Sermon 284

SERMO 284

On the Feast Day of the Martyrs Marian and James

The patience of the martyrs, a gift of God.

On this day of repaying our debt, by the grace of God, the time has dawned. Therefore, since the devout are debtors, why do the creditors cause an uproar? If we all keep our minds calm, what we return can reach everyone. A sermon is owed on the passion and glory of the holy martyrs. Since they suffered most gloriously, they teach us patience. Therefore, they endured the raging crowds, while we should have acquiescent people, because we have seen believers. The constancy of the martyrs is to be praised, but what eloquence suffices to praise it? When can I accomplish by speaking what is already accomplished in your hearts by believing? But where does such a gift of patience come from? From where else if not from where every good gift comes? Where does the good and perfect gift come from if not from the source? For it is written: Patience has its perfect work. Every good gift and every perfect gift comes from the Father of lights, in whom there is no change or shadow of alteration. Patience, which makes even the human mind unchangeable, descends from the immutable source to our mutable minds. How can a person please God except from God? How can a person live a good life except from the source of life? How can a person receive enlightenment except from the eternal light? For with you is the fountain of life. With you, it says: I could say, From me; but if I say, From me, I move away from you. Therefore, with you is the fountain of life. In your light; not in ours: In your light we shall see the light. Therefore: Draw near to him and be enlightened. There is the fountain of life; draw near, drink, and live: it is the light; draw near, grasp it, and see. If he does not flow into you, you will be dry.

Martyrs were tempted by the allurements of carnal parents. Marian's mother Maria exults in the passion of her son.

Hence, our martyrs drank from here: being inebriated, they did not recognize their own. For how many holy martyrs do we think, with approaching suffering, were tempted by the persuasions of their relatives, trying to call them back to the temporary, vain, and fleeting sweetness of this life? But those who, thirsty, drank from the source that is with God, and were inebriated, confessed Christ; they did not heed, did not recognize their fleshly relatives, inebriated by the wine of error, who wrongly loved them and, by persuading, called them back from life. Mariani’s mother was not among these, not among those wrongly persuading, carnally flattering, loving and deceiving: Mariani’s mother was not among them. She bore not a worthless name, she was not called Maria in vain: though she was a woman, not a virgin, not untouched by the Holy Spirit, she bore a pledge from her husband, that led to the most glorious passion through her exhortations rather than calling from it through her wrong flatteries. O holy Mary, you too, though not equal in merit, but equal in desire! Blessed are you too! She bore the Prince of martyrs, you bore the martyr of the Prince: she bore the Judge of witnesses, you bore the witness of the Judge. Blessed birth, even more blessed affection. When you gave birth, you groaned, when you lost him, you rejoiced. What does this mean? When you gave birth, you groaned, you rejoiced when you lost him? Not in vain, because you did not lose him. Where there was no pain, there was faith. Spiritual faith had driven out carnal pain from the heart. You saw that you were not losing a son, but sending him ahead: all that you rejoiced, you wished to follow.

The strength of the martyrs is not from themselves, but from God.

We marvel at these things, we praise these things, we love these things. O blessed martyrs, whence are these things for you? I know you have human hearts: whence are these divine things for you? I say, from God: who is it who says, from you? Who is it that envies you by falsely praising you? I do not know who says these things are from you? Answer him: My soul will praise the Lord. I do not know who says these things are from you? Answer him, if you are meek, answer: My soul will praise the Lord. Answer this also in the people of God: Let the meek hear and be glad. I do not know who says these things are from you? Answer him: A man cannot receive anything, unless it is given him from above. For to us and to you, the Lord Jesus said: Without me, you can do nothing. Without me, he said, you can do nothing: and this was said to you; recognize the words of the shepherd, beware of the flattery of the deceiver: that pride, impious, unjust, ungrateful, I know it displeases you. Holy martyrs, you suffered for Christ; but it benefited you that you suffered, not Christ. What would be lacking to you, unless it had been given to you? Repel from your ears the poisonous venom of the enemy. That is the tongue which said: You will be like gods. An ungrateful free will cast man down; let a liberated will now say to the Lord: Patience of Israel, Lord. Why, unfaithful one, do you boast? You praise the patience of the martyrs, as if they could be patient by themselves? Rather listen to the Apostle, the teacher of the Gentiles, not the deceiver of the unfaithful. Certainly, you praise patience in the martyrs for Christ and attribute it to them? Rather listen to the Apostle addressing the martyrs, and calming human hearts. Listen, I say, to him saying: For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ. Hear the piety encouraging, not the flattery deceiving: He said, It has been granted to you. It has been granted, hear: It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him. It has been granted to you: what can be added to this sentence? It has been granted to you: acknowledge it as granted, lest you lose what is usurped. He said, It has been granted to you on behalf of Christ: what on behalf of Christ, except to suffer for him? But do not suspect, listen to the following: not only to believe in him; because even this has been granted: but not only this has been granted; but also to suffer for him, this too has been granted. Let the martyr turn his back to the unfaithful and ungrateful flatterer: let him turn his face to the most kind giver, and attribute his suffering to God, not as if he had offered this to God of his own; but rather say: My soul will praise the Lord, let the meek hear and be glad. And when you say to him, What does it mean: My soul will praise the Lord? Is it praised in you then? He responds: Will not my soul be subject to God? For my patience is from him. Why then is it mine? I opened my bosom, and willingly accepted; from him is mine. And from him, and mine; and because it is from him, therefore it is more securely mine. It is mine, but it is not from me to me. To have my gift, I acknowledge the giver God. For if I do not acknowledge the giver God, God takes away his good, and my evil remains, through my will.

