitterness is spiritually seasoned; and of it the Apostle says: But the Spirit gives life.

1. Recalling the Forty-Two Stations of Israel's Journey

Your minds still recall, brothers, that we preached to you on the previous Sunday, that a figure of this our Lent was held by those forty-two encampments through which the people of Israel, going out from Egypt, entered by daily progress into the land of promise, and ascended, as it were by certain steps of salvation, from the yoke of servitude to the kingdom.

2. The Spiritual Meaning of Israel's Desert Journey

A figure, I say, of our fastings existed in those encampments, not only in the quantity of the number, but also in the observance of virtues; for the children of Israel did not walk so much with bodily steps on the journey through the desert, as they advanced by religious deeds on the way of the Lord. Clearly they walked on the way of the Lord, which both carried them amid the waves, and fed them from heaven; for when they hungered in the wilderness, manna did not fail them; when they were in peril at sea, the land did not flee from them: there the sea is spread out as a path, here heaven is opened for food. For the sake of the grace of the servants of God, the Jordan restrains its own streams, Marah changes its water. There the wave, turned backward, which had been following, goes ahead: here, tempered for the better, what dripped bitter becomes sweet in its vein; and in wondrous fashion the river lost its course, the spring its taste.

3. The Twelve Springs and Seventy Palms of Elim

But since we have said that the children of Israel, coming to Marah, suffered from the bitterness of the water, and could not drink it except by the casting in of wood, and that there was in that a type also of the Old Testament, let us see where the people, setting out from there, then arrived. They arrived at a place which is called Elim, in which there were twelve most pure springs, and a multitude of seventy flourishing palm trees. Behold the mystery of God, how after the bitterness of the Law, the streams of evangelical piety overflow. There one spring is harsh to drink; here there are many, and all are sweet to drink: there after weariness there is no refreshment; here after labor there is refreshment and victory; for springs are provided to the thirsty, palms are offered to the victors.

4. The Palm as the Reward of Martyrs and Confessors

Palms, I say, are offered to the victors; because after the hardness of the Law, to arrive at the grace of the Gospel is to have conquered; for it is a certain prize of the victor, to wash the mouth with a living spring, and to arm the right hand with the triumphal palm. For by the spring the tongue of the confessor is purified, by the palm the right hand of the martyr is honored: the one because it has exalted the glory of Christ, the other because it has refused the altar of sacrilege. For the palm of martyrdom is a certain prize, which grants sweet fruit to the confessing tongue, and provides a glorious ornament to the victorious right hand. Clearly the palm is sweet to martyrs for food, shady for rest, honorable for triumph, always green, always clothed with leaves, always ready for victory; and therefore the palm does not wither, because the victory of the martyrs does not wither.

5. Palms Offered to Christ Entering the Temple

Those very palms, finally, are offered by the peoples to the Lord as he sits upon the ass and comes to the temple; for when the disciples spread their garments and secured the way of Christ with their cloaks, he had no greater reward than the palms, which the devotion of the people offered him; signifying, by the garments spread on the way, that the road in the world was defiled, and by the palms offered, that he himself was the victor of the world. He, I say, is the victor, of whom Scripture says: The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered. He, clearly, is the victor who destroyed diabolic death and gave light to eternal life. Palms, therefore, are raised for Christ as he comes. It is written: The just man shall flourish like the palm: rightly, then, are the standards of justice raised for the just one as he comes, and the tokens of triumph do obeisance to the author of their own.

6. The Disciples' Garments Spread Before Christ

But before the palms are taken up, the way of the Lord as far as the temple is covered with the garments of the disciples, and, so that the path of the Savior might be undefiled, it is secured by the cloaks of the apostles. This indeed I think was done as a mystery; for the way of Christ, which leads to the temple, is his faith and his teaching. This way, then, the disciples, that we might walk without stumbling, strewed with their own martyrdom, stripping off the covering of their own body; so that among the crowds of diverse nations they might lay beneath the path of justice the garments of their own members, and cover over the muddy myrrh-bed of the world, and show forth the undefiled way of the Savior.

7. The Apostles as the Fountains of Israel

To the twelve springs, then, after Marah the people of Israel came. We read in the Prophet: Bless the Lord from the fountains of Israel. The Lord is Christ, who is learned only through the mouths of the apostles and the teaching of the disciples. The apostles are to be called fountains; because, like most pure springs, they overflow with the grace of preaching, and after the bitterness of the Law, from the ample wisdom of their veins, drip cups of sweetness from the sacrament. Nor is it strange if the drink of the fountains is sweet, in whose bosom the food of the palms is sweeter. The apostles, then, are the fountains, who have watered the face of the whole earth with the river of their teaching, and have given to drink to the weary peoples of the nations the drink of the divine mystery.

8. The Seventy Disciples Signified by the Palms

Now the seventy palms growing beside the apostolic fountains I would say represent those seventy disciples, who, in a second rank after the apostles, were sent forth by the Lord for the salvation of men, whom the evangelist Luke, describing them, states were sent two by two. Who indeed, like palms, returning with exultation after their labors on behalf of men, glory before the Lord that even the demons are subject to them. Rightly, then, are they compared to palms, who by the prize of the palms proved victors over the devil.

1. Fasting as Israel's Camps Against the Enemy

I believe you have understood, brothers, why I have compared these our fasts to those encampments, in which the people of Israel, set as it were in a certain battle-line, overcame Pharaoh the king by daily toil, and defended themselves from their enemies by the station of the encampments as by certain camps; so that whoever of that accompanying number did not complete the stretches of the daily station, either Pharaoh seized him, or the wilderness overwhelmed him. So then we too ought to complete with all effort the journey of forty days set before us, and to fortify ourselves as with certain camps by the devotion of our fastings; for our fasts are our camps, which defend us from diabolical assault. Finally they are called "stations," because, standing and remaining in them, we repel the ambushes of enemies. For fasts are camps for Christians, from which if anyone strays, he is invaded by the spiritual Pharaoh, or devoured by the wilderness of sins.

Now he suffers the wilderness of sins, who is deserted by the fellowship of the saints.

2. Fasting as an Unassailable Wall Against the Devil

Fasting, therefore, is a certain wall for the Christian, unassailable by the devil, unpassable by the enemy. For who among Christians ever fasted, and was captured? Who remained sober, and was conquered? The devil attacks the drunken man, the enemy assails the luxurious man. But when he sees fasting, he flees, he fears, he is terrified; he is frightened by its pallor, weakened by its abstinence, laid low by its infirmity: laid low, I say, by infirmity; because Christian infirmity is strength. Whence the Apostle says: When I am weak, then I am strong. But someone will ask, how can weakness be strong? Then weakness is strong, when the flesh wastes away with fastings, the soul grows fat with purity. For as much as the juice of foods is withdrawn from the one, so much is the strength of righteousness increased in the other. Then, therefore, a man is indeed weak for worldly works, but strong for divine ones; for then he thinks more of God, then he fears judgment, then he conquers the enemy.

For the Savior says of the devil: This kind is not cast out except by fasting and prayers. He says indeed that one possessed by the devil can be purged only by fastings. See, then, what the power of fasting is, how great a grace it bestows on its own man, that it should provide so great a remedy for another as well: how it sanctifies the man who is its own: that it so purifies one who is another's. For it is a marvelous thing, one fasts, and the benefit of the one fasting profits another.

3. Conquer Yourself Before You Conquer Another

Therefore, brothers, let us by no means lay down the arms of abstinence, and let us take care to keep the forty days' fasts without interruption. For this is the perfect number for conquering; for the Lord overcame the devil after he had fasted forty days, not because he could not have conquered him even before the fasting; but that he might show us that we can be victors over the devil then, when for forty days we shall have been victors over carnal desires by fasting: and that he too who has violated this consecrated number by intemperance of gluttony, being as it were weak and wretched, can easily be overcome by the enemy. For how can one conquer the wickedness of the devil in another, who does not conquer intemperance of gluttony in himself? First, then, O man, be victor over yourself, that you may be able to be victor over another.

For there are within you enemies of your own, who daily assail you; for behold, avarice ensnares you with ambition for riches, luxury captivates you with the sweetness of feasts, heresy perverts you with the falsehood of knowledge. Conquer, therefore, your own enemies, that you may be able to conquer those of others.

4. Violating the Lenten Fast Is No Light Sin

For it is not, brothers, a light sin, to violate the Lent enjoined by the Lord upon the faithful, and to dissolve the consecrated fasts by the voracity of the belly. For it is written: He who says he abides in Christ ought himself also to walk just as he walked. If, then, you wish to be a Christian, you ought to walk as Christ also walked. He who had no sin fasted forty days: do you, who sin, refuse to fast forty days? He, I say, had no sin, but fasted for our sins. What kind of Christian, then, are you in your conscience, when Christ hungers for you, and you dine? When the Savior fasts for you, and you refresh yourself?

5. Saul's Fast and Jonathan's Broken Vow

Therefore, as I have said, it is no light sin to violate an appointed fast. For, to prove this briefly by examples, we read in the books of Kings that when Saul, king of Israel, was waging war against the Philistines, he proclaimed a fast for his whole army, and when all abstained, he began to fight against his adversaries. A truly good king, who conquered his enemies not so much by arms as by devotion, and fought more by religion than by weapons. When, then, Saul had proclaimed abstinence for that day to all his men, and Jonathan his son, unaware of the command, advancing victorious through the midst of the enemy's ranks, tasted a honeycomb, having dipped the tip of his sceptre in it; so great an indignation was suddenly stirred up that the victory was delayed and the divine power was offended. Finally, no end was put to the war, nor was a prophetic answer given to the king.

From this we understand that Saul was overcoming his enemies not so much by the valor of his soldiers as by their abstinence. Finally, the fault of one is imputed as cowardice to all, and by the offense of one, weakness is generated for all; for strength fails in an army where the observance of fasting fails. When Saul recognized this sin from the very offense given to the divine power, he immediately said that Jonathan must not be spared, but that the sin committed must be expiated by the shedding of his blood. See how great was the religious observance in King Saul, who wished to appease the offense of the Lord even by parricide; and how great is the guilt of a broken fast, which is punished by nothing less than the shedding of blood. And if Jonathan, not knowing that a fast had been proclaimed by his father, and having broken it, was condemned to death—what does he deserve who, knowing that a fast has been proclaimed by Christ, breaks it?

6. Shunning the Honeycomb of Worldly Pleasure

Therefore, brothers, let us keep with all observance the fast appointed to us, that we may overcome our spiritual and carnal enemies; for we have, as you know, carnal enemies also. Let us fast, then, that our army may, like Saul's, overcome and prevail over them. Nor, having set ourselves to abstinence, let us turn aside to the honeycomb; for the honeycomb is a certain pleasure of the world, or the vices, which, as it is written, delight the throat for a time, but in the end are more bitter than gall. Let us pray, then, that while we fast, that spiritual honeycomb may be granted to us by the Lord, which in eternal blessedness may grow sweet on the palate of the soul's taste for us: with his help, who lives and reigns forever and ever, amen.

1. Lenten Temptation Follows Christ's Example

We ought not, brothers, be so greatly saddened that in these days of Lent the trial of tribulation comes upon us; since we see that our Savior himself was tempted on account of this very forty days. We servants, then, ought to grieve the less, since we have the Lord's example. For where there is devotion like Christ's, there is temptation like Christ's also; for the condition of fasting imposes upon us the condition of enduring trial. We believe, moreover, that just as our Savior, when tempted, overcame the devil, so also we shall be more favored to overcome our enemies when we are afflicted; for the fasts of Christ can be tempted, but they cannot be overcome. They have hardships in their observance, but they bestow prosperity and salvation. Let us see, then, among the other temptations, by what art the devil assails the Lord.

2. The Devil's Temptation at the Temple's Pinnacle

For when the Savior stood upon the pinnacle of the temple, the devil said: If thou art the Son of God, cast thyself down, and so forth. Truly the cunning of diabolical fraud relies upon the argument of its own custom; for it always strives to cast the religious down from the higher things to the lower, and hastens to lead them away from holy and venerable actions to earthly and filthy ones; that he who stands in purity of mind on the height of the temple might cast himself into the depth of hell through the contagion of sin. For when he strives to cast the Lord down from the pinnacle of the temple, he certainly strives to remove him from the perfect practice of religion; for the pinnacle of the holy place is the perfection of the heavenly mystery.

3. The Soul's Faith as the Temple of the Lord

Rightly, moreover, is the Lord said to stand upon the pinnacle of the temple; because it is written of him: Who walketh upon the wings of the winds. For the Lord in a certain manner walks upon the wings of the winds, when he moves in swift flight over the conduct of our behavior; for good morals are wings to us, which, lifting us up from the low things of earth, bear us up to the higher things of heaven, and lead us out by a certain flight of the mind from the dark underworld, and bring us to the delights of paradise. Desiring to have the wings of such morals, the Prophet says: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest? Upon this pinnacle of the temple, then, the Savior is said to stand, that is, as it were, to abide in a certain temple of our faith; whence the Apostle says: You are the temple of the living God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you.

4. The Lord's Rebuke to the Tempter

Standing, then, in this temple and not withdrawing, the Lord rebukes the devil, saying: It is written: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God; that is, thou shalt not tempt him whom thou thinkest to be as a man to be driven down to the things below, but rather thou shalt know that he must be adored as God and Lord himself. In these days of fasting, then, we are tempted after the likeness of the Savior; for likewise also our enemies strive to cast us down from the pinnacle of the temple, that is, from the observance of Lent. For while they bring in terrors, while they lay ambushes, they desire to lead us away from the citadel of religion. But it is said to them by the Lord: You shall not tempt holy men and servants of God; for those whom you think to trample down as lowly, you will find, on the contrary, to be honored as valiant.

5. Sin as the Cause of God's Seeming Forgetfulness

For there are, as I have said, many brethren whom our enemies lead away from the perfection of religion; who, while they fear present evil, think that God is forgetful of our salvation, not knowing that God is forgetful of no one: but we ourselves make him forgetful of us when we sin. For when we do evil deeds, he turns away his face; when we speak wicked things, he stops his ear; and so God does not so much withdraw his goodness from us, as our own transgressions cast it away. For the same Lord says through the prophet to those who were placed in tribulations: Is not my hand able to deliver you? And so forth. You see, then, that sins are that which separates between God and man. Take away sins, therefore, from the midst, and you have made God near to you.

6. The Numbered Hairs and the Lost Sheep

For how, brethren, can God forget us, who in the Gospel says that even the hairs of our head are numbered by him? For if he remembers our hairs, much more does he remember our souls. For by number we recognize care and solicitude concerning us; for no one numbers except what he wishes to guard more diligently: no one numbers, except he who fears lest he suffer loss without notice. A shepherd, that he may keep his flock safe, frequently numbers it: finally the Lord, who is the good shepherd, when one little sheep out of a hundred sheep had strayed, running back to the number, carried it back on his own shoulders to the flock. To such a degree, then, is he kept in careful account who is kept in the number; so that the straying one is carried on his own shoulders, lest anything be diminished from the number.

Do not think, therefore, brethren, that he forgets even the least of anyone; for God remembers all, is mindful of all: only let it be that forgetfulness is not brought upon him by the intervention of our sins.

1. Against the False Fifty-Day Fast

Some Christians, brothers, thinking that they observe the precepts of the Godhead more religiously, having set aside the devotion of Lent, whose beginning we are now attending to, falsely claim to keep a fifty-day fast; whereas this is neither commanded by the divine writings, nor handed down by the authority of our forefathers. They do this, then, solely by presumption of mind; and while they think they act more devoutly, they conduct themselves more superstitiously. He says he observes the fifty days, who perhaps can scarcely fulfill the forty. It is good indeed to fast at all times, but it is better to fast the forty days with Christ; for this Lent the Lord has consecrated for us by his own fast. I say "fast," not "fasts"; for the Lord's fast was one, because for forty continuous days and nights he took no food at all.

2. The Guilt of Breaking the Lenten Fast

Whoever, therefore, being a Christian, has not fulfilled by fasting the consecrated Lent, shall be held guilty of transgression and obstinacy, because by eating he himself annuls the law given by divine authority for his own salvation. For you annul the law, if you do not keep the example of the Lord's fast. What kind of Christian are you, when, the Lord fasting, you dine? What kind of Christian are you, when, Christ hungering, you refresh yourself? He endures hunger for your salvation, and do you dread to fast for your own sins? Tell me, I ask you who dine during Lent, whether you are not aware in your consciences that, while the whole people abstains, you alone devour food against the Lord's precept? Whether you do not blush when you go out in public, lest anyone who is fasting should meet you: or whether you do not consider, when you go up to the church, how you shall give the kiss of peace to the bishop; lest perhaps your very eyes, by that same spirit, condemn you!

But if perhaps you do not consider these things, perhaps you err most gravely; for you ought to know that when one who has dined meets a fasting man in the days of Lent, he who fasts does not judge well of him.

3. Against Partial Observance of Lent

I say this, indeed, because I hear that a great many—which is more grave—of the faithful abstain during alternate weeks in Lent, and violate that consecrated number of days by intemperance of gluttony; that is, they dine for the course of seven days, and fast for the space of seven days. To these I say: why do they, even during those seven days, cheat themselves by fasting, since to them such a fast profits nothing? For although one abstain on certain days, although he does not take the sweeter foods; yet the fast of Lent is not credited to him who does not fast for forty days. It is shameful to say: old men and old women keep Lent; young men and young women do not. Let us, therefore, celebrate this most sacred time with all solicitude; let not a day pass us without fasting, let not a single week go by without vigils. For he keeps Lent who, by fasting and keeping vigil, ascends to Easter.

For just as, in the rest of the year, to fast is a reward, so in Lent not to fast is a sin; for those other fasts are voluntary, these are necessary: those come from choice, these from law: to those we are invited, to these we are compelled.

4. The Flood of Noah and the Mystery of Forty Days

But let us see whence this most sacred number of forty days began to have its origin. We read first in the Old Testament, in the days of Noah, when wicked iniquity had taken hold of the whole race of men, that with the floodgates of heaven laid open, rains of waters poured down for that number of days, and that by a certain mystery of the forty, a flood having been made upon the whole world, it was not so much a deluge as a baptism that occurred. It was indeed a baptism, by which iniquity was taken away in sinners, and the righteousness of Noah preserved.

So, then, in like manner the Lord has now given us Lent after the pattern of that time; that with the number of days appointed, the heavens being opened, the rain of heavenly mercy might sprinkle us, and, a flood being made, the shower of the saving font through baptism might enlighten us: and as then was done by the floods of waters, so now might the iniquity of sins be extinguished in us, and the righteousness of virtues be preserved. For the same reasoning that held under Noah applies now also; for baptism is a flood to the sinner, a consecration to the faithful.

For through the Lord's washing righteousness is saved, unrighteousness is put to death: which we see accomplished in one and the same man, the apostle Paul, who, before he was washed by spiritual precepts, was a blasphemer, a persecutor, and Saul: but when the rain of the heavenly washing flowed over him, the blasphemer is put to death, the persecutor is put to death, Saul is put to death; the apostle is brought to life, the just man is brought to life, and Paul also is brought to life. To such a degree, moreover, did he lose the old man with his deeds, that with his manner of life he changed even his name. Whoever, then, in this devotion of Lent shall keep the Lord's commandments, in him diabolical impiety will be put to death, but apostolic grace will be preserved; and, succeeding as it were to himself, he dies as regards that part in which he is a sinner; he is brought to life as regards that part in which he is just.

5. Moses and the Manna of Forty Years

Let us see also whether elsewhere in the Scriptures we can find this mystical number of forty. We read that holy Moses, over the course of forty years in the desert, nourished the children of Israel with heavenly manna. A good number, then, which always opens heaven: a good number, I say, by which the righteousness of Noah was saved, and the children of Israel were fed. Whence let us also observe this number, that the heavens may be opened for us, so that both the rain of spiritual grace may sprinkle us, and the manna of the spiritual sacraments may refresh us; for after the pattern of our fathers, by this observance of Lent we are both justified and fed: justified by the washing, fed by the sacraments.

6. The Israelites' Abstinence and the Rotten Manna

But someone will say that the sons of Israel in the wilderness, when they were satisfied with manna, did not fast at all. But I say that they were then engaged in nothing but abstinence, and therefore merited the grace of heavenly nourishment: first, because the whole desert is a fast; because the anxiety of solitude repels the desire for food: then in the wilderness whence came sumptuous feasts? Whence costly wines? Whence, in the space of forty years, any provision whatsoever? We understand therefore that the sons of Israel fasted; because we know that they lacked abundance of food, and took nourishment only when it pleased the Lord to bestow it. Now he fasts long enough who refreshes himself according to the will of Christ.

Indeed the abstinence of the sons of Israel in the desert pleased the Savior to such a degree, that the intemperance of some among them was even noted; so that whoever more greedily gathered for himself a double portion of manna found it rotten and swarming with worms, as happens to those who do not observe a fast. He would be struck by this punishment, so that he would be found to have kept for himself not so much food as worms: namely, that because he had desired more than a measured refreshment, he might be goaded, as if by certain stings of conscience, in the manner of worms.

7. Keeping the Desert in the Mind During Lent

Therefore let us too, brothers, observing the daily and moderate fasts of Lent, and as though placed in the wilderness, think of none of the delights of the world, let no sweetness of bodily desires solicit us. Let us be sober, let us be chaste; though indeed having our manner of life in cities, let us possess the desert in our mind. If we act thus abstinently, it will come to pass that we are refreshed with the nourishment of heavenly manna, and are pricked by no stings of worms.

1. The Terrors of the Day of Judgment

How fearful, dearest brothers, is that day of judgment, in which our Lord Jesus Christ, the redeemer of all, has proposed to come with a flame of fire, which shall consume his adversaries, and those who do iniquity! On that day all the tribes of the earth shall mourn. And they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with great power and exalted majesty: and all the ends of the earth shall be shaken before him, and sinners shall perish in it: and heaven shall be folded up, and the sea shall dry up, and the mountains shall burn like wax even unto the depths below: and the sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: and then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven, which shall be the cross of Christ our Lord, in whose light the lights of the whole world shall grow dark.

Then the saints shall be caught up to meet Christ in the air, and so shall always be with the Lord: but sinners shall be confounded and shall perish. And then our Lord Jesus Christ will send his angels to the four corners of the earth, and they shall gather his elect from the height of the heavens to their utmost bounds; and then the Lord shall separate his saints from the midst of sinners, and shall send them into the heavenly dwellings: but sinners shall be sent into the furnace of fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Woe to those men, who shall have their dwelling with the devil; for the smoke of their torments shall ascend for ever and ever: whose worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched.

Among them there is no voice but groaning, no rest but fire, no refreshment but flame, no light ever but darkness: and such men shall never come into remembrance before God, whose food is torment, and whose dwelling shall be with the devil, where there is no sweetness but stench.

2. An Exhortation to Amend While Time Remains

O man, who desirest to possess the kingdom of God, whatever evil thou hast done, amend it while thou canst: while thou hast time, cry out to almighty God: while thou hast time for mourning, while thy soul still dwells in thy body, while thou still livest, acquire for thyself a remedy for the future, before the snare of punishments swallows thee down into the depth of death, before hell seizes thee; where there is no indulgence, where there is no return to confession, where there is no way back to pardon.

3. The Duty of Paying Tithes

And let us, dearest brothers, perform true penitence, that the Lord may deign to snatch us from that punishment which we have spoken of above. It does not suffice us to bear the Christian name, if we do not do Christian works: the Lord commands that our tithes be paid out each year from all crops, cattle, and other goods. It is also written: Give tithes of all your labor, and of all your cattle, and I will open unto you the floodgates of heaven, and your harvests shall be multiplied, and your vintages shall be to you in abundance, and moreover health in your houses. But if you do not give tithes, says the Lord, I will send hail and frost and storms upon you, and I will take away all your labor. Nine parts have been granted to you, but you who were unwilling to give the tenth shall return to the tenth alone: moreover, mortalities shall come upon your houses.

Offer first to the Church a portion of the wheat, wine, and oil; the remainder you ought to divide among the blind, the lame, the weak, lepers, and orphans, and widows, pilgrims and strangers. Do likewise with all your livestock, with all your produce. As often as you make new bread from your harvest, bring it first to the Church for a blessing: the rest, however, you may keep for yourself and your household: do likewise with the grape, and with all your labor.

4. Proper Conduct and Silence in Church

Standing in the church, do not make noise, but listen diligently to the divine readings. He who makes a disturbance in the church with idle words, with clamorous laughter, with unseemly wandering about, shall render account both for himself and for others on the day of judgment; because he neither hears the Word of God himself, nor allows others to hear it. When you come to the church, do not quarrel; do not speak, hear, or judge vain causes; do not brawl, or jest, or relate other people's stories; because for those who do such things, prayers vanish without fruit: indeed, they come to the Church with small sin, and depart from the Church with many sins, to whom that saying of the Prophet fits well, in warning: Man is become like vanity, his days pass away like a shadow.

5. Unjust Judges and the Vanity of Riches

But let judges who hear cases judge justly, and not take bribes against the innocent; lest perhaps while they gain money, they lose their soul. For no one has unjust gain without just loss: where there is gain, there too is loss: gain in the barn, but loss in the soul. Tell me, where are the kings, where are the princes, where are the rich? Where is their gold and their ornament? All have passed away like a shadow. Their gold and silver and ornaments have remained in the world, and they themselves are tormented without end in hell, where their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched, because it is written: The mighty shall suffer torments mightily. There they shall have a dark life and a gloomy dwelling forever: there the wretched with the wretched, the proud with the proud, murderers with murderers, adulterers with adulterers, the unjust with the unjust, the false with the false, the sacrilegious with the sacrilegious, all together are tormented in hell without end.

