Through the divine mercy, beloved brethren, the day on which we long to celebrate with joy the birthday of our Lord and Savior is almost at hand. Therefore I pray and advise that with God’s help we labor as much as we can, so that on that day we may be able to approach the altar of the Lord with a pure and upright conscience, a clean heart, and a chaste body. Then we may merit to receive His Body and Blood, not to our judgment, but as a remedy for our souls. Truly our life depends upon the Body...

Beloved brethren, as we are about to begin with sincerest devotion a holy and desirable, glorious and excellent feast, that is, the Nativity of our Lord and Savior, with His help we ought to prepare ourselves with all our strength. Let us carefully examine all the recesses of our soul, lest perchance there be some hidden sin within us to confound and gnaw at our conscience and to offend the eyes of the divine majesty. Although Christ our Lord arose from the dead after His passion and ascended into heaven, nevertheless, as we believe, He considers and carefully notices how...

I beseech you, dearest brethren, to strive zealously to love with your whole hearts that charity which is known to be the mother of all virtues, and humility in which the basis of the Christian religion is proved to exist. Moreover steadfastly hold them with all the power of your souls, and with the Lord’s help happily preserve them. Know truly that the man who has willed to guard those two virtues, namely, humility and charity, will be able to approach the Lord’s birthday with assurance. Therefore let us strive to devote ourselves to the Lord in such a way...

On this day, dearest brethren, Christ was born unto us. Let us prepare for Him in our hearts a dwelling full of patient merits; let us prepare a crib, a cradle brilliant with the flowers of a good life and the perpetual sweetness of its fragrance. Let us receive the tiny little Lord in our hearts; may He grow and make progress there, nourished by faith, may He ascend to youth there on the steps of life, and may He exercise the powers which are mentioned in the Gospel. Within us the Lord has a blind man to whom He...

Our Savior, dearest brethren, was born of the Father as true God before all ages, and at the end of ages the same Son of God was Himself born as true man. For the redemption of the human race He wished to experience the condition of human weakness, He wanted to fulfill all of the precepts of the Law, and on the eighth day, which we commemorate today, He willed to be circumcised in His body. This was not to cleanse His flesh, but to free us from all wickedness and to extend everything that was accomplished by Him to...

The day of those calends which are called the Calends of January, beloved brethren, derived its name from a dissolute and wicked man, Janus. This Janus formerly was the chief leader of the pagans. Ignorant and rustic men feared him as if he were a king, and they began to worship him as a god; while they were afraid of his kingly power, they conferred unlawful honor upon him. Men at that time, truly foolish and ignorant of God, esteemed as gods those whom they perceived to be more exalted among men. Thus it happened that worship of the one...

Every sin, dearest brethren, the devil introduces through either pride or false notions: false ideas through ignorance, and pride through contempt. These two are the sources of all sins. False notions are, as it were, a slighter sin, as is the appetite for pleasures, excessive gluttony, wanton jokes, shameful pleasure, the ostentation of the theater, a slanderous tongue, thoughtless and confused boldness. Other false ideas are the useless observance of omens, the worship of the days of old superstition, and inquiry into the future. But these things cross over to pride when they remain without amendment even though recognized. For...

The solemn feast which has proceeded from the Nativity of our Lord, dearest brethren, we have celebrated with the faith with which we hold God born of man; we venerate it with the same respect with which God was proclaimed in a man. There He is hidden in weakness; here He is revealed in strength. For today a star, which is destined to reveal Christ to those who seek Him, led the Magi, who were coming from the east, to the place of the Savior’s birth. The sacred birth is seen beneath a lowly covering; He who shines in the...

Epiphany is a Greek word, dearest brethren, and is interpreted as a manifestation. Therefore since He was manifested on this day, the redeemer of all nations made it a solemn feast for all people. Tradition has it that our Lord Jesus Christ, who was born twelve days earlier, was adored by the Magi on this day. The truth of the Gospel says that this was done, and the excellent authority of this feast proclaims everywhere on what day it happened. Now those Magi, as the firstfruits of the Gentiles, recognized Christ our Lord, and although they were not yet advised...

