Sermon 277A
SERMON 277/A You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
On the Feast of Saint Vincent
All dreadful things, the justice of the martyr made beautiful. The interests of the persecutor and the spectators were divided.
Christ commands that we celebrate solemnly and proclaim energetically the most strong and most glorious passion of Saint Vincent the martyr. We have seen with our mind and observed with our thoughts how much he endured, what he heard, what he responded, and a wondrous spectacle was set before our eyes, in a certain manner: an unjust judge, a bloody torturer, an unconquered martyr, a contest of cruelty and piety; and on one side madness, on the other victory. When reading these things echoed in our ears, charity inflamed in our hearts: we wished to embrace and kiss those mangled limbs, if it were possible, marveling that they could endure such great sufferings, and with inexplicable affection we did not want them to be tortured. For who would want to see a raging executioner, and a man, losing his humanity, raging against the human body? Who would willingly behold limbs stretched apart by the device of torment? The form of nature seized by an art of hostility, bones extended and separated, laid bare by wounds, who would not oppose this? Who would not shudder? And yet, all these things, and these terrible injustices, the martyr’s righteousness made beautiful; and the very extraordinary strength due to faith, to piety, to hope of the future age, to the love of Christ, covered the ghastly and deadly visage of torments and wounds with the splendor of glory. Finally, in this very spectacle, we divided our viewpoints with the persecutor. He delighted in the martyr's sufferings, we in the cause; he in what he endured, we in why he endured; he in the tortures, we in the virtue; he in the wounds, we in the crown; he in that he was held in prolonged pains, we in that he was least broken by the pains; he because he was tormented in the flesh, we because he remained steadfast in faith. Thus, where his cruelty was feeding, there the truth of the martyr tortured him; we, indeed bearing the horror of the command with difficulty, but conquering with Vincent’s enduring.
As the wisdom of the martyr, so is the patience from God.
Yet our champion himself did not become a victor in himself or through himself, but in Him and through Him who, exalted above all, provides help, who, having suffered above all, left an example. He who calls to battle, calls to reward; and in this way, He watches over those who struggle, helping those who work. To His athlete, He instructs what to do and sets forth what to receive, so that he does not fail, He supports him. Therefore, let him pray simply, who simply wishes to strive, to overcome quickly, to reign happily. We have heard our fellow servant speaking, and with steadfast and true responses, overcoming the persecutor's arguments; but first, we heard the Lord saying: For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking in you. And because of this, he overcame his adversaries because he praised his words in the Lord. He knew to say: In God, I will praise the word, in the Lord I will praise the speech; in God, I will hope, I will not fear what man does to me. We saw the martyr enduring immense tortures with the greatest patience: but his soul was submitted to God, for his patience was from Him. And lest human frailty, failing through impatience, deny Christ, and bring the enemy to joy, he knew to whom he should say: My God, deliver me from the hand of the sinner, from the hand of the lawbreaker and the wicked; for You are my patience. For thus, he who sang these things indicated how a Christian ought to ask for deliverance from the power of enemies, not by not suffering anything, but by enduring what he suffers most patiently. Deliver me from the hand of the sinner, from the hand of the lawbreaker and the wicked. But if you seek how he wishes to be delivered, consider what follows: for You are my patience. There is glorious suffering where there is a pious confession: so that, he who glories, may glory in the Lord. Therefore, let no one presume upon his own heart when he completes his speech: let no one rely on his strength when he endures temptation; because, for us to speak good things, our wisdom is from Him: for us to endure bad things, our patience is from Him. Therefore, it is ours to will, but we are called that we may will; it is ours to ask, but we do not know what to ask; it is ours to receive, but what shall we receive if we do not have? It is ours to have, but what do we have if we do not receive? Hence, he who glories should glory in the Lord. Therefore, the martyr Vincent is worthy to be crowned by the Lord, in whom he chose to glory both in wisdom and patience; he is worthy of solemn celebration, worthy of eternal happiness, for which obtaining, whatever the most threatening judge terrified with, whatever the bloody executioner inflicted, is light. What he endured has passed; what he received will not pass. For certainly, just as the limbs were vexed, the entrails tormented, the tortures so frequently and so cruelly repeated, so, just so, as these things were done, and if they had been done much more grievously, the sufferings of this time are not worthy compared to the future glory that will be revealed in us.