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Augustine, Sermones 217-233 (Classis II, de Tempore)

Sermons CCXXIII–CCXXV

SERMO CCXXIII. In Vigiliis Paschae, V.

Sermon 223. On the Vigil of Easter, 5.

1. Dies, fideles baptizati. Hortatur ut bonos imitentur, tolerent malos. In libro qui appellatur Genesis, Scriptura dicit: Et vidit Deus lucem quia bona est. Et divisit Deus inte⟨r⟩ lucem et tenebras: et vocavit Deus lucem diem, et tenebras vocavit noctem (Gen. I, 4, 5). Si ergo Deus vocavit diem lucem, sine dubio illi quib⟨u⟩s dicit apostolus Paulus, Fuistis aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in Domino (Ephes. V, 8), dies erant: quoniam ille qui jussit de tenebris lumen clare⟨sc⟩ere, illuminavit eos (II Cor. IV, 6). In⟨f⟩antes isti, quos cernitis exterius dealbatos, interiusque mundatos, qui candore vestium splendorem mentium praefigurant, cum peccatorum suorum nocte premerentur, tenebrae fuerunt. Nunc autem quia mundati sunt lavacro indulgentiae, quia irrigati fonte sapientiae, quia perfusi luce justitiae: Hic est dies quem fecit Dominus, exsultemus et laetemur in eo (Psal. CXVII, 24). Audiat nos dies Domini, audiat nos dies factus a Domino: audiat, et obaudiat; ut exsultemus et laetemur in eo. Quoniam, sicut ait Apostolus, hoc est gaudium et corona nostra, si vos statis in Domino (Philipp. IV, 1). Audite ergo nos, o novelli filii castae matris: imo audite nos, filii virginis matris. Quoniam fuistis aliquando tenebr⟨ae⟩, nunc autem lux in Domino: ut filii lucis ambulate, filiis lucis adhaerete; atque ut hoc ipsum planius dicam, bonis fidelibus adhaerete. Sunt enim, quod pejus est, fideles mali. Sunt fideles qui vocantur, et non sunt. Sunt fideles, in quibus sacramenta Christi patiantur injuriam: qui sic vivunt, ut et ipsi pereant, et alteros perdant. Pereunt quippe ipsi, male vivendo: perdunt vero alios, male vivendi exempla praebendo. Vos ergo, dilectissimi, nolite talibus jungi. Bonos quaerite, bonis adhaerete: boni estote.

1. The day, the baptized faithful. He exhorts them to imitate the good and to bear with the wicked. In the book which is called Genesis, Scripture says: And God saw the light, that it was good. And God divided between the light and the darkness: and God called the light day, and the darkness He called night (Gen. 1:4–5). If therefore God called the light day, without doubt those to whom the apostle Paul says, You were once darkness, but now light in the Lord (Eph. 5:8), were day: since He Who commanded light to shine out of darkness enlightened them (2 Cor. 4:6). These infants, whom you see whitened outwardly and cleansed inwardly, who by the whiteness of their garments prefigure the splendour of their minds, were darkness when they were weighed down by the night of their sins. But now, because they have been cleansed in the bath of pardon, because they have been watered at the fountain of wisdom, because they have been bathed in the light of righteousness: This is the day which the Lord has made, let us exult and rejoice in it (Ps. 117:24). Let the day of the Lord hear us, let the day made by the Lord hear us: let it hear, and heed; that we may exult and rejoice in it. For, as the Apostle says, this is our joy and crown, if you stand in the Lord (Phil. 4:1). Hear us therefore, O new-born sons of a chaste mother: rather, hear us, sons of a virgin mother. Since you were once darkness, but now light in the Lord: walk as sons of light, cleave to the sons of light; and, to say this very thing more plainly, cleave to the good faithful. For there are, what is worse, wicked faithful. There are those who are called faithful, and are not. There are faithful in whom the sacraments of Christ suffer injury: who live in such a way that they both perish themselves and destroy others. For they themselves perish by living wickedly: but they destroy others by offering examples of wicked living. You therefore, most beloved, do not join yourselves to such. Seek the good, cleave to the good: be good.

2. Bonorum et malorum permixtio in Ecclesia. Neque miremini multitudinem christianorum malorum, qui ecclesiam implent, qui ad altare communicant, qui episcopum, vel presbyterum de bonis moribus disputantem magnis vocibus laudant: per quos impletur quod congregator noster praedixit in Psalmo, Annuntiavi, et locutus sum, multiplicati sunt super numerum (Psal. XXXIX, 6). In Ecclesia hujus temporis possunt esse nobiscum: in illa vero, quae post resurrectionem futura est, congregatione sanctorum esse non poterunt. Ecclesia enim hujus temporis areae comparatur, habens mixta grana cum paleis, habens permixtos bonis malos; habitura post judicium sine ullis malis omnes bonos. Haec area continet messem ab Apostolis seminatam, a sequentibus usque in praesens tempus bonis doctoribus irrigatam, non parum etiam inimicorum persecutione contritam; sed quod solum restat, nondum superna ventilatione purgatam. Veniet autem ille de quo reddidistis in Symbolo, Inde venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos: et, sicut Evangelium loquitur, habebit ventilabrum in manu sua, et expurgabit

