Isaac of Stella, Sermons

it reins in concupiscence, and cools the heat of the springs within, walking upon the asp and the basilisk, while through abstinence it flees the kindlers of pleasure, and through love of poverty it eludes the servants of avarice. Through patience it comes about that it now fears no one; it is snatched from fear of the enemies who kill the body and afterwards have nothing they can do; having had trial of mockings and scourgings, and besides of chains and prisons, stonings, sawings asunder, and deaths of every kind cruelly devised, it bravely overcomes them, trampling the lion, and triumphing by greatness of soul over all the rage of the devil's contriving, that is, over the spirit of faint-heartedness as much as that of the storm (Heb. 11:36–37). Through justice it keeps equity towards all, accepts no one's person, does good to whom it can, wishes well to all, pays its debt to the wise and the unwise, loves all as itself, takes care above all of those of its household. And it which conquered the demons through the other virtues becomes meanwhile through justice like the angels, until by the third gift of the Holy Spirit it may be their equal. Behold, most beloved, what kind of men, and how strong, the Spirit made today by the second gift from on high, He who made them mighty by the first gift below, and will make them glorious by the third on the summit. Well, most beloved, about authority and power, which the Lord has given, we have argued the more scrupulously the less we have of them! But about glory, when we shall be glorious, the argument will be as easy as the possession will be happy: which may the Holy Spirit deign to grant us, who with the Father and the Son lives and reigns God, for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON XLIV. ON THE SAME FEAST II

Eat, my friends; and drink and be inebriated, dearly beloved (Song 5:1). By custom the vintage is kept after the harvest; and the ordering of the seasons is known to serve the heavenly sacraments. The face of creation too is lit up for beholding the face of the Creator. For from the creation of the world the invisible things of God are clearly seen, being understood through the things that are made (Rom. 1:20). So this visible world serves its lord, that is, man, for his sustenance; it serves also for his instruction. A good servant feeds, instructs, sustains and teaches, if he does not have a bad master. The teaching of God is outside, in creation; the image of God is within, in the soul; and between these two great lights, the greater light and the lesser light, which rule the day and the night, the blind man, as if without light, gropes with his hand all day and night. Foolish and wretched, he whose eyes are on the ends of the earth, so that he sees nothing but darkness, forces the whole world to serve his belly and his back: he who does not know why the world was made. He thinks, moreover, that God made so great a world for the sake of so small a belly. O how very evil is the fire of the belly! which consumes so much, and still says: Bring, bring (Prov. 30:15). Some, alas! the belly has driven to so great a surrender that it is worshipped by them as if it were God; and for its command He who is the true God is despised. Such men, most beloved, while they themselves sit down to eat

and to drink, and afterwards rise up to play, the Apostle mourns, saying: Many walk, of whom I have often told you, and now tell you even weeping, enemies of the cross of Christ: whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame (Phil. 3:18–19). When such people hear from the divine Scriptures what we have just set before you: Eat, friends; and drink and be inebriated, dearest ones; and things like these, nothing can have any savour for them beyond their accustomed flavours and usual relishes. For use makes the master, and custom is a second nature. When such people are reproved for such things by us and by others, they say: Why did the Lord make these things, if not that we should use them? Is then every use of everything in the mouth? Truly then all the labour of man is for his mouth.

But we, most beloved, whose spirit is God, just as in things made we behold things intelligible, so also in fleshly words let us behold things spiritual; above all today, when the Spirit has been sent from heaven, we ought not to doubt that we shall be helped to search out spiritual things. At the earlier solemnity of Easter, then, we reaped our bread from heaven; for it was gathered and threshed, when it was seized and scourged, and ground fine by many questionings and inquiries among Jews and Gentiles, and at last baked through in the fire of the passion and the oven of the cross: the bread which came down from heaven and gives life to the world (John 6:33). Eat this, friends: this which enemies prepared. For, as is written elsewhere: He who is a fool shall serve the wise (Prov. 11:29). Others have laboured, enter into their labours. Eat then, friends, and eat for this reason, that you may be friends: for he who scorns to eat can by no means be a friend. The angel eats, as a citizen and one of the household, with full mouth, and in the voice of exultation and praise is filled with the fat of the wheat. Let the pilgrim and poor man eat, according to his small measure, the flour with the bran, lest, not being refreshed at least with such provision for the way, he fail on the journey he has begun. If I send them away, He says, quite fasting, they will faint on the way: for they have come from afar (Mark 8:3), and they have stayed three days, for the sake of faith in the Trinity. For Jesus does not trust Himself to the faithless.

