Now therefore let us all beseech the Lord that, as on this day He bestowed joy upon His people, so He may bring us all with joy and peace unto that day also, and keep His people in faith and charity. Amen. SERMON III. On the holy Stephen the protomartyr, and the Conversion of blessed Paul. 1. Yesterday we celebrated the temporal Birth of our everlasting King; today we celebrate the triumphal passion of the soldier. For yesterday our King, clothed in the garment of flesh, coming forth from the palace of the virginal womb, deigned to visit the world; today the soldier, going out from the tabernacle of the body, migrated as a triumpher to heaven. The former, keeping the majesty of everlasting deity, taking on the servile girdle of flesh, entered into the field of this world to fight;
the latter, laying aside the corruptible garments of the body, ascended to reign eternally in the palace of heaven. The former descended veiled in flesh, the latter ascended crowned with laurel by his blood. The latter ascended while the Jews stoned him, because the former descended while the angels rejoiced. Glory to God in the highest (Luke 2:14) the holy angels sang yesterday, exulting; today, rejoicing, they received Stephen into their fellowship. Yesterday the Lord went forth from the womb of the Virgin; today the servant went out from the prison of the flesh. Yesterday Christ was wrapped in swaddling clothes for us; today Stephen was clothed by Him in the robe of immortality. Yesterday the narrowness of the manger bore Christ the infant; today the immensity of heaven received Stephen triumphing.
The Lord alone descended, that He might raise up many; our King humbled Himself, that He might exalt His soldiers. For He who prepared for His own body the womb of the Virgin, He Himself deigned to open heaven for His martyr. The Lord Christ did not disdain to enter the narrows of the womb, that the breadth of heaven might receive the soul of Stephen. 2. It is necessary for us, dearly beloved brethren, to acknowledge with what arms Stephen, being girded, was able to overcome the savagery of the Jews, so that he thus merited happily to triumph. For neither such virtue nor such a triumph is to be lightly esteemed. Truly he could not be fortified with cheap arms, who could not be overcome by many. For the mark of unconquered virtue shone in him, which neither feared the savagery of the raging,
nor, being subdued, succumbed to the blows of those stoning him. For to such a degree did he remain undaunted among the raging, and secure amid the torments of stones, that he confidently reproved the unbelief of the Jews, and kindly prayed for those who stoned him. What then is that kind of arms, so great and insuperable, fortified with which he might reprove the raging and not fear; not striking back at those who stoned him, but conquer by suffering; and moreover, being slain, might enter alive and crowned into the hall of the heavenly kingdom? Without doubt, hedged about by royal protection, he was in no way overcome by his adversaries: since our King, though He is the most high, came humble for us, but could not come empty.
For He brought a great largess to His soldiers, by which He not only richly enriched them, but also most invincibly strengthened them for the contest. For He brought the gift of charity, by which He might lead men to fellowship in the deity. What therefore He brought, He bestowed: nor did He lessen anything for Himself, but wondrously enriched even the poverty of His own, and Himself remained full with undiminishing treasures. 3. The charity therefore which brought Christ down from heaven to earth, that same charity raised Stephen from earth to heaven. The charity which went before in the King, that same charity shone forth afterwards in the soldier. O power of the Saviour to be admired everywhere! O grace of the Redeemer to be proclaimed without ceasing!
He showed in the mother the miracle of eternal virginity, He demonstrated in the martyr the token of unconquered charity. For inviolate integrity remained in the Virgin, the unconquered virtue of love persevered in the martyr. And as in the Mother of the Lord virginity could not be violated, so in the mind of the martyr the charity of Christ could not be overcome by so great a throng of the raging. Stephen therefore, that he might merit to receive the crown of his name, had charity for arms, and through it conquered everywhere. Through the charity of God he did not yield to the raging Jews, through the charity of his neighbour he interceded for those stoning him. Through charity he reproved those erring, that they might be corrected; through charity he prayed for those stoning him, that they might not be punished.
