Sermons 86

Mabillon, who found this and the following homily in the celebrated manuscript of St. Gall, said that the former had already been published among the sermons of Ambrose; the latter he published in the Museum Italicum, vol. I, part I, and as the first of twelve unpublished homilies of St. Maximus. He warns, however, in the preface, that if Maximus had been taken up to heaven in the year of salvation 420, according to Gennadius, no barbarians would be found invading Italy at that time, since that calamity happened much later; wherefore either the testimony of Gennadius concerning the death of St. Maximus falls, or another author of the homily must be sought. We think we have satisfied this difficulty in the commentary on the Life of St. Maximus, where through a long series of homilies and sermons we have demonstrated the age of St. Maximus.

that the age of the bishop of Turin is to be placed about the middle of the fifth century, so that the things handed down about him by sure documents may stand firm. Mabillon himself reviews the same, namely two councils, the Milanese and the Roman, at which it is certain that St. Maximus was present. Lest, therefore, we linger any longer over the ascertained epoch of St. Maximus, we profess that this homily is to be granted to him, being persuaded not so much by the circumstances of that age as by three codices of the highest authority, namely the Ambrosian, the Sangallensis homily 73, and Santa Croce in Gerusalemme 99 homily 21. Their title, in these two latter codices, is conformable but imperfect (for it is lacking to them), and runs thus:

On not fearing the barbarians, by those who fear God, and on St. Elisha. Two codices ascribing the homily to Ambrose stand against us, one of which is the Vatican 1277, page 60, the other the Laurentian, shelf 14, page 341; but the subject with which the homily deals does not suit the age of Ambrose, since under the emperors Theodosius the Elder and Valentinian Italy rested in peace; moreover the diction is proper to Maximus; and among all critics the Ambrosian and Sangallensis codices, by their antiquity and esteem, claim greater credit for themselves. We have designated the title according to the Ambrosian codex. Gallandi followed the reading of Mabillon, that is, of the Codex Sangallensis; which we have supplemented according to better codices.

I remember that I have often said that we ought by no means to fear these warlike tumults, nor to dread however large a multitude of enemies; for, as the Lord says, Greater is He who is in us than he who is in this world (1 John 4). That is, Christ is more powerful to protect His servants than the devil to incite His enemies. For although the same devil gathers crowds to himself and arms them with cruel madness, yet they are easily destroyed, because the Saviour surrounds His people with better aids; for the prophet says: The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear Him, and shall deliver them (Ps. 33).

But if the angel of the Lord delivers those who fear Him from perils, he who has feared the Saviour cannot fear the barbarian, nor can he who has kept the precepts of Christ dread the assaults of the enemy. For the precepts of Christ are the arms of Christians; and the divine fear expels the fear of the enemy from us. And these are our arms, with which the Saviour has equipped us: prayer, mercy, and fasting. For fasting guards better than a wall; mercy delivers more easily than plunder; prayer wounds from farther off than an arrow. For an arrow strikes only the adversary seen close at hand; but prayer wounds even the enemy placed far away. For thus St.

the prophet Elisha, when the king of Syria wished to take him captive and subject him to his dominion, and had surrounded him with many bands of armed men, was not terrified, was not troubled; but said to the boy who announced it: Fear not: for there are more with us than with them (2 Kings 6:16). O the faith of the holy prophet! He does not fear the adversaries whom he sees, because he knows that the angels whom he believes in are with him; he does not dread earthly ambushes, because he knows that heavenly aids are present to him. For there are more with us than with them. A marvellous thing! Holiness merits more defenders from heaven than wickedness has brought oppressors on earth. There are more with us than with them. See the merit of blessedness.