6. Against Idolatry and Divination

Believe me firmly, brothers, that no one has a worse fault than he who, blaspheming and forsaking God, worships idols: nor can there be a worse dissolution among the people, than that sacrifice be offered to demons, and the Catholic Church be forsaken: and he who despairs of the Lord's mercy, and does not believe in the resurrection: and those who follow augurs, or fortune-tellers, or haruspices, diviners and enchanters, and those who trust in phylacteries and charms, or sneezes, birds singing, divinations, or astrologers, or any other evil arts whatsoever, shall be condemned.

7. Against Dancing and Lewd Songs at Saints' Feasts

All these unhappy and wretched people, who lead dances even before the very basilicas of the saints, and on the very feast days of the saints lead choruses, uttering with their tongue lascivious or shameful songs. Wherefore, whence they ought to have praised God and merited reward, from that very thing they acquire damnation for themselves: and just as Christians they come to the Church, so as pagans they return from the Church.

8. Against Abortion and Infanticide

Let no woman procure an abortion by a potion, or kill her conceived offspring. The woman who has committed this iniquity, for as many children as she might have borne, shall be guilty of that many homicides, and shall render account on the day of judgment. Whoever is found guilty of such evils has lost the merit of baptism before God and his angels.

9. The Narrow Way to Eternal Life

We bear witness to you before Christ our Lord, that he who has done evil, unless he has performed true penance, has given righteous alms, and unless death finds him in good works, that he shall never possess eternal life, but shall descend with the devil into hell; for narrow and strait is the way that leads to life. And therefore not only for fear of judgment, but for love of God, and the joys of eternal life, one ought to abstain from every vice and evil, and place one's hope in God at every hour.

10. The Serpent's Poison and Approaching the Altar

When the serpent comes to drink water, before it drinks, it vomits out its poison outside the spring, and afterward drinks; so also we, when we approach to communicate at the altar of the Lord, let us lay aside the most wicked poison: that is, wrath, hatred, envy, falsehood, iniquity, avarice, cupidity, pride, sacrilege, theft, luxury, false witness, discord, perjury: these are the poisons of souls. Let us first drive these away from us, and thus be satisfied at the altar of the Lord with his body and blood. Let us cleanse our hearts and bodies from every evil vice; that with a chaste body, and a clean heart, and with a secure conscience, we may be able to approach the altar of the Lord. Also throughout all the feast days, with the Lord's help, preserve chastity; that our solemnities may find us chaste and just.

11. A Prayer for Virtues and Works of Mercy

We ask the Lord to send you the heavenly medicine, that is, chastity, charity, joy, patience, long-suffering, faith, gentleness, continence, and mercy. And let us, dearest brothers, not cease to do good, to fast, to do penance, to give alms, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick, to gather in guests, and to feed the poor, to serve the Churches of God, to guard the holy Scriptures, to love the servants of God, to place our hope in God at every hour, not to carry through anger, not to hold onto the time of wrath, not to give a false peace, not to abandon charity, not to swear at all, lest perhaps we should perjure ourselves. Whatsoever you wish that men should do to you, do you also to them likewise. But he who shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved.

12. A Closing Exhortation to the Brothers

But you, dearest brothers, that you may consider your peril, we admonish with paternal charity. If you hear us gladly, you will procure for yourselves eternal life, and for us everlasting joy in the kingdom of heaven, to which may we deserve to come happily, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever, amen.

1. The Power and Necessity of Confession

Behold, now the time is at hand, in which there was also sin: Behold, now is the acceptable time, as we read on the previous Sunday. Your sins, confess to God and to the priest, and through fasts and prayers and tears and alms you ought to blot them out. Why does the sinner blush to manifest his sins, which are known and manifest both to God and to all the angels, and to all the elect souls? Confession frees the soul from death, confession opens paradise, confession bestows hope of salvation. Whence the Scripture says: Declare thou thy iniquities first, that thou mayest be justified. Herein it is shown by these words that he does not deserve to be justified, who in his life is unwilling to confess his sins. But that confession which is not made with penitence does not free one. True penitence is sorrow of heart, and bitterness of soul for the evils which each one has committed. Penitence is both to bewail past evils, and not to commit again those things which must be bewailed.

2. Amendment of Life and Faithful Tithing

And although all the days in which men live are suited to penitence, yet these days are more suited and fitting for confession, and for fasting, and for giving alms: since in these days you can wash away the sins of the whole year. Therefore I admonish all, and exhort each one, that whatever you recognize in yourselves as reprehensible, you amend. Whoever recognizes in himself what does not befit a believer, let him amend it: what he has done insufficiently, if he has not faithfully given tithes. What is it to give tithes faithfully, except that one should never offer to God either worse or less, whether from his grain, or from his wine, or from the fruits of trees, or from his flocks, or from his garden, or from his business dealings, or from his very hunting? For out of all the substance which God gives to man, He has kept for Himself the tenth part; and therefore it is not lawful for man to keep for himself that which God has reserved for Himself.

He has given you nine parts, but has reserved for Himself the tenth part: and if you do not give God the tenth part, God will take from you the nine parts. Likewise, if anyone recognizes in himself that he has unjustly taken something from someone, let him amend it by restoring what he unjustly took. For he who does not wish to render to God the tithes which he has withheld, and does not take care to restore to man what he has unjustly taken from him, does not yet fear God, and is ignorant of what true penitence and true confession are.

3. Almsgiving as a Remedy for Sin

Such a man cannot give a good alms. It is good, therefore, brethren, that you render to God what is His, and to your neighbor what was his; so that by giving alms from your just labors you may be able to redeem your sins, according to what is written: As water extinguishes fire, so alms extinguishes sin. And you ought to do this, because each one ought to give to those in need according to what he has: that is, he who has much ought to give much, and he who has little ought to give little, according to what holy Tobias taught his son to do.

Christians also ought to give alms with great zeal and with immense eagerness; that they may deserve to hear from the Lord on the day of judgment: I was hungry, and you gave me to eat: I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink: I was a stranger, and you took me in: I was naked, and you clothed me: I was sick, and you visited me: I was in prison, and you came to me. Come, therefore, you blessed of my Father. If you do not do these works of mercy which I have just mentioned, you will hear on the day of judgment: Depart into everlasting fire.

4. The Obligation to Fast Until the Ninth Hour

Now since such days are these, I do not dare fail to mention what danger and great evil is in this people: for if you do these things, He will say to you: Come, blessed of my Father. What kind of Christian is he who at such a time does not fast, at least until the ninth hour? Behold, the Ninevites made even their infants at the breast, and their flocks and beasts of burden, fast, so that they might escape the danger of death. What sort of Christians, then, can they be who, though they are healthy, are unwilling to fast with Moses, and Elijah, and our Saviour? For they are accustomed to say: we cannot both labor and fast. But they cannot for this reason: because they will not. Let them at least labor less, so that they may be able to fast.

I admonish you, therefore, and I bear witness to you in the Lord, that none of you, unless perhaps he is sick, or an infant, eat or drink before the ninth hour until Easter, except on the Lord's days.

5. Daily Attendance at Mass and the Morning Office

I also admonish that whoever is near the Church, and can come, should hear Mass daily: and whoever can, should come to the morning office every night. But those who dwell far from the Church should strive to come to the morning office every Lord's day: that is, men, and women, and youths, and the elderly, except the infirm; yet let one or two remain, who may guard the house.

6. Marital Continence and Weekly Communion

Let no one whatsoever be joined to his wife before the octave of Easter. Whoever holds anger or hatred against another, let him forgive him from his whole heart, if he desires to be saved: and except for those to whom the priest gives counsel that they should not communicate, all Christians ought to make offering and communicate every Lord's day. But in Lent I admonish that you offer and communicate every day, or at least, as I have said, every Lord's day. And therefore lead a pure and clean life, that you may be worthy to approach the holy communion. And you ought to know this, that whatever you withhold from the body in fasting, you ought to give all of it to the poor, not keep it for yourselves.

7. A Closing Prayer for Perseverance

May Almighty God grant that you retain these things that have been said, and fulfill them in deed; that after the end of this life, and after the term of labor, you may be able to arrive at eternal rest: by the gift of Him who both created you, and willed to redeem you at the price of His blood: who lives and reigns through infinite ages of ages. Amen.

2. The Marks of False Penance

So also you, O Christian, whom I know to be proud, you claim to be doing penance, and yet you seek out the devil's works, and pass over the Lord's precepts. I desire to know from you for what you are doing penance; I do not know what your penance is. Do you claim to be doing penance, you who, girded about with injustice, have put on pride over it as well? Do you claim to be doing penance, you who pursue another's flesh? Thus you wear yourself out: you have returned like a dog to its vomit, or like a sow, affected by heat, wallowing in the mire of the earth. What your penance is, I do not find: I have gone about and walked through the place of penance, and I have not found your penance.

You who had destroyed the world, are found in the very same place: you who had laid down the pride of the flesh, again bow your shoulder, that you may carry a heavier burden: you who had turned your back on avarice, again go to meet it: you who had given a bill of divorce to vanity, again return to its favor: you who had fled the pomps of the world, have again fallen into its hands. You walk lifted up, without a neck. Do you not know it is written: What has pride profited us, and what have riches with boasting brought us? And it follows: All those things have passed away like a shadow. You found yourself faithful and clean, you who had been renewed through the water of baptism, as it is written: Wash yourselves, be clean, take away wickedness from your souls. The prophet exhorts those to washing; but you, when you were clean, have become filthy, and cannot be washed a second time.

3. Almsgiving, Humility, and the Prodigal Son

But if you wish to be cleansed again, give alms, and all things are clean to you. For those needing cleansing, alms is good, which purges all filth. But humble yourself in all things, and before God you will find grace: Be subject to God, and beseech the Lord; and: Do not envy, so as to act wickedly; since those who act wickedly shall be destroyed. Pray to the Lord daily with tears, if perhaps your sins may be loosed; since God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Remember the son placed in a far country, who by living luxuriously wasted his substance with harlots; afterward, having become humble, and having returned to his heart, saying: How many hired servants in my father's house have abundance of bread, while I here perish with hunger? I will rise, therefore, and go to my father, and I will say: Make me as one of your hired servants.

Coming to his father, and prostrating himself before him, he was joyfully received by him; indeed he killed for him the fatted calf.

4. Christ the Fatted Calf Slain for Sinners

Remember, then, that for you too Christ was slain, who beforetime was the fatted calf. But since his other son was grieved because Christ, who beforetime was the fatted calf, was slain, the father answered, saying: Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours: but it was fitting to rejoice, because this my son had been dead, and is come to life again: he was lost, and is found. O how blessed the people for whom Christ is slain! What joy the Father bears, when that which had been dead comes to life again, and that which had been lost is found! To whom it is then said, as it is written: Behold, you are made whole, now sin no more, lest something worse befall you.

5. The Lost Sheep and Lost Drachma as Figures of Penance

Consider, then, whence you had fallen, and weep, do penance: otherwise, the Lord will come to you quickly, and will move your candlestick out of its place. Remember, son, that Christ left the ninety-nine just, sought out the sinful man, and having found him in the pathless place, carried him back on his shoulders: or that woman, that is, the Church, who had lost a drachma, that is, the sinful man, lit a lamp, that is, Christ who is the light of righteousness: and having found it in the dust, called together her friends and neighbors of the Church; that they might rejoice with her over the sinful man found: and having raised him up from the dung, set him with the princes of his people, that is, with the apostles and prophets. Behold what penance does for the sinful man, who, while lying in the dung, is exalted with princes.

6. Marks of True Penitence

I call that man penitent who mourns that he has sinned, and asks the Lord that he may not do again what he had committed. I call that man penitent who groans by day and by night, and says with the Prophet: Every night I will wash my bed with my tears. I call that man penitent who rejects what he had done ill, and asks the Lord that he may obtain pardon. I call that man penitent who does not go after his concupiscence, and deprives himself of his pleasures. I call that man penitent who loves what before he neglected, and abandons what evil he had done. Let, therefore, the good things cling to you, and let the evil things be blotted out.

7. The Peril of Delaying Repentance

If you do not do penance, you will fall into the hands of the Lord according to the severity of His judgment, which we ought to guard against; for the Apostle says: It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Turn away, therefore, from evil, and do good: seek peace, and pursue it, as it is written. Say, then: I have committed evils, and I have done good anew. Also bring forth fruits worthy of penance, and do not say: I have sinned, and what sad thing has happened to me? and do not add sin upon sin; and do not say: The mercy of God is great; for know that mercy and wrath are from Him. Return, therefore, to the Lord, and weep. Say, moreover: Against You only have I sinned, and done evil before You, and: Remember not, O Lord, the sins of my youth, and my ignorances, and: Turn not away Your face from me, do not turn away in anger from Your servant.

Behold the penance of a man humbling himself: how shall he not obtain pardon, who groans in this way? Who will hear him, and not be moved? For he who humbles himself shall be exalted; just as he who exalts himself shall be humbled. For it is written: Why do you glory in malice, you who are mighty in iniquity?

8. Rebuke of Vows to Repent Left Unfulfilled

You have promised to do penance, and do you still perform the works of the flesh? Do you not know that it is written: It is much better not to vow, than to vow and not fulfill it? Sin does not cease to dominate you; and you say that you repent, and that you pray. Do you not know what is written: But to the sinner God said: Why do you declare my righteousness, and take my covenant in your mouth? Behold what a threat of the Lord against every sinner. What do you say, you who claim to be penitent? Where is your penance? It has been shut out by the heat of pride: while you strive to follow the desires of the flesh, you pass over the Lord. Hear, then, son, draw back your foot from the world, which you had long ago renounced, that you may henceforth be found faithful. What do you seek from the world, to which you have already renounced?

Do penance, then, for all the pomp of iniquity: take hold of the faith, which you had before defiled; because you had consented to the devil of darkness, and had left behind your back the Lord, who is light.

9. Mercy Not Sacrifice and the Reward of Penance

Remember, my son, that it is written: What means, I desire mercy, and not sacrifice (Osee vi, 6)?

The Lord will have mercy on you, if when you have read all these things you shall do them; that through your obedience and humility you may obtain grace: if you shall do penance with your whole heart, if you shall have the Lord before your eyes; if, the whirlpool of the poisoned cup being cast aside, you receive the cup of salvation; if day and night you meditate on the law of the Lord, if you cast all your care upon him, then you shall rejoice and exult in the Lord, because you have overcome the wicked one: then shall your reward be in heaven, because you have so labored: then the Lord shall be your helper in the day of judgment: then you shall stand in great confidence, then you shall stand at the right hand of God with his saints, and it shall be said to you: Come, ye blessed of my Father; receive the everlasting kingdom, which my heavenly Father has prepared for you.

But to the unjust and to sinners it shall be said: Depart into everlasting fire, which the Father has prepared for the devil, your father. Then shall the wicked go into everlasting fire, but the just into life everlasting; unto which may our Lord Jesus Christ bring us, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever, amen.

1. The Forty Days Kept in the Desert for Our Salvation

Your charity ought to remember that on the previous Sunday I preached here, and gave the reason why the Lord fasted forty days, or why he spent the fasts in the desert. For we said that he observed all these things, not for the sake of his own justification, since he was in every way pure, but for the sake of our salvation; that those whose generation had sinned through intemperance might be healed through abstinence.

2. The Devil's First Temptation to Turn Stone to Bread

Let us see, then, what took place at that time, or in that very solitude; for the evangelist says that the devil was there, and that the Savior was tempted by his cunning. For the sacred reading says that the Lord hungered, and that the devil said to him: If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. Behold the art of the Lord, by which he circumvented the adversary by a stratagem. After many fasts he pretends that he hungers, so that he might again provoke by hunger the devil whom he had already conquered by fasting; for he gave him, as it were, hope of engaging in combat from the weakness of famine, so that while he engages as against a weak one, he might be gloriously overcome. For this is the true victory, that he who had overturned Adam, immortal, glorious, and feasting, should now be conquered by a mortal, humble, and hungering man.

For seeing the Lord hungering, the devil thinks him a man, doubts he is the Savior; and therefore he says: If you are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread. O wretched and last resort of Satan's combat! The devil in the desert of temptation finds not his accustomed weapons: he lacks the pleasantness of the trees of paradise, he lacks Eve as counselor, he lacks the beautiful deception of the fruits; and because he finds no food to offer to the hungering one, he demands that stones be changed into food.

3. The Devil's Cunning Recalling Water from the Rock

Shut out on every side, defrauded on every side, he betakes himself to the very pavements; for he shows clearly enough that the vastness of the wilderness resisted him, since he thinks that even the elements can be changed on account of the want of resources. He demands, then, that stones be changed into bread. Crafty and cunning, he knows what he asks, he knows that what he says has already been done; for he remembers that in the Old Testament water flowed from a rock for the thirsty, and he wishes here also that food be furnished from a stone to the hungering one; for he recalls there the hardness of the rock dissolved into the flow of fountains, and he desires here also that the roughness of the stone be transformed into the sweetness of bread. For he suspected that he himself was the Christ, who was accustomed to work these things out of the nature of stones, as the apostle Paul says: They drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

He suspected, I say, that he himself was the Christ, when he demanded that he make bread from stone; but he thought him only a man, when he saw him hungering.

4. Man Does Not Live by Bread Alone

But the Savior condemns his cunning with a marvelous reply: he does not do what the devil says, lest he should seem to declare the glory of his power at the will of the adversary; nor yet does he reply that it cannot be done, since he could not deny what he had often already done. Therefore he neither yields to the one asking, nor denies the one testing him; and thereby he both reserves the power of his own virtue to his own will, and refutes the cunning of the adversary with divine eloquence. He answered him therefore: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God; that is, not by earthly bread, not by material food, by which you deceived Adam the first man; but by the word of God, in which are the sustenances of heavenly life. But the word of God is Christ the Lord, as the evangelist says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.

Whoever, therefore, is fed by the word of Christ, does not require earthly nourishment; nor indeed can he desire the bread of this world, who is refreshed by the bread of the Savior. For the Lord has his own bread; nay rather the Savior himself is bread, as he taught, saying: I am the bread who came down from heaven. Of which bread the Prophet says: And bread strengthens man's heart.

5. Food as the Ruin of Adam Esau and Judas

What then is that bread to me, which the devil offers, when I have the bread which Christ imparts? What is that food to me, on account of which I remember the first-formed man cast down, on account of which I saw Esau defrauded of his birthright, Judas Iscariot marked with the crime of betrayal? For Adam lost paradise through food, Esau lost the honor of primacy through lentils, Judas laid down the sublimity of the apostolate through a morsel; for from the time he took the morsel, he ceased to be an apostle, and began to be a traitor. For thus you have it written, the Lord saying: He to whom I shall give the dipped bread, he shall betray me. And immediately after the morsel Satan entered into him. Not good is that food, after which the Lord is denied, after which the enemy enters in; not good is that food, after which Christ is rejected, and Antichrist is devoured. Not good is that food which lacks blessing, and is filled with cursing.

That food, then, is necessary for us, which affords life, which feeds the soul; after which Christ follows, and the enemy is shut out. That food we ought to receive, which the Savior, not the devil, follows after; which by the partaking of itself makes a confessor, not a betrayer.

6. The Word of God as True Nourishment in Fasting

How well, moreover, did he say at the time of fastings that the Word of God is that which refreshes! That he might show that our fasts ought not to be occupied with the affairs of this world, but exercised in the sacred letters. For he neglects the hunger of the body, who attends to the nourishment of reading; nor can he have care for the belly, who acquires the sustenance of the heavenly word. For that is the true refreshment, which fattens the soul, which enriches the inward parts, when we receive from the divine Scriptures the food of everlasting speech. That is the food which bestows eternal life, and shuts out from us the snares of diabolical temptation. And that the reading of the sacred letters is life, the Lord bears witness, saying: The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

1. The Forty Days of Lent Established by Divine Authority

Preaching some days ago on the devotion of holy Lent, we brought forward examples from the sacred letters, by which we might prove that this number of forty was not established by men, but consecrated by divine authority; and was not found by earthly reasoning, but commanded by heavenly majesty. And therefore he who by eating on a single day passes over the appointed number, is not accused as the violator of one day only, but is charged as the transgressor of the whole Lent. Whence it is good for a man to fast without labor unto the (appointed) day, and to obtain equally the holiness of the whole Lent. But these are not so much the precepts of priests, as of God. And therefore he who despises these, does not despise the priest, but Christ, who speaks in his priest.

2. Lent Compared to the Thawing of Earth and Waters

Let us see, then, at what time the Lord enjoined this observance upon us, whether it be not that through this devotion he willed all the elements to have profit. For behold, as in the said Lent, the earth, bound by the winter frost, is loosed, and the flowing of the waters, the ice being melted, receives back its own channels; so also at this same time the sins of our bodies, contracted by wickedness, are loosed, and the purer course of our life, the rigor of the devil being melted, recognizes its former channel. The earth, I say, in the said Lent lays aside the harshness of winter, I in the said Lent cast off the harshness of my sins. That earth is cut open by plows, that it may be fit for worldly crops: my earth is plowed up by fastings, that it may be apt for heavenly seeds.

For as he receives a more abundant return, who works the field more frequently by tilling it; so also he receives greater grace, who works the field of his own body more often by fasting.

3. The Growing Season as a Figure of Lenten Renewal

For behold, in the time of abstinence, the blade of the crops revives into harvest, the shoot of the tree strives into a sapling, the vine-branch buds into a bloom, and all things raise themselves from lower to higher: so at this same time the half-dead hope of men revives for the time to come, lost faith is repaired unto glory, temporal life advances into eternal; and the whole human race, raising itself toward heavenly things, rises from the lowest to the higher. Just as now the husbandman, bearing iron, prunes the branches of the vineyards; so also now the bishop, handling the Gospel, cuts away the filth of the peoples, and in this course of forty days all creatures do this, that, the superfluities being laid aside, they may come forth adorned and arrayed at Easter.

4. Thorns Turned to Roses through Fasting

Now all things are in labor, that then they may be found in fruit; for then, contrary to the appearance of nature, the thorn brings forth the rose, the reed is fragrant with the lily, dry twigs give forth sweetness: and thus all things are adorned with flowers, so that creation itself is believed to celebrate the festivity of the great day by its own brightness. Let us, then, also at this same time of fasting bring forth roses from our thorns, that is, justice from sins, mercy from severity, generosity from avarice. For these are the thorns of our body, which choke the soul, of which Scripture says: Thorns and thistles shall the earth bring forth to you; for my earth brings forth thorns to me, if it pricks me with the titillation of bodily lust: it generates thistles for me, when it tortures me with the desire of worldly riches.

For to a Christian the thorn is the root of his own avarice: to a good man the thorn is ambition for honor; for they seem in appearance pleasing to those who hold them, but they wound.

5. The Flowers of Chastity Humility and Moderation

These, then, we cannot be rid of, save by watching and fasting; nay rather, through abstinence these very thorns will be turned into the rose. For by fasting, lust produces chastity, pride humility, drunkenness moderation; for these are the flowers of our life, which give a sweet fragrance to Christ, which breathe a good odor to God. Whence the Apostle says: Because we are the good odor of Christ to God. This Lent, then, the Lord has granted to us, that in the space of this time, after the manner of all creation, we may now conceive the seeds of the virtues, so that on the day of Easter we may bring forth the fruit of justice.

6. Christ's Fasting and the Flower from the Root of Jesse

But the Lord Christ himself exercised this number of forty, not that he himself might receive profit, but that he might show to us the profit of salvation. For in him there was no thorn of sin, to be turned into a flower; for he himself was a flower born not of a thorn, but of a rod, as the prophet says: There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root; for Mary was the rod, bright, slender, and virgin, who by the integrity of her body brought forth Christ as a flower.

7. Christ's Hunger for the Salvation of Souls

Through forty continuous days and nights, then, the Lord kept these fasts without hungering: but the evangelist says that he hungered afterward. How then can it be, that he who through so many days felt neither hunger nor thirst, hungered afterward? He hungered plainly, nor can we deny that he hungered; for he hungered not for the food of men, but for salvation: nor did he desire the banquets of worldly foods, but he desired the holiness of heavenly souls. For the food of Christ is the redemption of peoples: the food of Christ is the accomplishment of the Father's will, as he himself says: My food is to do the will of my Father, who sent me. Whence let us also hunger for that food, not which is prepared with earthly banquets, but which is gathered from the reading of the divine Scriptures; for the one nourishes the body for a time, but the other refreshes the soul forever.

1. Thanksgiving at the Middle of Lent

Give thanks, brethren, to the divine goodness, which has brought you safe to the middle of Lent. Those indeed can praise God more sweetly and more devoutly for this gift, who, just as they learned at the beginning of Lent, have striven to live anew up to this present, that is, who have taken care daily, by fasting, by giving alms, and by hastening to the Church with tears and sighs, to pray for the remission of their sins.

2. A Call Back to Those Who Neglected Lent

But those who have neglected these things, that is, who have neither fasted daily, nor given alms, nor been diligent or compunctious in prayer; have nothing whence to rejoice, but rather, wretched as they are, have cause to mourn. Yet let them not mourn in such a way as to despair; for he who was able to give light to one blind from birth, can also make these, though now lukewarm and negligent, diligent and fervent in his service, if they be willing to turn to him with their whole heart. Let such, therefore, that is, those living uncleanly, or keeping hatred in their heart against someone, or unjustly seizing the goods of others, or retaining their own possessions inordinately, acknowledge their blindness, and hasten back to the physician that they may be given light.

3. Spiritual Medicine Compared to Bodily Healing

Would that you sought spiritual medicine when you sin, just as you seek bodily medicine when you are ill in body. Who is there now, in so great a multitude, who, if he were bound not to be killed but only to lose his eyes, would not give all that he possessed that he might escape the danger? And if you so fear the death of the flesh, why do you not fear the death of the soul; especially since the pain of death, that is, of the flesh, lasts but a single hour, while the death of the soul, that is, mourning and punishment, has never an end? And if you so love the eyes of the body, which by dying quickly you lose, why do you not love the spiritual eyes, by which you may be able to see your God and Lord without end?

