Isaac of Stella, Sermons

usefulness: that one has the Judge as one's excuser, and the avenger as one's pardoner. Cunning fraud, knowing this, once it has crept through the delight of sin into the consent of the mind, at once tries to shut the door of the mouth upon itself; and lest it should at some time be dragged out by confession, it binds the tongue with the chain of greed, fear and shame. For these are the three things that hinder confession. But Thou, Lord Jesus, who openest and no one shuts, Who didst appear for this, to undo the works of the devil, cast out from me Thy servant all delight in sin, so that I may repent with a contrite heart; with a better desire, a stronger fear, a wiser shame, loose for me the chain of my tongue, so that by confessing I, once dumb, may speak, so that the crowds may marvel, not only of men but of angels and even of demons. For we have been made a spectacle to this world, to angels and to men, good and evil (1 Cor. 4:9). Make them, then, marvel at the speech of Thy servant, not only of his mouth but of his works: for works too are words. Let it speak, I beseech Thee, the humility of Thy servant, Thy sublimity, the profit of his neighbour: and all these with mouth, heart and deed. Let him not blush to confess to one in the ear, lest he be confounded before many to his face. Let him not fear, as one lost, to lose what cannot but be lost; lest he lose what can be kept for ever. Let him not dread, as one of no account, to fall from a hope that often deceives, lest he truly fall from the reality that always restores. Nor are those whom Thou hast set over us, O Lord, wise and good, so foolish or so wicked that they either do not know how, or neglect, to suffer with our infirmities. But while we are oppressed by the foolish and dumb one, we foolishly indeed and wickedly suspect the prudent and the good. Therefore cast out from us this most wicked and dumb spirit, Thou, Lord, who art the Word of the Father, so that through the word of power and truth we may receive back the word of praise and of confession: who with the Father and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON XXXIX. ON THE SAME FEAST II

By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he casts out demons (Luke 11:15). As you see, dearest ones, the malice of the day presses upon us, so that we cannot draw out the sermon as is our custom. Sufficient, says the Saviour, for the day is its own malice (Matt. 6:34). But in these perilous times the day is not sufficient for its malice; for the days are evil. Wicked characters, then, dearly beloved, and those inflamed by envy, have this as their own: that they ignore another's praise while they can, and when, overcome by the evidence, they cannot, they either lessen it or twist it. Hence it is that, while the crowd rejoiced out of devotion and marvelled at the works of Christ, the Scribes and Pharisees always either ignored what they knew to be true, or lessened what was great, or twisted what was good. For in one place, ignoring them, they say to the worker of many and wonderful signs: What sign do you do, that we may believe you? (John 6:30) But here, what they cannot shamelessly deny, they maliciously pick at, seeking a sign from heaven, as though this were earthly and

were base; and they twist it, saying: By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he casts out demons. This, dearly beloved, is that blasphemy against the Spirit which binds those it once takes hold of with the chain of eternal guilt. Not that it is denied to the penitent, if he has produced fruits worthy of penance, that all should be forgiven; but that, crushed by the weight of such malignity, he can by no means breathe again unto a worthy penance, to which pardon ought to be granted. For by the deep and just judgement of God, whoever, plainly perceiving the grace of God and the working of the Holy Spirit in his brother, since he cannot deny it, does not fear, goaded by envy, to twist it and slander it, and shamelessly to ascribe to the evil spirit what he truly knows to be of the Holy Spirit, is so forsaken by the very Spirit of grace to whom he does insult that, his own malice darkening and blinding him, he never wishes to repent so as to be able to obtain pardon. For what is graver than that, out of envy of a brother, whom one is commanded to love as oneself, a man should presume to blaspheme the goodness of God, which he ought to love above himself, and to do insult to the Majesty, while he desires to disparage a man? With all watchfulness, then, my brethren, let us guard our hearts from this plague of malice, that is, from hatred of another's happiness, which, if we love it, by loving we make our own as well. This is that viper mother which gave birth to death for the world. For by the envy of the devil death entered into the whole world (Wis. 2:24). He indeed, just as he was the first proud one, so was he also the first envious one: who, just as he begot arrogance from himself, so together with it and from it he begot envy. For he was not arrogant and afterwards envious, but altogether at once, because the arrogant man is envious, and no arrogant man is not envious. The envious man, therefore, must be arrogant: the one follows, the other is necessary, both are true. Arrogance is the craving for one's own glory, envy the hatred of another's. There is, besides, another arrogance, which may be called animal and earthly, namely the desire for temporal things, which bears for itself a daughter of its own kind, that is, carnal or worldly envy; for as the mother is, so is the daughter: but the parent and offspring spoken of before are the spiritual wickednesses in the heavenly places.

