Sermon 213

SERMO 213

In the Delivery of the Creed

The order is that one must first believe, then call upon the name of the Lord.

The Apostle says: It will be, everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. You run to this salvation, who have given your names for baptism; salvation, not of a short time, but of eternal; salvation, which is not common to us and to the cattle, nor to good and bad men. For you see, and it is certain to all of us, that the salvation of the present time, for which men labor much to obtain or restore, is not for men alone; but also for cattle, great and small: from dragons and elephants to flies and worms this salvation extends. Then men themselves have this salvation, both those who call on God and those who blaspheme God; whence the holy Psalm says: You save men and beasts, O Lord, as your mercy is multiplied, O God; but the sons of men will hope under the cover of your wings. Therefore, this salvation by the manifold mercy of God reaches even to the lowest animals: But the sons of men, who belong to the Son of Man, will hope under the cover of your wings. We do this in this life: now we hope, that afterward we may receive. And what does the Psalm itself promise? They will be filled with the abundance of your house, and you will give them to drink from the river of your delights: for with you is the fountain of life. The fountain of life is Christ: so that now we might taste something of him, he became man; but his abundance is reserved for us, which satisfies the angels and all the heavenly ministries. But this is for afterward: now, however, that we may be able to reach that, let us call on God that we may be saved, according to the Apostle who said: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. The Prophet had said this before: but the Apostle Paul now said that the time has passed when it is fulfilled what is written: Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. I have already said by what salvation, lest perhaps you now say: Why are not those who call on the name of the Lord saved? He will be saved. Then the Apostle himself added: But how will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how will they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? And how will they preach, unless they are sent? As it is written: How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things! Therefore, no one can be saved who has not called: no one can call unless he has first believed. Therefore, since this is the order, that you first believe, then call, today you receive the Symbol of faith, in which you believe; and after eight days the Prayer, in which you call.

I believe in God the Father almighty.

The Creed is therefore a briefly comprised rule of faith, to instruct the mind and not burden the memory; it is said in few words, from which much is acquired. The Creed is therefore called that in which Christians recognize themselves: this I will first pronounce to you briefly. Then, as far as the Lord has deigned to grant, I will open it to you; so that what I want you to hold, you may also be able to understand. This is the Creed. And after the Creed: It is not much, yet it is much; there is no need for you to count the words, but to weigh them. I believe in God the Father Almighty. See how quickly it is said, and how much it means. He is God, and He is Father: God with power, Father with goodness. How happy we are, who have found our God to be a Father! Let us therefore believe in Him, and promise ourselves everything from His mercy, because He is almighty: therefore, we believe in God the Father Almighty. Let no one say: He cannot forgive my sins. How can the Almighty not do so? But you say: I have sinned much. And I say: But He is Almighty. And you: I have committed such sins, from which I cannot be freed and cleansed. I reply: But He is Almighty. See what you sing to Him in the Psalm: Bless, he says, my soul, the Lord, and do not forget all His rewards, who forgives all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases. For this, we need His omnipotence. For all creation needed His omnipotence, that it might be created: He is almighty to do greater and smaller things, almighty for heavenly and earthly things, almighty to make things immortal and mortal, almighty to make things spiritual and corporeal, almighty to make things visible and invisible, great in great things, and not small in small things; lastly, He is almighty to do all things which He willed. For I say what He cannot do: He cannot die, cannot sin, cannot lie, cannot be deceived; such He cannot do, because if He could, He would not be almighty. Therefore believe in Him and confess: For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. So when you have believed, it is necessary that you confess when you recite the Creed. Receive now what you should hold, and afterwards recite, and never forget.

Christ, the only Son of God, incarnate for us.

What next? And in Jesus Christ. You say, I believe in God the Father almighty, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, our Lord. If the only Son, therefore equal to the Father: if the only Son, therefore of the same substance as the Father: if the only Son, therefore of the same omnipotence as the Father: if the only Son, therefore co-eternal with the Father. This in Himself, and with Himself, and with the Father. For our sake why? for us why? Who was born of the Holy Spirit and the virgin Mary. Behold how He came, who, to whom: through the virgin Mary, in whom the Holy Spirit operated, not a human husband; who made her fruitful, and preserved her intact. Thus the Lord Christ was clothed in flesh, thus He became man who made man: by assuming what He was not, not losing what He was. For the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. The Word was not turned into flesh, but the Word, remaining, took on flesh, always invisible, was made visible when He wished, and dwelt among us. What does it mean: among us? Among men, made one of the number of men: the one and only, only to the Father. For us what? And for us the only Savior, for no one other than Him is our Savior; and for us the only Redeemer, for no one other than Him is our Redeemer: not with gold, not with silver, but with his own blood.

Christ was crucified and buried in his flesh.