4. Working While It Is Day

Work therefore, beloved sons in the Lord, work while it is day; for as Christ our Lord says: The night comes, in which no one can work. The day is the present life, the night is death, and the time after death. If after this life there is no license for working, as the Truth says, why does not each one labor while he has time, that is, while he lives in this world? Fear that death, brethren, of which the Savior says: The night comes, in which no one can work. All who work evil do not fear that death, and for this reason, departing from this life, they find everlasting death. Labor while you live, but especially in these days, fasting from delicate foods, and at all times abstaining from vices. For indeed those who fast from food, and do not abstain from evil, are like the devil, who eats nothing, and yet never ceases from evil. Finally, know that what you withhold from yourselves by fasting, you ought to send on to heaven through the poor.

5. The Warning Against the Curse of the Jews

Fulfil in deed, brethren, the admonition of today's sermon; lest the curse of the Jews come upon you. For they said to the blind man: Be thou his disciple. What is it to be a disciple of Christ, but to be a disciple of piety and truth and humility? They said this with intent to curse; but great is the blessing which he himself may grant you to obtain, who lives and reigns through infinite ages of ages.

1. True Sonship Shown by Works Not Descent

Know, brethren, that whosoever does the works of another is called that one's son. Whence also the Jews, when they had said that their father was Abraham, heard from the Lord, as is read before the words of the Gospel which you have just heard: If you are children of Abraham, do the works of Abraham. And when they had said again that they had God for their Father, they heard: If God were your Father, you would surely love me.

2. The Devil as Father of the Wicked

By these words it is most plainly shown that the wicked and covetous are sons neither of Abraham nor of God. For whose sons they are, the following words make clear; for he says: You are of your father the devil. As if he said: Why do you change your father, now Abraham, now God? I will show you your father: your father is the devil, not by creating, but by deceiving. Flee, brethren, such a father: flee, as the Prophet warns; for he says: Forget your people, and your father's house. By "people" he means vices and sins; by "father's house" he means the world, in which the devil reigns. He forgets his people who abandons his vices; and he forgets his father's house who despises the false riches of this world, by which the devil holds him captive. It is clear that the devil does not love his sons, but hates them; for he loves only that he may destroy, just as a glutton loves a piglet, in order to eat it.

3. Falsehood as the Mark of the Devil's Sons

Beware, brethren, of falsehood; for all who love a lie are sons of the devil, who is not only a liar, but also the father and inventor of falsehood itself: every pretense, and every duplicity, is a lie: therefore falsehood is proven not only in false words, but also in feigned deeds. For it is a lie to call oneself a Christian, and not to do the works of Christ: it is a lie to profess oneself a priest or a cleric, and to do things contrary to that order. These things are to be greatly feared, because they are the words of God; for the Prophet says: You will destroy all who speak falsehood. Therefore pass over, brethren, from falsehood to truth, if you do not wish to have the devil as father. For that which is read elsewhere: Every man is a liar; is to be understood insofar as he is man, insofar as he is carnal, not insofar as he is spiritual.

4. Christ's Patience Amid the Jews' Insults

Finally, the Gospel reading admonishes you to be patient. Behold, when the Lord had heard many insults from the Jews, he patiently endured them; and patiently bore them, patiently sustained them. And if the Lord had patience amid words of blasphemy, he who could plunge his enemies into the abyss with a single word; why do wretched men, full of sins, not have patience, when they hear harsh words, or when they are corrected for their own iniquities?

5. Stoning Jesus Today through Wicked Living

See to it, brethren, that by evil deeds or thoughts you do not stone Jesus, do not stone the Savior along with the unbelieving Jews, of whom it is said today: The Jews therefore took up stones to cast at him. Perhaps you say: The Jews did evil, who wished to stone him, and who crucified him. Know and firmly believe that this is done today by Christians who live wickedly, in that they thereby pursue Christ with their vices. For what is Jesus, but truth, and peace, and justice? Therefore he who abandons truth for falsehood, and severs charity for the sake of covetousness, and hates peace, and conceals justice for the sake of some reward; seems to do nothing other than to stone and crucify and kill Christ; for he extinguishes his gifts within himself.

6. Christ Departs from Some and Dwells in the Faithful

Oh how few there are, in so great a multitude of Christians, who do not persecute and stone and kill Jesus! But woe to them! For Jesus hides his knowledge from such, and departs from the temple of their hearts, and reveals himself to those who love him, and dwells in them, as he himself promises further below to his beloved, saying: I and the Father will come to him, and will make our dwelling with him.

7. A Closing Appeal to Love Christ, Not Stone Him

Because we do not wish to burden you, brethren, with much speaking, we beg that you not be of the number of those who wished to stone Jesus; but rather that you have your part with those who, loving him above all things, have received his grace in their hearts. May he himself grant you this, who lives and reigns forever and ever, amen.

1. The Entry Into Jerusalem and the Origin of Palm Sunday

When our Lord Jesus Christ came to the city of Jerusalem six days before his passion, the great crowd which had gathered at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover according to the precept of Moses, taking palm branches, went out to meet him, so that in psalms they might show forth the victory of Christ as of an earthly king among the people of Israel; for it is the custom that the palm be offered to victors. Others of the same crowd, however, were cutting branches from trees, especially of olive trees, since the matter was taking place on the Mount of Olives; and they carried them, so that wherever it was fitting they might spread a smooth path for the Lord as he came. From this arose the custom of today's feast, that, singing psalms, we carry branches of palm or of olive in our hands: and we call this same feast that of the palms or of the olives.

2. The Mystical Meaning of Palm and Olive Branches

But not without great mystery are the branches of these trees carried; for the olive, since it bears in its fruit oil as a solace for sorrows and labors (for by oil both wounds are healed, and heat is relieved), signifies the works of mercy; since indeed mercy itself is called in Greek ἔλεος: but the root of the palm is rough, yet has the greatest brightness at its top, showing that through the roughness of this life we must be lifted up to the beauty of the heavenly homeland. Whence also the prophet David, the psalmist, sings of the just man: The just man shall flourish like the palm tree. Let us therefore carry branches of olive in our hands, showing forth the virtue of mercy in our deeds.

Let us also take up branches of palm, so that for the good of mercy we may await not earthly delights, but the beauty of the heavenly homeland, whither Christ our Lord has gone before us, who is, according to the Apostle, the end of the Law unto righteousness for everyone who believes.

3. Hosanna and the Salvation of Men and Angels

Nor should we pass over the verse of the psalm which the crowd meeting the Lord sang: Hosanna to the son of David: blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord: hosanna in the highest. For the coming of the Lord, and his incarnation, were the salvation not only of men on earth, but also of the angels in heaven; for while men are saved on earth, the number of angels, which had been diminished by the fall of the devil, is made whole in heaven. "Hosanna in the highest," therefore, is as much as if it were said: Save us, who art also salvation in the heavens. And those who with great devotion had asked for this salvation, doubled their voice, so as to say again: Hosanna in the highest.

4. A Closing Prayer for Salvation Through Christ

May our blessed Lord Christ, therefore, who comes in the name of God the Father, grant you to attain to this salvation; with whom God lives and reigns through all ages of ages, amen.

1. The Triumphal Entry on the Mount of Olives

I see you, brethren, gathered today more attentively than usual at the Church, and carrying branches of trees with joy. But what does it profit those who do this, if they do not know why they do it, or what these things signify? You ought to know that, as is read today, which is the fifth day before the passion, our Savior sat upon an ass on the Mount of Olives, that he might enter Jerusalem: and when the crowd had heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, they went out to meet him with branches of palm: and when he was now drawing near to the descent of the Mount of Olives, the crowds coming down began, rejoicing, to praise God with a loud voice.

2. The Paschal Lamb and the Five Days Before the Passion

During these five days, that is, from this day until the evening of the fifth day of the week, when after supper he was betrayed, he taught every day in the temple, and every night remained on the Mount of Olives. And because on the tenth day of the moon the lamb was shut up which was to be immolated by the sons of Israel on the fourteenth day of the moon; fittingly this true Lamb, Christ the Lord, who was to be crucified on the sixth day of the week, entered into Jerusalem on that day on which the figurative lamb was shut up.

3. Garments and Branches as Figures of the Just

For today the crowds had spread their garments in the way: and others today, cutting branches from trees, likewise strewed them in the path of the Savior as he sat upon the ass. This Holy Mother Church celebrates bodily, so that what is much greater might be brought about spiritually. For every holy soul is God's she-ass: upon the she-ass, then, the Lord sits, and directs his course to Jerusalem; when, dwelling in our souls, he makes us despise this world, and love the heavenly homeland. You cast garments in the way before God, if, preparing for him a way of coming to you, you chastise your bodies through abstinence. You cast branches from the aforesaid trees, if, loving the virtues of the holy fathers, you prepare a way for the Lord to come to you. What was Abraham? What was Joseph? What was David? What were the rest of the just, but fruitful trees of the Church of God? Learn obedience from Abraham, chastity from Joseph, humility from David, if you desire to attain everlasting salvation.

4. Palms of Victory and a Warning Against Deceit

And because the palm signifies victory, we rightly carry palms in our hand, if we sing songs of victory to him in such a way that, by living well also, we strive to conquer the devil. Therefore, brethren, you ought to know that he carries the olive branch in vain, whom the devil overcomes by deceiving. Return therefore to your consciences, dearly beloved, and see whether you do spiritually what you do bodily.

5. A Call to Cleanse the Heart Before Easter

Finally, believing most firmly, understand that it is our peril, if we do not announce to you the mysteries of our Savior: and it is your peril, if you hold them of little account. We admonish you, therefore, that the more the paschal solemnity draws near, the more you take care to prepare yourselves, cleansing yourselves from all envy, hatred, reviling, cursing, and detraction; that you may be able to celebrate that day worthily.

6. Forgiveness Owed Before the Paschal Communion

Forgive those who have sinned against you, that the Lord may forgive you your sins; since whoever holds hatred or anger against even one man will celebrate the pasch to his own harm: for he will not eat life with Peter, but will receive death with Judas in the holy communion. May he turn this away from you, who created you by his power, redeemed you by his mercy, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives with the Father and the Holy Spirit through all ages, amen.

1. The Forty Days of Lent Modeled on Moses and Elijah

By the favor of the divinity, behold, we have now almost completed the appointed fasts of Lent, and have fulfilled by the devotion of abstinence the precepts of Christ the Lord. It remains that, just as his servants Moses and Elijah, by observing this most sacred number, merited grace: so also we, by keeping this same period, may merit it, and may there be a like reward in the receiving of the prize, for those whose labor is alike in the observance of the fast.

2. Elijah's Fast That Unlocked the Heavens

For Elijah, when heaven was shut against human iniquities, and no abundance of rain trickled down from above upon worldly things, and all things languished far and wide in the squalor of drought, and there was a great famine upon the whole human race, since heaven gave no rain, nor did the earth produce fodder—then holy Elijah, by his fasts, unlocked heaven, and by his prayers made the earth fruitful. For Elijah turned drought into rain, and dissolved its barrenness into fruitfulness; for by his prayers such a bounty of showers watered the world that dry things grew green again, dead things rose again, languishing things were healed. And thus a certain flow of springs was poured into all things, so that, purification having been effected through the rain, the faults of all creatures might be washed away, and by the benefit of that inundation the appearance of the whole world might rise renewed.

3. Baptism as the Rain That Opens Heaven for Catechumens

Therefore let us also, observing the same fasts as Elijah, by applying our prayers, unlock the heaven closed to our competents; so that the shower of the saving washing may illumine them. For heaven is closed to them, as long as the Holy Spirit, not yet coming down from heaven, does not quicken their hearts: they suffer a kind of drought, because they are not yet watered by the grace of baptism. They labor also under a great famine, since, as though hungering, they desire the heavenly sacraments. Let us, then, unlock heaven for them, so that, with the spiritual rain coming down from above, their earth may be satisfied by the watering of the washing, and, the barrenness of sins having been laid aside, they may begin to bring forth the fruits of virtues. For indeed the heavenly shower washes away the faults of sins, produces the growth of righteousness, shakes off the dry dust of concupiscence, gladdens the useful purity of chastity, overwhelms the filthy dregs of avarice, nourishes the eternal bounty of mercy.

For just as, when Elijah's rain came, the earth produced all fodder; so also, when Christ's washing comes, the soul brings forth all righteousness. And just as there the springs of rain watered the world, so that the already mortified seeds of the herbs might be quickened: so also the fountain of baptism waters the human race, so that it may quicken the mortified hearts of souls. This, then, is the merit of those who keep these fasts: that by their prayers either the world may be renewed, or the brethren may be born anew.

4. The Mystery of the Trinity Hidden From the Unbaptized

Heaven, then, is to be unlocked for our competents, since it is still closed to them; for heaven is closed to them, because they do not yet perceive the mystery of the Trinity. For with heaven closed to them, they do not know what is done above heaven: nor can they know what is the substance of the Son and the Father, unless they have first transcended the elements of the world. For then can one behold the divine mysteries of the Trinity, when he has had the heavens opened by their own power, just as the blessed martyr Stephen unlocked the heavens for himself by his martyrdom, and saw the Savior standing at the right hand of the Father, according to what he himself said: Behold, I see the heavens opened, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God.

Therefore, for whomever the heavens are closed, it must be brought about that they be opened for him, so that he may be able to behold Christ above the heavens; for as long as they are closed to a man, he cannot see Christ reigning.

5. Peter's Faith as the Key That Opens Heaven

But we must inquire how the closed heavens are to be opened. I think, moreover, that they cannot otherwise be opened, unless we take up the keys of the apostle Peter, which he received by the Lord's bestowal, as he himself said: To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Rather, let us ask Peter, that he himself, like a good doorkeeper, may open for us the royal hall of heaven. But let us inquire more diligently what this key may be. I should say that Peter's key is Peter's faith, by which he opened the heavens, penetrated the underworld unafraid, walked upon the seas undaunted. For such is the power of apostolic faith, that all the elements lie open to it—that is, neither are the angelic gates closed to it, nor do the gates of Tartarus prevail against it, nor do the waves of the waters subside.

6. The Creed as a Key Forged by the Twelve Apostles

But let us see how this very key, which we call faith, is constituted, and how it was made solid. I judge that it was forged by the work of twelve craftsmen; for by the token of the twelve apostles the holy faith was conceived, who, like skilled craftsmen coming together as one, forged the key by their counsel. For I should say that the Creed itself is a certain key, through which the darkness of the devil is unlocked, so that the light of Christ may come; the closed sins of conscience are opened, so that the manifest works of righteousness may shine forth. Therefore this key must be shown to our brethren; that they too, like disciples of Peter, may grow accustomed to unlocking the underworld for themselves, and opening the heavens.

2. The Holy Women at the Tomb as Seekers of Christ

There are, however, dearly beloved, some who seem to seek the Lord: but because they are idle, and estranged from virtues, they do not deserve to find him, nor, having found him, to see him. Now what did those holy women seek at the tomb, if not the body of the Lord Jesus? And what do you seek in the Church, if not Jesus, that is, the Savior? But if you wish to find him, come, as those women did, with the sun risen—that is, let there not be in your hearts the darkness of vices; for carnal desires and evil works are darkness. In whose hearts, indeed, such darkness is, they do not see the light, they do not understand Christ; because Christ is light. Drive away, therefore, from yourselves, brothers, the darkness—that is, all delights and all evil works—and take care to have spices, that is, pure prayer, saying with the psalmist: Let my prayer be directed, O Lord, as incense in your sight.

3. Mary Magdalene's Perseverance at the Tomb

Attend further to what you have heard: namely, that Mary Magdalene, by persevering at the tomb, found him whom she was seeking; since he who shall have persevered to the end, this one shall be saved. Whence, just as it is necessary that you drive evil away from yourselves; so it is altogether expedient that you persevere most firmly in the good which you have already begun, if you desire to see the Lord and to arrive at the heavenly homeland.

4. Pasch as a Passage From Vice to Virtue

Furthermore, because you celebrate the holy pasch, you ought to know, brothers, what the pasch is. Pasch, indeed, is said to mean "passage"; and this festivity is called by such a name for this reason, that in it the children of Israel passed out of Egypt, and the Son of God himself passed from this world to the Father. But what profit is it to you that you celebrate Pasch, if you do not imitate what you observe? That is, if you do not pass from Egypt, that is, from the darkness of vices to the light of virtues, and from the love of this world to the desire of the heavenly homeland? For there are many who rejoice in this festivity, and observe this solemnity; and yet do so wickedly, and to their own harm, because they have not passed from this world to the Father, that is, they do not pass from worldly desire and carnal delight to the love of the heavenly homeland.

O wretched Christians, who are in Egypt, that is, under the power of the devil, and rejoice in evils! I admonish you, therefore, brothers, to celebrate the pasch rightly, that is, to make the passage. Whoever of you evil persons celebrate this festivity, pass from vices to virtues: whoever, however, are good, pass from virtues to virtues; and so let there be none among you who does not make the passage.

5. Unleavened Bread and the Purging of Old Leaven

And just as the Jews, when they celebrated the pasch, ate unleavened bread for seven days; so every Christian who eats the flesh of the true Lamb, that is, of Christ, ought, for the whole time of his life, which is measured out by seven days, to conduct himself simply and innocently. See to it, brothers, see that there be no old leaven among you, as the Apostle admonishes, saying: Purge out the old leaven, that is, the manner of life of the old man. For then will you be true Christians, if you shun every evil, which is signified by the old leaven, and faithfully keep what you promised in baptism; which may he himself grant you, who lives and reigns through infinite ages of ages, amen.

1. Christ Our Pasch and the Meaning of the Passion

The mystery of the Pasch, arising from faith, provides to all believers reborn in Christ a recurring joy and glory of annual felicity through faith. And indeed this sacred name descends from the very passion of the Lord; for pasch is the passion of the Savior, just as the blessed Apostle says: For Christ our pasch is sacrificed. For to this end Christ, taking the human body, consecrated it in the mystery of the pasch unto his passion; so that whoever, through faith, should attain participation in this gift, might rightly be judged worthy of fellowship in the Lord's felicity.

2. The Pasch as the Renewal of Creation and Spring

For pasch is truly the beginning of the year, the start of the first month, the new restoration of the shoots, and, the dark night of winter shaken off, the restored pleasantness of the first spring. At this time, I say, God the creator of things visible and invisible, having fixed the hook and suspended the machine of heaven, both radiated with the ardor of the sun, and gave the solace of the night the splendor of the moon, adorned the hanging vault of heaven with the ornament of shining stars, restraining the sea within the fixed bounds of the shores, and bade the surge of the hollow and roaring wave not to exceed the marks of its appointed limit. And so that the flat face of the world might not be withdrawn far from the sight of the eyes, wooded hills and lofty mountains were set up for the adornment of the world's fabric; that in turn a more pleasant ornament of the plains might come to mortals.

3. The Fall of Man and the Devil's Dominion Over Death

And man himself, formed by the dignity of the divine workmanship, was made lord of earthly creation for this end, that, obeying divine institutions, he might keep only the will of him who had set him as lord over such great things out of nothing. Who, in the very beginning, not ignorant, but corrupted by envy, while desiring to become, beyond the gift granted by God, what nature had not given, lost the grace which the Creator's mercy had bestowed: immediately, incurring, through the concupiscence of the diabolical deception, the sentence of death as a transgressor, he also propagated it to the origin of the future stock from himself; so that the divine sentence might rightly be fulfilled in this place: By the envy of the devil death entered into the world. Thus, through the occasion of the fault, the devil obtained dominion over death in all sinners, and possessed all who strayed from God, bound by the chain of sin, shut up in the squalid prison of Tartarus.

4. The Incarnation as Remedy for Human Ruin

Grieving over their ruin, divine censure came not through a servant-prophet, nor through an invisible angel: but for this purpose, through the substance of human flesh, God came dwelling in man; that he might give mortals an honorable form of living, and, by the example of his own death and resurrection, open eternal life in himself to those believing in it who were temporal. For just as unbelief and the worship of idols had closed the approach to heaven; so the perfidy of the transgressor had procured the abyss of hell.

5. Christ's Descent Into Hell and the Defeat of Death

In whose punishments, up until the coming of the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, the devil reigned through death, until the substance of human flesh, tempered unto God, consigned the immaculate body to the condition of death. Christ, free of sin, when he descended to the depths of Tartarus, breaking the bolts and doors of hell, called back to life the souls bound by sin, the dominion of death having been destroyed, out of the jaws of the devil; and thus the divine triumph is inscribed in eternal letters, when he says: O death, where is your sting? O death, where is your victory?

6. Paul on Adam and Christ, Earthly and Heavenly Man

Recalling this felicity of restored salvation, Paul cries out: As through Adam death entered into this world, so also through Christ salvation was restored to the world; and again: The first man was of the earth, earthly, the second man is of heaven, heavenly. And adding, he says: As we have borne the image of the earthly man, that is, of the old man in guilt, so let us bear the image of the heavenly man, that is, of the one taken up, redeemed, restored; and let us hold fast to the salvation of the purified man in Christ, since the same Apostle says: Christ is the beginning, that is, the author of resurrection and life; then those who are Christ's, that is, who, living in the form of his purity, will be secure in the hope of his resurrection, being about to possess with him the glory of the heavenly promise, just as the Lord himself says in the Gospel: Whoever, he says, has followed me shall not perish, but shall pass from death to life.

7. The Passion as the Salvation of Human Life

Thus the passion of the Savior is the salvation of human life. For to this end he willed to die for us, that we, believing in him, might live forever. He willed to become for a time what we are, that we, having obtained the promise of his eternity, might live forever with him.

5. Christ the Day and the Prayer for Unity With the Father

8. The Newly Baptized Rejoice in the Lord's Day

This, I say, is that grace of the heavenly mysteries, this the gift of the pasch, this the desirable festivity of the year, this the beginning of things that come into being. Hence infants, brought forth in the childbirth of the sacred Church by the vital laver, born again into the simplicity of little ones, resound with the bleating of an innocent conscience. Hence chaste fathers, and modest mothers too, follow after a new and innumerable offspring through faith. Hence, under the tree of faith, from the womb of the harmless font, the adornment of candles shines. Hence they are sanctified by the gift of heavenly merit, and are fed by the celebrated mystery of the spiritual sacrament. Hence the brotherhood nourished in the bosom of the one people of the blessed Church, adoring the substance of the one Godhead and the name of the three in power, celebrates together with the Prophet the psalm of the yearly festivity: This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it.

9. Christ Proclaimed as the True Day

What day, I ask? Surely that one which bestows the beginning of living, the origin of light, the author of light, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who says of himself: I am, he says, the day: he who walks in the day stumbles not, that is, he who follows Christ in all things, has passed through by his footsteps even to the throne of eternal light; just as he himself, still established in the body for our sake, prays to the Father, saying: Father, I will that where I am, there also they may be who have believed in me; that as thou art in me, and I in thee, so they also may abide in us.

10. The Day of Gladness and Christ's Reign

This, I say, is the day of exultation and gladness, in which, having obtained the promise of perfect glory, the holy people rightly, in the likeness of the Angels, still established in this world, sing to the Lord with the Prophet the mystery of praise that is to come: This is the day which the Lord hath made, let us rejoice and be glad in it—that is, the author of the institution, of redemption, and of perpetual life, the Lord Jesus Christ, who is King of kings and Lord of lords, without beginning, without end, reigning in the Father with the Holy Spirit, now and always and unto ages of ages. Amen.

1. Pentecost and the Gift of the Holy Spirit

Great, dearest brethren, is today's festivity, in which, as you have heard, the apostles received the Holy Spirit, who with the Father and the Son is one and perfect God, of the same substance, majesty, and power: who proceeds inseparably from the Father and the Son, not from time, but from eternity: who is also called the gift of God; because even before there was angel or man to whom he might be given, he was already by his nature a givable gift; because he is charity and love. Whence he was given not only to the patriarchs and prophets, but also to the rest of the just, secretly in the soul; and although at times given manifestly, yet he is never read to have been given so openly as today, that is, on the tenth day after Christ's ascension; when he appeared above a hundred and twenty believers in the form of fire.

For thus it is read, as you retain: And there appeared to them cloven tongues, as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them.

2. Babel's Pride Contrasted with Pentecost's Humility

See, brethren, see what pride did, and what humility merited. Pride divided tongues, when men wished to build a tower reaching even to heaven; for before there was one tongue, by which men understood one another, and communicated the secrets of their minds to each other: but lest the proud should accomplish what they had begun, the tongues were confounded, and the nations were divided. But on this present day, when the believers had received the Holy Spirit on account of humility, they began to speak in all tongues. Cast away from you therefore, brethren, pride; since all the proud are sons of the devil; and be humble, that you may deserve to receive the grace of the Holy Spirit, and to be called sons of God. Let your hearts and bodies be clean from the filth of all sins; because the Holy Spirit dwells not in a body subject to sins.

3. Preparing the Soul as a Dwelling for the Spirit

If you first cleanse the vessels in which you wish to keep something precious, and prepare and adorn your houses, when you await some powerful person; much more must hearts be cleansed from hatred and anger and envy and all malice, and especially from uncleanness and avarice; that the Holy Spirit may not disdain to come to you, and to make his abode with you. And just as a noble man does not of his own will dwell in a foul and dung-filled place; so the grace of the Holy Spirit does not visit a soul that persists in the stench of sins. It is therefore necessary, brethren, that at the coming of the Holy Spirit you adorn the houses of your souls with the flowers of good works, and fill them with the precious odor of chastity and the balm of benevolence; that the Holy Spirit may delight to dwell in you, with the Father and the Son through all ages of ages, amen.

