Volume 13 · pp. 575–578
Sermon XLI. On the Feast of Blessed Maurice and His Companions
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SERMO XLI.
IN FESTO B. MAURITII ET SOCIORUM EJUS.
Transfugerunt ad David, cum lateret in deserto, viri robustissimi, et pugnatores optimi, tenentes clypeum et hastam: facies eorum quasi facies leonis, et veloces quasi capreæ in montibus. I Paral. XII, 8.
Hæc verba leguntur in libro Paralipomenon, et optime possunt exponi de Beato Mauritio et sociis ejus. Unde primo quatuor sunt notanda:
I. Quis in loco isto per David intelligatur? II. Quid per desertum in quo latuit, exprimatur? III. Quando ad David isti transfugisse dicantur? IV. A quibus etiam viri isti commendabiles habeantur?
I.
De primo nota: Per David Dei Filius intelligitur. Et hoc propter tria, videlicet propter convenientia nominis, et corporis, et operis.
1. Primo, David convenientia nominis sui exprimit Christum. David enim interpretatur manu fortis, et vere Filius Dei fortis est manibus. Potest enim, quando placuerit ei, omnes peccatores terræ confringere, sicut vasa figuli confringuntur. Unde dicitur ei in Psal. II, 9: Reges eos in virga ferrea, et tamquam vas figuli confringes eos. Hinc etiam dicitur Deut. VII, 9: Dominus Deus tuus, ipse est Deus fortis et fidelis.
2. Secundo, David convenientia corporis sui Christum præfigurat. David enim erat rufus, et pulcher adspectu, decoraque facie, sicut legitur I Reg. XVI, 12. Ita etiam erat candidus et rubicundus, electus ex millibus 1. Candidus siquidem fuit Christus per immaculatæ carnis puritatem. Rubicundus vero per Passionis asperitatem: tunc enim corpus suum per proprium sanguinem fuit rubricatum.
3. Tertio, convenientia operis David exprimit Christum. David enim opus fecit magnificum, quando Goliath Philisthæum agminibus Israel exprobrantem dejecit et interfecit, sicut dicitur I Reg. XVII, 50. Christus etiam diabolum universi humani generis inimicum in cruce moriens virtute divinitatis prostravit et conculcavit.
II.
De secundo nota: Per desertum in quo David latuit, sancta Ecclesia designatur. Sancta quippe Ecclesia bene desertum appellatur: quia tunc quando isti Martyres passi fuerunt, pauci fideles erant in Ecclesia, respectu multitudinis infidelium. Tunc etiam Christus quasi latuit quando pauci audebant in publico confiteri quod essent Christiani. Et vere adhuc hodie bene potest Ecclesia appellari desertum: quia licet in ea multi videantur Christiani esse et nomine et corpore, pauci tamen sunt in ea meritis et anima. Omnes enim qui subjacent alicui peccato mortali, et qui sunt amatores hujus mundi, non sunt de Ecclesia Dei, sed potius de synagoga diaboli.
SERMON XLI.
ON THE FEAST OF BLESSED MAURICE AND HIS COMPANIONS.
They fled over to David, when he was hiding in the desert, men most robust and excellent fighters, holding shield and spear: their faces were like the face of a lion, and swift like roe-deer in the mountains. 1 Chronicles 12:8.
These words are read in the book of Chronicles, and they can most fittingly be expounded concerning Blessed Maurice and his companions. Hence first four things are to be noted:
I. Who in this place is understood by David? II. What is expressed by the desert in which he hid? III. When are these said to have fled over to David? IV. From what things are these men also held commendable?
I.
Concerning the first, note: By David the Son of God is understood. And this is on account of three things, namely on account of the agreement of name, and of body, and of work.
1. First, David by the agreement of his name expresses Christ. For David is interpreted strong of hand, and truly the Son of God is strong in hands. For he can, when it has pleased him, break all the sinners of the earth, as the vessels of a potter are broken. Hence it is said to him in Psalm 2:9: You will rule them with an iron rod, and you will break them like a potter's vessel. Hence also it is said, Deuteronomy 7:9: The Lord your God, he is the strong and faithful God.
2. Secondly, David by the agreement of his body prefigures Christ. For David was ruddy, and beautiful to behold, and of comely face, as is read in 1 Kings 16:12. So also he was white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands 1. Indeed Christ was white through the purity of immaculate flesh. But he was ruddy through the harshness of the Passion: for then his body was reddened through his own blood.
