Works › Sermons for the Seasons of the Year
Volume 13 · pp. 161–163
Sermon XXXVIII. On the Octave of Easter
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 XXXVIII. IN OCTAVA PASCHÆ.
Quia vidisti me Thoma, credidisti: beati, qui non viderunt, et crediderunt. Joan. xx, 29.
Nota, quod sicut dicit Glossa, Dominus fidem hic mirabiliter commendat. Æternam enim beatitudinem credentibus repromittit. Cum etiam dicat Apostolus ad Hebr. xi, 6, quod sine fide impossibile est placere. Duo in præsenti loco principaliter sunt notanda: I. Quid summopere credere debeamus? II. Quæ sit beatitudo, quam si crediderimus, reportamus?
I. De primo nota, quod licet in Apostolico symbolo duodecim articuli fidei distinguantur, et licet in libris et scriptis Sanctorum et orthodoxorum Patrum multa inveniantur, quæ credi oporteat; sed tamen ad minus credenda sunt a quolibet Christiano, quæ breviter prosequamur. Primo enim credere debes Unigenitum Dei Filium secundum carnem, quam assumpsit ex Virgine, in cruce mortuum esse, et die tertia resurrexisse. Secundo credi oportet, ipsum Dei Filium claves Ecclesiæ Petro, suisque successoribus concessisse. Tertio credere debes, te certissime moriturum. Quarto credere debes te rationem de omnibus actibus tuis redditurum. Quinto credere debes impios cum dæmonibus æterna tormenta passuros. Sexto credere debes, electos cum Deo perpetuo regnaturos. Si autem ista sex credideris, fidemque bonis operibus confirmaveris, sine dubio repromissam a Deo beatitudinem consequeris.
I. Credere debes Deum vere mortuum fuisse, et vere resurrexisse. Unde et Dominus ad ostensionem suæ passionis et mortis, quæ præcesserat, et resurrectionis quæ subsecuta fuerat, dixit Thomæ, Joan. xx, 27: Infer digitum tuum huc, et vide manus meas, et affer manum tuam, et mitte in latus meum: et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis.
1. Nota igitur, quod Christus pro peccatis nostris mortuus est, ut et nos peccata tota mente fugiamus, et ea mortificemus in nobis: cum oportuerit pro ipsis Filium Dei mori. Unde I Pet. i, 18: Christus semel pro peccatis nostris mortuus est, justus pro injustis, ut nos offerret Deo, mortificatos quidem carne, vivificatus autem Spiritu. Unde etiam dicit Apostolus ad Coloss. iii, 5, 8 et 9: Mortificate membra vestra, quæ sunt super terram: fornicationem, immunditiam, libidinem, concupiscentiam malam, et avaritiam, quæ est idolorum servitus... Deponite et vos omnia: iram, indignationem, malitiam, blasphemiam, turpem sermonem de ore vestro. Nolite mentiri invicem. Glossa: «Describit delicta, quæ membra appellat.» Fornicatio est omnis concubitus præter legitimum connubium. Immunditia est contra naturam libido, scilicet ardor per quaslibet turpitudines discurrens. Concupiscentia mala, id est, de aliena uxore, vel de aliena re: et avaritia, quæ est idolorum servitus, id est, tam fugienda sicut idololatria, cui simile et par vitium est: quia rebus pro Deo servit. Deponite et iram, quæ est subitus animi motus: indignationem de alio sublimato. Malitia est, quando quis molitur damnum alicui. Blasphemia in fratrem vel Deum. Reliqua duo patent.
SERMON XXXVIII. ON THE OCTAVE OF EASTER.
Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and have believed. John 20:29.
Note that, as the Gloss says, the Lord here wonderfully commends faith. For he promises eternal blessedness to those who believe. Since the Apostle also says in Hebrews 11:6 that without faith it is impossible to please God, two things in the present place are principally to be noted: I. What ought we most greatly to believe? II. What is the blessedness that, if we have believed, we carry away?
I. On the first, note that although in the Apostles' Creed twelve articles of faith are distinguished, and although in the books and writings of the Saints and orthodox Fathers many things are found that it is necessary to believe, nevertheless at least those things must be believed by any Christian that we shall briefly pursue. First, you ought to believe that the Only-Begotten Son of God according to the flesh, which he assumed from the Virgin, died on the cross and rose again on the third day. Second, it is necessary to believe that the Son of God himself granted the keys of the Church to Peter and to his successors. Third, you ought to believe that you are most certainly going to die. Fourth, you ought to believe that you are going to render an account for all your acts. Fifth, you ought to believe that the impious will suffer eternal torments with the demons. Sixth, you ought to believe that the elect will reign perpetually with God. But if you believe these six things and confirm faith by good works, without doubt you will obtain the blessedness promised again by God.
I. You ought to believe that God truly died and truly rose again. Hence also the Lord, for the showing of his passion and death that had preceded, and of the resurrection that had followed, said to Thomas in John 20:27: 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.
