PL 39 · cols. 1996–2000

Appendix to Augustine's Sermones: Sermones supposititii, Sermones 121-137

Sermons CXXVII–CXXVIII

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Paulus probat, dicens: Qui transfiguravit corpus humilitatis nostrae conforme corpori gloriae suae, secundum operationem, ut posset subjicere sibi omnia (Philipp. III, 21). Et iterum, Qui cum in forma D⟨e⟩i constitutus esset, non rapinam arbitratus est esse se aequalem Deo; sed semetipsum exinanivit, formam servi accipiens; in similitudine hominis constitutus, et habit⟨u⟩ inventus ut homo: humiliavit se usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. Propter quod et Deus illum exaltavit, et donavit ei nomen quod est super omne nomen (Id. II, 6, etc.).

Paul proves, saying: Who transfigured the body of our lowliness, conformed to the body of His glory, according to the working whereby He is able to subject all things to Himself (Phil. 3:21). And again: Who, though He was established in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal to God; but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant; established in the likeness of man, and found in condition as a man: He humbled Himself even unto death, and the death of the cross. Wherefore God also exalted Him, and gave Him a name which is above every name (Phil. 2:6 ff.).

SERMO CXXVII. In Natali Domini, XI.

Sermon 127. On the Nativity of the Lord, 11.

Nativitates Domini duae. Superbia non magnitudo, sed tumor. Humilitatis necessitas. Christus unigenitus et primogenitus. Anniversaria Domini Incarnatio, et vestrae Fraternitatis tam frequens congregatio, exigit a nobis debitum sermonis officium. Itaque, fratres, affectu pio, corde devoto januam Domini pulsemus: ut et nobis tribuat fiduciam utilia dicendi, et vestrae Charitati fructum audiendi. Adjuvet itaque nos humillimos suos Salvator et magister humilitatis Dominus noster Jesus Christus, virginis filius, virginum sponsus, virginali utero corporaliter natus, virginali connubio spiritualiter conjugatus. Hodie itaque nasci dignatus est, per quem facta sunt omnia: manens quod est, exhibens tibi quod es; manens apud Patrem in divinitate, suscepit nostram infirmitatem in humanitate. Duas namque nativitates Domini accipimus: unam divinam, alteram humanam, tamen utramque mirabilem; illam sine matre, istam sine patre: illam aeternam, ut crearet temporales; hanc temporalem, ut praestaret aeternos. Ille enim de quo dicit Joannes evangelista, quia in principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum, et quia omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil, quod factum est: ille tantus, ille in forma Dei aequalis Patri, ille sine tempore fabricator temporum, ille ex nullo saeculo, ante omnia saecula, judex saeculi, factus est tam parvus, ut de femina nasceretur; sed mansit tam magnus, ut a Patre non separaretur. Praebentes ei obsequium et testimonium, tanquam lucernae venturo diei, omnes Prophetae praenuntiantes ante ipsum nascendo venerunt, post credendo adhaeserunt. Oportebat enim ut praenuntiaretur venturus, facturus miracula; quibus miraculis bene intelligentibus appareret homo parvus ad parvos, sed humilis ad superbos: parvitate sua docens hominem, ut se agnosceret parvum; ne non grandescendo se crederet magnum. Est enim superbia non magnitudo, sed tumor. Quod autem tumet, videtur magnum, sed non est sanum. Ut autem Creator generis humani istum tumorem sanaret, ipse medicus, ipse medicina, non solum medicamentum adhibens apparuit inter homines homo, offerens hominem videntibus, Deum servans credentibus. Aspectus enim humilitatis ejus sanavit infirmos; contemplatio divinitatis ejus quaerit firmos. Et dum erant homines, qui Deum viderent in homine, nec tamen spem suam ponerent in homine, qui sequi non debet: Deus sequendus erat, qui videri non poterat. Ut ergo exhiberetur homini, et qui ab homine videretur, et quem homo sequeretur; Deus factus est homo. Aliquid te magnum credere debes. Sed quod

The two births of the Lord. Pride is not greatness, but swelling. The necessity of humility. Christ only-begotten and first-begotten. The anniversary of the Lord's Incarnation, and so numerous a gathering of your Fraternity, demand of us the due office of a sermon. Therefore, brethren, with pious affection and devout heart let us knock at the Lord's door: that He may grant both to us the confidence to speak useful things, and to your Charity the fruit of hearing. May, then, our Saviour and the Master of humility, our Lord Jesus Christ, help us His most humble ones: the Son of a virgin, the Bridegroom of virgins, born bodily from a virginal womb, spiritually wedded in a virginal marriage. Today, therefore, He through Whom all things were made deigned to be born: remaining what He is, showing to you what you are; remaining with the Father in divinity, He took up our infirmity in humanity. For we receive two births of the Lord: the one divine, the other human, yet each wonderful; the former without a mother, the latter without a father: the former eternal, that He might create temporal [beings]; the latter temporal, that He might make [them] eternal. For He of Whom John the evangelist says that In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, and that All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made: He so great, He in the form of God equal to the Father, He without time the maker of times, He from no age, before all ages, the judge of the age, became so small as to be born of a woman; but remained so great as not to be separated from the Father. Rendering Him obedience and testimony, like lamps for the coming day, all the Prophets, foretelling Him, came before Him by being born, and afterwards clung to Him by believing. For it was fitting that He should be foretold as One about to come and about to work miracles; so that to those who understood these miracles well He might appear a little man to the little, but a humble one to the proud: by His littleness teaching man to recognize himself as little; lest, by not growing great, he should believe himself great. For pride is not greatness, but swelling. And what swells seems great, but is not sound. Now in order that the Creator of the human race might heal this swelling, Himself the physician, Himself the medicine, not only applying a remedy, He appeared among men as a man, presenting a man to those who saw, keeping God for those who believed. For the sight of His humility healed the infirm; the contemplation of His divinity seeks the strong. And while there were men who saw God in man, and yet did not put their hope in man, who ought not to be followed: God was to be followed, Who could not be seen. Therefore, that He might be shown to man, and that there might be One Who could be seen by man and Whom man might follow, God became man. You ought to believe yourself something great. But that

