That this homily was recited on the first Sunday of Lent, from the Gospel of Matthew chapter 4, which is illustrated by Saint Maximus with a most eloquent exposition, is sufficiently plain. Yet none of the manuscript codices assigning it to the holy bishop records it under that day, but nearly all apply the simple title: 'On Lent.' Of this kind are two codices, one Vatican 1268, page 57, the other Vat. Palat. 432, page 76, which have: 'On Lent. A sermon of Saint Maximus the bishop.' The same heading is used by the codices Vallicellan vol. XI, page 175, Novara 27, page 204, Laurentian I, Plut. XIV, page 109, Lucca 85, Reichenau XIV, and Turin no. 17 of the Sermons on Lent.
From these differ two Belgian manuscripts, the Martinensis and the Camberonensis, which entitle the same homily 'On the Lenten Fast.' All the editors, adopting this title before the others, gave it the first place among the homilies On Lent, namely Gymnicus on page 72, Galesinius on page 108, Combefis in volume II, page 526, Cumdius in volume I, page 136, Raynaud on page 205, and Margarinus in the Library of the Fathers, volume VI, page 14. It presents our Lord and Redeemer resisting the temptations of the devil in words indeed, yet fighting in spirit; for He wages the contest by speech, but achieves the victory by His majesty.
1. Nor let us suppose that a conflict of this kind is without a mighty mystery, in which either the devil, inflamed, breaks out into words, or the Lord of all things deigns nonetheless to answer his tempter with words. But in all these things lies the account of our salvation. The Saviour hungers for us; He speaks on our behalf; we conquer in Him, because we are for Him the cause of the battle. For who could doubt that the Only-begotten of the Father, whom no creature could withstand, entered the contest on behalf of those whose flesh He put on? Therefore the form of a human body persuaded the most cunning enemy to come forth to battle, whom the true Son of God confounded by the answer of a true man. Wherefore the wandering and uncertain tempter probes with soft and tentative temptations:
for although he beheld in Christ the appearance of a fleshly man, yet, roused by the presence of His divinity, he suspected Him to be more than a man. And so the birth from a woman emboldened him to presume upon the encounter, but the virginity of her who bore Him terrified him; for although Mary, herself surely a daughter of Eve, had borne Christ, yet she had not conceived Him of Adam. When therefore the enemy saw the Son of God brought forth by such great miracles, he pondered within himself, as I suppose, and, marvelling, said: Who is this who, without my knowledge, has entered this world? I know indeed that He was born of a woman, but I do not know whence He was conceived. Behold, His mother stands here, but I cannot trace out His father. I see His birth, but I do not recognise Him being born:
and what increases my astonishment, by an unwonted law of childbearing, even after the son is brought forth the mother rejoices as a virgin. Lo, the little one lies in the cradle, His face is bathed in tears, and He shows Himself like to the wailings of mortals; and though nothing of infancy is lacking to Him, yet there is in Him no corruption as in an infant. Wrapped in swaddling clothes, He appears mean; yet heaven smiles upon Him with the ray of a gladder star, and in His honour the ministering angels throng together between the stars and the earth, and exulting they announce a newness that I do not understand. What miracle is this? I see what I am unable to perceive, I hear what I am unable to bear: that one born as a man is honoured as God.
Never in all the ages has this befallen me, that anyone should be born a man and have nothing of human vice. What is this generation so new and so mighty? Born among sinners and the impious, and coming forth even from a mortal mother, He appears purer than all who are born, and purer than heaven itself to me. No root of avarice springs up in Him, no envy strikes His heart, His tongue knows no falsehood, His eyes admit no lust, He is softened by no pleasure of the ears; luxury indeed, by which I have subjected the human race to myself, cannot penetrate His breast: there is in Him no boasting, no malice. And what more? I find nothing in Him that delights me; He empties out all my endeavours. What shall I do? Whither shall I turn?
I perceive one stronger than myself; I think He wishes to reign in my kingdom, lest perhaps He be that God whom no offence can stain. But if He were God, how would He endure the indignities of birth from a woman? How would He be content with cradle and swaddling clothes? Who could believe the wailings of infancy in God? To whom does it not seem ridiculous, when he hears it, that God should be nourished by a woman's milk? After all this, behold, He hungers, though surely no reason could persuade that God hungers. The devil did not know, of course, that Christ's bearing the nourishments of infancy, and His hungering as a man, was not a matter of bodily frailty, but a sacrament of heavenly grace.
