Volume 13 · pp. 416–418
Sermon III. On Saint Thomas the Apostle
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SERMO III.
DE SANCTO THOMA APOSTOLO.
Infer digitum tuum huc, et vide manus meas, et affer manum tuam, et mitte in latus meum: et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis. Joan. XX, 27.
In verbis præmissis quæ Dominus dixit ad beatum Thomam, tria perpendere possumus:
I. Passionis gravitatem. II. Resurrectionis veritatem. III. Et Christianam dignitatem.
I.
Primo igitur perpendere possumus gravitatem Dominicæ passionis, per hoc quod dicitur Thomæ: Infer digitum tuum huc, scilicet in manus meas, et affer manum tuam, et mitte, etc. Per hoc enim probari potest, quod clavi quibus Dominus cruci fuit affixus, grossi erant ad modum digiti virilis manus, et quod grossa fuit et lata ad modum virilis manus, illa dira lancea qua transfixum fuit latus Salvatoris nostri. Unde et Joannes dicit, XIX, 34, quod unus militum lancea latus ejus aperuit, quasi magnum ostium faciens in latere, et continuo exivit sanguis et aqua, sed intermixtim et separatim. Ab eodem quippe vulnere singulariter exivit sanguis, et singulariter limpida aqua, quod fieri non potuisset, si fuisset angusta lateris apertura.
Cum ergo Dominus tam gravem pro nobis sustinuerit passionem, dignum est ut et nos aliquam asperitatem patiamur pro ipso. Unde etiam sicut legitur in Joan. XI, 14 et seq., Cum Lazarus mortuus esset, et Jesus diceret Discipulis: Lazarus mortuus est, camus ad eum: Dixit Thomas ad condiscipulos: Eamus et nos, et moriamur cum eo. Ecce paratus fuit Beatus Thomas mori cum Domino, ut dicit ibi Glossa: "Ecce verus amantium affectus, vel cum eo vivere, vel cum eo mori." Ad hoc autem ut patiamur cum Domino, invitat nos Apostolus ad Rom. VIII, 17 et 18, ita dicens: Erimus hæredes Dei, cohæredes autem Christi, si tamen compatimur, ut et conglorificemur. Existimo enim, quod non sint condignæ passiones hujus temporis ad futuram gloriam, quæ revelabitur in nobis.
Si igitur volumus habere cum Domino gloriam exsultationis, patiamur etiam cum ipso amaritudinem passionis. Ipse enim est caput nostrum, et nos ejus membra: unde non decet, ut ait Bernardus, "sub spinato capite membrum vivere delicate." Propter quod etiam Apostolus I ad Corinth. XII, 26 et 27: Si quid patitur unum membrum, compatiuntur omnia membra: sive gloriatur unum membrum, congaudent omnia membra; et subdit: Vos autem estis corpus Christi. Quasi diceret: "Cum Christus qui est caput nostrum, passus sit pro nobis, et vos debetis merito cum ipso pati in via miseriæ, ut cum ipso gaudeatis in patria gloriæ. Vos enim estis corpus ejus."
Vult etiam Dominus, ut non solum compatiamur ei in cruce pendenti, sed ut etiam compatiamur ipsi in paupertate famis, sitis, frigoris, ac infirmitatum miserias patienti. Sibi quippe reputat impensum, quod pauperibus fuerit erogatum. De hac compassione dicit Job, XXX, 25: Flebam quondam super eo qui afflictus erat, et compatiebatur anima mea pauperi.
SERMON III.
ON SAINT THOMAS THE APOSTLE.
Put your finger here, and see my hands, and bring your hand, and put it into my side; and do not be unbelieving, but faithful. John 20:27.
In the words set forth above, which the Lord spoke to blessed Thomas, we can consider three things:
I. The gravity of the Passion. II. The truth of the Resurrection. III. And Christian dignity.
I.