Editors' notes and page, col. 1996

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: non poterat› · call in col 1996

Totus iste locus depravatus, poterit ex cap. 2 sermonis 371 supra, p. 1660, n. 2, corrigi melius, quam ex manuscriptis. Nam alii hic, Et dum erat inter homines; mox alii, nec tamen spem suam ponere debent in homine. Tum vd. Ms., omissa particula, qui, subdit, sequi non debet Deus: sequendus, etc. Tres alii omittunt has voces, qui sequi non debet Deus.

This whole passage is corrupt; it can be corrected better from chap. 2 of Sermon 371 above, p. 1660, no. 2, than from the manuscripts. For some here have And while he was among men; next others, and yet they ought not to place their hope in man. Then manuscript vd., omitting the particle who, continues, ought not to follow God: to be followed, etc. Three others omit these words, who ought not to follow God.

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(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CXXVII› · call in col 1996

Alias, de Tempore 23.

Formerly [Sermon] 23 de Tempore.

(printed under page 260)

(b) ‹anchor: In Natali Domini, xi› · call in col 1996

In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Complures alterius sermonis, videlicet 371, supra citati, sententias continet, sed nec similiter cohaerentes, nec semper illibatas. Hunc itaque sermonem ex isto altero profectum arbitramur, non contra.

It is now placed in the Appendix for the first time. It contains several sentences of another sermon, namely 371, cited above, but neither hanging together in the same way nor always intact. We therefore judge that this sermon derives from that other, not the reverse.

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Verbum ca⟨r⟩o factum est, et habitavit in nobis (Joan. I, 1-3, 14), eadem Sapientia quae de Deo genita est, dignata est etiam inter homines creari; ad quod pertinet illud, Dominus creavit me in principio viarum suarum (Prov. VIII, 22) (est enim ejus principium caput Ecclesiae, quod est Christus), hominem per quem vivendi exemplum nobis daretur, hoc est, via certa qua perveniremus ad Deum. Non enim redire potuimus nisi humilitate, qui per superbiam lapsi sumus; sicut dictum est primae nostrae creaturae, Gustate, et eritis sicut dii (Gen. III, 5). Hujus igitur humilitatis exemplum, id est, viae quaerendum fuit. Ipse reparator noster in se ipso demonstrare dignatus est, qui non rapinam arbitratus est esse se aequalem Deo, sed semetipsum exinanivit formam servi accipiens (Philipp. II, 6, 7); ut crearetur homo in principio viarum ejus Verbum per quod creata sunt omnia. Quapropter unigenitus et primogenitus Dominus noster divinarum Scripturarum auctoritate praedicatur; unigenitus de Patre, primogenitus a mortuis. Quapropter secundum id quod unigenitus est, non habet fratres: secundum id quod primogenitus est, fratres vocare dignatus est omnes qui post ejus et per ejus primatum in gratia nascimur per adoptionem filiorum, sicut apostolica disciplina commendat. Naturalis ergo filius secundum id quod primogenitus est frater, de ipsa Patris substantia unicus natus est, id existens quod Pater est, Deus de Deo, lumen de lumine. Nos autem non lumen naturaliter sumus; sed ab illo lumine illuminamur, ut sapientia lucere possimus, per eum qui vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us (John 1:1–3, 14): the same Wisdom which was begotten of God deigned also to be created among men; to which pertains that [saying], The Lord created me in the beginning of His ways (Prov. 8:22) (for His beginning is the head of the Church, which is Christ), a man through whom an example of living might be given to us, that is, a sure way by which we might arrive at God. For we could not return except by humility, we who fell through pride; as it was said to our first creature, Taste, and you will be as gods (Gen. 3:5). Therefore an example of this humility, that is, of the way, had to be sought. Our Restorer Himself deigned to demonstrate it in His own person, Who did not consider it robbery to be equal to God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6–7); so that the Word through Whom all things were created might be created man in the beginning of His ways. Wherefore our Lord is proclaimed only-begotten and first-begotten by the authority of the divine Scriptures: only-begotten of the Father, first-begotten from the dead. Wherefore according to that by which He is only-begotten, He has no brothers; according to that by which He is first-begotten, He has deigned to call brothers all of us who, after Him and through His primacy, are born in grace through the adoption of sons, as the apostolic teaching commends. The natural Son, therefore, Who according to that by which He is first-begotten is a brother, was born the only one from the very substance of the Father, being that which the Father is, God from God, light from light. We, however, are not light by nature; but we are illumined by that light, so that we may be able to shine with wisdom, through Him Who lives and reigns for ages of ages. Amen.