Therefore, dearly beloved, whoever desires to be free of all envy, let him strip himself of all arrogance. For there is nothing in the whole crooked and perverse generation of vices that so opposes the love of God and of neighbour as arrogance and envy of either kind. Hence, just as that [love] is the summit of the virtues, so these are the depth of the vices. Nevertheless, as it is written, wisdom always overcomes malice (Wis. 7:30). But just as love [overcomes] by suffering, for love is patient and bears all things, so wisdom [overcomes] by reasoning: for it is itself the Word. But since the Lord Jesus is both in substance, that is, love and wisdom, He hears slander patiently, and shuts up slander wisely, according to the prophecy uttered of Him long ago: He will save the children of the poor, and will humble the slanderer (Ps. 71:4). For He saved the poor man oppressed by the demon, and the slandering

Pharisee He refuted most keenly, saying: Every kingdom divided against itself shall be laid waste. As if He were saying: I came for this, to destroy the kingdom of the devil from among men, and to build up in men the kingdom of God. But if I have brought it about that Satan casts out Satan from men, without any doubt I have gained My purpose. For the adversary is divided in himself, and desolation will follow division: hence his kingdom, divided against itself, will of necessity be laid waste, and once laid waste it will be scattered and will fall. For as the smallest things grow by concord and counsel, so the greatest are worn away by discord and desolation. Therefore He says: Coming into the world, among the demons themselves, between the flesh and the spirit, between demons also and men, and among men themselves between the children of darkness and the children of light, I have sent not peace but the sword (Matt. 10:34). And Paul wisely divided from one another the Pharisees and Sadducees who were banded together to his ruin against him: so that he whom their concord could easily have destroyed escaped by their division. The head of victory, then, is to break up the concord of those who have conspired against one, and to send discord among the enemy is the highest prudence. Further, that their malice was lying, He proves, saying:

If I cast out demons by Beelzebub, your sons, that is, the apostles from among the Jews, by whom do they cast them out? If I have a prince: whom do they have, who likewise cast out demons? For it is not the case that, as many demons can be in one man, so also one can be in many. Therefore they themselves shall be your judges, truthful ones, who know now from their own case that you accusers are liars. So, if Satan casts out Satan, his kingdom cannot stand; but it must give way to the kingdom of God, which I preach. But if it is not by Beelzebub but by the finger of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has altogether come upon you. Before Me indeed the kingdom of the devil, being divided, will not be able to stand, just as not even the devils themselves [can stand] before Me and Mine. Therefore, whether, as you lie, or as is the truth, I cast out demons, Satan is certainly conquered, and those who are of his kingdom will be conquered, and those who with him scatter against Me away from unity and truth; but those who are with Me, and gather with Me unto unity and love, will conquer. For the kingdom of the devil is cupidity, which will be destroyed; but the kingdom of God is love, which never falls. If, then, I am so strong that I rule even over the prince of the demons, so that at My command he rages against his own and scatters his own kingdom and his household; who are you, who presume to resist? And that He has conquered him and has power over him, He proves thus: When a strong man armed, etc. As if He were saying: If that prince, strong formerly against men born in sin because of the weakness of sin, held his own in peace and quiet subjection, yet I, conceived, born and living without any sin at all, and therefore stronger than demon and man, coming upon him, have bound the oppressor and subjected him to My dominion, and freed the oppressed; and not only have I plundered him, but, as you say, I have brought it about that he casts himself out at My command: why do you, more obstinate than the demons, try to resist?