First therefore we can consider the gravity of the Lord's Passion, through this which is said to Thomas: Put your finger here, namely into my hands, and bring your hand, and put it, etc. For through this it can be proved that the nails by which the Lord was fastened to the cross were thick according to the measure of the finger of a man's hand, and that that dreadful lance by which the side of our Savior was pierced was thick and broad according to the measure of a man's hand. Hence also John says, 19:34, that one of the soldiers opened his side with a lance, making as it were a great door in his side, and immediately blood and water came out, but intermingled and separately. For from the same wound blood came out distinctly, and clear water distinctly, which could not have happened if the opening of the side had been narrow.
Since, therefore, the Lord sustained so grave a Passion for us, it is fitting that we also suffer some roughness for him. Hence also, as is read in John 11:14 and following, when Lazarus was dead, and Jesus was saying to the disciples: Lazarus is dead, let us go to him, Thomas said to his fellow disciples: Let us also go, and let us die with him. Behold, Blessed Thomas was prepared to die with the Lord, as the Gloss says there: "Behold the true affection of lovers: either to live with him or to die with him." But to this, that we may suffer with the Lord, the Apostle invites us at Romans 8:17 and 18, speaking thus: We shall be heirs of God, and co-heirs of Christ, if nevertheless we suffer with him, so that we may also be glorified with him. For I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared to the future glory which will be revealed in us.
Therefore, if we wish to have with the Lord the glory of exultation, let us also suffer with him the bitterness of the Passion. For he is our head, and we are his members; hence it is not fitting, as Bernard says, "for a member to live delicately under a thorned head." On account of which also the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 12:26 and 27: If one member suffers anything, all the members suffer together; or if one member is glorified, all the members rejoice together; and he adds: But you are the body of Christ. As if he were saying: "Since Christ, who is our head, suffered for us, you also deservedly ought to suffer with him on the way of misery, so that you may rejoice with him in the homeland of glory. For you are his body."
The Lord also wills that we not only suffer with him as he hangs on the cross, but that we also suffer with him as he endures the miseries of poverty, hunger, thirst, cold, and infirmities. For he reckons as spent upon himself what has been bestowed on the poor. Concerning this compassion Job 30:25 says: I once wept over him who was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor man.
II.
Secundo possumus attendere veritatem Resurrectionis, in eo videlicet quod ostendit se videndum et palpandum. Unde etiam dixerat aliis Discipulis, priusquam se Thomæ exhiberet, sicut testatur Lucas XXIV, 39 et 40: Videte, inquit, manus meas, et pedes, quia ego ipse sum: palpate, et videte: quia spiritus carnem et ossa non habet, sicut me videtis habere. Et cum hoc dixisset, ostendit eis manus, et pedes. Igitur, sicut Glossa dicit, "propter hoc cicatrices vulnerum suorum reservavit, ut fidem Resurrectionis adstrueret, et infidelitatis vulnus in eis sanaret."
Cum ergo Christus resurrexit, scire debeamus firmissime, quod et nos resurgemus. Unde dicit Job, XIX, 25 et 26: Scio quod Redemptor meus vivit, et in novissimo die de terra surrecturus sum: et rursum circumdabor pelle mea, et in carne mea videbo Deum Salvatorem meum. Dicit etiam Apostolus I ad Corinth. XV, 51: Omnes quidem resurgemus, sed non omnes immutabimur, a miseria videlicet in gloriam. Boni enim tunc in corporibus suis immutabuntur a miseria præsentis vitæ in gloriam vitæ perpetuæ: mali vero de miseria hujus exsilii ibunt in miseriam æterni supplicii. Explanat autem quomodo ista fiet resurrectio, et dicit, quod fiet in momento, et in ictu oculi, in novissima tuba 1, id est, ad præceptum Christi, qui ideo vocatur novissima tuba, quia cum omnes prædicatorum linguæ siluerunt, tunc ipse, ut ab universo orbe audiatur, potenter ac patenter in judicio personabit.