SERMO CXXVIII. In Natali Domini, XII.

Sermon 128. On the Nativity of the Lord, 12.

1. Reparationis nostrae remedium. Solus Christus sine peccato natus. Dominus noster Jesus Christus, fratres charissimi, qui in aeternum est cunctorum creator, hodie de matre nascendo, factus est nobis salvator. Natus est nobis hodie in tempore per voluntatem, ut nos perducat ad Patris aeternitatem. Factus est Deus homo, ut homo fieret Deus. Ut panem Angelorum manducaret homo, Dominus Angelorum hodie factus est homo. Hodie impleta est prophetia illa, quae dicit, Rorate, coeli, desuper; et nubes pluant justum: aperiatur terra, et germinet Salvatorem (Isai. XLV, 8). Factus est igitur qui fecerat, ut inveniretur qui perierat. Sic enim in Psalmis homo confitetur, Priusquam humiliarer, ego peccavi; et iterum, Erravi sicut ovis quae periit (Psal. CXVIII, 67, 176). Peccavit homo, et factus est reus: natus est homo Deus, ut liberaretur reus. Homo igitur cecidit, sed Deus descendit: cecidit homo miserabiliter, descendit Deus misericorditer; cecidit homo per superbiam, descendit Deus cum gratia. Sic namque mater Domini ab angelo audivit: Ave, gratia plena, Dominus tecum (Luc. I, 28). Qui natus est primo sine matre in coelis, hodie natus est sine patre in terris. O miracula! o prodigia, fratres charissimi! Naturae jura mutantur in homine: Deus nascitur, virgo sine viro gravidatur. Mox viri nesciam sermo Dei maritat: simul facta est mater et virgo; mater facta, sed incorrupta; virgo habens filium, nesciens virum; semper clausa, sed non

1. The remedy of our restoration. Christ alone born without sin. Our Lord Jesus Christ, dearest brothers, Who is for ever the creator of all things, today by being born of a mother has become our saviour. He was born for us today in time by His will, so that He might lead us to the eternity of the Father. God was made man, so that man might become God. So that man might eat the bread of Angels, the Lord of Angels today was made man. Today that prophecy has been fulfilled which says, Drop down dew, you heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just one: let the earth be opened, and let it bud forth the Saviour (Isa. 45:8). He therefore was made Who had made, so that he might be found who had perished. For thus in the Psalms man confesses, Before I was humbled, I sinned; and again, I have gone astray like a sheep that has perished (Ps. 118:67, 176). Man sinned, and became guilty: God was born man, so that the guilty one might be set free. Man therefore fell, but God descended: man fell wretchedly, God descended mercifully; man fell through pride, God descended with grace. For thus the mother of the Lord heard from the angel: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you (Luke 1:28). He Who was first born without a mother in the heavens, today was born without a father on earth. O miracles! O prodigies, dearest brothers! The laws of nature are changed in man: God is born, a virgin becomes pregnant without a man. Presently the word of God weds her who does not know a man: at once she became mother and virgin; made a mother, yet uncorrupted; a virgin having a son, not knowing a man; ever closed, yet not

Editors' notes and page, col. 1997

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CXXVIII› · call in col 1997

Alias, de Tempore 13.

Elsewhere [Sermon] 13 de Tempore.

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(b) ‹anchor: In Natali Domini, xii› · call in col 1997

In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Erat Lovaniensibus dubius, falsus Verlino et Vindingo, qui observant consarcinatum esse ex variis Augustini locis inconcinne digestis, et eam concionem quae alias ordine erat 5 de Tempore (nunc 369), totam fere complecti. Id etiam in primis improbant quod hic num. 3 dicitur Simeon innovatus aetate: vitiata scilicet sententia Augustini, qui in Psal. 30 enarratione, n. 18, dixit, « Factus in puero puer, innovatus fide. » Porro in manuscriptis si quosdam excipias qui sermonem plus tertia parte decurtatum habent, praemittitur istud exordium: « Audistis, fratres, quemadmodum beatus evangelista hodie « generationis Christi retulit sacramentum. Christi, inquit, « generatio sic erat. »

It is now placed in the Appendix for the first time. It was doubtful to the Louvain editors, false to Verlinus and Vindingus, who observe that it is patched together from various passages of Augustine clumsily arranged, and that it takes in almost the whole of the discourse that was formerly 5th de Tempore (now 369). They also object above all that here in no. 3 Simeon is said to be renewed in age: a corruption, that is, of Augustine's sentence, who in the exposition of Psalm 30, no. 18, said, "Made a child in the child, renewed in faith." Further, in the manuscripts, if you except some that have the sermon cut short by more than a third, this opening is prefixed: "You have heard, brethren, how the blessed evangelist today related the mystery of Christ's generation. The generation of Christ, he says, was in this wise."

