And that the clean heart is the dwelling place of charity, the Apostle commends by these words, saying: 'For the end of the commandment is charity from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned' (1 Tim. I, 5). Accordingly two things must be diligently considered by us in these words of the prophet: one which he begged to be taken away from himself, the other which he asked to be granted to himself. For he asked that his iniquities be blotted out, but that a clean heart be created in him, and a right spirit renewed within him. But what is iniquity, if not depraved desire? And what is cleanness of heart, if not the holy love of God and neighbor? When therefore the prophet says: 'Turn away Thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities,' and immediately adds:
'Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,' what else did he say, but: Blot out from me the stain of depraved desire, and grant me the grace of charity? Take away from me the desire by which I can be damned; and grant me the charity by which I may deserve to be crowned. Take away from me the desire, on account of which one grieves and groans without ceasing in torment; and grant me the charity, by which one reigns in heaven without end. For if I have the charity which I may render by owing, and owe by rendering, I shall not fear the iniquity which I would pay off by grieving without end. Well, then, does the Apostle command that we owe no man anything, but to love one another:
for by this debt is taken away from us the heap of all offenses, because charity covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet. IV, 8). But let no one suppose, brethren, that charity ought to be so rendered by us that, once rendered, it may sometime cease to be owed. For when it is rendered, more is owed; and it is the more acquired, the more it is rendered while it is owed. For he who does not always reckon himself a debtor of charity, let him not rejoice as one discharged from debt, but let him mourn as one destitute of the gift of charity. For neither does he have the charity which he has ceased to have, because the prodigal debtor, by not rendering, lost that which he had received in order always to render and always to have. Wherefore he will know that he has then lost what he had received, when he has not rendered what he owed. But someone says:
To whom do I owe this? Or to whom must I render this charity? We answer that charity is to be rendered to all men, that is, to those known and unknown, to the good and the bad, to friends and enemies. For when the blessed Apostle says: 'Therefore, while we have time, let us work that which is good toward all, but especially toward those who are of the household of faith' (Gal. VI, 10), he plainly shows that in the work of charity one is indeed to be preferred to others (elsewhere: another), yet no one is to be excluded from the benefits of charity.
That charity, therefore, holy, pure, and, that I may speak properly, Christian charity, which is patient, which is kind, which envies not, which deals not perversely, is not puffed up, is not ambitious, seeks not the things that are its own, which is not provoked, thinks no evil, rejoices not over iniquity, but rejoices with the truth, which bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things, charity which never falls (1 Cor. XIII, 4 ff.), let it so embrace friends that it may be extended even to enemies: let it render itself to friends who are willing, let it press itself upon enemies who are unwilling; let it hold the former, acquire the latter; let it delight the former, so that from friends they may not become enemies; let it invite the latter, that from enemies they may become friends.
Let us remember, brethren, the words of the Lord, saying: 'Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute and slander you' (Matt. V, 44). Behold, the Lord commands charity to be extended even to enemies, and the benevolence of a Christian heart to be enlarged even to persecutors. And what reward will be given for such works? Or what gift is conferred upon those who obey this commandment? Let Him Himself show the reward prepared by Him for charity, who through the Holy Spirit deigns freely to pour in that very charity: let Him Himself tell us what He will render for charity to the worthy, who deigns to bestow that same charity upon the unworthy.
Let the Lord therefore speak, let Him speak, and in His own word show us the greatness of His promise: 'That you may be,' He says, 'sons of your Father who is in heaven' (Ibid., 45). For when He commanded that enemies be loved, perhaps what was commanded was bitter to the hearer: let that which is promised to the obedient be, I pray, sweet. Let the sweetness of this delight therefore be held in the heart, and the difficulty of that bitterness will be overcome. For those who have loved their enemies, and have done good to those who hated them, will be sons of God. But what these sons of God are to receive the Apostle declares, saying: 'The Spirit Himself gives testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God. And if sons, heirs also:
heirs indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ' (Rom. VIII, 16, 17). Hear, then, O Christians; hear, O sons of God; hear, O heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ. That you may possess the paternal inheritance, expend charity not only on friends, but also on enemies. Let charity be denied to none, which is possessed in common by good men (perhaps: all men). Have it all together, and that you may have it the more, expend it on both the good and the bad. For this is a common possession of the good, not earthly indeed, but heavenly; and therefore the presence of a fellow-sharer makes no one straitened in it. And charity is increased just so much as desire has been diminished;
and charity makes him always free whom worldly desire has not held captive. Charity is the gift of God, as the Apostle says: 'The charity of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who is given to us' (Rom. V, 5). Desire is the snare of the devil, not only a snare, but also a sword: by it he captures the wretched, by it he slays the captured. Charity is the root of all good things; desire is the root of all evils (1 Tim. VI, 10). Desire is always tormented, while by seizing it is not healed. But charity always rejoices, since the more it is multiplied, the more abundantly it is dispensed. And therefore, just as the seeker of iniquity grows poor by acquiring, so the renderer of charity grows rich by rendering.