Agamus igitur, charissimi, opera munditiæ, justitiæ, ac misericordiæ: fugiamusque immunditiam, injustitiam, ac mentis inclementiam: ut videlicet cum ad vocem hujus tubæ nos evigilare contigerit, non in opprobrium sempiternum, sed potius in vitam æternam feliciter resurgamus. Dicit autem Daniel, XII, 2: Multi de his qui dormiunt in terræ pulvere, evigilabunt: alii in vitam æternam, et alii in opprobrium, ut videant semper, id est, ut hi qui evigilaverint in vitam æternam, videant Deum quasi Imperatorem serenissimum; et hi qui evigilaverint in opprobrium sempiternum, adspiciant diabolum tortorem crudelissimum.
III.
Tertio, in verbis supradictis notare possumus Christianam dignitatem. Si enim Christus Apostolos suos tam charos habuit, et dignos quod post Resurrectionem suam se illis præbuit ad attrectandum: sic etiam tam digni sunt ipsi et chari boni Christiani, quod semetipsum se eis exhibet ad manducandum. Quis autem dubitat non minoris dignitatis esse cibum pretiosum manducare, quam attractare? Unde ipse Jesus per semetipsum dicit, Joan. V, 54: Amen, amen dico vobis: Nisi manducaveritis carnem Filii hominis, et biberitis ejus sanguinem, non habebitis vitam in vobis.
II.
Secondly we can attend to the truth of the Resurrection, namely in this, that he showed himself to be seen and touched. Hence he had also said to the other disciples, before he presented himself to Thomas, as Luke testifies, 24:39 and 40: See, he says, my hands and feet, because I myself am he; touch, and see; because a spirit does not have flesh and bones, as you see me to have. And when he had said this, he showed them his hands and feet. Therefore, as the Gloss says, "for this reason he preserved the scars of his wounds, so that he might establish faith in the Resurrection and heal the wound of unbelief in them."
Since, therefore, Christ rose again, we ought to know most firmly that we also shall rise again. Hence Job says, 19:25 and 26: I know that my Redeemer lives, and on the last day I am going to rise from the earth; and again I shall be surrounded with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see God my Savior. The Apostle also says in 1 Corinthians 15:51: Indeed we shall all rise again, but not all shall be changed, namely from misery into glory. For the good will then be changed in their bodies from the misery of the present life into the glory of perpetual life; but the evil will go from the misery of this exile into the misery of eternal punishment. And he explains how that resurrection will happen, and says that it will happen in a moment, and in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet 1, that is, at the command of Christ, who is therefore called the last trumpet, because when all the tongues of preachers have fallen silent, then he himself, so that he may be heard by the whole world, will sound powerfully and openly in judgment.
Therefore, dearest ones, let us do works of cleanness, justice, and mercy; and let us flee uncleanness, injustice, and the harshness of mind; so that namely, when it happens that we awake at the voice of this trumpet, we may rise happily not into everlasting disgrace, but rather into eternal life. But Daniel 12:2 says: Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some unto eternal life, and others unto disgrace, that they may see always, that is, so that those who have awakened unto eternal life may see God as a most serene Emperor; and those who have awakened unto everlasting disgrace may behold the devil as a most cruel torturer.
III.
Thirdly, in the aforesaid words, we can note Christian dignity. For if Christ held his apostles so dear and worthy that after his Resurrection he offered himself to them to be handled, so also good Christians themselves are so worthy and dear that he presents himself to them to be eaten. But who doubts that it is not of lesser dignity to eat precious food than to handle it? Hence Jesus himself says through himself, John 5:54: Amen, amen I say to you: Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you will not have life in yourselves.
Cum ergo instet, charissimi, nativitas infantuli Jesu, qui seipsum exhibet nobis ad vescendum, et propter hoc reponi voluit in præsepium; sex requiruntur a nobis, ut tantum hospitem honorifice recipiamus, id est, digne tunc ad sacrosanctam communionem accedamus.
1. Primum est, ut ab hospitio animæ omnes sordes peccatorum eliminemus, et hoc oportet fieri per amaram contritionem. Contritio enim quædam est præacuta pala, per quam omnes immunditiæ scelerum ejiciuntur, per quas diabolus inquinaverat animam peccatoris.