2. The mingling of good and wicked in the Church. And do not wonder at the multitude of wicked Christians who fill the church, who communicate at the altar, who loudly praise the bishop or presbyter when he discourses on good morals: through whom is fulfilled what our Gatherer foretold in the Psalm, I have announced, and I have spoken; they are multiplied beyond number (Ps. 39:6). In the Church of this time they can be with us: but in that congregation of the saints which is to be after the resurrection they will not be able to be. For the Church of this time is compared to a threshing-floor, having grains mixed with chaff, having the wicked mingled with the good; [but] after the judgement it will have all good, without any wicked. This threshing-floor holds a harvest sown by the Apostles, watered by good teachers who followed them right up to the present time, and not a little crushed also by the persecution of enemies; but what alone remains is that it has not yet been cleansed by the winnowing from above. But He will come of Whom you recited in the Creed, From thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead: and, as the Gospel says, He will have the winnowing-fan in His hand, and He will thoroughly cleanse

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Footnotes

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCXXIII› · call in col 1092 * Emendatus ad d. r. t. v. Lov.

* Corrected against the Louvain edition's d. r. t. v. [manuscripts].

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible (Sermo CCXXIII)› · call in col 1092

Alias, de Diversis 81.

Formerly On Various Subjects 81.

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Hoc nomine vocabant Baptismo novissime renatos, etiamsi aetate senes.

By this name they called those newly reborn in Baptism, even if they were old in years.

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⟨a⟩ream suam; et congreg⟨abi⟩t triticum suum in horreum, ⟨p⟩aleas autem comburet igni inexstinguibili (Matth. III, 12). Quod dico audiant et antiqui fideles. Qui granum ⟨e⟩st, cum tremore gaudeat, et permaneat, et ab area non ⟨r⟩ecedat. Non se judicio suo velut a palea conetur ⟨e⟩xuere: quoniam si se voluerit modo a palea separare, non poterit in area permanere. Et cum venerit ⟨i⟩lle qui sine errore discernit, quod in area non inve⟨n⟩erit, ad horreum non levabit. Incassum se de spica ⟨n⟩unc grana jactabunt, quaecumque nunc ab area recesserunt. Implebitur illud horreum, atque claudetur. Quidquid extra remanserit, flamma vastabit. Qui ergo bonus est, charissimi, toleret malum: qui malus est, imitetur bonum. In hac quippe area possunt in paleas grana deficere; possunt rursus grana de paleis consuscitari. Quotidie fiunt ista, fratres mei: plena est vita haec suppliciis atque solatiis. Quotidie qui videbantur boni, labuntur et pereunt: et rursus qui videbantur mali, convertuntur et vivunt. Non vult enim Deus mortem impii, tantum ut revertatur et vivat (Ezech. XVIII, 23). Audite me, grana; audite me, qui estis quod esse desidero: audite me, grana. Nolite contristari de permixtione palearum: non erunt vobiscum in aeternum. Quantum est hoc quod premit palea? Deo gratias, quia levis est. Nos tantum grana simus, et quantacumque fuerit, non gravabit. Fidelis est enim Deus, qui non permittet nos tentari supra id quod possumus; sed faciet cum tentatione etiam exitum, ut sustinere possimus (I Cor. X, 13). Audiant nos et paleae; ubicumque sunt, audiant. Nolo hic sint: alloquamur eas tamen, ne forte sint. Ergo audite me, paleae: quamvis, si auditis, paleae non eritis. Audite ergo. Prosit vobis Dei patientia. Granorum conjunctio, commonitio, grana vos faciat. Non vobis desunt imbres verborum Dei: non sit sterilis in vobis ager Dei. Ergo revirescite, granascite, maturascite. Qui enim vos seminavit, spicas vult invenire, non spinas.

