"ZPqWxv norai MEDIAEVAL PREACHERS 1 > ' MEDIAEVAL PREACHING. A SERIES OF EXTRACTS, TRANSLATED FROM THE SERMONS OF THE MIDDLE AGES, CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED : NOTES AND AN INTRODUCTION. REV. J. M. NEALE, M.A., WARDEN OF SACKVIIXE COLLEGE. LONDON: J. & C. MOZLEY, PATERNOSTER ROW; J. MASTERS & CO., NEW BOND STREET. MDCCCXVI. PREFACE. The original groundwork of the following volume con- sisted of an article written by me in the ' c Christian Remembrancer" of July, 1854, on the subject of me- diaeval preaching. As some persons thought that it might serve as an introduction to a kind of ecclesias- tical literature, too little known and valued among us, I was requested to expand the paper in question and to give extracts at greater length and in chronological order. The chief difficulty was that of selection; partly among so many authors, principally between the various sermons of each author. In the first place, no notice will here be found of S. Bernard, because his super-eminent value and beauty would, — if any regard at all were to be paid to analogy, — have necessarily excluded the greater part of those writers from whom I wished to quote : unless the volume had been swelled to an inconvenient and un- readable size. Again, many eminent men, such as Peter the Venerable, S. Pulbert of Chartres, Hugh of fl2 VI PREFACE. S. Victor, and others, though we certainly have a few sermons of their writing, yet in that particular species of composition claimed no such eminent place as to entitle them to stand in a selection of such narrow limits. Where it was possible, I have chosen British rather than foreign writers; hence the name of Adam Scotus, who would otherwise hardly have appeared in the volume. Some apology is perhaps necessary for the last author who will be found in these pages, Antonio Vieyra, and who certainly did not live in me- diaeval times. But the thoroughly mediaeval character of many of his sermons, gives him, perhaps, as good a claim to be called the last preacher of the Middle Ages, as S. Bernard has to the title of the last of the Fathers. The passages quoted from Holy Scripture are always given from our own version (the Psalms from the Prayer Book), except when a marked difference in the Vulgate, or some peculiar turn of expression, would have made the authorised translation incapable of expressing the full meaning of the preacher. At the risk of somewhat disfiguring the typography, all such quotations are given in italics : in order to show the wonderful quantity of Scriptural extracts t6 be found in the sermons of those ages, exclusive of the perpetual references and allusions which could not be so marked, but which nevertheless evince, perhaps, even a greater and more intimate acquaintance with PREFACE. Vll the Bible itself, than the mere citation of separate texts. It was my wish that the Introductory Essay should consist of two parts; the second being a dis- sertation on English sermons from the time of Queen Elizabeth to the beginning of the nineteenth century. But it swelled to such a size as to render the arrange- ment impossible, though it may possibly, at some future time, form a companion volume to the present. If the following extracts shall induce any of my brethren who may take the volume into their hands, to study the originals for themselves, which, thanks to Mr. Darling's inestimable library, it is now in every one's power, at a very moderate expense, to do — I shall think my labour very well and profitably bestowed. The most interesting, perhaps, to those unaccustomed to mediaeval sermons, would be S. Anselm, Guarric, Peter of Chartres, and Thomas a Kempis. Sackville College, Trinity Monday, 1856. CONTENTS. PAGE Intbodttction . . xiii Venebable Bede 1 Sermon on All Saints . . .. . . . * , . 2 The Meeting of Mercy and Justice ..... 9 A Sermon for any day . , .14 A Sermon for Sundays . 16 S. Boniface . . ... , , . . , .21 Of Faith and the Works of Love , 22 S. Heabaiths Mattbtts ,..-.... . . .29 A Sermon for Sundays 32 Against those who raise an outcry during an Eclipse of the Moon . . . . . . .. ,. , . 36 An Easter Sermon 38 On the Epiphany ..,.,,,. 41 S, Atto op Veeceil 45 On Palm Sunday 45 The Mystery contained in Pentecost ..... 48 S. Peteb Damiani , . , , 53 The Wise Men an Example. to all Christians . , . 55 The Presentation of our Loed in the Temple ... 57 The Last Journey of our Loed to Jerusalem ... 58 The Excellency of S. Mark's Gospel 61 That we must take up our Cross and follow the Loed , 62 X CONTENTS. PAGE A story about hearing the Bible 64 The Reason of our Loed's Epiphany .... 65 The Virtue of the Cross of Christ ..... 67 The Glory of the Heavenly Jerusalem . . . . . 73 S. Anselm . . 79 Our Loed walking on the Sea 80 S. Ivo op Chabtbes 91 The Loed's Passion prefigured in the Old Testament . 93 The Six Ages of the World . . . . . . .96 The Advent . 99 The Ascension 101 S. Bbttno op Aste 105 Cheist perfect God and perfect Man 106 Flight from Temptation 107 The Story of Zacchams . 108 The Loed's Last Charge to His Disciples . . * .. Ill HlLDEBEET, AECHBISHOP OP TOFES . -. . . . m 115 The Sufferings of our Loed . . . . . » 118 On the Dedication of a Church .. ,. . , .. . 122 Petee Abaelaed . . 129 The Resurrection of Lazarus . . . . . .130 The Loed's last Entry into Jerusalem .... 133 The Loed's Passion . .. .. .. * * * . 135 GkjAEEIC, Abbat op Igniac . . 140 That we ought to see Cheist in the Histories of the Old Tes- tament 140 The Desire of Cheist sufficient for a Christian Soul . . 141 The Happiness of Simeon when our Loed was presented in the Temple 144 The Blessedness of complete Purification . , . . 145 The Humility of Cheist, the Remedy of Man's Pride . . 147 The Mystery of the Incarnation ... * . 151 S. Aeleed 155 S. Aelred bids farewell to his Monks .... 155 S. Aelred expresses his joy at his return to Rievaulx . . 157 Victory over Temptations, not from ourselves, but from Gk)D 160 The Advent of our Loed 161 CONTENTS. XI PAGE Adam Scottts «- 167 The Four Places of the Loed Jesus. . . . . 168 Petee, Bishop of Chaetees 176 The Mind that was in Cheist Jesus .... 176 Cheist Tempted in the Wilderness 180 The Ascension 188 The Descent of the Holy Ghost . . ... . .192 Petee op Blois 195 The Coming of out Loei> 196 A Country Sermon 200 The Wisdom of Following Cheist 209 B. Ogeeius 212 The Last Supper 212 S. Antony of Padua 219 Our Loed taking the Three Apostles up to Mount Tabor . 224 For One or Many Martyrs 230 The Saints compared to Eagles 235 Christian Virtues compared to the parts of a Ship . . 236 The Fleet of Solomon is Explained 238 Penitents are compared to Elephants . . . . 238 The Apostles are compared to Ichneumons .... 239 Confession, a Desert 240 Hypocrites are compared to Hyaenas 242 Penitents are compared to Bees 244 Merciful Men are compared to Cranes 245 Sinners are compared to Hedgehogs . . . . . 246 The Two kinds of Ships 247 The Six Sayings of S.Mary . . . . . . 248 S. BONAYENTUBA . . . . . . . . . 251 A Sermon on Low Sunday 252 A Sermon on Christmas Eye 256 B. Albeetus Macwus 263 A Sermon on Easter Day 266 Prayers for the Sundays in Lent 271 The Divine Head of Our Loed 275 How we are to imitate the Offerings of the Wise Men . 277 The Blessedness of them that Die in the" Loed . . 283 Xll CONTENTS. PAGE Thomas a Kemeis ...... ...... 285 Prologue of the Sermons to the Novices . 288" The Duty of Christians in taking up the Cross . . . 289 An Example of Silence 298 An Example of Watchfulness 298 An Example of Obedience 299 Antonio Vieyba . 302 The .Great Evil, of Sin ....... ... . .306 The Sermon to the Fishes . ... . . . 321 The Necessity of a Preacher's making himself intelligible . 332 That Preachers should take the sense, as well as the words, of Scripture . 334 .. . E$RAT£. Page 74, note, /or corroit read corruet. „ 295, note* line 10, for consequents read conseqaenter. INTRODUCTION. No long time ago, in examining a village church in one of the midland counties, my attention was attracted by a paper in the Rector's pew, which somewhat resembled a placard. On investigation, I found it to be a sermon, headed, On the Vanity and Uncertainty of Human Life, and labelled, ' in case of an accident/ If, by chance, the worthy Incumbent should happen to leave behind him the discourse he intended to deliver, here was a safe reserve. Human life was sure always to be uncertain ; moralists would always call it vain ; the sermon, therefore, could never come mal-a-propos, and there it lay, bearing amusing witness to the character and value of — if I may coin a word — English Homiliology. Of all stiff, unreal, stilted demonstrations of religion, probably the sermons of the last century were the most remarkable specimens; and if, perhaps nowhere to be found in their original pasteboard and brocade character, they are still formidable enough in the compositions of the school which denominates itself orthodox and mode- rate, and which is termed by others high-and-dry. The b XIV INTRODUCTION. sermons which came from the pulpits of Potter and Lavington, of Cornwallis and North, were like the hoops and toques of the routs and of Ranelagh ; an outrageous caricature of formality, that must have disgusted any century except the eighteenth. When Blair was held up by Johnson — a man in so many respects before his age — as the model of pulpit eloquence, when the dictum of the great doctor was, that his sermons were more golden than gold, what must have been the depth of the degradation to which Church oratory had sunk ! Where- ever we turn, it is the same thing. At the beginning of the century, Addison, a man of deep religious feeling, commends Sir Roger's plan for the instruction of the Worcestershire peasants. ' At the chaplain's first set- tling with me, I made him a present of all the good sermons which have been printed in English, and only begged that every Sunday he would pronounce one of them in the pulpit. I could heartily wish,' says the Spectator } ' that some of our country Clergy would follow this example; and instead of wasting their spirits in laborious compositions of their own, would endeavour after a handsome elocution, and all those other talents that are proper, to enforce what has been penned by greater masters. This would not only be more easy to themselves, but more edifying to the people.' Imagine a country congregation, year after year, listening, open- mouthed, to the glittering wit of South, the polished prettiness of Tillotson, the heavy learning of Stilling- fleet, the profounder erudition of Lloyd : the same Sun- day always producing the same sermon, whatever might be the circumstances of the hearers, — the Priest never able to appeal to local events, home occurrences, any- INTRODUCTION. XV thing, in short, that could touch and interest ; the in- structor turned into a sermon machine, and the sermons so evolved as unintelligible as if they had been written in Latin. And this was at the beginning only of that age — our Church's passage through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Time went on ; religion was in Eng- land almost, and in the Scotch Establishment entirely, eliminated from the pulpit. We find Clayton consulting Lady Suffolk — a Bishop taking advice from an adul- teress — on the composition of a sermon. We may read — if we have patience — in every episcopal charge, the watchword that was afterwards Talleyrand's, surtout point de zele ; we see Doctors of Divinity delivering, with universal applause, the same sermons which they had produced before an university audience, to criminals condemned, and struggling, in the last agonies of their earthly existence, to make their peace with God. We find, as Wesleyanism developed the numerous resources of natural preaching, the laced coat of the ' orthodox ' party stiffening into cast-iron, their somnolence mor- phinised into death. Persons are now living who can remember a curate hunted from a metropolitan pulpit because it was his custom to raise his eyes from his manuscript. Persons who have not long been dead could recollect the discourse delivered by a dignitary in the parish church of S. Giles, and addressed to three classes — the good, the bad, and the indifferent. The good were told that they needed no advice ; let them perse- vere in their righteousness, and the kingdom of heaven would be their reward : the bad — but in such a congre- gation (S. Giles's !) it was uncharitable to suppose that such a class could be found : the indifferent lost much b2 XVI INTRODUCTION. by not exerting a little more energy, in order that their reward might not only be rendered more certain, but more brilliant. And this precious theology occupied in its enunciation exactly five minutes ! In the same pulpit, on another occasion, a preacher of the like stamp took for his subject the parable of the Pharisee and Publican. " It was sad," he observed, "that any of our fellow-creatures should so fall, as to stand in need of such a degrading confession as the Publican's: let his hearers be on their guard, lest, by drawing too favourable a contrast between such outcasts and themselves, they incurred the censure pronounced on that otherwise estimable character, the Pharisee." But this was light and fervour in comparison with what we are told of the pulpit eloquence of the Scotch Establishment. James Haldane tells us that, in one of his missionary tours, he heard a minister solemnly warn his people against putting any trust, while they con- tinued sinners, in the Blood of Christ. f Repent/ said he, ' become righteous, atone for your crimes by probity and virtue, and then, if you please, you may look to that Blood, but not before/ Much about the same time Paley was assuring his hearers that the being born again meant nothing ; c nothing/ that is, ' to us, and in our circumstances.' It must be confessed, however, that the art of speak- ing naturally, — of preaching from the heart and to the heart, — of using familiar illustrations and seizing passing events, was not first discouraged or despised in that dreary eighteenth century : in the preceding also it was out of fashion; and was reprobated by none more INTRODUCTION. XV11 strongly than by the early Puritan divines. Henry Smith, one of the most popular preachers in London, towards the conclusion of Queen Elizabeth's reign, thus writes : " Wheat is good : but they which sell the refuse of it are reproved. (Amos viii. 6.) So preaching is good, but this refuse of preaching is but like swearing : for one takes the Name of God in vain, and the other takes the Word of God in vain. As every sound is not music, so every sermon is not preaching, but worse than if he should read a homily. It is harder to speak God's Word than to speak to God j yet there are preachers lately risen up, which shroud every absurd sermon under the name of simple teaching, like the Popish Priests." 1 I am not sure that Bishop Andrewes can altogether be acquitted of being an exclusive advocate for the stilted and elaborate style, if we remember that saying of his, " When I preached twice on the Sunday, I prated once." An anecdote, lately told in the life of a Dissenting minister, has a fair claim to the admiration of every Priest who is in earnest. There was a minister named , who, it appears, had obtained no small reputation among his brethren for his eloquence gene- rally, and more ' particularly for the logical sequence, and most of all for the impressive conclusions, of his ser- mons. On some great occasion he was appointed to preach, (it was in the open air,) and he had deeply in- terested his auditors through a long discourse. Just before the conclusion he was observed to hesitate, — and then, in a rambling manner, he recapitulated part of what had been already said, until he reached a very lame and impotent finale. At the subsequent dinner, when 1 Sermons, p. 275. XVL1I INTRODUCTION. the preacher's health was proposed, "Brother " said one of the ministers present, " we must all, I am sure, have been charmed by your discourse ; but, if I may hazard the observation, I thought that, at the con- clusion, you lost the thread of your argument, and hardly equalled your ordinary excellence." " If I must tell you the reason," was the reply, " thus it was. Just as I was about to conclude, I saw a poor man running up to the place, hot and dusty, and eager to hear. f Speak a word to him/ said Conscience. ( You will spoil your sermon if you do/ said Pride. And I did spoil it, I know ; but I may have done him good." This is indeed a refreshing story, when we have been looking at the miserable details of an age that has long since rendered an account of its spiritual neglect to God. Fearful must have been its reckoning for the souls that should not have died, and were nevertheless slain by its neglect. We turn to a more attractive subject; the ser- mons of those ages, the darkness of which excited the ridicule or the pity of the preachers of the last. Mediaeval ritual and mediaeval architecture have, in some degree, received their meed of attention. Me- diaeval sermons have not yet found an historian. It will be my endeavour, in the following pages, not to enter into an essay on the subject, which would require a volume as immense as some of those of which it would treat ; but simply to offer a few remarks on the prac- tical bearing which the topic may assume as regards ourselves. Leaving the consideration of such early treatises as that of S. Augustine, De Doctrind Christiana, or such late ones as that of S. Charles Borromeo, De Instructione INTRODUCTION. XIX Pradicatoris, we yet have two mediaeval Arts of Preach- ing. The one is the work of Guibert de Nogent, con- cerning the proper method of making a sermon. This learned Abbat, who died in 1124, gives us, however, little further information than this : that the preacher should exercise his talent as often as possible ; should never mount the pulpit without prayer; should, above all things, be short, and should rather dwell on practical than dogmatical subjects. He notices that some, in his day, renounced preaching from the fear of vainglory, and the dread of being named sermoners and ventrilo- quists ; a reproach which, it need not be added, is as old as the time of S. Gregory Nazianzen. The other is the treatise by Humbert 1 de Romanis, General of the Order of S. Dominic, in the second book of his work entitled, De Institutione religiosorum Prcedicatorum, where he professes to teach ( a way of promptly producing a sermon for any set of men, and for all variety of circum- stances/ In looking at the immense mass of mediaeval sermons, it is necessary that those who would not become abso- lutely bewildered, should keep steadily in view certain points which are not usually expressed in the headings of those compositions. As for example : whether what we now have be the sermon as the author intended it to be read, or the sermon notes from which he actually de- livered it ; whether it were taken down by one of his auditors from extemporaneous delivery, or written by himself; whether it were addressed to the Clergy, to the people, or to monks ; above all, whether it were written' in Latin, or translated from the vernacular into that 1 It is in the twenty-fifth volume of the Lyons Bibliotheca Maxima. XX INTRODUCTION. language. Let me give an example or two of each of these different characters. And first of cases in which the sermon, as we now have it, was manifestly extempo- raneous. No one can doubt that many of S. Augustine were so* Look at those on the Two Castings of the Net, 1 among the Paschal Homilies. One glance at these will convince the reader that they were taken down at the time by some diligent hearer, and afterwards either came into the possession of the Bishop, or were pub- lished by the affectionate zeal of some of his disciples. The conclusion of all differs no further than would na- turally result from the involuntary variations of an ex- temporary preacher, intending, in different years, to say the same thing. Thus, in explaining the mystical sig- nification of the 153 fishes, S. Augustine thus speaks in the first sermon : — "This number signifies the thousand thousands of the saints and of the faithful. But why did the Lord vouchsafe to signify by these figures the many thousands who shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ? Hear why. Ye know that the Law was given by Moses to the people of God ; and that in that Law the Decalogue forms the chief part. .... These ten precepts no man accomplishes by his own strength, unless he is helped by the grace of God. If there- fore none can fulfil' the Law unless God assist with His Spirit, ye must remember that the Holy Ghost is set forth to us by the number seven. . . . Since, then, we need the Spirit to fulfil the Law, add seven to ten, and you have seventeen. Now, if you count from one to seventeen, you obtain one hundred and fifty-three. 1 need not count this up for you ; count it for yourselves, and reckon thus : one 1 Ed. S. Maur. Ser. 249—253. INTRODUCTION. XXI and two and three and four make ten. In like manner add up the other numbers to seventeen, and you will have the holy number of the faithful and of the saints that shall be in heavenly places with the Lobd." In the next sermon we have the same out-of-the-way thought in almost the same language : — " As the Law is signified by the Decalogue, so the Holt Ghost is set forth as septiform Thus we get seven- teen. The Law commands, the Spirit assists : the Law so acts upon thee that thou knowest thy duty : the Spirit, that thou dost it. Therefore let us keep on reckoning to seven- teen, and we shall find ourselves at a hundred and fifty- three. Tou know how ; I have often told you ; I have often shown you. Two comes after one : two and one are three : three comes after two, which make six : four comes after three ; there we have ten. Add the rest ; and when you get up to seventeen, you will also have arrived at a hundred and fifty- three." In the third sermon these curious expressions are again repeated : — "Add ten to seven, and you have seventeen. By this number all the multitude of the perfect is typified ; but how we arrive at a hundred and fifty-three I am accustomed to tell you, and many are beforehand with me Many have forgotten, some never heard ; let those, then, that have heard and have not forgotten bear patiently with me, that others may be instructed." And then he goes on as before. The remarkable ex- pression, ' and many are beforehand with me/ can scarcely be explained but by the supposition that people actually began to count on their fingers (as S. Augustine 63 / XXii INTRODUCTION. tells us in another place) when their preacher com- menced the well-known topic ; a method of interruption not at all without parallel in the primitive Church, as so many patristic allusions remain to show : whether the contempt with which S. Chrysostom rejects all open ex- pressions of feeling, or the more than toleration with which the quod non tacito honor astis affectu of S. Leo re- ceives them. It seems next to certain that most of the Sermones varii of Venerable Bede were also extemporary, as I shall presently have occasion to observe more at length. No doubt some one of his disciples jotted down a brief ab- stract of what the preacher had said, very probably for his own use on some other occasion ; and it is a collection of such abstracts that has since formed a part of the author's works. It is curious how long an impression prevailed that extemporary preaching was the invention of the Puri- tans. Some may remember the amusing vehemence of indignation with which a writer, of whom the Church of England may certainly say, Non tali auxilio, pursues it in her " Vicar of Wrexhill." The truth is, that the innova- tion, which appears to date somewhere from the time of Queen Elizabeth, was the carrying a written sermon into the pulpit. The mediaeval practice was no doubt the I same with that of the Continental churches of the present day, that the preacher should repeat from memory that which he had previously composed: Another example or two to the same effect, may be found in the works of S. Hildebert, Archbishop of Tours, who died in 1134; and which may be found in the in- troductory notice to his sermons. INTRODUCTION. XX111 If we proceed from preaching strictly extemporary to preaching from notes,, S. Antony of Padua would present the most striking example, could we be certain that he actually delivered the celebrated sermons which we now have from him. There is a clear distinction made in his life, between those which he preached with such wonderful effect to the people, and those which he wrote for the instruction and improvement of his brethren. " The Bishop of Ostia," says his biography, " exhorted him, when he had written his sermons De Tempore, to compose another series for the festivals of Saints. He obeyed, and while still at Padua, gave himself up to this work. But the holy time of Lent coming on, the man of God perceiving "that now was the accepted time, now was the day of salvation, put off that composition, and applied himself wholly to preach to the people, who thirsted with great eagerness for his sermons." It is perhaps not improbable that what he wrote in brief, and by way of notes, was afterwards delivered in full, and with such extemporaneous additions as might occur. At all events, his work can only be called ser- mon skeletons, however much his editors may entitle it Sermones Sancti Antonii. The after insertions and marginal references which such a system of notes rendered necessary, are re- ferred to by Herbert of Bosham, in the preface to his Gloss on the Psalter. f ' If," says he to the prelate whom he is addressing, "your scribes should undertake the transcription of these commentaries, let them take dili- gent care to insert the references and notes in their right order ; lest, as it often happens, through the igno- rance or the negligence of the transcriber, it should be / XXIV INTRODUCTION* more difficult to correct the work than it was to write it ; especially when the corrupter of a new work may- be called the brother of its destroyer." The third point which should be considered in the perusal of any mediaeval sermon is this; whether it were originally delivered in Latin, or in the vernacular language of the country. It is difficult to understand in what sense, and with what limitations we are to re- ceive the account of Bishops who in those ages preached from one end of Europe to the other. Probably till the death of Charlemagne, an ecclesiastic who could make himself intelligible to any of the Romance nations which his empire embraced, would be comprehended by all ; and in like manner, one who was understood by a single Tudesque race, would be intelligible to any other. If two languages only were necessary in an empire which stretched from Mecklenburg to Tarragona, and from Brittany to Rome, a great portion of the difficulty is ob- viated. But, in later ages, when we know that the dia- lects of different provinces in the same country had become in effect different languages, — when, for ex- ample, the Langue d'oui and the Langue d'oc were unintelligible to each other, — then how apostolic mis- sionaries could traverse half Europe, becomes a question of greater obscurity. One thing seems next to certain ; that the great preachers of those times, whenever they did use the vernacular language, spoke in it extempore ; for who would take the trouble of committing his thoughts to a dialect so barbarous that perhaps it could not be written with precision, and so fluctuating that it was certain to be unintelligible within half a century ? The Sermones ad Populum of the eighth, ninth, and INTRODUCTION. XXV tenth centuries, then, must either have been translated into Latin by some of the disciples of the author, from their remembrance of what he had actually spoken, or by the writer himself, from his recollection of the gene- ral scope and aim of his discourse. We will now turn our attention to a few of the most distinguishing features which characterise mediaeval ser- mons. And the first of these is, the immense and al- most intuitive knowledge of Scripture which their writers possessed. If any one, to take the lowest view of the subject, will be at the trouble of comparing the number of references to be found in a modern, with those which occur in an ancient sermon, he will find that ten to one is by no means an exaggerated estimate of their relative proportions. Nor is this all. Modern quotations are almost entirely taken from certain books or chapters of the Bible ; the more important portions, as men now-a- days, irreverently, not to say profanely, call them. The ancient preachers drew their citations from all parts of Scripture alike : equally imbued with the spirit of all, it was impossible that they should quote otherwise than according to analogy. And those who more especially pique themselves on their knowledge of the Bible, and on declaring "the whole counsel of God," would do well to consider how and why it is that their sermons, in comparison with those of which we are writing, are so jejune in references to the Word of God, and so shallow and common-place in their application when they quote it — why they evince, in short, rather the knowledge of a child, than the full grasp of a theologian. Let us take an example or two, and choose an unex- ceptionable writer on either side. The modern school XXVI INTRODUCTION. cannot complain if we bring forward John Newton as their champion ; and we will match him, not with S. Ber- nard, nor with any other such giant in divinity, but with a mere common-place pious writer of the twelfth century, Guarric, Abbat of Igniac. We will take them on the same subject, and on the same text, " Prepare ye the way of the Lord." In Newton's sermon, we find nine references to the Gospels, two to the Epistles, nine to the Prophets, one to the Psalms ; while no allusion is made to any other part of Holy Scripture. In the ser- mon of Guarric there are seven references to the Gos- pels, one to the Epistles, twenty-two to the Psalms, nine to the Prophets, and eighteen to other parts of Scrip- ture. Thus, the total number of quotations made by the Evangelical preacher is twenty- one; by Guarric, fifty-seven ; and this in sermons of about equal length. Or, to take a more striking example of the same thing. In 1784, when the oratorio of the "Messiah" was performed with great splendour in Westminster Abbey, it pleased the same John Newton to deliver a series of discourses on the texts which formed the subject of Handel's music. As those passages of Holy Scripture are so admirably well chosen, the sermons grounded on them were naturally intended to form a complete body of divinity, and as such were published together. By way of index, the author drew up a list of texts quoted or referred to, such as we see universally appended to the earlier editions of the Fathers. It is odd to remark how unequally the Evangelical preacher makes his cita- tions. From that part of the Bible which precedes the Psalms he quotes very sparingly. The minor Prophets hardly furnish him with one passage ; the books of Joel, introduction; xxvn Obadiah, Nahum, and Jonah, absolutely with none. He nowhere refers to the Song of Solomon. To the Apocrypha, as might be expected, he makes but one al- lusion. The Epistles, especially those to the Romans, Galatians, and Ephesians, occupy a most disproportion- able space, as regards the New Testament; and the prophecy of Isaiah, in reference to the Old. Now, if we turn to the same index in the works of S. Antony of Padua, we find at once that Holy Scripture is quoted evenly, and according to analogy. The historical books assume their due prominence ; the Epistles are reduced to a lower level ; and the quotations from each bear pro- portion to the length of the book, and not to the pre- conceived system of the preacher. The one point of similarity between S. Antony and Newton is, the greater frequency with which both turn to the Psalms ; and their most striking contrast, next to that which we have already specified, consists in the numerous references which the one makes to the Sapiential books, and above all, to the Canticles ; while, by the other, they are com- paratively passed over. But, after all, this is a very poor and imperfect way of representing the difference. Let us take another com- parison, to show how, in the one case — and we will again take Guarric — the whole composition is imbued with Scripture; in the other, how detached texts are, as it were, tagged on, because it looked proper and sounded Scriptural to introduce them. Let our preachers, each of them, commence a discourse upon Advent. " One strong internal proof that the Bible is a Divine re- velation, may be drawn from the subject matter, and particu- larly that it is the book, and the only book, which teaches us XXV111 INTRODUCTION. to think highly and honourably of God. I say the only book ; for there is no right knowledge of God where the Bible is not known. "What is the Jupiter of Homer com- pared with the God of Israel, as He is represented to us by His servants the Prophets ? And if the heathen philoso- phers in some detached passages have sentiments not alto- gether unworthy of Him, history honestly tells us how they obtain them. They travelled, and they are generally said to have travelled into Phenicia or Egypt, to the confines of that people who alone thought rightly of God, because to them only He had made Himself known by a revelation. If such a description as we have in the fortieth chapter of Isaiah, from the twelfth verse to the end, had been known only of late years, recovered, we will suppose, out of the ruins of Herculaneum, there is little doubt but it would have engaged the attention and admiration of the learned world ; for the most admired writings of antiquity, upon a candid compa- rison, are unspeakably inferior to it. The inimitable sub- limity of the prophets is natural, just, and unforced, and flows from the grandeur of their subject, because they were influ- enced by Him Who alone can speak worthily of Himself.'* So much for the Rector of S. Mary Woolnoth ; now for the writer of the dark ages : — " We look for the Saviour. Verily, the expectation of the just, the joy of those that wait, is in that blessed hope, and the glorious Advent of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ. And now, saith the righteous man, what is my hope ? Truly my hope is even in Thee. And turning to the Lord, I know, he saith, that I shall not be disappointed of my hope, because my substance is before Thee ; because our nature taken from us, and offered up for us, is glorified in Thee ; leaving us the hope that all flesh shall come to Thee ■; and that the members may follow the Head, so that the burnt-offering may be accomplished. But with fuller trust, because with safer INTRODUCTION. XXIX conscience, that man may expect the Lord, who can say, The substance of my little possessions is before Thee, O Lord ; because either by contributing them to Thee, or in despising them for Thee, I have treasured up my talents in heaven, and have laid them down at Thy feet, knowing that Thou art able to keep that which I have committed unto Thee ; and not only to keep it, but to give me also an hundred-fold in the present life, and in the world to come eternal life. Blessed are ye, the poor in spirit, who, according to the counsel of the Wonderful Counsellor, lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven ; lest, if your treasures should remain on earth, your hearts should also rot there. For, saith he, where thy trea- sure is, there will thy heart be also. Therefore let our hearts go after their treasure ; let our cogitations be fixed on high ; let our expectation be suspended on the Lord, that we may say with the Apostle, Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we look for the Saviour. For our fathers trusted in Thee, even all the just from the foundation of the world, they trusted in Thee, and were not confounded. And now we have received Thy loving-kindness in the midst of Thy Temple, and the band of Thy rejoicing servants sings together, Blessed is He That cometh in the Name of the Lord : I waited patiently for the Lord, and He inclined unto me." Can there be a stronger contrast than between these two styles ? The one Priest speaks because it is Sunday morning, because the congregation are waiting for him, and because the publication of his sermons may possibly add to his fame or to his conveniences. The other, be- cause his heart is full of his subject, — because in Advent- time he can manifestly think of nothing but the Advent, and therefore out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. Guarric, indeed, gives us no laboured panegyric on Scripture, nor does he even state, as New- ton does, the superiority of the God of Christians over XXX INTRODUCTION. Jupiter. But he is in the heart of his subject in a mo- ment ; he seems to quote the Bible because it is his own natural language, because his thoughts have been so ac- customed to flow in Scripture channels, that they will run in no other ; and it is sometimes difficult to tell, nor would he perhaps always have known himself, whether he were employing his own words or those of the inspired writings. But this subject of scriptural allusion is inseparably connected to that of the mystical interpretations with which primitive and mediaeval sermons overflow. Those — as is perhaps the case with most of the present gene- ration — who have been taught to look in Scripture doc- trines for doctrines only, and in Scripture facts for facts only, naturally reject with scorn much of the Biblical knowledge of the Middle Ages. " You may have the words of Scripture," they say, " but where is the sense ? The meanings elicited are often so childish, often so contrarient, always so far-fetched, that the true signi- fication is utterly lost. The same method of interpre- tation may make anything out of anything; and the Puritan who, preaching against the fashionable head- dress of the day, took for his text, ' Top not come down/ was scarcely a caricaturer of earlier mysticism." Now we have not the least intention of entering on any disquisition as to the limits to which mystical inter- pretation may be lawfully carried. There can scarcely be a doubt that in some later writers it did overstep all possible bounds of moderation. For example, however true may be the doctrine that the Clergy are to teach and the laity to learn, that there is to be an ecclesia discens as well as an ecclesia docens, — one can scarcely INTRODUCTION. XXXI forbear a smile when the statement of this truth is con- cluded with a — "For it is written, "The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them/ " There was much truth, at least as regards the seven- teenth century, in the words of the great preacher, Vieyra, who, though he nourished then, may fairly be called the last of the mediaeval divines : — " But do not the preachers of this day preach the Gospel and Holy Scriptures ? Then, how can they be said not to preach the Word of God ? Here is the evil. They preach the words of God, but they do not preach the "Word of God. The words of God, preached in the sense in which God spake them, are the Word of God ; but preached in the sense to which we choose to twist them, are not the Word of God, and may be the word of the devil. Tell me, preachers, these useless interpretations which you so often bring for- ward, these meanings which to you appear so clever, — is this the sense in which God spoke ? Is this the sense in which the Fathers of the Church understood ? Is this the plain grammatical meaning of the words ? ■ At the last came two false witnesses.' Yet we find that Christ had truly said the words that they reported. Then why false ? Because Christ spoke them in one sense, and they related them in another. Ah, Lord, how many false witnesses rise up agaiust Thee now ! How many times I hear Thee made to say that which Thou never didst say ! How many times I hear something reported to be Thy Word which is only my imagination ! for I do not exclude myself from the num- ber of the guilty." 1 And, to do Vieyra justice, he could not. S. Jerome had, indeed, given the same warning long before. " They disdain to know," said he, " what the 1 Sermones, torn. i. p. 70. XXX11 INTRODUCTION. Prophets or the Apostles meant; but bring forward inadequate quotations in support of their own meaning, and wrest Scripture, repugnant though it be, to their private convenience." In like manner S. Charles Bor- romeo advises the preacher not to invent new and contorted allegories, but to be content with those already taught by the Fathers, and above all things, to avoid the ingenious fancies of Origen. Two things, however, must be borne in mind with respect to this mystical system. In the first place, Scripture itself authorizes it to a certain (and that a very considerable) extent. "For this Agar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children." And again, still more remarkably, " Thou shalt not muzzle the ox which treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen, or saith He not it altogether for our sakes ? For our sakes, no doubt, this was written ;" where the pri- mary signification is declared of no account, and the spiritual is made the principal meaning. But if it be once granted that the system is at all allowable, who can presume to set bounds to its exercise? It is re- markable, as Dr. Pusey observes, that, in Psalms which we, after deep thought, can see to be partially applicable to our Lord, we find S. Augustine declaring, almost as if by intuition, "This Psalm breathes altogether of Christ." Surely, however far mediaeval mysticism may have been carried, it is, to use the evangelical term, more in accordance with the "mind of the Spirit," than that harsh and rigid Canon of Calvin's, which so many of his followers receive and applaud. It is, he taught, unsafe to find a type of Christ anywhere, ex- INTRODUCTION. XXX111 cept where it is pointed out to us in the New Testament. We may see Him, therefore, in the Paschal Lamb, but not in the sacrifice of Isaac ; we may find Him in Mel- chisedec, but not in Joseph : He is represented to us by the Brazen Serpent, but not by the Ark of the Covenant. And evangelical writers on the Bible have not been sparing in their denunciations of the older system. Thus Scott, the so-called commentator, in reply to a question, whether the " certain poor man," who, as the Book of Ecclesiastes tells us, delivered the City, and yet was not remembered, were intended as a type of Christ, thus expresses himself: — " I would gladly know by what authority any man, over- looking plain useful instructions, by the help of a warm imagination sets himself to find Gospel mysteries in this passage ? It would puzzle the most ingenious of these fanciful expositors fairly to accommodate the circumstances of the story to the work of Redemption. Two purposes, indeed, such as they are, may be answered by such inter- pretation ; lstly, loose professors are encouraged in their vain confidence ; 2ndly, it is a powerful engine in the hands of vainglorious men, by which to catch the attention and excite the imagination of the injudicious multitude." Mediaeval preachers, indeed, knew perfectly well that such interpretations are powerful engines, as all ser- mons ought to be. They knew with how much force such a text as, " But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore," speaks to the heart, when the morning is interpreted of the Resurrection, and the shore, of the harbour of everlasting rest after the waves of this troublesome world; they knew what beauty is thrown round the verse, " With my staff I passed over XXXIV INTRODUCTION. this Jordan, and now I am become two bands/' when the Cross, and the River of Death, and the preserved Angels, and restored Man, are typified by it. And if in any instance mediaeval preaching pushed these inter- pretations to extravagance, it is surely better that we should see Christ everywhere, with Cocceius, than that we should see Him nowhere, with Grotius. It is necessary also to bear in mind the great differ- ence between basing a doctrine on an allegorical inter- pretation, and merely referring to that interpretation, in its support and illustration. That from the very earliest times we have instances of the first method of quotation no one will deny, whatever opinion may be formed as to the legitimacy of the practice. At Nicaea, the Catholic text was, as all the world knows, " My heart hath produced a good word." Afterwards, in the controversies with Semi-Arians and Macedonians, that verse was thought irrefragable, " By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made, and all the host of them by the Breath of His mouth." Still later, Jovinian and his fellows were overthrown by the quotation from Ezekiel, — "This gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened, and no man shall enter in by it ; because the Lord, the God of Israel, hath entered in by it, there- fore shall it be shut," — so constantly cited in defence of the perpetual virginity of S. Mary. But allusions by way of reference stand on a very different footing. A congregation on S. Laurence's day was reminded, in the words of the Book of Deute- ronomy, that " His bedstead was a bedstead of iron." v, vC^/w.The ecclesiastic about to preach on the Feast of SS. V . Peter and Paul took for his text, " And God made two ' /C Jh^o b< J, (/St* ■ tt* 3 $4 Sj ■ INTRODUCTION. XXXV great lights." On S. Martin's Day a favourite subject was, " And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David." Was reference made to the perpetual presence of Christ with His Church ? — the passage was adduced, " The heart of her husband shall safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil." Was the hearer warned against the sin of gluttony, as the destroyer of the soul? — he was re- minded that Jerusalem was taken by Nabuzaradan, " Prince of the Cooks." Nor were puns thought un- befitting in pointing an allusion. On S. Vincent's Day the subject of the sermon would be, " To Vincent will I grant to sit with Me in My throne." Sometimes, indeed, the reference is to us rather revolting than edifying. Thus, on S. Laurence's Day, the text occurs — the reference is of course to the kind of martyrdom which that saint offered as it were to Christ, and to the fish as the type of every Christian — "And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish." And then, after all, though we should remove the whole of these symbolical expositions from mediaeval sermons, look at the residuum, that which every one would be glad to say if it entered their minds, and which every one when it is once pointed out to them will wonder that they did not say. How infinitely greater a knowledge of Scripture does it exhibit, how infinitely closer investigation and deeper study does it show, than that of the most famous among our own commentators ! The mere outside facts of Scripture, those historical events which we make it our boast that English children are taught, how they are slurred over in the writings of our own authors ! To go no further XXXVI , INTRODUCTION. than the first chapter of Genesis. There are three remarkable points which, from S. Ambrose till the Re- formation, were discussed and re-discussed, but which by modern annotators are altogether unnoticed : — why the second day had no blessing, why the third and sixth days had two blessings, and why, after the statement that God said, " Let us make man in our image, after our likeness/ ' — the historical narrative continues, that we were formed in the image, but says nothing about the likeness of the Creator. Even if we grant that the explanations of these passages are forced and fanciful, — which system shows the greater reverence for the letter of Scripture ; that of those who pass over such facts as not worthy of attention, or of those who laboriously, even should it be also unsuccessfully, investigate them ? Such commentators, however, have ere now defended themselves by referring to Lord Bacon's not over-wise dictum — that, as wines made from the first crush of the grape are the purest, so the easiest interpretations of Scripture are the most profitable. The philosopher might have remembered that the liquor which flows from that first crush is not wine at all, but a crude and unwholesome beverage. It cannot be denied that our modern interpreters have abundantly acted on his re- commendation. Thus, the practical observations which take up so large a portion of " Scott's Commentary/' are such as some men would not take the trouble of even thinking, many would not be at the pains of speaking, and — one should have imagined, were not the fact as it is — such as no man would have condescended to write down. Take an example. If ever there was an Old Testament INTRODUCTION. XXXVU History which evidently contained a deep spiritual meaning, it is that of Leah and Rachel. The two sisters, like Mary and Martha in the New Testament, have sometimes been held to set forth the active and the contemplative life ; and there is a sublime passage in S. Augustine {Contra Faustum^ 22, 52,) based on this idea; — are sometimes taken as the types of earthly and heavenly life; sometimes as the synagogue and the Church — and the allusions which occur all through the Middle Ages to this most common symbolism have invested it with no small share of beauty. So Bernard of Cluny : — " Tudc Jacob Israel et Lia tunc Rachel efficietur : Tunc Sion atria pulchraque patria perficietur," So Adam of S. Victor : — " Lippam Liam latent multa, Quibus videns Rachel fulta Pari nubit fcedere." So again, the panegyrist of S. Thomas : — " Post Agar ludibrium Sarae natus datur ; Post Liam ad libitum Jacob uxoratur." But on this history, pregnant as it is with meaning, Scott the Commentator has nothing better to remark than what follows : — " One cannot but lament to see Jacob cheated into poly- gamy in so extraordinary a manner, and indeed the malice and artifice of Laban are clearly discernible in the transac- tion. The Lord, however, so sets one thing against another, that there is less difference in the comparative happiness of mankind than superficial observers imagine ; and in the most ordinary circumstances of private life His hand should c XXXV111 INTRODUCTION. be acknowledged, especially when He relieves our distresses and answers our prayers." \y^JO'v»' • v VMJ^V- jf--cr—&~,]\ » S«^. V-CT*-^ INTRODUCTION. xliii selves to the wants and requirements of the poor and ignorant is one of their most remarkable characteristics. It was not, we may be sure, without cause that such crowds of peasants nocked to hear men like S. Thomas Aquinas. The power which these great divines pos- sessed of taking nothing for granted as known by their hearers, of explaining even those circumstances which would seem to need no explanation, of describing every- thing, and leaving nothing to the possibility of a mis- take, well deserves to be imitated by us. It is not without deep reason, though at first sight the observation seems absurd, that Gretser, the great German divine, while discussing the question, whether our Lord were nailed to the Cross before or after its elevation, deter- mines on the former; 'because/ says he, f it is more convenient to the Christian's imagination that it should so have been/ And not only by simplicity and clear- j v / ness, but by striking stories, homely proverbs, and ap- propriate similes, did these great men find their way to the hearts of the poor. Thus the worthy Archdeacon of Bath, Peter of Blois, preaching professedly to the people, relates a long allegory, based on the psychomachia of Prudentius, in which the contest of Faith with her various opponents is set forth : part of it will be found in the following pages. Another interesting sermon, of the same writer's, on All Saints' Day, is clearly ad- dressed to a poor congregation, and is occupied in pointing out, on the one hand, the blessings of poverty ; and, on the other, the danger of the mistake which would \ confound the poor of this world with the poor in spirit. The good Archdeacon speaks with a plainness which shows that he knew his way to the hearts of those div INTRODUCTION. Somersetshire villagers,, as well as how to direct the Church's course in the troubles that followed the mar- tyrdom of S. Thomas of Canterbury. But of all preachers who knew how to direct a country congregation, Venerable Bede must have been one of the most remarkable. I may refer, for instance, to that sermon (if indeed it be his) given at p. 16, on the tor- ments of hell — (we must, of course, do the preacher the justice to believe that he considered the legend on which he founds his description to be of authority.) Take up the first book of modern sermons that comes to hand, — such discourses, I mean, as call themselves plain and simple, and are addressed to ignorant labourers : look how, in describing the consequences of sin in another world, the preacher speaks so vaguely, generalises so in- distinctly, and employs such difficult expressions, that one may be very sure his hearers must have left the church, if with any impression at all, certainly with one of the vaguest and least practical character. One cannot doubt that Bede was, what we know him from contemporaneous accounts to have been, a most effective preacher ; and not the less so because he always contented himself with making one impression in one sermon. Here we may notice one great point of differ- ence between those ancient and our modern preachers. The former, well knowing that an ignorant congregation is capable of carrying away only one great idea at one time, dwelt on the main subject of their discourse up to the very end. If they had been describing the torments of hell, with the torments of hell they concluded ; if | they had been speaking of the glories of Paradise, they took care that no after- words should divert the atten- INTRODUCTION. xlv tion of their hearers from those glories. We, for the most part, do just the contrary. We think it necessary to add something at the end of a sermon, lest the audi- tors should go away with a one-sided idea of truth. If we have been terrifying them by the prospect of God's vengeance, we cannot be content without throwing in something about His mercy as a makeweight. We forget that sermons addressed to the poor must neces- sarily be treated strongly and coarsely ; and so we act much as the painter would, who should finish with the elaboration of a miniature a fresco intended to be looked at from a distance only. I will again quote Vieyra : — "A sermon ought to have one theme only, and to be of one material only. This is why Christ said that the sower in the parable sowed, not many kinds of seeds, but one. A sower went forth to sow his seed, — his seed, not his seeds. If the labourer were first to sow wheat, and over that rye, and over that millet, and over that barley, what would spring up ? A tangled forest, a green confusion. And so it is with sermons of this kind. The Baptist converted many in Judea ; but how many subjects did he take ? One only : 1 Prepare ye the way of the Lord :' preparation for the kingdom of Christ. Jonah converted the Ninevites ; but on how many themes did he dilate ? On one only : ' Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown :' the subver- sion of the city. So it is ; Jonah in forty days preached but on one subject ; and we in one hour preach on forty." To the same purpose also speaks Guibert of Nogent in the treatise to which we have before alluded. " "When," says he, " the preacher is possessed of great powers of mind, and has an excellent memory for the matter he is about to treat, he should consider the weakness of c3 xlvi INTRODUCTION. those who are his hearers, and remember how much better it is that a few things should be heard with pleasure, and retained, than that out of a multitude nothing should be carried away; and should, therefore, not be too long, in order that when he is about to preach again, the people may be willing, and not disgusted auditors." Another thing well worthy of attention in mediaeval j sermons addressed to the poor, is the infinite care with I which their writers seem to have avoided difficult ex- I pressions, and trains of thought liable to be misunder- I stood. And this is the more remarkable, because, in their translation from the language in which they were preached to that in which we read them, they neces- sarily lost much of their simplicity. We constantly find expressions inserted in the Latin which could not have occurred in the original; as, for example, where Peter of Blois, in a discourse which we know to have been preached in the vulgar tongue, says concerning the soul of the sinner, Vertit se in ccenum, non in ccelum ; a pun. which manifestly could not have occurred in English, and which must have been inserted as an after-thought. In contrast to this case, I/will mention two modern anecdotes. One is related by an eminent living prelate, who, with the greatest good humour, is in the habit of telling it as a warning to his clergy to preach plainly. While he was still serving a curacy, he was anxious to try his hand at extempore preaching, and, accordingly, took for his text, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." On this subject he dwelt, much to his satisfaction, for the usual time ; he proved from the works of creation, from the construction of our own bodies, and from the other usual topics, that there must INTRODUCTION. xlvii be a creative power,, and that that creative power is God. He came down from the pulpit with the com- fortable conviction that he had not done so badly after all. Happening to walk home with- a farmer who had attended the service, he was anxious to learn what im- pression he had produced, and, accordingly, made some observation which led to the point he wished to intro- duce. "A. very capital sermon you gave us, Mr. B.," remarked his companion ; " but, somehow, I can't help thinking there be a God, for all you said." The other anecdote was related to me by another pre- late of our Church. He happened to be staying in a country village, when a stranger was accidentally called in to preach. His text was, f ' There was a man of the Pharisees named Mcodemus, a ruler of the Jews : the same came to Jesus by night." His sermon was very much to the point, so far as educated persons were con- cerned. But, on the following day, the Bishop hap- pened to inquire of an old woman in the parish, if she had understood, and how she had liked the discourse. " Very much indeed," was her reply ; { ' and I always did hear say that it was by night the fairies danced on Harborough Hill." So much for the preacher's descrip- tion of the character of the Pharisees. The present writer may lay claim to the praise which Dryden bestowed on Milbourne, — that of being the " fairest of critics," — by relating a somewhat similar circumstance which happened to himself. He had been preaching on the subject of Baptism, and had tried to explain, in the most popular way he could, the distinc- tion between regeneration and conversion, dwelling par- ticularly on the difference between the one Baptism and xlviii INTRODUCTION. the repeated repentances. He thought, like the excel- lent prelate to whom we have referred, that he had been particularly intelligible ; and, perhaps with some little idea of being praised for his plainness, he afterwards made some observation to the most intelligent auditor in a very ignorant congregation. " The very best sermon I ever heard preached," was his remark ; " I had never seen so clearly before that, when we have fallen into sin, we can be baptized again to get out of it." Another method by which the old preachers reached the hearts of their poor hearers, was by the introduction of every-day proverbs and household sayings. "Thui^ -peljer ~af"BIois, in preaching on the guardianship of angels, is dwelling on the cause of their love to us. " It is," says he, " for God's sake, the richness of whose mercy they see poured around us. For no man hath greater love than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Therefore, they know that He loved us, because He gave His life for us. It is a common saying, e Love me, love my dog/ (Qui me diligit, et canem meum.) And would that we were dogs, and then we should lick the sores of our sins ; or, at least, whelps, and then we should eat of the crumbs that fall from our Master's table." So Hrabanus Maurus, the universal scholar of the ninth century, in speaking of the temptation of our Lord : u Then," says he, " was Jesus led up into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. Talk of the devil, and he is sure to appear. But how ? you will say. You have even now mentioned him, and he appears not." On which the Archbishop proceeds to dwell on the invisible presence and never-failing temptations of Satan ; and a very good sermon he hangs on the proverb in question. INTRODUCTION. xlix So, again, Guarric of Igniac makes a remarkable use of a proverb in an Advent sermon. " The Lord," he says, " thus speaks by His prophet, My people shall hang on My return. It is well and properly said ; shall hang, as it were, between heaven and earth. They are neither able to ascend to heavenly things, nor willing to descend to earth. The common proverb tells us, ' It is ill wait- ing while one is hanging/ But I say, it is well waiting while one is so hanging. My soul chooses this suspen- sion of its own free will, and only desires to hang on such a cross until it shall depart from the body." One more example is the following : Guibert of Nogent, in a Lent sermon, is speaking of the patience necessary to a Christian, that he may bear the cross before he can gain the crown. " And notice this," he says ; " Christ de- clares ye have need of patience, that after ye have done the will of God, ye might inherit the promise. On the contrary, the devil testifies, and says, ' A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush/ But the eggs of such birds are like the cockatrice's eggs, whereof the prophet makes mention, that bring no advantage, but rather confusion and trouble." In the same way, mediaeval preachers are constantly introducing anecdotes and stories to illustrate any point which may occur. Take an example from a sermon by an unknown mediaeval writer, on the sin of pride, and the merit which humility possesses in the eyes of God:— "It happened on a certain night, in the monastery of Heisterbach, that the precentor began the Antiphon of the Invitatory, and the brother who stood next to him pitched his voice too low in intoning the Psalm. Herrenvic, who 1 INTRODUCTION. was then Prior, with the other elders carried on the chant on the same note on which it had been begun. Now, there was a certain youth, somewhat wanting in wisdom, who stood at the lower end of the choir ; and being indignant that the tone should be pitched so low, he exalted his voice about five notes above the rest. His superiors resisted, but he would not yield, and some who were on the opposite side of the choir assisted him ; whence, on account of the scandal and discord, the elders gave way. Presently, the Abbat beheld the devil gliding away from the monk who had thus won the day into the opposite choir, and there mingling with the brethren who had assisted him. Whence we gather that more pleasing to God is a tone pitched too low, if it be accompanied with devotion of heart, than voices arrogantly exalted to the sky." S. Aelred of Rievaulx, whom one pictures as a kind, white-haired old man, surrounded by monks in the first fervour of their devotion, is very fond of relating such stories. Here is one. "I am acquainted," says he, " with a convent under the direction of the holy father Gilbert," — that is, S. Gilbert of Sempringham, — "in which there was, and there may be still, a certain virgin distinguished for sanctity of life." He proceeds to re- late the visions which this nun reported to her sisters, and goes on : " There was, in the same convent, a woman of great discretion, who, knowing that we are not to trust every spirit, but to try the spirits whether they be of God, believed that all these appearances were to be attributed to disease, or to some illusion of the fancy." The worthy Abbat next tells how this nun investigated the subject, and was at length convinced of her want of faith : " a narration," he observes, " which INTRODUCTION. li may not be uselessly inserted as an illustration of the advantage which faith possesses over reason." It would be endless to refer to all the stories which the sermons of Bede contain, whose great delight it seems to have been to find some anecdote which would suit his subject and his auditors, and to dwell on hardly anything else. It is worth noting, that the French preachers of the Middle Ages, such as S. Bernard, S. Fulbert of Chartres, S. Hildebert of Tours, Marbod of Rheims, appear to have been far less given to this kind of narrations than their English and German brethren. Again : S. Antony of Padua, the most popular, perhaps, of all preachers who ever lived, has very little of the sort ; but his sermons are remarkable for the profuse illustrations they receive from the occupations and trades of those whom he is addressing. Some curious examples, in which he accommodates natural history, or, at least, that which he considered such, to his own purposes, will be found in pp. 242 — 249. Vieyra, the " last of mediaeval preachers," dearly loves to introduce an anecdote. The first of those I will quote has to do with our own country : — u Let me tell you what happened to me when I was in England. There went with me two Portuguese, who on a Sunday set themselves to play at dice at the inn. In comes the host, much disturbed, and well-nigh out of his senses ; 'And,' says he, 'what, gentlemen! do you wish them to burn down my house ?' ' To burn down your house ! and why ?' ' Because this is a game which can be heard out of doors ; and if the magistrates knew of it, I should be a lost man.' So the landlord said, and so it would have been. And, to make you wonder the more, the city or town was Hi INTRODUCTION. Dover, a maritime port, where all the inhabitants, without one single exception, are heretics. O shame of us, who pride ourselves so much on the name of Catholics ! If in a land of heretics it is sacrilege to play at dice on an ordinary- Sunday, what ought it to be to play at such games in Holy Week, in a land where the Cross and the image of Christ are adored, and the mysteries of His Death are celebrated ?" And here is yet another example. He is preaching on the text, u Ye know not what ye ask." After ex- plaining the words, " Ask, and it shall be given you," he continues : — " It is better to ask, and to be refused with Paul, than to ask, and to be heard with Satan. How many lost souls are there now in hell, who are bitterly lamenting that their temporal petitions were granted ! How many predestinated ones are there in heaven, who are rendering thanks to God that He refused to hear them on earth ! Let a saint, who has preached in this same pulpit, bear witness to this same thing. There was in India a nobleman, intimately ac- quainted with S. Francis Xavier, who had a request to make to Dom Joao the Third. He therefore asked the saint to furnish him with a letter to his companion, Simon Ro- driguez, who was tutor to the prince, and high in favour with the king. S. Francis accordingly wrote, and this was the tenour of his letter : — ' Dom Such-an-one is an excellent friend to myself and to the Company. He has a petition to lay before the king. I adjure your reverence, by the obliga- tions which we owe to this nobleman, that you will use your utmost endeavours in causing him to fail in his object, for I have observed that he who succeeds in getting on well in India, succeeds also in getting on well towards hell.' And so it is still, as he finely continues, with us as it was with him. Oh how many candidates for the Left Hand ; oh how INTRODUCTION. Hii many petitioners for eternal damnation are there in all the courts of Christendom ; men who know not what they say, nor for what they are pleading ! Therefore it is that we read of the Spirit interceding for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Woe for thee, blinded man, for thou knowest not the danger into which thou art rushing. Woe for thee, who art seeking such a government, such a seat in such a council, such an office in such a colony. Thou art longing for Brazil ; to Brazil thou wilt go, and ruin thy salvation : thou art petitioning for Angola ; to Angola thou wilt be sent, and wilt damn thyself: thou art longing for India ; thou wilt pass the Cape of Good Hope, and so lose all hope of eternal felicity." The introduction of stories into sermons naturally I leads to the consideration of those who have employed ; ludicrous as well as serious means of fixing the atten- \ tion of their auditors. It would seem that the most celebrated popular preachers have, in all countries and in all ages, felt a tendency to excite laughter, in its \ turn, as well as other emotions. From the cause we j have mentioned above, it is not easy to speak with cer- tainty of S. Antony of Padua; but, judging from the skeletons of his discourses, he, in his laborious missions through the north of Italy, was no exception to the rule. S. Robert of Arbrissel, who, in a most corrupt and barbarous age, was the apostle of Central France, gave way to what some might be disposed to call down- right buffoonery. Peter of Celles, the most popular preacher in the same country towards the end of the twelfth century, has frequent turns that must have ex- cited, and must have been intended to excite, a smile. S. Thomas of Villanova, in the sixteenth century, some- times pursued a similar course. In the great Portuguese Hv INTRODUCTION, reform of the same century, the celebrated preachers — whom, perhaps, as popular haranguers, the Church has never seen equalled — Simon Rodriguez, Ignacio Martinz, and others, were noted for the same disposition. In our own country, Bishop Andrewes has passages which can- not be read, and could scarcely have been heard, without a smile. The case was the same with those who, if the producing a great effect constitutes a great preacher, certainly deserve that name, the Methodist missionaries of the eighteenth century, — John Wesley himself, Whit- field, Cennick, and others. Here, as might be expected, unrestrained by the discipline of the preachers whom we have before named, they frequently became little better than buffoons ; as was the case also with Rowland Hill, and, still more coarsely, with Berridge; both, ne- vertheless, men possessing great power in addressing a popular audience. It would not be difficult to match, among the many puns of the mediaeval pulpit, that sen- tence of Rowland Hill, in preaching at Wapping, which, notwithstanding all its vulgarity, is said to have pro- duced a startling effect : — " Who can dare to despair of the mercy of God, when it can extend itself to heinous sinners, to great sinners, to mighty sinners, yea, and to Wapping sinners?" A pun of even a more curious nature was introduced, if I remember right, by S. Ivo of Chartres, when preaching at a monastery very much infested with dissensions and quarrels, of which the abbat was the principal cause. " My brethren," said the Bishop, " if it is the part of a Christian to imitate God, you are very much wanting to your duty here. Of God it is written, Pater noster quies in ccelis, but you have to say, Pater noster inquies in terris." I am not now speak- INTRODUCTION. IV ing of such plays upon words as were fashionable in the pulpits of Charles the Second's time, and in which South and Echard so largely indulged, — things intended rather to display the wit of the writer, than to promote the edification of the hearer ; but of witticisms introduced with the honest purpose of doing good, and on the prin- ciple of becoming all things to all men. Under this head fall such ingenious contrivances as that of the Spanish Bishop, who, having to preach before a crowded and fashionable auditory, perceived, on mounting the pulpit, so drowsy an aspect in his congregation, that there was little hope of his making any impression. Looking, therefore, to that part of the church in which sat the authorities of the Inquisition, he began thus : — u I deny, and, whatever the Catholic Church may say, I shall always deny, that in the One, self-existent God, there are three Persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost." He paused, and of course, attention was in- - stantly aroused. The Bishop of this place looked at the Archbishop of that, the officials of the Inquisition turned their heads towards each other, some of the grandees arose, as if about to leave the church, when the preacher quietly continued ; ' ' Thus, my brethren, speaks the Arian, thus speaks the Sabellian ; but we, who have been built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets — " and so forth. One of Sterne's ser- mons begins in the same offensive way. A story is related of a popular dissenting preacher in Wales, who, finding that he had for some time been addressing his congregation to very little purpose, ascended the pulpit one Sunday morning, and, looking around him, said, "My brethren, I should like to ask you a question, lvi INTRODUCTION, which you cannot answer, nor I neither. My brethren, what shall it profit a man, if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" Saying which, he left the pulpit and the church. This is exactly the thing which some of the more eccentric of mediaeval preachers would have done ; such, for example, as in Italy, Jacobus de Benedictis, whose familiar appellation of Jacopone re- veals something of his character ; and, to go to a differ- ent part of the world, Basil, surnamed Iorodevie, that is, mad (for Christ's sake), at Moscow. If there were ever any one who understood how to move and to lead a popular audience, it was Hugh Latimer; and every one knows that his sermons abound with the broadest farce, and teem with expressions which a modern writer could not for a moment venture to transfer to his pages. I am, let it be remembered, neither defending, nor yet condemning, the practices of which I have been speak- ing; all I say is, that they have been used by the preachers who have been most efficacious, either for good or for evil. Neither can there be any doubt, that English Priests, generally, have so reverent a fear of degrading the dignity of the Establishment, of getting off their stilts, of remembering that, after all, they are men speaking to men, of teaching religion as if they really believed in it, that a few examples of an opposite extreme (granting it an extreme) may not have been without their use. I will take another instance from Vieyra, whom I regard as the more valuable writer, because, while as to time he almost stands on the debateable ground betwixt the mediaeval age and our own, he unites (the reader who is not acquainted with his works may think it impos- INTRODUCTION, lvii sible) much of the character of S. Jerome on the one hand, and Swift on the other. In occasional turns of thought and collocation of words, Andrewes comes nearer to him than any other English writer ; but if An- drewes possesses his piety and his learning, Andrewes has not half his wit, nor the tenth part of his eloquence. One of the most curious sermons ever preached, is the discourse to the fishes, from which I have given copious extracts, which he delivered at Maranhao, a few days before embarking for Portugal on business connected with the missions in Brazil. Maranhao, in the course of a few years, became a reformed town, but whether the Sermon to the Fishes were the cause of its reformation, may, perhaps, reasonably be doubted. It is now time to turn to the third distinguishing feature of mediaeval sermons, on which we must dwell a little more at length. Every one who has studied the ritual and the calendar of the Church, must have speedily convinced himself that / its whole aim and design is to be _ cframatic. It is not the mere reciter of events which happened centuries ago, j nor their expounder, nor, as the Puritans would have I said, their improver. It sets them forth before the eyes of man as if they were now happening ; as if they were scenes in which we ourselves were taking a part ; as if they were events occurring in our own times, and in which we bore a living interest. The Church would not represent to us the cycle of events in our Lord's Life and Death, as if they had occurred, once for all, eighteen centuries ago ; but would have us regard them as if they happened again and again every year, and were occurrences to which we should look forward, lviii INTRODUCTION. rather than look back. This characteristic remains very strongly impressed on our own Prayer Book : where, before each recurring Festival, we pray in some sort that the event may happen, as a future thing, which we are really commemorating as a past occurrence. Thus, for example, on the Sunday after Ascension, the Church, as if forgetful that the Day of Pentecost is really past, prays, in the very same words that the Apostles might have used during the actual ten days which succeeded our Lord's Ascension, "We beseech Thee, leave us not comfortless; but send to us Thine Holy Ghost to comfort us, and exalt us unto the same place whither our Saviour Christ has gone before." In the Prayer-books of Protestant Europe this drama- tic treatment of the subject is almost universally lost ; and it must be confessed that, in one or two instances, our own Collects have been, in like manner, rendered tame and prosaic. Never so strikingly as in that for the Fourth Sunday in Advent. The ancient Church, directing her prayer to God the Son, besought Him to appear and to be born for her sake : " O Lord, raise up, we pray Thee, Thy power, and come among us, and with great might succour us." We have utterly de- stroyed the point of the Collect by addressing it to the Father, and concluding it, " through the satisfaction of Thy Son our Lord." What is true, then, of the ritual and office-books of the mediaeval Church, is equally true of the sermons which formed a part of it. Here, also, the events which the Church was setting before her children were spoken of as present, or as future ; the hearers were not called on, as so often now, to remember that the Church sets INTRODUCTION. lix before them this, or that the Church would have them to remember that ; but whatever it might be, feast or fast, seasou of joy or season of sorrow, they were taught to feel that the sorrow or the joy was, and ought to be, as real a matter to them, as to those to whom the event had actually first occurred. Open any sermon of that age, and see how the preacher speaks of the subject of the festival, as of something then occurring. Thus it is, for example, that Guarric, Abbat of Igniac, begins a sermon in Advent : ' ' Our King is coming ; let us go to meet our Saviour. Well saith Solomon, f As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country/ Good news, indeed, which proclaims the Advent of a Redeemer, the reconciliation of the world, the good things of the life to come." There is here no such exordium as we now have ; a call to keep in mind the coming of the Saviour, once in great humility, hereafter in great majesty. The preacher plunges his hearers at once into the realization of the fact which the Church commemorates, and announces as good tidings to his audience the same news which so many centuries before had been proclaimed in Bethlehem. Let us try another discourse of the same Abbat ; we will take one on Christmas-day. " Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. And thus it is that we know Him to be born, because He is given. For His birth would avail us nothing, unless He were also our own ; and He would in vain be made the Son of Man, unless it were given to us to become the sons of God. Behold, how Jesus is offered to us ; hasten to meet Him ; stretch forth your hands, make ready your affections, prove your devotion by acts as well as words." lx INTRODUCTION. Now compare this with the opening of modern ser- mons on the same subject. Thus it is that Bishop Horsley commences a Christmas sermon : " This forty- fifth Psalm has, for many ages, made a stated part of the public service of the Church, on this anniversary festival of our Blessed Lord's Nativity. With God's assistance, I purpose to explain to you its application, both in the general subject, and in each particular part, to this great occasion, which will afford both seasonable and edifying matter of discourse." With Bishop Hors- ley, then, the Nativity is regarded as an event which occurred many centuries ago, in order that it might be 11 improved," and made matter of edifying discourse now; with Abbat Guarric it is a present reality; as