Advent Sermons

Throughout the Season of Advent, we will post various sermons by the Saints, the Blessed, the Venerable or just popes, bishops and priests. These will cover some of the chief aspects of Advent, its purpose, its customs, its spirituality and its penances.May they bring you much inspiration and grace, while helping you spend the season in a truly profitable and fruitful manner.

CONTENTS

1. Pope St. Gregory the Great HOMILY FOR THE 1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT
2. St. Alphonsus Liguori SERMON FOR THE 1st SUNDAY OF ADVENT
3. Pope St. Leo the Great HOMILY ON THE FAST OF ADVENT
4. Pope St. Leo the Great HOMILY ON SELF-RESTRAINT DURING ADVENT
5. Pope St. Leo the Great HOMILY ON FASTING & ALMSGIVING IN ADVENT
6. Pope St. Leo the Great MORE THOUGHTS ON FASTING & ALMSGIVING
7. Dom Prosper Gueranger THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (Part 1)
8. Dom Prosper Gueranger THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION (Part 2)
9. St. Augustine of Hippo HOMILY ON ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

10. St. Alphonsus Liguori SERMON FOR THE 2nd SUNDAY OF ADVENT
11. St. Bernard of Clairvaux SERMON ON THE COMING OF CHRIST
12. St. Alphonsus Liguori SERMON FOR THE 3rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT
13. Father Francis X. Weiser, S.J. SERMON ON THE EMBER DAYS
14. St. Francis de Sales SERMON ON ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST
15. St. John Vianney SERMON FOR THE 4th SUNDAY OF ADVENT
16. St. Aphonsus Liguori SERMON FOR THE 4th SUNDAY OF ADVENT
17. St. Vincent Ferrer SERMON FOR CHRISTMAS EVE

SERMON 1
Pope St. Gregory the Great
ON THE GOSPEL FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT
(Luke 21:35-33).

1. As our adorable Savior 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 compassion, the fearful spectacle of the approaching last judgment 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 21:10-11). 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.”

2. Of all these events we have seen many already fulfilled, and with fear and trembling we look for the near fulfillment 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 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 fulfillment, the past being a guarantee for the future.

3. Moreover, we say this, beloved brethren, to encourage 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 Savior: “Men shall wither away for fear and expectation 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 recognize, coming in power and majesty. In that day they will feel the more compelled 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.

4. As, however, these words of our Savior 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 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 warning us to lift up our heads, it reminds us to rouse up our souls to the thought of the heavenly home which is awaiting us.

5. Those, therefore, who love God, are commanded to rejoice when they see the end of the world approaching, 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 4:4). 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.

6. 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 us hasten to reach them. We should wish to attain this home as soon as possible, and endeavor to find the shortest way thither. For, are we not surrounded in this world by a great many misfortunes? Do we not experience many troubles and calamities? What, indeed, is this mortal life but a painful way?

7. 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 Savior 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, you 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?

8. 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 contrary, 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 disappearing sun of bliss.

9. 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 fulfilled. 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 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, “But My words shall not pass away.” It is as if our Savior 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.”

10. 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” (1 John 2:15).

11. 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 next day, were taken away by a sudden death during the night, and buried under the ruins of their dwellings.

12. I beseech you, beloved brethren, be careful! If 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?

13. 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” (Hebrews 10:31). 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” (Psalm 49).

14. 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 tribulation. That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and 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” (Sophonias 1:14-16).

15. 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” (Aggeus 2:7). 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 endeavored, 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.

SERMON 2
St. Alphonsus Liguori
SERMON FOR THE FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

ON THE SUBJECT OF THE FINAL COMING OF CHRIST AND THE GENERAL JUDGMENT

“And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with much power and majesty” (Matthew 26:30).

At present God is not known, and, therefore, He is as much despised by sinners, as if He could not avenge, whenever He pleases, the injuries offered to Him. The wicked “looketh upon the Almighty as if He could do nothing” (Job 22:17).

But the Lord has fixed a day, called in the Scriptures “the day of the Lord,” on which the Eternal Judge will make known His power and majesty. “The Lord,” says the Psalmist, “shall be known when He executeth judgment!” (Psalm 9:17). On this text St. Bernard writes: “The Lord, Who is now unknown while He seeks mercy, shall be known when He executes justice!” (Lib. de xii. Rad). The prophet Sophonias calls the day of the Lord “a day of wrath a day of tribulation and distress a day of calamity and misery” (Sophonias 1:15).

Let us now consider, in the first point, the different appearance of the just and the unjust; in the second, the scrutiny of consciences; and in the third, the sentence pronounced on the elect and on the reprobate.

First Point. On the different appearance of the just and of sinners in the valley of Josaphat.

1. This day shall commence with fire from Heaven, which will burn the Earth, all men then living, and all things upon the Earth. “And the Earth and the works which are in it shall be burnt up” (2 Peter 3:10). All shall become one heap of ashes.

2. After the death of all men, “the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall rise again” (1 Corinthians 15:52). St Jerome used to say: “As often as I consider the Day of Judgment, I tremble. Whether I eat or drink, or whatever else I do, that terrible trumpet appears to sound in my ears, arise ye dead, and come to judgment” (Commentary on Matthew, chapter 5); and St. Augustine declared, that nothing banished from him earthly thoughts so effectually as the fear of judgment.

3. At the sound of that trumpet, the souls of the blessed shall descend from Heaven, to be united to the bodies with which they served God on Earth; and the unhappy souls of the damned shall come up from Hell, to take possession again of those bodies, with which they have offended God. O how different the appearance of the former, compared with that of the latter! The damned shall appear deformed and black, like so many firebrands of Hell; but the just shall shine as the sun (Matthew 13:43) O how great shall then be the happiness of those who have fortified their bodies by works of penance! We may estimate their felicity from the words addressed by St. Peter of Alcantara, after death, to St. Teresa: “O happy penance, which merited for me such glory!”

4. After the resurrection, they shall be summoned by the angels to appear in the Valley of Josaphat. “Nations, nations, in the valley for destruction for the day of the Lord is near” (Joel 3:14). Then the angels shall come and separate the reprobate from the elect, placing the latter on the right, and the former on the left. “The angels shall go out, and shall separate the wicked from the Just” (Matthew 3:49). O how great will then be the confusion which the unhappy damned shall suffer! “What think you,” says the author of the Imperfect Work, “must be the confusion of the impious, when, being separated from the just, they shall be abandoned” (Homily 54). “This punishment alone” says St. John Chrysostom, “would be sufficient to constitute a Hell for the wicked” ... “Et si nihil ulterius paterentur, ista sola verecundia sufficerit eis ad poenam,” (Commentary on Matthew chapter 24). The brother shall he separated from the brother, the husband from his wife, the son from the father, etc.

5. But, behold! The heavens are opened the angels come to assist at the general judgment, carrying, as St. Thomas says, the sign of the Cross and of the other instruments of the Passion of the Redeemer. “Veniente Domino ad judicium signum crucis, et alia passionis indicia demonstrabunt” (Opusc. ii. 244). The same may be inferred from the twenty-fourth chapter of St. Matthew: “And then shall appear the sign of the Son of Man in Heaven; and then shall all the tribes of the Earth mourn” (Matthew 24:30). Sinners shall weep at the sign of the Cross; for, as St. John Chrysostom says, the nails will complain of them the wounds and the Cross of Jesus Christ will speak against them. “Clavi de te conquerentur, cicatrices contra et loquentur, crux Christi contra te perorabit” (Homily 20, on Matthew).

6. Most holy Mary, the Queen of saints and angels, shall come to assist at the Last Judgment; and lastly, the Eternal Judge shall appear in the clouds, full of splendor and majesty. “And they shall see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of Heaven with much power and majesty” (Matthew 24:30). O how great shall be the agony of the reprobate at the sight of the Judge! “At their presence” says the Prophet Joel, “the people shall be in grievous pains.” (Joel 2:6). According to St. Jerome, the presence of Jesus Christ will give the reprobate more pain than Hell itself. “It would,” he says, “be easier for the damned to bear the torments of Hell than the presence of the Lord.” Hence, on that day, the wicked shall, according to St. John, call on the mountains to fall on them and to hide them from the sight of the Judge. “And they shall say to the mountains and the rocks: ‘Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb!’” (Apocalypse 6:16).

Second Point. The scrutiny of conscience.

7. “The judgment sat, and the books were opened.” (Daniel 7:10). The books of conscience are opened, and the judgment commences. The Apostle says, that the Lord “will bring to light the hidden things of darkness” (1 Corinthians 4:5). And, by the mouth of His prophet, Jesus Christ has said: “I will search Jerusalem with lamps” (Sophonias 1:12). The light of the lamp reveals all that is hidden.

8. “A judgment,” says St. John Chrysostom, “terrible to sinners, but desirable and sweet to the just” (Homily 3, de David). The last judgment shall fill sinners with terror, but will be a source of joy and sweetness to the elect; for God will then give praise to each one according to his works. (1 Corinthians 4:5). The Apostle tells us that on that day the just will be raised above the clouds, to be united to the angels, and to increase the number of those who pay homage to the Lord. “We shall be taken up together with them in the clouds to meet Christ, into the air” (1 Thessalonians 4:16).

9. Worldlings now regard as fools the saints, who led mortified and humble lives; but then they shall confess their own folly, and say: “We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honor. Behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints” (Wisdom 5:4-5). In this world, the rich and the noble are called happy; but true happiness consists in a life of sanctity. Rejoice, ye souls who live in tribulation; “our sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20). In the Valley of Josaphat you shall be seated on thrones of glory.

10. But the reprobate, like goats destined for the slaughter, shall be placed on the left, to await their last condemnation. “Judicii tempus,” says St. John Chrysostom, “misericordiam non recipit.” On the Day of Judgment there is no hope of mercy for poor sinners. “Magna,” says St. Augustine, “jam est poena peccati, metum et memoriam divini perdidisse judi102” (Sermoon 20, de Temp.). “The greatest punishment of sin in those who live in enmity with God, is to lose the fear and remembrance of the divine judgment.” Continue, continue, says the Apostle, to live obstinately in sin; but in proportion to your obstinacy, you shall have accumulated for the Day of Judgment a treasure of the wrath of God “But according to thy hardness and impenitent heart, thou treasurest up to thyself wrath against the day of wrath” (Romans 2:5).

11. Then sinners will not be able to hide themselves but, with insufferable pain, they shall be compelled to appear in judgment. “To lie hid” says St. Anselm, “will be impossible to appear will be intolerable.” The devils will perform their office of accusers, and as St. Augustine says, will say to the Judge: “Most just God, declare him to be mine, who was unwilling to be Yours.” The witnesses against the wicked shall be first, their own conscience. “Their conscience bearing witness to them,” (Romans 2:15); secondly, the very walls of the house in which they sinned shall cry out against them: “The stone shall cry out of the wall” (Habacuc 2:11); thirdly, the Judge himself will say “‘I am the judge and the witness’ saith the Lord” (Jeremias 29:23). Hence, according to St. Augustine, “He who is now the witness of your life, shall be the judge of your cause” (Lib. x. de Chord., chapter 2). To Christians particularly He will say: “Woe to thee, Corozain, woe to thee, Bethsaida; for if in Tyre and Sidon had been wrought the miracles that have been wrought in you, they had long ago done penance in sackcloth and ashes” (Matthew 11:21). Christians, He will say, if the graces which I have bestowed on you had been given to the Turks or to the Pagans, they would have done penance for their sins; but you have ceased to sin only with your death. He shall then manifest to all men their most hidden crimes. “I will discover thy shame to thy face.” (Nahum 3:5). He will expose to view all their secret impurities, injustices, and cruelties. “I will set all thy abominations against thee” (Ezechiel 7:3). Each of the damned shall carry his sins written on his forehead.

12. What excuses can save the wicked on that day? Ah, they can offer no excuses! “All iniquity shall stop her mouth.” (Psalm 106:42). Their very sins shall close the mouth of the reprobate, so that they will not have courage to excuse themselves. They shall pronounce their own condemnation.

Third Point. Sentence of the elect, and of the reprobate.

13. St. Bernard says, that “the sentence of the elect, and their destiny to eternal glory, shall be first declared, that the pains of the reprobate may be increased by the sight of what they lost” ... “Prius pronunciabitur sententia electis ut acrius (reprobi) doleant videntes quid amiserunt.” (Sermon 8, on Psalm 90). Jesus Christ, then, shall first turn to the elect, and with a serene countenance shall say: “Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34). He will then bless all the tears shed through sorrow for their sins, and all their good works, their prayers, mortifications, and Communions; above all, He will bless for them the pains of His Passion and the blood shed for their salvation. And, after these benedictions, the elect, singing alleluias, shall enter Paradise to praise and love God eternity.

14. The Judge shall then turn to the reprobate, and shall pronounce the sentence of their condemnation in these words: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into everlasting fire” (Matthew 25:41). They shall then be forever accursed, separated from God, and sent to burn forever in the fire of Hell. “And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just into life everlasting” (Matthew 25:46).

15. After this sentence, the wicked shall, according to St. Ephrem, be compelled to take leave forever of their relatives, of Paradise, of the saints, and of Mary the divine Mother. “Farewell, ye just! Farewell, O cross! Farewell, Paradise! Farewell, fathers and brothers: we shall never see you again! Farewell, O Mary, Mother of God!” (St. Ephesians de variis serm. inf). Then a great pit shall open in the middle of the valley: the unhappy damned shall be cast into it, and shall see those doors shut which shall never again be opened. O accursed sin! To what a miserable end will you one day conduct so many souls redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ! O unhappy souls, for whom is prepared such a melancholy end! But, brethren, have confidence! Jesus Christ is now a Father, and not Judge. He is ready to pardon all who repent. Let us then instantly ask pardon from Him.

SERMON 3
Pope St. Leo the Great (390-461)
SERMON XII: ON THE FAST OF ADVENT

This sermon was delivered during the “tenth-month,” i.e. December. This coincides with our modern fast season of Advent.

December still means “tenth-month,” but is the actual twelfth month because of the addition of July and August, added later.

Translation of sermon from Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Second Series: Vol. XII.

I. Restoration to the Divine Image in Which We Were Made is Only Possible by Our Imitation of God’s Will

If, dearly beloved, we comprehend faithfully and wisely the beginning of our creation, we shall find that man was made in God’s image, to the end that he might imitate his Creator, and that our race attains its highest natural dignity, by the form of the Divine goodness being reflected in us, as in a mirror. And assuredly to this form the Savior’s grace is daily restoring us, so long as that which, in the first Adam fell, is raised up again in the second. And the cause of our restoration is naught else but the mercy of God, Whom we should not have loved, unless He had first loved us, and dispelled the darkness of our ignorance by the light of His truth.

And the Lord foretelling this by the holy Isaiah says, “I will bring the blind into a way that they knew not, and will make them walk in paths which they were ignorant of. I will turn darkness into light for them, and the crooked into the straight. These words will I do for them, and not forsake them.” And again he says, “I was found by them that sought Me not, and openly appeared to them that asked not for Me.” And the Apostle John teaches us how this has been fulfilled, when he says. “We know that the Son of God is come, and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him that is true, and may be in Him that is true, even His Son,” and again, “let us therefore love God, because He first loved us.”

Thus it is that God, by loving us, restores us to His image, and, in order that He may find in us the form of His goodness, He gives us that whereby we ourselves too may do the work that He does, kindling that is the lamps of our minds, and inflaming us with the fire of His love, that we may love not only Himself, but also whatever He loves. For if between men that is the lasting friendship which is based upon similarity of character notwithstanding that such identity of wills is often directed to wicked ends, how ought we to yearn and strive to differ in nothing from what is pleasing to God. Of which the prophet speaks, “for wrath is in His indignation, and life in His pleasure,” because we shall not otherwise attain the dignity of the Divine Majesty, unless we imitate His will.

II. We Must Love Both God And Our Neighbor, and “Our Neighbor” Must Be Interpreted in Its Widest Sense

And so, when the Lord says, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, from all thy heart and from all thy mind: and thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself,” let the faithful soul put on the unfading love of its Author and Ruler, and subject itself also entirely to His will in Whose works and judgments true justice and tender-hearted compassion never fail.

For although a man be wearied out with labors and many misfortunes, there is good reason for him to endure all in the knowledge that adversity will either prove him good or make him better. But this godly love cannot be perfect unless a man love his neighbor also. Under which name must be included not only those who are connected with us by friendship or neighborhood, but absolutely all men, with whom we have a common nature, whether they be foes or allies, slaves or free.

For the One Maker fashioned us, the One Creator breathed life into us; we all enjoy the same sky and air, the same days and nights, and, though some be good, others bad, some righteous, others unrighteous, yet God is bountiful to all, kind to all, as Paul and Barnabas said to the Lycaonians concerning God’s Providence, “who in generations gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways. And yet He left Himself not without witness, doing them good, giving rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, and filling our hearts with food and gladness.”

But the wide extent of Christian grace has given us yet greater reasons for loving our neighbor, which, reaching to all parts of the whole world, looks down on no one, and teaches that no one is to be neglected. And full rightly does He command us to love our enemies, and to pray to Him for our persecutors, who, daily grafting shoots of the wild olive from among all nations upon the holy branches of His own olive, makes men reconciled instead of enemies, adopted sons instead of strangers, just instead of ungodly, “that every knee may bow of things in heaven, of things on earth, and of things under the earth, and every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.”

III. We Must Be Thankful, and Show, Our Thankfulness for What We Have Received, Whether much or Little

Accordingly, as God wishes us to be good, because He is good, none of His judgments ought to displease us. For not to give Him thanks in all things, what else is it but to blame Him in some degree. Man’s folly too often dares to murmur against his Creator, not only in time of want, but also in time of plenty, so that, when something is not supplied, he complains, and when certain things are in abundance he is ungrateful.

The Lord of rich harvests thought scorn of his well-filled garners, and groaned over his abundant grape-gathering: he did not give thanks for the size of the crop, but complained of its poorness. And if the ground has been less prolific than its wont in the seed it has reared, and the vines and the olives have failed in their supply of fruit, the year is accused, the elements blamed, neither the air nor the sky is spared, whereas nothing better befits and reassures the faithful and godly disciples of Truth than the persistent and unwearied lifting of praise to God, as says the Apostle, “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing: in all things give thanks. For this is the will of God in Christ Jesus in all things for you.”

But how shall we be partakers of this devotion, unless vicissitudes of fortune train our minds in constancy, so that the love directed towards God may not be puffed up in prosperity nor faint in adversity. Let that which pleases God, please us too. Let us rejoice in whatever measure of gifts He gives.

Let him who has used great possessions well, use small ones also well. Plenty and scarcity may be equally for our good, and even in spiritual progress we shall not be east down at the smallness of the results, if our minds become not dry and barren. Let that spring from the soil of our heart, which the earth gave not. To him that fails not in good will, means to give are ever supplied.

Therefore, dearly beloved, in all works of godliness let us use what each year gives us, and let not seasons of difficulty hinder our Christian benevolence. The Lord knows how to replenish the widow’s vessels, which her pious deed of hospitality has emptied: He knows how to turn water into wine: He knows how to satisfy 5,000 hungry persons with a few loaves. And He who is fed in His poor, can multiply when He takes what He increased when He gave.

IV. Prayer, Fasting and Almsgiving are the Three Comprehensive Duties of a Christian

But there are three things which most belong to religious actions, namely prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, in the exercising of which while every time is accepted, yet that ought to be more zealously observed, which we have received as hallowed by tradition from the apostles: even as this tenth month brings round again to us the opportunity when according to the ancient practice we may give more diligent heed to those three things of which I have spoken. For by prayer we seek to propitiate God, by fasting we extinguish the lusts of the flesh, by alms we redeem our sins: and at the same time God’s image is throughout renewed in us, if we are always ready to praise Him, unfailingly intent on our purification and unceasingly active in cherishing our neighbor.

This threefold round of duty, dearly beloved, brings all other virtues into action: it attains to God’s image and likeness and unites us inseparably with the Holy Spirit. Because in prayer faith remains steadfast, in fastings life remains innocent, in almsgiving the mind remains kind. On Wednesday and Friday therefore let us fast: and on Saturday let us keep vigil with the most blessed Apostle Peter, who will deign to aid our supplications and fast and alms with his own prayers through our Lord Jesus Christ, who with the Father and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 4
Pope St. Leo the Great (390-461)
SERMON XIX: ON SELF-RESTRAINT DURING ADVENT

This sermon was delivered during the “tenth-month,” i.e. December. This coincides with our modern fast season of Advent.

December still means “tenth-month,” but is the actual twelfth month because of the addition of July and August, added later.

Translation of sermon from Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Second Series: Vol. XII.

I. Self-Restraint Leads to Higher Enjoyments

When the Savior would instruct His disciples about the Advent of God’s Kingdom and the end of the world’s times, and teach His whole Church, in the person of the Apostles, He said, “Take heed lest haply your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and care of this life.”

And assuredly, dearly beloved, we acknowledge that this precept applies more especially to us, to whom undoubtedly the day denounced is near, even though hidden. For the advent of which it behooves every man to prepare himself, lest it find him given over to gluttony, or entangled in cares of this life. For by daily experience, beloved, it is proved that the mind’s edge is blunted by over-indulgence of the flesh, and the heart’s vigor is dulled by excess of food, so that the delights of eating are even opposed to the health of the body, unless reasonable moderation withstand the temptation and the consideration of future discomfort keep from the pleasure.