Behold, dearest brethren, through the mercy of God the season of Lent is approaching. Therefore I beseech you, beloved, with God's help let us celebrate these days, salutary for bodies and healing for the soul, in so holy and spiritual a manner that the observance of a holy Lent may lead to progress for us and not judgment. For if we lead a careless life, involving ourselves in too many occupations, refusing to observe chastity, not applying ourselves to fasting and vigils and prayers, neither reading Sacred Scripture ourselves nor willingly listening to others read it, the very remedies are...

Behold, beloved brethren, the holy and spiritual days of Lent are already at hand, and during them losses of the body are transformed into gains for the soul. Now since, as the Apostle says, “the acceptable time and the day of salvation”² are coming let us prepare our souls as for a spiritual harvest. Let us strive to devote ourselves to the Lord in such a way that in these few days we may be able to accumulate stores enough to provide for our needs during the whole year. Concerning these days we believe that the Lord said through the...

Our Lord and Savior exhorts us through the prophet and advises us how we ought to come to Him after many negligences, saying: “Come let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord who made US”;² and again: “Return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and weeping, and mourning.”³ If we notice carefully, dearest brethren, the holy days of Lent signify the life of the present world, just as Easter prefigures eternal bliss. Now just as we have a kind of sadness in Lent in order that we may rightly rejoice at Easter, so as...

I beseech you, dearest brethren, that at this prescribed and very holy season of Lent no one should presume to eat before the principal meal except on Sundays, except of course the man whom ill health does not allow to fast. On other days there is healing or a reward in fasting, but during Lent it is a sin not to fast. At another season the man who fasts will receive forgiveness, but on those days the man who can fast but fails to do so will be afflicted with punishment. Moreover, the man who is not able to fast...

Today, dearest brethren, the sermon of our humble self is especially directed to the catechumens. Although our exhortation is addressed particularly to them, we believe it is applicable to all of the baptized faithful who show concern for the salvation of their souls. All can profit from this humble advice, even though we wish to admonish mainly those who now desire the sacrament of baptism. First of all, then, catechumens [‘fellow askers’] should know why they are called by this name. They are so called because they are ‘asking together, just as people who are seated together are nothing else...

Behold, beloved brethren, through the goodness of God the days of forgiveness now are at hand; therefore as good and perfect sons of the Church prepare your souls with the help of God. Strive to labor as much as you can, in order that on the sacred festival of the Pasch your banquets may be so temperate and moderate that the holy and desirable festivity will not be turned into grief for us through the sin of intemperance. For if after holy fasting excess in food or drink creeps in imperceptibly, it will immediately germinate thorns of passion, as well...

Today, dearest brethren, we are going to hear the Evangelist say that “when the Lord had risen from the meal, he took off his cloak, tied a towel around himself, and began to wash his disciples’ feet.”¹ What shall we say about this occasion, most beloved? Or what excuse will we be able to offer, we who scorn to give to strangers the service which He deigned to offer to His servants? Possibly there are some powerful and noble men or delicate women who scorn to bend down to the footsteps of the saints who are sojourning in this world....

Rejoice, dearest brethren, because the price of our redemption has been paid. We cost a considerable amount, since He who redeemed us became the purchase price. Christ our Lord and Savior was born in such a way as to teach us, He died as He did to heal us, and He arose again in order to reward us. The cross brought death to Christ but salvation to the Christian. The Savior appeared showing all the marks of His divinity, for a star followed Him after His birth, glory after His burial. An angel, who had announced that He was to...

The Pasch of Christ, dearest brethren, is the kingdom of heaven, the salvation of the world, the destruction of the damned, the glory of those in heaven, the life of believers, the resurrection of the dead, a testimony of divine mercy, the price of human redemption and the grief of death, which it has destroyed. This feast of God, which was consecrated in mystery and is recognized in a sacrament, announces through angels the power of the Lord’s resurrection, manifests it through the apostles, and increases through the just hearts of believers. Therefore, dearly beloved, “this is the day the...