His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire (Matt. 3:12). Let the long-standing faithful also hear what I say. Whoever is grain, let him rejoice with trembling, and remain, and not withdraw from the threshing floor. Let him not try by his own judgement to strip himself, as it were, of the chaff: for if he wishes to separate himself from the chaff now, he will not be able to remain on the threshing floor. And when He comes Who discerns without error, what He has not found on the threshing floor He will not lift up into the barn. In vain will those grains boast of the ear now, whichever have now withdrawn from the threshing floor. That barn will be filled, and it will be shut. Whatever remains outside, the flame will lay waste. Let him, therefore, who is good, dearly beloved, bear with the bad; let him who is bad imitate the good. For on this threshing floor grains can fall away into chaff; again, grains can be raised up from the chaff. These things happen daily, my brothers: this life is full of punishments and consolations. Daily those who seemed good slip and perish; and again those who seemed bad are converted and live. For God does not will the death of the wicked, only that he turn back and live (Ezek. 18:23). Hear me, grains; hear me, you who are what I desire to be: hear me, grains. Do not be saddened by the mixing in of the chaff: they will not be with you for ever. How much is this that the chaff presses down? Thanks be to God, because it is light. Let us only be grain, and however much there is, it will not weigh us down. For God is faithful, Who will not allow us to be tempted beyond that which we are able; but with the temptation He will also make a way out, that we may be able to endure (1 Cor. 10:13). Let the chaff also hear us; wherever they are, let them hear. I would not have them be here: yet let us address them, lest perhaps they are. Hear me, therefore, chaff: although, if you hear, you will not be chaff. Hear, therefore. Let the patience of God profit you. Let the company of the grains, their admonition, make you grains. The showers of the words of God are not lacking to you: let not the field of God be barren in you. Therefore grow green again, form grain, ripen. For He Who sowed you wishes to find ears of grain, not thorns.

SERMO CCXXIV. In die Paschae, I. Ad populum et ad Infantes, seu eo die baptizatos.

Sermon 224. On Easter Day, 1. To the people and to the Infants, that is, those baptized on that day.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Gratia baptizatis collata. Bonos imitentur, non malos. Hodierno die qui baptizati sunt, et renati sunt in Christo Jesu, alloquamur eos, et vos in eis, et ipsos in vobis. Ecce facti estis membra Christi. Si cogitetis quid facti estis, omnia ossa vestra dicent: Domine, quis similis tibi (Psal.

Chapter I. — 1. The grace conferred on the baptized. Let them imitate the good, not the bad. Those who have been baptized this day, and have been reborn in Christ Jesus, let us address them, and you in them, and them in you. Behold, you have been made members of Christ. If you consider what you have been made, all your bones will say: Lord, who is like Thee (Ps.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1093

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(1) ‹anchor: ossa vestra dicent› · call in col 1093

In quibusdam manuscriptis hic sermo praenotatur, Dominica in albis; et in iisdem, Regio scilicet ac Victorino, prolixius habet exordium, haec in verba: Ad omnes quidem pertinet sermo, quos cura nostra complectitur. Verumtamen hodie terminata sacramentorum solemnitate, vos alloquor, novella germina sanctitatis, regenerata ex aqua et spiritu, germen pium, examen novellum, flos nostri honoris, et fructus laboris, gaudium et corona mea; omnes qui statis in Domino apostolicis verbis vos alloquor: Ecce nox praecessit..... Et carnis curam ne feceritis in concupiscentiis. Et ut vitam induatis, quam sacramento induistis. Quotquot enim in Christo baptizati estis, Christum induistis. Facti enim estis membra Christi. Et cogitetis quid facti estis; omnia ossa vestra dicent, etc. Illud fere totum reperies in sermone 172 Appendicis, necnon ex prioribus verbis quaedam in initio sermonis 353 inter Augustinianos.

In some manuscripts this sermon is headed Low Sunday ("the Sunday in white"); and in the same ones, namely the Royal and the Saint-Victor, it has a longer opening, in these words: My sermon concerns all whom our care embraces. But today, now that the solemnity of the sacraments is ended, I speak to you, new shoots of holiness, born again of water and the Spirit, godly sprouting, new swarm, flower of our honour and fruit of our labour, my joy and my crown; all you who stand in the Lord, I address you in the Apostle's words: The night is far spent ..... And make no provision for the flesh in its lusts. And that you may put on in life what you have put on in the sacrament. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. For you have been made members of Christ. And if you consider what you have been made, all your bones will say, etc. You will find almost all of it in Sermon 172 of the Appendix, and also some of the opening words at the beginning of Sermon 353 among the Augustinian sermons.

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCXXIV› · call in col 1093 * Collatus ad r. rm. v. Am. Er. Par. Lov.

* Collated against r. rm. v. [the manuscripts so designated] and the Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain editions.

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(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCXXIV› · call in col 1093

Alias, de Tempore 154.

Formerly On the Season 154.

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XXXIV, 10)? Non enim digne cogitari potest illa dignatio Dei, et deficit omnis sermo sensusque humanus, venisse vobis gratuitam gratiam nullis meritis praecedentibus. Ideo et gratia dicitur, quia gratis datur. Quam gratiam? Ut sitis membra Christi, filii Dei, ut sitis fratres Unici. Si ille Unicus, unde vos fratres, nisi quia ille Unicus natura, vos gratia fratres facti? Quia ergo membra Christi facti estis, admoneo vos: timeo vobis, non tantum a Paganis, non tantum a Judaeis, non tantum ab haereticis, quantum a malis Catholicis. Eligite vobis in populo Dei quos imitemini. Nam si turbam imitari volueritis, inter paucos angustam viam ambulantes non eritis. Abstinete vos a fornicatione, a rapinis, a fraudibus, a perjuriis, ab illicitis rebus, a jurgiis: ebrietas repellatur a vobis: adulterium sic timete quomodo mortem; mortem, non quae animam solvit a corpore, sed ubi anima semper ardebit cum corpore.

