Volume 13 · pp. 550–553
Sermon XXXV. On the Decollation of Blessed John the Baptist, Opening
A marker with ≈ is an approximate page boundary, placed by measure of the text; the page photographs remain the authority. In the paired views, clicking a page marker brings that page into view.
SERMO XXXV.
IN DECOLLATIONE B. JOANNIS BAPTISTÆ.
Herodes misit ac tenuit Joannem, et vinxit eum in carcere.... Et misso speculatore decollavit eum. Marc. VI, 17 et 27.
Hæc verba loquuntur de decollatione venerabilis viri S. Joannis Baptistæ, qui quoniam Herodem arguebat, quia uxorem fratris sui habebat, missis ministris suis fecit teneri et vinciri, et incarcerari, et tandem ad suggestionem Herodiadis præcepit eum in carcere decollari. Et nota, quod sicut Herodes præcursorem Domini occidit corporaliter, ita diabolus conatur quemlibet Christianum occidere spiritualiter. Unde tria sunt hic notanda:
I. Quid per Herodem intelligatur? II. Quid per Joannem exprimatur? III. Qualiter Joannes occidatur?
I.
De primo nota: Per Herodem diabolus intelligitur. Herodes interpretatur pellibus glorians. Et vere diabolus de pellibus, id est, de decore sibi collato gloriabatur. Unde dicit Dominus ad diabolum in Ezech. XXVIII, 12 et seq.: Tu signaculum similitudinis, plenus sapientia, et perfectus decore. In deliciis paradisi
SERMON XXXV.
ON THE DECOLLATION OF BLESSED JOHN THE BAPTIST.
Herod sent and held John, and bound him in prison.... And after the executioner was sent, he beheaded him. Mark 6:17 and 27.
These words speak concerning the decollation of the venerable man Saint John the Baptist. Because he was rebuking Herod, because he had the wife of his brother, Herod, after his ministers were sent, caused him to be held and bound and imprisoned, and at last, at the suggestion of Herodias, ordered him to be beheaded in prison. And note that just as Herod killed the precursor of the Lord corporally, so the devil tries to kill any Christian spiritually. Hence three things are to be noted here:
I. What is understood by Herod? II. What is expressed by John? III. How is John killed?
I.
On the first, note: By Herod the devil is understood. Herod is interpreted glorying in skins. And truly the devil was glorying in skins, that is, in the beauty bestowed on him. Hence the Lord says to the devil in Ezekiel 28:12 and following: You are the seal of likeness, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. In the delights of paradise
Dei fuisti: omnis lapis pretiosus operimentum tuum... Et elevatum est cor tuum in decore tuo: perdidisti sapientiam tuam in decore tuo, in terram projeci te: ... nihili factus es, et non eris in perpetuum. Quia igitur dæmones in decore suo contra Altissimum se conati sunt elevare, projecti sunt de cœlo empyreo in hunc aerem caliginosum, et ceciderunt a beato esse in esse miseriæ: et propterea dicitur de diabolo, quod nihili factus est.
Et certe adhuc dæmones de pellibus suis, id est, de versutia nequitiarum gloriantur: sicut legitur in vita S. Patrum, quod filius cujusdam Gentilis vidit quadam nocte in templo idolorum satanam cum agminibus suorum satellitum sedentem. Et veniens quidam dæmon gloriabatur se in triginta diebus ad hoc laborasse, quod multus sanguis hominum in quodam bello esset effusus, et multi essent occisi. Aliter procedens jactitavit se in viginti diebus hoc effecisse, quod multi periclitati et submersi essent in mari. Tertius veniens cum jactantia dixit, quod decem diebus ad hoc laborasset, quod in quibusdam nuptiis multis interemptis, et ipse sponsus esset occisus. Quartus vero superveniens rumores suæ nequitiæ attulit gloriosos, videlicet, quod in quadraginta annis quemdam virum religiosum de quadam muliere tentasset, et modo eum tandem fornicari fecisset, qui solus præ cæteris cum magnis laudibus a satana est susceptus. Nimium quippe diabolus casum justorum desiderat. Hæc omnia juvenis ille videns et audiens factus est Christianus.
