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Appendix to Augustine's Sermones: Sermones supposititii, Sermones 241-257

Sermons CCXLVIII–CCXLIX

praesidium est amicis, obstaculum inimicis. Hujus crucis mysterio rudes catechizantur, eodem mysterio fons regenerationis consecratur, ejusdem crucis signo per manus impositionem baptizati dona gratiarum accipiunt. Cum ejusdem crucis charactere basilicae dedicantur, altaria consecrantur, altaris Sacramenta cum interpositione dominicorum verborum conficiuntur; sacerdotes et levitae per hoc idem ad sacros ordines promoventur. Et universaliter omnia ecclesiastica sacramenta in ejus virtute perficiuntur. Qui hoc mare magnum et spatiosum, in quo sunt reptilia quorum non est numerus (Psal. CIII, 25), absque naufragio transire desiderat, crucem sequatur, crucem teneat, et eam non deserat, donec ad optatum salutis portum perveniat. Haec cursum nostrum dirigit, haec ad agonem nos instruit, haec in luctamine adjuvat, haec ad victoriam provehit, haec ad coronam pervehit, haec maleficia destruit, et omnia daemonum machinamenta ad nihilum redigit; et quod faciebat in terris corporalis Christi praesentia, hoc facit cum fideli invocatione nominis Christi victoriosae crucis insignita memoria. Longum est per singula virtutem crucis exponere. Qui vero in angaria Christi crucem portat, poterit plura de ejus virtute experimenta cognoscere, quam possit sermo retexere, vel humana cogitatio comprehendere.

is a protection to friends, an obstacle to enemies. By the mystery of this cross the unlearned are catechized; by the same mystery the font of regeneration is consecrated; by the sign of the same cross, through the imposition of hands, the baptized receive the gifts of graces. With the mark of the same cross basilicas are dedicated, altars are consecrated, the Sacraments of the altar are confected with the interposition of the Lord's words; priests and levites are advanced to sacred orders through this same thing. And universally all the ecclesiastical sacraments are accomplished in its power. Whoever desires to cross without shipwreck this great and spacious sea, in which are creeping things of which there is no number (Ps. 103:25), let him follow the cross, let him hold fast the cross, and let him not desert it, until he arrives at the longed-for harbour of salvation. This directs our course, this trains us for the contest, this helps us in the struggle, this carries us forward to victory, this conveys us to the crown, this destroys evil deeds, and brings to nothing all the machinations of demons; and what the bodily presence of Christ did on earth, this the memorial of the victorious cross does, marked with the faithful invocation of the name of Christ. It would be long to set out the power of the cross point by point. But whoever carries the cross in Christ's compelled service will be able to come to know more proofs of its power than speech could recount or human thought comprehend.

SERMO CCXLVIII. De Sepultura Domini.

Sermon 248. On the Burial of the Lord.

1. Sepulcrum Domini quasi vulva. Inde gloriosior quam de matre nascitur. Videamus, fratres, de Domini corpore, posteaquam de cruce deponitur, quid geratur. Accepit illud Joseph ab Arimathia, vir justus, sicut ait evangelista, et in novo suo sepelivit monumento, in quo nondum quisquam positus fuerat (Joan. XIX, 38-42). Beatum ergo corpus Domini nostri Jesu Christi, quod cum nascitur ex utero virginis gignitur; cum recedit justi tumulo commendatur. Beatum plane corpus quod virginitas peperit, et justitia custodivit. Custodivit enim illud Joseph tumulus incorruptum, sicut servavit illud Mariae uterus illibatum. Sicut enim pollutione ibi non tangitur, sic mortis corruptione non laeditur. Ubique beato corpori defertur sanctitas, ubique virginitas. Novus illud venter concepit, novus tumulus conclusit. Dominica ergo est virgo vulva, et virgo est sepultura. Quin potius ipsam sepulturam vulvam dixerim: est enim similitudo non parva. Sicut enim Dominus de matris vulva, vivus exivit; ita et de Joseph sepultura vivus surrexit. Et sicut de utero tunc ad praedicandum natus est; ita et nunc ad evangelizandum renatus est de sepulcro: nisi quod gloriosior est ista, quam illa nativitas. Illa enim corpus mortale genuit; haec edidit immortale. Post illam nativitatem ad inferos descenditur, post hanc remeatur ad coelos. Religiosior est plane ista, quam illa nativitas. Illa enim totius mundi Dominum novem mensibus in utero clausum tenuit: haec autem triduo tantum tumuli gremio custodivit. Illa cunctorum spem tardius protulit; haec omnium salutem citius suscitavit.