Although the singing of the Alleluia is delightful for us both to utter and to hear at every season, dearest brethren, we have become accustomed to listen to it more particularly and with greater pleasure on these days. For Alleluia is interpreted as “Praise God.” To be sure, that is a short word, but it is great praise. Now because, whenever we sing Alleluia we are known to praise God, we ought to consider and faithfully to see that what resounds in the mouth is kept in the heart. This should be done lest perchance when Alleluia, that is praise...

The resurrection and glorification of our Lord Jesus Christ, dearest brethren, shows us the kind of life we are going to receive when He comes to restore what is just to the upright, evil to the wicked, and good things to the just. To be sure, all wicked men can now sing Alleluia with us. However, if they persevere in their evil life, they will be able to sing the hymn of our future life with their lips, but they cannot obtain that life which then will exist in Him in truth, although now it is only signified. This will...

Behold, dearly beloved, holy, spiritual days are approaching, days which are medicine for our souls, and so whoever wants to heal the wounds of his sins should not despise the salutary potion. The man who does not feel that he is sick does not need a physician. But who is there, dearly beloved, who rejoices that he can defend himself in the arena of this world in such a way that he can receive no wound from the devil? Or who has always been able to stand so armed against many thousands of demons by day and by night, that...

We ought to know and understand, dearest brethren, that we are solemnizing days of humility and repentance. For this reason we should not become dissipated through excessive laughter or in careless and unbecoming mirth, fearing what the Lord said in the Gospel: “Woe to you who laugh, for you shall weep in your grief”;¹ and elsewhere it is written: “The end of joy may be sorrow.”² It should not seem harsh to some people that we seem to invite you to sadness and mourning rather than to joy and gladness. For if you listen carefully, brethren, our Lord exhorts and...

With exceedingly salutary advice, dearly beloved, and with kind, paternal affection the Lord exhorts us when He says through the prophet: “Delay not your conversion to the Lord, put it not off from day to day.”¹ “You know not what any day may bring forth.”² “Between morning and evening the weather changes.”³ Elsewhere we are also advised with a salutary precept: “Let us walk while we still have the light, before darkness comes over us.”⁴ Now some careless person may say: When I reach old age, then I shall have recourse to the healing of repentance. The wretched man does...

Our Savior, dearly beloved, has ascended into heaven; therefore let us not be disturbed on earth. Let our spirit be there, and peace will be here. Meanwhile let us ascend with Christ in heart, and when His promised day comes, we shall also follow in body. Nevertheless, we ought to know that pride or avarice or dissipation did not ascend with Christ. No vice of ours ascended with our physician. And for this reason, if we desire to ascend and follow the physician, let us strive here to lay aside our vices and sins. For all of our iniquities surround...

Today, dearest brethren, everything that has been read to us comes together along with the solemn feast. The psalm says: “Give me back the joy of your salvation, and with a perfect spirit sustain me.”² Moreover, the Gospel says: “The Spirit of truth comes,”³ while a passage in the Acts of the Apostles tells us: “All were filled with the Holy Spirit.”⁴ Now everything has been fulfilled and made perfect. The psalm asked the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Gospel promised that He would come, and the passage in the Acts related that He had already come. Therefore in...

When there is a sermon about God, dearest brethren, the concern of inquiry is useful just as the intention to contradict is harmful. In the latter case the meaning is obscured by stubbornness, while understanding is nourished in the former by questioning. In the one, opposing faithlessness delights in being corrupted, but in the other, obedient humility merits to be instructed. Do you, dearest brethren, prepare the holy receptacle of your heart for the divine water which is flowing in, and receive in peace and quiet what we want to suggest about the mystery of the Holy Trinity and the...

