Sermon XLIX. On the Sunday After the Ascension

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SERMO XLIX. IN DOMINICA POST ASCENSIONEM.

Cum venerit Paraclitus, quem ego mittam vobis a Patre, Spiritum veritatis qui a Patre procedit, ille testimonium perhibebit de me. Joan. xv, 26.

Nota quod Dominus prædicens fidelibus suis, quod propter ipsum essent ex synagogis, id est, ex hominum collectionibus ejiciendi, et quod etiam forent variis cruciatibus interficiendi; promittit se eis transmissurum Spiritum veritatis, qui eos, utpote Paraclitus in diversis tribulationibus consoletur, et qui testimonium perhibeat Filio Dei, quod militibus suis, qui bene certaverint, præmium gloriosum sit daturus. Perhibet igitur Spiritus sanctus testimonium Filio Dei, quod fidelibus suis septemplicem hostem vincentibus septiforme præmium largietur. Unde in Apoc. ii, 7, 11, 17, 29 et iii, 6, 13, 22, ubi Dominus ponit præmia, quæ dabit victoribus suis, præmittitur semper præmio, vel subjungitur: Qui habet aurem, audiat quid Spiritus dicat Ecclesiis.

I. Igitur de præmio illius qui vicerit gulam dicit Filius Dei, Apocal. ii, 7: Vincenti dabo edere de ligno vitæ, quod est in Paradiso Dei mei. Quid autem sit gula, dicit diffinitio: «Gula est illecebrosus et avidus, causa solius corporis, ciborum appetitus.» Qui igitur vicerit gulam testimonio sancti Spiritus, comedet de ligno vitæ, hoc est, satiabitur divina dulcedine, quæ est in paradiso Dei Patris.

II. Sequitur præmium illius qui vicerit invidiam. Apocal. ii, 11: Qui vicerit, non lædetur a morte secunda. Nota, quod invidia est dolor ex aliena felicitate nascens, animam torquens. Invidia igitur est quasi prima mors animæ propriæ: qui hanc vicerit, non lædetur a morte secunda, id est, evadet mortem æternam, et vitam inveniet sempiternam.

III. De præmio quod dabitur illi qui vicerit iram, dicitur Apoc. ii, 17: Vincenti dabo manna absconditum, et dabo illi calculum candidum: et in calculo nomen novum scriptum, quod nemo scit, nisi qui accipit. Nota, quod ira est strictus fervor animi concitati ulciscendi libidine fervens. Nota etiam, quod aufert homini dulcedinem mentis, et obscurat rationem ejus, et adscribit eum perpetuæ damnationi. Qui igitur vicerit iram, dabitur ei in regno Dei delicata, et mortalibus inexperta dulcedo mentis, quæ per manna absconditum figuratur. Dabitur etiam ei claritas divinæ cognitionis, et vocabitur hæres Dei: quæ duo per calculum candidum, et nomen novum exprimuntur.

SERMON XLIX. ON THE SUNDAY AFTER THE ASCENSION.

When the Paraclete comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will bear testimony concerning me. John 15:26.

Note that the Lord, foretelling to his faithful ones that on account of him they would be cast out of synagogues, that is, out of gatherings of human beings, and that they would also be killed by various torments, promises that he will send them the Spirit of truth, who, as Paraclete, may console them in diverse tribulations, and who may bear testimony to the Son of God that he is going to give a glorious reward to his soldiers who have fought well. Therefore the Holy Spirit bears testimony to the Son of God that he will bestow a sevenfold reward on his faithful ones who conquer the sevenfold enemy. Hence in Apocalypse 2:7, 11, 17, 29 and 3:6, 13, 22, where the Lord sets down the rewards that he will give to his victors, this is always placed before or after the reward: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches.

I. Therefore concerning the reward of the one who has conquered gluttony the Son of God says in Apocalypse 2:7: To the one conquering I will give to eat from the tree of life that is in the Paradise of my God. But what gluttony is, the definition says: Gluttony is the enticing and greedy appetite for foods for the sake of the body alone. Therefore the one who has conquered gluttony by the testimony of the Holy Spirit will eat from the tree of life, that is, he will be satisfied with the divine sweetness that is in the paradise of God the Father.

