That the sermons of St. Maximus which are read in the Subalpine codices were copied from the best archetypes, we have already seen; and this can be more fully known from the sermon which we have published here as No. 54. It stands in the codices praised above—the codex of Appania, 'On the Pasch,' No. 6, and the Turin codex, No. 7. Compare this with the one edited by the Maurists in the appendix of St. Augustine's sermons, No. 165, 'On the Pasch 7,' which read at the foot of this one, if you wish to learn the variation. That remarkable and greatest sacrament of the Lord's resurrection, brethren—which divine providence willed to be prefigured even in the venerable volumes of the Jews by various figures of things and by the divine oracles of the holy prophets—we celebrate on this present day with devout minds.
But why God willed it to be prefigured from the very beginning of the nascent world, and elsewhere many times in the old Law, was for no other cause than that He might show that through each age of the passing world the hope of all the saints tended continually toward Him alone, who is 'the expectation of all nations.' And though we have elsewhere intimated this to your holiness from the volumes of the Hebrews themselves, it pleases us now to declare it to you once more. At the very beginning of the nascent world, when that mother of all the living, Eve, was produced from the rib of the sleeping Adam, the mother of all believers, the Church, is shown to be about to be born from the side of Christ dying on the cross. And in the act of Adam awaking there was figured the resurrection of our Lord from death.
In Noah, moreover—who in the work of the ark, and by his very name, signifies rest in the saints, in that he was a husbandman and had planted a vineyard, and, inebriated with the cup of wine, was stripped naked in his own dwelling—the figure of that same Redeemer of ours is represented, who was so inebriated with the blood of his lamentable passion that he was for a time stripped of the very garment of his body; but awaking in his resurrection, he blessed those who, like Noah, venerate his passion in mystery, and gave a curse to his mockers.
That rod of Moses, too, which, when cast upon the earth, was turned into a serpent, but which, when held by the tail, returned again into a rod—by it was signified that power of the divine majesty descending from heaven, which willed for our sake to be mortal; and, the dispensation of the assumed flesh being accomplished, it returned into a rod and withdrew to the right hand of the Father's majesty. Concerning Jonah, finally, whom the fish swallowed and vomited forth unharmed, we have the plain sentence of the Lord himself, that as he was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so should the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12). These, brethren, are the sacred paschal joys of this day.
These are the desired and heralded solemnities, which we ought ever to venerate and imitate with our whole soul, as that most blessed apostle John says: 'He who says he abides in Christ ought himself also to walk, even as He walked' (1 John 2). Christ indeed was for our sake crucified for a time; we must daily both take up the cross and follow Him. He tasted death for an hour; but we ought ever to mortify our members which are upon the earth. He rose from the dead; we ought to rise from our vices, as the Apostle says: 'Rise, you who sleep, and Christ shall enlighten you' (Eph. 5).
Let us therefore be made like Him in all things, that when Christ, our life, shall appear, then we too may appear with Him in glory, etc. It ends. The sacrament, most beloved, of the Lord's resurrection divine providence willed to be prefigured at various times by various figures of things and by the oracles of the prophets, so that through all the ages of the passing world the whole hope of the saints might tend toward Him alone, who is the expectation of all nations. Whence that fact, that at the very beginning of the nascent world the mother of all the living, Eve, was produced from the rib of the sleeping man, shows the mother of believers, the Church, to have arisen from the side of Christ dying on the cross; just as in the act of Adam awaking there is a figure of the Lord rising from death; whence the Apostle says:
'The first man was made into a living soul, the second man into a life-giving spirit' (1 Cor. 15). Noah, moreover, who in the work of the ark and by his very name signifies the rest of God in the saints, represents the figure of our Redeemer most especially in this: that, being a husbandman, he planted a vineyard, and, made drunk with the cup of wine, was stripped naked in his own tent. Which thing properly pertains to Him who was so made drunk with the cup of the passion that He was stripped of the very covering of the body for a time, and, straightway awaking in the resurrection, gave a blessing to those who venerate His passion in mystery, but to His mockers a fitting curse. Of which cup the Psalmist says: 'My cup which inebriates, how excellent it is!' (Ps. 22):
and in the Gospel the Lord says: 'The cup which the Father has given me, shall I not drink it?' (John 18). The rod of Moses, too, cast upon the earth and turned into a serpent, when it was held by the tail, returned again into a rod; because that power of the divine majesty, descending from heaven to earth, willed for our sake to be mortal; but after the dispensation of the assumed flesh was accomplished, it withdrew to the seat of the Father's right hand. Concerning Jonah, whom the fish swallowed and vomited forth unharmed onto dry land, we have the plain sentence of the Lord himself, that as he was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so should the Son of Man be in the heart of the earth (Matt. 12).
There exist also very many other holy proclamations concerning this solemnity of solemnities, to all of which the very reckoning of the seasons also gives assent, which dedicated the paschal term to the vernal equinox, awaiting only the ensuing full moon of the first month; but just as the sun, advancing from the lower regions to the height, now first makes the nights equal in length, and the moon also, through its daily increases, is seen to be at its fullest; so the Sun of justice, rising from the nether world, would illuminate with His light the Church hitherto set in darkness. These are the sacred paschal joys of this day; these are the solemnities desired and heralded throughout all ages:
which it is right for us ever to venerate in mind, ever, according to our small measure, to imitate in deed, as the apostle John says: 'He who says he abides in Christ ought himself also to walk, even as He walked.' And He indeed was for our sake crucified for a time; it behooves us daily to take up the cross and follow Him. He tasted death for an hour; we ought ever to mortify our members which are upon the earth—fornication, uncleanness, etc. He rose from the dead; we are commanded to rise from our vices, as the Apostle says: 'Rise, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten you' (Eph. 5).
But if now we have crucified our flesh for its vices and lusts, and have been planted together in the likeness of His death by the mortification of vices; when Christ, our life, shall appear, we too shall appear with Him in glory—who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen.