Sermons & Tracts 2 part 3/18

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.

This day is the Nativity of the Saviour, of whom the angel says to the shepherds: 'This day is born to you a Saviour' (Luke II, 11): of whom also the prophet says: 'A son is given to us, a child is born to us' (Isa. IX, 6). He is born, therefore, whom another prophet testifies to be king of the nations, and he is born of a virgin, as it is written: 'Behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb, and shall bear a son, and you shall call his name Emmanuel' (Isa. VII, 14); which, being interpreted and translated from the Hebrew tongue into Latin, is 'God with us.' We preach this day the Saviour born of a virgin, and we adore, warned by the Angels, the infant laid in the manger together with the watching shepherds.

Let us exhibit faith to his miracles, let us offer reverence to the holy witnesses—both to Simeon recognising him, and to Anna confessing the Lord, and to John baptising, and to the purification of the Jordan, and to the Holy Spirit descending, and to the heavens opened, and to the Father bearing witness, and to the virgin remaining a virgin, and to the star shining, and to the dove descending, and to the Lord himself overcoming every temptation of the devil. 2. The excellence of the virgin birth. Virginity bears him in the mind, whom Mary bore in the womb. This day therefore the Virgin brought forth him who would make sons for God, who would exclude the sentence of transgression, snatch away the punishment of death, and grant everlasting life to believers.

The mother carried in her womb a son greater than all things that are before nourishment, and she brought forth in the form of a servant upon earth him whom the Angels have as emperor in heaven. The mother bore a son by whom she herself was rather nourished than nourished him: with a mortal belly she received an immortal guest, and in an earthly lodging the virgin received the heavenly emperor. Blessed virginity now ceases to be the handmaid of death; because she bears within herself in the mind him whom Mary carried in the womb. Virginity succumbs to no servitude: because it loves him who brought liberty to the human race. The heavenly offspring was germinating in the womb, and in the extraordinary childbearing the virginal inward parts flashed with light.

The deific burden was carried by human steps, and in the narrow chamber of modesty the holy Virgin bore enclosed him whom the heavens do not contain; and she brought him forth—not one who by being born would defile his bearer, but one who would cleanse the world from defilement. Holy, she believed; holy, she conceived; holier, she is made after the childbearing. 3. The wondrous birth. It becomes the consolation of the world. Moreover, to the virgin herself the same son who was the bridegroom came into being, the same the begotten who was the begetter. There the bridesmaid was faith, the paranymph the archangel: the mother a bride, and Christ himself the bridegroom whom she bore, whom the Holy Spirit united, the angel Gabriel announced, the host of Angels sang, and the shining star pointed out.

He himself made the virgin with child, who was to be born of the virgin. The mother suddenly was amazed at her childbearing: God was speaking through the angel, and the virgin was being made pregnant through her ears. Let every age hear what it never heard. The virgin was married in her own childbearing, she doubled her virginity while she gave birth, she adored the son whom she bore. Let all solicitude cease; Christ has come to us as our true security. Let all infirmity cease; this day the Saviour has appeared. Let wars cease, let strifes end; this day true peace has descended from heaven. Let all bitterness cease; this day throughout the whole world the heavens have been made to flow with honey. Let death flee; because life this day has been given to us from heaven.

Today upon the earth the Angels sing, the Archangels rejoice, the Prophets are glorified, the saints are invited, the wicked are troubled, the good give thanks; the blind receive their sight, the deaf their hearing, the lame their walking, the lepers are cleansed, the sorrowful are made glad, the sick are healed, and the dead are raised. The devil alone, and with him all the demons, tremble; for the human race is restored through the ruin of the devil. Christ has appeared to you today as Redeemer. The power of the Lord is shown by the order of His birth, and by the various testimonies concerning Him. The order of His birth proves the power of the Lord. A virgin conceives, unacquainted with the fellowship of a man; her womb is filled, defiled by no human embrace. Behold the miracle of the mother of the Lord's body.

A virgin conceives, a virgin is with child, a virgin she is when she gives birth, a virgin after the birth. Illustrious therefore is that virginity, and glorious that fruitfulness. The Strength of the world is born, and there is no birth-giver's travail: the womb is emptied, the infant is received; and yet virginity is not violated. For it was fitting that, since the Lord was born of a Virgin according to the flesh, the merit of chastity should increase; nor should things intact be violated by His coming, who came to heal what was corrupt. A boy therefore is born, and laid in a manger (for these are the Lord's first swaddling-clothes, nor does the Ruler of heaven disdain such narrow straits): Mary stands by, and in gladness marvels that she is a mother, and rejoices that she has brought Him forth of the Holy Spirit:

