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JOHN M. KELLY LIBRARY
Donated by
The Redemptorists of
the Toronto Province
from the Library Collection of
Holy Redeemer College, Windsor
University of
St. Michael's College, Toronto
HOLY REDEEMER
WINDSOR
SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
WITH
THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
WITH THE
FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
OR
HOMILIES OF THE HOLY FATHERS ON THE GOSPELS
OF ALL THE SUNDAYS AND CHIEF FESTIVALS
OF THE ECCLESIASTICAL YEAR
BY THE
REV. D. G. HUBERT
AUTHOR OK
'ECCE HOMO: MEDITATIONS ON THE PASSION,' AND
HEAVEN ON EARTH J OK, TWELVE HOURS OF ADORATION BEFORE THE
BLESSED SACRAMENT '
R. & T. WASHBOURNE
4 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
BENZIGER BROS. : NEW YORK, CINCINNATI AND CHICAGO
IQOT
iliil .obstat.
DANIEL CANONICUS ILES, S.T.L
Imprimatur.
4« HERBERTUS CARD1NALIS VAUGHAN,
A rchiepiscopus Westmonast.
Die 4 Junii, 1901.
THE RIGHT HONOURABLE
LADY HERBERT OF LEA
IN GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF HER
GREAT CHARITY AND GENEROSITY
THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED
BY HER HUMBLE AND OBLIGED SERVANT
IN CHRIST
D. G. HUBERT
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION - - xiii
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Gospel i
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. Peter 2
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Gospel
Homily by St. Jerome, Priest 9
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT
« Gospel 12
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. Peter 13
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT
Gospel - 20
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. John the Baptist • 21
CHRISTMAS DAY
Gospel - 26
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
Our Lady on Christmas Day - - 27
THE FEAST OF ST. STEPHEN, THE FIRST MARTYR
Gospel 30
Homily by St. Jerome, Priest - 31
SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS
Gospel - 35
Homily by the Venerable Bede, Priest 35
THE FEAST OF THE CIRCUMCISION
Gospel .- - 4°
Homily by St. Ambrose, Bishop 40
viii CONTENTS
I'AGE
THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD
Gospel - 42
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. Peter on the Epiphany - - 43
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Gospel - 50
Homily by St. Ambrose, Bishop - - 50
OCTAVE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY
Gospel 53
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 54
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Gospel - 59
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 60
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Gospel - - 65
Homily by St. Jerome, Priest - 66
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Gospel - 69
I. Homily by St. Jerome, Priest - - 70
II. Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - 71
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Gospel . - 73
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 73
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY
Gospel - - - 77
Homily by St. Jerome, Priest - 78
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY
Gospel - 82
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. Lawrence on Septuagesima Sunday - 83
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY
Gospel - 90
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. Peter on Sexagesima Sunday - 91
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY
Gospel . . 98
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. Peter on Quinquagesima Sunday - - 99
ASH- WEDNESDAY
Gospel - 106
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 106
CONTENTS ix
PAGE
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT
Gospel 109
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. John Lateran - no
SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT
Gospel 116
Homily by Pope St. Leo the Great 116
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT
Gospel 123
Homily by the Venerable Bede, Priest 124
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT
Gospel - 131
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 133
FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT, OR PASSION SUNDAY
Gospel . 139
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. Peter on Passion Sunday - 140
SIXTH SUNDAY IN LENT, OR PALM SUNDAY
Gospel 147
Homily by St. Ambrose, Bishop of Milan - - 148
GOOD FRIDAY
Gospel - 154
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 160
EASTER SUNDAY
Gospel - 163
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
the Blessed Virgin Mary on Easter Sunday - - 163
EASTER MONDAY
Gospel - 170
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. Peter on Easter Monday - - 171
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER, OR Low SUNDAY
Gospel - 174
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church
of St. John Lateran on the First Sunday after
Easter - 175
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER
Gospel - 1 80
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. Peter on the Second Sunday after Easter - - 181
CONTENTS
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER
Gospel l87
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - 188
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER
Gospel J92
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - 193
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER
Gospel • J99
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 200
ASCENSION DAY
Gospel 2°7
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. Peter on the Feast of the Ascension of our Lord - 207
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER
Gospel 2l8
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - 218
WHIT-SUNDAY, THE FEAST OF PENTECOST
Gospel - 224
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
St. Peter, Apostle, on the Feast of Pentecost - - 225
WHIT-MONDAY
Gospel 234
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - 234
TRINITY SUNDAY
Gospel 238
Homily by St. Gregory of Nazianzus 238
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel 239
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 240
FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI
Gospel - 245
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - 246
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel f 248
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
SS. Philip and James on the Second Sunday after
Pentecost 249
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel 257
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
SS . John and Paul on the Third Sunday after Pentecost 258
CONTENTS xi
PAGE
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 265
Homily by St. Ambrose, Bishop - - 266
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 272
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 272
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 276
Homily by St. Ambrose, Bishop - - 276
SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 282
Homily by St. Hilary, Bishop 283
EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 285
Homily by St. Jerome, Priest - 286
NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel 288
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Basilica of
St. John, called the Constantine - 289
TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel 295
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 296
ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 299
Homily by Pope St. Gregory - 300
TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 3°4
Homily by the Venerable Bede, Priest - - 305
THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 3°8
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 308
FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 312
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 313
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 317
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 318
SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 324
Homily by St. Ambrose, Bishop - - 325
xii CONTENTS
PAGE
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 327
Hcmily by St. John Chrysostom - 328
EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 332
Homily by St. Peter Chrysologus - - 333
NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel 337
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
the Holy Martyr Clement 338
TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel . 342
Homily by Pope St. Gregory, preached in the Church of
SS. Nereus and Achilles on their Festival - 343
TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel 347
Homily by St. Jerome, Priest 348
TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 349
Homily by St. Hilary, Bishop - - 350
TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 351
Homily by St. Jerome, Priest - 352
TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
Gospel - 354
Homily by St. Jerome, Priest - 356
FEAST OF SS. PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES
Gospel • 361
Homily by St. Jerome, Priest - 362
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
Gospel • 365
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 365
THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS
Gospel - 370
Homily by St. Augustine, Bishop - - 371
INTRODUCTION
THE Christian's rule of life is contained in the Gospels.
They are the Book on which he should meditate, and the
teaching of which he should endeavour to put into
practice all the days of his life. Yet, it is to be feared
that, in reading this Book, he might not have the necessary
light from above, and perhaps might attach to the sacred
words a meaning that was not intended by the Divine
Teacher, nor by His disciples. To prevent such pos
sibility, many learned men, well versed in Holy Writ,
have carefully explained the meaning of the Gospels, and
have thus imparted to Christians a greater taste and love
for the reading of the Word of God. Hence we have
their commentaries, meditations, lives of Jesus Christ, and
divers essays on the Holy Scriptures, the titles of which
alone would form a large volume. Many of these works
are thoroughly well written, and the reader can be but
greatly edified and instructed by them. However, it is
strange, that from the beginning it never occurred to any
one to go up to the very source. Among spiritual books
the oldest are the best and the surest. It seems, therefore,
that the works of the holy Fathers should have obtained
the preference, for they are nearly as old as the Church,
and in them the tradition is preserved in all its strength
and purity.
xiv INTRODUCTION
Indeed, when we follow these wise teachers in their
writings from century to century, we are astonished that
Christian Faith, enlightening us now, should be always
one and the same, and that the doctrine of faith, taught by
the Church, and the doctrine of morals, preached in the
world, have never undergone any change in the succession
of centuries. We see that the true Church, our glory
and the foundation of our hope, has always remained
calm in the midst of storms, victorious in the fiercest
struggles, unhurt amidst the most powerful attacks, and
always preserved from the arrows of her enemies. We
see that the Bride of Jesus has always been holy and in
fallible in her precepts and commands, always wise and
enlightened in her teaching, always prudent and reason
able in her discipline, and always pure in her religious
practices. We recognise that the Church, built upon the
Rock, has been, and will be to the end of the world, holy
and immaculate, because she is protected by the infinitely
powerful and eternal God, and guided by the Holy Ghost.
It is, therefore, a subject of astonishment that, what
the holy Fathers have written and preached about the
Gospels, has not more often been translated and pub
lished in modern times. Was it not quite natural to
think of this pious duty, especially as they are often
quoted in sermons and instructions, and consulted, when
difficult passages of Holy Scripture have to be explained ?
Are not they our teachers, under whose guidance we
cannot fall into error ? There are no better sources
from which to draw with greater safety. What eloquence
and diversity in their works ! Who would not admire
the grace and strength of a St. John Chrysostom, the
fecundity and sublimity of a St. Augustine, the clear
penetration and depth of a St. Ambrose, the vast learning
of a St. Jerome, or the penetrating knowledge of a
INTRODUCTION xv
St. Gregory ? What dignity and authority in St. Leo,
and what beauty in the writings of the Venerable Bede !
The works of the Fathers of the Church form a rich
library. Yet this field, so fertile in an abundance of
delicious fruits, remains sterile for the greater number of
the Catholic people, who perhaps know not what to
choose, or are ignorant of the language of these holy
writers. It seems to me that a collection of Homilies
from different Fathers, arranged according to the
Sundays and principal festivals of the ecclesiastical
year, would be a great spiritual help to all Christians.
This is the reason why I undertook this collection, and
I have carefully endeavoured that it should be useful
to all.
Before every Homily is placed the respective part of
the Gospels, thus showing the intimate relation existing
between the one and the other. The literal, spiritual,
allegorical, and figurative meaning of the Holy Scriptures
is explained in these discourses. Their style is clear and
simple, yet elegant ; the comparisons are most beautiful
and instructive, for they are natural. Simplicity is their
ornament, and this simplicity pervades the whole dis
course. The present book is, therefore, a selection of
different essays which, by their number and diversity,
form a collection presenting the doctrine of faith and
morals, and containing the principal truths of our Holy
Catholic Religion.
This is the notion or idea which may be formed of
these Homilies. I have endeavoured to render, in ' a
natural and simple style, the sublime and forcible
eloquence of the holy Fathers, without weakening their
thoughts. For I am of opinion that a literal translation,
often dry and tiring, could not give a clear idea of the
beautiful expressions found in these Homilies. A dog-
xvi INTRODUCTION
matical work is not to be translated like a history or an
ordinary speech.
It is to be hoped that this book will be of great and
general utility, specially as priests and others, whose
duty it is to instruct the faithful, have not always the
time to consult the Fathers, even should they possess
their works. The duties of priests in parishes, the time
they spend in the confessional, their visiting the sick and
the poor, the administration of the Sacraments, will not
allow them to do so. Besides, would it not require a
long time to find out the special subject ? For, in order to
discover in the writings of the Fathers a few pages, or
even one passage, directly explaining the Gospel, a whole
essay or a whole book must sometimes be read, the
greater part of which has no direct reference to that
Gospel. Again, there are many priests, whose duty it
is to preach and instruct, who do not possess the works
of the Fathers, who have a few books only : their small
means not allowing them to buy any more.
We also offer this book to all Christians who spend
some time, specially on Sundays and Feast-days, in
spiritual reading. The Homilies are also offered to all
those who, through sickness or the nursing of the sick,
are prevented from assisting at the instructions of their
Pastor. The clergy and the laity will find in them a
source of instruction and edification. As to the writer,
he will be rewarded by the thought that he has placed in
the hands of a great many a selection of solid instructions,
a great portion of which has never been translated.
Two words will explain why this book ought to be dear
to all good Christians : it contains the essential parts
of the Gospels, and the most important parts of the
works of the Fathers.
D. G. HUBERT.
BATH,
October, 1901.
SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
WITH THE
FATHERS OF THE CHURCH
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
GOSPEL: Luke xxi. 25-33. At that time: Jesus said to
His disciples : There shall be signs in the sun and in the
moon and in the stars, and upon the earth distress of
nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the
sea and of the waves, men withering away for fear and
expectation of what shall come upon the whole world.
For the powers of the heavens shall be moved, and then
they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with
great power and majesty. But when these things begin
to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads, because
your redemption is at hand. And He spoke to them a
similitude : See the fig-tree and all the trees, when they
now shoot forth their fruit, you know that summer is nigh ;
so you also, when you shall see these things comedo
pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand. Amen,
1 say to you, this generation shall not pass away till all
things be fulfilled. Heaven and earth shall pass away,
but My words shall not pass away.
2 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER.
FIRST HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. As our adorable Saviour will expect at His coming
to find us ready, He warns us of the terrors that will
accompany the latter days in order to wean us from the
love of this world ; and He foretells the misery which will
be the prelude to this inevitable time, so that, if we
neglect in the quietness of this life to fear a God of com
passion, the fearful spectacle of the approaching last judg
ment may impress us with a wholesome dread. A short
time before He had said : Nation shall vise against nation,
and kingdom against kingdom. And there shall be great earth
quakes in divers places, and pestilences and famines (Luke xxi.
10, n). Now He added: And there shall be signs in the
sun and in the moon and in the stars, and upon the earth distress
of nations. Of all these events we have seen many already
fulfilled, and with fear and trembling we look for the near
fulfilment of the rest. As for the nations which are to
rise up one against the other, and the persecutions which
are to be endured on earth, what we learn from the
history of our own times, and what we have seen with
our own eyes, makes a far deeper impression than what
we read even in Holy Scripture. With regard to the
earthquakes converting numberless cities into lamentable
heaps of ruins, the accounts of them are not unknown to
you, and reports of the like events reach us still from
various parts of the world. Epidemics also continue to
cause us the greatest sorrow and anxiety ; and though we
have not seen the signs in the sun and in the moon and in the
stars, mentioned in Holy Scripture, we know, at least,
that fiery weapons have appeared shining in the sky, and
even blood, the foreboding of that blood which was to be
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT 3
shed in Italy by the invading barbarian hordes. As to
the terrible roaring of the sea and of the waves, we have not
yet heard it. However, we do not doubt that this also
will happen ; for, the greater part of the prophecies of
our Lord being fulfilled, this one will also see its fulfil
ment, the past being a guarantee for the future.
II. Moreover, we say this, beloved brethren, to en
courage you to unceasing watchfulness over yourselves,
so that no false confidence may take possession of your
souls, leaving you to languish in ignorance ; but that, on
the contrary, a true and wholesome fear may drive you
on to do good, and strengthen you in the carrying out of
good works. Take special notice of the following, added
by our Saviour : Men shall wither away for fear and expecta
tion of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers
of heaven shall be moved. What is meant by our heavenly
Teacher when speaking of the powers of heaven, but the
angels and archangels, the thrones, principalities and
powers, that will appear on the day of vengeance of that
severe Judge, Who will then demand from us with severity
the homage and submission, which He now, as our
Creator, although unseen, asks for in love as His due.
Then they shall see the Son of Man coming in a cloud, with great
power and majesty. Which means that the people will then
see Him, whom in His meekness and humiliations they
would neither listen to nor recognise, coming in power
and majesty. In that day they will feel the more com
pelled to acknowledge His power, since in the present
time they deny Him, and refuse to submit themselves to
His yoke, to which He so patiently invites them.
III. As, however, these words of our Saviour are
spoken to the lost, so are the following uttered for the
comfort of the elect : When these things begin to come to pass,
look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at
1 — 2
4 S UN DA YS A ND FESTI VALS
hand. Truth Itself teaches the chosen ones in these
words, and seems to say to them : When you see the
calamities which portend the end of the world increasing ;
when fear of that awful judgment-day takes possession of
even the bravest hearts at the sight of the shaken powers
of heaven, then lift up your heads, that is, rejoice with
your whole heart, because the end of this world, so little
loved by you, announces to you the wished-for freedom
to be enjoyed by you hereafter. The head is often used
in Holy Scripture for the soul, and in this way, by warn
ing us to lift up our heads, it reminds us to rouse up our
souls to the thought of the heavenly home which is await
ing us. Those, therefore, who love God, are commanded
to rejoice when they see the end of the world approach
ing, because, when this world, which they have not loved,
is destroyed, they will find themselves in possession of
Him, Who is the one true object of their love. We are
assured that among these true believers, who have a
real longing to see God, there is not one who will not be
deeply moved by the fearful events accompanying the end
of the world. For we know from Holy Scripture that
Whosoever will be a friend of this world, becometh an enemy of
God. (James iv. 4.) Therefore, to show no pleasure at the
approach of the end of the world is as much as to declare
that we love this world, and that we are the enemies of
God. This wicked clinging to the world must be far
removed from the hearts of good Christians, and of those
who by faith are convinced that there is another life, and
by their "good works deserve that life. Let those weep
over the destruction of the world, whose hearts are given
to it, and whose hopes are fixed upon it, and who, far
from seeking this new life, refuse to believe that there
will be another life. As for us who believe in this
heavenly home and in its eternal bliss prepared for us, let
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT 5
us hasten to reach them. We should wish to attain this
home as soon as possible, and endeavour to find the
shortest way thither. For, are we not surrounded in this
world by a great many misfortunes ? Do we not experi
ence many troubles and calamities ? What, indeed, is
this mortal life but a painful way ? Consider, beloved
brethren, what folly it would be in a man walking along
a toilsome and difficult road until overcome with fatigue,
and yet not wishing to see the end of it ! Moreover, our
Saviour teaches us by His wise similitude that this
world does not deserve our affection, but that, on the
contrary, we should despise it. He says : See the fig-tree
and all the trees. When they now shoot forth their fruit, yon
know that summer is nigh. So yon also, when you shall see these
things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand.
Is it not as though He said : In the same way that you
conclude by the trees bearing fruit that summer is near,
so by the downfall of the world you will know that the
kingdom of God is not far off ? These words show us
plainly enough that the fall and destruction of this world
are its real fruits, since its rise and increase are closely
connected with its fall, and since it brings forth those
things only which are destined to perish. If, on the con
trary, we consider the kingdom of God, we are aware that
we may in all truth compare it with the summer, when
all the clouds of our afflictions will be dispersed and be
followed by happy days, lighted up by a never disappear
ing sun of bliss.
IV. And that we should never doubt these truths, our
Lord confirms them with an oath, saying : Amen, I say to
you, this generation shall not pass away, till all things be ful
filled. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but My words shall
not pass away. Among all corporeal things and beings
nothing is more durable than heaven and earth ; in the
6 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
same way nothing disappears more quickly than the
word. Before the word is expressed it exists, and hardly
is it said than it has disappeared ; for the word cannot
attain its perfection without at the same instant losing its
existence. Now heaven and earth shall pass away, says the
oracle of eternal truth, Int My words shall not pass away.
It is as if our Saviour said : Learn ye, that everything
among you, that seems to be durable, has not been made
to last for ever or to continue without any change ;
whereas what seems to pass away quickly, is firmly
and for ever established. For even the words I speak,
and which fly away, contain in themselves irrevocable
utterances.
V. Now, beloved brethren, to return to what you have
heard about this world being filled with continual daily
increasing evils, consider what remains of the immense
nation that has sustained the calamities of which I am
speaking. Meanwhile, the troubles have not yet left us ;
we are still oppressed by lamentable and unforeseen
calamities, and we are grieved and afflicted by new
losses. Strip, therefore, your hearts from the love of this
world which you enjoy so little ; and for this purpose take
to heart the precept of the Apostle : Love not the world,
nor the things which are in the world. If any man love the
world, the charity of the Father is not in him (i John ii. 15).
What we have experienced these last three days is not
unknown to you ; how suddenly raging storms have
rooted out the largest and strongest trees, have pulled
down houses and destroyed churches ! Many of the
inhabitants, who at the end of the day quietly and in
good health projected new plans for the morrow, were
taken away by a sudden death during the night, and
buried under the ruins of their dwellings.
VI. I beseech you, beloved brethren, be careful ! If
FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT 7
the invisible Judge is letting loose the stormy winds in
order to produce these terrible effects ; if He only needs
to move the clouds of heaven and thus to shake the whole
earth, and to overthrow and ruin the strongest buildings ;
what can we expect from this Judge when in His wrath
He comes to take revenge and to punish sinners ? If a
mere cloud raised by Him against us is sufficient to strike
us down, how shall we be able to resist His almighty
power? St. Paul, thinking of the infinite power of the
Judge appearing on this awful day, exclaims: It is a fearful
thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Heb. x. 31).
The Royal Prophet expresses himself with the same force,
when in his psalm he says : The God of gods, the Lord hath
spoken ; and He hath called the earth. From the rising of the
sun, to the going down thereof, God shall come manifestly : our
God shall come, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall burn
before Him ; and a mighty tempest shall be round about Him.
He shall call heaven from above, and the earth, to judge His
people. Gather ye together His saints to Him ; and the
heavens shall declare His justice, for God is Judge. Hear,
O My people, and I will speak ; O Israel, and I will testify to
thee ; I am God thy God. Understand these things you that
forget God ; lest He snatch you away, and there be none to
deliver you (Ps. xlix.). It is not without a special reason
that this severe judgment will be accompanied by fire
and storms ; for it will weigh, as in scales, men who
were devoured by the natural fire. Therefore, beloved
brethren, keep this great day before your mind's eye, and
whatever seems difficult and troublesome, will soon become
light and easy, when you compare the one with the other.
The prophet Sophonias says to us : The great day of the Lord
is near, it is near and exceeding swift ; the voice of the day of the
Lord is bitter ; the mighty man shall there meet with tribula
tion. That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and
8 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and
obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds ; a day of the
trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the
high bulwarks (Soph. i. 14-16). And the Lord God has
spoken of this day through His prophet : Yet one little
while, and I will move the heaven, and the earth, and the sea,
and the dry land (Agg. ii. 7). But, as we have already
remarked, if the earth could not resist the force of the
wind set in motion, how will man be able to resist the
motions of the heavens ? For what are all these terrible
events causing us so much uneasiness and fear, but
heralds announcing to us the wrath of God following
them ? From all this we conclude that between the
evils oppressing us now, and those which will come in
the latter days, there is as great a difference as between
the power of the highest Judge and the power announcing
Him. Therefore, beloved brethren, think of the last day
with renewed attention ; amend your lives ; steadfastly
resist all temptations leading you to sin, and wipe out
with your tears the sins you have committed. Then the
more you have endeavoured, through salutary fear, to
anticipate the severity of His judgments, the greater
will be the confidence with which you will witness the
coming of this Immortal King.
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
GOSPEL : Matt. xi. 2-10. At that time : When John had
heard in prison the works of Christ, sending two of his
disciples, he said to Him : Art Thou He that art to come,
or look we for another ? And Jesus making answer, said
to them : Go and relate to John what you have heard
and seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are
cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise again, the poor
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT g
have the Gospel preached to them ; and blessed is he
that shall not be scandalized in Me. And when they
went their way, Jesus began to say to the multitudes,
concerning John : What went ye out into the desert to
see ? A reed shaken with the wind ? But what went ye
out to see ? A man clothed in soft garments ? Behold,
they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of
kings. But what went ye out to see ? A prophet ? Yea,
I tell you, and more than a prophet. For this is he of
whom it is written : Behold, I send my angel before thy
face, who shall prepare thy way before thee.
HOMILY BY ST. JEROME, PRIEST.
HOMILY ON ST. MATT. xi.
I. When John the Baptist sent his disciples to Jesus,
in order to question Him about His mission, he was not
ignorant either of His advent or of His dignity as the
Messiah. He knew that Jesus was the Lamb of God Who
taketh away the sin of the world, for he had shown Him to
others who had no knowledge of His divine nature.
Indeed, the precursor had heard the almighty voice of
the Father giving testimony : This is My beloved Son, in
Whom I am well pleased (Matt. iii. 17). Now we know that
our Saviour asked the Jews to show Him the place where
Lazarus had been buried, though He knew it well, so
that those who would accompany Him thither, should
begin to believe in His divine mission, when witnessing
the miracle of the raising of Lazarus, that was to follow.
In the same way John, who was to be condemned to
death by Herod, sent his disciples to Jesus, that by
witnessing His miracles and the operation of His divine
and almighty power, they might believe in Him, as well
as receive instruction from the Divine Teacher Himself,
io SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Whom they could then question as their personal teacher.
It seems that St. John's disciples were angry with our
Lord ; for the question shortly before addressed to Him
by them, sufficiently disclosed their pride and envy. The
Evangelist tells us how the disciples of John came to
Him saying : Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but
Thy disciples do not fast ? (Matt. ix. 14). At another time
the same disciples complained to John and said to him :
Rabbi, He that was with thee beyond the Jordan, to Whom thou
gavest testimony, behold He baptizeth, and all men come to Him.
(John iii. 26). It was as if they said : We are a small
number and almost forsaken, for the multitude are with
Jesus Christ, and they follow Him.
II. St. John does not say to our Lord : Art Thou He
that is come ? But he asks : A rt Thou He that art to come ?
As if to say : Let me know whether, after announcing
Thy coming into this world, I shall not also announce Thy
coming into Limbo, whither I shall soon be going ? For
is it right and just that the Son of God should die ?
And is it not Thy own wish to send someone to the
just in Limbo and announce to them the mystery of
Thy advent ?
III. And Jesus answered the inquiring disciples and
said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard and
seen. The blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the
deaf hear, the dead rise again. John had through his
disciples asked this question of Jesus : Art Thou He that
art to come, or look we for another ? Yet, instead of answer
ing this question, instead of removing with one word
whatsoever had scandalized them, Jesus mentioned His
miracles and said to them : Go and relate to John the
miracles you have seen ; speak of the blind who now see,
of the lame who now walk, and of all other miraculous
cures you have witnessed. And tell him another fact, no
SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT 11
less astonishing, that the poor have the Gospel preached to
them. Under the name of poor our Saviour meant both
the poor in spirit and the poor deprived of the goods of this
world ; for there will not be any difference between rich
and poor, nobleman and serf, when the Gospel is preached
to them. This also shows how just and wise and true the
Divine Teacher is, Who, when working for the salvation
of their souls, considers them all equal. And the words
which He added, Blessed is he that shall not be scandalized
in Me, contain a reproof addressed to the disciples of John,
as we shall see later on.
IV. And when these messengers went their way, Jesus
began to say to the multitudes, concerning John : What went ye
out into the desert to see ? A reed shaken with, the wind ? But
what went ye out to see ? A man clothed in soft garments ?
Behold they that are clothed in soft garments are in the houses
of kings. Had our Lord condemned St. John by these
words, Blessed is he that is not scandalized in Me, as many
pretend, why does He overwhelm him with praises?
Indeed, Jesus praised John the Baptist, because the
multitude did not understand the meaning of the disciples'
question, and thought that even John was still in doubt
as to whether Jesus really were the Messiah, though he
had already pointed Him out as the true Lamb of God.
In order, therefore, to give the multitude to understand
that John did not send his disciples for the purpose of
clearing up his doubt, but to have them instructed, our
Lord said : What went ye out into the desert to see ? Was
it to see a man who like a reed is shaken with every wind ;
an inconstant man who is still in doubt about the mission
of Him Whom he had already announced ? Do you
think he envies Me, and that by his preaching he seeks
only his own honour and glory and even personal
interest? And how could riches and dainty dishes
12 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
delight one who makes his food of locusts and wild honey ?
Would soft garments be more useful to him, since he is
clothed with camel's hair and a leathern girdle about his
loins ? Such food and such garments are the appanage of
those who look for no other dwelling than a prison ; for
this will be the abode of them that preach the truth.
Flatterers and self-interested people, that is, those who
are eager in the pursuit of money and of luxurious living,
you find them and their desires in the houses of kings. All
this clearly shows that those who lead a severe and peni
tential life, and who announce the truth in all its purity,
without deceit and flattery, must remain away from royal
courts and from the palaces of sensual people.
V. The testimony which Truth Itself gave to John the
Baptist, saying that he was more than a prophet, exalted
him above all other prophets, because, whilst other
prophets had, many hundreds of years before, announced
again and again the coming of Jesus, John had pointed
Him out as already come. Moreover, he was dis
tinguished above all other prophets by the privilege
accorded to him of baptizing Jesus in the waters of the
Jordan. And in order to point out to all- the special
dignity of John, our Lord added : This is he of whom it is
written : Behold, I send My angel before thy face, who shall
prepare the way before thee (Mark iii. 2). Not that John
possessed the angelic nature, but that, announcing to us
the coming of the Saviour, he performed one of the duties
of the celestial messengers.
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
GOSPEL: John i. 19-29. At that time: The Jews sent
from Jerusalem Priests and Levites to John to ask him :
Who art thou ? And he confessed and did not deny ;
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT 13
and he confessed : I am not the Christ. And they
asked him : What then ? Art thou Elias ? And he
said : I am not. Art thou a Prophet ? And he
answered : No. They said, therefore, unto him : Who
art thou, that we may give an answer to them that sent
us ? What sayest thou of thyself ? He said : I am
the voice of one crying in the wilderness, Make straight the
way of the Lord, as said the Prophet Isaias. And they
that were sent were of the Pharisees. And they asked
him and said to him : Why then dost thou baptize if
thou be not Christ, nor Elias, nor the Prophet ? John
answered them, saying : I baptize with water, but there
hath stood One in the midst of you Whom you know not.
The same is He that shall come after me, Who is pre
ferred before me ; the latchet of Whose shoe I am not
worthy to loose. These things were done in Bethania,
beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER.
SEVENTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. The words of this Gospel, beloved brethren, teach
us highly to esteem the humility of St. John. His heroic
virtues were so well known, that he was believed by the
multitude to be Jesus Christ Himself; yet, far from being
led astray by the high estimation in which he was held,
or holding a good opinion of himself, he preferred to
know himself and to remain in his humble position. He
confessed and did not deny ; and he confessed : I am not the
Christ. However, by saying that he was not the Christ,
Whom they believed him to be, he did not deny that
which he in reality was, and so in truth he became a
member of Him Whose name he would not assume. He
I4 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
renounced the name and the high dignity of Jesus Christ,
and thus deserved to be a member of Christ ; for the con
fession of his humble condition raised him up to a great
ness published and confirmed by our Lord Himself. If
now we meditate on some words of Jesus which we find
in another part of Holy Scripture, we shall have to clear
up a most important question. When the disciples of
our Lord asked Him about the second coming of Elias,
He, answering, said to them : Elias indeed shall come. But I
say to you, that Elias is already come, and they knew him not, but
have done unto him whatsoever they had a mind. Then the
disciples understood that Pie had spoken to them of John the
Baptist (Matt. xvii. 11-13). Now, ask John the Baptist if
he be Elias, and he will answer : / am not. Who can
explain this mystery, beloved brethren ? Why does the
Prophet of truth contradict Him who is the Eternal
Truth ? For there is a great contradiction between
these two testimonies. And if John does not agree with
the Truth, who shall be recognised as the Prophet of
truth ? Yet, when we examine the meaning of these
words, which seem to be contradictory, we at once
recognise that, although apparently announcing opposite
things, they really are in perfect agreement. When the
angel, appearing to Zacharias, said that John shall go
before the Lord in the spirit of Elias (Luke i. 17), he wished
to convey the meaning that John would come into this
world with the spirit and power of the prophet Elias, in
order to precede the first coming of the Redeemer, as
Elias would precede His second coming. Elias will be
the precursor of the great Divine Judge, as John was the
precursor of the Divine Redeemer. John was Elias in
spirit but not in person ; therefore, he could deny to be
the person of one whose spirit was in him, according to
the testimony of the Lord. Besides, it was proper that
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT 15
Jesus, answering His disciples, should speak of the spirit
of St. John ; whereas the Baptist, answering a multitude
of rough and sensual people, spoke of his body and person,
and not of his spirit. In this manner his words do not
depart from the way of truth, though at first sight they
seem to contain a contradiction.
II. When he promptly added that he was not a
prophet, he wished to declare that he had not only the
power to announce the Redeemer of the world, but was
also able to point Him out ; and he declared his mission,
saying : / am the voice of one crying in the wilderness. You
know, beloved brethren, that the only-begotten Son is
called the Word of the Father, as St. John the Evangelist
tells us, saying : In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God (John i. i).
Now you certainly notice that, when you speak, the sound
of the voice strikes the ear before the word is distinctly
heard. In the same sense John declares himself to be the
voice, because he precedes the Word, for his coming pre
ceded that of the Redeemer ; therefore he was the voice
through which the Word of the Father was heard. He
is also the voice of one crying in the wilderness and an
nouncing to the hopelessly forsaken Judea, the approaching
consolation of the Saviour. Lastly, he teaches the mean
ing of his cry by adding : Make straight the way of the Lord,
as said the prophet Isaias (Isa. xl. 3). Now, the way of the
Lord is made straight and prepared in our hearts, when
we hear the word of truth in humility and resignation.
His way is also made straight, when through the purity
of our life we prepare ourselves to accept the teaching of
His truth. Thus Jesus Christ said : If anyone love Me, he
will keep My word, and My Father will love him, and We will
come to him, and will make Our abode with him (John xiv. 23).
Consequently, he that extols himself in pride and is
16 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
governed by avarice ; he that gives himself up to luxury
and lust, closes his heart against truth, opens the door to
passions, and shuts every entrance of his soul against the
Lord, Who then cannot take up His abode with him,
III. These same men sent by the Jews to St. John,
inquired of him why he baptized, since he was not Christ,
nor Elias, nor the Prophet-? But it was envy, not the
desire of knowing the truth, that led them to speak.
This is sufficiently clear from the words of the Evange
list, who says : A nd they that were sent were of the Pharisees,
just as if he had said : They inquired into the doings of
John with such eagerness as to show that they wished to
find in them something blamable, and that they did not
care for his teaching, which only aroused their envy and
jealousy. However, since the spirit of meekness and
holy zeal does not forsake the saints, even when the
envious and wicked question them, we see that John the
Baptist answered with words of life and salvation the
questions inspired by envy and hatred, and said : /
baptize with water ; but there hath stood One in the midst of you
Whom you know not. The baptism of John was only a
baptism with water, as he himself confessed, therefore it
did not give the Holy Ghost. It had not the power of
forgiving sin ; only of purifying the bodies, but not the
souls, of those who received it. He gave this unfruitful
baptism only to fulfil his office of precursor, preceding by
this baptism the one of the Redeemer, just as in his birth
he had preceded the coming of Jesus into this world.
Even in his preaching he had come before the Saviour.
Thus by the representation of this sacrament he signified
the real Sacrament instituted by our Lord. While
announcing the mystery of the Redeemer to the multi
tude, John taught them that this Redeemer, Whom they
knew not, stood in the midst of them. For He Who was
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT 17
God had taken human nature, was like us in everything,
and was visibly among men ; yet the splendour of His
Divinity was hidden from their eyes. And when he
added : The same is Pie that shall come after me, Who is
preferred before me, he wished to teach us, that if Jesus
Christ, as to His birth, has come after him, according to
His dignity He was infinitely preferred before him. And
he gives the reason of this preference in the preceding
words, He was before me, and declares that He Who
was born after him far surpasses him, because time
cannot enclose Him in its bounds. Though He was born
of His Virgin Mother in time, yet He was begotten of
His Father from all eternity. However, to show even
more clearly the esteem and reverence which were due to
the Redeemer, he confessed in deep humility that he was
not worthy to loose the latchet of His shoe. Among the
ancients there was a custom that, when a man would not
accept the bride allotted to him by law, this bride was to
take off his shoes. This clearly indicates that, when Jesus
came to abide among men, He also showed Himself as the
Bridegroom of the Holy Church, according to the words of
John himself, saying : He that hath the bride is the bride-
groom (John iii. 29). Now, in order to combat the opinion,
according to which some thought that the person of Jesus
was John the Baptist, he positively declares that he was not
even worthy to loose the latchet of the Redeemer's shoe,
acknowledging by this that, as he could neither assume
the name nor the nature of the Bridegroom, so neither
had he the power to uncover the feet of the Redeemer.
There is yet another meaning in these words. Everyone
knows that what serves to cover the feet is taken from
the skin of dead animals. Now, our Saviour, taking a
body like ours, appeared in this world with the covering
of our mortal and corruptible nature. Who is able to
2
1 8 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
understand the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word of
God ? Who can comprehend how the highest Spirit,
giving life to everything, received life in the womb of a
mother ? How was He, who had no beginning, but is
eternal, and showed Himself in time, conceived ? And
as the obscurity of this mystery is signified by the latchet
of the Saviour of the world, we understand why John the
Baptist declared that he had not the power to loose it.
Though he had recognised by his prophetic spirit the
Incarnation of the Word, his human mind was not able
to conceive this great mystery. When he tells us that he
is not worthy to loose the latchet of the Saviour's shoe,
he wishes to teach us that he acknowledges his ignorance,
and that we are not to be astonished at seeing that He,
Who was born after him, was preferred before him ; be
cause the mystery of our Saviour's nativity was far
beyond his conception and understanding. Lastly, this
confession of St. John tells us that, though he might
have possessed the required knowledge imparted to him
in the gift of prophecy, he still remained in ignorance
concerning this incomprehensible mystery.
IV. Beloved brethren, our special attention is called to
the way in which the saints endeavour to preserve the
virtue of humility. As soon as they are aware of the
extraordinary wisdom and knowledge imparted to them,
they consider all the things which they do not know, so
that the consideration of their weakness may keep them
humble, since the knowledge of their perfection might
engender pride in them ; they are convinced that, know
ledge being a virtue, humility is its best preservative.
For, be the mind ever so enlightened by extraordinary
attainments, it must be humbled deeply, that the blessings
received and acquired by knowledge may not be blown
away by the wind of pride. Therefore, beloved brethren,
THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT 19
when you do good works, remember the evil you have
done in past years ; for if you keep your faults before
your eyes, you will never feel vain delight nor take
thoughtless pleasure in any merit you may possess. Con
sider yourselves less than others, especially less than those
not entrusted to your care. Should you notice faults in
your neighbour, consider that he possesses virtues which
you do not see. Everyone is intended to acquire a certain
degree of eminence through his merits ; yet in a certain
sense he must not recognise this, lest he lose through
pride the virtue he has attained. Woe to you, says the
prophet Isaias, that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent
in your own conceits (Isa. v. 21). St. Paul confirms these
words when he says : Be not wise in your own conceits
(Rom. xii. 16). When Saul was puffed up with pride
God said to him : When thou wast a little one in thy own eyes,
was thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel ? (i Kings
xv. 17). That is, when thou didst esteem thyself but
little among others, I exalted thee above all of them ; but
now, as thou thinkest thyself great, thou hast become
little in My eyes. On the contrary, we see David who,
in spite of his power and glory, thought but little of him
self, dancing before the ark and saying : Before the
Lord . . . I will both play and make my self 'meaner than I have
done, and I will be little in my own eyes (2 Kings vi. 22). But
who is he that would preserve himself from pride ? had he
done such heroic deeds as this King, and counted in his
life so many wonders as we read in the history of this
King ? He had, by the strength of his arms, struck
down lions and bears and cut them to pieces ; he was
preferred to his brothers, though the last of them, and
was chosen to wear the royal crown ; he was anointed by
the prophet, in order to take the place of a reprobate
King, and to govern the kingdom of Israel. With one
2—2
20 S UN DA YS A ND FESTI VALS
single stone he had overthrown a powerful giant, the
terror of Saul's army. Yet, in spite of these brilliant
deeds, and in the midst of his triumph and exaltation,
this powerful King, as seen by his humble words and
feelings, thought but little of himself. If the greatest
saints, amidst their wonderful deeds, thought themselves
worthy of contempt, how will those who do not practise
the least virtue excuse their vanity and pride ? For
should we deserve praise for our good works, yet they must
be considered as nothing, unless humility give them their
value. Virtue will lower, not exalt us, when humility is
wanting. The Christian who heaps up virtues without
the accompanying humility is like a man exposing dust
to the wind ; it will be carried away by the wind and
thrown into his own eyes. Therefore, beloved brethren,
cling to humility in all your actions, as to the root of all
good works. Do not consider those whom you surpass
in merits, but fix your eyes on those who excel you in
virtues ; then you will place before you as models those
who are most perfect, and by your own humility you will
attain the highest degree of perfection.
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT.
GOSPEL : Luke iii. 1-6. Now, in the fifteenth year of
the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being
Governor of Judea, and Herod Tetrarch of Galilee, and
Philip his brother Tetrarch of Iturea and the country of
Trachonitis, and Lysanias Tetrarch of Abilina, under the
high priests Annas and Caiphas, the word of the Lord was
made unto John, the son of Zachary, in the desert.
And he came into all the country about the Jordan,
preaching the baptism of penance for the remission of
sins, as it was written in the book of the sayings of Isaias
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT 21
the prophet : « A voice of one crying in the wilderness :
Prepare ye the way of the Lord ; make straight His
paths. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain
and hill shall be brought low ; and the crooked shall be
made straight, and the rough ways plain. And all flesh
shall see the salvation of God.'
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST.
TWENTIETH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. The Gospel, speaking of the Roman Emperor
Tiberius and of the different Princes governing Judea and
Galilee and other provinces, has no other motive but to
tell us the year in which the word of the Lord was made unto
John, the Precursor of the true Messiah. He was to
announce to the world Him Who would save some among
the Jews and a great number of Gentiles ; therefore the
time of his ministry is given by the name of the Emperor
who reigned over the Gentiles and by the Princes govern
ing in Judea. The enrolment which had taken place in
the world, indicates that the Gentiles were to be united,
whilst the faithless nation of the Jews would be dispersed.
For the Romans recognised but one supreme chief, whilst
Judea was divided into four provinces under as many
Princes. Thus was verified among the Jews the word
of the Redeemer : Every kingdom divided against itself shall
be brought to desolation (Luke xi. 17). And the names of the
high priests are given after those of the Kings, because
John the Baptist announced the Messiah, who was both
Priest and King. St. Luke, mentioning in his Gospel
the ministry of the Precursor, speaks at the same time of
the office of priests and rulers.
II. John came into all the country about the Jordan, preaching
22 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
the baptism of penance for the remission of sins. From the
words of Holy Scripture it appears that St. John not only
preached the baptism of penance, but also administered
it to some of the Jews. His baptism could not forgive
sins, for only the baptism instituted by Jesus can do that.
However, he preached the baptism of penance; for,
though he had not the power to give the baptism which
sanctifies, at least he announced it to the world. This
great prophet had preached, in the ministry of the Word,
the Saviour Who, being thd uncreated Word of the Father,
was made man for us ; and now he represented by his
sterile baptism the Sacrament of the real Baptism, which
alone can sanctify, truth and reality being preceded by
shadows and symbols.
III. And the Gospel adds : As it was written in the book
of the sayings of Isaias the prophet : A voice of one crying in
the wilderness : Prepare ye the way of the Lord ; make straight
His paths. When John was asked by the priests and
Levites : Who art thou ? he answered : / am the voice of
one crying in the wilderness (John i. 23). He was called by
the prophet a voice, as we have shown elsewhere, be
cause by his voice he had preceded the Divine Word.
We also know the words uttered by this voice, for the
prophet himself tells them, saying : Prepare ye the way of
the Lord; make straight His paths. We learn from all this
that he, who preached the true faith and the necessity of
good works, wished also to prepare the hearts of those
who listened to him, that is, to prepare the way by which
the Lord was coming. For he removed from men's
hearts whatever could prevent the grace of God from
entering into and illuminating them by the Divine light.
The minister of the word makes the ways straight for the
steps of the Redeemer, when he awakens pious thoughts
in the mind of his hearers. Therefore, when it is said :
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT .. 23
Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill
shall be brought low, we understand that the humble are
meant by the valleys and the proud by the mountains.
We know now why at the coming of the Saviour of the
world the valleys were to be rilled and the mountains to
be brought low, for He Himself said : Everyone that
exalteth himself, shall be humbled; and he that humbleth him
self, shall be exalted (Luke xiv. u). A valley, which is
filled up, rises and increases ; whilst a mountain or hill
brought down will decrease. Thus we see that the Gen
tiles, who in all humility received the faith in Jesus
Christ, the Mediator between God and man, received the
fulness of grace ; whilst the Jews, puffed up and filled
with pride and vanity, lost the grace of God through
their faithlessness. The valleys are filled, because the
humble, receiving into their hearts the word of salvation,
obtain at the same time grace to help them to practise
virtue, according to the words of the psalmist : Thou
sendest forth springs in the vales (Ps. ciii. 10) ; and again :
The vales shall abound with corn (Ps. Ixiv. 14). The water
running down the mountains represents those proud
men who have forsaken the doctrine of truth ; but
humble souls receive the truth preached to them, like
the valleys receive the waters which render them fertile.
Indeed, we recognise this fact when we consider those
whose meekness and simplicity are despised by the world,
but who are nourished and filled with the bread of
Divine truth.
IV. When the multitude saw the extraordinary holi
ness of John the Baptist, they believed him to be the
firm and high mountain announced in Holy Scripture :
It shall come to pass that the mountain of the house of the Lord
shall be prepared in the top of mountains, and high above the
hills ; and the people shall flow to it (Mich. iv. i). These
24 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
words were applied to St. John the more confidently
since, according to the Gospel, he was taken for Christ
Himself: The people were of opinion, and all were thinking in
their hearts of John, that perhaps he might be the Christ
(Luke iii. 15). The multitude, thinking this in their
hearts, insisted on an answer, and said to him : Art thou
not Christ ? But John the Baptist, through his own
humility, was in his own eyes like a deep valley. He
was, therefore, filled with the grace of the Holy Ghost,
and, making known the opinion he had of himself, he
answered : He that shall come after me is preferred before
me, the latchet of whose shoe I am not worthy to loose. Again
he said : He that hath the bride is the bridegroom ; but the
friend of the bridegroom, who standeth and heareth him,
njoiceth with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. This my
joy therefore is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease
(John iii. 29, 30). We see, therefore, that John the
Baptist, on account of his great virtues, was taken for
Jesus Christ by those who saw and heard him. In order
to bring them out of this error, he answered that he was
not only not Christ, but that he was not even worthy to
loose the latchet of His shoe, that is, to investigate and
understand the great mystery of the Incarnation. They
also imagined, when taking John for Jesus Christ, that
the Church was His Bride. However, he formally de
clared that the true Bridegroom was He who possessed the
bride, as if to say : I am not the bridegroom, only the
friend of the Bridegroom, giving us to understand that
his only joy consisted in hearing the Bridegroom's voice,
and that he did not glory in his own voice. For the joy
which St. John felt in his heart did not come from the
fact that the multitude listened to him in sincere humility,
but from the hope that the voice of truth had gained their
hearts, and that by his teaching he would then unfold the
FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT 25
truth more fully to them. He could, therefore, say that
his joy was full ; for he that rejoices only because his
voice was listened to, cannot possess real and entire
happiness.
V. St. John, speaking of our Redeemer, added : He
must increase, but I must decrease. Now, let us consider in
what our Lord could increase and in what His prophet
could decrease. This difficulty is easily overcome when
we remember that the people, seeing the wonderful
mortification of John the Baptist, and his retirement in
the desert far from all intercourse with men, thought he
was Christ the Messiah. Whereas, seeing Jesus among
publicans, conversing and eating with them, and not
avoiding the company of sinners, they took Him for a
prophet only, and not for the Christ. But what John
said was literally fulfilled, when the time came that the
Redeemer, Whom they had looked upon as a mere
prophet, was recognised as the Christ, and that John the
Baptist, taken for Christ, was then known only as His
prophet. Then, indeed, was fulfilled what John said of
Jesus : He must increase, but I must decrease. And our Lord
increased in the esteem of men as soon as they recog
nised Wlio He in reality was ; whilst the honour given
to John decreased, when it became known that he was
only the prophet of the Messiah. Thus the holiness of
John the Baptist was preserved, because he remained
humble. The greater number of those who wish to
attain to greatness, very often by their proud thoughts
and sentiments, fall deeply, and verify in their lives these
words : Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and
hill shall be brought low. For God is with the humble, and
gives them His richest blessings ; whereas He forsakes
the heart of the proud man.
VI. Again it is said : And the crooked shall be made
26 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
straight, and the rough ways plain. These words will be
fulfilled when the wicked, whose hearts are corrupted by
injustice, endeavour to return to God by practising
Christian justice. And the rough ways are made plain,
when hard and passionate hearts are softened and become
peaceful through the grace of God. When the word of
truth is not received, but finds an insensible heart, it is
withdrawn, on account of the obstacles placed in its way.
Whereas, when through the unction of the grace of God,
we are softened and willingly receive the instructions
and exhortations of God's ministry, the truth they an
nounce, instead of finding rough ways, finds them smooth
and plain, and thus easily penetrates the heart.
VII. And all flesh, continues the Evangelist, shall see
the salvation of God ; that is, all men shall see Jesus Christ.
But in this life all men cannot see the Redeemer. It
seems, therefore, that the prophet spoke of the future,
that he saw heaven open before him, and Jesus in His
glory, surrounded by angels, apostles and saints, as He
will come to judge the world. Then all men, both the
just and the unjust, will see the Judge. The just, that
they may receive the due reward of everlasting happi
ness ; and the wicked, that they may be punished in
everlasting torments for their sins and vices. Amen.
CHRISTMAS DAY.
GOSPEL: Luke ii. 1-14. And it came to pass that in
those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus
that the whole world should be enrolled. This enrolling
was first made by Cyrinus, the Governor of Syria. And
all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. And
Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of
Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is
CHRISTMAS DAY 27
called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and
family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his espoused
wife, who was with child. And it came to pass, that
when they were there, her days were accomplished that
she should be delivered. And she brought forth her
first-born Son, and wrapped Him up in swaddling-clothes,
and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for
them in the inn. And there were in the same country
shepherds watching and keeping the night-watches over
their flock. And behold an angel of the Lord stood by
them, and the brightness of God shone round about
them ; and they feared with a great fear. And the angel
said to them : Fear not ; for behold I bring you good
tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people ;
for this day is born to you a SAVIOUR, Who is Christ
the Lord, in the city of David. And this shall be a
sign unto you : You shall find the Infant wrapped in
swaddling-clothes, and laid in a manger. And suddenly
there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly
army, praising God, and saying : Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF OUR LADY ON CHRISTMAS DAY.
EIGHTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. Since by the mercy of God we are to say three
Masses to-day, there is not much time left for preaching
on this Gospel ; at the same time the festival of the
Lord's Nativity obliges us to speak a few words. Let
us first ask why, when our Lord was to be born, the
world was enrolled ? Was it not clearly to show that
He Who was to come into this world and be made man
would one day enroll His elect and inscribe their names
28 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
in the book of eternity ? For the prophet, speaking of
the reprobate, says : Let them be blotted out of the book of
the living ; and with the just let them not be written (Ps.
Ixviii. 29). Then it is not without a special reason that
the Lord is born in Bethlehem. For the name Bethlehem
signifies the House of Bread, and this is the birthplace of
Him Who said : 1 am the living Bread, ivhich came down from
heaven (John vi. 51). We see then that the name of
Bethlehem was prophetically given to the place where
Christ was born, because it was there that He was to
appear in the flesh, by the eating of which the souls of
the elect are fed unto life everlasting. He was born, not
in His mother's house, but away from home. And this
is a mystery, showing that by assuming our mortality
He was born in a strange country. We say strange,
considering the Divine nature of our Redeemer, and
not His Divine power. For, referring to this power,
Holy Scripture says that, when the Lord came into this
world, He came unto His own. But, when thinking of
His Divine nature, and knowing that He was begotten
of the Father before all worlds, we may say that by
taking our nature in time, He came into a strange
country. Again, considering, as the prophet says, that
all flesh is grass (Isa. xl. 6), we easily understand how
Jesus, taking this flesh, changed it into wheat, since He
said of Himself: Unless the grain of wheat falling into the
ground die, itself remaineth alone (John xii. 24). This is the
reason why the Divine Child is seen in a manger after
His birth, that His flesh, like pure wheat, may draw to
Him the faithful, as mysterious animals, to be fed and
filled with eternal wisdom. And when it is said that the
angel showed himself to the shepherds keeping the
night-watches, and that a wonderful light surrounded
them, we learn from this that those, who carefully attend
CHRISTMAS DAY 29
to the flocks entrusted to them must be favoured with
deeper knowledge, since their ministry is highly meri
torious. For, whilst they carefully watch over their
flocks, they are enlightened by God with graces more
abundant than those given to others.
II. The angel announced that a King was born, and sud
denly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly
host praising God and saying : Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to men of good will. Before the Incarnation
of the Son of God there was disagreement between the
angels and men. Original sin and the crimes daily com
mitted in the world were the cause of this division. It was
only just that the angels, being the friends and faithful ser
vants of God, should look upon men as strangers and have
no communication with them on account of their trans
gressing the commandments. But since man submitted
to God and recognised Him as his lawful Master, the
heavenly spirits consider mankind as their fellow-citizens.
Though highly superior to us, they do not despise our
weakness, since the King of heaven and earth came
down and took upon Him this human weakness. These
blessed spirits, forgetting their former aversion, wish to
live in friendship with us. Instead of despising us as
frail humanity, they look upon us as their fellow-creatures.
We read in Holy Scripture that Lot and Josua prostrate
on the ground worshipped the angels sent by God ; but
when St. John fell down to adore before the feet of the
angel he was prevented from doing so, for the angel said :
See thou do it not, for I am thy fellow-servant and of thy
brethren (Apoc. xxii. 9). Why did the angels, before the
coming of the Redeemer, see men prostrate before them
and prevent them not ? And why were they unwilling,
after the birth of our Saviour, to receive such honour ?
Was it not because they saw the human nature, which they
3o 5 UN DA YS A ND FESTI VALS
had before despised, now exalted high above their own in
the person of Jesus, true God and true man ? Also because
they dread to see the human nature humbled, since they
adore that humanity in the person of the King of Majesty,
their own King. Lastly, the angels consider man as
their equal because they adore God made man, sitting at
the right hand of the Father. Let us, therefore, beloved
brethren, beware of every sin, by which we might be
made unworthy of that heavenly city, which God has
prepared for us as well as for His angels. Let us lead
such good lives that they may correspond with our
dignity. Avoid, therefore, impurity and lust, even every
sinful thought. Let not wickedness soil the purity of
your souls ; let not the poison of envy and hatred penetrate
your hearts. Keep your souls free from pride, covetous-
ness and anger, and especially from the desire of tasting
the sinful pleasures of this world. Remember that you
have been called the sons of the most High (Ps. Ixxxi. 6).
Defend in yourselves the glory of God by avoiding sin,
for God was made man in order to honour us and make
us partakers of His eternal glory. Amen.
THE FEAST OF ST. STEPHEN, THE FIRST
MARTYR.
GOSPEL : Matt, xxiii. 34-39. At that time : Jesus said
unto the Scribes and Pharisees : Behold, I send to you
prophets, and wise men and scribes ; and some of them
you will put to death and crucify, and some you will
scourge in your synagogues and persecute from city to
city ; that upon you may come all the just blood that hath
been shed upon the earth, from the blood of Abel the
just even unto the blood of Zacharias, the son of Barachias,
whom you killed between the temple and the altar.
FEAST OF ST. STEPHEN 31
Amen, I say to you all these things shall come
upon this generation. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that
killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto
thee, how often would I have gathered together thy
children as the hen doth gather her chickens under her
wings, and thou wouldest not. Behold, your house shall
be left to you desolate. For I say to you, you shall not
see Me henceforth till you say : Blessed is He that
cometh in the name of the Lord.
HOMILY BY ST. JEROME, PRIEST.
COMMENT ON MATT. XXIIL, BK. iv.
I. The words addressed to the Jews by our Redeemer,
when He said : Fill ye up the measure of your fathers
(Matt, xxiii. 32), especially refer, as we have already
remarked, to Himself, whom the Jews afterwards put to
death. In a secondary sense they may also be applied
to His disciples, of whom He says : Behold, I send to yoti
prophets, and wise men, and scribes; and some of them you
will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in
your synagogues, and persecute from city to city. Observe
that, according to the Apostle writing to the Corinthians
(i Cor. xii. 4), there are diversities of gifts granted to
Christ's followers. Some are prophets of that which is
to come ; some are wise men, who know the suitable
season for rebuke or exhortation ; some are scribes
learned in the law. And of these they stoned Stephen,
slew Paul with the sword, crucified Peter, and scourged
the disciples, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles
(v. 40 ; xvi. 23). When these men, sent by God, saw
that they were universally despised, persecuted from one
city to another, and lastly driven out of the land of the
32 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Jews, they went to the Gentiles. After reproaching
the Jews with the blood of so many of their own people
which they had shed, our Lord added these words: Amen,
I say to you, all these things shall come upon this generation.
But the multitude listening to Jesus, when He said these
words, had not shed the blood of Abel and other saints
of the Old Testament unto the blood of Zacharias. Why,
then, should they be guilty of all that blood ? Because,
in the language of the Scriptures, all the just are in
cluded in one and the same generation, and all the
wicked in another generation, of which they are con
sidered to be the offspring. As to the generation of the
just we hear the prophet say : Who shall ascend into the
mountain of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy place ?
(Ps. xxiii. 3). And, after speaking of those who shall
ascend into this mountain, he concludes with these
words : This is the generation of them that seek Him, of them
that seek the face of the God of Jacob. The same prophet,
speaking in another psalm of all the saints, says that
heaven will ever bless the generation of the just. Con
sidering the wicked mentioned in that passage, we see
that they are called a brood, or generation, of vipers
(Matt. iii. 7), and all these things shall come upon
that accursed generation. The prophet Ezechiel, after
enumerating all the sins committed in this world, adds
these terrible words : If these three men, Noe, Daniel, and Job,
shall be in the land, they shall deliver their own sotds by their
justice, but the land shall be desolate (Ezec. xiv. 14, 16). The
prophet includes under the names of Noe, Daniel, and
Job, all the just who by their virtues were like these
men. Then, all those who persecuted the Apostles, and
imitated Cain and Joas in their sins, are included in the
generation of the wicked.
IL It is a matter of dispute among commentators,
FEAST OF ST. STEPHEN 33
who is meant by Zacharias, the son of Barachias. We
read of several persons of the name of Zacharias ; but
here, in order to prevent any mistake, it is particularly
said : Whom you killed between the temple and the altar. I
have read various opinions in various places upon this
question, and I will give each of them. Some hold that
Zacharias, the son of Barachias, is the eleventh of the
twelve minor prophets, and this opinion is supported
by the father's name. But Holy Scripture nowhere
tells us that this prophet was slain between the temple
and the altar, and it is hardly possible that he can have
been so, for in his time it could scarcely be said that
even the ruins of the temple still existed. Others main
tain that this Zacharias was Zacharias, the father of
John the Baptist. This interpretation is derived from
the dreams of the Apocryphal Gospels, wherein it is
asserted that he was martyred for preaching Christ's
coming. Again, others will have it that this Zacharias,
the son of Barachias, was that Zacharias of whom we
read, that he was killed by Joas, King of Juda, between
the temple and the altar. Against this it is to be
remarked that that Zacharias was not the son of
Barachias, but of Joiada the priest ; whence it is written
in Holy Scripture : Joas did not remember the kindness which
Joiada, his father, had done to him (2 Par. xxiv. 22). The
question, therefore, arises, if this opinion be true, why,
the name and manner of death both agreeing with the
explanation, Zacharias is called, not the son of Joiada,
but of Barachias. In Hebrew Barachias signifies the
blessed of the Lord, and Joiada justice. In the Gospel
used by the Nazarenes the name of Joiada is used instead
of Barachias.
III. Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets,
and stonest them that are sent to thee. Let us not imagine
3
34 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
that by the word Jerusalem our Lord meant the stones
and buildings of the city. No, He spoke of the in
habitants, and complained, like a kind father complains
of his children's wickedness. In another Gospel (Luke
xix. 41) we are told that when Jesus saw the city He
wept over it ; and by the words added by our Saviour :
How often would I have gathered together thy children, He
teaches us that all the prophets who had arisen among
the Jews, in order to convert them, were sent in His
name. When, lastly, He tells the Jews that their house
would be left desolate, He only confirms what He had
already announced to the prevaricating people by the
prophet Jeremiah, saying : I have forsaken my house ; I
have left my inheritance (xii. 7). Indeed, we see in our time
that the house of the Jews, that is, the magnificent temple,
considered as one of the wonders of the world, is a for
saken and desolate place, since Jesus Christ abandoned
it, and since the Heir was killed by the perfidious
nation, which endeavoured to seize upon the inheritance.
IV. In the same manner our Lord addressed Jerusalem
and the whole Jewish nation, when He said: / say to
you, you shall not see -Me henceforth until you say : Blessed is
He that cometh in the name of the Lord. These last words,
which the children used when expressing their joy at
the triumphant entry of Jesus into Jerusalem, are taken
from the nyth Psalm, in which the royal prophet speaks
of Jesus. By these words our Lord wished to tell the
Jews, that they would never see Him unless they did
penance, and openly confessed that He was the Son of
God the Almighty, announced by the prophets. Time
was given to the Jews to be converted. Their only
duty was to acknowledge and adore Him, Who was sent
by the Father to be their King ; then they would see
Jesus Christ and reign with Him.
SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS 35
SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF
CHRISTMAS.
GOSPEL: Luke ii. 33-40. At that time: Joseph and
Mary, the mother of Jesus, were wondering at these
things which were spoken concerning Him. And Simeon
blessed them, and said to Mary His mother : Behold,
the Child is set for the fall, and for the resurrection of
many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be contradicted.
And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that out of many
hearts thoughts may be revealed. And there was one
Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the
tribe of Aser. She was far advanced in years, and had
lived with her husband seven years from her virginity ;
and she was a widow until fourscore and four years ;
who departed not from the temple, by fastings and
prayers serving night and day. Now, she at the same
hour coming in, confessed to the Lord, and spoke of
Him to all that looked for the redemption of Israel.
And after they had performed all things according to the
law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, into their
city Nazareth. And the Child grew, and waxed strong,
full of wisdom ; and the grace of God was in Him.
HOMILY BY THE VENERABLE BEDE, PRIEST.
BK. i., ON LUKE n.
I. In the Gospel we see that Joseph was called the
father of our Saviour ; but we know that he was not, ac
cording to the erroneous interpretation of the Photinians,
the real father of Jesus, but only His reputed father, in
order to save the honour of Mary his spouse. The
Evangelist knew that the Virgin, though a mother, had
conceived by the operation of the Holy Ghost. However,
3—2
36 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS m -
to follow the common expressions used by historians, he
made no scruple at calling St. Joseph the father of Jesus.
Moreover, we may apply to him the qualifications of a
father in the same sense and for the same reasons as we call
him the spouse of Mary, though she remained a Virgin in
spite of the conjugal bond. Indeed, on account of this
bond, uniting Joseph with his spouse, he deserved the title
of father of Jesus more justly than if he had adopted Him ;
and he would have possessed the rights of a father over
Jesus, even though not born of his spouse, had he adopted
Him according to the law.
II. It was in very truth that Simeon, when speaking
of the Redeemer, could say to Mary : Behold, the Child is
set for the fall, and for the resurrection of many in Israel.
Indeed, many will rise through Jesus Christ, the light
and the glory of Israel. He Himself teaches us this
truth, when He says : / am the resurrection and the life.
And everyone that liveth, and believeth in Me, shall not die for
ever (John xi. 25, 26). And He will be an occasion of
fall for many, because He is the stone which, rejected by
the builders, has become the head of the corner, and will
grind to dust those on whom it falls, those who do not
believe in Him. It was of them that He spoke, saying :
// / had not come and spoken to them, they would not have sin ;
but now they have no excuse for their sin (John xv. 22). But
Jesus is also an occasion of fall for many, not only in His
own person, but also in the person of His ministers.
Thus we hear St. Paul say : We are the good odour of Christ
unto God, in them that are saved, and in them that perish
(2 Cor. ii. 15). If, therefore, we willingly accept the
doctrine of salvation, preached by God through His
ministers sent to us, then it will be a good odour sanctify
ing our soul ; whereas the same doctrine will be an
odour of death and an occasion of fall for those who
SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS 37
neglect or despise it. When the prophecy again tells us
that this Child shall be contradicted, we know that by these
words is meant the faith in the death of our Lord on the
cross preached to the world. St. Paul tells us that the
Jews, speaking of the Christians, said : We know that this
sect — those believing and teaching this doctrine — is every
where spoken against (Acts xxviii. 22). And the same
Apostle says : We preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews
indeed a stumbling-block, and unto the Gentiles, foolishness
(i Cor. i. 23).
III. Holy Simeon again said to our Blessed Lady that
a sword would pierce her own soul. We easily under
stand that a sword of sorrow, grief and suffering, result
ing from the great sufferings of her Son, was meant by
these words ; for no tradition relates that Mary died by
the sword, which after all has power over the body only
and not over the soul. Holy Scripture speaks of this
spiritual sword : Their tongue is a sharp sword (Ps. Ivi. 5).
Though the Blessed Virgin Mary was fully convinced
that her Son Jesus, the eternally Begotten of the Father,
could avoid death, though about to accept it willingly,
yet, being His Mother, she could not but suffer the most
acute pain on seeing His crucifixion. The sword which,
according to the prophet, pierced the soul of Mary, clearly
indicates the terrible anguish suffered by this sorrowful
mother in her own soul. Before the Redeemer appeared
in this world, no one could recognise with certitude those
Jews who, either received the grace of Jesus Christ, or
refused to accept the grace that was offered them. But
when the tidings of His birth were spread abroad, then
the hidden thoughts of many hearts were revealed.
King Herod, hearing this news, was troubled, and all
Jerusalem with him; whereas the shepherds rejoiced when
the angel said : / bring yon good tidings of great joy ; for
38 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
this day is born' to you a Saviour (Luke ii. 10, n) ; and they
returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had
heard and seen (verse 20). The splendour of the miracles
and Divine doctrine of the Saviour attracted many to
Him, and they listened to His words ; whereas others
called Him a deceiver, and despised Him. And when they
saw Him hanging on the Cross, they even blasphemed
Him, and esteemed Him worthy of that cruel punish
ment ; whilst the former showed deep sympathy and
. grief on seeing the Author of life condemned to death.
The Church of Jesus has until now felt this sword of
suffering, and will be pierced by it till the end of the
world ; for, as a mark of faith and salvation, she will be
continually contradicted. It is with grief and sorrow
that the Church sees great multitudes persevering in
infidelity and rushing on to perdition, though very many,
hearing and obeying the word of God, will rise with
Jesus Christ. Her sorrow increases when the thoughts
of many hearts are revealed, and when she perceives in
the field, in which she has been continually sowing the
seed of the Gospel, cockle growing up. Indeed, the
knowledge that the cockle of sin and vice is eminently
more fertile, that it takes deep root and shoots forth
luxuriantly, choking much of the wheat of virtue and
innocence, causes her tears to flow in abundance.
IV. Anna, the prophetess, who by her long and holy
life was accounted worthy to see the Redeemer of Israel,
and to give testimony to the truth that she perceived in
her prophetic mind, is the type of the Church, who sees
herself deprived of the visible presence of her Bridegroom
and Lord, since He left this mortal life. The number of
years mentioned by the Gospel as being the age of this
widow, represents the time of the exile of the Church in
a foreign land. She cannot, on account of this present
SUNDAY WITHIN THE OCTAVE OF CHRISTMAS 39
life in the world, be united with her Lord and Master,
Whose coming, like Anna the prophetess, she impatiently
awaits at the entrance of the temple, for she trusts in
His promise : We will come to him, and make our abode with
him (John xiv. 23). After the testimony given by Simeon
to the Redeemer of the world, and given also about herself
by a Virgin in the conjugal state, it seems quite natural,
in order not to exclude any kind of conditions, that a
widow, venerable both by her position and holy life,
should appear in the person of Anna and testify to the
coming of the Redeemer of Israel, and confirm this by
her praises.
V. St. Luke speaks here of the return of Jesus and His
parents to Galilee, after they had performed all things accord
ing to the law of the Lord. He does not mention the flight
into Egypt, already recorded by St. Matthew, and which
he did not think it necessary to repeat, to the interruption
of his narrative. At all events, we know that St. Luke,
like the other Evangelists, was enlightened by the Holy
Ghost ; and we know that, had the things he omitted
not been committed to writing, the omission would have
been supplied later on by the inspiration of God, so that
the reader could place them in their proper position in the
Gospel story. As to the words added by St. Luke that
the Child grew and waxed strong, full of wisdom, and the grace
of God was in Him, we remark that Jesus Christ, having
taken a human nature, was subjected to all its weak
nesses and infirmities, and could as man grow and wax
strong. But, considering Him only as the Word of God
and God Himself, we know that He could not increase
in wisdom. However, in all truth it may be said that
He was full of wisdom and grace, since He was filled
with grace as the Mediator between God and man, and
from His birth was overflowing with grace, on account
40 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
of the perfect union between God and man in one Divine
Person. St. John confirms all this when, speaking of the
Son of God made man, he calls Him full of grace and truth
(John i. 14), meaning by this expression the fulness of
His Divinity, expressed by St. Luke under the name of
wisdom.
THE FEAST OF THE CIRCUMCISION.
GOSPEL: Luke ii. 21. At that time: After eight days
were accomplished that the Child should be circumcised,
His name was called Jesus, which was called by the
angel before He was conceived in the womb.
HOMILY BY ST. AMBROSE, BISHOP.
BK. ii., ON LUKE n.
I. The Child is circumcised. Who is that Child ? It
is the Child of Whom it is said : A Child is born to us ; a
Son is given to us (Isa. ix'. 6). Made under the law, that He
might redeem them who were under the law (Gal. iv. 4).
And His parents carried Him to Jerusalem to present Him to
the Lord (Luke ii. 22). I have explained, in my commen
tary on Isaias, what is meant by being presented to the
Lord ; I will not, therefore, enter into the subject again.
He that is circumcised in heart has God for his Protector,
for the eyes of the Lord are upon the just (Ps. xxxiii. 16).
You will easily see that, as all the ceremonies of the old
law were types of the realities in the new, so the circum
cision of the body — a necessary duty — signified the cleans
ing of the heart from the guilt of sin. But, since the
body and the mind of men remain yet infected with a
proneness to sin, the circumcision of the eighth day is
also a type of that complete cleansing of sin with which
FEAST OF THE CIRCUMCISION 41
we shall be endowed at the Resurrection. This ceremony
was also performed in obedience to the commandment
of God : Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to
the Lord (Luke ii. 23). These words were written with
special reference -to the delivery of the Blessed Virgin.
Truly, He that opened her womb was holy, for He was
altogether without spot ; and we understand that the law
was specially written for Him from the words of the
angel : The Holy which shall be born of Thee shall be called the
Son of God (Luke i. 35). Indeed, the Redeemer of the
world was not born after a human and corporal manner,
but by the operation of the Holy Ghost, by Whom He
was conceived in the womb of the most pure Virgin
Mary.
II. Among all the children born of women the Lord
Jesus Christ stood alone, and could in all truth be called
holy. From the first moment of His immaculate birth
He felt no contagion from human corruption, for His
heavenly majesty drove it away. If we are to follow the
letter, and say that every male opening the womb is holy,
how shall we explain that so many have been sinful ?