34:10)? For that condescension of God cannot be worthily conceived, and all human speech and understanding fail [before the fact] that a free grace has come to you with no merits going before. And therefore it is called grace, because it is given gratis. What grace? That you may be members of Christ, sons of God, that you may be brothers of the Only One. If He is the Only One, how are you brothers, unless because He is the Only One by nature, while you have been made brothers by grace? Since, therefore, you have been made members of Christ, I admonish you: I fear for you, not so much from pagans, not so much from Jews, not so much from heretics, as from bad Catholics. Choose for yourselves among the people of God those whom you may imitate. For if you choose to imitate the crowd, you will not be among the few walking the narrow way. Keep yourselves from fornication, from robberies, from frauds, from perjuries, from unlawful things, from quarrels: let drunkenness be driven from you: fear adultery as you fear death; death, not that which releases the soul from the body, but where the soul will burn for ever with the body.

CAPUT II. — 2. Carnis peccata diabolus levia facit, cum sint gravia et mortifera. Fratres mei, filii mei, filiae meae, sorores meae, scio agere diabolum partes suas, nec quiescere loqui in cordibus eorum quos obligatos suis vinculis tenet: scio fornicatoribus, adulteris qui contenti non sunt conjuge sua, dicere diabolum in cordibus eorum, Non sunt magna carnis peccata. Contra hanc diaboli susurrationem debemus habere Christi incarnationem. Hoc est unde Christianos decipit inimicus per carnis illecebras, cum eis facit leve quod grave est, lene quod asperum, dulce quod amarum est. Sed quid prodest quia satanas facit leve, quod Christus ostendit grave? Numquid novum aliquid facit diabolus dicere Christianis fidelibus: Nihil grave est quod facis? In carne tua peccas: numquid in spiritu? Facile deletur carnis peccatum, facile a Deo venia datur? Quid magnum facit? Artificium suum facit, quod in paradiso dixit; Manducate, et eritis sicut dii: nequaquam moriemini. Deus dixerat: Qua die manducaveritis, morte moriemini (Gen. II, 17). Venit inimicus, et ait: Non moriemini, sed aperientur oculi vestri, et eritis sicut dii. Dimissa est jussio Dei, et audita est persuasio diaboli. Tunc inventa est vera jussio Dei, et falsa deceptio diaboli. Numquid profuit, obsecro vos, quia dixit mulier, Serpens seduxit me? Numquid valuit excusatio? Si valuit excusatio, quare secuta est damnatio (Id. III)?

Chapter II. — 2. The devil makes the sins of the flesh light, though they are grave and deadly. My brothers, my sons, my daughters, my sisters, I know that the devil plays his part, and does not cease speaking in the hearts of those whom he holds bound in his chains: I know that to fornicators, to adulterers who are not content with their own wife, the devil says in their hearts, The sins of the flesh are not great. Against this whispering of the devil we ought to hold the incarnation of Christ. This is how the enemy deceives Christians through the allurements of the flesh, when he makes light for them what is grave, smooth what is rough, sweet what is bitter. But what does it profit that Satan makes light what Christ shows to be grave? Is the devil doing anything new in saying to faithful Christians: What you do is nothing grave? You sin in your flesh: surely not in the spirit? The sin of the flesh is easily wiped out, pardon is easily given by God? What great thing is he doing? He is plying his own craft, which he spoke in paradise: Eat, and you will be like gods: you will by no means die. God had said: On the day you eat, you will die the death (Gen. 2:17). The enemy came and said: You will not die, but your eyes will be opened, and you will be like gods. The command of God was set aside, and the persuasion of the devil was listened to. Then the command of God was found true, and the deception of the devil false. Did it profit, I beseech you, that the woman said, The serpent deceived me? Did the excuse avail? If the excuse availed, why did condemnation follow (Gen. 3)?

CAPUT III. — 3. Incontinentes corripiuntur et excommunicantur. Meretrix est quaecumque concubina praeter uxorem. Ideo vobis dico, fratres mei, filii mei, qui habetis uxores, ut nihil aliud noveritis; et qui non habetis, et ducere vultis, integros vos ad eas servate, sicut integras vultis eas invenire. Vos qui continentiam Deo vovistis, nolite retro respicere. Ecce dico vobis, ecce clamo vobis, ego me absolvo: erogatorem me Deus posuit, non exactorem. Et tamen ubi possumus, ubi datur locus, ubi conceditur, ubi scimus, corripimus, objurgamus, anathematizamus, excommunicamus: et tamen non corrigimus.

