Sermo De Contemptu Mundi [Incertus]

SERMON ON THE CONTEMPT OF THE WORLD I, OF UNCERTAIN AUTHORSHIP. CHAPTER ONE. Some commandments are special, others common. Listen, dearest brothers, to the life-giving teaching of our Father, you who desire not an earthly but an eternal inheritance; you who do not wish to receive a lot in the land of the dying, but to sing with the Psalmist, "My portion is in the land of the living" (Ps. 141:6); you who have left Egypt and hasten to the promised land. Listen, therefore, having ears to hear, as a pious father calls us to the inheritance of the heavens, and says, "Come, children, hear me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord." Who is the man who desires life (Ps. 33:13)? Who are you who wishes to enter life? Keep the commandments of God. Of these commandments, some are special, others common. The special ones belong properly to canons or clerics, and to monks; the common ones to all Catholics. The special ones, therefore, are these: "If you wish to be perfect, sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and follow me." And again: "Everyone who has left home, or field, or father, or mother, or brothers, or sisters, or children, or fields for my sake, will receive a hundredfold, and will possess eternal life." And to the disciples: "You who have followed me, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man sits on the throne of his majesty, you also will sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:21, 29, 28).

Therefore, brothers, the more singular these things are, the more excellent; the more stringent, the more welcome. CHAPTER TWO. Clerics shall possess nothing of their own. Our Saviour says, among other things, "He who has not renounced all that he possesses cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33). By saying "all," He wished that nothing private be possessed by His disciples. Whoever possesses anything on earth is removed from the discipline of Christ. But he who is not a disciple of Christ, how does he presume to have the power of binding and loosing? Attend, brothers, to the words of the Gospel saying, "Jesus entered to the disciples through closed doors, and breathing upon them said, 'Receive the Holy Spirit: those whose sins you forgive are forgiven them, and those whose sins you retain are retained'" (John 20:22-23). Did those to whom the Master had commanded, "Carry nothing on the journey" (Luke 9:3), possess anything private? Of whom the evangelist Luke reports, "All things were common to them" (Acts 4:32)? See what Peter said to Jesus: "Behold, we have left everything and followed you" (Matthew 19:27). Those who had left everything had retained nothing for themselves at all. Whence, then, do they arrogate to themselves the power of binding and loosing, who presume to possess property on earth? How do they not blush to say, "The Lord is part of my inheritance" (Psalm 16:5)? Where is that apostolic saying, "What agreement has Christ with Belial?" (2 Corinthians 6:15)?

Those who are unwilling to abandon earthly possessions, why do they consume the sins of the people? If they receive tithes along with the sons of Levi, how do they receive a portion among the other tribes? If they attend to the etymology of their name, why are clerics called from "lot" (sors), unless because the Lord is their lot or inheritance? CHAPTER THREE. Why they are shaved. The seat of wisdom is in the brain. Why do they not at least consider the signs of their clerical state, by which they are distinguished from the laity? For it is not without reason that their heads are shaved and tonsured, but for a most clear and evident reason. For by these signs they are separated from the manner of life of the laity. So that this may profit many with God's favor, we have thought it well to insert it into a most useful admonition. We have learned from the authority of many Fathers that the brain is the seat of wisdom, and that Christ is truly the Power and Wisdom of God, as Paul testifies (1 Cor. 1:24). Since, therefore, the brain is in the head, and wisdom, according to the authority of the Fathers, has its seat in the brain, and thus through the wisdom infused into it all the members are governed by the head, which is through the brain, which is the seat of wisdom: so among us and true wisdom, which, as we have said, is Christ, who also according to the Apostle is our head (for he said, the head of the woman is the man, the head of the man is Christ, and the head of Christ is God [1 Cor.

XI, ] ): to show that no obstacle intervenes, we cut the hair on that part of the head in which we recognize that new wisdom, that is, Christ, resides: by this signifying that the evil concern for earthly things hinders the eyes of our mind from contemplating God. For we know that the more anyone is entangled in earthly occupations, the more he is thrust back from the vision of his Creator. Whence the Apostle: No one serving God entangles himself in secular affairs (2 Tim. 2:4). Likewise: He who is without a wife thinks of the things of God (1 Cor. 7:32). Hence Moses says: The Levites shall shave the hair of their flesh (Num. 8:7). Levite is interpreted as "taken up." For whoever is taken up into divine offices ought to shave the hair of the flesh, that is, the superfluous thoughts of the heart. Therefore, to shave the head signifies cutting off earthly and superfluous thoughts from the mind. Nor is it incongruous that superfluous thoughts are signified by hair and locks. For just as hair is not a part of the body, but a certain superfluity proceeding from the body's humor: so temporal goods are not natural to us, but alien and superfluous. Hence, therefore, the faithful of Christ, who sigh deeply for eternal life, who trample the world with its delights underfoot, who wish to possess nothing on earth, but say with the Apostle, Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil.

