231.1 ?252 v 17 66 -
fathers of the Church.
66-01^518
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KANSAS CIT
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'fl 4
THE FATHERS
OF THE CHURCH
A NEW TRANSLATION
VOLUME 17
THE FA TREES
OF THE CHURCH
A NEW TRANSLATION
Founded by
LUDWIG SCHOPP
EDITORIAL BOARD
'i '
ROY JOSEPH DEFERRARI
The Catholic University of America
Editorial Director
RUDOLPH ARBESMANN, O.S.A. BERNARD M. PEEBLES
Fordham University The Catholic University of America
STEPHAN KUTTNER ROBERT P, RUSSELL, O.S.A,
The Catholic University of America Villanova College
MARTIN R. P. McGuiRE ANSELM STRITTMATTER, O.S.B.
The Catholic University of America St. Anselm's Priory
WILFRID PARSONS, SJ. JAMES EDWARD ToBm
The Catholic University of America Queens College
GERALD G. WALSH, S.J.
Fordham University
SAINT PETER
SELECTED SERMONS
AND
HOMILIES
Translated by
GEORGE E: GANSS, SJ.
New York
FATHER OF THE CHURCH, INC.
195)
IMPRIMI POTfcST:
NIHIL OBSTAI;
IMPRIMATUR:
DANIEL H. CONWAY, S.J.
Provincial, Missouri Province,
Society of Jesus
JOHN M. A. FEARNS, S.T.D
Censor Librorum
FRANCIS CARDINAL SPELLMAN
Archbishop of New York
January ]2, 195)
The Nihil obstat and Imprimatur are official declarations that a book or
pamphlet is free of doctrinal or moral error. No implication is contained
therein that those who have granted the Nihil obstat and Imprimatur
agree with the contents, opinions or statements expressed.
Copyright, 1953 by
FATHERS OF THE CHURCH, INC.
475 Fifth Avenue, New York 17, N.Y.
All rights reserved
Lithography by Bishop Litho, Inc.
V. S. A.
CONTENTS
ST. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
INTRODUCTION > . . . . 3
SELECTED SERMONS
1 The Prodigal Son and His Brother: The Prod-
igal's Departure 25
2 The Son's Return to His Father 30
3 The Father's Welcome to the Son 35
4 The Elder Brother's Jealousy 39
5 The Two Sons as Types of the Gentiles and the
Jews. The Allegorical Interpretation .... 43
6 On Joy over the Call of the Gentiles to the
Faith and to Grace 52
11 The Fast and Temptation of Christ .... 56
20 The Calming of the Storm at Sea 61
22 Contempt of Earthly Goods 65
27 Scandal 70
36 The Daughter of Jairus and the Woman with
the Hemorrhage as Types of the Synagogue and
the Church 75
38 The Patient Endurance of Injuries 81
40 The Good Shepherd 85
43 Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving 90
44 The Counsel of the Ungodly, the Way of Sin-
ners, and the Chair of Pestilence 94
47 The Parable of the Pearl and the Net Cast into
the Sea 99
57 On the Apostle's Creed
61 On the Apostle's Creed
67 The Lord's Prayer l ] r >
70 The Lord's Prayer ! ' *
74 Christ's Resurrection 123
80 Christ Appears to the Women Returning from
the Tomb I28
83 Christ Appears to the Eleven Disciples at Table 133
88 The Angel Announces the Birth of John the
1 07
Baptist K
93 The Conversion of Magdalen H<>
95 The Conversion of Magdalen Allegoritally In-
terpreted l'*7
96 The Parable of the Cockle ' 52
98 The Parable of the Grain ojt Mustard Seed . . lf>t>
101 Christian Fearlessness of Death H>I
108 Man as Both a Priest and a Sacrifice to God . . U>(>
109 The Whole Man, Body and Soul, as a Rea-
sonable Sacrifice to God 171
111 Original Sin . . . 173
112 Death through Adam; Life and Grace through
Christ . . - I""
114 Slaves to the Law and to Grace IH'l
115 The Abrogation of the Law in Favor of the
New Covenant of Grace 1M
116 The Law as an Occasion of Sin 1JM
117 The First Adam, and the Last Adam, Born of
a Virgin H)9
120 Two Patterns: Worldly Life and Christ's Life . 203
VI
122 The Rich Man and Lazarus 208
129 St. Cyprian, Martyr 213
132 The Unity of the Faithful in Prayer . . , . 215
133 St. Andrew the Apostle 219
134 St. Felicitas, Martyr 221
135 St. Lawrence 222
138 Peace 225
140 The Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary . 226
141 The Incarnation of Christ 229
145 The Birth of Christ, and Joseph's Desire to Put
Mary away 232
146 The Birth of Christ, Joseph the Affianced Hus-
band, and Mary the Betrothed Mother . . . 238
147 The Mystery of the Incarnation 243
148 The Mystery of the Incarnation 247
149 The Birth of Christ and the Peace of Christians . 251
152 The Slaughter of the Holy Innocents .... 254
154 St. Stephen, the First Martyr 259
155 The Desecration of New Year's Day by Pagan
Practices 261
156 Epiphany and the Magi 265
165 On the Consecration of Projectus, Bishop of
Forum Cornelium 270
166 The Lenten Fast 272
170 Christ, Our Example in Manifold Ways; The
Vocation of the Apostles; The Counsel of
Poverty .' 276
APPENDIX
Letter to Eutyches 283
vu
ST. VALERIAN
INTRODUCTION 291
HOMILIES
1 Discipline 299
2 The Narrow Way 308
3 The Narrow Way 316
4 Unkept Vows 321
5 Insolence of the Tongue 328
6 Idle Words 336
7 Mercy 343
8 Mercy 351
9 Mercy 357
10 Parasites 364
11 The Attribution of All Our Good Works to
God 369
12 The Preservation of Peace 37(5
13 The New Law as the Complement of the Old . 383
14 Humility 390
15 The Excellence of Martyrdom 397
16 The Excellence of Martyrdom 403
17 The Excellence of Martyrdom ' 409
18 The Martyrdom of the Mother and Her Seven
Sons 415
19 The Termination of Lent: A Sermon for Easter
Sunday 421
20 Covetousness 426
APPENDIX
Letter to the Monks 437
INDEX 443
vm
SELECTED SERMONS
AND
LETTER TO EUTYCHES
Translated by
GEORGE E, GANSS, S.J., S.T.L, Ph.D.
Marquette University
INTRODUCTION
| N MOST OF THE VOLUMES of this series, we chiefly see
the Fathers as early champions of the faith philoso-
phizing on the contents of the deposit of faith. They
are restating in their contemporary terminology what God re-
vealed, thrashing out what is obscure, showing the consistency
of one revealed truth with another and with right reason,
and little by little reducing the revealed truths of Scripture
and tradition to an ordered system.
The present volume is somewhat different. In it we see
two of the Fathers chiefly as preachers endeavoring to
impart the life-giving message of Christianity to the people
at large. St. Peter Chrysologus (c. 406-450), Archbishop of
Ravenna and Doctor of the Church, and St. Valerian
(fl. 439-460), Bishop of Cimiez near Nice in southern Gaul,
were organs of tradition who were addressing their message
not to the learned partisans of this or that school, but to
the ordinary men and women of northern Italy or southern
Gaul whose lives and manners were those of the fifth
century.
In the Western Church, the terms sermon (sermo) and
homily (homilia) were often interchangeable. 1 They seem to
be so used in the titles of the printed collections which have
come down to us: 'Sermons of St. Peter Chrysologus 1 and
'Homilies of St. Valerian.'
However, since the time of Origen (186-254 or 255), a
distinction has been current between logos (sermo> discourse,
sermon) and homilia (homilia, homily). The term sermon is
generally used to designate an artistic production, and homily
I Catholic Encyclopedia 7.488, s.v. Homily; Oxford English Dictionaty,
s.v. Homily; Lexikon fur Theologic und Kirche 5, s.v. Homilitek.
4 SAINT PETER GHRYSOLOGUS
to denote an informal discourse. A sermon generally develops
some definite theme; a homily explains or comments on a
passage of Scripture. The sermon usually deals with a doc-
trinal or moral subject, and is more likely to contain a struc-
tural form of introduction, body, and conclusion such as
textbooks of rhetoric advocate. The homily is more likely to
lack structural form, and move or even digress -wherever the
text leads the preacher. Generally, its purpose is to explain
the literal meaning of the Scriptural passage, point out moral
or ascetical applications, and perhaps develop accommodated
or allegorical meanings. If we should follow this terminology,
we could well reverse the titles which appear on our current
Latin editions. Most of St. Peter's discourses are homilies
giving a running commentary on a passage (lectio] of
Scripture. St. Valerian's discourses usually take their depar-
ture from one verse of such a passage, but their nature is
far more that of sermons treating a definite theme.
The oldest biography 2 we have of St. Peter Chrysologus
was written about 830 by Abbot Andrew Agnellus, the eccle-
siastical historian of Ravenna, and deserves limited credence.
Manifestly written to edify as well as to recount history ac-
cording to ninth-century skill in historical writing, it contains
a substratum of fact which was enlarged by legend.
From this biography and the sermons of St. Peter does
emerge the portrait of an able administrator and a faithful,
zealous, holy bishop who effectively and regularly preached
God's word to his flock and won their admiration of his
ability as a sacred orator. Modern scientific historians, 3 by
2 Cf. PL 52.13-20; 106.554-559.
3 O. Bardenhewer, Patrology (1908) 526-527; G. Bardy, Dictionnairc
de theologie catholique 12, 2e, cols. 1916-1917; G. Bfthmor, Bibliothek
der Kirchenvater 43 1-14; F. Cayre, Handbook of Patrology (1940)
2 154-155; H. Leclercq, Dictionaire d'archaeologje chrdtirnnc ft dr
liturgie 14, 2e, col. 2081, s.v. Ravenna; M. Schanz, C,csch. drr R8m.
Litteratur (1920) 4 538-540; LTK SM. Chrysologus.
INTRODUCTION 5
sifting Agncllus' account and seeking evidence from archaeol-
ogy as well as St. Peter's sermons, have gathered the follow-
ing details of his life.
He was born c. 406 at Forum Cornelii, present day Imola,
in Aemilia. Under Pope Sixtus III (432-440) he was
appointed Archbishop of Ravenna, probably c. 433, and
perhaps while he was still only a deacon. Agnellus' story
that St. Peter the Apostle and St. Appolinaris instructed
the Pope in a vision to consecrate Peter rather than the can-
didate whom the Ravennese had chosen is quite certainly
merely a legend. St. Peter preached his inaugural sermon in
the presence of the daughter of Theodosius the Great, Galla
Placidia/ who was regent of the Western Empire during
the minority of her son Valentinian III. Peter was much
interested in constructing and decorating ecclesiastical build-
ings and received help from her. Sometime before 439, Peter
consecrated the Church of St. John the Evangelist, which
was constructed in fulfillment of a vow made during a storm.
In its apse, Peter was portrayed with a long beard, celebrat-
ing Mass in a ship, and with the empress present. 5
St. Peter's chief importance was not as an outstanding
theologian like Athanasius or Augustine, but as a shepherd
who ruled his flock and preached well to its members. Loyally
orthodox, he urged them to practice the Christian virtues.
He explained to them the doctrines of the Church, especially
the Incarnation, Virgin birth, and grace, and he vigorously
attacked erroneous and dangerous doctrines. He faithfully
supported the authority of the Roman See, too, and enjoyed
the close friendship of St. Leo the Great (Pope, 440-461).
In 448, Eutyches, the author of Monophysitism, was con-
demned by Bishop Flavian of Constantinople and his
4 Cf. Sermon 130( PL 52.556-557); Leclercq, loc. cit.
5 Cf. DACL, fasc. 145, cols. 2081, 2112; 6, col. 257, fig. 4850, s.v. Galla
IMacidia.
6 SAINT PETER GHRYSOLOGUS
standing council. Eutyches refused to accept the sentence.
He wrote for protection to Pope St. Leo and to St. Peter
Chrysologus. St. Peter wrote a prudent, moderate and kindly
reply 6 which is a model of Catholic spirit. He refused to
express a judgment before the case was fully clear, and with
tact and kindness admonished Eutyches to obey the Bishop
of Rome: 'We give you this exhortation in regard to every-
thing, honorable brother: obediently heed these matters
which the most blessed Pope of the city of Rome has written;
because blessed Peter who lives and presides in his own see
proffers the truth of faith to those who seek it. For, in accord-
ance with our pursuit of peace and of faith, we cannot decide
upon cases of faith without the harmonious agreement of the
Bishop of Rome.' This letter to Eutyches is the only piece of
St. Peter's correspondence we possess.
Shortly after writing this letter he left his See of Ravenna
for some unknown reason, and returned to Imola. He died
there in about 450 and was buried in the Basilica of St.
Cassian.
We first find his epithet Chrysologus, The Golden Orator,'
in the Life written by Agnellus. Probably enough, someone
invented it to give the Western Church a counterpart to St.
John of Antioch, called Chrysostom, The Golden Mouthed.'
St. Peter was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Bene-
dict XIII in 1729. His feast is celebrated on December 4.
St. Peter and St. Valerian lived during the political and
social changes brought on by the migration of nations and
the crumbling of the Roman Empire in the West. During his
lifetime, Ravenna, not Rome, was the political capital of the
Roman Empire in the West, although Rome remained the
religious capital.
The death of the Emperor Theodosius the Great in 395
resulted in the division of the Empire. His son Arcadius ruled
6 Cf. below p. 283.
INTRODUCTION /
at Constantinople and Honorius assumed power in the West.
Pressure from the Huns who came from the interior of Russia
forced such Germanic tribes as the Visigoths, Vandals, Alans,
and Sueves to infiltrate into the Roman Empire in Gaul,
Italy, Spain, and even Africa. Honorius deemed Rome too
indefensible and therefore moved his residence to Ravenna,
quite impregnable amid its network of canals. In 410, the
Visigoths captured Rome, and plundered it for three days.
Honorius died in 423. In 425, Theodosius II, Emperor of
the East, put Valentinian III upon the Western throne, which
he held until 455. He was the five-year-old son of Galla
Placidia and Const antius III. During his minority, his mother
Galla Placidia was regent with the title of Augusta. From
429 until 454, except for a while in 432, the true director
of imperial policy in the West was Valentinian's supporter
Aetius, the Master of the Soldiers. His chief effort was to
preserve central and southeastern Gaul for the Empire. While
he was winning success in this, Africa, Britain, and most of
Spain were lost. Attila led his Huns into Italy in 451 (per-
haps the year of St. Peter's death), but a combination of
circumstances led him to heed the appeal of Pope St. Leo I
to withdraw without seizing Rome.
The gradual infiltration of the Germanic tribes grew to
such proportions that when Romulus Augustulus, the puppet
emperor crowned in 475, surrendered to Odovacar in 476,
the point was reached which we today commonly regard
as the end of the Roman Empire in the West. During the
kingship of Odovacar (476-493), the last remnants of Roman
authority vanished in Gaul and Spain, while Raetia and Nori-
cum were abandoned to the Alemanni, Thuringi, and Rugii.
Odovacar was blockaded in Ravenna by Theodoric, King of
the Ostrogoths, in 490, and eventually surrendered. He was
assasinatcd in 493.
During the fourth century, Christianity gradually tri-
umphed over paganism as the official religion of the Roman
8 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Empire. This left to the fifth century the work of consolidat-
ing the gains.
The last great persecution of the Christians stretched from
302 to 311 under Diocletian, In 313, at Milan, almost
a century before St. Peter's birth, Constantine and Licinius
published the edict of toleration which gave Christianity equal
standing with paganism in the Empire. From that time on,
Christianity gained one official victory after another. In 341,
Constantius and Constans prohibited public performance of
pagan sacrifices. They also permitted public confiscation of
pagan temples and their conversion into Christian churches.
Julian (Emperor, 360-363) attempted to make paganism
once more the chief religion of the Empire, but the pagan
cults had ceased to have enough appeal for the masses, and
he failed. Gratian (Emperor, 375-383) deprived paganism
of its status as an official religion of Rome. In 382, he with-
drew the support of the pagan priesthoods and removed from
the Senate House the altar and the statue of Victory a
symbol for many senators of Rome's devotion to her gods.
Their spokesman Symmachus pleaded eloquently for its res-
toration, but Gratian, encouraged by Ambrose, remained
firm. In 380, Theodosius I (Emperor, 378-395) issued an
edict requiring all his subjects to embrace Christianity.
While this series of legal enactments eliminated paganism
as one of Rome's official religions, it nevertheless lived on in
many individuals. This was especially true of the rural dis-
tricts, so that the very word for rural or rustic, paganus, came
to designate a devotee of one of the old religions. The
Oriental cults, the Orphic mysteries of Eleusis, the Gracco-
Roman Olympic divinities, Neo-Platonism, and Stoicism still
had a powerful hold on many votaries. The whole literature
of Rome was pagan in origin and spirit, and it was all that
was available for the rhetorical studies which were almost
the only higher education of the times. Hence, it is small
INTRODUCTION y
wonder that in the first half of the fifth century pagan prac-
tices and superstitions still clung to many Christians, espe-
cially the converts. The deeply ingrained outlook, morals, and
mores of heathenism could not be removed from a society
in one or two generations. In the fifth country we see the
Christian writers among them St. Peter Chrysologus and
St. Valerian of Cimiez hard at work trying to replace these
relics of paganism with a truly Christian outlook and prac-
tice. Noteworthy examples are St. Peter's Sermon 155 on the
pagan profanation of New Year's Day, and St. Valerian's
castigation of parasites and other abuses at banquets in his
Homily 10.
Their sermons and homilies quite naturally reflect the
social conditions of the times. Their hearers lived in a society
which, still full of the customs of paganism, took delight in
the public games, with bleeding beasts and even men, riotous
banquetings, the coarse theater, and other amusements which
rather horrify us today. Sometimes we may be shocked so
badly at the vices revealed in the discourses as to wonder
if the hearers were as yet truly Christians at heart. But we
should remember that in the discourses we also see the ideals
of virtue which the preachers and their hearers recognized.
The men of any generation should be judged more by the
ideals they were striving to formulate and attain than by
their shortcomings through human weakness.
The fourth and fifth centuries were days of theological
controversies, which re-echo in the sermons. Hence, a brief
review of several of the burning issues of that age will aid
the general reader towards a better understanding of the
sermons of St. Peter or St. Valerian. We today can express
the fundamental Catholic beliefs about the Trinity, Incarna-
tion, and grace with a clear and time-tested terminology. The
theologians of those earlier centuries were hard at work evolv-
ing a suitable terminology to explain or defend them.
10 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
The Catholic doctrine of the Trinity, briefly put, is this:
The Father, and the Son or 'Word/ and the Holy Spirit
are three distinct and equal divine Persons who possess the
numerically one divine nature, and operate by it. The Word
or Son, the second Person of the Trinity, eternally proceeds
from the Father by generation from His intellect. Likewise,
He eternally possesses the divine nature and by it performs
all the activities of God. At the time of the Incarnation He
took to Himself also a human nature, was born of Mary and
named Jesus, By that human nature He performed the activ-
ities natural to men. Thus, we have a second great mystery:
one divine Person possesses two complete natures, one human
and one divine, and He operates by them. He received the hu-
man nature from the Virgin Mary. She conceived Him mirac-
ulously without the intervention of any human father, and
miraculously retained even bodily virginity after His birth.
In human speech we say that a mother is the mother of the
person of her son, or, more simply still, that she is the mother
of him who is her son; we do not pedantically say that she
is the mother of the body of her son. We say that Monica
was the mother of Augustine; we do not take pains to say
that she was the mother of Augustine's body. Now, in the
case of Mary, she was the mother of Him who is named
Jesus. But, He is a divine Person, He is God, God become
also a man. Hence, we rightly say either that Mary was the
mother of Jesus, or that she was the mother of God, or of
Him who is God become a man. This Catholic doctrine is a
restatement in philosophical terms of data revealed by God,
especially in Scripture. Naturally enough, some of the earlier
efforts to restate Scripture miscarried. Many errors were made
in good faith, But some theologians became tenacious in error.
Arianism, inaugurated by Bishop Arms (c. 250-336), re-
garded the Word or Son of God not as God, but as a creature
greater than other creatures. He was not a person possessing
INTRODUCTION 1 1
the same nature or substance as the Father (consubstantial,
homooiisios), but only a person like the Father (homoi-
oiisios), He was unlike the Father in that He had a begin-
ning, but like Him in possesssing the other divine perfections.
The doctrine of Arianism was condemned at the Council of
Nicaea (325), but adherents continued to multiply. In the
first half of the fifth century almost half of the Christians
were Arians, especially in the East. St. Peter Chrysologus
often opposes Aiianism in his sermons.
While opposing Arianism, Nestorius (Patriarch of Con-
stantinople, 428-431; died, c. 451) came to conceive the two
natures possessed by Christ as being possessed by two persons,
one divine and one human. In the case of Christ, these two
persons were united, like men forming a society, into one
moral person. Consequently, Nestorius denied that Mary was
theotokos, mother of God (a term already long in use at
Constantinople), He would admit only that she was Christo-
tokos, mother of Christ, that is, of the human person and
nature of Christ. 7 His doctrine was condemned at the Council
of Ephesus (431) about the time when St. Peter became
Archbishop of Ravenna, and again at Chalcedon (451). St.
Peter frequently insists that Mary is the Mother of Him who
is God,
Eutyches (c. 378-451 ) went so far in combatting Nestorian-
ism that he fell into an opposite error: after the union of
the two natures there is but one nature in Christ- This doc-
trine, called Monophysitism, was condemned by the General
Council of Chalcedon in 451. The words of the Council are:
'Wherefore all of us, following the holy Fathers, have learned
to confess with one voice one and the same Jesus Christ our
Lord, and that He is perfect in His divinity and perfect in
His humanity, truly God and truly man, and that He has a
rational soul and a body; that He is consubstantial with
7 St. Peter combats this opinion in Sermon 145; cf. below, pp.. 235, 236.
12 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
the Father according to His divinity, and consubstantial with
us according to His humanity, like to us in all things except
sin; begotten from the Father before time according to His
divinity, but in these last days, for us and for our salvation,
born according to His humanity from Mary the Virgin, the
Mother of God/ 8
A third important doctrine filled with mysteries is that of
grace. Every human person has a nature composed of a body
and soul. Man, having a body, can walk and eat; having
a soul, he can reason, love and freely decide. The power
to think and reason is called the intellect. The power to love
and freely decide is named the will. By these powers which
belong to his nature man has the physical abilities to obey
the natural law and achieve a natural everlasting happiness
which would satisfy all his capacities of intellect and will.
He would know God, the infinite Truth, by means of indirect
or mirrorlike concepts; this would satisfy his capacities of
intellect. He would know God as being the infinite Good;
consequently, he would love Him; this would satisfy his
capacities of loving. By this knowing and loving He would
have joy.
But God chose to elevate man to the supernatural order.
He gave man the wonderful destiny of knowing God directly,
'face to face,' of loving God, and of enjoying Him. Man does
not, from his nature, have the means to attain the end God
set for him. But, because of His overflowing love, God gave
man such a means: a new quality which God infuses into the
soul. It is called grace, or supernatural life. It is of two kinds.
The permanent grace, called sanctifying, makes the soul a
source or principle capable of performing here below super-
naturalized acts meritorious of the direct vision of God. The
transient grace, called actual, is a supernaturalized light sent by
God into man's intellect, or an impulse sent into his will
8 From the Greek in Den/inger, Enchiridion symbolorum, n. 148.
INTRODUCTION 13
which enables these powers to perform their acts as super-
naturalized acts, meritorious of the supernatural happiness,
direct vision of God.
Without these supernaturalized lights and impulses, man
could perform some acts of virtue; for example, of justice
or fortitude. But he would not have the physical power to
perform these as supernaturalized acts, that is, as acts fur-
thering him to the supernaturalized destiny. Actual grace also
exerts a strengthening or healing effect on the human will, so
that the person develops the strength to carry through with
his virtuous acts.
Without this interior influence of grace on his soul, the
'unjustified 1 adult (he who has not yet received sanctifying
grace) cannot begin or complete any supernaturalized act
positively leading him to God's free gift of sanctifying grace
or to the actual vision of God. Christ said: 'Without me you
can do nothing.' 9 'No one can come to me unless the Father
. . . draw him.' 10 And St. Paul stated: 'work out your salva-
tion with fear and trembling. For it is God who of his good
pleasure works in you both the will and the performance.' 11
Pelagianism, inaugurated by the monk Pelagius at Rome
about 405, flourished especially in Italy, Africa, and Gaul.
It maintained at first that man can by his own strength of
will avoid sin and merit heaven or supernatural happiness;
that, consequently, man does not need an interior grace to
perform virtuous acts. What, then, is grace? Merely God's
gift of free will itself; or (in Semi-Pelagianism later on),
having the Gospel preached to one. After a time, Pelagius
admitted grace as something interior in the will but distinct
from it. Nevertheless, he held that its function was not to
begin virtuous acts but to complete them, and that it is not
9 John 15.5.
10 John 6.44.
11 Phil. 2.12,13.
14 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
necessary for the attainment of the beatific vision, but only
makes it easier for man to do what he could otherwise do by
himself. St. Augustine was the vigorous opponent of Pelagian-
ism. It was condemned at the Council of Carthage in 318
and again at the Council of Orange in 529.
A modified form of Pelagianism lived on as Semi-
Pelagianism, which arose largely from some teachings of
the holy and sincere abbot Cassian (.360-c.435). Trying
to strike a position midway between Augustine and the
Pelagians, it maintained that man can 'of himself (de se)
do some good works conducive to supernatural salvation.
Man can of himself produce the 'beginning of faith' by good
resolutions, holy aspirations and desires though, assuredly,
God can also produce them. Thus, grace merely follows the
movement of the intellect or will.
Many propositions of Semi-Pelagianism were condemned
at the Council of Orange in 529. The reader will find in
St. Peter and St. Valerian, 12 many passages in similar vein
to the following statements of the Council of Orange which
the two saints antedate. 13
Canon 4. 'If anyone says that, for us to be cleansed from
sin, God ought to await our will, but he does not admit
that it happens through the infusion of the Holy Spirit into
us and His operating upon us that we even desire to be
cleansed, he resists the Holy Spirit, who spoke through Solo-
mon: "The will is prepared by God"; and he also resists
Paul who preaches: "It is God who of His good pleasure
works in you both the will and the performance." '
Canon 18. 'A reward is due because of good works, if
they are performed; but grace, which is not due, comes be-
forehand in order that they may be performed/
12 E.g., St. Peter, Sermons 2 (below, p. 32); 47 (below, p. 101); 114
(below, p. 187); St. Valerian, Homily 11 (below, pp. 369-376).
13 Denzinger, op. cit., n. 177, which quotes Prov. 8.35 (Itala) and
Prov. 2.13; also, n, 191.
INTRODUCTION 15
A collection of 176 discourses has come down to us under
the title, 'Sermons of St. Peter Chrysologus.' He referred to
them by the words, 14 often used as synonyms in close proximity,
sermo (discourse, discussion, sermon) and tractates (treatise,
homily, sermon) . No doubt, he understood the term tractatus
as St. Augustine did: 'treatises to the people which are called
homilies in Greek.' 15 Felix, Archbishop of Ravenna from
about 707 to 717, first gathered the sermons from some
private library. 16 They were first printed by Agapitus Vincen-
tinus in 1534 at Bologna. Schoenemann 17 lists forty-four
printings of the collection between 1534 and 1761 a fact
which attests their popularity in this era. In 1643, the parish
priest of the diocese of Imola, Dominic Mita, published an
annotated edition, and composed the titles which are printed
above the single sermons in Migne. 18 Perhaps the best edition
of the text is that published by Sebastian Pauli at Venice in
1750. Our translation is chiefly based on it. It was reprinted
in Migne, PL 52, where it is somewhat marred by trouble-
some misprints. The text of the collection has come down to
us in very poor condition, and no critical edition has yet
been produced. Some of the sermons in this collection are
not genuine; among these are Sermons 107, 135, 138, 149. 19
Possibly, too, some other sermons of St. Peter have been pub-
lished under the names of other authors. The best means as
yet available to distinguish the genuine from the spurious
sermons are the style and language, especially the handling
14 Cf. Sermons 5 (below, p. 51) ; 40 (below, p. 86, n. 2) ; 82 (PL
52.432C); 122 (below, p. 209).
15 Cited in Harper's Latin Dictionary, s.v. tractatus: tractatus populares,
quos Graece homilias vacant, Aug. Haeres. 4 praef. Cf. also, Souter,
Glossary of Later Latin.
16 PL 52.13,14. Cf, also, F. J. Peters, Petrus Chrysologus als Homilet
(Koln 1918) 3-4,
17 PL 52,79-90.
18 PL 5213; 46.
19 Bohraer, op. cit. 3: Peters, op. cit. 45-46,
16 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
of the rhythms of the cursus. But this means is highly unsatis-
factory because of the poor condition of the text.
Most of the sermons are moral in character. Their chief
purpose is to bring the hearers to lead a more intensively
Christian life and to avoid the vices then prevalent in society.
Instruction in matters of doctrine is abundantly present, but
for the most part it is brought in incidentally and as a means
to the moral end.
Some of the sermons, however, are doctrinal. In these the
favorite subjects are the Incarnation and the Blessed Virgin,
and they are directed against the Arians and Nestorians.
Sermons 56-62 form a series of explanations of the Apostle's
Creed, and Sermons 67-72 a series of commentaries on the
Lord's Prayer. The two series were given to the catechumens
to prepare them for baptism.
The sermons indicate that St. Peter preached on almost
all Sundays, on the feasts of saints and martyrs, and on
such special occasions as the consecration of bishops. He was
a firm believer in short sermons. Most of those we have re-
quire approximately fifteen minutes to deliver, and the rest
are much shorter. He frequently stated 20 that he did not
want to weary his hearers by speaking too long. When his
theme or the passage of Scripture required long treatment, he
extended it through several discourses. Thus, his treatment
of the Parable of the Prodigal Son runs through five complete
sermons. His opinion on the value of short sermons can be
gathered from Sermons 32, 122, 132. Sometimes he preached
from the altar steps; sometimes, from his episcopal chair
(Sermon 173). 21
Most of the sermons were evidently connected with the
divine service of the Mass or Office. 22 In the liturgy of the
20 E.g., in the conclusions of Sermons 1-4.
21 Bohmer, op. cit. 4; cf. Sermon 173 (PL 52.651A) .
22 Bohmer, op. cit. 4.
INTRODUCTION 17
fourth and fifth centuries, 23 the Mass of the Catechumens
included the singing of psalms and the reading aloud of pas-
sages or pericopes from Scripture. After the Kyrie came one
reading (lectio: reading, passage, pericope) from the Old
Testament, then a chanting of psalms usually in the form of
responses, then a reading from the Epistles of the New Testa-
ment. Shortly later was a reading from the Gospel to the
people, usually by a deacon. These passages were not yet
fully fixed or assembled in the liturgical books called lection-
aries, but often were selected by the bishop. A commentary
followed the reading from the Gospel. This is the moment at
which most of the homilies of the Fathers were delivered.
Immediately afterwards, the catechumens were dismissed.
Abundant evidence within the sermons reveals their connec-
tion with these liturgical chantings and readings. For ex-
ample, Sermon 44 contains 'The psalm which we sang to-
day'; 24 Sermon 1 14 has 'Let us hear what the Apostle has said
today'; 25 Sermon 98, on Luke 13.18,19, begins with, 'Today,
brethren, you have heard/ 26
St. Peter almost always began with an introduction
of a paragraph or two. Then he would generally re-
peat the phrases of the passage (lectio) one by one
and make his comments upon them, though sometimes,
as in Sermon 40, he merely used the passage or a
phrase from it to launch into a sermon on a theme
of his own. No set or customary order is found in the body
of his homilies. He went where his text or his own thought
took him. He made applications to the daily lives of his hear-
ers as he went along, and especially in his conclusions. Often,
he added a short doxology.
23 Poulet-Raemers, A History of the Catholic Church I 260.
24 Cf. below, p. 95.
25 Cf. below, p. 185, and similar remarks near the beginnings of Sermons
108-120.
26 Cf. below, p. 156.
18 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Sometimes he spoke in the colloquial language of his hear-
ers, as he says in Sermon 43, 27 but generally his language
reflects the rhetorical training and tastes of his age, 28 and his
sermons can be arranged in sense lines with ease. He takes
a Roman rhetorician's manifest delight in the clever turning
of words, phrases, and thoughts. In fact, without this
deference to the tastes of his age, he would scarcely have
pleased his hearers who had been educated in the schools of
rhetoric. His thought moves quickly. 29 Sermon 108, for ex-
ample, is in a beautiful, terse and rapid style. Its unusually
short sentences form a series of staccato blows, and it must
have produced a strong emotional effect on the hearers both
by its form and its solid, beautiful content. Much the
same is true of Sermon 132. At times, he heaps up synonyms
or similar phrases in a manner which perhaps wearies a mod-
ern reader, 30 and occasionally he loses the importance of his
point in a display of rhetoric. 31 Now and then there are
abrupt changes of thought or of tense, statements, or citations
from Scripture which seem to have little or nothing to do
with the context. No doubt, many of these cases arise from
the poor condition of the text from which some sentences
have disappeared. While there are some obscure passages, 32
the general tenor of his thought is almost always clear.
His deep sincerity shines through the sermons in a delight-
ful manner. Undoubtedly, he loved God, Christ, Mary, the
saints, the martyrs, and his fellow men very deeply. In many
27 Cf. below, p. 90; also, Sermon 112 (below, p. 180) .
28 E.g., Sermons 4 (below, pp. 39-40) ; 40 (below, pp. 85-89) ; 152
(below, p. 258). J. H. Baxter, in Journal of Theological Studies 22
(1921) 250-258, is excellent on the rhetoric of St. Peter Chrysologus.
29 E.g., in Sermons 40, 43, 44, 108.
30 E.g., in Sermons 4 (below, pp. 39-43) and 38 (below, pp. 81-85) .
31 Sermon 57 (below, p. 108 n. 13) .
32 Sermons 1 (below, p. 26 n. 3) ; 5 (below, pp. 4346) ; 40 (below,
p. 87 n. 6) .
INTRODUCTION 19
passages, if the reader proceeds slowly while relishing each
thought, he will discover that he is not so much reading a
sermon as making mental prayer of contemplation. 33
Saint Peter's sermons, being exegetical homilies, are heavily
weighted with quotations from Scripture. According to Sebas-
tian Pauli, 34 there are 357 citations from the Old Testament
and 234 from the New. This shows that he was thoroughly
acquainted with the Bible and could readily draw from mem-
ory an apt text to reinforce his moral teaching and edify the
faithful.
His interpretations are, on the whole, in harmony with
the other Fathers. But sometimes they are ingenious rather
than profound. 35 He was acting not so much as a scholarly
exegete as a writer of homilies seeking to edify his hearers,
and also to please them. Hence, his interpretation occasion-
ally sprang more from the Roman rhetorician's instinct to
play on words than from scholarly investigation, 36 as in Ser-
mon 3: The stout calf is evidence that the father's charity
is stout.' Quite naturally, he had a love of the allegorical
or mystical interpretation so much used by many of the
Fathers, even Augustine, in their homilies. This, too, was
something in which a Roman audience, trained in rhetoric,
would take delight, St. Peter's views on exegesis found clear
expression in Sermons 36 and 146. The historical narrative
should always be raised to a higher meaning, and mysteries
of the future should become known through figures of the
present. 537 'Neither the tips of the letters, nor the letters them-
selves, nor the syllables, nor any word, nor the names, nor
33 E.g., the first half of Sermon 6 or the last half of 40.
34 Cited by Bohmer, op. cit. 10.
35 As S. Pauli pointed out already in 1758 (PL 52.9,10) . Cf. also,
Bohmer, op. cit. 10-11.
36 E.g., Sermon 44 (below, p. 97 n. 5) .
37 Cf. below, p. 78.
20 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
the persons in the Gospel are free from divine allegorical
meanings,' 38
The allegorical interpretation of Scripture is a useful means
for a preacher to illustrate and clarify the point he is making
for the edification of his audience. But it has disadvantages
and a danger, too. It often leads him to make a minor point
into a major one, to give explanations which are strained,
to digress, or to substitute an allegorical interpretation for
an explanation of a difficult passage. The danger is that the
hearers may mistake the allegorical interpretation of the
preacher as one of the meanings intended by God when
He inspired the Scriptural writer to pen the passage. To know
what to make of St. Peter's methods, the modern reader will
do well to recall the chief principles of the interpretation of
Scripture commonly accepted by Catholic interpreters today.
Catholic interpreters, 39 speak of three 'senses' or meanings
which a passage of Scripture may have: ( 1 ) the literal sense;
(2) the typical sense; (3) the accomodated sense.
The literal sense (also called the historical or grammatical
sense) is the meaning which the inspired writer directly
intended to express by his words. For example, we readily
see the literal sense of Luke 1.5: c ln the days of Herod, . . .
there was a certain priest named Zachary. 3 The literal sense
may be expressed by a figure, for example, a metaphor; then
it is called the improper literal sense. Thus, in Ps. 76.16, by
'With thy arm thou hast redeemed thy people,' the Psalmist
meant: 'By thy power Thou has redeemed thy people.' Every
passage in the Bible has one literal sense.
The typical sense (also called spiritual, mystical) is an
additional meaning added by God (through an inspired
writer) to some thing, event, or person designated by the lit-
38 Cf. below, p. 240,
39 Cf., for example, J. E. Stein mueller, A Companion to Scripture
Studies (New York 1941) I 226-265.
INTRODUCTION 21
eral sense of some passage. Thus, we readily see that by the
literal sense of Gen. 2.7, The Lord God formed man out of
the dust of the ground,' God through the inspired writer is
telling us about Adam, the father of all men; and in Rom.
5.14, 'Adam, who is a figure of him who was to come,' God
is telling us, through St. Paul, that Adam is a type fore-
shadowing Christ. The typical sense presupposes the literal
sense and is built upon it. Only God can put a typical sense
upon the thing, event, or person signified by the literal sense.
A mere man may discover similarities in the persons, events,
or things which made them suitable for God to give them
the additional typical meaning had He wished to do so.
But, if the man says on his own authority alone that they
actually have such a typical meaning, he is unwarrantedly
reading something into God's text. The man may, of course,
notice the similarities, use them as the occasions of his own
meditations, and draw much edification and profit for his
own or his neighbor's spiritual life. But he should not say on
his own authority alone that God intended to prefigure.
The accomodated sense is a meaning read into a Scriptural
text by an interpreter. It is not a means of theological proof,
because, unlike the literal and the typical senses, it was not
intended by the sacred writer as a meaning of the passage.
The interpreter finds words of Scripture which out of their
context fit another situation, and uses them. He may do this
for purposes of edification. The writers of the New Testa-
ment, the Fathers, and the Church herself in her liturgy have
thus c accomodated' texts. An accomodated sense should not
be given as the true meaning of a passage.
Naturally enough, in the third, fourth, and fifth centuries
these precise principles, definitions, and terms were not yet
worked out fully, or universally accepted. Two outstanding
schools of interpretation of Scripture were still debating each
other. The school of Alexandria promoted the allegorical
22 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
interpretation of Scripture; its chief scholar was Origen (186-
254 or 255 ). The school of Antioch insisted on the literal or
historical meaning, and opposed the allegorical interpretation.
Its brilliant star was St. John Chrysostom (344-407).
Origen distinguished three senses in Scripture. 40 (1) The
corporal or obvious sense roughly equivalent to our present-
day literal sense is the lowest. It is expressed without figures,
and is meant for beginners who cannot grasp the higher senses.
( 2 ) The psychic sense is a kind of moral sense : Scripture was
intended to teach men what they should do. Origen gives this
sense almost no attention, (2) The spiritual sense (which
may also be called the anagogical, allegorical, mystical, or
metaphorical sense) is the highest sense, intelligible only to
the most learned. It included everything under what we call
the improper literal sense, the typical sense, and the accom-
odated sense. Thus, for Origen, historical facts could be
taken as symbols for other things; and metaphors, especially
the highly developed metaphors called allegories, could sup-
plement or even replace the literal sense. Origen also held
this theory which all modern exegetes reject: everything in
Scripture has a higher or allegorical meaning, but many pas-
sages do not have a corporal or literal sense; for if they did,
there would be scandals and absurdities in the Bible.
This allegorical method of interpreting Scripture won wide
acceptance among the Greek and Latin Fathers, but, because
it obviously opens the way to abuses and far-fetched inter-
pretations, it soon met strong and continued opposition,
especially from the school of Antioch. This school insisted on
the grammatical and historical meaning of Scripture, our
modern literal sense. St. John Chrysostom of Antioch ex-
plained most of the Scriptures in his homilies. He prudently
rejected the allegorical interpretation of Origen, and held, 41
40 Ibid. 254; Cayr6, op. cit. I 208
41 Steinmuller. op. cit. 1 258.
INTRODUCTION 23
( 1 ) the literal sense, ( 2 ) the allegorical sense, which is what
we term the improper literal or the figurative sense, (3) the
anagogical sense (which is what we term the typical sense).
Among the Latin Fathers, 42 large use of Origen's prin-
ciples was made by St. Hilary of Poitier (315-367) and St.
Ambrose (340-397). St. Jerome, steering a middle course
between the historical and allegorical senses, preferred the
allegorical meaning when he found the historical sense diffi-
cult. In his later works he insisted more on the literal sense.
St. Augustine (354-430) adhered to the literal sense in
his theological works, but in his homilies he indulged in alle-
gories, moral applications, and mystical interpretation of
numbers.
Hence, it is clear that St. Peter Chrysologus was follow-
ing a practice common in his times when he so frequently
used allegorical interpretation, as did Origen and Ambrose,
and mystical interpretation of numbers,* 3 as did Augustine.
But, to his credit, St. Peter did not follow Origen in the
opinion that some passages of Scripture lack a literal sense. 44
The Scriptural texts as cited by St. Peter and St. Valerian
often but not always differ slightly from the wording of our
Latin Vulgate, either because they were using the Latin
translation of the Greek Septuagint known as the Itala, or
because they were quoting from memory. I have translated
the Latin wording used by the saints, but tried to use, as far
as possible, the English of the Confraternity Edition of the
New Testament and of Genesis, and that of the Challoner-
Rheims-Douay version for the rest of the Old Testament.
42 Ibid. I 261.
43 E.g., in Sermons 5, 11, 36, 170 (PL 52.198A; 221 A; 303; 645) .
44 Cf. S. Pauli's observation in PL 52.9D.
24 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Texts:
J, P. Migne, S. Petri Chrysologi Archiepiscopi Ravennatis Opera
dmnta, et S. Valeriani Episcopi Cemeliensis Scripta Universa,
PL 52 (Paris 1894) .
Margarine de La Bigne, in Maxima Bibliotheca Veterum Patrum
(Lyons 1677) . Vol. 7, S. Petri Chrysologi, Sermones in evan-
gelia; Vol 8, S. Valeriani Episcopi Cemeliensis, Homiliae XX.
Seb. Pauli, S. Petri Chrysologi Sermones, Editio omnium eerie
castigatissima (Augsburg 1758) .
J. Sirmond, Sancti Valeriani Episcopi Cemeliensis Homiliae XX
(Augsburg 1758).
Translations:
M. Held, Ausgewahlte Reden des hi. Petrus Chrysologus, in Biblio-
thek der Kirchenvater 67 (Kempten 1874).
G. Bbhraer. Des hi Petrus Chrysologus . . . ausgewahlte Predigten,
in Bibhothek der Kirchenvater 43 (Munchen und Kempten
1923) .
There are no translations of St. Valerian.
Secondary Works:
J. H. Baxter, 'The Homilies of St. Peter Chrysologus,' Journal of
Theological Studies 22 (1921) 250-258.
G. Bohmer, Petrus Chrysologus, Erzbischof von Ravenna, als Predi-
ger t Em Beitrag zur Geschichte der altchristl. Predigt. (Pader-
born 1919) .
G. Bardy, 'Pierre Chrysologue/ Dictionnaire de Theologie Catho-
lique, XII, 2e, cols. 1916-1917 (Paris 1935) .
G. Bardy, 'Valerian de Cimelium', DTC, fascicules 144-145. Ulfila-
Vatican, cols. 2520-2522 (Paris 1948).
F. Cayre", Manual of Patrology and History of Theology, tr. H.
Howitt, 2 vols. (Rome 1936, 1940).
D. De Bruyne, O.S.B., 'Nouveaux Sermons de St. Pierre Chryso-
logue/ Journal of Theological Studies 29 (1928) 362-368.
S. Dill, Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire
(London 1898).
C. Jenkins, 'Aspects of the Theology of St. Peter Chrysologus/
Church Quarterly Review 103 (1927) 233-259.
H. Leclercq, 'Ravenne', Dictionnaire d'archeologie chretienne et
de liturgie, fascicules 160-161, cols. 2079-2146 (Paris 1947) .
C. Poulet, A History of the Catholic Church t tr. S. Raemers,
Vol. I, (St. Louis 1934) .
M. Schanz, C. Hosius, G. Kriiger, Geschichte der romischen Lit-
teratur f Vierter Teil, ... bis zum Gesetzgebungswerk Justinians
(Munchen 1920).
A. Souter, A Glossary of Later Latin to 600 A>. (Oxford 1949) .
SERMON 1
The Prodigal Son and His Brother: The Prodigal's Departure
(On Luke 15.11-16)
Today, the Lord has summoned a father with his two
sons and made them the center of our attention. 1 By this
beautiful figure He has desired to open up for us an un-
fathomable revelation of His own love, the fierce jealousy of
the Jewish race, and the penitent return of the Christian
people. 2
'A certain man had two sons. And the younger of them
said to his father, Father, give me the share of the property
that falls to me. And/ the text goes on, 'he divided his means
between them.' The son is as impatient as the father was
kind. He is weary of his father's being alive. Since he can-
not shorten his father's life, he strives to get possession of his
property. He was not content to possess his father's wealth
1 Luke 15.11-32, the entire account of the Prodigal Son, formed the
lectio or passage read aloud to the congregation during the liturgical
service. Then St. Peter began his homily on the passage. In Sermon 1
he treated verses 11-16. In Sermons 2, 3, 4 he treated the remaining
verses. Finally, in Sermon 5, he gave an allegorical interpretation of
the entire passage.
Throughout the rest of St. Peter's sermons no further references
will be given to citations of Scripture which formed part of the
lectio.
2 This introductory paragraph gives the theme of the entire series
and foreshadows the allegorical interpretation given in Sermon 5.
St. Irenaeus, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, Pseudo-Dionysius, and many
other Fathers also regarded the Prodigal Son as a symbol of the
Gentiles and his elder brother as a symbol of the Jews. Cf. PL 52.190.
25
26 SAINT PETER GHRYSOLOGUS
in company with his father; and he deserved to lose the
privileges of a son.
But let us make some inquiries. What reason brought the
son to such attempts? What bold prospect raised his spirits
to make so startling a request? What reason? Clearly, the
fact that the Father in heaven cannot be bounded by any
limit, or shut in by any time, or destroyed by any power of
death. 3 The son could not await his father's death to get
his wealth. So he conceived the desire to get his pleasure
from the generosity 4 of his father still alive. That was the
Insult which lay in his request, as the father's very bounty
proved.
'And he divided his means between them,' the text states.
At the request of the one son he soon divided all his means
between the two. He wanted both sons to know the fact that
up till then he had been holding on to his property because
of love, not miserliness; that foresight, not jealousy, was
the reason he had not given it away. He retained control
of his property to preserve it for his sons, not to refuse it to
them. He did not want his fortune to perish, but to remain
intact for his sons.
Oh, happy are the sons whose entire property rests in the
love of their father ! Happy are the sons whose whole wealth
consists in showing allegiance and honor to a father! Material
riches, by contrast, tear unity apart, break the bond of broth-
erly love, disrupt family relationships, and violently sunder
the ties of love between the members of a family. All this grows
perfectly clear from the words which follow. 'Father, give
me the share of the property that falls to me. And,' the text
5 This sentence, shifting the thought so suddenly from the earthly to
the heavenly Father, is obscure at this point. Its meaning becomes
clear only in the light of the entire series, which expounds the limit-
less goodness of God.
4 viventis liberalitate with Bohmer, B K V 43, 200, not vldendi libertate
or vivendi libertate.
SERMONS 27
continues, 'he divided his means between them. And not many
days later the younger son gathered up all his wealth, and
took his journey into a far country; there he squandered his
fortune in loose living. And after he had spent all, there
came a grievous famine over that country, and he began
himself to suffer want. And he went and joined one of the
citizens of that country who sent him to his farm to feed
swine. And he longed to fill his belly with the pods which the
swine were eating, but no one offered to give them to him.'
See what covetousness works in its headlong pursuit of
wealth. See how, without the father, this wealth did not
enrich the son; it stripped him. It took him away from his
father's bosom, expelled him from his house, withdrew him
from his country, despoiled him of his reputation, and robbed
him of his chastity. Whatever there is of Me, good morals,
filial reverence, liberty, glory of all these it left him nothing.
Indeed, it changed a citizen into a wanderer, a son into a hired
servant, a rich man into a beggar, a free man into a slave.
It separated him from a devoted father, and made him the
companion of the swine. Consequently, he who spurned
obedience to his father's sacred love became the servant of
the inuddy herd.
The younger son gathered up all his wealth/ the text
goes on. Clearly, it was because of his mentality rather than
his age that he was the younger. It was in mind rather than
in regard to place that he gathered up his father's goods and
went far away. And it was by paying a price rather than by
receiving one that he wretchedly sold himself into slavery.
That is the type of contract this trader came to he who did
not know how to pay his debt to his parents, or make a fit
return to his father. In his father's house is agreeable order,
free service, perfect care, pleasant reverence, kindly correc-
tion, rich poverty, unworried possession. The work is done
for the father, but the fruit redounds to the sons.
28 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
'He squandered his fortune,' it says. The spendthrift son
dissipates the goods accumulated under the father's control;
all too late does he realize that his father has been the man-
ager of his wealth, not its miserly possessor. 'In loose living.'
Such a life is destined to death, because its virtues are dying.
If a man lives for vices, his reputation gets buried, his glory
perishes. If he tarries for debauchery, his infamy grows.
'And after he had spent all, there came a grievous famine
over that country.' Like a torturer, famine becomes the in-
separable companion to debauched living, and to the stom-
ach, and to gluttony, in order that avenging pain may be
fierce where punishable guilt once flamed up. There came
a grievous famine over that country.' Ravenous living always
tends to an end like that; extravagance of pleasure which
ought to be avoided always comes to just such an end.
'And he began himself to suffer want.' The wealth which
was given to the son brought him to suffer want. If it had
been refused to him, it would have kept him rich. Conse-
quently, he who in his father's house had abounded in wealth
while not controlling it fell into want out on his own because
he did control it.
'And he went and joined one of the citizens of that coun-
try, who sent him to his farm to feed swine.' This is the
experience which comes to one who refuses to entrust him*
self to his father, but consigns himself to a stranger : he flees
from a most indulgent provider and endures a severe judge.
A deserter from affection, a refugee from fatherly love, he is
assigned to the swine, sentenced to them, and given over to
their service. He stirs about in their muddy fodder. He is
bruised and soiled by the rush of the restless herd, so that
he perceives how wretched and bitter it is to have lost the
happiness of peaceful life in his father's house*
'And he longed to fill his body with the pods which the
swine were eating, but no one offered to give them to him.'
SERMONS 29
What a thankless task is his! He who is living for the swine
does not even eat with them ! O wretched man, who yearns
and hungers for the fattening fodder of the dirty herd! O
wretched man, who desires even such sordid food and fails
to get even that!
Taught by these matters, and instructed by others like
them, let us stay in the house of our Father; let us remain
in the bosom of our Mother; 5 and may we be held fast in
our relatives' embraces. May our Father's affection hold us
back, to keep that pitiful recklessness of youth from drawing
us into the evils mentioned 'above. May our Father's love
surround us like a hedge, and may our Mother's affection
put us at ease, and may our relatives* esteem to be a protec-
tion for ourselves. Under the eyes of these dear ones we can-
not easily sin ; their eyes are just so many lanterns. The glance
of our Mother is the day; the sun is aglow in the countenance
of our Father. Consequently, the darkness of crimes cannot
draw nigh to one living amid so many lights of virtues. On
the contrary, our Father's table nourishes us with the food of
virtue, with the banquet of salvation, with the delights of
uprightness and of glory.
The great length of the passage read compels us to say
more about this parable. Who is the father so ready to
forgive, and readier still to welcome back his son? Who is
the brother grieving over his brother's return? Who is the
younger brother, foolish in his departure but most wise in
his return? As you all desire, we shall investigate these mat-
ters in a later sermon.
5 The Church.
30 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
SERMON 2
The Son's Return to His Father
(On Luke 15.17-19)
In the preceding sermon, to the best of our ability we
censured the extravagant son that son who deserted his
deeply devoted father. We recalled what evils beset him to
such an extent that, reduced by hunger, he gave himself to
the service of the swine. Now, with more joyful words, we
take up something more in line with our desires: his return
and repentance.
'When he came to himself,' the text reads, 'he said, How
many hired men in my father's house have bread in abund-
ance! 3 Previously, when he departed from his father, he had
ceased to be himself; now, he came to himself. He first re-
turned to himself that he might return to his father. The
man who is unminful of his father's devotion, and forgetful
of his parent's love, departs from himself, and changes his
whole self from man to beast.
'How many hired men in my father's house have bread
in abundance, while I am perishing here with hunger!' Hun-
ger calls back him whom abundance had exiled. Hunger
enabled the son Jto understand his father, whereas abundance
had caused him to recognize only a sire.
If even involuntary hunger did all this, try by experiment
how beneficial a voluntary fast can be. A burdened stomach
drags down the heart toward vices, and depresses the mind
to keep it unable to experience heavenly piety. Scripture tells
us: 'The corruptible body is a load upon the soul, and the
earthly habitation presseth down the mind that museth upon
many things.' 1 Hence, the Lord said, too: Take heed lest
your hearts be overburdened with self-indulgence and drunk-
1 Wisd 9.15.
SERMONS
31
enness.' 2 Wherefore, the stomach should be relieved by the
tempering influence of a fast, that the mind can be unbur-
dened and attend to higher things, rise to virtues, and like a
winged bird fly in its entirety to the very Author of piety.
The case of Elias proves this. Relieved of bodily weight by
continuing that fast which the Lord arranged, he flew to
heaven 3 as victor over death.
C I will get up and go to my father/ He who said 1 will
arise 9 was lying down. He had understood his fall, he was
aware of his ruin, and gazed upon himself lying in the mire
of disgraceful prodigality. That is why he cried out: 'I will
get up and go to my father.' With what hope? With what
confidence? With what assurance?
With what hope? With that by which [he reflects]: He
is a father. I have squandered the marks of a son; he has
not lost the characteristics of a father. It is not a stranger
who intercedes with a father; rather, it is that affection inside
his own breast which intervenes and pleads. The father's
heart is moved to beget his son again through forgiveness.
I shall go as a culprit to a father. But a father, on seeing
his son, soon covers up the guilt. He conceals his role of
judge, and is more eager to fulfil that of father. He wants his
son to return, not to perish, and soon changes his condem-
nation into forgiveness.
'I will get up and go to my father, and will say to him,
Father I have sinned against heaven and before thee. 5 His
confession touches his father; his repentence addresses his
sire. *I have sinned against heaven and before thee. 9 He in
heaven against whom he sinned is not merely an earthly father,
but indeed a heavenly Father. That is why the son added:
'before thee.' All things which are done in heaven and on
earth are before the eyes of God.
2 Luke 21.34.
3 3 Kings 19.9; 4 Kings 2.11.
32 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
*I have sinned against heaven and before thee. I am no
longer worthy to be called thy son. 5 The son set out abroad
and fled into a far country; but he did not escape from those
accusing witnesses, the eyes of the heavenly Father. David
explains this more clearly by his words: 'Whither shall I
go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face?
If I ascend into heaven thou art there; if I descend into
hell thou art present. If I take my wings early in the morn-
ing, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: Even there
shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me.' 4
David sees that throughout the world all transgressions stand
exposed to the eyes of God. Neither the sky, nor the earth,
nor the seas, nor a deep cavern, nor night itself can hide
sins from Him. The Psalmist perceives how criminal and evil
it is to sin in the sight of God. Therefore, he cries out: 'To
thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee.' 5
In similar manner, therefore, the younger son, too, cries
aloud, and exclaims: 'I have sinned against heaven and
before thee. I am no longer worthy to be called thy son.'
He does not say: S I am not worthy to be thy son,' but: I
am not worthy to be called thy son.' The reason is that to
be called pertains to grace; to be pertains to nature. Listen
to the Apostle saying: 'from him who called you to the grace
of Christ.' 6 Therefore, since this younger son had lost the
characteristic of his nature as a son, he judged himself not
to deserve that which pertains to grace.
'Make me as one of thy hired men.' Look ! To what point
of his power has the son come? Look ! To what have wanton
pleasure and youthful license promoted him? 'Make me as
one of thy hired men,' he cries. He desires his servitude to
be renewed by his leasing out his services every year. He
desires to pay off the obligations of his contract gradually by
4 Ps. 138.7-10.
5 Ps. 50.6.
6 Gal. 1.6.
SERMONS 33
his unceasing labor. He desires to be as one of the slaves born
in his father's house, to sigh the whole day in work which
brings but little pay, and never to be able to get out of his
state of dependence. There is a reason why he asks for this.
Under a foreign master he had experienced a freedom which
was really slavery; and he believes that under his father
he will have a slavery which is really freedom.
Brethren, at this point I would already be willing to explain
the mystery 7 in this passage, 8 but greater profit can be gained
from doing this later on, and this restrains me. I observe that
as you listen you are not experiencing fitting compassion, nor
deeming these matters our concern; rather, you are passing
over them quickly with fleeting attention.
But, messages which Christ speaks are indeed our concern;
they will always be profitable to every one of us. Moreover,
for our instruction the Lord often uses symbolic 9 examples.
7 Mysterium: type, symbol. This is a reference to the allegorical inter-
pretation which is given in Sermon 5. Mysterium in St. Peter's
sermons often mean symbolic mystery, i.e., something both profound
and difficult to understand, and reminding us of something else.
From the second century on, this word was used in the sense of
symbol, figure, prophetic figure. In the early third century, the
author of De Pascha computus (PL 4.955-960) uses sacramentum,
typus, mysterium, imago, and similitude as synonyms. See J. De
Ghellinck et al., Pour Vhistoire du mot 'sacramentum' (Louvain,
1924) 54, 175, 177, 186; Sn Mary Magdaleine Mueller, The Vocabulary
of Pope St. Leo the Great (Washington, D. C. 1943) 126; Souter,
Glossary, s.v. sacramentum. These same meanings are often carried
by these words in St. Peter Chrysologus. For example, in a rhetorical
display he rounds out a double chiasmus with four synonyms in
Sermon 96 (below, p. 152) : Christus doctrinam suam parabolis velat,
tegit figuris, sacramentis operit, reddit obscurant mysteriis (Christ
veils His doctrine by parables, covers it with figures, hides it under
symbols, makes it obscure by mysteries) .
8 From here on the Latin text is very difficult, and may be partially
corrupt.
9 Mysticus often means symbolic or figurative in St. Peter, and is prac-
tically an adjectival form of mysterium. Cf., e.g., Sermon 96, as inter-
preted by the synonymous expressions in PL 52-469D, 146 (below, p.
242) , 166 (below, pp. 272, 273) , and Letter to Eutyches (below, p. 285) .
34 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
He has always desired to be the Father of His servants, and
to be loved more than feared, He gave Himself as the Bread
of life, and poured His Blood into the cup of salvation. By
these comparisons of the past He improves the men of the
present and the future, to keep us from deserting our good
and loving Father and going off to the remote and utterly
foreign parts of the world. He does not want us to live
riotously there and squander th whole substance of our wel-
fare and life. He does not want us to use up everything we
have, suffer an extreme hunger for hope, and through it to
surrender ourselves soon to the ruler of that region that is,
to the Devil, the author of despair. Our Father does not
want him to send us to his own farm, that is, to the seductive
valleys of this world; nor to send us to give food to the swine,
namely, those creatures who are always prone to grovel on
the earth, who live for their stomach, temper their hot pas-
sions in a wallowing-place of mud, depress themselves in the
mire, and cool themselves in a whirpool of vices*
The Devil's insatiable cruelty is what causes him to send
his hirelings to the swine, Not content that men become crim-
inal, he also makes them leaders in vice and teachers of crime.
And once he has made them such, he does not let them get
satisfied even with the food and fodder of the swine, Wanton
men cannot find satiety; their passion cannot be satisfied;
consequently, in their hunger they commit more vices still.
Therefore, let us be with our good Father; let us remain
with this devoted Parent. In this way we can avoid the
Devil's snares and always enjoy our Father's goods. We shall
scrutinize the deeper matters later, because we have greater
obligation to our congregation and our customs. 10
10 Of preaching only short sermon j.
SERMONS 35
SERMON 3
The Father's Welcome to the Son
(On Luke 15.20-24)
In two sermons so far, we have run through the prodigal
son's departure, return, guilt, and repentance. Now let us
proceed to treat the father's meeting his son, his goodness,
and his indescribable mercy. The text tells us : 'He arose and
went to his father. But while he was yet a long way off, his
father saw him and was moved with compassion, and ran
and fell upon his neck and kissed him. 5
'He arose and went to his father.' He arose from the wreck-
age of his conscience and body alike. He arose from the
depths of hell and touched the heights of heaven. Before the
heavenly Father, a child rises higher because of pardon than
he fell low because of guilt. 1
'He arose and went to his father.' He went not by the
motion of his feet, but by the progress of his thought. Being
afar off, he had no need of an earthly journey, because he
had found short cuts along the way of salvation. He who
seeks the divine Father by faith soon finds Him present to
Himself, and has no need to seek Him by traversing roads.
'He arose and went to his father. But when he was yet a
long way off.' How is he who is coming a long way off?
Because he has not yet arrived. He who is coming is coming
to do penance, but he has not yet arrived at grace. He is
coming to his Father's house, but he has not yet reached
the glory of his former condition, appearance, and honor.
'But when he was yet a long way off, his father saw him.'
1 'Because in reformation through repentance grace ordinarily rises
higher/ Mita appropriately remarks (PL 52.191) . He gives numerous
references to other Fathers who express this same idea.
36 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
That Father saw, He 'who dwelleth on high; and looketh
down on the low things,' 2 'and the high he knoweth afar off. 13
'His father saw him.' The father saw him, in such a way that
the son could also behold his father. The father's countenance
illumined the face of the approaching son in such a way that
all the dark aspect was dispelled which his guilt had pre-
viously cast about it. The darkness of the night is not such
as that which comes from shame over sins. Hear the Prophet's
words: 'My iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not
able to see. 34 Elsewhere, he says: 'My iniquities are become
heavy upon me, 3 and afterwards: 'And the light of my eyes
is not with me. 35 Night overwhelms the light of the day just
past; sins ruin our power of perception; our members encum-
ber our soul. Clearly, if the heavenly Father had not cast
His rays upon the returning son's face, if He had not lifted
the mist of his shame by the light streaming from His own
glance, that son would never have seen God's brilliant face.
'He saw him from afar and was moved with compassion.'
He who cannot be removed from his location is moved with
compassion. He runs forward, not by a movement of his
body, but by his affectionate devotion. 'He fell upon his
neck,' not because his muscles failed, but because of his com-
passion. 'He fell upon his neck' that he might raise up the
son who lay upon the earth. 'He fell upon his neck' to remove
the burden of sins by a burden of love. 'Come to me,' Scrip-
ture says, 'all you who labor and are burdened. Take my
burden upon you because it is light.' 6 You see that the son is
helped, not weighed down, by the burden of that father.
'He fell upon his neck and kissed him,' This is how the
father judges and corrects his waywurd son, and gives him
2 Ps.
3 Ps. 137.6.
4 Ps. 39.13.
5 Ps. 37.5,11.
6 Matt. 11.28-30.
SERMONS 37
not floggings but kisses. The power of love overlooked the
transgressions. Therefore, the father redeemed the sins of his
son by his kiss, and covered them by his embrace, in order
not to expose the crimes or debase the son. The father so
healed the son's wounds as not to leave a scar or blemish
upon him. 'Blessed are they', says Scripture 'whose iniquities
are forgiven, and whose sins are covered.' 7
If the deed of this young son displeases us, and his depar-
ture horrifies us, then let us by no means depart from such a
Father. A father's glance puts sins to flight, banishes crime,
and drives away all malice and temptations. Certainly, if
we have gone away, if by living riotously we have squan-
dered the whole substance of our Father, if we have com-
mitted any crime or transgression anywhere, if we have come
to the whole rocky coast of impurity and to complete ruin,
let us now at last get up. An example like that of the son
is an invitation to us. Let us return to such a Father.
'But when his father saw him, he was moved with com-
passion, and ran and fell upon his neck and kissed him. 3
What place for despair, I ask, is here? What occasion to
make excuses? What false display of fear? None unless
perhaps the father's meeting is feared, and his kiss strikes
up terror, and his embrace is disturbing, and he is believed
to be seizing the son for punishment rather than receiving
him with forgiveness when he leads him by the hand, draws
him into his bosom, and winds his arms about him.
But the words which follow completely sweep away such
a thought which is destructive of life and opposed to salva-
tion. 'But the father said to his servants, fetch quickly the
best robe and put it on him, and give a ring of gold for his
finger and sandals for his feet; and bring out the fattened
calf and kill it, and let us eat and make merry; because this
7 Ps. 31.1.
38 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
my son was dead, and has come to life again; he was lost,
and is found.' After hearing this do we yet delay? Do we
still fail to return to the Father?
'Fetch quickly the best robe and put it on him.' He put up
with his son's transgressions, but not his nakedness. Conse-
quently, he wanted his servants to clothe the son before he
was seen, that his nakedness might be known to his father
alone. It was only a father who could not bear to see the
nakedness of a son.
'Fetch quickly the best robe.' Here the father who did not
suffer the sinner to be poorly clothed wants to derive his
joy from pardon rather than justice. 'Fetch quickly the best
robe. 3 He did not ask: c Where are you coming from? Where
have you been? Where are the goods you carried off? Why
did you exchange such great honor for such disgrace?' No,
his words were: 'Fetch quickly the best robe and put it on
him.' You see that the power of love overlooks transgressions.
The mercy which a father knows is not a tardy kind. He
who discusses sins publicizes them.
'Give him a ring for his finger.' The father's devotion is
not content to restore his innocence alone; it also brings back
his former honor. And give him sandals for his feet.' He was
rich when he departed; how poor he has returned! Of all
his substance he brings back not even shoes on his feet!
'Give him sandals for his feet' that nakedness may disgrace
not even a foot, and surely that he may have shoes when
he returns to his former course of life.
'And bring out the fattened calf.' An ordinary calf is not
good enough; it must be one sleek and fattened. The stout
calf is evidence that the father's charity is stout. 'And bring
out the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and make
merry; because this my son was dead, and has come to life
again; he was lost, and is found.' We are still recounting
SERMONS 39
the narrative, 8 and we are already planning to explain the
hidden symbolic mystery 9 in it. Through the death of a calf
a dead son is resuscitated, and one calf is sacrificed for the
feasting of the entire family. 10 However, we must postpone
this mystery, to set forth in proper order the elder brother's
deep rooted grief and even deeper rooted envy.
SERMON 4
The Elder Brother's Jealousy
(On Luke 15.25-32)
We have rejoiced over the younger son's return and safety;
with tearful grief we now take up the elder son's envy.
Through his excessive sin of envious jealousy he spoiled the
great virtue of his thriftiness.
The text reads: 'Now his elder son was in the field; and
as he came and drew near the house, he heard music and
dancing. And calling one of the servants he inquired what
this meant. And he said to him, Thy brother has come, and
thy father has killed the fattened calf, because he has got
him back safe. But he was angered and would not go in/
'His elder son was in the field.' He was in the field, culti-
vating the earth but leaving himself uncared for. He breaks
up the tough sod, but hardens the affection in his heart. He
uproots briers and plants, but does not pluck out tempta-
tions to envy. Thus, in the harvest field of covetousness he
gathers crops of jealousy and envy.
'And as he came and drew near the house, he heard the
8 Historia, the simple record of facts as opposed to the allegorical inter-
pretation of Scripture. Cf. Introduction, pp. 19-23.
9 See Sermon 2 n. 7.
10 An allusion to the Eucharist.
40 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
music and dancing. 5 The music of devoted affection puts the
envious brother in flight, the dance of affection keeps him out-
side. Natural affection prompts him to come to his brother
and draw near to the house. But his jealousy does not let
him arrive; his envy does not suffer him to enter.
Envy is an ancient evil, the first sin, an old venom, the
poison of the ages, a cause of death. In the beginning, this
vice expelled the Devil from heaven and cast him down.
This vice shut the first parent of our race out of paradise.
It kept this elder brother out of his father's house* It armed
the children of Abraham, the holy people, to work the mur-
der of their Creator, the death of their Saviour. Envy is
an interior foe. It does not batter the walls of the flesh or
break down the encompassing armor of the members, but it
plies its blows against the very citadel of the heart. Before
the organs are aware, like a pirate it captures the soul, the
master of the body, and leads it off as a prisoner.
Therefore, if we wish to merit heavenly glory, or to possess
the beatitude of paradise, if we wish to dwell in the house
of our father and to escape the guilt of divine parricide,
then let us by vigilant faith and the Spirit's light drive and
keep away the foul tricks of envy. Let us suppress this envy
with all the force of heavenly arms. For, just as charity
unites us to God, so does envy cut us off from Him.
'His father, therefore, came out and began to entreat him.'
The father's anxious heart is straitened by the diverse move-
ments of his sons. In astonishment and love, he ponders their
different fortunes, for he sees that one brother is soon driven
away by the return of the other, and that through the
safety of the one the other will perish. Because of the malice
of envy, he perceives his long-felt grief, compensated by a
short-lived joy, stirred up all over again.
O cancer of jealousy! A spacious house does not contain
SERMONS 41
two brothers! And what is strange about this, brethren?
Envy has wrought this. Envy has made the whole breadth
of the world too narrow for two brothers. For it goaded
Cain to kill his younger brother. 1 Thus, the law of nature
made Cain the first-born son, but envious jealousy made
him an only son.
'But he answered and said to his father. Behold, these
many years I have been serving you.' This is the view of
one who dares to sit in judgment on the father's love. 'Be-
hold, these many years I have been serving you.' See the
service which this son pays back to the father in return
for the gift of being born !
1 have never transgressed one of thy commands.' This is
the result, not of your innocence, but of your father's for-
giveness, because with deep love he preferred to cover up
a son's transgressions rather than expose them.
'And yet thou hast never given me a kid that I might
make merry with my friends.' An attitude of ill will to a
brother cannot be pleasing to a father. And he who is obliv-
ious of brotherly love cannot be mindful of a father's gen-
erosity. He says that no kid was given to him. Yet, at the
time of the division, he received his complete portion of the
property. For, at the time when the younger brother was
asking that his share of the property be given him, the
father soon divided the whole among the two brothers. The
Evangelist's words are: 'He divided his means between
them.' 2 But an envious man is always pretending something,
always lying.
'And yet thou hast never given me a kid, that I might
make merry with my friends.' He does not regard his father's
friends as his own. He sees some men esteeming himself
1 Gen. 4.1-16.
2 Luke 15.12.
42 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
to please his father, and he regards these as strangers, not
friends.
'But when this thy son comes, who has devoured his means
with harlots, thou hast killed for him the fatted calf.' He
is grieving because his brother has returned, not because
the estate has perished. He is complaining, 3 not because
of the loss, but because of his envy. He should have used
his own means to improve his brother's appearance, and not
have dishonored him thus because of what he lost. A father's
whole estate is in his son. Hence, when the father recovered
his son, he regarded nothing as lost. But the brother did
believe it a loss when he saw his co-heir back home. When
is an envious man anything but avaricious? He reckons what-
ever another possesses as his own loss.
'But he said to him, Son, thou art always with me, and
all that is mine is thine; but we were bound to make merry
and rejoice, for this thy brother was dead, and has come to
life; he was lost, and is found. 3 O what the force of love
accomplishes! To a son, however base, he knows not how
to be, he cannot be, less than a father. He sees that the
son has degenerated in spirit; that he possesses nothing of the
father's devotion or character; yet he calls him son, he
urges affection 4 upon him, he reawakens his attention to
the kindness or the hope of his generosity, by saying: 'Son,
thou art always with me, and all I have is thine. That is
tantamount to saying: Bear with your brother's return to
his father, bear with your father's welcome to his son. He
did not seek anything else than his father. For he came with
the request to be put in the place of a hired man, not of a
son. 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee.
3 quaeiitur. The verb for 'complain' is often spelled thus in printed
texts of S. Peter.
4 Reading nffectum, not etfectum, with Bohmer.
SERMONS 43
I am no longer worthy to be called thy son; make me as
one of thy hired men.' 5
Keep all your possessions; his father is enough for him.
Moreover, to keep you from thinking that any of your
present or former possessions has been diminished, I shall
search for new ones for him in the future. Assuredly, if you
observe your father's counsel and command, share your
present goods with your brother, that the future possessions
may belong to you as well as to him. So be glad and rejoice
that he has been found, that he, too, may rejoice that you
have not been lost.
But let us now conclude our narrative sermon, that after-
wards, through the revelation of Christ, we may unfold the
matters that are symbolic 6 and profound.
SERMON 5
The Two Sons as Types of the Gentiles and the Jews:
The Allegorical Interpretation.
Not to pay his obligations is often a trait of a clever and
shameless debtor. By long and artful caviling he taxes his
creditor's patience.
This is our fifth sermon on the departure and return of
the Prodigal Son. In it we shall try, as we have promised, 1
to raise its historical sense 2 to a mystical 3 and extraordinary 4
5 Luke 15.19.
6 The allegorical interpretation is given in Sermon 5.
1 At the beginning of Sermon 1 and the ends of Sermons 2, 3, and 4.
2 Cf. Introduction, pp. 20-21.
3 I.e., deep and symbolical, or allegorical, figurative. This sermon is
an excellent example of the allegorical interpretation of Scripture.
Cf. Introduction, pp. 20-21.
44 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
sense 5 which God gave 6 it. 7 In the case of so great a loan 8
entrusted to me, I am, through my own power, a rather
unsuitable debtor. Therefore, pray that through God's power
I may be found a payer acceptable to yourselves.
'A certain man had two sons,' the passage says. Since the
time when Christ took upon Himself the burden of our flesh,
and, being God, clothed Himself with human vesture, 9
God with truth calls Himself man. The Lord [i.e., God
4 I.e., Ongen's 'spiritual sense' which he called by numerous synonyms.
anagagoge, allegoric,, perinoia, pneumatike ekdoche in his Greek
works, and sensus mysticus, allegoncus, spintuahs intelligentia in
the works which have survived only in the fourth-century Latin
translations of Rufinus and St. Jerome. See Dictionnaire du Bible,
s.v. Origene, t. 4, col. 1876; DTC XI 2e, col. 1495.
5 From the time of St. Hilary (c, 315-376) on, intelligentia carried
among its significations: sense, definition, meaning. See Souter. Glos-
sary, s.v., and also Sermon 36 (below, p. 78 n. 2) and Sermon 112
p. 180 n. 1).
6 Taking deitatis as a subjective genitive. Support for this interpre-
tation lies in St. Peter's expressing similar thought in Sermon 96
below, p. 152) : Christ veils His doctrine by parables and figures;
and in Sermon 146 (below, p. 240) , divine allegorical meanings.
Cf., Sermon 36 (below, p. 78 n. 2) .
An alternative rendering of these Latin words is: In it we shall
try as we have promised, to raise its historical meaning to a mystical
[i.e., deep and symbolical] and extraordinary understanding of the
Godhead This rendering is possible as far as the Latin words go.
but not so well supported by the similar passages of St. Peter.
7 It is interesting to compare an example of Origen's procedure in
interpreting Scripture allegorically. In Homilies on Genesis he says
(PG 12.260B) : ' "He washes his garment in wine, his robe in the
blood of grapes" (Gen, 49.11). These statements, too, will be seen
to signify by the historical explanation a field producing a grape-
vine, and by extended meaning an abundance of wine. But our
allegorical (mystica) interpretation brings forth a nobler meaning.
For the garment of Christ which is washed in wine is rightly under-
stood to be His Church, having no spot or wrinkle, which He
cleansed for Himself by His blood.'
8 His understanding of the mystical or symbolical meaning.
9 Exuvias: flesh, hide, form. An allusion in the language of rhetoric
to Phil. 2,7.
SERMONS K
the Father] truly calls Himself the father of two sons, 10 be-
cause the Deity mixed into the humanity, as also the human
tenderness joined to the Deity, has mingled 11 man and God.
and it united 12 the Lord to a Father.
Therefore, this man [in the parable], this father, had twc
sons. He had them through the bounty of the Creator, not
because he was under any necessity to beget them, and he
commanded their existence, rather than merited it For 1 '*
Christ was a man before our eyes in such a way that He
always remained God in the mystery of His Godhead.
'He had two sons/ namely, two peoples : the Jews and the
Gentiles. Prudent knowledge of the Law made the Jewish
people His elder son, and the folly of paganism made the
Gentile world His younger son. For, just as truly as wisdom
10 The Jews and Gentiles, as the next paragraph shows. However
Bohmer in BKV 43, p. 218, takes the two sons to be Christ and the
Jews. The first four paragraphs of this sermon form an example ol
the occasional obscuntv of St. Peter, which is possibly due to imper-
fect texts.
11 Humanttati permixta deltas, ... miscuit hominem et Deum. Here
either r St. Peter is using mixed and mingled in a wide sense, or he
is erring. He would scarcely have chosen these words, nor the similai
miscetur divinitas carni in Sermon 156 (below, p. 267) had he
spoken after the Council of Chalcedon (451) , which defined: 'We
teach that ... the one and the same Christ, the Son, the Lord, the
only -begotten, is to be acknowledged as being in the two natures
without mingling, change, division, or separation, with the difference
of the two natures by no means destroyed because of the union,
but rather with the characteristics of each nature being preserved
and coming together unto one Person and Hypostasis.' (Denzinger,
Enchiridion Symbolorum, 148) . Christ said very simply (John 10.38) :
The Father is in me and I in the Father.' This and similar state-
ments (e.g., John 1.14,18; 14.15) show that He is God's one and
only natural Son, one Person distinct from the Father and possessing
and acting by two united but unmixed natures. Standardized and
philosophically accurate language to express all this was not yet
common in St. Peter's time.
12 Univit, i.e., perhaps, made God the Father similar to a tender human
father. Held in BKV 67, p. 52, translated 'turned God into a Father*;
Bohmer in BKV 43, 'made God a Father.'
13 Logical connection of this statement with its context is not apparent.
Quite likely, some statements have dropped out of the text.
46 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
brings venerable gray hairs, 14 so does folly take away the
traits of an adult. So morals, not age, made the Gentiles
the younger son; and not years, but understanding [of the
Law], made the Jews the elder son.
'And the younger of them said to his father, Father, give
me the share of the property which falls to me.' The younger
son [representing the Gentile world] addressed this petition
to the Knower of hearts by his desire rather than his voice.
For, with us, it is our own will which gets us good things
from God or bad. See the result. He who in company with
his father possessed the whole property became through
this use of his own will the possessor of only a fraction of it.
That is what he got by his request: 'Give me the share
of the property that falls to me.'
And what is that share? What? Conduct, speech, knowl-
edge, reason, judgment all those characteristics which in
this earthly habitat belong to a man above other living be-
ings; in other words, according to the Apostle, the law of
nature.
But he carried out the division in this way. To the younger
He gave those five gifts of nature which we have mentioned.
For the elder He divinely wrote the five Books of the Law.
Through these arrangements the divided property was to
have unequal value, but a numerical parity. The one share
of property was to hold together through human arrange-
ment, the other was to stand firm by divine ordination.
But each of these two laws was intended to lead the two
sons to the knowledge of their Father. Each law was to bring
reverence to its Author.
'And not many days later, the younger son gathered up
all his wealth, and took his journey into a far country; and
there he squandered his fortune in loose living.' We stated
that not age, but morals, had made him the younger son.
14 Cf. Wisd. 4.8.
SERMONS 47
That is why the text said : 'Not many days later.' And rightly,
because in the very beginning of the world the Gentile
race hastened off to the Fatherland of idols. It sojourned
into the foreign country of the Devil more in spirit than in
place. Through its vain thoughts it roamed through all the
elements, 15 and it was not by bodily motion that it was
hurled from land after land. For, this younger son was in
his Father's presence, yet he lacked this Father; although
he was in his own house, he did not feel at home. 16
Hence it is that these Gentile peoples this loose-living
son through their desire of worldly eloquence, through the
brothels of the schools, 17 through senseless disputation at the
meeting places of the philosophical sects, dissipated the prop-
erty of God the Father. By their conjectures they exhausted
everything there was in the line of speech, knowledge, rea-
son, and judgment. But, even after that, these poor wetches
still suffered the greatest need and intensest hunger to know
the truth. Philosophy enjoined the task of seeking God, but
of that truth to be learned it gathered no fruit.
Consequently, these Gentile peoples kept on adhering to
the chieftain 18 of that country. He kept on banishing them
into that world of his; that is, into his one country house of
multitudinous superstitions. He did this that they might feed
swine, that is, the devils who say to the Lord: 'If thou cast
us out, send us into the herd of swine.' 19 Yes, he sent them
that they might feed the devils with incense, sacrificial vic-
tims, blood and then get false replies from the oracles as
15 Cf. Wisd. 13.2.
16 Cum in se esset, non erat secum.
17 St. Jerome (On Ezechiel 16.31) also calls the schools brothels, because
the philosopher 'through his immoderate appetite for philosophical
knowledge, abuses the testimony of the Scriptures for the perversion
of doctrine/ Cf. PL 52.198D.
18 The Devil.
19 Matt. 8.31.
48 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
the reward for all this labor. They killed many an animal
in order to enable a creature which had no intelligence while
alive to prophesy after being killed; to empower that which
had never uttered speech with its mouth to speak with its
entrails after death.
But in all this these Gentile peoples found nothing divine,
nothing of salutary value. So they despaired of God, of His
providence, of His judgment, and of all the future, and they
betook themselves from the school down to the gluttony of
the belly, eager to fill themselves with the pods which the
swine were wont to eat.
The Epicureans knew this. When they were frequenting
the Platonic and Aristotelian schools, and found there no
elucidation of the divinity or of knowledge, they offered
themselves to Epicurus, the most recent promoter of despair
and pleasure. And they ate pods. In other words, they opened
their mouths wide to the sinfully sweet pleasures of the body,
and they themselves gave food to the devils who continually
grow fat on the vices and filth of bodies. For, just as he who
unites himself to God 'is one spirit with Him, 320 so he who
associates himself with the Devil becomes one devil with
him.
Despite his desire, this younger son did not satisfy his belly
with those pods. Why? Because no one was giving to him.
Assuredly, the Devil was eager to use this hunger for knowl-
edge and distress of pleasure, in order to make the Gentile
son the more eager to get forbidden goods and to commit
sins. But God, the Father, allowed the Gentile son to hunger
for another reason: that the confutation of his error might
become an occasion of salvation. He abandoned the Jewish
son in just such a way as not to let him perish utterly, and
He suffered the Gentile son to endure hunger that he might
come back.
20 1 Cor. 6.17.
SERMONS 49
He does come back now to his Father and cries: 'Father,
I have sinned against heaven and before thee.' Every day
in her prayer the Church testifies that the younger son has
returned to his Father's house, and is calling God his
Father, for she prays: 'Our Father, who art in heaven, 3 'I
have sinned against heaven and before thee. 321 He sinned
against heaven when he said in blasphemy that the sun in
the sky and the moon and the stars are gods, and when he
profaned these same beings by adoring them.
'I am no longer worthy to be called thy son; make me
as one of thy hired men.' This is to say: because I am no
longer worthy of the glory of a son, or of pardon, I hope
to earn the wages of a laborer's toil. May he who has lost
the honor of being a son retain at least the sustenance of life
in his daily bread.
But the father runs out, he runs out from afar. 'When
as yet we were sinners, Christ died for us.' 22 The Father
runs out, He runs out in His Son, when through Him He
descends from heaven and comes down upon earth. 'With
me,' the Son says, 'is he who sent me, the Father.' 23
He 'fell upon his neck/ He fell, when through Christ the
whole Divinity came down as ours and reposed in human
nature. 'And he kissed him.' When? When 'mercy and truth
have met each other: justice and peace have kissed.' 24 'He
gave the best robe,' that which Adam lost, the everlasting
glory of immortality. 'He put a ring upon his finger.' The
ring of honor, the title of liberty, the outstanding pledge
of the spirit, the seal of the faith, the dowry of the heavenly
marriage. Hear the Apostle: 'I betrothed you to one spouse,
that I might present you a chaste virgin to Christ.' 25 'And
21 Matt. 6.9.
22 Rom. 5.19.
23 John 8.16.
24 Ps. 84.11.
25 2 Cor. 11.2.
50 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
sandals upon his feet.' That his feet might be shod when
he preached the Gospel, 'that the feet of those who preach
the gospel of peace might be beautiful.' 26
'And he killed for him the fattened calf.' About that
David sang: 'And it shall please God better than a young
calf, that bringeth forth horns and hoofs.' 27 The calf was
slain at this command of the Father, because the Christ,
God as the Son of God, could not be slain without the
command of His Father. Listen to the Apostle: 'He who
has not spared even His own son but has delivered Him
for us all.' 28 He is the calf who is daily and continually im-
molated for our food.
