講道集 第 46 章

Great is the disagreement of the writers concerning the author, the title, and the opening of this homily. The scribes who inserted it into the codices Vallicellianus II and Vaticanus 6452 supposed it must be adjudged to St Leo the Great. But the Ballerini brothers, in the celebrated edition of the works of that holy pontiff, thought these of no account. In the codex Vaticanus Palatinus 4951 the author's name is omitted. Gillotius, the Parisian editor of the Ambrosian works, cast it among the Ambrosian sermons, whom the curators of the Roman Sixtine edition followed. But to us it seems that it must be asserted for Maximus. And the reasons why we so determine are indeed many.

For both the connection with the preceding homily, which is sufficient, and the style, which is plainly Maximian, and the manner of adducing passages of holy Scripture, which is certainly peculiar to Maximus, and the more notable manuscripts—such as the St Gall, such as codex 99 of Santa Croce in Jerusalem, such as the Turin, such as the Laurentian (Plut. XIV)—led us to that opinion; in which we are confirmed the more greatly, in that the Benedictine monks of the Congregation of St Maur advise, in their collection of the sermons of St Ambrose, that it is to be sought among the works of Maximus. Likewise Gymnicus, Galesinius, Cumdius, Raynaudus, and Margarinus ascribe it to Maximus. And so much concerning the author of this homily. Now concerning the title.

In the St Gall and Turin codices, and among Gymnicus, Galesinius, Raynaudus, Cumdius, Margarinus, it is: 'On the holy thief.' In the Laurentian codex: 'On the holy passion.' In codex 99 of Santa Croce in Jerusalem: 'On the holy day of Easter.' In the Vatican Palatine 4951: 'On the faith of the holy thief, who upon the cross confessed the Lord.' We have thought that the commonly received one is to be adopted by us, which, as we have observed, is 'On the holy thief.' There remains the passage concerning the opening of the homily. In the codices Vaticanus 6451 and Vallicellianus II it is of this kind: 'Your charity hears in the present, brethren, what this is, that this thief, when the Lord was set upon the cross, not only obtains pardon for his sins, but is even granted the delightfulness of paradise, etc.'

In the Sixtine edition of the works of St Ambrose: 'Since today's reading of the Gospel made mention of the thief, let us see, etc.' We have followed neither of these readings. We have approved the one which is contained in the more notable codices, and is confirmed by the agreement of the editors: 'Since yesterday we made mention of the thief, let us see who this thief is, who, when the Lord was set upon the cross, not only obtains pardon for his sins, but is even granted the delightfulness of paradise: so that he who had been condemned to punishment for his crimes, was for his faith translated to glory, and the cross which he endured was for him not so much the condemnation of torment as the occasion of salvation. For, set upon the cross, he believed our Lord Christ to be crucified;'

and therefore he who partakes of the fellowship of the passion is granted the fellowship of paradise. For the blessed thief, while he suffers punishment, obtains the heavenly kingdom. Behold, he is called guilty, as one for whom it was expedient to be condemned for a time. For he would not have come to glory, had he not been delivered up to punishment. Let us see, I say, why the man guilty of such great crimes so quickly earns paradise from the Saviour; whereas others, with the tears of many seasons and with frequent fasts, scarcely obtain pardon for their offences. Great, brethren, and manifold is the cause:

first, that this thief was so suddenly changed by the devotion of faith, that he despised the present punishment, and begged pardon concerning the future, and believed it more useful for himself to petition concerning the eternal judgment than to entreat concerning the temporal torment; for, calling to mind his crimes and bearing repentance, he begins to long more for what he hopes than to feel what he suffers. For, had he not thought more about future things, he who had once believed in Christ could rather have prayed concerning the present torment. Then, that which is of greater merit for his grace is that he believed Christ set upon the cross, and the passion which to others was a stumbling block profited him unto faith; for the passion of the cross was to many a scandal, as the Apostle says:

'But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, but unto the Gentiles foolishness' (1 Corinthians 1). Rightly therefore does he merit paradise, who did not think the cross of Christ to be a stumbling block, but a power; for the same Apostle says: 'Unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God' (ibid.). Rightly indeed the Lord too grants paradise to this man, because Him whom Judas Iscariot had sold away in the little garden of paradise, this one confesses on the gibbet of the cross. A marvellous thing: the thief confesses Him whom the disciple denied; a marvellous thing, I say: the thief honours the suffering One whom Judas betrayed with a kiss: by the one the caresses of peace are sold, by the other the wounds of the cross are proclaimed; for he says:

'Remember me, Lord, when thou shalt come into thy kingdom' (Luke 23). This is a devotion full to overflowing, that when the flowing blood is seen from the Lord's wounds, then pardon should be asked concerning His power; when His lowliness is seen, then His divinity should the more be held; when He is thought to be given over to death, then the honour of a king should be paid to Him. For this faithful thief did not believe that the one whom he announces as about to reign would die; he does not think that the one whom he confesses to have dominion in heaven would be made subject to the powers below; he does not judge that He, from whom he even asks to be freed, is detained in Tartarus. Let him behold His gaping wounds; let him gaze on His flowing blood: yet he believes Him to be God whom he knows not to be guilty; he confesses Him just whom he does not remember as a sinner:

for he says to that other thief who reviled: 'We indeed rightly receive things worthy of our deeds; but this man has done nothing evil' (ibid.). For he understood that He was receiving these blows for the sins of others, sustaining these wounds for the crimes of others; and he knew that those wounds in the body of Christ were not the wounds of Christ, but of the thief; and therefore he began to love Him the more, after he recognized his own wounds in His body. For the prophet says: 'Because He Himself bears our infirmities, and grieves for us; but we esteemed Him to be in grief, and by His bruise we are healed' (Isaiah 53). More therefore, set upon the cross and beholding His bruise, does the thief love God: a marvellous thing:

on the cross the thief loves Christ more than Judas loved Him at the supper: the one through food supplants his Master; this one believes the Lord through suffering, as the prophet says: 'He who ate my bread magnified his supplanting against me' (Psalm 41). This thief therefore recognized that the whole passion of the Lord came to pass by His own will, and that it was in His power either to deliver up His soul to death, or to return again to life, as the Lord Himself says: 'I have power to lay down my soul, and I have power to take it up again' (John 10); and so free from the laws of hell did he acknowledge Him, that he asked even to be freed by Him from them.