For although the flesh desires nothing without the soul, and receives its sensations from the same source as it receives its motions also, yet it is the function of the same soul to deny certain things to the body which is subject to it, and by its inner judgment to restrain the outer parts from things unseasonable, in order that it may be the oftener free from bodily lusts, and have leisure for Divine wisdom in the palace of the mind, where, away from all the noise of earthly cares, it may in silence enjoy holy meditations and eternal delights. And, although this is difficult to maintain in this life, yet the attempt can frequently be renewed, in order that we may the oftener and longer be occupied with spiritual rather than fleshly cares; and by our spending ever greater portions of our time on higher cares, even our temporal actions may end in gaining the incorruptible riches.

II. The Teaching of the Four Yearly Fasts is that Spiritual Self-Restraint is as Necessary as Corporeal

This profitable observance, dearly beloved, is especially laid down for the fasts of the Church, which, in accordance with the Holy Spirit’s teaching, are so distributed over the whole year that the law of abstinence may be kept before us at all times. Accordingly we keep the spring fast in Lent, the summer fast at Whitsuntide (Pentecost), the autumn fast (fall fast) in the seventh month, and the winter fast in this which is the tenth month, knowing that there is nothing unconnected with the Divine commands, and that all the elements serve the Word of God to our instruction, so that from the very hinges on which the world turns, as if by four Gospels we learn unceasingly what to preach and what to do.

For, when the prophet says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth His handiwork: day unto day uttereth speech, and night showeth knowledge,” what is there by which the Truth does not speak to us? By day and by night His voices are heard, and the beauty of the things made by the workmanship of the One God ceases not to instill the teachings of Reason into our hearts’ ears, so that “the invisible things of God may be perceived and seen through the things which are made,” and men may serve the Creator of all, not His creatures.

Since therefore all vices are destroyed by self-restraint, and whatever avarice thirsts for, pride strives for, luxury lusts after, is overcome by the solid force of this virtue, who can fail to understand the aid which is given us by fasting? for therein we are bidden to restrain ourselves, not only in food, but also in all carnal desires. Otherwise it is lost labor to endure hunger and yet not put away wrong wishes; to afflict oneself by curtailing food, and yet not to flee from sinful thoughts. That is a carnal, not a spiritual fast, where the body only is stinted, and those things persisted in, which are more harmful than all delights.

What profit is it to the soul to act outwardly as mistress and inwardly to be a captive and a slave, to issue orders to the limbs and to lose the right to her own liberty? That soul for the most part (and deservedly) meets with rebellion in her servant, which does not pay to God the service that is due. When the body therefore fasts from food, let the mind fast from vices, and pass judgment upon all earthly cares and desires according to the law of its King.

III. Thus Fasting in Mind as Well as Body, and Giving Alms Freely, We Shall Win God’s Highest Favor

Let us remember that we owe love first to God, secondly to our neighbor, and that all our affections must be so regulated as not to draw us away from the worship of God, or the benefiting our fellow slave. But how shall we worship God unless that which is pleasing to Him is also pleasing to us? For, if our will is His will, our weakness will receive strength from Him, from Whom the very will came; “for it is God,” as the Apostle says, “who worketh in us both to will and to do for (His) good pleasure.”

And so a man will not be puffed up with pride, nor crushed with despair, if he uses the gifts which God gave to His glory, and withholds his inclinations from those things, which he knows will harm him. For in abstaining from malicious envy, from luxurious and dissolute living, from the perturbations of anger, from the lust after vengeance, he will be made pure and holy by true fasting, and will be fed upon the pleasures of incorruptible delights, and so he will know how, by the spiritual use of his earthly riches, to transform them into heavenly treasures, not by hoarding up for himself what he has received, but by gaining a hundred-fold on what he gives.

And hence we warn you, beloved, in fatherly affection, to make this winter fast fruitful to yourselves by bounteous alms, rejoicing that by you the Lord feeds and clothes His poor, to whom assuredly He could have given the possessions which He has bestowed on you, had He not in His unspeakable mercy wished to justify them for their patient labor, and you for your works of love. Let us therefore fast on Wednesday and Friday, and on Saturday keep vigil with the most blessed Apostle Peter, and he will deign to assist with his own prayers our supplications and fasting and alms which our Lord Jesus Christ presents, Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMON 5
Pope St. Leo the Great (390-461)
SERMON XVI: ON FASTING AND ALMSGIVING

II. Almsgiving and Fasting are the Most Essential Aids to Prayer

And while all seasons are opportune for this duty, beloved, yet this present season is specially suitable and appropriate, at which our holy fathers, being Divinely inspired, sanctioned the Fast of the tenth month [our month of December], that when all the ingathering of the crops was complete, we might dedicate to God our reasonable service of abstinence, and each might remember so to use his abundance as to be more abstinent in himself and more open-handed towards the poor.

For forgiveness of sins is most efficaciously prayed for with almsgiving and fasting, and supplications that are winged by such aids mount swiftly to God’s ears: since as it is written, “the merciful man doeth good to his own soul,” and nothing is so much a man’s own as that which he spends on his neighbor. For that part of his material possessions with which he ministers to the needy, is transformed into eternal riches, and such wealth is begotten of this bountifulness as can never be diminished or in any way destroyed, for “blessed are the merciful, for God shall have mercy on them,” and He Himself shall be their chief Reward, who is the Model of His own command.

III. Christians’ Pious Activity Has So Enraged Satan that He Has Multiplied Heresies to Wreak Them Harm

But at all these acts of godliness, dearly-beloved, which commend us more and more to God, there is no doubt that our enemy, who is so eager and so skilled in harming us, is aroused with keener stings of hatred, that, under a false profession of the Christian name, he may corrupt those whom he is not allowed to attack with open and bloody persecutions, and, for this work, he has heretics in his service, whom he has led astray from the Catholic Faith, subjected to himself, and forced under divers errors to serve in his camp. And as for the deception of primitive man, he used the services of a serpent, so to mislead the minds of the upright, he has armed these men’s tongues with the poison of his falsehoods.

But these treacherous designs, dearly beloved, with a shepherd’s care, and so far as the Lord vouchsafes His aid, we will defeat. And taking heed lest any of the holy flock should perish, we admonish you, with fatherly warnings, to keep aloof from the “lying lips” and the “deceitful tongue” from which the prophet asks that his soul should be delivered; because “their words,” as says the blessed Apostle, “do creep as doth a gangrene.” They creep in humbly, they arrest softly, they bind gently, they slay secretly. For they “come,” as the Savior foretold, “in sheeps’ clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves;” because they could not deceive the true and simple sheep, unless they covered their bestial rage with the Name of Christ. But in them all he is at work who, though he is really the enemy of enlightenment, “transforms himself into an angel of light.”

SERMON 6
Pope St. Leo the Great (390-461)
SERMON XVII: FURTHER THOUGHTS ON FASTING AND ALMSGIVING

This sermon was delivered during the “tenth-month,” i.e. December. This coincides with our modern fast season of Advent.

December still means “tenth-month,” but is the actual twelfth month because of the addition of July and August, added later.

Translation of sermon from Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers, Second Series: Vol. XII.

I. The Duty of Fasting is Based on Both the Old and New Testaments, and is Closely Connected with the Duties of Prayer and Almsgiving

The teaching of the Law, dearly beloved, imparts great authority to the precepts of the Gospel, seeing that certain things are transferred from the old ordinances to the new, and by the very devotions of the Church it is shown that the Lord Jesus Christ “came not to destroy but to fulfil the Law.”

For since the cessation of the signs by which our Savior’s coming was announced, and the abolition of the types in the presence of the Very Truth, those things which our religion instituted, whether for the regulation of customs or for the simple worship of God, continue with us in the same form in which they were at the beginning, and what was in harmony with both Testaments has been modified by no change.

Among these is also the solemn fast of the tenth month, which is now to be kept by us according to yearly custom, because it is altogether just and godly to give thanks to the Divine bounty for the crops which the earth has produced for the use of men under the guiding hand of supreme Providence.

And to show that we do this with ready mind, we must exercise not only the self-restraint of fasting, but also diligence in almsgiving, that from the ground of our heart also may spring the germ of righteousness and the fruit of love, and that we may deserve God’s mercy by showing mercy to His poor. For the supplication, which is supported by works of piety, is most efficacious in prevailing with God, since he who turns not his heart away from the poor soon turns himself to hear the Lord, as the Lord says: “be ye merciful as your Father also is merciful .... release and ye shall be released.”

What is kinder than this justice? what more merciful than this retribution, where the judge’s sentence rests in the power of him that is to be judged? “Give,” he says, “and it shall be given to you.” How soon do the misgivings of distrust and the putting-off of avarice fall to the ground, when humanity may fearlessly spend what the Truth pledges Himself to repay.

II. He that Lends to the Lord Makes a Better Bargain Than He that Lends to Man

Be steadfast, Christian giver: give what you may receive, sow what you may reap, scatter what you may gather. Fear not to spend, sigh not over the doubtfulness of the gain. Your substance grows when it is wisely dispensed. Set your heart on the profits due to mercy, and traffic in eternal gains. Your Recompenser wishes you to be munificent, and He who gives that you may have, commands you to spend, saying, “Give, and it shall be given to you.”

You must thankfully embrace the conditions of this promise. For although you have nothing that you did not receive, yet you cannot fail to have what you give. He therefore that loves money, and wishes to multiply his wealth by immoderate profits, should rather practice this holy usury and grow rich by such money-lending, in order not to catch men hampered with difficulties, and by treacherous assistance entangle them in debts which they can never pay, but to be His creditor and His money-lender, who says, “Give, and it shall be given to you,” and “with what measure ye measure, it shall be measured again to you.”

But he is unfaithful and unfair even to himself, who does not wish to have for ever what he esteems desirable. Let him amass what he may, let him hoard and store what he may, he will leave this world empty and needy, as David the prophet says, “for when he dieth he shall take nothing away, nor shall his glory descend with him.”

Whereas if he were considerate of his own soul, he would trust his good to Him, who is both the proper Surety for the poor and the generous Repayer of loans. But unrighteous and shameless avarice, which promises to do some kind act but eludes it, trusts not God, whose promises never fail, and trusts man, who makes such hasty bargains; and while he reckons the present more certain than the future, often deservedly finds that his greed for unjust gain is the cause of by no means unjust loss.

III. Money-Lending at High Interest is in All Respects Iniquitous

And hence, whatever result follow, the money-lender’s trade is always bad, for it is sin either to lessen or increase the sum, in that if he lose what he lent he is wretched, and if he takes more than he lent he is more wretched still. The iniquity of money-lending must absolutely be abjured, and the gain which lacks all humanity must be shunned.

A man’s possessions are indeed multiplied by these unrighteous and sorry means, but the mind’s wealth decays because usury of money is the death of the soul. For what God thinks of such men the most holy Prophet David makes clear, for when he asks, “Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle, or who shall rest upon thy holy hill?” he receives the Divine utterance in reply, from which he learns that that man attains to eternal rest who among other rules of holy living “hath not given his money upon usury:” and thus he who gets deceitful gain from lending his money on usury is shown to be both an alien from God’s tabernacle and an exile from His holy hill, and in seeking to enrich himself by other’s losses, he deserves to be punished with eternal neediness.

IV. Let Us Avoid Avarice, and Share God’s Benefits with Others

And so, dearly beloved, do ye who with the whole heart have put your trust in the Lord’s promises, flee from this unclean leprosy of avarice, and use God’s gift piously and wisely. And since you rejoice in His bounty, take heed that you have those who may share in your joys.

For many lack what you have in plenty, and some men’s needs afford you opportunity for imitating the Divine goodness, so that through you the Divine benefits may be transferred to others also, and that by being wise stewards of your temporal goods, you may acquire eternal riches. O

n Wednesday and Friday next, therefore, let us fast, and on Saturday keep vigil with the most blessed Apostle Peter, by whose prayers we may in all things obtain the Divine protection through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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SERMON 7
Dom Prosper Gueranger (1805-1875)
THE DOGMA & HISTORY OF THE FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION

The Dogma of the Immaculate Conception

This truth of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, which was revealed to the Apostles by the divine Son of Mary, inherited by the Church, taught by the holy Fathers, believed by each generation of the Christian people with an ever increasing explicitness was implied in the very notion of a Mother of God. To believe that Mary was Mother of God, was implicitly to believe that she, on whom this sublime dignity was conferred, had never been defiled with the slightest stain of sin, and that God had bestowed upon her an absolute exemption from sin. But now the Immaculate Conception of Mary rests on an explicit definition dictated by the Holy Ghost.

Peter has spoken by the mouth of Pius; and when Peter has spoken, every Christian should believe; for the Son of God has said: “I have prayed for thee, Peter, that thy Faith fail not” (Luke 22:32). And again: “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” (John 14:26).

The Symbol of our Faith has therefore received not a new truth, but a new light on a truth which was previously the object of the universal belief. On that great day of the definition, the infernal serpent was again crushed beneath the victorious foot of the Virgin-Mother, and the Lord graciously gave us the strongest pledge of HIS mercy. He still loves this guilty Earth, since He has deigned to enlighten it with all of the brightest rays of His Mother’s glory. How this Earth of ours exulted! The present generation will never forget the enthusiasm with which the entire universe received the tidings of the definition. It was an event of mysterious importance which thus marked this second half of our century; and we shall look forward to the future with renewed confidence; for if the Holy Ghost bids us tremble for the days when truths are diminished among the children of men (Psalm 11:2), He would, consequently, have us look on those times as blessed by God in which we receive an increase of truth; an increase both in light and authority.

The History of the Feast
The Church, even before the solemn proclamation of the grand dogma, kept the feast of this eighth day of December; which was, in reality, a profession of her Faith. It is true that the feast was not called the Immaculate Conception, but simply the Conception of Mary. But the fact of such a feast being instituted and kept, was an unmistakable expression of the Faith of Christendom in that truth. St. Bernard and the angelical doctor, St. Thomas, both teach that the Church cannot celebrate the feast of what is not holy; the Conception of Mary, therefore, was holy and immaculate, since the Church has, for ages past, honored it with a special feast. The Nativity of the same holy Virgin is kept as a solemnity in the Church, because Mary was born full of grace; therefore, had the first moment of Mary’s existence been one of sin, as is that of all the other children of Adam, it never could have been made the subject of the reverence of the Church. Now, there are few feasts so generally and so firmly established in the Church as this which we are keeping today.

The Greek Church, which, more easily than the Latin, could learn what were the pious traditions of the East, kept this feast even in the sixth century, as is evident from the ceremonial or, as it is called, the Type, of St. Sabas. In the, West, we find it established in the Gothic Church of Spain as far back as the eighth century. A celebrated calendar which was engraved on marble, in the ninth century, for the use of the Church of Naples, attests that it had already been introduced there. Paul the deacon, secretary to the Emperor Charlemagne, and afterwards monk at Monte-Cassino, composed a celebrated hymn on the mystery of the Immaculate Conception; we will insert this piece later on, as it is given in the manuscript copies of Monte-Cassino and Benevento.

The Feast First Observed in England
In 1066, the feast was first established in England, in consequence of the pious Abbot Helsyn being miraculously preserved from shipwreck; and shortly after that, was made general through the whole island by the zeal of the great St. Anselm, monk of the Order of St. Benedict, and archbishop of Canterbury.

The Feast Goes to France and Belgium
From England it passed into Normandy, and took root in France. We find it sanctioned in Germany, in a council held in 1049, at which St. Leo IX was present; in Navarre, 1000, at the abbey of Irach; in Belgium, at Liege, in 1142. Thus did the Churches of the West testify their Faith in this mystery, by accepting its feast, which is the expression of Faith.

The Feast Arrives in Rome
Lastly, it was adopted by Rome herself, and her doing so rendered the united testimony of her children, the other Churches, more imposing than ever. It was Pope Sixtus IV, who, in the year 1476, published the decree of the feast of our Lady’s Conception for the city of St. Peter. In the next century, 1568, Pope St. Pius V published the universal edition of the Roman breviary, and in its calendar was inserted this feast as one of those Christian solemnities which the faithful are every year bound to observe, It was not from Rome that the devotion of the Catholic world to this mystery received its first impulse; she sanctioned it by her liturgical authority, just as she has confirmed it by her doctrinal authority in these our own days.

Competition in Devotion
The three great Catholic nations of Europe, Germany, France, and Spain, vied with each other in their devotion to this mystery of Mary’s Immaculate Conception. France, by her King Louis XIV, obtained from Pope Clement IX, that this feast should be kept with an octave throughout the kingdom; which favor was afterwards extended to the universal Church by Innocent XII. For centuries previous to this, the theological faculty of Paris had always exacted from its professors the oath that they would defend this privilege of Mary; a pious practice which continued as long as the university itself.

As regards Germany, the emperor Ferdinand III, in 1647, ordered a splendid monument to be erected in the great square of Vienna. It is covered with emblems and figures symbolical of Mary’s victory over sin, and on the top is the statue of the Immaculate Queen.

But the zeal of Spain for the privilege of the holy Mother of God surpassed that of all other nations. In the year 1398, John I, King of Aragon, issued a chart in which he solemnly places his person and kingdom under the protection of Mary Immaculate. Later on, kings Philip III. and Philip IV sent ambassadors to Rome, soliciting, in their names, the solemn definition, which Heaven reserved, in its mercy, for our days. King Charles III, in the eighteenth century, obtained permission from Pope Clement XIII, that the Immaculate Conception should be the patronal feast of Spain. The people of Spain, which is so justly called the Catholic kingdom, put over the door, or on the front of their houses, a tablet with the words of Mary’s privilege written on it; and when they meet, they greet each other with an expression in honor of the same dear mystery. It was a Spanish nun, Mary of Jesus, abbess of the convent of the Immaculate Conception of Agreda, who wrote God’s Mystic City, which inspired Murillo with his Immaculate Conception, the masterpiece of the Spanish school.

The Role of the Franciscans
But, whilst thus mentioning the different nations which have been foremost in their zeal for this article of our holy Faith, the Immaculate Conception, it were unjust to pass over the immense share which the seraphic Order, the Order of St. Francis of Assisi, has had in the earthly triumph of our blessed Mother, the Queen of Heaven and Earth. As often as this feast comes round, is it not just that we should think with reverence and gratitude on him, who was the first theologian that showed how closely connected with the divine mystery of the Incarnation is this dogma of the Immaculate Conception!

First, then, all honor to the name of the pious and learned John Duns Scotus! And when at length the great day of the definition of the Immaculate Conception came, how justly merited was that grand audience, which the Vicar of Christ granted to the Franciscan Order, and with which closed the pageant of the glorious solemnity! Pope Pius IX received from the hands of the children of St. Francis a tribute of homage and thankfulness, which the Scotist school (followers of the Franciscan theologian Duns Scotus), after having fought four hundred years in defense of Mary’s Immaculate Conception, now presented to the Pontiff.

The Day of Dogma and Feast
In the presence of the fifty-four Cardinals, forty. two archbishops, and ninety-two bishops; before an immense concourse of people that filled St. Peter’s, and had united in prayer, begging the assistance of the Spirit of truth; the Vicar of Christ had just pronounced the decision which so many ages had hoped to hear. The Pontiff had offered the holy Sacrifice on the Confession of St. Peter. He had crowned the statue of the Immaculate Queen with a splendid diadem. Carried on his lofty throne, and wearing his triple crown, he had reached the portico of the basilica; there he is met by the two representatives of St. Francis: they prostrate before the throne: the triumphal procession halts: and first, the General of the Friars Minor Observantines advances, and presents to the holy Father a branch of silver lilies: he is followed by the General of the Conventual Friars, holding in his hand a branch of silver roses.

The Pope graciously accepted both. The lilies and the roses were symbolical of Mary’s purity and love; the whiteness of the silver was the emblem of the lovely brightness of that orb, on which is reflected the light of the Sun; for, as the Canticle says of Mary, “she is beautiful as the moon” (Canticles 6:9). The Pontiff was overcome with emotion at these gifts of the family of the seraphic patriarch, to which we might justly apply what was said of the banner of the Maid of Orleans: ‘It had stood the brunt of the battle; it deserved to share in the glory of the victory.’ And thus ended the glories of that grand morning of the eighth of December, eighteen hundred and fifty-four.

It is thus, O thou the humblest of creatures, that thy Immaculate Conception has been glorified on Earth! And how could it be other than a great joy to men, that thou art honored by them, thou the aurora of the Sun of justice? Dost thou not bring them the tidings of their salvation? Art not thou, O Mary, that bright ray of hope, which suddenly burst forth in the deep abyss of the world’s misery! What should we have been without Jesus? And thou art His dearest Mother, the holiest of God’s creatures, the purest of virgins, and our own most loving Mother!

SERMON 8
Dom Prosper Gueranger (1805-1875)
THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION PREPARES THE WAY FOR THE MESSIAS

Preparing the Way for the Messias
At length, on the distant horizon, rises, with a soft and radiant light, the aurora of the Sun which has been so long desired. The happy Mother of the Messias was to be born before the Messias Himself; and this is the day of the Conception of Mary. The Earth already possesses a first pledge of the divine mercy; the Son of Man is near at hand. Two true Israelites, Joachim and Anne, noble branches of the family of David, find their union, after a long barrenness, made fruitful by the divine omnipotence. Glory be to God, who has been mindful of His promises, and who deigns to announce, from the high heavens, the end of the deluge of iniquity, by sending upon the Earth the sweet white dove that bears the tidings of peace!

