Works › Sermons for the Seasons of the Year
Volume 13 · pp. 56–59
Sermon XI. On the Same Sunday
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Sermo XI.
In eadem Dominica.
Tuam ipsius animam pertransibit gladius. Luc. ii, 35.
IV 1.
Nota, quod sex sunt gladii, qui debent animas nostras per jugem recordationem pertransire salubriter.
I. Acerbitas Dominicae passionis. II. Ardor sanctae dilectionis. III. Fervor intimae contritionis. IV. Mors corporalis. V. Sententia judicialis. VI. Poena gehennalis.
1. Primus gladius est acerbitas Dominicae passionis. De isto gladio praedixit sanctus Simeon Beatae Virgini, sicut dicitur Luc. ii, 35: Tuam ipsius animam pertransibit gladius. Quasi dicat: O Virgo, gladius ipsius, id est, Passio Filii tui pertransibit animam tuam. Tantum denique passa fuit dolorem Beata Virgo, dum illusiones et afflictiones Filii in cruce pendentis adspiceret, ac si materialis gladius cor ejus et viscera pertransiret. Hoc dicit Beatus Hieronymus: "Constat quod Beata Virgo plus omnibus Filium suum dilexit, et propterea plus doluit: et tantum, ut animam ejus totam pertransiret et possideret vis doloris, ad testimonium eximiae dilectionis: quae, quia mente passa est, plusquam martyr fuit." De dolore etiam Beatae Virginis loquitur Beatus Bernardus in tractatu de Quinque verbis Domini. Ait autem sic: "Intuetur te Domine illa benedicta in mulieribus, et fixis inde oculis vulnera tua materna pietate considerat: et licet non ignoret quid boni conferat mundo passio tua, tamen tibi parentis affectu commoritur, et pectus maternum immanitate doloris arctatur, suspirat intrinsecus, et erumpentes revocat lacrymas: et eo amplius anxietas intumescit, quo prohibetur egredi, et per luctus lamentaque dissolvi. Emergebant quidem aliquando gemitus, sed increpati reprimebantur, revertebanturque in sinum mentis, de qua prodibant, et collidebant se introrsus ad invicem. Eratque in anima sua tempestas valida, concurrentibus sibi procellis, et quasi in sartagine frixis medullis, ebulliebant amaritudines: quas excoquebat, et coagulabat exacerbatio perseverans." Ex praedictis itaque verbis perpendi potest, quod Beata Virgo tantum dolorem passa fuit respiciens tormenta Filii praedicti, ac si cor ejus, et omnes medullae ossium ipsius in patella super ignem frigerentur.
Igitur gladius Passionis Jesu, qui pertransivit animam Beatae Virginis, debet etiam cor nostrum pertransire. Sumus enim fratres et filii Jesu, dignumque est ut compatiamur et fratri et Patri nostro charissimo in tantis doloribus existenti. Unde dicit Apostolus I ad Cor. xii, 26: Si quid patitur unum membrum, compatiuntur omnia membra. Cum itaque Christus, qui est caput nostrum, tam acriter passus fuerit pro nobis, debemus et nos compati sibi, quoniam sumus membra ipsius. Unde etiam dicit Apostolus ad Philip. ii, 5: Hoc sentite in vobis, quod et in Christo Jesu. Quasi diceret: Irrisiones, et subsannationes, sputa, et flagella, spineam coronam, clavos, et lanceam, et alia crucis tormenta, quae Christus pertulit in corpore suo, vos etiam per compassionem cum ipso sentire debetis.
Sermon XI.
On the same Sunday.
A sword will pass through your own soul. Luke 2:35.
IV 1.
Note that there are six swords that ought to pass through our souls wholesomely by continual remembrance.
I. The bitterness of the Lord's passion. II. The ardor of holy love. III. The fervor of inward contrition. IV. Bodily death. V. The judicial sentence. VI. Gehenna's punishment.