You see, dearly beloved, that the wise are caught in their own craftiness, that malice is plainly overcome by wisdom; and that, whichever way perversity turns, it is shut in by the assertions of truth. Let us, then, with humble supplication ask the kind Jesus that He may deign to cast out from us every kind of demon, to loose our tongue from every hindrance to confession, our will too and affection from every desire of this world, our reason from all ignorance, our freedom from every difficulty, so that we may will, know and be able to be always with Him here, and to gather with Him, until at last we are gathered by Him to Him, and to our Fathers; following whose Rules and Institutes we shall surely be recognized by them as sons, and shall be gathered to God, the common Father of all, Who will then be known from the least to the greatest, His Only-begotten revealing Him to all: Who with Him and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON XL. ON EASTER DAY

If you have risen together with Christ, seek the things that are above (Col. 3:1). Truly, dearly beloved, as blessed Gregory says, the loving-kindness of God has overcome our hardness, and indeed has surpassed all human loving-kindness. For great is the bond of affection and of human covenant between husband and wife. For on her account a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be now not two but one flesh. Yet this the divine clemency, wonderful towards us, plainly surpasses, as wonderfully as mercifully. For which reason Scripture contains: If a woman leaves her husband, and departing takes another, will she ever return to him again? Will not such a woman be defiled and polluted? She will not return, because she has committed fornication and is polluted, and that perhaps once only. But you, Scripture continues, speaking to the soul under the figure of Judaea, have committed fornication with many lovers, and yet return to Me, says the Lord (Jer. 3:1). The Gospel also allows spouses to be separated for fornication alone. The loving-kindness of God, after a thousand fornications of body and soul, calls back with tears the souls that have turned away, crying out, as it were, behind their backs; those who return He gently embraces, and sweetly kisses with the kiss of His holy mouth; and those who remain He brings into the wine cellar, where they are inebriated with the plenty of His house; and, inebriated and estranged from the sense of the flesh by the strength of the wine, He brings them into the bedchamber, where, putting His left hand under her head, He embraces her with His right: where, sleeping in the flesh but watching in the heart, she may say: I to my beloved, and my beloved to me: he shall abide between my breasts (Song 1:12). There is also a second covenant of human affection, between parent and offspring, which nevertheless the pure, gratuitous and prevenient loving-kindness of God towards the rational soul surpasses, as Scripture witnesses, which says: Can a woman forget the infant of her womb, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? (Isa. 49:15): which would surely be so cruel, so inhuman, so bestial, that

it would exceed even the hardness of the Furies, as it is written: Even the lamias have bared the breast, they have suckled their young. And though she should forget, yet I will not forget you, says the Lord (Lam. 4:3; Isa. 49:15). We indeed, we, alas, wretched ones! either easily forget Him or proudly despise Him; but He, by that loving-kindness of His which is Himself, lovingly remembers those who forget Him, and is attentive to those who despise Him, and takes care of those who do not ask. For just as, when no one yet existed, no one asked, no one could merit, that he should be created: so, when all were in an evil state under sin, no one could merit, no one deserved to be heard, that he should be redeemed. Who ever either asked this, or presumed to conceive it, that God should hand over His Son, so that a wicked and worthless servant should not perish? The third, finally, and the strongest by which there is a bond of human love, is between body and soul; for no one can in any way not love himself. Hence this love of oneself in man has seemed to the divine Scriptures a thing to be moderated rather than commanded.

