Sermons & Tracts 3 part 4/12

SERMON 199. On the Nativity of John the Baptist, IV. 1. John is commended by his parents. Those who know how to gather gold from the earth, wherever they have detected a rich vein, there they expend whatever there is of skill, whatever there is of labor. And we too, brethren, since in holy Zacharias we see a heavenly treasure lying hidden, let us occupy in him the whole of our discourse and of your hearing; that the gain may be common which shall have been acquired by common labor. 'There was,' it says, 'in the days of Herod the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, and his wife named Elizabeth, of the daughters of Aaron. And they were both,' it says, 'righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord without blame.'

Blessed therefore, brethren, are those whom no fault has struck down in this world, whom no crime wounds. Plainly blessed are those whom no reproach could ever touch. 'Walking,' it says, 'in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord without blame.' If their boyhood, their adolescence, their youth existed without blame, where blame is wont especially to be found: what could their old age have been like? If such was the beginning, what could the end have been? 2. Elizabeth was barren, until the impulse of desire should pass away. The praises of John. 'And they had no son,' it says, 'because Elizabeth was barren' (Luke 1:5-7). He did not say, 'They had no children'; but, 'They had no son':

because he was to be a singular one, who was to be born of such parents. Hear the Lord saying, 'Among those born of women there is none greater than John the Baptist' (Matt. 11:11). 'Because Elizabeth was barren.' Elizabeth was indeed barren in body, but fruitful in virtues; slow to offspring, but not slow to God; not shut off by nature, but by time; not denied children, but reserved for a mystery. Brethren, the childbearing of holy Elizabeth was not taken away, but deferred, until there should pass the time of the flesh, the passion of the body, the necessity of wedlock, the cause of pleasure, the sense of desire, and everything that confounds, weighs down, and burdens the human conscience.

For long was the house of sacrifice being cleansed, the lodging of holiness, the quarters marked out for the encampment of Christ, the dwelling of an angel, the hall of the Holy Spirit, the temple of God. 'You are the temple of God,' says the Apostle, 'and the Spirit of God dwells in you' (1 Cor. 3:16). Finally, when the whole complaint of the body was stilled, and they were made wholly without blame, at once barrenness fled, old age revived, faith conceived, chastity gave birth, and there was born one greater than man, equal to the angels, the trumpet of heaven, the herald of Christ, the secret of the Father, the messenger of the Son, the standard-bearer of the heavenly king, the pardon of sinners, the correction of the Jews, the calling of the Gentiles, and, that I may speak properly, the clasp of the Law and of grace, which joined the double robe of the high priest to the holy Father in the body.

The Evangelist therefore describes the virtues of the father and mother: that from the merits of the parents the dignity of the offspring might be known; and that he might be proved greater than man, who in his very birth surpassed the law of human nativity. But if he is to go before, let John now be born, since the nativity of Christ is at hand. Let the new morning star arise, since the radiance of the true Sun is now breaking forth. Let the herald give his voice, since the judge is present; let the trumpet sound, since the king is coming: and since God is to go forth, let the angel now go before. 3. How illustrious was the angel's prophecy concerning John. He himself fulfills it, not yet born. But because a man does not suffice to relate what is above man, let an angel now speak of the power of the one being born, who is an angel. 'The angel said,' it says, 'to Zacharias:'

'Fear not, Zacharias, for your prayer is heard, and Elizabeth your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name John; and he shall be to you a joy and gladness, and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great before the Lord; he shall drink neither wine nor strong drink, and he shall be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb, and many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And behold, he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the unbelieving to the wisdom of the just, to prepare for the Lord a perfect people' (Luke 1:13-17).

Here, brethren, human speech grows faint, the preaching of the expositor falls silent, when by an angelic proclamation the glory of John is announced, his virtue resounds, his praise is celebrated together: nor is there anything that man may now add to him upon whom God has conferred everything. 'He shall be filled,' it says, 'with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb.' You see, brethren, how John arrived at heaven before he touched the earth; how he received the divine Spirit before the human; how he took up the divine gifts before the members of his body; how he began to live to God before he began to live to himself: nay rather, how he lived to God before God lived to him, according to that saying of the Apostle, 'It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me' (Gal. 2:20). 'In the sixth month,' it says, 'of his mother's pregnancy he leaps in the womb' (Luke

1:44), and he announces that Christ has come into the Virgin's womb. An ardent messenger, who longed to announce before he lived. An impatient leader, who before he reached his body reached his king, who seized his arms before his members, who sought the battle-line before the light, and, that he might conquer the world, conquered nature first. For he himself without inward organs rouses the inward parts of his mother; and because his body delayed, by the spirit alone he fulfills the office of one proclaiming the gospel. What shall I say, brethren? John, before he went before Christ, went before himself. One and the same Holy Spirit fills the hearts of father, mother, and son; so that from one instrument of holiness the song of the Lord's nativity may resound. SERMON 200. On the Nativity of John the Baptist, V. 1.