Chapter III. — 3. The incontinent are rebuked and excommunicated. Any concubine besides a wife is a harlot. Therefore I say to you, my brothers, my sons, you who have wives, that you know nothing besides; and you who do not have [them] and wish to marry, keep yourselves intact for them, just as you wish to find them intact. You who have vowed continence to God, do not look back. Behold, I say to you, behold, I cry out to you, I acquit myself: God has set me as a dispenser, not as an exactor. And yet where we can, where opportunity is given, where it is permitted, where we know, we rebuke, we reproach, we anathematize, we excommunicate: and yet we do not correct.

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Mss., minatio Dei.

The manuscripts have minatio Dei ("God's threat").

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Quare? Quia neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque qui rigat; sed qui incrementum dat Deus (I Cor. III, 7). Modo quia loquor, quia moneo, quid opus est, nisi exaudiat me Deus pro vobis, et agat aliquid in vobis, hoc est, in cordibus vestris? Breviter dico, et vobis commendo, et fideles terreo, et vos aedifico. Membra Christi estis: nolite me, sed Apostolum audire: Tollens, inquit, membra Christi, faciam membra meretricis (Id. VI, 15)? Sed dicit nescio quis: Meretrix non est quam habeo, concubina mea est. O sancte episcope, meretricem fecisti concubinam meam! Numquid ego dixi? Apostolus clamat, et ego incurri calumniam. Ego te volo esse sanum: in me quare furis sicut insanus? Habes uxorem, qui hoc dicis? Habeo, inquis. Bene: velis nolis, illa quae praeter uxorem tecum dormit, jam dixi, meretrix est. Ecce vade, et dic ei quia injuriam tibi fecit episcopus. Habes uxorem tuam legitimam, et alia tecum dormit: quaecumque est illa, jam dixi, meretrix est. Sed servat tibi uxor tua fidem, nec novit alium nisi te solum, et non disponit se nosse alterum. Cum sit ergo illa casta, tu quare fornicaris? Si illa te unum, tu quare duas? Sed dicis: Ancilla mea concubina mea est, numquid ad uxorem alienam vado? numquid ad meretricem publicam vado? An non licet mihi in domo mea facere quod volo? Dico tibi, non licet. In gehennam vadunt, qui hoc faciunt, in sempiterno igne ardebunt.

Why? Because neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters; but God, Who gives the increase (1 Cor. 3:7). Now, since I speak, since I admonish, what use is it, unless God hears me on your behalf and does something in you, that is, in your hearts? I say it briefly, and I commend it to you, and I put fear into the faithful, and I build you up. You are members of Christ: do not listen to me, but to the Apostle: Taking, he says, the members of Christ, shall I make them the members of a harlot (1 Cor. 6:15)? But someone or other says: She whom I have is not a harlot, she is my concubine. O holy bishop, you have made my concubine a harlot! Did I say it? The Apostle cries it out, and I have incurred the slander. I want you to be sound: why do you rage against me like a madman? Do you have a wife, you who say this? I have, you say. Good: whether you like it or not, she who sleeps with you besides your wife, I have already said it, is a harlot. Go on, then, and tell her that the bishop has done you an injury. You have your lawful wife, and another sleeps with you: whoever she is, I have already said it, she is a harlot. But your wife keeps faith with you, and knows no other but you alone, and does not intend to know another. Since she, then, is chaste, why do you commit fornication? If she [is content with] you alone, why do you [have] two? But you say: My maidservant is my concubine; do I go to another man's wife? do I go to a public harlot? Or is it not lawful for me to do in my own house what I wish? I tell you, it is not lawful. Those who do this go into Gehenna; they will burn in everlasting fire.

CAPUT IV. — 4. Morum correctio non differenda. Vel hic liceat mihi loqui, et dicere. Corrigant se qui tales sunt, dum vivunt; ne postea velint, et non possint: quia subito venit mors, et non est qui corrigatur, sed qui in ignem mittatur. Et quando veniat ipsa novissima hora, nescitur, et dicitur, Corrigo. Quando corrigis, quando mutaris? Cras, inquis. Ecce quoties dicis, Cras, cras; factus es corvus. Ecce dico tibi, cum facis vocem corvinam, occurrit tibi ruina. Nam ille corvus, cujus vocem imitaris, exiit de arca, et non rediit (Gen. VIII, 7). Tu autem, frater, redi in Ecclesiam, quam tunc illa arca significabat. Sed vos me audite, o baptizati; audite me, vos per sanguinem Christi renati: obsecro vos per nomen quod super vos invocatum est, per illud altare ad quod accessistis, per Sacramenta quae accepistis, per judicium futurum vivorum et mortuorum; obsecro vos, obstringo vos per nomen Christi, ut non imitemini eos quos tales esse cognoscitis; sed illius sacramentum maneat in vobis, qui de ligno descende⟨r⟩e noluit, sed voluit de sepulcro resurgere.

