Augustine, Sermones 296-301 (Classis III, de Sanctis)

them all, she loved them all. She bore in her eyes what all of them bore in the flesh; and not only was she not terrified, but she even exhorted them.

Chapter VII. — 7. She exhorts the son who remained to martyrdom. Antiochus the persecutor reckoned her as a mother like the rest of mothers. 'Persuade your son,' he said, 'that he may not perish.' And she: 'Indeed I shall persuade my son to life, by exhorting him to death: you wish to persuade him to death, by sparing him.' But what an address, how devout, how motherly, how suspended in ambiguity between the spiritual and the carnal! 'Son, have pity on me. Son,' she says, 'have pity on me, who carried you nine months in the womb, who gave you milk for three years, and brought you up to this age: have pity on me' (2 Macc. 7:27). All were expecting the words that would follow: 'Consent to Antiochus, do not desert your mother.' She on the contrary: 'Consent to God, do not desert your brothers. If you seem to desert me, then you do not desert me. There I shall have you, where I shall no longer fear to lose you. There Christ will keep you for me, whence Antiochus will not take you away.' He feared God, he heeded his mother, he answered the king, he clung to his brothers, he drew his mother after him.

Sermon 301. On the solemnity of the Holy Maccabees, 2.

Chapter One. — 1. How brave the mother of the Maccabees was in the suffering of her sons. A great spectacle has been set before the eyes of our faith. With the ear we have heard, with the heart we have seen a mother desiring that her sons should end this life before her: with wishes far contrary to human custom. For all people wish to go before their sons in departing from this life, not to follow them: but she desired to die later. For she was not losing her sons, but sending them on ahead: nor was she looking at what life they were ending, but at what life they were beginning. For they were ceasing to live where at some time they would have had to die; and they were beginning to live, to live without end. It is too little that she was a spectator; rather we have marvelled at her as an exhorter. More fruitful in virtues than in offspring: seeing them contending, in all of whom she herself was contending; and in all of them conquering, she herself was conquering. One woman, one mother, how she has set before our eyes the one mother, holy Church, everywhere exhorting her sons to die for the name of Him from whom she conceived and bore them! Thus, the world being filled with the blood of the martyrs, from seeds cast forth beforehand the harvest of the Church has sprung up. Whence has man this, except that the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and He is their protector in the time of tribulation (Ps. 36:39)?

2. God was present not only to the three young men, but also to the Maccabees. Why the three young men are delivered from the fires, while the Maccabees are consumed. We have seen, we know that the Lord was the protector in the time of tribulation of those three men, who walked amid harmless fires and praised the Lord without any injury. Where man raged, the flame spared.

Chapter II. — We have seen, we know how the salvation of those just men was from the Lord, so that they were sent into the fire,

and that harsh king, whom they had provoked by speaking, they converted by living. For he believed in their God, and set forth an edict that whoever blasphemed the God of Sidrach, Misach and Abdenago should go to destruction, and his house to plunder (Dan. 3:96). How unlike the first command is this command! What was the first command? Let him perish who has not worshipped the golden statue. What was the second? Let him perish who has blasphemed the true God. The faithful men, not being changed, changed the unfaithful man. They did not allow him to stand in faithlessness, because they themselves stood in faith. Their salvation, therefore, was plainly from the Lord. When those men were not burning and were giving praise, the Lord was present. When these men were burning, they were confessing, yet they were dying; where was the Lord? Were those men perhaps just, and these sinners? For we heard these men a little while ago, when their passion was being read, confessing their sins, and saying that they suffered all those things because the Lord was angry with them, and also by the desert of their fathers (2 Macc. 7). What about those men? Read, and you will see that they too confess their own sins, and say that they suffer deservedly. Equally just, equally confessors of sins; and just precisely because equally confessors of sins. Blameless for this reason, because not liars. For if we say, says John, that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, Who will forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all iniquity (1 John 1:8–9). To the just, therefore, belongs the confession of sins; to the proud belongs the defence of merits. Alike, therefore, were the just in confessing sins, alike in giving glory to God, alike ready to die for His laws.

Chapter III. — Why are those men delivered from the fires, and these consumed by the fires? Was God then present to those, and had He deserted these? Far from it! Rather He was present to both: to those openly, to these in secret. Those He was delivering visibly; these He was crowning invisibly. Those men were indeed delivered from death, but they remained in the temptation of this life: delivered from the fire, kept back for dangers; one tyrant overcome, still to contend with the devil. My brothers, understand as Christians. The Maccabees were delivered better and more safely. By those three men, while the rest remained, that one temptation was overcome; by these, this life was finished, which is wholly temptation. Then, by the divine judgement, hidden no doubt, but nevertheless just, Nebuchadnezzar deserved to be converted, Antiochus deserved to be hardened. The one found mercy, the other increased his pride.