The feast of the blessed Virgin’s Immaculate Conception is the most solemn of all those which the Church celebrates during the holy time of Advent; and if the first part of the cycle had to offer us the commemoration of someone of the mysteries of Mary, there was none whose object could better harmonize with the spirit of the Church in this mystic season of expectation. Let us, then, celebrate this solemnity with joy; for the Conception of Mary tells us that the Birth of Jesus is not far off.

The intention of the Church, in this feast, is not only to celebrate the anniversary of the happy moment in which began, in the womb of the pious Anne, the life of the ever-glorious Virgin Mary; but also to honor the sublime privilege, by which Mary was preserved from the original stain, which, by a sovereign and universal decree, is contracted by all the children of Adam the very moment they are conceived in their mother’s womb. The Faith of the Catholic Church on the subject of the Conception of Mary is this: that at the very instant when God united the soul of Mary, which He had created, to the body which it was to animate, this ever-blessed soul did not only not contract the stain, which at that same instant defiles every human soul, but was filled with an immeasurable grace which rendered her, from .that moment, the mirror of the sanctity of God Himself, as far as this is possible to a creature. The Church with her infallible authority, declared, by the lips of Pope Pius IX, that this article of her Faith had been revealed by God Himself. The Definition was received with enthusiasm by the whole of Christendom, and the eighth of December of the year 1854: was thus made one of the most memorable days of the Church’s history.

It was due to His own infinite sanctity that God should suspend, in this .instance, the law which His divine justice had passed upon all the children of Adam. The relations which Mary was to bear to the Divinity, could not be reconciled with her undergoing the humiliation of this punishment. She was not only daughter of the eternal Father; she was destined also to become the very Mother of the Son, and the veritable bride of the Holy Ghost. Nothing defiled could be permitted to enter, even for an instant of time, into the creature that was thus predestined to contract such close relations with the adorable Trinity; not a speck could be permitted to tarnish in Mary that perfect purity which the infinitely holy God requires even in those who are one day to be admitted to enjoy the sight of His divine majesty in Heaven; in a word, as the great Doctor St. Anselm says:

“It was just that this holy Virgin should be adorned with the greatest purity which can be conceived after that of God Himself, since God the Father was to give to her, as her Child, that only-begotten Son, whom He loved as Himself, as being begotten to Him from His own bosom; and this in such a manner, that the selfsame Son of God was, by nature, the Son of both God the Father and this blessed Virgin. This same Son chose her to be substantially His Mother; and the Holy Ghost willed that in her womb He would operate the conception and birth of Him from whom He Himself proceeded” (St. Anselm, De Conceptione Virginali, chapter 18).

Moreover, the close ties which were to unite the Son of God with Mary, and which would elicit from Him the tenderest love and the most filial reverence for her, had been present to the divine thought from all eternity: and the conclusion forces itself upon us that therefore the divine Word had for this His future Mother a love infinitely greater than that which He bore to all His other creatures. Mary’s honor was infinitely dear to Him, because she was to be His Mother, chosen to be so by His eternal and merciful decrees. The Son’s love protected the Mother.

She, indeed, in her sublime humility, willingly submitted to whatever the rest of God’s creatures had brought on themselves, and obeyed every tittle of those laws which were never meant for her: but that humiliating barrier, which confronts every child of Adam at the first moment of his existence, and keeps him from light and grace until he shall have been regenerated by a new birth-oh! this could not be permitted to stand in Mary’s way, her Son forbade it.

The eternal Father would not do less for the second Eve than He had done for the first, who was created, as was also the first Adam, in the state of original justice, which she afterwards forfeited by sin. The Son of God would not permit that the woman, from whom He was to take the nature of Man, should be deprived of that gift which He had given even to her who was the mother of sin. The Holy Ghost, who was to overshadow Mary and produce Jesus within her by His divine operation, would not permit that foul stain, in which we are all conceived, to rest, even for an instant, on this His Bride. All men were to contract the sin of Adam; the sentence was universal; but God’s own Mother is not included. God who is the author of that law, God who was free to make it as He willed, had power to exclude from it her whom He had predestined to be His own in so many ways; He could exempt her, and it was just that He should exempt her; therefore, He did it.

Was it not this grand exemption which God Himself foretold, when the guilty ;pair, whose children we all are, appeared before Him In the garden of Eden? In the anathema which fell upon the serpent, there was included a promise of mercy to us. “I will put enmities,” said the Lord, “between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head” (Genesis 3:15). Thus was salvation promised the human race under the form of a victory over Satan; and this victory is to be gained by the Woman, and she will gain it for us also. Even granting, as some read this text, that it is the Son of the Woman that is alone to gain this victory, the enmity between the Woman and the serpent is clearly expressed, and she, the Woman, with her own foot, is to crush the head of the hated serpent. The second Eve is to be worthy of the second Adam, conquering and not to be conquered.

The human race is one day to be avenged not only by God made Man, but also by the Woman miraculously exempted from every stain of sin, in whom the primeval creation, which was in justice and holiness (Ephesians 4:24), will thus reappear, just as though the Original Sin had never been committed.

Raise up your heads, then, ye children of Adam, and shake off your chain! This day the humiliation which weighed you down is annihilated. Behold, Mary, who is of the same flesh and blood as yourselves, has seen the torrent of sin, which swept along all the generations of mankind, flow back at her presence and not touch her: the infernal dragon has turned away his head, not daring to breathe his venom upon her; the dignity of your origin is given to her in all its primitive grandeur. This happy day, then, on which the original purity of your race is renewed, must be a feast to you. The second Eve is created; and from her own blood (which, with the exception of the element of sin, is the same as that which makes you to be the children of Adam), she is shortly to give you the God-Man, who proceeds from her according to the flesh, as He proceeds from the Father according to the eternal generation.

And how can we do less than admire and love the incomparable purity of Mary in her Immaculate Conception, when we hear even God, who thus prepared her to become His Mother, saying to her, in the divine Canticle, these words of complacent love: “Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee!” (Canticles 4:7). It is the God of all holiness that here speaks; that eye, which sees all things, finds not a vestige, not a shadow of sin; therefore does He delight in her, and admire in her that gift of His own condescending munificence. We cannot be surprised after this, that Gabriel, when he came down from Heaven to announce the Incarnation to her, should be full of admiration at the sight of that purity, whose beginning was so glorious and whose progress was immeasurable; and that this blessed spirit should bow down profoundly before this young Maid of Nazareth, and salute her with: “Hail, O full of grace!” (Luke 1:28).

And who is this Gabriel? An Archangel, that lives amidst the grandest magnificence of God’s creation, amidst all the gorgeous riches of Heaven; who is brother to the Cherubim and Seraphim, to the Thrones and Dominations; whose eye is accustomed to gaze on those nine angelic choir, with their dazzling brightness of countless degrees of light and grace; he has found on Earth, in a creature of a nature below that of angels, the fullness of grace, of that grace which had been given to the angels measuredly. This fullness of grace was in Mary from the very first instant of her existence. She is the future Mother of God, and she was ever holy, ever pure, ever Immaculate.

It is thus, O thou the humblest of creatures, that thy Immaculate Conception has been glorified on Earth! And how could it be other than a great joy to men, that thou art honored by them, thou the aurora of the Sun of justice? Dost thou not bring them the tidings of their salvation? Art not thou, O Mary, that bright ray of hope, which suddenly burst forth in the deep abyss of the world’s misery! What should we have been without Jesus? And thou art His dearest Mother, the holiest of God’s creatures, the purest of virgins, and our own most loving Mother!

Prayer in Praise of Mary
How thy gentle light gladdens our wearied eyest sweet Mother! Generation had followed generation on this Earth of ours. Men looked up to Heaven through their tears, hoping to see appear on the horizon the star which they had been told should disperse the gloomy horrors of the world’s darkness; but death came, and they sank into the tomb, without seeing even the dawn of the light, for which alone they cared to live. It is for us that God had reserved the blessing of seeing thy lovely rising, O thou fair morning star, which sheddest thy blessed rays on the sea, and bringest calm after the long stormy night!

O prepare our eyes that they may behold the divine Sun which will soon follow in thy path, and give to the world His reign of light and day. Prepare our hearts, for it is to our hearts that this Jesus of thine wishes to show Himself. To see Him, our hearts must be pure: purify them, O thou Immaculate Mother! The divine wisdom has willed that of the feasts which the Church dedicates to thee, this of thy Immaculate Conception should be celebrated during Advent; that thus the children of the Church, reflecting on the jealous care wherewith God preserved thee from every stain of sin, because thou wast to be the Mother of His divine Son, might prepare to receive this same Jesus by the most perfect renunciation of every sin and of every attachment to sin.

This great change must be made; and thy prayers, O Mary, will help us to make it! Pray we ask it of thee by the grace God gave thee in thy Immaculate Conception-that our covetousness may be destroyed, our concupiscence extinguished, and our pride turned into humility. Despise not our prayers, dear Mother of that Jesus who chose thee for His dwelling-place, that He might afterwards find one in each of us.

O Mary! Ark of the covenant, built of an incorruptible wood, and covered over with the purest gold! Help us to correspond with those wonderful designs of our God, who, after having found His glory in thine incomparable purity, wills now to seek His glory in our unworthiness, by making us, from being slaves of the devil, His temples and His abode, where He may find His delight. Help us to this, O thou that by the mercy of thy Son hast never known sin! And receive this day our devoutest praise.

Thou art the ark of salvation; the one creature unwrecked in the universal deluge; the white fleece filled with the dew of Heaven, whilst the Earth around is parched; the flame which the many waters could not quench; the lily blooming amidst thorns; the garden shut against the infernal serpent; the fountain sealed, whose limpid water was never ruffled; the house of the Lord, whereon His eyes were ever fixed, and into which nothing defiled could ever enter; the mystical city, of which such glorious things are said (Psalm 86:3).

We delight in telling all thy glorious titles, O Mary! For thou art our Mother, and we love thee, and the Mother’s glory is the glory of her children. Cease not to bless and protect all those that honor thy immense privilege, O thou who wert conceived on this day! May this feast fit us for that mystery, for which thy Conception, thy Birth, and thy Annunciation, are all preparations-the Birth of thy Jesus in Bethlehem: yea, dear Mother, we desire thy Jesus, give Him to us and satisfy the longings of our love.

SERMON 9
St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430)
ON ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST

On the words of the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 11, verse 2 ff): “Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples, and said unto him, are you He that comes, or look we for another?” etc.

1. The lesson of the Holy Gospel has set before us a question touching John the Baptist. May the Lord assist me to resolve it to you, as He has resolved it to us. John was commended, as you have heard, by the testimony of Christ, and in such terms commended, as that there had not risen a greater among those who were born of women. But a greater than he had been born of a Virgin. How much greater?

Let the herald himself declare, how great the difference is between himself and his Judge, Whose herald he is. For John went before Christ both in his birth and preaching; but it was in obedience that he went before Him; not in preferring himself before Him. For so the whole train of attendants walks before the judge; yet they who walk before, are really after him. How signal a testimony then did John give to Christ? Even to saying that he was “not worthy to loose the latchet of His sandals.” And what more? Of His fullness, says he, have all we received.

He confessed that he was but a lamp lighted at His Light, and so he took refuge at His feet, lest venturing on high, he should be extinguished by the wind of pride. So great indeed was he, that he was taken for Christ; and if he had not himself testified that he was not He, the mistake would have continued, and he would have been reputed to be the Christ. What striking humility! Honor was offered him by the people, and he himself refused it. Men were at fault in his greatness, and he humbled himself. He had no wish to increase by the words of men, seeing he had comprehended the Word of God.

2. This, then, did John say concerning Christ. And what said Christ of John? We have just now heard. He began to say to the multitudes concerning John: “What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind?” Surely not; for John was not blown about by every wind of doctrine. “But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft garments?” No, for John was clothed in rough clothing; he had his garment of camel’s hair, not of down. “But what went ye out for to see? A Prophet? Yea, and more than a Prophet!”

Why more than a Prophet? The Prophets foretold that the Lord would come, whom they desired to see, and saw not; but to him was vouchsafed what they sought. John saw the Lord; he saw Him, pointed his finger toward Him, and said, “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world”—behold, here He is. Now had He come and was not acknowledged; and so a mistake was made also as to John himself. Behold then here is He whom the Patriarchs desired to see, whom the Prophets foretold, whom the Law prefigured. “Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!” And he gave a goodly testimony to the Lord, and the Lord to him. “Among them that are born of women,” says the Lord, “there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist! Notwithstanding, he that is less in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he; less in time, but greater in majesty.” This He said, meaning Himself to be understood.

Now exceedingly great among men is John the Baptist, than whom among men Christ alone is greater. It may also be thus stated and explained: “Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding, he that is the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he.” Not in the sense that I have before explained it. “Notwithstanding, he that is the least in the Kingdom of Heaven is greater than he”—the Kingdom of Heaven he meant where the Angels are; he then that is the least among the Angels, is greater than John. Thus He set forth to us the excellence of that kingdom which we should long for; set before us a city, of which we should desire to be citizens. What sort of citizens are there? How great are they! Whoso is the least there, is greater than John. Than what John? Than whom there has not risen a greater among them that are born of women.

3. Thus have we heard the true and good record both of John concerning Christ, and of Christ concerning John. What then is the meaning of this; that John sent his disciples to Him when He was shut up in prison, on the eve of being put to death, and said to them: “Go, say to Him, Are You He that should come, or do we look for another?” Is this then all that praise? That praise is it turned to doubting? What do you say, John? To Whom are you speaking? What do you say? You speak to your Judge, yourself the herald. You stretched out the finger, and pointed Him out; you said: “Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world!” Thou said: “Of His fullness have we all received!” Thou said: “I am not worthy to unloose the latchet of His shoes!” And do you now say: “Are You He that should come, or do we look for another?”

Is not this the same Christ? And who are you? Are you not His forerunner? Are you not he of whom it was foretold: “Behold, I send my messenger before Your face, who shall prepare Your way before you?” How do you prepare the way, and you are yourself straying from the way?

So then the disciples of John came; and the Lord said to them: “Go, tell John, the blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the poor have the Gospel preached to them; and blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me!” Do not suspect that John was offended in Christ. And yet his words do sound so; Are You He that should come? Ask my works: “The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, the poor have the Gospel preached to them”—and do you ask whether I am He? My works, says He, are My words. Go, show him again. And as they departed. Lest haply any one should say, John was good at first, and the Spirit of God forsook him; therefore after their departure, he spoke these words; after their departure whom John had sent, Christ commended John.

4. What is the meaning then of this obscure question? May that Sun shine upon us, from which that lamp derived its flame. And so the resolution of it is altogether plain. John had separate disciples of his own; not as in separation from Christ, but prepared as a witness to him. For meet it was that such a one should give his testimony to Christ, who was himself also gathering disciples, and who might have been envious of Him, for that he could not see Him.

Therefore because John’s disciples highly esteemed their master, they heard from John his record concerning Christ, and marveled; and as he was about to die, it was his wish that they should be confirmed by him. For no doubt they were saying among themselves: “Such great things does he say of Him, but none such of himself!” Go then, ask Him; not because I doubt, but that you may be instructed. Go, ask Him, hear from Himself what I am in the habit of telling you; you have heard the herald, be confirmed by the Judge. “Go, ask Him, Are You He that should come, or do we look for another?”

They went accordingly and asked; not for John’s sake, but for their own. And for their sakes did Christ say: “The blind see, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the lepers are cleansed, the dead are raised, the poor have the Gospel preached to them!” You see Me, acknowledge Me then; ye see the works, acknowledge the Doer. And blessed is he whosoever shall not be offended in Me. But it is of you I speak, not of John. For that we might know that He spoke not this of John, as they departed, He began to speak to the multitudes concerning John; the True, the Truth Himself, proclaimed his true praises.

5. I think this question has been sufficiently explained. Let it suffice then to have prolonged my address thus far. Now keep the poor in mind. Give, you who have not given hitherto; believe me, you will not lose it. Yes, truly, that only it seems ye lose, which you do not carry to the circus. Now must we render unto the poor the offerings of such of you as have offered anything, and the amount which we have is much less than your usual offerings. Shake off this sloth. I have become a beggar for beggars; what is that to me? I would be a beggar for beggars, that you may be reckoned among the number of children.

SERMON 10
St. Alphonsus Liguori
SERMON FOR THE SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

ON THE SUBJECT OF THE BENEFIT OF HAVING TRIBULATIONS

“Now when John had heard of the wonderful works of Christ, … etc.” (Matthew 9:2).

In tribulations God enriches His beloved souls with the greatest graces. Behold, St. John in his chains comes to the knowledge of the works of Jesus Christ: “When John had heard in prison the works of Christ.” Great indeed are the advantages of tribulations. The Lord sends them to us, not because He wishes our misfortune, but because He desires our welfare. Hence, when they come upon us we must embrace them with thanksgiving, and must not only resign ourselves to the divine will, but must also rejoice that God treats us as He treated His Son Jesus Christ, whose life, upon this Earth was always full of tribulation. I shall now show, in the first point, the advantages we derive from tribulations; and in the second, I shall point out the manner in which we ought to bear them.

First Point. On the great advantages we derive from tribulations.

1. “What doth he know that had not been tried? A man that hath much experience shall think of many things, and he that hath learned many things shall show forth understanding” (Ecclesiasticus 34:9). They who live in prosperity, and have no experience of adversity, know nothing of the state of their souls. In the first place, tribulation opens the eyes which prosperity had kept shut. St. Paul remained blind after Jesus Christ appeared to him, and, during his blindness, he perceived the errors in which he lived. During his imprisonment in Babylon, King Manasses had recourse to God, was convinced of the malice of his sins, and did penance for them. “And after that he was in distress he prayed to the Lord his God, and did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers” (2 Paralipomenon 33:12). The Prodigal Son, when he found himself under the necessity of feeding swine, and afflicted with hunger, exclaimed: “I will arise and go to my father” (Luke 15:18).

Secondly, tribulation takes from our hearts all affections to earthly things. When a mother wishes to wean her infant, she puts gall on her breasts, to excite his disgust, and induce him to take better food. God treats us in a similar manner: to detach us from temporal goods, he mingles them with gall, that by tasting its bitterness, we may conceive a dislike for them, and place our affections on the things of Heaven. “God,” says St. Augustine, “mingles bitterness with earthly pleasures, that we may seek another felicity, whose sweetness does not deceive” (Sermon xxix., de Verb. Dom).

Thirdly, they who live in prosperity are molested by many temptations of pride, of vain-glory; of desires of acquiring greater wealth, great honors, and greater pleasures. Tribulations free us from these temptations, and make us humble and content in the state in which the Lord has placed us. Hence the Apostle says: “We are chastised by the Lord so that we may not be condemned with this world” (1 Corinthians 11:32).

2. Fourthly, by tribulation we atone for the sins we have committed much better than by voluntary works of penance. “Be assured,” says St. Augustine, “that God is a physician, and that tribulation is a salutary medicine.” O how great is the efficacy of tribulation in healing the wounds caused by our sins! Hence, the same saint rebukes the sinner who complains of God, for sending him tribulations. “Why,” he says, “do you complain? What you suffer is a remedy, not a punishment” (In Psalm 55). Job called those happy men whom God corrects by tribulation; because He heals them with the very hands with which He strikes and wounds them. “Blessed is the man whom God correcteth. . . . For He woundeth and cureth. He striketh, and His hand shall heal” (Job 5:17-18). Hence, St. Paul gloried in his tribulations: “We glory also in tribulations” (Romans 5:3).

3. Fifthly, by convincing us that God alone is able and willing to relieve us in our miseries, tribulations remind us of Him, and compel us to have recourse to His mercy. “In their affliction they will rise early to Me” (Osee 6:1). Hence, addressing the afflicted, the Lord said: “Come to Me, all you that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you” (Matthew 11:28). Hence He is called “a helper in troubles” (Psalm 45:1). “When,” says David, “He slew them, then they sought Him, and they returned” (Psalm 77:34). When the Jews were afflicted, and were slain by their enemies, they remembered the Lord, and returned to Him.

4. Sixthly, tribulations enable us to acquire great merits before God, by giving us opportunities of exercising the virtues of humility, of patience, and of resignation to the divine will. The Venerable John d’Avila used to say, that a single blessed be God: in adversity, is worth more than a thousand acts in prosperity. “Take away,” says St. Ambrose, “the contests of the martyrs, and you have taken away their crowns” (Commentary on Luke, chapter 4). O what a treasure of merit is acquired by patiently bearing insults, poverty, and sickness! Insults from men were the great objects of the desires of the saints, who sought to be despised for the love of Jesus Christ, and thus to be made like unto Him.

5. How great is the merit gained by bearing with the inconvenience of poverty. “My God and my all,” says St. Francis of Assisi: in expressing this sentiment, he enjoyed more of true riches than all the princes of the Earth. How truly has St. Teresa said, that “the less we have here, the more we shall enjoy hereafter.” O how happy is the man who can say from his heart: “My Jesus, Thou alone art sufficient for me!” “If,” says St. John Chrysostom, “you esteem yourself unhappy because you are poor, you are indeed miserable and deserving of tears; not because you are poor, but because, being poor, you do not embrace your poverty, and esteem yourself happy” (Sermons, ii., Epistle to the Philippians)

6. By bearing patiently with the pains of sickness, a great, and perhaps the greater, part of the crown which is prepared for us in Heaven is completed. The sick sometimes complain that in sickness they can do nothing; but they err; for, in their infirmities they can do all things, by accepting their sufferings with peace and resignation. “The Cross of Christ,” says St. John Chrysostom, “is the key of Paradise.” (Commentary on Luke, de vir).

