Sermons & Tracts 2

SERMONS ON THE SEASONS. SERMON 115. On the Advent of the Lord, 1. What must be furnished before the celebration of the Lord's Nativity. We must labor that the body of Christ may be worthily received. As the most sacred solemnity now draws near, on which our Savior mercifully willed to be born among men, dearest brothers, consider more attentively how we ought to be prepared for the coming of so great a power, that we may be worthy to receive our King and Lord with joy and gladness, with glory and praises, and, in His sight, amid the blessed assemblies of the saints, to exult in thanksgiving — rather than, being repelled by Him on account of our foulness, to merit eternal confusion among sinners.

And therefore I ask and admonish, that as much as we can, with God's help, we may labor so that on that day, with a pure and sincere conscience, a clean heart and a chaste body, we may be able to approach the altar of the Lord, and may merit to receive His body and blood not unto judgment, but unto the remedy of our soul. For in the body of Christ our life consists, as He Himself said: 'Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of man and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you' (John 6:54). Let him therefore change his life, who wishes to receive life. For if he does not change his life, he will receive life unto judgment: and he is more corrupted by it than healed; more slain than made alive. For thus the Apostle said:

'He who eats the body of the Lord and drinks His blood unworthily, eats and drinks judgment to himself' (1 Cor. 11:27). 2. The conscience must be cleansed. And although it befits us to be adorned and resplendent with good works at all times, yet especially on the day of the Lord's Nativity, as He Himself said in the Gospel, your works ought to shine before men (Matt. 5:16). Consider, I ask you, brothers, when some powerful or noble man desires to celebrate his own birthday or that of his son, with how much zeal, many days beforehand, he orders whatever he sees soiled in his house to be cleaned, whatever is unsuitable and unbecoming to be thrown out, whatever is useful and necessary to be brought forth.

The house too, if it has been rather dark, is whitewashed; the floors are cleaned with brooms, and, sprinkled with various flowers, are adorned; whatever also pertains to the gladness of the mind and the delights of the body is provided with all care. To what end are all these things, dearest brothers, except that the birthday of a man who is going to die may be celebrated with joy? If therefore you prepare so much for your own birthday or your son's, how much and what kind of things ought you to prepare when about to receive the Nativity of your Lord? If you prepare such things for one who is to die, what kind of things ought you to prepare for the Eternal One? Therefore, whatever you do not wish to find in your house, labor as much as you can that God may not find it in your soul. 3. The soul must be adorned with good works. Let repentance immediately follow the fault.

Surely, if an earthly king or any head of a household were to invite you to his birthday celebration, in what sort of garments would you be eager to come adorned? How new and gleaming, how splendid, garments whose age, meanness, or any foulness would not offend the eyes of the one inviting you! With such zeal, then, so far as you are able, strive with Christ's help, so that your soul, arrayed with the varied ornaments of the virtues, adorned with the gems of simplicity and the flowers of sobriety, may go forward with an untroubled conscience to the solemn feast of the eternal King, that is, to the Nativity of the Lord and Saviour, gleaming with chastity, splendid with charity, radiant with almsgiving.

For if Christ the Lord shall find you thus arrayed to celebrate his birthday, he himself will deign to come in person and not only to visit your soul, but even to rest in it and to dwell in it forever; as it is written: 'And I will dwell in them, and walk in them' (2 Cor. 6:16); and again: 'Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if anyone shall rise and open to me, I will come in to him, and sup with him, and he with me' (Rev. 3:20). How blessed is that soul which, with God's help, has striven so to govern its life that it may be counted worthy to receive Christ as guest and indweller!

As, on the contrary, how wretched is that conscience—to be lamented with a whole fountain of tears—which has so stained itself with evil works that in it not Christ may rest, but devils begin to hold sway! For such a soul, if the medicine of penance does not swiftly come to its aid, is abandoned by the light and seized by darkness; it is emptied of sweetness and filled with bitterness; it is invaded by death and rejected by life. Yet let him who is such not despair of the Lord's mercy, nor be broken by deadly despair; but rather let him swiftly flee to penance, and while the wounds of his sins are still fresh and warm, let him thus apply to himself healing remedies;

for our physician is Almighty God, and he is accustomed so to heal our wounds that not even the traces of scars remain after his remedies. Therefore also, before his Nativity, you ought to abstain for many days from every defilement. 4. Vices to be shunned before the solemn feasts, and especially hatred. As often as you make ready to celebrate either the Lord's Nativity or the other solemn feasts, before all things flee drunkenness, resist wrath as you would a most savage beast, drive out hatred from your heart like deadly poison; and let there be in you charity so great that it may reach not only to your friends, but even to your very enemies; that you may securely say in the Lord's Prayer:

'Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors' (Matt. 6:12). For whoever knows that he hates even a single man, I do not know how he can securely approach the altar of the Lord, especially when the blessed Evangelist John cries out terribly and says: 'He who hates his brother is a murderer' (1 John 3:15). For it is for you to judge whether a murderer, before he does penance, ought to presume to receive the Eucharist. Saint John moreover adds and cries, saying: 'He who hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and knows not whither he goes; for the darkness has blinded his eyes'; and again he says: 'Everyone who does not love his brother abides in death';

and again: 'If anyone says, I love God, and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see?' (1 John 2:11; 3:14; 4:20). Whoever therefore keeps hatred or wrath in his heart, and under such thunder is neither terrified nor awakened, must be believed to be not sleeping, but dead. 5. Exhortation. Meditating daily on these things, then, dearest brethren, let those who are good strive with God's grace to persevere in good works; for not he who has begun, but he who has persevered unto the end, he shall be saved.

But those who recognize themselves to be slow to almsgiving, ready to wrath, and headlong to the practice of lust—let them, with the Lord's help, hasten to rescue themselves from evils, that they may be counted worthy to fulfil what is good; so that, when the day of judgment comes, they may be counted worthy to attain to the eternal rewards not with the impious, but with the just and merciful; our Lord Jesus Christ granting it, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen. Sermon 116. On the Coming of the Lord, II. 1. May the Nativity of the Lord not find us unprepared.