1. The Lord's sepulchre is as it were a womb. From there He is born more gloriously than from His mother. Let us see, brethren, what is done concerning the Lord's body after it is taken down from the cross. Joseph of Arimathea, a just man, as the evangelist says, received it and buried it in his own new tomb, in which no one had yet been laid (John 19:38–42). Blessed therefore is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, when it is born, is begotten from the womb of a virgin, and when it departs, is entrusted to the tomb of a just man. Blessed indeed is the body which virginity brought forth and justice guarded. For Joseph's tomb guarded it incorrupt, just as Mary's womb kept it unblemished. For as there it is not touched by defilement, so here it is not harmed by the corruption of death. Everywhere holiness is accorded to the blessed body, everywhere virginity. A new womb conceived it, a new tomb enclosed it. The Lord's womb, then, is virgin, and virgin is His burial-place. Indeed I would rather call the burial-place itself a womb: for the likeness is not small. For just as the Lord came forth alive from His mother's womb, so too He rose alive from Joseph's burial-place. And just as then He was born from the womb in order to preach, so too now He is reborn from the sepulchre in order to evangelize: except that this birth is more glorious than that one. For that one brought forth a mortal body; this one produced an immortal one. After that birth there is a descent to the underworld; after this one there is a return to the heavens. This birth is plainly holier than that one. For that one held the Lord of the whole world enclosed in the womb for nine months; but this one kept Him in the bosom of the tomb for only three days. That one brought forth the hope of all more slowly; this one raised up the salvation of all more swiftly.

2. Analogia Joseph cum Domini matre. Fortasse quis dicat de priori Dominicae nativitatis praedicatione, in qua praedicavimus non minorem esse gloriam quod tumulus Joseph suscitaverit Dominum, quam quod eum sanctae Mariae uterus procrearit: Quae comparatio ventris et tumuli, cum ex intimis visceribus illa ediderit filium; hic autem solummodo locum praestiterit sepulturae? At ego dico non minorem Joseph affectum

2. The analogy of Joseph with the Lord's mother. Perhaps someone may say, concerning our earlier preaching on the Lord's nativity, in which we preached that it was no less a glory that Joseph's tomb raised up the Lord than that the womb of holy Mary brought Him forth: What comparison is there between womb and tomb, since she bore a son from her inmost vitals, whereas this only provided a place of burial? But I say that Joseph's devotion was no less

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Footnotes

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Alias, de Tempore 133.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 133 de Tempore.

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In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Dubium relinquunt Lovanienses. At Verlinus et Vindingus centonem esse observant, compositum ex parte postrema sermonis apud Ambrosium 52, de Cruce, et ex integro sermone apud eumdem 53, de Sepulcro Domini. Qui sermones duo Maximi etiam nomine vulgati sunt : Ambrosii vero, cui in Theodericensi Ms. tribuuntur, sententias ex Commentariis in Lucam nonnullas habent. De num. 3 vid. Ambrosium in Lucae cap. 23; de num. 5, eumdem in Lucae cap. 24.

Placed in the Appendix now for the first time. The Louvain editors leave it doubtful. But Verlinus and Vindingus observe that it is a patchwork, composed of the last part of Sermon 52 among Ambrose's, On the Cross, and of the whole of Sermon 53 among the same, On the Lord's Sepulchre. These two sermons have also been published under the name of Maximus; but they contain some sentences from the Commentary on Luke of Ambrose, to whom they are ascribed in the Thierry manuscript. On no. 3 see Ambrose on Luke ch. 23; on no. 5, the same on Luke ch. 24.

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fuisse, quam Mariae: siquidem illa utero Dominum, hic corde concepit; illa Salvatori membrorum suorum secretum praestitit, hic secretum sui cordis non negavit; illa Dominum pannis involvit cum natus est, hic linteis cum recessit; illa perunxit beatum corpus oleo, hic aromatibus honoravit. Conveniunt ergo sibi obsequia, convenit et affectus; inde necesse est etiam meritum convenire: nisi quod Mariam ad obsequium angelus admonuit, Joseph autem justitia sola persuasit. Igitur Joseph in suo sepulcro posuit Dominum.

than Mary's: for she conceived the Lord in her womb, he in his heart; she afforded the Saviour the privacy of her members, he did not deny Him the secret of his heart; she wrapped the Lord in swaddling clothes when He was born, he in linen cloths when He departed; she anointed the blessed body with oil, he honoured it with spices. Their services, therefore, are in accord with each other, and their devotion is in accord too; hence their merit must also be in accord: except that an angel prompted Mary to her service, whereas justice alone persuaded Joseph. Joseph, then, laid the Lord in his own tomb.