Today, then, as if after such a harvest, a like vintage is celebrated. For fifty days after holy Easter that Spirit, the Paraclete, in Whom is the whole sabbath-rest of the saints, from evil work, and in good work, and above all work in tranquillity and peace, flowed abundantly from the fullness of the true vine, whose Father is the husbandman, into the hearts of the disciples: and He filled the most purified and most firmly bound storehouses of their minds, by the Son of God, with strong and clear wine. For the Spirit of the Lord, sent from the Father and the Son, filled the whole world, and claiming the whole for Himself by His strength, held all things together, memory, sense, will; and, after the manner of the strongest wine, estranging it utterly from itself, He taught it the knowledge which He had of the voice, so that, soberly sober, it was not moved, ruled, or made to speak by its own sense and spirit, but all things were done by the heat, the fragrance and the power of the wine. Rightly then did the Jews think them drunk with new wine whom the Spirit

had filled (Acts 2:13). They were indeed inebriated, but with the plenty of the house of God. For the Son is the house of the Father, and the Father the house of the Son. Do you not know, He says, that the Father is in Me, and I in the Father? (John 14:10.) And the plenty and fullness of both is the Holy Spirit; the torrent too of their pleasure, from which these men had been given drink and inebriated: in the Father and the Son an unfailing fountain of plenty, for the disciples a torrent of pleasure, and from them a flooding torrent of the glory of the nations. The Spirit, Who is neither wine nor water in His proper being, is called both by likeness: wine, because He inebriates with the fervour of charity; water, because He cools from the heat of covetousness. Longing for this water the Prophet says: Spare me, that I may be refreshed, before I depart (Ps. 38:14). To this He was inviting Who stood and cried: If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink, and rivers of living water shall flow from his belly (John 7:37–38). This, says the Evangelist, He said of the Spirit, which those believing in Him were to receive. See, since none drink this wine, or this water, except those who believe in Him, just as none eat that bread except those who stay with Him three days: let us stay and eat; let us believe and drink; let us eat, that we may be made friends; let us drink, that, made dearest by charity, we may be inebriated. For charity is mixed like wine, above all where wisdom sets her table, mixes her wine, and calls the little ones to the banquet. For humility alone is invited to the banquet of wisdom, where the bread is truth, the wine charity; and charity is also poured out like water, where it is granted for washing. This order is surely fitting, that one about to approach the table should first wash his hands. Wash yourselves, He says, be clean (Isa. 1:16). And elsewhere: If the Lord shall wash away the filth of the daughters of Sion, by the spirit of judgement and the spirit of burning (Isa. 4:4). Longing for this, the Prophet prays: Wash me yet more, O Lord, from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin (Ps. 50:4). And elsewhere: I will wash my hands among the innocent, and I will compass Thine altar, O Lord (Ps. 25:6).

The altar of the Lord is the table from which we eat and drink the flesh of Christ, which is truly food, and His blood, which is truly drink. Baptism washes, the altar feeds; but without charity, which is the fruit, neither profits. Charity therefore accomplishes the whole, and without it whatever is done avails nothing. Charity, then, is water, which washes; wine, which inebriates. It washes from vices, it inebriates with virtues. It washes those defiled by love of this world, it inebriates those cleansed with love of God. It washes those soiled by love of self, it inebriates those purified with love of neighbour. And charity is the Spirit, for the Spirit is charity. So truth feeds, charity gives drink, power strengthens. Truth is the Son, charity the Spirit, the Father power. Through truth and charity, which were sent to us for our sake, we shall come to power, when we come to the Father. And the Father will bestow fullness in every way, as it is written: I shall be satisfied when Thy glory appears (Ps. 16:15). And that wondrous fullness from the face of the Father will confer perfect strength, will take away all suffering of hunger and thirst,

as it is written: They shall not hunger nor thirst any more (Rev. 7:16). That eternal banquet will give every delight without weariness, and will long for it without suffering. Then we shall eat and drink there, as the Son, Who does not deceive, promises here, with Him at His table in the kingdom of His Father, at that sublime altar, in the sight of the divine majesty; bright with truth, glowing with charity, strong with power. Meanwhile, then, let us taste with Christ, by sharing in this lower altar, what He Himself tasted for us; sitting at the table of the rich man Who for us became poor, let us prepare the like, that we may be enriched by His poverty and enjoy riches with Him Whose poverty we do not flee. Here we eat and drink the corn of the elect and the wine that brings forth virgins, and invite Him to us, that, as it is written, He may come in to us and sup with us. But since we are lukewarm, and either easily forget such a guest or scorn to invite Him, see, He stands at the door and knocks: and if anyone opens to Him, He comes in and sups with him. Let us open to Him, most beloved, and out of our want let us gladly and devoutly refresh His abundance, that one day we may be filled with the good things of His house, by His gift, Who lives and reigns, God, for all ages of ages. Amen.

SERMON XLV. ON THE SAME FEAST III.

