Homilies on the Gospels, Book I
Homilies on the Gospels, Book I
continued
Homily 11: On the Feast Day of Theophany
Matthew 3; Mark 1; Luke 3; John 1
At that time, Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him, etc. The reading of the Holy Gospel, which we have just now heard, brothers, gives us a great example of perfect humility both in the Lord and in the servant. In the Lord indeed, because, although he is the Lord, he deigned not only to be baptized by a human servant but also himself to come to this one to be baptized. In the servant, however, because although he knew that he was designated to be the forerunner and baptizer of his Savior, mindful nevertheless of his own frailty, he humbly excused the office enjoined upon him, saying: I ought to be baptized by you, and do you come to me? But because everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and everyone who humbles himself will be exalted, and the Lord, who in the form of a man appeared humble for the instruction of mankind, was soon exalted by God the Father above men, nay even above angels, and above all that is created, as it was made manifest by the voice descending upon him from magnificent glory: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And that most faithful and humble servant John, who preferred to be baptized by the Lord rather than to baptize the Lord, and who was deemed worthy to see the Spirit descending upon him with the eyes of his mind opened above other mortals. But since we have briefly touched upon these matters, let us now consider at greater length the very beginning of the sacred reading.
Then Jesus came, he said, from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. The Son of God came to be baptized by a man, not out of an anxious necessity of washing away any of his own sin—He who did no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth—but out of a pious dispensation to wash away the contagion of all our sin, we who all offend in many ways, and if we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. He came to be baptized in the waters, the creator of the waters themselves, so that to us who are conceived in iniquities and born in sins, He might insinuate the mystery of the second birth, which is celebrated through water and spirit. He deigned to be washed in the waters of the Jordan, He who was clean from all stains, so that He might sanctify the streams of the waters for washing away all the stains of our sins. But since we have recognized the most humble dispensation of the Lord from the gospel reading, let us also intently observe the most humble obedience of the servant.
But John forbade Him, saying: I need to be baptized by You, and You come to me? He was terrified that He, who had no fault to be washed away by baptism, would come to him to be baptized with water, indeed He who by the grace of His Spirit would take away the entire fault of the world for believers. Hence it is rightly understood that what John says here, I need to be baptized by You, is that which is narrated in the Evangelist John when he says: Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world (John 1). For we all ought to be baptized by Him who came into the world for this purpose, to take away the sins of the world. Even John himself needed to be baptized by Him, that is, to be cleansed from the contamination of original sin, who, although no one born of women was greater [or, none were greater], nevertheless, as born of a woman, did not lack the stain of sin. Therefore, with other children of women, he needed to be washed by Him who was born of a Virgin, who appeared as God in the flesh. For it is written: What is man that he should be clean, and he who is born of a woman that he should appear pure (Job 15)? Justly, therefore, the man, although holy but born of a woman and not immune from the stain of guilt, feared to baptize the Lord, whom he knew to be born of a virgin and to have no stain of guilt whatsoever. But because true humility is itself that which obedience does not desert, what he first feared to do, he humbly fulfilled.
But Jesus answering said to him: Allow it now, for thus it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness: then he allowed him. That is, then he finally allowed, then he agreed, then he permitted him to be baptized by him, when he understood that all righteousness ought to be fulfilled in such an order. Allow it now, he said, allow me now, as commanded, to be baptized by you in water, and afterward you will be baptized by me in the spirit for what you seek. For thus it becomes us to set an example of fulfilling all righteousness, so that the faithful may learn that no human can exist perfectly just without the wave of Baptism, and that the duty of life-giving regeneration is necessary for all living innocently and justly, knowing that I, who was conceived and born by the work of the Holy Spirit, underwent the second birth, or rather that I consecrated the washing to myself. Let no greater person disdains to be baptized by my humble self in remission of sins, when he remembers that the Lord, who usually forgives sins by baptizing in the Holy Spirit, submitted his head to the hands of the servant to be baptized in water.
But Jesus, having been baptized, immediately went up from the water: and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and coming upon Him. And this pertains to the fulfillment of all righteousness, as the heavens were opened to the baptized Lord, and the Spirit descended upon Him, so that our faith may surely be confirmed through the mystery of sacred Baptism, opening to us the entrance of the heavenly fatherland, and the grace of the Holy Spirit being granted. For is it to be believed that the secrets of heaven were first revealed to the Lord, when true faith holds that He had remained in the bosom of the Father, and held the heavenly throne, not less in the time when He conversed with men, than before and after that? Or, did He receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit from the thirtieth year of His age, when He was baptized, who from His conception was always full of the Holy Spirit? Therefore, beloved brothers, these mysteries were celebrated for us. Because the Lord dedicated the washing of Baptism to us by the sacred immersion of His body, He also showed to us that, after receiving Baptism, the entrance to the heavens is open, and the Holy Spirit is given. And fittingly so, because the first Adam, deceived by an unclean spirit through the serpent, lost the joys of the heavenly kingdom;
the second Adam, glorified by the Holy Spirit through the dove, unlocked the gates of that same kingdom, and extinguished the flaming sword, by which the Cherubim, the guardians, had shut off the entrance to paradise after the first Adam was expelled. The second Adam on this day showed that through the water of the regenerating washing it should be extinguished, so that where he (the first Adam) was defeated by the enemy along with his spouse, the second Adam would return victorious over the enemy with His holy Church, namely His bride, and even bestow more significant gifts of immortal life redeemed from sin, as the father of the future world, the prince of peace, gave gifts that the father of our present world, the prince of discord, having been sold under sin, lost for himself and his offspring. For that most blessed life that Adam abandoned, though glorified in incomparable light and peace and frequent vision and conversation of God and the angels, was nevertheless established in earthly places of this earth, though nourished by fruits procured without labor: but this life which Christ grants is in the fortress of the heavens, eternal life, not in frequent but in continuous light of divine contemplation. The first blessed life of man was thus immortal, so that man could not die in it, if he cautiously kept himself from the seduction of sin; but the second life will be thus immortal, so that man cannot die in it, nor be tempted by any seduction of attacking sin.
But rightly, the reconciling Spirit appeared in the dove, which is a very simple bird, to show through the nature of this animal the simplicity of His own nature. For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee deceit, so that He teaches the one upon whom He descends to be mild, gentle, and a minister proclaiming heavenly mercy to the world; and simultaneously, He admonishes all who are to be renewed by His grace to be simple and pure in heart, according to what is written: Think of the Lord with goodness, and seek Him in the simplicity of heart. For into a malicious soul wisdom will not enter, nor dwell in a body subject to sins (Wisdom 1). Hence Simon, who chose to remain in the gall of bitterness and the bond of iniquity, could not have a part and lot in this Spirit. Indeed, he was full of that spirit who appeared to men in the serpent, infecting hearts with the pestilence of malice and deceit. But as the Spirit descended upon the Lord, let us see what follows:
And behold, a voice from the heavens said: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. The Son of God is baptized in human form, the Spirit of God descends as a dove, God the Father is declared in the voice of the holy and undivided Trinity in the mystery of the Baptism. Indeed, it is fitting that He who would command His ministers to teach all nations and baptize them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, should first personally reveal the entire Trinity at His own baptism. When the paternal voice says, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased," it speaks in contrast to the earthly man, suggesting that God the Creator was, in some way, displeased with man when he sinned, as it is said: "It repents Me that I have made man on the earth" (Gen. VI). Repentance does not indeed befall God, but He speaks in our way, we who are accustomed to remorse when we see our works turn against our wish. He said it repented Him to have made man on earth, seeing him deviating from the rectitude of His creation by sinning. But in His only begotten Son, He was singularly well pleased, for He knew that this man whom He had assumed would be kept free from sin. And in this voice of the Father, as in the other mysteries of our Lord's baptism, the completion of all righteousness is declared.