Therefore, let us see where we ourselves have been purchased, his business transactions. For when it was said in the Creed: Born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, what then has he suffered for us? It follows: Crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried. What? The only Son of God, our Lord, crucified? The only Son of God, our Lord, buried? A man was crucified: God was not changed, God was not killed; and yet according to man, he was killed: For if they had known, says the Apostle, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory. And he shows the Lord of glory, and confesses him crucified: for if someone even tears your tunic unharmed in your flesh, he does you an injury, nor do you cry out for your garment, saying, “You tore my tunic,” but, "You tore me, you destroyed me, you made threads out of me." You speak these things whole, and you speak the truth, and he who hurt has taken nothing from your flesh. Thus also the Lord Christ was crucified. He is the Lord, he is the only one to the Father, he is our Savior, he is the Lord of glory: nevertheless he was crucified, but in the flesh and buried in only the flesh. For where he was buried and when he was buried, then there was no soul there, only the flesh lay in the tomb; and yet you confess Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord, who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Who? Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, our Lord. Crucified under Pontius Pilate. Who? Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, our Lord. And buried. Who? Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, our Lord. Only the flesh lies, and you say: our Lord? I say, plainly I say: because I regard the garment, and I adore the clothed. That flesh was his garment; because: When he was in the form of God, he did not consider it robbery to be equal to God, but he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, not losing the form of God, made in the likeness of men, and found in human form.

He has risen, he has ascended into heaven, he sits at the right hand of the Father.

Let us not contemn the flesh alone: when it lay down, then He redeemed us. Why did He redeem us? Because it did not always lie down: for on the third day He rose again from the dead. This follows in the Creed; when we have confessed His passion, we also confess His resurrection. What did He accomplish in the passion? He taught what we should endure. What did He accomplish in the resurrection? He showed what we should hope for. Here is labor, there is reward: labor in the passion, reward in the resurrection. Nor, since He rose from the dead, did He remain here: but what follows? He ascended into heaven. And where is He now? He sits at the right hand of the Father. Understand the right hand, do not seek the left hand there: the right hand of God is said to be eternal felicity; the right hand of God is said to be ineffable, inestimable, incomprehensible blessedness and prosperity. This is the right hand of God, there He sits. What is it: There He sits? There He dwells: for seats are called places where one dwells. For when the holy Stephen saw Him, he was not lying who said: He sits at the right hand of the Father. How does Stephen say? Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God. Because he saw Him standing, who then said He sits at the right hand of the Father might have been lying? It is said that He sits, therefore: remains, dwells. How? as you. In what state? Who will say? Let us say what He taught, let us say what we know.

Christ our judge and advocate.

What? From there He shall come to judge the living and the dead. Let us confess the Savior, so that we may not fear the Judge: for whoever now believes in Him, and keeps His commandments, and loves Him, will not fear when He comes to judge the living and the dead; not only will he not fear, but he will wish for Him to come. For what is happier for us than when He comes whom we desire, when He comes whom we love? But let us fear, because He will be our judge: He will then be our judge who is now our advocate. Listen to John: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us; but if we confess our sins, he says, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I have written these things to you so that you may not sin: and if anyone sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; and He is the propitiation for our sins. If you had a case to be pleaded before a judge, and instructed an advocate, were received by the advocate, and he pleaded your case as he could; and if he did not finish it, and you heard that judge approaching, how much would you rejoice, because he could be your judge who a little before had been your advocate? And now he prays for us, he intercedes for us; we have him as advocate, and we fear the judge? Rather, because we have sent the advocate before us, we should securely hope for the judge to come.

Holy Spirit. The entire Trinity.

There is a passage in the Creed that pertains to Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, our Lord; it follows: And in the Holy Spirit, so that the Trinity may be completed, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. But many things are said about the Son, because the Son took on humanity: the Son, the Word was made flesh, not the Father, not the Holy Spirit. But the flesh of the Son was created by the whole Trinity: for the works of the Trinity are inseparable. So thus, receive the Holy Spirit, so that you do not believe that He is lesser than the Son, or lesser than the Father. For the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, the entire Trinity, is one God: nothing there is different, nothing variable, nothing defective, nothing contrary to the other; always equal, invisible and unchangeable, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. May the Trinity deliver us from the multitude of sins.

The Church is most similar to Mary, because she is a virgin and brings forth the members of Christ.