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infecunda. Solus enim sine peccato est natus, quem sine virili complexu non concupiscentia carnis, sed obedientia genuit mentis. Virgo concepit, sola vulneri nostro medicinam parere potuit, quae non ex peccati vulnere germen piae prolis emisit.

unfruitful. For He alone was born without sin, Whom, without the embrace of a man, not the concupiscence of the flesh but the obedience of the mind brought forth. A virgin conceived; she alone could bring forth a remedy for our wound, she who put forth the offspring of a holy progeny not out of the wound of sin.

2. Christus heri et hodie. O mira exquisitaque compago! o nova et inaudita commixtio! Deus qui est et qui erat, fit; creator, creatura. Qui immensus est, capitur; divites constituens, pauper efficitur: incorporeus carne vestitur, sermo crassescit, videtur invisibilis, palpatur impalpabilis, comprehenditur incomprehensibilis, immortalis occiditur. Quem coelum et terra benedicit, in praesepio angusto collocatur. Numeratur in saeculo, qui est ante saecula. Jesus Christus heri et hodie, idem ipse et in saecula (Hebr. XIII, 8). Heri dixit propter mortalitatem; hodie, propter aeternitatem. Merito hodie locuti sunt coeli, gratulati sunt Angeli, pastores jucundati, Magi invitati, reges turbati, martyres coronati, daemones effugati. Igitur cum gaudio dicamus sanctae virgini Mariae matri Domini nostri Jesu Christi; dicamus, et non confundamur: Lacta, mater, Christum, et Dominum nostrum et cibum. Lacta panem de coelo venientem, et in praesepi positum velut piorum cibaria jumentorum. Illic enim cognovit bos possessorem suum, et asinus praesepe Domini sui (Isai. I, 3): circumcisio scilicet et praeputium, cohaerendo lapidi angulari, quorum primitiae fuerunt pastores et Magi. Lacta eum qui talem fecit te, ut et ipse fieret in te, qui tibi et munus fecunditatis attulit conceptus, et donum virginitatis non abstulit natus: qui sibi antequam nasceretur, et uterum de quo nasceretur, et civitatem in qua nasceretur, et diem in quo nasceretur, elegit, et ipse condidit quod elegit. Sic namque olim praedictum est: Mater Sion dicet, Homo, et homo factus est in ea, et ipse fundavit eam Altissimus (Psal. LXXXVI, 5).

2. Christ yesterday and today. O wonderful and exquisite joining! O new and unheard-of mingling! God, Who is and Who was, comes to be; the Creator, a creature. He Who is immeasurable is contained; He Who makes men rich is made poor: the incorporeal is clothed with flesh, the Word grows thick, the invisible is seen, the impalpable is touched, the incomprehensible is grasped, the immortal is slain. He Whom heaven and earth bless is laid in a narrow manger. He is counted within time Who is before the ages. Jesus Christ yesterday and today, the same also for ever (Heb. 13:8). He said "yesterday" on account of mortality; "today", on account of eternity. Rightly today have the heavens spoken, the Angels given thanks, the shepherds rejoiced, the Magi been invited, kings been troubled, martyrs been crowned, demons been put to flight. Therefore let us say with joy to the holy virgin Mary, mother of our Lord Jesus Christ; let us say it, and let us not be put to shame: Suckle, mother, Christ, both our Lord and our food. Suckle the bread coming from heaven and placed in a manger as though it were the fodder of devout beasts. For there the ox knew its owner, and the ass its Lord's manger (Isa. 1:3): namely the circumcision and the uncircumcision, by cleaving to the cornerstone, of which the shepherds and the Magi were the firstfruits. Suckle Him Who made you such that He Himself might come to be in you, Who, when conceived, brought you the gift of fruitfulness, and, when born, did not take away the gift of virginity: Who before He was born chose for Himself both the womb from which He would be born, and the city in which He would be born, and the day on which He would be born, and Himself made what He chose. For thus it was foretold of old: Mother Sion shall say, A man, and a man was made in her, and the Most High Himself founded her (Ps. 86:5).

3. Simeonis desiderium. O omnipotentia nascentis! o magnificentia de coelo ad terram descendentis! Adhuc in utero portabatur; et ex utero matris a Joanne Baptista salutabatur. In templo praesentabatur; et a Simeone sene famoso, annoso, probato, coronato agnoscebatur. Tunc cognovit, tunc adoravit, tunc dixit: Nunc, Domine, dimittis servum tuum in pace; quoniam viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum (Luc. II, 29 et 30). Differebatur exire de saeculo, ut videret natum per quem conditum est saeculum. Agnovit infantem senex, factus est in puero puer. Innovatus est iu aetate, qui plenus erat pietate. Simeon senex ferebat Christum infantem; Christus regebat Simeonis senectutem. Dictum ei fuerat a Domino quod non gustaret mortem, nisi videret Christum Domini natum. Natus est Christus; et impletum est desiderium senis in mundi ipsius senectute. Ipse ad senem hominem venit, qui mundum inveteratum invenit. In isto quidem saeculo diu esse nolebat; et Christum in hoc saeculo videre cupiebat, cantans cum propheta, et dicens: Ostende nobis, Domine, misericordiam tuam, et salutare tuum da nobis (Psal. LXXXIV, 8). Denique ut noveritis ita esse istius laetitiam, conclusit dicens: Nunc dimittis servum tuum in pace; quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum.

