In illud Exiit edictum

Homily on the words, "An edict went out from Caesar Augustus," and on the census of the holy Mother of God. 1. When our common Saviour Jesus Christ was about to be born, my beloved, a universal edict went out from Caesar Augustus to the whole world. For since a universal grace was about to shine forth over the whole earth, the public order was in a certain way joined to piety; and one decree was made throughout the whole world at the time of the Saviour's birth. So an edict went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be registered, as a preparation for the harmony of piety, for the coming of the proclamation, for the paving of the way for the teaching. For previously the local administrations were numerous, since there was no edict of Caesar for a universal proclamation; but when the proclamation of piety, the faith, was about to be spread throughout the whole world, the world was united under one ordinance; and not only the world, but also the lower regions with the upper, and piety was made public in a way beneficial to men, so that the truth concerning God might escape no one. Caesar Augustus commands, and Joseph obeys, and he takes the virgin. When you ask a Greek or even a Jew why Augustus was honored with a long reign (for he reigned fifty-six years and four months), they answer nothing, but think that the length of his time came about by chance, not knowing the causes of events, nor believing in the grace of God.

For it was in his reign that Jesus Christ was born. If, then, the Roman emperor Augustus was the first, it was fitting that Christ should undertake his incarnation at the foundation of the Roman empire. For the iron rod was about to be introduced—the rod of which David spoke: "You will shepherd them with an iron rod," and, "Ask of me, and I will give you nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession"—as if the Father were conversing with the Son and saying: The Jews have rejected your kingdom and dishonored your rule; the nation is contemptible, few are those who have turned away. Ask of me, and I will give you nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession—not the corner of Palestine, nor the circumcised nation, vain and heartless in soul—but, "I will give you nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession." And you will shepherd them, since they were unwilling to obey the Gospel; since they were unwilling to yield to the miracles, you will shepherd them not by word but by deed and with an iron rod, that is, the Roman rule. For this reason they are subject to the rule of the rod. For when Jesus came to Jerusalem and saw in the temple commerce and shameful trafficking—for they were buying and selling inside, trading under the pretext of sacrifices—he made a rod and a whip of cords, drove them out of the temple, saying: Do not make my Father's house a house of trade.

And if they had endured that rod, they would not have been shepherded with an iron rod. But since they dishonored the saving rod, they came not under the whip, nor under the word that scourges the sensitive, but under the iron rod. And often they wished to rebel, and the iron rod overtook them, not merely striking but destroying. So when the iron rod began to hold sway under Augustus, then indeed Christ was born. The beginning of the Romans is the beginning of the proclamation, the fourth kingdom of the times. For one may see these things mystically stored up among the prophets. For nothing lies unwritten, neither in the New nor in the Old. But the Old anticipated the New, and the New interpreted the Old. And I have often said that two Testaments, two handmaidens, and two sisters attend the one Master. The Lord is announced among the prophets; Christ is proclaimed in the New. The new things are not new, for the old anticipated them. The old things were not extinguished, for they were interpreted in the New. For you would see that Daniel, young in age but old in prophecy, prophesying in Babylon.

Why in Babylon? For the people had been taken captive to Babylon, and had spent seventy years in the land of the Assyrians. There, then, Daniel is born, there he is reared, suffering no harm from the foreign land. For he possessed the ancestral spirit; and from his youth he becomes a prophet, and the Holy Spirit took possession of his soul, and when he was eighteen years old, he began his prophetic activity. And there are many things he prophesies, and he also interprets four kingdoms. For Nebuchadnezzar, the king of the Assyrians, saw in a statue four differences, one body, but four colors. For the statue had a head of gold, it had a chest of silver, it had a belly of bronze, it had feet of iron, and the statue was composed of four materials. And the king saw it, but there was no one to interpret. The magi came, the Chaldeans came, the soothsayers were brought forward, those who always deceived the king were summoned; and what do they say? Tell us the dream, and we interpret. God, then, managing so that they might not deceive him as usual, removed the image of the dream from the king's memory; and the king said, Tell me my dream. And when they clearly confessed that it was impossible to relate another's dream, and that they could only interpret if they heard it, Daniel was summoned, having been reported as capable in these matters, and he goes in to King Nebuchadnezzar, having through the Holy Spirit the revelation of the dream, and says to the king: O king, you saw such and such. And at the words of the prophet, the hearer recovered the memory of the dream.