not because she who was unwedded had given birth is she afraid; but because she had brought Him forth, she marvels with exultation. For when the Saviour's advent, owed to the age, was hastening near, the Holy Spirit came upon the Virgin Mary, as had been foretold before by the angel who said: 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: and therefore also that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God' (Luke 1:35). Rightly therefore do we venerate as heavenly at His advent Him whom we plainly know to have come from heaven, whom we know to have been born for our salvation by the power of God the Father and of the Holy Spirit. For by many signs beforehand a new offspring, about to come from heaven, was announced. You see then, most beloved, that the Saviour's birth is the power of God;

since the Prophets are not silent concerning Him, and the Holy Spirit bears witness. What is more illustrious than the message of the star? what than the manifest confession of the Magi? what than the Prophets' sentence, so harmonious and so continuous? Everywhere the Lord is made known, everywhere He is proclaimed born of a virgin. The Blessed Virgin is a type of the Church. And since we have said that He was born according to the flesh of a virgin, let us now discourse of those things which we are able to understand spiritually. Let us see then who is that Virgin so holy, to whom the Holy Spirit deigned to come: who so beautiful, whom God chose as His spouse: who so abundant, whose offspring the whole world receives: who so chaste, that she can be a virgin after childbirth.

Do we not see in the figure of Mary the type of the holy Church? Upon her assuredly the Holy Spirit descended; upon her the power of the Most High overshadowed; from her Christ, mighty in power, comes forth. She is immaculate in intercourse, fruitful in bringing forth, a virgin in chastity: she conceives not of man, but of the Spirit; she brings forth not with pain, but with joy; she nourishes not with the breast of the body, but with the milk of the teacher. She therefore is the spouse of Christ and the mother of the nations, who marvels that she is full and rejoices that she is with child. On this day therefore, when the Saviour is born, the splendour of light is increased, the gloom of darkness is lessened. On this day the heavenly light is restored to believers, and in eternal night the devil's fictions are condemned.

On this day light grows from light, the virtue of virtues is exalted, the glory of eternity is raised up, and the world embraces its restoration in the Lord who is born according to the flesh. Let the festivity of this day therefore be full, in which God, mindful of us, deigned to visit earthly things, and by the brightness of His advent restored to mortals the light long lost: for He Himself is the splendour and the eternal glory, our Lord Jesus Christ; to whom be honour and glory unto the ages of ages. Amen. SERMON 122. On the Nativity of the Lord, VI. The benefits of Christ's birth. At the coming of the Lord, most beloved brethren, all fear of the ancestral transgression was loosed, into which mortality, ensnared by devilish deceits, had long ago fallen.

For behold, present with us is the Judge of heaven and earth, who, having torn up the bond of our offences, in mercy has absolved us from our guilt. Present is that Lord who, loosing the yoke of the ancient captivity from our necks, gladdens the world's mourning with eternal liberty. Present is that gentle King who, walking through the spaces of the whole world with the steps of heavenly justice, crushes the proud tyranny of the raging enemy. For today, Mary bringing Him forth, the Son of God is born to us; that, produced by the true conception of our flesh, He might bestow on the man He had created both a father's tenderness and a brother's affection. The manner of His birth proves Him God and man. And He was indeed born of an untouched woman;

so that at once the human birth should attest Him man, and the eternal virginity should prove Him God. For as flesh could not be born except of flesh, so the flesh of God could not come forth from a woman's womb except without one begetting. On which account the angel says to the most blessed Mary: 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: and that Holy Thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God' (Luke 1:35). 'The Holy Spirit,' he says, 'shall come upon thee.' Therefore, brother, the angelic speech set before you the power of the Holy Spirit, lest, dulled by the conjectures of carnal reasoning, you should yourself confound the heavenly mystery by earthly argumentation. The possibility of this manner. Three wonderful kinds of birth.

Or do you not think that He could form a new child in the womb of the Virgin, who, when He first created man, sought neither a father's seed nor a mother's inward parts? Tell me then, whoever you are that would be judge and examiner of the heavenly dispensation, which power seems to you the greater: to have given birth to a virgin, or to have created a perfect man from earth? For the first man, as the Apostle says, is of the earth, earthy; the second man is from heaven, heavenly (1 Cor. 15:47). If you contend that it is against nature that in the mystery of our redemption a maiden is affirmed to have conceived without a man; of what nature, I ask, is it, that in the parent of our race flesh was formed without flesh?

What is this reasoning—nay, what blind contentiousness—that it should not be believed that God can make a man from a woman, whom He is believed to have made from dust? If, O man, you perceive in such a matter the will of the Almighty, why do you cavil at the work? For all things, as it is read, the Lord did whatsoever He would, in heaven and in earth (Ps. 135:6). And if you search anxiously, you will find that, apart from this lawful manner of human conception, the Trinity has wrought three greatly wonderful kinds of birth. And the first indeed is that Adam was formed from clay: the second, that woman was formed from man: the third, which is also heavenly, that Christ came forth from a virgin. Which of these is not new? which of these is not wonderful?