From the multitude, the heart is turned to one by the grace of God. Martyrs, by the love of the delight of God alone, are victors over the allurements and bitterness of the world.

The faithful Scripture says: God made man upright, and they have sought out many schemes. God, it says, made man upright, and they: from where they, except through free will? And they have sought out many schemes. He had said man was made upright, and yet he does not say: And they have sought out wicked schemes, because he had said upright; nor iniquitous schemes; but he said, many. From this multitude, the corruptible body burdens the soul, and the earthly dwelling depresses the mind that thinks on many things. May God free us from this multitude of human thoughts, and free us from one, so that we may be in Him one from the multitude. May He meld us with the fire of love, so that with one heart we follow the One, lest we fall into many from being one, and be scattered among many, having forsaken the One. For of this one the Apostle spoke, when he said: Brothers, I do not consider that I have grasped it: what? But one thing: what one? Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching forward to the things that are ahead, I follow on. I follow one thing; he says, one thing I follow: but I do not consider that I have grasped it; because the corruptible body burdens the mind that thinks on many things. Behold where the martyrs were going; when they were fervent, they did not care about much clamor, because they loved the One. Behold the desire of the martyrs: One thing, he says, have I asked of the Lord. One thing have I asked: farewell, he says, I leave the secular multitude. One thing have I asked: surely, one blessedness, one happiness, one true, not many false. One thing, he says, have I asked of the Lord, this will I seek. What is this one thing? That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. For what reason? That I may behold the delights of the Lord. When the holy martyrs thought on that delight, then all evil, harsh, and bitter things became vile to them. It was a delight against a delight: it was a delight against pain. That delight fought against both, and against a raging world, and against a flattering one. It responded to the world: Why do you flatter? What I love is sweeter than what you promise. I hear God, or rather the holy Scripture, saying to me: How great is the multitude of Your sweetness, O Lord, which You have hidden for those who fear You! Behold again a good multitude, because it is not dissenting, but united in one.

The Church entrusts itself to the prayers of the martyrs. Full victory of the martyrs. The temptation of the Lord pertains to three enticements. Another kind of temptation is in torments.