Was Achab holy ? Were the false prophets holy ?
Were they holy on whom Elias justly called down fire
from heaven ? But He, to Whom the sacred command
ment of the law of God is mystically directed, is the Holy
One of Israel. He also alone opened the secret womb of
His holy virgin-bride, the Church, filling her with sinless
fruitfulness to give birth to Christian souls. Therefore,
Jesus Christ, on account of the wonderful and super
natural manner in which He was conceived and born, is
the only first-born among men. Nor is this surprising,
since we remember that He said to His prophet : / knew
thce, and before thou earnest forth out of the womb, I sanctified
thee (Jer. i. 5). Now, the same Who blessed and sancti-
42 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
fied the mother, and granted birth to this prophet is He
Who by His Divine power came forth holy and without
a spot out of the womb of His own mother.
THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD.
GOSPEL: Mat. ii. 1-12. When Jesus therefore was
born in Bethlehem of Juda, in the days of King Herod,
behold, there came wise men from the East to Jerusalem,
saying : Where is He that is born King of the Jews ?
For we have seen His star in the East, and are come to
adore Him. And King Herod, hearing this, was troubled,
and all Jerusalem with him. And, assembling together
all the chief priests and the scribes of the people, he
inquired of them where Christ should be born. But they
said to him : In Bethlehem of Juda. For so it is
written by the prophet : And thou, Bethlehem, the
land of Juda, art not the least among the Princes of
Juda ; for out of thee shall come forth the Captain that
shall rule my people Israel. Then Herod, privately
calling the wise men, learned diligently of them the time
of the star which appeared to them, and sending them
into Bethlehem, said : Go and diligently inquire after the
Child, and when you have found Him, bring me word
again, that I also may come and adore Him. Who,
having heard the King, went their way ; and behold, the
star which they had seen in the East went before them
until it came and stood over where the Child was. And
seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy ;
and entering into the house, they found the Child with
Mary, His mother, and falling down, they adored Him ;
and opening their treasures, offered Him gifts, gold and
frankincense and myrrh, And having received an answer
THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD 43
in sleep that they should not return to Herod, they went
back another way into their country.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER ON THE EPIPHANY.
TENTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. You have heard from the Gospel lesson, beloved
brethren, how, when the King of heaven was born, the
king of earth was troubled. The depths of earth are
stirred, whilst the heights of heaven are opened. Now,
let us consider the question why, when the Redeemer
was born, an angel brought the news to the shepherds of
Judea, but a star led the wise men of the East to adore
Him. It seems as if the Jews, as reasonable creatures,
received a revelation from a reasonable being, that is, an
angel ; whilst the Gentiles without, not listening to their
reason, are attracted, not by a voice, but by a sign, that
is, a star. Hence, St. Paul says : A sign, not to believers,
but to unbelievers ; but prophecies, not to unbelievers, but to
believers (i Cor. xiv. 22). So the prophesying — that is, of
an angel — was given to those who believed, and the sign
to them that believed not. We also remark that later
on the Redeemer was preached among the Gentiles, not
by Himself, but by the Apostles, even as when a little
child He is shown to them, not by the voice of angels,
but merely by the vision of a star. When He Himself
began to speak, He was made known to us by teachers ;
but when He laid silent in the manger, by the silent
testimony in heaven.
II. However, whether we consider the signs accom
panying His birth, or His death, this special thing is
wonderful, namely, the hardness of heart of the Jews,
who would not believe in Him, in spite of both pro-
44 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
phecies and miracles. All things in creation bore witness
that its Creator was 'come. Let us reckon them up
after the manner of men. The heavens knew that He
was God, and sent a star to shine over where He lay.
The sea knew it, and bore Him up when He walked
upon it. The earth knew it, and quaked when He died.
The sun knew it, and was darkened. The rocks and
walls knew it, and broke in pieces at the hour of His
death. Hell knew it, and gave up the dead that were
therein. And yet, up to this very hour, the hearts of the
unbelieving Jews do not acknowledge that He, to Whom
all nature did testify, is their God, and, being more
hardened than rocks, refuse to be rent by repentance.
But that which increases their guilt and punishment lies
in the fact that they despise that God Whose birth had
been announced to them by the prophets, hundreds of
years before, and Whom they had seen after His birth in
the stable. They even knew the place of His birth, for
they spoke of it to the inquiring Herod, and told him
that, according to the testimony of Holy Scripture,
Bethlehem was to be renowned as the birthplace of the
Messiah. They strengthen, therefore, our faith, whilst
their own knowledge condemns them. The Jews are
like Isaac, whose eyes were overtaken with the darkness
of death, when he blessed, but could not see his son
Jacob standing before him. Thus the unhappy nation
was struck with blindness, and, knowing what the
prophets had said about the Redeemer, would not recog
nise Him, though He stood in the midst of them.
III. When Herod heard of the birth of our King, he
betook himself to his cunning wiles, and, lest he should
be deprived of an earthly kingdom, he desired the wise
men to search diligently for the Child, and when they
had found Him, to bring him word again. He said,
THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD 45
that he also may come and adore Him ; but, in reality, if he
had found Him, that he might put Him to death.
Now, behold, of how little weight is the wickedness of
man, when it is tried against the counsel of the
Almighty. It is written : There is no wisdom, there is no
prudence, there is no counsel against the Lord (Prov. xxi. 30).
And the star which the wise men saw in the East still
led them on ; they found the new-born King, and offered
Him gifts ; then they were warned in a dream that they
should not return to Herod. And so it came to pass,
that when Herod sought Jesus, he could not find Him.
Even so it is with hypocrites who, whilst they make
pretence to seek the Lord, to adore Him, find Him not.
IV. It is well to know that one of the errors of the
Priscillianist heretics consists in believing that every man
is born under the influence of a star. In order to confirm
this notion, they bring forward the instance of the star
of Bethlehem that appeared when the Lord was born,
and which they call His star, that is, the star ruling His
fate and destiny. But, consider the words of the Gospel
concerning this star ; they say : It went before them until it
came and stood over where the Child was. Whence we see
that it was not the Child who followed the star, but the
star that followed the Child, as if to show that the Child
ruled over the star, instead of the star ruling over Him.
Let, therefore, the hearts of the faithful be free from the
thought that anything rules over their destiny. In this
world there is only One Who directs the destiny of man,
that is, He WTho made him. Neither was man made for
the stars, but the stars for man ; and if we say that they
rule over his destiny, we set them above him, for whose
service they were created. When Jacob came out of his
mother's womb, and his hand took hold of his brother
Esau's heel, the first could not have been perfectly born
46 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
without the second immediately following. Yet such was
not in after-life the position of these two brothers, whom
their mother brought forth at one birth.
V. Should a ridiculous astrologer, according to his
principles, pretend that the power of the stars depends
on the very moment of the birth to which their whole
operation is referred, we answer that the birth of man
requires a certain space of time during which the stars con
tinually change their position. These changes would conse
quently form as many destinies as there are limbs in those
who are born during that space of time. There is another
fixed rule accepted by the adepts of this pseudo-science,
namely, that he who is born under the sign of Aquarius
(waterman) will never have any other profession than
that of a fisherman. Yet we know from history that the
Gatulians never carry on that business. But who will
pretend that not one of them was ever born under that
special sign of the Zodiac ? By the same principle they
will say that all those, born under the sign of the Balance,
will be bankers or money-lenders. But we know that
there are many nations among which these kinds of
business are unknown. These so-called learned astro
logers must, therefore, confess, either that these nations
have not this sign of the Zodiac, or that none of their
children are born under this sign. Many nations, as we
know, have a law that their rulers must be of royal
blood. But are not many poor children in these countries
born at the very moment when the one, who is destined
to be king, sees the light ? Why, then, should there be
a difference between those who are born under the same
sign, so that some are clothed in purple whilst others are
slaves ? We wish, in speaking of the star that appeared
to the wise men, to say these few words against the
deceptions of astrology.
THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD 47
VI. The wise men brought gold, frankincense and
myrrh. Gold is a gift suitable for a king, frankincense
is offered in sacrifice to God, and with myrrh are embalmed
the bodies of the dead. By the gifts, therefore, they
presented to Him, the wise men set forth three things
concerning Him, to Whom they offered them. The gold
signifies that He was King ; the frankincense that He was
God, and the myrrh that He was mortal. There are
some heretics who believe Him to be God, but confess
not His Kingly dominion over all things. These offer
Him the frankincense, but refuse the gold. There are
some others who admit that He is King, but deny that
He is God. These present the gold, but withhold the
frankincense. Again, there are other heretics who pro
fess that Christ is both God and King, but deny that He
took to Himself a mortal nature. These offer Him gold
and frankincense, but not myrrh for the burial incident to
His mortality. Let us, however, present gold to the
new-born Lord, acknowledging His universal Kingship ;
let us offer Him frankincense, confessing that He Who
had been made manifest in time, was still God before
time ; let us give Him myrrh, believing that He, Who
cannot suffer as God, became capable of death by assum
ing our human, mortal nature. There is also another
meaning in this gold, frankincense and myrrh. Gold is
the type of wisdom, for, as Solomon says, wisdom is a
treasure to be desired, and that it is found in the mouth
of the wise (Prov. xxi. 20, Septuag.). Frankincense,
which is burnt in honour of God, is a figure of prayer ;
witness the words of the Psalmist : Let my prayer be
directed as incense in Thy sight (Ps. cxl. 2). By myrrh is
represented the mortification of the body, as where Holy
Church says of her children labouring in their strife after
God even unto death : My hands dropped with myrrh
48 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
(Cant. v. 5). We offer, therefore, gold to this new King
when in His sight we reflect the brilliancy of true
wisdom. We offer Him frankincense when our pious
prayers, like a sweet odour before God, banish all wicked
thoughts and inflame good desires. We offer him myrrh,
when by fasting and penance we mortify our passions ;
for through the effects produced by the myrrh, as we
have already remarked, the bodies are preserved from
corruption. Our flesh is corrupted when we give up this
mortal body to luxury, as the prophet says : The beasts
have rotted in their dung (Joel i. 17). The image of these
beasts indicates those carnal beings who give themselves
up to their shameful desires, and hasten towards their
own destruction. We bring, therefore, a present of myrrh
to God, when by temperance and mortification we pre
serve our bodies from all impurity.
VII. The wise men teach us also a great lesson in
that they went back another way into their country ; and
what they did, having received an answer in sleep, we ought
to do. Our country is heaven, and when we have once
known Jesus, we can never reach it by returning to the
way, wherein we walked before knowing Him. We
have gone far from our country by the way of pride,
disobedience, worldliness, and forbidden indulgence ; we
must seek that heavenly fatherland by subjection, by
contempt of the things which are seen, and by curbing
the fleshly appetites. Let us, then, depart into our own
country by another way. They that have by enjoyment
put themselves away from it, must seek it again by
sorrow. It behoves us, therefore, beloved brethren, to
be ever fearful and watchful, having continually before
the eyes of our mind, on the one hand, the guilt of our
doings, and, on the other, the judgment at the last day.
It behoves us to think how that, awful Judge, Whose
THE EPIPHANY OF OUR LORD 49
judgment is hanging over us, but has not yet fallen,
will surely come. The wrath to come is before sinners,
but has not yet smitten them ; the Judge yet tarries,
that when He comes there may perhaps be less to
condemn. Let us afflict ourselves for our faults with
weeping, and with the psalmist, let us come before His
presence with thanksgiving (Ps. xciv. 2). Let us take
heed that we be not befooled by the appearance of
earthly happiness, or seduced by the vanity of any
worldly pleasure ; for the Judge is at hand, Who says :
Woe to you that now laugh, for you shall mourn and weep
(Luke vi. 25). Hence, also, Solomon says : Laughter
shall lie mingled with sorrow, and mourning takcth hold of the
end of joy (Prov. xiv. 13). And again : Laughter I
counted error, and to mirth I said : Why art thou vainly
deceived ? (Eccles. ii. 2). And yet again : The heart of
the wise is where there is mourning, but the heart of fools
where there is mirth (vii. 5). Let us fear lest we do not
fulfil the commandments given to us. If we wish to
celebrate this feast to His glory, let us offer Him the
acceptable sacrifice of our sorrow, for the royal prophet
says : A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit ; a contrite and
humbled heart, 0 God, Thou wilt not despise (Ps. 1. 19).
Our former faults were remitted by the Sacrament of
Baptism, yet we have again offended God ; and these
sins which the water of baptism cannot cleanse, will
be forgiven only when in real and deep sorrow we shed
tears of contrition. We have gone away from our real
fatherland ; we have followed the false gods which allured
us ; let us, therefore, return by another way, the way of
suffering, the bitterness of which we shall endure with
the grace of God.
5o SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
GOSPEL : Luke ii. 42-52. When Jesus was twelve years
old, they went up to Jerusalem, according to the custom
of the feast. And having fulfilled the days, when they
returned, the child Jesus remained in Jerusalem, and
His parents knew it not. And thinking that He was in
the company, they came a day's journey, and sought
Him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. And not
finding Him, they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him.
And it came to pass, that after three days they found
Him in- the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors,
hearing them and asking them questions. And all that
heard Him were astonished at His wisdom and His
answers. And seeing Him they wondered. And His
mother said to Him: Son, why hast Thou done so to
us ? Behold, Thy father and I have sought Thee
sorrowing. And He said to them : How is it that you
sought Me ? Did you not know that I must be about
My Father's business? And they understood not the
word that He spoke unto them. And He went down
with them, and came to Nazareth, and was subject to
them. And His mother kept all these words in her
heart. And Jesus advanced in wisdom and age, and
grace with God and men.
HOMILY BY ST. AMBROSE, BISHOP.
BOOK ii., ON LUKE n.
I. When our Lord was twelve years old, He began to
dispute, as we read in the Gospel. And the number of
His years was the same as the number of His Apostles,
whom He afterwards sent forth to preach the faith. He
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 51
Who, as to His humanity, was filled with wisdom and
grace from God, was not careless of the parents of this
same humanity, and, after three days, was pleased to
be found in the Temple ; thereby foreshadowing that,
after the three days of His Passion, He, that had been
reckoned with the dead, would present Himself living
to our faith, on His heavenly throne and in His Divine
Majesty.
II. How is it that you sought Me ? Did you not know
that I must be about My Father's business ? Thus spoke
Jesus to His parents, to teach us that in Him there are
two generations — one from His Father, another from
His mother. That from His Father is His eternal
generation as God the Son ; that from His mother is
that whereby He came into this world to work for us
and minister to us. These acts of His, therefore, which
are above nature, beyond His age, and different from
His custom, proceeded not from the strength of His
humanity, but from the power of His Divinity. On
another occasion His mother moved Him to work a
miracle ; on the contrary, here He objects to His
mother's words, because she treats as belonging to His
humanity what was of His Divinity. On the first
occasion it is said that He was twelve years old ; but on
the other He had already disciples. His mother had
witnessed the wonder He worked on an earlier occasion,
and had learnt from her Son to call on the mightier
nature for a work of power.
III. The Gospel adds: And He went down with them,
and came to Nazareth, and was subject to them. Who will be
surprised to see that the Teacher of all virtues should
practise those which were inspired by His devotion to
His parents ? Let us not wonder, then, how Pie, Who
was subject to' His mother, was about His Father's
4—2
52 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
business. His subjection to His mother proceeded, not
from weakness, but from dutiful affection. Let the false
serpent of heresy lift its head from its cruel lair and spit
poison from its venomous breast. For the heretics say that,
as the Son was sent by the Father, the Father is, there
fore, greater ; and if the Father be greater than the Son,
it follows that the Son is less; yea, that He Who is sent
has of necessity need of some strengthening from outside.
He was subject to His mother ; had He need of human
help ? God forbid ! He was obedient to His servant
who had said : Behold the handmaid of the Lord (Luke i. 38).
He also recognised the authority of him who on earth was
thought to be His father. Let us not be surprised, there
fore, to see that He was obedient to His Heavenly Father;
for, if it is a virtue to be subject to human beings, the
obedience to God must not be called weakness. The
honour paid by Jesus to His parents explains the honour
which, as He said, was due to God. The Father honoured
the Son, why should not this Son honour His Father ?
At the baptism of Jesus the voice of the Father was
heard, and affirmed this was His beloved Son, in Whom
He was well pleased. And this very Son, after assuming
our human nature, should not be allowed, according to
some heretics, to raise His voice and, expressing the
feelings of His heart, publish that the Father is greater
than He ? We are right when we say that the Lord is
infinitely great and worthy of all honour and praise ; that
His greatness has no limits, and we confess that. He can
neither increase nor decrease. Why should we not also
believe that this Son, after uniting our humanity with His
divinity, was obedient, to His Father, specially after the
testimony of the honour paid by the Father to His Son ?
IV. Let us take this lesson to heart, in order to be con
vinced of our duty to obey our parents. For we see how the
OCTAVE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY 53
adorable Son of God, being one with the Father in time, in
will and in action, nevertheless seems to be obedient to His
Father. Trie person of the Son is not the same as the
person of the Father ; yet their divine power is the same.
Let us also consider that the Son was begotten without
labour of the Father from all eternity ; whereas our birth
was to our parents a cause of many troubles and anxieties.
Is not a mother giving birth to a son exposed to many
dangers ? Is she not for a long time troubled with
anxiety and fear ? And when her wishes are fulfilled
and her pains are over, her anxiety is not at an end, on
account of the dangers to which the new-born child will
be exposed. What shall I say about the solicitude of
the father in providing for his children, about his ex
penses for their education, and specially about his cares
and labours, of which a future generation will reap the
benefit ? All this shows the duty of children to be
obedient and grateful to their parents. And could there
be a son so unnatural as to find the life of his father too
long and his income too small to share it with him ?
Let such a one be ashamed of himself, and remember
the great love of Jesus, Who deigns to make us His
coheirs of the kingdom of heaven.
OCTAVE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY.
GOSPEL: John i. 29-34. At that time: John saw Jesus
coming to Him, and he saith : Behold the Lamb of God,
behold Him Who taketh away the sin of the world.
This is He of Whom I said : After me there cometh a
man, Who is preferred before me ; because He was before
me. And I knew Him not, but that He may be made
manifest in Israel, therefore am I come baptizing with
water. And John gave testimony saying : I saw the
54 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Spirit coming down as a dove from heaven, and He
remained upon Him. And I knew Him not ; but He
Who sent me to baptize with water, said to me : He upon
Whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending and remaining
upon Him, He it is that baptizeth with the Holy Ghost.
And I saw, and I gave testimony that this is the Son of
God.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP,
SIXTH TRACT ON JOHN.
I. When Jesus was baptized by St. John a dove came
down from Heaven and rested upon Him. At the same
time the three Persons of the Holy Trinity, in Whom
we believe, were manifested ; for, as the Gospel says :
Jesus, being baptized, forthwith came out of the water ; and lo,
the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God
descending as a dove, and coming upon Him. And behold, a voice
from heaven saying : This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well
pleased (Matt. iii. 16, 17). We see here, then, the adorable
Trinity : the Father, Whose voice was heard ; the Son,
Who was present in His sacred Humanity ; and the
Holy Ghost, Who showed Himself in the form of a dove.
It was in the name of this Blessed Trinity that the
Apostles were sent, and we know well that such was the
case. Nevertheless, we are confronted with the fact that
there are some heretics who disbelieve this plain truth,
or, rather, who close their eyes to the light shining before
them ; for, indeed, it is clear as the noonday sun that the
Apostles were sent forth in the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to teach and baptize,
and also that they were so sent by our Saviour Himself,
of Whom it is written : He it is that baptizeth (John i. 33).
And Jesus spoke thus by His Evangelist, since He had
OCTAVE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY 55
reserved to Himself that power, the ministry only of
which He has delegated to others.
II. Now, St. John was not at first aware of this truth ;
he only learned it on the occasion of the baptism of our
Lord. He already knew that Jesus was the Son of God
and the supreme Ruler of the universe, and that He
was the Christ, and would baptize with the Holy Ghost.
But what he did not know before, but only understood
from the dove descending and remaining upon our Lord,
was this : that our Redeemer would retain an absolute
power over baptism, which He was about to establish as
a sacrament ; that He would not communicate His power
over the Sacrament to His ministers, but would employ
them only to minister therein the power which He retains
for Himself. And it is in this power Jesus Christ reserves
to Himself alone, and is yet daily administered by His
priests, that the unity of the Church resides. Indeed,
the true Church is likened to a dove in Holy Scripture,
for we read : One is My dove, My perfect one is but one ; she
is the only one of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her
(Cant. vi. 8). But were the power of our Saviour in the
sacrament of salvation to belong to His ministers, there
would be as many baptisms as ministers, and there would
no longer be the baptism of Christ.
III. Notice, beloved brethren, that before St. John
was allowed by our Lord to baptize Him, he, the
Baptist, knew that the Saviour would baptize with the
Holy Ghost. But when Jesus had received Baptism,
St. John, having seen the dove come down from heaven,
learnt something hitherto unknown to him, that is, that
though there would be ministers of that power, yet this
power to impart the Holy Ghost in Baptism would be
reserved to Jesus Christ Himself alone, and would not
be communicated to others. This is what St. John
56 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
learnt on that occasion. But how can we prove that
he knew the Redeemer would baptize with the Holy
Ghost, and that he understood that this power was not
to be transmitted to anyone ? The Gospel tells us that
John knew Jesus even before He came to him at the
Jordan to be baptized, for he then said to Jesus : / ought
to be baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to me ? (Matt. iii. 14).
Behold, he knew Him to be the Lord, the Son of God !
But how can we prove that he knew Him to be He
Who would baptize with the Holy Ghost ? Before the
Lord came to the river, whither many had betaken
themselves to be baptized by John, the Baptist said : /
indeed baptize you with water; b^lt there shall come One mightier
than 7, the latchet of Whose shoe I am not worthy to loose : He
shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with five (Luke
iii. 1 6). But how could John say, before the coming of
the dove, that he knew not Jesus ? Are we to call him
a liar ? God forbid ! But when the dove came down
and rested on Christ, then it was he first knew that the
Lord reserved the power of Baptism as peculiar to Him
self, so that, let whomsoever you will, whether just or
unjust, baptize with His Baptism, yet the virtue of the
Sacrament will proceed, not from the minister, whether
just or unjust, but from Him on Whom the dove rested.
Thus Christ is the real Baptizer in every Christian
Baptism, and will be so to the end of all time. In this
sense it is written of Him : He it is that baptizeth with the
Holy Ghost. Should Peter baptize, the real Baptizer is
Christ ; should Paul, should Judas, the real Baptizer is
still Christ*
* In order to understand this homily, we must bear in mind that
St. Augustine's intention was to refute the Donatists. These heretics
pretended that in the Holy Trinity the Father was greater than the
Son, and the Son greater than the Holy Ghost. They also thought
OCTAVE DAY OF THE EPIPHANY 57
IV. For if the sanctity of Baptism depended on the
personal holiness of the minister, no two baptisms would
be exactly alike ; then each recipient of the Sacrament
would think himself more or less regenerated, according
to the greater or less holiness of the minister of the
Sacrament. But, beloved brethren, note this well. The
saints, those holy servants of God, who appertain to the
dove, whose portion is in Jerusalem, those good men in
the Church, of whom the Apostle says : The Lord knoweth
who are His (2 Tim. ii. 19), differ among themselves by
diversity of graces and holiness, some one having attained
to one degree of sanctity, another to another. It results,
therefore, that though one person be baptized by a saint,
and another by a less worthy minister, whose chastity
is not so intense, and who has made less progress in
the way of perfection, yet, nevertheless, each recipient
receives the same grace through the same Sacrament.
How could this be, were it not that Christ Himself is
the effectual Baptizer ? Thus the degree of sanctity
and merit of the minister does not result in a more or
less perfect Sacrament, which is always one and the
same. And for the same reason it is evident that even
though the minister be unworthy, yet, either because his
unworthiness is unknown to the Church, or because she
tolerates him as chaff, which at the harvest will be
separated from the corn, the Baptism he administers is
identical with that administered by a minister never so
worthy, since in every case Jesus Himself is the effectual
Baptizer.
that Catholics should be re-baptized. For this reason St. Augustine
repeats over and over again that the three Persons of the Blessed
Trinity are equal, that they have one and the same Divinity, and that
Baptism is the same Sacrament by whatsoever officiant it be ad
ministered.
58 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
V. Let us, then, beloved brethren, recognise this
truth, and not act as those blind heretics who do not
see it, or pretend not to do so, and thus hasten towards
their condemnation. If they would but open their eyes,
it would be evident to them that the Apostles and dis
ciples of the Lord were sent by their Master to all the
nations of the earth, and commanded to baptize all men
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost. In fact, since our Lord sent them to all
nations, He sent them to His inheritance. For we know
the prophet referred to Him when he said : Ask of Me,
and I will give thee the Gentiles for thine inheritance, and the
utmost parts of the earth for thy possession (Ps. ii. 8). And
it is not unknown to you that the law came forth from Sion,
and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isa. ii. 3), and also
that our Lord preached first at Jerusalem, and that it
was thence He sent His disciples, saying : Going, there
fore, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost (Matt,
xxviii. 19). You will notice that our Lord, when send
ing forth His disciples and commanding them to baptize
all nations, did not say in the names of the Father, and
of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, but in the name of the
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, to give us
to understand that there is only one God. The Apostle
emphasizes this when explaining God's promise to
Abraham : To Abraham were the promises made and to his
seed. He saith not, AND TO HIS SEEDS, as of many ;
but as of one, AND TO THY SEED, which is Christ (Gal.
iii. 1 6). These words, as St. Paul remarks, do not
refer to the multitude of his descendants, but to one,
Who is Jesus Christ, to give us to understand that, as
Jesus is one, so also there is but one God — the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Ghost.
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 59
VI. However, do not boast of your baptism, nor be
proud on account of that privilege; for, though your
baptism was perfectly effectual, as I am bound to acknow
ledge, and though the dove recognised it, yet she is con
tinually lamenting that, in spite of this sacrament, uniting
you with her, you are nevertheless outside her communion,
and consequently out of the road to salvation. She sees
in you the sign of a Christian and approves of it, but at
the same time she sees and deplores your disobedience to
the Church ; therefore she calls and invites you to return
to her. You are wrong in glorying in her Baptism, since
you refuse to hear and obey her. The wicked, whom
the Church does not recognise as her children, may as
well boast of the privilege of her Baptism. Are there
not, however, many avaricious and intemperate people,
and others who are secretly idolaters, or those, again, who
surreptitiously consult fortune-tellers and astrologers, who
yet possess the self-same privilege of baptism in which
you glory ? And all this time the dove, seeing herself
among ravens, is lamenting such a state. Cease, then,
to boast of a blessing which you have in common with
the wicked, and endeavour to practise humility, charity,
peace, virtues of which you stand in great need, so that
through them the Baptism you have received may be
profitable to you.
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
GOSPEL: John ii. I-TI. At that time: There was a
marriage in Cana of Galilee ; and the mother of Jesus
was there. And Jesus also was invited, and His disciples,
to the marriage. And the wine failing, the mother of
Jesus saith to Him : They have no wine. And Jesus
saith to her : Woman, what is it to Me and to thee ? My
60 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
hour is not yet come. His mother said to the waiters :
Whatsoever He shall say to you, do ye. Now there
were set there six water-pots of stone, according to
the manner of purifying of the Jews, containing two or
three measures apiece. Jesus saith to them : Fill the
water-pots with water. And they rilled them, up to the
brim. And Jesus saith to them : Draw out now, and
carry to the chief steward of the feast. And they carried
it. And when the chief steward had tasted the water
made wine, and knew not whence it was, but the waiters
knew who had drawn the water, the chief steward calleth
the bridegroom, and saith to him : Every man at first
setteth forth good wine, and when men have well drunk,
then that which is worse. But thou hast kept the good
wine until now. This beginning of miracles did Jesus in
Cana of Galilee; and manifested His glory, and His
disciples believed in Him.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
NINTH TRACT ON JOHN.
I. The fact that our Lord was pleased to be asked to,
and to attend, the marriage, shows plainly — even setting
aside any mystical interpretation — that He is the Author
and Blesser of marriage. There were yet to arise those
of whom the Apostle has warned us as forbidding to marry
(i Tim. iv. 3), and who say that marriage is a bad thing in
itself and a work of the devil. Yet we read in the Gospel
that when our Lord was asked : Is it lawful for a man to
put away his wife for every cause ? (Matt. xix. 3), He
answered that it was not lawful, unless it were for forni
cation. In which answer you will remember that He
used these words : What God hath joined together, let no
man put asunder (ver. 6). They who are well instructed
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 61
in the Catholic religion know that God is the Author of
marriage and blessed it ; and that, whilst the union of man
and wife in marriage is from God, divorce is from the
devil. But it is lawful for a man to put away his wife in
case of fornication ; for by not keeping her faith to her
husband, the woman has first willed to be a wife no
longer. But even those who have made a vow of their
virginity to God, and have thereby attained to a higher
degree of honour and holiness in the Church, are not
unmarried ; for they indeed pertain to that marriage with
the whole Church, in which nuptials Christ is their
Spouse. The Lord, then, being invited, went to the
marriage, to strengthen the marriage- tie, and to shed
light on the hidden meaning of matrimony. And in that
marriage-feast the bridegroom, to whom it was said, tlwu
hast kept the good wine until now, was a figure of the Lord,
Who has kept until now the good wine, namely, the
Gospel. %
II. With the help and grace of tjod we will now fulfil
our promise, and begin by explaining the mysteries hidden
in this Gospel. We say, therefore, that in the earliest
times God gave His revelation, and never ceased during
the following generations, thereby to instruct the world.
Should the Lord Jesus not be recognised in these revela
tions, then they may be compared with the water hiding
in some degree the wine which was mixed with it.
St. Paul conveys this meaning, when, speaking of the
unbelieving Jews, he says : Even until this day when Moses
is read, the veil is upon their heart. But when they shall be
converted to the Lord, this veil shall be taken away (2 Cor. iii. 15).
By this veil was meant the obscurity of the revelations,
which prevented them from understanding their meaning.
But this veil disappears when Jesus, the end of all pro
phecies, is known. Then the light dispels the darkness
62 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
of our ignorance and false wisdom, and that, which like
water was tasteless, is changed into precious wine ; for,
though we should read all the books containing the
words of the prophets, yet, if we had no knowledge
of Jesus Christ, Who is the key of them, they would
surely seem tasteless and meaningless. But when we
read them in the knowledge of Jesus, they will impart to
our heart real happiness ; our soul will remain undenled
by sensuality ; past things will be forgotten, and we shall
think only of the great wonders spoken of by the ancient
prophets.
III. Prophecy belongs to all times, yet it had not
ceased to speak of Jesus Christ to the different genera
tions following each other in the successive ages of the
world, and its meaning was hidden to them. In order
to show that the prophecies concerning the person of
Jesus Christ continued to announce Him during all the
ages preceding His coming, we need only mention the
words that Jesus Christ Himself addressed to His disciples
after His Resurrection. When He saw that, though they
had followed Him during His life, yet for His sake were
much troubled ; that the hope of seeing Him rise from
the dead had forsaken them, notwithstanding that the
thief crucified with Him had, by his faith and confidence,
deserved to be received by Christ into paradise on that
day, and that His disciples were still uncertain and
doubtful ; yea, that they even reproached themselves for
having perhaps been too credulous in believing Him to
be the Messiah ; then He said to one of the disciples
going to Emmaus : O foolish and slow of heart to believe in
all things which the prophets have spoken ! Ought not Christ
to have suffered these things, and so to enter into His glory ?
(Luke xxiv. 25). Then He expounded to them in all
the Scriptures, beginning at Moses and all the prophets,
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 63
the things that were concerning Him. Later on He
ordered His disciples to see His hands and feet, and to
feel Him with their hands, in order to be convinced that
He was risen, and said to them : These are the words which
I spoke to you while I was yet with you, and all things must
needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and in
the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me (Luke xxiv.
44). Then He opened their understanding, that they might
understand the Scriptures. And He said to them : Thus it is
written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again
from the dead the third day; and that penance and the
remission of sins shoiild be preached in His name unto all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem (vers. 45, 46, 47).
IV. When these words, taken from Scripture— and
their meaning is evident and clear — are well understood,
then the mysteries, hidden under the miracle of our
Gospel, are laid open to every Christian. Indeed, when
we consider what our Lord said to His disciples, namely
that all things must needs be fulfilled which were written
concerning Him, we recognise that He spoke of the law,
the prophets and the psalms, to show that He meant all
the books of the Old Testament containing the prophecies
concerning Him. But since all these sacred books, as
we remarked, were represented by the water used for
this miracle, our Lord called the disciples foolish and slow
of heart, because they still considered Holy Scripture,
which should have been to them a precious wine, as
tasteless water. Yet, how does Christ change for His
disciples the water into the choicest wine ? He opened
their understanding, that they might understand the Scriptures,
and explained to them the prophets. And the disciples
having drunk of this heavenly wine, said to one another :
Was not our heart burning within us, whilst He spoke in the
way, and opened to us the Scriptures ? (Luke xxiv. 32).
64 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Now the Apostles recognised Jesus Christ in these
Sacred Books, wherein they had not perceived Him
before, and understood the changing of the water into
wine. For at that moment, what till then had seemed
to them void of taste, became all at once agreeable food
and precious drink, wherewith they were filled. We do
not read that in working this miracle our Lord had the
water contained in the water-pots poured out, to substitute
for it wine. He could have done, on this occasion, what
He did when feeding five thousand men, besides women
and children, with five loaves, when He produced from
the treasures of His infinite power the enormous quantity
of bread required for the feeding of that vast multitude.
The five loaves would not have been enough to fill the
twelve baskets. How different His action in the miracle
of which we are speaking ! Instead of pouring it away,
He changes the body of water into wine, in order to show us
that the Old Testament, figured by the water, was also His
work. But the Old Testament Scriptures, though from the
Lord, are tasteless until Jesus Christ be recognised therein.
V. Let us return to the lesson indicated by the words
of our Redeemer: All things which are written in the law
of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning
Me. You know that the law began with the world, when
God created heaven and earth. And since that beginning
until the century in which we live, six different ages or
epochs are counted. The first began with Adam, and
lasted until Noah ; the second extended from Noah to
Abraham— its order and succession are given by St.
Matthew in his Gospel ; the third from Abraham to
David ; the fourth from David to the time when the Jews
were taken captive to Babylon ; the fifth from the
captivity of Babylon to St. John the Baptist ; and the
sixth, which began with St. John the Baptist, will last
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 65
until the end of the world. In order to mark these six
ages, God created man on the sixth day, and to His
image and likeness. By this sixth day, on which God
made man out of nothing, the Lord wished to indicate
the sixth epoch of the world in which He came to restore
the soul of man disfigured by sin, and to give back to it
that likeness to God which it had received at the Creation.
Jesus also changed water into wine, to teach us by this
miracle to find real delight in the law and the prophets,
who formerly seemed tasteless, for He revealed and
manifested them to the world. Lastly, the six water-
pots that He had filled, are a figure of the six ages of
the world, which were not without their water of the
prophecies. For these ages were like the vessels that
would have remained empty, had not Jesus Christ filled
them, thus teaching us that these epochs would have been
useless, had not Jesus been announced to the world.
They were, indeed, filled by the fulfilment of the
prophecies ; but the knowledge of Jesus is required to
penetrate their incomparable meaning.
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
GOSPEL: Matt. viii. 1-13. At that time: When Jesus
was come down from the mountain, great multitudes
followed Him. And behold a leper came and adored
Him, saying : Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me
clean. And Jesus, stretching forth His hand, touched
him, saying : I will ; be thou made clean. And forthwith
his leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith to him : See
thou tell no man, but go, show thyself to the priest, and
offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony
unto them. And when He had entered into Capharnaum,
5
66 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
there came to Him a centurion, beseeching Him and
saying : Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy,
and is grievously tormented. And Jesus saith to him : I
will come and heal him. And the centurion making
answer said : Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst
enter under my roof; but only say the word and my
servant shall be healed. For I also am a man subject to
authority, having under me soldiers, and I say to this, Go,
and he goeth ; and to another, Come, and he cometh ;
and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth it. And when
Jesus heard this, He marvelled, and said to them that
followed Him : -Amen, I say to you, I have not found so
great faith in Israel. And I say to you that many shall
come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with
Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven ;
but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into the
exterior darkness : there shall be weeping and gnashing of
teeth. And Jesus said to the centurion : Go, and as thou
hast believed, so be it done to thee. And the servant
was healed at the same hour.
HOMILY BY ST. JEROME, PRIEST.
COMMENTARY ON MATT, vin., BK. i.
I. When Jesus came down from the mountain, great multitudes
followed Him. They had not been able to follow Him
when He went up. And the first who now came was a
leper. The disease of this poor creature had prevented
him from hearing the Saviour's long sermon on the
mount. Let it be noticed that he is the first person
specially named as being cured. The second was the
centurion's servant ; the third, St. Peter's mother-in-law,
who was sick of a fever at Capharnaum ; the fourth were
those brought to Christ as being troubled with evil
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 67
spirits. By His word He cast out those evil spirits,
and at the same time healed all them that were
sick. And behold a leper came and adored Him. Properly
after preaching and doctrine comes the occasion for a
miracle, that the power of the sign might confirm in the
hearers the truth of the teaching that had gone before.
II. And the leper said : Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst
make me clean. The leper prayed the Lord to have the
will, for he doubted not but that He had the power. And
Jesus, stretching forth His hand, touched him, saying : I will ;
be thou made clean. And as soon as the Lord put forth
His hand the leprosy departed. Let us remark how
humble and unboasting is the Lord's language. The
leper had said, // thou wilt ; the Lord answered, I will.
The leper, Thou canst make me clean; and the Lord, Be thou
made clean. Most Latin readers, misled by the identity of
form in that language, read Christ's answer as if it were:
I will to make thee clean. This is wrong, for the sentences
are separate. First comes the expression of volition, /
will, then the command, Be thou made clean. And Jesus
saith to him: See thon tell no man. Was there any need to
tell what his body showed ? But go, show thyself to the priest.
There were divers reasons why Christ should send him to
the priest. First for humility's sake, that he might show
reverence to God's priest. Then there was a command of
the law that they, who were cleansed from leprosy, should
make an offering to the priests. Moreover, that when
the priests saw the leper cleansed, they might either
believe in the Saviour or refuse to believe ; if they
believed, that they might be saved, and if they believed
not, that they might have no excuse. Lastly, that He
might give no ground for the accusation too often brought
against Him, that He was unobservant of the Law.
III. Then the centurion came to Jesus, beseeching
5—2
68 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Him and saying : Lord, my servant lietk at home sick of the
palsy, and is grievously tormented. And Jesus saith to him:
/ will come and heal him. And the centurion making
answer, said : -Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst
enter under my roof ; but only say the word, and my servant
shall be healed. No one could accuse our Lord of an
inordinate desire after honour, because He promised the
centurion that He would go at once and heal the servant.
It was on account of the faith, humility, and modesty
which He saw in the centurion, that He at once and
most generously granted his request. The centurion
showed his faith in believing that He could heal a man
sick of the palsy, who was still an unbeliever. He
showed his humility, thinking himself unworthy to
receive Jesus into his house ; and his modesty was
shown by his recognising the Divinity of Jesus hidden
under the veil of His humanity. This centurion knew
that it would be useless for him to follow the example
of unbelievers, and to accept as true only what he could
see with his bodily eyes, if he did not at the same time
believe in the Divinity of Jesus, that he could not see.
This prudence made him say : / also am a man subject to
authority, having under me soldiers ; and I say to this, Go,
and he goeth ; and to another, Come, and he cometh ; and to my
servant, Do this, and he doeth it. By these words he
wished to express his belief that Jesus could convey
His intentions to His angels, and through them perform
whatsoever He would deign to fulfil Himself.
IV. When Jesus heard this He marvelled, and said
to them that followed Him: Amen, I say to you, I
have not found so great faith in Israel. Jesus marvelled,
because the centurion recognised the majesty of the
Son of God made man, and His power to heal the sick,
and to deliver the possessed from the influence of the
FOURTH SUNDAY A FTER EPIPHA NY 69
devil, either through His word only, or through the
agency of His angels. He praised the centurion's faith
as being greater than that of the Jews, His contem
poraries, but did not speak of the patriarchs and prophets
who had lived before Him. Under the figure of the
centurion He wished perhaps to indicate the Gentiles,
whose faith surpassed that of the children of Israel. /
say to you, He added, that many shall come from the east
and the west, and shall sit down with A braham and Isaac and
Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. Since the God of Abraham
is the Creator of heaven, and the Father of Jesus Christ,
it follows that Abraham and all the nations which with
him believe in Jesus, the Son of the Creator, will sit in
the kingdom of heaven. In this also is contained the
meaning of what we have said, namely, that the faith
of the centurion represented the Gentiles, who would
believe with him were the Gospel preached to those
who dwell in the east and the west. But the children of
the kingdom shall be cast out into the exterior darkness. The
Jews, who, until the conversion of the Gentiles, had God
for their King, were the children of the kingdom. Their
darkness was interior ; yet we may say that, since they
left the true Light and were rejected by God, they were
also surrounded by exterior darkness.
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
GOSPEL: Matt. viii. 23-27. At that time: When Jesus
entered into a ship His disciples followed Him, and
behold a great tempest arose in the sea, so that the ship
was covered with waves ; but He was asleep. And His
disciples came to Him, and awakened Him, saying:
Lord, save us ; we perish. And Jesus saith to them •
70 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Why are you fearful, O ye of little faith ? Then rising
up, He commanded the winds and the sea, and there
came a great calm. But the men wondered, saying :
What manner of man is this ? for the winds and the sea
obey Him.
I. HOMILY BY ST. JEROME, PRIEST.
COMMENTARY ON MATT, viu., BK. i.
I. Our Lord worked the fifth miracle when He took
ship at Capharnaum, and commanded the winds and
the sea ; the sixth, when, in the country of the Gerasens,
He suffered the devils to enter into the swine ; the
seventh, when, coining into His own city, He cured the
man sick of the palsy lying on a bed. The first man
sick of the palsy, whom He cured, was the centurion's
servant. But He was asleep, and His disciples came to Him,
and awakened Him, saying: Lord, save us; we perish. A
type of this is found in the history of Jonas, who was
fast asleep when the storm arose, and whom the sailors
woke up to help them. He saved the sailors by com
manding them to throw him into the sea ; this casting
of Jonas into the sea being, as we know, a figure of
Christ's Passion.
II. Then, rising up, He commanded the winds and the sea.
The words give us to understand that all things, which
have been made, recognise their Master; all things, which
He rebukes or commands, hear His voice. This is not
the error of the heretics, who pretend that everything is
alive, but part of the majesty of the Creator, Who makes
things to feel Him, which we cannot make to feel us.
But the men ivondered, saying : What manner of man is this ?
for the winds and the sea obey Him. It was not His
disciples who wondered, but the sailors and others who
. FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 71
were in the ship. If, however, anyone be willing to
oppose this our interpretation, and to maintain that it
was the disciples who wondered, we answer that those
who knew not before the power of the Saviour deserve
to be stripped of the title of disciples, and to be called
simply the men.
II. HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
COMMENTARY ON PSALM xxv.
This ship, in which Jesus was asleep, and which was
on the point of being swallowed up by the waves, is a
figure of the dangers threatening man's life, compared to
a sea continually agitated by winds and storms. The
waves rising in the sea are the daily temptations of our
life, assailing our fragile ship and threatening it with
dismal wreck and destruction. And whence comes such
impending danger, but because Jesus is asleep ? Were
not Jesus asleep within you, you would not be exposed to
all these storms; but interior peace and perfect calm
would be your happy lot, through Jesus watching with
you. For what is the meaning of Jesus is asleep ? Your
faith in Jesus has fallen asleep. The tempests of the sea
arise ; you see evil men flourishing, good and just men in
trouble and misery ; your faith is shaken and tossed about
as by furious waves. And in this temptation your soul
says : ' Is this Thy justice, O God, that the wicked should
flourish, whilst the just are in trouble and misery ?' You
say to God: ' Is this Thy justice ?' And God says to
you : ' Is this your faith ? Have I promised you the
perishable things of the world ? Have I called you to
be My followers, that is, Christians, that you should
flourish in this life ? Are you grieving because you see
the wicked enjoying all earthly pleasures, who shall here-
72 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
after be tormented with the devil ? But why all these
complaints ? Why are you disturbed by the waves of
the sea and the storm ?' Because Jesus is asleep ; that
is, because your faith in Jesus has been laid asleep in
your hearts. How will you be delivered from this great
danger ? Awaken Jesus, and say to Him : Lord, save us,
we perish ; the waves of temptation rise against us and
threaten our souls with impending death. And Jesus
will awake, that is, your faith will return to you. And
with His help you will recognise that the happiness
the wicked enjoy will not abide with them. For, either
it will be taken from them while they live, or they will
be forced to leave it when they die. But the happiness
promised to you will abide for ever and ever. What is
granted to the wicked for a time, will soon be taken
away ; for they flourish like the flower of the grass. All
flesh is as grass ; the grass is withered, and the flower thereof is
fallen away; but the word of the Lord endureth for ever
(i Pet. i. 24, 25). Turn, therefore, your back upon that
which falls and is perishable, and your face to that which
abides to the end. Now that Jesus is awake, the storm
shall no more shake your hearts, the waves shall not fill
your barque. Your faith commands the winds and the
waves, and the danger shall pass away, when a great
calm will follow the storm. To all this, beloved brethren,
belongs what the Apostle says about putting off the old man.
Be angry and sin not. L et not the sun go do wn upon your anger.
Give not place to the devil (Eph. iv. 26, 27). The old man
did give place ; let not the new man do the same. He that
stole, let him now steal no more (ver. 28). The old man,
then, did steal ; not so the new. It is the same man, it
is one man. It was Adam, let it be Christ ; it was the
old man, let it be the new man.
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 73
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
GOSPEL: Matt. xiii. 24-30. At that time: Jesus spoke
this parable to the multitude, saying : The kingdom of
heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his
field. But while men were asleep his enemy came and
oversowed cockle among the wheat, and went his way.
And when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth
fruit, then appeared also the cockle. Then the servants
of the good man of the house came and said to him :
Sir, didst thou not sow good seed in thy field ? From
whence, then, hath it cockle ? And he said to them : An
enemy hath done this. And the servants said to him :
Wilt thou that we go and gather it up ? And he said :
No, lest while you gather up the cockle, you root up the
wheat also together with it. Let both grow until the
harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the
reapers : Gather up first the cockle, and bind it in bundles
to burn, but gather the wheat into my barn.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
EIGHTY-EIGHTH DISCOURSE ON THE WORDS OF THE GOSPEL.
I. You will easily understand, beloved brethen, the
hidden meaning of this Gospel, when you remember
what we said about some other words of Holy Scripture
comparing the just and the wicked in the Church of God
to the wheat and the cockle. By this figure we are
taught that the threshing-floor is not to be left before the
time of the harvest, that the cockle may not be taken
away without being separated from the wheat ; for the
floor would be deprived of its due, and the wheat thus
taken off could not be preserved in the barn. A time
will arrive when the Householder Himself will come
74 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
with the fan in His hand, and separate the just from the
wicked. There will be, in regard to the soul and in
regard to the body, a separation of the just and the
wicked ; for, with your hearts and dispositions you must
be separated from the wicked, though in a spirit of
humility you are for a time associated with them by the
bonds of the body. Let not this connection make you
careless, for it is your duty to endeavour in every way to
correct and convert those entrusted to your care, now
teaching, then advising, or even threatening them as far
as you are obliged or able to do so. Do not excuse your
carelessness respecting this duty by quoting examples
taken from the Old and New Testaments, or the lives of
the saints, and thus endeavouring to show that, though
living among the godless, they preserved their souls stain
less. My answer will be : That these servants of God
did not agree with the wickedness of sinners, but punished
them. It is quite true that there can be no intimacy
between ourselves and others as long as we are opposed
to their opinions ; but when we approve of the doings of
the wicked and agree with them in their sinfulness, then
we enter into mutual fellowship, forbidden by the Apostle,
who says : Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness (Eph. v. n). However, since to refuse our con
sent to evil would not be enough, unless we apply the
necessary remedies to cure it, the Apostle adds : But
rather reprove them (ibid.), giving us to understand that
these two things must be united, namely, not to have any
communication with sinners, and also to punish them.
The first is observed, when the sinful act is neither praised
nor approved of, nor consented to ; and the second, when
the sinner is reproved, punished, and prevented from
doing wrong again.
II. However, when we reprove and punish sinners, let
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 75
us not be puffed up on account of our own virtue ; let us
remember the words of the Apostle : He that thinketh him
self to stand, let him take heed lest he fall (i Cor. x. 12).
When you prevent others from committing sin, or fear
lessly punish them, do not forget to make use of kindness
and love at the same time, again remembering the teach
ing of the great Apostle : // a man be overtaken by any fault,
you, who are spiritual, instruct such a one in the spirit of meek
ness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye
one another's burdens ; and so you shall fulfil the law of Christ
(Gal. vi. 1,2). And in another epistle the same Apostle
says : The servant of the Lord must not wrangle, but be mild
towards all men; apt to teach, patient with modesty; admonish
ing them that resist the truth, if peradvcnture God may give
them repentance to know the truth, and they may recover them
selves from the snare of the devil, by whom they are held captive
at his will (2 Tim. ii. 24, et seq.}. We conclude from all
this that we must neither flatter nor praise the wicked,
and that, when punishing them, we must be neither care
less nor haughty, nor by proud and injudicious reproaches
treat them with contempt.
III. He that forsakes the unity, that is, the union of
the Christians belonging to the true Church, will infallibly
suffer the loss of charity. And if he lose that virtue, he
is nothing, even should he possess all other virtues in the
highest degree. The great Apostle says : // / speak the
tongues of men and angels, and have not charity, I am become
like a sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal. And if I should
have prophecy, and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge,
and if I should have all faith, so that I should remove mountains,
and have not charity, I am nothing. A nd if I should distribute
all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to
be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing (i Cor.
xiii. 1-3). Thus will it be with the Christian who has
76 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
not charity. He is deprived of that virtue which gives
merits to all others, so that other virtues will be fruitless
for heaven and dead before God. Let us, therefore,
practise charity, and take great care to preserve the
union of minds through the bond of peace. Let us not
be deceived by the words of those who, being carnal,
have left the communion of the faithful, and are thus
separated, as through a spiritual sacrilege, from the true
wheat of the Church sown all over the world. This
precious seed was sown in the world by the good Sower,
the Son of Man. For His will was not that this seed
should be sown only in some countries, like Africa,* in
which we live, but among all nations. The cockle,
springing up among the wheat, was the work of the
enemy. Yet the good man of the house would not allow
his servants to gather it up, but told them to let both,
the wheat and the cockle, grow until the harvest. Now,
where is the good seed to grow up, unless in the field in
which it was sown ? Is Africa this special field ? No.
But which is this field ? The words of our Lord are
clear and explicit ; for, when asked by His disciples to
explain the parable, He said : The field is the world. And
the good seed are the children of the kingdom. And the cockle
are the children of the wicked one. And the enemy that sowed
them, is the devil. But the harvest is the end of the world.
And the reapers are the angels (Matt. xiii. 38, 39). After
these words shall we believe, according to heretics, that
the field spoken of is not the world, but only Africa ?
That the harvest will not take place at the end of the
world, but in the present time, and that Donatus, the
* St. Augustine speaks against Donatus, who, coming from Numedia,
was preaching his heretical doctrine in Africa. The great Doctor of
the Church proves that neither scandals nor bad Christians afford a
lawful and reasonable motive for leaving the true Church.
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 77
chief of the heretics, is the reaper ? Ah ! far from
accepting such doctrines against the teaching of Jesus
Christ Himself, let us patiently await the harvest which
will take place in the whole world. We let the good
seed, spread out in the world, grow up until the time
appointed by the householder, and we suffer the cockle,
oversowed among the good seed and growing up every
where, to remain until the time of the harvest. But let
us take heed, lest we be deceived by the language of
these wicked men who, being as light as chaff, will be
cast out of the barn, even before the Householder comes
to separate them. The application of this parable of the
cockle, which we explained, ought to be sufficient to
convince the heretics of the falsehood of their conclusions.
But they will, perhaps, say, in order to excuse their
errors and justify their conduct, that the Sacred Books
were once handed over to the pagans by some Christians
afraid of torments and tortures. But since these Christians
being unknown, cannot be discovered, now this one and
then another is accused of that crime. Yet, whatever
may be the truth about these Christians, I ask whether
their infidelity has destroyed the Faith which comes from
God ? Is it not the same Faith that God once promised
Abraham, saying that all nations should be blessed in his
seed ? And what are we taught by this Faith ? To let
both, that is, the good seed and the cockle, the just and
the wicked, grow up in the field of the Church, namely,
the world, until the time of the harvest, the end of the
world.
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY.
GOSPEL: Matt. xiii. 31-35 At that time : Jesus spoke to
the multitude this parable : The kingdom of heaven is
78 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man took and
sowed in his field. Which, indeed, is the least of all
seeds ; but when it is grown up it is greater than all herbs,
and becometh a tree, so that 'the birds of the air come
and dwell in the branches thereof. Another parable He
spoke to them : The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven,
which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal,
until the whole was leavened. All these things Jesus
spoke in parables to the multitude, and without parables
He did not speak to them ; that the word might be fulfilled
which was spoken by the prophet, saying : ' I will open
My mouth in parables, I will utter things hidden from the
foundation of the world.'
HOMILY BY ST. JEROME, PRIEST.
COMMENTARY ON MATT, xin., BK. n.
I. The kingdom of heaven, here spoken of by our
Lord, is the propagation of the Gospel and the knowledge
of the Scriptures, which are the way leading to life. Of
this kingdom it was said to the Jews : The kingdom of
God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation
yielding the fruits thereof (Matt. xxi. 43). This kingdom,
therefore, is like to a grain of mustard-seed, which a man
took and sowed in his field. Our Saviour is understood
by many to be that man who sowed the seed in his field,
for He is the Sower who sows in the souls of believers.
Others understand every man who sows good seed in his
own field, that is, in himself, in his own heart. Now, who
is he that sows, but our own mind and soul, which take
the good grain from preaching, and by nourishing it in the
soil, cause it to spring up in the field of our own heart ?
The preaching of the Gospel is the beginning of all
doctrines, He that preaches, for his first lesson, a God
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY 79
made man, Christ's death, and the stumbling-block of
the Cross, receives at first but little credit. Compare
such teaching as this with the doctrines of philosophers,
with their books, their splendid eloquence and their
rounded sentences, and you will see that the grain of the
Gospel, when it is sown, is the humblest of all seeds. But
when the doctrines of men grow up, there is nothing
piercing, nothing healthy, nothing life-giving therein ;
the plant is drooping, weak and withered. There are
herbs and grass of which it may truly be said that the
grass is withered and the flower is fallen (Isa. xl. 8). But the
grain of the Gospel-seed, though, when it is sown, seems
to be the least of all seeds, when once it is rooted in the
soul of man or in the whole world, grows, not into a
herb, but becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air —
whereby we may understand either the souls of the
believers or the powers bound to the service of God-
come and dwell in the branches thereof. I consider that
the branches of the G.ospel-tree, growing from the grain
of the mustard-seed, are the divers developments of
doctrine, on which the mysterious birds mentioned above
find resting-places. Our duty, therefore, is to take the
wings of the dove and, in a quick flight, to soar up to the
most sublime things, so that we may make our dwelling
in the branches of this mysterious tree, where we shall
rest in the shadow of the doctrine of salvation, be
separated from earthly things, and thus be nearer to
heaven. There are many who, reading in the Gospel
that the mustard-seed is the least of all seeds, heard that
the disciples said to their Master : Lord, increase our faith ;
and that He answered : // you have faith as a grain of
mustard-seed, you shall say to this mountain: Remove from hence,
and it shall remove, and nothing shall be impossible to you
(Matt. xvii. 19). Such people imagine that the Apostles
8o SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
asked for a little faith only, or that our Lord doubted
their faith. But if they considered the words of St. Paul,
they would recognise that the faith, compared by our
Saviour with a grain of mustard-seed, was in His eyes a
very great faith ; for the Apostle says : /// should have all
faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am
nothing (i Cor. xiii. 2). Thus we are taught that, what
we can do with faith like a grain of mustard-seed, accord
ing to our Lord, is done, as St. Paul explains, with the
most perfect faith.
II. And our Lord spoke another parable to the multi
tude : The kingdom of heaven is like to leaven, which a woman
took and hid in three measures of meal, until the whole was
leavened. Jesus, to accommodate Himself to the different
classes of His hearers, made use of different parables, all
meant to be the means for curing divers spiritual ail
ments. The woman, who in the parable takes the leaven,
seems to me to signify the preaching of the Apostles, or
the Church formed of different nations. The leaven
taken by the woman means the knowledge of the Holy
Scriptures ; whereas the three measures of meal, in which
the leaven is hidden, represent our intellect, soul and body,
united in perfect agreement and harmony. They are like
two or three persons gathered together in prayer, and
receiving from the Heavenly Father whatsoever they ask
for. Yet, another meaning may also be found in these
words of the parable. We read in the writings of Plato
— and this is the general opinion of philosophers, — that
there are in our soul three passions called the reason
able, the irascible and the concupiscent. The same pagan
philosopher also speaks of the different parts of our body
wherein each passion resides. Take, therefore, the leaven
mentioned in the Gospel, that is, the wisdom of Holy
Scripture, and you will keep these passions in check ; you
SIXTH S UN DA Y A FTER EPIPHA NY Si
will even make them serve as means to attain your
desired object, that is, reason will help you to practise
prudence, anger will inspire you with hatred against sin,
and concupiscence will give you a longing for Christian
virtues. And you will succeed in all this through the
doctrine given to us by the true Church of Christ.
III. I will also mention some opinions held by different
learned men concerning this parable, so that the reader
may accept what pleases him best. Some think that
the woman of the Gospel is the figure of the Church
founding the belief of the faithful upon. the doctrine of
the three Divine Persons, the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Ghost, represented under the image of the three
measures of meal. These, they say, are of the same
substance, and consequently speak to us of the same
Divine Nature of the three Persons, being one and the
same God. However, this is only a pious opinion which,
like other comparisons, cannot be used to prove the
fundamental truths of our holy religion, revealed to us
by an infallible Authority. Other interpretations of the
words of this parable cannot be mentioned here without
going beyond the limits assigned to this commentary.
IV. All these things Jesus spoke in parables, says the Gospel,
to the multitude, not to the Apostles. The same language
is even now used by zealous preachers addressing large
assemblies; but the disciples wished to learn from the
very source, that is, from the Master Himself, the true
doctrine which they were to preach to others. Again
the Gospel says : That the word might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the prophets, saying : I will open my mouth
in parables, I will utter things hidden from the foundation of
the world (Ps. Ixxvii. 2). The prophet, relating the events
that took place at the departure of the Israelites from
Egypt, and the miracles wrought by God in their favour,
6
82 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
announces that all these things are not to be taken in a
literal sense, for they contain comparisons and hidden
mysteries which will one day be explained by the Saviour
of the world Himself.
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
GOSPEL: Matt. xx. 1-16. At that time: Jesus spoke to
His disciples this parable : The kingdom of heaven is
like to a householder who went out early in the morning
to hire labourers into his vineyard. And having agreed
with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into
his vineyard. And going out about the third hour, he
saw others standing in the market-place idle. And he
said to them : Go you also into my vineyard, and I will
give you what shall be just. And they went their way.
And again he went out about the sixth and the ninth
hour, and did in like manner. But about the eleventh
hour he went out and found others standing, and he
saith to them : Why stand you here all the day idle ?
They say to him : Because no man hath hired us. He
saith to them : Go you also into my vineyard. And
when evening was come, the lord of the vineyard said
to his steward : Call the labourers, and pay them their
hire, beginning from the last even to the first. When,
therefore, they were come that came about the eleventh
hour, they received every man a penny. But when the
first also came, they thought that they should have
received more ; and they also received every man a
penny. And receiving it, they murmured against the
master of the house, saying : These last have worked
but one hour, and thou hast made them equal to us that
have borne the burden of the day and the heats. But
he answering, said to one of them : Friend, I do thee no
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY 83
wrong ; didst thou not agree with me for a penny ? Take
what is thine, and go thy way. I will also give to this
last even as to thee. Or, is it not lawful for me to do
what I will ? Is thy eye evil because I am good ? So
shall the last be the first, and the first last. For many
are called, but few chosen.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
• CHURCH OF ST. LAWRENCE ON SEPTUAGESIMA
SUNDAY.
NINETEENTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. This Gospel containing many things which need
explaining, I will try as far as possible to shorten my
explanation, that it may not become tedious to you.
The kingdom of heaven, so we are told by our Lord, is like
to a householder, who went out early in the morning to hive
labourers into his vineyard. Who, indeed, is more justly
to be likened to a householder than our Creator, Who is
the Head of the household of faith, ruling over those He
has made, and being Master of His chosen ones in the
world, as a master of those in his house ? He it is that
has the Church as His vineyard, a vineyard that ceases
not to bring forth branches of the true Vine, from just
Abel to the last of the elect that shall be born in the
world. This householder, then, for the cultivation of
his vineyard, goes out early in the morning, and at the
third hour, the sixth, the ninth, and the eleventh, to hire
labourers into his vineyard. Thus the Lord, from the
beginning to the end of the world, never ceases to gather
together preachers for the instruction of His faithful
people. The early morning of the world was from Adam
until Noah ; the third hour from Noah until Abraham ;
the sixth from Abraham until Moses ; the ninth from
6—2
84 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Moses until the coming of the Lord ; the eleventh from
the coming of the Lord to the end of the world. At
this eleventh hour were sent forth as preachers the
Apostles, who received full wages, though they came in
late. For the cultivation of His vineyard — that is, the
instruction of His people, —the Lord has never ceased to
send labourers into it. First by the patriarchs, then by
the prophets and teachers of the law, and lastly by the
Apostles, He dressed and tended the lives of His people,
as the owner of a vineyard dresses and tends it by means
of workmen. Whoever, in whatever degree, joined to a
right faith the teaching of justice, was so far one of
God's labourers in God's vineyard. By the labourers
at early morning, at the third, the sixth, and the ninth
hour, may be understood God's ancient people, the
Hebrews, who, striving to worship Him with a right
faith, in company with His chosen ones from the begin
ning of the world, continually laboured in His vineyard.
And now, at the eleventh hour, it was said to the
Gentiles : Why stand you here all the day idle ? The Lord
speaks of their carelessness and indifference concerning
their salvation, for they had not yet done anything to
be assured of it ; yet, if you ponder upon their answer
to the householder sending them to his vineyard, you
will have cause of being ashamed. Their answer to the
householder's question, why they stood all the day idle,
was : Because no man hath hived ws. Indeed, they, unlike
others, had neither patriarchs nor prophets to instruct
them. No one had hired them, for no one had shown
them the way leading to salvation. As to us, who
neglect the practice of good works, and lead an idle life,
what shall we answer for our justification ? For we
received the true faith, so to speak, in the womb of our
mother ; we heard the words of life when still in the
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY 85
cradle, and we drank the milk of Christian doctrine,
given by our holy Church at the time when, for the life
of our bodies, we were sucking the breasts of our natural
mothers.
II. The different hours of the parable may also be
compared to the different periods of man's life. Child
hood, on account of the small sphere of knowledge, is
the early hour of morning ; youth may be compared to
the third hour, when the sun rises and the heat of years
increases ; the sixth hour represents manhood, the
virility, when the sun has reached the zenith of his
course; by the ninth hour, showing the sun slowly
retreating from his height, we recognise the elderly age
of man, when he loses the strength and power of younger
years ; whereas old age is figured by the eleventh hour.
Now, consider how some are called, already in their
childhood, to lead a perfect and holy life ; others in their
youth ; these in their manly age ; some others in advanced
years ; and lastly others in their old age. Do you under
stand that all of us are labourers, who may at any time
be sent into the vineyard of the Lord ? Again, beloved
brethren, consider your own lives, and ask yourselves
whether you are worthy labourers of the Lord, whether
you are mindful of the work you are doing, and lastly
whether you labour indeed in the Lord's vineyard. Be
sure that those who work for their own interests only,
have not entered the vineyard of the Lord ; for those
only are accounted as His labourers, who prefer the
glory of God to their own profit and interest. Such
worthy Christians endeavour to serve God with ardent
love and sincere devotion ; they strive to win souls to
God, and exert themselves to take others along with
them to the habitation of the Saints ; whereas those
who live for themselves and try to satisfy their vices and
86 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
concupiscences, are condemned as idle labourers, making
no effort to work in, or care for, the Lord's vineyard.
III. What shall we say of those who put off their
conversion to the end of their life ? Are they not like
those labourers standing in the market-place until the
eleventh hour, to whom the householder said : Why stand
you here all the day idle ? Our Saviour wishes them to
understand that, having spent their childhood and youth
in the service of the world and far from God, they are
called upon to begin to turn to God, at least, now at the
extreme limits of life, and with greater courage to walk
on the road of justice, that leads to perfection and eternal
life ; for the work they are bid to do cannot last very long,
since they came so late. Thus this good Householder
invites them to come back to Him, and often rewards
them before those who had been called from their child
hood, since very often the last comers are called away
the first. Remember the good Thief (Luke xxiii.). He
came at the eleventh hour ; but by the capital punish
ment he suffered, he obtained a reward certainly not
deserved by his former sinful life. He recognised Jesus
to be the Redeemer of the world, confessed Him publicly,
and almost at the same moment gave up the ghost. We
see thereby that the Householder, giving the promised
penny, began with the last ; for the good Thief was
received into Paradise before St. Peter. The same
happened to many good and pious souls living before
the Law and under the Law. They had to wait for
their reward, whilst those called after the coming of the
Messiah, at once went to Paradise. We may also say,
in all truth, that the same reward — that is, a penny,— was
given to them that had worked one hour only, as to the
others who had been working the whole day and had
borne the burden of the day and the heats. For the eternal
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY 87
happiness, that reward given to them that worked well,
will be common to all of them, both to those who came
at the beginning and to those who arrived with the
Redeemer. This very equality was the cause of com
plaints : These last have worked but one hour, and thou hast
made them equal to us that have borne the burden of the day
and the heats. Indeed, the first comers can say that they
have borne the burden of the day and the heats, since
their life was longer than ours. They came at the
beginning, when the life of man was very long, and they
had to fight against their own self for many years. We
also feel in us the fire of concupiscence, against which we
contend, and which we try to extinguish ; and this con
tinual fighting may be compared to the burden of the day
and the heats.
IV. Besides all this, I ask, what is the meaning of the
murmurs of those who received the reward in heaven
very late ? Also in what sense can we say that they
murmured, since heaven will not be given to those who
murmur, and since those who have entered heaven
neither murmur nor complain ? I answer : If I consider
that the patriarchs, though leading a good and holy life,
could not enter Paradise before the coming of the Son of
God, Who by His death reopened the gates of heaven,
we find therein, that is, in the delay preventing them to
receive the reward for which they worked so hard, the
real motive of their murmuring. After fighting for
justice' sake, and thus deserving the crown of glory, their
souls went to limbo, a place of rest and peace. To them,
therefore, we may attribute the murmurs of the labourers
after their day's work. However, after this presupposed
murmuring, the souls of the just, leaving their prison,
that is limbo, wherein they had been detained for a long
time, receive the promised penny, namely, the happiness
88 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
of the eternal kingdom, of which they take possession.
As to us who, though arriving at the end of the day,
receive a penny, we do not murmur like those who
arrived the first. Since the coming of the Redeemer
into this world, we enter into the kingdom of heaven as
soon as we leave this life, and we receive without any
delay the crown of glory granted to the patriarchs after
their very long waiting.* On this occasion the master
of the house said to one of the labourers : / will also give
to this last even as to thee. And, as the place in heaven
assigned to a soul is an effect of His generous will, He
adds : Or, is it not lawful for me to do what I will ? It
would be man's greatest folly to criticise the manner in
which God's goodness deigns to act. Indeed, we could
murmur against God, were He to refuse that which He
is bound to give, but not when He refuses to grant what
He is not in justice obliged to give. He, therefore, that
murmurs, deserves this rebuke : /s thy eye evil because I
am good ? Hence we conclude that nobody is to boast of
his work or of the time spent in doing it, for the Eternal
Truth tells us : The last shall be first, and the first last.
Though we be aware of our good works, we know not
how strictly they will be scrutinized by the great Judge ;
yea, each of us ought to feel exceedingly happy to receive
even the last place in the kingdom of God.
V. The following words of this Gospel, many are called,
but few are chosen, cannot but inspire us with terror; for
many receive the light of faith, but to a few only is
granted the happiness of heaven. On account of the
* It would be a mistake to infer from these words that St. Gregory
did not believe in Purgatory. Their meaning is that a soul, leaving the
body and having nothing to atone for, will be at once received into
Paradise, unlike the just souls of the patriarchs which, before the coming
of Christ, descended into limbo.
SEPTUAGESIMA SUNDAY 89
festival there are now a great many gathered together
here, and there is hardly room for all within the walls of
this temple. Yet, who can tell how many of them will one
day be found among the number of the elect ? All voices
are loud in confessing Jesus, but the lives of those who
confess Him do not agree with their exterior acts of faith.
The greater number of those here present think it suffi
cient to follow Jesus in words, whilst by their acts they
are separated from Him. St. Paul points them out to us,
saying : They profess that they know God, but in their works
they deny Him (Tit. i. 16). This is confirmed by St. James :
Faith without works is dead (Jas. ii. 26). And the Psalmist
repeats the words of God : / have declared and I have spoken;
they are multiplied above number (Ps. xxxix. 6). By these
words we understand that, when the Lord calls men
through His prophets, the number of believers greatly
increases. However, not all those who by the gift of
faith obtain the knowledge of the truth will be numbered
among the elect. It is certain that when a great number
of wicked Christians are gathered together with true
servants of God, because of the same faith that they
profess, they nevertheless do not deserve to be numbered
with the faithful on account of their unchristian lives.
For it cannot be denied that, though the holy Church
includes in the same fold the sheep and the goats, the
Eternal Judge will one day separate the just from the
wicked, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats
(Matt. xxv. 32). Know ye, therefore, and recognise that
none of those now given up to the pleasures of the world
will be received among the elect ; that the Judge will
exclude them from the happy fate of the humble, since in
this world they were lifted up on the wings of pride. They
had received the gift of heavenly faith, but they clung to
the earth, and heaven will not be opened to them.