1. The first sword is the bitterness of the Lord's passion. Concerning this sword holy Simeon foretold to the Blessed Virgin, as is said in Luke 2:35: A sword will pass through your own soul. As if he were saying: O Virgin, his sword, that is, the Passion of your Son, will pass through your soul. Finally the Blessed Virgin suffered such great pain while she looked upon the mockeries and afflictions of her Son hanging on the cross as if a material sword passed through her heart and inward parts. Blessed Jerome says this: "It is certain that the Blessed Virgin loved her Son more than all, and therefore grieved more; and so much that the force of sorrow passed through and possessed her whole soul, as testimony of exceptional love; because she suffered in mind, she was more than a martyr." Blessed Bernard also speaks about the sorrow of the Blessed Virgin in the treatise On the Five Words of the Lord. He says thus: "That blessed one among women looks at you, Lord, and with eyes fixed there considers your wounds with maternal devotion; and although she does not fail to know what good your passion brings to the world, nevertheless through a parent's affection she dies with you, and the maternal breast is pressed by the immensity of sorrow; she sighs inwardly and calls back the tears breaking forth, and anxiety swells the more because it is forbidden to go forth and be dissolved through mourning and lamentations. Groans indeed sometimes emerged, but when rebuked they were repressed and returned into the bosom of the mind from which they came forth, and collided inwardly with one another. And there was a strong storm in her soul, with tempests running together, and as if her marrow were fried in a pan, bitternesses boiled up, which persevering exacerbation cooked out and coagulated." Therefore from the aforesaid words it can be weighed that the Blessed Virgin suffered such great pain looking upon the torments of the aforesaid Son, as if her heart and all the marrow of her bones were being fried in a pan over fire.
Therefore the sword of the Passion of Jesus, which passed through the soul of the Blessed Virgin, ought also to pass through our heart. For we are brothers and sons of Jesus, and it is fitting that we suffer together with our dearest brother and Father existing in such pains. Hence the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 12:26: If one member suffers anything, all the members suffer together. Therefore since Christ, who is our head, suffered so bitterly for us, we too ought to suffer together with him, because we are his members. Hence also the Apostle says in Philippians 2:5: Feel this in yourselves which also was in Christ Jesus. As if he were saying: The mockeries and derisions, spittle and lashes, the thorny crown, nails and lance, and the other torments of the cross, which Christ bore in his body, you also ought to feel with him through compassion.
2. Secundus gladius est ardor dilectionis sanctae. De isto gladio dicit Dominus Matth. x, 34 et seq.: Nolite arbitrari quia pacem venerim mittere in terram: non veni pacem mittere, sed gladium. Veni enim separare hominem adversus patrem suum, et filiam adversus matrem suam, et nurum adversus socrum suam. Quod autem Dominus per gladium praedictum charitatem intelligat, statim, quasi exponendo verba praedicta subdit: Qui amat patrem, aut matrem plusquam me, non est me dignus: et qui amat filium aut filiam super me, non est me dignus. Et nota, quod magnae virtutis est gladius charitatis. Per charitatem quippe sancti Martyres corpora sua propter Dominum diversis suppliciis exposuerunt. Per charitatem sancti Confessores temporales divitias contempserunt. Per charitatem sancti Anachoretae spreto tumultu saeculi solitudines elegerunt. Per charitatem sancti Monachi colla sua arctissimae obedientiae subdiderunt. Per charitatem sanctae Virgines et Viduae caelibatu continentiae floruerunt. Per charitatem quoque boni conjugati opera misericordiae devote pauperibus impenderunt. Det etiam nobis Deus, ut gladius sanctae dilectionis jugiter in corde nostro permaneat, ut Deum plusquam nos, et proximum sicut nos, corde, ore, et opere diligamus.
3. Tertius gladius est fervor intimae contritionis, qui bene sequitur primos duos gladios. Cum enim Christus tanta pro nobis passus fuit, justum est ut eum sincerissime diligamus, ipsique toto corde serviamus: sed qui recognoscit quod eum offendit in aliquo, dignum est ut super hoc amarissime conteratur. De gladio contritionis dicitur in Psal. xxxvi, 14 et 15: Gladium evaginaverunt peccatores: intenderunt arcum suum...: gladius eorum intret in corda ipsorum, etc. Nota, quod peccatores per peccata sua, quasi quodam evaginato gladio et arcu extento Dominum impugnant, et sagittant, sed Psalmista orat et optat ut gladius peccatorum convertatur in cor ipsorum, id est, ut peccata sua, quibus impugnant, in semetipsos retorqueant. Tunc enim gladius peccatoris in cor ipsius convertitur, cum de peccatis suis amarissime dolet, et conteritur. Hinc etiam legitur I Reg. xvii, 51, quod cum David dejecisset Goliath, cucurrit et stetit super eum, et tulit gladium ejus, et eduxit eum de vagina sua: et interfecit eum, praeciditque caput ejus. Per Goliath diabolus, et per David homo paenitens intelligitur. Tunc enim homo poenitens diabolum suo gladio occidit, quando peccator de peccatis illis, quae ei diabolus persuaserat, et per quae eum aeterna morte trucidare proposuerat, intime conteritur, et sincere confitetur, debitamque pro ipsi satisfactionem exsequitur. Verum ut peccator de peccatis mature poeniteat, ne praeveniatur hora mortis, necessarium est ei, ut semper mortem sibi imminere prospiciat.