3. Thirdly, by the agreement of work David expresses Christ. For David did a magnificent work when he cast down and killed Goliath the Philistine, who was reproaching the ranks of Israel, as is said in 1 Kings 17:50. Christ also, dying on the cross, by the virtue of his divinity overthrew and trampled down the devil, the enemy of the whole human race.
II.
Concerning the second, note: By the desert in which David hid, holy Church is designated. For holy Church is rightly called a desert, because at that time when these Martyrs suffered, there were few faithful in the Church in comparison with the multitude of unbelievers. Then also Christ as it were lay hidden, when few dared to confess in public that they were Christians. And truly even today the Church can rightly be called a desert, because although in her many seem to be Christians both in name and in body, nevertheless few in her are such by merits and by soul. For all who are subject to some mortal sin, and who are lovers of this world, are not of the Church of God, but rather of the synagogue of the devil.
III.
De tertio nota, quod tunc isti gloriosi milites confugerunt ad verum David in desertum Ecclesiæ, quando credentes in Christum baptizari se fecerunt ab Episcopo Jerosolymitano. Cum enim vel Judæus vel Paganus vere credens in Christum se facit baptizari, tunc se transfert a militia diaboli ad militiam Jesu Christi. Unde dicit Sacerdos ad eum, qui est baptizandus: « Abrenuntias satanæ et omnibus pompis ejus, etc. » Quasi dicat: Relinquis tu modo servitium diaboli, et profiteris te esse servum Dei. Det nobis, charissimi, hoc Deus, ut factis impleamus, quod modo in baptismo promisimus.
IV.
De quarto nota: Beatus Mauritius et socii ejus a sex specialiter commendantur.
1. Primum est, quod erant viri robustissimi. Viri enim erant per animi firmitatem, et non mulieres per cordis imbecillitatem. Et erant robustissimi ad triplicem hostem debellandum. Robusti siquidem erant contra mundi hujus concupiscentiam, robustiores erant contra propriæ carnis petulantiam, robustissimi erant contra dæmonum pervicaciam. Hos enim tres hostes potenter et viriliter sibi subegerunt.
Indigemus et nos, charissimi, ut contra hos tres hostes simus robusti. Igitur ad conculcandam hujus mundi concupiscentiam monet nos I Joan. II, 15: Nolite, inquit, diligere mundum. Si quis diligit mundum, non est charitas Patris in eo, id est, non diligetur a Deo. Ad comprimendam vero carnis petulantiam monemur a Paulo ad Rom. VI, 12: Non regnet, inquit, peccatum in vestro mortali corpore, ut obediatis concupiscentiis ejus. Item, ad Galat. V, 24: Qui sunt Christi, carnem suam crucifixerunt cum vitiis, et concupiscentiis, id est, carnem suam compresserunt, et vitia ejus et concupiscentias exstinxerunt. Ad enervandam quoque dæmonum pervicaciam, id est, insolentem nequitiam, monet nos I Pet. V, 8 et 9: Adversarius vester, inquit, diabolus, tamquam leo rugiens circuit, quærens quem devoret: cui resistite fortes in fide. Ad idem hortatur nos Paulus, ad Ephes. VI, 11: Induite vos armaturam Dei, ut possitis stare adversus insidias diaboli.
III.
Concerning the third, note that then these glorious soldiers fled together to the true David in the desert of the Church, when, believing in Christ, they caused themselves to be baptized by the Bishop of Jerusalem. For when either a Jew or a Pagan, truly believing in Christ, causes himself to be baptized, then he transfers himself from the soldiery of the devil to the soldiery of Jesus Christ. Hence the Priest says to him who is to be baptized: "Do you renounce Satan and all his pomps, etc.?" As if he were saying: Do you now leave the service of the devil, and profess that you are a servant of God? May God grant us this, dearly beloved, that by deeds we may fulfill what now in baptism we promised.
IV.
Concerning the fourth, note: Blessed Maurice and his companions are commended especially from six things.
1. The first is that they were most robust men. For they were men through firmness of spirit, and not women through weakness of heart. And they were most robust for fighting down a threefold enemy. Indeed they were robust against the concupiscence of this world; they were more robust against the wantonness of their own flesh; they were most robust against the obstinacy of demons. For they powerfully and manfully subdued these three enemies to themselves.