present to himself as to the shepherds to whom the angels first announced the glad tidings of great joy which should be to all people. . We turn to another sermon on the same subject, and there we find the mediaeval author expressly disclaiming the system of the modern divine. " Ye have come to- gether, brethren, to hear the Word of God. But God has provided some better thing for you. To-day ye shall not only hear, but ye shall also see that Word, if ye will but go with me to Bethlehem and behold this thing which the Lord hath told and hath manifested to us. For God knoweth that the senses of men are inca- pable of things invisible, and hardly to be taught things celestial, and are not without difficulty to be persuaded to believe, unless the thing which they are exhorted to believe be visibly presented to their senses." But we, so far from remembering this difficulty of faith, do all that in us lies to render it yet harder. We studiously INTRODUCTION. lxi inculcate the fact that the event of which we are preaching is a history of the past, not an action of the present. It is curious to observe how the mediaeval system is by degrees softened and tamed down into the present. The Divines of the early part of the seventeenth cen- tury have retained much of the reality and effectiveness of earlier times. Thus it is that Bishop Cosin begins a sermon on the Epiphany : " We are still at the feast of Christmas, and this is the last and great day of the feast, as S. John said of another. A feast of joy it has been all this while, but this day was given us that our joy might be full." So Bishop Andrewes : " Christ was born, is true any day ; but this day Christ was born, never but to-day only. For of no day in the year can it be said, hodie natus, but of this. By which word the Holy Ghost may seem to have marked it out and made it the peculiar text of the day." Or again : " Here is joy, joy at a sight, at the sight of a day, and that day Christ's. It is Christ that calleth it here diem Meum, His day ; and no day so properly His, as His birthday. So the text comes full upon the day." These begin- nings, if not reaching the full realization of the festival which we find in earlier writers, are, at least, incomparably superior to the eighteenth century system of exordium. We sink a little towards it in Dr. Donne. Thus he begins a Christmas sermon : " It hath been suspiciously doubted, and more than that, freely disputed, and more than that, too, absolutely denied, that Christ was born the five-and-twentieth of December ; that this is Christmas Day; yet, for all these doubts, and disputations, and denials, we forbear not, with the whole Church of God, constantly and confidently to keep this for His day." d lxii INTRODUCTION. And so, by degrees, we come down to the ordinary and common-place method of opening : " The words which I have read you form a part of the Lesson which the Church," &c. &c. Let us try a Passion sermon or two, and see how the different schools of divines treat it. Thus it is that Peter de Celles commences one : " Behold, beloved brethren, Jesus Christ is being led before your eyes to be put to death ; what will ye say, or what will ye do ? Behold, there is none of all His friends to console Him ; all have forsaken Him and fled. Thou, O Jesu, alone for us, yet without us, bearest the burden and heat of the day, bearest the Crown of Thorns, bearest the Cross, bearest Thy Blood within the veil of the sanctuary, bearest our sins in Thy Body on the Tree of the Cross, bearest the fire and the wood, that the fire of Thy Pas- sion may consume the wood of our sins." Or again : " We have been following the footsteps of Christ, be- loved brethren, and have now come to His Passion. God grant that, not even in His Passion departing from Him, we may wait with Peter to see the end, so that without end we may enjoy fellowship with Him. Look, therefore, good Christian, at the steps in which He set His feet, and which are marked with His Blood, so that thy foot may also be dyed in the Blood of the Lamb." Or take another instance, and hear S. Fulbert of Chartres, in one of his Passion sermons : " Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Physician, is now preparing the medicine that is to be the salvation of our souls. Wherefore, Christian brethren, it behoves us to receive that which He is now mixing and is now giving. He INTRODUCTION. lxiii reaches forth the cup of our salvation, and we must stretch forth our hands and receive it." Look, now, to our own earlier divines. Bishop An- drewes, preaching on the verse, " Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by ?" begins : " At the very hearing or reading of which there is none but will presently conceive it is the voice of a party in great extremity. In great extremity two ways ; first, in such distress as never was any, if ever there was sorrow like my sorrow ; and then, in that distress, having none to regard him, ' Is it no- thing to you V " Bishop Wilson degenerates into this commencement : " Every one of the Apostles and Evan- gelists who have written our Lord's Life, have given us a very particular account of the manner of His evil treatment, His sufferings, and His death. Now these are all read in the daily service of this week, as full of instruction, and proper to prepare us for the Blessed Sacrament, appointed to be administered on Sunday next." (Imagine Easter Day being principally distin- guished as the Sunday on which the Blessed Sacrament was appointed to be administered !) " Whereby we learn what our Lord suffered in order to obtain our pardon, and to restore us to the grace and mercy of an offended God." And at last we come down to such a kind of opening as is that of Joseph Milner : " The words which I have now read to you contain the portion of Scripture appointed by our Church for the Epistle on Easter Day. And, perhaps, there is not a portion of the Word of God more suitably adapted to the occasion of that fes- tival j so deeply and so powerfully does it represent to us the right use and proper improvement of our Lord's Resurrection. This great event is of vast importance." d2 lxiv INTRODUCTION. Or take the following from Paley : f ' The salvation of mankind, and most particularly in so far as the Death and Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ are concerned in it, and whereby He comes to be called our Saviour and our Redeemer, ever has been, and ever must be, a most interesting subject to all serious minds." But bad and shocking to every right feeling as is such an exordium, the method of treating the subject which was prevalent in the last century was, by many degrees, worse. Nor is it quite obsolete among us now. I was once spending a Sunday in Lent in a country parish, where the Clergyman was of the old school, and not a bad specimen of it. In the morning, he requested me to preach, with a special injunction to be as plain and simple as possible, " because," said he, " my people are very ignorant, and require the most elementary teaching." Accordingly, I endeavoured to comply with his wishes, and hoped that, in some degree, I had suc- ceeded. "It was not so bad," said my friend, as we walked home from church, " but still not quite so plain as I could have wished. If you will listen to me in the afternoon, I will endeavour to show you the way in which I think that such a congregation ought to be addressed." After such an invitation, when the worthy rector as- cended the pulpit, I was — as the saying is — all atten- tion, and heard him begin, nearly word for word, in the following manner: "To those who will consider the harmony which reigns in the various accounts dictated by inspiration of Christ's Passion, confirmed as those accounts are by the antecedent testimonies of Prophets on the one hand, and by the concurrent testimonies of the Epistles on the other, it will appear in the highest INTRODUCTION. lxV degree probable, that our Blessed Lord was not an im- postor, but was, in reality, what He gave Himself out to be, the Son of God." Now there can be no doubt that there was some ex- cuse for this style of preaching in the last century. When the state of religious, or rather of irreligious, feeling was such that a divine, by no means disposed to take a gloomy view of things, could say, " It seems to be now generally assumed by mankind that the Christian religion is an imposition which it was left to this age to ex- pose," it might be necessary, even on the highest festival, to say something in proof of the fact, before anything was added of a more edifying nature. He that cometh to God, must believe that He is, before he can believe anything further with regard to His doings. And so in a fashion- able congregation, as it was a hundred years ago, when Archbishop Potter, or Bishop Lavington, or Archdeacon Paley, or Dr. Jortin was to preach, when the pews of the then new church of S. George's, Bloomsbury, or the still aristocratic place of worship at S. Martin' s-in-the- Fields, were crowded to excess, and ladies were obliged to slide their hoops over one shoulder, in order to make room, just at the time when Lord Chesterfield was going out of fashion, and Dr. Blair was coming in, it might be necessary to prove to the worshippers on an Easter- day, or a Whitsun-day, that the Resurrection was not altogether incredible, and that the Descent of the Holy Ghost was within the bounds of possibility. For we must never forget that, however lowering and debasing was this constant struggle against infidelity, — however much it might be impossible to touch pitch without being defiled, (so that Douglas, the defender of Scripture lxvi INTRODUCTION, miracles, based his argument on a foundation which de- stroyed all others, and even Leslie's celebrated criterion of their truth defends only one not recorded in the Bible,) still the work which the Church of England then had to do, — to defend revelation, — was done, and was done effectually. If we compare the state of the French and English Churches at the beginning and at the conclu- sion of the eighteenth century, we shall find that with all her great preachers, her Massillons, and her Bossuets, and her Bourdaloues, the former failed, where the latter, through the mercy of God, succeeded. But that what the miserable condition of the last century rendered ne- cessary should be carried on by a dry tradition into this, — that every festival should be made a lesson in evidences, and seasons of the highest joy ushered in by a decoction of Paley or Lardner, is a disgrace from which we ought more thoroughly to have freed ourselves than is> at present, the case. I have said something of the subjects, and of the manner of treating these subjects, which occupy medi- aeval sermons and our own. Let us now turn our atten- tion to the order in which, in both instances, the parts of a sermon follow each other. One would think, to read some of the essays written on the subject, that the construction of a sermon was like a law of the Medes and Persians. Look at Mr. Simeon's one-and-twenty tedious volumes of "Horae Homileticae." The worthy man evidently considered this the greatest system of divinity which English theology had ever produced. And of what does it con- sist ? Of several thousand sermons treated exactly in the same ways, in obedience to precisely the same laws, and INTRODUCTION. lxvii of much about the same length. Claude's essay had laid down certain rules, and Simeon's discourses were their exemplification. The laws were as invariable for the pulpit as was Dr. Watts' recipe for a prayer : — " Call upon God : adore : confess : Petition : plead : and then declare You are the Loed's : give thanks and bless : And let Amen conclude the prayer." In like manner, Mr. Simeon's type of sermons may be very easily described. The preacher opens with a short view of the circumstances under which the text was spoken. This is a very convenient exordium, because it fills two or three pages with but little trouble. The Clergyman has only to put Scripture language into his own, and he is fairly launched in his sermon without any effort. Another almost equally easy method of opening is found in drawing a contrast between the per- son or thing of which the passage in hand speaks, and that to which the writer may wish to allude. And it has this special advantage ; that if he is unlucky in finding much likeness between the two, he is sure to discover a good deal of wwlikeness, and either treatment will supply a good number of words. Then, as every one knows, come the heads, — a most important part in this style of discourse. Taking Mr. Simeon as a pat- tern, we shall find that they cannot be less than two, nor more than four ; though, indeed, there are not wanting those who have greatly extravagated beyond the supe- rior limit, as the Puritan divine's " And now, to be brief, I would observe eighteenthly, that — " so and so, may suffice to prove. Then come all the minutiae of sub- divisions, and under-subdivisions, (little heads, as the lxviii .INTRODUCTION. charity children call them,) all set forth when the afore- said discourses come to be printed, in corresponding variations of type. Thus, we have first of all a noble- looking Roman numeral, in this manner, — I. Next to this will come a more modest — 1 . The preacher's subject ramifies : in order to keep his skeins clear, he takes refuge in a — (1.) Again, they become entangled, and this time he betakes himself to a [1] . The congregation admire the scriptural knowledge and the logical depth of their divine ; and thus encouraged, he proceeds to a still more minute handling of his subject, and gets down to a Firstly. And then comes the application : varied, it may be, in words, but pretty much the same in meaning. The preacher first addresses u the unregenerate," and next ' ( the regenerate ; v or, firstly, the " unconverted," and secondly, the "converted;" unless, indeed, he should prefer to imitate the Irish Clergyman, who, on occasion of some State fast, addressed himself, in the first place, to those who evinced their respect to constituted autho- rities by attending church on that day, and, in the next place, to those who showed their disrespect to the go- vernment by staying away. Thus, we think, we have given a fair view of a Claudian or Simeonian sermon, the great difficulty in which seems to be the drawing to an end. The servant's excuse is no caricature, (as those who have sat under such dis- courses can well testify,) who, when blamed for bringing the carriage to the door of a fashionable chapel in Lon- don twenty minutes before the sermon was over, de- fended himself by the assertion, that he had waited until he had heard the preacher say at short intervals, "Lastly," "Finally," " Not to be tedious," "In fine," INTRODUCTION. lxix u And to conclude," and had then ventured to think that he might come away. Now let us see in what way it was that the older writers managed their divisions. To make ourselves more intelligible, we will take the liberty of applying a passage in a sermon of John Newton's to the matter in hand. Preaching against the Oratorio of the "Mes- siah," he says — " I represent to myself a number of persons of various characters involved in one common charge of high treason. There is not the least doubt of their guilt being fully proved, and that nothing but a pardon can preserve them from pun- ishment. Entirely regardless of their danger, they are wholly taken up with contriving methods of amusing them- selves. Among other resources, they call in the assistance of music ; and amidst a great variety of subjects in this way, they are particularly pleased with one. They choose to make the solemnities of their impending trial the ground- work of a musical entertainment. The king, however, unde- sired by them, sends them a gracious message, and, in a way which he condescends to prescribe, he offers them a free and a full pardon. But, instead of taking a single step towards a compliance with his goodness, they set this message like- wise to music, and it is sung for their diversion." "With a great deal more truth one might ask a ques- tion which would have occasioned the worthy Rector of S. Mary Woolnoth some little surprise. Is it possible that they, knowing — or, at least, pretending to know — ■ more than others, the office of a Christian Priest in re- ference to men under such a condemnation as that to which the extract refers, — is it possible that they could desire to cramp down his message here, to pare it off there, to elongate or to abbreviate it as if its value de- 1XX INTRODUCTION. pended on its inches, to split it up into so many bundles of facts, to make an introduction and an application essential points, instead of leaving him to speak out of the fulness of his heart, to be interesting in his own way, and to give God's message in as natural a manner as he would deliver one of his own ? The wonder is, that so many men, whom one cannot doubt to be really in earnest, should sit down Saturday after Saturday to compound from the " Horse Homileticse " the discourse which they propose to inflict next day on their parish- ioners. The flatness, and tameness, and insipidity of such a sermon, let its source be eloquence and fervour itself, could hardly be paralleled. Its issue must be of the same kind with the thorough-paced doctrine of Bishop Sprat. When that honest man, but miserable divine and poet, was examined before the Privy Council on the charge of complicity with Bishop Atterbury's so-called plot, a paper was taken from his person and considered highly suspicious by the lawyers, which contained these words : " Doctor Burgess — thorough-paced doctrine." <( If I must explain," said he, when pressed as to the meaning of these mysterious symbols, "the facts are these. I am ashamed to say that once, when a young man, I had the curiosity to attend Dr. Burgess's then celebrated meeting-house. Speaking of thorough-paced doctrine, he said that he would define it for the benefit of his hearers : c it is that doctrine/ he continued, ' which goes in at one ear, and goes out of the other.' " And in Dr. Burgess's sense we may safely affirm the sermons of which we have been speaking to be peculiarly tho- rough-paced. It is remarkable in how few sermons, either of the INTRODUCTION, lxxi early or the middle ages, is there any division at all analogous to that of modern Heads. In S. Ambrose or S. Augustine such a thing is scarcely to be found. In the seventh and eighth centuries, such writers as S. Isidore and the French school of divines sometimes divided their discourses in a more set or formal manner ; but no great preacher appears to have been much given to the system, with the single exception of S. Antony of Padua, whose compositions, as we now have them, are little more than a bundle of heads, and could only have been preserved from dryness by length. Take, for example, the com- mencement of one on the Fourth Sunday after Trinity. The text is, "Be ye also merciful, as your Father Which is in heaven is merciful." " Four things," he says, " are here to be noted. Firstly, the affluence of goodness which we ought to imitate ; in these words, Be ye merciful. Secondly, the opulence of celestial felicity on which we ought to meditate: good measure. Thirdly, the misery of internal blindness, which we ought to avoid: How can the blind lead the blind? Fourthly, the craftiness of fraternal pravity, against which we ought to guard : Why beholdest thou the mote ? In this first head are five remarkable points : to have pity ; not to judge ; not to condemn ; to forgive, and to give And notice, that as the mercy of the Father is threefold towards thee, so thine must be threefold towards thy neighbour. The mercy of the Father is specious, spacious, and precious ; thy mercy also must be threefold. If thy neighbour have offended thee, forgive him ; if he have erred from the way of truth, instruct him ; if he be an hungered, refresh him." This may serve as another proof of what I have already asserted, that S. Antony never could have deli- lxxii INTRODUCTION. vered sucli bony things as this extract to a common congregation ; but either they were simply heads for his own use, or for the employment of his brethren, for whose benefit he was compelled to publish his sermons. One might arrange mediseval methods of dividing sermons into three classes. The first, that in which there is bond fide one text, worked out with reference to the context; the second, where the whole context is taken as one subject, and not in separate and successive parts, which is the method usually employed by S. An- tony, and recommended by S. Charles Borromeo; the third, when the Gospel or Epistle is treated by way of postil or homily, one verse after the other, till the whole is gone through. And this was the favourite practice of French theologians, such as S. Hildebert, Marbod, S. Fulbert, and their contemporaries, but carried out more perfectly by none than by Rupert of Deutz, whose commentaries De Gloria et Honore Filii Hominis, De Operibus Spiritus Sancti, and De Trinitate et Operibus ejus, are perfect models in their way. It is worth while to notice how the preachers of whom we are speaking almost intuitively followed S. Augus- tine's rule as to their style. "Et tamen cum concinnator debeat rerum doctor esse magnarum, non semper eas debet granditer dicere, sed submisse cum aliquid docetur ; temperate, cum aliquid vitu- peratur sive laudatur : cum vero aliquid agendum est, et ad eos loquimur qui hoc agere debent, nee tamen volunt, tunc ea qu3B magna sunt, dicenda sunt granditer et ad flectendos animos congruenter. Et aliquando de una eademque re magna, et submisse dicitur, si docetur; et temperate, si predicatur; et granditer, si aversus inde animus ut con- .INTRODUCTION. lxxiii vertatur impellitur. Quid enim Deo ipso majus est ? Num- quid ideo iioq discitur ? Aut qui docet unitatem Trinitatis debet nisi submissa disputatione agere, ut res ad dignos- cendum difficilis, quantum datur, possit intelligi ? Numquid hie ornamenta et non documenta quaerantur ? Porro cum laudatur Deus sive de se ipso sive de operibus suis, quanta facies pulcrse ac splendidae dictionibus obnititur ei, qui potest quantum potest laudare ; Quem nemo convenienter laudat, nemo quomodocumque non laudat." It is to the ornate style, as it used to be called, that Vieyra alludes, amusingly enough, in an extract given at page 333. I am reminded of an anecdote of that great critic in sermons, Charles Simeon, to whom we have so often referred. A young composer of sermons was reading a discourse, for the purpose of obtaining the approbation of the author of the " Horae Homileticse." At length he reached the following passage : " Amidst the tumult and ecstasy of the children of Israel, the son of Amram stood unmoved." " The son of Amram V interrupted Simeon ; a the son of Amram ! who was he ?" " Why, sir, I meant Moses." "Then," thundered the critic, " if you meant Moses, why not say Moses ?" But we trust that common sense has very nearly banished this style of preaching from our pulpits. It is too true that the Clergy still preach far above the heads of their country congregations ; but it is from carelessness or from hurry, and not because they think it a mark of excellence, as the ornate school did, to be unintelligible. I would yet say a word or two on one peculiar class of sermons, to which we have not yet referred ; those preached at Visitations or before Synods. If till within lxxiv INTRODUCTION. the last twenty years we have gone on flattering ourselves that the Church of England was the very pattern and quintessence of apostolic purity, and that in so far as any other communion differed from it, so far it was at variance with the perfect model, there is now some little fear lest a few among us should run into the op- posite extreme, and imagine that never was any Church at such a distance from primitive excellence, nor so utterly infected with corruption. To any one who en- tertains these opinions, I would recommend a prescrip- tion, which should not involve any great degree of trouble, and which may have other advantages beside the specific one for which I would advise its adoption. I would prescribe a course of sermons, say of the eleventh or twelfth centuries, delivered to Synods, whether dio- cesan or provincial. It is curious to see how the same complaints have been made, in all ages, of remissness in supporting the faith, of negligence in the cure of souls, of degeneracy from primitive times. S. Hilde- bert, in addressing the Clergy of Angers or Tours; S. Fulbert, in his Diocesan Synods of Chartres; S. Norbert, preaching before the Priests of Magdeburg ; S. Anselm, in Normandy and at Canterbury ; S. Arnoul at Soissons ; S. Frederick at Utrecht : all bear witness to the same thing. True, it is with no uncertain sound that those Charges for the most part spoke. They were not quite of the same kind with that of a Clergyman who preached a Visitation sermon before Bishop North of Winchester, and chose for his subject, The Existence of a God. When it was afterwards gently hinted by some of his brethren that he might have chosen a more edifying topic, " Why," said he, " to tell you the truth, it was INTRODUCTION. lxXV the only subject of which I could think, on which we were likely to be agreed." Every one will remember the idea which, as Pugin tells us, he had at first formed of those Middle Ages : "holy priests, holy monks, happy people, holy every- body." It is, therefore, not without its value to see what sort of things were sermons addressed to the Clergy at a time when the discipline of the English Church was such as the famous ballad of the Abbat of Gloucester shows it to have been : — " Hoc est meum consulatis, Quod utrumque deponatis, — Et Prioris et Abbatis Ad sua piloria. " Absit, dicit alter clerus, Quia bibit paruui merus, Quod punitur tarn severus Per noster consortia : " Esset enim hoc riotus, Quod pro stultus horum potus Sustineret clerus totus Pudor et scandalia." Thus it is that Peter of Blois speaks to the Clergy of that era : — " O, how dreadful, how dangerous a thing, my brethren, is the administration of your office ! Ye are held to answer, not only for yourselves, but for the souls of those that are committed to you in the day of tremendous judgment ; and how shall he keep another man's conscience who cannot keep his own ? For conscience is an inscrutable abyss, a most obscure night ; and yet it is this night in which that lxXVi INTRODUCTION. miserable Priest is concerned, and about which he is occu- pied. ' Watchman, what of the night ? Watchman, what of the night ?' What will that Priest do who feels himself loaded with sins, involved in cares, infected with the vile- ness of carnal desires, blind, bowed down, infirm, pressed with a thousand difficulties, struggling against a thousand necessities, troubled with a thousand doubts, propense to vice, weak to virtue ? What will he do, the son of grief, the son of eternal despair, who neither kindles in himself nor in others the fire of charity ? Surely, he is prepared to be the food for the consumption of fire." Many are the thrilling passages which those old writers have when they are addressing their brother Clergy ; and many a lesson is to be learnt from such discourses, both curious historically, and interesting practically. So, from Lanfranc to Warham, we may trace the gradual corruption of discipline, the gradual rise of heresy, the fuller and fuller development of worldliness, the signs of the gathering storm, as early as the age of Henry V., the disregard shown of its warnings, and the final crash. Many and many a curious complaint, singularly like some of those of the present day, thus occur ; many and many such a passage as the following in Peter of Blois, which reads like a mediaevalised extract from the weekly newspapers of the present day. " There are some," says the Archdeacon, " who when they have begun a verse, think the time endless till they can get to its close; and so run the words one into another in their hurry, that in the honeycomb of the law remains neither wax nor honey. They gulp down a whole verse in one breath, and so gallop through the INTRODUCTION. lxXVli Lord's song, that they cut it down to half its length by clipping its words ; their lips are in the chant, but their hearts in the platter." And so in another place he says, " ' Let all those that seek Thee be joyful and glad in Thee ;' but those are not glad in God who make such inordinate clippings and slurrings, nor are clippings of this kind acceptable to the Lord." I have thus noted a few of the most striking charac- teristics of mediaeval sermons. Would that some of my brethren might be induced to try for themselves whether, by a little study of the writers whom Andrewes, and Donne, and Cosin, had in their hearts and memories, their own discourses would not be improved ; whether that which is now so often a grievous task, the making or repatching of the Saturday's sermons, would not become a profit and a pleasure, if they would but be at the trouble of first reading over what such authors as Rupert of Deutz, or Hugh of S. Victor, or Hrabanus Maurus, or, far greater than all, S. Bernard, have said on the same text ! It is useless to recommend, for general use, so large and expensive a work as the Bibliotheca Patrum Concionatoria of Combefis. But he that should have mastered that, would be stocked with the knowledge, and he that could be imbued with the spirit of the Rhetorica Sacra of Luiz de Granada, the masterwork on the subject, would be kindled into the spirit, of well-nigh a perfect preacher. >7- > - ' \ ? ■ ' MEDIAEVAL PREACHERS MEDIEVAL PREACHING. VENERABLE BEDE Was born in 672, and died in 735. His sermons are by no means the most interesting part of his works. There are, in the older editions, forty-seven on the course of the Church's year, exclusive of twenty-two for Lent ; forty- eight on Saints' days, and above twenty very short dis- courses, manifestly addressed to country congregations. "With the exception of these last, nearly all the sermons take the shape of expositions on the Gospel for the day ; and contain so little that can really be said to belong to Bede, that I have not thought it worth while to make any extracts from them. The short popular discourses were probably taken down by an admirer or disciple of the preacher. This is evident from the ungrammatical cha- racter of many of the sentences, the repetition of the same word, the substitution of the noun for the pronoun, and the like ; besides the excessive brevity of more than one frag- ment. It is curious to observe the difference of style between the writings of Bede and those of the Bede of France, S. Gregory of Tours ; the latter using Latin that B VENERABLE BEDE. hhd degenerated into a mere patois, but was still a living and spoken language ; the former writing it far more clas- sically, and thereby pioving— if proof were needed — that it was as completely a dead language in the England of his day, as in that of ours. I quote from the Cologne edition of 1688 (Vol. vii.) It is fair to add, that all the following sermons are rejected by Dr. Giles,, in his excellent edition of Venerable Bede. That edition, principally on the authority of a Boulogne MS., attributes only fifty to him,— those on the Gospels ; though he prints eight others. His one internal argument, " the great inequality not only in their length but also in their merit, the dulness of some contrasted with a certain liveliness of expression observable in others" — may easily be explained on the hypothesis that some were writ- ten, others delivered extempore, — and the latter committed to writing by more or less careful auditors. At all events these discourses, if not Bede's, are of the age of Bede ; and that, the authenticity of which is the most doubtful, for Sunday, is a very curious example of an attempt, by the relation of a legend, to impress a rustic auditory. SEEMON ON ALL SAINTS. (Page 149.) [This celebrated sermon, the crowning glory of the preacher, forms, in various extracts, the Lessons, in almost every Breviary, for the Festival to which it alludes ; and in many Churches it was read through during the course of the Octave.] To-day, beloved, we celebrate in the joy of one so- lemnity, the Festival of All Saints : in whose com- panionship the heaven exults; in whose guardianship the earth rejoices ; by whose triumphs Holy Church is crowned ; whose confession, as braver in its passion, is SERMON ON ALL SAINTS. 3 also brighter in its honour — because, while the battle increased, the glory of them that fought in it was also augmented. And the triumph of martyrdom is adorned with the manifold kind of its torments, because the more severe the pangs, the more illustrious also were the re- wards; while our Mother, the Catholic Church, was taught by her Head, Jesus Christ, not to fear con- tumely, affliction, death ; and more and more strength- ened, — not by resistance, but by endurance, — inspired all of that illustrious number who suffered imprisonment or torture, with one and equal ardour to fight the battle, for triumphal glory. O truly blessed Mother Church ! so illuminated by the honour of Divine condescension, so adorned by the glorious blood of triumphant martyrs, so decked with the inviolate confession of snow-white virginity ! Among its flowers, neither roses nor lilies are wanting. En- deavour now, beloved, each for yourselves, in each kind of honour, to obtain your own dignity — crowns, snow- white for chastity, or purple for passion. 1 In those hea- venly camps both peace and war have their own flowers, wherewith the soldiers of Christ are crowned. For the ineffable and unbounded goodness of God has provided this also, that the time for labour and for agony should not be extended, — not long, not enduring, but short, and so to speak, momentary : that in this short 1 To the same effect a sequence for S. Augustine's Day : — " Cum post peracta prselia Digna redduntur prsemia ; Pro passione rosea, Pro castitate Candida, Datur et torques aurea Pro doctrina Catholica." b2 4 VENERABLE BEDE. and little life should be the pain and the labours — that in the life which is eternal should be the crown and the reward of merits : that the labours should quickly come to an end, but the reward of endurance should remain without end : that after the darkness of this world they should behold that most beautiful light, and should re- ceive a blessedness greater than the bitterness of all pas- sions : as the Apostle beareth witness when he saith, The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us. With how joyous a breast the heavenly city receives those that return from fight ! How happily she meets them that bear the trophies of the conquered enemy ! With triumphant men, women also come, who rose superior both to this world and to their sex, doubling the glory of their warfare; virgins with youths, who surpassed their tender years by their virtues. Yet not they alone, but the rest of the multitude of the faithful shall also enter the palace of that eternal court, who in peaceful union have observed the heavenly command- ments, and have maintained the purity of the faith. Now, therefore, brethren, let us enter the way of life ; let us return to the celestial city, in which we are citizens, enrolled and inscribed. For we are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens of the saints, and of the household of God — heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ. The gates of this city are opened to us by fortitude ; and faith will afford us a broad entrance. Let us consider, therefore, the felicity of that heavenly habitation, in so far as it is possible to consider it : for to speak the truth, no words of man are sufficient to comprehend it. SERMON ON ALL SAINTS. 5 Of that city is written, in a certain place, thus : "that grief, and sorrow, and crying, shall flee away. What can be happier than that life, where there is no fear of poverty — no weakness of disease; where none can be hurt, none can be angry ; where none can envy, none can be impure ; where none can be tormented with the desire of honour, or the ambition of power? No fear there of the Devil; no snares there of evil spirits; no terror there of hell; no death there, either of soul or body, but a life blessed in the gift of immor- tality. No discord there for ever, but all things in harmony — all things in agreement : because there will be one concord of all saints — one peace, and one joy. Tranquil are all things there, and quiet. Perpetual is the splendour there : not such as the sunlight which now is, but both more glorious and more happy; be- cause that city, as we read, needeth not the light of the sun : for the Lord God giveth it light, and its Brightness is the Lamb. There, they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament ; and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever. 1 1 I cannot resist the temptation of quoting the parallel passage from the wonderfully beautiful poem of Bernard de Morley, " De Contemptu Mundi :" Luce replebere jam sine vespere, jam sine luna, Lux nova, lux ea, lux erit aurea, lux erit una : Gens bene vivida, vitaque florida, fons David undans : Lux erit aurea, terraque lactea, melle redundans : Lux ea vespere, gens lue, funere vita carebit ; Jesus habebitur, ipse tenebitur, ipse tenebit : Spe modo nitimur ; ubere pascimur hie, ibi pane : . Nox mala plurima dat : dabit intima gaudia mane : Jesus amantibus afferet omnibus alta trophea : Jesus amabitur, atque videbitur in Galilea. 6 VENERABLE BEDE. " Wherefore, there is no night there, — no darkness, no gathering of clouds, no asperity of cold or heat ; but such will be the nature of things as neither hath eye seen, nor the ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, except of those who are counted worthy to inherit it : whose names are written in the Book of Life ; who have both washed their robes in the Blood of the Lamb, and are before the Throne of God, and serve Him day and night. There is no old age there, nor misery of old age ; while all come to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ. 1 " But above all these things, is the being associated with the companies of Angels and Archangels, Thrones and Dominations, Principalities and Powers, and the enjoyment of the watches of all the celestial virtues : to behold the squadrons of the saints, adorned with stars; the Patriarchs, glittering with faith; the Pro- phets, rejoicing in hope ; the Apostles who, in the twelve tribes of Israel, shall judge the whole world ; the Mar- tyrs, decked with the purple diadems of victory ; the Virgins, also, with their wreaths of beauty. But of the King, Who is in the midst, no words are able to speak. That beauty, that virtue, that glory, that magnificence, that majesty, surpasses every expression — every sense of the human mind. For it is greater than the glory of all the saints, but to attain to that ineffable sight, and 1 The preacher is, of course, referring to that explanation of the text which would teach that, as our Loed rose again in the very best part of earthly life, so our bodies, at the Eesurrection, will be raised at the same age as His was : and to this purpose they also quote that text, Isaiah lxv. 20, " There shall be no more thence an infant of days?nor an old man that hath not filled his days : for the child shall die an hundred years old." SERMON ON ALL SAINTS. 7 to be made radiant with the splendour of His Counte- nance. It were worth while to suffer torments every day — it were worth while to endure hell itself for a season — so that we might behold Christ coming in glory, and be joined to the number of the saints. Is it not, then, well worth while to endure earthly sorrows, that we may be partakers of such good, and of such glory ?" What, beloved brethen, will be that glory of the righteous? What that great gladness of the saints, when every face shall shine as the sun ; when the Lord shall begin to count over in distinct orders His people, and to receive them into the kingdom of His Father, and to render to each the rewards promised to their merits and to ' their works, things heavenly, for things earthly; things eternal for things temporal; a great re- ward, for a little labour ; to introduce the saints to the vision of His Father's glory; and to make them sit down in heavenly places, to the end that God may be all in all; and to bestow on them that love Him that eternity which He hath promised to them — that im- mortality for which He has redeemed them by the quickening of His own Blood ; lastly, to restore them to Paradise, and to open the kingdom of heaven by the faith and verity of His promise. Let these things be engrafted firmly in our senses — be understood by the fulness of our faith — be loved with the whole heart — be acquired by perseverance of unceasing works. The thing itself lies in the power of him that acts : because the kingdom of heaven suffer eth violence. This thing, O man, that is, the kingdom of heaven, requires no other price than thyself. It is 8 VENERABLE BEDE. worth what thou art worth : give thyself, and thou shalt have that. Why shouldest thou be troubled about the price ? Christ surrendered Himself, that He might win thee as a kingdom to God the Father. In like manner, do thou give thyself, that thou mayest become His kingdom, that sin may not reign in thy mortal body, but that the Spirit may rule there, to the acquir- ing of life. Let it be our joy, then, to stretch forth after the palm of salutary works. Let us one and all willingly and readily strive in this contest of righteous- ness ; let us run with God and Christ for spectators ; and if we have already begun to rise superior to this world and this life, let us not allow our course to be retarded by any hankering after it. If the Last Day shall find us running without hindrance and swiftly in this race, the Lord will never deny remuneration to our merits. For He Who will give a purple crown for their passion to them that conquer in persecution, the same will bestow a snow-white diadem, according to the merits of their righteousness, to them that triumph in peace. For neither Abraham, nor Isaac, nor Jacob were slain ; and yet, honoured by the merits of their faith and righteousness, they were reckoned the first among the Patriarchs ; and whoever shall be found faithful, and just, and praiseworthy, shall sit down with them at the ban- quet These are the footsteps which all the saints, as they were returning to their Country, left behind, that, treading in their prints, we might also follow them in their joys. Let us consider that Paradise is our country, as well as theirs : and so we shall begin to reckon the Patriarchs as our fathers. Why do we not, then, hasten and run, THE ALLEGORY OF MERCY AND JUSTICE. 9 that we may behold our Country, and salute our pa- rents ? A great multitude of dear ones is there expect- ing us : a vast and mighty crowd of parents, brothers, and children, secure now of their own safety, anxious yet for our salvation, longs that we may come to their sight and embrace — to that joy which will be common to us and to them — to that pleasure expected by our celestial fellow-servants, as well as ourselves — to that full and perpetual felicity If it be a pleasure to go to them, let us eagerly and covetously hasten on our way, that we may soon be with them, and soon be with Christ ; that we may have Him as our Guide in this journey, Who is the Author of Salvation, the Prince of Life, the Giver of Gladness, and Who liveth and reigneth with God the Father Almighty, and with the Holy Ghost. THE MEETING OF MEECY AND JUSTICE. (Page 367.) [This allegory is from a sermon without a title, which has the last place but one among the shorter discourses which close the volume. Its rudeness and incompleteness would seem to mark it as extempore.] Psalm lxxxv. 10. Mercy and truth are met together. There was a certain Father of a family, a powerful King, who had four daughters, of whom one was called Mercy; the second, Truth; the third, Justice; the fourth, Peace : of whom it is said, Mercy and Truth are met together; Justice and Peace have kissed each other. He had also a certain most wise Son, to whom no one b3 10 VENERABLE BEDE. could be compared in wisdom. He had, also, a certain servant, whom he had exalted and enriched with great honour: for he had made him after his own likeness and similitude, and that without any preceding merit on the servant's part. But the lord, as is the custom with such wise masters, wished prudently to explore, and to become acquainted with, the character and the faith of his servant, whether he were trustworthy towards himself or not : so he gave him an easy commandment, and said, ' ' If you do what I tell you, I will exalt you to farther honours ; if not, you shall perish miserably." The servant heard the commandment, and without any delay, went and broke it. Why need I say more ? Why need I delay you by my words and by my tears ? This proud servant, stiff-necked, full of contumely, and puffed up with conceit, sought an excuse for his trans- gression, and retorted the whole fault on his Lord. For when he said, The woman whom thou gavest to be with me, she deceived me, he threw all the fault on his Maker. His Lord, more angry for such contumelious conduct, than for the transgression of his command, called four most cruel executioners, and commanded one of them to cast him into prison, another to behead him, the third to strangle him, and the fourth to afflict him with grievous torments. By and by, when occasion offers, I will give you the right name of these tormentors. These torturers, then, studying how they might carry out their own cruelty, took the wretched man and began to afflict him with all manner of punishments. But one of the daughters of the King, by name Mercy, when she had heard of this punishment of the servant, ran hastily to the prison, and looking in and seeing the man given THE ALLEGORY OF MERCY AND JUSTICE. 11 over to the tormentors, could not help having compas- sion upon him, for it is the property of Mercy to have mercy. She tore her garments and struck her hands together, and let her hair fall loose about her neck, and crying and shrieking, ran to her father, and kneeling before his feet began to say with an earnest and sor- rowful voice : " My beloved father, am not I thy daugh- ter Mercy ? and art not thou called merciful ? If thou art merciful, have mercy upon thy servant ; and if thou wilt not have mercy upon him, thou canst not be called merciful ; and if thou art not merciful, thou canst not have me, Mercy, for thy daughter." While she was thus arguing with her father, her sister Truth came up, and demanded why it was that Mercy was weeping. " Your sister Mercy," replied the father, " wishes me to have pity upon that proud transgressor whose punish- ment I have appointed." Truth, when she heard this, was excessively angry, and looking sternly at her father, " Am not I" said she, ' ' thy daughter Truth ? art not thou called true ? Is it not true that thou didst fix a punishment for him, and threaten him with death by torments ? If thou art true, thou wilt follow that which is true j if thou dost not follow it, thou canst not be true ; if thou art not true, thou canst not have me, Truth, for thy daughter." Here, you see, Mercy and Truth are met together. The third sister, namely, Justice, hearing this strife, contention, quarrelling, and pleading, and summoned by the outcry, began to inquire the cause from Truth. And Truth, who could only speak that which was true, said, " This sister of ours, Mercy, if she ought to be called a sister who does not agree with us, desires that our father should have pity on that proud 12 VENERABLE BEDE. transgressor/' Then Justice, with an angry counte- nance, and meditating on a grief which she had not expected, said to her father, " Am not I thy daughter Justice ? art thou not called just ? If thou art just, thou wilt exercise justice on the transgressor ; if thou dost not exercise that justice, thou canst not be just ; if thou art not just, thou canst not have me, Justice, for thy daughter." So here were Truth and Justice on the one side, and Mercy on the other. 1 Ultima ccelicolum terras Astrcea reliquit : this means, that Peace fled into a far distant country. For where there is strife and con- tention, there is no peace ; and by how much greater the contention, by so much further Peace is driven away. Peace, therefore, being lost, and his three daughters in warm discussion, the King found it an extremely difficult matter to determine what he should do, or to which side he should lean. For, if he gave ear to Mercy, he would offend Truth and Justice : if he gave ear to Truth and Justice, he could not have Mercy for his daughter : and yet it was necessary that he should be both merciful and just, and peaceful and true. There was great need then of good advice. The Father there- fore called his wise Son, and consulted him about the affair. Said the Son, " Give me, my Father, this present business to manage, and I will both punish the trans- gressor for thee, and will bring back to thee in peace thy four daughters." " These are great promises," re- plied the Father, ' ' if the deed only agrees with the word. If thou canst do that which thou sayest, I will act as thou shalt exhort me." 1 The passage is so corrupt as to make no sense ; but something like this must be the meaning.. THE ALLEGORY OF MERCY AND JUSTICE. 13 Having therefore received the royal mandate, the Son took his sister Mercy along with him, and leaping upon the mountains, passing over the hills, came to the prison, and looking through the windows, looking through the lattice, he beheld the imprisoned servant, shut ont from the pre- sent life, devoured of affliction, and from the sole of the foot even to the crown there was no soundness in him. He saw him in the power of death, because through him death entered into the world. He saw him devoured, because, when a man is once dead, he is eaten of worms. And because I now have an opportunity of telling you, you shall hear the names of the four tormentors. The first, who put him in prison, is the Prison of the present life, of which it is said, Woe is me that I am constrained to dwell in Mesech : the second, who tormented him, is the Misery of the World, which besets us with all kind of pain and wretchedness : the third, who was putting him to death, is Death, which destroys and slays all : the fourth, who was devouring him, is the Worm. . . . Therefore the Son, beholding his servant given over to these four tormentors, could not but have mercy upon him, because Mercy was his companion, and bursting into the prison of death, conquered death, bound the strong man, took his goods, and distributed the spoils. And ascending up on high, led captivity captive and gave gifts for men, and brought back the servant into his Country, crowned with double honour, and endued with a gar- ment of immortality. When Mercy beheld this, she had no grounds for complaint. Truth found no cause of discontent, because her Father was found true. The servant had paid all his penalties. Justice in like man- ner complained not, because justice had been executed 14 VENERABLE BEDE. on the transgressor : and thns he who had been lost was found. Peace, therefore, when she saw her sisters at concord, came back and nnited them. And now, be- hold, Mercy and Truth are met together, Justice and Peace have kissed each other. Thns, therefore, by the Mediator of men and angels, man was purified and reconciled, and the hundredth sheep was brought back to the fold of God. To which fold Jesus Christ bring us, to Whom is honour and power everlasting. Amen. (A SEEMON FOE ANY DAY. (Page 366.) Beloved brethren, it is time to pass from evil to good, from darkness to light, from this most unfaithful world to everlasting joys, lest that day take us unawares in which our Lord Jesus Christ shall come to make the round world a desert, and to give over to everlasting { punishment sinners who would not repent of the sins which they did. There is a great sin in lying, as saith Solomon, The lips which lie, slay the soul. The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God, no more doth his covetousness. Whence the Apostle saith, The love * of money and pride are the root of all evil. Pride, by which that apostate angel fell, who, as it is read in the prophecy, despised the beginning of the ways of God. 1 1 Probably by the misunderstanding of the auditor who took down this sermon, the preacher quotes Job xl. 19, falsely. Behemoth does not despise the beginning of the ways of God, but is himself the be- ginning, or, as our translation has it, the chief, of those ways. The two next quotations are, of course, equally erroneous. A SERMON FOR ANY DAY. 15 How art thou fallen from heaven ! We must avoid pride, which had power to deceive angels ; how much more /*> will it have power to deceive men ! And we ought to fear envy, by which the devil deceived the first man, as it is written, Christ was crucified through envy, therefore he that envieth his neighbour crucifieth Christ. See that ye always expect the Advent of the Judge 7^ with fear and trembling, lest He should find us unpre- pared ; because the Apostle saith, My days shall come as a thief in the night. Woe to them whom it shall find sleeping in sins, for then, as we read in the Gospel, He shall gather all nations, and shall separate them one from $ the other, as a shepherd divideth the sheep from the goats. Then shall the King say unto them on His right hand, Come, ye blessed of My Father, where there is no grief nor sorrow, where there is no other sound but love, and peace, and -everlasting gladness with all the elect of God, |r where no good thing can be wanting. Then shall the righteous answer and say, Lord, why hast Thou pre- pared such glory and such good things ? He shall an- swer, For mercy, for faith, and piety, and truth, and the > like. Lord, when didst Thou see these good things in us ? * The Lord shall answer, Verily, I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My breth- ren, ye have done it unto Me, and what ye did in secret, I will reward openly. Then shall the King say unto them on His left hand, Depart from Me, ye cursed, into ever- w lasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, and tears of eyes : where death is desired and comes not ; where the worm dieth not and the fire is not quenched ; where is no joy, but sorrow ; where is no rest, except pain ; where no- 4 ^ 16 VENERABLE BEDE. thing is heard but lamentation. Then they also shall answer and say, Lord, why hast Thou prepared such punishments for us ? For your iniquity and malignity, the Lord shall say. * Therefore, my brethren, I beseech you, that they who are in the habit of good works would persevere in every good work ; and that they who are evil would amend themselves quickly, before sudden death come upon them. While therefore we have time, let us do good to all men, and let us leave off doing ill, that we may *p attain to eternal life. A SEEMON FOE SUNDAYS. (Page 362.) The Sunday is a chosen day, in which the angels rejoice. We must ask who was the first to request that souls might [on the Sunday] have rest in hell ; and the answer is that Paul the Apostle and Michael the Arch- angel besought the Lord when they came back from hell; for it was the Lord's will that Paul should see the punishments of that place. He beheld trees all on fire, and sinners tormented on those trees; and some were hung by their feet, some by their hands, some by the hair, some by the neck, some by the tongue, and some by the arm. And again, he saw a furnace of fire burning with seven flames, and many were punished in it ; and there were seven plagues round about this fur- nace : the first, snow ; the second, ice ; the third, fire ; the fourth, blood; the fifth, serpents; the sixth, light- THE TORMENTS OF HELL. 17 ning; the seventh,, stench; and in that furnace itself were the souls of the sinners who repented not in this hfe. There they are tormented, and every one receiveth according to his works : some weep, some howl, some groan; some burn and desire to have rest, but find it not, because souls can never die. Truly we ought to fear that place in which is everlasting dolour, in which is groaning, in which is sadness without joy, in which are abundance of tears on account of the tor- tures of souls ; in which a fiery wheel is turned a thou- sand times every day by an evil angel, and at each turn a thousand souls are burnt upon it. After this he be- held a horrible river, in which were many diabolic beasts, like fishes in the midst of the sea, which devour the souls of sinners ; and over that river there is a bridge, across which righteous souls pass without dread, while the souls of sinners suffer each one according to its merits. There Paul beheld many souls of sinners plunged, some to the knees, some to the loins, some to the mouth, some to the eyebrows ; and every day and eternally they are tormented. And Paul wept, and asked who they were that were therein plunged to the knees. And the Angel said, These are detractors and evil speakers ; and those up to the loins are fornicators and adulterers, who returned not to repentance ; and those to the mouth are they who went to Church, but they heard not the word of God ; and those to the eyebrows are they who rejoiced in the wickedness of their neighbour And after this, he -saw between heaven and earth the soul of a sinner, howling betwixt seven devils, that had on that day departed from the body. And the Angels cried out 18 VENERABLE BEDE. against it and said,, Woe to thee, wretched soul ! What hast thou done upon earth? Thou hast despised the commandments of God, and hast done no good works ; and therefore thou shalt be cast into outer darkness, where shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And after this, in one moment, angels carried a soul from its body to heaven ; and Paul heard the voice of a thousand angels rejoicing over it, and saying, O most happy and blessed soul ! rejoice to-day, because thou hast done the will of God. And they set it in the Presence of God. .... And the angel said, Whoso keepeth the Sunday shall have his part with the angels of God. And Paul demanded of the angel, how many kinds of punishment there were in hell. And the angel said, There are a hundred and forty-four thousand; and if there were a hundred eloquent men, each having four iron tongues, that spoke from the beginning of the world, they could not reckon up the torments of hell. But let us, beloved brethren, hearing of these so great torments, be con- verted to our Lord, that we may be able to reign with the angels. 1 1 This sermon reminds one of those horribly grotesque representations of hell which formed so conspicuous a portion of the great doom, pro- bably even in Anglo-Saxon times, as so universally afterwards, painted in parish churches. And, indeed, it is easy to see that the painter, in many cases, had this description of Bede's before his eyes ; and more particularly as regards "the diabolic beasts" that devoured the souls in the river of fire. As a contrast to this manner of treating the subject, some stanzas may be quoted from the exhortation to repentance of Dominic the Carthusian. There no time is for repenting, There no season for relenting, There no place escape presenting, For the sinner will remain : THE TORMENTS OF HELL. 19 Up thou strivest, down they chase thee, From the dark abyss they raise thee, And before the Judge they place thee ; All, alas ! will be in vain. Conscience bearing attestation To her own prevarication, Can in heaven's condemnation Nought but even justice find : Then such forms of wrath address her, And with pains so sore distress her, That the soul, such griefs oppress her, Maddens into fury blind. Fire and frosty tempest roaring, Dark and sulphury vapours soaring, Wretched souls their fate deploring, And their poison-cup of woe : Dragons, death without conclusion, Famine, demons, toads, delusion, Bitter suffering and confusion Ever fresh upon them throw. There so many gloomy places, There such torments and disgraces, That the world's remotest spaces, And whate'er is visible, Are but little to be feared, Nor may be with them compared ; — These, to wit, may be declared, Those are indescribable. S. BONIFACE, Apostle of Germany. a.d. 680—754. It is scarcely necessary to relate at any length the life and missionary labours of Winifred, better known as Boniface. Born in England about the year 680, he traversed Friesland and Germany, and so visited Rome. By Gregory II. he was received with great favour; assumed, to please that Pontiff, another name, and by him was constituted the coadjutor of S. "Wilibrord, in the see of Iltrecht. Hence his labours were extended to Bavaria and Thuringia ; and after founding the celebrated Abbey of Fulda, he fixed his see first at Cologne, and then at Mayence. After a long life thus spent in the service of God, he again returned into Friesland, — telling his disciples that he was going to his death. I have visited Dokkum, and the " Moordwoude," — the wood of murder, where, with fifty-one companions, he received the crown of martyrdom from the pagan Fries- landers ; and the " Fasbrunn," — the Fountain of S. Boniface — with its three sources, that, even in a Calvinist country, has preserved its reputation for healing virtues. The sermons of S. Boniface, fifteen in number, are only so far valuable, as showing how so great a missionary found it expedient to preach to his rude auditors ; — and that here translated may serve as a specimen of all. It is probable, from the colloquial and ungrammatical style of the sermons, 22 S. BONIFACE. that they were not translated from the vernacular by the Saint himself, whose Epistles are written somewhat more correctly, but by one of his auditors. It is scarcely possible to imagine that even if delivered to a Romance people, they could have been intelligible as we have them now. I have employed Dr. Giles's edition. SERMON 5.— OF EAITH AND THE WORKS OF LOVE. I admonish you to remember what you promised to God Almighty in your Baptism ; first of all, to believe in God the Father Almighty, and in Jesus Christ His Son, and in the Holy Ghost — One Almighty God in perfect Trinity. But since it is written, Faith without works is dead, and lie who knows God must keep the commandments; these are the commandments of God which we admonish you to do and keep : to love the God Whom you have confessed with all your heart, and with all your mind, and with all your strength ; and your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and its perfection is love ; and, therefore, that ye may be able to attain this love, which is God, Be at peace, as the Apostle says, with all ; and, as the Lord says, Love the peace and the truth. Have patience, because the Lord saith, In your patience possess ye your souls. Have mercy, because the Lord hath taught, Be ye therefore merciful, as your Fa- ther Which is in heaven is merciful. And again, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Be kind, as the Apostle commands, Be ye kind one to another, OF FAITH AND THE WORKS OF LOVE. 23 long-suffering, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Be chaste, as the Apostle says, Follow peace and chastity, without which no man shall see God. Be unpolluted in heart and body, because God saith, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Keep your faith in marriage, be- cause the Lord saith, That which God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. Let husbands love their wives with all purity, as the Apostle commands, Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church. Let wives be in subjection to their own husbands, because God saith to the woman, Thy desire shall be to thine husband, and he shall rule over thee. Teach your children to fear God : in like manner, also, exhort your family, and all your neighbours, to do good works, lest any one should be lost to God through your negligence ; because it is written, He that converteth a sinner from the error of his ways shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins. Invite those that are in enmity to concord, be- cause, Blessed are the feet of them that proclaim peace. He that hears causes, let him judge righteously; for God saith, Judge thy neighbour righteously. And again, With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged. Ye shall not receive gifts, because the Word of God saith, They blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the just ; and the Lord saith that the man shall dwell in His tabernacle — that is, in His kingdom — who hath not taken reward against the innocent. Observe the Sunday, and hasten to church, because in it Christ arose from the dead, that He might set us an example of our own Resurrection. There pray, and diligently guard against idle stories and much talking, 24 S. BONIFACE. because it is written. My house is the house of prayer. Therefore, you ought to pray there, and not to gossip uselessly. Give alms according to your power, because, As water extinguisheth fire, so do alms put away sin. Be hospitable one to another, because the Lord will say in the Judgment, i" was a stranger, and ye took Me in. Whence also some have received angels unawares. Take in strangers, and remember that ye yourselves are strangers in this world. Visit the sick, because the Lord will say, / was sick, and ye visited Me. Minister to the widow and to the orphan, because the Lord will say, That which ye did unto one of the least of these, ye did it unto Me. Give the tithes to the Church, because the Lord commands, saying, Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, — that is, taxes and tribute, — and unto God the things which are God's, — that is, tithes, and first-fruits, and all your vows, as the Lord commands, Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye also unto them; and whatsoever ye would that men should not do unto you, do ye not unto them : for this is the law and the prophets. If ye accomplish this love one towards another, ye will fulfil all the commandments. Fear God alone everywhere, and honour the king, be- cause, as it is written, There is no power but of God ; the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, resist eth the power, resist eth the ordinance of God. There- fore, obey these pious commandments. Refuse not just tribute, as the Apostle enjoins, Tribute to whom tribute, custom to whom custom. Ye who are servants according to the flesh, obey your masters as the Apostle commands, not with eye-service, as men-pleasers, but with a good faith and a single heart. And ye, masters, do the same things to OF FAITH AND THE WORKS OF LOVE. 25 them, keeping for them justice and mercy, knowing that their Master and yours is in heaven. Have the Lord's Prayer by heart, because in it every necessity of the present and future life is briefly and fully summed up; and Christ taught it, and therefore it is called the Lord's ; and He commanded that we should so pray. Have also the Creed by heart, because it is written, Without faith, it is impossible to please God. And, therefore, do yourselves as is there said ; believe, and deliver this same faith to your children, and to those also for whom you have been sponsors in Baptism ; because you were their sponsors to this end, that they might learn thus to believe by your teaching. Know, also, that ye ought to be baptized once, and no more ; once, and no more, to come to confirmation; because the Apostles also laid their hands once on them that believed, that they might receive the Holy Ghost. Love chiefly the usual and public fasts, because by abstinence and the almsgiving of the people God is pleased, as He spared the Ninevites who fasted for three days. Love justice, as it is written, Love justice, ye who judge the earth. Consent not to the persuasions of the devil ; but, as the Apostle commands, Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Receive often the Communion of the Body and Blood of your Lord. These, my beloved brethren, are the works of faith, which ought to be observed in common by all Chris- tians ; and whosoever will not be a partaker of them in this world, can never be a partaker of the kingdom of God in the world to come. And we humbly and lowly, yet, nevertheless, incited by your love and care, have enumerated these things to you, that no one may excuse c 26 S. BONIFACE. himself, saying, I cannot distinguish between good and evil, between right and wrong; I know not what to leave alone, and what to do. Now, therefore, depart from evil, as it is written, and do good; seek peace, and ensue it ; which, if ye shall do, the Lord will increase in you understanding and virtue, that ye may be able to learn and to fulfil the higher and greater Divine statutes, and will not only forgive you your sins, if ye persevere in these works to the end, but will also give to you, as to His own children, the eternal and heavenly kingdom, that ye may be, as the Apostle says, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ. Believe, also, that Christ, the Son of God, will come at the Day of Judgment, to judge the quick and the dead ; as He Himself, when He went up into heaven, declared to His Apostles by the Angels, which said, He shall come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven. Then all flesh shall behold Him, as the Prophet saith, All flesh shall see the glory of God. The wicked shall see, that they may fear Him Whom they despise ; but they shall not rejoice, because they had no joy in Him here ; as it is written, Let the wicked be taken away, that he see not the glory of God} Then the righteous shall be severed from the wicked, though in this world they were oppressed by them : the wicked, "that they may be punished with the devil in the punishment of his dungeons; the just, that in the kingdom of God they may rejoice with Him. The wicked shall receive their bodies again, that, as on earth they sinned in them, so with them they may be tormented for evermore. The righteous shall receive their bodies, that, as on earth 1 Isa. xxvi. 10. (Vulgate.) OF FAITH AND THE WORKS OF LOVE. 27 they served God faithfully in them, so in them they may receive their reward from the loving kindness of God. All shall then arise, as the Apostle saith, We shall all rise, but we shall not all be changed, because the just only will be changed into glory : then, as the Truth saith, The wicked shall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father ; there shall be life with God, without the fear of death ; there, unending light, and never darkness ; there, safety, which no sickness disturbs ; there, unfailing fulness for them who now hunger and thirst after righteousness ; there, happiness which no fear corrupts; there, joy which no sorrow consumes ; there, eternal glory with angels and archangels, with patriarchs and prophets, with confessors, and with the holy virgins who follow Christ whitherso- ever He goeth; there are things greater and better, sweeter and more pleasant, more delightful and more lovely, which are given to the saints, than can be spoken or thought : because, as saith the Apostle, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, the joys which God hath prepared for them that love Him : to which joys may He bring you Who created you. These things, my little children, — these things, my beloved brethren, — which I, a sinner, have humbly suggested to you by my words, may the Al- mighty Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, speak more savingly by His power into your senses and hearts : Who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen. c2 S. HRABANUS MAURUS. a.d. 776—856. Heabanus Maubtts, the most learned writer of the ninth century, was born at Mayence, and educated in the then celebrated monastery of Fulda. Ordained a deacon, he was sent to Tours, to study under the famous Alcuin, who gave him his surname of Maurus. Eeturning to Fulda, he taught there with considerable reputation ; and reckoned among his disciples Odfrid, a monk of Wissenburg, near Spires, who was the first to translate the Holy Scriptures into the ver- nacular Tudesque. In process of time Hraban became Abbat of Fulda, which he raised to its highest pitch of re- putation, having one hundred and fifty monks under him, and enriching the library with one of the first collections of books then existing in Europe. During the twenty years that he held this office, he composed the greater part of those voluminous works, which have been published in six enormous folio volumes. At the end of that time he re- signed his dignity, and retired into a cell near the monastery, from whence he was forced, much against his will, by Louis le Debonnaire. That monarch obliged him, when nearly seventy, to accept the Archbishopric of Mayence. Here he distinguished himself by his maintenance of discipline and promotion of learning. One canon passed in his first council bears directly on our more immediate subject. It enacts that every Bishop shall possess a collection of homilies for the instruction of the people, and shall have them translated 30 S. HRABANUS MAURUS. into Komance and into Tudesque ; so that his flock, which- ever might be their native language, should be able to com- prehend them. Having filled the see with great reputation during eight years, and having especially distinguished him- self by his charity in the terrible famine that devastated Germany in 850, he was called to his rest on the 4th of February, 856. We are concerned only with his sermons, which occupy one hundred and sixty pages of the fifth volume of his works. They scarcely profess to contain anything original, and con- sist almost entirely of extracts from the Fathers, put to- gether for the benefit of those who did not possess their works. A friend, to whom he dedicated one among his numerous commentaries, Freculf, Bishop of Lisieux, was in such want of books, as not even to possess an entire copy of the Bible. As a writer, therefore, Hrabanus must be judged by the circumstances of those for whom he composed his homilies, and by the necessities of the times. His object in writing is very well explained in the dedication prefixed to the first part of his sermons. S. Hrabanus explains the motives from which he undertook the composition of his Homilies. To the holy and venerable Father Haistulf, Archbishop, 1 Hrabanus, a poor servant of the servants of God. In obe- dience to your commands, I have composed a book of ser- mons to be preached to the people, on all subjects which I considered necessary for them. That is, firstly, in what manner they ought to observe the principal festivals which occur in the course of the year, so that, giving themselves leisure from worldly business, they should seek for no leisure from hearing the "Word of God ; but, knowing the will of God, should endeavour to accomplish it by their works. 1 Haistulf was Archbishop of Mayence, and the predecessor but one of Hrabanus himself in that see. S. HRABANUS MAURUS. 31 After that, we have written discourses for them concerning the various kinds of virtue ; that is, faith, hope, and charity, chastity, continence, and every other kind ; how, following after them and observing them, they may please God, and may be able to obtain life eternal in heaven with the holy angels. And after this we have added another series of dis- courses on the various seductions of errors and vices with which the Ancient Enemy deludes and deceives the human race ; that is, concerning the evil of pride and arrogance, anger, envy, deceit, avarice, gluttony, adultery, and the like, which are set down in the place referred to, to the end that the sheep of Christ may know how they may be able to avoid the ravages of that most ferocious wolf and dragon, and being forewarned, may be forearmed. But since I could not, through the variety of my occupations, publish all these at one time, but, as opportunity allowed, sent them separately to you ; I now request you to have them collected into one volume, and to let this epistle, with the follow- ing list, be placed at their head : so that readers may know, should they find any profit from them, that it arises not from my diligence in study, but from my obedience to your commands. And this I would principally request as my recompense, that, whenever you give this work to pious persons, either to read or to preach, you would desire them to assist my frailty by their prayers to the Most Righteous Judge, that I may, by His grace, for a long 1 time run the course of the present life, and may merit to attain happily to future blessedness. 1 This prayer for a long life, which has somewhat a strange sound in the mouth of a saint and a philosopher like Hrabanus, may at all events show that the sermons we are considering were undertaken early in his career. 32 S. HRABANUS MAURUS. A SEEMON FOE SUNDAYS. (Vol. 5, page 604.) You must know, beloved brethren, that our holy fa- thers ordained and commanded to all Christians to rest and to abstain from worldly labours on the Festivals of the Saints, but more especially on the Sundays, that they might be more ready and more prompt for the worship of God, and might not be exposed to any in- convenience that should hold them back from it ; and that they might for a time dismiss all worldly anxiety, so as more easily to be able to understand the will of God. Whence the Lord Himself saith by the Prophet, Be still then, and know that I am God. But for those who are implicated in diverse cares and businesses, and despise this commandment of God, and have no leisure for Divine contemplation, I fear lest in the future judg- ment, when they knock at the door of the Lord and demand that it should be opened to them, the answer should be, Verily, I say unto you, I know you not : depart from Me, all ye that work iniquity ; and that they who now neglect God, should then be rejected by Him. Wherefore, my brethren, do not find it a trouble to attend to God's worship on the Sundays and the Festivals of Saints. The Apostles and apostolic men ordained that the Sunday should be kept holy for this reason ; be- cause it was on that day that our Eedeemer rose from the dead. And it is therefore called the Lord's Day, that we, abstaining from earthly business and the snares of this world, may serve God only; giving honour and A SERMON FOR SUNDAYS. 33 reverence to this day on account of the hope of our Re- surrection which we have in it. For, as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ rose again the third day from the dead, so we also hope that we shall arise at the last day. It appears also in Holy Scripture that the day is holy ; it was the first day of all ; in it were formed the elements of the world : in it the angels were created : in it Christ also rose from the dead : in it the Holy Ghost came down from heaven upon the Apostles : in it manna was first given from heaven in the desert. From such proofs as these, Sunday comes before us as an illustrious day ; and the holy doctors of the Church or- dained us to transfer all the glory of the Jewish Sabbath to it. What they did in figure, we may do in reality ; because then will be our true rest when the resurrection shall have been accomplished, and our remuneration both in soul and body perfected. Let us observe, therefore, brethren, the Sunday, and sanctify it, as it was commanded the Jews concerning their Sabbath, for their lawgiver said, From evening to evening ye shall observe your Sabbaths. Let us see there- fore that our rest be not in vain ; but from the evening of the Saturday 1 to the evening of the Sunday, have nothing to do with any country work, or any other busi- ness, and give yourself up to God's worship only. Thus shall we rightly sanctify the Sabbath of the Lord, ac- cording to His commandment, Ye shall do no work in it. Let every one therefore who can, come to vespers and to 1 This commencement of the Sunday on Saturday evening seems to have widely obtained through the empire of Charlemagne, and is insisted on by more than one Council of the eighth and ninth centuries. c 3 34 S. HRABANUS MAURUS. nocturns, 1 and there pray in the congregation of the Church, confessing his sins to God. And he who can- not do so much, at least let him pray in his own house, and not neglect to pay his vows to God, and to render the service due to Him. And, on the day itself, let no one fail to attend the holy celebration of Mass, nor remain idle at home, when others are going to church ; let no man occupy himself about hunting, and engage in the devil's work; nor roam about the fields and woods, shouting and laughing, instead of raising from his heart sighs and prayers to God. And (what is yet more detestable) some who come to church, neither enter, nor pray, nor wait with silence for the celebra- tion of Mass; but when the lessons are being read within, they are either transacting law business, 2 or indulging in calumny without, or giving themselves up to dice or to useless games. Sometimes also (which is even yet worse), some give way to excessive passion, and strive furiously so as to use arms or clubs, and even to commit murder. And this takes place among those who, full of envy and hatred, having the devil as their 1 A remarkable proof that nocturns were still a public service. 