1. Crowds Pressing upon Christ for Healing

How great a worker of wonders the Lord Jesus Christ is, we can understand from this reading of the Gospel, which describes such benefits to have been conferred by him upon the people, that the crowds of men, provoked to hear him, rushed upon him rather than asked him; and did not hope for the medicine of salvation through the grace of humility, but through the injury of importunity; so that, as the Gospel says, the crowds pressing upon the Lord Jesus were not separated by desertion, were not repelled by the Synagogue, were not kept off by reverence for divinity. For this is the custom of the sick, that while they hope for medicine for their infirmities, they are not restrained from importunate petition by place, nor by time, nor by shame: but the more he heals who cures, the more importunate is he who suffers.

2. Christ Teaches the People from Peter's Boat

Therefore when the Lord Jesus, separated from the pressing crowds, could not be on land, looking upon two little boats on the sea, he boarded with all haste the one boat of Peter, that he might drive off the injury of importunity by the very nature of the waters: because the reverence due to a teacher scarcely restrained it. And from there he began to pour forth the words of his teaching from Peter's boat to the people. Behold the mercy of the Savior: he is indeed separated from men in body, yet is joined to them in the benefit of teaching. Everywhere he shows mercy, everywhere he profits. Set on land, he heals bodily languor by touch: established on the sea, he cures the wounds of souls by teaching.

3. Peter's Boat Chosen over the Boat of Moses

But let us see what this boat of Simon Peter is, which the Lord judged more suitable than the two others for teaching, since it both keeps the Savior safe from injury, and bestows the words of belief upon men; for we find that the Lord had already sailed in another boat, and was assailed by grave injuries. For he sailed with Moses in the Red Sea, when he carried the people of Israel across through the flowing waves: but he was affected with grave injuries, as he himself says in the Gospel to the Jews: If you believed Moses, you would believe me also. But the injury of the Savior is the unbelief of the Synagogue. Therefore he chooses Peter's boat, he forsakes that of Moses, that is, he spurns the faithless Synagogue, he takes up the faithful Church.

4. The Two Boats of Synagogue and Church

For there are, as it were, two little boats appointed by God, which should fish for the salvation of men in this world, as if in the sea, just as the Lord says to the apostles: Come, I will make you fishers of men. Of these two boats, therefore, one is left to the land, empty and void, the other is put forth into the deep, laden and full; for the Synagogue is left empty on the shore, because it has lost Christ along with the oracles of the prophets: but the Church, laden, is taken up into the deep, because it has received the Lord along with the doctrine of the apostles. The Synagogue, I say, remains on the lands, as it were clinging to earthly works: but the Church is called out into the depth, as though probing the deep mysteries of the heavens; into that depth, namely, of which the Apostle says: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!

For this reason it is said to Peter: Launch out into the deep, that is, into the depth of the discussions of the divine generation. For what is so deep as that which Peter says to the Lord: Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God? What is so earthly as what the Jews said of the Lord: Is not this the carpenter's son? For the one, by a higher counsel, divinely acknowledged the birth of Christ, while these, with a serpent's mind, carnally esteemed the heavenly generation. Whence the Savior says to Peter: Because flesh and blood hath not revealed this to thee, but my Father who is in heaven. But to the Pharisees he says: How can you speak good things, whereas you are evil?

5. The Church as Peter's Ark of Salvation

Therefore the Lord boards this alone, the boat of the Church, in which Peter is appointed as master, the Lord saying: Upon this rock I will build my Church. This boat so swims in the deep of this world, that though the world perish, it keeps all whom it receives unharmed. Its figure we already see in the Old Testament; for just as Noah's ark, while the world was shipwrecked, kept safe all whom it had received; so also the Church of Peter, while the world is aflame, will present unharmed all whom it embraces: and just as then, after the flood had passed, the dove brought to Noah's ark the sign of peace; so also, after the judgment has passed, Christ will bring to the Church of Peter the joy of peace; because he himself is the dove, or peace, as he promised, saying: But I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice.

6. Judas's Presence and the Storm at Sea

But since we read that this same boat of Peter, from which the Lord now brings forth the mysteries of his heavenly teaching, was, in Matthew, while the Lord was sleeping in it, thrown into confusion by the pressing winds, so that all the apostles feared the danger of death; let us see what is the reason that one and the same boat here, in tranquility, gives teaching to the people, there, in tempest, instills in the disciples fear of death; especially since there too, along with the other apostles, Simon Peter was present. But this is the cause of the danger: Simon Peter was there, but Judas the traitor was equally there. For although the former's faith founded the boat, yet the latter's treachery disturbed it. There is tranquility where Peter alone sails, tempest where Judas is joined. Though Peter was firm by his own merits, yet he is disturbed by the crimes of the traitor. While the disciples feared, while Peter was anxious, the Lord was sleeping.

Perhaps it seems hard that, while Peter was anxious, he was sleeping: he slept because of Peter, lest he should be watchful for Judas' sake; therefore by the offense of one, the merits of all are shaken. Christ falls asleep, the breathings of the winds are stirred up; for whoever admits sin at once makes the Lord sleep for himself, and stirs up for himself a storm of unclean spirits: and it is necessary that the diabolical tempest rise up, when the serenity of the Lord grows quiet.

7. A Warning against Harboring the Faithless

Therefore if by the sin of one Judas all the apostles are endangered, let us by this example beware of the faithless one, beware of the traitor, lest through one we all be tossed about, many though we are. Nay, let us cast out of our boat everything of this kind, so that the Lord may not sleep, but keep watch in us, and, with him watching, no storm of spiritual wickedness may shake us. For where faith is whole, there the Savior teaches, watches, and rejoices; there is rest, there tranquility, there the healing of all; but where faithlessness is mixed with faith, there Christ is sluggish, sleeps, and is idle; there is fear, there tempest, there the peril of all: for according to our deeds the Lord sleeps for us or watches.

1. The Purpose of Christ's Baptism for Our Sake

Since it is established, as we have set forth in past days, that Jesus Christ was baptized not for his own sake, but for ours, we ought, most beloved brethren (I speak to you catechumens), to receive the grace of his baptism with all haste, and to draw from the font of Jordan, which he blessed, the blessing of consecration; that into that same flood into which his holiness was plunged, our sins may be plunged: namely, that the same water which surrounded the Lord may also purge his little servants round about; so that from the venerable washing of Christ a holy wave may profit us, and by the same footsteps and mysteries by which it borrowed blessing from the Savior, it may purify us with a more blessed warmth, and pour back upon Christians the grace which it received from Christ.

2. Christ's Baptism Compared with John's

Therefore, brethren, we must be baptized in the same font in which Christ was, that we may be able to be what Christ is. For, if I may say this without offense to the faith, although both are baptisms of the Lord, yet I consider this baptism, by which we are washed, to be more gracious than that by which the Savior was baptized. For this one is celebrated through Christ, that one was celebrated through John: in that one the master excuses himself, in this one the Savior invites us: in that one justice is half-complete, in this one the Trinity is perfect: to that one a holy one comes, a holy one departs; to this one a sinner comes, and a holy one departs: in that one a blessing is conferred upon the mysteries, in this one sins are forgiven through the mystery.

We must be baptized, therefore, brethren, in the same stream in which the Savior was; but that we may be plunged into the same font, we need not seek the region of the East, nor the river of the land of Judea; for now Christ is everywhere, everywhere is the Jordan. The same consecration which blessed the streams of the East sanctifies the waters of the West. Whence even if a river should happen to have another name from the world, yet within it there is the mystery that comes from the Jordan.

3. The Fuller Grace of Baptism under the Gospel

Finally, the matter is accomplished by the same sacraments by which it was accomplished then, except that with fuller grace; for then we saw the Trinity with carnal eyes, now we contemplate the same Trinity with the eyes of faith: then the human countenance scarcely beheld Christ, now the human mind embraces him: then the Holy Spirit surrounded a man as it were in the form of a dove, now it pours itself into the interior of man by the very power of divinity: then the Father came to us for the Son's sake through the long hearing of a voice, but now he himself descends to us together with the Son. Fuller, then, is the grace where God descends to men not in an assumed form, but deigns to descend to his sons in his own substance; for there he wishes to persuade faith by bodily signs to those as it were unbelieving, here to confer grace by spiritual power upon those as it were faithful.

It is, then, of fuller grace to see God as God is, than to see him in such a way that you must search him out. Here is the perfect Trinity, there the divinity is still to be searched out. Fuller, therefore, is the grace to know God in his own truth, than to suspect him in an assumed form.

4. The Unasked Mercy of Baptism

Let us, then, do for ourselves what we see God to have done for us: let us do concerning ourselves what John desired to be done concerning himself. If he who was a prophet and a holy man desired the Savior's baptism, how much more ought we, sinners and unworthy, to seek eagerly this grace! Behold the mercy of the Savior: this is bestowed on us unasked, which the prophet, though asking, did not merit to receive.

5. John the Baptist as a Type of the Law

But we ought to consider what the reason was that John sought Christ's baptism, and did not receive it. For the Lord said to him when he asked: Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becomes us to fulfill all justice. But we know that John the Baptist bore the type of the Law. It was fitting, then, that he himself should baptize the Lord; namely, that just as the Savior was born according to the flesh from the Jews, so also according to the Spirit the Gospel might be born from the Law; that from the source whence he taught the succession of his origin, from thence also he might receive the tradition of consecration. This, then, is what he says: For thus it becomes us to fulfill all justice. For it was fitting that he himself should fulfill the commandments of the Law which he himself had established, as he says elsewhere: I came not to destroy the Law, but to fulfill it.

1. The Camel and the Needle's Eye

The Lord Jesus Christ says in the Gospel: It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Which sentence I fear may perhaps apply to you, who either have, or seek, the riches of this world. For just as the animal of the camel, which is twisted and misshapen, is not permitted by the very perversity of its body to pass through the very narrow hollow of a needle: so also the deformity of life itself does not at all permit the rich, burdened with avarice and befouled with covetousness, to enter through the narrow way of the kingdom; for the same Lord says: Narrow and strait is the way that leads to life.

2. The Soul's Deformity Likened to a Hunchback

Therefore in the camel the difficulty of passage is produced by the condition of its members, but in the rich man the magnitude of his sins produces the impediment; for it is a certain hump of the soul to think, or to do, any base thing: and it is a certain twisted deformity of the mind always to be intent on the things of the world, and to be called away from the threshold of the holy Church by worldly cares. Whence it seems to me that the prophet, speaking spiritually of this bodily deformity, rather indicated the foulness of morals, when he says: Let not the hunchbacked glory as the upright; as if he said: Let not the sinner, distorted by the depravity of his vices, glory as the just man glories, made upright by the simplicity of a good conscience. For although, O sinner, you rejoice in the height of your body, although you delight in the evenness of your shoulders; yet your soul is deformed by the depravity of its morals.

3. The Rich Man's Burden Compared to the Camel's

Rightly, then, is the rich man compared to a camel; since indeed the thickness of its body calls the camel back from passage through the needle, while the anxiety over his patrimony holds this man back from entrance into the Church: and just as the small hole does not admit that animal burdened with the mass of its members; so also the holy entrance does not receive this man weighed down with the heap of his sins. Each has his own burden; the one is burdened with flesh, the other with sins: and just as the one is unfit for the very narrow hollow of the needle, so also the other is unsuited to the most blessed kingdom of God: to which nature makes the camel unfit in body, but the will makes this man depraved.

4. Those Kept from Epiphany by Worldly Affairs

But I say these things, brethren, concerning those who have been held back by the fetters of their own patrimonies from attending to the most festive day of holy Epiphany in the Church; and are bound by a certain earthly chain, so that it was not permitted them to come to the house of the Lord. Not that anything detains them, but that they are so entangled in their own affairs, that they have already lost the freedom of living according to their own power: and while they devote their care to their patrimony, they seek not at all the medicine of their souls.

5. A Warning to the Rich of Coming Judgment

Why, O rich man, do you object to me the difficulty of the time? Why do you bring forward a sudden necessity? If you have a heart, understand that greater than every necessity is the necessity of salvation: and it is a more profitable course to attend to life first, then to make good the losses of property; lest while we seek an increase of patrimony, we feel a detriment to the soul. But perhaps you fear the judge whom you left behind in his chamber. Believe me that you ought rather to fear God as judge, who will judge even your own judge. Do you fear him, then, who will soon receive a successor: and do you not fear the Lord, whom no one ever succeeds? Consider, then, the impending day of judgment, and the inextinguishable flames of Gehenna, the horrible gnashing of teeth, the ultimate torment of darkness; and if you can, having abandoned the Church, entangle yourself in worldly cares.

For I fear lest, while you seek the riches of the world, you find rather the riches of sins; and having found the treasures of the world, you lose the heavenly treasures.

1. Absent in Body but Present in Spirit

I do not doubt, brethren, that you are grieved whenever necessity makes me absent from you; for since you do not see him whom you love, you labor, as good children, under the goads of affection. But although I may sometimes forsake you in body, yet I do not forsake you in spirit; for wherever I go, your love follows me: wherever I shall be, there your brotherhood dwells with me. For whoever remains in the commandments of Christ must necessarily cling to the priest of Christ: and although he may seem set far away, yet he becomes near, since the grace of one faith represents him as present. Let him indeed consider himself separated from the priests, who by evil deeds is separated from Christ. And therefore, brethren, you who do the commandment of the Savior, although you were absent from me in body, yet you were by no means absent from me in love. Thus those whom distance of lands separated, the grace of Christ joined together.

2. Present in Body but Absent in Heart

But there are some among you, brethren, whose faces indeed we see in the Church, yet we know that their heart is in the fields: and we observe their presence indeed among the people, but we find their way of life in the country. Of whom the Apostle says: And their glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things; for these always think of the earth, deal with the earth, and mind what is earthly. To these applies that divine sentence, which says: Earth you are, and unto earth you shall return: who therefore sometimes come to church, not because they are Christians by faith, but lest they should not be thought Christians by men. Jesus Christ says elsewhere

3. Excuses for Avoiding the Fast

To these, when a fast is enjoined, they always excuse themselves on account of the harshness of the season; for in the summer months they say: The day is long, the sun is scorching, we cannot bear the thirst, we ought to refresh ourselves with drinks; but in the time of winter: The cold is severe, the frosts are very bad, we cannot endure the chill, we ought to warm ourselves with food. Thus men whose mind is always upon dining seek reasons for dining: and while they excuse themselves from fasts, they accuse the seasons of the Creator.

4. The Fire and Cold of Judgment Compared to Fasting

Tell me, O delicate Christian, you who cannot bear the heat of the sun by fasting, is not the heat which you are to endure more scorching than Gehenna? Is not the winter more dreadful than the darkness into which you are to be thrust down? For sinners shall be cast into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth; as the Lord says: gnashing, I say, of teeth, in the likeness of the winter season, shall always be in that darkness. Therefore, just as men shudder in their whole body when the chill of winter penetrates; so also, when the cold conscience of sins intervenes, sinners shall be shaken with a grievous gnashing of teeth. So the wretched sinner, while here he fears the rigor of winter, there incurs the cold of darkness: while here he avoids the heat of the sun, there he shall endure the burning of Gehenna.

5. Almsgiving Contrasted with Paying Tribute

But when he has told these same men to bestow something upon the poor, they immediately object: The necessities are endless, the taxes are heavy, we cannot settle the fiscal dues. And they heap up so much against you, as if to make you the accused, for having wished to admonish them of this very thing, not understanding that these are enemies of the cross of Christ, who do not understand that the necessity of salvation ought to be preferred to all necessities, and that paying tribute profits another: giving alms profits the giver himself; for the payment of tribute confers a benefit on him who receives it, but the work of almsgiving confers merit on him who performs it. The payment of tribute, I say, brings loss to the payer, but the giving of alms brings gain to the giver; for the man of mercy becomes richer, after he begins to have less by bestowing on the poor.

6. The Cheerful Giver and the Reluctant Taxpayer

Blessed, then, is the alms which both refreshes the recipient, and gladdens the giver: For God loves a cheerful giver: and therefore it is better for him to give more. Glad, then, and cheerful is he who ministers to the poor. Rightly indeed is he glad, because through a few coins he acquires for himself eternal heavenly treasures. And, on the contrary, he is always sad and mournful who pays out taxes. Nor undeservedly is he sad, who is brought to the payment not by love, but is constrained by terror: for the debtor of Christ is glad, the debtor of Caesar is sad; because love compels the one to pay, punishment compels the other. The one is prompted by rewards, the other is constrained by penalties.

7. The Uncertain Riches of Gold and Silver

The holy Apostle says: Charge the rich of this world not to be highminded, nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches. You see, then, O rich man, that your riches are uncertain. Why, then, do you gather gold, in which there is no certain confidence? Let the avarice of your gold cease, and it is earth: let the desire of your coin be taken away, and it is dirt. For gold and silver are cheap and base material; where human covetousness has increased gold, then ambition also has increased along with these substances; for nature did not establish gold and silver as precious, but the will of men has made it so.

1. Two Men Called to Follow Christ

If your love has attentively considered the chapter of the Gospel which was read today, your minds could well be moved by this very chapter, as to why the Lord, as Scripture relates, when he was addressed by one who asked to follow him wherever he went, for the sake of devoted service, said rather to another: Follow me; and, having spurned and disregarded the former, chose rather the latter, who was silent and not expecting it? And whereas voluntary service is wont to be more acceptable than that which is compelled, and service pleases more which is not exacted by command, but is offered of its own accord: why then is the former rejected, why is he refused as though unworthy? For the Lord said to him: Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests: but the Son of man has not where to lay his head.

2. The Silent Disciple and the Petulant Follower

First of all, then, we ought to consider this, that the Lord is no respecter of persons (for he is an equitable and just judge), but he renders the affection of love according to the quality of morals: and he chooses him who does not come to me, and does not hate his father and mother, cannot be my disciple? To which agrees what is said in another place, when he was interpellated by a certain man: Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father, he answered: Let the dead bury their dead; but do thou go, and announce the kingdom of God. But to him who said: I will follow thee wherever thou goest; he answered: Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.

Why then, when he was interpellated by one to follow him wherever he went, for the sake of religious service, did he rather say to the other, who hesitated to follow him: Follow me; and, the former being spurned who is prompt in words, sluggish in devotion, but he who has been silent in tongue, devoted in mind, of whom the Prophet says: Making thyself silent, thou shalt seem wise. But of him who speaks petulantly, Scripture relates: Not everyone who saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he who doeth my will. From this therefore we learn that we must cry out to the Lord not so much with the mouth as with the heart.

3. The Man Who Left His Father Unburied

Therefore our Saviour, who sees through the thoughts and feelings of men, hearing indeed the compliance of the voice, but recognizing the cunning of the mind, compares him to that animal which indicates one thing by voice, but does another in its habits; for the fox resounds with the barking of a dog, but by guile practices the plunder of fraud. He therefore takes up the one who is silent and unsuspecting. He was indeed silent in tongue, but spoke in spirit; for we understand how devoted he was, who, as he himself asserted, left his father dead, that he might find the Lord of life. For he says: Permit me first to go and bury my father. He had therefore left that man dead, whom, returning, he begs to bury. Grief had not held him back, death had not delayed him; because he was hastening to life.

He had not yet closed the eyes of the dying man, he had not yet laid out the stiffening limbs; as soon as he learned that the Lord had come, forgetting fatherly piety, he believed that a greater affection than piety made him love Christ more than his parent. For perhaps he had read the prophetic lesson, which says: Forget thy people, and thy father's house; therefore he forgot his father, while he was mindful of the Saviour. He had also heard the Gospel of the Lord: He who loves father or mother more, is not worthy of me.

4. Tobias and the Choice to Leave Burial

Thus when Tobias is justified, why he left his dinner for the sake of burial; this man is approved, when for the cause of Christ he left the burial of his father. For that man does not fear that, an intervening task arising, he might pass over the delights of an earthly dinner: this man fears lest, an intervening delay arising, he might lose the refreshment of heavenly bread. Whence, although out of contemplation of Christ we owe burial to all, this man out of love of Christ abandoned his father's burial.

5. Peter's Presumption and Threefold Denial

Let us therefore examine first that man's interpellation, and the response of the Lord the Saviour. For he says: I will follow thee wherever thou goest. A prompt indeed, but a proud profession. For the Lord was about to go to his passion, to descend to the lower regions, to ascend to heaven; can human frailty accompany him in all things? This presumption is foolish rather than a religious confession. Since even to the apostle Peter it is said by the Lord, when he thought he would follow the Saviour through all things: Whither I go thou canst not follow me now. And when he persistently insisted, and said that he would not be separated from him even by death; he is condemned, as it were, for boasting, and hears that he would deny the Lord three times.

Thus he who was promising that he would not be torn from the confession of Christ even by death, is separated from his company by the question of a mere maidservant: and unless the Lord had, as if setting a certain limit, said he would deny him thrice, perhaps, being questioned more often, he would have denied more frequently.

6. The Meaning of the Foxes' Holes

What then is answered to that petulant man? Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air nests, and the Son of man hath not where to lay his head. See to what thing he is subtly compared: for this is a deceitful kind of animal, always intent on ambushes, practicing frauds by plunder, which allows nothing to be safe, nothing at rest, nothing to be secure, which seeks its prey even among the very dwellings of men.

7. Christians Who Hide Their Sins Like Foxes

Which comparison I think was written not only on account of that man, but also on account of many Christians, who confess God indeed with the mouth, but wander about in the fashion of foxes' deceit in their conduct; for every Christian who wishes to hide his sins is spiritually a fox here. For as the fox lingers in its lairs because of its frauds, so also the sinner, silent because of his conscience of sins, hides in the pits of sins: and as that animal does not dare to show the deceit of its ways amid the crowds of men, so also this man is ashamed to confess in the midst of the Church the wickedness of his manner of life.

I would plainly call every Christian a fox who lies in wait for his neighbor, who daily strives to gnaw away another's boundaries, to invade fruits, to devour animals, and, what is customary in this age, no longer in the manner of foxes to seize chickens, but in the manner of wolves to seize pigs: who, while he could help himself by his own labor, seizes another's prey with the rage of wild beasts.

8. Heretics Compared to Foxes Lying in Wait

I think also that all heretics are to be compared to foxes, who, since they cannot dwell in the house of the Lord, prepare for themselves certain conventicles, as it were dark pits, in which, lurking obstinately, they lie in ambush for the Church; so that if any innocent soul should perhaps come forth, they may swallow it up like a chick of the mother hen. Foxes, I say, lie in ambush for the Church, that is, heretics for that evangelical hen, of which the Lord says: How often would I have gathered thy children, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings? But she herself, like Samson, has bound burning torches to the foxes.

1. On the Danger of Neglecting the Word

I had often studied within myself, brethren, to withhold from you the words of the Lord's preaching, and not to bestow more often the sacraments of heavenly discourses. Since it profits nothing to offer food to one who refuses it, and to hold out drink to one who is by no means thirsty: why should he not drink as willingly what you offer, rather than fastidiously render it as it were turbid; and thus, just as the sincerity of the cup is corrupted, so too the fastidious drinker finds causes for fault? So then it is perhaps superfluous to press upon your charity the preaching of the Lord's cup; since your soul, with its inward parts closed, does not so much drink it thirstily as pour it out dissemblingly.

For he who receives the Lord's commandment with his ear, and does not hold it in his heart, pours it out; for bearing it on a certain surface of the body, and by no means transmitting to the interior what he has heard, while he forgets, he pours out the sequence of the preaching, and thus returns home empty, who had gone out from the Church laden.

2. Failing to Heed the Bishop's Preaching

Tell me, then, which of you, when he has returned to his lodging, will say: Today we heard the bishop discoursing on almsgiving, he preached a useful matter, we ought to have mercy on the poor? He also went on about the execrable worship of idols, let us inquire whether unbeknownst to us there be an idol in our possession. He also admonished that a catechumen ought to hasten to the grace of the faith, let us offer to our household that whoever is faithful may receive the faith; lest perchance the account of their salvation be required of us, since their life hangs on our judgment. No one thinks of God's affairs, no one speaks of the day of judgment, as if either destined to live in all things, or to die in all things. Believe me, we so live in this age that we die in body: we so die that we live for rendering an account.

Meanwhile the man dies, but the cause of his acts does not die: and while the cause lives, it is necessary that the person of its cause not be lacking, as the prophet says: Behold the man, and his works.

3. To Him Who Hath, It Shall Be Given

I had wished, therefore, to withhold from you the words of the Lord's preaching, not that I did this out of anger, but that I might keep the Evangelical sentence. For the Lord says: To him who hath, it shall be given, and he shall abound: and from him who hath not, that which he hath shall be taken away from him. To him who has, therefore, he ordered that it be given; and to him who has not, not only that it not be given, but also that what he has be taken away. This sentence perhaps seems superfluous to you: but I say that the Lord commanded rightly and wisely. For it is commanded that it be given to him who has.

He plainly deserves to receive, who has so labored that by his own solicitude he acquired spiritual riches for his soul: as, for instance, if someone with a strong resolve of continence has begun to guard the virtue of chastity, he deserves to hear what the reward of chastity shall be; so that, hearing the glory of the reward for the observance of virtue, he may more easily wear down the battle which he has begun. Another, prompt to mercy, ought to hear that God himself will have mercy on him, and that he who will repay this earthly substance with heavenly riches, it is necessary that, hearing of the exchange of heavenly rewards, he pursue the work of the Lord more promptly and gladly, and add an increase of generosity to the good he has of mercy. Therefore the Lord says: To him who hath, it shall be given, that is, he who is rich in good works, let him be enriched the more by evangelical preaching.