Dearly beloved brethren, being about to receive with most faithful devotion the holy and desirable, glorious and singular solemn feast—that is, the nativity of the Lord and Saviour—we ought with all our strength, and with his help, to prepare ourselves and diligently to inspect all the hidden recesses of our soul; lest perchance there be in us some hidden sin which may both confound and gnaw our conscience, and offend the eyes of the divine majesty. For although Christ our Lord, after his passion, has risen and ascended into heaven,

yet he still considers, as we believe, and diligently attends to how each one of his servants strives to prepare and compose himself—without avarice, without anger, without pride and lust—to celebrate his nativity; and according as he shall see each one adorned with good works, so will he dispense to him the grace of his mercy. For if he shall see one clothed with the light of charity, adorned with the pearls of righteousness and mercy, chaste, humble, merciful, kind, and sober; if he shall recognize such holiness, he will dispense to him his own body and blood not unto judgment, but unto healing, through the ministry of his priests.

But if he shall see anyone an adulterer, a drunkard, greedy and proud, I fear lest that be said to him which the Lord himself utters in the Gospel: 'Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding garment?' And—which God avert—may that not befall which follows: 'Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth' (Matt. 22:12-13). Behold what sentence he shall receive on the day of judgment who, without the remedy of penance, comes to the Lord's festival defiled with the filth of vices. 2. It is the wedding day of Christ. At the wedding of Christ, who is the bride, what is the food.

For at the Nativity of the Lord, dearly beloved brethren, as at a spiritual wedding, Christ was joined to his bride the Church. Then 'truth sprang out of the earth, then righteousness looked down from heaven' (Ps. 84:12); then 'the bridegroom came forth from his chamber' (Ps. 18:6), that is, the Word of God from the virginal womb. For he came forth with his bride the Church, that is, he took upon himself human flesh. Being invited, then, to these holy nuptials, and about to enter the banquet of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, see with what garments we ought to be adorned. And therefore let us cleanse, so far as we can with God's help, both our hearts and our bodies together;

so that that heavenly inviter may find in us nothing sordid, nothing foul, nothing dark, nothing unworthy of his eyes. These things, therefore, dearly beloved brethren, we ought to attend to not in passing, but with immense trembling. For we are invited to the wedding, where we ourselves, if we act well, shall be the bride. Let us consider to what a wedding, let us reflect to what a bridegroom, and to what a banquet we are invited. For we are invited to a table where the food of men is not found, but the bread of Angels is set forth. And therefore let us take heed lest perchance within, in the soul, where we ought to be adorned with the pearls of good works, there we appear wrapped in the old rags of vices;

and just as chastity renders bright in the eyes of God those who are good, so lust renders foul those who are evil. 3. What is to be done before the solemn feasts. And therefore, as often as either the Lord's Nativity or the other festivals draw near, as I have frequently admonished, for many days beforehand abstain not only from the unhappy company of concubines, but even from your own wives; make yourselves strangers to all wrath; let past sins be redeemed through almsgiving and penance; let hatred against no man be held in the heart; what vanity was wont to squander through gluttony, let righteousness begin to distribute to the poor through mercy; what lust or gluttony scattered in the world, let piety lay up in heaven. 4.

The poor are to be called to the banquet. And although it is fitting that we should always give alms, yet especially on the holy solemn feasts let us, according to our means, distribute more abundantly, and above all more frequently call the poor to the banquet. For it is not just that at a holy solemn feast, among a Christian people belonging to one Lord, some should be made drunk while others are tormented by the peril of famine. Both we and all the people are servants of one Lord; we have been redeemed at one price; we entered this world in like condition, and we shall depart by a like exit; and if we act well, we shall come together to one blessedness. And why should the poor man not receive food with you, who is to receive the kingdom with you?

Why should the poor man not receive even an old tunic, who is to receive with you the robe of immortality? Why should the poor man not be counted worthy to receive your bread, who with you was counted worthy to receive the sacrament of Baptism? Why is he unworthy to receive the remnants of your food, who with you is to come to the banquet of the Angels? Hear, brethren, hear not my precept, but the common precept of the Lord. For thus he says in the Gospel: 'When thou makest a dinner or a supper, do not invite the rich, who may invite thee in return, and a recompense be made to thee; but call the poor and the lame; and thou shalt be blessed, because they have not the means to recompense thee; for it shall be recompensed thee at the resurrection of the just' (Luke 14:12-14). 5.

Friends too are to be invited, but more rarely and to modest banquets. But someone says: 'Then ought I not to invite friends or kinsfolk to a banquet?' Both kinsfolk and neighbours are to be asked; but they are to be asked more rarely. And banquets should be prepared for them that are not too costly and dainty, but so modest and comforting or seemly, that there may remain wherewith the poor can be refreshed, wherewith something can be distributed to the needy; so that, when the day of judgment comes, we may not hear with the impious, who now despise the poor, 'Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire'; but with the just and merciful may we be counted worthy to hear, 'Come, ye blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom: for I was hungry, and ye gave me to eat;'

'I was thirsty, and ye gave me to drink' (Matt. 25:41, 34, and 35): let that desirable voice likewise be directed to us: 'Well done, good and faithful servant, because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will set thee over many; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord' (ibid. 21). 6. Recapitulation. But that these things which we have suggested may cling more tenaciously to the minds of your Charity, let us briefly repeat what has been said. For this we have admonished, brethren: that since the Lord's Nativity is at hand, as unto a wedding and heavenly banquet, we should prepare ourselves through Christ's help, cleansed from all lust and adorned with good works; let us distribute alms to the poor, let us spit out wrath and hatred from our hearts as the poison of the devil.