The charity of God is poured out in our hearts, through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us (Rom. 5:5). It was too little, most beloved, that the Son of God should be given to us, as it is written: A little child is born to us, a son is given to us (Isa. 9:6), unless the Holy Spirit too were bestowed on us. Will the Father Himself also one day be bestowed on us, so that we who are nothing may receive the whole, and we who lost our whole humanity may be gifted with the whole divinity? Who has heard such things? We were blind; a light was born in the darkness to enlighten us. And this is the birth of Christ for us, from us, in us: what He received for us, He also conferred on us; and this is Christ's baptism for us, as it were another birth, by which we might be born in Him Who had been born in us: and as He in us, so also we in Him: He through the Holy Spirit son of man from the Virgin Mary, we through the same Spirit sons of God from the Virgin Church. We were evil servants under sin; He served well for us, obedient to the Father in justice, by His obedience paying the debt of our service. And this is the life of Christ for us. We were sons of death because of sin; for the wages of sin is death: He, dying for us, expiated the guilt of our offence: and this is the death of Christ for us. See, most beloved, for you whose birth was unclean, life perverse, death perilous, all things have now through the grace of Christ been changed for the better, as the title of the psalm has it: For those who shall be changed (Ps. 44:1). For birth is now holy, as it is written: That which shall be born of you holy (Luke 1:35); life just: My just one, He says, lives by faith (Heb. 10:38); death victory: But thanks be to God, Who has given us

the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 15:57). Why then, I ask you, if so great a bestowal of graces is established for us by the earlier solemnities, was there need of the favour of today's celebration? What was lacking to those perfectly reconciled, that ought to have been added? He Who gave us His Son: How has He not with Him given us all things? (Rom. 8:32.) Whether Paul, or Cephas, or Apollo, are not all things ours, if we are Christ's? Leaving aside that this visible world with all its elements, and the elements themselves with all their fullness and adornment, serve us, are not all the angels ministering spirits, sent to minister for the sake of those who take the inheritance of salvation? (Heb. 1:14.) This is little. God, the Son of God, and Himself man, the son of man, came not to be ministered to by us, but to minister to us, and to lay down His beloved soul, which He gave as a redemption for many (Matt. 20:28). Who ever saw the like? Our Lord is everywhere our minister. For us He is born, for us He lives, for us He dies, for us He rises again, for us He ascends, as it is written: If not, I would have told you: I go to prepare a place for you (John 14:2). For those from whom He takes away a place in the world He prepares a place in heaven; for us He will come again from heaven: I will come again, He says, to you, and will take you to Myself (ibid. 14:3). Truly He Who made us does all things for our sake: why then do we not do all things for His?

But see again, what need was there of this solemnity? What more than these will another Paraclete do? We did God an injury; but, as is commonly said, we made it right with Him, we paid the principal of the claim, and gave a pledge, as they say, for the forfeit; we took man away from Him, we gave Him back a better; we stole a servant, we paid back a Son. What more? We entered the suit, we heard the complaint, we were convicted, we restored everything according to the judgement. Can these things not suffice? Certainly: but for redemption, not for grace; for justice, not for friendship. See, he is just as to the past: what will he do about the future, who falls seven times a day? He whose senses are prone to evil from his youth, who will keep him in good: or if he falls, who will lift him up? Woe to him who is alone: if he falls, there is none to lift him up. I dare to say, without the Spirit Christ is alone. For he who has Christ alone, without the Spirit, is alone. For it is not without cause that the Spirit is sent after Christ: It is expedient for you, He says, that I go, otherwise the Paraclete will not come (John 16:7). Let us speak simply, above all for the sake of the simple and unlettered brethren, who do not understand those who speak above the talk of the crossroads. A powerful man settles accounts with his servant. Accused of the loss brought on him, he convicts him, holds him convicted, reproves him, chokes him, until he pays the last farthing and gives judicial satisfaction for the injury. What then? He is released, it is said to him: Go, and now sin no more, lest something worse befall you (John 5:14). You are free; but if you fall into my hands, you will not escape thus: For it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Lord (Heb. 10:31). But what servant will be able to guard himself against the occasions his lord finds against him?

How will he be able to endure, if his lord wishes to watch him in all things, to forgive nothing, to impute everything? Unhappy the servant to whom his lord imputes every sin. Therefore the servant who is wise, after he has restored everything to his lord, seeks his favour for what follows, and his love for what remains, and good peace for the future, that he may not wish to seek occasions against him or readily to receive an accuser; and after all, he does not omit the kiss, as the seal of charity and peace.

