Sermon 391
SERMO 391
TO THE YOUNG MEN
No age is free from temptations, not even childhood.
My address is to you, young people, the flower of age, a danger to the mind. All time, indeed, and every age during which that corruptible flesh is carried, cannot be free from temptations. And for as long as each good person struggles in the contest, lest they be overcome by the adversary, they are in peril, as long as they contend with him, as if in some sandy arena, so in this mortality, they wrestle. For as soon as a person is born into the world, and enters a life full of misery, like a prophet of his future labor, with the proclamation of a grieving voice, even if not yet in his own mind, still in the mind of his parents or any other people, in whose hands his weakness lies to be nourished, he can already be tempted and seized by the devil's circumventions, either through the bindings of abominable remedies, or through the sacrilegious rites of the Gentiles, or if death presses hard, through the negligence of renunciation in Salvific Baptism. And, to summarize briefly, that age is tempted when it is loved by its own in the world, and neglected in Christ. For it carries with it the progeny of death, and is rooted in that wound of sin, which was inflicted on the first man, from whom we derived the origin of corruption, by the venomous tooth of the serpent. Whence holy Job says that no one is clean, certainly from the filth of sin, not even an infant whose life is one day upon the earth. But what can I say of one already born, when David cries out with a mournful voice and says: "In iniquities I was conceived, and in sins my mother conceived me"? For the baptisms of newborn infants might seem superfluous, unless all died in Adam, and original sin, through the bowels of parents, reaches the offspring by the path of mortality: since Almighty Lord forms the mortal creature by the law of His order, and the best Father of mercy supplies the immortality of renewal by grace.
And old age yields to temptations.
But if even the infancy of a mortal man on account of the bond of corruption is not free from temptations, what shall I say about the other ages? Or perhaps the old age is excepted, and in a body now close to a corpse the blood and limbs have grown cold to illicit desire, and in a body weary and nearly dead the material for temptation has withered away? On the contrary, so great is the whirlpool of greed and the insatiable abyss of the belly and throat in wicked old men, that as much as righteous old men are made serene by their wisdom, so much are these buried by their drunkenness: as though their parched and juice-drained internal organs are bowed down to be irrigated by the flood of drunkenness to restore their former vigor. What about avarice, which is the root of all evils, does it not burn all the more fervently in cold old men for acquiring as much as it will soon leave behind? Truly a remarkable madness. For it hastens to burden itself with heavier expenses, when it has already reached the end it aimed for.
Youth is especially shaken by the storms of temptations.
If therefore, the childish and old age are not free of temptations, of which one, that is childish, has not yet nearly entered, and the other already exits this life; and one was not existing a little before, and the other will not be a little later: what should be thought, what should be said about the fervor of youthful age, which is placed in the middle of both, and has already departed from the weakness of childhood, and has not yet reached the torpor of old age? This is shaken by more and greater storms of temptations, it is covered by the more frequent assault of worldly waves overflowing. It presumes upon its strength, is boasted of with the dignity of form, with the splendor of temporal matters either desires to shine or rejoices. And so, to youth the venom of wrongs is whatever the truth has commanded, food is whatever the devil has suggested: but the bitterness of justice is the medicine for the ulcer of age; the sweetness of injustice, however, is a snare of rashness. To this pertains what is written: The wounds of a friend are sweeter than the voluntary kisses of an enemy; and that which David says: The righteous shall strike me in mercy, and reprove me; but the oil of the sinner shall not anoint my head. Let truth burn, and yet heal: for the oil of the sinner, the flattery of the adulator soothes, but deceives. For there indeed pride is softened; but life slips away. For the Prophet speaks from the person of him who already seeks a physician, who endures the hand of the healer even with the bitterness of pain, who desires his sickness to be cured rather than to be praised. But the ulcer of youth is truly dangerous, which ignites with desires, swells with hope, wastes away with pleasures. But this hope is of the desperate, the hope of perishable things, which does not release the wretched soul, but inflates its desire, and makes it unable to bear the touch of truth; so that even despairing of its immortality, it loves to say, and loves even those who say to it: Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we die: but it hates to say and to hear: Be sober, righteous, and do not sin. It loves the pernicious gentleness of the enemy, it hates the healthful harshness of the physician. This perversion, this madness in youthful age is most to be feared.
From luxury, cruelty is born.