The prophet announces even the multitude, while the boy is still uncertain of safety. How much more do spiritual eyes see than carnal ones! This one perceives the number of the armed men, and that one does not perceive the sign of the defence. How great is the divine mercy! A benefit is conferred upon men, and it is not seen: those in peril obtain aid, and know it not. For this is the loving-kindness of the Saviour: that He intervenes for salvation, and does not betray Himself to sight; that He is felt in benefits, and not perceived by the eyes. Whence he errs who thinks, when he has accomplished something prosperously, that he has overcome by his own strength. For he ought to know that adversaries are conquered more by merits than by valour, and are overcome not so much by valour as by holiness;

just as St. Elisha did not overcome his enemies with arms, but conquered them by prayer. For when, in order to dispel his fear, he told his own servant that there were more defenders present, and the fear could not be taken from him; then he prayed to the Lord, saying: Lord, open his eyes that he may see. And his eyes were opened, and he saw, and behold, the whole mountain was full of horsemen (2 Kings 6:17), and the rest. The prayer of the prophet, therefore, opened the boy's eyes. It is no wonder if prayer opened his eyes, that he might see the army—prayer which opened heaven, that the army might come. It is no wonder, I say, if he perceived new eyes, who merited new aids.

Or why should he not bring forth his gaze to the battle-line, who had marshalled battle-lines of angels? Why, I say, should he not by his prayer uncover the disposition of the pupils of the eyes, who by his merits penetrated the darkness of the clouds? Necessarily, therefore, St. Elisha by this deed granted security to the fearful servant, to whom he had already restored clarity, and removed from him the dread of heart, from whom he had removed the blindness of vision; and rewarding him with a twofold benefit, he released his fear and released his gaze. He began to fear less, after he merited to see more; for he obtained peace together with sight. On the mountains, therefore, the armed men are seen. It appears that they had truly descended from heaven, whose arrival is found first to be on the mountains.

For the very nearness of the places demonstrates this: that those descending from heaven trod only upon the ridges of the hills near to them. Then, therefore, Elisha prayed, and struck the whole hostile army with blindness. It is no wonder if he inflicted blindness on the adversaries, who bestowed clarity on the servant; and if he took away sight from the enemies, who granted vision to the minister. Where are they who say that arms can do more than the prayers of holy men? Behold, one prayer of Elisha wounded the whole army, and by the merits of one prophet the whole number of the enemies was taken captive.

What throngs of kings, what crowd of soldiers ever accomplished such a victory, so overthrowing the enemies that not one of them fell? This is the true, this the bloodless victory, where the adversary is so conquered that none of the conquerors is harmed. Here it ends. What we said in the preceding admonition is to be consulted. For they show that this homily too ought to be attributed to Maximus; and it is read in the same codices: the Sangallensis homily 74, the Ambrosian, and the 99 of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme homily 71. The title of the first two is: What follows; the inscription of this last is: Likewise there follows. After Mabillon, Andreas Gallandi adorned this homily with new type in vol. XI of the Bibliotheca Patrum, Venice edition. To the scribes of the codices Vatican 1277 page

61, and the Laurentian, shelf 14, page 343, who assert St. Ambrose to be the author of this homily also, we think enough has been answered by us in the preceding admonition. It may perhaps seem a marvel that, when describing the grace of St. Elisha above, we said that aids descended from the heavens for his defence, and that armed horsemen, or chariots, were divinely present to him; that a fiery chariot even stood around him. A great matter indeed, but in a holy man not to be wondered at. For what wonder is it if he merits aids from heaven whose mind is always in heaven? As the apostle Paul says: But our conversation is in the heavens (Phil. 3). Therefore if our conversation is in the heavens, the converse of the heavenly beings can also be with us:

that is, that we who live the life of angels may rightly merit their fellowship. There is indeed among those who live holily a certain kinship, joining, and society among themselves: it makes no difference whether they remain in the heavens or on the earth, whether they be of angelic form or human, provided that in them there be the same life or holiness: conversation connects those whom the element separates, and although they be divided by different bodies, yet they are joined by the same deeds. And therefore it comes about that the saints, cleaving to one another by a certain fellowship, do not depart from one another; and now the angels come to the earth, now men are carried over to heavenly things; and, by a better advancement, those whose life is common begin to have common also the elements of living. But someone says:

We have frequently heard that angels descended to men: we also desire to hear how men have migrated to heavenly things. The matter is manifest, and set at hand. Elijah, the master of Elisha—was he not, with angels leading, snatched up to heaven, and placed on a fiery chariot, ascending as a victor in a kind of triumph? For he had proved himself a victor not over barbarian nations, but over worldly pleasures; since indeed depraved morals are graver enemies than hostile foes; and we understand more easily that in this time the malignity of enemies can be conquered than that of morals. Therefore the angels bear Elijah to heaven: the angels guard Elisha on earth.