And the hearing became a recollection of the vision. The prophet therefore interprets it; for he was now credible, interpreting after the promise of the dream itself, and says: The image which you saw is four kingdoms; for four kingdoms will arise upon the earth. That image, indeed, was whole; and one body stood. But you saw, O king, that a stone was cut without hands, and shattered the image, and the stone prevailed and filled the whole earth. This is what you saw: you saw four kingdoms; you are the golden head. For the Assyrians first reigned, very wealthy and most splendid and most luxurious. And he says to him: You are the golden head; and after you a kingdom inferior to you will arise. For after the Assyrians, the Persians and Medes reign; and these also became most brilliant. A third kingdom will arise, the bronze one, the kingdom of the Greeks and Macedonians; where Alexander, being in Greece, yoked and overran Persia, and destroyed Darius, and brought the empire under his own authority. It was compared to bronze, because of the sonorousness of their speech and tongue. For the Greeks with Alexander, and Alexander himself, being eloquent in speech, were compared to bronze; for gold is bright, but not sonorous; and likewise silver; but bronze, though inferior in material, is sonorous in sound. He says therefore: A third kingdom signified by bronze; and a fourth kingdom, the last, of iron. You will therefore shepherd them with an iron rod. See the harmony of the

of prophecy. He saw, indeed, that the stone was cut from a mountain without hands. How was it cut? Not with iron, but without hands; for the Virgin gives birth spontaneously. And the stone struck the image, and became a great mountain and filled the whole world. One stone fills the whole earth. That stone was cut without hands, and became a great mountain, and filled the whole world. 2. What is this stone? Listen to Isaiah saying: Behold, I place in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal; and everyone who believes in it shall not be put to shame. Not only Isaiah speaks of this stone, but David also prophesies: The stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner. This came from the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes. What is the corner? Every corner joins two walls to itself; the stone joined the New and the Old, two peoples from the Gentiles and from the Jews. Therefore, this came from the Lord, and it is wonderful in our eyes; not in the eyes of all, but in the eyes of us who believe. Whenever, then, you see the Church held together by the one stone from Jews and from Greeks, understand especially what is said. But someone might say: And where among us are those from the Jews? For we see those from the Greeks; but where are those from the Jews? Whence was Paul? Whence was Peter? Whence was Andrew? Whence was John? Whence was the Church of tens of thousands in Jerusalem?

First from the Jews, then from the Greeks. For when those among them who had their hope of piety believed, then came the iron rod and scattered those who remained in unbelief. "You will shepherd them with an iron rod; as a potter's vessel you will shatter them." Why "as a potter's vessel"? If the clay falls while still moist, it is taken up again; but if it becomes a vessel and once meets the fire and becomes a very dry potsherd, when it is shattered, it no longer admits of restoration. "You will shepherd them with an iron rod; as potter's vessels you will shatter them." In the iron kingdom, however, Christ is born; a stone was cut without hands. See how the events correspond and the words are similar: "and it struck the image, and brought to an end the kingdoms on earth, and became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." This was the dream that King Nebuchadnezzar had seen; but the vision was fulfilled so that he might not relate it to the magi and, as usual, be deceived by them, hearing one thing instead of another. After a short time, Daniel himself sees the dream in another way; but it was not a dream, but a revelation of a vision; he seemed to be by the sea, and Daniel says: "Four great beasts came up from the sea." Let us follow the pattern of the prophecy gently and little by little: "Four great beasts came up from the sea," he says, "differing from one another," and, he says, "there was very great difference among them." The first was like a lioness, and its wings like an eagle's. There you have gold, here a lioness; why a lioness here and gold there? There gold because of luxury and wealth.

Here a lioness, because of the feminine and womanish, yet still a beast. The first, like a lioness. Second, he saw a beast like a bear, and it stood in one place; there silver, here a bear, because of the heavy. Third, he says, I saw a beast like a leopard, a very swift beast. Since Alexander, the king of the Macedonians, attacked the East very swiftly, he was compared to a leopard. There bronze because of the clear sound of the Greek tongue, here a leopard because of the swiftness of the attack. The fourth beast he names, but he does not give its name; rather he says it is fearsome, exceedingly most fearsome; its teeth are large; it eats exceedingly, and crushes, and tramples the rest under its feet; and it itself differed exceedingly from all the beasts before it; and the beast was fearsome; and he did not say its name. For since the passage of the prophecy was about to become clear, when he brought it forward concerning the Romans, so that the empire might not be insulted, he leaves this beast nameless. When, however, he says, I saw the fourth beast, I was afraid and trembled. For it was exceedingly most fearsome; it trampled everything, crushed everything, devoured everything; it ruled over everything, wherever it went, it subdued. And what does he say? Suddenly I saw a river of fire; a throne was set, an old man of days sat down, a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand myriads stood by him, the old man of days. Books were opened, and behold, on the clouds of heaven, like a Son of Man coming, and he reached the old man of days. And what happened immediately? No longer the beasts, no longer the sea, no longer the fear of the beast;

But he took the beginning, and he himself ruled. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom, which will not be dissolved; for his rule extends from generation to generation. Up to this point, he says, is the end of the discourse. And the prophet thus sees four kingdoms; for it was fitting for him, since he abstained from worldly affairs. But the king, as was fitting for him, sees four kingdoms as in gold, silver, bronze, and iron. For if the king had seen the kingdoms as beasts, and then Daniel had interpreted for him, it would have been absurd to say to him, "You are the first beast"; for he would have seemed to insult the listener. But the king sees as a king, and the prophet sees in another type something similar. These things have been said by us, beloved, not in vain, nor have we taken up the ancient history idly, but so that you may be fully assured that the reign of Augustus was glorified, honored, praised, and long-lasting, because Christ was born in his time, and the man was so honored that his name became the designation of the office. For you must know that he reigned for fifty-six years; and when he had completed forty-two years, Christ is born; then for the remaining fifteen years of his reign, Christ is raised. Tiberius succeeds Augustus, and in the eighteenth year of Tiberius's reign, he comes to the cross, suffers, rises, and is taken up.