We too need, dearly beloved, to be robust against these three enemies. Therefore for trampling down the concupiscence of this world 1 John 2:15 admonishes us: Do not, he says, love the world. If anyone loves the world, the charity of the Father is not in him, that is, he will not be loved by God. But for pressing down the wantonness of the flesh we are admonished by Paul at Romans 6:12: Let sin not reign, he says, in your mortal body, so that you obey its concupiscences. Likewise, at Galatians 5:24: Those who are Christ's have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences, that is, they have pressed down their flesh and extinguished its vices and concupiscences. Also for enervating the obstinacy of demons, that is, their insolent wickedness, 1 Peter 5:8 and 9 admonishes us: Your adversary, he says, the devil, goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour; resist him, strong in faith. Paul exhorts us to the same thing, at Ephesians 6:11: Put on the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the snares of the devil.
2. Secundum a quo commendantur isti egregii milites, hoc est, quod erant pugnatores. Iniquos enim et impios impugnabant, bonos autem et pios protegebant. Unde Beatus Mauritius dixit ad Maximianum: « Dextræ nostræ pugnare adversus impios et iniquos sciunt, laniare pios et concives nesciunt: pugnavimus semper pro justitia, pro pietate, pro salute innocentium. »
Sic et principes et milites nostri temporis facere deberent. Imitari quippe deberent sanctum Mauritium, et etiam Judam Machabæum, de quo legitur I Mach. III, 3 et 5: Judas Machabæus protegebat castra gladio suo, et persecutus est iniquos perscrutans eos: et qui conturbabant populum suum, eos succendit flammis. Ad hoc enim milites acceperunt gladium, ut claustra religiosorum, et pupillos, et orphanos, et viduas ac pauperes ab impiorum injuriis tueantur.
3. Tertium quod fecit ad commendationem eorum, hoc est, quod tenebant clypeum. Per clypeum crux Dominica figuratur, quam isti gloriosi martyres in brachio recordationis suæ jugiter detulerunt.
Teneamus et nos, charissimi, hunc clypeum: unde dicit Bernardus: « Memor ero quamdiu vixero, laborum quos Christus sustinuit in prædicando, fatigationum in discurrendo, tentationum in jejunando, vigiliarum in orando, lacrymarum in compatiendo: recordabor etiam dolorum, conviciorum, sputorum, colaphorum, flagellorum, subsannationum, exprobrationum, clavorum, horumque similium: alioquin requiretur a me sanguis Justi, qui effusus est super terram. »
4. Quartum a quo commendantur isti martyres, hoc est, quod etiam hastam tenuerunt. Per hastam potest intelligi lancea illa, qua unus militum latus Salvatoris aperuit, et continuo exivit sanguis, et aqua 2.
Et certe hæc lateris Christi transfixio fuit spirituale martyrium Beatæ Mariæ Virginis. Hanc enim transfixionem corpus filii jam emortuum non sensit, sed hæc diræ lanceæ perforatio animam Beatæ Virginis quæ tunc adstabat, atrociter pertransivit. Hanc igitur hastam sive lanceam nobiles isti in manibus memoriæ tenuerunt: quia dolorem incomparabilem piæ Virginis Mariæ in mente frequenter habuerunt, ut eo levius tolerarent dolores matrum ac conjugum suarum, quos ex ipsorum martyriis eas habituras verisimiliter prævidebant. Probabile enim est, quod plures istorum martyrum et matres et uxores viventes habebant, quando passi fuerunt.
2. The second thing from which these distinguished soldiers are commended is this, that they were fighters. For they attacked the unjust and impious, but protected the good and pious. Hence Blessed Maurice said to Maximian: "Our right hands know how to fight against the impious and unjust; they do not know how to tear apart the pious and fellow-citizens. We have always fought for justice, for piety, for the safety of innocents."
So also the princes and soldiers of our time ought to do. For they ought to imitate Saint Maurice, and also Judas Maccabaeus, of whom it is read, 1 Maccabees 3:3 and 5: Judas Maccabaeus protected the camps with his sword, and he pursued the unjust, searching them out; and those who were troubling his people, he burned them with flames. For soldiers have received the sword for this, that they may defend the enclosures of religious, and wards, and orphans, and widows and the poor from the injuries of the impious.
3. The third thing that contributed to their commendation is this, that they held a shield. By the shield the Lord's cross is figured, which these glorious martyrs continually carried on the arm of their remembrance.
Let us too hold this shield, dearly beloved; hence Bernard says: "I will be mindful, as long as I live, of the labors that Christ sustained in preaching, of the fatigues in going about, of the temptations in fasting, of the vigils in praying, of the tears in having compassion. I will also remember the pains, insults, spittings, blows, scourgings, mockings, reproaches, nails, and things like these; otherwise the blood of the Just One, which has been poured out upon the earth, will be required from me."