But the elder brother the elder son coming from the
field, the people of the Law 'The harvest indeed is abun-
dant, but the laborers are few' 29 hears the music in the
Father's house, and he hears the dancing, yet he does not
wish to enter. Every day we gaze upon this same occurrence
with our own eyes. For the Jewish people comes to the house
of its Father, that is, to the Church. Because of its jealousy
it stands outside. It hears the cithara of David resounding,
and the music from the singing of the psalms, and the danc-
ing carried on by so many assembled races. Yet it does not
wish to enter. Through jealousy it remains without. In horror
it judges its Gentile brother by its own ancient customs, and
meanwhile it is depriving itself of its Father's goods, and
excluding itself from His joys.
'Behold, these many years I have been serving thee, and
have never transgressed one of thy commands; and yet thou
hast never given me a kid.' As we already mentioned, this
remark should be passed over rather than mentioned. For
26 Rom. 10.15
27 Ps. 68.32.
28 Rom. 8.31.
29 Luke 10.2.
SERMONS 5 1
the Jewish son is speaking, and the words are not those of
a doer, but of a man venting his anger.
The Father steps outside and says to his son: 'Son, thou
art always with me.' How? In the person of Abel, and of
Henoch, of Sem, Noe, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and
all the holy men from whom stems Christ's Jewish lineage
read in the Gospel when it says: 'Abraham begot Isaac, Isaac
begot Jacob,' 30 and the rest.
'And all that is mine is thine.' How? Because for you is
the law, for you is prophecy, for you the temple, for you
the priesthood, for you the sacrifices, for you the kingdom,
for you the gifts, for you and this is the greatest gift of
all Christ was born. But because you through your jealousy
wish to destroy your Brother, you are no longer worthy to
possess your Father's banquets and joys.
Within the narrow confines of this sermon we could not
expound matters so extensive as fully as we desired. But the
points which seem brief in our sermon form an ample field
for you to exercise the power of perception which your
own knowledge gives you. May this simple yet hidden com-
parison not be unpleasant. It has forced us to unfold and
explain these allegorical 31 and lofty matters, rather than to
tell or declaim them.
30 Matt. 1.2.
31 Mysticas.
52 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
SERMON 6
On Joy over the Call of the Gentiles to the Faith and to Grace
(On Psalm 99.1-5)
At the return of the younger son, the whole household
danced and sang heavenly music. Therefore it is fitting that
today, at this great joy of God the Father, we, too, should
take up the psalm, use the drum, set up the organ, play the
zither, and make David's melody resound.
Sing joyfully to God, all the earth.' What is it that an
understanding of this great joy is likely to make clear? Why
is it that, after God gave commandments so great, so terrify-
ing, and so awesome, He now invites the earth to a shout of
joy? 'Sing joyfully to God, all the earth, 3 the text reads.
What other reason is there than the following? The awe-
some God later on chose the role of a very gentle shepherd.
He assumed this character in order to act as a merciful
shepherd and gather together, like straggling sheep into one
fold, those wandering peoples, those straying nations, those
tribes scattered far and wide. Yes 3 more, He wanted to lead
back to the use of milk and grass and restore those wild
nations which were languishing after the prey of a carcass,
the eating of flesh, the drinking of blood, and the fury of
beasts. Briefly, He desired to make them once more sheep
fully gentle.
'All the earth, sing joyfully to God,' He says, and by this
command He imposes His shepherdly control on all the
earth. The resounding trumpet draws the soldier forth to
war. Just so does the sweetness of this jubilant call invite
the sheep to pasture. How fitting it was to mitigate the din
of fighting by shepherdly kindness, in order that grace so
SERMONS 53
gentle might save the nations which their own natural wild-
ness had long been destroying.
Furthermore, Christ Himself declared today 1 that the re-
turn of the shepherd was good when He came upon the earth :
'I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his
life for his sheep. 32 Therefore, the Master Himself is seeking
helpers and companions to care for the whole world by His
words: 'Sing joyfully, to God, all the earth.' Therefore, when
He was on the point of returning to heaven, He gave Peter the
trust of feeding His sheep in His place. 'Peter, 5 He says, 'dost
thou love me? Feed my sheep.' 3 He does not want him, once
appointed, to compel the tender firstlings of the flock by
haughty power, but to encourage them by affection. So He
repeats: 'Peter, dost thou love me? Feed my sheep.' He en-
trusts His sheep, He commends their younglings, because,
like a far-seeing shepherd, He knows beforehand that the
increase of his flock will be great. 'Peter, dost thou love me?
Feed my sheep. 3
As shepherd, Peter had Paul for his companion, and Paul,
by his careful nourishing, was providing for the sheep from
breasts full of milk. 'I fed you/ he says, 'with milk, not with
solid food.' 4 The holy king sensed this. So he put himself in
place of the bleating sheep, and exclaimed: The Lord ruleth
me; and I shall want nothing. He hath set me in a green
place. He hath brought me up on the water of refreshment. 35
So the next verse proffers joy to man. He is returning now,
after life spent amid the constant groans and bloodshed of
war, from his captivity to the pasture of Gospel peace. Man
was the slave of sin, the captive of death, the possession of
1 The passage about the Good Shepherd (John 10.1-21) probably had
been read in the liturgical service, as well as Ps. 99.1-5.
2 John 10.11.
3 John 21.16,17.
4 1 Cor. 3.2.
5 Ps. 22.1 9.
54 SAINT PETER CHRVSOLOGUS
the devils. He was a servant of idols, a whipped scoundrel
full of vices, a prisoner shackled for his crimes. This is how
man was in evil and wretched slavery to such great and
evil masters. When was he free from sadness while under
the yoke of sin? When was he free from grief beneath the
dominion of death? When not pale beneath the Devil's rule?
When not trembling under the idols? When free from sus-
picion while encumbered by vices? When free from despair
while charged with crime? That is why he uttered soul-
piercing sighs while he so long endured such cruel tyrants!
Rightly, therefore, does the Prophet express his joy when
he sees us freed from such lords, and called back to the
homage of our Creator, the favor of our Father, and the
free service of the one good Lord. He exclaims: c Serve ye
the Lord with gladness. Come in before his presence with
exceeding great joy.' Enter with your heart; there is not
question of place here. 'Come in before his presence with
exceeding great joy. 5 Because grace has led back and inno-
cence has brought in those whom guilt had thrown out and
conscience had driven away. 'Come in before his presence
with exceeding great joy,' The man who enters God's pres-
ence with exceeding great joy is one who is free from guilt,
and confident of his reward.
Yet, what is this which is urged? What is the Prophet striv-
ing to encourage here? 'Come in before his presence with
exceeding great joy.' Who is free in the sight of God? Who
acts falsely before His eyes? Who is joyful before God's
awesome majesty? The archangels tremble, the angels fear,
the powers are afraid, the elders of heaven prostrate them-
selves. The elements flee, the rocks break up, the mountains
crumble, the earth quakes; and man of the earth, how will
he enter without fear? Has he hitherto stood his ground in
joy? Why does the Prophet dare to tell us to do all this?
Why? Because of what follows in the text: 'Know ye that the
SERMONS 55
Lord he is God.' Because, indeed, the Lord is that God who
was a tiny infant in our flesh. Hence, that Lord is God
who, immense as He was, lay in our cradle, so sweet in
His Mother's lap, so gentle in His conduct, so charming in
His dwelling with us. Indeed, therefore, 'come in before
his presence with exceeding joy.' For He has hid all the awe-
someness of His divinity and His sternness as a judge, to
appear like one of us and show His loving care. So we can
enter His presence without fearing a judge's penalties; we
may expect to get a father's embrace. How can a man fail
to rejoice if he feared to encounter a scrutinizing judge,
but finds him a father instead? 'Come in before his presence
with exceeding great joy. Know ye that the Lord he is God:
He made us, and not we ourselves. 5
Futile is the act of the father and mother, unless the
Creator's work and will also touch the offspring. Thy hands
have made me and formed me. 56 And elsewhere it is written:
Thou has formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me.* 7
Therefore, not to ourselves do we owe our birth and life, for
we owe them wholly to our Creator.
'We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.* It has
been stated very often in Scripture that the Shepherd has
come from heaven with His divine call, to summon back
to life-giving pastures the sheep who were wandering and
ill from poisonous grass.
'Go ye, 3 Scripture says, 'into his gates with praise.' This
praise is the only acknowledgment which causes us to pass
into the gate of faith. 'Go ye into his courts with hymns:
and give glory to Him, praise ye His name.' As we men-
tioned .before, surely we, who are already placed within the
house of our Father surely we should strike up the spiritual
music of heavenly songs. Thus as we enter [the gate of the
6 Ps. 118.73.
7 Ps. 138.5.
56 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Church] we can make an act of faith; we can sing hymns in its
courts; and then we can utter full praises in its inner sanctuary,
where the whole fullness of the Godhead dwells.
'Give glory to him, praise ye his name. Give glory to him,
because he is God. Praise ye his name.' This is the Name
through which we have been saved. This is the Name at
which every creature in heaven, on earth and under the
earth bends its knee, and loves the Lord God: 'for the
Lord is sweet.'
Why? Because 'His mercy endureth forever. 5 He is indeed
sweet through His mercy; through it alone He has deigned
to blot out the dismal condemnation of all the world. Behold
the Lamb of God; behold Him who takes away the sins
of the world!
'And His truth endureth to generation and generation.'
For God takes pity without harm to the truth. He forgives
sins in such a way that in this merciful reckoning He saves
full justice. Blessed is He forever and ever. Amen.
SERMON 11
The Fast and Temptation of Christ
(On Matt. 4.1-4)
God's Law 1 has made it easy for us both to know and
not to know what neither human curiosity, nor the laborious
study of the ancients, nor worldly wisdom in its long long
seeking were able to discover. What is the origin of evil?
Whence comes guilt? Whence the strength of vices, the
whirling floods of crimes, the wars of bodies and the quarrels
of minds, the great storm of life, and the shipwreck so cruel
1 The Law of Moses, Scripture in general. See Souter, Glossary, s.v.
SERMONS 57
that it kills? Man would not know all this unless God's
revelation had exposed the Devil, 2
The Devil is the origin of evil, the source of wickedness,
the foe of the world, and ever the hater of successful man.
He sets his snares, plans falls, digs ditches, arranges wrecks,
stimulates bodies, pricks souls, suggests thoughts, stirs up
enmities, makes virtues seem odious and vices attractive,
sows errors, nourishes grudges, disturbs the peace, breaks
up affection, tears unity apart, has a great relish of evil
and none of good, profanes the things of God and disorders
those of men.
Hence, as the narrative goes, the brash tempter made his
way even to Christ: 'After fasting forty days and forty
nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to
him, If thou art the son of God, command these stones
become loaves of bread. 9
Let not those who hear these words turn against God,
nor blame nature. 3 They should not insult the Creator, nor
accuse the flesh. They should not complain about their soul,
nor attack the seasons, nor put the blame upon the stars.
They should cease to debase the innocence of the creature.
Let them perceive that evil is an accident, not something
created; that God is the Creator of good, and the Devil the
contriver of evil. Thus, they should ascribe evils to the Devil
and good to God. They should avoid evil and do good.
In this way they will have as their Helper in good deeds
God, who gives the power to do what He commands, and
does Himself what He commands. For just as the Devil
urges men toward evil, so God leads them toward good.
Therefore, let no one acquiesce in the opinion that his vices
have been co-created with himself. Let him not think that what
pertains to sin should be ascribed to nature. Rather, let him
2 E.g., Rom. 7.7.
3 These two paragraphs are aimed at the Manichaeans.
58 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
take up with Christ the arms of fasting, let him drive off
the attacks of sin, and raze the very camp of vices. With
Christ fighting for him, let him gain a victory over the
author of evil. Once the Devil has been overcome, the vices
will have no power. Listen to the Apostle saying: 'Our
wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the
spiritual forces of wickedness on high.' 4
Then,' the text reads, 'Jesus was lead into the desert by
the Spirit.' He was not led by the Devil, that this might be
a divine course of action, not a human effort; a display of
the Spirit's foreknowledge, not of human ignorance; of the
power of God, not that of His enemy. The Devil ever dis-
turbs the first beginnings of good, he tests the rudiments of
virtues, he hastens to destroy holy deeds in their first origins,
well aware that he cannot overturn them once they are well
founded. Not unaware of this, Christ showed some patient
compliance when the Devil tempted Him, that His foe might
be held fast in his own trap, and might get caught himself
by the very means by which he thought he might make a
catch. Then, conquered thus by Christ, he was to yield
to the Christians.
'After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 1
You see, brethren, that our fasting in Lent is not a human
invention; it arises from divine authority. It is mystic, not
something arbitrarily set. It springs not from earthly usage,
but the heavenly secrets. Lent, four decades, contains a
squared 5 training in faith, because perfection is always some-
thing squared. Because we have not time now to unfold
what mystical meanings 6 in heaven and on earth the number
four and the number ten contain, let us explain the fast
undertaken by the Lord.
4 Eph. 6.12.
5 I.e., 'perfected' according to Mita in PL 52.221 C.
6 sacramenta. For this meaning, see Souter, Glossary, s.v.
SERMONS 59
6 After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3
O man, God fasts in you, 7 He hungers in you, More, He
fasts for your benefit, He hungers for your benefit. Just as
He has no need to eat for His own benefit, so neither can
He hunger. Therefore, when Christ fasts because of you,
He is desiring you.
'After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry/
This is not a sign of weakness, but a mark of strength.
Because, when the text states: 'After fasting, he was hungry, 9
it proves that within the forty days and forty nights He had
no hunger whatever. To feel hunger and overcome it is a
matter of human effort; to have no hunger at all is a mark
of divine power. Therefore, Christ did not grow weary of
His fast, nor hunger because of appetite. Rather, He expe-
rienced hunger to enable the Devil to find a matter for tempt-
ing Him. The Devil did not dare to approach Him while
He was fasting, because he perceived the One thus fasting
to be God, not man. Only then did he perceive Him as man,
then did he believe Him mortal and think He could be
tempted when he, clever spy, saw Him hunger.
'And the tempter came and said to him.' He came with
the finesse of a tempter, not with the affection of a gracious
servant. He approached with greater impudence than when
he withdrew. But let us hear what he offered to the hunger-
ing Man. 'Command that these stones become loaves of
bread.' Why, it is stones that he offers to the hungry man!
That is always the nature of the enemy's kindness. That is
how the author of death and the hater of life offers food.
'Command that these stones become loaves of bread!' O
Devil, your cleverness undoes your plans. He who can change
stones into bread can also change hunger into satiety. What
need of your plan has He whose power is fully sufficient for
7 I.e., in a human nature like your own. The Son fasts by means of
His human nature.
60 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Him? 'Command that these stones become loaves of bread. 5
O Devil, you have both exposed yourself and failed to give
food to your Lord.
'Command that these stones become loaves of bread. 5 You
wretch! You wish to be evil, but cannot. You desire to tempt,
and do not know how. You should have offered soft foods,
not hard ones, to a famished man. You should have coaxed
his appetite gently, with attractive viands, not rough ones.
You should have driven his long long abstinence away by
appetizing dishes, not disgusting ones. By these you could
ensnare not even a son of a man, and much less the Son of
God. O tempter, know that in the presence of Christ your
wiles have been undone.
'Command that these stones become loaves of bread.'
He who changes water into wine can also change stones
into bread. But, miraculous signs should be given to foster
faith, not wiles. They should be given to a believer, not to
a tempter. And they should be worked for the salvation of
the one who requests them, not for harm to him who
performs them. O Devil, what good are miracles for you?
Nothing helps toward salvation for you; everything remains
for your punishment. Even miracles contribute to your down-
fall.
But receive your answer that you may know yourself and
be subject to your Creator. 'Not by bread alone does man
live, but by every word that comes forth from the mouth
of God/ Here is your lesson: The Word of the Father hun-
gers for the words of our salvation, not for bread. He acts
that man may live always by the heavenly word, not always
by earthly bread indeed, that man may live for God in
such a way as not to heed the toil. For that, indeed, is the
true life. It knows not perspiration, has no pains, and has
no end.
SERMONS 61
SERMON 20
The Calming of the Storm at Sea
( On Matt. 8.23-27 ) l
By God's profound design, the passages read in the services
of the Church are arranged in a wise order, that they may
bring deeper penetration to the learned, and impart whole-
some 2 grace of understanding to simple folk.
When Christ got into the boat, the text says, the weather
made bold to stir up a great storm. 'He got into a boat, and
his disciples followed Him. And behold, there arose a great
storm on the sea, so that the boat was covered by the waves:
but He was asleep.' The sea had offered its heaving back
for Christ to walk upon it. Now it leveled its crests to a
plain, checked its swelling, 3 and bound up its billows. It
provided rocklike firmness, and He could walk 4 across a
waterway.
Why did the sea heave so, and toss and pitch, even en-
dangering 5 its Creator? Why did Christ Himself, who knows
all the future, seem so unaware of the present that He gave
no thought to the onrushing storm, the moment of its height,
and the time of peril? But, while all the rest were awake,
He alone was fast asleep even then when utter doom
threatened Himself and His dear ones. Why all this?
Brethren, it is not a calm sky but a storm which proves
a pilot's skill. When the breeze is mild, the poorest sailor
manages the ship, but in the cross winds of a tempest men
1 The speaker also draws details in this sermon from Matt. 14.24-33.
Mark 6.45-52, and John 6.15-21.
2 Reading salutarem intelligentiae gratiam, with LaBigne.
3 Reading mo turn, with LaBigne.
4 Mark 6.48-52.
5 John 6.19.
62 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
want the best pilot with all his skill. The disciples' efforts
as seamen, as they saw, had failed. The seas were trying
to spend their fury against them, and the waves to swallow
them. The twisting winds had conspired against them.
So they ran in fear to the very Pilot of the world, the
Ruler of the Universe, the Master of the elements. They
begged him to check the billows, banish the danger, save
them in their despair. At length, His mere command con-
trolled the sea, struck back the winds, stopped the whirl-
winds, brought back the calm. Then the men who were
crossing the sea perceived, believed, and acknowledged that
He is the very Creator of everything.
But, now, let us draw forth the inner meaning of all this.
When Christ embarked, in the boat of His Church, to cross
the sea of the world, the blasts of the Gentiles, the whirl-
winds of the Jews, the tempests of persecutors, the storm
clouds of the mob, and the foggy mists of the devils all
descended in fury to make one storm over all the world.
The waves of kings were foaming, the billows of the mighty
seethed, the rage of subjects resounded, nations swirled like
whirlpools, sharp rocks of infidelity came into view, groans
resounded from Christian shores, the shipwrecks of the f allen-
aways were drifting about, and there was one crisis, one
shipwreck of all the world. 'So the disciples came to the
Lord, and woke Him, saying, Lord, save us! We are perish-
ing! But He said to them, Why are you fearful, O you
of little faith?' Thus awakened by His disciples, Christ con-
trols the sea, that is, the world; He pacifies the earth, softens
the kings, placates the mighty, calms the waves, soothes the
nations, and makes the Romans Christians. In their case,
too, He brings the one-time persecutors of the Christian
name to live out the word of the Christian faith. Christian
princes preserve this tranquility, the Church holds it, Chris-
tianity possesses it, the Gentile world admires it.
SERMONS 63
Then He arose,' the text goes on, 'and rebuked the wind
and the sea, and there came a great calm.' 'And the men
marvelled, saying, what manner of man is this, that even
the wind and the sea obey Him?' The men who approach
the Lord, and awake Him, and humbly beg Him to save
them, are His disciples. But other 6 men are pointed out as
those who marvel that the elements so obey Christ. They
are indeed men, men of this world, who marvel that the
world has thus been converted to obedience to Christ; who
are astonished that their temple tops 7 have been cast down
like the swells of the waves; who see that the froth of the
idols and the whirlwinds of the devils have gone away. The
deep and widespread peace of the Christian name 8 through-
out the whole world makes these men utterly astonished. And
truly, brethren, when Christ was in the sleep of His death,
a great storm arose in the Church. But, when He arose
from the dead, a great calm was given back to the Church,
as has been written.
At present, Christ is asleep in us. Let us awaken Him, by
a full groan from our hearts, by our voice of faith, by Chris-
tian tears, by deep-felt weeping, by apostolic shouts. Let us
cry out: 'Lord, save us. We are perishing! 5 Furthermore,
this passage applies very well to our own times. As it has
been written: The north wind is a harsh wind,' 9 but by
name it is called the 'wind at the right' which brings us
such wild and bitter nations. So this harsh north wind from
the right 10 hurls itself now to the southwest, now to the
6 Origen and some other Fathers thought that the men who expressed
the marveling were not the disciples, but other men in the same or
different ships. The speaker is following that opinion here.
7 Reading vertices.
8 I.e., Christianity.
9 Cf. Prov. 25.23: 'The north wind driveth away rain.' St. Peter is
thinking of the north wind as a cold wind, and is manifestly alluding
to the barbarian infiltrations from the north.
10 Possibly, St. Peter was facing west. Or perhaps he was stating that
the north wind veers off toward the southwest.
64 SAINT PETER CHRVSOLOGUS
south, now to the southeast. By its devastating cross winds it
confounds the seas, blacks out the sky, wears down the moun-
tains, swallows up cities, mingles provinces together, drives
the whole world to one shipwreck. Consequently, the bark
of Christ is now raised aloft toward the sky, now sinks into
the troughs of fear. At one moment it is under the control
of Christ's strength, at another it is tossed by terror. Now
its decks are awash with billows of sufferings, now it makes
its way by the oar strokes of divine praises. But let us cry
out, dear brethren, again and again: 'Lord, save us! We are
perishing!*
And, truly, brethren, if we were one, like one human
body, if we believed our perishing fellow men to be parts
of our very selves, then by afflicting ourselves with fasting,
by the groans of our prayers, and by copious tears we would
cry out unceasingly: 'Lord, save us! We are perishing!'
Also, we would try to aid ourselves in the persons of our
brethren. We would not be looking upon this sea of our
blood amid this raging warfare. Neither would we be per-
ceiving already such enormous shipwrecks of bodies and
souls. But with humble voice we would be crying out : 'Lord,
save us! We are perishing!'
However, no compassion, no piety, no fear, no shame
whatever, or any remorse are stirring us up to sorrow. It is
from God, it is from God that we are beset with evils, that
we are always being lashed, that the nations wax strong,
the hail falls, the mildew pays its visits, impiety flourishes,
diseases stalk uncontrolled, death rages, the earth quakes.
Yet, we neither tremble, nor fear, nor turn away from our
sins, nor pursue the good. Avarice runs wild, ostentation
goes on apace, sin brings pleasure, other men's goods seem
attractive while our own go to ruin. The scourges of God
come, but our faults provoke them.
If God is just, He is indeed also merciful toward us.
SERMONS 65
Brethren, let us return to the Lord, that God may return
to us. Let us renounce evil, to get good in return. Let us serve
the good God, that we may escape servitude to evil nations
and wicked powers, through the help of our Lord and
Pilot, Christ. His honor and majesty endure without end
forever and ever. Amen.
SERMON 22
Contempt of Earthly Goods. The Watchful Servants.
(On Luke 12.32-38)
Prizes are always set up for those who are challenged to
enter hard contests; the greater the contest, the bigger is
the prize offered. That is why Christ makes it possible for
His disciples to possess a kingdom. He desires to motivate
them not to yield to danger or fear in the conflict. A man
heading for a kingdom spurns danger. A man eager for
victory knows no fear,
'Do not be afraid, little flock, 5 the text says, 'for it has
pleased your father to give you a kingdom.' The flock is
little in the eyes of the world, but great in the eyes of God;
little, because He calls glorious those whom He has trained
to the innocence of sheep and to Christian meekness. The
flock is little, not as the remnant of a big one, but as one
which has grown from small beginnings. This little flock
denotes the infancy of His new-born Church, and imme-
diately He promises that through the blessings of heaven
this Church will soon have the dignity of His kingdom.
'Do not be afraid, little flock, for it has pleased your father
to give you a kingdom.'
66 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Then He added what the future rulers 1 should do: 'Sell
what you have, and give alms. Make for yourselves purses
that do not grow old, a treasure unfailing in heaven.' Sell
what you have; no one can rule all men if he is hindered
by his own possessions. The man becomes depressed in spirit
who thinks of his private affairs when he is being called to
a kingdom. The common, groveling soul values a little coin
more than royal treasures. Poor judgment, brooding over
trifles, loses great possessions. The man who sighs for the
goods of earth loses concern for those of heaven.
'Sell what you have, 5 the text says, 'and give alms. Make
for yourself purses that do not grow old, a treasure unfailing
in heaven.' O man, Christ desired to enrich you by such
advice, not to strip you. He wanted your goods to remain
for you, not to perish. His order was that your purses should
last forever, not get emptied out. He bade you to transfer
them, not to lose them.
'A treasure unfailing in heaven, where neither thief draws
near nor moth destroys.' He acts more like a fatherly coun-
selor than like one enjoying the right to rule. He chides: Why
do you store away your goods where thieves can plot and
moths can nibble? You are advised not to bring yourself
sleepless nights, anxious days, troubled times. The custodian
of gold and guardian of silver has no security and knows
not sleep. He who loses his security loses his sleep, too. He
is rich with bother, not possessions.
'A treasure unfailing in heaven. 5 That is to say: Where
I am, put it there. I save the things entrusted to me. O man,
give to the Father, deposit with God. For, as a Father to an
heir, and as God to man, He will not refuse to deliver the
deposit. Surely, he cannot retain your possessions, since He
gave you His own. Does He who bestows divine goods need
human ones? He made us the heir of his riches; is He, then,
1 Reading regnaturis, with LaBigne.
SERMONS 67
covetous of ours? Is He likely to deny anything to those on
whom He has conferred a kingdom?
O man, if you are going to remain here on earth, store up
your treasures here. But, if you are going up to heaven, why do
you leave them here below? The man caring for treasures
destined to be left behind is caring for others' treasures, not
his own. Living here below, where we are pilgrims, we find
it rather hard to be poor, sad, and without honor, even
for a while. Then, when we shall be among the eternal citi-
zens of our everlasting country, what will it be like for us
to endure pain because of our showing contempt, punish-
ment because of ignobility, shame over our nakedness? What
will it be like to be sentenced to torments when others are
being promoted into possession of the kingdom? When the
poor man is led to sit with God, and the rich man is dragged
to the assembly of the damned? Oh, how lamentable will
be the reversal of the situation when those whom men de-
spaired of will acquire hope divine, and those who possessed
human treasures will defraud themselves of the heavenly
ones !
All this is what that treasure brings about. Either through
alms-giving it raises the heart of a man into heaven, or
through avarice it buries it in the earth. That is why He
said: Tor where your treasure is, there your heart also
will be.' O man, send your treasure on, send it ahead into
heaven, lest you bury your God-given soul in the earth.
Gold comes from the depth of the earth; the soul, from
the highest heaven. Clearly, it is better to carry the gold to
the abode of the soul than to bury the soul in the mine of
the gold. That is why God orders those who will serve in
His army here below to fight as men stripped of concern
for riches and unencumbered by anything. To these He has
granted the privilege of reigning in heaven.
'Let your loins be girt about and your lamps burning, and
68 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
you yourselves like men waiting for their master's return
from the wedding.' Let your loins be girt about: virtue should
serve as a girdle in the place where passion should be checked.
He who drops off the girdle of virtue cannot overcome the
vices of the body. So girdled with the cincture of purity it
is the badge of membership in the Christian army let
us cut away the dissolute cowardice of the flesh. Alert while
watching our king, let us have no part in the restless sleep
of worldly minded men. For, They sleep not,' Scripture
says, 'except they have done evil.' 2
'And let your lamps be burning.' Blessed are they who
hold in their hands the shining lamps of good works. For,
thus does Scripture teach: 'Let your light shine before men in
order that they may see your good works and give glory
to your Father in heaven.' 3 Truly, a good work gleams be-
fore minds like a lamp before the eyes. A lamp furnishes
light not alone to the bearer, but to many besides. Just so,
a good work radiates from one deed and enlightens many
men through example. A lamp repels the black darkness of
night; a good work routs the darkness of evil. Let us by our
good works light the lamp in our hands, if we wish ourselves
to shine before God and men.
'And you yourselves be like men waiting for their master's
return from the wedding.' Torches at weddings are always
something pleasant and desired. That is why the purity of
weddings is celebrated by a display of lights. Just as one
who dares to do what is forbidden flees from the light, so
is one who is seeking what is honorable happy to be bright
in manifold light.
'And you yourselves be like men waiting their master's
return from the wedding.' There are some men who await
their master's arrival with unwearying watches, like those
2 Prov. 4.16.
3 Matt. 5.15.
SERMONS 69
who owe service. Now, those who are slaves to their bellies
to such an extent that they no longer know the service of
God, who are so devoted to the pleasures of the flesh that
they have lost all concern about meeting God these should
be called not men, but beasts.
c And you yourselves be like men waiting for their master's
return from the wedding. 9 Ever since Christ came to espouse
His Church, the chamber of His bride has been a place of
beauty. It is adorned with the gold of faith, the silver of
wisdom, gems of virtues, curtains of holiness, roses of propri-
ety, lilies of chastity, violets of modesty. This temple of pur-
ity, this pinnacle of virginity is raised to the heights of heaven.
The harps of the Psalms are there, the organs of the Prophets,
the voices of the Apostles, and all the music of the heavenly
wedding feast. He whom such a loud shout does not arouse
for the wedding of the heavenly King is indeed the slave of
sleep.
'And you yourselves be like men waiting for their master's
return from the wedding; so that when he comes and knocks
they may straightway open to him.' He comes and knocks,
the man of good conscience opens up his heart, the man
of evil conscience closes his. The just soul opens up to re-
ceive the reward, but the unjust soul has stored up no merits
and shuts itself tight. Therefore, let us be watchful, dearly
beloved, that we may attain the blessedness which follows.
'Blessed are those servants whom the master on his return,
shall find watching.' Let these promises of blessedness suf-
fice. But, since Christ speaks about the high value of this
very blessedness, let us put the matter off today. Thus we
can hear at greater length what such a Father has promised
to His children.
70 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
SERMON 27
Scandal
(On Luke 17,1-2)
In a state of readiness for war, sentries are appointed in
relays in such a way as to leave no chance for ambush or
trickery, A foe who attacks in surprise is altogether too
deadly. He either gains the advantage over his victims while
they are still unaware, or catches them unprepared, or over-
whelms them still asleep. That is why Christ, our King
from eternity, has warned His soldiers to beware, by pre-
viously planned changes of watches practised throughout the
night of life on earth, against the most clever deceit of the
Devil, that is, the ancient foe; against the camouflaged onsets
of vices, the deceptive attacks of crimes, the scandals which
from various causes arise to endanger us, the temptations
of the present life, the harassing pressure from the army of
this world.
'Watch and pray,' His warning runs, 'that ye may
not enter into temptation.' 1 To determine more in detail
how we should watch, He added: 'And if he comes in the
second watch, and if he comes in the third, and finds him
so, blessed are those servants whom the master, on his re-
turn, shall find watching.' 2 Blessed indeed! For those who
are alert and anticipate the deceitful tactics of the enemy
will glory in the arrival of their Lord.
Today, however, the Lord has alerted our leaders as they
keep guard, and armed them against scandals, by His words
1 Matt. 26.41.
2 Luke 12.38,37.
SERMONS
71
to His disciples: 'It is impossible that scandals should not
come/ 3
In other words : it is impossible that foes should not come.
First of all, brethren, we should know what these scandals
are. There are several kinds of these inducements to sin.
The first kind consists of those which the craftiness of the
Devil brings forth. The second is made up of those which
human cleverness thinks up. The third is composed of those
which our own suspicious and careless nature brings to
birth from its own self.
From the Devil are those which have a deceptive appear-
ance. They seem to proffer good, but really inflict evil. An
example is the case of Adam. 4 While promising divine goods,
the Devil snatched away our human ones. Another example
occurred through Peter's exclamation: 'O Lord, this will
never happen to thee.' 5 When he falsely represents himself
to be aflame with intense love, Peter is tending to cast away
the triumph of the Cross. For, while the Lord was speaking
about the glory of His Passion, the Devil replied through
Peter: 'Lord, this will never happen to thee.' How sweet
is the poison of the serpent! He beguiles Peter, as a soldier,
to deny his king's victory before he, as a servant, denies his
Lord. Consequently, the Lord put the servant behind him-
self and sent the scandal back to its author. 'Get behind me,'
He said to Peter; and to the Devil: 'Satan, thou art a
scandal to me.' 6 And, truly Peter does go behind His Lord:
to follow Him to heaven, he mounted the cross with his
head turned downward.
Yet another scandal of this type is the one Satan con-
3 Luke 17.L
4 Gen. 3.1-7.
5 Matt. 16.22.
6 Matt. 16.23
72 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
trived against the Jews. For he furrowed the wide rock on
which to step, and roughened it till it was completely a
hazard, and changed the rock of this whole footing into a
stumbling-stone to make it a cause of ruin for unfortunate
men. Scripture says: 'Behold I lay in Sion a stumbling-stone
and a rock of scandal.' 7 Consequently, the Psalmist begs with
anxious prayer: c Keep me from the snare, which they laid
for me, and from the stumbling blocks of them that work
iniquity.' 8 Because he leaped across the hazard and overcame
the stumbling block, he gloried thus: Thou hast exalted
me on a rock, and Thou hast conducted me; for Thou hast
been my hope.'*
We have treated the first kind of scandal. Now let us talk
also about the second kind, which, we said, arises from
human cleverness. The soothsayer Balaam 10 set up a scandal
for the people of Israel when he went to meet their warriors,
not with men in armor, but with women arrayed in all their
finery. He hoped to make the men drop their arms for
debauchery, change their triumph into disgrace, bring the
avengers of guilt into guilt themselves, and to put it briefly
to profane all their holiness into depravity. As a result of
it all, when Moses was meting out punishment, he sentenced
Balaam thus: Kill Balaam the soothsayer, because he set up
a stumbling-block before the children of Israel. 11
Jeroboam raised up a scandal. 12 He set up as gods for the
people golden calves pitiful images to keep them from
seeking the living God, the true temple, God's law, the rightly
appointed kings, and their ancestral rites. Consequently, the
whole people thus delivered over to error became a source
7 Rom. 9.32; ct Isa. 8.14.
8 Ps. 140.9.
9 Ps. 60.3,4.
10 Cf. Num. 31.8,15-17; Apoc. 2.14. St, Peter seems to regard Balaam
not as a prophet but as a magician.
11 Ibid.
12 3 Kings 12.26-32.
SERMONS 73
of scandal like that given, according to the Apostle, 13 when
a man eats, as harmlesss to his own conscience, the flesh of
animals which were sacrificed to idols. He thinks that through
such conduct he may well bring contempt upon the inani-
mate stones and wooden gods who can neither sanctify nor
profane anything. But, what he thinks is an example of his
faith becomes an occasion of error for uninstructed men,
for its leads them not to contempt but to worship, and it
causes the meal to appear to be a banquet of religious honor
to those very inanimate gods whom he is intentionally dimin-
ishing by this ridicule. Consequently, the Apostle wisely con-
cludes and explains: 'And through thy "knowledge" the
weak one will perish, the brother for whom Christ died.' 14
The third kind of scandal is that which our senses bring
forth to us, when we are deceived by our eyes, beguiled by
our hearing, taken in by an odor, corrupted through our
taste. For example, Eve was harmed thus by the sight and
taste of the forbidden, deadly food. 'Now the woman saw
that the tree was good for food, pleasing to the eyes, and
delightful to behold/ 15 Wisely, therefore, did the Lord add
that our very senses give scandal, by saying: e lf thy eye is
an occasion of sin to thee, or thy hand, cut it off, and cast
it from thee; it is better for thee without an eye and a hand
to enter into life than with thy whole body to go into hell.' 16
The Lord here commanded us to cut away our faults and
vices, not our members. Nevertheless, if Eve, the mother of
the human race, had done just what He ordered, she would
have done better by coining to life without an eye and a
hand, rather than have plunged her entire posterity into a
pitiful death!
13 1 Cor. 8.7,8; cf. 1 Cor. 1053-30.
14 1 Cor. 8.11.
15 Gen. 3.6.
16 Matt. 5.29,30; Mark 9.42,46.
74 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Therefore, brethren, we should be careful neither to give
scandal to others nor to take it ourselves when another gives
it. It is scandal that troubles the senses, perturbs the mind,
confuses our judgment otherwise sharp. It is a scandal that
changed an angel into the Devil, an Apostle into a traitor;
that brought sin into the world and allured man to death.
Hear the Lord saying: 'Woe to the world because of scan-
dals! 317 Scandal tempts the saints, fatigues the cautious,
throws down the incautious, disturbs all things, confuses
all men. It is true that in this present passage the Lord is
talking about the scandal of His Passion, and pointing out
Judas through whose agency came the very scandal of scan-
dals. Nevertheless, He uttered a warning to keep anyone
else from coming to this, by saying: 'It is impossible that
scandals should not come; but woe to him through whom
they come ! It were good for him if a millstone were hung
about his neck and he were thrown into the sea, rather
than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 318
Why not an ordinary stone, but a millstone? Because,
while a millstone is grinding the grain, and pouring out the
flour, and separating the bran from the meal, it is simul-
taneously furnishing bread to those who are dutifully toiling.
Rightly, therefore, is a millstone tied to the neck of the
man who chooses to be a minister of scandal rather than of
peace, that the very same thing which should have drawn
him to life may drag him down to death. For, he has changed
those senses given to aid him toward life into a stumbling-
block bringing death. Then they persuaded him to see some-
thing else, and hear, feel and relish something else than was
in Christ and in His saving knowledge. In this way he has
encompassed the cornerstone, 19 the stone symbolizing help, 20
17 Matt. 18.7.
18 Luke 17.1
19 Isa. 28.16.
20 1 Kings 7.12.
SERMONS 75
the stone cut out without hands, 21 that is, Christ, and he
has turned it into a stumbling-block for the weak. Conse-
quently, he was preparing, not the bread of life, but that
of tears and sorrow according to the testimony of the
Prophet: 'You that eat the bread of sorrow.' 22 Therefore,
it is well for him, as Scripture elsewhere says, To have a
great millstone hung around his neck.' 23 Let him suffer for
his punishment from that same place where he got his frame
of mind. Let him be like the stupid beasts, since he did not
care to be compared with men who relish heavenly things.
SERMON 36
The Daughter of Jairus and the Woman with the
Hemorrhage as Types of the Synagogue and the Church
(On Mark 5.22-34)
A gentlemanly borrower soon pays what he has promised.
He does not tax his creditor's good will by frequently putting
him off, or keep him in anxiety by long waiting. When the
account of the ruler of the synagogue, or the related account
which springs from it, that of the woman with the hemor-
rhage, was enticing us away from the customary brevity of
our sermons, we preferred to cut our discourse 1 in half lest
it seem to start anew to such an extent as to overburden
your patience to listen.
21 Dan. 2.45.
22 Ps. 126.2.
23 Matt. 18.6.
1 Sermon 33 (PL 52.292-296) . Sermon 36 is important because St. Peter
here so clearly states his opinion on the allegorical interpretation of
Scripture.
76 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
The ruler of the synagogue hastened to meet the Lord,
and fell prostrate on the ground. He explained his case, mani-
fested his grief, excited the compassion of his Benefactor, and
begged Him to come with speed to effect a cure. In
contrast, the Lord met the woman before He was entreated.
While passing by, He gave her an occasion of recovering
health; while silent Himself, He understood the case of the
silent woman, and saw her wound even when she was hiding
it. With her, it was in secret that the Lord carried on His
important work of healing. And while He was making His
way after being petitioned in public, her knowledge sprang
from her faith, penetrated to His divinity, and discovered
that great secret.
Oh, happy is that woman! In the midst of such a great
multitude she was so much alone with Christ that only she
was aware both of her restoration to health and His exalted
power! Happy is she who found such access that no one
could stop her. Happy she who by such a path struggled
and crept up to her Creator, before she was upbraided by any-
one because of her sore, and before she was free from its
repugnance. She knew that with men and through their
power the way to full health was closed to her. Men are
more accustomed to shrink away from wounds than to cure
them. God cleanses human wounds; He does not despise
them. He does not shrink from human sores, but heals them.
Nor does He detest the suppurations from the human body;
rather, He cleanses them. God cannot, He cannot be soiled
through contact with His creature.
But the Evangelist poses a problem when he states: 'And
Jesus instantly perceiving in Himself that power had gone
forth from Him, turned to the crowd and said, Who touched
my cloak?' While He was asking as if professing ignorance,
did He perceive that power had gone forth from Him,
and fail to know to whom it had gone? Did He know that
SERMONS 77
He had let it go forth, without knowing to whom? Did He,
who was certain that health had been conferred, doubt
about the beneficiary?
No. The Lord asked here, not because of any error of
one in ignorance, but with the majesty of Him who knows
both the present and the future. He was not investigating
something hidden to Him; rather, He manifested that it was
well known to Him, in this way. He so asked His questions
that He alone revealed the hidden matter to all those un-
aware of it. Not as an unknowing examiner, but as a ques-
tioner who knew everything beforehand, He drew His peti-
tioner into the center of attention. She was silent, making
suggestions only by her thoughts, in ready waiting behind
His back for the measures by which He exercised His powers.
He made her stand before all so that she who had gained
health for herself might also bring faith for all; that she
who had His power might acknowledge His majesty; that
she who had made Him so fully known might not go away
again unknown, herself, as she expected.
While she was blushing over her wound and with so much
concern fearing Him as God, the woman found her faith
getting darkened. Clouds of confusion obscured the light in
her mind. Therefore, the voice of her questioning Lord,
like a salutary wind, drove the clouds away, dispersed the
mists, and enlightened her faith. It made her who had re-
cently been in darkness of the nigh't brighter than the very
sun. For, she shines throughout the whole world, is resplend-
ent in the whole of the Church, and is glorious among its
members. Is she, then, less than a sun? If she had returned
unseen give me leave to say it she would have escaped
her Physician, not tested Him. She could have ascribed what
she obtained to herself rather than to her Healer. She
would have believed that she had drawn her cure from the
hem of His garment, not from His penetrating understand-
78 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
ing. For, what would she have believed to be truly His
whose power she had experienced in her own case, but which
in her wish she had deemed to be something outside Him?
Before her cure, perhaps it was because of her shame
that she kept herself hid, and because of her humility that"
she thought herself unworthy. But after her cure, why did
she not of her own accord run up to give Him thanks, and
honor, and glory for such a great deed? After she saw that
the Lord persisted in His questioning, that the disciples said
that jostling from the crowd was the reason why He had
been touched, and that she could not remain hidden, after
fear and trembling in her own conscience began to trouble
her, she came into the midst of them all. She wanted to
profess public belief in Him whom she had privately recog-
nized as her Physician, and to adore Him as God, and to
become herself a remedy for sickness as great as hers, both
to present and future men. As the Evangelist narrates: 'But
the woman, fearing and trembling, knowing what had
happened within her, came and fell down before Him, and
told Him all the truth/
However, the historical narrative should always be raised
to a higher meaning, 2 and mysteries of the future should
become known through figures of the present. Therefore,
we should now unfold, by allegorical discourse, what sym-
bolic teaching 3 is contained beneath the outward appearance
of the ruler of the synagogue, or his daughter, or the woman
afflicted with the hemorrhage.
In respect to His divinity, Christ cannot be moved from
place to place; but walking by means of His human nature
He comes, strides, and hastens to the daughter of the ruler
of the synagogue. Without doubt, she is the Syangogue, for
2 Intelligentiam: meaning. See Souter, s.v., and above, Sermon 5 n. 5.
3 Quid sacramenti: mystical meaning, or, the teaching which a symbolic
type conveys. See Souter, s.v. sacramenti, and above, Sermon 2 n. 7.
SERMONS 79
Christ said: I was not sent except to the lost sheep of
the house of Israel.' 4
But, while Christ was hastening to her, His Church which
was located out among all the nations was suffering a hemor-
rhage and losing the blood of the human race. The integrity
of nature had been lost. While human skill kept trying to
cure the weakness of the race, it increased it. For, the cen-
sure of human frailty, and the severity of the discipline of
this world, did indeed continually shed the blood of nations.
But it could not obliterate the enemy, nor check the wars
of the citizens, nor blot out the insanity of crimes.
Therefore, as a result of such cares, this Church had a
running wound. She saw that whatever substance she had
possessed and still possessed was used up that is, her
soul, mind, power of discernment, ingenuity, toil, industry,
and planning. (All these endowments can indeed be ascribed
to her officials, the physicians trying to cure the sick.) When
she perceived that Christ was present as He was passing by,
she came up behind Him because, soiled with blood, she
did not deserve to look upon His face.
She came up behind Him. That is, she follows the hear-
ing of faith and getting very close she touches, so to speak,
the very fringe of His garment. She does this while she is
not honored among the fathers, is not sanctified by the Law,
does not publicly bring herself forward among the Prophets,
does not receive honor even from the very Body 5 of the Lord,
while she is deemed a stranger even by the group of men
reborn from Christ.
She follows Christ behind His back, that is, in this last
age of time. 6 She is established as sacred by a hidden bond
4 Matt. 15.24.
5 Christ's mystical body, the Church. She does not get honor from all
her own members.
6 The age or period from Christ to the end of the world. Cf. 1 John 2.18.
80 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
of faith, and she has truly touched his cloak (which she
found in the Sepulchre) through this, that she has faith in
these insignia of the risen Lord, and preaches them. But,
while Christ is employing His powers in the case of his
Church, He is not paying attention to the ruler's daughter.
And the Synagogue dies in order that she, too, who has
died through the Law and perished through nature, may
return to life through faith.
'While He was speaking, there came some from the house
of the ruler of the synagogue, and they said, Do not trouble
the Master, the girl is dead.' Today, also, the Jews do not
want Christ to be troubled. They desire Him not to come.
They have faithlessly destroyed their apprehension of His
Ressurrection, and proclaim that He is dead.
But I see how that, too, is consistent with our assertion!
For, as Scripture tells, the daughter of the ruler of the syna-
gogue spent twelve years in life. So, too, it is recounted,
did this woman endure her sore for twelve years, since the
health of life both were to be restored at the latest and fulfilled
time. That number twelve rounds off the time of human life.
To make a year, the number twelve is divided and applied
to the months. Consequently, the Prophet indicates 7 that
Christ came in the acceptable year of the Lord. The Apostle,
too, approves the teaching that Christ came in the fullness
of time: 'When the fullness of the time came, God sent His
Son. 3
Pray, brethren, that just as the Synagogue has died to
itself and the Law, in order to live to Christ, so we, too,
may die in our sins in order to live in Christ.
7 Isa. 49.8; cf. 2 Cor. 6.2.
SERMONS 81
SERMON 38
The Patient Endurance of Injuries
(On Matt. 5.38-41)
'If someone strike thee on the right cheek, turn to him
the other also.' By these words the Lord has taught us today
what greatness of soul is characteristic of a heavenly philos-
ophy, and what strength belongs to those who fight the
Christian warfare. Such conduct will seem hard to the man
who does not know how great the rewards for patience are.
If someone is unwilling to suffer a slap of the hand to get
his crown, do you think he can endure the wounds necessary
to gain the victory? Can he seek glory through death, if he
deems an injury from man too high a price for the glory he
will get from God? O man, when you were an infant, were
you not taught your rudiments through means like those?
Slaps are the beatings given to children, not to men. Hence
it is that the infants of Christ are urged on by light com-
mands, that when they are the men who live the Gospel
out they may have the full strength to undertake its more
serious precepts. They hope to obtain by these labors, pains,
or even death what they could not get by little injuries
throughout their infancy. To find proof that the command-
ments are not difficult, repeat the list of them.
'You have heard that it was said to the ancients, An eye
for an eye, and, A tooth for a tooth. But I say to you not
to resist the evildoer; on the contrary, if someone strike thee
on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if anyone
would go to law with thee and take thy tunic, let him take
thy cloak as well; and whoever forces thee to go for one
mile, go with him two.'
'You have heard that it was said to the ancients.' To what
82 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
ancients? Obviously, to the Jews. Malice rather than age
made them ancient; their fury kept them so eager for venge-
ance that they demanded a head in return for an eye, and
a life in payment for a tooth. Consequently, the Law was
restraining their demand for vengeance. It aimed to bring
those who were too weak to relish forgiving a fault, to relish,
if you will, a portion of vengeance, that is, to demand venge-
ance only equal to the injury which the offender had
inflicted in his anger.
This, however, was for the ancients. Let us hear what
the divine Goodness enjoins upon us who have been renewed
through grace. 'But I say to you.' To whom? Obviously, to
the Christians. 'Not to resist the evil doer.' When He speaks
thus, He wants us not to repay vices with vices, but to over-
come them by virtues. He wants us to smother anger when
it is still only a spark. If it grows to the full flame of its
fury, it does not get checked without bloodshed. Mildness
overcomes anger, meekness extinguishes fury, goodness coaxes
malice away, affection lays cruelty 1 low, patience is the
scourge of impatience, gentle words vanquish quarrelsome-
ness, and humility prostrates pride.
Therefore, brethren, he who wants to overcome vices
should fight with the arms of love, not of rage. A wise man
can readily see why endurance of injuries gives training to-
ward a Christian way of living. Nevertheless, there are those
who fail to understand that to do what follows is indeed a
mark of strength, the summit of goodness, the pinnacle of
piety, something characteristic of the divine outlook rather
than the human : not to resist the evil-doer, but to overcome
evil with good; 2 to bless the one who curses; to refrain from
denying one who strikes you a chance to strike again; to
give also your cloak to one who has taken your tunic, and
1 Reading crudelitas, with S. Pauli.
5 Pf ttnm 1991
SERMONS 83
thereby to give a gift to the one who has snatched booty;
to add compliance for two more miles to one who forces you to
go a mile; to do all this that willingness .may take pre-
cedence over force, and love may overcome impiety, and
that the very thing which your adversary forces may become
the virtue of the patient man. Those examples teach us how
a soldier of Christ is trained by injuries to the strength to
practice virtues. But, to make this still more evident, let us
search more deeply why those practices have been enjoined
upon us.
Brethren, when the disease of sin, the crime that springs
from vices, and the madness of impiety permeated human
minds and smothered whatever knowledge, perception, and
reason were present, by its insane fury it brought the nations
scattered over the earth to flee from God, follow devils, wor-
ship creatures, condemn their Creator, yearn for vices, shrink
in horror from virtues, live under the pressure of the sword,
and fall with wounds. It brought living men to perish in
death.
The result was this. Men could not be healed save by
arming themselves with all the long-suffering goodness of
the heavenly Physician. Thus they could stand the injuries
of those who suffered from madness, bear with curses, sustain
blows, and be cut to pieces with wounds, until they could
lead the evil-doers back to a sobriety of outlook, to sincerity
of spirit, to sanity of mind. Through all this the evil-doers
were to learn to seek God, flee the devils, grow aware of
their apathy, relish health, cast off vices, acquire virtues,
abstain from woundings, shrink away from blood, refuse to
kill, and desire continuance in life.
If you want all this to become still clearer, let us use as
examples the physicians who cure our bodies. Whenever the
conflagration of cholera has set an unlucky man on fire,
and made him delirious under the force of the fever, is not
84 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
his intelligence disturbed and his mind undone? Does not
rage approach and human conduct depart? To be brief,
does not his madness live while the man is dying? Conse-
quently, he gnashes his teeth, wounds his parents, scratches
his relatives, inflicts cuts by his fist, carries on by biting,
and injures his attendants.
Then the physician arms himself with his patience to
the praise of his virtue, the glory of his skill, and the in-
crease of his reputation. He shows himself forbearing, makes
no account of injuries, endures the bites, bears up under his
efforts, and endures pains by no means light in order to
free his patient from suffering. He uses applications of oil,
plies his cures, dispenses medicine, sure that the sick man
will pay him a reward of honor for his services, once he
has recovered his health.
What greater madness is there, I ask, or what stronger
force of rage than any of these: to slap a holy man on the
cheek; to pummel the face of a meek brother; to spoil the
charm or a placid countenance by making it a pitiful black
and blue; to strip a man of the only garment covering him,
and, to get some booty of little worth, to leave nothing to
God, nothing to the man, nothing to nature, nothing to
modesty; to exact service from a man already busy with his
own pursuits; to regard another's pain as one's own solace?
Therefore, brethren, if we know that those who perpetrate
such deeds are suffering serious madness, let us be obedient
to Christ. Let us, through the virtue of piety in all its full-
ness, endure the bites, blows, and burdens of our frenzied
brethren, in order to free them from their affliction, and
to gain for ourselves the eternal reward which patience
brings.
Neither should a servant disdain to receive from his fel-
SERMONS 85
low servants that which the Lord deigned to receive from
servants for the sake of His servants. He did not refuse His
face to their palms. When they took His tunic and cloak
He delivered to them also His body. When some one forced
Him to labor [up Calvary], He graciously and willingly fol-
lowed even to death. Consequently, brethren, if the Lord
deemed it worth while to suffer^ how, how indeed, can it
seem improper that His servant suffer? We are in error,
brethren, we are in error. The man who does not do what
the Lord commanded hopes without reason for what the
Lord promised.
SERMON 40
The Good Shepherd
(On John 10.1-18)
Each year, when spring with its breezes begins to usher
in the birth of so many sheep, and to deposit the numerous
young of the fruitful flock about the fields, the meadows,
and the paths, a good shepherd puts aside his songs. 1 He
anxiously searches for the tender sheeplings, picks them up
and gathers them together. Happy to carry them, he places
them about his neck, on his shoulders, and in his arms. He
wants them to be safe as he carries or leads them to the
protecting sheepfolds.
That is the case with ourselves, too, brethren. When we
see our ecclesiastical flock gaining rich increase under the
favoring smile of the spring of Lent, we put aside the reso-
nant tones of our treatise and the customary fare of our
1 Those by which he whiles away his leisure.
86 SAINT PETER GHRYSOLOGUS
discourse. 2 Solicitous about our very heavy labor, we give
all our concern 3 to gathering and carrying in the heavenly
sprouts.
But, since we see that the lambs have been returned to
the flock and that all are now within the enclosure of Christ,
we are called back in joy to the divine declamations. 4 With
full exaltation we set before you a life-giving abundance of
the Lord's food, in order to have as sharers in our joy those
whom we observed to be our companions in work.
Because this our preface has brought in mention of Him who
alone is good, who alone is the Shepherd, and who alone
is the Shepherd of shepherds, let the entire application of
our discourse and treatise come to fulfillment and be deemed
complete.
The good shepherd,' the text reads, 'lays down his life
for his sheep.' The force of love makes a man brave, be-
cause genuine love counts nothing as hard, or bitter, or
serious, or deadly. What sword, what wounds, what penalty,
what deaths can avail to overcome 5 perfect love? Love is an
inpenetrable breastplate. It wards off missiles, sheds the blows
of swords, taunts dangers, laughs at death. If love is present,
it conquers everything.
But is that death of the shepherd advantageous to the
sheep? Let us investigate. It leaves them abandoned, exposes
them defenseless to the wolves, hands over the beloved flock
to the gnawing jaws of beasts, gives them over to plunder
2 Tractatus: discussion, treatise, homily, sermon (see Harpers' Latin
Dictionary and Souter, s.v.) ; and sermo: discourse, discussion, sermon.
Sermo was used to render Origen's Idgos (cf. Catholic Encyclopedia
7.448) , which might have been rendered by oratio. Cf. Introduction,
pp. 3, 4, 15; PL 52.312C n. i.
3 This is evidence that in Lent St. Peter, like other bishops of the time,
omitted his customary preaching to devote his time to the instruction
of the catechumens. Cf. PL 52.312D.
4 cantus.
5 Reading superare, with Held and Bohmer.
SERMONS 87
and exposes them to death. All this is proved by the death
of the Shepherd, Christ. From the time when He laid down
His life for His sheep, and permitted Himself to be slain
through the fury of the Jews, His sheep have been suffer-
ing invasions from the piratical Gentiles. Like prisoners to
be slain in jails, they are shut up in the caves of robbers.
They are torn unceasingly by persecutors who are like raging
wolves. They are snapped at by heretics who are like mad
dogs with savage teeth.
The martyred choir of the Apostles proves this. The blood
of the martyrs shed throughout the whole world proclaims
it. The members of Christians thrown to the beasts, or con-
sumed with fire, or sunk in the rivers clearly display it.
And truly, just as the death of the Shepherd brought all this
in, so could His life have prevented it.
In the light of all this, does the Shepherd prove His love
for you by His death? Is He proving His love because, when
He sees danger threatening His sheep, when He cannot de-
fend his flock, He prefers to die before He sees any evil done
to the sheep? 6
But what are we to do, since the Life 7 Himself could not
die unless He had decided to? Who could have taken life
away from the Giver of life if He were unwilling? He Him-
self said: C I have the power to lay down my life, and I
have the power to take it up again. No one takes it from
me.' Therefore, He willed to die He who permitted Himself
to be slain although He was unable to die. Hence, let us
investigate the strength and the reason of this love, the cause
of this death, and the utility of this passion.
Clearly, there is an established strength, a true reason, a
6 This sentence of the Latin is hard to understand in its context unless
we make it a question. It is an example of the occasional obscurity
in St. Peter.
7 Christ, who names Himself the Life in John 14.6.
88 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
lucid cause, a patent utility in all this blood. For, unique
power sprang forth from the one death of the Shepherd.
For the sake of His sheep the Shepherd met the death which
was threatening them. He did this that, by a new arrange-
ment, He might, although captured Himself, capture the
Devil, the author of death; that, although conquered Him-
self, He might conquer; that, although slain Himself, He
might punish; that, by dying for His sheep, He might open
the way for them to conquer death.
The Devil, too, while he aimed at man, made an attempt
on God. While he grows furious at the guilty one, he runs
up against his Judge. While he inflicts pain, he incurs tor-
ture. While he is issuing a sentence, he receives one. And
death, which lives by feeding upon mortals, dies while it is
devouring the Life. Death, which swallows guilty men, gets
swallowed while it is gulping down the Author of innocence.
Death, accustomed to destroy all, perishes itself while it tries
to destroy the salvation of all.
Therefore, by giving a pattern like this, the Shepherd
went before His sheep; He did not run away from them.
He did not surrender the sheep to the wolves, but He con-
signed the wolves to the sheep. For He enabled His sheep
to pick out their robbers in such a way that the sheep, al-
though slain, should live; although mangled, should rise
again and, colored by their own blood, should gleam in
royal purple, and shine with snow-white fleece.
In this way, when the good Shepherd laid down His life
for His sheep, He did not lose it. In this way He held His
sheep; He did not abandon them. Indeed, He did not for-
sake them, but invited them. He called and led them through
fields full of death, and a road of death, to life-giving pastures.
But, someone will say: When will all this occur? Look,
for the time being the sheep, that is, the Apostles, the proph-
SERMONS 89
ets, the martyrs, and the confessors lie in their tombs. They
have been plucked like flowers, and scattered all over the
globe. Shrouded with their own blood, they lie shut up in
darksome sepulchres.
And who doubts that these slain martyrs will arise, and
live, and reign, since Christ Himself, though slain, has arisen,
and lives, and reigns? Hear the voice of the Shepherd : 'My
sheep hear my voice and follow me.' The sheep who have
followed Him to death must also follow Him to life. They
who have accompanied Him into the midst of insults must
also accompany Him into honor. They who shared His pas-
sion must also share His glory.
* Where I am,' He says, 'there also shall my servant be. 58
Where? Truly, above the skies where Christ is sitting at the
Father's right hand. O man, let not living by faith disturb
you, nor the long time you must hope fatigue you. Your
destiny is a certain one, and is being kept for you with the
very Author of all things! 'You have died, 5 Scripture says,
'and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ,
your life, shall appear, then you too will appear with Him
in glory.' 9
What the toiling sower does not see in his seed he will
see in the harvest; and he who weeps while he sows 10 in
the furrow will have great joy in the fruit.
8 John 12.26.
9 Col. 3.3,4.
10 Cf. Ps. 125.5-7.
90 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
SERMON 43
Prayer, Fasting, and Almsgiving*-
We should speak to the populace in popular fashion. The
parish ought to be addressed by ordinary speech. Matters
necessary to all men should be spoken about as men in gen-
eral speak. Natural language is dear to simple souls and
sweet to the learned. A teacher should speak words which
will profit all. Therefore, today let the learned grant pardon
for commonplace language.
There are three things, brethren, three, through which
faith stands firm, devotion abides, and virtue endures : prayer,
fasting, and mercy. What prayer knocks for upon the door,
fasting successfully begs and mercy receives. Prayer, fasting,
and mercy: these three are a unit. They give life to one
another. For, fasting is the soul of prayer; and mercy is
the life of fasting.
Let no one cut these three apart; they are inseparable.
If a man has only one of them, or if he does not have
them all simultaneously, he has nothing. Therefore, he who
prays should also fast; and he who fasts should also be merci-
ful. He who wants to be heard when he petitions should
hear another who petitions him. He who does not close his
own ear to a suppliant opens God's ear to himself. The fast-
ing man should realize what fasting is. If anyone wants God
to perceive that he is hungry, he should himself take notice
of a hungering man. If he hopes for mercy, he should show
mercy himself. If he desires fatherly kindness, he should
display it first. He who wishes someone to make an offer-
ing to him. should make an offering himself. He is an un-
worthy petitioner who demands for himself what he refuses
to another.
O man, have this as your norm of showing mercy. Do
1 This is a sermon rather than a homily. Cf. Introduction, pp. 3-4.
SERMONS 91
you yourself show mercy to others in the same manner,
amount, and readiness \vith which you desire it to be shown
to yourself.
Therefore, let prayer, mercy, and fasting be one petition
for us before God. Let them be one legal aid in our behalf.
Let them be a threefold prayer for us. These are the things,
brethren, these are the things which hold fast the citadel
of heaven, knock at the private chamber of God our Judge,
follow up the cases of men before the tribunal of Christ,
beg indulgence for the unjust, win pardon of the guilty.
The man who does not have these as his aiding advocates
in heaven does not have a secure position on earth. Since
these have so high a post in heaven, they influence the
generality of events on earth. They guide prosperity and
ward off adversity. They extinguish vices and enkindle virtues,
They render bodies chaste and hearts pure. They bring
peace to the members of the body and ease to the mind. They
make the senses a school for disciplinary control. They enable
human hearts to become lofty temples of God. They make
a man appear to be an angel, and even bring him honor
from God.
Hence it is that through the influence of these three things
Moses is made a god: 2 for the sake of his military triumphs
he brings all the elements under his control. He bids 3 the sea
to withdraw, its waves to solidify, its bottom to become dry,
and the sky to drop its rain. He supplies food, compels the
winds to scatter meats, 4 illumines the night with the splen-
dor of the sun, 5 tempers the sun by the veil of the cloud. He
strikes 6 the rock to make it yield from its fresh wound cool
2 Exod. 7.1. Magistrates had a share in God's powers, e.g., of judging.
Therefore, in the Old Testament they were sometimes called 'gods',
obviously in a wide sense. See also Exod. 22.8,9,28; Ps. 81.6; John
10.34.
3 Exod. 14.8-31.
4 Exod. 16.12-15; Num. 11.31.
5 Exod. 13.21,22.
6 Num. 20.2-13.
92 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
streams of water for those who thirst. He first gives 7 to the earth
heaven's law, writes down the norms of living, sets the terms
of disciplinary control.
Through these three prayer, fasting, and mercy Elias 8
does not know death. He leaves the earth, enters heaven,
tarries among the angels, and lives with God. As a guest from
earth he possesses the heavenly mansions.
Through these three John becomes an angel in the flesh,
a citizen of heaven upon earth; by his hearing, his sight, and
touch 9 he alone of men grasps, holds, and embraces the
entire Trinity.
So we, too, brethren if we wish to have a share in the
glory of Moses, the life of Elias, the virtues of John, and
the merits of all the saints, let us be fervent in prayer, let
us have time for fasting, let us be attentive to mercy. The
Christian armor-bearer and warrior of the Lord who has
spent his life in these and has been fortified through them
he will not fear the javelins of sin, the weapons of the Devil,
the strategems of the world, the wedge-like formations of
vices, the evils of the flesh, and the snares of pleasures, or
the arms of death.
But we who arise in the morning to meet we know not what,
who pass the day in the midst of snares, who endure the
vicissitudes of the hours, the changes brought by single min-
utes, the slips of words, and the dangers of deeds, why are
we unwilling to enter the church in the morning? Why do
we lack the will to beg protection for the whole day by our
morning prayers? Why do we find pleasure in being with a
man all day, but find none in presence with God for even
a moment?
7 Exod. 20.1-17. Further details are given in Chapters 20-30.
8 4 Kings 2.11.
9 Mita (PL 52.332D) explains that John the Baptist heard the Father's
voice coming from the cloud, saw the Holy Spirit descending as a
clove, and touched the Son whom he was baptizing.
SERMONS 93
Not from ourselves, brethren, not from ourselves does that
robbery spring. It takes its origin from the Devil. He is pre-
paring to deceive those whom he does not suffer to be fortified
by prayers. Why does the man who fails to pray for
prosperity complain about adversity? Let us hear God's warn-
ing voice: 'Watch and pray, that you may not enter into
temptation. 310 He who does not go to prayer does go into
temptation. Aware of this, the Prophet sang: 'Come let
us adore and fall down before him; and weep before the
Lord who made us.' 11 Do you think that he who disdains
to utter words of prayer to the Lord will deign to weep
before Him?
Let us come in the morning, let us pray, at least in human
fear if not with divine love; at least compelled by evils if
not enticed by benefits. Contempt for God brings evil times
upon us; no mere passing of cycles fetches them. Therefore,
let us seek by fasting what we have lost by our contempt.
Let us immolate our souls by fasting, because we can offer
nothing better to God. The Prophet proves this when he
says : 'A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit : a contrite and
humble heart God does not despise. 312
O man, offer your soul to God; offer the oblation of fast-
ing. Do this to make your soul a pure victim, a holy sacri-
fice, a living victim, which remains yours while it is given
to God. The man who fails to offer this gift to God will
have no excuse, for he who will give himself is unable to suf-
fer want.
But, to make those gifts acceptable, follow them up with
mercy. Fasting does not germinate unless watered by mercy.
When mercy dries up, fasting suffers drought, for mercy
is to fasting what rain is to the earth. The man who is fast-
10 Matt. 26.41.
11 Ps. 94.6.
12 Ps, 50.19.
94: SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
ing may prepare his heart, cleanse his flesh, pull out his
vices, and sow virtues. Nevertheless, if he does not sprinkle
his plants with streams of mercy, he does not gather his
harvest. O faster, when your mercy fasts your field fasts, too.
O faster, what you pour out in mercy comes back as storage
in your barn.
Consequently, O man, lest you lose by saving, gather in
by dispensing. O man, give to yourself by giving to the poor
man. For you yourself will not possess what you leave to
another.
SERMON 44
The Counsel of the Ungodly, the Way of Sinners,
and the Chair of Pestilence
(On Psalm 1)
Whenever a skillful physician desires to administer ade-
quate medicine to those sick with various ailments, he
uncovers the inner causes of the diseases. He gives in-
structions about unsuspected attacks of a pestilence, and
issues warnings about plague-ridden regions. He brings out
as many kinds of remedies as possible, explains the powers
of herbs, speaks about the qualities of the medicaments, and
promises long-lasting health to those who obey him. In this
way he persuades the sick, and leads them on to difficult,
painful cures.
This is the reason why the holy Prophet, about to bring
forth his heaven-sent medicine for body and soul, uncovers
the deep recesses of impiety. He exposes the hidden diseases
sins. He lays iniquities bare, draws out in a marvelous way
the hidden poisons, the very essences of the vices, the sources
SERMONS 95
of the sins, and the roots of crimes. By such devoted manipu-
lation and divine healing, he continually leads the sick souls
of men to health, with a pious respect for their age, sex, cir-
cumstances, and ability.
The psalm which we sang today is the preface of the
Psalms. Indeed, it is the Psalm of Psalms, the title of the
titles. It is a theme suggesting other themes, and the basic
subject matter of the hymns which follow. Once the key to
a royal palace has opened the first door, it makes many
interior living rooms accessible. Similarly, once that psalm
has prepared an entrance for the understanding, it throws
open the mystery of all the Psalms, and reveals their secret.
'Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel
of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in
the chair of pestilence.' 'Blessed is the man.' When a man
is about to fight with the beasts and undergo the dangers
of the most violent struggles, he is usually told beforehand
about the prizes, rewards, and crowns. In similar fashion,
the Prophet states a beatitude first, in order to stimulate man
to overcome all the ferocity of the sins he will soon enumerate.
'Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel
of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners.' Perhaps it
seems absurd that he said, to walk in the counsel, and stand
in the way. Men are more wont to delay about counsel, and
to walk along a road. For perverse men, it is true, everything
is perverted. Things which are not done in orderly manner
cannot be kept in order. However, the Prophet is talking
here about the movement not of the body but of the mind.
He is working to prevent not slips of the foot but calamities
of souls.
'Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel
of the ungodly.' The wicked man went away, away from
himself when he receded from God; neither does he delay
about counsel who lets his mind wander in evil thoughts.
96 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
At one moment he is raised up to the sky, at another he
is cast back to earth. He is tossed about on the seas, lifted
aloft on the billows, plunged into the troughs. And since his
own thoughts stagger as if he were drunk, he takes account,
not of himself, but of the sky. He who thinks that he knows
everything does not know himself. For, if he knew himself,
he would never adore the sky, the sun, the moon, bits of
wood, or stones. All these have been given to him, subjected
to his use. But he adores the stone and serves the wood,
and he has disdained to serve the true and living God.
Review the deeds of wickedness from the beginning of
creation. The counsel of the ungodly has dragged an angel
from heaven to hell, and changed a messenger of divine
revelation into a devil. It has expelled man from a regime
of life to an exile on earth where he must die, and driven
him from the delights of paradise to the troublesome labors
of the world. It has brought woman from the glory of virgin-
ity to painful travail in the midst of groans. Therefore she
has anguish before she rejoices, and pays the penalty of guilt
before she exults over the birth of her child. As Scripture
has it: 'I will make great your distress in child-bearing; in
pain shall you bring forth children.' 1 When a beginning en-
tails a penalty, of what sort is the termination? Whom will
joy possess throughout the journey of life if he takes the
beginning of his life from grief? The Prophet knew this
when he said : 'I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did
my mother give me birth. 52
Brethren, if in this way we come forth from the womb
to enter a way of sinners, if in every age of life we make a
fast journey of sins, let us reflect on the vanities of infancy,
the falls of youth, the disasters of manhood, and the infirmities
of old age. Then we shall think we are traveling a way of
1 Gen. 3.16.
2 Ps. 50.7.
SERMONS 97
sinners rather than one of life. Christ has warned us about
this road with His words: 'How wide and broad is the way
that leads to destruction, and many there are who enter
that way.' 3 It is wide for sins, spread out for turbulent
traffic, broad for crimes. Truly, the present life is a way on
which man comes and goes, 'One generation passeth away,
and another generation cometh: but the earth standeth for-
ever,' 4 Scripture tells us.
That is why it previously stated: 'Blessed is the man who
has not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in
the way of sinners.' 5 It did not state 'has not come,' for there
is no one who comes by another way than the way of sin-
ners. The very law of nature and of death leads us along
that way. What Scripture states is: Blessed is he who does
not stand still on that way. He stands and loiters in that
way who picks up burdens of sins, and arrives late like an
overburdened traveler, and finds the heavenly mansion closed
to him. The Prophet was encumbered by those loads when
he exclaimed in tears: 'For my iniquities are gone over my
head: and as a heavy burden have become heavy upon me/ 6
And because he was bearing these iniquities all the days of
his life, he cried: 'I am miserable, and am bowed down
even to the end.' 7
The way of sinners is quickly traversed by the wayfarer
who sees the evils of this life, but despises them. He perceives
them, but treads them under foot. He endures them, but
3 Matt. 7.13.
4 Eccle. 1.4.
5 In the rest of this sermon, notice St. Peter's ingenious interpretation,
arrived at by scrutinizing the three verbs of Ps. 1.1. We should not
sit in a chair along the way of sinners which we all must travel, or
stand on that way, or even walk along, but traverse it quickly toward
heaven. No doubt, this ingenuity would be very pleasing to an
audience of Roman rhetoricians.
6 Ps. 37.4.
7 Ps. 37.7.
98 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
conquers them. While he flees them he runs the more. Con-
sequently, the keeper of the gates of heaven comes to meet
him, and the heavenly mansion is not kept shut to him.
But, why did the sacred writer speak about the counsel
of the ungodly before mentioning the way of sinners, in
this order: 'Blessed is the man who has not walked in the
counsel of the ungodly nor stood in the way of sinners'?
Because, even if a man once born does enter into the way
of sinners, he must beforehand lie supine as an infant. He
does not run into that road of sin very soon. However, when
he begins to taste the poisons of wickedness, then he relishes
the fat of sins. The wicked man tends toward God, but he
recoils from God when he sins. God despises sinners. He
warned them beforehand that they should not sin. Darkness
flees from the light, and when the light departs darkness re-
turns. Just so, where God is there is no sin, and, where sin is,
God is not. That you may know, O man, that before God's
eyes man traverses a way of sins, listen to the Prophet: God is
not before his eyes: his ways are filthy at all times.' 8 There-
fore, man falls more seriously on this way of sins when he
plunges down the steep slopes of godlessness.
'And he has not sat in the chair of pestilence. 3 He approves
iniquity who does it and loves it. He who loves it cannot
fail to teach it. Consequently, one who teaches iniquity is
seated in the chair of pestilence, from which he dispenses, in
honeyed language, the poison of doctrine fatal to his hearers.
By chair of pestilence the Psalmist meant philosophy, which
has taught that there are many gods. It has held that He
who is either does not exist or else cannot be discovered
even He who presented the gift of creation to nature, only
to have nature deny its Creator.
The Pharisee 9 established a chair of pestilence, too. He
8 Ps. 9*26 (10.5 according to the Hebrews) .
9 See Matt. 15.1-20.
SERMONS 99
made human traditions more important than God's laws,
and dissipated the abundant light which the Jewish people
had.
The heretic has taken his seat in the chair of pestilence.
Under an apparent zeal for the faith, he tears, violates, and
rends its unity asunder.
Therefore, 'Blessed is the man who hath not walked in
the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners,
nor sat in the chair of pestilence. 3 Blessed, indeed, because
by shunning those three errors he has merited to arrive at the
beatitude of the Holy Trinity. Wherefore, let him meditate
on the law of the Lord. Let him do this pondering day and
night, that in the future he may deserve to see what follows,
and at the proper time to hear something still more joyful. 10
SERMON 47
The Parables of the Pearl and the Net Cast into the Sea
(On Matt. 13.45-50)
By the fact that Christ our Lord created the sky,
earth, sea, and the great, many, and varied creatures in them,
He gave wonderful evidence of His power. By the fact
that He assumes human nature, acts the part of man,
enters into the centuries, passes through the periods of life,
teaches by word, works cures by His power, tells parables,
gives examples, and manifests in Himself the burden of our
emotions by all this He reveals that he has an indescribable
affection of human love.
For this reason, He makes heavenly goods appear attractive
10 Reading laetius.
100 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
through earthly examples. He uses beings of the present
world to make us relish those of the future world He repre-
sents invisible benefits by visible evidence. The parables
which we hear from the Gospel today give forceful proof
of all this.
The kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of
fine pearls. When he finds a single pearl of great price,
he goes and sells all that he has and buys it.' Let no one
who hears this take offense from the name merchant. Here
Christ is speaking of a merchant wlio shows mercy, not
of one who is always investing the profit from capital. He
means one who provides the beauty of virtues, not the irrita-
tions of vices; one who brings forth seriousness of morals,
not great weights of precious stones; one who has on a neck-
lace of righteousness, not wantonness; one who wears the
insignia of disciplinary control, not the trappings of pleasure.
Wherefore, that merchant displays these pearls of heart
and body, not in human trading, but in heavenly commerce,
He shows them, not to trade for a present advantage but for a
future one to trade in order to gain not earthly but heavenly
glory; in order to be able to get the kingdom of heaven as
the reward of his virtues, and to buy at the price of innumer-
able other goods, the one pearl of everlasting life.
The Lord added another parable in these words: 'Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea and
gathering in fish of every kind. When it was filled, they
hauled it out and sitting down on the beach, they gathered
the good fish into the vessels, but threw away the bad.' The
kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea.' This parable
reveals why Christ chose fishermen to be His Apostles, and
changed catchers of fish into fishers of men, that fishermen's
practice might be recognized as a type of God's judgment.
The catch itself brings together fish of every sort, but the
separation puts the chosen ones into vessels. Similarly, the
SERMONS 101
vocation to the Christian faith brings together just and unjust,
bad and good, but the divine election separates the good and
the bad.
'The kingdom of heaven is like a net cast into the sea.'
Christ sent His fishermen Peter, Andrew, James, and John,
all of them approved for their skill to the sea of this world.
It was a sea swelling with its vain display, proud of its con-
fusion, stormy because of factions, fluctuating through uncer-
tainty, noisy with grievances, roaring with anger, shipwrecked
by sins, and sunk into impiety. 'Come, follow me, } He told
them, 'and I will make you fishers of men.' 1
Hence, He sent His fishers forth with nets woven of
the precepts of the Law and of the Gospel, hemmed with
counsels, expanded with gifts of virtues and with grace, fit
to gather an unceasing catch into the shelter of the Gospel.
Now, brethren, right now is the time of this catch. Christ's
nets are being drawn through the tribes and nations now.
Throughout the whole world they are bringing in teeming
catches, without discrimination of persons.
However, because the end of the world is near, the nets
are bringing to the beach the fish of our capture (that is,
the men who wander about free and untrammeled while im-
mersed in worldly concerns), they are disturbed by the dry-
ness of the shore (that is, the nearness of the end), and
they dash against one another because of the whole arrange-
ment of things. 2 They see wicked nations wax prosperous
through triumph after triumph, Christian peoples distressed
in captivity all over the world. They see wicked men rejoice
in success and prosperity, and pious men harassed unceas-
ingly by one evil after another. They see masters reduced to
slavery, slaves gaining the upper hand over their masters,
sons rebellious against their parents, aged men held up in
1 Matt. 4.19.
2 I.c., they are scandalized at the order permitted by God.
102 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
contempt by youths. They see every condition of nature,
every arrangement of order as something utterly perished.
However, although these facts are true, and perturb the
weak [in faith], they do not unsettle the strong. They cannot
perturb the strong because the strong increase their strength
through parable, and build up their fortitude through aid
from the figure.
The fish taken out of the deep toss about in their confusion
for a little while on the shore, but the quick selection, while
it discards the bad ones, separates the good. That brief con-
fusion soon to pass makes them the good ones, rather than
perturbs them. That heavenly selection consigns the evil to
their penalties and quickly gathers the good to their honors.
It leads the wicked below and places the faithful in the
kingdom. It consoles 3 them all fathers, the aged, the just,
the elect with everlasting glory in return for the short-
lived insults they bore. The parable itself demonstrates this
when it says: 'At the end of the world the angels of God
will go out and separate the wicked from the just/
'At the end of the world/ He who believes in the end of
the world and discusses its deterioration, and has hope that
the lasting possessions will be his later on why does he
seek to possess the perishable ones?
Brethren, the world takes a beginning from its very termin-
ations. A creature is renewed by its end, not destroyed. It
withdraws itself not from its Creator, but from sin. Not
for the just, but for the sinners, do the elements come to
an end [of their usefulness]. 'At the end of the world, the
angels will go out to separate the just apart.' Let no one
doubt that the angels will appear to the saints. Even Christ
promises His service to the saints. His maxim is: C I shall
gird myself and minister to you.' 4
3 Reading consolatur, with S. Pauli,
4 Cf. Luke 17,8.
SERMONS 103
The angels of God will go out and separate the wicked
from among the just.' Bear up, O just ones, endure for a
while. Yea, more, even grant a truce to your opponents.
This short-lived mingling with the unjust will be compen-
sated by a long separation.
They will separate the wicked from among the just and
will cast them into the furnace of fire. 5 See what sort of
abode those prepare for themselves who expel their neighbors
and drive away their guests ! See how great a fire those men
kindle for themselves from their short-lived pleasure, who in
this world prepare delights for themselves out of the hunger of
the poor and the pain they inflict on others!
'There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' How woe-
fully will that man gnash his teeth there who smiles in evil
here! And he who has joy now from the misfortunes of
the poor will then weep over their good fortune, because he
had it within his power to rejoice with the poor, but would
not. But you, my faithful ones, rejoice forever in the Lord.
SERMON 57
On the Apostles 3 Creed: To the Catechumens 1
Blessed Isaias, an Evangelist no less than a Prophet, de-
plores his having unclean lips, and his dwelling in the midst
of a people which has them too. 'Woe is me,' he says, 'because
I am in remorse; because while I am a man, and have
unclean lips, I dwell also in the middle of people that hath
unclean lips. I have seen with my eyes the King, the Lord
of hosts. 52
1 Sermons 56-72 form a series of instructions given to the catechumens
in Lent.
2 Isa. 6.5.
104 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Here he is struck with a sorrow more than human because
he is unable to speak, proclaim, and avow all that he feels
and sees about God. As much as the flesh is limited, just
that much are the lips too narrow for their spirit, and the
tongue too short to explain its mind. A roaring fire is shut
up in the flesh. It fills the veins with steam, inflames the
inmost members, and seethes in the marrow. It always en-
kindles a man's whole interior, because he finds himself un-
able to express adequately with his mouth what he con-
templates in absorption of mind. He cannot pour it out of
his lips, adorn it with his language, and put it like steam
into his whole speech.
That is the reason why Isaias wept over his own and his
people's unclean lips when he saw the King of heaven, that
is, the Christ; also, when he saw with clear vision that He
is the Lord of armies. For, just as confessing Christ's divinity
enlightens hearts, washes mouths, and cleanses lips, so is deny-
ing His majesty a cause of pollution.
But let us hear what avail there was in that groan of the
Prophet: 'And one of the Seraphims, 3 Scripture says, 'was
sent to me, and in his hand he had a live coal which he
had taken with tongs off the altar, and he touched my
mouth, saying: Behold this hath touched thy lips, and hath
taken away thy iniquities, and hath cleansed thy sins.' 3 This
is not the time to tell why precisely one is sent, and who
he is who is sent, and how great he is who thus fearlessly
carries a live coal of heavenly fire in his hand; yes, more,
who so tempers it by his touch that it purifies the lips of the
Prophet and does not burn them. But let us at this time
feel remorse with all the affection of our hearts. Let us admit
that we are wretched in this misery of the flesh. Let us weep
with holy groans because we, too, have unclean lips. Let us
do all this to make that one of the Seraphims bring down
3 Isa. 6.6,7.
SERMONS 105
to us, by means of the tongs of the law of grace, a flaming
sacrament of faith taken for us from the heavenly altar.
Let us do this to make him touch the tip of our lips with
such delicate touch as to take away our iniquities, purge
away our sins, and so enkindle our mouths to the full flame
of full praise that the burning will be one unto salvation,
not pain. Let us beg, too, that the heat of that coal may
penetrate all the way to our hearts. Thus we may draw not
only relish for our lips from the great sweetness of this mys-
tery, but also complete satisfaction for our senses and minds.
After the cleansing of his lips, Isaias told about that ineffa-
ble birth which the Virgin gave to her child: 'Behold, a
virgin shall conceive in her womb and bear a son.' 4 In similar
fashion let us tell about that mystery 5 of the Passion and
the glory of the Resurrection.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty. 5 That you have
believed in God is something which you rightly confess to-
day, when you rejoice over the fact that you have fled away
from gods and goddesses of different sex, bewildering in their
number, popular because moblike, base in their lineage, vile
in their reputation, greatest in their wickedness, foremost in
sin, and outstanding in evil-doing, convicted of all this even
by their very countenance sculptured on the tombs 6 of their
devotees. Your joy is proper, because to have such beings
even as one's servants is wretched, painful, and unfortunate.
Yet, up to the present, you endured them as your masters.
Rejoice that you have turned to the one, true, living, and
only but not lonely God, by saying: 'I believe in God the
Father.' The man who names Him Father should already
acknowledge the Son. For He who has wished to be called
4 Isa. 7.14.
5 sacramentum.
6 The crimes of the gods were often portrayed by sculpture on tombs
and sarcophagi.
106 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
a Father, to be denoted as a Father, is kindly making clear
that He has a Son, whom he did not receive at any point of
time, or beget in time, or have in His care merely for a time.
Divinity does not take a beginning, or admit an end, or any
succession; it is incapable of any waning. Not amid any
pains does God bring forth His Son; He manifests that be-
cause of His powers the Son is existent. He does not make
as something outside Himself that Being which is from Him-
self, but he generates that Being; while the Being is inside
Himself, He discloses and reveals the fact. The Son has
proceeded from the Father, but not withdrawn from Him.
Neither has He come forth from the Father as one destined
to succeed the Father, but as one who will remain always
in the Father.
Hear John's words: 'He was in the beginning with God.' 7
And elsewhere John says: 'What was from the beginning. 38
Assuredly, that which already was did not come by addition
later on; clearly, that which was did not later take a begin-
ning. 'I am the first, and I am the last,'* He says. He who
is the first is not after someone else; He who is the last
does not leave another behind Him. When He utters those
words, He does not exclude the Father, but He concludes that
all things are in both Himself and the Father.