90 S UN DA YS A ND FESTI VA LS
VI. Meanwhile, though a great many people, whose
lives are unchristian, may be found in the Church of God,
I beseech you, beloved brethren, neither to imitate them
nor to think them to be lost. We are aware of the
unhappy condition of these people to-day, but we know
not what they will be to-morrow. It often happens that
those whom we see behind us on the road to holiness, soon
precede us on account of their progress in spirituality ; then
it is with great difficulty that we follow those whom at
some time we seemed to precede. When St. Stephen
shed his blood for Christ, his murderers laid their garments
at the feet of a young man whose name was Saul (Acts vii. 57),
and who may be accused of having also stoned St. Stephen
by assisting the murderers ; yet, by his great labours
undertaken for the Church, Saul has gone .before the
holy martyr, to whose death he contributed. Let us,
therefore, consider these two things greatly deserving our
attention. First, knowing that many are called but few
are chosen, no one can help himself without the grace of
God, and, though being called by faith, no one is sure of
his eternal salvation. Secondly, when we see our neigh
bour in the clutches of sin and vice, let us not pre
sumptuously think that he will be lost, for God's infinite
mercy is unknown to us.
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
GOSPEL: Luke viii. 4-15. At that time: When a very
great multitude was gathered together, and hastened out
of the cities to meet Jesus, He spoke by a similitude. A
sower went out to sow his seed ; and as he sowed, some
fell by the wayside ; and it was trodden down, and the
fowls of the air devoured it. And other some fell upon a
rock ; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered away,
SEX A GESIMA S UN DA Y 9 1
because it had no moisture. And other some fell among
thorns ; and the thorns growing up with it choked it.
And other some fell upon good ground, and sprung up,
and yielded fruit a hundredfold. Saying these things, He
cried out : He that hath ears to hear, let him hear. And
His disciples asked Him what this parable might be. To
whom He said : To you it is given to know the mystery
of the kingdom of God, but to the rest in parables ; that
seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not under
stand. Now the parable is this : The seed is the Word
of God. And they by the wayside, are they that hear ;
then the devil cometh, and taketh the word out of their
hearts, lest believing they should be saved. Now, they
upon the rock are they who, when they hear, receive the
word with joy ; and these have no roots, for they believe
for a while, and in time of temptation fall away. And
that which fell among thorns are they who have heard,
and going their way, are choked with the cares and the
riches and pleasures of this life, and yield no fruit. But
that on the good ground are they, who, in a good and
perfect heart, hearing the word, keep it, and bring forth
fruit in patience.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER ON SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY.
FIFTEENTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. The extract from the Holy Gospel which you have
just heard, beloved brethren, needs not so much that it
should be explained as that its lesson should be impressed
on your minds. The Truth Himself has explained it, and
after that, it is not becoming man's frailty to discuss His
exposition as if not reliable. But there is, in that very
explanation of our Lord, somewhat which it behoves us
92 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
well to weigh. For, if we asked you to believe that by the
seed is signified the word, by the field, the world, by the
birds, the devils, and by the thorns, riches, you would
perhaps doubt the truth of our exposition. Therefore, the
Lord Himself deigned to give this explanation, and that,
not for this parable only, but that you may know in what
manner to interpret others, the meaning of which He has
not given. Beginning His explanation, the Lord says
that He is speaking in parables ; and thereby He assures
us when our weakness would unveil to you the hidden
meaning of His words. For who would believe me were
I to say that riches are thorns ? Thorns prick, but
riches afford us delight. And yet riches are thorns,
indeed, for the anxiety they bring is a ceaseless pricking
in the minds of their owners, and, if they lead to sin, they
are thorns which tear the soul to bleed. But we under
stand from another Evangelist (Matt. xiii. 28), that in this
place our Lord speaks not of the riches themselves, but
of the deceitfulness of riches. Those riches are deceitful,
which can be ours for a little while only ; those riches
are deceitful, which cannot relieve the poverty of our
souls. If, then, you seek to be rich, beloved brethren,
earnestly desire the true riches ; if you would be truly
honourable, strive after the kingdom of heaven ; if you
love to reach the summit of titles and dignities, hasten to
have your names written in Court above, where angels
are.
II. Take to heart the Lord's words which your ears
hear. The food of the soul is the word of God. When
the stomach is sick it rejects again the food that is put
into it ; and so is the soul sick when a man hears and
digests not in his memory the word of God. And if any
man cannot retain his food, that man's life is in a desperate
case. Thus we ought to fear for our soul, lest it should
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY 93
be lost, when receiving the food of holy admonition, we
do not keep in our memory the words of life which would
preserve in us true Christian justice. Further, consider
that, whatsoever you are doing now, will in time pass
away, and that every day you come nearer the moment
of the strict account to be given to God. Are you con
vinced of this truth ? Then why do you love such goods
as you must leave, and why are you careless about that
end which you will soon reach, and by which your fate in
eternity will be decided ? Do remember fhe words of your
Redeemer : He that hath ears to hear let him hear. Not all
of those who were present and heard these words, under
stood them ; for our Lord wished them to be heard with
the ears 'of the heart and mind, and not with the ears
of the body only, so that His doctrine may be under
stood and accepted. Be careful, therefore, that the Divine
word you receive be not taken from your heart and
memory ; be careful that this word fall not by the way
side, that is, watch, lest through your carelessness and
distraction the devil take the word out of your hearts.
Be careful that this precious seed fall not into your souls
as upon rocks, that is, that for want of perseverance on
your part, it cannot take root, and will, therefore, wither
away. Many are seen receiving the words of salvation
with joy ; some also are noticed beginning to practise
virtues, but they fall away in time of temptation. By
their inconstancy and the fickleness of their mind they
are like the dry and rocky ground, where the seed springs
up and withers away, because it has no moisture. Such
Christians perhaps hear a sermon against avarice, and at
once they feel for that vice the aversion it deserves, and
they praise those who despise the goods of this world.
But as soon as an opportunity is at hand to gratify their
own concupiscence and covetousness, the praises given to
94 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
the contempt of riches disappear from their memory.
When a sermon against impurity is preached, there are
many who, at the terrible picture drawn of this shameful
vice, not only resolve never to commit such heinous sins,
but are also deeply ashamed of their past offences where
with they are reproached by their own conscience. Yet,
should a dangerous object be presented, they long for it
with the same eagerness, as if they had not made the
resolution to avoid such objects. They relapse into the
same sins which they had previously committed and
execrated. It sometimes happens that they shed tears
over their debaucheries, and yet they return to them as
soon as they cease to bewail them. Thus Balaam shed
tears of contrition, seeing the camp of the Israelites, and
wished to be in death like this people beloved by God.
Let my soul die the death of the just, he said, and my last end
be like to them (Num. xxiii. 10). But these feelings of
contrition were hardly expressed, when the desires of this
impious man were again inflamed by avarice. At the
sight of the presents offered to him, he gave the most
abominable advice, so as to bring about the destruction of
the very people to whom he had wished to be like. His
sorrow and contrition were forgotten, for he had not
entirely extinguished the flames of avarice burning in his
soul.
III. Explaining His parable, our Redeemer says that
the cares, the riches and the pleasures of this life choke
the seed of the Divine word. Indeed, they choke it
through the continual thoughts awakened in the mind,
preventing this word of life from taking root. Then,
since these useless thoughts shut the door of the heart to
good desires, they also prevent the heart from receiving
the inspirations of the Holy Ghost, Who preserves the
life of the soul. Let us also note that, in the parable of
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY 95
the Lord, both the cares and the pleasures of this life are
connected with the possession of riches, because the
troubles about riches oppress the mind ; then, by their
superabundance, they deliver us up to sinful pleasures.
For it is certain that rich people have many cares and
troubles on account of their love for the things of this
world ; .and it is also certain that they indulge in sensual
pleasures, though it seems that these two statements do
not agree. Yet, we may say, that if at one time they
feel uneasy about their riches, at another they are
mollified by the allurements of lust, to which they are
attracted by their wealth.
IV. The good seed, falling upon good ground, yields
fruit a hundredfold, yet brings forth that fruit in patience.
For our good works would be of no avail to us, did we
not patiently and generously bear the trials inflicted on
us by our neighbour. The more we advance in virtue,
the heavier become the crosses wherewith our Father in
heaven allows us to be burdened, in order to try those
who serve Him. How is this ? Because the more a
soul endeavours to be separated from the love of the
world, the more it finds this same world contemptible
and loathsome. Indeed, we see that the greater number
of virtuous people doing good works are nevertheless
overwhelmed with troubles and trials. The stronger
they fight against sensual temptations, the more bitter
are their sufferings. Yet it is just in this manner that,
according to the Redeemer's words, the just bring forth
fruit in patience. They humbly submit to the scourges
wherewith they are smitten by God in this world, and
afterwards rise to enjoy the eternal rest prepared for
them in heaven. We may compare them with grapes,
which, being trodden under feet, yield a delicious wine.
They are also like the fruit of the olive-tree, which yields
96 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
in the press a frothy liquid, that becomes the precious oil.
Lastly, the just are like to the wheat, which, being
thrashed on the floor and separated from the chaff, is
preserved in the barn. Those, therefore, who wish their
sins and passions to be destroyed, ought to submit
willingly, for their spiritual progress, to the stripes
wherewith Divine Providence chastises them. Then
they will appear before the judgment-seat of God so
much the purer, the more they were cleansed from the
rust of sin by the fire of suffering.
V. My assertions will be proved by the example of
Servulus, which I now place before you. He was
begging at the door of the Church of St. Clement, and
many among you have known this poor man as well as I
did. Deprived of all earthly riches, yet rich in spiritual
goods, he was for years afflicted with a terrible disease.
From his youth to the very end of his life, he was on his
sick-bed, without being able to rise or even to sit up.
Palsy, which reduced him to this sad condition, had
deprived him of the use of his limbs ; he could neither
raise his hand to his mouth, nor turn over on his bed.
The mother and brother of this poor man waited on him,
and gave to other poor people the remainder of the alms
he received. Though he had never learnt how to read,
he had a copy of the Holy Scripture bought, and pious
people, whom he most hospitably received, read it out to
him. Thus he acquired a thorough knowledge of the
Holy Writ, according to his intellect, which, as I said,
had not been cultivated. Amidst his sufferings, his
principal object was to thank and praise God day and
night with psalms and spiritual canticles. But when
the hour came that heaven was to reward such heroic
virtue, the acute pains of the palsy reached the heart,
and, feeling himself at the point of death, he summoned
SEXAGESIMA SUNDAY 97
his own people and others, and asked them to stand up
and sing psalms until he died. Whilst he himself was
singing with others, he suddenly stopped, and said
in a strong and extraordinary voice : ' Do you hear the
songs of praise resounding in heaven ?' And while
listening to that melodious heavenly harmony, his
innocent soul left his body. A delicious fragrance was
noticed by the assistants, and recognised by them as a
sign that his soul had been taken up to heaven. A monk
belonging to a monastery, where I stayed for some time,
witnessed these facts, the remembrance of which made
him shed tears of joy. I was assured by him that, until
the burial of the body, the same delicious odour was
perceived by all those present. Beloved brethren, do
think of the precious death of one who, whilst on earth,
bore all the troubles and trials of life with patience and
resignation. By his invincible courage, he became like
to^the good ground, which, according to our Redeemer,
brings forth fruit in patience, and, after suffering the
plough of tribulations, yields fruit a hundred-fold. Now,
I ask you and entreat you to consider what answer we
shall give at the terrible judgment ? In spite of the
graces wherewith we were enriched by Divine Providence ;
in spite of the hands given to us for useful work, we
languish in idleness and neglect good works. Does not
the example of that poor and sick man condemn our
carelessness ? He had in this life neither the goods of
this world nor the use of his limbs, yet he strictly
observed the Lord's precepts. What shall we say for
our justification, when the example of the Apostles,
surrounded by the innumerable nations converted by
their labours and preaching, will be placed before us by
the Judge ; when we shall see so many praiseworthy
martyrs who, making the sacrifice of their lives, bought
7
98 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
heaven with their blood shed for Jesus Christ? What
shall we answer, when blessed Servulus stands before us
he who constantly laboured and did good works, though
his arms, paralyzed by disease, were of no use to him ?
think of all this, beloved brethren, in order to encourage
yourselves to do good works ; place before your eyes tl
beautiful models of virtue proposed to your imitation, and
one day you will share with them the eternal beatitud
in heaven.
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
GOSPEL: Luke xviii. 31-43- At that time : Jesus took
unto Him the twelve, and said to them : Behold, we go
up to Jerusalem, and all things shall be accomplished
which were written by the prophets concerning the .
of Man. For He shall be delivered to the Gentiles, and
shall be mocked, and scourged, and spit upon ; and aftc
they have scourged Him, they will put Him to death, and
the third day He shall rise again. And they understood
none of these things. And this word was hid from tl
and they understood not the things that were said,
it came to pass, that when He drew nigh to Jericho, a
certain blind man sat by the wayside begging. Anc
when he heard the multitude passing by, he asked what
this meant. And they told him that Jesus of Nazareth
was passing by. And he cried out, saying : Jesus, Son
of David, have mercy on me. And they that went
before rebuked him, that he should hold his peace ; but
he cried out much the more : Son of David, have mercy
on me. And Jesus, standing, commanded him to I
brought unto Him. And when he was come near He
asked Him, saying: What wilt thou that I do to thee ?
But he said: Lord, that I may see. And Jesus said 1
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY 99
him : Receive thy sight ; thy faith hath made thee whole.
And immediately he saw, and followed Him, glorifying
God. And all the people when they saw it, gave praise
to God.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER ON QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY.
SECOND HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. Foreseeing that the minds of His Apostles would
be troubled by the thought of His suffering, our
Redeemer told them long before, both of the pains of
that suffering and of the glory of His rising again ; to
this end that, when they should see Him die, as He had
prophesied, they might not doubt that He was likewise
to rise again. But, since His disciples were as yet
carnal, and could not understand His words, telling of
this mystery, He wrought a miracle before them. A
blind man received his sight before their eyes, that, if
they could not comprehend heavenly things by words,
they might be convinced of heavenly things by deeds.
But we must so take the miracles of our Lord and
Saviour, as believing, both that they were actually
wrought, and that they have some mystic meaning for
our instruction. For in His works power speaks one
thing, and mystery again another. Behold, for instance :
we know not historically who this blind man was, but
we know of what he was mystically a figure. Mankind
is blind, driven out of Paradise in the persons of our first
parents, knowing not the light of heaven, and suffering
the darkness of condemnation. Nevertheless, by the
coming of his Redeemer man is enlightened, so that he
sees by hope already the gladness of interior light, and
walks by good works in the path of life.
7—2
ioo SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
II. Note also, beloved brethren, that, as Jesus drew
nigh to Jericho, a blind man received his sight. Now,
this name Jericho, being interpreted, signifies the city of the
moon, and in Holy Scripture the moon is used as a figure
of our imperfect flesh, of whose gradual corruption her
monthly waning is a type. Therefore, as our Creator
draws nigh -to Jericho, a blind man receives his sight.
Whilst God takes unto Himself our weak human nature,
man receives again the light which he had lost. By
God's suffering in the Manhood, man is raised up towards
God. This blind man is also well described as sitting by
the wayside begging ; for the Truth says : / am the way
(John xiv. 6). He that knows not Him Who is eternal
light, is blind. But as soon as he believes in Jesus, the
Redeemer, then he is sitting on the road leading to
salvation. When man has faith, but is not continually
asking to be enlightened by Divine light, he may, like the
blind man, sit on the road, but he is not' begging alms.
But when by means of faith he begins to believe, when
he recognises the blindness of his heart, and unceasingly
asks to be delivered from it and to receive the light of
truth, then he is like to the poor and unhappy blind man
who, sitting by the wayside, was begging. Let him,
therefore, who recognises his darkness, and the need of
eternal light, cry out with all the desires of his heart and
all the fervour of his soul : Jesus, Son of David, have mercy
on me ! This was the prayer of the blind man to the
Redeemer, whilst those who went before rebuked him, and
asked him to hold his peace.
III. And what do we understand by those who went
before, but the crowd of bad desires and the restlessness
of our passions disturbing our mind' and troubling our
heart, when we cry to our Saviour ? We experience this
only too often, that, when after a sinful life we wish to
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY 101
return to God ; when we ask Him for strength to pray
well, and to renounce the sins enslaving us, the image
of our former sins is pictured in our memory, the light of
our intellect is darkened, our courage is weakened, and
we remain insensible to the voice of God's minister
preaching the truth. Thus, those who went before our
Lord rebuked the blind man of Jericho, that he should
.hold his peace ; and we learn therefrom the important
lesson that, before Jesus comes into our hearts, the
awful image of our sensual pleasures rises in our memory,
so as to prevent the effects of our prayers.
IV. However, the blind man, waiting to be cured, is
our teacher. Though he was rebuked, he cried out
much more : Son of David, have mercy on me I Thus our
prayer must be the more ardent and assiduous, the
stronger the noise of wicked thoughts that rise in our
mind and endeavour to prevent it. When the stormy
crowd of temptations call back the remembrance of our
sins, and assail us from all sides, trying to make us
neglect, if possible, our prayers, then our powerful and
repeated cry towards heaven will render all these
phantoms useless and powerless. However, the things
I say now, may be learned by you, through your own
experience. For when we begin to tear our thoughts
and desires away from the world, and to turn them to God ;
when we give up our mind to prayer, then the worldly
thoughts and sinful pleasures of our former life return
to attack and distract us. And this assault of our former
thoughts is so strong that, in spite of good desires and
even tears of repentance, it is only by the greatest care
and watchfulness that we succeed in keeping our hearts
in safety.
V. Meanwhile, we may be sure that, if we persevere
in our prayers, Jesus will remain with us, as He stayed
102 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
for some time with the blind man. And Jesus, standing,
commanded him to be brought unto Him. And the words of
the Gospel tell us, not without a special motive, that
Jesus was first passing by, then was standing. We
learn from this that, when powerless phantoms endeavour
to disturb us in our prayers, Jesus seems to be passing
by ; but that when, in spite of their attacks, we persevere
in these prayers, Jesus remains standing by us, and-
delivers us from blindness. For when God takes His
abode in our heart, He dispels darkness by His Divine
light.
VI. There is yet another lesson taught by our Lord in
that miraculous cure of the blind man, that is, the
manifestation both of the marks of His Divinity and of
the signs of His humanity. For when the Man-God
heard the blind man cry out to Him, He did not cure
him until standing still, showing us that He was man,
because He passed by, and that He was also God,
because He remained standing. Was not our Redeemer,
as man, to be born among us, to increase in years, to
die, to rise from the dead, and to move about from one
place to another ? But, being at the same time God, He
gives us to understand that He is immovable, and that
all changes noticed in Him, came from His humanity ;
whilst, as God, He is always the same, without any
change, present everywhere, without shiftily His
dwellings. Again, our Redeemer heard the voice of
the blind man whilst passing by, and granted him light
whilst standing still, thus teaching us that His humanity
called His attention and love to the blindness of which
we suffered, and His Divine power enlightened us with
the light of His grace.
VII. For our further instruction we hear Jesus, as
soon as He saw the blind man, say to him : What wilt
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY 103
thou that I do to thee ? Our Saviour, having the power to
restore the sight to the blind man, was certainly not
ignorant of that which he was going to ask. But He
wished to teach us that it was His will we should ask
Him, though He knows our desires and is willing to
grant them. He, therefore, very often exhorts us to
pray to Him, though He assures us that His Father in
heaven knows all our needs before we ask. He wishes
to encourage us to trust in Him, and to awaken in our
hearts real love for prayer. We hear the blind man at
once uttering his request, and asking to receive the light.
He was asking neither for gold nor for riches of any kind,
but for light, since, without this gift, all other goods could
not satisfy him. Let us, then, beloved brethren, imitate
this man in his prayer, for he received therewith the
health both of soul and body. Let us beseech the Lord
not for the riches of this world, nor for the perishable
blessings of honour and fame, but for the true light, and
not for the limited light, which for a moment only
interrupts the long night, and is common to us with
the unreasonable animals. Let us ask for the uncreated
light to be seen in the company of the elect, that light
having no beginning and being eternal in its duration.
Faith will lead us to this light, according to the words
of Jesus to the blind man : Receive thy sight ; thy faith hath
made thee whole. Should the sensual man object and say
that this light, being invisible, cannot be reached, that
nobody can be sure of a thing which cannot be seen, he will
soon be convinced of his error, when told that his interior
feelings do not arise from his body, but from his thinking
soul. Though nobody can see his soul, yet there cannot
be any doubt about our having an invisible soul, ruling
our visible body. For, when this invisible soul is separated
from our visible body, the latter is immediately destroyed,
104 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
being deprived of the essence of its existence. There
fore, since it is certain that we live by means of this
invisible being, namely, the soul, not perceived by our
senses, why should we doubt the Truth teaching us
that there will be another life which we cannot see
now ?
VIII. When we perceive the good result of the blind
man's prayer, we recognise from the words of the Gospel
why this man at once saw the light and followed our
Redeemer. He that recognises what is good and at the
same- time endeavours to do it, imitates the blind man
who, seeing Jesus, followed Him. Whereas he who
sees Jesus and does not follow Him, acknowledges what
is good, but does not consider it his duty to do it. Be
loved brethren, when we are aware of the blindness in
which we are weeping in this vale of tears ; when, by
the help of faith telling us of the mystery of Redemp
tion, we sit on the road leading to life ; when daily we
ask the Author of salvation to enlighten us ; when, lastly,
we enjoy that heavenly light, taking us out of the dark
ness in which we were wandering, then nothing remains
to us but to follow by our good works the Saviour,
Whom we see by the light of faith. Let us carefully
examine the place He passes through, then follow His
steps by imitating His example ; for it is by imitation
that we follow Him, as He Himself teaches, saying to
one of His disciples : Follow Me, and let the dead bury the
dead (Matt. viii. 22). And to show that the words
follow Me mean imitate Me, our Lord says in another
place of the Gospels : // any wan minister to Me, let him
follow Me (John xii. 26). To be worthy of Him, we
must follow His steps and examine the way in which He
walked. And first we see that He, the Creator of all
heavenly and reasonable beings, deigned to descend into
QUINQUAGESIMA SUNDAY 105
the womb of a virgin, there to assume the human nature,
which He Himself had created out of nothing. We see
that He did not choose to be born of rich parents, when
taking our human nature, but chose poor parents, who
were not even able to offer for Him in the temple a lamb,
but only a pair of turtle-doves or two young pigeons.
Thus our Redeemer did not seek happiness in this world ;
He endured insults, scorn, and blasphemies ; He allowed
Himself to be spit upon, to be buffeted, scourged,
crowned with thorns, and nailed to a cross. He would
give us to understand that the pleasures we derived from
corporeal things, robbed us of the eternal happiness, of
which we can again take possession only by drinking the
bitter chalice of suffering. Yet, since God suffered so
much for man, what suffering will the sinful man be
ready to endure ? When after all this a Christian, be
lieving in Jesus Christ, is still ruled and led by avarice
or ambition ; when he is still devoured by the fire of
envy or carnal pleasures ; when he is eagerly rushing
after the happiness of this world, then we can truly say
that, instead of following Jesus, he is despising Him,
because he is walking on quite a different road, and not
on the road taken by the Son of God during His mortal
life of bitter suffering. Let us, therefore, recall to our
mind our own wickedness ; let us remember that the
eternal Judge will punish our sins most severely ; then,
let us endeavour to destroy them by sorrowful repentance.
Now, let us do severe penance, and thus escape in
eternity the terrible wrath of an offended God. The
tears shed in this life will take us to the joys of heaven,
for our Lord said : Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall
be comforted (Matt. v. 5) ; whereas the pleasures of this
world will, according to the same Saviour, bring us to
the eternal dwelling of tears and sorrow. Woe to you
106 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
that now laugh, for yon shall mourn and weep (Luke vi. 25).
If we wish to obtain the highest felicity, let us now walk
in the path of penance, and our penitential life will not
only gain for us great merits with God, but will be to
His greater glory ; for, according to the words of the
Gospel, others will be encouraged by our good example :
And all the people, when they saiv it, gave praise to God.
ASH-WEDNESDAY.
GOSPEL: Matt. vi. 16-21. At that time: Jesus said to
His disciples : When you fast, be not as the hypocrites,
sad. For they disfigure their faces, that they may
appear to men to fast. Amen, I say to you, they have
received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest,
anoint thy head, and wash thy face, that thou appear
not to men to fast, but to thy Father, Who is in secret ;
and thy Father, Who seeth in secret, will repay thee.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where the
rust and moth consume, and where thieves break
through and steal ; but lay up for yourselves treasures
in heaven, where neither rust nor moth doth consume,
and where thieves do not break through nor steal. For
where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
BOOK n., ON THE LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT, CHAP. xn.
I. By these precepts, as it is evident, we are bidden
to seek for interior gladness, lest, by running after that
reward which is without, we should become conformed
to the ways of this world, and should so lose the promise
of that blessing which is all the truer and more solid as
it is inward ; that blessing wherein God chose us to be
ASH-WEDNESDAY 107
conformed to the likeness of His Son. In this chapter
we will principally consider that vain-glory finds a
ground for action in sordid poverty as much as in
worldly distinction and display ; and this development is
the more dangerous, since it deceives under the pretence
of serving God. He that is marked out by his un
bridled indulgence in dress or luxury, or any other
display, is by these very things recognised to be a
follower of worldly vanities, and deceives no one by
putting on a hypocritical mask of holiness. But those
professing true Christianity, who draw all eyes on them
selves by an eccentric show of filthiness and dirtiness,
not suffered by necessity, but by their own will, we must
judge of them by their other works, whether their con
duct really proceeds from the desire of mortification,
giving up unnecessary comfort, or is only the means of
some ambitious design. The Lord tells us to beware of
wolves in sheep's clothing, but, by their fruits you shall
know them, He says (Matt. vii. 20). We test them, when
by some trials such persons lose the very things which,
under the cover of pretended unworldliness, they either
gained or sought to gain. Then it will appear whether
they be wolves in sheep's clothing, or, indeed, sheep in
their own. But, that hypocrites do such contrary things,
does not entitle the true Christian to think it his duty to
shine before the eyes of men by the display of needless
luxury ; for the sheep need not lay aside their own
clothing, because wolves sometimes falsely assume it.
II. Let us note that Jesus combines fasting with
prayers and alms, spoken of in this Gospel, as one of the
best means to resist the devil. Though our Lord attacks
the vain-glory attending the false virtues of the Pharisees,
and making them hypocrites in the eyes of God, He does
not condemn the sadness of a sinful, humbled, and con-
io8 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
trite heart. On the contrary, this sadness accompanying
our fasting, is agreeable to God. But He condemns the
voluntary forced sadness, that comes not from a heart
penetrated with the love of God, but is only exterior. It
is a pretended sadness that tries to obtain the esteem of
the multitude, who praise the severe penance of such
people, whom God, seeing their hearts, justly condemns.
The words of the Gospel : When thou fastest, anoint thy Head
and wash thy face, must not be taken in a literal sense,
for we should certainly be found guilty if observing them.
The real meaning of these words is this : As the ancients
anointed their heads and washed their faces in days of
joy, so we, in the days of fasting, ought to show holy joy.
It is evident that, in all these commandments, our
Redeemer had in view one object only, that is, to make
us enter into our own heart, there to find the interior joy
of the Holy Ghost. There may be as much vanity in
the neglected exterior appearance of some people and
their mournful looks, as in fine garments and exterior
cheerfulness. And this kind of vanity is to be feared the
more, since it is the more deceitful under the appearance
of piety and godliness. He, fasting, anoints his head,
when subject to Jesus, his Divine Head, he refers to Him
all the merits of fasting, and feels an interior joy when,
avoiding the pleasures of the world for His sake, he takes
no notice of the praise of the people. He washes his
face, who is carefully purifying his heart, knowing that
the sight of the countenance of the Lord is promised to a
pure heart.
III. You wish to fast well ; then humble your soul,
especially at the approaching of that day, when the
Teacher of humility humbled Himself and was obedient
unto death, even to the death on the cross. Let us
imitate Him in His sufferings by subduing our desires
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT 109
with salutary abstinence. Let us chastise our body in
order to keep it into subjection, and, that our perverse
flesh may not tempt us to commit unlawful deeds, let us
refuse to it, at least for a time, the lawful enjoyment of
some things. Drunkenness and intemperance can never
be allowed ; but in these holy days meals which may be
permitted at other times, should be restricted. Your
body will feel more obedient and subservient, the more it
is separated from things lawful, and is accustomed to
abstain from rightful pleasures. And you will continue
in holy cheerfulness to retrench the expenses of your
table, the excesses of meals, and even avoid whatsoever
flatters the palate.
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT.
GOSPEL: Matt. iv. i-n. At that time: Jesus was led
by the Spirit into the desert, to be tempted by the devil.
And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights,
He was afterwards hungry. And the tempter coming,
said to Him : If thou be the Son of God, command
that these stones be made bread. Who answered and
said : It is written, ' Not by bread alone doth man live,
but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth
of God.' Then the devil took Him into the holy city,
and set Him upon a pinnacle of the temple, and said to
Him : If Thou be the Son of God, cast Thyself down ;
for it is written : He hath given His angels charge over
Thee, and in their hands shall they bear Thee up, lest
perhaps Thou dash Thy foot against a stone. Jesus said
to Him : « It is written, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord
thy God.' Again the devil took Him up into a very high
mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the
world, and the glory of them, and said to Him : All
no SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
these will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and adore
me. Then Jesus said to him : * Begone, Satan ; for it is
written, The Lord thy God shalt thou adore, and Him
only shalt thou serve.' Then the devil left Him, and,
behold, angels came and ministered unto Him.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. JOHN LATERAN.
SIXTEENTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. It is often asked by some people what spirit it was
by which Jesus was led into the wilderness, on account of
the words a little further on : Then the devil took Him into
the holy city ; and again : The devil took Him up into a very
high mountain. But in truth, and without any further
searching, we may believe it was the Holy Ghost who
led Him up into the wilderness. His own Spirit led Him
where the evil spirit found Him to tempt Him. How
ever, when it is said that He, God and Man, was taken
up by the devil, either into a very high mountain or into
the holy city, the mind shrinks from believing, and the
ears of man tingle when hearing it. Yet we know that
these things are not incredible, when we consider certain
other things concerning Him. Indeed, the devil is the
head of all the wicked, and every wicked man is a member
of that body, of which the devil is the head. Was not
Pilate a limb of Satan ? Were not the Jews who perse
cuted, and the soldiers who crucified Christ, likewise
limbs of Satan ? Is it then strange that He should
allow Himself to be led up into a mountain by the head,
Who allowed Himself to be crucified by the members ?
Therefore it is not unworthy of our Redeemer, Who came
to be slain, that He should be willing to be tempted. It
was meet that He should thus overcome our temptations
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT in
by His own, even as He came to overcome our death by
His own. We ought to know that temptation works
under three forms. There is first the suggestion, then
the delectation, or pleasure, and, lastly, the consent.
When we are tempted, it often happens that we fall into
delectation, and even into consent, because in the sinful
flesh of which we are begotten, we carry in ourselves
matter to favour the attack. But God, when He took
flesh in the womb of the Virgin, and came into the world
without sin, did so without having in Himself anything
of this lusting of the flesh against the spirit. It was
possible, therefore, for Him to be tempted in the first
stage, namely, suggestion ; but there was nothing in
His mind, in which delectation could fix its teeth. Thus
all the temptation He endured from the devil was with
out, and none within Him.
II. If, now, we consider the order of the temptations
attacking the Redeemer of the world, we see with what
power our Saviour delivered us from the snares prepared
for us by the enemy of our" salvation. For, when the
old Serpent rose against the first man, the father of the
human race, he attacked him with three kinds of tempta
tions, namely, intemperance, vain-glory and avarice.
And being thus tempted, he was overcome by the devil,
for he gave his consent. When Satan showed to man
the forbidden fruit, and persuaded him to eat of it, he
attacked him with the weapon of intemperance ; then he
tempted him with vain-glory, saying that he would be
like to God ; lastly, avarice was his weapon, since he
assured him that he would possess the knowledge of
good and evil. For avarice consists not only in the
inordinate love of riches, but also in the desire of
exaltation ; and we are in reality avaricious, when in an
ambitious manner we desire to obtain dignities to which
112 5 UNDA YS A ND FESTI VA LS
we cannot lay claim. This is also the teaching of St.
Paul, who, speaking of Jesus Christ, says : Who, being in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God ; but
emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil. ii. 6, 7).
The devil, therefore, attacked our first parent with the
arrows of avarice, for he awakened in him the desire of
exalting himself.
III. But this tempter, the old dragon, who by his
artifice had overcome the first man, was in his turn
overcome by another Man, with the very same weapons
he. had used in former times. For our Redeemer, the
Man-God, was assailed by the devil in the same manner
as our first parent ; first, with the sensual appetite, since
he said to Him : // thou be the Son of God, command that
these stones be made bread. Then he tempted Him with
vain-glory, asking Him to cast Himself down from a
pinnacle of the temple, and so to show that He was the
Son of God, saving His life by a miracle. Lastly, he
tempted Him with avarice, when he showed Him all the
kingdoms of the world, and promised to give them to
Him, if falling down He would adore him. But our
Saviour overcame this enemy by the same means that
He had employed to tempt the father of the human race.
And after this defeat he was enchained by our Lord, and
forced by Him to go out of our heart by the same door
by which he had entered to enslave us. Yet, beloved
brethren, there is another lesson contained in this tempta
tion of our Lord. He could cast His tempter into the
eternal abyss by one single word, He being the Eternal
Word. But He only answered with the commandments
contained in Holy Scripture, so as to give us an example
of His patience and moderation, instead of a brilliant
sign of His almighty power. By this He teaches us
that, when our sufferings are caused by the wicked, we
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT H3
should make good use of such persecutions, and be
instructed by them, rather than take revenge. But are
we not ashamed, when we consider, on one side God's
patience, and on the other our own impatience, when
suffering injustice? It often happens, when we are
unjustly treated or despised, that anger fills our heart at
once. We try to take revenge, as far as lies in our
power, and even threaten with a revenge of which we
are powerless. Our Lord overcame the temptations of
the devil through His patience and meek words. He
bore an enemy who deserved the arrows of His justice,
and He is thus the more worthy of our admiration and
praise, since He was victorious over that enemy by His
moderation rather than by the stripes of His anger.
IV. Take notice of the fact that, as soon as the devil
left Jesus, Angels came and ministered unto Him. Thereby
we are given to understand that there are two natures
in Jesus Christ. By the temptation of the devil we know
that He was true Man, whilst the coming of the Angels
and their ministering to Him, teach us that He is also
true God. Let us, then, recognise our own nature in
our Saviour, for the devil would not have dared to
tempt Him, had he not perceived in Him our humanity.
At the same time we bring Him our adorations, for the
Angels would not have considered it their duty to minister
unto Him, were He not as God exalted over them and all
creatures.
V. This Gospel, calling to our mind the forty days and
forty nights of fasting spent by our Lord in the desert,
entirely agrees with the fast we observe during this holy
season. But why was this number of forty days' fasting
sanctified ? We read in the history of the Israelites that
Moses prepared himself for the reception of the Law by
fasting forty days ; that Elias observed the same fast ;
8
II4 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
that Jesus, before beginning His public life, abstained
from food for forty days and forty nights ; and lastly,
that we also, as far as lies in us, observe this abstinence
and fasting during the time of Lent. Though several
motives may be set forth to explain this law of the
Church, we can say in all truth that, by observing this
commandment, we offer to God the tenth part of the
year granted to us for satisfying our corporeal necessities.
After living solely for ourselves during the course of the
year, we now in Lent live for God, offering Him by our
abstinence a part of that year. Now, after deducting
from the six weeks of Lent the Sundays — on which we
do not fast, — we find that there remain thirty-six days, so
to speak, the tenth part of the year that we offer to God.
The Lord God, beloved brethen, commands you in the
Old Law to offer to Him the tithe (tenth part) of your
possessions ; it is, therefore, just that you should give
Him the tithe of your days. For this reason it is every
body's duty to mortify his body, according to his strength,
to crucify his desires and subdue his sinful passions, that
he may be, as St. Paul says, a living sacrifice (Rom. xii. i).
For we are a living sacrifice when, as long as we live, we
mortify the desires of the flesh. Just as the lust of the
flesh led us to commit sin, true penance must bring us
back to God. Consider, again, that since by the eating
of the forbidden fruit we were shut out of heaven, so we
must endeavour to re-enter these gates by that temperance
and abstinence which will atone for all the offences against
God committed by our intemperance.
VI. Yet, let us not think that our fasting will be
sufficient to appease God, if it is not accompanied by the
merits of almsgiving ; for He said to us : Is not this rather
the fast that I have chosen ? Loose the bonds of wickedness, undo
the bundles that oppress, let them that are broken go free, and
FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT 115
break asunder every burden. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and
bring the needy and harbourless into thy house ; when thou shalt
see one naked, cover him, and despise not thy own flesh
(Isa. Iviii. 6, 7). This testimony teaches us that the
fasting most pleasing to God is the one accompanied by
alms offered by our hands, that is, by the love for our
neighbour, perfected through works of mercy. Of what
soever you deprive yourselves, give it to your poor
neighbour, to relieve him ; and these goods, of which you
deprive yourselves by mortifying your appetite, will re
joice your neighbour who is in need. Hear the Lord's
complaint : When you fasted and mourned, did you keep a fast
unto Me? And when you did eat and drink, did you not eat for
yourselves, and drink for yourselves ? (Zach. vii. 5, 6). Now,
we eat for ourselves when the needy has no share in the
food we are taking, which, being a gift of God, has been
created for all men. And he keeps a fast for himself,
who, depriving himself for a time of the food he used to
take, preserves it to satisfy his desires later on, instead
of giving it to the poor. The prophet Joel exhorts us to
sanctify a fast (Joel i. 14), teaching us, if we wish tf) make
our abstinence worthy of God the Almighty, to unite the
mortification of our flesh with the practice of other
virtues ; to refrain from anger and banish hatred from
our heart. In vain do we chastise our body, if the mind
is not subdued by our victory over sinful passions. God
Himself declares this through His prophet : Behold, in
the day of your fast your own will is found, and you exact of all
your debtors. Behold, you fast for debates and strife, and
strike with the fist wickedly (Isa. Iviii. 3, 4). No injustice
is committed when you ask your debtors to pay what
they owe you. Yet you easily understand that he, who
practises penance, will even abstain from exacting that
which is owed to him in justice. When he mortifies
8—2
n6 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
himself in this manner and feels real sorrow for his sins,
then God will be ready to forgive the debts due to His
justice, seeing that for His sake the sinner forgives to
others what they owe him in justice.
SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT.
GOSPEL: Matt. xvii. 1-13. At that time: Jesus taketh
unto Him Peter and James, and John his brother, and
bringeth them up into a high mountain apart ; and He
was transfigured before them. And His face did shine
as the sun ; and His garments became as white as snow.
And behold, there appeared to them Moses and Elias
talking with Him. Then Peter answering, said to Jesus :
Lord, it is good for us to be here ; if Thou wilt, let us
make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for
Moses, and one for Elias. And as he was yet speaking,
behold a white cloud overshadowed them. And lo, a
voice out of the cloud, saying : This is My beloved Son,
in Whom I am well pleased ; hear ye Him. And the
disciples hearing, fell upon their faces, and were very
much afraid. And Jesus came and touched them, and
said unto them : Arise, and fear not. And when they
lifted up their eyes, they saw no one, but only Jesus.
And as they came down from the mountain, Jesus
charged them, saying : Tell the vision to no man, till the
Son of Man shall be risen from the dead.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. LEO THE GREAT.
HOMILY ON THE TRANSFIGURATION OF JESUS.
I. The Gospel you have just heard, and which demands
your whole attention, invites you to the knowledge of a
great mystery. We shall attain this purpose more
SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 117
surely and with less trouble, if we consider what is
written in Holy Scripture just before this event
(Matt. xvi.). Indeed, our Lord, the Redeemer of all
men, when He began to introduce His doctrine into the
world, namely, His Divine doctrine, which gives life to
the dead and leads the wicked to justice, instructed His
disciples no less by the wonders of His Almighty power
than by the words of His eternal wisdom and truth.
He wished to convince them that He was both the Son
of God and the Son of Man ; for one without the other
of these prerogatives could not save the world. It
would have been as dangerous to believe that Jesus was
only God, as to think that He was only man. It was
necessary to believe that He was at the same time the
one and the other, since the real humanity was in God,
as the real Divinity was in man. Therefore, in order to
confirm His disciples in the necessary knowledge of and
faith in this mystery, our Lord asked them what they
thought of Him, and what were the opinions of men
concerning Him. St. Peter, one of the Apostles, en
lightened by God the Almighty, rose above all that
which was human and sensual, and recognised in Jesus
the Son of the living God. With a loud voice he confessed
the glory of His Divinity, revealed to the eyes of his
soul, whilst the eyes of his body only saw the corporeal
presence of his Divine Redeemer. And this testimony
of the Apostle to truth was so pleasing to our Saviour,
that, to reward his faith, He called him blessed, and at
the same time appointed him a firm rock, upon which He
would build His Church, against which the gates of hell
should never prevail. Jesus Christ even promised Peter
that, whatever sentence he pronounced on earth, it would
be ratified in heaven.
II. This sublime knowledge of the Divinity of Jesus
ii8 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
was also to be united with that of the mystery of His
humanity, so that the Apostles, after confessing their
belief in the Divinity of the Saviour, should not think it
unbecoming to God, unable to suffer, to unite Himself
with our weak human nature. Again, they should not
cherish the belief that His humanity was so glorified, as
to be unable either to be subject to death or even to
suffer torments. Indeed, we know that our Lord said to
His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many
things from the ancients and scribes and chief priests, and be put
to death, and the third day rise again (Matt. xvi. 21). We
see also that Peter, filled with love after proclaiming the
Divinity of Jesus Christ, and certainly animated by a true
zeal for the honour of his Divine Teacher, rebuked Him,
saying : Lord, be it far from Thee ; this shall not be unto
Thee (Matt. xvi. 22). But our Lord, by a gentle reproof,
changed the aversion of the Apostle to the ignominy of
His sufferings, into a generous desire to take part in these
very sufferings. This was also the motive and the effect
of the advice given by Jesus to all of His disciples : //
any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up
his cross, and follow Me. And He continued : He that will
save his life, shall lose it, and he that shall los.e his life for
My sake, shall find it (Matt. xvi. 24, 25). And the more to
strengthen them in this unmovable firmness, by which
they were prompted to embrace without fear even the
sharpest crosses ; to prevent them from being ashamed
of the capital sentence He was to undergo ; and lastly, to
instruct them not to be scandalized at the patience He
was going to show during His Passion, when the brilliant
signs of His almighty power would be hidden, He took
Peter and James, and John his brother, and brought
them up into an exceeding high mountain apart, and
there made manifest the brightness of His glory.
SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 119
Hitherto, though they understood that there was in
Him the majesty of God, they knew not the power of
that body which veiled the Godhead ; and therefore He
had individually and expressly promised to some of His
disciples, who had stood with Him, that they should not
taste death, till they saw the Son of Man coming in His king
dom (Matt. xvi. 28) ; that is, in the kingly splendour
which is the right of the humanity taken into God, and
which He desired to make visible to those three men.
This is what they saw, for the unspeakable and inacces
sible vision of the Godhead Himself, which will be the
everlasting life of the pure of heart (Matt. v. 8), no man,
who is still burdened with a mortal body, can see and
live. Our Lord, therefore, manifested His glory before
the witnesses He had chosen, and allowed His body,
which is like to ours, to appear in such brilliant light, that
His face did shine as the sun, and His garments became as
white as snow. However, the principal reason for this
transfiguration was to banish the scandal of the cross
from the hearts and minds of His disciples ; also, after
showing them the perfection and dignity hidden in His
person, He wished to prevent their faith from being
weakened by the sight of the humiliations He would so
willingly endure. This mystery was also to be the
foundation of His Church. For the Church, being the
mystic body of Jesus Christ, recognised in this glory
surrounding Him, the promise of that glory which she
expects to be adorned with when, united to the Head in
the happy dwellings, she will participate in His own ever
lasting felicity. Our Lord Himself said so, when speak
ing of His coming : Then shall the just shine as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father (Matt. xiii. 43). And this is con
firmed by St. Paul, saying : / reckon that the sufferings of
this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come,
120 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
that shall be revealed in us (Rom. viii. 18). And again:
You are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When
Christ shall appear, Who is your life, then you also shall appear
with Him in glory (Col. iii. 3, 4).
III. Now, the more to strengthen the faith of His
Apostles, and to instruct them in a more perfect manner,
our Lord, at the miracle of the Transfiguration, let Moses
and Elias appear, talking with Him and representing the
Law and the Prophets respectively. The presence of
these .two personalities was to justify what is prescribed
by the law : In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word
shall stand (Deut. xix. 15). Can there be anything more
certain and credible than the word of truth confirmed by
the testimony of both the Old and the New Testament ?
The doctrine of the Gospel, preached by Jesus Christ,
perfectly agrees with the prophecies of the old law, and
He, Who was foreshadowed by the types and figures of
the Old Testament, is manifested in the glory of His
Transfiguration. The law was given by Moses ; grace and
truth came by Jesus Christ (John i. 17). By His coming
He fulfilled all promises made by the Almighty to His
people, and in His person were verified the commands
and legal ceremonies by which He was announced.
Lastly, He gave us to understand by His coming into
this world that the prophecies concerning Him were true,
and, by means of the grace He gives us, He makes the
fulfilling of the commandments very easy to us. Through
the knowledge of this truth St. Peter felt in himself new
life, and began to despise the things of this world ; he
was disgusted with earthly things, and all his desires
were then directed to heaven. In the excess of his joy
at this beatific vision of our Redeemer's glory, he cried
out : Lord, it is good for us to be here. If Thou wilt, let us
make here three tabernacles, one for Thee, and one for Moses,
SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT 121
and one for Ellas. Our Lord did not answer these words ;
He wished the Apostle to understand that his request,
though not sinful in itself, was untimely, since the world
was to be redeemed by the death of the Saviour. Again,
our Redeemer wished to teach all the faithful that, though
it be unlawful to doubt the promise of eternal happiness,
they should ask Him for the necessary patience to bear
the trials of this life, rather than for the happiness that
is to be their reward ; for the time of reigning with
Him in heaven cannot precede the time of righting and
suffering.
IV. Peter was yet speaking, when a bright cloud over-
shadowed them. And lo, a voice out of the cloud, saying:
This is My beloved Son , in Whom I am well pleased ; hear ye
Hint. They plainly heard Him say : This is My Son,
Whose it is to be of Me, and with Me without all time.
For neither is He that begets before Him that is begotten,
nor He that is begotten after Him that begets. This is
My Son, between Whom and Me, to be God is not a point
of difference, to be Almighty, a point of separation, nor
to be Eternal, a point of distinction. This is My Son, not
by adoption, but My very own ; not created from, or of
another substance, or out of nothing, but begotten of Me ;
not of another nature, and made like to Me, but of My
own Being, born of Me, equal to Me. This is My Son,
by Whom all things are made, and without Whom was
made nothing that was made ; Who makes likewise all
things whatsoever I make ; and whatsoever things I do
He does likewise, inseparably and indifferently. This is
My Son, Who thought it not robbery, nor took it by
violence, to be equal with Me, but, abiding still in the
form of My glory, that He may fulfil the common decree
for the restoration of mankind, bowed the unchangeable
Godhead even to the form of a servant (Phil. ii. 6, 7).
,122 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
V. Instantly, therefore, hear ye Him, in Whom I am
in all things well pleased, by Whose preaching I am
manifested, and by Whose lowliness I am glorified.
For He is the Truth and the Life (John xiv. 6), My
Power and My Wisdom (i Cor. i. 24). Hear ye Him,
Whom the Law prefigured, Whom the prophets con
stantly announced ; Him, Who redeemed the world
by the merit of His Blood, Who subdued the power
of the devils, and rendered their efforts and assaults
useless; Who destroyed the sentence pronounced against
man, who by his disobedience was truly guilty. Hear
ye Him, Who opened to you the road to heaven, and Who
by the punishment on the Cross erected the steps leading
you up to Me. Why are you afraid of Him, since He
offers you salvation ? Why do you distrust Him ?
See, He offers Himself to deliver you from your
miseries ! Do, then, the will of My Anointed, which
agrees with My own. Get rid of that fear, with which
the weakened nature fills you, and arm yourselves with
that courage, which ought to be awakened in you by
faith. For it would be unbecoming in you to feel
depressed at the sight of our Redeemer's sufferings,
which, by His help, you will share one day, when it will
be necessary to give your life for His sake.
VI. It was not only for the benefit of the witnesses of
these events that these truths were declared, but the
whole Church received them in the person of the three
disciples, to whom they were revealed by God. We
must, therefore, ground our faith upon the teaching of
the Gospel, so that no one may be scandalized by the
Cross on which Jesus deigned to redeem the world.
Let no one among you be afraid of suffering for justice'
sake ; let no one doubt the revelations promising an
eternal reward ; for through labour we are made sure of
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 123
rest, and through death we come to life. Since our
Saviour willed to take upon Himself our weakness, we,
on our side, being faithful to Him, and persevering in
His love, shall surely overcome our enemies, and
infallibly receive the crown prepared for us, specially
if we listen to the voice of the Father, Who, to arm us
against all adversities, and encourage us to observe His
commandments, says : This is My beloved Son, in Whom I
am well pleased; hear ye Him. The same He is Who
with the Father and the Holy Ghost reigneth for ever
and ever. Amen.
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT.
GOSPEL: Luke xi. 14-28. At that time: Jesus was
casting out a devil, and the same was dumb ; and when
He had cast out the devil, the dumb spoke, and the
multitude were in admiration at it. But some of them
said : He casteth out devils by Beelzebub, the prince of the
devils. And others tempting, asked of Him a sign from
heaven. But He, seeing their thoughts, said to them :
Every kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to
desolation, and house upon house shall fall. And if
Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his
kingdom stand ? because you say, that through Beelzebub
I cast out devils. Now, if I cast out devils by Beelzebub,
by whom do your children cast them out ? Therefore
they shall be your judges. But if I by the finger of God
cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of God is come
upon you. W^hen a strong man armed keepeth his
court, those things are in peace which he possesseth.
But if a stronger than he come upon him, and overcome
him, he will take away all his armour wherein he trusted,
124 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
and will distribute his spoils. He that is not with Me is
against Me ; and he that gathereth not with Me, scattereth.
When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh
through places without water, seeking rest ; and not find
ing, sayeth : I will return into my house whence I came
out. And when he come he findeth it swept and
garnished. Then he goeth and taketh with him seven
other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in
they dwell there ; and the last state of that man becometh
worse than the first. And it came to pass, as He spoke
these things, a certain woman from the crowd, lifting up
her voice, said to Him : Blessed is the womb that bore
Thee, and the breasts that gave Thee suck. But He
said : Yea, rather, blessed are they \vho hear the word of
God and keep it.
HOMILY BY THE VENERABLE BEDE, PRIEST.
BOOK iv., CHAP. XLVIII., ON LUKE xi.
I. In Matthew (xii. 22) we read that the devil by whom
this poor creature was possessed, was, not only dumb, but
also blind ; and that, when he was healed by our Lord,
he saw as well as he spoke. Three miracles, therefore,
were performed on this one man : the blind saw, the
dumb spoke, and the possessed was delivered. This
mighty work was then wrought carnally indeed ; but
it is still wrought spiritually in the conversion of
believers, when the devil is cast out of them, so that
their eyes see the light of faith, and the lips, which before
were dumb, are opened that their mouth may utter the
praise of God* But some of them said : He casteth out devils
by Beelzebub, the prince of devils. These some were not
of the multitude, but were liars among the Pharisees
and Scribes, as we are told by the other Evangelist
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 125
(Matt. xii. 24). While the multitude, who seemed to be
less instructed, wondered at the work of the Lord, the
Pharisees and Scribes, on the other hand, denied the
facts when they could, and, when they were not able to
do so, twisted them by an evil interpretation, and
asserted that the works of God were the works of an
unclean spirit.
II. And others, tempting, asked of Him a sign from heaven.
They wished Jesus either to call down fire from heaven,
like Elias (4 Kings i. 10), or, like Samuel (i Kings vii. 10),
to make thunder roll, and lightning flash, and rain fall at
mid-summer. Yet, had He done so, they would have
tried to explain away these signs also, as being the
natural result of some unusual, though till then unre
marked, state of the atmosphere. O thou, who stub
bornly deniest what thy eye sees, thy hand holds, and
thy sense perceives, what wilt thou say to a sign from
heaven ? Perhaps thou wilt say that the magicians
in Egypt also wrought many signs from heaven (Exod.
vii., viii.). But Pie, seeing their thoughts, said to them : Every
kingdom divided against itself shall be brought to desolation, and
house upon house shall fall. He answered not their words,
but their thoughts, as though He would compel them to
believe in His power, since He sees the secrets of the
heart. But if every kingdom divided against itself is
brought to desolation, then the kingdom of the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, is not divided, since
His is a kingdom that, without all contradiction, shall
never be brought to desolation by any shock, but shall
abide unchanged and unchangeable for ever. And if
Satan also be divided against himself, how shall his kingdom
stand ? because you say, that through Beelzebub I cast out
devils. Saying this, He sought to draw from their own
mouth a confession that they had chosen for themselves
1 26 5 UN DA YS A ND FESTI VA LS
to be part of the devil's kingdom, which, if divided
against itself, cannot stand. It was, therefore, the duty
of the Pharisees to answer our Redeemer ; for should
they say that Satan has not the power to cast out devils,
they must confess that they have not anything to say
against Jesus. On the other hand, should they pretend
that the devil has that power, then, in order to secure
their own safety, they will be forced to leave a kingdom
which, being divided against itself, will be brought to
desolation. However, should the Pharisees wish to
know by what power our Lord casts out devils, and
to be convinced that this is not done by the power of
Beelzebub, let them listen to the words He added, say
ing : Noiv, if I cast out devils by Beelzebub, by whom do yonr
children cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.
Here our Lord is speaking of His disciples by saying to
the Pharisees that their children would be their judges ;
for the disciples of Jesus, being their posterity, knew for
certain that in the school of so perfect a Teacher they
had not learnt the detestable art of casting out devils by
the power of the devil. Just as if our Lord had said :
You will be judged by these simple men, whom you
despise, in whom there is no guile, who are free from all
cunning artifice, whose faces bear the mark of virtues
and holiness, which they discover in Me. Or should you
wish to explain these words in another sense, then say
that our Lord wished to give to the Pharisees and Scribes
this other lesson : If your children cast out devils from
the bodies of the possessed by the power of the Holy
Ghost, what reason have you to attribute the works I
perform to any other than to God the Almighty ? There
fore, these children will be the judges of their fathers and
will condemn them, for the children refer to God the
power they possess to cast out devils, whereas their
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 127
fathers referred that power to Beelzebub, the prince of
devils.
III. Then, to confirm this truth, and to justify the
great wonders He performed, our Saviour continued His
discourse with these words : But if I by the finger of God
cast out devils, doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you.
It was the finger of God, which was recognised by the
magicians of Pharaoh, when they played their tricks or
enchantments before Moses ; for, seeing the unheard-of
wonders of this man sent by God, they exclaimed : This
is the finger of God (Exod. viii. 19). By this finger of God
the Commandments were written on the tables of stone
on Mount Sinai. All this teaches us that the Holy
Ghost is that finger of God proceeding, as it were, from
the hand of the Son, Who is the arm of the', Almighty
Father, whilst the Father has one and the same nature
with the Son and the Holy Ghost. Should you be
scandalized by this comparison of the members which
seem unequal, the unity of the body formed by them will
edify and even encourage you. It may also be said that
the Holy Ghost is called the finger of God, on account of
the special graces bestowed by Him to angels and men ;
for no other limb points like the finger at the different
parts composing the Body. When our Lord said : The
kingdom of God is come upon you, He meant by this kingdom
the happy dispositions of those who now do penance for
their sins, and are, even in this life, separated from the
wicked condemned by them. When the strong man armed
keepeth his court, those things are in peace which he possesseth.
This strong man is the devil ; his court is the world,
which .he continually guards, which is thoroughly cor
rupted through his wickedness, and over which this
unclean spirit ruled powerfully before the coming of the
Saviour ; for he reigned without opposition over the
128 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
idolatrous nations, his worshippers. Holy Scripture
therefore calls him the prince of this world, and our Lord
says of him to His disciples : The prince of this world shall
be cast out (John xii. 31). And the better to describe the
defeat and flight of this prince of darkness, our Lord
added these words : But if a stronger than he come upon him,
and overcome him, he will take away all his armour wherein he
trusted, and will distribute the spoils. We are thus taught
by our Lord that He is the stronger One, more powerful
than the devil, whose dominion was overcome, from whose
tyranny He delivered mankind by the strength of His
almighty arm, and not by a deceiving or with Beel
zebub-concerted deliverance, as by their calumnies the
Jews tried to make the multitude believe. The cunning
artifices of this wicked spirit are the armour wherein the
enemy of our salvation trusted, and men deceived by him,
are the spoils taken from him and distributed by Jesus
after His victory. For, according to the prophet, He
will take with Him, on the day of His triumph, a multi
tude of prisoners up to heaven, where He grants His
gifts in abundance, setting up in the Church, some as
Apostles, others as prophets, and choosing some as shep
herds or as teachers.
IV. He that is not with Me, is against Me, and he that
gathereth not with Me, scattereth. Though these words may
be applied to heretics and apostates, they specially refer
to the devil ; for, according to the words following, our
Lord wished the multitude to understand that there can
not be any comparison between His works and those of
hell. What does the devil desire but to keep souls in his
slavery? whilst Jesus offers them freedom. The devil
presents idols and false gods for our adoration ; Jesus
teaches us to adore the one and true God. The devil
praises sin and vice, and Jesus encourages us to practise
THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT 129
virtue, therefore, there cannot be anything in common
between Jesus and Satan, for their works are in direct
opposition. The Redeemer of the world says that, when
the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through
places without water, and thus teaches us the difference
between His works and those of the devil. This latter
endeavours to defile that which is clean, whereas the
Redeemer cleanses what is defiled. Nevertheless, by
these words may also be understood heretics and apos
tates, and even wicked Christians who, after receiving
the grace of Baptism, making profession of the true
Catholic faith, and renouncing the pomps and vanities of
the world, banished the devil from their hearts. And to
this unclean spirit, who finds his former house swept and
garnished, and the dwelling of the Holy Ghost, one place
only remains — a dry and barren land, to the approaches
to which he goes, trying to take the soul by surprise, and
to re-enter his former home. It may be said in all truth
that this infernal spirit is seeking rest therein, and cannot
find it. For this unclean spirit, who shuns the proximity
of pure and innocent souls, can only make his abode in
the souls of the wicked and godless, offering him an
agreeable refuge and a place of rest. This enemy of the
human race, according to Holy Scripture, sleeps in the
shadow, in the covert of the reed, and in moist places (Job xl. 16).
This shadow, hiding him, represents the darkness of a
sinful soul ; by the reed, smooth outwardly, yet inwardly
hollow, are meant the hypocrites, who cover the empti
ness of their merits with the appearance of virtue ; lastly,
sensual and lascivious souls are represented by the moist
places into which the devil retires. He sayeth : I will
return into my house whence I came out. Such resolution on
the part of our enemy must make us fear lest our pas
sions and vices, which we thought destroyed, return with
9
I3o SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
greater force to overthrow and take possession of us at
the very moment when we but carelessly resist them.
Though the enemy on his return will find our soul sancti
fied by the grace of Baptism and adorned with the gifts
of the Holy Ghost, he will also find in it a dry and deso
late place, as the Gospel says, when we do not endeavour
to increase these graces and merits by practising virtues
and good works, or when we do not try to obtain the
spiritual goods of which we were at one time deprived.
And should our soul only seem to be adorned with
virtues, these will be but apparent virtues, brought forth
by our hypocrisy.
V. And the devil goeth and taketh with him seven other spirits
more wicked than himself, and, entering in, they dwell there.
By these wicked spirits, seven in number, are meant all
sins and vices. For those who, after being sanctified in
Baptism, let their faith be perverted by error and heresy,
or give themselves up to the sinful desires of the children
of the world, will soon, by the blandishments of Satan,
be thrown into the abyss of all wickedness. These other
devils, taking possession of the souls, .are justly called
more wicked than the first, not only because they intro
duce into them the seven capital sins, opposed to the
seven gifts of the Holy Ghost, but also because these
souls, by their hypocrisy, preserve the exterior appear
ance of virtues, which they no longer possess. In all
truth we can say with the Gospel, that the last state be-
cometh worse than the first, since it would be better, had
these souls never known the way of justice, than to for
sake it when once recognised. This happened to Judas,
the traitor, to Simon, the magician, and to many others
mentioned in Holy Scripture. Moreover, our Lord had
also another object in view when He spoke this parable,
namely, to apply it in a special manner to the Jews, and
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 131
to teach them that, what He said about one man would
be fulfilled in the whole nation. For in St. Matthew He
concludes the same parable with these words : So shall, it
be also to this wicked generation (Matt. xii. 45). This truth
is confirmed in a most astonishing manner, when we bear
in mind that the Jews, accepting the Divine law, forced
the devil to go out of their hearts. This unclean spirit,
driven out of his house, took refuge among the pagans,
as in a desert, and there he found rest. But when these
idolatrous nations began to believe in the Saviour of the
world, then the devil, again driven out of this house,
purposed to return to the Jews, where he had formerly
taken up his abode. He returned into the house he had
left, and found it again deserted, for Jesus, Who had
foretold the Jews that their house would be desolate, no
longer dwelt in their temple. This, however, still seemed
to be adorned ; but these ornaments were but exterior
and meaningless observances, introduced by the Phari
sees. This house was deprived of the assistance both of
God and of the angels, and the enemy, accompanied by
seven other spirits, entered without difficulty, and secured
to himself the conquest of this nation, whose unfortunate
end was worse than its beginning. For, since this unbe
lieving people has been blaspheming Jesus Christ, it is
possessed by devils in a more cruel manner than it was
in Egypt before the promulgation of the Law. At the
time, when the Jews did not believe in the coming
Messiah, they were less guilty than when, after His
coming, they refused to acknowledge and to receive Him.
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT.
GOSPEL: John vi. 1-15. At that time: Jesus went over
the sea to Galilee, which is that of Tiberias ; and a great
9—2
IJ2 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
multitude followed Him, because they saw the miracles
which He did on them that were diseased. Jesus there
fore went up into a mountain, and there He sat with His
disciples. Now the Pasch, the festival day of the Jews,
was near at hand. When Jesus, therefore, had lifted up
His eyes, and seen that a very great multitude cometh to
Him, He said to Philip : Whence shall we buy bread
that these may eat ? And this He said to try him, for
He Himself knew what He would do. Philip answered
Him : Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient
for them, that every one may take a little. One of His
disciples, Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, saith to
Him : There is a boy here that hath five barley loaves
and two fishes ; but what are they among so many ?
Then Jesus said : Make the men sit down. Now there
was much grass in the place. The men, therefore, sat
down, in number above five thousand. And Jesus took
the loaves, and when He had given thanks, He distri
buted to them that were sat down. In like manner also
of the fishes, as much as they would ; and when they
were filled, He saith- to His disciples : Gather up the
fragments that remain, lest they be lost. They gathered
up, therefore, and filled twelve baskets with the frag
ments of the five barley loaves which remained over
and above to them that had eaten. Now these men,
when they had seen what a miracle Jesus had done,
said : This is of a truth the Prophet that is to come into
the world. Jesus, therefore, when He knew that they
would come to take Him by force and make Him King,
fled again into the mountain Himself alone.
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 133
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
TWENTY-FOURTH TRACT ON ST. JOHN.
I. The miracles done by our Lord Jesus Christ were
the very works announcing His Divinity, and inviting
men to recognise God in the visible work of His almighty
power. God Himself is of such a nature as the human
eye cannot see, and the miracles, by which He continually
rules the whole world, and satisfies the needs of all His
creatures, do not excite our admiration ; for we always
see them, and hardly take any notice of the wonderful
fertility given by Him to the little grain of grass trodden
under our feet. According to His mercy, He kept some
special works to be done in due season, but out of the
common order of nature, so that men might see them
and wonder, not because they are greater, but because
they are not so common as those they but lightly esteem,
since they see them every day. For it is a greater
miracle to govern the whole universe than to feed
5,000 men with five loaves of bread. Yet no man
marvels at it, though everyone wonders at the feeding
of 5,000 men, not because it is a greater miracle than
the other, but because it is rarer. For is it not the same
God Who feeds the whole world, and Who, from a little
grain that is sown, makes the fulness of the harvest ?
God works in both cases in one and the same manner ;
He makes the harvest to come of a few grains that are
sown, and in His hands five barley loaves are multiplied
for the feeding of 5,000 men. In Christ's hands is this
power. He that multiplies the grains of corn, also
multiplied the loaves, though not committing them to
the earth created by Him. This miracle, therefore, is
brought to bear upon our senses, that our mind may
I34 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
thereby be enlightened. It is shown to our eyes, to give
food to our intellect ; so that, through His works which
we see, we may marvel at God, Whom we cannot see,
and, being roused up to believe, and being purified by
believing, we may be longing to see and to know, by the
things we can see, Him Who is unseen.
II. However, it is not sufficient for us to see this
meaning only in the miracles of Christ. We must ask
the miracles themselves what they have to tell us con
cerning Jesus Christ. Indeed, they have a tongue of
their own, if only we will understand it. Since Christ is
the Word of God, the work of this Word is a word for
us. Let us, therefore, endeavour to understand the
miracle before us, and to discover the mystery contained
in it. Our Lord went up into a mountain, and this was
done that His voice might be better heard, and the
miracle He was going to perform, might be seen more
clearly, the higher the place and the easier He could be
seen. From this place He perceived the multitude,
recognised that they were hungry, and fed them. Yet,
the compassion of our Lord for all these people would
have been of no avail to satisfy them, had He not had at
the same time the power to do so. For the disciples of
Jesus, being themselves tormented by hunger, felt great
sympathy with the multitude, and wished to help them ;
yet they had neither the means nor the power. Our
Lord, seeing the great multitude, said to Philip : Whence
shall we buy bread that these may eat ? And this He said to
try him, for He Himself knew what He would do. By this
question He intended the ignorance of His disciple to be
shown ; and, since this was manifested, He, without
doubt, wished to teach us a truth that shall be seen
afterwards.
III. In order briefly to explain the profound meaning
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 135
contained in the story and circumstances of this wonderful
multiplication of bread, let us first say that the five loaves
represent the five Books of Moses, which, belonging to
the Old Testament, may be compared with barley rather
than with wheat. For you know that the former is, by
its nature, covered with chaff, from which it is removed
with some difficulty. And it is the same with the writings
of the Old Testament : they are hidden under thick
veils, and the meaning of them cannot be discovered but
with difficulty, though they yield rich food as soon as the
shadow of the types, covering this meaning, has been
sufficiently removed. The boy mentioned here, who
brought five loaves and two fishes, probably means the
Jewish people, among whom the Scriptures— of which
they made no real use to recognise the truth — were
deposited. The two fishes seem to be the figure of the
two powers established by God in the old covenant to
govern and sanctify the nation, one being the priest
hood and the other the royal dignity. However, since
both these dignities were united in the person of Jesus
Christ, Whose types they were, He perfectly fulfilled
their duties by sacrificing Himself for us as High Priest,
and reigning over us as King. And thus the mysteries
of the Old Testament, announcing Jesus Christ, and
seeming unintelligible, were made clear and intelligible
by the coming of this Divine Saviour. He broke the
loaves and multiplied them, thus showing that the five
Books of Moses, typifying these five loaves, are by their
fruitfulness infinitely multiplied when they are by inter
pretation opened, or, so to speak, broken. The ignorance
of the people living under the Old Law, is signified by the
barley of which the loaves were made ; for it is said of
the Jews that even now, when they read Moses, they are
covered with a veil, which the coming, the passion and
136 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
the death of the Messiah were not able to remove or
to tear asunder. Our Lord makes us perceive this ignor
ance of the Jews by the ignorance of His disciple whom
He addressed, when on the point of working the great
miracle.
IV. All the different circumstances of this great miracle,
perfectly well connected, instruct us if only we know how
to draw the right conclusions. The number of 5,000
men fed by our Lord clearly represents the Israelites
living under the Law, which is explained by the five
Books of Moses. The same may be said of the pool of
Bethsaida, in Jerusalem, surrounded by five porches to
shelter the sick. It represents the weak and languid
state of that people, who could only be cured by the
power of the Saviour, Who restored health to the man
for many years' sick of the palsy. Lastly, the multitude
sitting on the grass are a figure of the bestial dispositions
of this carnal people, who only loved what flatters the
senses ; for, according to the Scripture, all flesh is as grass
(Isa. xl. 6). By the fragments of the bread not eaten by
the multitude we are taught that there are certain truths
which are above the intellect of common people, and the
understanding of which is given only to those able to
teach others, like the Apostles, represented by the twelve
baskets filled with the remaining fragments. The multi
tude, witnessing this great miracle, never tired of admir
ing it. As for us, beloved brethren, who hear it related,
and know that it was performed for our instruction, we
ought not to admire it solely, like the Jews witnessing it.
Our faith, by which we believe what we have not seen,
raises us up far above the Jews, since our Lord calls
blessed those who have not seen and have believed, especially
as we have the privilege to understand what the multi
tude could not perhaps perceive in this great miracle.
FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT 137
Let us be convinced that, as soon as we are able to pene
trate the mystery of this miracle, we shall find therein a
far more useful food than that received by this multitude.
V. Those witnessing this miracle said of our Lord :
This is of a truth the Prophet that is come into the world.
They probably spoke thus, because they only consulted
their own senses witnessing the circumstances of the
miracle. But the light of faith shows us Jesus as the
Teacher of the prophets, a Teacher by Whom they were
sanctified, and in Whom their prophecies were fulfilled.
Jesus was a true Prophet ; for the Almighty said to
Moses : The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a Prophet of
thy nation (Deut. xviii. 15) ; that is, Who will be like
Moses in the flesh, but Who will be exceedingly higher
than Moses, on account of His Divine Majesty. The
truth of this promise was confirmed by our Lord, Who,
speaking of Himself, said : Amen, I say to you that no
prophet is accepted in his own country (Luke iv. 24). Finally,
the proof that He is truly a prophet lies in the fact that
He is the Divine Word, by which all prophets, whom we
may call the word of God, were inspired. And if the
world has in olden times wonderingly gazed at prophets
inspired by God and filled by the Holy Ghost to bring
His words to the world, we have the happiness of seeing
that Prophet, WTho is the all-powerful and uncreated
Word of God. Since Jesus Christ is called a Prophet,
though superior to all other prophets, we also, using the
words of Holy Scripture, call Him an Angel, though He
is the Prince of all heavenly spirits. When the prophet
calls Him the Angel of the great counsel (Isa. ix. 6 ; Sept.),
he does not contradict himself, since he says elsewhere :
Not an angel, nor an ambassador, but God Himself will
come and save them ; that is, to save them He will not
send an angel, will not send an ambassador, but will
138 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
come Himself. Who will come ? The Angel Himself.
Certainly not by an angel, except as He is an Angel, so
as to be also the Lord of angels. For angels, in our
tongue, are messengers. If Christ brought no message,
He would not be called an Angel ; and if Christ prophe
sied nothing, He would not be called a Prophet. Since
He exhorted us to accept the faith, and to walk on the
road leading to eternal life, He fulfilled the duties of an
Angel sent by God, for He announced these truths whilst
with us. In the same manner He fulfilled the duties of
a Prophet by His prophecies concerning the future.
That He was the Word of God made flesh, He was the
Lord both of angels and prophets.
VI. But why did He again ascend into the mountain
when He perceived that they wished to take Him by
force and make Him a King ? Did He not know that
He was a King, since He feared to be made a King ?
Indeed, He was a King ; not such a King as could be
made by men, but such as should give a kingdom to
men. May we not suppose that by this action Jesus
signifies something special to us, since His deeds are
words ? Therefore, their wishing to take Him by force
and make Him a King, and His retiring into the moun
tain Himself alone, does this speak nothing and signify
nothing ? It may be that their wish to take Him by
force meant they wanted to forestall the time of His
kingdom. For He came into this world not to reign
now, as He shall reign in that kingdom for which we pray
when we say, Thy kingdom come. For being the Son of
God, the Word of God— Word by which all things
were created — He for ever reigns with the Father. The
prophets foretold His kingdom, according to that wherein
He is Christ, made man, and has made His believers
Christians. There shall, therefore, be a kingdom of
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Christians, which is now gathering and getting together,
and which is bought by the Blood of Jesus Christ. But
there shall be also, at some future time, a glorious king
dom of Christ, at the time when the glory of His saints
shall be revealed, after the judgment executed by Him,
which, as He said above, the Son of Man will execute.
Of this kingdom the Apostle says : When He shall have
delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father (i Cor. xv. 24).
Jesus Christ Himself speaks of this kingdom : Come, ye
blessed of My Father ; possess you the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world (Matt. xxv. 34). But the
disciples and the multitude, believing in Him, thought
He had come to reign now ; hence they wanted to take
Him by force and make Him a King, not knowing that
the time had not yet come. Therefore, our Lord, fleeing
into the mountain, shows that He wished to hide this
knowledge within Himself, and bring it forth in due
season, that is, at the end of the world.
FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT, OR PASSION
SUNDAY.
GOSPEL: John viii. 46-59. At that time : Jesus said to
the multitude of the Jews : Which of you shall convince
Me of sin ? If I say the truth to you, why do you not
believe Me ? He that is of God heareth the words of
God. Therefore you hear them not, because you are not
of God. The Jews therefore answered and said to Him :
Do not we say well that Thou art a Samaritan, and hast
a devil ? Jesus answered : I have not a devil ; but I
honour My Father, and you have dishonoured Me. But
I seek not Mine own glory ; there is One that seeketh and
judgeth. Amen, amen, I say to you : If any man keep My
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word, he shall not see death for ever. The Jews therefore
said : Now we know that Thou hast a devil. Abraham
is dead, and the prophets ; and Thou sayest : If any man
keep My word, he shall not taste death for ever. Art Thou
greater than our father Abraham, who is dead ? And the
prophets are dead ? Whom dost Thou make Thyself ?
Jesus answered : If I glorify Myself, My glory is nothing.
It is My Father that glorineth Me, of Whom you say
that He is your God ; and you have not known Him, but
I know Him. And if I shall say that I know Him not,
I shall be like to you, a liar. But I do know Him, and
do keep His word. Abraham, your father, rejoiced that
he might see My day. He saw it and was glad. The
Jews therefore said to Him : Thou art not yet fifty years
old, and Thou hast seen Abraham ? Jesus said to them :
Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was made,
I AM. They took up stones, therefore, to cast at Him.
But Jesus hid Himself, and went out of the temple.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER ON PASSION SUNDAY.
EIGHTEENTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. Let us consider here, beloved brethren, the great
goodness and meekness of the Son of God. He came
into this world to take away sins, and He says to the
Jews : Which of you shall convince Me of sin ? He was
able, through the power of His Divinity, to justify sinners,
and was contented to show by argument that He was not
Himself a sinner. But the words He added, He that is
of God, heareth the words of God, must fill us with fear and
fright ; for you hear them not, because you are not of God, He
at once added. If, then, whosoever is of God hears God's
FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT, OR PASSION SUNDAY 141
words, and whosoever is not of God cannot hear Him,
let everyone ask himself, whether in the ear of his heart
he hears God's words, and understands whose words they
are. The Truth commands us to be longing for a home
in heaven, to bridle the lusts of the flesh, to turn away
from the glory of the world, not to seek any man's goods
and to give away our own. Let, therefore, every one of
you think within himself, if this voice of God be heard in
the ear of his heart, and if he already know that he is of
God. For there are some, who do not deign to hear the
commandments of God, not even with their bodily ears.
And there are some who do not mind hearing them with
their bodily ears, but whose heart is far from them.
And there are some, who hear the words of God with
joy, and even are thereby moved to tears, but who turn
again to iniquity as soon as the fit of weeping is past.
Those who despise to do the words of God, do not hear
them. Therefore, beloved brethren, carefully recall to
your mind your own life ; then with fear and trembling
ponder on those awful words spoken by the mouth of the
Eternal Truth : Therefore you hear them not, because you are
not of God. And what the Lord here speaks about the
reprobate, they themselves make the same thing concern
ing them manifest by their evil deeds. These words
follow immediately : The Jews therefore answered and said
to Him : Do not we say well that Thou art a Samaritan, and
hast a devil ?
II. Now let us hear what the Lord answered to such
an insult. / have not a devil, hit I honour My Father, and
you have dishonoured Me. The Lord said, I have not a devil ;
but He did not say, / am not a Samaritan, for in one
sense He was a Samaritan, because the word Samaritan
in the Hebrew language signifies * a watcher.' And
the Lord is that Watcher of Whom the Psalmist says :
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Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that
keepeth it (Ps. cxxviii. 2). He also is the Watchman
to Whom Isaias says : Watchman, what of the night ?
Watchman, what of the night? (Isa. xxi. n.) Therefore
the Lord said, / have not a devil, but not, / am not a
Samaritan. Of the two things brought against Him
He denied one, but by His silence admitted the other.
Indeed, our Saviour came into this world to watch over
the whole human race, therefore He said nothing when
accused of being a Samaritan, but defended Himself
against and denied the unjust and wicked imputation of
having a devil. By the extraordinary meekness shown
by our Lord towards His enemies He puts to shame our
pride and haughtiness ; for, when we receive the slightest
injustice, we often accuse our opponents of greater crimes
than those imputed to us. We do to them whatever injury
we are able to, and even threaten them with punishments
that are not in our power. Now consider the example
of patience given by our Lord : the blackest calumnies
are invented against Him and He is not angry; when
justifying Himself He never makes use of an offensive
word. In truth He could have answered the Jews, who
in such improper manner calumniated Him, that they
were themselves possessed by the devil, since they could
not blaspheme God without being animated by the evil
spirit. Yet He, Who is Truth itself, did not on this
occasion make use of the truth to defend Himself. His
words were spoken solely for giving testimony to the
truth, and not for revenging Himself on His enemies. By
this action of the Son of God we are taught that, when
we are attacked by our brethren with false accusations,
we are not to publish the faults they are themselves
guilty of, so that passion should not give to our hands
weapons wherewith to satisfy our anger, instead of
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punishing them in a lawful manner. And since it is
well known that those, who most zealously exert them
selves to work for the glory and intentions of God, are
very often calumniated by the wicked and freethinkers,
our Lord wished to give us in His own person an
example of patience, saying to the jews, by whom He
was unjustly accused : / honour My Father, but you have
dishonoured Me. And in order perfectly to instruct us
concerning the dispositions of our mind when we suffer
for justice' sake He added : / seek not Mine own glory.
There is One that seeketh andjudgeth. Now the Gospel tells
us that the Father hath given all judgment to the Son
(John v. 22) ; therefore, when the Son, overwhelmed with
insults and accusations, and without vindicating His own
honour, leaves the duty of revenge to His Father, He
wishes us to understand that we are calmly to bear any
detractions or calumnies coming from our brethren.
For we see that He, Who received from His Father the
power to judge, did not make use of it then, to administer
justice. However, should, in spite of our moderation,
the malice of the wicked against us increase from day to
day, let us not withhold from them the teachings of
the Divine doctrine. On the contrary, let us persevere in
our instructing them according to our Lord's example,
Who, in spite of the insulting reproaches of His enemies,
saying that He had a devil, continued even with greater
zeal His kind and patient teaching. For immediately
after He added : Amen, amen, I say to you : If any man
keep My word, he shall not see death for ever. As it is certain
that the just become more perfect by the injuries done to
them, so it is also true that the wicked grow worse
through the kindness shown to them. We see, that after
the kind exhortations and admonitions addressed to
them by Jesus, the Jews were still more angry, and had
144 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
the wickedness to say to His face : Now we know that Thou
hast a devil. They were spiritually blind, and could not
perceive the deadly state in which they were through
their sins. But since they considered temporal death as
the greatest of all evils, they said to our Saviour :
A braham is dead, and the prophets, and Thou sayest : .If any man
keep My word, he shall not taste death for ever. By their
words these Jews seem to have believed in the Scriptures,
since they recognised Abraham and the prophets, and
honoured their memory ; yet the honour given to His
servants by those who do not recognise God is neither
real nor true.
III. Though our Lord saw that the Jews tried their
utmost to oppose His doctrine, He never ceased to preach
the truth, and continued His teaching, for He said to
them : Abraham your father rejoiced that he might see My
day ; he saw it and was glad. That day of the Lord, which
Abraham really saw, was that on which he received into
his house three Angels under the appearance of travellers.
For these three Angels, appearing under a human form,
represented to the faith of Abraham the adorable mystery
of the Blessed Trinity which he recognised. He addressed
the Three present before him, as if speaking only to one,
so as to show that in the three Persons of the Holy
Trinity, whom he adored, there was the Unity of the
Divine Nature. As to those who keep their souls bowed
down to the earth, it is in vain they hear the doctrine of
heaven ; their eyes never look upwards to gaze at it.
Thus we see that the Jews, with their carnal thoughts,
had in view only the years of our Saviour's mortal life,
and said to Him : Thou art not yet fifty years old, and Thou
hast seen Abraham ? Thereon our Lord, to raise them up
to the comprehension of His Divinity, and to shut the
eyes of their bodies, wherewith alone they looked at Him,
FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT, OR PASSION SUNDAY 145
answered: Amen, amen, I say to you, before Abraham was
made, I AM. You will notice that our Lord did not say,
I was before Abraham, but before Abraham was made, I
AM, in order to show by this expression that His Divine
Nature, which is eternal, knows neither the past nor the
future, but is ALWAYS PRESENT. For this reason God the
Almighty, speaking to Moses, said : I AM WHO AM ; then
added : Then shalt thou say to the children of Israel : He who
is, hath sent Me to you (Exod. iii. 14). As man Jesus
Christ was by His birth to come either before or after
the time of Abraham. But, being the Eternal Truth, and
not subject to any time, He could have neither beginning
nor end. Yet, as the unbelieving Jews were not able to
understand these eternal truths, announced to them by
the Redeemer, They took up stones to cast at Him, and tried
to kill Him Whom they were unable to understand.
IV. To avoid the fury of the Jews, who were on the
point of stoning Him, Jesus, as the Gospel says, hid Him
self and went out of the temple. What ought to be to you,
beloved brethren, a motive of astonishment, is the fact
that our Saviour is seen escaping the persecution of His
enemies, whose hands He could have bound by His mere
will, and whose lives He could have taken, had He made
use of His almighty power. Yet, this infinitely good
God, Who had come into this world to suffer and to die,
would not show the severity of a judge. This was again
proved at the time of His Passion, when He said to the
soldiers, who had come with Judas to apprehend Him :
/ am He (John xviii. 5), and they went backwards and fell
to the ground. Yet, He allowed them to take hold of His
Sacred Person, and He willingly submitted to all the
tortures they inflicted on Him. Now, if we ask why our
Lord hid Himself, since, without escaping from the
presence of His enemies, He could have rendered all
10
146 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
their efforts powerless, we shall see that this Redeemer
of the world wished to teach us an important lesson both
by His example and His words. His action tells us
that even when we are able to scorn the attacks of our
enemies, and the injuries they try to inflict on us, we are,
after His example, to avoid by timely retirement, the
wrath of their excited passions. St. Paul, in his Epistle
to the Romans (ch. xii.) repeats the same exhortation.
Let us therefore carefully avoid the fury of our brethren
whom we see angry with us ; let us not rise against those
by whom we are calumniated, nor render evil for evil ;
but let us be convinced by the example given by God
Himself, that it is more honourable to overcome all
insults and persecutions by flight and silence, than by
taking revenge.
V. Yet the spirit of pride whispers into our ears :
Silence brings shame, when we are attacked and do not
resist. When those, witnessing the affronts put upon us,
notice that we are silent, they will not be convinced of
our patience, but will imagine that in the depth of our
conscience we confess ourselves guilty of the sins
imputed to us. Thus speaks pride. However, such
thoughts arising in our mind, and trying to stifle the
feelings of moderation inspired by patience, come from
our human opinion, and our inclination to think more of
the false honour of the world and people's opinions, than
of the esteem and approval of God, Who from the
heights of heaven witnesses our doings. This is not the
way of following Jesus, for He says : ' / seek not Mine own
glory ; then is One that seeketh andjudgeth.
The words of the Evangelist, Jesus hid Himself and went
out of the temple, may have yet another meaning, namely,
that our Saviour was forsaking the Jews, who despised
the word of salvation announced to them, and of which
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they made no other use than to become more wicked,
and even to wish to stone Him. He hid the truth before
them, since by their pride and their contempt for it, they
had become unworthy of His heavenly doctrine. For
proud and vain souls, not knowing the value of humility,
are abandoned by the Truth. Yet, are there not many
Christians, perhaps among us, who, detesting the obduracy
of the Jews who were deaf to the Lord's teaching, are
just as guilty by refusing to put into practice this same
doctrine of Jesus ? Many hear what our Redeemer
commands us to practise ; they recognise the Divine
power in His miracles, but they refuse to change their
lives and thus to be converted. Jesus calls us, and we
do not return to Him ; He bears with us in our sinful
life, and we abuse His patience. Oh, my beloved
brethren ! let us not hesitate to renounce our sinful ways
whilst there is yet time ; let us take care lest God be
tired of waiting for us, and, after despising His infinite
mercy, we fall into the hands of His infinite justice.
SIXTH SUNDAY IN LENT, OR PALM SUNDAY.
GOSPEL: Matt. xxi. 1-17. And when they drew nigh
to Jerusalem, and were come to Bethphage, unto Mount
Olivet, then Jesus sent two disciples, saying to them :
Go ye into the village that is over against you, and
immediately you shall find an ass tied, and a colt with
her ; loose them and bring them to Me. And if any
man shall say anything to you, say ye that the Lord
hath need of them,. and forthwith he will let them go.
Now, all this was done that it might be fulfilled which
was spoken by the Prophet, saying: 'Tell ye the
daughter of Sion : Behold thy king cometh to thee,
meek, and sitting upon an ass, and a colt the foal of her
IO — 2
148 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
that is used to the yoke.' And the disciples going, did
as Jesus commanded them. And they brought the ass
and the colt, and laid their garments upon them, and
made Him sit thereon. And a very great multitude
spread their garments in the way ; and others cut boughs
from the trees, and strewed them in the way ; and the
multitudes that went before and that followed, cried,
saying : * Hosanna to the Son of David : Blessed is He
that cometh in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the
highest.' And when He was come to Jerusalem, the
whole city was moved, saying : ' Who is this ?' And the
people said : ' This is Jesus, the Prophet, from Nazareth
of Galilee.' And Jesus went into the Temple of God,
and cast out all them that sold and bought in the
Temple, and overthrew the tables of the money-changers,
and the chairs of them that sold doves. And He saith
to them : ' My house shall be called the house of prayer ;
but you have made it a den of thieves.' And there
came to Him the blind and the lame in the Temple, and
He healed them. And the chief priests and scribes, seeing
the wonderful things that He did, and the children crying
in the Temple, and saying : ' Hosanna to the Son of
David,' were moved with indignation, and said to Him :
' Hearest Thou what they say?' And Jesus said to
them: 'Yea, have you never read: " Out of the mouth
of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise" ?'
And leaving them, He went out of the city into Bethania,
and remained there.
HOMILY BY ST. AMBROSE, BISHOP OF MILAN.
BOOK ix., ON ST. LUKE.
I. What a beautiful type is before our eyes ! Our
Lord, on the point of forsaking the Jews, and of taking
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His abode in the hearts of the Gentiles, goes up into the
Temple, thus indicating that He would be adored by
them in spirit and in truth ; that the temple they were to
consecrate to Him, would not be a building erected by
the hands of men, but the real Temple of the true God,
laid upon the foundation of faith. Thus our Lord pre
fers the Gentiles, who would love Him, to the Jews, who
had only hatred for Him. Therefore He goes up to the
Mount of Olives, that upon the heights of grace He may
plant those young olive-branches whose mother is the
Jerusalem which is above. And the heavenly Husband
man stands upon this holy mount, so that all those whom
He planted in the House of God may be able truthfully
to say : But I am as a fruitful olive-tree in the house of God
(Ps. li. 10). Perhaps that mountain signifies Jesus Christ
Himself. For what other mount could bring forth such
fruitful olive-trees, not bending under the weight of their
own fruit, but spiritually fruitful with the fulness of the
Gentiles ? He also it is by Whom and unto Whom we
go up ; for He is the Way in which we walk ; He is the
Door at which we knock, and which opens to let us enter
into the sanctuary after being made worthy to worship
Him.
II. The Gospel also says that the disciples went into
a village, and that there they found an ass tied and a colt
with her. Neither could be loosed but by the command
of the Lord ; and it was the hand of His Apostles that
loosed them. This was done to indicate the great grace
imparted by our Lord to His servants, giving them power
to loose from sin ; and also to teach His ministers to
imitate the holiness of the Apostles, since they also have
received the same power to loose them that are bound.
Now, if we consider the great misfortune of our first
parents who, after their fall, were banished from their
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home in Paradise into a village, we shall find that those
who had been cast out by death, were again called back
by the Giver of Life. For this reason we read in Matthew
that there were tied both an ass and her colt, to give us
to understand that, as man was banished from Paradise
in a member of either sex, so is his recall by the Redeemer
figured in animals of both sexes. The she-ass is a type
of our sinful mother, Eve, and the colt of the multitude
of the Gentiles ; and it was upon the colt that Jesus took
His seat. And it is well said that on that colt no man ever
hath sitten (Luke xix. 30), because before Jesus Christ
no man ever called the Gentiles into the Church. And
when St. Mark (xi. 2) repeats the statement, You shall
find a colt, upon which no man yet hath sat, it is to teach us
that though the idolatrous nations had been until then
kept in the darkness of error by an unjust authority, no
ruler had any lawful right over them, because they were
free by nature, though slaves by sin. For this reason our
Lord commanded His disciples to say : The Lord hath
need of them ; to give us to understand that, though there
are many rulers and masters in the world, there is only
one God and Lord, Who is the absolute Ruler of all His
creatures.
III. St. Mark also says in his Gospel, that the colt
was tied before the gate without, in the meeting of two ways
(xi. 4), to indicate that everyone who is not Christ's, is
without the gate of salvation. Whereas he that is
Christ's, is not without, and is not, like this animal,
standing in the meeting of two ways, exposed to the
gaze of passers-by, and having neither stable nor fodder.
This colt belonged to no special owner, and its condition
was most pitiable, because it was ready to bear the yoke
of the first comer, and to be the slave of many, having
no special master. Consider also the difference between
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Jesus and the rulers of the world. These latter make
use of fetters and chains to secure their possessions,
whilst Jesus Christ, as seen by the command given to
His Apostles, looses and delivers those who serve Him.
His blessings and gifts are more powerful to attach us to
Him than the chains by which we are bound. We also
notice that the disciples sent by our Lord to bring to Him
the ass and the colt, spoke not by their own authority,
but answered the owner in the manner commanded by
our Lord Himself. By this also we understand that the
Apostles announced the true faith to the pagan nations
not by their own words, but by the Word of God ; not
in their own name, but in the name of Jesus Christ ; and
also that the powers of darkness, keeping the nations in
idolatry, were forced to restore them by the command of
God announced to them by His ambassadors. When,
lastly, we see the Apostles spread their garments in the
way under the feet of Jesus, we learn thereby that prac
tice of edifying works must needs precede the preaching
of the Gospel. Garments, according to Holy Scripture,
often signify virtues, which are powerful means to soften
the hearts of unbelievers to whom the tenets of faith are
preached. These virtues also make straight the path
leading to the minds of those whom the apostolic
labourers endeavour to convert. Let us not think that
the King of the whole world had any other object in
view at His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, than to
announce, by the exterior decorations covering the way,
His wish .to enrich our souls with His gifts, and to erect
His throne in our hearts. It was a sign of His triumph,
and of the loving dominion He would establish in all
these souls, after overcoming their passions and winning
for Himself their affections. Happy, therefore, the
Christian who receives into his heart this great and
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peaceful Conqueror ! Happy also he whose tongue is
ruled by this Divine Word.
IV. However, beloved brethren, what bridle will be
able to keep our tongue in check, or to loose it for
speaking at the opportune moment ? St. Paul gives the
answer ; for he asked the Ephesians to continue their
prayers and supplications to God, and for me, that speech
may be given to me, that I may open my mouth with confidence,
to make known the mystery of the Gospel (Eph. vi. 19). The
word of the Lord, that is heard in the innermost of our
heart, is the bridle governing us, and the goad exciting
our souls, and against which it is hard to kick, as Jesus
said to His Apostle. After learning from this Apostle to
obey the grace of God, to accept the goad and bear His
yoke, let us also learn from the Prophet how to bridle
our tongue ; for the science of keeping silent is a virtue
rarer than that of speaking at the right time. No one will
be more able to teach us this science than the Prophet
himself, who set a guard to his mouth, when sinners stood
against him ; who was dumb, and was humbled, and
ready for the scourges sent by Providence (Ps. xxxviii.).
Learn, therefore, to imitate the example given by the
Man-God ; learn to bear Jesus Christ, Who has borne
you, carrying you back to the fold, when you had gone
astray ; learn gladly to submit to the yoke of the Re
deemer, that you may become the rulers of the world.
But no one can boast of bearing Jesus Christ, unless he
be able to say with the Prophet : / am become miserable,
and 1 am bound down even to the end; I am afflicted and
humbled exceedingly ; I roared with the groaning of my heart
(Ps. xxxvii. 7, 9). In order never to leave the right and
straight path, you must step upon the garments spread
by the disciples on the way of the Redeemer ; you must
be careful not to soil your feet — that is, your works, with
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the filth of the world ; and you must follow the road
made straight for you by the Prophets. Thus, those who
went before our Lord on His entry into the city, spread
their garments in the way, to point out to the Gentiles
the road to be taken by them. Thus, also, the Apostles
reddened this road of salvation with their own blood, to
guide you and make your steps sure on that road. How
ever, the meaning we give to these words does not hinder
us from saying that the Gentiles, typified by the colt
stepping upon the garments of the Jewish people, have
already begun to take possession of the inheritance
destined by God for them, and of which the Jews made
themselves unworthy.
V. It would, perhaps, be a useless question to inquire
about the meaning of the branches cut off the trees and
strewed in the way, since they would hinder the progress
of the passers-by rather than smooth their path. But
we are told by the Lord of the whole world, whose Provi
dence governs the universe, that the axe was already laid
to the root of the trees, to cut down every tree not yield
ing good fruit. We see this fulfilled at the coming of the
Saviour of the world, by Whom the pride of the Gentiles
was trodden under foot by being subjected to the yoke of
His Gospel. On the knowledge of the Gospel these con
verted pagans founded their glory, and, treading on their
pride, followed Him. These once idolatrous nations, now
renewed and animated by the Spirit, are, so to speak,
new branches bringing forth the fruit of life on a stem
that formerly seemed unfruitful. St. Luke justly remarks
that, when He was now coming near the descent of Mount Olivet
the whole multitude of His disciples began with joy to praise
God with a loud voice, for all the mighty works they had seen
(Luke xix. 37), thus testifying that the great mystery
of salvation was going to be fulfilled by this Redeemer
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sent from heaven. These people acknowledged in the
Person of Jesus Christ their God and King ; they re
called to mind the words of the Prophet glorifying the
Son of God, and they recognised Him as the Saviour of
the House of Israel, for Whom they had been waiting so
long. But, since the ungrateful nation of the Jews, who
were soon to crucify Him, gave beforehand testimony to
His Divinity, they pronounced against themselves the
sentence of damnation, because exteriorly they recog
nised the God of truth, and yet in their hearts the
betrayed and condemned Him.
GOOD FRIDAY.
THE PASSION OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST, ACCORDING
TO ST. JOHN xvm. AND xix.
At that time: Jesus went forthwith His disciples over the
brook Cedron, where there was a garden, into which He
entered with His disciples. Now Judas also, who be
trayed Him, knew the place, because Jesus had often
resorted thither, together with His disciples. Judas,
therefore, having received a band of soldiers and servants
from the chief priests and the Pharisees, cometh thither
with lanterns and torches and weapons. Jesus, therefore,
knowing all things that should come upon Him, went
forth and said to them: 'Whom seek ye?' They
answered Him: 'Jesus of Nazareth.' Jesus saith to
them : ' I am He.' And Judas also, who betrayed Him,
stood with them. As soon, therefore, as He had said to
them, ' I am He,' they went backward, and fell to the
ground. Again, therefore, He asked them : ' Whom seek
ye?' And they said: 'Jesus of Nazareth.' Jesus
answered : ' I have told you that I am He ; if, therefore,
GOOD FRIDAY 155
you seek Me, let these go their way, that the word might
be fulfilled, which He said : " Of them whom Thou hast
given Me I have not lost anyone." ' Then Simon Peter,
having a sword, drew it, and struck the servant of the
high priest, and cut off his right ear. And the name of
the servant was Malchus. Jesus therefore said to Peter :
' Put up thy sword into the scabbard. The chalice
which My Father hath given me, shall I not drink it ?'
Then the band and the tribune and the servants of the
Jews took Jesus, and bound Him, and led Him away to
Annas first, for he was father-in-law to Caiphas, who was
the high priest of that year. Now, Caiphas was he who
had given the counsel to the Jews, that it was expedient
that one man should die for the people. And Simon
Peter followed Jesus, and so did another disciple, and
that disciple was known to the high priest, and went in
with Jesus into the court of the high priest. But Peter
stood at the door without. The other disciple, therefore,
who was known to the high priest, went out and spoke to
the portress, and brought in Peter. The maid, therefore,
that was portress, saith to Peter : ' Art not thou also one
of this Man's disciples ?' He saith : « I am not.' Now,
the servants and ministers stood at a fire of coals, because
it was cold, and warmed themselves, and with them was
Peter also standing, and warming himself. The high
priest, therefore, asked Jesus of His disciples, and of His
doctrine. Jesus answered him : ' I have spoken openly
to the world ; I have always taught in the synagogue
and in the temple, whither all the Jews resort, and in
secret I have spoken nothing. Why askest thou Me ?
Ask them who have heard what I have spoken to them.
Behold, they know what things I have said.' And when
He had said these things, one of the officers standing by
gave Jesus a blow, saying : ' Answerest Thou the high
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priest so ?' Jesus answered him : ' If I have spoken
evil, give testimony of the evil, but if well, why strikest
thou Me ?' And Annas sent Him bound to Caiphas, the
high priest. And Simon Peter was standing, and warming
himself. They said, therefore, to him : < Art not thou
also one of His disciples?' He denied it, and said : « I
am not.' One of the servants of the high priest (a kins
man to him whose ear Peter cut off) saith to him : < Did
not I see thee in the garden with Him ?' Then Peter
again denied, and immediately the cock crew. Then they
led Jesus from Caiphas to the governor's hall. And it
was morning, and they went not into the hall, that they
might not be denied, but that they might eat the pasch.
Pilate therefore went out to them, and said : ' What
accusation bring you against this Man ?' They answered
and said to him : < If He were not a malefactor, we would
not have delivered Him up to thee.' Pilate then said to
them : « Take Him you, and judge Him according to
your law.' The Jews therefore said to him : < It is not
lawful for us to put any man to death.' That the word of
Jesus might be fulfilled, which He said, signifying what
manner of death He should die. Pilate therefore went
into the hall again, and called Jesus, and said to Him :
'Art Thou the King of the Jews?' Jesus answered:
' Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it
thee of Me ?' Pilate answered : ' Am I a Jew ? Thy
own nation and the chief priests have delivered Thee up
to me. What hast Thou done ?' Jesus answered : ' My
kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of
this world My servants would certainly strive that I
should not be delivered to the Jews : but now My
kingdom is not from hence.' Pilate therefore said to
Him: 'Art Thou a King, then?' Jesus answered:
1 Thou sayest that I am a King. For this was I born,
GOOD FRIDAY 157
and for this came I into the world, that I should give
testimony to the truth. Everyone that is of the truth
heareth My voice.' Pilate saith to Him : ' What is
truth ?' And when he had said this, he went out again
to the Jews, and said to them : ' I find no cause in
Him ; but you have a custom that I should release one
unto you at the pasch : will you, therefore, that I release
unto you the King of the Jews?' Then cried they all,
saying : ' Not this man, but Barabbas.' Now Barabbas
was a robber. Then, therefore, Pilate took Jesus and
scourged Him, and the soldiers, platting a crown of
thorns, put it upon His head, and they put on Him a
purple garment. And they came to Him, and said :
* Hail, King of the Jews !' And they gave Him blows.
Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith to them :
' Behold, I bring Him forth unto you, that ye may know
that I find no cause in Him.' Jesus therefore came forth
bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.
And he saith to them : ' Behold the Man.' When the
chief priests, therefore, and the servants had seen Him,
they cried out, saying: 'Crucify Him! crucify Him!'
Pilate saith to them : ' Take Him you, and crucify Him,
for I find no cause in Him.' The Jews answered him :
' We have a law, and according to the law He ought to
die, because He made Himself the Son of God. When
Pilate, therefore, had heard this saying, he feared the
more. And he entered into the hall again, and he said to
Jesus: 'Whence art Thou?' But Jesus gave him no
answer. Pilate therefore saith to Him : l Speakest Thou
not to me ? Knowest Thou not that I have the power to
crucify Thee, and I have the power to release Thee ? ' Jesus
answered : * Thou should'st not have any power against
Me unless it were given thee from above. Therefore,
he that hath delivered Me to thee hath the greater sin.'
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And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release Him. But
the Jews cried out, saying : ' If thou release this Man
thou art not Caesar's friend. For whosoever makes him
self a King, speaketh against Caesar.' Now, when Pilate
had heard these words, he brought Jesus forth, and sat
down in the judgment-seat, in the place that is called
Lithostrotos, and in Hebrew, Gabbatha. And it was the
parasceve of the pasch, about the sixth hour. And he
saith to the Jews : ' Behold your King.' But they cried
out : ' Away with Him ; away with Him ! Crucify
Him!' Pilate saith to them: 'Shall I crucify your
King ?' The chief priests answered : ' We have no King
but Caesar.' Then, therefore, he delivered Him to them
to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led Him
forth ; and bearing1 His own cross, He went forth to that
place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew, Golgotha :
where they crucified Him, and with Him two others, one
on each side, and Jesus in the midst. And Pilate wrote
a title also, and he put it upon the cross, and the writing
was: * JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.'
This title, therefore, many of the Jews did read, because
the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city;
and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin.
Then the chief priests of the Jews said to Pilate : * Write
not, " The King of the Jews," but that He said : " I am
the King of the Jews."' Pilate answered: 'What I
have written, I have written.' Then the soldiers, when
they had crucified Him, took His garments (and they
made four parts, to every soldier a part), and also His
coat. Now, the coat was without seam, woven from the
top throughout. They said then one to another : ' Let
us not cut it, but let us cast lots for it, whose it shall be;'
that the Scripture might be fulfilled, saying : ' They
have parted My garments among them, and upon My
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vesture they have cast lots.' And the soldiers indeed
did these things.
Now, there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother
and His mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas and Mary
Magdalene. When Jesus, therefore, had seen His mother
and the disciple standing, whom He loved, He saith to
His mother : ' Woman, behold thy son.' After that, He
saith to the disciple : « Behold thy mother.' And from
that hour, the disciple took her to his own. Afterwards,
Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished,
that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said : ' I thirst.'
Now there was a vessel set there full of vinegar, and
they, putting a sponge full of vinegar about hyssop, put it
to His mouth. Jesus therefore, when He had taken
the vinegar, said : ' It is consummated.' And, bowing
His head, He gave up the ghost. (Here all kneel and
pause.) Then the Jews, because it was parasceve, that
the bodies might not remain upon the cross on the
Sabbath-day (for that was a great Sabbath-day), besought
Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they
might be taken away. The soldiers therefore came, and
they broke the legs of the first and of the other that was
crucified with Him. But after they were come to Jesus,
when they saw that He was already dead, they did not
break His legs, but one of the soldiers opened His side
with a spear, and immediately there came out blood and
water. And he that saw it gave testimony, and his testi
mony is true, that you also may believe. For these
things were done that the Scripture might be fulfilled :
' You shall not break a bone of Him.' And again another
Scripture sayeth : * They shall look on Him they pierced.'
And after these things, Joseph of Arimathea (because he
was a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews)
besought Pilate that he might take away the body of
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Jesus. And Nicodemus also came, he who at first came
to Jesus by night, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes,
about a hundred pounds weight. They took, therefore,
the body of Jesus, and bound it in linen cloths, with the
spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. Now there
was a garden in the place where He was crucified, and
in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein no man yet had
been laid. There, therefore, because of the parasceve of
the Jews, they laid Jesus, because the sepulchre was nigh
at hand.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
TRACT 118, 119, ETC.
I. When Pilate had judged and condemned the Lord
Jesus Christ at his judgment -seat, they took Him about
the sixth hour, and led Him forth ; and bearing His own
cross, He went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but
in Hebrew Golgotha, where they crucified, Him. He was
going, therefore, to the place where He was to be cruci
fied. Jesus bearing His own cross. A great spectacle !
But then to impiety a great sport to look upon, to piety
an exceedingly great mystery ! Impiety sees in it a great
display of ignominy, piety a great strengthening of faith.
Impiety looks on, and laughs at a king bearing, instead
of the sceptre of sovereignty, the wood of the punish
ment ; piety looks on, and sees the King bearing that
cross for Himself, to be fixed thereon, which He would
thereafter fix even on the brows of kings. An object of
contempt in the eyes of the impious, yet the same thing
in which later on the hearts of the Saints will glory.
Thus to St. Paul, who one day will say, God forbid that I
should glory but in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
(Gal. vi. 14), the Lord commanded that very cross by
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bearing it on His shoulders ; and for that candle, which
was to be lighted and not to be put under a bushel, the
Lord bore the candlestick.
II. The human race was lost by sin ; for all men,
coming from Adam, had sinned in him. One alone was
born without sin, and He delivered from the yoke of sin.
He was made man in order to heal our wounds inflicted
by sin. The Jews were as sick as all other men in the
world, yet their pride made them believe that they were
not in need of the physician ; and their disease was so
much the more incurable, as their pride, by which it was
caused, led them to despise Him who had come to cure
it. But they were not contented with despising Him ;
they even put Him to death. Yet at the very time they
took His life He fulfilled for them the duties of a
Physician. They struck Him, and He cured them. He
felt the effects of their madness, but He abandoned not
the sick. The Jews surrounded Jesus Christ ; they bound
Him with ropes, buffeted Him, struck Him with a reed,
overwhelmed Him with insults and blasphemies ; lastlv,
they asked Him juridical questions, condemned Him, and
nailed Him to the cross ; yet He still remained their
Physician. You have seen the character of the Jews in
their madness, now consider the character of their
Physician. Father, He cried out, forgive them, for they
know not what they do (Luke xxiii. 34). Blinded by their
rage and envy, they shed the blood of their Physician,
and the Physician shed His own blood to cure them of
their blindness and fury ; and in that intention that His
blood might flow for them, He cried out : Father, forgive
them, for they know not what they do.
III. And Jesus, knowing that all things were now
accomplished, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, said :
/ thirst. The Divinity of Jesus Christ was hidden under
ii
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the veil of His humanity. This humanity suffered all
the insults and mockery of the Jews, whilst His Divinity
allowed free scope to their fury. He saw, then, that all
things were finished ; that no more required to be done
before He should receive the vinegar and give up the
ghost ; and that this also might be accomplished what
was foretold in the Scripture : A nd in My thirst they gave
Me vinegar to drink (Ps. Ixviii. 22). He said, / thirst, as
if it were, One thing you have left undone ; give what
you are. For the Jews were themselves the vinegar,
degenerated as they were from the wine of the Patriarchs
and Prophets, and filled like a full vessel with the wicked
ness of this world. This godless people did all these
things, and a compassionate Christ suffered them. This
blinded people knew not what they were doing ; but Jesus
knew what was done, and why it was done ; and He
wrought what was good through those who were doing
what was evil. When Jesus, therefore, had taken the vinegar,
He said : It is consummated. What was finished, save all
that the prophecies had foretold so long before ? Then,
because nothing remained that yet was to be done before
He died, as He had the power to lay down His life, and
the power to take it up again ; now that all was accom
plished, for the accomplishment of which He was waiting,
He bowed His head and gave up the ghost. Who so sleeps
when he will, as Jesus died when He pleased ? Who so
lays aside his garment when he will, as He put off His
flesh when He would ? What traveller departs from a
place when he pleases, as He departed this life when He
pleased ? Therefore, what must we hope or fear to find
His power as a Judge, if it was so great when He died ?
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EASTER SUNDAY.
GOSPEL: Mark xvi. 1-7. At that time: Mary Magdalen
and Mary, the mother of James, and Salome brought
sweet spices, that coming, they might anoint Jesus. And
very early in the morning, the first day of the week, they
come to the sepulchre, the sun being now risen. And
they said one to another : Who shall roll us back the
stone from the door of the sepulchre ? And looking,
they saw the stone rolled back. For it was very great.
And entering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man
sitting on the right side, clothed with a white robe ; and
they were astonished. Who saith to them: Be not
affrighted ; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was cruci
fied ; He is risen, He is not here ; behold the place where
they laid Him. But go, tell His disciples and Peter that
He goeth before you into Galilee ; there you shall see
Him, as He told you.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY ON EASTER
SUNDAY.
TWENTY-FIRST HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. You have heard, beloved brethren, the deed of the
holy women who followed our Lord, how they brought
sweet spices to His sepulchre, and, having loved Him
while He was still alive, they still followed Him with
careful tenderness now that He was dead. But, what
these holy women did, points to something which is to be
done in the holy Church. And it behoves us well to give
ear to what they did, that we may afterwards consider
with ourselves what we must do after their example.
We also, believing in Him Who is dead, we come to His
II 2
1 64 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
sepulchre bearing sweet spices, if we seek Him with the
savour of pious living and the fragrant odour of good
works. These women, when they brought spices, saw a
vision of angels, and those souls who are moved by the
pious desire to seek the Lord with the good odour of
holy lives, will see the countrymen of our Fatherland
that is above.
II. If we inquire about the mystery contained in the
fact of the Angel who, appearing to the holy women,
sat on the right side, we shall find that by the left side is
meant the life which now is, and life everlasting by the
right side. For in the Book of the Canticles it is said of
the Bridegroom : His left hand is wider my head, and His
right hand shall embrace me (Cant. ii. 6). Since, therefore,
our Redeemer had passed from the corruption of this life,
the Angel, who told that His eternal life was come, sat
becomingly on the right side. They saw him clothed
with a white robe, for he announced the joy of this our
great solemnity, and the shining whiteness of his raiment
told of the brightness of this our holy festival. Of ours,
did I say ? or of his ? But, if we speak the truth, we
must acknowledge that it is both his and ours. The
Resurrection of our Lord is a festival of gladness for us,
since we now know that we shall not die for ever ; and
for the angels also it is a festival of joy, for they now
know that we are called to complete their number in
heaven.
III. Therefore, on this glad festival, which is both his
and ours, the Angel appeared in a white robe. For as
the Lord, rising again from the dead, leads us to the
eternal dwellings above, He repairs the breaches or gaps
of the heavenly Fatherland. But what is the meaning
of these words spoken by the Angel to the women who
had come to the sepulchre : Be not affrighted ? Is it not
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as though he had said openly : Let them fear who love
not the coming of the heavenly citizens ; let them be
affrighted who are so burdened by fleshly lusts, that they
despair ever to be joined to their company. But as to
you, why do ye fear, since seeing us you only see your
fellow-citizens ? Thus also St. Matthew, describing the
appearance of the Angel, says : His countenance was as
lightning, and his raiment as snow (Matt, xxviii. 3). The
lightning speaks of fear and terror, the snow of the
brilliant whiteness of rejoicing. Since God the Almighty
shows Himself terrible to sinners, but at the same time
well pleased with good and pious souls, it was but right
that the Angel, who had been sent by Him to give testi
mony to His Resurrection, should inspire some with fear
and terror by the lightning, and others with confidence
and hope by His garment. God Himself wished to
convey to us this meaning, for He guided the Israelites
through the desert by a pillar of fire in the night and a
cloud during the day (Exod. xiii.). For the life of the
just may be compared to daylight, and that of the sinner
to a dark night. Thus the pillar of fire is to inspire
sinners with fear, whilst the just, wandering in the light
of the day, see a cloud which fills them with hope and
security. St. Paul, writing to converted sinners, says :
You were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord
(Eph. v. 8). Lastly, all this will be accomplished by the
Lord on the day of His wrath, when His loving coun
tenance will shine on the just, while the terror of His
justice will crush the wicked.
IV. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, Who was crucified ? said
the Angel, to prevent any mistake about Him, since there
were several others bearing the same name of Jesus.
Yet, this holy Name belongs in reality only to the
Redeemer of the world, Who was crucified. As the Angel
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said : He is risen, He is not here. He is no longer here
in His humanity, though His Divinity is present every
where. But go, the Angel continued, tell His disciples and
Peter that He goeth before you into Galilee. You will per
haps ask why the Angel, after speaking of the disciples,
specially mentioned Peter. But when we consider that
Peter, after the great misfortune of denying his Master,
would probably not have dared to accompany the other
disciples to seek and meet Jesus, you will easily under
stand why he was specially invited and his name men
tioned—that is, that he should have no motive to doubt
that his faithlessness was forgiven him. Acknowledge
the infinite goodness of God ! He had permitted that
disciple, chosen by Him to be the visible head of His
Church, to be so frightened by the words of a maid
servant, as to deny his Redeemer, so that the remem
brance of his own weakness and sin might teach him
patience and forbearance with other people's misery, and
with the failings of the great flock that was to be
entrusted to him.
V. Not without a special reason did our Lord send
word to His disciples that He expected them in Galilee,
where they would find Him. The word ' Galilee ' means
' change '; and this was entirely conformable with the state
of our Saviour, for He had passed from suffering to the
glory of the resurrection, from death to life, from a state
of corruption to incorruptibility. He showed Himself in
Galilee, glorious and risen from the dead, to manifest
Himself to them by the place He had chosen, and to give
us to understand that one day we shall have the joy and
happiness of seeing Him in the glory of His resurrection,
if now we pass from the state of sin to the heights of
Christian virtues. Notice also that our Redeemer had
Himself announced to the disciples near the place of
EASTER SUNDAY 167
His sepulchre, yet appeared to them only after changing
His dwelling-place, because, according to His example,
the mortification of the flesh must precede in this life if
we wish for the beatific contemplation in the next.
These few words, beloved brethren, I wished to address
to you on the Gospel of this great festival ; yet, just on
account of this great day, I will add a few more remarks.
VI. It is certain that there are two kinds of life : the
one we now lead in this world, the other of which we
have no knowledge. The life we now know is mortal,
the other is immortal ; by the one we are subject to
corruption, by the other we obtain incorruptibility. Death
will be the end of the first, and our resurrection will be
the beginning of the second. Jesus Christ, Who came
as the Mediator between God and man, lived the one
and the other life ; for He suffered the death of the first,
and He rose from the dead to give us some knowledge of
the second. Had He only promised that one day we
shall rise again, without giving us in His own flesh an
example of that resurrection, no one perhaps would have
referred to His testimony. But by taking our human
nature, and becoming like ourselves, He willingly gave
up His body to death ; then, by His infinite power, He
rose again, and gave us in His own Person a pledge of
the resurrection He had promised. Should anyone say
that it was easy for God to rise from the dead, since
He could not be overcome by death, he will consider
that, to enlighten our ignorance and strengthen our faith
in a future resurrection, our Lord wished us to be con
vinced not by the example of His resurrection only.
For notice, though He was the only one who died at that
moment, yet Holy Scripture tells us (Matt, xxvii.), that
many bodies of the saints, that had slept, arose at that
time, thus destroying any doubts still remaining in the
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minds of unbelievers. Therefore, should anybody, seeing
that a Man- God rose from the dead, still doubt about his
own resurrection, he being only a mere man, he must
remember that Providence willed people of the same
nature as ours to rise with Jesus Christ. Being members
of the Redeemer, we have no doubt but that what is seen
in the Head will be fulfilled in the members ; that what
happened to those who, as the first members of the
Saviour, rose from the dead, will also happen to us
though the last.
VII. The Jews blasphemed the crucified Redeemer,
and said : // He be the King of Israel, let Him now come down
from the cross, and ive will believe in. Him (Matt, xxvii. 42).
Had Jesus yielded to these insults and mockery, He would
not have given us the beautiful example of His astonishing
patience. However, He waited ; He accepted and bore
insults and blasphemies ; He persevered in that wonderful
patience, and put off the time for giving a sign of His
almighty power, that would then have caused a momentary
amazement only, in order to show a greater miracle,
namely, the glory of His resurrection. It was a more
glorious triumph to leave the sepulchre, full of renewed
life, than to come down from the cross. By His resur
rection He triumphed over death, whilst by descending
from the cross He would only have saved His life.
Meanwhile, the Jews were jubilant, for, in spite of their
insults, our Lord was still hanging on the cross ; and they
presumed that, after His death, His name would be
forgotten for ever. Yet, out of the bosom of the earth,
His Name was spread abroad all over the world, and with
such glory that this perfidious nation, so eager to punish
Him with an ignominious death, was quite confounded,
when seeing that the torments inflicted on Him had
become the cause of His triumph. It was thought of
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Samson by the Philistines that, being enclosed within the
walls of the city of Gaza, and surrounded by guards, he
would soon be overcome and bound with the chains they
had prepared ; but during the night He took the doors of
the gate, and, laying them on His shoulders, carried them
up to the top of the hill (Judg. xvi. 2, 3). Thus the all-
powerful Saviour, the strong God typified by Samson,
burst the bonds of the sepulchre, surrounded by the Jews
with guards, whilst they fancied that the Author of life,
Whom they had killed and enclosed in the grave, would
be for ever buried therein. And this all-powerful God,
more terrible after His death than Samson in his life,
came out, after descending into Limbo, and, triumphing
over His enemies, ascended into heaven. Let us abide
by this glorious resurrection, which, announced by the
Prophets, was so happily accomplished. Let us desire
to die, that we may be partakers of that resurrection.
And since we heard that the angels who announced the
resurrection of our Lord, are inhabitants of the eternal
dwelling for which we are longing, let us endeavour to
reach them, and thus celebrate this festival with them.
Though we are not just now able to enjoy a glorious
resurrection with these heavenly spirits, we will, never
theless, join them with the ardour of our desires. Let
us forsake sin and practise virtue, and by this change be
able to see the face of our Redeemer. Ask God the
Father, Who for the sake of our salvation delivered His
only-begotten Son to a cruel death, to strengthen our
desires, so that we may for ever praise Him, the Father,
and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. Amen.
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EASTER MONDAY.
GOSPEL: Luke xxiv. 13-35. At that time: Two of the
disciples went the same day to a town, which was sixty
furlongs from Jerusalem, named Emmaus. And they
talked together of all these things which had happened.
And it came to pass, that while they talked and reasoned
with themselves, Jesus Himself also drawing near, went
with them. But their eyes were held, that they should
not know Him. And He said to them : What are these
discourses that you hold one with another as you walk
and are sad ? And the one of them, whose name was
Cleophas, answering, said to Him : Art Thou only a
stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things that
have been done there in these days ? To whom He said :
What things ? And they said : Concerning Jesus of
Nazareth, Who was a prophet, mighty in work and word
before God and all the people. And how our chief priests
and princes delivered Him to be condemned to death, and
crucified Him. But we hoped that it was He that should
have redeemed Israel ; and now besides all this, to-day is
the third day since these things were done. Yea, and cer
tain women also of our company affrighted us, who before it
was light, were at the sepulchre, and, not finding His body,
came saying that they had also seen a vision of angels,
who say that He is alive. And some of our people went
to the sepulchre, and found it so as the women had said,
but Him they found not. Then He said to them : Oh,
foolish and slow of heart to believe in all things which
the Prophets have spoken ! Ought not Christ to have
suffered these things, and so to enter into His glory ?
And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He ex
plained to them in all the Scriptures, the things that were
EASTER MONDAY 171
concerning Him. And they drew nigh to the town,
whither they were going, and He made as though He
would go farther. But they constrained Him, saying :
Stay with us, because it is towards evening, and the day
is now far spent. And He went in with them. And it
came to pass, whilst He was at table with them, He took
bread, and blessed, and brake, and gave to them. And
their eyes were opened, and they knew Him : and He
vanished out of their sight. And they said one to the
other : Was not our heart burning within us, whilst He
spoke in the way, and opened to us the Scriptures ? And,
rising up the same hour, they went back to Jerusalem ;
and they found the eleven gathered together, and those
that were with them. And they told what things were
done in the way, and how they knew Him in the break
ing of bread.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER ON EASTER MONDAY.
TWENTY-THIRD HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. You have heard, beloved brethren, how two of the
Lord's disciples went together to Emmaus, and were
talking about Him. They did not believe in His resur
rection, yet talked about it, when the Lord Himself
appeared to them, but held their eyes so that they should
not recognise Him. And this holding of their corporal
eyes was a figure of the spiritual veil by which the eyes
of their hearts were still covered. In their hearts they
loved, yet they doubted ; and the Lord drew nigh to
them outwardly, though He did not show Himself to
their soul. He revealed His immediate presence to them
that talked of Him, and He hid from them who doubted
the knowledge of His Person. By words He associated
1 72 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
with them, and rebuked their heart-hardness : He ex
pounded to them in all the Scriptures, the things that were con
cerning Him ; nevertheless, seeing that He was still a
stranger to faith in their hearts, He made as though He
would go farther. These words, He made as though, would
seem to mean, He feigned ; but He, who is Truth itself,
has nothing to do with feigning. He showed Himself to
them in bodily manners, as He was to them spiritually ;
but they were put to the proof whether they could love
Him, at least, as a wanderer, though they loved Him
not yet as their God.
II. However, since it was impossible that they, with
whom the Truth was walking, should be without love,
they invited Him as a wanderer to accept their hospi
tality. Why do we say they invited Him, since it is
written : But they constrained Him ? Their example teaches
us not only to bid, but even to compel wanderers, to accept
our hospitality. These disciples, therefore, laid a table,
and set before Him bread and meat ; and they knew in
the breaking of the bread that God, Whom they had not
known in the expounding of the Holy Scripture. They
were not enlightened in hearing the Commandments of
God, but they were enlightened in doing them, as it is
written : Not the hearers of the law are just before God, but
the doers of the law are justified (Rom. ii. 13). Whosoever
will understand that which he hears, let him make haste
to practise in his works what he was able to hear.
Behold, the Lord was not known while He spoke, but
deigned to be known when breaking the bread.
III. I say this to you, beloved brethren, that you
might willingly practise hospitality and all other works
of charity. Remember St. Paul's words : Let the charity
of the brotherhood abide in you ; and hospitality do not forget ;
for by this some, being not aware of it, have entertained angels
EASTER MONDAY 173
(Heb. xiii. 1,2). And St. Peter says : Using hospitality one
towards another without murmuring (i Pet. iv. 9). Lastly,
Truth Himself says to you : / was a stranger, and you
took Me in (Matt. xxv. 35). An authentic history, related
in the writings of our forefathers, tells us of a father of
a family who, with all the members of his household,
zealously practised the virtue of hospitality. Every day
he received poor strangers at his table, and waited on
them. One day, among the poor strangers there was
one who suddenly disappeared out of the room, at the
moment when the humble and charitable man presented
him, as was his custom, with water to wash his hands
therewith. His surprise was great ; but during the
night he had a vision. Our Lord appeared, and said to
him : ' On other days you received Me in My members,
but yesterday you received Me in Person.' At the last
judgment our Lord will say : Amen, I say to you, as long as
you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me
(Matt. xxv. 40). All this teaches us that, before the
time of the last judgment, Jesus Christ is received by us
in the person of poor strangers, and that those, who
receive them, are considered by Jesus as receiving Him.
Yet we neglect the blessings and merits acquired by true
hospitality. Consider the excellence of this virtue, and
receive Jesus at your table, that one day He may receive
you at His eternal banquet. Take into your house, in
the persons of strangers, the Lord Jesus, that on the day
of the judgment He treat you not as strangers whom He
knows not, but take you as friends into His kingdom,
there to enjoy His glory, Who liveth and reigneth for
ever and ever. Amen.
174 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER, OR LOW
SUNDAY
GOSPEL: John xx. 19-31. At that time: When it was
late that same day, being the first day of the week, and
the doors were shut, where the disciples were gathered
together for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in
the midst, and said to them : Peace be to you. And
when He had said this, He showed them His hands and
His side. The disciples therefore were glad when they
saw the Lord. He said, therefore, to them again :
Peace be to you. As the Father hath sent Me, I also
send you. When He had said this, He breathed on
them, and He said to them : Receive ye the Holy
Ghost ; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven
them ; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained.
Now Thomas, one of the twelve, who is called Didymus,
was not with them when Jesus came, The other dis
ciples, therefore, said to him : We have seen the Lord.
But he said to them : Except I shall see in His hands
the print of the nails, and put my finger into the place
of the nails, and put my hands into His side, I will not
believe. And after eight days, again the disciples were
within, and Thomas with them. Jesus cometh, the
doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said : Peace
be to you. Then He said to Thomas : Put in thy finger
hither, and see My hands, and bring hither thy hand, and
put it into My side ; and be not faithless, but believing.
Thomas answered and said to Him : My Lord and my
God. Jesus said to him : Because thou hast seen Me,
Thomas, thou hast believed : blessed are they that have
not seen, and have believed. Many other signs also did
Jesus in the sight of His disciples, which are not written
in this book. But these are written that you may believe
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 175
that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God ; and that,
believing, you may have life in His Name.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. JOHN LATERAN ON THE FIRST
SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
TWENTY-SIXTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. When we hear this Gospel, our human mind can
hardly understand how it was that the Body of the risen
Lord, being a real Body, could pass through closed doors
into the room where the disciples were assembled. But
this will not surprise us when we consider that the works
of God would no longer be wonderful, were they under
stood by man's reason, and that our faith would be
destitute of all merit, were the human intellect able to
demonstrate how these works of God are done. How
ever, these very works of our Redeemer, which we are
unable to understand, must be taken in connection with
some others of His works, so that we may be led to
believe in wonderful things by means of others still more
wonderful. For that Body of our Lord, which came into
the assembly of the disciples, the doors being shut, was
the same which at His birth was manifested to the eyes
of men, by passing out of the Virgin's womb without
breaking the seal of her virginity. What wonder, then,
is it that Jesus Christ, after His Resurrection, enjoyed a
glorious and immortal life, showed Himself to His dis
ciples, the doors being shut, since as a weak and mortal
child He came out of a Virgin's womb in an incompre
hensible manner ? But since the Body of our Lord,
after His resurrection, though real and visible, could
raise doubts in the minds of the beholders, He showed
them His hands and His side, and allowed them to touch
176 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
that same flesh which had just passed through closed
doors. In this event two strange things which, according
to our understanding, are contrary the one to the other,
were manifested, namely, that His Body was incorrup
tible and yet palpable. For, whatsoever can be touched
must needs be corruptible ; and whatsoever is not subject
to corruption cannot be touched. But, in a way altogether
wonderful and incomprehensible, our Redeemer appeared
after His resurrection in a Body at the same time pal
pable and incorruptible. He appeared in an incorruptible
Body, inviting us to seek the same glorification ; and in
a palpable Body to strengthen our faith. He showed
Himself both incorruptible and palpable, to make mani
fest this fact, that His risen Body was the same in nature,
though transfigured in glory.
II. He said therefore to them again : Peace be to you. As
the Father hath sent Me, I also send you. The Father, Who
is God, sent Me Who am God ; and I Who am also man,
send you who are men. The Father sent the Son, Whom
He appointed to be made man for the redemption of
man. He willed to send the Son into the world to suffer,
though He loved that Son Who was sent to suffer. And
our Lord sent His chosen Apostles into the world, not
to be happy in the world, but to suffer, as He Himself
had been sent. For, as the Father loves the Son, and
yet sent Him to suffer, so does the Lord love His
Apostles, though sending them into the world to suffer
therein. Therefore it is \vell said: 'As the Father hath
sent Me, I also send you ;' meaning, while I send you into
storms and persecutions, I love you all the same with a
love like that wherewith My Father loves Me, Who yet
sent me into the world to suffer. This sending of the
Son may also be understood of His Eternal and Divine
generation, for the Holy Ghost, equal to the Father and
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 177
to the Son, and Who has not assumed our human nature,
was to be sent according to the promise of our Redeemer:
When the Paraclete cometh, Whom I will send you from the
Father (John xv. 26). For should the word send only
mean to become man, then the Holy Ghost could not be
said to have been sent, since He did not become man.
We call Him, therefore, sent, in that sense that He pro
ceeds from the Father and the Son, and, as His sending
refers to His Divine procession, so may the sending of
the Son be referred to His Divine generation.
III. When Jesus, standing in the midst of His
disciples, had said : Peace be to you, He breathed on them
and said : Receive 'ye the Holy Ghost. Let me remark that
Holy Scripture speaks of two occasions only on which the
Holy Ghost was given by our Redeemer : the first, when
He was still on earth, and the second when He was
already reigning in heaven. On the first occasion, as it
is seen in this Gospel, He breathed on His disciples, and
on the second the Holy Ghost came down from heaven
upon them in the form of fiery tongues. Now, should
we wish to know the reason why the Holy Ghost was
imparted at two different times, and under different
circumstances, we must consider that charity contains
two commandments, namely, the love of God and the
love of our neighbour. It seems, therefore, that the
Holy Ghost was given on earth to move us to fulfil the
duty of loving our neighbour; whereas He was sent
from heaven to inflame our hearts with true love for
God. But, since the two commandments spring forth
from charity, which is one and the same, so was the one
and the same Holy Ghost given by our Redeemer on
two occasions — to wit, the first time when He was still on
earth, and the second after His Ascension into heaven,
giving us to understand that the love for our neighbour
12
I78 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
serves like steps leading us up to the love for God,
according to the words of His beloved disciple : // anyone
say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar. For he
that loveth not his brother, whom he seeth, how can he love God,
Whom he seeth not (i John iv. 20). Yet let us not conclude
that the Apostles had not received the Holy Ghost
before, since they possessed Him by faith. But after
the Resurrection the Holy Ghost was given to them in a
special and visible manner ; and we understand in this
sense the words, As yet the Holy Ghost was not given,
because Jesus was not yet glorified (John vii. 39). Hence
Moses said : He set him that he might suck honey out of the
rock, and oil out of the hardest stone (Deut. xxxii. 13). For,
perusing the Books of the Old Testament, we find that
these words cannot be applied to the Israelites, since we
do not see anywhere that they ever sucked honey and
oil out of stones. We conclude, therefore, according to
the testimony of St. Paul, that this rock was Christ.
Indeed, seeing the acts and wonders of Jesus, the disciples
sucked honey out of this Stone, and oil out of this Rock ;
for, after His Resurrection, they received the anointing of
the Holy Ghost. We may also compare our Saviour
with a soft stone, that, through the sweetness of His
miracles, in His earthly life, He offered honey to the
disciples. But since, after His Resurrection He cannot
suffer any more, and has become like a hard rock, He
sent them the anointing of the Holy Ghost.
IV. This is the supernatural oil spoken of by the
prophets : The yoke shall putrefy at the presence of the oil
(Isa. x. 27). We were under the yoke of the cruel
slavery of Satan ; but having received the anointing of
the Holy Ghost, and the grace to be set at liberty, the
tyrannical yoke, under which we were groaning, has dis
appeared. This truth is confirmed by St. Paul, saying
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 179
Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (2 Cor. iii. 17).
However, take notice that these very disciples, who had
already received the Holy Ghost, so as to lead a holy life
with His assistance, and by their preaching to be useful
to others, again received the Holy Ghost after the
Resurrection, and in a most striking manner, for the
benefit of the nations they were to instruct in the course
of time. Hence our Lord, giving them the Holy Ghost,
says : Whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them ;
and whose sins yon shall retain, they are retained. Let us
wonder at the high degree of honour to which the dis
ciples were raised at a time when destined to suffer the
deepest humiliations. They were promised that not only
their own sins were forgiven, but that they had power to
absolve others from their sins — that is, power to sit on
God's judgment-seat, and, like God Himself, to forgive or
retain sins committed against His Divine justice. It was
meet that those who, for the love of God, were ready
to accept every humiliation and contempt, should be
honoured in this way, and that their fear of being con
demned by the severe Judge Whom they adored should
be the motive prompting God to set them up as judges
of souls, which were to be condemned or to be absolved.
V. Consider again, beloved brethren, this important
truth, and carefully endeavour to be preserved from the
eternal perdition. These Easter-days are celebrated
with great pomp and magnificence ; yet our duty is
to make ourselves worthy of arriving at the eternal
Festivals. You endeavour to be present at these feast-
days, which pass and disappear ; try, then, your utmost
to be one day present, all together, at the never-ending
celebration in heaven. What would it profit you to
assist at our festivals now, were you never to be admitted
to the festivities of the angels in heaven ? Our present
12 — 2
i8o SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
feast-days are only the shadow of those we are expecting,
and, though year after year we are celebrating them, we
are longing for those never-ending days in the kingdom
of God. Renew in your hearts the desire of the eternal
festivities by the celebration of the annual earthly festivals.
Let the happiness granted to us in the present time pene
trate us in such a way that we continue sighing for the
eternal happiness prepared for us in heaven, and ardently
desired by us on earth. Prepare yourselves for that
eternal rest by amending your lives and practising virtue
and holiness. Never forget that He Who in His Resur
rection was meekness itself, will be terrible when coming
to judge the world. On this awful day He will appear
surrounded by Angels, Archangels, Thrones, Principali
ties and Powers. On that day heaven and earth and all
the elements, being the ministers of His wrath, will be
in a general conflagration. May this terrible Judge be
ever present to the eyes of your mind, that, penetrated by
a salutary fear of His severe judgment, that is to be held,
you may confidently expect His corning. Let us fear now,
that we may be without fear then, and this fear will help
us to avoid sin and work out our salvation. For I tell
you that the more we are now afraid to rouse the anger
of our Judge against us, the greater will be our confidence
when we appear before Him at the end of the world.
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
GOSPEL : John x. 11-16. At that time : Jesus said to the
Pharisees : I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shep
herd giveth his life for the sheep. But the hireling, and
he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are
not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and
flieth ; and the wolf catcheth and scattereth the sheep,
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 181
and the hireling flieth, because he is a hireling, and he
hath no care for the sheep. I am the Good Shepherd :
and I know Mine and Mine know Me. As the Father
knoweth Me, and I know the Father ; and I lay down
My life for My sheep. And other sheep I have, that
are not of this fold : them also I must bring, and they
shall hear My voice, and there shall be one fold, and one
Shepherd.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER ON THE SECOND SUNDAY
AFTER EASTER.
FOURTEENTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. This Gospel which you have heard, beloved
brethren, is to you, both an instruction and a warning
against danger. For our Lord, Who is infinitely good,
not by an accidental gift of nature, but by the very
essence of His being, says to us : I am the Good Shepherd.
Then He tells us what is the character of His goodness,
even of that goodness which we must endeavour to
imitate. The Good Shepherd giveth His life for His sheep.
This truth was proved by our Redeemer's own example ;
for both the instruction and the command were literally
fulfilled in His life. The Good Shepherd gave His^ life
for the sheep, and made His own Body and Blood to be
the sacramental Food of the sheep He had redeemed. In
this Divine Model we perceive the way we are to go, and
the manner of imitating Him. For we see in Him the
duty freely and tenderly to spend our temporal goods for
His sheep, and, if necessary, to give our life for them.
Again, the soul being more precious than all outward
things that we possess, how shall we be ready to give
our life for our brethren, seeing that we refuse to them
even our worldly substance ? However, there are many,
182 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
loving the things of this world better than the sheep
entrusted to them, who deserve no longer to be called
shepherds. Of them it is said by our Redeemer : The
hireling, and he that is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep
are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and flieth.
II. He is called a hireling, and is deprived of all the
rights of a good shepherd, because he does not in reality
love the sheep entrusted to him — that is, their souls —
but wishes thereby to gain earthly wealth. He that
takes a shepherd's place, and seeks not the salvation of
souls, is only a hireling. He is seeking his happiness in
he honours rendered to his dignity, and endeavours to
procure to himself the commodities of life. And does
not the reward of the hireling consist in the temporal
profit he acquires by the care he takes of his flock, whilst
he will be deprived of the eternal inheritance prepared
by God for His faithful servants ? But it is not very
easy to recognise the true shepherd, and to distinguish
him from the hireling, unless he be discovered by special
circumstances or by dangers threatening the flock. For
very often, when men are kept in safety by peace and
tranquillity, the hireling seems, like a true and faithful
shepherd, to watch over his sheep. But when a wolf
comes near the flock, then will be noticed by what spirit
the selfish shepherd is animated. Under the image of
the ravenous wolf attacking the flock we usually under
stand a violent and unjust man, who attacks souls, and
tries to bring them under his power. In such circum
stances he, who has only the appearance of a zealous
shepherd, will leave his sheep and fly away, because he
is afraid of dangers, and has not the courage to resist the
unjust attempts of the enemy. But the hypocritical
shepherd does not always leave his place or go away
from his flock ; still, he may be said to fly, because he
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 183
gives not his flock the necessary assistance and the
spiritual help he owes to them. He flies, since he keeps
silent at the time when he ought to raise his voice against
injustice ; he flies when, hiding under the cloak of dis
simulation, he tries to escape the strokes of the enemy.
The Prophet justly complains against such faithless
shepherds, saying : You have not gone up to face the enemy,
nor have you set up a wall for the house of Israel, to stand in
battle in the day of the Lord (Ezech. xiii. 5). To face the
enemy means to resist with true freedom and strength of
mind every kind of power misusing its authority and
doing injustice. We stand in battle, and set up a strong
wall for the protection of the house of Israel, when with
the weapons of justice we defend the innocence of the
faithful attacked without cause. But under such critical
circumstances the hireling, perceiving the wolf coming
near the flock, flies instead of resisting.
III. However, there is yet another wolf against whose
fury, far more terrible than the former, we are to protect
ourselves ; for his cruelty ravishes not bodies, but souls.
This is the infernal spirit, who kills souls and carries
them off as his prey. Of the devil it is said : The wolf
catcheth and scattereth the sheep, and the hireling flieth. This
happens when the devil, by his temptations, tears souls
to pieces, and when he, who ought to perform the duties
of a good shepherd, thinks of earthly advantages only,
and lets the souls go to their ruin, without even attempt
ing to help them. The infernal wolf catches and scatters
the sheep, attracting some to lust and impure sins, and
others to avarice ; tempting some to pride or violent
anger ; awakening in some sinful envy, and instructing
others in the art of deceiving. Through these different
temptations death is brought by the devil to Christian
souls ; yet the zeal of the hireling is not awakened.
1 84 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
neither is he prompted by godliness to save his flock
from ruin and destruction. For, since he seeks only the
comforts and commodities of life, he is not moved by the
spiritual sickness nor the eternal death of his flock.
Hence our Lord adds these words : The hireling flieth,
because he is a hireling, as if to say : It is not possible to
one, who is a shepherd of My sheep, to remain firm
amidst dangers surrounding them, if he does not give to
the flock an unselfish love, but is seeking for the perish
able goods of the world. For, desiring honours and try
ing to find happiness in the enjoyment of earthly things,
he will be careful to avoid those dangers by which the
things he loves so well would be lost. After unfolding
before us the defects and faults of the hireling, our Lord
shows us in His own Person the qualities of the one we
are to imitate, and says : I am the Good Shepherd, and I
know Mine — that is, I love them — and Mine know Me,
namely, they are subject to Me, because they love Me.
He that has no love for the truth announced by our
Saviour, cannot boast of knowing Him.
IV. You have seen, beloved brethren, the dangers to
which the office of a pastor or shepherd is exposed*; now
recognise also, according to our Lord's words, those
dangers to which you are exposed. Consider first
whether you are of the sheep belonging to the Divine
Shepherd, and hear His voice. Ask yourselves whether
you know what truth is. For it is not enough to recog
nise the truth by faith — it must be sincerely loved ; and
it is not enough to believe the truth — it must be put into
practice. St. John, who wrote this Gospel, says : He
who saith that he knoweth God, and keepeth not His command
ments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him (i John ii. 4).
And our Lord added these words : As the Father knoweth
Me, and I know the Father ; and I lay down My life for My
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 185
sheep— thai is, I wish them to recognise the love I have
for My Father by the love that moves Me to give My life
for their salvation. And since our Saviour came to
redeem not only the Jews but also the Gentiles, he con
tinued : And other sheep I have that an not of this fold ;
them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice, and there
shall be one fold and one Shepherd. Our Lord, speaking of
these other sheep, had in view our own salvation, for at
that time we were among the number of the Gentiles.