7. St. Francis de Sales used to say: “To suffer constantly for Jesus is the science of the saints; we shall thus soon become saints.” It is by sufferings that God proves His servants, and finds them worthy of Himself (Wisdom 3:5). “Whom,” says St. Paul, “the Lord loveth, He chastiseth; and He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth” (Hebrews 12:6). Hence, Jesus Christ once said to St. Teresa: “Be assured that the souls dearest to My Father, are those who suffer the greatest afflictions.” Hence Job said: “If we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil?” (Job 2:10). If we have gladly received from God the goods of this Earth, why should we not receive more cheerfully tribulations, which are far more useful to us than worldly prosperity? St. Gregory informs us that, as flame fanned by the wind increases, so the soul is made perfect when she is oppressed by tribulations (Letter xxv).

8. To holy souls, the most severe afflictions are the temptations by which the Devil impels them to offend God: but they who bear these temptations with patience, and banish them by turning to God for help, shall acquire great merit. “And,” says St. Paul, “God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will also make issue with the temptation that you may be able to bear it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). God permits us to be molested by temptations, that, by banishing them, we may gain greater merit. “Blessed,” says the Lord, “are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matthew 5:5). They are blessed, because, according to the Apostle, our tribulations are momentary and very light, compared with the greatness of the glory which they shall obtain for us for eternity in Heaven. “For that which is at present momentary and light of our tribulation, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight of glory” (1 Corinthians 4:17).

9. It is necessary, then, says St. John Chrysostom, to bear tribulations in peace; for, if you accept them with resignation, you shall gain great merit; but if you submit to them with reluctance, you shall increase, instead of diminishing, your misery”Si vero ægre feras, neque calamitatum minorem facies, et majorem reddes procellam” (Hom. Ixiv., ad Pop). If we wish to be saved, we must submit to trials. “Through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God.” (Acts 14:21). A great servant of God used to say, that Paradise is the place of the poor, of the persecuted, of the humble and afflicted. Hence St. Paul says: “Patience is necessary for you, that, doing the will of God, you may receive the promise” (Hebrews 10:36). Speaking of the tribulations of the saints, St. Cyprian asks “What are they to the servants of God, whom Paradise invites?” (Letter to Demetrius). Is it much for those to whom the eternal goods of Heaven are promised, to embrace the short afflictions of this life?

10. In fine, the scourges of Heaven are sent not for our injury, but for our good. “Let us believe that these scourges of the Lord, with which, like servants, we are chastised, have happened for our amendment, and not for our destruction.” (Judith 8:27). “God,” says St. Augustine, “is angry when He does not scourge the sinner” (In Psalm 89). When we see a sinner in tribulation in this life, we may infer that God wishes to have mercy on him in the next, and that God exchanges eternal for temporal chastisement. But miserable the sinner whom the Lord does not punish in this life! For those whom He does not chastise here, He treasures up His wrath, and for them He reserves eternal chastisement.

11. “Why,” asks the Prophet Jeremias, “doth the way of the wicked prosper?” (Jeremias 12:1). Why, Lord, do sinners prosper? To this the same prophet answers: “Gather them together as sheep for a sacrifice, and prepare them for the day of slaughter” (Tobias 5:3). As on the day of sacrifice the sheep intended for slaughter are gathered together, so the impious, as victims of divine wrath, are destined to eternal death. “Destine them,” says Du Hamel, in his commentary on this passage, “as victims of thy anger on the day of sacrifice.”

12. When, then, God sends us tribulations, let us say with Job: “I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I have deserved” (Job 33:27). O Lord, my sins merit far greater chastisement than that which Thou hast inflicted on me. We should even pray with St. Augustine, “Burn, cut, spare not in this life, that Thou mayest spare for eternity.” How frightful is the chastisement of the sinner of whom the Lord says: “Let us have pity on the wicked, but he will not learn justice” (Isaias 26:10). Let us abstain from chastising the impious: as long as they remain in this life they will continue to live in sin, and shall thus be punished with eternal torments. On this passage St. Bernard says: “Misericordiam hanc nolo, super omnem iram miseratio ista.”… “Lord, I do not wish for such mercy, which is a chastisement that surpasses all chastisements” (Sermon 42, in Cant.).

13. The man whom the Lord afflicts in this life has a certain proof that he is dear to God. “And,” said the angel to Tobias, “because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptations should prove thee.” (Tobias 12:13). Hence, St. James pronounces blessed the man who is afflicted: “because after he shall have been proved by tribulation, he will receive the crown of life” (James 1:12).

14. He who wishes to share in the glory of the saints, must suffer in this life as the saints have suffered. None of the saints has been esteemed, or treated well by the world—all of them have been despised and persecuted. In them have been verified the words of the Apostle: “All that will live godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution” (2 Timothy 3:12). Hence St. Augustine said, “that they who are unwilling to suffer persecutions, have not as yet begun to be Christians” ... “Si putas non habere persecutiones, nondum cæpisti esse Christianus” (In Psalm Iv). When we are in tribulation, let us be satisfied with the consolation of knowing that the Lord is then near us and in our company. “The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart” (Psalm 33:19).”I am with him in tribulation.” (Psalm 90:15).

Second Point. On the manner in which we should bear tribulations.

15. He who suffers tribulations in this world should, in the first place, abandon sin, and endeavor to recover the grace of God; for as long as he remains in sin, the merit of all his sufferings is lost. “If,” says St. Paul, “I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3). If you suffered all the torments of the martyrs; or bore to be burned alive, and were not in the state of grace, it would profit you nothing.

16. But, to those who can suffer with God, and with resignation for God’s sake, all the tribulations shall be a source of comfort and gladness. “Your sorrow shall be turned into joy” (John 16:20). Hence, after having been insulted and beaten by the Jews, the Apostles departed from the council full of joy, because they had been maltreated for the love of Jesus Christ. “And they indeed went from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Jesus” (Acts 5:41). Hence, when God visits us with any tribulations, we must say with Jesus Christ: “The chalice which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it?” (John 18:11). It is necessary to know that every tribulation, though it may come from men, is sent to us by God.

17. When we are surrounded on all sides with tribulations, and know not what to do, we must turn to God, Who alone can console us. Thus King Josaphat, in his distress, said to the Lord: “As we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to Thee!” (2 Paralipomenon 20:12). Thus David, also in his tribulation, had recourse to God, and God consoled him: “In my trouble I cried to the Lord, and He heard me!” (Psalm 119:1). We should turn to God, and pray to Him, and never cease to pray till He hears us. “As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress, so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until He have mercy on us” (Psalm 122:2). We must keep our eyes continually raised to God, and must continue to implore His aid, until He is moved to compassion for our miseries. We must have great confidence in the Heart of Jesus Christ, and ought not to imitate certain persons, who instantly lose courage, because they do not feel that they are heard as soon as they begin to pray. To them may be applied the words of the Savior to St. Peter: “O thou of little Faith! Why didst thou doubt?” (Matthew 14:31). When the favors which we ask are spiritual, or can be profitable to our souls, we should be certain of being heard, provided we persevere in prayer, and do not lose confidence. “All things whatsoever you ask when ye pray, believe that you shall receive, and they shall come unto you” (Mark 11:24). In tribulations, then, we should never cease to hope with confidence that the divine mercy will console us; and if our afflictions continue, we must say with Job: “Although He should kill me, I will trust in Him.” (Job 13:15).

18. Souls of little Faith, instead of turning to God in their tribulations, have recourse to human means, and thus provoke God’s anger, and remain in their miseries. “Unless the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it” (Psalm 126:1). On this passage St. Augustine writes: “Ipse ædificat, ipse intellectum aperit, ipse ad finem applicat sensum vestrum: et tamen laboramus et nos tanquam operarii, sed nisi Dominus custodierit civitatem,” etc. “All good all help must come from the Lord. Without Him creatures can give us no assistance.”

19. Of this the Lord complains by the mouth of his prophet: “Is not,” he says, “the Lord in Sion? . . .Why then have they provoked me to wrath with their idols. . . Is there no balm in Galaad? Or is there no physician there? Why then is not the wound of the daughter of my people closed?” (Jeremias 8:19, 22). Am I not in Sion? Why then do men provoke me to anger by recurring to creatures, which they convert into idols by placing in them all their hopes? Do they seek a remedy for their miseries? Why do they not seek it in Galaad, a mountain full of balsamic ointments, which signify the divine mercy? There they can find the physician and the remedy of all their evils. Why then, says the Lord, do your wounds remain open? Why are they not healed? It is because you have recourse not to Me, but to creatures, and because you confide in them, and not in Me.

20. In another place the Lord says: “Am I become a wilderness to Israel, or a late ward springing land? Why then have My people said: ‘We are rebelling! We will come to Thee no more? … But My people have forgotten Me, days without number” (Jeremias 2:31-32). God complains, and says: “Why, my children, do you say that you will have recourse to Me no more? Am I become to you a barren land, which gives no fruit, or gives it too late? Is it for this reason that you have so long forgotten Me?” By these words He manifests to us His desire that we pray to Him, in order that He may be able to give us His graces; and He also gives us to understand that when we pray to Him, He is not slow, but instantly begins to assist us.

21. The Lord, says David, is not asleep when we turn to His goodness, and ask the graces which are profitable to our souls: He hears us immediately, because He is anxious for our welfare. “Behold, He shall neither slumber, nor sleep, that keepeth Israel” (Psalm 120:4). When we pray for temporal favors, St. Bernard says that God “will give what we ask, or something more useful.” He will grant us the grace which we desire, whenever it is profitable to our souls; or He will give us a more useful grace, such as the grace to resign ourselves to the divine will, and to suffer with patience our tribulations, which shall merit a great increase of glory in Heaven.

SERMON 11
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
SERMON ON THE COMING OF CHRIST

“And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying: Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above. And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord.” (Isaias 7:10-12)

We have heard Isaiah persuading King Achaz to ask for a sign from the Lord, either in the depth of hell, or in the height above. We have heard the King’s answer―having the semblance of piety, but not its reality. On this account he deserved to be rejected by Him Who sees the heart, and to Whom the thoughts of men confess. “I will not ask,” he says, “and I will not tempt the Lord.”

Achaz was puffed up with the pomp of the regal throne, and skilled in the cunning words of human wisdom. Isaias has therefore heard the words: “Go, tell that fox to ask for himself a sign from the Lord unto the depths of Hell.” For the fox had a hole, but it was in hell, where, if he descended, he would find One Who would catch the wise in his cunning. Again: “Go,” says the Lord, “to that bird, and let him ask for a sign in the heights above,” for the bird hath his high nest; but though he ascend to heaven, he will there find Him Who “resisteth the proud,” and trampleth with might on the necks of the lofty and high-minded. Achaz refused to ask a sign of that sovereign power, or that incomprehensible depth.

Wherefore the Lord Himself promised to the house of David a sign of goodness and charity, that those whom the exhibition of His power could not terrify, nor the manifestations of His wisdom subdue, might be allured by His exceeding love.

In the words “depth of Hell” may be not unfitly portrayed the charity “greater than which no man hath,” that Christ should at death descend even unto Hell “for His friends.” And in this God would teach Achaz either to dread the majesty of Him Who reigns in the highest, or to embrace the charity of Him Who descends to the lowest. Grievous, therefore, alike to God and man is he who will neither think on majesty with fear nor meditate on charity with love. “Wherefore,” the Prophet says, “the Lord himself shall give you a sign” (Isaias 7: 14) ― a sign resplendent alike with majesty and love. “Behold a Virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and His Name shall be called Emmanuel, which is interpreted, ‘God with us.’” O Adam! flee not away, for God is with us! Fear not, O man, nor be afraid to hear His Name; it is “God with us.” With us in the likeness of our nature; with us for our service and for our profit. For us He is come as one of us, passible like unto us.

It is said, “He will eat butter and honey”; as if to say, He shall be a little one, fed with infant’s food. “That he may know how to reject evil and choose good.” As in the case of the forbidden tree, the tree of transgression, so now we hear of an option between good and evil. But the choice of the second Adam is better than that of the first. Choosing the good, He refused the evil; not as He Who loved cursing, and it came upon Him; and He would not have blessing, and it was far from Him. (Psalm 108:18).

In the prophecy that He would eat butter and honey you may notice the choice of this little one. But may His grace support us, that what He grants us the power to understand He may likewise enable us to explain!

From milk we obtain two substances, butter and cheese. Butter is oily and moist; cheese, on the contrary, is hard. Our little one knew well how to choose when, eating the butter, He did not taste the cheese. Behold, therefore, how He chose the best; He assumed our nature free from all corruption of sin. Of sinners we read that their heart is curdled as milk; the purity of their nature is corrupted by the fermentation of malice and iniquity.

And now let us turn to the honey. Our bee feeds among lilies, and dwells in the flowery country of the angels. This bee flew to the city of Nazareth, which is, interpreted, a flower; He came to the sweet-smelling flower of perpetual virginity; He settled upon it, He clove to it. But bees, besides their sweet honey, have likewise their sharp sting. The Prophet that sang of the mercy and judgment of the Lord, knew that this bee had a sting as well as honey. (Psalm 100:1).

Nevertheless, when He descended to us He brought honey only ― that is, mercy, not judgment ― so that to the disciples who wished to call down fire from heaven on the cities that would not receive Him, He answered: “The Son of Man is not come to judge the world, but to save it” (John 12:47). Our bee had no sting in His mortal life; amid the extremity of insult He showed mercy, not judgment. Christ, then, may be symbolized both as a bee and as the flower springing from the rod. And, as we know, the rod is the Virgin Mother of God.

This flower, the Son of the Virgin, is “white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands” (Canticles 5:10). It is the flower on which the angels desire to look, the flower whose perfume shall revive the dead, the flower, as He Himself declares, of the field, not of the garden. This flower grew and flourished in the field independent of all human culture; unsown by the hand of man, untilled by the spade, or fattened by moisture. So did the womb of Mary blossom. As a rich pasture it brought forth the flower of eternal beauty, whose freshness shall never fade nor see corruption, whose glory is to everlasting.

O sublime virgin rod, that raisest thy holy head aloft, even to Him Who sitteth on the throne, even to the Lord of Majesty! And this is not wonderful, for thou hast planted thy roots deeply in the soil of humility. O truly celestial plant, than which none more precious, none more holy! O true tree of life, alone deemed worthy to bear the fruit of salvation! Thou art caught, O wicked serpent, caught in thy own cunning; thy falsity is laid bare. Two evils thou hadst imputed to thy Creator; thou hadst defamed Him by envy and by lying, but in both imputations thou art convicted a liar. He to whom thou hadst promised that he should not die did die, “and the truth of the Lord remaineth for ever” (Psalm 116:2). And now answer, if thou canst, what tree God could forbid man, seeing He denied him not this chosen rod, this sublime fruit? For “He that spared not His own Son, how hath He not with Him given us all things?” (Rom. viii. 32.)

It is now surely clear how the Virgin is the royal way by which the Savior has drawn near to us, coming forth from her womb as a Bridegroom from His bridal chamber. Holding on, therefore, to this way, let us endeavor to ascend to Him by her, through Whom He descended to us; let us seek His grace through her by whom He came to help our need.
O blessed finder of grace! Mother of life! Mother of salvation! may we through thee have access to thy Son, that through thee we may be received by Him Who through thee was given to us.

May thy integrity and purity excuse before Him the stain of our corruption; may thy humility, so pleasing to God, obtain from Him the pardon of our vanity. May thy abundant charity cover the multitude of our iniquity, and thy glorious fruitfulness supply our indigence of merits. Our Lady, our Mediatrix, our Advocate, reconcile us to thy Son, commend us to thy Son, present us to thy Son. By the grace thou hast found, by the prerogative thou didst merit, by the mercy thou didst bring forth, obtain, O blessed one, that He Who vouchsafed to become partaker of our infirmity and misery, may, through thy intercession, make us partakers of His blessedness and glory, Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord, Who is God blessed above all for evermore. Amen.

SERMON 12
St. Alphonsus Liguori
SERMON FOR THE THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

3rd SUNDAY OF ADVENT
ON THE MEANS NECESSARY FOR SALVATION

“I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord!’” (John 1:23).

All would wish to be saved and to enjoy the glory of Paradise; but to gain Heaven, it is necessary to walk in the straight road that leads to eternal bliss. This road is the observance of the divine commands. Hence, in his preaching, the Baptist exclaimed: “Make straight the way of the Lord.” In order to be able to walk always in the way of the Lord, without turning to the right or to the left, it is necessary to adopt the proper means. These means are, first, diffidence in ourselves; secondly, confidence in God; thirdly, resistance to temptations.

First Means. Diffidence in ourselves.

1. “With fear and trembling,” says the Apostle, “work out your salvation.” (Philippians 2:12). To secure eternal life, we must be always penetrated with fear, we must be always afraid of ourselves (with fear and trembling), and distrust altogether our own strength; for, without the divine grace we can do nothing. “Without Me,” says Jesus Christ, “you can do nothing.” We can do nothing for the salvation of our own souls.

St. Paul tells us, that of ourselves we are not capable of even a good thought. “Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God.” (2 Corinthians 3:5). Without the aid of the Holy Ghost, we cannot even pronounce the Name of Jesus so as to deserve a reward. “And no one can say the Lord Jesus, but by the Holy Ghost” (1 Corinthians 12:8).

2. Miserable the man who trusts to himself in the way of God. St. Peter experienced the sad effects of self-confidence. Jesus Christ said to him: “In this night, before cock-crow, thou wilt deny Me thrice!” (Matthew 26:31). Trusting in his own strength and his goodwill, the Apostle replied: “Yea, though I should die with Thee, I will not deny Thee!” (Matthew 26:35).

What was the result? On the night on which Jesus Christ had been taken, Peter was reproached in the court of Caiphas with being one of the disciples of the Savior. The reproach filled him with fear: he thrice denied his Master, and swore that he had never known Him. Humility and diffidence in ourselves are so necessary for us, that God permits us sometimes to fall into sin, that, by our fall, we may acquire humility arid a knowledge of our own weakness. Through lack of humility David also fell: hence, after his sin, he said: “Before I was humbled, I offended.” (Psalm 118:67).

3. Hence the Holy Ghost pronounces blessed the man who is always in fear: “Blessed is the man who is always fearful.” (Proverbs 28:14). He who is afraid of falling distrusts his own strength, avoids as much as possible all dangerous occasions, and recommends himself often to God, and thus preserves his soul from sin. But the man who is not fearful, but full of self-confidence, easily exposes himself to the danger of sin: he seldom recommends himself to God, and thus he falls.

Let us imagine a person suspended over a great precipice by a cord held by another. Surely he would constantly cry out to the person who supports him: “Hold fast! Hold fast! For God’s sake, do not let go!” We are all in danger of falling into the abyss of all crime, if God does not support us. Hence we should constantly beseech Him to keep His hands over us, and to help us in all dangers.

4. In rising from bed, St. Philip Neri used to say every morning: “Lord, keep Thy hand this day over Philip! If Thou do not, Philip will betray Thee!” And one day, as he walked through the city, reflecting on his own misery, he frequently said, “I despair! I despair!” A Certain religious who heard him, believing that the saint was really tempted to despair, corrected him, and encouraged him to hope in the Divine Mercy. But the saint replied: “I despair of myself, but I trust in God.” Hence, during this life, in which we are exposed to so many dangers of losing God, it is necessary for us to live always in great diffidence of ourselves, and full of confidence in God.

Second Means. Confidence in God.

5. St. Francis de Sales says, that the mere attention to self-diffidence on account of our own weakness, would only render us pusillanimous, and expose us to great danger of abandoning ourselves to a tepid life, or even to despair. The more we distrust our own strength, the more we should confide in the divine mercy. This is a balance, says the same saint, in which the more the scale of confidence in God is raised, the more the scale of diffidence in ourselves descends.

6. Listen to me, O sinners who have had the misfortune of having hitherto offended God, and of being condemned to Hell: if the Devil tells you that but little hope remains of your eternal salvation, answer him in the words of the Scripture: “No one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded!” (Ecclesiasticus 2:11). No sinner has ever trusted in God, and has been lost. Make, then, a firm purpose to sin no more; abandon yourselves into the arms of the divine goodness; and rest assured that God will have mercy on you, and save you from Hell. “Cast thy care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee!” (Psalm 54:23). The Lord, as we read in Blosius, one day said to St. Gertrude: “He who confides in Me, does Me such violence that I cannot but hear all his petitions!”

7. “But,” says the Prophet Isaias, “they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall take wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk, and not faint!” (Isaias 40:31). They who place their confidence in God shall renew their strength; they shall lay aside their own weakness, and shall acquire the strength of God; they shall fly like eagles in the way of the Lord, without fatigue and without ever failing. David says, that “mercy shall encompass him that hopeth in the Lord!” (Psalm 31:10). He that hopes in the Lord shall be encompassed by His mercy, so that he shall never be abandoned by it.