2. Secundum est, ut domum etiam perfundendo scopemus; id autem fit per lacrymosam confessionem. Lacrymosa quippe confessio est quasi quædam scopa, quæ cum fætentes sordes per contritionis præacutam palam foras projectæ fuerint, postmodum lacrymis perfusis, subtiliter et diligenter emundat.
De istis duobus dicitur II Par. XXIX, 16 et 17: Sacerdotes... extulerunt omnem immunditiam, quam in templo repererant in vestibulo domus Domini, quam tulerunt Levitæ, et adsportaverunt ad torrentem Cedron foras...: expiaveruntque templum Dei diebus octo. Sacerdotes dicuntur quasi sacri duces. Sunt autem sacri duces animæ, timor et amor. Timor videlicet supplicii, et amor præmii. Hi duo Sacerdotes in gerula contritionis efferunt omnem immunditiam peccati de templo Domini, id est, de corde hominis, et adsportant eam foras in torrentem Cedron. Cedron interpretatur tristis mœror, et signat supplicium gehennale. Ibi enim est tristis mœror, quia miseri damnati non exspectant aliquam consolationem mœroris sui. In hunc torrentem timor et amor faciunt peccata portari, quando videlicet faciunt hominem recordari, quod nisi idem pœnituerit, semper inferni supplicia patietur. Sordibus autem exportatis, expiaverunt templum octo diebus, per quod intelligitur pura confessio, ad quam octo requiruntur. Et illa octo sunt isti octo dies expiationis. Octo quæ ad confessionem requiruntur, notantur in hoc versu:
Quis, quid, ubi, quoties, cum queis, cur, quomodo, quando.
Quis videlicet, utrum monachus, clericus, vel laicus fuerit. Item, utrum fuerit sacerdos, diaconus, vel subdiaconus,
Since therefore, dearest ones, the nativity of the little child Jesus is near, who presents himself to us for eating and on account of this wished to be placed in a manger, six things are required from us, so that we may receive such a great guest honorably, that is, so that then we may approach the most holy communion worthily.
1. The first is that we should remove all the filth of sins from the lodging of the soul, and this must be done through bitter contrition. For contrition is a certain very sharp shovel, through which all the uncleannesses of crimes are cast out, by which the devil had defiled the soul of the sinner.
2. The second is that we should also sweep the house by sprinkling it; but this is done through tearful confession. For tearful confession is as it were a certain broom, which, when the stinking filth has been cast outside through the very sharp shovel of contrition, afterward, when tears have been sprinkled, cleanses it subtly and diligently.
Concerning these two things it is said in 2 Chronicles 29:16 and 17: The priests... carried out all the uncleanness which they had found in the temple, in the vestibule of the house of the Lord, which the Levites took and carried away outside to the torrent Cedron... and they expiated the temple of God in eight days. Priests are so called as if sacred leaders. But the sacred leaders of the soul are fear and love: fear, namely, of punishment, and love of reward. These two Priests, in the carrying-basket of contrition, carry out all the uncleanness of sin from the temple of the Lord, that is, from the heart of man, and carry it outside into the torrent Cedron. Cedron is interpreted sad grief, and signifies Gehenna punishment. For there there is sad grief, because the wretched damned do not expect any consolation of their grief. Fear and love cause sins to be carried into this torrent, namely when they cause a man to remember that, unless that same man does penance, he will suffer the punishments of hell forever. But when the filth has been carried out, they expiated the temple in eight days; by this pure confession is understood, for which eight things are required. And those eight are these eight days of expiation. The eight things which are required for confession are marked in this verse:
Who, what, where, how often, with whom, why, how, when.
Who, namely, whether he was a monk, cleric, or layman. Likewise, whether he was a priest, deacon, or subdeacon,
Notes
- 1 Corinthians 15:52. (I ad Corinth. XV, 52.) ↩
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