And this is fulfilled every day, as you can witness the
fact ; for you are aware of the mystery of reconciliation
among the idolaters, by which the two nations, formerly
separated, are united in the one and the same fold, and
Jews and Gentiles form one spiritual nation. St. Paul
speaks of this : For Jesus Christ is our peace, Who hath made
loth one (Eph. ii. 14). Thus our Lord gives life everlasting
to simple and artless souls, chosen among the one and the
other nation, and brings them as His sheep into His own
fold.
V. Of these sheep our Lord was speaking, when He
said : My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they
follow Me. And I give them life everlasting. By Me if any
man enter in, he shall be saved ; and he shall go in and out, and
shall find pasture (John x. 27-29). That is, he will go in
by faith, and go out of this life to see Me face to face.
Then he will see with his own eyes that which he believed
when on earth, and finally he will find eternal nourish
ment in this happy dwelling. These are the pastures
promised by our Lord and found by His sheep ; for since
with a simple and willing heart they followed Him, they
will be nourished with heavenly love, that fruitful field
and that inexhaustible source of blessings. Indeed,
what is the food of these beloved sheep but the interior
joy felt at the ever new spectacle prepared for them in
186 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
heaven ? God Himself, ever present to the elect, will
be their food ; and since there is no deficiency in Him,
their souls will be continually satiated with this Bread of
Heaven. In these delicious pastures of eternity, which
alone can satisfy our desires, was found real happiness by
those who have already been victorious over the pleasures
of this world. The heavenly court resounds with the
eternal songs of its blessed inhabitants. Among the
citizens of this holy city are seen those who safely
arrived there after a sad and long pilgrimage in this
foreign country, in which we are still living. There are
seen the Prophets who announced future events ; the
Apostles on their thrones judging the nations ; the
glorious army of the Martyrs, the more praiseworthy the
greater their sufferings had been ; Confessors rewarded
for their constancy ; faithful and fearless men never over
come by the wickedness of the world ; holy women who,
in spite of the weakness of their sex, conquered the
world ; children, whose virtues were beyond the number
of their years ; and old men, whose infirmities never
prevented them from advancing on the road to perfection.
VI. Ah, let us eagerly seek for that spiritual food !
The happiness, which so many heavenly citizens wish to
share with us, will be obtained, and the festivities to which
we are invited will be our portion. Were a great market
or fair to be held in a city, or the feast of the consecra
tion of a church to be celebrated, we should all endeavour
to be present. You would feel very sorry, were you not
able to enjoy the festivities by which those present are
filled with delight and happiness. And we are indifferent
about the eternal blessings, and make no efforts to possess
them ; we are not even desirous of assisting at these eternal
festivities, and, though deprived of them, we still rejoice.
Let us encourage ourselves, beloved brethren ; let our
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 187
faith be awakened by these truths, so that our desires
may be inflamed with love for the eternal goods ; for to
love them is the only way to reach them. Let us not be
prevented by any adversity ; for this place of happiness
must be the aim of our efforts, notwithstanding all
troubles and obstacles encountered in the way. We
should be like a foolish traveller, were we to tarry on the
road looking at the variety of flowers and the beauty of
the fields, without caring to reach the end of our journey.
All our desires ought to take us to the lands above, our
real Fatherland. Let us not desire the goods of this
world, which soon forsake us ; but, wishing to be faithful
sheep of our heavenly Shepherd, instead of loving the
worthless enjoyments of this life, let us be longing after
the eternal pastures by which we shall be made happy
for ever. Amen.
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
GOSPEL: John xvi. 16-22. At that time: Jesus said to
His disciples : A little while, and now you shall not see
Me ; and again a little while, and you shall see Me ;
because I go to the Father. Then some of His disciples
said one to another : What is this that He saith to us :
A little while, and ye shall not see Me; and again a
little while, and you shall see Me, and because I go to
the Father ? They said therefore : What is this that
He saith : A little while ? We know not what He
speaketh. And Jesus knew that they had a mind to ask
Him, and He said to them: Of this do you inquire
among yourselves, because I said : A little while, and you
shall not see Me ; and again a little while, and you shall
see Me ? Amen, amen, I say to you, that you shall
lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice : and you
1 88 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
shall be made sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be
turned into joy. A woman, when she is in labour,
hath sorrow, because her hour is come : but when
she hath brought forth the child, she remembereth no
more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the
world. So also you now indeed have sorrow, but I will
see you again, and your heart shall rejoice ; and your joy
no man shall take from you.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
TRACT 101 ON ST. JOHN.
I. These words of our Lord, where He says : A little
while, and now you shall not see Me; and again a little while,
and you shall see Me ; because I go to the Father, seemed to
the disciples so obscure, before the fulfilment of what He
said, that, whilst asking themselves what they meant,
they confessed that they could not understand them.
The Gospel makes this remark, for it goes on : Then some
of His disciples said one to another : What is this that He saith
to us : A little while, and ye shall not see Me ; and again a
little while, and you shall see Me, and because I go to the
Father ? They said therefore : What is this that He saith :
A little while ? We know not what He speaketh. For this
was the very difficulty that staggered them ; He said :
A little while, and now you shall not see Me ; and again a little
while, and you shall see Me. Yet, when, without speaking
of the short time, the meaning of which they could not
understand, He had before that said to them : I go to the
Father ; and you shall see Me no longer, He seemed to have
spoken openly, and they were not astonished, neither did
they question among themselves about the words. Now,
what to them at that time, before its fulfilment, was a
mystery, and was shown to them only later on, is quite
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 189
clear and intelligible to us. For after a little while He
suffered, and they saw Him not ; again after a little while
He rose again, and they saw Him. And when before
these words He said that He was going to His Father,
and that they should see Him no longer, He wished them
to understand that they would see Him no longer in
His mortality.
II. And Jesus knew, as the Evangelist continues to say :
That they had a mind to ask Him, and He said to them : Of
this do you inquire among yourselves, because I said : A little
while, and you shall not see Me ; and again a little while, and
you shall see Me. Amen, amen, I say to yon, that you shall
lament and weep, but the world shall rejoice : and you shall be
made sorrowful, but youv sorrow shall be turned into joy. And
the disciples experienced all this ; for they were made
sorrowful by the death of our Lord, and again were made
glad by His Resurrection. But the world — that is, the
enemies by whom Christ was killed — rejoiced at Christ's
being put to death, whilst the disciples were made
sorrowful. By the world, of which our Lord speaks,
is undoubtedly meant the wickedness of this world,
namely, of those men who are the friends of the world.
Of this wickedness St. James says : Whosoever will be a
friend of this world, becometh an enemy of God (Jas. iv. 4).
This enmity of the world against God was the cause of
their washing their hands in the Blood of the Son of God.
III. And to be the better understood by His disciples
our Lord makes use of a similitude, and says : A woman,
when she is in labour, hath sorrow, because her hour has come ;
but when she hath bright forth the child, she remembereth no
more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
It is not difficult to understand this similitude, and the
point of comparison is seen at once in the exposition
given by Himself of its meaning. The labour is com-
1 90 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
pared to sorrow, the birth to joy. And this joy will be
the greater when it is not a girl, but a boy that is born.
This is a figure of the eternal felicity in heaven, a fruit
of the tribulations of the just on earth. However, Jesus
added : Your heart shall rejoice ; and your joy no man shall
take from you. He thus teaches His disciples that He
Himself will be their joy, that He will never be taken
from them, signifying what the Apostle says : Christ
rising again from the dead, dieth now no more ; death shall no
more have dominion over Him (Rom. vi. 9).
IV. I also think that the words : / will see you again,
and your heart shall rejoice ; and your joy no man shall take
from you, are not to be referred to the time when He was
risen from the dead, and when He showed them His
flesh to be looked at and touched, but rather to that
time of which He had already spoken, when He said : He
that loveth Me, shall be loved of My Father ; and I will love
him, and will manifest Myself to him (John xiv. 21). In
fact, He had already risen, He had already shown Himself
to them in the flesh, and He was already sitting at the
right hand of His Father, when this same Apostle John,
who wrote this Gospel, said in his Epistle : Dearly beloved,
we are now the sons of God ; and it hath not yet appeared what
we shall be. We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be
like to Him : because we shall see Him as He is (i John iii. 2).
This vision, therefore, is not for this life, but for the life
to come ; it is not temporal, but eternal. For He that is
the Truth and the Life says : This is eternal life ; that they
may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom
. Thou hast sent (John xvii. 3). Of this blessed seeing, and
this perfect knowing the Apostle says : We see now through
a glass in a dark manner ; but then face to face. Now I know
in part : but then I. shall know even as I am known (i Cor.
xiii. 12). At present the Church is, so to speak, in labour
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 191
by her desires, but then she will rejoice seeing the fruits of
her efforts. Now she labours in sorrow and amidst
prayers ; then she will manifest her joy, and eternally
praise God Who delivered her. Then she will arrive at
the long expected end, by which alone she can be satisfied ;
that end of which St. Philip, inspired by the Holy Ghost,
spoke when he said to our Saviour : Show us the Father,
and it is enough for us. In this showing of the Father,
which is enjoyed by the Saints in heaven, the Son pro
mised to manifest Himself, saying : Do you not believe that
I am in the Father, and the Father in Me ? (John xiv. 8-10).
And in the possession of this blessing, by which alone
our desires can be perfectly satisfied, consists our happi
ness, which, as our Lord said, no man can take from us.
V. This little while of which until now we have been
speaking, must also be referred to this present time, flying
away with such rapidity that the Apostle says : It is the
last hour (i John ii. 18). That the short duration of time
may be understood, our Lord compared Himself to a
wanderer on earth, for He said \ I go to the Father.
These words have reference to the little while spoken
of to His disciples, during which they would not see
Him, and not to that other time when, as they were
assured, they would see him again. For, from the time
He went to His Father, as He said at the beginning, He
ceased to show Himself to His disciples. Finally, by
these words a little while we are given to understand
the short space of the times in which we live ; for our
Lord did not say to His Apostles that He would die,
and that they would be deprived of His presence, until
the day of His Resurrection ; but He said that He would
go to His Father, as it was done on the day of His
Ascension, after showing Himsell to His disciples, and
being with them during the forty days following His
192 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Resurrection. As to these words, And again a little while,
and you shall see Me, they must be understood of the
special assistance He promised to His Church, when on
another occasion He said : Behold I am with you all days,
even to the consummation of the world (Matt, xxviii. 20).
For as St. Peter says : The Lord delayeth not His promise
(2 Peter iii. 9) ; and after a little while we shall see Him
again, when there shall be no need of making request,
no need of putting questions, because there shall be
nothing left to be desired, nothing hidden to be inquired
into. This little while seems long to us, because it is
yet going on in our life ; but when it shall be ended, then
we shall feel how short it was. Let not our joy, there
fore, be such as the children of the world have, of whom
our Lord says : The ivorld shall rejoice. Yet let us not in
our labouring with this desire be without joy ; we may
be sorrowful, but, as the Apostle says, Rejoicing in hope ;
patient in tribulation (Rom. xii. 12), because the very
mother we are likened to is more rejoicing over the off
spring she is about to have, than she is sorrowful for her
present pains.
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
GOSPEL: John xvi. 5-14. At that time: Jesus said to
His disciples : I go to Him that sent Me ; and none of
you asketh Me, Whither goest Thou ? But because I
have spoken these things to you, sorrow hath filled your
heart. But I tell you the truth ; it is expedient to you
that I go : for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to
you ; but if I go, I will send Him to you. And when
He is come, He will convince the world of sin, and of
justice, and of judgment. Of sin ; because they believed
not in Me. And of justice ; because I go to the Father ;
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 193
and you shall see Me no longer ; and of judgment,
because the prince of this world is already judged. I
have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear
them now. But when He, the Spirit of truth, is come,
He will teach you all truth. For He shall not speak of
Himself, but what things soever He shall hear, He shall
speak ; and the things that are to come He shall show
you. He shall glorify Me, because He shall receive of
Mine, and shall declare it to you.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
TRACT 94 ON ST. JOHN.
I. The Lord Jesus, after foretelling His disciples the
persecutions they would have to suffer after His depar
ture, went on to say : But I told you not these things from
the beginning, because I was with you. And now I go to Him
that sent Me. Let us first inquire whether He had before
this moment foretold them their future sufferings. That
He had done so before the night of the Last Supper is
testified by the three first Evangelists ; but it was at the
end of that supper that, according to St. John, He spoke
these words : But I told you not these things from the begin
ning, because I was with you. Are we, then, to try and find
the solution of this difficulty by asserting that, according
to those three Evangelists, it was on the eve of the
Passion, though before the supper, that He had said
these things to them ? That, therefore, not from the
beginning of His being with them, but when He was
about to leave them, and to go to the Father, He said
these things ? And so, even according to those Evan
gelists, this also is true what He said by the other : But
I told you not these things from the beginning. But then,
what credit shall we attach to the Gospel according to
13
,94 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
St. Matthew, who tells us that our Lord spoke to His
Apostles of these things concerning their sufferings, not
only when He was on the point of eating the Paschal
Supper with them, immediately before His Passion, but
also at the very beginning, when the names of the twelve
were for the first time mentioned, and they were sent
forth to do the Divine works? (Matt. x.). It seems,
then, that when He said, But I told you not these things
from the beginning, because I was with you, He meant by
' these things ' not the sufferings they were to bear for His
sake, but His promise of the Holy Ghost, Who should
come to them and bear witness while they suffered .
And these things He did not say from the beginning,
because He was with them.
II. This Comforter, then, or Advocate (for both terms
render the Greek word Paracletos], would be necessary to
them when they saw Christ no more ; and this is the
reason why He had not spoken of Him to them at the
beginning of His public life, while He was with them,
since His visible presence was then their sufficient com
fort. But now that He was about to depart from them,
it behoved Him to tell them of the coming of that Spirit,
through Whom it would come to pass that, by the love
infused into their hearts, they should preach the word of
God with boldness. And while the Holy Ghost inwardly
that is, within them— bore testimony of Christ, they
also should bear witness, and feel no cause of stumbling
when their enemies, the Jews, should put them out of the
synagogues and kill them, imagining that they were doing
a service to God ; for * chanty endunth all things ' (i Cor.
xiii. 7), and that charity of God was poured forth in their
hearts by the Holy Ghost given to them (Rom. v. 5).
This, then, is the whole meaning of His discourse, namely,
that He would make them His martyrs— that is, witnesses
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 195
— through the Holy Ghost ; so that by His working they
should endure any amount of persecutions, and not grow
cold in their preaching, being then inflamed by that
Divine fire. But these things. He said, / have told you
that, when the hour shall come, you may remember that I told
you of them. These things, therefore, I have told you, not
only that you suffer them, but also that, when the Para
clete is come, He shall bear testimony that you may not
keep silence through fear, when you ought to speak, but
you also shall bear testimony to Me.'
III. And when our Lord said, Now I go to Him that
sent Me, and none of you askethMe, Whither goest Thou? He
wished to intimate that He was about to go in their
presence, and in such a manner, that it would be useless
to ask to what place He was going. For previously to
this they had asked Him whither He was going, and He
had answered that He was going whither they at that
time could not come. But now He declared that His
going will be in such a manner, that none of them shall
ask whither He goes. For when He ascended into
heaven, a cloud received Him ; and as He went, they
asked not in words whither, but with their eyes they
escorted Him thither.
IV. Jesus saw what effect these words about His going
produced in the hearts of His disciples, and He said :
Because I have spoken these things to you, sorrow hath foiled
your heart. Indeed, they had not yet the spiritual con
solation which they were to receive through the Holy
Ghost, who would fill them with His gifts. They feared,
therefore, to lose the visible presence of their Master ; and,
because they could not doubt that He spoke the truth,
their human affection was saddened, being convinced
that their carnal sight of Him would be left desolate.
However, He knew wrhat was most expedient to them,
13—2
196 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
because that inner sight, wherewith the Holy Spirit should
console them, was assuredly superior. This Spirit would
not present a human body before the bodies of men, that
they should see Him, but He would infuse Himself into
the hearts of men who believed. And Jesus goes on to
say : But I tell yon the truth ; it is expedient to you that I go ;
for if I go not, the Paraclete will not come to you ; but if I go,
I will send Him to you. As though He said : It is expedient
to you that this human form of a servant be taken from
you. I am indeed the Word made flesh dwelling among
you ; but I do not wish you to love only My corporeal and
carnal presence, and, content with this milk, desire to be
always infants. If you suffer not the tender aliments,
wherewith I have fed you, to be withdrawn from you, you
will never be longing for solid meat. If in a carnal way
you cleave only to the flesh you see in Me, you will never
be worthy to receive the communications of the Holy
Spirit. But what is the meaning of these words : If I go
not, the Paraclete will not come to you ; but if I go, I will send
Him to you ? Who would say that our Lord, whilst on
earth with His disciples, had not the power to send them
the Holy Ghost ? For it must not be imagined that He
had left the place where that Spirit was, and that He had
been sent by His Father in such a way as not to abide
with the Father any longer. Wlio will believe that Jesus
Christ had not the power, even when still on earth, to
send the Holy Ghost, Who, as we know, came upon
Him at His baptism in the Jordan, and remained upon
Him, and from Whom, indeed, we know that He was
never separable ? Then the meaning of, // / go not, the
Comforter will not come to you, will be : You cannot receive
the Spirit, as you persist in knowing Christ after the flesh
and loving Him in the flesh. Whence St. Paul, who
also had received the Spirit, says : If we have known Christ
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 197
according to the flesh, but now we know Him so no longer
(2 Cor. v. 1 6). For, even now he did not know the flesh
of Christ in a carnal way, until brought to a spiritual
knowledge of the Word that has been made flesh. And
surely our good Master wished to intimate this, when He
said : If I go not, the Comforter will not come to you ; but if I
go, I will send Him to you.
V. Let us also believe that, when Christ bodily with
drew from the presence of His disciples, not only the
Holy Ghost, but both the Father and the Son were pre
sent to them spiritually. For if Christ departed from
them in such a manner that the Holy Ghost was in them,
instead of Him and without Him, what becomes of His
promise : Behold, I am with you all days, even to the consum
mation of the world ? And how can we explain these other
words of our Redeemer : We will come to him, I and the
Father, and will make Our abode with him, seeing that He
had promised to send the Holy Ghost in such a way as
to be Himself with them to the end of the world ? In
this way it was, on the other hand, that seeing they were
out of their carnal or animal condition to become spiritual,
they were also, with undoubted certainty, to have both
the Father and the Son, with the Holy Ghost, in a more
comprehensive way. But we are not to believe that the
Father is present in any man without the Son and the
Holy Ghost, or the Father and the Son without the Holy
Ghost, or the Son without the Father and the Holy
Ghost, or the Holy Ghost without the Father and the
Son, or the Father and the Holy Ghost without the
Son. But wherever any one of them is, there also is the
Trinity, one God. Here, however, the notion of the
Trinity had to be suggested in such a manner that,
though there was no diversity of substance, yet, by the
several mentioning of each Person, we should be in-
198 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
formed of the distinction of the Persons, of Whom, to
them that rightly understand, there can never be a sepa
ration of Natures.
VI. Our Lord, when promising that He would send
the Holy Ghost, said : When He is come, He will convince
the world of sin, and of justice, and of judgment. What does
this mean ? Did not the Lord Jesus convince the world
of sin when He said : // / had not come and spoken to them,
they would not have sin ; but now they have no excuse for their
sins (John xv. 22). And, that no one may take it into
his head to say that this applied properly to the Jews,
and not to the world in general, He said in another
place : If you had been of the world, the world would love its
own (xv. 22). Did He not convince the world of justice,
saying : 0 just Father, the world hath not known Thee ?
(xvii. 23). Again, did He not convince the world of
judgment, when He declared that He would say to those
on the left hand : Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlast
ing fire, which was prepared for the devil and Us angels ?
(Matt. xxv. 41). And many other passages are found in
the holy Gospel, where Christ convinced the world of
these things. How is it, then, that He attributes this to
the Holy Ghost, as if it properly belonged to Him ? Is
it, perhaps, that, because Christ spoke only among the
nation of the Jews, He does not appear to have reproved
the world, so that he only be understood to be reproved,
who actually hears the reprover ? Yet the Holy Ghost,
Who was in His disciples when scattered through the
world, is understood as having reproved not one nation,
but the whole world. For, notice what He said to them
when about to ascend into heaven : It is not for you to
know the times or moments, which the Father hath put in His
own power ; but you shall receive the power of the Holy Ghost
coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses unto Me in Jerusalem,
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 199
and in all Judata and Samaria, and even to the uttermost part
of the earth (Acts i. 7, 8). Surely this is to reprove or
convince the whole world. But who would venture to
say that through the disciples of Christ the Holy Ghost
reproves the world, and that Christ Himself does not,
when the Apostle exclaims : Do you seek a proof of Christ
that speaketh in me ? (2 Cor. xiii. 3). When, therefore,
the Holy Ghost reproves, assuredly Christ also reproves.
But, in my opinion, because there was to be poured forth
in their heart that charity (Rom. v. 5), which casteth out fear
(i John iv. 1 8), by which fear they might have been
hindered from daring to reprove the world, roaring at
them with persecutions, He said: He shall convince
(reprove) the world. Being then strengthened by the
Holy Ghost, they reproved the world without fearing
either torture or death. We have often mentioned that
the operations of the Trinity are not separable, yet there
was need to set forth the Persons one by one, that, with
out separating Them nor confounding Them together,
we may have a clear understanding of Their Unity and
Trinity.
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
GOSPEL: John xvi. 23-30. At that time: Jesus said to
His disciples : Amen, amen, I say to you ; if you ask
the Father anything in My name, He will give it you.
Hitherto you have not asked anything in My name.
Ask, and you shall receive ; that your joy may be full.
These things I have spoken to you in proverbs. The
hour cometh when I will no more speak to you in
proverbs, but will show you plainly of the Father. In
that day you shall ask in My name, and I say not to you,
that I will ask the Father for you. For the Father Him-
203 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
self loveth you, because you have loved Me, and have
believed that I came out from God. I came forth from
the Father, and am come into the world ; again I leave
the world, and I go to the Father. His disciples say to
Him : Behold, now Thou speakest plainly, and speakest
no proverbs. Now we know that Thou knowest all
things, and Thou needest not that any man should ask
Thee. By this we believe that Thou comest forth from
God.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
TRACT 102 ON ST. JOHN.
I. The words of our Lord, which you are now to con
sider, are these : A men, amen, 1 say to you : if you ask tlic
Father anything in My name, He will give it you. It has
already been said in the earlier part of this discourse of
the Lord, with regard to those who ask some things of the
Father in Christ's name, and receive them not, that what
soever is asked and tends not to salvation, is not asked in
the name of the Redeemer. For, not the sounds of letters
and syllables, but what the sound signifies, and what by
that sound is honestly and truly understood, that He
is regarded to declare, when saying : In My name.
Hence, he that has such ideas of Christ as ought not to
be entertained of the only Son of God, is not asking in
His name, though he may not abstain from mentioning
the name of Christ in so many letters and syllables;
because by that sound he means not the real Christ, but
a fancied being, who has no existence but in the speaker's
imagination. But, on the other hand, whosoever thinks
of Christ as he ought to, this one is asking in Christ's name,
and will receive, provided he ask for nothing against his
own salvation ; and if it be good for him to receive, he will
receive. Some things are not given at once, but are
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 201
deferred, that they may be given at a more suitable time.
This is the true interpretation of the words : He will give
it you — that is, those benefits or blessings will be given
which are good to them that ask. All the saints are
heard, when asking for themselves, but not necessarily
when asking for others, whether friends or enemies ;
because it is not said in a general way, He will give, but
He will give it you.
II. Hitherto, says the Lord, you have not asked anything
in My name. Ask, and you shall receive, that your joy may be
full. This joy of theirs, which He calls full, is not to be
understood as meaning a carnal joy, but a spiritual one.
When that joy is so great, that it cannot be increased any
more, then it will undoubtedly be full. Whatsoever, then,
is asked for the fulfilment of this joy — viz., grace and
everlasting life — is a thing that is just and meet to ask in
the name of Christ. Should we ask anything else, and
not this, we ask nothing, though we actually ask some
thing ; because in comparison with this all other things
we covet are nothing. If we say that man is something,
we hear the Apostle, saying : // any man think himself to be
something, whereas he is nothing, hedeceiveth himself (Gal. vi. 3).
But the fact is, that in comparison with the spiritual man,
who knows that by the grace of God only he is what he
is, the one who entertains vain presumptions is nothing.
In this way, therefore, may those words be rightly
understood : Amen, amen, I say to you : if you ask the Father
anything in My name, He will give it you ; so that by the
word anything should not be understood any thing that we
please, but any thing that is not considered nothing in
connection with a blessed life. And the following words :
Hitherto you have not asked anything in My name, may be
understood in two ways : either, that you have not asked
in My name, because you have not known this name, as it
202 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
ought to be known ; or you have not asked anything,
because, in comparison with the things you ought to have
asked, what you have asked is to be accounted as nothing.
And that they may ask in His name, not that which is
nothing, but a full joy — since if they ask anything else,
that anything is nothing, — He addressed to them this
exhortation : Ask, and you shall receive ; that your joy may be
full — that is, ask this in My name, that your joy may be
full, and you shall receive. For His saints, who persevere
in asking such a good thing will, by the mercy of God,
never be defrauded.
III. These things, He said, / have spoken to you in pro
verbs. The hour cometh when I will no move speak to you in
proverbs, but will show you plainly of the Father. The hour
of which He speaks might be supposed to mean the
world to come, when we shall see openly as St. Paul says,
face to face ; and that what He says, These things I have
spoken to you in proverbs, should be understood by the words
of the same Apostle : We see now thmigh a glass in a dark
manner (i Cor. xiii. 12). But I will show you, because the
Father shall be seen through the instrumentality of the
Son, according to what is said elsewhere : Neither doth
anyone know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom it shall
please the Son to reveal Him (Matt. xi. 27). But this sense
seems to be interfered with by what follows : In that day
yon shall ask in My name. For in the future world, when we
have reached the kingdom, where we shall be like to Him,
because we shall see Him as He is (i John iii. 2), what
shall we then have to ask, when our desires shall be
satisfied with good things'? (Ps. cii. 5). In another Psalm
it is also said : / shall be satisfied when Thy glory shall
appear (Ps. xvi. 15). The asking for anything implies
need, which cannot have any place there, where this
fulness of satisfaction shall be attained and reign.
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 203
IV. It remains, therefore, for us, as far as I can conceive
the matter, to understand Jesus as having promised His
disciples that, of carnal or animal, they should through
Him become spiritual, though not yet such as we shall
be, when a spiritual body shall also be ours, but such as
he was who said : We speak wisdom among the perfect
(i Cor. ii. 6), and / could not speak to you as unto spiritual,
but as unto carnal (i Cor. iii. i) ; and : We have received .not
the spirit of this world, but the Spirit that is of God, that we
may know the things that are given us from God. Which
things we also speak, not in the words of human wisdom, but in
the doctrine of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual. But the sensual man perceiveth not those things that
are of the Spirit of God (i Cor. ii. 12-14). And thus the
sensual man hears in such a way whatsoever is told him
of the nature of God, that he can conceive of nothing else
but some bodily form, however spacious or immense,
however bright and splendid, yet still a body. They are,
therefore, proverbs to him, whatsoever is said of the
incorporeal and immutable substance of wisdom. Not
that he accounts them as proverbs or riddles, but because
his thoughts follow the same direction as those who
usually listen to proverbs without understanding them.
But the spiritual man, who judges all things and is
judged by no one, perceives, though in this life it still be
* through a glass,' and ' in part.' He perceives, not by any
bodily sense, and not by any imaginative conception,
which takes in or fancies the likenesses of all sorts of
bodies, but by the clearest understanding of the mind,
that God is not a body, but a Spirit. In such a way does
the Son of God openly show us of the Father, that He
Who thus reveals, is also Himself of the same substance
as the Father. Thus we see how it is that those who are
asking, ask in His name, because they know that to ask
204 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
in this name, is to ask in the name of God. They do not,
in vanity or weakness of mind, fancy to themselves the
Father being in one place and the Son in another ; the
Son humbly standing before the Father and making
request in our behalf; both, in the material substance
occupying each its own place, and the Word pleading
verbally for us with Him Whose Word He is, whilst a
definite space exists between the speaker's mouth and the
hearer's ears. Such absurdities are fabricated for them
selves in their own hearts by those who are natural and
also carnal. But such things, suggested by the experi
ence of bodily habits, if occurring to spiritual men when
thinking of God, are at once denied, rejected, and driven
away, like troublesome flies, from the eyes of their mind.
They rest in the sincerity of that light, by whose testi
mony and judgment they prove how utterly false are
these bodily images that haunt their inward vision.
They are able, to a certain extent, to think of our Lord
Jesus Christ as Man addressing the Father on our behalf ;
but as God hearing our prayers with the Father. And
this, I suppose, He wished to indicate, when He said : /
say not to you that I will ask the Father for yon. But the
perception of this, that the Son asks not the Father, but
that Father and Son together hear those who ask, this
height of conception can be reached only by the spiritual
eye of the mind.
V. For the Father Himself loveth you, because you have loved
Me. Does He love because we love— or, rather, do we
love because He loves ? Let the same Evangelist
answer out of his own epistle : We love God, he says,
because God first hath loved us (i John iv. 19). This, there
fore, is the cause of our love, namely, that we were loved ;
for to love God is the gift of God. He, while still un
loved, gave us the grace to love Him. We were loved,
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 205
even when displeasing Him, that there might be in us
that whereby we should be pleasing in His sight ; for
we could not love the Son unless we also loved the
Father. The Father loves us, because we love the Son,
since we have received of the Father and the Son the
power to love both the Father and the Son. For love
is poured forth into our hearts by the Spirit of both ;
by which Spirit we love both the Father and the Son,
and Him Whom we love together with the Son and
the Father. God, therefore, it was, Who made that re
ligious love of ours, whereby we worship Him, and He
saw that it was good. Therefore He loved what He
made ; but He would not have made in us anything
He could love, were it not that He loved us before He
made us.
VI. And Jesus added : * You have believed that I came out
from God. I came forth from the Father, and am come into the
world ; again I leave the world, and I go to the Father. Yes,
we have believed. Surely it ought not to be thought a
thing incredible, only because that, in coming into the
world, He came in such a manner out of the Father, as
not to quit the Father, and, in leaving the world, He went
to the Father in such a manner, as not to forsake the
world. For He came forth from the Father, because He
is of the Father, and He came into the world showing
His bodily form, which He took to Himself of the Virgin
Mary. He left the world by a bodily withdrawal ; He
went to the Father by His Ascension as Man, yet He
quitted not the world in the ruling activity of His
presence.
VII. Everywhere throughout the Gospels, the inward
state of Christ's disciples is declared by many testi
monies, when before His Passion He talketh with them,
as with children, of great things. But He spoke in such
206 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
a way, as was meet that great things should be spoken of
to children. Not having yet received the Holy Ghost,
as they did after His Resurrection, either by His breath
ing upon them, or by the descent from above, they had a
mental capacity for the things of men rather than the
things of God. This is also declared by what they said
in the lesson before us. For, says the Evangelist : His
disciples say to Him : Behold, now Thou speakest plainly, and
speakest no proverbs. Now we know that Thou knowest all
things, and Thou needest not that any man should ask Thee.
By this we believe that Thou comest forth from God. The
Lord Himself had said just before : These things I have
spoken to you in proverbs. The hour cometh when I will no
more speak to you in proverbs. How is it, then, that they
say : Behold, now Thou speakest plainly, and speakest no pro
verbs ? Was the hour now come, when He had promised
He would no more speak to them in proverbs ? No ;
that such an hour was not yet come is shown by the con
tinuation of His words, which are as follows : These things
I have spoken to you in proverbs. The hour cometh when I
will no more speak to you in proverbs, but will show you plainly
of the Father. In that day you shall ask in My name, and I
say not to you that I will ask the Father for you. For the
Father Himself loveth you, because you have loved Me, and
have believed that I came out from God. I came forth from
the Father, and am come into the world ; again I leave the
•world, and I go to the Father. Since throughout all these
words He is still promising that hour, when He shall no
more speak in proverbs, but shall show them openly the
Father, why do they say : Behold, now Thou speakest plainly,
and speakest no proverbs, except because the things He knows
to be proverbs to those that have no understanding, they
are still so far from understanding, that they do not even
know that they do not understand them ? For they were
ASCENSION DAY 207
babes, and had no spiritual discernment of what they
heard regarding things which pertained not to the body,
but to the spirit.
ASCENSION DAY.
GOSPEL: Mark xvi. 14-20. A t that time: Jesus appeared
to the eleven as they were at table ; and He upbraided
them with their incredulity and hardness of heart, because
they did not believe them who had seen Him after He
was risen again. And He said to them : Go ye into the
whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature.
He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but
he that believeth not shall be condemned. And these
signs shall follow them that believe : in My name they
shall cast out devils ; they shall speak with new tongues ;
they shall take up serpents ; and if they shall drink any
deadly thing, it shall not hurt them ; they shall lay hands
upon the sick, and they shall recover. And the Lord
Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was taken up to
heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God. But they,
going, preached everywhere, the Lord working withal,
and confirming the word with signs that followed.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER ON THE FEAST OF THE
ASCENSION OF OUR LORD.
TWENTY-NINTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. The slowness of the disciples to believe that the
Lord had indeed risen from the dead was not so much,
if I may be allowed to say so, a sign of their weakness,
as the motive of Divine Providence to strengthen us in
our faith. Indeed, the consequence of their doubts was
208 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
the demonstration of the Resurrection by many infallible
proofs. And we read and acknowledge these proofs, and
our faith is assured by the disciples' doubt. For my
part, I do not put so much trust in Mary Magdalen, who
believed at once, as in Thomas, who doubted so long ;
for by his doubting he came actually to touch the Lord's
wounds, and thereby closed up any wound of doubt in
our own hearts. However, to confirm to our minds the
truth of the Resurrection of our Lord, we do well to take
notice of one of the statements of St. Luke : Eating
together with them, He commanded them that they should not
depart from Jerusalem (Acts i. 4); and a little afterwards:
While they looked on, He was raised up, and a cloud received Him
out of their sight (ver. 9). He ate, and ascended ; so that
the fact of His eating might show the reality of His body
in which He went up. But St. Mark tells us that before
the Lord ascended into heaven, He upbraided His dis
ciples with their incredulity and hardness of heart. I
know not what we should gather from this, unless that
the Lord then reproached His disciples, from whom He
was about to be parted in the body, to this end, that the
words He spoke to them, as He left them, might be the
deeper imprinted on their hearts.
II. And when He had rebuked the hardness of their
heart, what command did He give them ? Listen : Go
ye into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature.
Was, then, the holy Gospel to be preached to things
insensate, or to brute animals, that the Lord said to His
disciples : Preach the Gospel to every creature ? No ; but by
the words every creature we must understand man, who
possesses qualities pertaining to all creatures. He has
being in common with stones, life in common with trees,
feeling in common with beasts, and understanding in
common with angels. If, then, man has something in
ASCENSION DAY 209
common with every creature, man is to some extent
every creature. And if the Gospel is preached to man
only, it is preached to every creature, because man has
dominion over all things created by God on earth, and
because every thing created has in itself something like
to man. However, we may also suppose that the inten
tion of Jesus, commanding His Apostles to preach the
Gospel to every creature, was to give them to understand
that His Gospel was to be preached to all the nations in
the world. On a former occasion He had told them not
to go to the Gentiles, but now He commanded them to
preach to all men. When, therefore, the Jews despised
the preaching of the Apostles announcing Jesus Christ,
the preachers turned to the Gentiles and were listened
to. For, instead of imitating the pernicious pride and
obstinacy of the Jews, the Gentiles humbly submitted to
the yoke of the Gospel. When the Apostles were sent
by the Eternal Truth to preach to the world, a most
precious seed was sown, which seems very small, but
which, through faith, will soon bring forth a rich harvest.
How could the number of the faithful have increased in
the world in such marvellous manner, had not the hand
of the Almighty spread abroad among the different
nations the small number of Apostles chosen for the
purpose of extending His kingdom on earth ?
III. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved ; but
he that believeth not shall be condemned. Relying on the
truth of these words every one among us will perhaps -
say: I shall be saved, for I believe. This will un
doubtedly be the case if our actions agree with the faith
we profess. For we shall be saved by that faith by
which our life is in conformity with the principles it
teaches. St. Paul confirms this when, speaking of bad
Christians, he says : They profess that they know God, but in
10
SUNDAYS AXD FESTIVALS
their works they deny Him (Titus i. 16). The same is said
by St. John : He who saith that he knoweth God and keepeth
not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him
(i John ii. 4). If this be so, then our life must abso
lutely give testimony to the faith which we profess ; and
if our conduct be not against the rules prescribed by our
holy religion, then we may trust to belong to the number
of the faithful. Indeed, we do not forget the solemn
promises made at our baptism— namely, to renounce
Satan, all his works and all his pomps. Let each of us
earnestly examine himself, and should he be able to
testify to the fact that he has fulfilled all those duties
taken upon himself in the Sacrament of Baptism, he may
congratulate himself on the happiness of being a good
Christian. But should he be forced to confess that he
has been faithless to his promises, that he has been a
member of that company which he had formerly re
nounced, and that his actions reproach him with having
lost his innocence, then let him ask himself whether he
feels deep contrition for his sins, and endeavours to wash
them out with tears of repentance. Our Judge is a God
of mercies, who will no longer recognise as faithless the
servant who, after leaving Him, now feels contrite, and
sincerely returns to Him; for our penance will make
Him forget the sins that had rendered us guilty in His
eyes.
IV. Then our Lord added these words : And these signs
shall follow them that believe ; in My Name they shall cast out
devils ; they shall speak with new tongues ; they shall take up
serpents ; and if they shall drink any deadly thing, it shall not
hurt them ; they shall lay hands upon the sick, and they shall
recover. Now, do not think because such miracles are
not wrought by you, that you have not the true faith.
These miracles were necessary at the beginning of the
ASCENSION DAY 211
Church, that the faith should be accepted, and the
number of the faithful increased by the signs of the
Almighty power. For the beginning of the Church may
be compared to the planting of a young tree, which is to
be tended and watered until it has taken deep root in the
ground. Therefore St. Paul says : Tongues are for a sign
not to believers, but to unbelievers (i Cor. xiv. 22). But there
is also an important lesson contained in these miracles
and gifts of the Holy Ghost, provided we understand their
meaning. For these miracles, which in former times
were wrought by the Apostles in a corporal and visible
manner, now take place in the Church of God in a
spiritual and invisible manner. When we, priests and
ministers of the Church, lay our hands upon the faithful,
and see how by the power of exorcisms the evil spirit is
prevented from entering souls, is it not as if we were
casting out devils ? When Christians, formerly addicted
to bad conversations, so common in the world, now
renounce such sins, are edifying in their words, conversing
about the doctrine of salvation, and everywhere praising
their Creator and Redeemer, are they not like those
Christians who spoke with new tongues P Again, those
who, by their zealous admonitions, withdraw others from
a shameful and vicious life take up serpents, and are not
poisoned by them. If anyone, hearing corrupting lan
guage, is not affected by it or led to evil, does he not
seem to drink a deadly thing, and is not hurt ? Lastly, all
those who, seeing their brethren, not yet strong in virtue
on the point of yielding to sin, run to their help, in order
to prevent their spiritual shipwreck ; all others who by
their good example strengthen their neighbour in virtue —
all of them lay hands upon the sick, and they recover. All
these miracles are the more astonishing, since they are
worked on souls, the resurrection of which to the
14—2
212 5 UN DA YS A ND FESTI VALS
spiritual life of grace is more wonderful than the rising of
bodies. Well, beloved brethren, you can do these in
visible wonders with the help of God, if only you are
willing. As to the visible signs, proving the holiness of
those who work them, they cannot of themselves sanctify,
not even those by whom they are witnessed ; whereas
the spiritual gifts, spoken of just now, when imparted to
souls, though not proving the virtue of the receivers,
nevertheless give them the life of grace. Both the good
and the wicked may be favoured by exterior gifts ; yet
the spiritual gifts are possessed by the just only. There
fore it was said by the Eternal Truth, speaking of those
who boast of having done miracles in His Name : Many
will say to me in that day : Lord, Lord, have not we,
prophesied in Thy Name, and cast out devils in Thy name, and
done many miracles in Thy Name ? A nd then will I profess
unto them, I never knew yon ; depart from Me, yon that work
iniquity (Matt. vii. 22, 23). Beloved brethren, do not
desire these exterior signs which are sometimes granted
by God to His enemies and to the reprobate ; but
earnestly wish for those wonders of love and examples of
true piety, I have spoken of to you. Their merits are
the surer the more they are hidden — merits that will be
the more generously rewarded by God, the less they are
shining before the eyes of men.
V. And the Lord Jesus, after He had spoken to them, was
taken up to heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God.
When we read in Holy Scripture (4 Kings ii.) that Elias
also was taken up to heaven, we easily understand the
difference. The prophet was taken up in the air, whereas
our Saviour ascended by His own power into heaven.
As the birds, flying up in the air and again coming down,
are called the birds of the heaven, so Elias is said to have
passed through the space of the air or atmosphere, that
ASCENSION DAY 213
he might be taken to an unknown land, there to spend
painless and happy days, until the end of the world, when
he will again appear and pay the debt of nature. Death
is a punishment that was not remitted to him ; it was
only postponed. But our Redeemer, suffering death
without delay, conquered it and destroyed its dominion
by His Resurrection, the glory of which was revealed in
the triumph of His Ascension. Again, observe that the
prophet Elias was taken up to heaven in a fiery chariot,
showing that> as a human being, he had need of exterior
help. Angels carried him into the atmosphere, wherein
the great weakness of his human nature could not have
supported him. But our Saviour ascended into heaven
by His own power, without the assistance of angels or
the help of creatures ; and He saw the earth under His
feet, since by His Almighty power He was elevated above
all things. He ascended without any effort to the eternal
dwellings, for He had never left His glory ; and if as man
He ascended into heaven, as God He had always been
present in heaven and on earth.
VI. As Joseph, sold by his brethren, was a symbol of
Jesus sold by Judas, so were also Henoch, translated by
God to paradise, and Elias taken up to heaven, two
types of His Ascension. Our Lord wished this great
mystery to be announced by these two witnesses, the one
living before the Law, the other under the Law. How
ever, there are different degrees of glory in these transla
tions, according to the different conditions of the persons.
Holy Scripture says of Henoch : He was seen no more,
because God took him (Gen. v. 24) ; of Elias, that he was
taken up in a fiery chariot. But our Saviour penetrated
heaven without the help of another. He was not taken
up nor carried up, but went up into the dwelling of glory
by His own power. In His Ascension, and also in the
214
SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
translation of Henoch and Elias, are shown the different
degrees of the virtue of chastity, of which He is our
exemplar, and which He wished to be perpetuated in His
Church. When first we consider Henoch in the bonds of
matrimony, then see Elias without wife and children, we
notice the progress of this holy virtue manifested in these
two men, as compared with Jesus in His Ascension. We
know that Henoch, being begotten like other men, in his
turn begot children; that Elias, coming later, though
born like others, never begot ; and that Jesus Christ, not
only in His miraculous birth, but in His whole liie, was
Purity itself.
VII. St. Mark says of our Lord: And sitteth on the
right hand of God. Yet St. Stephen (Acts vii. 55) ex
claimed : Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of
Man standing on the right hand of God. This does not
seem to agree, namely, sitting on the right hand, and
standing on the right hand. Yet, beloved brethren, you
will not be astonished by this seemingly disagreeing
testimony of Holy Scripture. You will take into con
sideration that it appertains to a judge to be sitting,
whereas one fighting or helping is thought to be standing.
Now, the Redeemer of the world, after ascending into
heaven, is the Judge of all things, and will come at the
end to judge the whole world ; and in this capacity of
highest judge He is represented by St. Mark as sitting
on the right hand of God. But when Stephen, still in
the throes of the battle, saw Him standing in the midst
of His glory, we are to understand that Jesus in the
highest heavens was fighting with this glorious martyr,
giving him His help to overcome the fury of his perse
cutors.
VIII. But they, going, preached everywhere; the Lord work
ing withal, and confirming the word with signs that followed.
ASCENSION DAY 215
What are we to notice in this, and what are we to re
member, but that obedience followed the commandment,
and that great miracles followed their obedience ? But
now, since by the will of God we have lightly run over
our reading from the Gospel, it remains that we should
give you some considerations or reflections on this great
festival.
IX. And first, let us ask why the angels, appearing at
the birth of our Lord, were not in white garments ;
whereas, when the Lord ascended into heaven, it is written
that they were clad in white. It is written : While they
looked on, He was raised up : and a cloud received Him out of
their sight. And while they wen beholding Him going up to
heaven, behold two men stood by them in white garments (Acts
i. 9, 10). White garments are an outward sign of an
inward joy. But how is it that these heavenly spirits,
announcing the blessed birth of our Saviour, were not
seen in white garments ? Because at the Ascension the
angels, beholding the Man-God going up in triumph to
heaven, were manifesting their joy, since His humanity
received the glory due to Him ; whereas in His Nativity
the Divinity seemed to be humbled, taking the form of a
servant, and the angels showed no special exterior joy.
Their appearance in white garments at the Ascension was
a sign of glory ; at the Nativity a sign of the humiliation
of the Son of God.
X. However, beloved brethren, what deserves our
greatest consideration on this festival is the fact, that on
this day Christ was blotting out the handwriting of the decree
that was against us (Col. ii. 14), and that the sentence of
corruption was reversed. For our human nature, of
which it was said, Thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt
return (Gen. iii. 19), was taken up to heaven on this day.
Foreseeing this elevation of our flesh, the holy man Job
2 1 6 5 UN DA YS A ND FESTI VA LS
compared our Lord with a bird. And seeing that the
Jews would not recognise this mystery, he reproached
them with their incredulity, and said : The bird hath not
known the path (Job xxviii. 7). The name of a bird is
well given to the Lord, Who in His human body soared
up into heaven. And those who do not believe in His
Ascension, do not know the path of the Bird. It is of this
glorious occasion that the Psalmist says : Thy magnifi
cence, O Lord, is elevated above the heavens (Ps. viii. 2) ;
again : God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the
sound of trumpet (Ps. xlvi. 6). And again he says : Thou
hast ascended on high, Thou hast led captivity captive; Thou hast
received gifts in men (Ps. Ixvii. 19). Ascending to heaven,
He led captivity captive, for by His Resurrection we
were delivered from corruption ; and He gave gifts to
men when sending His Spirit : To one, indeed, by the Spirit
is given the word of wisdom ; to another the word of knowledge ;
to another the grace of healing ; to another the working of
miracles ; to another divers kinds of tongues ; to another inter
pretation of speeches (i Cor. xii. 8-10). The prophet
Habacuc spoke of the glory of Christ's Ascension in the
words : The Sun and the Moon stood still in their habitation
(Hab. iii. u). Who is here signified by the Sun if not
the Saviour ? or by the Moon, if not the Church ? This
Church was, until the Lord's Ascension, exposed to
violent storms, and lived in fear of her enemies. But
when our Saviour had ascended into heaven, the Church
was strengthened, took heart, and began to preach openly
the faith which she had been holding secretly. Like the
sun rising towards the south, the Lord rose, and gave
strength and increase to His Church by the powerful
command to preach His Gospel. And to confirm the
truth, the Church, taking the words of Solomon, ex
claims : The voice of my beloved ; behold he cometh leaping
ASCENSION DAY 217
upon the mountains, skipping over the hills (Cant. ii. 8). For
the Church contemplates the sufferings of our Saviour,
Who, from the first moment of His coming into this
world, leaped with giant's steps on painful roads. And
would you know, beloved brethren, these steps taken by
the Redeemer ? Consider that from heaven He stepped
into the womb of a Virgin, from the womb into the
manger, from the manger on to the cross, from the cross
into the sepulchre, and from the sepulchre up to heaven.
Thus the truth manifested in the flesh took such steps
for our sakes, that He might draw us to run after Him ;
and for this end He hath rejoiced as a giant to run His way
(Ps. xviii. 6), that we might passionately say : Draw
us ; we will run after Thee to the odour of Thy sweetness
(Cant. i. 3).
XI. Therefore, beloved brethren, we must follow in
heart and mind Him Who on this day ascended into
heaven. Let our hearts be separated from all earthly
desires, so that we may henceforth taste no other happi
ness than the remembrance of Him Who is our Father
in heaven. Let us remember, and often meditate on this
truth, that, though He ascended as a peaceful King, He
will one day come as a terrible Judge, and require of us
with justice an account of our keeping those command
ments given to us by Him in mercy. Let no man
neglect the time, given to us for doing penance; let
everyone work for the salvation of his soul whilst there
is yet an opportunity. Our Redeemer will be all the
sterner, when He comes in judgment, the more won-
drously long-suffering He was before. Carefully con
sider my words, and dispose your life according to this
important lesson. And should your soul be tossed about
by the storms of this life, let it be fastened by the anchor
of hope to the eternal dwellings, our true fatherland, and
218 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
let your eyes steadfastly gaze on that heavenly light.
After considering the Ascension of our Lord, let our
faith meditate on this mystery, and, though we are still
fastened to this earth by the bonds of our body, let us at
least follow Jesus on the wings of our love, and ask Him,
Who granted us these heavenly desires, not to forsake
us, until they be perfectly fulfilled. Amen.
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.
* GOSPEL: John xv. 26 to xvi. 4. At that time: Jesus
said to His disciples : When the Paraclete cometh,
Whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of
Truth, Who proceedeth from the Father, He shall give
testimony of Me : and you shall give testimony, because
you are with Me from the beginning. These things
have I spoken to you, that you may not be scandalized.
They will put you out of the synagogues ; yea, the hour
cometh, that whosoever killeth you, will think that he
doeth a service to God. And these things will they do
to you, because they have not known the Father, nor
Me. But these things I have told you, that when the
hour shall come, you may remember that I told you.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOr. ,
TRACTS 92 AND 93 ON ST. JOHN.
I. When our Lord had told His Apostles that the
world, His enemies, hated both the Son and the Father
without a cause — that is, both Him that was sent and
Him by Whom He was sent — He added these words :
But when the Paraclete cometh, Whom I will send you from the
Father, the Spirit of Truth, Who proceedeth from the Father,
He shall give testimony of Me : and you shall give testimony,
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 219
because you are with Me from the beginning. But what con
nection has this with what He had just said: Now they
have both seen, and hated both Me and My Father; but that the
word may be fulfilled which is written in their law : They have
hated Me without cause (John xv. 25). Is it that, when the
Paraclete, the Spirit of Truth, is come, He will convict
by a still clearer testimony those who have both seen and
hated both God the Son and God the Father ? Yea,
indeed, some there were who had seen and still hated,
whom the testimony of the Paraclete converted to the
faith which worketh by charity (Gal. v. 6). To make this
view of the passage intelligible, we recall to your mind
that so it actually came to pass. For on the day of
Pentecost the Holy Spirit came down upon an assembly
of 1 20 men, among whom were all the Apostles; and
when these, filled with the Spirit, spoke in the tongues
of all the nations, a great number of those who had hated,
were amazed by so great a miracle, specially when they
saw in Peter's speech, how great and how Divine a testi
mony was borne to the fact that the Christ, Whom they
had murdered, and Whom they reckoned among the
dead, had risen again, and was alive. And many of the
bystanders had compunction in their hearts (Acts ii. 37),
and were converted. They received pardon from that
precious Blood, which had been so sacrilegiously and
cruelly shed by them, and they themselves became
redeemed by the very Blood they had shed ; for the
Blood of Christ was shed so efficaciously for the remission
of all sins, that it had power to blot out the very sin by
which it was shed. Towards this the Lord looked,
when He said : They hated Me without cause ; but when the
Paraclete cometh, He shall give testimony of Me. This was
as though He had said : ' They hated Me and killed Me
when I stood visibly before their eyes ; but the Paraclete
220 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
shall bear such testimony concerning Me, that He will
compel them to believe in Me, when I am no longer
visible to their sight.
II. And you, He says, shall give testimony, because you aye
with Me from the beginning. The Holy Ghost shall give
testimony, and so also shall you. Because you have
been with me from the beginning, you can preach what
you know ; but you cannot do this just now, because
the fulness of that Spirit is not yet within you. He, then,
shall give testimony of Me ; and you shall give testimony ; for
the charity of God is poured forth in your hearts by the Holy
Ghost Who is given to you (Rom. v. 5), and will give you
the needful confidence for such witness-bearing. This
certainly was still wanting to Peter's heart, who, terrified
by a maid- servant's question, could give no true testi
mony, but, breaking his promise, was driven by fear
thrice to deny Him. Now, fear is not in charity; but
perfect charity casteth out fear (i John iv. 18). In fact, be
fore the Lord's Passion, his slavish fear was questioned
by a serving-woman, but after the Resurrection his free
love was asked by the very Prince of freedom. And so
on one occasion he was troubled, on the other he was at
peace ; there he denied the One he loved, here he loved
the One he had denied. But still even then this very
love was weak and narrow, until strengthened and ex
panded by the Holy Ghost. And that spirit, pervading
him with the fulness of richer grace, set on fire his once
cold heart, to give testimony to Christ, and unlocked
those trembling lips which had suppressed the truth.
Therefore, while all on whom the Holy Ghost had
descended were speaking with tongues of all the nations
to crowds of the Jews that stood around, Peter alone, more
promptly than the rest, broke forth to bear witness of
Christ, and, giving an account of His Resurrection,
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 221
confounded His murderers. And if anyone would like
to look at such a sweetly holy spectacle, let him read the
Acts of the Apostles (Acts ii. 5), there to be amazed at
the preaching of blessed Peter, over whose denial of his
Master he had just been mourning ; there to behold that
tongue translated from cowardice to boldness, from
servitude to liberty, converting to the confession of Christ
so many tongues of His enemies, not one of which he
had had strength enough to bear, when lapsing himself
into denial. What shall I say more ? In him there
shone forth such brightness of grace, such fulness of the
Holy Ghost, such weight of most precious truth, pro
ceeding from the mouth of the preacher, that of the vast
multitude of Jews, who were the murderers of Christ, he
transformed them into men who were ready to die for
His Name, even those by whom he once dreaded to
be put to death with Him. All this was done by the
Holy Ghost, then sent, previously only promised. These
were His own great and marvellous gifts, foreseen by the
Lord, when He said : They have both seen and hated both Me
and My Father ; but that the word may be fulfilled which is
written in their law : They have hated Me without cause. But
when the Paraclete cometh, Whom I will send you from the
Father, the Spirit of Truth, Who proceedeth from the Father,
He shall give testimony of Me ; and you shall give testimony.
For He, giving testimony, and inspiring such witnesses
with invincible courage, rid Christ's friends of their fear,
and turned into love the hatred of His enemies.
III. In the words preceding this portion of the Gospel,
the Lord strengthened His disciples to bear the hatred
of their enemies, and prepared them also by His example
to become more courageous by imitating Him. He then
added the promise that the Holy Ghost would come and
give testimony of Him, and also that they themselves
222 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
should be made His witnesses through the powerful
working of His Spirit in their hearts. This is the
meaning of His \vords : He shall give testimony of Me, and
you shall give testimony — that is, because He shall give
testimony, you shall also give testimony, He in your
hearts and you in your voices ; He by inspiration, you by
expression, that thus the words might be fulfilled : Their
sound hath gone forth into all the earth (Ps. xviii. 5). For it
would not have been enough to cheer them on by His
example, had He not also filled them with His Spirit.
Thus we see that the Apostle Peter, after hearing His
word, The servant is not greater than his Master ; if they have
persecuted Me, they will also persecute you (John xv. 20) ; and
having seen that already fulfilled in his Lord, wherein he
ought to have imitated His patient suffering, had example
been sufficient, succumbed and fell into denial, because
he was unable to bear what he saw Him enduring. But
when he received the Holy Ghost, he preached Him
Whom he had denied ; and Whom he had been afraid to
confess, he had no fear now openly to profess. He had
already been taught by example to know what was meet
to be done ; but he was not yet inspired by the power to
do what he knew ; he was instructed that he might stand,
but he was not strengthened that he might not fall. But
when this was given by the Holy Ghost, he preached
Christ even to the death, Whom, for fear of death, he had
previously denied. Therefore the Lord, in the following
chapter, of which we are now to speak to you, says :
These things have I spoken to you that you may not be scandal
ized. Thus we sing in the psalm : Much peace have they
that love Thy law ; and to them there is no stumbling-block
(Ps. cxviii. 165). Fittingly enough, then, after promising
the Holy Ghost, by Whose operation in their hearts they
should be made His witnesses, He goes on to say :
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER EASTER 223
These things have I spoken to you, that you may not be
scandalized. For when the charity of God is poured forth
into our hearts by the Holy Ghost, Who is given to us
(Rom. v. 5), those who love God's law have great
peace, so that nothing may scandalize them.
IV. Then He expressly declares what they were to
suffer : They will put you out of the synagogues. But what
harm was it to the Apostles to be expelled from the
Jewish synagogues ? Were they not about to separate
themselves therefrom, though none should expel them ?
Doubtless He meant to announce that the Jews would
refuse to receive Christ, from Whom the Apostles as
certainly would refuse to withdraw. And so it would
come to pass that they, who could not be without Him,
would also be cast out with Him by those who refused
to be in Him. Certainly, as there was no other people
of God than that seed of Abraham, had they only
acknowledged and received Christ, they would have
remained as the natural branches of the olive-tree ; nor
would the Churches of Christ have differed from the
synagogues of the Jews, but would have been one and
the same, had they also desired to abide in Him. But
having refused, what remained but that, continuing to be
out of Christ, they put out of the synagogues those who
would not forsake Christ ? For, having received the
Holy Ghost, and so become His witnesses, they would
certainly not belong to those of whom it was said : Many
of the chief men also believed in Him, but because of the
Pharisees they did not confess Him, that they might not be
cast out of the synagogues ; for they loved the glory of men more
than the glory of God (John xii. 42, 43). And so they
believed in Him, but not in the way He wished them to
believe, when He said : How can you believe, who receive glory
one from another ; and the glory which is from God alone, you do
224 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
not seek? (John v. 44). It is, therefore, with those disciples
who believe in Him that, being filled with the Holy
Ghost — or, in other words, with the gift of Divine
grace — they no longer belong to those who, not 'knowing
the justice of God, and seeking to establish their own, have not
submitted themselves to the justice of God (Rom. x. 3) ; nor to
those of whom it is said, they loved the glory of men more
titan the glory of God, that this prophecy harmonizes, which
is fulfilled in their own persons : They shall walk, 0 Lord,
in the light of Thy countenance, and in Thy Name they shall
rejoice all the day, and in Thy justice they shall be exalted, for
Thou art the glory of their strength (Ps. Ixxxviii. 16-18).
Rightly enough it is said to them : They will put you out
of the synagogues — that is, they, who have a zeal of God, hit
not according to knowledge, because, not knowing the justice of
God, and seeking to establish their own, they expel those who
are exalted, not in their own justice, but in God's, and
the expelled have no cause to be ashamed at being
expelled by men, because He is the glory of their strength.
Finally, He added these words : Yea, the hour cometh, that
whosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth a service to God;
and these things will they do to you, because they have not
known the Father nor Me. That is to say, they have not
known the Father nor His Son, to Whom they think
they will be doing a service in slaying you. Words
which the Lord added in the way of consolation to His
own, who would be driven out of the Jewish synagogues.
WHIT-SUNDAY, THE FEAST OF
PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: John xiv. 23-31. At that time: Jesus said to
His disciples : If anyone love Me, he will keep My word,
and My Father will love him, and We will come to him,
WHIT-SUNDAY, THE FEAST OF PENTECOST 225
and will make Our abode with him ; he that loveth Me
not, keepeth not My words. And the word which you
have heard is not Mine ; but the Father's Who sent Me.
These things have I spoken to you, abiding with you.
But the Paraclete, the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father
will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and
bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have
said to you. Peace I leave with you ; My peace I give
to you ; not as the world giveth do I give unto you. Let
not your heart be troubled, nor let it be afraid. You have
heard that I said to you : I go away, and I come again
to you. If you loved Me, you would indeed be glad,
because I go to the Father ; for the Father is greater
than I. And now I have told you before it come to pass :
that when it shall come to pass, you may believe. I
will not now speak many things with you ; for the Prince
of this world cometh, and in Me he hath not anything.
But that the world may know that I love the Father ; and
as the Father hath given Me commandment, so do I.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF ST. PETER, APOSTLE, ON THE FEAST
OF PENTECOST.
THIRTIETH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. It will be best, beloved brethren, briefly to run
through the words of the Gospel, read out to you, and
afterwards dwell for a longer time upon the subject of
this solemn festival. This is the day whereon suddenly
there came a sound from heaven, and the Holy Ghost
descended upon the Apostles, and changed their fleshly
minds into minds filled with the love of God. And
whilst without there appeared parted tongues, as it were of
fire, and it sat upon every one of them, within their hearts
15
226 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
were inflamed. They received the visible presence of
God in the form of fire, and their hearts were filled with
the flames of His love. The Holy Ghost Himself is love ;
hence St. John says : God is charity [love] (i John iv. 8).
Whosoever, therefore, desires God with all his soul, has
already obtained Him Whom he loves ; for no one is able
to love God, if he has not gained Him Whom he loves.
Now behold, if one of you were asked whether he love
God, he would with boldness and quietness of spirit
answer : ' I do love God.' Yet at the very beginning of
this day's Gospel we heard the Divine Truth say: //
anyone love Me, he will keep My word. The test of love,
then, is whether it is shown by works. Hence the same
John says in his Epistle : // any man say, I love God, and
keep not His commandments, he is a liar (i John iv. 20, v. 3).
We do indeed love God and keep His commandments,
when we deny ourselves the gratification of our appetites.
Whosoever goes after unlawful desires, does not love God,
for he is acting against the will of God.
II. And My Father will love him, and We will come to him,
and will make Our abode with him. O, beloved brethren,
consider what a dignity it is to have God abiding as a
guest in our heart ! Surely, if some rich man, or some
powerful friend were to come into our house, we would
hasten to have the whole house cleaned, lest perhaps the
eye of the entering friend should be offended by some
thing. So let him, who wishes to make his heart a dwell
ing of God, cleanse it from all filth of sinful works. For
what says the Truth ? We will come to him, and will make
Our abode with him. There are some hearts into which
God comes, but makes not His abode therein. With a
certain contrition they feel His presence, but in the time
of temptation they forget that which made them sorry ;
and so they turn again to commit sin, as though they had
WHIT-SUNDAY, THE FEAST OF PENTECOST 227
never repented. Whosoever truly loves God, and keeps
all His commandments, will receive the Redeemer into
his heart, and be the abode of God, because Divine love
will enchain him so strongly that, in the time of tempta
tion, he will not be separated from that love. The
true love of God is made manifest by our firmness
amidst temptations, and our courage in overcoming them ;
for it is certain that we are the further from the love of
supernal things, the more pleasure we find in the sinful
enjoyments of this life. Therefore our Saviour added :
He that loveth Me not, keepeth not My words. Examine,
then, yourselves, beloved brethren, whether you really
love God ; and do not believe what your mind answers
if you have not the testimony of your good works.
The heart, the tongue, and the whole life must give
testimony ; for real love cannot remain idle. Love
works great things, and as soon as it ceases to work, it
ceases to exist. And the word which you have heard is not
Mine, but the Father's Who sent Me. You know, beloved"
brethren, that the only-begotten Son Who speaks is the
Word of the Father, and that the word He announced
is not the Son's, but the Father's word, because the Son
is the Word of the Father. But how do these words of
Jesus — These things have I spoken unto you, abiding with you
— agree with His other words promising His disciples to
be with them all days, even to the consummation of the world?
This will be easily understood, when we remember that
the Word made flesh will after a certain time secede from
the world corporally, yet remain with us by virtue of His
all-powerful and invisible Divinity.
III. And our Lord added: But the Paraclete, the Holy
Ghost, Whom the Father will send in My Name, He will teach
you all things, and bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I
shall have said to you. You know, beloved brethren, that
15—2
228 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
the Greek word Paraclete means in our tongue intercessor
or advocate, because the Holy Ghost defends, so to speak,
the poor sinner before the tribunal of the Father's justice.
Therefore, when it is said that the Holy Ghost, though
one and the same with the Father and the Son, is inter
ceding for sinners, it means that by His inspirations He
moves our hearts to pray to God, as St. Paul says : We
know not what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit
Himself asketh for us with unspeakable groanings (Rom. viii. 26).
Should you ask how it is that the Holy Ghost, not being
inferior to, but as infinitely great and powerful as the
Father, nevertheless intercedes for us, you will under
stand this to mean that He fills our hearts and inflames
our desires to send our petitions to heaven and lay our
necessities before the throne of the Almighty. He is also
called the Comforter, because He takes away the sorrow
fulness caused by the remembrance of our sins, and
inspires us with the hope of being pardoned by God. •
Our Lord also says that the Holy Spirit will teach us all
things, because the words of the most eloquent preacher
would be useless, did not the Holy Ghost speak to the
hearts of the hearers. Therefore, do not attribute to the
art and eloquence of the teacher whatsoever you under
stand about the Divine doctrine, but to the Spirit of
Truth speaking in your soul ; for does it not every day '
happen that the voice of the preacher reaches the ears of
his hearers, yet the meaning of his words is not under
stood by all in the same manner ? The voice is the same,
but the understanding is not the same, because the
divine Spirit, this invisible Teacher, opens the mind of
some, and they comprehend the doctrine, whilst others
remain unmoved by the same sound of the words.
St. John teaches this truth, when he says : His unction
teacheth you all things (i John ii. 27) ; and we understand
WHIT-SUNDAY, THE FEAST OF PENTECOST 229
that, were not the unction of the Holy Ghost poured forth
into our hearts, the words of the preacher could not teach
us. But why should we insist on this fact that human
eloquence is not able to convince us of the truths of salva
tion, since God Himself would in vain speak for our
instruction, did not the unction of the Spirit move our
hearts at the same time ? We are aware that God,
knowing Cain's sinful intention to kill his brother, spoke
to him, and said: Thou hast sinned; now stop (Gen. iv.,
iuxta LXX.). Yet, though he heard the voice of God
warning him not to stain his hands with the innocent
blood of his brother, he remained deaf to that voice,
because the unction of the Holy Spirit had not entered
his heart, nor moved him to give ear to that voice.
However, there is another difficulty. Our Saviour, speak
ing of the Holy Ghost, said to His disciples: And He
will bring all things to your mind, whatsoever I shall have said to
you. This seems to imply that the Son of God is superior
to the Holy Ghost. But when we consider the words
bring all things to your mind, we understand that the Holy
Ghost does not lower Himself by such suggestions, as if
drawing these things out of the innermost of the souls,
but by His supernatural light makes known the truths
which before were hidden to them. Peace I leave with you,
My peace I give you. These words of our Lord mean that
He leaves His peace with those who endeavour to walk on
the road to salvation, and that He will give His peace for
ever to those who enter the kingdom prepared for them.
IV. After briefly explaining the words of this day's
Gospel, let us now give our attention to the mystery of
this solemn festival. You heard, beloved brethren, that
on this day the Holy Ghost came down upon the
Apostles in parted tongues, as it were, of fire, and that
they began to speak with divers tongues, according as
230 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
the Holy Ghost gave them to speak. By this great
wonder we understand that the holy Church, filled with
the same spirit as the Apostles, and preaching to the
nations of the world, will be heard by all of them.
Indeed, when God, to confound the arrogance of the
people building the Tower of Babel, also confounded
their tongue, He in the same way united all languages
in those who humbly feared Him, so that humility found
its power there, where pride and arrogance felt their
weakness and received their punishment.
V. Now let us examine why the Holy Ghost, one
and co-eternal with the Father and the Son, appeared
under the element of fire ; why He appeared in fire and
tongues ; why He at one time appeared as a dove, and
at another as fire ; why He showed Himself as a dove
when coming down upon the Son of God, and as tongues
of fire upon the Apostles (Acts ii. 2) ; so that the dove
was not visible when the Holy Ghost came upon the
Apostles, neither the fire when He appeared upon the
Person of the Son of God. These questions will be
answered, when we first say that the Holy Ghost,
co-eternal with the Father and the Son, showed Himself
as fire, because God Himself is a spiritual and invisible
fire, according to the words of St. Paul : For our God is
a consuming fire (Heb. xii. 29). He is indeed a fire, for
He consumes the rust of our sins ; and this has been
confirmed by the words of the Eternal Truth : I am come
to cast fire on the earth; and what will I but that it be kindled
(Luke xii. 49). The earth of which He speaks are the
worldly hearts of men, which, being filled with earthly
thoughts, are, so to speak, trodden upon by the infernal
spirits. But when, through the breathing of the Holy
Ghost, the Almighty sends His Divine fire, the carnal
hearts of men are at once inflamed by His love ; the
WHIT-SUNDAY, THE FEAST OF PENTECOST 231
earth is enkindled by this heavenly fire, and the worldly
and cold hearts forsake the sinful desires, by which they
are bound to this world, and they endeavour to belong
only to God, now the sole object of their love. The
Holy Ghost comes in fire, because by Him our cold
hearts are warmed and filled with desires of eternity.
And, being co-eternal with the Son, the same Spirit
appeared in the shape of tongues of fire, and thus showed
the intimate relationship between the tongue and the
Word. For the Son is the Word of the Father, and
since the Holy Ghost and'the Son have the same Divine
Nature, it was fit that this Spirit should appear in the
form of a tongue, this being the organ of words. The
Holy Ghost was seen in tongues, for he that receives this
Spirit will confess the Word of God, the only-begotten
Son ; and he cannot deny the Word, since he already
possesses the tongue of the Spirit. Again He appeared
in the shape of tongues of fire, because all those filled
with the gifts of the Holy Ghost are by Him inflamed
with love and endowed with eloquence. The true
teachers of the doctrine of Jesus Christ have, so to
speak, fiery tongues, because they preach the love of God,
and inflame the hearts of the hearers ; for the most
learned sermons are unprofitable, unless sparks of that
holy fire are brought by them into the hearts of men.
The heat of this fire was felt by the two disciples going
to Emmaus, and, being taught by the Eternal Truth, they
said : Was not our heart burning within us, whilst He spoke
in the way, and opened to us the Scriptures ? (Luke xxiv. 32).