This bond, then, the divine mercy, surpassing and superabounding, broke in itself for us, as bravely as mercifully, so that nothing might be lacking to that most excellent love than which no one has greater, that one lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Father, He says, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me. Nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt (Matt. 26:39). How, I ask, could God empty Himself more than by becoming man; [and being] man, than by dying; God the Lord, than by being made a servant; a servant, than by dying shamefully? Let us condemn him, it says, to a shameful death (Wis. 2:20). The Innocent was reckoned among the wicked; the Holy One was handed over into the hands of the ungodly; yet He freely gave up His soul to death, and was reckoned with the transgressors. The Holy One, then, suffered unholy things from the unholy, while working holy things. What loving-kindness is so wonderful, except that it is divine, unless perhaps it is the more wonderful as it is the more divine, since He who alone does wonders is surely Himself alone wonderful above all? Why say more? I confess I do not know whether it should be called more or less wonderful than divine. For what wonder is it if God is most loving; and how, if one may so speak, is it not most gentle that He is so loving towards His enemies and the ungodly? Marvelling likewise at all this, the Apostle says: When we were still wicked, why did He die for the ungodly? (Rom. 5:6) Yet it befitted an immeasurable loving-kindness to have given wonderful signs of loving-kindness. The death and resurrection of Christ, therefore, which were accomplished for our death and resurrection, as it is written: He was handed over for our offences, and rose again for our justification (Rom. 4:25), cannot be other than single: but our death, as it is double, so it needs a double resurrection. The first death, then, is that of the soul, when because of the evil of disobedience it is forsaken by God, its life: and this death life swallows up through the resurrection by which the just man lives by faith. For while the body remains dead because of sin, the spirit nevertheless lives because of justification, when it submits itself to God through obedience, as it is written

: Shall not my soul be subject to God? for from Him is my salvation (Ps. 61:2). For as, when it withdraws from God, it withdraws from life and falls into the first death, so, when it approaches God, it approaches life and finds the first resurrection. Blessed, says the apostle John, are they who have part in the first resurrection; for the second death shall not hurt them (Rev. 2:11), that is, the death of the body, since it will not send them to the third death, which is the eternal death of soul and body together: rather it will help them, freeing them and leading them out of the prison of the body, until they return to that which was sown animal and will rise spiritual, to a body conformed to the body of Christ's glory, which is the second resurrection, regenerating the whole man at once unto life. But that beloved and blessed soul of the Saviour, which came to pay what it did not steal, though weak because of another's sin, yet strengthened against sin of its own, as it is written: In Thee I have been strengthened from the womb (Ps. 70:6); as it could not fall into the death of sin, so neither [could it] rise from sin into the life of justice. For once united to the Word of life, as by a personal union, so also by the love of justice it clung indissolubly, exulting above all and saying: It is good for me to cleave to God (Ps. 72:28). And this: He who cleaves to God is one spirit (1 Cor. 6:17).

In Christ, then, who as man subsists of a rational soul and human flesh, and as Christ subsists of God and man, there are as it were two bonds, and different conditions. For the one condition is that of divinity and humanity, binding the essence of Christ according as He is Mediator of God and men, altogether indissoluble; and it admits neither death nor resurrection. For the humanity, once assumed by the divinity, has never suffered divorce, nor received a bill of repudiation; but the sacrament of this blessed wedlock, and of the venerable nuptials and the undefiled bed, remains great and eternal; having this as its authority and defence: What God has joined, let no man put asunder (Matt. 19:6). But the condition of flesh and soul, binding the humanity alone, did not indeed deserve dissolution by any wages of its own sin; yet, in order that, loosed, it might loose us from the cords of sins which had wound about us, and, bound back to God, might bind back to Him us who had been loosed from Him, by a wonderful design of the sacrament it both met death and found resurrection; having from the divine mercy and patience this promise: Destroy this temple, and in three days I will rebuild it (John 2:19). You, destroy; I will rebuild. I who built yours will rebuild Mine. You who deserved the destruction of yours, destroy Mine. Destroy it, not by the desert of My iniquity, nor by the command of your power, but by the laying down of My will. For no one takes My life from Me; but I, when I will, lay it down, and again, when I will, take it up (John 10:18). He indeed could raise Himself up who, dead in the flesh alone, lived. And so according to this condition alone Christ both could and would die and rise again; in which, as has been said, both to the divinity