Preserve chastity too faithfully with your own wives; call the poor more frequently to your banquets; rise earlier for the vigils; standing in church, either pray or sing psalms; bring forth from your mouth nothing idle or worldly, and rebuke those who wish to bring it forth; keep peace with all, and those whom you recognize to be at discord, recall to concord. If you are willing faithfully to fulfil these things, with Christ's help, both in this world you will be able to approach the Lord's altar with an untroubled conscience, and in the world to come happily to attain to eternal blessedness; our Lord Jesus Christ granting it, who lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen. Sermon 117.

On the Nativity of the Lord, I. 1. The grace of this day. I beg you, dearest brethren, that with willing mind you receive the sermons which the Lord shall give, on this most sweet day, on which compunction comes even to unbelievers, on which the impious is touched by mercy, the contrite hopes for pardon, the captive does not despair of return, the wounded desires remedy; on which is born the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world. At whose nativity he who has a secure conscience rejoices more sweetly; he who has a wretched one fears more attentively; he who is good prays affectionately; he who is a sinner supplicates most devoutly. Sweet day, truly sweet, and bearing pardon to all the penitent!

I promise you, little children, and I am most certain, that on this day, if anyone shall repent from the heart and shall not return to the vomit of his sin, whatsoever he shall ask shall be given him: only let him not doubt in faith, let him not seek again the delight of sin. Today the sin of the whole world is taken away—and does the sinner despair? 1. What makes penance sure. True and free penance. But see what penance ought to be like: for many constantly say that they are sinners, and yet it still delights them to sin. It is a profession, not an amendment: the soul is accused, not healed; the offence is pronounced, not taken away. Nothing makes penance sure but hatred of sin and love of God.

When you so repent that what before was sweet in your life now tastes bitter in your soul, and what before delighted you in the body now torments you in the heart—then indeed you well groan unto God, and you say: 'Against thee only have I sinned, and done evil before thee' (Ps. 51:6). Well, 'Against thee only have I sinned'; for no man is without sin: and therefore, 'Against thee only have I sinned,' because thou alone of men art without sin. Give, O Lord, mercy to the wretched, thou who hast so long spared the guilty. Let the humility of the penitent incline thee unto healing, whom the long duration of the sinner could not move. Say to him in the weeping of thy heart: 'Look upon the unhappy one, O immeasurable piety; regard the cruel one, O public mercy.'

'Despairing, I come to the Almighty; wounded, I run to the physician. Preserve the mercy of thy gentleness, thou who hast so long held back the sword of vengeance; blot out the multitude of my crimes by the multitude of thy mercies.' This, little children, is true penance: when a man is so converted that he does not return to sin; when he so repents that he does not do it again. 5. The vanity of passing delight. The true happiness of this life. Let there be, let us see, some of you who are strong and who exercise strength of soul, who on this day so hear my words for their salvation that they manfully cast off the softness of vices, fighting like sons—indeed they fight more bravely, who fight against themselves.

Let them open their ears to the precepts of Christ, which perhaps until now lay open to hearing mockeries. Let them open their eyes to brightness, which until now lay open to shame. Let penance for crimes prick him whom until now the delight of pleasures pierced through. Let virtue joined to him raise up him whom vices laid low. Let them open with medicine their nostrils, to which that habit of sin stinks. May he open to you the eyes of the heart, who today deigned to be born for our sake, that we might see him. What is reckoned sweet for a while in the brevity of time—how bitter it will be in the eternal fire! With how grievous and perpetual a punishment must the brevity of delight be punished! Delight has slain, and passed away; it has wounded, and gone by;

it has made him wretched, and departed; it has rendered him unhappy, and left him. How beautiful is the brightness of the soul! How happy is the conscience full of good works! If he counts himself blessed who possesses what he must relinquish after death, how secure is he who hopes for that reward which he shall never lose through all eternity! If he is called mighty who rules the world, how blessed is he who bears God in a pure conscience! And therefore, most sweet children, desire cleanness of heart, have love of God and of neighbour. Sinners, forgive, that it may be forgiven you. Just ones, do not sin, that Christ may remain in you. 4. A vow is to be made to the newborn God. Various vows. The best vow.

Since these things are so, it seems to me, dearest ones, that we should today promise vows to our newborn Lord and Redeemer, and pay them; as it is written: 'Vow, and pay unto the Lord your God' (Ps. 76:12). Let us sweetly and confidently make our vows; he will give the possibility that we may be able to pay them: let us only hope from him for whatever we promise him. But perhaps you ask me what you ought today to vow or to pay. There are many who make vows: one a pall, another oil or wax for the lights of the night; another, that he will not drink wine for some years; another, that he will keep fasts at a certain time; another, that he will not eat meat. That is not the best or most perfect vow: I want something still better.

God has need neither of your fair gift, nor of your oil, nor of your fasting: but that which he today redeemed in you, offer that very thing, that is, your soul. And if you ask me, 'How shall I offer my soul, which he himself holds in his power?'—I answer you how: by holy conduct, by chaste thoughts, by fruitful works; by turning away from evil, by turning to good; by condemning vice, by loving God; by loving your neighbour, by bestowing mercy on the wretched—for we too were wretched before we were redeemed; by forgiving those who sin against us, for we too were all under sin; by treading down pride, for through pride the first man was deceived;

by casting off envy, because through envy the devil deceived the human race. 5. How each one should vow out of his own case. The wrathful. The unchaste. The envious. The murderer. The slanderer. The unkind. The proud. The drunkard. Since these things are so, lift up all your minds, and let there be none—whether free, whether slave, whether freeborn—who does not today offer a vow to God and pay it as well: for it is exceedingly wretched that we offer nothing of our own to God, who laid down his own soul for us, and who, being eternal, took flesh for our sake. Now therefore, whoever holds wrath against another, let him nevertheless, for the love of God, forgive; and he has offered a vow.