2. The second sword is the ardor of holy love. Concerning this sword the Lord says in Matthew 10:34 and following: Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth; I did not come to send peace, but a sword. For I came to separate a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. But that the Lord understands charity by the aforesaid sword, he immediately adds, as if explaining the aforesaid words: He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he who loves son or daughter above me is not worthy of me. And note that the sword of charity is of great power. For through charity the holy Martyrs exposed their bodies to diverse punishments for the Lord. Through charity the holy Confessors despised temporal riches. Through charity the holy Anchorites, with the tumult of the age despised, chose solitudes. Through charity holy Monks subjected their necks to the strictest obedience. Through charity holy Virgins and Widows flourished in celibacy of continence. Through charity also good married persons devoutly bestowed works of mercy upon the poor. May God also grant us that the sword of holy love remain continually in our heart, so that we love God more than ourselves and our neighbor as ourselves, in heart, mouth, and work.
3. The third sword is the fervor of inward contrition, which fittingly follows the first two swords. For since Christ suffered so much for us, it is just that we love him most sincerely and serve him with our whole heart; but the one who recognizes that he has offended him in something, it is fitting that he be most bitterly contrite over this. Concerning the sword of contrition Psalm 36:14 and 15 says: Sinners have unsheathed the sword; they have drawn their bow... let their sword enter into their own hearts, etc. Note that sinners through their sins attack and shoot at the Lord as with a certain unsheathed sword and drawn bow; but the Psalmist prays and wishes that the sword of sinners be turned into their own heart, that is, that they turn back upon themselves their sins by which they attack him. For then the sinner's sword is turned into his heart, when he grieves most bitterly over his sins and is contrite. Hence it is also read in 1 Kings 17:51 that when David had struck down Goliath, he ran and stood over him, and took his sword and drew it from its sheath, and killed him and cut off his head. By Goliath the devil is understood, and by David the penitent human being. For then the penitent human being kills the devil with his own sword, when the sinner is inwardly contrite for those sins that the devil had persuaded to him and through which he had proposed to slaughter him with eternal death, and sincerely confesses and carries out due satisfaction for it. But so that the sinner may repent maturely of sins and not be forestalled by the hour of death, it is necessary for him always to look ahead to death as impending over him.
4. Quartus gladius est mors corporalis. De isto gladio Macrobius in quodam libro, qui appellatur Somnium Scipionis, tale ponit exemplum. Ait enim, quod erat quidam Philosophus Dionysius nomine, qui cum esset in palatio cujusdam Regis, et discipulus ejus miraretur delicias regales, et assereret eos beatos esse, qui talibus deliciis jugiter inhaererent. Dionysius gladium e vagina raptum jussit ex tenui filo per capulum sursum suspendi; ita ut mucro gladii super caput discipuli dependeret. Praecepit autem Dionysius discipulo, ut comederet, et biberet, et laetus esset. Cumque ille inter omnes propositas delicias mortis periculo gravaretur, dixit Dionysius: "Talis est ista vita, qua te reputas esse beatum: sic semper mortem nobis imminentem videmus. Aestima quomodo felix esse poterit, qui timere non desiverit." Mors igitur est acutissimus gladius, qui amaro divortio separat corpus et animam. Quapropter necessarium est, ut gladium mortis frequenter in nostra memoria portemus. Unde dicit Eccli. vii, 40: In omnibus operibus tuis memorare novissima sua, etc.