Let us, however, take up the words that follow. 'And in
Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord. 5 Kings get new titles
from their triumphs multitudinous epithets derived from
the names of the conquered nations. Similarly, Christ gets
His names 10 from His titles to His distinctions. Because of
the chrism of His anointing He was named Christ, who as
the loving Physician poured the unguent of divinity into the
7 John 1.2.
8 I John 1.1. 'He' and 'What* refer to the Word, the Son of God.
9 Isa. 44.6.
10 A chrismate vocatus est Christus. Jesus vocatus est a salute.
SERMONS 107
already withering members of mortal men. Just as He was
called the Christ from the chrism, so from salvation was He
called Jesus, [the Saviour], who moistened us with His divine
unguent precisely to restore certain salvation to the sick and
everlasting health to those in desperate need.
c And in Jesus Christ His only Son. 3 Yes, only Son, for,
although there are many through grace, He is the one 'and
only Son through His nature. 'Our Lord, 5 who seeks us out
once we have been freed from the control of such great,
cruel, and base lords not to place us in our original state,
but to release us into everlasting freedom,
'Who was born from the Holy Spirit.' Precisely thus is
Christ born for you, in such a way that He may change
your own manner of birth as a man. Formerly, death awaited
you as the setting sun of your life; He wants you to have a
new birth of life.
'Who was born from the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary.'
Where the Spirit is begetting, and a Virgin giving birth, every-
thing carried on is divine; nothing of it is merely human.
Neither is there any place for weakness where power is
united to power. Adam was put into a deep sleep that a
virgin might be taken from the virile half of the race; 11
now, the Virgin was amazed that mankind was to be re-
newed from a virgin. What will nature be able to claim as
her own from such a great birth in which, while she sees
her order being renewed and all her rights being changed,
she perceives with wonder that her Creator has come into
His own offspring? Let faithless men, if they will, think this
something cheap, To believers it is a great mystery. 12
'Who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and was buried.'
11 Gen. 2.21-23; Luke 1.29-38. St. Peter's Latin has an alliterative play on
words: ut de viio virgo sumeretur; . . . Virgo, ut vlr retoaretur ex
Virgine. *
12 sacramentum.
108 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
You hear the name of the Judge that you may recognize
the exact time of Christ's Passion. You hear that He was
crucified, that you may acknowledge that the salvation once
lost for us has been restored through exactly that, 13 through
which it has been lost; also, that you may see the Life for
believers hanging there where death had hung for faithless
men. You perceive that He was buried, that His death
may not be deemed something merely feigned. This is a sign
of divine power: when death itself dies because of a death,
when the author of death is maimed by his own sword point,
and the pirate is captured by his own prey, hell is deprived
of the life it has already swallowed.
The third day He arose again from the dead.' Christ
devoted the three days of His burial to the three abodes
He was going to profit: the region beneath the earth, the
earth, and heaven. He was going to restore the things in
heaven, repair those on earth, and redeem those beneath the
earth, in order that by this symbol of a three-day period He
might open up the grace of the Trinity to men for their
salvation.
'He ascended into heaven. 3 He ascended not to take Him-
self back into heaven for He had always remained there
but rather to carry you there, whom He freed, bound as you
were, and snatched away from hell. O man, understand
whence and where God has raised you, in order to give a
firm footing in heaven to you who on earth were on
slippery footing and always liable to fall.
'He sits at the right hand of the Father.' The Father, how-
ever, has nothing at His left hand. Our profession of belief is
13 This passage is obscure. Its meaning seems to be: Salvation was lost
through the wood of the tree from which Adam ate. On the wood
of the cross hung Christ, who restored life for believers. Similar
thought is found in stanzas 2 and 3 of the hymn Pange lingua glonosi
of Venantius Fortunatus (530-609) , and in the Preface of the Cross
in the Mass: 'O God, who placed the salvation of mankind in the
wood of the Cross, that life might arise from where death came '
SERMONS 109
giving, not the places where the divine Persons sit, but indica-
tions of their excellence. God cannot have places, and divinity
admits nothing sinister.
'Whence He will come to judge the living and the dead.'
Let it so be with regard to the living. But how will He be
able to judge the dead? Why, those whom we regard
as dead are living. Therefore, admit that those whom the
pagan world thinks have perished will arise again to be
judged; that those who have died and will be found to
be living may give an account both of their deeds and
their life.
'I believe in the Holy Spirit.' After you have acknowledged
the mystery of the assuming of flesh, you should acknowl-
edge the divinity of the Spirit, so that the unity and equality
of the Trinity of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
may through all things and in all things protect and hold
firm the entire truth contained in our profession of faith.
The holy Catholic Church' yes, because neither are the
members separated from the head, nor the spouse from her
husband. But, by such a union, the Church becomes one
spirit; she becomes all things, and God is in them all. There-
fore, he believes in God who acknowledges the holy Church
as something united to God.
'And the remission of sins.' He who is confident that his
sins can be forgiven through Christ brings that forgiveness
to himself.
The resurrection of the body. 5 If you believe that through
God's power you can arise from death, you believe well.
For Him the elements always start anew; for example, season
from season, day from night, seeds germinating from the
spot where they were planted. Since these come back to life,
surely you cannot perish utterly. Neither will it be difficult
for God to do for you in your old age what you yourself
do in the case of seed.
1 10 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
'Life everlasting.' This faith, this mystery, is not something
to be consigned to note paper or written by letters, 14 because
papers and letters remind us of objects to be cared for more
than grace. But, where that divine gift, the grace of God,
exists, faith suffices to serve as a contract, and the recesses
of the heart are enough to contain the secret. Thus, the
divine Witness can know [the terms in] this Creed of salva-
tion, this contract of life, while the false witness remains
ignorant of it. Sign yourselves. And may the Lord Himself,
our God, guard your senses and your hearts. May He be
present as your Supporter, to assist you in those matters
which He has commanded.
SERMON 61
On the Apostles 3 Creed: To the Catechumens
I would scarcely believe it possible for you to be changed
so easily from earthly lowliness to heavenly glory, if I did
not find a consoling precedent in the sudden and unexpected
conversion of blessed Paul. 1 For his quick profession of faith
transformed him from a persecutor into an Apostle. It gave
an outstanding teacher to the Church which had found him
a furious destroyer of the Christian name. I am moved no
less by the example of that eunuch whom faith snatched
into grace before his chariot could take him back to his home
in India. 2 There is, too, that remarkable instance of the thief,
14 St. Augustine also urged the catechumens not to write the Symbol or
Creed, but to memorize it. Cf. PL 52.360D.
1 Acts 9.1-9.
2 Acts 8.26-40.
SERMONS 1 1 1
who stole Paradise at the very time when he was hung
upon the cross to pay the penalty for his brigandage. 3
The upshot of it all, my little children, is this. Since you
have so arranged the time of your regeneration that neither
we can say what is necessary nor you can hear what is
proper, by way of adding more doctrine to that which you
have, 4 we shall explain briefly what we cannot give at greater
length. For, how can you, through our explanation, under-
stand the mystery 5 of the Apostles' Creed, when you can
hardly memorize its very formula? We give just this one ad-
monition. Let no one put into writing what he is to put
into his heart in order to believe it. For the Apostle has
given this warning: 'With the heart a man believes unto
justice, and with the mouth profession of faith is made
unto salvation.' 6
You are now about to hear the formula of the faith, the
norm of believing, and the order of your profession. So make
ready the hearing of both your body and your heart. As a
spring gushes out of a small opening and broadens out with
its copious flowing waters, just so does the doctrine in the
compressed language of the Creed open up the widest paths
of belief. And just as a root set deep into the earth sends its
shoots far into the air, so does faith rooted deep in the heart
spring up to the utmost height of belief. Therefore, purge
the mud of unbelief out of your hearts, that the clear waters
of faith may flow through you without hindrance. Cut the
underbrush of unbelief in you at its very roots, that the
3 Luke 23.39-43.
4 Fidem fidei committentes seems to be a reference to the fuller ex-
planation of the Christian mysteries given under the discipline, arcani
after the catechumens were baptized. Possibly, however, it means:
adding assurance to your belief.
5 symboli sacr amen turn.
6 Rom. 10.10.
112 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
stout young trees of your belief may grow to the heights.
And, since the Apostle tells us that 'With the heart a man
believes unto justice, but with the mouth profession of faith
is made unto salvation/ pour now into the words of audible
profession what you already believe in your heart.
'I believe in God, the Father Almighty.' He who believes
in God should not rashly try to fathom Him. It is enough
to know the fact that God is. He who inquires whence He
is, how great He is, and what God is finds himself in ignor-
ance. The sun blacks out an imprudent gazing, and his
unpermitted approach to God becomes a blinded one. He
who desires to see God should learn how to observe modera-
tion in his gazing. If one wants to know his own God, let
him not know the gods of pagans. He who calls them gods
contradicts God. To serve the one God is liberty; but it is
bondage to serve the many gods.
Believe Him to be a Father whom you have acknowl-
edged as God, in order that, by believing Him to be a Father,
you may learn that there is a Son. By calling Him a Son
you recognize the fact that He has been begotten from the
Father; recognizing the fact that He has been begotten, do not
seek to know further how He was begotten, because you
have said: 'I believe in God, the Father Almighty.'
The Almighty Being can do all things, and, if He can
do all things, who will deny that He has a Son in Himself,
from Himself, and always with Himself? God's generating
has no beginning, is incapable of an end, and it admits no
separating departure, since the One Begotten ever remains
in the One Begetting, as the Lord Himself says: 'I am in
the Father, and the Father is in me,' 7 and C I and the Father
are one/ 8 Now you have acknowledged the Father, and the
7 John 10.58.
8 John 10.30.
SERMONS 113
Son, and the secret doctrine of His divinity. Acknowledge,
also, the mystery 9 of the Lord's Incarnation.
'And in Jesus Christ, His Son.' Christ is named from a
heavenly anointing, for He is permeated with all the full-
ness of the divinity. The name Jesus is from salvation. At this
name every being in heaven and under the earth trembles,
bends the knee, and makes confession with bowed head. 10
'And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord.' Just as we
acknowledge one divinity of the Father and Son, so let us
confess their one domination over us.
'And in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord.' Just as
we acknowledge one divinity of the Father and the Son,
so let us confess their one domination over us.
'Who was born from the Holy Spirit of the Virgin Mary.'
The Spirit and the Virgin this is not an earthly union, but
it is a heavenly mystery. This is a reason why that which is
born is divine. Therefore, we must acknowledge the fact
that He was born, but remain silent about how He was
born. For, that which is secret cannot be known, that which
is shut up admits of no opening, and what is unique cannot
be represented by an example.
'Who was crucified under Pontius Pilate and was buried.'
You hear the name of the judge, that you may not be
ignorant of the date. You hear that He was crucified, that
you may learn what kind of death He suffered, and what He
paid for your sake. It was for you that He took upon Him-
self all the pain of such a death. You hear that He was
buried, that you may know that His death was a true one,
and not one unworthy to be taken seriously. To be reluctant
to die is typical of human fear; to have arisen from death is
a mark of divine power. So, do not be shocked at hearing
9 sacramentum.
10 Phil. 2.10.
114 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
of His death; in this case the glory of His resurrection blots
out the harm done by death.
'On the third day He arose again, 5 because, just as the fact
that He dies is a mark of His humanity, the fact that He arises
is a testimony from the Trinity.
'He ascended into heaven' carrying His human nature 11
there where it has always remained.
'He sits at the right hand of the Father.' He sits at the
right hand, because Deity has nothing at the left. 12
'Whence He will come to judge the living and the dead.'
He will judge both the living and the dead. For those will
arise for judgment who are thought to be non-existent after
their death, and who in the opinion of the pagan world have
perished utterly with their span of life.
'I believe in the Holy Spirit' that you may believe and
understand that there is one God in the Father and the Son
and the Holy Spirit.
'I believe in the Holy Church' that you may acknowl-
edge that the Church, the Bride of Christ, will remain in
everlasting union in Him.
I believe in the remission of sins, the resurrection of the
body.' He who does not believe in the remission of sins and
the resurrection of the flesh takes away forgiveness from him-
self and robs himself of life.
Let your heart hold that which you have heard, and be-
lieved, and acknowledged. Let your memory retain it, but
no paper know it. Do not let any secretary learn of it lest the
sacred mystery of the faith be divulged in public, and the
secret of the faith scattered to the infidel. May God Himself,
who granted you both to hear and believe the mystery of
the faith, 13 cause you to reach eternal salvation.
11 ho mine m.
12 nil habet sinistrum: i.e., has nothing bad.
13 Reading fidei, with S. Pauli.
SERMONS 115
SERMON 67
The Lord's Prayer; 1 To the Catechumens
(On Matt. 6.9-13)
Dearly beloved, you have received the faith by hearing;
now listen to the formula of the Lord's prayer. Christ taught
us to pray briefly. He wishes us to put our petitions forward
quickly. Why will He not give Himself to those who entreat
Him, since He gave Himself to those who did not ask Him. 2
Or what delay in answering will He show who by formu-
lating prayers has thus anticipated His suppliants' desires?
The angels stand in awe at what you are going to hear
today. Heaven marvels, earth trembles, flesh does not bear
it, hearing does not grasp it, the mind does not penetrate
it, all creation cannot sustain it. I do not dare to utter it, yet
I cannot remain silent. May God enable you to hear and me
to speak.
What is more awesome: that God gives Himself to earth,
or that He places you in Heaven? That He himself enters a
union with flesh, or that He causes you to enter into a shar-
ing of the Divinity? That He Himself accepts death, or that
He recovers you from death? That He Himself is born into
your state of slavery, or that He makes you to be free children
of His own? That He takes your poverty upon Himself, or
that He makes you "His heirs, yes, co-heirs of His unique Self?
It is indeed more awesome that earth is transformed into
a heaven, that man is changed by a deification, 3 and that
1 This sermon is a catechetical instruction to the catechumens. Cf.
Introduction, p. 16 and DTC 12, 2e, col. 1920.
2 I.c. f the Gentiles, as Mita remarks. The Jews often asked for the
Messias in their prayers.
3 deitate, interpreted in the light of consortium divinitatis just above.
1 16 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
those whose lot is slavery get the rights of domination. All
this is indeed something to fill us with fear. Nevertheless,
the present situation has reference not to the one instructing
but to the One who gives the command. Therefore, my little
children, let us approach where charity summons, love draws,
and affection invites us. May our hearts perceive God as
our Father! Our voice should proclaim this, our tongue
should utter it, our spirit should shout it aloud; and every-
thing that is in us should be in tune with grace, not fear.
For, He who has changed from a judge into a Father has
wished to be loved, not feared.
'Our Father, who art in heaven.' When you say this,
do not understand it* to mean that He is not on earth, or
that He who encompasses all beings is Himself contained in
a place. But understand that you, whose Father is in heaven,
have a lineage derived from heaven. So act, too, that you
become your Father's image by your holy way of life. He
who does not darken himself with human vices, but shines
with virtues like God's, proves himself a son of God.
'Hallowed be Thy name.' We are called by the name of
Him whose offspring we are. Therefore, let us beg that His
Name, which is holy in itself and by its very nature, may be
treated as holy by us. For, God's Name either gets honored
because of our conduct, or blasphemed because of our mis-
deeds. Hear the Apostle's words: 'For the name of God is
blasphemed through you among the Gentiles. 34
Thy kingdom come.' Was there ever a time when God
did not reign? Therefore we ask that H6 who always has
reigned Himself may now reign in us, that we also may
be able to reign in Him. The Devil has reigned, sin has
reigned, death has reigned, and the human race has long
been captive. Consequently, we ask that God may reign in
His kingdom, the Devil may be subject, sin may fail, death
4 Rom. 2.24.
SERMONS 117
may die, and the captive human race may be captured in
such a way that we may reign as free men unto everlasting
life.
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' This is
the kingdom of God, when no other will than God's prevails,
either in heaven or on earth; when in the case of all men,
God is the directing mind, God is living, God is acting, God
is reigning, God is everything, so that, according to that
statement of the Apostle: 'God may be all in all of you.' 5
'Give us this day our daily bread.' He who gave Himself
to us as a Father, who adopted us as His sons, who made us
the heirs of His goods, who raised us up in name and gave
us His own honor and kingdom, He has directed that we
should ask for our daily bread. In the kingdom of God, in
the midst of His divine gifts, why does man in his poverty
beg? Is it only when asked that a Father so good, so kindly,
so generous gives bread to His children? And what are we
to make of His statement: c Do not be anxious about what
you are to eat, or what you are to drink, or what you are
to put on.' 6 Is he telling us to ask for that about which He
forbids us to think? What do we hold? 7 The heavenly Father
is encouraging us, as heavenly sons, to ask for heavenly bread.
He said: 'I am the bread that has come down from heaven/ 8
He is the Bread sown in the Virgin, leavened in the flesh,
molded in His passion, baked in the furnace of the sepulchre,
placed in the churches, and set upon the altars, which daily
supplies heavenly food to the faithful.
'And forgive us our trespasses, as we also forgive those
who trespass against us.' O man, if you cannot be without
5 1 Cor. 15.28.
6 Matt. 6.31.
7 Reading, not quatenus, but quid tenemus, with Bohraer, BKV 43,
p. 78.
8 John 6.41.
118 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
sin, and wish your whole debt to be forgiven you always,
you yourself should forgive always. Forgive just as much as
you want to be forgiven to yourself. Forgive as often as you
want to be forgiven. Indeed, just because you want the whole
debt to be forgiven to yourself, you yourself forgive the
whole. O man, understand that by forgiving others you have
given forgiveness to yourself.
'And lead us not into temptation,' because in the world
life itself is a temptation. The life of man upon earth is a
temptation," Job says. Therefore let us ask Him not to leave
us to our own will, but to hedge us about in our own every act
with His fatherly kindness, and by His guidance from heaven
to keep us firm on the path of life.
'But deliver us from evil.' From which evil? Surely, from
the Devil, from whom all evil comes. We ask that we be freed
from evil, because he who has not been free from evil can-
not enjoy the good.
If those 10 not yet born, 11 those still remaining in the womb,
ask for bread and seek the kingdom, why is there complaint 12
because the Son of God always remained in the bosom of
God the Father? If the Church begets 13 that is not a doc-
trine based on reason, it is a heavenly mystery. The fact
that the Son of God has been in God the Father that can-
not be explained by human reasoning. God must not be
appraised in a human manner. You have heard the name,
God; do not think of anything earthly or anything human.
You have heard: Father of Christ; believe that He is this
through His substance. You have heard that He is your
Father; believe that He is this through His grace. He eternally
9 Cf. Job 7.1; the Vulgate has militia, not tentatio.
10 The catechumens.
11 By baptism.
12 Spelled quoestio in Migne; the normal spelling is questio. Cf. Sermon
4 n. 3.
13 I.c., begets spiritual children.
SERMONS 119
possessed the power that His Son should be existent; He
recently allowed you to become His son. Therefore, so know
that you are a son as not to become unaware of being a
servant. So hear that you have been made into a likeness of
Christ as to know yourself always as the servant of Christ.
SERMON 70
The Lord's Prayer: To the Catechumens
(On Matt. 6.9-13)
All the words and deeds which are reported as having God
as their Author are intended to serve as a miracle, and stir
up wonder. Mortals should be struck with fear at them, and
the very dwellers of heaven should tremble. However, at
nothing does heaven stand so much astonished, or earth
tremble, or all creation fear exceedingly, as at that which
you are going to hear from us today. The servant dares to
call his Lord Father, the guilty man names his Judge his
Parent, man in his earthly state brings himself by his own
voice adoption as God's son. He who lost earthly goods
deems himself the heir of Divinity.
But we do dare to speak thus, because the speaker is not
rashly presuming in a case where one commanding him has
authority. He who taught us to pray thus is the One who
wished us to speak in this way today.
Yet, why is it strange if He has made men devoted sons
of God, since He gave Himself and made Himself into the
Son of Man? At that time He raised the nature of flesh
into one divine, when He brought His divinity down to
human nature. At that time He made man co-heir with
Himself among the dwellers of heaven, when He made
120 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Himself the sharer of the things of earth. He took upon
Himself everything characteristic of man, even sin 1 and
death; then what love, what gift, could He refuse man?
Or can it be that He who made Himself the sharer of
man's adversity will not let man be His companion in
prosperity? O man, beloved thus by God, return to God.
Give your whole self to glorifying Him who for your sake
humiliated His whole Self to bearing all His suffering. Have
confidence when you call Father Him whom you so lovingly
accept^ feel, and know as your Father,
'Our Father.' No one should be astonished that one not
yet born 2 calls Him Father. With God, beings who will be
born are already born; with God future beings have been
made. The things that shall be/ Scripture says, 'have already
been.' 3 Hence it is that while John was still in the womb 4
He perceived His creator; and he who was unaware of his
own life served as a messenger to his mother. Hence, too,
we read 5 that Jacob waged war before he was born, and
triumphed before he lived. Hence, too, those who do not
yet exist themselves are existent for God, that is, those who
were chosen before the foundation of the world.
'Who art in heaven' not that He is not on earth, but
that you may know through this phrase that you are a scion
of heaven. And if you acknowledge yourself to be a son of
God, live like a son of God, that you can reflect so great
a Father by your action, life, and virtues.
'Hallowed be Thy name.' Since you are named a Christian
after Christ, you ask to have the privilege of having such
1 He took sins upon Himself not to retain them, but to delete them,
as St. Peter states about John 1.29 in Sermon 45 (PL 52.327C) .
2 A catechumen not yet reborn through baptism.
3 Eccle. 3.15.
4 Luke 1.44.
5 Gen. 2551-24.
SERMONS 121
a name glorified in your own case. For God's Name, which
is holy by its nature and in itself, is in our case either glori-
fied by our conduct or blasphemed among the Gentiles
through our misdeeds.
Thy kingdom come. 5 He himself says: The kingdom of
God is within you/ 6 If it is within us, why do we pray for
it to come? It is present by faith, by hope, and by expecta-
tions, but we now pray that it may come in fact. Moreover,
may it come to us, not to Him who is already and always
reigning in company with His Father, reigning in His Father,
but may it come for ourselves ! 'Come, blessed of my father,
take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world.' 7 We say: Thy kingdom come,'
that God may reign in us, and death and sin may cease
to have dominion over us. 'Death reigned,' Scripture says,
'from Adam until Moses.' 8 And in another place, it says:
'Do not let sin reign in your mortal body. 39
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.' On earth,
at present, many things take place in accordance with the
will of the Devil, the wickedness of the world, and the desire
of the flesh, but in heaven nothing is done except the will
of God. So we beg that, once the Devil has been checked,
the world renewed, our body changed, and the reign of
sin destroyed we beg that there may be in heaven and on
earth, in God and men, only one and the same will of
God.
'Give us this day our daily bread.' After asking for the
heavenly kingdom, we are not 10 bid to ask for earthly bread,
since He Himself forbids this when He says: 'Do not be
6 Luke 17.21.
7 Matt. 25.34.
8 Rom. 5.14.
9 Rom. 6.12.
10 Reading non with Migne, not nos with Bdhmer BKV 43, p. 93.
But, cf. Sermon 71 (PL 52.402C) .
122 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
solicitous for your life, what you shall eat or \vhat you shall
drink. 11 But, because He is the Bread that has come down
from heaven, 12 we beg and pray to take that same Bread
on which we shall live daily that is, eternally in heaven.
This day' that is, we pray to take in the present life that
Bread from the banquet of the holy altar, for the strength
of our body and mind.
'And forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors, 5
By these words, O man, you have set the manner and measure
of forgiveness to yourself. You ask the Lord to forgive you
exactly as much as you forgive to your fellow servant. There-
fore, forgive the whole offense to the one who wrongs you
if you yourself wish to be liable to the Lord for nothing
because of your own sins. For your own sake, be forgiving
in the case of another man, if you wish to avoid the avenging
sentence.
'And lead us not into temptation.' 'God tempts no one 513
as Scripture says. But He is spoken of as tempting when He
abandons those who stubbornly go into the snares of tempta-
tions. That is how Adam succumbed to the wiles of the
tempter when he abandoned the commands of his Creator.
However, Christ makes clear from what quarter and by
whom man is tempted by the next words.
'But deliver us from evil/ that is, from the Devil, who
is the author and source of all evil. The Devil was heavenly
by nature. But now he is spiritual wickedness, older than
the world, worn with his practice of harm, and highly skilled
in the art of injuring. Consequently, he is called not pre-
cisely 'an evil one' but merely 'evil/ from which everything
evil springs. Hence it is that a man tied with carnal bonds
cannot be set free by his own strength. Therefore, we should
11 Matt. 635,31.
12 John 6.41.
13 James 1.13.
SERMONS 123
pray God to free us from the Devil, since God loaned Christ
to the earth in order that He might conquer the Devil.
Let man cry out, let him cry out to God, let him cry, 'Deliver
us from evil,' that we may be freed from so great an evil
and no one may conquer save Christ.
'Our Father who art in heaven.' In these few words He
to whom you are to pray has Himself granted you the theme
of praying, the subject matter to ask for, and the norm of
making petition. He made this grant that from it you might
get the feel of praying, obtain an understanding of how
to request, gather a measure of your petitioning, and take
most ample training from this brief instruction on prayer;
also, because as a token of love the King Himself has per-
formed the function of an advocate, in order to dictate the
prayers which He intends to answer. Every hesitation in ask-
ing has been taken away; yes, more, full confidence of merit-
ing an answer has been given, since He who is being asked
finds His very self in the prayers. Fear has no place when
a son desires to obtain holy gifts from his Father through
the mediation of his own filial reverence.
SERMON 74
Christ's Resurrection
(On Matt. 28.1-4)
Dearly beloved, the work connected with the vigils has
prevented us from preaching for a while. Weakness from the
fast contributed to this, too. Today 1 we shall give you a
sermon on the Lord's resurrection. In relation to this, if
Christ's birth from the Virgin is something divine, how much
1 This sermon was preached on Easter Sunday.
124 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
more so is His resurrection from the dead! Therefore, let
not that which is divine be heard with merely human inter-
pretation.
'Late in the night of the Sabbath/ Scripture says, 'as it
began to dawn towards the first day of the week. 5 The eve-
ning of the Sabbath the day of this world does not know
this; the usage of the world does not contain it. The evening
terminates the day, it does not begin it. The evening fades
into darkness; it does not grow bright. It does not change
into dawn, because it does not know the sunrise.
Evening, the mother of night, gives birth to daylight! It
changes the customary order while it acknowledges its
Creator. It displays a new symbolic mystery. It is eager to
serve its Creator rather than the march of time.
'Late in the night of the Sabbath,' it says, 'as it began
to dawn towards the first day of the week, Mary Magdalen
and the other Mary came to see the sepulchre.' Earlier, a
woman hastened to sin; now, later on, a woman hastens
to repentance. In the morning a woman knew that she had
corrupted Adam; in the evening a woman seeks Christ.
'Mary Magdalen and the other Mary came to see the
sepulchre.' A woman had drawn a beginning of perfidy
out of Paradise. Now, a woman hastens to draw faith from
the sepulchre. She who had snatched death out of life now
hurries to get life out of death. 2
'Mary came.' This is the name of Christ's Mother. There-
fore, the one who hastened was a mother in name. She
came as a woman, that woman,, who had become the mother
of those who die, might become the mother of the living,
and fulfillment might be had of the Scriptural statement
[about her] : 'that is, the mother of all the living.' 3
2 A woman took death from the tree of life; now, a woman takes
life from the tomb, the abode of death.
3 Gen. 3.20.
SERMONS 125
'Mary came, and ako the other Mary.' Scripture does not
say they came, but she came. Two women of one name came
through a symbolic mystery, not through chance. 'Mary
came, and also the other Mary.' She came, but another, too.
Another came, but the first, too, so that woman might be
changed in life, but not in name; in virtue, but not in sex.
A woman had been the intermediary of the fall and ruin,
and a woman was to be the one to announce the Resurrec-
tion.
'Mary came to see the sepulchre.' The sight of the tree
had deceived her; the sight of the sepulchre was to restore
her. A guileful glance had laid her low; a saving glance was
to raise her up again.
'And behold, 3 the Gospel continues, 'there was a great
earthquake; for an angel of the Lord came down from
heaven.' The earth trembled, not because an angel came
down from heaven, but because its Ruler ascended from
hell. 'And behold, there was a great earthquake.' The heart
of the earth is stirred. The depths of the earth leap up. The
earth trembles, the huge mountains quiver, the foundations
of the earth are battered. Hell is caught, and set in its place.
Death gets judged death which, rushing against guilty men,
runs into its Judge; death which after long domination over
its slaves rose up against its Master; death which waxed
fierce against men but encountered God.
Rightly, therefore, did the rule of hell perish, and its laws
get blotted out. The power of death was taken away, and,
in penalty for its rashness in attempting to harm its Judge,
death brought the dead back to life. Thereupon bodies were
yielded up. The man was put back together, and his life was
restored, and now everything holds together through forgive-
ness, because the condemnation has passed over onto the
Author of life.
'And behold there was a great earthquake.' Now there
126 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
was a great earthquake. Oh, if at that other time even some
light whirlwind had blown down that death-bearing tree!
Oh, if some smokelike cloud had darkened that woman's
vision ! Oh, if a dark cloud had enveloped the beauty of that
deathly fruit ! Oh, if the hand had trembled upon touching the
forbidden fruit ! Oh, if unholy night had darkened the day of
sin, and taken away the sorrows of the world, the multiplying
deaths, and the insult to the Creator! However, allurements
always promote vices, and sweet things further sins, but
austere and manly pursuits conduce to virtues.
'For an angel of the Lord came down from heaven.'
Through the Resurrection of Christ and the defeat of death,
men once more entered into relationship with heaven. More-
over, woman, who had entered into a deadly plan with the
Devil, now enjoyed a life-giving conversation with the angeL
Tor an angel of the Lord came down from heaven, and
rolled back the stone. 5 Scripture did not say rotted, but Totted
back the stone. When rolled forward it was a proof of His
death. When rolled back, it was a proof of His Resurrection.
Blessed is the stone which could both conceal Christ and
reveal Him! Blessed the stone which opens hearts no less
than the sepulchre ! Blessed is the stone which produces faith
in the Resurrection, and a resurrection of faith; which is a
proof that God's body has arisen! Here, the order of things
is changed. Here, the sepulchre swallows death, not a dead
man. The abode of death becomes a life-giving dwelling.
A new kind of womb conceives one who is dead and brings
him forth alive!
Tor an angel of the Lord came down from heaven and
drawing near rolled back the stone, and sat upon it!" An
angel does not weary. Then why did he sit? He was sitting
as a doctor of faith and a teacher of the Resurrection. He
was sitting upon a rock, that its very solidity might impart
SERMONS 127
firmness to those who believe. The angel was placing the
foundations of faith upon the rock, on which Christ was
going to build His Church, as He said: Thou art Peter, and
upon this rock I will build my Church.' 4
'His countenance was like lightning, 5 the Gospel says, 'and
his raiment like snow.' Is not brilliance of lightning enough
for an angel? What did raiment add to the heavenly nature?
But by such splendor he foreshadowed the beauty and pat-
tern of our resurrection. For, those who arise through Christ
are transformed with the glory of Christ.
'And for fear of him the guards were terrified, and became
like dead men.' Wretched men! The fear of death struck
them at the very time an assurance of life was being restored.
But these ministers of cruelty, these executors of another's
perfidy how were they to gain belief about heavenly mat-
ters? They were guarding the sepulchre, setting obstacles to
the Resurrection, and taking care to keep life from entering
in any way, or death from perishing. The arrival of the
angel rightly struck them prostrate. O wretched mortal men,
always hostile to themselves! They grieve that they must
die, yet they struggle to forestall a resurrection! It would
have been far better to open up the sepulchre, and furnish
anything possible to facilitate the Resurrection, that a miracle
might shine forth from the fact, and hope might arise from
this example, and full certitude about Him who returned,
and belief in the future life. This is indeed colossal madness,
that man should be unwilling to believe in that which he
desires to come to him.
Let these remarks about these guards suffice for today.
In order not to be tedious now, we shall later explain what
our faith contains through the help of our Lord Jesus
Christ, who lives and reigns with God the Father forever,
Amen.
4 Matt. 16.18.
128 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
SERMON 80
Christ Appears to the Women Returning from the Tomb
(On Matt. 28.5-20)
In the preceding sermon we restricted ourselves to the first
part of the Gospel reading. 1 Today let us hear what is in the
subsequent verses: 'But the angel spoke and said to the
women. Do not be afraid; for I know that you seek Jesus,
who was crucified. He is not here, for he is risen even as
he said. Come, see the place where the Lord was laid.'
Do you think that Peter, John, and all the disciples are
reproved for their absence and blamed for their cowardice
through the fact that the alert women alone were the first
who ran to meet the rising Christ? Was the male portion of
the race thus branded with disgrace, that weak woman might
be the first to arrive at the glory of the Resurrection?
Far from it, brethren! What happened is a cause, not a
chance; a symbolic mystery, not an accident; planned ar-
rangement, not a fault. For here, where man arises in the
case of Christ, woman follows rather than precedes. Perceive,
therefore, that Peter yielded place not to the women but
to Christ; not to a handmaid but to the Lord; for the sake
of a symbolic mystery, 2 not of sleep; of orderly arrangement,
not of fear. To put it briefly, the male sex was already repre-
sented in Christ when the angel came to the women, in
order that man might precede woman in honor as much
as the Lord precedes the angel.
'Do not be afraid 5 for love possesses the good, and dread
harasses the evil. Fear terrifies the impious, and affection
1 I.e., Matt. 29.1-4. The statement applies to Sermon 74 better than to
79. No doubt, Matt. 28.1-20 formed the complete lectio.
2 sacramento.
SERMONS 129
warms the loyal. 'Do not be afraid. 9 This is tantamount to
saying: Let the Jew fear who did the betraying, and Pilate
who sentenced Christ, and the soldier who mocked Him,
and the impious who crucified Him, and the cruel who gave
Him cups of gall, and the heartless ones who guarded the
sepulchre, and the scoundrels who paid for a fraud and
tried to sell away a proof, who in their inhumanity grieved
over the Lord's Resurrection, but not over having slain Him.
You, in contrast, ought to rejoice, not fear, because He
whom you sought as dead has arisen. He whom you mourned
as one slain is alive.
Tor I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. 3 That
is, why do you seek the living One among the dead? Why
do you seek life in the tomb? Rather, go to meet the Living
One; do not assemble to do honor to the dead.
'I know that you seek Jesus, who was crucified. He is not
here. 3 The angel spoke thus because he opened the sepulchre
for a purpose: not to allow Christ who was already gone
to go out, but rather to demonstrate that He was already
absent.
'He is arisen even as he said.' Here we see a twofold
power: to return from the dead, and to know the future in
advance.
'Come, see the place where the Lord was laid,' Come,
women, come. See where you laid Adam, 3 where you buried
a human being; where by your design you thrust a man,
inasmuch as you caused the Lord to lie there for the sake
of His servants; and know that pardon exists in your favor,
as great as was the insult given to the Lord.
'Come, see the place where the Lord was laid.' An angelic
power announces that it is the Lord who was crucified. Then,
does human weakness discuss whether it is the Lord who
has arisen? Christ assumed human capabilities to suffer, but
3 I.e., the second Adam, Christ.
130 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
in such a way that He retained everything which pertained to
His divinity.
'And go quickly and tell the disciples that he has arisen;
and behold he goes before you into Galilee; there you shall
see him.' Here, too, the Apostles are not made inferior to
the women. Rather, woman is freed from guilt while she
bears the news of life and of the Resurrection, just as she
had borne the news of death and of ruin.
'And departing quickly/ the Gospel says, 'from the
tomb in fear and great joy.' The women entered the sepulchre
to become sharers of His burial and companions of His suf-
ferings. They departed from the sepulchre that they might
arise in their faith before they should arise again in their
bodies. 'Departing in fear and great joy.' Where He is, do
not be afraid. Fear was changed, not taken away. Fear
arising from guilt departed, but the fear proper to servitude
remained. Fear arising from guilt is evil; reverential fear is
good. The women had lost the fear once given to Adam;
now they were afraid of losing the fear restored to them.' 4
'In fear and great joy/ It was written: 'Serve ye the Lord
with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling.' 5 c ln fear
and great joy.' The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for
ever and ever.' 6 Wherefore, he who remains in the fear of
God remains in holiness,
'They ran to tell his disciples. And behold, Jesus met
them, saying, Hail.' Christ went to meet those who faithfully
hastened, so that they might recognize by sight what they
accepted through faith, and that He might strengthen by
His presence the women who were still trembling from what
they had heard.
'Jesus met them, saying, Hail.' He met them as the
4 Through the new Adam, Christ.
5 Ps. 2.11.
6 Ps. 18.10.
SERMONS 131
Lord, He greeted them as a Father. He enkindled their affec-
tion, and preserved them from fear. He greeted them, that
they might serve Him through love, not flee through fear.
'And they came up and embraced his feet.' He who
allowed Himself to be embraced wanted to be possessed.
'They came up and embraced his feet/ They were to know
that man is in the head of Christ, women hi His feet; also,
that through Christ it was given to them as women to fol-
low the man, not to take the lead. 7
'Jesus said to them, Do not be afraid.' What the angel
had said the Lord also said, to make still stronger those whom
the angel had reassured.
'Go, take the word to my brethren that they set out for
Galilee; there they shall see me.' When He arose from the
dead, Christ reassumed the form of man, He did not relinquish
it. Therefore, He gives the name of brethren to those whom
He made to be brothers of His own self. He names those
brethren whom He made adopted sons of His Father. He
names those brethren whom He, the kind Heir, made His
co-heirs.
But now hear how impiety also arises at the Resurrection
of Christ. 'Behold, some of the guards came into the city
and reported to the chief priest all that had happened. And
when they had assembled with the elders, and had consulted
together they gave much money to the soldiers, telling them,
Say his disciples came by night and stole him while we
were sleeping.' Those who disperse money seek goods to be
saved, not lost. When Judas was selling, the Jews bought
Christ in order to destroy Him; now they spend much money
in order to lose themselves, their Law, Temple, and country.
The bloody, deceitful men! They set a price for falsehood,
draw up an agreement about perfidy. By wicked negotia-
tions they buy a fraud against belief, and a robbery from
7 Cf. 1 Cor. 11.3.
132 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
truth. They bribe the soldiers to give the name of robbery
to what was the mystery of the Resurrection.
'His disciples came by night and stole him.' Not content
to have slain the Master, they plot how they can ruin the
disciples. They pretend that the power of the Master is the
crime of the disciples.
'His disciples came by night and stole him.' The soldiers
clearly were the losers, and so were the Jews in their guile.
But the disciples took their Master away not by theft but
by faith; by virtue, not by fraud; by holiness, not by sin.
They took Him away alive, not dead. That is why they are
sent to Galilee to be able to see Him, since God is not
seen in a place of perfidy.
Now let us attend to His words: 'All power in Heaven
and on earth has been given to me.' He declares that, in
His case, He Himself had given it to Himself, as the Apostle
testifies by stating: 'God was truly in Christ, reconciling the
world to himself. 38 The Son of God conferred on the Son
of the Virgin, God conferred upon man, Divinity conferred
on flesh that which He forever possesses along with the Father
and Holy Spirit. Therefore He says: 'Go, baptize all nations,
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Spirit. 3 He wanted one and the same Power which had
created all the nations unto life to create them again unto
salvation.
'And behold, 3 He says, 'I am with you all days, even unto
the consummation of the world. 3 He who is always with the
Father is always with us; and He will come to us by means
of that which He took from us.
Why should I say more, brethren? The fact that He was
born, suffered, arose, and welcomed all this does not spring
from any need of His, but it pertains to our own salvation.
8 2 Cor. 5.19.
SERMONS 133
SERMON 83
Christ Appears to the Eleven Disciples at Table
(On Mark 16.14-20)
Thus the holy Evangelist has told us today that within
the very time of the Crucifixion the Apostles were concerned
with the table; that they were gazing at foods^ concerned
about banquets, and forgetful of the Lord's Passion. He
states: 'He appeared to the eleven as they were reclining at
table.'
Reclining where? At the tomb of their Master, and then
soon at table, these servants? Is this the loyalty of servants? Is
this the charity of disciples? Is this the ardor of Peter? Is
this the love of John who raised himself from Chirst's own
bosom? Is this the affection they gained through so long a
time, and through such great gifts and virtues? Right after
His Passion, when His death still burns the mind and His
burial still haunts the memory, when His enemies are re-
joicing and all Judea scoffing were the disciples then tak-
ing their meal with all the comforts of the banquet couches
and all the pleasures of those who recline at table?
At the death of Moses the angels were present, 1 and God
Himself took care of his burial. The Jews kept their camp
in one place, halted their journey, endured a dreadful delay
in the desert, enjoined thirty days of mourning and honored
this body of a servant by these obsequies of thirty days. 2
Therefore, did not the true Christ, the one Lord, the Creator
of the world, the Redeemer of all men did not He deserve
tears from His disciples three days after His tragic passion
and death, the death of the Cross?
1 Jude 9.
2 Deut. 34.5-8.
134 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
The earth trembled, hell was disturbed, rocks were split,
tombs were opened, the sun disappeared, the day was buried,
everything became dark. And were the disciples alone feast-
ing on delights, free from care, on high couches in one crowd,
at perfect leisure? Is this, brethren, what the Master Himself
found upon His return from below? Therefore he appeared
to the Eleven as they were reclining at table; and he up-
braided them for their lack of faith and hardness of heart,
in that they had not believed those who had seen him after
he had risen. 5
O faithful Peter, Peter so devoted, what shall we say about
these words? 'While they were reclining at table.' Were they
also eating? Brethren, the whole case was not one of reclining
at a feast, but of lying prostrate in grief. The Apostles were
not a convivial crowd, but an assembly of mourners. The
bread there was that of grief, not joy. The cups were filled
with the bitterness of the Cross, not the sweetness of wine.
'The disciples, 5 says Scripture, 'were shut within for fear
of the Jews. 5 If they were in fear and shut within, they surely
were not feasting. And if they were not enjoying a meal, that
was not a home but a jail. Theirs was not a banquet couch,
but a tomb. At that time, all the distress of the Lord's passion
had passed over to His disciples. The whole lance of sorrow
was piercing not only their sides, but their very hearts. Their
hands and feet were held fast by the nails of the clinging
grief. The bitter spirit of the Jews was then giving them
vinegar and gall to drink. For them the sun had set and
the day had waned. At that time severe temptation of
thought was dashing them against the crags of infidelity to
shipwreck their faith. Despair, which is worse than all evils
and is in adversity always the last one to arrive, was already
laying them out in sombre tombs.
Consequently, as we mentioned, the Lord found the disci-
ples not reclining to eat, not feasting, but lying in grief and
SERMONS 135
buried. So He upbraided them for their lack of faith. They
had given so much belief to their despair that they had none
for the Resurrection foretold by the Lord, and none for His
servants who announced its occurrence. Consequently, they
retained nothing conducive to faith and salvation. Dead to
the world, and buried as far as the world was concerned,
they already believed that they all had but one abode, that is,
one tomb.
Wherefore, when the Lord saw that they had withdrawn
themselves from the world, He called them to the world.
He sent them back into it by the words : 'Go into the whole
world and preach the gospel to every creature.' Come into
the world, that you who think you now lie prostrate in one
abode may quickly see the whole world lying subject to you.
'Come into the whole world, preach the gospel to every
creature.' This is to say: You be the hope of all, you who
have been the cause of despair to your very selves. Test how
great your unbelief has been. Test it then when you will
see the world believing what you preach you who could
not believe your own sight. Know how great is your hardness
of heart. Know it then when you will perceive the wildest
nations throughout the world acknowledging Me although
they have not seen Me Me whom you denied when I was
before your eyes. You will observe men scattered all over
the earth men secluded on islands, or dwelling on cliffs,
or living in remote deserts; superficial magi of the East, quar-
relsome Greeks, and skillful Romans you will observe them
seeking by faith alone the belief which you sought by insert-
ing hand and finger into My open wounds. However, since
I am sending you as witnesses of My Passion, Death, and Res-
urrection, I have allowed you to scrutinize those wounds more
carefully in the hope that your own hesitation will become
a source of strength for those who will believe you.
'He who believes,' He continues, 'and is baptized will be
136 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
saved.' Brethren, faith is to baptism what the soul is to the
body. Hence it is that he who is generated from the font lives
by faith: 'He who is just lives by faith.' 3 Therefore, everyone
who lacks faith dies.
'He who believes' believes that the Trinity is one God;
that in the Father and Son and the Holy Spirit there is one
Majesty with full equality; that the Godhead is distinct in
regard to the Trinity, not confused in the unity; rather,
that it is clearly one with respect to the Godhead, and three-
fold with respect to the Persons; that God is the name of
the Trinity; that the Father and the Son should not be
thought such according to an order of dignity, but according
to their relationship of love; that the Holy Spirit should
not be regarded as a Being more or less inferior nor more
or less exterior, since divinity cannot have exterior parts;
that Christ became man in such a way that what is God
remains, and He died in such a way that by His death He
called the dead of the centuries back to life; that He arose
not for His own sake, but for ours; that He raised us into
heaven when He ascended there Himself; that He sits there
to exercise the authority of judge, not as one weary and seek-
ing rest; that He who, as far as movement goes, is already
everywhere, will come, not in regard to place, nor will He
who already possesses the whole world come to hold it fast,
but He will come in order that the world may make itself
more worthy to see its Creator.
Man should also believe in forgiveness of sins, because,
although the heavenly region is very spacious, it does not
admit the sinner. Neither should a man despair over the
magnitude of his sins. For, if there is one sin which God
cannot forgive, He is not omnipotent. Man should believe
in the resurrection of the body, that is, that it is the man
himself who arises. He who sins is to incur punishment and
3 Rom. 1.17.
SERMONS 137
he who labors is to get a reward. He should believe in ever-
lasting life, to keep a second death from occurring.
In addition to this, the greatest indication of firm faith
consists in the following signs. The devils, that is, the ancient
foes, get exorcised from human bodies. One language intel-
ligible in many others conies forth from one mouth. Serpents
grasped in the name of Christ lose the power of their venom.
Through Christ, cups of poison have no power to harm those
who drink them. Bodily diseases are cured at the touch of
one who preaches Christ. 'These signs/ He says, 'will attend
those who believe: in my name they shall cast out devils;
they shall speak in new tongues; they shall take up serpents;
and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them;
they shall lay hands upon the sick and they shall get well.'
Therefore, O man, be a physician to yourself through your
faith, to keep from being forced to employ other physicians
at your expense and to buy at great prices what you already
have free of charge. Pray, brethren, that in the present life
we may always be aware of the medicine of faith. Pray
that when we are awaiting Christ and He is on the point
of coming, we may be free from anxiety and exult because
of our good conscience.
SERMON 88
The Angel Announces the Birth of John the Baptist
(On Luke 1.5-17)
To be always in debt is disturbing, brethren. To be ever
bound by the chains of paying interest is depressing. But it is
my own promise which has often made me a debtor to you;
and that promise gives me a certain amusement because of
138 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
the nature and obligation of such a debt. For, he who
promises gives; he does not receive. And he who owes
through giving makes himself into a creditor who is obliged
to pay to himself. Where the leaner is also the debtor, and
the debtor is the one who has done the loaning, there the
contract is evidently one springing from friendship, not
necessity. Moreover, in such gaining of interest, the interest
gets quickly paid as something not burdensome to the soul,
but honorable and delightful.
After the Gospel described the appearance of the angel
to the priest Zachary, it added: 'And Zachary, seeing him,
was troubled, and fear fell upon him.' A man who always
worries and trembles about the arrival of a public servant
is fearful of the power of a judge. He estimates the merits
of the command in accordance with the importance of the
person who comes. Although his conscience is good he fears
until he knows the reasons why the messenger came, and
undrstands his quality. If all this is true, then what will the
weak nature of man do, and with what trembling will it
fear, when it perceives a heavenly power? When man gazes
on an angel, and beholds a messenger from God's abode?
Flesh is never fully secure of its own conscience. This is
proved by the case of Zachary of whom we now speak. He
offended within the very time of propitiating. While he was
believing he doubted, as the angel 1 made clear. 'Because
thou has not believed my word.' While he was meriting
an answer to his prayers, he committed a fault. He incurred
blame while he was receiving the very gifts. While he was
hearing a voice 2 he lost his own.
Consequently, before the angel disclosed his commission,
or conferred the gifts, or gave the answers to the prayers,
1 Luke 1.20.
2 Or possibly: receiving 'the Voice/ namely, John the Baptist, the 'voice
of one crying in the desert 1 (John 1.23) .
SERMONS 139
he dispelled Zachary's fear, banished his awe, and comforted
his spirit so disturbed by confusing thought. He wanted the
mind which had fled from itself through excessive fear to
return to itself and then to perceive and grasp such great
bounty. Do not be afraid, Zachary,' he said, 'for thy peti-
tion has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth shall bear thee
a son, and thou shalt call his name John.'
Do you think that this distinguished priest forgot the
people and the congregation to such an extent that he asked
about his aged wife's conceiving, and about the childbirth
of her who was barren beyond hope; that he, the advocate
of all, prayed for himself alone; that he restricted this great
function of his priesthood to his own domestic cares, shut
it up within the narrow limits of his household and used
it only there; that this veteran high priest applied the in-
cense of the entire nation only to his personal desire to have
a son; and that because of such a desire this old man, al-
ready looking back on his years, was enkindled to have a
child long past the natural time?
Far from it, brethren, far from it! Let no faithful soul
entertain such a suspicion about holy Zachary ! Yet the angel
does refer the effect of Zachary's entire prayer to this: Thy
petition has been heard, and thy wife Elizabeth will bear
thee a son.' If the angel is replying to a petition, the priest
begged only for a son. If the priest made his supplication
for all the people, why did the angel bring an answer only
in regard to the son?
What do we hold? Why are we holding the minds of our
hearers so long in suspense? How truly that venerable priest
was present there, not for his own benefit alone, but for
that of all! How truly the angel replied for all! In the case
of that priest's son, how truly God looked far ahead ! God had
chosen that son for all parents and for all nature, unto this
purpose : to give him to all men, to present him to the ages,
140 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
and offer him to all nations; to be a son destined for sacred
rites; 3 since his birth was announced amid the sacred pre-
cincts of the Temple and granted amid its sacred rites; to
be a high priest sprung from a venerable high priest, an
angel conceived into a holy womb at the voice of an angel;
to be the voice of Christ: 'I am the voipe of one crying in
the desert' ; 4 to be the voice of Christ, preserved for Christ
at His own hour; to be the herald who was to proclaim
the presence of the Judge; to be one who would through
penance summon the peoples of Christ to forgiveness.
Therefore, how truly did that priest Zachary act for all !
that priest already unaware of himself, already dead to him-
self, away from his wife, denied offspring. How truly did he
get prayers answered for all! Let us learn this quickly from
the angel's words: 'And many will rejoice at his birth. 5 He
who was created for the joy of all was not born for one
alone. 'For he shall be great before the Lord,' Who shall
show how great among men is he who is great before the
Lord?
c He shall drink no wine or strong drink.' He who was
born from the holy body of a priest, and that in his old age
when he was cleansed from all vices and free from the hot
passions of youth he knows not wine and keeps away from
strong drink. They beget the excesses of drunkenness and
vices; they dissipate all propriety of manners and beautiful
virtues.
'He shall drink no wine or strong drink, and shall be
filled with the Holy Spirit from his mother's womb.' How
this conforms with the Apostle's admonition: 'Brethren, do
not be drunk with wine, for in that is debauchery; but be
filled with the Holy Spirit/ 5 'And he shall be filled with the
3 Reading sacramentis, with S. Pauli.
4 John 1.23.
5 Eph. 5.18.
SERMONS 141
Holy Spirit from his mother's womb.' Fortunate is John,
who through the spirit of God deserved to express his joy
before he uttered any infant cries. Fortunate is he who
deserved to possess divine benefits before he got human goods.
Fortunate is he who deserved acquaintance with heaven
sooner than with earth. Fortunate is he who deserved to
announce future events before he saw any present ones. For-
tunate is he who could receive God before he was received into
his own body. Fortunate, yes outstandingly fortunate, is he
who acquired merit before he knew how to seek it. Fortunate
is he who did not come to grace through toil, but was en-
nobled by grace and then proceeded to his labors.
The text continues: 'And many of the children of Israel
he shall bring back.' To whom? Let the angel tell, that the
heretic 6 may be silenced in his blasphemies and denials. Let
the angel tell, that the faithful soul may hear and rejoice.
Let the heretic believe and return. 'He shall bring back. 3
To whom? To the Lord their God, 3 the text says.
Who is this God? He is the One of whom the Prophet
states: 'This is our God, and there is no other apart from
him. He found out all the way of knowledge and gave it
to Jacob his servant, and to Israel his beloved.' 7 When
did He give it? Then, indeed, when he wrote on the tablets
of the Law a rule for the whole of life and a norm of
disciplinary control. Be attentive, my hearer, that you may
know who this our God is, apart from whom there is no
other. Who is He? 'Afterwards He was seen upon earth and
conversed with men.' 8
Who else was seen upon earth save Christ, who conversed
in our flesh? And who else conversed with men, save He
who tarried with men in His human body? And if He is
6 He refers to the Arians, Cf. Introduction, pp. 10-11.
7 Bar. 3.36,37.
8 Bar. 3.38.
142 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
our God and there is no other apart from Him O heretic,
since you will not have Him, whom will you have? There
is no other/ Scripture says, 'apart from Him.' And now
do you not say: 'Where, therefore, is the Father?' The
Prophet says: There is no other apart from Him.' And
where is He [the Father]? Assuredly, in the Son, because
the Father is not apart from the Son. 'I am in the Father,'
He says, 'and the Father is in me.' 9 Wherefore, too, the
Prophet did not say: There is no other'; what he said was:
There is no other apart from Him.' This is to say: There
is Another, but He is in Him.
But you object: 'And if He is in Him, how is He Another?'
O heretic, He is Another in regard to His Person, in such
a way that He Himself is the substance; and He Himself
is the substance in such a way that the Trinity is not some-
thing put together. There is a unity of the Trinity in such
a way that there is no separation in the Godhead. The Father
is in Himself in such a way (and without Him the Trinity is
not complete) that a distinct personality is in the Father and
one in the Son and one in the Holy Spirit, but not a separate
divinity,
'And he himself shall go before him.' Before whom? Be-
fore Christ, who is their God. Our God, the God of all,
God apart from whom their is no other. 'In the power of
Elias.' Let no one upon hearing this bring the transmigra-
tion of souls into his interpretation. Here the angel is speak-
ing of that spirit which John gained through divine grace,
not of that one which he acquired to vivify his body. Also,
he is speaking of that power which he had from above, not
that which he acquired for the sake of his bodily strength.
Therefore, John comes in the spirit of Elias, and he walks in
his power. To sum up, by his food, clothing, honor, chastity,
9 John 14.11.
SERMONS 143
abstinence, and all virtues, he represented both Elias and
Christ.
To prepare for the Lord a perfect people.' May our God
and Lord deign to prepare this in your own case, too, unto
the glory of His name.
SERMON 93
The Conversion of Magdalen
(On Luke 7.36-38)
Perhaps the hearer is surprised and troubled that Christ
came to a dinner, and to the dinner of a Pharisee at that.
However, He entered the Pharisee's house not to take the Jew-
ish foods, but to dispense divine mercy. He reclined at table,
not to partake of the cups made savory with honey and
crowned with flowers, but to draw tears from other founts
the very eyes of a penitent. God's hunger is for the groans
of delinquents, and His thirst is for the tears of sinners.
'Now one of the Pharisees/ the Gospel says, 'asked him
to dine with him; so he went into the house of the Pharisee
and reclined at table. And behold, a woman in the town
who was a sinner, upon learning that he was at table in
the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster jar of ointment;
and standing behind him at his feet, she began to bathe his
feet with her tears, and wipe them with the hair of her
head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with ointment.'
You perceive that Christ came to the Pharisee's table not
to be filled with food for the body, but to carry on the
business of heaven while He was in the flesh. He came not
to sample the viands placed before Him in the human
fashion, but to give divine approval to the deeds done be-
144 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
hind His back. For, we know that Christ always exercised
divine virtues through human acts. All His deeds, even those
which He performed in His body, were proved to be new
and beyond the practices of men.
The Pharisee asked Christ to eat. What did the woman
who was not asked seek there? A stranger does not burst
into the interior of a house. An uninvited man does not dare
to enter its private banquet room. A reckless spectator does
not dare to disturb the foods made ready to relax spirits
weary after labor. Why, then, does this woman, unknown
or rather of bad reputation burdened with grief, weeping
copiously, lamenting aloud, with the doorkeeper unaware,
and everyone else, too, even the Shepherd Himself why
does she run through all the doors, pass through all the
groups of servants, fly even to the private hall of the banquet,
and turn the whole house of joy into one of lamentation
and wailing?
Brethren, she did not come uninvited; she was under
command. She entered not as one rashly daring, but as one
ushered in. He who ordered her to be absolved by a heavenly
judgment is the One who caused her to be brought to Him-
self. The well-dressed Pharisee was reclining at the first place
on his banquet couch, swelling with pride before the very
eyes of Christ. In order to please men, not God, he was gaily
engrossed in his banquet. At that time the woman came.
She came up from behind, because a guilty soul seeking
pardon stands behind the pardoner's back. She knew that
because of her guilt she had lost the confidence to stand
before His face.
When she came, she came to make satisfaction to God, not
to please men. She came to provide a banquet of devotion,
not of pleasure. She set a table of repentance, served courses
of compunction and the bread of sorrow. She mixed the
drink with tears in proper measure, and to the full delight
SERMONS 145
of God she struck music from her heart and body. She
produced the organ tones of her lamentations, played upon
the zither by her long and rhythmical sighs, and fitted her
groans to the flute. While she kept striking her breast in
reproach to her conscience she made the cymbals resound
which would please God. While she set foods like these before
God's sight, she received abundant mercy.
'Behold, a woman in the town who was a sinner. 3 The
Evangelist enlarges her crime in order to magnify the for-
giveness of her pardoner. 'A sinner in the town.' She had
sinned in the town, because by her own reputation she had
stained that of the whole town. Thus she was not only a
sinner now, but she had become a source of sin 1 for the
whole city. She knew that the sin of the town could not be
taken away save by Him alone who alone had come to blot
out sin.
'Upon learning that he was at table in the Pharisee's
house' The sinner did not dare to approach when He was
either standing or sitting. For, when God stands He is correct-
ing, and when he sits He is acting as Judge. But when He re-
clines, He lies beside those who are prostrate in sorrow.
'Upon learning that he was at table in the Pharisee's
house.' She learned that the heavenly majesty was prone
to show mercy. Therefore, she believed He would be quick
to show mercy to her He who had been so quick to come
to the Pharisee's table.
'She brought an alabaster jar of ointment.' She brought
oil, because she sought from the heavenly physician medicine
for a deadly wound.
'Standing behind him at his feet.' One who seeks pardon
always hastens near to the feet. Well was she standing, for
one who deserved to come to the feet of Christ could not
1 Either she brought that reputation upon the city; or her bad example
unleashed sin, in the sense of concupiscence as in Rom. 6.6,12,14,17,20.
146 SAINT PETER CHRVSOLOGUS
then fall down. 'Standing behind him at his feet' that she
who had traveled the way of death might follow the foot-
steps of Christ and travel the way of life.
'She began to bathe his feet with her tears.' See how the
order of nature is changed. It is always the heavens which
give rain to the earth. Yet, behold! now, the earth irrigates
the heavens; even more, the rain of human tears has leaped
above the heavens and all the way up to the Lord Himself.
Consequently, the verse of the Psalmist may be sung also
about the waters of tears: 'And let all the waters that are
above the heavens praise the name of the Lord.' 2
'She began to bathe his feet with her tears.' Oh, what
power there is in the tears of sinners! They irrigate the
heavens, wash the earth, extinguish hell fire, blot out the
condemnation promulgated by God against every sin.
'She wiped them with the hair of her head. 5 She washed
the Lord's feet with her tears, and wiped them with her hair.
Poverty no longer suffices as an excuse; hard-heartedness
will not be pardoned, for what we have from nature is alto-
gether sufficient to do service to the Creator.
'She wiped them with the hairs of her head.' The water
came back upon the head of the sinner to purge away her
sins, in order that she might have a new baptism, and from
her own fount wash away the silt of her sins.
'She wiped them with the hairs of her head' that by
this service to use the Psalmist's terminology she might
turn into a means of satisfaction 'the hairy crown' 3 by which
she had walked on in her sins.
'And she kissed his feet.' Her interceding tears had gone
beforehand, that the kisses of her devotion might follow. For
tears are an evidence of satisfaction, and kisses are a proof
of reconciliation.
2 Ps. 148.43.
3 Ps. 6752.
SERMONS 147
'And she anointed them with ointment.' We know from
another Evangelist 4 that a woman poured the oil on the
Lord's head. Consequently, what this woman did was not
a matter of soft pampering of the flesh, but a sacred
function of whole-souled human kindness. For, God is in the
head of Christ, and in the feet of those who preach the
gospel of peace. 5
Pray, brethren, that we, too, may deserve somehow to
be reckoned as part of the unguent of Christ, and be anointed
with the ointment which flows from the feet of the Saviour.
For, just as there is an oblation when an ointment is offered,
so is a chrism perfect when it flows back from the feet of
the Lord.
With God's help we shall explain what it is of which that
woman is a type, 6 or how great a mystery she prefigures,
when we set forth the matters in the following sermons.
SERMON 95
The Conversion of Magdalen Allegorically Interpreted
(On Luke 7.36-50)
All the deeds which Christ is reported to have performed
while He was in His body on earth are based on historical
truth in such a way that they are always found to be replete
with heavenly symbols. In our two preceding sermons we
have already treated what was on the surface of the Gospel
text. Therefore, pray that through the light of the Holy
Spirit we may, as we promised, lay open its deeper meanings.
4 Matt. 26.7.
5 Rom. 10.15.
6 She is a type of the Church, as Sermon 95 makes dear.
148 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
A sermon is unworthy if it uses nothing more than human
exposition to penetrate what God has done.
The text says: 'Now one of the Pharisees asked him to
dine with him. 9 Brethren, the Pharisee is called the Catholic
of the Jews, for he believes in the resurrection, and disagrees
with the Sadducee who denies it. That is why this Pharisee
invited Christ, that is, the Author of the resurrection, to
dine with him. For, he who dines with Christ cannot die.
Indeed, he lives forever.
'He asked the Lord to dine with him. 9 You ask, O
Pharisee, to dine with Him. Believe, be a Christian, that
you may feed upon Him. 'I am the bread,? He says, 'that has
come down from heaven.' 1 God always gives greater gifts
than He is asked for. He was being asked to give the hope
of eating with Him, and He gave Himself as food to be eaten.
Moreover, He granted all this in such a way that He did
not refuse that which He was asked for. Does He not prom-
ise 2 this of His own accord to His disciples? 'You who have
continued with me will eat and drink at my table in my
kingdom.' O Christian, what that is His can He, who here
gave Himself to you to be eaten, refuse to you in the future?
He who prepared such great provisions to sustain you on
your journey, what has He not prepared for you in that
everlasting abode? 'You will eat at my table in my kingdom. 9
You have heard about the banquet of God; do not be
anxious about the quality of this banquet. He who deserves
to be present at a king's table will eat whatever the king
possesses through his power and control of his kingdom.
Similarly, he who comes to the banquet of the Creator will
have among his enjoyments whatever is contained in crea-
tion. But, let us return to what we intended to say.
'So he went into the house of the Pharisee.' Into what
1 John 6.51.
2 Cf. Luke 2258,30.
SERMONS 149
house? Assuredly, it was into the Synagogue that He went
and reclined at table. Brethren, Christ reclined at table in
the Synagogue during the time when He reposed in the
grave, but He transmitted His body to the table of the
Church, that this flesh from heaven might be a help to
salvation for the nations who would eat it. 'Unless you
eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink of his blood,
you shall not have life in you.' 3 Those who have been in-
structed in the heavenly mysteries 4 know how the flesh of
Christ is eaten, and how His blood is drunk.
'And behold,' it says, { a woman in the town who was
a sinner.' Who is this woman? Beyond any doubt, she is the
Church. 'A sinner in the city. 3 In what city? In that one
of which the Prophet had said: 'How is the faithful city, Sion,
become a harlot?' 5 And elsewhere he said: 'I have seen
iniquity and contradiction in the city, and in the midst
thereof are iniquity, labor and injustice. And usury and
deceit have not departed from its streets.' 6 Therefore, the
Gospel text refers to a city full of perfidy; a city surrounded
by walls, fortified by towers of pride, criss-crossed by streets
of iniquities, locked up by gates of quarrels, blackened by
the smoke of deceit, hardened by flintstones of usury, aggra-
vated by vexations of business, and disgraced by houses of
ill repute, that is, by temples of the idols. It was in this city
that this woman, that is, the Church, was bearing up under
the depressing guilt which sprang from the heavy silt of so
many past sins.
But then she heard that Christ had come to the house
of the Pharisee that is, to the Synagogue. She heard that
3 John 6.54,
4 sacramenta, referring to the dtsriplina arcani. In many cases the
catchumens were not told about the Eucharist.
5 Isa. 1.21.
6 Ps. 54.10,12.
150 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
there that is, at the Jewish Pasch He had instituted the
mysteries of His Passion, disclosed the Sacrament of His
Body and Blood, and revealed the secret of our Redemption.
She ignored the Scribes like contemptible doorkeepers. 'Woe
to you lawyers ! you who have taken away the key of knowl-
edge.' 7 She broke open the doors of quarrels, and despised
the very superiority of the Pharisaical group. Ardent, pant-
ing, perspiring, she made her way to the large inner chamber
of the banquet of the Law. There she learned that Christ,
betrayed amid sweet cups and a banquet of love, had died
through the fraud of the Jews, according to the Prophet's
statement: Tor if my enemy had reviled me, I would verily
have borne with it. And if he that hated me had spoken
evil things against me, I would perhaps have hidden my-
self from him. But thou, a man of one mind, my guide, and
familiar, who didst take sweetmeats together with me: in
the house of God we walked with consent.' 8
'Upon learning that he was at table in the Pharisee's house'
that is, that in the Synagogue He had been sentenced
altogether unjustly through every conceivable pretext, had
suffered, been crucified, and buried. Nevertheless, the Church
does not let that great injury inflicted on Him deter her
from fervor of faith. Instead, she carries her ointment, she
bears the oil of Christian chrism. She has not deserved to
see the bodily face of Christ. Therefore, she stands behind
Him, not in place but in time. She clings to His footsteps
that she may follow Him. And soon she pours out tears of
desire more than of regret, that she may deserve to see Him
when He returns, whom she did not deserve to see when He
was going away. Therefore, with welling love she sheds her
tears upon the feet of the Lord. With her hands of good works
she holds the feet of those who preach His kingdom. She
washes them with tears of charity, kisses them with prais-
7 Luke 11 .52.
8 Ps. 54.13-15.
SERMONS 151
ing lips, and pours out the whole ointment of mercy, until
He will turn her (what means this word, turn? It means,
come back) until He will come back to her and say
to Simon, say to the Pharisees, say to those who deny, say
to the nation of the Jews: 'I came into thy house; thou
gavest me no water for my feet/
And when will He speak these words? When He will
come in the majesty of His Father, and separate the just
from the unjust, like a shepherd who separates the sheep
from the goats, and will say: 'I was hungry and you did
not give me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me no drink;
I was a stranger and you did not take me in.' 9 This is
tantamount to saying: But this woman while she was bathing
my feet, anointing them, and kissing them, she did to the
servants 10 what you did not do for the Master, she did
for the feet what you refused to the Head, she expended
upon the lowliest members what you refused to your Creator.
Then He will say to the Church: Your sins, many as they
are, are forgiven you because you have loved much. For
the remission of sins will take place then when all occasion
of sin will be taken away, when all the matters conducive
to sin will be gone, when corruptibility will put on incor-
ruptibility, when mortality will take a place behind immor-
tality, the flesh of sin will become flesh altogether holy,
earthly slavery will be exchanged for heavenly domination,
and the human army will be raised aloft into the divine
kingdom.
Pray, brethren, that we, too, placed in a section of the
Church, may merit to arrive at the benefits we have enumer-
ated, through the gift of Christ Himself. To Him, along
with the Holy Spirit, is there honor and glory forever.
Amen.
9 Matt. 25.42.
10 The 'least of the servants' referred to in Matt. 2542.
152 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
SERMON 96
The Parable of the Cockle
(On Matt. 13.24-30)
If the words or deeds of Christ would always be completely
grasped by our bodily powers of perception, my mind would
grow weary, my ingenuity would be unchallenged and dor-
mant, my heart would pine away, and whatever human vigor
or energy I have would be extinguished.
The Gospel text states: 'He set a parable before them. 5
A potential spark is cold in the flint, and lies hidden in the
steel, but it is brought into flame when the steel and flint
are struck together. In similar manner, when an obscure
word is brought together with its meaning, it begins to glow.
Surely, if there were not mystical meanings, 1 no distinction
would remain between the infidel 2 and the faithful, between
the wicked man and the devout one. The devout man
would be like a proud one, the lazy man like a toiler, the
watchful man like a sleeper. But, as things are, when the
soul asks, the mind knocks, the power of perception seeks,
piety hopes, faith demands, and studious attention deserves
it, the one who labors in perspiration does see fruit appear.
The lazy man, by contrast, is seen to suffer a penalty. The
uprightness of a giver appears, too, because things received
as gifts give more pleasure than those already possessed, and
those newly discovered delight us more than those we have
long understood. This is why Christ veils His doctrine by
parables, covers it with figures, hides it under symbols, 3
make it obscure by mysteries.
1 Mystica, meaning symbolical, typical. Cf. Sermon 2 nn. 7,9.
2 Reading infidelem fidelemque, with S. Pauli.
3 sacramentis. On this meaning, cf. DeGhellinck, Pour I'histoire du mot
sacramentum 54, and Souier, Glossary.
SERMONS 153
'He set a parable before them.' Before them, that is, not
before His own, but before strangers who are His enemies,
not His friends; before those gazing intently to find a cause
of calumny, not before those listening to gain salvation. 'This
is why I speak to them in parables,' the Gospel relates, 'be-
cause seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear,
neither do they understand.' 4 Why? Because he who mis-
represents past benefits does not deserve to see present ones,
and one who hid the Law to keep it from becoming known is
not worthy to recognize Grace. 'Woe to you lawyers !' another
Gospel warns. 'Because you have taken away the key of
knowledge; you have not entered yourselves, and those who
were entering you have hindered. 55
'He set before them a parable, saying, The kingdom is
like to a man. 3 In what respect did Christ give offense
when He was made like unto man, 6 in order to help the
perishing human race? Does the Lord give scandal if, to
free His slaves, He appears in the form of their slavery?
Then look! Does He give scandal when He compares His
future majesty, His second coming, and His kingdom to
a man?
The kingdom, 9 it says, 'is like a man who sowed good
seed in his field; but while men were asleep his enemy came
and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 3 You
have heard how the Sower of the world sowed the good
principles of things and how no evil proceeded from the
Author of the original sowing. The evil is an addition sowed
by an Enemy. The evil was not brought forth by the parent
of things. 'God saw that all he had made was very good,' 7
Scripture relates. Good, and very good. For, when God
4 Matt. 13.13.
5 Luke 11.52.
6 Phil. 2.7.
7 Gen. 1.31.
154 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
made the universe He called it clean; and when the Enemy
was striving to undo it, he made it unclean. God placed
man in Paradise that he might have a life of delights. But
that foe dragged man down into this life of toil, and brought
him to death. God implanted affection as something natural
in human flesh. But that foe through his envy changed that
affection into parricide. Cain 8 proves this, for he was the
first to stain the earth with a brother's blood. He was the
genuine originator of murder to get rid of a brother. That is
how death which springs from strife always splits human
love and keeps it asunder.
To take up all the cases would be tedious. Hence, we
feel compelled to show at least by a few examples how the
enemy has always sowed evil plants among the good, vices
among virtues, deathly things among the life giving, in order
to achieve our destruction.
Did not God people the whole earth from one man? Did
not this loving Sower start the human race from one seed
and multiply it until it became an extensive and promising
harvest? But soon the enemy reduced all the men to one
again. By sowing evil on top of what had been well sown,
he got that promising harvest blotted out by the Deluge,
rather than merely watered. In similar manner, the Law
was sown of divine and true precepts. But he got it obscured
by human and deceitful machinations. Consequently, the priest
became a persecutor, the teacher became a corrupter, and
the defender of the Law became an enemy.
Creatures were made in order to bring about recognition
of their Creator. But, to make God go unknown, the Devil
told the lie that these creatures were gods. In this way he
turned the wise men of this world into fools. He taught the
contemplators of this world to see nothing. He caused the
professors of wisdom to have no knowledge. He sent the
8 Gen. 4.8.
SERMONS 155
investigators of alt things away ignorant. On top of the
growing crop of the Gospel, sown with the seed from heaven,
he sowed heretical cockle. Thus the Enemy caused a puzzling
mixture, that he might make the sheaves of faith bundles
for hell, that no wheat might get stored in the barns of
heaven. Why should I say more? After he himself was
changed from an angel into a devil, he hastened to use
ingenuity, tricks, devices, and deceit to keep any creature 9
from remaining secure in its own state.
But now let us open up the words of the present parable
The kingdom of heaven is like to a man.' To what man?
Assuredly, to Christ. 'Who sowed good seed' because the
nature of the Creator can put no evil in the very seed of
things. 'In his field' that is, in the world, as the Lord Him-
self says: The field is the world. 10
'But while men were asleep' that is, the holy fathers,
patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, who were resting for
a time in the deep sleep of death. For, the death of the
saints is a sleep, but that of the sinners is truly a death,
in so far as in hell they live only for punishment. As far
as life is concerned, the sinners perish.
'His enemy came,' that is, the Devil. 'And sowed weeds.'
He sowed the weeds on top of the good seed; he did not sow
them above themselves. The good things of the Creator pre-
cede, the evil things of the Devil follow afterwards, so that
the evil which is from the Devil may be an accident, not a
nature.
'He sowed weeds among the wheat' because the Devil
has become accustomed to sow of his own accord heresies
among the faithful, sin among the saints, quarrels among
the peaceful, deceptions among the simple, and wickedness
among the innocent. He does this not to acquire the weeds
9 Reading creatura, with S. Pauli.
10 Matt. 13.38.
156 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
of cockle, but to destroy the wheat; not to capture the guilty
ones, but to steal away the innocent. An enemy seeks the
leader rather than a soldier. He does not besiege the dead
but attacks the living. Thus, the Devil is not seeking to cap-
ture sinners whom he already has under his dominion, but
is laboring thus to ensnare the just.
c He sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away'
because with great might the Devil drives men towards
destruction. But, after he has prostrated someone, he aban-
dons him. The Devil seeks not the man, but his destruction.
Brethren, he rejoices over our evils, he swells with pride over
our ruin, he grows strong from our wounds, he thirsts after
our blood, he is sated from our flesh, he lives by our death.
The Devil does not wish to possess a man, but to destroy
him. Why? Because he does not wish, he does not dare,
he does not allow the man to arrive at the heaven from
which the Devil fell.
Our sermon is detaining us rather long today. Therefore
let us postpone what remains, in order that this work, our
common task, may be lighter for us all, and also that we
may give fuller consideration to the matters yet to be said.
May our God deign to give me the grace of speaking and
you the desire of hearing.
SERMON 98
The Parable of the Grain of Mustard Seed
(On Luke 13.18,19)
Today, brethren, you have heard how all the greatness
of the kingdom of heaven has been compared to a grain of
mustard seed. This analogue is something so small, so tiny;
SERMONS 157
indeed, it is the tiniest of tiny things. How can it contain
such great power? The Lord says that it does: 'What is
the kingdom of God like, and to what shall I liken it?'
When He says: 'What is it like?' He shows and works
up the attitude of one who is searching. He alone is the
Word, the Fountain of knowledge, the River of copious
speech; He waters the hearts of all, opens their powers of
perception, augments their talent. Is He now having diffi-
culty in finding a comparison?
But let us hear what He did find. The kingdom of heaven,'
the text says, 'is like a grain of mustard seed. 5 Searching in
heaven and on earth, does He find nothing exfcept the grain
of mustard seed by which to indicate the full power of the
heavenly kingdom? That kingdom is uniquely mighty, blessed
with everlasting duration, resplendent in its divinity, spread
throughout heaven, and expanded over all the earth. Does
He force and insert it within the narrow limits of a grain
of mustard seed?
The kingdom is like a grain of mustard seed. 3 Is that
the complete hope of those who believe? Is that the highest
expectation of the faithful? Is that the happiness which
the virgins gain by their long struggles for continence?
Is that the glory acquired by the shedding of all the blood
of the martyrs? Is that what 'eye has not seen nor ear heard,
nor has it entered into the heart of man? 31 Is that what
the Apostle promises has been prepared, through an inde-
scribable mystery, for those who love God?
Brethren, let us not be easily troubled over the Lord's
words. For if 'the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and
the weakness of God is stronger than men, 32 this tiniest crea-
ture of God is found to be something more magnificent
than all the greatness of the world. Oh, if we would only
1 1 Cor. 2.9.
2 1 Cor. 1.25.
158 SAINT PETER GHRYSOLOGUS
sow this grain of mustard seed in our minds in such a
way that it will grow into a great tree of knowledge, and
through the full height of understanding be raised toward
the sky; that it will spread out into all the branches of the
sciences; that it will burn our tingling mouths with the
pungent taste of its seed! Thus it will burn for us with all
the fire of its seed, and break into flame in our heart, and
through the pleasure of taste it gives us take away all the
insipidity of our ignorance.
The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed,
which a man took and cast into his own garden; and it
grew and became a large tree, and the birds of the air
dwelt in its branches.' As the text says, the kingdom of
God is like a grain of mustard seed, because the kingdom
is brought by a word from heaven, is received through hear-
ing, is sown by faith, takes root through belief, grows by
hope,, is diffused by profession, expands through virtue, and
is spread out into branches. To these branches it invites the
birds of heaven, that is, the powers of spiritual insight. In
those branches it receives them in a peaceful abode.
Let the heretic come, let him come, for entrance into the
Church is always open to those who return. Let him come,
let him hear, and let him now cease to bark against the
Lord's love. If all the majesty of the heavenly kingdom is
like a grain of mustard seed, why does the heretic complain 3
that God came down into human nature, that the Lord
descended into the form of a slave? For, He came in such
a way, O heretic, that the whole matter should grow in
importance to you through your faith, just as it waned when
you relied on nature.
The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed.'
Let us revert to the grain of mustard seed. The full perfec-
3 quaentur, in place of the more usual spelling queritur.
SERMONS 159
tion of a kingdom remains and consists in the kingdom of
heaven. Christ is the kingdom of heaven. He was planted,
like a grain of mustard seed, in the Virgin's body. He grew
into the tree of the cross spread throughout the world. He
emitted the pungency of its seed when He was abraded by
His Passion. Consequently, by a mere touch He gave savor
and seasoning to anything which sustains life. When a grain
of mustard seed is still whole, its power lies hidden inside it;
if the grain is abraded, its power becomes forcefully evident.
Similarly, Christ wanted His Body to be abraded, because
He did not want His power to lie hidden inside it.
Brethren, let us abrade that grain of mustard seed, that
we may discover its force in this parable. Christ is a king,
because He is the full Source of authority. Christ is the
kingdom, because the full majesty of His kingdom is in Him.
Christ is the man, because every man 4 is renewed in Christ.
Christ is the mustard seed, because in His case, the full
greatness of God appears in miniature inside the tininess
of man.
Why should I say more? He became all things in order
to restore all men through Himself. Christ as man received
the grain of mustard seed, that is, Christ as man received
that kingdom of God which He as God had always possessed.
He cast the seed into His garden, that is, into his spouse,
the Church. He is often mindful of this garden in the Canticle
of Canticles, when He speaks of *a garden enclosed.' 5 The
Church is the garden, spread through her worship 6 over all
the world by the plow of the Gospel. She is a garden enclosed
by the goads of her discipline, and cleared of all rank weeds
by the labor of the Apostles. She is a garden beautiful to see
because of the young trees of the faithful, the lilies of the
4 That is, all mankind. For every as the meaning of totus, cf. Souter, s.v.
5 Cant. 4.12.
6 cultura; cf. Souter.
160 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
virgins, the roses of the martyrs, the verdure of the con-
fessors. She is fragrant with unfailing flowers.
Accordingly, Christ cast this grain of mustard seed into
His garden, that is, because of the promise of His kingdom.
The seed had its roots in the Patriarchs, was born in the
Prophets, and grew in the Apostles. In the Church it be-
came a great tree, and through the gifts it produced numer-
ous branches which the Apostle enumerates when he says:
'To one is given the utterance of wisdom; to another the
utterance of knowledge; to another the gift of healing; to
another the working of miracles; to another prophecies;
to another the distinguishing of spirits; to another various
forms of tongues.' 7
Brethren, you have heard how that grain of mustard seed
expanded into a tree. You have heard what roots it sent
down, and into what kind of great seed-bearing branches
it soon spread itself. In those branches the birds of heaven,
not those of air, rest in the security of faith after their flight
upon the wings of wisdom and prudence.
You, too, be attentive, if you wish to be free from fear
of earthly beasts, if you wish to avoid the rapacious birds
and voracious vultures; that is, the birds of the air. All these
are spiritual vices. Raise yourself up above the earth, and
abandon earthly goods. Take to yourself the silver-colored
wings of the Prophet's dove, 8 take the wings shining with the
brilliance of the divine Son. In this way, fly away as a gold-
colored dove, to rest in such great branches, to be there
as a dove which can no longer be allured into any traps,
strong because of your flight, and free from care because
of such an abode.
In the following sermon, through the instruction of the
Lord, we shall explain the following parable. 9
7 1 Cor. 12.8-10.
8 Ps. 67.14.
9 That of the leaven. Cf. Sermon 99 (PL 52.477-479) .
SERMONS 161
SERMON 101
Christian Fearlessness of Death
(On Luke 12.4-6)
Brethren, you have heard how Christ, in an address worthy
of a king, urges His soldiers to despise death and to have
no fear of those who kill the body. Thereupon He bestows
the rights of friends on those who, through their pursuit
of this triumph and their love of liberty, have shed their
blood with joy and intrepidity. His words are: 'But I say
to you, my friends, Do not be afraid of those who kill the
body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.
But I will show you whom you shall be afraid of; be afraid
of him who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell.'
'But I say to you, my friends : Do not be afraid' because
virtue proves liberty, and fear reveals slavery. A free man
was born for glory, but the slave for fear. Therefore, the
man who for God's sake intrepidly spurns death and knows
no fear is rightly raised to a friendship with God. If imita-
tion of habits makes men friends, and similarity of habits
keeps them together, rightly, then, does Christ call those
His friends upon whom He gazes and foresees that in imita-
tion of Himself they will tread under foot the javelins of
the world and the very fear of death.
'But I say to you' that is, not all men, but to my friends.
'But I say unto you' those whom that death does not
exterminate, but sets free. 'I say to you' those whom the
death of the body does not lead to torments, but promotes to
something better. 'I say to you 3 for whom life is not ended
by death, but begun. 'I say to you' whose death becomes
precious not because of its nature, but for this reason : it is find-
ing additional benefits of life, rather than losing its enjoyment.
But let us hear what it is that He says to His friends.
162 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
'Do not be afraid of those who kill the body.' Let those
readers hear this who have conned the old tomes which
the ancients wrote about the benefit of death, but could
not take any courage from them, or find consolation. There
was a reason for this. With all the powers of eloquence
those ancients roused souls to the endurance of death; they
dried up tears, stopped sighs, put an end to groans, and
hemmed in sorrows. But, for their readers they found
nothing about well-founded hope, or everlasting life, or
true salvation.
Who would say this to a man, especially to a man of
sense? To die is a matter of nature; it is necessary to perish.
Our ancestors lived for us; we live for future men; no one
lives for himself. It is the part of virtue to will what can-
not be avoided. Willingly accept that to which you are being
pressed with reluctance. Before death arrives it does not
exist, but, when it has come, one no longer knows that it
has arrived. Therefore, do not grieve about the loss of
something about which, once you have lost it, you will have
no more grief.
But, when they utter statements like these, all they say
is about the philosophical maxims; they do not talk about
life. They do not know from what quarter death has come,
or when, or how in your own case, or through whom. For
us, however, the Author of life has exposed the author of
death. For, God made life, but the Devil schemed against it,
as the divine revelation makes clear. Tor God made not
death. 51 'But by the envy of the devil, death came into the
world. 92
But you object: 'Why did God allow His own work to
perish through the activity of the Devil?' O man, if you
truly wanted the answers to your questions, you would set
1 Wis. 1.13.
2 Wis. 2.24.
SERMONS 163
yourself at leisure for a while, give them your attention,
and open your ears. You yourself, so full of curiosity, would
want to act as the judge scrutinizing this matter of chief
importance. But you are always busy about other men, and
never about yourself. As one idle and sluggish, always busy
about others and never about yourself, why do you blame the
blind causes of things, all the difficulties of the centuries,
the depth of judgments, and some inscrutable mystery?
In order to know the forms of the letters and the rudiments
of education, were you not assigned to a master and enrolled
in a school? Then, completely ready to endure toil or pain,
did you not forego visits to your home or your parents?
How profitable for you is that for which a teacher is assigned
to you, and a school is put at your service. By his work
and the punishments he inflicts on you, the teacher begs
you to conceive a desire to know those rudiments and to
deign to listen to such important matters. The Apostles
express their approval of this procedure especially Paul.
He taught by getting whipped, not by whipping, in order
to be an outstanding teacher and to receive and bear suffer-
ings as numerous as the customs of men. Then, should we,
in a mere moment of time, learn the beginnings of things,
and the causes of the world, just because we are ordered to
do so? And how are we ordered? Moreover, you do not
listen as you ought; that bondage such a necessity excuses
us. Such complete liberty, such a resolution, accuses you
without any doubt. What we say is the part of our duty.
That we say but little arises from your being bored.
Do you ask, O man, why God did not soon destroy death
along with its author? Why did He not in His providence
then carefully prevent that fatal poison from working the
ruin of the whole world, especially of His image?
