Works › Sermons for the Seasons of the Year
Volume 13 · pp. 104–106
Sermon XXI. On Septuagesima Sunday
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Sermo XXI.
In Dominica Septuagesimae.
Cum sero factum esset, dicit Dominus vineae procuratori suo: Voca operarios, et redde illis mercedem. Matth. xx, 8.
Quatuor possunt hic notari:
I. Quid per sero intelligatur? II. Quid per dominum vineae exprimatur? III. Quis per procuratorem patrisfamilias accipiatur? IV. Quae sit merces, quae operariis datur?
I.
De primo nota, quod per sero intelligitur finis mundi, quando quilibet in qualibet aetate mundi laborans, mercedem plenam recipiet sui laboris. Per sero etiam intelligitur finis vitae cujuslibet hominis. "Mane quippe, sicut dicit Glossa, intellectus nostri pueritia est. Hora tertia est adolescentia, quia sol jam in altum ascendit. Sexta, juventus, cum plenitudo roboris solidatur. Nona, senectus, quando sol, id est, calor aetatis descendit. Undecima, decrepita aetas." In omnibus autem praedictis horis, id est, aetatibus, quilibet homo invitatur ad opus bonum. Et certe, vae homini illi, quem non solum otiosum, imo pernicioso opere occupatum invenerit hora mortis. Unde Eccle. ix, 10: Quodcumque facere potest manus tua, instanter operare: quia nec opus, nec ratio, nec sapientia, nec scientia erunt apud inferos, quo tu properas. Nec opus alicujus remunerationis, nec ratio callidae excusationis, nec scientia manualis defensionis, erunt apud inferos, quo tu properas.
II.
De secundo nota, quod per Dominum vineae exprimitur Deus Pater, Dominus Ecclesiae militantis ac triumphantis. Per vineam sancta Ecclesia figuratur. Unde Isa. v, 7: Vinea Domini exercituum domus Israel est. Et idem Isa. v, 1 et 2: Vinea facta est dilecto meo in cornu filio olei. Et sepivit eam, et lapides elegit ex illa, et plantavit eam electam, et aedificavit turrim in medio ejus, et torcular exstruxit in ea: et exspectavit ut faceret uvas, et fecit labruscas. Per vineam electam, sicut testatur fidelis anima in Cantico suo, Ecclesia fidelium figuratur, quae facta est dilecto filio olei, hoc est, Jesu Christo, qui castae animae super omnia est dulcis: qui etiam filius olei, id est, filius misericordiae figuratur.
Facta est, inquam, ei haec vinea in cornu, id est, in eminentia spiritualis dilectionis. Et sepivit eam munimine decem praeceptorum, et elegit, id est, asportavit ex illa lapides, id est, impedimenta bonarum operationum, et aedificavit in medio ejus turrim angelicae protectionis, et exstruxit in ea torcular suae passionis. Ecce quatuor, quae a quolibet Christiano requiruntur. Primum est, ut praecepta decalogi fideliter custodiat. Secundum est, ut impedimenta bonorum operum fugiat: utpote comessationes, et ebrietates, choreas, spectacula mimica, et alias saeculi voluptates et vanitates. Tertium, ut semper imploret angelicam protectionem. Quartum, ut jugiter in corde circumferat Dominicam passionem. Sed, heu! multi qui dicuntur esse de Ecclesia, non faciunt uvas, id est, opera justitiae et pietatis: sed potius labruscas, id est, opera iniquitatis, et impietatis.
Sermon XXI.
On Septuagesima Sunday.
When evening had been made, the lord of the vineyard says to his steward: Call the workers and render to them their wage. Matthew 20:8.
Four things can be noted here:
I. What is understood by evening? II. What is expressed by the lord of the vineyard? III. Who is taken as the steward of the householder? IV. What is the wage that is given to the workers?
I.
Concerning the first, note that by evening is understood the end of the world, when anyone laboring in any age of the world will receive the full wage of his labor. By evening is also understood the end of the life of any human being. "For morning, as the Gloss says, is the childhood of our understanding. The third hour is adolescence, because the sun now ascends on high. The sixth is youth, when fullness of strength is made firm. The ninth is old age, when the sun, that is, the heat of age, descends. The eleventh is decrepit age." But in all the aforesaid hours, that is, ages, any human being is invited to good work. And certainly, woe to that human being whom the hour of death will find not only idle, but indeed occupied in a pernicious work. Hence Ecclesiastes 9:10: Whatever your hand can do, work earnestly, because neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge will be in the lower regions, to which you are hastening. Neither the work of any remuneration, nor the reason of crafty excuse, nor the knowledge of manual defense, will be in the lower regions, to which you are hastening.