2 Aut causas dicere. If this expression had stood by itself, I should have translated it "gossiping." For causa in mediaeval Latin, like its derivatives, chose in French, and cousa in Portuguese, often means simply a thing : and so, in a Mystery published by Du Meril : Die tu, David, de nepote Causas quce sunt tibi notae. Hence, by an easy change, a thing to gossip about : whence the French causer. But in the same sermon this passage occurs : " Causas in fes- tivitatibus nolite dicere aut audire ; sed alio tempore, et cum justitia ; nee, munera accipiendo, subvertite judicia justa :" which appears to settle the meaning of the words we are now considering. A SERMON FOR SUNDAYS. 35 guide, go to church, not that they may benefit them- selves, but that they may hurt others. If such an one there perishes by murder, or is hurried off by sudden death, where else will he go than with him whose foot- steps he was following to eternal punishment ? Do not such things as these, my brethren ; do not deceive your- selves ; do not, when you are gathered together, give place to the devil, but rather prepare yourselves as a dwelling-place for Christ. Do not give your attention, outside, to vain talk ; but within to psalms and prayers. Do not talk to each other in church, but be quiet. For there are many, and principally women, who so chatter in church, who so keep on talking, that they neither hear the lessons themselves, nor allow others to hear them. Such an assembling together after such a fashion ought not, my brethren, to be in the house of God ; we ought not thus to stand in the presence of God and of His holy angels. Furthermore, I wish to complain to you of that which is a subject of great grief. There are some, and they principally the mighty men of this world, who, when they come to church, are not devout in celebrating the praises of God, but oblige the Priest to shorten the Mass 1 and to sing it as they choose ; nor is he able to follow out the rite of the Church on account of their gluttony and avarice ; and they thus allot one moment of the day to the service of God, and all the rest of it, and the night also, to their own pleasures I beseech you, beloved fathers and mothers, brothers 1 S. Hraban is here referring to that abbreviated form of Mass called Hunting Mass, of which complaint is so often made by mediaeval writers. 36 S. HRABANUS MAURUS. and sisters, by the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by His coming Kingdom and Judgment, that ye withdraw yourselves from every man who walks dis- orderly, that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called ; and that ye neglect not the honour which ye have received, but constantly keep in mind the re- demption which is in Christ Jesus. Ye are called the sons of God, because the true Son of God hath set you free. Study by a good life to please such a Father, to the end that He may not deliver you as most evil ser- vants to everlasting punishment, but may bring you as dear children to our heavenly Country, that ye may be coheirs of His Son Jesus Christ. AGAINST THOSE WHO KAISE AN OUTCRY DUEING AN ECLIPSE OF THE MOON. [It is very clear from the Councils held in France and Germany dur- ing the seventh, eighth, and ninth centuries, that considerable remains of paganism existed in the wilder parts of both those countries. Thus, even in the eighth century, it was not a very unusual practice to offer a village sacrifice, on the Thursday, to Jupiter. S. Hrabanus, who was separated from S. Boniface, the Apostle of Germany, by less than half a century, found many of these relics of paganism to be eradicated, as the following curious opening of one of his Homilies (Vol. v., p. 605) will show.] It is a great joy to me, beloved brethren, that I see you love, the name of Christians, frequent the churches, seek the Baptism of Christ for your sons and daughters, and study the worship of the true God ; but it grieves me exceedingly that I see many of you implicated in certain follies, going astray, and mixing among the ON AN ECLIPSE OF THE MOON. 37 truths of the Christian religion certain false things, which in no wise should be done. For it is written, a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump. When, some days since, I was sitting quietly at home, and thinking how I might assist your progress in the Lord, suddenly, about evening, and at nightfall, there was such a voci- feration of the people, that the irreligious sound pene- trated even to heaven. I asked what the noise meant. They told me that there was an eclipse of the moon, and that your shouts and endeavours were intended to assist it in its distress. I laughed, and wondered at your folly that, like devoted Christians, you were offer- ing your assistance to God; as if, forsooth, He were weak and helpless unless He were assisted by your cries, and could not defend the lights which He Himself created. Next morning I inquired from those who came to visit me, if they had ever seen any thing similar. They replied, that they had not only known the like, but worse things in the places where they lived. One said that he had heard the blowing of horns, as if encouraging to the battle ; another, the grunting of pigs ; some told me that they had seen men casting javelins and arrows against the moon ; that others scattered flakes of fire towards the sky, and affirmed that some terrible monster was destroying that orb, and but for this help would entirely devour it ; that some, in order to satisfy the illusion of the demons, cut down their hedges and broke all the vessels they had in their houses, as if that would assist the moon in her eclipse. What madness is this, brethren ! what in- sanity ! Are ye stronger than God, that ye endeavour to fight for Him ? Are your swine more powerful than 38 S. HRABANUS MAURUS. His angels, that their grunting is needed ? How can ye bring help to the heaven and the stars, who are not able to protect yourselves on the earth ? Why are dust and ashes proud ? For it is written, No man hath power over his own life : the breath of man goeth forth and he is turned again to his dust. — What shall I say, brethren ? Shall I praise you in this ? I praise you not, since, being deceived by the devil, ye are devoted in no small degree to pagan errors. And whence is this, except from the pagans whose company ye love and whose cus- toms ye imitate ? I have often forbidden you to consort with them, or to take part in their abominable feasts ; but avarice hinders you from obeying me. Ye love money, and are not afraid of hell. Ye seek the de- lights of the body, and neglect the eternal salvation of the soul ; therefore, ye can neither have health of soul nor body, because, as saith the Apostle Paul, for this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. AN EASTEE SEEMON. ) (Vol. 5, page 589.) Our Passover, beloved, is the Resurrection of Christ. This passing over, is from death to life — from Passion to Glory — from Hell to Paradise. In that Christ died, our death is destroyed ; and in that He arose, He hath given us the power of rising, and has made us pass over from unbelief to the Catholic faith ; from idolatry, to the worship of one God; from sin, to righteousness; from error, to truth ; from discord, to peace ; from being AN EASTER SERMON. 39 unprofitable servants, and bond-slaves of the Devil, into the number of the sons of God ; from our exile, to our country ; from the pain, to the crown. And therefore the Passover of Christ is the kingdom of heaven ; the sal- vation of the world ; the overthrow of hell ; the glory of heavenly powers ; the life of believers ; the Resurrec- tion of the dead ; the testimony of Divine mercy ; the price of human Redemption; the utter destruction 1 of death. Which Festival, hallowed by the Mystery of God, points out among the angels, and manifests among men, the virtue of the Lord's Resurrection, and mul- tiplies good things in the hearts of them that believe. This, then, is the day which the Psalmist long ago foretold, saying, This is the day which the Lord hath made : we will rejoice and be glad in it. More lofty than all — more resplendent than any; in which the Lord hath risen ; in which He hath obtained to Himself, by the Spirit of Regeneration, a new people — as ye there behold; 2 in which He hath poured into the minds of all, joy and exultation. This day, then, of the Resur- rection of Christ, is life to the dead ; pardon to sin- 1 This is clearly the sense. The words contritio mortis abolita est, may be corrupt, or may be meant to express the idea, that the constant wear and tear arising from death — the " being subject to bondage from the fear of death" — is now at an end. 2 S. Hrabanus is manifestly alluding to the presence of the Catechu- mens, in their white robes, who had been baptized on the preceding day : and this is a good example of the retention of this practice in Germany, when it was beginning to become obsolete in other parts of Europe ; and may serve as one proof among many, that the hymn which commences — The Lamb's high banquet we await, In snow-white robes of royal state, refers also to the same practice. 40 S. HRABANUS MAURUS. - ners ; glory to saints. And as Mary, the Virgin Mother of the Lord, holds the principality among all women, so this day, on earth, is the head of all days. And as we read, in Scripture, of the Holy of Holies, and the Song of Songs, so we fitly call this, the Festival of Festivals. That fiery sword, and that gate of Paradise through which none could pass, Christ, with the thief, has now unbarred ; the gate of Paradise, which, before the Pas- sion of the Lord, was open to none, from the time the Lord suffered, till the present day, is both shut and open : shut, to sinners and unbelievers, — open to the righteous, and to them that believe. By this went in Peter ; by this went in Paul ; by this entered all the holy martyrs ; by this, daily, from the whole world, enter the souls of the righteous. For there are two gates, — the gate of Paradise, and the gate of the Church. We have entered first by the gate of the Church, — that is, by Faith and Baptism : in which if we shall faithfully remain, and do good works, after the end of this life we shall enter the gate of Paradise. And the Holy Church, without doubt, is the house of God ; and we ought so to live as not to be ejected from that house : lest, being cast out, we should be devoured by beasts, — that is, by evil spirits; of whom said the Psalmist, Deliver not, O Lord, the souls that praise Thee to the beasts. Let us, therefore, diligently have our con- versation in her who is the mother of us all — that is, the Church, — to the end that we may merit to enter the kingdom of the everlasting Father, to Whom she bare us as the children of adoption. Let us keep this most holy feast as the Apostle Paul hath taught us, saying, Not in the old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and ON THE EPIPHANY. 41 wickedness. That is, not in the bitterness of hnman malice, but in the sincerity of Divine holiness : which is, chastity, humility, goodness, mercy, humanity, justice, gentleness, patience, truth, peace, long-suffering. This is the lump of Christian holiness which is corrupted by the leaven of human wickedness : that is, lust, pride, envy, iniquity, avarice, intemperance, falsehood, discord, hatred, vain-glory, cruelty, and injustice. All which kinds of corruption, may the Author and Giver of all good things, and the Originator of this most sacred Feast keep far from us, and maintain in us the sincerity of His truth, — Jesus Christ our Lord; Who liveth and reigneth with the Father, in the Unity of the Holy Ghost, God, to all ages of ages. Amen. ON THE EPIPHANY. (Vol. 5, page 583.) We have lately celebrated that Festival, beloved brethren, in which God took upon Himself human nature, with its infirmities. A little after that, we com- memorated the day in which He condescended to be Circumcised, according to the Law. And now we celebrate and reverence with Divine praises that on which God, in the nature of man, manifested Himself by miracles. This Festival is called by a Greek name, " Epiphany," — which we may interpret u manifesta- tion," — because, on this day, the rising of a Star from heaven afforded a Divine message, and led the wise 42 S. HRABANUS MAURUS. men, who diligently sought after it, to the cradle. Because, also, in the waters of Jordan, the Saviour consecrated the matter of water, by His own Baptism, to the reparation of the human race, and was mani- fested to be true God, by the coming of the Holy Ghost, and by the proclamation of the Father's voice. Because, also, at Cana of Galilee, in the wedding-feast, He turned water into wine ; and, as the Gospel bears witness, by the beginning of His miracles manifested forth His glory, and His Disciples believed on Him. Because, also, He fed with five loaves five thousand men, and was preached by the confession of the crowd, This is, of a truth, that Prophet Which should come into the world. This day therefore is venerable, as our holy fathers have handed down to us, for all these Sacra- ments that we have heard : because, by such proofs, Christ was manifested as God in man to-day. All these things contain reverend mysteries ; yet they do nothing else for us, than that they commend to us the Catholic Faith — that, I mean, which works by love — and teach us so to live, that in all things we may please Him that made us. But I should like to say something to you concerning those three gifts which the wise men offered on this day to our Redeemer. They offered, as you just now heard, when the Gospel was read, gold, frankincense, and myrrh. But there is a threefold signification in these threefold gifts. In the frankincense, they offered to Christ the honour of God \ in the gold, the dignity of a King ; in the myrrh, the sepulture of His Body. And let us offer, beloved brethren, sincere and holy gifts to our God : that is, Faith, Hope, and Chanty. Let us ON THE EPIPHANY. offer the gold of wisdom; the frankincense of devout prayer; myrrh, in the mortification of the flesh. Let us offer devotion of body ; honesty of word ; probity of work. Let us offer purity of soul ; chastity of flesh ; and the watch of humility. Let us offer sympathy, long-suffering, and continence. Let us offer kindness, sobriety, and mercy These are the gifts which please God ; these are the pleasant oblations which are offered to Him, but profit the offerers. He stands in need of no gift — of no present : but this is the gift that He holds the most acceptable — the having a cause for rewarding. He demands nothing farther from us — He seeks nothing more from us — than our salvation. He considers that we do all things for Him, if we only act so that He may do all things for us. But we must ask, in this matter, for His efficacious help, that mercy may prevent and follow us all the days of our life : so that we may dwell in the house of the Lord for ever ; which may He vouchsafe to grant, Who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen. S. ATTO OF YERCEIL. Little is known of S. Atto, Bishop of Verceil, in the pro- vince of Milan, and commonly called Junior, to distinguish him from a former prelate in the same Church of the same name, but that he was held up as a model in the good governing of his Diocese, and that he died about 960. The greater part of the eighteen sermons which have come down to us were first published by Cardinal Mai, in the sixth volume of his Scriptorum Veterum Nova Collection Borne, 1832 ; but many of them in an exceedingly mutilated state. They are remarkable for nothing but a certain pious sim- plicity, which shows that the preacher, if not eloquent, was at least in earnest. S. Atto appears to have had a horror of a long sermon. His eleventh, the greater part of which will be presently given, might, perhaps, occupy ten minutes in its delivery ; but the twelfth bears this title, " The same sermon abbreviated, lest the common people should be disgusted." ON PALM SUNDAY. (Page 21.) We trust in the promise of our Lord, beloved breth- ren, that no terror has oppressed your heart concerning His glorious Resurrection, no doubt has entered your 46 S. ATTO OF VERCEIL. mind ; for the fear of the Apostles and the other saints of that time was nourished by the darkness of unbelief. But their weakness was the increase of our perfection. The events which in these last days have been shedding forth their glory, as it were, out of a thick forest, are now preached with perfect clearness. Hence ye may collect that, by how much the more we announce the Passion of the Lord, by so much the more we approach to the celebration of His Resurrection. There are yet six days till we reach the joy of that festival; and the sixth week is now accomplished since I reminded you of the beginning of the fast. Even in these six days, beloved brethren, try to recover your ground, if ye have in any respect failed in the six preceding weeks. It is true that there are certain men who esteem some days of this week — that is, Thursday and Saturday — as en- tailing a less strict obligation to fast ; but this is against the decrees of Canons, is not confirmed by the authority of Holy Scripture, and appears to me anything but right. For the nearer we approach our Paschal joy, so much the purer we ought to make ourselves by fasting, by praying, by watching, and by all the works of mercy ; and furthermore, to wash out our sins by continual weeping. And if any one thinks that he need not weep for his own sins, at least he ought in these days to sorrow for the sufferings of his Lord. For though He were God before all worlds, coming in the form of a servant, and being spit upon and scourged by wicked men, for their and our salvation, He did not abhor at this time to lay down His life. Let each one of you, my brethren, suffer .with Him, carrying His reproach, and lamenting the blindness of those from whom He ON PALM SUNDAY. 47 endured it. He Himself hath said in the Gospel, Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. Grief for a little while is now in season, to the end that we may more freely rejoice in the holy Resurrection. The Psalmist also saith, What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits He hath done unto Me ? I will receive the cup of salvation, and call upon the Name of the Lord. By the cup we may understand both open persecution and hidden sorrow, which in some way or other must be tasted by every Christian. Let us prepare ourselves, therefore, beloved, for the coming festival, to which the Lord grant us to attain in a worthy manner. Let us, then, rejoice, not in delicacy of good living, but by sending before us the works of justice and equity. 1 For it is better to make three middling shirts, with which you may clothe both yourself and the poor of Christ, than if you were to make one of very precious materials for yourself. And it is better to have simple food prepared, by which you may entertain a number of the needy at your table, than if you were to spend a large sum of money on delicious food, and live riotously with your own family, while the poor of Christ were suffering and perishing with cold and nakedness in your presence. For blessed John the Apostle saith, Whoso hath this world's goods, and seeth his brother have need, how dwelleth the love of God in him ? Fly, therefore, avarice, and love charity, without which no man shall merit to behold God. Love, peace, and joy, be with you for ever; which He vouchsafe to bestow on you, Whose kingdom [is without end. Amen.] 1 This sentence is partly destroyed in the manuscript ; but the sense must be as given in the text. 48 S. ATTO OF VERCEIL. THE MYSTEEY CONTAINED IN PENTECOST. (This extract is from the Eleventh Sermon on Whitsun-Day, page 28.) The number fifty signifies remission, which we may collect from the Old Testament. For in the fiftieth year, which was called the year of jubilee, that is of remission, 1 debts were remitted to debtors, slavery was ended to those servants who desired freedom. Well, therefore, may this fiftieth day be called the day of Jubilee, because the Holy Ghost, descending on the Apostles, gave them the remission of all their sins, and freed them from the contagion of their former frailty. This festival was also celebrated in the Old Testament, and in it, among the Jews, the first-offering was annually made of the new fruits. 2 Mystically, also, in the Chris- 1 This mistaken explanation of the word "Jubilee" is common to all mediseval writers. Thus, Adam of S. Victor : " Jubileus est vocatus Yel dimittens, vel mutatus, Ad priores vocans status Res distractas libere." 2 S. Atto is of course referring to the Levitical Law, by which two loaves were, on the day of Pentecost, offered in the tabernacle. Lev. xxiii. 16, 17. " Even unto the morrow after the seventh Sabbath shall ye number fifty days : and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the Loed. Ye shall bring out of your habitations two wave-loaves of two tenth deals : they shall be of fine flour ; they shall be baken with leaven ; they are the first-fruits unto the Lord." These two loaves are con- stantly, by mediseval writers, interpreted to mean that the firstfruits of the Christian Church were to be gathered both from the Jews and the Gentiles. THE MYSTERY CONTAINED IN PENTECOST. 49 tian Church, on this day bread, made from the new corn, that is, the new virtues of the Holy Ghost, on which we are nourished, and by which we live, were first given by the Apostles to the Gentiles. Nor is it irrelevant to the matter that on the fiftieth day after the Lord had smitten Egypt in its firstborn, and de- stroyed the power of its princes, and had set free the children of Israel from their servitude and from the depths of the Red Sea, He gave the law to Moses which was to be preached to the people : and in like manner on the fiftieth day after He had smitten Hades in its firstborn, and had destroyed the power of its princes, and had brought forth all who were there, with- out their own fault, detained, He declared by the Holy Ghost to His Apostles, how they should act themselves and teach others. But Divine Providence wished to commend one law to the Israelites, and another law to us by the holy Apostles. The one threatens destruc- tion; the other continually teaches repentance; which Moses shows when descending from the mountain after the giving of the law, he returned to the people. For when he found that the tribes had transgressed in the worship of the golden calf, he said, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour. But S. Peter, prince of the Apostles, with the others, after the coming of the Holy Ghost, said boldly even to those who crucified the Lord Himself, Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of your sins, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost. For our Re- deemer, tempering the severity of the ancient law, made D 50 S. ATTO OF VERCEIL. that bitter cup drinkable by His Incarnation. In the Old Testament it is written, The soul that doeth any of these abominations shall perish from among his people, saith the Lord. In the New Testament we read, There is joy in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance. Let us take heed, brethren, that we lose not the time of repentance which is granted by such mercy. We call the fruit of repentance, whatsoever of good works we accomplish for the satisfaction of our sins and the ob- taining of the Divine mercy, as fasting, vigils, con- tinence, prayers, works of mercy, and other virtues. For Christ has prepared for us many paths by which we may escape the pitfalls of perdition. And the more means there are of avoiding destruction, the more wretched are they who go down into the pit. Although, therefore, in these past days, we have held continual festival and lived in delights as in a marriage feast, and have prayed to the Lord standing, 1 — yet now, hence- forth, let us kneel and weep, let us give ourselves up to fasting and watching, let us make haste to undertake the burden of penitence; for the Lord saith in the Gospel, Can the children of the bride-chamber fast as long as the Bridegroom is with them ? But the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. In the feast time, we have had, as it were, and after a certain sort, the Lord amongst us in His corporal presence ; but now He has ascended into heaven, He sitteth on the right hand of 1 Hence it appears that, in S. Atto's time, the Western Church still retained, as the Eastern Church does to this day, the primitive custom of not kneeling between Easter and Whitsun-Day. THE MYSTERY CONTAINED IN PENTECOST. 51 the Father,, He has sent down the promised Spirit into the hearts of the faithful, Who exhorts them to pray, to fast, and to do other good works unceasingly, to the end that, though they cannot now touch Him corporally, they may be able in all places to receive His consolation. But they who have received such a gift ought so to live as not to be separated, hereafter, from Him, in Whose footsteps we sinners ought entirely to tread. d2 S. PETER DAMIANI, The great coadjutor of S. Gregory VII. in the reformation of the eleventh century, was born at Eavenna in 1007, the youngest of a large family, and was educated by the care of a brother, Damian, whose name, out of gratitude, he at- tached to his own. He took the monastic habit in the very strict house of Eonte Avellano, in Umbria, of which, in process of time, he became Abbat. In an age so horribly depraved, he soon made himself conspicuous for the firm- ness with which he resisted, and the boldness with which he exposed, its crying abominations, and the determined vigour with which he attacked the then almost universal prevalence of simony. Eaised to the Cardinal Bishopric of Ostia, he became thenceforward the right hand of the Court of Eome ; and, when Legate at Milan, he had need of all his zeal and courage, every single Priest of that Church having bought his orders. The troubles of the times, — the universal war, — the breaking out of the final Schism be- tween East and "West, — the ferocity of the Normans, — the depth of depravity everywhere, made such an Episcopate a burden beyond his powers. He resigned it, and thence- forward lived as a simple monk, dividing his time between the composition of the sixty little works which we owe to his pen, and his daily recitation of the Psalter, in addition to the other monastic services. He was sent to Eavenna, to absolve that city from the excommunication which it had incurred by remaining attached to its Archbishop, and on his return home was attacked with fever at Eaenza. Here, 54 S. PETER DAMIANI. on the eighth day, he gave up the ghost with great piety and resignation, February 22, 1072. His sermons, seventy-two in number, are arranged in the course of the Church's year : there are also three occasional discourses. They deserve, I think, higher praise than has been awarded to them ; nor do I know that, till we come to S. Bernard, it would be easy to find a mediaeval preacher who on the whole is his equal. The discourses appear to have been principally conventual ; and hence, probably, it is that the author so seldom attacks those vices which, in his other works, he is constantly engaged in combating. He very seldom takes a text, opening his subject naturally without one ; and, if preaching on the Festival of a Saint, generally introducing the legend at some length. His use of a com- mon-place book is remarkable ; and passages occur in some of his sermons, which he inserts verbatim in other of his discourses. Thus, a long dissertation on the typical cha- racter of the actions of Moses, which is to be found in his sermon on S. Anastasius, 1 appears again in that on S. Eleu- chadius (a Bishop of Ravenna). He often takes in a text, when he has been preaching some little time, to illustrate his meaning, and then goes off upon that, much after the fashion of S. Antony of Padua; to whom our author, in other respects, as the stringing of mystical examples to- gether in an endless series, bears some resemblance. His sentences are too long and involved ; but there is consider- able force in his energetic passages, and the manner in which he sometimes dove-tails texts together is really mar- vellous. He seems peculiarly eloquent on the subject of the Evangelists ; and, especially, as was natural, on that of S. Mark. Although deficient in pathos, he has frequent passages of remarkable sweetness and gentleness ; in strange 1 Serm. iii., p. 6, and vi. 14. It begins, in the middle of a sentence, — a vano superbce sapientice suce limine dejecit, and ends, — et mortificare deb emus. THE WISE MEN AN EXAMPLE TO ALL CHRISTIANS. 55 contrast to what we should have looked for from the stern ascetic of a wicked age, and the writer of pieces of such marvellous terror as the hymn Gravi me terrore pidsas, vitee dies ultima, and the commendation of the departing Commendo te Deo Omnipotenti, &c, which is in use in the Western Church, but was originally a letter of S. Peter's to a dying friend. The edition I employ is that of Constantine Caietanus, Paris, 1663, 4 vols in 1, folio. THE WISE MEN AN EXAMPLE TO ALL CHRISTIANS. (From the First Sermon on the Epiphany.) The wise men came., let us also come : for it is writ- ten, Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. And in another place, Come unto Me, ye that desire Me. The wise men sought, let us also seek : for it is written, Seek ye the Lord while He may be found. The wise men fell down, let us also fall down : for it is written, O come let us worship and fall down. The wise men worshipped, let us also worship : for it is written, Worship the Lord in His holy temple. The wise men offered, let us also offer : for it is written, I beseech you therefore, brethren, that ye offer your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your rea- sonable service. Let us also offer those three things of which the wise men made their oblations, yet after a different fashion from them. Let us offer the myrrh of 56 S. PETER DAMIANI. mortification, by mortifying our bodies which are upon earth, by taking no care to fulfil the desires of the flesh, by crucifying our bodies with their affections and lusts ; and yet in all these things, as is aforesaid, let our service be reasonable. Let us offer the incense of devout prayers, according to that saying of the Apostle, / will pray with the spirit and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the under- standing also, to the end that my prayer may be set forth in Thy sight like the incense. Let us offer also gold, the splendour of wisdom ; for gold signifies wisdom, accord- ing to that saying, a desirable treasure is in the mouth of the wise ; that we may be prepared to give a reason to every one that demands it of the faith and hope that is in us, and may shine with the brightness of wisdom, and may fearlessly contend against the darkness of heresy, and may be able to say, The law of Thy mouth is dearer unto me than thousands of gold and silver. And would to God that many of you would not rather say, the law of the mouth of Justinian is dearer to me than thousands of gold ! The wicked have related fables to me, which are not after Thy law. They have forsaken the Lord, the foun- tain of living waters, so wisdom herself rightly com- plains. And they who ought to meditate in the law of the Lord day and night turn away their ears from the truth to fables. 57 THE PRESENTATION OE OUE LORD IN THE TEMPLE. [From a Sermon preached on the Feast of S. Severus, Bishop of Ravenna, which was observed with great solemnity in that church on the 1st of February. The preacher has in his mind the parallel drawn by S. Fulgentius between the Nativity of our Loed and the Martyrdom of S. Stephen ; and ingeniously imitates it with reference to the Festival of this Confessor as taken in conjunction with the Vigil of the Purification.] (Sermon iv., page 8.) It delights the heart to celebrate the present, let us take pleasure also in expecting the coming, Festival. Let that teach us to render thanks to our Redeemer; let this kindle us to the love of the celestial Country. In that let us learn how much God suffered for man ; in this let us meditate, to how great a height of glory- man has ascended by God. In that the Only-Begotten Son of God was humbly presented in the temple ; in this His most blessed servant was elevated in glory to the palace of heaven. In that His parents carried our Redeemer to Jerusalem that they might present Him to the Lord ; in this the holy angels carried to the hea- venly Jerusalem the soul of this blessed confessor that they might present it to the presence of the Divine Majesty. In that the Mediator of God and Man, after His circumcision, was presented as an infant in the temple; in this, the confessor, after laying aside the load of his earthly body, ascended in freedom to hea- ven. In that He Who owed nothing to the law paid the tribute of the law ; in this, he, who was obnoxious to death, escaped the dominion of death. The One, in His Birth from His Mother vouchsafed to become d3 58 S. PETER DAMIANI. mortal ; the other by his death in the flesh, merited to become immortal. God, by coming into the world, took upon Himself the form of a servant ; Severus, by depart- ing from the world, was raised to the dignity of angels. Bu,t, unless the one had descended, the other could in no wise have ascended. Unless God had assumed the form of man, man could never have attained to the glory of heaven. Unless God had been humbled be- neath Himself, man could never have been exalted above himself. And what shall I more say ? Unless He, That is God and Man, had been made a little lower than the angels, he that is mere man could never have become the equal of the angels. Which equality the Truth set forth in the Gospel, saying, In the Resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like the angels of God in heaven. To this height of most happy dignity, if, O man, thou desirest to be elevated, endea- vour with thy whole strength to be prostrated in the dejection of true humility : if thou desirest to be exalted in Christ, be first cast down in thyself; subdue the pride of the flesh, and raise thyself to the altitude of the Creator; restrain whatever swells within thyself, and thou shalt soon be exalted very far beyond thyself. THE LAST JOUKKEY OF OUE LOED TO JERUSALEM. (From the Seventh Sermon, on Palm Sunday. Page 17.) But when I consider Thee, Lord Jesus, my admira- tion and my compassion increases. Why dost Thou go THE LAST JOURNEY OF OUR LORD TO JERUSALEM. 59 to the Jews who lie in wait for Thy soul ? They are betrayers and murderers ; trust not Thyself to them, for they love Thee not ; they will not pity Thee ; they will condemn Thee to a most base death. Why dost Thou hasten to endure such mocking, such scourging, such blaspheming? to be crowned with thorns, to be spit upon, to have vinegar given Thee to drink, to be pierced with the spear, to die, and to be laid in the sepulchre ? In this Thy resolution, in this Thy design, my soul, when I consider it, is overwhelmed. I grieve with Thee, Lord Jesus, over the miseries of Thy Pas- sion. The advice of Peter, Thy friend, is that which I should have given, who said, Be it far from Thee, Lord ; this shall not happen unto Thee. It is not meet that the Son of God should taste of death. But this differs from Thy counsel, Who art determined to undergo Thy Pas- sion. What then? Are we to follow the advice of Peter or of Jesus ? of the servant or of the Lord ? of the disciple or of the Master? But the servant is not greater than his Lord, nor is the disciple more learned than his Master. We must acquiesce, therefore, in the de- termination of the Lord and Master, Who needs no other counsel ; lest it be said to us with Peter, Get thee behind Me, Satan ; thou savourest not the things that be of God. For Peter knew not that Christ had from the beginning fore-ordained His Passion, that by death He might destroy our death, and by rising again might restore our life. That, then, which Divine Wisdom had foreordained, He desired wisely to accomplish. He willed, according to the words of the Prophet, to be humble and poor, to ride upon an ass, and so to enter into Jerusalem; as 60 S. PETER DAMIANI. the Evangelist relates, saying, When Jesus drew nigh to Jerusalem, and was come to Bethphage and the Mount of Olives, then sent He two of His disciples, saying : Go in to the village over against you, and ye shall straightway find an ass tied, and a colt with her ; hose them, and bring them unto Me. This village is the world, which rages against the Lord and His disciples, not only by per- secuting them with reproaches and injuries, but by inflicting on them a most cruel death. By the ass and the colt which were tied in the village are signified the people of the Jews, and that of the Gentiles, both of them in bondage to the chain of their sins. The ass, accustomed to the yoke, typifies the Jewish people, that were subject to the yoke of the law. The colt, that was wanton and unbridled, denotes the Gentiles, who walked after the lusts of their own hearts. The two disciples sent into the village are the preachers of .the two Testa- ments, endued with twofold charity, the love of God and the love of our neighbour ; or else Peter and Paul, of whom one was the Apostle of the Jews, the other of the Gentiles. Whence the same Paul : For He, Who worked in Peter his Apostleship, worked also with me among the Gentiles. These loosed both people from the error of infidelity, and, by the word of their preaching, brought them to the faith of Jesus Christ. The Lord sat upon them, because He justified them by faith in Him ; as it is written, The soul of the righteous is the seat of wisdom. Concerning the justification of both, the Apostle thus writes : Is He the God of the Jews only ? Is He not also of the Gentiles ? Yes, of the Gen- tiles also ; seeing it is One God Which shall justify the circumcision by faith, and uncircumcision through faith. 61 THE EXCELLENCY OF S. MAKK'S GOSPEL. (From the Fourteenth Sermon, on S. Mark's Day. Page 30.) If, then, we examine all the pages of Holy Scripture, we shall scarcely find that the Spirit of truth has spoken with greater care or circumspection by any other than by blessed Mark ; so that the very order of his narra- tion and sequence of words contains a great sacrament. 1 And in order that we may the more easily illustrate this, let us briefly examine the beginning of this book. He relates that miracle as the first, by which our Lord, when a devil cried out from a man, commanded him to be silent, and expelled him altogether. Hold thy peace, saith He, and depart from the man. The second miracle is that by which He healed the mother- in-law of Peter, and drove away the heat of the Typhus. The third is that by which He touched and cleansed the man with the leprosy. The fourth is that by which He commanded the man that had the palsy to take up his bed and walk. Which order if we diligently examine, we shall manifestly perceive with how masterly an art the Holy Ghost held the pen of the writer; and, in declaring the mystery of human redemption, caused everything to be set down as it were by line and rule. For, at the fall of the first man, the devil spoke, and persuaded him to eat the forbidden fruit; then the woman, because he had fallen into the desire of that 1 The preacher is referring to the famous passage in S. Jerome, where, saying that a literal interpretation from the Greek into Latin is not ne- cessary, he excepts the Holy Scriptures, where, says he, ipse verborum ordo mysterium est. 62 S. PETER DAMIANI. which was forbidden, kindled in him, as it were, the heat of a burning fever. But Adam, after that by his consent he had tasted of the fruit of the tree, was forth- with infected with the leprosy of all vices ; and last of all, like the man that had the palsy, he was hindered from the possibility of all good works by the languor of the inner man. Therefore, because the Son of God, as John the Apostle saith, came to destroy the works of the devil, he attacked death in the same way by which it had entered into the world. And when the poison of our destruction had been infused, the Physician of souls introduced the antidote of salvation; and, by the same way in which the crafty enemy had brought in death, our Redeemer reinstated the beginning of returning life ; and thus He compelled the devil to hold his peace, who had spoken to our ruin, and freed Eve from the fever of the lusts of the flesh ; and liberated the man, not only from the leprosy of vice and wickedness, but enabled him, in so far as he was palsied, to exercise the works of charity. As, therefore, in those first men, the whole human race had perished ; so in them that were cured by the Saviour, the same race, under the mystery of a type, was restored to its first condition. THAT WE MUST TAKE UP OUR CROSS AND FOLLOW THE LORD. • (Sermon 47, on the Exaltation of the Cross. Page 110.) Give ear, therefore, to the counsel of thy God, not only reigning with the Father, but as thy most sweet THE CROSS TAKEN UP. 63 friend, hanging upon the Cross j for neither can He be deceived, because He is wisdom, nor doth He desire to deceive thee, for whom He endured such ignominy and such pain. If any one, saith He, will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. Hear a counsel, not a precept. For if it were such a precept that we must obey it whether we would or not, we might look for perpetual trouble ; but when He saith, If — if any man will follow Me, He has put it in our own power whether we will keep the same course or not. A mighty labour, indeed ; but an incomparable reward. After Me, He saith. We must go after Him, because He is the Truth, that we may not be deceived ; through Him, because He is the Way, that we may not err ; to Him, because He is the Life, that we may not die. /, saith He, am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. It follows, Let him deny himself Our first parent, when he had been circumscribed by prefixed limits of obedi- ence, roamed forth into the open country of an evil liberty. He had it in command to prefer the Will of his Creator to his own ; but using, or rather abusing, his own will, when he desired to make himself happy, he destroyed himself. Driven, therefore, from that happy inheritance, he obtained exile for a country, death for life, ignominy for glory. If thou wouldest, therefore, return to thine inheritance, deny thine own will. 64 S. PETER DAMIANI. A STOEY ABOUT HEAEING THE BIBLE. [From the Twelfth Sermon, on the Besurrection. We can tell the exact date of this sermon ; for it was preached on Easter-day, March 27th, which agrees to 1065. Page 26.] In many places of Holy Scripture, a particular order of words appears to be instituted and observed by God Himself. A certain simple-minded and honest man, one that feared God, bad been bearing matins, and was returning from the Church. His disciples asked him, What did you hear at Church, father ? He answered, I heard four things, and observed six. A very subtle reply, and one that showed his faith. He had heard four verses of the nineteenth Psalm, that is to say, The law of the Lord is an undefiled law, &c, and the three following ones, in which six things are noted, which are — law, testimony, righteousness, commandments, fear, judg- ments. In these we have partly the persons which are necessary, and partly their acts. For the Lord, "Who is both the Judge, and the law by which we are judged, and the office of the witnesses under this word testimony, and the merits of the plaintiff and defendant by the name of righteousness, are all pointed out. The sentence of the Judge is expressed by this word, precept ; the offices of the accuser and executioner are indicated by the two last words, which are, fear and judgment. The five first have each of them two particulars, the sixth has four. The law cf the Lord, — undefiled — converting the soul. The testimony of the Lord, — sure — giving wisdom to the simple. 65 The righteousness of the Lord, — right — rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord, — pure — giving light to the eyes. ' The fear of the Lord, — clean — enduring for ever. The judgment of the Lord, — true — righteous altogether — more to be desired than gold — sweeter than honey. The aforesaid particulars belong to the Lord only. For there is a law which is not the law of the Lord, but of sin, of which the Apostle saith, / see another law in my members, bringing me into captivity into the law of sin. There are human righteousnesses of which it is said, And all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. There are human commandments, which Peter teaches us we are not to obey ; We ought to obey God, rather than man. There is also a fear of man which is condemned by the Lord, whence He saith, Fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul. THE EEASON OF OUB LOED'S EPIPHANY. [This, which is the commencement of the first sermon, is an excellent example of what I have mentioned above, S. Peter's occasional method of stringing together texts of Scripture, with scarcely any connecting words of his own.] When the Almighty Word 1 had not yet leaped down from heaven out of the royal throne, 2 that night was in the midst of her course, and 3 the people walked in darkness, for they 4 loved darkness rather than light ; and following various 1 Wisd. xviii. 15. 2 "Wisd. xviii. 14. 3 lea. ix. 2. 4 S. John iii. 19. 66 S. PETER DAMIANI. errors, 1 the ungodly walked on every side, and 2 went their way, one to his farm, another to Ms merchandise, 3 and their foolish heart was darkened, because 4 their back was ever bowed down to the work of their own hands. * All those ancient ■ fathers were under the cloud, because 6 they saw in the night visions, and 7 could not steadfastly behold the face of Moses, for the glory of his countenance, 8 for a veil was over their hearts, 9 dark water and thick clouds to cover them. When 10 the precious sons of Sion, comparable to fine gold, were esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of the hands of the potter, — when n the stones of the sanctuary were scattered at the head of all the streets, — when l2 her silver became dross, her wine mixed with water, — when 13 the gold became dim, and the most fine gold changed, — when M there was none that did good, no, not one, — then, 15 there was darkness over all the earth : because both the Jews and the Gentiles made their bed in shades, and dwelt l6 in darkness and the shadow of death. But since then, 1>7 the night was far spent, the day was at hand, and l8 a light shined in the prison, and 19 there arose up light in the darkness, when 20 the Day-spring from on high visited us, and that 21 Bright and Morning Star, which knows no setting, arose upon us, when that 22 True Light which lighteneth every man that cometh into the world, shone in the 2i darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not. 1 Ps. xii. 9. 2 S. Matt. xxii. 5. 3 Kom. i. 21. 4 Ps. lxix. 24. 6 1 Cor. x. 1. 6 Dan. yii. 2. 7 2 Cor. iii. 7. 8 2 Cor. iii. 15. 9 Ps. xviii. 11. 10 Lam. iv. 2. n Lam. iv. 1. 12 Isa. i. 5, 22. « Lam. iv. 1. 14 Ps. xiv. 2. 15 S. Matt, xxvii. 45. 16 S. Luke i. 79. 17 Kom. xiii. 12. ,8 Acts xii. 7. » Ps. cxii. 4. 2° S. Luke i. 78. 2l Eev. xxii. 16. 22 S. John i. 9. 23 s . John i# 5. 67 THE VIRTUE OF THE CEOSS OF CHEIST. (From the Forty-eighth Sermon, Page 113, on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.) But why do we endeavour to collect into one the types of the Cross which are contained in Holy Scripture, when every page is subservient — the Holy Ghost so ordering it — to this terrible sign? This is the Mercy-seat to which the two cherubims look with their faces turned towards each other : because the two Testaments, — the Old and the New, — concordantly, and without any dif- ference, point to Him Who hung upon the Cross. For John saith, And He is the Propitiation for our sins ; and Peter, speaking of the ancient Fathers, affirms, By the grace of Christ we trust that we shall be saved, even as they. The Cross, then, is the concord of Scriptures, and, as it were, the boundary and the border-land of old and new things. The Cross confederates heaven and earth ; the Cross rejoins men and angels in the unanimity of their ancient concord. The Cross is the death of vice, and the fountain and life of all virtue. The Cross is the path of the unwise; the high-road of them that are earnest in the race; the rest of those that have attained the goal. The Cross is the earnest for those that are enlisted; the strength of those that are engaged in war; the reward of those that have been discharged from service. The Cross is the courage of those that are fighting bravely; the recovery of those that are fallen; the crown of those that are victorious. The Cross subjects us to a momentary death, and recom- DO S. PETER DAMIANI. penses us with eternal life. The Cross strips us of earthly goods, that it may enrich us with heavenly pos- sessions ; teaches us to hunger, that it may satisfy us ; inures us to humility, that it may exalt us ; accustoms us to patience, that it may crown us. The Cross is the rule to those that live in Christ ; is the perfect pattern of righteousness ; is the example of all good practices. The Cross terrifies the Devil, and he flies ; invites good angels, and they enter ; represses the vain fantasies of our thoughts, and introduces the Holy Ghost to chaste and pure hearts. The Cross refreshes the weary; strengthens the weak; and comforts those who have already begun to despair. And what shall I more say? It was by the Cross that the King of Glory delivered us from the fetters of the cruel tyrant, and penetrated by His might into the dungeons of hell. He absolved all His elect from the chains of their ancient condemnation; whom also He raised with Himself by the glory of His Resurrec- tion. What shall I say of the fame of that Cross, which, as its own first-fruits, caused the thief to enter into heaven, and by him opened the gates of Paradise, that thenceforth all the elect might pass through them ? That angel who had received the sword which excluded from Paradise, beheld the key which was to open it in the Cross, and no longer opposed himself to the en- trance. Not that cross which he bore, but that in which he believed, and in the virtue of which he trusted, when he said, Lord, remember me when Thou comest in Thy kingdom. Wonderful liberty of him that was con- demned ! Wonderful power of Him that justified ! He That is judged, judges. He That is condemned, absolves THE VIRTUE OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 69 one that is condemned. The Cross on which He hangs, He makes both the judgment-seat of one that pro- nounces sentence, and the separation by the law of equity between thief and thief, as between the sheep and the goats. 7, said the Lord, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto Me. Of those then that were to be drawn, the thief was the first, to whom He presently said, To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. Him whom He had first ex- tricated from the chains of eternal death, He first intro- duced into life. By the Cross, 1 then, or rather by Him "Who vouchsafed to hang upon the Cross, all things are restored, all things are blessed, all things are covered with the dew of heaven. But above all, the human soul, which was barren, bitter, insipid, is made by the coming of the Saviour fertile and sweet, and is endued with the salt of wisdom. Which was expressly figured by that miracle of Elisha the Prophet. For when the 1 It may not be amiss to quote a passage from a modern Lutheran author, with respect to the strong expressions which the Mediaeval, fol- lowing the Primitive, Church, applied to the Cross. " Protestant authors have taught us over and over again, that we must beware, and not under- stand what is here said of the Cross, of the Cross itself, but of Cheist Who hung on the Cross. This exhortation can only apply to those who have not a spark of imagination, or I should rather say, of common sense. I am sure that the Ancient Church had no such absurd scruples. I will quote one witness alone, Augustine, who, utterly despising this caution, thus addresses the Cross : ' The Cross of Cheist is the cause of all blessedness to us ; it frees us from blindness, it restores those who are in darkness to light, those that were at war to peace, joins to GrOD those that were aliens, brings nigh those that were afar off, turns strangers into citizens, puts an end to discord, is the firm basis of peace, is the abundant largess of all gifts.' In this matter the Ancient Church, which with simple and unfeigned piety embraced the Cross, is wonder- fully at variance with that of our own times." (Daniel, Hymnology, 2, 79.) 70 S. PETER DAMIANI. men of Jericho complained that their waters were evil and their land barren, Bring me, said he, a new vessel and put therein salt. Then he cast that salt into the fountain, and thus healed those waters from all death and barrenness. And what does this teach us, to sum up the whole briefly, than that the Word should be made flesh, and should dwell among us ? For what are the waters, except the people of this world ? What is the new vessel, except the Body of the Lord, defiled by no pollution of ancient transgression, brought into subjec- tion by no abuse of the old man ? What is the salt, except heavenly wisdom ? The Wisdom therefore of the Father descended into a Human Body, and thus turned the minds of all the faithful into fertility and into the sweetness of the truth of life. Which sweetness was hid until the salt was cast into the water ; that is, until He hung upon the Cross Who said, Save Me, O God, for the waters are come in even unto My soul. And then man learnt what he ought to seek and what to avoid O truly noble tree, which proceededst indeed from an earthly origin, but stretchest forth thy happy boughs beyond the stars ! Once thy fruit was the prey of hell ; now thou bearest the cedars of paradise, and those living stones come forth from thee with which the dwellings of the heavenly Jerusalem are constructed. Blessed Cross indeed ! Because when the sun was hiding its rays, that it might not behold that sacrilege, when the earth was quaking, when the elements were trembling with fear, thou wast able to stand by thy dying Lord as His one and only companion, to lay beneath Him thy pious arms, and to cherish Him on thy gentle THE VIRTUE OF THE CROSS OF CHRIST. 71 bosom. 1 Blessed Cross indeed ! Glorious with the affixture of the Redeemer of the world, empurpled with the Precious Blood of the Immaculate Lamb ! Thou art the salvation of a ruined race, Thou art the light of them that sit in darkness, the medicine of the sick, the strength of the recovering, a harbour to them that are in danger, a refuge to them that are escaping from the jaws of death ! Through thee, wanderers become members of the family ; and they who have long been foreigners, are made fellow-citizens of the Apostles. In thee, cruel death, while it slays, is slain, and the author of death is himself destroyed, and lost life is recovered for man. Thou didst arm the hand of Jael with the nail by which she smote Sisera through both his tem- ples, and herself, a type of the Church, destroyed the devil. Thou didst fill the sling of David with the stone 1 All through this address to the Cross, S. Peter bears in mind, not only those more ancient Hymns on the same subject, but those also which he himself composed in imitation of them. Thus, in that of Yenantius Fortunatus, which begins Pange lingua gloriosi, " Faithful Cross, above all other One and only noble tree ; None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peers may be !" And again, in the Veanlla Regis prodeunt ; " On Whose dear arms so widely flung, The weight of this world's ransom hung." And in his turn, the greatest of modern ecclesiastical Latin poets, Santolius Yictorinus, thus imitates earlier Hymn writers, and perhaps, also, S. Peter : " Crux, sola languorum Dei Pendentis in te conscia ! Ejus dolores intimos, Die verba, die suspiria." 72 S. PETER DAMIANI. whereby lie struck Goliath the Philistine, and marked him in the forehead, where he did not wear thy blessed mark. Thee, O blessed Cross, the faith of the pa- triarchs, the prophecies of the seers, the senate of the Apostles, the victorious army of the martyrs, the com- pany of all the saints venerate, proclaim, honour. The sweet scent of thy fragrance is better than all spices j 1 thy nectar excels every kind of condiment and all honey. Blessed Cross ! title of glory, ensign of victory, signet of eternal redemption ! Earth owes its life to thee ; heaven is indebted to thee that it has been re- stored to the plenitude of its numbers. For it was by thee that exiled man returned to his Country, and the number of the angels, diminished before, was restored. By thee it is that the slaves of demons become by adoption children of God ; and they that were once worshippers of idols are now co-heirs of Christ. Glo- rious Cross ! before whom the empires of the world fall down, whom the sceptres of every principality obey, to whom the laws of all kingdoms are made subject ! 1 The preacher has in his mind a verse of Fortunatus, which in modern editions makes no part of his Hymn, but originally ran thus : " With fragrance dropping from each bough, Sweeter than sweetest nectar thou : Decked with the fruit of peace and praise, And glorious with triumphal bays :" and which in his own Hymn on the Cross he has thus imitated : " Thy savour is more precious far Than sweetest scents of spices are : The nectar that from thee distils The bosom with its fragrance fills." 73 THE GLOEY OE THE HEAVENLY JERU- SALEM. [This is properly the fifteenth chapter of S. Peter's fiftieth treatise, " The Instruction of a Nun" but evidently had previously formed, as many other passages in these treatises, part of a sermon, probably preached in the chapel of some convent. Yol. iii. page 342.} Hear, therefore, with pleasure, the deeds of God's servants; if you can imitate them, they will attain for you a perpetual reward; if they are impossible, they will guard you in a deeper humility. Let your mind be raised to those good things which are promised in our Country, that while in exile you may set but little store by whatever roughness annoys you in the "Way. When we are looking for a weight of shining gold, the labour of a journey is lightened. When a crown is proposed for the reward, the course of the race is cheerfully run. Think, therefore, how blessed is he, who, when such a multitude of the reprobate are shut out, himself is counted worthy to enter into the nuptial feast with the glorious company of the elect ! Think of what dignity it is even to stand before the Creator of all things, to contemplate the beauty of most present truth ; face to face, to behold God ; to have a share in the choirs of the angels ; where all are so filled with present joy as never to be anxious touching future adversity; where, while the quiet mind enjoys the pleasantness of incircumscript light, it rejoices also in- effably in the reward of its fellow-citizens. There, while they thirst for, they drink — while they drink, they 74 S. PETER DAMIANI, thirst for — the fountain of life; because there neither can avidity beget passion, or satiety turn into dis- gust. And manifestly from this cause, because they ever stand in the presence of the Author of Life, they derive the whole strength of their blessedness. Hence the eternal greenness of nourishing youth; hence the loveliness of beauty and the indeficient vigour of perfect health. 1 It is from that fountain of eternity that they obtain the power of living everlastingly and rejoicing ineffably : and, which is far more excellent, of attaining to the perfect similitude of their Creator. For, as John the Evangelist testifies, When He shall appear we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Then shall death be swallowed up in victory, and every corruption of the human race shall utterly come to an end. 2 Of this city spake holy Tobias, Jerusalem shall be built up with sap- phires and emeralds, and precious stones : thy walls, and towers, and battlements with pure gold. And the streets of Jerusalem shall be paved with beryl, and carbuncles and 1 There is a remarkable similarity between this sermon of S. Peter's and his celebrated Hymn, of which the first line is Ad perennis vita fontem ,- so the above sentence may recall that verse, " Here they live in endless being, Passingness has passed away j Here they bloom, they thrive, they flourish, For decayed is all decay : Lasting energy hath swallowed Darkling death's malignant sway." 2 Omnisque humanae natures penitus corruit corruptela. In the Hymn there is exactly the same expression : " Corruptela corruit." THE GLORY OF THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM. 75 stones of Ophir ; and all her streets shall say. Alleluia, Of this, also, John saith, Every several gate was of one pearly and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass. And he presently adds, The city had no need of the sun neither of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb was the light thereof. There, furthermore, human nature, which was vitiated, is purged from all corruption of passion, and exults; and being made unleavened, perseveres in its purity and incorruption. For the flesh, made spiritual, 1 agrees with the spirit, and the whole man finds no dis- sonance in the will of his Creator. Then is fulfilled that which the Bridegroom saith to the Bride; Come, My fair one, the time of pruning is at hand. For when a branch is pruned, that which is healthy remains, that which is superfluous is cut off. Thus in human nature, that which God made remains : that which the devil added is taken away. There the secrets of each are manifest to the eyes of all. There the hearts of all, joined together in the union of mutual love, are severed by no variety, but are perfectly made one in the ardour of a common will. With us, when one festival passes, another comes not; there, the joy of all solemnities is ever heaped together, because they are present and 1 Here again the words of the Hymn are almost identical with those of the sermon : " Freed from every stain of evil, All their carnal wars are done, For the flesh made spiritual, And the soul agree in one ; Peace unbroken spreads enjoyment, — Sin and scandal are unknown." E 2 76 S. PETER DAMIANI. assist, who are themselves the cause of our feasts. 1 With them is no ignorance, with them is no impossibility; because in the wisdom to which they are united, they know all things; in the Omnipotent they can do all things. There, with open face, we shall behold how the Father ineffably begets the Son, how the Holy Ghost proceeds from both. There we shall see how He, Who is absent nowhere, can be everywhere, not partially, but wholly ; how He can attend to each event as if He had no concern with all, can attend to all, as if He had no concern with each: how He Who is the highest in heavenly places, sustains the foundations of the abyss ; how He Who penetrates the inner parts of the world, can surround exterior creation. There, in those mea- dows which are ever decked in the beauty of spring, 2 the snowy lily never dies off, the purple rose and the crocus never fade. And surely, O heavenly Jerusalem, there is incomparably more of everlasting blessedness in thee, than the human heart can conceive : and the human heart can conceive more than can be expressed 1 This passage no doubt was in the mind of Adam of S. Yictor when he wrote " The Church on earth, with answering lore, Echoes her mother's joys above : These yearly feast-days she may keep, And yet for endless festals weep." 2 It is curious to observe how, in his Hymn, 9. Peter makes choice of precisely the same flowers : " Angry winter, parching summer, There relax their blustering j And sweet roses, ever blooming, Make an everlasting spring j Snowy lily, blushing crocus, And the balsam perfuming." THE GLORY OF THE HEAVENLY JERUSALEM. 77 by any words. Why should I, then, speak further of the joy of those blessed citizens? All the elements obey their happy will, all nature is ordered according to their desire, and at their behest. For true is that say- ing, Whatsoever the Lord pleased that did He in heaven and in the earth, and in the sea, and in all deep places. And that which is said of the Head, may be worthily believed of the members. God Almighty introduce thee, beloved sister, to these joys, and Himself be thy reward when He takes thee, Who became thy price when He redeemed thee. S. ANSELM. S. Anselm, the acutest thinker and profoundest theologian of an age that abounded in great men, is too well known to English Churchmen to render any sketch of his life neces- sary here. It will suffice to remark, that he was born in Piedmont about 1032 ; that he studied under Lanfranc, whom he succeeded in the Abbacy of Bee; that, coming to England in 1093, he was forced, almost by violence, to accept the Archbishopric of Canterbury from William Rufus ; that he was afterwards banished for his maintenance of the rights of the Church ; and that, returning to his see, he departed to his reward on the Thursday of Holy Week, in 1109. The last of the Fathers, except S. Bernard, he probably possessed the greatest genius of all, except S. Augustine. Though he was noted as a frequent and eloquent preacher, there have come down to us only sixteen of his sermons. They are all composed on one model — taking the Gospel for the day, and expounding it verse by verse. Their length, and their somewhat recondite character, make it probable that they were all delivered by the preacher to his monks at Bee ; but the only particular allusion to his audience is to be found in the prologue to the ninth. Speaking of the Gospel for the Assumption, he says, " My own opinion on the subject, I have, before now, more than once expounded, as I was able, in a rude and off-hand manner, 1 to my brethren. 1 The word is vulgariter, which may, perhaps, be taken to mean, " in the vernacular language," 80 S. ANSELM. And because my hearers were pleased with what I said, I was desired — I might say compelled — by them, and espe- cially by my lords the Abbats William of Fecamp, and Ar- nnlf of Troarne, to commit to writing what I had spoken. I mention this, in order that my little exposition may not be condemned as having been written by a presumptuous person, when it was published, not by my presumption, but by my obedience." Instead of quoting extracts from the Archbishop's ser- mons, I shall give a better idea of his style, by translating a whole discourse ; and I will take the third, of which the subject is — OTJE LOED WALKING ON THE SEA. S. Matt. xiv. 22. And straightway Jesus constrained His disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitude away. In this lection, according to its mystical interpretation, we have a summary description of the state of the Church, from the coming of the Saviour to the end of the world. For the Lord constrained His disciples to get into a ship, when He committed the Church to the government of the Apostles and their followers. And thus to go before Him unto the other side, — that is, to bear onwards towards the haven of the celestial coun- try, before He Himself should entirely depart from the world. For, with His elect, and on account of His elect, He ever remains here until the consum- mation of all things ; and He is preceded to the other side of the sea of this world by those who daily pass hence to the Land of the Living. And when He OUR LORD WALKING ON THE SEA. 81 shall have sent all that are His to that place, then, leaving the multitude of the reprobate, and no longer warning them to be converted, but giving them over to perdition, He will depart hence that He may be with His elect alone in the kingdom. Whence it is added, while He sent the multitude away. 1 For in the end of the world He will send' away the multi- tude of His enemies, that they may then be hurried by the Devil to everlasting damnation. And when He had sent the multitude away, He went up in a mountain apart to pray. He will not send away the multitude of the Gentiles till the end of the world ; but He did dis- miss the multitude of the Jewish people at the time when, as saith Isaiah, He commanded His clouds that they should rain no rain upon it ; that is, commanded His Apostles that they should preach no longer to the Jews, but should go to the Gentiles. Thus, therefore, He sent away that multitude, and went up into a mountain, that is, to the height of the celestial kingdom, of which it had been written, Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall rise up in His holy place ? For a mountain is a height, and what is higher than heaven ? There the Lord ascended. And He ascended alone, for no man hath ascended up into heaven, save He that came down from heaven, even the Son of Man Which is in heaven. And even when He shall come at the end of the world, and shall have collected all of us, His members, to- gether, and shall have raised us into heaven, He will also ascend alone, because Christ, the Head, is one with His 1 The reader will notice, that the Augustinian doctrine of election, of which S. Ansehn was one of the strongest, as well as ablest supporters, is prominently brought out in this passage. E 3 82 S. ANSELM. Body. 1 But now the Head alone ascends, — the Mediator of God and Man — the Man Christ Jesus. And He goes up to pray, because He went to the Father to intercede for us. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are figures of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. It follows, And when the evening was come, He was there alone. The evening signifies the nearness of the end of the world, concerning which John also speaks : Little children, it is the last time. Therefore it is said that when the evening was come, He was there alone, because, when the world was drawing to its end, He by Himself, as the true High Priest, entered into the Holy of Holies, and is there at the Right Hand of God, and also maketh intercession for us. But while He prays on the moun- tain, the ship is tossed with waves in the deep. For, since the billows arise, this ship may be tossed; but since Christ prays, it cannot be overwhelmed. For it follows : But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind was contrary. The ship is the Church ; the sea is this world ; the waves of the sea are the swellings and tribulations of the world, or the agitations of temptation. The contrary wind is the violence of devils, by which the powers of this world are excited against the Church, and the world is frequently stirred up against the Saints, and by which vices and iniquities are always suggested. The ship, 1 With this we may .compare a Terse from a very fine sequence on the Exaltation of the Cross : — " Manus mites dum expandit, Bex coelorum coelos pandit : Et cum multis illic scandit TJnde solus venerat." OUR LORD WALKING ON THE SEA. 83 therefore, was tossed with, waves in the midst of the sea, while Jesus was tarrying on the top of the mountain, because, from the time that the Saviour ascended into heaven, Holy Church is agitated by great tribulations in this world, and driven with the various whirlwinds of persecution, and vexed by the pravity of wicked men, and tempted in every possible way with sins. For the wind was contrary, because the blasts of evil spirits are always opposed to her, to the end that she may not attain to the haven of salvation, and seek to overwhelm her with the billows of this world's adversities, exciting against her all the contrarieties which it can bring to pass. It follows : And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. Since the night has twelve hours, and four military watches, three hours being comprehended in each watch, the fourth watch is the depth of night. But night signifies the darkness of tribulation, and errors, and vices, and the dangers of temptation. In the fourth watch, then, of the night, — that is, in the extremity of persecution, which had long been severe under Pagan kings, or towards the end of every heavy adversity, Jesus comes to His own. And He comes walking upon the sea, that is, treading on all the waves of tribulation, trampling under foot all the swellings of this world, and overcoming all its high thoughts. For what can we understand by the sea, ex- cept the bitterness of this world, which satisfies its rage by the slaughter of the good ? On the waves, then, of the sea, the Lord walks, because when the storms of persecution lift up themselves, they are broken by the wonders of His miracles. For He That mitigates the swellings of human madness, treads down, as it were, 84 S. ANSELM. the waves, when they are gathered together on an heap. For when the Gentiles perceived that their customs were destroyed by the preaching of a new manner of life, — when the rich of this world beheld that the deeds of the poor contradicted their own superiority, — when the wise of this world understood that the words of the unlearned were opposed to themselves, they swelled into a tempest of persecution. But they who were excited by the op- position of words to such a storm, were brought low, as we have said, by their wonder at the miracles performed. The Lord, therefore, planted as many of His footsteps on these waves, as He exhibited miracles to those proud persecutors. It follows : And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit ; and they cried out for fear. Jesus passes by, treading on the waves ; and yet there are so great temptations, that even they who have believed in Jesus, and who endeavour to persevere even to the end, are often troubled and afraid lest they should fail. When Christ, I say, is walking upon the waves : that is, Christians fear when He is depressing the ambitious and lofty thoughts of the world. Rightly, therefore, is it said, that the disciples feared when He was walking on the sea ; because Christians, although they have set their hope on the world to come, when they see the lofty things of this world depressed, are sometimes troubled about the destruction of human greatness ; neither do they think that this is brought to pass by God, but by the enemy. They were troubled, saying, It is a spirit, because, while they perceive that the glory of this world is overthrown, and the height of secular elevation is cast down, and the floods of this OUR LORD WALKING ON THE SEA. 85 world trampled on, they are frequently troubled con- cerning the shaking of the present life, because they do not yet understand that it is God Who does these things, but they imagine that it is the spirit of this world, that is to say, Satan in his craft, who brings these things to pass, and they cry out to the Lord for fear. But, after awhile, weighing the matter more diligently, they open Divine Scriptures, and there find that all these things are predicted, and discover that it is not the empty and shadowy spirit who has lost his true essence, but the very Lord, Who effects this, and depresses the lofty thoughts of the world, that He may be glorified by the humble. Whence it properly follows : But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. And He speaks this to His own, either by in- ternal inspiration, or by the Scriptures, or by preachers. Be not, saith He, afraid, but have confidence; be not terrified, but intrepid, because it is I Who have predicted these things, and now perform them for your profit, and therefore it is necessary that they should come to pass. It is I Who am not changed, and Whose words pass not away, but remain and are accomplished in deeds ; I Who spake to Moses, / AM That I am, and com- manded him, So shalt thou say to the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you. For anything that is changeable does not really exist. That is not true ex- istence, where also there can be non-existence. For whatever can be changed, is not that which it was. And in truth, that which remains is not mutation, neither is there any past or any future in it, but only a present : which is never the case with respect to any creature. 