Thence it is understood that all who desire to receive human praises for what they seem to exercise in the work of God, sell it for human flatteries, receiving vain praise, and losing the eternal rewards. But those virgins who had oil in their vessels put every good work within in the conscience; because they did this not for praise, but for the divine mercy. 4. The exercises of virgins, lest their virginity be vain. Faithfully considering these things therefore, most beloved brethren, since this parable pertains to the whole Church, let those who cannot preserve virginity of body guard the integrity of the heart:
so that if they cannot attain to the crown of martyrs or of virgins, they may at least merit to receive pardon of all their sins. But the virgins who, with God's help, guard the integrity of the body, let them strive to labour with all their strength, with God's help: to flee wordiness, to spit out detraction or murmuring as the poisons of the devil, to dread the disease of envy and pride as a serpent's sword, to keep obedience humbly, never to despise the elder's precepts, to be intent upon reading and prayer; if infirmity does not prevent, to rise for vigils with all alacrity, whether in the oratory or in any other place whatever;
let them always study to bring forth from their mouth what pertains to obedience or to humility: if they see one sad, let them console him; if they recognize one disobedient, let them not cease to chastise him. 5. Everywhere there are helpers of Christ and of the devil. Who are ministers of the devil in monasteries. And because in every profession both good and bad are found, and in the Church of Christ not only wheat but also chaff is found: there are found, what is worse, clerics, monks, and nuns so negligent and lukewarm that, not like spiritual bees making the sweet honey of souls, but like most cruel wasps, they strike the hearts of the brethren with the venomous stings of their tongues. Such as these are proved to be not helpers of Christ, but defenders of the devil.
Who, if perchance they see a brother or sister behaving proudly against the elder, not only do not endeavour to soothe them, but rather with malicious speeches strive to kindle them to greater fury, saying that this can no longer, and ought no longer, be endured: they even urge that the elders should repent of these things, because they were willing to admonish or chastise them with fatherly affection. But because in every purpose, as we have already said, not only do the helpers or ministers of the devil kindle to disobedience or pride by crafty whispering: the helpers of Christ, by gentle exhortation and by holy and wholesome counsel, strive to recall them to humility or meekness.
For those who, placed in the clergy or in the monastery, raise both themselves and others to pride, like quivers full of the devil's arrows, strive to strike the hearts of the simple, and to extinguish in them charity, humility, or meekness. 6. But who are Christ's. But because, God being propitious, in the midst of the chaff wheat also is found—holy souls, who like the armouries of Christ are proved to be full of spiritual antidotes—whatever those others have wounded, they do not cease to cure by applying heavenly medicaments, saying to any proud one, 'Do not be proud, brother; for it is written, God resisteth the proud' (James IV, 6): 'do not be angry; for it is written, Anger resteth in the bosom of a fool' (Eccl. VII, 10);
and again, 'The wrath of man worketh not the justice of God' (James I, 20). If perchance they see one disobedient, gently and humbly they say, 'Do not be disobedient, brother; for it is written, Obedience is better than sacrifice' (1 Sam. XV, 22); and the Apostle cries out, 'Obey your prelates, and be subject to them; for they watch for your souls, as they that must render an account' (Heb. XIII, 17). Those souls full of God, if they see one lukewarm and negligent, from their spiritual armoury, that is, from a good heart, by medicaments brought forth strive to kindle him to compunction:
If they see one detracting and murmuring, they say to him that word of the blessed Apostle, "Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed by the destroyer" (I Cor. x, 10); "neither detract," for it is written, "He that detracteth his brother, detracteth the law" (James iv, 11); and elsewhere, "He that detracteth his brother shall be rooted out." And by this holy admonition deterring him from evil-speaking, they begin to provoke him to the praise of God. If they recognize one who is verbose or contentious, they apply the medicine of silence, saying to him what is written in the Old Testament, "Hear, O Israel, and be silent"; and that which was prophesied of the Lord the Saviour, "As a lamb before its shearer He shall be dumb."