II.
Concerning the second, note that by the Lord of the vineyard is expressed God the Father, Lord of the Church militant and triumphant. By the vineyard holy Church is figured. Hence Isaiah 5:7: The vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel. And the same Isaiah 5:1 and 2: A vineyard was made for my beloved in the horn, the son of oil. And he fenced it, and chose stones out of it, and planted it chosen, and built a tower in its midst, and constructed a winepress in it, and he expected that it would make grapes, and it made wild grapes. By the chosen vineyard, as the faithful soul testifies in its Song, the Church of the faithful is figured, which was made for the beloved son of oil, that is, Jesus Christ, who to the chaste soul is sweet above all things, and who is also figured as son of oil, that is, son of mercy.
This vineyard, I say, was made for him in a horn, that is, in the eminence of spiritual love. And he fenced it with the defense of the ten commandments; and he chose, that is, carried away from it the stones, that is, the impediments of good operations; and he built in its midst the tower of angelic protection; and he constructed in it the winepress of his passion. Behold four things that are required from any Christian. The first is that he faithfully keep the commandments of the decalogue. The second is that he flee the impediments of good works, such as feasts, drunkennesses, dances, mime shows, and other pleasures and vanities of the age. The third is that he always implore angelic protection. The fourth is that he continually carry around the Lord's passion in his heart. But alas, many who are said to be of the Church do not make grapes, that is, works of justice and piety, but rather wild grapes, that is, works of iniquity and impiety.
III.
De tertio nota, quod per procuratorem patrisfamilias accipitur Dei Filius, quem constituit Pater super omnem haereditatem suam: sicut ipse Filius testatur, Matth. xi, 27: Omnia, inquit, mihi tradita sunt a Patre meo. Et nemo novit Filium, nisi Pater: neque Patrem quis novit, nisi Filius, et cui Filius voluerit revelare. Unde et Philippus dicit ad Jesum, Joan. xiv, 8: Domine, ostende nobis Patrem, et sufficit nobis. Quasi diceret: Domine, tu habes Patrem sub tua potestate, quem petimus, ut ostendas nobis. Itaque Filius procurator hujus magni patrisfamilias, qui per tubam novissimam, sicut dicit Apostolus I ad Corinth. xv, 52, vocabit operarios, et reddet illis mercedem suam.
IV.
De quarto nota, quod merces haec, quae dabitur operariis, est denarius: sicut ipse paterfamilias dicit: Nonne ex denario convenisti mecum? et dicit Glossa, quod "denarius habet imaginem Regis, qui pro decem nummis olim nuncupabatur." Per denarium ergo intelligitur divina conformitas, quae consistit in decem. Primum est formosa claritas. Secundum angelica subtilitas. Tertium caelestis agilitas. Quartum felix impassibilitas. Quintum dulcis Sanctorum societas. Sextum cognitio plena jucunditatis. Septimum ardentissimus fervor charitatis. Octavum visio speciosae humanitatis, videlicet, Jesu Christi. Nonum fruitio suavissimae Trinitatis. Decimum aeternitas inenarrabilis felicitatis.
III.
Concerning the third, note that by the steward of the householder the Son of God is taken, whom the Father has established over all his inheritance, as the Son himself testifies, Matthew 11:27: All things, he says, have been handed to me by my Father. And no one knows the Son except the Father, nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and the one to whom the Son has wished to reveal him. Hence Philip also says to Jesus, John 14:8: Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. As if he were saying: Lord, you have the Father under your power, whom we ask that you show to us. Therefore the Son is the steward of this great householder, who through the last trumpet, as the Apostle says in 1 Corinthians 15:52, will call the workers and render to them their wage.
IV.
Concerning the fourth, note that this wage that will be given to the workers is a denarius, as the householder himself says: Did you not agree with me for a denarius? And the Gloss says that "a denarius has the image of the King, which once was named for ten coins." Therefore by the denarius is understood divine conformity, which consists in ten things. The first is beautiful brightness. The second, angelic subtlety. The third, heavenly agility. The fourth, happy impassibility. The fifth, sweet society of the Saints. The sixth, knowledge full of joy. The seventh, the most burning fervor of charity. The eighth, the vision of the beautiful humanity, namely of Jesus Christ. The ninth, the sweetest enjoyment of the Trinity. The tenth, the eternity of unutterable felicity.