86 S. ANSELM. Consider the vicissitudes of things, and yon will find in them a has been and a shall be. Think of God, and you will find an is, where there cannot be a has been nor a shall be. Rightly, therefore, Christ, Who is the eternal and immutable Truth, speaks to those who are tossed by the tribulation of the world, It is I, 1 be not afraid. It follows : And Peter answered Him, and said, Lord, if it be Thou, bid me come unto Thee on the water ; and He said, Come. Peter signifies the order of preachers : and waters typify not only tribulations, but also peoples. If, saith he, it be Thou, — if Thou remainest without changing, bid me, because Thy command is efficacious power ; bid me come unto Thee upon the waters — upon the waves of earthly tribulations, and over many people. That I, adhering to Thee, Who art immutable, may also be immutable by the participation of Thy firmness. For he goes over tribulations, who is not conquered or overwhelmed by them, but treads upon, and overcomes them : a"s we read that the tribulation, in which the Protomartyr died for Christ, took place under Stephen. But that man goes to Christ over the peoples, who, by governing the multitude of the faithful, makes his way to the kingdom of heaven. It follows : And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. This has been fulfilled, and still is fulfilling, when holy preachers are sent forth to heathen nations. For Peter comes down out of the ship as often as any holy doctor de- scends from the bosom of the Church, his Mother, 1 In order to comprehend the full force of S. Anselm's reasoning, the reader must remember that / am, and It is I, can only, in Latin, be ex- pressed by the same phrase. OUR LORD WALKING ON THE SEA. 87 where he has been educated, and goes with pious conde- scension to them that are without, that he may show them the way of salvation. And he walks upon the water while he both conquers and tramples on tempta- tion, and while he subdues to himself the multitudes by causing them to believe in Christ. Walks, I say, and not stands : because he is ever more and more entirely forgetting the things which are behind, and more and more reaching forth to those things which are before, and ad- vancing in the daily increase of virtues. And all these things he doth, that he may come to Jesus, Who is the Saviour and the Immutable Truth; to the end that, laying hold of Him, and keeping close to Him, he may possess in Him true salvation and immutability. It follows : But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid ; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. The boisterous wind is the vehement endea- vour of evil spirits to stir up the hearts of men, and make them restless in the persecution of the faithful ; or else mightily to seduce them to evil. And that wind will then indeed be boisterous, when Satan, in the latter days, shall be let loose in his full strength against the righteous. And this appears now to be set forth in this sentence; in which Peter, who typifies the order of preachers, is related to have feared when he saw the wind boisterous. For who, even among those that are perfect, shall not fear, when that savage persecution shall rage everywhere, under Antichrist ? And when he fears he will sink a little, because on account of the horror of the torments which shall be inflicted on the saints, and from his wonder at the deceiving signs which shall be done by the followers of Antichrist, he will 88 S. ANSELM. fluctuate a little in his heart, and will somewhat, in the baser part of his mind, give way to thoughts, by which, unless the Hand of Christ raise him, he may easily be altogether whelmed. But because he is elect, he will cry to Christ, Lord, save me : and so by His help he will be raised up. For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved; but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened. Whence it here also aptly follows : And immediately Jesus stretched forth His Hand and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt ? For the Saviour quickly stretches forth His Hand of salutary help to each of those that are His, because He will not suffer them to be tempted above that they are able to bear. And He will quickly catch him, — that is, will hold him and lift him up by a certain power of Divine assistance. O thou of little faith, saith He, wherefore didst thou doubt ? Whose faith will not be shaken in that tribulation, when the martyr who shall pour forth his blood for Christ shall be able to work no miracle, and the torturer shall perform miracles before his very eyes ? Let us consider, therefore, what will be that temptation of the human soul; for whose courage will not then be utterly shaken from the very depths of his thoughts, when he who tortures by cruelty is also illustrious with miracles ? For with such iniquity and deceit will Antichrist and his ministers be then let loose against the righteous, that the hearts of even the blessed shall be struck with no small fear. Whence it is written : Insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall OUR LORD WALKING ON THE SEA. 89 deceive the very elect. Which we must understand to be said, not because the elect can fall, but because they will tremble with great terror, as if they were about to fall. We may notice, also, that this commotion of the waves, and tottering or half- sinking of Peter, takes place even in our time, according to the spiritual sense, daily. For every man's own besetting sin is the tempest. You love God ; you walk upon the sea ; the swellings of this world are under your feet. You love the world; it swallows you up : its wont is to devour, not to bear up, its lovers. But" when your heart fluctuates with the desire of sin, call on the Divinity of Christ, that you may conquer that desire. You think that the wind is then contrary when the adversity of this world rises against you, and not also when its prosperity fawns upon you. For when wars, when tumults, when famine, when pestilence comes, when any private calamity happens even to individual men, then the wind is thought ad- verse, and then it is held right to call upon God ; but when the world smiles with temporal felicity, then, for- sooth, the wind is not contrary. Do not, by such tokens as these, judge of the tranquillity of the time ; but judge of it by your own temptations. See if you are tranquil within yourself; see if no internal tempest is over- whelming you. It is a proof of great virtue to struggle with happiness, so that it shall not seduce, corrupt, sub- vert. Learn to trample on this world; remember to trust in Christ. And if your foot be moved, — if you totter, — if there are some temptations that you cannot overcome, — if you begin to sink, cry out to Jesus, Lord, save me. In Peter, therefore, the common condition of all of us is to be considered; so that, if the wind of 90 S. ANSELM. temptation endeavours to npset us in any matter, or its billows to swallow us up, we may cry to Christ. He shall stretch forth His Hand, and preserve us from the deep. It follows : And when He was come into the ship, the wind ceased. In the last day He shall ascend into the ship of the Church, because then He shall sit upon the throne of His glory; which throne may not unfitly be understood of the Church. For He Who by faith and good works now and always dwells in the Church, shall then by the manifestation of His glory enter into it. And then the wind shall cease ; because evil spirits shall no more have the power of sending forth against it the flames of temptation or the commotions of troubles : for then all things shall be in peace and at rest. It follows : Then they that were with Him in the ship came and worshipped Him, saying, Of a truth Thou art the Son of God. They who remain faithfully in the Church amidst the tempest of temptations, will approach to Him with joy, and entering into His kingdom with Him, will worship Him ; and praising Him perpetually, will affirm Him of a truth to be the Son of God. Then, also, that will happen which is written concerning the elect raised from death : All flesh shall come and shall worship before My Face, saith the Lord. And again : Blessed are they that dwell in Thy House ; they will be alway praising Thee. For Him, Whom with their heart they believe to righteousness, and with their mouth confess to salvation, Him they shall see with their heart to light, and with their mouth shall praise to glory, when they behold how ineffably He is begotten of the Father : with Whom He liveth and reigneth, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God to all ages of ages. Amen. S. IYO OF CHARTRES. To write the troubled life of this illustrious Prelate and learned Canonist, would be to write the history of the Church of France during the period at which he nourished. He was born in the Beauvoisis, probably about 1040. He studied at Bee under Lanfranc, and devoted his parti- cular attention to the Canons, then everywhere neglected and despised ; and soon attained the reputation of being the first Canonist of his time. Guy, Bishop of Beauvais, having founded, in 1178, a college of Canons Begular near his epis- copal city, placed Ivo at the head of that institution, under the title of Provost. Our author endowed it with his patri- mony, which was not small, and in process of time gave proofs of the attention he had paid to his favourite study by the publication of his Becretum, a digest of Canon law. "While he pleads for a renewal of discipline, he is not op- posed to a relaxation, in some respects, of ancient rigour, as impossible in his degenerate times. He quotes the Palse Decretals as of undoubted authenticity, and makes the same mistakes in the transcription of the names of Councils and of Popes into which his predecessors had fallen. Eaised to the See of Chartres in 1091, he, curiously enough, set an example of violating the Canons, by requesting consecration from Urban II., instead of receiving it from his Metro- politan, the. Archbishop of Sens, who disapproved of his election. His firm opposition to the adulterous marriage of Philip with Bertrada plunged him into a sea of trouble. "War was declared against him by the King ; the lands of 92 S. IVO OF CHARTRES. his church were laid waste, and he himself thrown into prison by the Viscount of Chartres. His people were about to rise in arms for his deliverance : " Not so," said he ; " it was prayer that delivered Peter from prison, and prayer is the only weapon which I should wish you to employ." Released at length, he subsequently incurred the indignation of Urban II., for his opposition to certain Ultramontane tenets ; and, on his reconciliation to that Pope, assisted in the celebrated Council of Poictiers, where Philip, refusing to dismiss Bertrada, was solemnly excommunicated. The re- maining years of his life were spent in the prudent adminis- tration of his church, and in replying to the numberless canonical questions proposed to him, as the oracle of Prance, by its Clergy ; and he always shows himself the firm opposer of the assaults made by the rapid progress of Eoman Supre- macy on the integrity of Canon Law. He founded a house for lepers in his diocese ; and it is recorded of him that he erected a magnificent roodloft in his church, and caused it to be painted with histories from the Old and New Testa- ments. At length he slept in the Lord, December 23, 1115. Although he died in the odour of sanctity, he was not formally beatified till 1570. Ivo stands before us in Church history as the hard, dry, and somewhat stern stickler for Canons. It is, therefore, an agreeable surprise to find that his twenty-four sermons, though entitled, " On Ecclesiastical Matters," have no such character. Several of them were delivered at synods ; but the greater part were apparently preached to an ordinary congregation, on various seasons of the Church's year. They are in no wise particularly remarkable, unless it be in the plain, straightforward way in which they quote Scripture, and the comparative absence of mystical interpretation. It is singular that, more than once, Ivo cites .the Psalms, not from the Vulgate, but from the old Italic version. I quote his sermons from the Paris edition of 1647, in which they occupy from page 258 to 304, of the second volume. THE LOED'S PASSION PEEFIGUEED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT. [This is from the sermon — or treatise, as the author in another place calls it — on the agreement of the old and new sacrifice.]' That the Jews were to crucify Him is testified by Isaiah : / have stretched forth My Hands all the day unto a disobedient and gainsaying people, which walketh in a way that is not good after their own thoughts. Also by Jeremiah : Come and let us put wood into His water, and cut Him off from the land of the living. 1 Also in Deuter- onomy: And thy Life shall hang before thee, and thou shalt fear day and night, and shalt have none assurance of thy Life. 2 Also in Psalm xxii. : They pierced My Hands and My Feet, I may tell all My bones. That in the Passion and in the sign of the Cross is all virtue and power is manifested by Habakkuk : His glory covered the heavens, and the earth was full of His praise : He had horns coming out of His Hands, and there was the hiding of His power. Also in Isaiah : Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given ; and the government shall be upon His shoulder. 3 By this sign of the Cross,, Amalek was conquered by Joshua, through Moses. That by this sign of the Cross there is salvation to all who are marked by it on their foreheads, is testified by Ezekiel : The Lord saith, Go through the midst of Jeru- salem, and set the mark Tau upon the foreheads of the men 1 Jer. xi. 19. ■ Deut. xxviii. 66. 3 The reference is to our Loed's carrying the Cross, the sign of His victory and exaltation, on His shoulder. 94 S. IVO or CHARTRES. that sigh and that cry for the abominations that be done in the midst thereof. 1 And again, in the same place : Slay utterly old and young, but come not near any man upon whom is the mark. Also, in the Book of Exodus, God saith to Moses : When He seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts 3 the Lord will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come into your houses to smite you. That at midday in His Passion there should be dark- ness is written in Amos : And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord God, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day. Also in Jeremiah : Her sun is gone down while it is yet day. She hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their ene- mies, saith the Lord. Also in the Gospel : From the sixth hour there was darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. That He should not be conquered by death, nor should remain in hell, in Psalm xxix. : Thou, Lord, hast brought my soul out of hell. Also in Psalm iii. : / laid me down and slept and rose up again, for the Lord sustained me. Also in the Gospel of S. John: No man taketh it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. That He should rise again from the dead the third day is written in Hosea : After two days will He revive us, in the third day He will raise us up and we shall live in His sight. Also in Exodus : Go unto the people and sanctify them to-day and to-morrow, and be ready against the third day : for the third day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people upon Mount Sinai. Also in the 1 See the note on the same passage in S. Albertus, hereafter. 95 Gospel : A wicked and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign, and there shall no sign be given it but the sign of the prophet Jonas. This same thing is predicted in the words of Jacob when he was blessing the patriarch Jndah on this fashion : Judah is a lion's whelp ; from the prey, my son, thou art gone up. For he typically calls the Lord the Saviour by this name, a lion's whelp, as having sprung from a royal ancestry. And He is well called a lion's whelp, whose nature is said to be that when born, he sleeps for three days, and then is aroused by the roaring of his father. 1 Which figure most beau- tifully suits the sleep of the Lord, Who, after slumber- ing for three days, cried to the Father, But Thou, O Lord, have mercy upon Me, and raise Thou Me up. And when raised, He went up to the prey, because spoiling hell, He raised all the righteous souls and triumphantly carried them as an excellent prey to heaven. . . . And when Jacob asks, Who shall raise Him up ? we must add, Except the Father. 1 There are innumerable mediaeval allusions to this belief. So Hugh of S. Yictor, in his treatise on beasts : " When the lioness brings forth, she brings forth her whelps dead, and so keeps them for three days, until their father comes and breathes upon their face that they may be quickened. Thus the Omnipotent Father raised His Son on the third day from the dead." So again S. Fulbert of Chartres, in an Easter Hymn : " When Cheist, unconquered Hon, first The dragon's chains by rising, burst : That, while with living voice He cries, The dead of other years might rise." So, once more, Adam of S. Victor, in an Easter Sequence : " Sleeping first the sleep of mortals, Judah' s Hon thus the portals Of the grave hath borne away." 96 S. IVO OF CHARTRES. THE SIX AGES OF THE WORLD. 1 [This is from the first sermon on Baptism, preached before a Diocesan Synod. Vol. ii. page 259.] Whence from the beginning of the world, the Sa- craments of Christ and of the Church were celebrated, by which both the people of those times were nourished, and the method of our Redemption prefigured. Eor in the first age, Adam was on the sixth day formed from the earth his mother, without an earthly father, in the likeness of God : and in the last age of the world, by Christ born of an earthly mother, without an earthly father, man was re-formed to the same image of God. To carry on the similitude, in the same age, from the side of Adam, who was the figure of Christ That was 1 This division of the world's history into six ages, is common to all the mediaeval, and borrowed by them from earlier, writers. Thus S. Augustine : " But when the sixth day shall have ended, then will come the rest, and the saints and the righteous servants of God shall keep Sabbath." So also S. Athanasius : " In the sixth age the world shall come to its end ; and in the seventh, the Lord shall descend to judg- ment ; and in the eighth, the good shall go to their everlasting reward, and the wicked to everlasting punishment." ,Thus also S. Augustine : " By the seventh day which hath no evening, is set forth to us that everlasting rest, where there is no night." There is a hymn of Vener- able Bede's founded on this idea, in which he parallelises the six days' work of the Creator, with the six ages of the world ; and then pro- ceeds to speak of the glory of the seventh day in which the righteous shall enter on reward, and of the eighth, which is typical of their ever- lasting happiness. For, as the old creation was finished in seven days, so that new heaven and new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness, may fitly be set forth by the first number over seven, namely, by eight. And musicians did not fail to observe just as S. Ivo does here, that the octave is only, as it were, the antitype of the key-note. THE SIX AGES OF THE WORLD. 97 to come, Eve was formed ; and, by the blood that flowed, together with the water of sanctification from the side of Christ, the Church was made. In the second age of the world, in the eight souls delivered from the deluge by the ark, the same Church is prefigured, which, in the hope of the eighth day, that is of the Resurrection, by the waters of Baptism and not with- out the help of the salutary wood, is freed from the deluge of abounding temptation. Then in the third age, the people of God, freed from Egyptian slavery, pass the Red Sea ; the waves yield, struck by the rod of Moses ; a way is opened to the people of God ; the enemy follows behind and is overwhelmed; and here again is another figure of the sanctification of Baptism, consecrated by the word of salvation. For, both the sea is red, and Baptism is red, as hallowed by the Blood of Christ. The enemies that followed behind perished, because past sins are blotted out by Baptism. Next, in the fourth age, the kingdom of David flourished in that earthly Jerusalem, prefiguring the kingdom of Christ and of the Church : for of his seed the same Christ was born, Who spiritually reigning in His Church, shall in due time gloriously crown her for her obedience. Thence it is that they who are to be bap- tized on Easter Eve, are in the fourth week of Lent, which ministers to us the arms of continence, and on the fourth day of that week, carried to church to be catechised and exorcised; then to hear and to be in- structed how they are to fight against spiritual wicked- ness. Nevertheless, their Baptism is deferred till the Paschal Saturday, the Church intending this, — that they who are called to the struggle of the present life, should F 98 S. IVO OF CHARTRES. be baptized in the hope of future tranquillity Then, after the time of the kings of Israel, when the fifth age was beginning, on account of the perversity of the aforesaid people, it was given over into captivity to the king of Babylon, and was carried away to that city ; and they who had voluntarily been slaves to confusion, were made involuntary servants to the king of Babylon, which by interpretation is confusion. But, after seventy years, the same people returned to Jerusalem, Cyrus, the Lord's anointed, so ordering it, as first Isaiah and then Jeremiah had predicted. Which all pertains to the state of the Church, which after the many tribu- lations of the present world, (carried on by the revo- lution of seven days,) those tribulations which it has suffered or shall suffer under the King of the spiritual Babylon, shall return to the heavenly Jerusalem to en- joy the Vision of Peace, and never more to be in bondage to confusion. Whence saith the Apostle, The creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of Him Who hath subjected the same in hope, because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the sons of God. And lastly, in the sixth age, Christ was born of a Virgin; as on the sixth day the first-made man was formed from the virgin earth. Thus Christ is the end of the law and the Truth, fulfilling all things which had gone before in the types of Sacraments. 99 THE ADVENT. [This is from the seventh sermon, page 286.] Since, in the observation of the present time, we celebrate both the Advents of Christ, we must dis- tinguish what, at this season, we have to believe as past, what we have to expect as future ; to the end that the expectation of future things may, by fear, restrain you from sin : and belief in that which is past, if 'you are not lukewarm in charity, may confirm you in that which is good. For there is none of you who doubts that our Lord has already come in the form of a ser- vant to the end He might be judged : there is none of you who denies that He will come in the same form to the end He may judge. In the first Advent He was hidden, in the second He will be manifested. In the first Advent it is written of Him : What Man is this, and who knoweth Him ? And in the Gospel : The light shined in darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not, and much to the same effect. Of the second it is thus said in the Psalm : Our God shall come and shall not keep silence. In His first Advent He kept silence, not from teaching, but from judging. When He was reviled, He reviled not again, when He suffered, He threatened not, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His mouth. In the second, He will not be silent, when He will render to each according to his works. For then He will say to them that shall be at His left hand, Go, ye cursed, into everlasting fire : but thus to those who shall be on His right hand : Come, ye blessed of My Fa- f2 100 S. IVO OF CHARTRES. ther, inherit the kingdom which is prepared for you from the beginning of the world. The first Advent was in hu- mility and meekness, the second will be with terror and majesty. In the first it is said of Him by the Prophet to the Church, Behold, thy King cometh unto thee, meek and humble. Of the terror of the second it is said in the Psalm : There shall go a fire before Him, and a mighty tempest shall be stirred up round about Him, that this tem- pest may drive away the wicked afar from the vision of His glory, but over them the fire shall burn. Of this tempest 'it is written: Let the wicked be taken away, that they may not see the glory of God. But of the fire to which the wicked shall be given up, thus saith the Lord by Moses : A fire is kindled in Mine anger which shall burn even to the lowest hell. He Himself says that He will come to judgment with majesty : When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, before Him shall be gathered all nations. In the first Advent He came to justify the wicked, in the second He will come to condemn the wicked. In the first He came to call back those that were wrested from Him, in the second He will come to glorify those that are converted to Him. In the first Advent Christ was betrayed for the wicked to a death which He deserved not, in the second He will give up the wicked to a death which they deserve. In the first Advent He came to form our hearts again to the Image of God. But in the second, He will form again the body of our humility so as to be configured to the body of His glory. For as by the first earthly man sin en- tered into the world, and death by sin, so it was fit that by the Second Man from heaven, man should first be justified from sin, and after that, should by the same • THE ASCENSION. 101 be restored to immortality. For in the same order in which he had perished, in that order he was to be restored. The first death was transgression of the com- mandments, from which the second springs, the corrup- tion of the flesh by the departure of the soul. Thus, therefore, the first resurrection is justification; the second, the restoration of corrupt flesh to immortality. Because then each Advent was necessary for our resto- ration, Holy Church is accustomed to venerate each under the observation of one time, that she may read former benefits with thanksgiving, and may look forward with pious fear to the good things of the latter Advent. Therefore those things which are written concerning each Advent of the Lord, in the law, and the Pro- phets, and the Psalms, and the Gospel, are most es- pecially recited in the Church by being read or sung in these four weeks, that we may be fortified by these four kinds of testimonies to giving of thanks, and may be prepared for the future with no idle solicitude. THE ASCENSION. . , . (Page 297.) To-day, brethren, the victory of Christ is complete : to-day His triumphal banners are set up : hell, with its prince grieves for its spoliation : the heavenly host rejoices in the destruction of its foes. To-day that Flesh which has been raised from the earth is set at the right hand of the Father, because it has been exalted above 102 S. JVO OF CHARTRES. all things, and every principality and power is bowed before Him. To-day that new way of which the Apos- tle speaks is opened to us, because, by the Flesh of Christ, the gate of heaven, through which no flesh had ever passed before, was unlocked ; and that new way is by the same Apostle called a living way, as having been prepared for the living members of Christ who should enter in by it. To-day the opening of that book is accomplished, which no man could open except the Lamb that was slain, since its mysteries are revealed, when those sayings which are found in the law and the Pro- phets concerning Christ, are to-day complete. Christ descended that He might become a participator of our nature ; He afterwards ascended that He might make us participators of glory. When He descended, by His conversation in this world, and His visible miracles, He fed, as it were, infants with milk ; when He ascended, He gave gifts to men. That they being taught by these, and educated as it were to the fall strength of men, might no longer desire His temporal vision ; but might study to follow Him with all the yearning of their hearts to that place whither He has gone before. Wherefore, gince we' are deprived of His temporal presence, let us listen with aM. our strength to His eternal vision ; let us say to 'Him as'the Psalmist saith, My heart hath talked of Thee : seek ye My Face : Thy Face, Lord, will I seek. For the whole dispensation of the humanity of Christ proposed nothing else, did nothing else, but to direct our endeavours to heaven, and bring us, when the time of our mortality shall be accomplished, to the open vision of Himself; that having brought us there, He might satiate us with the eternal glory of His countenance. THE ASCENSION. 103 because, as the Apostle testifies, we shall see Him as He is. These are the good things of Jerusalem, which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of men to conceive. .... Let us hunger and thirst for these things, because it was to this end that the great High Priest, our Fore-runner, entered into the true Holy of Holies, ascended to the right hand of the Father, to confirm the hope of His members, that the humble flock shall follow there where it believes its Shepherd to have gone first. For thus the Lord Himself promises His disciples : Wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together?- He calls by the name of eagles, saints, who desire to depart and to be with Christ. For it is said to be the nature of eagles that they per- ceive by their keen scent the odour of a corpse beyond the sea, and fly swiftly to satisfy their hunger thereupon. This hunger then of the eagle's signifies the desire of holy minds, which, discovering by the scent of faith their Head, now in unbroken peace, beyond the ocean of this world, desire to stand in His presence by means of the wings of hope, and to rejoice everlastingly when they are satisfied with His countenance. 1 This text is universally explained by mediaeval as well as primitive writers, either as S. Ivo here interprets it, or of the desire of the saints to feed on the Loed's Body at the Altar. In the magnificent hymn of S. Peter Damiani, on the Joys of Paradise, he seems to embrace both meanings : " Where the sacred Body lieth, Eagle souls will congregate, Who, with holy saints and angels, Thus their spirits recreate ; One same living Bread sustaining Denizens of either state." S. BRUNO OF ASTE, So called, it is probable, from the place of his birth in Li- guria, pursued his studies at Rome in the pontificate of S. Gregory VII., some of whose zeal for the reformation of the Church from the horrible prevalence of simony he seems to have imbibed. The talents he displayed in the controversy with Berengarius procured him the Bishopric of Segni ; and, as Prelate of that See, he was present at the great Council of Clermont, where the First Crusade had its origin, and took a part in the consecration of the then unrivalled Church of Cluny. He resigned his Bishopric, much to the regret, and somewhat to the indignation, of Pascal II. ; and retired to the great abbey of Monte Cassino, the head of the Bene- dictine order, of which he became Abbat. He could scarcely have here obtained the repose for which he longed : for we find him at the Council of Poitiers, in 1106 : he was also employed as Legate in Sicily. Compelled to return to his church at Segni, he distinguished himself in those troublous times by the exactness of his discipline, and the fervour of his zeal. He departed this life in the year of our Loed 1123, and the forty-fourth of his episcopate ; and forty years later was canonised by Lucius III. "We have from him about one hundred and eighty sermons, the greater part arranged in a course of homilies for the Church's year ; the rest in the last three books of his " Sen- tences." They are distinguished by their plainness and simple earnestness ; but evince no especial talent, and scarcely ever make any pretension to eloquence. It would seem, from more than one casual expression, that they were f3 106 S. BRUNO OF ASTE. composed for reading, rather than delivered to an audience. For example, the preacher concludes his sermon on the second Sunday after Pentecost : " And of this subject we have spoken sufficiently on Leviticus :" that is, in his com- mentary on that book, which is not written in the form of sermons, and therefore could not have been so delivered. I may further observe, that S. Bruno rather avoids the mys- tical senses in which his contemporaries so much delight ; and that many of his discourses, if literally translated, and delivered in an English pulpit of this day, would be thought good, plain, homely sermons, with nothing very remarkable either in matter or manner. The works of S. Bruno were first collected and edited by Marchese, of the abbey of Monte Cassino, (Venice, 1651.) The sermons had long been attributed to Eusebius Emis- senus, the heretic contemporary of Constantius. Baronius ascribed a large portion of them to S. Eucherius of Lyons ; but Marchese seems to have vindicated them to their rightful owner. CHEIST PEEEECT GOD AND PERFECT MAN. [The commencement of a sermon on Christmas -day. Vol. ii. p. 10.] The other Evangelists relate how our Lord and Saviour was announced by the angel, born of the Virgin, revealed to the shepherds, declared through the star, adored by the wise men, carried to the Temple, and presented to Simeon. They narrate, besides, how He fled from Judea with His parents into Egypt ; how He returned out of Egypt into Judea ; how He grew up and increased in virtue and wisdom. They, writing these and the like things, manifested that He was very Man, and assumed true flesh ; and so confuted the here- CHRIST PERFECT GOD AND PERFECT MAN. 107 tics that taught and believed otherwise. But John the Evangelist, soaring more loftily, and extending his teaching to the Divinity of Christ, rode upon a cherub, and did fly, and came flying upon the wings of the wind : penetrated the heavens, passed the archangels, attained to the throne of God, and there beheld the Word of God, there beheld our Lord Jesus Christ in the Bosom of the Father, and there understood that which is written, ■My heart hath produced a good Word. He understood it, and he spake : In the beginning was the Word : and the Word was with God: and the Word was God. Jesus Christ our Lord, as He is called the Son of God, so He is named the Word, the Virtue, the Wisdom of God. Of which Word saith the Psalmist : By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made. And, to show that the Word and the Wisdom are the same, he saith : By Wisdom hath He established the heavens. Never, there- fore, was the Father without His Son, because never could He be without Word, never without Virtue, never without Wisdom. This Virtue, this Wisdom, this Son of God, though He were born in time of the Virgin, yet was He in the beginning, and before all ages. And this is that which he saith, In the beginning was the Word. FLIGHT FEOM TEMPTATION. [This is from a sermon on the Festival of the Holy Innocents. Vol. ii. p. 14.] It follows : He arose, and took the young Child and His Mother by night, and departed into Egypt. Behold, Christ 108 S. BRUNO OF ASTE. flies, and flies by night : that flight, difficult in itself, may become more difficult through the obscurity of darkness. If Christ, therefore, fled from Herod, how much more should we fly from the devil and his members ? Let us not be terrified by any difficulty of the journey ; for better is it to be weary with hard labour, than to be slain by the enemy. Strait and narrow is the way that leadeth to everlasting life. Yet we are not always to fly, nor yet always to resist ; but, as time and place re- quire, are sometimes to do the one, and sometimes the other. For the saints also sometimes fled, and some- times resisted their enemies. Moreover our Saviour Himself, Who commanded, When they persecute you in one city, flee ye to another, and Who could, had He so willed it, Himself have fled at the time of His Passion, went forth of His own will to meet His enemies. Hence, therefore, if we fly from our enemies, whether visible or invisible, it is not to be from the fear of death, but from the fear of sinning. THE STORY OE ZACCH^EUS. [From a sermon at the dedication of a church ; from the Gospel. It is worthy of notice, that the homilies delivered on similar occasions are always more elaborate and ornate than the other discourses of their re- spective authors. The presence of so many dignitaries, the vast crowd, the character of the service itself, probably acted as a spur to the imagin- ation of the preacher ; and S. Bruno forms no exception to the rule. Yol. ii. p. 134.] Ever since the first man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, we all — as many as THE STORY OF ZACCHiEUS. 109 dwell in this world — walk through Jericho. For Jericho by interpretation is the moon ; of which the changeful- ness is such, that it never remains in the same con- dition. Whence also, not unfitly, it signifies the world, whereof the mutability is perpetual, and which cannot exist except by mutation. To say nothing of the heaven, and time, and days, and months, and years, which are ever revolving and returning in a circle, neither air, earth, nor sea, nor men themselves, keep their original form. All their mutations, who can go through them one by one ? Wherefore this moon rightly signifies the world, which, like that, is varied by so many changes. This mutability, then, our Lord and Saviour vouchsafed to assume, according to His Manhood, that He might heal man wounded by the thieves, and might deliver the world from death eternal. He is, therefore, rightly said to have passed through Jericho ; because, being immutable according to His Godhead, He assumed our mutations in His Flesh. For He was an-hungered and athirst, and being weary, He sat on the well. And behold, a man named Zacchaeus. Now Zacchaeus, being interpreted, is He that is to be justified. And rightly so : since he was called and justified by God. He was not only a pub- lican, but the chief of the publicans ; and he was, more- over, rich : one of those of whom it is written, that it is difficult for them to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Difficult ? ay, and impossible with men. But the things that are impossible with men are possible with God, And though he were such, yet he desired to see Jesus. He desired, indeed, but could not. And why could he not ? For the crowd; and because he was little of stature. These two things greatly hinder a man from beholding 110 S. BRUNO OF ASTE. Jesus. An evil crowd, which holds back from such and so great a good ! This is the crowd of vices : with which if a man be surrounded, he cannot behold Christ. And he may be called little of stature, who hath not yet attained to the full age of knowledge and to perfection. Whence the Apostle admonishes us, saying, Be not chil- dren in understanding : howbeit in malice be ye children. And again : / fed you with milk, and not with strong meat . . . for ye are yet carnal. He, therefore, that desires to see Jesus, let him go out from the crowd ; let him fly vices and sins, and avoid the companionship of the wicked ; let him raise and stretch himself; let him increase in faith and knowledge, and advance in all good. This, therefore, is set forth by Zacchseus, when he ran before, and climbed into a sycamore tree. He climbed up into a tree, that by means of that he might see Him Whom, by himself, he could not see. This tree is faith: to which many come, who, climbing up into it, though little of stature in themselves, and having made small progress in knowledge, have thence merited to behold and to recognise Jesus. Whence it is said, He was to pass that way : for by this way, and near this tree of faith, Jesus passeth. Thence He is seen, and sees ; is recognised, and recognises. For on those the Lord vouchsafes to look, and to call them, who ascend this tree, the fruit whereof is blood-red ; and by it martyrs are signified, in that, adhering to the Tree of Faith, and for constantly cleaving to the faith, they are dyed in their own blood. Ill THE LOKD'S LAST CHAEGE TO HIS DISCIPLES. [From a homily on the Ascension. Vol. ii. p. 83.] The Lord Jesus came to His disciples, and found them sitting at meat ; found them eating and drinking. He sat down with them ; He ate, He drank with them ; that He might show Himself to have assumed, not a phantastical, but a true body, and might strengthen them by His Presence. He upbraided them for their unbelief; He confirmed them by His conversation. And eating together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father. Thou, then, whoever thou art, who art waiting for the promise of the Holy Ghost, depart not from Jerusalem, forsake not the Church, desert not the companionship of the saints : there wait, there remain, because to none out of the Church is given the Holy Ghost ; and He leaves even those that have Him, if they forsake it. He upbraided them for their hardness ; He reprehended them for their unbelief. For albeit that Simon Peter, and Mary Magdalene, and those two disciples to whom the Lord had appeared in the likeness of a stranger, had most certainly and firmly testified that He had risen, and that they had seen Him, the rest gave no credence to them. And what wonder, when they believed not even themselves, and their own eyes ? For Matthew the Evangelist relates that the eleven dis- ciples went away into Galilee, into a mountain where Jesus had appointed them : and when they saw Him, they wor- shipped Him ; but some doubted. For they thought that 112 S. BRUNO OF ASTE. they beheld, not a true body, but a spirit. Wherefore He saith, Handle Me and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see Me have. And perhaps this their doubt proceeded out of their intense love. For we do not readily believe that which we greatly desire. As, on the other hand, that which we fear, we easily think likely to happen. And He said to them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. Before, He had said, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not. For I am not sent hut unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel. But now He commands them to go into the whole world; in which the reprobation of the Jews, and the election of the Gentiles is most manifestly set forth. Whence also the Father saith, Desire of Me, and I shall give thee the heathen for Thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for Thy possession. But that which He saith, Preach the Gospel to every creature ; another Evangelist expounds, Go, teach all nations. For the same thing is signified by every creature and by all nations. As the Apostle saith concerning charity, that it believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things : which is not true, unless it be taken in a particular sense. For if charity believeth all things, it believes both the Saddu- cees who deny, and the Pharisees who affirm the Resur- rection, — which is absurd. Therefore, charity believeth not all things. Let it, therefore, be thus expounded : believeth all things that ought to be believed.. In like manner here, also, where it is said, Preach the Gospel to every creature : it is to be expounded as if it were written, Preach the Gospel to every creature to whom it ought to be preached. For the Gospel is not to be preached to 113 stones, nor to anything else that is void of sense and reason. For there are, who understanding too subtilly those things which are plain, render them l difficult. 1 This little caveat against mystical interpretation may be curiously contrasted with the following passage of Vieyra (Serm. i. p. 9), where he is preaching on the same text : — " Gto ye into all the world, and preach the Grospel to every creature. How so, Lord ? Are not animals creatures ? Are not trees creatures ? Are not stones creatures ? Then must the Apostles preach to stones, to stocks, to animals? Yes, says S. Gregory, after S. Augustine. For, since the Apostles were to preach to all the nations in the world, many of them barbarous and uncivilised, they would find men degenerated into all kinds of creatures ; they would find men that were men ; they would find men that were brutes ; they would find men that were rocks." S. Bruno was rather a bold man, to reflect on the authority of two of the Western Doctors j but he was a plain, out-spoken, simple preacher. HILDEBERT, ARCHBISHOP OE TOURS. 1057—1134. Hildebekt, no ignoble name, even in an epoch which boasted of so many great men, was born at Laverdin, near Mont D'Or, in 1057, and had for his master the celebrated Berengarius, whose teaching respecting the Holy Eucharist occasioned so many disputes in the eleventh century. He afterwards spent some time in the monastery of Cluny, which had then attained the height of its glory under its Abbat, S. Hugh. It is a disputed question whether he him- self ever embraced the monastic life. However that may be, his early manhood did no great credit to the holiness of his preceptor ; but, having repented of his errors, he was made by Hoel, Bishop of Le Mans, first master of the Ca- thedral school, and then Archdeacon. On the death of that Prelate, he himself was elected to the vacant see, and thence- forward he hardly knew a quiet hour. War was raging be- tween Elias, Count of Le Mans, and William Eufus. The former was vanquished and made prisoner ; the city was set on fire ; the Clergy were driven into exile, and the ecclesias- tical revenues were confiscated. Hildebert himself was ac- cused to the King as a favourer of the deposed Duke ; and though that accusation was dropped, William insisted on the demolition of the towers of the Cathedral, and on the Bishop's refusal to consent, threw him into prison. The accession of Henry I. liberated him for awhile ; but that monarch still insisting on his brother's demand, summoned Hildebert be- fore the English Bishops on a charge of treason. He was 116 HILDEBERT, ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. hardly permitted to go into exile, and then visited Rome, Naples, and Sicily. When he at length ventured to return to Le Mans, he was again imprisoned, and more than once put to the torture ; though it appears that he at length re- covered the favour of Henry I., to whom he wrote some friendly letters, still extant. In 1125, he was raised, much against his will, to the Archbishopric of Tours ; and though then in the seventieth year of his age, he undertook the visitation of his diocese with great zeal. He steadily pursued the claim of his see over the self-styled Metropolitan of Dol, in Brittany, till his death ; and by his successor it was brought to a happy ter- mination. The year of his death is not exactly certain ; but in the Chronicle of Le Mans, it is said to have happened when he was in a good old age, and retaining his full facul- ties, though almost in his eightieth year. The only com- plete edition of his works is that of Beaugendre, Paris, 1708 ; who gives him the title of Venerable, but denies him that which has been attributed to him by others, of Saint. We must now speak of his sermons. They are one hun- dred and forty in number; the greater part on the course of the Church's year, but not a few delivered in Diocesan Synods. They are not uninteresting, from the many curious allusions to ecclesiastical rites which they contain, aud from the ingenious manner in which they frequently allegorise Old Testament histories, — beginning at the beginning, and carrying the mystical interpretation right through to the end. They scarcely, however, anywhere rise to eloquence, and are almost entirely deficient in pathos. This is the more remarkable, because Hildebert was no mean poet, and one of his compositions has been pronounced by Mr. Trench — no incompetent judge — " equal, at the conclu- sion, to the very best productions which Latin Christian poetry anywhere can boast." The sermons, however, as we now have them, are frequently rather mere sermon notes than regular discourses. Occasionally, it would appear, they HILDEBEBT, ABCHBISHOP OF TOUBS. 117 come not directly from the preacher, but as taken down by an auditor ; and hardly anywhere have they received the au- thor's final corrections. This is evident from the careless manner in which Holy Scripture is often quoted. For ex- ample, in an Advent sermon on Job xxxi. 35, instead of, O that one would hear me, he constantly gives the text, O that one would help me : he refers to the seven lions, instead of the six which stood on this side and on that of Solomon's throne ; he quotes the text, Babylon is a golden cup in the hand of the Lord, from Isaiah, instead of from Jeremiah. "We have instances, moreover, like the following, which show that Hildebert was in the habit of writing down merely a part of his sermons, and trusting to his extemporary resources for the rest. In the seventh for Lent, (page 346,) " Seek, therefore, God while He may be found ; call upon Him be- cause He is swift to pardon. In the next world He will be prepared to judge. Learn by an example how swift He is to pardon. And I will give an example. Learn by this ex- ample, beloved brethren, to be stirred up to penitence," &c. So, again, in the 106th Sermon, " Let no one despair because he has led a very wicked life, when he seeks to obtain par- don. Now give an example of some sinner who was converted to the faith, and was saved, and of many others who, when they were ready to despair, nevertheless returned to the way of salvation, and were converted to the Lord. And you, in like manner, beloved brethren, be not led into despair by any horrible sin," &c. Again, in preaching before the nuns of Fontevraud, whose director he was, he has this remarkable passage, which it is impossible to explain, " Primus populus, homines sunt mali, qui a bono retrahunt. ; secundus, desideria carnis, qua3 mala suggerunt ; tertius, cogitationes mentis, quae peccare cogunt. De primo populo scriptum est: Si d. m. t. s. t. a. esse pro. De secundo :" &c. There are many proofs that several of the sermons were merely taken down at the time by hear- ers, and so preserved. Thus, the sixth, and the sixty-first — 118 HILDEBERT, ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. the one from a manuscript at S. G-ermains des Pres, the other at Angers, — are, in sense, identically the same ; the latter being the fuller of the two. It would seem that a monk from each house had been present at the delivery of the dis- course, and had either taken it down at the time, or written it down from recollection afterwards ; and that he of Angers was either the better scribe, or had the more accurate me- mory. So, in another place, we find this sentence, " For leon, in Greek, signifies a king." Hildebert must have said, with that inaccuracy about Greek terminations which was common to almost all mediaeval authors, basileon ; and the hearer, who was writing down the discourse, must have lost the two first syllables. On the whole, if Hildebert's sermons are worth the reading, it is rather for their ideas than for their expression, and there is a kind of dryness in almost all of them, which contrasts unfavourably with the less learned discourses of Guarric or of S. Peter Damiani. t THE STJFFEKINGS OF OTTK LOED. [The following is the opening of the second sermon for Grood Friday. Page 439.] Psalm xxii. 17. They pierced My Hands and My Feet, I may tell all My Bones. The present week, beloved brethren, having the name from the thing, is called the Laborious Week, or, to use the vulgar term, La semaine peineuse. If you seek for the cause of this title, call to mind the Lord's Fassion. For in this week, the Passions of the Lord are recited, and the 'pains which He endured, not for the sins of Himself, but of others, are related to the people. But if THE SUFFERINGS OF OUR LORD. 119 ye wish to know what pain it was that Christ endured, attend to Him as He hangs on the Cross, and attend to Him also while, hanging on the Cross, He utters these complaints, They pierced My Hands and My Feet, I may tell all My Bones. But these complaints are not those of impatience, but rather, of pity. For He Who suffered grieved not for Himself. And Who is sufficient to con- sider worthily — worthily to set forth the Passion and pain of the Lord ? Let Himself tell us that which He bore; let Himself bear record concerning His pain. Let Him that suffered tell us that which He suffered. They pierced My Hands and My Feet, I may tell all My Bones. They gave Me gall to eat, and when I was thirsty, they gave Me vinegar to drink. Attend, I pray you, and consider what pain that was, — that the Hands and the Feet should be pierced with nails, and should so be ex- tended on the Cross, as that all the bones, being stretched, could, from the greatness of their tension, be numbered. Turn not away, brethren, your eyes from the Cross of Christ; turn not away your ears from His words. Be- hold, He speaks concerning the Cross, and He speaks to you; for you He suffered; you He addresses. I pray you show the affection of compassion, and the effect of imitation. For this He thirsts ; for this He hungers. Put away from you the gall of iniquity, and the vinegar of evil thoughts. Let your operation be just, and your cogitations pure. Behold, ye have heard in part, but only a very small part, the Passion which Christ suffered; see now, in turn, from what sort of persons, and in what sort of way, and how patiently He suffered. Hear the Psalmist, speaking in the person of Christ : My lovers and My 120 HILDEBERT, ARCHBISHOP OE TOURS. neighbours did stand looking upon My trouble, and My kinsmen stood afar off. O Lord Jesus Christ, what will Thine enemies do to Thee, if Thy very friends are Thine adversaries? He can ill trust an enemy, whose friend is at variance with him. And Thou, Lord Jesus, art not weak, that Thou shouldst endure all this, but omnipotent. Thou, Who sufferest from such, what dost Thou say to such, what dost Thou do to such ? I know, O Lord, I know what Thou wilt answer me. I do nothing at all — I say nothing at all — I endure My Pas- sion joyfully, and I take no vengeance, either in word or in deed. As for Me, I was like a deaf man, and heard not, and as one that is dumb, and doth not open his mouth. I am that patient and gentle Sheep, of which it is written, He is led as a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before her shearers is dumb, so He opened not His Mouth. O in- imitable and admirable example of patience, worthy of entire admiration and love — worthy of imitation ! Let them look to this example and blush, the impatient and the impotent, who will not suffer on account of their im- patience, and yet when they do suffer, cannot revenge themselves on account of their impotence. Wretched are they, indeed, who cannot obtain that vengeance which, in their impatience, they desire ! On the con- trary, blessed was Christ, Who willingly endured His Passion, and would not take that vengeance on His per- secutors which He might have taken ! The pain, then, which the Lord endured, gave this week, as has before been said, the name of " La semaine peineuse." And if any one shall diligently inquire, he will find other pains on account of which this term may properly be applied to this week. There are two kinds THE SUFFERINGS OF OUR LORD. 121 of men, who, at this time, are grievously afflicted, and suffer greatly; who are in trouble because they are carrying a heavy load, and yet cannot lay it down. O what a hateful burden is that, and one which never should have been taken up, which he who binds upon himself is compelled to carry, and even when he would lay it down, something hinders him, and he cannot ! These burdens, beloved brethren, are sins. Under this burden he laboured who said in the Psalm, My iniquities are gone over my head, and are like a sore burden too heavy for me to bear. Consider, then, these two sorts of men, who desire, 1 but are not able, to lay down their burdens. And what is it to lay down the burden, except to get rid of sin ? But he who desires to get rid of sin, must re- veal and confess it to the Priest, as it is written, Reveal thy way unto the Lord, and put thy trust in Him. But very often, when the sinner looks at the greatness and multitude of his guilt, he is ashamed to confess that which he has done ; and although he may deeply grieve for his sins, yet, foolishly hiding them in his own con- science, he is ashamed to reveal them to whom he ought. Fool ! why be ashamed to say to man that which you are not ashamed to do in the sight of the Lord ? Away with such shame. Hasten to the Priest ; reveal thy se- cret and confess thy sin : otherwise, contrition of heart will be of no avail, if, when there is an opportunity, con- fession of mouth follow not. u I cannot do it," he says : * I would, with all my heart, give up sin ; I would im- pose any penance on myself for my guilt, if there were any use in doing so without confession. But since this 1 In the original, a play upon the words, which the English cannot imitate : " Volentium, non valentium." 122 HILDEBERT, ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. cannot be, I had rather conceal my sin, and end my life in it, than endure the shame of confessing so many trans- gressions." And, for the most part, it happens as he says. He is seized with some sickness, and dies without confession. And a sinner of this kind, who because of shame will not confess, too often is taken away without the fruit of penitence. ON THE DEDICATION OF A CHUECH. [The following sermon on the Dedication of a Church is an excellent example of the allegorical treatment of an Old Testament History. Page 742.] Gen. xxiv. 2. And Abraham said unto his eldest ser- vant of his house, that ruled over all that he had, Put, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh, &c. (After relating the history in his own words, S. Hildebert proceeds,) What is the cause why Isaac, the beloved son, is for- bidden to take a wife of the daughters of Canaan, save that He of Whom it is written, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased, will be espoused to no pol- luted soul ? But the servant is commanded to take a wife for the Son from His own kindred, because the holy Church of the elect was alone to be joined to the Only- Begotten Son, and that Only-Begotten from His predes- tination and foreknowledge did not esteem her a stranger. And who is the servant that is sent to bring home the wife, save the Prophets, and the Apostles, and all the Doctors, who, while they proclaim the word to honest hearts, become, as it were, the messengers for betrothing ON THE DEDICATION OF A CHURCH. 123 every Christian soul to the Only-Begotten Son? He, going forth on His journey, took with Him of all the goods of His Lord, because they manifest in themselves the riches of virtue in the things which they speak con- cerning the Lord ; and by so much the more speedily they persuade men to turn to God, by how much they set forth in themselves the things which they teach to their hearers. And the aforesaid servant stood near the fountain and resolved, by a determination taken before- hand, which damsel he should select; because holy preachers look at the fountains of sacred writ, and col- lect from them what or to whom they should commit the word of their preaching, and from which auditors they may look for the certainty of faith. The servant seeks for somewhat to drink, because every preacher thirsts after the soul of his hearers. It is Rebecca who gives the water, because it is the holy Church of the elect which satisfies the desire of its preachers, by the virtue of its faith ; the Church which confesses the God of Whom she hears, and offers to her instructor the water of refreshment, and satisfies his soul. And note that Rebecca let down the pitcher upon her hand, because that praise is well-pleasing to God which proceeds from a good work And she gave drink, not only to himself, but also to his camels, because the Word of life is not only preached to the wise, but also *to the foolish ; according to that saying of Paul, I am a debtor both to the wise and to the unwise The servant gives to Rebecca earrings and bracelets, because every preacher adorns the ears of holy Church by obedience, and her hands by the merit of good works. But the earrings are of two shekels weight, and the bracelets of ten, because the first virtue of obedience consists in o2 124 HILDEBERT, ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. love, which love is divided into the two commandments, love of God and love of our neighbour; and good works are accomplished in the fulfilment of the de- calogue, so that when we begin to do that which is good, we may not allow that which is evil. Rebecca tells the servant that in her father's house there is room enough to lodge in, because holy Church shows that she has separated herself from her former people, and re- ceives the words of the preacher in the ample bosom of her love. For the latitude of goodness in the heart of the hearer is a spacious place in which the teacher may lodge. Whence it is said to some, Receive us ; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man : ye are not straitened in us, but be straitened in your own bowels. As if he said openly to them, Make the lodging of your mind wide enough to receive our doctrine ; but remain straitened in your thoughts of carnal things. 1 But in that she saith, We have both straw and provender enough, she teaches that holy Church, hearing the Word of life, repays the preachers with earthly revenue. Which Paul, esteeming as it were of no account, saith, If we have sown unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we shall reap your worldly things? Now the brother of Rebecca was Laban, who came forth in haste, and be- holding the bracelets and the rings of his sister, called the servant into the house. Because there are certain carnal men, joined with the faithful, who, while they behold spiritual gifts, are suspended in admiration, and although they proceed not to works, nevertheless admit the word of preaching into their hearts so far as to believe. For since they see that good men are often 1 S. Hildebert, quoting from the Vulgate, and not from the Greek, takes the indicative, allowably enough, as the imperative. ON THE DEDICATION OF A CHURCH. 125 supported 1 by miracles, they do not refuse to receive that which they hear concerning eternity ; yet not fol- lowing in their works the holy Church of the elect, they remain in the operation of carnal men. Laban brought forth straw, hay, water, and bread; but the servant, unless he could first gain that for which he came, namely, the marriage, refused to receive them ; because there are many who are ready to retain their teachers by earthly pay; but holy preachers, unless they first gain that which concerns eternity, will have nothing to do with temporal rewards. For if they do not reap fruit from the soul, they despise the reception of pay from the body. Nor will they wash their feet, because they cannot relieve the anxiety of their longing by any consolation. But, as soon as the servant had effected the marriage of his lord, he brought forth vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and raiment, which he gave to Rebecca : because her doctors give as many ornaments to holy Church, as are the virtues which they teach. She, who had before received earrings and brace- lets, now receives golden and silver vessels, and gar- ments; [because the Church], increasing in strength, obtains power to receive spiritual gifts; so that filled with the spirit of prophecy and the grace of virtues, she grows rich with more ample presents. The servant gives gifts to the mother and to the brethren of Rebecca, because the Gentiles, from whom the Church comes to the faith, after her conversion, increase in temporal glory Her brothers also receive gifts, because they who, so far as words are concerned, hold 1 The text reads fulci, which Beaugendre corrects into fulgere. But it is much easier, by the addition of two letters, to give the passive fulciri. 126 HILDEBERT, ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. the faith in the Church, but yet make not good their profession by their lives, and live carnally, are never- theless honoured by the faithful, because they them- selves appear to be faithful Rebecca follows the servant with her damsels, because holy Church has with herself, as companions, souls of less merit The servant was in haste to return home, because holy preachers when, by their preaching they have gained the lives of their hearers, return thanks to Him of Whose gift they have received, so that they attribute nothing in their operation to themselves, but to their Maker. At that time Isaac was walking by the way that leads to the well of Him That liveth and seeth. Who is He That liveth and seeth, save the Omnipotent God ? Of Whom it is written, / lift up My Hand to heaven, and say I live for ever. 1 And again, All things are naked and open to His eyes. But the well of Him That liveth and seeth, is the profundity of holy Scripture, which Al- mighty God has given to us for the irrigation of our minds. And what is the way which leads to the well of Him That liveth and seeth, save the humility of the Passion of the Only-Begotten Son, whereby that is made manifest to us, of which before the streams of holy Scripture spake but darkly ? For unless the Only- Begotten Son of God had been incarnate, tempted, betrayed, buffeted, spit upon, crucified, and had died, the profundity of this faith, that is of holy Scripture, would not have been made manifest to us. For how was the humility of His Passion shown to the faithful, save by the nails which opened His Flesh, by which we find the well of the mysteries of God, so that we may draw forth the water of knowledge from the depth? 1 Deut. xxxii. 40. ON THE DEDICATION OF A CHURCH. 127 For the sacred pages of Scripture speak of His Incar- nation, His Passion, His Death, His Resurrection, His Ascension; and, that which we know to have taken place we can now understand when we hear. These things could indeed be read before ; but because as yet they had not happened, they could not be comprehended. Whence it is said by John, The lion of the tribe of Judah hath prevailed to open the book and to loose the seals thereof. He it is that looseth its seals, Who by His Birth, by His Death, by His Resurrection, and by His Ascension into heaven, has manifested to us the mysteries of holy Scripture Isaac went forth to meditate in the field. Now that the field signifies the world, the Lord Himself explains to us, saying : The field is the world. The Lord went forth in this, because He vouchsafed to take upon Him- self a visible form, as it is written : Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people that Thou mightest redeem Thine anointed And it was at eventide when he went forth to meditate in the field, because He undertook His Passion towards the end of the world ; as the Psalmist speaks of His crucifixion, saying, Let the lifting up of My Hands be an evening sacrifice. But what is signified by Rebecca's riding on the camel to Isaac, except that by Rebecca, as we have said, the Church is signified, and by the camel on which she sat, the people of the Gentiles, deformed in their morals and loaded with idols, is set forth? .... Rebecca, therefore, coming to Isaac, rides on the camel's back, because the Church hasting to Christ from her Gentile condition is found in the tortuous and vicious conver- sation of that ancient life. And when she saw Isaac, she lighted down from her camel, because holy Church, 128 HILDEBERT, ARCHBISHOP OF TOURS. the more clearly she beholds her Redeemer, the more humbly she leaves off the lusts of carnal life, and sets herself to struggle against the viciousness of depraved conversation. .... Rebecca covered herself with her veilj because the more deeply the Church penetrates into the mysteries of her Saviour, the more utterly is she confounded for her past life, and blushes for what she has done perversely Whence the Apostolic voice saith to the Church, converted from her former lofty estate, as to Rebecca descending from the camel and covering herself with a veil, What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed ? Whom Isaac brought into the tent of his mother, and she became his wife ; because the Lord, in the place of the synagogue in which according to the flesh He was born, loved the holy Church and joined it to Himself in love and con- templation ; so that she who was before akin to Him by relationship, that is, related by predestination, was after- wards joined by love and became His wife. Whom he so loved as to he comforted after his mother's death ; because our Redeemer by gaining the holy Church was consoled for that grief which perchance He felt for the loss of the synagogue But if we care to interpret names, Isaac signifies laugh- ter, Rebecca, patience. Now laughter arises from joy, and patience comes from tribulation. And although holy Church is even now taken up by the contemplation of heavenly gladness, nevertheless she has something sor- rowful to bear from the weight of mortal infirmities. But Isaac and Rebecca are joined, that is, laughter and patience are mingled together, because that is fulfilled in the Church which is written, Rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, PETER ABOARD. a.d. 1079—1142. The sad story of Peter Abaelard, born at Paris, near JSTantes, in 1079 ; his restless vanity ; his wonderful, though shal- low, skill as a logician ; his connection with a woman of a character so much deeper and nobler than his own ; his controversies with S. Bernard ; his condemnation by more than one Council, and the rest which he at length found in the superintendence and direction of the Convent of the Paraclete, of which Heloisa was the first Abbess ; — all this, as well as his pious and edifying death in the Abbey of Cluny, is quite beyond the limits of an introductory sketch. His remains were carried to the Paraclete; and twenty years afterwards Heloisa was laid by his side. The two last lines of his epitaph, written by Peter the Venerable, show the unbounded reputation which he possessed among his contemporaries : Est satis : in tumulo Petras hie jacet Abelardus, Cui soli patuit scibile quidquid erat. We have thirty-two sermons of Abaelard's ; some of them addressed to the nuns of the Paraclete, the rest, it would seem, delivered in other religious houses. But even these, notwith- standing the expressions of " my brethren," and others of the same nature,may also have been preached in the convent; so in the twenty-eighth sermon, which is on the story of Susanna, the preacher addresses both nuns and also priests (p. 935) : Audistis, virgines et sponsce Chrisii. . . . Audistis et vos tam g3 130 PETER AB.ELARD. presbyteri quam clerici judicium vestrum : and similar phrases occur in others which undoubtedly were so preached. Thus the twenty-ninth, on almsgiving, headed Pro sanetimonialibus de Paracleto, begins thus : Inter universas Domini parabolas, fratres, ilia preecipue, &c. Thus they were all the composi- tion of the latter years of his life ; and if not very interest- ing, and somewhat confused both in arrangement and ex- pression, they are, at all events, free from that rationalism of which Abaelard may be said to have been the originator, which raised him up so warm an enemy in S. Bernard, and which was excused and glossed over to the best of his ability by Peter the Venerable. Probably, however, the reader will be satisfied with the three extracts that follow. I have employed the first collected edition of Abaelard's works, pub- lished in Paris in 1616. THE KESUKKECTION OF LAZAEUS. (From the second sermon on Palm Sunday. Page 803.) The Lord performed that miracle once for all in the body, which, much more blessedly, He performs every day in the souls of penitents. He restored to Lazarus a life, but it was a temporal life, and one that would die again. He bestows on penitents a life, but one that will remain, world without end. The one is wonderful in the eyes of men ; the other is far more wonderful in the judgment of the faithful : and by how much the greater, by so much the more is it to be sought. This is written of Lazarus, not for Lazarus himself, but for us and to us. Whatsoever things, saith the Apostle, were written of old, were written for our learning. The THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS. 131 Lord called Lazarus once, and he was raised from tem- poral death. He calls us often, that we may rise from the death of the soul. He said to him once, Come forth, and he immediately came forth at one precept of the Lord's. The Lord every day invites us by Scripture to confession, exhorts us to amendment, promises the life which is prepared for us by Him Who willeth not the death of a sinner. We neglect His call, we despise His invitation, we contemn His promise. Placed be- tween God and the devil, as between a Father and a foe, we prefer the allurement of an enemy to the moni- tion of a father. We are not ignorant, says the Apostle, of the devices of Satan, — the devices, I say, by which he induces us to sin, and keeps us back from repentance. Suggesting sin, he deprives us of two things by which the best assistance might be offered to us, namely, shame and fear. For that which we avoid, we avoid either through fear of some loss, or through the reverence of shame. ... When, therefore, Satan impels any one to sin, he easily accomplishes the object, if, as we have said, he first deprives him of fear and of shame. And when he has effected that, he restores the same things, but in another sense, which he has taken away ; that so he may keep back the sinner from confession, and make him die in his sin. Then he secretly whispers into his soul, Priests are like-minded, and it is a difficult thing to check the tongue. If you tell this or that to them, it cannot remain a secret; and when it shall have been published abroad, you will incur the danger of losing your good character, or bearing some injury, and being confounded from your own vileness. Thus the devil de- ceives that wretched man ; he first takes from him that 132 PETER ABvELARD. by which l he ought to avoid sin, and then restores him the same thing, and by it retains him in sin. His cap- tive fears temporal, and not spiritual, evil ; he is ashamed of men, and he despises God ; he is ashamed that things should come to the knowledge of men which he was not ashamed to commit in the sight of God, and of the whole heavenly host ; he trembles at the judgment of man, and he has no respect to that of God. Of which the Apostle says : It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God; and the Truth saith Him- self: Fear not them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do ; but fear Him rather Who can cast body and soul into hell. There are diseases of the soul, as there are of the body; and therefore the Divine mercy has provided beforehand physicians for both. Our Lord Jesus Christ saith, / came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. His place His Priests now hold in the Church, to whom, as unto physicians of the soul, we ought to confess our sins, that we may receive from them the plaister of satisfaction. He that fears the death of the body, in whatever part of the body he may suffer, however much he may be ashamed of the disease, makes no delay in revealing it to the physician, and set- ting it forth, so that it may be cured. However rough, however hard may be the remedy, he avoids it not, so that he may escape death. Whatever he has that is most precious, he makes no hesitation in giving it, if only for a little while he may put off the death of the body. What, then, ought we to do for the death of the 1 Instead of qua per, which the text has, the sense manifestly re- quires, per quod. THE LORD'S LAST ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM. 133 soul ? For this, however terrible, may be for ever pre- vented, without such great labour, without such great expense. It is us, and not ours, that the Lord seeks ; He stands in no need of our wealth Who bestows all things. For it is He to Whom it is said, My goods are nothing unto Thee. With Him, a man is by so much the greater, as, in his own judgment, he is less ; with Him, a man is as much the more righteous, as in his own opinion he is the more the guilty. In His eyes we hide our faults all the more, the more that here by con- fession we manifest them. THE LORD'S LAST ENTET INTO JERUSALEM. (From a sermon on the Passion. Page 825.) He came unto His own, and His own received Him not. That is, Jerusalem. Yet now, not Jerusalem, which by interpretation is the Vision of Peace, but the home of tyranny. For now the elders of the city have so mani- festly conspired against Him, that He can no longer find any place of refuge within it. And yet this is not to be attributed to His impotence, but to His patience. He could securely there be harboured, seeing that no one can do Him harm by violence, and that He has the power to incline the hearts of men whither He wills. For in that same city He freely did whatever He willed to do ; and when He sent the disciples thither, and com- manded them that they should loose the ass and the colt, and bring them to Him, and said that no man 134 PETER AB^LARD, would forbid them, He accomplished that which He said, although He was not ignorant of the conspiracy against Himself. Of which He saith to the disciples whom He sends, Go ye into the castle over against you ; that is, to the place which is equally opposed to God and to you ; no longer to be called a city, that is, an assembly of men living under law, but a castle of tyrannical fortification. Go, saith He, confidently, into the place, though such it be, and therefore opposed to you, and do with all secu- rity that which I command you. Whence He also sub- joins : And if any man say aught unto you, say that the Lord, hath need of them, and he will straightway send them away. A wonderful confidence of power! As if the Lord, using His own right of command, lays His own injunction on those whom He knows already to have conspired for His death. Thus He commands, thus He enjoins, thus He compels to obey. Nor do they who are sent hesitate in accomplishing that which is laid upon them, confident as they are in the power of Him that sends them. By which power they who were chiefly concerned in this conspiracy had been more than once ejected from the temple, where many were not able to resist One. And they, too, after this ejection and con- spiracy, as we have said, when He was daily teaching in the Temple, knew how intrepid He manifested Him- self to be, into Whose hands the Father had given all things. And last of all, when He desired to celebrate the Passover in the same night in which He had fore- ordained to be betrayed, He again sent His disciples whither He willed, and prepared a home for Himself in the city itself, wherein He might keep the feast. He, then, Who so often showed His power in such things as 135 these, now also, if He had desired it, could have pre- pared a home wherever He would, and had no need to return to Bethany. He, then, did two things inten- tionally : He showed that they whom He avoided were unworftiy of His dwelling among them ; and He gave Himself, in the last hours of His life, to His beloved hosts, that they might have the reception of Him as the reward of their hospitality. THE LOED'S PASSION. (From a sermon on Palm Sunday. Page 816.) Whether, therefore, Christ is spoken of as about to be crowned or about to be crucified, it is said that He went forth ; to signify that the Jews, who were guilty of so great wickedness against Him, were given over to re- probation, and that His grace would now pass to the large extent of the Gentiles, where the salvation of the Gross, and His own exaltation by the acquisition of many peoples, in the place of the one nation of the Jews, has stretched itself out. Whence, also, to-day we rightly go forth to adore the Cross in the open plain ; showing mystically that both the glory and the salvation was departed from the Jews, and had dilated itself among the Gentiles. But in that we afterwards re- turned to the place whence we had set forth, we signify that in the end of the world the grace of God will return to the Jews ; namely, when, by the preaching of Enoch and Elijah, they shall be converted to Him. Whence 136 PETER ABjELARD. the Apostle : I would not, brethren, that ye should be igno- rant of this mystery , that blindness in part is happened unto Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles shall be come in, and so all Israel shall be saved. Whence the place itself of Calvary, where the Lord was crucified, is nowf as we know, contained in the city ; whereas formerly it was without the walls. The crown wherewith His Mother crowned Him in the day of His espousals, and in the day of the -gladness of His heart. For thus kings are wont to exhibit their glory when they betroth queens to them- selves, and celebrate the solemnities of their nuptials. Now the day of the Lord's crucifixion was, as it were, the day of His betrothal ; because it was then that He associated the Church to Himself as His Bride, and on the same day descended into hell, and, setting free the souls of the faithful, accomplished in them that which He had promised to the thief : Verily I say unto thee, To-day shalt thou be with Me in Paradise. The day, saith He, of the gladness of His heart : be- cause in His Body He suffered the torture of pain ; but while the flesh inflicted on Him torments through the outward violence of men, His soul was filled with joy on account of our salvation, which He thus brought to pass. Whence, also, when He went forth to His crucifixion, He stilled the women that were lamenting Him, and said, Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for Me, but weep for yourselves and for your children. As if He said, Grieve not for Me in these My sufferings, as if by their means I should fall into any real destruction; but rather lament for that heavy vengeance which hangs over you and your children, for that which they have committed against Me. So we, also, brethren, should rather weep ♦ 137 for ourselves than for Him; for the faults which we have committed, not for the punishments which He bore. Let us so rejoice with Him and for Him, as to grieve for our own offences ; that the guilty servant com- mitted the transgression, and the innocent Lord bore the punishment. He taught us to weep for ourselves, Who is never said to have wept for Himself, but Who wept for Lazarus when He was about to raise him from the dead ; on account of whose resurrection the honour which we celebrate to-day was paid by the crowds to the Lord. GUARRIC, ABBAT OF IGNIAC. Gttarric, or G-uerric of Igniac, a friend of S. Bernard, whose style he evidently imitates, and whose manner of thinking he follows, — and that sometimes at no great distance, — flourished in the middle of the twelfth century. Among other works, the greater part of which have perished, or remain in manu- script, he left twenty-four sermons, which have been published in the twenty- third volume of the Bibliotheca Maxima. They are principally remarkable for the manner in which they are, as it were, imbued with Holy Scripture, to a degree almost unparalleled even among the writers of that age; and for a tenderness which not unfrequently recalls some of the softer passages of Guarric's great friend and model. THAT WE OUGHT TO SEE CHETST IN THE HISTOEIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. [This is from the beginning of the first Easter sermon. Bib. Max. torn, xxiii. p. 215.] And they told Jacob, saying, Joseph is yet alive. You will perhaps say to me, It is very well ; but what is it to the point ? What has Joseph to do with the joy of this day, — with the glory of the resurrection of Christ ? It is Easter ; and are you still setting before us Lent fare ? 140 GUARRIC, ABBAT OF IGNIAC. Our soul is an hungered for the Paschal Lamb, for which it has been preparing itself by so long a fast. Our heart burns within us for Jesus ; we desire Jesus ; if we do not as yet merit to see Him, at least we would hear of Him. We hunger for Jesus, not for Joseph ; for the Saviour, not for the dreamer ; for the Lord of heaven, not of Egypt ; not for him who fed the body, but for Him Who feeds the soul that is hungry. In this, at least, your discourse may help us, by causing that for Him after Whom we already hunger we should hunger still more. For we read, Blessed are they that hunger, for they shall be filled. When we hear, we hunger the more ; for he who commends a feast irritates hunger. If we were to hear of Jesus, we should be made to hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which were broken may rejoice. Broken they were with our Lent affliction and grief, yet still more with the sorrow of His Passion ; but they shall rejoice at the tidings of His Resurrection. Why, then, are you setting before us your Joseph, when we have no relish for anything of which you speak, except Jesus; 1 especially to-day, when the Paschal Lamb is eaten, when Christ our Passover is sawificed for us ? My brethren, I have given you an egg or a nut ; break the shell, and you will find the meat. Let Joseph be in- vestigated, and Jesus will be discovered, — the Paschal Lamb after Whom ye hunger, — Who has so much the more sweetness in the eating, by how much there is 1 Guarric is imitating S. Bernard. " All the food of the soul is dry, if it be not mingled with this oil ; is insipid, if it be not preserved with this salt. If you write, I have no relish, unless I there read of Jesus. If you dispute or confer, I have no relish, unless I there hear the Name of Jesus." (Sermon 15 on the Canticles.) THE DESIRE OF CHRIST SUFFICIENT. 