Isaac of Stella, Sermons

Christ, there were sacred rites. Hence the Apostle too: All were baptized under Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and they ate the same spiritual food, and drank the same spiritual drink (1 Cor. 10:1–4).

These, then, are those earthly things, yet spiritual nonetheless, which the earthly man does not believe for this reason, that he savours carnally, whereas they are examined spiritually; and therefore it is foolishness to him that a man can be born when he is old. Elegantly, in those ancient writings of which he was a master who did not believe the new things, this very nativity is commended. For, as those who are curious in such matters assert, there are by nature three different ways of those who are born to life: that is, either with the feet going first, the arms joined to the sides; or with the head going first, the arms disposed in the same way; or else with the arms crossed over the head itself as it comes first. But holy Jacob, so that the author of nature might signify something above nature by his singular birth, comes forth with his arm stretched out before his head, grasping with his hand the heel of the elder. What, then, does Jacob in this place signify, if not Christ, not at all according to His own person individually, but according to this, that the one and whole Christ is head and body? What is the arm that came forth before the head, if not the former people of the elect, anticipated by His grace before the temporal nativity of the Saviour; embracing the earlier age with the five ages of the world as a hand with its fingers; or else binding the carnal people with the five books of the law; while the rest of the body, the fullness of the gentiles together with the few believers from Israel, is joined together along either side; but the head is born in the middle; to which, however, once it is born, the arm that had come forth before is subordinated in its own place with the rest of the members, that He may be acknowledged as head of the whole Church, to Whom is given all power in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18); to Whom also every knee bends, since He has the name which is above every name? (Phil. 2:9–10) For there is no other name given to men under heaven, in which we must be saved (Acts 4:12). Whose day, as Abraham, so also the other saints of old rejoiced to see; they saw it, and were glad (John 8:56); Whom may it befall us also, dearly beloved, to see in the kingdom of His glory, with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SERMON XLIII. ON THE DAY OF PENTECOST, I.

The Holy Spirit, dearly beloved, is given today from the heavens; the same [Spirit], by the same [Giver], and to the same [men], was given once before on earth. And so it seems we must ask why He did this, by Whom nothing could be done without a reasonable cause. Yet He Who received at once and once for all the fullness of that Holy Spirit of Whom He was conceived distributed it to whom, and when, and as much as He willed. Hence the Apostle: To each of us grace has been given according to the measure of the gift of Christ (Eph. 4:7). He, then, Who, if it may be so put, measured it out, erred neither in person, nor in time, nor in quantity, nor did He make anyone His equal in the fullness either of power, or of virtue, or of glory. Who,

says, in the clouds shall be made equal to the Lord? or who shall be like, by way of equality, to God among the sons of God? (Ps. 88:7). What adopted son shall be made equal to the natural Son? who of the many to the Only-begotten? who of those born later to the Firstborn? who of those reborn of grace to Him born of the substance? who of those dragged out of the deepest darkness to Him born in light inaccessible? For He was not, like the others, called by being born out of darkness into light; but, born light from light, by being born of His own will He came to the darkness. As it is written, the light shone in the darkness, but the darkness did not comprehend it (John 1:5). For those who comprehended it were enlightened, and darkness did not remain. For there was once darkness, but now light in the Lord; and darkness was upon the whole face of the deep, and the Spirit of the Lord was borne over the waters (Gen. 1:2); and it was not sunk in the waters, nor was it choked; but it held the waters apart from the waters, and cherished and made them fruitful. So too over the hearts of all men there was the darkness of ignorance of good things, and they were weighed down by the torpor of difficulty in things to be done, tossing in the shifting flux of roving concupiscence, until they should be enlightened by Christ through the Spirit unto knowledge, as He says: He will lead you into all truth (John 16:13), and be kindled and made fruitful unto virtue. Hence the saying: Stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49), [and] should be loosened and melt like living waters leaping up into eternal life, as it is written: He shall send forth His word and melt them, His spirit shall blow and the waters shall flow (Ps. 147:18).