If anyone has now for a long stretch of time been accustomed to wallow in lust, let him at last come to his senses, and shake off his filth through compunction; and let him cry in his heart, in more secret prayer, to the Lord: 'Most holy Lord, most merciful God, let it suffice me that I have sinned thus far, that I have despised thee, that I have gratified the foulnesses of my flesh: now, by thy inspiration, I vow that I will turn away from my wickedness.' When he has done this, he too has offered a vow. Again, if anyone is held by envy of a brother, and is not delighted by his happiness or prosperous action—which is a sin unto death—let him too promise in his heart that he will rather imitate good deeds than harbour malice against him;

and when he has done this, he too has offered a vow. But if anyone is conscious to himself of murder, let him impose penance upon himself in his own heart, and take vengeance upon himself for his own evils, and set before God for himself the torment and space of penance; and let him torment through abstinence and humility the mind full of poison, which the shedding of a neighbour's blood before wounded; and let him by no means presume to communicate, lest he doubly damn himself, wretched, while in a heart full of the horrors of crimes he perilously presumes to receive the most holy body of the Lord. But if anyone recognizes himself to be such, and has done these things, he too offers a vow. If anyone perhaps, as is customary, has always been accustomed to detract, and to speak against the actions of others, yet not to regard his own;

let him today vow to God in his heart, and say: 'Thus far I have spoken of others, I have not examined myself; I was the more wretched, and I esteemed others wretched: and therefore now it suffices that my tongue has sinned, and from now on I resolve to amend.' Behold, he who does this offers a vow. If anyone feels himself cruel, let him vow mercy of soul to God; if anyone proud, let him vow humility. If anyone is too much given to wine, let him vow sobriety to God. If anyone has sinned against his elder, let him ask pardon; and if the other has not the wisdom to ask, let him nevertheless forgive. 6. The fruit of such vows. The guardian Angels offer our vows to God. And when you have done all these things, dearest ones, you offer to God a pleasing vow, and as it were you repay Christ.

And after these things a blessing shall come to you, and your vows shall be offered before the tribunal of Christ, and, as Solomon said, 'your memorial shall not receive oblivion' (Wisd. 2:24 [cf. Ps. 111:6]): and it shall be said of you, 'Behold my people whom I have acquired with my blood; he has sated me with vows, he has filled me now with fragrant offerings: I will be to them as it were a Lord, and they shall be to me for a people, and there shall no more be among them captivity or desolation.' Let us consider how sweet it is when our vows, such as I have described, the Angels who are the guardians of our life shall have offered before the sight of the divine majesty. If we offer something to an earthly and mortal man, and yet hope to receive much from him and to be helped by him—

if we offer to God something of our own conduct, how much shall we receive? 7. The fruit of remembering the incarnate Christ. Now therefore let us exult in the Lord, let us rejoice with weeping, let us be mindful of the divine condescension and of our own captivity. Whomever power exalts, let the humility of Christ come into his mind, that this sentence be not directed against him: 'Why art thou proud, earth and ashes?' (Ecclus. 10:9). When we see anyone wretched or needy, let the mercy of God come into our mind; when a captive, let the redemption of our Lord come into our mind. When any sin delights or creeps upon us, let it be in our memory that our sins have already been blotted out.

Let us not lose the price of Christ's blood, nor stain the robe of the soul through iniquity, or robbery, or covetousness. We were lying down, now we are raised up; we had been wounded, now we are healed. There will be no excuse of any kind. The devil can invite to evil, he cannot compel; he brings delight, not power; he offers counsel, not conflict. 8. What virgins must care for or beware of. Now therefore, for the sake of the childbearing of blessed Mary, let my sermon be to virgins—whether to men, or to women, or to widows, or to penitents, or to the poor, or to slaves. With God there is no distinction but of merits. Hear me therefore, whoever you are that are virgins in body by the gift of Christ.

I speak generally to all: hear me. Whoever recognizes himself to be what I say, let him strive to be a virgin in body and in heart. Let him so rejoice in the gain of the body, that he suffer no loss of the soul. Yet let him rejoice in so precious a gift of Christ; let him rejoice with humility, let him weep with piety. Let him give thanks, because he bears so great a felicity in integrity; let him be glad, because he shall follow the Lamb whithersoever he goes—if only in his mouth, as we read in the Apocalypse, no lie be found (Rev. 14:4-5). Let him pray for perseverance, that no delight of the world whatsoever, or envy of the devil, may take away so great a gift, may cloud so great a brightness, may darken so great a splendour.

Let him hold fast bravely, let him not lose an irreparable thing, let him not for one moment of delight forfeit the grace of the body, let him not contract foulness of soul through the beauty of a corrupted form, let concupiscence not overcome him. If he hears me, he remains; but if he does not hear me, he shall lose what he will never restore. 9. What to the married. What to widows. What to women. Again my sermon is to you who have spouses; I admonish you to keep them chastely. For Elizabeth also, who had lived chastely with her husband through many years, and both had been faithful before the Lord, was counted worthy at last to have a son from a dead seed, who both should adorn his parents by his holiness, and by his preaching should convert many unbelievers (Luke 1).

Again I speak to you who are widows: keep your widowhood, be not talkative; but with silence await the Lord, who upholds the orphan and the widow; but a good widow, but her who is prompt in prayer, in humility, in almsgiving: if indeed she has not the means to do so, let her have a good will and a sincere thought. Women, do not curse, do not swear, be not prompt to speaking. Perhaps you say that what I say is burdensome. It is not lawful for me to keep silent: I fear more him who commands than him who detracts. I say: let him who recognizes it amend; let him who does not recognize it in himself hear and hold it, that he may be able to say it to others for their salvation. 10. What to the penitents.

To weep skilfully. Now already I speak to you, penitents, who have received and are doing penance in the church. Persevere in weeping, in compunction weep skilfully. What is it, to weep skilfully? It is this: that you should not seek in prayer temporal things, but eternal blessedness and the remission of sins. He who so prays, he himself weeps skilfully. Your tears shall not fall to the earth; for he is truthful to whom the prophet said: 'Thou hast set my tears in thy sight' (Ps. 56:9). You especially ought now to love God, and to pass from fear already to love; for so we read in the Gospel concerning that sinful woman: 'To whom much is forgiven, she loves much' (Luke 7:47).