The co-eternal and consubstantial Son to the Father, with the Spirit descending upon Him, is revealed to men, so that by this they may learn that through the grace of baptism, having received the Holy Spirit, they can move from being children of the devil to being children of God, as the Apostle teaches, speaking thus to the faithful: "You have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, whereby we cry, Abba, Father" (Romans VIII). And the evangelist John says: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" (John I). Therefore, beloved brothers, recalling as He Himself granted, the baptism of our Savior, let us return to ourselves, and since we have heard the humility and obedience of both the baptizer and the baptized, let us strive to preserve the baptism we received through humble obedience, cleansing ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Thus, humbly urging those who have not yet been initiated into these mysteries to undergo and keep them, and all of us who have been promoted by priestly rank to dispense these sacraments, let us humbly fulfill the office enjoined upon us. Let us all diligently strive so that we do not close against ourselves the gate of the heavenly homeland, which has been opened to us by divine mysteries, through human enticements.
For the Lord is not recounted by the evangelist Luke as having prayed after being baptized by John, and thus with the heavens opened, the Spirit and the voice of the Father could be heard, who also, after being baptized by three concurring evangelists, immediately undertook a solitary fast of forty days; but he surely taught and informed us by his example that after receiving remission of sins in baptism, we should devote ourselves to vigils, fasts, prayers, and the other fruits of the Spirit, lest the unclean spirit, which was expelled from our hearts at baptism, should find us sluggish and less vigilant, return, and finding us empty of spiritual wealth, suppress us with a sevenfold plague, and our last state becomes worse than the first. Let us be extremely careful not to kindle a fire for ourselves, which may obstruct our path of life, frequently igniting kindling of our vices. For the flaming sword, whatever it may be, which guards the gates of paradise, is extinguished for every faithful person at the font of baptism, so they might return. However, it remains ever immovable for the unfaithful. Even for the falsely called faithful, who are not elected, as they do not fear to entangle themselves in crimes after baptism, it is as if the same fire is rekindled after extinction;
so they do not deserve to enter the kingdom sought with a deceitful and double heart, more fraudulent with a serpent’s tooth than with the simplicity of the dove's eye, which the Lord has shown he greatly loves in his church, who in the Song of Love says: "Behold, you are beautiful, my friend, behold you are beautiful: your eyes are doves" (Songs 1). Hence, because the form of the dove is proposed to us to learn the simplicity pleasing to God, let us more diligently observe its nature, so that by the examples of its innocence, we may adopt principles for a more correct life. This bird is entirely free from the malice of gall. Likewise, let us be alienated from the gall of malice, and let all bitterness, wrath, and indignation be taken away from us, along with all malice. Thus, it harms none with either beak or claws, nor does it seek even the smallest fish or worms, on which almost all other birds feed themselves and their chicks. Let us observe whether our teeth are weapons and arrows, lest by biting and devouring one another, we be consumed by each other. Let us restrain our hands from plunder; let him who stole, no longer steal. But rather, let him labor, working with his hands what is good, so that he may have something to give to those in need. For the dove is often found to feed the young of others as if they were its own.
It feeds on the fruits and seed of the earth. Let us hear the apostle: “It is good not to eat meat, and not to drink wine” (Romans 14). And the apostle Peter says: "supply virtue in your faith; and in virtue, knowledge; and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control, perseverance; and in perseverance, piety; and in piety, brotherly love" (2 Peter 1). It substitutes a coo for a song. Let us be miserable, and mourn, and weep before the Lord who made us. Let our laughter be turned to mourning, and our joy to gloom. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. It is accustomed to sit upon the waters, so that, foreseeing the shadow of an approaching hawk reflected in the waters, it avoids it. And let us be clean and purified, diligently attending to the streams of the Scriptures, by the mirrors of which we can learn to discern and guard against the traps of the ancient enemy. The Church indeed, which is the bride of Christ, loves the Scriptures, singing in the praises of her beloved: "His eyes are like doves by the rivers of waters, washed with milk, and fitly set" (Song of Solomon 5:12). The dove is accustomed to nesting in the hollows of the rock, in the crevice of the wall. The rock is Christ, whose hands were pierced with nails, and his side with a spear while on the cross, from which immediately flowed blood and water—the mystery of our sanctification and cleansing.
The wall is his strength collected from the saints, the crevice in it is the bosom of paternal affection, where, fostering the tender souls of the faithful for the perfection of faith, hope, and love, they open up a place for nesting doves as it were. Hence, let us, who are still small in faith, humbly come under the protection of these stronger aids, always striving to be sanctified by the sacraments of the Lord’s Passion. The Lord seeks such a manner of living for all of us, wishing to see the life of each of us devoted to such pursuits, rejoicing to have his praises proclaimed and sung by such voices. “Arise,” he says, “my friend, my beautiful one, and come, my dove, in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall. Show me your face, let your voice sound in my ears” (Song of Solomon 2). Let it suffice to have recounted these seven virtues of the dove. And it is rightly so, perhaps, because the grace of the Holy Spirit, who descended in the form of a dove, is sevenfold. However, from all that human ingenuity can morally interpret from its nature, one remains that sacred history narrates of its mystical act.
For when the Lord, by means of the waters of the flood, washed away the crimes of the original world in the figure of future baptism, after the purification had been accomplished and desiring Noah to know how the face of the earth was, He sent out a raven, which scorned to return to the ark, signifying those who, although washed by the water of baptism, yet negligently persist in the blackest habit of the old man by not serving better, and not deserving to be renewed by the anointing of the Holy Spirit, they immediately depart from the inner unity of catholic peace and quiet, following outward things, that is, the desires of the world. He sent out after it a dove; she came to him in the evening, carrying a branch of olive with green leaves in her beak. I believe you notice, brothers, and anticipate my speech with your understanding, that the branch of olive with green leaves is the grace of the Holy Spirit abounding with the words of life: of whose fullness resting upon Christ, the Psalm says: "God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions" (Psalm 45). Of whose gift given to the companions of Christ John speaks: "You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things" (1 John 2). And with a very beautiful comparison, the shadow of truth harmonizes. The dove of flesh carried the olive branch washed by the waters of the flood into the ark;
the Holy Spirit in the form of a bodily dove descended on the Lord baptized by the water of the Jordan. We also, members of Christ and the Church, whom not only the men who were in the ark with Noah but also the animals which the ark contained, and even the woods from which the ark itself was made, represent, after having received the washing of the water of regeneration: by the anointing of the sacred chrism we are sealed with the grace of the Holy Spirit, which may He who gave it, Jesus Christ our Lord, deem worthy to keep inviolate in us, who lives and reigns eternally. Amen.
Homily 12: On the First Sunday After Epiphany
Luke 2
At that time, when Jesus was twelve years old, ascended with them to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast day, and having completed the days, when they were returning, the boy Jesus remained in Jerusalem, etc. The reading of the holy Gospel has been recited to us, dearest brothers, and there is no need for us to speak in explanation of it. For it describes the infancy and childhood of our Redeemer, by which He deigned to become a partaker of our humanity: it recalls the eternity of the divine majesty, in which He has always remained equal to the Father; so that, with the humility of His incarnation brought to mind, we might also strive to practice the medicine of true humility against all the wounds of sin, always remembering with a pious soul how much we ought to humble ourselves for divine love, and for our own salvation, we who are earth and ashes, if that highest Power did not disdain to humble Himself for us in order to descend to receiving the weaknesses of our frailty. Also, having heard, believed, and confessed the divinity of the Lord Savior, by which He always remains consubstantial and coeternal with the Father and the Holy Spirit, let us hope that through the sacraments of His humanity with which we have been imbued, we might be able to reach the contemplation of His divine glory, which He Himself promises to His faithful servants with faithful piety, saying: He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me: and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him (John XIV).