Supported by the virtue of charity, he conquered Saul who was cruelly raging, and him whom he had as persecutor on earth, he merited to have as companion in heaven. That holy and untiring charity desired by praying to gain those whom it could not convert by admonishing. For neither, brethren, is Stephen to be thought to have loved his enemies then, when he prayed for them, and not to have loved them when he reproved and corrected their unbelief. Far be this from the soul of the martyr hastening to the palace of heaven. For that holy charity kept firm patience in prayer, which held rigid censure in correction. And therefore in prayer his gentleness merited to be heard, because without charity there was no severity in his correction:
And so, whether by praying or by rebuking, blessed Stephen kept charity intact, for in both ways he was mindful of the salvation of those who erred, and by the witness of his holy prayer he showed that his rebuke sprang not from hatred but from love. Now in doing this the blessed martyr both displayed charity toward those present and left an exceedingly useful example to those who came after. For he demonstrated the twofold diligence of the steward of the Church: that, to correct the error of any sinner, rebuke should not be lacking on the lips, and prayer should be poured out to God as a suppliant on his behalf. Thus he who has done evil is, through rebuke, confounded for his evil deeds, and, through prayer, is aided in the sight of God;
and thus charity itself both sounds forth justice on the lips, so as to correct the one who errs, and keeps patience in the heart, so as to pour out prayer for the one who errs with the pure affection of love. For he who does not rebuke one who errs is judged for negligence; but he who does not pray for him is condemned for that man's ruin. Wherefore, brethren, whenever anyone is rebuked for the salvation of his soul, let him not receive the admonitions of charity with disdain, nor look to the present grief of his own will, but let him consider what gains of profit he acquires. For he is reproved precisely that he may be corrected from his wicked works. And yet, when he sees the correction burning with some severity of words, let him not suppose that charity has grown cold in the heart.
For rebuke keeps watch on the lips in such a way that prayer does not sleep in the heart. And by this the sinner is prudently cared for in both respects: that while a man, being rebuked, is confounded for his sin, he is both separated from evil works and, through prayer (God being merciful), is saved. For holy Scripture also says: 'For whom the Lord loveth, He correcteth: and He scourgeth every son whom He receiveth' (Prov. III, 12). Being therefore compelled by the charity of Christ, we both exhort the good, that they may abide in the good, and we constrain the evil, that they may depart from evil: especially since in these two holy men a twofold token of salvation is shown to us: that if anyone is good, let him imitate the perseverance of charity in Stephen;
but he who is evil, let him follow the example of conversion in Paul: and let him who is good hold fast to equity even to the end; but let him who is evil depart as quickly as possible from his perversity; and let not presumption of righteousness make the good man negligent, nor let consideration of iniquity make the evil man despair, but let the former hold fast the good bravely, and let the latter quickly forsake the evil. Let the good man fear lest he fall; let the evil man strive to rise. Whoever therefore is evil, let him be prostrate with Paul in evil, that with him he may be raised up in good: for that man too fell as an evil man and rose as a good one. The unrighteous was prostrated, and the righteous was raised up; the most savage persecutor fell, and the truthful preacher rose.
Falling, the impious man lost the light of his body, but rising, being justified, he received the light of his heart. And so he was joined to Stephen, and from a wolf was made a sheep. And behold, now Paul rejoices with Stephen, with Stephen he fully enjoys the brightness of Christ, with Stephen he exults, with Stephen he reigns. For where Stephen went before, slain by the stones of Paul, thither Paul followed, aided by the prayers of Stephen. How true a life it is, my brethren! where Paul is not confounded over the slaying of Stephen, but Stephen rejoices over the fellowship of Paul, since charity rejoices in them both.
For charity in Stephen overcame the savagery of the Jews; charity in Paul covered a multitude of sins; charity in both alike merited to possess the kingdom of heaven. Charity therefore is the fountain and origin of all good things, an excellent bulwark, the way that leads to heaven. He who walks in charity will be able neither to err nor to fear. It directs, it protects, it leads through to the end. Wherefore, brethren, since Christ has set up the ladder of charity, by which every Christian may be able to ascend to heaven, hold fast pure charity bravely, show it to one another, and by advancing in it, ascend.
Persist in good works, that you may be able to attain to the eternal rewards, aided by the grace of the Saviour, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. SERMON IV. On the Epiphany, and on the slaying of the Innocents, and the gifts of the Magi. You know, dearly beloved brethren, that this day which is celebrated by us each year in honor of the Lord is reverently called the Epiphany by the mouth of all the faithful. And because it is proved to be a Greek word, it is unknown to many Latin speakers. Hence it comes about that all the Latins indeed say this name, but not all are found to know what they say.