The Emperor of heaven and earth, who deigned to visit us, was long ago foretold by the oracles of the prophets. For from the very beginning of the world the coming of the Lord and Savior was proclaimed to us. For the Word could not come into the earth without the voice of a herald. The prophets foretold, who announced that the Lord Christ would come in the flesh; but holy John, whose Nativity, to be celebrated today, has shone forth, did not only prophesy the Word, but pointed him out to the rest. Deservedly is he called greater among the other prophets, who not only foretold and pointed out, but even baptized. John was called the Baptist:

yet so that the disciple be not above the Master, nor the servant above the Lord, 'Among those born,' it says, 'of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist' (Matt. 11:11). He says 'of women': for he who was born of a Virgin is the founder and ruler of the world and its Lord.... An angel was sent into the temple to Zacharias, who announced that he would receive a son in his old age; to the Virgin Mary also an angel was a messenger: but Mary believed, Zacharias doubted. And he who doubted is condemned with silence; she who believed is honored with praises.... O blessed mother, who bore such a son, who going before announced the Son of God, and baptized him!

Elizabeth was freed from the reproach of barrenness, she who bore a son promised from heaven, who despising the riches of the world sought the heavenly kingdom. That the Word might go before in the power and spirit of Elijah, while yet placed in the womb, he recognized that the presence of the Lord's Mother was at hand. He is a faithful witness of the one coming, as Scripture says, 'For behold, as soon as the voice of your greeting came in my ears, the infant leaped for joy in my womb. He himself showed me that you are the mother of my Lord, who have come to me.' He became my master before he was my son; he himself taught me before I nursed him; he does not yet know how to draw my breasts, yet he knows how to instruct my conscience:

he has not yet seen heaven and earth, and within my womb he has recognized the God of heaven and earth. What kind of messenger is this, who recognizes the Lord from hidden things? In hidden things he speaks a mystery, he announces a miracle. 3. 'Whence is it,' it says, 'to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?' (cf. Luke 1:43) 'Whence is this,' it says, 'to me?' For he himself is God, I am human; he is Lord, but I am a servant; he is Creator, I am a creature: he himself formed me within the womb, who has filled the womb of his own mother. 'Whence is this,' it says, 'to me?' There are no merits, and yet the divine benefits go before me. There are two mothers of unconquered virtue, the barren woman and the virgin. Two ships laden from heaven: one bears the promise from a man, the other carries the Word from God:

one sent forth the herald, the other bore the judge; one is a lamp lit up, the other is lit by the sun: the virgin carries the bridegroom, the barren woman bears the friend. For also at distinct times most certain signs of holiness appeared. John is born as the day declines; the Lord is born as the day increases: so that the flesh may decline, and the spirit may grow strong. It behooves us therefore, dearest brethren, rejoicing amid such great marvels, to believe that he is able both to make from Adam and to render the barren woman fruitful. He who preserved his mother's modesty took the name of a flower, and did not lose his whiteness; he preserved the modesty of the virgin, he displayed the light of the mystery. May he who gave himself for us grant also prosperity to us. Who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. SERMON 201.

On the Nativity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, I. 1. Peter through signs, Paul through Epistles, everywhere renowned. Peter's first sign is the healing of the lame man. The fitness of this matter. Peter is the rock, Paul the vessel; both how necessary to the Church. It is known to you all, brethren, and most well known to the whole world, that today is the Nativity of the most blessed Peter and Paul, nor can such great devotion be hidden from any part of the earth: since indeed, as David the prophet says of these, 'Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world' (Ps. 19:4); into all the earth the wondrous virtue of Peter has been spread abroad, and to the ends of the world the words of Paul's Epistles have penetrated.

For who has not heard that the blessed Apostle Peter first restored firmness of foot to the lame man sitting at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, weak in his feet from his mother's womb and long since crippled, so that what nature had granted him less fully, apostolic grace should repair? For when that lame man, begging alms, believed he would receive some money from the Apostles, the Apostle Peter said to him: 'Silver and gold I do not have; but what I have, this I give you: in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk' (Acts 3:6). O plainly blessed generosity, which to the one asking for silver conferred not silver indeed, but conferred health! Blessed generosity, which from its treasuries brought forth not gold, but brought forth medicine!