And you ought much to love God, who by awaiting you, and by not punishing you, deigned to lead you to penance. 11. Apostrophe to the poor. Now again my sermon is to you, poor. I call you poor, who beg, who live on the alms of Christians. Be comforted, be comforted: your tribulation shall be turned into joy, and your sorrow into gladness. Let it not be unwelcome to you that you beg, nor for that reason say anything in your heart against God; for he is just and holy in all his works. And therefore he made you poor, that by enduring a brief want you might acquire eternal life; and he made the other rich, that by giving you his superfluity he might acquire a remedy for his sins.

And therefore be patient, and await the Lord. 12. To slaves. My sermon is also to you, slaves. Whoever of you have masters according to the flesh, to whomever you owe the condition of service: obey your masters, love them from the heart, not serving to the eye, but doing your service out of love (Eph. 6:5-7); because God appointed both them to rule over you, and you to serve. Serve well for God's sake, because for good service you shall have a reward. If you are good, you shall be better than bad masters: because with God the soul of each one is not to be distinguished by nobility, but by work; nor by descent, but by action. Therefore my sermon has now been to all, because Christ died for all (2 Cor. 5:15).

And therefore keep what I have said, that I may have fruit of you, and that the merciful Lord may bring you all into the heavenly barns, where the grain is to be gathered—he who lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen. Sermon 118. On the Nativity of the Lord, II. 1. The Son of God is not changed when he becomes man. Today, dearly beloved brethren, we celebrate the day of the Lord's nativity, that is, of our Lord Jesus Christ: who, though he possesses an equal Trinity with the Father, though with power equal to the Father he established heaven, earth and seas, and all things that are in them, in the last times deigned to be born as man from man, so taking upon himself our nature that he did not change his own.

For while the state of the Godhead remained whole and entire, the Son of God took to himself man; he did not lose what he was, but joined to himself what before had not been in him. Therefore the Son of God, invisible according to his divinity, took up a visible man; the immortal took up the mortal, the impassible the passible; and, to comprehend the whole briefly, God took up man. Whatever therefore of weakness we read of in Christ—that is, that he hungered, that he grieved, that he even endured death for our sins—let us assign to the man who was assumed for our salvation, preserving the reverence of him who assumed, that is, of the Word of God: who so joined humanity to his divinity that after the passion he makes it impassible;

yet not so that the Godhead itself—which it is a crime even to think—should become passible. 2. Christ's birth was true, but not according to custom. Yet through this he did not condemn marriage. For although in the Son of God there is one person out of divinity and humanity, nevertheless when you hear that the Son of God was born of man, do not believe that here his birth's beginning was the common one from the marital act—which indeed was ordained by God, that humanity might be propagated. Otherwise, I say, was the origin of humanity there, far different from our birth. For although in the same reality of flesh in which we naturally exist Christ was born,

yet not in the manner by which we are conceived and born of marriage—that is, whence the rest of us have come forth, though all men are procreated. For he too was procreated in a marvellous way. That lawful union of man to man, although according to divine authority it is not free from fault, is nevertheless not glorious. But in Christ's birth the propagation without union is heaped up with every possible glory and honour. Our Lord Jesus Christ therefore, apart from the order of birth, was procreated a true man from a Virgin, and was conceived and born by that same sign of omnipotence. He had a Virgin for his mother, both when he was carried in the Virgin's womb and when he was brought forth from the womb;

yet this birth did not condemn marriage, but honoured the power of the Godhead. 3. 'God with us.' Long ago the prophet Isaiah had foretold the sign of this new fecundity: 'Therefore,' he said, 'the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb and shall bear a son, and his name shall be called Emmanuel' (Isa. VII, 14). This was most clearly prophesied of Christ our Lord, for Emmanuel is interpreted 'God with us.' Therefore our Saviour received this name also from the effect of things, that he should be called 'God with us.' And he himself then deigned to be God with us all, when he took up this flesh, that through the man who was visible he might be seen to dwell on earth.

For thus the prophet Jeremiah had promised, saying: 'This is our God, and no other shall be esteemed beside him. He found out all the way of discipline, and delivered it to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved. After this he was seen upon earth, and conversed with men' (Baruch III, 36-38). Whence also the Lord himself says to his disciples in the Gospel: 'Have I been so long a time with you, and you have not known me? He that seeth me, seeth also my Father' (John XIV, 9), and the rest that follows. For the Son of God did such works through the man he had assumed, that from the very splendour of the works the divinity of both the Father and the Son together might be known.

But if we look carefully to the cause on account of which the Lord deigned to fulfil this whole mystery of the assumed man, then shall we truly grasp that the prophetic word was fulfilled for us. 4. The twofold cause of the Incarnation: our restoration and our instruction. For there is principally a twofold cause on account of which the Son of God became the Son of man. One is that, by suffering all things for us according to his humanity, he might free us from the bonds of our sins. For thus the prophet Isaiah had foretold: 'He hath borne our sins, and he grieveth for us'; and again, 'But he was wounded for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and by his bruises we are healed' (Isa. LIII, 4, 5).

But the other cause of the Lord's passion is that those whom he redeemed by his blood from vices and crimes he might kindle to the pursuit of holiness not only by the aid of doctrine and grace, but also by his own example; that we might follow with greater eagerness the Lord not only as commanding, but also as inciting us by his own example to the heights of virtue, and might worship the most just Lord and loving Father, according to the saying of blessed Peter, by imitation of the Son. For thus Peter says: 'Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps. Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, did not revile; when he suffered, he threatened not;'

'but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly: who his own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice' (1 Peter II, 21-24). May our Lord Jesus Christ grant that, aided by his grace, you may hasten to follow his footsteps; and, being mortified to all sins and vices, may live only to exercise the works of justice, giving thanks to God the Father, to whom is glory and dominion, and to our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the Holy Spirit, unto the ages of ages. Amen. SERMON CXIX. On the Nativity of the Lord, III. 1. Proud man is restored through a humble God. The procreation of the first man is renewed.