1. Therefore note that Christ died for our sins so that we also may flee sins with our whole mind and mortify them in ourselves, since for these the Son of God had to die. Hence 1 Peter 1:18 says: Christ died once for our sins, the just for the unjust, so that he might offer us to God, mortified indeed in flesh but made alive in Spirit. Hence the Apostle also says in Colossians 3:5, 8 and 9: Mortify your members that are upon the earth: fornication, uncleanness, lust, evil concupiscence, and avarice, which is the service of idols... Put away also all these things: anger, indignation, malice, blasphemy, shameful speech from your mouth. Do not lie to one another. The Gloss says: He describes the offenses that he calls members. Fornication is every sexual union beyond lawful marriage. Uncleanness is lust against nature, namely a burning running through any shameful things whatsoever. Evil concupiscence is concerning another's wife or another's property. And avarice, which is the service of idols, is to be fled just as idolatry, to which it is a like and equal vice, because it serves things in place of God. Put away anger, which is a sudden motion of the soul; indignation concerning another person who has been raised up; malice, when someone contrives harm for another; blasphemy against a brother or God. The remaining two are clear.
2. Nota etiam, quod ideo Christus resurrexit, ut et nos cum ipso spiritualiter resurgamus, et ea quæ sursum sunt, appetamus. Unde Apostolus ad Coloss. iii, 1 et 2: Si consurrexistis cum Christo, quæ sursum sunt quærite, ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens: quæ sursum sunt sapite, non quæ super terram. Cum ergo Christus resurrexerit, et ad cælos ascenderit, spretis bonis transitoriis, id est, immundis delectationibus hujus mundi: quærere debemus eum in dextera Dei Patris, quasi summum bonum, et ipso vero gustu jugiter delectari.
II. Credere debes Filium Dei Petro, aliisque Apostolis et eorum successoribus claves hujus Ecclesiæ concessisse. Unde Joan. xx, 22 et 23, dicitur, quod cum Jesus post resurrectionem suam staret in medio Discipulorum suorum, insufflavit: et dixit eis: Accipite Spiritum sanctum: quorum remiseritis peccata, remittuntur eis: et quorum retinueritis, retenta sunt. Super locum istum: Quorum remiseritis, Glossa, «vel per vos, vel per successores.» Item alia Glossa: «Quorum remiseritis, scilicet, quos dignos remissione judicaveritis, duabus videlicet clavibus, scilicet potestatis, et discretionis.» Cavere igitur debet quilibet Christianus, ne propter opera immunditiæ et injustitiæ ligetur sententia excommunicationis: sed potius per veram contritionem et sinceram confessionem mereatur absolvi ab omni peccato ministerio Sacerdotis.
III. Credere debes te certissime moriturum. Unde dicitur in collationibus sanctorum Patrum, quod «hoc est omnium vitiorum peremptorium, ut credas te quotidie de hoc sæculo migraturum.» Dicit etiam Augustinus in libro de Spiritu et anima: «Velimus, nolimus, omnes moriemur. Nihil enim morte certius, et nihil hora mortis incertius.» Nam nescimus, quando, et quomodo, aut ubi moriemur: quoniam mors ubique exspectat nos. Idcirco semper debemus esse parati, ut cum corpus revertetur ad terram de qua sumptum est, spiritus redeat ad Deum qui dedit illum. Ut autem recordemur mortis nostræ, admonent nos mortui, quorum ossa videmus in cœmiteriis. Quilibet enim mortuus sic vivum alloquitur, Eccli. xxxviii, 23: Memor esto judicii mei: sic enim erit et tuum: mihi heri, et tibi hodie. Abstinebit igitur a peccatis si sapiens fuerit, qui credit se quotidie moriturum.
2. Note also that Christ rose again for this reason, that we also may rise spiritually with him and seek those things that are above. Hence the Apostle says in Colossians 3:1 and 2: If you have risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God; taste the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth. Therefore, since Christ has risen again and ascended to the heavens, with transitory goods despised, that is, with the unclean delights of this world despised, we ought to seek him at the right hand of God the Father, as the highest good, and to be continually delighted by his true taste.
II. You ought to believe that the Son of God granted to Peter and to the other Apostles and their successors the keys of this Church. Hence in John 20:22 and 23 it is said that, when Jesus after his resurrection was standing in the midst of his Disciples, he breathed upon them and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you forgive, they are forgiven them, and whose sins you retain, they are retained. On this place, Whose sins you forgive, the Gloss says, by you or by your successors. Likewise another Gloss says: Whose sins you forgive, that is, those whom you have judged worthy of forgiveness, namely by the two keys, that is, of power and of discretion. Therefore every Christian ought to beware lest, on account of works of uncleanness and injustice, he be bound by the sentence of excommunication; rather, through true contrition and sincere confession he should deserve to be absolved from every sin by the ministry of the Priest.