Thus there are fifteen years of Augustus and eighteen of Tiberius. Jesus, having become thirty years old during the reign of Tiberius Caesar, revealed his own divinity to the disciples, and for three years thereafter he proclaimed the gospel; for everywhere the Trinity is honored. Therefore, having proclaimed for three years, in the eighteenth year of Tiberius he arrives at the Passion, completing the economy of the flesh. 3. So it happened in those days, that we may take up the reading: a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole inhabited world be registered. This registration is a clarification of matters, a first laying bare of the truth, so that the race of men might not wander; this is the first registration. Has it, then, been hidden even from the prophets themselves? Let us run back to the Old Testament, let us examine the Jewish matters and those of the disbelief of the Jews. I call David to witness, a trustworthy man, honored among the Jews even for mere memory, but faithful to the Church. What, then, does David say? "The Lord will recount in writing of peoples and rulers of these." These are the words of the prophet, these are the deeds of the Gospel. This is the first registration. And it says, Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, so as to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was pregnant. For the conception took place only with the betrothed.

While they were there, the days for her to give birth were completed, and she bore her firstborn son, and she swaddled him and laid him in the manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Nothing is more humble than this event, nothing more impoverished than the birth of Jesus. Jesus became poor for our sake, though he was rich; Mary laid the Savior in a manger; there was nothing beneath him, nothing above him; for the Savior had no need of such tending, nor did he require external care, just as he is not conceived according to the law of nature. The use of the Virgin sufficed; he himself was ordering everything. Thus, it says, she laid him in the manger, and shepherds were in the same region, spending the night in the fields. Matthew records that Magi arrived; Luke, that shepherds were also in the region, spending the night in the fields—there Magi, here shepherds. And an angel came to them, proclaiming great things with a loud voice: "I announce to you great joy today, that a Savior has been born to the world in the city of David." And as one angel spoke, the heavens opened, and a single harmony of those singing and saying was seen: "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill among men.

For everything is about to come together, heaven and earth are to be united, so that the lower may become upper, so that peace may exist for those far off and those near. Shepherds, then, are given the good news. Why shepherds? Because we had been wandering like sheep, and Christ Jesus, the Savior of the world, came as a shepherd to the world, and shepherds are given the good news because of the shepherd, and Glory to God in the highest. For men were about to glorify and give thanks to the one who sent peace upon the earth; for men were being freed from enmity toward God. Goodwill among men; for things pertaining to piety were about to seem good to men. So the shepherds, having been given the good news and having heard the word, saw the things. They came to the cave. They did not see a bed, they did not see a couch, they did not see a table prepared, but Mary and Joseph sitting, and the child lying down. So the evangelist does not mention the father first, but mentions Mary first; for she is truly the mother. Or rather, she is not even mother, since she did not give birth naturally, but conceived supernaturally. For she did not know what was happening, but was an instrument of the craftsman. They saw, indeed, Mary and Joseph and the child; having heard the word, they saw the things, they marveled, they were saved. The child, indeed, lay there, enduring the then imperfect construction of the body, and bearing its growth; and like a craftsman, he awaited and prepared the instrument, so that, as the cithara player uses the cithara, and as the archer uses the bow and arrow for the right purpose, so also Jesus, sharing with all, grows little by little.

Why then not all at once? Why did he not arrive fully grown? He came to imitate our nature, so that he might sanctify the lump through the firstfruits. If, however, he had come as a full-grown adult, the heretics would have claimed: "The virgin did not bear him; he did not take the lump from our race." So he was born from a virgin, taking from the common lump, in order to sanctify Adam, his own creation; and for this reason he grows little by little, and while he associates with people as a man, yet being Lord of nature, he lived without sin. Whenever, then, you hear of him as a child, recall that prophecy of Isaiah, which said: "A child has been born to us, whose beginning was born upon his shoulder; a mighty God, a ruler of peace, father of the coming age." When you hear "child," do not despise the name, but marvel at God's love for humanity, and marvel at the salvation of the economy, so that you may become worthy to hear the words of the Gospel, following by faith, training by endurance, striving by reverence, being perfected by love, becoming complete in all things in Christ Jesus our Lord; with whom to the Father and the Holy Spirit be glory, power, honor, and worship for ever and ever. Amen.