The sky which you behold, O man, made completely of
air, carries many waters and is not itself supported by any-
164 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
thing else, since a mere command hung it up, and the sole
force of a precept supports it. The divine revelation states:
fi Who stretchest out the heaven like a pavillion: who coverest
the higher rooms thereof with water.' 3 The great weight
and burden of the mountains rests upon the earth which is
made solid by its own mass; and that earth floats upon a
foundation of liquid, as the Prophet testifies: 'Who estab-
lished the earth above the waters. 34 Consequently, the fact
that it stands arises from a commandment, not from nature.
c He spoke, and they were made: he commanded, and they
were created. 35 Therefore, the fact that the world holds to-
gether is a matter of divine operation, not of human under-
standing. The sea rolls along with the high crest of its
own waves, and is raised aloft toward the clouds. Yet,, light
sands hem it in. Hence we see that its great might yields
not to the sand, but to a precept. All the beings in the sky
and earth and sea move and live after they have been made
by one sole command. The Prophet affirms that they will
be dissolved again by a mere command, when he says:
e ln the beginning, O Lord, thou foundest the earth: and
the heavens are the works of thy hands. They shall perish
but thou remainest: and all of them shall all grow old
like a garment: And as a vesture shalt thou change them,
and they shall be changed. 36 How? In such a way that
their great age may fail through time, but not that creation
will perish before the eyes of its Creator.
But, already you say whoever you are who does this
asking that we have strayed from our subject. For, you
asked why God allowed death to remain and destroy His
creature, and we have described at great length how the
sky and earth and sea were made from nothing and will
3 Ps. 103.2,3-
4 Ps. 135.6.
5 Ps. 148.5.
6 Ps. 101.26-28.
SERMONS 165
again be dissolved because of nothing. 7 We have only given
you more and more matter to ask about.
So you urge: 'I asked why man perishes, and you have
pressed the declaration that the very elements will perish
also. You wanted to give to the wearied minds of mortals
not repose of mind through reasoning, but merely some solace
through the thought that everything perishes just as if there
were not a cause of sorrow in the fact that the sky perishes,
and the earth gets dissolved, and the whole appearance of
things is being blotted out because of the law of mortality.
I ask (you urge), what is prettier than the sky? What more
splendid than the sun? What more pleasing than the moon?
What more ornamental than the stars? What more health-
ful than the earth. What more useful than the sea? Or what
failure through age is there in all these? They remain just
what they were produced or made. Certainly, their endur-
ing would be something more pleasing than their perishing. 3
O man, perhaps it would be more pleasing, but not more
useful. For, while they have been enduring, you have let
your attention falter. While they gleamed, you were blinded
so as not to see. The brilliance of the sky has dulled your
senses, and the brightness of the sun has blinded your eyes.
Deceived by the beauty of these things, you have denied
their Maker. You have acknowledged them as rulers of the
world. You have called gods those beings which the true
God has made subject to you. That is why they must all be
dissolved and renewed, so that at least then you will believe
they have been made, when you see that they have been
repaired. So, do not think that we strayed from our subject.
You see that we ran through all creation in order to bring
conviction to your understanding.
O man, you did not see it when your Creator made you
from dust. For, if you had seen yourself made, you would
7 Not any creature will destroy them, but age and God's mere command.
166 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
never have bewailed thus the fact that you were going to
die. You saw yourself as one fully made; you saw yourself
living; you saw yourself beautiful; you saw yourself like to your
Creator. Since you saw yourself neither being born nor dying,
were you unaware of whence you came, and what manner of
man you were? That is why you attributed your whole self
to nature or to yourself, and nothing to God. Wherefore,
by means of nature God reduced you to your pristine state.
From nothing 8 He has permitted you to be recalled again
to dust. Thus He wants you to see what you once were,
and to give thanks because you will rise again you who
once lived in such ingratitude despite the fact that you had
been produced and made.
Therefore, brethren, as the Lord said, let us not fear those
who kill the body. For, they do not annihilate that life, but
merely pull it down while they are changing it from tem-
porary life into something everlasting. Brethren, why should
I say more? God, who has power to raise the dead, is the
One who then permitted us to die. He who can restore life
is the One who permitted men to be killed. To Him is honor
and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
SERMON 108
Man as Both a Priest and a Sacrifice to God
(On Rom. 12.1)
This is an unusual kind of piety, which requests both that
it may pray and give a present. For, today, the blessed
Apostle is not asking for human gifts, but conferring divine
ones, when he prays: e l exhort you, by the mercy of God* 3
When a physician persuades the sick to take some bitter
8 I.e., nothing save age and God's command. Cf. n. 7, above.
SERMONS 167
remedies, he does so by coaxing requests. He does not use
a compelling command. He knows that weakness, not choice,
is the reason why the sick man spits out the heathful medi-
cines, whenever he rejects those which will aid him. Also, a
father induces his son to live according to the severity of
disciplinary control not by force, but by love. He knows
how harsh discipline is to a youthful disposition.
If one sick in body is thus enticed by requests toward
getting cured, and if a boyish disposition is with difficulty
thus coaxed to prudence, is it strange that the Apostle, always
a physician and a father, prays with these words, in order
to entice human souls which bodily diseases have wounded
to accept divine remedies? e l exhort you by the mercy of
God. 5
He is introducing a new kind of adjuration. Why does
he not exhort through God's might, or majesty, or glory,
rather than by His mercy? Because it was through that
mercy alone that Paul escaped from the criminal state of a
persecutor, and obtained the dignity of his great apostolate.
He himself tells us this: Tor I formerly was a blasphemer, a
persecutor and a bitter adversary; but I obtained the mercy
of God.' 1 A little further on he continues: This saying is
true and worthy of entire acceptance, that Jesus Christ came
into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the chief. But
I obtained mercy to be an example to those who shall believe
in him for the attainment of life everlasting. 9
'I exhort you, by the mercy of God.' Paul asks rather,
God Himself is asking through Paul, because God has greater
desire to be loved than feared. God is asking because He
wants to be not so much a Lord as a Father. God is ask-
ing through His mercy, that He may not punish in His
severity. Hear God asking: C I have spread forth my hands
1 1 Tim. 1.13-16.
168 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
all the day.' 2 Is not He who spreads forth His hands asking
by His very demeanor? 'I have spread forth my hands. 9 To
whom? To a people. And to what people? To an unbeliev-
ing people,' yes, more, to a contradicting one. 'I have spread
forth my hands. 9 He opens His arms, He enlarges His heart,
He proffers His breast, He invites us to His bosom, He lays
open His lap, that He may show Himself a Father by all
this affectionate entreaty.
Also hear God asking in another way : 'O my people, what
have I done to thee, or in what have I molested thee?' 3
Does He not say the following? 'If My divinity is something
unknown, at least let Me be known in the flesh. Look!
You see in Me your own body, your members, your heart,
your bones, your blood. If you fear what is divine, why do
you not love what is characteristically human? If you flee
from Me as the Lord, why do you not run to Me as your
Father? But perhaps the greatness of My Passion, which
you brought on, confounds you. Do not be afraid. This cross
is not Mine, but it is the sting of death. These nails do not
inflict pain upon Me, but they deepen your love of Me.
These wounds do not draw forth My groans; rather, they
draw you into my Heart. The extending of My body entices 4
you into My bosom; it does not increase My pain. As far
35 I am concerned, My blood does not perish, but it is some-
thing paid down in advance as a ransom price for you.
Therefore, come, return and at least thus have experience
of Me as a Father whom you see returning good things for
evils, love for injuries, such great charities for such great
wounds.'
Let us now hear the contents of the Apostle's exhortation.
2 Isa 65.2.
3 Mich. 6.3.
4 dilatat, influences. Cf. Souter, s.i
SERMONS 169
'I exhort you to present your bodies. 1 By requesting this, the
Apostle has raised all men to a priestly rank. 'To present
your bodies as a living sacrifice.' O unheard of function of
the Christian priesthood, inasmuch as man is both the vic-
tim and the priest for himself! Because man need not go
beyond himself in seeking what he is to immolate to God !
Because man, ready to oiler sacrifice to God, brings with
himself, and in himself, what is for himself! Because the
same being who remains as the victim, remains also as a
priest! Because the victim is immolated and still lives! Be-
cause the priest who will make atonement is unable to kill!
Wonderful indeed is this sacrifice where the body is offered
without [the slaying of] a body, and the blood without
bloodshed.
( I exhort you,' says the Apostle, 'by the mercy of God,
to present your bodies as a living sacrifice.' Brethren, Christ's
sacrifice is the pattern from which this one comes to us.
While remaining alive, He immolated His body for the life
of the world. And He truly made his body a living sacrifice,
since He still lives although He was slain. In the case of
such a victim, death suffers defeat. The victim remains, the
victim lives on, death gets the punishment. Consequently,
the martyrs get a birth at the time of their death. They get
a new beginning through their end, and a new life through
their execution. They who were thought to be extinguished
on earth shine brilliantly in heaven.
6 I exhort you, brethren/ he says, 'by the mercy of God,
to present your bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy.' That is
what the Prophet sang: 'Sacrifice and oblation thou wouldst
not, but a body thou hast perfected for me.' 5 Be, O man,
be both a sacrifice to God and a priest. Do not lose what
the divine authority gave and conceded to you. Put on
the robe of sanctity, gird yourself with the belt of chastity.
5 Ps. 39.7. as quoted in Heb. 10.5.
170 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Let Christ be the covering of your head. Let the cross remain
as the helmet on your forehead. Cover your breast with the
mystery of heavenly knowledge. Keep the incense of prayer
ever burning as your perfume. Take up the sword of the
spirit. Set up your heart as an altar. Free from anxiety,
move your body forward in this way to make it a victim
for God.
God seeks belief from you, not death. He thirsts for self-
dedication, not blood. He is placated by good will, not by
slaughter. God gave proof of this when He asked holy
Abraham for his son as a victim. 6 For, what else than his
own body was Abraham immolating in his son? What else
than faith was God requiring in the father, since He ordered
the son to be offered, but did not allow him to be killed?
Therefore, O man, strengthened by such an example, offer
your body. Do not merely slay it, but also cut it up into
numerous members, that is, the virtues. For, your skills
at practicing die as often as you offer these members, the
virtues, to God. Offer up faith, that faithlessness may suffer
punishment. Offer a fast, that gluttony may cease. Offer up
chastity, that lust may die. Put on piety, that impiety may
be put off. Invite mercy, that avarice may be blotted out
That folly may be brought to naught, it is always fitting to
offer up holiness as a sacrificial gift. Thus your body will
become a victim, if it has been wounded by no javelin of
sin. Your body lives, O man, it lives as often as you have
offered to God a life of virtues through the death of your
vices. The man who deserves to be slain by a life-giving
sword 7 cannot die. May our God Himself, who is the Way,
the Truth, and the Life, deliver us from death and lead us
to life.
6 Gen. 22.1-18.
7 Reading glad to.
SERMONS 1 7 1
SERMON 109
The Whole Man, Body and Soul, as a Reasonable
Sacrifice to God
(On Rom. 12.1)
Our preceding sermon touched merely the opening words
of the Apostle's passage. Today let us hear what the Lord
inspires us to say about the words which follow. He began
thus: 'I beseech you,' the text says, 'by the mercy of God
to present your bodies as a living sacrifice. 3 By these words
has the Apostle said with approval that bodies alone are
worthy to be victims offered to God? And does he either
fail to mention, or pass over, or abandon souls as some-
thing disapproved for this purpose? Is not the soul from
heaven and the body from earth? Is not the body ruled,
while the soul rules? Does not the soul reign, and the body
serve? Does not the body live, and the soul vivify? Does
not the soul remain, and the body decay? Does not the
body suffer age, while the soul cannot? Finally, is not death
itself, which has power over the body alone, unable to occur
while the soul is present? Then what is the reason why the
soul gets no mention, and only the body is thus summoned
to be a victim of God?
Brethren, in this passage the Apostle honors the body
without diminishing the importance of the soul. Sins master
the body, crimes bind it fast, and transgressions depress it.
Vices corrupt it, and passions weigh it down. Therefore,
the Apostle desires to release the body. He is eager to set
it free, he is striving to elevate it, and he is hastening to
purify it by expiation. He wants the body to rise up to where
the soul took its origin, rather than to have the soul descend
to the nature of the body. He desires the body to accompany
172 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
the soul to heaven, rather than to have the soul follow the
body to the earth. Hear Scripture describe the type and
magnitude of the vexations which burden the soul : Tor the
corruptible body is a load upon the soul, the earthly habita-
tion presseth down the mind that museth upon many things.' 1
Clearly, therefore, the Apostle desires not a degradation of
the soul but an elevation of the body. He wishes both the
body and the soul, that is, the whole man, to become a holy
victim, a sacrifice pleasing to God. The Psalmist declares that
the soul, too, is a sacrificial offering to God when he says:
'A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit.' 2
To present your bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy, pleasing
to God.' Because man pleases by the fact, not that he lives,
but that he lives well. He becomes a sacrificial victim not
merely by offering himself to God, but by offering himself
to God in a holy manner. A spotted victim makes God angry
just as much as an unblemished victim placates Him. Hear
God saying: 'Do not offer to me anything lame, or half-
blind, or polluted because it is intended for death, but some-
thing mature without blemish/ 3 Hence it is that the Apostle
seeks a living sacrifice for God. Therefore, brethren, if we
as the incense of that propitiation . . . 4
Cain is proof of this. As an ungrateful priest, he so shared
his few possessions with God, from whom he had received
everything, that he offered the worst of them upon the altar.
He kept back for Himself what was best, and thereby gave
offense. The upshot was that when he evilly arranged this
1 Wisd. 9.15,
2 Ps. 50.19.
3 Cf. Lev. 22.18.
4 There is a gap in the text here. Held (BKV 67 130) conjectures that
the passage meant this: 'If we bring ourselves as incense to propitiate
God, let us bring with our gift not merely our lower part, the body,
but also the nobler part, the soul, in order to offer them both to
God.'
SERMONS 173
division with his Maker, he separated himself and his
descendants both from life and from the human race. 5
Therefore, let us follow Abel to his reward, and let us
not accompany Cain to his punishment. Abel, bringing a
lamb to be sacrificed to God, was accepted as a lamb. Gain,
bringing his stubble, found it to be tinder for himself, fuel
through which he himself was to be set afire.
To present your bodies as a sacrifice, living, holy, pleas-
ing to God, your reasonable service.' A service which is not
reasonable makes God angry to the same extent as one which
is based on reason appeases Him. A service is reasonable
when it is not disturbed by presumption, or disordered by
rashness, or profaned by transgressions, or colored by pre-
tense. To show service to a king, all the soldiers in a military
outpost stand in fear. Human power demands a punctilious
service. The obeying servant watches in fear to discover
the whim of his master who commands. For, alert devotion
brings a reward of just remuneration, while presumptious
service does not escape the penalty of its rashness. Who
rashly undertakes to serve in a king's palace if he is not
invited? Who without a title has dared to profess himself a
soldier? Who without the fillets indicating a dignity rashly
assumes title to it? If these are matters of anxiety and cau-
tion among men, if they stand because of reason, 6 if they
prosper through orderly arrangements and if they are pre-
served because of reverence, then how much more in our
relations with God is devotion something to be cautious
about ! How much more should we be reverent in our service,
and solicitous in our worship, that we may offer a reasonable
service to God?
'Your reasonable service,' the Apostle says. A service which
is warm because it is reasonable is true fervor, but one
5 Gen. 4.1-17.
6 Reading ratione.
174 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
which is not restrained by reason is fanaticism. Consequently,
the Jewish nation, when it sought a god for itself in an
unreasonable way, 7 lost God to whom it had been giving
a reasonable service. The sons of Aaron, 8 unmindful of mak-
ing their service reasonable, and presuming to add earthly
fire to that ordained by God, changed the flame used on
the sanctifying sacrifices into a flame of vengeance against
themselves. When Saul, 9 swollen with pride at the height
of his kingly authority, thought that what was permitted to
the priesthood was permitted also to himself, he became a rash
violator of the altar, and lost the kingly authority he had
received. The Jew, while he cultivated the Law without
the reasonableness of the Law, put the Author of the Law
to death. The Gentile, unmindful of reasonableness while
serving monstrous gods and whole clans of gods, did not
deserve to come to the service of God who is one and true.
Arius thinks that he does a service to the Father by blasphem-
ing the Son. And while he is attributing a beginning to the
Son, the pitiful man is putting a limit upon the Father.
Photinus, while denying that the Son is co-eternal with the
Father, is elaborately explaining how the Father was not
always existent precisely as Father. So it is with all the
heresies. While they are spread to the insult of God, and lie
about the Trinity through their terms, they further blas-
phemies.
In contrast, brethren, let us make our bodies fit to be a
living sacrifice to God. Let us take care that our service
be reasonable, that our faith be true, our conscience pure,
our minds well balanced, our hope firm, our heart pure,
our flesh chaste, our senses holy, our spirit pious, our reason
prudent, our charity undiluted, our mercy generous, our
7 I.e., by adoring the golden calf. Cf. Exod. 32.1-35.
8 Nadab and Abiu. Cf. Lev. 10.1-7.
9 1 Kings 15. 1-35, especially v. 23.
SERMONS 175
life holy, our appearance modest. To the perfect service of
Christ, let humility always accompany our steps.
SERMON 111
Original Sin
(On Rom. 5.12-14)
'Therefore as through one man sin entered into the world
and through sin death, and thus death has passed into all
men because all have sinned for until the Law sin was
in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law;
yet death reigned from Adam until Moses even over those
who did not sin after the likeness of Adam, who is a figure
of him who was to come.'
Brethren, the selection 1 from the Apostle for today tells
us that through one man the whole world received its sentence.
This passage impels us not to preach a sermon, but rather
to weep with a renewed and heartfelt sorrow. Renowned
prophets have bewailed at length the plight of the Chosen
People, and of one city, and sometimes of a single man. If
this is the case, then what mind would not be suffering from a
total darkening, or what senses would not be getting confused
from a complete dulling, or what eyes would not be con-
verted into flowing springs of tears at this fact: The down-
fall of all men has issued from the fall of one, and the
fault of one man has flowed out to become a punishment
of all, and the vice of the parent has brought a sad catas-
trophe upon the whole race? That is what the Apostle states:
Therefore as through one man sin entered into the world
and through sin death.' Oh, what grief I feel ! The very man
1 The lectio; cf. Introduction, p. 17.
176 SAINT PETER GHRYSOLOGUS
who was a source of all our goods has become the entrance
letting in all our evils!
'Sin entered into the world. 5 Into this world. Are you in
wonderment that he who by his sin brought condemnation
on the world proved harmful to his descendants? But, you
ask: 'How did sin enter? Through whom did it get in?'
How? By means of a fault. Through whom? Through a man.
And what is sin, a nature or a substance? It is neither a
nature nor a substance, but an accident. It is an unfavorable
power which is observed in its operation and felt in the
punishment it brings on. It attacks the soul, wounds the
mind, violates and disorders the nature itself.
And why should I say more, brethren? Sin is to nature
what smoke is to the eyes, what fever is to the body, what
a bitter salting is to the sweetest springs. The eye indeed is
faultless and lucid through nature, but becomes confused
and disordered through the injury brought on by smoke.
The body, too, thrives by means of its parts, members, and
senses, because it was formed into a unit by God. But,
once the stormy force of fever has begun its control, that
whole units becomes weak. Then there is bitterness in the
man's mouth and confusion before his eyes. The path of
his steps is uncertain. Then, too, a gentle breeze causes pain,
and his dear ones are burdensome, and even helpful atten-
tions bothersome. Too, springs are very pleasant through
their natural sweetness, but they become just as unpleasant
when they receive foreign matter from outside to spoil
them.
But, let us get back to the theme we began. Therefore
as through one man sin entered into the world and through
sin death.'
There is the entrance, brethren ! Through a man sin came,
and clearly through this sin we are seen to have come under
the control of death. O sin, you cruel beast and a beast
SERMONS 177
not content to vent your fury against the human race from
merely one head. We have seen this beast, brethren, devour-
ing with a triple mouth all the highly precious sprouts of
the human family. Yes, brethren, with a mouth that is triple :
as sin this beast captures, as death it devours, as hell it
swallows down.
And as we stated, what copious tears we should surely
shed over such a parent! How great are the miseries he left
us for our inheritance ! Not only did he lose the goods con-
ferred on himself, but he left all his descendants at the mercy
of such fierce creditors. O bitter and cruel inheritance! Oh,
how unfortunate we were ! We found no pleasure in getting
that inheritance, but could not disclaim ourselves as the heirs !
Hear what follows. 'And thus death has passed into all
men.' However, do not by any chance think it something
unjust when through one man death has passed into all
men, because all men have their existence through that one.
You are deploring your condemnation through him through
whom you glory for having received your birth to the light
of day.
But, you object: If I owe to my ancestry the fact that
1 was born, do I also owe to its transgression this, that nature
should make me guilty, before any fault of my own? The
very next words of the Apostle give a reply to this question
of yours. 'Because 2 all have sinned.' If because of him [Adam]
all men have become sinners, then rightly through him have
all men received the penalty.
'As through one man sin entered into the world and
through sin death, and thus death passed unto all men,
because all have sinned.' Whether it be in the case of the
man, or in the case of his sin, through him and because of
him all have become sinners. Therefore, sin has not been
2 In quo omnes peccaverunL The older Douai version translates: 'in
whom all have sinned/
178 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
changed into a nature. But while sin brings on death, it re-
quires that the penalty due to itself be paid through a
nature. God had made man's nature such that He was
creating man for life. However, when this nature reluctantly
generates [offspring] destined to death, it acknowledges that
it is subject to sin, and serves as the minister in this life of
the penalty due to sin. For, brethren, who would hold opinions
like these that nature would desire its infants to perish,
and those young so dear to itself to be killed? Rather, while
she groans in her grief, she sighs and longs to see her lost
liberty again.
But it is John who first clearly shows through whom
nature received this liberty. When he sees Christ he proclaims
with loud shouts: 'Behold the Lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world.' 3 The sin of the world namely,
brethren, that sin which the Apostle testifies to have entered
through one man. Therefore, brethren, rejoice ! Because the
sin which by its heavy mass was depressing toward hell
has by Christ been taken away and already sunk into hell.
And the grace of this second and divine Parent has restored
us from this punishment back to life us whom the fault of
our first parent had sentenced to death. Therefore, man could
not be saved without Christ, because before His coming the
sin of the whole world had an enduring position.
You, however, admit that you are justified through Christ.
Then do you object to your having received sentence through
Adam? And do you complain that the penalty due to another
man has also hurt you you who see that the injustice of
another man has helped you? Is not the whole tree contained
in the seed? Therefore, a defect of the seed is a defect of the
whole tree. If the nature itself had been able to help itself
through its own power, the Creator Himself would never
3 John 139.
SERMONS 179
have assumed this nature to work its repairing. Do you
believe that it has been created for life, if you still doubt
that it has been repaired by its Creator?
Tor until the Law,' the text states, c sin was in the world.'
When you hear the words 'until the Law,' understand them to
mean all the way until the end of the Law, that is, up until
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 'Because sin is not
imputed,' it says, 'when there is no law.' And when was
the law, which began with man himself, non-existent? If
there had been no Law, Adam indeed would not have been
a transgressor, as the same Apostle makes clear: 'Yet death
reigned from Adam until Moses.' Both of them had received
a law. But Adam transgressed soon after receiving it, and
Moses, once he had received the Law, promulgated it to
transgressors. As the Apostle says: The Law was enacted on
account of transgressions.' 4 Therefore, death reigned through
the Law, because in its fierceness death devoured the trans-
gressors more eagerly than the mere sinners. It devoured
those men now fallen through their own sin, not only through
that of their parent.
'But death reigned,' it says, 'from Adam until Moses, even
over those who did not sin after the likeness of the trans-
gression of Adam' because it kept on devouring not only
the adults, but also the children. It kept on striking down not
only the guilty, but also the innocent I mean those free
from their own personal guilt, not from their parent's. Con-
sequently, their state was all the more pitiful, since the infant
was paying the penalty of that father whose life he had
scarcely begun to enjoy. And he who did not yet understand
the world was expiating its sin.
Therefore, brethren, let us acquiesce in the fact that death
has reigned through one man and because of one man's sin,
if all of us wish to be set free through One Man, and to
4 Gal. 3.19.
180 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
have our very being through Christ. For, he who lives owes
it to Christ, not to himself; and he owes to Adam the fact
that he must die.
SERMON 112
Death through Adam; Life and Grace through Christ
(On Rom. 5.15-21)
If someone gives a cup of cold water to a thirsting traveler,
he indeed refreshes the spirit of the heated voyages some-
what, and he clearly does a favor to a fellow man, but
he does not quench his thirst completely and forever. Simi-
larly, our sermon, adapted to the present occasion and the
need of haste, is insufficient for those who wish to fathom the
depths of theological knowledge. If the whole life of man is
short for learning human science, what time do we believe
enough to understand the divine meaning? 1 So, forgive me,
brethren, if within a short period of time, and that scarcely
one hour, 2 I cannot in every way elucidate what is obscure,
open up what is locked, firmly establish everything doubted,
treat the profound subjects, and explain that indescribable
mystery 3 of so many centuries. Forgive me, too, if I cannot
speak cautiously to our adversaries, off-handedly to our chil-
dren, confidently to believers, and firmly to unbelievers. To-
day, however, the whole passage of the Apostle pours itself
1 divinam intelligent vam. Cf. Sermons 5 n. 5; 36 n. 2.
2 In Patristic times a period of one hour was often allotted to the sermon.
Cf. PL 52308, note d, and 533, note c. St. Peter, however, usually
preached a quarter of an hour. Possibly, he preached one quarter hour
homily on the Epistle of the Mass, and another on the Gospel. Cf. the
end of Sermon 120 n. II, and the beginning of Sermon 115 (below
p. 189).
3 sacramentum.
SERMONS 181
with clear light into the minds of the hearers. It leaves
nothing ambiguous to Catholic minds, when it says: Tor if
by reason of the one man's offense death reigned through
the one man/ Therefore, let us set aside the pursuit of
declamation, and strive to devote our attention with all
simplicity to the statements themselves which the Apostle
made, that our sermon may beget no obscurity for those
who want to know the truth.
'If,' as the text states, 'by reason of the one man's offense
death reigned through one man,' why does the authoritative
Scriptural writer strive to insist and prove that from this
one and first man death has come upon his descendants?
Although this statement is clear enough > 'God did not make
death,' 4 some men insist, beyond my understanding, that it
was God who established death as something so harsh, so cruel,
so merciless. No one thinks, without sin, that God, so pious
and good, could have created death. Its author is accused
and detested by the whole world with unceasing sorrow,
groans, and tears. If even among men death is the penalty
for crimes, with what daring is death believed to have been
created by the guiltless God simultaneously with man, and
set up for his punishment earlier than life?
But let us hear the Apostle: 'If by reason of one man's
offense death reigned through the one man, much more
will they who receive the abundance of the grace and of
the gift of justice reign in life, through the one Jesus Christ,
our Lord.' Behold, the one man and the other, Adam and
Christ. Through the former sin has reigned to promote death;
through the latter grace has reigned to serve life. Next, these
two sources of life and of death, of liberation and of punish-
ment, of longed-for freedom and final damnation, receive
clarification and confirmation from the following statement
of the Apostle. Therefore as from the offense of one man
4 Wis. US.
182 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
the result was unto condemnation to all men, so from the
justice of one the result is unto justification of life to all men.'
Through the one man and the other either death reigns
or life is granted, What can an interpreter's words add here?
If you merely keep silent here, every attack of the adversaries
fails.
'From the offense of the one man the result was unto
condemnation to all men, so from the justice of the one
the result is unto justification of life to all men.' Like a river
in relation to its source, or the fruit in relation to its seed,
so does the posterity depend on its ancestor for its condemna-
tion or liberation. These words which the Apostle added prove
this more fully: Tor just as by the disobedience of the one
man the many were constituted sinners, so also by the obe-
dience of the one the many will be constituted just.' Let man
be the sinner, that God may be just, because the guilt reflects
upon the judge if he forces a guiltless man into a penalty.
That is why the Apostle said : Tor just as by the disobedience
of the one man the many were constituted sinners' that
men might know that they were participants in the fault of
him whose punishment they see themselves sharing.
But, now, let the lovers of the Law hear what the Law
availed according to the Apostle: 'Now the Law intervened,'
he says, 'that the offense might abound.' See, as the Apostle
tells us, the Law did not bring on a lessening 5 of crimes,
but an abundance of them. The Law did this, brethren, not
because of its own character, but because of him who was
too weak to endure the Law. The brilliance of light is not
what dulls eyes; light was created by God only for eyes.
But it is the weakness of eyes which cannot sustain the whole
of light, and bear its splendor. So it is with the Law, brethren.
In itself it was just and holy enough. But, while it demanded
5 Reading imminutio.
SERMONS 183
rigid self-control from fragile man, it more and more bur-
dened him and revealed his delinquency.
And why this, brethren? That through the grace and for-
giveness of his Creator he might return to life he who
through his swelling pride and. ignorance was being led into
the debt and penalty of his ancestor, even when he was
wickedly boasting about his innocence. So, an undetected
disease was hiding within him. Through it the inmost parts
of his bones and the blood coursing through his veins were
tending to destroy his vital organs. He was generating a
contagious infection in his interior members. The Law came
to reveal the sore and tell that a heavenly Physician was
coming for his long-standing disease. The Law came to bring
up to the skin, by means of the poultices of the command-
ments, that sore that was developing so fatally inside. The
Law came to open up that long-standing ulcer by the knife
of the commandments, and to effect a healthy draining of
the long-gathered pus.
However, brethren, the Law could not by its own power
either close up the wound or give perfect health to the patient.
When the poor patient saw this and at length recognized
his unfortunate state, he began to hasten to the Physician.
He hoped that this great Physician's skill and grace would
cure that sore which the Law had revealed and long aggra-
vated. We say that the wound was aggravated because, after
the lancing, brethren, foulness, stench, noisomeness, and dis-
tress are produced in the wound itself as a result of the
incision. Through this care his pitiful appearance of weak-
ness grows worse than it was when he was unaware of the
danger. So the Physician came, and by the mere assurance
of His voice He aided the man who was tired of cures and
wearied of their vexations. The centurion acknowledges this
when he says: 'Say the word, and my servant will be healed.' 6
6 Matt. 8.8.
184 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Consequently the prophetical statement was fulfilled: 'He
sent his word, and healed them.' 7 That is why this follows:
'Where the offense has abounded, grace has abounded yet
more' as if it WC re saying: 'Where the wound was opened
wide, health has been poured in.'
Let no one, therefore, be ungrateful to the Law, because
it lifted up and nursed man whom it found prostrate and
sick. Hoping to restore him to health, it led him with health-
ful joy all the way to the Physician. So that, as the Apostle
said : ' As sin has reigned unto death, so also grace may reign
by justice to life everlasting through Jesus Christ our Lord. 1
Grace reigns unto life, sin unto death. Correct faith attributes
to God, man's Creator, not death or destruction, but salva-
tion. Let death be from man, let it be from sin, in order that
life may be believed to have been created and restored only
through Christ!
SERMON 114
Slaves to the Law and to Grace
(On Rom. 6.15-21)
A traveler always finds it sweet and pleasant to return to
his own home. The courtyards of his ancestral house are
attractive to him after an absence. Similarly, after these
intervals, I find it sweeter to return to my series of passages 1
from the Apostle. Some necessity of religion often compels
us to depart from the order of discourses which we had
intended, and from the straight path which our discourse
7 Ps. 106.20.
1 The lectiones.
SERMONS 185
was to follow. For, we must so control the sequence of our
instruction that one matter does not hinder another.
Wherefore, let us hear what the holy Apostle has told us
today. What does he say? 'Have we sinned because we are
not under the Law but under grace? By no means.' Brethren,
this question reveals the inexperience of those who, capti-
vated by their custom of living according to the Law, can-
not perceive the powers we get from the gift of grace. They
were an unyielding people, as we learn from the long series
of the precepts of the Law, and the benefits they gained
from their sacrificial gifts and the splendor of their festivals
made and kept them obstinate in vain observances. When
the passage of time will bring the Law to its end, what will
one do who has cultivated the Law and been wrenched away
from it?
O Hebrew, what is there that you have not lost? And if you
have lost it, why do you glory as if you had not lost it?
Where is your temple? your priest? your sacrifice? your in-
cense? your purifications? the devout celebration of your
festivals, which you thought should never be omitted?
Rightly are you circumcized that you may be a Jew,
because you have been cut away from all those goods men-
tioned above. For it is written: 'Cursed be he that abideth
not in all the precepts which have been written in the books
of the Law.' 2 If the man who offends against one precept
is cursed, how often will he be cursed who will stand con-
victed of having observed none of them?
'Have we sinned,' he says, 'because we are not under the
Law but under grace?' As if he were asking, brethren : 'Have
we sinned because, already cured, we have not kept our-
selves under the treatment? Have we sinned because, already
healed, we have abandoned cauterization, the iron, and the
medicants?' The sick man is indeed unfortunate who after
2 Cf. Deut. 2756.
186 SAINT PETER GHRYSOLOGUS
a cure is unwilling to trouble himself about the painful
instruments. 3
Why should I say more, brethren? He who seeks and
awaits a sick man's desires never effects a cure. A cold
humor always produces a veritable fire in the body. Excessive
firmness irritates and strikes the members, makes and begets
a sharper burning sensation. Consequently, when the sick
man impatiently requests that cold water be given him, the
effect is an increase of the fire which is ever seething and
panting in his veins. He is unaware that at such a time fever-
heat is extinguished by heat; and that the fire is nourished
by what is cold.
Therefore, when the Law anticipates and restrains man's
inclination, and when man, impeded by his load of sin,
is not strong enough to obey the precepts of the Law, the
Law does not free its devotee from the bond of sin. Rather,
it binds him the more by bringing a charge of transgression
upon him. That is why the Apostle added : 'Do you not know
that to whom you offer yourselves as slaves for obedience,
to him whom you obey you are the slaves, whether to sin
unto death or to obedience unto justice? 5
How is it, brethren, that the very fact of our speaking
about the Law has revealed that man was the slave of sin?
'Whether to sin unto death/ the text says, 'or unto justice?'
A little earlier 4 the Apostle had said that sin was not to have
dominion over you, since you are not under the Law but
under grace. Clearly, therefore, those who are under the Law
of sin are weighed down and bent by its domination;
wretched men that they are, they cannot be liberated from
this base slavery to sin unless grace sets them free.
The Apostle continues: 'But thanks be to God that you
were the slaves of sin.' Is he giving thanks as one who rejoices
3 I.e., to put them away.
4 Rom. 6.14.
SERMONS 187
because man was the slave of sin? Far from it. He is giving
thanks not because we were previously slaves of such a
cruel master, but because we are slaves no longer. He ex-
pressly makes that point clear by his next words: 'but you
have now obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine into
which you have been delivered, and having been set free from
sin, you have become the slaves of justice. 3 We have become
obedient, brethren, through the gift of Him who calls us,
not through our own will, for we were being held as captives
by it.
'You have now obeyed from the heart that form of doc-
trine. 5 What form? Beyond question, that of the Gospel,
where the slavery has not been abolished by a new kind of
freedom, but changed, because a devoted service is better
than a capricious and headstrong freedom.
'You have become the slaves of justice. 5 Brethren, this
slavery does not restrain, it liberates. It does not burden,
it honors. It does not brand a man with the stain of slavery,
but removes it. Here, where one form of slavery expels the
other form, where one state drives out another state, where
death dies because of a death, where loss is healed by a loss,
and to say it properly and briefly where all adversity is
laid low by a sword of adversity, what is there here, I ask,
that is not divine? The Apostle expresses this: C I speak in a
human way because of the weakness of your flesh; for as
you yielded your members as slaves of uncleanness and iniquity
unto iniquity, so now yield your members as slaves of justice
unto sanctification.'
He shows the greatness of his love when he reduces the
doctrine of the Gospel to such humble and almost shameful
examples, so that he recommends that you now devote your-
selves as much to holiness as you once did to uncleanness,
as much to justice as formerly to iniquity. Consequently, he
gains control over slavery.
188 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Brethren, that comparison seems absurd and unbecoming.
It would have man subject only as much to glory as to
depravity. And would that he were subject only as much,
and no more! Yet, when does human frailty give as much
service to God as to the world? as much to heaven as to
the earth? as much to virtue as to vices? Wretched man is
so entirely given over to the flesh, so occupied with present
affairs, that he relinquishes nothing in him which might be
of service to his future life, to supernatural well-being.
In one phrase the Apostle fittingly described the force of
temporal allurement upon the human conscience. He proper-
ly stated that the human members should yield themselves
as eagerly to justice, purity and cleanness as they had once
yielded themselves over with vehemence and madness to de-
pravity and vices. The man who wishes to withdraw from his
property after losing his right of ownership demands little
or perhaps nothing. Likewise, he takes away your excuse who
enjoins upon you only insignificant and ordinary payments 5
which you ought to pay back in return for great benefits.
Therefore, O man, give to God as much as you once gave
to your flesh and vices. Why do you keep yourself bound to
vices rather than to God, since it is only because of His love
for you that God asks so much of you?
The text continues: Tor when you were the slaves of sin,
you were free as regards justice. . . . But now set free from
sin, 6 you have become the slaves of justice.' Previously
you were slaves of sin, now you are slaves of justice. Behold,
according to the Apostle one kind of slavery follows upon
another. O obstinate man, now show the time of your liberty !
Sin previously told the lie that you, the unhappy man whom
it was holding captive, were free. Now, grace calls you its
slave; and that it might make you truly free it has made
5 repensor is here being used as a deponent verb.
6 Apparently quoting from memory, he reverts from Rom. 6.22 to 6.18.
SERMONS 189
you the adopted son of God Himself. Therefore, Christ's
statement has been fulfilled: 'Whoever wishes to become the
master, let him be the servant.' 7 Blessed is this slavery! It
begets an everlasting reign. For, that former liberty brought
upon us a penalty as its fruit, and unbearable confusion, as
the Apostle says: Tor what fruit had you then from these
things of which you are now ashamed? For the end of these
things is death. 5
Behold how the Devil does his liberating! See the reward
with which he honors that slavery! He wants death simul-
taneously to end your life and begin your punishment.
But those who serve Christ, brethren, contemn death and
its wages; and they are transferred into an everlasting life
of holiness. For death in Christ does not admit a termina-
tion, because it does not kill a man, but brings him to his
perfection.
SERMON 115
The Abrogation of the Law in Favor of
the New Covenant of Grace
(On Rom. 7.1-6)
After we have soothed your minds and hearts by playing
upon the Davidical harp with a plectrum of spiritual under-
standing and an accompaniment of rhythmical chant, and
after we have expounded awesome principles of the resounding
Gospel to quicken your powers of perception, 1 we have
thought that we should soon come back to the teaching of
7 Cf. Matt. 20.23.
1 A reference to previous homilies which explained Psalms and passages
from the Gospel.
190 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
the Apostle. Thus, each section of our threefold division of
the preaching of the Christian doctrine can retain and im-
part its salutary instruction. For the chant relaxes your minds
from constant effort, and the authority of the Gospel refreshes
them again and stirs them up to labor, and the Apostle's
vigor does not permit your minds to be drawn off the direct
road and to wander.
Today, we find that we are to follow this passage of the
Apostle with continuous running comment: 'Do you know,
brethren,' he says, '(for I speak to those who know law) that
the Law has dominion over a man as long as he lives? 5 Then
he enters upon a comparison: Tor the married woman is
bound by the Law while her husband is alive; but if her
husband die, she is set free from the law of the husband.
Therefore while her husband is alive, she will be called an
adulteress if she be with another man; but if her husband
dies, she is set free from the law of the husband.'
Brethren, you perceive this great pronouncement of the
Apostle's heavenly instruction. He expounds how the time
of the Law, by the Law's own testimony, has passed away;
he has voided the Law's place of privilege, through his strik-
ing example of marriage.
And rightly does he compare the Law to a marriage in the
flesh, because the Law did not possess a spiritual union with
the Synagogue. For, when the Law had accepted her as its
bride for the promotion of discipline, the abundance of holy
offspring, the increase of modesty, the protection of chastity,
the sacred and revered inner sanctuary of the heavenly cham-
ber, and the mystical unity of the heavenly couch then it
found in her the defilement of complete infidelity. For, she
came to meet such a great man, that is, the Law, and she was
not elegant in her manners, nor arrayed with the jewels of
virtues, nor stately in her pace, nor covered with that truly
brilliant veil of virginal modesty. Rather, she was wanton in
SERMONS 191
her eyes, loose in her steps, forward with her seductiveness,
completely illusive with guile and pretense.
When such a great man saw her, he justly looked down
on her with indignation. He kept her far from any associa-
tion with himself, and execrated her with all the full weight
of his condemnation. However, she neither blushed when
despised, nor corrected herself when contemned, nor came
to herself in repentance. But, when she was repulsed, she
flew altogether headlong to the brothels of the idols. She
preferred to undergo the infamy of fornication and incur
the crime of adultery than to cease to be horrible because
of the baseness of her habit which so evilly pleased her.
Consequently, the Prophet rightly deplores her: 'How is
the faithful city become a harlot?' 2 Holy Ezechiel, too, de-
scribes her adulteries in almost his whole volume. Hence it is,
brethren, that in the Gospel when she was being accused 3
before the Lord as an adulteress by the scribes and doctors of
the Law, the Lord turned away His face, and stooped down
to the earth, in order not to behold a crime which He was
to punish. And He preferred, brethren, to write forgiveness
in the sand rather than to utter a condemnation about the
flesh.
The Apostle is striving to recall this adulteress to union
with Christ. He does not allow her to be retarded by fear
over her former fall. While her husband was alive she was
rightly called an adulteress because she was with another
man. But now she is not deserting the Law when she is
taking recourse to the Author of the Law. Rather, although
she is under the condemnations of the Law, she is dying to
the Law, in order that she may live unto grace and in order
that she who through the Law was intemperate and made
to die may arise again through forgiveness.
2 isa. 1.21.
3 John 8.1-11.
192 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Finally when the Apostle asserts that she is set free from
the law of her deceased husband, he testifies by his follow-
ing words that she, rather than her husband, has died.
For, the Law does not die to a man, but a man dies to the
Law. The precept does not pass away, but he who slips
away from the precept breaks loose from its control. Listen
to what follows: 'Therefore, my brethren, you also have
been made to die to the Law. 5
Did he say: 'The Law has died to you'? His words are:
'You also have been made to die to the Law. 3 And well did
he add, Through the body of Christ/ because the Law binds
only a guilty man, restrains only a harmful man, punishes
and executes only a criminal. Therefore, he who has been
freed from every crime through the body of Christ is for-
tunately dying to the Law, in order to live unto innocence
and grace. 'So as to belong to another who has risen from
the dead/ the Apostle continues. To another.' He [Christ]
became that 'other' when He changed our corruptibility into
incorruptibility, and raised our mortality into the glory of
immortality.
'In order that we may bring forth fruit unto God,' he
continues. He asserts that those who have become, through
Christ, partakers of a heavenly nature should bring forth
fruit not unto the earth, but unto God; not unto death, but
unto life; and not unto the flesh, but unto God. 'For when
we were in the flesh,' the Apostle continues, 'sinful passions,
which were aroused by the Law, were at work in our mem-
bers so that they brought forth fruit unto death.' When he
says 'when we were/ he indicates a time during which, placed
in the flesh alone, or rather, more exposed to it, we were
being compelled to relish, do, and will only those things
which pertain to the flesh, according to the Apostle's state-
ment: They who are carnal cannot please God. 54
4 Rom* 8.8.
SERMONS 193
Tor when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which
were aroused by the Law.' I shall say what was said by
the Lord: 'If the light that is in thee is darkness, how great
is the darkness itself?' 5 If sinful passions which were aroused
by the Law dominate the human members, what will those
passions do through their own power? They unfortunately
and painfully attach themselves to a man soon after his
birth. When anxieties depress one born like that and one is
born like that and when dangers beset him, and pains exert
their influence on him, the passions, brethren, are the cause.
Through them infancy is spent in weakness, boyhood is
dragged along, youth acts in folly, young manhood and old
age are burdened with many sorrows. It is the passions which,
abetted by the Enemy's disturbing turmoil, beset the whole
life of man even until his death. While the Law was pro-
hibiting them, it incited them to action; while it was in-
vestigating them, it enlarged them; while it was accusing
them, it made them more beloved; and through the knowl-
edge which the Law gave it made those which were lying
hidden through ignorance better known.
And just as thorns grow the more when they are cut
by the sickle, so the passions put forth more sprouts when
they are trimmed through the Law, since they are internally
strengthened because they are implanted, as it were, in a root
of flesh. The Law has within it a sufficiently proper cultivation
of faith, but it does not make efficacious progress; con-
sequently, by its prodding, it brings the human flesh, like
soil, to produce fruit of death. The text reads: 'Sinful pas-
sions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in our
members so that they brought forth fruit unto death. 3
The passions in us vindicate for themselves unto the fruit
of death that which was an instrument of life. Therefore,
wounded thus, we are set free by the grace of Christ
5 Matt. 6.23.
194 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
from the Law of death, and we receive within ourselves
the Holy Spirit as warrior and victor over vices; that the
passions, shut outside, may rap and try to provoke, but
be defeated before the glory of our triumph. For us, for us
does He desire to conquer, who, when He was ruling us,
condescended to fight for us, as He stated. 6
Therefore, already free from the slavery of the flesh, let
us 'serve in newness of spirit/ because to serve in God-given
sanctity is true domination. For the 'old man' 7 and the old
letter 8 corrupted and destroyed all discipline.
SERMON 116
The Law as an Occasion of Sin
(On Rom. 7.7-12)
Whenever the mystical chant 1 resounds different in its
kind but always harmonious it fills and delights the ears
with its soothing sweetness. Similarly, when the divine and
heavenly doctrine different in its manner of expression,
but one in its spirit and meaning it brought up for considera-
tion, it opens up and unfolds the mystery of the knowledge
in the Gospel more pleasantly and with the greatest sweetness.
Consequently, after the prophetical song and the astonishing
miracles worked by Christ's powers, let us return to the
series of readings from the Apostle.
6 A quotation from Scripture has apparently been lost from the manu-
scripts.
7 Adam.
8 The letter of the Jewish Law, which St. Paul contrasted in 2 Cor. 3.6
with 'the new covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit; for the letter
kills, but the spirit gives life.'
1 No doubt, that of the Psalms, as can be inferred from the beginning
of Sermon 115.
SERMONS 195
Today, the continuation of the reading is this: 'What
shall we say then? Is the Law sin? By no means ! Yet I did
not know sin save through the Law. For I had not known
lust unless the Law had said, Thou shalt not lust. But sin,
having thus found an occasion, worked in me by means of
the commandment all manner of lust,'
Brethren, you have heard in what a state of sickness the
human race lay without Christ. How much a captive human
frailty was without grace! It was not being restrained from
crime by the Law and Commandments, but rather armed
to commit them. It kept itself attentive and learning, not in
order to overcome sins, but to commit them. C I did not know
sin save through the Law.' Not to have known vices is happi-
ness. To be acquainted with them is dangerous. To have
overcome them is virtue. A noble, strong king goes to meet
his foes afar off. Thus he anticipates the ruses of his assailants.
Consequently, the confidence of his soldiers cannot be dimin-
ished, or the constancy of his subjects disturbed. In similar
manner, through the grace of Christ a noble soul breaks
through the unfortunately narrow limitations of the body.
Thus, with all its power, it anticipates sins. It treads vices
under foot, and by ruthless slaughter lays crimes low with all
its might, in order that the vices may not be able to fool
the understanding 2 by deceitful measures, or to corrupt any-
one's character by wiles, or to dissolve wretched, weak hearts
by interior storms, or through the heat of passion and blood-
shed to fan the occasions of sin, still smoking like embers,
into full flame, or by different kinds of passions to harass
the members naturally weak. Vices are to the human body
what fire is to a dried-up grain field. They are overcome
rather securely only by being kept at a distance; they are
killed by being ignored; and if they are ignored, they happily
vanish. If these vices penetrate the mind and the senses; if
2 Reading sensus.
196 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
they make their way into souls, and once enter the members
of the body, an unextinguishable fire is conceived and fanned.
Then, unless heavenly water will flood the hearts, pour itself
into the minds, and drench the members, everything which
goes to make up a man's strength is overcome and reduced
to ashes.
'Is the Law sin? By no means. Yet I did not know sin
save through the law. 3 This is as if he were saying: 'Gold
is not avarice, yet I did not know avarice save through
gold. Wine is not drunkenness, yet I did not know drunken-
ness save through wine. Bodily beauty is not concupiscence,
but beauty of shape snatched me into the power of con-
cupiscence and brought me to fall.'
Thus, it is clear that those things which God created
for their usefulness, for salvation, and for grace are not
evil by their nature. Yet, an occasion of sinning is furnished
through them. The upshot is that the miser blames the gold,
and the drunken man the wine. The licentious man or the
fop wants to attribute to beauteous form that which brought
on his downfall. Thus, too, the Law which had been given
by God for salvation, which was by its own nature heavenly
and holy, was made through man an instrument of wretched
man's downfall. The Apostle proves this by the following
words: 'So that the Law indeed is holy and the command-
ment holy and just and good/
Clearly, that which was good did not bring in death.
Rather, it was sin which chiefly brought in death sin
which had "made human nature fragile and weak and prone
to falls and vices. Sin was lurking in the human body and
waxing strong. The Law reprehended it and exposed it
while it instructed man about innocence, holiness, justice,
virtue, and faith, and while it censured him about vices,
offenses, and crimes. However, man began to hear about
the virtues, and he began to will them, but he did not attain
SERMONS 197
them. He began to detest the vices, but to follow them; to hate
the offenses, but to commit them; to stand aghast at the
crimes, but to carry them out. Consequently, he slowly per-
ceived that he was a captive slave, condemned to the evil
of madness, and he began to cry out: 'Unhappy man that
I am! Who will deliver me from the body of this death?' 3
He received the reply: The grace of God through our Lord
Jesus Christ.'
After hearing that, he began to seek freedom through his
Creator, salvation through forgiveness, and to hope for life
through grace alone. For long he had failed to know where
difficult innocence comes from, and arduous justice, and
toilsome sanctity, and laborious virtue, and faith completely
full of dangers. He had not known whence the offences
get such great force, whence vices grow strong even while they
are being pruned, why virtues fail even while they are being
cultivated. The Law opened this up, and taught it, and
showed with full light that in human hearts and human
minds crimes rule through sin and virtues through God. It
made evident that offences cannot be overcome until their
source has been extinguished, that is, sin which Christ took
away, as John testifies: 'Behold the lamb of God, who takes
away the sin of the world. 34
Tor without the Law sin was dead,' the Apostle continues.
'Once upon a time I was living without law, but when
the commandment came sin revived, and I died, and the
commandment that was unto life was discovered in my case
to be unto death. For sin, having taken occasion from the
commandment, deceived me, and through it killed me.' Sin
was dead, not in that it was non-existent, but in that it was
unknown. Rightly was it said : 'Sin revived. 3 For it lay buried
under human ignorance. It was not the commandment which
3 Rom. 7.24,25.
4 John 1.29.
198 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
revived through sin; rather, sin revived through the com-
mandment, in so far as the commandment made him who
had previously been a sinner [unknowingly] a [knowing]
transgressor [of the Law]; in so far as it made the guilty
man obstinate, too, and excited him to be a rebellious apos-
tate. Consequently, when man recognized from what source,
and why, and through what he was dying, he rightly ex-
claimed that he was then already dead. We now see, brethren,
how cruel a tyrant sin is.
*Sin, having taken occasion from the commandment, de-
ceived me, and through it killed me' because it stretched
the instrument of salvation into a snare, made the means
of cure a means of sickness, changed the means of health
into a deadly wound, converted life itself into a death-deal-
ing sword.
'Sin, having taken occasion from the commandment, de-
ceived me, and through it killed me.' But, since man had
been killed, how could he, as one already slain, now provide
for himself? For, who was able to help a slain man save
Christ, who by His death restored life? It was He who
through His death inflicted a dead man's retaliation in kind.
He destroyed death. He betrayed it as being a haughty
creature which, although ordered to exact penalties only
from guilty men, dared to attack the Judge Himself. It pre-
sumed to assault the Author of innocence Himself. Conse-
quently, death rightly died, and not I myself live, but Christ
lives, acts, reigns, and commands in me.
SERMONS 199
SERMON 117
The First Adam, and the Last Adam, Born of a Virgin
(On 1 Cor. 15.45-50)
The holy Apostle today recounts that two men gave an
origin to the human race, namely, Adam and Christ. They
are two men alike in body, but different in worth; truly
similar in the structure of their members, but truly dissimilar in
their own beginnings. 'The first man, Adam,' the text says,
'became a living soul; the last Adam became a lifegiving
spirit.' That first one was made by this last One, from whom
he got his soul to be alive. This last One was fashioned by.
His very Self, that He alone might not await life from
another, but give it to all men. The first one was moulded
from the cheapest earth; the last One came forth from the
Virgin's precious womb. In the case of the former, earth is
changed into flesh; in that of the latter, flesh itself is raised
up to God.
Why should I say more? This last is the Adam who placed
His own image in the first one when He made him. That
is why He both plays the same role as the former and receives
his name, in order not to let perish, as far as He was con-
cerned, that which He had made to His own image. The
first Adam, and the last Adam. That first one has a begin-
ning; this last One has no limit. For, in truth, this last One
is Himself first, as He says: 'I am the first, and I am the last.' 1
'I am the first,' that is, without a beginning; *I am the last,'
assuredly without an end.
'But it is not the spiritual that comes first,' the text says,
'but the physical and then the spiritual. 3 Surely the earth
exists before the fruit, but it is not as precious as the fruit.
1 Isa. 48.12.
200 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
The earth exacts groans and toil, but the fruit gives sub-
stance and life. The Prophet rightly glories over such fruit:
'Our earth has yielded her fruit. 92 What fruit? Clearly, that
of which he says elsewhere: 'Of the fruit of thy womb I will
set upon thy throne.' 3
The first man/ the text continues, 'was of the earth,
earthy; the second man is from heaven, heavenly.* Where
are they 4 who think that the Virgin's conception and giving
birth to her child are to be likened to those of other women?
For, this latter case is one of the earth, and the Virgin's
is one from heaven. The one is a case of divine power; the
other of human weakness. The one case occurs in a body
subject to passion; the other in the tranquility of the divine
Spirit and the peace of the human body. The blood was still,
and the flesh astonished; her members were put at rest, and
her entire womb was quiescent during the visit of the Heaven-
ly One, until the Author of flesh could take on His garment
of flesh, and until He, who was not merely to restore the earth
to man but also to give him heaven, could become a heavenly
Man. The Virgin conceives, the Virgin brings forth her child,
and she remains a virgin. Consequently, her body is conscious
of strength, not pain. By her child-bearing she receives an
increase of her integrity, and suffers no harm to her modesty.
She is, rather, the witness of her motherhood who suffered
none of its customary pains. The new mother marvels
at her having a part in heavenly mysteries. Well does she
understand that the birth 5 of her Son has nothing which
ordinarily occurs among men. If the Magus through His
gift acknowledges that God is thus being born, and makes
2 Ps. 84.18.
3 Ps.131.11.
4 Cerinthus, Ebion, and the Carpocratians.
5 Reading originem. If ordinem is correct, 'birth' should be changed to
'dignity.'
SERMONS 201
his acknowledgment while he is adoring, think what a Chris-
tian ought to feel and believe !
But, let us hear what follows: 'As was the earthy man,
such are the earthy; and as is the heavenly man, such also
are the heavenly.' How will it be possible for those who
were not born thus as heavenly men to be found heavenly
men? Not through their remaining what they were born, but
by continuing to be what they were when reborn. Brethren,
that is why the heavenly Spirit by a mysterious injection of
His light fecundates the womb of the virginal Mother. He
desired to bring forth as heavenly beings those whom an
origin from an ancestral stock of earth had brought forth
as earthy men, in a wretched state. He wanted to bring
them to the likeness of their Creator. So, let us who have
already been reborn, and reformed to the image of our
Creator, fulfill what the Apostle commands.
'Therefore, even as we have borne the likeness of the
earthy, let us bear also the likeness of the heavenly. 3 Let it be
granted that all this was a necessity: that we, formed from
earth, could not produce heavenly fruits; that, born from
concupiscence, we could not avoid concupiscence; that we,
born from the powerful attractions of the flesh, had to carry the
base load of its attractions; that we, accepted into this world
for our home, were captives to its evils. Yes, let us who have
been reborn to the likeness of our Lord (as we mentioned),
whom a Virgin 6 conceived, and the Spirit enlivened, and
modesty carried, and integrity brought to birth, and inno-
cence nourished, and sanctity taught, and virtue trained,
and God adopted as His sons let us bear the image of our
Creator in a perfect reproduction. Let it be a reproduction
not of that majesty in which He is unique, but of that inno-
cence, simplicity, meekness, patience, humility, mercy, and
6 Inasmuch as we are part of Christ's Mystical Body; or, perhaps, as
Bohraer says in BKV 43.285, the Virgin is the Church.
202 SAINT PETER GHRYSOLOGUS
peacefulness by which He deigned to become and to be one
with us. May the bothersome itch of vices cease, and the fatal
allurements of sins be overcome, and damnable rage, the
source of crimes, be checked. May all the fog of wordly
display be dispelled from our senses. May all the illusion of
worldly desire be cast out of our minds. May we desire
Christ's poverty which stores its everlasting riches in heaven.
May we preserve complete holiness of soul and body, that
we may bear and enhance our Creator's image in ourselves,
in regard not to its size, but to our way of acting.
The Apostle confirms what we have said by his words:
'Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood can obtain
no part in the kingdom of God.' See how he preaches the
resurrection of the body. There, the spirit will possess the
flesh, not the flesh the spirit, as the next words make clear:
'Neither shall corruption have any part in incorruption.' You
see that not the flesh perishes, but the principle of corruption;
not the man, but his fault; not the person, but his sin; in
order that the man living in God and before Him alone
may rejoice over arriving at the end of his sins.
We should devote a complete sermon to the resurrection,
brethren. It is not right for us to speak only in passing,
and that at the end of our sermon, about that which sends
us into the endless ages and everlasting life.
SERMONS 203
SERMON 120
Two Patterns: Wordly Life and Christ's Life
(On Rom. 2.2-21 1 )
Today, Christ made it clear that His Apostles are salt, by
His words: 'You are the salt of the earth.' 2 Let no one be
impatient with us if we abraze the words of the holy Apostle
like grains of divine salt, in order that, seasoned 3 more deeply
ourselves, we may improve our understanding of his mean-
ing. For, unabrazed grains of salt produce their seasoning
effect through getting broken up and descending more deeply
into the substance being seasoned. Similarly, the Apostle's pas-
sage, if read in an ordinary manner, yields its surface mean-
ing. But it gives up its profound meaning if it is reread
with careful attention to the matters we previously observed.
Today, the holy Apostle tells us: 'Be not conformed to this
world/ Do you think that by this statement the blessed
Apostle Paul is exhorting us not to make ourselves like the
shapes of the elements? or not to be like Persian kings?
Sometimes they put a globe beneath their feet in order to
be deemed controllers of the world and to simulate the func-
tions of God. Again, they sit with a shape and appearance
like the sun, with rods protruding like rays from their heads,
that they may not seem to be men. Sometimes, as if to express
grief that they are men, they wear horns, and make them-
selves women with the appearance of the moon. 4 At times,
they put on various appearance of stars, in order to lose
1 This sermon continues the homily begun in Sermon 109.
2 Matt. 5.13.
3 Reading saporati. If soporati is right, the phrase is: in order to
improve, by this seasoning, the penetration possessed by our now
slumbering mind.
4 The Persians sometimes worshiped the moon as a woman; cf.
PL 52.527, note c.
204 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
the shape of men yet they acquire nothing of heavenly
brightness. But all those practices spring from the vanity of
the world. Wise men ought to have nothing to do with them
and to laugh at them.
However, when the Apostle says: 'Be not conformed to
this world, 5 he is correcting the manner of the life of the
world, disapproving its practices, passing judgment on its
mode of life, denouncing its inclinations, and condemning
its luxury. He is warding off all the pomp of wordly vanities,
putting them to flight, striving to keep them out of Christian
minds. Yet, in this way he is forcibly reminding us, in an
abridged manner, of what he stated more at length at
the beginning of this Epistle, where he gives this picture of
the figure of the world in its vices: 'Being filled with all
iniquity, malice, immorality, avarice, wickedness; being full
of envy, murder, contention, deceit, malignity; being whis-
perers, detractors, hateful to God, irreverent, proud, haughty,
plotters of evil; disobedient to parents, foolish, dissolute, with-
out affection, without mercy. Although they have known the
ordinance of God, they have not understood that those who
practise such things are deserving of death. And not only
do they do these things, but they applaud others doing them.' 5
Brethren, you have heard what the form of the world
is, you have learned its appearance, and seen its figure if
we should call that a form and not a shapeless monster,
where through the disorder of crimes the whole appearance
of things has been made hideous; where through a sinful
marriage the whole figure of the world has become loose-
jointed; where the very image of the Creator has been ruined
by the diseases of sins; where man is buried under vices;
where crimes of a corrupted body abound; where a man is
the sepulchre of his true self; where in man is discerned not
5 Rom. 1J29-32.
SERMONS 205
a true man but a corpse. This, therefore, is the form or pat-
tern of the world to which the Apostle forbids us to be con-
formed. He prohibits us to become like this figure. He does
not permit us to be images of this model. Rather, he trans-
forms us to the form of God. He calls us back to likeness
to Christ. He allures us towards the whole pattern of our
Creator, with the words : 'But be transformed in the newness
of your minds.'
That is, cast away the pattern of this world, and be re-
newed in your minds through Christ. Discard the unshapeli-
ness of the antiquated form, and make your nature 6 one
modeled upon that of your Saviour, that the newness of
your minds may shine forth in your deeds, and the man of
heaven may walk the earth with a heavenly deportment.
Let it now become clear how the Apostle draws up the
pattern of the new man: Tor just as in one body we have
many members, yet all the members have not the same
function, so we, the many, are one body in Christ, but
severally members one of another. But we have gifts differing
according to the grace that has been given us.' 7 He is strug-
gling and taking care that the body, to which he assigns a
heavenly function, may through the harmony and co-opera-
tion of the members hold fast its life which is characteristic of
heaven and its practices of holiness. He wants neither the foot
to interfere through perverse conceit in the functions o the
eye, nor the eye in those of the foot. Rather, he desires the
holy members to be content with the gifts conferred by the
Giver. He wishes all the members to regard what any one
member has done as their own. For, no member which
has the honor of being part of the whole body can be of
less importance. Hence, the Apostle portrays the functions
6 For this translation of formam, cf. Phil. 2.5,7.
7 Rom 12.4-6.
206 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
by means of the members, and the members by means of
the functions:
c Or he who teaches, in teaching; he who exhorts, in exhort-
ing; he who gives, in simplicity; he who presides, with care-
fulness; he who shows mercy, with cheerfulness. Let love be
without pretense. Hate what is evil, hold to what is good,
anticipating one another with honor, being kind to one
another. Be not slothful in zeal; be fervent in spirit, serving
the Lord, rejoicing in hope. Be patient in tribulation, per-
severing in prayer. Share the remembrances of the saints,
practising hospitality. Bless, and do not curse. Rejoice with
those who rejoice; weep with those who weep. Provide good
things not only in the sight of God, but also in the sight
of men. Be not wise in your own conceits. To no man
render evil for evil. If it be possible, as far as in you lies, be
at peace with all men. Do not avenge yourselves, but give
place to the wrath. "If thy enemy is hungry, give him food;
if he is thirsty, give him drink." Be not overcome by evil, but
overcome evil with good/ 8
Brethren, the Apostle revealed above the vice-laden mem-
bers. Now, he has shown us the virtuous members. He wants
the body meant for heaven to be strong with such great
virtues^ and robust with such sinews, that it can easily
prostrate the wars of the world and overcome the Devil's
assaults.
If a man lives according to the Apostle's teaching, does
he not lay the world low? Does he not subdue his flesh?
Does he not conquer the Devil? Does he not become like
the angels? Is he not greater than the sky? Clearly he is,
because the sky does not move itself by its own power. It
does not act by free will. It does nothing through judgment,
but functions always through necessity, because its function
was appointed to it once for all. Not by its own strength or
8 Ct. Rom. 12.7-21.
SERMONS 207
effort does it keep itslf undefiled. Consequently, it is not
subject to punishment, but neither can it expect a reward.
But, when man, a creature put together from earthly stuff,
overcomes his earthly stigma, vanquishes the urges of his
blood and overwhelms the passions of his flesh, he mounts
above the sky and flies to the very abode of God. Thus he
becomes greater than the heavens. He excels the angels, not
by his nature, but by his merits.
The example of Paul the Apostle is proof of this. While
he was winning quite a victory over the world, he penetrated
the sky, and passed through the second heaven, and deserved
to get all the way to the third one. All this was right. For,
surely, he who by his word and example had so well taught
otherc how to enter the heavens should himself be the first
to rise into them. He who will live according to Paul's teach-
ing, he, too, will surely be greater than the sky. He who
thus shines throughout the world by the rays of his virtues
so that he does not let himself be darkened by any night
of vices, he will be brighter than the sun. He who mitigates
this darkness not by any dimmed light, but banishes all the
night by the strong brilliance of his merits, he will surely
be more luminous than the moon. He will not, like the moon,
experience daily diminutions of his light, but by the steadily
glowing lantern of his deeds he will remain in the illumina-
tion of a heavenly light. Neither is he, like the moon, changed
by a monthly waning. Rather, he will bask forever in the
uninterrupted love of God. If the moon is great because it
moderates the night, how much greater is this man whose
life admits no darkness of night into itself! I say nothing
about the stars, because the saints shine with as many virtues
as the sky is spangled with stars. 'You are the light of the
world/ said the Lord; 'shine like lamps in the world. 39
At the end of the world, as God has told us, the sky, the
9 Matt. 5.14,16.
208 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
sun, the moon, and the stars will pass away, but the just
man will remain in the bright light of God.' 10
Brethren, I should like to make single comments on the
Apostle's every word. But repeated reading begets weariness
of hearing, and we cannot longer remain silent about the
virtues recounted in the Gospels. 11 Therefore, may you in
your charity find it satisfactory that we have terminated our
comments on the present reading by this abridged sermon.
May our God Himself deign to imbed in your holy minds
both the matters we have said and those we have left un-
mentioned.
SERMON 122
The Rich Man and Lazarus
(On Luke 16.23-24)
Today, brethren, our sermon ought to treat adequately the
virtues of St. Andrew. 1 However, we promised to go back
10 Matt. 24.29-35.
11 The sermon of the bishop sometimes preceded the reading of a
passage of the Gospel, as PL 52.529, note a, points out. However,
St. Peter's statement here may be evidence that he gave one homily
of fifteen minutes on the Epistle, and another a little later during
the same Mass on the Gospel, and perhaps even one on the chanted
verses of the Psalms. Cf, the beginning of Sermon 112 (and note 2)
and of Sermon 115; also, Introduction, p. 17.
1 St. Peter treats the entire parable of Luke 16.19-31 in Sermons 121-124.
Sermon 122 was selected because it is a good homily, and also because
its introduction throws much light on the Fathers' manner of preach-
ing. They spoke not only on Sundays but on other feasts, too, espec-
cially those of the martyrs. Cf. PL 52.533, note d. St. Peter was
unwilling either to depart from his custom of preaching only for
fifteen minutes or to interrupt his series here to preach about St.
Andrew, about whom he did speak on another occasion. (Sermon 133) .
SERMONS 209
and treat the remainder of the subject of the rich man and
Lazarus, the poor man of the Gospel. Furthermore, the pre-
rogative of St. Andrew's apostolate and martyrdom suffice
yes, more than suffice for his glory. Therefore, if it is agreea-
ble to you, we shall, with the aid of the Lord, give you
what we promised and owe.
Aware that weariness begets aversion in both the hearers
and the speaker, in our previous treatise we postponed [treat-
ment of] the greatest part of the passage which is set forth.
This was to enable us to refresh the strength of our mental
faculties and then, with full vigor and proper attention, grasp
the remainder of the salutary word.
After the words we spoke come these: 'And lifting up his
eyes, being in torments, the rich man saw Abraham afar
off, and Lazarus in his bosom.' 'And lifting up his eyes. 5
Late does the rich man lift up his eyes toward heaven;
he has always kept them intent upon the earth. O rich man,
those very eyes you lift up are your accusers. Those eyes
you lift up do not placate your Judge, but enkindle Him to
anger. They gain you, not forgiveness, but a feeling of guilt.
They call for the full measure of penalties, not solace. Whither
do you raise your eyes? Why do you still cry out, O rich
man? Whither do you cast your glance again and again, O
rich man? There is Lazarus, there is the betrayer of your
impiety, the witness of your crimes, the herald of your cruelty.
'And he cried out, 3 the text says, 'Father Abraham, have
pity on me. 5 Now you recognize him as a father. But in the
person of Lazarus you spurned Abraham as a father, and
you cannot now know him as a father toward you. Now you
see him as a just man who then, to be kindly to you, long
allowed Lazarus to be tormented. Unhappy is he whom his
own ancestor thus accuses, whom the one responsible for
his seeing the light of day thus condemns. Unhappy is he
whose crimes were so great that in the judgment his
210 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
ancestor could not show mercy to him, or his father forgive
him, or his father's affection help him.
Why do you still cry out, O rich man? You are still rich,
but in crime, not in wealth; not in possessions, but in guilt.
Why do you cry out? What do you ask for? Here we see
no more petitioning, but a controversy in which the one who
suffered is one of the opponents. The participants are in
separated places. The one speaks from nearby; the other,
from afar. The ones carries on from a bosom; the other,
from hell. The one pleads from a place of repose; the other
complains from amid his torments.
What does the rich man say? 'Father Abraham, have pity
on me. 5 Well would you be speaking, O rich man, if Lazarus,
reposing in Abraham's bosom, were not holding the very
heart of the judge. Well would you be speaking if Lazarus
did not possess all the secrets of this perfectly just reviewer.
He whom an innocent Confessor thus accuses petitions the
judge to no purpose. He believes in vain that the judge can
help him when the very man who endured so much is talking
through the judge's mouth.
'Have pity on me, and send Lazarus.' Are you still so cruel
to Lazarus? 'Send Lazarus.' Whither? From Abraham's
bosom to hell, from his lofty throne to the deepest abyss,
from the holy repose and deep silence of the blessed to the
din of the tortures? 'And send Lazarus.' As I see the matter
the rich man's actions spring not from new pain, but from
ancient envy. This is enkindled not so much by hell as by
Lazarus' possession of heaven. Men find it a grave evil and
an unbearable fire to see in happiness those whom they once
held in contempt. The rich man's malice does not leave him,
even though he already endures its punishment. He does
not ask to be led to Lazarus, but wants Lazarus to be led to
him. O rich man, the loving Abraham cannot send to the
bed of your tortures Lazarus whom you did not condescend
SERMONS 211
to admit to your table. Your respective fortunes have now
been reversed. You look upon the glory of him whose misery
you once spurned. He gazes upon your tortures who then
wondered at you in your glory.
Let us see, brethren, why he thus begs in tears to have
Lazarus sent to him. 'Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger
in water and cool my tongue.' You are in error, O rich
man. This fire is not so much in your tongue as in your
mind; not so much of the tongue as of the heart. That
heat is still one of the conscience, not that extreme flame
which waits in readiness for you. For, if the full fire of the
Last Judgment were already surrounding you, if the sentence
of that hopeless condemnation already held you, you would
never be lifting your eyes. You would never be presuming to
speak with your father, or to ask for yourself, or to intercede
for your brothers. Surely, if all the fire of hell already holds
you, and the flame of Gehenna enwraps you, why do you
want help only for the burning in your tongue? unless it
is because, when your breast is heaving with the flame of
your crime and guilt, your tongue which insulted the poor
man and refused mercy to him is burnt the more, and catches
fire, and violently burns. The tongue precedes to the Judg-
ment. It first tastes and suffers tortures. It is the first member
of all the body to sense heat. For, when it was the first
member to taste here on earth various delicious foods and to
sample the perfumed cups, it refused to order generosity.
It did not command mercy to be shown, but, when others
were showing it, the tongue complained.
This is he who used to clothe himself in purple and fine
linen. What is the matter, rich man? Does the fine linen fail
to protect you from the heat? Does the purple fail to resist
hell? Those goods remained behind. They deserted you, and
yourself, who once mocked at the heat while clothed with
212 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
garments ingeniously light, you are now naked and sweat
and burn.
'And send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water
and cool my tongue.' Why this, rich man? Where are the
torrents from your , wine presses? Where are your barns,
expanded not less by your greediness than by your supplies,
as far as the poor man's hunger is concerned? As far as his
need is concerned, where are those wines preserved so long
because of their age and oblivion of their dates? Where
are all the prodigalities, bustlings, and pourings of your serv-
ants? All this exists no more for you; it is no more an occa-
sion of sin. Now you have thirst for the drop on a finger tip.
If you had given only this to the poor man, you would not
have this thirst. A drop made you unmerciful, and a crumb
made you inhuman. Drops and crumbs make up the whole
sustenance and life of a poor man.
I should like to know, O rich man, if you in your suffer-
ing excuse even your own self. You would not have come
to these evils if on earth you had given a crumb from your
huge barns and a drop from your great wine presses. What
the flesh needs, and nature demands, and suffices for life, is
little. Avarice is the reason why a man stores up many great
possessions, not for himself but for others, and that clearly
to his present or future suffering.
But, you object, O rich man: 'Even if I did refuse to
give wine, what I ask for is water, which the Creator Him-
self of all beings and nature gave as something common to
all human beings.' I think, O rich man, that you refused
even water to the poor man. You exposed him to as many
dogs as you could to keep him from entering your door and
coming to your well.
'Send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water.' What
is the meaning of this which you say if he is not to bring the
water? Evidently, that water is nearby, to you. And if it
SERMONS 213
is near, why do you not take it from nearby? Why? Because
your hands are rightly bound, O rich man. Because you
spurned to give help to Lazarus' hands when they had lost
their strength through weakness. Man should certainly share
his members with the weak. When Job was not so much
giving them as giving them back, he spoke as follows: 'I was
an eye of the blind, and a foot of the lame. I was the father
of the weak.' 2 O man, if you do not have a coin, give a
poor man your hand, because he shows greater mercy who
by his own hand, leads a poor man who is weak to his
table. He gives his very self to the poor man who devotes
himself to his service, makes himself the poor man's servant.
Again, brethren, let us postpone the completion of the
present discourse, in order to expound in a third sermon
what sentence the rich man endured from holy Abraham.
SERMON 129
Saint Cyprian, Martyr
Today, we have assembled in the sight of God on the
birthday of St. Cyprian the Martyr. On this date he
triumphed over the Devil in an admirable struggle. Moreover,
he has left us a glorious example of his virtues. For these
reasons it is proper for us to exult and rejoice. Dearly be-
loved, when you hear about the birthday of the saints, do
not think that mention is being made of their birth from
flesh into life on earth. There is a question of their birth
from earth into heaven; from toil to repose; from tempta-
tions to rest; from tortures to delights which are not fleeting,
but strong, firm, and everlasting; from worldly hilarity to
a crown of glory.
2 Job 29.15,16.
214 SAINT PETER CHRVSOLOGUS
Such birthdays of the martyrs are celebrated in a fitting
way. Therefore, when a festival of this kind is being kept,
do not think, dearly beloved, that birthdays of the martyrs
should be celebrated only by meals and more elegant ban-
quets. Rather, what you celebrate in memory of a martyr
is something proposed for your imitation. Consequently,
dearly beloved, observe the ardor of the congregation which
is present. At one time on this date a mob of evil men stood
by, when, through the tyrant's orders, St. Cyprian was being
maltreated. There were crowds of evil-doers and bands of
onlookers. Now, a devout multitude of the faithful has as-
sembled to rejoice. Then, there was a crowd of furious
agitators; now, one of those who rejoice then, a band of
men without hope; now, one of the men who are full of it.
It is for a purpose that the birthdays of the martyrs are
celebrated every year with joy: that that which happened
in the past should remain in the memory of devout men of
every century. The festival is carried out, dearly beloved,
that you may not say you do not know about it. The festiv-
ities are celebrated annually to keep you from saying: I for-
got. Therefore, animate yourselves to imitate these deeds,
dearly beloved. Desire this grace of magnanimity. Ask that
what he merited to obtain may be given you. For all those
who desire heavenly goods cannot let themselves be enmeshed
by the snares of earthly goods. They have determined that
their citizenship is in heaven, after the teaching of the holy
Apostle: c But our citizenship is in heaven.' 1 Therefore, let
our hearts direct their desires to the heavenly abode, where
your heart will be after you have distributed your treasures
to the poor. Christ is the treasure of all good men. May He,
with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, deign to
heap heavenly gifts upon you and fill you with them, both
now and forever.
1 Phil. 3.20.
SERMONS 215
SERMON 132
The Unity of the Faithful in Prayer
(On Matt. 18.19,20)
If nature begot and brought forth all things as fully
developed, hardy, and in want of nothing, all love would
perish. Natural inclinations would fail, and skill would pass
away.
Gold would remain in the earth, unpolished; the sparkle
of the gem would be left hidden in the uncut stone. However,
the craftsman finds them both through his skill. He cleanses,
enhances, and polishes them. He artfully works on them to
evoke all the beauty and charm of a perfect necklace. Simi-
larly, what the earth sprouts forth from nature's bounteous
supply either gets bruised by brambles or grows like a wild
grapevine with the luxuriance of virgin country, unless
the farmer by skillful work brings it under the control of his
cultivation. That I may not wander longer, let us bring out
our labored point by one household example. When a new-
born infant lies in the cradle, a man is in that human nature,
but he is not yet fully apparent. There is a body, yet there
is not. The members are seen, yet they are practically non-
existent. They are alive, yet not alive with sensation. Then,
love turns itself upon the infant. It applies its industry to
the point of perspiration, and exercises its skill. To speak
more fully, as many arts of instruction are put to work to
make him a developed man as he has members. And why
should I say more? Love nourishes, industry develops, and
ingenuity embellishes everything which nature generates or
produces.
Then why should we be astonished, brethren, if God, who
willed to suffer for man's sake, willed that man's nature,
216 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
too, should be weak in regard to what we are considering
today? He wanted to bring honor to human industry.
Hence, too, arises the fact that the meaning lies hid in
the letter; that a divine mystery is concealed in human
speech. The future things which are already clear to believers
are to be made obscure to heretics and unbelievers just
as if the penal blindness of the unbelievers redounded to
glory of the faithful. For, it is quite trying not to comprehend
the things seen, not to understand those heard, to reject as
harmful those which are salutary, to shun virtues as if they
were vices. Christ Himself has said: I speak in parables,
That seeing they may not perceive, and hearing they may
not understand.' 1 To the faithful He said: To you it is given
to know the mystery of God.'
Wherefore, brethren, let no one in his simplicity deem
the Gospel text common or cheap, especially in that verse
where the resounding trumpet of its reading predicts that
nothing 2 is to be refused to those who ask well and desire
piously. The verse states 'that if two of you shall agree on
earth about anything at all for which they ask, it shall be
done for them by my Father in heaven.' 3 You have heard
what power and efficacy arises from group agreement in a
holy petition. Christ did not mention one thing or another,
but He promised to give everything whatever the united
request desires. His words are: 'about anything at all for
which they ask, it shall be done for them.' Of course, that
reverent caution should not be disregarded : that we should
ask of God things worthy of God. He who asks evil things
of God judges and supposes that God is the author of evil.
And he who asks for cheap and unworthy things is an
ignoble petitioner and ignores the power and might of the
1 Mark 45,12,11; cf. Luke 8.10; Matt. 13.11.
2 Supplying nihil; cf. PL 52.461, note c.
3 Matt. 18.19.
SERMONS 217
Giver. Consequently, we should always ask from such a
Giver not unholy gifts, but holy ones; not earthly, but
heavenly ones; gifts compatible with virtues, not dangerous
attractions; not things likely to stir up hatreds, but those
consonant with virtue.
Christ promises that He will be in the midst of two or
three who are gathered, and that He will give everything
they request of Him. 4 If this is so, where are those who
presume that the congregation of the Church can be disre-
garded, and assert that private prayers should be preferred
to those of an honorable assembly? If He denies nothing to
so small a group, will He refuse anything to those who ask
for it in the assemblies and congregation of the Church?
This is what the Prophet believed, and what he exults over
having obtained when he states: S I will praise thee, O Lord,
with my whole heart, in the council of the just, and in the
congregation.' 5 The man who hears that everything he will
ask for in the council of the saints will be granted praises
with his whole heart.
Some, however, endeavor to excuse under an appearance
of faith the idleness which prompts their contempt [for
assemblies]. They omit participation in the fervor of the
assembled congregation, and pretend that they have devoted
to prayer the time they have expended upon their household
cares. While they give themselves up to their own desires,
they contemn and despise divine arrangements. These are
men of the sort who tear apart the [Mystical] Body of Christ
and scatter its members. They do not suffer the form of its
Christlike appearance to develop to its full beauty that
form which the Prophet saw and then sang about: "Thou
are beautiful in form above the sons of men. 96
4 Matt. 18.20,19.
5 Ps. 110.1.
6 Ps. 44.3.
218 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
It is true that the individual members have, each one, their
own function to perform. But they will fulfill these respective
functions best if they are joined together and compacted
and attain to the full beauty of the fully developed Body.
This, therefore, is the difference between the glorious rich-
ness of a congregation and the presumptious vanity of sepa-
ration which springs either from ignorance or negligence:
that from the health and praiseworthiness of the entire body
a beautiful unity arises, while from the separation of its mem-
bers there springs base, deadly, and hideous ruin.
O man, consider either the separation of the joints in
your own body or the joining together of the separate mem-
bers. Has it taught you anything else than this, that you
should live both as one man compounded of many parts
and as one man in many members? The eye is precious for
the healthy functioning of the members but only if it
remains in the body. Otherwise, when it fails the body it
also fails itself. All the other members are indebted to the
eye for the service of light which it furnishes. But the eye
itself perceives, too, that it owes to the body the fact that
it is a light. When united with the members it provides a
service for them; plucked out of the body, it itself does
not see.
Whoever he is who thinks that he is something, let him
be instructed by such an example and remain in the Church,
that he may be something. Otherwise, when he fails the
Church, he soon terminates his own importance. If anyone
desires a more extensive understanding of this, let him read
the Apostle's treatise in which he speaks about the [Mystical]
Body of Christ. 7 The desirable brevity of our sermon does
not permit us to run through it. The Law was given not
for one, but for all. So, too, Christ came not for one or to
7 1 Cor. 12.4-31; rf. Rom. 12.4-13,21.
SERMONS 219
one, but to all and for all. He desired to bring all things
together into a unity which alone is good and pleasant. The
Prophet, aware of the future, assures us: 'Behold how good
and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity.' 8
For, not singularity, but unity, is acceptable to God. The Holy
Spirit descended upon the Apostles with all His welling
fountain when they were assembled together. 9 This occurred
after the Apostles had been instructed by the Lord's own
commandment to wait in a group for the Spirit's coming.
Brethren, suppose that a man is evil to himself, and be-
cause of his shortcomings foolishly self-sufficient. Suppose
that thus he seeks life outside the Church. He loses divine
gifts, he spoils the outpouring of grace, he cheats himself
of the benefits of charity. The blessing of that unity will not
await him. The Prophet testifies that that life is only in the
Church: 'Behold how good and pleasant it is for brethren
to dwell together in unity. . . For there the Lord hath com-
manded blessing, and life forevermore.' 10
SERMON 133
St. Andrew the Apostle
Today is rightly considered St. Andrew's birthday. He did
not come to birth from his mother's womb today, but we
recognize that through the conception of faith and the child-
birth of martyrdom he was brought forth into heavenly glory.
His mother's cradle did not receive him today as a softly
crying infant, but the heavenly abodes welcomed him in
triumph. He did not draw the soft mild nourishment of milk
8 Ps. 132.1.
9 Acts 2.1-4.
10 Ps. 132.1,3.
220 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
from his mother's breast, but as a devoted soldier he valiantly
shed his blood for his King.
He lives, because, as a warrior in the heavenly army, he
slew death. Sweating and sighing after his expiring Lord, he
follows along and strives to walk with the full vigorous stride
of his virtue. Nature had made him similar to his brother, 1
his vocation had made him a companion, and grace had
made him an equal. He did not want this journey to make
him dissimilar.
At one word of the Lord, Andrew had, like him, left his
father, his country, and his possessions. Through Christ's own
gift, he offered himself without wearying as the companion
of his brother in labors, reproaches, journeys, insults, and
vigils. The only blemish is that he fled at the time of the
Lord's Passion. However, his fleeing does not give him an
inferior rank. If to deny one's Lord is deemed a fault of
some importance, surely it is not more serious to flee than
to deny.
We should pass over the other matters in silence, brethren.
The forgiveness put on a level those whom their fault had
separated. And the fervor with which they afterwards suf-
fered martyrdom proved the devotion of those men who
had previously incurred dishonor through their fear. Later
on, they eagerly embraced with all their hearts that cross
from which they had shrunk, so as to ascend to heaven and
gain their reward and crown from the same cross from which
they had once derived guilt.
Peter mounted a cross, and Andrew a tree. In this way
they who longed to suffer with Christ showed forth in them-
selves the kind and manner of His suffering; redeemed
upon a cross, they were made perfect for their palms. Thus,
even if Andrew is second in dignity, he is not inferior in
regard to the reward or the suffering.