Which of these, unless we follow faith, can human inquiry comprehend? But that the Son of God deigned by this mystical conception to visit His own world, the necessity of our salvation demanded: namely, that the heavenly generation might at last repair what the earthly nativity had lost. Christ's humility is revealed by signs of power. The virtues commended on this day. But perhaps, because He who is proclaimed born of a woman is wrapped in mean swaddling-clothes, because He is content to lie in a manger, because He cries with tearful wailings, because He is nursed at a mother's breasts, you doubt that He is God. Nay rather, brother, by these things observe Him: that both as man He bore infirmities for the infirm, and as God He exercised heavenly power.

For He who is wrapped in sordid swaddling-clothes is honoured with royal gifts by the Chaldeans. He who lies lowly in the manger gleams from heaven with the light of a new star. He who utters the wailings of infancy is praised together by the voices of the angelic host. He who is nursed with a woman's milk fed many thousands of men with a very small loaf. What shall I add to this—that the risen Lazarus proves Him to be God and the true Son of God, that the blind man restored to sight proclaims Him, that the wave of the sea, trodden by His venerable footsteps, bears witness, and—what surpasses all these—the Father's voice resounding from heaven confirms it? Wherefore, most beloved, let us honour with worthy voices this so great sacrament of the Lord's Nativity. Let us love

chastity above all things: for that Christ might show this pleased Him, He chose the purity of a virginal womb. Let us follow mercy; for it is of loving-kindness that we are saved. Let us diligently hold to justice; for to this end the Only-begotten of God deigned to be made man, that, preaching the truth, He might purge the whole face of the world, iniquity being condemned. SERMON 123. On the Nativity of the Lord, VII. Christ's admirable nativity. A virgin before, and after childbirth. The Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ has today flooded the whole world with the new light of His advent. Today God descended from heaven to man; that He might prepare in heaven an ascent for man.

Today we have received Him born of God, the son of a virgin, the Saviour of all who believe, God from the Father, man from the mother, God hidden, man made manifest. And since the devil, speaking through the serpent to Eve, brought death into the world through Eve's ears; God through the angel brought forth the Word to Mary, and poured out life to all ages: the angel uttered the speech, and the Virgin conceived Christ. O union made without offence, where the bridegroom is the word and the bride the little ear! By this splendour the Son of God is conceived, in this purity is He begotten. No heaviness could befall her who conceived, no sorrow her who gave birth: for He who had come to gladden the sorrowful world did not sadden the lodging of the womb.

The Physician passing from heaven through the Virgin, after His passage made the Virgin remain unharmed: for He who by touching could restore in others the torn members of bodies, how much more could He, in His own mother, not violate in being born what He found intact? For in His birth the integrity of her body increased rather than diminished, and her virginity was enlarged rather than driven away. In one small member of a narrow body she bore what the heavens sustain. Her inward parts are full; and the Virgin's conscience knew nothing of it. When she was with child, she rejoiced with a wholesome lightness: for the light which she held within her could have no weight. Mary is the window and the ladder of heaven. The restorer of women. Mary's goods against Eve's evils.

Mary was made the window of heaven, because through her God poured the true light upon the ages. Mary was made the heavenly ladder; because through her God descended to the earth, that through her men might merit to ascend to the heavens: for those shall be permitted to ascend thither who have believed that God descended to the earth through the Virgin Mary. Mary was made the restoration of women; because through her they are proved to have been drawn back from the ruin of the first curse. In short, three evils of Eve are proved to be excluded by three goods of Mary. For to Eve it was said: 'In sorrows and in grief shalt thou bring forth; and thy turning shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee' (Gen. 3:16).

By these three evils, then, do those women subject themselves who do not follow Mary—to pain, to sorrow, to servitude. But hear by what three most illustrious goods Mary on the contrary is exalted: the angelic salutation, the divine benediction, and the fullness of grace. For thus we read that the angel saluted her: 'Hail, Mary, full of grace, blessed art thou among women' (Luke 1:28). When he had said 'Hail,' he presented to her the heavenly salutation: when he said 'Full of grace,' he showed the wrath of the first sentence wholly excluded, and the full grace of benediction restored: when he said 'Blessed art thou among women,' he expressed the blessed fruit of her virginity;

so that from her, whosoever shall persevere a virgin may be called blessed among women. 'Blessed art thou among women'; for Eve had been cursed, whom we now believe to have returned through Mary to the glory of benediction. Mary took upon herself all the states of women. Come, virgins, to the Virgin, and rejoice. Lay aside the curse of the transgression, and take up the benediction of the restoration. Cast away the sorrows which Eve received through the serpent; and take up the honours which Mary received through the angel. Drive away the sadness of her that conceives, cast off the groans of her that gives birth, that this Son of the Virgin alone may rule over you. Come, virgins, to the Virgin; come, you who conceive, to her who conceived;