8. St. Cyprian says, that the Divine Mercy is an inexhaustible fountain. They who bring vessels of the greatest confidence, draw from it the greatest graces Hence the Royal Prophet has said: “Let thy mercy Lord be upon us, as we have hoped in Thee!” (Psalm 32:22). Whenever the Devil terrifies us by placing before our eyes the great difficulty of persevering in the grace of God, in spite of all the dangers and sinful occasions of this life, let us, without answering him, raise our eyes to God, and hope that, in His goodness, He will certainly send us help to resist every attack. “I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me!” (Psalm 120:1). And when the enemy represents to us our weakness, let us say with the Apostle “I can do all in Him Who strengtheneth me!” (Philippians 4:13) Of myself I can do nothing; but I trust in God, that by His grace I shall be able to do all things.

9. Hence, in the midst of the greatest dangers of perdition to which we are exposed, we should continually turn to Jesus Christ, and, throwing ourselves into the hands of Him, Who redeemed us by His death, should say: “Into Thy hands I commend my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth!” (Psalm 30:6). This prayer should be said with great confidence of obtaining eternal life, and to it we should add: “In Thee, O Lord, I have hoped; let me not be confounded forever!” (Psalm 30:1).

Third Means. Resistance to temptations.

10. It is true that when we have recourse to God with confidence in dangerous temptations, He assists us; but, in certain very urgent occasions, the Lord sometimes wishes that we cooperate, and do violence to ourselves, to resist temptations. On such occasions, it will not be enough to have recourse to God once or twice; it will be necessary to multiply prayers, and frequently to prostrate ourselves and send up our sighs before the image of the Blessed Virgin and the crucifix, crying out with tears: “Mary, my mother, assist me! Jesus, my Savior, save me! For thy mercy’s sake do not abandon me, do not permit me to lose Thee!”

11. Let us keep in mind the words of the Gospel: “How narrow is the gate and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it.” (Matthew 7:14). The way to Heaven is strait and narrow: they who wish to arrive at that place of bliss by walking in the paths of pleasure, shall be disappointed: and therefore few reach it, because few are willing to use violence to themselves in resisting temptations: “The Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence, and the violent bear it away!” (Matthew 11:12). In explaining this passage, a certain writer says:

“Vi queritur, invaditur, occupatur.” It must be sought and obtained by violence: he who wishes to obtain it without inconvenience, or by leading a soft and irregular life, shall not acquire it he shall be excluded from it.

12. To save their souls, some of the saints have retired into the cloister; some have confined themselves in a cave; others have embraced torments and death. “The violent bear it away.” Some complain of their lack of confidence in God; but they do not perceive that their diffidence arises from the weakness of their resolution to serve God. St. Teresa used to say: “Of irresolute souls the Devil has no fear.” And the Wise Man has declared, that “desires kill the slothful.” (Proverbs 21:25). Some would wish to be saved and to become saints, but never resolve to adopt the means of salvation, such as meditation, the frequentation of the sacraments, detachment from creatures; or, if they adopt these means, they soon give them up. In a word, they are satisfied with fruitless desires, and thus continue to live in enmity with God, or at least in tepidity, which in the end leads them to the loss of God. Thus in them are verified the words of the Holy Ghost, “desires kill the slothful.”

13. If, then, we wish to save our souls, and to become saints, we must make a strong resolution not only in general to give ourselves to God, but also in particular to adopt the proper means, and never to abandon them after having once taken them up. Hence we must never cease to pray to Jesus Christ, and to His holy Mother for holy perseverance.

SERMON 13
Fr. Francis Xavier Weiser
SERMON ON THE EMBER DAYS

from Handbook of Christian Feasts and Customs
by Father Francis X. Weiser, S.J., Copyright 1958.

ORIGIN AND HISTORY

EARLY CENTURIES — The Romans, originally an agricultural people, had many nature gods and a goodly number of pagan religious nature festivals. Outstanding among them was the threefold seasonal observance of prayer and sacrifices to obtain the favor of the gods upon sowing and harvest. The first of these seasonal celebrations occurred at various dates between the middle of November and the winter solstice. It was a time of prayer for successful sowing (Feriae Sementivae: Feast of Sowing). The second festival was held in June or July for the grain harvest (Feriae Messis: Harvest Feast).1 The third one came before the autumnal equinox (September) and was motivated by the wine harvest (Vinalia: Feast of Wine).2

Seasonal Prayer
The early Christians in the Roman Empire could not, of course, partake in such pagan celebrations in any way. On the other hand, the thought of prayer to God for His blessing upon sowing and harvest appealed as much, and even more so, to the Christians as it did to the pagans. Moreover, the Scriptures of the Old Testament mention “the fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth” (Zacharias 8:19). The Dead Sea scrolls, too, contain a clear reference to special prayer times at the beginning of the annual seasons.3

In Fasting and Vigils
It is not surprising, then, that the Christians in Rome introduced such prayer seasons of their own at the time the empire was still pagan (third century). These prayer periods, although coinciding roughly with the pagan dates of celebration (because of their natural background), did not imitate the heathen observance. Instead of the pagan feasting, the Christians fasted. They offered the Eucharistic Sacrifice after having fasted the whole of Saturday and having performed a long vigil service of prayers and readings. The first regulations concerning this festival of the “Three Seasons” are ascribed to Pope Callistus (222).4

Very early, probably during the fourth century, the Church added a fourth prayer period (in March). This change seems to have been motivated by the fact that the year contains four natural seasons, and also by the mention of four fasting periods in the Book of the prophet Zacharias. At about the same time, each period was extended over the three traditional Station days (Wednesday, Friday, Saturday). While the Station fast at other times was expected but not strictly prescribed, this seasonal observance imposed fasting by obligation. The vigil service from Saturday to Sunday was retained as a full vigil, lasting the greater part of the night.5

Apostolic Origin
Pope Leo the Great (461) mentions these prayer periods, or Ember Days, as an ancient traditional celebration of the Roman Church. He even claims that they are of apostolic origin (which may well be correct as far as the Jewish custom of seasonal prayer times is concerned). He preached a number of sermons on the occasion, stressing both the duty of imploring God’s blessing and of thanking Him for the harvest by the tribute of a joyful fast before consuming the gifts of His bounty.6 In subsequent centuries, however, the Ember celebration lost a great deal of its joyous and festive character, and the motive of penance was stressed more and more.

Praying for the Clergy
Another historical event helped to overshadow the original purpose and mood of Embertides. In 494 Pope Gelasius I prescribed that the sacrament of Holy Orders (diaconate, priesthood) be conferred on Ember Saturdays. Thus the prayer and fasting of Ember week acquired added importance, for apostolic tradition demanded that ordinations be preceded by fast and prayer (Acts 13:3). Not only the candidates fasted and prayed for a few days in preparation for Holy Orders, but the whole clergy and people joined them to obtain God’s grace and blessing upon their calling. It seemed natural, then, to put the ordinations at the end of those weeks that already were established times of prayer and fasting.7

Thus the regulation of Pope Gelasius turned the Embertides into a general performance of spiritual exercises for all, similar in thought and purpose to our modern retreats and missions. The Holy Orders were then conferred before the Mass of Saturday, after the lessons which closed with the hymn “Benedictus” of the Old Testament (see Daniel 3:52).8

The Embertides have remained official times of ordination ever since.9 Candidates are still obliged to perform spiritual exercises in preparation;10 however, these are now made privately, and not in union with the whole congregation, as was the case in ancient days. On the other hand, the Ember weeks have been stressed in recent centuries as a time of special prayer on the part of the faithful for vocations to priesthood and for the sanctification of priests.

MEDIEVAL TIMES — At the beginning of the sixth century the Ember Day celebration was well established at Rome in all its essential features. The only point that remained undetermined for a long time was the date of the Ember weeks in Advent and Lent. The ancient regulations only prescribed the “third week in December” and the “first week in March” without saying what should be done when the month started on a Monday or Tuesday or Wednesday.11 This question was finally settled by Pope Gregory VII (1085), who decided on the following arrangement (which is still kept today): Embertides are to be celebrated in the weeks after the third Sunday of Advent, after the first Sunday of Lent, during Pentecost week, and in the week following the Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross (September 14th).12

Universal and Popular in the West
The Embertides spread slowly at first, and not without some popular resistance outside of Rome, for they were a typically local celebration of the city of Rome. The Diocese of Milan, for instance, did not introduce them for a thousand years, until the thirteenth century. They went to Spain through the acceptance of the Roman Missal in the eleventh century. Long before that, however, the Anglo-Saxons had adopted them in the eighth century by taking over the Roman rites as a whole at their conversion. In the Frankish kingdoms (France and Germany) they seem to have been introduced by Saint Boniface (754), but did not become established until Charlemagne prescribed them for the whole Frankish realm in 769. Their observance, though, had to be repeatedly enjoined by synods in France and Germany during the ninth century, until they finally became a universal and popular feature of ecclesiastical celebration.13 The Eastern Churches do not observe Embertides, but have other periods of penance and fast besides Lent.14

NAMES — In the earliest liturgical books the Ember Days are simply called “the fast of the first, fourth, seventh and tenth month” (that is, March, June, September, December) — an interesting example of how the ancient practice of starting the year on March first, which had been officially abrogated by Julius Caesar was still in vogue among the population of Rome centuries later.15 During the sixth century the term Quatuor Tempora (Four Times or Seasons) was introduced, and has remained ever since as the official ecclesiastical name for the Embertides.16

From the Latin word most European nations coined their popular terms: Quatretemps in French, Quatro Tempora in Italian, Las Temporas in Spanish, Quatember in German, Kvatrni posti among the southern Slavs, Kántor böjtök in Hungarian. The northern Slavs of the Latin Rite call the Embertides Suche dni (“Dry days”) from the ancient custom of eating uncooked food during fasts. The English term Ember seems to derive from the Anglo-Saxon ymbren (season, period).

THE LITURGY FOR THE EMBER DAYS

COMMON FEATURES — In early medieval days it was customary in Rome to hold a penitential procession which proceeded from the place of gathering (collecta) to the Station church for the services on Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays of Ember weeks. The night from Saturday to Sunday was a major vigil. As at the Easter vigil, passages from the Bible were read in twelve long lessons, the last one always being the story of the three young men in the furnace (Daniel 3). Today there are only six lessons — considerably shortened — but closing, as of old, with the miracle of the furnace and the hymn of the three men (Daniel 3:47-56).17 The call Flectamus Genua (Let us bend our knees) has also been retained from the rite of major vigils in ancient times.

The Vigil Mass
The Mass following the prayer service of the vigil stood for the Sunday Mass. Thus many old liturgical books carry the remark Dominica vacat (the Sunday is vacant), that is, it has no Mass text of its own. Only after the sixth century, when the vigil service and its Mass were anticipated on Saturday evening (and later on Saturday morning), did the Sundays receive texts of their own in the Missal.18

Multiple Meanings
Besides some traces (in the lessons) of the original purpose, the Mass formulas of Ember Days mostly express the thoughts of the liturgical seasons in which they fall: expectation of the Lord in Advent; penance and prayer in Lent; the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. The Masses of the Embertide in September seem to have preserved features of the original celebration, since the lessons and prayers reflect the joy of a harvest festival.

Casting Out Demons
It is an interesting fact that most of the Gospel passages on Ember Days (with the exception of those in Advent) relate or mention the expulsion of demons. This has been interpreted as an indication of how the Church consciously condemned and supplanted the pagan celebration of the seasonal feriae, which was not a service of the true God but a slavery of false gods whom the early Christians considered and called “demons.”19

EMBERTIDE OF PENTECOST — This Embertide has assumed a special character which distinguishes it from all the others. Coinciding with the octave of Pentecost, it displays an interesting combination of penitential motives (in some of its Mass prayers) with the celebration of the great feast (Gloria, Credo, Alleluia Sequence, Pentecostal orations, red vestments, omission of Flectamus Genua). Because of this joyful note it used to be called Jejunium Exultationis (the Fast of Exultation) in the Middle Ages. Abbot Rupert of Deutz (1130) wrote about it as follows:

It is not a fast to make us sad or to darken our hearts, but it rather brightens the solemnity of the Holy Spirit’s arrival; for the sweetness of the Spirit of God makes the faithful loathe the pleasures of earthly food.20

Saint Isidore of Spain (636), Doctor of the Church, relates that for a time in the earliest centuries this fast was held right after the Feast of the Ascension, in imitation of the Apostles’ prayerful retreat (Acts 1:14). It was soon transferred to Pentecost week, however, because the practice of the Church did not allow for fasting or penitential exercises between Easter and Pentecost.21

FOLKLORE

RELIGIOUS CUSTOMS — Up to the late Middle Ages the Ember Days were generally kept as holydays of obligation, with attendance at Mass and rest from work, and as weeks of penance and fervent prayer. They were favored dates for the reception of Holy Communion, a custom still alive in many Catholic sections of Europe.

Works of Mercy
The practice of spiritual and temporal works of charity and mercy, which had always been stressed by the Church in connection with Embertide fasting, produced the custom of devoting the Ember Days to special prayer for the suffering souls in purgatory, and of having Masses said for them during the Embertides. This tradition, too, is still frequently found in European countries. Alms and food were given to the poor on Ember Days, and warm baths provided for them (a popular work of Christian charity in bygone centuries).

Pregnant Mothers
Since people in centuries past were more keenly aware of the connection between Embertides and prayer for God’s blessing upon the functions and fruits of nature, they also included in their petitions, and in a special way, the successful and happy birth of their children. Thus the Ember Days became particular occasions of prayer by and for pregnant mothers. Children born during Embertides were considered as unusually blessed by God. Popular superstition ascribed to them “good luck” for their whole life, excellent health, and many favors of body and soul.

The Holy Souls
Finally, there is the ancient legend that many poor souls are allowed to leave purgatory for a few moments every Embertide, to appear in visible shape to those relatives and friends who fervently pray for the departed ones, in order to thank them and to beg for continued prayerful help for themselves and for those holy souls who have nobody on Earth to remember them. The laudable custom observed by many faithful in modern times of praying and having Masses offered for the “forgotten” souls in Purgatory seems to be a happy relic of this medieval popular legend.22

QUARTER TERMS — From ancient Germanic usage the Ember weeks took over the character of “quarter terms,” that is, the four seasonal periods of the year during which burdensome civic obligations had to be carried out, like the paying of debts, tithes, and taxes. From this practice the Ember weeks were called by the Persian-Latin term Angariae (Requisitions). The German word Frohnfasten is often explained as meaning the same as Angariae — the payment of what is owed to temporal lords. Actually, however, it means the “Fast of the Lord God,” that is, a solemn, general, and holy fast in the service of God.23

ENDNOTES

1 PW, 6.2, 2211 (Feriae); 2A.2, 1346ff. (Sementivae).
2 Pliny the Younger, Epist., 8, 21.
3 Gaster, Hymn 11, 182.
4 LP, I, 141.
5 LE, 135 f.
6 See the sermons of Saint Leo in PL, 54, passim (1-3, 12, 13, 16-19, 51, 84, 87-94).
7 H. Leclercq, Quatre-Temps, DACL, 14.2 (1948), 2014 ff.
8 The ordinations are now conferred in separate rites after the various lessons of Ember Saturday.
9 CIC, 1006, 2.
10 CIC, 1001, 1.
11 See the treatise by Abbot Berno of Reichenau (1048): Qualiter quatuor temporum jejunia sint observanda; PL, 142, 1087.
12 Micrologus, 24 ff.; PL, 151, 978.
13 DACL, 14.2 (1948), 2016.
14 K. Holl, Die Entstehung der vier Fastenzeiten in der griechischen Kirche, in Gesammelte Aufsatze zur Kirchengeschichte, Tubingen 1928, II, 155 ff.
15 Kellner, 185.
16 Nilles, II, 510 ff.
17 MR, passim (Sabbato Quatuor Temporum).
18 Jgn GK, 253.
19 TE, I, S92.
20 De divin. officiis, 10, 26; PL, 170, 289.
21 De eccles. officiis, I, 1; PL, 38, 733.
22 L. Eisenhofer, Quatember, LThK, 8 (1936), 581.
23 Nilles, II, 512 ff.

SERMON 14
St. Francis de Sales
JOINING ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST IN THE DESERT

St Francis de Sales
On St. John the Baptist

Sermon for the Third Sunday of Advent, December 13, 1620, concerning pride and ambition as the most powerful temptations, the excellent humility of Saint John the Baptist in renouncing the most dangerous and subtle temptation to pride and ambition, his immediate and succinct denial that he was the Messias, the desire of angels and of all men (even pagans) for the Incarnation, our foolish and untruthful acceptance of honors, Saint John’s humility in skillfully denying even the honored status that rightly belonged to him — without, however, being untruthful; how we should not excuse ourselves of the very faults we accuse ourselves of but confess them straightforwardly, humility’s excellence, affinity with charity, and necessity in order to escape the devil’s snares, Saint John’s lowly description of himself and Our Lord’s praise of him, God’s perennial humbling of the proud and favoring of the humble, and how all should imitate Saint John the Baptist.

Who are you? And he confessed, and did not deny: and he confessed: I am not the Christ. (John 1:19-20)

If we are to judge by every art, business, and profession, we will have to confess that the principal and most powerful temptations are those to ambition, pride, and arrogance. Lucifer used them to tempt our first parents. It is said that ambition is the worst of them all since it caused him to stumble from Heaven into Hell. Knowing from his own experience what powerful allurements pride and ambition are, he used them to tempt our first parents by offering them the forbidden fruit with such arrogance that they were sure that by eating it they would be like God. (Genesis 3:5) He did not tell them that they would be God’s equal, for “Who is like God?” (Psalm 34:10, 112:5; Isaias 40:18) It is impossible to be God’s equal; and if the miserable wretch had tempted Adam and Eve in that way, they would easily have recognized his deception, for being still in original justice, they were greatly gifted with perception and knowledge. This is why he said to them: “You will be like God.” And how would they be like God? In eating this fruit they would, like God, know good and evil. Now this ambition so puffed up their pride that they actually presumed to share in divine wisdom and knowledge and allowed themselves to be seduced by the tempter. In this way they forfeited original justice.

Reflecting on the cause of the fall of Lucifer and the other angels, some theologians say it was due to a certain spiritual self-complacency which, through an awareness of their angelic nature’s grandeur and excellence, caused such self-pride that they desired with insupportable arrogance to be like God and to place their thrones on an equality with his. (Isaias 14:13-14) Others maintain that envy was the cause of their fall. They knew that the Lord would create human beings, that He willed to enrich human nature, and that, further, He would actually communicate himself to this nature, incarnating and uniting himself to it in hypostatic union in such manner that these two natures would form only one person. Knowing this, they were moved with envy. They were upset that the creator planned to elevate human nature above theirs and said among themselves: “If God desires to go out of himself so as to communicate himself to another, why does he not choose an angelic and seraphic nature for this communication? Is it not far nobler and more excellent than the other?” From that moment on they were filled with jealousy, ambition, and pride, and finally stumbled miserably.

But to what purpose do I say all this except to contrast it with and exalt the humility of Saint John the Baptist, who is one of the persons who took part in the mystery of the visitation and whose humility, it seems to me, is the most excellent and the most perfect that has ever been, after that of Our Lord and the most sacred virgin? There was presented to him the strongest and most violent temptation imaginable to pride and ambition. But notice, I beg you, that it was not presented to him in person by the enemy and that it did not come from him directly. When an enemy is discovered or we see that a temptation comes from an adversary, we immediately become suspicious of whatever he says or whatever he urges us to do. Why? Because it is suggested to us by our enemy and therefore is not to be trusted.

It is most certain that if Adam and Eve had recognized their tempter, they would not have allowed themselves to be seduced. But this wicked spirit always uses trickery, knowing that if he does not disguise himself and assume some mask or the form of a friend when he makes an attack, he will never succeed. He seduces many by his wiles and cunning. When he presented himself to Eve, it was in the form of a serpent. (Genesis 3:1) But at that time, serpents were not serpents as we now know them. They did not bite and had no venom. Consequently, Eve had no more fear of him than a small child would have of a young eagle. The enemy spoke to her in the form of a serpent and kindled in her the ambition and eager desire to be like God. For this reason she ate the forbidden fruit.

As for Lucifer and his angels, they had no other tempter than themselves, for as yet there was no devil. They were tempted by themselves. Because of pride they, who were once angels, became demons. For this reason we can rightly say that ambition, pride and arrogance came down from Heaven to the earthly paradise and from this paradise spread into the whole world, rendering it thereby an earthly Hell. Thus the angel became a devil; he who had been beautiful and God’s friend declared himself God’s enemy and became ugly and horrible. Man, by pride and arrogance, lost the original justice in which he was created and made this Earth a Hell. For the evils that human vice draws in its wake are a veritable Hell which lead from temporal to eternal punishment.

Notice how one of the strongest, most subtle and most dangerous temptations possible is being addressed to Saint John, not by his enemies, as I have said before, nor by men assuming the mask of hypocrisy, but by his friends, sent to him from Jerusalem by the princes and doctors of the law. Jerusalem was the royal city where the holy senate and judges resided. Scribes were the doctors of the law, and Pharisees were like our priests and religious. The princes among the priests and the doctors governed the whole republic by the Law of Moses. These, then, sent people to Saint John. But whom did they send? Perhaps some of their sons’ valets or some other such men of low rank? Certainly not! They sent doctors and religious men as their ambassadors and those of the republic. And why? Simply to find out if John was actually the Christ, the son of God, the Messias whom they were awaiting, so as to pay him due honor.

Notice, I pray you, the caprice of the human spirit. They were awaiting the Messias and they saw that all the prophecies had been fulfilled, for they had the sacred scripture at their fingertips. The Savior came, and went among them teaching his doctrine, performing miracles and confirming by deed all that he said. Nevertheless, instead of acknowledging him, they go in search of another!