Desire is troubled while it seeks to avenge an injury; charity is tranquil while it delights to give. SERMON VI. On the holy martyr Cyprian. The illustrious birthday of so great a martyr, namely blessed Cyprian, on which, stripped of his earthly and mortal members, he passed over to the rewards of eternal life, and commended to us both the doctrine of his priesthood and the victory of his martyrdom, and made from a once temporal sorrow a freer joy. For while the bishop suffers by confessing amid the peril of a bloody death and the glory of a devoted contest, the Church suffers with him by praying.
Who does not know, or rather does not perceive by prudent consideration, that this very day which now returns to us as a feast in its yearly recurrence was, in that former time, a day of anxiety to Christian and devout minds, while the loyal expectation of the people trembled, once the office of leadership had been undertaken by the bishop against the devil; so that faith might stand firm against the persecutor, lest the flesh should yield to the flatterer; so that the shepherd might go before, lest he desert the sheepfold, and (God forbid) the wolf invade it once deserted? The Church grieved that so illustrious a priest had for a time been withdrawn from her fellowship; yet nonetheless she rejoiced that, the adversary being cast down, Christ's martyr had proved the victor.
There remained in memory his praiseworthy teaching; before their eyes was set his wondrous virtue, when so great a servant of God kept what he had taught, and demonstrated—no longer by words but by deeds—what the rest ought to do, confirming the faith of his discourses by the examples of his acts with sturdy solidity, believing and trusting that Christ had died for the salvation of all, and that he himself would not withdraw from being slain for His name. For by whose blood he had once, though unworthy, been redeemed, for Him he now poured out his own worthy blood; and whose blood he had faithfully drunk in this life, from Him he had believed eternal life could be restored to himself. And He who had given the law gave them also His blessing, that they might go from strength to strength:
from the strength of most sincere faith into the strength of most steadfast conflict; from the strength of most ardent charity into the strength of most glorious suffering. For he believed, and therefore he spoke; he loved, and therefore he followed. For he had heard the word spoken by the Lord: 'He who loves me follows me' (cf. John); and again: 'He who believes in me shall not be moved forever.' And the faithful father followed the footsteps of the Saviour. Undaunted he despised the commands of princes and the edict of judges. Ready, he received the blow of the executioner; and his soul, subject to God alone, even death itself preserved unconquered.
In short, nothing called him back from the guardianship of his flock as shepherd—not the place of exile, not the violent officer, not the time of persecution, not the fear of the judge, not the impending sword, not the near occasion of death. For even when set in exile, and separated from the Church entrusted to him in body only and not in mind, he preserved the sustenance of the poor; hidden in secret, the discipline of censure; detained by the ruler, the chastity of virgins; brought before the tribunal, the protection of the clergy; threatened, a robust conscience; treacherously consumed, spiritual watchfulness; and unjustly judged, Christian patience.
Admonishing the people by frequent letters, he cherished the needy with more generous alms; he urged the martyrs forward, by exhortations as well as by examples, to undertake the battle, and until he lays down his life he does not abandon his care. In short, he is both guarded and guards; a secure despiser of his own suffering, an anxious preserver of another's modesty, fearing luxury more than sorrow, and guarding more against the enticements of the devil than dreading many torments. For faith he keeps watch against the roaring lion; for chastity he battles against the hissing serpent. In his own body he conquers the wickedness of the raging one; in the flesh of the maidens he conquers the softness of the flatterer; trampling the threats of the persecutor, he avoids the deceit of the deceiver;
he neither yields to any raging one, nor allows anything to be snatched away by the violent. Therefore, considering his struggle, his perseverance, his victory and likewise his crown, and refreshing in the sweet mirror of the mind what he escaped and where he arrived, let us sing with yearly devotion: 'Blessed be the Lord, who has not given us over as a prey to their teeth. The snare is broken, and we are delivered' (Psalm 123:6-7). SERMON VII. On the thief crucified with Christ. 1. Marvellous above other holy festivities, and venerable, we celebrate the mystery of the Lord's Pascha. For 'Pascha' in Hebrew is rendered in Latin as 'Passover' (Transitus). This passing over our iniquity had barred, until it was opened by the little key of the cross.