"I will manifest Myself," He says, that is, not as I appear to everyone, as even unbelievers can see and crucify Me, but as in His own beauty the King of ages can be seen only by the pure eyes of the saints, I will show Myself in this manner to those who love Me, as a return of love. Therefore, let us hope, as we have said, that through the sacraments of His humanity we might ascend to see the form of His divinity, if indeed we keep those sacraments unstained with the worthy honor of justice and holiness and truth, as we have received them, if we humbly follow the examples of His human life, and the teachings which He delivered to us through man. For who, if he disdains to follow the footsteps of His humility, with what temerity does he hope to penetrate to the joys of His glory? Therefore, what the Lord did every year with His parents, coming to Jerusalem for the Passover, is undoubtedly a sign of human humility. For it is for man to hasten to offer spiritual sacrifices to God, and to reconcile himself to his Creator with prayers and tears profusely poured out. Therefore, the Lord, born as a man among men, did what God had commanded men to do through angels. He himself observed the law he gave, so that he might show us, who are mere men, that everything God commands must be observed in all things.
Therefore, let us follow the path of his human conversation, if we delight in beholding the glory of divinity, if we desire to dwell in his eternal house in the heavens all the days of our life, if we find joy in seeing the delight of the Lord, and being protected by his holy temple (Psalm 26). And, that we may not be struck by any wind of evil in eternity, let us remember to frequent the house of the present Church with the necessary gifts of pure prayers. That he sat in the temple at the age of twelve in the midst of the doctors, listening to and questioning them, is an indication of human humility, or rather, an eminent example of learnable humility. Indeed, the power of God, the eternal wisdom of God, which speaks divinely: "I, wisdom, dwell in counsel, and I am among learned thoughts. Counsel and justice are mine, prudence is mine, strength is mine; by me kings reign, and law-makers decree what is just. Blessed is the man who listens to me, who watches daily at my doors, who waits at the posts of my doors" (Proverbs 8). Clad in human form, she deigned to come to listen to humans, to undoubtedly provide the form necessary for learning the word to people, however gifted they may be with supreme talent: lest any who refuse to become disciples of truth turn out to be teachers of error.
And fittingly, he who was to undertake the office of teaching while young, even as a little boy, listens and questions the elders, so that by their provident dispensation he curbs the audacity of those who, not only unlearned but even immature, rush to teach rather than submitting themselves to learning. Let us follow the path of his humanity, if the dwelling of divine vision delights us, always mindful of that precept: "Listen, my son, to the discipline of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother, so that grace may be added to your head, and chains around your neck" (Proverbs 1). Through the listening to paternal discipline and the observance of maternal law, grace is indeed added to our head, and chains to our neck: because the more one is attentive to listening to divine precepts, the more diligently one strives to observe them in the unity of Mother Church, the more worthily one will ascend now to the honor of preaching, and in the future, to the highest beatitude of reigning with Christ without end. But lest anyone suppose that the Lord and Savior resorted to listen and question the teachers due to any need of ignorance, let us see what follows:
All who heard him were amazed at his prudence and responses, and seeing him, they were astonished. For the same one who was truly man and truly God, to show that he was man, humbly listened to human teachers, and to prove that he was God, responded to them loftily. His mother seeking and saying: "Son, why have you done this to us? Behold, your father and I were searching for you in sorrow. He responded: "And why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in the things of my Father? This was a sign of divine majesty, of which he says elsewhere: "All things that the Father has are mine"; and therefore he rightly testifies that the temple pertains to him no less than to the Father. Found in the temple, he says that he must be in his Father's things: because indeed, of those whose majesty and glory are one, their seat and house are also one; not only the material house of God, which is made temporarily for worshiping Him, but also the intellectual house which is built for praising Him eternally, belongs equally to the Father and the Son, indeed even to the Holy Spirit. Hence, the same Son of God who promises to his beloved about himself and the Father: "We will come to him and make our home with him (John 14)," says of the Spirit: "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever, the Spirit of truth, who will remain with you and will be in you (Ibid.). Because, indeed, the dwelling of the same Holy Trinity, whose nature of divinity is one and indivisible, cannot be otherwise within the hearts of the elect.
Therefore, what the Lord says while sitting in the temple, "I must be in my Father's things," is a declaration of coeternal power and glory with God the Father. But what he was submissive to his parents when returning to Nazareth, is a sign of human truth, as well as an example of humility. For in that nature he was subject to men, in which he is lesser than the Father. Hence, he himself says: "I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I"; in which he is also made a little lower than the angels (John 14). But in that in which he and the Father are one, in which he does not go to the Father in time, but always is in him, all things were made through him, and he is before all. Greatly to be admired is the dispensation of his great mercy, who, seeing that his parents could not yet grasp the mystery of his divine majesty, showed to them the humility of human subjection, so that through this, he might gradually lead them to the recognition of his divinity. For when he said, "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's things? and they did not understand the word that he spoke to them, as the evangelist following insinuates:
He went down with them and came to Nazareth, and was submissive to them. Thus He revealed the secret of His divine power to His parents through His human frailty, to His true mother of His flesh, and to His most chaste guardian of His chastity, who at that time, not yet enlightened by the light of the Gospel, was almost universally estimated and called by those who knew them both as her husband by carnal union, and as the carnal father and guardian of the Lord and Savior Himself. He said to them, I must be about My Father's business. When they could not comprehend the heights of such a mystery, nor could they understand Him being involved in what truly belonged to His Father, He came down to accompany them in their ordinary conversation, and began to dwell in the things that were theirs: and He was submissive to them for pious reasons, until they could recognize how much He was to be preferred above all creatures. Let us consider briefly what our pride does in this regard. Certainly, when we realize that simpler brothers cannot understand the mysteries of Scripture we speak of, which we have learned with the Lord’s help over time and not eternity, we tend to become proud and look down on them, and boast about our unique and extensive knowledge, as if there were not many much more learned than us.
And although we do not want to be despised by the more learned, we ourselves enjoy despising and even mocking those less learned than us. We do not care to remember that it is not to those who only comprehend the mysteries of faith or the commandments of their Creator by meditation, but rather to those who exercise what they have been able to learn through action, that the gates of the heavenly kingdom are open. Furthermore, it is sin for one who knows to do good and does not do it. And as the Lord Himself witnesses, to whom much is given, much is required from them (Luke 12). Therefore, let knowledge not inflate us, but let charity rather edify us: let us follow the example of the Son of God appearing as a human, who submitted Himself with benign humility to those He saw were not yet able to follow Him to the heights of knowledge, so that by His example, their minds imbued with heavenly grace would be made capable of receiving the heavenly mysteries.
And his mother, he said, kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. All the things that the Virgin Mother knew were said or done concerning the Lord or by the Lord, she diligently kept in her heart, carefully committing all things to memory, so that when the time finally came to preach or write about His incarnation, she would be able to fully explain everything as it happened to those who sought to know. Let us also, my brothers, imitate the pious mother of the Lord, keeping all the words and deeds of our Lord and Savior fixed in our hearts, repelling the troublesome incursions of worthless and harmful thoughts through daily and nightly meditation on them: through frequent reflection on them, let us also endeavor to chastise ourselves and our neighbors from useless and ill-sweetened conversations of detraction and to incite to the frequenting of divine praise. For if, dearest brothers, we desire to dwell in the house of the Lord in the blessedness of the world to come and praise Him forever, it is certainly necessary that we diligently show in this world what we seek in the future by frequently visiting the thresholds of the Church, not only by singing the praises of the Lord in it but also by striving through words and deeds in every place of His dominion for those things that contribute to the praise and glory of our Creator.