141 more abstruseness in the hiding, and diligence in the seeking, and difficulty in the finding. You say to me, What has Joseph to do with Christ ? what has the his- tory which I proposed to do with this day ? Much in every way. Call to mind the story, and the loving- kindness of the Mystery will reveal itself of its own accord : if only ye have Jesus as the interpreter, Who to-day, rising from the letter that killeth, speaks to His own in the Way, 1 and opens to them the Scriptures. THE DESIEE OF CHEIST SUFFICIENT FOE A CHEISTIAN SOUL. [This passage is from the same sermon, towards the end.] Then, no doubt, each one of them said to himself, It is enough ; my Joseph is yet alive ; because to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. I will go then to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus appointed us, and see Him, and worship Him before I die ; because every one that seeth the Son, and believeth on Him, hath eternal life, and though he were dead, yet shall he live. Now, there- fore, my brethren, what witness is borne by the joy of your heart concerning your love to Christ ? I think, 1 The reader must always bear in mind, that the usual, and almost technical expression for this world, is, in mediaeval writers, the Way, — as contrasted with the Country, in like manner the ordinary name for heaven. So universal is this use, that, as every student knows, the word viator, traveller, is the scholastic name for man in this life. As for example, the first question in catechisms on Baptism being, " Who is a subject capable of Baptism?" the answer is, literally, "Every man that is a traveller, and is not yet validly baptized ; and none else." 142 GUARRIC, ABBAT OF IGNIAC. for my part, (whether rightly or not, judge ye,) that if ye ever loved Jesus, whether living or dead, or rising again, to-day, when news of the Resurrection is so constantly sounding and resounding in the Church, your heart exults within itself and says : They brought me tidings, — Jesus, my God, is yet alive ; which, when I had heard, my spirit, which was before slumbering through weari- ness, or languid through lukewarmness, or fainting through pusillanimity, revived. ... In this, then, shall you know that your spirit has altogether revived in Christ, if it can heartily say that which follows : " It is enough; Jesus is yet alive." O faithful voice, and manifestly worthy of the friends of Jesus ! O most chaste affection which thus speaks, " It is enough, Jesus is yet alive ! If He lives, I live, since my soul hangs upon Him. Nay, when He is my life, He my suffi- ciency, what can be wanting to me if Jesus is yet alive ? Let everything else be lacking ; it matters not to me, if Jesus be yet alive. Let me, if it so please Him, be wanting to myself; it is enough, so long as He is living, though it be but for Himself." When the love of Christ has thus absorbed the whole affection of a man, that, negligent and unmindful of himself, he cares for nothing but Jesus Christ, and the things which are of Jesus Christ, then at length, as I think, love is made perfect in him. To him who is thus affected, poverty is not burdensome; he feels not injuries, he smiles at reproaches, he despises losses, he thinks death to be gain; nay, rather, he does not consider it death, since he knows that he is rather passing from death to life, and can say with a good courage, / will go and see Him before I die. THE DESIRE OF CHRIST SUFFICIENT. 143 We, my brethren, though conscious that we do not possess such purity, yet let us go; let us go, never- theless, to see Jesus, to the mountain of the celestial Galilee, as He has appointed us. As we go, our love will increase, and will only be perfected when we arrive. As we go, the way that seemed narrow and difficult will be made broad, and strength will be increased in them that have no might. But that neither Jacob, nor any one of the household of Jacob, might excuse himself from the journey, there was sent to the poor old man, besides other gifts, pro- visions and carriages ; to the intent that no one might allege poverty or infirmity. The Flesh of Christ is the provision for our journey; His Spirit is our chariot. He is the Food, He is the Chariot of Israel, and the Horseman thereof. When you arrive there, yours are all the good things, — not of Egypt, but of heaven ; in the best place in the kingdom your Joseph provides a rest for you. He That first sent the angels, the women, and the Apostles to be witnesses and heralds of His Resurrection, now Himself cries from heaven : ' ' Lo, I, Whom for these three days ye have mourned as dead, I died indeed for your sake ; but behold, I am alive, and all power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Come unto Me, all ye that labour, and I will refresh you. Come, ye blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom which I have prepared for you. ,y He That calls you thither bring you there ; where, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, He liveth and reigneth to all ages of ages. Amen. 144 GUARRIC, ABBAT OF IGNIAC. THE HAPPINESS OE SIMEON WHEN OUR LORD WAS PRESENTED IN THE TEMPLE. [This is from the beginning of the sixth sermon on Candlemas- day. Bib. Max. xxix. p. 197.] And when the days of her purification were accomplished, they brought Him to Jerusalem. Oh how happy is he of whom it may be said, the days of his purification are accomplished ; so that nothing now further remains but that they bear him to the heavenly Jerusalem, and set him before the Lord. And such an one was that old man, our Simeon ; as much to be desired, as full of de- sires. The days of his purification, as I imagine, had long since been accomplished ; to-day those of his ex- pectation also were fulfilled. So that now, according to the Word of the Lord, nothing else remained for him, after he had seen the Lord's Christ, — Christ, the Peace of God and of men, — but that he should be let to depart in peace, and should lay him down in peace and take his rest ; that is, that they should bear him into the Je- rusalem of eternal peace, and set him where he might contemplate that peace which passeth all understanding. O Simeon, man of desires, thy desire is filled with good things ! Blessed old man ! thy youth is renewed, like the eagles'. Thou hast now gone unto that altar of God, hea- venly, eternal ; to the God Who giveth joy to thy youth by the eternal vision of Himself, as He had given joy to thy old age by the vision, as to-day, of Christ. At that invisible altar thou art now thyself presented to the THE BLESSEDNESS OF COMPLETE PURIFICATION. 145 Father, to Whom, at this visible altar, 1 thou didst to- day present the Son. The Son Himself, Whom thou didst this day carry in thine arms, thou dost there now enfold with an eternal and indissoluble embrace. The longing of the happy old man is therefore filled with good things, whose whole expectation and desire was the Expectation of the Gentiles, and their Desire. THE BLESSEDNESS OF COMPLETE PETRIFI- CATION. (From the same sermon. Page 198.) And we, then, if the days of our purification have been rightly accomplished, shall be carried to the heavenly Jerusalem by the ministry of angels ; that there, standing before the Presence of God, we may be His accepted and immaculate oblation. Then at length we shall be purified altogether; as from sin, so also from the punishment of sin. Then, that which is the consummation will also be the reward of our purifica- tion ; when the heavenly fire shall have made us alto- gether a burnt-ofiering to the Lord. Yet not even here does the devotion of saints cease to emulate this inex- plicable manner of a most blessed purification j that is, 1 The English reader may need to be told that Guarric is here refer- ring to the 43rd Psalm, which serves as the introit at the beginning of Mass, when the Priest approaches the altar ; and in particular to the Vulgate rendering of the fourth verse : And that 1 may go unto the altar of God, even to the God that giveth joy to my youth. H 146 GUARRIC, ABBAT OF IGNIAC. as much as the corruption of their bodies, and the soli- citude of their earthly habitation will permit. While going up in their spirit to that Jerusalem, the true place of prayer, they then offer, as it were, in the sight of the Lord, a turtle dove and pigeon for themselves and of themselves ; their heart and their flesh rejoicing in the living God, because the dove 1 hath found her an house, and the turtle a nest where she may lay her young, even Thine altars, O Lord of Hosts. And I think, however, that the merit is no less, and the purification perhaps greater, if that which it is given to some few, and but seldom, to experience as it were through a glass, and in a riddle, — that is, to -Jbe presented in Jerusalem to the Lord, — is done by us through faith again and again, perpetually. Setting the Lord always before us, and considering with most watchful faith, and unrelaxed fear, that His Eyes and His judgments are ever upon us. Let this faith, brethren, be in you, and ye will be among the few ; let this fear be in you, and ye will purge yourselves as few do from negligence, because such a fear neglects no- thing. 1 Chiarric slightly accommodates the passage in the 84th Psalm ; the Vulgate reads, The sparrow hath found her a house, and the turtle a nest. 147 THE HUMILITY OP CHEIST, THE EEMEDY OF MAN'S PEIDE. (A sermon on Palm Sunday. Bib. Max. 29, 210.) Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. Hear this, thou wicked and fugitive servant ! I mean thee, O man, who, when thou wast in a ser- vile nature and condition, and under the necessity of serving, didst refuse obedience, and endeavour to snatch at liberty, and at an equality with thy Lord. Christ, when He was in the form of God, equal, not by robbery, but by nature, as being Co-omnipotent, Co-eternal, and Consubstantial, emptying Himself of His glory, not only took the form of a servant, and was found in the likeness of man, but accomplished the minis- try of a servant, humbling Himself, and becoming obedient to death, even the death of the Cross. But it may seem little that, Son and Co-equal though He were, He obeyed the Father as a Servant : for He obeyed His own ser- vant as if He Himself were more than a slave. Man was made for this purpose, — that he might serve his Creator. And what more just than thou shouldest serve Him by Whom thou wast created — without Whom thou couldst not even exist? And what more blessed or more sublime than to serve Him, Whom to serve is to reign ? " I will not serve the Creator," says man. li Then I," saith the Creator, a will serve thee, O man. Do thou sit down at the banquet ; I will minister to thee, and I h2 148 GUARRIC, ABBAT OF IGNIAC. will wash thy feet. Do thou rest ; I will bear thy sick- nesses — I will carry thine infirmities If thon art wearied or heavy laden, I will carry thee and thy bur- den, that I may be the first to fulfil My own law : bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. If thou art an hungered or athirst, and hast nothing at hand .... behold, I myself am ready to be sacrificed, that thou mayest eat My Flesh and drink my Blood. And fear not that, from the death of thy servant, thou wilt suffer the loss of his service : after thou hast fed upon Me, I shall remain whole and alive, and I will serve thee as I did before. If thou art led into captivity, or sold, sell Me, and ransom thyself by My price, or rather, by Myself, as thy Price If I am bought by the avaricious Priests of the Jews, I am at least valued at thirty pieces of silver ; by this My price a field may be bought to bury strangers in ; by Me, as their Price, those that are buried shall have life. If thou art sick, and fearest to die, I will die for thee, that from My Blood thou mayest compose the medicines of life." Well done, Thou good and faithful Servant ! Thou hast truly served. Thou hast served in all faith and truth. Thou hast served in all patience and long-suffering. Not after a lukewarm sort, Who didst rejoice as a giant to run the course of obedience ; not in a feigned man- ner, Who, after so many and so great labours didst ex- pend Thy life over and above all; not murmuringly, Who when Thou wast scourged, though innocent, didst not even open Thy Mouth. For it is written — and it is just — that servant who knew his Lord's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes. But this Servant, I pray you, what did He not that was wanting ? What THE HUMILITY OF CHRIST. 149 ought He to have done, that He did not ? They who were witnesses of His deeds, said, He hath done all things well; He maketh both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak. He did all things worthy : and how, then, did He suffer all things that were unworthy ? He gave His back to the smiters, and suffered neither few nor light stripes : let the proof be, the rivers of blood which flow forth from so many parts of His Body. He was interro- gated with contumely and torment, as a slave or a thief subjected to the torture, that they might bring forth a confession of His crime. O the detestable pride of man, who scorns to serve ! which could be humbled by no other example save the slavery — and such slavery — of his Lord ! And would that even so it could be humbled ; would that even now it could feel and express thankfulness to such humility and goodness ! But, as it seems to me, I still hear the same Lord complaining, in Isaiah, of the ingratitude of the wicked servant, when He saith, / have not caused thee to serve with an offering, nor wearied thee with incense ; but thou hast made Me to serve with thy sins ; thou hast wearied Me with thine iniquities. And what weariness ! Even to exhaustion, hunger, and thirst ; yes, and even to sweat, and that a sweat of blood, running down upon the ground ; yes, and even to death, and that the death of the Cross! — not to set forth everything, — how He was struck with the palm of the hand ; defiled with spitting ; crowned with thorns ; fastened with nails ; pierced with the lance ; given to drink of vinegar and gall. " This wine-press/' saith He, " I have trodden alone ; and of the people there was none with Me. Ye, therefore, who stand all the day idle, behold and see if there be any 150 GUARRIC, ABBAT OF IGNIAC. labour like My labour" Truly, Thou hast laboured, O my Lord, in serving me : it were only just and right that at least from henceforth Thou shouldest rest, and that Thy servant — were it only because it is his turn — should serve Thee. At how great a price, O my Lord, hast Thou redeemed to Thyself my useless service, Who standest not even in need of the ministries of the angels ! By how sweet and kind an act of love hast Thou reco- vered to Thyself and subdued Thy contumacious servant, — conquering the evil by good ; confounding the proud by humility ; overwhelming the ungrateful by benefits ! So it is — so it is that Wisdom conquers Malice. So Thou hast heaped coals of fire upon the head of obstinate man, that by them he might be inflamed to penitence. Thou hast conquered, therefore, O Lord, Thou hast conquered the rebel ! Lo ! I yield myself to Thy fetters, and I put my neck under Thy yoke. Deign only that I may serve Thee ; suffer that I labour for Thee. Re- ceive me as Thy servant for ever, albeit a useless ser- vant, unless now also Thy grace be with me and labour with me, always preventing and following. It prevents us, showing first examples of humility and patience : let it follow us and help us, that we may imitate what it has shown ! Happy we, my brethren, if concerning this we hear the counsel of the Apostle, Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. That is, that none be lifted up above himself, but rather be humbled below himself. He that is greatest, let him serve others ; if a man be injured, let him be the first to give satisfaction ; let every one in common be obedient even unto death. By these steps, brethren, let us follow Christ in the form of a THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION. 151 servant, and we shall attain to the beholding Him in the form of God : in which He liveth and reigneth, through all ages of ages. Amen. THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION. (From a sermon on Lady- day.) It happens fitly in these days of our Lenten observ- ance, the solemnity should intervene of our Lord's An- nunciation; that they who are fatigued by corporal penance, might be refreshed with spiritual joy, and they who are humbled by the grief of penitence, might be consoled by the Annunciation of Him Who taketh away the sins of the world. It is a good word indeed, a faithful word y and worthy of all acceptation, the tidings of our sal- vation, which the angel sent from God to-day announced to Mary, when Day to Day, the Angel to the Virgin, in- dited a good word concerning the Incarnation of the Word. That word, while it promises a Son to the Virgin, pro- mises pardon to the guilty, redemption to the captives, opening of the prison to them that are bound, life to them that are buried. That word, while it announces the kingdom of the Son, announces also the glory of the righteous; terrifies Hell ; rejoices Heaven; and appears to have increased the joy of angels, not only by the re- velation of mysteries, but by the novelty of its blessedness. Whom, then, does not that good word rejoice in his affliction ? Whom does not that word console in his hu- mility ? O think upon Thy servant, saith David, as con- 152 GUARR1C, ABBAT OF IGNIAC. cerning Thy word, wherein Thou hast caused me to put my trust ; the same is my comfort in my affliction. He had only received the word of promise ; the effect, as yet, was manifested by no apparent sign. The procrastina- tion of his desire afflicted him; but the certitude of his hope, grounded on the faith of Him that promised, consoled him. If, then, David sustained his mind with the bare hope of this salvation which was reserved for us, what joy, what delight should the manifestation of the thing itself cause to us ! O happiness of these times ! O unhappiness of these times ! Is it not happiness, when there is such plenitude of grace, and of all good things ? Is it not unhappiness, when there is so much ingratitude of those that are redeemed? For now, behold, the fulness of the time is come, in which God sent forth His Son, that He might become the Son of Man, and the Saviour of men. And behold, also, the iniquity 1 of the time, that sinful man should reject his Saviour ! Salvation is announced to the lost, and they despise it. Life is pro- mised to the hopeless, and they neglect it. God comes to men, and they rise not before Him. He may be said to rise, who lifts himself up by any kind of devotion, so as to give glory to the grace of God. He may be said to rise, who does but receive with joy the message of his own salvation. I know, — yes, I know who it is that is glad- dened by that good word. He it is, who has been first humbled by pious grief — by grief for his wandering and his exile, — by grief for the chains of death and the perils of Hell, and in his grief mourns every day that the pains 1 The reading is magnitudo temp oris ; but we must understand some such expression as is given in the text. THE MYSTERY OF THE INCARNATION. 153 of Hell came about him, the snares of death overtook him. Happy for him is to-day's coming of God's messenger ! Full of joy, he receives the message of the Lord con- cerning His Son, and while he weeps and laments that he is prevented and circumvented with so many evils, he hears with gladness of his liberator ; of Him Who is to give the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness ; of Him Who is to put an end to misery, and to bestow endless blessedness on the mise- rable. Blessed, then, are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted; blessed are those whose hearts have been humbled by pious grief, because they shall be gladdened by this good word. A good and consolatory word, in- deed, was Thine Almighty Word, O Lord, Who to-day came down from His royal seat, into the womb of the Virgin, and there also constructed a royal throne ; whence He now sits as a King, while the army of angels stand around Him in heaven ; and yet He is the Con- soler of the mourners upon earth. h3 S. AELRED. Died 1166. S. Ethelred, or Aelred, Abbat of the Cistercian House at Bievaulx, of which the magnificent remains are so well known, flourished in the twelfth century, and was the friend of the principal ecclesiastics of that age. His epitaph told how "under Cueist's leading he came from Jericho to Jerusalem ; how he was comparable to S. Benedict or to S. Bernard ; how, as S. Jerome had preferred one sentence of S. Paul to all the wealth of Croesus, the same thing might be said of the Cistercian Abbat ; how he was peaceful as Solomon and gentle as a lamb." Of his sermons, of which he left many, we have now only thirty-two, on the thirteenth to the sixteenth chapters of Isaiah. Their chief character- istic is their gentleness, and the proof they give of the loveable nature of the man. They were first published by the Jesuit Richard Gibbon, in the twenty-third volume of the " Bibliotheca Maxima." S. AELRED BIDS EAEEWELL TO HIS MONKS. [This is the end of the fourteenth sermon. Bib. Max. xxiii. p, 37.] I have gone through this exposition briefly, because my mind, is now hastening to another employment. It is time that I should begin the journey, to which the 156 S. AELRED. law of our order compels me/ desire incites me, and affection calls me. But how, even for so short a time, can I be separated from my beloved ones ? Separated, I say, in body, and not in spirit : and I know that in affection and spirit, I shall be so much the more present by how much in body I am the more absent. / speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of my flesh; my wish is, that I may lay down among you the tabernacle of my flesh, that I may breathe forth my spirit in your hands, that ye may close the eyes of your father, and that all my bones should be buried in your sight. Pray therefore, O my beloved ones, that the Lord may grant me the desire of my soul. Call to mind, dearest brethren, that it is written of the Lord Jesus, when He was about to remove His presence from His disciples, that He, being assembled together with them, com- manded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem. Following, therefore, His example, since, after our sweet banquet, we have now risen from table, I, about in a little while to go away, command you, beseech you, warn you, not to depart from Jerusalem. For Jeru- salem signifies peace. Therefore we commend peace to you, we enjoin peace to you. Now Christ fiimself, Our Peace, Who hath made both one, keep you in the unity of the Spirit and in the bond of peace ; to Whose pro- tection and consolation I commend you under the wings of the Holy Ghost ; that He may return you to me, and me to you in peace and with safety. Approach now, dearest sons, and in sign of the peace and love which I have commended to you, kiss your father ; and 1 S. Aelred refers to the triennial chapter which, as a Cistercian Abbat, he was bound to attend at Citeaux. ON HIS RETURN TO RIEVAULX. 157 let us all pray together that the Lord may make our way prosperous, aud grant us when we return to find you in this same peace. Who liveth and reigneth One God, through all ages of ages. Amen. S. AELEED EXPEESSES HIS JOY AT HIS EE- TUEN TO EIEVAULX. [This is the beginning of the fifteenth sermon. Bib. Max. xxiii. 37.] Behold, I have returned, my beloved sons, my joy and my crown in the Lord. Behold, I have returned after many labours, after a dangerous journey; I am returned to you, I am returned to your love. This day is the day of exultation and joy, which, when I was in a foreign land, when I was struggling with the winds and with the sea, I so long desired to behold ; and the Lord hath heard the desire of the poor. Oh love, how sweetly thou inflamest those that are absent ! how de- liriously thou feedest those that are present ! and yet dost not satisfy the hungry till thou makest Jerusalem peace and fittest it with the flour of wheat. This is the peace, by whose first-fruits being here refreshed, we can taste and see how good and how joyful a thing it is for brethren to dwell together in unity. This is the peace which, as you remember, I commended to you when the law of our order compelled me for a time to be separated from you : the peace which, now I have re- turned, I find (thanks be to God) among you; the peace of Christ, which with a certain foretaste of love 158 S. AELRED. feeds you in the Way, that shall satisfy you with the plenitude of the same love in your Country. Well, be- loved brethren, all that I am, all that I live, all that I know, I offer to your profit, I devote to your advantage. Use me as you will ; spare not my labour if it can, in any way, serve to your benefit. Let us return, there- fore, if you please, or rather because you please, to the work which we have intermitted ; and let us examine, the Holy Ghost enduing us with the light of truth, the heavenly treasures which holy Isaiah has laid up under the guise of parables ; when he writes that parable which the people, freed from his tyranny, shall take up against the king of Babylon. And it shall come to pass in the day that the Lord shall give thee rest from thy sor- row, and from thy fear, and from the hard bondage wherein thou wast made to serve, that thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon. Let us therefore understand the parable as a parable. Not imagining that it was spoken against Nebuchadnezzar, the prince of that earthly Babylon, but rather against him who is from the north, 1 the prince of confusion If any one of us then, who was once set in the confusion of vices, and oppressed by the yoke of iniquity, now rejoices that he rests from his labours, and is without confusion for that which is past, and has cast off the yoke of that worst of* slaveries, let him take up this parable against the king of Babylon. There is labour in vice, there is rest in virtue ; there is confusion in lust, there is se- curity in chastity ; there is servitude in covetousness, 1 The preacher is referring to the thirteenth verse of the same chapter, where Lucifer is represented as saying, / will nit upon the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north. ON HIS RETURN TO RIEVAULX. 159 there is liberty in charity. Now there is a labour in vice, and labour for vice, and labour against vice. A labour in vice, when for the sake of fulfilling our evil desires, the ancient enemy inflicts hard labour upon us. There is a labour for vice, when any one is either afflicted against his will, for the evil which he has done, or of his will, is troubled by the labour of penance. There is a labour against vice, when he that is converted to God is troubled with divers temptations. There is also a confusion in vice, when a man, distracted by most evil passions, is not ruled by reason, but hurried along confusedly by the tumult of vices : a confusion for vice, when a man is found out and convicted of any crime, and is therefore confounded, or when a man, repenting and confessing what he has done, is purified by healthful confusion and confession : and there is a confusion against vice, when a man, converted to God, resists the temptation from which he suffers, by the recollection of former confusion. [In explaining this text, S. Aelred very much exceeds the usual length of his sermons, an excess for which he thus apologises at the end :] Wonder not if I have kept you longer to-day than my wont is, because desirous of you, after so long a hunger, I could not easily be satiated with your pre- sence. Think not, indeed, that even now I am satiated ; I leave off speaking because I am weary, not because I am satisfied. But I shall be satisfied when the glory of Christ shall appear, in Whom I now embrace you with delight, you, with whom I hope that I shall happily be found in Him ; to Whom is honour and glory to ages of ages. Amen. 160 S. AELRED. VICTOEY OVER TEMPTATIONS, NOT PROM OURSELVES, BUT EROM GOD. . [Tiiis is the end of the sixth sermon. Bib. Max. xxiii. 19.] Fortitude comes next, which is necessary in tempta- tion ; for that perfection of sanctity cannot be so un- interruptedly maintained in this life as that its serenity should be disturbed by no temptations. But as our Lord God seems to us, in times when everything appears peace- ful and tranquil, to be merciful and loving and the Giver of joy; thus when He exposes us either to the temptations of the flesh, or to the suggestions of de- mons, or when He afflicts us with the troubles, or wears us out with the persecutions, of this world, He seems, as it were, a hard and angry Master. And happy is he who becomes valiant in this His anger, 1 now resist- ing, now fighting, now flying, so as to be found neither infirm through consenting, nor weak through despair- ing. Therefore, brethren, whoever is not found valiant in His anger, cannot exult in His glory. If we have passed through fire and water, so that neither did the fire consume us, nor the water drown us, whose is the glory ? Is it ours, so that we should exult in it as if it belonged to us ? God forbid. How many exult, brethren, when they are praised by men, taking the glory or the gifts of God as if it were their own and 1 S. Aelred is referring to the text on which he is preaching (Isa. xiii. 3.) / have also called the mighty ones in Mine anger. * THE ADVENT OF OUR LORD. 161 not exulting in the honour of God, who while they seek that which is their own and not the things of Jesus Christ, both lose that which is their own and do not gain that which is Christ's ! He then exults in Christ's glory, who seeks not his glory but Christ's, and he understands that, in ourselves, there is nothing of which we can boast, since we have nothing that is our own. And this is the way in which, in individual men, the City of Confusion 1 is overthrown, when chastity expels luxury, fortitude overthrows temptations, hu- mility excludes vanity. Furthermore, we have sanctifi- cation from the Faith and Sacraments of Christ, for- titude from the Love of Christ, exultation, in the hope of the Promises of Christ. Let us each do what we can, that faith may sanctify us, love strengthen us, and hope make us joyful in Christ Jesus our Lord, to Whom is honour and glory to ages of ages. Amen. THE ADVENT OF OTJK LOKD. [This is the beginning of the first sermon on the Eleven Burdens. Bib. Max. xxiii. 5.] It is time, beloved brethren, that we sing to the Lord mercy and judgment. It is the Advent of the Lord, of Him Who cometh and Who is to come, the Omnipotent. But how, or whither, is "He to come or doth He come ? For His word is, Do not I fill heaven and 1 He is preaching on the burden of Babylon, and translates the proper 162 S. AELRED. earth ? How then does He come to the heaven or to the earth, Who fills heaven and earth? Hear the Gospel : He was in the world, and the world ivas made by Him, and the world knew Him not. Therefore, He was both present and absent. Present, because He was in the world; absent, because the world knew Him not. He is not far, saith the Apostle, from every one of us. For in Him we live, and move, and have our being ; and yet Salvation is far from the ungodly. He was near by essence; far off by grace. How not far off? Who was neither recognised, nor believed, nor feared, nor loved. Far off from sinners, whom He neither recalled when they wandered, nor raised up when they had fallen, nor redeemed when they were captive, nor quick- ened when they were dead He came, then, that He might be recognised, Who was not yet recognised ; might be believed, Who was not yet believed ; might be feared, Who was not yet feared ; might be loved, Who was not yet loved. So He That was feared in His Essence came in His Mercy; to the end that His Hu- manity might be recognised, His Divinity believed, His Power feared, His Kindness loved. His Humanity ap- peared in His taking upon Himself our infirmity; His Divinity in His manifestation of miracles ; His power in His victory over devils ; His Kindness in His recep- tion of sinners. It was of His Humanity that He was an hungered; 1 of His Divinity that He satisfied five thousand with five loaves; of His Humanity that He slept in the ship ; of His Divinity that He commanded the sea and the waves ; of His Humanity that He en- 1 S. Aelred is imitating S. Leo's famous letter to S. Flavian on the Two Natures of our Lord. THE ADVENT OF OUR LORD. 163 dured death ; of His Divinity that He raised the dead. It was of His Power that He cast out the Pharisees from the temple; of His Kindness that He received publicans and sinners to eat with Him : of His Power that He terrified devils ; of His Kindness that He par- doned the woman taken in adultery ; of His Power that He cast down those who sought to apprehend Him ; of His Mercy that He restored the ear of His persecutor at once to its place and to its health. And these all, since they pertain to His First Coming, are to be as- cribed to His Mercy. Consider, I beseech you, what God is ; and see what is the reason why He put oh? such majesty, emptied Himself of such power, made weak such strength, made low such altitude, made foolish such wisdom. Was it the righteousness of man? By no means. For they are all gone out of the way ; they have altogether become abominable ; there is none that doeth good. What then ? was it any want in Himself? Surely not. For His is the earth and the fulness thereof . Did He stand in any need of us ? By no means. Thou art my God, my goods are nothing unto Thee. What was it therefore? Truly, O Lord, not my righteousness, but Thy mercy ; not Thy want, but my necessity. For Thou hast said, Mercy shall be built up in the heavens. 1 It is so of a truth ; because mercy was piled up upon earth. There- fore, with respect to the first Advent, / will sing of mercy and judgment This is the oil, by whose presence the yoke of our captivity is destroyed, as saith holy Isaiah : And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulders, and 1 Ps. lxxxix. 2. 164 - S. AELRED. his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing. What is this day? What is this burden ? What is this yoke ? Hear that which is preached by the Prophet : the Lord of hosts shall stir up a scourge for him, the king of the Assyrians, according to the slaughter of Midian at the rock of Oreb : and as His rod was upon the sea, so shall He lift it up in the way of Egypt. For now that the devil has been scourged and overthrown, he who is king over all the children of pride, the Lord has raised up His rod over the sea, and hath lifted it up in the way of Egypt. The sea is this world ; the rod is the Cross ; the way of Egypt that broad and wide path which leadeth to death. Thanks to Thee, O Lord Jesus, Who hast exalted Thy rod over the sea, prostrating before Thy Cross the pride of the world, and subjecting to it principalities and powers. Of a truth, Lord, Thy Cross stills the flood of the world, hushes the persecutions of tempests, mitigates the storms of temptations. Thou hast lifted it up in the way of Egypt, that the broad way which leads to death might be closed, that Thou mightest manifest that strait and narrow way which leadeth to life. 1 Do ye not know ? do ye not feel ? do ye not experience sometimes how the heat of passion rages in the flesh, anger is furious in the mind, the word of indignation and bitterness is just on the very point of breaking forth, and like the sea when it is vehemently agitated by the wind, all the inner 1 Our author was perhaps thinking of the Advent Hymn, 'Draw nigh, draw nigh, O David's key, The heavenly gate will ope to Thee ; Make safe the road that we must go, And close the path that leads below." THE ADVENT OF OUR LORD. 165 thoughts of a man are troubled ? But if Jesus lifts up His Cross over this sea, all is hushed, all is quiet. And what, my brethren, has brought you into this strait and narrow path of salvation, except the example of the Lord's Cross and Passion which He lifted up in the way of Egypt? Rightly, therefore, in this day, that is, in the time of grace, in the time of mercy, in the time when the Cross is set up, in the time when the world is subdued to Christ, when the prince of this world is cast out, — in this day, at this time, his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder. ADAM SCOTUS. Circ. 1160. Adam Scotus, so called from the country of his birth, was an Abbat of the order of Premontre, and afterwards Bishop of Whithern, (the See is now denominated from Galloway.) Nothing further is known of his life : he is said to have died in 1180. We have fourteen sermons from him, principally on points connected with his order, and therefore less inte- resting to the general reader. His transitions are very abrupt, and totally devoid of art ; his style is intricate and obscure ; and he repeats words and expressions where the least trouble would have avoided the repetition. But there is a pious earnestness about him, and a modesty in his method of putting forward his own interpretations, which give a certain charm to his writings ; and that he had con- siderable merit as a preacher, the following extracts from (perhaps) the best of his sermons will, I think, show. It is the fourth, and is entitled, " Of the double signification of the white habit, and of the four places in which the sacred Body of the Lord Jesus is recorded to have been.'* I translate from the rare edition of Giles de Gourmont, Paris, 1519. Never book was worse printed than this : it would seem as if the transcriber could not read his manu- script (thus the word ubi is constantly printed for uf) ; and the stopping is such that, from very many sentences, as they stand, no possible sense can be elicited. 168 ADAM SCOTUS. THE FOUR PLACES OF THE LORD JESUS. Two things, beloved brethren, we must retain in our hearts, and that most studiously, as long as we are in the darkness of our present exile; and we must set them with all diligence before our mind's eye. The one is the merit of holiness ; the other, the recompense of blessedness. The one is now, and in the Way; the other is at the end, and without end, in our Country. The one we must exercise manfully ; the other we must yearn for longingly : both must be fixed in our thoughts. Of these, the first is the cause of the second ; the second is the reward of the first. But the merit of which we speak in this place consists of two things : the re- nouncement of vices, and the exercise of virtues. For salutary is the exhortation of the Psalmist : Depart from evil, and do good. And God set holy Jeremiah over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant. The * one cleanses us with pardon ; the other enriches us with grace. The one removes from us that which is evil; the other confers on us that which is good. In like manner, the recompense consists of two things : namely, that, after the labours and miseries of the present life, the elect shall escape the punishment of hell, and shall receive the rewards of glory. And neither the one nor the other can ever end ; for both this and that will be eternal. Then they shall be snatched from everlasting damnation, and numbered among that 1 The text has ubi, but we must read Mud. THE FOUR PLACES OF THE LORD JESUS. 169 blessed flock, where will be accomplished that most sweet promise of our Saviour, which runs thus : All that believe in Him shall not perish, but shall have ever- lasting life. But both of these things concerning which we are speaking, — both the merit of holiness which we exercise in this world, and the blessedness of the recom- pense for which we long in the next, — are set forth by the white colour of our habit. And I think that I can make this good by the testimony and authority of Holy Scripture. [The preacher then quotes several passages where a white garment is mentioned, and then proceeds thus :] Each of these particulars is weighty with its depth of spiritual mystery. The Key of David, He that openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth, will, as is His wont, be present unto us, if we piously and earnestly ask Him : let Him vouchsafe to unlock for us the closed doors of this mystery. The body of the Lord Jesus was laid in the sepulchre. That most sacred place of entombment was visited by the holy women with their constant ministries, and watched by angels in white garments. As we have happened to mention this, our diligence is invited to inquire in what other places that holy Body was at any time placed. And we directly think of — the womb of the Virgin, the narrow manger, the, wood of the Cross — these three. The fourth, of which we are now touching, and which has given us occasion to, is the tomb. In these four places I read that the Body of the Lord Jesus was. Conceived in the womb, laid in the manger, nailed to the Cross, buried in the tomb. It seems to me — if I am to say 170 ADAM SCOTUS. what I think concerning these things — that to some at the present time the Lord Jesus may be said to be in the womb, to some in the manger, to some on the Cross, to some in the sepulchre. And thongh all these were most sacred on account of that which they contained, of the sepulchre alone we read that angels in white were seen there. What do these things mean ? whither do they tend? The angel enters to Mary, — internal inspiration to the soul. She heard his message, and conceived Jesus, and herself received a blessed influence. For Jesus is by interpretation a Saviour. Now there are some who, carrying l about the Word of God, and the things pertaining to salvation, (the unction which teacheth of all things teaching them,) have learnt, and by no means give over what they have learnt to idle forget- fulness ; but hold it fixed in their hearts, and ruminate on it with continual thought. Jesus is in the womb as regards those who have the Word of God assiduously in their memories. There are others who, having be- come gentle and meek under the common Master and Lord of all, are led by the bands of discipline to the manger of holy religion, and fed with the various nou- rishment of holy instruction which is set before them. As regards these, the Lord Jesus is in the manger; Who is the food and refection of His own faithful cattle. There are some who are so tenaciously glued to the love of their Maker, that, united as they are by affection to Him, neither life nor death, nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other creature, can separate them from the love which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Meanwhile, they not 1 This passage is in the original very corrupt. THE FOUR PLACES OF THE LORD JESUS. 171 only despise all the things of this world, but further- more also they disregard, as a very trifle, that point of perfection to which they have been raised, and en- dure for God all that is most difficult and most dreadful. And not only so, but they exhibit themselves entirely stretched out on the cross of charity, when, rejoicing in tribulation, they account it all joy when they fall into divers temptations. Made superior to themselves by that per- fection of Divine Love, they look at themselves as it were far off and beneath them, and in nowise suffer when they endure anything for the love of God. The Lord Jesus is on the Cross as regards these ; for they, elevated and extended on the cross of charity above all lower things, and made glorious, vAthout spot or wrinkle, ac- count it their chief sweetness to tolerate bitter afflictions for Christ. There are, again, others who, entirely mor- tified from the appetite of all visible things, and intent with their whole mind and sight on invisible things alone, desire nothing more in the present life than to hide themselves in some inner chamber from all the 1 worldly turmoil that roars without. To all the riches and delights of this world they prefer the stillness of 1 Adam had perhaps in his mind those beautiful stanzas of S. Ber- nard's world-famous hymn, — Jesu dulcis memoria ; " I seek for Jesus in repose, When round my heart its chambers close : Abroad, and when I shut the door, I long for Jesus evermore. " With Mary, in the morning gloom, I seek for Jesus at the tomb ; To Him, with love's most earnest cry, I seek with heart, and not with eye." i2 172 ADAM SCOTUS. their holy and sanctifying quiet ; and eschew, not only the companionship of men, but even sometimes, so to speak, for that their great delight, the conversation of angels. As regards these, the Lord Jesus, of Whom we speak, is in the sepulchre : for they, allured by the taste of spiritual sweetness, hide themselves, and are, as it were, buried in secret, from the disturbance of human conversation. [After dwelling at some length on these four places, the preacher con- tinues :] And truly a most sacred place was the Virgin's womb ; nor can any human intellect comprehend the preroga- tive of that sanctity. Holy also was the place where the Infant God lay, wrapped in swaddling clothes. In like manner, holy also was the wood of the Cross, on which that infinitely Good Shepherd laid down His life for the sheep. But though all these places are pre- eminent in sanctity, we read of none of them that an angel, clad in white, appeared there. The Evangelist tells us that the angel Gabriel went in to the Virgin, but saith not that he was clad in white. It had reference to the manger when the angels appeared to the shepherds ; and though with a brilliant glory, yet not in white. And when that great High Priest, shortly about to be- come a Victim, was in an agony, and prayed more earnestly, — when His sweat was as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground, there appeared unto Him, as ye may read and see, an angel comforting Him ; but we read not that he was clad in white. But the angel that appeared at the door of the sepulchre was so clad ; and we learn thereby that this place was distinguished by some espe- THE FOUR PLACES OF THE LORD JESUS. 173 cial prerogative from those of which we have just now compendiously treated. What is to be understood by the white save the prerogative of spiritual exaltation? And this specially suits the quiet of the Lord's monu- ment. It is a great thing to be filled with the Word, to fruitfulness of remembrance ; to be instructed by the Word, to sanctity of religion ; to lean on the Word, to the increase of gratitude. But excellent and glorious above all it is to enjoy the Word, to the solemnising a quiet and tranquil soul. O to be filled! O to be in- structed ! O to lean ! O to enjoy ! To be filled — to fruitfulness ; to be instructed — to holiness ; to lean — to security; to enjoy — to blessedness ! PETER, BISHOP OF CHARTRES. Peteus Cellensis, — for he is usually designated by the name of his first Abbey, — of French extraction, was born in Campania at the beginning of the 12th century. Eaised to the Abbacy at Celles about 1150, — to that of the great house of S. Bemy, at Eheims, in 1162, — and to the See of Chartres in 1180, he enjoyed the friendship of the most eminent ecclesiastics of his day, — more particularly of S. Bernard, and John of Salisbury: the latter his predecessor in his Bishopric. He died February 20th, 1187, and was buried in his cathedral church, on the Epistle side of the altar. It appears from his Letters, that his sermons, of which 92 re- main, were exceedingly popular. Theobald, Bishop of Paris, requested him to write those which we have for Advent ; the Abbess Matilda asked him for others, and they were soon dispersed. He says himself, in a let£er to a monk of S. Ber- tin, " You wished to have my sermons, which the four winds of heaven have scattered, as useless and superfluous feathers, all over the land. If you have read them, have you not found them emaciated in their sense, and enervated in their words ? If you have not seen them, who persuaded you to inquire so earnestly for that which, as soon as you possess, you will reject ? Is it curiosity, or assiduity of study which induces you to beg for the herbs and bark of a most poor man, when you might sit at the table of rich Augustine, be- nign Gregory, moneyed Jerome, glorious Ambrose, and in- numerable others, the crumbs under whose table I am not worthy to collect ? If you wish for new works, you have 176 PETER, BISHOP OF CHARTRES. those of Master Hugh," (he means Hugh, the great light of the Abbey of S. Victor, and called from that place,) " of Ber- nard, of Master Peter," (he alludes to Peter of Treves, called, from his appetite, Comestor,) " and Master Gilbert," (a canon of S. Stephen's, at Auxerre, who wrote glosses on both Tes- taments, and had the title of the " Universal Doctor,") " in which there are wanting neither roses nor lilies." The estimate of the anonymous editor in the Bibliotheca Maxima, does great injustice to these sermons. He allows them to be pious, abounding in Scriptural allusions, and fitted for the furtherance of a holy life ; " but," says he, " they are often jejune, and turn from subject to subject, — treating each but concisely, and leaving it abruptly." It is surprising that he does not appreciate more truly the won- derful eloquence of some of these discourses ; parts of that, for example, which here follows, on the Christian warfare, and that— the crowning glory of its author — on the Ascen- sion. It must be confessed, however, that his doctrinal statements are occasionally very loose, and that his eloquence is sometimes a little more conspicuous than his exact the- ology : some instances of which may be seen in the last- named sermon. The collected works of our author were first published in the twenty-third volume of the Bibliotheca Maxima, from which I quote them. THE MIND THAT WAS IN CHEIST JEStJS. [This is the commencement of a sermon on Palm Sunday, (Bib. Max. xxix. 675,) and may not unprofitably be compared with the sermon of Guarric, given above, on the same text.] Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Behold, beloved brethren, Jesus is led forth before your THE MIND THAT WAS IN CHRIST JESUS. 177 eyes to be sacrificed ! What will ye say ? What will ye do ? Lo, there is none to console Him among His friends : all have forsaken Him and fled ! O Jesu ! alone, for us, yet without us, Thou bearest the burden and heat of the day ! Thou bearest the Crown of Thorns, —Thou bearest the Cross,— Thou bearest Thy Blood within the veil of the Sanctuary, — Thou bearest our sins in Thy Body upon the wood of the Cross. Thou bearest the fire and the wood, that the fire of Thy Passion may consume the wood of our mortality. The lion out of the forest — the evening wolf — the bear— the dog — the unicorn — the snare — Thine enemies, rush upon Thee with open mouth, and are on fire to devour Thee. The daughters of Jerusalem behold and weep ; the sun hides its face, that it may not see so great wickedness in Is- rael; the earth trembles, unable to endure the sight; they that are dead feel the death of Life, and rise from the dead, like that dead man who touched the bones of Elisha, and revived. And we, wretched sinners, what are we doing ? . . . . Where is Phinehas ? Where is Peter ? Where is Mat- tathias ? Do we think that the Son of Man, when He is dying, shall find faith in the earth ? Thine eyes, O Lord, look upon them that are faithful ; but where and among whom is* faith? The foundations of faith are disturbed and shaken : so that, if it were possible, even the Apostles would have been led into error. Where is faith ? It has altogether perished ; it has altogether de- parted from the earth, Behold, saith the Lord to the Prince of Apostles, Satan hath desired to have thee, that he miff lit sift thee as wheat ; but I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not. A most tremendous war was this, in i3 178 PETER, BISHOP OF CHARTRES. which Jesus by Himself entered the lists with Satan ; and, when His whole Body had been mangled, and all His Blood poured forth, at length, by being overcome, He conquered. Thus, Christ overthrew him who, in other ages, had overthrown us in Adam. Therefore, brethren, let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, and if we are not worthy to approach Jesus, and to touch, and to feel Him, let us at least in- quire from him who lay in His bosom, and who saith, His left hand is under my head, and His right hand hath embraced me. .... Tell us, John the Evangelist, what He was Whom thou didst see ? for it is written of thee, And he that saw it, bare record, and we know that his re* cord is true. Tell us, therefore, concerning Jesus, how He was ap- prehended, — when, where, by whom, wherefore? How He was afflicted before the Cross ; who betrayed Him ; who desired to defend Him ; what He answered when one of His own undertook His defence ; with how great fear afterwards that same disciple denied Him thrice. How Pilate scourged Him ; how the soldiers plaited a crown of thorns, and put it on His Head ; how they sur- rounded Him in mockery with purple raiment, and bowed the knee before Him, and smote Him on the face. How Jesus Himself, wearing His crown of thorns and His purple vestment, went forth to the Jews; not then illustrious by the tokens of empire, but of con- tempt. With what violence they shouted Crucify Him ! and after that, nailed Him to the Cross in Golgotha, with two thieves, and parted His garments, and offered Him vinegar ; and how He bowed His Head, and gave up the ghost. THE MIND THAT WAS IN CHRIST JESUS. 179 These are the signs of Jesus. No one save Jesus has all these signs ; it is Jesus Who meets thee, if He is thus marked : This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend, O daughter of Jerusalem : so saith, whether it were Mary the Mother of the Lord, or Mary Magdalene, or Joseph himself. But if thou desirest to know Him by fewer signs, hear this : My Beloved is white and ruddy. White, on account of His innocence ; ruddy, in respect of His Passion. Thou hast satisfied us by giving a certain method of knowing the Beloved, the Bridegroom. But tell us what He was to the touch, — what He was to the sense; what was His left hand, and what His right. For He is far off from us, and if we cannot see Him, much less can we touch Him ; thou hast told us of His sight ; tell us also of His touch. For Scripture in some degree terrifies us, and keeps us back from touching Him, saying that He is a consuming fire, and again, He that draws near to Me, draws near to a Flame. Tell us, therefore, whether on His right or on His left, we may find Him more easy of access. Thou knowest His right side : as it is written, His Bight Hand doth embrace me. Thou knowest His left side, according to that saying, His Left Hand is under my head. .... And what is His Bight Hand ? That of which it is written in the Psalm, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou on My Right Hand. The Bight Hand of God, is beatitude without interruption ; glory without end ; plea- sure without corruption ; health without sickness ; con- cord without bitterness ; peace without rancour ; tran- quillity without commotion; eternity without variation. This is the Bight Hand of God : for in that Bight Hand there is as full delight as here is abundance of affliction 180 . , PETER, BISHOP OF CHARTRES. and misery. This is the Right Hand which yet we pos- sess not, — which yet we even know not ; seeing not so much the admirable glory of the right, as the miserable affliction of the left Let this mind, therefore, brethren, be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. Pain without fault ; inno- cence without injury. Think of His Mercy which for- gives; think of His Justice which requires; think of His Loving-kindness, which will raise you to the Right Hand of the seat of His Majesty. Thither, my brethren, the hands of the poor shall carry your souls. Thither your confessions, your prayers, your fasts, and your other good works shall raise you. Which Christ Jesus our Lord grant ; Who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost for ever and ever. CHRIST TEMPTED IN THE WILDERNESS. (A sermon on the First Sunday in Lent. Page 655.) S. Matt. iv. 1. Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit in the wilderness, to be tempted of the Devil. When Israel went forth to war, the ark preceded : because Christ the Lord, girt for battle like Gad, went out before us ; since He was in all points tempted like as we are, seeing that He had our flesh, yet without sin. We are members of this Head; we are sons of this Father ; as many as are regenerated by Water and the Holy Ghost. The Head governs the members; the Father teaches the children. The members also follow CHRIST TEMPTED IN THE WILDERNESS. 181 the Head, and the children imitate the Father. Of the members it is written, If any member' suffer, all the mem- bers suffer with it, because of the bond of unity, and the government exercised by the Head. Of a son it is writ- ten, What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. Let us look, therefore, at our Head and our Father, in His character as a chief in battle. How He entered into conflict with the enemy ; how, setting us an example, He received the darts of the adversary ; how patiently He endured; how wisely He repelled. It is not un- willingly that He meets the foe. It is not grudgingly that He sustains the attack. It is not impatiently that He rejects him. It is not rashly that He retaliates on him. He avoids not the Tempter — any more than His betrayer, or His crucifiers — craftily. He addresses not contumeliously, but contradicts by reasonable ar- guments, him who would have allured to sin. He yields not to the Tempter through the instancy of the temptation ; but, in the -first place, instructs him by a moderate answer, saying, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God. Next, when the tempter interprets the Scrip- tures ill, He reprehends him, saying, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God. Lastly, when he remains ob- stinate and perverse, He confounds him with the words, Get thee behind Me, Satan. Thus it wa3 that the Incarnate Wisdom of God re- ceived the darts of warfare on the shield of patience ; obtaining the victory over the enemy, not by clamour, but by reason, and the authority of the Scriptures. Thus fought David against Goliath; thus Samson 182 PETER, BISHOP OF CHARTRES. against the lion and the bear; 1 thus Gideon against Amalek; thus Moses and Joshua against Pharaoh, against Sihon and Og, and against the adversaries of the people, and thus overcame them. All these were the mightiest of the mighty of Israel, 2 instructed in war, and standing with drawn swords on the tower of Lebanon, which looketh against Damascus ; that is, against the devil, who thirsts for the blood of our souls. But now let us come to our own battles, and consider the position of our enemies ; and let us observe with what superabundance of military stores they have set up their engines against us. For we shall then provide ourselves with that which is necessary for the war, if we value at its proper price the strength of our adversaries. Behold, therefore, beloved brethren, the princes of dark- ness with breastplate and shield, with horse and chariot, equipped with weapons of war, gathering themselves to- gether from all the winds of heaven, and rushing to the overthrow of all Christian people, and more especially to the congregations of religious houses. Some put their trust in chariots, and some in horses ; but we will remember the Name of the Lord our God. Let us picture them, then, to ourselves on the left hand, like goats of evil savour, — nay, rather, as raging 1 Either — which the broken sentences and intricate phraseology of some parts of the present sermon render not unlikely — the writer who took it down as it was spoken mistook the preacher's meaning, or the Bishop's memory failed him, in applying to Samson that which he intended to say of David. 3 The reference is to Canticles iii. V : " Threescore valiant men are about it, of the valiant of Israel : they all hold swords, being expert in war." And vii. 4 : " Thy nose is as the tower of Lebanon, that looketh toward Damascus." Damascus, which is interpreted " a sack full of blood," is thus applied by the preacher to the kingdom of Satan. CHRIST TEMPTED IN THE WILDERNESS. 183 lions ; them, I say, the. princes of darkness, who have pitched their tents against us, with their army and their most wicked nation. But, on the right hand, let us raise our eyes to the munitions of our triumphal stan- dard ; since the Lord knoweth the ways of them that are on His right. The Lord is on my right hand ; there- fore shall I not be removed. Between camp and camp let us image to ourselves the waters of Baptism. Let the city of our strength, the tower of Sion, stand near us to be our refuge ; for they have the tower of confusion, and the city which is called Babylon. They trust in their strength and in their arms ; we neither in bow nor in spear, but in the Name of the Lord. Judah has bound to the vine His foal, 1 — that is, has surrendered His Body to His Passion ; and He shall be the leader of our war. David has slain his ten thousand, triumphing in his body on the wood of the Cross over the powers of the air. Samson, who by interpretation is their sun, 2 has 1 The interpretation which the preacher here gives of the vine and the foal in the benediction of Judah, is curiously contrasted with that of other mediaeval writers. Eupert of Deutz (De Trinitate et operibus ejus, ix. 30) : " To this vine we Gentiles, waiting for Chbist till we see Him face to face, are now tied, like the foal of an ass, to which animal the estate of the Gentiles is compared, on account of the folly of their former works : we are tied, I say, to this vine, that, after the straw, which is the food of asses, we may eat these most sweet grapes, and, by the assistance of the Holt Ghost, may drink that most excellent wine of the Holy Scriptures." Again, S. Antony of Padua, in his sermon for the fifteenth Sunday after Trinity, thus writes : " Judah is the peni- tent, the vine is compunction, the ass is sensuality : Judah, therefore, binds his ass to the vine, when the penitent subjects the sensuality of the heart to compunction." 8 The Bishop is here referring to that etymology of Samson's name which, unwarrantable as it is, is as old as the time of S. Augustine. He thus speaks, in his commentary on the 80th Psalm : " Thus it is with 184 PETER, BISHOP OF CHARTRES. strangled with his own hand the lion, the roaring lion, who goeth about seeking to devour. We must pray also to our Gideon, that he may come to us with his three hundred, signed in their foreheads with the sign of the Cross, 1 who bowed not down their knees to drink water. Abraham, again, the father of many nations, whose sons we are, — shall he not come, with his three, hundred and eighteen servants, to our assistance? 2 our Samson, which is interpreted { their sun ;' that is, the sun of them on whom he shines, not of all." Thus, also, Adam of S. Yictor, in an Easter sequence : " Samson, by interpretation, Is theie sunlight : our salvation Thus hath brought illumination To the elect on whom He rose." 1 The reference is to the mystical interpretation of the number 300, expressed in Greek by the letter T, which thus represents the sign of the Cross. There is an allusion to this in an epitaph in the passage which leads from the nave to the chapter-house of Southwell Minster : " Here lieth William Talbot, a wretched and unworthy Priest, expecting the resurrection of the dead, under the sign Thau." So also, Eupert (De Trinitate, xxi. 11) : " But we must note that this number 300 is con- tained in the letter Tau ; and by the letter Tau is set forth the form of the Cross. Fitly, therefore, by these 300 who followed Gideon are re- presented those to whom it is said, If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. Whence, also, by Ezekiel (ix. 6), in those 300 who are signed by the letter Tau, they are to be understood who have conquered the sword of the enemy by the wood of the Cross." So, also, S. Ivo of Chartres : " Thus, when the first-born of Egypt were destroyed, the people of the Hebrews were saved by the Blood of the Paschal Lamb, a type of the Loed's Passion, — their doorposts being signed by it ; and the people of Egypt, because they had no such sign, were grievously afflicted in their first-born. So in Ezekiel, it is promised that Jerusalem shall be freed from imminent destruction, if the foreheads of those who were weeping and lamenting — that is, of penitents — were signed with Tau, which expresses the figure of the Cross." 2 The 318 trained servants of Abraham, with whom he pursued and overcame the four kings, have always been interpreted of the 318 fathers, CHRIST TEMPTED IN THE WILDERNESS. 185 Moses,, also, who brought forth the people out of Egypt, he will be found useful to us in this war. Shall not Joshua, moreover, bring with himself the captain of the Lord's Host, that he may be a mighty warrior before the Lord ? With all confidence let us engage in this battle, if we have such leaders and princes in the camp of the Lord. But, before we begin the attack, let us repre- sent to ourselves the ranks of our adversaries, how they are set in array. The tyrant who has seven crowns — that is, all wickedness — on his head, sitting in the seat of the scorner, calls together his princes and his mighty men, and contrives deceit and fraud ; since he is diffi- dent in his own strength when opposed to our array. Truly, though he has received great licence from Him, without Whose permission he could not attack us, and without Whose assistance we could not conquer him, he abuses it, breaking the bridle which restrains him, and prevents his injuring us as much as he would. Let us estimate, then, as well as we are able by a type, — nay, and sometimes by experience, — what are those powers, what are the princes of this darkness, who make war upon us under the chief of their battle, — the devil. The chief of all chiefs, pride, 1 the most pestilent of all, opposes us: the name may be of the feminine gender, but the malice she displays is more than mas- culine. Under her spear she bows down the necks of the haughty and the exalted ; she triumphs over kings, as servants of the true Abraham, who met at Mcsea, and vanquished the enemies of the true faith : and it is to this that the preacher alludes. 1 The writer is here taking a hint from that very favourite allegory of mediaeval authors, the Psychomachia of Prudentius, in which the poet represents various temptations as assaulting the soul in a pitched battle, and one by one overthrown. s « « 186 PETER, BISHOP OF CHARTRES. over nobles, over those that are wise in the wisdom of this world, over saints, over those that are in religious houses, over every sort of man that moves upon the earth. She is mounted on a swift steed, which is more rapid than the wind, so that it is fleeter than the wings of the tempest, and there is nothing hid from the filth thereof. 1 This tyrant is the first to meet us, and the last to depart from us, in the ranks of Christian warfare. She rises before daybreak to the battle, and takes no rest till after evening twilight. Turn which way you will, she attacks you either behind or before. Pride sometimes puffs up one who knows and understands. Sometimes she pollutes one that has no learning. This is the queen of the Amazons, which has won for herself kingdoms and lands, not by her frailty, but by her blandishments. Young and old, girls and matrons, clergy, canons and monks, nay, and even hermits them- selves, in sackcloth and ashes, cannot avoid her; but many of them, the more they profess to hate her, the more they pursue her. It is strange that the more a man serves her in his heart, the more he detests her in his words. Pride, therefore, endeavouring with all her courage and audacity to overthrow the ranks of humility, as- saults Jesus Himself; and, though her dissimulation was long time suffered, and for so long not exposed as it deserved, she at length perceived what was contained in that fictile or glass vessel of the Body of Jesus, perceived it, I say, and retreated. For stand she could not, who came with one foot, and that being broken, * The allusion is of course to Psalm xix. 6 ; though the play on the words, a squalore e/'w*, instead of a colore ejus, can hardly be kept up. CHRIST TEMPTED IN THE WILDERNESS. 187 departed without any. For when she said, All these things will I give Thee, if Thou wilt fall down and worship me, promising more than she could perform, and dis- playing not hers, but His, to Him Whose they were, — dashed on the rock of truth, and overthrown with well merited confusion, she departed; for pride lied to itself. 1 Get thee hence, Satan, said the Lord : for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and Him only shalt thou serve Let humility with her family march straight forward and attack vain glory. Then let charity with her family assault the camp of envy, and cut off from it every soldier. After this, let peace with her family overthrow strife and leave not a shred of it. Spiritual joy will perceive that her sisters have so nobly triumphed over their ad- versaries ; let her approach with her family and exter- minate sadness, possessing the gates of her enemies. Let almsgiving, with her enlarged heart, with her family, destroy avarice, which is the worship of idols, so that her memory may not remain under heaven. So many victories having been gained, let abstinence fol- low, which is the keeper, and holds, as it were, the key of man's best gifts, and triumph over gluttony, as over Nebuzar-adan, prince of the cooks of the king of Ba- bylon. Let her most dear sister, chastity, advance with her, and complete the triumph ; by whose means hell is filled with grief, and heaven rejoices. Which Jesus Christ our Lord vouchsafe to grant us; Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost, liveth and reigneth to ages of ages. Amen. 1 The reference is to the Vulgate : Psalm iv. 10. Mentita est iniguitas sibi. 188 PETER, BISHOP OF CHARTRES. THE ASCENSION. [From a sermon on Holy Thursday, of which, the text is, Go up, thou bald head ,- go up, thou bald head. Page 693.] Let us call together to this great and wonderful spectacle all the inner powers of our minds, because there never was, no, nor ever will be> a like vision to the eyes of God, and of Angels, and of men. Demons only and wicked men have no share in this vision, because their malice and envy have blinded them so that they cannot see the glory of God, that they can- not see the Ascension of the Son, that they cannot see the mansions of heaven, that they cannot see the illus- trious festival of the Lord. Behold, the Father goes forth to meet the ascending Son, kissing Him, holding His staff, raising Him into heaven, placing Him on the throne of glory, putting the ring on His finger, the stole on His neck, the shoes on His feet, putting a sceptre into His Hand, a crown of precious stones on His Head, surrounding Him on every side with glory and honour, as the Only-Begotten Son, as His heir, as the Consubstantial, as the Co-Eternal, according as He is the Word, according as He is God. For, in so far as He is Man, He is neither Consub- stantial nor Co-Eternal, but He receives gifts among men, yet more excellently than other men, yes, and more excellently than the Angels. For, to which of the Angels said He at any time, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee ? To which of the Angels gave He power over all flesh ? To which gave He all judg- THE ASCENSION. 189 ment ? To which, finally, gave He to sit on His own Right Hand? Verily, to none. But only to the Man Christ Jesus all power is given in heaven and in earth, only on the Man Jesus Christ is bestowed a natural, not an adopted Sonship, on account of the unity of the Word with the flesh in the One Person of God and Man. Whence Augustine : That the Only-Begotten is equal to the Father, is not of grace, but of nature. But that man has been assumed in the unity of the Person of the Only-Begotten, is of grace, and not of nature As this Man, then, Jesus Christ, restored to His country, returns, as it were, by the right of recall, the whole city, heavenly Jerusalem, goes to meet Him with the Father; the whole multitude of angels, the thousand thousands that minister to Him, and the ten thou- sand times ten thousand that stand before Him ; the whole choir of celestial Virtues vie with each other in fervent obedience. They come before His Presence with thanks- giving and service, and worship the prints of His Feet, as it is written, Let all the angels of God worship Him. They embrace His Feet, and bear Him up on their shoulders to the throne of heaven ; Him Whom a cloud had concealed from the eyes of the Apostles, and had lifted up to the starry mansions. For thus it is written in the Psalms : The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of angels, and the Lord is among them, as in the holy place of Sinai. O the joy ! O the solemnity ! O the triumph ! O the jubilation ! O the exultation ! O the everlasting gladness ! Some exclaim, Be Thou ex- alted, Lord, in Thine own strength ; other some, Arise, O Lord, into Thy resting-place, Thou and the ark of Thy strength ; others, Who is the King of Glory ? others, The 190 PETER, BISHOP OF CHARTRES. Lord of Hosts, the Lord strong and mighty in battle ; others, Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah ? others, He that is glorious in His apparel, travelling in the greatness of His strength ; others, Lord, when Thy Hand is lifted up, they will not see ; but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy of the people ; yea, the fire of Thine enemies shall devour them. And lastly, others, calling to mind the Passion, and comparing snch glory with such contumely, cry out, Go up, Thou bald head ! Go up, Thou bald head ! As much as if they said, Thou, O Bald Head; Thou, O Jesu; Thou, the Crucified ; Thou That didst suffer ; Thou That didst die ; Thou That didst hang among the thieves ; Thou, O Bald Head, the hairs of Whose Head were shorn by the razor of the malignant Jews, when all Thy disciples forsook Thee, and fled; Thou, O Bald Head, in . Whom the prince of this world found nothing ; Thou, O Bald Head, Who hadst not where to lay Thy Head, — Who, in Thy Nativity, couldst find no place in the inn ; Thou, O Bald Head, Who didst never use any super- fluousness, but living most poorly, didst so often refuse things necessary for the body, ascend to Thy Father and our Father, to Thy God and our God ; ascend to Bethel, — that is, the House of God; ascend above the West ; ascend above the mountains of frankincense, above the cherubim, above all the earth, above that throne, high and lifted up ; ascend, not in the sides of the north, but in the Throne of Majesty, and sitting at the right Hand of the Father, be like the Most High ; receiving in Thy Humanity the whole of that which before the world in Thy Divinity Thou hadst with the Father, that the Godhead may pour forth on the Manhood in the THE ASCENSION. 191 Ascension, that which it had pledged itself to bestow in the Descension. For when the Word united the flesh to Himself in unity of Person, He promised, as it were, equality with the Father ; not by equalling the Human to the Divine Nature, but by assuming perfect equality for the Person of the Son with the Person of the Father. To-day, in the Ascension of the Lord is consummated the work of the Incarnation, and the merit of the Passion, and the reward of Glorification. Now no longer the Flesh of Christ remembers the pressure of the tribulations which surrounded it in the Passion, because of the joy which it found in the Ascension. For, according to the multitude of the sorrows which It had, the comforts of God have refreshed It. Rejoice, therefore, O flesh ; congra- tulate, O man, thy sister, thy nature, which is glorified in Christ. Now thou mayest rely on the Husband of thy sister, on the Bridegroom of human nature, because that nature is crowned, is made the Mistress, is made the Queen of Angels, — the Bride, our sister, with the Bridegroom. Remember, O dear sister, thy loving- kindnesses, — or rather, thy miseries, — which have now passed away. Call to mind ours, which have not yet passed away, but increase more and more day by day. Remember thy brethren ; remember thy servants, who have come unto thee to buy food, — who have no health- ful power of resisting sin, — who have no light of the eyes sufficient to discern between good and evil, — who have no wing of love to fly to God,- — who have no strength to go after thee or follow thee. Draw us after thee ; say to thy Bridegroom, say to thyself, say to our God, say to thy Father, Father, I will that where I am, 192 PETER, BISHOP OF CHARTRES. there also may be my brother, and my minister, and m^ servant, and my captive. We know, we know, that whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. What will He deny thee, to whom He did not deny Himself? What will He deny thee, Who saith, All Mine are thine, and thine are Mine ? What will He deny thee, with whom He has one purse, one body, one soul, one divinity, one will, one obedience, one merit, one reward, one willing and one not willing, one dying and one living, one seeking and one granting ? And now, behold, we are as certain of gaining that which we ask, if thou wilt vouchsafe to intercede for us, as we are that we desire to be delivered from this cap- tivity and misery, when we fly to thee, O Flesh of our Saviour, O Human Nature of our Head, Jesus Christ ! Abhor not an Egyptian ; despise not thine own flesh. Bend upon us Thy pitiful eyes ; and that benediction which Thou didst leave to Thine Apostles, when Thou didst stretch forth Thy hands, and wast carried up into heaven, vouchsafe to pour upon us now, Lord Jesus Christ, Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest, God, to all ages of ages. Amen. THE DESCENT OF THE HOLT GHOST. (From the fir8t sermon on Pentecost. Page 696.) The fire from* heaven descends which burns not, but illuminates; which consumes not, but gives light, and finds the hearts of the disciples as pure habitations, and bestows on them the gifts of its graces; finds them con- ON PENTECOST. 193 cordant in charity, and enlightens them with the bril- liancy of divinity. Before I employ my tongue in speaking, or my hand in writing of the Holy Ghost, I ask for His grace of Whom I wish to speak, that being bathed in the fountain of His loving-kindness, I may preach to you concerning the Spirit of Truth ; that I may obtain a conscience pure by His doctrine ; that my tongue may neither be drawn aside into the quagmire of an evil conscience, nor may stick fast in the dry places of vanity. Come, then, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful people, and kindle in them the fire of Thy love -, 1 fill us with Thy plenitude ; kindle us with Thy fire and heat, Thou Who dost contain all things, Thou Who dost cherish all things. Fill those whom Thou dost contain ; make fruitful those whom Thou dost cherish ; that we may be satiated with Thy repletion, may live on Thy fruitfulness, may be ennobled, multiplied; may have the grace of perseverance, may be satisfied with Thy sweetness, and may live in Thy light. 