So the same Spirit was given from higher up, from heaven, unto power, who had before been given into the lower things, and is one day to be given from the highest unto the highest. He was given unto authority on earth, where principalities and powers still reign; He is given today unto power from heaven, because the struggle that remains is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12); He is to be given at last after the resurrection of bodies, when the Son shall have handed over the kingdom to God and the Father: when all principality and power shall be made void, and God shall be all in all (1 Cor. 15:24, 28), unto glory and peace, and gladness, and joy, and security, as it is written: You shall take away their breath and they shall fail; and they shall return to their dust. Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created, and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. May the glory of the Lord be for ever; the Lord shall rejoice in His works (Ps. 103:29–31). This is the gift of the princely spirit unto confirmation, after all infirmity: asking for which the Prophet says: With a princely spirit confirm me (Ps. 50:14), he who had already received the Holy Spirit unto justification, and a right spirit unto conversion. For by the right spirit we are directed to God; by the Holy Spirit we cleave to Him; by the princely spirit we do not depart from Him. By the right spirit we are corrected from evil; by the Holy Spirit we are strengthened unto good; by the princely spirit we are confirmed in it. By the right spirit we turn aside from evil; by the Holy Spirit

do good; by the princely spirit we dwell for ever and ever. On earth, then, He is given unto authority, from heaven unto power, from the presence of the Father unto confirmation. Of the authority it is said that He breathed on them, saying: Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose you retain, they are retained (John 20:22–23). And elsewhere: He gave them authority over all demons, and to cure diseases (Luke 9:1). Authority, then, lies in three things, that is, in casting out demons, in curing diseases, in forgiving sins, and fourthly also in conferring graces. All of which, though they are great, and works of divine power, as it is written: The works that I do you shall do, and greater than these you shall do (John 14:12), are nevertheless in a certain way outward, and work outwardly, and can be common to sons and not-sons, to the feigned and the true. For Judas too is believed to have done such things along with the other apostles; and at the judgement very many will say: Lord, did we not prophesy in Thy name, and in Thy name work signs? who shall nevertheless hear the harsh word: Depart from me, I do not know you (Matt. 7:22–23).

But blessed be God, who gave such authority to men; yet there was need of power, so that he who is mighty in others may be strong in himself. What profit is it, however great the authority, to cast a demon out of others through the grace of exorcism, and through pride, or envy, or anger, or sadness or acedia, or avarice, or gluttony, or lust, to have a demon dwelling in oneself, or even to be full of very many demons through very many vices? What does it avail to be able to forgive others their sins, and oneself not to be able to resist sin, or to come out of sin? Is any of you sick, says the Apostle? Let him bring in the presbyters of the Church, and they shall pray over the sick man (Jas. 5:14), though perhaps they are themselves sicker, or more deserving of sickness: and he shall be relieved of the sickness: above all of that which sin brought on, as the Apostle says of those who communicate unworthily: Therefore many among you are weak, and many sleep (1 Cor. 11:30). And if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him (Jas. 5:15): and very often by those who go about laden with sins, and cannot forgive themselves. A slave of sin forgives sin: as glorious in authority as he is shameful in weakness. Physician, He says, heal yourself (Luke 4:23). You who preach that one must not steal, why do you steal? You who teach others, teach yourself. But that he who is mighty may be able to do this, and that he who is mighty in others may be strong in himself, he who has received authority in one thing needs help from heaven, and to be clothed over with power from on high, as it is written: The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle (Ps. 23:8). Gloriously mighty to command demons, but profitably strong to resist vices. Peter worked miracles out of authority, but out of weakness he feebly denied at the voice of a little maidservant. Marvelling at this authority in the Saviour, the Jews say: Tell us by what authority You do these things (Matt. 21:23). Seeing this authority in the apostles, that Simon Magus deserved to hear: Your money be with you unto perdition (Acts 8:20). For not the power by which he [might be] strong

in heart against malice did he covet, but the authority by which he might appear glorious in deed. Some today, to speak by the leave of most, against the counsel of the Apostle, who says: Covet the better gifts (1 Cor. 12:31), plainly preferring the things of power to authority, covet the lesser things more, and the greater less; either glorying beyond measure in authority received, or perversely canvassing for authority not received, greedy of authority, careless of power, seeking rather to be lofty than lowly, to be over others rather than to be of use to them, to be able rather than to be. For to this authority are known to belong the things done by priests or bishops or prelates: blessings, consecrations, ordinations, exorcisms, and impositions of hands; prelacies, preachings, baptisms, absolutions, excommunications too, and above all the greatest authority, that of confecting the Eucharist.

