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| On the Fast of Seventh Month, V.
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Sermon XC.
(On the Fast of Seventh Month,
V.)
I. We must always be seeking pardon,
because we are always liable to sin.
We proclaim the holy Fast of the Seventh Month,
dearly-beloved, for the exercise of
common devotions, confidently inciting
you with fatherly exhortations to make Christian by your observance
that which was formerly Jewish1198
. For it
is at all times suitable and in agreement with both the New and Old
Testament, that the Divine Mercy should be sought with chastisement
both of mind and body, because nothing is more effectual in prevailing
with God than that a man should judge himself
and never cease from asking pardon, knowing that he is never without
fault. For human nature has this flaw in itself, not planted
there by the Creator but contracted by the transgressor1199
, and transmitted to his posterity by the
law of generation1200
| 1200 Generandi
lege: others read generali lege, by the universal
law. | , so that from the
corruptible body springs that which may corrupt the soul also.
Hence although the inner man be now reborn in Christ and rescued from
the bonds of captivity, it has unceasing conflicts with the flesh, and
has to endure resistance in seeking to restrain vain desires. And
in this strife such perfect victory is not easily obtained that even
those habits which must be broken off do not still encumber us, and
those vices which must be slain do not wound. However wisely and
prudently the mind presides as judge over the outer senses, yet even
amid the pains it takes to rule and the limits it imposes on the
appetites of the flesh, the temptation is always too close at
hand. For who so abstracts himself from pleasure or pain of body
that his mind is not affected by that which delights or racks it from
without? Joy and sorrow are inseparable from a man: no part
of him is free from the kindlings of wrath, the over-powerings of
delight, the castings down of affliction. And what turning away
from sin can there be, where ruler and ruled alike are liable to the
same passions? Rightly does the Lord
exclaim that “the spirit indeed is willing but the flesh is
weak1201
| 1201 S. Matt. xxvi. 41; for this passage, cf. Serm. XIX. chaps.
1 and 2, and LXXVIII. chap. 2. | .”
II. Christ is Himself the Way, which He
bids us tread.
And lest we should be led by despair into sheer
inaction, He promises that the Divine power shall make those things
possible which are to man impossible from his own lack of power:
“for narrow and strait is the way which leadeth unto
life1202
,” and no one could set foot on it, no
one could advance one step, unless Christ by making Himself the Way
unbarred the difficulties of approach: and thus the Ordainer of
the journey becomes the Means whereby we are able to accomplish it,
because not only does He impose the labour, but also brings us to the
haven of rest. In Him therefore we find our Model of patience, in
Whom we have our Hope of life eternal; for “if we suffer with
Him, we shall also reign with Him1203
,”
since, as the Apostle says, “he that saith he abideth in Christ
ought himself also to walk as He walked1204
.” Otherwise we make a vain
presence and show, if we follow not His steps, Whose name we glory in,
and assuredly they would not be irksome to us, but would free us from
all dangers, if we loved nothing but what He commanded us to
love.
III. The love of God contrasted with the love of the world.
For there are two loves from which proceed all
wishes, as different in quality as they are different in their
sources. For the reasonable soul, which cannot exist without
love, is the lover either of God or the
world. In the love of God there is no
excess, but in the love of the world all is hurtful. And
therefore we must cling inseparably to eternal treasures, but things
temporal we must use like passers-by, that as we are sojourners
hastening to return to our own land, all the good things of this world
which meet us may be as aids on the way, not snares to detain us.
Therefore the blessed Apostle makes this proclamation, “the time
is short: it remains that those who have wives be as though they
had none; and those who weep, as though they wept not; and those who
rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and those who buy, as though they
possessed not; and those that use this world, as though they used it
not. For the fashion of this world passes away1205
.” But as the world attracts us
with its appearance, and abundance and variety, it is not easy to turn
away from it unless in the beauty of things visible the Creator rather
than the creature is loved; for, when He says, “thou shalt love
the Lord thy God from
all thy heart, and from all thy mind, and from all thy
strength1206
,” He wishes
us in noticing to loosen ourselves from the bonds of His love.
And when He links the love of our neighbour also to this command, He
enjoins on us the imitation of His own goodness, that we should love
what He loves and do what He does. For although we be
“God’s husbandry and God’s building,” and “neither is he that
planteth anything, nor he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase1207
| 1207 1 Cor. iii. 9
and 7. | ,” yet in all things He requires
our
ministry and
service, and wishes us to be the stewards of His gifts, that he who
bears God’s image may do God’s will. For this reason, in the
Lord’s prayer we say most devoutly,
“Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done as in heaven, so also on
earth.” For what else do we ask for in these words but that
God may subdue those whom He has not yet
subdued, and as in heaven He makes the angels ministers of His will, so
also on earth He may make men? And in seeking this we love
God, we love also our neighbour: and the
love within us has but one Object, since we desire the bond-servant to
serve and the Lord to have rule.
IV. The love of God is fostered by good works.
This state of mind, therefore, beloved, from which
earthly love is excluded, is strengthened by the habit of well-doing,
because the conscience must needs be delighted at good deeds, and do
willingly what it rejoices to have done. Thus it is that fasts
are kept, alms freely given, justice maintained, frequent prayer
resorted to, and the desires of individuals become the common wish of
all. Labour fosters patience, gentleness extinguishes anger,
loving-kindness treads down hatred, unclean desires are slain by holy
aspirations, avarice is cast out by liberality, and burdensome wealth
becomes the means of virtuous acts1208
| 1208 From this
point the oldest Vatican lectionary (3836) gives a very different
ending to the Sermon, which the Ball. consider as genuine as the one
given by the other mss., and translated
above: in which case they are probably right in inferring that
Leo used the Sermon more than once, and wrote these two endings for two
different occasions. | . But
because the snares of the devil are not at rest even in such a state of
things, most rightly at certain seasons of the year the renewal of our
vigour is provided for: and now in particular, when one who is
greedy of present good might boast himself over the clemency of the
weather and the fertility of the land, and having stored his crops in
great barns, might say to his soul, “thou hast much goods, eat
and drink,” let him take heed to the rebuke of the Divine voice,
and hear it saying, “Thou fool, this night they require thy soul
of thee, and the things which thou hast prepared, whose shall they
be1209
?” This should be the wise
man’s most anxious consideration, in order that, as the days of
this life are short and its span uncertain, death may never come upon
him unawares, and that knowing himself mortal he may meet his end fully
prepared. And so, that this may avail both for the sanctification
of our bodies and the renewal of our souls, on Wednesday and Friday let
us fast, and on Saturday let us keep vigil with the most blessed
Apostle Peter, whose prayers will help us to obtain fulfilment of our
holy desires through Christ our Lord, Who with
the Father and the Holy Ghost lives and reigns for ever and ever.
Amen.E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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