And as one dumb who opens not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7); and again, Every idle word that men shall speak, they shall render an account for it in the day of judgment (Matthew 12:36). For with such remedies and others like them, whatever the vessels of the devil have striven to wound, the vessels of Christ struggle and strive to bring back to health. Therefore whether a cleric, or a monk, or a nun, let each one examine his own conscience; and if by speaking well he knows himself to be a helper of Christ and a defender of justice, let him rejoice and give thanks to God, and with His help persevere unto the end; for it is not he who begins, but he who perseveres unto the end, that shall be saved (Matthew 10:22).
But whoever, through pride, through disobedience or through envy, perceives himself to be a helper or deputy of the devil, let him grieve over the past and beware of the future; and by humility let him build up what he had destroyed through the tyranny of pride; let meekness soften what wrath had inflamed; let the sweetness of charity restore what malice or disobedience had embittered: and while that darkened soul, which had been accustomed to serve the devil, is still held in this mortal body, let him acquire for himself a remedy against the day of need: so that, transferred from the left hand to the right, he may deserve to hear, together with the sheep of Christ, Come, ye blessed, receive the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world (Matthew 25:34).
And although these things are so, most beloved brethren, yet it is fitting that neither the good be puffed up by their holy merits, nor those who have been wicked be broken by excessive despair; but let those persevere humbly in good works, and let these quickly be corrected from their evils: so that when the day of judgment comes, an upright life may be able to crown the good, and a corrected life may avail to excuse the wicked, by the grace of the Lord, and so forth. SERMON 77. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 25:34-43, Come, ye blessed of my Father, and so forth. 1. Sacred reading is to be used frequently. God takes vengeance unwillingly.
Just now, when the Gospel was being read, dearest brethren, we heard the Lord saying, Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Therefore, that you may be able to hear that desirable voice, and to escape from the evil hearing; with all your strength, God helping, take heed and cause this divine reading to be read and heard willingly and obediently and frequently in your homes or in the church. For just as that voice is desirable by which it is said to the merciful, Come, ye blessed, receive the kingdom; so on the contrary it is to be feared and greatly terrible to the wicked and unmerciful, which they shall hear, to whom it must be said, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire.
May God turn this away from us, dearest brethren, and deign to deliver us from the evil hearing; that there may be fulfilled in us that which is written, The just shall be in everlasting remembrance, he shall not fear the evil hearing (Psalm 111:7): for this shall be the evil hearing which the impious are to hear, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. For it will be an irrevocable sentence, which is therefore foretold long beforehand by the most merciful God, that it may be guarded against by us with all our strength. For if our God wished to punish us, He would not admonish us so many ages beforehand. In a certain manner He takes vengeance unwillingly, who shows long beforehand how we may be able to escape. For He does not wish to strike you, who cries out to you, Take heed. 2. Heaven is predestined for us, not hell.
Consider, however, what He is going to say to those placed on the right hand: Come, He says, ye blessed, receive the kingdom which was prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Note, dearest brethren, that the kingdom of heaven is predestined for us; but hell has been prepared, not for us, but for the devil. Finally, thus shall those placed on the left hear, Depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire which is prepared: He did not say, for you; but, for the devil and his angels. 3. The necessity of giving alms. Yet I ask you, brethren, faithfully and diligently give heed both to that sentence which the impious shall hear, and to that which the holy shall hear. Come, He says, ye blessed, receive the kingdom. Why?
Because I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink, and the rest. But to the sinners, For I was hungry, He says, and you gave me not to eat. Therefore neither shall those who will be on the right receive it because they never sinned; but because they were zealous to submerge their sins under alms: and those who will be on the left shall not be sent into everlasting fire because they were sinners; but because they were unwilling to redeem their sins by alms. And thus generosity alone will glorify the former, and barrenness alone will condemn the latter: for just as it is impossible that any man could be without sin;
so through the mercy of God it is possible that by good works, and especially by alms, each one may redeem himself from sin: so that there may not be fulfilled in him that which is written, Judgment without mercy to him that hath not done mercy (James 2:13); but rather that that sentence may pertain to him, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7); and that other, He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his justice remaineth for ever and ever (Psalm 111:9). 4. Barrenness alone is guilty of damnation. Who do not come to judgment. And consider this, brethren, for what cause they shall be sent into everlasting fire.