3. Joseph magis in monumento cordis Dominum collocat. Sepulcrum Christi spirituale. Legimus in propheta, Sepulcrum patens est guttur eorum (Psal. V, 11). Si ergo sepulcrum patens est guttur hominum, vide ne forte secundum hanc similitudinem Dominum Joseph non tam in terrena posuerit sepultura, quam in monumento sui cordis collocaverit, et custodiendum illum susceperit, non tam memoria fragili moriturorum, quam memoria sancta virtutum. Haec enim virtutum fidelis est memoria, quae intra se continens Christum, laedi eum haereticorum corruptione non patitur De qua memoria in sacramentis Dominus dicit, Quotiescumque hoc feceritis, in memoriam mei facietis, donec veniam (I Cor. XI, 26). Quotiescumque enim Christum loquimur, toties eum sanctiori memoriae commendamus. Sepulcrum ergo patens guttur hominum recte plane dicit propheta. Sepulcrum enim Christi patens est evangelistarum beatum guttur, per quod illud aeterno litterarum thesauro condiderunt. Patens autem sepulcrum ideo dicitur, quia qui vult ad Christi pervenire mysterium, non ingreditur ad illud, nisi per evangelicae Scripturae secretum. In litterarum enim secreto, quasi quodam novo vasculo commendatus est Dominus: quisquis igitur illum videre desiderat, ibi et passionis ejus sacramentum inveniet, et resurrectionis gloriam recognoscet. Patens ergo guttur sanctorum est. Unde Apostolus ad Corinthios ait, Os nostrum patet ad vos, o Corinthii (II Cor. VI, 11); invitans eos ut per praedicationis suae apertam januam ingrediantur Christi secreta mysteria. In hac igitur pectoris memoria collocatur Dominus a Joseph, ut in justitiae sede requiescat, et habeat Filius hominis ubi caput reclinet.

3. Joseph places the Lord rather in the tomb of his heart. The spiritual tomb of Christ. We read in the prophet, Their throat is an open tomb (Ps. 5:11). If, then, the throat of men is an open tomb, consider whether perhaps, according to this likeness, Joseph did not so much lay the Lord in an earthly burial place as place Him in the tomb of his own heart, and take Him up to be guarded, not so much by the frail memory of those who are to die as by the holy memory of the virtues. For this is the faithful memory of the virtues, which, holding Christ within itself, does not suffer Him to be harmed by the corruption of heretics. Of this memory the Lord says in the sacraments, As often as you do this, you shall do it in memory of Me, until I come (1 Cor. 11:26). For as often as we speak of Christ, so often do we commend Him to a holier memory. Quite rightly, then, does the prophet say that the throat of men is an open tomb. For the open tomb of Christ is the blessed throat of the evangelists, through which they laid it up in the eternal treasury of letters. And it is called an open tomb for this reason, that whoever wishes to arrive at the mystery of Christ does not enter into it except through the secret place of the Gospel Scripture. For in the secret place of letters, as in a kind of new vessel, the Lord has been laid up: whoever, therefore, desires to see Him will find there both the sacrament of His passion and will recognize the glory of His resurrection. The throat of the saints, therefore, is open. Hence the Apostle says to the Corinthians, Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians (2 Cor. 6:11), inviting them to enter through the open door of his preaching into the secret mysteries of Christ. In this memory of the breast, then, the Lord is placed by Joseph, that He may rest in the seat of justice, and that the Son of Man may have where to lay His head.

4. Cur alieno in tumulo condatur Dominus. Videamus igitur quare Salvator in aliena sepultura ponatur, ac suam non habeat sepulturam. Ideo in aliena sepultura ponitur, quia pro aliorum moriebatur salute. Mors enim ista non illi accidit,. sed nobis proficit: mors ista non illi illata est, sed nobis delata. Utquid ergo ei propria sepultura, qui in se mortem propriam non habebat? Utquid illi tumulus in terris, cujus sedes manebat in coelis? Utquid illi sepultura, qui tridui tantum temporis spatio non tam in sepulcro mortuus jacuit, quam veluti in lecto conquievit? Ipsa enim temporis brevitas declarat potius somnum fuisse, quam mortem. Sepulcrum autem mortis est habitaculum. Necessarium ergo non erat mortis habitaculum Christo, qui vita est; nec opus habebat semper vivens habitaculo defunctorum. Recte autem hanc vitam nos in nostro sepulcro condimus; ut vivificet mortem nostram, ut cum ipso a mortuis resurgamus.

4. Why the Lord is buried in another's tomb. Let us see, then, why the Saviour is laid in another's burial place and does not have His own burial place. He is laid in another's burial place for this reason, that He was dying for the salvation of others. For this death did not befall Him, but profits us: this death was not inflicted upon Him, but conferred upon us. Why, then, should He have His own burial place, who had no death of His own in Himself? Why a tomb on earth for Him whose seat remained in the heavens? Why a burial place for Him who, for the space of only three days, did not so much lie dead in the tomb as rest as if in a bed? For the very brevity of the time declares that it was sleep rather than death. Now a tomb is the dwelling place of death. A dwelling place of death, therefore, was not necessary for Christ, who is life; nor did He who is ever living have need of the dwelling place of the dead. But rightly do we bury this life in our own tomb, that it may give life to our death, that we may rise from the dead with Him.