1 Simon Peter.
SERMONS 221
SERMON 134
St. F elicit as, Martyr
Time does not allow us to enumerate the diverse and
manifold victories of the martyrs which the cruelty of perse-
cutors, so often foiled, has multiplied. Therefore, we bestow
all the eloquence of our sermon on her who deserved to
have as many sons as the world had days. 1
She is indeed a mother of lights and a source of days
who shines throughout the whole world through the flash-
ing brilliance of her seven sons. Blessed is she 2 who not only
suffered for the Law, but as a holy mother has merited to
produce a lampstand of seven candles yes, brethren, a
seven-branched candlestick meant to illumine with its holy
light not the sanctuary of one temporary tabernacle, 3 but,
rather, the everlasting Church. Blessed is she who deserved
to bear as many virtuous children as the ark carried sacred
volumes of precepts. She was to teach by her example just
as they were by word.
She bore them as martyrs even then, brethren, when she
dedicated those childbirths by a sevenfold and mystical num-
ber. Hither, let St. Paul come hither, he who is still in labor
until Christ be formed in man. 4 Look, a mother again and
again gives birth to a child, until her weakness is changed
into strength, flesh passes over into spirit, earth is transferred
into heaven. She was eager, she sighed in longing to give
them a birth as holy martyrs on one day, whom it took her
a course of years to bring forth as infants. See this woman!
1 I.e., seven days of creation. St. Felicitas had seven sons who underwent
martyrdom with her.
2 An allusion to the mother and her seven sons martyred under
King Amiochus; cf. 2 Mac. 7.1-42.
3 Exod. 25, especially vv. 8, 31-40.
4 Gal. 4.20,
222 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Look at this mother whom the life of her sons made anxious,
and their deaths made secure.
Blessed is she! As many candlesticks stand ready for her
in her future glory as she had sons! Blessed is she who sent
so many sons ahead of herself into the Kingdom. More blessed
still is she who here below did not lose 5 anything that was
hers! She moved with greater joy among the transpierced
bodies of her sons than she had done amid their cherished
cradles. With her interior eyes she saw as many prizes as there
were wounds; as many rewards as there were torments;
as many crowns as there were victims. Why should I say
more, brethren? She who does not know how to love her
sons like this is not indeed a true mother.
SERMON 135
St. Lawrence
This day is renowned because of the martyr Lawrence's
crown of baptism. 1 No part of the Roman world is ignorant
of the merits of this outstanding martyr. He suffered in the
very capital of the nations, that is, in the city of Rome itself.
For he ministered there as a deacon, and there in the
flower of his youth he purpled his youthful beauty with
his blood. His suffering is extraordinary and much to be
admired. With the Lord's help, I shall briefly narrate it.
He was an archdeacon when Blessed Sixtus was bishop,
whose triumphal martyrdom occurred three days earlier.
When the holy Lawrence was following his bishop, Sixtus,
on his way to martyrdom, he was sustained by his faith
5 She did not lose her sons, but sent them ahead as deposits into heaven.
1 The Fathers often called martyrdom a baptism; cf. PL 52.565, note d.
SERMONS 223
and sad at heart not because Sixtus was about to suffer,
but because he himself was being left behind by the bishop.
Sixtus, the venerable old man, looked back at the youth
and said: 'Do not be sad, my son. You will follow me three
days froAi now.' After Lawrence heard this prophecy, he was
soon fully prepared in his heart and intoxicated with spiritual
joy. He had hope that what he who knew had predicted
would certainly come to pass.
After a while, he was seized and led away. Since he was
an archdeacon, he was believed to have the resources of
the Church in his possession. The persecutor desired to get
these, motivated more by anger than by avarice. He hated
the man he was putting to death, but in him he admired
his attitude of contempt. However, the holy Lawrence was
poor in goods, but rich in virtues. He did not deny that he
had the riches of the Church, but requested a delay of three
days in order to display them. Thereupon he ordered groups
of the poor to be assembled. When he was summoned to his
trial on the very day he won his crown, as if he were about
to display what his judge wanted, he showed what he had.
The persecutor asked: 'Where are the riches of the Church.'
But Lawrence extended his hand toward the poor and said:
These are the riches of the Church/
He spoke what was true, but bitter. Is it strange if this
truth increased the hatred? Angry over being ridiculed, the
cruel tyrant and avaricious enemy, who perhaps would have
thought up a penalty less severe, ordered his men to kill
the admirable young man by the sword and to prepare
flames. He was afire himself rather than setting fire to an-
other. He was applying fire to another's flesh, but blazing
in his own heart. And his torture was as much more serious
as it was interior.
Next, some one brought out the well-known gridiron for
martyring Lawrence by parching him or, to speak more
224 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
truly, by roasting him. He was bound fast by iron, but he
regarded that gridiron of torture as a bed of rest. I used
the word torture. It was torture according to the mind of
the torturer, but not according to the outlook of the victim.
There is no torture of a condemned man where th&e is not
a penalty for sin. Consequently, the most blessed martyr,
showing how quietly he was resting on that red-hot iron,
told the bystanders: Turn me over now. If one side is
cooked, begin to eat. 5
We admire his patience. Let us admire this as a gift of
God. In this case his faith was not burning painfully in
him; it was even consoling the man who was being roasted.
Why was faith consoling him? Because it was keeping faith-
ful the One making promises. God was bestowing on Law-
rence all these as His gifts: that his faith might not fail,
that his hope might not be quenched, that his charity might
be enkindled the more amid his bodily punishments of fire.
My brethren, let no one arrogate to his own ability that
which no one save God gives. When the Apostle was address-
ing the martyrs, rightly did he say what you heard when his
Epistle was read today: 'You have been given the favor on
Christ's behalf not only to believe in him but also to suffer
for him.' 2 Therefore let us honor and esteem the merits
of the martyrs as being the gifts of God. Let us beg for
them, and add the inclination of our own will. For, our
will follows; it does not take the lead. 3 Nevertheless, charity
is not lacking if our will is not lacking, for the eager will
itself is called charity. Who is there who willingly fears?
Who is there who unwillingly loves? May prayer be fervent,
and let the feast of this martyr be celebrated. But let every-
one who celebrates also imitate him, that the celebrating
may not be idle.
2 Phil. 1.29.
3 This is the opposite of Pelagianism; cf. Introduction, pp. 13, 14.
SERMONS 225
SERMON 138
Peace 1
Dearly beloved brethren, it would have been better if our
common father and chief 2 had allowed our lack of ability
to lie hidden. It would have been better if he had not made
public our mediocrity, which we have so far kept concealed
beneath the veil of our modesty. It would be better if he
who has such an abundant supply of the spiritual riches of
doctrine did not request the contribution of a weak discourse
from the little ship of a poor man. For, what can a needy
man confer on the rich, or a pilgrim on the citizens, or an
uninstructed rustic on scholars?
Nevertheless, since we feel obliged to obey his orders, the
same course of humility which seems to excuse us compels
us to speak and obey. What is there, therefore, O devout people
of the Lord, which we can fittingly offer you, even though
we are poor and very unlearned? Beyond any doubt, peace,
that peace which our Lord Jesus Christ bids us to offer
every house we enter. 3 Hence, at the very beginning of our
greeting we, too, prayed for peace to you from the Lord.
It should be possessed always, and prayed for continually.
We are not speaking about that faithless, unstable peace of
this world, which is either sought for its advantages or pre-
served through fear. Rather, there is question of the peace
of Christ which according to the statement of the Apostle
Paul surpasses all understanding, 4 and preserves the hearts
of the faithful.
This peace is nourished from the rich fruitfulness of charity.
1 St. Peter probably preached this sermon as a visiting bishop outside
his own diocese of Ravenna; cf. PL 52.572, note e.
2 Probably the presiding bishop.
3 Luke 10.5.
4 Phil. 4.7.
226 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
It is the nursling daughter of faith, the supporting column
of justice. Peace is a suitable pledge of future hope. Peace,
which unites those present, invites the absent. This peace
reconciles earthly things with the heavenly and human mat-
ters with those divine. For, that is what the Apostle states:
'that our Lord Jesus Christ established in peace through
His blood all things whether on the earth or in the heavens.' 5
These, therefore, are the viands which a traveling pilgrim
has set before you, in proportion to his strength as a poor man
on a journey. He was hoping rather to dine with you at
the heavily laden table of a powerful master. May the God
of peace, who joined earthly things to the heavenly, grant
us to relish the same things one with another, and to rejoice
in our complete concord, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
through whom glory is given to God, the Father Almighty,
forever and ever. Amen.
SERMON 140
The Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary
(On Luke 1.26-29)
Dearly beloved, our present desire should be to have eyes
sufficiently strong, unimpaired, and penetrating to look upon
the brilliance of a divine origin. Even when our bodily
eyes are fully sound and well preserved, they can scarcely
endure the radiance of the rising sun. What firm strength,
then, must we prepare for our interior vision, to enable it
to gaze upon the splendor of its rising and brilliant Creator?
'Now in the sixth month, 3 we read, 'the angel Gabriel
was sent to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin
5 Cf. Col. 1.20.
SERMONS
227
betrothed to a man named Joseph.' The holy Evangelist
points out the place, the time, and the person, that the
truths of his account may receive confirmation from the clear
evidence furnished by the very details he sets down.
'The angel was sent to a betrothed virgin.' To this virgin
God sends a winged messenger. He who bears this gift of
grace is giving her a pledge, and he is carrying back a
dowry from her. He receives her promise, and hands over
to her the gifts of God's overshadowing power he who
sets free the promise of the virgin's consent. The swift media-
tor flies in haste to the maiden, to keep away the completion
of her human engagement from the spouse of God, and
to hold it in suspension. He does this, not to take the virgin
away from Joseph, but to restore her to Christ, to whom
she was pledged when she was beginning to exist in the
womb. 1 Christ, then, receives His own spouse; He does not
take away the spouse of another. Neither does He cause the
breaking of an engagement with someone else when He
unites her, His creature, exclusively to Himself in one body.
But let us hear what the angel did. 'When the angel had
come to her, he said: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with
thee.' This salutation contains a giving, a giving of a present,
and not merely an expression of greeting. 'Hail.' This means :
receive grace. Do not be alarmed or worried about your
nature. 2 'O maiden full of grace. 3 Grace exists even in other
men. Then, surely, the whole fullness of grace will come
upon you*
The Lord is with thee.' Why is the Lord with you?
Because He is coming to you not merely to pay a visit, but
He is coming down into you in a new mystery, that of
1 I.e. f in the womb of her mother. Mita took this sentence as evidence
for the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception; cf. PL 52.676, note f.
However, the Latin can also mean: 'to whom she was pledged when
He was beginning to exist in her womb/
2 I.e., that your nature is merely human.
228 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
being born. Fittingly did the angel add: 'Blessed art thou
among women. 3 Through the curse she incurred Eve brought
pains upon the wombs of women in childbirth. Now, in this
very matter of motherhood, Mary, through the blessing she
received, rejoices, is honored, is exalted. Now, too, woman-
kind has become truly the mother of those who live through
grace, just as previously she was the mother of those who
by nature are subject to death.
'When she had seen him she was troubled at his word. 3
Why is it that she gazes upon her angelic visitor, but it
is only at his word that she is troubled? Because the angel
had corne as one of pleasing appearance, strong in war, meek
in his bearing, terrible in his speech, uttering human words,
but promising things divine. Hence, the angel by being seen
disturbed the virgin only a little, but the sound of his
words troubled her deeply. The presence of the one sent had
moved her but slightly, but the authority of the Sender
struck her with full force. Why should I say more?
She soon realized that she was receiving within herself
the heavenly Judge, there in that same place where with
lingering gaze she had just seen the harbinger from heaven.
It was by a soothing motion and holy affection that God
transformed the virgin into a mother for Himself, and made
His handmaid into a parent. Nevertheless, her bosom was dis-
turbed, her mind recoiled, and her whole state became one
of trembling when God, whom the whole of creation does
not contain, placed His whole Self inside her bosom and
made Himself a man.
'And she kept pondering, 3 the Scripture continues, 'what
manner of greeting this might be.' Notice in your charity
that, as we said, the virgin gave her consent not to a greet-
ing of mere words, but to the realities of which they told
her. Notice, too, that the salutation was not one of ordinary
courtesy; rather, it contained the full might of heavenly
SERMONS 229
power. So she gives the matter careful thought. For, to make
hasty replies is characteristic of human levity, to think deeply
is the mark of the greatest constancy and of judgment fully
mature. The man who sees no reason to be astonished at
her attitude or to marvel at her spirit does not truly know
how great God is. Before Him the vault of heaven shakes
and the angels tremble. No creature bears Him up, nor can
all nature bound Him. Yet this one young maiden takes Him
into an inner chamber of repose, her bosom. She receives
Him, and delights Him with her hospitality. Thus she gives
Him a dwelling that she may request in payment, and get
as the price for use of her very womb peace for the earth,
glory for heaven, salvation for the lost, life for the dead,
for those on earth relationship with the saints even union
of God Himself with man. She does all this, too, to fulfill
the Prophet's statement: 'Behold, the inheritance of the Lord
are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb.' 3
But let us close this sermon for the present. Thus, through
God's grace, we may have sufficient time to tell with greater
satisfaction of the birth of a child from the virgin.
SERMON 141
The Incarnation of Christ
How secret are the sleeping quarters of a king! The place
where the nation's head, who is powerful, takes his rest is
wont to be viewed only in a spirit of reverence and awe.
No alien, no sullied man, no unloyal subject, gains access
and entrance to it. How clean, how chaste, how faithful
are the services expected there! The resplendent trappings
of a royal court make all this clear to us. And what com-
3 Ps. 126.3.
230 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
mon or unworthy person dares to approch the gates of the
king's palace?
Surely, no one is admitted to the inner chamber of a
bridegroom except a relative or an intimate friend. He must
be a man of good conscience, praiseworthy reputation, and
upright life. Thus, too, it happens that God takes into His
inner chamber only this one virgin; she alone, with her
virginity unimpaired, is received there.
These examples, O man, are for your instruction. Realize
from them just who you are, how great you are, and of
what character you are. Then ponder this in your heart:
Can you fathom the mystery of the Lord's birth? Do you
deserve to enter into the resting place of that bosom, where
the heavenly King, with all the full majesty of His divinity,
finds His repose? Ought you, as a rash witness with human
eyes and bodily senses, to gaze on the virgin's conceiving? Can
you, as a bystander, contemplate with daring reverence the
very hands of God fashioning for himself the holy temple
of a body within the womb of the mother? Can you by your
gaze lay bare that mystery hidden through the ages, and
unveil for yourself that sacrament invisible to the angels
themselves? Can you act as an overseer in the workshop of
the heavenly Artisan, so that you may clearly observe how
God has entered the shrine of her unbroken flesh? Can
you observe how without this virgin's awareness He has
produced the outlines of His sacred body in her venerable
womb; how, without any sensations on the part of her who
was conceiving, He made firm those bones which will last
forever, how, beyond any arrangement of man, He pro-
duced a genuine human form; how, without any fleshly
desire, He assumed the whole nature of man; how, apart
from the way human flesh operates, He has taken on its every
quality?
Even if you did not enjoy free access to knowledge of all
SERMONS 231
these marvels, would you think that God was unable at that
time to assume from flesh what in the beginning he took
from mud? Indeed, since everything is possible to God, and
it is impossible for you fully to understand even the least
of His works, do not pry too much into this virgin's con-
ceiving, but believe it. Be reverently aware of the fact that
God wishes to be born, because you offer an insult if you
examine it too much. Grasp by faith that great mystery of
the Lord's birth, because without faith you cannot compre-
hend even the least of God's works. 'All his works' says
Scripture, 'are [understood] by faith. 51 But, here is a matter
which depends completely upon faith, and you want it to
stand by reason. It is not, indeed, without reason that this
matter holds true; it holds true by the reasoning of God, O
man, not yours. What is so much according to reason as
the fact that God can do whatever He has willed? He who
cannot do what he wills is not God.
So, what God commands an angel relates. His spirit ful-
fills it and His power brings it to perfection. The virgin be-
lieves it, and nature takes it up. The tale is told from the
sky, and then proclaimed from all the heavens. The stars
show it forth, and the Magi tell k about. The shepherds
adore, and the beasts are aware. As the Prophet testified:
'The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib. 32
You, O man, if you did not recognize Him soon along with
the angels, do acknowledge Him now, even though very
late, in company with the beasts. Otherwise, while you loiter,
you may be deemed less than those very animals with whom
you were previously compared. Look, they give homage with
their tails, they manifest their pleasure with their ears, they
lick with their tongues, and with whatever sign they can
they acknowledge that their Creator, in spite of His nature,
1 C i p s . 32.4. The Hebrew meant: All God's work is trustworthy.
2 Isa. 1.3.
232 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
has come into yours. Yet, you argue and quibble along with
the Jews who turned away from their inns their Master
whom the beasts welcomed in their cribs. If, therefore, you
will at length give reverent ear at least to the angels, at least
properly, if not joyfully, receive from us the message which
the angel will speak*
You need a sermon about this, holy brethren, but today
we find it necessary to postpone this matter and treat it in
our next discourse.
SERMON 145
The Birth of Christ, and Joseph's Desire to Put Mary Away
(On Matt. 1.18-23)
Brethren, today you will hear the blessed Evangelist's
account of the mystery of the Lord's birth. 1 The text reads:
'Now the origin of Christ was in this wise. When Mary his
mother had been betrothed to Joseph, she was found, before
they came together, to be with child by the Holy Spirit. But
Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wishing to
expose her to reproach, was minded to put her away
privately. 5
How is he a just man who deemed it wise not to investigate
the motherhood of his spouse? How is he just who does not
seek the reason of her self-consciousness which he has sus-
pected, or does not vindicate the reputation of his marriage,
but lets the matter drop?
'He was minded to put her away privately. 5 This seems
to be characteristic of a man in love rather than of a just
man but according to human judgment, not divine. Before
I On gfneratio meaning birth, cf. Souter, s.v.
SERMONS 233
God, piety does not exist without justice, nor justice with-
out piety. According to the heavenly meaning of the terms,
justice does not exist without goodness, nor goodness with-
out justice. If these virtues are separated they vanish. Equity
without goodness is savagery; justice without love is cruelty.
Rightly, therefore, was Joseph just, because he was loving;
he was loving because just. While he nourished his love, he
was free from cruelty. While he kept his emotions under con-
trol, he preserved his judgment. While he postponed ven-
geance, he escaped crime. While he refrained from being an
accuser he escaped condemnation.
His holy mind, shocked at the novel situation, was in tur-
moil. His spouse stood, pregnant yet a virgin. She stood large
with the child she carried, yet not free from the cause for
blame. She stood in concern about her pregnancy, but free
from fear about her integrity. She stood dressed as a mother,
yet not excluded from the honor of virginity. What was the
husband to do in such a case? Was he to accuse her of sin?
But he himself was witness of her innocence. Should he
publish her fault? But he himself was the guardian of her
purity. Was he to press a charge of adultery? But he was
the herald of her virginity. What was he to do in such
circumstances? He thought of putting her away, since he
could neither reveal outside what had happened, nor keep it
inside. He thought of putting her away, and he told it all to
God, because he had nothing to tell to men.
We, too, brethren, whenever something troubles us, or
some appearance deceives us, or the outward color of a
transaction makes us unable to know its substance, let us
restrain our judgment. Let us withhold punishment, refrain
from condemnation, and tell the whole matter to God.
Otherwise, while we perhaps easily impel an innocent man
toward a penalty, we shall pronounce a sentence of condem-
nation upon ourselves. The Lord says: 'With what judgment
234 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
you judge, you shall be judged.' 2 But, if we keep silent,
the Lord will surely speak aloud. The angel will reply who
by these words prevented Joseph from deserting the innocent
maiden: T)o not be afraid, Joseph, son of David, to take
to thee Mary thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is
of the Holy Spirit. And she shall bring forth a son, and
thou shalt call his name Jesus; for he shall save his people
from their sins.' 3
'Joseph, son of David.' You observe, brethren, that the
race is named in the person. The whole stock is indicated in
one man. The whole series of the Davidical ancestry is cited
in the person of Joseph.
'Joseph, son of David*' Born in the twenty-eighth genera-
tion after him, 4 how is he called the son of David, unless
the secret of the race is being opened up, the object of
the promise is being fulfilled, and the God-given conception
of the heavenly birth in the virgin's body is already being
signified?
'Joseph, son of David. 9 With this statement the promise
of God the Father had been given to David: The Lord
hath sworn truth to David, and he will not make it void:
of the fruit of thy womb I will set upon thy throne/ 5 In this
canticle he glories that it has been fulfilled: *The Lord said
to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand.' 6 'Of the fruit of
thy womb.' Truthfully of the fruit of thy flesh, truthfully
of the womb, because the heavenly guest, the inhabitant of
heaven, so descended into the hospice of the womb that
He did not harm the enclosure of the body. He so departed
from the abode of the womb that the virginal door did not
open, and what is sung in the Canticle of Canticles was ful-
2 Matt. 7.2.
3 Matt. 1.20.
4 Cf. Matt. 1.6.
5 Ps. 131.11
6 Ps. 109.1.
SERMONS 235
fiHcd: 'My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden
enclosed, a fountain sealed up.' 7
'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid.' The bridegroom
is admonished not to fear the condition of his spouse. A soul
which truly loves has greater fear when it suffers along
with someone else.
'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid.' Otherwise, while
troubled in mind, you may fail to understand this mystery.
'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid. 5 What you see
in her is virtue, not sin. This is not a human fall, but a
divine descent. Here is a reward, not guilt. This is an enlarge-
ment from heaven, not a detriment to the body. This is
not the betrayal of a person, it is the secret of the Judge.
Here is the victory of Him who knows the case, not the
penalty of torture. Here is not some man's stealthy deed,
but the treasure of God. Here there is a cause not of death,
but of life. Therefore, do not be afraid, for she who is bring-
ing forth life does not deserve to be slain.
'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to thee
Mary thy wife.' This is a part of the divine Law, 8 that an
engaged girl be named a wife. Therefore, just as she is a
mother while her virginity remains, so is she called a wife
while her modesty remains,
'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to thee
Mary thy wife, for that which is begotten in her is of the
Holy Spirit.' Let those come and hear who ask who He is
whom Mary brought forth. 'That which is begotten in her
is of the Holy Spirit.' Let those come and hear who
have striven to becloud the clarity of the Latin tongue by a
whirlwind of Greek, 9 and have blasphemously called her
7 Cant. 4.12.
8 Cf. Gen. 29.21.
9 St. Peter is berating the followers of Theodore of Mopsuestia and
the Nestorians.
236 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
anthropotokon [mother of the human nature] and Xristoto-
kon [mother of Christ] in order to rob her of the title Theoto-
kon [mother of God],
That which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.'
What is born of the Holy Spirit is spirit, 10 because God is
a spirit. Therefore, why do you ask who it is who is born
of the Holy Spirit, since God Himself replies to you that
He is God, since John reprimands you with his words: 'In
the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God;
and the Word was God And the Word was made flesh,
and dwelt among us. And we saw his glory 1 ? 11 John saw
His glory, and also the insult He receives from the unbeliever.
That which is begotten in her is of the Holy Spirit.' 'And
we saw his glory.' To whom does that 'his' refer? To Him
who was born of the Holy Spirit, to Him who as the 'Word
was made flesh, and dwelt among us. 5 That which is begot-
ten in her is of the Holy Spirit.' She conceived as a virgin,
but from a Spirit. As a virgin she brought forth her child,
but that child of whom Isaias had predicted: 'Behold a
virgin shall conceive in her womb, and bear a son, and
they shall call his name Emmanuel, which is interpreted,
God with us.' 12 He is God with us, but He is man with them
[the heretics]. And Scripture says: 'Cursed be the man that
trusteth in man/ 13 Let those hear this who ask who He is
who was born from Mary.
Thou shalt bring forth a son,' the angel continued, 'and
thou shalt call his name Jesus.' 14 Why Jesus? The Apostle
says: That at the name of Jesus every knee should bend
of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth.' 15 And
10 John 3.6.
11 John 1.1,14.
12 Isa. 7.14; Matt. 1.24.
13 Jer. 17.5.
14 Cf. Luke 1.31.
15 Phil. 2.10.
SERMONS 237
you, O guileful judge, do you now ask who Jesus is? Every'
tongue now confesses That the Lord Jesus Christ is in the
glory of God the Father.' 16 And do you still ask who Jesus is?
Thou shalt bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name
Jesus; for He shall save his people.' Not someone else's people
will He save. From what will He save them? 'From their
sins.' O most faithless man, if you do not believe the Chris-
tians when they say that He who forgives sins is God, believe
at least the Jews when they say: 'Because thou, being a man,
makest thyself God/ 17 and 'Who can forgive sins, but God
only?' 18 They who did not believe that He was forgiving sins
were denying that He is God. Do you believe that He for-
gives sins, yet hesitate to admit that He is God?
The Word was made flesh, that man's flesh might be
raised to the glory of God, not that God might be drawn
into the humiliation of the flesh. As the Apostle says: 'He
who cleaves to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 519 And how
shall not God be one [with him] when God unites Himself
with man? Human laws invalidate all contested questions
within thirty years; 20 is Christ made an occasion of debate
some five hundred years after His birth? Does He endure
controversies about His origin, and bear with investigations
about His state? O heretic, cease to judge your Judge, and
adore Him as God in heaven whom the Magus adored on
earth. 31
16 Phil. 2.11.
17 John 10.33.
18 Mark 2.7.
19 1 Cor. 6.17.
20 St. Peter restated most of the matter of this last paragraph in his
Letter to Eutyches; cf. below, pp. 285, 286.
21 Matt. 2.11.
238 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
SERMON 146
The Birth of Christ, Joseph the Affianced Husband,
and Mary the Betrothed Mother
(On Matt. 1.18)
Every time a year reaches the finishing point of its course
and Christmas Day arrives; every time the splendor of the
Virgin Birth is spread like flashing lightning throughout the
world, we are silent through our own desire, not through
fear. What mind dares to intrude at the very birth of the
divine King? Human vision is dulled when the rays of the
sun stream down. Then, how can the vision of souls escape
all injury when God radiates His light? When we gazed on
Christ's birth in the flesh, our senses received a shock from
all the new light. But they have recovered now. Therefore,
the time has come for us to contemplate even the secrets
of His divinity.
The origin of Christ was in this wise, 5 the Evangelist tells
us. Brethren, if we desire to understand what is said, let
us not use merely human procedure to ponder the divine
words. Human comprehension must be set aside when all
that is said is divine. Thus, the fact that Christ is born is
not an ordinary occurrence, but a sign. It is not something
natural, but extraordinary power; not the regular succession
of events, but something mighty. It is a miracle of heaven,
not an ordinary human event. What will worldly under-
standing gather here? Or what will the sagacity of the flesh
seek here?
"The origin of Christ was in this wise/ the Evangelist says.
He did not say: 'was made in this wise,' but: e was in this
wise,' because, at the time when Christ was being produced
from His human mother, His generation was already existent
SERMONS 239
in His Father. What He was. He was eternally. What He was
made, that was given to Him. He was God; there was given
to Him a human nature. 1 From the womb He received the
nature of us 2 whom He had made from clay.
'When Mary his mother had been betrothed/ It would
have been sufficed to say: 'When Mary had been betrothed.'
What is the significance of 'a betrothed mother'? If she is
a mother, she is not an engaged maiden; if she is engaged,
she is not yet a mother. 'When Mary his mother had been
betrothed. 5 She was a fiancee because of her virginity, and a
mother because of her fruitfulness. She was a mother who
had not known man, but neverthless was conscious of mother-
hood. After the birth of her Son she was a virgin mother;
how, then, was she not a mother before she conceived? Or
when was she not a mother, she who gave a human birth
to the Creator of the world, and gave to things their King? 3
Just as virgin nature is always a mother, so is she, when
corrupted, a stepmother. Therefore, it is a part of a virgin's
performance that with God's help she should give a second
birth to that to which a virgin [i.e., nature] with His help
gave its first birth.
There is a heavenly union between God and integrity;
virginity joined to Christ is the perfect union of virtue. The
fact that a virgin conceives is the honor of the Spirit, not a
burden of the flesh. The fact that she gives birth as a virgin
is a mystery of God, not an activity of marriage. The fact
that Christ is born is a matter of divine majesty, not of
human weakness. The full glory of the Deity is present where
there is no lesion of the flesh.
1 Literally, a man.
2 Literally, he received us.
3 Reading principem, with Bohmer, BKV 43.18, not principtum. If prin-
cipium, the reading of S. Pauli, is right, the meaning is: 'Or when
did the mother, who gave a human birth to the Creator of the world,
not give to things their beginning?*
240 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
'When Mary his mother had been betrothed to Joseph,
she was found, before they came together, to be with child
by the Holy Spirit.' How is it that the secret of heavenly
innocence is destined for an engaged maiden and not to a
girl still free? How is it that thus through the anxiety of
the fiance a danger is created for the fiancee? How is it that
such great virtue is deemed a sin, and such certain health is
thought a danger? How is it that among the innocent modesty
is thus distressed, shame wastes away, chastity grows weary,
fidelity is wounded, an accusation stands ready, the case
becomes pressing, and plausibility is taken away from every
excuse? Who excuses a fiancee whom her own child-bearing
accuses? Or what will an outside defender accomplish when
an accuser from within the house stands by as a witness
of the deed?
What do we hold, brethren? Neither the tips of the letters,
not the letters themselves, nor the syllables, nor any word,
nor the names, nor the persons in the Gospel are free from
divine allegorical meanings. 4
An engaged maiden was chosen, that even then the
Church might be signified as the Spouse of Christ, accord-
ing to the statement of Osee the Prophet: *I will espouse
thee to me in justice, and judgment, and in mercy, and in
commiserations. And I will espouse thee to me in faith.' 5
Hence John says: 'He who has the bride is the bridegroom.' 6
And holy Paul: 'I betrothed you to one spouse, that I might
present you a chaste virgin to Christ.' 7 Truly she 8 is a spouse
who by a virgin birth 9 gives life to the new infancy of Christ.
4 For this meaning of figura, cf. Souter, s.v. For a discussion of this
statement, cf. Introduction, pp. 19, 20.
5 Osee 2.19,20.
6 John 3.29.
7 2 Cor. 112.
8 The Church,
9 I.e., through baptism.
SERMONS 241
Joseph, the bridegroom, was chosen as her guardian that
he might fulfill the type of Christ's Passion foreshadowed in
that former Joseph. Joseph incurred anger through his pro-
phetical dreams. Christ, too, sustained hatred because of His
prophetic visions. Joseph was cast into a pit of death, 10 but
came out of it alive. Joseph was sold; Christ was appraised
at a sum. Joseph was led into Egypt; Christ fled there, too.
Joseph abundantly supplied the hungry peoples with bread;
Christ satisfies with the Bread from heaven the nations
dwelling throughout all the world. Thus it is clear how that
former Joseph furnished a type of the bridegroom from
heaven, how he bore His image, walked as a symbol.
Mary was the name of His mother. And when were the
seas 11 not a mother? The gathering together of the waters,
he called seas/ 12 says Scripture. Did not this water of the
sea conceive in its one womb the people fleeing from Egypt,
that it might merge as a heavenly offspring reborn into being
a new creature? As the Apostle said: 'Our fathers were all
under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all
were baptized in Moses, in the cloud and in the sea. 513 More-
over, in order that Mary might ever be the pathfinder of
human salvation, in the Canticle she rightly preceded the
people whom the water like a mother brought into the light
of day. As Scripture says: 'Mary, the sister of Aaron, took
a timbrel in her hand, and said: Let us sing to the Lord,
for he is gloriously magnified.' 1 *
This name is related to prophecy and salutary to those
reborn. It is the badge of virginity, the glory of purity, the
indication of chastity, the sacrificial gift of God, the height
10 Gen. 37.24.
11 St. Peter uses a play on the words Maria meaning Mary and maria
meaning seas.
12 Gen. 1.10.
13 1 Cor. 10.1.
14 Exod. 15.20,21. This text also says that she was a prophetess.
SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
of hospitality, the sum total of sanctity. Righty, therefore,
is this motherly name that of the mother of Christ.
We have explained why a betrothed maiden was the
mother, why Joseph was the bridegroom, why the mother's
name was Mary, in order to show that everything connected
with the birth of Christ was symbolic. 15 Now let us bring
out, for other reasons, why a betrothed maiden was chosen
to give birth to Christ.
Isaias had foretold that a virgin would bring forth the
God of heaven, 16 the King of the earth, the Lord of all
regions, the renewer of the world, the slayer of death, the
restorer of life, the Author of perpetuity. The very occurrence
of the Lord's nativity proved how sad this was for worldly
men, how frightening to kings, and how terrifying to the
Jews. For, when Judea heard and Herod learned from the
words of the Magi that Christ was born, the Jews and
Herod quickly devised means to destroy and kill Him. While
they feared a successor, they tried to slay the Saviour of all
men. At length, since they could not find Him, they devas-
tated His country, mixed mothers' milk with blood, and beat
to death the infants of His own years. They dismembered the
companions of His innoocence, because they could not find
for punishment sharers in any guilt of His. If they did all
this after Christ was already born, what would they in their
wild fury have done to Him when He was conceived?
That is why a bridegroom was provided, and an appear-
ance of marriage. It was all done to conceal 17 the miracle,
cover up the sign, veil the virgin's parturition, give no place
for accusation, and in this way to elude the madman's
wiles. If Christ, although destined to die, had been slain in
15 Or: allegorical, figurative. The whole sermon brings out that this is
the meaning of mysticus in this context.
16 Isa. 7.14.
17 Reading celct, with S. Pauli.
SERMONS 243
the womb, death would have taken away before the ap-
pointed time Him who had come for our salvation.
That passage can, if read, benefit us so much, brethren.
Therefore, let it suffice for us today to have taken merely
a foretaste of this mystery 18 of the Lord.
SERMON 147
The Mystery of the Incarnation
Some time ago we heard, brethren, what caused the Lord
Christ to enter into a union with an earthly body, to sub-
mit to the narrow limitations of human flesh, and to dwell
in the mansion of the Virgin's womb. Let us hear about this
more fully today. You are my life, my saving encouragement,
and my glory. Therefore, I cannot suffer you to remain
ignorant of what God gave me to know.
The Evangelist knew God when he said: 'No one has
at any time seen God. 31 Therefore, the creature acknowl-
edged and perceived [the activities of] God whom he knew.
But, because he could not see Him, he was carried along
in a hard slavery. He gave a service sadly unworthy of
God's invisible majesty. Fear had permeated all things,
dread had disrupted the universe, terror had battered every-
thing. In heaven God's splendor had prostrated the angels,
and on earth thunder and lightning were shaking the hearts
of men.
But, as the matter stood, fear did not fully shut out the
Ruler's love.
Fear chased the angels down to earth, drew men to idols,
18 sacramentum.
1 John 1.18.
244 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
filled the world with empty errors, brought everyone to flee the
Creator and worship creatures. He who has enough fear
cannot love. That is why the world preferred to perish rather
than to fear; death itself is lighter than dread.
When Cain 2 began to be harassed with terror of his pari-
cide, he sought death, thinking that he would find rest in it.
And why mention Cain? When Elias 3 perceived himself
overwhelmed with complete fear, he again wanted the death
he had escaped, deeming it better to give in to death than
to fear. Peter, too, besought Christ to depart from him when
he was awestruck at the Lord's power: 'Depart from me,
for I am a sinful man, O Lord/ 4 He uttered this because
the dead weight of fear had extinguished whatever love and
faith he had. In this way fear, if not tempered with love,
turns servitude, however devout, into insolence.
Therefore, God, seeing the world falling into ruin because
of fear, continuously acts to recall it with love, invite it back
by grace, hold it tight in charity, and embrace it with affec-
tion. Therefore, He washes the earth, steeped in evils, with
His avenging flood. He calls Noe the father of a new world,
addresses him with pleasing language, gives him kindly con-
fidence and fatherly instruction about the present, consoles
him with good hope for the future. And now, not so much
by commands as by a sharing of work, He shuts into one
ark the seedling creatures of the whole new world, that the
love of fellowship may banish the fear characteristic of bond-
age, and a common love preserve what a common toil had
saved. 5
This is the reason, too, why He summons Abraham from
the heathen nations, lengthens his name, makes him the father
of believers, accompanies him in his travels, preserves him
2 Gen. 4.13-15.
3 3 Kings 19.1-15.
4 Luke 5.8.
5 Gen. 7.1-24.
SERMONS 245
amid foreigners, enriches him with possessions, honors him
with triumphs, places Himself under promises, snatches him
from injuries, hospitably entertains him, astonishes him with
offspring no longer hoped for. God wanted Abraham, favored
with so many benefits, and drawn by the striking sweetness
of God's charity, to learn to love God rather than to fear
Him, and to do his worshiping by loving rather than by
trembling. 6
This is the reason why He consoles the fleeing Jacob in
his sleep, prepares him for a conflict on his return, and en-
circles him with a contestant's embrace, to make him love,
not fear, the father of the conflict. 7
This is why He summons Moses by His fatherly voice,
addresses him with paternal love, and invites him to be
the liberator of his people. 8 Why should I say more? He
makes him a god; 9 He sets him up as a god before Pharao.
He makes him a god, fortifies him with signs, arms him with
virtues, wins wars through mere commands, grants to him
as a soldier victory gained by a mere word. By His orders
He concedes him a triumph and leads him through all the
crowns of virtues to His own friendship, gives him an oppor-
tunity to share in His heavenly kingdom, and allows him to
be a legislator. However, Moses received all this that he
might love that at length he might be so inflamed with
the love of God that he would burn with it himself and
encourage others to have it, too. Thou shalt love the Lord
thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and
with thy whole strength. 510 He wanted the love of God to
possess whatever heart and soul and strength there are, to
6 Gen. 12.1-20.
7 Gen. 28.10-22; 32.24-32.
8 Exod. 3,4.
9 The magistrates who administered the Law were called 'gods' in the
terminology of the Old Testament. Cf. Ps. 81.6 and John 10.34.
10 Deut. 6.5.
246 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
such an extent that love of worldly things would have no
chance to displace this love for God.
Yet, in all these wonders which we mentioned, when the
flame of divine love enkindles human hearts, and the intoxi-
cation of the love of God overflows into men's senses, they
begin, with impaired mind, to want to see God with their
bodily eyes. How could the restricted human sight take in
God whom the world does not contain? The faculties of
love give no second thought to what will be, what ought
to be, or what can be. Love has not judgment, heeds not
reason, knows not measure. Love accepts no solace because
the object it desires is impossible, nor cure because the
object is difficult.
Unless love gains its desires it kills the lover. That is why
it goes where it is led, not where it ought. Love brings
forth desire, it swells with ardor; and ardor extends itself to
illicit objects. Why should I say more? Love cannot stand
not to see what it loves. That is why all the saints deemed
everything they merited of little worth if they should not
see the Lord. And truly, brethren, how will one render
homage in return for benefits received if one does not see
the giver of the benefits? Or how will one believe that he is
loved by God if he does not merit the vision of Him?
This is why love which longs to see God, even if it lacks
judgment, does have the spirit of devotion. This is why
Moses dares to say: 'If I have found favor in thy sight,
show me thy face/ 11 This is why another man says: 'Show
us thy face.' 12 Finally, this is why the very Gentiles fashioned
idols. In their errors they wanted to see with their eyes what
they were worshiping.
Therefore, God, aware that men were suffering torture
and weariness from their longing to see Him, chose as a
11 Exod. 33.10.
12 Ps. 79.4.
SERMONS 247
means to make Himself visible something which was to be
great to the dwellers of earth and by no means small to
the dwellers in heaven. For, could something which God
made like Himself on earth fail to be deemed honorable in
heaven? 'Let us make mankind in our image and likeness/ 13
Scripture says. What perfect devotion owes to a king it owes
also to his picture. If God had assumed an angelic nature 14
from heaven, He still would be invisible. If from the earth
He had assumed something less than human nature, 15 He
would have suffered an insult to His divinity, and He would
have depressed, not elevated, man.
Therefore, most dearly beloved, let no one deem it an
insult to God if God came to men through a man, 16 and
assumed something from ourselves, in order to be seen by
us He who lives and reigns as God now, and through all
the ages of ages. Amen,
SERMON 148
The Mystery of the Incarnation
Today, brethren, we should take up again the same sub-
ject as yesterday. Today we should repeat our joy over the
Lord's birth. When a virgin conceives, a virgin brings forth
her child, and she remains a virgin, this is not an ordinary
occurrence, but a sign; 1 not something easily understood,
13 Gen. 1.26.
14 Literally, an angel.
15 Literally, a man.
16 I.e., by means of a human nature.
1 Le., a miracle, proof, as in the Gospels; e.g., in John 4.48.
248 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
but a power; 2 the Creator, not nature. It is something unique,
not common; divine, not human.
Wherefore, let philosophy cease from her fruitless toil.
Christ's birth was not a necessity, but a sign of might. It was
an honor, not an injury. It was a mystery of love, not a
lessening of His Deity. It was the restoration of man's salva-
tion, not any diminution of the divine substance.
He who made man from undefiled earth, without any
process of birth. He Himself by being born fashioned His
human nature from an undefiled body. The hand which with
dignity raised earth to our image also with dignity assumed
flesh for our restoration. Therefore, the fact that the Creator
is found in His creature, and God in flesh this is an honor
to the creature, not an insult to the Creator.
The one who deems this an insult is he who values earth
as something more precious than flesh. Is he perhaps pained
about the insult to the earth when it was raised to the honor
of flesh and the glory of a man? O man, who are so precious
to God, why do you seem so cheap to yourself? Honored thus
by God, why do you do yourself such dishonor? Why do
you ask from what you have been made, and not seek to
learn for what you have been made? That whole house of
the world you see has it not been made for you? For you
the streams of light dispel the encircling gloom. For you
the night has been softened. For you the day has been meas-
ured off. For you the sky has been made to drop down the
varied brilliance of the sun, the moon, and the stars. For you
the earth has been bautified like a picture, with flowers,
groves, and fruits. For you has been created that marvelous
multitude of living creatures, containing so many beautiful
2 Virtus here means the power of working miracles, as in Mark 5.30.
The Fathers aften used virtus to signify the divinity; cf. PL 52.595,
note b, and Souter, s.v.
SERMONS 249
beings in air, fields, and water, to keep sad solitude from
spoiling the joy of the new world.
This is why God fashioned you from earth: to make you
the Lord of earthly creatures, like to them in the sharing
of a common substance. However, earthly though you are,
He did not level you with the earthly creatures in such a
way as to fail to make you also equal to the heavenly crea-
tures, through your soul granted from heaven. That you
might possess reason in common with God, and a body in
common with the beasts. He gave you your soul from heaven,
and your body taken from earth, that in your case a harmony
between heaven and earth might be established and pre-
served.
However, your Creator is yet thinking up what to add
to your honor. He puts His own image in you, 3 that a visible
likeness may make the invisible Creator present on earth.
Also, in these earthly creatures He gave you His represen-
tations, so that this extensive possession of the world might
not be lessened for the vicegerent of the Lord.
If that is the case with all those beings, why is it thought
an insult when God kindly took to Himself what He made
through His power in you and willed Himself to be truly
seen in human nature, 4 in which He previously willed Him-
self to be visible as in an image? When He granted that that
human nature which formerly received the privilege of being
God's image might now become His very possession?
A virgin conceived, and a virgin brought forth her child.
Do not be disturbed at this conception, or confused when
you hear of this birth, If there is any human shame, her
virginity excuses it. Or what injury is there to modesty
when the Deity enters into union with that virginity always
dear to Himself? Where an angel is the mediator, faith the
3 Gen. U6.
4 Literally, in man.
250 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
bridesmaid, chastity the betrothal, virtue the dowry, conscience
the judge, God the cause, integrity the conception, virginity
the birth, a virgin the Mother?
Therefore, let no one judge in a human way what is done
in a divine mystery. Let no one try to penetrate this heavenly
mystery by earthly reasoning. Let no one treat this novel
secret from his knowledge of everyday occurrences. Let no
one employ an example to evaluate what is unique. Let no
one manipulate the work of love into an insult, or run
the risk of losing salvation.
But, let him who wants a deeper knowledge betake himself
to the Law. Let him seek from the Law his understanding
of the Law. Let him understand the Author's work from
His authority. The Law recounts 5 that God made man to
live his own life; that He bade the earth to bring forth
produce in willing service to man; that He ordered the
beasts and herds and flocks to be subject to man's control,
not to his artful devices, that man might know no toil, be
free from all pain, and possess his delights in joy.
But, that angel who once was among God's best envied
man his possession of all these goods. To avoid seeing man
so full of glory he preferred to be changed into a devil.
Afire with this envy, he approaches the woman with his
guile. He entices the virgin to taste the forbidden fruit.
Once beguiled herself, she entices the virgin young man who
was soon to be her husband. While she proffered the food
of death, the fodder of sin, she debased the state of his life
She who had been made to be man's singular comfort
became the occasion of his complete ruin!
The upshot of it all was the first sin, and the beginning
of death, and toil, and suffering, and groans. From here has
been passed on all the bitter state of our servitude. Man,
formerly the lord of all creatures, was cast down into slavery
5 Gen. 2.8-25.
SERMONS 251
by them all, and he who was feared by all now fears them
aU himself. He who was ruling by his authority can now
scarcely exercise control by his artful devices.
This is the reason, brethren, this is the reason why the
succession of events is what it is in the birth of Christ. The
Devil had come to a virgin, an angel came to Mary, that
what the bad angel had cast down the good angel might
raise up. The first one urged infidelity, the latter fidelity,
The first woman believed the Tempter, the latter one her
Maker. Christ is born, to renew our corrupted nature through
His birth. He accepted infancy, allowed Himself to be fed;
He went through the ages of life to restore the one, perfect,
abiding age which he had made. He supports man, that he
may be unable to fall now. He made into a heavenly being
him whom He had made an earthly one. He vivifies with a
divine life man once animated with human life. Thus He
raises the whole man toward God, to leave in him nothing
of sin, or of death, or of labor, or of suffering, or of earth.
All this is offered by our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives with
the Father, and reigns in unity with the Holy Spirit, as God
now, and forever, indeed, through all the undying ages of
ages. Amen.
SERMON 149
TJie Birth of Christ and the Peace of Christians
(On Luke 2.8-14)
When our Lord and Saviour came to earth and made
Himself bodily present, the angels appeared in chorus and
gave the good news to the shepherds: 'I bring you good news
of great joy which shall be to all the people. 1 We, too.
252 SAINT PETER GHRYSOLOGUS
borrow this hymn from these holy angels and announce great
joy to you.
For, today, the Church is in peace, and the heretics in
anger. Today, the ship of the Church is in port, and the fury
of the heretics is tossed about on the waves. Today, brethren,
the pastors of the Church are in security, and the heretics
in consternation. Today, the sheep of the Lord are in a safe
place, and the wolves rave in anger. Today, the vineyard
of the Lord has abundance, and the workers of iniquity are
indigent. Today, very dearly beloved, the people of Christ
has been exalted, and the enemies of truth have been hum-
bled. Today, dearly beloved, Christ is in joy, and the Devil
in grief. Today, the angels are in exultation, and the demons
in confusion.
Why should I say more? Today, Christ, who is the King
of peace, has come forth with His peace and routed all
discord, banished dissensions, and dissipated conflicts. As
the brilliance of the sun lights up the sky, so He illumines
the Church with the splendor of peace. Tor, 3 the text says,
'there has been born to you today a Savior of the world.'
how desirable is the very name of peace! How firm a
foundation peace is for the Christian religion, and what a
heavenly ornament for the altar of the Lord !
What can we utter worthy of peace? Peace is a name
of Christ Himself, as even the Apostle says: Tor Christ is
our peace, He it is who has made both one.' 1 The two
were at variance, not over conflicting opinions or faith,
but because of the Devil's envy. But, just as the streets
are cleansed when the king comes forth, and the whole
city decked with myriad flowers and banners to keep out
of sight anything less worthy of the king's countenance, so
also now, when Christ the King of peace comes forth, let
1 Eph. 2.14
SERMONS 253
everything depressing be removed from our midst. While
truth is shining, let falsehood be banished, and discord flee,
and concord be resplendent. We often see that when the
pictures of kings or of brothers are painted, the skillful
painter, to produce symbols of unity between them, por-
trays Concord attired in feminine dress behind the back
of the two. Embracing them both with her arms, she is
meant to indicate that these who seem separated in body
are in agreement of opinion and will. Just so, at present,
the Peace of the Lord standing in our midst, and with
palpitating bosom joining both of us together, teaches sepa-
rated persons to come to agreement in spirit by linking
elbows. In all this is fulfilled, no doubt, the prophetical
statement which says: 'And the counsel of peace shall be
between them both.' 2
Yesterday, indeed, our common father 3 uttered a pre-
liminary prayer in the Gospel language of peace. Today,
to be sure, we make our declarations by means of a mes-
sage of peace. With upturned hands he received us yester-
day. So, with expanded heart and outstretched arms we
today hasten to him bearing gifts of peace. Wars have now
been destroyed. The beauty of peace holds everything. The
Devil is in mourning, and all his cohort of demons in
lamentation. But the heavenly beings now have joy, and
the angels who hold peace especially dear are in exulta-
tion. An unfailing spring of peace is found among the
heavenly powers, and they admire peace. And the dwell-
ers of earth are refreshed by at least some drops falling
from this spring. For this reason, even if peace is praised
by the saints on earth, the splendor of that praise has an
effect of overflow into heaven. The angels of heaven praise
2 Zach. 6.13.
3 Perhaps some bishop. Cf. Sermon 138 n. 2.
254 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
that peace and say: 'Glory to God in the highest, and peace
on earth among men of good will.' 4
You see, brethren, how the dwellers of heaven and of
earth mutually send gifts of peace. The angels of heaven
announce peace to the earth. The saints on earth praise
Christ our peace, again restored among the dwellers of
heaven, and in mystical choirs they exclaim: 'Glory in the
highest.' 5 So let us also say with the angels: 'Glory in the
highest to God/ who humbled the Devil and exalted His
Christ. 'Glory in the highest to God/ who has banished
discord and established peace. You perceive, brethren, that
the angelic hymn is sonorously vibrant. 'Glory to God in
the highest, and peace on earth.'
To be sure, I mention the Devil's cunning. You are not
unaware how clever he is. Satan observed the solidity and
stability of the faith. He saw it hedged about with God's
kind gift of doctrine, and abounding in fruits of good works.
Therefore, in the sight of all he fell into madness, and
burned in a rage of fury, in order to shatter concord, up-
root charity, and tear peace asunder. But may peace be
always with us.
SERMON 152
The Slaughter of the Holy Innocents
(On Matt. 2.16-18)
Today, Herod's inhuman cruelty has exposed how far
jealousy tends to go, and spite leaps, and envy makes its
way. While this cruelty was jealously seeking the narrow
4 Luke 2.14.
5 Luke 19.38. Knox translates: 'Glory in heaven above/
SERMONS 255
limits of temporal reign, it strove to block the rise of the
eternal King. The Evangelist has told us the account: Then
Herod, seeing that he had been tricked by the Magi, was
exceedingly angry; and he sent and slew all the boys in
Bethlehem and all its neighborhood.'
'Seeing that he had been tricked by the Magi.' Impiety
grieves that it has been tricked. Cruelty is in a rage because
it has been warded off. Deceitfulness roars because it has
been deceived. Trickery has turned against itself and been
dashed to naught. Herod hisses in rage while falling him-
self into the net he has spread. Consequently, he un-
sheathes the iniquity he has hidden. His trust in perfidy
is the arsenal from which he takes his arms. In his earthly
fury he hunts Him whom he does not believe to be born
from heaven. He moves the soldier's camp to the bosoms
of mothers, and attacks the citadel of love among their
breasts. He tests his steel in those tender breasts, sheds
milk before blood, causes the infants to undergo death
before experiencing life, brings darkness on those just enter-
ing into the light of day.
That is how he deports 1 himself that master of evil,
minister of deceit, craftman of anger, deviser of crime,
author of impiety, pirate of love, enemy of innocence,
foe of nature who is evil to all men, worse to his own rela-
tives, worst to himself. Christ fled from him not to get
away from him but to escape seeing him. Making his way
up high, he falls from aloft. Knocking at heaven, he enters
hell. He who rushes against God attacks himself. He tries
to kill life and kills himself, because salvation cannot be
gained by murder, or life by killing, or eternity by termina-
tion. O ambition, how blind you always are! O presump-
tion, how dastardly you always are! Oh, how he who
1 Reading agit, with Held (BKV 713).
256 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
grasps what is not granted loses what is! Herod, possessing
an earthly kingdom, attacks the heavenly one. Gazing in-
tently on his earthly goods, he rushes for those divine, and
with all his impiety he pursues Piety Himself.
He had heard that the King was born. He had asked
where, when, from whom, and for what purpose. But he
did not seek as he should have, because he had a love of
sinning, and his love of innocence had gone. Impelled to
crime, prone to sins which cry for expiation, ready for
atrocity, he disregarded the proofs of innocence, abrogated
right, confused the lawful with the abominable. Wicked-
ness was his companion, and he hated equity. Iniquity was
always dear to him who lived through murders, strength-
ened his own position through bloodshed, and practiced
cruelty. Everything he possessed stood through fear, nothing
through love.
Thereupon, Herod blindly sought to kill Christ by his
swords. He hunted for Him by means of blood, and thor-
oughly searched by means of cruelty. In fear of a successor,
he moved against his Creator. He slew the innocent babies,
with intent to kill Innocence Himself. He was ruler of the
people, guardian of morals, censor in charge of discipline,
investigator of justice, defender of equity, preserver of in-
nocence, developer of the people. Yet, he made the case
of the Innocent One into a crime of the innocent babies.
He changed the service of the prophetical wise men 2 into an
occasion of punishment, commanded the birth of the Crea-
tor to become the death of the new-born babies, and the
work of the Saviour to become the hazard of those who
were to be saved.
A judge summons hearers, questions speakers, cross-
questions those who deny, presses plaintiffs, dismays the
guilty, reproaches accomplices, sentences confederates, de-
J The Magi are probably meant.
SERMONS 257
livers those convicted to their sentence. But, what has he
to do with infants? Their tongue has been silent, their eyes
have seen nothing, their hands have done nothing. No act
has proceeded from them; then, whence do they have
any guilt? They who did not yet know how to live got
death. The period of their life did not protect them, nor
did their age excuse them, nor their silence defend them.
With Herod, the mere fact that they were born was their
crime. And in truth, why were they not to return the loan
[of life] which nature gave them? It was the welfare of the
Saviour which was being asked from them. The unhappy
man! All his preparations turned out to be charges against
himself. He left not even a while for excuse, but prepared
everything for pain! Who will excuse him whom innocence
blames, infants attack, milk accuses as if it were blood? All
this is against Herod.
But Christ foreknew the future and all secrets. He was
the Judge of thoughts and the examiner of minds. Why
did He desert those whom He knew were being searched
for because of Himself, and whom He knew would be
killed for His sake? Born as a King, yes, as the King of
heaven, why did He neglect those little soldiers of His
innocence? Why did He contemn that army of infants
of His own age? Why did He abandon these guards de-
puted to keep watch at their cradles, in such a way that
the foe who was to seek only the King advanced against
His every soldier?
Brethren, Christ did not contemn His soldiers; He pro-
moted them. He enabled them to triumph before living.
He caused them to gain a victory before fighting. He gave
them their crowns before their members. 3 He willed that
they should overcome vices by their virtues, possess heaven
sooner than earth, and not become enmeshed in human
3 Le., before their members had grown strong.
258 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
affairs before possessing the divine benefits. Therefore,
Christ sent His little soldiers ahead; He did not lose them.
He did not abandon his front line troops, but took them to
Himself.
Blessed are they! They were born for martyrdom, not for
the world, as we have seen. Fortunate are they ! They have
changed their labors into rest, their sufferings into refresh-
ment, their sorrows into joy. They live, they are alive.
They are the ones who truly live, they who merit to be
slain for Christ. Blessed are the wombs which bore such
babes, blessed are the breasts which nourished them, blessed
are the tears which were shed for them, and conferred
on the weeping ones the grace of baptism, For, by one gift,
but in different ways, the mothers were baptized in their
tears and the infants in their blood. The mothers suffered
in the martyrdom of their children. The sword which trans-
pierced the members of children penetrated to the hearts
of the mothers. Moreover, those who were companions of
the suffering must be sharers of the reward.
The infant smiled at his slayer. The child made fun of
the sword. The babe in arms saw, in place of his nurse,
the frightfulness of the man ready to strike. The tender-
aged boy so soon to die, and scarcely aware of the light,
rejoiced. An infant son looks on every man, not as a foe,
but as a parent.
The mothers bore whatever anguish and sorrow that
came to them. Therefore, they who shed the tears of martyr-
dom will not lack its joy.
At this point, let the hearer consider and notice care-
fully, that he may know that martyrdom cannot be bought
by merit, but comes through grace. In the case of the in-
fants, where nature itself was still held captive, what will
SERMONS 259
power was present, or what act of decision? Therefore, in
the case of martyrdom, we owe it all to God, and nothing
to ourselves. To conquer the Devil, give up one's body,
hold its members unimportant; to ponder the thought of
the rack, tire out the torturer, take glory from insults and
life from death all that is not a matter of human ability,
but a gift of God. He who runs to martyrdom by his own
power does not arrive at the crown through Christ.
But may He lead us to heavenly nourishment who con-
descended to repose in a stable of ours, Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, our Lord, who lives and reigns for ever and
ever. Amen.
SERMON 154
St. Stephen, the First Martyr
The titles set upon boundary marks announce the owner
of the farm lands. In similar fashion, the very names of
saints often indicate their merits and reveal their out-
standing deeds.
This was the case with Abraham. When his name was
changed by divine intervention from Abram to Abraham,
he showed by an addition to his name that he believed by
faith. This was done that he who was to be multiplied in his
offspring might have his name enlarged first. The Lord
said: Tou shall no longer be called Abram, but your name
shall be Abraham; for I will make you the father of a
multitude of nations.' 1
Thus, too, when his holy wife was changed from barren-
ness to fruitfulness she had her name changed from Sarai
1 Gen. 175.
260 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
to Sarah, 2 that she, too, might grow in name 3 before she
grew large with child. Through the Lord's permission,
laughter was provoked by the very thought that so aged
a woman, already furrowed with wrinkles, should conceive
a child; that she whose fruitfulness was long past hope
should give birth to an infant; that she whose barrenness
was deemed certain because of her extreme age should be-
come pregnant. Therefore, she named the child she soon
brought forth Laughter. By this name she indicated her
disposition* when she laughed: 'And he called him Isaac' 5
which means laughter.
This was the case with Jacob, too. While still in his
mother's womb, he began to struggle sooner than to see;
and to conquer by his mental abilities sooner than by his
members. Not yet separated from his mother's body, he
was named The Supplanter. 6 For, before he was born, he
was known to have overthrown his divinely disapproved
brother.
To go into all such examples would take too long. Peter
got his name from a rock because by the firmness of his
faith he was the first to deserve to be a foundation of the
Church, Similarly, Stephen got his name from a crown
because he was the first to deserve to undergo the con-
flict for the name of Christ, the first to merit to inaugurate
martyrdom by that bloodshed so characteristic of the soldiers
of Christ. Let Peter retain his long-standing headship of
2 Gen. 17.15-19. According to Mariana (cited in PL 52.607, notes d
and e) , Abram means Exalted Father (pater excelsus) , and Abraham,
Father of a Throng (pater turbae) ; Sarai means my lady or mistress,
and Sarah, lady or mistress in general, with a connotation of her
numerous descendants.
3 In Hebrew spelling her name grew by one consonant, from SaRai
to SaRaH.
4 Cf. Gen. 18.10-15.
5 Gen. 21.3; cf. Gen. 21.1-8.
5 Or, The Tripper. Gen. 2555.
SERMONS 261
the Apostolic 7 College. Let him unlock the kingdom of
heaven for those who enter it, bind the guilty by his power,
and mercifully absolve the repentant. But Stephen is the
first of the martyrs. Let him be the leader of that purpled
army, for he was an eager warrior who shed his blood for
the still warm blood of his Lord.
He procured for himself a purple robe, dyed with his own
blood. Therefore, later on, he rightly received a crown from
his King. And this was he who at his birth got his name
from a crown. Clearly, God foreknew and predestined him;
now He called him as the first one to come to the glory
of martyrdom.
SERMON 155
The Desecration of New Year's Day by Pagan Practices
When Christ was lovingly born for our salvation, the
Devil also soon brought forth many pernicious wonders in
the sight of the divine goodness. He wanted to fabricate
something ridiculous out of religious observance, to turn
holiness into sacrilige, to prepare an injury to God from
the very attempt to honor Him. This, brethren, this is why
the pagans today 1 bring out their gods. With planned defile-
7 Reading apostolici, with S. Pauli.
1 This is manifestly a sermon for New Year's Day. The Roman festival
of the Saturnalia, celebrated through many days in late December, was
a season of extravagant merriment and even of license. Similar orgy
marked the celebration of New Year's Day, and its excesses often
drew the reprimands of the Fathers of the Church, as the Feast of
the Fools in the Middle Ages drew the condemnation of one provincial
council after another. St. Augustine preached two sermons (197, 198
PL 38.1021-1026) De Kalendis Januariis contra Paganos* A decree of
Bishop Atto of Vercelli against celebrating January 1 ritu paganorum
is in PL 134.43.
262 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
ments and premeditated disgrace they pull them hither and
thither as beings appearing baser than baseness itself, and
drag them about. They make them unworthy to look upon.
What vanity! What silliness! What blindness! To recog-
nize them as gods, and dishonor them with all this derision !
Those who mock the gods they venerate are scoffers, not
adorers. Those who thus deform the gods by whom they
think that they themselves were made do not honor them,
but load them with insults. Those who fashion their gods
after their own disorder do not glorify them, but shame
them.
Truly, indeed, as the Apostle says, 'As they have resolved
against possessing the knowledge of God, God has given
them up to a reprobate sense, so that they do what is not
fitting/ 2 When they attribute divine prerogatives to those
beings whom they deprive of the qualities of men, when
they deem them worthy of heaven and make them unworthy
of earth itself, they have indeed been given up to a repro-
bate sense. And this is not a matter of human judgment,
but one of the wisdom of God, in order that those who
are recognized as the authors of this discredit may be them-
selves the avengers of the insults offered to God. What
[other] anger, what avengement, would follow upon an
offense from the idols against God in just this manner, so
as to bring the following result? Antiquity, through its altars,
incense, victims, gems, and gold, lyingly asserted that those
beings are gods; posterity, through its debasing cult, judged
them to be disgraceful men, and signified its opinion of
their life, morals, and deeds by their very countenances.
Posterity has taught that such beings should be fled rather
than worshiped.
Brethren, let us weep over those who follow such prac-
tices, and let us rejoice that with heavenly aid we have
2 Rom. 1.27.
SERMONS 263
escaped them! The pagans represent the adulteries of these
beings in their images; they perpetuate their fornications
in their likenesses, make their incests the titles of their paint-
ings, display their cruelties as patterns in books, make their
parricides a matter of tradition, act out their base deeds
in their tragedies, and mimic their obscenities. With what
insanity would they believe these beings to be gods, were
it not for the following fact! They are themselves possessed
by a desire of crimes and a love of enormities, and wish
to have gods who are criminals, too. He who wants to sin
worships and venerates the authors of sins. That is why
the adulterer attaches himself to Venus, and the cruel man
becomes devout to Mars.
We have mentioned these matters, brethren, to reveal
why the pagans today make their gods commit such deeds
as we endure; why they make their gods such as to inspire
horror and shame in those who see them; why they bring
it to pass that sometimes even those who fashion these gods
abandon them in horror, and Christians glory in their liber-
ation from such beings through Christ.
If only these Christians would not be defiled by these
pagan spectacles, or stained by contact 3 with them! If only
they would flee the danger of showing approval of such
practices, since approval is always equal to the deeds them-
selves, as the Apostle says with approval: 'and not only
they that do them but they also that consent to them that
do them. 54
Now, if such terrible condemnation arises from approv-
ing them, who can sufficiently bewail those who play the
role of idols? 5 Have they not lost the image of God, and
3 Reading, with Bohmer, inquinentur attactu, not inquinent thura tactu.
4 Rom. 1.32 (Douay-Rhcims version) . The statement preceding the words
cited by St. Peter are: 'They who do such things are worthy of death/
5 Some Christians still participated in these pagan practices. St. Peter
here reprimands them. Cf. Introduction, pp. 7-9.
264: SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
destroyed His likeness? Have not those who dressed them-
selves as the sacrilegious characters of idols put off the
garment of Christ?
But, someone will object: 'All this is not practice of the
sacrilegious rites, but only a desire to take part in the sport.
It is joy over the new era, not the folly of the old. It is the
beginning of the year, not the insult of paganism. 3
O man, you are in error. These actions are not sport,
they are sins. Who sports over impiety? Who jokes about
what is sacrilegious? Who calls an act requiring expiation
a laughing matter? He who maintains that objection de-
ceives himself quite completely. He who puts on the tyrant's
robes is a tyrant himself. He who makes himself a god
stands as one contradicting the true God. He who has been
willing to masquerade as an idol has refused to bear the image
of God. He who has been willing to joke with the Devil will
not be able to rejoice with Christ. No one plays with a serpent
without danger, and no one jokes with the Devil with
impunity.
Therefore, if we have any love in our hearts, any re-
gard for our fellow men, any zeal for our brethren's salva-
tion, let us restrain those who are thus running to perdition,
being snatched away to their death, dragged toward
Tartarus, and hastening to Gehenna. Let the father restrain
his son, the master his servant, the parent any other parent,
the citizen his fellow citizen, the man any other man. Let
the Christian restrain those who have made themselves equal
to beasts, put themselves on a level with asses, made them-
selves up as cattle, masqueraded as demons. The man who
thus acts as a liberator merits a reward, and he who is
negligent commits an offense. Blessed is he who is the
the guardian of his own life, and a caretaker of his brethren's
salvation, too.
SERMONS 265
SERMON 156
Epiphany and the Magi
(On Matt. 2.1-12)
When cautious physicians skillfully prepare a remedy of
salutary juices against deadly diseases, and if the patient
rashly takes it differently from the directions, or in amount
not conducive to healing, or with improper timing, that
which was planned to bring health becomes a cause of dan-
ger. So, too, if the hearer rashly tries to understand the
word of God without the teaching authority, and learning,
and the doctrine of the faith, that which is the nutrition of life
becomes an occasion of perdition. We must strive, brethren,
that what has been divinely written for our progress may
not turn out, through our lack of skill in hearing, to be
something detrimental to our souls.
Do you think that the Evangelist taught that the Chaldaean
watchers of the stars, the Magi journeying with the aid of
the stars, studying the affairs of the heavens in the dark-
ness of the nights, attributing the causes of birth and death
to the movements of the stars, asserting that good or evil
comes to men through the decision of these luminous bodies
do you think that the Evangelist taught that it was by the
mere natural guidance of a star that they today discovered
the birth of the Christ hidden from the ages?
Let no one have such a thought! That is what the world
thinks, what the pagans understand, what the reading yields
at first blush. But the Gospel text speaks matters not human,
but divine; matters not ordinary, but new; matters not
deceptive through cleverness, but based upon truth; matters
not illusory to the eyes, but rooted in hearts; matters not
fluid through conjectures, but firmly established by authority;
266 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
matters coming from God, not fate; matters not gathered
by reckonings, but acquired by the practice of virtues.
'When Jesus was bom in Bethlehem of. Judaea/ the text
says, 'in the days of king Herod, behold, there came a
Magi from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is the
newly born king of the Jews? We have seen his star in
the east, and have come to worship him.' When Jesus was
born, the Source of things arose, the Maker of the race was
begotten, the Creator of nature was born, in order to re-
pair nature, restore the race, re-establish the original state.
The first man, Adam, the father of the race, the origin
of all posterity, lost by his sin the good of nature, the free-
dom of his race, and the life of his offspring. Consequently,
his unfortunate posterity endured the evil of nature, the
slavery of the race, the death of their offspring. Hence it
came about that Christ by His birth restored nature, took
away death by dying, summoned life back by His resur-
rection. He who had given man his soul from heaven
now enabled him to stand firm in the flesh, lest some earthly
stain might again overwhelm his spiritual insight and bring
him to a fall of the body. As the Apostle said: 'The first
man was of the earth, earthy; the second man is from
heaven, heavenly. As was the earthy man, such also are
the earthy; and as is the heavenly man, such also are the
heavenly.' 1 John the Evangelist also stated: 'No one who
is born of God commits sin; but the Begotten of God pre-
serves him.' 2 Thus it is that Christ was born to elevate those
prostrate in an earthy seed up to a heavenly nature.
'When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea. 9 Bethlehem,
brethren, is called in Hebrew the house of bread. These
words indicate the house of Juda; they name the race,
that the pledge of the promise may be fulfilled, and also
1 1 Cor. 15.47,48,
2 1 John 5.18.
SERMONS 267
the truth of that prophecy which Jacob spoke: 'Juda,
your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the
neck of your enemies; the sons of your father shall bow
down to you. 53 Later, the text continues: The sceptre shall
not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from his thigh,
till he come for whom the things have been stored up, and
he shall be the expectation of nations. 9 Wherefore David
also said: 'Juda is my king.' 4
'When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days
of King Herod. 3 What means this, that it was in the time
of a very wicked king that God descended to earth, divinity
entered into 5 flesh, a heavenly union occurred with an earthly
body? What does this mean? When does one not truly a
king come to drive out a tyrant, avenge his country, renew
the face of the earth, and restore freedom? Herod, an
apostate, 6 invaded the kingdom of the Jewish race, took
away the Jews 5 liberty, profaned their holy places, dis-
rupted the established order, abolished whatever there was
of discipline and religious worship. Rightly, therefore, did
divine aid succor that holy race which had no human help.
Rightly did God support the race which had no man to
be its helper.
In just this way will Christ come again, to undo the
Antichrist, free the world, restore the fatherland of Paradise,
perpetuate the liberty of the world, take away all the slavery
of this world.
'Behold, there came Magi from the East.' The Magi
came from the East to the Orient, 7 that He who had bade
them come might receive them on their arrival. For, when
3 Gen. 49.8,10.
4 Ps. 59.9.
5 miscetur divinitas carni. Cf. Sermon 5 n. 11, on humanitati permixta
deitas.
6 refuga; cf. Souter, s.v.
7 Cf. Luke 1.78: 'the Orient from on high has visited us/
268 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
would a Magus have sought God save by God's command?
When would a star-gazer have found the King of heaven,
save by God's revelation? When would a Chaldaean, who
served as many gods as there were stars in the sky, have
adored the one God without God's aid? The Magi them-
selves are more of a heavenly sign than the star, for a
Magus recognized the King of Judaea and the Author of
the Law, while the Judean does not; Chaldaea pays defer-
ence while Judaea does not; Jerusalem turns away and
plays apostate, Syria follows and adores.
'Behold there came Magi from the East to Jerusalem,
saying, Where is the newly born king of the Jews. We have
seen his star.' And what is that which is seen? Truly, what
the Apostle said: 'Being rich, he became poor.' 8 When He
was rich in his divinity, He became a poor man in our
flesh; He who made, owns, and sustains all creation began
to have one star.
'W r e have seen his star.' At length the Magus sees Him
who owns the star, and is not possessed by it. He is not
moved by the course of the star, but He Himself moves the
star, and He so directs its course through the sky, and con-
trols its pace, and choses its path, that it serves and is sent
for the Magi's advance. For, when the Magus moves on,
the star does, too. When he sits, the star stands still. When
he sleeps, the star keeps watch. Thus, the Magus perceives
that those who journey under a common condition are un-
der a common necessity of rendering service. Now, he does
not believe the star to be a god, but he believes it to be
his fellow servant, bound, as he sees, to giving service
to himself.
'Where is the newly born king of the Jews? For we have
seen his star in the east, and have come to worship him.'
By saying: 'Where is He who was born king of the Jews,'
8 2 Cor. 8.9.
SERMONS 269
they do not ask a question, but taunt. When those who
know question those who do not know, they themselves
do not lack knowledge. Rather, they are reproving the negli-
gent, challenging the lazy, betraying the evil, and chastizing
the haughty. They are lodging the charge that the servants
have not met their Lord in welcome. Why should those
address questions to men who already knew from God what
they were asking about? What good would human infor-
mation do them, who for their purpose were receiving
service from the stars of heaven? What good was the light
of the Temple for them who had marvelous light from a star
of heaven?
'Where is the newly born king of the Jews?' This is tanta-
mount to saying: Why does the king of the Jews lie in a
manger, and not repose in the Temple? Why is He not
resplendent in purple, rather than poorly clad in rags? Why
does He lie hidden in a cave, and not on display in the
Sanctuary? The beasts have received in a manger Him
whom you have disdained to receive in His house. As it
has been written: The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass
his master's crib.' 9 But you, O Israel, have not sought out
your Master.
'We have seen his star. 9 The star appeared not of itself,
but by command; not because of the gravitation of heaven,
but by an impulse of God; not because of the law of the
stars, but of the novelty of signs; not because of any clear
climate in the sky, but because of the power of Him being
born; not from art, but from God; not because of an
astrologer's knowledge, but the Creator's foreknowledge; not
by an arithmetical reckoning, but by a divine decree; through
heavenly care, not Chaldaean curiosity; not through art
of magic, but because of Jewish prophecy.
Thus, when the Magus saw that human cares had come
9 isa. 1.3.
270 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
to naught, that his own arts had failed, that the labors
of worldly wisdom had been exhausted, that the perspira-
tion of all the sects had congealed and the treasures of all
philosophy had been emptied out, that the night of pagan-
ism had fled and the clouds of opinions dissolved, that the
very shadows of the devils had skulked into hiding, that
the star was not, like a comet with its surrounding tail,
hiding what it was announcing, covering up what was
shining when the Magus saw all this, he spoke: 'It is
a divine decree that I see you in Judaea, resplendent with
a new ray, a significant light, and a steady splendor, and
there above the law of the universe, above the arrangement
of flesh, above the nature of men there pointing out the
King now born. 3
With his error thus dispelled, he follows, he runs, he
arrives, he finds, he rejoices, he falls prostrate, he adores.
For, not through the star, not through his skill, but through
the help of God has he found, in astonishment, God in
human flesh. Therefore, brethren, the passage read today
does not establish the error of magic, it dissolves it. Let
these remarks suffice for today, that with God's help the
matters which follow may become clear.
SERMON 165
On the Consecration of Projectus,
Bishop of Forum Cornelium 1
I acknowledge that I indeed owe veneration to all the
churches, and a very faithful service, too. But I am com-
I Forum Cornelium is the modern Imola, near Ravenna.
SERMONS 271
pelled to show special devotion to the Cornelian church
because of my love of its very name. For, Cornelius was
renowned for his life of blessed memory, illustrious every-
where through all his titles to virtues, known to all men
because of his great achievements; and he was a father
to me. 2 He begot me through the Gospel. Devout himself,
he devoutly nourished me; holy himself, he trained me in
the holy service. As a bishop, he brought me to the sacred
altar and consecrated me. Consequently, the name of Corne-
lius is to me something distinguished, venerable, wonderful.
Therefore, my love of the name urges me eagerly to
comply with the desires of the Cornelian church, and with
deeper affection consecrate the venerable Projectus as its
bishop. I have used the word Projectus, not Abjectus, in
accordance with the Scriptural phrase: 'I was cast upon
thee from the womb. From my mother's womb thou art
my God.' 3 Truly, this man, projected from the womb of
his human mother, has remained without interruption in
the womb of the divine mother; 4 not frequenting his own
house, he has perseveringly dwelt in the house of God. It
would be tedious for me to tell you, brethren, how from
the very cradle he has risen up through the ranks and offices
of the Church's army. Therefore, as the Lord says: 'He is
of age, let him speak for himself,' 5 through our Lord Jesus
Christ who lives and reigns with the Holy Spirit forever.
Amen.
2 Perhaps through baptizing him; certainly, through educating and
conferring some Orders.
3 Ps. 21.11: In te projectus sum ex utero. Projectus means: the one
advanced, made prominent; abjectw. the one rejected.
4 The Church.
5 John 9.21,
272 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
SERMON 166
The Lenten Fast
Simplicity has indeed the charm of its own innocence
and the fruit of its own faith, but it cannot possess the
reward which learning gets, or the palm which virtues gain.
It is one thing to live for leisure and one's own security;
another, to endure watches and labors for all men. Simplicity
makes a good citizen, it does not make a brave soldier.
Hence it is that the citizen pays what he is assessed, the
soldier receives wages and honors. The citizen either re-
treats or falls before adversity; the soldier endures it and
drives it away. The former has not learned how to fight;
the latter has learned not to fear. The former is always
on his guard; the latter wins the battle.
We have mentioned these matters in order to point out
the distance between the man who with simplicity accepts
and follows the sacred mystery of the Christian faith and
him who is zealous to grasp the mystery of that faith in-
telligently and understand it profoundly.
Consider the fast of Lent, which the whole Church takes
up tomorrow with solemn devotion. Many think that it has
been handed down to us, or that the Lord observed it,
solely for the practice of abstinence; that it does not con-
tain a symbolic mystery 1 for a deeper understanding, but has
been given us merely for the chastisement of our bodies,
the uprooting of vices, and the restraining of our hearts.
Now, that number forty is something so sacred from an-
tiquity, and it is found to be so mystical, 2 that by some un-
breakable law it is written as a number which is always
used to accomplish divine projects and to explain impor-
1 mysterium.
2 Or: symbolical.
SERMONS 273
tant affairs of God. That this fact may shine to the clear
sky, let us illustrate it with many examples.
In the unfortunate infancy of the human race, when
the world was growing foul with an undescribable squalor
of vices, and stank in its entirety with horrible crimes, and
was tending almost to cloud up the great brightness of the
sky with the smoke of its wickedness, for forty days and
nights rain was poured out to purify the earth. 3 This hap-
pened that the world (which should have been already
on the point of perishing, since it was but a creature) might
rejoice over this second birth by such a baptism; that it
might know that it owes the fact of its existence not to
nature, but to the gift of its Creator; that the earth, the
source of our body, might have a foretaste of the very
form of our baptism; and, finally, that the earth, which
previously was producing men born for death, might produce
them now as men reborn unto life.
Notice, brethren, how important that number forty is.
Then, it opened up the heavens for the cleansing of the
earth; now, through the font of baptism, 4 it opens the
world for the renewal of the nations. Rightly we do run
through the fast of forty days to arrive at the font of baptism
and salvation.
The rain of manna fed the Jewish people for forty years 5
in the desert. It did hot by its customary service cause an
increase of sprouts from the earth, but streamed on the
earth like harvested grains. It took away all the toil of
human labor, and by its pleasant dew 6 offered and spread
out heavenly produce for the hungry.
For forty days an exploring party, sent out by God's
3 Gen. 7.1-24.
4 Baptism was solemnly administered on Holy Saturday at the close
of the Lenten fast.
5 Exod. 16.1-36.
6 The manna appeared as dew; cf. Exod. 16.13.
274 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
command, traversed the Promised Land. 7 Thus, this sacred
number was to summon the Israelites to the Promised Land,
just as it now by its forty periods of fasting summons us, and
leads us to heaven. Now, an investigation from heaven ex-
plores and traverses the land of our body for forty days,
to attack and expel the tribes of vices and enable a legion
of virtues to possess the region of our heart.
We should omit nothing. Moses himself was so purified
and freed from his body by a fast of forty days 8 that his
whole self took on a glorious appearance of divinity. Still in
the darkness of our body, he gleamed with the full radiance
of divinity. The eyes of mortals could not gaze upon him
who, long nourished by the substance of God, had forgotten
all about the aids provided by mortals' food. From this he
learned that the sustenance of life does not fail those who
live in God's sight and with Him. Truly, brethren, he who
has God for his bread and life runs no risk of growing
weak or dying. Rightly did Moses, being one like this, de-
serve to promulgate the Law, since he had lost whatever
the Law could force in the case of man. Perhaps his pro-
tracted fast brought all this to Moses. But it would not have
made him such as he was if this sacred number of forty
had been lacking.
A fast raised Elias to heaven, 9 and brought to his body
so purified the services of the fiery chariot, to show how
much the hell fire which burns the guilty does service to
the innocent. To become fit for all this Elias first runs
the course of the mystical way of the number forty, 10
By lying on his one side for forty days (I am speaking
to those who know the Law), Ezechiel, who is eminent
among the Prophets, prefigured the future captivity and
7 Num. 13.26.
8 Exod. 24.18.
9 4 Kings 2.11.
10 3 Kings 19.7,8.
SERMONS 275
fixed its term. 11 That sacred number takes on the iniquities
to blot them out, enters the days of captivity to terminate
them, accepts bonds to break them.
Therefore, all this is the reason why the Lord, Author
from eternity of the symbolic mystery 12 hidden in this num-
ber, [kept His own fast] within that number of forty days
of fast, 13 that Truth itself might bring to fulfillment these
deeds and beginnings which He had already outlined in
the case of these servants; that He might strengthen what
was tender, complete what was begun, and strengthen by
His example what He had set us by commands. For, it
would not have been enough to command by words this
great symbolic mystery of this important number, had He
not also recommended it by His deeds.
However, brethren, we have tried to expound the mystery
of this sacred sign from the time of the deluge on, with-
out daring to touch on previous events, or to pry into the
more ancient ones, or to speak the unmentioned, or to utter
matters certainly hidden away for so long. We have done
this especially because I see that to explore such important
beginnings would be rash for me and unnecessary for you.
It is the part of true devotion and loyal service to ask what
the Master wants done, not why He wants it to be done.
Therefore, if a simple, unadulterated, unvarying fast of
forty days is taught us by such great evidence, as some-
thing handed down by the Lord under the number of so
important a symbol, whence arises that variety and novelty?
Whence come those weeks: now relaxed, now rigid; now too
indulgent and now too severe? Whence that use of im-
moderate fasting, which either afflicts a person without his
obtaining forgiveness, or drives him back to excessive indul-
11 Ezech. 4.6.
12 sacramentum. See De Ghellinck, Pour rhistoire du mot Sacramentum
149. A verb is missing from the text printed in Migne.
13 Matt. 45.
276 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
gence? This is a case of applying exclusively to their single
uses hot measures and cold ones, remedies of salt and of
food, while completely neglecting the Maker of Life. 14 Surely,
those who season the foods of our body should learn how
to compound the food of the soul wisely and properly, lest
something too salty or completely unsalted beget a fatal
distaste of all nourishing food.
Let the fast be one properly measured. And, as we re-
ceived from tradition, let it be observed for the discipline
of both the body and the soul. Surely, let not the one who
is unable to fast start some innovation. Rather, let him
acknowledge that it is through his personal weakness that
he mitigates his fast, and let him redeem by almsgiving
what he cannot fulfill by fasting. For the Lord does not
require groans from him who has thus acquired the cries
of the poor as pleadings for himself.
SERMON 170
Christ, Our Example in Manifold Ways; The Vocation
of the Apostles; The Counsel of Poverty
(On Mark 6.7-13)
When blessed Mark told us today that the Lord went
about in the villages of Galilee, he revealed His unspeak-
able love toward us. The text states: 'And Jesus made a
circuit of the villages, teaching.'
You have heard how He traveled; how for your sake
He sought you everywhere with His indefatigable love. He
who upholds all things and is Himself upheld by no crea-
14 Or possibly: 'while neglecting Him who gives balanced seasoning to
our life/
SERMONS 277
ture, He enters your body. He constrains Himself in it,
compresses Himself in this abode of yours. The voice of
the faithful daily acclaims His majesty with the shout:
'Heaven and earth are full of Your glory'; 1 and He for
your sake makes a circuit of your localities. He appears in
them, is seen in them, is pressed to remain in them.
To where does His immovable fullness move itself? All
beings are full of Him. Then, where does He approach, or
from what does He withdraw? He does go and return,
descend and ascend. He, O man, being God, endures your
whole nature 2 and that for your sake because He loves
you intensely, and has so much benevolence for you. He
has assumed various appearances, varied His forms and
changed His favors.
At one time He appears all aglow in a bush. 3 For, you
are cold with the perfidy of infidelity, and He wants to
enkindle you with the heat of faith. At another time He
glows like fire in a pillar 4 extending toward heaven, that
the darkness of your ignorance may be removed, and that
you can follow the way of saving knowledge through the
wilderness of this world. At yet another time He is changed
for you into a pillar of cloud, in order to restrain the burn-
ing ebullitions of your passions. Again, like an eagle. He
covers you with the wings of His wisdom, to stimulate
you to fly toward heaven. In the words of Moses: 'As the
eagle guards its nest and is undaunted above its young;
extending its wings it takes them up and puts them on
its back. The Lord alone illuminated them, and there was
no strange god with them.' 5
1 Preface of the Mass.
2 Literally, endures you.
3 Exod. 3.2.
4 Exod. 1331,22.
5 Cf. Deut. 32.11.
278 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
Now, like a hen, 6 He leads you forth and round about.
He calls you, receives, protects, fondles, carries, encircles,
and embraces you. As a hen forgets for a time her own
flight and freedom and rolls about in the dust, so does He
live in your sanctuary 7 that he may nourish you, rear you,
and instruct you with native, familiar, homemade foods.
Now, as a good shepherd, 7 He alone seeks you as you stray
in the mountain heights. He alone finds you, puts you on
His shoulders. To keep you from being seized 8 in earthly
pastures by the teeth of the wolves, He carries and leads
you to the sheepfolds of heaven. In these ways, as we said,
He has assumed various appearances, varied His forms of
activity. To change you for the better He so frequently
changes and replaces His roles. The Enemy had long gone
about to catch and devour you. Therefore, Christ necessarily
goes about to vindicate and rescue you. As Scripture states:
'Your adversary, as a roaring lion, goes about seeking some-
one to devour.' 9
'And he summoned the twelve/ 10 the text says. After the
long centuries of dreadful night, the eternal day, our Christ,
shone forth. The world had long awaited the splendor of
His dawning. In the case of His twelve Apostles He desired
to signify the twelve hours of this day. 11 The blessed Psalmist
saw this day in spirit when he sang: This is the day which
the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein. 512
Consequently, the Apostle, too, calls the believers children
6 Matt. 23.37.
7 John 10.1-18.
8 For peruadaiis meaning seize, cf. Souter, s.v.
9 1 Pet. 5.8.