What wonder is it if the angels, who had carried the master, protect the disciple, and render even to the son certain fresh services which they had shown to the father? For he is indeed the heir of his holiness. Rightly, therefore, is Elisha called the spiritual son of Elijah, because, ascending to heaven, he left him a double spirit of his grace. For when the power was given to Elisha to ask what he wished, before Elijah was snatched from him, he asked that the double spirit of Elijah might be in himself. Then Elijah said: You have asked a hard thing, but it shall be to you (2 Kings 2:10). O precious inheritance! in which more is left to the heir than is possessed, more is obtained by him who receives than he who bestows had possessed.

Plainly a precious inheritance, which, while it is transferred from father to son, is by a certain continuity of merits doubled. Therefore Elijah, since he himself had a simple spirit of holiness, left to Elisha a double one. A marvel, therefore, in a wondrous manner! Elijah left more of grace on earth than he carried with himself to the heavens, and although he himself is borne wholly in body to the higher regions, yet in his son he remains with greater holiness. But what shall we say of the merits of Elisha? whose first praise is this, that he wished by grace to surpass his father, while he asked that more be given to him than he knew to be with him who possesses it. He is indeed greedy in asking, but worthy in deserving.

For while he demanded from the father more than he had, he made him by his own merits bestow more than he was able. For when the same Elisha, after the ascension of his master, had come to Jericho, and was asked by the citizens to settle in that same city, they said to him: The situation of the town is good, but the waters are bad and barren (2 Kings 2:19); then he ordered an earthen vessel to be given to him, and, having placed salt in it, coming to the outlets of the waters, he cast it into the waters, saying: Thus says the Lord: I have healed these waters, there shall not be from them any dying or barren thing. And the waters were healed unto this day (ibid.). See, therefore, how great are the merits of Elisha, whose first hospitality in the city is a great fecundity of children.

For while he averted the barrenness of the waters, he bestowed a succession of heirs. For by this deed Elisha did not heal one man, nor provide a remedy for one house, but restored the people of the whole city. For if he had done this later, with barrenness intervening, and all growing old, the city would have remained without an inhabitant. Therefore Elisha, while he cured the waters, cured also the people; while he blessed the fountain of the waves, he granted a certain fountain of souls. For as by his sanctification healthy water came forth from the hidden veins of the earth, so from the hidden inward parts of the womb healthy offspring proceeded. For Elisha blessed not only the streams which were already held in the bosom of the fountains;

but also those waters which, undistinguished in the moist soil of the earth, were little by little to flow forth in time to come. Whence the Scripture says that Elisha blessed the outlets of the waters, so that sanctification might take up the dripping water before the bosom of the fountain enclosed it. Therefore, since St. Paul the apostle says: These things happened to them in a figure (1 Cor. 10), let us then see what truth this very figure has; that is, let us seek out what that city is which labored under barrenness, or what the earthen vessel means, and also what it is that the sprinkled salt should bring sweetness. We read in the same apostle it said of the Church: Rejoice, barren one, who dost not bear; break forth and cry aloud, who dost not travail (Gal. 4).

Therefore the Church is that barren city, which before the coming of Christ, enduring barrenness through the fault of the waters, that is, through the sacrilege of the Gentile peoples, could not bring forth sons to God. But when Christ came, taking upon Himself a human body as it were an earthen vessel, He healed the faults of the waters, that is, He cut away the sacrileges of the peoples; at once the Church, which was barren, began to be fruitful. Whence the Apostle also says: Rejoice, barren one. For the Church, which was barren, brought forth from it more sons than the Synagogue, which was fruitful, had received. But what the sharp salts are, and what medicine they brought, we shall easily recognize. The Lord says to the apostles: You are the salt of the earth (Matt. 5).

Therefore, if the apostles are compared to salt, the figure is rightly fulfilled: just as then the salt, poured out from the little vessel, seasoned the waters; so also now the apostles, sent by the Saviour, season all peoples, so that, the barrenness of vices being taken away, they may begin to germinate the offspring of virtues. Here it ends.