2 .... And how can this be, O God the Holy Ghost ? — that a most abject worm should be assumed to so sublime an union with the Trinity, and the blessed Trinity should thereby receive no injury, the blessed Unity no multi- plication, the blessed Majesty no degeneration, the blessed sameness no mutation, the blessed stability and immutability no change? .... Think, and always think, lest the end of your joy should be grief, with how great care you should labour, having begun in the Spirit, 1 The author is quoting the Versicle that follows the Epistle in the Mass for Whitsun-Day. 2 This passage is corrupt and misplaced in the original. K 194 PETER, BISHOP OF CHARTRES. not to end in the flesh, — not to fall, like Lucifer, from heaven to hell, — not to be drawn away from your holy determination to a secular life, — not to be deserted by the Holy Ghost, and given over to the evil spirit, — not to lose Paradise, and to be tormented with the devil in hell The Holy Ghost comes as a Lord, as a Guest, as a Husbandman ; lastly, as a Divine Fire : the Lord to the servant, the Guest to the guest-chamber, the Husbandman to the field, the Fire to a heap of fuel. The Lord oppresses not the servant, laying burdens 1 on him in the spirit of slavery ; He molests not His guest nor His house, by requiring impossibilities, or demand- ing possibilities without reward. The Husbandman neglects not His field ; but extirpates thorns and thistles, and tends diligently the good seed He has sown. The Fire, falling on that heap of gold and silver, and precious stones, burns not, but illuminates ; consumes not, but purges; so that the silver is seven times purified, the gold becomes most precious, the stones are kindled, to remove the reproach of Egypt from the lips of the Prophet. When, therefore, preventing grace so, as it were, fore- runs itself, then it finds the hearts of the disciples pure habitations, and bestows on them the gifts of its graces ; for grace that follows finds us to be what preventing grace has prepared us that we may be The Holy Ghost is called by fasting, is stirred up by prayer, is invited by vigils, is moved by silence, is retained by almsgiving; contemplation or meditation bring Him, repentance introduces Him, continence receives Him, charity ministers to Him, peace sweetens His gifts. 1 The text has omnia ; but we must read onera. PETER OF BLOIS. Peter of Blois — Petrus Blesensis — so called from the place of his birth, studied at Paris and Bologna, was invited into England by Henry II., and by him made Archdeacon of Bath. He afterwards became Chancellor of Canterbury and Archdeacon of London, and his letters give a most lively and interesting picture of the troublous conclusion of the twelfth century, and the important part which he played in the great struggle between the Ecclesiastical and secular powers. He died in 1200. " The sermons of Peter of Blois," says Dr. Giles, " are, like all similar compositions, of unequal merit, but some of them show such power of writing as justly to entitle their author to the epithet Bivinissimus, which has been applied to him by the celebrated scholar Barthius." I employ Dr. Giles's excellent edition, corrected from that of Goussain- ville, in which the sermons form the fourth volume. They are sixty-five in number; the first fifty-two are on the course of the Church's year; the remaining thirteen, by far the most interesting, were delivered in religious houses, at Archidiaconal visitations, and, in one remarkable instance, of which more presently, to a country congregation. They show, especially in passages which could not be given in a work like the present, the deep corruption of morals among the Clergy of the twelfth century ; and this renders it easier to understand the progress made at no such very distant period by Lollards and Wickliffites. The remarkable power of language which Barthius praises, must' of course very k2 196 PETER OF BLOIS. much disappear in a translation ; yet probably the scene, given in one of the following extracts, in which Satan ar- raigns the soul of a sinner, will suffice, to some extent, to justify his eulogium. THE COMING OF OUK LOED. (The third sermon for Advent.) Phtlip. iii. 20. Our conversation is in heaven ; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious Body, according to the working whereby He is able to subdue even all things unto Himself. It is written, The expectation of the righteous is joy ; whence also the righteous man held in suspense by the expectation of the Divine mercy, said, And now, Lord, what is my hope ? Truly my hope is even in Thee, O expectation of the Gentiles, all those who put their trust in Thee shall not be confounded ! Our fathers hoped in Thee ; they trusted in Thee and Thou didst deliver them. There were among the ancient Jews, some who gave no ear to the oracles of the Prophets, and ironically and insultingly said to Isaiah and to the other seers, Precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept ; line upon line, line upon tine ; here a little, and there a little. But such as these are grievously threatened by the Prophet ; Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. These and such as these shall fall into reproach, into the snare of the devil. For of a truth he has both traps, and snares, and gins. The sinner, saith one, hath opened a net for me. And Job THE COMING OF OUR LORD. 197 testifies, His snare is hid in the earth, and his trap is in his path. Of this lying in wait, Solomon saith, Man knoweth not his end ; but as fishes in a net, and birds in a snare, so are men taken in an evil time. But as for us, brethren, let us expect with confidence the coming of the Saviour. / am certain, saith one, that He will come at last, and will not lie : though He tarry, I will wait for Him. But He Who sends salvation to Jacob salutes, by the Prophet Hosea, His Bride, the Church, whom He hath be- trothed to Himself in faith, and consoles her, to the end that the heart of her husband may safely trust in her : and He teaches her how to expect Him, saying, Thou shalt abide for Me many days ; thou shalt not play the harlot, and thou shalt not be for another man : so will I also be for thee. These things were said in ancient days. Whence Isaiah testifies, The name of the Lord cometh from afar. And we are they upon whom the ends of the world are come. It follows then, that the Bride- groom is near at hand, that the King is near at hand, that the Lawgiver is near at hand. He will come quickly and will not tarry. We, then, like men waiting for our Lord, must do what He commands, must not depart from Him, and follow other lovers. The world is a treacherous lover, and deceives the souls for which it lies in wait. This is Shechem, the son of Hamor, who by feigned love and presents, allures and destroys Dinah, the daughter of Jacob. For wretched is that soul which is drawn away and seduced by its lusts ; for while consenting to the world and the devil, it departs from the Lord, it first makes void its faith, and in the passion of its desires and its peremptory will, denies its God. It follows those treacherous lovers who present 198 PETER OF BLOIS. themselves to its sight, but will not righteously, piously, and soberly expect its Bridegroom and Saviour, Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. But let us, as I said, according to the counsel of the Apostle, live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world. Godliness refers to God ; righteousness to our neighbour ; so- briety to ourselves. The Advent of the Lord will be harmful to us unless we wait for it with godliness, so- briety, and righteousness. There are three Advents of the Lord : the first to take our flesh ; the second to our soul ; the third to judgment. The first at midnight, the second in the morning, the third at noon. Let us follow the words of evangelic truth, concerning the first Advent : At midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the Bridegroom cometh. I understand it to be called midnight, because all things were in quiet silence, and that night was in the midst of her course. It was night among the Jews whose eyes were blinded by their malice so that they could not see. In like manner, also, the people of the Gentiles walked in darkness, the Bridegroom came and a cry was made. The silence of the night was broken. He came Who reveals the hidden things of darkness. He put an end to the night, and made it day. The night, saith the Apostle, is far spent, the day is at hand. And why is the cry said to have been made at midnight, unless it be that in the midst of that silence, and while the Almighty Word was about to leap down from its royal seat, the Prophet, foreknowing the Advent of Christ, burst forth into the voice of clamour and joy, and broke the silence. [After quoting several of these prophecies, the preacher proceeds] : The first Advent has now passed away. For Christ THE COMING OF OUR LORD. 199 was seen among men, and had His conversation with men. Christ came that He might fulfil the law in Him- self for us : and seeing that, according to the Apostle, a testament can only be made of force by death, He Himself consummated the testament of our Redemption upon the Cross, by word, and spirit, and deed. We are in the time of the second Advent ; and if we are such that He may vouchsafe to come to us, we are secure ; and if we love Him, He will come to us, and will tarry with us. This His Advent to us is uncertain. For who knoweth the things of God save the Spirit of God? .... Of the third Advent it is most certain that it will come, but most uncertain when it will come. .... He therefore, who may truly be called Israel, let him prepare to meet the Lord. Prepare, saith he, to meet thy God, O Israel. We must prepare, therefore, that we may rather prevent death, than be prevented by death. He prepares himself prudently, who keeps him- self from the contagion of iniquity. The prophet who could not guard himself against death, at all events guarded himself against sin. / will beware, saith he, of iniquity. O, how blessed is he who can say with security, My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready. And again : I am prepared, and am not troubled. Such an one re- ceives the fruit of grace from the first Advent, and in the second Advent will receive the fruit of salvation and glory. The first is accessory to the second, the second preparatory to the last. The first Advent was concealed and humble. The second is secret and lonely. The third will be manifest and terrible. In the first He came to us, that in the second He might come into us. In the second He came into us, that in the third He 200 PETER OF BLOIS. might come against us. In the first Advent He showed mercy. In the second He bestows grace. In the third He will give glory. For, the Lord will give grace and glory. In the first He appeared contemptible, and vile, and frail : for Herod despised Him, the Jews rejected Him, the Gentiles slew Him. The Apostle speaking of the second, beholding, saith he, the glory of the Lord, we are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. In the first, He was judged unjustly. In the second, He justifies us by grace. In the third, He will judge righteously. He was a Lamb in the first : He will be a Lion in the last : He is a Friend in the second. Of the first He saith by Isaiah, / was dumb, and opened not My mouth. Of the last : Now will I cry like a travailing woman. Of the second He saith, We will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He, Who once came meek and gentle, will hereafter come as the tremendous and terrible Judge. He Who once came in the spirit of humility, will hereafter come in the spirit of judgment and in the spirit of burning. A COUNTEY SEEMON. [The sermon, from which the following extracts are taken, is more than usually interesting, on the following account : — It was preached to a village congregation, probably in the West of England ; and evidently created, as it would now be called, a sensation. On this some friend of the writer's requested that he would put down what he had said in Latin : he did so, and naturally dedicated the discourse so composed to his friend. He tells us, however, that he greatly added to its length, and — to use his own expression — polished up that which had been spoken to the laity with sufficient crudeness and insipidity. He apolo- CHRISTIAN FEAR THE STEPPING-STONE TO LOVE. 201 gises for the length of the sermon, on account of these additions ; and, indeed, as it stands now, its delivery would occupy about three hours. It is, therefore, a good example of the style which took with a Tillage congregation in the twelfth century. The text is Psalm xciv. 16, 17.] CHRISTIAN FEAR THE STEPPING-STONE TO CHRISTIAN LOVE. But to us worldly men, who are not only in the world, but of the world, — who are set in the midst of a perverse and crooked generation, crooked and perverse ourselves, — who are often intoxicated and sickened with the cup of Babylon, — to us, I say, I think that meditation, which impresses with the fear of the Judge, Who will judge the world by fire, is highly useful and profitable ; that Judge by Whom the saints will judge the people, by Whom the miserable daughter of Babylon will have her own retribution returned upon her, — a wretched and eternal retribution. O blessed souls of the saints, who, while yet in the flesh, live above the flesh; while yet men, show forth the life of angels ! O truly blessed, whose it is to gather the most sweet fruits of contem- plation ; whose it is to possess a harbour, as it were, of tranquillity in this great and wide sea ; who are neither driven from their course by the rushing wind of fear, nor tossed by the tumult of the stormy ocean ! O thrice and four times happy, before whose eyes is the love of their Redeemer, the love of their Father, and of their Country, and that continually ; and who know the fear of the Judge and of hell, only at a distance ! They, in- deed, forgetting the things behind, press forward to the things that are before : they not only despise, but are ignorant of fear ; and that dread which at first intro- k3 202 PETER OF BLOIS. duced love, being cast out, they, so to speak, cannot help loving ever since the time that they were first in- flamed by such affection. It is for them to be anointed with the oil of the good Samaritan ; it is for us to use the wine of compunction : it is for them to draw water with joy out of the wells of the Saviour, to be satisfied with the pleasures of His house, to be given to drink of the water of the wisdom of salvation ; it is ours to mingle our drink with weeping, to be fed with the bread of tears, to have the plenteousness of tears which the Lord giveth to drink. They always sit at the banquet with their Father, the Merciful and Gentle, the Giver of all good things with benedictions. Let us continually turn our eyes to the Judge — the severe, the jealous, the strict Examiner, not only into our works, but into every idle word. There is no readier way by which we may obtain their happy condition, no easier access, no more profitable advance. This way is strait in the ingress, more tolerable in the progress, more fruitful in the egress. This is the begin- ning of the road that leads to our Country ; for the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 1 SATAN PLEADING AGAINST THE SOUL OF THE SINNER. Behold, Lord, this man stands before Thee, altogether man, altogether flesh, altogether clay; whose faults are ma- nifest, whose transgressions against Thy Majesty are in- finite, whose sin has no plea of lightness to merit pardon, whose obstinacy in enormous wickedness cries for wrath 1 It is a proof how completely the Archdeacon must have re-written this sermon, that we find him quoting, in the next sentence, the classical line, Ardua prima via est, et eget moderamine certo. THE PLEA OF SATAN. 203 and vengeance But not to dwell on generals, and to come to particulars, I pass over the rest, exceed- ing, as they do, measure and number; and I accuse him especially of these crimes, and shall persevere with my charge on account of this threefold transgression. In the first place, I boldly pronounce him a liar and a perjured person ; .... for who can deny that he is such who, after having solemnly, and with the consent of legitimate witnesses, blotted out the handwriting of sin that stood in my name against him, nevertheless broke, by the transgression of his pledge, the baptismal covenant so solemnly entered into with Thee, and ap- proved by so many bystanders ? Then, O good Judge, he acted guilefully towards Thee, when a fallacious and deceitfully intended promise obtained the remission of original sin. But, unless I am mistaken, God under- stands a promise or an oath in that sense in which he who promises or swears intends it. Didst Thou under- stand, O righteous Judge, the deceit intended against Thee, and didst yet remain silent ? or didst Thou not understand it ? — Thou, to Whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from Whom no secrets are hid ? But when Thou didst perceive the guile, why didst Thou give the remission? — or, at least, why didst Thou not forgive deceitfully, "Art by art to overthrow," 1 and allow the false promiser and detected deceiver to fall into the same pit which he had made ? But .... 1 The preacher is quoting a line — Ars ut artern falleret — from the famous Passion Hymn, Pange lingua gloriosi, of Venantius Fortunatus ; where the poet is telling how the craft of the flevil was destroyed by that wisdom and art which employed like to overthrow like. 204 PETER OF BLOIS. let it be so, — that Thou wast pitiful or remiss in Bap- tism, and mayest perhaps have made some account of the age of the promiser : who can answer to me as to his promise repeated twice, thrice, ay, and much oftener? I am not accusing the Judge with the prisoner, but I offer to the Judge the man that is to be judged. Is to be ? — if there be any justice, he is already judged. Thou hast instituted, O Lord, a plank after shipwreck, the power of rising after a fall, penance after sin. I say nothing, and pass by the fact that this institution was made to my manifest wrong : I cannot destroy it ; and, therefore, I allow it and stand by it. This man re- nounced in Baptism Satan and all his works, and all his pomps; and, unmindful of his promise, gave himself over, as soon as ever he could, to the power whom he had renounced, implicated himself in his works, and took a part in his pomps. But, when he knew what he had done, he changed his determination for the better. Be it so, that he inclined his heart, and forsook also his own people and his father's house : be it so, that the wicked for- sook his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and re- turned to the Lord, and He had mercy upon him. Be it so : but it is equally clear that he again changed that determination for the worse, and the latter end of that man became worse than the first : which I will briefly show. Remember, I pray Thee, that he renewed his promises to Thee before Thy vicar, before Thy anointed, — that is, before Thy priest : he renewed his baptismal covenant, and bound himself again by a fresh engage- ment. In this case it is impossible that he can excuse his age, that he can speak of force, that he can pretend insufficiency. He came before Thy priest in full age, THE PLEA OF SATAN. 205 and with fall sense; lie promised freely, and not by- compulsion ; lie willingly and boldly took on his shoul- ders a burden which he was able to bear. What more ? In one and the same moment he left the priest, and started back from his determination; he deceived the priest, he deceived Thee, he deceived himself. He cast off Thy light yoke and easy burden ; he embraced his ancient slavery under the yoke of sin ; he put away the robe of innocence, and put on a garment clotted with blood ; he put away the short garment which could not cover him, and again took hold of the vestment which he had left with his Egyptian mistress. To be short, the greater crimes he had committed before confession, with the greater licence he returned to them after it ; yes, and perpetrated crimes which till then he had not attempted, drawing iniquity with a rope, and sin as it were with a cart-rope. Thus, then, as if the burden of former crimes were not sufficient for his damnation, he added the transgression of his promise and pledge. More than once he came deceitfully to the priest, and at the ap- pointed time, giving in to the ordinary custom of con- fession, rather than following purity of conscience ; he added this, also, once a year to former sins, that, in the presence of Thine anointed, he lied to Thee, and ob- tained from the priest a fictitious absolution Time would fail me if I were to enumerate the breaking the promises, the setting at nought the vows. I say nothing of the lies by which his whole conversation has been interspersed. I say nothing of his frequent and usual oaths and perjuries, in which he cast, as it were in Thy teeth, and that many times, the human frailty which Thou didst take for his sake ; the oaths in which 206 PETER OF BLOIS. he basely reproached Thee with Thy Death, Thy Cross, Thy Passion, and the other sufferings of Thy Humanity ; and exceeding, in a certain sense, the madness of Jewish cruelty, broke Thy bones, — or rather, numbered them all up, and injured Thee in all. If, Lord, Thou con- siderest this a light offence, Thou greatly derogatest from the blessing of Thy assumed Humanity, and dost not confess that those members and those wounds were Thine indeed ; since Thou so lightly sufferest and per- mittest them to be thus opprobriously reviled Therefore, O good Judge, if truth is the beginning of Thy words, — nay, rather, if Thou art the Truth itself, — since every possible word of truth, and in every possible way, has departed from the lips of this guilty man, in Thy truth, and for Thy truth's sake, slay the soul whose mouth has so often lied, and shut out the perjured man from the eyes of Eternal Verity Next, I will manifestly prove him to be a betrayer. Wilt Thou not acknowledge him to be a betrayer, who, while he eats of Thy bread, lifts up his heel against Thee ? Is not the* hand of him that betrayeth Thee with Thee on the table, when man, who eats angeVs food, the bread which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world, nevertheless holds communication with Thine enemies, walks in the counsel of the ungodly, stands in the way of sinners, and— which is more wicked yet, nay, which is most wicked of all — glories that he has sat in the seat of the scornful ? Either allow that such an one is a traitor, or repel Thy Augustine, who teaches in so many words, "He who betrays Christ to a body that sins, is as guilty as he that betrayed Him to the Jews that cruci- fied." .... Thou didst feed him, O Lord, from Thy THE PLEA OF SATAN. 207 table, from Thy holy altar, not with every-day bread, but with the bread of angels ; not with every-day drink, but with Thy precious Blood He sat down at a great banquet, and when he should have prepared a like return, he rather gave Thee gall and vinegar to drink, crucifying to himself the Son of God afresh, and putting Him to an open shame. And what if, like a faithful and wise servant, Thou didst set him over Thy family, to give them their portion of meat in due season ? What if Thou didst set him beyond the angels, in that he makes that bread of angels, conceding to him that consecration of the Lord's Body and Blood, to which the purity of the angelic nature cannot approach ? Angels exult with fear in beholding that food, but dare not to consecrate it ; for Thou hast not given to those most pure spirits that which Thou hast given to sinful men. Thine angels Thou chargest with folly, the sins of men Thou winkest at ; for, after a certain sort, man that was lost, and re- deemed with some violence and difficulty, seems to be more honoured and loved by Thee than Thy angels, who were never lost, and therefore never redeemed. Thou callest Thyself fairer than the children of men, as if it were glorious for Thee to excel men, — for Thee Who, by the brightness of Thy Presence, feedest and strengthenest the purity of angels. Verily, Thy delights are with the sons of men, on whom Thou hast not bestowed angels to be their keepers, but hast endured to exalt human nature even above the angels Humble, if Thou wilt, Thine angels; bow down, if Thou wilt, Thine heavens; raise and exalt man ; let the prodigal son find grace in the sight of his father ; let the tenth piece of silver, lost and found, be of more esteem than the nine that were 208 PETER OF BLOIS. never lost ; let the hundredth sheep be dearer to Thee than the ninety and nine left in the wilderness : I bear it, and am silent. I may grieve, I may envy, I cannot hinder ; but yet I would so have Thee to love man, as to hate a betrayer. I desire Thee not to punish nature, but vice. Let human nature have her titles of honour, let her keep the prerogative of her dignity ; only, let sin obtain that which it deserves, — let not crime go unpunished. Re- ceive man, if Thou wilt ; but cast out the traitor. THE MISERY OF A WICKED PRIEST. Certainly a devout and prudent Priest, while he stands at the Divine table, will think of nothing else but Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. He will set before the eyes of his heart the humility of Christ, the patience of Christ, His Passion and sorrows ; the reproaches of Christ — the spittings, the scourging, the spear, the Cross, the Death ; he devoutly and solicitously recals and crucifies himself in the memory of the Lord's Passion. •. . . . O how awful, how perilous a thing, my brethren, is the administration of your office ! because ye shall have to answer not only for your own souls, but for the souls committed to your charge, when the Day of tremendous Judgment shall come ! And how shall he keep another man's conscience whose own is not kept ? For conscience is an abyss — a most obscure night : and what, then, of the wretched Priest who has undertaken this night, and to whom they cry, Watchman, what of the day ? Watchman, what of the night? What is that most wretched Priest to do who feels himself loaded with sins, implicated with cares, infected with the filthiness of carnal desires, blind, bowed THE WISDOM OF FOLLOWING CHRIST. 209 down, weak, straitened by a thousand difficulties, anx- ious through a thousand necessities, miserable with a thousand troubles, precipitate to vices, weak to virtues ? What shall he do — the son of grief — the son of eternal misery — who neither kindles the fire of love in himself, nor in others ? Surely he is prepared for the fuel and the consumption of fire ! A fire is kindled in the fury of the Lord ; and it shall burn even to the nethermost hell. A place is appointed for him with everlasting burnings ; the worm is prepared which dieth not, — smoke, vapour, and the vehemence of storms ; horror, and a deep shade ; the weight of chains of repentance that bind, that burn, and that consume not ! From which may that Fire de- liver us Who consumes not, but consummates — which devours not, but enlightens every man that cometh into the world. May He illuminate us to give the knowledge of salvation unto His people ; Who liveth and reigneth ever with the Father and the Holy Ghost, God to all ages of ages. THE WISDOM OF FOLLOWING CHEIST. (From Sermon 53, on " Manifold Wisdom.") The highest wisdom is that which this world accounts folly — the wisdom of Christ : or rather, Christ Himself is Wisdom, Who, according to the Apostle, is made to us of God not only Wisdom, but Righteousness, Sanc- tification, and Redemption. When every other wisdom puffs up and destroys, you cannot be the disciple of this 210 PETER OE BLOIS. school. He who will not renounce all things that he possesses, he cannot be My disciple : He who hateth not father and mother, and his own soul, is not worthy of Me. O good Jesus ! why hast Thou dealt thus with us ? Moses had laid a burden upon us which neither we nor our fathers were able to bear. We had hoped that Thou wouldest come and lighten our burdens, and now Thou makest Thine Hand heavy upon us. Were not the hands of Moses sufficiently heavy ? Didst Thou come to slay us with scorpions ? Thou seekest a reason of anger against us, and of destroying us. Art Thou not Jesus the Saviour, and not the Destroyer ? Why dost Thou command that which I cannot do — that is, to hate my father and my mother, and my own soul, and to love mine enemy? This is a hard speech — who can hear it ? I would go to other schools, and I would choose another master, but I hear Peter, answering both for himself and for others, Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life. If Thou feignest labour in Thy precepts -and hardness in Thy discourse, yet I know how great is the sweetness which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee. I will hope in Thee Whose wisdom cannot be deceived, Whose power cannot be overcome, Whose kindness cannot be wearied, Whose love cannot be les- sened. If Thou scourgest me — if Thou consumest me — if Thou cuttest me asunder — if Thou slayest me — I will hope in Thee, O Lord, while only Thou helpest me and teachest me to do Thy will. Show me only some token for good, that I may seek it and trust in Thee. For Thou art good to them that hope in Thee — to the soul that seeketh Thee. I know that they who serve Thee THE WISDOM OF FOLLOWING CHRIST. 211 are not laden, but rather honoured/ because, How ho- noured are Thy friends unto me, O God ! And I know that all the yoke of our bondage is acceptable when we think of Thy sweetness, according to the word of Isaiah, who saith, The yoke shall dissolve before the face of the oil. Brethren, the saint whose memory is to-day in bene- diction, sought for wisdom neither in the school of the philosophers, nor in the library of Justinian. Yet he found it ; and, dwelling in wisdom, taught it by word and example, and shone as a star in the firmament of heaven, above all the doctors of our time, with glory and honour. 2 .... Let us therefore, my brethren, give full scope to our tongues in the praises of the Lord, Who to-day hath magnified His saint. We know that he hath obtained the prize of his race, and happily navigating to the port, hath entered in to the glory of the Lord, — to the abysses of eternal light. And therefore we ought to rejoice with him, who from labour to reward — who from the sorrow of this world hath passed to the joy of angels. For although his soul, while he was seeking for wisdom, was wont in the exile of this pilgrimage, by de- vout meditation, to penetrate the heavens — to enter the heavenly mansions — to visit the various places of happi- ness — to salute the fathers — to be present in the chariot of contemplation among Prophets, among Apostles, among the choirs of Martyrs and Confessors, — yet he then beheld all things through a glass and in a riddle. 1 It is impossible to retain in English the play upon the words non sunt onerati, immo honorati. 2 We have no means of determining on what Saint's Day this sermon was preached : but it probably might be on that of S. Bernard, for whom the Archdeacon had the highest veneration, as appears in other passages in his sermons. 212 PETER OF BLOIS. But now, face to face, among the splendours of the Saints, he beholds Him Whom the angels desire ; and after the longing of his soul he now dwells with and be- holds — loosed from the chains of the flesh — Him Whom he had sought while bound in the prison of the body. Blessed, saith He, is he who dwelleth in wisdom. And now, then, we can call him blessed with all confidence ; but while he was absent from the Lord, the result of his exile was doubtful. And who, in this world of change, can be secure concerning the reward of eternal life? Who knows whether he be worthy of love or hatred ? Who knows what the morrow may bring forth? for the Most Highest thus dispenses His grace with marvellous art, and more marvellous love — that those whom He loves He always leaves doubtful of His affection, to the end that how much the more uncertain they are, by so much the more uncertain they may be : for Blessed is the man that fear eth alway. B. OGERIUS. (About 1200.) Nothing further is known of this author than that he was a Cistercian and an imitator of S. Bernard. He must have written considerably later than that saint, from his appearing to acquiesce in the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception : which, as every one knows, S. Bernard opposed, not only as an error, but as something nearly approaching to heresy. "We have from him fifteen sermons " On the Words of the Lord in the Last Supper." They have much of the beauty and all the defects of the great master of the author : and the first will be as good a specimen as any of those that follow. THE LAST STTPPEK. S. John xiii. 1. Now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour was come that He should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end. The Word of the Father, the Son of God, Who for our salvation was made flesh and dwelt among us, de- siring to leave an example of humility to His disciples, and through them to all those which should believe in 214 B. OGERIUS. Him, when that most dear hour had come in which the flesh which He had taken of the undefiled Virgin Mary, was about to endure such lamentable sufferings — rose from that glorious and last Supper of His mortal life, laid aside His garments, poured water into a basin, and washed the feet of His disciples. And this is that which John the Evangelist saith, Before the feast of the Passover, Such was the custom and manner of the Jews, that they held that day holy, in which the Lord divided the Red Sea in two parts and led them through the midst of it ; but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the same. This is that festival of which it is written, Before the day of the Pasch : for Pasch, by interpretation, is Passover. For that most dear Passover was at hand, in which the true Moses was about to pass through the Bed Sea ; and, not after forty years, but after forty days only, was about to enter into the promised land. That feast day of the Jews, in which their fathers came out of Egypt, was the shadow : but that day was the truth in which Christ departed out of this world; and so made us to pass from vice to virtue, from death to life, from the world to heaven ; and, made for us the sacrifice, offered Himself for us as a whole burnt-offering to God the Father on the altar of the Cross. Before the feast of the Passover. What, dost thou call this, O holy John, a feast? Is not a feast a day of joy and gladness? And is this a day of mirth and pleasure in which " On the Cross the Lamb is lifted Where His life-blood shall be spilled?" where He is made a scorn of men and the outcast of the people ; the day in which the sun is darkened, the THE LAST SUPPER. 215 rocks are rent,, the whole round world trembles, in which His Mother weeps and His beloved disciple John? Rather it may be called a day of grief than of gladness and pleasure: joy to the Jews; to thee, and to the Apostles, sorrow. The joy of the Jews shall be turned into grief; and the sorrow of the Apostles shall be turned into joy. It follows : Jesus knowing that His hour was come, that He should depart out of this world to the Father. Jesus in Hebrew is in Latin by interpretation a Saviour. This is that most mighty Saviour Who can no more be conquered, and Who saves all those that put their trust in Him. Once for thee, O Christian, He was conquered ; yes, and He died : but weep not, because He hath risen from the dead, and death shall no more have dominion over Him. It was needful that He should die for the salvation of the world, and that He should rise again the third day ; and that through His Name, repentance and remission of sins should be preached to all nations : and this is the cause why it is written, Jesus knowing that His hour was come. This is that hour which, according to the flesh, He beforehand feared, saying: Now is My soul troubled, and what shall I say ? Father, save Me from this hour ? hut for this cause came I unto this hour. Christ feared to die that thou mightest not fear to die, but mightest trust in Him Who raised Jesus from the dead on the third day. Put thy trust in Him alone Who raised up Jesus. Therefore, O Christian, despair not for any weakness of thine. He taught what then, and in all dangers of death, thou oughtest to say, to Whom to fly, on Whom to call, in Whom to hope : God the Father, Who can- 216 B. OGERIUS. not reject those who hope in Him, having the attesta- tion of good works. I say, of good works, because, to hope for anything without merit, is not hope, but pre- sumption. Thou, therefore, let thy works be such that in the hour of death thou mayest in truth say to Him, O Lord, in Thee have I trusted, let me never be confounded. This hour He foreknew ; this hour He chose, that in it He might depart from this world to the Father, ac- cording to His humanity, from Whom He never de- parted according to His Divinity. This hour is that end of which it is said : Having loved His own which were in the world, He loved them unto the end. Having loved His own and become Man for their sakes, He loved them so far that His love led Him to death. He loved them in death, that thou by loving Him mightest de- part out of this world to the Father. He loved them to the end that thou mightest remain in His love to the end also : which if thou dost, beyond all doubt thou wilt go to the Father : and he, who remaineth not in His love to the end, I say it in all truth, will perish everlastingly. There can be no bounds in His love. He loved thee without measure, thou oughtest to love Him without measure. He exceeded all measure of love in dying for thee : thou canst not love Him as thou oughtest. Love Him then with all thy heart, with all thy mind, with all thy soul, and with all thy strength. This only He seeks : beyond this He seeks not : this do, and thou shalt live. It follows : And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him O unhappy Judas ! Worst of dis- ciples, most wicked of sellers ! The supper was pre- THE LAST SUPPER. 217 pared for thee, and the giver of the supper was betrayed by thee. O wretched Judas ! O evil confessor ! O desperate penitent ! Thou didst say, / have sinned in that I have betrayed the innocent blood : and thou didst hang thyself, miserable man, through desperation. He, as I think, was the son of Simon Iscariot. Simon by in- terpretation is obedience. But what sort of man this Simon was, God knows, for I know not. Iscariot is a name derived from the place in which he dwelt ; other- wise it is called Marmotes, or, evil death. And cer- tainly he might have a name derived from evil death, who perished by such an evil death. The devil had put it into his heart by suggestion to betray Christ, not believing him to be God. Dost not thou tremble, O Christian; dost not thou tremble, O monk of S. Bene- dict, when thou rememberest what happened to the dis- ciple of Christ ? The devil put it into his heart to betray the Life; and having betrayed the Life, he destroyed himself and his own life by the rope of de- spair. If the wolf feared not to enter into the flock of the Lord, and to destroy one out of the little number of twelve, what will he do with the flock committed to your pastor? Take heed, every one of you, brethren, that ye be not like Judas. Take heed, that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise men, being on your guard against the snares of the enemy. He put it into the heart of Judas to betray the Lord. What is it to betray the Lord ? To sell the Lord. What is it to sell the Lord ? To alienate the Lord. He alienates Him who departs from Him. O monk of God, O disciple of Christ, hear me, hear my counsel. The devil seeks to draw thee forth from the flock of the Lord. See that 218 B. OGERIUS. thou consent not to him : see that thou believe not in him. He is a liar and the father of it. He desires to slay thee, he desires to destroy thee, he desires to ruin thee with himself in hell. Beware of bags, beware of purses : they are the nets of the devil. Alas, how many has he ruined by them, how many has he slain by them ! It is said of Judas, that he was a thief and had the bag. And so these, while they thirst after lucre, hurry to destruction : while they lose life, they gain death. Ah, how many bags, how many purses there are in the mo- nasteries of S. Benedict ! Ah, how many that have taken the habit, how many that are outwardly tonsured, have the purse in their hearts, have the bag in their own self-will, have the purse in murmuring, detraction, pride, envy, evil desires ! But remember, beloved brethren, that they who do such things, follow Judas the traitor : and therefore, unless they amend their ways, they shall not possess the kingdom of God. S. ANTONY OP PADUA. S. Antony, unquestionably one of the most effective and popular preachers of the middle ages, was born at Lisbon, in 1195, and at an early age enrolled himself among the Canons Begular. The translation, however, of the Five Franciscan Martyrs to Coimbra, inflamed him with the desire of follow- ing their example : he entered that order — then in the first fervour of its zeal — and passed over into Africa. Sickness compelling him to leave that country, he was carried by stress of weather to Sicily, and shortly afterwards attended the Chapter-general of his order at Assisi. His rare talents as a preacher caused him to be employed on unceasing mis- sions through the north and centre of Italy, especially in the neighbourhood of Bologna and Padua. In the latter city, worn out with incessant labours, he departed to his rest, Juue 13th, 1231. We have the most ample testimony to the popularity of his sermons. The churches where he was to preach were thronged from daybreak. Multitudes were unable to force their way in at the doors. Often it happened that the preacher had to come out of the building, and to address his auditors in the open air. Shops were closed ; thorough- fares deserted. The crowds that flocked to sermon were sometimes calculated at thirty thousand persons. Nor was the effect less striking. Italian hatreds reconciled; men that had prepared the stiletto for an enemy, hurrying into his embrace, a forgiving and forgiven friend : women leaving off their ornaments, and selling them for the benefit of the poor ; old hardened sinners brought to immediate confession, l2 220 S. ANTONY OF PADUA. It is expressly recorded, that S. Antony's pronunciation and idiom were so perfectly correct, that none could have taken him for a foreigner. 1 " It is the Ark of the Covenant !" cried Gregory IX., after a sermon, " the shrine of Holy Scripture !" Like those of other great preachers, however, S. Antony's published sermons by no means correspond to his reputation. Crammed full of Scripture they are indeed, but so beyond even mediaeval usage in ultra-mysticism — so piled up with quaint and distorted Biblical illustration — so involving metaphor in metaphor, and breaking off the thread of the subject to pursue some accidental type, — that, if the sermons, as preached, at all resembled those we have now, the learning of an audience that could listen with edification is at least as remarkable as that of the orator. I say, if there were any resemblance between the written and preached discourses. Eor those which have come down to us merely profess to be sermon-notes, and ought so to be called on their title-page. They were composed at the de- sire of S. Antony's superiors, for the benefit of the Clergy ; and when those on the course of the Christian Year had been published with universal applause, those on the Saints were undertaken, at the request of the Cardinal Bishop of Ostia. Hence they were learned, compressed, regular compositions : the sinews and bones of discourses, but useless in themselves, till some competent preacher should clothe them with form, and endue them with the breath of life. We constantly find such interposed directions as narra historiam 9, prosequere Evangelium . ... si vis, super hoc concorda Mud, 1 We shall have occasion hereafter to mention another celebrated Por- tuguese preacher, Vieyra, who also preached in Italian with the ease of a native. 2 So, at the end of the sermon for the Monday in the first week of Lent : " Narra historiam. Notat Rebecca Evangelium," &c. For the Friday in the same week : " Quantum ad primum ; narra historiam." For the Saturday : " Narra historiam. Achab, id est fraternitas Patris, omnem hominem significat," &c. S. ANTONY OF PADUA. 221 (that is, illustrate this doctrine by a mystical interpretation of such-and-such a history.) Thus they are entirely didac- tic : and hence eloquent passages are neither to be found nor to be looked for. It is more remarkable, however, that scarcely any occur which would make the reader say, " How splendid this would be, if it were properly worked out !" On the contrary, where there is an evident attempt at forcible description, the effect is poor and flat : thus, in a sermon for the Monday in the first week of Lent, the writer introduces a long description of the Day of Judgment, than which nothiug can be less powerfully written, or more dull. And when he seeks to be pathetic, he almost always gives a quotation from S. Bernard. On the whole, we must con- clude that, though S. Antony could put on paper his learn- ing and his stores of Biblical knowledge, his eloquence, like other great orators, he was unable so to preserve. The only practice which must necessarily have been popular, that ap- pears in the printed sermons, is the curious way in which the real or supposed habits of animals are allegorised. Of these I shall presently give several examples. Sometimes S. Antony gives the reins to his imagination in a way which is, perhaps, hardly to be justified, as in an imaginary conver- sation between the Father and the Son, which occurs in the Sermon on the Transfiguration, for the Second Sunday in Lent. The general arrangement of S. Antony's sermons is as fol- lows. His text is usually taken from the Gospel for the day ; and after entering into his subject, he parallelises with it some Old Testament history, with which, at first sight, it seems to possess not the remotest connection, and so works out the two together. Sometimes in treating on this in- serted history, he branches off to a second, and occasionally to a third, involving one mystical interpretation in another, till it becomes difficult to remember the point from which he set out, and impossible to divine that to which he is tend- ing. An analysis of one of his sermons will explain this 22.2 S. ANTONY OF PADUA. more clearly ; and we will take that for the Seventh Sunday- after Trinity. The subject is, the Miracle of the Loaves, as recorded in the eighth chapter of S. Mark. He divides it into — G heist's compassion; the relief of the multitude; the filling of the baskets. The hunger of the crowd is paralleled by the famine in Samaria, in which he mysticises the names of Benhadad, Syria, and Samaria. This leads him to quote the account of the poor man that delivered the little city, (Eccles. ix.) on which he goes off at great length to set forth the mystical interpretation of that history. Eeturning again to the siege of Samaria, he explains it very fully — dwelling especially on the mystical interpretation of the eighty pieces of silver that were given for an ass's head. He then continues his original subject ; but in comment- ing on our Lokd's words, I have compassion on the multitude, he is reminded of the ecclesiastical introit, We have received Thy loving-kindness, O God, in the midst of Thy temple ; and immediately proceeds to explain that the Temple consisted of four parts, which he compares, at great length, with the four horses in the Revelation. Coming back to the miracle, the seven loaves give him occasion for another excursion into the history of JNaaman, with reference to his dipping himself seven times in the Jordan. Then, returning for the last time to his subject, the seven baskets-full remind him of the son of the Shunammite, and his sneezing seven times ; and with a long explanation of the circumstances of that miracle, his sermon concludes. S. Antony frequently — but by no means universally — divides his discourses into heads. The following may serve as examples. In preaching on the miracle of the Syrophceni- cian woman, he thus divides his subject. " In this Gospel, three things are briefly hinted : " The gracious visitation of the Physician : Jesus went forth. S. ANTONY OF PADUA. 223 " The devout supplication of the petitioner : Have mercy on me, O Lord I u The perfect restoration of the patient : Be it unto thee even as thou wilt." Again, on the text (S. Luke iv. 23,) Whatsoever we have heard done in Capernaum, do also here in Thy country, he notices : — " The vain demand of the preparers of calumny. " The just denial of the Confutor of malice. " The blind perturbation of the contrivers of cruelty. " The cautious departure of the decliner of violence.* So, again, in a sermon on the Woman taken in Adultery, " You may," says he, " notice four things : — " The mode of His absence : He went out of the Temple. " The place of His habitation : He went to the Mount of Olives. " The act of His return : He came again early in the morning. " The style or method of His instruction : He sat down and taught." Some of his explanations are so exceedingly far-fetched, even for a mediaeval preacher, that they must, one would think, have been more amusing than edifying. Thus, in another Lent sermon, in explaining the parable of Dives and Lazarus, he makes Dives the type of our Loed. Thus, again, in commenting on the text, " He departed into the parts of Tyre and Sidon," he explains the words in the fol- lowing manner : Tyre signifies misery, which has two parts — fault and punishment. Sidon, which signifies hunting, has two parts — for it may refer to the soul or to the body : and he proceeds to show how far, and in what sense, Our Lord had to do with each of these. Of a similar character are his most extraordinary Latin derivations : derivations with respect to which it is not easy to see how they could have been introduced into a vernacular sermon. For ex- ample, he derives mendicans, from manu indicans ; fera from feriendo ; capra, from capiens ardua ; atrium, from ater ; 224 S. ANTONY OF PADUA. bestice, from vastice, quia vastant. He also gives such inter- pretations as that Eutyches signifies u mad, or foolish ;" Antiochus means "the silence of the poor;" Philip, "the mouth of the lamp." It is only here and there that we incidentally find obser- vations and remarks which illustrate the secular character of the times. In a sermon on Quinquagesima, one might almost imagine that the preacher was addressing a fashion- able modern congregation, when he expatiates on the hard- ship of sending servants off to hospitals directly they are seized with any illness, instead of viewing them as members of the family, and nursing them at home. In another Lent sermon, he has a curious discussion of the question, Why ghosts do not commonly appear ) and in a Lent homily on the story of Jonah, he makes the first express allusion that I have ever seen to sea-sickness ; a malady to which, as is well known, no reference is made in the writings of the ancients. On the whole, whatever reputation S. Antony had as a preacher among his contemporaries, the merits of his ser- mons, as we have them, are far eclipsed by those of many, if not most, of the writers to whom reference is made in the present volume. OUE LOED TAKING THE THEEE APOSTLES UP TO MOUNT TABOE. (From the sermon, in the second series, for the Second Sunday in Lent. Page 236.) S. Mark ix. 2. And Jesus taketh with Him Peter, and James, and John, and leadeth them up into an high moun- tain. Where five things shall be noticed : — 1 . The ascent of the Apostles of Christ to the mountain. THE THREE APOSTLES ON MOUNT TABOR. 225 2. The Transfiguration of Christ. • 3. The Apparition of Moses and Elias. 4. The overshadowing of the bright clond. 5. The protestation of the Voice of the Father con- cerning the Son. Let us speak, therefore. Jesus took Peter, and James, and John. These three Apostles and special companions of Jesus Christ, signify the three powers of our soul, without which no man can ascend to the mount of light — that is, to the excellence of holy conversation. Peter is by interpretation, He that acknowledges ; James, a sup- planter ; John, grace. Jesus taketh with Him Peter. Do thou, also, who believest, and who hopest for salvation from Jesus, take with thee Peter, — that is, the acknow- ledgment of thy sin. Which consists principally in three things : — In the pride of the heart. In the lusts of the flesh. In the avarice of the world. Take, 1 also, James, — that is, the supplanter of these vices, — that thou mayest tread down under the foot of reason the wickedness and pride of the spirit, mayest mortify the evil desires of the flesh, and mayest repress the vanity of the fallacious world. Take also John — that is, the grace of God, which stands at the door and knocks, — that it may enlighten thee to the perception of the evils which thou hast done, and may preserve thee in the good which thou hast taken in hand. These are the men of whom Samuel said to Saul, When thou shalt come to the oak of Tabor, there shall meet 1 The text has assumpsit, but it is clear we ought to read, as in the other cases, assume. l3 226 . S. ANTONY OF PADUA. thee three men going up to God to Bethel; one carrying three kids, and another carrying three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine. The oak of Tabor and the hill of Tabor, signify the excellence of a holy life, which is well called an oak, a mountain, and Tabor. An oak, because it stands firm and inflexible to final perseverance. A mountain, because it is lofty and sub- lime, by the contemplation of God. Tabor, which is by interpretation " the coming light," by the illumination of good example. In the excellence of a holy life, these three things are required : — that it be constant in itself, that it contem- plate God, that it illuminate its neighbour. When, therefore, thou comest, — that is, when thou art resolved to come, or to ascend — to the oak or to the mountain of Tabor, — there shall meet thee three men going up to Bethel. These are Peter, — that is, he that acknow- ledges; James, — that is, the supplanter; John, — that is, the grace of God. Peter, carrying three kids. James, three loaves of bread. John, a bottle of wine. Peter — that is, he who acknowledges himself to be a sinner, carries three kids. By a kid is set forth the ill savour of sin. In the three kids are expressed the three, kinds of sins by which we principally offend ; that is, the pride of heart, the petulance of the flesh, the avarice of the world. He, therefore, that will ascend to the mountain of light must carrythese three kids; that is,must acknowledge himself to be a sinner in these three things. He that supplants the vices of the flesh, and carries three loaves of bread, signifies sweetness of mind, which THE THREE APOSTLES ON MOUNT TABOR. 227 consists of humility of heart, chastity of body, and love of poverty ; which sweetness none can have, except he shall first have supplanted vices. He, therefore, carries three loaves of bread, — that is, a triple sweetness of mind, — who represses the pride of the heart, restrains the petulance of the flesh, casts away the avarice of the world. John — that is, he who, the grace of God pre- venting and following him, preserves all these things faithftilly and perseveringly — truly carries a bottle of wine. Jesus, therefore, took Peter, James, and John. Do thou also take these three men, and go up to Mount Tabor. But, believe me, the ascent is difficult, because the mountain is lofty. Dost thou wish to ascend with ease ? Get that ladder, of which the 28th of Genesis : And Jacob dreamed, and behold a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven ; and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it; and behold the Lord stood above it. Note each word, and you will see their concordance with the Gospel. — He saw. Here is the acknowledgment of sin, of which Bernard says : "I asked no other vision from God, except that of my own sins." 1 Jacob is the same name with James; and thus Esau, in the 27th of Genesis: He hath supplanted me these two times. — In his sleep. Behold the grace of God, 1 It was, perhaps, with, reference to this sentence that a young Jesuit novice, at the time when the Society was in its first fervour, gave his cele- brated answer to the Portuguese Inquisitor, who was endeavouring to convict him of enthusiasm or hypocrisy. " Have you ever," said he, "seen, or pretended to see, or to have, any visions, revelations, or supernatural intimations ?" "I have, indeed," replied the novice, " been favoured with a most wonderful vision." Looks and signs passed between the various members of the commission, and its president requested to be informed to what occurrence it was that the novice alluded. "To a vision of my own sins," replied the other, " which, till I entered the Company, I never clearly understood." 228 S. ANTONY OF PADUA. which gives the sleep of quiet and peace It is well, therefore, said; Jacob beheld a ladder, by which thou mayest ascend to Mount Tabor. 1 Note that this ladder hath two staves and six steps, by which the ascent is made. The two staves set forth His Divine and Human Natures. The six steps are His humility, poverty, wis- dom, patience, mercy, and obedience. He was humble in the taking upon Himself of our nature, when He re- garded the lowliness of His handmaiden. He was poor in His Nativity, in which a poor Virgin, when she had brought forth the Very Son of God, had not where she could lay Him; she wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger. He was wise in His preach- ing, because He began to do and to teach.' 1 He was merciful in His receiving of sinners. For I came not, saith He, to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He was patient under the scourge, the blows, and the spitting : whence He saith by Isaiah, 2" have set My Face like a flint. For a flint, when it is struck, doth not strike again ; nor murmur against him that breaks it. So Christ, when He was reviled, reviled not again ; when 1 This is a very good example of the excessively mystical interpreta- tions in which S. Antony delights. He is, of course, parallelising the three names, Peter, James, John, with the three words, Vidit, Jacob, sealant, — Jacob beheld a ladder. The English reader must remember the different collocation of these words in Latin, else 8. Antony's point, such as it is, is lost. 3 This is one of the many proofs that these are sermon notes rather than sermons. S. Antony's point must have been missed by his audience, unless he had here worked it out and dilated upon it. He would say that our Loed was wise in His preaching, because His actions preceded His words ; because He first began to do, and then to teach ; contrary to the custom of those preachers who " say and dd not." And so mediaeval writers explain that character of the wicked : Behold, they speak with their mouth; i.e. " and not by their actions." THE THREE APOSTLES ON MOUNT TABOR. 229 He suffered, He threatened not. It is in the second of the first of Peter. He was obedient to death, even the death of the Cross. This ladder stood upon the earth when He was in- stant in preaching and the working of miracles. It reached to heaven when He remained all night in prayer to God. See ! the ladder is set up ! why do ye not ascend? Why do ye creep with your hands and feet upon the earth ? Ascend, therefore, because Jacob sees angels ascending and descending by the ladder. Ascend, O angels, O prelates of the Church, O faithful of Jesus Christ, ascend, I say, to contemplate how gracious the Lord is ! Ascend, to assist ; ascend, to consult ; for of these things your neighbour stands in need. Why do ye endeavour to ascend by another way than by the ladder ? From whatever quarter ye would wish to go up, a precipice hangs over you. O fools, and slow of heart, — I say not to believe, because ye do believe, and the devils also believe, — but hard and stony in working ! Do ye trust that ye can ascend to Mount Tabor, to the seat of light, to the glory of celestial beatitude, except by the ladder of humility, poverty, the Lord's Passion ? Verily, ye ought not ; for it is the word of the Lord in the mouth of S. Luke : He that will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. And in the third of Jeremiah, Thou shalt call Me, My Father, and shalt not turn away from Me. As Augustine says : The Physician first drank the bitter potion, to the end the sick man might not abhor to drink it. And Gregory : By the bitter cup of the potion we arrive at the joy of health. To heal the soul, you must suffer the knife and fire, Ascend, therefore; fear not; because the Lord 230 S. ANTONY OF PADUA. stands above the ladder to receive those that go up. Jesus, therefore, took Peter, and James, and John, and led them up into an high mountain. FOE ONE OR MANY MAETYES. [This is a very fair specimen of S. Antony's less elaborate sermons, ■where he simply explains or mysticises his text, without bringing in a parallel passage from the Old Testament. The fragmentary character of the following notes must, however, strike every reader.] Psalm xxxi. 3. Thou hast set a crown of precious stones upon his Head. The Lord crowns His saints with a twofold diadem : with grace in this worlds and glory in the next. Of both it is written in Prov. iv. 9 : She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace, — there we have the first ; and with a crown of glory shall she protect thee, — there is the second. The first crown is Love ; which consists of silver, and gold, and precious stones. The silver is faith; which ought to resound by the clear confession of God. Eom. x. 10. With the heart man believeth unto righteousness ; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. Prov. xxv. 4. Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. Gold is Hope : of which Wisd. iii. 4. Yet is their hope full of immortality. The precious stones are four : that is, the four Car- dinal Virtues. The Carbuncle, 1 which puts darkness to flight, is 1 The mystical interpretation of stones, originally derived from those of the breast-plate, and from those of New Jerusalem, was a favourite THE CROWN OF PRECIOUS STONES. 231 prudence against ignorance : because, as Seneca says, it bears a lantern before the other virtues. Of this there are three parts : memory in respect of the past, under- standing in respect of the present, foresight in respect of the future. Memory refers to two things. 1. To sins. Isaiah xxxviii. 15 : / shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my souL ' 2. To the mercies of God. Lam. iii. 21 : This I recall to my mind : therefore have I hope. Understanding is twofold. 1. What we are. Grass, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven. And Job xxv. 6 : Man that is rottenness ; and the son of man that is a worm. 2. Where we are : in peril from which we cannot escape. Deut. xxxii. 10 : He found him in a desert land, and in the waste howling wilderness. Foresight also consists of two things. 1. The con- sideration of our reward : and herein the excellence of its sweetness, the quantity of its magnitude, the perpe- tuity of its multitude. Of these three in the 31st Psalm : O how plentiful is Thy goodness which Thou hast laid up for them that fear Thee : Thou shalt keep them sec?*etly in Thy tabernacle from the strife of tongues. Isa. xxxii. 18 : And My people shall dwell in a peaceable habi- tation, and in sure dwellings, and in quiet resting-places. 2. The consideration of the punishment : in which are three things, — the bitterness, the difference, and the eternity of the pain. employment of mediaeval writers. Marbodus, Bishop of Eennes, has left a long poem on the subject, which contains a complete resume of the belief of the middle ages on the matter. Of the Carbuncle he says : " No shades of darkness can bedim its ray, It vibrates flames, and turns the night to day." 232 S. ANTONY OF PADUA. These three parts of prudence are set forth by the three wise women : Judith, the Widow of Tekoah, and Abigail. Judith is interpreted, she that confesses : i. e., either her sins or her mercies. Note on this Judith iii. By the Widow of Tekoah is denoted understanding : because she well understood what she was, and where she was, when she said, For we must needs die, and are as water spilt upon the ground. Her name is by interpreta- tion A trumpet ; or, One that strikes. By Abigail we may understand foresight: for she, knowing that David was coming in his anger, prudently appeased him, and said (in the twenty-fifth of the 1st of Kings), The soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the Lord thy God. Here we have the considera- tion of the reward. That of the punishment is added, where she saith, And the souls of thine enemies, them shall He sling out, as out of the middle of a sling. Sapphire, 1 the second stone, which stays blood, is temperance. This consists of three parts : of chastity, sobriety, and silence. Note these three things of John Baptist, in his 2 hymn. — Chastity, where it says : "And knew no stain of snow-white purity." Sobriety : " Whose cup the stream, whose food, with honey mixed, The locusts gave." 1 Sapphire is the King of stones, according to mediaeval writers : " Quern natura potens tanto ditavit honore, Ut sacer et merito gemmarum gemma vocetur." •Hence it is generally made the type of our Loed. 2 That is, in the famous hymn of Paulus Diaconus for S. John's Day : Ut queant laxis resonare fibris : whence the sol fa gamut. THE CROWN OF PRECIOUS STONES. 233 Silence : " Lest from light word thy life contract a stain." Whence also, of confessors :* " Sober he was, was silent, and was chaste." The third stone, the Jacinth, which 2 takes its colour from the air, is justice, which adapts itself to all. Of this there are three parts : obedience and reverence to superiors, counsel and help to equals, care and discipline towards inferiors. Care, that they may be on their guard against sin; discipline, that when they have been too little on their guard, they may by no means go unpunished. These are the righteous men : Noah, Daniel, Job. The Emerald, the fourth stone, which is green, is fortitude. 3 For the heart of a brave man remains in its own green freshness. Of these there are three parts : to attempt difficulties, to be patient in adversities, to be even-minded in the frequent and sudden mutation of future and fortuitous things. These are the three 1 The preacher is quoting the hymn in the Common of Confessors : " Iste confessor Domini sacratus." 2 So also Marbodus : " Qui protinus aera sentit : Nubilus obscuro, rutilans clarusque sereno." But from its assumed power of giving vigour, it is generally made em- blematical of the Kesurrection. 3 This stone is usually made symbolical of the Passion. " I gather with truth," says Michael Ayguan, in his commentary on the 50th Psalm, " that this stone has ten virtues, significative of the ten utilities of Cheist's Passion. For it multiplies its rays, assists in battles, heals the sick, gives clearness to eloquence, amplifies riches, tempers luxury, enlightens the eyes, strengthens the memory, exterminates phantasms, rejoices the troubled. 234 S. ANTONY OF PADUA. mighty men of David, who broke into the camp of the Philistines, and brought water to David. The second crown of glory is of four precious stones. The first, in the hinder part, is the joy for escape from all sins and perils. This is the carbuncle which puts darkness to flight. Isa. xxxv. 10 : They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. Nahum i. 15 : O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows ; for the wicked shall no more pass through thee : he is utterly cut off. The second, on the right, is joy for the pleasant so- ciety of the saints. This is the Sapphire, which has the colour of the sky: because all the saints are of one mind in love. The third, on the left, is joy for the condemnation of the wicked. The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance. Whence, of the condemnation of Babylon it is said, in the eighteenth of the Apocalypse, Rejoice over her, thou Heaven, and ye holy Apostles and Prophets, for God hath avenged you on her. This is the Jacinth, which takes the colour from that of the air, as the saints con- form themselves by gratitude to the justice of God. The fourth is the joy for the perfect knowledge, and fruition, and paternity of God. This is in the forepart, and is the Emerald, which confronts the sight. Thus the whole of eternal life consists in seeing God. S. John xvii. 3. This is life eternal : that they might know Thee, the only true God, &c. 235 THE SAINTS COMPAEED TO EAGLES. (Page 373.) The eagle 1 is so called from the acuteness of its sight, because she can behold the sun with unflinching eyes. Wherefore it is said concerning it in books of natural history, that she is of very sharp sight, and compels her young ones to look at the sun before they are fully fledged. To this end she strikes them and turns them towards the sun, and, if the eyes of any one of them water, she kills him, and pays attention to the others. It is said also that she lays three eggs and throws out the third. It is asserted, moreover, that she places an amethyst in the nest with her young ones, that by its virtue serpents may be driven away. In the eagle the subtle intelligence of saints and their sublime contemplation is set forth; for they turn to- wards the aspect of the true Sun, to the light of wisdom, their young, that is, their works, in order that if any- thing which becomes not their extraction should be concealed there, it may be brought to light by the splendour of the sun. For all iniquity is made mani- fest by the light. Whence, if they see that any work of their* s cannot rightly look at the sun, and is con- founded by its rays and weeps, they immediately slay it And note that the three eggs of the eagle are the three kinds of love which exist in a right- eous man; the love of God, of his neighbour, and of 1 That is, the word aquila is derived from acumen. 236 S. ANTONY OF PADUA. himself. Which last love he is bound to expel alto- gether from the nest of his conscience Note also,, that the amethyst 1 is a principal gem, of a violet colour, which shoots out flames and is marked with golden and purple specks; and it signifies the life of Christ, which was of a violet coloured poverty and humility, and shot forth golden flames in its preaching and in the operation of its miracles, and was marked with purple specks in its Passion. This amethyst the righteous man is bound to place in the nest of his con- science, that serpents, that is, the suggestions of devils, may be repelled from his young ones, that is, from his works. CHRISTIAN VIRTUES COMPARED TO THE PARTS OF A SHIP. (Page 332.) Ye that are of one mind, behold the mast in the middle of the ship ; that is to say unanimity of faith and heart in the Church. The multitude of them that believed were of one heart and one soul. Acts, the fourth chapter. 1 S. Antony is here following the common mediaeval symbolism. Thus it is that Marbodus of Eennes writes of it : " Last in the Holy City set "With hue of glorious violet, Forth from the amethyst are rolled Sparks crimson-bright, and flames of gold : The humble heart it signifies That with its dying Master dies." CHRISTIAN VIRTUES LIKE PARTS OF A SHIP. 237 Ye that are compassionate, behold the sail ; for as the sail draws the ship, so doth compassion draw to thee the necessity of thy neighbour. Whence, in the first of Corinthians, in the twelfth chapter : If one member suffer, all the members suffer with it. Lovers of brotherhood, behold the rudder. For as the rudder directs the ship aright, and does not permit it to turn this way or that way, in which consists the chief power of bringing the vessel to port ; so the love of brotherhood governs the congregation of the faithful that it err not, and guides it to the secure harbour; because, where charity and love are, there is the con- gregation of saints. Ye that are merciful, behold the anchor. For, as the anchor grasps by means of its curvature, and while it takes it is taken, and while it is taken it refains the ship ; so the mercy of God, acting in the heart, grasps the neighbour and is grasped by the neighbour, and while it detains it is detained, and while it binds it is bound ; by which ligation the ship, that is, the soul, can be moved from the stability of its quiet, neither by the billows of temptation, nor by the waves of evil suggestions. Ye that are modest, ye that are humble, behold the oars on the starboard side. Not to render evil for evil, but the reverse ; these are the oars on the larboard side. By these eight, if the ship be prepared and adorned, it will be borne onwards in a right course to the benedic- tion of the eternal heritage, and will attain the harbour of rest. 238 S. ANTONY OF PADUA. THE FLEET OF SOLOMON IS EXPLAINED. (Page 332.) This is the fleet of Solomon, which through the sea of this world goes to Tarshish, that is, to those who search out the joy of this world that they may rejoice in it. By the gold, is set forth human wisdom ; by the silver, philosophic wisdom; by the elephant's teeth, doctors who masticate that strong food, the Word of God, for little ones. By the apes, that imitate human actions, but live like beasts, we understand those who have come from among the Gentiles to the faith, and seem to hold it in word, but deny it in deed. By the peacocks, whose flesh, if it be dried, is said to remain imperishable, and who are vested with beautiful feathers, are signified perfect men, who are so tried by the fire of tribulation, that they are decorated and painted with various virtues. These are brought from Tarshish, that is, from the various waves of the sea of this world, by the preachers of the Church, to the true Solomon, Jesus Christ. PENITENTS AEE COMPARED TO ELEPHANTS. And rightly are penitents set forth by elephants, in whom exists the virtue of clemency ; for, if they see a man wandering through the deserts, they afford him their guidance till he reaches a road that he knows ; or, if they meet with herds of cattle, they make a way for themselves with their kind trunk. The oldest leads the THE APOSTLES COMPARED TO ICHNEUMONS. 239 troop ; he that is next in age urges forward those that follow. When they are about to cross a river, they put the smallest elephants in front, lest the larger ones should wear away the path through its bed, and should make the river deeper by pressing down the shallows. The virtue of clemency in just men, is like this. They bring back an erring brother into the way ; among cattle, that is, among simple folk, they make, as it were, by the kind and pleasant trunk of their deeds, a way, by which they may pass through unhurt ; by ex- ample and word, they are the leaders of others ; and, when about to pass through the river of this life to their Country, they send the smaller ones before them ; because they are pitiful and compassionate to beginners, who have not yet attained to the full strength of ho- liness. THE APOSTLES AEE COMPAKED TO ICHNEUMONS. There is a certain little serpent which rolls itself in the mud, and thus enters the mouth of the sleeping crocodile, who wakes up and swallows it down; on which it eats through his entrails, and comes out through his side. Thus the Apostles, rolled as it were in the mud of poverty and humility, leapt boldly into the mouths of tyrants, and openly contradicted their words of unbelief, and were thus devoured by death. Nevertheless, these tyrants themselves were slain by their means, and the Apostles came forth alive from them, when their death redounded to the augmenta- tion of the faith and to the honour of Christ. 240 S. ANTONY OF PADUA. CONFESSION, A DESEET. (Page 232.) [This passage, which occurs in the second sermon for the First Sunday in Lent, is one of the few which, it is easy to see, might have been mag- nificently worked up. One would give a great deal that some short- hand writer could have taken it down, as it would have been, had S. Antony really delivered it.] By such a spirit then is the penitent led into the Desert of Confession : well called a desert on three accounts. That land is a desert which is inhabited by no man, which abounds in wild beasts, which is full of horrible dread. Such, literally, was the desert wherein Jesus remained for forty days and forty nights. So Confession ought to be uninhabited, because private, secret, hidden from the knowledge of all men, and laid up alone in the memory of the confessor under an in- violable seal : hidden from every human conscience, in- somuch that if every man that is in the world were acquainted with the sin of one that has confessed to thee, thou nevertheless art bound to conceal it, and to shut it up under the key of eternal silence. For verily they are the children of the devil, reprobate of the true and living God, cast out from the Church Triumphant^ excommunicate by the Church Militant, to be deposed from office and benefice, and exposed to public infamy, who lay bare and expose a confession — I say not by word of mouth, for that is worse than all murder, but — by sign, or in any other hidden or manifest way, and that whether to applaud or to ridicule. I say it boldly, CONFESSION,, A DESERT. 241 if any one has revealed a confession, lie is worse than Judas the Traitor, who sold the Son of God to the Jews. I confess to a man not as a man, but as to God : as the Lord saith, My secret to Me, My secret to Me, 1 And man, horn of clay, shall he not seal the secret of Confession in the innermost recess of his heart ? Well, therefore, is it said that Confession ought to be an uninhabitable and desert land, because the secret is to be revealed to none. Thence the Lord commands with a threat, saying : Take heed to yourselves that ye go not near the mount, or touch the borders of it ; whosoever toucheth the mount shall surely be put to death. This mountain, Sinai, which is by interpretation mea- sure, signifies Confession; well called a mountain, on account of its excellence, namely the remission of sins. What greater excellence or altitude can there be, than this ? It is called measure on account of the reciprocal proportion between the sin and the confession. For the penitent ought so to corn-measure sin and confession, that he say not too little through bashfulness or fear, nor too much, by adding, under the appearance of hu- mility, more than the cause warrants. For none should lie for the sake of humility. Beware, therefore, O Confessors, O Priests, that ye go not up this mountain. To ascend that mountain is to reveal the secret of Confession. I say not only, go not up, but — touch not even its borders. The borders of the mountain are the circumstances of Confession, which neither by word, nor by sign, nor in any other manner is it lawful to touch. But woe is me ! some there are who fear to ascend the mountain, and who yet 1 Isa. xxiv. 16. Vulg. M 242 .8 ANTONY OF PADUA. fear not to touch its borders, by revealing the circum- stances of sin through touch or sign. Let therefore those miserable men hear the sentence of their deaths : Whosoever toucheth the mount shall be surely put to death. And to what death, O Lord ? The hands, He saith in the same place, of the secular power shall not touch him, so that he shall be hung like a thief or a murderer, which would perchance be a lighter punishment for him, but he shall be stoned : that is, overwhelmed with hard excommunications, or thrust through with the dart of eternal damnation. [The subsequent portion of the sermon is an excellent specimen of S. Antony's method of treating his subject. He proceeds to the second cause why Confession may be compared to a desert, — because the latter is full of wild beasts, — and quotes that passage in Isaiah, "It shall be an habitation of dragons, and a court for owls. The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow ; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest. There shall the great owl make her nest, and lay, and hatch, and gather under her shadow : there shall the vultures also be gathered, every one with her mate." The seven kinds of animals here described he of course parallelizes with the seven deadly sins ; find at the conclusion of the catalogue, happening to quote Isa. xxiii. 16, Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten, he is carried off from his main subject to interpret the verse of the circumstances of sin.] HYPOCEITES AEE COMPABED TO HYAENAS. (From a sermon on the Eighth Sunday after Trinity. Page 347.) Note that a hypocrite concealing himself under a sheep Vskin is like the hyaena, of which many wonderful things are related. It is a small animal ; it dwells in the country; it digs up graves by night, and devours HYPOCRITES ARE COMPARED TO HYAENAS. 