Therefore it is good that all who call this present day the Epiphany, yet do not know why it is so called, should come to know the mystery of this day through the interpretation of the name. For the solemnity of this day ought to be said to be celebrated by the faithful, and therefore the reason for the solemnity ought not to be unknown. This day, then, as we have said, the Christian religion calls the Epiphany. And Epiphany is interpreted 'Manifestation.' Now we hold it handed down from the Fathers that the Only-begotten of God, after He was born according to the flesh in time, was on this day made manifest to the Magi who came, by whom, with gifts offered, He was suppliantly adored. For since He Himself is the God who in the Old Testament (Exodus...) commanded that first-fruits be offered to Himself,
the same God, born a man, dedicated to His own worship the first-fruits of the Gentiles. And the apostolic authority testifies that there is one God who justifies the circumcision from faith, and the uncircumcision through faith (Rom. III, 30): by the name of circumcision plainly indicating the Jews, and by the name of uncircumcision the Gentiles. These are the two walls which came from different sides, and met in unity of faith in the stone which was made the head of the corner. The one wall came from the Jews, the other came from the Gentiles. Far apart from each other were they, when they believed different things:
the cornerstone was set in the midst, which would draw both walls to itself, and would call both by one name, and they would be one in the sharing of a title, becoming one in the one grace of the sacrament. For through Christ, who is our peace, making both one (Eph. II, 14), Jews and Gentiles were made one, upon whom the unity of faith bestowed the one title of the Christian name. To the cornerstone, then, both walls came, and the unity of faith made the true corner. Of these two walls, one was brought when the angel announced Christ born to the Jewish shepherds; the other wall was brought when a new star appeared to the Gentile Magi.
Those were the first-fruits of the Jews; these were made the first-fruits of the Gentiles; those were brought from near at hand, these were led back from afar. For near were the Jews who worshiped God, far off were the Gentiles who served idols. This surely the shepherds signified, who were found near at Christ's birth, and the Magi, who were brought from distant regions. Yet these, when they came, though they themselves were not Jews, professed that they sought the King of the Jews, and said that they had come to adore Him. For the evangelist says that the Magi came from the East to Jerusalem, saying: 'Where is He that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East, and are come to adore Him' (Matt. II, 1, 2).
What is this, most sweet brethren, that these Magi sought to adore the King of the Jews, when they themselves were not Jews? And what King? Certainly not Herod, but Christ. They wish to adore a king newly born, and do not adore a king appointed some years before. They desire to adore a suckling infant, and do not adore a king ruling over peoples. For Herod, king of the Jews, already had sons born who were to reign after their father's death. For when this Herod died, Archelaus reigned in Judea, and the younger Herod obtained the principality of Galilee. Archelaus was born in a palace, Christ in an inn. Archelaus, when born, was placed on a silver bed; but Christ, when born, was laid in a tiny manger.
The one was perhaps wrapped in precious silks, the other was wrapped in the meanest swaddling clothes. And yet the one, born in a palace, is despised; the other, born in an inn, is sought. The one is in no way named by the Magi; the other, being found, is suppliantly adored. Utterly is the firstborn of a king spurned, and with gifts is adored the firstborn of a poor little woman. Who is this King of the Jews, poor and rich, humble and sublime? Who is this King of the Jews who is carried like a little child, adored as God? A little child in the manger, immense in heaven; lowly in swaddling clothes, precious in the stars: at whose birth, being known, Herod was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him (Matt. II, 3). Why is it that you are so troubled, Herod?
Because you have heard that the King of the Jews is born, you are troubled, agitated by suspicions, inflamed by the goads of envy, and on this account you try to kill the newborn king. Empty is this trouble of yours, and utterly vain your thought. This King who is born came not to overcome kings by fighting, but to subdue them wondrously by admonition; nor was He born to succeed you, but that the world might faithfully believe in Him. For He came not to fight while living, but to triumph when slain; not to seek an army with gold from other nations for Himself, but to shed His precious blood for the saving of the nations. Vainly, through envy, you feared a successor, whom by believing you ought to have sought as a Saviour: for if you believed in Him, you would reign with Him;
and as you received a temporal kingdom from Him, you would also receive an eternal one. For the kingdom of this child is not of this world, but through Him one reigns in the world. For He Himself is the Wisdom of God, who says in the Proverbs: 'By me kings reign' (Prov. VIII, 15). This child is the Word of God; this child is the Power and Wisdom of God. If you can, you turn against the Wisdom of God to your own ruin, and you know it not. For you would in no way have had a kingdom, unless you had received it from this child who is now (elsewhere: then) born. The child who is now called by the Magi King of the Jews is the same who is Creator and Lord of the angels. Wherefore, you who fear the infancy of Him being born, ought rather to fear the omnipotence of Him judging.