If you approve, in peace and quiet you can now fitly and conveniently hear what was kept for your charity yesterday, concerning the divine nature of the Holy Spirit. When we show that the person of the Holy Spirit is proper to Him and confess that the Father is unbegotten, we realize that the Son is the only begotten one. But someone of you asks me whether the Holy Spirit should be confessed as unbegotten, begotten, or something else. Sacred Scripture speaks about the godhead and divinity of the Holy Spirit, but does not say whether He should be called...

To enlighten the human race, beloved brethren, our Lord lit many spiritual lamps in this world. Since worship and heavenly doctrine shine through holy men, one who has wished to see the light of truth is never totally enveloped in the darkness of error. What, however, are these lamps, which our Lord permitted to dispel and illuminate the fog of faithlessness? First the patriarchs, then the prophets, afterwards the apostles, and finally the bishops of all the churches. Among these, divine compassion gave this city sublime Honoratus, of blessed memory, to be a brilliant and illustrious lamp. It was fitting,...

To enlighten the human race, beloved brethren, our Lord lit many spiritual lamps in this world. Since worship and heavenly doctrine shine through holy men, one who has wished to see the light of truth is never wholly enveloped in the darkness of-error. What, however, are these lamps, which our Lord permitted to dispel and illuminate the fog of faithlessness? First the patriarchs, then the prophets, afterwards the apostles, and finally the bishops of all the churches. Among these, divine compassion gave this city sublime Honoratus, of blessed memory, to be a brilliant and illustrious lamp. It was fitting, moreover,...

Today we are celebrating the birthday of St. John, dearest brethren, something which we read has never been granted to any of the [other] saints. Only the birthday of our Lord and that of Blessed John are celebrated and honored throughout the world. A sterile woman bore the latter, a virgin conceived the former; in Elisabeth sterility was overcome, in blessed Mary the method of conception was changed. Elisabeth bore her son by knowing a husband; Mary believed the angel and conceived hers. Elisabeth conceived a man, and so did Mary; but Elisabeth conceived only a man, while Mary conceived...

Today, dearly beloved, we are celebrating the birthday of John, who preceded the coming of our Lord. We do not recall that this has been granted to any [other] of the saints, and so I repeat that we are honoring his birthday with a unique and special celebration. Now because we cannot rightly extol him with the use of a human voice, we will speak in the remarkable words of our Lord's testimony when He said that “There has not appeared on earth a man born of woman greater than John the Baptist.”² He Himself said this; so you can...

Through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, dearly beloved, the prophet Isaias foretold the character of blessed John, whose feast we are joyfully celebrating today, much before he was born. For this is what he said: “The voice of one that cries out in the desert, ‘Prepare the way of the Lord! Make straight the paths of our God! Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked shall be made straight, the rough places plain,’ ”² Now all of these things have been fulfilled through divine mysteries, dearest brethren. If we are...

Although the passage from the Acts of the Apostles which was read to us today, dearly beloved, contains much by way of something to admire, it possesses no less by way of excellent mystery. “Look!” exclaimed St. Stephen, “I see an opening in the sky, and the Son of Man standing at God’s right hand.”² Notice quite carefully, brethren, why he testified that he saw the Son of Man and not rather the Son of God, when the blessed martyr saw our Lord Jesus Christ standing at the

right hand of God the Father. He saw, of course, that he...

As often as we ought to appeal to your charity to love your enemies in accord with the Lord’s precept, I am afraid that some people think about it and say that they can in no way at all fulfill it. Perhaps they are even willing to object to the point of saying that they cannot imitate Christ. Behold, man, I am speaking to whoever of you says that he is unable to imitate his Lord in love of enemies. Surely blessed Stephen was a man and not God. He was what you are, but he did what he did...

I entreat you, dearest brethren, not to receive our words with reluctance, and not to consider that it is superfluous for us to admonish you quite frequently with regard to love of enemies. The reason we do this is that we realize that there is no better remedy to heal the wounds of all sins. It should not seem foolish to you that we so often invite you to love your enemies, even on the feasts of the martyrs. We want this to happen because we know that all of the martyrs reached the crown of martyrdom because of their...