4. Preaching Perfection to the Unwilling

But if you preach to a fornicator, and say that a virgin ought to remain a virgin; and to a miser that he ought to distribute and give away all his goods, it is folly to him. For he thinks this preaching ridiculous, as the Apostle says: But the animal man perceiveth not the things that are of the Spirit of God; for it is folly to him. For it is the same to preach to such men what is perfect, as if you should wish to clothe a beggar covered with rags in silk, and delight a hungry peasant with a cake; for it is necessary that the offering be refused by both. For silk displeases him who desires rather the necessary garments against the cold: to this man the cake is bitter, while he seeks rather food for satiety.

From these persons, therefore, rather ought to be taken away what is theirs, as the Gospel says: Even that which he hath shall be taken away from him; that is, the fornicator must be forced to cast off the rags of his corruption, the miser must be compelled to lay out the bread of his cupidity.

5. The Meaning of Spiritual Dancing

I fear, however, brethren, lest the evangelical reading befit many of you, which says: We have piped unto you, and ye have not danced: we have mourned, and ye have not wept. We announce to you, therefore, the joy of the heavenly kingdom, and your hearts by no means exult with any motion of gladness: we preach the sad judgment, and your feelings do not burst forth into tears of penitence; for it is a kind of infidelity in divine matters neither to rejoice at prosperous things nor to weep at adverse ones. The Lord requires of us, then, a dancing, not indeed the winding motion of the sinuous body, but the holiness of faith exalting itself. For as one who dances bodily is now suspended in the air, now thrown to greater heights, now surveys different places by alternating leaps: so also he who dances spiritually, faith intervening, is now raised up into the loftiness of the air, now lifted up to the higher stars, now surveys paradise and heaven by various leaps of thought.

And as he who dances bodily, exercising himself by the agility of his limbs, acquires for himself the circuit of the dance: so also he who dances spiritually, always moving himself by the eagerness of faith, assumes for himself the circuit of the whole world.

6. David's Dance Before the Ark as Mary's Type

Now men are accustomed, as is the custom, to dance or sing especially at their weddings, that is, their nuptials; whence we too have votive nuptials, at which we ought to dance or sing. For our vows are celebrated when the Church is joined to Christ, as John says: He that hath the bride is the bridegroom. For the sake of these nuptials, therefore, it is fitting for us to dance. Since King David, likewise a prophet, though he sang many things, is said also to have danced before the Ark of the Testament; for, uplifted with joy, he burst forth into dancing: for he foresaw in spirit that Mary, from her offspring, would be joined to the bridal chamber of Christ. Whence he himself says: And he as a bridegroom coming forth from his chamber.

Therefore he himself, beyond the other authors of prophecies, sang the more; because, more joyful than all through these joys, he was betrothing his posterity: and inviting us to our own vows more sweetly than usual, he taught us what we ought to do at these very nuptials, since he danced with such exultation before the nuptials. Before the Ark, therefore, the prophet David danced: but what shall we say the Ark is, but holy Mary? Since the Ark carried within it the tablets of the Testament, but Mary bore the heir of that very Testament: that one retained the Law within itself, this one the Gospel; that one had the voice of God, this one the Word. Yet the Ark shone within and without with the brightness of gold, but holy Mary too shone within and without with the splendor of virginity: that one was adorned with earthly gold, this one with heavenly.

1. Priests Compared to Bees

I ought, brothers, after these many days, to preach something more abundantly, and returning from so great an assembly of priests, to refresh you with sweet discourse. Well have I said the assembly of priests: because just as bees make sweet honey from the little flowers of the divine Scriptures, and whatever pertains to the healing of souls they compose by the skill of their mouth. Rightly are priests compared to bees; because just as bees prize the chastity of the body, offer the food of heavenly life, and exercise the sting of the law; for they are pure unto sanctification, sweet unto refreshment, severe unto vengeance. They are plainly to be compared to bees, who are contained as it were in a certain hive of the grace of mother Church, in which, composing the cells of diverse merits with most sweet preachings, from the one swarm of the Savior they produce many swarms of Christians.

2. Preaching as Correction and Testimony

Since, brothers, I have never ceased to rebuke you with paternal piety, I marvel that you have profited nothing from so many admonitions of mine, and I grieve that my frequent preaching does not correct you unto some profit of salvation, but binds you with a certain penalty of testimony. For the preaching of a priest to the people is correction for those who are to be saved, and testimony for those who are to be judged; for we testify to them before the judgment what awaits them in the judgment itself; so that then, with every excuse removed, they may be both guilty of sins and liable for contempt. Whence I too would sometimes wish, sparing you, to keep silent: but I prefer that you should render account of your obstinacy, than that I should undergo the judgment of negligence.

3. Church Attendance During the Bishop's Absence

For I have found, brothers, that during my absence so very few of you come to the Church, so very few indeed come forward, as though, when I set out, you had likewise come with me, and as though, when I am dragged off by necessities, that same necessity had dragged you along with me. We are equally absent, then, from the house of God, but with this difference: that necessity makes me absent, while will makes you absent. Do you not know that even though I am lacking to the Church, Christ, who is everywhere, is not lacking to His Church? You come, brother, to the Church, you do not find the bishop there: but if you come faithfully, you will find there the Savior, the bishop of bishops. For the Christian who comes forward to the Church only when the bishop is present seems to have come forward not so much for God's sake as for man's: nor to have fulfilled the office of a Christian who fears, but the service of a friend paying attendance.

4. The Negligence of the Clergy

Why, however, do I accuse you, when you could convict me with one sermon? For I convict myself, since in this matter I see the clergy more negligent than you. For how can I correct sons, when I cannot amend brothers? Or with what confidence should I be angry at laymen, when out of shame for my fellows in this respect I keep silent? But I, brothers, do not speak of all. There are certainly some who are devoted, and others who are negligent: I name no one; let each be confronted by his own conscience.

1. The Profit of a Bitter Rebuke

Perhaps my rebuke was more bitter than my previous preachings, in that I addressed most of you rather sharply with the severity of a teacher, and pursued matters that offered some of you not flattery, but rather brought sadness. But it matters nothing to me; for I rejoice, knowing that the sadness of the disciple is the joy of the teacher. For then does the hearer profit, when the preacher announces harsh things: then is salvation begotten for him, when the sadness of correction is instilled; for the blessed Apostle says: For sorrow according to God works repentance unto steadfast salvation.

2. The Wounds of a Friend

Rightly, then, do I rejoice, because I am working salvation: when I rebuke, though the son grieve at the harshness of the words, yet it delights me, since I understand that he profits through the grief. The holy Apostle says: For what son is there whom the father does not scourge? For the father does not always kiss the son, but sometimes also chastises. Therefore when he who is loved is chastised, then piety is exercised toward him. For love too has its own blows, which are sweeter the more bitterly they are inflicted; for religious chastisement is sweeter than fawning remission. Whence the prophet says: Sweeter are the wounds of a friend than the willing kisses of an enemy.

3. The Spring Stirred to Purity

Therefore, brothers, since after so many useful words of my rebuke I believe you have profited by the goodness of your understanding, let us discourse a little on the sacred writings. For just as a spring, which does not trickle forth with its accustomed moisture, is stirred with twigs, and thus is found more abundant, and first turbid water flows from it, so that a purer stream may follow: so also your holiness had indeed been exasperated by the austerity of the sermon, but has become more devoted by the sweetness of piety. For your minds perhaps retained something turbulent, but now from your morals flows forth all that is pure.

4. Degrees of Faith Among the Disciples

Let us see, then, what it is that the Lord says to His disciples: But whom do you say that I am? The Lord does not ask as one ignorant what the people and the disciples thought of Him: but as one who knew the minds of all, He wished to manifest the faith of individuals; so that what they believed the Lord to be in their heart—some Jeremiah, others John the Baptist—Peter alone confesses Him to be the Christ, the Son of God. There are, as it were, degrees of faith, and he who believes more devoutly confesses more religiously.

5. The Naming of Peter from the Rock

For this devotion it is said to Peter: Blessed are you, Simon Barjona; because flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I say to you: You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church. When he was called Simon, then, through this devotion he was called Peter. We read, the Apostle saying of the Lord Himself: They drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ. Rightly, then, since the rock was Christ, Simon was named Peter; that he who had fellowship of faith with the Lord might also have with the Lord unity of the Lord's name: so that just as one is called Christian from Christ, so also from the rock, Christ, the apostle was called Peter.

6. Christ's Ascension Compared to Elijah's

But we cannot reject the opinion of the peoples either, who thought the Lord to be one of the prophets. For some perhaps thought the Savior to be like Elijah, because Elijah, like the Savior, ascended to the heavens. But Christ is not like Elijah; for the one is caught up to the heavens, the other returns; the one, as it were weak, is carried up by a fiery chariot, the other, as God, is carried by His own power; the one is led as a man, the other ascends as Savior; the one follows the angels who lead, the other goes before the angels who accompany him. Finally, those same angels, returning to earth from the Lord Savior, said to the Apostles: Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up to heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you shall so come as you have seen him going into heaven.

1. Adam and Christ, Eve and Mary Compared

Hear, dearest brothers, what a mystery of the law this is. The first man was of earth and heaven; the second of heaven and earth: this one from God and Mary, who was of earth; that one from earth and the Spirit, who is of heaven. Yet both were from a virgin, and without the intermingling of intercourse: this one from an unpolluted virgin, that one from an untouched one: because as yet no seed had wounded either, nor plow nor rain. Through the first, life was lost; through the second, restored. The first lost the grace he had received, the second, together with life, bestowed grace: the first fell by the persuasion of a virgin, the second, by the childbearing of a virgin, raised up what lay fallen: the first, by sinning, brought forth the penalty of death; the second, by suffering, conferred forgiveness: the first, for guilt, was cast out of paradise; the second, for glory, was fastened to the cross for the world.

2. Eve and Mary Contrasted

Therefore evil came through a woman—nay rather, good through a woman; for through Eve we fell, through Mary we stand: through Eve we were laid low, raised up through Mary: through Eve we were consigned to servitude, through Mary made free. Eve took away from us permanence, Mary restored to us perpetuity: Eve caused us to be condemned through the fruit of a tree, Mary absolved us through the gift of a tree; because Christ too hung upon a tree, as its fruit.

3. The Tree of Death and the Tree of Life

Therefore, just as through a tree we died, so through a tree we were made alive. A tree showed us our nakedness, a tree of forgiveness clothed us with its leaves: a tree instilled in us the heat of sins, the tree of knowledge prepared for us the refreshing garments against our offenses: a tree bore thorns and thistles, the tree of knowledge brought forth hope and salvation: a tree brought sweat and toil, a tree conferred peace and salvation: a tree disclosed the light of the body, a tree opened the eyes of the heart: a tree insinuated the cunning of the world, a tree demonstrated divine prudence: a tree showed evil, a tree showed good; and, that I may return to the origin of the beloved one, and, God granting, may say what it is permitted to understand: unless Adam had fallen bodily, Christ ought not to have raised us up spiritually in this life.

4. The Mystery of Mary and Eve

O mystery of the sacraments, as we have said, of Mary, O teaching hidden from the faithless and manifest to the faithful! The immortal one builds up the mortal one, gives birth to the immortal one: the incorporeal is enclosed by the earthly, the corporeal by heaven: God is made man, but is shown to be God; and all this is committed through Adam, and washed away through Mary. Therefore blessed Eve, through whom occasion was given: nay rather, blessed Mary, through whom the cure was bestowed: blessed Eve, through whom the people was born; more blessed Mary, through whom Christ was born. Therefore, though one is better than the other, yet both indeed are glorious; because Christ would not have made Mary glad, unless He had first fashioned Eve, from whom Mary herself was born: nor would He have come to the people, unless she had first sinned in the world. This one is called the mother of the human race, that one of salvation: Eve taught us, Mary strengthened us.

5. Eve and Mary as One Mystery

Through Eve we increase, through Mary we reign: through Eve we were led astray to the earth, through Mary raised up to heaven; and, that I may briefly disclose the whole mystery of the law, and show that the two were one, just as all are one: in Eve, at that time, Mary was already present; through Mary afterward Eve was revealed.

6. Closing Exhortation for the Feast Day

Thanks to the Lord, dearest brothers, that it is not necessary for us to be taught what feast day this is; for you, taught by devotion, anticipate it. For there have come here today prophetic and evangelic readings teaching the same thing which your faith has taught us. May our God grant, then, that as today your deeds agree with the divine reading, so at every time you may keep this in your morals.

1. Solomon's Four Impossible Things and His Wisdom

It is quite wonderful, most beloved brothers, that in this chapter the most wise of all men, Solomon the prophet, has proposed three impossible things, which he could not know, and a fourth which he could still not grasp: The tracks of the flying eagle, the ways of a serpent upon a rock, and the paths of a ship sailing, and the ways of a man in his youth. Solomon, that prophet, testifies that he does not know these things—he who, as soon as, having passed through the rudiments of infancy, he entered the years of youth, in which that still weak age wavers uncertain as to what course of life it should choose—asked nothing else of God than wisdom: already wise, as I have said, amid the very trials of life, in that among all things he chose, in the love of things, what would go before all others.

For thus he himself, in the book of his Wisdom, recalls that he besought the almighty Lord: Give me, he says, wisdom, the assistant of your thrones; that I may know the disposition of the world, the powers of the elements, the beginning and the end and the middle of all things, the divisions and changes of times, the courses of the year, and the dispositions of the stars, the natures of animals and the wraths of beasts, the force of the winds and the thoughts of men, the differences of trees and the powers of roots: for wisdom, the artificer of all things, he says, taught me. And elsewhere, in the same book, he says: I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came into me.

2. Solomon's Great Wisdom and His Puzzling Ignorance

And what is it, most beloved brothers, that Solomon, so wealthy a possessor of wisdom, when he had known all things that were held hidden in the secrets of concealed dispositions, professes these things to be impossible for himself? Indeed, he who had obtained wisdom from God, who knew the entrance of the world's disposition, how this whole heaven which we behold was suspended in lofty height, in what manner the encircling and diffusion of this air was balanced in equal measure in the middle, by what means the earth, sunk down by its sluggish weight to the lowest place, remained fixed, by what reckoning, within the fixed bounds of its shores, the impatient wave of the liquid element surges in its flow: what was the beginning of things, what the end, and what the middle.

Whom again the divisions and changes of the seasons did not escape, who had grasped how the mutual succession of years followed one another as the circle returned, for what cause it drove the varied courses of the stars, sometimes preceding themselves, or suddenly following after, whence was their rising or their setting, and many other things, which by the teaching of wisdom he had come to know. It is a wonder that these things which he says are impossible for him, he was either unable to know, or to see.

3. Why Solomon Could Not Yet Know These Mysteries

But because all the things which were gathered together in the divine books by the announcement of the prophets were reserved for their own times, Solomon rightly, before the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, could not know what the flying eagle was, what the serpent on the rock was, what the ship sailing was, what the way of a youth was in his youth: for the time had not yet come when the body should be made from the shadow, or the truth from the figure. But to us, to whom our Lord Jesus Christ has shown that all things concerning himself were written in the Law, to whom nothing is hidden that shall not be revealed; and since no one else but Christ could unseal that book sealed with seven seals; it has been permitted and granted to us both to see and to know all things, as the Lord himself says: Father, I confess to thee, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise, and hast revealed them to little ones.

And again: To you, he says, it has been granted to know this mystery. These things I have related, not so much to reprove Solomon for what he could not have known, as to show that it was not yet the time for him to know it.

2. The Four Things Too Wonderful for Solomon

But now, lest the proposed reading be delayed longer, I have thought, with our God's favor, to expound to you a few things which come into question in this way: There are three things, he says, impossible for me to know, and a fourth which I do not understand: the tracks of an eagle flying, and the ways of a serpent upon a rock, and the paths of a ship sailing, and the ways of a man in his youth. For who, dearest brethren, has ever been able to know these things? As if indeed it were easy for the eagle, suspended aloft by the swift lifting of its wings, to establish any manifest traces of its beating and gliding, or to mark a path in the void, and to draw the line of its flight, and fix it in the liquid air? Who can grasp the course of a ship in the waves? Who can understand its track, through what mounds and boundaries it is carried?

There is always a frequent and restless change, while, by the following waves, either what went before is submerged, or what followed is overwhelmed. Who has ever recognized any mark of a serpent upon a rock, since the material of stones is hard, and the nature of serpents is slippery? Or how can the ways of a man in his youth be known, when it cannot be discerned whence he comes, or whither he goes? These are the things which the most wise Solomon the prophet said he could not know. Now therefore hear what we may say concerning each of these things.

5. The Eagle as a Figure of Christ's Ascension

By the eagle in this place we must understand Christ our Lord, who, after his venerable resurrection, by which he taught the human race that it could return to life after death, flew back like an eagle to the Father, bringing his prey with him, that is, man, whom he had snatched from the jaws of the enemy. This is the eagle which the prophet Ezekiel relates that he saw in that fourfold seat and Cherubim, among the living creatures which, joined to wheels, carried the mystic chariot; for one creature was like a calf, another like a lion, the third like a man, the fourth like an eagle, just as John wrote that he had seen in the Apocalypse. The first, he says, living creature was like a calf, the second like a lion, the third like a man, and the fourth like an eagle. But concerning this equality of the living creatures, another place is needed for treatment. Now, meanwhile, let us explain what we have begun.

5. The Eagle's Nest as a Figure of the Church

This is the eagle of whom it is written: As an eagle covers her nest, that is, Christ covers the Church. And again he says: In the shadow of thy wings will I hope. And again: Thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's. For as the eagle, being as it were a settler-bird, is a mother of always one nest, nor ever seeks another dwelling for the rearing of her young; and when, from warm eggs, the offspring within has first burst forth in a timely birth, she leads out the unfledged nestlings, and sets them against the face of the burning sun; and whichever one lowers its weak and feeble gaze at the flashing stroke of the rays, that one, condemned by the mother's judgment, and separated from the fellowship of its brothers, is cast down to the earth.

And as that bird is an enemy of serpents, whom, while carrying them borne up on the oarage of her wings through the air, she tears and rends with her hooked beak and her feet armed as with certain weapons; and when she devours them, she extinguishes by her inner heat that harmful poison: so also Christ the Lord loves the one Church, as the eagle her nest; which he defends with the shelter of his wings from the heat of persecutions: so too he casts out of the Church those in whom the light of faith is weak, who, defiled by worldly vices, cannot bear the fiery light of the Gospels.

6. The Bronze Serpent and Christ's Victory Over Sin

And as the eagle devours serpents, and cooks their venoms with her inner heat: so also Christ our Lord, the dragon having been struck down, that is, the devil having been torn, because he assumed to himself a human body, extinguished that sin which held man liable, as a pernicious poison, just as the Apostle says: And by sin he condemned sin in his flesh; and elsewhere: He who knew no sin, for us he made to be sin. To this end also Moses lifted up the bronze serpent in the desert on a piece of wood, which was a proper type of the body of Christ, so that whoever looked upon it should not perish; for the body of man had, through transgression, become the vessel of the serpent.

So also elsewhere Moses himself cast a rod down upon the ground, which was made bodily in the likeness of a serpent: this too was an image of the body of the Lord; and therefore it bore in itself the type of so great a power, he who swallowed up the power of all the Egyptians.

7. The Incomprehensible Tracks of the Eagle's Flight

This, then, is what he says: The tracks of an eagle flying; because although after his passion and resurrection, in the presence of the apostles, our Lord ascended into heaven, yet what man's understanding is so lofty and so great that he can explain how that so great majesty either deigned to come down from heaven, or to return; when this alone is permitted us to know, that he either came, or returned? For who can understand how the Word came into the Virgin, so that she suddenly conceived, so that the virginal birth poured forth so blessed an offspring, so that God clothed himself in man, whom the whole world cannot either sustain or contain? That is what he says: The tracks of an eagle flying: that is, that the tracks of Christ the Lord, coming to earth and returning to the heavens, cannot be grasped or recounted.

3. The Rock and Serpent Signify Christ's Sinless Flesh

8. Scriptural Proofs That the Rock Is Christ

And the ways, he says, of a serpent upon a rock. I have already told your charity that the shining and pliant serpent, gliding with its winding coils, makes no visible track by its passing on the rock, because it is a hard substance. For the sign of this creature is only marked by a soft writing in the dust. Let us now see, then, who this serpent is, or what the rock is on which the track of the serpent does not appear. We ought not to doubt that this rock is our Lord. For thus the Apostle says: And they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ; and the Psalmist says: On the rock thou hast exalted me; and Moses in the song of Deuteronomy: He suckled them with honey out of the rock, and oil out of the hard rock, that is, because he was to give them the sweet sweetness of the Gospel, or the Holy Spirit through the anointing of chrism.

And elsewhere he says: Blessed is he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock: which indeed would be an act of parricide among the religious, if that rock did not bear the figure of the body of Christ. For no one is blessed at a funeral who dashes his little ones against a rock: but he is blessed for this reason, that he joins them to the rock.

9. The Serpent Identified as the Devil

I have said, then, that the rock is found in all the Scriptures to be the Lord and our Savior. But that the serpent, from its very name, is the devil, appears, as being craftier than all the beasts which are upon the earth, that is, the devil: who is therefore called a serpent, because he creeps in secretly, and tests the senses of men by slipping in subtly: whom, if he has overcome, he entwines and immerses himself in the marrow and bones of men. He, in the body of man which the almighty Christ God had put on, could imprint no traces of his own malice; although he dared often to attempt it, just as the Lord himself says in the Gospel: Behold, the prince of this world comes, and finds nothing in me; and elsewhere: The enemy shall have no advantage over him, nor the son of iniquity hurt him.

This, then, is the rock, that is, the flesh of Christ sprinkled with no iniquity of the enemy, on which the track of the serpent, that is, of any sin, does not appear, as it is written: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.

4. The Ship of the Church Amid Heresies

10. The Church as a Ship with Christ as Mast

Hear now what he adds further: And the paths, he says, of a ship sailing. We ought to understand the ship, likewise, as the Church, set upon the sea of this world, which is wearied by the frequent waves of the winds, that is, by the strokes and blows of temptations: which the turbid waves, that is, the power of this age, strive to drive upon the rocks. And although she is often tossed by the waves and storms of the billows, yet she can never suffer shipwreck; because on her mast, that is, on the cross, Christ is raised up, on her stern the Father sits, the helmsman is the Paraclete Spirit, who guards the prow. Through the narrow straits of this world twelve rowers guide her into the harbor, that is, the twelve apostles, and a like number of the prophets.

11. Heresies as Perils Facing the Church's Ship

Thence the caves of Montanus resound with the barking of a false song, who, girded with two women prophetesses, Priscilla and Maximilla, is surrounded like some Scylla with rabid dogs. In this ship of the Church we happily pass these by. Thence we do not fall into the Photinian Charybdis. Thence in no way do we run into that pit, as of Dathan and Abiron, that is, into the depth of the death of Ursacius and Valens. Thence we do not fear Arius the arch-pirate, who pursues us across the sea of this age like Pharaoh; keeping that star in heaven which led the Magi to Christ, through which the kingdom of God awaits us, which shall be the harbor from all evils. Thence never has that whale Marcion swallowed us, cast down from this ship of the Church. Thence Sabellius the pirate has not seized us.

Thence the north wind will not be able to harm us, although from thence the violent blasts of Antichrist are to come, as it is written: Out of the north evils shall be kindled. Thence we avoid the shoals of the Gentiles, and the dangerous heresies and rocks, which the shallow surface of the overlying water conceals; because heretics, under the pretext of the Christian name, cover over the hidden rocks of their perfidy with the deceptive confession of their mouth, upon which men strike, while, because they are called Christians, they are trusted.

12. Scriptural Proof That the Ship Signifies the Church

This, then, is the ship which is the Church, which, although this world daily allots to her, as it were, a hostile sea, is never dashed upon the rock, nor sunk to the depths. But that the ship is the Church we prove by divine testimonies, as it is said: There the ships of Tarshish passed by; and elsewhere: Against every ship of the sea; because these are the churches of the world, which place all their hope, of what happens in this present time, not so much in God, as in the powers of this age.

13. The Church Renewed Through Persecution

But when he says, The ways of a ship sailing, it properly signifies that in the time of persecution it could in no way be comprehended, by what wonderful means she is restored to vigor through her ruin, and made rich through her losses, just as the Psalmist says in her own person: In tribulation thou hast enlarged me. For this reason, in many places, she is compared either to the sun, or to the moon: which, even though struck, is not moved: and if it be moved, it rises again.

14. The Ways of Christ's Youth and His Miracles

And the ways, he says, of a man in his youth. This man is Christ our Lord, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles: Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by mighty works and wonders and signs; and the Apostle: That we may all meet unto a perfect man, unto the measure of Christ; and elsewhere: I have espoused you to one man, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. This is the man whose ways cannot be known in his youth. For who could conceive in mind, or grasp, how many works he wrought while he tarried on earth according to man? What journeys of virtues he made?

Into what ways of benefits toward the human race he entered, while he restored firmness to the feet of the lame, while he gave back lost sight to the blind, or bestowed it where it had never been, while he granted speech to the mute, and insinuated hearing to the deaf, while he dried up the abundant flow of blood in Martha, while he drove out demons from Mary, while he bound the body of Lazarus with the warmth of a revived spirit, and light again received into life that which death had claimed for its penalty? What of that firm tread upon the waves, what of the remnants of the few loaves that, after the multitude was fed, were more than had been before? What of the poor provision of wine at the Galilean wedding, made precious by the works of the Lord? And many other things, as is said in the Gospel, which, if they were all written, the world could not contain them. Or what, finally, of the descent into hell, or the ascent into heaven?

What of that, that during his passion the sun could not hold its wonted fullness of light; that the veil was torn, the stone rolled away? These, then, are the ways in youth, which the prophet testified he was not so much unable to discover as unable to recount.