For it shall not be said to them, Because you committed murder, because you committed adultery, because you seized another's property: but this alone they shall hear, Because I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat. I ask you, dearest brethren, do not consider these things fleetingly, nor believe that this was said only of the Jews or Pagans or heretics: but believe most definitely that Christians and Catholics, who have chosen to persevere in evil works, shall hear this. For neither Pagans, nor heretics, nor Jews come to judgment: because of them it is written, He that believeth not is already judged (John 3:18). And therefore among those who are to be sent to the left, not only the laity will be;
but also many bishops, which is worse; wicked clerics, or covetous or proud monks, together with nuns and widows who are wrathful, proud, or covetous: and if fruitful penance does not come to their aid, they shall hear that fearful and irrevocable voice, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire. This sentence, if we are willing to hear it faithfully and with great trembling, will be able to call us back from every evil work. 6. What torments for robbers: what for evildoers. Diligently, then, give heed to what the Truth has said, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire; because I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat. If he is sent into the fire who gave not his bread to the hungry;
where do you think he must be sent, who took away what belonged to another? If he is sent into the fire who did not clothe the naked; where must he be sent, who stripped one that was clothed? If he is condemned with the devil, who did not offer his house to guests; where do you think he must be diminished, who took away another's house? If he is to perish who did not visit one in prison; what shall become of him, who perhaps unjustly sent one into prison? I beg you, brethren, here give heed: what hope can those have who do evil deeds; when those are to perish who do not do good deeds? Finally, in another place the Lord terribly admonishes us, saying: Every tree that does not bear good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire (Matthew 7:19). He did not say, Which bears bad fruit;
but, which does not bear good fruit. From this, then, we can evidently recognize what punishments the thorny tree shall suffer on the day of judgment; when even that which shall not have borne fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire. 6. Faith without works profits a Christian nothing. Let no one deceive himself, dearest brethren, let no one ensnare himself with false hope; the mere dignity of the Christian name does not make a Christian. It profits nothing that someone is called a Christian in name, if he does not show it in deed. For it is written, Faith without works is dead. For he who believes and does not practice good works, the divine Scripture cries out to him, Thou, it says, believest that God is one; thou dost well: and the demons believe, and tremble (James 2:19).
And thus those who believe and do not do good works seem to have the faith of demons. But those who do not believe are proved worse than demons. And that also must be diligently considered which the Lord says, He who hears my words and does them, he it is who loves me: and again, If anyone loves me, he keeps my commandments (John 14:21, 23). And without doubt he who does not keep them does not love. But that also is greatly to be feared which the Lord again says: What does it profit that you say, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say (Matthew 7:21, and Luke 6:46)? We ought to know, dearest brethren, that it profits nothing to profess faith in words, and to abandon truth in deeds. For just as it does not please us,
if our servants profess in words that our affairs are theirs to attend to, and yet are unwilling to fulfill their work, so neither does it please God, if anyone declares himself a Christian in words only; and dissembles to fulfill the works which Christ commanded to be done. Finally, the blessed Apostle, when he was speaking of the account to be rendered on the day of judgment, thus declared, saying: We must, he says, all stand before the tribunal of Christ, that each one may report the things proper to the body, according as he has done, whether good or evil (2 Corinthians 5:10): and the Lord in the Gospel, Then, He says, He shall render to each one according to his works (Matthew 16:27). He did not say, According to his faith; but, To each one according to his works: because, as He already said above.
the apostle James cries out, Faith without works is dead. We therefore, dearest brethren, if we wish to escape punishment and to come to eternal blessedness, let us not only believe in God, but also love Him with our whole heart, and, as much as we are able, with His help, let us be zealous to do good works: so that when, with His help, we have done what He has commanded, we may deserve, He rewarding, to receive what He promises, through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God in Trinity, lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. SERMON 78. Again on Matthew chapter 25:34-43, Come, ye blessed of my Father, etc., exhorting to the giving of alms. 1. The force of this reading.