For our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ had indeed mortal flesh, but He did not have a sinful soul. By taking up punishment without guilt, He caused guilt to pass away without punishment. In His passion all the stars were shaken, and the elements trembled at the event of the Lord's wound. The day dreaded an unaccustomed night, and the world found a darkness not its own. The day stood shut in under an uncertain light, and the very light of the world seemed almost to die together with God. To this end, indeed, all brightness withdrew into night, lest it should be forced to behold the sacrilege. For heaven had closed its eyes, lest it should gaze upon the Lord on the cross. And now the world itself did not deserve to be a witness, so that he alone might gaze who struck the blow.
The persecutor struck with the lance, and the Redeemer poured out our ransom. For when the Lord suffered, all the apostles fled, all indeed forsook Him. Where is that crowd which went before the Lord, that crowd, I say, which said: 'Hosanna to the Son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord' (cf. Matthew 21:9)? The Lord suffered, and all fled. All were made mute, lukewarm in love, crushed by fear; a little later they flee. Others, therefore, did not acknowledge Him working miracles; the thief acknowledged Him hanging on the cross, pierced through in all his members. His hands pierced, his feet pierced, all his members transfixed. The whole body was fastened on the cross, and yet his tongue confessed Christ. But there was one place of the three crucified:
in the midst was the Lord, who was 'reckoned among the transgressors' (Isaiah 53:12): the two thieves they placed on this side and that, but they did not have a like cause. They were joined to the sides of the one hanging there, but they were far separated. Those, their own crimes had crucified; Christ, our sins had crucified. Yet even in one of them it appeared plainly enough how much availed—not the torment of the one hanging, but the piety of the one confessing. The thief acquired in his pain what Peter had lost in his fear. He committed the crime, he mounted the cross, he changed his cause, he purchased Paradise. He wholly deserved to change his cause, who did not despise in Christ the likeness of punishment. The Jews despised Him working miracles; he believed in Him hanging.
He acknowledged the Lord as his companion of the cross, and the violent thief, by believing, took the kingdom of heaven by force. Then the thief believed in Christ, when apostolic faith wavered. Deservedly he merited to hear: 'Today you shall be with me in Paradise' (Luke 23:43). For this indeed he had not promised to himself. He commended himself to great mercy, yet he also weighed his own merits. 'Lord,' he said (v. 42), 'remember me when you come into your kingdom.' Until the Lord should come into His kingdom, he hoped that he himself would be in punishments, and asked at least that mercy be shown to him at His coming. Accordingly, the thief, weighing his own merits, was deferring; but the Lord was offering to the thief what he had despaired of, as though He said:
'You ask that I remember you when I come into my kingdom, and I say to you: Today you shall be with me in Paradise. Recognize to whom you commend yourself, whom you believe is to come. Before I come, I am everywhere. Therefore, although I am about to descend into hell, I shall have you today with me in Paradise—not commended to another, but with me. For my humility descends to mortal men and to the very dead; but my divinity has never departed from Paradise.' Thus were made three crosses, three causes: one of the thieves insulted Christ; the other, having confessed his own evils, commended himself to Christ's mercy. The cross of Christ in the midst was not a punishment, but a tribunal. It condemned the insulter, it freed the believer. Fear, you who insult; rejoice, you who believe.