15. The Washed Harlot as a Figure of the Church

Such also, he says here, are the ways of the harlot, who, after she has been washed, says she has done no evil. This harlot is a type of the Church, once established among the Gentiles, corrupted by the worship of idols, whom the defilements of vain superstition had polluted; whom the multitude of false gods had made an adulteress: she wandered wanton and shameful, with disordered dances, through the untended groves and sacred woods, given over to luxury, enslaved to the pomp of the Gentiles. After our Lord Jesus Christ poured over her the pure fountain of baptism, she received a washing away both of her crime and, through the grace of faith, of her very name. After being a harlot, she becomes a virgin, because she has devoted herself to one Bridegroom.

For also that Rahab, the harlot of Jericho, who received the spies of Joshua the son of Nun with hospitality, and who, because she was marked with the sign of scarlet—a color signifying the type of Christ's blood—and because she escaped the overthrow of the city, held the type of the Church, which through the blood of Christ does not fear, in security, the ruin of this world. For thus says the prophet: Take unto thee, he says, a wife of fornications, and make children of fornications. For everywhere, dearly beloved brethren, the worship of idols has been called fornication, as it is written in the Apocalypse: And thou sufferest my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols. Finally, that city Jerusalem, once noble among the Hebrews, as often as she turned away from the truth and served idols, was immediately called by the name of a harlot, as Isaiah cries out: How has the faithful city Sion become a harlot?

Hence, then, is it that Solomon says: Such is the way of an adulterous woman, who, after she has been washed, says she has done no evil.

1. Solomon's Fourfold Riddle of Christ and the Church

Before the coming of Christ our Savior, many prophets, having conceived the Holy Spirit, announced things to come, among whom Solomon too is numbered in his place and order according to the times: but between him and the others there is some distance. And therefore the others spoke of the Spirit alone, but Solomon spoke both of the Spirit and of an added wisdom. Indeed this saying, which we have heard recited from his words, bears witness to this; while he professes his ignorance concerning both wisdom and the Spirit, when he says: There are three things, he says, which I do not understand: the way of a ship in the sea, the path of a serpent upon a rock, and the track of an eagle flying in the air: and a fourth which I cannot search out, that is, the adulterous woman, who, when she has once been washed, believes she has not sinned at all.

These words seem, in ordinary sense, to be gathered as if from common speech, but in all of them are holy mysteries: three in Christ, and one in the Church.

2. The Ship's Trackless Passage and the Virgin Birth

For as to his saying that he could not find the way of a ship in the sea, this word is not without a mystery. For who could gather, among the waves, the path which a ship had been able to cross? For a ship, in its passing, cleaves the waves and closes them together again; so that it is known that it has passed, yet it is not seen by what way it passed. For it can leave a sight, but it cannot make a trace. Christ is the ship, into which the souls of all believers ascend, which, that its whole firmness may be held amid the waves, is fashioned of wood and fastened with iron—that is, Christ upon the cross. But as to his calling the ship traceless, it is because the Word of God, penetrating powerfully through the ear to the inmost parts, having gathered his own man, is born among men—the Virgin Mary bringing forth.

The ship passes through the sea, and there are no traces in the waves: Christ comes from heaven, is conceived through the ear, is borne in the womb for a fixed time. The Virgin Mary remained such after she brought forth, as she was before she conceived the Word through the ear. Rightly does Solomon say that, between the Holy Spirit and wisdom, he does not know, and he points to a mystery, which he does not understand.

3. The Serpent's Path in Adam Versus Christ

Then he professes that he does not see the path of a serpent upon a rock: which is commonly plain to all men; because in the season of summer, when the earth dissolves into dust, a serpent, going out of its hiding place, can mark out a path by the impression of its body upon the crumbled earth: but when it reaches a rock, it does not do in the stone what it did in the dust. So too the serpent, the devil, at the very birth of the world, found the earth corruptible, Adam and Eve gladly listening to what he spoke. He made a path in their ears, he made one too in their feet, to which the way to the tree had been forbidden; he made one in their hands, by which the fruit was handled: he made one in their sides, to which marriage, not yet granted, was celebrated.

Then the serpent was able to make, as it were, a track in the primal man as in dust; he came to the rock, which is Christ (for such had Adam been made, as Christ is from the womb), he saw a likeness covered with a body: but he could not know its majesty. He could also attempt to tempt him: but Christ neither obeyed nor grew angry; for anger is the work of the devil: but when the words of the devil were despised, the serpent made no track upon the rock.

4. The Eagle's Descent as a Figure of the Cross

The third thing he testifies he did not understand. By the eagle is understood Christ, who by his flight descended to the earth. This kind of animal is not nourished unless first the chastity of the mother is proven, so that with open eyes, without blinking, it gazes upon the whole sun. Rightly indeed is this animal compared to the Savior; since when it wishes to seize something, it does not walk the earth with steps, but chooses a lofty place: so too Christ, hung upon the high cross, with thundering sound and terrible flight made his onslaught to the lower regions, and, seizing the saints, returned to the heights.

5. The Adulterous Woman as a Figure of the Church

The fourth thing, which he speaks of concerning the adulterous woman—here the woman is understood as the Church, which long ago, following idols, went whoring after strange gods: but when, the truth being known, she, having once been washed by baptism, lacking the seats which she had long gathered together, believes she has never sinned, becomes clean, becomes new, having put off the way of life of the world: she dies to the devil, she is reborn to God.

1. Agnes the Virgin Betrothed to Christ

Since throughout the whole world the virgin flower of Mary weaves unfading crowns, and keeps the scepter-bearing hall of modesty with unspotted affection; her integrity has prevailed so far unto the palm, that it might seize the trophy of holiness even among young girls, and, following the footsteps of the virgin mother, arrive at the heavenly bridal chamber. Hence it is that Agnes declares herself betrothed by the ring of faith, and cries out that she is bound by love. O how imitable a pattern of your love have you, a virgin, delivered to virgins! O how holy an answer have you given to virgin hearts, by despising the riches of the world, by execrating the concupiscences of the flesh, and by loving alone the beauty of Christ!

2. Agnes as a Model for Virgins and Wives

Come near to the girl, O girls, and learn in the years of childhood what flames she kindled in her breast concerning the love of Christ. She says she keeps faith to her lover, and desires his body alone, who for the love of all did not refuse the death of dying. Learn, virgins of Christ, the love burning in a girl, and her refusal of all the riches of the world as though they were dung. For this reason the examples of the saints are handed down in writings, that each one, according to the quality of sex and the measure of years, may keep the manner of his own purpose, and, just as through a virgin virgins, so through a wife wives may strive to conquer the world for the love of Christ, and, by the resistance of the soul refusing the sweetnesses of the world, and not refusing its austerities, may attain to everlasting delights and eternal joys.

3. Virginity Preferred to Marriage but Not Opposed to It

In saying these things we do not disparage the chaste commerce of spouses, but we adorn the perseverance of virgins; for virginity is not to be set above evil things, but is to be preferred to the best of things. For that which is purer than the pure, and holier than the holy, needs not to be praised by the disparagement of evil things. Let, then, wives placed in religion follow the holy marriages of the patriarchs, and, instructed by the divine writings, let wives imitate Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Anna, Susanna, Zipporah: but let the virgins of Christ follow alone the Virgin, mother of the Virgin light.

4. Agnes's Courage Against Threats and Torments

Following in her footsteps, the most blessed Agnes stirred up from herself a great example of chastity, when she preferred virginity to life, and, driving out from herself every earthly love through heavenly love, seized the trophy of the cross of Christ; and, armed with faith rather than with steel, fought bravely and conquered, as much against lusts as also against every torment. She looks, at last, upon one flattering her and refuses: upon one threatening, and she scorns him: she beholds the fire, and laughs. She knows not, he says, how to love anything else, and fears neither mockeries, nor flames, nor tortures, nor executioners: finally she did not dread even the sword of the raging persecutor.

The virgin is compelled to take up the ornaments of the body, but refuses; because she had already taken up those of the mind: and because she did not strive to please by the elegance of the human body, because she feared to displease the Lord by the foulness of the soul, she gave within, through faith, the fairness of her own mind, and the beauty of the soul, which she cultivated; and to the extent that she knew that she made her soul beautiful, so much did she blush at being comely in her flesh: and she strove as much to displease carnal men in the sight of the flesh, as she pressed on to please Christ and his angels.

5. Agnes Refuses the Suitor's Costly Gifts

The young man, spurned by the girl, is troubled, and, thinking he might please her with gifts, heaps together gold, gems, garments, precious estates. But because the charity of Christ has no price in money, the most sacred virgin remained in her rank even unto the shedding of blood; since Christ had betrothed her with his own blood. To him, then, who desired her, the wealth returns, and her unshaken virginity, once offered to Christ, endures. Learn, virgins of Christ, the examples of a girl's rule, and, with your whole intention, spurn the little gifts of men offered under the guise of piety, and refuse them with all joy, as though they were the bites of a raging dog. From him from whom you should not receive what you fear from God, do not accept what you would love of the world: accept, virgin, accept—but only what may profit eternal love. As often as you obtain wealth from a man, so accept it, that you may know yourself the bride of Christ.

He sees within, in the mind, what you do, and watches how eagerly you accompany his virgins.

6. Agnes in the Brothel and the Devil's Defeat

See, then, how Agnes follows Mary. After the reproaches, she could fear no punishment at all, for whom even the brothel of shame was made a place of prayer; and where the devil had prepared for her the ignominy of corruption, there did the Lord cause her to receive the crown of her virginity and the palm. This is to conquer enemies in their own seats, the captive virgin led to the inner chambers of the king of lusts, the king himself vanquished by the virgin whom he had made captive, and going forth vanquished along with the triumph of the virgin; for he who had held her was held: he who had dragged her was dragged: he who thought to kill her was killed.

7. Angels Clothe Agnes as the Crowd Is Converted

Finally, that we may prove that the devil was then conquered by a virgin, let us call to mind the deed of that young man, whom the enemy had so armed against the infancy of Agnes that he caused her to be dragged naked to the brothel through the crowd, under the voice of a herald proclaiming, inviting the people to lust. That this man was, therefore, a leader of the devil, no one doubts; and that when the leader is conquered, the people are overcome, is known to all: and it is plain to all that when the peoples are overcome together with their leader, the tyrant is held captive. But it is established that the devil was conquered as often as he took up arms against the virgin; for the virgin, stripped, is covered by her hair: and, stripped bare by wicked men, she was clothed by good angels: and, condemned to the brothel of shame, she appeared in the bosom of chastity.

The place which had been one of lost souls becomes a house of prayer of angels; and where chastity had always been shipwrecked, there virginity is crowned. Finally, the peoples whom the herald had invited to lust, the virgin took captive: and those whom the devil brought to her defiled, she cast forth from herself clean; for all entering one by one, one supported the entrance of another, whom, as he went out—since he could not be believed clean—showed himself unclean; but he who had entered for lust, by the merits of the virgin was held fast to adore the Lord; and there went forth from there a servant of God, who had entered within as a servant of the devil; and as many became worshippers of Christ as the devil had thought he found corrupters of the virgin.

8. The Young Man's Death and Restoration Through Agnes's Prayer

So there remained the young man who had been the author of this rejection: he who thought he would overcome the splendor of the virgin's defender, while he provoked it to lust, lost the life which he seemed to have; and found the death which he sought. Tears succeed laughter, and lamentations put an end to mockery. The virgin beheld the judge mourning, and heard him now beseeching, whom before, threatening, she had despised. Therefore as soon as she began to pray for the dead man, she raises up safe from the dead one who had been given over to death; and calls to joy him who had been cast down into mourning. For he who had died unchaste rises chaste; and he who had been a persecutor of chastity becomes a preacher of chastity.

9. The Virgin Unharmed by the Flames

At this the sacrilegious are thrown into confusion in the temples, and, not fearing Christ who works these miracles, they stir up a sedition of the ignoble crowd; so that reason, which counselled the end of the seditions, driven back by the shouting, could find no place in the minds of men. But the father of the raised son departed sorrowful, and, as it is read, left a substitute to the raging crowds. So they prepared crackling flames for the virgin body, but the body which had overcome the fires of lust found refreshment in the midst of the flames: and she who had entered these hearths to be burned began, through holy virginity, to grow cold; that virginity might learn that flames and fires can have no full dominion over it.

10. Martyrs Consumed or Delivered from Fire

Do not think that those have perished whom the fire consumed for the name of Christ; for when you read that Elijah was caught up by fires, and the three boys in the midst of the fires were by no means consumed: or since you recall that Laurence was consumed on the gridiron, and know that Agnes, like Thecla, escaped the masses of flame, you should not suspect that there was any inconstancy of faith in these; for one faith exercised the saints of God in their passion, and rendered them victors on both sides by a different kind of glory. For he who was consumed, a martyr, exults: and he who escaped, a victor, exults: and God made Isaiah, sawn in two, a martyr, and made Daniel, scorning the rage and bites of lions, a most approved confessor: by which deed He showed both to be conquerors of the devil; for one dies and triumphs, the other escapes and reigns.

11. The Virgin Bride Called to Martyrdom

Come now, virgin, to the bridal chamber which you sought: and for love of the Bridegroom receive the sword of the executioner; that unstained virginity may prove you the bride of Christ, and approved confession may seal you a martyr. Happy the throng of virgins whose zeal is to follow the footsteps of your confession; for they shall have with you a crown in heaven, they who with you have conquered the enemy in the world. For as to you, following the footsteps of Mary, a share in the eternal reward appeared; so we believe that eternal joys are not to be denied to those who imitate you.

1. The Birthday of Cantius Cantianus and Cantianilla

Today is the birthday of the most blessed Cantius, Cantianus, and Cantianilla. How well and pleasantly are three martyrs named by almost one name! Nor is it strange that those who are alike in passion should be alike in name: if there is one appellation for them among men, for whom there is one calling before God; for they were called together by the Lord, not suffering at one time in one way and at another in another, with an interval of time interposed, but all bore martyrdom together at the same stroke. This indeed was granted to them by a certain kindred affection from Christ; that they who agreed in names might correspond in merits: and they who were brothers by kinship might also become brothers in sanctity: and they whose limbs one bodily substance quickened, their souls the confession of the same faith might crown.

2. The Capture of the Three Martyrs

The history relates concerning the aforesaid blessed ones, that at the time of their passion, when the persecutor was seeking them out, having mounted a vehicle, with mules yoked, they wished to withdraw: and when they were journeying not far from the walls of the city, one of the animals yoked suddenly collapsed, and thus they were seized by their persecutors and held for punishment.

3. Their Journey Compared to Elijah's Chariot

We ought to note how glorious this deed was, and disposed by divinity. For God always leads those whom He has chosen, as victors, into the hall of the heavenly kingdom by a lofty conveyance. For as Elijah, a chariot being applied, as it were ascended to heaven; so also these men, a vehicle having been brought up, arrived at martyrdom: and as the chariot bore him to rest, so it carried these to glory. And although that was a fiery chariot, this one nevertheless ought not to be reckoned inferior; because that one carried one prophet, this one sustained three martyrs.

4. Faith as the Fiery Chariot of the Martyrs

But someone says: the fiery chariot bore more gloriously than the earthly one. Nor indeed was this lacking to the holy men; for as a fiery chariot carried Elijah, so a fiery faith already bore the martyrs. Christ, I say, bore them, who is light, who is fire, of whom it is written: Our Lord is a consuming fire.

5. Going Forth to Martyrdom Not Fleeing

Therefore when the persecutor was pressing upon the blessed ones of whom we speak, they mounted the vehicle. For what reason? That they might flee? Far from it. Not that they might flee, but that they might arrive more quickly at martyrdom: not that they might hide, but that they might show themselves more manifestly Christians to all passersby. Otherwise they could have hidden more secretly among many in the city, could more safely have committed each one separately to the refuge of flight through different ways. But when, an assembly having been made, vehicles arranged, preparation set in order, one goes forth by the public highway, that is not to be called flight, but a setting forth. For the holy men, by this deed, as though placed in a triumphal chariot, testified, saying: Behold, persecutor, behold, we set forth; behold, we go before; why do you delay? Why do you tarry? Follow our footsteps; for we do not wish to seem led unwilling to punishment, we who declare that we go before to glory.

1. The Wondrous Birth and Death of John the Baptist

In the praises of the holy and most blessed John the Baptist, whose birthday we celebrate today, I do not know what I should chiefly proclaim: whether that he was wonderfully born, or that he was more wonderfully slain? For he was born in prophecy, put to death in truth: by being born he announced the coming of the Savior, by dying he condemned the incest of Herod. For the holy and just man, who beyond the common birth of men had been begotten by promise, merited this from God, that he should not depart from the world by a death common with others: but should lay down, by confessing the Lord, the body which he had received by the Lord's gift.

2. Gabriel's Announcement to Zacharias

Therefore John did the will of God in all things; for he was born and died for the work of the Lord. For, to briefly recall the sequence of his birth: when his father Zacharias and his mother Elizabeth were worn out with old age, and rejoiced in no offspring of children; and the most flourishing time for begetting children had already passed them by, so that they themselves had even given up hope of receiving offspring, they are suddenly granted a promise through an angel, and holy Gabriel announces that John will be born, saying: Fear not, Zacharias, behold, your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth shall conceive and bear a son.

3. John Conceived by Prayer Not Nature

Your prayer has been heard, he says; from which we understand that Zacharias's righteousness begot John more by praying than Elizabeth's old age conceived him by procreating. Hence, I say, we understand that supplication created John, not desire. For when the womb's inward parts grew cold with age, and the weary members of the body had already lost the grace of fecundity, against the impossibility of the body, against the sterility of the womb, at the prayers of Zacharias Elizabeth's womb swelled, and she conceived John not by nature, but by grace. Whence it was necessary that a holy son be born, who was begotten not so much by embraces as by prayers.

4. John's Birth Compared to the Lord's Nativity

We should marvel less that John merited such grace in being born; for the forerunner and precursor of Christ ought to have something similar to the nativity of the Lord Savior. Since indeed the Lord is begotten of a Virgin, John is procreated of a barren woman: He is brought forth from an immaculate young maiden, this one is begotten of an already weary old woman. So this birth too has something of glory and miracle. For although the childbearing of a married woman may seem baser than that of a virgin; yet as we admire Mary, that a virgin gave birth, so we marvel at Elizabeth, that an old woman brought forth.

5. The Old and New Testament Figured in Their Births

I think this deed contains some mystery, namely that John, who bore the figure of the Old Testament, should be born of an old woman's already cold blood: while the Lord, who was to preach the gospel of the heavenly kingdom, should come forth from the bloom of a fervent young maiden. For Mary, conscious of her virginity, marvels at the offspring enfolded in her womb: but Elizabeth, conscious of her old age, blushes at her womb burdened with childbearing; for the evangelist says: She hid herself for five months.

6. One Angel Two Announcements

How wonderful too is this, that the same archangel Gabriel presents the office of both nativities? He comforts Zacharias in his unbelief, he exhorts Mary who trusts confidently. He, because he doubted, lost his voice: she, because she believed at once, conceived the saving Word.

7. The Unborn John Leaps for Joy

This too seems by no means to be passed over in silence among the praises of John, that not yet born he already prophesies, and, still placed within the folds of his mother's womb, confesses the coming of Christ by joy, because he could not by voice. For Elizabeth says to holy Mary: As soon as the voice of your greeting came into my ears, the infant leaped in my womb for joy; for John exults before he is born, and before he recognizes his own form with the world's eyes, he already recognizes the Lord of the world in spirit. In this I think the prophetic sentence agrees, which says: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; and before you came forth from the womb, I sanctified you. Whence we ought not to marvel that, shut up in prison by Herod, he always made Christ known to his disciples; since even shut up in the womb he preached the same Lord by gestures.

1. The Power of John's Name

About to pursue today the birthday of holy John the Baptist, I should wish to be silent, and to restrain by silence my labor and lack of skill: but the very force of his name does not allow me to be silent at all: for the naming of his very appellation presses upon the secrets of our heart, dissolves the hidden things of our silence, and what is passed over by dissimulation is compelled by admiration. For if his father Zacharias, when he named him, received his voice back; how much more, when we praise him, do we deserve eloquence? And if his mouth was opened when he was born into the world; how much more, when he suffers for Christ, does he make our mouths fruitful?

2. Zacharias Writes the Name John and Speaks

For when Zacharias his father, on account of unbelief concerning his nativity, had been punished by the angel Gabriel with the silence of muteness, and now for a long time, being mute, had veiled the secrets of his mind at the cost of words, suddenly, John his son having been born, when among the kinsfolk there was contention by what name he should be called, tablets are offered to the father; that he himself might write down the name at his own discretion, and speak by letters what he could not by speech: then, in wondrous manner, having received the writing-tablets to fix the stylus, he loosed his tongue, and his speech outran the letters, and he did not attest John, but spoke him.

3. John's Merit Restores Voice and Priesthood

See, then, the merit of the holy Baptist: he restored his father's voice, he restored eloquence to the priest. See, I say, the merit: the mouth which the angel had bound, John released: what Gabriel had shut up, the little one unlocked; although he too is an angel, as it is written of him: Behold, I send my angel before your face. Consider, then, John, how great is the power of his name, whose naming restored to the mute man his voice, to the father his fatherly love, to the people a priest. For before, the tongue was silent, barren of a son, deprived of its office: but when John is born, the father suddenly becomes at once father, prophet, and priest; speech recovers its use, he receives offspring with affection, priestly function is again recognized.

4. The Voice of One Crying in the Desert

Since therefore so great is the force of this word, we, about to speak of him, even if we wish to be silent, cannot be silent; for John himself is called the voice of one crying. Who then, praising the voice, would be silent? Admiring the cry, would be mute? For he himself says of himself: I am the voice of one crying in the desert. See what he said; for he did not say only: I am the voice; but the voice of one crying: namely, that unto the attaining of faith the voice might penetrate the ears, the cry might shake the hearts: the voice might preach the kingdom, the cry might threaten judgment.

5. None Greater Among Those Born of Women

Great therefore is John, to whose greatness even the Saviour bears witness, saying: Among them that are born of women there is not a greater than John the Baptist. He excels all, stands above all, goes before the prophets, surpasses the patriarchs; and whosoever is born of woman is inferior to John.

6. Why Scripture Says Born of Women

But we ought diligently to inquire why the Lord said it thus, that is: Among them that are born of women, and did not rather say: Among the sons of men there is not a greater than John, since indeed women cannot have children born without men. But he said this because the offspring of women is more numerous than that of men; for there is a son of a woman who is not the son of a man. For indeed holy Mary bore a son who had no father among men; for the Lord is the son of a woman, and is not the son of a man, as the Apostle says: Made of a woman, made under the Law; that he who has a mother on earth might have a Father in heaven. Therefore in the praise of John the generation of the more fruitful sex is set forth, that no one's birth might be excluded from it.

7. John Is Not Greater Than Christ

Perhaps someone says: If among them that are born of women John is greater, is he then greater also than the Saviour? Far be it; for John was born of a woman, but Christ was born of a virgin: the one was poured forth from the folds of a corruptible womb, the other brought forth from the flower of an unpolluted womb. But the reason the generation of the Lord is reckoned along with the nativity of John is that the Lord might not seem to be outside the truth of the human condition.

1. The Voice of Scripture Never Silent

We said on the previous Sunday, when we asked pardon for our silence, that for the sake of the common salvation, even when the priests are silent, the evangelical teaching is not silent, and that the divine word supplies for their silence; for divine Scripture always speaks and cries out, as it is written of John: I am the voice of one crying in the desert. For John did not cry out only at that time when, announcing the Lord the Saviour to the Pharisees, he said: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths; but he cries out today also in us, and with the thunder of his voice shakes the deserts of our sins. And although he has fallen asleep by a holy martyr's death, yet his voice lives; for he says also to us today: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths; for divine Scripture always cries out and speaks.

2. The Blood of Abel and the Voice of Conscience

Whence also God says to Cain: The voice of thy brother's blood cries to me. There is indeed no voice of blood, but the blood which was innocently poured out is said to cry, not so much by voice as by cause; and to plead with the Lord not by the utterance of speech, but by the outcry of the deed committed; and its own guilt is not so much accused by the words of speech as constrained by the accusation of conscience itself. For although an evil deed, if it is brought forward in word, perhaps admits of excuse, unless conscience is summoned, it cannot be excused. For conscience always convicts and judges its own guilty one, silent, without contradiction.

3. Preparing the Way of the Lord in the Heart

Today therefore John cries out and says: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. We are bidden therefore to prepare the way of the Lord, namely not the causeway of a road, but the purity of faith; for the Lord does not tread an earthly path, but walks through the secret places of the mind. If therefore anything in this way is rough in morals, hard through cruelty, defiled by manner of life, we are bidden to cleanse it, to level it, to set it in order; that the Lord coming upon us may not stumble in us, but rather find the way pure with chastity, easy with faith, prominent with almsgiving. That the Lord is wont to walk by such a path, the Prophet describes, saying: Make a way for him who ascends upon the west, the Lord is his name.

4. John's Ascetic Life as Preparation

But let us see how John himself, who bids the way of the Lord be prepared, himself prepared the way for the Saviour. In every respect, plainly, at the coming of Christ, he composed and directed the path of his own way. For he was indeed fasting, humble, sparing, and a virgin; for the Evangelist, describing all these his virtues, says: And John himself had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins. And his meat was locusts and wild honey. What greater humility then in a prophet, than, despising soft garments, to be clothed with the roughness of hair? What more devout faith, than, girded with a girdle, to be ever ready for every service of obedience? What more excellent abstinence, than, spurning the delights of this life, to feed on rasping locusts and wild honey?