These are the effects produced in a soul listening to
zealous preaching : the heart is inflamed, the ice of
torpidness is melted, holy desires are aroused, and the
longings for earthly things are removed. Real love,
filling the soul, awakens in it sighs and tears ; but by
232 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
these pains, suffered under the yoke of Divine love, the
real love is nourished and strengthened. Such a soul
finds its delight in hearing the word of God and the
Divine commandments, and these commandments are as
many torches enlightening and guiding the soul on the
road to salvation, whereupon it had been walking care
lessly and inactively, but now zealously, because strength
ened by the word of God. Thus Moses says : In His
right hand a fiery law (Deut. xxxiii. 2) ; for by the left
hand are indicated the damned, one day to be placed at
the left hand of the Judge; whereas the right hand
shows the elect, who could not behold the fiery law in
the right hand of the Almighty without being inflamed
with fiery love to fulfil that law. As soon as the words
of the law are heard, these souls find no other rest but
in the sweetness of this fire consuming them. But as
the Holy Spirit showed Himself under the form of fires,
and on another occasion appeared under the form of a
dove, this twofold symbol meant the effects produced by
Him in the hearts of those who receive Him — that is,
simplicity and ardour of love. By Him we are made
artless through purity, and ardent through Divine zeal.
For simplicity without zeal cannot please God, just as
zeal without an artless heart cannot be accepted by Him.
We hear, therefore, the Truth say to His Apostles:
Be ye, therefore, wise as serpents, and simple as doves (Matt,
x. 16) ; meaning that wise zeal must animate simplicity,
whilst simplicity is to temperate our zeal. This is
corroborated by the great Apostle admonishing us in
these words : Brethren, do not become children in sense, but in
malice be children, and in sense be perfect (i Cor. xiv. 20).
And Holy Scripture, speaking of Job as a simple man,
says : And this man was simple, and upright, and fearing God.
By which we are taught that there can be no upright-
WHIT-SUNDAY, THE FEAST OF PENTECOST 233
ness without simplicity, nor simplicity agreeable to God
without uprightness. And since the Holy Ghost came
to teach us both these virtues, He appeared as a dove
and as fire, in order to teach us meekness and peaceful-
ness under the form of a dove, and ardent love for justice
under the form of fire — virtues imparted to those that
receive Him.
VI. The motive why the same Holy Spirit came upon
the Redeemer as a dove, and upon the Apostles in tongues
of fire, is apparent when we consider that the wrath of
the justice of the Son of God could not have been borne
by us, had He appeared in fire to judge and punish, before
attracting us through the sweetness of His blessings.
The Son of God became man to redeem all men, and He
showed Himself full of meekness that we might find His
yoke light and amiable ; also because He wished to con
vert and to be merciful to all in this life, since in His
justice He must condemn some of them on the day of
His wrath. This is the reason why the Holy Ghost
showed Himself first as a dove upon Him who had come
to forgive the sins of men, and not to punish. But if on
this day He appeared in consuming fire, it means that
the Apostles, being mere men, and consequently sinners,
were to be purified in the fire of Divine love, cleansed by
their own penance from their faults, though God in His
infinite mercy is always ready to forgive sins ; for let
us not imagine that the Apostles, entrusted with that
heavenly ministry, were without sin. St. John writes :
// we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the
truth is not in us ' (i John i. 8). The Holy Ghost came in
fire upon men, and as a dove upon our Lord ; for Christ
has borne our sins patiently and mercifully ; whereas we
are carefully to examine our sins and burn them in the
fire of penance and ardent love of God.
234 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
WHIT-MONDAY.
GOSPEL: John iii. 16-21. At that time: Jesus said to
Nicodemus : God so loved the world as to give His only-
begotten Son ; that whosoever believeth in Him, may not
perish, but may have life everlasting. For God sent not
His Son into the world, to judge the world, but that the
world may be saved by Him. He that believeth in Him
is not judged. But he that doth not believe is already
judged : because he believeth not in the Name of the
only-begotten Son of God. And this is the judgment :
because the light is come into the world, and men loved
darkness rather than the light : for their works were evil.
For every one that doth evil hateth the light, and cometh
not to the light, that his works may not be reproved.
But he that doth truth, cometh to the light, that his works
may be made manifest, because they are done in God.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
TRACT 12 ON ST. JOHN.
I. Jesus Christ, the Divine Physician, is come into the
world to heal the sick, as far as it lies in the Physician.
For that man, who will not observe the orders of that
Physician, is his own destroyer. He is come a Saviour
to the world. And why is He called the Saviour of the
world, but because He is come not to judge the world,
but that the world may be saved by Him. Thou dost not
choose to be saved by Him ; of thy own self thou shalt
be judged. And why do I say shalt be judged P See what
He says : He that believeth in Him, is not judged ; but he that
doth not believe. What dost thou expect He is going to
say, but is judged ? He says, is already judged. The
WHIT-MONDA Y 235
judgment has not yet appeared, yet it has already taken
place ; for the Lord knows them that are His ; knows who
shall persevere for the crown, persevere for the flame.
He knows the wheat on His threshing-floor, and knows
the chaff ; knows the good corn, and knows the tares. He
that believeth not is already judged. Why judged? Because
he believeth not in the Name of the only-begotten Son of God.
II. And this is the judgment : because the light is come into
the world, and men loved darkness rather than the light ; fov
their works were evil. But, my brethren, whose works will
the Lord find to be good ? The works of none. He
finds the works of all evil. In what sense, then, is it
said that some have done truth, and are come to the
light ? For this is what follows : But he that doth truth,
cometh to the light, that his works may be made manifest, because
they are done in God. In. what sense have some done a
good work to come to the light— that is, to Christ ? And
how have some loved darkness ? For if He finds all
men sinners, and heals all of sin, and that serpent, in
which the death of the Lord was figured, healed them
that were bitten, and on account of the serpent's bite the
serpent was erected, that is, the death of the Lord,
because of mortal men whom He found sinful ; how
are we to understand that this is the judgment ; because the
light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than
the light ; for their works were evil ? What is this ? Whose
works were good ? Hast Thou not come to justify the
godless ? But He says : They loved darkness rather than
the light. Here He makes the great point ; for many
loved their sins, many confessed their sins. Now, he
that confesses his sins and accuses his sins, henceforth
works with God. God accuses thy sins, and if thou also
accusest, thou art united with God. There are, as it were,
two things : man and sinner. That thou art called man,
236 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
is God's doing ; that thou art called sinner, is man's own
doing. Blot out what was thy doing, that God may save
what was His doing. It behoves thee to hate thine own
work in thee, and to love the work of God in thee. Now,
when thy own works begin to be displeasing to thee,
from that time thy good works begin, because thou
accusest thy evil works. The confession of evil works is
the beginning of good works. Thou dost truth, and
comest to the light. What means thou dost truth ? If
thou dost not fondle thyself, nor soothe, nor flatter thy
self, and dost not say, / am just, whilst thou art a sinner,
thus thou beginnest to do the truth. Thou comest to
the light, that thy works may be manifest that they are
done in God. For thy sins, the very thing that gave
thee displeasure, would not have displeased thee, had not
God shone in thee, and His truth showed them to thee.
But the man who, being admonished, loves his sins, hates
the light admonishing him, and flees from it, that his
works, which he loves, may not be proved as evil.
Whereas he that does truth, accuses his evil works in
himself, spares not himself, forgives not himself, that
God may forgive him ; for he himself acknowledges
that which he desires to be forgiven by God, and he
comes to the light, to which he is thankful for showing
him what he should hate in himself. He says to God :
Turn away Thy face from my sins ; and with what assurance
says it, unless he adds : For I know my iniquity, and my sin
is always before me (Ps. 1. n, 5). Let that be before thee
which thou desirest not to be before God. But if thou
wilt put thy sin behind thee, God will force it back before
thy eyes ; and this He will do at a time when there will
be no more fruit of repentance.
III. My brethren, run, that the darkness come not
upon you. Awake to your salvation ; awake while there
WHIT-MONDAY 237
is time. Let none be kept back from the temple of God,
none kept back from the work of the Lord, none called
away from continual prayer, none be defrauded of the
customary devotion. Awake, then, while it is day ; the
day shines, Christ is the day. He is ready to forgive sins
to them that acknowledge their sins ; ready to punish
those who defend themselves, and who boast that they
are just, and think themselves to be something, when
they are nothing. But he that walks in His love and
mercy, and being free from these great and deadly sins,
such crimes as murder, theft, adultery, but is also sorry
for those which seem to be small, sins of thought or of
tongue, or of want of moderation in things permitted, he
does the truth of confession and comes to the light in
good works, seeing that many small sins, if they be
neglected, are fatal. Small are the drops which swell the
river, small the grains of sand, but if such sand be
heaped up, it presses and crushes. The bilge-water
allowed to accumulate in the ship's hold, does the same
thing as a rushing wave. By little and little it leaks in
through the hold ; and by long leaking in and no pumping
out it sinks the vessel. Now, what is this pumping out,
but that by good works, by sighing, fasting, giving, forgiv
ing, we take care that sins overwhelm us not ? Truly the
path of this life is troublesome, full of temptations ; in
prosperity let it not lift us up ; in adversity let it not
crush us. He who gave the happiness of this world,
gave it for your comfort, not for your ruin. Again, He
who scourges you in this world, does it for your improve
ment, not for your condemnation. You must bear Him
as a Father Who corrects you for your training, lest you
feel Him as a Judge Who will punish you. These things
we tell you every day, and they must be said often,
because they are good and wholesome.
238 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
TRINITY SUNDAY.
GOSPEL: Matt, xxviii. 18-20. At that time: Jesus said
to His disciples : All power is given to Me in heaven
and in earth. Going, therefore, teach ye all nations ;
baptizing them in the Name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost. Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you ; and behold I
am with you all days, even to the consummation of the
world.
HOMILY BY ST. GREGORY OF NAZIANZUS.
TREATISE ON THE FAITH.
I. Is there a Catholic in the world who does not know
that the Father is a very Father, the Son a very Son,
and the Holy Ghost a very Holy Ghost ? The Lord
Himself said to His Apostles : All power is given to Me in
heaven and in earth. Going, therefore, teach ye all nations ;
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and
of the Holy Ghost. This is that perfect TRINITY, consisting
in UNITY, of Whom we testify that His substance is ONE ;
for we make no division in God as divisions are made in
bodies ; but we testify that, according to the power of the
Divine Nature, which exists not in matter, the Persons
have a real existence, and that God is ONE. We also
believe that these three names and the Persons meant by
them, are all of one Substance, one Majesty, and one
Power ; and we do not say, as some have dreamt, that
the begetting of the Son of God is an extension from one
part to another part, neither do we say that He is the
Word in the sense of a mere sound uttered by a voice,
and not a reality.
II. We testify, therefore, that God is ONE, because
TRINITY SUNDAY 239
this ONENESS of His Majesty forbids the use of the plural
form of speech saying Gods. It is Catholic language to
say Father and Son ; but we cannot and must not say
that the Father and the Son are two Gods. And that, not
because the Son of God is not by Himself God — for He
is true God of true God — but because we know that the
Son of God is not from elsewhere, but from the One
Father, therefore we say that God is ONE. This is the
doctrine which the Prophets and the Apostles have trans
mitted to us ; and it is the doctrine which our Lord
Himself taught, when He said : / and the Father are one
(John x. 30). One refers to the one Divinity, as I said ;
whereas are means the Persons. Thus the Apostle says :
To us there is but one God, the Father, of Whom are all things,
and we unto Him ; and our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom are
all things, and we by Him. But there is not knowledge in
everyone (i Cor. viii. 6, 7). Concerning this truth,. and
having explained these words which were a stumbling-
block, not to me who know what I am saying, but to
others, I believe to have removed every occasion of a
false interpretation. The profession of faith is manifest :
for PERSON agrees with the words used, while the
Divinity is ONE. Should anything else in these words
seem ambiguous to the reader, let him refer to the real
meaning of the words. Though this meaning of the
words is clear, the obstinacy of a biassed intellect is often
shown ; and since our exposition agrees with the truth,
the words also ought to be clear to a sincere mind.
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Luke vi. 36-42. At that time: Jesus said to His
disciples: Be ye merciful, as your Father also is merciful.
Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not,
240 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
and you shall not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall
be forgiven. Give, and it shall be given to you ; good
measure, and pressed down, and shaken together, and
running over, shall be given into your bosom. For with
the same measure that you shall mete withal, it shall be
measured to you again. And He spoke also to them a
similitude : Can the blind lead the blind ? Do they not
both fall into the ditch ? The disciple is not above his
master ; but every one shall be perfect, if he be as his
master. And why seest thou the mote in thy brother's
eye ; but the beam that is in thy own eye thou considerest
not ? Or how canst thou say to thy brother : Brother,
let me pull the mote out of thy eye, when thou thyself
seest not the beam in thy own eye ? Hypocrite, cast
first the beam out of thy own eye, and then thou shalt
see clearly to take out the mote from thy brother's eye.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
FIFTEENTH SERMON ON ST. MATTHEW, WORDS OF OUR LORD.
I. There are two works of mercy which deliver us,
and which are briefly laid down by our Lord in the
Gospel : Forgive, and you shall be forgiven. Give, and it
shall be given to you. The words forgive, and you shall be
forgiven are a promise of pardon ; give, and it shall be given
to you relate to doing kindnesses. As to what He says
of pardoning, thou hast sins which thou wishest to be
pardoned thee, and thou hast another, who trespassed
against thee, whom thou canst forgive. Again, as to
doing kindnesses, there are beggars that ask of thee, and
thou art God's beggar. P"or when we pray, we are all
God's beggars. We stand before the door of the Great
Householder ; we even fall down on our knees ; we groan
in supplications, wishing to receive something, and this
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 241
something is God Himself. What does a beggar ask of
thee ? Bread. And what dost thou ask of God but
Christ, Who says : / am the living bread, which came down
from heaven (John vi. 51). Would you be forgiven?
Forgive. Forgive, and ye shall be forgiven. Would you
receive ? Give, and it shall be given to you.
II. But now, why should there be a difficulty in such
a plain precept ? In this question of forgiveness, when
pardon is asked and is due from him who should grant it,
there may be a difficulty to us, as it occurred to St.
Peter : How often shall my brother offend against me, and I
forgive him ? till seven times ? Jesus saith to him : I say not
to thee, till seven times; but till seventy times seven times
(Matt, xviii. 21, 22). Now reckon up how often thy
brother hath sinned against thee. If thou canst reach
the seventy-eighth fault, so as to go beyond the seventy
times seven, thou mayst take revenge. Is this, then,
what He really means ? and is it in reality so, that if
he shall sin seventy times seven, thou shouldst forgive him ;
but if he shall sin seventy times and eight, it will be
lawful for thee not to forgive •? No ; for I dare say and
venture to assert, that should he even sin seventy-eight
times, thou must forgive. Yea, if he should sin, as I
have said, seventy-eight times, forgive. And if he sin a
hundred times, forgive. Why need I say this, and so
often ? Because, as often as he shall sin, forgive him.
Have I, then, taken upon me to overstep the measure of
my Lord ? He fixed the limit of forgiving in the number
seventy-seven ; shall I presume to go beyond this limit ?
This is not so ; I have not presumed to go beyond. I
have heard our Lord Himself speaking through His
Apostle, where no measure nor number is fixed. For He
says : Forgiving one another, if any have a complaint against
another. Even as God hath forgiven you in Christ (Col.
16
242 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
iii. 13, Eph. iv. 32). You hear the rule. If Christ has
forgiven thy sins seventy-seven times only, and has
pardoned thee to this point only, and refused to pardon
beyond it, then do thou also fix this limit, and be loath
to go beyond. But if Christ has found thousands of
sins upon sins, and has yet forgiven them all, do not
withdraw thy mercy, but ask the forgiveness of that
large number. It was not without a special motive that
the Lord said seventy-seven times, because there is no
trespass whatever which thou oughtest not to forgive.
See the servant in the parable, who, being a debtor, and
himself having a debtor, owed ten thousand talents.
And I suppose that ten thousand talents are at least
ten thousand sins, for I will not say that but one
talent includes all sins. And how much did the fellow-
servant owe him ? He owed a hundred denarii. Now,
is not this more than seventy and seven ? And yet the
Lord was angry, because he did not forgive. For not
only is a hundred more than seventy-seven, but a
hundred denarii are perhaps a thousand pence. And
what is this to ten thousand talents of gold or silver ?
III. Let us, therefore, be ready to forgive all the
trespasses which are committed against us, if we wish to
be forgiven. For if we consider our sins, and reckon up
what we do in deed, what by the eye, what by the ear,
what by thought, and what by numberless motions, I
know not whether we be able to say that our sleep is
free from sin. Therefore, we daily beg, we daily entreat
God in prayer, and say to Him : Forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive them that trespass against us (Matt. vi. 12).
And what trespasses ? All, or a certain part ? Thou
wilt answer : All. So, then, must we do with our
debtors. This is the rule thou layest down, this the
condition thou speakest of, this the agreement thou
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 243
dos£ mention when saying : Forgive us our trespasses, as we
forgive.
IV. What, then, is the meaning of seventy-seven ?
Listen, for it is a great mystery — a wonderful sacra
ment. Justice, as you know, consists in the observance of
the Law of God ; this is true. And the Law is set forth
in ten precepts. This is the reason why the servant in
the parable is said to owe ten thousand talents. This is
the memorable decalogue written by the finger of God,
and delivered to His servant Moses. He owed ten
thousand talents; and this signifies all sins, with respect
to the number of the Law. And the other servant owed
a hundred denarii, equally derived from the same number,
since a hundred times hundred make ten thousand, and
ten times ten make a hundred. There was no departure
from the number of the Law. Both are debtors, and
both implore and beg for pardon ; but the wicked, un
grateful servant would not repay what he had received,
and would not grant to his fellow-servant the mercy
which had been undeservedly accorded to him. Now
consider what sin is. The law is denoted by ten, and sin
by eleven. Why by eleven ? Because to get to eleven
there is the transgression of ten ; when you have passed
beyond the ten, you come to eleven. This high mystery
was figured out when the tabernacle was ordered to be
built. There are many things mentioned there in
numbers, which are a great mystery. Among others,
curtains of goats' hair were ordered to be made to cover
the top of the tabernacle, not ten, but eleven, because by
goats' hair (haircloth) is signified the confession of sins.
Do you require anything more ? Would you know why
all sins are contained in this number seventy-seven ? Seven
is usually put for a whole, because in seven days the
revolution of time is completed, and when the seventh is
1 6 — 2
244 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
ended, it returns to the first again, that the same revolu
tion may be continued. Therefore, He spoke of all sins
when He said seventy times seven ; for multiply that eleven
seven times, and it makes seventy-seven. Therefore, He
would have all sins forgiven by marking them out by the
number seventy-seven. Let no one, then, refuse to
forgive, lest it be refused to him when he prays. God
says : Forgive, and you shall be forgiven ; I have forgiven
thee first ; do at least forgive after that. If thou wilt not
forgive, I will call thee back, and again put upon thee all
that I had remitted to thee. The Truth does not speak
falsely. Christ neither deceives nor is deceived ; and He
said at the end of the parable : So also shall My heavenly
Father do to you. You find a Father, imitate your Father ;
for if you will not imitate Him, you renounce your
inheritance of sons of God. So also shall My heavenly
Father do to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from
your heart. Do not say with the tongue, I forgive, and
put off forgiving in the heart ; for by His threat of
vengeance God shows the punishment. Man can hear
your voice ; God looks into the heart and conscience. If
you say, I forgive, forgive. Better it is that you should
be violent in words, and forgive in the heart, than to be
gentle in words and relentless in your heart.
V. Unruly boys will beg and take it hard when we are
about to chastise them, and they say : / have sinned, but
forgive. Well, I have forgiven, and he sins again. For
give me, he cries, and I have forgiven him. He sins a
third time, and is forgiven ; a fourth time. Let him be
chastised, and he will say : What ! have I tired you out to
seventy -seven times P Now, if by such exceptions the
severity of discipline were to sleep, I am sure that
wickedness would rage with impunity upon the suppres
sion of discipline. What is to be done ? Let us reprove
FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 245
with words, and, if necessary, with scourges ; but let us
forgive the sin, and cast away the memory of it from our
heart. Therefore, the Lord added, from your heart ; so
that, though through affection discipline must be exercised,
gentleness may not depart from the heart. What is so
kind and gentle as the surgeon with his knife ? He that
is to be cut cries out, yet cut he is ; he that is to be
cauterized cries, but he is cauterized. There is no cruelty
in this. The surgeon is cruel against the wounded part,
that the patient may be cured ; for should the wound be
too softly dealt with, the man would be lost. Thus, then,
my brethren, my advice is that we love our brethren,
though they may have sinned against us ; that we do not
let affection for them depart from our hearts, and that,
when necessary, we exercise discipline towards them, lest
wickedness increase by the relaxation of discipline, and
we should be accused on God's behalf, since it is said to
us : Them that sin reprove before all ; that the rest also may have
fear (i Tim. v. 20). If the sin be secret, rebuke it in
secret ; if the sin be public and open, rebuke it publicly,
that the sinner may be reformed and that the rest also may
have fear.
FEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI.
GOSPEL : John vi. 56-59. At that time : Jesus said to the
multitude of the Jews : My Flesh is meat indeed, and My
Blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My Flesh and
drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me and I in him. As the
living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the Father, so
he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me. This
is the Bread that came down from heaven ; not as your
fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this
Bread shall live for ever.
246 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
TRACT 26 ON ST. JOHN.
I. By the use of meat and drink men seek to attain to
this, that they should neither hunger nor thirst any more.
Yet, there is but one Meat and one Drink which renders
those who feed thereon incorruptible and immortal — that
is, the very communion with that general assembly and
Church of God's holy children, where there shall be peace
and unity full and perfect. Therefore it is, as men of
God before our times understood, that our Lord Jesus
Christ set before us His Body and His Blood in the like
ness of things, which from being many, are reduced into
one. In one loaf there are many grains, and in one cup
of wine, the juice of many grapes. And now He explains
how that which He spoke of comes to pass, and what it
is to eat His Body and drink His Blood. He that eateth
My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in
him. To abide in Christ, therefore, and to have Him
dwelling in us, is for a man to eat that meat and to drink
that cup. And he that dwells not in Christ, and in whom
Christ abides not, undoubtedly does not spiritually eat
His Flesh nor drink His Blood, though he carnally and
visibly press the Sacrament with his teeth. But rather
he eateth and drinketh judgment to himself, because, being
unclean, he dares to come to that secret and holy thing
of Christ, whereunto no one draws nigh worthily, unless
he be pure ; for of such it is said : Blessed are the clean of
heart, for they shall see God (Matt. v. 8).
II. As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the
Father ; so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me.
Notice that our Lord does not say, As I eat the Father,
FEAST OF CORPUS CHRIST I 247
and live by the Father ; so he that eats Me, the same shall
live by Me. For the Son, Who was begotten equal to the
Father, does not become better by the participation of
the Father, just as we are made better by the participa
tion of the Son through the unity of His Body and Blood,
signified by the eating and drinking. We live by Him,
eating Him — that is, by receiving Him as the eternal life,
which we had not from ourselves. He lives by the
Father, being sent by Him, because He humbled Himself,
becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross
(Phil. ii. 8). / live by the Father as One that is greater
than I (John xiv. 28). Just as we also live by Him, Who
is greater than we are ; and this results from His being
sent. The sending is, in fact, the humbling Himself,
taking the form of a servant ; and this is rightly understood,
while also the Son's equality with the Father is entirely
preserved. For the Father is greater than the Son, con
sidered as man only ; but He has the Son equal to Him
self as God ; whilst the same is both God and man — Son
of God and Son of man, the one Christ Jesus. If these
words are rightly understood, then we know why He
said : As the living Father hath sent Me, and I live by the
Father; so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me.
Just as if He had said : My humbling Myself — in that
He sent Me — effected that I should live by the Father —
that is, that I should refer My earthly life to Him as the
greater. But that anyone should live by Me is effected
by that communion in which he eats Me. Therefore,
being humbled, I live by the Father, and man, being
raised up, lives by Me. But if it was said, / live by the
Father, so as to mean that He is of the Father, not the
Father of Him, it was said without any detriment of
equality. And yet, when saying, He that eateth Me, the
same shall live by Me, He did not mean to say that His
24« SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
own equality was the same as our equality, but He
thereby showed the grace of the Mediator.
III. This is the Bread that came down from heaven, that by
eating it we may live for ever, since we cannot have
eternal life from ourselves. Not, He says, as your fathers
did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this Bread shall
live for ever. That those fathers are dead, He wished us
to understand as meaning that they do not live for ever.
For even those who eat Christ shall without doubt die
temporally ; but they live for ever, because Christ is life
everlasting.
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Luke xiv. 16-24. At that time : Jesus spoke
this parable to the Pharisees : A certain man made a
great supper, and invited many. And he sent his servant
at the hour of supper to say to them that were invited,
that they should come, for now all things are ready.
And they began all at once to make excuse. The firsj:
said to him : I have bought a farm, and must needs go
out and see it ; I pray thee, hold me excused. And
another said : I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go
to try them : I pray thee, hold me excused. And another
said : I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.
And the servant returning, told these things to his lord.
Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his
servant : Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the
city, and bring in hither the poor, and the feeble, and the
blind, and the lame. And the servant said : Lord, it is
done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room.
And the lord said to the servant : Go out into the high
ways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my
house may be filled. But I say unto you, that none of
those men that were invited, shall taste of my supper.
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 249
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF SS. PHILIP AND JAMES, ON THE SECOND
SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
THIRTY-SIXTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. Between the pleasures of the body, beloved brethren,
and the pleasures of the mind, there is that difference,
that the pleasures of the body, when we miss them, raise
up a great longing after them, and when we greedily taste
them, our fulness soon produces dislike and aversion.
Whereas the pleasures of the mind seem disagreeable as
long as we lack them, but when we fill ourselves with
them we feel hungry after them, and the more we feed on
them, the more hungry we get after them. Bodily or
corporal pleasures are full of sweetness when taken, but
soon excite nausea ; whereas in the spiritual feeding, which
at first seems bitter, real pleasure is found at the end.
What is sensual stirs up our appetite, yet we cannot take
it for a time without feeling a strong aversion against it.
But what is spiritual excites the appetite in the very act
of eating. We see, therefore, that souls tasting spiritual
dainties, feel greater hunger and thirst for Divine things
through the sweetness they taste. If we taste them not,
we cannot love them, for we know not how sweet they
are. And who can love that thing whereof he knows
nothing? WTe are, therefore, invited by the Psalmist,
saying : O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet (Ps. xxxiii. 9) ;
that is, as it were, if you taste not, you shall not know
His goodness, but let your heart once taste the food of
life, then, indeed, having tasted and proved its sweetness,
you will be able to love Him. These are the dainties
which were lost to man, when he sinned in the earthly para
dise ; and he lost Paradise when he shut his own mouth
250 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
against the sweet bread, whereof if any man eat he shall
live for ever. And as we are born of the first man under
the afflictions of this pilgrimage, and came into this
world smitten with aversion, we know not what to desire.
And the disease of this aversion grows worse, the more
our soul is estranged from this bread of sweetness. We
are no longer hungering after interior dainties, since we
have lost the use of eating them. And so in this aversion
we starve, and the sickness of long fasting destroys our
health. We would not eat of the interior sweetness
made ready for us, and we love outward things, even our
starvation ; yet the infinite Goodness does not forsake
those by whom It is forsaken.
II. This goodness of God recalls to our mind these
holy dainties, so often despised, and by trying to shake
off our sluggishness, invites us to overcome the aversion
we feel against this spiritual food. Listen to the words
of our Redeemer : A certain man made a great supper, and
invited many. This man is the same of whom the prophet
said : It is a Man, and who hath known Him ? (Jer. xvii. 9).
He prepared a great supper, for He wished to give us the
fill of interior sweetness. Many were invited, but a few
came ; for it often happens that some of those who
receive the light of faith, keep away from the eternal
banquet through a bad life that is opposed to their call
ing. This man sends out his servant at the hour of the
slipper to say to them that were invited, that they should come.
And what is the meaning of these words, the hour of the
supper ? The end of the world, as St. Paul explains,
saying : All these things happened to them in figure, and they
are written for our correction, upon whom the ends of the world
are come (i Cor. x. n). And since we know that the
Lord calls us now, because the hour of the supper, to
which we are invited, has come, we cannot find any
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 251
excuse not to appear at it, especially because, on account
of the offered and yet neglected grace, we must fear that
the favourable hour will never return. Then, this ban
quet prepared by God, is called in the Gospel a supper, to
give us to understand that, supper being the last meal of
the day, the banquet spoken of means the eternal supper
prepared by God at the end of the world. And who is
the servant sent out to call them that were invited, if not the
preachers bidden by God to announce His truths ? As
one of these servants, God has sent us, though unworthy
of this high office, being bowed down under the burden
of our own sins. God has sent us to you on this day ;
and whilst I speak to you that you may be edified and
instructed, I obey the commands of the Divine House
holder. Exhorting you to despise the world, I am like
the servant of the Gospel, and I invite you to the supper
prepared for you by God. Do not consider my person,
but only my office ; for if you see in me a servant un
worthy to invite you, your esteem ought, at all events, to
be given to the pleasures of the spiritual banquet to
which you are invited. You know, beloved brethren,
that a master, being of a high rank, often has a servant
who, seeming low, is despised. But when this servant
brings a message to his master's friends, it is gladly
accepted in consideration of the master, no attention
being paid to the faults or shortcomings of the servant.
Do likewise, beloved brethren, and be not disturbed by
my unworthiness, but highly esteem the call of the Lord.
Obey, and promptly, the invitation of the Divine House
holder to His Banquet. Prepare your hearts, and expel
from them the mortal indifference which keeps you away
from His sanctifying Banquet. And should your minds
be still carnal, desiring only corporeal food, consider that
the Flesh of your God is offered to you for the nourish-
252 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
ment of your souls. The sinless Lamb of God, killed
for you, is prepared for you on God's altar.
III. How shall we be made worthy of this invitation ?
And they began all at once to make excuse, says the Gospel.
God in His infinite love offers, without being asked for,
an actual favour, which we could not expect, not even by
our most ardent desires ; yet this favour is despised. He
promises food for our eternal happiness ; yet everyone
makes excuse not to accept it. Let us take an ordinary
example to understand higher things. A mighty Prince
invites a poor man to his banquet. You will easily
imagine that this poor man will be overwhelmed with
joy, that he will express his gratitude with modest and
humble words, and, taking off his tattered garments, will
endeavour to appear one of the first in the banquet-hall,
not to be before-handed by another. This poor man
would certainly behave in this manner. And we are
invited by God Himself to His Banquet, and we make
excuse, and do not appear. Yet it seems to me, your
answer in your heart will be that you do not excuse your
selves, and that you will be only too glad to partake of
this supper prepared for you.
IV. Your testimony seems plausible enough, were it
not for your own conscience telling you that you are
inclined to love the world more than heaven, and cor
poreal and perishable things more than spiritual and
invisible goods. Consider the motives alleged by the
invited guests for not appearing at the supper. The first
said : I have bought a farm, and must needs go out and see it ;
I pray thee hold me excused. This farm he speaks of, what
does it mean but the earthly and perishable goods ? He
goes out to see it, for he is only busy with and fettered
by exterior and temporal possessions. And another said :
I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to try them ; I pray
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOS7 253
thee hold me excused. Cannot the five corporal senses of
man be understood under the number of these yoke of
oxen ? And is it not with a special reason that animals
are put before us under the yoke, or in couples, as both
sexes are subject to the exterior sense ? By these senses
we are not elevated to the knowledge of supernatural
things, but we remain with the corporeal ones. Through
these man forsakes the knowledge of the things within
him, and clings to those without. And this is the cause
of our inquisitiveness concerning the life of our neigh
bour, whilst we overlook our own life. The human mind
is, indeed, of this disposition, trying to know things
which are of no concern, and overlooking those which
ought to be the first and paramount care. Not without
a special reason is it said about the five yoke of oxen : /
go to try them ; I pray thee hold me excused. Such excuse
clearly shows the curiosity of the man. This vice
mastered him entirely, and led him to go and try exterior
and not spiritual things. Now, consider how those who
wished to be excused by the householder for not coming
to his banquet — the one on account of the farm and the
other on account of the five yoke of oxen — at first made
use of very humble language, / pray thee hold me excused.
Yet this humility is in their words only, while the con
tempt for the householder resides in their doings. And
such is the conduct of many Christians towards the
ministers of God, when punished by them for their mis
deeds. Being admonished in such words as : ' Do be
converted ; return to God ; avoid the world and its sins ;'
their answer to the zealous servant of God, inviting them
to the Lord's banquet, will be : * We are not worthy of
the grace offered to us ; we are sinners ; we cannot obey
you ; but do not forget to pray the Lord for us.' Are
they not like the invited guests, who asked the servant to
254 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
excuse them ? Saying that they are sinners, they seem
to humble themselves, but adding that they cannot be
converted, their pride is only too obvious. Their false
humility is shown by their words, and by their acts, their
real pride.
V. And another said : I have married a wife, and therefore
I cannot come. The real reason of his refusal is found in
the vice of voluptuousness. Indeed, though marriage is
in itself good and lawful, being instituted by Divine
Providence for the propagation of the human race, yet
it is often desired, not for that legitimate purpose, but
for the satisfaction of vicious desires ; so that under the
words of an action, just in itself, unlawful intentions are
often hidden. The Divine Master of the house invites
you to His heavenly Banquet ; yet you. refuse, since the
love of earthly goods, inquisitiveness, and sinful lust keep
you away. You act in the same manner as those who,
on account of their excuses, were rejected by the house
holder of the Gospel. They alleged the same reasons
you make use of, and showed the same aversion against
the heavenly food offered to men.
VI. And the servant, returning, told these things to his lord.
Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant :
Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring
in hither the poor, and the feeble, and the blind, and the lame.
The Lord, therefore, shuts out of His Banquet those
who are only and solely clinging to the goods of this
earth, those addicted to useless curiosity, and those
given up to sinful lust. The proud also are rejected, and
the poor are chosen, How is this ? Listen to St. Paul
saying : The foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that
He may confound the wise ; and the weak things of the world
hath God chosen, that He may confound the strong (i Cor.
i. 27). Now, notice that those brought to the banquet
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 255
are called poor and feeble, to point out that they were not
relying on their own strength, but recognised their weak
ness. For he that, in the midst of his poverty, has a
high opinion of himself, is proud in spite of his needs.
Again, the blind may be said to be those deprived of the
interior light ; the lame, those who do not go straight in
the path of justice. Now, these exterior deformities
seem to be the marks of interior defects ; it follows, then,
that they are sinners, like the first who refused to come
to the Banquet. But because they are humble they are
preferred and received, on account of their humble
sentiments.
VII. The despised by the world are therefore chosen
by God ; for it often happens that the little esteem in
which they are held makes them reflect on themselves,
and urges them to follow the prodigal son of the Gospel,
who, having wasted his substance living riotously, and
being in want, returned to himself, and said : How many
hired servants in my father's house abound with bread ? (Luke
xv. 17). As long as he was living in sinful abundance,
he knew not himself, but went, so to speak, away from
himself, not to see the sad condition in which he was
plunged. He would not have returned to himself, had
not the corporal hunger he suffered shown him the
terrible spiritual distress of his soul. The poor and the
feeble, the blind and the lame, are called by God, and
they come, because they are infirm and despicable in
the eyes of the world. They are the more willing and
prompt to listen to the voice of God, the less attention
and comfort they receive from the world.
VIII. However, the sentence pronounced by our
Lord against all those who refused to accept the invita
tion, is exceedingly terrible. I entreat you, therefore,
you, beloved brethren, and you, my teachers, you who
256 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
are sinners and you who are just — I entreat you to give
your serious attention to His words, that He may be the
less feared on the day of the judgment, the more He is
feared by you now, when attentively listening to my
words. He adds : 1 say unto you, That none of those men
that were invited, shall taste of My supper. At sundry times
and in divers manners you have been called by God :
through His Angels, sent to guide us ; through the
Prophets and Fathers, gone before us ; through the
Apostles and pastors ; and, lastly, through our ministry ;
do not despise His invitation. Should the voice of God
be heard by you in miracles or punishments, in blessings
or adversities, do not refuse to listen to it. For, were
you unwilling to accept the invitation now, the time
might come when the entrance to the banquet will be
refused to you, just when you are most desirous to obtain
that favour. Remember what Wisdom tells us through
Solomon : Then they shall call upon me, and I will not hear ;
they shall rise in the morning, and shall not find me (Prov.
i. 28). And the foolish virgins, coming late, exclaim :
Lord, Lord, open to us. But the Bridegroom, answering, said :
Amen I say to you, I know you not (Matt. xxv. n, 12).
And now need I tell you, beloved brethren, to forsake all
things, to renounce the cares and concerns of this world,
and to think only of eternity ? Such a blessing is given
to a few only ; and I do not flatter myself that you will
be induced, in consequence of my admonitions, to forsake
all the things you possess. But if you cannot do so, at
least keep your earthly goods in such a way as not to be
possessed by them ; keep them in your possession, so
that your heart may not be enslaved by them ; make
use of the goods of this world, and desire the eternal
gifts. Temporal goods help us on the journey of this
life, but eternal goods alone are deserving of our con-
SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 257
tinual desires and efforts to possess them. Whatsoever
happens in this world ought to be looked upon with
indifference, whilst the eyes of our soul are to be con
tinually directed towards the desired eternal felicity.
Let us entirely root out the vices of our heart, so that
we may be ready not only to avoid every sinful act, but
even to banish the least sinful thought. Then neither the
lust of the flesh, nor over-curiosity or desire for honours
will keep us away from the Banquet of the Lord. When
applying ourselves to honest and necessary occupations,
let not our mind be so intent on them, as to give them
our whole heart. You see, therefore, beloved brethren,
that you are not asked to forsake all things, but that,
though keeping what you possess, you may in spirit
deprive yourselves of all things — that is to say, you will
make use of earthly things, so as to found all your hopes
and desires upon eternal goods. Follow this advice of
St. Paul : The time is short ; it remaineth, that they that
weep, be as though they wept not ; and they that rejoice, as if
they rejoiced not ; and they that buy, as though they possessed
not ; and they that use this world, as if they used it not ; for
the fashion of this world passeth away (i Cor. vii. 29 and
following).
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Luke xv. i-io. At that time: The publicans
and sinners drew near unto Jesus to hear Him. And the
Pharisees and Scribes murmured, saying : This man
receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And He spoke
to them this parable, saying : What man of you that
hath an hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them,
doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go
after that which was lost until he find it ? And when he
I7
258 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
hath found it, lay it upon his shoulders rejoicing ; and,
coming home, call together his friends and neighbours,
saying to them : Rejoice with me, because I have found
my sheep that was lost. I say to you, that even so there
shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that doth penance,
more than upon ninety-nine just who need not penance.
Or what woman, having ten groats, if she lose one groat,
doth not light a candle, and sweep the house, and seek
diligently until she find it ? And when she hath found it,
call together her friends and neighbours, saying : Rejoice
with me, because I have found the groat which I had
lost. So I say to you, there shall be joy before the
angels of God upon one sinner doing penance.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF SS. JOHN AND PAUL ON THE THIRD
SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
THIRTY-FOURTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. You have heard, beloved brethren, from the Gospel
just read out to you, that the publicans and sinners drew
near our Lord, and were received by Him, not only to
speak, but also to eat with Him ; and the Pharisees and
Scribes, seeing this, murmured. Learn from this that
true justice is merciful, whereas false justice is full of con
tempt, though even the just sometimes feel moved with
indignation against sinners. However, we distinguish
between a feeling of indignation through pride, and
another such feeling through love for the law. He that
has a true zeal feels indignant against sin, but he
despises not the sinner ; he feels a holy impatience, but
he loses not hope ; he will fight against sinners so as yet
loving them ; and though he will exteriorly punish them
with strong words, he will always preserve in his heart
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 259
the sweetness of love. The just man prefers to himself
in his heart those whom he is correcting, and thinks
those he judges, better than himself. And, so doing, he
preserves discipline in those who are subject to him, and
in himself, real humility. Whereas those possessing a
false justice, by which they are rendered prouder, have
only contempt for others ; they spare them not ; they are
unmerciful to their misery, and thus are the more sinful,
because they perceive not that they themselves are
sinners. Such were the Pharisees who judged our Lord
because He received sinners. Their hearts were mortally
dry, whilst they rebuked the very fountain of mercy.
II. Their sickness was so desperate that they recognised
not even they were sick. But the heavenly Physician,
that they might know of their sickness, applied to them
soft ointments by means of a gracious parable, and lanced
the abscess of their proud heart. He said : What man of
you that hath an hundred sheep, and if he shall lose one of them,
doth he not leave the ninety-nine in the desert, and go after that
which was lost until he find it? We cannot sufficiently
admire the infinite wisdom and goodness of our Redeemer,
who in this parable compels man to recognise himself,
whilst his Creator's image is placed before him. Consider
that one hundred is a perfect number representing angels
and men, created by God and being His sheep. You
will easily recognise that man is the lost sheep, since
through sin he left the life-giving pastures allotted to
him by God ; and that this lost sheep might be found,
the ninety-nine were left in the desert. For our Redeemer
left the choirs of the angels in heaven, and came into this
world to His human creatures. Why is heaven compared
to a desert? Because man, by his sins, deserted that
place created for him. And the angels, prefigured by
the other sheep, inhabited that desert, whilst the lost
17—2
260 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
sheep on earth were sought after by the Divine Shepherd.
This desert had its beginning, when the number of angels
and men, created for the contemplation of the Almighty,
was diminished by the transgression of man. The lost
sheep on earth were gone after, that the full number of
His sheep in heaven might be restored. Thus we see
that another Evangelist (Matt, xviii. 12) uses the expres
sion mountains instead of desert, clearly indicating that
the angels, dwelling in the highest, are those sheep which
remained in the heavenly pastures prepared by their
Creator. And when he hath found it, lay it upon his shoulders
rejoicing. Do we not recognise in this image our Saviour
Himself, who, taking our human nature, burdened Him
self with our sins ? A nd, coming home, call together his
friends and neighbours, saying to them : Rejoice with me,
because I have found my sheep that was lost. After finding
the lost sheep He came home ; for after redeeming the
human nature, that lost sheep, Jesus Christ returned to
His home, the eternal kingdom. There He found His
friends and neighbours — that is, the choirs of the angels.
They are His friends, for they have continually and
faithfully done His will. They are His neighbours, for,
walking in His presence, they are enlightened by the rays
of His glory. The Divine Shepherd does not say :
Rejoice with My sheep, but Rejoice with Me ; for His joy
is to give us life, and His desire and joy will be complete
when we enter His kingdom.
III. This is explained by our Lord Himself: / say to
you, that even so there shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner that
doth penance, more than upon ninety-nine just who need not
penance. Why does our Lord say that heaven will rejoice
upon sinners doing penance, more than upon the just who
persevere in their justice ? It is because, according to our
daily experience, the just, not forsaking the ways of
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 261
justice, are not over anxious to win heaven, since they do
not feel themselves burdened with sins, and are free
from all unlawful doings. They abstain the less from
lawful things, the more convinced they are of their re
nouncing forbidden things ; thus they do not endeavour
to attain to higher things, being conscious of their never
committing any grievous fault. Whereas sinners, re
membering their former vicious life, and penetrated by
deep and sincere contrition, return to God with an ardent
love. They begin to practise the most heroic virtues,
and fight hard for a glorious victory over themselves.
They are no longer moved by the pleasures of the world,
nor by honours or dignities, but they rejoice in bearing
with injustice and iniquities. Their only longing is after
heaven, their only desire, to obtain the eternal felicity ;
and thus they make amends for their former sins by the
rich treasure of their merits. Do not wonder, therefore,
that there is joy in heaven upon one sinner doing penance,
more than upon the just persevering in justice. A soldier
who at the first shock of the battle lost heart and ran
away, but at once returned with great courage to strike
and overwhelm the enemy, will receive from the com
mander more praise than another who, though not turn
ing his back to the enemy, never showed any act of real
courage. Thus also a field, formerly covered with
thistles and thorns, but now yielding a rich harvest, will
be preferred by the farmer to a soil which, though never
covered with thistles, has not been as fertile as the other.
IV. However, we must confess that among the just
there are to be found many, who rejoice in heaven more
than converted sinners do by their most sincere penance.
For there are a great many who, leading a perfectly inno
cent life, nevertheless punish themselves with great
severity, as if they had committed grievous sins. Such
262 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
Christians renounce all the commodities of life ; with
heroic contempt they rise above the world ; what is law
ful seems to them sinful ; justly acquired goods are
rejected, whilst all visible things are despised in order to
ascend to invisible riches. Tears and sighs are their
comfort, and humiliations their happiness. And when
others are weeping on account of their really sinful
actions, they are sorry for the least sinful thought. We
conclude, therefore, that such Christians, being really
good and innocent, yet reap the merits of severe penance,
because they continually practise the most sublime
virtues. We may, therefore, recognise how much God
rejoices upon the just suffering and humbling themselves
for sins they never committed, -since He rejoices upon a
sinner deeply sorry for his past sins.
V. But, though our Lord said : There shall be joy in
heaven upon one sinner that doth penance, the same Lord
announces through His prophet : If the just, trusting in his
justice, commit iniquity, all his justices shall be forgotten
(Ezech. xxxiii. 13). Consider the mystery of God's
wisdom and goodness, threatening the just with His
wrath, should they forsake the road of justice, and at the
same time inspiring sinners with hope of forgiveness,
provided they forsake and rise from their sins, and do
penance. What a mystery ! God inspiring the just with
fear, lest their justice and good works make them pre
sumptuous, and giving hope and courage to sinners, to
prevent them from despairing on account of their sins !
Learn, therefore, you good Christians, to fear the justice
of God, Who may suffer you to fall, and you, sinners,
hope in the mercy of God helping you to rise from your
sins. Though oppressed by the burden of their wicked
ness, the sinners are awaited by Him, Who created them
in justice, to rise again. The arms of His mercy are
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 263
stretched out to receive them as soon as they return to
Him. Yet, only a sincere penance can reconcile us to
God, and this penance, the qualities of which must be
acknowledged, consists in the deep sorrow for sins com
mitted, and the firm purpose of avoiding them in the
future. However, he that is repentant for past sins, and
is again committing new ones, knows nothing about real
penance, or is acting as if he knew nothing. What does
it profit you to be sorry for sins against chastity, if at the
same time you are given up to avarice ? What advantage
will be derived from tears shed about anger, if the fire of
envy is not extinguished in your heart ?
VI. Our penance will be perfect if, besides true con
trition for past sins and sincere purpose not to commit
them again, we also abstain from lawful things, in order
to satisfy Divine Justice for unlawful actions. It is meet
and just to renounce some pleasure, when the great com
mandments were transgressed. Let me illustrate this by
an example taken from Holy Scripture. It was forbidden
to covet the neighbour's wife (Exod. xx. 17), but the
King was not forbidden to impose very difficult tasks on
his soldiers, neither to ask for water by the fetching of
which they would be exposed to great dangers. But all
of you know how King David, yielding to his passions,
took away the wife of one of his subjects ; how his
sin was severely punished, and how he made amends for
it by severe penance and bitter tears. A long time after
wards the same King, fighting against his enemies, and
suffering terrible thirst, was longing for the living waters
of the cisterns at Bethlehem. Some fearless soldiers at
once went, in spite of extreme dangers, through the
ranks of the enemy, and brought him the longed-for fresh
water. But David, reflecting on the great danger to
which these soldiers exposed themselves, only to satisfy
264 5 UN DA YS A ND FESTI VA LS
his desire, was sorry, and at once poured out the water
upon the ground before the Lord, to bring Him a sacrifice,
and thus to expiate by this generous self-denial the burn
ing desire he had to get water. You see how this repen
tant and converted sinner deprived himself of the water
so ardently desired, whilst he did not mind before that to
take the wife of another man, to satisfy his lust. David,
therefore, denied to himself the use of a thing allowed by
the law, because he remembered the sin he had committed
against the law by a forbidden act. Our penance must
be of the same kind, if we wish to atone for our sinful
actions. Consider also the infinite mercies of God, Who,
though seeing us commit sin, bears with us in incompre
hensible patience.
VII. It is true, when God had created man, He pro
hibited sin, yet since man's misfortune of committing
sin, God's mercy has never tired in offering him forgive
ness. He still calls us, though we give no ear to His
voice ; we forsake God, and He does not forsake us.
This is expressed by Isaias the Prophet, saying: Thy
eyes shall see the teacher, and thy ears shall hear the word of one
admonishing thee behind thy back (Isa. xxx. 20, 21). Man
was created in justice and instructed by his Creator, at
Whose countenance he gazed as long as he remained in
the state of innocence and accepted His commands. But
when he had transgressed these commands, he turned, so
to speak, his countenance from His Creator. Yet, this
despised and forsaken good God did not cease running
after him, following him, and continually beseeching
him to return. And this is God's conduct towards us ;
for when He was despised by us, He nevertheless con
tinued to call us. We offend Him, not listening to His
exhortations, and considering His commandments, too
severe to be obeyed ; nevertheless, He invites us to
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 265
return to Him. His Divine commandments call us,
whilst His invincible patience is awaiting us. Beloved
brethren, consider a slave who, in his pride, will not
listen to your words, who, instead of obeying, will turn
his back on you ; shall not his impudence be most
severely punished ? We easily recognise ourselves in
this comparison, since by our repeated sins we have
turned against God, our Creator, Who, in spite of them,
still continues to preserve our life. Wre have proudly
resisted Him, yet, in spite of our contempt, He meekly
calls us, and is not only satisfied with remitting us the
punishment deserved by our sins, but offers us, as a
reward for our return, an eternal happiness in heaven.
The most hardened heart ought to be moved by such
infinite mercy. Let us also learn, by God's infinite
patience after our heinous sins, to be ashamed of our
ingratitude, which in justice deserves the most severe
punishment.
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Luke v. i-n. At that time : When the multi
tude pressed upon Jesus to hear the Word of God, He
stood by the Lake of Genesareth. And He saw two
ships standing by the Lake ; but the fishermen were
gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And,
going up into one of the ships that was Simon's, He
desired him to draw back a little from the land. And,
sitting, He taught the multitudes out of the ship. Now,
when He had ceased to speak, He said to Simon :
Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for
a draught. And Simon, answering, said to Him :
Master, we have laboured all the night, and have taken
nothing ; but at Thy word I will let down the net.
266 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
And when they had done this, they enclosed a very great
multitude of fishes, and their net broke. And they
beckoned to their partners that were in the other ship,
that they should come and help them. And they came
and filled both the ships, so that they were almost sink
ing. Which when Simon Peter saw, he fell down at
Jesus's knees, saying : Depart from me, for I am a sin
ful man, O Lord. For he was wholly astonished, and
all that wTere with him, at the draught of fishes which
they had taken. And so were also James and John, the
sons of Zebedee, who were Simon's partners. And Jesus
saith to Simon : Fear not ; from henceforth thou shalt
catch men. And having brought their ships to land,
leaving all things, they followed Him.
HOMILY BY ST. AMBROSE, BISHOP.
BOOK iv., CHAP, v., ON LUKE.
I. Since the Lord wrought so many works of healing,
we are not astonished to see that neither time nor place
could restrain the multitude from seeking relief and
health. Evening had come, and still they followed
Him ; He went down to the lake, and still they pressed
upon Him, and therefore He entered Peter's ship.
This is the ship which, according to the expression of
St. Matthew, is spiritually buffeted by tempests even up
to this time, but which is still, according to St. Luke,
filled with fishes, signifying that for a while to labour is
the present state of the Church, whilst hereafter it shall
be to rejoice ; for the fishes represent those who swim in
the troublesome waters of this human life. When Jesus
Christ seems to sleep in this ship, and afterwards com
mands the winds and the sea, He teaches us that He is
sleeping for the lukewarm, and watching for the perfect..
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 267
However, our Lord's sleep must be considered according
to the meaning attached to it in Holy Scripture : / sleep,
but My heart watcheth (Cant. v. 2). Therefore St. Matthew,
in his Gospel, did not omit to mention the visible signs
given by our Lord Himself to prove His power when
calming the tempestuous sea. This was not the action
of human power, as the Jews imagined when they ex
claimed : What manner of man is this, for the winds and the
sea obey Him ? (Matt. viii. 27). It was the proof of the
Divinity of Jesus Christ, revealing to men the mysteries
of His grace, whilst commanding the waves of the sea,
calming the elements, and forcing unfeeling creatures to
obey His word. Indeed, when we see that at His word
the sea is calmed, that the devil is forced to leave those
he possessed, both these miracles prove the Almighty
Power of the Man-God, Who commands material ele
ments, and makes known His power over the super
natural order of things. There is a specially mysterious
coincidence in the fact that St. Matthew relates the
calming of the tempest, while St. Luke describes St.
Peter's miraculous draught of fishes. Take notice that
Peter's ship was not driven to and fro, like the one in
which was Judas ; for though this one contained also
some good disciples of our Lord, yet, on account of the
faithlessness of Judas, she could not safely progress in
her course. Peter's own merits could not prevent the
uneasiness he felt on account of one of the disciples ; and
thus we are warned to remove, as far as possible, the
faithless ones from our society, lest we expose the multi
tude to perish through one whom we have not the
courage to expel. No fear for the ship where Wisdom is
steering, where no false teaching is known, and faith is
swelling the sails. How could she be in trouble under
the steering of the Lord Himself, the Church's sure
268 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
foundation ? It is where faith is weak that there is fear ;
but there is safety where perfect love abides.
II. To the other disciples it was commanded to loose
their nets ; but to Peter alone it was said : Launch out into
the deep — that is, into the depths of the doctrine of faith,
What, indeed, is there so deep, so incomprehensible, as
to gaze upon the depth of Divine Wisdom revealed to this
Apostle to recognise the Son of God, and to take up the
profession of His Divine generation ? This is a thing
which the human mind is not able to grasp, but which is
embraced by a hearty faith ; for though it is not known
to me how He was born of the Father, yet that born He
was, I cannot be ignorant. What the order of His
Divine generation was, I know not, but I acknowledge
God, the source of His generation. No one beheld the
begetting of the Son of God by the Father, but the
Church stood by to hear the Father testify that this is
His beloved Son (Luke iii. 22). Whom shall we believe,
if we believe not God ? For whatsoever we believe
comes either by sight or by hearing ; but our eyes
oftentimes deceive us, while faith cometh by hearing (Rom.
x. 17). Shall we scrutinize the authority of him that
speaks to us in order to believe his testimony ? When
we are made sure of a thing by honest people, we believe
their words. And we are assured by God Himself of this
mystery which we are to believe, and which is confirmed
by the Son of God Himself. The sun was darkened at
His death ; the earth was quaking and shaking in its
foundations ; they all proclaim the same truth. In the
depth of this mysterious sea the Son of God is seen by
the Church under the guidance of Peter. He rises full
of glory, and the Holy Ghost is pouring out all His gifts
into the hearts of the faithful.
III. As to the nets, which by order of our Lord were
FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 269
let down by the disciples into the deep sea, we under
stand them to be the words of truth, forming, so to
speak, the tissue of the evangelical sermons. These
sermons, like the material nets, have some depths and
corners, by which men caught in the spiritual nets are
prevented from slipping out and being lost again in the
deep. It is not without a special reason that the instru
ments used by the evangelical labourers are compared to
nets ; for they do not bring death to the fishes, but
spiritual and everlasting life. Souls are taken out of the
spiritual darkness, and receive light ; they are delivered
from the deep abyss, and guided up to heaven. Another
manner of fishing is spoken of in the Gospel, when our
Lord asked Peter to cast a hook, and to take the fish
which first came up (Matt. xvii. 23-26). This event
suggests an important lesson ; for by this miracle Chris
tians are admonished to be subject to their temporal
rulers, and also obedient to them. The Son of God Him
self teaches this truth by His own act ; He possessed
nothing, yet He paid tribute to Caesar. It was to teach
those endowed with earthly riches the obligation to
recognise the rights of the Sovereign, and to teach others,
the slaves of the perishable things of this world, not to
think themselves above the princes of the earth. Our
Lord paid this tribute, the same as was imposed in the
old law, for the sum was twopence, to signify the great
value of the redemption of man, who has both a spiritual
and a corporeal nature. There is also another mystery
in the fact that the money for the tribute was found in
the mouth of the fish ; for the mouth gives testimony to
our justice and confesses our faith, the source of our
salvation. The Apostle says : With the mouth confession
is made unto salvation (Rom. x. 10). This first fish caught
by St. Peter may also represent St. Stephen, the first
270 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
martyr, who had in his mouth the tribute paid by the
Redeemer. Jesus Christ, giving Himself up for our
redemption, is our tribute ; we may therefore say that
St. Stephen, confessing Jesus amidst his torments, bore,
so to speak, the treasure of our redemption on his lips.
IV. Now consider the deep humility of St. Peter,
saying to his Divine Teacher : Master, we have laboured all
the night, and have taken nothing ; but at Thy word I will let
down the net. The Apostle seems to say : * O Lord, I
recognise that my labours would be useless, since I
worked all the night in the darkness, hadst Thou not
come to dispel my darkness and help me. I do not see
anybody yet coming into my boat, in which there is
truth. Thou hast manifested Thyself to the Gentiles,
and the wise men came from the East ; yet I have not
caught any one in my net. I have uselessly laboured
all the day, and am waiting for Thy command, that at
Thy word I let down my net not uselessly.' Oh, how
vain and useless is presumption and self-confidence, and
how powerful and fruitful the humility of those who at
the simple word of the Redeemer filled their nets with
fishes after their previous useless work ! By this we are
given to understand that the miraculous draught of human
creatures made by the evangelical labourers, was not the
result of human eloquence, but the work of their divine
vocation. Nations were converted through the faith
being preached to them, and not through being con
vinced by the logical arguments of human wisdom. And
what is the meaning of the other ships manned by
Peter's companions and asked to give help, but the land
of Judea, the country of James and John ? The Prophet,
in his songs, tells us that Judea was made His sanctuary
(Ps. cxiii. 2). We learn thereby that these two disciples,
leaving their own ship to enter that of Peter, left the
'FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 271
Synagogue and joined the Church, and that Jews and
Gentiles, figured by the two ships filled with fishes, will
recognise Jesus as their Saviour, in Whose Name all
knees shall bow in heaven and on earth.
V. Yet, considering this enormous quantity of fishes, I
am seized with fear, lest the ships be submerged. But
my fear disappears, when I remember the words of the
Apostle : There must be also heresies ; that they, who are
reproved, may be made manifest among you (i Cor. xi. 19).
We may also see in the ship coming near to that of
St. Peter a figure of those Churches which received
their beginning from the first. Should the astonishment
of St. Peter at the multitude of fishes caught in his net
seem to indicate his uneasiness about the preservation of
the great number of the faithful entrusted to his care, we
have no motive to fear that he will lack the means of
preserving them, as long as they remain in his ship, since
he received the gift of drawing into it even those who
were without. Nevertheless, the Apostle is far from
attributing to his own efforts the success of taking souls
into his net ; for he gives this credit to his Saviour, WThose
power he acknowledges, falling down at His knees and
saying : Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, 0 Lord.
St. Peter is seized with astonishment at the favours he
received; for the more worthy he was, the more unworthy
he considered himself. Follow his example, and say :
Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord, and the
same answer will be given to you. Fear not to confess
your sins before the merciful God, Who is ready to pardon
you. For our sake He deprived Himself of everything ; let
us for His love generously give to Him what is our own.
God, immensely rich and generous, cannot deprive us of
nor envy us our possessions, especially when considering
that, in the excess of His goodness, He granted to men
the power of reconciling us to Him.
272 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Matt. v. 20-24. At that time: Jesus said to
His disciples : Unless your justice exceed that of the
Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter into the
kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to
them of old : Thou shalt not kill. And whosoever shall
kill shall be in danger of the judgment. But I say to
you, that whosoever is angry with his brother, shall be in
danger of the judgment. And whosoever shall say to his
brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council. And
whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell
fire. Therefore, if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and
there shalt remember that thy brother hath anything
against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and
go first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then come
and offer thy gift.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
ON THE LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT, BOOK i., CHAP. ix.
I. The justice of the Pharisees was not to kill, whereas
the justice of those who shall enter the kingdom of
heaven consists in not to be angry with his brother. The
least, therefore, is, Thou shalt not kill, and whosoever
shall break this commandment shall be called the least in the
kingdom of heaven ; but whosoever shall fulfil it, and not
kill, is not yet great and worthy of the kingdom of heaven,
though he has risen a step. But he will have advanced
farther, if he be not angry with his brother without a
cause, and, doing this, he will be farther off from man
slaughter. Wherefore, He Who teaches us not to be
angry without a cause, does not destroy the law, Thou
shalt not kill, but rather fulfils and increases it, making us
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 273
not only to be free of the sin of outward killing, but also
innocent of anger within.
II. There are divers degrees or steps in the sins re
ferred to. And first, a man is angry, and keeps that feel
ing unexpressed in his heart. But now, if that angry
motion calls forth an exclamation of anger, not having
any definite meaning, yet giving evidence of the trouble
of him who is provoked, this is certainly more than anger
restrained by silence. Next, this outburst of indignation
may contain open and direct reviling of him who had
roused it. Who can doubt but that this is something
more than an empty exclamation of anger ? Hence, in
the first there is one thing only, that is, anger ; in the
second, two things, both anger and a word expressing
that anger; in the third, three things, both anger and
words expressing it, and in these words a distinct censure
and reviling. Now look at the three degrees of liability
and guilt, open respectively to the judgment, to the
council and to hell fire. In the judgment there is still
place for the defence ; in the council, however, though
this also is in a sense a judgment, yet we may suppose
distinct from the judgment proper, because the council
pronounces sentence, not as the result of a trial whereat
the accused is present, but as the result of a consultation
among the judges, to find out to what punishment he is
to be sentenced, being already found guilty. When we
get to hell fire, there remains no longer any doubt about
sentence, as in the council. In hell fire both the con
demnation and the punishment of him that is condemned
are alike certain. Thus are seen certain degrees in the
sins and the liability to punishment. But who can tell
in what manner they are invisibly shown in the punish
ment of souls ? We may ask, what is the difference
between the justice of the Pharisees and that greater
18
274 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
justice procuring admittance into the kingdom of heaven ?
For it is a more serious crime to kill than to inflict re
proach by means of words. In the one case killing ex
poses one to the judgment, and in the other anger, the
least of these three sins, also exposes one to the judgment.
The answer will be that in the former case the question
of murder is discussed among men, whereas in the latter
all sins and vices are disposed of by the Divine judgment,
and the final fate of the sentenced sinners is hell fire.
However, let us not lose sight of this fact that, if the
angry brother is punished by God with hell fire, as well
as the other who murdered his brother, there must be, and
certainly there is, a difference in the inflicted punishment.
III. Therefore, added our Lord, if thou bring thy gift to
the altar, and there shalt remember that thy brother hath any
thing against thee, leave there thy gift before the altar, and go
first to be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy
gift. From this it is clear that anger against one's
brother is forbidden by our Lord. For the following sen
tence is connected by such a conjunction, as to confirm
the preceding one. Our Lord did not say : But if thou
bring thy gift ; He said : Therefore, if thou bring thy gift
to the altar. For, if it is not lawful to be angry with
one's brother without a cause, or to say Raca, or Thou fool,
it is still less lawful to keep in one's mind indignant
motions often turned into hatred. To this belongs what
is said in another part of Holy Scripture : Let not the sun
go down upon your anger (Eph. iv. 26). Therefore, when
we are about to bring our gift to the altar, and remember
that our brother has anything against us, we are com
manded to leave our gift before the altar, and to go and
be reconciled to our brother, then to come and offer the
gift. If this is to be understood literally, we might sup
pose that such a thing ought to be done if the brother is
FIFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 275
present ; for it cannot be delayed too long, since we are
commanded to leave the gift before the altar. Should,
therefore, such a thing come to your mind respecting one
who is absent, or even, as it may happen, beyond the sea,
it would be absurd to imagine that your gift is to be left
before the altar, until you have journeyed over both lands
and seas. Therefore, we must have recourse to an in
ternal and spiritual interpretation, then what is said will
be understood without difficulty.
IV. There ought also to be on our part purity of inten
tion when we present our offering ; for our heart is the
altar, the inner temple of God, according to the words of
St. Paul : For the temple of God is holy, which (temple) you
are (i Cor. iii. 17). Again : That Christ may dwell by faith
in your hearts (Eph. iii. 17). If it occur to your mind that
a brother has aught against you — that is, if you have
injured him, for then he has something against you ;
(whereas you have something against him, if he has
injured you, and in that case you will not ask pardon of
one who has done you an injury, but merely forgive him
as you hope to be forgiven by God what you have com
mitted against Him). Now, if your brother has anything
'against you, at once proceed to reconciliation, not only
with your bodily feet, but with the emotions of your
mind, prostrating yourself with humble disposition before
your brother, to whom you have hastened with affection
ate thought. And should he be present when you offer,
you will be able to soften him and to recall him to good
will by asking pardon. And God, witnessing your good
dispositions, will forgive you and accept your present on
your return to Him. But who acts in this way, so that
he is neither angry with his brother without a cause, nor
says Raca without a cause, nor calls him a fool without a
cause — all sins most proudly committed ? Or has he per-
18— 2
276 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
chance fallen into any of these sins, who adopts the only
remedy and asks pardon with suppliant and contrite
minds ? Who, but the man who is not puffed up with the
spirit of empty boasting. Therefore, Blessed are the poor
in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. v. 3.)
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL : Mark viii. 1-9. At that time : When there was
a great multitude with Jesus, and they had nothing to eat,
calling His disciples together, He said to them : I have
compassion on the multitude, for behold they have now
been with Me three days, and have nothing to eat ; and if
I send them away fasting to their own home, they will
faint in the way, for some of them came from afar off.
And His disciples answered Him : From whence can
anyone fill them here with bread in the wilderness ?
And He asked them : How many loaves have ye ? Who
said : Seven. And He commanded the people to sit
down on the ground ; and taking the seven loaves, giving
thanks, He broke, and gave to His disciples for to set
before them, and they set them before the people. And
they had a few little fishes ; and He blessed them, and
commanded them to be set before them. And they did
eat and were filled ; and they took up that which was
left of the fragments, seven baskets. And they that had
eaten were about four thousand ; and He sent them away.
HOMILY BY ST. AMBROSE, BISHOP.
ON LUKE, BOOK vi., CHAP. ix.
I. After that woman, who is a type of Christ's Church,
was healed of an issue of blood (Luke viii. 43) ; after ou
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 277
Lord had sent His disciples to preach the kingdom of
God (ix. 2), food was given to men by His heavenly
tenderness. However, consider who they are to whom
He gave that food. He gave it not to such as live at
ease, not to men in cities nor in synagogues, not to those
who sit in places of worldly dignities ; but to men seeking
Him in a desert place. Those who do not despise His
word, but hunger after it, are received by Christ; He
speaks to them not of earthly things, but of the kingdom
of God. And if any bear the sores of carnal passion,
He willingly heals them. Then it happened that, after
healing those who were in need of healing, He fed their
hunger with spiritual meat. Thus we are given to under
stand that no man takes Christ's food, unless he be first
healed ; and they that are invited to the supper, are first
cured by that invitation. Should they be lame, they
receive the power to walk, that they may be able to
come. If blind, and not able to find the door of the
house of the Lord, His light will be given to them. In
the mysteries, or Sacraments, presented by our Lord, order
is preserved. The sinful soul is first purified by the
remission of sins, and afterwards filled at the table of the
Lord. Yet, that multitude following Him, was of such as
being unable to feed on those strong meats, or to pasture
their starving spirits upon the Body and Blood of Christ,
as is done by those of a stronger faith, according to
St. Paul : / gave you milk to drink, and not meat ; for you
were not able as yet, but neither indeed are you now able
(i Cor. iii. 2). The five loaves are, so to speak, your
milk ; the stronger meat will be the Body of Christ ; the
more generous cup, the Blood of the Lord.
II. Jesus Christ does not at first give to those, who
follow Him, His Body and Blood to appease their
spiritual hunger and thirst. In order to prepare them by
278 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
degrees for the adorable Sacrament, He first satiates them
with five loaves, then by another miracle with the seven
loaves which He multiplied, finally giving Himself to us
as our food. By this we ought to be intimately united
with our Saviour, since He measures the food according
to our strength, so that the weak shall not be oppressed by
a heavy nourishment, and the strong shall find in it pre
servation and support. He that is weak, let him eat herbs
(Rom. xiv. 2) ; whereas he that has already left this
state of weakness will enjoy in the five loaves and the two
fishes a stronger nourishment. But should he desire
something more for his sustenance, and yet hesitate to
ask for it, then, let him forsake everything fastening him
to this earth, and come to listen with more attention to
the word of God. As soon as he begins to hear and to
understand it, he will feel real hunger for it. Thus the
Apostles began to live on this word of life, for which they
felt an unsatiable hunger. And though this Divine
word, stimulating their hunger, was not yet understood
by them, our Lord knew of their desire. He also was
aware of their not longing after corporeal nourishment,
so eagerly desired by the children of the world, but after
spiritual food, which He gave them to taste in His
admirable teaching. Our Redeemer did not wish to send
these people away fasting to their own home, lest they would
faint in the way. Divine goodness acts with us in the
same manner. Our care and zeal are required to seek
and to know, whilst strength to find it is imparted to us.
O dear Jesus ! grant that none of us, neither I nor these
present, should be deprived of these gifts and be sent
away by Thee. Give us this food, by which we are
strengthened and preserved from the weakness over
coming us, when we are without this Bread of life. I will
not ask Thee, O my Saviour, why Thou dost not dismiss
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 279
me without food, since I am told by Thee that for want
of this heavenly nourishment I should faint in the way.
Indeed, I should be starved in this mortal life, before I
could come to Thee, my sole object and end. Without
Thee I should never be able, during this earthly life, to
understand that Thou art the Son of thje Eternal Father,
that Thou hast come from heaven, and art the same
Redeemer Who ascended into the highest heaven. Thou
givest strength to my weakness, which, without Thy
supernatural light, would have seen in Thee only the Son
born of a Virgin, without taking any notice of Thy Divine
Person that assumed our humanity.
III. The Apostles did not understand that the bread
which, by order of our Lord, they were to distribute
among the multitude, was not the common bread sold
among us. But the Lord, Who came to redeem us by
His precious Blood, and from Whom we receive our
daily bread, knew this well. For the disciples had not
yet received the power to distribute the Divine food by
which souls are sanctified. They could only give the
material bread, then in their hands, and by which the
bodies were strengthened. The Redeemer has com
passion on our misery, and is justly anxious lest our
strength should fail us in our earthly journey. And
should we be overcome by our weakness, let us accuse
ourselves and not Him, Who can easily justify Himself
before His accusers. Indeed, what will be our answer,
when He reminds us of the powerful assistance and help
placed at our disposal amidst the dangers and struggles
of life ? Is He not our Father giving us life and strength
with His supernatural nourishment ? Should we be
deprived of this spiritual and strength-giving food, then
not Heaven's assistance was failing us, but our own will
to make use of it in our necessities. For God, Who lets
280 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
the rain fall upon the just and the unjust, takes also care
of the food given to the wicked and to the good.