II.
De secundo nota: Per Joannem Baptistam quilibet Christianus accipitur. Joannes enim interpretatur in quo est gratia, et vere in quemlibet Christianum, dum baptizatur, gratia Christi descendit. Tunc quippe efficitur vas Spiritus sancti, qui prius erat vas diaboli. Et certe vix aliquis est, quin aliquam spiritualem gratiam a Domino recepit, quam ad alterum administrare debet. Ad quod monet I Pet. IV, 10: Unusquisque, sicut accepit gratiam, in alterutrum illam administrantes, sicut boni dispensatores multiformis gratiæ Dei. Debet etiam quilibet pœnitens esse Baptista Domini, ut videlicet Deum et propriam conscientiam quotidie quasi baptizet in aquis lacrymarum suarum.
you were: every precious stone was your covering... And your heart was lifted up in your beauty; you lost your wisdom in your beauty; I cast you onto the earth: ... you were made nothing, and you will not be forever. Therefore because the demons tried to lift themselves up against the Most High in their beauty, they were cast down from the empyrean heaven into this dark air, and they fell from blessed being into the being of misery; and for this reason it is said concerning the devil that he was made nothing.
And certainly demons still glory in their skins, that is, in the craftiness of wickednesses; as is read in the life of the Holy Fathers, that the son of a certain Gentile saw one night in a temple of idols Satan sitting with the troops of his attendants. And a certain demon coming was glorying that he had labored for thirty days for this, that much blood of men had been poured out in a certain war, and many had been killed. Another, advancing, boasted that in twenty days he had effected this, that many had been endangered and drowned in the sea. A third, coming with boasting, said that for ten days he had labored for this, that in certain nuptials, with many slain, the bridegroom himself was killed. But a fourth arriving brought glorious reports of his wickedness, namely that for forty years he had tempted a certain religious man concerning a certain woman, and now at last had made him fornicate with her; he alone before the others was received by Satan with great praises. For the devil desires the fall of the just exceedingly. That young man, seeing and hearing all these things, became Christian.
II.
On the second, note: By John the Baptist any Christian is taken. For John is interpreted one in whom there is grace, and truly into any Christian, when he is baptized, the grace of Christ descends. For then he is made a vessel of the Holy Spirit who previously was a vessel of the devil. And certainly there is scarcely anyone who has not received some spiritual grace from the Lord, which he ought to administer to another. To this 1 Peter 4:10 admonishes: Each one, just as he has received grace, administering it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. Any penitent also ought to be a Baptist of the Lord, namely so that he may daily, as it were, baptize God and his own conscience in the waters of his tears.
III.
De tertio nota: Quinque modis diabolus ad hoc laborat, ut anima justi hominis spiritualiter moriatur: et hoc innuitur in præsenti Evangelio, ubi legitur, quod Herodes primo misit, secundo tenuit, tertio vinxit, quarto incarceravit, quinto Joannem in carcere decollavit.
I. Primo igitur diabolus mittit satellites per tentationem et suggestionem. Septem quippe peccata mortalia, videlicet, superbia, ira, invidia, acedia, avaritia, gula, et luxuria, sunt satellites, ac apparitores diaboli, qui ad captivandas justorum animas emittuntur. De istis legitur in I Reg. XIX, 14: Misit Saul apparitores, qui raperent David. David interpretatur manu fortis, et signat quemlibet Christianum, quem Saul, id est, diabolus, ministerio apparitorum suorum, id est, septem criminalium peccatorum nititur captivare.
II. Secundo, diabolus tenet animam per consensum et delectationem. Quandocumque enim fidelis homo tentatur et inquietatur a diabolo, immissione tentationum per Angelos malos non oberit ei, quamdiu non consentit et delectatur in eis: sed mox ut consentire cœperit et delectari, capitur et tenetur manu diaboli. Hinc est, quod quilibet fidelis monetur, Tob. IV, 6: Omnibus diebus vitæ tuæ in mente habeto Dominum; et cave ne aliquando peccato consentias.