May Christ do in His glory what He did in His humility. The divine gifts come from a deep judgment. We can marvel at them, but we are not able to investigate or explain them. SERMON VIII. On the holy day of Pentecost. 1. The anniversary solemnity is celebrated on the day when our Lord Jesus Christ sent the Holy Spirit the Paraclete, whom He had promised beforehand to His disciples. For He had said: 'He cannot come unless I go away' (John 16:7). Therefore on the fortieth day after His resurrection—whose solemnity we celebrated ten days ago—He ascended into heaven, and not unmindful of His promise
today He sent the Holy Spirit, whom He promised, upon the hundred and twenty who had been gathered together and were at last faithfully awaiting the Lord's promise. They spoke in all tongues. For thus it then pleased God to signify the presence of the Holy Spirit, that whoever received Him should speak in all tongues. First, therefore, let us briefly see, when He promised Him, why He said: 'He cannot come unless I go away.' For the Holy Spirit is not separable from the Son of God, nor was He powerless to come in His presence, from whom He cannot depart. But because the Lord was still showing to the weak disciples the form of a servant, in which 'the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us';
the form (perhaps read 'form' for 'cause') of a servant, that is, the flesh of the Lord, even carnal men could behold; but the form of God, in which 'He did not think it robbery to be equal with God' (Philippians 2:6), cannot be conceived except by spiritual men—therefore He said: 'He cannot come unless I go away,' as though He said: 'So long as your carnal affection is occupied about my flesh, so long does your spiritual gaze not receive my divinity.' For by the gift of the Holy Spirit He had promised they would be led into all truth, as it is written: 'Purifying their hearts by faith' (Acts 15:9). 'And blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God' (Matthew 5:8). Therefore the bodily form of the Lord withdrew
from their bodily eyes, so that through the Holy Spirit the divinity of the Lord might be instilled into their hearts. Now next let us see why at that time this was the sign of the presence of the Holy Spirit, that those who received Him should speak in all tongues. For even now the Holy Spirit is not withheld, and yet those who receive Him do not speak in all tongues, by which evident miracle He showed Himself at that time. It is to be understood, dearest brethren, that this is the Holy Spirit, by whom 'charity is poured forth in our hearts' (cf. Romans 5:5).
And since charity was to gather the Church of God throughout the whole world, what one man could then do, receiving the Holy Spirit—to speak in all tongues—now the very unity of the Church, gathered by the Holy Spirit, speaks in all tongues. Therefore if anyone should say to one of us: 'You have received the Holy Spirit; why then do you not speak in all tongues?' he ought to answer: 'I do indeed speak in all tongues, because I am in that Body of Christ, that is, in the Church, which speaks in all tongues.' For what else did God then signify by the presence of the Holy Spirit, except that His Church would speak in all tongues? Thus was fulfilled what the Lord had promised:
'No one puts new wine into old wineskins, but they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved' (Matthew 9:17). Rightly, therefore, when they were heard speaking in all tongues, some said: 'These are full of new wine' (Acts 2:13). For they had now been made new wineskins, renewed by the grace of holiness, so that, filled with new wine, that is, with the Holy Spirit, they might glow by speaking in all tongues, and by that most evident miracle prefigure the catholic Church that was to be throughout the tongues of all nations. And by this the heretics are rightly believed not to have the Holy Spirit, who are divided from the Body which deserved to resound with all tongues throughout all nations. Therefore celebrate this day as members of the unity of the Body of Christ.
For you do not celebrate in vain, if you are that which you celebrate: cleaving to that Church which the Lord, filling her with the Holy Spirit and growing throughout the whole world, acknowledges as His own and is acknowledged by His own. As a bridegroom, He has not lost His own bride; no one substitutes for Him another that is alien. For to you, established among all nations, that is, to the Church of Christ, to the members of Christ, to the Body of Christ, to the bride of Christ, the Apostle says: 'Bearing with one another in love, being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace' (Ephesians 4:2-3). See that where he enjoined that we bear with one another, there he placed love; where he named the hope of unity, there he showed the bond of peace.
This is the house of God, built of living stones, in which such a Father of the household is pleased to dwell, whose eyes the ruin of division ought not to offend. SERMON IX. On Saint Vincent. 1. I wonder, brethren, whether you still wish to hear anything. For after so great a passion of martyrdom as has just been read to us, both the speaker is superfluous and the hearer is wearied. For there was just now read to us a savage judge, a bloody torturer, and an unconquered martyr: in whose body, harrowed with various punishments, the torments had already failed, and still the limbs endured. Impiety persisted, refuted by so many miracles; weakness did not yield, though vexed by so many torments; and a hidden divinity was recognized.
For when would corruptible dust have endured against such monstrous torments, unless Christ dwelt in it? I certainly, brethren, after so great a spectacle as the course of the reading set before our minds, would not entrust my sermon to your ears, except that 'my mouth speaks the praise of the Lord' (Psalm 144:21). In all these things, therefore, He is to be acknowledged, He glorified, He praised, who both in the first calling gave faith, and in the supreme passion gave strength. Do you wish to know that both were granted? Hear the apostle Paul: 'To you,' he says, 'it has been granted by Christ, not only that you believe in Him, but also that you suffer for Him' (Philippians 1:29). Vincent had received both these.