5. Maria Magdalene prophetat nesciens. Unde et illa Maria Magdalene, quae Dominum inter caeteros defunctos in sepulcro requirebat, arguitur, et dicitur illi: Quid quaeris viventem cum mortuis? Hoc est, Quid quaeris in tumulo, quem adorare debes in coelo? quid quaeris apud inferos, quem redisse jam constat ad superos? Quem illa adhuc non intelligens nec cognoscens, respondit illi: Domine, si tu sustulisti cum,

5. Mary Magdalene prophesies without knowing it. Hence also that Mary Magdalene, who was seeking the Lord in the tomb among the other dead, is reproved, and it is said to her: Why do you seek the living among the dead? That is, Why do you seek in the tomb Him whom you ought to adore in heaven? Why do you seek among those below Him who, it is already clear, has returned to those above? Not yet understanding or recognizing Him, she answered Him: Lord, if you have taken Him away,

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In B. : Illa Salvatori membrorum suorum praestitit, hic secretum sui cordis non negavit. Er. Lugd. et Ven. secuti sumus. M.

In B.: she offered the Saviour [the hospitality] of her members; he did not deny Him the secret place of his heart. We have followed Er., Lugd. and Ven. [the Erasmus, Lyons and Venice editions]. M.

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Mss., caementorum.

Manuscripts: of rubble-stones.

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Mss., sacris Litteris.

Manuscripts: in the sacred Letters.

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Mss., sacri oris.

Manuscripts: of the sacred mouth.

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Mss., sanctorum. Ambrosius, sacrario.

Manuscripts: of the saints. Ambrose: in the sanctuary.

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dicito mihi ubi posuisti eum, et ego eum tollam (Joan. XX, 15). Aestimabat enim eum, sicut dicit Scriptura, hortulanum esse. Sancta ergo et simplex femina Christum requirit a Christo, ac devotione mentis prophetat, et nescit. Ait enim Domino de semetipso, Si tu sustulisti eum, dicito mihi. Recte interrogat. Si tu sustulisti eum: ipse enim tulit corpus suum, qui illud protulit de sepulcro; ipse tulit corpus, qui illud jacens et dormiens sua aspiratione collegit; ipse tulit corpus suum, qui illud divinitatis virtute gestans portavit ad coelos. Atque ideo mulier sapienter interrogat et requirit, Si tu sustulisti eum, dicito mihi ubi posuisti eum: hoc est, Si illud auferens de sepulcro ad paradisum transtulisti. Audierat enim illum dicentem latroni, Hodie mecum eris in paradiso (Luc. XXIII, 43). Aut certe si de inferno in Patris dextera collocasti, sicut ait Apostolus: Quae sursum sunt quaerite, ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens (Coloss. III, 1). Beatus ergo qui ita quaerit Christum Dominum, ut credat eum et in paradiso constitutum, et in coelestibus collocatum. Nam qui eum in inferno requirit aut in tumulo, dicitur ei: Quid quaeris viventem cum mortuis?

tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away (John 20:15). For she supposed him, as Scripture says, to be the gardener. So the holy and simple woman seeks Christ from Christ, and in the devotion of her mind she prophesies, and does not know it. For she says to the Lord concerning Himself, If you have taken him away, tell me. She rightly asks, If you have taken him away: for He Himself took up His own body, Who brought it forth from the tomb; He Himself took up the body, Who gathered it together by His own breath as it lay and slept; He Himself took up His own body, Who, bearing it by the power of His divinity, carried it to the heavens. And therefore the woman wisely asks and inquires, If you have taken him away, tell me where you have laid him: that is, If, removing it from the tomb, you have carried it across to paradise. For she had heard Him saying to the thief, Today you will be with Me in paradise (Luke 23:43). Or at any rate, if from hell you have placed it at the right hand of the Father, as the Apostle says: Seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God (Col. 3:1). Blessed, then, is he who so seeks Christ the Lord that he believes Him both established in paradise and placed in the heavens. For whoever seeks Him in hell or in the tomb is told: Why do you seek the living among the dead?

SERMO CCXLIX. De extremo Judicio, I.

Sermon 249. On the Last Judgement, I.

1. Sacerdos ne quaerat placita praedicare. Medicorum more se gerat. Rogo vos, fratres charissimi, et cum grandi humilitate admoneo, ut mihi nullus ex vobis succenseat, aut forte incongruum me superfluumque judicet, quare vobis tam frequenter tremendum et utiliter expavescendum diem judicii insinuare contendo. Si quis enim est cui forte in hac parte displiceam, consideret periculum meum. et audiat Dominum per Prophetam sacerdoti terribiliter comminantem, Si non annuntiaveris iniquo iniquitatem suam, sanguinem ejus de manu tua requiram (Ezech. III, 18); et iterum, Clama, inquit, ne cesses: quasi tuba exalta vocem tuam, et annuntia populo meo scelera eorum (Isai. LVIII, 1). Sed forte aliquis dicit: Quare nobis tam dura assidue praedicantur? Quia melius est hic parvam amaritudinem sustinere, et postea ad aeternam dulcedinem pervenire; quam hic habere falsum gaudium, et illic sustinere sine fine supplicium. Audite, fratres, non me, sed Dominum in Evangelio dicentem, Beati qui lugent, quoniam ipsi consolabuntur (Matth. V, 5); et, Vae vobis qui ridetis nunc, quia lugebitis et flebitis (Luc. VI, 25). Et hoc attendite, fratres, quia omnes carnales medici, quoties ad eos qui in corpore aegrotare videntur, veniunt, omnia quae eis delectabilia esse videbantur abscindunt, et quod dulce est ad integrum interdicunt. Aliquoties etiam frigidum accipere non permittunt; interdum et amarissimas potiones bibere cogunt, et asperrimis ferramentis eorum vulnera frequenter incidunt. Hoc ergo quod pro sanitate corporum carnales medici faciunt, pro animarum salute spirituales medici exercere contendunt.