They address themselves to the glorious Saint John, asking him: Who are you? He told them and did not deny it: I am not the Christ. Are you Elias? No. Are you the prophet? No. He confessed and did not deny it. These are the words of the Evangelist (John 1:19-21), brief and to the point as they are in everything they relate. Our ancient fathers correctly remark that when these envoys asked: “Who are you?” they did not want to know simply who he was, but whether he was the expected Messias. Otherwise would Saint John have replied that he was not the Christ, if he had not believed that they were sent precisely in order to confess him as such? It is true that he was not, “and he confessed and did not deny it.”

But reflect a little upon the truly perfect humility of this glorious saint. He rejected not only the honors, the preeminence and titles which did not apply to him but, what is more amazing, even those that he could have accepted. He, being like the rest of us, was certainly capable of committing venial sins. And yet he had attained such a degree of humility that he triumphed beautifully over every pride and ambition, spurning and refusing to accept all the dignities and honors offered to him.

While in Heaven, the angels never sought to be gods. Lucifer was too good a philosopher ever to believe that that was possible. He understood completely that he could never be such, that it was simply impossible. No, his ambition never went that far. He knew that God would always be the first and would always be above him. In short, he was God, and Lucifer did not presume to be his equal. Nevertheless his pride led him so far as to want to be like God (Isaias 14:14). Through such arrogance the miserable wretch, instead of becoming what he rashly presumed to be, fell from what he was and was driven out, banished forever from Heaven. He became a devil. In him devils began to be; before his fall there were none.

Being in original justice, our first parents in paradise never sinned, neither mortally like the fallen angels (for the first sin that they committed was mortal and consequently deserved eternal death), nor venially. Nevertheless, they listened to the ancient serpent (Apocalypse 12:9) when he said that if they ate of the forbidden fruit they would be like God. This sole promise made by Satan so touched their hearts that they forgot the Lord’s command and prohibition. Oh! What strong and dangerous attractions are both pride and ambition, capable of seducing the human heart to transgress God’s law! As the great Saint Ambrose says, truly one must be clothed and armed on all sides with humility if one wishes to enter into the combat and war against vice.

Our glorious Saint John was indeed armed with this virtue. O God, how wonderfully present it was in this great saint! For he was neither in Heaven, nor in the earthly paradise, but on fallen Earth; he was not an angel, but only a man; he was not in original justice and could have sinned venially. And they did not propose to him simply to be like God, they came to make him confess that he was the Christ, and they were prepared to acknowledge him as such! But he refused emphatically such acknowledgment. “He confessed and he did not deny,” says the Evangelist, that he was not the Christ.

How great were both this temptation and the humility with which he repulsed it. But please take note how the messengers from the princely priests speak to him: “We are here, sent in the name of the scribes and Pharisees and the whole republic, to say to you that the prophecies are fulfilled and that the time has arrived for the Messias coming. It is true that we see among us many persons who live well and are very virtuous, but we must confess that we have not beheld anyone like you or anyone whose works so delight our hearts. In short, we believe that you are the promised Messias. If you are, he, we beg you neither to deny nor to hide it any longer, for we have come to pay you the honor that you deserve.” See, they place the agreement in his hands. If he had wished to accept it, they would have acknowledged him as the Christ. But surely this glorious saint was too great a lover of truth to allow himself to be carried away by such an ambition. If he had said he was the Messias, he would have been a great liar, disloyal and unfaithful, for he would be accepting an honor that was not due him.

These scribes and Pharisees declared that they were awaiting the promised Messias, the desired of the nations and him whom Jacob called, “the desire of the eternal hills.” (Genesis 49:26) Some ancient fathers explain these words by saying that they describe the desire of the angels for the incarnation; others hold that we should understand by them the desire that God had from all eternity to unite our human nature with the divine, a desire that He communicated to both angels and men, though in different ways. Some, such as the patriarchs and prophets, longed ardently for him, and by those longings raised to Heaven they petitioned for the incarnation of the son of God. Solomon in the Canticle of Canticles (Canticles 1:1) expresses this longing in the words of the spouse: “Let him kiss me with a kiss of his mouth.” What does this kiss signify but the hypostatic union of the human nature with the divine? Others desire it, too, but almost imperceptibly. For from time immemorial we find people seeking the divinity. Not being able to make an incarnate God, because that belongs to God alone, they sought ways to fabricate deities. For this purpose they erected images and idols which they adorned and regarded as gods among them. Certainly I know that these were illusions. But yet we see in them the desire that God had implanted in all hearts for the incarnation of his son, the desire for the union of the divine nature with the human nature. These priests and Levites, then, had reason for saying that all prophesies had been fulfilled and that the time had come when they should see him who was the desired of the nations.

Now they ask Saint John: “Who are you? Are you not the Christ whom we await?” And he confessed and did not deny that he was not. Oh, how far was Saint John’s spirit from that of our times! He did not discourse beautifully in replying to these messengers; he contented himself by simply answering that he was not the Christ. Surely, if they had wanted to know simply what his profession was, without doubt they would have been informed of the truth, and with more words. But since they took him for what he was not, he succinctly stated that he was not the one whom they thought him to be.

We, on the other hand, are extremely receptive to the honors that are extended us! Our human nature is anxious to attract whatever is to its advantage, and we are greatly taken with every dignity and preeminence! To those who flatter us we say: “Oh, it is true that I have been gifted with that grace. Yes, I have it. But it is God’s gift. It is a result of his mercy,” and other such words. An unimportant gentleman will imagine himself to be from a great family, a cavalier; when someone asks him, “Who are you?” he will answer what he imagines to be the case: “I am a gallant lord, a valiant cavalier, from a great house and family.” Ordinarily these men are nobodies. But the less they are, the greater they desire to appear! Folly and nonsense! Who is he? Indeed, who is he? To hear him, he is a Saint Peter! He probably lived four hundred years before this apostle, and other such nonsense. In short, our self-love is such that it not only draws to itself all the glory that in any way belongs to it but also that which in no way belongs to it. In this we act quite differently from the glorious Saint John, who is not content simply to reject what does not belong to him; he even refuses what he could justly have accepted.

The envoys demand of him: “Since you are not the Christ, are you Elias?” And he declares: “No, I am not.” Surely he could have answered that he was; for although he was not Elias in person, he did come, nevertheless, in the spirit of Elias (Luke 1:17); so that he could have said of himself as we say today: “He has the spirit of such a one,” or, “He does such a thing, impelled by such a spirit.”

How, then, if Saint John came in the spirit of Elias, can he say in truth that he is not? And he does not lie any more than if he had said that he was Elias. He knew that it was written that before the day of the Lord a great prophet, an excellent man named Elias, would rise up among the people, that he would come to teach them and dispose them for the coming of the sovereign judge. He knew, then, that if he said he was Elias, they would likely take him also for the promised Messias. This is why he denied and said: “I am not.” Admirable humility! He rejects not only what does not belong to him (it is the first degree of humility not to wish to admit nor seek to be held or esteemed for what we are not), but he goes much further and finds a manner of speaking by which he can even reject the honor that belongs to him without being untruthful. He does this promptly, without disputing or using many words. Frankly and freely he says: “No, I am not.” But I must end this part, for time is passing.

Hearing this second denial, they then asked him a third question: “If you are neither the Christ nor Elias, at least you are some great prophet. You cannot deny this truth, for your words are proof of it and give ample evidence and testimony.” Nevertheless, this glorious saint remains firm in his humility and replies: “I am not.” But how can Saint John in truth make this third denial, he who was not only a prophet but more than a prophet? Our Lord himself, with his own mouth, declared this aloud to the Jewish people. (Matthew 11:9; Luke 1:76, 7:26, 28) How then, dare he affirm: “I am not.” All the ancient fathers greatly admire these three denials of this glorious saint and are astonished at them. They say that in them Saint John went to the furthest extreme, and that if he had gone just a little further, he would have lied. Yet, of course, he did not lie.

But how could he assert that he was not a prophet, knowing indeed that he was and that God himself had declared it? Note that it was further promised in the Jewish Law (Deuteronomy 18:15, 18) that a great prophet would be sent to them. I know there are different opinions as to who this great prophet would be, but the most common is that it would be none other than the son of God. Saint John knew that they were not simply asking him if he were just another prophet, that if he answered affirmatively they would certainly conclude that he was that great promised prophet and acknowledge him as such. So he simply denied it, seeing that without lying he could still answer that he was not. It is as if he said: “If you were only asking me who I am, I would answer you quite simply. If you wanted to know, for instance, if I am merely a prophet, I would frankly admit that I am and even that I was sent to prepare the way for the Messias. (Luke 1:76) But because all your demands seem to have but the one end, to identify me with the promised Messias, I answer that I am neither the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet.” And in this he did not lie.

Notice, then, how Saint John eschewed the temptation to pride and ambition and how humility suggested to him skillful ways of not having to admit or accept the honor they wished to render him, cleverly concealing who he really was. He had no doubt that in a figurative sense he was indeed Elias and the prophet; God himself had even declared him to be more than a prophet. Nevertheless, seeing that he could truly affirm that he was not as they thought and could thereby avoid the honor they wished to render him — an honor that should be referred to God alone — he answered: “I am not.”  Without doubt, theologians assure us, we too can speak with a similar skill and prudent cleverness when such is warranted by the circumstances, and this without fear of lying?

But many have interpreted this permission incorrectly and have actually said things far from true without thinking they were lying! Some have even gone so far as to believe that they can utter falsehoods where there is a question of God’s glory! If we reprove them for it, saying: “But in such an act or manner of speaking you are untruthful,” they will answer, “Oh, that is true, but it is for God’s honor that I lied.” What utter folly! You are making fun of people by speaking in that way, as if God could actually be honored by a sin! That can never be. We must never lie to honor God. Such is an insult and a great mistake. Saint John does not act in that way at all, for he could truthfully answer as he did, as I have just pointed out to you.

Astonished by Saint John’s denials, these ambassadors retorted: “Why do you baptize if you are not the Christ, nor Elias, nor the prophet?” (John 1:25)  “Why do you have disciples and perform such wonderful deeds? In what spirit do you do these things? Surely, you are trying in vain to hide and conceal. Your works prove to us that you are someone very great indeed. We ask you this so that we may know how to reply to those who sent us.” See, they almost lost patience over Saint John’s humility. (Truly, the ambassadors needed the great virtue of patience. It is very necessary not only for ambassadors, but for all Christians. That is why I always say that patience is the true virtue of Christians.)

“He confessed and did not deny” that he was not the Christ nor Elias nor the prophet. These words are better explained in Hebrew. (The Hebrew language is a marvel, altogether divine. It is the language Our Lord spoke when he was in this world, and according to some doctors’ interpretation of 1 Corinthians 13:8, it is that which the blessed speak in Heaven above. Hebrew words always have a remarkable grace in all they express.)  “He confessed and did not deny.” These words are almost identical, because to confess one’s fault is not to deny it; and not to deny it is to confess it. Nevertheless, there is a slight difference between the two.

On this subject I will say a few words about confession, although I have touched upon it at other times and in other churches. But perhaps those who heard me then are not present, and others, I know, have since died.

Many confess and deny at the same time. By this I mean that many confess their faults, but in such a way that at the same time that they accuse themselves they excuse themselves. They admit that if indeed they committed the fault which they now acknowledge, they certainly had reason for doing so. Not only do they excuse themselves while accusing themselves, but they accuse others as well.  “I became angry and consequently committed such a failing, but I had good reason for it; they made me do or say such a thing; it was for such a reason.” Is it not clear that in confessing in this way one is denying it at the same time? Say simply: “It was through my malice, my impatience, and ill nature, or the result of my passions and unmoritifed inclinations that I committed such and such a fault.” Do not say: “I have spoken ill of others, but it was on matters so obvious that I am not the only one who said or saw it.” By this kind of talk we deny being guilty of the fault of which we accuse ourselves!

We must not do that. Rather, we must confess clearly and plainly, owning the fault and holding ourselves truly guilty, without being anxious about what others may say or think about us.  “This is what I am,” we ought to say. This is how the glorious Saint John acted: “He confessed and did not deny.” Without worrying about what others would say or think of him, he walked with determination before God, not like those who go and do not go. We say to some: “You must do this, you must go there.” But before doing it or going to the designated place, they make a thousand reflections and hesitations. They are like those servants who, when sent on some errand, do go where they are sent, but they amuse themselves en route at each shop they pass, talking now to this one and now to that one. The least little thing they see stops them. Such people go, while in a sense they are not going.

These ambassadors, then, want to know who Saint John is in order to report to those who sent them. But he says nothing to them except: “I am the voice of him who cries out in the desert: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord!’” (John 1:22-2; Isaias 40:3) Please note this glorious saint’s perfect humility. The more they pursue him, the more he withdraws and lowers himself in his nothingness, always rising thereby to a higher degree of humility. O noble virtue of humility! How necessary it is to us on this wicked Earth! Not without reason is it called the foundation of all virtues. Without it, there is none. It may not be the preeminent virtue — charity or love of God surpasses it in dignity and excellence — yet these two virtues have such mutual affinity that one is never found without the other.

Since it is to the point, I will relate to you a beautiful sketch on this subject which I read with pleasure in the recently published Lives of the Fathers. The author has gathered these lives diligently and carefully. He relates that many of these good religious had at one point assembled and were talking together familiarly in a spiritual conference. One of them was highly praising obedience; another, charity; a third, patience. Hearing what all his brothers said about these virtues, one of them added: “As for myself, it seems that humility is the first and most necessary of all.” He made the following comparison which is my sermon here: “Humility and charity are united like John the Baptist and Our Lord. Humility is the forerunner and the precursor of charity, as Saint John the Baptist was of the Savior. It prepares the way; it is the voice crying out: ‘Make straight the way of the Lord.’ And just as John the Baptist went before the Messias, so also must humility come in order to empty hearts that they might then receive charity, for that can never dwell in a soul in which humility has not first prepared the lodging for it.”

One day Saint Anthony was rapt in ecstasy. When he returned to himself, his good confreres asked him what he had seen. He said to them: “I saw the world filled with snares calculated not only to make us stumble, but also to cause us to fall headlong over deep precipices.” They replied: “And if it is filled with snares, who then can escape?” He answered them: “Only those who are humble.” We see here just how necessary humility is to resist temptations and escape the devil’s snares.

Saint John had it to a very high degree of perfection.  “You ask me why I baptize,” he says (Matthew 3:11; John 1:26).  “I baptize you with water unto penitence; but there is one among you whom you do not recognize, who by baptizing remits sins. You want to know who I am. I tell you that I am nothing but a voice.” It is as if he meant to say: “O poor men, how greatly are you deceived in me! You think I am the Messias because I am not dressed like other men, my garment being made of camel’s hair. I do not eat bread or meat, and I sustain myself on only locusts and wild honey (Matthew 3:4) that the little bees bring me. I drink no wine. (Luke 1:15) I have no house, but live in the desert with dumb animals. I am on the River Jordan baptizing with water and preaching penitence. (Luke 3:3) Because of this you believe that I am the Messias. Now I tell you I am not he, but only the voice of him who cries in the desert.” We will continue this next Sunday. We are overtime now.

In declaring that he was only a voice, how could Saint John humble himself more? For the voice is only a breath, an exhalation into the air which produces some little sound and then disappears entirely.  “You believe that I am the Messias, and I insist that I am not even a man, but only a simple voice. If you go into this desert, you will hear echoes among these rocks; and if you speak, they will answer in an utterance similar to your own. Now who among you will confuse the echo with the person? No one. Well, this is what I am and nothing more.” In this way the glorious Saint John humbled himself to the very depths of his nothingness. To the same degree that he lowers himself, God exalts him and cries aloud that he is a prophet and more than a prophet. (Matthew 11:9; Luke 1:76, 7:26, 28) Furthermore, he calls him an angel, saying: “Lo, I send my angel to prepare your way before you.” (Matthew 11:10)

Surely from time immemorial divine wisdom has looked favorably upon the humble. (Psalm 112:7, 137:6) He has humbled those who exalted themselves and raised up those who humbled who humbled themselves. Our Lady and mother, your glorious mistress, has sung of this in her divine canticle: He has put down the might from their thrones and exalted the humble. (Luke 1:52) Everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled. Those who wish to place their throne upon the clouds will be brought down, and the poor who lower and humble themselves shall be exalted. (1 Kings 2:3-8; Matthew 23:12; Luke 14:11, 18:14)

There are some people so full of pride that they cannot subject themselves to anyone or suffer anyone to say what they really are. They want to be preferred to everyone, and they esteem themselves more learned and erudite than any other, and it seems to them they never need a teacher. Actually, such people are usually extremely ignorant, but no one dares to tell them that, for they suppose themselves to be veritable marvels. Oh, God humbles such as these. He leaves them and looks upon the poor and humble souls who are prostrate and have no throne but their littleness. (Psalm 112:6-7; Luke 1:48, 52) These are not offended when we tell them that they are imprudent and have no sense or judgment. They humble themselves, and God exalts and raises them up, giving them his Spirit by which they perform great things.

In short, Our Lord offers Saint John to all kinds of people for their imitation. He should be the model not only of prelates and preachers, but also of religious men and women. They should consider his humility and mortification so that, in following his example, they also may be voices crying out that we should prepare the way and make straight the path of the Lord so that, receiving him in this life, we may enjoy him in the next, to which may the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit lead us all.

Amen.

SERMON 15
St. John Vianney
SERMON FOR THE 4TH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

“Bring forth therefore fruits worthy of penance!” (Luke 3:8).

This, my brethren, was the sermon which the holy Precursor of the Redeemer preached to all those who sought him in the wilderness, to learn what they should do to attain eternal life. Bring forth, said he, real fruits of penance, that your sins may be forgiven you, that is to say, whoever has sinned, has no other remedy but penance, even for those who obtained forgiveness in the sacrament of penance, there is still a punishment due, which must be atoned for, either in this world, by suffering, and all the other tribulations of this life, or in the flames of Purgatory.

This, my brethren, is the difference between the Sacrament of Baptism, and that of Penance; in the Sacrament of Baptism, God forgives us without requiring anything from us; on the other hand in the Sacrament of Penance, God remits our sins, and gives us grace on the condition that we undergo a temporary punishment either in this life, or in the flames of Purgatory; so that man shall be punished for his contempt and abuse of grace. When God wills that we should do penance, so that our sins may be forgiven us, He demands it only to preserve us from relapsing into sin, so that by remembering what we have had to endure for our sins which we have confessed, we shall not dare to return to them again.

God desires that we unite our works of salvation with His, and that we contemplate how much He has suffered to make our works meritorious. Ah, my brethren, let us not deceive ourselves; without the Passion of Jesus Christ, all that we might have done would have been valueless to atone for the least of our sins. I will now show you, my brethren: first, that we are not exempt from the obligation of doing penance even when our sins are forgiven; and secondly, by what means we can satisfy divine justice; or to make my words clearer, I will show you in what satisfaction consists, which is the fourth condition which we must fulfill, to receive the Sacrament of Penance worthily.

You all know, my brethren, that the Sacrament of Penance is a Sacrament, which our Lord Jesus Christ instituted for the forgiveness of sins committed after Baptism. The distinguishing marks of this Sacrament, consist in this: that the Savior of the world shows us the greatness of His mercy, for there is no sin which this Sacrament does not remit, no matter how numerous or how fearful they may be; so that every sinner is sure of forgiveness, and of being reinstated in the friendship of God, if he, on his part, makes the necessary preparation which this Sacrament demands.

The first obligation is that we must know our sins, the number of them, and the circumstances which either aggravate them or change their nature; so as to attain this knowledge, we must pray to the Holy Ghost. He who in making his examination of conscience does not pray for enlightenment to the Holy Ghost, runs the chance of making a sacrilegious confession.

The second condition is to declare your sins distinctly as the catechism says, without exaggeration and without excuse, that is to say, as we know them ourselves; this accusation will only result as it should do, if we have beseeched God to give us the necessary grace; without which it is impossible for you to accuse yourself as you ought to, so as to obtain the forgiveness of your sins. You must then beg of God for this grace, and examine yourself before Him as often as you go to confession.

The third condition, which this Sacrament demands, to obtain the forgiveness of your sins, is repentance, that is to say, sorrow for past sins, joined with a sincere intention of not committing them again, and a firm determination, to avoid everything, which might cause us to fall into the same sins again. This repentance comes from Heaven, and is only produced by prayers and tears. Want of repentance has damned many men.

Many weep over their sins, but at heart they are not really contrite: We tell our sins as if we were relating an indifferent story, because we have not contrition, and we do not change our lives. We have the same sins, and the same faults, once a year, every six months, every month or three weeks, or probably every week, we are always going the same way; there is no change in our manner of living. Whence come all the evils, which cast so many souls into Hell, if not from want of contrition? And how can we expect to obtain contrition if we do not pray to God for it, or in praying for it, to almost wish that we might not get it. If you do not notice any alteration in your way of living, that is to say, if after so many confessions and communions you are not better; then turn over a new leaf, so that you may not discover your misfortune when it is too late.

When by the grace of the Holy Ghost we have recognized our sins, and have properly confessed and repented of them, there still remains (so that these three things should have the desired result), a fourth requisite to be complied with, namely: that we make satisfaction to God and our neighbor. We must make satisfaction to God, for the offences we have committed against Him by sinning, and to our neighbor, for any injury we may have done him in soul or body.