II. The reward of the one who has conquered envy follows. Apocalypse 2:11: The one who conquers will not be harmed by the second death. Note that envy is sorrow born from another's happiness, tormenting the soul. Therefore envy is as it were the first death of one's own soul; the one who has conquered it will not be harmed by the second death, that is, he will escape eternal death and find everlasting life.

III. Concerning the reward that will be given to the one who has conquered anger, it is said in Apocalypse 2:17: To the one conquering I will give the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone; and on the stone a new name written that no one knows except the one who receives it. Note that anger is the tight heat of a stirred-up soul, burning with the desire of taking revenge. Note also that it takes away from a human being the sweetness of the mind, darkens his reason, and ascribes him to perpetual damnation. Therefore to the one who has conquered anger there will be given in the kingdom of God a delicate sweetness of mind, unexperienced by mortals, which is figured by the hidden manna. Clarity of divine knowledge will also be given to him, and he will be called heir of God; these two things are expressed by the white stone and the new name.

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IV. De præmio quod ille accipiet qui vicerit acediam, dicitur Apoc. ii, 26 et seq.: Qui vicerit, et custodierit usque in finem opera mea; dabo illi potestatem super Gentes, et reget eas in virga ferrea, et tamquam vas figuli confringentur, sicut et ego accepi a Patre meo: et dabo illi stellam matutinam. Nota, quod acedia est torpor animi, quo quis aut negligit bona inchoare, aut inchoata fastidit perficere. Qui igitur vicerit acediam, et usque ad finem custodierit opera Dei, dabitur ei magna potestas super gentes, id est, super dæmones et malos homines, qui eum olim in Dei servitio, et in bonis operibus impediverunt; et virgis ferreis percutiet eos, et percussi, tamquam vas figuli conterentur. Dabit etiam eis Dominus stellam matutinam, hoc est, corporis et animæ dotes. Qui libenter ad matutinas surrexit, et ad alias horas audiendas canonicas advenit, tamquam stella matutina lucebit in regno Dei.

V. De præmio quod ille accipiet qui vicerit luxuriam, dicitur Apoc. iii, 5: Qui vicerit, sic vestietur vestimentis albis, et non delebo nomen ejus de Libro vitæ, et confitebor nomen ejus coram Patre meo, et coram Angelis ejus. Nota, quod luxuria est ex immundis descendens desideriis, lubrica et effrænata mentis prostitutio. Qui igitur vicerit luxuriam, vestietur a Filio Virginis candidis indumentis, et laudabit eum Filius Dei coram Patre suo, et coram Angelis suis omnibus.

IV. Concerning the reward that the one who has conquered acedia will receive, it is said in Apocalypse 2:26 and following: The one who conquers and keeps my works to the end, I will give him power over the Nations, and he will rule them with an iron rod, and they will be broken like a potter's vessel, just as I also received from my Father; and I will give him the morning star. Note that acedia is a sluggishness of soul by which one either neglects to begin good things or loathes to complete things begun. Therefore the one who has conquered acedia and has kept the works of God to the end will be given great power over the nations, that is, over demons and evil human beings who once impeded him in the service of God and in good works; and he will strike them with iron rods, and, struck, they will be crushed like a potter's vessel. The Lord will also give them the morning star, that is, the endowments of body and soul. The one who willingly rose for matins and came to hear the other canonical hours will shine like a morning star in the kingdom of God.

V. Concerning the reward that the one who has conquered luxury will receive, it is said in Apocalypse 3:5: The one who conquers will thus be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of life, and I will confess his name before my Father and before his Angels. Note that luxury is slippery and unbridled prostitution of the mind, descending from unclean desires. Therefore the one who has conquered luxury will be clothed by the Son of the Virgin with white garments, and the Son of God will praise him before his Father and before all his Angels.