come, you who give birth, to her who gave birth; come, mothers, to the Mother; come, nursing mothers, to her who nursed; come, young maidens, to the young Maiden. For this reason the Virgin Mary took upon herself in our Lord Jesus Christ all these courses of nature, that she might succour all women fleeing to her: and so, as a new Eve preserving her virginity, she might restore the whole race of women coming to her; even as the whole race of men is recovered by the new Adam, our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, lives and reigns, etc. SERMON 124. On the Nativity of the Lord, VIII. Christ is born for me, not for Himself.

That today, most beloved brethren, the majesty of the Lord's Nativity may be proclaimed by me, the faculty must be obtained for me from the Lord through you, that He Himself may set the word in the mouth of His priest, nor disdain the office of our mouth, who today deigned to enter into commerce with our flesh. For we do not, brethren, attempt to lay open the ineffable mystery of the divine generation; but we long to announce the great and wonderful joy of our salvation, as the angel said: 'Behold, I announce to you a great joy, which shall be to all people' (Luke 2:10). Let no conception, brethren, terrify you today, no childbirth. For where virginity conceives, integrity gives birth, there the power of God is aware, not pleasure.

Hear the angel saying: 'The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee' (Luke 1:35). Today, brethren, deity is not begun, but humanity is renewed: today Christ is born not for Himself, but for me. Come therefore to Him and be enlightened, and your faces shall not be ashamed (Ps. 34:5): for today He has set His tabernacle in the sun, as the prophet said (Ps. 19:4). Virginity is never naked. It is divine, most beloved brethren, that which is done, not human. Virginity is never naked, which has adorned itself with the covering of modesty. To the dwelling-place of chastity an angel came as mediator; that he might procure for the King a court, for God a temple, and for the heavenly Bridegroom a bridal-chamber.

For when the Lord was born, virginity was not taken away, but consecrated; which itself begot the bridegroom of its own modesty, itself offers faithful service to its Keeper: fruitful, yet a virgin; a virgin, yet a mother; for she lacked barrenness, not modesty. There stand present holiness, sincerity, chastity, purity, integrity, faith, and all the virtues together were present; that the intrepid handmaid might bear the Author of her own womb, and, about to bring forth the heavenly Power, victress over her own sex, might know neither pain nor groaning. Blessed fruitfulness, which both acquired the honour of motherhood, and did not lose the reward of chastity. The mysteries are unfolded of Him born in the flesh; having no place in the inn; wrapped in swaddling-clothes. He does not therefore disdain to inhabit what He deigned to fashion:

nor does He deem it unworthy to take upon Himself the flesh which He had earlier handled with a heavenly hand in the dust. He came to your face, O man; because you could not come to His face: and He who was invisible was made visible for your redemption. He came, entreated by your fathers. Hear the voice of one crying: 'Show Thy face, and we shall be saved' (Ps. 80:3). There stands present the witness of innocence, the champion of modesty, who neither grieves to have lost a spouse, but glories to have known God; who follows not as a husband, but as a servant, and rejoices to render his homage to Him whom he beholds all the Angels serving. Christ therefore, being born, found no place in the inn, through whom every place was created:

and He is born as it were a stranger, who is the Lord of the whole world; that He might make us to be fellow-citizens of the heavenly fatherland. He is wrapped in swaddling-clothes, that He might restore in His body the torn unity of the human race, and might bear the whole garment of immortality, shining with the purple colour of blood, into the heavenly kingdoms. He is born, brethren; that He might better that very nature which the first man had corrupted. He lies in swaddling-clothes; but He reigns in heaven: He is humbled in the cradle; but He thunders in the clouds: He is laid in a manger (Luke 2:7), because all flesh is grass (Isa. 40:6), as Isaiah declares, is shown. O grass, brethren, whose flower is changed into heavenly bread, by feeding on which we attain unto life eternal! SERMON 125.

On the Nativity of the Lord, IX. Why God took manhood from a Virgin. The Evangelist has demonstrated the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh so very plainly, in order to show that He was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, on account of the cunning of the heretics, who deny that God took manhood upon Himself. But for this reason our Lord sought for Himself a virginal lodging, that He might show us that God ought to be borne in a chaste body. For to this end God took manhood upon Himself, that we too might take God upon ourselves, as He Himself says: 'Abide in Me, and I in you' (John 15:4). O sacred and heavenly mystery in the Nativity of the Lord! The Virgin conceived before she had a bridegroom, she gave birth before she wedded;