1. A priest should not seek to preach pleasing things. He should conduct himself in the manner of physicians. I ask you, dearest brethren, and with great humility I urge you, that none of you be angry with me, or perhaps judge me unsuitable and superfluous, because I strive so frequently to impress upon you the day of judgement, which is to be dreaded and profitably feared. For if there is anyone whom I perhaps displease in this matter, let him consider my peril, and let him hear the Lord threatening the priest terribly through the Prophet, If you do not declare to the wicked man his wickedness, I will require his blood at your hand (Ezek. 3:18); and again, Cry out, He says, do not cease: lift up your voice like a trumpet, and declare to My people their crimes (Isa. 58:1). But perhaps someone says: Why are such harsh things constantly preached to us? Because it is better to endure a little bitterness here, and afterwards to come to eternal sweetness, than to have false joy here, and there to endure punishment without end. Hear, brethren, not me, but the Lord saying in the Gospel, Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted (Matt. 5:5); and, Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep (Luke 6:25). And attend to this also, brethren, that all physicians of the flesh, whenever they come to those who appear to be sick in body, cut off all the things that seemed delightful to them, and forbid entirely whatever is sweet. Sometimes they do not even permit them to take cold [water]; at times they also compel them to drink most bitter potions, and they frequently cut into their wounds with the harshest instruments. What, then, physicians of the flesh do for the health of bodies, spiritual physicians strive to carry out for the salvation of souls.

2. De sua populorumque salute rationem redditurus. Haec ego cogitans, fratres charissimi, et tam pro mea quam pro vestra salute rationem me redditurum esse ante tribunal aeterni Judicis non ignorans, eligo aspera quidem, sed salubria vobis medicamenta ingerere: ut vobiscum postea in Angelorum consortio perpetua merear incolumitate gaudere. Et haec quidem non ideo suggero, quod vos admonitiones nostras senserim non libenter accipere: sed quia me necesse est et pro vestra et pro mea salute frequentius praedicare, studeo

2. He is to render account for his own salvation and that of the peoples. Considering these things, dearest brethren, and not unaware that I shall have to render account before the tribunal of the eternal Judge both for my own salvation and for yours, I choose to administer to you remedies that are harsh indeed, but wholesome: so that afterwards, together with you, in the fellowship of the Angels, I may be worthy to rejoice in perpetual safety. And I do not suggest these things because I have perceived that you receive our admonitions unwillingly: but because it is necessary for me to preach more frequently both for your salvation and for mine, I strive

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Juxta Er. Lugd. Ven., frigidam. M.

According to Er., Lugd., Ven.: frigidam [cold water]. M.

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Alias, de Tempore 67.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 67 de Tempore.

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In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Lovaniensibus dubius erat, spurius Verlino et Vindingo. Non est Augustini, sed Caesarii fetus nobis indubitatus. Nec alius a Caesario intelligendus videtur Sedati episcopi nomine, quo hic sermo in vetere Lectionario Ottemburano inscribitur. De num. 1 vid. Caesarii homil. 15 et 26, et supra, Appendicis serm. 174, n. 1; infra, 257, n. 4 : de num. 2, serm. 10, n. 5; et 28, n. 4 : de num. 5, supra, serm. 140, n. 4; de num. 6, infra, serm. 260, n. 2; et supra 173, n. 3; et infra, 252, n. 3.

Placed in the Appendix now for the first time. To the Louvain editors it was doubtful, to Verlinus and Vindingus spurious. It is not Augustine's, but to us undoubtedly the offspring of Caesarius. Nor, it seems, is anyone other than Caesarius to be understood by the name of Bishop Sedatus, under which this sermon is headed in an old lectionary of Ottobeuren. On no. 1 see Caesarius, homilies 15 and 26, and above, Appendix sermon 174, no. 1; below, 257, no. 4; on no. 2, sermon 10, no. 5, and 28, no. 4; on no. 5, above, sermon 140, no. 4; on no. 6, below, sermon 260, no. 2; and above, 173, no. 3; and below, 252, no. 3.