Chapter IV. — 3. Against those who hold that happiness is in this life, and are in doubt about the other life. But how much and how far did he increase his pride? I saw the ungodly man exalted above the cedars of Lebanon. How far? For how long? I passed by, and behold, he was not; and I sought him, and his place was not found (Ps. 36:35–36). Well said: you sought, and did not find, because you passed by. Do you wish to see that the ungodly man is not? Do you wish to seek him, and not find his place? Pass by. What do I mean, Pass by? Do not be terrified: I did not say, Die. For you thought I had said, Pass out of this life; and you were terrified for this reason, because you have not passed by. What does it mean, you have not passed by? You have not passed beyond, by uplifting of heart, temporal

happiness's allurements; you have not passed beyond the blandishments of the flesh, you have not passed beyond the suggestions of the world that tickle the heart and instil fear of human miseries. Therefore you think that happiness is in this world; you do not think that calamity is in this world. The happiness of the kingdom of heaven has not touched your heart; you have not been sprinkled from there, in your heats, with a breeze of refreshment. When it is said to you, The happiness of the world is false; even if you do not dare to say so, I see nevertheless in your heart, perhaps you twist your mouth, you sneer, you mock, and you say to yourself: O, if only it may go well with me here! What will be afterwards I do not know. And it is no small thing that you at least say "I do not know": lest perhaps you should say even this, Short and wearisome is the time of our life, and there is no return at the end of a man, and there is no one known to have returned from the underworld (Wis. 2:1). At least say "I do not know". Confession of ignorance is a step towards knowledge. So then let me address you as though you were saying to me, I do not know what will be after death: I am entirely ignorant whether the just will be blessed and sinners wretched, or whether both alike will not exist. Yet this, however much you may not know, you will not dare to say: that after death sinners will be blessed and the just wretched. You cannot say, even if you suspect that both alike will not exist, that the ungodly will nevertheless be in a better state, and that the just will be in evils after death. Not even your ignorance can suggest this to you. Therefore you can say: Whether it will be well with the just after death and ill with the ungodly after death, or whether both alike will be without sensation, I do not know. O, if only it may go well with me here, while I live, while I feel! You see that you have not yet passed beyond. These, I say, these earthly thoughts, dusty, smoky, vaporous, carnal, mortal, you have not yet passed beyond. That is why the ungodly man seems to you to be exalted above the cedars of Lebanon: that is why you seek his place, and you find it, because you have not passed beyond.

Chapter V. — 4. The wicked are set here in their own place for good uses. You seek his place, and you find it; but here. He has his place in this world. For not in vain would he be created by God Who foreknows, or nourished in vain, or would the sun rise upon him in vain and the rain be poured out, or would so great a patience of God spare him in vain, malicious as he is and living wickedly. This is not in vain: he has his place here. And even if we cannot find out all things, yet all things are known to God, Who knows how to order all things. Behold, to say nothing of others, what place did that wretched Antiochus have here? Through him the people of God was scourged and proved; through him these holy youths were crowned. Therefore he had his place here. He was wicked; but He Who cannot be wicked made good use of him. For just as wicked men make bad use of good creatures, so the good Creator makes good use of wicked men. He Who created the whole human race knows what to do with it. The goldsmith carries, the goldsmith weighs out, the goldsmith balances. A painter knows where to put the black colour so that the picture may be beautiful; and does God not know where to put the sinner so that creation may be ordered?

Chapter VI. — Unless God had preserved sinners by His patience in former ages, whence would be born today

so many faithful? Some bad men are preserved so that good men may be born from them. The good are good by the grace of God, for the whole lump of sin is condemned. What is more wicked than the devil? And yet how many good things God has made out of his wickedness! The blood of the Redeemer would not have been shed for our salvation, were it not for the wickedness of the deserter. Read the Gospel, and see what is written there: The devil put it into the heart of Judas to betray Christ (John 13:2). The devil was bad, Judas was bad: such as the player, such the instrument. So the devil used his vessel badly; the Lord used them both well. They strove, then, for our ruin; God deigned to turn this to our salvation.

5. The handing over of Christ both by Judas and by God. Judas handed over Christ, and was condemned. Judas handed Him over, and is condemned; the Father handed over the Son, and is glorified. Judas, I say, handed over his master, and is condemned; the Son handed Himself over, and is praised. How Judas handed over Christ we all know; perhaps you are waiting to hear how the Father handed over the Son. This too you know, but I will call it to mind so that you may remember. Hear the Apostle saying of God the Father: Who did not spare His own Son, but handed Him over for us all (Rom. 8:32). Hear also of the Son: Who loved me, he says, and handed Himself over for me (Gal. 2:20). See now two who handed over: the Father, who handed over the Son, and the Son, who handed over Himself; but both of Them Saviour, because both of Them Creator. What then did Judas do? What good did he do? Good was made out of him; he himself did not do good. For Judas did not say: I will hand over Christ, so that the human race may be set free. In Judas it was avarice that handed Him over; in God, mercy. Nothing was repaid to Judas except what he did, not what God did out of him.