243 the corpses. It is fond of going where it can hear the voices of men ; it haunts the folds of shepherds, and by listening attentively, learns to imitate the human voice, so that it can call a man at night, and devour him. It also imitates human groanings; and alluring them by its false sighs, devours the dogs, who, when they are hunting it, if they come within its shadow, lose their voice, and cannot bark. There is an extraordinary variety and change of colour in the eyes of the hyaena. .... It has no gums, and only one tooth, and that small ; which, to the end it may not grow blunt, is na- turally closed, after the manner of a chest. Whatever animal the hyaena goes thrice round, cannot move itself. Of this the Lord speaks in the 12th chapter of Jere- miah, in another translation : Mine heritage is unto Me like the den of a hyaena. Thus the hypocrite is a being who lives in a brutal fashion ; little, on account of his deceit ; rustic, through the deformity of his deeds ; and digging into sepulchres in the night of dissimulation. For he creeps, as the Apostle saith, into houses, and by seducing words allures the innocent. And thus he may be said to devour the corpses of sinners. He is fond of the voices — that is, the praises — of men; he follows the folds of shepherds, — that is, the places where God's Word is preached ; to the end that, by assiduous listen- ing, he may be able to preach somewhat, and so may deceive those whom he has gathered to himself by his preaching. He also imitates human groanings, — that is, the confession of sin ; he accuses himself as a sinner, when he believes not that he is so ; and, by feigned sighs, induces men to think him holy, when they thus perceive him to be sorrowful. . » . . Also, in the eyes m 2 244 . S. ANTONY OF PADUA. of the hypocrite there is a wonderful change; some- times he raises them to the heaven, and sighs ; some- times he casts them down to the earth, and groans. Nor is there only a change in the eye, bnt in the colour. Sometimes he is pale, sometimes dark ; sometimes neg- ligent in his dress, sometimes particular ; sometimes is fond of abstinence, sometimes displeased by it. This change of divers colours signifies the mutation of his inward instability. PENITENTS ARE COMPAEED TO BEES. Natural historians tell us that the smaller bees are the better workers. They have subtle wings, and their colour is black, and as it were sunburnt ; but the hand- somer bees are of the number of those who do nothing. The small bees are penitents, who are little in their own eyes, and are always employed about some work, lest the devil should come and find their house empty and idle. They also have subtle wings, which are contempt of the world, and love of the heavenly kingdom; by which, elevating themselves from this earth, they more subtilly contemplate the glory of God. They are also of a dark colour; whence, in the first of Canticles, the penitent soul saith, " I am black, but comely." .... Penitents ought to do as the bees, who, when their king flies from the hive, fly with him, and crowd closely round him, — he in the middle, and they on every side ; and when the king can fly no longer, the company of bees carries him ; and if he dies, they all die together MERCIFUL MEN COMPARED TO CRANES. 245 with him. Christ, our King, flew to us from the hive, — that is to say, from the bosom of the Father. "Whom we ought to follow like good bees, and to fly with Him, and to place Him, that is, His faith, in the midst of us, — that is, in our hearts. And if any one of His mem- bers shall have fallen into sin, we ought to support and to bear Him up, and to die with Christ crucified and dying, crucifying our own flesh, with its affections and lusts. MEBCIEUL MEN COMPARED TO CRANES. Let us, therefore, be merciful, and imitate the cranes, who, when they set off for their appointed place, fly up to some lofty eminence, in order that they may obtain a view of the lands which they are going to pass. The leader of the band goes before them, chastises those that fly too slowly, and keeps together the troop by his cry. As soon as he becomes hoarse, another takes his place ; and all have the same care for those that are weary ; so that if any one is unable to fly, the rest gather together, and bear him up till he recovers his strength. Nor do they take less care of each other when they are on the ground. They divide the night into watches, so that there may be a diligent care over all. Those that watch hold a weight in one of their claws, so that, if they happen to sleep, it falls on the ground and makes a noise, and thus convicts them of somnolency Let us, therefore, be merciful as the cranes; that, placing ourselves on a lofty watch-tower in this life, we 246 • S. ANTONY OF PADUA. may look out both for ourselves and for others, may- lead those that are ignorant of the way, and may chas- tise the slothful and negligent by our exhortations. Let us succeed alternately to labour. Let us carry the weak and infirm, that they faint not in the way. In the watches of the night, let us keep vigil to the Lord, by prayer and contemplation. SINNERS ARE COMPARED TO HEDGEHOGS. [From a sermon on the Second Sunday in Lent, in which S. Antony is explaining Isa. xxxiv. 17 ; where we read in the Vulgate, There the hedgehog hath its den. Page 233.] Note that the hedgehog is altogether full of prickles ; and if any one tries to take it, it rolls itself up, and becomes as it were a ball in the hand of the holder. Its head and its mouth are set low down, and inside its mouth are five teeth. The hedgehog is the obstinate sinner, covered all over with the prickles of sins. If you endeavour to convince him of the sin he has committed, he immediately rolls himself up, and hides, by excusing, his fault. And thus it may be said that his head and mouth are set low down. By the head, we understand, the thoughts; by the mouth, the words. While the sinner excuses himself with respect to the sin he has done, what else is it than that he bows his mind and his words down to the ground ? Whence also he is said to have five teeth in his mouth, which are the five kinds of excuses that are found in the mouth of the obstinate. For, when he is blamed, he excuses himself either by THE TWO KINDS OF SHIPS. 247 ignorance or chance, or the suggestion of the devil, or the frailty of his flesh, or the occasion given by his neighbour. THE TWO KINDS OE SHIPS. (From a sermon on the First Saturday in Lent. Page 142.) We read of two kinds of ships (S. Luke v. 2). One is John's ; and this signifies the innocence of life which we receive in Baptism. The other is Simon Peter's; and this is penitence. Eor Peter signifies, he that ac- t knowledges; Simon, he that is obedient. Simon Peter, therefore, sets forth him who, acknowledging himself to be the Lord's servant, is ready to obey, and saith with Paul, Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do ? In these two ships, or at least one of them, it is necessary that every man who desires not to be overwhelmed should pass the sea to penitence. As it is written in the Psalms, There go the ships ; that is, these two are necessary to us in the darkness of this world. Of the first, which is John's, saith the Psalm : No good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly. And the ship also of Simon Peter brings us to the port, S. Matt. iii. 2 : Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Of the ship of peni- tence saith the wise man : Therefore do men commit their lives to a small piece of wood. Note the word small, be- cause penitence is small when compared with the sins which we have committed, the torments which we have merited, the labours which we endure for the sake of this world, the rewards which we expect. 248 , S. ANTONY OF PADUA. THE SIX SAYINGS OF S. MAET. Note that the blessed Mary, as may be collected from the Gospels of Luke and John, only uttered six sentences which are recorded. The first was : How shall this be ? The second: Behold the handmaid of the Lord. The third : My soul doth magnify the Lord. The fourth : Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with us ? The fifth : They have no wine. The sixth, when she said to the servants, Whatever He saith unto you, do it. These are, as it were, the six steps in the ivory throne of Solomon : the six leaves in Lebanon : the six branches in the candlestick. In her first saying we note her firm determination of in- violable chastity. In the second, an illustrious example of obedience and humility. In the third, her exultation for the benefit conferred on her. In the fourth, her soli- citude for her Son. In the fifth, her compassion. In the sixth, her certainty of the power of her Son. 1 1 It is curious to observe how many of S. Antony's peculiarities are to be found in the sermons of a preacher, once of considerable celebrity, now but little known, Thomas Adams. The following passage from the discourse called " The Spiritual Navigator," p. 399 of the edition of 1630, will prove the resemblance : "The sea is no place to continue in. No man sails there to sail there ; but as he propounds to his purpose a voyage, so to his hopes a return. You hold him a prisoner that is shut up in close walls, the doors of egress barred against him. He is no less a prisoner (though his gaol be as large as the sea) that must not set his foot on dry ground. The banks and shores are his prison walls, and though he hath room enough for his body, he is narrowed up in his desires. He finds bondage in liberty : the one half of the earth is but his prison, and he would* change his walk for some little island. THE SIX SAYINGS OF S. MARY. 249 " The world in like sort is no place to dwell in for ever — self-flattering fools that so esteem it. Ps. xlix. : Their inward thought is, that their houses shall continue for ever, and their dwelling-place to all genera- tions ; therefore they call their lands after their own names. As if the sea were for a mansion, not for transition. It was a glorious piece of the world which ravished Peter desired to build tabernacles on, (S. Matt, xvii.,) yet it was perishable earth. Heaven only hath one mansion: (S. John xiv. :) In My Father's house are many mansions. All the world else is but tottering clay ; an immobile regnum, (Heb. xii.,) a kingdom that cannot be shaken, when all the kingdoms and principalities on the earth shall be overturned. This world, then, is only for waftage. There is one sea, to all men common ; but a different home. We are all in this world either strangers or stragglers ; the godly are strangers : (1 S. Pet. ii. :) Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and foreigners, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul. So that aged patriarch acknowledged to the Egyptian king : Few and evil have the days of thy servant been in his pilgrimage. In that true golden legend of the saints, it is said of them : They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. The wicked are stragglers too, and how- soever contenti figere pedes, and to take their portion in this life, (Ps. xvii.,) yet they must with Judas to their own home. We grow upward ; they go forward to heaven or hell, every man to his own place. Let the rich man promise his soul a requiem here, S. Luke xii. 20 ; let the atheistical Cardinal of Bourbon prefer his port in Paris to his port in Paradise. Yet the sea is not to be dwelt on ; it is but for waftage, not for perpetuity of habitation. This is the fourth resemblance. The sea is full of dangers. To discuss the perils of the sea belongs rather to the capacity of a mariner than of a divine. I will only apprehend so much as may serve to exemplify this dangerous world. " The sea is one of those fearful elements wherein is no mercy. Oh that the world had so much mercy as might exempt and discharge it of this comparison ! But if we take the world for the wicked of the world, we read that the very mercies of the wicked are cruel. There be pirates in the sea ; alas ! but a handful to that huge army of them in the world. Take a short view of them, borrowed of a divine traveller. Fury fights against us like a mad Turk ; fornication, like a treacherous Joab, in kisses it kills us. Drunkenness is the master gunner that gives fire to all the rest ; gluttony may stand for a corporal, avarice for pioneer, idleness for a gentleman of the company ; pride must be the captain. But the arch-pirate of all is the devil, that huge Leviathan, that takes his pastime in this sea. (Ps. civ.) And his pastime is to sink those M 3 250 S. ANTONY OF PADUA. merchants' freights that are laden with holy traffic for heaven. Canst thou draw out Leviathan with a hook, or his tongue with a cord which thou hast let down ? Canst thou put a hook in his nose, or bore his jaw through with a thorn ? Historians speak of a fish that is a special and oft-prevailing enemy to the whale, called by some vihuella, or the sword- fish. The most powerful thing to overcome this Leviathan is the sword Of the Spieit, which, to be seconded with the temporal sword of the magis- trate, is of singular purpose. Whilst neither of these swords are drawn against the pirate and his malignant rabble, no marvel if they make such massacres on the sea of this world." S. BONAVENTURA. A.D. 1201—1274. John, afterwards to be known under the name of Bona.- ventura, as one of the great doctors of the Western Church, was born in Tuscany in 1201, and retained his baptismal name till a dangerous illness in his fifth year. The prayers of S. Francis were requested for him ; and that Saint, when hearing that the child was better, is said to have exclaimed, " buona ventura !" "Whence our writer's ordinary appel- lation. S. Francis took him under his own care ; and such was the purity of his life that, when sent to Paris to pursue his studies, Alexander Hales, commonly called the Irrefragable Doctor, is reported to have said, " I think that Adam could not have sinned in that young man." Entering the Fran- ciscan order at the age of twenty-three, he was chosen its general at thirty-five. Afterwards advanced to the Cardinal Bishopric of Albano, he thenceforth took no small part in the general direction of the affairs of the Church. In the great Council of Lyons, where were five hundred Bishops and a thousand other dignitaries, he held one of the chief places after the patriarchs, and exerted no small degree of influence in bringing to pass the temporary union of the Eastern and Western Churches. He died somewhat sud- denly, between the fourth and fifth sessions, on Sunday, the 15th of June, 1274 ; and his funeral was attended by the Pope and by all the Council. By the Franciscans, he has 252 S. BONAVENTURA. always been regarded as the equal of his more illustrious Dominican friend, S. Thomas Aquinas. Those who are acquainted with the wonderful fervour and beauty of S. Bonaventura's devotional works, with his Life of Christ for example, even in its English translation, will be much disappointed in his sermons. There are 294 for the course of the Church's year, and 104 for Saints' days. All of them, as will be seen from the specimens here given, are very short, and are rather to be considered as sermon notes, in an exceedingly compressed form. The preacher, as was natural in a Franciscan, seems to have taken S. Antony of Padua as his model ; though avoiding the ex- travagant length of mystical interpretation in which the latter was so apt to indulge. I quote from the edition of S. Bonaventura's works, published at Rome (1588 to 1596 :) in which the sermons form the third volume. SERMON ON LOW SUNDAY. S. John xx. 22. Receive ye the Holy Ghost. O, what a wonderful licence, — Receive ye ! O what a wonderful grace that He gave, not gold nor silver, but the Holy Ghost ! Now we may notice that Jesus Christ pro- posed to us in the Gospel four very notable things to be received, namely : the Cross, in the chastisement of our evil natures, His Body in Sacramental Communion, the Holy Ghost in mental unction, the Penny in eternal remuneration. Of the first : He that taketh not up his cross and fol- loweth Me. The Cross is the mortification of the flesh : they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its affec- SERMON ON LOW SUNDAY. 253 tions and lusts. He takes up the Cross who accepts a penance, who enters into religion, who determines to pass through the sea of this world into the Holy Land, that is, the Land of the Living : and he receives the remission of all his sins. 1 There are four things which urge us to take up this Cross. The first is the irre- futable example of our Lord Jesus Christ : If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself and take up his cross. For it is a glorious thing that the servants should be configured to the likeness of their Lord. The se- cond is invincible help : for the Lord is the helper of them that are signed with the Cross. The Psalmist : Thou, Lord, hast holpen me and comforted me. Thou hast holpen me against the evil of sin, and hast comforted me against the evil of punishment. Wherefore, when the sign of the Cross appears in a Church, there also has been the anointing with oil, 2 because there ought to be in ourselves, external triumph, and internal unction. Bernard : Many see our cross, but see not our unction. The third is inviolable privilege. For the privilege of them that have taken the Cross is to be in the special guardianship of the Pope. But this is often violated : it is not so in our Cross : Slay not the men on whom ye find the sign Tau. From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. The fourth is a reward that cannot be lost. Many return from the Holy Land, who by negligence and evil living, 1 The preacher is of course referring to the Crusades and to the various motives which induced the men of his day to take the Cross, as well as to the spiritual indulgences and temporal protection bestowed on the Crusaders. 2 The preacher is referring to the dedication crosses touched by the .Bishop with chrism at the consecration of a church. 254 S. BONAVENTURA. lose their reward. It is not so with those who are here signed : They that were sealed out of every people stood before the throne. On this Cross, O Christian soul, thou must hang without intermission, as Christ did, Who would not be taken down from the Cross while He lived ! so neither must thou be from thy life of penitence or of religion. Bernard : Let us listen to no one, brethren, neither to man nor to spirit, who would persuade us to come down from the Cross ; let us persist in remaining on the Cross, let us die on the Cross, let us be taken down by the hands of others and not by our own, after His example Who said on the Cross, // is finished. So do thou also remain to the end on the Cross, and thus at the termination of thy life, when thou art about to give up the ghost, thou mayest say, // is finished ; I have kept the rule which I vowed, obedience, penitence, the commandments of God, I have kept them all ; 7" have fought a good fight , I have finished my course. Of the second : Take, eat, This is My Body. But in what manner we are to receive the Body of Jesus, we read : And when Joseph had received the Body, he wrapped it in a clean linen cloth. Thou must, therefore, receive from the Altar the Body of Jesus with the same fer- vour and devotion with which Joseph received it from the Cross. The Altar, by its four corners, sets forth the Cross. Do thou thus wrap our Lord's Body in clean linen. The Gloss : He wraps Jesus in clean linen, who receives Him with a pure mind. Now purity is well set forth by linen, which is in its nature most white, and thereby sets forth how pure we should be in our souls. It is written : Her Nazarites were purer than snowj they were whiter than milk. Purity of heart is the SERMON ON LOW SUNDAY. 255 milk, by which God and the angels are delighted. A fly or dust shows itself at once in milk ; so in a pure conscience, any, the smallest stain, cannot be hid. And, as a fly is quickly cast forth by any one who is drinking milk, so the busy fly of impure thought is cast out from a pure conscience. Much it displeases the devil, much it pleases God and the Angels, when you eject the fly of the devil from the milk of the heart. Bernard : It is the part of demons to inject evil thoughts; it is our part not to consent to them. For, as often as we resist, we conquer the devil, we glorify the Angels, we honour God. It is impossible to say how great is the joy of the Angels when one heart is converted to God : so on the other hand, neither can we express the grief with which demons are then afflicted, they, who are ever lying in ambush to deprive us of our salvation. Of the third it is thus written: Receive the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost is here given to the disciples when the doors were shut, as the oil was multiplied in the vessels borrowed from the neighbours when the doors were also shut : note Y the history. The oil is the grace of the Holy Ghost. In the Psalm : God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness. Ves- sels which are lifted by the hand, are the virtues and examples for which we look in the saints who now dwell in this world, and which we collect into the house of our soul, as if we borrowed vessels from our neighbours ; but those vessels are empty so far as we are concerned, if we imitate not those examples of the saints by the grace of the Holy Ghost. Whereas on the other hand, the virgins that were wise took oil in their lamps, as it 1 Clearly a direction to the preacher to amplify on the hint. 256 S. BONAVENTURA. is written. The doors of our senses are sight, taste, hear- ing, touch, smell, and thy mouth is the gate. Unless these doors be cleansed against unlawful thoughts, the oil of grace will not be multiplied in the house of thy soul. Anselm : Enter into the closet of thy mind, and shut the door on all things except the Lord, and that which assists in seeking Him. Of the fourth : They likewise received every man a penny. The penny is eternal life, which is not given save to those who labour in the vineyard, that is in penitence or religion ; in which vineyard we must not only labour, but also triumph over that lion the devil, which is prefigured in Samson, Then Samson came to the vineyard of Timnath, and behold a young lion roared against him. That lion he conquered, and afterwards found honey in his mouth. Honey is the sweetness of the consolation of the Holy Ghost. My Spirit is sweeter than honey. You see then that the honey of grace is not given save to them that fight, nor is the penny of glory bestowed save on them who labour in the vineyard. A SEEMON ON CHEISTMAS EYE. 1 Sam. xi. 9. To-morrow, by that time the sun be hot, ye shall have salvation. Since Jesus, by interpretation, is a Saviour, we may say, To-morrow we shall have salvation. For He has now come to us by His birth to this very end, that He might be our salvation : Thou wentest forth for the salvation of Thy people. By the sun, Christ is signified : Unto you A SERMON ON CHRISTMAS EVE. 257 that fear My Name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings. The heat of the sun is the love of Christ, which compelled Him to become Incar- nate. Now the fervour of that love is principally set forth in four particulars : in His Incarnation, in the giving us His Body, in His Passion, in the effusion of the Holy Ghost. Of the first it is thus written : To~ morrow ye shall have salvation. Note the history : when Nahash would not have peace with the men of Jabesh Gilead, unless he put out the right eyes of all ; and then it was that this consolatory message was sent to them, To-morrow ye shall have salvation. Nahash is by interpretation serpent, and signifies the devil ; of whom Eve saith, The serpent beguiled me. The devil is that crafty serpent, whose head, that is, whose first sugges- tions, if we resist not, he makes his way altogether into our hearts. The eye is faith. The left eye is faith in the humility of Christ ; the right eye is faith in His Divinity. These are the eyes of him that was born blind, which are opened by the clay of humanity, and the tongue of Divine Wisdom. But the right eye of the Jews is put out, because they believe Jesus to be ! man, and not God. Also the eye signifies the intention. The right eye is fixed on glory, the left eye on hell ; the right eye is opened by love, the left eye by fear. He, therefore, that avoids evil and does good, not from the love of eternal happiness, but from the fear of damna- tion, puts out his right eye. Whence it is written, His right eye shall be utterly darkened. Against this oppres- sion of the devil, help comes to us when Jesus comes to us. But He comes in the heart, because He is given by love : So God loved the world, &c. 258 S. BONAVENTURA. Of the second : And when the sun waxed hot, it melted away. This is spoken of manna, bnt it signifies the Eucharist, which is wonderfully sweet to the soul. Thou didst send them from heaven bread prepared without their labour, able to content every man's delight, and agreeing to every taste. This bread came down from heaven, and was gathered from the earth without tilling. So Christ Jesus sprang from that virginal field : This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden. The heat of the sun is the love of Christ, by means of which this sacrament melts in sweetness, and is dissolved into grace. For although the manna was melted by the sun, it was hardened by fire. So this sacrament is melted by the heat of Divine Love, to the salvation of men ; but by the heat of worldly and carnal love it is hardened in a man to his damnation. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself John Chrysostom : This spiritual food, if it finds a man polluted with sin, destroys him, not by its own nature, but by the wickedness of the deceiver. Of the third : Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun be hot. Jerusalem is that heavenly city in which we shall all be free : Jerusalem, which is above, is free. None can enter into the gates of this city without a precious garment. In the Psalms : Open me the gates of righteousness, that I may go into them, and give thanks unto the Lord. The gates are full of satisfaction and re- conciliation : None might enter into the king's gate clothed with sackcloth. By sackcloth we understand a sinful life. These gates were closed by the sin of the first man, and were not opened until the heat of the sun, — that is, until the fervour of the love of Christ, exhibited to us A SERMON ON CHRISTMAS EVE. 259 in His Passion. Before that time,, none could enter in. For that gate was to be opened by the key of the Cross : i" will lay the key of the house of David upon His shoulder. He is truly hardened whose heart melts not at such heat of the sun. Bernard : O hard and hardened sons of Adam, not to be softened by such kindness, by such a flame, by such great ardour of love, by so eager a Lover, Who expends precious treasures for the vilest wares ! Of the fourth : The sun, when it appear eth at noon, it parcheth the country ; and who can abide the burning heat thereof? A man blowing a furnace is in works of heat, but the sun burneth the mountains three times more. By the burning heat thereof we understand the illumination and operation of the Holy Ghost, which proceeds from the Eternal Son Jesus Christ. Would that these rays could touch our senses ! Augustine : Send, O Lord, the ray of Thy wisdom to expel our darkness, and that Thine Image may shine in us. Note that he saith, He breathed on them : He breathed on them, and saith, Receive ye the Holy Ghost. The heat, then, of the sun burns the mountains, when the love of Christ inflames the Apostles ; ay, and every day He sets on fire, by the rays of the Holy Ghost, the elect, who are well called moun- tains, on account of the loftiness of their merits. Burneth the mountains three times : because He there gave the Holy Ghost to the Apostles. For mountains are true penitents, who are burnt three times by contrition, con- fession, and satisfaction. In the Psalm : There is nothing hid from the heat thereof, Ps. lxxxvi. 17. Show some token upon Me for good. This is the saying of the Son to the Father, when He reminds Him of His Resurrection. O Holy FatheRj 260 S. BONAVENTURA. show me the sign of Jonas the Prophet. It has already been shown in the Head ; it shall hereafter be shown in the members. A good sign is the Resurrection of Christ ; for it is the sign of His glory in heaven,, the sign of His mercy in the world, the sign of His victory in hell, the sign of His justice in judgment. The Re- surrection, therefore, of Christ is the sign of His glori- fication, and of ours by Him ; it carries the rod of Aaron into the Tabernacle of the Testimony, that it may be laid up for a token. Notice how, while the rods of the magicians remained in their dryness, the rod of Aaron flourished. 1 Whence both himself and his chil- dren were exalted; which Gregory expounds of the Resurrection of Christ. For the Flesh of Christ was dried up at His death. Dried up, because of the loss of blood, and the giving up of the ghost. But, by the blossom, the glory of the rising body is signified. The Psalm : My flesh hath flourished again. Now Christ might well say, / am the flower of the field. A garden flower is private property ; a field flower is common to all. Thus Christ belongs to all. Some, however, say, that by the flower of the field is meant a certain little flower of a deep red colour, which has five leaves; as Christ had five bleeding wounds. Aaron signifies Christ, the great High Priest. The dry rod, then, flourished when the dead flesh of Christ rose again. And this is the sign of the exaltation of Aaron and of his sons, — that is, of Christ and Christians, in eternal glory. The other rods may signify our hearts, which 1 The preacher is here confounding the miracle by which Aaron's rod alone, among those of the twelve tribes, blossomed ; and that by which the rod of Moses, turned into a serpent, devoured those of the magicians. A SERMON ON CHRIST2HAS EVE. 261 remain continually in their hardness and dryness. Can these dry bones, &c. But in the last day they shall flourish in beauty, through the glory of the Resurrection. The Psalm : The righteous shall flourish like a palm tree. Augustine : Consider, my brethren, whether ye are planted in the house of the Lord ; whether ye desire to flourish like a palm, to be exalted like a cedar of Le- banon, and not to wither as grass Alas ! then, for those other rods, — that is, for the bodies of the wicked ! They shall not become flowers, but serpents and dragons ; when they shall rise in a form more ter- rible than that of serpents and dragons. Of the second : as Jonas was a sign to the Ninevites, so shall the Son of Man be to this generation. For as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three nights and three lays; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. Whence on that passage, Thou hadst cast me into the deep, the Gloss says, that is, into hell. Instead of this, we read in the Gospel, in the heart of the earth, and so it is that hell is affirmed to be in the heart of the earth. Whence the lovers of the world, who swallow everything they can by avarice, shall themselves be swallowed up by hell. By the belly of the whale, then, the infernal abyss is set forth. And well : for as there are many thousand shads in the belly of the whale, so there are many thousand souls in hell. God guard us from ever being cast into that hor- rible belly ! From this belly, after three days, Jonah was vomited forth on the dry land; and on the third day Christ rose from hell to immortality. And certainly to-day He not only Himself rises from the belly of hell, but all 262 S. BONAVENTURA. the souls of the righteous, which, for many thousand years had been devoured by it, and had descended there, to-day are vomited forth with Christ, and a great part of it is left empty. Whence that saying may be applied to the devil : He hath swallowed down riches, and he shall vomit them up again ; God shall cast them out of his belly. 1 Gregory : He descended into hell ; He liberated those alone by His grace, who both believed that He should come, and kept His precepts in their lives. For as, after the sign given in Jonas, Nineveh was converted by him; so, after the Resurrection of Christ, the world, which is signified by Nineveh, was converted by Christ and by His Apostles. For, from that time, the world could truly believe in Him, and hope in Him, because it heard that He had so mightily arisen. Whence, on the aforesaid verse, Show some token upon me for good, the gloss says, The Resurrection of Christ is the sign by which the virtue of God is declared, and the hope of believers is confirmed. 1 Job xs. 15. B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. 1205—1280. Albert, the most voluminous author of the 13th century, was born at Lavingen, on the Danube, in 1205, of the family of the Counts of Bolstadt ; studied at Passau ; entered the Dominican Order at the age of twenty-nine ; taught with great reputation in various cities of Germany ; and at Co- logne had the honour of numbering S. Thomas Aquinas among his pupils. Laborious student as he was, he recited the entire Psalter every day. When Provincial of his order in Germany, he made all his journeys on foot, and lived upon alms. Called to Rome by the Pope, he there lectured on the Gospel of S. John, and on the Epistles. At length, after having refused several dignities, he — somewhat to the scandal of his superiors — accepted, in 1260, the Bishopric of Eatisbou. Here he w r as especially distinguished as a preacher and indefatigable in Diocesan visitations. He held the see, however, only for three years and a half; and then again re- tired to a simple religious life, continuing his lessons at Co- logne. Here, in 1280, as he was lecturing, he lost his me- mory by a sudden stroke ; and regarding this as a sign of approaching death, he gave himself up to preparation for his change. He died in the odour of sanctity, Nov. 15, 1280, and was beatified in 1615. His works were collected by Peter Jammy, of the same order, and published at Lyons in 21 volumes, folio, 1651. Fleury is less unjust to him than to the majority of mediaeval preachers, when he says, " Je laisse a ceux qui ont lu plus 264 B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. exactement cet auteur a nous montrer ce qu'il a fait pour meriter le nom de Grand" It is with his sermons only that we have to do. They are contained in the twelfth volume of his collected works, and are 169 in number, of which 32 are on the Holy Eucharist. He seems to have had his eye on S. Antony as his prototype. If he nearly equals him, however, in the extravagance of his symbolism, he falls very short of the Franciscan preacher in his profound knowledge of Scripture. Albert's sermons might, like his, with greater propriety be called sermon-notes, — though not so contracted as S. Antony's, and evidently more like what they must have been when actually preached. Of eloquence, there is little or none : much that is ingenious — little that is practical ; and pathos is scarcely to be met with. Like his pattern, he adopts the division of heads, as the following examples may show : — S. Luke ii. 14. x Behold^ this Child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, &c. 1. For whose fall Chbist is said to be set. 2. For whose rising. 3. For what kind of sign. 4. How a sword pierced through the heart of His Mother. S. Matt. ii. II. 8 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young Child, &c. 1. "Who they were that came with gifts. 2. "What was the Star which they followed. 3. "What was the house into which they entered. 4. "Who He was "Whom they found in the house. 5. "What were the presents which they offered. S. Matt. xv. 22. 3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, Thou Son of David. 1. "What is set forth by the Canaanitish woman. 2. "What, by her daughter. 1 Vol. xii. p. 24. 2 Vol. xii! p. 29. 3 Vol. xii. p. 61. B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. 265 3. Wherefore she calls the Lord the Son of David. 4. "What kind of mercy she requests from Him. In the Rogation Days : Monday : S. Matt, vi. 1 Ask, and it shall be given you. 1. Erom "Whom we must ask. 2. How we must ask. 3. "What we must ask. 4. When we must ask. Tuesday. Seek, and ye shall find. 1. Who is to be sought. 2. Where. 3. And when. Wednesday. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you. 1. At Whose door. 2. And in what way. 3. And when. Albert had the reputation of being the first physical phi- losopher of his day : and he sometimes brings in this kind of knowledge rather curiously. In a sermon on S. Stephen's Day, 2 from the text, Behold, I see the heavens opened, he goes through the ten heavens, or circles, of the philosophers, and expounds them in this fashion : — 1. That of the Moon ..... Infants departing in bap- tismal purity. 2. Mercury ; . . . . Widows and married. 3. Yenus Virgins. 4. The Sun Confessors. 5. Mars Martyrs. 6. Jupiter Prophets. 7. Saturn Patriarchs. 8. The Zodiac .... Apostles. 9. The Fixed Stars Angels. 10. The Sky The Blessed Trinity. He sometimes indulges in still more extraordinary con- 1 VoL xii. p. 63, seq. s Yol. xii. p. 159. N 266 B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. ceits : as, where he explains the name of S. Mary thus : — M — Mediatrix ; A — Alleluiatrix ; R — Eeparatrix ; I — Illu- minatrix ; A — Adjutrix. 1 Notwithstanding this interpreta- tion, it may be well to add, that his general teaching respect- ing the Blessed Virgin and other saints, is anything but ultramontane : so little so, that the doctrine which the greater part of his sermon De Sanctis contains, would not seem strange to any English congregation of the present day. He sometimes departs widely from the usually re- ceived traditions : as, where he calls the Three Kings, Ap- pellius, Amethus, and Damascus. 3 The 36th of the First Series, a sermon on Easter Day, will afford a rather favourable specimen of B. Albert's manner, and I shall, therefore, quote it entire. A SEEMON ON EASTEK DAY. (Vol. xii. Page 68.) 1 Corinthians v. Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us ; therefore let us keep the feast .... with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. Note, 3 that the typical Lamb which was of old time eaten by the Jews with unleavened bread and bitter herbs, was called The Passover : whence the disciples say to Jesus, Where wilt Thou that we make ready the Passover ? Whence, also, Jesus saith to His disciples : With desire have I desired to eat this Passover with you be- 1 Vol. xii. p. 209. 2 Vol. xii. p. 29. 8 This kind of opening shows, plainly enough, that the following dis- cussion is rather composed of the notes for a sermon, than a sermon it- self. The great majority of these sermons commence with the heads, and then continue at once, De primo nota quod, &c. A SERMON ON EASTER DAY. 267 fore I suffer. Note, also, that the Apostle, in this place, calls Jesus Christ the Passover. For He is the true Lamb, Who hath taken away the sins of the world. He is that Lamb, Whom righteous Abel then offered in a figure, a holy sacrifice, a spotless Host. He is the Lamb, of Whom speaks Isaiah, He is led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so He openeth not His mouth. Therefore the Apostle saith, Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us ; therefore let us keep the feast, in the unleavened bread of sincerity, in respect of tender affection, and truth, in regard to good operation. And note that, of old time, at the eating of the typical lamb, many things were required; which, spiritually understood; are required of us, who sacramentally eat the True Lamb, Jesus Christ, slain from the foundation of the world. The first : that they should choose out a male lamb, of the first year, and that without spot. Whence also in Exodus : your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year. By which was set forth, that not by any woman, but only by a male, Jesus, immaculately conceived and born of the immaculate Virgin, and without blemish, either original or actual, it behoved that we should be saved. Wherefore, since the year is composed of twelve months, and the word mensis has its name from mene, which signifies defect, 1 therefore that lamb was a year old, because it behoved Christ to assume the twelve defects of our pcenalities. For He was truly an hungered and 1 Here is a good instance of the absurd derivations in which mediseval authors so frequently delighted. It does not appear how the preacher makes out twelve pcenalities : in another place he reckons, as there are usually reckoned, seven, and comprises them in this verse — M Cauma, gelu, sitis, esuries, morbus, labor, et mors" N2 268 B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. athirst; truly suffered cold and heat; truly endured pain, and truly died. The second: that no foreigner might eat thereof. "Whence in Exodus : This is the law of the Passover : a stranger shall not eat thereof. By which is set forth, that they who, by sentence of excommunication are separated as Publicans and Gentiles from the Church, and from the companionship of the faithful, ought not to approach to the communion and participation of the Holy Body of Jesus Christ; and if they approach, they sin mor- tally. The third : that they who ate of the Lamb, must be circumcised. Whence in Exodus, An uncircumcised person shall not eat thereof. By this is set forth, that they who are about to receive the Body of Christ must circumcise the heart, the tongue, and the head. The heart, from the poison of hatred and rancour ; the tongue, from false swearing and evil talking ; the hands, from evil works and impure touch. The fourth : that they gird their loins. Whence in Exodus, with your loins girded. By this we are taught, that they who are about to receive the Lord's Body, must gird their reins with the girdle of chastity. And this girdle we must make out of that rope wherewith our Lord was bound to the column. Whence he saith in Job, He looseth the girdle of kings, and girdeth their loins with a rope. By the girdle, is understood boasting in temporal strength, which the Lord looses ; and binds with the rope of spiritual fortitude, — that is, of chastity, the reins of His elect. The fifth : that they had shoes on their feet. Whence in Exodus, your shoes on your feet. By this it is set A SERMON ON EASTER DAY. 269 forth, that they who are about to receive the Body of the Lord must defend and clothe the feet of their affec- tions with leather, that is, with the remembrance of His Death, and with the examples of the Saints, against avarice, and the pollution of secular delight. The sixth : that they held staves in their hands. By which we are given to understand this : they who are to receive the Lord's Body are to remember that they are strangers upon the earth, and that it behoves them per- petually to carry the staff of the Holy Cross in the hands of their operations. The seventh : that they ate it in haste. By this we are taught that they who are about to communicate ought to receive the Lord's Body in haste ; that is, with the fervour of holy desire : for he who is greatly an hungered, eats hastily. The eighth : that they brake not a bone of it. By this it is shown that they who are about to approach the Lord's Body must not too subtilly investigate the Sa- crament of the Eucharist, but be contented with simple faith. For the investigator of such majesty shall be overwhelmed by its glory. For he breaks a bone, who wishes to come at the marrow, which here cannot fully be. But in our Country we shall behold the marrow, and shall feast upon it. The ninth : that they carried not anything of the flesh out of doors. Here it is evidently shown, that no part of the Lord's Body should be carried in the hand or in the dress from the church, which so often sorceresses— that shall be condemned by the Lord — have done. The tenth : that they ate the flesh of the lamb not sodden with water, but roast with fire. By this we are taught, that they who are to receive the Body of the Lord, 270 . B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. ought not to be boiling over with luxury, but fervent with the fire of the Holy Ghost and of love. The eleventh : that they ate nothing of it raw. By this is expressed that none ought, without at least men- tal devotion, to receive the Sacred Host. For he receives the Lord's Body as it were raw, who dares to receive it unroasted by the coals of devotion. The twelfth : that they ate the head with the legs, and with the purtenance thereof. By this it is shown, that they who are about to communicate ought to possess a perfect faith touching the Divinity and Humanity of Jesus Christ : for he as it were eats the head who be- lieves the Divinity, but considers not the Humanity. And he eats the feet, but not the head, who confesses Jesus to be Man only, and not God. But he eats the feet and head without the purtenances thereof, who although he believes Christ to be God and Man, yet shrinks from His infirmities and miseries, and fears to confess them; as certain heretics, who believed that Jesus suffered without pain, as an arrow passes through the air. The thirteenth : that if anything were left, it should be burnt with fire. By this it is taught that we should commit those subtle points of faith, which are above our understanding, to that fire which the Lord came to send upon earth, namely, the Holy Ghost. The fourteenth : that they ate the lamb with unleavened bread and bitter herbs. By this it is set forth that they who are about to communicate should approach to re- ceive the Sacred Host without the leaven of an evil and swelling conscience, and with bitter herbs, that is, with the bitterness of contrition. The fifteenth : that they ate the typical lamb on the fourteenth day of the moon, that is at a full moon. By PRAYERS FOR THE SUNDAYS . IN LENT. 271 this we are to understand that the Body of Christ is to be given by Priests to those children only, who have come to years of discretion, 1 in whom the moon is as it were full, that is, whose faith and reason is sufficiently illuminated by the True Sun Jesus Christ. For cases of negligence have often occurred, where that Body has been given to children under the age of reason, and ignorant of the value of this Sacrament. Beseech, therefore, God the Father, that ye may merit to receive the Body of His Son piously and reverently, that by this ye may obtain salvation both of body and soul, which He grant, &c. PEAYEES FOR THE SUNDAYS IN LENT. (Vol. xii. p. 134.) [The orationes super Evangelia totius anni } are remarkable, not only in themselves, for their curious introduction of mysticism into prayer, but because they would seem really to hare been used after, or rather to hare formed a part of the Bishop's sermons. Those for Lent are well worth attention : the first four Sundays follow.] FIRST SUNDAY IN LENT. Jesus was led into the wilderness. S. Matt. iv. ; S. Mark i. ; S.. Luke iv. Lord Jesu Christ, Who by Thy grace hast led me 1 From this passage it is clear the received use of Germany, in the time of Albert, was against the Communion of Infants. It is well known that the disuse of this ancient custom, which has always been one of the principal charges brought by the Eastern against the Latin Church, scarcely had its rise before the tenth century, and that the custom itself was very generally retained both in France and England as late as the twelfth or thirteenth century ; in the former country it was not altogether extinct till the seventeenth. 272 B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. into the wilderness of penitence, 1 grant me that the tempter conquer me not, and that I may not fall from the state of being a sonship of God, into vain glory, lest I should desire that which is opposed to the aus- terities of penance. Turn for me, by the word of truth, the hardnesses of penitence, which the tempter calls stones, into bread ; and pleasures, which he calls bread, into stones. Let him not set me upon a pinnacle of the temple by making me think myself better than others : let him not cast me down by false humility : let me not tempt the Lord my God, nor give an occa- sion to sin, through enervating, by immoderate penances, the strength of my body, nor by committing myself to any danger. Let him not take me up into the moun- tain of ambition, lest falling down through avarice, I adore him by bowing before him the knees of my heart, namely, my will and my thoughts. Repel from me all that is in opposition to Thee : that I may worship Thee the Lord my God, and serve Thee only. And grant that the tempter may leave me, and that Thy Angels may come to me by guarding me from evil, and may minister to me by setting forward my goods, SECOND SUNDAY IN LENT. Jesus departed into the coasts of Tyre and Sidon. S. Matt. xv. ; S. Mark vii. Lord Jesu Christ, Son of David, have mercy on me : for sensuality, the daughter of my reason, is sore vexed by the devil of pleasure, cupidity, and curiosity. And though Thou art not sent to take away trials of l . See with reference to this expression, the remarks of S. Antony, at p. 240. PRAYERS FOR THE SUNDAYS IN LENT. 273 faith, but rather to bring again the sheep to the pure thoughts and holy affections of the House of Israel, the faithful soul that contemplates God, and which were lost through the temptations of the devil ; yet send her away, because she hindereth and crieth after Thy dis- ciples, that is to say the Virtues, saying, Help me. Ancl although it is not meet to take the children's bread, that is vexation, temptation, correction, and tribulation, and to cast it to the dogs, that is to the voluptuous, luxu- rious, and impotent, who bark, that is murmur, in tri- bulation, and bite the stones of pleasure, which they think to be bread : give me, O Lord, a sinner, like a humble whelp, to receive ardently and thankfully as far as my little power goes, of the crumbs of tribulation which fall from the table of the passion of my lords, Thy saints, that my daughter may be set free from the devil of lust. THIRD SUNDAY IN LENT. Jesus was casting out a devil. S. Matt. ix. ; S. Mark iii. ; S. Luke xi. Lord Jesu Christ, cast out from me the devil, the prudence of the world, the flesh, and Satan, which make me mute in the service of God, and the confession of sin. O True Virtue, cast out the devil by contrition ! O Word of the Father, heal the dumb by confession ! O inward Light, illuminate the blind by satisfaction : and that the strong man armed may not possess me in peace, turn all his arms, the inward powers of my soul, and my external senses, to Thy worship. Dry 1 me up 1 The reference is of course to he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and finding none. N 3 274 B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. from the love of concupiscence, that when he cometh, he may find no rest in me : cleanse me with the broom of confession, and garnish me with virtues that, when he returns, he may not find me empty : lest, again over- throwing me by spiritual vices, he make my last estate worse than my first* MID-LENT SUNDAY. Jesus went beyond the sea of Galilee. S. Matt. iv. ', S. Mark iii. ; S. Luke iv. ; S. John v. Lord Jesu Christ, since the passover of my de- parture is nigh at hand, and the purchased loaves of carnal deceits, bought for two hundred pence, that is to say, destruction of body and soul, is not sufficient, that every one should take a little ; Grant that I may lift v up mine eyes to Thee, and lie down in the grass of carnal pleasure, temporal possessions, and glory ; that I may merit to be satiated by the refection of five spiritual loaves, — that is, the fear of the judgment of the Lord, the horror of sin, the grief of contrition, the shame of confession, the labour of satisfaction : and the two fishes, stability of determination, and desire of advance; or with the five loaves which our Lord hath here, namely, humility, which merits the rest of the grace of God, the filling of our emptiness, the gate of Paradise, which is the chancellery of God, and the glory of exaltation : and the two fishes, that is to say, patience of contumely and of injury. 275 THE DIVINE HEAD OF OUE LOED. [This appears to be a fragment of a sermon on the Passion, but stands, under the above title, out of its place, at the end of the sermons on Saints' Days. To me it seems the most touching of Albert's writ- ing, though so corrupt in some places, as to afford no sense without correction.] It was surrounded by the thick wreath of thorns even to the tender brain. Whence in the Prophet, — The people hath surrounded Me with the thorns of sin. And why was this, save that thine own head might not suffer — thine own conscience might not be wounded? His Eyes grew dark in death ; and those lights, which give light to the world, were for a time extinguished ; and when they were clouded, there was darkness over all the earth, and with them the two great lights of the firmament were moved, to the end that thine eyes might be turned away, lest they should behold vanity : or, if they chance to behold it, might for His sake contemn it. Those Ears, which in heaven unceasingly hear Holy, Holy, Holy, vouchsafed on earth to be filled with, Thou hast a devil, — Crucify Him, Crucify Him I to the intent that thine ears might not be deaf to the cry of the poor, nor, open to idle tales, should readily receive the poison of detrac- tion or of adulation. That fair Face of Him That was fairer than the children of men, yea than thousands of Angels, was bedaubed with spitting, afflicted with blows, given up to mockery : to the end that thy face might be enlightened, and being enlightened, might be strength- ened, so that it might be said of thee, His counte- 276 B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. nance is no more changed. That Mouth, which teaches Angels, and instructs men, which spake and it was done, was fed with gall and vinegar, that thy mouth might speak truth, and might be opened to the praise of the Lord : and it was silent, lest thou shouldest lightly lend thy tongue to the expression of anger. Those Hands, which stretched abroad the heavens, were stretched out on the Cross, and pierced with most bitter nails ; as saith Isaiah : i" have stretched forth My hands all the day to an unbelieving people. And David : They pierced My Hands and My Feet : I may tell all My bones. Saint Jerome : " "We may, in the stretching forth of the Hands, understand the liberality of the Giver, Who denieth nothing to them that ask lovingly : Who restored health to the leper that requested it of Him ; enlightened him that was blind from his birth ; fed the hungry multitude in the wilderness." Again: "The stretched out hands denote the kindness of the parent, Who desires to receive His children to His breast." And thus let thy hands be so stretched out to the poor, that thou mayest be able to say, My soul is alway in my hand. For that which is held in the hand is not easily forgotten. So he may be said to call his soul to memory, who carries it as it were in his hands through the good opinion that men conceive of it. His Hands were fixed, that they may instruct thee to hold back thy hands, with the nails of fear, from unlawful or harmful works. That glorious Breast, in which are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, is pierced with the lance of a soldier, to the end that thy heart might be cleansed from evil thoughts, and being cleansed might THE OFFERINGS OF THE WISE MEN. 277 be sanctified, and being sanctified might be preserved. The Feet, whose footstool the Prophets commanded to be sanctified, were bitterly nailed to the Cross, lest thy feet should sustain evil, or be swift to shed blood : but, running in the way of the Lord, stable in His path, and fixed in His road, might not turn aside to the right hand nor to the left. What could have been done more ? Why did Christ bow His Head on the Cross? To teach us that by humility we must enter into heaven. Also, to show that we must rest from our own work. Also, that He might comply with the petition : Let Him kiss me with the kisses of His Mouth. Also, that He might ask permission of His Bride to leave her. Of great virtue is the memory of the Lord's Passion ; which, if it be firmly held in the mind, every cloud of error and sin is dispersed. Whence blessed Bernard : " Always having Christ, and Him crucified, in the heart." HOW WE AEE TO IMITATE THE OFFERINGS OF THE WISE MEN. (From Sermon 13, on the Epiphany.) First, then, we should offer myrrh to the Lord, by the hardness of our lives ; that, as He suffered in the Body many hardships for our sake, so we also should suffer some inconveniences for His sake. But this myrrh which is to be offered to the Lord consists in 278 . B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. fasts, in watchings, in sackcloth and hard beds, in kneel- ings and scourgings, in pilgrimages, and in other the like corporal afflictions. For as myrrh drives away the worms from corpses, so the aforesaid things repel from man evil cogitations and noxious pleasures. Of this myrrh it is written in Judith : Judith went down to her house, and washed, and anointed herself with the best myrrh. By Judith, which is by interpretation one that praises, we understand every faithful soul which daily praiseth the Lord, because He is good, because His mercy endureth for ever. The soul should go down to her house by self- examination ; should wash, by the effusion of tears, and sincere confession. Furthermore, she should anoint herself with myrrh — good, better, and best. They offer good myrrh who have an eye upon hell, and therefore in this world chasten and afflict themselves on account of their sins, lest there they should be everlastingly tor- mented by devils. They offer better myrrh who have an eye to heaven, and therefore punish themselves and endure afflictions, that they may hereafter enter into the company of the saints, who have gone thither through many tribulations. They offer the best myrrh who direct their eye only to God Himself, and on this ac- count subject themselves to heavy afflictions, that they may at least, in some degree, answer to His Passion, to the end that hereafter they may drink the more abundantly of the streams of His sweetness. Secondly, we ought to offer incense to the Lord, by the sincerity of devotion. Now, the sincerity of devo- tion consists in this : that we willingly pray, and willingly think of God, and willingly frequent the churches to hear the Divine office ; willingly also lend THE OFFERINGS OF THE WISE MEN. 279 our ears to the Word of God. Of this incense we read in Leviticus : And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: and thou shalt put pure frankincense upon them. Note, that by the twelve cakes are set forth the twelve joys which every pious soul will experience in the most pure table of the Holy Trinity. The first four loaves signify the fourfold joy, on account of the removal of fourfold evil. The next four loaves signify the fourfold joy, on account of the glorification of the body. The last four loaves signify the fourfold joy, out of which the soul will have spiritual remuneration. The first joy is for the disruption of our chains. The chains of the soul are hunger and thirst, and cold and heat, labour and in- firmity, and the other inconveniences by which it is bound in the house of its body. These chains being burst in death, the happy soul will say, Thou hast broken my bonds asunder. The second joy is, freedom from the attacks of evil men. For the evil persecute the good with hatred of heart, by words and by deeds. The third joy arises from the treading under foot of demons that lie in wait to harm. For when the righteous soul is taken away from the body, then thou shalt go upon the lion and adder : the young lion and dragon shalt thou tread under thy feet. For by these four animals demons are set forth. The fourth joy is, escape from hell torments. For the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance : that is, shall rejoice when he shall perceive himself to have escaped the place of torments, where vengeance is taken on wickedness and sins. The next four joys arise from the glorification of the body: that is, charity, agility, subtilty, incorruptibility, which four things are 280 B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. observed in the sun. 1 The four last joys are said to arise especially from the endowments of the soul; namely, perfect knowledge, most full love, the most sweet vision of God, and the abundant and eternal fruition of the same. Over these twelve loaves, — that is, over these twelve joys, — most pure frankincense is to be put, because the aforesaid things, each and all, being well considered, bring wonderful devotion to man. And, that man may attain these twelve, he ought assiduously to make prayer to the Lord. Thirdly, we ought to offer gold to the Lord by pre- cious charity. But some man will perchance say, I am poor and needy, and can have no gold to offer. To which I shall answer, If thou hast not the gold of cha- rity to offer, seek it in three places, and thou shalt find enough : in Ophir, and in Havilah, and in Tarshish. By Ophir is set forth the tender weakness of Jesus Christ ; by Havilah, His bitter Passion ; and by Tar- shish, His joyous glorification. First, therefore, we are to seek the gold of charity from Ophir : whence we read, in the third of Kings, that the servants of Solomon went with a fleet to Ophir, and took thence gold, and brought it to King Solomon. Ophir is, by interpretation, infirmity, and well sets forth 1 In like manner the author of a beautiful hymn published by Mone, on " The glory of the heavenly Jerusalem, so far as respects the endow- ments of the glorified body." O quam vere gloriosum O how glorious and resplendent, Eris, corpus fragile, Fragile body, thou shalt be, Cum fueris tarn formosum When endued with so much beauty, Forte, sanum, agile, Full of health, and strong and free ; Liberum, voluptuosum, Full of vigour, full of pleasure, In sevum durabile I That shall last eternally I THE OFFERINGS OF THE WISE MEN. 281 to us the infancy of our Saviour. For what more in- firm or frail than a newly born child ? Here, certainly, much of gold — that is, of charity — is found ; for verily great was the love, when that power of God, which made the round world so fast that it cannot be moved, was for our sakes made so weak, as to assume the most tender limbs of a little infant. Whence Isaiah saith : A Man of sor- rows, and acquainted with grief. Whence also the Apostle, writing to the Hebrews, cries out with joy : We have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities. What sort of Priest, then, O Apostle? He continues : One in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. And what profit will result to us from this ? It follows: Let us come boldly, therefore, unto the throne of grace. But now, perhaps, some man may say, that he would also desire to seek gold — that is, precious charity, — in some other place also ; therefore, we must next go to Havilah. We read, in the second of Genesis, of the land of Havilah, where there is gold : and the gold of that land is good. Havilah is by interpretation suffering, or bring- ing forth ; and well expresses the Passion of the Son of God. For in that, as Isaiah saith, Surely He bare our griefs, and carried our sorrows. And truly in this place much of gold — that is, of charity, — is found. Whence saith the Apostle to the Romans, God commendeth His Love to us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He also (Ephes. iii.) bows his knees and prays that ye may know the love of Christ, which passeth know- ledge. Whence the Gloss saith : None can understand the greatness of that love, whereby God was made man, the Just dies for the wicked, the Lord for the slaves, the 282 B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. Creator for the created. See, then, so much gold is found in the Passion of the Lord Jesus, that the whole cannot be collected. But you may, perhaps, say, that you could wish also to have gold of another kind ; wherefore, in the third place, we must go to Tarshish. Whence we read in the third of Kings, that once in three years went the fleet of Solomon to Tarshish. Tarshish is, by interpretation, the exploration of joy. What, then, is set forth by Tar- shish save the celestial court, where the throne of our nature is raised on high ? Whence we sing, " I beheld l a man " — that is, the Son of God, Who was made man — " sitting on a lofty throne, Whom the multitude of angels adore" &c. Truly here a great joy may be explored. Whence saith Chrysostom: "Verily it is great and wonderful, and full of awe, that our Nature should sit on high, and should be adored by angels and archangels. I think of this again and again, and am lost in wonder, when I imagine such mighty things concerning the human race." Truly here very much gold is found. For the Apostle saith to the Ephesians : God, Who is rich in mercy, for His great love wherewith He loved us, hath made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. To sit together, because, in real truth, our Nature united to God sits with Him in the throne of His glory. It was indeed a work of great love, that the Son of God joined to Himself our clay, and when He had joined it to Himself, raised it above cherubim and seraphim. . If the German Emperor were to take to wife the sister of some poor ass-herd or neat-herd, and make her the 1 Albert is quoting the introit for the First Sunday after Epiphany, on which day this sermon was very probably delivered. THE BLESSEDNESS OF DYING IN THE LORD. 283 partner of his kingdom, lie would be said to have be- stowed great honour on that ass-herd or neat-herd. Thus also the Son of the Heavenly Emperor shows His great love in this, that He has taken our nature to be His Bride, and made it partaker of His glory. THE BLESSEDNESS OE THEM THAT DIE IN THE LOED. [The following passage is quoted, not only, in the first place, by reason of its intrinsic beauty, but on account of the curious contrast which it presents with modern Ultramontane teaching on the subject of pur- gatory. Vol. xii. 23^.] Of the second, note : They who die in the Lord are blessed, on account of two things which immediately follow. For they enter into most sweet rest, and enjoy most delicate refreshment. Concerning their rest, it immediately follows : Even so, saith the Spirit, — that is, says the Gloss, the whole Trinity, — -for they rest from their labours. And it is a pleasant bed on which they take their rest, who, as is aforesaid, die in the Lord. For this bed is none other than the sweet consolation of the Creator. Of this consolation He speaks Himself by the Prophet Isaiah : As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem. Of the second, — that is, the delicate refreshment of those that die in Christ, — it is immediately subjoined : and their works do follow them : the Gloss : that is, the reward of their works. For every virtue which a man has practised by good works in this world will bring a 284 B. ALBERTUS MAGNUS. special cup of recompense, and offer it to the soul that has entered into rest. Thus purity of body and mind will bring one cup, justice another ; which also is to be said concerning truth, love, gentleness, humility, and the other virtues. Of this holy refreshment it is writ- ten in Isaiah : Kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nursing mothers. By kings we understand the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, Who, in inse- parable unity, possess the kingdom of heaven : by queens, the virtues are expressed, which, as has been said, re- ceive the cups of refreshment from the storehouse of the Trinity, and offer them to the happy souls. Pray, therefore, dearly beloved, to the Lord, that He would so grant us to live according to His will, 4;hat we may die in Him, and may evermore be comforted and refreshed by Him. THOMAS A KEMPIS. Thomas Hammebcken, known to all the Church from the place of his birth, — Kampen, on the shore of the Zuyder Zee, — as Thomas a Kempis, was born in the year 1381 ; studied under the Brothers of the Common Life, in their house at Deventer, and with them took the vows as a Canon Regular of S. Austin, in the congregation of Windesheim. In 1400, he was transferred to the then newly-erected house of Mount S. Agnes, at Zwolle : his brother John being its first Prior. Here it was that for seventy years, during a most troubled period of the history of his own Church, Thomas employed himself in the transcription of various works of piety ; and several of these, which bear ample tes- timony to the beauty of his writing, may still be seen : es- pecially a Bible in four volumes, commenced in 1417, and finished in 1459. It is now, beyond all question, proved that he was not the author of the Imitation of Christ, and merely has attained that reputation from having attached to his copy the inscription, " Finished and completed in the year of our Lord 1441, by the hands of Brother Thomas a Kempis, of the Monastery of Mount S. Agnes." Nevertheless, his un- doubted works, The Garden of Roses, The Book of the Three Tabernacles, The Valley of Lilies, and The Soliloquy of the Soul, entitle him, in no small degree, to the praise which has been ascribed to him as the author of the more celebrated work. His sermons, with which we are concerned, are di- vided into two parts ; those to the novices, — of which there are thirty ; and those to the brethren, of which there are nine. 286 THOMAS A KEMPIS. They are full of all the piety and simplicity which charac- terise his other treatises ; and the examples which he appends to some of them, have a naivete which sometimes can scarcely fail to excite a smile. Thomas a Kempis died the death of the righteous, at his convent of Mount S. Agnes, in the year 1471, at the age of 90. The Brothers of the Common Life were, in their first ori- gin, a great preaching order. Thomas, in his lives of his fellow-labourers, has given us some curious anecdotes of their sermons. The most famous among them was G-eert Groot, the founder of the Order. He remained a Deacon to the end of his life ; and was accustomed to say, in reply to those who would have persuaded him to enter the Priesthood, " Not for all the gold of Arabia would I have the care of souls for a single night." He was the first who ever preached a Dutch sermon at Amsterdam. This shows in how neg- lected a state that vast diocese of Utrecht, with its Prince- Bishop, who was often a celebrated warrior, must then have lain : and it is not astonishing that the wealthy Canons of its enormous collegiate churches should have been highly displeased at the innovation. While suffering under this persecution, he wrote — says Thomas — in a certain epistle to some Priests at Amsterdam, with whom he was familiar, " Be not alarmed, brethren, if ye hear an evil report at Kampen against me. All things proceed, I hope, as Gob wills. And the Church in Kampen is won- derfully increased ; praise and glory be to God therefor !" But perceiving that many Prelates of various Churches were opposed to him, and that his preaching was hindered by the emulation of enemies, and interdicted by an edict, he humbly gave way to anger and envy, and said to the people, who were indignant at such an inhibition, " They are our prelates ; and we wish, as is right, and as we are bound, to obey their edicts. For we desire not to injure any one, nor to excite a scandal. The Loed knoweth those whom He hath chosen from the beginning, and He will call them by THOMAS A KEMPIS. 287 His grace as He pleases, without us." He therefore kept silence for a time, and in the meanwhile betook himself to private exhortations. Crowds flocked after the preacher ; his conversion of notorious sinners was palpable to all the world ; he frequently preached two sermons in the same day, each of three hours' length. Thomas Brinckerinck, Confessor to the Sisters of the Com- mon Life, now better known as Beguines, was also a cele- brated preacher. " Once," says Thomas, * he was preaching on the Circumcision, and treating most pleasantly and sweetly of the Name of Jesus ; exalting this blessed and de- licious Name above all things in heaven and earth. At length he condescended to rebuke some foolish and secular men, because, woe is me ! they spake less reverently, nay, and even jokingly, of that holy and inviolable Name. And he exclaimed and said, * There are some who cry with a con- temptuous sneer, Ho, ho ! Jesus is the God of the Beguines ! Fools and miserable men ! Jesus the God of the Beguines ? Then pray who is your God ? Truly, it is the Devil. To us this holy Name is a great honour, and a singular joy. Over and over again our brethren name Jesus ; above all other things they worship Jesus ; before and above the names of all the saints, they love and adore Jesus, the Son of the Living God, Whom ye deride and despise. True it is that the brothers and the Beguines do name Jesus will- ingly — do laud Him devoutly — do salute each other in His Name. And woe to you, who have the Devil in your mouths oftener than Jesus ! He is too lowly and despised to please you.' Thus speedily," adds Thomas, "he gladdened the lovers of Jesus, and confounded his deriders according to their deserts." " I myself twice heard him," says Thomas, " preaching on Good Friday ; when he expounded the Lord's Passion with great compunction and prolixity. The text of his first ser- mon was, God spared not His own Son. The second was taken from the Psalm, What shall I render unto the Lord for 288 THOMAS A KEMPIS. all the benefits that He hath done unto me ? He was heard with great pleasure by pious persons ; but worldly men mur- mured against him, because, when need was, he blamed their vices. But he was not terrified on their account, because he loved to speak the truth, and to agonise for righteousness ; choosing rather to obey God, and to profit the good, than to consent to the wicked." PROLOGUE OF THE SERMONS TO THE NOVICES. To bis beloved brethren in Christ, Innocentius, Sim- plicianus, and the other disciples of the Crucified, who love the discipline of holy religion. A brother, who is a stranger in this valley of tears, humbly seeks the assist- ance of their prayers. The peace of Christ abound in your hearts, and manifold patience be given to both you and to me in the Cross of Christ. The sermons which were delivered to our novices in the way of a sweet dis- course at different times, and are now collected by me into one, I thought it right and just to communicate to you in love. Although, therefore, the style be rude, and the matter easy of comprehension, yet, desirous of pleas- ing the simple-minded, I willingly offer to the reading of the pious and devoted, that which God has inspired and given to me. And if by chance an indiscreet ex- pression shall offend any, I would ask that one of so little esteem as I am may find pardon, and that anything which may appear to be less appropriate, may be mended and made better. And because examples are often of more weight with hearers than words only, therefore, THE DUTY OF TAKING UP THE CROSS. 289 instructed after the fashion of blessed Gregory, I have briefly added in many places at the end of the sermon, and for the greater confirmation of the truth, some ex- amples which occurred to my mind. Accept, brothers, with pleasure that which I offer to you, as to beloved friends. Pray that all may be to the honour of God, and the profit of many. THE DUTY OF CHRISTIANS IN TAKING UP THE CEOSS. [This is the first sermon in the third part of those to the Novices.] But God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of Christ Jesus. Beloved brethren, blessed Paul, the excellent beholder of heavenly secrets, sets forth to us in the aforesaid words, that the Cross is the right way of living well ; is the best teaching how to suffer adversity ; is the firmest ladder whereby we may ascend to heaven by its most un- conquered sign. It is this which leads its lovers into the country of eternal light, of eternal peace, of eternal blessedness, which the world cannot give; nor the Devil take away. Human frailty abhors the suffering of po- verty, contempt, vileness, hunger, labour, pain, necessity, derision, which all are so often its lot, and which weigh down and disturb men. But all these things joined to- gether, form by their manifold sufferings a salutary Cross, God so ordering this dispensation for us ; and to the true bearers of the Cross they open the gate of the celestial kingdom. To them that fight, they prepare the palm of life ; to them that conquer, they give the diadem of eter- nal glory. 290 THOMAS A KEMPIS. O truly blessed Cross of Chrtst, which didst bear the King of Heaven, and which didst bring to the whole world the joy of salvation ! By thee the devils are put to flight ; the weak are cured ; the timid are strength- ened ; the sinful are cleansed ; the idle are excited ; the proud are humbled ; the hard-hearted are touched ; and the devout are bedewed with tears. Blessed are they who daily call to mind the Passion of Christ, and de- sire to carry their own cross after Christ. Good and religious brethren, who are enrolled under obedience, have, in the daily affliction of their body, and in the re- signation of their own will, a cross which, in its outward aspect is heavy and bitter, but which is internally full of sweetness, because of the hope of eternal salvation, and the affluence of Divine comfort which is promised to those that are broken in heart : which, if they do not feel at once, or perceive to be bestowed on them by slow degrees, nevertheless they ought to expect it with pa- tience, and to resign themselves to the Divine Will. For He Himself best knows the time of showing mercy, and the method of assisting the afflicted, as the physi- cian is best acquainted with the art of curing, and the master of the ship with the craft of steering. Those that have taken up the Cross in their hearts, have great confidence and cause of glorying, in the Cross of Jesus Christ, because they confide not, nor trust that they shall be saved in their own merits and works, but through the mercy of God, and the merits of Christ Jesus, crucified for our sins, in Whom they believe faithfully ; Whom with their heart they love, — with their mouth they confess, praise, preach, honour, and extol. God is wont to prove His familiar friends by the holy Cross, THE DUTY OF TAKING UP THE CROSS. 291 whether they love Him truly or in pretence, and whether they can perfectly observe His commandments. Principally, however, they are proved by tolerance of injuries, and the removal of internal consolations; by the death of friends, and by the loss of property; by pains in the head, and injuries in the limbs; by absti- nence from food, and roughness of garments ; by the hardness of their bed, and the coldness of their feet ; by the long watches of the night, and the labours of the day ; by the silence of the mouth, and the reproofs of superiors ; by worms that gnaw, and tongues that de- tract. In their sufferings, however, they are consoled by the devout meditation of the Lord's Passion, as many devout persons know very well in their own hearts. It is theirs to taste the hidden honey from the rock, and the oil of mercy that drops from the blessed wood of the holy Cross ; whose taste is most delicious ; whose odour is most sweet ; whose touch is most healthy ; whose fruit is most happy. O most truly worthy and precious Tree of life, planted in the midst of the Church for the medicine of the soul! 1 O Jesus of Nazareth, Thou That wast crucified for us ! Thou loosenest the bands of sinners ; freest the souls of saints ; humblest the necks of the haughty ; breakest down the power of the wicked ; comfortest the faithful ; puttest to flight the unbelievers ; deliverest the pious; punishest the hardened; over- throwest the adversaries. Thou raisest up them that are fallen; Thou settest at liberty them that are op- 1 The preacher is referring to the position of the great rood in the rood-loft, which is always affirmed by symbolical writers to occupy the very centre of the church, because the Tree of Life stood in the midst of the Garden of Eden. o2 292 THOMAS A KEMPIS. pressed; Thou smitest them that do hurt; Thou de- fendest them that are innocent ; Thou lovest them that are true ; Thou hatest them that are false ; Thou despisest the carnal; Thou hast regard to the spirit- ual; Thou receivest them that come to Thee; Thou hidest them that take refuge in Thee. Them that call upon Thee, Thou hearest ; them that visit Thee, Thou rejoicest ; them that seek Thee, Thou helpest ; them that cry to Thee, Thou strengthenest. Thou honourest them that honour Thee ; Thou praisest them that praise Thee; Thou lovest them that love Thee; Thou glorifiest them that adore Thee; Thou blessest them that bless Thee; Thou exaltest them that exalt Thee. On them that look to Thee Thou lookest ; them that kiss Thee, Thou kissest ; them that embrace Thee, Thou embracest ; them that follow Thee, Thou leadest to heaven .... O religious brother, why art thou sorrowful, and why dost thou complain of the weight of thy cross, in long vigils ; in many fasts ; in labour and silence ; in obedi- ence and strict discipline ? which things were instituted at the inspiration of God, by holy fathers for thy profit, and the salvation of thy soul ; in order that by them thou mightest walk securely and prudently, who canst not govern thyself well and virtuously. Dost thou think that without the Cross and without grief thou canst en- ter into the kingdom of heaven, when Christ neither could nor would, nor did any of His most beloved friends and saints gain from Him such a privilege ? For He Himself said, Ought not Christ to suffer, and so to enter into His glory ? Thou art altogether mistaken in thy thought : thou attendest not to the footsteps of Christ THE DUTY OF TAKING UP THE CROSS. 