Therefore, it is not surprising, my brothers: do you know where martyrs are mentioned? The Church does not pray for them. For justly the Church prays for other deceased who are sleeping: not for the martyrs, but rather it commends itself to their prayers. For they have fought against sin even to the shedding of blood. They have fulfilled what is written: "Strive for the truth unto death." They have scorned the promises of the world: but that is little; for it is little to scorn death, it is little to endure hardships: where the struggle to the shedding of blood exists, there is the most glorious and complete victory. For the first temptations of our Lord, the prince of martyrs, were tempting blandishments: "Command that these stones become bread." "I will give you all these kingdoms." "Let us see if the Angels will receive you; for it is written, 'Lest you dash your foot against a stone.'" These are the pleasant things of the world: in bread, the lust of the flesh; in the promise of kingdoms, the ambition of the age; in the curiosity of temptation, the lust of the eyes: all these things are of the world; but they entice, not torment. Consider the contests of the Leader of martyrs proposing examples, and mercifully helping the fighters. Why did He permit Himself to be tempted, unless to teach us to resist the tempter? The world promises carnal pleasure: respond to it, "God is more delightful." The world promises honors and worldly exaltations: respond to it, "The kingdom of God is higher than all." The world promises superfluous or damnable curiosities: respond to it, "Only the truth of God does not err." When the Lord had been tempted with this threefold temptation, because the allurements of this world are threefold, either pleasure, or curiosity, or pride; what does the Evangelist say? "After the devil had completed every temptation": every, but pertaining to allurements. Another temptation remained in harsh and hard, in savage, in atrocious and ruthless things; another temptation remained. The Evangelist, knowing what had been completed and what remained, said: "After the devil had completed every temptation, he departed from Him for a time." He departed from Him, that is, the insidious serpent: the roaring lion will come; but He will overcome him, who will tread on the lion and the dragon. He will return: he will enter into Judas, making him the betrayer of the Master. He will bring the Jews, no longer flattering, but raging: possessing his vessels, he will shout with the tongues of all: "Crucify, crucify!" Why do we marvel at the victorious Christ there? He was almighty God.

An example of patience shown in the Lord and in our fellow servant martyrs.

Christ wanted to suffer for us. The apostle Peter says: He suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his footsteps. He taught you to suffer, and by suffering, he taught you. The word was not enough, unless an example was given. And how did he teach, brothers? He hung on the cross, the Jews raged: he hung on harsh nails, but he did not lose gentleness. They raged, they barked around, they insulted the one hanging; as if he were the only supreme physician in the midst, the frenzied ones raged all around. He hung there and healed. Father, he said, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. He asked, and yet he hung: he did not descend, because he was making medicine from his blood for the frenzied ones. Finally, because the words of the praying Lord, and of his mercy hearing, because he asked the Father, and with the Father heard; because those words could not be spoken in vain, after his resurrection he healed those whom he had endured as most insane while hanging. He ascended into heaven, sent the Holy Spirit; nor did he show himself to them after the resurrection, but to his faithful disciples alone, lest he should seem to have wished to insult those who killed him. For it was more to teach friends humility than to reproach enemies with the truth. He rose: he did more than they demanded, not believing, but insulting and saying: If he is the Son of God, let him come down from the cross. And he who did not want to come down from the tree, rose from the tomb. He ascended into heaven, sent the Holy Spirit from there: he filled the disciples, corrected the fearful, made them confident. Peter's trepidation was suddenly turned into the strength of a preacher. Whence this to the man? Seek Peter presuming, you find Peter denying: seek God helping, you find Peter preaching. For an hour, weakness trembled, so that presumption might be overcome, not that piety might be destroyed. He fills with his Spirit, and makes the strongest preacher, to whom presuming he had foretold: You will deny me three times. For he had presumed of his own strength, not of God's gift, but of free will. For he had said: I will be with you until death. He had said in his abundance: I will not be moved forever. But he who had given strength to his adornment in his will, turned away his face, and he was troubled. He turned away, he says: the Lord, his face: showed Peter to Peter; but afterwards he looked at him, and strengthened Peter on the rock. Let us therefore imitate, my brothers, as much as we can, in the Lord the example of suffering. We will be able to fulfill it, if we ask for help from him, not by presuming beforehand, as Peter did; but by following and praying, as Peter progressed. For when Peter denied three times, what does the evangelist say, pay attention: And the Lord looked at him, and Peter remembered. What does it mean, he looked at him? For the Lord did not look at him with a bodily face as if reminding him. It is not so: read the Gospel. The Lord was being judged inside the house, Peter was being tempted in the courtyard. Therefore the Lord looked at him, not bodily, but with majesty; not with the sight of the eyes of flesh, but with deep mercy. He because he had turned his face away, looked at him, and he was freed. Therefore the presumptive would have perished, unless the Redeemer had looked at him. And behold, washed with his tears, corrected and rescued, Peter preaches. He preaches who had denied: they believe who had erred. The medicine of the Lord's blood is effective in the frenzied ones. Believers drink what the raging ones had shed. But it is much for me, he says, to imitate the Lord. By the grace of the Lord, imitate your fellow servant, imitate Stephen, imitate Marian and Jacob. They were men, they were fellow servants; born as you are, but crowned by him who was not born so.