When the Gospel was being read, we heard the terrible voice, the sentence of our Lord that is at once to be feared and to be desired. It is terrible on account of that which He says, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire; it is desirable on account of that which He says, Come, ye blessed, receive the kingdom. For who, hearing this voice, would not at once tremble and rejoice? Let him rejoice indeed, because Christ has deigned to promise the kingdom to His Christian servants; let him tremble, because He threatens the eternal fire to sinners. I beg you, brethren, to hear this reading with an attentive heart and a most vigilant sense always: and because it is not laborious to prepare, always hold it in memory, and constantly ponder its power.
For whoever diligently attends to this reading, even if he cannot read the rest of the Scriptures, this reading alone can suffice him for doing every good work and for fleeing every evil. 2. What is the reason of salvation or of damnation. Attend then, brethren, and see what it is that Christ promises He will say to those who will be on the right: Come, He says, ye blessed, receive the kingdom: because I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink, and the rest that follows. But to those who will be on the left, what is He going to say? Depart from me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat;
I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink, and the rest. Attend then, brethren, and see that He did not say, Depart from me, ye cursed; because you committed theft, because you gave false testimony, because you committed murder or adultery, which is not doubted to be graver: He did not say this; but He said, For I was hungry, and you gave me not to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me not to drink: as He did not say, Because you took the goods of others, which is more wicked; but He said, You did not give of your substance to the poor: not, Because you did evil works; but, Because you were unwilling to do good works. And thus mercy alone will free those who will be on the right; and avarice alone will condemn those who are on the left.
But as for what was said to those who are on the right, Come, ye blessed, receive the kingdom; they shall not hear this because they did not sin: just as to those on the left He will not say, Depart from me, ye cursed, because you sinned; but because you were unwilling to redeem your sins by alms. No man can be without sin: but yet every man, with the Lord's help, can redeem his sins by alms. 3. How greatly evildoers are to be punished. For in this sentence of the Lord, in which He said that he who fed not the hungry and clothed not the naked shall be sent into everlasting fire, we can evidently recognize by what torment or by what punishment those are to be damned who do evil;
when those are sent into the fire who do not do good works. For if he is condemned with the devil who did not give his bread to the poor, where must he be damned who took away what belonged to another? If he is sent into the fire who did not clothe the naked, where do you think he must be sent, who stripped one that was clothed? If he is damned into hell who did not receive the stranger into his house, where do you think he must be damned, who took away another's house? 4. Exhortation to good works. Faithfully pondering these things, then, most beloved brethren, let us be zealous, as much as we are able, to do good works, and according to our strength to distribute from our poor little means to strangers and the poor:
that we may both redeem the sins we have committed, and from those very good works prepare for ourselves eternal rewards. Let us hear the Lord saying, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matthew 5:7). For you have heard the true sentence of our Lord, by which the kingdom of heaven is promised to us if we give alms, if we feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked according to our strength, receive strangers; if we do all these things faithfully, we shall come secure before the tribunal of the eternal Judge: and then we shall be in everlasting remembrance among the just, and we shall not fear the evil hearing (Psalm 111:7).
What is the evil hearing, except that (which may the Lord deign to turn away from us!) which those placed on the left, the impious, are to hear, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire? 5. Commendation of almsgiving. Hold fast, then, brethren, to almsgiving or to mercy; for alms frees from death, and does not permit its worker to go into darkness. Let each one, according to his strength, as much as he prevails, extend his hand to the poor. He who has gold, let him give gold; he who has silver, let him bestow silver: but he who has no money, let him with a good spirit extend a morsel to the stranger; and if he does not have a whole one, let him break off from that which he has and give.