And Jesus, it says, increased in wisdom, age, and grace before God and men. It indicates the nature of true humanity, in which He desired to grow over time, who in divinity is the same, and His years will not fail. According to the nature of man, He increased in wisdom, not by becoming wiser over time, who from the very hour of conception remained full of the spirit of wisdom, but by gradually demonstrating to others over time the same wisdom of which He was full. According to the nature of man, He increased in age, because He advanced from infancy to childhood, from childhood to youth, through the customary order of human growth. According to the nature of man, He increased in grace, not by receiving what He did not have through the passage of time, but by revealing the gift of grace which He had. And rightly, when it was said that Jesus increased in wisdom, age, and grace, it was added, before God and men; because as He increased in age, He gradually revealed to men the gifts of wisdom and grace inherent in Him, and so He took care to always rouse them to the praise of God the Father, fulfilling what He commanded others to do: Let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven (Matthew V). And thus He is said to have increased in grace and wisdom not only among men, in so much as they could recognize His wisdom and grace, but also before God, in so much as they reported the wisdom and grace which they recognized in Him to His praise and glory: to whose eternal blessings and gifts be praise and thanksgiving forever and ever. Amen.
Homily 13: On the Second Sunday After Epiphany
John 2
At that time there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there, etc. Our Lord and Savior, having been invited to the wedding, not only deigned to come but also to perform a miracle there to gladden the guests, confirming rightly the faith of believers by means of the figures of heavenly sacraments, even according to the letter. Furthermore, it indicates how damnable the disbelief of Tatian, Marcion, and others who disparage marriage is. For if there were guilt in an undefiled bed and marriages celebrated with due chastity, the Lord would by no means have wished to come to these, or to consecrate them with the beginnings of His signs. But now, because conjugal chastity is good, widowhood's continence is better, and virginal perfection is the best, He deigned to be born from the inviolate womb of the Virgin Mary to validate the chosen status of all degrees while distinguishing the merit of each. Immediately after His birth, He is blessed by the prophetic lips of the widow Anna; as a youth, He is invited by those celebrating weddings and honors them with the presence of His power. But now let us return to the higher joy of the heavenly figures. For the Son of God came to the wedding to perform miracles on earth, to indicate that He Himself is the one of whom the Psalmist foretold under the symbol of the sun: "And He like a bridegroom coming out of His chamber rejoiced as a giant to run His course; His going forth is from the end of heaven" (Ps. 19:5-6). He also said elsewhere concerning Himself and His faithful:
"Can the children of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and then they will fast" (Matt. 9:15). For indeed from the time when the incarnation of our Savior began to be promised to the patriarchs, it was awaited with many tears and mourning of the saints until it came. Similarly, since His ascension to the Father after the resurrection, all the hope of the saints depends on His return. But in the time He lived among men, they could not weep and mourn because they had Him with them physically whom they loved spiritually. Therefore, Christ is the bridegroom, His Church is the bride, and the children of the bridegroom or the wedding are each of His faithful: the time of the wedding is that time when through the mystery of the incarnation He united to Himself a holy Church. Thus, by no accident but by the grace of a certain mystery, He came to a wedding celebrated in a carnal manner on earth, Who descended from heaven to earth to bind the Church to Himself with spiritual love; whose chamber indeed was the unstained womb of the mother, in which God was joined to human nature and from which He proceeded as a bridegroom to associate with His Church.
The first site of the wedding was in Judea, where the Son of God deigned to become man, to consecrate the Church with the participation of His body, and to confirm it in faith with the pledge of His Spirit. But when the Gentiles were called to faith, the joyous celebration of these same weddings extended to the ends of the earth. Nor is it without mystery that it is reported that the wedding took place on the third day after the events previously described by the Evangelist, but it designates that in the third age of the world the Lord came to unite the Church to Himself. For the first age of the world was under the exemplars of the patriarchs before the law, the second under the writings of the prophets within the law, and the third under the grace proclaimed by the evangelists, shining upon the world as the light of the third day, in which our Lord and Savior appeared born in the flesh for the redemption of humanity. But even the fact that the wedding took place in Cana of Galilee, that is, in the zeal of a completed transmigration, typically announces that those are especially worthy of Christ’s grace who burn with the zeal of pious devotion, and emulate greater charisms, and know to migrate from vices to virtues, from earthly to eternal desires, by good deeds, hoping and loving.
As the Lord reclined at the wedding, the wine ran out, so that with the wine made better by His miraculous order, the glory of the hidden God in the man might be manifested, and the faith of believers in Him might grow stronger. And if we seek the mystery: at the manifestation of the Lord in the flesh, the sweet meaning of the old law began to gradually fail due to the carnal interpretation of the Pharisees, which He soon converted to spiritual doctrine, and by the power of evangelical heavenly grace altered the entire surface of the legal letter, which is to make wine from water. But first let us attempt to understand what it means when the wine ran out, and the mother of Jesus said to Him: "They have no wine." He replied: "What is that to you and to me, woman? My hour has not yet come." For He would neither dishonor His mother, who commands us to honor father and mother, nor deny that she is His mother, from whose virginal flesh He did not disdain to take flesh, even with the Apostle as a witness who says: "Who was made to him from the seed of David according to the flesh" (Rom. 1:3). How could He be from the seed of David according to the flesh, if not from the body of Mary according to the flesh, who descended from the seed of David? But in saying, while about to perform a miracle, "What is that to you and to me, woman?" He signifies that He did not receive the beginning of His divinity, by which the miracle was to be accomplished, from His mother temporally, but always had eternity from the Father. "What is that to you and to me, woman?" He says, when the divinity, which I always had from the Father, is not shared with your flesh, from which I took flesh. But the hour will come when He will show what He had in common with His mother, when, dying on the cross, He took care to commend the virgin to the virgin disciple. For suffering the weakness of the flesh, He piously commended His mother, known by this, to the disciple whom He loved most, while pretending not to recognize her as if unknown when about to perform divine things, because He acknowledges that she is not the author of His divine birth.
There were, however, six stone water jars set there for the purification of the Jews, each holding two or three measures. Water jars are called vessels prepared to receive water: for in Greek, ὕδωρ is called water. Water, however, designates the knowledge of the sacred Scriptures, which is accustomed both to cleanse its listeners from the filth of sins and to quench them from the fountain of divine knowledge. The six vessels in which the water was contained are the devoted hearts of the saints, whose perfection of life and faith has been proposed as an example for right living and believing to the human race through the six ages of the passing world, that is, up to the time of the Lord's Passion. And well are the vessels stone: because the hearts of the just are strong, as it were solidified by the faith and love of that stone which Daniel saw cut out of the mountain without hands, made into a great mountain, and filled the whole earth, and of which Zechariah says: "In one stone, seven eyes are fixed" (Zech. III); that is, in Christ the entirety of spiritual knowledge dwells: to whom also the Apostle Peter refers, saying: "Coming to Him, a living stone, you are being built up as living stones" (1 Pet. II). Well were the water jars placed according to the purification of the Jews only, because to the people of the Jews only was the law given through Moses.
For the grace of the Gospel and the truth were made not less to the Gentiles than to the Jews through Jesus Christ. He says, each holding two or three measures, because the authors and ministers of the sacred Scriptures, the prophets, sometimes speak only of the Father and Son, as in: "You have made all things in wisdom" (Psalm 104). The power of God in wisdom is Christ: sometimes they also make mention of the Holy Spirit, as in the Psalmist's word: "By the word of the Lord the heavens were made firm, and all their power by the spirit of His mouth" (Psalm 33). Understand by the word of the Lord and the spirit, the whole Trinity, who is one God. But as much as the difference between water and wine, so much is the difference between the understanding by which the Scriptures were comprehended before the advent of the Savior, and that which He Himself revealed to the apostles when He came, and which their disciples were left to follow perpetually. Indeed, the Lord could have filled the jars with wine, who at the beginning of human creation made all things from nothing; but He preferred to make wine from water, typically teaching that He had come not to dissolve and disapprove the law and the prophets, but rather to fulfill them, and to do and teach nothing through the grace of the Gospel other than what the legal and prophetic Scriptures indicated He would do and teach.