From this comes the speech of men dissolving into vices, and then growing hardened in crimes: For they said thinking not rightly among themselves: The time of our life is short and tedious, and in the end of man, there is no refreshment, and no one has been known to return from the dead. And shortly after: Come, therefore, let us enjoy the good things that are present and let us use the creature as in youth swiftly. Let us fill ourselves with precious wine and ointments; and other words of reveling in luxury, following in the same place, of men despairing of eternal life, and placing their hope like in the sand of a torrent, in the corruption of the flesh that is temporal. But from this intemperance of lusts and of filthy crimes festering with worms, see into what crimes and into what enormous wickedness it rushes forth. For being exhausted and subverted by the corruptions of shameful and intemperate sins, while they hate the severity of the truth contradicting them, they say: Let us oppress the poor just man, and not spare the widow, nor honor the old man with many years. Let our strength be the law of justice; for that which is weak is found to be useless. Therefore, let us entrap the just man, for he is useless to us, and contrary to our works. Such were the thoughts of the impiety of the Jews concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. This is found more clearly in the subsequent words: For shortly after they say: He promises to have the knowledge of God, and he calls himself the Son of God. Then again shortly after they say: Let us test him with insult and torture, that we may know his reverence. Let us condemn him to the most shameful death, for there shall be respect from his words. But consider what judgment the Holy Spirit bears on them, when he immediately adds: They thought these things, and erred; for their malice has blinded them. Therefore, consider from what source all the horrendous crimes feared in wicked men arise. For what is softer than that luxury? What is harsher than that cruelty? Long ago, they said: Let us enjoy the good things that are present, and use the creatures with youthful zeal; and let not the flower of time pass by us, and let us leave signs of joy everywhere; now they say: Let us oppress the poor, not spare the widow, nor respect the elderly. Let us entrap the just man, test him with insult and torture, and condemn him to the most shameful death. Wine follows fury, ointments torment, blood roses, anger joy. Bound, beaten, and killed by such as these was the Lord. Who would fear bloody bonds from blooming crowns? Who would foresee most severe pains from sweet cups? Who would predict so dire a wood of the cross from soft meadows? And yet no age in that luxury, except youth, is compared to the flower of time. For they said: Let us use the creature as in youth swiftly.
Exhortation to young men to turn themselves to wisdom.
Therefore, we strongly urge and exhort you, O young men, to be captivated by the beauty of true virtue. No earthly appearance, no shine of metals, no pleasantness of groves, no purples of flowers, no ornament of flesh either natural or applied, no sound of any strings or flutes, no pleasantness of scents, no sweetness of tastes, no embraces should be compared to the beauty, inspiration, sweetness, and comfort of wisdom. For we do not forbid you from those things which are to be shamefully loved, but not from love itself. Do you want to love? Love wisdom, strive to reach it. So that its appearance does not horrify you, compose yourselves within your inner man. Just as lascivious eyes seek the adornments of the body, so does wisdom seek the heart’s adornments. Nor should you bring forth these ornaments from your wealth, for it hates the proud and those who wish to boast as if from their own. And what do you have that you did not receive? Therefore, it itself gives what pleases it. Love it only, and it will keep you; surround it, and it will exalt you; honor it, and it will embrace you: so that it gives your head a crown of graces. Wisdom is bright and never withers, and is easily found by those who love it. Aim to join it to you, sigh for it, burn for it, be mad for it. Deny yourself to yourself; lest you deny yourself to it while you please yourself. Its companionship is not bitter. If you are lovers, love this; if you are beautiful, please God; if you are young, conquer the devil. Daniel was called "man of desires" by the angel. What were these desires of his, except those where he ardently yearned for the beauty of wisdom; for even in youthful age he trampled down lust, pressed the pride of the kingdom as a captive, and closed the mouths of lions when confined?
And younger women are admonished, with Susanna, Anna, Mary being presented as examples.
Do not think, young women, that this discourse is irrelevant to you. For I say these things to you, not to shame you, but to advise you as my dearest daughters: Flee youthful desires. Think of the married Susanna, the widow Anna, the virgin Mary. Do not go out in public seeking to display the flower of your vanity to the eyes of men, thereby seeking death in the house of life. For all flesh is grass, and the glory of man is like the flower of grass. What then will you do when the grass withers, the flower falls? Do you think the word of the Lord, which remains forever, will not easily find your ashes, which you now scorn with the proud greenness of your age? Behold, I say again and testify: flee youthful desires. If you hear this, if you obey, if you receive it as the word of God with honor and fear, you will be not only beautiful before the eyes of God, but also healthy. But if you make perhaps love jokes about this admonition of ours, you will inflict deadly wounds on yourselves with the very tools of the physician. Certainly, when we think of the Jews who crucified the Lord (we shudder and pursue them with great execration), nevertheless, as they contemplated their own luxury, they meditated on the desolation of the luxurious fields, saying: "Let there be no meadow that our luxury does not traverse." How then would they spare Christ if they found Him on earth, when indeed, not desolate meadows to provoke their lusts, but the most crowded churches were chosen by Him who reigns in heaven? Behold, for the third time I testify and say, flee youthful desires. Burn with the desires of Daniel. Children, choose doctrine from your youth, and you will find wisdom until your gray hairs.