3. The desire of Simeon. O the omnipotence of Him Who is being born! O the magnificence of Him Who descends from heaven to earth! He was still being carried in the womb, and from his mother's womb He was greeted by John the Baptist. He was presented in the temple, and was recognized by Simeon, an old man renowned, full of years, tested and crowned. Then he knew Him, then he worshipped Him, then he said: Now, Lord, Thou dismiss Thy servant in peace; for my eyes have seen Thy salvation (Luke 2:29–30). His departure from the world was deferred, so that he might see born Him through Whom the world was established. The old man recognized the infant, and in the child became a child. He was renewed in age, who was full of piety. The old man Simeon carried the infant Christ; Christ ruled Simeon's old age. It had been told him by the Lord that he would not taste death unless he saw the Christ of the Lord born. Christ was born, and the desire of the old man was fulfilled in the old age of the world itself. He came to an old man, He Who found the world grown old. In this world indeed he did not wish to remain long; and he longed to see Christ in this world, singing with the prophet and saying: Show us, Lord, Thy mercy, and give us Thy salvation (Ps. 84:8). Finally, so that you may know that his joy was such, he concluded, saying: Now Thou dismiss Thy servant in peace; because my eyes have seen Thy salvation.

4. Testimonia nativitatis Christi. Prophetae cecinerunt Conditorem coeli et terrae in terra cum hominibus futurum: angelus nuntiavit Creatorem carnis et spiritus in carne venturum: salutavit Joannes ex utero in utero Salvatorem: Simeon senex Deum agnovit infantem, Anna vidua virginem matrem. Haec sunt testimonia nativitatis tuae, Domine Jesu, antequam tibi substernerentur fluctus maris calcanti, cederent imperanti; antequam ventus te jubente siluisset, mortuus te vocante resurrexisset, sol te moriente palluisset, terra te resurgente tremuisset, coelum te ascendente patuisset. Adhuc enim in manibus matris portabaris; et

4. Testimonies of the nativity of Christ. The prophets sang that the Founder of heaven and earth would be on earth with men: an angel announced that the Creator of flesh and spirit would come in the flesh: John from the womb greeted the Saviour in the womb: the old man Simeon recognized God as an infant, the widow Anna recognized the virgin as mother. These are the testimonies of Thy nativity, Lord Jesus, before the waves of the sea spread themselves beneath Thee as Thou trod upon them and yielded to Thee as Thou commanded them; before the wind fell silent at Thy bidding, the dead man rose again at Thy calling, the sun grew pale at Thy dying, the earth trembled at Thy rising, heaven lay open at Thy ascending. For Thou were still being carried in Thy mother's arms; and

Editors' notes and page, col. 1998

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the image› · call in col 1998

Mss., Magi mutati.

Manuscripts: the Magi changed.

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(2) ‹anchor: not visible in the image› · call in col 1998

Verba, et in praesepi positum, etc., usque ad ista lacta, eum, desunt in Ms. german.

The words and laid in a manger, etc., up to these, suckle him, are missing in the manuscript german.

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jam Dominus orbis cognoscebaris.

already Thou were recognized as Lord of the world.

5. Christus ubique pulcher. Ubique enim Christus Dominus pulcher occurrebat: pulcher in coelis, pulcher in terris; pulcher in Patre Verbum, pulcher in matre caro et Verbum; pulcher in utero Virginis, ubi non amisit divinitatem, cum suscepit humanitatem: quia cum hic esset, cum manibus portaretur, locuti sunt coeli, gavisi sunt Angeli, Magos stella direxit. Adoratus est in praesepio cibaria mansuetorum; adoratus est in templo puer Christus a sene Simeone, gestatus est in ulnis, a quo ipse regebatur. Pulcher ergo Christus in miraculis; in flagellis, in sermonibus, in verberibus pulcher; non curans mortem, et mortuos suscitans; pulcher in ligno, pulcher in coelo, pulcher et in sepulcro. Quis igitur, fratres charissimi, non adoret primum et novissimum, initium et finem, α et ω (Apoc. XXII, 13)? quis, inquam, non adoret per quem aspiravit dies, effugatae sunt umbrae?