This, most beloved, is the grace of the present day. We were convicted of robbery, and what we could not pay, Christ paid for us. We were made free, but not yet friends; we escaped as to the past, but we were not secure as to the future; and who will be able to stand again against His justice, if His charity remits nothing: who will be able to hide himself from Him, if charity does not cover? All this, which we treat at such length, the prophet David considered and dispatched in few words: Before the face of His cold, he says, that is, before the rigour of His unbending justice, which watches and imputes all things, who shall endure? He shall send forth, he says, His word, that is Christ, and shall melt them, that is, shall loose them. For Christ, Who came to undo the works of the devil, looses all things: His spirit shall blow, he says (Ps. 147:18), as today, when there came a sound from heaven, as of a spirit coming, that is, of a mighty wind (Acts 2:2): and the waters which were loosed by the Word shall flow without hindrance into eternal life. So grace is given through the Holy Spirit after justice; and the servant who was released free through the Son is made a friend today through the Spirit. Today, after receiving justice for the injury, the Lord kisses the servant, nay, the friend kisses the friend with the kiss of His mouth. For if the Son is rightly understood as the mouth of the Father, the Spirit is rightly called the kiss of the mouth. The kiss, then, is the seal of love and charity for the time to come. For the charity is poured out in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, Who has been given to us. Charity covers all things, imputes nothing, bears all things, excuses all things, forgives all things. Seven times a day he falls by himself, who was justified through Christ; seven times a day he is raised up through the Spirit.

So today God has given us, through Christ interceding for us, His charity and love, that, as through Christ, in Whom God Himself was, God reconciled the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19), not reckoning to it its past offences, so also through the Spirit, in Whom too He was, He has bound to Himself in covenant the world reconciled, not imputing to it what is to come. Hence also it is written: Blessed is the man to whom the Lord has not imputed sin (Ps. 31:2). Through Christ He forgives all things; through the Spirit He imputes none. And perhaps not to all to whom He forgives all things does He impute nothing. Christ, then, is mediator in a manner for justice, the Spirit for friendship; Christ for truth, the Spirit for charity; Christ for remission, the Spirit for preservation; Christ for pardon, the Spirit for perseverance; Christ for loosing, the Spirit for binding together. Yet Christ does all things, and

the Spirit work all things undividedly. For the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit work all things together and alike: Who are one without confusion, and three without division. Yet the Son in a manner has, as it were, His own embassy from the Father, by Whom alone He is sent: the Spirit too, as it were, His own from both. The Son, then, as it were placates the angry Father and dissolves enmities; the Spirit as it were tempers the just One, in a manner softens Him, and binds us into friendship. Between the iniquity of the guilty and the equity of the Judge, the Son intercedes as reconciler and advocate, that weakness may be reconciled and majesty placated: the Spirit intervenes as soother and Paraclete. For as this air is a kind of warm compress, and as it were a bath, for living things, tempering for them, out of itself and beneath itself, the unbearable heat of the higher element by the mildness and grace of its own nature: so too the Holy Spirit is borne above the spiritual waters, in a manner midway between their sluggishness and the rigour of the supreme equity, protecting them and warming them, and making them fruitful with His charity and grace, lest they be wholly consumed and the earth crack open with drought.

Considering this the Prophet says: My soul is as earth without water unto Thee (Ps. 142:6); unto Thee, that is, the heaven and the consuming fire. Hear me speedily, O Lord, by sending in Thy Spirit, for my spirit has failed (ibid. 142:7). And because the Spirit is likened to air, charity is said to be poured out through the Spirit. For earth by its nature lies below, fire points upward, water glides, air is diffused: which is easily discerned in odours too. They say also that the heaven revolves, and that the sphere itself which is called aplanes is carried round from the east through the west back to the east with such speed that by its unbearable onrush it would very swiftly have overturned all lower things, had it not been slowed by the Maker's providence through the opposing course of the seven stars which they call planets, that is, from the west through the east to the west; so that, as the air is a protection and safeguard to lower things against the heat, so the planets are against the onrush of the firmament. All of which fits this assertion easily; and from the creation of the world, through the things that are made, these things can be understood and beheld here. For the sevenfold grace of the Holy Spirit, by which He takes counsel for us and grants paraclesis, by a movement in a manner opposing, tempers that equity of the divine swiftness which with stable motion surveys and examines all things at once; and He delays Him from entering at once into judgement with His servants, who cannot answer Him one for a thousand, in Whose sight no living being shall be justified, and the heavens are not clean, and Who finds wickedness in His angels. For only the kindness of God, which is borne above us sevenfold, tempers His severity towards us, bends down His majesty, delays His vengeance; and while He in a manner sets Himself against Himself, He Who is as good as He is great, as merciful as He is strong, the sinner finds a space for repentance, as the Apostle says: Do you not know that the kindness of God leads you to repentance? (Rom. 2:4.) Considering this goodness and greatness together, the Prophet says: Great is the Lord, and