Chapter IV. — 4. The amendment of morals is not to be put off. Here at least let me be allowed to speak and to say [it]. Let those who are such correct themselves while they live, lest afterwards they wish to and cannot: for death comes suddenly, and then there is no one to be corrected, but one to be cast into the fire. And when that very last hour may come is not known, and yet it is said, I am correcting myself. When are you correcting yourself, when are you changing? Tomorrow, you say. See how often you say, Cras, cras ("tomorrow, tomorrow"); you have become a crow. See, I tell you, when you make the crow's cry, ruin comes upon you. For that crow, whose cry you imitate, went out of the ark and did not return (Gen. 8:7). But you, brother, return to the Church, which that ark then signified. But as for you, hear me, O you baptized; hear me, you who have been reborn through the blood of Christ: I beseech you by the name which has been invoked over you, by that altar to which you have drawn near, by the Sacraments which you have received, by the future judgement of the living and the dead; I beseech you, I bind you by the name of Christ, not to imitate those whom you know to be such; but let the sacrament of Him remain in you Who would not come down from the tree, but willed to rise again from the tomb.

SERMO CCXXV. In die Paschae, II. Ad Infantes.

Sermon 225. On the Day of Easter, 2. To the Infants.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Christus quid erat ante incarnationem.

Chapter I. — 1. What Christ was before the incarnation.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1095

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: ad quod accessistis› · call in col 1095

In Remigiano manuscripto, acceditis; et infra, accipitis.

In the Saint-Remi manuscript, acceditis ("you approach"); and below, accipitis ("you receive").

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCXXV› · call in col 1095 * Non repertus est nisi in Ms. Vaticano et in Lov.

* Found only in the Vatican manuscript and in the Louvain edition.

(printed under page 554)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCXXV› · call in col 1095

Alias, de Diversis 53.

Formerly On Various Subjects 53.

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(b) ‹anchor: In die Paschae, II› · call in col 1095 (the note runs on into the foot of col 1096)

Apud Lovanienses hic sermo inscribitur, « de Nativitate Domini; » in Ms. Vaticano, « de Trinitate. » Sed ex capite quarto liquet habitum esse in die Paschae: quo nimirum die baptizatis legebatur initium Evangelii Joannis ut ex eo caperent altitudinem divinae gratiae, qua Filius Dei natus hominis filius ipsos homines regeneratos fecerat filios Dei. Sunt in eamdem rem supra, habiti eodem die, sermones 119, 120 et 121.

In the Louvain edition this sermon is headed "On the Nativity of the Lord"; in the Vatican manuscript, "On the Trinity." But from chapter four it is clear that it was preached on Easter Day: on that day, of course, the opening of John's Gospel was read to the baptized, so that from it they might grasp the depth of the divine grace by which the Son of God, born a son of man, had made those very men, reborn, sons of God. On the same subject, preached on the same day, are Sermons 119, 120 and 121 above.

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Commendat nobis divinae circa nos altitudinem gratiae Filius Dei sine tempore natus ex Patre. Quid enim erat antequam esset in homine? Putate vos quaesisse atque dixisse. Putamus enim, fratres mei, antequam Christus de Maria virgine nasceretur, erat, an non erat? Putate nos quaerere, unde non licet dubitare. His itaque cogitationibus ipse Dominus respondit, quando ei dictum est: Quinquaginta annos nondum habes, et Abraham vidisti? Respondit enim, et dixit: Amen, amen dico vobis, antequam Abraham fieret, ego sum (Joan. VIII, 57, 58). Ergo erat, sed homo nondum erat. Ne forte aliquis dicat, Angelus erat; sanctum Evangelium dixit vobis quia Christus erat. Et quaeritis quid erat? In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum. Ecce quod erat, In principio erat Verbum. Non est in principio factum Verbum, sed erat Verbum. De isto autem mundo audi quid dicit Scriptura: In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram (Gen. I, 1). Quaeritis per quod fecit? In principio erat Verbum, per quod fieret coelum et terra. Non est factum, sed erat Verbum. Jam restat quaerere quale Verbum: quia verba dicuntur et nostra. Nostra quidem verba cogitatione concipiuntur, voce pariuntur; et tamen cogitata et prolata transeunt. Illud autem quid? Et Verbum erat apud Deum. Dic ubi erat, dic quid erat. Jam dixi. Sanctum Evangelium dixit tibi: In principio erat Verbum. Dic ubi erat, dic quid erat. Et Verbum erat apud Deum. Sed ego quaesivi quale Verbum. Vultis audire quid erat? Et Deus erat Verbum. O Verbum! quale Verbum? Quis explicet verbum: Et Deus erat Verbum. Sed forte factum a Deo? Absit. Audi quid dicit sanctum Evangelium: Omnia per ipsum facta sunt (Joan. I, 1-3). Quid est, Omnia? Quidquid factum est a Deo, per ipsum factum est. Et quomodo ipse factus est, qui omnia fecit? Numquid ipse se fecit? Postremo si ipse se fecit, qui se faceret erat. Si ergo erat qui se faceret, nunquam non erat.