III. Tertio, diabolus vincit et ligat animam per peccati commissionem. Peccata enim sunt vincula et catenæ diaboli, quibus quadriformiter peccatores vinciuntur.
1. Quidam enim sunt, quorum pedes et crura peccatis quasi quibusdam compedibus vinciuntur, utpote chorizatores, et illi qui noctibus vadunt ad furta committenda et homicidia perpetranda. De quibus dicitur, Proverb. I, 10 et seq.: Fili mi..., si dixerint peccatores: Veni nobiscum, insidiemur sanguini... Omnem pretiosam substantiam reperiemus, implebimus domos nostras spoliis. Sortem mitte nobiscum, marsupium unum sit omnium nostrum. Fili mi, ne ambules cum eis: ... pedes enim illorum ad malum currunt. De istis compedibus dicitur in Psal. CIV, 18: Humiliaverunt, scilicet, dæmones, in compedibus, scilicet, Sanctorum, pedes ejus, videlicet, peccatoris.
2. Alii sunt, qui circa ventrem et femora ferreis vinculis alligantur, videlicet gulosi et luxuriosi. Ad istos dicit Isa. LVIII, 9 et 11: Si abstuleris de medio tui catenam, ... requiem tibi dabit Dominus semper. Quasi diceret Propheta: O gulose, et o tu luxuriose, quorum Deus venter est, si gulam et luxuriam, quibus quasi quadam dura catena ligamini, de medio vestrum abstuleritis, requiem vobis conferet Dominus sempiternam. Alioquin in æterna tormenta projiciemini, ubi unius horæ malitia oblivionem faciet maximæ gulæ et luxuriæ.
III.
On the third, note: In five ways the devil labors for this, that the soul of a just man may die spiritually; and this is suggested in the present Gospel, where one reads that Herod first sent, secondly held, thirdly bound, fourthly imprisoned, fifthly beheaded John in prison.
I. First, therefore, the devil sends attendants through temptation and suggestion. For the seven mortal sins, namely pride, anger, envy, sloth, avarice, gluttony, and luxury, are the attendants and apparitors of the devil, who are sent out to capture the souls of the just. Concerning these one reads in 1 Kings 19:14: Saul sent apparitors, who would seize David. David is interpreted strong by hand, and signifies any Christian, whom Saul, that is, the devil, strives to capture by the ministry of his apparitors, that is, of the seven criminal sins.
II. Secondly, the devil holds the soul through consent and delight. For whenever a faithful man is tempted and disturbed by the devil, by the sending-in of temptations through evil Angels, it will not harm him as long as he does not consent and is not delighted in them; but as soon as he has begun to consent and be delighted, he is captured and held by the hand of the devil. Hence it is that any faithful person is admonished, Tobit 4:6: All the days of your life have the Lord in your mind; and beware lest at any time you consent to sin.
III. Thirdly, the devil conquers and binds the soul through commission of sin. For sins are the bonds and chains of the devil, by which sinners are bound in a fourfold way.
1. For there are certain persons whose feet and legs are bound by sins as by certain fetters, as dancers and those who go by night to commit thefts and perpetrate murders. Concerning these it is said, Proverbs 1:10 and following: My son..., if sinners have said: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood... We shall find every precious substance; we shall fill our houses with spoils. Cast your lot with us; let there be one purse for us all. My son, do not walk with them: ... for their feet run to evil. Concerning these fetters it is said in Psalm 104:18: They humbled, namely the demons, in fetters, namely of the Saints, his feet, namely the feet of the sinner.