10 Mark 6.7.
11 The Romans divided the day into twelve equal parts or 'hours'
between sunrise and sunset. The length of an hour naturally varied
with the seasons.
12 Ps. 117.24.
SERMONS 279
of light and of faith : 'You are children of the light and chil-
dren of the day.' 13
'And he summoned the twelve. 3 That number twelve,
through division into groups of four, shows to us and forms
three teams, each with four horses. By these teams the whole
Trinity is carried throughout the world through the Apostles'
journeys. The meek Warrior is to subdue the Devil, the
gentle Victor is to reduce the pride of the world, the peace-
ful Fighter is to blot out the discords of nations, in order
to destroy hell, that is, the grave of sin, to set captivity
free from its long imprisonment, and to lead the souls of
the human race to the glory of His triumph. In his prophet-
ical spirit the Psalmist saw this chariot of the Holy Trinity
when he said: 'Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led
captivity captive; thou hast received gifts in men.' 14 The
Lord was preparing this chariot for Himself, His Father,
and Holy Spirit when He said: 'Take my yoke upon you,
because my yoke is easy and my burden light.' 15 He who
bears mercy and carries love does not know how to grow
weary.
The twelve patriarchs destined to become twelve tribes 16
were arranged to be a type 17 and pattern of the number of
the Apostles. So were the twelve fountains 18 in the desert,
and twelve stones 19 taken from the bed of the Jordan.
We leave it to the student of the Law to find deeper proof
of all this. For, the progression of our intended reading brings
us now to the effort to explain why the Lord sent His dis-
ciples to preach two by two.
13 1 Thess. 5.5.
14 Ps. 67.19.
15 Matt. 11.29,30.
16 Gen. 49.1-32.
17 For figure meaning type, allegory, cf. Souter s.v.
18 Exod. 15.27.
19 Jos. 4.3.
280 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
'And he began to send them forth two by two.' He sent
them two by two that no one of them, being abandoned
and alone, might fall into a denial, like Peter, or flee,
like John. 20 Human frailty quickly falls if it proudly relies
on itself, despises companions, and is unwilling to have a
colleague. As Scripture says: 'Woe to him that is alone, for
when he falleth, he hath none to lift him up.' 21 The same
Scripture testifies how much one is strengthened by an-
other's aid, when it states: 'A brother that is helped by his
brother is like a strong city.' 22
'And he began to send them forth two by two. 5 It is not
strange, brethren, if the Trinity which employed the three
teams, of four horses each, which resulted from dividing
the number twelve, now mounts also a chariot drawn by
two horses. This was done that the vocation of the two peo-
ples might be clearly shown by two messengers, as the
Apostle states: 'Is God the God of the Jews only, and not
of the Gentiles also? Indeed of the Gentiles also.' 23 It was
done, too, to fulfill the prophesy of Isaias, who testified
that he had seen a rider of a two-horse chariot, when he
heard it said to him: 'What dost thou see? And he replied:
I see a rider of a two-horse chariot.' 24 Because of this he
cried out right away that Babylon had fallen, and all its
graven gods.
Who doubts, brethren, that by this two-horse chariot
Christ was riding upon His saving journeys, since he
sees that through the Apostles' preaching temples have fallen,
idols have perished, the Heatings of herds have ceased, and
the victims, along with even the very altars with their per-
20 Mark 14.66-72; 50-52.
21 Ecde. 4.10.
22 Prov. 18.19.
23 Rom. 3.29.
24 Cf. Isa. 21.7,9.
SERMONS 281
fume of incense, have already disappeared through all the
centuries. Habacuc had seen these chariots when he ex-
claimed: 'Who will ride upon thy horse: and thy chariots
are salvation/ 25
'And he gave them power over the unclean spirits,' the
text says. This is a badge of divine power. This is the trophy
of an outstanding triumph. The pirate himself is now handed
over to his prey, the captive himself to his own captives,
and the Devil, bound himself, is surrendered to those he
once held bound, in order that he should be subjected to
the sway of those over whom he once acted as slave master
and tyrant. Rightly does he grieve, rightly does he groan ;
rightly does he howl. He who had long been persuading men
by lies that he was a god now perceives himself struck
down by the sentence of men and the power of men.
'And he instructed them to take nothing for their jour-
ney, but a staff only no wallet, no bread, no money in
their girdles.' When a man invites laborers to work, he
supplies not merely the necessities of food, but even ban-
quets with extensive preparations. He desires the banquet
provided by the human kindliness he lavishes to win a vic-
tory over the burden and toil of the work. If God invites
a man to work, and the man comes burdened and anxious
with a wallet, bread, and wages, how inhuman he believes
God to be! That man approaches the work either as a tired
or sluggish worker, or perhaps he cannot even approach!
God promises abundant rewards, by His numerous signed
bonds and His witnesses. He promises a generous reward.
Do you think that, in a niggardly spirit, He will supply
neither bread nor clothing? He granted you existence when
you were not. Whatever you have, O man, He gave to
you. When you were living for yourself and your own
25 Hab. 3.8.
282 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
pleasures, He did not refuse the necessities of food. Do you
think that He will not give bread or clothing to one apply-
ing himself to His virtues and tasks? Who gave you the
very contents of your wallet and girdle? Why do you hasten
to insult Him over His own gifts? He knows that you are
rich.
O man, give up your resources ! Divine poverty is enough
for you. Put off the packs of your riches; a burdened man
cannot make his way along the narrow road all the way
to the work of the Lord's harvest. Gome unencumbered,
come free to the tasks, before you get stripped and robbed,
and arrested for punishment as a worker unfaithful to all.
For, as it is written: 'Riches do not go along with a dying
man. 326
Let your conscience be your wallet, let your life be your
bread, in order that the true bread in your life can be
Christ, who said: 'I am the bread.' 27 Regard your heavenly
reward as your salary. For, if in order to follow Christ a
man has dispossessed himself of everything and faithfully
scorned and despised what he had, he can ask a reward from
Christ without any anxiety.
26 Cf. Ps. 48.7.
27 John 6.35.
APPENDIX
The Letter of Saint Peter Chrysologus to Eutyches 1
Introduction
Eutyches, an ardent opponent of Nestorianism but a rather
unskillful theologian, fell into an opposite error. Aged seventy,
and ill, he was summoned before Bishop Flavian and his
standing council of bishops at Constantinople. He professed
before the council that in Christ, after the union of the
divine and human natures, there is but one nature. The
council excommunicated him. His chief fault at that time
seems to have been ignorance and stubbornness rather than
malice, and the treatment of the council seems rather severe
and untactful. 2 Eutyches wrote letters of complaint to St.
Peter Chrysologus and Pope St. Leo the Great. His letter 3
to the Pope, written shortly after November 22, 448, restates
his doctrine. However, Pope Leo found the letter too obscure 4
to understand the case, until he had further information from
Flavian. Eutyches' letter to St. Peter Chrysologus is not extant.
Probably enough, its contents were similar to what he wrote
to the Pope.
Pope Leo received Eutyches' letter in February, 449. It
was probably then or shortly later that St. Peter Chrysologus
1 The Latin text with an ancient Greek translation is printed in two
chapters in PL 54.739-744 as Letter 25 among the Letters of Pope
St. Leo the Great. Probably, Chapter 1 is St. Peter's original Latin
and Chapter 2 is a retranslation into Latin from the Greek version;
cf. PL 54.737-740. The Latin is also in PL 52.24-25.
2 Cf. Cayre", Manual of Petrology II 53.
3 Printed as Letter 21 in PL 54.713-720.
4 Cf. Letter 34, PL 54.801.
283
284 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
received Eutyches' letter and wrote his own Letter to Eu-
tyches in reply. 5 He takes a very kindly attitude toward
Eutyches, and declines to express a decisive opinion because
he does not fully know the case. The letter shows his esteem
of the authority of the Bishop of Rome as the successor of
St. Peter the Apostle. When St. Peter Chrysologus wrote
his letter, he manifestly had no knowledge of Pope Leo's
long and justly famous dogmatic letter to Flavian, 6 which
was written in June, 449, and condemned the doctrine of
Eutyches as heretical.
5 CF. PL 54.739-740.
6 Letter 28, PL 54.755-782.
LETTER TO EUTYCHES 285
Peter, Bishop of Ravenna, to the Dearly Beloved son
and Rightly Honorable Priest, Eutyches
Chapter 1
I have read your sad letter with deep grief, and run
through the details you have written with a sympathetic
regret corresponding to their sorrowful nature. For, just
as peace among the churches, mutual harmony among priests,
and the tranquility of the people cause us to rejoice with
heavenly joy, so fraternal dissension afflicts and depresses us,
especially when it arises from causes such as these.
Human laws cancel human questions unsolved within
thirty years, 1 yet, after so many centuries, Christ's origin, 2
which the divine Law calls indescribable, is still bandied
about in rash disputation! In your prudence, do not fail
to notice what Origen, the Investigator of Principles, 3 in-
curred, nor how Nestorius slipped into error while disputing
about the natures.
By their symbolic 4 gifts the Magi acknowledged Jesus in the
cradle as God, 5 yet priests by their lamentable debating
dispute about who He is who was conceived from the Holy
Spirit and born by a virgin birth! When Jesus uttered His
infant cries in the cradle, the heavenly host sang: 'Glory
to God in the highest'; 6 and is the subject of His origin
1 St. Peter repeated this and other matters from his Sermon 145
(cf. above, p. 237) against the Nestorians; he probably suspected be-
cause of the incomplete details in Eutyches' letter that Eutyches
was falling into Nestorianism.
2 generatio. Cf. Isa. 53.8.
3 An allusion to Origen's work On Principles.
4 mysticis. Cf. Sermon 2 nn. 7, 9.
5 Matt. 2.M2.
6 Luke 2.14.
286 SAINT PETER CHRYSOLOGUS
stirred up now, when 'at the name of Jesus every knee is
bent of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth'? 7
Dear brother, we affirm with the Apostle: 'Even though
we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we
know Him so no longer.' 8 Neither can we turn this matter
over and over again in our minds in detrimental fashion.
We are ordered to honor Him, and fear Him, and await
Him, not to debate about Him whom we acknowledge as
our Judge.
Chapter 2
I have made these brief replies to your letter, dear brother.
I would have written more if our brother and fellow bishop
Flavian had sent written details about this case. For, if, as
you write, you are displeased that a hearing had not been
given you/ how shall we be able to pass judgment about
these men? 10 Because of their absence, we do not see them;
because of their silence we do not know what their view
of the case was. He is not a just mediator who listens to
one party in such a way that he leaves no case for the other
party. However, we give you this exhortation in regard to
everything, honorable brother: obediently heed these mat-
ters which the most blessed Pope of the City of Rome has
written, because blessed Peter who lives and presides in his
own see proffers the truth of faith to those who seek it.
7 Phil. 2.10.
8 2 Cor. 5.16.
9 Reading ut scribis, tibimet ipsi sublatam audientiam, with PL 54.742,
note j. The other reading, electum judicium (PL 54.741) , would
mean: 'If the council which was chosen displeases you.' This does
not square well with Eutyches' Letter to Pope St. Leo (PL 54.714-720) .
10 Flavian and the members of his council.
II audire has the force of dijudicare, as is clear from the Greek in
PL 54.744A.
LETTER TO EUTYCHES 287
For, in accordance with our pursuit of peace and of faith,
we cannot decide upon cases of faith without the harmonious
agreement of the Bishop of Rome.
May the Lord long deign to preserve your love unharmed,
very dear and honorable son.
SAINT VALERIAN
HOMILIES
AND
LETTER TO THE MONKS
INTRODUCTION
[ BOUT 455, DURING THE PONTIFICATE of Pope St. Leo
the Great, St. Valerian was the Bishop of Cimelium,
the present day Cimiez. During the period of the
Roman Empire, Cimelium -was long the capital of the
Province of the Maritime Alps. Today, Cimiez is a hill
within the city of Nice; then it was the important city and
Nice was but a port town a little over a mile away. Cimiez
had a Roman amphitheatre for about 6,500 spectators. Its
remains can still be seen. The city was made illustrious by
the death about 258 of the martyr Pontius in the persecu-
tion of the Emperor Valerian. Nice was a bishopric in 314;
we do not know when Cimiez became an episcopal see. Pope
Leo united the two sees, perhaps in 451. St. Hilary (Pope,
461-468) separated them, and shortly later again united
them. 1
Very little of the life of St. Valerian is known with
certainty. No clue to the date of his birth exists. It is quite
probable that in his youth he was a monk of the monastery
of Lerins 2 which supplied so many bishops to the Church
of southeast Gaul. His Letter to the Monks 3 shows a cordial
and sympathetic understanding of the monastic life which
would be natural in one who had lived it.
The name of Valerian appears 4 among the bishops of
southeast Gaul who assembled at the Councils of Riez in
1 DACL 12 ler, cols. 1170-1172, s.v. Nice-Cimiez; Catholic Encyclopedia
11 48, s.v. Nice.
2 Cf. PL 52.762.
3 Below, pp. 437-440.
4 PL 54.884 (Ep. 66) , 966, 969 (Ep. 99) , 985 (Ep. 102) .
291
292 SAINT VALERIAN
439, of Vaison in 442 under St. Hilary, Bishop of Aries,
and at Aries under St. Hilary's successor Ravennius in about
455. 5
Hence, it is clear that the milieu of those councils formed
that of Valerian's life. In the first half of the fifth century,
largely as a result of the struggles with the Arians and the
migrations of nations, the Church in Gaul was in great dis-
organization, and a strengthening of the ties between its
bishops and Rome was an obvious necessity. Aries was an
extensive papal vicariate claiming rights over numerous other
dioceses of southeast Gaul. A council of bishops assembled
at Riez in Provence in 439 to deal with disciplinary mat-
ters, and prescribed that semi-annual synods be held in the
metropolitan district, that of Aries. 6 In 442, another such
council, presided over by St. Hilary, then Bishop of Aries,
was held at Vaison, and dealt with doctrinal and disciplinary
matters. 7
Shortly after Pope Leo began his pontificate in 440, he
determined to make use of the papal vicariate of Aries in
an effort to set up a center for the Gallican episcopate in
immediate union with Rome. 8 At first, he fell into temporary
conflict with St. Hilary. Hilary had been making excessive use
of his authority over the neighboring ecclesiastical provinces,
and of metropolitan rights over the Province of Vienne. In
444, he deposed a certain Bishop Cheldonius, who hastened to
Rome, successfully pleaded his case, and was reinstated by
Pope Leo. The Pope saw fit to restrict the rights of St.
Hilary, and deprived him of authority over the Province of
Vienne. 9 After the death of St. Hilary, Valerian was among
5 G. Bardy, DTC, fasc. 144-145, col. 2521, s.v. Valerien; PL 52.760;
Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines
during the First Eight Centuries (London 1887) 4 1102.
6 Catholic Encyclopedia 11 266d.
7 Ibid. 16 78b, s.v. Vaison.
8 Ibid. 9 155d, s.v. Leo the Great, Pope.
9 Ep. 10 (PL 54.634) ; Catholic Encyclopedia 7 349.
INTRODUCTION 293
the Gallic bishops who approved the choice of Ravennius
as his successor and who signed a petition to Pope Leo
to restore all the former privileges of the See of Aries. 10
The Pope praised their zeal, but did not see fit to grant
their request. 11 On this occasion, he also sent to these bishops
a copy of his celebrated dogmatic letter on the Incarnation
against Eutyches, 12 written in 449 to Flavian of Constan-
tinople, in order to disseminate its contents among the
bishops of Gaul. 13 In 451, the bishops replied that they
received the Pope's letter as a symbol of the faith. 14 Bishop
Valerian was one of the forty-three signers of this reply,
and thus we learn of his loyal devotion to the Pope in mat-
ters of doctrine and discipline.
Duchesne thinks that the reception of this letter in 451
was the occasion when Pope Leo issued a rescript joining
the two sees of Cimiez and Nice, which had hitherto been
separate despite their proximity. 15
Valerian is one of the bishops whom Pope Leo congrat-
ulated in 452 for their orthodoxy. 16 A little later, probably
about 455, St. Valerian was one of the signers of the acts
of a council held at Aries 17 to deal with a dispute about
jurisdiction which arose between the monks of Lerins under
Abbot Faustus and the neighboring bishops.
After this council we hear no more about him. Hence,
his death is conjectured to have occurred about 460. An
entry in a monastic martyrology for the ninth day before
the Kalends of August reads: 'At Nice in Provence, the
burial of Saint Valerian, Bishop and Confessor, who as a
10 Ep. 65 (PL 54.879-883) .
11 Ep. 66 (PL 54.884-885).
12 Cf. above, pp. 283, 284.
13 Ep. 67 (PL 54.886-887) .
14 Ep. 99 (PL 54.966-970) .
15 Bardy, loc. tit.
16 Ep. 102 (PL 54.983-988) .
17 Bardy, loc. cit.
294 SAINT VALERIAN
monk of Lerins was elevated to the episcopacy, zealously
strove to fulfill the office of a good pastor, was brought
into the joy of the Lord, and deserved to hear the words:
Well done, thou good and faithful servant.' 18 The cult of
St. Valerian is an approved one, and his feast is still cele-
brated on July 23. 19
The homilies of St. Valerian of Cimiez, like those of
St. Peter Chrysologus, were delivered after the reading
of a passage (lectio) from Scripture in a liturgical service,
probably the Mass. 20 Although we can only guess the be-
ginning and end of each of these passages, even this con-
jecture greatly helps us to understand the discourse.
But, while St. Peter usually gave a running commentary
on the entire passage or a goodly portion of it, St. Valerian
generally selected one or two verses, and made them the
point of departure for a sermon on the subject they sug-
gested, as, for example, in Homily 6. Hence, if the dis-
tinction between sermons and homilies be strictly observed, 21
St. Valerian's discourses could be named sermons. Some
of his discourses, such as Homilies 15, 16, and 17, seem
to be not homilies upon a liturgical lectio, but sermons
on some subject which the occasion demanded, such as
The Excellence of Martyrdom,'
Homily 1 was long published among the works attributed
with doubt to St. Augustine. 22 The true author was
learned when Melchior Goldastus of Haiminsfeld found
this discourse on an old manuscript of the Monastery of
St. Gall, with the title Liber S. Valeriani Cemeliensis,
18 Quoted in PL 52.762.
19 The Book of the Saints, comp. Benedictine iMonks of Ramseate (Lon-
don 1947)589.
20 Cf. opening sentences of Homilies 2.1 and 6.3, below.
21 Cf. above, pp. 3, 4.
22 So printed in PL 40.1219-1222.
INTRODUCTION 295
and published it with notes in Germany in 160 1. 23 In
1612, James Sirmond, S.J., found nineteen other homilies
and a Letter to the Monks in a codex of Corby. These
works had a fluent style, a diction, and a content all so
strikingly similar to Valerian's Homily 1 that he attributed
them to Valerian also, even though the manuscript did
not bear his name. 24 No one has yet found serious fault
with this attribution, Sirmond first published the entire
set of homilies and the Letter in Paris in 1612.
The homilies give explicit treatment chiefly and almost
exclusively to matters of morals and asceticism. But mat-
ters of doctrine, like the necessity of good works as well
as faith (2) and of help or grace from God for the per-
formance of every good work (7,11), receive treatment in
passing. St. Valerian forcefully condemns drunkenness, the
source of unchastity, and avarice, the source of pride (6).
Homily 6 is an interesting early treatise on the capital sins.
He gives special praise to generosity toward the poor (7-9),
to traveling along the straight and narrow path (1,2), and
to martyrdom (15-18). His sermons reveal quite a little
wild, coarse living in the private and public life of his con-
temporaries.
Some readers will perhaps find some of his homilies
heavy, but others are light and beautiful, such as those
Dn martyrdom. Still others, such as those on parasites (10)
:>r on the termination of Lent (19), are interesting and
;ven entertaining to a modern reader. One must be dull
it heart if he listens to St. Valerian berating his contem-
poraries' follies and does not reflect that human nature is
:ver the same. He is always a sincere and forceful speaker,
md he employs imagery and example well. If his voice
3 Cf. PL 52.682C, 686-688.
4 PL 52.688,699.
296 SAINT VALERIAN
and delivery were at all good, he no doubt effectively
held the interest of his audience.
His style is correct, sometimes elegant, and in general
carefully worked out, as is shown by the fact that it can so
easily be arranged in sense lines. Thus it reveals that he
pursued the studies of the rhetoricians in his youth. The
continual recurrence of chiasma, and of balanced sentences,
arises from rhetorical training, not chance.
Shortly after Sirmond published his edition in 1612,
someone delated them as teaching that we can of our-
selves begin good actions, although we need God's grace
to bring them to fulfillment. Sirmond successfully defended
St. Valerian against this charge of Semi-Pelagianism be-
fore the members of the Holy Office in Rome, which per-
mitted continuance of their publication. However, someone
apparently renewed the charge, for in 1633 T, Raynaud,
S.J., published a lengthy refutation against a certain
Nicholas Chicon. 25 The charge was based on isolated state-
ments, especially in Homily 11, which apart from their
context can be understood in a Semi-Pelagic sense. Even
if St. Valerian's doctrine were proved to contain Semi-
Pelagianism, he would be materially rather than formally
heretical, since the condemnation of Semi-Pelagianism did
not occur until the Council of Orange in 529, about seventy
years after St. Valerian's death. But such proof is wanting.
In fact, his homilies are an arsenal of ammunition against
both Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism. Homilies 7 and
11, in particular, are abundantly full of the doctrine that
all our good works must be ascribed to God.
The charge has been renewed in modern times. In 1947,
De Labriolle stated, without footnote or discussion, that St.
25 PL 52.681-684, 686, 758-836.
INTRODUCTION 297
Valerian's homilies are 'strongly tainted with Semi-Pelagian-
ism. 526 Far nearer the truth, it seems to us, is the opinion
of G. Bardy that, in view of St. Valerian's frequent recog-
nition of our need of God's help for the performance of
good deeds, it is an excess to make too much of the isolated
statements which can be given a heretical meaning out of
their context. 27
It is a misfortune that no translation of St. Valerian's
works has hitherto been published. Sincere and elevating,
they deserve to be better known. At present, there is no
critical text. The best printings seem to be those of
Margarine de La Bigne in the Maxima Bibliotheca Patrum
(Lyons 1677) and of James Sirmond, as reprinted at Augs-
burg in 1758 The present translation is based chiefly on
the Sirmond text. The handiest text is that in Migne, PL
52.691-758.
26 P. de Labriolle, Histoire de la litteraturc latine chretienne, ed. 3e,
rev. G. Bardy (Paris 1947) 2 654.
27 DTC, fasc. 144-145, col. 2522. For further discussion, cf. Homily 11
and notes.
HOMILY 1
Discipline
(On Prov. 3.11,12)
( 1 ) Many persons opposed to sound doctrine find fault
with justice. They regard disciplinary control as haughtiness,
and attribute a just punishment to an overbearing nature.
However, there is no haughtiness unless something unjust is
ordered; and there is no overbearance except in the one who
spurns discipline. Discipline, therefore, 1 is a teacher of religion
and of true piety; she does not threaten in order to inflict
pain, or chastize in order to work injury.
In fact, when discipline is angered she corrects the habits of
men, and when she is aroused she keeps them under control,
as Solomon tells us: 'My son, do not remove yourself from
the correction 2 of the Lord, and do not faint when thou art
chastised by Him. For whom the Lord loveth, He chastiseth;
and He scourges every son whom He receives.' 3 Indeed, there
is nothing which correction fails to remedy or save. If anyone
is wise enough to accept the correction, he neither loses the
pleasantness of friendship [with his corrector], nor runs
the risk of condemnation.
1 Reading igitur, with Sirmond, not initur.
2 The Latin word is disciplina, which St. Valerian took from various
passages of Scripture. In his homilies, as in the Scriptures, the word
has various shades of meaning according to context, such as: discipline,
control, correction, training with moulds, orderly conduct, loyalty or
obedience to the law of God, conduct according to that law. Cf.
Souter, s.v.
3 Cf. Prov. 3.11,12, which probably was part of the lectio which pre-
ceded the homily.
299
300 SAINT VALERIAN
No one ought to deem disciplinary control unreasonable.
It is under control, as he clearly sees, that all the elements
in Almighty God's great plan hold together, once He has
arranged them in heaven and on earth by His creative word.
In the very beginning of His creative activity God established
nothing sooner than control. When by His wisdom He raised
up the sky, and prepared the earth, and hemmed in the seas,
and set both the circling sun and the disc-like moon in their
own places and times, He set everything under this control.
If all the elements did not lie beneath established laws,
would they not all be darksome, disarranged, and erratic?
Does the sun run its course free from control? Without
wearying, it completes its appointed journey every day, yet
every morning it comes back ready for duty again, and daily
presents itself in the eastern heavens in its readiness to il-
lumine all the corners of the earth.
So vast is the system of control that even the constellations
run their courses, with all those recurring changes of their
unwearying journey, inside the confines of periods set by
law. Consequently, the moon does not escape the losses caused
by her waning, nor does the sun's daily flame die down. Or
is it without control that the waves of the great ocean are
shut in by the low-lying beaches? Or that the water, though
frequently stirred by the winds till it overtops the shore, is
yet contained in its own basin? Clearly, nature, having no
intelligence of her own, would be throwing everything into
the greatest confusion, were not the system of control govern-
ing the world.
(2) We have mentioned these matters for a definite pur-
pose: that you may learn to keep the Gospel precepts and
obey the divine commandments. When a man sees that even
the elements observe the sacred laws of their discipline
established by God's holy will, it is quite easy for him to un-
derstand what is befitting a rational nature, made according
HOMILIES 301
to God's image. Listen to the Prophet who tells us: 'Serve ye
the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto Him with trembling.
Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and
you perish from the just way,' 4 In all lawsuits fear rightly
submits to disciplinary law. The man who in view of this
very fact knows how to guard against the threatening mis-
fortunes of dangers, or the wrath of judges, has acquired the
power of maintaining his safety.
If disciplinary law did not keep the explosive rage of men
in check through their fear of punishment, what would be
chaste before an adulterer? What would be safe before a
thief? What inaccessible to a robber? Who would not be
deeply afraid at the caves at the seaside, or the recesses of the
forest? What is there which men would not appropriate in
their rash presumption?
Clearly, unless some orderly way of living had been estab-
lished, our nature would never put a limit upon sinning.
There is nothing which gluttony would fail to urge, if control
should give way to it. There is nothing which lust would fail
to destroy, if through your love of vice your self-restraint
should leave you. There is nothing which your heart, natur-
ally covetous to get and to keep, would leave unappropriated
if discipline should cease to condemn the vice of avarice.
All vices lie prostrate beneath the fear of discipline. Why,
there is not a man on earth whose faith would have to blush
over his deeds, if he would only look to God's coming judg-
ment, and think of the account he must render there. Nor
is there any one against whom the avenging fires will flare if,
through regard for discipline, you will now meditate virtuous
deeds, and cast out of your heart those that are shameful.
In a case 5 where for the sake of discipline a thief receives
punishment to make up for the commission of the crime with
4 Ps. 2.11,12.
5 Reading Multi ibi no men cru deli tat is . . . , ubi . . . , from PL 40.1 220 A.
302 SAINT VALERIAN
which he is charged, many men hurl the charge of cruelty,
even though the sentence of the judge is in accordance with
just laws, and extends help to men not only of the present but
also of the future.
( 3 ) Who, therefore, would not with reason think that he
may as well sin freely, if no judge were prescribing disciplin-
ary measures for shameless, wicked deeds? Let us recall what
the law states: Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit
adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false
witness.' 6 These commandments are the disciplinary controls
which the Law exercises; even the severity 7 of a condemnation
in the courts of the world conforms itself to these when it
attacks base deeds and retrenches crimes. For, Scripture
adds: 'A judge is appointed as the avenger not of the good
work, but of the evil.' 8 Consequently, the Law even demands
a punishment like in kind when it states: 'Eye for eye, tooth
for tooth.' 9 But we can easily avoid that severity inflicted un-
der the Old Law, if we only think of the flames of the
judgment which is to come.
The Apostle Paul teaches that the punishments of the
civil court can be completely avoided. He states: 'If you wish,
then, not to fear the authority, do what is good.' 10 These
words should not be taken lightly. While the Apostle's teach-
ing is treating explicitly of these earthly powers, it is insinuat-
ing to our understanding the function of a heavenly court.
Surely, when he teaches that we must observe civil laws,
he is necessarily warning us to have a care for the future.
'If you wish, 3 he says, 'not to fear the authority, do what is
good.' This is tantamount to saying: 'You desire to have no
fear of a future condemnation? 3 Then, 'Decline from evil
6 Exod. 20.13-16.
7 Reading districtw, with Sirmond and LaBigne.
8 Rom. 13.3.
9 Lev. 24.20.
10 Rom. 13.3.
HOMILIES 303
and do good. 311 Here his command is expressed in a formula
which is not dealing with the laws of the world. Therefore,
we ought to take heed of the first sentence of his admonition,
and to win our victory in such a manner that we also ward
off a condemnation to death in the future life. For, there
are some men whom the temporary punishment of this
world does fail to overtake, but the insatiable pain of ever-
lasting torment pursues them forever.
So, let no one think that a man has really escaped the
charge of murder if he has gained his acquittal from some
civil court which was corrupted. Neither should anyone think
that his offence of adultery has been fully overlooked if he
got arrested, indeed, but then went free again through some
easy-going custom of pardoning. Let no one judge that the
penalties due by law to a culprit have been omitted merely
because he sees his right hand still healthy after perjury.
Dead men have their sins still clinging to them, unless before
their demise they purged them away through the intercession
of their tears before God. Hell, armed with due punishments,
awaits its prisoner.
The authority of a civil sentence pertains more to the
disorder of the present life, but not to the cleansing of the
sin. Therefore, we ought above all to ponder chiefly those
punishments in which the man lives with uninterrupted pain,
where torments never fail to afflict his body and the arms
of the torturer never weary. We can easily avoid all these af-
flictions if we hold fast to the reins of discipline, as the
Apostle reminds us: 'Dost thou wish not to fear the authority?
Do what is good, and thou wilt have praise from it. n2
(4) What man, if he is wise, will not joyfully turn his at-
tention to these benefits of discipline? Through them he can
not only escape the punishment of his sins, but also gain the
11 Ps. 36.27.
12 Rom. 13.3.
304 SAINT VALERIAN
reward of being praised. Listen to the words of the Prophet :
'Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and
you perish from the just way.' 13 In this passage, I think, the
sense pertains to those whom discipline has not yet reached.
They are still tarrying in the byways, held fast by the old
error of paganism. The very fact that they are warned to em-
brace discipline shows that they have never lived under the
Law.
Then the psalm goes on to say: 'lest at any time the Lord
be angry, and you perish from the just way.' Now, if the
Prophet deems those men guilty whom discipline has never
reached, what should we think of those whom she has aban-
doned? Discerning between the acts of these two classes of
men, the Prophet authoritatively regards the fault of never
having come to discipline as one less serious than that of
having rejected her law. Notice his words: 'He that rejecteth
instruction, despiseth his own soul.' 14 The case truly is just
what he says. For, the man who has spurned the warnings
of discipline in order to occupy himself with the Devil's
business is indeed the foe of his own soul.
(5) Some complain that discipline is composed of laws
that are quite hard. Let some men those poor wretches
whom the Devil, the author of death, is enticing to every
crime speak thus if they want to. They are those who have
an insatiable gluttony possessing their souls; they lie under
the sway of drunkeness; they have base lust holding them as
its captives, and an unbearable pride which never leaves them.
But, there are other men who are striving to keep faithful
to honorable continence, and to practice humility and piety.
They find the burden of discipline sweet, and the yoke of the
Lord light. It is not heavy for anyone except those who have
been or will be lost.
13 Ps. 2.12.
14 Prov. 15.32.
HOMILIES 305
I blush to explain why to the shame of human negligence
discipline counts so little among some men, although we
see that its governing control does prevail among the mute
animals. Why, horses with their docile spirit should teach
us how to observe the orderly arrangements of discipline. Led
in a circle, they adapt their limbs to their winding steps;
controlled by only one rein, they consent to be allowed to run
free in precisely such a way that it is under a certain control
of law that they run for a time and halt for a time. This is
how nature takes creatures diverse in number and unites them
through their obedience to discipline.
Observe, too, how the strong-bodied oxen are hitched to a
wagon. They prepare their spirits for control to such an extent
that, though naturally wild, they submit their necks to a light
yoke. This is the way in which even the beasts, born wild
as they are, submit to the controls of discipline.
Consequently, I am often astonished at the conduct of
man. He is endowed with wisdom and prudence, yet at whim
he lightly rejects the precepts of discipline. How different is
the conduct which we see in the beasts! They avoid vices,
carry out commands, submit to control, and mould their
spirits to perfect obedience. As a result, when need arises,
they run against armed legions, and charge head downward
against the javelins of the foe.
In this matter, too, listen to the Prophet: 'The ox knoweth
his owner, and the ass his master's crib, but Israel hath not
known me.' 15 I fear to speak further, lest that passage may be
upbraiding oui own negligence. For, truly, the man who is
not aware of the obligation flowing from his condition of
creaturehood simply does not know God.
(6)1 shall explain how the Lord can be found and known,
if only a man desires to see. If you desire to see God, seek
out the beggar, receive the pilgrim, visit the sick, hasten
15 Isa. 1.3.
306 SAINT VALERIAN
to the prison. If you desire to see God, break the bonds of
captivity, cut the knots of iniquity. Listen to Christ Himself
speaking on this subject: 'I was hungry and you gave me
to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was a
stranger and you took me in; naked and you covered me;
sick and you visited me; I was in prison and you came to
me. 516 So I, too, advise you: Do not despise the naked, or
withdraw the helping hand from the blind, or scorn the man
clothed in rags. In precisely such clothing was the Lord
found when the Magi first sought Him.
Since we have mentioned the discipline under which the
Christian faith flourishes, we must remind you of all the
trappings of life. This will help each one to realize that he
will gain little from the mere reputation of having been
converted to a good life if he does not, in spite of the world,
have a true love of discipline.
Therefore, if a man desires to follow Christ, let him first of
all receive the clothing of his heart no less than of his body.
Every life by which one lives out the religion he professes
ought to be adorned with a reputation for complete blameless-
ness, in order that the crown of virtue may not smite with a
damaging embarrassment him for whom it is in waiting.
May health of the body give him strength in his life, and
may an unblemished faith lend protection to this health.
In this way may this faith, through lasting benefits of body
and soul, bring this unsullied man to reign with Christ.
(7) But the proof of our conversion lies in this one fact,
that we are good men. Therefore, everyone who is striving
to pursue goodness ought also to endeavor above all to have
men regard him as good. Even if a man keeps his body pure
and unspotted, but his deeds bring; a blush to his face, he
carries a tattered life to God. I grant, of course, that con-
science alone can suffice to make our acts good. But, is it
16 Matt. 25.3536.
HOMILIES 307
not something better still for you also to have a good reputa-
tion with the man who often sulks about your door with
groundless suspicions?
Men in general are naturally prone to judge ill of good
persons. But you, who cherish good report among men,
strive hard to gain the benefit of a reputation for complete
moral righteousness.
Let our lives be exemplary enough to be known to all men.
Let our complete righteousness of life do a service to religion,
and our modesty to humility. If a man is eager to preserve
his integrity, above all let him also ward off even the report
of insinuated sin. Never to have admitted evil acts into one's
life is indeed something great, something glorious, something
for all men to shout up to the very sky. But, never even to
have been subject to false suspicions is something greater still.
For, how much will sobriety profit you, if you practice
the vices characteristic of a drunken man? Who will not
think that you yourself are drunk, if in the midst of flowing
wine cups you imitate the weavings of the dancers? Who
will think that you are chaste, if he observes you taking part
in a play about harlots, and uttering foul language or sound-
ing off smutty words in the language of actors? Indeed, I do
praise the fact that your conscience approves your chastity,
but I detest your conversation characteristic of a harlot.
(8) At this point, someone may object: 'A clear conscience
is enough for me/ True, it is enough for you as an individual,
with respect to your own personal innocence. But you ought
to take care lest someone else sin as a result of your easy-
going ways, in such a manner that his sin falls back upon
yourself. Scripture warns you about this: 'Woe to the man
through whom scandal comes.' 17 You may clothe your body
in precious silk, and cover your limbs with white fleece; even
17 Matt. 18.7.
308 SAINT VALERIAN
so, you will not pass the day unsullied if you handle the doors
of a blazing furnace.
Wherefore, may discipline be the companion of your life
in your every deed. If you are eager to please Christ, strive
that your trustworthiness may make your profession more
acceptable, and that your reputation may recommend it.
Also, may patience, the companion of humility, precede you,
and may modesty, the teacher of complete uprightness, assist
you. May greediness flee from you, and drunkenness blush at
your approach. May lust grieve over its own acts, and pride
depart in confusion. Whoever, therefore, is eager to know
God will be able to find our Christ through this orderly con-
duct which springs from discipline.
Dearly beloved, many matters still remain which this theme
of discipline has been prompting me to explain. But, as I
proceeded, I decided to postpone them, lest my sermon grow
too long and tedious. Yet, I do not want to appear to have
withdrawn anything of moment from my homily. So, on a
later occasion I shall strive to discourse on the characteristics
which religious deeds ought to have.
HOMILY 2
The Narrow Way
(On Matt. 7.13,14)
(1) Dearly Beloved: As you have just heard the Evan-
gelist 1 state, our Saviour has set up our Christian way of
1 Probably, in the lectio or passage read in the Mass before the homih
or sermon. This homily seems to have been preached about Matt.
7-13,14, or even about a longer passage from which these two verses
were selected for explanation.
HOMILIES 309
life by establishing many, even innumerable, disciplinary
precepts. In different ways has He pointed out the road
of salvation to His people who are being regenerated. He
desired nothing to remain hidden which might have a bear-
ing on a soul's salvation or its damnation. He did not want
a soul, bought for so great a price, to be deceived through
the vice of ignorance and to be subject to diabolical super-
stitions.
But, here is something that is worse. Medicine brings little
benefit to those who will soon die. Similarly, the salutary
way of salvation seems hard because the way leading to
death is easier to travel. As Scripture tells us: 'How wide
and broad is the way that leads to death, and many there
are who enter that way. How narrow and close the way that
leads to life, and few there are who find it.' 2 Perhaps some
wonder why the Evangelist calls the way of death wide
and easy to travel, since the journey through life is hard at
every step. But, who ever found the descent to a lower level
hard? A man, overcome by the load of his own baggage,
finds himself pulled down that slope by his own weight.
Many obstacles obstruct the way to salvation, desirable as
it is.
On the way death tries to work its harm especially against
those whose lives are dominated by vanity and cruelty. Other
factors, too, work together to prevent a man from coming
to eternal life: dissensions, rivalries, fights, quarrels, sacri-
leges, sins of adultery, murders 3 fraternal hatred, parricidal
counsels, and perjury armed with lies. These vices not merely
retard a man's ascent; they also cast him into the depths of
hell. When, then, can any man easily reach heaven, if such
vices retard him?
'Narrow and close is the way that leads to life.' This is
2 Matt. 7.13,14.
310 SAINT VALERIAN
that road, dearly beloved, along which the just travel, and
the holy and unstained souls progress. Along it lies the jour-
ney of those who possess humility, complete righteousness
of life, and holiness, and then follow our Christ without giv-
ing in to fatigue,
( 2 ) So we ought to select this approach as our road, and
improve it. For it is passable, even though difficult. It even
becomes easy to travel for those who resolve firmly, if only
they do not let vanity or a deceitful attraction of this world
hold them back.
The man who undertakes a journey up a steep mountain
ought to be free, and unencumbered by any baggage. As we
often see, a man who carries too big a pack staggers with
uncertain steps. Just so, a soul preoccupied with sinful pur-
suits is sure to experience many a fall. Consequently, one
trying to climb the steep heights ought to lighten his person 3
burdened with worldly desires; otherwise, the danger of
death will paralyze his effort, or despair over his labor will
grow too intense.
What man of sense will drive his pack animal bearing a
huge load along a narrow path, where the poor beast has
a towering mountain pressing it on one side and a sheer
cliff threatening it on the other? But, if his rashness has
brought him to such a place, he must either turn back or
go on. Similar is the case of the man who has entered the
way of religious living. He who desires his soul to arrive
at heavenly glory must continually prune away whatever
seems base or foul. With good reason does Christ say: 'Aban-
don your possessions and follow me. 34 Dearly beloved, those
possessions, increased through our worldly deeds, are our
3 corpus; St. Valerian often uses this word where he means person, man.
In dialects and colloquialism, the English word body is also used to
denote person, man. Also, cf. Souter, s.v. corpus,
4 Cf. Matt. 19.2L.
HOMILIES 311
misfortunes. While devoting too much attention to them,
many men have lost the goods of heaven.
(3) If, then, you wish the gate of heaven to open for
you, you must give up all your goods. If you have employed
any of them negligently or improperly to the detriment of
your spiritual life, you must devote them to penance. Only
with great difficulty will you arrive at those blessings which
the Lord has prepared for those who believe in Him, un-
less you lighten your heart of its burdening vices, and bring
all your faults of injustice within the control of religious dis-
cipline.
Fruitlessly do you fancy yourself to be keeping to the
paths of the hard journey along the rough road, if you
are impeding your soul through error. Imagine, if you will,
two men who are striving for the heights. One of them is
making his way while laden with a heavy burden; the
other proceeds with only a light staff on which he leans.
You will soon see who will reach the top with greater ease.
Look first at him who is heavily laden. You will observe
that where he is climbing his steps often slip suddenly back-
wards, and that his knees are so bent that you might think
he is returning. At one moment he seems to be coming down;
at another, to be falling. Minute by minute he is so swayed
by the whole weight of his body from side to side on his
winding path that the very need of his keeping himself in
motion seems to arise more from despair than from desire
to climb.
Now look at him who carries no load on his back. You
observe how freely he proceeds, how easy it is for him to
maneuver even those rocky heights where plants cannot grow,
and to cling upon cliffs where the footing is insecure. At
one moment by his easy mounting he is on top of a ridge;
312 SAINT VALERIAN
at another he moves with eager spirit through the ravines. 5
Consequently, he shows that even rugged spots are not
blocked for unencumbered men, 6 and that journeys, even
though very steep, are not too difficult for anybody, if
only he will unburden his mind of excessive loads.
The case is similar, dearly beloved, with those whom sin-
ful habits burden, and those who have shaken off their old
faults and have their tears of repentance to commend them.
The man who desires to reach the judgment free from
anxiety must cast off everything burdensome. He who wants
to possess heaven must despise the goods of the earth.
(4) Truly, dearly beloved, in order more easily to sur-
mount the difficulties of that steep road, we must display
the zeal which springs from sincerity of purpose. If an un-
fortunate conversation has served to stir up quarrels, or a
tongue full of poison for the injury of another has brought
reproach on one's household, these vices should be repressed.
It is impossible to estimate how much the vices which spring
from uncontrolled language check one's progress on the road
to life. While such language wags its tongue with too much
talking, it excites against itself all the enmity which springs
from idle gossip. Our Lord mentions that an account will
have to be given for idle conversations. 7 If one cannot carry
even light faults to the judgment without danger to his soul,
consider what will happen to him who has cause for serious
blame standing against him.
'Narrow and close is the way that leads to life,' Therefore,
if anyone is wise, let him rid himself right away of the
encumbrances of this world, and let him make his journey
easier by leading a disciplined life. Let him remove by re-
pentance whatever blemishes he has incurred through negli-
5 Reading demersa, not diversa.
6 corponbus,
7 Matt. 12.36.
HOMILIES 313
gence. If worldly glory has put any burdens on his back,
let him not think them worth carrying with him. For, such
burdens are by nature heavy, and they grow heavier still
through the difficulty of the journey.
Perhaps in this world the exigencies of this narrow and
hard way beget despair in some rather delicate souls. Rea-
son holds this, and truly, too: an inexperienced soul feels
intense fear before dire hardships. But what are we to do,
since no gate to virtue opens up before delicate soldiers?
What fruit would your effort be producing if you were but
running over a level course? Or, when would you have satis-
faction over your arrival at an appointed place, if you
were reaching it without any hurt to your body? What lover
of ease ever set up a trophy of victory? Or, who ever gained
a victory by sleeping while the enemy's legions were sur-
rounding him on every side?
A crown for virtues which has not been gained through
effort merits little praise. The man who gets a crown like
this does indeed get his palm, but he does not have glory.
When did an ease-loving farmer fill his barns? Who ever
gathered in his harvest in the proper season if he did not
first prepare the hard earth by many a furrow? The account
taken of great virtues 8 is this: the more a man works, the
greater reward does he get.
(5) Now let us turn our attention to the nature of that
way of death which the Evangelist calls wide and broad
and full of traffic. Innumerable deaths occur on it, yet new
lawbreakers are ever turning into it. It is just the kind of
road which soon attracts men likely to die. It seems to be
so easy to travel to those who have cast off all regard for
disciplinary law. But, if we compare this route to that hum-
ble and narrow one, we see that nothing brings more danger
8 Reading magnarum, with Sirmond.
314 SAINT VALERIAN
to a traveler than these wide roads, because, where horses
are given free rein, they run without control. Thus it comes
about that the gate of death receives many men, for a man
arrives more easily when he travels without any check.
Hear the Lord's words: 'Take up your cross and follow
me.' 9 Clearly, a man does not fear the easy approach to that
hard road. Why should the difficulty disturb him when an-
other is extending him a helping hand? Anyone who is guided
through difficulties at the side of another praises the neces-
sity which made him undertake the trip because that com-
panion shares its labors. That is why anyone who hastens
to the heights in company with the Lord can without any
doubt arrive at the promised rewards of his kingdom.
But first, as we mentioned before, dearly beloved, we
must cast off whatever burden the unfortunate error of worldi-
ness has placed on our human bodies. Otherwise, this error,
by casting a burden of sins in our way, will not let us arrive
at those days of remuneration. Or, if we do arrive, it will
not let us enter the heavenly gates.
(6) But, you object: 'We simply cannot arrive. This is
urged by certain tests. For we see that often many men as
any door could witness depart without having greeted the
master of the house.' They have been rendered odious by
their wickedness, or malice, or faithlessness, or lust, or pride.
Let everyone of you contemplate that sin of diabolical pre-
sumption. Then you will understand how much pride bur-
dens a man who wishes to scale the heights, or in what
condition that man finds himself who lets a spirit of pride
9 Matt. 16J24.
HOMILIES 315
rule his life. Pay heed to the Lord's words: God gives grace
to the humble, but resists the proud.' 10
The vice of avarice is hardly less a hindrance to those
who must undertake this climb. While it allures the rich
man to take too much pleasure in his excessive store of
money, it excludes him from the kingdom of heaven. As the
Lord says: 'Amen I say to you that it is with difficulty that
a rich man will enter into the kingdom of heaven.' 11 Drunken-
ness, too, accessory to so many sins of lust, imposes a heavy
burden on human bodies. While it makes acts of impurity
easy, it excludes the unhappy man from his share in the
heavenly kingdom.
Another vice which blocks the sequestered regions of the
narrow way is cruelty accompanied by impiety. While it
has remained faithful to the bloody laws of Mars, 12 it has
closed the way to heavenly glory. The Apostle has stated:
'Neither thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor the
evil tongued, nor the greedy will possess the kingdom of
God.' 13
Therefore, we must struggle against these vices we have
mentioned in order to arrive at the abode of life. On our
journey we must especially practice piety, mercy, humility,
complete righteousness of life, purity, sobriety, peace, faith,
and charity. You will not arrive at the place of the promised
inheritance, unless in your pursuit of life you first strip your
body of the vices which burden it.
10 Cf. James 4.6.
11 Matt. 19.23.
12 Following the reading Martis institit.
IB 1 Cor. 6.10.
316 SAINT VALERIAN
HOMILY 3
The Narrow Way 1
(On Matt. 7.13,14)
(1) Every man who is concerned to see God and attain
to the heavenly kingdom can easily understand two facts:
the requirements of the hard and narrow way have a bear-
ing on the sum total of our life; and the hope of our get-
ting the glory of heaven lies in our effort. There is nothing
which effort does not overcome, if only we do not let our
courage decay to its opposite, as it all too easily does. It is
abundantly clear that innumerable difficulties occur to the
man who finds his delight in the errors of that broad way.
Listen to the Evangelist's words: 'How wide and broad is
the way that leads to destruction, and many there are who
enter that way. How narrow and close is the way that leads
to life, and few there are who find it.'
I have no doubt that some who are taking part in the
warfare which wins heaven experience a feeling of despair.
It arises from this, that the very entrance to the laborious
journey of the celestial warfare is distressingly narrow. True,
indeed, dearly beloved, for those who tend toward the
heights, that journey is not merely laborious, but also diffi-
cult and more toilsome. On the other hand, those who
are unwilling and lazy, and those who are busy but negligent 2
they also certainly find that their need of effort grows
greater even when they travel through level regions. Lofty
destinations are indeed vexatiously hard to attain, but, with-
The true subject is: The Contrast between Willing and Reluctant
Service to God.
' I.e., negligent of what is truly worth while.
HOMILIES 317
out doubt, travelers who refuse to despair do at length reach
an open field.
Therefore, dearly beloved, willing service is necessary for
every task in which human activity must be vigorously em-
ployed. If a man's inclinations deceive him in matters of the
greatest necessity, there is no way to estimate how great their
difficulty grows. If despair gains sway over him, he will never
make even a good beginning of his journey up the difficult
mountain. When can a man's body grow accustomed to toil
unless his willingness goes along with the toiler? Look about
you and see how quickly the man who mounts a horse in
fear jumps off again to the ground, or what anguish that
man suffers who is reluctantly putting out to sea in order
to cross it.
( 2 ) The religion named Christian, to which we have been
called, has undertaken service which springs from a free
will. If anyone takes up this pattern of life unwillingly, he
adds a burden upon a burden, and upon his body just
stripped of an ancient law he places the load of a life which
brings despair. That is why the gate of death receives many
men, for the difficulty of living always looms big to those
soon to die. Consequently, if a man is coming to the way
of freedom, he must prune away any remnant of infidelity
that may be in him and store up heavenly merit by giving
a willing service to God. Otherwise, the man who is obli-
gated to God for such great benefits may find himself un-
grateful even in regard to small duties. The negligent and
inexperienced will perhaps judge the service due to God
burdensome because there can never be a period of vacation
from this service. God has not merely called every man
to freedom; He has also given him the highest dignity of
His creatures. But the man who gives a reluctant service
brings a state of slavery upon himself. For, if you should make
3 1 8 SAINT VALERIAN
your service a willing one, you would find yourself to be not
God's sen-ant, but His son. That is what the Prophet tells us
by the Lord's own words: 'I will be a Father to you, and you
shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty. 33
(3) Dearly beloved, the service which men in our condi-
tion ought to give is such as this. We should always praise
God our Lord in His works, and with unfailing voice exalt
Him in the splendor of his majesty. What else than this
does He, in the power of His invisible, incomprehensible, and
inconceivable glory, want from men? Or, in what is bodily
service needful to Him who receives homage from the choir
of the angels?
That, indeed, is an intolerable slavery which is inflicted
on us by the haughty domination of the tyrant, that is, the
Devil; it is an injury of captivity unjustly inflicted. But, to
offer willing service to a superior person is not slavery;
it is deferential respect.
Listen to the Prophet's voice : 'I will freely sacrifice thee, O
Lord.' 4 Learn how different an inflicted servitude is from a
voluntary one. A man who finds his own negligence accus-
ing himself of suffering self-inflicted servitude can never pass
a day without regret. A man who obeys his Lord because
of some solemn promise and thus reluctantly gains grace
he has stored up an injury for himself, since the Prophet
says: 'Cursed be he that doth the works of the Lord negli-
gently.' 5 If each of you reflects upon the wonderful gift
of the acquired liberty which our Christ has granted to
His faithful people through the regeneration of the life-giving
bath, and through the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, he
understands that God should not be served languidly. Even
3 2 Cor. 6.18; cf. also. Jer. 31.9.
4 Ps. 53.8.
5 Jer. 48.10.
HOMILIES 3 1 9
though we daily give God whatever honor or gift we can,
we never pay Him all we owe.
For, when can a man pay all he owes, who so evidently
has been redeemed by that free gift of the pain which
another, as his representative, suffered in his place? unless,
perhaps, for the love of his Redeemer he receives a similar
sentence of death or condemnation? Only some souls, the
very brave, can do this. But, let us at least do the one thing
we can daily offer to our Christ sacrificial gifts of esteem.
Thus, if the merits accruing from their virtues may com-
mend others, at least those acts of devotion which spring
from our willing service will prepare a place of favor for us.
(4) Above all, then, let us free our hearts from contact
with evil, that we may be better able to nourish the fruits
of justice. For, he who wishes to show full compliance with
the commandments of heaven ought to renounce worldly
deeds completely. Just as truly as a man never gives a good
service if he gives it unwillingly, so neither does a man con-
cerned with other things take really good care of the goods
entrusted to him.
'I will freely sacrifice to thee.' Not without reason did
the Prophet use this phrase to commend himself to God.
He was aware that many give their service by compulsion,
with reluctance in their hearts; and that they promise one
thing with their mouths, but arrange something else in the
depths of their hearts.
'I will freely sacrifice to thee.' Gifts, though small in
themselves, become great from the giver's desire to please.
But, those wrenched out by compulsion often consume their
giver. Thus, a man who has unwillingly prepared a banquet
is continually complaining about its cost.
'I will freely sacrifice to thee/ that is, by means of a gift
willingly offered. That you may joyfully offer to your Crea-
320 SAINT VALERIAN
tor, every day, little presents from your tongue, arrange the
gift of that praise of Him in sweet-sounding words. Hasten,
too, in a spirit of devotion to carry through the service
deputed to you. Heed the Prophet's words. The free offer-
ings of my mouth, make acceptable, O Lord/ 6
(5) Therefore, when we assemble here in the church,
dearly beloved, above all may faith, fortified by the help of
truth, possess the inmost recesses of our hearts. For, God
loves a man who is pure, unstained, not prone to lie or
given to perjury, not dissembling, not wavering. Here are
the indications of perfect lightness: 7 the love of sanctity,
or devotion to discipline. This is the presenting of an un-
spotted victim in one's sacrifices: faithfully to have served
the Lord with one's whole soul
Furthermore, this is a characteristic of our service, that
you should always remember the benefits bestowed by our
Christ, and that you should attribute to the Author of your
Christian liberty whatever progress you make in the prac-
tice of your religious faith.
May you, in the midst of your activities, observe the
precepts of justice, and serve the one God while honoring
the Trinity. May you believe in one faith, one baptism,
and may you praise the one refulgent nature of the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. May you believe that no one of these
Persons excels the others or rules by a will divergent from
Theirs, but rather that the Father, and the Son, and the
Holy Spirit are the possessors of one power, one strength.
In this way will you, as one destined to live forever, over-
come the difficulties of the hard and narrow way. And if
you make your way through these stages of disciplinary train-
ing, and arrange the periods of your life according to this
6 Ps. 118.108.
7 I.e., that we may ascend to God.
HOMILIES 321
pattern of living, you will without any doubt receive in
heaven those rewards which have been promised for right-
eous efforts.
HOMILY 4
Unkept Vows
(On Ps. 60.9)
( 1 ) Dearly beloved, if a man under obligation for bene-
fits received were faithful to his promise, and if by satisfac-
tory arrangements he showed fidelity to his proclaimed zeal
to keep his pledge, never again would anyone feel embarrass-
ment through the disagreeable claiming of a debt. And if the
execution soon followed the desire to fulfill a promised obli-
gation, no one would have occasion to call another to task.
But, sometimes, the wounded loyalty of friendship does
lie prostrate and panting. This comes about because a man
sometimes has to complain about delay in repayment, or
reprobate his debtor's infidelity. A promised repayment left
unfulfilled is a declaration of enmity. It is obviously a quar-
relsome matter if one party pays back with reluctance, or
the other presses his demand when exasperated by delay.
You have heard the Prophet's words: 'So will I sing a
song to thy name, O God, for ever and ever: that I may
pay my vows from day to day, 5 Dearly beloved, the benefits
of friendship gain something infinite if a debtor anticipates
his creditor by repayment before the date it comes due.
Whoever spontaneously repays borrowed money stores it up
for himself. For, if he quickly complies with the money-
lender's request, in time of need he will get his own plea
for anything.
322 SAINT VALERIAN
But the man proved unfaithful finds the loaner's door
ever shut. Let him knock and beg as often as he pleases; he
goes away sad and empty-handed amid reproaches. If there-
fore, someone stirs up hatred against himself by lying to a
man, how much more does he do this if he acts deceitfully
to God, and tries to fool the Lord of heavenly majesty by
his smooth promise?
(2) We have proposed these considerations, dearly be-
loved, because, with dangers pressing, some men are prone
to make vows in such a way that, when the appointed time
comes, they forget they have promised anything to the Lord.
This one offers his own self 1 as a victim. That one promises
tears of repentance, over and over again. Another is bound by
a vow through his love of the churches; still another, by one
in honor of the saints. But, it is just as easy to refuse to keep
those vows as to make them for those whose intention to ful-
fill them lasts just as long as their headache. Thus, such a per-
son gradually grows accustomed to take them back after he
has begun to lose his fear of death.
And then we wonder why God is sometimes so slow
to heed our welling tears, and does not hear the words which
spring from our just pains! We wonder why the anxious
fanner's care to till his fields does not turn out more for-
tunate than usual, why multiplied heads of grain do not
spring from the fertile sod, why the swollen olives do not
bring in their precious gains, why the bountiful harvest
of the vineyard yields but little in the full presses !
Let no one blame the earth for this, or the inclemency
of the weather; a withered hand does not gather anything,
or if it does, it soon loses it. The barns of a shiftless farmer
are always empty and idle. From similar reason [of negli-
gence], too, arises the fact that sometimes the art of medi-
I Corpons sui: literally, the victim of his body. Cf. Homily 2 n. 3.
HOMILIES 323
cine does not find the patients it is to heal. It is hard for a
physician to manipulate his hand with full fidelity, if the
empty promise of the sick man has often left him defrauded
of his fee.
(3) See, this man sighs aloud because his son is sick. With
his prayers he raps at the doors of the saints day and night.
This woman grieving over her husband's illness, or that
husband over his wife's, beats a breast resounding to its
depths. By her tearful prayers she begs the aid of heavenly
pity, and offers herself and her gift to God. But, when
the prayers have been granted, we sometimes see that all
those promises are suddenly forgotten. One would think that
these wretched persons drank a cup of oblivion rather than
one of salvation.
Obviously, a happy outcome does not always follow such
deceitful vows. When does he who does not pay what he owes
receive a beneficial gift? He who by empty words has often
mocked the patience of his judge must at some time pay
the penalty of his faithlessness. That is why man's prayers
fade out upon God's unheeding ears, and tears fail to obtain
their request. Those who allure God by promises often vain
can scarcely hope to be heard.
(4) Happy are those who have the faithful fulfillment of an
agreement as a trait of character, and no tendency to lie.
It is clearly better not to promise than to withhold what
was pledged. By not promising a man may be branded as
stingy, but he is not burdened with the sin of guileful
circumvention.
Consult the Acts of the Apostles. You will find that to
destroy credence in one's promises conduces to the loss of
one's life. For, we read how Ananias and his wife Sapphira,
after selling their estate, brought to the Apostles a part of
the price for distribution, and kept a part hidden at home.
324 SAINT VALERIAN
St. Peter said to them: 'Ananias, wickedness has filled thy
heart, that thou shouldst lie to the Holy Spirit, while the estate
was in thy control. Thou hast not lied to men, but to God. 52
Thus, while they were carrying on this deceit, they bought
death. While indulging their covetousness, they lost eternal
gifts.
See how the Prophet says: 'I will pay my vows to the
Lord, in the courts of the house of the Lord. 33 He who has
clearly promised something to the Lord is bound beyond any
doubt by a legitimate agreement of debt. He who states that
he is going to restore is by that very fact acknowledging a
debt. For, your estate is in your possession just so long as
it has not been mortgaged to someone else by the effect of a
signed deed. Thus, in every agreement, whether friendship
prompted it or intention settled it, repayment should not
be delayed.
The charm of a preferred gift is lost when the receiver
must ask for it over and over again. The man who must
reluctantly give what he promised really offered nothing
by his promises. We read in the Book of Solomon: e lf thou
hast made a vow to thy Lord, thou shalt not delay to pay
it: because thy Lord, seeking, will require it from you. And
the words which go through thy lips shall be imputed to thee
for a sin, unless thou payest thy vow.' 4
(5) Therefore, dearly beloved, I warn anyone who knows
he has vowed a gift to the Lord to fulfill it promptly. If
anyone is not certainly able to pay a vow, let him not make
it. We are not now exaggerating faults of stinginess, as some
may think. Rather, we are talking about fidelity to promises,
which we see endangered in some men through the plague
of their faithlessness.
2 Acts 5.3,4.
3 Ps. 115.18.
4 Deut. 23.21-23.
HOMILIES 325
There are many and this is something worse who have
held back the price of their freedom. They have brought
to the Lord only part of the price, that is, a half-hearted
loyalty of religious observance. Listen to the Prophet: c Vow
ye, and pay your presents to your God.' 5 'Vow ye' : by these
words he counsels conversion. Tay ye': he asks again from
them the debt of the holiness they promised.
However, little of religion belongs to the man who, as
you see, makes the world his pursuit, and takes more interest
in this life than in eternal glory. Then do you prove that
you have not fraudulently held back from the Lord any
part of your offering, when you cultivate justice in any of
its various aspects, cherish integrity, and exemplify the holi-
ness you have promised. But, the man who knows he has
lied to the Lord ought to fear the fate of Ananias or his
wife.
'Vow ye, and pay your presents to the Lord.' In this pas-
sage the Prophet is not tediously treating the subject of
generosity, just because he is admonishing us with words
suitable for that. Are we, indeed, to be content with un-
profitable interpreters who want that sentence to indicate
the attitude of one making a demand? Does God ask any-
thing of you because He lacks it? He owns everything; what,
then, does He lack?
Because you promise gold in your tribulations, or silver
in your sorrows, does God need it for His use? Or does
anyone offer precious stones or garments because God has
want of them? He seeks gifts from you that you yourself
may gleam because of your gold, be resplendent because of
your silver, adorned because of your gems, clothed because of
your silk. The Lord wants your gifts to result in the order-
ing of your own soul, which He sees spoiled by the vice of
5 Ps. 75.12.
326 SAINT VALERIAN
pride, or wickedness, or avarice, or luxury. 'Vow ye, and
pay your presents to the Lord.'
(6) But, perhaps you say: 'God does not need our gifts.'
True, He does not need them. But He does require fruit
which, because of His redeeming your soul, He ascribes to
your acts of mercy. It is right that you bring your body
before the altars as a victim uncorrupted and unspoiled,
and those services of the voice which we owe to our Maker.
But beyond that, this, too, is a sacrifice acceptable to the
Lord your pursuit of goodness and mercy, your cherishing
the aspects of justice, your haste to please the Lord always
with unblemished faith, your willingly clothing the naked,
and feeding the needy, and redeeming the captives, your
freeing the imprisoned while mindful of your own redemption.
To all this, perhaps, you reply: 'What shall I do for the
poor man, and what am I to leave to my son? 3 Hear your
answer from the Lord : 'He who loves son or daughter more
than Me is not worthy of Me.' 5 You see, therefore, that
nothing is to be preferred to God. Not even a son should be
esteemed more than He. You ask: 'What am I to leave to
my son?' Suppose that you have one son, and in your con-
sternation your wife presents you with another. Does not
your fatherly love commend each of them to you in one
equal degree of inheritance? To make room for the new
arrival, do you not pare down the stipulations of your will?
We often see that in this way, once the number of heirs
has increased, an inheritance apparently about to fall to
one suffices for many.
Therefore, if someone has only one heir, let him imagine
that Christ has been born to him; and let him so divide
his wealth among two or three or more that our Christ
does not go away disinherited. If, however, you are very
6 Matt. 10.37.
HOMILIES 327
fortunate in the number of your sons, here is my advice.
Admit your Redeemer to a share in your estate. So arrange
the division of it that you imagine you have one less son,
or that you congratulate yourself for acquiring another, and
thus make room for Christ among your dear sons. Why
should not those get on earth one allotment of the estate,
who in heaven will get the same portion of the promised
inheritance?
But, if anyone has deprived the needy and unfortunate
of the necessities of life, he has denied an added share to
the first-born and best among them all. Listen here to the
words of Scripture : He that hath mercy on the poor, lendeth
to the Lord/ 7
(7) There are many who think the need of the unfor-
tunate something to be mocked. Consequently, they deceive
them by daily promises. This holds true of those vows
which we mentioned above, those which become forgotten.
What gratification is there in putting off a wretched man
if abundant resources are at hand? When you see a man
able to do an act of kindness, and putting it off with pro-
crastinated urbanity, you know that only one thing has
been lacking there, the good will to act. In regard to this,
hear the Psalmist: 'So will I sing a psalm to thy name
for ever and ever: that I may pay my vows from day to
day. 58 Did he say from year to year? No, he said from day
to day. Therefore, we must labor every day, dearly beloved.
A debt to God and a promised gift should not be deferred.
He who has paid his vows daily will owe nothing to his
future Judge. Likewise, one who has been enriched by just
labor and has offered the fruit of his good works to the
Lord from day to day has no reason to put off the reckon-
7 Prov. 19.17.
8 Ps. 60.9.
328 SAINT VALERIAN
ing up of his own account. See how Scripture states: 'What-
ever you did to one of these least ones, you did it to me.* 9
Therefore, whether someone has done good or evil, let
him be aware that it has a relationship to the majesty of
the Lord. Retribution for one or the other is sure to come.
Consequently, we should devote ourselves to mercy and alms-
giving, for this purpose, that, when the Lord of heaven and
earth will come, He may not point out among other defects
of our soul the nakedness of the poor, or obtrude upon
our gaze the misfortunes of the wretched. Consequently, too,
let no one despise the poorly clad, or berate the beggar
with harsh words. Among all other offerings, this is a sacrifi-
cial gift pleasing to God, this is an array of salutary sacrifices,
that you help the wretched in their need; and that, to avoid
being branded with infidelity, when you come into possession
of what you prayed for, you carry through the fulfillment
of your promise.
HOMILY 5
Insolence of the Tongue
(On Eccli. 28.13-30)
( 1 ) Dearly beloved, among all the vices which harass
the life of man on earth, the Prophet bestows special casti-
gation on insolence of the tongue. It is not unprofitable for
him to do this. He was necessarily aware that sometimes
poisons are concocted by the bitter zeal of the mouth, and
hatreds stirred up by the excessive facility of the lips.
Truly indeed, dearly beloved, this is the case. For, a
tongue naturally loquacious brings mortals no small diffi-
9 Matt. 25.40 (Douay-Rheims) .
HOMILIES 329
culty in living; for example, when it scatters things once
well arranged, or casts confusion into agreements reached
long ago.
When does a quarrel arise, if the tongue holds itself in
check? Or, what place is there for enmity there, where
poisonous words cease? For, this is always the business of
a malicious tongue: to sow quarrels, stir up hatreds, bring
about deaths. That is what Solomon states in this passage:
The tongue has disquieted many who were at peace; it
has destroyed cities and overthrown houses.* 1
Those who deem nothing stronger than the sword, nothing
more violent than poison, are clearly in error. Although
those weapons have a peculiar natural effectiveness in pro-
ducing deaths, they yet yield place in a strife of words.
For, there is nothing harmful' or malicious whose powers
are not less effective if a tongue has been once stirred up
and has moved itself into action. The vices of the human
being are many, and grave enough, too. But they can
accomplish little by their promptings and drives if they
are not armed by others' crimes. Cruelty is an example. It
does service to wickedness, and with its bloody law of death
it guards the gates of hell. Or, what could lying do, if
covetousness were idle in sleep? That result itself, death,
would occur less often if either the sword would fail or
poisons cease.
(2) The tongue is a unique evil. It has welling up in itself
so much power to work malice that it needs no help in
accomplishing its effects. We must check it, therefore, as
the Prophet warns, lest, perhaps, when it has sprung into
action, it may wound in its excitement or strike for being
goaded. For, it does not ordinarily get away with impunity
after vaunting itself in insolent language. Once stirred up
1 Eccli. 28.16,17.
330 SAINT VALERIAN
it vomits fire. And while it seeks to harm another, it en-
kindles internally the whole heart conscious of evil. Hear
the Prophet's words: 'In the multitude of words you will
not escape sin. 52
Rather easily, if it is necessary, can anyone stand up against
battle lines armed with steel, and legions equipped with
the engines of war. But, who can withstand the shafts
which lips imbed in his heart? Without doubt, bodies
wounded by the sword get back health quite easily. Else,
why should anyone attribute such heavy cruelty to the death
of those slain by the sword, since the dangers are sometimes
less where greater hatreds spring from the blood? But, what-
ever shock from outside gets shut up within a man, the cure
of that always entails greater difficulty.
It is obviously not hard for a doctor, through the whole-
some use of herbs, to cauterize and soothe even swelling
sores in the eyes. There is an antidote even for poison with
all its power. Even if that which has been drunk is win-
ning out in the depths of the stomach, the drink from the
saving cup is sought with such success that often the per-
petrator of the crimes is amazed because through the pene-
tration of the medicine the curse from his mouth has
achieved nothing.
But the blow inflicted by the tongue is incurable. The
tongue strikes lightly, but it always stirs up deep sighs in
the chest through the sorrow it causes. The Prophet no
doubt knew how great was the evil of the tongue when he
cried out: 'Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and
a door about my lips, that my heart may not turn to evil
words,' 3 Therefore, if anyone is wise, let him set a guard
2 Prov. 10.19.
3 Ps. 140.3.4.
HOMILIES 331
before his mouth, and let him put the bond of taciturnity
upon his lips.
(3) The disagreeable consequences arising from too ready
a tongue affect the activities of not one man alone. The
first party should indeed take care not to utter anything
injurious. The other party ought to take no less trouble
to check the words of a frenzied man by a reasonable reply
of his own.
Your zeal to preserve peace is great if you meet the bitter-
ness of another's tongue with a soft and soothing reply.
Friendly address soon embarrasses men of evil lips. But
and this is something worse it is easier to find someone
all too willing to speak evil or listen to it. Nothing is more
cruel or savage than bitter and sharp conversations. The
wounds they inflict are as difficult to cure as they are easy
to cause. By a thrust of your shield you easily ward off the
pointed shafts of steel flying through the air. But the pierc-
ing points of words cannot be recalled, or warded off, for
they are much swifter than arrows. What fortifications or
what bulwark, however well built, can be helpful in a case
where the weapon strikes almost before it is in full motion?
We cannot enumerate all the weapons with which the tongue
is armed in its words. These words can quite easily strike
even the secret recesses of the soul. When the ears take
in any injury, they transmit it instantly to the depths of
the heart, and, if it has once entered there, it does not come
out unless by the exit of death. An ailment which, although
discovered, is not cast out by any of the beneficial effects
of medicine causes continual distress. Wherefore, the speech
from the tongue should be cleansed, lest it generate a poison
through its facility in words.
(4) Dearly beloved, if we glance at all those pains which
332 SAINT VALERIAN
master our bodies, we find them all either curable by the
surgeon's knife or tractable to the healing concoction of
medicine. Everyone knows how serious are the bites of
wolves and how dangerous the poison of serpents. Yet, the
juice of herbs or the physicians' skill can easily provide an
antidote for these.
But a wound arising from words is unbearable. With diffi-
culty, morevore, can another wound heal a source of pain,
once that source of pain has imbedded itself in the heart
and secretly pervaded the marrow of the soul. Hear the
Prophet uttering: 'Death and life are in the power of the
tongue. 54 Truly, dearly beloved, if you look deeply, and dili-
gently investigate the swelling tumor of an exasperated heart,
you will discover that the wounds produced by words cause
deaths.
In making a comparison with a malicious tongue, why
will anyone hold up to me the concocting of poison? Or
why will he cast his accusation on the deadly compounds
in the cups? That condition which can be checked only by
death exceeds every kind of poison. All malice, indeed,
springs from the heart. But, this very malice, even though
harmful, can easily be borne if the matter fostered by an
evil plan is not carried into open strife. However, either let
it keep silence in its grief, or be pondered in the heart until
it subsides. A remedy can be applied to a state of evil brood-
ing as long as a sealed mouth holds in the grudges conceived
in the heart. But, once it has burst forth from a vibrant
tongue, a physician is sought in vain. The sin of words is
one without a remedy, because whatever tears injury has
stirred up by working its way through the ears cannot be
stopped. Hear the Lord's words: 'Make doors and bars to
thy mouth, and make a balance to thy words.' 5
4 Prov. 18.21.
5 Cf. Eccli. 2838,29. St. Valerian would have been dearer if he had
quoted the full text.
HOMILIES 333
(5) Perhaps you reply to all this: 'Who can check the
lips of his mouth to such an extent as to pass the day in
silence? Does not this doctrine put a bridle of taciturnity
upon an upright tongue? 9
This doctrine would clearly have the man speak, but
speak as one who utters noble ideas and devises peaceful
measures. Words gain a growing honor if no bitterness of
mind worsens the pleasant sounds of the tongue.
We have made these remarks, dearly beloved, because
we find many who occasionally mix poison with sweet words
in one and the same conversation, and enter into conflicts
by feigned persuasions to peace. What can be more unfor-
tunate or dangerous than the case of those men who with
all the ardor of their deceitful tongues plot against some-
one's life? Why do they fail to consider the Prophet's psalm
which states: 'May the Lord destroy sinful lips.' 6 Do you
perceive under what a curse he lives who is contriving one
plan in his heart and placing another on his tongue? Well,
indeed, did the Lord of heaven and earth know that evil
men thwart the endeavors of the saints by pretended humil-
ity. He states through the Evangelist's mouth: 'They come
to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening
wolves.' 7 Assuredly, it is a tangled evil to mix guileful plans
into flatteries. I do not want any gifts amid suspected urban-
ity. But, who would willingly have sour chitterlings, seasoned
with the savor of bitter herbs? Surely, then, he who gives
simultaneously a sweet and a salty drink of water can
scarcely please anyone. When does the flavor fail to dis-
please if some bitterness gets mixed into the comb of honey?
Once the bitterness of gall has infected a man's heart, his
very mind, no matter how alert and wise it be, is lacking
in complete prudence. Consequently, all the vices of a
6 Ps. 11.4.
7 Matt. 7.15.
334 SAINT VALERIAN
crafty mind should be checked. Otherwise, while those vices
begin to work something bitter outside, the sweet character-
istics in our own selves may begin to cause pain.
(6) Hear the Prophet's voice: 'Set a watch, O Lord,
before my mouth. 38 This is a profitable guard for our mouth:
not to let our heart easily turn its attention to any words
which base conversation proffers to disturb the pursuits of
peace, or which the base acts of some person bring him to
utter. No one has regretted keeping silent amid confused
utterances. For, as we see, the acts which spring from words
often result in crime, and through excessive readiness in aver-
sions hatreds supplant friendships. If a man is either boast-
ful or malevolent in his speech, how can he fail to be disliked?
If you want to see an example of this vice, it is abundantly
present in some women. Just as they do not hestitate to use
foul words, neither do they feel any confusion in listening
to what is shameful
However, we are not mentioning all this to bring anyone
to keep his voice always confined inside a closed mouth, and
have perpetual silence shut the sound of his tongue behind
his contracted lips. Just as it is unpleasant to have the wicked
talk too much, so it is harmful to have the good always
keep silence. Therefore, when need arises, let us speak out
the words of justice. Let ours be a speech well flavored.
(7) But, perhaps you say: 'Sometimes a provoked man
cannot refrain from making a reply.'
One should keep completely silent when foul speech is
goading his quiet lips into action; and one should speak
out when friendly words are promoting the pursuits of peace.
Thus, to speak and to keep silent, each is a perfection. The
case of each consists in holding to the proper measure of
words. Silence is great, and speech is great; but the part
8 Ps. 140.3.
HOMILIES 335
of a wise man is to have control over both. For, excessive
silence sometimes is attributed to lack of intelligence, just
as an excess of words is often ascribed to madness.
If you care to hear the opinion I have formed on this
matter, it is this. I prefer a man to be esteemed dull because
of his silence rather than insane because of his loquacity.
Therefore, let us speak, but with fear and trembling, aware
that we must render an account for every word. 9 Thus we
shall take care to have nothing base spring from our hearts,
nothing blasphemous fly from our lips, nothing harmful
harbored in our thought. The Prophet condemns not only
what offends the ears, but also the attitude which some
men cherish in their minds. 'With deceitful lips, and with
a double heart they have spoken evil things. 310
Deliberations, too, then, should be listed among the faults
of an insolent tongue. Whatever you speak in your heart
you are confessing to the Lord, because God is the Searcher
of hearts. Since you cannot hide even your thought from
Him, can that which you shout aloud remain hidden from
Him or excused? Reffect on this.
In all zeal, therefore, dearly beloved, let us keep our
mouths controlled by a proper bar. May our tongue utter
nothing unpleasant, may no base speech of ours devise any-
thing harmful, anything deceitful. May our hearts contain
nothing guileful, harsh, or idle. For the Lord has said that
an account must be given even of idle words. 11 Although a
man may fortify his life by faith, rule it by wisdom, and
arrange it with purity and sobriety, there is nothing pleas-
ing in him if his tongue alone of all the members in all
his body gives offense.
9 Matt. 12.36.
10 Ps. 11.3.
11 Matt. 12.36.
336 SAINT VALERIAN
HOMILY 6
Idle Words
(On Matt. 12.22-37)
( 1 ) Dearly beloved, in fulfilling the duties entrusted to us,
we have spoken about disciplinary control. As often as we
did this, we omitted some lesser matters while treating those
more important. Some men may regard these lesser matters
as easy. However, if you investigate with greater care, you
wUl find them the occasion of many sins. We should now
set our hand to these subjects, and elaborate on them with
the aid of the study of medicine. Thus, each vice will reveal
the causes of its own infirmity.
Think, if you please, about all the beings which minister
to pain or pleasure. You will discover this. Harmful virus
has its reign not alone in the fierce dragons, but poisons hide
just as truly in the little bodies of the bees.
We have often stated, dearly beloved, that drunkenness
and covetousness are sources of vices. From them rushing
torrents of sins well forth, and drag along to the depths
a great part of the human race. Drunkenness stirs the whirl-
pool of gluttony, and covetousness enkindles a frenzy for
odious thefts. Covetousness is the mother of pride; drunken-
ness, of impurity. The one is the companion of lying, the
other, of ugly deformity. Both impel men to commit murders,
to plan deeds of adultery, and to destroy the bases of friend-
ship. After the manner of some depraved business agreement,
covetousness suggests a reward for furtive love, and drunken-
ness provides the occasion.
(2) But, as we have often said, dearly beloved, with a
little effort you can check these vices, if you are willing
HOMILIES 337
to cut away the previous sources of the sins. You will not find
it difficult to repress the consequence if you oppose and con-
demn the vices in their source. All the strength of the body
to hold together will soon fail if there is no one to give
food to a sick stomach* Clearly, therefore, drunkenness and
covetousness ought to be attacked before all the other vices;
for these two claim a primacy among the rest. Thus, those
which trail these two will be in danger of losing their func-
tion. The swirling waves of even a deep whirlpool can be
easily dried up if the source of the water can be blocked.
Many remarks about these vices we are reviewing, dearly
beloved, are still being suggested to our memory. However,
since we have at various times satisfied the needs of dis-
cipline in opposing them, we think that today a few remarks
suffice to call them to your minds. Consequently, we restrain
ourselves in regard to many matters apparently contained
in our subject, until we shall have explained those persons'
crimes which seem so easy to some men.
(3) You have heard the Evangelist stating, dearly be-
loved, that an account must be given to the Lord for idle
words. 1 If you reflect, dearly beloved, on the considerations
we have set forth, and on what we said formerly in decry-
ing an uncontrolled tongue, you understand this statement
to refer to the insolence of the mouth. Although its words
are named idle, they should not be treated lightly. Let no
one deem light a fault attacked by so severe a censure from
heaven.
Next follow whatever lies rumor spreads, for the fruitless
conversations excited by fabricated hearsay are always idle.
What conversation is to be deemed idle, if not that which is
ignorant of reason and the messenger of falsehood, which
1 Matt. 12.36.
338 SAINT VALERIAN
has as its aim cither to fabricate ridiculous tales, or to ex-
pound dubious ones as if they were certain?
There are men of this type, too. While they thrive on
fiction, they do not know how to beware of a lie. Let them
listen to trie Lord saying: The mouth that belieth, killeth
the soul/ 2 Also on the list of idle words are those elaborated
outcries, composed with senseless effort, carrying many blows
gentle ones, as some think. But those outcries are also
armed with fatal stings. Although they excite mirth, enmities
often arise.
Dearly beloved, there are many other vices like these. Per-
haps they should not be omitted, even if, among all the
vices of words, they seem far-fetched. For example, if you
call a dark-complexioned man silvery white, you inflict the
injury of an idle word. For, if you have told the truth, you
have blamed him; if you told something false, you have
ridiculed him. When you call a man of tall and venerable
stature an infant, are you not doing injury if you suppress
the truth and lie in boyish eagerness? If you by your words
add something to the human body or subtract it, that is
contumely.
5,4) But, perhaps you say: Those matters are quite trivial,
and easily borne.' That is true. For, those words are of that
sort like light feathers which you stick unto someone else's
hair, or the prominent ashes or something else of dust-like
sheen which you strew on a head lovely with the beauty of
early youth. You do not, indeed, burden the head, but you
disfigure it. Likewise, someone's hair pulled down in fun
does display considerable indignity, even if it causes no pain.
Therefore, dearly beloved, everyone should take care not
to injure another by language characteristic of the stage,
and not to bring the shame of an injured reputation on a
2 VVisd 1.11.
HOMILIES 339
brother through the use of actors' language. Excessive wit
in the mouth ordinarily stimulates tempers into action, and
a conversation barbed with pleasantries brings a quarrel in
return. In this way, finally, a small spark begins to emit
flames. Sprung from almost nothing, it often starts a great
conflagration.
Idle conversation is much promoted by an idle speaker.
Wherefore, since we have mentioned words characteristic
of the theatre, in accordance with my concern for discipline,
I perhaps ought not to keep silent about those matters which
captivate curious ears by their idle words, and strike the
secret depths of the heart while they flatter by rhythmic
blows. These are those vices which we previously mentioned
as being compounded with a certain sweetness of honey.
This is that business which, as we observed, by a mixture
of sweetness produces the sharp pains of wounds.
(5) Here, someone, because of his love of discipline,
may think he should ask what those idle words are which
inflict injury and are dangerous to those who hear them.
It is well that you ask. Otherwise, ignorance of this may
endanger your grasp of my sermon.
We frequently find that in the following way the road
is made smooth for wantonness, and enticements supplied
to acts of adultery. One fellow by his skillful plectrum pro-
duces the music of the tingling zither, and another with
ready fingers draws forth the alluring sounds of the swell-
ing organ. Those are the attending snares by which the
Devil causes, among other wounds, many deaths for men.
For, as often as the hearing is soothed by this sweet sound,
the gaze is allured to a base crime. Let no one trust these
seductive songs, or give further attention to the enticements
of a libidinous voice. While they are delighting, they are wax-
ing fierce. While they are flattering, they are killing.
340 SAINT VALERIAN
We often observe birds deceived by alluring whistles, and
stupid beasts coaxed by a sweet voice into a deadly trap.
Similar indeed, dearly beloved, is the case of mortals whose
attention is caught by a sweet-sounding song. The different
notes of the words and the humming sounds produced with-
out syllables 3 have this effect, that someone either is taken
in or takes in someone else.
Dearly beloved, it cannot be explained how dangerous
are the snares to which pursuit of the pleasure characteristic
of the farces exposes one. If one could peer into the secret
corners of the human breast, he would find the hearts of
unfortunate men palpitating to every note of the flute. There-
fore, if even the charms of humming beguile another to
madness, you can easily understand what arises from tempta-
tion like these: conversation too familiar and secret between
men and women, or their drawing too close together, or the ex-
change of speech full of quips, or the gluttony brought on
by recipes of great variety, or hunger for gold amid an
allurement to every sin of prostitution.
(6) Therefore, you should flee that source of sin, the
sound of the voice, which has produced bitterness in human
hearts by its own sweetness, and by a certain persuading
power of its honeylike song has often concocted fatal poisons
for sick men. Where that voice is heard, we should raise the
shield of faith and stop up our ears, the easier to keep from
hearing any of the alluring sound. We should also display
disciplinary control to check the curiosity of our eyes and
stifle the first movements of a languishing heart. For, that is
what the Evangelist teaches: 'If thy eye is an occasion of sin
to thee, pluck it out.' 4
Dearly beloved, do not think that the point of his state-
3 producta sine syllabis verba. Possibly, the meaning is: the words uttered
without rhythm.
4 Matt. 5.29.
HOMILIES 341
ment is this, that the Lord desires to maim a human body,
which He made to His own image and raised to a dignity
which appears like His own. To pluck out the eyes means
this: to cut out what is base in a man and to check foul
deeds by amending them, to diminish lust by repressing its
temptations, and, for the good of conscience, to cut off hands
which are prone to debased covetousness.