III, ) keep a very small part of the hair on their heads, so that by shaving it off they signify that they have very little concern for earthly things. For this reason they also retain that very small portion of hair, because while they are in this world, they cannot be entirely free from earthly thoughts. Therefore, any cleric called to the lot of the Lord who grows his hair and is ashamed to shave or cut it, certainly testifies that he is of the lot not of God, but of the world. For the more a man loves, cherishes, and nurtures the hair of the flesh, the more he shows that his heart is fixed not in heaven, but on earth: but the more he shaves and tames it, the more he proves that he loves not earthly, but eternal things. CHAPTER IV. That they should not cover their heads while praying. If, as we have said, we shave our hair for this reason, that we may show that nothing stands between us and God: then it is certainly clear that when we persist in prayer, we ought not to place foreign coverings on our heads, especially since the Apostle says, A man ought not to pray with his head covered, for he is the image of God (1 Cor. XI, 7). Therefore, let clerics engaged in psalmody and spiritual hymns cease to wear hair, mitres, and other coverings on their heads: lest while we speak with God, hiding the signs of our servitude, we be judged unworthy of the propitiation of Him whose salutary teaching we presume to disobey. For he who does not obey the Apostle, contradicts the Gospel.

And according to the voice of the same apostle saying, "Or do you seek a test of him who speaks in me, Christ?" (2 Cor. 13:5). "If an angel came from heaven and announced another gospel to you, let him be anathema" (Gal. 1:8). Therefore, let such presumption be utterly rooted out from the clergy, lest, God forbid, his prayer be cast out by God. CHAPTER V. Let them despise the world and worldly things. The world's arms, earthly estates. Having thus prefaced these clerical signs by which we ought to be distinguished from the laity, let us return to the proposed admonition. Let us hear the apostle John saying, "Do not love the world, nor those things which are in the world" (1 John 2:15). Let us also hear the Psalmist rebuking the lovers of the world: "Sons of men, why do you love vanity and seek falsehood?" (Ps. 4:3). Solomon also follows, saying, "Vanity of vanities, and all is vanity" (Eccl. 1:2). The organs of the Holy Spirit harmonize well with one another. The Apostle warns us not to love the world; the Psalmist inveighs against its lovers; Solomon proclaims that all things are subject to vanity. Why we should not love the world, nor follow falsehood, Ecclesiastes declares: as if he were saying, "Therefore those things are not to be loved, because they are transitory falsehoods; because what they promise they do not bestow, therefore they are not good." For since God is the author of all good things, and commands that each good thing be sought and loved by his faithful: if worldly things were true goods, neither would he himself despise them, nor his...

He would command his followers to be despised. Let us therefore hear what Truth testifies about itself: "Foxes have dens, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head" (Matt. 8:20). Likewise, if worldly glory were not vain, He would not have hidden Himself when the crowd wished to make Him king. Likewise, if worldly glory were not vain, if earthly riches were true goods, the Lord would not reproach their possessors, saying, "Woe to you, rich men," etc. (Luke 6:24). And elsewhere, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:24). Let us also hear what He says to His imitators: "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor" (ibid.). Likewise, "Unless one renounces all that he possesses, he cannot be my disciple" (Luke 14:33). Likewise, "No one can serve two masters," that is, God and mammon (Matt. 6:24). The skilled teacher saw His disciples struggling with the world, and if they had something to hold onto, they would be more easily cast down. Therefore, He took away the weapons from His and our enemies, by depriving us of earthly possessions. For a naked man does not usually fear thieves; but he who entangles himself in worldly things prepares weapons with which he may be pierced. Therefore, whoever does not wish to be pierced, let him proceed naked along the path of this exile.