We read, and faithfully hold, that at the very beginning of the nascent world God made us in the first man to his own image and likeness. Behold, in this day, the order being reversed, God is made to our image and likeness. In the first case he conferred from his own the better things; in the second he took up from ours the lower things. Through the taste of the forbidden tree the incautious frailty of the first man attempted, with a damnable ambition, to seek the divinity of his Lord, at the persuasion of the devil, who said: 'If you taste of this tree, your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods' (Gen. III, 5). And therefore let us acknowledge the admirable goodness of our loving Father. Man, at the enemy's instigation, wished to be God through pride;

and God was made man through mercy. In us there is renewed in a certain manner, through Christ's divinity, the appearance of that ancient and beginning age, when the first Adam was fashioned from the material of clay. For behold, now the second Adam is formed, as it were from untouched and virgin earth, from the flesh of the Virgin. Behold, I say, again, the laws of nature ceasing, the new man is perfected into a new life, God alone working. 2. The operation of the Holy Spirit declares Christ's holiness and divinity. A son, then, is promised to the Virgin through the visitation of the Holy Spirit. What wonder if he is born without corruption, who is conceived of sanctification? For it was not fitting that he who was bringing us salvation should snatch away her dignity from his mother alone.

'The Holy Spirit,' he said, 'shall come upon thee.' It was plainly fitting that she who was to be adorned with a royal burden should first be sanctified by the entrance of the heavenly King. Wherefore let us not believe our Lord and Saviour to be a mere man because we see him born of man: it is not right that he should not be believed God, for whom, as he was to descend to the earth, a dwelling-place was prepared by God. And so, by the operation of divine power, the inward parts of her who believed are made fruitful, and upon a mortal wood the tree of life is grafted, and the Power that bears all things in itself is borne by weakness; and he who is not contained by earth, sea, or heaven, is received within the members of a single little body. From his own creature the Creator of all is procreated, and from his own streamlet a great fountain arises;

the root of all is born from its own shoot, and the true vine becomes the fruit of its own branch. Behold, the most longed-for day is present, shining with grace redoubled, illumined indeed with the brightness of the accustomed light, but flashing chiefly with the beneficial radiance of its shining. O day, the newness of all days, the gain of light and the loss of blindness: on which the eternal Sun, descending from the highest height of the Father's brightness, unbarred the entrance of the virginal womb, and by its flashing coruscation drove back the darkness of the whole world! 3. The prophecy concerning the virgin birth. Draw forth, ye faithful of Christ, your most festive joys;

a new thing is this day perfected for us, which of old had been promised, that without loss of virginal modesty the breasts of a mother should give suck to a son. This is that novelty announced by the oracle of the prophet Jeremiah: 'The Lord,' he says, 'shall create a new thing upon the earth.' And, as though kindling a lamp for this obscurity, he immediately subjoined: 'A woman shall compass a man' (Jer. XXXI, 22): 'this,' he says, 'is the new thing which I say the Lord shall make upon the earth, that a woman shall compass a man.' Attend, brethren, and rather outrun me with your understanding: 'A woman,' he says, 'shall compass a man.' O woman blessed above women, who both knew not a man, and yet compassed a man in her womb:

who was not touched by carnal intercourse, and yet rejoices in fleshly offspring from a spiritual seed! Mary compasses a man by giving faith to an angel; because Eve destroyed a man by consenting to the serpent. 'The Lord,' he says, 'shall create a new thing upon the earth.' 4. The angel's address to Mary. When therefore the time came for displaying this newness, a heavenly messenger is sent ahead to the Virgin. The angel greets the maiden, ignorant of a man's greeting; the virgin is frightened by the newness of the words. To her the angel says: 'Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found grace with the Lord. Be not affrighted at my sight, O Mother of my Lord: I have come as the minister of thy conception; he himself sent me to thee who is to be born of thee;'

he himself, through me, announces to thee the joy, whom it has pleased to unite a mystical marriage with human nature in thy womb. Thou hast found grace with the Lord. Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son—not a man of any ordinary merit, but the Saviour of the whole world. Fear not, he says. Cast away from thee all dread of the world, thou who art to conceive the joy of the world. Turn over, O Mary, the prophetic reading: for the knowledge of the divine Books cannot pass thee by, thou who art about to bring forth the very fulness of the Prophets. Recall in the book of the prophet Isaiah the virgin whom thou hast read of; and rejoice, because thou hast been found worthy to be she. Thou art there foresignified as a virgin: behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, not of man, but of the Holy Spirit:

and thou shalt be with child, and shalt remain undefiled; thou shalt bear a son, and shalt suffer no loss of virginity. But she said: 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord; be it done to me according to thy word.' 5. The grace of the Word's self-emptying. Straightway therefore the angel, having received the Virgin's consent, returns to the dwellers of the heavenly region: and behold, suddenly an ineffable power penetrated the secret of the Virgin. The Maker of the world enters the straits of the human belly, an untouched mother is made with child: and behold, like a bridegroom from his chamber, Christ comes forth from Mary's womb. The power of majesty is hidden in the members of an infant; God hangs at the breasts of his mother.

He is covered by the squalor of cheap swaddling-clothes, he endures the narrow straits of a most hard manger, and the merciful one humbly suffers all things, so long as the world which had perished might be set free. O blessed infancy, through which the life of our race is restored! O most gracious and delightful wailings, through which we have escaped the gnashing of teeth and eternal weepings! O happy swaddling-clothes, with which we have wiped away the filth of our sins! O splendid manger, in which not only lay the hay of the beasts, but the food of Angels was found! Give suck, O Mary, to thy Creator, thou who hast made the bread of heaven, the ransom of the world. Offer thy breast to him that sucks, that he for thee may offer his cheek to him that strikes. Let the infant be nourished by the milk of thy breasts, that he for thee may also receive the drink of gall.