Blessed too was that lame man, who while seeking the alms of money received the riches of soundness! For he earned this given by the Apostles, which he could have redeemed by no treasuries from physicians. The first, then, of his wondrous signs Peter performed, by restoring to the lame man the footsteps of his feet. We have often said that Peter himself was called 'rock' by the Lord, as he says, 'You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church' (Matt. 16:18). If, therefore, Peter is the rock upon which the Church is built, rightly does he first heal the feet; so that just as in the Church he holds the foundation of the faith, so also in the man he may strengthen the foundations of the members: rightly, I say, does he first cure the feet in the Christian;

so that now, no longer trembling nor feeble, he may be able to stand upon the rock of the Church, but to walk sturdy and strong. But where are the words of the Apostle Paul not read? What place does not inscribe them in letters, retain them in the heart, keep them in its conduct? This Paul was named by the Lord 'a vessel of election.' A good vessel, in which the precious precepts of Christ, to be entrusted, are stored: a good vessel, from whose fullness the substance of life is ever distributed to the peoples, and it is full. Excellent names of the Apostles, rock and little vessel, necessary to the house of the Savior. For a house is constructed by the strength of rocks, and adorned by the usefulness of vessels. The rock sustains the peoples for firmness, lest they slip: the vessel covers Christians for protection, lest they be tempted. 2.

How fitting it is that they suffered on one day, that Peter was fixed to the cross, that from Paul's neck milk flowed forth. How blessed their departure from this world was, there is no one who does not know. For this first blessedness is in them, that they are known to have suffered both on one day: namely, that those whom one faith had bound in service, one day might crown with martyrdom. Then, although the passion in each was diverse, yet with how great a holiness of grace was it renewed? For Peter, like the Savior, met the death of the cross, and by the likeness of the Lord's devotion was not torn apart even in death: namely, that whom he imitated in faith, he might imitate also in passion.

But from Paul's neck, when the persecutor had struck it with the sword, it is said that a stream of milk flowed rather than of blood, and that in a wondrous manner the holy Apostle stood forth in that very slaughter, by the grace of Baptism, radiant rather than bloody. And this matter in holy Paul is not astonishing. For what wonder is it, if the nourisher of the Church abounds in milk, just as he himself says to the Corinthians, 'I gave you milk to drink, not solid food' (1 Cor. 3:2). This is plainly that land of promise, which God promised to our fathers, saying: 'I will give you a land flowing with milk and honey' (Exod. 3:17). For he did not speak of this earth, which by the flowing of waters wraps itself in mire and mingles mud:

but of that land of Paul and of those like Paul, which perpetually distills something pure and sweet. For which Epistle of Paul is not sweeter than honey, whiter than milk? These Epistles, like breasts, nourish the peoples of the churches unto salvation. From the neck of the Apostle, therefore, milk flowed instead of blood. We read in his own Epistle that 'flesh and blood shall not possess the kingdom of God' (1 Cor. 15:50). Now, therefore, Paul possesses the kingdom; for he lacks the blood which is said to hinder those who shall reign. While still placed on earth, therefore, Paul is even transformed into the substance of the heavenly kingdom. 3. How the memory of the martyrs is to be celebrated.

Therefore, dearest brethren, as often as we celebrate the memorials of the martyrs, setting aside all the affairs of the world, we ought without any delay to hasten together to the house of God, to render honor to those who obtained salvation for us by the pouring out of their blood, who offered so consecrated a victim to the Lord for our propitiation: especially since Almighty God says to his saints, 'He who honors you honors me; and he who despises you despises me' (Luke 10:16). Whoever therefore honors the martyrs, honors also Christ; and he who despises the saints, despises our Lord, who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God, etc. SERMON 202. On the Nativity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, II. 1.

The Apostles are equal among themselves, yet inferior to Peter and Paul. To Peter the keys of power, to Paul of knowledge were entrusted. Although all the blessed Apostles obtain equal grace of holiness with the Lord, yet by some means Peter and Paul seem to excel above the rest by a certain special virtue of faith in the Savior. This indeed we can prove from the judgment of the Lord himself. For to Peter, as to a good steward, he gave the key of the kingdom of heaven; to Paul, as to a fitting teacher, he entrusted the mastery of ecclesiastical instruction: namely, that those whom the latter should educate unto salvation, the former should receive unto rest; that of those whose hearts Paul should open by the teaching of words, Peter should open the kingdoms of heaven to their souls.