The Son of God, born of the Father without time, commends to us the height of the divine grace towards us. For what was He before He was in man? Suppose that you have asked and said this. For do we suppose, my brothers, that before Christ was born of the Virgin Mary He was, or was not? Suppose that we are asking about a matter on which it is not permitted to doubt. To these thoughts, then, the Lord Himself replied, when it was said to Him: You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham? For He replied, and said: Amen, amen I say to you, before Abraham came to be, I am (John 8:57–58). Therefore He was, but He was not yet man. Lest perhaps someone should say, He was an angel: the holy Gospel has told you that Christ was. And do you ask what He was? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. Behold what He was: In the beginning was the Word. The Word was not made in the beginning, but the Word was. But concerning this world hear what Scripture says: In the beginning God made heaven and earth (Gen. 1:1). Do you ask through what He made it? In the beginning was the Word, through which heaven and earth were to be made. It was not made, but the Word was. It now remains to ask what kind of Word: for our words too are called words. Our words, indeed, are conceived by thought and brought forth by the voice; and yet, once thought and uttered, they pass away. But that Word, what is it? And the Word was with God. Say where it was, say what it was. I have already said. The holy Gospel has told you: In the beginning was the Word. Say where it was, say what it was. And the Word was with God. But I asked what kind of Word. Do you wish to hear what it was? And the Word was God. O Word! What kind of Word? Who could unfold this word: And the Word was God? But perhaps it was made by God? Far from it. Hear what the holy Gospel says: All things were made through Him (John 1:1–3). What is, All things? Whatever has been made by God has been made through Him. And how was He Himself made, Who made all things? Did He make Himself? Lastly, if He made Himself, He who would make Himself already was. If, therefore, He who would make Himself already was, He never was not.

CAPUT II. — 2. Incarnatio Christi opus est totius Trinitatis. Virginitatis propositum in Maria. Quomodo in virgine tale Verbum? Omnia per ipsum facta sunt. Quid est, Omnia? Quidquid factum est a Deo, per ipsum factum est. Noli, frater, ab isto tanto opere separare Spiritum sanctum. A quo tanto opere? Non parvum opus, magnum opus sunt Angeli: carnem Christi sedentem ad dexteram Patris adorant Angeli. Tale ergo opus operatus est maxime Spiritus sanctus. In isto opere cognominatus est, quando sanctae Virgini per angelum futurus nuntiatus est filius. Illa quia proposuerat virginitatem, et erat maritus ejus, non ⟨a⟩blator, sed custos pudoris: imo non custos, quia ⟨De⟩us custodiebat; sed testis pudoris virginalis fuit maritus, ne de adulterio gravida putaretur: quando ei nuntiavit angelus, ait, Quomodo fiet istud, quoniam

Chapter II. — 2. The incarnation of Christ is the work of the whole Trinity. The resolve of virginity in Mary. How was such a Word in a virgin? All things were made through Him. What is, All things? Whatever has been made by God has been made through Him. Do not, brother, separate the Holy Spirit from so great a work. From what so great a work? The angels are not a small work, they are a great work: the angels adore the flesh of Christ seated at the right hand of the Father. Such a work, then, the Holy Spirit wrought above all. In this work He was named, when a son to come was announced to the holy Virgin by the angel. Because she had resolved upon virginity, and her husband was not a taker away but a guardian of her chastity; nay rather not a guardian, since God was guarding it; but the husband was a witness of her virginal chastity, lest she be thought to be pregnant from adultery: when the angel announced it to her, she said, How shall this be, since

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Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: nunquam non erat› · call in col 1096

Sic Vaticanus Ms. At editi, numquid non erat?

So the Vatican manuscript. But the printed editions have numquid non erat? ("was he not?").

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virum non cognosco? Si cognoscere disponeret, non miraretur. Illa admiratio, propositi est testificatio, Quomodo fiet istud, quoniam virum non cognosco? Quomodo fiet? Et angelus ad eam: Spiritus sanctus superveniet in te. Ecce quomodo fiet quod quaeris: Et virtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi. Ideoque quod nascetur ex te Sanctum, vocabitur Filius Dei (Luc. I, 34, 35). Et bene dixit, Obumbrabit tibi: ne tua virginitas aestum libidinis sentiat. Et cum praegnans esset, dictum est de illa, Inventa est Maria habens de Spiritu sancto in utero (Matth. I, 18). Operatus est ergo Spiritus sanctus carnem Christi. Operatus est et ipse unigenitus Filius Dei carnem suam. Unde probamus? Quia inde ait Scriptura: Sapientia aedificavit sibi domum (Prov. IX, 1).

I know not a man? If she had been intending to know one, she would not have marvelled. That marvelling is the testimony of her resolve: How shall this be, since I know not a man? How shall it be? And the angel said to her: The Holy Spirit will come upon you. See how what you ask will come about: And the power of the Most High will overshadow you. And therefore the Holy One that will be born of you will be called the Son of God (Luke 1:34–35). And well did he say, will overshadow you: so that your virginity might not feel the heat of lust. And when she was with child, it was said of her: Mary was found having [a child] in the womb from the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:18). The Holy Spirit, therefore, wrought the flesh of Christ. The only-begotten Son of God Himself also wrought His own flesh. Whence do we prove this? Because thence Scripture says: Wisdom has built herself a house (Prov. 9:1).