Let thy hands now carry him, that his hands may afterwards for thee be fastened on the cross. Lastly, do thou minister to him, as a mother, temporal substance, that he to us and to thee, together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, may grant everlasting life. May he himself deign to grant this, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and is glorified as God, through all the ages of ages. Amen. SERMON CXX. On the Nativity of the Lord, IV. 1. Through a woman sin arose. Through a woman it is uprooted. This day a child is born to us, this day a son is given to us (Isa. IX, 6). A child, I say, not feeble in the tenderness of his members, but illustrious by his blameless generation. For on this present day he declares the Holy Spirit to be the author of his mother's innocence and purity.

This day a son is given to us. Now is he given to us, who was born before the ages: given in the Virgin's childbearing, a son from the substance of the Begetter. When therefore the once-scorned Ruler was entering the servile cottage through the door of faith, inviolate virginity blushed. Nor did he break the bolt of modesty, and in her sacred inward parts the ray of eternal brightness shone forth. Let then all this world's exile rejoice, let the age but lately captive exult. God sent his Son, to be born and to terrify; to die and to conquer. For the newborn terrified Herod, the innocent crucified conquered the devil. Conceal, O Lord, beneath the skin of flesh the arms of thy power, hide for a little while the garb of thy majesty. Cover thyself in the Virgin's womb;

come forth and give battle from the tent of the sacred Virgin. Fit for me a snare, wherein thou mayest set free the whole creature. But let us treat both the cause and the miracle of so great a conception and birth. In order, then, that the world—captive already from its origin in paradise—might grow horribly foul with the defilement of vices worn out, a woman was the cause. For thus it is written: 'From a woman was the beginning of sin, and through her we all die' (Ecclus. XXV, 33). And the apostle Paul: 'The man,' he says, 'was not seduced; but the woman, being seduced, was in the transgression' (1 Tim. II, 14). Through her, therefore, the world, pressed down in wretched servitude, had submitted its anxious neck beneath the devil's yoke: for by whom a man is overcome, to him he is also delivered as a slave.

The flood, by the confederated frame of the elements, destroyed man, but could not destroy the crime. Isaac, a barren woman's son and not a virgin's, merited to bear the sign of the cross; he merited to be seized, he merited to be bound: yet he did not merit also to be slain. Moses is exposed to the waters to be purified; he rescues the Jewish host, at God's sending, but he does not free the whole world; he exterminates Egypt, but not sin; he slays king Pharaoh in the gaping sea, but he did not utterly destroy the devil with his legions. David confesses himself to have been conceived in iniquities: neither could he therefore take away the sin of the world. When therefore, through these wheels of revolving times, the mundane course was rolling on, and no one healed;

and, as guilt grew heavier, the members of the whole globe were being ground to dust by the blow and roar of a headlong ruin, and no one succoured: the cause returns to a woman, and the origin is lopped off through an origin. The origin of sin is extinguished through the Mother of Christ: the offspring of impiety is taken away through the offspring of piety, the stock of death through the stock of life. Thus far the cause; now let us also reveal the hidden things to the minds of the beholders. 2. The miracles of the virgin birth. A virgin bears Christ; nature is changed, and guilt is blotted out. That sentence of Eve's unhappiness is cut off, 'In sorrow shalt thou bring forth children' (Gen. III, 16): because this woman brought forth the Lord in gladness. For the one mourned, this one shone again; the one carried tears, this one carried joy in her womb:

because the one brought forth a sinner, this one brought forth the innocent. The Spirit sowed, not lust; God planted, not a husband. The Virgin bore, because a virgin conceived. She brought forth inviolate, because in the conception there was no lust. On both sides a miracle: both with child without corruption, and in childbirth a virgin-mother; a marriage in faith, a birth in a virgin. 3. Gabriel's words are weighed. The sublimity of Mary's faith. Gabriel was the go-between of these espousals. Let him relate what he said, what he heard: 'Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.' He begins with a salutation, who bore salvation on his tongue. Let now the deceitfully persuasive hissing of the tortuous serpent be silent from women; to the Mother of our Lord an angel has spoken:

'Hail,' he says, 'full of grace, the Lord is with thee.' Grace is rendered for guilt; she is called full, not empty: grace therefore has been fulfilled, and guilt emptied out. In this manner our venerable Virgin herself exulted in her Canticle: 'He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent away empty.' 'Hail,' he says, 'full of grace, the Lord is with thee': with thee in thy heart, with thee in thy belly, with thee in thy womb, with thee in thy help. Rejoice, O Virgin, Christ the king comes from his heaven into thy womb. From the Father's bosom he deigned to descend into the womb of the Mother: yet neither did infinite majesty forsake his own region, nor did the virginal hall, when it received him, enclose him. Faith was raised up from earth to heaven:

on this Christ took his seat, but through it he entered into the temple of modesty. 4. Eve's curse is blotted out through Mary. A woman, yet a virgin. 'Blessed art thou,' he says, 'among women,' who hast borne life for both men and women. Bring forth, O blameless woman, the inviolable man; and thou shalt save both woman and man. The mother of our race brought punishment upon the world; the Mother of our Lord bore salvation for both woman and man. That authoress of sin was cursed: for thus is the sentence of the primal decree carried against her, 'Cursed art thou among women.' This authoress of merit therefore is blessed; for thus does the heavenly messenger bring word to her, 'Blessed art thou among women.'

By the sexual gender all are indeed commonly called women, yet also they differ by the peculiarity of modesty in incorrupt virginity. The one, by killing, brought harm; this one, by giving life, brought benefit: the one struck, this one healed. For obedience is exchanged for disobedience, and faith is compensated for perfidy. 5. Mary's song of exultation. Let Mary applaud again with the organs, and let the timbrels resound between her swift fingers: let the fingers echo back the songs, let her bring forth Christ with pealing psalms. Let choirs sing together rejoicing, and let sweet-sounding songs be mingled with alternating measures. Let Mary practise a musical strain among the maidens, because with modulating quills she brought forth the sweet Word of the Holy Spirit in the land of Judaea; she

who was fitting also the timbrel of cruelty, and was stretching Christ upon the wood. For after the wandering hand of wickedness had jarred with ill-ordered measures, straightway that barbarous crash of savage clamour roared out: 'Crucify him, crucify him' (Luke XXIII, 21). When therefore the day returned on which criminal Egypt was swallowed up, the timbrel of our Mary, being struck, gave forth the Word, and with the striking-instrument of her tongue our childbearer poured forth the glad songs of her mouth. Let us therefore hear how our timbrel-player sang: 'My soul doth magnify the Lord; and my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour: because he hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.'