Chapter VII. — 6. The ungodly man has a place here among the just, not in the other life. Why have we said these things? Because in this world there is a place for the ungodly man; and the Lord certainly knows who are His (2 Tim. 2:19), and He knows what He is doing for them by means of those who are not His. But you, if you pass over, if you tread earthly things underfoot, if it is not in vain that you answer that you have your heart lifted up, then in passing over you will look for the place of the ungodly man, and will not find it. For in that future life what place is there for the ungodly man? Shall we still need to be exercised by evils? Will gold still need to be purified by means of chaff? For the whole world is a goldsmith's furnace. There the just are like gold; there the ungodly are like chaff. There tribulation is like fire; there God is like the goldsmith. The godly man praises God: the gold gleams; the ungodly man blasphemes God: the chaff smokes. In one and the same tribulation, as in one and the same fire, the one is purified, the other is consumed; but God the goldsmith is praised in both.

Chapter VIII. — 7. That the godly should not be disturbed by the worldly happiness of the ungodly. I will speak, dearly beloved, exhorting you and myself. Let us pass beyond carnal thoughts with the help of the Lord, let us have our heart lifted up, let us think about the future life: when your heart is there, you have passed over. Where is the ungodly man? He will not be there. Here he was necessary; there you will look for him, and will not find his place. When therefore you see, brothers, you who live by faith, whose heart is upright, who hope for a happiness that is future and at the same time true and everlasting, when you see rejoicing

and glad people in that false and deceitful happiness, if you are godly, grieve; if you are sound, weep. For thus he too whose feet were shaken reproaches himself, because he had begun to accuse God, and was already there; but he almost was, he very nearly was. He did not deny knowledge to God: but he tottered as on shaken feet. What is it to totter? To doubt. But when he reproaches himself because he did not have an upright heart, what did he say? Why are my feet troubled? Because I was envious, he says, at sinners, seeing the peace of sinners (Ps. 72:3–17). Because I saw the wicked rich, I was envious; and I said that I had lost righteousness, and in vain have I justified my heart, and washed my hands among the innocent. And when I doubt, thus I began to understand. Thus I began, he says, to understand: this is a labour before me. A great labour, to solve this question. Truly it is a labour. It goes well with this man, and he is wicked; it goes ill with that man, and he is good: and over both God is judge. The just judge therefore gives good things to the wicked, and evil things to the good. It is a labour before me. But how long is it a labour? Until I enter into the sanctuary of God, and understand concerning the last things. Therefore if you have understood concerning the last things, there will be the rest of discovery, the labour of the question will perish.

Chapter IX. — 8. What kind of heavenly happiness is prepared for the godly. The happiness of the world is for the godly not an honour but a burden. Understand concerning the last things, where no wicked man will be happy, no good man unhappy. For what does he say? For what is there for me in heaven? Afterwards I learned what there is for me in heaven, when I entered into the sanctuary of God, and understood concerning the last things. For what is there for me in heaven? Incorruption, eternity, immortality, no pain, no fear, no end of blessedness. What then is there for me in heaven? what is kept for me in heaven? And what have I desired from Thee upon earth (Ps. 72)? For what is there for me in heaven? What? shall I say what? When shall I explain what? Therefore he said this in wonder, not explaining: For what is there for me? he says. Why do you not say what? How am I to say what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it gone up into the heart of man (1 Cor. 2:9)? Tread underfoot the "what" below, because it is nothing: hope for the "what" above, because it cannot be explained. And having this faith, do not be envious at sinners, when you see them as it were happy, falsely happy, in truth unhappy. And you, rejoice in the Lord (Ps. 31:11). And if perhaps you have, according to the time, riches, honours, powers, do not on that account think yourselves happy.

Chapter X. — To one who knows how to rejoice in the Lord, and who understands concerning the last things, the happiness of the world is not an honour but a burden. A man happy according to the world is in danger, lest by that very happiness he be corrupted, not in body but in soul. For that happiness is false. Such men, even if they seem to be something in this world, do not rejoice [in it], they delight in the precepts of the Lord. Then what God commands is set before the world, both when it flatters and when it threatens: everything visible is trodden underfoot, is passed over; by thinking, not by walking, it is passed over. I did not say, everything visible; for it is easy to pass over what you tread on: but, I said, everything changeable is passed over. Since whatever is visible is changeable: but not whatever is changeable is visible; for the soul too is changeable, and yet invisible. Pass over all that is seen; pass over also what is not seen, and

is nevertheless changed: so that you may come to Him Who is neither seen nor changed. When you have come to Him, you will come to God.

Chapter XI. — 9. The brief time of life. But for now walk by faith, set your conduct in order. He is far off on high: nourish your wings. Believe what you cannot yet see, so that you may merit to see what you believe. Let us live as pilgrims, let us reflect that we are passing through; and we shall sin less. Let us rather give thanks to the Lord our God, because He willed the last day of this life to be both brief and uncertain. From earliest infancy to decrepit old age is a short span. What would it have profited him who had lived so long, if Adam had died today? What is long, where there is an end? No one calls back yesterday: today is pressed on by tomorrow, so that it passes. In this very little span let us live well, and let us go thither whence we shall not pass on. And even now, while we speak, we are certainly passing. Words run, they fly from the mouth: so our acts, so our honours, so our misery, so this happiness of ours. All passes: but let us not be afraid; the Word of the Lord abides for ever (Isa. 40:8).