He has cut off his hands who has broken the javelins of
infidelity in himself and by his just decision has cut the ar-
rows of faithlessness. Something helpful toward salvation is
accomplished if the vices fostered by wicked deeds are weak-
ened, and the gaze of evil eyes is, so to speak, pulled out with
its roots. If you allow all these vices I have mentioned to
reign whole and unharmed, the sting of death soon finds its
pleasant repose in them. However, in order to carry out
those good deeds more easily, we should heed Christ, who
says: 'Give up your possessions and follow Me.' 5
(7)1 am well aware, dearly beloved, that those occupied
with the activities of the world find it hard to accept those
words. The enjoyment of that worldly life is sweet to them.
But, as careful investigation reveals, the world is full of
vanity, and, so to speak, clothed with a tenuous, shadowy
cover. The world gives service only for a time and all this
deceitful pomp of riches which you see is but flattery. Holy
David knew that well when he said: 'Turn away my eyes
that they may not behold vanity.' 6
What is that vanity, if not devotion to riches and the
pursuit of worldly pleasures? This is confirmed through
Solomon, who says: 'Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity.' 7
Therefore, dearly beloved, let no one put his confidence in
the vanity of this world. That vanity, as you see, is something
5 Matt.
6 Ps. 118.37.
7 Eccle. 1.2.
342 SAINT VALERIAN
standing with insecure footing. Devotion to it is short-lived
and empty, and its beauty is like smoke in a wind. The come-
liness of its countenance is like that which you see when you
look on the beauty of that vine which had its early summer
blossoms in well-constituted abundance, yet cannot bring
forth the actual fruit of the promised grape harvest. While
it brings forth too much, it incurs the reproach of perpetual
sterility.
;8) A far different beauty, dearly beloved, is that which
the time of eternal life promises to us, if only one makes
his way as a poor man with regard to sins. He who gathers
the fruits of mercy and struggles against the urge to foolish
covetousness, he goes as a rich man to Christ. He makes his
way with great wealth to heaven who wards off from him-
self the pomp of short-lived vanity. He who by his zealous
practice of religion is lightening his heart once burdened with
vices carries with him great resources to Paradise. Finally,
he has escaped all the penury of begging who has daily
planted in his heart the commandments of our Christ, and
with watchful faith has filled the barns of his soul with seeds
heavenly in their origin.
Wherefore, before all else, check your freedom of that idle
speech. Once that freedom has got itself entwined in the
pursuit of religious living, it certainly prejudices your holiness
when the judgment will come. Among the other vices, unless
those of the tongue which we mentioned above are carefully
pruned, the best qualities in a man soon lose their value.
HOMILIES 343
HOMILY 7
Mercy
(On Matt. 25.31-46)
(1) Dearly beloved, if you look back over all the stages
of justice through which the work of religion is carried on,
you will not find anyone who gives a gracious service to the
Lord and through it fails to win a place of dignity with Him.
But 3 although these very acts which faith works in us do
proceed from human endeavor, they should be ascribed to
God. 1 If there are any deeds well done, it is through Him
and in Him that they have existence, and are stored up for
the future as profitable to individual men.
Wherefore, let no one who is wise think that the benefits
of God should be ascribed to his own powers. Otherwise, he
will hear that phrase of the Apostle which says: 'What hast
thou that thou hast not received? Or if thou hast received
it, why dost thou boast as if thou hadst not received it? 32
Dearly beloved, we are well aware that, according to the
Gospel doctrine which recounts the promises of beatitude,
justice has prepared a place for man in heaven. That is,
the favor gained by meekness and humility has won the prom-
ise of Paradise and the land of promise. Purity of heart
has merited to see Christ. Mercy has received a similar reward
of retribution. The joy of peace has prepared for many a
place among the children of God. The suffering of the saints
has gained the crown of victory and the glory of the celestial
kingdom because of the merits of their virtue.
But, one and the same power of the Father, Son, and Holy
1 Section 1 of this homily is a strong argument against those who
charge St. Valerian with Semi-Pelagianism. Cf. also, Homily 11.
2 i Cor. 4.7.
344 SAINT VALERIAN
Spirit works all these things in us. It gives a perfection to our
works of righteousness, and supplies to a good will whatever
best aids there are. There is, indeed, one thing, and that very
great, which descends from the abode of mercy. In it a mortal
man can justly claim glory for himself. It is to feed the poor
and to redeem the captives if, however, neither boastful-
ness dissipates this glory or unpleasant sadness throws it into
disorder.
(2) Behold, you hear the Evangelist saying: 'Come, blessed
of my Father, take possession with me of the kingdom pre-
pared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was
hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave
me to drink; naked and you covered me.' 3 Therefore, as you
perceive, if it becomes anyone to glory, he should not do it
except because of this activity, by which the Lord orders
that He Himself be fed and clothed, and that His hunger be
satisfied day by day with a little portion of divided bread.
Wherefore, if we desire our glorying not to be vain, let us
in the first place redeem the friendship of the highest King
by our copious alms. To open the heavenly kingdom to our-
selves, let us all turn our attention to showing mercy to the
Lord. In this love of Him, we should not regard the tears of
the poor lightly or negligently, lest, to our confusion, He who
feeds all the world may be seen hungry among those who
are begging. Gaze upon the needs of every one of these, and
on our Saviour's concern for the wretched. You will under-
stand that our Christ is present wherever you behold an
abundance of tears.
You do not have to seek the Lord far away, if you are not
a miser. Look, He awaits us right outside with that crowd of
His servants. You do not have to cast your glance now here
now there, so that you doubt whom to make the chief
3 Matt. 25.34-36.
HOMILIES 345
beneficiary of your pitiful expenditure. Know that our Christ
is that man whom you see naked, whom you see as a blind
man, whom you meet 4 in a lame man, whom you behold
wrapped in rags or covered with dirty garments.
In this clothing, indeed, was He found when sought by
the Magi. Dressed like this and lying in the manger was He
when He received the gifts they offered from their open
treasures. That Gospel phrase has a bearing on these matters
which says: 'Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where
neither rust consumes, nor thieves break in.' 5 These are those
treasures which are recorded among our merits stored up in
heaven, treasures which nothing adverse spoils. That is the
significance of dividing the substance of our resources among
the poor.
( 3 ) Wherefore, you first of all, whoever you are who glory
in the abundance of your riches, hear my counsel in this
matter. If you fear the rust, take my counsel to heart. If you
fear a thief, take it all the more to heart. Look, you have an
excellent caretaker to preserve your resources for you, and
to make them profitable for you forever in eternity. Christ
adds to these words: 'Do not lay up to yourselves treasures
on earth.' 6
Dearly beloved, the Lord's advice to a man not to entrust
his treasure to the earth is not beside the point. For, as we
often see, things stored in the earth get endangered by some
blemish. Resources buried too deep get spoiled by the cor-
rosion of the soil. Consequently, I deem it more useful to
lend than to hide, and to have greater trust in interest
than burial in the earth.
It is a species of folly to keep shut up what can by diversi-
4 Reading offenderis, with Sirmond.
5 Matt. 6.20.
6 Matt. 6.19.
346 SAINT VALERIAN
fied functioning both profit many men and produce fruit
of justice in eternal life. So, I advise that no one should
hide his treasure in the earth, that is, let no one think
that the dignity of a heavenly soul is to be ascribed to
earthly acts. 7 The rust is corroding the treasures of that
man who is indulging vanity, and directing his life according
to the pomp of this world.
Therefore, dearly beloved, the rust is that worm which
alone possesses the recesses of the heart: the worm of envy
and of avarice. But the thief is the Devil. Believe this. To
lay his plots against good deeds, he flatters with the pro-
ferred pomp of the world. To keep a man from sharing in
the heavenly kingdom, he puts gold in his hands, silver be-
fore his eyes, gems about his neck. In this way he nourishes
pride, and by the goad of covetousness enkindles the desires
of the flesh. All these things, as Scripture tells, 8 plunge men
into destruction.
But, beyond any doubt, he who sends his treasures ahead
into heaven lightens [life] here below of many of its pains.
Hear what the Lord offers: c Come, blessed of my Father,
take possession with me of the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world. I was hungry and you
gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink;
naked and you covered me.' After this pronouncement, who
would hesitate to migrate from this world with all the attrac-
tiveness of his patrimony? Clearly, it is the emptiness of
folly, and an error in choosing values, to love the world
more than the heavenly kingdom, or to give pleasure to
the world more than to Christ. So, if anyone desires to find
a place in the heavenly abode, let him not cease to dispense
the necessities of life to the indigent.
7 This statement is the opposite of Pelagianism, and even of Semi-
Pelagianism.
8 I Tim. 6.9.
HOMILIES 347
(4) But, perhaps someone may object: 'My resources are
slender; they do not allow such great disbursements of pay-
ment/ If someone should offer you a very beautiful house
for the short possession this life affords^ would you not gather
money from every source to meet the price of the offer?
And if, by chance, your money bag were not heavy enough,
would you not make the sum sufficient through borrowed
money, until you have your joy in your estate, now increased
by this new house?
Look, possession of the kingdom of heaven is now offered to
you, and for a very low price. Anyone not accustomed to
allege his poverty as a pretext can easily buy this possession.
Let us see what it is that is asked of you as a price:
food, drink, and clothing. I do not find anyone unable to
make this disbursement every day. If you investigate, per-
haps you find that produce is abundant in your barns, and
the well-known mellow flavor of your aged wine is a rea-
son to enlarge your cellars. What does it avail you to store
all those goods if you do not know how to engage in profit-
able trade? But you say: 'I am a poor man.' Does this
pretext suffice to excuse you to those to whom you set
prices marked up because of the bad times? Without rea-
son do you plead the slenderaess of your resources. Are
you able to possess something to sell, but unable to possess
something to give away? Not without purpose was this said:
'Deal thy bread to the hungry. 39 I think that phrase applies
to those inhuman persons who store away their wholesome
bread and then let corroding mould consume it. So, break
your bread to the hungry man, that he may not perish
and shut you out from your share of the heavenly kingdom.
The Scripture adds: 'And despise not the servants of thy
9 Cf. Isa. 58.7. Possibly, Isa. 58.7-12 accompanied Matthew 25.31-46 as
the lectio which occasioned this sermon.
348 SAINT VALERIAN
own seed.' 10 Who are these our servants? Of necessity, all
those related to us through the fact of their having been
born. Why should no person be excepted from our alms-
giving? Why is no selection to be made? Because a thing
which is meeting a necessity does not require an order in
the disbursement.
Why have you need to ask whether he who makes the
request is Christian or Jew, heretic or pagan, Roman or
foreigner, free man or slave? When necessity is pressing,
you need not discuss the person. Otherwise, in separating
out those unworthy of your mercy, you may likewise lose
the Son of God. And when can we know in what region of
the earth Christ dwells? He who is known to possess every-
thing should be believed to be everywhere.
(5) The Prophet adds to what we quoted above: Then
shall thy temporary light break forth, and thy vestments
will rise up sooner, and justice will go before thee, and
the glory of the Lord will surround you. Then shalt thou
cry out to the Lord, and the Lord shall hear thee. While
thou art still speaking he will say, 'Here I am.' 11 And all
this because of a morsel of shared bread. How much more
will you get, do you think, if you will give more? Hear the
Evangelist's words: 'Blessed are the merciful, for God will
have mercy on them.' 12
There are, indeed, many degrees of mercy, but we should
inquire what the chief ones are. The first kind of mercy is,
in truth, to extend a helping hand to a fallen man, to
show the way of salvation to the wanderer, to visit the
sick, perseveringly to console those who are tried by tribu-
lation. Yet, this is the mercy we should especially long for:
to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to ransom the
10 Ibid.
11 Isa. 58.8,9.
12 Matt. 5,7.
HOMILIES 349
captive, to make a loan for a time to one who needs it. 13
Sometimes, we find many other kinds of mercy to which
human endeavors are popularly devoted. These do not bring
forth the fruits of mercy, but they simulate its compassion.
It is about these that James states in his Epistle: 'If a
brother or a sister be naked and in want of daily food, and
one of you say to them, Go in peace, be warmed and filled,
yet you do not give them what is necessary for the body,
it profits you nothing.' 14
Who does not hate such a kind of mercy? In it an idle
piety flatters the sick man with elegant language, and fruit-
less tears are offered to heaven. What does it profit to bewail
another man's shipwreck if you take no care of his body
which is suffering from exposure? Or what good does it
do to torture your soul with grief over another's wound,
if you refuse him a health-giving cup? These flattering re-
marks do not feed the hungry man; those bootless counsels
do not clothe another's nakedness. What good does it do
to apply soft poultices to an indigent man, if you will not
give a bit of food to one on the point of dying from hunger?
What kind of mercy is that, in which you desire the man
to live, but are unwilling to save him in his need? Clearly,
that piety is a cruel one which knows how to grieve over
the wretched, but does not know how to help those about
to perish.
(6) Dearly beloved, what more do you seek in return
for disbursing a bit of divided bread? Even if a share in the
heavenly kingdom had not been promised you for it, as
sinners you ought to be content with that statement which
has brought to mortal men the hope of future salvation and
the joy of everlasting security. For if consideration is given
to the fruits of your work and the tenderness of heavenly
13 Reading non f with Sirmond, not nos.
14 James 2.15,16.
350 SAINT VALERIAN
love, you receive far more than you give. Look, in return
for feeding a poor man, the Gospels promise you the king-
dom of heaven. Because of your dividing and sharing your
bread, or offering hospitable shelter, or clothing the naked,
the Lord promises you, through the Prophets, His help
when you invoke Him. 15 As the Psalms tell, the justice
arising from your mercy is stored up for ever and ever. 16
If we compare heavenly things with earthly, it is evident
that something very valuable is for sale at a rather low
price. How great is your alms in proportion to all the things
which the Lord has clearly promised to mortal men? Look,
we give earthly goods; He, those of heaven. We offer goods
which last a while; He, those which endure forever.
Do you wish to know what distance there is between
your fortunes and the heavenly gifts? In this comparison of
benefits, no equal reckoning is found: to receive everlast-
ing riches, and to give those which are perishable.
Above all, we should take account of those tears brought
on by the recent furious and bloody struggle. 17 Then there
will be no lack of opportunity for good will to show itself
by deeds. For and this is sadder still we see so many in
anxiety over their own or their dear ones' getting ransomed.
A helping hand should be extended to these. But, you
say: 1 am a poor man. 5 We are not urging anyone to give
what he does not have. But, let him whose resources are
too slender to redeem a captive add at least some little
bit to the ransom price. Thus he may seem to comply with
the commandment, at least by a little coin.
15 Is*. 58.9.
16 Ps. 1 1 1.9.
17 Perhaps a struggle occasioned by the migration of nations, or one
with pirates.
HOMILIES 35 1
HOMILY 8
Mercy
(On Matt. 25.31-46)
(1) Dearly beloved, many subjects which spring from a
perusal of the Gospels pull the soul in different directions.
If we wish to arrange them under one heading or proposi-
tion, one subject necessarily hinders another, and the effort to
grasp one precludes understanding the other. How can either
the speaker's or the hearer's whole manner of thinking es-
cape from being hindered by the confusion of many things?
Therefore, dearly beloved, among the many other subjects
for which, according to their values, the gift of blessedness
has been conferred (as the Evangelist recounts), we have
thought it wise to explain to you the subject of mercy.
Mercy must reap the fruit of daily effort. We shall follow
through with the other subjects at their proper times, when
utility will require. Thus, when each subject stands firmly
with its own strong points evident, it does not need the
subject matter of another.
Notice that the Lord says: 'Blessed are the merciful, for
God will have mercy on them.' 1 I wonder if after this state-
ment anyone will hesitate to expend his own money, since
he has seen that profit accrues to the just in return for a
kind deed. What does it profit you to keep in a money
bag a mass of gold which you have heaped up, when you
can every day both do good and gain profit on the money
expended?
'Blessed are the merciful, for God will have mercy on
them.' Dearly beloved, rejoice, and give without anxiety,
1 Matt. 5.7.
352 SAINT VALERIAN
and make your contribution without hesitation. Who would
not eagerly distribute his resources by a generous disburse-
ment among the poor, when he is aware that he will receive
multiplied fruit and redoubled gifts in return? Moreover,
observe that the Lord has judged those happy in this life
to whom He has promised mercy in the future.
(2) Hear what the Lord says in another place: 'Give
to everyone who asks of thee.' 2 Dearly beloved, not without
reason does the Lord bid you to give alms to all who ask
for them. He was necessarily aware that good men, too,
are sometimes hidden among the evil. He mingled the good
and the bad together for precisely this reason: He did not
want the man worthy of mercy to depart without a gift
because an overcautious distribution passes over the un-
worthy. There is no discernment of the one begging. The
need of the poor man is not to be investigated. Profits are
being sought for the giver, not for the beggar. It makes
no difference to what beggar you give. The Lord is asking,
not whether the one begging is worthy, but how much the
giver is supplying.
Listen, here, to the Apostle saying: 'He who sows spar-
ingly will also reap sparingly.' 3 Clearly, as often as we succor
the wretched, we give to ourselves. The dispensing of our
resources is our gain. For, if you consider again the hope of
future reward, whatever is given to the poor is reckoned
as a profit. That is what the Prophet states: 'Blessed is he
that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor:
the Lord will deliver him in the evil day.' 4
In regard to all these matters, Christ is the guarantor.
He says: I shall restore to you a hundredfold. 5 In addition
2 Luke 6.30.
3 2 Cor. 9.6.
4 Ps. 40 J.
5 Cf. \fatt. 19.29.
HOMILIES 353
to this, eternal life is promised. The condemnation of the
judgment is reserved for impiety and avarice. As the Evan-
gelist says : 'When the Son of Man shall come in his majesty,
and all the angels with Him, then He will separate them
all one from another, the sheep on his right hand, but
the goats on his left; saying to those on his right hand:
Come, my sons, take possession with me of the kingdom
of heaven. I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was
thirsty and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and
you took me in; I was naked, and you covered me. He will
say to those on his left: Depart from me, accursed ones,
into the everlasting fire. I was hungry and you did not give
me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me no drink. 56
Therefore, dearly beloved, let us take thought and care
to keep the retribution for impiety from overtaking us. For,
just as the Lord is placated by the feeding and clothing
of paupers, so is he hurt by contempt of the wretched. So
great is His concern for the unhappy that He regards any-
thing which covers or refreshes a needy man as something
given to Himself.
(3) Hear Solomon proclaim: 'Son, do a benefit to thy
self. Shut up alms in the heart of the poor. 97 Therefore, who-
ever wants to consult his own interests should feed the poor
without reluctance. If you but attend to others' poverty,
you lack no opportunity to gain profit every day. For, Scrip-
ture states: 'By alms and faith sins are purged away.' 8
Look, here a man begs for food with a starved throat.
There is one who in his nakedness claims to be in want of
even a pitiful garment. Quite cruel and too hard-hearted
is the man whom grief does not touch, when either weakness,
or nakedness, or poverty is plaguing some part of his body.
6 Matt. 25.31,32,34-36,41-42.
7 Eccli. 29.15.
8 Prov. 1557.
354 SAINT VALERIAN
He who pays no attention to the cause of another's need
is clearly taking but little care of his own interests. Your
riches do you no good if you do not use their benefits. To
be in secret possession of hoarded money is characteristic of
miserliness. Are you unaware that he who does not sow
reaps no harvest, according to that statement we cited above?
'He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.'
Therefore, this is the proportion of the cultivation to be
accomplished ; the more seeds a man plants in the earth,
the greater grows his hope of a future harvest. He who
does not plant will with idle hands watch others as they
harvest. For, he who has toiled most among the other
farmers will store up the most. But, when can it be that
he who has added furrow to furrow and filled them with
seeds will see his barns empty? What do you gain from
brooding over your stored-up wealth, if you reap not profit
from it?
Again, we often see a mass of produce grow old and
consumed by age. We see wines get so spoiled by the passing
of time that they are of no further use to anybody and
are thrown out. Sometimes, we understand that before the
Lord that wine alone was more profitable which the farmer
customarily gives to the needy in order to replace it. But,
what avarice reserves, either the excessive heat steals away,
or undesirable age consumes, or the abdominable moth
spoils. A man stores up for himself only that which he dis-
burses for the sake of mercy. For, that is what the Lord
says: "Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where
neither moth consumes, nor thieves break in and steal.' 9
(4) Therefore, dearly beloved, let us take care to keep
the worm of avarice from corrupting our resources. Let us
send our wealth ahead to that place where no thief breaks
9 Matt. 6.20.
HOMILIES 355
in and no plotter sets a fire. Let us entrust our riches to
the Lord, who says: 'Do not lay up for yourselves treasures
on earth.' 10 For, whoever has faithfully dispensed his resources
in doing God's work has them hidden away in a corner of
heaven, and deposited for safekeeping under a just cus-
todian. Let no one who is wise look back at the trappings
of this world. While they satisfy the short-lived whims of
men, they make sport of their souls.
There are two kinds of riches: the one kind urges towards
death; the other leads to life.
Here are riches of death: to brood like a miser upon
another's wealth; to take in money amid the tears of the
unfortunate, and stack it up, and count it day by day as
something to swell the legacies of this world.
The integral and genuine riches are those by which souls
are reedemed and sins purged away. God finds acceptable
the riches of that man by whose generosity the poor man is
fed, the naked man clothed, the captive ransomed, the
imprisoned man freed, and the inheritance of the heavenly
kingdom acquired. I do not want those riches which by
their growth daily increase the hunger for them, and then,
eventually stripped of their attractive beauty, allow their
lovers to remain in their hunger.
(5) Finally, let us have recourse to the Scriptures. You
will understand that poverty, when compared with riches,
has the better lot. In reprobating avarice, the Lord puts a
certain man in hell, and has him beg Abraham, our father,
to send the beggar Lazarus who has his abode on high. He
requests that he bring refreshment to his mouth, and relief
to his lips parched with thirst. As the Gospel recounts, he
received this reply: 'Son, remember that thou in thy life-
time has received good things, and Lazarus in like manner
10 Matt. 6.19.
356 SAINT VALERIAN
evil things; but now here he is comforted whereas thou art
tormented. 511
You see that changes of fortune are in store for the activi-
ties of the good and of the wicked. It is well to anticipate
these changes by the practice of mercy. Otherwise, profitless
riches will kindle against themselves the flames which avenge
crimes.
Consequently, dearly beloved, let us prepare for our-
selves a place of favor with the Lord. Let us improve the
road of our life by our munificence and generosity. Let us
send satisfaction before us to the Lord, and purge away
any stain incurred through our affections, while we ponder
that statement of the Prophet: 'They that sow in tears shall
reap in joy.' 12
Therefore, if anyone carefully examines his conscience,
let him not think that those words should be received into
unheeding ears. For, on the coming judgment day you can-
not obtain refreshment unless you have either healed your
wounds by feeding the poor, or washed them by abundant
tears. And you weep more copiously yourselves, and dis-
pense your resources to those who weep, in order that you
may gather the fruits of your mercy while you reap joys
along with the others in the future life.
11 Luke 16.25.
12 Ps. 125.5.
HOMILIES 357
HOMILY 9
Mercy
(On Matt. 25.31-46)
(1) Dearly beloved, whenever we must instruct your
charitable selves, in accordance with your desire to live reli-
giously, we think of that account in the Gospel passage
which tells of the separation of the good and the bad in the
future judgment. If anyone fails to heed that account, he
will reap tears. If he takes it to heart, he will gain the
richest fruits of joy. The Evangelist states: 'When the Lord
shall come in his majesty, and will separate the bad from
the good, he will say to those who are on his right hand:
Come, take possession with me of the kingdom of heaven.
I was hungry and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and
you gave me to drink. And he will say to those who are
on his left hand: Depart from me, accursed ones, into the
everlasting fire. I was hungry, and you did not give me to
eat; I was thirsty and you gave me no drink.' 1
Therefore, dearly beloved, if any one of you wishes to
arrive at a share of that heavenly kingdom, let him first
of all extend a helping hand to poverty, and let him not
look without concern on other men's tears. For, a judgment
of retribution awaits every man, either for his good work
or his bad. The Lord has said it: 'What a man sows, that
he will also reap.' 2
Wherefore, dearly beloved, among the other activities by
which we carry into practice our desire to live religiously,
1 Matt. 25.31-42. St. Valerian's wording is different from his citation
of this passage in the preceding homily, which indicates that he was
quoting from memory.
2 Gal. 6.8.
358 SAINT VALERIAN
let us not overlook the need of the poor. Otherwise, we may
lose what can be gained from the tears of the unfortunate.
For, with the Lord, the account of money distributed among
the wretched is kept thus: the more a man disburses, just
that much more does he store away. In this way, from
many seeds come many sprouts, and from many sprouts
still more branches. About this, too, hear the Lord's words:
'He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly/ 3
Therefore, if, as you see, he who sows sparingly will also
reap sparingly, so, too, will he who disburses little receive
little. He who sows nothing stores nothing away. Thus it
happens that he who stores but little fasts when he does
not want to. But, when can it happen that a man who
plants no seeds in the ground will see his barns filled with
abundant crops? So, if you desire that we should gather
crops of joy, let us sow more generously in our tears. 'He
who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly.'
(2) We often find that a man who has once given an
alms to the hungry thinks that he has completely fulfilled
the commandment. Therefore, it will not be enough to have
given the food of one day to strengthen, limbs weak through
hunger. Otherwise, he who is good on one day comes down
[to his clients], without good reason, as odious on another.
He who thinks that what he once gave to the hungry is
sufficient has lost the benefit of his previous mercy.
But, he from whom a poor man never goes away sad
sends ahead integral fruits of mercy to the Lord. A doctor
must employ continuous medication to prevent another man
from groaning in pain, because a sickness which is daily
developing requires medicine every day. If anything bloody
or obnoxious happens to be in us, we, too, must take care
to heal it by abundant alms. For, the wounds you have
5 2 Cor. 9.6.
HOMILIES 359
washed only once are not immediately cured. Medicine must
be used again and again for a body which has been cut
into.
Wherefore, dearly beloved, if we wish no fault of avarice
to contaminate the days of our life, let us not close our
ears to the pleas of the unfortunate, nor turn our eyes from
the nakedness of the wretched. Let no one think he has lost
what he has given to the poor. Just as indigence follows
upon inhuman conduct, so is wealth gained by the pursuit
of kindliness. That is what the Prophet states: 'He that
giveth to the poor shall never want; but he who turns away
his face, will be in great indigence.' 4
See, the cry of the hungry man is a challenge in your
ears, and the sound of a failing voice from a hungry throat
is striking at your door. Why do you not think of that phrase :
'Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and
the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day.' 5 The
business man who keeps stored away in a sack the money with
which he could carry on gainful trading is recognized as
being quite a fool.
(3) But, something worse is this. Many vices co-exist with
avarice. This man, in order to avoid showing mercy to a
poor man, drowns out the voice of those who ask of him
by overwhelming them with words. That man, to avoid
hearing, pretends that he heard something else. Such a way
of living is wretched. In it a man tries to make his ears
defective while he is pursuing avarice. Ponder this phrase:
*He that hath mercy on the poor, lendeth to the Lord.' 6
Why, then, should anyone hesitate to feed the needy,
when he sees that in satisfying the poor he is bestowing gifts
on our Christ? There are some who make a laughing stock
4 Prov. 28.27.
5 Ps. 40.1.
6 Prov. 19.17.
360 SAINT VALERIAN
of those who beg in misery by extending them hope of a
kindness ever procrastinated. They are ashamed to make ex-
cuses to those begging. So, by making promises they deceive
them in their misery.
See, this one says: The key is not here. The caretaker
is away. As soon as you come back you will get your re-
quest.' Are you not aware of this statement of Solomon?
'Say not: Go and come again: tomorrow I will give to
thee: when thou canst give at present.' 7 Whence do you
know what will happen the next day?
You say: 'As soon as he comes back, you will get your
request.' When will your steward, perhaps so often absent
at your desire, return for the hungry man? When will your
irritating strong-boxes, filled with your stored-up possessions,
open up to the one who cries for help? It is while they
minister to your desire that they cannot be opened.
You say: 'When you come back, you will get your re-
quest.' What if weather severer than usual cuts the naked
man like a whip? What if the exit of approaching death
receives those limbs which are failing from hunger? Who
would not judge that a man was consigned to death by
your condemnation, if he sees that your contribution could
have saved him? You say: 'When you come back, you will
get your request.' With faith in whom does he return, whose
every bit of strength has left him? Or with what hope does
he come again to a house if he went away from it in shame
the day before?
(4) Let us suppose that he does come back to meet the
terms of your promise perhaps to fulfill the condition under
which he was to return. Clearly, it would have been fairer
to deny the alms right away than to deceive the hungry
man by a promise which brought him hope.
7 Prov. 3.28.
HOMILIES 361
Give heed to the words of the Lord: 'Deal thy bread to
the hungry.' If you wish, dearly beloved, let us investigate
with what reward the shared bread is recompensed. Hear
the Lord's full statement: 'Deal thy bread to the hungry:
when thou shalt see one naked, cover him, and despise not
the domestics of thy seed. Then shall thy timely light break
forth, and thy garments will quickly arise, and justice will
go before thee, and the brightness of God will surround
you. Then shalt thou call, and God shall hear: and while
thou shalt yet be speaking he shall say, Here I am.' 8
You see, dearly beloved, in what good stead the dis-
pensing of a slender sum stands us. Because of it the Lord
of such great majesty deigns to come at our request. For,
He says in another place: 'Whoever gives to one of these
little ones a cup of cold water to drink, amen I say to you,
his reward will not be lost.' 9
In this passage, good will is required, not wealth. For, he
who in little matters has shown his desire to be merciful
has shown his affection for complete devotion in the greatest
matters.
Therefore, dearly beloved, in proportion as each one has
and is able, let him disburse, give, and expend. Let no one
run away from a lame man, let no one pretend he has
not heard the deaf man, let no one withdraw his helping
hand from the weak man, for all those deeds have a place
in the retribution. To clothe the poor man is to cover the
nakedness of one's own self. To help a beggar is a great
gain. This is what the Lord says: 'Whatever you did for
one of these least ones, you did for me.' 10
That is how great our Lord's care of the wretched is.
He regards as offered to himself whatever some tiny dona-
8 Isa. 58.7-9.
9 Matt. 10.42.
10 Matt. 25.40.
362 SAINT VALERIAN
tion confers on the poor. Where the trade in wine and pro-
duce is brisk, we sometimes observe needy widows whose
sex and age have weakened them, who lack the strength
to work and earn their living. Wicked, indeed, is that man
who is not stirred to mercy by the misfortune of their lone-
liness, or the weakness of their age.
What is worse, we also often see a group of captives
wandering about with bodies scarcely clad. What profit have
you from the abundance of your riches, if in your sight
one man is cold and another hungry?
(5) Behold, dearly beloved, the time of just retribution
is coming, as also the gift of the promised inheritance in
heaven. Therefore, let us give and pay out in this world if,
as you wish, we are to hold a part of our riches in heaven.
Listen to the Lord saying: 'Lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven,' 11 and in another passage: 'Make for yourselves
purses that do not grow old.' 13
Dearly beloved, well indeed has our Christ set the reward
of our good work in proportion to the quality of what we
give out. Consequently, neither a rich man nor a poor man
can excuse himself in regard to giving alms. Thus, He orders
this man who has very much to disburse treasures, and that
one who exists, as He knows, in the squalor of poverty, to
share his bread with the hungry. What barns are so empty
that they cannot stand a little withdrawal like that? What
fortunes are so wretched that a beggar can cause that much
disarrangement?
The man who knows that no contribution beyond his
ability has been imposed on him can indeed easily and with-
out difficulty fulfill the commandment. I am, of course,
aware that the slenderness of an estate obstructs a good will,
11 Matt. 6.20.
12 Luke 12.33.
HOMILIES
363
with the result that means are unavailable to carry through
a splendid plan. But, if we cannot promote projects of
greater moment, let us not pass over these which are small
and easy. 'Deal bread to the hungry, 9
Would anyone fail to heed these words with devotion,
even if he is oppressed with poverty, and if he sighs, over-
burdened with all the indigence? Otherwise, he is either
too much a beggar, or very vain, who in the giving of alms
is not content with the dispensation of the bread which
is dealt.
But, you object: 'Many possessions gradually dispensed
add up to a mass.' That is true. Yet, how great is that
in comparison to what the Lord says? C I shall give you a
hundredfold in return, and life everlasting besides. 313
However, you who offer a little portion of broken bread
with such reluctance, what would you do if you were asked
for a weight of gold, or a precious talent of silver, or some-
thing unbroken? I do not know if you who sigh so much
over so small a matter would ever redeem a captive for a
great price.
'He that hath mercy on the poor, lendeth to the Lord.' 14
Wherefore I advise, dearly beloved, that no one should
keep back a part of his riches from God. When God gives
back the reward for your mercy by His own multiplied
mercy to you, in return for your righteous labors, He does
not bestow a reward for your good works which is conferred
with reluctance. Therefore, let us not hesitate to give, or
hide our distribution. For, those who till the earth have
always had their chief hope of raising a good crop in this:
sowing seed in abundance.
13 Matt. 19J29.
14 Prov. 19.17.
364 SAINT VALERIAN
HOMILY 10
Parasites
( 1 ) Dearly beloved, as often as I found it necessary, in
accordance with my zeal for discipline, to treat the virtues
of good men to the embarrassment of the wicked, I bestowed
much praise upon friendships. I did this by placing the pur-
suit of fraternal union before you while I was praising
virtues one by one in accordance with their merits. This
pursuit, accompanied by peace and charity, promotes a life
of perfect religious living.
But, when I continually and diligently turned my atten-
tion to the causes of single events, and adapted the func-
tion of my sermon to those honorable pursuits, I discov-
ered much in those very friendships which displeased me.
In my praise of good men, I did not want to seem to
omit anything pertaining to discipline. So, among the sins
of enmity I also dared to find fault with friendship if
those can be called friendships in which some injury, pro-
voked by many wounds, is finding its way into action.
In regard to this matter, some men, to excuse away the
odium of this detestable error, perhaps pretend that this
is sport. They give the name of fun to cases which deserve
punishment. Let no one who has grown accustomed to such
insults bear this remark with any attitude he pleases. For
my part, I think friendships have escaped from every kind
of control in a case where it is not proper for an injured
man to show his anger, or for an angered man to be vin-
dicated. Dearly beloved, of two such men I do not know
whom to call more unfortunate: the one who lives by
deforming someone else, or the one who has prostituted
his body to wantonness and handed it over to mockery. In
HOMILIES 365
such cases, let no one cry out to me: 'Have patience. That
pain which is not being exacted because an injury has been
inflicted on the one who is angry does pertain to wantonness. 1
Perhaps, however, indulgence should be shown to those
whom poverty drags into every sort of insult, and whom un-
fortunate want compels to subject themselves to these count-
less blows. While these unfortunate men submit to necessity,
they acquiesce to indignities. Let it be granted that the case
of their regrettable poverty urges patience upon them. But,
what are we to think of those who get their entertainment
from this indignity suffered by others? What stage of friend-
ship is that which pain has fettered and injury has irritated?
What pleasure of familiarity can accrue to a man who must
daily pay his price in suffering?
(2) Dearly beloved, I indeed feel ashamed about the
embarrassment of those unfortunate persons whom that
hunger, base covetousness, has ensnared. But much more do
I sigh over the conduct and way of life of those among
whom a blameworthy friendship has killed regret, and a
love of familiarity which is bloodthirsty has driven joy away.
I deem those men unfortunate whose stomach is enticing
them to continual indignities, and whose appetite, which
will never gain them satisfaction from the cups, draws them
to endure an injury. Yet, I think those still more un-
fortunate who stir up fights by a friendly goading, and amid
the cups of flowing wine take their satisfaction from others'
blood.
Look, this man has prepared a banquet. He has assembled
crowds of flatterers by elaborate preparations in which he
took a delight. Among them, the appetite of the parasites
marches along. It customarily leads them to sell an injury
in return for wine, and in return for cups to repair their gar-
ments which were torn by many blows. Therefore you see
366 SAINT VALERIAN
how those men, who find their pleasure in having friend-
ships bloody, carry on their hate-provoking activities.
What is there that an unfortunate man may not get from
detestable wantonness? See, a man is made a spectacle be-
fore a man! To stir up a bit of mirth foul conversation is
asked for, or a disfigured countenance* While this man is
eating, his beard gets pulled; while that one is drinking, his
chair is pulled out from under him. This fellow eats from
wood easily split, that one drinks from a glass which is
easily broken. So great is the urge to laugh! Consequently,
these unfortunate men think that no banquet should pass
without fun; unless they diverted the garments of the guests
or the servings in the cups into the foods. How great, do
you think, are the miseries to which those deeds add up?
See, whatever loss these guests at the table produced is
some insatiable stomach's gain. He who is devoted to pleas-
ures of this kind either diminishes the reward for his efforts
by his drinking, or brings it to nothing by getting a whipping.
(3) These censures should be applied above all to those
activities which reduce the state of friendship and familiar-
ity to so base a service, just for a little fun. In far better con-
dition is a state of service to a master which consists in a
command to stand at readiness, in obedience to an assigned
duty. One in service like this has a place where he can
laugh among those who recline at table, yet those who
await his service do not hold him to any guilt of sin.
Look, someone has arranged the cups in a line equipped
with daggers. A contest of words is soon held, and the victory
is eagerly awaited. The contest does not end until all the
daggers of the cups are moistened with abundant tears.
To wait in eagerness for the fights of one's unhappy
friends that is to defile a banquet rather than to improve
it. Can the name of friend be given in truth to those who
HOMILIES 367
give services such as captives are forced to give, who eat
their meal in the manner of gladiators? Amid all the novel
foods and flowing wines, whatever is cheaper or acrid is
given to this unlucky fellow, so that it is uncertain whether
it would be better to go hungry or thirsty in this abundance
of viands.
Clearly, captivity in dark dungeons brings less exposure
to ridicule. In them a man endures the hard yoke of domi-
nation, yet he gets some solace from the necessity of the
situation. He who must unwillingly remain in servitude
has nothing to blush about. But I should like to know this,
dearly beloved. How does the injury which disfigures some-
one else give recreation to the man who is looking for it
to occur? Perhaps some lovers of this conduct assert that
these things are done in fun just as though there were
a lack of reasons why men should refrain from seeking these
indignities.
(4) If you so desire, I shall show you some amusements
which are not improper. They can easily banish the gloom of
a drooping spirit.
Look at the little tots. How enjoyable are those first
words they form, when a half-formed word emits the
name 'mother,' and the grunt of a syllable deep in the lit-
tle throat begins the word 'father.' Who lacks fun there,
when, in those difficult efforts to speak, the clumsy little
tongue tricks the struggling lips and the quivering mouth
has indistinctly pronounced the words it drops?
If, however, you have your delight in spectacular dis-
plays, you have those of the horses. Sometimes these races
are dangerous, but they are always enthralling when the
animals speed up their pace at the whips, and sniff the
wind or fear it.
Far from small, too, are the pleasures derived from hunt-
368 SAINT VALERIAN
ing trips, and the contests stirred up by the dogs contests
which involve no dangers or loss. Here is one dog in a race.
With rivaling pace it is pressing a long-eared hare. There is
another dog. With sensitive nostrils it is following the tracks
of a hiding deer.
However, these pursuits should be abandoned in an age
in which, through renewal of the ancient error, wantonness
is flourishing again. Surely, something else benefits us whom
our Christ has encompassed with His laws, whom He has
segregated from that folly of superstitious paganism. Never-
theless, we do not lack shows to relieve our weariness. They
give sufficient delight to a soul troubled with its cares.
(5) Let us put before our eyes those struggles which
the martyrs fought. Let us fasten our attention on the ex-
amples of their admirable virtues. Then, as you will observe,
the sighs of unfortunate souls soon will give place to grow-
ing joy.
To whom will no joy accrue from that conflict in which
the just parties gain the victory, in that conflict which the
fierce foe arranged by bringing up all his instruments of
torture for the persecution of the saints? Who will not smile,
who will not be joyful, when he sees the soldier of our
Christ exulting in his tortures? When the originator of the
persecution blushes, and the torturer through weariness
ceases to inflict the blows?
If, perhaps, some one of you finds his pleasure in listen-
ing to beautiful songs, let him direct his eager heart to
widened interests, and take in the singing of the Prophets'
psalms. Let these joyful and divinely inspired psalms ever
well forth from our mouths. We thus win the favor of
Christ, who wanted us in honoring His name to exult
continually because of the hope of salvation which He re-
stored to us. Let this be the exultation of our heart : to rejoice
day and night in the Lord.
HOMILIES 369
To exult means this: to keep the commandments of the
Lord with our whole soul. He keeps the commandments who
guards his life from every infection of vice. He is thus guard-
ing his life who shows fidelity to his neighbors, loves peace,
and cultivates friendships. To cultivate friendships means to
restrain others' irascibility by one's own habitual moderation,
to check others' seething tempers by one's own patience. If
in this way you lead a life of self-control and win the ap-
proval of our Christ in regard to all these matters which
we have mentioned, you will walk without blame among
others at the Judgment to come.
HOMILY 11
The Attribution of All Our Good Works to God
(On 1 Cor. 1.26-31)
(1) Dearly beloved, those 1 are in error who think that
the improvements of our lives come from our own effort
and that merits for virtues can be stored up without the
aid of Almighty God. For, if our being good arises from
ourselves alone, why do we find ourselves subject to vices?
1 The Pelagians and the Semi-Pelagians. Cf. above, Homily 7. Almost
all of this homily, especially sections 1 and 3, forms an interest-
ing treatise on the necessity of grace for the performance of salutary
acts. Cf. Raynaud's remarks in PL 52.789-792. St. Valerian clearly
states that we need God's help for the performance of all or any
good works. Although he- does not seem to be professedly engaging
in controversy with the Semi-Pelagians, he is here teaching his flock
a doctrine which is inconsistent with Semi-Pelagianism, and which
in general tenor is very similar to the condemnations of Semi-
Pelagianism enacted later at the Council of Orange and confirmed
by Pope Boniface II in 529. Cf. Denzinger, Enchiridion symbolorum,
nos. 176-180.
370 SAINT VALERIAN
If everything which can improve or save man comes from
ourselves, why are we held fast by the necessity of dying?
Clearly, he exceeds all the bounds of sacrilegious supersti-
tion who in the case of works of justice takes out the part
of God. From God have we received the spirit of wisdom.
He controls the whole man, and enkindles the minds of
mortal men to every good work. Whatever comes down
from that abode of justice is of Him.
Consequently, all 2 the excellences of our efforts should
be ascribed to God, in order that He may not annul the
gifts of the Holy Spirit. It is a vice of excessive presumption
for the soldier alone to wish to gain the palm of victory
when the commander, too, is fighting.
You certainly can, if you wish, recognize to whom good
and evil deeds should be respectively imputed. The Prophet
says in one place: 'Thou hast done well with thy servant,
O Lord/ 3 and in another place: The fool has said in his
heart: there is no God.' 4 Therefore, you see that we ought
to attribute our good works to God and evil ones to our
human customs. For, just as good deeds are originated
through the care of the Lord, so evil ones spring from the
Devil as their author.
(2) However, that you may understand that life is a
gift of God and that death is under the Devil's power,
listen to the Evangelist: 'Come, my children, take possession
with me of the kingdom promised to you from the founda-
tion of the world. I was hungry and you gave me to eat.' 5
To the others Christ says: 'Depart from me, accursed ones,
into the everlasting fire, because you did not give me to
2 Omma . , . laborum insignia: all the excellences therefore, even the
beginnings of faith should be ascribed to God. St. Valerian here pro-
fesses doctrine incompatible with Semi-Pelagianism.
3 Ps. 118.65.
4 Ps. 13.1.
5 Mau. 25.34,35,41.
HOMILIES 371
eat.' You see, therefore, that good acts are serviceable for
heaven, and evil acts are consigned to the pits of hell.
There is a division of our actions. When we do well, we
belong to Christ. When we do evil, we pass over into the
power of the Devil. The Lord never abandons a person whose
good will is steadfastly devoted to religion. Divine consola-
tions are not wanting where there are deeds of right living.
The good deserts us, then, when evil takes place, because
without doubt we are deprived of God's help after we
occupy ourselves with desires of iniquity.
Therefore, when God our Saviour is assisting us, the Devil's
power of domination is certainly absent. But, when the
Lord of virtues has withdrawn, the foe easily enters that
unoccupied room. Consequently, there is one hope of our
salvation: to impute the series of our evil deeds to ourselves,
and that of our good ones to the powers of God. He who
does not merit the consolations of the divine majesty soon
has himself under the Devil's dominating power.
(3) Therefore, we should place our hope in the Lord,
that we may be good; when we have become good, we
should take pride in the Lord. Listen to the Apostle's words :
'What hast thou that thou hast not received? If thou hast
received it, why dost thou boast as if thou hadst not re-
ceived it?' 6
This is the perfect way to take that pride in our acts, to
take that pride because of the Lord with whom the crown
of virtues is stored up for those who conquer. Indeed, a man
should take pride in himself when, for the name of the Lord,
some voluntary suffering has come his way, but this pride
has this fruit if it earns its effect through the help of Christ. 7
For, on this point, the Prophet said: 'Unless the Lord build
6 1 Cor. 4.7.
7 This is another strong statement incompatible with Semi-Pelagianism.
372 SAINT VALERIAN
the house, they labor in vain that build it. They watch in
vain who keep it.' 8
You see, therefore, that without the Lord that which is
good cannot be built, and that which has been built cannot
be guarded. The building of this divine house is the matter
of building our life, and our life should be fortified by the
help of the divine majesty.
Consequently, we should continually beg our Christ to foster
good things in us, and to guard those which have been fos-
tered. And may He so move the seat of our understanding
that He does attribute to the power of heavenly glory every-
thing in us which is good.
(4) It is a species of folly for a man under the power
of someone else to deem that which he has done to be his
own. Look how this fellow now glories in his riches, now
sighs in his poverty. If our goods are under our own control,
why does not our penury cease at our desire, or our wealth
remain? This man is now elated with the vigor of health,
now vexed with the pain of sickness. If the health of our life
were under the power of man, the beggar would never be
in danger, and the sick man would not die.
Let each one think again about the origins of his own life.
Let him seek out the Maker of the human race. Who formed
the body, who joined its members together, who caused
earthly elements to grow for human use? Did not the Lord
establish all these matters through His planning wisdom?
Since, therefore, it is not through ourselves that we exist,
how is it through ourselves that we possess? It is a species
of folly to owe the gift of life itself to another, and attribute
to yourself its adornment with virtues. Look! This man is
exalted with honor; that man flatters himself over the in-
tegrity of his body. This man ascribes his riches to his own
8 Ps. 126.1.
HOMILIES 373
efforts; that man assigns his knowledge of doctrine to his
protracted vigils.
We cannot deny that the practice of vigilance adds im-
provements to religious living. But God is there, where the
vigorous desire of a full religious life is present. That is
what the Apostle says: 'Do you seek a proof of the Christ
who speaks to me?' 9 Where God's help is not sought, human
effort is on a pretty weak foundation. Faith is without doubt
in danger if it is not strengthened by God's fostering care.
Therefore, it is ours to wish good, but Christ's to bring its
accomplishment. 10 That is the Apostle's teaching: 'To wish
is within my power, but I do not find the strength to accom-
plish the good. 511 So, you see that the desiring of a good
work ought to come from ourselves, but bringing it to com-
pletion lies in the power of God.
But, why should any mortal man attribute the doing of
good to his own effort alone, since the Prophet states the
following: There is none that doth good, no not one'? 12 Does
not the Evangelist also teach 13 that there is not anyone good
except God alone? Therefore you see that if we sometimes
9 2 Cor. 13.3.
10 This statement clearly can mean that we have some part in co-
operating with the grace of God. But, if it is taken apart from its
context and the doctrine propounded in this entire homily, this
statement, like St. Paul's in Rom. 7.18, can be interpreted to be
Semi-Pelagianism: \Ve can ourselves begin a good work, but only by
God's help can we bring it to completion. The statement taken
apart from context, along with others similary taken (listed by
Raynaud in PL 52.765-770), formed the basis of the charge of
Semi-Pelagianism against St. Valerian. Such a procedure endeavors
to put the worst of two possible interpretations on an author's
words. In PL 52.689-692, Sinnond lists similar statements from Sts.
John Chrysostom, Jerome, Augustine, and other Fathers which,
if taken according to this procedure, would show these Fathers to
be Semi-Pelagians.
11 Rom. 7.18.
12 Ps. 13.3.
13 Matt. 19.17.
374 SAINT VALERIAN
seem good we are carrying into effect a goodness from God.
Listen to the Apostle: 'You are the Temple of God, if
indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you.' 14 Clearly, we are
a temple of God but when we are doing good. If a man
is a temple of God, then that which we have in the temple
is necessarily of God.
(5) But we have spoken the above matters to good men.
There is no temple of God where there is a multitude of
vices. Where crimes are abundant the Devil is in power.
Clearly, riches with all their display are referred to the
one who claims ownership in a large house. We function
in the place of an administrator. If a gain is made, it will
be referred to the Master. If a loss is sustained, it will be
a contribution to the administrator's downfall. For, what-
ever a servant in a master's power has elaborated is neces-
sarily the master's. The servant receives gratitude for his
efforts, but he owes to his master the gain from the task
he completed. Money is entrusted to a profitable servant for
this purpose, that the gains of a doubled profit may be added
to the master's account.
(6) Wherefore, consider men's customary manner of living.
Then you will understand that it is for this purpose that
money is entrusted to a profitable servant: to have gains
of doubled yield added to the master's account. That is
what the Evangelist states, in the following passage, about
him who brought the gain of doubled 15 money to his master
returning from afar: 'Well done, good and faithful servant;
because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will
set thee over many; enter into the joy of thy master.' 16
Thus, the master is praised in the person of his good
servant, and the good servant is lauded in the person of
14 1 Cor. 3.16.
15 Reading duplicates; cf. PL 52.727, note a.
16 Matt. 25.23.
HOMILIES '613
his master. Consequently, we should take care not to ascribe
to our own virtues whatever pertains to the glory of a good
work. We know that the crown of victory is gained not by
boasting, but through faith and the acknowledgment of
the Lord's passion. The practice of good works has a rela-
tion to these. This is that money to which, as we have said,
the benefits of the heavenly kingdom have a relation. This
is that business trading, doubled by its yield of just profit. This
is that reward due to merits and promised to the blessed in
return for their works.
(7) Therefore, let our piety be increased, and also our
faith, mercy, and goodness, in order that we may enter into
the joy of the Lord our God when He comes to settle the
accounts with His servants. We can easily get this if we
keep the commandments of heaven till death.
But, to be judged worthy of the reward, we should not
work listlessly. Honorable results easily follow upon acts of
justice if, however, base desires do not fill the soul. Those
desires easily fade away into the winds if we do not seek
after the consolations of God.
Therefore, whoever finds himself placed in this state of liv-
ing religiously, in which man's salvation consists, should
not be elated with the glory of his sanctity. Rather, let him
attribute the fruit of his effort to the Lord, who stores up
the heavenly gifts for each one in proportion to his merits.
Therefore, 'Let him who takes pride, take pride in the
Lord.' 17
Dearly beloved, we should strive with all diligence that
our pure faith should recommend our life to the Lord in
such a way that human pride may claim nothing for itself,
or attribute anything to its own efforts. He who has attrib-
17 1 Cor. 1.31.
376 SAINT VALERIAN
uted the fruit of holiness to his own powers has lost all
his labor.
HOMILY 12
The Preservation of Peace
(On Matt. 5.38-48)
(I) There are, perhaps, some eager with spiteful words
to disparage any manifestation of good will. They attribute
it to fear or cowardice if a man sometimes withdraws from
a fight, or, when exasperated by injuries, has recourse to
extreme patience because of his love of peace.
The admonition in the Gospel passage ought to suffice
for the refutation of such judgments of a depraved mind.
However, we shall pursue proof of these matters in our
humble sermon, as far as we can. In accordance with the
zeal with which we devote ourselves to charity, we shall
promote with suitable desires whatever the fullness of religion
requires. We shall do this although I am aware that many,
whose love has been thwarted, serve the Old Law so
devotedly that they attack with hate any measure which a
care to preserve peace suggests.
The very message we are going to convey is proved by
many testimonies of Scripture. In this passage the Lord
states: 'Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you.' 1
I have no doubt that some deem it quite useless and impos-
sible to return love for enmity, and gratitude for contumely.
Truly, it is difficult, dearly beloved, to keep anger from
seething in every part of our body after we have received an
insult. Yet it is characteristic of a wise man either to bear
1 Matt. 5.44.
HOMILIES 377
this additional pain patiently or to temper it with soothing
applications. But, to overcome hatred by benefits that is
unlimited virtue. For, among men, that one gains the palm
of perfect virtue who prepares cups of sweet honey in return
for poison.
(2) Thus, the first degree of love is to nourish charitable
affection by means of friendship, but to pay back hatred
with love is the summit of perfect love. That first degree
is ascribed to acts of kindness; this latter is attributed to
acts of virtue. To the summit of perfect love we add, be-
sides, that statement of Scripture which says: 'If thy enemy
is hungry, give him food; if he is thirsty, give him drink;
for by so doing thou wilt heap coals of fire upon his head.' 2
Therefore whoever you are, afflicted with an injury which
sprang from someone's insolence, and goaded by grief
excited by contumely if you wish to be perfect, check the
anger of your spirit by moderation, and through the good
of patience keep away from yourslf the grudges which base
indignation engenders. Or, surely, if your desire to exact
vengeance is so great, show yourself merciful in the case of
those who are unaware that the salvation of one's soul
depends upon the perfection of love.
Perhaps hatreds are balanced against hatreds, and an in-
jury is paid back to make up for a crime. To provoke a
brother to anger is indeed a crime, but for the one provoked
to be unremitting is something disgraceful. That is the way
the germs of hatred produce their most luxuriant fruits of
iniquity and work the punishments of crimes. When the
originator of a quarrel is ashamed to make satisfaction to
his brother and an injured man to the just man to the
extent he demands, one of them seeks revenge in a law
court for the injury inflicted.
2 Rom. 12,20.
3/8 SAINT VALERIAN
;3 ; See, dearly beloved, you have heard the fruits by
which the promotion of peace brings joy. Now learn how
great are the crimes for which hatreds are blamed. For,
the Lord says, as the Evangelist states: 'He who hates his
brother is a murderer.' 3 You see the retribution of each party.
The latter man incurs the stain of homicide because he
hates his brother; the former [who promotes peace] has
compensation prepared for him because of a little alms.
Reflect and see with how much honor of peace and quiet
friendship surrounds you, and how much favor it shows,
if you struggle against enmity by love. 'Love your enemies.'
Less by far is the merit if you love one who loves you.
For, he who loves another man who does not love back
is doing something to improve the other's conduct, but he
who loves one who does love back is improving his own
behavior. Of two men, the charm of charity necessarily
belongs to him who was the first to manifest the affection
of love; he who loves back one who already loves him is
but returning what is due. There is no new merit where
another's service has preceded. When gifts are returned for
gifts, or services for services previously given, that is not to
be regarded as a matter of perfection.
"If thy enemy is hungry, give him food.' 4 Did He say: 'If
thy friend is hungry give him food?' No, give food to your
enemy, for your friend himself supplies himself so as not
to be hungry. What can your alms accomplish there, where
friendship is gratifying to a friend?
(4) But, let us see the difference between him who gives
food to a needy friend and him who feeds a hungry enemy.
The former pays a debt of gratitude; the latter gives an
example of mercy and virtue. It is, in truth, praiseworthy
3 1 John 3.15.
4 Rom. 12.20.
HOMILIES 379
to give food to a needy brother, but something more im-
portant to succor an enemy in his need.
"Love your enemies.' Perhaps one smarting under an in-
jury will think those words little consonant with reason.
But let this man, whoever he is, look once more to the
peace of his own life, and he will understand that to have
loved one's enemy is to have won a victory. Unlimited
danger hovers over a man when the Devil, that master of
strife, has armed for a fight two men who rival each other
in their fury. It is his wont to convey bitter remarks, and
then carry them back again, in order to stir up hatreds.
However, if provocation is stirring a man to indignation,
when does he pass a day without tribulation, or when does
his night run its course without wicked thoughts? Suppose
that a man always finds it necessary to think about and
fear someone he has harmed. Clearly, he will never lead a
life free from suspicion.
With the greatest care harsh pains should be assuaged by
the soothing medication of words, in order that even hard-
ness of heart may grow milder when softened by the desire
of peace. In this connection, I deem those happy who with
a set mouth shut in the words on their lips. Mindful of
the heavenly precepts, they do not draw forth the insults
lurking in another's language. For, hatreds die when an
injury is not pondered; anger has no power if the voice of
one person is lacking in a quarrel. Consequently, a double
victory awaits patience: a man has overcome the impulses
of his own temper and restrained the conduct of another.
(5) We know, dearly beloved, that sometimes in a verbal
quarrel ears are hurt and hearts emit deep sighs. But, the
man who broods upon the words of a contentious adversary
injures himself. He who complains that someone's remarks
were directed against himself is but staining himself.
380 SAINT VALERIAN
The full victory is to keep silent when another shouts,
to make no reply when he provokes. Then you get the
reward both for your own patience and for your brother's
correction, if insult is consigned to oblivion. But, when words
follow upon words, fuel is supplied to a fire.
Just as nothing is more disgraceful than to reply to mad-
men, so nothing is more useful than to keep silent before
provoked men. For, enmities grow much if one man de-
fends himself with words, and meanwhile another is challeng-
ing what he says. There will be no end to enmities unless
we give in to the angered persons for a while.
Perhaps you say: There is no blame if you do what
the Prophet states: "Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth,
and a door around my lips." ' 5 If you do not wish to suf-
fer an injury, tie up the plectrum of your mouth, and stop
up your ears to prevent your angered brother's words from
reaching you. Or, surely, if they do reach you, let them
be an occasion of your silence. Thus, the fury which he
conceived will lose its force, if one of you keeps silent and
lets the other rave alone.
(6) Hear the Apostle's words: 'Love does no evil to a
neighbor. 36 Do you wish to know what that evil is which
shuts out the charm of brotherly love? hatreds, quarrels,
grudges, fights, rivalries. These vices brand the whole course
of the present life with disgrace. He who devotes himself
to charity is freed from this evil. The ruin which vices
bring on has no place in him who spurns hatreds and
cherishes his unimpaired affection for charity.
See, the Evangelist adds something to increase love : 'Love
thy neighbor as thyself. 97 Let us see who that neighbor is
whom the Evangelist so warmly recommends. The Prophet
5 Ps. 140.3.
6 Rom. 13.10.
7 Matt. 22.39.
HOMILIES 381
did not thus set forth the degree of relationship or the bond
of consanguinity in order to exclude foreigners from the
benefit of brotherly love. Your neighbor is every man who
is united to you by the common bond of Christianity.
Your neighbor is he who is not seen to be excluded from
communion with the Church. Your neighbor is whoever is
neighbor to Christ. Therefore, he who loves his neighbor
loves God. And he who thus loves God should venerate
the neighbor of His Christ.
The Prophet said in praise of fraternal charity: 'Behold
how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell to-
gether in unity.' 8 What good is there in the life of men
except peace, in which upright pursuits make progress and
religious activities are fostered? What is more joyful than
all nations serving the one God in peace, and the prayers of
all people converging to the praise of the one Lord?
To dwell together in unity is this: to believe in God, and
faithfully to remain in the one Son of God. This is the
one profitable and joyful union for mortal men: our not
dividing, as the heretics do, the Father from the Son, or
the Son from the Father, or the Holy Spirit from both, but,
rather, our believing that these three names are distributed
among the Persons, and that the Persons rejoice in the
participation of the one Godhead. Thus it comes to pass
that, when there is agreement unto unity, there will be
no shattering of charity in the Church.
( 7 ) Therefore, dearly beloved, let us always shun hatreds.
But, to be able to shun them, let us above all shun their
causes. First, let envy cease; it inflames the tempers of
men to every sort of strife. During a quarrel of persons,
let no one defame the lineage of another. There is no one
free from blame for insolence of language. The growth of
8 Ps. 132.1.
382 SAINT VALERIAN
grudges through controversy is above all to be guarded
against, for irremediable enmity often arises from controversy.
In this connection there is need of patience; you will not
practice it without fruit to your own salvation. For, just
as the great blame of a grave sin awaits him who injures
his brother, so a huge crown of virtue brings protection to
you if you refrain from anger over an injury received. If
you completely overlook insults and have mercy on others'
weaknesses, you have the full spirit of love.
We know that some men find it glorious to await with
favoring eyes penalties of body or losses of wretched re-
sources. But let these, if such there are, listen to the Lord:
'Pray for those who calumniate you.' 9 After receiving an
insult, many prepare another in return, and in the spirit
of the robber they look for a place of revenge. And where
is that which the Lord uttered: To no man render evil for
evil'? 10 Furthermore, to keep anger from appropriating some-
thing to itself, He took away even the hope of permission to
revenge, when he said: 'Vengence is mine; I will repay,
says the Lord.' 11
Wherefore, let each one forgive his brother from his heart.
Let no one harbor a grudge; let no one seek revenge with
unrelenting anger. Let your conversation with your enemy
be always courteous and faultless. Let detractions cease, and
also quarrels. Thus will your enemy be loved by you if
you are not always adding a reason for which he flames up
in anger.
9 Malt, 5.44.
10 Rom. 12.17.
11 Rom. 12.19.
HOMILIES 383
HOMILY 13
The New Law as the Complement of the Old
(On Matt. 5.38-48)
( 1 ) Dearly beloved, perhaps some men think that it is to
the detriment of great good that the justice of the Law re-
ceived from the ancients, which its violators deem quit harsh,
has been suppressed. They infer this from the Lord's statement
in the Gospel: 'Love your enemies, do good to those who
hate you, and pray for those who calumniate you.' 1
Dearly beloved, he who thinks that goodness is not linked
to justice has a rather cruel outlook, since Providence has
but one and the same plan, namely, to check evil men by
goodness, and to protect good men by the obligation which
law imposes.
Have recourse, then, to holy David. You will find that
one Power is the source of justice and of goodness. David
speaks thus in one psalm: Thou art good, O Lord; and
in thy goodness teach me thy justifications.' 2 So, dearly be-
loved, let no one deem this description of the Law to be
anything else than the mingling of goodness and dutifulness.
When dutifulness attends to disciplinary control, she estab-
lishes the norms of human acts, and when aroused by evil
intentions she restrains daring hearts with severity. In order
to know that nothing has been taken away from the Old
Law, listen to the Lord: 'I have not come to destroy the
Law, but to fulfill. 53
(2) Not without reason, dearly beloved, did our Christ
want the precepts of the Old and New Testaments to form
1 Matt. 5.44.
2 Ps. 118.68.
3 Matt. 5.17.
384 SAINT VALERIAN
one corpus. He was aware that neither one could stand
without aid from the other. Truly, this is the case. Where
severity exists on the part of the judge, there must always
be a tempering through goodness.
Dearly beloved, every cup which aids medicine in bring-
ing hope of human health has a mixture of bitter and
sweet ingredients. If some physician, unskilled in his art,
cannot mix them properly while he is compounding a
remedy, he prepares fatal poison for the sick. If the physi-
cian does not know how to mix the acrid juices from the
plants with proper proportions of water, the medicine is but
something else to increase the pains already within the
patient.
Dearly beloved, that is also the case with the Law which
governs our Christian duties. It has been composed of bit-
ter and sweet ingredients, that is, the prescriptions of the
Old Law and the present one. As it is now composed, its
words are unpleasant for sinners, but full of sweetness for
the just, to such extent that it promises a heavenly king-
dom to the just, but threatens the fire of hell to the sinners.
In regard to keeping this Law, if anyone is wise and knows
how, by an addition of humility and peace, to preserve the
correct proportions in the mixture, he will not thereafter
suffer any injury from the stricter Law. For, just as it is
easy to mitigate every bitter potion with the sweetness of
honey, so it is also easy to temper the bitterness of the Old
Law by means of honorable deeds.
(3) Consequently, if any one of you loves justice, let him
be devoted to the commandments 4 of both Testaments, and
let him observe the new precepts in such a way that he
does not overlook the enactments of ancient times. Thus
will you fulfill the law of Christ, if you subtract no part of
4 Reading mandatis, with La Bigne.
HOMILIES 385
the truth derived from the ancient or the present enactments.
What wise man would deny that the working of justice is
the fruit of goodness, when he hears the Prophet say this?
*It is good for me that thou hast humbled me, that I may
learn thy justifications.' 5 I have no doubt that there are
some, dearly beloved, who in the light of this statement
think that that justice can stand as perfect which states:
'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' 6 That justice did indeed
reign for a long time among the men of the world, but for this
reason, that the Author of goodness had not yet come.
What sort of justice do you think that was which pro-
duced that one injury, death? If our Christ had not mingled
the oil of mercy into those bloody laws, that is, if He had
not truly fulfilled a justice without guile and brought His
doctrine of goodness, even till now there clearly would be no
end of that penalty.
Therefore, dearly beloved, let us who have been instructed
by this information mitigate the bitterness of the Old Law
by our pursuit of love, in order that the man who gives an
exchange [of good] in return for an injury may not seem
to have exceeded the measure of perfect justice.
(4) Look, the Evangelist states: 'Love your enemies. 3
Perhaps some think it absurd to repay contumely with love.
It is not impossible to love an enemy if you think of the
benefit to your own interests.
'Love your enemies.' Let no one think that by reason of
this commandment he is conferring some benefit on his
enemy. He who loves his enemy loves himself. For, the man
who has stayed a robber's right hand by giving him the
booty of a gift has in reality spared himself. The man who
met an armed foe by entreaties, and by some negotiation
5 Ps. 118.71.
6 Lev. 24:20; Matt. 5.38.
386 SAINT VALERIAN
has tried to save face for the fighter, has protected his own
body. For, to have won the battle by offering a quantity of
gold is evidently a part of the victory.
'Love your enemies.' This is to love one's enemies: to
make no reply in the face of hatreds, to bear the reception
of contumely patiently, to forgive an insult either inflicted
by a hand or stirred up by stinging words. That is what
the Lord states: 'To him who strikes thee on the right
cheek, offer to him also the left.' 7 I know that the word
'offer 3 is repugnant to some who do not know how to avoid
quarrels, and how to ward off the imminent retaliations of
torture by means of moderation.
(5) However, what patience bestows on one contestant,
if the other alone insanely raves, is something indefinitely
great. Just as the one who fights back stirs up doubled
blows against himself, so does he who restrains his hand
when another is striking win the gain from a greater struggle.
'Do good to those that hurt you. 5 The first degree is that
we have mentioned, that you love your enemy. The second
degree is that you do him good. In the first degree, affection
is inculcated; in the second degree, a work of mercy is
asked for. For, it is one thing to love an enemy, and another
to help him. The favor of your love avails your enemy little
if you suffer him whom you say that you love to go hungry.
Hear Paul's statement: 'If thy enemy is hungry, give
him food; if he is thirsty, give him drink; for by doing so
thou wilt heap coals of fire upon his head.' 8 Here, as far
as I see, mercy is acting as a servant for a kind of cruelty.
Therefore, why does not he who is waiting for the time to
work the vengeance which he promised be free from care
and spend his money on his enemies? He who hesitates to
7 Matt. 5.39.
8 Rom. 1250.
HOMILIES 387
be merciful without doubt fails to know the way to vent
his anger. It is clearly beyond expected happiness to have
saved one's enemy and by it to have avenged an injury.
In this passage the text continues: Tray for those who
calumniate you. 3 No doubt, the Lord is here admonishing
us about experiencing a feigned sentiment. He knew that
a love consisting in words, and an expenditure of payment,
even though it is generous, often becomes irksome. In this
way, therefore, you show that you willingly made your alms
your avenger, if by suppliant prayer you commend to the
heavenly Physician the wounds which your enemy inflicted,
and by copious tears you beg help for his salvation.
'Love your enemies.' If we are commanded to love our
enemies, in what state do you think that man is, who with-
out provocation of insult pursues a brother with vicious
attacks? I think that it is about this man that the Apostle
says: c He who hates his brother is a murderer.' 9 Truly, he
who persecutes an innocent man in hatred does act as if
he had killed a man.
(6) However, let us see who those are whom St. John
deemed worthy of damnation because of fraternal hatred.
They are, I think, those of whom the Prophet said: 'Their
heart has been struck with envy. 310 They are those who
start fights against themselves, and burn their houses with
a fire of their own making. The flame of conflagration is
kept shut inside their own heart. For, here, where there is
no quarrel with another party, there is not anything which
ought to be blamed upon somebody else. It is among persons
mutually provoked in conflict that almost all cases and
hatreds grow bitter. Look at this, if the situation can be
imagined: We have an accused man, and no one to accuse
9 1 John 5.15.
10 This statement is not in Scripture. Envy is disparaged in Wisd, 14.24
and in Eccli. 31.16.
388 SAINT VALERIAN
him. Consequently, we have a man who ought to be pun-
ished, and we find no one who ought to be vindicated.
I deem that man clearly happy whose life remains honor-
able even under the gaze of another who is scrutinizing it
with grim eyes. A man who is sustaining envy from an-
other has his own case in a rather favorable position, for
men envy only those better off than themselves. Only those
whom better progress has raised to the pinnacles of life are
subject to envy.
But I deem those \\orse than wretched who are disquieted
when others gain happiness, and whom anger disturbs by
those occult javelins of the heart after they have conceived
a base rivalry. Well, indeed, do their own weapons punish
them. Envy itself seems to me to have some power of dis-
cernment, since it strikes back at the heart of its own author,
and with its bloodthirsty spite consumes that abode of a
bad conscience.
( 7 } First of all, therefore, we should disparage envy. Once
conceived in the mind, it works painful results. When our
eyes happen upon the splendor of another's happiness, let
the zeal of emulation take hold of us, not that of envy,
according to the Apostle's advice: 'Strive after the better
gifts.' 11
Clearly, he who without envy strives to match another
man's goods takes nothing away from true friendship. He
who strives after the better gifts because of another man's
example does him no injury.
Therefore, if anyone is wise, let him imitate the fruits
of justice, devote himself to the practice of continence, and
acquire the charm of humility. Let him in emulous love so
run with the good men that he may obtain the better gifts,
looking often on the Apostle's words: 'So run as to obtain.' 12
11 1 Cor. 12.31.
12 1 Cor. 9.24.
HOMILIES 389
Therefore, if anyone is stirred by another's glory, let him
run after the good men, and let him strive to obtain. I even
allow him to precede them, provided only that he is strug-
gling without envy in his soul. That is truly a practice of
unspotted virtue: to conquer a better man without injury
to him.
Assuredly, let us yield place to the proud, but only to
conquer ourselves by humility. Let not the gain which ac-
crues from the warfare of secularistic living provoke us to
emulation. Let the attractive pomp of their riches remain
to those who have the care of their descendants so much
in mind, despite the fact that he who cultivates mercy gains
far more and stores it up for himself.
However, there is no safer course than to store away a
portion of one's resources in the mouths of the poor. That
is what Scripture tells us. The Lord says: 'He who sows
sparingly will also reap sparingly.' 13 You defraud yourself
of whatever you hold back. Therefore, dearly beloved, let us
dispense much, that we may gather the multiplied fruits of
mercy.
The money kept in a bag gains nothing. If it is put out
in trade, a little later it comes back quadrupled. Whatever
you give to the poor you do without doubt put out at
interest. This interest will yield you its returns later on when
the labors of every man will be evaluated and multiplied
honor conferred. Retribution for their work will come to
all men, both those whom their religious faith adorns and
those whom their generosity commends. That is what the
Evangelist states : 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall
be called children of God/ 14
Consequently, dearly beloved, let us have a care, first,
of peace, and second, of mercy. Let our hearts suggest nothing
13 2 Cor. 9.6.
14 Matt. 5.9.
390 SAINT VALERIAN
false to our lips, and let our mouths utter nothing ambiguous.
We should be mindful of that statement which tells us:
'Do not do to another what thou wouldst not want done
to thee by another.' 15 This is what we have spoken about,
that perfect love which makes up the affection of integral
love.
Therefore, if you obediently observe what the fullness of
the Law requires, it will come about that the severity of
the Old Law will have no power over you.
HOMILY 14
Humility
(On James 4.6)
( 1 ) Dearly beloved, to bestow public praise on the merits
of virtues whenever there is need always entails some detri-
ment to something else. For, when one praises what is
better, he is disapproving what is worse. Without doubt, a
fool thinks that he is attracting some notice if he departs
from a court of good men with praise for being wise.
But, what are we to do? We can neither set forth good
things in orderly fashion without inveighing against the bad,
nor deplore the bad without mentioning the good. There-
fore, if anyone feels he receives an insult through our work
of preaching, surely he will be forgiving. The bettter thing
is that evils should flee, conscious of their shame if it be
only for this, that praiseworthy matters come to notice.
Hence it is that the two subjects come to one: humility
and pride. The nature of things makes it impossible to ex-
plain one of them without shame to the other, since the
15 Tob, 4,16.
HOMILIES 391
one is embarrassed over its own deeds, the other over an-
other's. Therefore we must tell you how much usefulness
humility carries with it, that you may know how much
unhappiness goes with pride. We should explain how great
are the hatreds brought forth by pride, that you may learn
how much love the charm of humility attracts. Thus, each
of you can more easily know what he ought either to cor-
rect or to choose in his own case.
The dominance of pride should not be deplored in such
a way that the charm of humility is passed over. Nor should
humility get so much preference that nothing is said about
the vices of pride. What good is it to know the cause of
an illness if you do not know the remedy? What does it
profit to know the aid good health furnishes if there is no
care to check apathy?
(2) Hear Scripture on these matters: 'God gives grace
to the humble, but resists the proud.' 1 Learn now, dearly
beloved, what retribution each party gets, and you will un-
derstand what you ought to love and what to hate. See,
the one man is invited to grace in proportion to his
love of humility, and the other is consigned to punishment
in proportion to his sin of pride. Therefore, if the swell-
ing of pride is taking place in anyone, let him repress it,
lest he draw the arms of heavenly justice against himself.
He who must strive against a higher power hardly lives with-
out danger to his life. Therefore, we should bend our soul
toward all humility, that we may have an opportunity of
gaining grace with the Lord.
You can understand how grave the fault of swelling pride
is, and how necessary it is that it be checked by so much
care of God. Well indeed does humility remain ever un-
harmed, for one who has no reason to fight cannot be de-
1 James 4.6.
392 SAINT VALERIAN
feated. But pride is exposed both to hatreds and to dangers.
One who inflicts an insult can hardly escape a fight. But
we easily keep every need of incurring this danger away
from ourselves if we fight against the vices of pride by
humility. 'God gives grace to the humble, but resists the
proud. 3
(3) Dearly beloved, if you diligently investigate all the
sins by which we have begun to displease God from the
beginning of the world, you will discover that pride was
the source of all vices. You will also easily understand how
humility won heavenly esteem and pride incurred divine
displeasure. The lot of the Devil has made it clear that man
is in danger through pride. When established on high
the Devil despised the lowly; driven from his angelic dig-
nity because of the sin of his presumptuous attitude, he
received the sentence of damnation proper to a tyrant.
Hence you see that he who indulges pride plays the role
of pride. If arrogance dominates a man, what is left for him
save the sentence of damnation? If you wish, let us compare
evil things with good, and worse with better. Then you
will understand how great is the hatred under which a man
labors day by day because of the vice of pride. We need not
go far to seek the person. Take the status of a freeman, and
you will immediately recognize the spirit of a proud man.
What, I ask, is the life of those who have hatreds every
day? Clearly, he who moves about puffed up with pride
never passes a day without his own or another's sin, because,
whether he be among his superiors or inferiors, he is always
despised and feared. Pride is a vice of cheapness and an
indication of ignobility; nobility of soul does not know how
to be puffed up. Where manners are impolite, pride always
grows along with power, but where splendor of life exists,
there is also the charm of gentle humility.
HOMILIES 393
(4) I call that humility true and holy which is motivated
by the love of religion and of God, not extorted by fear
of another who dominates. We are making mention of that
humility which is joined to charity, which is not wrested
from one because of the prestige of another's high position,
but is nourished by the law of living. When pride is nour-
ished by its own abundance, and haughtiness grows with
power, let no one think that the customs of nature should
be ascribed to vices alone. When, therefore, would medicine
suffice for sick bodies, if wounds, too, were born along with
a man? Pride is nourished when this man deems himself
wiser in words, and that one judges himself better in an-
cestry; while this fellow is unwilling to be removed from his
position, and that one thinks it possible that he is being
despised.
Thus, we all see that, when we compare persons, hatreds
grow because of the vice of pride for example, while this
fellow dangles a mass of gold and silver before the eyes of
his flatterers, and that one sets up in opposition the bounds of
his honor; while this one vaunts his abundant resources, and
that one his readiness in conversations; while this one desires
to be sought because of his ability to counsel, and that one
wants to be greeted because of his banquets.
The vices which spring from pride can scarcely be counted.
If a man could overcome or guard against them, he would
not get caught in any snare which the Devil sets to bring
on damnation. Look, one man, in order to seem always
clean [in his attire], orders an excuse to be conveyed to his
greeters; another feigns sickness, that he may be saluted
daily; another, to find an opportunity of laying charges,
pretends to be solicitous about everybody, not because he
really desires the absent one, but in order to call him guilty
394: SAINT VALERIAN
of neglect of duty. He asks what door the greater sought
in the morning hours, that he might reckon up why the
vast display of friends failed to come. Thus, while the man
who does come does not get admitted to perform his greet-
ing, he who remains away gets blamed. Thus, while the door
remains shut for the man who comes, an insult is prepared
for the one who stays away. I do not wish to narrate those
contemptuous snubbings he gives to men when he goes
out, with his proud thoughts long nursed in his heart, and
when he sets up arrangements for his places and services.
Thus, when he gives kisses, he exposes his own bosom [to be
kissed]. No speech is pleasing to him, and there is no affec-
tion in conversation. He turns his eyes away from some,
and scorns others by his manner of address. He loves 2 one
man in order to show himself angered at another. I ask,
what hope of living well is there there, where one man
under the guise of friendship is gaining domination, and
the other while growing too obsequious is falling into slavery?
(5 ) But let us see what kind of a character this proud man
is when, perhaps, he takes his seat with his fellow citizens
in a law court, certain to give an opinion.
I easily imagine the contests springing from the explosions
of words, when one man urges leniency and the other feigns
that he favors justice not so much to preserve his integrity,
but to wait to see which way some person of superior rank
inclines. He pretends to have a different opinion in order to
disagree with the contention of the first. He deems nothing
right in the deliberations except what he alone has thought
up. He thinks nothing just except that of which he has
convinced himself. He is eager to monopolize the speaking,
and to be the only one praised by all. What is worse, there
will be someone to favor him in this respect. For, pride
2 Reading alterum amat, ut atteri sc ostendat iratum.
HOMILIES 395
soon opens the way of flattery, when either the proud man
seeks favor or his flatterer fears to give offense.
The pride which he shows at banquets is not small, either,
when his place is prepared higher than the couch; in fact,
his couch is elevated so much that he seems to be hanging
down rather than reclining.
This is how pride acquiesces to insult, that it itself may not
seem to suffer an insult. Someone is sought to give him a
helping hand as he rises, someone to care for his shoulders,
someone to prop up his side. No one can make excuse to
me that this is not the vice of tyrannical domination. For,
the service one man renders to another, if it is not that
given solely to help a weak man, is clearly slavery. In this
connection I praise that poverty which a man endures who
relinquishes his own excellence while doing service to the
customs of others.
* But, why do we lay such a weighty charge of pride only
upon the rich, when we often see men in great penury who
soil themselves by a similar unfortunate attitude? Solomon, so
full of wisdom, says about them: 'Three sorts my soul hateth.
... A poor man that is proud/ 3 and the other words which
follow. He who retains no awareness of what his resources
are does, without doubt, exceed the limits in pride. In great
and dignified persons, humility is something highly desirable,
but no one marvels at a pauper being humble. For, he who
is bent low by the necessity which poverty imposes is hum-
bling himself unwillingly. Humility is something pleasing in
a poor man and glorious in a rich one. Humility is some-
thing charming among enemies, but pride is odious even
among friends.
(6) In contrast, dearly beloved, let us inquire what the
good qualities of humility are. Humility is always pleasant
5 Cf. Eccli. 25.3,4. The balance of the quotation is: 'a rich man that is a
liar; and old man that is a fool and doting/
396 SAINT VALERIAN
and ready to serve, welcome in friendships, hated in the
midst of insults. It is not puffed up by prosperity, or altered
in adversity. It does not enslave or extort. It is the first to
greet in courtesv, and slow to take a seat. It does not tarry
in order to be led along by a herd of flatterers, nor seek
to be fawned upon with greetings. It does not seek the atten-
tions of prate nor favor of language. It hates crowds of
applauders, because a good conscience does not get praised
without a feeling of shame.
No one needs the words of flatterers except him who
knows himself to be unworthy of praise. He who is worthy
gets praised in more modest fashion through the devotion
of his friends. But, he who is under a feeling of unworthiness
thinks that his acts are being scrutinized if he goes away
without praise.
Humility is hedged about with goodness. Just as it knows
not how to injure, it seeks nothing from invective. In a quarrel
a humble man would rather remain silent than win, and in
law courts he grows willing to seem unskillful rather than
be deemed impudent. He is not hasty in speech, or always
quick to reply.
But, the speech of the proud is accelerated and facile,
full of scorn and packed with insults. It is never uttered
without a wound, never hurled without pain. Its blow is
incurable and its stain indelible. However, the remedy of
satisfaction follows where this fault of language has been
at work.
( 7 ) Dearly beloved, in order not to lose the grace prom-
ised in the gift of our reward, we should love this humility
to seek it, and choose it, and hold it fast. Heed the Evangelist's
words: 'He who humbles himself shall be exalted and he
who exalts himself shall be humbled.' 4
4 Luke 14.11; 18.14.
HOMILIES 397
The exaltation is a condemnation which moves into action
the power of the future judgment in the case of the arrogant
and proud. Consequently, we should so bend our inclinations
as to suppress every mark of pride and let the pursuit of
grudges die out. Thus, a man will make progress from a
more humble station until he arrives at the higher ones, is
rewarded with fitting honor, and gains the grace of heavenly
power.
HOMILY 15
The Excellence of Martyrdom
(1) Dearly beloved, I feel great confidence in speaking
to you whenever there is need to recall the praises of martyr-
dom to your memory, because of our love of the blessed
martyr. 1 Vivid faith, stirred by his profitable sufferings, has
brought those praises forth, even though language is insuffi-
cient to praise as warmly as marytrdoms warrant. But,
when will cultured man's service avail to bring out every-
1 Apparently, some martyr whose relics were at Cimiez; we do not
have any positive identification. Possibly, he was the youthful St.
Pontius, who suffered under the Emperor Valerian about 258. The
Abbey of St. Pontius at Cimiez dates back to very early times,
and this saint is the center of many traditions at Cimiez and Nice
(cf. DACL 12.1, col. 1174, s.v. N 7 ice-Cimiez) . His feast is celebrated
on May 14. According to a legendary account printed in Acta Sanc-
torum 3 for May, Pope Pontianus instructed Pontius as a boy in the
Christian faith. When Pontius' father died, he gave his inheritance
to the poor. He converted the Emperor Philip and his son to
Christianity. After the emperor's assassination, Pontius fled to Cimiez,
where he was arrested, condemned as a Christian, and exposed to
the beasts. When they would not attack him, he was beheaded.
Although this account carries a claim of giving the reports of con-
temporaries, the Bollandists show that it was written no earlier than
the sixth century and is historically valueless. Cf. A. Butler, The Lives
of the Saints 5, rev. H. Thurston, S. J,, and N. Leeson (London 1936)
173.
398 SAINT VALERIAN
thing which power from heaven has wrought in preparation
for the conflict? Assuredly, we do what we can by bestowing
the favor of our words on just merits, especially since no
one can fail to notice the deeds performed in that struggle
which every year renews for us the examples of virtues.
You have heard the Psalmist's words: 'Precious in the
sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.' 2 What can be
more precious than that death which knows not how to
yield to hostile weapons in the raging fight? That soul which
does not let itself be deceived into compliance with wicked
laws clearly carries off the greatest palm of victory.
This is truly a sign of outstanding virtue: to be more
inclined to death than to life in time of persecution. How-
ever, this prepares a place of eternal life, a place recom-
mended by the pain of the cross suffered in the voluntary
confession of our Christ. As the Lord says: 'He who loves
his life, loses it; and he who hates his life, will find it in
life everlasting.' 3
If the occasion should come, what wise man would not
contemn the gains of this life and hasten eagerly to martyr-
dom, since he sees that giving up his present life is part
of the gaming of life? Why does not a devout man run to
a task so precious, and boldly throw himself into the hands
of the wicked? The gift of a heavenly reward awaits him,
according to the Lord's words in that description of beauti-
tude: 'Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justice'
sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.' 4
(2) You see how great are the fruits which faith tried
by human tortures has produced! And how exalted is that
victory gained by the contempt of the body! Who could
2 Ps. 115.15.
3 John 12.25.
4 \fatt. 5.10.
HOMILIES 399
doubt about the reward we have mentioned when he ob-
serves that, lo, the devotions of all men converge in loving
the saints? and that men come from every direction, far and
near, to celebrate the annual festival? We easily understand
what a place is prepared in the heavenly abode for those
whose memory is celebrated by such great and devout at-
tentions.
Therefore, let us fasten our thoughts on the glory which
is stored up for us. Let us prefer the heavenly goods to the
earthly ones, to be able to obtain those promised benefits
of eternal life. Let no one delude himself by his pursuit of
this world; he sees it fade away day by day as time passes
away and age comes on. If we compare present goods to
the eternal, those which we possess merely for a time become
quite clearly rather cheap and useless.
Next, meditate on the grace of that inheritance due to us.