For in a certain manner Paul also received a key of knowledge from Christ. For that is to be called a key by which the hard hearts are unlocked to the faith of the breast, the secrets of minds are laid open, and whatever is held closed within is brought forth into the open by a reasonable manifestation. A key, I say, it is which both opens the conscience to the confession of sin, and includes grace unto the eternity of the mystery of salvation. Both, therefore, received keys from the Lord; the one of knowledge, the other of power. The one dispenses the riches of immortality: the other bestows the treasures of knowledge. For there are treasures of knowledge, as it is written: 'In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' (Col. 2:3).

Therefore the blessed Peter and Paul stand out among all the Apostles, and excel by a certain special prerogative. 2. Peter and Paul are equal in merits. Why they suffered on one day, in one place, under one tyrant. Why in the West. But which of them is to be set before the other is uncertain. For I think that those are equal in merits who are equal in passion; and that they lived by a like devotion of faith, whom we see to have attained together to the glory of martyrdom. For let us not suppose it was done without cause that on one day, in one place, they endured the sentence of one tyrant. They suffered on one day, that they might come to Christ together: in one place, lest Rome should lack either of them; under one persecutor, that an equal cruelty might constrain them both.

The day therefore was appointed for merit, the place for glory, the persecutor for virtue. And in what place, finally, did they endure martyrdom? In the city of Rome, which holds the primacy and headship of the nations: namely, that where the head of superstition was, there the head of holiness should come to rest; and where the princes of the Gentiles dwelt, there the princes of the Churches should die. And of what merit the most blessed Peter and Paul are, we can understand from this: that whereas the Lord illumined the region of the East by his own passion, he deigned, that nothing might be lacking, to illumine the region of the West, in his stead, by the blood of the Apostles.

And although his passion suffices for our salvation, yet the martyrdom of these also has conferred upon us an example. 5. The cause of their death. The power of prayer. Why Simon Magus was permitted to fly aloft. On this present day, therefore, the blessed Apostles poured out their blood: but let us see the cause why they suffered these things; namely, because among their other marvels they even laid low that magician Simon by their prayers, casting him down from the empty air by a headlong ruin. For when this same Simon was calling himself Christ, and was asserting that, as a son to a father, he was able to ascend by flying, and, suddenly lifted up by his magic arts, had begun to fly; then Peter, with bent knees, prayed to the Lord, and by holy prayer overcame the magical lightness.

For prayer ascended to the Lord before the flight, and the just petition arrived before the wicked presumption. Before, I say, Peter, placed on earth, obtained what he was seeking, than Simon reached the heights to which he was tending. Then, therefore, Peter cast him down as if bound from the lofty air, and, dashing him upon a rock by a certain headlong fall, broke his legs; and this to the reproach of his deed: so that he who a little before had glided in flight could not now walk with a hiss; and he who had assumed feathers should lose the soles of his feet. But lest perhaps this should seem a wonder, that this magician, in the presence of the Apostle, flew through the air for some while, it was Peter's patience that brought it about. For he permitted him to ascend higher, that he might fall from a greater height:

he willed him to be lifted up on high in the sight of all, so that all eyes might behold him falling from the height. This, therefore, is the elation of iniquity, that it bears itself aloft, that it raises itself on high: but holy prayer humbles all pride, casts down every vanity. SERMON 203. On the Nativity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, III. 1. Peter chosen for the salvation of the Jews, Paul for that of the Gentiles. Today the festivals of the exulting Church celebrate together the two founders of the Christian name. For these two were chosen for the salvation of two peoples; Peter for the Jews, Paul for the Gentiles:

Peter, that in Judea he might restore the old and deserted field, and might, by the wholesomeness of faith and by grace, make fruitful that field which under the shadow of the Law was barren and hidden from the warmth of the true Sun; but Paul is sent to the Gentiles, that he might break up with the plow of the Lord's cross the new land, which had before yielded no crop, had experienced no cultivator, and might, as a tireless laborer, raise up Christ's new planting in the untilled field. Peter therefore restores the vineyard where it had already been; Paul plants where there was none. Peter in Judea cultivates at its root the tree degenerate from the nobility of its ancient stock; but Paul grafts the foreign branches of the Gentiles onto an alien stem. Peter in Judea cuts back the thorns from the vine;

Paul among the Gentiles gathers the grape from the bramble. Peter rebuilds the house among the ruins; Paul raises it on new foundations. Peter cultivates among the Jews what is ill-fruited; Paul makes fruitful among the Gentiles what is not yet cultivated. By Peter the olive tree is restored among the Jews; by Paul the wild olive is grafted in among the Gentiles. Peter softens the hardness among the Jews; Paul enlightens the ignorance among the Gentiles. Peter drives the darkness from injured eyes; Paul restored eyes to those blind from birth. By various and diverse kinds, countless peoples are gathered to the warfare of one king; and thus the two most powerful leaders, Peter leads back the old army from the veterans, Paul enlists the new army from the recruits of Christ. 2. They are traders, and spiritual dispensers.