5. Christ beautiful everywhere. For everywhere Christ the Lord appeared beautiful: beautiful in the heavens, beautiful on earth; beautiful in the Father as Word, beautiful in His mother as flesh and Word; beautiful in the womb of the Virgin, where He did not lose His divinity when He took up humanity: for when He was here, when He was carried in arms, the heavens spoke, the Angels rejoiced, a star guided the Magi. He was adored in the manger, the food of the meek; the boy Christ was adored in the temple by the old man Simeon, He was carried in the arms of one who was himself ruled by Him. Christ, then, is beautiful in His miracles; in scourgings, in sermons, in blows beautiful; not heeding death, and raising the dead; beautiful on the wood, beautiful in heaven, beautiful also in the tomb. Who then, dearest brethren, would not adore the first and the last, the beginning and the end, α and ω (Rev. 22:13)? who, I say, would not adore Him through Whom the day breathed forth and the shadows were put to flight?

6. Christus quid a nobis mercatus, quid reddidit. Natus est imperator, ut absolveretur peccator. Sic enim scriptum est: Infirma mundi elegit Deus, ut confundat fortia (I Cor. I, 27). Dominus enim Jesus Christus per carnem quam suscepit, tribuit nobis magnam spem, magnam consolationem, magnam gratiam. Natus est, quod non noveramus: lactatus est a matre, suxit quod noveramus. Mercatus est a nobis quod hic abundat, nasci et mori. Resurgere, et in aeternum vivere, non hic erat. Invenit hic viles merces terrenas, et terrestribus attulit peregrinas et coelestes. Si expavescis, o quisquis es auditor, mortem Christi; ama resurrectionem Christi. Multi quidem contempserunt humilem Christum, et non pervenerunt usque ad altitudinem Christi. Qui autem adoraverunt humilem, invenerunt excelsum.

6. What Christ bought from us, what He gave back. The emperor was born, that the sinner might be absolved. For thus it is written: God has chosen the weak things of the world, that He may confound the strong (1 Cor. 1:27). For the Lord Jesus Christ, through the flesh which He took up, has granted us great hope, great consolation, great grace. He was born in a way we had not known: He was nursed by His mother, He sucked what we had known. He bought from us what abounds here, to be born and to die. To rise again and to live for ever was not here. He found here cheap earthly wares, and brought to earthly beings wares foreign and heavenly. If you are afraid, O whoever you are, hearer, of the death of Christ, love the resurrection of Christ. Many indeed despised the humble Christ, and did not reach as far as the loftiness of Christ. But those who adored Him humble found Him exalted.

7. Legis figura, baculus Elisaei. Fidei christianae fundamentum. Audiunt Judaei, et dicunt, Noster est Christus. O Judaei caeci, si vestrum agnovistis, quare occidistis? Dominus quidem suscepit circumcisionem, ablaturus ipsam circumcisionem: suscepit umbram, daturus lucem; suscepit figuram, impleturus veritatem. Ipse quidem vobis Legem dedit; sed in qua fuit Elisaeus, quando resuscitavit mortuum filium cujusdam religiosae, in ea figura data est Lex. Hoc factum est. Nuntiatus est Elisaeo mortuus infans: dedit servo suo baculum, et ait illi: Vade, inquit, et pone baculum super puerum, et reviviscet (IV Reg. IV, 29). Accepit servus baculum, posuit super puerum; et non resurrexit. Propterea Judaei Legem accipere potuerunt, vivere in illa non potuerunt. O tu, Judaee, audi Legem mutatam, si vis mutari; si non vis mutari, in vetustate habes damnari: noli amare veterem tunicam. Pater tuus crucifixit Christum; tu odisti: ille manu, tu corde; ambo facinus implestis. Displiceat tibi quod fecit pater tuus; audi quod dicit Dominus tuus: Pater, inquit, in me manens, ipse mihi mandatum dedit quid dicam, et quid loquar, et scio quia mandatum ejus vita aeterna est (Joan. XII, 49, 50). Si mandatum Patris vita aeterna est, si Verbum Patris est vita aeterna; qui loquebatur erat vita aeterna. Non ergo fecit aliquid a se, quia non est a se. Sed a quo est? A Patre. Pater enim Deus, sed non de Deo: Filius autem Deus, sed de Deo: ideo Filius, quia de Deo genitus est, et semper Filius, sine initio genitus, et tamen genitus. Et quomodo hoc intelligatur, audire exspectatis a me: audite prophetam per me, Generationem ejus quis enarrabit (Isai. LIII, 8)? Et tamen multa diximus de ejus generatione, sed de ea quae de matre est. Caeterum quomodo natus est de Patre in coelo, quis potest explicare? quis potest enarrare vel investigare? Teneamus nos ad istam humanam nativitatem, per quam nobis Deus donavit gratiam. Gratia, inquam, donata, non merces reddita; quia qui creavit, sanat. Per ipsam levat ruentem, per ipsam curat aegrotantem, per ipsam coronat vincentem. Ipsa est fides, ipsa est veritas, hoc est christianae fidei fundamentum, quia unus homo per quem ruina, alius homo Christus per quem structura. Cecidit qui non mansit; erigit qui non cecidit. Ruit ille,