2. Others are those who around belly and thighs are bound with iron bonds, namely the gluttonous and the luxurious. To these Isaiah 58:9 and 11 says: If you remove the chain from the midst of you, ... the Lord will give you rest always. As if the Prophet were saying: O gluttonous one, and O you luxurious one, whose God is the belly, if you have removed from your midst gluttony and luxury, by which you are bound as by a certain hard chain, the Lord will confer everlasting rest on you. Otherwise you will be cast into eternal torments, where the malice of one hour will make forgetfulness of the greatest gluttony and luxury.
3. Tertii sunt, quorum collum et fauces gravi vinculo constringuntur, et ligantur, videlicet illi qui turpiter et immunde loquuntur, et qui detrahunt, et pejerant, et blasphemant. Ad tales dicit Dominus, Isa. LII, 2: Solve vincula colli tui captiva filia Sion.
4. Quarti sunt, quorum manus et brachia sunt vinculis ferreis alligata, videlicet fures, raptores, incendiarii, usurarii, falsarii, et illi qui cum tesseris et globis ludunt, et breviter omnes illi qui cum manibus et brachiis opera iniquitatis exercent. Et certe tales indigent, ut contingat eis, sicut contigit Petro, ut videlicet visitentur ab Angelo magni consilii Jesu Christo, et sic cadant catenæ de manibus eorum 1.
IV. Quarto, diabolus peccatorem incarcerat per peccandi assuefactionem: consuevit nempe peccatum carcer esse diaboli: quantoque peccatum sæpius iteratur, tanto firmius peccator sub potestate diaboli conservatur. Propter hoc dicitur, Thren. III, 7: Circumædificavit adversum me, ut non egrediar.
V. Quinto, diabolus peccatorem decollat per desperationem, quando videlicet miser peccator peccatorum suorum diuturnitatem ac magnitudinem considerans desperat, quod umquam possit ad pœnitentiam consurgere, vel peccata relinquere, et de eis Domino satisfacere. Unde dicitur in Prov. XVIII, 3: Impius cum in profundum venerit peccatorum, contemnit: sed sequitur eum ignominia et opprobrium.
Rogate ergo, charissimi, divinam misericordiam, ut nos per veram pœnitentiam de vinculis, et carcere diaboli quantocius eripiat, ne videlicet Herodias, id est, invidia diaboli de nostro interitu glorietur, sed potius omnis exercitus Angelorum Dei de nostra salvatione gratuletur. Quod nobis præstare dignetur, etc.
3. The third are those whose neck and throat are constrained and bound by a heavy bond, namely those who speak basely and uncleanly, and who detract, perjure themselves, and blaspheme. To such persons the Lord says, Isaiah 52:2: Loose the bonds of your neck, captive daughter of Sion.
4. The fourth are those whose hands and arms are tied by iron bonds, namely thieves, robbers, incendiaries, usurers, falsifiers, and those who play with dice and balls, and briefly all those who with hands and arms exercise works of iniquity. And certainly such persons need that it happen to them as it happened to Peter, namely that they be visited by the Angel of great counsel, Jesus Christ, and so the chains may fall from their hands 1.
IV. Fourthly, the devil imprisons the sinner through habituation of sinning; for sin is accustomed to be the prison of the devil, and the more often sin is repeated, the more firmly the sinner is kept under the power of the devil. On account of this Lamentations 3:7 says: He has built around against me, so that I may not go out.
V. Fifthly, the devil beheads the sinner through despair, when namely the wretched sinner, considering the long duration and magnitude of his sins, despairs that he could ever rise to penance, or leave sins behind, and make satisfaction to the Lord for them. Hence it is said in Proverbs 18:3: When the impious man has come into the depth of sins, he contemns; but ignominy and reproach follow him.
Therefore pray, dearest ones, to divine mercy, that through true penance it may snatch us as quickly as possible from the bonds and prison of the devil, lest Herodias, that is, the envy of the devil, glory in our destruction, but rather the whole army of the Angels of God rejoice concerning our salvation. May he deign to grant this to us, etc.
Notes
- Compare Acts 12:7. (Cf. Act. XII, 7.) ↩
If a page does not appear, its photograph has not been uploaded yet.