We read in Holy Scripture how the prophet Elias,
being in the desert, and quite exhausted, received food
from an angel of the Lord, and how in the strength of
that food he walked forty days and forty nights (3 Kings
xix. 5-9). Now, what will be your strength and power
after eating the spiritual food prepared for you by Jesus
Christ Himself ? I go even further, and, basing my
words upon examples offered by the Scriptures, I say
that, with the help of this food, you will walk forty years
through the. deserts of Egypt — that is, you will leave
them to enter the promised Land, flowing with milk and
honey, a land, with which that once promised by God to
our forefathers cannot be compared. You should be
longing after this blessed Land, which will be possessed
by the meek. The barren land now under your feet
ought not to be the object of your desires or ambitions.
Strongly and steadfastly endeavour to possess that Land
gladdened by the presence of Jesus — that Land, the happy
dwelling of the saints, and the eternal kingdom of God's
glory and majesty, Who will also be your own eternal
happiness.
IV. Our Lord, taking the seven loaves, giving thanks,
broke, and gave to His disciples for to set before them. He
does not act otherwise in regard to all men ; for He
refuses His gifts to nobody ; He grants them to all. Yet,
should you not stretch out your hands to receive the
bread distributed by His disciples, you will be weak and
faint in the way, and have no reason to complain that the
Lord had not compassion on you. Remark also that the
gifts of our Redeemer were handed to those who had
remained with Him in the desert, and persevered not
only the first day, but also the second and the third. He
SIXTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 281
said so Himself : / have compassion on the multitude, for
behold they have now been with Me three days, and have nothing
to eat. Admire, therefore, God's infinite goodness towards
men. What condescension ! He sees their weakness
and finds means to provide for all their wants. Think
ing of the great care God takes of us, we ought to feel
ourselves obliged to follow His guidance and to offer to
Him our submission, even when for our spiritual ad
vantage He punishes us. And should He chastise you
now, you will not find irksome the yoke by which
you are burdened, lest, by shaking it off, you will feel
weak and exhausted later on. What answer will you
then give to the Almighty now so infinitely generous to
you ? What justifiable excuse will you allege by which
to explain your carelessness, since you neglect the salu
tary nourishment given by God for strengthening you on
the long journey of this life ? You will not be able to
reprove our Lord for taking from you the spiritual food
that is offered by Him to all men. Neither will you be
able to pretend that it was not His wish to make you
good, and to guide you on the road to perfection. For
He places before you both good and evil, so that if you
prefer virtue to sin, your choice will be free without con
straint. There is, indeed, a great difference between the
one acting by necessity, and the other freely resolving
to practise virtue and good works ; for only freedom of
action deserves either reward or punishment. Moreover,
consider that all of us must one day appear before the
judgment-seat of our Redeemer ; and should, then, the
building of our life be consumed by flames and changed
into ashes, we shall not have cause to complain or to
excuse ourselves. On that great day God will say to us
what He announced to the Jews by His Prophet : 0 My
people, what have I done to thee, or in what have I molested
282 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
thee ? Answer thou Me (Mich. vi. 3). Then our Saviour
will say to the one that fainted in the way : Why wast
thou weak and feeble on the road ? Did I not break the
bread so necessary to thee ? Did I not bless it and
command My disciples to give it to thee ? Why didst
thou refuse that bread ? Yet, how many will there be
among those here present, now hearing and understand
ing my words (though the words I now utter are also the
words of the Redeemer, and are bread, since no one can
pronounce the name of Jesus, without the help of the
Holy Ghost) — how many, I ask, will there be found faint
ing on the way ? How many will leave the right road,
and walk in the paths of infidels ? Ah, would to God
that one only might suffer such misfortune, and that the
greater part of Christians be not included in that number !
But Jesus is not the cause of this perdition ; for He gives
the necessary and strengthening bread to all who follow
Him, and is as generous to every single one, as to the
five thousand and the seven thousand in the desert.
SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Matt. vii. 15-21. At that time : Jesus said to
His disciples : Beware of false prophets, who come to
you in the clothing of sheep, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves. By their fruits you shall know them.
Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles ?
Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and
the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree
cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree
bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not
forth good fruit shall be cut down, and shall be cast into
the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.
Not every one that saith to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter
SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 283
into the kingdom of heaven ; but he that doth the will of
My Father who is in heaven, he shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven.
HOMILY BY ST. HILARY, BISHOP.
COMMENT. ON MATT., CHAP. vi.
I. We are here warned by the Author of all truth to
value the worth of soft words and seeming meekness by
the fruits brought forth in their works by those who show
such things. He teaches us, in order to find out what a
man is, to look not at his professions, but at his deeds,
since there are many in whom sheep's clothing is but a
mask hiding their wolfish ravening. Do men gather grapes
of thorns, or figs of thistles ? Even so every good tree bringeth
forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit.
Thus it is with men ; evil men do not bring forth good
fruits, and we are to know them hereby. Words alone
do not win the kingdom of heaven ; and those who say
to Christ, Lord, Lord, cannot expect to enter into that
kingdom. Indeed, what merit is there in these words,
Lord, Lord ? Would He not be Lord all the same,
whether or not we call Him so ? Do we imagine that
we have already attained perfection and holiness by
calling the name of the Lord, since the true way of
entering into the kingdom of God is to do the will of our
Father who is in heaven ? Many will say to Me in that
day, Lord, Lord, have not we prophesied in Thy name, cast
out devils in Thy name, and done many miracles in Thy
name ? (vii. 22). Yet the Lord rebukes the deceit of false
prophets, and the feigning of hypocrites, who take glory
to themselves on account of the power of their words,
their prophesying in doctrine, their casting out of devils
and similar mighty works.
284 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
II. Those hypocrites flatter themselves that they will
enter into the kingdom of heaven, as though their preach
ing to nations, and the power of the holy office they are
endowed with, were the work of their own, and not the
almighty working of God helping them. Meanwhile it
is an undoubted truth that the constant reading of
Scripture gives to the ministers of Christ the true know
ledge of doctrine, and that their power of driving out
devils is derived from the Divine power of the Name of
Jesus. Therefore, if we wish to win the blessed eternity
in heaven, we must do something of our own ; we must
be willing to do right, to turn away from sin, to obey
with our whole heart the commandments laid on us from
heaven, and thus to become the friends of God. It
should be our duty to do the will of God rather than to
boast of God's power in us ; for God forgets and
thrusts away such as are already by their wicked works
estranged from His friendship.
III. And our Lord adds these words : Everyone therefore
that heareth these My words, and doth them, shall be likened to
a wise man that built his house upon a rock. The meaning of
these words is intimately connected with the preceding
discourse. For, after showing us the conceited and
useless merit of the false prophets and their cunning
hypocrisy, He places before our eyes a man animated by
a perfect and truthful belief in God, thus makijig known
to us the difference between this one and the false
prophets. The believing man, spoken of by Jesus, is
placed upon an immovable foundation. It is in vain that
the most violent storms rage against him, for the strong
Rock, upon which the building of the wise man is founded,
is no other but Jesus Christ Himself, Who by His
invincible power preserves every building erected upon
Him from the fury of the winds, from the violent showers
SEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 285
of rain, and from the devastating inundations. By these
torrents of rain, mentioned by our Lord, are meant the
tempting attractions of lust, penetrating our soul by little
and little, and rendering our faith weak and faint. After
the first attack made against us by the love of lust, the
raging storms of the passions take possession of our heart,
and the violent winds storming from all sides — that is, the
whole fury of the devils are ready to overthrow and even
to destroy us. But the wise man, who built his house
upon the strongest foundation, cannot be removed from
his place; whereas the foolish man, who despised this
precaution, and built his house upon the sand, cannot be
sure of the solidity of his building ; for the falling rain,
and the floods, and the blowing winds will beat upon that
house, and it will fall, and great will be the fall thereof.
IV. Our Redeemer, giving us the parable of the wise
man building his house upon a rock, and of the foolish
man building upon the sand, teaches us that true merits
consist in the obeying His commandments, and in a
strong and lively faith in all He has done and promised.
And the Gospel adds these beautiful words: And it came
to pass when Jesus had fully ended these words, the people were
in admiration at His doctrine ; for He was teaching them as
One having power, and not as their Scribes and Pharisees.
EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Luke xvi. 1-9. At that time: Jesus spoke to
His disciples this parable: There was a certain rich man
who had a steward ; and the same was accused unto him
that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and
said to him : How is it that I hear this of thee ? Give an
account of thy stewardship ; for now thou canst be
steward no longer. And the steward said within himself:
286 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
What shall I do, because my lord taketh away from me
the stewardship ? To dig I am not able ; to beg I am
ashamed. I know what I will do, that when I shall be
removed from the stewardship they may receive me into
their houses. Therefore calling together every one of his
lord's debtors, he said to the first : How much dost thou
owe my lord ? But he said : An hundred barrels of oil.
And he said to him : Take thy bill and sit down quickly,
and write fifty. Then he said to another : And how
much dost thou owe ? Who said : An hundred quarters
of wheat. He said to him: Take thy bill, and write
eighty. And the lord commended the unjust steward,
forasmuch as he had done wisely ; for the children of this
world are wiser in their generation than the children of
light. And I say to you : Make unto you friends of the
mammon of iniquity, that when you shall fail, they may
receive you into everlasting dwellings.
HOMILY BY ST. JEROME, PRIEST.
LETTER 151 TO ALGESIA.
I. The unjust steward, spoken of by Jesus in this
parable, is commended by his lord, because he had done
wisely though wickedly. And this lord, though himself
defrauded, could not but praise the shrewdness of his
dishonest servant, because he had cheated him with profit
to himself. Now, how much more will our Master Jesus
Christ, Who cannot be defrauded by us, and Who is Him
self ready to forgive, praise us His disciples, if we deal
mercifully with those who are to believe in Him ? And
after the parable the Lord said : Make unto you friends of
the mammon of iniquity. This word mammon is a Syriac,
not a Hebrew word, signifying illgotten riches. If, then,
even illgotten riches can be so used by such as possess
EIGHTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 287
them as to profit by them, how much more can they who,
like the Apostles, are dispensers of the mysteries of God
(i Cor. iv. i), the true and blameless riches — how much
more can they profit themselves, even to be received into
everlasting dwellings, by the right use of them ?
II. And that we may be brought to understand this
lesson, our Lord added : He that is faithful in that which is
least — that is to say, in temporal things — is faithful also in
that which is greater — that is, in spiritual things. And he
that is unjust in that which, is little — that is, who is not
giving to his needy brother help of those things which
are needful for the body and which God has created for
all men — such a one is unjust also in that which is greater ;
that is, he will deal out spiritual things unfairly : this to
one, and that to another, and not according to their
spiritual needs. //, then, says our Lord, you have not been
faithful in the unjust mammon — that is, in the use of worldly
riches which pass away — who will trust you with that which
is the true, the spiritual riches of the word of God ?
III. The Son of God condemns the avaricious, and
teaches us that those, who love money and the riches of
this world, cannot at the same time love God ; that His
disciples, therefore, who wish to love Him truly and
really, are to despise riches. The Scribes and Pharisees,
being avaricious, had only contempt for the words of the
Redeemer. They understood that the parable was
meant for them, yet they were ashamed to acknowledge
this fact. Since these carnal men delighted in the
present and visible goods, their great and only hope,
we are not astonished to see that they preferred them to
the spiritual and future riches, considered by them as
most uncertain.
IV. And why was this evangelical steward called an
unjust steward, since the old Law, the steward of which
288 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
he was, came from God and was holy ? Because this
man was faithless in the administration of the service of
God. The Jew adored God the Father, and at the same
time persecuted God the Son ; he recognised an Almighty
God, and denied the Holy Ghost. The Apostle Paul,
forsaking the Law and serving Jesus, was wiser than the
Jews, who at one time were the children of light. For,
since in the course of time the Jews kept only the Law,
they lost Jesus Christ, the eternal Light and the only
Way to salvation.
V. And this will be the real profit gained from this
• parable: that we should endeavour to make unto our
selves friends by means of the riches, the instruments of
iniquity. However, among the poor, to whom we dis
tribute them, we must especially consider those who will
be able to take us, after this life, to the eternal dwellings.
There, instead of the perishable goods we gave to the
poor, we shall receive riches of an infinite value. For
the temporal things, we give now, we shall be made par
takers of everlasting blessings and happiness. So let us
sow in blessings, that we may reap in blessings, remem
bering the words of the Apostle : He who soweth sparingly,
shall also reap sparingly (2 Cor. ix. 6).
NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL : Luke xix. 41-47. At that time: When Jesus
drew near to Jerusalem, seeing the city, He wept over it,
saying : If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy
day, the things that are to thy peace ; but now they are
hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon
thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and
compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, and
beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in
NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 289
thee ; and they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a
stone, because thou hast not known the time of thy visita
tion. And entering into the temple, He began to cast
out them that sold therein and them that bought, saying
to them : It is written : My house is the house of prayer ;
but you have made it a den of thieves. And He was
teaching daily in the temple.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
BASILICA OF ST. JOHN, CALLED THE CONSTANTINE.
THIRTY-NINTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. No one, that has read the history of the destruction
of Jerusalem by the Roman princes Vespasian and Titus,
can be ignorant of the fact that the Lord spoke of this
destruction, when He wept over the ruin of that city.
These princes were pointed at when He said : For the
days shall come upon thee ; and thy enemies shall cast a trench
about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every
side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are
in thee. And the truth of what follows, they shall not leave
in thee a stone upon a stone, is even now fulfilled by the
change of site of the city, which has been rebuilt round
about the place without the gates, where the Lord was
crucified, whilst the ancient city, as I am told, has been
destroyed down to the very foundations. And a little
after the preceding words we find what the sin of Jeru
salem was, which brought upon her the punishment of
this destruction : Because thou hast not known the time of thy
visitation. The Creator of all things was pleased to visit
her through the mystery of the Incarnation, but she
remembered not to fear or to love Him. Hence, also, the
prophet Jeremias, rebuking man's hardness of heart,
calls the birds of the air to testify against it, and says •
19
2QO SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
The kite in the air hath known her time, the turtle, and, the
swallow, and the stork have observed the time of their coming ;
but My people have not known the judgment of the Lord
(Jer. viii. 7). The Saviour wept over the ruin of the
faithless city, while she herself knew not that it was
coming. // thou also hadst known, He said, even thou ; and
we may understand Him to have meant, ' Thou wouldst
have wept, instead of making merry, as thou now dost,
not knowing what is hanging over thee.' And he added,
at least in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace.
While she was giving herself up to carnal pleasures, and
never looked forward to the coming sorrows, she had
still for a day in her power the things which might have
brought peace to her. But now they are hidden from thy
eyes, says the Lord. For, had the misfortunes threaten
ing her been known, she would not have founded her
hope and happiness upon that prosperous state by which
she was deceived. And for this reason were foretold to
her by the Redeemer all the evils she had later on to bear
from the Roman army.
II. And as we see Jerusalem destroyed, and the temple,
once the abode of thieves before our Lord had cast them
out, now a mass of ruins, do we not perceive in these
ruins an image of the spiritual destruction of our own
moral conduct, destruction which we have every reason
to be afraid of ? Seeing the city, He wept over it. Indeed,
our Lord once wept over Jerusalem and foretold her ruin ;
and He does the same every day, since He and His
ministers and elect behold how some souls forsake the
road to holiness and give themselves up to corrupt ways.
He laments the blindness of these people, who ignore His
lamentations and confirm the words of Solomon : Who
are glad when they have done evil and rejoice in the most wicked
things (Prov. ii. 14). For should these wicked people
NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 291
recognise their impending damnation, they would shed
tears with the good Christians, who bewail their destruc
tion. In all truth we may apply to such souls running
to their perdition these words of Jesus : // thou also hadst
known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace ;
but now they are hidden from thy eyes. These perverse souls,
thinking only of the present time, and looking at this
time, which quickly passes away, as their happiest days,
seem to find true peace in earthly pleasures. Amidst
the perishable things of this world by which they are
dazzled — honours, puffing them up, carnal lust by which
they are carried away with delight — such souls are in
peace, and will not be disturbed by anything or^the peace
ful and bright day that destroys in their memory the fear
of the terrible punishments awaiting them. But another,
a different day will throw such souls into the eternal
damnation, when they will see themselves in great afflic
tion, whilst the just will be overwhelmed with joy and
comfort ; for on that terrible day the sweetness tasted now
will be changed into bitterness and wrath. Then the
reprobate souls will turn their anger and fury against
themselves ; they will upbraid themselves for not being
terrified by the terrible condemnation threatened by God,
and for having shut their eyes so as not to foresee the
punishments heaped up and reserved for their unhappy
future. Therefore it is said : But now they are hidden
from thy eyes. Giving themselves entirely up to earthly
things and rushing after the pleasures of this life, these
souls cannot see the misery following their footsteps. And
should the consideration of the future inspire such souls
with fear, amidst the worldly pleasures they dismiss such a
terrible sight from their mind, and blindfoldly rush amid
frivolous amusements towards the everlasting flames.
The wise man was right when he said : In the day of good
19 — 2
292 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
things be not unmindful of evils ; and in the day of evils be not
unmindful of good things (Ecclus. xi. 27). And St. Paul
says : And they that rejoice be as if they rejoiced not (i Cor.
vii. 30). Though it be lawful to rejoice in this world,
the fear of the coming judgment should not forsake us ;
then our soul, at the sight of the Lord's wrath, would be
penetrated with terror, be moderate in the pleasures of
life, and would courageously look forward to the begin
ning of the great day. Blessed is the man, says Solomon,
that is always fearful ; but he that is hardened in mind shall
fall into evil (Prov. xxviii. 14). Meanwhile the wrath of
God will be the more -terrible on that fearful day, the less
we now fear to irritate Him by our sins.
III. Our Lord continues the history of the evils
befalling Jerusalem, saying : For the days shall come upon
thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and com
pass thee round, and straiten thee on every side. Who are
these enemies but the devils, our sworn foes, laying
snares to our soul which, by their allurements, is kept
up in the love of the pleasures of this life, but will be
besieged by them at the moment when it has to leave
the body ? Indeed, we may say that at the moment of
our death the devil will make to himself a trench of our
sins, and compass us round, and thus drag our soul down
into hell. In that unhappy moment the sinful soul will
be straitened on every side by this cruel enemy, without
any hope of escaping, since the time for doing penance
or good works, neglected during life, will now be passed.
Truly, it may be said of that poor soul, that it is attacked
by the enemy on every side, for not only the wicked
actions, but also the bad thoughts and desires, are
brought up against it. In that day all their thoughts shall
perish (Ps. cxlv. 4). And these thoughts may be com
pared to stones, for our Lord said : A nd they shall not leave
NINTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 293
in thee a stone upon a stone. The perverse mind and the
wicked thoughts form, so to speak, stones upon stones,
and the more so, since that poor soul made such bad use
of its former freedom.
IV. And what was the cause of that great evil ?
Listen to our Lord, saying : Because thou hast not known
the time of thy visitation. Almighty God visits the soul
of the sinner in different ways : now He announces
by His ministers the great and Divine truths ; now He
chastises that soul with the scourges of His justice ;
again He meets that soul in a wonderful manner with
His richest blessings. Acting thus, and making use of
different means, God endeavours to convince that soul of
the eternal truths so long unknown to it. When the
word of God is not powerful enough to convert that
soul ; when the severity of His punishments cannot
humble it, nor conquer its hardness ; when all these
means have been useless, then the infinitely merciful
God sometimes pours out His blessings with a generous
hand, that the ingratitude of the sinful soul might perhaps
put it to shame. But should this soul wilfully refuse to
recognise the time of visitation, then God will give it
over to its enemies, with whom it must surfer the pains
of damnation. Let us, therefore, make good use of the
advice given by our Lord : When thou goest with thy
adversary to the prince, whilst thou art in the way endeavour
to be delivered from him ; lest perhaps he draw thee to the
judge, and the judge deliver thee to the exacter, and the exacter
cast thee into prison (Luke xii. 58). This adversary, spoken
of here, is the word of God, by which our passions are
continually opposed during life. If the sinner humbly
submits to the commands of this adversary, and faithfully
obeys them, he shall be delivered from his persecutions.
Whereas if he does not endeavour to be delivered in this
294 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
manner, he will be drawn to the judge, and by him
delivered to the officer of justice. The word of God,
now despised by the sinner, will witness against him
before the judgment-seat of the Almighty. He will be
delivered by his Judge to the officer of His wrath— that
is, the devil — by whom the poor sinner will be tortured
with so much greater fury, the easier he had yielded
during life to all vicious temptations. When it is said
that the sinful soul will be cast into prison by the officer
of justice, this means that it will be kept in hell until the
day of the last judgment, when the bodies of the damned
united with their souls, will be cast into the everlasting
flames, there to suffer with the infernal spirits.
V. Our Lord, after ending the description of the
destruction of the unhappy city, which is applied to the
perdition of a sinful soul, entering into the temple, He began
to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought. .This
temple is also an image of a Christian soul, for our con
science is the temple and house of God. Yet, when the
human mind is filled with sinful thoughts against the
neighbour, it becomes like a den of thieves and murderers ;
for such a soul is armed with murderous designs against
simple and innocent Christians, and discharges its arrows
for their destruction. Thus our soul, deprived of inno
cence and simplicity of justice, instead of being a house
of prayer and meditation, becomes a den of thieves, as it
is to others a cause of scandal and perdition. According
to the Gospel, He was teaching daily in the temple. This
certainly means that He is still continuing to teach-
that is, that He is teaching daily in the temple, enlightening
the souls of the faithful, and showing them how to avoid
sin. However, we ought to know that we shall be
powerfully instructed in the truth, only when the future
evils we ought to be afraid of are continually placed
TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 295
before our eyes, and that we endeavour to avoid them,
never losing sight of these words of wisdom : In all thy
works remember the last end, and thou shalt never sin (Ecclus.
vii. 40). So let us, then, every day consider these words
Jesus addressed to us : // thou hadst known, and that in
this thy day, the things that are to thy peace ; but now they are
hidden from thy eyes. And since that severe Judge still
patiently bears with us, and does not stretch out His
arm to strike us ; since the day of His wrath seems to
be far off, let us think of the great calamities following
that day, and let us endeavour to avoid them by being
sorry for our sins. Let us despise the pleasures of the
present life, and let us never be dazzled by its sinful
amusements ; then we shall not be dragged into the deep
abyss now hidden by them from our eyes.
TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Luke xviii. 9-14. At that time: Jesus spoke
this parable to some who trusted in themselves as just,
and despised others. Two men went up into the temple
to pray ; the one was a Pharisee, and the other a Publican.
The Pharisee, standing, prayed thus with himself: O
God, I give Thee thanks that I am not as the rest of
men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, as also is this
Publican. I fast twice in the week: Igive tithes of all
that I possess. And the Publican standing afar off would
not so much as lift up his eyes towards heaven ; but
struck his breast, saying : O God, be merciful to me a
sinner. I say to you, this man went down into his house
justified rather than the other, because everyone that
exalteth himself shall be humbled , and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted.
296 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
OXE HUNDRED AND FIFTEENTH HOMILY ON THE WORDS OF
THE LORD.
I. The proud Pharisee, boasting of his virtues, might
at least have said : ' I am not as many men are.' But
what is the meaning of the rest of men ? All other men, but
himself. Indeed, to say c I am just,' does it not mean
that all others are sinners ? / am not as the rest of men,
extortioners, unjust, adulterers. And, lo, the presence of the
Publican gives him an occasion of greater pride : As also
this Publican. He was alone, according to his proud
thoughts, and the Publican was of the rest of men. My
own justice makes the difference between me and the
wicked, such as he is. I fast twice in the week; I give
tithes of all that I possess. Now it would be in vain to
look in his prayer for anything he went to the temple to
ask for ; you will find nothing. He went up to pray ;
but his prayer was not a request for anything from God,
it was a glorification of himself. It was but little not to
pray to God ; but what do you think of his praising
himself, and even despising his neighbour who did pray ?
A nd the Publican standing afar off was yet praying near to
God. Conscious of his own self he kept at a distance,
while his piety drew him near to God. Though the
Publican stood afar off, the Lord was at hand to hear
him. For the Lord is high and looketh on the low, and
the high, as was this Pharisee, He knoiveth afar off
(Ps. cxxxvii. 6). The proud, indeed, God knows afar off,
but He does not pardon them. Consider still more the
humility of the Publican. It was not only that he stood
afar off, but he would not so much as lift up his eyes to
heaven. He looked not, that he might be looked upon.
TENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 297
He dared not to look, for self-knowledge kept him down,
but hope raised him up. Consider again how he struck his
breast. He punished himself; therefore God had com
passion on his confession of guilt. He struck his breast,
saying : 0 God be merciful to me a sinner. Behold him that
is praying. And what are you wondering at ? The sinner
remembers, and God forgets !
II. After seeing the difference between the Pharisee
and the Publican, let us now examine how they are
judged by God Himself. The first praises himself,
thinking himself better than the rest of men ; the other,
in his humility, accuses himself of his sins. And what is
the Judge's sentence ? Amen, I say to you: this man went
down to his house justified rather than the other, the Pharisee.
O Lord, I ask Thee for the cause of this difference ; why
did the Publican and not the Pharisee go down to his
house justified? Thy answer will be: Because everyone that
exalteth himself shall be humbled, and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. Have you heard the sentence ? Then
take care lest your pride be the cause of your condemna
tion.
III. Those who rely on their own power and make use
of the language of infidels, let them consider that, when
saying : « God gave me my nature, but I made myself
just,' they are worse than this Pharisee. For, after all,
this Pharisee, though praising himself, was grateful to God,
since he added : 0 God, I give Thee thanks that I am not as
the rest of men. He is blamed, not for giving thanks to
God, but because by his words, boasting of not being as
the rest of men, he expressed the pride of his heart. Indeed,
he seemed to say in as many words, that nothing could
be added to his merits, and that he was asking for
nothing. / am not as the rest of men, extortioners, unjust,
adulterers. Does he not seem to say that he alone was
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just, that he was in need of nothing from God, since in
his conceit he was already overwhelmed with merits and
virtues ? Therefore, boasting in this way he imagines
himself not to be in need of God's help, and gives the lie
to the Truth, saying : The life of man upon eavth is a
warfare (Job vii. i). O proud Pharisee, thou seemest to
say to thyself that it would be useless to ask God to
forgive thy sins, for thou thinkest thyself just ! Now
that this man is justly condemned for thanking God in a
proud manner, what shall we think of those who wickedly
attack the grace of God ?
IV. After the justification of the Publican and the
condemnation of the Pharisee, children are presented, and
our Lord is asked to receive and even to touch them.
Did it not become Jesus Christ, the great Physician, to
touch them so as to cure them ? Do not object and say
that these children were not afflicted with any corporal
disease ; for my answer will be, that these children were
in need of a Saviour, and that they were received by the
Saviour who had said : The Son of Man is come to seek and
save that which was lost (Luke xix. 10). But how were
they lost, and in what consisted their sins, since they
were innocent children ? What was their sin ? Listen
to the Apostle saying : By one man sin entered into this world,
and by sin death, and so death passed upon all men, in whom all
have sinned (Rom. v. 12). Let, then, the children come;
let them come and hear the Lord : Suffer children to come
to Me. Let them come to the heavenly Physician, that
He may touch them ; let them come to the Saviour and
be saved by Him. They have not sinned ; yet they are
like the branches of a tree the roots of which are infected
with disease. May the Lord bless the little ones and the
big ones, and touch them both to cure them. We
beseech you, who are grown up, to take care of the little
ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 299
ones ; to speak for those who are still mute ; to pray for
those who have but tears. Consider that, at an age when
work is your duty, you must be the protectors of the little
ones, and defend their cause. We were lost like them,
so let us be united with them in Jesus Christ. They are
less guilty than we are, but the grace of Jesus is given to
all. The children have but the sin of their origin — that is,
the original sin ; why then should those, who to this first
sin have added many other sins, place obstacles to the
salvation of the little ones ? Is it not true that the more
we advance in years the more we increase in wickedness ?
However, the grace of God blots out both the sin brought
with us into this world and all sin added to it ; for
where sin abounded, grace did more abound (Rom. v. 20).
ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Mark vii. 31-37. At that time: Jesus, going
out of the coast of Tyre, He came by Sidon to the Sea of
Galilee, through the midst of the coast of Decapolis.
And they bring to Him one deaf and dumb, and they
besought Him that He would lay His hand upon him.
And, taking him from the multitude apart, He put His
fingers into his ears, and spitting, He touched his tongue;
and looking up to heaven, He groaned, and said to him,
Ephpheta — that is, Be thou opened. And immediately
his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was
loosed, and he spoke right. And He charged them that
they should tell no man ; but the more He charged them,
so much the more did they publish it. And so much the
more did they wonder, saying : He hath done all things
well ; He hath made both the deaf to hear and the dumb
to speak.
300 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY.
ON EZECHIEL, BOOK I., HOMILY x.
I. What is the meaning of this fact that, when God,
the Creator of all men, was about to heal a deaf and
dumb man, He put His fingers into his ears, and spitting, He
touched Us tongue ? Are not the gifts of the Holy Ghost
figured by the fingers of the Redeemer ? Hence it is
mentioned in another place that, after casting out an evil
spirit, He said : ' If I by the finger of God cast out devils,
doubtless the kingdom of God is come upon you (Luke xi. 20).
The same idea is expressed by another Evangelist in
these words : If I by the Spirit of God cast out devils, then is
the kingdom of God come upon you (Matt. xii. 28). And
setting these two passages together, we see that the
finger of God is called the Spirit of God ; that our Lord,
putting His fingers into the deaf man's ears, enlightened
by the gift of the Holy Ghost his dark mind into obedi
ence. And what is the meaning of spitting, He toiiched his
tongue ? Out of the Redeemer's mouth we receive
spittle upon our tongues, when the wisdom of speaking
God's truth is given to us. Spittle flows from the head
into our mouth ; and so that wisdom, which is Himself,
the great Head of the Church, as soon as it has touched
our tongue, at once takes the form of preaching. And,
looking up to heaven, He groaned. Not that He had any
need to sigh or to groan, He Who gave whatsoever He
asked. But He wished to teach us to look up and sigh
towards Him Whose throne is in heaven, and, confessing
our needs, to obtain that our ears should be opened by the
gifts of the Holy Ghost, and our tongue loosed by the
saliva of our Saviour's mouth — that is, by the knowledge
of His Divine word, before using it to preach to others.
ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 301
And He said to him, Ephpheta — that is, Be thou opened.
And immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his
tongue was loosed. Let us remark that the command
Be thou opened was addressed to the deaf ears ; yet the
tongue also -was loosed. Just so. When the ears of
a man's heart are opened to learn the obedience of
faith, the string of his tongue also is loosed, that he
may exhort others to do the good things which he does.
It is well added, And he spoke right. For he only does
well preach obedience to others, who has first learnt to
obey.
II. And so much the more did they wonder, saying: He
hath done all things well. These words were spoken by the
admiring multitude, uttered by them in a transport of
wonder at the great miracle wrought by our Lord on the
deaf and dumb man brought to Him. The condition of
this man was truly deplorable, and rendered him an
object of our Saviour's compassion. He is also a figure
of the much more deplorable condition of wilful and
habitual sinners, who are spiritually deaf and dumb ; who
do not, because they will not, hear those things that
belong to their great and eternal interest ; who, though
having tongues, may be said to be dumb, because of their
making a wrong use of their faculty of speech. It is to
cure these unhappy sinners that Christ, by His ministers,
offers His assistance, to put His fingers into their ears,
and to touch their tongues. Yet, they must be willing to
accept the remedies, and to be aware of the danger in
which they are. Thus our first duty is to show wilful
sinners that they are truly and spiritually deaf and dumb ;
then to make them willing to apply the proposed
remedies.
III. The Royal Psalmist, speaking of the heathen
idols, says : They have ears, and hear not; they have a mouth,
302 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
and speak not (Ps. cxiii.). The same maybe said, in a
spiritual sense, of sinners who, in spite of all exhorta
tions, choose to proceed in their sinful ways. Holy
Scripture calls them deaf, and pronounces them dumb
dogs ; for though they enjoy the senses of hearing and
speaking, by the wrong use of them, they make their
condition worse than if they had them not. To be
corporally deaf, so as not to hear what is said, is a very
great misfortune and deserves compassion, though there
is nothing criminal in it. But a wilfully spiritual deaf
ness, and an obstinate refusing to hearken to what is
said, is more than a misfortune : it is a voluntary crime.
Such are sinners, viz., those obstinately continuing in
their criminal ways. They have ears, but will not hear ;
they are deaf, not by misfortune, but by choice. They
are often called upon, and often spoken to ; and what is
told them is in the name of God, Who said : Pie that
hear eth you, heareth Me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth
Me (Luke x. 16). Nay, God Himself often speaks to
them and calls upon them to leave the broad and
dangerous road of sin, assuring them that it leads to
destruction. To continue on this dangerous road, to
persist in this fatal and broad way, what is it, but a
proof that we do not and will not hear, and stop our ears
against every admonition, and that, if we perish, it is our
own fault.
IV. What has been said of sinners being spiritually
and wilfully deaf, is equally true of the faculty of speak
ing, which they have lost in the same way. To be dumb
is generally considered as a natural consequence of being
deaf. For not being able to hear what is said, it is not
easy to learn how to speak. In like manner, when
sinners have contracted a spiritual deafness, and will not
hear what is said to them about their duties, there is no
ELEVENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 303
wonder that they become likewise spiritually dumb, as to
the right use of speech. A proof of spiritual dumbness
is the too frequent omission of prayer, of devotion, and
of other religious duties. In this respect many are dumb ;
for though they know how to speak, and do so very often,
and with great eloquence, about the things of this world,
yet, in regard to God and His honour and service, they
know not how — that is, they will not open their mouths.
And, while they often run on with great volubility of
speech in speaking ill of their neighbours, they will not
say one single word in his defence. Again there are
many and horrible abuses of the tongue by cursing and
swearing, by calumny, lying and detraction, vain and
immodest conversations. It is quite clear that those,
who employ their tongues in such discourses, are in a
worse condition than the dumb man in the Gospel. In
these, and many other cases, sinners show themselves to
be deaf and dumb ; and since they are in this unhappy
condition, it will be a great work of charity to endeavour
to cure them, greater even than to cure a man who
cannot hear or speak. For such a cure to be effected,
sinners spiritually deaf and dumb must be sensible of
their sad state. Of this they are often told, and they are
also reminded of the danger they are in of being lost for
ever. Such sinners also must have recourse to Jesus,
and by sincere sorrow and contrition, seek to obtain
pardon. This sorrow must be accompanied by firm and
sincere resolutions of amendment, and a careful avoiding
of sin and occasions of sins. Thus disposed let them
apply to the ministers of God in the holy Sacrament of
penance. It is there Jesus will put His fingers into
their ears, will touch their tongue and say these powerful
words : Ephpheta — that is, Be thou opened. And their ears
will be opened and their tongues loosed, and they will
304 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
speak plain and right. Yet let them take care of not
relapsing into former sins, but of being faithful to their
good purposes.
TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Luke x. 23-37. At that time: Jesus said to
His disciples : Blessed are the eyes that see the things
which you see. For I say to you, that many prophets
and kings have desired to see the things that you see,
and have not seen them ; and to hear the things that you
hear, and have not heard them. And behold a certain
lawyer stood up, tempting Him, and saying : Master,
what must I do to possess eternal life ? But He said to
him: What is written in the law? how readest thou ?
He answering said : Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with
all thy strength, and with all thy mind ; and thy neigh
bour as thyself. And He said to him : Thou hast
answered rightly : this do and thou shalt live. But he,
willing to justify himself, said to Jesus : And who is
my neighbour ? And Jesus answering, said : A certain
man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell
among robbers, who stripped him, and having wounded
him, went away, leaving him half dead. And it chanced
that a certain priest went down the same way, and seeing
him, passed by. In like manner also a levite, when he
was near the place and saw him, passed by. But a
certain Samaritan, being on his journey, came near him,
and seeing him, was moved with compassion. And
going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil
and wine ; and setting him upon his own beast, brought
him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day
he took out two pence and gave to the host, and said :
TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 305
Take care of him, and whatsoever thou shalt spend over
and above, I at my return will repay thee. Which of
these three, in thy opinion, was neighbour to him that
fell among the robbers ? But he said : He that showed
mercy to him. And Jesus said to him : Go, and do thou
in like manner.
HOMILY BY THE VENERABLE BEDE, PRIEST.
ON LUKE x., BOOK in., CHAP. XLIII.
I. And turning to His disciples, He said : Blessed are the
eyes that see the things which you see. Blessed were the eyes
• — not of Scribes and Pharisees, which saw only the body
of the Lord — but of those who were able to see the things
belonging to faith and salvation, and of whom it is
written : Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and
prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones (x. 21). Blessed,
therefore, are the eyes of the humble and little ones, to
whom the Son of God deigned to reveal Himself and the
Father also. / say to you that many prophets and kings have
desired to see the things you see, and have not seen them. Even
patriarchs desired to see these things: Abraham your
father rejoiced that he might see My day— the day of My
Birth ; he saw it — in his strong faith— and was glad (John
viii. 56). Isaias and Micheas and many other holy
prophets saw in the darkness of future times the glory of
the Lord, wherefore they are called SEERS in Holy Scrip- -
ture. But they all beheld it afar off, seeing it through a
glass, in a dark manner (i Cor. xiii. 12). But the Apostles,
having the happiness of seeing our Lord face to face, of
eating with Him, and learning from Him by their ques
tions whatsoever they liked, had no need of being taught
by angels or by different kinds of visions. They who by
Luke are called prophets and kings, are named by Matthew
20
3o6 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
prophets and just men (xiii. 17). Just men are mighty
kings indeed, for they know how to govern their
rebellious passions, instead of falling under them, and
thus becoming their slaves.
II. And behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting Him,
and saying : Master, what must I do to possess eternal life ?
This lawyer, who stood up to ask the Lord a tempting
question about eternal life, took the subject of his asking,
as I think, from the words just uttered by our Lord :
Rejoice in this, that your names are written in heaven (x. 20).
But his attempt was certainly a proof of these other
words immediately following : / confess to Thee, 0 Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hidden these things
from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones.
III. However, our Lord answered the lawyer, and put
this question to him : What is written in the law ? And
the lawyer, answering, said : Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with
all thy strength, and with all thy mind ; and thy neighbour as
thyself. And the Lord praised that answer as very good,
since by the love of God we attain perfection, and walk
on the road to eternal life ; and He said : This do, and
thou shalt live. Again, when the lawyer, answering Jesus,
said that the neighbour was he who showed mercy to
the man fallen among robbers on the road to Jericho,
Jesus said to him : Go, and do thou in like manner. And
by these words our Redeemer seems to say : Remember
that the charity and help thou owest to thy neighbour
must be like that of the Samaritan — must consist, not in
words only, but in deeds, if by thy charity thou wish to
obtain eternal life.
IV. But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus : And
who is my neighbour ? Consider the foolishness of his
vainglory ! He wished to justify himself, and at the
TWELFTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 307
same time to obtain the favour and esteem of the people
who were listening to him. Trying to show his presump
tuous wisdom before the eyes of the world, he only dis
closed his ignorance concerning the first commandment
prescribed by the Law. Yet, though pronounced by
Jesus as wise and prudent, this lawyer deserved to be
deprived of the special knowledge of the mysteries of
God, revealed to pure and innocent souls, because he
refused to humble himself with the little ones so dear to
Jesus, and wished to justify himself.
V. Let us finally consider that, by His answer to the
lawyer concerning our neighbour, our Lord wished to
convey this lesson, that the neighbour is he who does
mercy and gives assistance to those in need. But besides
this, we are taught by the parable that, under the word
neighbour may be understood the Son of God Himself,
Who approached us in a visible manner, when assuming
our human nature. Yet, this meaning of Jesus Christ,
being our neighbour, must not be taken in a figurative
sense, as if dispensing us from the duty of rendering to
our brethren all the works of love and charity com
manded by the Law.
VI. Carefully considering the parable in this Gospel,
we shall at once see that the Samaritan, giving a helping
hand to the man found on the road and covered with
wounds, is a figure of Jesus Christ, Who, in a more worthy
and sublime sense and with a special love, became our
neighbour by taking upon Himself our wounds to heal
them. Let us, therefore, love Him, for He is our Lord
and God ; let us love Him as our neighbour, since, being
our Head and we His members, He cannot be nearer to
us. Let us also love those that follow Him, and show
that we love our neighbour as ourselves by giving them
all spiritual and temporal help in our power.
2O — 2
308 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Luke xvii. u-ig. At that time: As Jesus was
going to Jerusalem, He passed through the midst of
Samaria and Galilee. And as He entered into a certain
town, there met Him ten men that were lepers, who stood
afar off and lifted up their voice, saying : Jesus, Master,
have mercy on us. Whom, when He saw, He said :
Go, show yourselves to the priests. And it came to
pass, as they went, they were made clean. And one of
them, when he saw that he was made clean, went back,
with a loud voice glorifying God. And he fell on his face
before His feet, giving thanks ; and this was a Samaritan.
And Jesus, answering, said : Were not ten made clean,
and where are the nine ? There is no one found to
return and give glory to God, but this stranger. And
He said to him : Arise, go thy way ; for thy faith hath
made thee whole.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
ON GOSPEL QUESTIONS, BOOK 11., CHAP. XL.
I. The ten lepers met by Jesus when going to Jerusalem
lifted up their voice, saying : Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.
Whom, when He saw, He said : Go, show yourselves to the
priests.- And it came to pass, as they went, they were made
clean. Considering this fact, we ask : Why did the Lord
send them to the priests, that they might be cleansed as
they went ? Lepers were the only class among those
whose bodies were cured by Jesus, who were sent by
Him to the priests. In another place it is written that
our Lord said to a leper whom He had cleansed : Go,
show thyself to the priest, and offer for thy cleansing according
as Moses commanded for a testimony to them (Luke v. 14).
THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 309
We ask, then, of what leprosy was a type, since those
who were delivered were called, not healed, but cleansed.
This disease first appears in the colour of the skin, but
does not immediately destroy the health, nor the use of
the feeling and the limbs. Lepers, we may not absurdly
suppose, are the types of those who have not the know
ledge of the true faith, but show forth various teachings
of error. They do not hide their ignorance, but make use
of all the wit they have to manifest and proclaim it in
high-sounding words. There is no false doctrine, but has
some truth mixed with it. A man's discourse with some
truths in it mingled with errors, and all confounded in
one mass, is like to the body of one stricken with leprosy,
whereon various foul colours appear in different places
along with the true colour of the skin.
II. It follows that such men are to be avoided by the
faithful, to the end that, standing afar off, they may lift up
their voices and cry to the Lord, just as the ten lepers,
standing outside the village, lifted up their voice, saying :
Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. Notice that they called
Him Master ; and I know not that any of those who were
cured by Him, ever called Him by this title. I think by
this it is sufficiently shown that leprosy signifies false
doctrines, whereof we are cleansed by the Good Master.
III. As to the priests, to whom the ten lepers were sent,
it is known to every good Christian that they were a
figure or type of the kingly priesthood — that is, the
Church, by whom the faithful, belonging to the body of
Christ, are consecrated, He being the true High Priest.
Now all the faithful are anointed, what among the Jews
was the privilege only of kings and priests. St. Peter,
therefore, in his first Epistle (i Pet. ii. 9) calls them a
kingly priesthood, because in some manner the dignity of
king and priest belongs to them by reason of their
3io SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
unction. There is no doubt that the diseases of our soul
and the defects of our mind and senses are cured and
corrected in our conscience by Jesus Himself. However,
when our ignorance is to be enlightened by words suit
able to our needs ; when we are to receive the Sacraments,
then we must have recourse to the ministers appointed by
our Lord. These ministers are to pronounce on the
colour of the leprosy, so as not to confound it with the
true and sincere doctrine manifested by the good works
brought forth. St. Paul was thus instructed. He heard
the voice : Saul, Saul, why persecutest fhou Me ? Who said :
Who art Thou, Lord ? And He : I am Jesus Whom thou per-
secutest (Acts ix. 4, 5). Yet, he was sent to Ananias, who,
by virtue of the power of the priesthood, was to instruct
him in the doctrine of faith, and afterwards to pronounce
on the genuineness of his colour — that is, of his mission
to the Gentiles.
IV. It does not follow from this that Jesus could not
do all that by Himself, for who else does all these things
in His Church ? But if He wishes us to consult His
ministers, and thus to be made sure of the doctrine and
faith we profess, it is to unite all the members of His
Church into one and the same society or fold, with the one
and same doctrine, and thus to preserve the unity and
soundness of colour — that is, of faith, the one sure mark
of the Church. This is confirmed by the words of St. Paul
to the Galatians : Then after fourteen years I went up again to
Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titiis also with me. And I
went up according to revelation, and conferred with them the
Gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but apart with them
who seemed to be something ; lest perhaps I shoiild run or had run
in vain (Gal. ii. i). And soon after he adds : And when
they had known the grace that was given to me, James and
Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, gave to me and
THIRTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 311
Barnabas the right hand of fellowship (ii. 9). This confer
ence of St. Paul with the three Apostles clearly shows
the necessity of knowing whether his doctrine agreed with
the true doctrine of the Church of Christ. We hear him,
therefore, beseeching the Corinthians to remain in the
unity of doctrine : / beseech you, brethren, by the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing
(i Cor. i. 10).
V. Then the centurion Cornelius was told by an Angel
of God that his prayers and almsgivings had ascended for
a memorial in the sight of God (Acts x. 4) ; yet he was
ordered to send men to Joppe, and call hither one Simon, who
is surnamed Peter, to receive from him the true doctrine
and the unity of the Sacraments. Telling him and his
whole house to send for Peter (seems as if our Lord had
said : Go, show yourselves to the priests. And, as they went,
they were made clean. Peter had already come to them ;
but since they had not received the Sacrament of Baptism,
they had not been spiritually presented to the priests,
though their cleansing had been declared by the Holy
Ghost coming into them, and by the gift of tongues im
parted to them.
VI. There is no doubt about this; yet it may happen
that we are delivered from leprosy — that is, from false
doctrines — after accepting the true faith and embracing
the doctrine of the Church in all its points, so as to
be able to distinguish between the things coming from
the Creator and those proceeding from His creatures.
But we still remain ungrateful towards God, by Whom
we were cleansed from our spiritual leprosy. Our
pride and our presumption, preventing us from humbly
recognising the blessings of our Creator, are the cause
of our ingratitude. We are like those spoken of by
the Apostle : When they kneiv God, they have not glori-
312 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
fied Him as God, or given thanks (Rom. i. 21). Note
these words of the Apostle. They mean that these
people knew God, and were freed from the leprosy of
error, yet were still afflicted with ingratitude towards
their Creator Who had enlightened them. They must,
therefore, be reckoned among the nine lepers of the
Gospel. This number nine is imperfect, and must
increase by one, and thus be made perfect, since nothing
can be added to the number ten, perfect in itself. This
tenth is the leper who came back, with a loud voice glorify
ing God and giving thanks. He represents the Church, in
whom alone there is unity. He is praised by our Lord,
whereas the nine others are rejected and condemned on
account of their ingratitude. Consider also that these
nine lepers were a type of the Jews, who, through their
pride and ingratitude, lost the kingdom of heaven ; whereas
the one who came back giving thanks was a Samaritan,
who, like a faithful keeper of entrusted goods, preserved
this kingdom by his humility and thankfulness, and could
say with the prophet : / will keep my strength to Thee, for
Thou art my Protector (Ps. Iviii. 10).
FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Matt. vi. 24-33. At that time: Jesus said to
His disciples : No man can serve two masters. For
either he will hate the one, and love the other ; or he will
sustain the one, and despise the other. You cannot serve
God and mammon. Therefore I say to you, Be not
solicitous for your life, what you shall eat, nor for your
body, what you shall put on. Is not the life more than
the meat, and the body more than the raiment ? Behold
the birds of the air, for they neither sow, nor do they
FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 313
reap, nor gather into barns ; and your Heavenly Father
feedeth them. Are not you of much more value than
they ? And which of you, by taking thought, can add to
his stature one cubit ? And for raiment, why are you
solicitous ? Consider the lilies of the field how they
grow ; they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say
to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was
arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of the field,
which is to-day, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, God
doth so clothe, how much more you, O ye of little faith ?
Be not solicitous, therefore, saying ; What shall we eat,
or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed ?
For all these things do the heathens seek. For your
Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.
Seek ye, therefore, first the kingdom of God, and His
justice, and all these things shall be added unto you.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
ON THE LORD'S SERMON ON THE MOUNT, BOOK 11., CHAP. xiv.
I. These words of our Lord, No man can serve two
masters, are explained by the following : For either he will
hate the one, and love the other ; or he will sustain the one, and
despise the other. We ought carefully to weigh these
words, for our Lord shows who the two masters are,
saying : You cannot serve God and mammon. Mammon is a
term which the Hebrews are said to use for riches. It is
also a Carthaginian word, for the Punic word for gain is
mammon. He that serves mammon — that is, loves riches
— serves that evil one who has perversely chosen to be
the lord of these earthly things, and is called by the Lord
the prince of this world (John xiv. 30). Of these two
masters man will either hate the one, and love the other —
that is, God — or he will sustain the one, and despise the
314 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
other. He that serves mammon sustains a hard and
pernicious master ; for, led captive by his lust, he is a
slave of the devil, though he love him not. Is there any
one who loves the devil ? Yet there are those who sus
tain him.
II. Our Lord does not say that a man serving two
masters — that is, God and mammon — will hate God ; he
will despise Him. For there is no one reproached by his
conscience for hating God. Yet God is despised, because,
His goodness being abused, He is not feared. We are
warned by the Holy Ghost not to give ourselves up to
such carelessness and pernicious security, for the prophet
says : My son, add not sin upon sin ; and say not : The mercy
of the Lord is great (Ecclus. v. 5, 6). These words are con
firmed by the Apostle : Knowest thou not that the benignity
of God leadeth thee to penance ? (Rom. ii. 4). Indeed,
what greater mercy can there be imagined than that
of God forgiving sins, however great, to a converted
and penitent sinner, and giving the fertility of a good
olive-tree to a sterile oleaster ? And has God not re
vealed the severity of His justice by not sparing the
natural branches — that is, the Jews — but cutting them
off, on account of their infidelity ? If we wish to be
pleasing to God, let us not think that we can serve two
masters, and divide our heart ; for God must be thought
of in goodness and sought in the simplicity of our heart.
III. And our Lord said: Therefore I say to yon, Be not
solicitous for your life, what ye shall eat, nor for your body, what
you shall put on, lest, perhaps, though such things are not
superfluous, but necessary, our heart should be divided
by the seeking of needful things, and that our intention
should be corrupted when doing something, as it were,
from compassion — that is, lest, when we seem to be seek
ing another's good, it should be a profit to ourselves
FOURTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 315
rather than a benefit to him that we are seeking. Thus
we do not seem to ourselves to sin, because we wish to
obtain, not superfluities, but necessaries. And our Lord,
by His teaching, admonishes us to understand that we
may be guilty, if we are too solicitous in seeking needful
things. He also reminds us that, when God created
man, He gave him not only a body and a soul, but also
life, more preferable than raiment and meat, so much
coveted. Is not the life more than the meat, and the body
more than the raiment ? Why should He, Who gave us
life, not also give us that which is necessary to sustain
life ? And since the body is more than the raiment, why
should He, after creating our body, refuse to give us
wherewithal to cover it ?
IV. And should anyone ask, why the soul spoken of
by our Lord, and being incorporeal, is in need of this
corporeal food, I answer that the soul mentioned in this
Gospel is meant for the life of man, and that the meat
is to keep up that life, according to the words : He that
loveth his life shall lose it (John xii. 25). Indeed, were not
the soul taken here for the life which we are bound to
lose for the kingdom of God, as the martyrs were able to
do, then this command would be contradictory to the
sentence in which it is said : What doth it profit a man, if
he gain the whole world, and suffer the loss of his own soul ?
(Matt. xvi. 26).
V. Behold, He said, the birds of the air, for they neither
sow, nov do they reap, nor gather into barns ; and your
Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are not you of much more
value than they ? Indeed, the rational being — that is,
man — possesses a higher rank in creation than irrational
beings like birds, and is, moreover, destined to a super
natural end. Which of you, He added, by taking thought,
can add to his stature one cubit ? A nd for raiment, why are
316 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
you solicitous ? These words clearly tell us that, since our
body, without the help and protection of God, cannot
attain its present stature, we ought to leave to His power
and providence the care to cover it with raiment.
VI. After speaking about the food for the body, our
Lord also mentions the clothing : And for raiment, why are
you solicitous ? Consider the lilies of the field how they grow ;
they labour not, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that
not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these.
And if the grass of the field, which is to-day, and to-morrow is
cast into the oven, God doth so clothe, how much more you, 0 ye
of little faith ? Let us not imagine that, under the figure
of the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, our Lord
wished to hide mysteries. He made use of these common
and ordinary things to teach us more important truths.
For on another occasion He made use of the parable of
a certain judge who feared not God, nor regarded man (Luke
xviii. 2) ; yet, because the widow was troublesome, he
avenged her, lest, continually coming, she weary him.
We cannot say that, under the figure or allegory of this
unjust judge, the person of God is meant ; yet our Lord
wished to convey the lesson that, when even an unjust
man yields to the impetuous prayers of petitioners, God,
this infinitely good and just Lord, will not refuse to be
merciful to those who beseech Him.
VII. Then He says : Be not solicitous, therefore, saying :
What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall
we be clothed ? For after all these things do the heathens seek.
For your Father knoweth that you have need of all these things.
Seek ye, therefore, first the kingdom of God, and His justice,
and all these things shall be added unto you. By these words
we are admonished that those things we desire, as
necessary to life, must not be considered as our aim,
when we exert ourselves to attain virtues. For the
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 317
difference between blessings, which are to be sought, and
the necessaries, that are to be taken for our use, is made
plain by this sentence, when He said : Seek ye first the
kingdom of God, and His justice, and all these things shall be
added unto you. The kingdom of God, therefore, and His
justice are to be our principal aim and object, to which
our efforts must be directed, since our eternal felicity will
depend on them. This life is given to man to fight on
earth as a soldier for the kingdom of heaven. But, since
man cannot live without the necessary means, God
promises to give them to him : A II these things shall be added
unto you. Yet He warns him to work first for the obtain
ing of the immortal glory prepared for him : Seek ye first
the kingdom of God. The needful things for our corporal
maintenance are to be considered as means only to obtain
the everlasting goods, our final aim and object.
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST
GOSPEL: Luke vii. 11-16. At that time: Jesus went into
a city called Nairn, and there went with Him His disciples,
and a great multitude. And when He came nigh to the
gate of the city, behold a dead man was carried out, the
only son of his mother, and she was a widow ; and a
great multitude of the city was with her. Whom when
the Lord had seen, being moved with mercy toward her,
He said to her : Weep not. And He came near, and
touched the bier. And they that carried it stood still.
And He said: Young man, I say to thee, arise. And he
that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And He gave
him to his mother. And there came a fear on them all ;
and they glorified God, saying : A great Prophet is risen
up among us, and God hath visited His people.
3i8 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
FORTY-FOURTH ON THE WORDS OF THE LORD.
I. The joy of that widowed mother, when her son was
again called to life, is a figure of the joy of our Mother
the Church, when souls of men, spiritually dead through
sin, are called to life every day. He was dead in body ;
they have been dead in soul. His death was exterior
and visibly bewailed ; whereas their inward death has
neither been seen nor mourned for. But He, who had
known them to be dead, sought them ; and He alone
knew them to be dead, Who was able to make them live.
Had the Lord not come to raise the dead, the Apostle
could not have said : Rise thou that steepest ; and arise from
the dead ; and Christ shall enlighten thee (Eph. v. 14). You
hear the words : Rise thou that sleepest, and you think
they are said to an ordinary sleeper ; but you understand
them being said of one really dead, when you hear : A rise
from the dead. Indeed, in Holy Scripture we see that the
dead are often said to be asleep. And certainly they are
all but sleeping in respect of Him Who can awaken them ;
but in respect of you a dead man is dead indeed, seeing
he will not awake, though you call or prick or pull him
to and fro. But the young man heard the word of the
Lord: Arise, and immediately he arose, though he had
been dead. No one can so easily awaken another asleep
in bed, as Christ can the dead in the tomb.
II. In the Gospel we read that three dead persons
were raised by our Lord visibly, thousands invisibly.
But how many more were raised by Him visibly ? Who
knows? For all the things that He did are not written.
St. John says : There are also many other things which Jesus
did ; which if they weve written every one, the world itself, I
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 319
think, would not be able to contain the books that should be
written (John xxi. 25). Doubtless there were many more
raised to life ; but it is not without a meaning that three
only are expressly recorded. For our Lord wished that
those things He did carnally, should also be understood
spiritually. He did not merely work miracles for the
miracles' sake ; but that His works should be at once
wonderful to them that saw them, and true to them that
understand them. Thus, one who looks at a manuscript
beautifully written, ' but knows not how to read, will
praise the old transcriber's hand, and admire the beauty
of the characters ; but what those letters signify or mean
he knows not, and praises by the sight of his eyes, with
out understanding by the mind. Whereas the man that
can not only gaze on what is common to all, but also
read it, will praise the fine writing, and likewise under
stand its sense, which the unlearned cannot. Even so,
there were some who saw Christ's miracles, and under
stood not what they meant, nor what they in a manner
conveyed to those who understood them ; they therefore
only wondered at the miracles themselves. But there
were others who saw the miracles, wondered at, under
stood them, and profited by them. And as such we
ought to be in the school of Christ.
III. Those who pretend that Jesus wrought miracles
only for the miracles' sake, may also say He did not
know that it was not the time for fruit, when He sought
figs upon the fig-tree, and found only leaves. The
Evangelist says : It was not the time for figs (Mark xi. 13) ;
yet, being hungry, He sought for fruit upon the tree.
Will they say that Jesus was ignorant of a fact not un
known to an ordinary peasant ? That the gardener tend
ing the tree knew more than the tree's Creator ? When
Jesus, being hungry, sought for fruit on that fig-tree, and
320 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
found only leaves, He wished to tell us that He had a
more pressing hunger, and was seeking after something
else than this. He found the tree full of leaves and bare
of fruit, and He cursed it, and the fig-tree withered away.
What had the tree done in not bearing fruit ? What
fault of the tree for being then fruitless ? But this was
a figure of those lazy and useless Christians who, by their
own fault, do not bring forth any good fruit of penance
and salvation ; who by their own will are fruitless.
The Jews were like this tree, when full of leaves and
glorying in the letter of the Law, without any deeds, they
cared not for the practice of real works of justice, and
bore no fruit. I say this to show you that our Lord,
whilst working miracles and thereby manifesting His
Divine Power, had in view to teach some special truth
by these very miracles which astonished the multitudes.
IV. Let us now ask what our Lord would have us learn
in the raising of the three dead persons. The first was
the dead daughter of one of the rulers of the synagogue.
The father besought Him much, saying : My daughter is
at the point of death, come, lay Thy hand upon her, that she
may be safe and may live (Mark v. 23). And as He went,
it was announced that the daughter was dead. Word
was brought to the father: Thy daughter is dead ; why
dost thou trouble the Master any further ? But He went on,
only saying to the father : Fear not, only believe. And
when He came to the house, and saw the preparations
for the funeral, He said : Weep not ; the maid is not dead,
but sleepeth. He spoke the truth ; indeed, she slept, but
only in respect of Him, Who could awaken her to life.
And so, awakening her, He gave her to her parents. He
also raised to life the young man mentioned in this
Gospel, of which I wish to speak to you, beloved. You
know how He restored him to life. He came nigh to the
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 321
city of Nairn, and behold a dead man was carried out, already
beyond the gate of the city. And, moved with compassion
for that mother who, a widow, and bereaved of her only
son, was weeping, He said : Young man, I say to thee, arise.
And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And He
gave him to his mother. And Lazarus also was raised even
from his tomb. The disciples knew that Lazarus, whom
Jesus loved, was sick, and He said to them : Lazarus, our
friend, sleepeth. And they, thinking only of a healthful
sleep, said: Lord, if he sleep he shall do well. Then Jesus,
speaking more plainly, said to them : Lazarus is dead
(John xi.). Indeed, He spoke the truth; Lazarus was'
dead to them, but was only asleep to Him.
V. These three dead persons raised by Jesus under
different circumstances, are three kinds of sinners every
day awakened by Jesus from a spiritual death. The first
are represented by the daughter of the ruler of the syna
gogue. She was still within the house, though dead, and
it was in the house that Jesus raised her to life, so to
speak, without difficulty, and gave her to her parents.
The young man, spoken of in this Gospel, was already
out of the house, but not yet in the grave. He who
raised the dead maiden, not yet carried out of the house,
also raised the other, who had been carried out, but was
not yet buried. To give an image of the third kind of
sinners, nothing remained to our Lord but to bring to
life one dead and already buried, and this was done in
the person of Lazarus. This mystery of the three dead
persons, raised to life, may be easily understood, when we
consider that there are sinners committing sins in their
hearts, but not showing them exteriorly. For our Lord
said : Whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath
already committed adultery with her in his heart (Ma.it. v. 28).
Such sinners sometimes awake, hearing the word of God,
21
322 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
just as if they heard the voice of Christ, saying: Arise.
At once they condemn themselves for consenting to sin ;
they begin to inhale the atmosphere of a new life, and to
walk on the road of justice and salvation. Of these
sinners it may be said that they are like the daughter of
Jairus— that is, that they are restored to life, so to speak,
within their house, since their hearts, once given up to
sin secretly in thought and desire, now revive through
the grace of God. By the second kind of sinners we
understand those who^ having given themselves up to
sins and vices, do not hesitate to show and commit them
' in public, and are like the young man who died in the
house, but was carried out of it. Is there no hope for
such sinners, who show by their exterior and sinful acts
that they are spiritually dead ? But did not our Lord
say to the dead young man : / say to tkee, arise ? Let
such sinners hope that if, in the state of death to which
they were brought by their exterior sins, they will let
themselves be moved and aroused by the words of truth,
the voice of Christ will yet call them, and they shall not
perish for ever.
VI. As to those who are so hardened in their sins that
the evil habit renders them insensible, they become even
defenders of their evil deeds, and are angry when they are
found fault with. They are, so to speak, buried in their
sins, and covered with darkness by the inveterate habit of
sin and vice. Such sinners are already in the grave, and
we may say of them that, like Lazarus, they begin to be
a prey to rottenness and worms. By this time he stinketh;
for he is now of four days. The heavy stone on the
sepulchre is that sinful chain thrown around their neck
by habitual sin, from which, as it seems, they are ^ not
able to be delivered. Such a sinner seems to be in a
hopeless condition, and it may be said of him, as of
Lazarus, that he is now of four days in the tomb. How-
FIFTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 323
ever, the same Redeemer has the power to open that
sinner's eyes, covered for a long time by the terrors and
deep darkness of night, and by His grace to raise him
to life.
VI I , And what is the conclusion to be drawn from all
this ? That those who enjoy the interior and super
natural life of sanctifying grace should endeavour to
preserve it ; whereas those deprived of it by sin should
make their greatest efforts to recover it. He that carries
sin in his heart, though not manifested by exterior acts,
let him be penetrated by deep sorrow, and detest the very
thoughts that filled his heart. He will thus be delivered
from the chains of death by which he was kept in the
prison of a sinful conscience. And the sinner who by
exterior acts showed to the world the sins and vices that
were in his heart, shall he despair ? No ; he is dead,
indeed, not only interiorly, but even exteriorly in the
eyes of the world. Nevertheless, he may be raised to
life, though he evidently seems to be carried out of the
house. Let him be really and interiorly sorry for his
sinful and scandalous actions, and let him be careful not
to be thrown into the grave, where his unfortunate habit
would become the stone closing his sepulchre.
VIII. However, I am perhaps speaking to one groaning
under the burden of his sins, who has become a slave of
the sins habitually committed ; to one, perhaps, who is
already feeling the terrors of the tomb, being buried in
his grievous sins. Doubtless, such a poor sinner feels
wretched and miserable. Yet the arm of the Redeemer
is strong enough to take him out of the deepest abyss
into which death has precipitated him. God the Almighty
knows how to make His voice resound into the most
hardened heart, to break the most indissoluble bonds,
and to overcome all obstacles opposed to the salvation of
21 — 2
324 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
sinners. The Lord of all mercy not only knows how to
restore to life the most wicked and reprobate sinner, but
He also gives to His ministers the power to forgive all
sins : Whatsoever you shall loose upon earth, shall be loosed also
in heaven (Matt, xviii. 18).' Let such sinners do penance,
and they will feel as well and pure as Lazarus, who, after
his resurrection, had not a spot of corruption on his body,
and came full of life out of the tomb where death had
kept him for a time. Behold the useful lesson contained
in this mystery. You who are in the happy state of
sanctifying grace, persevere therein; but you, unhappy
sinners, endeavour to shake off the heavy burden of sins
by which you are now oppressed. Amen.
SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Luke xiv. 1-11. At that time: When Jesus
went into the house of one of the chief of the Pharisees
on the Sabbath day to eat bread, they watched Him/
And behold there was a certain man before Him that had
the dropsy. And Jesus answering, spoke to the lawyers
and Pharisees, saying: Is it lawful to heal on the
Sabbath day? But they held their peace. But He,
taking him, healed him, and sent him away. And
answering them, He said : Which of you shall have an
ass or an ox fall into a pit, and will not immediately draw
him out on the Sabbath day? And they could not
answer Him to these things. And He spoke a parable
also to them that were invited, marking how they chose
the first seats at the table, saying to them : When thou
art invited to a wedding, sit not down in the first place,
lest perhaps one more honourable than thou be invited
by him ; and he that invited thee and him come and say
to thee : Give this man place ; and then thou begin with
SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 325
shame to take the lowest place. But when thou art
invited, go, sit down in the lowest place, that when he
who invited thee cometh, he may say to thee : Friend, go
up higher. Then shalt thou have glory before them that
sit at table with thee ; because every one that exalteth
himself, shall be humbled ; and he that humbleth himself,
shall be exalted.
HOMILY BY ST. AMBROSE, BISHOP.
ON LUKE xiv., BOOK vn.
I. This man, sick of the dropsy, whose disease — that
is, the swelling of the body — was cured by our Lord, is
a figure of a soul so heavy as not to be able to rise above
the senses, nor to feel the impression and fire of the Holy
Ghost. And our Lord continued giving an important
lesson of humility, saying : When thou art invited to a
wedding, sit not down in the first place. However, He spoke
so gently that His rebuke, far from irritating the guests,
convinced them of the truth of His teaching. Indeed,
there was so much wisdom in the words of Jesus that the
reason was convinced, whilst self-love was overcome by
His arguments. There we see how the host, by whom
our Lord had been invited, was taught by Him to be
kind to the poor. It was not without a special motive
that the poor and weak were mentioned by our Lord,
since they are to be preferred in our acts of hospitality.
For is it not a movement of self-interest to show courtesy to
those — the rich — from whom we expect to receive some
thing ?
II. The Son of God also fixes the reward of one that
has fought generously, and this reward is the kingdom
of heaven promised by God to those who make good use
of the things of this world. But those, purchasing to
326 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
themselves earthly possessions, cannot expect to possess
that kingdom. We hear our Lord say : Go sell what thou
hasty and give to the poor, and follow Me (Matt. xix. 21). It
is evident that those, invited to the supper of the rich man,
and making excuse, as he who had bought some yoke of
oxen and wanted to try them, were shut out of the eternal
kingdom. Eliseus did not act in that manner ; he killed
the yoke of oxen, boiled the flesh with the plough, and gave to
the people, and they ate (3 Kings xix. 21). Neither can he
win that kingdom, who married a wife, and therefore
could not come, for he that is without a wife, is solicitous for
the things that belong to the Lord, how he may please God.
But he that is with a wife, is solicitous for the things of the
world, how he may please his wife (i Cor. vii. 32, 33). This
is not to be taken as blaming marriage, but only to say
that virginity is the more honourable way, since the
unmarried woman and the virgin— and the widow — thinketh
of the things of the Lord ; that she may be holy both in body
and in spirit (ver. 34).
III. But in all fairness, having thus spoken about
widows and unmarried women, let us again return to the
married, and with them entertain the opinion held by so
many, that there are only three classes of men excluded
from the great supper mentioned in the Gospel, and that
these three classes are Heathens, Jews, and Heretics.
This is the reason why we are warned by the Apostle,
saying : Walk not as also the Gentiles walk, in malice and
uncleanness and covetousness, and so have no entry into
the kingdom of Christ ; for no unclean, or covetous person
(which is a serving of idols), hath inheritance in the kingdom of
Christ and of God (Eph. iv. 17 ; v. 5).
IV. The Jews imposed upon themselves a heavy and
useless yoke through the manifold ceremonies by which
they are still oppressed. Yet the Prophet said : Let us
SIXTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 327
break their bonds asundtr ; and let us cast away their yoke from
us (Ps. ii. 3). As for us, we have accepted Jesus Christ,
and bowed our heads under the light and gentle yoke
prepared by His goodness. We may also say that the
Jews were figured by the man who, having bought five
yoke of oxen, excused himself ; for the Books of Moses
containing the Old Testament are five in number. Our
Lord alluded, perhaps, to these five Books, when He said
to the Samaritan woman: Thou hast had five husbands
(John iv. 1 8).
V. As for heresy, by which the gates of heaven are
shut to all its adherents, it tries, like a second Eve, to
allure and deceive us by its attractions. For by it our
faith is weakened, since faith cannot accommodate itself to
our concupiscence. Thus we are dragged into the abyss ;
for the road to it seems easy and agreeable. The false
glitter of error is often preferred to the real and unchange
able beauty of the truth. All those who were invited to
the supper by the master of the house, but refused the
invitation and made excuse, were justly shut out of the
banquet, and this by their own fault. All men are
invited by our Lord to the eternal happiness ; but by
their carelessness or their errors many are made unworthy
of it.
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTE
COST.
GOSPEL: Matt. xxii. 34-46. At that time: The Pharisees
came to Jesus, and one of them, a doctor of the law,
asked Him, tempting Him : Master, which is the great
commandment of the law ? Jesus said to him : Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and
with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is
328 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
the greatest and the first commandment. And the second
is like to this : Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments dependeth the whole law
and the prophets. And the Pharisees being gathered
together, Jesus asked them, saying : What think you of
Christ ? whose Son is He ? They say to Him : David's.
He saith to them : How, then, doth David in spirit call
Him Lord, saying : The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on
my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool ?