Therefore let us see, brothers, six water jars filled with the saving water of the Scriptures, and let us see that same water turned into the most delightful smell and taste of wine. In the first age of the world, the righteous Abel was killed by the envy of his brother: and for this very reason, blessed with the eternal glory of martyrdom, he received the praise of righteousness even in the Gospel and Apostolic writings, and the impious fratricide suffered the penalties of eternal curse. Whoever, hearing these things, fears to be condemned with the wicked, desiring to be blessed with the righteous, will cast away the spark of all hatred and envy, and take care to please God through the sacrifice of righteousness, modesty, innocence, and patience, they find a vessel full of water in the Scripture from which they may rejoice to be washed and quenched wholesomely. But if they understand that Cain, the murderer, is the perfidy of the Jews, and the killing of Abel is the passion of the Savior, and the earth that opened its mouth and received his blood from the hand of Cain is the Church, which received the blood of Christ shed by the Jews in the mystery of its renewal, they surely find water turned into wine, because they understand the sacred sayings of the law more sacredly.
In the second age of the world, the world was destroyed by the waters of the flood because of the magnitude of sins, but only Noah was saved because of his righteousness with his household in the ark. Upon hearing about the horrible devastation of this plague and the marvelous liberation of the few, whoever begins to live more uprightly, desiring to be freed with the elect and fearing to be exterminated with the reprobate, surely finds the water jar by which he would be cleansed or refreshed. But indeed, when he begins to look more deeply, and understands the Church in the ark, Christ in Noah, the water that deluged the sinners as the water of Baptism, which washes away sins, the various differences of those baptized in the men and animals the ark contained, the dove, which after the flood brought the olive branch into the ark, as the anointing of the Holy Spirit with which the baptized are imbued, he marvels indeed at the wine made from water, because in the old history of the event he contemplates his own cleansing, sanctification, justification being prophesied. In the third age of the world, God, testing Abraham's obedience, commanded his only son whom he loved to be offered as a burnt offering to Himself. Abraham does not delay to do what he is commanded, but a ram is sacrificed instead of his son, yet he is endowed with the inheritance of eternal blessing because of his extraordinary virtue of obedience. Behold you have the third jar.
Hearing how great the virtue of obedience is, how great the reward it receives, you yourself strive to learn and have obedience. But if you understand the sacrifice of the beloved only son as His passion, about whom the Father says: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Mt. III); in which, because the divinity remained impassible, only the humanity suffered death and pain, the son is as if offered, but the ram is slaughtered. If you understand the blessing which was promised to Abraham, to be fulfilled in you through the faith of the nations, surely for you He has made wine from water, because He has opened the spiritual sense, the new fragrance of which inebriates you. At the beginnings of the fourth age, David is chosen for the salvation of the kingdom of the Israelite people, humble, innocent, and meek, an exile for him whose unjust persecution he endured for a long time. Behold, the fourth jar is filled with the fountain of salvation. Anyone hearing this and striving to humility and innocence, and beginning to repel pride and envy from his own heart, finds it like a draft of the clearest water, by which he is refreshed. But if he understands that Saul represents the Jews persecuting, and David represents Christ and the Church, perceiving that due to their infidelity both their carnal and spiritual kingdom has been destroyed, but the kingdom of Christ and the Church is always to remain, surely he senses the cup of wine made from water;
since he knows himself and his life and kingdom, but even the very king, where previously he read it as if of others in the old history. In the fifth age of the world, the sinning people are carried off into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon: but after seventy years, penitently and corrected, they are led back to their homeland by Jesus the great priest, where they rebuild the house of God that was burned and the holy city that was destroyed. Reading or hearing this, anyone who takes heed of the fear of sinning and runs to the remedy of penance, is washed with the purifying water of the jar. But if he has learned to understand Jerusalem and the temple of God as the Church of Christ, Babylon as the confusion of sins, Nebuchadnezzar as the devil, Jesus the great priest as Jesus Christ the true and eternal high priest, seventy years as the fullness of good works which are granted through the gifts of the Holy Spirit, namely for the sake of the Decalogue and the sevenfold grace of the same Spirit, and sees this happening daily, some being snatched from the Church by the devil through sin, others being reconciled through Christ by the grace of the Holy Spirit through repentance, he has wine made from water;
because, understanding that what is written pertains to him, he immediately, with great fervor of contrition, as if heated by new wine, demands to be liberated through the grace of Christ from whatever sin of captivity he finds in himself. At the beginning of the sixth age of the world, the Lord appearing in the flesh, on the eighth day of his birth according to the law He was circumcised, and on the thirty-third day after this He was brought to the temple, and the legal offerings were made for Him. Intuiting these things to the letter, we openly learn with how great diligence the mysteries of evangelical faith are to be undertaken by us, when He Himself, bringing the blessing of grace, who gave the law of the letter, first cares to be consecrated by the ritual ceremonies of old, by which He consecrates all things divinely, and thus to simultaneously undertake and deliver the new sacraments of grace. Behold, the sixth jar brings water purer than the others, to wash away the contagions of sin, to drink the joys of life.
But if in the circumcision of the eighth day you understand baptism, which in the mystery of the Lord's resurrection redeemed us from the death of sins, and you recognize it as prefigured in the presentation in the temple and the offering of a cleansing sacrifice, you know that the faithful are to enter from the baptistery to the holy altar and should be consecrated with the unique victim of the Lord's body and blood, symbolized by the wine made from water, a most excellent gift indeed. Furthermore, if you interpret the day of circumcision as the general resurrection of the human race, when the mortal offspring will cease, and all mortality will be changed into immortality, and you understand that the circumcised are brought into the temple with sacrifices, then after the resurrection, when the universal judgment is fulfilled, the saints, now made incorrupt, will enter to contemplate perpetually the visage of divine majesty with the gifts of good works: indeed, you will marvel that wine is made from water, whose creator you rightfully proclaim and say: And your cup inebriating, how splendid it is! Therefore, the Lord did not wish to make wine for the joys of the wedding out of nothing, but commanding that the six jars be filled with water, He miraculously converted this into wine, because He granted the six ages of the world the largesse of saving wisdom, which however, He himself, coming, enriched with the power of superior understanding. For what the carnal minded carnally understood, He revealed to be understood spiritually.