In all these things, then, we think three things must be attended to above all: to what, of what kind, and why men approach, lest, that is, what is divine be thought human; or the proud, the avaricious, the unclean presume upon what belongs to the humble and holy; or, to finish briefly, lest those who need correction [presume upon] what is known to belong to the corrected, or think of something earthly or carnal amid things spiritual and heavenly. So far we have spoken of authority, with regard to which it is said of those who abuse it: The mighty shall mightily suffer torments, and for the stronger a stronger torture is at hand (Wis. 6:7). And elsewhere: He has put down the mighty from their seat, and exalted the humble (Luke 1:52). But power, which is given for the guarding of the soul, no one abuses. For power consists wholly in the truth of charity and in the charity of truth, enlightening from truth unto knowing as much as it inflames from charity unto loving. For as knowledge without charity puffs up, so charity without knowledge goes astray. Hence the Truth in the Gospel: When they have done these things to you, He says, they will think they are offering service to God (John 16:2). In the Apostle too charity, mourning over men of the like kind, says: I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge (Rom. 10:2). Knowledge, then, but without charity, puffs up; charity, but with knowledge, builds up. But when the disciples were today clothed with perfected power from on high, the Spirit was given them from heaven in the charity of fire and in ardour, leading them out of brightness into all truth, blazing out of ardour into all charity. So their strength dried up like a potsherd out of soft clay; their strength shone out like a lamp to our feet. For hence it is that those who a little before, in His passion, silent and fearful, all either deserted or denied the Lord, now eloquent and fervent say: We cannot but speak the things we have heard and seen. Judge for yourselves, they say, whether one ought rather to obey God or men (Acts 4:20, 19). O you men who a little before feared men as men, whence comes to you so sudden a fortitude, that henceforth you do not fear men, being now above men? You who a little before, for fear of the Jews, were shut up in narrow and dark

houses, how is it that now with such confidence you are speaking openly in the temple? Truly, as it is written: They that trust in the Lord shall change their strength (Isa. 40:31).

This, then, dearly beloved, this is the change of the right hand of the Most High. For the Spirit of the Lord adorned the heavens today, and by His midwife's hand the crooked serpent was drawn out (Job 26:13). The crooked serpent poured into our first parents and parricides, who killed us before they begot us, the seeds of all crookednesses. So the crooked serpent was drawn out with his crookednesses, because the prince of this world is cast out: and now, coming to the disciples, he has nothing in them either. For the Spirit filled the whole world; and He who has knowledge of the voice forms tongues for every kind of word (Wis. 1:7). Hence it is that the Spirit both filled the whole house and bore the shape of a tongue, the Spirit who for the reason given above came in fire. Now, then, is the judgement of the world, as once there was of heaven. For as then, when Leviathan was cast down and the crooked serpent conquered, heaven was cleansed, and the Spirit of the Lord, that is, the charity of God, filled and adorned the heavens, that is, the angels confirmed in charity: so now too, the world being judged and the devil cast out with his crookednesses, the heavens which tell the glory of God are cleansed; and, the charity of God being poured out through the Holy Spirit in their hearts, they are filled, adorned, confirmed, so that fear is cast out, and they speak the word of God with confidence. For these are the crookednesses and windings of serpents: to fear what is not to be feared, not to fear what is to be feared. Infected with this venom Peter wasted away, even to the threefold denial. Likewise to love what is not to be loved, and not to love what is to be loved. In this too Judas sinned, unjustly betraying just blood. These, then, are the origins of all crookednesses and vices, and the fountains of evils: and when charity dries them up, it fills the whole, it possesses the whole; and, containing all things, it leads into all knowledge of the truth. For the Spirit of the Lord today filled the whole world: and, the world that lies in the evil one being rejected, the whole of it existed in seed in those alone whom the Spirit filled today. For of them it is written: For He has established the world, which shall not be moved (Ps. 92:1). For it is established by power from on high through the coming of the Paraclete, so that it may not be moved by fear or love to will to sin, it that shall yet be confirmed by the presence of the Father's face, so that on no occasion can it sin. But now charity fills the whole, power contains all things, truth illumines all through knowledge. But then the one God will be all in all, the unfailing fountain of charity, power and truth.

Power, then, which charity inflames and truth illumines, is prudent, sober, patient and just. Through prudence it avoids rashnesses, presumptuous novelties, deceitful counsels, and knowledge falsely so called, the wiles of Satan, and the snares of the malicious. And, to say it briefly, it tramples the dragon, and swiftly crushes under its feet Satan transforming himself into an angel of light. Through sobriety