5. The Prophetic Meaning of John's Garments

Since all these things were of use to the prophet, I think there was prophecy in these very things. For indeed, when the forerunner of Christ had a garment woven with the roughness of camel's hair, what else does it signify, except that Christ himself, coming, would use the garment of the human body, which was thickened with the roughness of sins: and that, surrounded as it were with the hide of a most unclean beast, that is, of the gentile people, he himself would bear its deformity? But the leathern girdle, what else does it show, except that this fragile flesh of ours, which before the coming of Christ was ruled over unto vices, after his coming was restrained unto virtue; so that what before, by luxury, was spread out into fatness, now, by abstinence, was made thin into hide?

6. The Lute-Player's Request for John's Head

How blessed then do we read his end to be, namely that a lute-player, the king's daughter, after that hostile pleasure, asked for his head? What wonder if a lute-player slew a prophet? We know that luxury is ever the enemy of justice, and iniquity without ceasing persecutes truth. In this deed a great mystery is contained; for indeed that lute-player is to be compared to the Synagogue, which, while it revels in luxury, slays Christ. That this lute-player is the Synagogue, the Lord says to the Jews: We have piped to you, and you have not danced.

7. The Symbolism of John's Beheading

But why the head was taken from John's body is a manifest matter. John, as the Scriptures establish, bore the type of the Law: but of the Lord we read that Christ is the head of the man. Therefore when the head is taken away from John's body, Christ is in a certain manner separated from the Jews, the worshippers of the Law. For the Law remained to them without the Saviour, lifeless and truncated; for from that time indeed the Jews have no savor of divine things, from the time they began to be without a head.

8. Preparing the Way Through Marital Fidelity

He therefore makes a way for the Lord who, among the other virtues of continence, does not overstep the boundary of marriage, nor stains the prescribed limit of wedlock with adulterous intercourse. For there are some who, though they have taken wives by law, associate concubines to themselves against the law of the Godhead, not understanding that by contracting marriages they have bound themselves with their own bonds: for he who has taken a wife by law professes that he will not act against the law. He therefore establishes himself guilty who, by taking to himself an adulteress, exceeds the right of his promise.

9. Against Concubines Instead of Wives

But someone says: I have no wife, and therefore I have joined a little handmaid to myself. Hear what Scripture says to Abraham: Cast out the bondwoman and her son; for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman. If then the son of the bondwoman is not heir, then he is not even a son. Why then is such a union sought, from which the son received can be heir neither of succession, nor of blood? For he cannot have a share of inheritance who does not have the privilege of origin. Why, I say, is such a companionship sought, from which the children born are not witnesses of marriage, but witnesses of adultery? Why are such offspring of adultery received, who are to the father a shame, not an honor? Scripture says: The children of adulterers shall not come to their perfection, and the seed of an unlawful bed shall be rooted out.

If then your woman is endowed with such character that she deserves companionship, let her deserve also the name of wife: grant your concubine freedom and the name of wife; lest you be rather an adulterer than a husband.

10. Improper Companionship Between Monks and Women

But also that Christian makes a way for the Lord, who renders faithful service to him according to his profession, and keeps the chastity which he has promised, both in mind and in body. For there are many who, having proposed a solitary life, cannot be alone, but seek companionships for themselves, and would that they were of brothers. You have found a Christian monk to whom it does not suit to be with a brother, and it suits him better to be with a sister: who does not follow an elder admonishing him of useful things, and follows a young girl giggling at unseemly things; even if his body is chaste, his soul cannot be chaste.

11. Clerics Owe Obedience to Their Bishop

But also that cleric makes a way for the Lord who lives according to the Gospel, and in all things obeys the priest; for some, being less subject, take it ill when they are reproved by their elders. They say: The bishop grows angry too gravely, he ought to be more patient. Hear then, most excellent cleric: Do you require patience of the priest, and not require discipline of yourself? Do you not know that it has sometimes been permitted to me to reprove for the sake of salvation, but to you it has never been granted to sin? For the Apostle says: Reprove in season, out of season. Be therefore in all things subject to the priest, if you wish him to be gentle.

1. The Solemn Feast of Peter and Paul

Celebrating today the birthday of the most blessed apostles Peter and Paul, dearest brethren, we ought to refresh ourselves with various feasts, and to celebrate so great a festivity with great joy. For who ought not to celebrate the solemnity of such men with great joy? For who at the solemnity of such men should not display for himself great preparations; that the more he spends, the more he may confirm that he loves the apostles?

2. Peter's Vision of the Vessel from Heaven

Yet there is no need of our own expense for our refreshment: for on his own birthday holy Peter himself refreshes us; for that vessel which was brought down from heaven to him when hungry is filled with all abundance for all. Therefore whoever hungers, as Peter did, is himself refreshed along with Peter. Why then should we prepare our own meal for ourselves, when we may be fattened with the apostolic dish? Why should we seek earthly feasts for ourselves, when we have heavenly abundance? For holy Luke says in the Acts of the Apostles that after prayer, to Peter hungering about the sixth hour, a certain vessel, splendid as a linen sheet, was openly let down from heaven, in which were all four-footed beasts and creeping things of the earth, and fowls of the air; and the Lord said to him: Peter, rise, kill, and eat.

3. Peter's Riches Compared to Elijah's Ravens

Behold Peter, who elsewhere says: Silver and gold have I none; now the little vessel of his banquet is more splendid than silver: so that he who for Christ's sake had refused the appearance of silver, might through Christ be enriched with the brightness of silver. To Peter, then, about to dine, the preparations of cooks are lacking, the services of servants are lacking: but what is better, the divine ministrations are not lacking, and by a more profitable exchange, what is lacking to the holy man on earth abounds in heaven; for that Peter might refresh himself, no storeroom is anxiously unlocked, but heaven itself is at once opened. We read in the Scriptures that holy Elias in the desert was fed by ravens serving him; how much better is Peter, to whom not a small morsel of food is offered by a foul bird, but a whole banquet is supplied by a multitude of angels!

4. Peter's Hunger for the Jews' Salvation

After prayer, then, Peter hungers. It is to be wondered why hunger should follow the holy man after prayer, since hunger is wont to be driven away by prayer, and the hungering soul is fattened by nothing but entreaties. But I think that Peter, after prayer, hungered not for the food of men, but for their salvation: nor was he vexed by bodily fasting, but labored under the want of believers. For since the Jewish people, faithless and ungrateful, would not believe in Christ though he was preaching, Peter bore in a certain manner the hunger of his own office; for he suffers hunger who obtains scarcely any fruit of his labor.

5. The Vessel Signifies the Gentile Church

He ascends therefore in haste to the upper room to pray. Well is it said that Peter ascended to the upper room to pray; because every holy man, when he prays, leaving lowly or earthly things, is lifted up into the height of the mind, and is caught up, suspended on high, and by holy meditation is made a neighbor to heaven. And there, to him hungering, that is, meditating in the higher place of his heart for the salvation of the Jewish people, a vessel is offered filled with animals of diverse kinds, as if the Godhead were saying to him: Do you hunger only for the Jews? Behold, I refresh the hunger of your faith with the diversity of all the nations. For indeed the diverse animals gathered into one vessel show the gathering of diverse nations gathered into one Church: which Church, in that splendid vessel, since it has neither spot nor wrinkle, shines with the brightness of linen. In which the first animal offered to God from among the gentiles is the centurion Cornelius.

6. The Meaning of True Death

From this little vessel of his, then, does Peter refresh us today; for when we see the crowds of the Gentiles hastening to the faith of Christianity, we rejoice together with the apostles. For they are not dead, whose birthday we celebrate today: but, reborn, they live indeed; because they have been made partakers of Christ, who is the life of all. For although their bodies have been cut down by suffering, yet the order of living has not been interrupted; for they continually give thanks to God, and render praises to the Saviour; save that, the burden of their members being dissolved, they cling all the more to Christ, as the apostle Paul says: To be dissolved, and to be with Christ, is far better. Therefore that is not to be called death, by whose intervention we are freed from persecutors and joined to Christ.

That is plainly not to be called death, which, uniting one dead to Christ, makes gain for the one dying, as the blessed Apostle says: For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. But that is true death, which binds even a living man with the death of sins; for although he seems to live, yet by his own crimes he already seems consigned to death, as the Apostle says of that voluptuous widow: But she who lives in pleasure is dead while she lives.

1. Correction Before Consolation for the Unworthy

I think it may suffice for your correction, beloved brethren, that on the previous Sunday, being about to depart, I gave you no spiritual gifts of the sacred letters: but only reproving and rebuking you for your sin, dismissed you without any consolation of preaching. For I wished you to understand this very thing—how gravely you had sinned, you who scarcely deserved to hear the divine utterances. For this is the vehement and abundant vengeance of priests, not to entrust the sacraments of the heavenly Scriptures to the unworthy: nor, as the Lord says, to give what is holy to dogs, nor to cast pearls to be trampled under the feet of swine.

2. Christ the Pearl of Great Price

For whoever strives to bind the grace of the heavenly pearl about a most foul sinner destroys it; for a gem, as you yourselves know, suits nothing but gold, and a pearl is fitted to nothing but precious necklaces. Be therefore the finest gold, be a precious necklace; that the spiritual pearl may be able to be set within you. For the pearl is Christ the Lord, whom that rich merchant in the Gospel, having sold all his goods, hastened to buy; and he preferred to lose all the gems of the world which he had, only that he might buy the one pearl of Christ.

3. Chastisement Is a Sign of Love

Whence I too, brethren, on account of the greatness of the sin you had committed, was unwilling to lay open to you the words of the Evangelical refreshment; but rather to inflict upon you the injury of spirited indignation, and first to correct you with spiritual stripes, and thus enrich you with the gifts of the pearl. I preferred, I say, to rebuke your sin sharply by accusation, than gently to nourish it by dissembling; for whoever does not reprove a brother sinning, in a certain way exhorts him to sin. But do not think that I do not act out of love, in chastising you so often; for the son who is worthy of chastisement is loved the more, as the holy Scripture says: For whom the Lord loves, he chastens; and he scourges every son whom he receives.

4. Grief over Neglect of the Apostles' Feast

Tell me, then, whether it was not a matter for grief that this sin should be committed, that you were so forgetful of your own salvation, that you rendered scarcely any honor to the most blessed apostles Peter and Paul; when you know them to be the teachers of the Gentiles, the authors of the martyrs, the princes of priests: and were unwilling to celebrate their birthday most solemnly with us, and to be present at that heavenly banquet, in which, for the great joy of his martyrs, the Lord himself ministered to us the substance of life? Do you wish to know how many good things you were defrauded of? Ask the brethren who were present with me at that time, how refreshed they departed from the Lord's table, and what spiritual riches they brought back home with them.

5. Honoring Martyrs Honors Christ Himself

One thing I know: that if on that day some honored or wealthy man, for his son's birthday, had invited you to a banquet even ten miles away, on account of the elaborate feasts and the unequal portions, you would without doubt have gone. Therefore, brethren, as often as we celebrate the memory of the martyrs, all the affairs of the world being set aside, we ought without any delay to hasten together, to render honor to those who by the shedding of their blood brought forth salvation for us, who were offered to the Lord as a consecrated victim for our propitiation, especially since Almighty God says to his saints: He who honors you, honors me; and he who despises you, despises me. Whoever therefore honors the martyrs, honors Christ also: and whoever despises the saints, despises the Lord also.

1. Devotion to Martyrs Is Not Bound by Place

Even if we rendered the pious debts of our vows to martyrs of a foreign region, we should be proved to be consulting our own advantage and benefit; for faith would make them ours, and though their bounds be removed far away, they would gather to us the hoped-for patronage. For suffrages of this kind belong to devotion, not to place; you will merit as much intercession among the household of God as you have expended veneration. It is fitting, therefore, that religious devotion should rather win over to us those who are foreign, than that the negligence of an irreligious lukewarmness should alienate from us, perchance, those who are our own.

2. The Abundance of Martyrs in This Church

Let us acknowledge, dearest ones, the more abundant bounty of divine gifts toward our Church. The happy peoples of individual cities exult, if they are fortified by the relics of even one martyr alone: behold, we possess peoples of martyrs. Let our land rejoice, the nurse of heavenly soldiers, and the fruitful parent of such great virtues. Rightly, therefore, and as a debt, are the insignia of the blessed martyrs celebrated by the children of their parent Church from this garden of the blessed; who, enlightening innumerable peoples by the power of their faith, alone indeed felt the death inflicted upon them, but did not alone possess the benefits of their death. For the immeasurable love of our God, manifold toward goodness, and skillful toward salvation, setting forth the arduous palm of virtue, precious to few seekers, provides for the advantage of the many through the triumphs of the few.

For he wills that their merits should be our suffrages: and while he commends to us the true faith through the hard struggle of martyrdom, he makes the affliction of those who went before an instruction for those who come after.

3. The Martyrs' Blood Confirms the True Faith

How great is the solicitude of our God toward us! He tests them, that he may instruct us; he crushes them, that he may gain us; and he wills that their torments should be our progress. Rightly, then, do we honor those who fight through their own dangers, and fight for our advantages, who through contempt of light and life teach us how much affection we owe to our God. Let us know, therefore, that it is not without great peril that we doubt concerning the truth of religion, which we see confirmed by the blood of so many. It is a matter of great peril, if after the oracles of the prophets, after the testimonies of the apostles, after the wounds of the martyrs, you presume to unlearn the ancient faith as though it were something new, and after such manifest leaders remain in error, and after the sweat of the dying contend with idle disputation.

4. Faith as the Mother of Nazarius' Martyrdom

We congratulate you, then, most beloved brethren, on your great faith, through which, while you receive exiles with abundant charity, you have merited to have inhabitants of paradise and citizens of heaven as well. Thus, although the holy Church of Milan retains the blessed martyr of Christ Nazarius wholly with itself in body, yet it has sent him wholly to the world in blessing. For this is the glory of the holy martyrs, that although a portion of their ashes be scattered throughout the whole world, yet the fullness of their virtues remains intact. Let us venerate, then, in so great a soldier of Christ our own faith; for the mother of martyrdom is the catholic faith, in which this illustrious athlete, his blood poured out, trod down death for its sake. The mother of martyrdom, I say, is faith: let us venerate, then, in the crowd of the holy martyrs our own faith. How our faith?

For while death's endurance is undoubtingly undertaken by these, the hope of immortality is clearly asserted; for they would never spend this life so steadfastly, unless they perceived by a perfect conviction that there is another life incomparably more blessed. In the holy heralds of truth, therefore, is the authority of the resurrection; for they perish readily to be restored to something better, they for whom, through the straits of tribulation, an exit is opened to the breadth of joys.

5. The Boyhood Conversion of Nazarius

Whence also the blessed Nazarius, whose glorious victory today over the enemy of the world the universal Church celebrates with festal exultation, though in the time of paganism he arose from parents not ignoble, while still a boy began unexpectedly to detest the warfare and teaching of his sacrilegious father: and, being already instructed by faith and outstripping his innocent mother—who, already marked with the titles of the Christian faith, steadfastly clung to Christ—he demanded that the streams of the most holy regeneration be shown to him, being already faithful in spirit. Not yet indeed having obtained baptism, but consummated among the principles of religion: and the laws not yet made manifest to him, full of God, he was made suddenly the possession and dwelling-place of God: and thus, destined to reach even to the heavens, he deserved to raise the summit of the tower before he laid the foundation, not yet conscious of the sacraments, yet already chosen beforehand for sacrifice.

6. Defiling the Garment of Baptism

What can we, unhappy ones, answer to these things; we who, after the brightness of baptism, after the whiteness conferred upon us by sacred regeneration, after the angelic dignity of the nuptial garment acquired; having fallen back into the mire of sins, and been rolled again in the old wallowing-places of crimes, defile the snow-white garment with the foul contagions of iniquities and lusts: and stain the silken robe, on which we had received the seal of the divine image imprinted, with the spots of deadly corruption; and after the singular indulgence of our God, defile things renewed, tear apart things whole, violate things purified, repeating deeds no longer to be cleansed by waters, but by flames.

7. Nazarius Walks Upon the Sea

What of this, and how remarkable a hand of divine grace it is, that, having already received the saving washing, after countless signs of virtues, after innumerable regions traversed round about for the preaching of Christ; when, for the confession of the most high God, almost the whole world raged against him with various tortures: and now he would be pressed to be tortured by the most atrocious punishments, now be carried off to be exiled to distant lands; so with a most steadfast breast did this athlete of Christ overcome every torment, that he bore off a valiant trophy from the prostrate enemy: and among the bloody commands of Caesar, cast down into the whirlpools of the vast sea, it was granted him by divine providence to walk upon the waters, and, nature herself astonished, entering by new paths of an unaccustomed journey with an unsteady step, he trod the swelling back of the sea?

You would have seen the waves of the sea laid low beneath the merits of the Saint, and, comforted besides by angelic speech, exulting in the praises of Christ Jesus. Behold, the profane enemy could never have profited the blessed martyr so much by service, as he profited him by hatred.

8. The Martyrdom of Nazarius and the Boy Celsus

But at length, the contest of the struggle being completed, with the little boy Celsus, whom he himself had taken up out of the world as a holocaust to God, he is released from condemnation by cruel command, consecrated by the sword. Happy is he in such an end; by which every sin so departed from him that it could not return again: by which he so paid his debts, that he should no longer fear his creditor: by which he closed in himself, by faith, the sins of his enemies, by faith condemned them: through which he sought innocence by devotion; found it by perseverance; kept it by death.

9. Nazarius' Patronage Extends to All

Since this is so, dearest ones, although this great witness of Christ is precious in confession, more precious in blood, more precious in his cruel wound, and whiter in his dyed garment; although he is thought to be the peculiar privilege of Milan by his tomb, yet he belongs to the communion of suffrage of all. Nor let the flowing charity and grasping faith of this city too much detract from this martyr, while claiming for itself; as though it believed that the benefits of his patronage were to be present only for its own walls. What is diffused by merits is not shut in by places. You have called upon the martyr everywhere; everywhere he has heard you, who is honored in the martyr. As he who weighs your vows and dispenses his gifts moderates it, so the nearness of the effective advocate's presence will be granted to you in proportion as the faith with which he is received is devout.

For prayer which is aided by the works of chastity, justice, and almsgiving, exceeds the world, penetrates paradise, flies even to the very sight of the highest majesty, an angel bearing it, as in a certain place the angelic voice testifies: And when you prayed, he says, I offered your prayer in the sight of the glory of God.

10. The Pure Soul's Prayer Reaches God

Happy is the soul, dearest ones, whose vow, whose incense of compunction, whose holocaust of supplication, smoky with no unbelief, defiled by no stench of carnal enticement, stained with no cruelty, spotted by no malice of hatred: but fiery with faith, bright with conscience, fragrant with sincerity of heart, perfect with concord and charity, is borne even to the face of God through the ministrations of heavenly messengers. Since this is so, let us honor the blessed martyrs, princes of the faith, intercessors of the world, heralds of the kingdom, joint-heirs of God.

11. Why We Honor the Martyrs' Relics

But if you should say to me: Why do you honor in flesh already dissolved and consumed, of which God now has no care? And where is that, dearest ones, which the very Truth speaks through the Prophet: Precious, he says, in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints? And again: But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honorable? We ought to honor the servants of God; how much more the friends of God! Of whom it is said elsewhere: The Lord, it says, keepeth all their bones, and not one of them shall be broken. I honor, therefore, in the flesh of the martyr the scars received for the name of Christ; I honor the memory of one living by the perpetuity of virtue; I honor the ashes made sacred through confession of the Lord; I honor in the ashes the seeds of eternity; I honor the body which showed me that it loved my Lord, which taught me not to fear death for the Lord's sake.

And why should the faithful not honor that body which even the demons revere? Which they afflicted in the punishment, but glorify in the tomb? I honor, therefore, the body which Christ honored by the sword, which shall reign with Christ in heaven.

1. The Ineffable Merits of Eusebius

To wish to add something to the praise of the holy martyr Eusebius is to detract from it; for he stood forth so great a master of ineffable teachings, that his merits can more easily be known through his works than unfolded in words. For conscience retains as much of him as speech and narration cannot make prevail. Therefore his deeds are not to be adorned with words, but touched upon with brief expressions; especially since we know that a thing ought not to be adorned with words which we see already adorned with virtues, since the Apostle says: The kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.

2. Exsuperantius, Companion of Eusebius

Therefore, to wish to add something to his merits is to detract from them, especially for me, who am both ignorant of the deeds accomplished, unskilled in sacred letters, and untrained in priestly functions. But these things could have been proclaimed more easily by my holy predecessors, by experience more approved, by learning more illustrious: I speak especially of the lord and father, blessed Exsuperantius, who was his minister in the priesthood, his companion in martyrdom, his partner in labor. In whose countenance we believe we also see holy Eusebius, and as in a certain mirror we behold the image of his goodness; for we easily recognize what sort of master he was, whose disciple we see to be such. But since a glory like his confession accompanies this man also, he prefers to keep silent about his father's praises, lest he seem also to boast of his own.

3. Eusebius as Father of Priests and Martyrs

What then should I proclaim of the glory of the martyr Eusebius, whose glory is this whole people? And since Scripture says: The glory of a father is a wise son; how great is the glory of this man, who rejoices in the wisdom and devotion of so many sons! For in Christ Jesus, through the Gospel, he himself begot us. Whatever therefore of virtues and grace can exist in this holy people is found in the teaching of holy Eusebius. From him, indeed, as from a certain most clear fountain of virtues, this purity of streams has flowed forth. For because he was strong in the vigor of chastity, he instituted the purpose of virginity; because he gloried in the straits of abstinence, he introduced by chance the service of monks; because he was endowed with the charms of gentleness, he called forth the devotion of all the citizens toward God; because he shone in the administration of the priesthood, he chose many of his disciples as heirs of his priesthood.

Although therefore some leave to their children treasures of gold and silver, yet no one has left richer heirs than holy Eusebius; since all of them stood forth either as priests or as martyrs.

4. Monks and Clerics Joined Under Eusebius

For, to say nothing of other things, how admirable this is, that in this holy Church he established the same men to be monks who were also clerics; and that priestly offices were contained in the same inner chambers in which also singular chastity was preserved; so that in these very men there was both contempt of worldly things and the diligence of the levites: so that if you saw the little beds of the monastery, you would judge it after the manner of the eastern discipline; if you observed the devotion of the clergy, you would rejoice at the observance of the angelic order.

5. Eusebius Outwits the Arians for Dionysius

But I do not think this at all ought to be passed over in silence: that when the detestable perfidy of the Arians had disturbed all Italy along with the whole world, and the priests of that same pestilence had captured the simplicity of the holy martyr Dionysius, so that they held the bond of his signature—by what wisdom he freed him from their hands? For as St. Paul says: I became to the Jews as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; so Eusebius pretended himself to be a heretic to heretics, that he might free his son from heresy. For he said that he agreed with their perfidy, that what pleased them pleased him also; but that they had preferred his son Dionysius to him in signing—at this he said he was gravely moved: For you, he said, who say that the Son of God cannot be equal to God the Father—why have you preferred my son to me?

Moved by this reasoning, they immediately erased the signature of holy Dionysius, giving the first place in signing to blessed Eusebius. Rebuking and mocking them, he said: Neither do I defile myself with your crimes, nor do I permit my son to share with you. Whence, since the Gospel says that in this generation the children of darkness are more prudent than the children of light; behold, here a son of light was found more prudent than the very darkness itself.

6. Eusebius Tortured on the Stairs by the Arians

Then they, gravely indignant that their wickedness had thus been mocked, harassed him with new sufferings through the emperor Constantius; for after many injuries they relegated him in exile to the region of the East, in which he suffered so much that he bore back the unconquered glory of martyrdom. For it is said that among other kinds of sufferings he endured this penal torment of suffering: that when he was questioned by the Arians, and had denied that he communicated with their perfidy, he was dragged down by the sloping descent of steps, feet upward, all the way to the bottom; and again recalled to the top, questioned anew, when he had made the same reply he suffered the same thing, and this kind of torment repeatedly followed repeated questioning. In this suffering of the holy martyr Eusebius, although his head was battered, his body bruised, his limbs broken; yet his spirit remained unconquered in faith. For the more Arian perfidy lacerated him in body, the more catholic integrity refreshed him in spirit.

7. Eusebius Compared to Jacob's Ladder and the Maccabees

This ascent and descent of the stairs we can indeed call that which Jacob prophesied in his dream: and just as he saw those stairs reaching even from the bottom to the heavenly realms; so indeed through these Eusebius ascended to heaven, and the Arians descended to hell. Whence, brothers, I think holy Eusebius ought to be numbered among the choir of the Maccabean martyrs. Since they indeed endured martyrdom in their several limbs, but he confessed the Lord by the suffering of his whole body: nor is their grace unequal, whom even one day joined in martyrdom.

1. The Meaning of Eusebius's Feast of Deposition

Today we celebrate the deposition of holy Eusebius. What is deposition? Not that surely which is procured by the hands of clerics for the remains of limbs to be buried in the earth: but that by which a man, released from carnal bonds, about to go free to heaven, sets aside his earthly body. That indeed is truly a deposition, in which we cast off concupiscence, cease to transgress, stop sinning, and set aside all whatever is burdensome to salvation, as a discarded load of weight. For this day is therefore observed with the greatest celebration; because it is truly the highest festivity to be dead to vices, to flourish for righteousness alone; whence this very day of the deposition is also called a birthday, because, freed from the prison of sins, we are born into the freedom of the Savior.

2. Eusebius's Vision of His Coming Death

But let us see with what glory holy Eusebius arrived at this day of his deposition. For it is said that some time before his departure, by a manifest revelation, he saw himself, on the Kalends of August, flying from mountain to mountain, and by a certain prophecy he interpreted this to mean that on this day he would depart from the body. In this event I know not what is to be admired first, whether that he deserved to know the end of his departure, or that he was able to know what grace would remain with him after his departure. Holy David says: Make known to me, O Lord, my end, and the number of my days, and so forth.