7. The figure of the Law, the staff of Elisha. The foundation of the Christian faith. The Jews hear, and say, Christ is ours. O blind Jews, if you recognized Him as yours, why did you kill Him? The Lord indeed took up circumcision, intending to take away circumcision itself: He took up the shadow, intending to give the light; He took up the figure, intending to fulfil the truth. He Himself indeed gave you the Law; but in the figure in which Elisha was, when he raised the dead son of a certain devout woman, in that figure the Law was given. This is what happened. A dead child was reported to Elisha: he gave his servant his staff, and said to him: Go, he said, and place the staff upon the boy, and he will revive (2 Kgs. 4:29). The servant took the staff, placed it upon the boy; and he did not rise again. Therefore the Jews were able to receive the Law, they were not able to live in it. O you, Jew, hear the Law changed, if you are willing to be changed; if you are not willing to be changed, you are bound to be condemned in your oldness: do not love the old tunic. Your father crucified Christ; you have hated Him: he with the hand, you with the heart; both of you have accomplished the crime. Let what your father did displease you; hear what your Lord says: The Father, He says, abiding in Me, He gave Me a commandment what I should say, and what I should speak, and I know that His commandment is life eternal (John 12:49–50). If the commandment of the Father is life eternal, if the Word of the Father is life eternal, He Who was speaking was life eternal. He did nothing, therefore, from Himself, because He is not from Himself. But from whom is He? From the Father. For the Father is God, but not from God: but the Son is God, but from God: therefore Son, because He is begotten of God, and always Son, begotten without beginning, and yet begotten. And how this is to be understood, you expect to hear from me: hear the prophet through me, Who shall declare His generation (Isa. 53:8)? And yet we have said much about His generation, but about that which is from His mother. But how He was born of the Father in heaven, who can explain? who can declare or search out? Let us hold ourselves to this human nativity, through which God has bestowed grace upon us. Grace, I say, bestowed, not a wage paid back; for He Who created, heals. Through it He lifts up the one falling, through it He cures the sick, through it He crowns the one who conquers. This is faith, this is truth, this is the foundation of the Christian faith, that one man was he through whom came ruin, another man, Christ, He through Whom came the building. He fell who did not stand firm; He raises up Who did not fall. That one rushed down,

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running head: 1999 APPENDIX.
marginal letters: (none)
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: column begins mid-sentence (jam Dominus) and ends mid-sentence (Ruit ille,); right-hand column 2000 cut off at the image edge, not set; no margin letters or old-edition numerals visible; Simeone printed with a faint e resembling c, set Simeone; explicare shows a stray mark over the final e, set without it; Isai. numeral printed LIII, partly blurred.

PL 39:2000

quia dimisit manentem; manens Christus in Patre descendit ad jacentem.

because he forsook the One Who abides; abiding in the Father, Christ came down to the one lying [fallen].

8. Generatio Christi divina. Ipse puer parvulus ex semine Israel, et ipse nobiscum Deus Emmanuel. Quae est illa nostri generatio Salvatoris, qua gignenti Patri coaeternus est; quando hanc generationem ex virgine mundus expavit, quam pia fides agnovit et tenuit, infidelitas autem irrisit, superbia timuit superata? Quaenam est illa generatio, qua in principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum (Joan. I, 1); vel quod est hoc Verbum quod dicturus antea non silebat, quo dicto non siluit qui dicebat? Quod est Verbum sine tempore, per quod facta sunt tempora; Verbum quod labia nullius aperuit coeptum, vel clausit finitum; Verbum quod initium non habet ex ore loquentium, et aperit ora mutorum; Verbum quod linguis gentium disertis non fit, et linguas infantium disertas facit? Quaenam est, inquam, illa generatio, cui pater moriendo non cedit; quia non eam vivendo praecedit, aliena ab omnibus locorum temporumque intervallis, ab omni distentione spatiorum, quam vel in diebus vel in corporibus sentire consuevimus?

8. The divine generation of Christ. He Himself is the little child from the seed of Israel, and He Himself is God with us, Emmanuel. What is that generation of our Saviour by which He is coeternal with the Father who begets Him, when the world was struck with dread at this generation from a virgin, which pious faith acknowledged and held fast, while unbelief mocked it, and pride, overcome, feared it? What indeed is that generation by which in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and God was the Word (John 1:1); or what is this Word, which He who was to speak it was not silent about before, and which, once spoken, He who spoke it did not fall silent about? What is the Word without time, through which times were made; the Word which no one's lips opened at its beginning, or closed at its end; the Word which does not have its beginning from the mouth of those who speak, and opens the mouths of the dumb; the Word which is not made by the eloquent tongues of the nations, and makes the tongues of infants eloquent? What indeed, I say, is that generation in which the Father does not give way by dying, since He does not precede it by living, a generation removed from all intervals of places and times, from every extension of spaces, which we are accustomed to perceive either in days or in bodies?