For the Son of God, whose timeless eternity stands together with the everlasting Father, who reigns with His Begetter naturally impassible in incorrupt dominion, wrought in our flesh the mystery of salvation; and for this cause He underwent the suffering common to mortals, that He might triumph over the enemy of the human race in the contest of a man; wherefore that presumptuous one, blinded by his own fury, said to the Lord: If Thou art the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread (Matt. IV). Most foolish and empty was this stealthy assault of his: he wishes to tempt with bread Him who is the bread, judging that He labours under scarcity of food, who was bearing a voluntary hunger. To whom the Lord answered: It is written: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God (Deut. VIII).
This is to say: In vain, O devil, do you again attempt to trip me up through food: let it suffice you that by persuading Adam to unlawful food in paradise you deceived him through your agency. Neither does hunger conquer me, nor do I yield to your persuasions, for the will of God is my food: the word of God is my perfect refreshment. Struck back by this saying, again, as I suppose, the devil said: What thing is this? I see Him hunger, and I find no necessity of His eating; He suffers all things as a man, and conquers all things as God. That Adam, made surely by the hands of God, once yielded to my snares; this one, born of a woman, is neither bent by His own needs nor acquiesces in my counsels; that one
I overcame by the mouth of the serpent, but this one despises me even as I myself am speaking. Again, when the Lord stood upon the pinnacle of the temple, he said: If Thou art the Son of God, cast Thyself down (Matt. IV). How troubled is he who speaks thus, thinking to persuade to a fall Him from whom he could obtain nothing concerning the loaves. To whom Christ answered: It is written: Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God (Deut. VIII). That is: what you counsel, O devil, is the presumption of temptation, not the counsel of soundness, the vanity of boasting, not an example of virtue; for empty is every miracle that works nothing for human salvation. And, thwarted by this answer of the Lord, he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their honours, saying:
All these will I give Thee, if falling down Thou wilt adore me (Matt. IV). To whom again it is answered: It is written: Thou shalt adore the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve (Deut. VIII). That is: whoever adores you, O demon, deserves not kingdoms but hell. For to adore the true God and to serve Him is the prerogative of reigning: but you, who by prevarication desire the honours of the world and promise them, will learn that you cannot even give a kingdom. Behold, O tempter, with your threefold questioning you profit nothing; you came uncertain, you return more uncertain; you approached to make trial, and you departed rejected.
Now therefore, most dear brethren, since by recounting the victories of the fasting Lord we have come to know the triumph of our salvation, let us sanctify our fasts with religious observances. But what else is it to sanctify a fast, than for the sake of the fast to will holy things, to do just things, and to shun iniquitous things? He sanctifies his fast whose heart is not turned aside from the right path by the flattery of the powerful, the favour of friends and kinsmen, or even by the small and great gifts of dependants. He sanctifies his fast whose heart is not cheapened by his own righteousness. He sanctifies his fast who quenches the flames of raging wrath by the placability of a gentle mind. He sanctifies his fast who turns his wanton eyes away from base sights by the reins of chastity.
He sanctifies his fast who, with the shield of patience, scatters the darts of reproaches struck back. He sanctifies his fast who restrains the tumults of the contentious by the sweetness of peaceful speech and by the art of a more prudent tongue. He sanctifies his fast who, as it were a ploughman of his own breast, cuts out the thorns of vain thoughts rising up within himself with the furrowing ploughshare of the Gospel. He sanctifies his fast who consoles the wants of the needy, according to the measure of his substance, with the moisture of a compassionate hand. He above all sanctifies his fast who, intent upon the precepts of the divine law, spurns from his heart the diabolical temptations.
And therefore, most dear brethren, if we wish to present fasts pleasing to God, let us be strong in heart, just in judgements, faithful in friendship, patient under injuries, moderate in disputes; let us flee base talk, be steadfast against iniquities, sober at banquets, sincere in charity, wary of the deceitful, compassionate toward the sorrowful, resistant to the obstinate, sparing in suspicions, silent among the evil-speaking, and equals among the humble. If we are willing to sanctify our fasts by virtues of this kind, then, by the Lord's grant, with undoubting confidence and gladder conscience we shall come to the festival of the paschal grace and to the joys of the heavenly promises.