Then you will be aware that the riches of this world fail
to give satisfaction. You will judge nothing to be more ig-
noble than gold, nothing more despicable than the splendor
of silver. In comparison with Paradise, even a rather pre-
cious gem is like to glass. The respective worth of the light
of this life and of the future world can be indicated by the
moon standing in the heavens while the morning sunlight
pours itself into the eyes of men. The illumination of the
moonlight pleases us just so long as it offers its service in the
darksome night by the set laws of nature. But the glow of its
nocturnal illumination, even if it gives some satisfaction, is
obscured by the brilliance of the rising sun.
(3) This alone commends the spans of the present life:
our doing the deeds which are not liable to accusation in the
future judgment, and which cannot be proved defective if a
charge is brought. But, that no soul may suffer before God
in the future from the odium of injustice, we should by all
400 SAINT VALERIAN
means heed that psalm which states: They that sow in tears
shall reap in joy.' 5
This is to sow in tears and reap in joy: to condemn past
deeds of one's life by one's own judgment, and to subject
a lascivious soul to just punishment. Joy quickly follows
sorrow 6 if by satisfaction you anticipate the severity of the
judge, and by steady chastisement reduce the defects of the
crime you committed. But, lest you be deemed one who has
stored up only a little grace by this, help the afflicted and
grief-stricken, and better your case by your generous dis-
tribution to the poor. For, the Lord speaks thus: 'Blessed
are the merciful, for God shall show mercy to them. Blessed
are they who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 37
Therefore, dearly beloved, if any one of you diligently
seeks the consolation of Christ, let him reduce another's sor-
row by alms. Let him devoutly commend his own tears to
this patron in whose honor we have assembled. Let him
get himself into this saint's frequent prayers of intercession;
he can thus obtain more easily whatever the saint suggests
to the Lord in his favor. We should always have recourse
to the friends of God, and serve our neighbors, and pray
unceasingly to obtain the favor of holy intercession. What
place will be left for forgiveness from the just Judge, if
you do not know how to implore the friends of the King?
(4) Glance next at the orderly arrangements of worldly
discipline. Then you will understand what concern you
ought to have about devotions to the saints. Beyond doubt,
unless one previously wins the good will of him who guards
the secrets of the praetor's house, one will not easily attain
to friendship with that higher power. Similarly, one should
5 Ps. 125.5.
6 Reading triytitiam laetitia* not tristitia laetitiam, which seem impos-
sible in the context.
7 Matt. 5.7,5.
HOMILIES 401
seek the intercessory services of the patrons to whom alone
has been granted knowledge of how to soften the onsets
of the angry God, and to temper His rage.
Therefore, in a large house the second rank after the
owner is that of his friends. Through them alone is avail-
able free opportunity to make suggestions to the owner,
and to obtain an easy access. Hence, we should cultivate the
memory of the saints with unusual veneration, that they
may open the door of salvation and cause the desires which
arise from our servitude to come to the notice of the Lord.
A great part of security consists in having, during adversity,
an intercessory power in the King's house. The odium of a
crime somehow decreases when the one accused begins to
share in the friendship of the royal family. Similarly, a man
passes his life without danger if he has someone to excuse
his negligence as a sinner before the Lord.
There is no one who has no need of an intercessor)' power
more powerful than himself even in his greatest security. For,
although their tested faith sanctifies some in this number of
secure persons, they still have need of someone to com-
mend their very faith to the Lord by his suppliant inter-
cession. You will not find anyone so strong that he does not
need the help of one stronger. Just as military fighting is
carried on well under the shield, so is any project carried
on safely for the witnesses when it is under a patron. Al-
though some penalty is imminent in a case, if there is an
intercessor an insult covered by the laws is forgiven. But,
what limit could be put upon death, if there should be
no one to intercede suppliantly and help the defendant when
the judge is striking him with his sentence.
(5) Dearly beloved, if we should reflect how much the
virtue of our martyr fellow citizen has brought us, neither
the activity of our tongue nor the service of our mouth would
402 SAINT VALERIAN
ever cease from praising God. Look at the devotions of those
who drink the waters of pilgrimage, and seek with thirst the
distant springs, and you see how much grace their posses-
sion of this water brings them. Now, no one can estimate how
much profit accrues to our own possessions if that which is
so eagerly sought elsewhere becomes present in our own
holding.
Look! the Lord of virtues has granted you a living foun-
tain from which to draw every day a fountain unfailing,
not brackish, not bitter. If anyone wants to drink of it, he
will always thirst for justice, and he will never depart from
the law of the heavenly commandments.
Therefore, dearly beloved, if we wish to have that share
in the heavenly abode which the Lord promised to victors,
let us first of all imitate in our confession the holy martyr's
faith, and let us by virtue follow his path, and in our love
of the Lord, let us have no hesitation to expose our own
breasts to the lictor's bloody hands.
In a raging fight, a crown of victory soon covers the vol-
unteer soldier. But, in the meantime, while such rewards are
accruing to the blessed, and are being conferred because of
the merits of the happy ones, let us resist the opposing forces
in what has a bearing on the salvation of our souls. You
do not lack an opportunity to win a victory every day, if
you are willing to resist the desires of the flesh.
Look about, and see the criminal conflicts ranging all
around you. See, too, how extensive the drawn-up battle
line of vices is. Here, pride, and there, envy, attack our
faith. Now, drunkenness suggests matter for impurity; then,
covetousness enkindles the soul to every sort of falsehood,
which devotes itself, among other vices, to sowing quarrels,
encouraging disagreements, fostering grudges.
Hence, it is against those legions that we must fight with
HOMILIES 403
spiritual arms. We must hold our place in the battle line
day and night, until the vices either withdraw or bend and
flee towards repentence. Then, when they are overcome,
We can enter even that conflict which seeks the greatest palm
of martyrdom. Who would not be willing to fight, or who
would not strive to win in that conflict where a man gains
instruction not merely from preceding meritorious endeavors,
but also from the present examples of virtues?
HOMILY 16
The Excellence of Martyrdom
(1) Dearly beloved, example is a teacher; therefore,
knowledge of such an outstanding victory was quite neces-
sary for this world in order to promote the honoring of
virtues. Without doubt, the world would still lie in dark-
some fetters if it were not illumined by the shining examples
of the saints. It would be struggling for obscure and uncer-
tain objectives if the crown of martyrdom, shedding its light
throughout the world, were not confounding the unbelieving
minds of men.
For this, thanks should be returned to God, who has
armed the souls of men with such endurance, and has not
looked without concern on the labors of their great work.
Hence, when He was telling His lovers about the necessity
of fighting, He was preparing a reward of just retribution
for the victors. Thus the Evangelist says: 'Blessed are they
who suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.' 1
Therefore, if any wise man is struggling toward the
I Matt. 5.10.
404 SAINT VALERIAN
heights through his devotion to religion, let him learn first
of all where the crown of virtues comes from. We need not
seek far for one whom we can imitate. Look, here before
our eyes is one who daily stimulates us by his salutary ex-
amples, and with fatherly affection invites us to share his
sanctity. Hence, if \ou wish, you grasp with ease aids worthy
of the kingdom of heaven. For you have someone whom you
can follow e\ery day, and whom you ought to imitate.
Look about, dearK beloved, at other regions and the devo-
tions of lo\e toward the saints w r hich we see flourishing
quite extensively through the traffic of pilgrims. Then you
will understand how much the Lord has given us, how
much lo\ing solicitude He has exercised upon us. He who
has looked on the other nations with concern for their salva-
tion has moistened your region, too, with the blood of
martyrdom.
Investigate, and \ou will find out how eagerly nearly all
the world seeks the intercession of sanctity. Consequently,
by their emulous prayers and frequent acts of homage men
continually pursue the merits of virtues so great. Hence, you
easily recognize what care we in turn should have of the
offices to honor the martyrs, since you see the outlying nations
coming together here through the love in their devout minds,
and seeking comfort from the holy martyr, as [each one's]
case requires.
You do have something about which to manifest special
joy. From a spring of your own flows whatever is drunk
elsewhere with religious devotion; in your own midst springs
up whatever is ministered to thirsting souls afar.
Learn from all this, dearly beloved, to love God, who
through His heavenly command daily commends Himself
by the shedding of His blood. Recognize how much patience
bestows on the lovers of our Christ, and how much the
HOMILIES 405
sadness endured in time of persecution contributes to our
acts of religion.
(2) Look, as Scripture teaches, the possession of the hea-
venly kingdom awaits the victor. Clearly, how worth while
it is to endure the executioner for one whose suffering is
gaining a reward! Therefore, if occasion comes, what wise
man in his right senses will not seek so virtuous a work, and
boldly expose himself to the foes? If so precious a gift of
remuneration awaits a man, why should he not gaze on
the flames without concern? Why should he fear the tor-
turer's claws? To give occasion for such profitable tortures
is a mark of perfected faith, especially since you gain in-
struction from such great examples of the virtues of those
who preceded you.
You can indeed easily understand what profit each heroic
man gets from winning the victory in a persecution when
you see every day that throughout all the shrines of the
saints, the condemnation of a spiritual court is hurled against
the wickedness of diabolical presumption. Dearly beloved,
the matter is not one to be taken lightly. For, we often
observe that in the exorcism of an unclean spirit human
bodies are harassed, and, after the names of the saints have
been invoked, the activities of these bodies give testimony
about the author of their crimes.
When would reading alone suffice to convince incredulous
minds? When would the ancient knowledge convey an in-
tegral belief of the truth to the human powers of perception?
Or when would a mind condescend to the belief of matters
so momentous if, when past events are narrated, nothing
beyond the hearing could be expected?
Therefore, quite unfortunate and estranged from Christ
is that man whose judgments are still beset by the error of
disbelief, although he sees that the merits of the saints rest
406 SAINT VALERIAN
upon such great signs. 2 For, this unfortunate 3 man looks
back at this, 4 that we often see some invisible spirit singing
psalms through the person of someone else, and uttering the
language of his troubled confession through another's mouth.
And when the flame is operating in this case, no injury
appears; the one who is being tortured is different from
the one uttering the praise.
\3) That is why the Lord puts such great power into
operation through His saints. He wants to confound, by the
weight of His own condemnation, those acts of diabolical
wickedness which are perpetrated through wounding blows
and invisible tears. He also wants to disapprove and check
the attractions to sin which lie hidden in the authority of
some torturer. What wise man, aware that he must face
those attractions, would not immediately deplore whatever
infidelity he finds in himself? Mindful of his conditions, would
he not through his unceasing sense of duty very properly
honor the memory of the saints? Clearly, he can easily un-
derstand what place those men have with the Lord, or in
what honor we should hold them, to whom, as he sees, a
favorable judgment has been awarded because of consider-
ation of their martyrs' palms.
Therefore, dearly beloved, the examples of these saints
should be followed, and their faith pursued, and their vir-
tue imitated. It is not difficult for anyone to accomplish all
this. If you think about the crown that is promised as a
reward, you will find it easy to overcome every injury of
the persecution. Behold, the Lord says: 'To him who per-
severes I will give a crown of victory.' 5
2 virtutibus, deeds showing power, miracles; cf. Souter s.v.
3 He is rationalizing his disbelief in Christianity.
4 Reading hoc. If hos is the correct reading, a gesture may have indi-
cated that the men to whom the speaker was referring were not the
saints, but those through whom the diabolical wonders were being
performed.
5 Apoc. 2.26.
HOMILIES 407
Therefore, if the occasion thus comes, let no one flee from
the noise of the chains and the torturing thongs, still un-
touched but ready for the use of the wicked in the dark-
some dungeons. Without doubt, all that apparatus of death
fades away if only the determination to fight grows strong.
Wherefore, all hope of gaining the victory lies in faith and
determination. For, if determination attends faith, faith will
never abandon determination. It can hardly be that he who
has accepted the injury of suffering willingly should feel the
pain of the body.
Assuredly, that you may more easily advance with security
in the battle line, you should keep the deeds of the saints
always before your eyes. For, in the greatest battles the
fighter does not lack solace if he keeps the examples of the
bravest men in mind. Reflect that the Lord says: Take up
your cross and follow me.' 6
Perhaps those words do not apply to all, because a pam-
pered body shrinks from the onset of pain. Let him who
is in despair over the fragility of his body flee to the arms
of justice, which is assigned to a voluntary service. But,
he whom determination has armed for the fight easily over-
comes the onset of the attacking foe. Neither does he whom
the strength of souls fortifies fear the sword of the bloody
lictor.
(4) However, if all those measures seem too laborious to
anyone, dearly beloved, let him undertake easier ones. As the
Evangelist says, there is one way which leads to life, and
that a hard one. 7 Yet, if we investigate, we find many ways
which lead to glory. Look, impurity is always lurking near,
pride is domineering, avarice is always hi ferment; against
those vices we should fight through our devotion to dis-
ciplinary control. All the glory of heavenly virtue follows
6 Matt.
7 Matt. 7.14.
408 SAINT VALERIAN
upon it. Lessen >our pride, and you will immediately get
a crown of graces. Check your avarice, and without doubt
you will be able to win a victory over all your other passions.
Wherefore, first of all conquer the desires of the flesh,
and you will not find it difficult to overcome the tortures
of the executioner. You know how great are the evils to
which env\ is subject. When it is exercising itself on others,
it is wounding itself. You understand how much the soul
u endangered by the fire of covetousness. You know how
effective looks are to excite desire, how quick are glances of
the eyes, how base is drunkenness, and how dangerous are
the arrows of words. They neither hit their target without
causing pain, nor get pulled out without leaving weakness.
We should prepare ourselves to carry on the fight of the
Cross against all these vices. You will win a reward as many
times in a day as you overcome the impulses of your heart.
(5 ) Dearly beloved, there are also many other things which
frequently impose on us the necessity of this fight. If you
conquer and overcome them, you will be a victor getting
no small palm by your honorable efforts. Just as a man's
wounds are as great as his vices, so are his rewards as great
as his battles. He gets as many crowns as he wins victories.
He who walks with his soul purified and his vices checked
never passes a day without some little triumph. See, the
Lord says: Take up your cross, and follow me.' 8
I am well aware that the crown of martyrdom is due only
to a few. The Lord Himself says: 'Many are called but few
are chosen.' 9 But, while those benefits accrue to the happy
few. we should stir up our own faith in regard to the
matters we have treated above. Thus, when need arises, the
attack of the foe will find us ready by means of a counter-
attack of religious living.
8 Matt. 16.24.
9 Matt. 20.16.
HOMILIES 409
Great virtue undergoes a test in little things. Thus, be-
fore the inexperienced soldier enters battle, he tries his
strength against a mutilated tree, and by training he parries
the wounding blows of a hand raised against him. Now his
foot is raised, now he rivals the winds by the great speed of
his horses. Eventually, he makes so much progress in this
training that it is almost less effort for him to conquer the
enemy than to exercise his strength.
Therefore, dearly beloved, we should train ourselves in
advance by similar exercises, and by our exertions we should
train our soul which will encounter more difficult struggles.
Virtue of which a promise is given in small matters is more
easily practiced in the great ones. Thus, when we are accus-
toming ourselves to overcome in little things, we are learning
how to bear the greater.
HOMILY 17
The Excellence of Martyrdom
( 1 ) Dearly beloved, careful farmers assert that soil which
is crude and has never been plowed into furrows is not
immediately responsive to good seeds. Unless it is softened
3y hoeing and continual cultivation, it does not properly
lourish a seed planted in the furrow. The owner can with
security expect the fruits of his little farm only then, when
.he older sod has ceased to be sour. If in his farming he
iuddenly abandons his practice of plowing, the earth will
oon grow untidy again and resume its old appearance. For,
his makes the difference between good and evil: that dili-
;ence overcomes nature, negligence brings things back to
lature.
41U SAINT VALERIAN
It i* according to this rule of living, dearly beloved, that the
cultivation of the Christian religion either increases or wanes.
In this work, that man does not sigh with any less con-
cern who finds it necessary to soften the hardness of his
human heart by continual chastisement, and, by the rather
frequent use of his faith, to work on his affections so beset
with vices. Without any doubt, among the negligent the
pursuit of their religious profession is endangered, too espe-
cially if a bitter mind is receiving the seeds of the words
from heaven, and inclinations to indocility cannot nourish
fruits of justice. Just as fields are wont to grow untidy with
thorns when the cultivation ceases, so is any vice of nature
renewed when the cultivation of religion is neglected.
'2 i Dearly beloved, it can be granted that for those nations
to whom the faith of Christ has become known only through
word, it is perhaps difficult to set down the way of salvation
by means of proper language. There are some who say
that examples of admirable deeds never were committed to
them for their imitation. Perhaps these men can find some
sort of excuse, even if it is vain. The Prophet refutes their
plea with his words: 'Their sound hath gone forth into all
the earth; and their words unto the ends of the world.' 1
But, dearly beloved, to what degree can we excuse our-
selves in reply to these words, if the Lord finds any negligence
or infidelity in us? Our embracing the Christian name arose
from deeds of valor. Through the presence of such a great
martyr, a proof of the Christian religion is given daily, not
alone to our ears but also to our eyes.
Who is this martyr in whose presence we are? Necessarily,
he who was the first to fight here that fight of renowned
power, and to show by what arrangements we can obtain
possession of the heavenly kingdom. He daily teaches us by
1 Ps. 185
HOMILIES 411
his examples what we should do, and he inquires what
progress we are making. Let no one doubt that his own acts
fall under the solicitude of this martyr, who, as he sees, is
joined to him in an affinity of relationship.
(3) Hence we should, first of all, take part in the fre-
quent devotions shown to this patron, in order that he may
stand ready for us as our own intercessor with the Lord,
and commend our life to Him through the good will which
springs from his esteem. When a man is placed in any ne-
cessityj there is nothing he cannot get if a friend of the
highest commander begs for him unceasingly.
Dearly beloved, consider the zeal of those who thirstingly
seek the waters from springs of pilgrimage; that is, who
in their practice of religion eagerly travel over wide regions
of the earth to seek the holy and venerable relics of the
martyrs, and by their own devotions carry out practices war-
ranted by the meritorious deeds of virtue performed every-
where on earth. Then you will understand in what honor
we should hold him who as victor in that battle of the hea-
venly warfare has sprinkled the territory of this city with
his blood.
We have seen pieces of cloth 2 from his mangled body dis-
tributed here and there through diverse and distant regions,
and precious reminders of his wounds carried throughout
the world. Consequently, those who had entrusted to them
only these souvenirs of martyrdom have a devout care of
the saints no less than ours. Therefore, the Lord of majesty
has generously granted to us this protection which faith
brings to others.
2 This rendering interprets plagas to be from plaga,-ae f a net, and,
therefore, a curtain, a piece of cloth, a napkin. Cf. Souter, j.v. Possibly,
however, the word is from plaga,-ae, a region, a district, a section,-
here used to mean portions. Then the rendering should be: We have
seen portions of his divided body distributed.
412 SAINT VALERIAN
Consequently, we need not go far to seek him whom we
should follow. We have right here a teacher of endurance,
examples of rewards, a pattern of virtues, evidences of his
merits. So, let us mould our souls to all endurance, in case
occasion should arise. Mindful of this yearly festival, let us
follow also for his examples him whom we venerate for his
merits.
(4) You see the marks of honor on his breast. You cover
them, like a work of God, with precious silk, and you heap
yellow T gold on his heavenly countenance. Learn what is the
splendor of his wounds, and the crown for his tears. Learn
what it means to have endured the executioner, and how
much it is worth to have overcome the torturer; or in what
exultation that victory issues which is gained through tor-
ments. The Prophet says: They that sow in tears shall reap
in joy.' 3
Instructed by these facts, what wise man would not judge
the enjoyment of this temporal life something to be despised
in comparison with martyrdom? Moreover, if you look again
at these devotions which are paid to the saints every day,
you will acknowledge that in time of persecution it is better
to perish than to live. But, why do we say perish, when the
Prophet says: The just man will live with life forever 9 ? 4
Therefore, dearly beloved, let us shed our tears every day
and supplicate this teacher of virtues to teach us to be
devout to these profitable wounds. May he show us how
to expose our breast in this warfare, and sustain every onset
of injury. It is not hard to enter a fight where you see that
a victory has already been won. That which is taught by
example quickly lodges in our minds.
But, there is something rather unfortunate. Because of
3 Ps. 125.5.
4 Ezech. 18.9.
HOMILIES 413
the vanity of this world it is hard for anyone to arrive at
heavenly goods. The delicate care of the body does not gain
the promised kingdom. Neither will he who has not fought
in a legitimate contest easily arrive at the crown of virtues.
Hence, he who sets out to arrive at the goal of victory must
prepare his body for every injury. The opportunity of gain-
ing the glory consists in this, that he who wants to please
Christ should first learn how to displease the world.
(5 Hear the Lord's words in this connection: 'He who
loves his life, loses it; and he who hates his life in this world,
keeps it unto life everlasting.' 5 There are many kinds of
suffering which by the rule of living will commend a mortal
man to our God. Even if the crown of martyrdom is not
in them, there is, nevertheless, no small palm of virtues.
Indeed, dearly beloved, because this crown which we
mentioned is stored up for the victors, let us in the meantime
fight back against the sins which encircle us, in any way
we can. Wherefore, let him to whom the first glory, martyr-
dom, is not granted, strive at least to be among all the
bravest men who win the rewards for upright and religious
living.
You are not unaware of how great are the shipwrecks
of which the mind is in danger. See, the desire of your eyes
is continually rapping on our doors, and exciting the hearts
of men with the attractions of wealth. On this side a man's
impulses, and on that side his glances are alluring him to
every crime. Therefore, you do not lack an opportunity of
conquering, if you do not cease to fight, and if, as though
you were in the battle line, you fight back against the foe's
weapons every minute.
(6) Indeed, to fight with success against these weapons
we need this instruction from the Gospel: 'If thy eye is
5 John 1255.
414 SAINT VALERIAN
an occasion of sin to thee, pluck it out!' 6 To pluck out one's
eye is this: to correct one's vices, to extinguish the desires
of the flesh, and to check lasciviousness of life by pursuing
disciplinary control.
Look, the field is ready for you. You are being tempted
by the allurements of impurity, and, as customarily happens,
you are being deceived by appearance and ornamentation.
If you wish to overcome all that, you must fight by practicing
chastity.
Let the purity of Thecla be before your mind. She guarded
it amid the flames and the raging beasts. To such an extent
did she despise the trappings of this world that, although
engaged, she desired so much to preserve her chastity that
she considered the bridal chamber unimportant. By strug-
gling she nourished in its integrity that virginity which she
professed, and by conquering she preserved it.
Anger often provokes us into a fight, as does also the
fury of our impulses. We are goaded on by injuries, and
harassed by insults. Learn with what zeal we should over-
come all those difficulties. Let us arm our souls unto patience,
and, in regard to these matters, may this passage of the
Gospel teach us that which we cannot get by our speech:
'If someone strike thee on the right cheek, turn to him the
other also/ 7
As you see, to have acquiesced to an injury is to have won
a victory. Clearly, he wins no small crown of victory who,
although injured, can hold himself in peace, according to
the words of the precept just quoted. Sometimes, our eyes
suggest something our soul does not need. Often, too, the
tongue itself betrays its errors, and breaks into language re-
vealing things base and foul. Here, this plan of virtue should
6 Matt. 5.29.
7 Matt. 5.39.
HOMILIES 415
be employed: words of love should be circumscribed by a
proper practice of silence. In a verbal quarrel, moderation
in speaking is the height of virtue. Hear the Prophet's words
about this: 'Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth, that
my heart may not incline to evil words.' 8
Wherefore, avarice should be overcome, anger repressed,
impurity restrained, and the mouth bridled by an encircling
bond. By these steps do we make progress toward Paradise,
and by the merits from these virtues do we arrive at fellow-
ship with the saints.
HOMILY 18
The Martyrdom of the Mother and Her Seven Sons
(On 2 Mac. 7.1-42)
( 1 ) Dearly beloved, our yearning for eternal life is fired
with great hope if from time to time we recall the deeds
of individual martyrs. As often as the mother of the Macha-
bees occurs to our memory, our soul bestirs itself with a joy
somehow far greater to love God and win His favor. By
the encouragement she gave, she on one day put the crown
of martyrdom on seven sons. She was just as strong in faith
as she was fruitful in offspring.
In her case there are as many proofs of her virtues as
she had sons! 1 For, on one day she gave to the almighty God
as many martyrs as she had gained sons on separate occasions
of motherhood. Blessed is she among mothers, and more
8 Ps. 140.3.
1 pignora. The Christians of this period frequently called their children
'pledges* entrusted to them by God. Cf. Souter, s.v.
416 SAINT VALERIAN
fortunate still in her very bereavement! Her faith brought
her this great blessing: to migrate on one day with all her
offspring to the glory of the heavenly kingdom.
Turn your attention from her to that passage in the
Gospel which tells that we should prefer neither parents
nor children to Christ. 2 Let it be, perhaps, with some a
glorious thing, to be explained with salutary examples, that
they have offered one son as a victim to God. This mother
has exceeded all the power and wishes of souls so much
so that in the grief of her fierce sufferings she did not let
the affections of her motherly love keep back even one of
her sons.
Furthermore, notice through how many degrees of virtue
her precious faith grew. It is enough to acquiesce once.
Yet, because of her love of the Lord, through her willing
bereavement she did violence to her motherly love seven
times. She was well aware of what she was about, since
she knew that all her offspring was taking its place in that
eternity of life, according to the Scriptural statement: 'He
who loves his life will lose it; and he who hates his life,
keeps it unto life everlasting.' 3
(2) From reading the Old Testament we learn that our
father Abraham offered his only son Isaac as a sacrificial
victim to be immolated to God, All the world is well aware
that this was a memorable proof of his faith. And, although
no blood moistened the altar, there nevertheless was a vic-
tory in his prompt will. For, in the sight of the Lord, to will
and to do are one. As we read, the angel called to Abraham :
'Abraham, Abraham, lay not thy hand upon the boy: it
suffices that I know that thou lovest the Lord thy God/ 4
2 Matt. 10.37.
3 John 12.25.
4 Gen. 22.11,12.
HOMILIES 417
If, therefore, our father Abraham offered one son in
sacrifice and pleased God, how much more has this mother
pleased Him ! At one time she immolated seven sons to God,
with prayers of approving desire. Then she offered herself
as the eighth victim. As a result, did not she, who had been
the teacher of so many brave men by encouraging them to-
wards heavenly glory, become also herself an example of
outstanding virtue?
If you wish, dearly beloved, let us recall the details of
that conflict one by one. Thus, parents may learn how to
love their children, and children how to obey their parents.
All of them should put the most value upon the love of
our Christ, who prepares a crown of life resplendent with
heavenly beauty for those who struggle in a legitimate con-
test and win. Thus, the Lord states: To him who over-
comes I shall give the crown of life.' 5
See, dearly beloved, how much the belief in this accom-
plished deed teaches us! A contest for the sake of the
ancestral laws is arranged between the representatives of the
Almighty God and those of the Devil, Many, yes innu-
merable, instruments of torture are at hand. It is when
armed by them that the author of iniquity is accustomed to
employ his poisonous wickedness. But, although this hostile
anger hurls all its hissing fury against the representatives
of justice, they show no trembling in the conflict. Conse-
quently, on this occasion the deviser of crimes and foe of
the good uses a deeper plan to dismay their courage. He
moves the weapons of his iniquity against them one by one,
and by his customary, threatening language arranges a sin-
gle combat. He thinks that in adversity this group of broth-
ers, once divided into sections, can easily be frightened; and
5 The phrases of this quotation can be gathered from James 1.12;
Apoc. 2.10; 321.
418 SAINT VALERIAN
that, if the pain consumes each brother as he is called up
alone for examination by torture, the whole group of them
will be overcome with little trouble.
(3) Hence, the eldest is led forth first. The noisy activi-
ties of iniquity and all its death-dealing apparatus are around
him on every side. Far from light is the treatment of the
persecutor, who thinks that if he can blot out this leader
of their sworn virtue, the whole struggle can be finished off.
But his all too clever plans with their enforcing cruelty failed
him. Moreover, the disgrace in which a foe is vanquished is
greater in proportion to the number of his satellites doing
him service against one just adversary. It is a striking indica-
tion of cowardice if one man carries off the palm of victory
in a struggle against his enemy's compact groups.
When the proud fury of this foe has received this wound
in spite of all the kinds of torture he was employing, this
executioner runs with his bloodstained hands to the brothers
one by one. To excite the fear of death, he carries to each
one of them his brother's blood. Thus he tests the effective-
ness of these proofs of his cruelty to excite fear of death.
But, even while he is trying to create an opportunity of
victory over one of them, he acknowledges himself already
conquered by another. The faith of them all remains un-
shaken, and also their resolution, strengthened by the tortures
of their brothers.
The second brother steps up for the conflict. A short while
later, the third one follows. These are crowned, and the
fourth comes on. This horrible death does not scare away
the fifth, or the sixth. In them all is one faith, one virtue,
one common determination. Consequently, you would think
and believe them all to be one, although the injury is harm-
ing them as individuals one by one. This is how all the
brothers in the group, encouraged by their share in a com-
HOMILIES 419
mon victory, observed their ancestral laws, and simultaneously
won the distinctions of their multiplied virtue.
(4) Therefore, the mother runs about amid many rows
of corpses. She is amazed, anxious with cares, stricken with
fear and trembling. But, let this fact deceive no one. She
trembles indeed, but it is about the victorious outcome,
not over the death of her sons. At each investigation she is
anxious lest his faith may slip away from any one of the
sons, lest human frailty may segregate one from the saintly
group. For, in spite of the threats of the enemy she keeps
close to each son, continually encouraging him not to will
anything different than his brother.
They, indeed, suffer singly, but she suffers with every
single one of them, and with every one she endures torture
in her soul. Therefore, she carries off the palm of her own
virtue in loving Almighty God. But, if you look at the single
pangs which her motherly concern endured, you see that
she gained the lot of martyrdom with all her sons.
Now look ! After all those palms have been won, they come
to the one whose tender age gave the enemy hope of gaining
a victory. He who had previously seen that the cross-question-
ing of his threatening words had availed so little in the case
of those brave men thought that youthful minds should be
given milk, the language of coaxing persuasion. So he makes
his approach by every manner of guileful urging. He judges
this youth worthy of riches and honor, and thinks that the
mother should be coaxed by the freeing of her one son. But,
that soul already wholly directed toward heaven does not
readily accept this counsel from a worldly party. Amid the
mother's encouragements, the soul of the intrepid boy is fired
the more toward the summit of virtue.
(5) O new and admirable example of virtue! A mother
rejoices in her own bereavement, and her love gains profit
420 SAINT VALERIAN
from the same source which brought it loss. After she has
sent ahead even this son whom she loved so tenderly, she
herself enters the way of this glorious death. Pained for a
short while by innumerable tortures, she followed her sons
in triumph. Despising this short-lived light, she extended her
grasp toward heavenly and eternal goods.
Therefore, dearly beloved, if any mother has loving anxiety
for the children of her womb, let her imitate the numerous
and brave examples this mother has left. If anyone has
gazed on her with eagerness to emulate her, without any
doubt he makes his way gifted with the honor of far greater
glory. Hence, let any mother whatever judge her children
worthy of this honor.. After the exhortation about which
you have just learned, let her instruct them, that they may
learn to observe the prescriptions of the heavenly laws.
Furthermore, let those who serve our Christ imitate the
struggles of those brave men. Proof that she loves her sons
is given by that mother who has banished the error on which
this world relies, and from the fruit of her womb she has given
a victim to God, and offered willingly herself and those dear
ones whom she was every day to immolate.
In order to obtain the rewards of that heavenly virtue more
easily, we should spurn the gifts and honors of this world.
They deceive human eyes with their alluring vanity. But
this is clearly a sacrifice acceptable to the Lord: to prefer
the honor of heaven and to begin to despise the world.
HOMILIES 421
HOMILY 19
The Termination of Lent:
A Sermon for Easter Sunday
(1) Dearly beloved, if we investigate the reason for this
present solemnity 1 which gives us hope of eternal salvation
through the decree of our future resurrection, it is not im-
proper for us to spend all these days in joy, and thus to
temper our recent pursuit of an austerer life. But, in this
matter, I sometimes find myself displeased at the crowd
of merry-makers for the following reason. Many a person
thinks he may now licitly do anything which he had put
under that disciplinary control during the time of Lent.
No one doubts that your preceding devotions only issue
in disorder if you do not know how to preserve what you
so evidently gained for the purification of your soul by
your difficult fasts and vigils. He who is heedless of spiritual
duties and gives in to his bodily desires swiftly destroys every-
thing he has acquired. Wherefore it is important to hold
fast to that way of religious discipline, even amid the pleas-
ures we mentioned. Without any doubt, that discipline brings
a man of good will into favor with the Lord. If we know
how to observe toward Him the proper reverence which
His laws demand, hell would go without prey, and the
penalty of everlasting death would fall on no one.
Therefore, dearly beloved, we should strive with all effort
not to indulge in excessive relaxation and spoil our aware-
ness that our body has been purified. We should not be
content to keep religiously only those days which our observ-
ance of fasting annually brings upon us. Even this observ-
ance is evidently distasteful to some because of their excessive
1 That of Easter.
422 SAINT VALERIAN
sleeping and insatiable appetite. While making their way to-
ward the day of the Holy Pasch under the urgings of their
strong desire, they complain about the observance of vigils,
the benefits of continence, the meager meals and the abun-
dant fasts. They do this as if the long-desired festival made
licit what the days of Lent forbid, and as if the termina-
tion of the fast gave freedom to sin.
(2) Consequently, let no one think that all things are licit
for him just because he sees that the time of stricter living
has passed. Careless relaxation ordinarily works deception
into every state of upright living. A man sees that the ap-
pointed termination of the fast has come; let him not infer
that some drunkenness is now permitted. Someone sees that
with the arrival of this feast the constant vigils have been
suspended; let him not think that men's souls have now
been directed to somnolence. The servant who waits for holi-
days merely in order to sleep is not a profitable one.
After a fanner has broken up the earth by his long toil,
he must employ still more care. He must keep watch to pre-
vent some presumptuous beast or lurking bird from con-
temptuously eating the seeds he has planted in the furrows.
Next, in his spare time he must dig an ample ditch for water.
Otherwise, some sudden storm may kill or wash away his
budding sprouts. He must uproot weeds and soften the
parched sod by plying his hoe, and then, on those other-
wise workless days which farmers seize, he must, by build-
ing an encircling fence, keep out any chance destructive
animal.
So great is the desire to support life, and the care to be
far-sighted, and the diligence to maintain cultivation, that
it little befits anyone to be idle even then when the ear
and the perfect blossoms arc already promising harvests to
the farmer. For, even full-grown crops often get hindered
HOMILIES 423
by growing thorns; and plants right on the point of matur-
ing frequently get choked by some foreign growth. We must
understand that in this way things grow well through the
farmer's diligence, but even the greatest perish through his
negligence.
(3) Perhaps you object: 'Everybody excuses the heedless-
ness of a festival.' Without any doubt, the man who at any
time surrenders his life to heedlessness is exposed to all dan-
gers. It is never well to give free rein to horses that have
been idle. So, too, a luxuriant growth springs out of the
earth under the heavy rains which follow the rigor of winter.
Likewise, we often observe that sea-going vessels suffer ship-
wreck when near to port, through some sudden force while the
oars are idle.
In the light of these examples, dearly beloved brethren,
let us so arrange our life that we banish first of all that
extravagance of banquets. In this way we can also cause
passing desires of the flesh to leave us.
I am not, because of all this, speaking as if we should
refrain extensively from food, or abstain completely from
the cups. Even if our bodies have been fashioned for the
cross, they should neverthless be sustained. This alone is
what displeases me during these days: insatiable appetite,
and those purposeless gorgings of the stomach; or a banquet
with profuse drunkenness and scoffing all night long.
If someone drinks in excess of his natural thirst, he clearly
exceeds the limit of discipline. What remains unwelcome to
men who incur not only the vice of drunkenness, but also
the impairment of their faculties? Who would bear with
those evils of excessive wine-bibbing where the tendency is
not so much to drink as to get drunk? Who willingly gazes
on the appearance of that dining room in which everything
is filthy with the odor of spoiling wine? For, where the wine
424 SAINT VALERIAN
unmixed with water flows in too much abundance, the entire
banquet necessarily takes on an appearance which is fright-
ful with base squalor; and whatever was poured into the
full water jug evidently goes to waste,
(4) Therefore, let him who finds his pleasure in drunk-
enness see what will happen. Let him wisely turn his atten-
tion on what we shall say. Then he will without difficulty
recognize the cause of his own misfortune.
If you pour too much oil into a vessel, the swirling liquid
from 'the olive harvest wells up to the open brim, and with
soiling effects the vessel spills out the excess. Also, as we
often see, goatskin containers are spoiled by having too much
wine to put in them. Because of the agitated liquids, the pot-
ter's wine casks develop cracks. Clearly, death would have
nothing offered to it if wretched men knew how to avoid
the causes of perishing. He who loads additional burden
upon infirm bodies is preparing a road of weakness. Thus,
a man burdened by the weight of an excessive pack under-
takes and continues a journey with doubtful hope of success.
Therefore, dearly beloved, I give this admonition. If any-
one is making arrangements to be pleasing to our Christ,
let him first of all check the desires of his appetite. Appetite,
abetted by drunkenness, is wont to be a mistress who inflicts
injuries. From this source some men get nakedness, beggary,
and needy poverty. As Solomon says: 'Every drunkard shall
be clothed with rags/ 2
In contrast, may those fruits of continence endure in those
good men who during the days of Lent think it good to
serve the Lord continually with devout affection. Otherwise,
when we perhaps have surrendered ourselves into the posses-
sion of negligence, we may seem to have devoted our pursuit
2 Prov. 23.21.
HOMILIES 425
of an upright life merely to that season, not to our moral
improvement.
What does it profit if you display your goodness to the
Lord for forty days, and on one day offend Him by a frenzy
of wicked cruelty? What good does it do to preserve one's
esteem of chastity for many periods of time, if afterwards,
under temptation to unchastity, you let yourself be drawn
into a base sin? What benefit is there in cheating covetousness
for a time if, after garnering such great fruits of mercy from
your generous hand, you take delight from other men's losses
and tears? Whatever grace a man has acquired by his good
works through many years obviously perishes if he is de-
praved for one hour by deviation to base living.
(5) Wherefore, here is the procedure of preserving dis-
ciplinary control : foster your integrity, love chastity, promote
peace, check, under the fear of discipline, everything which
ministers to iniquity. Thus, a person of lesser quality will
not act proudly to a superior, nor will poverty receive scorn
when persons are compared.
Just as it is something great to serve one's betters, so is it
something profitable and glorious to show reverence to a
humbler person. A man endowed with dignity is exalted
to the same extent that he is humbled. The Lord's words are :
'Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled and whoever hum-
bles himself shall be exalted/ 3 Thus above all else we should
choose the path of humility. It is not beset with grudges,
and it always gains much love. The Apostle says: 'God
gives grace to the humble, but resists the proud.' 4
Wherefore, in the case of iniquitous conduct such as we
have described, let anyone take thought to hesitate 5 because
3 Matt. 23.11.
4 James 4.6.
5 Reading dubitare, with Sirmond.
426 SAINT VALERIAN
of the penalty of the future Judgment, when he sees that
the punishment of heavenly anger is being threatened against
himself. But, if anyone forestalls the anger of heaven by his
humility, he will without difficulty find a place to possess
forever in heaven. Through the functioning of his pride, the
Devil was expelled from that place and received a sentence
of everlasting damnation. Therefore, let us practice humility,
sobriety, continence, and purity. Let us strive to hold fast
to our pursuit of sanctity, that our life may not be shaken
with losses to our soul, and never sigh before the Lord be-
cause it has been given up to His animosity.
HOMILY 20
Covetousness
(On 1 Tim. 6.3-10)
( 1 ) Dearly beloved, the physicians who effect cures state
that different beneficial medicines are suitable for different
aches, and that definite remedies provide their own proper
benefits for definite illnesses. Hence they teach that swellings
ought to be checked by the knife or softened by a prepara-
tion of medicine; that hidden diseases are explored better
by means of potions; that cold areas of the body profit
from warm remedies, and areas too hot are relieved by
cooling measures.
But, in the work of our religious education, I think the
case is different. If you review that Epistle written to Timothy
you will discover that many illnesses can be cured by the
effect of one remedy, or by the cutting off of one wound.
The holy Apostle Paul clearly explained what that wound
HOMILIES 427
is in which so many diseases unite and work their deadly
effects. His words are: 'Covetousness is the root of all evils,
and some in their eagerness to get rich have strayed from
the faith and involved themselves in many troubles.' 1
Therefore, dearly beloved, we should treat of this: What
work and labor should be used to cut down such a great
forest of sins? But, first, you ought to recognize one thing
as the cause of all the vices which come together from every
direction. You should diligently investigate the origin of these
single vices, their outcomes, and what deformity or pain they
have. For, the greatest hope of recovering one's health lies
in knowing the source of one's weakness.
(2) 'Covetousness is the root of all evils.' Truly, dearly
beloved, if we look again at the single vices to which men
in their present state have prostituted their lives through
their desire to possess, there is no one of the evils which
covetousness does not conceive, or bring to birth, or feed,
or nourish. From this tinder, as we see, spring the flames
which cause hatreds. From this source criminal fights arise,
and groups engage in fraternal strife, and friendly agree-
ments are broken.
Therefore, let no one lay the blame of his own trouble
on any of his own weaknesses. For, although all the vices
stand in their own names, they nevertheless lean also on
other sins. That is why we see pride concocted from the
swollen excess of vanity, and why even every thoroughly
humble man is troubled by an infection of arrogance. If
by some chance you suddenly glance at him among his
equals, you judge him to be someone different from what
he was. When he is elated by some remarks, you see him
walk with an expanding appearance, his head raised toward
the sky. Weighty words from his tongue are opening a road
1 1 Tim. 6.10.
428 SAINT VALERIAN
long closed b\ the benefit which his poverty had conferred
upon him. He utters the words from his haughty mouth
with so much force that when he wants to speak he will
not listen to anyone else. These faults are serious by their
own nature; evidently, they get their animation from the
allurements of covetousness. In time, the ostentation of riches
ceases, and then you do not so easily find one who labors
under the hatefulness of pride.
! ,3) 'Covetousness is the root of all evils.' Let us run
through the vices one by one, if this seems good. Then you
will learn how great are the evils which sprout from the
vice of covetousness.
Look, in many an instance a neighborhood is armed for
strife. Why, unless for this, that this man is perhaps plan-
ning to expand beyond his own property lines, and pre-
empt someone else's field? Why does he not put that state-
ment before his eyes: Tass not beyond the ancient bounds
which your fathers have set.' 2
See, in this neighborhood there occurs first a quarrel about
property. While each party is stirring his own covetousness
by words, he is enkindling the impulse to fight. Out of the
quarrel grows an accusation and would that this alone
were enough for covetousness ! That fact is more serious, that,
while no one wants to suffer the loss of dropping the mali-
cious charge he has inaugurated, everyone is on the verge
of battle. The slaves are being armed, the neighbors are
being incited, and one man's breast is exposed for the
sake of another man's gain. The hired anger is stirred up
by wine, and blood poured out becomes the price which
brings possession. Later, a court- is opened for the legal proc-
esses, and even while the opportunity of gaining revenge
is being sought, murder is repeated.
2 Prov. 2228; cf. Deut. 19.14.
HOMILIES 429
Also, we often see battle lines drawn up because of covet-
ousness, while this man wants to seem richer or that one
blushes to be poorer. While they vie with each other, the
community of property arising from their being neighboring
owners is endangered. One of them is seeking to be the
first to invade, and planning to gain possession with im-
munity. Thus, while one man's covetousness is planning an
acquisition, another man's estate is growing insecure.
(4) Why do such men fail to think of this Scriptural
statement: 'Thou fool, this night will thy soul be demanded
of thee; these things that thou hast provided, whose will
they be?' 3 Truly, nothing is more foolish than to seek goods
of doubtful value or to acquire those which will perish. For,
of what avail to a man are resources which are gathered
solely to perish? When you die, the field your avarice ac-
quired surely remains behind. So does your augmented estate.
Even it has been passed on to another's ownership, it en-
dures as a testimony of its criminal acquisition. In this con-
nection we should always remember that statement of the
Prophet: 'Woe to him who joins farm to farm.'*
But, you object: C I read, "The parents should save up for
the children." s5 From this very statement you can learn what
your paternal concern profits you. See, the trappings of
your riches pass to another, and the odium of making the
invasion 6 remains with you. The splendor of your resources
is in the possession of another, and the penalty migrates
along with yourself. It is a species of folly to produce gain
for others, and prepare torture for one's self. That is what
3 Luke 12.20.
4 Isa. 5.8.
5 2 Cor. 12.14.
6 Conjecturing as the correct reading pervasionis invidia, which occurs
below in section 6 (PL 52.754B) and fits the context, while per-
suasionis invidia does not.
430 SAINT VALERIAN
the Apostle tells us: 'Those who seek to become rich fall
into temptation and a snare of the devil.' 7
(5) But, not merely after a long time is the powerful
severity in that heavenly statement applied. Somehow, an
increase of vices gradually follows and works a revenge for
past deeds.
Here, for example, a man of parricidal attitude either
threatens his father's life, or awaits his mother's death. Sup-
pose that the thought of the inheritance due to him perhaps
keeps him from the crime. That is true. But, although he
is a legitimate heir, it is not without the vice of covetousness
that he is fostering his desires of succession. He would wish
to be the only heir if he could. At one time, he is thinking
about his father's death; at another, sighing about his broth-
er's life. All this is not free from a grave sin of filial dis-
loyalty. For, whoever feeds his soul with expectation of a
parent's death comes into his inheritance by the crime of
parricide.
Here, too, under the instigation of covetousness hatreds
are nourished among the fellow heirs. The corpse is not yet
carried out, and already the true meaning of the will has
been destroyed by an interpretation of law. One man is
disputing about the father's signature; another is in despair
over the person of a brother. One man affirms 8 that the will
is not confirmed by witnesses; another gives as a reason
that the will is not consonant with the times.
Thus, the farm is at stake while the cases are argued.
What was acquired through the avarice of the parents is
lost through the covetousness of the sons. Hear the words
of Scripture: Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's posses-
7 I Tim. 6.9.
8 Here astruo does seem to mean 'affirm* despite the doubt cast by
Harper's Latin Dictionary (1907), s.v.
HOMILIES 43 1
sion.' 9 It is impossible to enumerate all the ways in which
covetousness grows fierce. Look, when a will is brought
out, immediately there is thought of falsehood. Someone
asks: 'Who heard the mute man speaking? What heir knew
the dead man while he was making his dispositions?' What
is worse, it is not hard for someone to find persons who
are associated in his crime or bribed for a price. This un-
fortunate fellow imitates the signature of another's hand,
Thus, covetousness, by a pen often exercised in copying,
often produces a document which the testator did not
draw up.
(6) 'Covetousness is the root of all evils.' To strengthen
his fraud, one man arms his falsehood by perjury, and an-
other sometimes opposes someone else's lawsuits with a cor-
rupted heart. Thus, through the vice of covetousness alone
an estate is both gained and rent apart. Where is esteem
for what Scripture says: 'A false witness shall not be unpun-
ished 3 ? 10
To what do we think should be ascribed the fact that
even innocent persons are summoned and charged among
those whom we sometimes hear participated in crimes? For
in an investigation suspicion often arises; when the guilt of
theft resides in one man, the odium of making the invasion 11
passes to another. In this way, while an increase of resources
is sought, goods rightly acquired are torn apart. The up-
shot is often a progression from covetousness to falsehood
to poverty.
'Covetousness is the root of all evils.' What is the source
of this, that we often see aimed legions drawn up against
each other? What else is it but this, that one party wants
9 xod. 20.17.
10 Prov. 195.
11 Cf. note 6, above.
432 SAINT VALERIAN
to seize the possessions of another, or the other is guard-
ing those he has seized? The result is that sometimes a strife
arises about the power of command and a fight in the con-
test for primacy. All these matters would remain in peace
if covetousness to command were not removing another man
from that office.
; 7) "Avarice is the root of all evils. 3 Let us inquire: What
is responsible for this vice, that a man's life is entrusted to
a thin floor of planks, that the uncertainties of the sea are
incurred when the results are so doubtful? When a storm
arises and the shout of the sailors blames the sea, is not
covetousness the cause? When a corpse from a shipwreck is
dashed against the sharp rocks, and its water-swollen limbs
are tossed on unknown shores by the swells of the sea, does
not this add to the reproach of covetousness? Clearly, the
sailor would never have entrusted himself to sailing if covet-
ousness for business had not stirred up his desire to travel.
A man voyages over the heaving waves with the desire
to quadruple his money. Gold is carried along, that false-
hood and perjury combined may be carried back. Trading
is never done without fraud when something is bought
rather deeply for the sole purpose of retailing it more dearly.
In all this, even if the crossing is tranquil and successful,
according to men's desires, it is not without a shipwreck
when between the buyer and seller someone gains or some-
one suffers because of unjust weights or measures. Why do
these men fail to think about this phrase of Scripture? Just
as you will have measured, it will be measured out to you.' 12
(8) Dearly beloved, we blush to speak about those deeds
which are carried out under the drive of impurity. Indulgence
in this vice springs from covetousness.
Conjugal fidelity often becomes esteemed as something
12 \fatt 7.2.
HOMILIES 433
cheap in comparison with money; virginity long unsullied,
prostituted because of a small weight of gold, has given
up its own firm promise of integrity. Covetousness is so great
with some persons that chastity is put up for sale and finds
a price for its own depravity. Thus money is eagerly weighed
out for the corruption of a body, just as if something worthy
were being purchased. Clearly unfortunate is that man who
has more interest in covetousness than in his chastity. To
have thrown away one's integrity is to have consigned to
loss the grace of the promised inheritance.
See how diverse beneath one species of sin is the activity
of covetousness. This man has given money to buy an act
of corrupting. The woman has lost her chastity to get the
money. As often as sin is committed, nothing is done with-
out covetousness. If you remove your array of jewels, you
will suffer no shipwreck of defilment to your body. In brief,
let the desire of gold cease. Then, conjugal fidelity does not
perish, and virginal integrity does not blush.
(9) 'Avarice is the root of all evils.' One man is accused
of treason; another, reproached as the informer of another's
crime. Who would doubt that a bribing weight of offered
money crept into his inner heart? Clearly, nothing is so en-
closed that it does not open up before gold and silver;
nothing has been hidden which has not been discovered if
money led the way. With danger is a confidence entrusted
to the knowledge of those who are under the sway of covet-
ousness. Their integrity indeed would hold the whole secret
fast if money did not have an entrance, like a traitress in
someone else's house.
'Covetousness is the root of all evil. 5 Look, our Lord and
Saviour underwent the consummation of His voluntary Pas-
sion because of another's vice of covetousness. We read that
the condemnation of our Redeemer was procured by thirty
434 SAINT VALERIAN
pieces of silver. Just as you saw that covetousness led to
His betrayal, so ought you to recognize that His betrayal led
to His condemnation.
The One betrayed was indeed led to the torture, but
the betrayer ran to a halter. Behold what fruit covetousness
produces! The money which brought His condemnation
was stored away for his burial, that is, it was destined for
his funeral. Futhermore, understand in what state the fault
of covetousness is, since the price of perdition came itself
under condemnation. The Apostle Peter says: Thy money
go to destruction with thee.' 13
Let there be, perhaps, someone of the foolish and avari-
cious persons who feels happy over this statement, and who
prefers what he hears, that his money is going to migrate
along with himself. For our part, we do not subtract any-
thing from his desires. Your money will indeed go with
you, not, as you think, to array your body, but to be evidence
of your falsehood.
However, this matter does not pertain to those whom
mercy accompanies, One judicial process awaits those whose
generous disbursements in expending their money on the
poor have commended them to the Lord, and another awaits
those whose resources stored up through crime are their ac-
cusers. That money counts toward their torment, while for
the others it brings a kingdom. Thus the Lord speaks: 'Come
my children, take possession with me of the kingdom pre-
pared for you from the foundation of the world. I was
hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty and you gave
me to drink; naked and you covered me.' 14
(10) Wherefore, dearly beloved, let each of you be con-
tent with that financial state which procures the grace of
13 Acts 8.20.
14 Matt. 11.34-56.
HOMILIES 435
salvation for you, not that which brings on a cause of dam-
nation. Consequently, let us in the first place check covetous-
ness if we wish to overcome the delusion of all vices.
Let no one seek after someone else's possessions; then, no
one need suffer the odium of enmity. Let no one rush into
what is held in common with another; then, there is no
struggle about an invasion. Let each one be content with
his own possessions; then, there is no complaint about appro-
priated ones.
Despise gold; then, the contemplated homicide fades away
to nothing. If a covetous eye is restrained, parricidal hatreds
are not sown. There is no reason for an heir to blush if he
approaches his own moderate portion with content. Let no
one seek an increase of his money; then, no one will fall
under the guilt of treason. If you do not pursue money,
you will suffer no shipwreck in a storm. And when you
leisurely take care of the inner portions of your little farm,
you will be free from personal anxiety as you gaze on others'
danger.
Dearly beloved, to avoid those vices by single measures
is perhaps hard, and it is toilsome to meet at once so many
foes attacking by different paths. Hence, we should search
for some simplification of the warfare. We should seek the
leader of the fight, that our struggle can be with him who
inflicted the injury. Without doubt, you can conquer legions
drawn up in arms if you can get hold of their sovereign.
And he who has overcome the originator of a fight has
finished off the whole cause of the war.
Let us, therefore, draw up a line of virtues against the
serried legions of vices. But, above all, with help from our
faith let us fight against that legion which is the head of
the war, that is, against covetousness. With that mother of
vices captured, it will not be difficult to win the victory
over the afore-mentioned disgrace which they cause.
APPENDIX
St. Valerian's Letter to the Monks, 1
on the Virtues and Order of the Apostolic Doctrine
Although I am meanwhile absent from you in body, as it
has been written, 2 but present in spirit and thought, I now
take up the burden which your good wishes have put upon
me. It is not, I think, a small portion of my duty and love
that I give in return for your love. I am confident that you,
too, act in the spirit and not in the flesh, according to the
Apostle: They who are carnal cannot please God. You,
however, are not carnal but spiritual, if indeed the Spirit
of God dwells in you.' 3
Indeed, I arn not following a road unknown to spiritual
men if I express my solicitude for your edification through
the language of epistolary communications. I have ready at
hand that eminent example, St. Paul, whom we desire to fol-
low even if we are unable to imitate him fully. In a com-
parison with him we indeed find ourselves his equal in noth-
ing. Nevertheless, you should equal the obedience of those
men whom he teaches.
That his doctrine may be set forth in the established order,
may you desire with the Romans 4 that your faith should be
1 Although we have no solid evidence as to what monks this letter
was addressed, they may well have been those of Lerins. The monks
of that monastery were very influential in southern Gaul at this
period, and it is not unlikely that St. Valerian was once a monk
there himself. The writer of this Letter wove something apropos
from book after book of the New Testament, so that his letter is
a tapestry of allusions. It is worthy of note that the quotations fall
into an order which is about the same as the order of Epistles in
our Bibles today.
2 1 Cor. 5.3; Col. 2.5.
3 Rom. 8.8,9.
4 Rom. 1.8.
437
438 SAINT VALERIAN
proclaimed all over the world; with the Corinthians 5 may
\ou, as men corrected by means of a second healing, in
unbroken peace and unaffected love, greet one another with
a holy kiss, as it is written. 6
With the Galatians, 7 rejecting the observance of months
and seasons and days, and repudiating the world and follow-
ing God, understand that you are sons, not of the slave
girl, but of the free woman.
Remaining steadfast in the word of truth, with the Ephe-
sians 8 you should recognize one Lord, one faith, one God
the Father of all, who is above all, and throughout all, and in
us all.
With the Philippians, 8 being blameless and guileless, do-
ing all things without murmuring and without questioning,
may you shine like stars in the midst of a depraved people.
With the Colossians, 10 may you teach one another by
psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs while the word of Christ
dwells in you abundantly.
With the Thessalonians, 11 strive to do the will of God,
while abstaining from impurity, praying without ceasing,
testing all things, holding fast those which are good. Next,
follow the order of the precept with all diligence, so that,
if any man will not work, neither let him eat. 12 For, He is
the bread that has come down from heaven, 13 and no one
ought to consume it unless he does the works by which He is
pleased.
Timothy should be your model. After long use of water,
5 2 COT. 6.6.
6 1 Cor. 1650; 2 Cor. 13.12.
7 Gal. 4.1030,31.
8 Eph. 1.13; 4.5,6.
9 Phil. 2.14,15.
10 Col. 3.16.
11 1 Thess. 4.1,3; 5.17-21.
12 2 Thess. 3.10.
13 John 6.51,59.
LETTER TO THE MONKS 439
he was instructed to use also a little wine to support his
stomach, 14 not to overburden it. Even if a man is instructed
by double admonitions, unless he keeps sober he will not be
able to fulfill his ministry. 15
The example of Titus 16 should mould your character, in
this, that you ought to be not merely sober but also con-
tinent, because all things are clean for the clean, but for the
defiled and unbelieving nothing is clean.
To sum up: This entire conclusion of the Apostolic doc-
trine through a mystical number has fulfilled the greatest
purification of cleansed body, because nothing is so near to
God as the fact that a man is not corrupted.
Next, let us pay a little more attention to what follows.
A certain fugitive returns as a servant to his former master,
and his state is changed by his conversion. 17 Begotten while
the Apostle was in prison, 18 from a useless servant he became
a useful one, and not only a brother but one most dear. He sur-
passed the attainment of his contemporaries in the peak
of spiritual development. He earned not merely the bond of
becoming named, but also affectionate love. For, through the
condescension of the Lord, unsullied chastity nourished by
sobriety is developed to this, that what the moderate use
of wine cured in the case of Timothy, what abstinence and
continence purged out in the case of Titus, that was to
grow to a very indulgent freedom in the case of Onesimus.
The learned should carry out all these instructions, and
the unlearned should acknowledge them, because, as it is
written, ignorance is death, 19 and faith without works is
14 1 Tim. 553.
15 2 Tim. 4.5.
16 Tit. 1.8,15.
17 Philem. 1-25.
18 Philem. 10.
19 1 Cor. 14.38.
440 SAINT VALERIAN
dead. 2 ' J A twofold course of showing observance is incumbent
upon \ou: Care to know, and care to carry into practice
with effort. For, it is a sin not only to fail to carry out the
deeds commanded in God's revelations, but also to remain
ignorant of them.
Finally, taking the Hebrews for an example of consum-
mate perfection, I inculcate contempt of present goods for
the love of heavenly rewards. I do this that, if someone per-
haps imposes the burden of persecution upon you, or seizes
all \our possessions, \ou also may receive, with no less affec-
tion toward imitation, that noble and unusual testimonial
which Paul uttered from his venerable mouth, in his out-
standing praise of those Hebrews. He said with feeling: Tor
you both have had compassion on those in prison and have
joyfully accepted the plundering of your own goods.' 21
20 James 2.26
21 Heb. 1034
INDEX
INDEX
Abel, 173
Abraham, 170, 244, 245, 259,
260, 416, 417
Abram, 259
Adam, 194 n.; the first and the
last, 199-202; introducer of
death, 121, 180-184; source of
our evils, 175, 176
Agnellus, Abbot Andrew, 4, 5
almsgiving, 90-94, 276, 344, 348,
352, 353, 358
Ambrose, St., 23
Andrew, St., 208, 219, 220
Annunciation, to Mary, 226-229
anthropotokos, 236
Antichrist, 267
Apostles, eleven, at table, 133-
137; vocation of, 276-282
Apostles' Creed, 16, 103414
Apostolic College, 261
Arianism, 10, 11, 141 n., 174,
292
Aristotelian school, 48
Aries, Council of, 292, 293
Attila, 7
Augustine, St., 5, 14, 23, 25 n.,
261 n., 294, 373
avarice, 42, 64, 67, 170, 212, 315,
340, 346, 354, 359, 415
Balaam, 72
baptism, 118 n., 240 n., 273 n.;
martyrdom a, 222 n.
Bardenhewer, O., 4 n.
Bardy, G., 4 n., 24, 293 n., 297
Baxter, J. H., 18 n., 24
Bethlehem, meaning of, 266
body, corruptible, load upon
soul, 172; mystical, 79, 201
n., 205, 217, 218
Bohmer, G., 4 n., 15 n., 16 n.,
19 n., 24, 26 n., 42 n., 43 n.,
45 n., 86 n., 117 n., 121 n.,
201 n., 239 n., 263 n.
Boniface II, Pope, 369 n.
Cain, 154, 172, 173, 244
capital sins, see sins
Carpocratians, 200 n.
catechumens, 17, 103-123, 149 n.
443
Cayre, F., 4 n., 22 n,, 24, 283 n.
Cerinthus, 200 n.
chair, of pestilence, 98
Chalcedon, Council of, 11, 45 n.
chant, mystical, 194; rhythmical,
189, 190
charity, 380, 381
Cheldonius, Bishop, 292
Chicon, Nicholas, 296
children's speech, 367
chrism, and Christ, 106, 107,
113, 147
Christ, birth of, 232-242, 251-
254; as cornerstone, 74; death
of, genuine, 108; deity and
humanity, 45 n., 267; divinity
of, 113/237, 239; gets His
names from His distinctions,
106; as Good Shepherd, 53,
85-89; as King of Peace, 252;
as the Life, 87 n.; Mystical
Body, 79, 201 n., 205, 217,
218; offered His Body in sac-
rifice, 169; one Person possess-
ing two natures, 45 n.; as
Orient, 267; our example, 276-
282; present in poor and- un-
fortunate, 344, 345, 348, 359;
resurrection of, 105, 108, 114,
123-137; as second Adam, 130
n., 199-202; should be put
among our heirs, 326, 327;
takes sin upon Himself, 120;
temptation of, 56; see also In-
carnation; Virgin Birth
Christotokos, 11, 236
Church, the, 109; as bride of
Christ, 114, 159, 240; as
Christ's Mystical Body, 79; as
Mother, 29, 271; necessity of
membership in, 218, 219; as
ship, 62, 252; symbolized, 75-
80, 147 n., 149, 201 n.
Cimelium, 291
Cimiez, 3, 291, 293, 397
cockle, parable of, 152-156
contested questions, invalidated
within thirty years, 237, 346
continence, 170, 304, 422-426,
433, 439
conversation, base, 334, 340;
idle, 312, 335-342
conversion, 306
corpus, meaning man, person,
310 n., 322 n.
counsel, of poverty, 276-282; of
ungodly, 94-99
covetousness, 301, 329, 336, 337,
342,402, 425; of the eyes, 413;
as root of all evils, 426435
Creed, Apostles', 16, 103-114
cruelty, 315
Cyprian, St., 213-214
death, ancients on benefit of,
162; came through Adam, 121,
180-184; of Christ, genuine,
108; Christian fearlessness of,
161-166; dies while devouring
life, 88; of saints, a sleep, 155;
of shepherd, advantageous to
sheep, 86, 87; of sinners, truly
444
a death, 155; through sin we
fall under control of, 176; way
of, 314
debts, redemption of, delay in,
321, 322, 324
DeGhellinck, J., 33 n., 152 n.,
275 n.
De La Bigne, Margarine, 24, 61
n., 66 n,, 297, 302 n., 384 n.
De Labriolle, P., 297 n.
Denzinger, 12 n., 14 n., 45 n.,
369 n.
despair, 134, 316, 317
Devil, the, 40, 47, 48, 54, 56-60,
71, 74, 88, 92, 93, 118, 122,
123, 137, 153-156, 162, 206,
213, 251, 252, 278, 279, 304,
318, 339, 346, 371, 379, 392,
417; as origin of evil, 57; rid-
icules religious observance,
261
diabolical wonders, 406
disciplina arcani, 111 n., 149 n.
discipline, 299-308, 336, 337, 339,
364, 384, 414, 421, 423, 425;
corrupted by the Law, 194;
harsh for youth, 167
drunkenness, 140, 304, 308, 336,
422424; abets lust, 315, 336,
402; source of other sins, 337
earthly goods, contempt of, 65-
69
Easter, sermons for, 123-132, 421-
426
Ebion, 200 n.
Elias, 31, 92, 142, 244, 274
Elizabeth, 139
enemies, love of, 385, 386
engaged girl, named a wife, 235
envy, 346, 381, 388; as capital
sin, 40
Ephesus, Council of, 11
Epicureans, 48
Epiphany, 265-270
Eucharist, Holy, 39 n., 148-150,
438
Eutyches, Letter of St. Peter to,
237 n, 283-287; and Mono-
phytism, 5, 6, 11
Eve, 73, 250
evil, an accident, not something
created, 57; not in seed of
things, 155; origin of, 56, 57,
175, 176, 180-184
exorcism, 405
eye for eye, tooth for tooth, 81,
385
eyes, bodily, cannot see God,
246; covetousness of, 413
faith, acts associated with, to be
attributed to God, 343, 344,
369, 376; and understanding
Word of God, 265; and works,
295, 439, 440
fast, of Christ, 56-60; Lenten,
272-276
fasting, 30, 31, 90, 123, 275
fear, contrasted with love, 243;
reverential, 130
445
feasts, celebrated annually, help
memories, 214
Felicitas, St., 221-222
Felix, Archbishop of Ravenna,
15
figura, meaning type, allegory,
279
Flavian, Bishop of Constan-
tinople, 5, 283, 286, 293
forgiveness, of injuries, 122, 382;
of sins, 136
frailty, human, tends to serve
world more than God, 188
fraternal hatred, 387; union, 364
friendships, 364, 377
Galla Placidia, 5, 7
generatio, 232 n., 285 n.
Gentiles, 87, 115 n., 116, 174,
280; call to, 52-56; typified by
elder son, 25, 43-51
gluttony, 170,301,304, 336, 340
God, cannot be seen by bodily
eves, 246; concurrence of, 55;
desires lo\e more than fear,
167; eternity of, 106; immov-
ability of, 277; providence of,
163; unfathomable, 132; used
as name of Jewish magistrates,
245
goodness, linked with justice,
383
Goldastus, Melchior, 294
grace, 12, 13, 32, 52, 153, 228,
373 n.; gift of, 185; and life
through Christ, 180-184; neces-
sary for good work, 295;
through, man returns to life,
183; man rises higher through
repentance, 35; through wa-
ters of pilgrimage, 402
hatred, cause of crimes, 378;
fraternal, 387; retributed with
love, 377
heirs, with Christ, 115, 119
Held, M., 24, 45 n., 86 n., 172 n.,
255 n.
Hell, 208-21 3; eternity of, 303
hemorrhage, woman with, as
type of Church, 75-80
heretics, 158
Herod, 254-258, 266, 267
Hilary, St. and Pope, 291, 292
Hilary of Poitier, St., 23, 44 n.
historia, record of events giving
literal meaning, 39 n.
historical truth, replete with
heavenly symbols, 147
homily, meaning of term, 1-3, 15
homo, meaning human nature,
114,247,249
humility, 308, 390-397
hungry, feeding the, 326, 347,
348, 355
idle words, 336-342
Immaculate Conception, of
Mary, 227
immortality, 320
imprisoned, freeing the, 326, 355
446
Incarnation, 10, 49, 115, 136,
141, 226-251, 267, 270
Innocents, Holy; as martyrs, 258;
received grace of baptism by
deaths, 258; slaughter of, 254-
259
injuries, forgiveness of, 122, 382;
patient endurance of, 81-85
injustice, 311
insolence, of the tongue, 328-
335
intelligentia, signifying sense, 44,
78, 180
interest, money put out at, 389
Isaac, 260, 416
Jacob, 141, 245, 260
Jairus, daughter of, as type of
Synagogue, 75-80
jealousy, 40
Jeroboam, 72
Jerome, St., 23, 25 n.; calls
schools brothels, 47 n., 373
Jewish people, as ancients, 81-
82; their loss, 185; typified by
prodigal son, 25, 43-51; un-
willing to enter Church be-
cause of jealousy, 50
John the Baptist, St., 92, 137-143
John Chrysostom, St., 6, 22, 373
Joseph, St., the affianced hus-
band, 238-242; conceals mi-
racle of virginal conception,
242; heralds Mary's virginity,
233; seeks to put Mary away,
232-237; typified by Joseph of
Old Testament, 241
joy, over call to the faith, 52-56
judgment, rash, 233
judgment, the, 301, 357, 397;
last, 109, 114,211
justice, and goodness, 383; and
piety, inseparable, 233
Law, of Moses, as Scripture in
general, 56; of nature, 46;
New, as complement of Old,
383-390; Old, abrogation of,
in favor of New, 189-194;
compared to marriage, 190;
five books of, 46; and grace,
180-198; as occasion of sin,
182, 194-198
Lawrence, St., 222-224
Lazarus, and rich man, 208-213,
355
Leclercq, H., 4 n,, 5 n., 24
lectio, or lesson, 4, 17, 25, 61,
128, 175, 184, 195, 294, 299,
308, 347
lectionaries, 17
Lent, fast of, 272-276; termi-
nation of, 421-426
Leo the Great, St. and Pope, 5,
7, 283-286, 291, 293
Lerins, 291, 437 n.
Letter, of Pope St. Leo against
Eutyches, 293; of St. Peter
Chrysologus, to Eutyches, 283-
287; of St Valerian, to the
monks, 290, 437440
life everlasting, 110, 342
447
logos, meaning sermon, dis-
course, 3, 86
Lord's Prayer, 16,49, 115-123
love, contrasted with fear, 244;
of enemies, 385, 386
lust, 170,301,304,308,314,315,
402, 414, 415, 432, 433
hing, 329, 333, 336-338, 402
Maccabees, mother of, 415-420
Magi, 237, 255, 256 n., 265-270,
285
magic, error of, 270
magician, Balaam as, 72
man, creature of body and soul,
249; deification of, 114; ele-
vated through Christ to heav-
enly nature, 159, 266; precedes
woman, 128, 131; vivified with
divine life, 251
Manichaeans, 57 n.
Maria, used for seas and for
Mary, 241
Mariana, 260 n.
martyrdom, 87, 213-214, 219-224,
254-261, 319, 368, 397-420;
called a baptism, 222 n.; comes
only through grajce, 258; ex-
cellence of, 397-409; gift from
God, 224; of mother and seven
sons, 221-222, 415-420
Mary, 227, 241; Annunciation to,
226-229; as betrothed Mother,
238; as Virgin, 200; fullness
of grace in, 227; see also Vir-
gin birth
Mary Magdalen, 124; conversion
of, 143-151; as symbol of
Church, 147 n., 149, 201 n.
mercy, 170, 343-363
meritorious supernaturalized
acts, 13
merits, as gifts of God, 224, 317,
369, 375
Migne, J. P., 15, 24, 118 n., 121
n., 275 n.
migrations, of nations, 7, 350
miserliness, 354, 355
Mita, Dominic, 15, 35 n., 58 n.,
92 n, 115n.,227 n.
mocking the unfortunate, 327
money, doubled, 374-375; in-
terest on, 389
Monophysitism, 5, 11, 283-287
Moses, 56, 91, 92, 179, 245, 246,
274
mother and seven sons, mar-
tyrdom of, 221-222, 415420
Mueller, Sister Mary Magda-
leine, 33 n.
music, 339
mustard seed, parable of, 156-
160
mysterium, as type of symbol, 33
n., 39 n., 272 n., 276 n.;
mysticus, as adjectival form of,
33 n.; symbolic or figurative
meaning of, 33 n., 43, 44, 51,
152 n., 242 n., 285 n.
naked, clothing the, 326
needy, helping the, 328
448
neighbor, the, 380, 381
Nestorianism, 11, 235 n., 283 n.,
285
net, parable of, 99-103
New Year's Day, desecrated, 261-
264
Nicaea, Council of, 11
Nice, 291, 293
Noe, 244
norms, of human acts, 383
numbers, mystical interpretation
of, 23, 58, 221, 272-275, 279,
280, 439
oracles, 47
Orange, Council of, 14, 369 n.
Origen, 22, 23, 44 n., 63 n., 86
n., 285
paganism, 8, 9, 203, 261-264
parables, 152, 216; of cockle,
152-156; of mustard seed, 156-
160; of net, 99-103; of pearl,
99; of prodigal son, 25-51
parabola, synonym for figure,
sacrament, mystery, 33 n.
parasites, 364-369
passions, 171, 192, 193, 207
patience, 81-85, 308, 376, 379,
386
Pauli, Sebastian, 15, 19, 23 n.,
24,82n., 102 n., 114n., 140 n.,
152 n., 155 n., 239 n., 261 n.
peace, 225-226, 389; of Christ-
ians, 251-254; preservation of,
376-382
pearl, parable, of, 99
Pelagianism, 13, 14; counter-
acted, 224, 343, 344, 346, 369-
373, 375
perjury, 303
persecutions, 8, 87, 398, 405, 440;
see also martyrdom
Peter, St. and Apostle, 71, 128,
134, 220, 260, 286
Peter Chrysologus, St., builder
of churches, 5; called 'Golden
Orator/ 6; declared Doctor of
Church, 6; favorite themes, 5,
16; life, 4-6; Sermons-, allegor-
ical language of, 18, 43, 90;
alliteration in, 107 n.; form or
structure of, 17, 85-89; in-
genuity of style of, 97 n.;
moral character of, 16; occa-
sional obscurity in, 18, 26 n.,
43, 44, 45 n., 83 n., 87 n, 108
n., Ill n; use of Scripture in,
19, 23; see also preaching
Peters, F. J., 15 n.
Pharisee, called the Catholic of
the Jews, 148
philosophy, of ancients, crit-
icized, 47; as chair of pes-
tilence, 98
Photinus, 174
physicians, 83, 94, 166, 167, 183,
265, 323, 330, 332, 358, 384,
426
piety, 170; and justice, 233
Pilate, 107, 113
pilgrimage, waters of, 402
449
pilgrims, traffic of, 404
pirates, 350
Platonic school, 48
Pontius, St., 291, 397 n.
Pope, as successor to St. Peter,
284-287
Poulet-Raemers, 17 n., 24
poverty, counsel of, 276-282
prayer, brevity in, 115; and
fasting and almsgiving, insep-
arable, 90; private, 217; as
request for fitting gifts, 217;
unity of faithful in, 215-219
preaching, Fathers' manner of,
208 n.; St. Peter's customs and
manners in, 16, 25, 34, 75 n.,
his cessation from preaching
on vigils, 74; his love of short
sermons, 16, 75, 156, 180 n.,
208 n.; St. Valerian's customs
in, 308 n.
presumption, 314
pride, 314, 346, 427; as source
of vices, 391-395
prisoners, redeeming, 326, 348,
350, 355
prodigal son, 25-51; as type of
the Jews, 25 n., 43
priesthood, of all men, 169
Projectus, Bishop, 270-271
prostitution, 340
providence, 163
quaeritur, for queritur, 42 n.,
158 n.
quoestio, for questio,l\B n.
Ravenna, 5, 6, 225 n.
Ravennius, Bishop of Aries, 292,
293
Raynaud, T., 296, 369 n.
redemption, through vicarious
sacrifice, 319
regeneration, life-giving bath,
309, 318
relics, of martyrs, 411, 412
repentance, 35
reprobate sense, pagans given
up to a, 262
reputation, 307
retribution, 328, 357, 362, 363,
408
resurrection, of the body, 109,
136
Riez, Council of, 291, 292
Rome, 222
rumor, 337
sacramentum, 33, 78, 105, 107,
111, 113, 128, 140, 149, 152,
180, 243, 275
sacrifice, 166-170
sacrificial gifts, 319, 320, 328, 420
saints, birthday of, the date of
their deaths, 213, 219; devotion
to, 399, 412; example of, 403,
412, 420; intercession of, 400,
401, 404; patron, 400
salvation, from the name Jesus,
107, 113
Sarah and Sarai, 259, 260
Saturnalia, 261 n.
Saul, 174
450
scandal, 70-75, 101, 153
Schanz, M., 4 n., 24
Scriptures, Holy, accommodated
sense of, 21; allegorical inter-
pretation of, 5, 19, 20-23, 36,
39, 43-51, 75 n., 78, 146, 147-
151, 240; citation of, from
memory, 357; corporal sense
of, 22; historical sense of, 20;
interpretation of, 19, 21, 22;
literal sense of, 20; mystical
interpretation of, 19-23, 39, 75-
80, 238-243; psychic sense of,
22; St. Peter's use of, 19, 23;
spiritual sense of, 22, 44 n.;
typical sense of, 20
Quotations from, or references
to:
Acts, 110 n., 219 n., 324 n.,
434 n.
Apocalypse, 72 n., 406 n.,
417 n.
Baruch, 141 n.
Canticle of Canticles, 159 n.,
235 n.
Colossians, 89 n., 226 n., 437
n,, 438 n.
1 Corinthians, 48 n., 53 n.,
73 n., 117 n., 131 n., 157 n.,
160 n., 199-202, 218 n., 237 n.,
241 n., 266 n., 315 n., 343 n.,
369-376, 388 n., 437-439 nn.
2 Corinthians, 49 n., 80 n., 132
n., 194 n., 240 n., 268 n., 286
n., 318 n., 352 n., 373 n., 389
n., 429 n., 438 n.
Daniel, 75 n.
Deuteronomy, 333 n., 185 n.,
245 n., 277 n, 324 n., 428 n.
Ecclesiastes, 97 n., 120 n., 280
n., 341 n.
Ecclesiasticus, 328-335, 353 n.,
387 n., 395 n.
Ephesians, 58 n., 140 n, 252
n., 438 n.
Exodus, 91 n., 92 n., 174 n.,
221 n., 241 n., 245 n., 246 n.,
273 n., 274 n., 277 n., 279 n.,
302 n., 431 n.
Ezechiel, 47 n., 275 n., 41 2 n.
Galatians, 32 n., 179 n, 221 n.,
357 n., 438 n.
Genesis, 21, 41 n., 71 n. } 73 n.,
96 n., 107 n., 120 n., 124 n.,
153 n., 154 n., 170 n., 173 n.,
235 n., 241 n., 244 n., 245 n.,
247 n., 249 n., 250 n., 259 n.,
260 n., 267 n., 273 n., 279 n.,
416 n.
Habacuc, 281 n.
Hebrews, 169 n., 439 n.
Isaias, 72 n., 74 n., 80 n,, 103-
106, 149 n., 168 n., 191 n.,
199 n., 231 n., 236 n., 269 n.,
280 n., 285 n., 305 n., 347 n.,
348 n., 350 n., 361 n, 429 n.
James, 122 n., 315 n., 349 n.,
390-397, 417 n., 439 n.
Jeremias, 236 n., 318 n.
Job, 118 n., 213 n.
John, 13n.,45n.,49n., 53 n,.
451
61 n. ( 85-89, 91 n., 106 n., 112
n., 117 n., 120 n., 122 n., 138
n,. 140 n., 142 n., 148 n., 149
n., 178 n., 191 n., 197 n., 236
n., 237 n., 240 n., 243 n., 245
n., 247 n., 266 n., 271 n., 282
n., 398 n., 413 n., 416 n.,
438 n.
1 John, 79 n., 106 n., 378 n.,
387 n.
Josue, 279 n.
Jude, 133 n.
1 Kings, 74 n. f 174 n.
3 Kings, 31 n., 72 n., 244 n.,
274 n.
4 Kings, 31 n., 92 n., 274 n.
Leviticus, 172 n., 174 n., 302
n., 385 n.
Luke, 20, 25-51, 65-75, 102 n.,
107 n., Ill n., 120 n., 121 n,
143-151, 153 n., 156-166, 208-
213, 216 n., 225 n., 226-229,
236 n., 244 n., 251-254, 267 n.,
285 n., 352 n., 356 n., 362 n.,
396 n., 429 n.
2 Maccabees, 221 n.
Mark, 61 n., 73 n., 75-80, 216
n., 237 n., 248 n,, 276-282
Matthew, 6 n., 47 n., 49 n., 51
n., 56-65, 68 n., 70 n., 71 n.,
73-75 nn., 79 n., 81-85, 93 n.,
97 n., 98 n., 99-103, 115-132,
147 n., 151 n., 152-156, 183 n.,
189 n., 193 n., 203 n., 207 n.,
208 n., 215-219, 232-243, 254-
259, 275 n., 278 n., 279 n., 285
n., 306 n., 307 n., 308-321, 326
n., 328 n., 335 n., 336-363, 370
n., 373 n., 374 n., 376-390, 398
n., 400 n., 403 n., 407 n., 408
n.,414n.,416n.,432n.,434n.
Micheas, 168 n.
Numbers, 72 n., 91 n., 93 n.,
274 n.
Osee, 240 n.
1 Peter, 278 n.
Philemon, 439 n.
Philippians, 13 n., 44 n., 113
n., 153 n., 204 n., 214 n., 224
n., 225 n., 236 n., 237 n., 286
n., 438 n.
Proverbs, 14 n., 63 n., 68 n.,
280 n., 299-308, 327 n., 330 n.,
332 n., 353 n., 359 n., 360 n.,
363 n., 424 n., 428 n., 431 n.
Psalms, 20, 32 n., 36 n., 37 n.,
49 n., 50 n., 52-56, 72 n., 75 n.,
89 n., 91 n., 94-99, 130 n., 146
n., 149 n., 150 n., 160 n.,
164 n., 169 n., 172 n., 184 n.,
189 n., 194 n., 208 n., 217 n.,
219 n., 229 n., 231 n., 234 n.,
245 n., 246 n., 267 n., 271 n.,
278 n., 279 n., 292 n., 301 n.,
303 n., 304 n., 318 n., 320 n.,
321-328, 330 n., 333-335 nn.,
341 fl., 350 n., 352 n., 356 n.,
359 n., 370 n., 372 n., 373 n.,
380 n., 381 n., 383 n., 385 n.,
398 n., 400 n., 410 n., 412 n.,
415 n.
Romans, 21, 49 n., 50 n., 57 n.,
452
72 n., 82 n., Ill n., 116 n.,
121 n., 136 n., 145 n., 147 n.,
166-198, 203-208, 218 n., 262
n., 280 n., 302 n., 303 n., 373
n., 377 n., 378 n., 380 n., 382
n., 386 n., 437 n.
1 Thessalonians, 279 n., 438 n.
2 Thessalonians, 438 n.
1 Timothy, 167 n., 346 n., 426-
435, 439 n.
2 Timothy, 439 n.
Titus, 439 n.
Tobias, 390 n.
Wisdom, 30 n., 46 n., 47 n.,
162 n., 172 n., 181 n., 338 n.,
387 n.
Zacharias, 253 n.
secularistic living, 389
Semi-Pelagianism, 13, 14, 296;
counteracted, 343, 344, 346,
369-373, 375
sermon, meaning of term, 34,
15, 86 n.
service, of God, willing and
reluctant, 316-321; gracious,
343; reasonable, not fana-
ticism, 174
Shepherd, Good, 53, 85-89
sick, visiting, 348
signs, 110, 137; meaning mir-
acles, proofs, 247, 406
silence, practice of, 415
simplicity, 272
sin, capital, 295, 336-342, 427;
see also avarice, covetousness,
drunkenness, envy, gluttony,
lust, pride; Christ takes upon
Himself, 120; neither nature
nor substance but accident,
176; occasion of, 336, 340;
original, 175-180, 250; remis-
sion of, 109; sources of, 337;
triple-mouthed beast, 177;
way of, 96-97
Sirmond, James, 24, 295-297, 299
n., 302 n., 31 3 n., 349 n., 373 n.
Sixtus III, Pope, 5
songs, 368 ; as occasion of sin,
340
sons, adopted, of God, 131, 189;
through grace, 119, 120; two,
as types of Gentiles and Jews,
25, 43-51
Souter, A., 15 n., 24, 33 n., 44 n.,
56 n., 58 n., 78n.,86n., 152 n.,
159 n., 168 n., 232 n., 240 n.,
267 n., 278 n., 279 n., 299 n.,
310 n., 406 n., 411 n., 416 n.
soul, 142, 171, 249
Spirit, Holy, 15, 109, 113,114
stage, language of, 338, 339
Steinmuller, J., 20 n., 22 n., 23
Stephen, St., 259-261
supernatural order, 12, 13
symbols, historical truth of
Scripture replete with, 147;
interpreted allegorically, 75-
80, 149-150, 191; meaning of,
in Incarnation, 242
teacher, activities of, 163
453
tears, of sinners, have power, 146
Theda, 414
Theodore of Mopsuestia, 235 n.
Theodosius I, 5-6, 8
Theodosius II, 7
theotokos, 11, 236
thief, good, 1 1 1
tongue, insolence of, 328-335;
stronger than sword or poison,
329
torture, instruments of, 407
tractatus, treatises, 15, 86 n.
transmigration, 142
Trinity, Holy, 10, 99, 105, 106,
109,' 136, 142, 174, 251, 279,
280, 343, 381
unity, of faithful in pra\er, 215-
219
uprightness, complete, 308, 310,
315
Vaison, Council of, 292
Valerian, Emperor, 291
Valerian, St., 3, 291-297; style of,
296
Valentinian III, 5, 7
vanity, 341, 346, 427
vengeance, 81-82, 377, 385
veneration, of martyrs, 412; of
saints, 400, 401, 404, 412
vices, 160, 195, 196, 309, 402;
see also sins, capital
Vienne, 292
Virgin birth, 10-12, 107, 113, 123,
132, 199-202, 236, 249, 285;
cannot be understood by rea-
son alone, 231, 250; foretold
by Isaias, 105, 113; and Joseph
232-242; virginity of Mary,
159, 230, 231, 233, 243, 247.
248; her womb quiescent
during conception, 200; with-
out lesion, 234-236, 239
virgins, 157, 160
virtues, 315, 320, 426
virtus, meaning miracle, 406;
power to work miracles, 248 n.
vows, unkept, 321-328
way, of death, 314; narrow, 308-
321; of sinners, 96-97
will, interpreting a, 430, 431
womankind, mother of those
who live through grace, 228
wonders, diabolical, 406
world, end of, 79 n., 102; fades
away, 399
worldliness, 203-208, 314, 341,
346, 438
Zachary, 138-140
454
1 34 605