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vestros animos et ad timendum judicium, et ad desiderandum praemium excitare; ut exceptoria sancti pectoris vestri ad recondendam spiritualem vindemiam, sicut semper fecistis, auxiliante Domino fideliter praeparetis. Quoties vobis durum aliquid praedicamus, non hoc ideo dicimus, quod a vobis tale aliquid fieri suspicemur: sed ideo iterum illa quae non facitis denuntiamus, ut illa in quibus forte praeventi fueritis, sanare possimus. Solet enim fieri, ut dum majora timentur, minora celerius caveantur. Quomodo enim theriaca bibitur, ne corporibus possint praevalere venena; hoc austera praedicatione geritur, unde animarum praeparentur antidota.

to rouse your minds both to fear the judgement and to desire the reward, so that with the Lord's help you may faithfully make ready the vats of your holy breast for storing up the spiritual vintage, as you have always done. Whenever we preach something harsh to you, we do not say it because we suspect that any such thing is done by you; but we denounce once more the things which you do not do, so that we may be able to heal those things in which you may perhaps have been overtaken. For it commonly happens that, while greater things are feared, lesser things are guarded against more quickly. For just as theriac is drunk so that poisons may not prevail over bodies, so this is brought about by austere preaching, from which antidotes for souls may be prepared.

3. Beneficiorum Dei memoria munimen est contra peccata. Certum est, fratres chari⟨s⟩simi, quod si semper beneficia Dei nostri, quae nobis nullis praecedentibus meritis nostris collata sunt, assidue cogitamus; peccata nostra nobis aut non dominantur, aut si forte subrepserint, cito per poenitentiam corriguntur. Quis enim vel mente concipere, non dicam verbis possit exponere, quanta circa nos sint Dei nostri beneficia? Fecit enim nos, cum non essemus; reparavit nos postea, cum perissemus. Mortem suscepit, pretioso nos sanguine liberavit, ad inferna descendit, de faucibus nos aeternae mortis eripuit, coelorum nobis etiam praemia promisit. Haec omnia, fratres dilectissimi, pio et benigno animo cogitantes, quantum possumus, cum ipsius adjutorio beneficiis suis vicem rependere festinemus. Non reddamus mala pro bonis; sed quantum possumus, voluntati illius obtemperare fideliter studeamus, totis viribus innitentes, ut praecepta ipsius magis nobis pariant de sequacitate remedium, quam de transgressione judicium.

3. The memory of God's benefits is a defence against sins. It is certain, dearest brethren, that if we always and assiduously ponder the benefits of our God, which have been conferred on us with no merits of ours going before, our sins either do not master us, or, if perhaps they have crept in, they are quickly corrected through penance. For who could even conceive in his mind, not to say set forth in words, how great are the benefits of our God towards us? For He made us when we did not exist; He restored us afterwards when we had perished. He underwent death, He set us free with His precious blood, He descended to the lower regions, He snatched us from the jaws of eternal death, He has also promised us the rewards of the heavens. Pondering all these things with a devout and kindly mind, most beloved brethren, let us hasten, as far as we can, with His help to make Him a return for His benefits. Let us not render evil for good; but as far as we can let us strive faithfully to obey His will, pressing on with all our strength, so that His precepts may bring forth for us a remedy from our following them rather than judgement from our transgressing them.

4. Quae de iis ratio in judicii die repetenda. Crucem peccator imponit Christo prima graviorem. Nam quid faciemus, charissimi, in illo metuendo judicii die, cum, tremente mundo Dominus, praecinentibus Angelorum buccinis, in illo majestatis suae throno circumdatus coelestis militiae luce consederit; ibique de terrae gremio et antiquo pulvere suscitato humano genere, astante testimonio conscientiae singulorum, positis in conspectu peocatorum poenis justorumque praemiis, rationem vitae coeperit postulare, et plus jam justus quam misericors, severitate judicis contemptae misericordiae reos coeperit accusare, et dicere: Ego te, o homo, de limo manibus meis feci, ego terrenis artubus infudi spiritum, ego tibi imaginem nostram similitudinemque conferre dignatus sum, ego te inter paradisi delicias collocavi; tu vitalia mandata contemnens, deceptorem sequi quam Deum maluisti? Cum expulsus de paradiso jure peccati mortis vinculis tenereris, virginalem uterum sine dispendio virginitatis pariendus introivi; in praesepio expositus et pannis obvolutus jacui, infantiae contumelias humanosque dolores, quibus tibi similis fierem, ad hoc scilicet ut te mihi similem facerem, pertuli; irridentium palmas et sputa suscepi, acetum cum felle bibi: flagellis caesus, vepribus coronatus, cruci affixus, vulnere perfossus, ut tu eripereris morti, animam in tormentis dimisi. En clavorum vestigia, quibus affixus pependi: en perfossum vulneribus latus. Suscepi dolores tuos, ut tibi gloriam darem: suscepi mortem tuam, ut in aeternum viveres. Conditus jacui in sepulcro, ut tu regnares in coelo. Cur quod pro te pertuli perdidisti? cur, ingrate, redemptionis tuae munera renuisti? Non te ego de morte mea quaero; redde mihi vitam tuam, pro qua meam dedi. Redde mihi vitam tuam, quam vulneribus peccatorum indesinenter occidis. Cur habitaculum, quod mihi in te sacraveram, luxuriae sordibus polluisti? cur corpus meum illecebrarum turpitudine maculasti? Cur me graviore criminum tuorum cruce, quam illa in qua quondam pependeram, afflixisti? Gravior enim apud me peccatorum tuorum crux est, in qua invitus pendeo, quam illa in qua tui misertus mortem tuam occisurus ascendi. Cum essem impassibilis, pro te pati dignatus sum: sed tu despexisti in homine Deum, in infirmo salutem, in