III. You ought to believe that you are most certainly going to die. Hence it is said in the Conferences of the holy Fathers that this is the destroyer of all vices, that you believe that you are daily going to depart from this age. Augustine also says in the book On Spirit and Soul: Willing or unwilling, we shall all die. For nothing is more certain than death, and nothing more uncertain than the hour of death. For we do not know when, how, or where we shall die, because death awaits us everywhere. Therefore we always ought to be prepared, so that when the body returns to the earth from which it was taken, the spirit may return to God who gave it. But so that we may remember our death, the dead admonish us, whose bones we see in cemeteries. For any dead person speaks thus to the living, Ecclesiasticus 38:23: Remember my judgment; for so also will yours be: yesterday for me, and today for you. Therefore one who believes that he is dying daily will abstain from sins if he is wise.
IV. Debes credere te rationem redditurum de omnibus tuis actibus. Unde II ad Corinth. v, 10: Omnes nos manifestari oportet ante tribunal Christi, ut referat unusquisque propria corporis, prout gessit, sive bonum, sive malum. Et nota, quod fortissimus, sapientissimus, et justissimus judicio præsidet. Fortissimus est, ut per nullius potentiam opprimatur. Sapientissimus, ut nullius allegationibus circumveniatur. Justissimus, ut nullius pecuniis corrumpatur. Necesse ergo est cuilibet justo, ut sermones suos, quos profert in judicio, mature disponat, et quotidie per veram pœnitentiam culpas suas diluat, ne judex eum pollutum peccatis inveniat.
V. Credere debes impios æterna tormenta passuros. De hoc dicitur Eccli. xxxix, 33 et seq.: Sunt spiritus, qui ad vindictam creati sunt, et in furore suo confirmaverunt tormenta sua: in tempore consummationis effundent virtutem: et furorem ejus, qui fecit illos, placabunt. Hæc dicuntur de dæmonibus, qui tota vi fortitudinis suæ, totaque malignitate furoris sui impios cruciabunt. Sequitur de tormentis: Ignis, grando, fames, et mors, omnia hæc ad vindictam creata sunt: bestiarum dentes, et scorpii, et serpentes, et romphæa vindicans in exterminium impios. Item, Matth. xxv, 41: Tunc dicet Rex his, qui a sinistris erunt: Discedite a me maledicti in ignem æternum, qui paratus est diabolo, et angelis ejus.
VI. Credere debes electos cum Deo perpetuo regnaturos. Unde Matth. xxv, 34: Tunc dicet Rex his, qui a dextris ejus erunt: Venite benedicti Patris mei, possidete paratum vobis regnum a constitutione mundi. Item Apocal. xx, 6: Erunt Sacerdotes Dei et Christi, et regnabunt cum eo mille annis, id est, æternaliter. Per mille enim notatur æternitas. Si igitur credis gloriosum esse regnum Dei, necesse est ut bonis operibus illuc pervenire labores.
II. De secundo membro in divisione thematis supra posito nota, quod sicut dicit Boetius: «Beatitudo est status omnium bonorum congregatione perfectus.» Quam beatitudinem nobis præstare dignetur, etc.
IV. You ought to believe that you are going to render an account for all your acts. Hence 2 Corinthians 5:10 says: We must all be made manifest before the tribunal of Christ, so that each one may receive the proper things of the body, according as he has done, whether good or evil. And note that the strongest, wisest, and most just one presides over the judgment. He is strongest, so that he may be oppressed by the power of no one. He is wisest, so that he may be circumvented by the allegations of no one. He is most just, so that he may be corrupted by the money of no one. Therefore it is necessary for any just person to arrange maturely his words that he will bring forth in judgment, and daily through true penance to wash away his faults, lest the judge find him polluted with sins.
V. You ought to believe that the impious will suffer eternal torments. Concerning this it is said in Ecclesiasticus 39:33 and following: There are spirits who have been created for vengeance, and in their fury they have confirmed their torments; in the time of consummation they will pour out their strength and will appease the fury of him who made them. These things are said of the demons, who with the whole force of their strength and with the whole malignity of their fury will torture the impious. It follows concerning the torments: Fire, hail, famine, and death, all these things were created for vengeance; teeth of beasts, and scorpions, and serpents, and a sword vindicating unto the destruction of the impious. Likewise Matthew 25:41 says: Then the King will say to those who will be on the left: Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire that has been prepared for the devil and his angels.
VI. You ought to believe that the elect will reign perpetually with God. Hence Matthew 25:34 says: Then the King will say to those who will be on his right: Come, blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Likewise Apocalypse 20:6 says: They will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years, that is, eternally. For by the thousand, eternity is noted. Therefore if you believe that the kingdom of God is glorious, it is necessary that you labor to arrive there by good works.
II. On the second member placed above in the division of the theme, note that, as Boethius says, blessedness is the state perfected by the gathering together of all goods. May he deign to grant that blessedness to us, and so forth.
If a page does not appear, its photograph has not been uploaded yet.