Sermon 194
SERMO 194
On the Birthday of the Lord
Listen, recall, love, preach.
Hear, children of light, adopted into the kingdom of God; dearest brothers, hear; hear, and rejoice, you righteous ones, in the Lord, so that praise may be fitting for you who are upright. Hear what you know, recall what you have heard, love what you believe, proclaim what you love. As we celebrate this day's anniversary, thus anticipate the appropriate discourse for this day. Christ was born, God from the Father, man from the mother. From the Father's immortality, from the mother's virginity. From the Father without a mother, from the mother without a father. From the Father without time, from the mother without seed. From the Father the beginning of life, from the mother the end of death. From the Father ordaining every day, from the mother consecrating this day.
The word of angels and the food of men.
For he sent forth the man John, who was to be born when the days began to diminish; and he himself was born when the days began to increase, so that it might be prefigured from this what the same John said: "He must increase, but I must decrease." For human life must diminish in itself, and grow in Christ; so that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who died and rose for all: and each of us might say what the Apostle says: "And it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." For he must increase, but I must decrease.
All his Angels praise him worthily, whose eternal food is, nourishing them with incorruptibility; because he is the Word of God, by whose life they live, by whose eternity they always live, by whose goodness they always live happily. They praise him worthily, God with God, and give glory to God in the highest. But we, his people and the sheep of his hand, may we, reconciled through goodwill on account of the measure of our infirmity, deserve peace. For indeed, the voice of those very Angels is today, which they poured forth exulting for the Savior born to us: Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of goodwill. Therefore they praise him fittingly, and we praise him obediently. They are his messengers, and we are his flock. He filled their table in heaven, and he filled our manger on earth. For the fullness of their table is that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The fullness of our manger is because the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. For man to eat the bread of Angels, the creator of Angels was made man. They praise him by living, we by believing: they by enjoying, we by seeking: they by receiving, we by asking: they by entering, we by knocking.
In the Word are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
For who among men knows all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden in Christ, and concealed in the poverty of His flesh? Because for our sake He became poor, though He was rich, so that by His poverty we might become rich. For when He assumed mortality and consumed death, He showed Himself in poverty, but promised deferred riches, not lost or taken away. How great is the multitude of His sweetness, which He has hidden for those who fear Him, and completes for those who hope in Him! For we know in part, until what is perfect comes. So that we might be made suitable to receive it, He, equal to the Father in the form of God, made in the form of a servant like us, reforms us to the likeness of God; and made the Son of Man, the Only-begotten Son of God, makes many sons of men sons of God; and nurtures servants through the visible form of a servant, perfects them to become free to see the form of God. For we are children of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be. And we know that when it appears, we shall be like Him because we shall see Him as He is. For what are those treasures of wisdom and knowledge, what are those divine riches, unless they suffice for us? And what is that multitude of sweetness unless it satisfies us? Therefore, show us the Father, and it suffices for us. And in a certain psalm, one of us, or in us, or for us, says to Him: I shall be satisfied when Your glory is revealed. But He and the Father are one: and he who sees Him sees the Father. Therefore, the Lord of hosts, He is the king of glory. Turning to us, He will show us His face; and we shall be saved, and we shall be satisfied, and it will suffice for us.
Let us recognize the manger of our Lord.
Conclusion. Let our heart say to him, "I have sought your face; your face, Lord, will I seek; do not turn your face away from me." And let him answer to our heart, "He who loves me keeps my commandments; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father; and I will love him and will manifest myself to him." They certainly saw him with their eyes to whom he said this, and heard the sound of his voice with their ears, and thought with a human heart about a man: but what eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, he promised to reveal the same to those who love him. Until that happens, until he shows us what suffices for us, until we can drink from the fountain of life and be satisfied; meanwhile, while we walk by faith and are away from him, while we hunger and thirst for righteousness and desire with indescribable ardor the beauty of the form of God, let us celebrate with devoted service the birth of the form of a servant. We cannot yet contemplate what was begotten before the morning star from the Father, let us attend to what was born at night from the Virgin. We do not yet grasp what remains before the sun, let us recognize his tabernacle set in the sun. We do not yet contemplate the Only Begotten remaining in his Father, let us remember the bridegroom coming forth from his chamber. We are not yet fit for the banquet of our Father, let us recognize the manger of our Lord Jesus Christ.