Muratori, first of all, restored to Saint Maximus of Turin this homily, which had been usurped among the sermons of Saint Ambrose. For he found it in the Ambrosian codex 98, of which we have often made mention, and published it, with very many others drawn from the same manuscripts, in volume IV of his Anecdota. Up to now it has appeared adorned with this testimony in the subsequent editions of Maximus's works. We illustrate the same on the authority of codex 99 of Santa Croce in Jerusalem, where it is on p. 160, sermon 93, and we do not hesitate to assert it for the holy prelate of Turin, since both the manner of expression and the subject of the matter suit him.
Perhaps it moves you, brethren, that we hear continually of the tumults of wars and the incursions of battles; and why they come to pass in our times perhaps moves your beloved company still more. But the cause is this: that the nearer we are to the ruin of the world, the nearer we are to the kingdom of the Savior. For the Lord Himself says that in the last days nation shall rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom (Mark XIII [text has XXXI]); and elsewhere: 'When you shall see wars, and earthquakes, and famines, know that the kingdom of God is near at hand' (Matt. XXIV). Therefore this nearness of wars shows that Christ is the nearer to us.
And therefore I ought not to fear the enemy as he comes, because through these very signs I understand rather that the Saviour is coming; for although the enemy strikes a temporal terror, the Saviour nonetheless brings everlasting salvation. And the same Lord is mighty both to drive from us the dread of the foe and to bestow upon us His own presence. Through these tumults of war, then, a certain destruction of the world is signified; for this disquiet goes before the coming judgment of God. And it is itself a certain judgment of God's commotion to behold what you may dread. For while we are watchful toward the things we see, we are made the more careful toward those things we hope for.
But the wise man is instructed by these earthly events how he ought to evade the judgment of the age to come; for while he observes that in this common disturbance the leading men prepare their defenses upon the walls, he himself is admonished how, in the future overthrow of the world, he should prepare a defense for his soul. We see the gates of the city armed; we too ought first to arm within us the gates of righteousness, of which the holy prophet said: «Open to me the gates of righteousness» (Psalm 118). And then the gate of the city will be able to be fortified, if first within us the gates of righteousness are fortified. For it profits nothing to fortify the walls with ramparts and to provoke God with sins.
For that city is established with iron, stones, and stakes, but this one is armed with mercy, innocence, and chastity; that one is guarded by a multitude of weapons, but this one is defended by the frequency of prayers. And for the full protection of cities the standards are wont to go before the gates of the princes: let the sign of the Saviour go before the gates of our souls. Therefore, brethren, in view of the coming judgment let us fortify ourselves with heavenly arms; let us gird ourselves with the breastplate of faith, let us be protected by the helmet of salvation, let us be defended by the word of God, the spiritual sword; for whoever has been furnished with these arms neither fears the present disturbance nor dreads the judgment to come.
Indeed the holy David, protected by this devotion, slew that mightiest Goliath, armed though he himself was unarmed, and, by the power of faith alone, laid low that warlike man hedged about on every side with defenses. For the holy David was not covered with a helmet, nor girded with a sword, nor did he make use of a lance; yet he slew him not with an iron weapon, but with a spiritual sword. For although to the eyes of men he seemed unarmed, he was nonetheless sufficiently armed with the grace of the Godhead. Yet that spiritual sword was not a sword; for Goliath was laid low and fell, not by a sword, but by a stone. We read in the Scriptures that by the term «stone» Christ is figuratively designated, as the prophet says:
«The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner» (Psalm 118). Therefore, when Goliath is struck with the stone, he is overthrown by the power of Christ. And in what part of the body, at last, is he overthrown? In the forehead, namely; the sacrilegious man is a heathen, and there he is struck by Christ, where Christ was lacking; and there deadly destruction is brought upon him, where the sign of salvation is not found. For although Goliath was fortified on every side with the protection of arms, his forehead nonetheless lay open to death, because he did not bear the seal of the Saviour. And therefore he is struck there, where he is found bare of the grace of God. And there is no one who does not know that these things were done as a figure. For David too had first girded himself with the garments of arms;
but since he was in them heavy and hampered, so that he could scarcely walk, he cast them off without delay, signifying that arms of that kind are vain and luxurious works, in which whoever wishes to entangle himself, being weighted down, will not have a free course for walking toward heaven. And at the same time he taught us this also, that victory is not to be hoped for in arms alone, but is to be prayed for in the name of the Saviour.