Behold, what the Prophet desired, the Martyr received: the knowledge which the one prays for, the other attains; except that, with faith preserved, I should say he deserved more; for the one asks to know his end, the other even knows beyond the end what he would be; the one, up to his departure, does not know what is lacking; the other, after his departure, learns what remains.

3. The Dove as a Figure of Purity in Flight

On this day, then, the martyr Eusebius saw himself flying. As we know, nothing can fly except what is pure, light, and subtle: whose sincerity is not slowed by intemperance, nor its readiness or swiftness weighed down by mass. But I say the flight is weighed down not so much by the mass of limbs as by the weight of sins; whence I think also that among the birds themselves the dove flies more swiftly almost than all others, because innocence accompanies its readiness. Finally, when holy David desired to fly with purity of mind, he wished for the wings of no other creature but the dove, saying: Who will give me wings like a dove's, and I will fly, and be at rest? For he understood that the heights are more easily reached by simplicity of mind than by lightness of wings.

4. Flying from Mountain to Mountain, Son to Father

On this day, then, holy Eusebius flew. Let us now weigh his innocence from this flight, and judge his purity from that very elevation; for like a dove dwelling in the house of God, he took up spiritual wings, and rested on the mountain. And although he himself said that he flew from mountain to mountain, yet I signify that in that very transition there was a greater rest. For what else is it to fly from mountain to mountain, but to hasten from the grace of the Savior to the glory of the Father? For these are the mountains, as the prophet says: A mountain from a mountain, cut without hands; that is, the Son from the Father, without any approach of creation.

1. The Vintage of Cyprian's Martyrdom

A few days ago, when we celebrated the birthday of the most blessed martyr Cyprian, we were most sweetly delighted in his festivity; for because he suffered at this time of vintage, it is as though we too gathered from the vintage sweet and varied fruits from his passion; for he fattened us and refreshed us with the must of his martyrdom. For it is the must that refreshes and inebriates the Christian, but that inebriation makes one more sober rather; for whoever is inebriated with heavenly grace is sobered from the burden of sins.

2. The Apostles Filled with New Wine at Pentecost

For with this must the holy apostles were filled, as Scripture says, and spoke the great things of God in foreign tongues. In this deed they seemed at once drunk and sober; for they were thought drunk, because in them speech beyond nature resounded loudly: they were sober, because according to the custom of their minds they praised God with devotion. This indeed did not happen from any elation or impudence, that holy men should speak in foreign speech: but it was brought about by the providence of divinity, because, since one language does not suffice to magnify God, the devotion of the mind was released through many tongues.

2. The Vineyard of Israel and the Crown of Thorns

For we were delighted, because from the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth we received the fruit of refreshment: but the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth, as the prophet says, is the house of Israel, which house we are. For according to faith we are Israelites; whence the Apostle says: They who are of faith, these are the sons of Abraham. Since therefore we are Israel, we are the vineyard of the Lord: let us look diligently that there be born from the branch of our work not a grape of sweetness, but of gall; lest it be said to us what was said to the Jews through the prophet: I waited that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth thorns; and not righteousness, but a cry. How harsh a condition, that the possession which ought to have brought its lord fruits of sweetness pierced him instead with the roughness of thorns!

That is, when the Jews ought to have received the Savior with the whole devotion of faith, they crowned him instead with the suffering of thorns. Which crown indeed, as far as it lay in the Jews, was the contumely of injuries: as far as it lay in the Lord, it was a crown of virtues. The Jews therefore pierce the Lord, while they crown him: they pierce him, while they crucify him. Whence the holy Scripture says: They shall look on him whom they have pierced.

3. Thorns of the Heart That Choke the Word

Therefore, brethren, take heed lest it also be said to you: I waited that it should bring forth grapes, but it brought forth thorns; that is, lest we impose upon the Lord with iniquitous minds the thorns which the Jews imposed with bloody hands, and pierce him not with the roughness of thorns but with the wickedness of deeds. For there are thorns of the heart, which are wont to wound the Word of God also, of which the Saviour makes mention in the Gospel, saying that the seed of the sower fell among thorns, and they grew up, and choked what was sown. What these thorns are, he himself explains, saying indeed that they are the cares of the world, which, when they grow up in the heart of man, choke in him the commandments of the Saviour. For who that was ever anxious about the world could be rightly anxious about Christ? Who, while providing for the profits of his own house, could provide for the advantages of the Church?

Whence the Apostle says: He that is without a wife is careful for the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God: but he that is with a wife is careful for the things of the world, how he may please his wife.

4. Vinegar from Withholding Alms from the Poor

Therefore, brethren, take heed lest your vineyard bring forth not grapes but thorns: lest your vintage yield not wine but vinegar. For whoever gathers the vintage and does not give to the poor gathers vinegar, not wine. Whoever stores up the harvest and does not minister to the needy has not laid up the fruits of nourishment, but has gathered the thorn-bushes of avarice. For this reason Scripture says of our earth: Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee.

1. The Just Man's Death and His Refreshment

We celebrate today, dearest brethren, the day of the death of the just man, and he is not here: but if you wish to know where he is, ask the reading which you heard first: If the just man be overtaken by death, he shall be in refreshment. For refreshment in this world—for whom, and whence? Where all things are full of tribulations: and when tribulations feed us, all things are full of temptations. For this world, whether it be feared or whether it flatters, is to be feared: but let God be feared, and let the world rather be despised, and be the more guarded against. If then we wish to be in refreshment when death shall overtake us, let us be just.

2. Was Domitian Just, Since Every Man Is a Liar

Perhaps someone will say: That is a great deal for me. Let us then attend to what is written: If the just man be overtaken by death, he shall be in refreshment; and when we ask what a just man is, the psalm terrifies us: Every man is a liar. Let us hear the book of Wisdom. If the just man be overtaken by death, he shall be in refreshment; let us hear the psalm: I said in my excess, Every man is a liar. Was not holy Domitian a man? If then he was a man, and every man is a liar, how was he just, if he was a liar? Or how is he in refreshment, if he was not just?

3. Christ as Both God and Man Conquers Death

Let us attend, then, dearest brethren; we have these thoughts full of witnesses: no small refreshment is it that we hear the Apostle saying: For to this end Christ died, that he might be Lord both of the living and of the dead; and, whether we live, or whether we die, we are the Lord's. He is just; he will not lose his own: we are certain that Christ was not a liar. Christ was man, and not a liar: how then is every man a liar? Because Christ was man in such a way that he was not only man. Unless he were both God and man, he would be a liar. Did such and so great a one die for us, and do we fear death? He went before and rose again; we are his members, and we follow our head.

4. What Shall I Render to the Lord

For the Psalm itself also consoles us: What shall I render to the Lord for all the things he has rendered to me? What did he say: I said in my excess, Every man is a liar. The lying man gives thanks to the Lord, and finds nothing to render to him for such great benefits as he has received from him. For what do we receive from him, when we seek what we may render, and find nothing? We were not, and he created us; the cattle were not, and he created cattle: and more, he made us in his own image; we had perished, and he promised us the life of his Son, and cleansed us from all our sins in saving baptism: and because afterward, in living, we contract what he might forgive, that we might say: And forgive us our debts—he taught us this.

He cleansed the baptized wholly, wholly he cleansed the reborn while living: he does not leave him to die, he does not permit him to die—I mean in sin, which is malignant and eternal death: when called, he admonishes, instructs, helps, forgives, sets free. What shall I render to the Lord for all the things he has rendered to me? What do you say, O man? What do you wish to render? Whatever you find, you have received from him.

5. Equal Reward for Believers at Every Hour

We shall come then, we shall come, if we live from faith; for then we shall be just, because the just man lives from faith. We shall come, then, to that reward, which will be equal to all. Children believe, they came at the first hour; adolescents believe, they came at the third hour; young men believe, they came at the sixth hour; the older believe, they came at the ninth hour; the aged believe, they came at the last hour. They came at different hours, and received one reward. Thus the last became first, and the first last: because what the first received, this the last also received. What is that denarius itself? Eternal life. Why is it equal for all? Because there no one lives more, no one less. Let us press toward this, let us trust in the Lord, let us escape the life of temptation, let us possess the life of happiness.

1. The Radiant Feast Day of This Martyr

A solemn day, an illustrious day of the fatherland, shining with angelic glory, has today shone forth, which the blooming crown of this martyr has clothed with beauty. While the day unfolds through the hours, while through the alternations of days and nights, and the waxings and wanings of the moon, the months are filled up, while through the chariot of the seasons the year, its charioteer, is borne with revolving axles to its goal, joyfully has shone forth the day of this holy Martyr, on which, exulting in warlike fashion amid hostile ranks, he conquered all his enemies and hastened to the kingdom owed to him.

2. The Faithful's Fearful Watch During the Contest

Victory is indeed always suspect in a two-edged contest, when either the judge rages or the executioner roars against the venerable martyrs; and now the sword, now the beast, now the flame, now the torments are feared; but where the manly breast has taken up the breastplate of faith, the brave soul does not feel whatever the cruel mind heaps upon it: it stands unharmed among fires, strong among beasts and torments; it is loosed by the axes rather than cut down. But until the battle came to the prosperous end of the happy hour, the Christians remained in suspense, and with fearful hearts and fleeing glances they watched the funereal spectacle between the athlete of Christ and the ministers of the enemy; lest the martyr should, in fear, give a timid side to the wound, lest he should flee the raging assaults, lest he should shudder in his tender feelings at the executioners barking amid the torments.

Meanwhile a crown hung down from heaven, interwoven with the lilies of angels and the roses blooming from the cross and blood of Christ, and a celestial garland, painted with varied beauty, shone from above like the many-colored face of a flowering meadow.

3. The Martyr's Spiritual Armor Against the Enemy

The soldier of God, therefore, fought, and contended by faith, not by body. On the one hand, the world flattered him with life; on the other, it terrified him with death. A blind conflict of dust was stirred up in the arena, but the eye of the confessor could not be closed. He saw on both sides both what God was preparing and what the enemy desired. Christ was to him the shield of protection: the hands of angels made for him the helmet of salvation: one God, one faith, one baptism fashioned for him the threefold breastplate: his sword was the Holy Spirit; the demons fought with their own weapons, he with his; they with dark ones, he contended with shining arms. He guarded his soul with the shield of faith, and sowed his body in the earth; he watered it with his own blood, that in the resurrection it might offer manifold fruits to his God.

4. Sowing in Tears During the Martyrs' Struggle

They that sow, it says, in tears shall reap in joy. Going they went and wept, casting their seeds: but coming they shall come with exultation, bringing their sheaves. Then, while the saints contended, the tears of the faithful flowed, which piety called forth, until the uncertain outcome of the dangerous contest should appear as to which way it inclined. Unjust persecution drew forth lamentable weeping, and each of the Christians feared in himself what he saw in another: and although they knew that glory in heaven was prepared for the blessed martyrs, yet amid the doubtful and varied outcomes, with sad things impending, a tender love wrung bitter tears from their souls.

5. The Harvest of Martyrs Sprung from Christ's Grain

The martyrs went, going and weeping, casting their seeds. O how strait and narrow is the way that leads to life! They went through beasts and swords, through straits and pressures; weeping in prayer, rejoicing in hope: shielding their bodies in the earth, as it were their seeds, from which the eternal harvest of glory sprang up; then they shall come with exultation, bearing their sheaves, when in the resurrection they shall have received their flowers back: for the just man shall flourish like the palm tree, and shall be multiplied like the cedar of Libanus. For that green beauty in the saints never knows withering, especially in one to whom God, like a perennial river, ministers continual streams and abundant refreshments. Behold, from the one grain of the body of Christ, which was buried, how great a harvest of martyrs has sprung up! Behold, from the first palm, how many victorious palms of confessors have arisen! O paradise, mingled in the sweet fellowship of holy souls!

6. The Martyr's Triumph and His Descendants' Joy

Among these, this most blessed martyr today renews the more vigorous festivities. For in dying he conquered the adversary against whom he fought; and he obtained the crown from heaven, which was hanging ready. Let the sons now rejoice over the triumphs of the martyrs, and let them hand down annual vows to their descendants, whose fathers both beheld the harsh contests of the saints, and rejoiced over the crown of the victors.

1. Deeds Teach Before Words

If the weakness of my body could accomplish as much as it is necessary for me to say, and as much as it is fitting for you to hear, surely we should all be excused, namely I in setting forth the precept, you in carrying out the command. But since we are struck down by feebleness, so that we are unable to say as much as is fitting, let devotion of mind excuse us, whom the discourse of preaching does not excuse; that is, even if our tongue ceases from the praises of the Lord, let us yet approve his marvels by the works of faith: if we do not speak his glory in words, let us follow up his grace in deeds, since deeds come before words. For the Lord says thus in the Gospel: Whoever shall do so, and shall teach so, shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. You see, then, that the deed comes first, the teaching follows; since indeed doing good is the first teaching.

For even when words cease, the good work itself teaches man this very thing, while it is seen: which, even if it does not arouse the ears by voice, yet pierces hearts by its power. For who, seeing a good deed, would not rejoice, marvel, imitate, and, as it were using a silent teacher, be taught by its example? Deeds, then, precede words; nay, without deeds words profit nothing; for this is why the Lord willed both that it be done and so taught, lest, without a good work, the boasting of words be useless and superstitious.

2. The Martyrs Teach by Suffering, Not Speech

We are therefore better taught by deed than by voice: indeed the holy martyrs, even if they are silent in voice, teach us by the power of their deeds: even if they are silent in tongue, they persuade by the suffering of martyrdom. Whence, although an eloquent orator may teach me by his fluency, yet what is useful to me I learn better from the example of the saints than from the assertion of words. My eyes persuade me more quickly of what they perceive than the ear can convey what passes by; for oblivion quickly creeps into hearing, but the record of the eyes is always beheld. For who does not see at every hour and moment how then the blessed martyrs, for the name of Christ, were subjected to various tortures, and in a certain way triumphed over those very punishments? For the more they suffered, the more victorious they believed themselves to be; for the martyr's victory is the judgment of the persecutor, as it is written: And you may overcome, when you are judged.

For when the martyr is judged and condemned, then he conquers and overthrows; for by such a judgment he is not condemned to death, but absolved unto rest: and by this it is most manifestly to have conquered, not to have perished.

3. The Cry of the Martyrs' Blood

It is established, then, that the holy martyrs teach more by suffering than by voice; although that very suffering is not without a voice. For we read that their souls cry out from under the altar of God, or say: How long, O holy and true, dost thou not avenge our blood? For God also says of the blood of Abel to Cain: The voice of thy brother's blood cries to me. Blood that has been innocently shed is said to cry out, then, not so much by voice as by cause. So also the souls of the holy martyrs cry out, while they commend their faith and innocence to our senses by that very suffering.

1. Sharing Easter Joy with the Martyrs

It is fitting and proper, brethren, that after the joy of blessed Easter, which we have celebrated in the Church, we should bring our joys together with the holy martyrs; and announce to them the glory of the Lord's resurrection, who are companions of the Lord's passion. For those who are partners in reproach ought also to be sharers in gladness; for thus says the blessed Apostle: As you are companions of the sufferings, so also shall you be of the resurrection: if we endure, he says, we shall also reign together. Therefore those who have endured evils for Christ's sake ought also to have glory with Christ.

2. Announcing the Resurrection to the Martyrs

Let us announce, I say, to the holy martyrs the grace of the Lord's Passover; so that while we proclaim the barred bolts of his sepulchre thrown open, their tombs also may be thrown open: while we say that his dead body, its veins grown cool, suddenly regained vigor, their limbs also, now cold, may be warmed with the heat of immortality; for the same principle raises up the martyrs which also raised up the Lord. For just as they have experienced the way of the passion, so shall they also experience the way of life; for it is written in the psalm: You have made known to me the ways of life. This too is said in the resurrection from the person of the Savior, who, while after death returning from the lower regions to the world above, begins to have the way of life known, which before was not known; for the way of life was unknown before the coming of Christ, because it had not yet been trodden by the footstep of anyone rising again.

But when the Lord rose, it was made known, the path was worn by the tread of many, of whom the holy evangelist says: The bodies of many saints arose with him, and entered into the holy city.

3. The Ways of Life Made Known Through Christ

Whence, since the Lord in his resurrection said: You have made known to me the ways of life; we too can now say to the Lord: You have made known to us the ways of life; for he himself has made known to us the ways of life, who has manifested to us the path to life. For he made known to me the ways of life, when he taught me faith, mercy, righteousness, chastity; for by these paths one arrives at salvation: and although the shadow of the dissolution of the mortal body surrounds us, yet life does not abandon its own steps: but even amid the very laws of the underworld we walk without hesitation by the powers of Christ. Whence the holy Prophet says: For even though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils; because you are with me. Which the Lord states more plainly concerning the believer, saying: But whoever believes in me shall never die. And even though he die, he shall live.

4. Asking the Martyrs to Reveal the Resurrection's Wonders

Therefore, brethren, let us bring together with the holy martyrs the glory of the Lord's Passover: let us bring it together, I say, and although they know all things better, yet let us proclaim to them how the Lord rose from the bosom of the sepulchre to the world above. Let them reveal to us in what manner he returned from the depth of the underworld to the sepulchre: let them, I say, make known to us in what manner heat insinuated itself into a body now lifeless and cold, spirit was poured in, blood was infused, and the pulse stirred the veins frozen with cold to their former vigor; let them, I say, make known to us in what manner the loosened frame refitted the scattered instrument of the body into its former state of sinews, and the life-giving Spirit animated the harmony of the inward parts, now silent, into its ancient concord.

Let the priests, then, proclaim what wonders the Savior worked after the resurrection in the world above: let the martyrs reveal what refreshments he wrought in the dead in death itself.

1. Wars as a Sign the Kingdom Draws Near

It moves you, perhaps, brethren, that we hear continually of the tumult of wars and the incursions of battles: and why they occur in our times may perhaps move your charity even more. But the reason is this, that the nearer we are to the destruction of the world, the nearer we are to the kingdom of the Savior. For the Lord himself says that in the last days: Nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and elsewhere: When you shall see wars, and earthquakes, and famines, know that the kingdom of God is near. Therefore this nearness of wars shows us that Christ is the more near to us. And so I ought not to fear the adversary who is coming, because through these signs I understand rather that the Savior is coming; for although this fear inspires temporal terror, yet it does not abandon eternal salvation. But the same Lord is able both to drive away from us the fear of the enemy, and to grant us his presence.

2. Wars as Signs of the Judgment to Come

Through these tumults of wars, then, a certain destruction of the world is signified; for this unrest precedes the judgment that is to come. It is, moreover, a certain sign of God's warning, to see what you may fear; so that you may understand that more remains which you should fear. For while we are cautious regarding those things which we see, we are made more cautious regarding those things which we hope for. Now the wise man is instructed by these earthly acts how he ought to avert the judgment of the age to come; for while he observes, in this common disturbance, men of former times preparing defenses upon the walls, he himself is admonished how, in the future overthrow of the world, he should prepare a defense for Christian souls. We see the gates of the city armed; we ought also first to arm within ourselves the gates of righteousness; for there are gates of righteousness, of which the holy Prophet said: Open to me the gates of righteousness, and so forth.

Then indeed will the gate of the city be able to be fortified, if first the gates of righteousness are fortified within us. But it profits nothing to fortify the walls with battlements, and to provoke God with sins. For the one is set up with iron, stones, and stakes: the other is armed with mercy, innocence, chastity: the one is guarded by a multitude of weapons, the other is defended by the frequency of prayers. And for the full defense of cities the standards of princes are wont to go before the gates: but let the sign of the Savior go before the gates of our souls.

3. Goliath Slain by the Stone That Is Christ

Therefore, brethren, on account of the judgment of the world that is to come, let us arm ourselves with heavenly weapons, let us be girded with the breastplate of faith, let us be protected with the helmet of salvation, let us be defended by the word of God as by a spiritual sword; for whoever shall be equipped with these weapons neither fears present disturbance, nor dreads the judgment to come. Since indeed holy David, protected by this devotion, though unarmed, slew that most powerful armed Goliath, and by the power of faith alone overthrew a warlike man hedged about on every side with defenses. For holy David was not covered with a helmet, was not girded with a sword, did not use a spear; yet he slew him, not with an iron weapon, but with a spiritual sword. For although to the eyes of men he seemed unarmed, yet he was sufficiently armed with the grace of divinity. But that spiritual sword itself was not a sword; for Goliath fell overthrown not by a sword, but by a stone.

We read in the Scriptures that Christ is figuratively designated by the word "stone," as the prophet says: The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner. Therefore, when Goliath is struck with the stone, he is overthrown by the power of Christ. And in what part of the body, finally, is he struck? In the forehead, namely; for the gentile and sacrilegious man is struck by Christ there, where Christ was lacking: and there the ruin of death is brought upon him, where the sign of salvation is not found. For although Goliath was fortified on every side by the protection of armor, yet his forehead lay exposed to death; because he did not bear the seal of the Savior. And so he is slain there, where he is found bare of the grace of God.

4. The Meaning of David Discarding His Armor

But there is no one who does not know that these things were done in figure. For David also had first girded himself with the trappings of armor: but since he was burdened and hindered by them, so that he could scarcely walk, he cast them off without delay, signifying that those weapons of this world are vain and luxurious works, in which whoever wishes to entangle himself will, as if burdened, not have a free course for going to heaven. At the same time he also taught us this, that victory is not to be hoped for in arms alone, but must be sought in prayer in the name of the Savior.

1. The Centurion Who Built a Synagogue

We read in the holy Gospel that, when a certain centurion's servant, who was dear to him, was suffering from a grave illness of paralysis, and that centurion, through the elders of the Jews, asked the Savior to heal his pains (for he was, as the Scripture says, about to die), among other things, for the greater commendation of the grace, the elders of the Jews said to the Lord: It is fitting that you should grant him this; for he loves our nation, and has himself built us a synagogue. If, then, he is commended to the Lord who built a synagogue, how much more commendable is he who built a church! And if he deserves grace who furnished a receptacle for impiety, how much greater grace does he deserve who prepared a dwelling for religion! And if he is visited with heavenly mercy who built a place where Christ is always denied, how much more should he be visited who caused a tabernacle to be built, where Christ is daily proclaimed!

2. The Centurion's Faith Approved Over His Work

For in the centurion the Lord approved not what work he had done, but with what mind he had worked. For he who, at that time when men were not yet Christians, carefully built a synagogue—if indeed they had been Christians, one understands that he would have built a church much more carefully. But yet, although he built a synagogue, he proclaims Christ; for in the very work he admonishes the Pharisees that they ought to receive the Savior: and he shows that he added this tabernacle for this purpose, that there they might speak the glory of the Lord in manifold ways. For if the founder of the synagogue believes in Christ, how much more ought the inhabitant of that very synagogue to believe.

3. Praise of the Count Who Built This Church

If, then, the centurion was justified because of a fragile or earthly work, plainly our most illustrious and most provident Count ought to be justified because of a work so lasting and heavenly: which Count, just as he is superior to the centurion in dignity, so ought he to be more devoted in faith. A wise and religious count, who serves the emperor as much in war as he serves the Savior in peace: and who hastens to rescue captives from the hands of the enemies as much as he hastens the more to free them from the sacrilege of the devil. There he slays the enemies of the earthly king, here he pursues the adversaries of the heavenly Lord: there he conquers barbarians, here demons. Wise, I say, is he who, as he is a count of the emperor, so also desires to be a count of Christ.

For by acting well and religiously, he desires that his dignity be perpetual, according to what is written in the prophet: And you, O good kings, make your ways and your endeavors good, and hear the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will repent of the evil which he has spoken against you.

4. The Count Deemed Worthy of Christ's Visit

Therefore, when the centurion asked the Lord to snatch the sick man from death, and the Lord was willing to go to the centurion's house, in which the little servant lay, the centurion said: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. The centurion, then, excuses himself, and, lest the Lord enter under his roof, says that he himself is unworthy. Behold, our count is worthy, under whose roof the Savior enters today.

5. The Centurion's Humility and the Healing Word

Let us see what grace this excuse of the centurion has; for he says: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my servant shall be healed. O Christian faith, which are accustomed to obtain everything by humility! Behold, the religious centurion becomes more worthy to receive salvation, the moment he professes himself unworthy: and while he thinks his house injurious, he makes it the more honorable and pleasing. For he was a man of great and perfect faith, who understood that Christ was Lord of the heavens, while he feared lest the narrowness of his hospitality might not receive him. Therefore, at the centurion's objection, the Lord does not proceed to the house. The Lord does not go, but the medicine of the Lord goes: the Savior does not visit the sick man, but the health that is the Savior's visits him.

6. The Devotion of Vitalinus and Maianus

But what shall I say of our brethren, the holy men Vitalinus and Maianus? I know that they seek glory not from men, but from God alone: but yet, even though I remain silent about their praise, their very works speak; for whatever we have just praised in others belongs also to their praise. For although very many built this tabernacle, yet they wrought it at one cost with one accord. And at what cost, indeed, since they are of modest and slender means in the world? That cost, namely, of which the Apostle says: The abundance of faith, and the riches of simplicity. For to holy men poverty itself is always rich. Whence I believe these blessed men have built this church no less by prayers than by expenditures; for it was fitting that the work of Christ should grow more by prayers than by mortar. For they have spent their whole substance on the making of this work, and yet nothing is lacking to them.

It is plainly, as we have said, a rich and wealthy poverty, which spends everything, and possesses everything. But this has been blessed by God, just as that widow of whom the Lord says in the Gospel: This poor widow has put in more than all; for all these have put in out of their abundance for the gifts of God, but she has put in all the living that she had.