5. Quintus gladius est sententia judicialis, qui praecedentem convenienter sequitur. Qui enim mortis suae recordatur, reminisci debet etiam divinae sententiae, quam hominem post mortem suam oportebit audire. De isto gladio dicitur Apoc. xix, 11 et 15: Vidi caelum apertum, et ecce equus albus, et qui sedebat super eum, vocabatur Fidelis, et Verax, et cum justitia judicat, et pugnat... Et de ore ejus procedit gladius ex utraque parte acutus, ut in ipso percutiat gentes. Per hoc, quod Joannes dicit quod vidit caelum apertum, innuitur quod omnia illa quae modo celata sunt et occultata, publicabuntur in die judicii. Caelum enim, quod dicitur a celando, tunc aperietur, et tunc apparebit equus albus, id est, humanitas Dei nostri, in qua sedebit divinitas quae olim contra diabolum dimicavit. Haec etiam divinitas cum humanitate veniet ad judicium. Dicitur autem ille qui sedet in equo, Fidelis et Verax. Dominus fideliter assistit eis qui invocant eum in tribulationibus suis. Unde dicitur in Psalm. cxix, 1: Ad Dominum cum tribularer clamavi, etc. Verax etiam est, quia quaecumque promisit electis, in veritate persolvet. In justitia quoque judicabit: liberabit enim tunc pauperem a potente, et praesertim talem pauperem, cui olim non erat adjutor 2. Ipse etiam pugnabit contra impios et peccatores in judicio. Unde dicitur, quod gladius ex utraque parte acutus ex ore ejus exibat. Per gladium, sicut dicit Glossa, sententia Domini figuratur, quae ideo ex utraque parte dicitur acuta, quia non solum peccata diei, sed etiam peccata in nocte commissa, graviter ulciscetur, et percutiet gentes, id est, gentiliter et sine lege viventes.
4. The fourth sword is bodily death. Concerning this sword Macrobius in a certain book called The Dream of Scipio sets down such an example. He says that there was a certain philosopher by the name of Dionysius, who, when he was in the palace of a certain king, and his disciple marveled at the royal delights and asserted that those were blessed who continually clung to such delights, Dionysius ordered a sword snatched from its sheath to be suspended above by the hilt from a thin thread, so that the point of the sword hung over the disciple's head. Dionysius commanded the disciple to eat and drink and be glad. And when he was weighed down by the danger of death amid all the delights set before him, Dionysius said: "Such is this life by which you reckon yourself blessed: so we always see death impending over us. Consider how he who has not ceased to fear will be able to be happy." Therefore death is a very sharp sword, which by bitter divorce separates body and soul. Therefore it is necessary that we frequently carry the sword of death in our memory. Hence Ecclesiasticus 7:40 says: In all your works remember your last things, etc.
5. The fifth sword is the judicial sentence, which fittingly follows the preceding. For he who remembers his death ought also to remember the divine sentence that the human being after his death will have to hear. Concerning this sword Apocalypse 19:11 and 15 says: I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse, and he who sat upon it was called Faithful and True, and with justice he judges and fights... And from his mouth proceeds a sword sharp on both sides, so that with it he may strike the nations. By this, that John says that he saw heaven opened, it is suggested that all those things that are now concealed and hidden will be made public on the day of judgment. For heaven, which is named from concealing, will then be opened, and then the white horse will appear, that is, the humanity of our God, in which the divinity will sit, which once fought against the devil. This divinity also will come with humanity to judgment. But he who sits on the horse is called Faithful and True. The Lord faithfully assists those who invoke him in their tribulations. Hence it is said in Psalm 119:1: To the Lord, when I was troubled, I cried, etc. He is also true, because whatever he promised to the elect he will pay in truth. He will also judge in justice, for then he will deliver the poor from the powerful, and especially such a poor one to whom formerly there was no helper 2. He will also fight against the impious and sinners in judgment. Hence it is said that a sword sharp on both sides came forth from his mouth. By the sword, as the Gloss says, the sentence of the Lord is figured; it is said to be sharp on both sides because it will gravely avenge not only the sins of the day but also the sins committed at night, and will strike the nations, that is, those living as gentiles and without law.