Do you want to hear, brothers, how He made wine from water? He appeared after His resurrection to two disciples walking on the road, and He went with them, and beginning from Moses and all the prophets, He interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Do you want to hear again how they were inebriated with the same wine? Later, recognizing who it was who imparted to them the word of life, they said to each other: Was not our heart burning within us while He spoke on the road and opened the Scriptures to us? (Luke 24). Jesus then says to the servants, "Fill the jars with water." And they filled them up to the brim. What do the servants who are commanded to do these things signify, if not the disciples of Christ, who filled the jars with water? Indeed, they did not themselves fill past ages of the world with legal and prophetic writings, but by wisely understanding and faithfully revealing, because the Scripture, which was ministered by the prophets, was both beneficial for drawing heavenly wisdom and useful for the correction of actions. They filled them up to the brim because they rightly understood that no age of the world was devoid of holy teachers, who by words, examples, or even Scriptures, would open the way of life to mortals. And he says to them, "Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet." And they took it. The master of the banquet is someone learned in the law of that time, perhaps Nicodemus or Gamaliel, or his disciple then Saul, but now Paul the apostle, the teacher of the whole Church. And when the word of the Gospel, which was hidden in the letter of the law and the prophecy, is entrusted to such people, wine made from water is indeed offered to the master of the banquet. Hence it is fittingly stated that the master of the banquet, having called the bridegroom, said:
"Every man sets out the good wine first, and when they have become drunk, then that which is worse. But you have kept the good wine until now." Because it is the mark of teachers to know the distinction between the law and the Gospel, between truth and shadow, and to offer the new grace of evangelical faith and the eternal gifts of the heavenly homeland, in comparison to all old institutions and all earthly kingdom promises. This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory. He manifested by this sign that He was the King of Glory, and therefore the Bridegroom of the Church, who would come to the marriage as an ordinary man, but as the Lord of Heaven and Earth, would change the elements as He willed. The beautiful harmony of events is that He, at the beginning of the signs which He was to show to mortals while He was still mortal, changed water into wine: He, by the beginning of the signs which He, having become immortal through the resurrection, was to show to those pursuing the studies of immortal life alone, imbued their previously carnal and as it were insipid minds with the flavor of heavenly knowledge. For at first remaining on earth, by the gift of His Spirit, He opened their understanding so that they might understand the Scriptures: and afterwards, sending the same Spirit from Heaven, He infused their hearts with greater fervor of heavenly love and spiritual wisdom, additionally giving them the knowledge of all languages, by which they might adequately offer to the whole world the grace of life which they had received. These, therefore, are the nuptials of Christ and the Church, dearest brothers, which were then prefigured in one city, and are now celebrated throughout the whole world, let us love with all our mind, and let us diligently unite ourselves with the heavenly joys of these, by intent of indefatigable good works.
Since by faith we have been called into the world of love, let us strive to celebrate, and let us carefully wash away the stains of our actions and thoughts before the day of the final judgment by examining them; lest perchance the King entering then, who made the marriage feast for His Son, if He sees us not having the wedding garment of love, cast us out, and binding our feet and hands from good actions, send us into outer darkness. Let us cleanse the strong vessels of our hearts by faith according to the purification of the heavenly precepts, let us fill them with the water of saving knowledge, by frequently attending to sacred reading. Let us ask the Lord to warm with the fervor of His love the very grace of knowledge He has bestowed upon us (lest perhaps it puff up), and to convert it to the seeking of higher things alone and wisdom, so that being spiritually intoxicated, we too may with the Prophet sing: You have made us drink wine of compunction (Psalm 59). Thus it comes to pass that, as we too make good progress, both now partially as we are able to contain it, and in the future perfectly, Jesus may manifest His glory to us, in which He lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through all ages of ages. Amen.
Homily 14: On the Third Sunday After Epiphany
John 1; Matthew 3; Mark 1; Luke 3
At that time, John saw Jesus coming to him and said: Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world, etc. John the Baptist, the forerunner of our Lord and Savior, whom he had long predicted by word to the people as coming, now, as you heard from the reading of the holy Gospel, brothers, as it was being read, immediately pointed out with his finger, saying: Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Behold the Lamb of God, behold the innocent one and free from all sin, as indeed the bone from the bones of Adam and flesh from the flesh of Adam, but who took not any stain of guilt from sinful flesh. Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world, behold Him who is righteous among sinners, meek among the impious, that is, appearing as a lamb among wolves, who has the power to justify even sinners and wicked. And how He takes away the sins of the world, in what order He justifies the ungodly, the apostle Peter shows, who says: You were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (1 Peter 1). And in the Apocalypse, the apostle John, whose Gospel this is: Who loved us, he says, and washed us from our sins in His own blood (Rev. 1). Not only did He wash us from our sins in His blood, when He gave His blood on the cross for us, or when each of us was washed in the water of Baptism by the mystery of His sacred passion, but He also takes away the sins of the world daily.
He therefore washes us from our sins daily in His blood when the memory of His blessed passion is repeated at the altar, when the creation of bread and wine is transferred into the Sacrament of His body and blood by an ineffable sanctification of the Spirit: and thus His body and blood are not poured out and slain by the hands of infidels to their own destruction, but are taken by the mouth of the faithful to their salvation. The paschal lamb in the law rightly showed the figure of this, who, having once liberated the people from the Egyptian bondage, through the annual sacrifice in memory of that same liberation, used to sanctify the same people, until He came to whom such a witness was given by this sacrifice, and offered to the Father for us as a sacrifice and a sweet-smelling savor, transferring the mystery of His passion into the creation of bread and wine by being offered as a lamb, made a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
John, bearing witness about the Lord, says, "This is he of whom I said: After me comes a man who ranks before me because he was before me." After me comes a man, born after me in the world, who will begin to preach to the world after me, who was made before me, who surpasses me in the majesty of power as much as the sun outshines the morning star, though appearing after, because he was before me, because 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' After me comes a man, understand the time of human birth in which he comes later than John. Who was made before me, consider the primacy of royal power, in which he also presides over angels. Because he was before me, understand the eternity of divine majesty, in which he is equal to the Father. After me comes a man who was made before me, because he was before me. After me comes in humanity, who therefore surpasses me in dignity, because he was before me in divinity.
And I did not know him, he says. It is certain that John knew the Lord, to whom he was sent to bear witness, whom he proclaimed coming as the judge of all, saying: "His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will thoroughly clear his threshing floor" (Mt. III); he testified that the Holy Spirit would be given by him, saying, "He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit," from whom he desired to be cleansed, saying: "I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?" How then does he say: "And I did not know him," unless it be that he whom he had known before he recognized more perfectly when he was baptized? Whom he had known as the Savior and judge of the world, he recognized more deeply the power of his majesty when the Holy Spirit descended upon him. For it is not to be doubted that blessed John, when he deserved to see the Holy Spirit in bodily form, when he deserved to hear the voice of the Father sounding corporally, gained much from this vision and hearing, and received much of the excellence of divine power revealed to the eyes of his mind from heavenly knowledge from God, so that in comparison with the understanding with which he began to be illuminated, it seemed to him that he had altogether been ignorant of how great he was before. Bearing witness to the Lord diligently, he adds:
"But that it might be made manifest in Israel, therefore I came baptizing in water. Which is to say openly: I did not come baptizing in water because I could take away the sins of the world by baptizing, but that by baptizing and preaching I might make manifest to the people of Israel him who baptizes in the Holy Spirit for the taking away of sins not only of Israel but of the whole world, if they are willing to believe in him, who baptizes in repentance, that by thus baptizing I might prepare the way for him who baptizes in the remission of sins. And John bore testimony, saying: Because I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained upon him. Well did the Spirit descend in the form of a dove upon the Lord, so that the faithful might learn that they cannot otherwise be filled with his Spirit unless they are simple, unless they have true peace with their brothers, which the kisses of the doves signify. Yet ravens also kiss, but they wound, which the dove never does: signifying those who speak peace with their neighbor, but evil is in their hearts. The nature of the dove, which is innocent of wounding, well fits those innocent ones who follow peace with all and holiness, being careful to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. And therefore the Spirit descending as a dove not only denotes his own innocence and simplicity, or that of him upon whom he descended, but also equally of those who in goodness feel of him, and in simplicity of heart seek him. The Lord himself, praising such unanimous piety and gentleness bestowed by spiritual grace, speaks: My dove is one, my perfect one, unique to her mother, elect to her who bore her (Cant. VI). For the Spirit calls the mother and parent of the Church by grace, by which she was inspired to rightly also be called a dove. Finally, in the Hebrew language in which the holy Scripture was written, spirit is called by a feminine gender. Therefore it is fitting that the Church, one dove of Christ, is called chosen for her mother and parent: because evidently, just as it is gathered into the unity of the Christian faith from many peoples, just as it rejoices in mutual dove-like peace, just as it is blessed among the elect, it has not of its own merit, but received it as a gift of spiritual grace."