He had received, therefore he had. For if he had not received, what would he have? He had confidence in speech, he had endurance in suffering. Let no one, therefore, presume upon his own heart when he utters a word. Let no one trust in his own strength when he endures temptation. For that we may prudently speak good things, our wisdom is from Him. 2. Recall the Lord Christ in the Gospel admonishing His disciples. Recall the King of martyrs equipping His cohorts with spiritual arms, pointing out the battles, supplying aids, promising rewards. When He had said to His disciples: 'In this world you shall have tribulation' (John 16:33), at once, to console the terrified, He added: 'But be confident, for I have overcome the world' (ibid.).
Why then do we marvel, dearest brethren, if in Him Vincent conquered, by whom the world was conquered? 'In this world,' He says, 'you shall have tribulation.' Even if it presses, it does not oppress; even if it assaults, it does not vanquish. The world brings forth a twofold battle-line against the soldiers of Christ. For it flatters that it may deceive, it terrifies that it may break. Let not one's own will hold sway, and let not another's cruelty terrify. Let Christ meet both approaches, and the Christian is not conquered. If you were to consider that in this passion there was human strength, it begins to be incredible; if it be acknowledged to have been divine, it is acknowledged to be marvellous. So great a cruelty raged in the martyr's body, and so great a tranquillity was brought forth in his voice.
So great a harshness of punishments raged in his limbs, and so great a security resounded in his words. 3. In a marvellous manner we might think that, while Vincent suffered, another was speaking, or certainly that, while Vincent spoke, another was being tortured. And truly, brethren, so it was, entirely so it was: another was speaking. For Christ had promised this too to His witnesses. You have just heard. In the Gospel He was speaking, and said to His own, whom He was preparing for combats of this kind: 'Do not think how or what you shall speak. For it shall be given you in that hour how or what you shall speak. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you' (Matthew 10:19-20). The flesh, therefore, suffered; the Spirit spoke.
And while the Spirit spoke, not only was impiety refuted, but even weakness was strengthened. The torments made the martyr more illustrious to us. Pierced through with a manifold variety of wounds, he did not abandon the fight, but more fiercely renewed it. You would think that, while the flame lasted, it did not burn; and that, as a potter's furnace receiving soft clay, it rendered the earth hard. Our martyr could say to Datianus: 'My flesh no longer heeds your fires, for my strength has dried up like a potsherd' (cf. Psalm 22:15). For it is truly written: 'The potter's vessels the furnace tests, and just men the trial of tribulation' (Sirach 27:5). Vincent was tested and refined by that fire. But Datianus burned and crackled.
For if he was not burning, whence did he smoke? What were the words of the angry man, but the smoke of the one on fire? Therefore he applied flames from without to our martyr, who had refreshment in his heart; but he himself, kindled with the torches of fury, burned within like an oven, and consumed his inhabitant, the devil. For through those furious cries of Datianus which you have heard, through his savage eyes and threatening looks, through the turbulent motions of his whole body, that inner inhabitant of his was stirring himself, betrayed through these visible signs as through the crackling little cracks of the vessel which he had filled. The flame did not torture the martyr so much as madness devastated Datianus. 4. But now, brethren, all those things have passed away, both the wrath of Datianus and the punishment of Vincent.
But there remains punishment for Datianus, and a crown for Vincent. Finally, that—leaving aside for the moment the bounds of future tribulation—we may show the glory of the martyrs even in this world: what region, what province across the sea, as far as either the Roman empire or the Roman name extends, does not rejoice to celebrate the birthday of Vincent? But who today would even have heard the name of Datianus, had he not read it in this passion? And that the Lord with such great care preserved, as you have heard, the body of the martyr—what else did He demonstrate, but that He had governed the victor whom He did not leave lifeless? Therefore, living, Vincent conquered Datianus, and conquered him also when dead: living, he trampled the torments; dead, he swam across the seas.
But He Himself steered the extinguished corpse amid the waves, who amid the claws had granted an unconquered soul. The flame of the torturer did not bend his heart, the water of the sea did not sink his body; but in all these things nothing is his own, except that 'precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints' (Psalm 116:15). SERMON X. On what the prophet Micah says: 'I will show you, O man, what is good.' 1. Concerning the present prophetic reading, in which is contained the great profit of our souls, we have resolved to speak to your charity, seeking from Him a fitting faculty of discourse, from whom we have freely received a good will. But who grants this, except God, who works in His own both to will and to accomplish, according to good will (Philippians