4. What account of these things is to be demanded on the day of judgement. The sinner lays on Christ a cross heavier than the first. For what shall we do, dearest brethren, on that dreadful day of judgement, when, as the world trembles, the Lord, with the trumpets of the angels sounding before Him, has taken His seat on that throne of His majesty, surrounded by the light of the heavenly host; and there, when the human race has been raised up from the bosom of the earth and the ancient dust, with the testimony of each one's conscience standing by, and with the punishments of sinners and the rewards of the just set in view, He begins to demand an account of life, and, now more just than merciful, begins with a judge's severity to accuse those guilty of despising mercy, and to say: I, O man, made you from the clay with My hands; I poured spirit into earthly limbs; I deigned to bestow on you Our image and likeness; I placed you amid the delights of paradise; and you, despising the life-giving commandments, chose to follow the deceiver rather than God? When, cast out of paradise, you were held by the bonds of death by right of sin, I entered a virgin's womb to be born without loss of virginity; I lay exposed in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes; I bore the indignities of infancy and human sufferings, by which I might become like you, for this purpose, namely, that I might make you like Me; I received the slaps and spittle of mockers, I drank vinegar with gall; beaten with scourges, crowned with briars, fastened to the cross, pierced with a wound, I gave up My soul in torments so that you might be snatched from death. See the marks of the nails by which I hung fastened; see the side pierced with wounds. I took up your sufferings so that I might give you glory; I took up your death so that you might live for ever. I lay buried in the tomb so that you might reign in heaven. Why have you lost what I endured for you? Why, ungrateful one, have you refused the gifts of your redemption? I do not call you to account for My death; give Me back your life, for which I gave Mine. Give Me back your life, which you ceaselessly slay with the wounds of sins. Why have you polluted with the filth of lust the dwelling which I had consecrated for Myself in you? Why have you stained My body with the foulness of enticements? Why have you afflicted Me with the cross of your crimes, heavier than that on which I once hung? For heavier with Me is the cross of your sins, on which I hang unwillingly, than that which, taking pity on you, I ascended to slay your death. Though I was impassible, I deigned to suffer for you; but you despised God in the man, salvation in the weak one, in

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via reditum, in judice veniam, in cruce vitam, in suppliciis medicinam. Et quia post omnia mala tua ad medicamenta poenitentiae confugere noluisti, ab auditu malo non mereberis liberari.

the way return, in the judge pardon, in the cross life, in the punishments a cure. And since after all your evil deeds you refused to take refuge in the medicines of penance, you will not deserve to be delivered from the evil hearing.

5. Damnatorum supplicium. Poenitentia, dum hic sumus obeunda. Qui tunc erit stridor dentium, cum sanctorum multitudine ad dexteram regis et ad gloriam segregata, peccati populus in profunda tartari sine ulla miserationis ac veniae spe demersus, excludi se tenebris suis a beata sanctorum luce viderit, et in profundi sinum sine fine descendens, urgente os suum puteo, aeterna supplicia et perpetuam mortem non moriturus aspexerit? Frustra autem a paupere, quem in hac vita despexit, misericordiam postulabit: frustra extremum Lazari digitum, quo ardens refrigeretur, ardentibus labiis rogabit apponi. Quam vellet miser, cum pauperum gloriam viderit, duris quondam paupertatis subjacuisse laboribus, et in illa vita quae cum vita morerentur mala portasse; ne ad illa aeterna mereretur supplicia pervenire! Ut ergo haec tam dura et tam terribilia ante illud tribunal aeterni Judicis audire non mereamur, dum adhuc licet, et cum Dei adjutorio in potestate nostra est, consideremus conscientias nostras: et si aliqua crimina vel peccata capitalia, necdum eleemosynis et orationibus purgata, nobis adhuc dominari cognoscimus, portum poenitentiae, devictis peccatorum fluctibus, Christo juvante festinemus intrare; et si quid in navicula animae nostrae multis tempestatibus peccatorum, aut per superbiam fractum, aut per avaritiam ruptum, aut per luxuriam resolutum esse cognoscimus, componere vel reparare bonis operibus festinemus. Studeamus jugiter vitiorum exhaurire sentinam. Non enim nocent peccata praeterita, si non placent praesentia. Sicut enim nulli justorum sufficit justitia sua, si non perseveraverit usque in finem: ita nulli peccatorum nocere poterit iniquitas sua, si antequam de corpore isto discedat, ad eleemosynarum remedia vel ad poenitentiae medicamenta confugerit.