In the first place, I want to impress upon you that God from the beginning of the world, when He forgave sin, still, an account of His justice, demanded a temporal satisfaction. His mercy forgives us; but His justice must be appeased by a penance which equals the sin committed; after having been forgiven, we must punish ourselves, by chastising our bodies which have sinned.

Look at Adam, who was assured by God Himself of the forgiveness of his sins, and who, notwithstanding, did penance for nine hundred years, and penance that would make one shudder. Consider David, to whom the Lord announced the forgiveness of his sins through the prophet Nathan, and who undertook such a severe penance that his feet would not support him anymore; his sorrow for his sin was so profound that his palace resounded with lamentations and sobs. He said of himself, that he would descend into the grave weeping, that his contrition would not leave him until the end of his life; so copious were his tears that he said of himself, I will moisten my bread with my tears, and I will water my couch with my tears.

Look at St. Peter; for one sin, which he committed, and which the Lord forgave him, he wept such plentiful tears during his whole life that his cheeks were hollowed out. What did St. Magdalene do after the death of the Redeemer? She buried herself in a wilderness, and wept and did penance for the rest of her life. And yet God had certainly forgiven her, for He said to the Pharisees, that many sins were forgiven her, because she had shown such an heroic act of charity.

But why do we go back so far, my brethren! Look at the penances which were imposed in the early ages of the church. If anyone called on the name of God in haste – alas, how often is that not the case, even with children, who hardly know their prayers – they were made to fast for seven days on bread and water. He who worked on Sunday, even for a short time, had to do penance for three days. If anyone omitted to fast for one day during Lent, he had to fast for seven days. If anyone spoke slightingly of their bishop or pastor, or turned their instructions into ridicule, he had to do penance for forty days, and so on.

Why all this? In order to appease the justice of God? All to satisfy the divine justice for our sins? How can we do this? You will find that there is nothing easier. The first is the penance imposed by our confessor, which constitutes a part of the Sacrament of Penance. The second is prayer; the third is fasting; the fourth is almsgiving, and the fifth is indulgences. These are the easiest, the most complete, and the most practical penitential works. Therefore, the penance, which the confessor gives us, before he absolves us, we must accept cheerfully and gratefully, and perform it as soon as we can, otherwise our confession or the sacrament is incomplete. If we think we might be unable to do it we ought to give the priest our reasons humbly; if he is satisfied with them, he will change it.

But there are penances which the priest cannot change, and he dare not. Penances, which have for their aim the sinner’s improvement; for example, forbidding the drunkard the saloon, the young girl the dance, or a young man going around with a person who is the occasion of sin for him; a restitution made for an injustice committed, or for someone who for a length of time has lived a negligent life, to go frequently to confession. It must be clear to us that the priest cannot and must not change such penances. But when we have reasons for asking for our penance to be changed, at least we ought, unless it is quite impossible to do so, to ask the same priest, because another confessor would not know the reason why the penance was imposed. You find your penances tiresome or hard, my brethren, but without cause. Compare them with the pains of Hell, which you have deserved by your sins. O how joyfully would a poor lost soul perform the penance imposed upon you, and a much severer one until the end of the world, if at this price he could come to the end of his punishment.

Now, my brethren, if we accept our penance with joy and with the firm intention of doing the same as well as possible, we liberate ourselves from Hell, just as if God released the lost soul which we just mentioned. I say that we must perform the penance imposed upon us by our confessor. To neglect this would be a sin. Tell me, my brethren, would it not be presumptuous to neglect to do our penance, and to expect the forgiveness of our sins? That is against sound reason; that would be to expect payment where no work was done.

What, my brethren, are we to think of those who do not perform their penance? For my part I think this: If they have not received absolution they are of the number of those who do not want to be converted, for they shun the means which, in this case, we must employ; when they come again to confession, the priest will have to withhold absolution. If the penitent has received absolution, and has neglected to perform his penance, he commits thereby a grievous sin, if he had mortal sins to confess. But I am speaking only of those who neglected their penance altogether, or left undone a considerable part of it, and not of those who, perhaps, forgot it, or were not able to do it at the appointed time.

Further, I wish to state, that one must say their penance entirely, at the time appointed, and with devotion. I say: entirely. Nothing at all must be omitted of what has been given us to do; on the contrary, we ought to add more to the penance imposed on us by the priest. St. Cyprian says, the penance must equal the fault; because the remedy must not be less than the evil. But, tell me, dear brethren, what kind of penances are laid upon you? Ah, a few Our Fathers, one or two Litanies, some almsgiving, slight mortifications. Tell me, does all this bear any comparison with our sins, which deserve torments that never end?

Yes, my brethren, we must punish and chastise that which has been the cause of our sin. This is the right means to employ to spare ourselves the punishments and chastisements of the next life. It costs us certainly a great deal to overcome ourselves; but we cannot escape from this, as long as we live, and God is satisfied with so little. If we wait until after death, then, my brethren, it will be too late, then all is over; nothing will remain to us but sorrow for not having done this.

If we feel averse to do penance, let us, my brethren, raise our eyes to our amiable Redeemer. Let us contemplate what He has done, what He has endured to satisfy His heavenly Father for our sins. Let us take courage by the example of so many glorious martyrs, who delivered up their bodies joyfully to the torturers. Let us inspire ourselves, my brethren, with the thought of the devouring flames of Hell, which the poor souls have to endure on account of their sins, which were, perhaps, less than ours. If it does cost you an effort to overcome yourself, you will, my brethren, receive the eternal reward which your penitential works have deserved.

We can make satisfaction to the justice of God by prayer, and also by offering up all our actions, by lifting up our heart to God from time to time during the day, and saying: My God, Thou knowest that I work for Thee; Thou hast condemned me to this, to make satisfaction to Thy justice for my sins. My God, have mercy on me, for I am a poor sinner who has so often revolted against Thee, my Redeemer and my God. I desire ardently, that all my thoughts, all my desires, all my actions shall have for their single object to please Thee. It is also pleasing to God, when we think of our last end, particularly of death, judgment, and Hell, which is reserved as a dwelling place for sinners.

Thirdly, I say we can satisfy the justice of God by fasting. Now by the word fasting is meant everything that is calculated to mortify the body or the soul; for instance, for the love of God to bear patiently contradictions, insults, contempt, wrongs, when we know that we have not deserved them; to give up a visit, for instance, a journey to see our parents, our friends, at home, and many other things of a like nature which would give us pleasure; kneeling longer than usual, so that our body which has sinned shall suffer for it.

I have said that we can satisfy the divine justice by giving alms. There are several kinds of almsgiving: some which have reference to the body; for instance, to give food to those who are starving; to clothe those who want clothing; to visit the sick, give them money, make their bed, keep them company, give them their medicine at the proper time; all that has reference to the body. But the almsgiving which regards the soul is of much greater value.

But, you will ask, how can we give spiritual alms? That happens, when you undertake to console someone who is in trouble, or who has just suffered a loss; you console them by your words full of kindness and charity, whilst you remind them of the great reward which God has promised to those who suffer for love of Him; and you call to their mind that the sufferings of this world last only a short time, whilst the reward is an everlasting one. We give spiritual alms when we instruct the ignorant, that is to say, those poor persons who would go astray if no one took pity on them. Alas, how many poor persons there are of this description, who do not know what is necessary for salvation; who do not know the fundamental principles of our holy religion; who, in spite of their sufferings and other good works, will be lost.

Mothers and fathers, teachers and housewives, in what does your duty consist? Do you know them even superficially? I hardly think so. If you know them ever so little, you would be careful to see that your children knew what was necessary for their religion, so as to escape eternal damnation. How you would use every means at your disposal to teach them all that your duties as parents oblige you! My God, how many children are lost on account of this ignorance! Through the ignorance of their parents, who, perhaps, because they themselves are not in a condition to instruct them, do not confide their children to those who are able to do so, but let them live on in this way, and thereby lose their souls for all eternity.

Masters and mistresses, what kind of alms do you give to your employees, who, for one reason or another, know nothing of their religion? My God, how many souls go to ruin for whom employers will be responsible at the last day! “I pay him his wages,” you say, “it is his affair to see that he is properly instructed; I only employ him to work for me, he does not even earn what I give him.” You are mistaken; God has not only confided this poor child to you, to help you in your work, but also that you may help him to save his soul.

What! An employer, a housewife, can live on peacefully, whilst they see that their servants are in a condition whereby they may lose their souls? My God! The loss of a soul touches your heart so little? Alas, how often housewives witness that their servants do not say any prayers, either morning or evening, and yet you say nothing to them. But that is not necessary; so long as they do your work you are satisfied. O my God, what blindness! Who can comprehend it? I say: that a master or mistress shall look after the spiritual welfare of their servants with as much care as they do after their children’s. God will ask an accounting at your hands, the same as in respect of your children. You take the place of their father and mother. God will call you to account for them.

Fathers and mothers, masters and housekeepers, do not forget this spiritual almsgiving which you owe to your children, to your servants. Besides this, you owe them the alms of your good example, which shall serve them as a guide on the way to Heaven.

These are, my brethren, as I think, the most appropriate means to satisfy the divine justice for our confessed and neglected sins. You can satisfy the justice of God by bearing with patience all the weariness which you are obliged to bear; for example, sicknesses, weaknesses, troubles, poverty, fatigues of work, cold, heat, accidents which happen to us, as well as death. Behold in all this the goodness of God, who has lent us the grace to make all our actions meritorious and powerful to save us from the punishments of the next life.

Fourthly, we have said, indulgences are a very effective means of making satisfaction to the justice of God; that is to say, to save us from the pains of Purgatory. Indulgences are formed for us from the superabundant merits of Jesus Christ, the Blessed Virgin, and the Saints; they are an inexhaustible treasure, from which God gives us the authority to draw.

So as to make my meaning clearer to you, listen: it is as if you owed a rich man, who wanted to be paid, twenty or thirty dollars; you, however, have nothing; at least it would take a very long time before you could pay your debt. And then the rich man would make you this offer: “You have nothing to pay your debts with; take from my cash box all you want to pay what you owe.”

God acts exactly in this way with us. We are not able to make satisfaction to His justice, He opens to us the treasure of indulgences, from which we can take as much as we need, therewith to satisfy the justice of God. There are partial indulgences which remit only a part of our punishment, and not all of it, for example, that which one obtains when one says the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus, by which we gain an indulgence of three hundred days; or when we say the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary, for which there is an indulgence of three hundred days, and so on.

We can gain indulgences by saying the Hail Mary, the Angelus, by making Acts of Faith, Hope and Charity, by visiting the sick, or teaching the ignorant. And then there are the plenary indulgences, which remit all the punishment due to sin; after we have confessed a great number of sins there may remain, in consequence of the same, although the sins are remitted, an almost endless number of years to go through in Purgatory; if, then, we gain entirely a plenary indulgence, we shall be as free from Purgatory as a child who dies right after Baptism, or as a martyr who has just given up his life for God.

Indulgences of this sort can be gained by being a member of the League of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, every first Friday of the month, and on the feasts of the Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Conception, besides many other occasions on the usual conditions of confession and communion. O how easy it is, my brethren, for a Christian, if he makes use of the graces which God offers him, to escape the pains of the next life.

But I must add, that to partake of such blessings we must be in the state of grace, confess, and receive Holy Communion and say the prayers prescribed by the Holy Father in church; only for the way of the cross is confession and communion not necessary. But we must always be free from mortal sin, have a great horror of all our venial sins, and a firm determination not to commit them anymore. When you are in this disposition, you can gain them for yourself, or for the poor souls in Purgatory. Nothing, my brethren, is easier than to make satisfaction to the divine justice of God, as we have so many means to attain this end, so that it will be the fault of our negligence if we have to go to Purgatory.

After we have made satisfaction to God, we must make satisfaction to our neighbor for the wrong which we have done him, in soul and body. I say for the wrong that we have done to his body, that is to say to his person, by speaking of him in an abusive and contemptuous way, or by insulting him by our malicious actions. If we have had the misfortune to offend him by our abusive talk, we must ask his pardon, and become reconciled with him. If you have assailed the honor of your neighbor, for instance, by speaking ill of him you are obliged to speak of his good qualities, as you have spoken about his bad ones. If you have calumniated him, you must seek out all those persons in whose presence you have spoken falsely about him, and tell them that all you said about your neighbor was not true; that you are very sorry about it, and that you beg them not to believe it. If you have wronged him in regard to his soul, that is far more difficult to make good; however, you must do what you possibly can, or you will not obtain forgiveness from God.

You must examine your conscience carefully, whether you have not given your children or neighbors scandal. How many parents, masters, and housewives give scandal to their children and servants? How often are they not heard swearing, and perhaps even blaspheming? How often have you been seen working on Sundays? You must also examine, whether you have sung improper songs, or read bad books, or given bad advice; for example, by saying that somebody should take revenge, or abuse his neighbor. You must also examine whether you have not borrowed articles from your neighbor and neglected to return them; whether you have not forgotten to give an alms which was given to you for that purpose, or to make an offering for the repose of the souls of your parents.

If you want to obtain the forgiveness of your sins you must not have in your possession anything belonging to your neighbor, which you must return and are able to do so; if you have injured his reputation, you must do everything which lies in your power to restore it again without blemish; you must be reconciled to your enemies, you must speak to them, as if they had only done you good their whole lives. You must only keep in your heart that charity which a good Christian must have for everybody. You must accept your penance with the firm intention of doing it as well as you possibly can, saying it with devotion and thanksgiving to God who is so good, and who is satisfied with so little; and striving to make the hardships of your state serve as a penance; we should gain all the indulgences that we can, so that after death we shall have had the happiness of having made satisfaction to God for our sins, and to our neighbor we shall have made satisfaction for the wrong we have done

SERMON 16
St. Alphonsus Liguori
THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST FOR US AND OUR OBLIGATIONS TO LOVE HIM

“And all flesh shall see the salvation of God” (Luke 3:6).

The Savior of the world, whom, according to the prediction of the prophet Isaias, men were one day to see on this Earth “and all flesh shall see the salvation of God,” has already come. We have not only seen him conversing among men, but we have also seen him suffering and dying for the love of us. Let us, then, this morning consider the love which we owe to Jesus Christ at least through gratitude for the love which he bears to us. In the first point we shall consider the greatness of the love which Jesus Christ has shown to us; and in the second we shall see the greatness of our obligations to love him.

First Point.
On the great love which Jesus Christ has shown to us.

1 . “Christ,” says St. Augustine, “came on Earth that men might know how much God loves them.” He has come, and to show the immense love which this God bears us, He has given Himself entirely to us, by abandoning Himself to all the pains of this life, and afterwards to the scourges, to the thorns, and to all the sorrows and insults which He suffered in His Passion, and by offering himself to die, abandoned by all, on the infamous tree of the cross. “Who loved me, and delivered himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20).

2. Jesus Christ could save us without dying on the cross, and without suffering. One drop of His Blood would be sufficient for our redemption. Even a prayer offered to His Eternal Father would be sufficient; because, on account of His divinity, His prayer would be of infinite value, and would therefore be sufficient for the salvation of the world, and of a thousand worlds. “But” says St. John Chrysostom, or another ancient author, “what was sufficient for redemption was not sufficient for love.” To show how much He loved us, He wished to shed not only a part of His Blood, but the entire amount of it, by way of torments. This may be inferred from the words which He used on the night before His death: “This is My Blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many.” (Matthew 26:28). The words “shall be shed” show that, in His Passion, the blood of Jesus Christ was poured forth even to the last drop. Hence, when after death his side was opened with a spear, blood and water came forth, as if what then flowed was all that remained of His Blood. Jesus Christ, then, though he could save us without suffering, wished to embrace a life of continual pain, and to suffer the cruel and ignominious death of the cross. “He humbled himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” (Philippians 2:8).

3. “Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13). To show his love for us, what more could the Son of God do than die for us? What more can one man do for another than give his life for him? “Greater love than this no man hath.” Tell me, my brother, if one of your servants if the vilest man on this Earth had done for you what Jesus Christ has done in dying through pain on a cross, could you remember his love for you, and not love him?

4. St. Francis of Assisi appeared to be unable to think of anything but the Passion of Jesus Christ; and, in thinking of it, he continually shed tears, so that by his constant weeping he became nearly blind. Being found one day weeping and groaning at the foot of the crucifix, he was asked the cause of his tears and lamentations. He replied: “I weep over the sorrows and ignominies of my Lord. And what makes me weep still more is, that the men for whom he has suffered so much live in forgetfulness of him.”

5. O Christian, should a doubt ever enter your mind that Jesus Christ loves you, raise your eyes and look at him hanging on the cross. Ah! says St. Thomas of Villanova, the cross to which he is nailed, the internal and external sorrows which he endures, and the cruel death which he suffers for you, are convincing proofs of the love which he bears you: “Testis crux, testes dolores, testis amara mors quam pro te sustinuit.” (Conc. 3). Do you not, says St. Bernard, hear the voice of that cross, and of those wounds, crying out to make you feel that he truly loves you?”Clamat crux, clamat vulnus, quod vere dilexit.”

6. St. Paul says that the love which Jesus Christ has shown in condescending to suffer so much for our salvation, should excite us to his love more powerfully than the scourging, the crowning with thorns, the painful journey to Calvary, the agony of three hours on the cross, the buffets, the spitting in his face, and all the other injuries which the Savior endured. According to the Apostle, the love which Jesus has shown us not only obliges, but in a certain manner forces and constrains us, to love a God who has loved us so much. “For the charity of Christ presseth us.” (2 Corinthians 5:14). On this text St. Francis de Sales says: “We know that Jesus the true God has loved us so as to suffer death, and even the death of the cross, for our salvation. Does not such love put our hearts as it were under a press, to force from them love by a violence which is stronger in proportion as it is more amiable?”

7. So great was the love which inflamed the enamoured heart of Jesus, that he not only wished to die for our redemption, but during his whole life he sighed ardently for the day on which he should suffer death for the love of us. Hence, during his life, Jesus used to say: “I have a baptism wherewith I am to be baptized; and how am I straitened until it be accomplished.” (Luke 12:50). In My Passion I am to be baptized with the baptism of my own blood, to wash away the sins of men. “And how am I straitened!” How, says St. Ambrose, explaining this passage, am I straitened by the desire of the speedy arrival of the day of my death? Hence, on the night before His Passion he said: “With desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you before I suffer.” (Luke 22:15).

8. “We have,” says St. Lawrence Justinian, “seen wisdom become foolish through an excess of love.” We have, he says, seen the Son of God become as it were a fool, through, the excessive love which he bore to men. Such, too, was the language of the Gentiles when they heard the Apostles preaching that Jesus Christ suffered death for the love of men. “But we,” says St. Paul, “preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews indeed a stumbling block, unto the Gentiles foolishness.” (1 Corinthians 1:23). Who, they exclaimed, can believe that a God, most happy in himself, and who stands in need of no one, should take human flesh and die for the love of men, who are his creatures? This would be to believe that a God became foolish for the love of men. “It appears folly,” says St. Gregory, “that the author of Life should die for men.” (Hom vi). But, whatever infidels may say or think, it is of Faith that the Son of God has shed all His Blood for the love of us, to wash away the sins of our souls. “Who hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood.” (Apocalypse 1:5). Hence, the saints were struck dumb with astonishment at the consideration of the love of Jesus Christ. At the sight of the crucifix, St. Francis of Paul could do nothing but exclaim, “Love! Love! Love!”

9. “Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them unto the end.” (John xiii. 1). This loving Lord was not content with showing us his love by dying on the cross for our salvation; but, at the end of his life, he wished to leave us his own very flesh for the food of our souls, that thus he might unite himself entirely to us. “Take ye and eat, this is my body.” (Matthew 26:26). But of this gift and this excess of love we shall speak at another time, in treating of the most holy Sacrament of the Altar. Let us pass to the second point.

Second Point.
On the greatness of our obligations to love Jesus Christ.

10. He who loves wishes to be loved. “When,” says St. Bernard, “God loves, he desires nothing else than to be loved.” (Ser. Ixxxiii., in Cant). The Redeemer said: “I am come to cast fire upon the Earth, and what will I but that it is kindled” (Luke 12:49). I, says Jesus Christ, came on Earth to light up the fire of divine love in the hearts of men and what will I but that it be kindled?” God wishes nothing else from us than to be loved. Hence the holy Church prays in the following words: “We beseech thee, Lord, that thy Spirit may inflame us with that fire which Jesus Christ cast upon the Earth, and which he vehemently wished to be kindled. “Ah! what have not the saints, inflamed with this fire, accomplished! They have abandoned all things delights, honors, the purple and the sceptre that they might burn with this holy fire. But you will ask what are you to do, that you too may be inflamed with the love of Jesus Christ. Imitate David: “In my meditation a fire shall flame out.” (Psalm 38). Meditation is the blessed furnace in which the holy fire of divine love is kindled. Make mental prayer every day, meditate on the passion of Jesus Christ, and doubt not but you too shall burn with this blessed flame.

11. St. Paul says, that Jesus Christ died for us to make himself the master of the hearts of all. “To this end Christ died and rose again, that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.” (Romans 14:9). He wished, says the Apostle, to give his life for all men, without a single exception, that not even one should live any longer to himself, but that all might live only to that God who condescended to die for them. “And Christ died for all, that they also who live may not now live to themselves, but unto him who died for them.” (2 Corinthians 5:15).