If David, then, call Him Lord, how is He his Son ? And
no man was able to answer Him a word : neither durst
any man from that day forth ask Him any more ques
tions.
HOMILY BY ST. JOHN CHRYSOSTOM.
SEVENTY-SECOND HOMILY ON ST. MATTHEW.
I. When the Pharisees heard that He had silenced the
Sadducees, they came together for a fresh attack, just
when it behoved them to keep their peace. But they
wished to urge further their former endeavours, and one
of them professing to be skilled in law, was put forward.
He did not wish to learn, but to lay a snare. He
therefore proposed the question : Which is the great com
mandment of the law ? Since the first commandment is
this : Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, they expected
that He would make some change or addition in His own
behalf, since He made Himself God (John x. 33). In
this expectation they proposed this question ; but what
did Christ answer ? To show that they had adopted this
course from having no charity, from pining with envy
and jealousy, He answered : Thou shalt love the Lord thy
God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with
thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first command-
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 329
went. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself. But why is the second command
ment like to the first ? Because the first is the source
and support of the second. For everyone that doth evil
hateth the light, and cometh not to the light (John iii. 20).
And again : The fool hath said in his heart : There is no God
(Ps. xiii. i). And what is the consequence of this?
They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways
(ibid. 2). And again : The desire of money is the root of all
evils; which some coveting have erred from the faith (i Tim.
vi. 10). And one more: If you love Me keep My command
ments (John xiv. 15). The sum of these commandments
are these words : Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, and thy
neighbour as thyself.
II. If, therefore, to love God is to love one's neighbour,
as it appears in this : Simon, son of John, lovest thou Me ?
And he said : Lord, Thou knowest that I love Thee. He said
to him : Feed My sheep (John xxi. 10), and if love is the
fulfilling of the law (Rom. xiii. 17), then with reason does
the Lord say that on these two commandments dependeth the
law and the prophets. And what He did before, He also
does here. For, when asked about the manner of the
resurrection, He taught a resurrection, instructing them
at the same time beyond what they asked. So now,
being interrogated concerning the first commandment,
He answers them of his own accord touching the second
also, which is not much inferior to the first, for the second
is like to this ; intimating to them that their question had
arisen from hatred ; for charity envieth not, says the
Apostle (i Cor. xiii. 4). By this He showed that He
was subject both to the law and the prophets.
III. Having answered the Pharisees, our Lord also in
His turn asked them : What think you of Christ ? Whose
Son is He ? They say to Him : David's. Now consider
330 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
how Jesus was proceeding in this instance. After many
miracles and many signs proving His Divinity; after
many positive answers given to prove His dignity ; after
a great display in words and deeds of His unanimity
with the Father ; and after praising the man who said that
there is one God, He asked them what they thought of
Christ — that is, of Him. He knew that the miracles
wrought before the eyes of the Jews could not be denied
by them. Yet He also knew that they would say that,
though working miracles, He was an adversary to the
Law and an enemy to God. After so many things He
asked these'questions, secretly leading them on to confess
Him also to be God. He had first tried His disciples,
asking them what others said of Him, and what they
themselves thought of Him. He did not address Him
self first to the Pharisees, for He knew they were ready
to call Him a deceiver and a wicked man, speaking all
things without fear. For this reason He inquired for the
opinion of these men. Being about to begin His Passion,
He announces David's prophecy, plainly proclaiming Him
to be the Lord, and He makes use of the prophet's testi
mony from a reasonable cause. He introduces this in a
suitable manner, so as to overthrow the mistaken opinion
of the Jews pretending that He was a mere man, and
shows how David proclaimed His Godhead. Indeed, the
Jews had said that He was a Son of David ; but in this
they meant only His humanity. Now, to correct this
erroneous opinion, He brings in the words of the prophet
bearing witness to His being Lord, true Son of God, and
equal to the Father. He does not even stop at this, but
that they may be moved by fear, He adds the words :
Until I make Thy enemies Thy footstool ; that He might win
them over at least in this way.
IV. And that the Pharisees may not say it was in
SEVENTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 331
flattery that David called Him Lord, or that it was a
human exaggeration, see what He says : How, then, doth
David in spirit call Him Lord, saying : The Lord said to my
Lord, Sit on My right hand ? Admire here the humility
and modesty of Jesus, since it concerned His own honour.
He had first said : What think you P Whose Son is He ?
in order to get their answer. And when they said
David's, He did not reply : Yet David said these things of
Him — but put another question : How, then, doth David in
spirit call Him Lord ? so that the sayings might not give
offence to them. Again, He did not say to them : What
think you of Me ? but of Christ. In the same humble
way did the Apostles speak, when, showing that David
was not speaking of himself, but of Jesus Christ, they
added : Let us freely speak to you of the patriarch David, that
he died and was buried, and his sepulchre is with us to this
present day (Acts ii. 29). Thus, through these ques
tions and answers our Lord's intention was to give testi
mony to His own Divinity, making use of the words of
David. But let us not think that Jesus wished to convey
the idea that He was not a Son of David. He had not
rebuked Peter for saying so ; but He wished to correct
the secret and erroneous thoughts of the Pharisees.
V. However, even when they had heard these things,
they answered nothing ; for they did not wish to learn of
these so needful things, but only to lay a snare. He
added that He was the Lord, and, saying this, the
Prophet was His testimony ; for He knew that they dis
trusted Him, and spread false and evil reports against
Him. We ought to have special regard to this fact, and
not to be offended if anything said by Him seems humble
and lowly ; for, as with many other things, He was con
descending to their slow understanding. Mark also that,
not only by His words and wonders, but also by the
332 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
words of the Prophet, His Divinity was thoroughly
proved to His enernies. For, quoting the words of
David addressed to Him : Sit on my right hand, until I
make Thy enemies Thy footstool, He clearly announced that
God, His Father, will revenge Him on His enemies ;
that the manner in which His Father honoured Him,
was a proof of His being equal to the Father ; and He
put upon this reasoning an end to their contention.
From thenceforth they were silent, not willingly, but
from their having nothing to say • and they received so
deadly, a blow as no longer to attempt the same thing
any more. For no man durst from that day forth ask Him
any move questions.
EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Matt. ix. 1-8. At that time: Jesus entering
into a boat, He passed over the water and came into His
own city. And behold they brought to Him one sick of
the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their faith,
said to the man sick of the palsy : Be of good heart, son,
thy sins are forgiven thee. And behold some of the
Scribes said within themselves : He blasphemeth. And
Jesus, seeing their thoughts, said : Why do you think
evil in your hearts ? Whether is it easier to say : Thy
sins are forgiven thee ; or to say : Arise, and walk ? But
that you may know that the Son of man hath power on
earth to forgive sins (then said He to the man sick of the
palsy), Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house.
And he arose and went into his house. And the multi
tude, seeing it, feared and glorified God that gave such
power to men.
EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 333
HOMILY BY ST. PETER CHRYSOLOGUS.
SERMON L.
I. That Jesus worked Divine mysteries in those things
which He did as Man, and also invisible things under
the appearance of things which were seen, is shown in
this day's lesson. The Gospel says : Jesus entering into a
boat, He passed over the water and came into His own city.
Was not this He Who once parted the waters, and made
the dry ground appear in the depth of the sea, so that the
people of Israel passed dry-shod between the masses of
water standing still, as through a deep valley in a moun
tain ? Was not this He Who made the waves of the sea
solid under the feet of Peter, so that the watery path
offered a firm way for human footsteps ? Why, then, did
He on this occasion deny to Himself a like service from
the sea, but crossed over that narrow lake in a boat ?
He entered into a boat, and passed over. Why do we wonder,
my brethren ? Jesus Christ came to take our weakness
upon Him, that He might give us His strength ; to seek
the things human, that He might give to men the things
of God ; to receive insults, that He might bestow honours ;
to bear our weariness, that He might give us health.
For the physician, who has no infirmities, knows not how
to cure the infirmities of others, nor he that is not weak
with the weak, how to give strength to the weak. Had
our Lord remained in His strength, what would He then
have had in common with man ? And if His Flesh had
not also taken the infirmities of our flesh, it would have
been idle for Him to take Flesh. He entered into a boat,
and passed over into His own city. The Lord, the Creator
of the world and of all things therein, having for our sake
imprisoned Himself in our flesh, began to have a human
334 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
atherland, to be a citizen of a Jewish city, and to have
parents, though He Himself is the Father of all parents.
And all this that His love might invite, His charity
draw, His tenderness bind, His gentleness persuade all
those whom His Majesty, as King, had scared, His
awfulness scattered, and His power terrified out of His
possessions. It is certain that Jesus had no need of that
boat, but the boat was in need of Him ; for the Church,
figured by it, is like a ship exposed in the midst of the
sea to a thousand cliffs, that she will never be able to
avoid without the skill of the Divine Pilot.
II. And the Gospel says : Behold they brought to Him
one sick of the palsy, lying on a bed. And Jesus, seeing their
faith, said to the man sick of the palsy : Be of good heart, son,
thy sins are forgiven to thee. Now this man, cured of his
palsy, remains silent, when, understanding from the
words of the Redeemer, that his sins were forgiven to
him, he gives no sign of gratitude for the blessing
bestowed upon him by Jesus. Is this not a proof that
he was more anxious to be delivered from the sickness of
his body, than to receive the spiritual health of his soul ?
that he was more concerned about the temporal pains of
his sick body, than about the eternal torments to which
his soul would be condemned in the other world ? Again,
this man, cured of his sickness, only thinks of the present
time, without giving any thought to the eternal future.
III. It was not without a special motive that Jesus,
seeing the man sick of the palsy at His feet, rewarded
the faith of those who had brought him. His intention
was to cure the spiritual disease of the man, before
giving him the health of the body. And Jesus, seeing their
faith, said to the man sick of the palsy : Be of good heart. By
these words you understand, beloved brethren, that God
does not consult the will of the wicked, nor consider the
EIGHTEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 335
faith of the ignorant ; neither does He look on the foolish
desires of one only sighing for corporal health ; that He
is ready to help a generous and living faith, and refuses
nothing to a will conformable to His own Will. You
know that a physician does not care much about the will
of his patients, that he does not even inquire about their
wishes and desires, knowing that too often they wish for
things that would be injurious to them. In all serious
ness he attacks the disease, sometimes prescribes the
most bitter medicines, being convinced that his patients,
once restored to health, will be most grateful to him for
not having yielded to their foolish desires during their
illness. Now, since a man has the courage to expose
himself to the anger and insults of the patients he wishes
to save from death, shall we be surprised at this consol
ing fact, that Jesus, the true Physician of souls, in His
infinite love for them, is ready to deliver them, against
their own will, from the abominable disease of sin, and
to give them that spiritual health, the value of which
they cannot recognise as long as they remain in the folly
of their sinful passions ? Would to God that we could
probe the wounds of our soul ! Then we should see it
bare and without any virtue amidst the surrounding
vices. Then our Redeemer would let His light shine
into our darkness, and we should be convinced that He
is continually trying by His grace to awaken us, and to
persuade us to let ourselves be cured, taking the medicines
offered by His helping hand in spite of our dislike and
refusal.
IV. By saying to the man sick of the palsy that his
sins were forgiven, our Lord wished to show that under
the veil of His humanity He was true God. His miracles
made Him to be recognised as a Prophet, for by them
He was like to the prophets, who had wrought such
336 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
wonderful things through His Divine assistance. But
by forgiving sins He visibly manifested His Divinity,
since no one but God has the power to forgive sins.
The envy and hatred of the Pharisees are the strongest
proof of this ; for when hearing the Son of God say to
the man that his sins were forgiven, they were angry,
and said within themselves : He blasphemeth. Who can forgive
sins hit God alone ? (Luke v. 21). O ye foolish Pharisees !
By your words you show that wisdom and ignorance are
united in your minds ; you confess the truth, yet you
deny it ; you accuse the Redeemer, and at the same time
you justify Him. If it be true, and it is true, as you con
fess, that God alone can forgive sins, why do you refuse
to recognise Jesus as your God, He Who mercifully takes
away the sins of men ? Behold the Lamb of God, said
John the Baptist, behold Him Who taketh away the sin of
the world (John i. 29). Do you still look for the proofs of
this mystery so incomprehensible to you ? then search
for it in your own hearts. For, if you seriously consider
the fact that this Divine Man discovers all that is in the
inmost of your hearts ; that He knows your most hidden
thoughts ; that He reveals before the eyes of men your
soul's intentions begotten in darkness ; then you will
easily understand that the fulness of the Godhead dwells
in Jesus. Thus, our Saviour deeply scrutinized the con
sciences of the Pharisees, revealed their intentions, and
proved His Divinity. Yet, to give once more a proof of
His Divine power, He granted health and strength of
body to the man sick of the palsy. Arise, take up thy bed
and go into thy house. And, saying this, He wished to
teach him the duty of beginning now a different — that is,
a better — life. He was to take up the bed on which he
had been carried, as a sign of the miraculous manner in
which he was cured. This bed, also, the witness of his
NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 337
sufferings, was to give testimony to Him Who wrought
the miracle, and by its heaviness prove the health and
strength of the man now cured. Lastly, by telling this
man to go into his house, our Lord desired to give him to
understand that, after receiving the gift of the Christian
faith, he was not to return to the ways of the unbelieving
Jews.
NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Matt. xxii. 1-14. At that time: Jesus spoke
to the chief priests and Pharisees in parables, saying :
The kingdom of heaven is likened to a king, who made a
marriage for his son. And he sent his servants to call
them that were invited to the marriage ; and they would
not come. Again he sent other servants, saying : Tell
them that were invited : Behold I have prepared my
dinner ; my beeves and fatlings are killed, and all things
are ready : come ye to the marriage. But they neglected,
and went their ways, one to his farm and another to his
merchandise. And the rest laid hands on his servants,
and, having treated them contumeliously, put them to
death. But when the king had heard of it, he was
angry, and, sending his armies, he destroyed those
murderers, and burnt their city. Then he said to his
servants : The marriage, indeed, is ready ; but they that
were invited were not worthy. Go ye, therefore, into
the highways, and as many as you shall find, call to the
marriage. And his servants, going forth into the ways,
gathered together all they found, both bad and good ; and
the marriage was filled with guests. And the king went
in to see the guests, and he saw there a man who had not
on a wedding garment. And he saith to him : Friend,
how earnest thou in hither, not having on a wedding
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338 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
garment ? But he was silent. Then the king said to
the waiters : Bind his hands and his feet, and cast him
into the exterior darkness ; there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are
chosen.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF THE HOLY MARTYR CLEMENT.
THIRTY-EIGHTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. I remember having often said that in the holy
Gospel the Church of God, as she is now, is called the
kingdom of heaven, for the kingdom of heaven is indeed
the assembly of the just. The Lord said by the mouth
of His prophet : Heaven is My throne (Isa. Ixvi. i). Solo
mon says : The soul of the just is the throne of wisdom
(Wisd. vii. 27) ; and Paul says : Christ is the power of
God and the wisdom of God (i Cor. i. 24). From these
passages we may clearly infer that, if wisdom be God,
and wisdom's throne the soul of the just, and God's throne
the heaven, then the soul of the just is heaven. Hence
the Psalmist, speaking of holy preachers, says : The
heavens show forth the glory of God (Ps. xviii. i). The
kingdom of heaven, therefore, is the Church of the just —
that is, of those whose hearts seek not for anything upon
earth, but who so sigh for the things that are above, that
God does already reign in them, as He reigns in heaven.
Let it, then, be said : The kingdom of heaven is likened to a
king, who made a marriage for his son. You understand,
beloved brethren, Who is this Royal Father of a Royal
Son. It is indeed He to Whom the Psalmist says : Give
to the King Thy judgment, O God, and to the King's son Thy
justice (Ps. Ixxi. 2) — Who made a marriage for His Son.
God the Father made a marriage for God the Son, when
NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 339
He wedded Him to the human nature in the womb of the
Virgin, when He willed that He, Who is God before all
ages, should become Man in the end of the ages.
II. The union of two persons forms the marriage union ;
but God forbid that we should imagine that the one
Person of our Redeemer Jesus Christ, Who is both God
and Man, is formed by the union of a human person
with a Divine Person. We profess that He is of and in
two natures ; but we shrink from the blasphemy of say
ing that in Him there are two persons. It will be clearer
and safer to say that the marriage made by the Father
for His Royal Son, was the joining Him, through the
mystery of the Incarnation, to His mystic Bride, the
Holy Church, and that the womb of the Virgin Mother
was the bridal chamber in which this union took place.
Hence it is that the Psalmist says : He hath set His
tabernacle in the sun, and He as a bridegroom coming out of His
bride-chamber (Ps. xviii. 6). Indeed, the Divine Redeemer
came out of the purest womb of the Virgin, to unite
Himself with the Church chosen by Him as His Bride.
He sent out His servants to call His friends that were
invited to the marriage. He sent them out twice, to give
us to understand that the preachers of the great mystery
of the Incarnation of the Son of God were first the
prophets and after them the Apostles. The former an
nounced this great mystery in prophecies only, whilst
the latter preached to the nations announcing the same,
yet being now fulfilled. The proof that the first invited
refused to come to the marriage feast is contained in the
words addressed to the second : Behold, I have prepared my
dinner ; my beeves and failings are killed, and all things are
ready. Come ye to the marriage. No mention of this fact
was made in the first invitation ; but afterwards it was
said that the beeves and fatlings were killed, that every -
22 — 2
340 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
thing was ready. For when we refuse to hear the words
of God, He shows us by examples that, what we think
impossible, becomes easy, as soon as we understand that
others were able to do the things to which He invites us.
III. The invited guests neglected the invitation, accord
ing to the words of the Gospel, and went theiv ways, one to
his farm, and another to his merchandise. The one going to
his farm is a type of those persons entirely bent on this
world's business, whilst the other one represents those
who give themselves up to temporal gains and profits.
Now, since these two kinds of persons are intent on the
cares and goods of this world only, they give no thought
to the mystery of God made Man for the salvation of
man ; neither do they think of conforming their lives to the
life of Jesus. It is, therefore, on account of these worldly
goods and worldly interests that they refuse to come to
the marriage. But what is still worse, they not only
refuse to come, but despise the grace of God inviting
them ; for it is said : They laid hands on His servants, and,
having treated them contumeliously , put them to death.
IV. But when the King had heard of it, He was angry, and,
sending His armies, He destroyed those murderers, and burnt their
city. He strikes the persecutors, and destroys the mur
derers. He burns their city — that is, the bodies, in which
dwell these sinful souls, will be cast with them into the
everlasting fire. The armies, sent to destroy the mur
derers, are the Angels of God sent with His thunderbolts
to take revenge. For what are the hosts of Angels but the
armies of our eternal King ? Hence God is called the
Lord of Sabaoth, and Sabaoth means hosts — the Lord of
hosts (Isa. i. 9). The armies of God are composed of
the countless multitudes of Angels ordered by God to
execute the sentences pronounced against His enemies,
and to destroy them. Our fathers heard the Son of God
NINETEENTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 341
threatening the world with these terrible punishments,
and we, their children, have witnessed their fulfilment.
Where are now the cruel persecutors of so many holy
Martyrs ? Where are the proud princes who lifted up
their arrogant heads against God, and boasted of their
worldly glory ? By the death of the holy Martyrs the
Christian faith has been spread abroad throughout the
whole world ; whereas the remembrance even of their
persecutors has disappeared with their sudden death.
Behold the terrible effects of God's wrath, which is spoken
of in the parables of our Lord !
V. And the King, Who invites guests to the marriage
of His Son, will easily fill the places of those who refuse
to come. For should the word of God remain fruitless in
many, it will yet find docile and ready hearts making
good use of it. We read : Then he said to his servants :
The marriage indeed is ready, but they that were invited were
not worthy. Go ye, therefore, into the highways ; and as many
as you shall find, call to the marriage. And our Lord con
tinues in the parable : And his servants, going forth into the
ways, gathered together all they found, both bad and good, and
the marriage was filled with guests. In these different kinds
of persons brought to the marriage is seen an image of
the Church, including both good and bad Christians.
Are you among the good ? then during all your life bear
generously the presence of the bad. Be not frightened
at the enormous number of the wicked, nor saddened by
the small number of the just ; for wide is the gate and broad
the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go
in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that
leadeth to life; and few there are that find it! (Matt. vii. 13, 14).
VI. The King, says the Gospel, went in to see the guests, and
he saw there a man who had not on a wedding garment. What
is the meaning of this wedding garment ? It is charity.
342 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
He that came to the marriage without a wedding gar
ment had indeed the true faith, but he had not charity.
It was with the garment of love that the Son of God
came to celebrate the marriage union with His Bride,
the Church, and in this bond of love He continues to be
united with His elect. Thus St. John says : God so loved
the world, as to give His only begotten Son (John iii. 16). Our
Saviour, having come to us in love, indicates clearly
enough that the wedding garment, in which we are to
appear at His marriage-feast, is true charity. Those
among you, who believe and belong to the communion of
the Church, but have not charity, are in the marriage-hall
indeed, but are not covered with the wedding garment.
When you are invited to a wedding, beloved brethren, do
you not take off your everyday garments and put on your
best ? By this you intend to show the great interest you
take in the happiness and joy of the bride and bridegroom.
You dare not appear in garments by which you would
be despised by the other guests. Yet, it is God Who
invites you to His marriage feast, and you appear without
the garment of love. Heaven resounds with songs of
praise of the angelic choirs, when the elect are received
into their company ; but you, assisting by faith at their
festivities — you are not ashamed to appear without the
wedding garment of love, by which alone you find favour
with God and His Angels.
TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: John iv. 46-53. At that time: There was a
certain ruler, whose son was sick at Capharnaum. He,
having heard that Jesus was come from Judea into
Galilee, went to Him, and prayed Him to come down and
TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 343
heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Jesus
therefore said unto him : Unless you see signs and
wonders, you believe not. The ruler saith to Him : Lord,
come down before that my son die. Jesus saith to him :
Go thy way; thy son liveth. The man believed the word
which Jesus said to him, and went his way. And as he
was going down, his servants met him, and they brought
word, saying that his son lived. He asked, therefore, of
them the hour wherein he grew better. And they said to
him : Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.
The father, therefore, knew that it was at the same hour
that Jesus said to him : Thy son liveth ; and himself
believed and his whole house.
HOMILY BY POPE ST. GREGORY, PREACHED IN THE
CHURCH OF SS. NERECJS AND ACHILLES ON THEIR
FESTIVAL.
TWENTY-EIGHTH HOMILY ON THE GOSPELS.
I. The Gospel lesson which you have just heard, my
brethren, stands in need of no .explanation. However,
lest I should seem to pass it by in idle silence, I will say
a few words thereon, but that rather by way of exhorta
tion than of explanation. Indeed, there seems to me to
be but one point calling for explanation, namely, this :
When the ruler came to Jesus and besought Him to
come down and heal his son, how is it that he heard
Jesus say : Unless you see signs and wonders, you believe not ?
The very fact that the ruler came and asked Jesus to heal
his son is a proof that he believed. Had he not believed
Him to be a Saviour, he would not have asked Him to
save his son. Yet Jesus said : Unless you see signs and
wonders, you believe not. He had not seen any signs, yet
he believed. Now, think of his prayer, and you will
344 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
clearly understand wherein his faith was weak. He
prayed Him that He would come down and Heal his son. He
asked for the corporal presence of Him Who is spiritually
present everywhere. He did not believe enough in Jesus,
since he thought His bodily presence was required for
the healing of his son. Had his faith been perfect, he
would doubtless have known that God is everywhere.
His faith was, therefore, imperfect for attributing the
virtue of healing, not to Christ's Majesty, but to His
bodily presence. Thus, even while he was asking for his
son's health, his faith was hot yet sound. He believed
concerning Him, Whom he had come to ask, that He
was mighty enough to save, yet he thought that at that
very moment Jesus was absent from his son. But the
Lord, being asked to go, showed that He is there,
wherever He is called on ; and He gave health by a
single command, He Who by a single act of His will had
created all things.
II. What we are to consider in this case is the answer
given by Jesus, on another occasion, to the centurion
asking Him to heal his servant grievously tormented by
the palsy. According to the Evangelist, our Lord said :
/ will come and heal him (Matt. viii. 7). How is it that our
Lord, being asked by the ruler to come to his house and
heal his son, refused to go, whereas He promised the
centurion to go down and heal his servant, though He
had not been asked to come down and see that servant ?
The reason is that the Lord wished to put down our
pride, that sees and esteems in others their dignities and
riches, more than their nature, the image of God. Indeed,
when we consider man in the things without, like riches
and honours, we do not see what he is in himself, neither
do we know his real merit, when considering only his
body, that seems contemptible on account of its infirmities.
TWENTIETH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 345
Our Saviour judges differently. To give us to under
stand that whatsoever seems great in the eyes of the
world, is often low and contemptible, and whatsoever is
despicable in the estimation of the worldly-minded, is not
so before God, He goes to the servant of the centurion,
whilst refusing to visit the son of the ruler.
III. Indeed, should we be asked by a servant to go
down to him, our pride would tell us not to do such a
thing. To yield to his prayer would be to lower our
selves, to esteem our honour very little ; certainly such a
place as the dwelling of an humble menial does not
deserve this condescension. Yet there we see God
Himself coming down from heaven, and not despising to
go to a poor servant, whilst we, being nothing but living
dust, feel great difficulty in humbling ourselves. We
are the more to be despised, since, wishing to guard our
honour before the world, we fear not the eyes of that
Divine Majesty searching the thoughts and hearts of
men. Hence the Son of God said to the Pharisees : You
are they who justify yourselves before men ; but God knoweth
your hearts ; for that which is high before men, is an abomina
tion before God (Luke xvi. 15). Carefully consider those
words, beloved brethren. If it is true that the things
which seem great to men, are abominable before God,
then our conclusion will be that our thoughts are despised
by God, as much as they are esteemed by men. Humility
produces a different effect, since it makes us the greater
before God, the less we are considered by men. Now let
us look at our doings ; let not even our most praise
worthy undertakings flatter our pride ; neither let our
vanity be tickled by honours and riches. For if we are
puffed up by our possessions, whatsoever they may be, we
shall be despised by God. Speaking of the humble,
the Psalmist says : The Lord is the keeper of little ones
346 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
(Ps. cxiv. 6). The little ones are the humble. And,
speaking of his own experience, he adds : / was humbled,
and He delivered me (ibid.).
IV. Now, consider these truths well, beloved brethren,
and carefully ponder on them. When honouring your
brethren, look not so much at their perishable riches, as
at the fact that men are the image and likeness of God,
their Creator. Honour them for the sake of God. Yet
this will not be possible, as long as your proud thoughts
are not banished from your hearts. He that esteems
himself on account of passing things cannot honour
another for his durable goods. Consider as nothing what
you have, but think of what you are, for the world you
love will one day perish. The Saints, before whose tomb
we are now standing, despised the flowers brought forth
by the world, and trampled upon them. A long life,
good health, a prosperous state, a numerous posterity,
tranquillity in continual peace, were flowers at which their
hearts did not rejoice ; they blossomed in the world, but
in their own hearts they were withered. Like a tree
drying up before our eyes, the world is getting weaker
and darker, yet it is still blossoming in our hearts and
minds. Everywhere there is death, everywhere mourning,
everywhere desolation ! We are struck from all sides ;
we are filled with bitterness ; nevertheless, with lament
able blindness, we desire and love the bitter fruits of
carnal concupiscence. The world flies away, and we run
after it ; it is shaken under our feet, and we cling to it ;
and since we cannot prevent its fall, we still take hold of
it, and are thrown into the same abyss. At the beginning
we were attracted by the deceitful world ; now, seeing
it is so full of scourges and misery, we ought to be
brought back to God by this very world. Reflect upon
all this, and know that the things disappearing in time
TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 347
are to be considered as nothing. By the fall of all the
things once existing in the world, we understand that
they were but a shadow now vanished, for they are
destroyed. The ruins of those splendid monuments, which
once were thought of as defying all future times, clearly
tell us that nothing is durable in this world. These are
subjects worthy of your meditations ; such thoughts will
encourage you to have only contempt for worldly great
ness, and to desire what is eternal. They will also help
you to obtain that eternal glory revealed to you by faith
through the grace of Jesus Christ our Lord, Who, with the
Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth one God,
world without end. Amen.
TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER
PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Matt, xviii. 23-35. At that time: Jesus spoke
to His disciples this parable : The kingdom of heaven is
likened to a king, who would take an account of his
servants. And when he had begun to take the account,
one was brought to him that owed him ten thousand
talents. And as he had not wherewith to pay it, his lord
commanded that he should be sold, and his wife and
children and all that he had, and payment to be made.
But that servant, falling down, besought him, saying :
Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And
the lord of that servant, being moved with pity, let him
go, and forgave him the debt. But when that servant
was gone out, he found one of his fellow-servants that
owed him a hundred pence ; and, laying hold of him, he
throttled him, saying : Pay what thou owest. And his
fellow-servant, falling down, besought him, saying :
Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all. And
348 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
he would not ; but went and cast him into prison, till he
paid the debt. Now, his fellow-servants, seeing what was
done, were very much grieved, and they came and told
their lord all that was done. Then his lord called him,
and said to him : Thou wicked servant, I forgave thee
all the- debt, because thou besoughtest me ; shouldst not
thou, then, have had compassion also on thy fellow-
servant, even as I had compassion on thee ? And his
lord, being angry, delivered him to the torturers until he
paid all the debt. So also shall My heavenly Father do
to you, if you forgive not every one his brother from your
heart.
HOMILY BY ST. JEROME, PRIEST.
COMMENT. ON MATTHEW XVIIL, BOOK in.
I. It is a usual way with the Syrians, and especially
with the inhabitants of Palestine, to illustrate their dis
courses with parables, so that what the hearers may not
be able to understand so easily when spoken plainly,
they may catch by the means of comparisons and
example. Thus our Lord made use of a parable to teach
St. Peter. By an allegory about a king, a master, and
a servant who owed him ten thousand talents, and who,
entreating, obtained forgiveness of his debt, He taught
His Apostle how it was his duty to forgive his fellow-
servants their comparatively small offences, Indeed, if
that royal master so readily forgave his servant the debt
of ten thousand talents, should not his servants much
more readily forgive smaller debts to their fellow-
servants ?
II. In order to put this more clearly, let us take an
example : If one of us were to commit adultery, or
murder, or sacrilege, such sins, great as a debt of ten
TWENTY-FIRST SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 349
thousand talents, would be forgiven to us in answer to
prayer, if we also from our heart forgive our brethren
their offences against us. But if wre refuse to forgive a
slight, and keep up a continual enmity on account of an
unkind word, does it not appear just, indeed, that we
should be cast into prison, and, by the example of our
own actions, be shown that our debt is not forgiven
to us ?
III. And our Lord adds: So also shall My heavenly
Father do to you , if you forgive not every one his brother from
your heart. What an awful sentence ! Yet God's pur
pose may be turned and changed. But if we will not
forgive our brethren small things, God will not forgive
us great things. And if we forgive them, it must be from
our heart. Someone may say : I have nothing against
such a one ; he knows what he has done, and God will
judge him for it ; I do not care what he is doing ; I have
forgiven him. But the Lord's sentence is clear, and He
destroys such simulation of feigned peace, when He says :
So also shall My heavenly Father do to you, if you forgive not
every one his brother from your heart.
TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER
PENTECOST.
GOSPEL : Matt. xxii. 15-21. At that time : The Pharisees,
going, consulted among themselves how to ensnare Jesus
in His speech. And they sent to Him their disciples,
with the Herodians, saying : Master, we know that Thou
art a true speaker, and teachest the way of God in truth,
neither carest Thou for any man ; for Thou dost not
regard the person of man. Tell us, therefore, what dost
Thou think, is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not ?
But Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said : Why do you
35° SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
tempt Me, ye hypocrites ? Show Me the coin of the
tribute. And they offered Him a penny. And Jesus
saith to them : Whose image and inscription is this ?
They say to Him : Caesar's. Then He saith to them :
Render, therefore, to Caesar the things that are Caesar's,
and to God the things that are God's.
HOMILY BY ST. HILARY, BISHOP.
COMMENT. ON MATTHEW, CAN. 23.
I. Oftentimes the Pharisees had been put to confusion,
and could not find any cause to accuse Him of anything
that He had hitherto said or done. Though His words
and actions were faultless, these men, still from spite, set
themselves to seek in every direction for some cause to
accuse Him. They knew that He was calling all to turn
away from the corruption of the world and the super
stitious practices of devotion invented by men, and to fix
their thoughts and hopes upon His kingdom of heaven.
Therefore the Pharisees arranged a question calculated
to entrap Him into an offence against the civil govern
ment, namely : Is it lawful to give tribute to Ccesar or not ?
But since there is nothing in the heart of man that God
does not see, Jesus, knowing their wickedness, said : Why do
you tempt Me, ye hypocrites ? Shoiv Me the coin of the tribute.
A nd they offered Him a penny. A nd Jesus said to them :
Whose image and. inscription is this ? They said to Him :
Cesar's. Then He saith to them : Render, therefore, to Cczsav
the things that are Cesar's, and to God the things that are
God's.
II. How wonderful this answer, and how perfect the
fulfilment of the prescribed Divine Law ! So beautifully
does He here indicate the middle way between not caring
for the things of the world, on the one hand, and the
TWENTY-SECOND SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 351
offence of injuring Caesar, on the other, that He proves
the perfect freedom of minds, however devoted to God, to
discharge all human duties by commanding them to
render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. If we
possess nothing that is Caesar's, we are not bound to
render anything to him ; but since we are concerned with
the things which are his, since we make justly use of his
power, and are subject to him as paid servants to take
care of property not our own, we cannot question our
duty to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's.
But all of us are always bound to render to God the
things that are God's — that is, our body, our soul, and
our will. These things we hold from Him, for He is our
Creator. It is, therefore, just and meet that those who
acknowledge that they owe to Him their being, life, and
preservation, should render to Him all that they are and
have.
TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER
PENTECOST.
GOSPEL: Matt. ix. 18-26. At that time: As Jesus was
speaking to the multitude, behold a certain ruler came
up and adored Him, saying : Lord, my daughter is even
now dead; but come, lay Thy hand upon her, and she
will live. And Jesus, rising up, followed him with His
disciples. And behold a woman who was troubled with
an issue of blood twelve years, came behind Him, and
touched the hem of His garment. For she said within
herself: If I shall touch only His garment, I shall be
healed. But Jesus, turning and seeing her, said : Be of
good heart, daughter ; thy faith hath made thee whole.
And the woman was made whole from that hour. And
when Jesus was come into the house of the ruler, and
352 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
saw the minstrels and the multitude making a rout, He
said : Give place, for the girl is not dead, but sleepeth.
And they laughed Him to scorn. And when the multi
tude was put forth, He went in, and took her by the hand.
And the maid arose. And the fame hereof went abroad
into all the country.
HOMILY BY ST. JEROME, PRIEST.
COMMENT. ON MATTHEW ix., BOOK i., CHAP. ix.
I. This is the eighth miracle wrought by Jesus, when
a certain ruler, desiring not to be kept out of the true
circumcision, besought Him to recall his daughter to life.
The ceremony of circumcision, which usually took place
on the eighth day after the birth, seems to be indicated
by this miracle. Jairus, the ruler of the synagogue, cer
tainly deserved the preference ; but a woman, diseased
with an issue of blood, thrust herself in, and her own cure
occupies the eighth place, so that the resurrection of the
ruler's daughter is postponed, and made the ninth in the
enumeration. Indeed, it seems that by this case our
Saviour wished to call our attention to the vocation of
the Gentiles; for we read in the Psalms: Ambassadors
shall come out of Egypt ; Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her
hands to God (Ps. Ixvii. 32). A great mystery, spoken of
by the Apostle, saying : Blindness in part has happened to
Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles should come in. And so
all Israel should be saved, as it is written : There shall come
out of Sion He that shall deliver, and shall turn away ungodli
ness from Jacob (Rom. xi. 25, 26).
II. And behold a woman who was troubled with an issue of
blood twelve years, came behind Him, 'and touched the hem of His
garment. Now, compare these two miracles in this
Gospel: the first, a woman troubled with her disease
TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 353
for twelve years ; the second, the resurrection of the
daughter of Jairus who, according to St. Luke (viii. 42),
was twelve years old ; and you will come to the con
clusion that the woman, a type of the Gentiles, had
been diseased for the same time that the Jewish nation,
typified by the ruler's daughter, had been living in
faith. It is only by comparing good with evil — that
is, idolatry — that we see the hideousness of the latter.
Note also that this woman with the issue of "blood
came to our Lord, not in a house nor in a city, for
such as she were by the law banished out of cities
(Lev. xv. 25), but in the way, as He walked. Thus our
Lord healed one even whilst He was on the road to heal
another. Whence the Apostles said : To you it behoved
us first to speak the word of God ; hit because you reject it,
and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold we turn
to the Gentiles. For so the Lord has commanded us : I
have set thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayest
be for salvation unto the utmost parts of the earth (Acts xiii.
46, 47).
III. According to the Law, whosoever touched a woman
with an issue of blood was declared unclean. Here, how
ever, we see a woman touch Jesus to be cured of that
issue by which she seemed to be unclean. Be of good
heart, daughter, said Jesus ; thy faith hath made thee whole.
Our Saviour calls her daughter, and justly, on account of
her faith, by which she was cured. Note, again, our
Lord did not say to the woman that her faith would
make her whole — that is, clean — but thy faith hath made
thee whole. It was to give her to understand that, as soon
as she believed, she was cured. And when Jesus was come
into the house of the ruler, and saw the minstrels and the multi
tude making a rout, He said. The deceased daughter of
Jairus was the type of the Jewish nation, even now, after
23
354 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
so many years, in a state of death. The Rabbis,
entrusted with the instruction of that nation, may be
compared to the minstrels playing a mournful and use
less tune. The Jews, as we know, are only a noisy
society of infidels, not of believers ; and when Jesus said,
Give place, for the girl is not dead, but sleepeth, He wished to
teach us that every being, under the dominion of the
living God, is alive. And when the multitude was put forth,
Pie went in. Indeed, these people, laughing to scorn the
One Who had power to give life, were not worthy to assist
at the miraculous resurrection of this maiden.
IV. Finally, consider the last point of likeness between
the Jewish nation and the ruler's daughter who, being
dead, received life. He took her by the hand. And the maid
arose. And the fame thereof went abroad into all the country.
The synagogue, typified by this daughter, is dead ; for
her sinful hands are covered with the blood shed by the
Jews. To rise from that death her stained hands must
be washed in the same innocent Blood of Jesus Christ,
the Author of all life.
TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTE
COST.
GOSPEL: Matt. xxiv. 15-35. At that time: Jesus said
to His disciples : When you shall see the abomina
tion of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the
Prophet, standing in the holy place : he that readeth let
him understand. Then they that are in Judea, let them
flee to the mountains ; and he that is on the house-top,
let him not come down to take anything out of the house ;
and he that is in the field, let him not go back to take his
coat. And woe to them that are with child, and that give
suck in those days. But pray that your flight be not in
TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 355
the winter, nor on the Sabbath. For there shall be
then great tribulation, such as hath not been from the
beginning of the world until now, neither shall be. And
unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should be
saved : but for the sake of the elect, those days shall be
shortened. Then if any man shall say unto you : Lo !
here is Christ, or there, do not believe him. For there
shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall
show great signs and wonders, insomuch as to deceive
(if possible) even the elect. Behold I have told it to
you, beforehand. If therefore they shall say to you :
Behold he is in the desert, go ye not out : Behold he is
in the closets, believe it not. For as lightning cometh
out of the east, and appeareth even unto the west : so
shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. Whereso
ever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be
gathered together. And immediately after the tribulation
of those days, the sun shall be darkened, and the moon
shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from
heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be moved ; and
there shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven ;
and then shall all tribes of the earth mourn ; and they
shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven
with much power and majesty. And He shall send His
Angels with a trumpet and a great voice ; and they shall
gather together His elect from the four winds, from the
farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds of
them. And from the fig-tree learn a parable : when the
branch thereof is now tender, and the leaves come forth,
you know that summer is nigh. So you also, when you
shall see all these things, know ye that it is nigh, even at
the doors. Amen, I say to you, that this generation
shall not pass, till these things be done. Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.
23—2
356 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
HOMILY BY ST. JEROME, PRIEST.
COMMENT. ON MATTHEW xxiv., BOOK iv.
I. When the meaning of the words of Holy Scripture
is not quite clear, it is a sign that there is something
mysterious in them. In Daniel, the prophet, we read as
follows : A nd in the half of the week the victim and the sacri
fice shall fail : and there shall be in the temple the abomination
of desolation : and the desolation shall continue even to the con
summation, and to the end (Dan. ix. 27). It is of the same
thing that the Apostle speaks, saying : The man of sin is
revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth, and is lifted up
above all that is called God, or that is worshipped, so that he
sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God,
whose coming is according to the working of Satan, in all power,
and signs, and lying wonders, and in all seduction of iniquity
(2 Thess. ii. 3-9). This prophecy may be understood
simply of the Antichrist, or of the statue of Caesar, set
up by Pilate in the temple, or also of the statue of the
Emperor Hadrian on horseback, which has been stand
ing, even until our own time, upon the site of the Holy
of Holies. In the Old Testament the word abomination is
very often used for an idol, and the other title, desolation,
is added to indicate an idol erected upon the site of the
desolate and ruined temple.
II. Then they that are in Judea, let them flee to the moun
tains ; and he that is on the hoiise-top, let him not come down to
take anything out of the house ; and he that is in the field, let
him not go back to take his coat. We may also understand
by the abomination of desolation any perverse doctrine,
and when we see such a thing as standing in the holy
place_that is, in the Church of God— and showing itself
that it is God — that is, pretending that it is His revealed
TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 357
truth — then will be the time when we must flee from
Judea into the mountains — that is, to leave the letter
that passes away and all appearance of Jewish supersti
tion, and to hasten to the everlasting hills, from whence
God does wondrously cause His light to shine forth
(Ps. Ixxv. 5). Then it will be our duty to find ourselves
under a roof and in a house, wherethrough the darts of the
devil can never pierce to strike us, and not to come down
to take anything out of the house of our old conversation,
or to have regard to those things which are behind us.
But rather to sow in the field of the spiritual Scriptures,
that we may reap therefrom a plentiful harvest ; neither
to have two coats, a thing forbidden to the Apostles
(Matt. x. 10). And woe to them that are with child, and give
suck in these days. Woe to those souls that have not
brought forth the fruits of virtue which make the perfect
Christian ; or woe to those weak souls, still standing in
the beginning of faith, wanting the spiritual food, and
who, through that want, are in this abomination of
desolation. The words may also be explained in this
way, that, when the conquered city of Rome will be the
prey of tyrants, or when the persecution of the Antichrist
arises, then the comfortless mothers will not know how
to save themselves, because of their being with child or
giving suck. But pray that your flight be not in the winter,
nor on the Sabbath. These words refer either to the
taking of the city of Jerusalem, under the Emperors
Titus and Vespasian, or to the general destruction of the
whole world. Were we to understand them as meaning
the destruction of Jerusalem, then we should say that
it will be a great misfortune to the Jews to flee from the
city either in the winter or on the Sabbath. For, in the
first case the excessive cold, prevailing in the deserts
and mountains, would prevent the fugitives from finding
358 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
shelter therein ; whereas in the second case the Jews
were forbidden by the Law to travel on the Sabbath,
therefore certain destruction awaited those who remained
in the city. Should we understand these words as mean
ing the end of the world, then we infer that by the winter
our Lord meant the coldness of both our faith in, and
our love for, Him ; and that by the word « Sabbath ' He
wished to urge us on not to remain idle in God's service,
but continually to make progress in virtue and perfec
tion.
III. And unless those days had been shortened, no flesh should
be saved; but for the sake of the elect, those days shall be
shortened. Let us not believe, as some pretended, probably
when in a state of insanity, that the different parts of time
shall then be changed. Those sharing such opinion,
forget the words of Holy Scripture : By Thy ordinance
the day goes on (Ps. cxviii. 91). There is no question here
about the measure of the time, which remains unalterable,
but about the number of the days that is to be shortened.
For, as in giving His blessing, God says : / will Jill him
with length of days (Ps. xc. 16), so also will these days
be shortened, lest by their great number the faith of the
elect would be shaken. And Jesus added : Then if any
man shall say unto you : Lo ! here is Christ, or there, do not
believe him. These words may perhaps mean what we
know about the events that happened at the time of the
Jewish captivity, when many princes of that people called
themselves Christ ; for when Jerusalem was besieged by
the Romans, there were three parties in the city, each
claiming to be the rightful heir to the old kingdom.
However, it will be safer to say that by these words is
meant the end of the world. For there shall arise false
Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs, and
wonders, insomuch as to deceive (if possible) even the elect.
TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 359
Behold I have told it to you, beforehand. As I said before, this
may refer to three different events, namely, to the siege
of Jerusalem by the Romans, or to the end of the world,
or also to the stormy assaults, of heretics against the true
Church, for these are the Antichrists waging war against
Christ, under the exterior appearance of seducting and
deceiving science. // therefore they shall say to you : Behold
he is in the desert, go ye not out ; Behold he is in the closets,
believe it not. By the word desert we understand the sects
of philosophers and the false religion of the pagans, who
vainly boast of announcing the truth through their
mythical doctrines. The closets, or secret chambers,
mean the assemblies of the heretics trying to make us
believe that they alone are capable of thoroughly search
ing and explaining the Divine mysteries. Do not believe
them, neither go out to them. It is specially in times of
persecutions and distress that false prophets make their
appearance, and try to deceive us. We hear, therefore,
our Lord warning us not to listen to them. For as
lightning cometh out of the east, and appeareth even unto the
west : so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. He
means to say, do not believe that the Son of Man is in
the desert of the pagans, or in the secret chambers of the
heretics ; for the faith of the Catholic Church is shining
from the east to the west, and she alone can show to the
world Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Again, consider that
the second coming of Christ will not be like His first, in
humility, but in glory and majesty. It would, therefore,
be a thoughtless act to search for Him in the darkness
and the corners of the earth, since by His splendour and
glory He will be then the astonishment of the whole
world.
IV. Wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also
be gathered together. This is a natural fact, seen every
360 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
day ; yet, however common it may seem, in it appears
the image of Jesus Christ. Birds of prey — that is, eagles
and vultures — are said to be sensible of the smell of
corpses even across the seas, and to fly in crowds
together in order to devour them. If irrational birds, by
their natural instinct, discover a far-off corpse, shall not
reasonable beings and Christians, having the true faith,
so much the more run to Him, Whose lightning cometh out
of the east, and appeareth even unto the west ? The word corpse,
or dead body, reminds us also of the Passion of Jesus
Christ. Indeed, we may say that, when we read the
Scriptures, in which the Passion of our Lord is clearly
spoken of, we are, so to speak, gathered around the Body
of Christ, and that, meditating on that Body crucified for
us, we are attracted by the Word of God. The truths of
the Passion and Death of the Son of God are described in
all their details in the Holy Scriptures, for they say of our
Saviour: They have dug My hands and feet (Ps. xxi. 17).
Isaias also says : He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter
(Isa. liii. 7). Other passages of Holy Scripture are as
clear as those. The eagles represent the just who, like
the eagles, renew their years ; and who, according to
Isaias, are covered with feathers, and take wings to fly to
Christ and meditate on His Passion.
V. And immediately after the tribulation of those days, the
sun shall be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and
the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens
shall be moved. When hearing these words, let us not think
that the sun shall then lose its rays, for it is said : The
light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light
of the sun shall be sevenfold (Isa. xxx. 26). But we learn
thereby that the light of the sun and the stars will then
seem like darkness in comparison with the brilliant light
of the Son of God. It follows that, when even the sun
TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY AFTER PENTECOST 361
now shining in the firmament, when the moon, taking the
second place among the luminaries, when the stars, now
like lighted lamps in the night, when the powers of the
heavens — the multitude of Angels — will seem like shadows
or darkness at the coming of Christ, it follows that man,
'now thinking himself pure enough not to be afraid of the
terrible Judge, is grossly deceiving himself. And there shall
appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. This sign is the
Cross, at the sight of which the Jews shall be filled with
astonishment, according to Zachery xxii. and John xix.
We may also understand by this sign the victories won
by Jesus over His enemies. And then shall all tribes of the
earth mourn ; and they shall see the Son of Man coming in the
clouds of heaven with much power and majesty. These words
do not refer to the elect, the inhabitants of heaven, but
to the wicked, called the children of the earth, since they
chose it for their inheritance. They shall not be in the
company of the elect, whom the Angels with a trumpet shall
gather together from the four winds. Meanwhile, heaven and
earth shall pass away, says Jesus, but My words shall not pass
away. Namely, the form of heaven and earth shall be
changed, but not destroyed ; for how could we under
stand the words about the sun being darkened, the moon
not giving her light, and the stars falling down, were
heaven and earth no longer in existence at the time of
these astounding events ?
FEAST OF SS. PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES.
GOSPEL: Matt. xvi. 13-19. At that time: Jesus came
into the quarters of Cesarea Philippi, and He asked His
disciples, saying : Whom do men say that the Son of
Man is ? But they said : Some, John the Baptist, and
362 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
other some, Elias, and others, Jeremias, or one of the
prophets. Jesus saith to them : But whom do you say
that I am ? Simon Peter answered and said : Thou art
Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus, answering,
said to him : Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-Jona: because
flesh and blood hath not revealed it to thee, but My
Father, Who is in heaven. And I say to thee : That thou
art Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And
I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
And whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be
bound also in heaven : and whatsoever thou shalt loose
on earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.
HOMILY BY ST. JEROME, PRIEST.
COMMENT. ON MATTHEW xvi., BOOK in.
I. How wonderful the question addressed by our Lord
to His disciples : Whom do men say that the Son of Man is P
For those who speak of Him as the Son of Man are men ;
while those who know Him as God are called not men,
but gods. But they said : Some, John the Baptist, and other
some, Elias, and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets. I
wonder why some interpreters of the Holy Writ have
thought it worth their while to search into the origin of
each of these errors, and to engage in a lengthy dis
cussion as to why some thought that our Lord Jesus
Christ was John the Baptist, other some, Elias, and others,
Jeremias, or one of the prophets. Their mistakes about Elias
and Jeremias were like that of Herod concerning John
the Baptist. It is John the Baptist, whom I beheaded ; he is
risen again from the dead, and therefore mighty works show
forth themselves in him (Mark vi. 14, 16).
II. Jesus saith to them : But whom do you say that I am P
FEAST OF SS. PETER AND PAUL, APOSTLES 363
Intelligent reader, notice from the context, that there is a
distinction drawn between the Apostles and mere men ;
they are called gods. Whom do men say that the Son of Man
is P asked the Lord ; but, on the other hand : Whom do
you say that I am ? They, being but men, only think of
human things ; but you, whom I call gods, whom are you
convinced that I am ? Then Peter, in the name of all the
Apostles, pronounced these words : Thou art Christ, the Son
of the living God. He called Him living God, to mark the
difference between Him and all those gods adored by the
pagans : Saturnus, Jupiter, Minerva, Bacchus, Hercules,
and all other pagan gods, who are indeed dead.
III. And Jesus, answering, said to him: Blessed art thou,
Simon Bar-Jona : because flesh and blood hath not revealed it to
thee, but My Father Who is in heaven. The Apostle, having
given testimony to the Lord, the Lord in turn gave
testimony to the Apostle. Peter said : Thou art Christ,
the Son of the living God, and he received as a reward for
his testimony to the truth these words : Blessed art thou,
Simon Bar-Jona. Why blessed P Because flesh and blood hath
not revealed it to thee, but My Father. What flesh and
blood could not reveal, was revealed by the grace of the
Holy Ghost. This name was given him on account of
his confession, as the name of one who has revelation from
the Holy Ghost, whose son he is called. Bar-Jona in our
tongue means the son of the dove, the symbol of the Holy
Ghost. We may also compare these words : Flesh and
blood hath not revealed it to thee with those of the Apostle,
saying : When He called me by His grace to reveal His Son in
me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, immediately I
condescended not to flesh and blood (Gal. i. 15, 16). By the
words flesh and blood the Jews are here meant by the
Apostle, thus indicating, though under other circum
stances, that not by the doctrine of the Pharisees, but by
364 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
the grace of God, it was revealed to men that Jesus Christ
is indeed the Son of God.
IV. And I say to thee : That thon art Peter, and upon this
rock I will build My Church. And by these words our
Lord seems to say : Thou hast confessed Me to be the
Son of God, and I confess, not in words only without any
meaning, but in deed, that thou art Peter — a rock — and
that upon this rock I will build My Church. The
Divine light was given by Jesus to the Apostles, called
the light of the world (Matt. v. 14), and to each of them
was given a special name. But Simon was called Peter,
because he firmly believed in Jesus Christ, the true
Rock. This rock is alluded to when Jesus said to the
Prince of the Apostles : Upon this rock I will build My
Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I
believe that by these words, ' the gates of hell,' not only
the sins and vices of men are to be understood, but
especially the doctrines of heretics and apostates, by
which men are deceived and cast into hell. Let no
one imagine that by the words ' gates of hell ' our Lord
meant a temporal death, from which the Apostles were
to be preserved ; for we know that all of them suffered a
glorious martyrdom.
V. And I will give to thee the keys of the kingdom of
heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be
bound also in heaven ; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth,
it shall be loosed also in heaven. Bishops and priests, not
understanding the meaning of these words, could perhaps
in pharisaical pride imagine that power was given to
them arbitrarily to condemn the innocent, and to absolve
the guilty ; just as if God did not regard the disposition
of the sinner, before pardoning or condemning him, more
than the sentence of the priest. We read in the Book
Leviticus (chap, xiv.) that the lepers were to show them-
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 365
selves to the priest, who declared them to be unclean if
infected with leprosy. However, they were not made
unclean by the priest, whose office it was to judge of
leprosy, and declare some clean and others unclean.
What was done in the Old Testament about lepers
happens now, when the Bishop or the priest, after exam
ining the stains of sins, is able by his office and power to
declare who are those to be bound and those to be loosed.
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED
VIRGIN MARY.
GOSPEL: Luke x. 38-42. At that time: Jesus entered
into a certain town, and a certain woman, named Martha,
received Him into her house. And she had a sister
called Mary, who, sitting also at the Lord's feet, heard
His word. But Martha was busy about much serving,
who stood and said : Lord, hast Thou no care that my
sister hath left me alone to serve ? speak to her, there
fore, that she help me. And the Lord, answering, said
to her : Martha, Martha, thou art careful, and art
troubled about many things. But one thing is necessary.
Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not be taken
away from her.
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP,
TWENTY-SEVENTH HOMILY ON THE WORDS OF THE LORD.
I. When the Holy Gospel was read out, we heard
that our Lord was received by a pious woman into her
house, and the woman's name was Martha. And while
she was busy about much serving, her sister Mary was
sitting at the Lord's feet, hearing His words. The one
worked, the other was idle ; the one was ministering, the
other was being filled. However, Martha, though work-
366 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
ing hard in that occupation and bustle of serving,
appealed to the Lord, and made complaint of her sister,
because she did not help her in her work. But the Lord
answered Martha for Mary, and He Who had been
appealed to, to be her Judge, became her Advocate :
And the Lord, answering, said to her : Martha, Martha, thou
art careful, and art troubled about many things. But one thing
is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best part, which shall not
be taken away from her. We have heard both the appeal
of the complainant and the sentence of the Judge — sen
tence which replied to the appellant and defended the
cause of the other whom the Lord had received. Mary
was wrapped up in the sweetness of the Lord's word.
Martha was intent how she might feed the Lord, and
Mary was intent how to be fed by the Lord. By Martha
a banquet was being prepared for the Lord, at Whose
banquet Mary was already delighting herself. And as
Mary was listening in peace and delight to His most
sweet words, when Martha came and complained of her
to the Lord, how do we imagine that she feared, lest the
Lord should say to her: Arise, and help thy sister.
For she was held by a wondrous sweetness, the relish
of which is felt more by the mind than the belly. She
was excused, and she sat all the safer. But on what
ground was she excused ? Let us consider, examine
and investigate it thoroughly, as far as we can, that we
also may be fed.
II. What then ? For what do we imagine that
Martha's serving was blamed, she who was busy with
the cares of hospitality, and who had received the Lord
into her house ? How could she be blamed, whose heart
was gladdened by so great a Guest ? If this be true, then
let men give up their service to the poor ; let them choose
for themselves the best fart, which jhall not be taken away
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 367
from them ; let them give themselves entirely to the word,
and long after the sweetness of doctrine ; let them be
occupied about the salvation-giving knowledge ; let there
be no care in them to find out what stranger is in the
street, or whether there be one who wants bread, or
clothing, or to be visited, to be redeemed, or to be
buried ; let works of mercy cease, an'd attention given
only to knowledge. If this be the best part, why do not
all men do so, since we have the Lord Himself as our
Advocate in this case ? We do not fear in this matter to
offend His justice, since we have the support of His
sentence.
III. And yet it is not so ; but as the Lord said, so it
is. It is not as you understand, but it is as you ought to
understand it. Mark, then : Thou art troubled about many
things ; but one thing is necessary. Mary hath chosen the best
part. Thou hast not chosen a bad part, but she a better
one. And how better ? Because thou art about many
things, she about one thing. One is preferred to many ;
for one does not come from many, but many from one.
Many are the things that were made ; He Who made
them is One. Heaven and earth, the sea, and all things
in them, how many are they ? Who can number them ?
Who can conceive their multitude ? Who made them ?
God made them all, and they are very good (Gen. i. 31).
And how much better is He Who made them ? Let us
consider our occupations about many things. Much work
is required for refreshing our bodies. How is this ?
Because we hunger and thirst. Mercy is necessary for
the wretched. You break bread to the hungry, for you
have found a hungry man. Take hunger away, to whom
do you break bread ? Take homeless travellers away,
to whom do you offer hospitality ? Take nakedness
away, whom will you cover with clothes ? Let there be
368 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
no sickness, whom do you visit ? No captivity, whom
will you redeem ? No quarrelling, whom do you recon
cile ? No death, whom do you bury ? In the future
world these evils will not exist, therefore these works of
mercy will not be required. Martha did well to serve
the Lord's mortal body in those things which concerned,
shall I say, His bodily want or His bodily will. But
Who was within that mortal flesh ? In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God (John i. i). See what Mary was listening to!
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. See
Whom Martha was serving ! Therefore Mary hath
chosen the best part, which shall not be taken away from her.
For she has chosen what shall abide for ever and ever,
and it shall not be taken away from her. Mary was
careful about one thing only, and she held to the belief of
the psalmist, saying : It is good for me to adhere to my God
(Ps. Ixxii. 28). She sat at the feet of our Head. The
more lowly she sat, the more fully she received. Water,
that runs down from the summits of the hills, flows to the
lowest depths of the valleys. The Lord did not blame
Martha's work, but distinguished between the service of
the two sisters. Thou art troubled about many things ; but
one thing is necessary. Mary has already chosen that one
thing for herself. The labour of manifold things passes
away, and the love of one thing abides ; therefore what
she has chosen shall not be taken away from her. But what
thou hast chosen, O Martha (it follows, of course, and
must be understood) — what thou hast chosen shall be
taken away from thee. But it shall be taken away from
thee for thy good, so that what is best may be given to
thee. Labour shall be taken away from thee, that rest
may be given to thee. Thou art still on the sea ; Mary
is already in port.
THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY 369
IV. You see, then, beloved brethren, and, as I suppose,
you understand already, that in these two women, who were
both well pleasing to the Lord, both lovely, both disciples,
you see, I say, and whosoever you be who understand, you
understand something great, which you also, who do not
understand, ought to hear and know, that in those two
women two lives are figured, the present life and the life
to come, the life of labour and the life of rest, the life
of sorrow and the life of blessedness, the temporal life
and the eternal life. There are two lives ; think more
fully about them. Whatsoever this life contains, I speak
not of a life of evil, of wickedness, of crime, of unclean -
ness, or of ungodliness ; but of labour and full of troubles,
chastened by fears, and tried by temptations, even such
guileless life I mean, as was suitable for Martha ; such
a life examine as well as you can, and, as I said, think
more about it than I speak. There was no wicked life
in that house, neither with Martha nor with Mary. If it
ever had been, it fled when the Lord made His entrance.
In that house, therefore, which received the Lord, there
remained in the two women two lives, both guileless,
both praiseworthy, the one of labour, the other of ease ;
neither vicious, neither slothful, both harmless — both, I
say, -praiseworthy, but one of labour, and one of rest.
Neither vicious, of which the life of labour must beware ;
neither slothful, which the life of rest has also to beware
of. There were in that house those two lives, and He
Himself the Fountain of life. In Martha was the image
of the present things ; in Mary of future things. What
Martha was doing is what we do now ; what Mary was
doing is what we hope for. Let us do the first well, that
the second may be granted to us fully. What of this
have we now, and how far is it ours ? As long as we are
in this world, how much of that life have we ? In some
24
370 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
measure we are employed in it now ; for when removed
from business, and laying aside domestic cares, you meet
together, you stand and listen ; and, in so far as you do
this, you are like Mary at the feet of Jesus. And you do
what Mary did with greater facility than I who have to
distribute to you. Yet if I speak anything to you, it is
Christ's ; therefore you are fed by my words, for they
are Christ's. The Bread, of which I live as well as you,
is common to us all. Now we live, if we stand in the Lord
(i Thess. iii. 8) — not in us, but stand in the Lord. For
neither he that planteth is anything, nor he that watereth ; but
God that giveth the increase (i Cor. iii. 7).
THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS.
GOSPEL : Matt. v. 1-12. At that time : Jesus, seeing the
multitudes, went up into a mountain, and when He was
sat down, His disciples came unto Him. And opening
His mouth, He taught them, saying : Blessed are the
poor in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are the meek : for they shall possess the land.
Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be comforted.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice : for
they shall have their fill. Blessed are the merciful : for
they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the clean of heart :
for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers :
for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed
are they that suffer persecution for justice sake : for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye when
they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all
that is evil against you, untruly, for My sake ; be glad
and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven.
THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS 371
HOMILY BY ST. AUGUSTINE, BISHOP.
ON THE LORD'S SERMON, BOOK i.
I. If the question be asked, what the mountain
signifies, it may well be understood as meaning the
higher and greater commandments of justice, since there
were lesser ones given to the Jews. The one God,
according to an excellently arranged distribution of
times, gave by His prophets and servants the lesser
commandments to a people who as yet required to be
bound by fear ; but by His Son He gave the greater
ones to a people whom it now behoved Him to set free
by love. But whether it be the lesser to the lesser, or
the greater to the greater, all are alike the gift of Him
Who alone knows what is at each time the best medicine
to be presented to the human race. Nor is it surprising
that the greater commandments are given for the king
dom of heaven, and the lesser for an earthly kingdom,
since both are the gifts of one and the same God Who
made heaven and earth. This higher and greater justice,
then, is that spoken of by the Prophet : Thy justice is as
the mountains of God (Ps. xxxv. 7). This may well mean
that the one Teacher, alone fit to teach matters of such
importance, teaches on a mountain. And when He was
sat down. He teaches sitting, as it pertains to the dignity
of the Instructor's office. His disciples came unto Him,
that they may be nearer in body, to hear those precepts,
by the fulfilment of which they should also be nearer in
spirit. And opening His mouth, He taught them. The
circumstance before us, which runs, And opening His
mouth, perhaps gracefully intimates that the sermon will
be somewhat longer than usual. Unless the meaning
be the declaration that He now opened His own mouth,
24—2
372 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
whereas under the Old Law He used to open the mouths
of the prophets.
II. And now what does He say? Blessed are the poor
in spirit : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. We read in
Holy Scripture concerning the lusting after temporal
things : All is vanity and pyesumption of spirit (Eccles. vi. 9).
Presumption of spirit means rashness and pride. Usually
the proud are said to be men of high spirit, and rightly
so, since spirit is only one of the Latin names for wind.
Hence it is written : Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds
(Ps. cxlviii. 8). Who has not heard that the proud are
spoken of as puffed up, as if blown out with wind ? Hence
also the Apostle says : Knowledge puffeth up ; but charity
edifieth (i Cor. viii. i). By the poor in spirit, here called
blessed, are justly to be understood the humble and God
fearing — that is, those not having a spirit puffed up with
windy vanity. Blessedness ought not to begin at any
other point, if, indeed, it is to reach the highest wisdom.
For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Ps. ex. 10).
Whereas, on the other hand, it is written : Pride is the
beginning of all sin (Ecclus. x. 15). The proud covet and
love earthly kingdoms.
III. Blessed are the meek : for they shall possess the land.
The land they shall possess, I suppose to be that of
which it is said in the Psalm : Thou art my hope, my
portion in the land of the living (Ps. cxli. 6). The inheri
tance of the meek in this land is everlastingly sure and
safe, where the soul, being of a good disposition, rests, as
it were, in its own home, just as carnal owners rest at
home in sure earthly possessions. And they live on the
income from that land, as earthly owners from the in
come of their possessions ; this is the home and abiding-
place of the Saints. The meek, therefore, are those who
yield to acts of wickedness, and do not resist evil, but
THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS 373
overcome evil by good (Rom. xii. 21) Let those, then, who
are not meek, quarrel and fight for earthly and temporal
things ; but blessed are the meek : for they shall possess the
land, from which they cannot be driven away.
IV. Blessed are they that mourn : for they shall be com
forted. This mourning is sorrow for the loss of things
loved and now lost. Now, those converted to God lose
in this world things which they once loved ; for they do
not rejoice in the things in which they formerly rejoiced.
Until the love of eternal things be in their hearts, they
are wounded by some measure of grief ; but they will be
comforted by the Holy Ghost, Who on this account
chiefly has the title of the Paraclete— that is, the Com
forter. They lose the temporal joy, but they gain the
enjoyment of eternal things.
V. Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice : for
they shall have their fill. Those who are here spoken of by
Jesus, are the lovers of a true and indestructible good.
And they shall have their hunger satisfied with that meat
of which the Lord Himself says : My meat is to do the will
of Him that sent Me, that I may perfect His work (John
iv. 34). And their thirst shall be slaked with that
water which the Lord Himself gives them, whereof
whosoever drinketh, as the Lord says, shall not thirst for
ever. It shall become in him a fountain of water springing up
into life everlasting (John iv. 13, 14).
VI. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
He calls blessed those who relieve the miserable and
needy ; for with the measure wherewith they have meted,
it shall be measured to them, and they shall not be left
unhelped in their own misery. Blessed are the clean of
heart : for they shall see God. What fools, therefore, are
those who seek God with their outward eyes, since He is
seen with the heart, as it is written : Seek Him in simplicity
374 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
of heart (Wisd. i. i). A simple heart is a pure heart.
And just as this earthly light cannot be seen unless the
eyes be clean, so cannot God be seen, unless that is pure
by which alone He can be seen.
VII. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called
the children of God. The perfection of peace is the
absence of opposition and contrariety, and the peace
makers are called the children of God, because they offer
no opposition against the will of God. As becomes
children, they have their Father's likeness. Now they
are peacemakers in themselves, because they order all
the movements of their own mind in obedience to reason —
that is, to mind and soul — and by so doing and so taming
the lust of the flesh, they become a kingdom of God. In
such a kingdom all things are so arranged that the chiefest
and noblest part of man rules without resistance over
those lower things which we have in common with beasts.
And in the same way that nobler part of man — that
is to say, his mind and reason — must be brought under
subjection to something better and higher still, namely,
TRUTH, the only begotten Son of God. He only can
rule well, who has learned to obey. And this is the
peace given on earth to men of good will ; this is the life
of one completely and perfectly wise. The prince of
this world, who rules over perversity and disorder, is cast
out of such a most peaceful and orderly kingdom. When
once this peace has been inwardly established, whatsoever
persecutions he that has been cast out shall stir up from
without, he only increases the glory that redounds to
God. He will be unable to bring to the ground anything
in that stronghold, and by the failure of his machinations
he will make known how strongly it was built inwardly.
Hence there follows : Blessed are they that suffer persecution
for justice sake : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
THE FEAST OF ALL SAINTS 375
VIII. In this eighth sentence, which goes back to the
starting point— for theirs is the kingdom of heaven — and
makes manifest the perfect man, is perhaps contained a
connection with the fact that, according to the Old Law,
circumcision was to be performed on the eighth day, and
that the resurrection of our Lord took place on the day
after the Sabbath — that is, the eighth day —and at the same
time the first day of the week. There is, perhaps, also a
connection with the celebration of the eight festival days
celebrated in the case of the regeneration of the new
man, and by the very number of Pentecost — being inter
preted, the Feast of the Fiftieth Day. For this number
of fifty days is reckoned by counting seven weeks multi
plied by seven days, which is forty-nine, to which one is
added — that is, an eighth — thus making up fifty. Hence
we return to the starting point, the day whereon the Holy
Ghost was sent, by Whom we are led into the kingdom
of heaven, receive the inheritance, and are comforted.
We are fed, and obtain mercy ; we are purified, and are
made peacemakers. And being thus made perfect within,
we bear all troubles brought upon us from without for
the sake of truth and justice.
IX. Blessed are ye, says Jesus, when they shall revile you, and
persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for
My sake ; be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in
heaven. Let anyone who is seeking after the pleasures of
this world and the possession of temporal goods, under
the name of a Christian, consider that our blessedness is
within, as it is said of the soul of the Church by the
mouth of the Prophet : All the glory of the king's daughter
is within (Ps. xliv. 14). For outwardly reviling, and
persecutions, and evil reports are promised her. Yet for
these very things her reward is great in heaven, and it is
felt in the hearts of sufferers, at least of those who can
376 SUNDAYS AND FESTIVALS
now say : We glory also in tribulations, knowing that tribula
tion worketh patience, and patience trial, and trial hope. And
hope confoundeth not, because the charity of God is poured forth
in our hearts by the Holy Ghost Who is given to us (Rom.
v. 3-5). To suffer such things is not in itself advan
tageous, but the bearing of them for the name of Christ
not only calmly but gladly. For many heretics, deceiving
souls under the name of Christians, suffer many such
things, yet they are excluded from the reward ; for it is
not merely written : Blessed are they that suffer persecution ;
but it is added, for justice sake. Where there is not sound
faith, there cannot be justice ; for, my just man liveth by
faith (Heb. x. 38). Neither let schismatics promise them
selves anything of that reward; for as justice cannot exist
where there is no faith, so neither can it exist where there
is not love. And schismatics have no love ; for love of our
neighbour worketh no evil (Rom. xiii. 10). If they had love,
they would not tear asunder the Body of Christ, which
is the Church (Col. i. 24).
THE END
R. & T. WASHBOURNE, 4 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON
BX 1756 .H8 1901 SMC
Hubert, D. G.,
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