4. The fourth thing from which these martyrs are commended is this, that they also held a spear. By the spear can be understood that lance with which one of the soldiers opened the side of the Savior, and immediately there came forth blood and water 2.
And certainly this piercing of Christ's side was the spiritual martyrdom of Blessed Mary the Virgin. For the body of the son, already dead, did not feel this piercing, but this perforation of the dreadful lance passed atrociously through the soul of the Blessed Virgin, who then was standing by. Therefore these noble men held this spear or lance in the hands of memory, because they often had in mind the incomparable grief of the pious Virgin Mary, so that by it they might more lightly tolerate the griefs of their mothers and wives, which they foresaw as likely to be had by them from their martyrdoms. For it is probable that several of these martyrs had both mothers and wives living when they suffered.
Monet etiam nos Hieronymus, ne propter dolores parentum nostrorum a Christi servitio retrahamur, et dicit sic: « Licet parvulus ex collo pendeat nepos, licet sparso crine et scissis vestibus, ubera quibus te nutrierat mater, ostendat: licet in limine pater jaceat: percalcato perge patre, siccis oculis ad vexillum crucis evola. Solum pietatis genus est, in hac re esse crudelem. »
5. Quintum a quo commendantur isti, hoc est, quod facies eorum quasi facies leonis erant. Leo robustam faciem habet et confidentem, sicut dicitur Proverb. XXX, 30: Leo fortissimus bestiarum, ad nullius pavebit occursum. Sic et isti martyres ex justitia sua magnam habebant confidentiam de remuneratione divina: unde Proverb. X, 8: Exspectatio justorum, lætitia. Justi autem erant isti beati martyres. Unde cantatur de eis: « Evangelici præcepti etiam sub armis non immemores, quæ Dei erant, Deo: quæ Cæsaris erant, Cæsari restituebant. »
6. Sextum a quo commendabiles existunt, hoc est, quod erant veloces quasi capræ in montibus. Capræ visum habent acutissimum, et sunt velocissimæ. Sic et isti martyres, quia gloriam martyrii contemplabantur, ad martyrium velociter festinabant. Contempsit enim ille gloriosus exercitus rem præsentium ob spem futurorum. Poterant enim isti strenui milites hoc dicere, quod ait Apostolus II ad Corinth. IV, 17 et 18: Id, quod in præsenti est momentaneum et leve tribulationis nostræ, supra modum in sublimitate æternum gloriæ pondus operatur in nobis non contemplantibus nobis quæ videntur, etc.
Rogate ergo Dominum, ut sic istos gloriosos martyres veneremur et imitemur in terris, ut et ipsis adjungi mereamur in cælis. Amen.
Footnotes:
1 Cant. V, 10.
2 Joan. XIX, 34.
Jerome also admonishes us not to be drawn back from the service of Christ on account of the griefs of our parents, and he speaks thus: "Although a little nephew may hang from your neck, although with hair disheveled and garments torn your mother may show the breasts by which she had nourished you, although your father may lie on the threshold: go forward over your father, fly with dry eyes to the standard of the cross. The only kind of dutiful love in this matter is to be cruel."
5. The fifth thing from which these are commended is this, that their faces were like the faces of a lion. A lion has a robust and confident face, as is said in Proverbs 30:30: The lion, strongest of beasts, will fear no encounter. So too these martyrs, from their justice, had great confidence concerning divine remuneration; hence Proverbs 10:8: The expectation of the just is gladness. But these blessed martyrs were just. Hence it is sung of them: "Not unmindful of the evangelical precept even under arms, the things that were God's, to God; the things that were Caesar's, to Caesar they restored."
6. The sixth thing from which they exist as commendable is this, that they were swift like she-goats in the mountains. She-goats have very sharp sight and are very swift. So too these martyrs, because they were contemplating the glory of martyrdom, were hastening swiftly to martyrdom. For that glorious army despised the matter of present things on account of the hope of future things. For those vigorous soldiers could say what the Apostle says at 2 Corinthians 4:17 and 18: That which is at present momentary and light in our tribulation works in us above measure in sublimity an eternal weight of glory, while we are not contemplating the things that are seen, etc.
Therefore pray to the Lord that we may so venerate and imitate those glorious martyrs on earth, that we may also deserve to be joined to them in heaven. Amen.
Footnotes:
1 Song of Songs 5:10.
2 John 19:34.
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