And I, he says, did not know him. One understands as subtly as the Spirit descending upon him, I recognized. But he who sent me to baptize with water, he said to me: Upon whom you will see the Spirit descending and remaining on him, this is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. The Lord baptizes with the Holy Spirit by the grace of the Holy Spirit, forgiving sins. For whether he himself first baptized some of his disciples with water, through whom the river of the Baptist would flow to other faithful ones, he also baptized them with the Spirit, forgiving their sins and bestowing the gifts of the Spirit, or whether his faithful ones, invoking his name, baptized the chosen ones with water, and anointed them with sacred chrism, he nonetheless baptizes the same with the Holy Spirit because no one besides him can loosen the bonds of sins or bestow the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Hence, the evangelist John, after saying: The Pharisees heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, immediately added: (although Jesus himself did not baptize, but his disciples), clearly saying [or explaining] that even if Jesus' disciples baptize with water in his name, he is to be understood as the one who truly baptizes, who forgives sins. Moreover, the Lord baptizes with the Holy Spirit when, through the inspiration of the same Spirit, he enkindles the hearts of his faithful with the fervor of his [or their] brotherly love. For love, he says, is diffused in our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
He baptizes with the Holy Spirit when he gives to any of the chosen ones the manifestation of the Spirit unto the profit of working virtues. Thus, before his ascension into heaven, he said to his disciples: But you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence (Acts I). However, it is worth contemplating carefully because when he said: Upon whom you will see the Spirit descending, he added, And remaining on him; for indeed the Spirit descends upon his saints. But because, as long as they are in the body, they cannot be free from sin, because they cannot always fix the eye of their mind on heavenly contemplation but often turn it to the care of earthly conversation, undoubtedly the Spirit comes to and leaves their hearts at times. Hence it is said: The Spirit breathes where he wills, and you hear his voice, but you do not know where he comes from or where he goes (John III). For indeed the Spirit comes to and goes from the saints so that, not being able to have him always, they may be refreshed by the frequent light of his returning presence. However, in the only mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ, the Spirit truly and perpetually remains, in whom he finds no stain of impure thought that he would avoid. Moreover, he remained entirely in him not only from the time when John saw him descending upon him but from the time he began to be conceived through his ministry and work.
Hence, he has the power of giving the Spirit to men no less than the Father himself, as attested by him who says: But the Paraclete, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things (John XIV). And in another place, he shows that he himself sends him, saying: For if I do not go, the Paraclete will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you (John XVI). For indeed, one is the substance in divinity, the inseparable operation of the Father, and the Son, and the same Holy Spirit. For concerning the Holy Spirit himself, that he comes where he wills at his own will and operates what he wills by his own power, the Son bears witness when he says, as I mentioned above: The Spirit breathes where he wills. Moreover, all these things, says the Apostle, are worked by one and the same Spirit, distributing to each one individually as he wills (I Cor. XII). Therefore, the Spirit is shown to descend upon him who is always to remain in him at baptism, so that both the Baptist himself might now recognize him more clearly whom he proclaimed [or predicted], and he might give a sign to the believers that they could not merit the martyr without being baptized by the same Spirit.
Meanwhile, it must be examined how it could be a special sign of recognizing the Son of God that the Spirit descended and remained upon him, when he even promises to the disciples, saying: And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Paraclete, to remain with you forever, the Spirit of truth (John XIV). And shortly thereafter: For he will remain with you and will be in you. If indeed he remains with God's chosen servants and will be in them, what great thing is it for the Son of God that the Spirit is affirmed to remain in him? And it should be noted that the Holy Spirit always remained in the Lord, but in holy men, as long as they bear the mortal body, he remains partly forever, partly withdrawing to return. For he indeed remains with them so that they may persist in good deeds, love voluntary poverty, acquire meekness, mourn for eternal desire, hunger and thirst for righteousness, embrace mercy, purity of heart, and the tranquillity of peace: and also they do not fear to suffer persecution for the sake of observing justice, desiring to persist in almsgiving, prayers, and fastings, and other fruits of the Spirit. However, he withdraws for a time, so they may not always have the power to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, or even prophesy. He remains always so they may have the virtue to live marvellously;
he comes for a time so that through signs of miracles he may shine forth to others as such within. And I saw, he said, and I bore witness that this is the Son of God. Above he said, After me comes a man who was made before me, now he bears witness that this is the Son of God, clearly indicating the truth of both natures, namely human and divine, in one and the same person of Christ. Let the Manichean blush hearing, A man comes; let Photinus be silent hearing, This is the Son of God. Let the meek hear and rejoice, for a man comes after John stronger than John, who baptizes in the Holy Spirit, and because this is the Son of God. For because we humans withdrew from God through pride, the Son of God through mercy was made man, so that in the same person he might be suitable both to the Father through divinity, and to us through humanity: through humanity like us, to fight for us against the enemy, through divinity consubstantial to the Father to worthily recreate us to the image and likeness of God, which we lost by sinning: to destroy through the death of our fragility him who had the power of death, and through the impassible power of his divinity to reconcile us to God the Father, with whom he lives and reigns as God in the unity of the Holy Spirit, through all ages of ages. Amen.
Homily 15: On the Purification of Blessed Mary
Luke 2
At that time, after the days of Mary's purification according to the law of Moses were fulfilled, they brought Jesus, etc. The solemnity of today's celebration, which we venerate on the fortieth day of the Lord's nativity with due offices, is especially significant in its dedication to the humility of the same Lord our Savior and His undefiled mother, as pointed out by the sacred reading of the Gospel. It explains that those who were not indebted to the law submitted themselves in all things to fulfill the legal decrees. For as we heard when the Gospel was read, "When the days of her purification were fulfilled (that is, of His mother) according to the law of Moses, they took Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of the Lord, that every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord. The law commanded that a woman who had received seed and given birth to a son would be unclean for seven days, and on the eighth day should circumcise the boy and give him a name. After that, she should abstain from the temple and from her husband's bed for thirty-three more days, until on the fortieth day of the nativity she would bring her son to the Temple of the Lord with offerings. Every firstborn male was to be called holy to the Lord, and thus all pure things should be offered to God, while impure ones should be exchanged for or killed in place of the pure, and every firstborn human must be redeemed with five shekels of silver.