9. Hanc meditanti elevanda mens super omnia creata. In tantum quis longe est a Deo, in quantum dissimilis. Levemus ad eum, quantum ipso adjuvante possumus, animas nostras, si quomodo capere valeamus, et natum non praevenientem qui gignit, et gignendo non subsequentem qui gignitur; Patrem et Filium nec pariter patres, nec pariter filios, et pariter aeternos: non utrumque generantem, nec utrumque nascentem; sed alterum sine altero non viventem: et Patrem sempiternum genuisse, et Filium sempiternum natum esse. Cogitemus, si valemus; si non valemus, credamus. Non est hic quod dicere volumus; sed tamen non longe positum est ab unoquoque nostrum: In illo enim vivimus, et movemur et sumus (Act. XVII, 28). Transcendamus carnem nostram, in qua parentes ante filios vivunt: quia ut filios possent generare, creverunt; et filiis crescentibus jam senescunt. Nondum natis filiis parentes vixerunt; quia et parentibus mortuis filii victuri sunt. Transcendamus et animas nostras, pariunt et ipsae aliquid cogitando, quod secum habent sciendo; sed possunt amittere obliviscendo, quia et non habebant antea nascendo. Cuncta corporalia et temporalia et mutabilia transcendamus; ut videamus super omnia, per quem facta sunt omnia. Ascensus noster in corde est, quia et illud quo ascendimus prope est; longe autem ab illo sumus, in quantum dissimiles sumus. Ascendit ergo ad eum sua similitudo, quam in nobis fecit et refecit: quia nondum perfecte palpitat infirmus aspectus, et ineffabilem candorem lucis aeternae non potest intueri. Cujus ergo fulgorem mentis acies nondum capit, Generationem ejus quis enarrabit? Sed Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis (Joan. I, 14). Hanc ergo generationem, cujus hodiernum celebramus diem, hanc in qua dignatus est venire per Israel, et fieri Emmanuel nobiscum Deus in carnis infirmitate, non nobiscum in cordis iniquitate, accedens ad nos per id quod assumpsit ex nostro, et liberans nos per id quod mansit in suo (visitavit quippe Dominus servos suos per mortalem infirmitatem; ut eos liberos faceret per incommutabilem) veritatem: hanc ergo generationem, cujus utcumque capax est humana fragilitas, non illam quae sine tempore manet, sine matre super omnia, sed istam quae in tempore facta est sine patre inter omnia; hunc virginis filium et virginum sponsum, de incorrupta matre nascentem, et incorruptibili veritate fetantem laudemus, amemus, adoremus: ut in ejus misericordia de astutia victa diaboli triumphemus. Veniamus ad eum credendo, proficiamus gratias agendo, agnoscamus perseverando. Veniamus ad illum, et inter nos concordemus. Quare de ejus nativitate litigamus? An ut medicum vocantem non audiamus? O infelix infirmitas! Venit ad aegrotum medicus, et litibus vacat aegrotus. Celebremus ergo Natalem Domini,

9. One who meditates on this must lift his mind above all created things. A person is far from God in so far as he is unlike Him. Let us lift up our souls to Him, as far as we can with His help, if in some way we may be able to grasp both the One born, whom He who begets does not precede, and the One who is begotten, who does not come after the begetting; the Father and the Son, not alike fathers, nor alike sons, and yet alike eternal: not both begetting, nor both being born; but neither one living without the other: and that the Father everlastingly begot, and the Son was everlastingly born. Let us think it, if we are able; if we are not able, let us believe it. What we wish to speak of is not here; yet it is not placed far from each one of us: For in Him we live, and move, and are (Acts 17:28). Let us transcend our flesh, in which parents live before their children: because, in order to be able to beget children, they grew up; and as their children grow, they are already growing old. Parents lived when their children were not yet born; because children too will live when their parents are dead. Let us transcend our souls also; they too bring forth something by thinking, which they keep with them by knowing; but they can lose it by forgetting, because they also did not have it before at their birth. Let us transcend all things bodily and temporal and changeable, that we may see above all things Him through whom all things were made. Our ascent is in the heart, because that to which we ascend is also near; but we are far from it in so far as we are unlike. His likeness, then, which He made and remade in us, ascends to Him: because our weak gaze does not yet quiver with full strength, and cannot look upon the ineffable brightness of the eternal light. Whose splendour, then, the keenness of the mind does not yet grasp, who shall declare His generation? But the Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us (John 1:14). This generation, then, whose day we celebrate today, this in which He deigned to come through Israel, and to become Emmanuel, God with us in the weakness of the flesh, not with us in the iniquity of the heart, approaching us through that which He assumed from what is ours, and freeing us through that which remained in what is His own (for the Lord visited His servants through mortal weakness, that He might make them free through unchangeable) truth: this generation, then, of which human frailty is in some measure capable, not that which abides without time, without a mother, above all things, but this which took place in time without a father, among all things; this Son of a virgin and Bridegroom of virgins, born of an incorrupt mother, and making fruitful with incorruptible truth, let us praise, love, adore: that in His mercy we may triumph over the defeated cunning of the devil. Let us come to Him by believing, let us advance by giving thanks, let us acknowledge Him by persevering. Let us come to Him, and be of one heart among ourselves. Why do we quarrel about His nativity? Is it so that we may not hear the physician who calls us? O unhappy infirmity! The physician comes to the sick man, and the sick man has leisure for quarrels. Let us therefore celebrate the Birthday of the Lord,

Editors' notes and page, col. 2000