Do not fear Him as a successor to your kingdom, but fear Him as the most just condemner of your unbelief. Would that you, together with the Magi adoring, had also adored Him, and had not sent the Magi to Him with fraudulent cunning! 'Go,' he said, 'and inquire diligently concerning the child; and when you have found Him, bring me word again, that I also may come and adore Him' (Matt. II, 8). O feigned cunning! O impious unbelief! O fraudulent wickedness! If you were most certainly resolved to adore this child, why were you killing many children on his account? The blood of the innocents, which you credulously shed, testifies what you willed concerning this child. And yet you not only did not find this child, but neither did you harm those children at all:
nay rather, unwittingly, you did that which profited them. For through your savagery they were made martyrs, who through their infancy had been innocent: since through the grace of this child they merited to die for Him, before they could confess Him before men. And so this child, who created the world, who rules the world, who does all things whatsoever He wills; who disposes all things in a wondrous and insuperable order, ordained this, and did this, that through your furious envy those children might receive a precious death, and that what you, as a friend, could not have bestowed on them for your (elsewhere: their) salvation, this you, as an enemy, might do for your own damnation. To this end, therefore, He permitted you to kill the infants, that He might make them triumph over you.
You, then, He permitted to wickedness; them He led to the palm of victory. For one and the same is the Lord Almighty, who as a little child cries; one and the same is He who deigned to flee your cruelty, whose majesty you cannot escape. For He fled not from human fear, but by divine dispensation; He fled not by necessity, but by power. And He deigned to flee into Egypt for this reason, that He might afterward deign to ascend the cross; and by that power the child lay hidden in Egypt, by which power the young man hung upon the wood. For one and the same is the receiver of death and the giver of life: one and the same, immortal from the Father, mortal from the mother; dying by His own power, rising by His own power.
And so this child who is born is for this reason not found among the number of the little ones dying, because He Himself is the expectation of the nations. The blood of this child is on this account not shed together with the blood of those children, because He alone is to be shed for the remission of sins; and all those children would die in vain, unless they were saved by His blood. And this child indeed will most certainly die, because if He were unwilling to die, He would in no way be born. But He will die, not to fulfill your savagery, but to perfect His own gentleness: for His own kindness, not another's malice, will make Him die. He will die, not that you, the unbeliever, may reign in the world, but that He may make the faithful reign with Him in heaven.
He will die not to lose a kingdom, but to acquire those who will reign. He will die not to lose a brief life, but to bestow an everlasting one. He will die not as a servant of iniquity, but as the Lord of majesty. He will die not by the bond of necessity, but by the purpose of His will. He will die wondrously, He will die mercifully, He will die uniquely, He will die by His own power, that He may fulfill His will in all things. For to this end He will mercifully die, that rising again He may have dominion over all nations. He will die, then, as one, and indeed as the one whom the faith of the Virgin conceived as God-man, and the fruitfulness of the Virgin bore as God-man.
If you do not know the true deity of this child, behold the star gleaming in heaven, going before the Magi, and showing the way to those who knew it not. This star never appeared before, because now this child created it, and appointed it to go before the Magi coming to Him. This child, indeed, is placed as a little one in the manger, but great He works wondrously in heaven. He permits Himself to be carried by hands upon the earth, but He commands the heavenly things to serve Him. What is it, then, that you regard His infant age, and do not understand His divine power? Thus the natural divinity and the natural humanity of this child were truly to be made known, both naturally true, both united, neither confounded with each other, nor separated from each other.
For Mary had Him as a Son born of herself, to whom the star rendered the ministry of its due service. Him, the same One, Mary bore in Bethlehem as God (elsewhere: Lord) and man, whom the star announced to the Magi placed in the East. The Magi therefore came, and recognized the Son of the Virgin as one and the same God (elsewhere: Lord) and man. Then attend to what they offered, and acknowledge what they believed. For the evangelist relates that, entering the house, they found the child with Mary His mother: and falling down they adored Him; and opening their treasures they offered Him gifts, gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matt. II, 11).