If a woman gave birth to a female, she was commanded to be unclean for fourteen days, and for sixty-six more days to stay away from the temple, until on the eightieth day of the nativity, which was called the day of her purification, she would come to sanctify herself and her offspring with offerings, and thus finally return to her husband’s bed free. Let us, dearest brothers, ponder more diligently the words of the law that we have proposed, and we will see very clearly how the most blessed Mother of God and perpetual Virgin Mary, together with the Son she bore, were entirely free from all subjection to the law. For when the law states that a woman who has conceived seed and given birth is declared unclean, and for long periods must be cleansed with the progeny she bore through offerings of sacrifices, it indeed shows clearly that the one who bore as a virgin without receiving male seed, together with the Son who was born to her, is neither declared unclean nor taught to be cleansed through the saving sacrifices. But just as our Lord and Savior, who gave the law of divinity, appearing as a man, chose to be under the law so that He might redeem those who were under the law and that we might receive adoption as sons; so too, His blessed Mother, who by singular privilege was above the law, did not shun to submit to the legal institutions, to show an example of humility, according to the wise man’s saying:
"The greater you are, the more humble yourself in all things" (Eccli. III). "And to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. This was the offering of the poor. For the Lord indeed commanded in the law that whoever could afford it, should offer a lamb for a son or daughter, along with a turtledove or a pigeon; but whoever could not afford a lamb, should offer two turtledoves or two young pigeons. Therefore the Lord, ever mindful of our salvation, not only became man, though he was God, but also, though he was rich, he deigned to become poor for us, so that through his poverty and humanity, he might make us partakers of his wealth and divinity. But it is fitting to consider briefly why these particular birds are commanded to be offered as a sacrifice to the Lord. For it is read that even the patriarch Abraham, long before the time of the law, offered these birds in a holocaust to the Lord, and in several ceremonies of the law, he who was to be cleansed was commanded to be purified through these birds. Hence, the dove signifies simplicity, and the turtledove indicates chastity; for the dove is a lover of simplicity, and the turtledove of chastity, to such an extent that if it accidentally loses its mate, it does not care to seek another. Therefore in the praises of the Church the Lord says: 'Thy cheeks are comely as a turtledove’s' (Cant. I). And again: 'Behold, thou art fair, my love;
behold, thou art fair, thine eyes are as doves.' (Cant. IV). One has cheeks like those of a turtledove, who keeps himself pure and free from every stain of unchastity; and has eyes like those of doves, who, desiring to harm no one, regards even his enemies with simple love. But both mentioned birds, because they are accustomed to produce a cooing sound for their song, designate the weeping of the saints in this world, of which the Lord remembers, saying: 'Amen, amen, I say to you, that you shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice; and you shall be sorrowful, but your sorrow shall be turned into joy.' (John XVI). And again: 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.' (Matthew V). Thus deservedly are the turtledove and the dove offered to the Lord as a sacrifice: because the simple and chaste conduct of the faithful is indeed a pleasing sacrifice of righteousness to Him; for he who toils in his groaning, who washes his couch with tears every night, indeed sacrifices the most acceptable victim to God. Moreover, since both these birds, on account of their habit of mourning, represent the present laments and heavenly desires of the saints, yet they differ in that the turtledove is accustomed to mourn solitary, while the dove mourns in flocks; and therefore the former indicates private tears of prayer, the latter public assemblies of the Church. And rightly was the boy Jesus circumcised first, and then after some days brought to Jerusalem with a sacrifice;
for He, now a young man, first overcame every corruption of the flesh by dying and rising again, and then after some days ascended to the joys of the heavenly city with the same now immortal flesh which He had offered as a sacrifice to God for our salvation. And each one of us is first washed of all sins in the true circumcision of baptism, and thus with the advancing grace of the new light, enters the holy altar to be consecrated by the life-giving sacrifice of the Lord’s body and blood. For even the singularly simple and chaste humanity of our Savior, offered to God the Father for us, can be fittingly expressed figura-tively by the sacrifice of a dove or turtle-dove. At the end of the world, the whole Church too, after the common resurrection, will cast off all the dross of earthly mortality and corruption, and thenceforth, commended to the Lord by the sacrifices of good works, will be transferred into the kingdom of the heavenly Jerusalem. Now, that Simeon and Anna, that venerable man and woman of advanced age, received the Lord with devout acts of confession, recognizing Him as small in body but great in divinity, surely symbolizes the synagogue of the Jewish people;
which, having been long fatigued by the expectation of His incarnation, promptly received Him as He came, exalting and magnifying Him with pious actions and sincere voices, crying out to Him saying: 'Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation, and I have waited for you all day long.' (Psalm XXV). But this too must be said, that rightly both sexes rejoiced at His coming, who appeared as the Redeemer of both. Indeed, my brothers, the words with which the same Simeon prophesies to the Lord and speaks to His mother must be listened to with great fear:" Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which shall be spoken against. And a sword shall pierce through your own soul also, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. For it is much desired to be heard, that the Lord is set for the resurrection of many, because as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive; for he also says: I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die (John XI). But it sounds no less terrifying what is said before, Behold, this child is set for the fall. For it is quite unfortunate, who after recognizing the glory of the resurrection falls more grievously, who after seeing the light of truth is blinded by heavier clouds of sins. Therefore, it must be our utmost concern to always remember to practice in our deeds what we know to be right, lest it be said of us that which was said by the apostle Peter: For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after they have known it to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
And for a sign, he adds, which shall be spoken against. Many of the Jews often oppose the sign of the cross outwardly, many of the Gentiles contradict it; many, which is more serious, false brethren follow this inwardly under the pretense of profession, but through the truth of perverse actions deeply persecute it, saying that they know God, but denying Him by their deeds. And a sword shall pierce through your own soul also. He calls the sword the effect of the Lord’s passion and death on the cross, which pierced Mary’s soul: for she could not see her crucified and dying son without bitter grief, though she never doubted that he would rise again as God, yet she grieved, fearing his death as if he were born from her flesh. So that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed. Before the Lord's incarnation, the thoughts of many were veiled, nor was it widely apparent who burned with love for the eternal, who preferred temporal goods in mind over heavenly: but with the birth of the King of heaven on earth, each pious person immediately rejoiced, but Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. While preaching and performing miracles, all the crowds both feared and glorified the God of Israel: but the Pharisees and the Scribes rabidly attacked his saving words and deeds. When he suffered on the cross, the impious were filled with foolish joy, the pious with just sadness; but upon rising from the dead and ascending into heaven, the joy of these was turned from mourning, and the sadness of those was changed to eternal joy: and thus, according to the prophecy of blessed Simeon, with the Lord appearing in the flesh, the thoughts of many hearts were revealed. This revelation of different thoughts was not only carried out then in Judea, but even now it is believed to occur among us. Even now, with the appearance of the Lord, the thoughts of many hearts are revealed, as when the word of salvation is read or preached, some of the listeners gladly listen, rejoicing to complete in action what they learned by hearing; others, disdaining what they hear, strive not to carry it out but rather to insult and counter it.
Therefore, it is fitting, brothers, that whenever we feel that some contrary thing suffers from hard [our] listeners, we imitate the sadness of heart of those who held the word of God in the flesh with worthy pain of compassion: and whenever we see the same word rise in the minds of faithful listeners through love, and advance to the glory of our Creator through good works, let us rejoice with those who happily saw Christ rise from the dead and ascend into heaven. Indeed, as we have known that chaste, simple, and lamenting birds were accustomed to be offered to the Lord, which signifies our sobriety, simplicity, and heart compunction always to be offered to our Author, one must look more diligently: for it is not by chance that two turtledoves or two young pigeons, with one from these to be offered for a sin, and the other as a burnt offering, are commanded. There are indeed two kinds of compunctions, with which the faithful sacrifice themselves to the Lord on the altar of the heart: for surely, as we have received from the sayings of the Fathers, the soul thirsting for God is first pierced with fear, then with love. First, it afflicts itself with tears, because when it recalls its evils, it greatly fears to suffer eternal punishments, which is to offer one turtledove or young pigeon for sins;
but when the prolonged anxiety of sorrow has consumed the fear, a certain security from the assurance of pardon is born, and the mind is inflamed with the love of heavenly joys. And he who wept first lest he be led to punishment begins afterward to weep most bitterly because he is delayed from the kingdom, which is to make a burnt offering from the other turtledove or young pigeon: for burnt offering is called entirely burnt. And he makes himself a burnt offering to the Lord, who, having despised all earthly things, finds it sweet to seek this alone through mourning and tears, to burn with the desire alone for supernal beatitude. For the mind contemplates what those choirs of angels are, what that society of blessed spirits is, what majesty of the eternal vision of God is, and weeps more because it lacks the eternal good things than it wept before when it feared eternal evils. May he deign to accept both of our compunction offerings gratefully, who both mercifully forgives errors to those who mourn and are afflicted for sin, and refreshes with the light of his eternal vision those fervently intent for the entry into heavenly life, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.