CHAPTER VI. Let them seek the Kingdom of God. Let them love God and neighbor. Let them take the cup of Christ. Perhaps someone will ask: Since God commands his followers to set aside worldly things, what are the things he commands them to seek? Hear him speaking: "Seek the kingdom of God." Likewise: "Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven" (Matt. 6:20, 53). Again someone will ask: If God wants men to hate earthly things, what ought they to love? These are the things he commanded to be loved, when he answered through Moses: "You shall love your Lord God with your whole heart, and your neighbor as yourself" (Deut. 6:5). The neighbor is commanded to be loved only on earth, because he shares with us the inheritance of the heavenly kingdom. In this, filled with divine charity, as Scripture testifies, which says, "Love your neighbors as yourselves" (Lev. 19:18), with God propitiating, we are to do there, through whom we are also redeemed and will live without end: who, even when we were his enemies because of our evil deeds, first loved us; and when we were useless servants, adopted us as his sons and heirs, giving his only-begotten Son for us, that he might snatch us from the snare of perpetual death. What child can worthily love such a kind father? What can he give in return for such great benefits? The Psalmist, marveling at these great benefits, says: "What shall I render to the Lord for all that he has rendered to me?" To which inquiry he then adds: "I will take the cup of salvation" (Ps. 115:12-13), etc.

However small this reward may be—namely, to receive the cup of the Lord—yet no other seems so worthily to correspond to the Lord’s passion. This is the reasoning: just as He gave His blood for our redemption, so we should pour out our own for the confession of His name. But how will one give his blood for Christ who is unwilling to cast aside the vanity of the world for Him, when we love less than ourselves? How will one surrender his life for Christ who, contrary to His commandments, possesses these vain and false things? For He Himself says, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). And the apostle John speaks: “He who says he loves God and does not keep His commandments is a liar” (1 John 2:4). Thus it is proven that he who is unwilling to keep His commandments loves not God but himself. CHAPTER VII. Let them pursue poverty. The happiness of poverty. Since Christ for us was poor and needy, why are we ashamed to be poor for Him? Does not His poverty make us rich, with the Truth attesting that the kingdom of heaven belongs not to the rich but to the poor? For He says to the poor, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for the kingdom of heaven is yours” (Matthew 5:3). If the kingdom of heaven belongs to the poor, it follows that hell belongs to the rich. The Gospel also declares this to us, saying, “There was a certain rich man.” And shortly after it adds, “But there was also a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores,” etc.

Now it happened that the beggar died and was carried by angels into the bosom of Abraham. But the rich man died and was buried in hell (Luke 16:19, etc.). Let no one think these words are Augustine’s: they are not of man, but of Truth, which can neither deceive nor be deceived. Whoever therefore wishes to reign with Christ, choose poverty with Him, so that you may rest with Lazarus the beggar. For no one can rejoice with the world and reign with Christ. Hear the Apostle saying, Through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of heaven (Acts 14:21). And according to the voice of Truth, first we must drink the Lord’s cup, so that we may thus attain to the grant of the kingdom (Matt. 20:22). But whoever wishes to feast with the rich man, prepare for himself the feasts of the worms of Gehenna: in which, for momentary joy, he will burn perpetually with his head, the devil. Unhappy exchange, for such brief joy, to be deprived of the heavenly kingdom! Blessed poverty, through which the heavenly inheritance is acquired! Blessed exchange, to receive eternal things for perishable ones: and, what is an ineffable good, to reign with Christ without end! On the contrary, ineffable misery, to suffer perpetual torments with the devil.

CHAPTER VIII. Epilogue. Therefore, dearest brothers, as we ruminate on that Gospel saying, "What profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, but suffers loss to his own soul? Or what exchange would a man doubt to make for his soul?" (Judith 16:26), let us now willingly set aside for Christ what must at some time be left behind, lest—which God forbid—we lose eternal things for the sake of transitory ones. Let us drink the antidote of momentary bitterness, so that we may at length perceive the joys of immense salvation. Let us run now in such a way that we may grasp in the future: where we are found, there we will be judged. Let us not waste the acceptable time; for there will be no place of repentance among the dead. Therefore, while there is leisure, while we are on the way, let us consent to our adversary, the law of God. For divine law is called our adversary because it utterly contradicts our carnal pleasures. So with our adversary—that is, the Gospel—while the king waits, while he still invites us to peace, let us send messengers; let us enter into a covenant of peace with him, so that when that great father of the household comes, he may find us not as slaves to be punished, but as sons to be made heirs, and may bring us in with him to the wedding feast, so that we may render eternal thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ for his benefits, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.