3. Incarnatione quomodo Verbum non recessit a Patre. Ergo animadvertite. Tantus Deus, Deus apud Deum, Verbum Dei per quod facta sunt omnia, quomodo in utero includitur? Primum ut ibi esset Verbum, deseruit coelum? Ut esset in utero virginis Verbum, deseruit coelum? Et unde Angeli viverent, si Verbum deseruit coelum? Sed ut panem Angelorum manducaret homo, Dominus Angelorum factus est homo. Adhuc cogitatio humana erret per nebulas suas, deficiat, quaerat, dicat, ut inveniat, quomodo Verbum Dei in utero virginis, per quod facta sunt omnia, Angelos non deseruit, Patrem non deseruit. Quomodo in illo utero includi potuit? Esse potuit, includi non potuit. Quomodo, inquit, esse potuit tantus in loco tantillo? Ergo cepit uterus, quod non capit mundus. Nec minoratus est, ut esset in utero. In utero erat, et tantus erat. Quantus erat? Dic quantus erat, dic quod erat.

3. How in the Incarnation the Word did not withdraw from the Father. So pay attention. So great a God, God with God, the Word of God through whom all things were made, how is He enclosed in a womb? First, so that the Word might be there, did He desert heaven? So that the Word might be in the virgin's womb, did He desert heaven? And on what would the angels live, if the Word deserted heaven? But so that man might eat the bread of angels, the Lord of angels was made man. Let human thought still wander through its own fogs, let it fail, let it seek, let it speak, so that it may find out how the Word of God in the virgin's womb, through whom all things were made, did not desert the angels, did not desert the Father. How could He be enclosed in that womb? He could be there; He could not be enclosed. How, someone says, could one so great be in so tiny a place? So a womb held what the world does not hold. Nor was He diminished so as to be in the womb. He was in the womb, and He was as great. How great was He? Tell how great He was, tell what He was.

CAPUT III. — Et Verbum erat apud Deum. Dic quod erat. Et Deus erat Verbum. Et ego scio, inquam, qui tecum loquor; nec ego comprehendo: sed cogitatio facit nos extendi, extensio dilatat nos, dilatatio nos capaces facit. Nec facti capaces totum comprehendere poterimus: sed verbo meo vobiscum ago. Ecce quod dico, quod dicturus sum, hoc audite, hoc comprehendite verbum meum, hoc est verbum humanum. Si autem nec hoc comprehendere poteritis, videte ab illo quam longe sitis. Certe miramur quomodo Christus carnem accepit, de virgine natus est, et a Patre non recessit: ecce ego qui vobiscum loquor, antequam ad vos venirem, cogitavi ante quod vobis dicerem. Quando cogitavi quod vobis dicerem, jam in corde meo verbum erat. Non enim vobis dicerem, nisi ante cogitarem. Inveni te Latinum, latinum tibi proferendum est verbum. Si autem Graecus esses, graece tibi loqui deberem, et proferre ad te verbum graecum. Illud verbum in corde nec latinum est, nec graecum: prorsus antecedit linguas istas quod est in corde meo. Quaero illi sonum, quaero quasi vehiculum; quaero unde perveniat ad te, quando non recedit a me. Ecce audistis quod est in corde meo, jam est et in vestro. In meo est et in vestro est: et vos habere coepistis, et ego non perdidi. Sicut verbum meum assumpsit sonum, per quem audiretur: sic Verbum Dei assumpsit carnem,

Chapter III. — And the Word was with God. Tell what He was. And the Word was God. And I know, I say, I who speak with you; nor do I comprehend it: but thinking makes us be stretched, stretching enlarges us, enlargement makes us capacious. Yet even made capacious we shall not be able to comprehend the whole: but I deal with you by means of my own word. See what I am saying, what I am about to say: hear this, comprehend this word of mine; this is a human word. But if you cannot comprehend even this, see how far you are from Him. Surely we marvel how Christ took flesh, was born of a virgin, and did not withdraw from the Father: see, I who speak with you, before I came to you, thought beforehand what I would say to you. When I thought what I would say to you, the word was already in my heart. For I would not say it to you unless I thought it first. I found you a Latin; a Latin word must be brought forth for you. But if you were a Greek, I ought to speak to you in Greek, and bring forth to you a Greek word. That word in the heart is neither Latin nor Greek: what is in my heart altogether precedes those languages. I seek a sound for it, I seek as it were a vehicle; I seek how it may reach you while it does not withdraw from me. See, you have heard what is in my heart; now it is in yours too. It is in mine and it is in yours: you have begun to have it, and I have not lost it. Just as my word took on sound, through which it might be heard, so the Word of God took on flesh,

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