293 shown to thee ; for He, by the Cross, passed from this world to His Heavenly Father. Ask whom thou wilt of the victors and citizens of the celestial kingdom how he came to possess for ever this glory of God. Was it not by the Cross and by suffering ? Well then, brethren, take up the sweet and light yoke of the Lord : embrace with all affection the holy Cross, — it flowers with all virtues ; it is full of celestial unction, — to the end that it may lead you without mistake, with the hope of glory, to life eternal. What will ye more ? This is the way, and there is none other ; the right way, the holy way, the perfect way, the way of Christ, the way of the just, the way of the elect that shall be saved. Walk in it, persevere in it, endure in it, live in it, die in it, breathe forth your spirits in it. The Cross of Christ conquers all the machinations of the devil ; the Cross draws to itself the hearts of all the faithful; the Cross destroys all things evil, and confers on us all things good, through Jesus Christ, Who hung and died upon it. There is no armour so strong, no arrow so sharp and so terrible, against the power and cruelty of the devil, none which he so fears as the sign of the Cross, in which he brought to pass that the Son of God should be suspended and slain, Who was innocent and pure from all spot. O truly blessed Cross of Christ, most worthy of all honour, to be embraced with all love ; that causest those who love thee to bear their burdens with ease, that consolest the sorrowful in enduring reproaches; that teachest the penitent how to obtain pardon for every offence. This is very honourable to the holy Angels ; most lovely to men, most terrible to devils; despised 294 THOMAS A KEMPIS. by the proud,, acceptable to tbe humble ; rough to the carnal, sweet to the spiritual; insipid to the foolish, delicious to the devout ; affable to the poor, compan- ionable to the stranger; friendly to the afflicted, con- solatory to the sick, comfortable to the dying. Lay up, therefore, all the sacred Wounds of Jesus, in the recesses of your heart ; they have a savour beyond all spices to the devout soul that is in affliction, and that seeks not consolation from men Follow Christ, Who leads by His Passion and His Cross to eternal rest and light ; because if ye are now His companions in tribulation, ye will shortly sit down with Him at the heavenly table in perpetual exultation. Plant in the garden of your memory, the tree of the holy Cross; it produces a very efficacious medicine against all the suggestions of the devil. Of this most noble and fertile tree, the root is humility and poverty ; the bark, labour and penitence; the branches, mercy and justice ; the leaves, true honour and modesty ; the scent, sobriety and abstinence ; the beauty, chastity and obedience; the splendour, right faith and firm hope; the strength, magnanimity and patience; the length, long-suffering and perseverance ; the breadth, benignity and concord; the height, charity and wisdom; the sweet- ness, love and joy; the fruit, salvation and life eternal. Well, then, and worthily, sings the Church of the Holy Cross, " Faithful Cross, above all other One and only noble tree ; None in foliage, none in blossom, None in fruit thy peers may be !" * 1 One of the many points of resemblance between the brothers of the Common Life and the early Wesleyans, which we have mentioned in the THE DUTY OF TAKING UP THE CROSS. 295 There was no such plant to be found in the gardens of Solomon, 1 no herb so salutary for the curing of all diseases,, as the tree of the Holy Cross, which bears its spices of divine virtue, for the obtaining of human salva- tion. This is that most fruitful tree, blessed above all the introduction, was the fondness entertained by both for hymns. Of Lulert Ten Bossche, one of their most pious and zealous Priests, it is related by Thomas a Kempis, that when lying on his deathbed, " on S. Mary Magdalene's Day, he desired that the sequence, * Praise to Thee, O Chbist, Who art the Creator, the Eedeemer, and the Saviottb,' should be sung to him. When it was finished, he said : How devout and fervent are these words ! And, he repeated over again to himself, as if he were pondering upon it, the line, ' What could she have had, if she had not received it, if her Physician had not been present ?' Many good persons who were present and heard this, could not restrain their tears." So Thomas not only here quotes a verse of the Pange lingua gloriosi, of Yenantius Fortunatus, but refers several times to other hymns connected with the Cross. Thus, when he is speaking of its height and breadth, he has in his mind part of a sequence which is to be found in many of the Missals of North Germany : " Quo sub ritu forma prima Charitatis expressiva Latitudo ponita ; Consequents longitudo, Qua signata sanctitudo Perseverans, collita." When he dwells on the fragrance of its flowers, he is imitating a hymn of S. Peter Damiani's : " Thy savour is more precious far Than sweetest scents of spices are : The nectar that from thee distils The bosom with its fragrance fills." And throughout, he has in his mind the celebrated sequence, the master- piece of Adam of S. Victor, Laudes Cruris extollamus. 1 Thomas a Kempis seldom fails to evince all the national love of his countrymen for gardens and flowers. Thus, the titles of two of his works are, " The Garden of Koses," and " The Yalley of Lilies." 296 THOMAS A KEMPIS. trees of Paradise ; stretching forth its lovely branches, adorned with green leaves, extended with rich fruit through the world; by its altitude, touching heaven; by its profundity, penetrating hell ; by its extent, sur- rounding mountains and hills ; by its magnitude, filling the round world ; by its fortitude, conquering wicked kings and the persecutors of the faith ; by its mercy, attracting the weak; by its suavity, healing sinners. .... This is the glorious palm, that is rightly called Christiferous, carried on the shoulders of Jesus, set up on the mountain of Calvary; condemned by the Jews, set at nought by the Gentiles, reviled by the wicked, lamented by the faithful, implored by the pious Blessed is the man, faithful is that servant, who per- petually carries the Sacred Wounds of Jesus in his heart ; and, if adversity meets him, receives it as from the Hand of God, and piously endures it, that he may at least in some degree become conformed to the Crucified. For he is worthy to be visited and consoled by Christ, who studies fully to conform himself in life and in death to His Passion. This is the way of the Holy Cross, this is the doctrine of the Saviour, this is the wisdom of saints, this is the rule of monks, this the life of the good, this the lection of clerks, this the me- ditation of the devout : to imitate Christ humbly, to t>uffer evil for Christ, to choose the bitter instead of the sweet ; to despise honours, to bear contempt with equanimity, to abstain from evil delights; to fly the occasions of vice, to avoid dissipation; to lament for our own sins and for those of others, to pray for the troubled and the tempted, to render thanks for bene- factors, to make supplication for adversaries that they may THE DUTY OF TAKING UP THE CROSS. 297 be converted ; to rejoice with them that are in prosperity, to grieve with them that suffer injury, to succour the indigent ; not to seek high things, to choose that which is humble, to love that which is simple; to cut off superfluities, to be contented with a little, to labour for virtues, to struggle every day against vices ; to subdue the flesh by fasting, to strengthen the spirit by prayer and by reading, to refuse human praise ; to seek soli- tude, to love silence, to be at leisure for God ; to sigh for things celestial, to despise from the heart all that is earthly, to think that nothing save God can bring com- fort. He that does this, may say with blessed Paul the Apostle, To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. And again : God forbid that I should glory, save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. O religious monk and follower of the stricter life, depart not from the Cross which thou hast taken up ; but bear it and carry it with thee even to death ; and thou shalt find eternal rest, and celestial glory and honour. When any tribulation meets thee, it is Christ Who lays His Cross upon thee, and shows thee the way by which thou must go to the heavenly kingdom. But if any one boasts him- self and hopes in the glories and in the honours of this world, he is truly deceived, and he will carry with him nothing at all of that which he has been accustomed to love in the world. But he who boasts himself in Christ, and despises all things for the sake of Christ, he shall be consoled by Christ in the present life, and in the life to come shall be filled with celestial blessings, and shall felicitously rejoice with Christ and with all saints, world without end. Which Jesus Christ vouch- o3 298 THOMAS A KEMPIS. safeto grant us, Who for us suffered and died upon the Cross ; to Whom be praise and glory, to ages of ages. Amen. [We should not give a correct idea of the sermons of Thomas a Kempis, unless we added one or two of the examples which he himself mentions in the Prologue.] AN EXAMPLE OE SILENCE. There was, in the upper country, a certain monk of the Cistercian order, who was a watchful guardian of his tongue, and a diligent observer of discipline. He kindled with the zeal of devotion, scarcely spoke one word every week, to whom the Abbat, for the sake of relaxing his rigour, said : " Brother, I give you licence to speak with the brethren." Who replied, " Reverend Father, I desire to have no such licence." Which, when the Abbat had heard, he was edified by the answer of the brother who kept silence of his own accord. AN EXAMPLE OE "WATCHFULNESS. A certain brother once began to sleep a little at Matins, which the brother next to him observing, whis- pered in his ear this one word, Hell ; which when he had heard, terrified and aroused, he cast off all his de- sire of slumber. Think, therefore, thou that art idle, of hell j and thou wilt not sleep in the choir through slothfulness. 299 AN EXAMPLE OE OBEDIENCE. There was a certain devout prioress in the order of Canonesses regular, who, once on a time, was ill of a fever. One of the young sisters grieving for her sick- ness, went secretly into the choir and prayed earnestly that the Mother might recover her health, and that she might fall sick in her place. And so it was forthwith. For as soon as she had ended her prayer the sister began to be ill and the prioress recovered the same day. But the Mother, hearing that the young sister was suffering from a fever, demanded of her what she had done or what she had eaten. She answered : " I have eaten nothing that could do me harm. But I have prayed to God, believing it to be better that I should be ill in your place and that you should be well." The devout Mother with the good trust which she had in God, said : Ci On the part of God I command you, in virtue of your obedience that you- are ill no longer." God, giving ear to their prayers, restored both to health, to the praise and honour of His Name. Amen. ^ ^i^r^ ul(fJ>cUzU> t~~t> erf /ZZL O t- / 7 ■ aJvu**- Z2»r /£^£^Z *? Jr "?**//■ ■ jr?tzz<* ANTONIO YIEYRA, The most celebrated of Portuguese divines, and called by his fellow-countrymen "the Last of Mediaeval Preachers," was born in Lisbon, Peb. 6, 1608. "When he had attained the age of seven, family circumstances compelled his parents to migrate to Bahia, the then capital of Portuguese America. Here he entered the Company of the Jesuits in 1623, and made his profession in 1644. Such was his reputation for learning and elegance of style, that, at the age of seven- teen, he was commissioned to write the annual letter from the Province of Brazil. He was early distinguished as a preacher ; and he has thought one of his sermons, preached before he had received Priest's orders, worthy of preserva- tion. The war then carried on between the Dutch and Por- tuguese for the possession of Brazil, — a war stained with such atrocities on both sides as to occasion a meeting between the principal officers, where the question was discussed, — what limits to cruelty during a state of hostility were prescribed by the Christian religion, has left its traces in Vieyra's sermons. Thus we have one preached at Bahia in 1637, on occasion of a public funeral ; and another in the same city in 1640, on the appointment of a general fast of fifteen days for success in the war. The preacher explained to his auditors that, however the national misfortunes, and the anticipated loss of the whole province, might be attributed to the want of a national king, the source lay deeper in the displeasure of G-od. But he little thought that, at the very moment he 302 ANTONIO VIEYRA. spoke, the glorious revolution of December was plotted, by which* D. Joao IV. was set on the throne of his ancestors. As soon as the intelligence reached Brazil, and the new government was accepted by acclamation, our author was despatched as chaplain to the embassy which acknowledged the Duke of Braganca as rightful King. At court he not only made his reputation as a preacher, but gave proof of such remarkable political talents, that, during the war of in- dependence, he was employed in negotiations at Amsterdam, Paris, and Rome : in the former city he was challenged by a celebrated Dutch Eabbi, Manasses Ben Israel, to a public dispute, and completely silenced him. While engaged in the most delicate and difficult negotiations, he everywhere kept up his reputation as the first of all Portuguese preachers. At Eome he ventured to preach in Italian, and that with the most signal success. But his greatest glory arises from his mission to the Indians. He had bound himself by vow to this task, as soon as a way should be opened to him ; and, accordingly, having happily concluded his foreign negotia- tions, he sailed for Maranhao in 1652. He soon found, however, that the enfranchisement of the natives was abso- lutely necessary to his hopes. He therefore returned to Portugal in the next year, and, on his arrival at court preached one of his most celebrated sermons, — that of the Sower, — extracts from which will be found in the following pages. After great difficulty, he obtained his object, and returned to his work. It was reckoned that, in the course of his labours, he travelled 14,000 leagues on foot through the wildest regions, twenty-two times navigated the whole course of its rivers, built sixteen churches, and composed six catechisms in different native languages. In 1670 he again visited Portugal and Eome on business connected with his mission; and, after his return, was named Visitor of the province of Brazil, and Superior of all its missions. The last years of his life were spent in Bahia, where he laboured, though nearly blind, at his Clavis Prophetarum ; and there , tm^u 'fit&M*, lt~«J> >7*4? MfJlfc* "Ztft/ *"* *"*"" ANTONIO VIEYRA. * 303 he died, on the 18th of July, 1697. He may surely be con- sidered one of the most remarkable characters whom Europe ever produced, when, in the three utterly different characters of an eloquent preacher, an able negotiator, and a devoted missionary, he obtained a first-rate reputation in two con- tinents. We are concerned with his sermons. Various surrepti- tious editions of some of them, mixed with others which are not his, having been put forth by various publishers, but especially at Madrid, Vieyra, in 1679, commenced the publi- cation of all those which he deemed worthy to see the light. He lived to publish thirteen volumes, the last in 1690 ; and, after his death, two others appeared, in 1710 and 1748 re- spectively. The complete work is not of common occur- rence, even in Portugal. It contains about 220 sermons, arranged in no order, either chronological, or in the course of the Church's year : the fifth and sixth volumes are taken up by thirty sermons on Nossa Senhora do Rosario ; the tenth by fifteen on S. Francis Xavier. Vieyra's command of language was unbounded : it is no- where more strikingly displayed than in the account he gives of the estylo culto, — the polished style, — which, when he commenced his career, had attained the acme of its absurdity, and of which the reader will see more in the sermon on the parable of the Sower. But his ease and copiousness are un- doubtedly prone, here and there, to run into verbiage ; or so narrowly to escape it, that a translator is almost sure to be led into that fault. His great talent was undoubtedly satire ; of which, indeed, if the Arte de Furtar be his, he has left a memorable instance of another kind, and of which the Sermon to the Fishes, presently to be given, will be a sufficient proof. Next to that is the terrible power he has in threatening vengeance to a guilty and corrupt age : some of his Advent sermons are fearfully sublime. Then — but at a considerable distance — comes his power of pathos, of which the first sermon which I have translated will give some 304* ANTONIO VIEYRA. striking instances. His fondness for mystical interpretation is perfectly mediaeval ; while the way in which he uses — or almost plays with — a particular clause, or sometimes a par- ticular word, approaches more nearly to our own Bishop Andrewes than to any other preacher. Indeed, so great is the resemblance between them, that it would be an interest- ing question whether the Portuguese divine was at all ac- quainted with the works of the English Prelate. Yieyra had been in England ; he was familiar with the language ; and it is particularly recorded of him that he endeavoured, in whatever country he travelled, to acquaint himself with its literature. He, like all great preachers, is fond of illustrative anec- dotes, such as those of the Four Eyes, and of the inn at Dover, which will presently be read. Here is another in- stance, in a sermon preached \ at Bahia : " One of the most remarkable judgments with which heaven terrified the world, and our country, was the memo- rable earthquake, some few years since, in the island of Terceira. It ruined, overthrew, and entirely razed the town of Praya j but it was yet more remarkable for that which it left, than for that which it destroyed. Three parts, or erections, alone remained in the city, entire and without in- jury, — the prison, the hospital, and the pulpit of the great church. O Divine Providence, ever vigilant, even in those accidents which seem to be, and may be, natural ! Those three exceptions, so remarkable in themselves, were not without a great mystery ; and all who were present noticed it, and understood it at once. By the prison, justice — by the hospital, mercy — and by the pulpit, truth — were set forth. As if God would preach to the Portuguese, and es- pecially to sea-port towns and cities, (as this is, and that was,) that it is for lack of justice, of mercy, and of truth that our conquests are thus destroyed and thus desolate." 1 Vol. ii. § 441. Each volume is divided into a certain number of sections, which run through the whole of the sermons. T7C Ca~~~ <*J v~** n txt^t a-' ' • /^c - /v*f THE GREAT EVIL OF SIN. 305 Yieyra is unusually happy in the commencement of his "sermons, and ordinarily he is very clear in their divisions. His faults are those of his age : the abominations of the estylo culto sometimes hang about him ; the reader will find a remarkable instance in the sermon on S. Ignatius, of which more presently : and he is sometimes guilty of the grossest adulation to the great personages before whom he preached. It must also be confessed that, direct, pointed, and searching as are the preacher's remonstrances with public bodies, and for corporate crimes, his appeals to individual consciences are scarcely so effective as might have been expected from his general powers. 1 1 In the sermon on S. Ignatius, the sixth in the first volume, we have an excellent specimen of Yieyra' s two great faults ; ingenious perversions of Scripture — words of God but not the Word of God, as he says him- self — and conceits carried to an almost incredible extent.. The text is : And ye yourselves like to men ; and from this fragment he dilates on the great excellency of S. Ignatius in resembling, not one man, but all men ; and uniting the excellencies of all the different varieties of saints ! " I wish," he says, " no other text than these words, and you like men ; let us see in two discourses, Ignatius, like men ; and, Ignatius, the man without a like. More briefly, the like without a like." And he dilates with great ardour on this same point. " That Enos should be holy, it was sufficient that he should be like Seth ; that Joseph should be holy, it was sufficient that he be like Jacob, &c. ; but that Ignatius should be so great and singular a saint, as God willed that he should be, it is not sufficient that he should be like one saint, nor like many saints ; it is necessary that he should be like all. And you like men^ A still more extraordinary conceit is that by which he represents Ezekiel as foretell- ing S. Ignatius, under the form of the Angel above the wheels and the living creatures. Quoting from the Hebrew, he thus gives the words ; And in the midst of the fire there is as it were, chasmal. This expres- sion, the difficulty of which he first notices, he thus interprets. The Prophet saw Ignatius and his persecutions ; that, says he, must be S. Clement. He begins to write the word, but has only set down the letter C. when, considering the mortifications of the saint — no, he con- tinues, it must be S. Hierome. Down goes the H., when, foreknowing his deep attainments in theology, after all, cries Ezekiel, it must be Athanasius, and A. is added to the preceding letters. In like manner, S. it- e^f r*U^/7 Llr tvi^vJlb l^t^Tl^JCCTy U^^ Vl/tH, fit*?- *4> • <%*" cc ° , i 306 ANTONIO VIEYRA. Yet, on the whole, he who could combine eloquence little inferior to that of Massillon, — knowledge of Scripture that almost recalls S. Antony, — and irony not inferior to that of Swift, must be regarded as one of the most remarkable preachers whom the world ever saw ; and the reader will scarcely blame me if I have stretched a point to include him in a sketch of mediceval sermons. THE GBEAT EVIL OF SIN. [The sermon from whence the following extracts are taken was preached 'at Bahia, in Brazil, on the Fourth Saturday in Lent, 1640. It seems to have been a favourite with the author ; for he thus prefaces it : " The author entreats those who may take this book into their hands, that, for the love of GrOD and of themselves, they would read this sermon, of the sinner resolute to sin no more, with the attention and patience which the matter requires." The text is, S. John viii. 11. Go, and sin no mo're.~\ 1. The greatest evil of all evils,— no, I am not speak- ing well ; the evil which alone is an evil, and the chief evil, is sin. For as God, by His very essence, is the chief good, so sin, because it is an offence to God, is the chief evil. But if between sin and sin, so far as we are concerned, any comparison may be drawn, intended sin is the worst and most perilous evil. Past and the pre- sent, because it was and is sin, are unspeakable misery ; but the future, besides being that, is also of fearful danger. 2. This, good Christians, is that most important doc- for Simeon, M. for Martin, A, for Antony, and L. for Laurence, finish the'word Chasmal, at the end of which, the Prophet's patience failed, and he set down no more. THE DANGER OF DEFERRING REPENTANCE. 307 trine which Christ, our Sovereign Master and Lord, has recommended to us in the last clause of the present Gospel. They brought to Christ a woman taken in open sin, that the Lord, as the interpreter of the law, might sentence her. And what was the sentence ? It was that which might have been looked for from the mercy and loving-kindness of a God Who became Man, for the sake of men. He confounded the accusers by showing them their own sin, because God only knows how to deliver one by accusing another; and after having absolved the sinful woman from that crime of which she was accused, and from all her guilt, he set forth to us a brief, marvellous, and divine document, with which he consoled her and sent her away: Jam amplius noli peccare — Go, and sin no more. 3. This is that which Christ recommended to that happy sinner, in whose marvellous history is represented to us, with great propriety, the sacramental judgment to which we are all called or cited within the peremptory term of these forty days. We are all sinners, and are all under obligation at this holy time to present our- selves in person, and not by deputy, before that sacred tribunal, where Christ Himself is Judge, and presides invisibly. There we, ourselves the culprits, and our- selves the accusers, confess of our own accord all our sins ; and if we do it with the true detestation and re- pentance which we owe to a God infinitely good and infinitely offended, the same Lord, Who to-day wrote down the sins of the accusers, blots out ours from His book ; receives us into the arms of His mercy, entirely pardoned, totally absolved, and sets us again in His grace. This is the most blessed state to which, by 308 ANTONIO VIEYRA. virtue of the Sacrament of Penance, all those are res- tored who receive it worthily ; as was the woman in the Gospel, when she heard from the month of the Re- deemer, Neither do I condemn thee. But since abso- lution and grace, though they set us free from the guilt of past, do not secure us from the danger of future sin, — in consideration of the great risk lest we should again become sick after we have been healed, and again fall after we have been lifted up, — the Divine Word advises and counsels us, exhorting all and each, as the sinful woman of old, Go, and sin no more — Jam amplius noli peccare. The intention to repent at some indefinite time an inducement to remain in sin. 15. The third motive with which man renders it easy to himself to continue in, and to multiply, sin, is the in- tention of future repentance. " I" says the sinner, " am sinning, and will sin ; yes, but not with the reso- lution of persevering always in sin : on the contrary, with a resolution and firm determination of hereafter repenting and grieving with my whole heart for that which I now do." This is the supposition under which every man who believes in the next world justifies him- self in sinning ; and so it has been excellently declared by one well experienced in sin, and much more in re- pentance. 16. He hath conceived sorrow , and brought forth ungod- liness .... but that which is conceived and that which is born are always of the same kind. If a man was born, a man was conceived ; if a lion was born, a lion THE DANGER OF DEFERRING REPENTANCE. 309 was conceived ; if a monster was born, — and all sin is a monster, — a monster was conceived. Why, then, when David asserts, He hath brought forth ungodliness, why does he not speak consistently, He hath conceived ungod- liness? Because this is the method of reasoning by which a man who has any faith brings himself to sin. He first conceives sorrow, he then brings forth ungod- liness; he first determines on future repentance, and then, on this determination, as upon a document of licence and immunity from punishment, he then sins boldly, and without fear. The Christian who is a sinner knows well that sin destroys the soul, and condemns it to hell ; but, flattered and conquered by his lusts, as if he were excusing himself to his own soul, and so making all safe, he speaks thus within himself: My soul, I know well that I am destroying and condemning thee ; but if I destroy thee and condemn thee with sin now, I will raise thee up and deliver thee with repentance hereafter. Concepit dolorem, et peperit iniquitatem. 17. This is that compact or alliance, ill-considered and worse understood, which, according to the Prophet Isaiah, men make with death and with hell. Hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men that rule this people which is in Jerusalem : because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement. .... Let us see the conditions of this covenant. That which men may fear, and which all prudent men do fear, is, that dying in sin, they may enter into hell : and therefore the contract or covenant which they make with the devil is on this very subject. By this contract the devil promises them that, before their death, they shall have time to fulfil their resolutions, and to grieve and to 310 ANTONIO VIEYRA. repent for their sin. Furthermore, he assures them that they shall never have their portion in hell, because every one who truly repents of his sin before his death is delivered from hell. If, then, these conditions are so advantageous to man and so profitless to Satan, how is it that he, cunning and wise as he is, enters so easily into the compact ? Because he that is deceived by it, and utterly ruined, is none other than man himself. The system of these proceedings of Satan, in his con- tracts with man, says S. Basil, is a condition on our part that we should give him the present, and with a promise on his part that he will give us the future. You sin now ; you will repent hereafter : and as the present is easy and certain, and the future is contingent and difn-' cult, it follows that now, in time of repentance, all men sin, and hereafter, which is the time of account, few or none will repent 19. But let us suppose this covenant made with hell : we will descend thither, and see how it is kept. Is there, in this infernal prison — is there, in this dark dungeon — any man who has been a Christian ? Many. Answer me, any miserable soul, if you were a Christian ? Yes, and are one still, since the character impressed by Baptism on the soul can never be obliterated, — if you were and are a Christian, and believed all that holy mother Church believes, how was it that you did not profit by her faith and by her sacraments ? How was it that you did not take warning by the doctrine and examples of the Gospel which you heard so often? — how, in short, that you damned yourself? By my sins. And did you not know that sins — nay, that only one sin — could bring you to hell ? I knew this well, but I also knew that THE SIN WHICH FILLS UP THE MEASURE OF GUILT. 311 true repentance suffices to obtain pardon from God. Because I knew this, as often as I resolved to sin, I made a strong resolution that I would hereafter repent. If, then, you made so many resolutions of repentance, why did you not repent ? Because here is the deceit which has brought us all to this place. These two, who are in flames at my side, were the two brothers Hophni and Phinehas, sons of Eli, the chief priest ; and, as such, well instructed in all the mysteries of the faith and of salvation. Their father blamed them, and exhorted them to amend their lives, and to repent of their sins ; and they replied, When we grow old, then will be the time for re- pentance. But death came before their hereafter, and their resolutions were scattered to the wind, and their souls descended into hell. Here they have been burning for these two thousand seven hundred years, and will burn, and so shall I also with them, because my guilt is the same as theirs. 20. Christians, let us take warning from this soul, and let us place no dependence in the like resolutions. When the resolution of repentance is joined with the determination to sin, it is neither repentance nor reso- lution ; for the determination to sin contradicts the re- solution to repent, and the present guilt destroys the future repentance That there is a certain amount of sin which fills up the measure of a man f s guilt. 29. For the foundation of all that is to follow, we must know and be convinced that God, in His Divine Mind, has appointed a certain measure to the sins of every 312 ANTONIO VIEYRA. man, which, while it is not yet full, may be consistent with the hope of pardon ; but after it has once been ful- filled, there is no longer any remedy. The first time that God revealed this secret of His providence and justice, was with respect to the sins of kingdoms, repub- lics, and cities. He had promised Abraham that to him and to his seed He would give the land of the Amo- rites; but not at once: there must be an interval of many years. In the fourth generation they shall come hither again, for the iniquity of the Amor it es is not yet full. And this was one of the reasons why the children of Israel journeyed for so long a time in the wilderness, before they crossed the river Jordan ; in order that, in the meanwhile, the measure of the sins of the Amorites might be filled up. This also was the sense in which Christ our Lord spoke to the Scribes and to the Pha- risees, Fill ye up, then, the measure of your fathers ; be- cause in political bodies such as our states, which endure through many lives, the sins of fathers, children, and grandchildren all concur to fill up the measure 33. God most manifestly teaches and declares, says Augustine, that to each man He has appointed a certain amount or number of sins ; that, while it is not yet full and consummated, He waits, that we may be converted ; but, as soon as the measure is full, and the number has reached its limit, then God waits no longer, and con- demnation, without remedy, follows 34 Nor is there any difficulty in the con- sideration that this measure of sin is greater for one man and less for another ; for this very fact, which to our weak understanding might appear injustice, in the wise decrees of Divine Providence is the highest justice. PILLING UP THE MEASURE OF SIN. 318 If not, answer me this. God also sets a certain measure to the days of each man's life. Whence David says : Behold, Thou hast made my days as it were a span long. And this measure is so certain and determined, that, when its last day is come, there is no further escape. As Job speaks : Thou hast set them their bounds, which they cannot pass. Since, then, no one thinks it strange, or complains that the measure of one man's days is so much less than that of another's, much less should it seem strange that the measure of sin should also be un- equal, especially when we consider that one, and that the very first, sin is enough to cause God, if He judged us according to strict justice, to cast us into hell. The reason is the supreme dominion of God, Who is equally the Author of grace and of nature ; and thus, since, so far as He is the Author of nature, He can limit life to a certain number of days, without injustice to the indivi- dual man, so, without injustice to the same man, can He limit His pardon to a certain number of sins. Whence it follows, as that day which fills up the number of all our days is necessarily the last, and when it has arrived, die you must, — so, in like manner, that sin which has filled up the number of your sins is also the last ; and, once committed, it leaves you no escape from the condemnation, because there is no longer any place for pardon. 35. Hear what God says by the mouth of the Prophet Amos : Thus saith the Lord ; for three transgressions of Judah, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof : for three transgressions of Israel, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof. It is as if He said : They committed the first sin, and I pardoned 314 ANTONIO VIEYRA. them; they committed the second, and I pardoned them ; they committed the third, and I also pardoned them : hnt because they committed the fourth, I will pardon them no more. What ! does God, Whose mercies are infinite, forgive no more than three sins ? Surely He does. He forgives three hundred, He for- gives three thousand ; and, if the sinner repents with all his heart, He will forgive three millions. But in these texts a certain is put for an uncertain number, in order that, by particular example, the meaning may be made more clear. Taking four, therefore, as the final mea- sure of sin, God says that He will pardon the first time, the second time, and the third time; but that, after the fourth sin, there is no more place for conversion or for pardon ; because the fourth sin is in this case that which fills up the measure, and the sin which fills up the measure is without remedy and without forgiveness. 36. Hence we may easily understand a most difficult passage in the first epistle of S. John ; and it is a proof of that which I assert. The words of the holy Apostle, called above all others the Divine, are these : If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death ; I do not say that ye shall pray for it. The difficulty of this text is so great, that expositors and theologians are divided into more than fifteen opinions as to what this sin is which is called to death ; and for which we are not to pray, as being incapable of pardon, irremissible, remediless. Some say that it is the sin of murder ; others, that of adultery ; and S. Augustine and Bede do not hesitate to affirm that it is that of envy. But because these offences do not seem PILLING UP THE MEASURE OP SIN. 315 so enormously great, others, ascending higher, say that it is the sin of blasphemy ; others, that of infidelity ; others, that of apostacy ; others, that of obstinacy ; and others, without defining the species, say -in general that it is any prodigious crime. But, against all these opinions, it is to be held for certain, that there is no sin, howso- ever most grievous it may be, that God does not pardon. It is no particular crime, nothing of its own nature more enormous than any mortal sin, — nay, and it may be of far lighter dye than some of the above-named ; it is the last ; it is that which fills up the measure appointed to every man; and S. John, therefore, with propriety, calls it a sin unto death, — a sin which, without remedy, delivers the soul to eternal destruction. For although every mortal sin slays the soul, it may be raised up again, and restored to life subsequently to others, but not subse- quently to this. 37. Having laid down, then, this so certain truth, and this proceeding of Providence and Divine justice, so many times revealed by God Himself; see, now, if there be any motive for each of us, more efficacious, more powerful, and more terrible, why a man who has com- mon sense, and a Christian who has faith, should not only most firmlyresolve against sin, but should not even be able to dare to think of its commission : Go, and sin no more. Other motives leave some hope after sin : this uproots it and cuts it off so completely, that only he who is re- solved on damnation, and determined to go to hell, can again dare to sin. For if I know that God has ap- pointed me a certain number, and marked me out a cer- tain measure of sins ; and if I know that, the number completed, and the measure filled, there is no more place p2 316 ANTONIO VIEYRA. for repentance, who can assure me that the sin which I am now meditating may not be the last, and that which alone is wanting to make my measure complete ? You will say, that as it may be, so it may also not be, the last. What then ? What then ? As if I had intended to finish my sermon here, and to dismiss you with this question. You shall hear, to impress you more, what God does at that very point of time in which a man, by his last sin, fills up his number. 38. That which God then does is either to slay the sinner at once, or to leave him and forsake him for ever. See how each alternative is equally terrible : either to go to hell at once, or to go some time hence ; but to go infallibly. As to the first : that God instantly deprives the sinner of his life, it is the express declaration of S. Augustine. . . . Thus it happened to King Belshazzar, whose sentence of death appeared to him written on the wall while he was at the banquet. The first word was, He hath numbered ; for God had counted up the sins of Belshazzar ; and, as in that night, and in that hour, he committed the last sin which accomplished the number which God had determined to allow him, in that very hour came forth the fingers of a man's hand, and wrote ; and in that night was Belshazzar, King of the Chaldeans, slain. 39. How many times this is seen, though not under- stood around us ! This very night such an one has been murdered, going from such a place to such another place ; and how many nights had he gone and returned in safety ? Many. Why, then, was he not slain then, but now ? His offences against God and his sins against man were the same, and equally open ; why, then, did God bear with them — why did not man avenge them — FILLING UP THE MEASURE OF SIN. 317 till this day and till this hour ? Because his antecedent sins went on filling up his measure ; that of this day and this hour made it absolutely complete. The same thing happens in sudden deaths and unexpected accidents, though they may appear natural, and in other disasters which seem fortuitous ; they, for the most part, are the effect and execution of the last sin, which, joining itself to the others, and heaped up upon them, accomplishes the measure Job says that the sinner shall die before he fulfils his day ; and the cause is no other but this, that he accomplishes all his sins before he has accomplished all his years. And who, then, can assure you, who at this day and at this hour are living and in health, that the first sin which you determine to com- mit shall not also be your last ? That Israelite and that Midianitish woman, whom the zeal of Phinehas slew in actual sin, very little thought that in that act their life would end, as has happened to many others. But as that sin alone was wanting to fill the measure of both, life and sin and all were concluded together ; to the end that all may fear and tremble to sin again, not knowing whether that sin may not be their last. 40. But suppose that life is not ended at the same moment in which the last sin is committed, — which was the other alternative, — those who have filled up their measure are in no whit better a condition ; because, see- ing that they are left by God, the days which remain to them serve no other purpose but to increase their damnation. Woe to them when I depart from them, says God by the Prophet Hosea. 1 Oh, if men could under- stand the full meaning of a Woe ! pronounced by God ! 1 Hosea ix. 12. 318 ANTONIO VIEYRA. What a high, what a deep woe it is ! so high, that it reaches to heaven, whence the sinner is cast out, and of which he is disinherited for ever ; so deep, that it pene- trates even to the abysses of hell, where the sinner will be thrown and reserved under chains, to burn as long as God is God. To this woe infinite woes will reply through all eternity ; but woes of grief without repent- ance, woes of torment without alleviation, woes of despair without remedy. Before this, one woe of true contrition would have sufficed, and God would have pardoned every sin ; but after the measure is full, and the soul is left by God, these woes shall no longer have any place, or shall be without fruit, because no one can be con- verted to God without God. How can the soul return to God, if He has already left it? .... S. Isidore says : When God, by His secret and just judgments, leaves a soul, immediately the devil takes possession of it for its eternal perdition; because, to say that God leaves it, is to say that it is delivered to Satan 42. This is that most miserable estate of final impeni- tence, consummated in the next life, but commenced in this. Oh, how many condemned men are still living and walking among us, not absolutely because they could not, but because they will not, be converted ! They are bound by the sins of which they have filled up the measure. They think that they shall loose them- selves from the last, as perhaps they have loosed them- selves from others ; but they are deceived by their own fancy, as Samson was. Three times Samson broke the fetters with which the Philistines sought to bind him ; but when the fourth time came, and his hair had been cut off, Scripture notes that he awoke and said, / will go FILLING UP THE MEASURE OF SIN. 319 out as at other times before, and shake myself ; and he wist not that the Lord was departed from him. Because God had left Samson, he loosed himself no more ; the Philis- tines took him, and put out his eyes, and made him grind in the prison. The same thing happens to the soul when left by God : the devils seize it and take pos- session of it ; they put out its eyes, so that it remains blind, obstinate, and impenitent ; and they take it to grind in the mill of hell 45. Oh, would to the Divine Majesty and mercy that this heavenly lesson might be so imprinted on — might so penetrate into — our souls, that from this hour, from this moment, we might most constantly resolve never to sin again, neither for advantage, nor pleasure, nor fear, nor any accident or event of life or death ! See who it is that tells you to sin, and who it is that tells you not to sin. That which tells you to sin may be the world, may be the devil, may be the flesh; three capital enemies, who only desire and contrive your eternal condemnation. And He That tells you not to sin is that same God Who, after giving you your exist- ence, made Himself Man for love of you, — is that God and Man Who, only that He might save you and make you eternally blessed, shrank not from suffering so many torments and insults, and from dying, nailed upon a Cross. This so mighty Lord, this so wise Counsellor, this so true and so faithful friend — He it is Who tells you not to sin : Jam amplius noli peccare. 46. Consider well these words of the most loving Jesus, that they are not only sufficient to persuade, but also to soften any man that has a heart : Jam amplius : no more. Let it suffice, O Christian, redeemed with My 320 ANTONIO VIEYRA. own Blood, let it suffice that thou hast already sinned so much; let it suffice that thou hast lived without Lord, without reason, without conscience, without soul. Let that suffice in which thou hast already offended Me ; let that suffice in which thou hast already despised Me ; let that suffice in which thou hast already crucified Me. If thou hast no compassion on Me, at least have com- passion on thyself ; I say it out of love to thee. If it is not enough that I command thee to sin no more, I in- treat thee, I beseech thee, I set forth to thee not only My Will, but I invoke all the powers of thine own: Noli, noli peccare. In thy hand, in thy power, in thy will, rests thine own salvation, if thou desirest it; that thou mayest see what blindness, what folly, what un- happiness, what misery, what eternal confusion, what irremediable grief will be thine, if, by thine own choice, and for the sake of not resisting a sin, thou condemnest thyself. If thou wert already in hell, whither thou art so furiously running, and where thou wouldst now be burning if I had not restrained My justice, what would be thy condition now ? And if at this very hour I were to offer thee deliverance from hell, and the kingdom of heaven, only on the condition that thou wouldst never sin again, what wouldst thou do, and what thanks wouldst thou render ? If, then, through My mercy and loving kindness, thou art still in life, why not, in all earnestness and for ever, take the same resolution? Why not deliver thyself from eternal evil, and secure eternal good ? Why not gain the crown and the king- dom of heaven, and make thyself for ever blessed ? And all this by having a determination so excellent, so useful, yes, and so delightful, as that of never sinning again. THE SERMON TO THE FISHES. 321 Put an end, put an end to being thine own enemy ; put an end to offending Him Who loves thee so dearly ; put an end to choosing hell without Me, rather than glory with Me : Jam amplius noli peccare. THE SEEMON TO THE FISHES. (Vol. ii. page 311.) [Maranhao, at the time when this celebrated sermon was preached, June 14, 1654, was probably the most scandalously demoralised city of any place professedly inhabited by Christians. The tales which are related of the abyss of vice into which it had fallen, would be incredible, were they not supported by the authority of Portuguese historians, as well as divines. It was to such an audience that their favourite and popular preacher appealed in the sermon of which some extracts follow. Its bitter irony strongly resembles that of Swift ; and it is by far the most remarkable instance which Yieyra has left, of his powers of satire : unless the work on the " Art of Thieving," which is commonly attributed to him, be indeed his. Three days after delivering this sermon, the preacher embarked secretly for Portugal, in order to procure assistance for the Missions of Brazil, and to represent the hardships under which the natives suffered. It is thus that his biographer, Father Andre de Barros, speaks of this sermon (page 148.) " The monsoon at length ar- rived; and three days before setting sail for Portugal, this oracle of preachers delivered that divine sermon of S. Antony, in which, by a most ingenious allegory, speaking to the fishes, he preached to men truths not less important than ill-received by that populace, ungrateful for so many labours." The text was, Ye are the salt of the earth.~\ 333. If the Church wishes that we should preach about S. Antony from the Gospel for the day, she should give us another. Ye are the salt of the earth. A very good text for other holy doctors,, but very short of what it ought to be with respect to S. Antony. Other holy doctors of the Church were the salt of the earth; S. Antony was the salt of the earth, and the salt of the sea p3 322 ANTONIO VIEYRA. also. This is the subject on which I had determined to preach to-day. But I have for a long time felt that on the Festivals of Saints it is better to preach like them, than to preach of them,, — the more so because my doctrine, let it be what it may, has here had a fate so much re- sembling that of S. Antony at Rimini, that it may as well imitate him in everything. Many a time I have preached to you in this church and in others ; morning and evening ; day and night : always with doctrine very clear, very solid, very true, and which was the most ne- cessary and important to this land, for the amendment and reformation of the vices which corrupt it. The fruit which I have collected from this doctrine, and whether the earth has received the salt, or has had nothing to do with it, you know, and I, for your sakes, grieve. This laid down, I wish to-day, in imitation of S. Antony, to turn from the earth to the sea, and, since men will not profit by my sermons, to preach to the fishes. The sea is so near that they will hear me easily. The rest may let this sermon alone, since it has nothing to do with them 334. What ! and are we to preach to-day to the fishes ? No audience can be worse. At least fishes have two good qualities as hearers — they can hear, and they cannot speak. One thing only might discourage the preacher, — that fishes are a kind of race who cannot be converted. But this circumstance is here so very ordinary, that from custom one feels it no longer. For this cause, I shall not speak to-day of heaven or of hell ; and thus this sermon will be less gloomy than mine are usually considered, from putting men continually in remem- brance of these two ends. . / ■ •JU THE SERMON TO THE FISHES. 323 335. Ye are the salt of the earth. You are to under- stand, fishes and brethren, that the salt, — like yourselves, the child of the sea, — has two qualities which are expe- rienced in your own selves. To preserve that which is whole, and to keep that which might corrupt from cor- ruption. These same qualities are to be found in the sermons of your preacher, S. Antony, as they ought to be in those of all preachers. One is to praise virtue ; the other, to reprehend vice : to praise virtue, for the sake of preserving it ; to reprehend vice, for the sake of preserving from it. And do not think that this pertains to men only ; it is also applicable to fishes. The great doctor of the Church, S. Basil, says so/ in these words : We have not only to blame and to find fault with fishes, but there are some qualities in them which are worthy of our imitation. When Christ compared His Church to a fishing-net, He says that the fishermen, taking the fishes, gathered the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. And where there are good and bad, there we have an opportunity of praising and blaming. Having said thus much, in order that I may proceed in a clear manner, I shall divide your sermon, fishes, into two parts : in the first, I shall praise your virtues ; in the second, I shall blame your vices 336. To begin, then, with your praises, fishes and brethren. I might very well tell you that, of all living and sensitive creatures, you were the first which God created. He made you before the fowls of the air ; He made you before the beasts of the earth ;, He made you before man himself. God gave to man the monarchy and dominion over all the animals of the three elements, and in the charter in which He honoured him with these 324 ANTONIO VIEYRA. powers, fishes are the first named. Let them have domi- nion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle. Among all animals, fishes are the most numerous and the largest For this reason, Moses, the chronicler of the creation, while he does not mention the name of any other animals, names a fish only. God created great whales. And the three musi- cians of the furnace of Babylon, brought forward in their song the name of the same fish, with especial honour, O ye whales .... bless ye the Lord. These and other praises, then, and other excellencies of your creation and greatness, I might well, O fishes, set before you ; but such a matter is only fit for an audience of men who permit themselves to be carried away by these vanities, and is, also, only suited to those places where adulation is allowed, and not in the pulpit. 337 Great praise do ye merit, O fishes, for the respect and devotion which ye have had to the preacher of the Word of God ; and so much the more, because ye did not exhibit it once only. 1 Jonah went as a preacher of the same God, and was on board a ship when that great tempest arose. How did men then treat him, and how did fishes treat him ? Men cast him into the sea, to be eaten by fishes ; and the fish which swallowed him carried him to the shores of Nineveh, that he might there preach, and save those men. Is it possible that fishes should assist in the salvation of men, and that men should cast into the sea the ministers of salvation ? Behold, fishes — and avoid vain-glory — how much better are ye than men 1 Vieyra has just been relating the legend of 8. Antony's sermon to the fishes. THE SERMON TO THE FISHES. 325 338 Aristotle, speaking of fishes, says, that they alone, among all animals, can neither be tamed nor domesticated There they lire, in their seas and rivers; there they die in their fountains; there they hide themselves in their grottos : and none among them is so large as to trust man, or so small as not to avoid him. Authors usually condemn this characteristic of fishes, and attribute it to their little docility, or exceed- ing brutishness ; but I am of a very different opinion. I do not condemn — on the contrary, I very much praise — this their retirement ; and it seems to me that if it were not natural to them, it would be a proof of their prudence. Fishes, by how much the further from men, by so much the better. Hate conversation and familiarity with them. God preserve you from it ! If the beasts of the earth and the birds of the air choose to be man's fami- liars, let them do it and welcome : it is at their own ex- pense. Let the nightingale sing to man : but it must be in her cage. Let the parrot talk to him : but it must be with her chain. Let the hawk go to the chase with him : but it must be in her jesses. Let the ape play the buffoon for him : but it must be with his ring. Let the dog content himself with gnawing his bone : but he must be dragged where he likes not, by his collar. .... 339. In the time of Noah happened that flood which covered and drowned the world; and of all animals, which fared the best ? Of lions, only two escaped — a lion and a lioness ; and so of other beasts. Of eagles, two only escaped, the male and the female ; and so of other birds. And of the fishes ? All escaped : nay, and not only all escaped, but were much more at liberty than be- fore ; because the land and the sea were then all sea. 326 ANTONIO VIEYRA. If, then, in that universal chastisement all the beasts of the earth and all the birds died, why did not the fishes also die? S. Ambrose says, because the other animals, as more domestic, and more nearly allied, had greater communication with men ; the fishes lived at a distance, and retired from them See, fishes, of how great benefit it is to live at a distance from men. A great philosopher, being asked which was the best country in the world, replied, " That which has the largest portion of desert : because it has men at the greatest distance." If S. Antony preached this, also, to you, and if this was one of the benefits for which he exhorted you to give thanks to God, he might well have asserted with respect to himself, that, the more he sought God, the more he fled from man 343. I wish to finish this discourse of the praises and virtues of fishes, with an account of one, — I know not whether he were a hearer of S. Antony, and learnt from him to preach. As I was sailing hence to Para, I saw a vast quantity of fish, of a kind which I had never before observed, leaping up every now and then from the water. They told me that the Portuguese sailors called them Four-eyes. I wished, therefore, to investigate for myself the reason of this name, and I found that in real truth they have four eyes, each perfect and entire. "Give thanks to God," I said, " and praise the liberality of His Divine providence : for to eagles, which are the lynxes of the air, and to lynxes, which are the eagles of the earth, He has given but two ; and to you, little fish, He has given four." But I soon found something else more worthy of wonder, in the circumstance, and in the place. So many instruments of vision in a worm of the sea, on THE SERMON TO THE FISHES. 327 the very shores of those vast lands where God has per- mitted for so many ages that so many thousands of hea- then should be living in blindness. Oh, how deep and incomprehensible are the reasons of God, and how pro- found is the abyss of His judgments ! 344. Philosophizing, then, on the natural cause of this providence, I noticed that those four eyes were thrown a little out of the ordinary place, and each pair joined like the two parts of an hour-glass, in such a way that those at the part above looked directly up, and those at the part below, looked directly down. And the cause of this new architecture is, because these little fish, which live on the surface of the water, are not only persecuted by other and greater fish, but also by a great quantity of maritime birds, which dwell in those bays ; and, as they have enemies in the sea, and enemies in the air, nature has doubled their sentinels, and has given them two eyes to be on their watch against the birds, and two others, to be on their watch against the fish This is the sermon which that fish preached to me ; teaching me that if I have faith, and the use of reason, I ought to look nowhere but directly up, or directly down ; up, considering that there is a heaven, and down, remem- bering that there is a hell. It alleged no passage of Scripture in proof of the doctrine, but it taught me what David meant by one which I had not previously understood, Turn away mine eyes, lest they behold vanity. What ! could not David turn his own eyes in any direc- tion he pleased — in the way which he wished? No. He wished to turn his eyes in such a manner that they could not behold vanity, and this he could not do in the present world, wherever he turned them, because all is 328 ANTONIO VIEYRA. vanity. In order, therefore, that they might not behold vanity, God had to turn them in such a manner, that they should only look to the other world in both its hemispheres And this is the favour which that great prophet asked of God, and this is the doctrine which that very little fish preached to me 347. But before you depart, as you have heard your praises, hear also that which I have to blame. It will serve to make you ashamed, though you have not the power of amendment. The first thing which does not edify me in you, fishes, is, that you eat one another. A great scandal in itself, but the circumstances make it worse. You not only eat one another, but the great eat the little. If the contrary were the case, the evil would be less. If the little ate the great, one would suffice for many ; but as the great eat the little, a hundred — nay, and a thousand — do not suffice for one S. Au- gustine, who preached to men, in order to set forth the atrocity of this scandal, pointed it out to them in fishes ; and I, who preach to the fish, in order to show how abominable is the custom, wish that you should look at men. Look, fishes, from the sea to the land. No, no, it is not that way that I mean. Are you turning your eyes to the forests and to the interior ? Here, here ! it is to the city you must look. Do you think that it is only the Tarpongas that eat each other? The shambles here are much larger; white men eat each other far more. . . . 348. Is any one of them dead ? See how they all fall upon the miserable man, to tear him in pieces and to eat him. His heirs devour him; his legatees devour him; his executors devour him; his creditors devour THE SERMON TO THE FISHES. 329 him ; the commissioners of orphans, of the dead, and of the absent devour him ; the physician who helped to kill him devours him ; his wife herself devours him., when she gives him for a shroud the oldest sheet in the house ; he is devoured by the grave-digger ; by the bell-ringer ; by those that sing as they carry him to the grave : in fine, the poor dead man is not yet swallowed up by the earth, but he is already swallowed up by its inhabitants 356. Descending to particulars, I will now tell you, fishes, the complaint which I have to make against some individuals among you. And beginning by this coast of ours, on the same day that I first arrived here, the bully-fish excited at once my laughter and my indigna- tion. Is it possible that you, being such tiny fishes, can be the bullies of the sea ? . . . . Tell me, why does not the sword-fish bully ? Because, ordinarily, he that has a long sword, has a short tongue. This is not a general rule : but it is a general rule that God will not endure boasters, and that He has a particular care to beat down and to humble those who are guilty of boast- ing. S. Peter — with whom some of your ancestors were very well acquainted — had so good a sword, that he ventured by himself to attack a whole army of Roman soldiers ; and if Cheist had not commanded him to put it up in its sheath, I promise you he would have cut off more ears than that of Malchus. Notwithstanding, what happened to him the same night? Peter had vaunted and boasted himself that though all should lose their courage, he himself would be constant unto death, if it were necessary; while, on the. contrary, the truth was, that he lost his courage more than any one else ; and the voice of one wretched woman made him tremble 330 ANTONIO VIEYRA. and deny. ..... Thus it is : to boast much before the occasion, is a sure proof of sleeping when the occasion comes. What think you of it, fishes and brethren ? If this happened to the greatest fisher that ever was, what may happen to the least fish ? . . . . 362. With the flying-fish, I must also have a word : and my complaint is not a trifling one. Tell me — did not God make you fish ? and why, then, do you set up to become birds ? God made the sea for you, and the air for them. Content yourselves with the sea, and with swimming, and do not attempt to fly You seek to be better than other fishes ; and for this reason you are worse off than any. Other fishes of the deep are taken with the hook, or the net ; you are taken without hook or net, by your own presumption, and your own caprice. The ship pursues its course ; the mariners are sleeping ; and the flying-fish touches the sail, or the rigging, and falls on to the deck. Other fishes are killed by hunger, or deceived by the bait ; the flying-fish is killed by the vain desire of flying, and his bait is the wind. How much better it were to dive beneath the keel, and to live, than to fly above the yards, and to die ! It is a great proof of ambition that, the sea being so immense, the whole ocean does not suffice to so small a fish, but he must needs desire a larger element. But see, fishes, the chastisement of ambition. The flying-fish was made by God a fish ; he desired to be a bird : and God per- mits he should have the perils of a fish, and besides that, those of a bird 363. From this example, fishes, keep, all of you, this truth in mind. He that desires more than befits him, loses that which he desires, and that which he has. He THE SERMON TO THE FISHES. 331 that can swim, and desires to fly, the time will come when he shall neither fly nor swim 369. With this last remark I bid you farewell, or allow you to bid me farewell, my fishes. And that in departing, you may receive some consolation from this sermon (for I know not when you will hear another), I wish to remove from you a very ancient grievance under which you have lain from the time that the book of Le- viticus was published. In the Ecclesiastical law, God chose certain animals which should be sacrificed to Him ; but they were all, either beasts of the earth or birds — fishes being totally excluded from these sacrifices. Who doubts that this universal exclusion would be the cause of great disquietude and sorrow to all the in- habitants of so noble an element which affords the matter for the first Sacrament ? The principal motive for the exclusion of fishes, was this : Other animals can go alive to the sacrifice, but fishes, not so; and God desires not that any dead thing should be offered to Him, or should approach to His Altar. This point would be very important and necessary to men, if I were preaching to them. O, how many souls approach to that Altar in a state of death, because they approach, and are without a fear of approaching, in mortal sin. Fishes, give great thanks to God, that He has delivered you from this peril ; far better is it not to approach to the sacrifice, than to approach to it in a state of death. . . 371. O ye whales, and all that move in the waters, bless ye the Lord. Praise God, O fishes, both small and great ; separate yourselves in two choirs and praise Him with one accord. Praise God, because He has created you in such numbers; because He has dis- 332 ANTONIO VIEYRA. tinguished you in so many species; because He has invested you with such variety and beauty; because He has furnished you with all the instruments neces- sary to life ; because He has given you an element so large and so pure; praise God, Who coming into this world, lived amongst you, and called to Him those who lived with you and of you ; praise God Who sustains you, praise God Who preserves you, praise God Who multiplies you ; praise God finally, by serving and sus- taining man, which is the end to which He created you ; and as at the beginning He gave you His blessing, so may He bestow it on you now. Amen. As you are not capable of grace nor of glory, so your sermon neither ends with grace nor with glory. THE NECESSITY OF A PEEACHEK'S MAKING HIMSELF INTELLIGIBLE. (Vol. i. page 41.) Let us learn from the heaven the way in which we are to arrange our matter and our words. How ought our words to be ? Like the stars. The stars are very distinct and very clear. So should be the style of ser- mons ; very clear and very distinct. And have no fear, lest on this account it should appear low and vulgar ; the stars, clear and distinct as they are, are most lofty. Style may be very clear and very lofty ; so clear that those who are ignorant may understand it ; and so lofty that those who are wise, may have much to find out in THE " CULTIVATED STYLE f* 333 it. The countryman finds in the stars rules for his husbandry, the mariner for his navigation, and the ma- thematician for his observations and judgments. So that the countryman and the sailor who can neither read nor write, understand the stars : and the mathe- matician who has read every book that was ever written, does not obtain to the complete understanding of the constellations. So a sermon might be; stars that all can see, and very few can measure. Yes, Father ; but this way of preaching is not ' e the cultivated style." I wish it were. This unfortunate style which is now-a-days the fashion, is called culti- vated by those who wish to honour it, and obscure, by those who condemn it. But even the latter do it too much honour Is it possible that we are Portu- guese, and hear a preacher in Portuguese, and cannot understand what he means ? As there is a lexicon for Greek and a Calepinus for Latin, so we want a voca- bulary for the pulpit. I could wish one, at least, for proper names ; for our cultivated preachers have unbap- tized the saints, and every author whom they quote is an enigma. Thus they speak of the Penitent Sceptre ; thus of the Evangelistic Apelles ; thus of the Eagle of Africa, of the Honeycomb of Clairvaux, of the Purple of Beth- lehem, of the Mouth of Gold. And this they call quoting ! They say that the Penitent Sceptre means David ; as if no other sceptre ever felt penitence : that the Evangelistic Apelles is S. Luke; the Honeycomb of Clairvaux, S. Bernard; the Eagle of Africa, S. Augus- tine; the Purple of Bethlehem, S. Jerome; the Mouth of Gold, S. Chrysostom. But a man might take it another way, and think that the Purple of Bethlehem 334 ANTONIO VIEYRA. was Herod ; the Eagle of Africa, Scipio ; the Mouth of Gold, Midas. If there were an advocate who thus quoted Bartholus or Baldus, would you trust your cause in. his hands? If there were a man who thus spoke in conversation, would you not consider him a fool ? That, then, which is folly in conversation, why should it be wisdom in the pulpit ? THAT PEEACHEES SHOULD TAKE THE SENSE AS WELL AS THE WOEDS OF SCEIPTUEE. In conclusion ; the cause, then, that preachers bring forth so little fruit by means of the Word of God, is neither the circumstance of the person, qui seminat ; nor that of style, seminare : nor that of matter, semen ; nor that of science, suum ; nor that of voice, clamabat. Moses had a weak voice; Amos had a rustic style; Solomon 1 multiplied and varied his subjects; Balaam set no good example of life, his animal had no wisdom ; and yet, all these, when they spoke, persuaded and convinced. If then, none of the reasons which we have mentioned, nor all taken together, are the principal, or a sufficient, cause, why the Word of God at the present day bears so little fruit, what shall we assert the true reason to be? The verse which I took for my text tells us : The seed is the Word of God, Do you know, Christians, the reason, why so many sermons do so little good ? It is 1 The preacher has been insisting on the necessity of treating one subject only in one sermon, because the sower went forth to sow his seed, not his seeds. THE WORDS OF GOD AND THE WORD OF GOD. 335 because the words of the preachers are words, but they are not words of God. I speak of that which we or- dinarily hear. The Word of God is so powerful,, and so efficacious, that it not only brings forth fruit in good ground, but even on rocks and among thorns. But if the words of the preachers are not the Word of God, what wonder if they have not the efficacy and effect of the Word ? They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind, says the Holy Ghost. If preachers sow the wind, if that which they preach is vanity, and not the Word of God, what wonder if the Church of God reaps the whirlwind instead of the harvest ? But you may say; Father, do not the preachers of the present day preach from the Gospel and from the Holy Scriptures ? How then, can they be said, not to preach the Word of God ? Here lies the mischief. They preach words of God, but they do not preach the Word of God ; He that hath My Word, let him speak My Word faithfully, saith God by Jeremiah. The words of God preached in the sense in which God spoke them, are the Word of God ; but preached in the sense in which we please to take them, are not the Word of God, and may be the word of the devil. [Yieyra dwells at length on the misquotation of Scripture brought forward by Satan in our Lord's temptation, and then proceeds] : The same words, which, taken in the sense in which God spoke them are a defence ; taken in the sense in which God did not speak them, are a temptation. And this was the temptation with which the devil then en- deavoured to overthrow Christ, and with which, at the present day, he carries on the same war against Him from the pinnacle of the Temple. The pinnacle 326 ANTONIO VIEYRA. of the Temple is the pulpit, because it is the loftiest place in it. The devil tempted Christ in the de- sert, in the mountain, in the Temple; in the desert with appetite, in the mountain with ambition, in the Temple with Scripture ill-applied; and this is the temptation from which the Church at the present time suffers most, and which, in many parts, has overthrown her faith, though Christ stood firm And then to see the audience nodding their heads in approba- tion of such interpretations, when they should rather dash them against the wall at hearing them ! Verily, I know not at which I am most terrified, our conceits, or your applauses. c O how well the preacher has spoken/ So it is; but what has he spoken? One false testimony against the text, another against the saint, and another against the meaning of both. And to think that the world should be converted with false testimonies from the Word of God ! If any one thinks this censure exaggerated, let him listen. Christ was accused before Caiaphas; and S. Matthew says, that at the last came two false witnesses : novissime venerunt duo falsi testes. These witnesses related that they had heard Christ say, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it again. If we read the Evange- list S. John, we shall find, that Christ had in reality said the alleged words. If then, He had promised to rebuild the temple in three days, and if this were what the witnesses reported, why does the Evangelist call them false witnesses, duo falsi testes P The same S. John has given the reason. He spake of the temple of His Body They were false, because Christ had spoken in one sense, and they reported His words in THE SEED BY THE WAY-SIDE. 337 another ; and to report the words of God in a different sense from that in which He spake them, is to raise up false witness against Scripture. Ah, Lord, how many- false testimonies they raise up against Thee ! How often I hear Thee made to say that which Thou never didst say ! How often I hear it said that something is Thy Word, which is only my imagination ; for I will not exclude myself from this number One of the felicities which are reckoned among those of the present time, is, that comedies have been put an end to in Portugal ; but the fact is not so. They have not been ended, they have been changed; they have passed from the theatre into the pulpit Surely a great misery that better rules for life may be found in the verses of a profane and heathen poet, than in the sermons of a preacher who is a Christian, and often, besides being a Christian, of a religious order. S. Paul said little when he called such sermons comedies; 1 there are many sermons which are not a comedy, but a farce. 2 .... In this same pulpit preached S. Francis Xavier; in this same pulpit preached S. Francis de Borgia; and 1 2 Tim. iv. 4. They shall turn away their ears from the truth and shall be turned into fables. 2 In his description of the polished sentences and elegant expressions uttered by the preacher whose religious habit ought to show him to be dead to the world, Vieyra has a sentence which shows such remarkable power of language, that, utterly untranslatable as it is, it may be well to give the original here. "Vemos sahir da boca daquelle homem, assis naquelles trajos, hua voz muyto affectada, e muyto polida, e logo comecar com muyto desgarro, a que ? a motivar deselros : a acreditar empenhos : a requintar finezas : a lisongear precipicios : a brilhar auroras : a derreter crystaes : a desmayar jasmins : a toucar primaveras, e outras mil indignidades destas. Nao he isto farca a mais digno de riso, seno fora tanto paro chorar ?" Q 338 ANTONIO VIEYRA. I, who wear the same habit, why should I not preach their doctrine, though I want their talent ? You will tell me what has been said to me before now, and what I know by experience, that if we preach thus, the hearers will ridicule and will no longer care to listen. O good reason for a servant of Jesus Christ ! Let them ridicule, let "them not care to hear, and let us do our duty. The doctrine which they ridicule, the doctrine which they hate, that is the very doctrine which we ought to preach to them, and for this very reason; because it is the most profitable for them; because it is that which they most need. The corn which fell by the wayside, was eaten by the birds. These birds, as Christ Himself explained, are the devils which take away the Word of God from the hearts of men : Venit diabolus et toilet verbum de corde eorum. Why, then, did not the devil destroy the seed which fell among thorns, or which fell among stones, but that which fell by the wayside ? Because of this latter it is said, Conculcatum est ab hominibus. It was trodden under foot of men : and the doctrine which men tread under foot, the doctrine which men despise, this is that which the devil fears. Of other conceits, of other devices, of other subtilties which men esteem and prize, the devil makes no account; because he knows that these are not the sermons which will de- prive him of souls. But that doctrine which falls secus viam, that doctrine which appears common, secus viam, that doctrine which appears trivial, secus viam, that doc- trine which appears common-place, secus viam, that doc- trine which puts us in the road and in the highway of our salvation, which is also that on which men trample, THE SEED BY THE WAY-SIDE. 339 and which they despise, this is that which the devil fears and against which he guards himself; this is that which he endeavours to destroy and to abolish from the world. And for this very reason this is that which preachers should preach, and which hearers should de- sire. But if they do not, and if they mock at us, let us, in turn, scorn their scorn as much as we should their applause. Per infamiam et bonam famam, says S. Paul. The preacher must preach with good report and without it. But the Apostle says more than this : We must preach with fame and with infamy. To preach for the sake of fame, this is to do as the world does ; but to preach as one ought, though it be through in- famy, this is to be a preacher of Christ. Sowers of the Gospel, this should be our aim in our sermons ; not that men should be part pleased with us, but that they should be part displeased with themselves ; not that our conceits should be thought by them good, but that their own habits should be thought by them bad ; their lives, their pastimes, their ambition, and, in short, all their sins. So that they are discontented with them- selves, let them be discontented with us, and welcome. If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ, said the greatest of all preachers, S. Paul. O let us please God, and let us not care a whit for the judgment of men ! Let us remember, that in this same church, are galleries loftier than those which we see ; We are made a spectacle to God — so S. Bernard reads the passage — and to angels, and to men. Above the tribunes of kings are the tribunes of the angels, is the tribune and the tri- bunal of God Himself, Who hears us, and Who will judge us. What reckoning can a preacher give to God 340 ANTONIO VIEYRA. in the Day of Judgment ? The hearer will say ; They never told me ; but the preacher ? Va mihi, quia tacui. Let it be so no more for the love of God and of our- selves. We are at the very doors of Lent, which is the time wherein the Word of God is chiefly sown in the Church, and in which she takes up arms against vices, and let us arm ourselves against all sins, against pride, against hatred, against ambition, against envy, against covetousness, against sensuality. Let heaven see that, even on earth, it has those who stand on its side. Let hell know, that even on earth, there are those who make war against it with the Word of God. 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