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VI. De præmio quod dabitur ei qui vicerit avaritiam, dicitur Apocal. iii, 12: Qui vicerit, faciam illum columnam in templo Dei mei, et foras non egredietur amplius: et scribam super eum nomen Dei mei, et nomen civitatis Dei mei novæ Jerusalem, quæ descendit de cælo a Deo meo, et nomen meum novum. Nota, quod avaritia est gloriæ, sive quarumlibet rerum insatiabilis et inhonesta cupido. Qui igitur vicerit avaritiam, quæ hominem vagum facit mente, et corpore instabilem, quasi columna per pulchra statuitur in templo Dei mei, et foras amplius non egredietur, id est, extra regnum Dei nihil invenietur quod concupiscat, sed semper delectabit eum manere in præsentia summi boni, et nomen Dei Patris, et nomen novum Jerusalem, et nomen Filii scribetur super eum, id est, appellabitur, et erit filius Dei, et concivis Sanctorum, et frater Jesu Christi.

VII. De præmio quod ille assequetur qui vicerit superbiam, dicitur Apocal. iii, 21: Qui vicerit, dabo ei sedere mecum in throno meo: sicut et ego vici, et sedi cum Patre meo in throno ejus. Nota, quod superbia est vitiosa mentis elatio, quæ superiorem despiciens, inferioribus et paribus satagit dominari. Qui igitur vicerit superbiam, exaltabitur super thronum Filii Dei, et superbis detrusis ad inferos, ipse sedebit in gloria, in latere Jesu Christi.

Omnis ergo, qui vicerit gulam, iram, invidiam, acediam, luxuriam, avaritiam, et superbiam, suprascripta præmia consequetur; et de hoc testimonium perhibet Spiritus sanctus Filio Dei, quod ipse prædicta præmia suis victoribus largietur. Unde septies ponitur in Apocal. ii, 7, 11, 17, 29 et iii, 6, 13, 22: Qui habet aurem, audiat quid Spiritus dicat Ecclesiis. Vincenti dabo, etc.

Rogemus igitur Dominum, ut sic inimicos exsilii vincamus, ut præmia supernæ patriæ consequamur. Quod nobis præstare dignetur, etc.

VI. Concerning the reward that will be given to the one who has conquered avarice, it is said in Apocalypse 3:12: The one who conquers, I will make him a column in the temple of my God, and he will not go out anymore; and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, new Jerusalem, which descends from heaven from my God, and my new name. Note that avarice is an insatiable and dishonorable desire for glory or for any things whatsoever. Therefore the one who has conquered avarice, which makes a human being wandering in mind and unstable in body, will be set up like a column through beautiful things in the temple of my God, and will not go out anymore, that is, outside the kingdom of God nothing will be found that he may desire; but it will always delight him to remain in the presence of the highest good, and the name of God the Father, and the new name Jerusalem, and the name of the Son will be written upon him, that is, he will be called, and will be, a son of God, a fellow citizen of the Saints, and a brother of Jesus Christ.

VII. Concerning the reward that the one who has conquered pride will obtain, it is said in Apocalypse 3:21: The one who conquers, I will give him to sit with me on my throne, just as I also conquered and sat with my Father on his throne. Note that pride is a vicious lifting up of the mind that, despising the superior, strives to dominate inferiors and equals. Therefore the one who has conquered pride will be exalted above the throne of the Son of God, and with the proud thrust down to the lower regions, he himself will sit in glory at the side of Jesus Christ.

Therefore everyone who has conquered gluttony, anger, envy, acedia, luxury, avarice, and pride will obtain the rewards written above; and concerning this the Holy Spirit bears testimony to the Son of God, that he himself will bestow the aforesaid rewards on his victors. Hence seven times it is set down in Apocalypse 2:7, 11, 17, 29 and 3:6, 13, 22: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. To the one conquering I will give, and so forth.

Therefore let us pray to the Lord that we may conquer the enemies of exile in such a way that we may obtain the rewards of the heavenly homeland. May he deign to grant this to us, and so forth.