Now what follows pertains to us. Concerning the holy Church. We are the holy Church: but I did not speak of "us" as if just those of us who are here, who heard me just now. As many as are here by God's grace, Christian faithful in this church, that is, in this city, as many as are in this region, as many as are in this province, as many as are beyond the sea, as many as are throughout the whole world; since from the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is praised; thus is the Catholic Church, our true mother, the true bride of that Bridegroom. Let us honor her, because she is the matron of so great a Lord; and what shall I say? Great is the dignity and uniqueness of the Bridegroom: he found a prostitute, made her a virgin. Because she was a prostitute she should not deny, lest she forget the mercy of the liberator. How was she not a prostitute, when she fornicated after idols and demons? Fornication of the heart was in all: in few it was of the flesh, in all of the heart. And he came, and made her a virgin: made the Church a virgin. In faith she is a virgin: in the flesh she has a few virgins who are holy; in faith, all ought to be virgins, both females and males; for there must be chastity, and purity, and holiness. Do you want to know how she is a virgin? Listen to the Apostle Paul, listen to the friend of the Bridegroom, who is zealous for the Bridegroom, not for himself. "I have betrothed you," he says, "to one man." He spoke to the Church: and to which Church? To whatever place those letters could reach: "I have betrothed you to one man, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear," he said, "lest as the serpent deceived Eve by his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the chastity that is in Christ." Where you fear to be corrupted, there you are a virgin. "I fear," he said, "lest as the serpent seduced Eve by his subtlety." Did that serpent have carnal intercourse with Eve? Yet he extinguished the virginity of her heart. This I fear, he said, lest your minds be corrupted from the chastity that is in Christ. Therefore the Church is a virgin. She is a virgin, let her be a virgin: let her beware of the seducer, lest she find herself corrupted. The Church is a virgin. You might say to me: If she is a virgin, how does she bear children? Or if she does not bear children, how did we give our names that we might be born from her womb? I answer: She is both a virgin and bears children; she imitates Mary, who bore the Lord. Was not holy Mary a virgin both in bearing and remaining a virgin? Thus, too, the Church both bears and is a virgin; and if you consider, she bears Christ: because those who are baptized are his members. You are, says the Apostle, the body of Christ and his members. If she therefore bears the members of Christ, she is most like Mary.

The remission of sins through baptism and the Lord's Prayer.

For the remission of sins. If this did not exist in the Church, there would be no hope: if the remission of sins were not in the Church, there would be no hope of future life and eternal liberation. We give thanks to God, who gave this gift to His Church. Behold, you are coming to the holy font: you will be washed by the salvific baptism, renewed by the washing of regeneration; you will be without any sin, ascending from that bath. All the things that pursued you in the past will be erased there. Your sins will be like the Egyptians pursuing the Israelites; pursuing, but up to the Red Sea. What is, up to the Red Sea? Up to the font consecrated by the cross and blood of Christ. For what is red, is red. Do you not see how the part of Christ is red? Ask the eyes of faith: if you see the cross, look at the blood: if you see what hangs, look at what it shed. The side of Christ was pierced by a lance, and our price flowed out. Therefore, baptism is marked by the sign of Christ, that is, the water in which you are dipped, and like passing through the Red Sea. Your sins are your enemies: they follow, but up to the sea. When you have entered, you will escape, they will be erased; just as the water covered the Egyptians when the Israelites escaped through dry land. And what did the Scripture say? Not one of them remained. You have sinned much, you have sinned little; you have sinned greatly, you have sinned small sins; what does it matter that not one of them remained? But since we live in this world, where no one lives without sin, therefore the remission of sins is not only in the washing of holy baptism, but also in the Lord's Prayer and daily, which you will receive after eight days. In that you will find your daily baptism; so that you may give thanks to God, who granted this gift to His Church, which we confess in the Creed; so that when we say: Holy Church, we may add: the remission of sins.

Resurrection of the flesh.

After these things, the resurrection of the flesh. This is already the end: but the resurrection of the flesh will be an end without end; but afterward there will be no death of the flesh, no pain of the flesh, no anguish of the flesh, no hunger and thirst of the flesh, no afflictions of the flesh, no old age and weariness of the flesh. Therefore, do not dread the resurrection of the flesh: see its good, forget its bad. Certainly, whatever complaints of the flesh there are now, then there will not be: we will be eternal, equal to the angels of God, we will have one city with the holy angels. We will be possessed by the Lord, we will be his inheritance, and he will be our inheritance; because we now say to him: Lord, you are the portion of my inheritance, and it is said of us to his Son: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance. We will possess, and we will be possessed: we will hold, and we will be held. What shall I say? We worship, and we are worshipped; but we worship as God; we are worshipped as a field. To know that we are worshipped, hear the Lord: I am the true vine, you are the branches, my Father is the husbandman. If he is called a husbandman, he cultivates a field. What field? He cultivates us. And the husbandman of this visible earth can plow, he can dig, he can plant, he can irrigate if he finds water: but can he make it rain? Can he give growth, lead forth a sprout, set a root in the ground, promote to the airs, strengthen the branches, burden with fruits, honor with leaves, can the husbandman do these things? However, our husbandman, God the Father, can do all these things in us. Why? Because we believe in God the Father almighty. Therefore, hold fast to what we have proposed to you, and, as God has deigned to give, we have exposed.

For eight days, the recitation of the Creed.

In eight days you will return what you received today. Your parents, who receive you, should teach you so that you may be found prepared, and how you should keep vigil until cockcrow, for the prayers which you conduct here. Now the Creed itself also begins to be given you here, so that you may hold it diligently: let no one tremble, let no one fail to deliver it correctly due to trembling. Be assured, we are your fathers, we do not have the rods and staffs of grammarians. If anyone errs in word, let them not err in faith.