Prima quatuor notantur Matth. xiii, 43: Tunc justi fulgebunt sicut sol in regno Patris eorum. In sole enim notatur claritas; noctem enim abigit, et diem illuminat. Item agilitas: cum enim exit in Orientem, in momento apparet in Occidente. Item subtilitas: penetrat enim vitrum sine sui laesione. Item impassibilitas: a nullo enim laedi potest.
Quintum innuitur Matth. xvi, 4, ubi Petrus, cum vidisset Jesum Christum transformatum, et societatem Moysis et Eliae cum eo, dixit ad Dominum: Domine, bonum est nos hic esse: si vis, faciamus hic tria tabernacula, tibi unum, Moysi unum, et Eliae unum. Si igitur desiderabilis erat societas, ubi duo apparuerunt cum Christo, quam incomprehensibiliter dulcis erat illa societas, ubi millia millium, et decies centena millia electorum cum non minori numero Angelorum aggregabuntur in gloria cum Deo vivo.
De sexto, I ad Cor. xiii, 12: Videmus nunc per speculum in aenigmate: tunc autem facie ad faciem. Nunc cognosco ex parte: tunc cognoscam sicut et cognitus sum. Ibi sciet homo omnia quae inter ipsum vel alium quemlibet sunt, omnia quae extra ipsum vel circa ipsum sunt, omnia quae supra ipsum sunt.
De septimo, Isa. x, 17: Et erit lumen Israel in igne, et Sanctus ejus in flamma. Haec auctoritas sic exponitur, quod Filius Dei, qui est lumen omnium fidelium, erit in igne, id est, totus erit igne charitatis accensus, et quilibet sanctus ejus erit in flamma, id est, inflammabitur ab hoc igne.
De octavo dicit Bernardus: "Plenum prorsus omni suavitatis dulcedine est videre hominem hominis conditorem."
De nono cantatur in quadam Sequentia: "Illuc cives angelici sub hierarchia triplici ternae gaudent, et simplici se monarchiae subditi mirantur: nec deficiunt in illum, quem prospiciunt, fruuntur, nec fastidiunt, quo frui magis sitiunt."
De decimo, Matth. xxv, 46, dicitur: Ibunt hi, qui a sinistris regis erunt, in supplicium aeternum: justi autem in vitam aeternam: per vitam aeternam intelligitur aeternitas felicitatis. Quam nobis praestare dignetur, etc.
The first four are marked in Matthew 13:43: Then the just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. For brightness is marked in the sun, since it drives away night and illumines day. Likewise agility, since when it goes out in the East, in a moment it appears in the West. Likewise subtlety, for it penetrates glass without injury to itself. Likewise impassibility, for it can be harmed by no one.
The fifth is suggested in Matthew 16:4, where Peter, when he had seen Jesus Christ transformed and the society of Moses and Elijah with him, said to the Lord: Lord, it is good for us to be here; if you will, let us make three tabernacles here, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah. Therefore if that society was desirable where two appeared with Christ, how incomprehensibly sweet will that society be where thousands of thousands and ten hundred thousand of the elect will be gathered with no lesser number of Angels in glory with the living God.
Concerning the sixth, 1 Corinthians 13:12: Now we see through a mirror in an enigma, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I will know as I also am known. There a human being will know all things that are between himself and any other, all things that are outside him or around him, and all things that are above him.
Concerning the seventh, Isaiah 10:17: And the light of Israel will be in fire, and his Holy One in flame. This authority is explained thus: that the Son of God, who is the light of all the faithful, will be in fire, that is, he will be wholly kindled with the fire of charity, and any saint of his will be in flame, that is, will be inflamed by this fire.
Concerning the eighth Bernard says: "It is altogether full of all the sweetness of delight to see man, the founder of man."
Concerning the ninth it is sung in a certain Sequence: "There the angelic citizens under the triple hierarchy rejoice in the threefold things, and subject to the simple monarchy marvel: nor do they fail in him whom they behold; they enjoy and are not sated with him, whom they thirst more to enjoy."
Concerning the tenth, Matthew 25:46 says: These who are at the king's left will go into eternal punishment, but the just into eternal life. By eternal life is understood the eternity of felicity. May he deign to grant it to us, etc.
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