Today, dearest brethren, we are celebrating the feast of those infants who, the Gospel text tells us, were killed by King Herod, and for this reason our land, the fruitful mother of heavenly soldiers and such great virtues, should rejoice with the greatest exultation. Behold, the wicked enemy could never have helped the blessed infants as much by submission as he did by his hatred. As today’s most sacred feast shows us, the grace of benediction shone forth in the blessed infants as much as cruelty against them abounded. For we heard a little while ago that when King Herod...

As often as we celebrate the feasts of holy martyrs, dearest brethren, through their intercession we expect to receive temporal gifts from the Lord in such a way that by imitating those same martyrs we may merit to receive eternal rewards. In the pleasures of the feasts, the joys of the holy martyrs are proclaimed by the very people who follow the example of the martyrs. The solemn feasts of the martyrs are exhortations to martyrdom, so that we should not be ashamed to imitate what we are glad to celebrate. For our part we want to rejoice with the...

As often as we celebrate the feasts of holy martyrs, dearest brethren, we do not so much confer adornments as acquire them. Although those who are venerated are established in eternal bliss, those who render the honor are more in need of the adornments than those who seem to be honored. Now because veneration of the blessed martyrs adorns us very much, dearly beloved, as often as we celebrate the feasts of holy martyrs! we ought to show ourselves such that we make ourselves worthy of the sacred solemnity. Wicked men usurp the adornments of the saints in an unworthy...

As often as we celebrate the feasts of martyrs, dearest brethren, we ought to consider that we are fighting under the same king under whom they merited both to fight and to conquer. We ought to reflect that we have been saved by the same baptism by which they were saved, have been confirmed

by the same sacraments which they deserved to receive, and carryon our foreheads the sign of the same commander whose insignia they, too, happily bore. Therefore as often as we desire to celebrate the feasts of holy martyrs, the blessed martyrs ought to recognize in us...

Our Lord Jesus Christ gave great assurance to His witnesses that is, to the martyrs who, on account of their human weakness, were worried that perhaps they would perish by confessing Him and by dying. He did this by telling them: “No a hair of your head will be harmed.”² Are you, whose hail will not be harmed, afraid of perishing? If superfluities of yours are protected in this way, under how much protection is your soul? A hair, which you do not feel when it is cut does not perish; does the soul, through which you feel, perish? To...

As often as we celebrate the feast of an altar or of a church, dearest brethren, if we pay attention carefully and devoutly, and live both piously and justly, everything that is done in the churches built by hands is fulfilled in us as in a spiritual structure. The one who said “For the temple of God is holy, and you are that temple,”² did not lie; likewise when he said: “You must know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is within you.”³ Now since we have merited to become the temple of God through...

As your holy charity knows very well, brethren, today we are celebrating the consecration of an altar. We rejoice rightly and deservedly, when we celebrate the feast on which the stone where the divine sacrifice is consecrated was blessed and anointed with oil. But when we celebrate these feasts, dearest brethren, we ought to pay careful attention and strive with all our might, so that what is visibly worshiped in churches or on the altars may be invisibly fulfilled in us. Although the churches which we see made of wood and stone are holy, still the temples of our heart...

Through the goodness of Christ, today we are celebrating with joy and exultation the feast day of this temple, dearly beloved, but it is we who ought to be the true, living temple of God. Deservedly, Christian people devoutly celebrate the sacred feast of their mother, the Church, through whom they realize that they have been spiritually reborn. For we, who were “vessels fit for the wrath” of God through our first birth, have merited to beccme “vessels for mercy”² through the second one. The first birth brought us forth to death, but the second one recalled us to life....

The office of bishop is a good work, dearest brethren, as the blessed Apostle says: “Whoever wants to be a bishop aspires to a noble task.”² Now when “task” is heard, labor is understood. Therefore whoever desires the office of bishop with this understanding, wants it without the arrogance of ambition. To express this more clearly, if a man wants not so much to be in authority over the people of God as to help them, he aspires to be a bishop in the true spirit.