'Because he that is mighty hath done great things to me.' The miracle of the new childbearing therefore overcame the cause of the prevailing error; and Mary's song shut out Eve's lamentation. 6. God is the author of the offspring. Finally, after the presage and triumph of that blessed salutation, the Virgin, in a silent contention of mind, strove within herself as to what manner of salutation this might be. Meanwhile the heavenly messenger proceeds: 'Fear not, Mary; for thou hast found grace with God. Behold, thou shalt conceive and bear a son, and shalt call his name Jesus.' But she, while she asks the manner, hears that God is the author of the offspring. 'How,' she says, 'shall this be done, since I know not man?' 'The Holy Spirit,' he says, 'shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee.'

'And therefore that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.' Let faith now spread the fair pavilions of the resplendent womb, let power overshadow, let the Spirit whisper; and, natural heat being driven off, let a gentle breeze refresh the Virgin, and, with a bland coolness, let her be fanned by heavenly breathings, let the virginal belly be crowned with garlands of modesty. There let the flaming radiance of the rose glow, let the whitening lily gleam white, let the soft violet redden, let purple flowers be scattered, and let the bridal chamber of Christ, painted with varied brightness, be adorned. 7. The salvation of the world hung upon Mary's assent. Mary's faith opens heaven. Answer now, O sacred Virgin: for why dost thou make delays for the world? The Angel awaits thy assent; hence it is that this messenger tarries. Now thou hast heard how this shall be;

for the Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee, that thou mayest bring forth offspring and not lose thy virginity. The gate of heaven, once closed through Adam, has now resounded; through it this messenger came forth. God is at the door; the angel whom custom awaits. O blessed Mary, all the captive world entreats thy assent; the world through thee has made thee to the Lord the hostage of its faith; it entreats that through thee the injuries of its parents may be wiped away. He himself first, who was offended, sent; he unbarred the enclosure which our iniquity had fixed to heaven. There is access for us, if thy assent be granted. And thou dost succour both us and thyself: because both to us and to thee punishment succeeded. God has prepared in thy bridal chamber the nuptials for his Son:

in those very nuptial joys he relaxed whatever the world had offended him. O thou also, angel and messenger of so great a king, and legate of the divine secret, who from the palace of imperial majesty hast brought indulgence to the guilty, life to the dead, and the sacraments of peace to the captives, urge the Virgin—not distrusting God's gift, but pondering the greatness of the gift: favour the parties of the world, thou who art conscious of heaven's secrets. Thy fellows will rejoice, if thou aidest the business of the world. The sword of our impiety has separated us from your fellowship: through you our return is negotiated. Look upon the squalid misery of our prison, and speak in haste to Mary: 'How long dost thou delay, O Virgin, the hastening messenger?'

Behold God awaiting me in the very vestibule of heaven: answer with a little word, and receive a Son; give faith, and feel the power: open thy rosy bosom, O perpetual Virgin; thy faith now either opens heaven or closes it. 8. Christ's espousal with man, with the Church. 'Behold,' she says, 'the handmaid of the Lord: let the king enter into his chamber, be it done to me according to thy word' (Luke I, 26-38, 46-52). And without delay the messenger returns, and Christ enters the nuptial couch. He receives the robe of flesh within the Virgin's chamber, within the treasury of majesty the little bag of flesh. The Word is espoused to divinity, the flesh receives its reward. Christ comes forth like a bridegroom from his chamber;

by the presage of the nuptials he went out to the field of the world, he ran as a giant, exulting, along the way: he came even to the couch of the cross, and there, by ascending, he ratified the marriage; where, when he perceived the creature panting in its sighs, in a compact of piety he gave himself over to punishment on behalf of his spouse. He also delivered up a carbuncle, as it were the gem of his own blood, and joined to himself the matron in perpetual marriage. 'I have prepared you,' says the Apostle, 'to present you as a chaste virgin to one husband, Christ' (2 Cor. XI, 2). Behold, now she who had been foul is made beautiful; she who had been captive is made free: but Judaea, which had been free, is made a handmaid; because she saw her Life hanging on the wood, and did not believe him who set her free.

Let us therefore rejoice, brethren, in the commerce of God and man, of Bridegroom and Bride, of Christ and the Church, of the Saviour and the Virgin. Let us exult in faith and at the Virgin's childbearing, who, while she was being betrothed to a mortal, was married to the Architect of heaven. Let us venerate Christ in the manger, who filled the fourfold world with faith. Let us adore the swaddling-clothes of infancy, by which we merited the plasters for our nature. Honour the shepherds, who first learned the mystery from the angels. Let us all applaud together with the heavenly Angels and the divine offices, and let us announce the peace of heaven and earth to men of good will. Give glory to God in the highest: ye redeemed, believe that peace has been given to the captives.

Be men of good will, that you may merit the reward of liberty, by the gift of him who lives and reigns unto the ages of ages. Amen. SERMON CXXI. On the Nativity of the Lord, V. 1. Bearing witness to the Saviour. Who, furnished with so great an abundance of things and words, could exist who might proclaim with worthy praises the grace of this day? Wherefore, if there is none of this sort, we are not ashamed even so, if a more brilliant eloquence of speaking be lacking to us: yet with a middling discourse we shall endeavour to explain, expounding the childbearing of the sacred Virgin and the rising of the Lord's body. This is therefore the Nativity of the Saviour, dearly beloved, on which light was added to the world, and immortality, which through sin had perished, was restored to mortals.