Two most splendid traders, therefore, run to and fro throughout the whole world, bearing before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel the precious merchandise of faith. They carry about the spices of justice, the incense of divine veneration, the frankincense of compunction, the balsam of chastity. They therefore are the salt of spiritual prudence, of whom it is said, 'You are the salt of the earth' (Matt. 5:13); by whom indeed souls are seasoned, and are kept inviolate from the eternal corruption of sin. Throughout all the earth these spiritual dispensers pay out the prices of salvation, the treasures of holiness. These most loving parents of souls seek those whom they may draw with them to heaven, unequal in the pursuits of their portions, equal in the merits of their works. 3. In many things they are equal.

Paul is the Jonah of the New Testament. For I would call them equal and alike through their various and diverse kinds of virtues. For although Christ lived with Peter on earth, yet he did not disdain to call Paul from heaven, while he was still even persecuting. But in the work of the persecuting Apostle he foresaw the faith; and therefore, because he looked ahead to his zeal, he honored his affection. And because, under the purpose of pleasing God, he was carried, ignorant, into fault; immediately after the admonition he ran, devoted, to grace. Wherefore, although Paul did not speak with Christ in the body, no less is it that Christ spoke in Paul, as he himself says: 'Do you seek a proof of him who speaks in me, Christ?' (2 Cor. 13:3)

And thus he whom he set forth outwardly by his preaching, he bore inwardly in his heart. I know not, therefore, what he lacked of holiness, from whose breast the Lord, as from his own special temple, gave back saving oracles to the peoples. Peter presumed, by a power due to God alone, to walk upon the waters, and, while nature stood astonished, setting his suspended step by the new ways of an unaccustomed journey, he trod upon the swelling ridges of the sea: but no less was Paul, who, as he himself says of himself, 'was night and day in the deep of the sea' (2 Cor. 11:25).

No less, I say, was Paul, whom, like the Jonah of the New Testament, tossed day and night through the depths of the sea, the wave swallowed up and gave back, as if not daring to violate a sacred deposit, as if guarding him unharmed in its bosom like a servant, and reserving him for the preachings to the peoples. 4. Peter, destroyer of the Synagogue, restorer of the Church. This too is the blessed Peter, foremost in that heavenly school of disciples, and the first fit one who, receiving the words of life from the mouth of Christ, might through the power of the Gospel seek out the lost people of the Jews, and call the outcasts to the inheritance—the interpreter of the Law, the champion of grace, the destroyer of the Synagogue, the restorer of the Church:

and therefore he alone among the Apostles merited to hear, 'Amen I say to you, that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church' (Matt. 16:18); worthy indeed to be, for the building up of the peoples in the house of God, a stone for the foundation, a column for support, a key for the kingdom. Of him the divine word says: 'And they laid their sick,' it says, 'that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow them' (Acts 5:15). If then the shadow of his body was able to bring help, how much more now the fullness of his virtue? If then a certain breeze of one passing by profited the suppliants, how much more the grace of one who abides? 5. A commendation of the chains of Peter.

Deservedly, throughout all the Churches of Christ, that iron of his penal chains is held more precious than gold. If the overshadowing of the visitor was so healing, how much more the chain of the one who bound him? 'That the shadow,' I say, 'of Peter passing by might overshadow them.' If a certain empty appearance of a hollow image could have in itself the power of salvation, how much more did they merit to draw of soundness from the body, those chains of the passion pressed by an iron weight upon the sacred members? If for the aid of the suppliants he was so powerful before his martyrdom, how much more efficacious after his triumph? Happy those bonds which, to be changed from manacles and fetters into a crown, by touching the Apostle rendered him a martyr.

Happy chains, which, clinging to bones laid bare by wounds, snatched living relics from the sweat of blood on flesh already worn away, and the touch of the members sanctifies the instrument of its own torture, in which, while the affliction increases toward punishment, the cause of punishment advances toward glory. Happy bonds, which sent their own condemned one even to the cross of Christ, not so much to condemn as to consecrate him. And so, on that cross, fearing to imitate the sacrifice of the Redeemer, he chose to be plunged head-downward into the earth. O virtue of inborn humility, which fears to be honored even by a kind of punishment; and he who does not refuse the torments of the Lord's gibbet, dreads the likeness of his triumph! SERMON 204. On the Nativity of the Apostles Peter and Paul, IV. 1.