12. Ah! to correspond to the love of this God, it would be necessary that another God should die for him, as Jesus Christ died for us. Ingratitude of men! A God has condescended to give his life for their salvation, and they will not even think on what he has even done for them! Ah! If each of you thought frequently on the sufferings of the Redeemer, and on the love which he has shown to us in His Passion, how could you but love him with your whole hearts? To him who sees with a lively Faith the Son of God suspended by three nails on an infamous gibbet, every wound of Jesus speaks and says: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God.” Love, man, thy Lord and thy God, who has loved thee so intensely. “Who can resist such tender expressions?” The wounds of Jesus Christ,” says St. Bonaventure, “wound the hardest hearts, and inflame frozen souls.”

13. “Oh, if you knew the mystery of the cross!” said St. Andrew the Apostle to the tyrant by whom he was tempted to deny Jesus Christ. Tyrant, if you knew the love which your Savior has shown you by dying on the cross for your salvation, instead of tempting me, you would abandon all the goods of this Earth to give yourself to the love of Jesus Christ.

14. I conclude, my most beloved brethren, by recommending you henceforth to meditate every day on the passion of Jesus Christ. I shall be content, if you daily devote to this meditation a quarter of an hour. Let each at least procure a crucifix, let him keep it in his room, and from time to time give a glance at it, saying: “Ah! my Jesus, thou hast died for me, and I do not love thee.” Had a person suffered for a friend injuries, buffets, and prisons, he would be greatly pleased to find that they were remembered and spoken of with gratitude. But he should be greatly displeased if the friend for whom they had been borne, were unwilling to think or hear of his sufferings. Thus frequent meditation on His Passion is very pleasing to our Redeemer; but the neglect of it greatly provokes his displeasure. Oh! how great will be the consolation which we shall receive in our last moments from the sorrows and death of Jesus Christ, if, during life, we shall have frequently meditated on them with love! Let us not wait till others, at the hour of death, place in our hands the crucifix; let us not wait till they remind us of all that Jesus Christ suffered for us. Let us, during life, embrace Jesus Christ crucified; let us keep ourselves always united to him, that we may live and die with him. He who practises devotion to the passion of Our Lord, cannot but be devoted to the dolours of Mary, the remembrance of which will be to us a source of great consolation at the hour of death, how profitable and sweet the meditation of Jesus on the cross! Oh! how happy the death of him who dies in the embraces of Jesus crucified, accepting death with cheerfulness for the love of that God who has died for the love of us!

SERMON 17
St. Vincent Ferrer
SERMON FOR CHRISTMAS EVE

Now the generation of Christ was in this wise. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child, of the Holy Ghost. “She was found with Child, of the Holy Ghost” (Matthew 1:18).

Our whole sermon is about the impregnation of the Virgin Mary. But that you may perceive this material in your souls with the sweetness of devotion first we shall salute the pregnant Virgin, etc. [Here all recite the “Hail Mary.”]

“She was found,” etc. I find a great difference in sacred scripture between the conception of Christ and his birth, especially in this because the birth of Christ was not entirely hidden and secret, rather he wished that it would be announced to the world and published through the angels and through the heavens, through the star in the east, through the animals, through Eastern kings, just as it had already been prophesied. “I will move the Heaven and the Earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will move all nations: and the desired of all nations shall come” (Aggeus 2:7-8). Note, “the Heaven,” that is, the holy angels.

But about his conception he wished that it would be hidden. To no one in this world was it revealed, not to the patriarchs, not to the prophets, nor to holy persons, but only to the archangel Gabriel and to the Virgin Mary, as it had been prophesied by Isaias, “From the ends of the Earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one. And I said: My secret to myself” (Isaias 24:16). And the prophet speaks in the person of Gabriel and the Virgin Mary. Note, “from the ends of the Earth.” The ends of the Earth are taken in two ways, either locally or temporally.

With respect to the first by calculating from the center of the Earth, that which is most distant from the center is the circumference. The Earth is the center, the circumference is the empyreal heaven. Behold the ends locally from which Gabriel and the Virgin Mary heard the praises of the just one, because it is a rule in holy theology that when he is called just, it is understood absolutely, always of the savior.

As for the second, the ends can be taken temporally. There are seven temporal ages of the world. The first was from Adam to Noe. The second from Noe to Abraham. Third from Abraham to Moses. The fourth from Moses to David. The fifth from David to the Babylonian captivity. Sixth from the Babylonian exile to Christ. The seventh and last, from Christ to the end of the world. About which the Apostle [Paul] says: “[We are] upon whom the ends of the world are come” (1 Corinthians 10:11).

Behold the temporal limits, about which Gabriel and the Virgin Mary speak. “From the ends of the Earth,” that is in the ultimate age of the world “we have heard praises, the glory of the just one,” that is, the savior. “Tell us Angel Gabriel about these praises and the glory of the savior. Say something to us.” He responds, “My secret to me,” supply “I shall keep.” See how the conception of Christ was hidden and secret. About which David said: “He shall come down like rain upon the fleece; and as showers falling gently upon the Earth” (Psalm 71:6). The difference then is clear between the birth of Christ and his conception.

Nevertheless although his conception was so secret at the beginning, nevertheless it gradually became manifest, because a pregnant woman at least in giving birth reveals her pregnancy. So it was of the Virgin whose belly and uterus had swelled, and she could no longer hide her pregnancy. On this account the proposed theme speaks, “She was found with child.” The theme is clear.

And since I am concerned with the pregnant Virgin in this sermon, I find that the Virgin was found pregnant by her fiancé Joseph in three ways: First through sense experience. Second through divine wisdom, Third through a special excellence.

For each of these the theme speaks, “She was found with Child” (Matthew 1:18) etc.

(1) SENSE EXPERIENCE

I say first, that the Virgin Mary was found pregnant by her espoused Joseph through sense experience. All knowledge is had through some sense perception. Through sight we recognize colors; through hearing, sound; through the sense of smell, odors; through taste, flavors; through touch, hard or soft, hot or cold. If you say to someone “How do you know this?” He replies: “Because I have seen or heard it,” etc. It is clear therefore that all our cognition is through the senses. The Philosopher [Aristotle], “Sense is not deceived about the proper object, especially sight unless there is a defect.”

On account of this honorable judges make a great difference between eyewitnesses and hearsay, or belief. An eyewitness is greater. And so Christ rebuked the Jews who refused to believe, saying, “We speak what we know, and we testify what we have seen, and you receive not our testimony” (John 3:11). Note “what we know” namely, I and the holy prophets, “we speak,” in this way, from sight. The Virgin Mary was found by her espoused Joseph to be with child. Imagine how after Mary had conceived, filled with joy she went to visit Elizabeth her cousin [literally, her related sister], who was pregnant with John the Baptist, as the angel had told her. She stayed with her for three months, as Luke says, (cf. Luke 1:56).

Her fiancé Joseph came to Nazareth to visit her, and saw her womb swollen, so he found her pregnant. Think how Joseph should have wondered, because he had not touched her. Moreover, as the holy doctors say, after they had become engaged, the Virgin Mary persuaded her fiancé, who was also a virgin, that they would take a vow of virginity together. So much the more did he wonder when she seemed pregnant. Therefore the beginning of today’s Gospel says, “When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together,” that is, to live together and have relations, “she was found to be with Child, of the Holy Ghost. Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately” (Matthew 1:18-19).

Think also when she was found pregnant by her parents, who did not believe that she had sinned, but they wondered what this was. On the one hand they were thinking of her great devotion; on the other hand they saw her pregnancy. Her mother said to her, “Daughter, what is this?” The Virgin Mary replied to her mother, this is that which pleases God, who can do to his creatures whatever he pleases. “O daughter, what will people say, that my daughter got pregnant before she was married.”

Think of the distress of the Virgin, who dared not reveal because “my secret to me.” Think of the entanglement in which Joseph found himself, who was old and poor, and the Virgin Mary, young and stunningly beautiful. Bernard says that Joseph, on one hand was considering the holiness of the Virgin, and that it could not be that she had sinned, and on the other hand he beheld her pregnant. And since by nature a woman cannot conceive without a man, therefore like an olive, his heart was between two millstones.

SIGNS OF A BAD WOMAN

And because he was prudent and wise he considered all the signs of a bad woman, which are: (1) an irreligious heart, (2) garrulousness in speech, (3) personal untidiness, (4) voraciousness in eating and drinking, (5) laziness toward work, (6) vanity of dress, and (7) contempt for her husband. Each of these signs indicate a woman is bad. But Joseph found none of these signs in the Virgin Mary. Rather, the total opposite; all the signs of a good woman.

(1) The first sign of a dishonorable woman is an irreligious heart toward God, disregarding masses and sermons, because she does not fear God. May God keep her from being inconsiderate, because unless a woman retains a fear of God, no other fear will hold her back from evil. Fear of God and devotion restrained Susanna lest she sin, when she said, “I am straitened on every side: for if I do this thing, it is death to me: and if I do it not, I shall not escape your hands. But it is better for me to fall into your hands without doing it, than to sin in the sight of the Lord” (Daniel 13:22-23).

Joseph however was thinking about his fiancée whether she was devout, or irreligious, and he saw that he had never seen such a holy and devout woman, because she always wanted to pray, or read, or contemplate. And on this foundation of devotion a woman should ground herself, otherwise she will fall. “For other foundation no man can lay, but that which is laid” (1 Corinthians 3:10). But Joseph did not find these things in the Blessed Virgin Mary, since she was most devoted and ardent toward God. So scripture says of her in Proverbs, “The woman that fears [God], she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31:30).

(2) The second sign is garrulous talkativeness. God keep her from the opportunity. Reason, because no devotion remains in the soul from words, just as no scent remains in the nutmeg jar which is left open. Authority: “Where there are many words, there is oftentimes want,” namely of goodness (Proverbs 14:23). And so you should raise your little daughters lest they become talkative. And so, 1 Timothy: “Let the woman learn in silence, with all subjection” (1 Timothy 2:11), otherwise it is a bad sign. But a quiet woman is good.

Note the signs of taciturnity of the Blessed Virgin, because she is painted with her eyes larger than her mouth, and so she is properly represented to indicate that she had a great eye of the heart for thinking and contemplating, but a mouth small for speaking little. Mary “kept all these words in her heart” (Luke 2:51). Joseph considered for himself if his fiancée was loquacious, or garrulous, and he saw that she was not. Moreover she preferred not to speak. A sign of this, as I said, that the Virgin had large eyes and a small mouth, is clear in the portrait which St. Luke painted, which is in Rome.

(3) The third sign is bodily untidiness. When a woman goes about, lascivious, dissolute and vulgar, it seems that she has ants on her feet. Ambrose: A man’s body is an image of his soul. So Solomon says, “A woman [meets him] in harlot’s attire prepared to deceive souls; talkative and wandering, not bearing to be quiet, not able to abide still at home, now abroad, now in the streets, now lying in wait near the corners” (Proverbs 7:10-12). And she immediately put herself at the windows etc.

But Joseph did not find this sign in the Blessed Virgin, because she never left home, unless when she went to the temple. And thus she went about totally composed. She always had her eyes toward the ground in a gesture of holiness. She never went dancing, but went about with downcast eyes. So scripture says about her, “How beautiful are you, my love, how beautiful are you! your eyes are doves’ eyes, besides what is hid within” (Canticles 4:1). The Holy Spirit says “how beautiful are you” to the Virgin twice, because she is beautiful in body and beautiful in soul. Note, “Your eyes are doves’ eyes,” he does not say, “falcons’ eyes.”

(4) The fourth sign is stuffing the belly with food and drink. It is a bad sign in a man and in a woman, because of those nearby parts, and stimulate each other. Hence a full belly immediately stimulates its neighbor, and because of this a gluttonous person necessarily is lustful. Holy Scripture says of the gluttons, “They shall eat ... and shall lift up their souls to their iniquity” (Osee 4:8).

But the Virgin Mary ate very little, only enough to sustain the body. She was almost always fasting.

(5) The fifth sign is laziness, as when some woman says, “I will not work. I have brought so much from my dowry to my husband.” Therefore St. Bernard [De consideratione, II, 13,22] writes, “Idleness is the mother of trifles, the stepmother of virtues,” so because our body is of the Earth, it has the conditions of the Earth, which if left uncultivated, brings forth thorns of lust, and weeds of bad thoughts and sins. Also, about the body of the lazy, on this account Sacred Scripture says of the body, “Send him,” ― the servant, that is, the body which is like a servant who is to be directed ― “to work, that he be not idle: For idleness has taught much evil” (Ecclesiasticus 33:28-29).

But the Virgin was never lazy, rather she was always busy about holy works. Jerome says that she would arise in the middle of the night and pray. Then she spun and wove.

(6) Sixth is vanity and excess in dress. Women may dress themselves decently and honestly according to their status and condition, but when they pour all their time and zeal in dressing themselves, or their body and they don’t care about their soul, God help them, because such women are vain and have a vain heart. So Scripture says, “Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2). Note the rule of the Apostle [Paul], “Women also in decent apparel: adorning themselves with modesty and sobriety, not with plaited hair, or gold, or pearls, or costly attire, but as it becomes women professing godliness, with good works” (1 Timothy 2:9-10). Note “sobriety” in measure, according to the condition of their status and the ability of their husband. But there are many women with no regard, and they should be ashamed at what they wear, like the outfit or jewelry which a prostitute wears. And so Scripture says, “Favor is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that fears the Lord, she shall be praised” (Proverbs 31:30).

But the Blessed Virgin did not care about jewelry. She washed her face well with the pure water of tears. St. Anne, her mother was adorning her with much jewelry. Out of love for her mother she wore it in the house, but not outside the house. But the daughters of today do just the opposite.

(7) The seventh sign is contempt of the husband. It is a sign that she has her heart for another, when she argues with her husband about fashion and about other things, she immediately wants him to get it for her. According to scriptures, a woman ought to honor her husband, and so the Apostle commands, saying, “Let the woman learn in silence, with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to use authority over the man: but to be in silence” (1 Timothy 2:11). We also read in Esther, chapter 2, that Assuerus and his people were saying, “Let all wives, as well of the greater as of the lesser, give honor to their husbands...and that the husbands should be rulers and masters in their houses” (Esther 2:20,22).

Neither is this sign of contempt found in the glorious Virgin, because although she was young, beautiful, noble and rich, and her spouse old, and poor, nevertheless she honored him more than any woman in the world. All in all, Joseph found no sign of a bad woman in the Virgin Mary, but all the virtues and traits of a good woman.

On the other hand he considered whether nature would permit a woman to conceive without a man, and he saw that it seemed not. See how perplexed he was; it was like his heart was pressed between two millstones. On the one hand he was afraid to make her condition public, because she would have immediately been stoned to death, according to the law. On the other hand, since he was a just man, lest he seem to consent, he thought about going away quietly and leaving her. And so the prophecy of David was fulfilled saying, in the person of Joseph, “Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness has covered me. And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest?... and I abode in the wilderness” (Psalm 54:6-7,8). As for his proposal: note “fear” of consenting in sin if he stayed with her, and “trembling” lest he defame an innocent one. So he proposed to put her away. It is clear, therefore, how the Virgin Mary, “was found with Child” (Matthew 1:18).

Morally. You should take care, like Joseph, that there be no impediments when you wish to contract marriage, like parental [permission], or affinity, or something else. And so it is an ordination of the church that it be declared. And so scripture says, “Marriage honorable in all, and the bed undefiled” (Hebrews 13:4). It is honorable when there is no impediment.

(2) DIVINE WISDOM

Second, I say that the Virgin Mary was found to be with child, through divine wisdom. This is based on a rule of theology, says St. Thomas in I Pars that the mysteries of God, that is the secrets, depending on his will alone cannot be known unless through his revelation. None of you can know my heart unless I should reveal and manifest it. How much more so with God.

But that which happens naturally can be known. In this way doctors know the hour of death of a sick person, because although the effect is in the future, nevertheless the cause is already present. Not so with the will of God. And so scripture says, “For who among men is he who can know the counsel of God? or who can think what the will of God is?” (Wisdom 9:13). It is added, “And who shall know your thought, unless you give wisdom, and send thy Holy Spirit from above” (Wisdom 9:17).

Now Joseph, when he saw that his fiancée was pregnant, could not naturally know the truth, because the conception of Christ had no natural cause. For it did not come through the celestial constellations, nor through angelic processes, nor elemental, or human, therefore it could not have been known unless through divine revelation. Think, therefore how Joseph, who was a holy man, just and good, turned to God in prayer about this, asking the good pleasure of God to reveal [the answer], according to that of James, “But if any of you want wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all men abundantly, ... and it shall be given him” (James 1:5). So Joseph did, when he wanted at night to retire, he first kneeled down in prayer, saying, “Lord, you have given me a great grace, giving me this damsel as my fiancée, but Lord, I see that she is pregnant. How is it that a woman so holy is pregnant?” and similar words. And he wept much.

I believe also that the Blessed Virgin, on the other hand was praying to God, lovingly compassionate over her predicament, and that her saddened fiancé might be consoled. I believe that even the mother of the Virgin was praying that they not be disgraced, etc. Think how God listened to these devout prayers. The Gospel says, “But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: ‘Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a Son: and you shall call His Name Jesus. For He shall save His people from their sins!’ Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying: ‘Behold a virgin shall be with Child, and bring forth a Son, and they shall call His Name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us” (Matthew 1:20-23). Think, how the angel spoke to him the prophecy of Isaias, “Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son” (Isaias 7:14), not the Father nor the Holy Spirit. Think what kind of joy Joseph had, when he knew the truth.

From this a question emerges: Why did the Virgin not reveal it to him, when she saw his sadness, and perplexity, because he believed her – although nowadays a fiancé does not believe his fiancée. I respond that a secret entrusted should not be revealed, where the one by whom the secret is entrusted, is good, just and holy. Otherwise it can be revealed. “For it is good to hide the secret of a king” (Tobias 12:7). Therefore the Virgin Mary, who had a most delicate conscience, chose not to reveal it, lest she offend the king, especially God.

Note [this is] against many vain persons who, if God gives them some grace or revelation, cannot keep silence. They immediately reveal it, and wrongly, unless about this they expressly know the will of God, especially because sometimes they believe the illusions of the devil to be divine revelations. They are like hens who cannot keep quiet until they lay an egg. About such scripture says, “He who discloses the secret of a friend loses his credit, and shall never find an intimate friend” (Ecclesiasticus 27:17). See the reason why the Virgin Mary did not reveal the secret committed to her to Joseph or to her mother, but the Holy Spirit revealed it to Elizabeth.

(3) SPECIAL EXCELLENCE

Third, I say that the Virgin Mary was found to be with child through a special excellence. Generally, when women are pregnant, they are thin, pale, tired and hungry for all kinds of things. But it was not so with the Blessed Virgin. Some holy theologians say that from the fact that the Virgin was pregnant, rays of splendor shone forth from her face, especially when she was close to childbirth. This can be proved in three ways, through philosophy, through theology and through experience.

As for the first, the Philosopher Aristotle says that every natural agent to the extent that it gives of the substantial form, to that extent it also gives the accidents following the form. What gives fire, gives also heat and light. So God the Father, of his substantial form, gave his Son to the Virgin Mary. That the Son of God is called “form,” the authority of scriptures: “Who being in the form of God,...emptied Hmself, taking the form of a servant” (Philippians 2:6-7). It is no wonder then that it conveys a radiance in the face etc. And so when pregnant, the Virgin was more beautiful and more glowing.

Second, it is proved theologically. We read in Exodus 34, that because Moses had spoken with God on the mountain, rays of splendor shone forth from his face, so much so that the people could not even gaze on him. Behold the reason. If the face was so splendorous from just a conversation with God, how much more therefore the face of the Virgin Mary from the conception of his Son. The Apostle Paul makes this point saying, “Now if the ministration of death, engraved with letters upon stones, was glorious; so that the children of Israel could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, which is made void: How shall not the ministration of the spirit be rather in glory?” (2 Corinthians 3:7-8). The “ministration of death” was the law of Moses which did not confer a life of glory.

Third, it is proved by experience, of a crystal lamp, which is beautiful in itself and bright, but if the lamp within is lighted it shall be more beautiful and even brighter. The same with the Virgin Mary. Think how her body, beautiful and pure like a lamp, and the light inside illuminating the whole world is the Son of God. No wonder therefore if the Virgin was then brighter and more beautiful, inasmuch as the text says that Joseph “knew her not” (Matthew 1:25). From these rays of splendor, because eternal light was in her.

Note here how Joseph, having received the divine revelation, humbly sought pardon from the Virgin for his suspicion which he had had of her, saying, “O Blessed, why did you not tell me, because I believed you!” And that she comforted him sweetly congratulating him that he would be the groom and companion of the mother of the Son of God, and his parent. O blessed family. How reverently, then, did they both adore God incarnate in the womb of the Virgin.

And so if you wish to have this association for yourself, you should do like the merchant Valentine did, who every year on Christmas, invited [to his home] one poor old man and one woman having a little child. They represented for him the Virgin with her son, and Joseph. It was revealed about him that at his death the Virgin with her son and Joseph appeared to him, saying, “Because you have received us in your house, so we receive you into our house.” About this Christ says, in Matthew 25, “Amen I say to you, as long as you did it to one of these My least brethren, you did it to Me!” (v. 40). And so the money which you pay out in gambling, you should for the love of Christ give to the poor. The poor however, who do not have, nor can give money to themselves, can at least present tomorrow [Christmas day] as many “Hail Marys” as days she bore him in the womb, or how many weeks, or months. Forty weeks, nine months, 277 days.