For the Lord deigned to bestow such consolation and assurance upon the poor through the prophet, that He did not say, Give the hungry all thy bread; but, Break thy bread to the hungry (Isaiah 58:7): and if you do not have a whole one, at least share some portion. 6. What is given must be given with a cheerful spirit. He who gives, gains. And that you may know how acceptable to God is whatever you offer with a good spirit, hear the Lord in the Gospel concerning that widow who offered two coins, saying, This widow has put in more than all: for the rest who were rich gave something out of that which abounded to them; but she offered all that she had (Luke 21:3-4): and therefore she deserved that the Lord should praise her with His own mouth.
Let each one, then, do what he prevails, and, apart from reasonable food and simple clothing, whatever is left over to him, let him give to the poor joyful and cheerful. Why joyful and cheerful? Because he gives little, and receives much; he offers a coin, and purchases a kingdom; he bestows a small sum, and receives eternal life: he gives temporal things, that he may deserve eternal ones; he offers perishable things, and receives things that abide without end. Behold, therefore, for what cause we ought to give with a cheerful and good spirit. If a trustworthy man were to say to you, Give me one gold coin, and I will return to you a hundred gold pieces, would you not with joy give one, that you might receive a hundred? How much more, since the God of heaven and earth says to you, He who gives to the poor lends to God (Proverbs 19:17);
and, Inasmuch as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me; and in the Psalm, Happy is the man who has mercy and lends (Psalm 111:5), you ought to lend to God on earth what you may receive manifold unto eternal life. So that when you deserve to come into the sight of the Angels before the tribunal of the eternal Judge, you may with a secure and free conscience be able to say, Give, O Lord, because I have given; have mercy, because I have done mercy: I have fulfilled what You commanded, do You render what You promised. Again and again I admonish you, brethren, always to hold this evangelical reading in memory, and with all your strength, with God's help, to labor:
that you may be able to escape the eternal fire, and happily to attain to the kingdom of the heavens, He granting it who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. SERMON 79. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 26:31-33, 69-75, You shall all suffer scandal, etc., concerning the fall of Peter. 1. Man without the grace of God. Why God abandoned Peter. In the evangelical reading which was recited to you yesterday, dearest brethren, we heard the Lord say to His disciples: You shall all suffer scandal in this night because of me. To whom the blessed Peter: Although all shall be scandalized, I will never be scandalized. But the Lord, the inspector of the heart, answered and said: Amen I say to thee, before the cock crows, thou shalt deny me thrice.
But he said: Even if I must die with thee, I will not deny thee. See, dearest brethren, the true and heavenly Physician had inspected the vein of the heart, and had foretold at what hour the weight of temptation or the chill of unbelief would come. The Physician was foretelling, and the sick man was denying: but when the hour came, what the man had promised proved false, and what God had foretold appeared true. What man can do without the grace of God, the fear of the blessed apostle Peter clearly shows. For through free will alone, without also the added help of God, he had promised that he would die for the Lord. But what is man without the grace of God, except what Peter was when he denied Christ; and except what the prophet says, All flesh is grass (Isaiah 40:6)?
And therefore the Lord for a little while abandoned the blessed Peter, that in him the whole human race might be able to recognize that it prevails nothing without the grace of God, and that for the future ruler of the Church a certain rule might be established for pardoning sinners. 2. Peter was by nature rather austere. For the keys of the Church were to be entrusted to Peter the apostle: indeed, the keys of the kingdom of heaven were entrusted to him. There was also to be entrusted to him the innumerable multitude of peoples, which would be entangled by the vices, passions, and faults of their nature, and by sins. Finally, thus the Savior says to him: To thee, He says, I have given the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Then He continues, saying: Whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven (Matthew 16:19):
namely, that in the keys he might be a faithful doorkeeper, and in the sentences a most clement dispenser. For this Peter was in truth somewhat harsh and severe, as his austerity is declared by the ear of the servant of the prince of the priests, cut off on account of an injury to Christ. This man, then, so harsh and so severe, if he had not obtained from the Lord the gift of not sinning, what pardon would be granted to the erring peoples? But for this reason the Senate of divine providence so tempered and permitted it, that he himself should first slip and fall into sin, so that by regard for his own fall he might temper the harsher sentence against those who sin. Observe, therefore, how much of the divine gift, how much of care and how much of solicitude is expended toward the salvation of men.