Through these three kinds of gifts, in the one and the same Christ are intimated both the divine majesty, and the royal power, and the human mortality. For frankincense pertains to sacrifice, gold pertains to tribute, myrrh pertains to the burial of the dead. All these things holy faith does not cease truly to offer to Christ, while it believes one and the same to be the true God, the true King, and the true man, and truly acknowledges Him truly to have died for us. In the offering of frankincense the Arian is confounded, who contends that sacrifice ought to be offered to the Father alone: in the offering of myrrh the Manichaean is confounded, who does not believe that Christ truly died for our salvation:
but in the gold both are confounded at once, because the Manichaean does not believe Him to be a king born of the seed of David according to the flesh, and the Arian strives to assign a natural servitude to the Only-begotten God. Accordingly each of them will not experience Him as a King by whom he might be governed (elsewhere: might reign) through faith, but as one by whom he might be punished for the crime of unbelief: because by the one the truth of the divinity is denied, by the other the truth of the flesh. In these same gifts Nestorius also is confounded, who strives to divide Christ into two persons: since he sees that the Magi offered not other gifts to God and other to the man, but the same gifts suppliantly to the one God-man. Let Him therefore not be divided in persons, who is not found divided in gifts.
For this very reason one and the same is honored with these gifts, that one and the same may be known as God and man. This offering of the Magi confounds also the madness of Eutyches, who is unwilling to proclaim both true natures in Christ. For he takes away the truth of these gifts, while he contends to proclaim one nature in Christ. Let us therefore, most beloved brethren, offer to Christ without doubt in faith what the Magi are known to have offered in gift: that the confession of the true divinity and humanity may itself be our faithful offering before Christ. Let us offer these gifts with the Magi with one accord, and let us press on toward the region of the saints with the whole devotion of our heart.
Let us not hold to the way of the old life, but humbly obeying the divine commandments, let us change our way, and walk in the way in which the Lord has commanded, that we may be able to attain to the fatherland, where without end we may rejoice with the Lord Himself. For the way of a man is his life. He who lives wickedly holds the way of error; he who lives well walks by the way of truth. Wherefore, he who used to walk the way of fornication, let him hold the way of chastity; he who held the way of avarice, let him hold the way of mercy; he who used to walk by the way of pretense, let him now hold the way of purity. Let us walk well by faith, that we may attain to sight (elsewhere: hope),
where our joy shall be full, because our desire shall be fulfilled in good things, through Him who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen. SERMON V. On the love of God and neighbor. As much as I desire to render to your holiness the debt of a sermon concerning charity, so much do I see myself becoming more a debtor of charity; nor do I find how I might be able to unfold in words the praise of charity, in which we so ought, as long as we live in this world, to grow by loving one another, just as we are commanded always to owe it by rendering it. For the blessed apostle Paul, when he had commanded us to be discharged from all debts, willed that we should be forever held only by the debt of mutual charity, saying:
'Owe no man anything, but to love one another' (Rom. XIII, 8). This is the sum of the apostolic teaching. These are the counsels of fatherly charity, that we should owe no man anything, but to love one another. When therefore we hear that we should owe no man anything, let us not stop at this word, but let us hear and do what follows, that we should love one another: and we shall find holy charity, which we may render by always owing, and by rendering may healthfully owe. A great thing is charity, most beloved brethren, which, by the Apostle's teaching, we are so commanded always to render, that nonetheless we are commanded to owe without ceasing.
O good debt of charity, holy debt, a debt filled with heavenly advantages, a debt full of everlasting riches altogether! Great gains, brethren, do we win by this debt; immense advantages do we procure by such interest. For while charity is rendered and owed by us, all our iniquity is dismissed and blotted out. This charity, in short, blessed David begged to be given back to himself for the blotting out of his iniquities, when he tearfully entreated the Lord for his grave sin.
For when, once captivated by an enticing sight, he committed adultery with the wife of his soldier, and, doubling the crime, also slew the innocent husband, after the perpetration of the sin he was rebuked by an oracle through the prophet, and after his confession was restored by a medicinal reply; and while, prostrated in suppliant entreaty, he uttered words of penitence, by which he might as quickly as possible appease the just God, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, among other things he is known to have said: 'Turn away Thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities' (Ps. L, 11); and because he perceived that this could not be done without the gift of charity, he immediately added: 'Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me' (Ibid., 12).