6. Sextus gladius est poena gehennalis. De isto gladio dicitur in Job xix, 29: Fugite a facie gladii, quoniam ultor iniquitatum gladius est. Poena quippe gehennae puniet omnes iniquitates, et vitia peccatorum. De isto etiam gladio dicit Isa. xxvii, 1: In die illa visitabit Dominus in gladio suo duro, et grandi, et forti, super Leviathan serpentem vectem, et super Leviathan serpentem tortuosum, et occidet cetum, qui in mari est. Nota, quod de gladio gehennalis poenae tria dicuntur. Est enim durus, per intolerabilem acerbitatem: non enim est ita lenis, ut saltem per assuefactionem tolerari possit. Sed cum homo fuerit mille annis in inferno, ita dura videbitur ei esse poena gehenne, sicut in prima hora, quando eam pati incepit. Est etiam gladius iste grandis per spatiosam capacitatem. Tam spatiosus quippe est et capax fundus inferni, ut numquam a peccatoribus possit adimpleri. Infernus enim est insatiabilis: ignis vero numquam dicit: Sufficit: sicut dicitur Proverb. xxx, 16. Dicitur etiam esse fortis per perpetuitatem et interminabilitatem. Dicit enim Dominus reprobis, ut ait Matth. xxv, 41: Discedite a me maledicti in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo, et angelis ejus. Non dicit, discedite in ignem transitorium, sed in ignem aeternum.
Igitur gladio perpetuae damnationis, visitabitur Leviathan, id est, diabolus, qui dicitur serpens, quia inimicatur humanae naturae. Inimicitias quippe Dominus posuit inter mulierem et serpentem 3, id est, inter humanam naturam, et diabolum. Dicitur etiam vectis, quia nititur nobis praecludere aditum aeternae salutis. Dicitur etiam serpens tortuosus, propter deceptionis astutiam. Tortuosus enim est, id est, multis et variis modis laborat electos decipere, et quos decepit, invitissime de faucibus emittit. Occidetur in gladio infernalis poenae cetus, qui est in mari, id est, omnis superbus et pauperibus violentus. Sicut enim cetus absorbet minores pisces qui sunt in mari, sic et superbi et potentes devorant pauperes in hoc mundo, et propterea gladio damnationis perpetuae ferientur. Rogate ergo Dominum, ut tam sobrie et juste et pie vivamus in hoc saeculo 4, ne gladio mortis perpetuae feriamur, sed potius coronam perennis gaudii consequamur. Amen.
6. The sixth sword is Gehenna's punishment. Concerning this sword Job 19:29 says: Flee from the face of the sword, because the sword is the avenger of iniquities. For the punishment of Gehenna will punish all the iniquities and vices of sinners. Isaiah 27:1 also says about this sword: On that day the Lord will visit with his hard and great and strong sword upon Leviathan, the bar-serpent, and upon Leviathan, the twisted serpent, and he will kill the whale that is in the sea. Note that three things are said about the sword of Gehenna's punishment. For it is hard through intolerable bitterness, since it is not so gentle that it can be endured at least through habituation. But when a human being has been in hell for a thousand years, the punishment of Gehenna will seem as hard to him as in the first hour when he began to suffer it. This sword is also great through spacious capacity. For the bottom of hell is so spacious and capable that it can never be filled up by sinners. For hell is insatiable; but fire never says, It is enough, as is said in Proverbs 30:16. It is also said to be strong through perpetuity and endlessness. For the Lord says to the reprobate, as Matthew 25:41 says: Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire that was prepared for the devil and his angels. He does not say, depart into transitory fire, but into eternal fire.
Therefore with the sword of perpetual damnation Leviathan will be visited, that is, the devil, who is called a serpent because he is hostile to human nature. For the Lord placed enmities between the woman and the serpent 3, that is, between human nature and the devil. He is also called a bar, because he strives to close to us the entrance of eternal salvation. He is also called a twisted serpent because of the craftiness of deception. For he is twisted, that is, in many and varied ways he labors to deceive the elect, and those whom he has deceived he very unwillingly sends forth from his jaws. The whale that is in the sea will be killed by the sword of infernal punishment, that is, every proud person and one violent toward the poor. For as a whale swallows the smaller fish that are in the sea, so also the proud and powerful devour the poor in this world, and for this reason they will be struck with the sword of perpetual damnation. Therefore pray to the Lord that we may live so soberly and justly and piously in this age 4, lest we be struck by the sword of perpetual death, but rather may obtain the crown of everlasting joy. Amen.
Notes
- Answer to the fourth question of the preceding sermon: How is the soul of his mother transfixed by a sword? (Responsio ad quartum quaesitum sermonis praecedentis: Qualiter ejus matris anima gladio transfigatur?) ↩
- Psalm 71:12. (Ps. lxxi, 12.) ↩
- Compare Genesis 3:15. (Cf. Gen. iii, 15.) ↩
- Titus 2:12. (Ad Tit. ii, 12.) ↩
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