5. The punishment of the damned. Penance must be undertaken while we are here. What gnashing of teeth will there be then, when, the multitude of the saints having been set apart at the right hand of the king and for glory, the people of sin, plunged into the depths of Tartarus without any hope of mercy and pardon, sees itself shut out by its own darkness from the blessed light of the saints, and, descending without end into the bosom of the abyss, with the pit pressing upon its mouth, beholds eternal punishments and a perpetual death in which it will not die? But in vain will he beg for mercy from the poor man whom he despised in this life: in vain will he ask with burning lips that the tip of Lazarus's finger be applied, by which he might be cooled in his burning. How the wretch would wish, when he sees the glory of the poor, that he had once been subject to the hard labours of poverty, and had borne in that life evils which would die together with life, so that he might not deserve to come to those eternal punishments! So then, that we may not deserve to hear such hard and such terrible things before that tribunal of the eternal Judge, while it is still permitted and while, with God's help, it is in our power, let us examine our consciences: and if we know that any crimes or capital sins, not yet cleansed by alms and prayers, still have dominion over us, let us hasten, the waves of sins having been overcome, with Christ's help to enter the harbour of penance; and if we know that anything in the little ship of our soul has, through the many storms of sins, been either broken by pride, or torn by avarice, or loosened by luxury, let us hasten to set it in order or repair it by good works. Let us be zealous continually to bail out the bilge-water of vices. For past sins do no harm if present ones give no pleasure. For just as his own righteousness suffices none of the righteous if he has not persevered to the end, so his own iniquity will be able to harm none of the sinners if, before he departs from this body, he has taken refuge in the remedies of alms or in the medicines of penance.

6. Nec ulli procrastinanda. Religionis habitus. Sed quia quando vel qua hora de hoc saeculo rapiemur, scire non possumus; sine ulla dilatione vel mora de sinistra fugere festinemus ad dexteram. Non sanitati, non aetati credendum est. Non in remedium salutis suae semper tardandus est, qui vitae suae semper incertus est: quia qui nos securos fecit dicendo, Peccator in qua die conversus fuerit, omnes iniquitates illius oblivioni traduntur (Ezech. XVIII, 21 et 22); ipse nos etiam cautos esse voluit dicens, Nolite tardare converti ad Dominum, nec differatis de die in diem (Eccli. V, 8). Si forte quando generaliter omnes ad poenitentiam provocamus, aliquis intra se cogitet dicens, Ego juvenis homo uxorem habens, quomodo possum aut capillos minuere, aut habitum religionis assumere? nec nos hoc dicimus, fratres charissimi, non hoc praedicamus, ut juvenes qui conjugia habere videntur, habitum magis quam mores habeant commutare. Quid enim homini uxorem habenti nocet, si mores perditos voluerit ad opera bona vel honesta convertere, si peccatorum suorum vulnera eleemosynis, jejuniis et orationibus ad sanitatem pristinam studeat revocare? Vera enim conversio sine vestimentorum commutatione sufficit sibi: vestimenta vero religiosa sine bonis operibus non solum remedium habere non poterunt, sed etiam justum Dei judicium sustinebunt. Convertamur ergo ad meliora, dum in nostra sunt potestate remedia: hic exstinguamus mortem moriendo peccatis, hic vitam vitae meritis acquiramus; praestante Domino nostro Jesu Christo, cui est honor et imperium cum Patre et Spiritu sancto in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

6. Nor is it to be put off by anyone. The habit of religion. But since we cannot know when or at what hour we shall be snatched from this world, let us hasten without any delay or tarrying to flee from the left to the right. No trust is to be placed in health, none in age. He who is always uncertain of his life is not always to be delaying with regard to the remedy of his salvation: for He Who made us secure by saying, On whatever day the sinner is converted, all his iniquities are given over to oblivion (Ezek. 18:21–22), likewise willed us to be cautious, saying, Do not delay to be converted to the Lord, and do not put it off from day to day (Ecclus. 5:8). If perhaps, when we call all generally to penance, someone should think within himself, saying, I am a young man with a wife: how can I either cut short my hair or take up the habit of religion? we do not say this, dearest brethren, we do not preach this, that young men who are seen to have marriages should change their habit rather than their morals. For what harm is it to a man who has a wife, if he is willing to turn his ruined morals to good or honourable works, if he is zealous to bring back the wounds of his sins to their former health by alms, fasts and prayers? For true conversion without a change of clothing is sufficient in itself: but religious clothing without good works will not only be unable to have a remedy, but will even incur the just judgement of God. Let us therefore turn to better things while the remedies are in our power: here let us extinguish death by dying to sins, here let us acquire life by the merits of our life; by the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom is honour and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit unto ages of ages. Amen.

Editors' notes and page, col. 2208

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: semper incertus est› · call in col 2208

Forte legendum, ut infra serm. 260, n. 2, Nam in remedium salutis suae semper tardus est, qui, etc. ; sive ut illic habet Ms. t. : In remedium salutis suae non sit semper tardus, qui de vita sua, etc.

Perhaps read, as below in sermon 260, no. 2: For he is always slow to the remedy of his salvation who, etc.; or, as a manuscript t. has it there: Let him not always be slow to the remedy of his salvation who of his life, etc.

(printed under page 366)