(2) Now my sermon is directed to you, beloved brother, at whose election so...

This day admonishes me, brethren, to think more carefully about my burden. Although I must reflect upon it by day and by night, nevertheless this day of anniversary impinges it upon my mind in such a way that I cannot omit thinking’ about it. The more the years come on, or rather the more they depart, and the closer they bring us to the last day which surely and without doubt is going to come at some time or other, the more intense is my reflection. The more full of anxiety, too, are my thoughts as to what kind of...

Anxiety stemming from my position always bothers me and has, ever since the day when there was placed upon my shoulders that burden of which it is difficult to render an account. Nevertheless I am moved much more by reflection on this burdensome weight, whenever the anniversary day of it renews its former memory. This puts it before my eyes in such a way that I hold onto what I had already received before, and approach it as if I were about to undertake it today. What is feared in this office, except that we may find greater pleasure in...

Your venerable and saintly father, Arigius,² humbly but with almost indiscreet prompting asked me to deliver a sermon of exhortation to your holy selves. While he wants to provide you with what you now almost do not need, he is seen to engender embarrassment in us. For what are we going to tell you verbally that you do not already fulfill in glorious deeds? Should we tell you, “do not love the world,” when we know that you despise the world with all of its desires in total faith and devotion? Are we going to tell you to despise its...

Your saintly and venerable father, in abasing himself—if he will permit such an expression—with indiscreet humility, has caused me not a little embarrassment. With admirable charity he strove to enjoin upon me, or rather to wrest from me, that I should address to your saintly souls a sermon of exhortation. As I consider both my own merits and your manner of life, and at the same time when I observe your holiness and my own conscience, I do not know what to choose. If I remain silent, I will appear disobedient to your charity, but if I presume...

Whatever the nature of the sermon I preach to your community, brethren, at the request and even the bidding, with charity, of your saintly father, I do so, not because of some kind of presumption, but out of true and honest charity. Although through the goodness of God you are so perfect that you do not at all need our admonition, still, at the bidding of charity which knows no fear, with true humility and perfect charity we presume to suggest and advise even what we know you are fulfilling very well. But since we realize that we are not...

I wonder that my lord, your father, is abasing himself with such great humility, dearly beloved, that he wants a sermon of exhortation addressed to your learned ears by one as ignorant as I am. Because of this admirable humility he desires the drops of a very small brook to be given by me, as though from a dry little rivulet, to you, who are living fountains in Christ. What, then, am I, “poor and afflicted,”¹ to do? Where will I be able to find something to serve you who are thirsting for justice? Where, I repeat, am I to...

If you notice carefully, beloved brethren or venerable daughters, you realize clearly that no man lives for himself alone, nor does he die for himself only. The blessed Apostle Paul confirms this in similar words when he says that “None of us lives for himself alone and none of us dies for himself alone.”¹ Every man will reach eternal rewards with and on behalf of as many souls as the number of those to whom he gave the example of a holy life. On the contrary, too, the man who has shown the example of an evil life and of...

Love for your way of living, beloved brethren, tells me that with God’s help I should make known to you some words that have been gathered from the books of Sacred Scripture. But what can a poor man dispense to those who are rich? With God’s help you yourselves learn through reading what you can give to others, but for the sake of those who are slothful in reading, something must be said. Why do they perhaps not understand, if they do read? However, if with the assistance of the Lord we are willing to review the psalms from memory...

We ought to do what our Lord advised us in the Gospel, dearly beloved, for thus He spoke: “Ask, and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to yoU.”³ For everyone who asks receives, who seeks finds, and who knocks has the door opened to him. Notice the three things which He mentions: ask, seek, and knock. Let the man who asks bring humility, the one who seeks offer diligence, and the one who knocks bring perseverance. One asks with the lips and seeks with the eyes. What does it mean to ask,...