Homiliae [Incertus]

FIRST HOMILY. Third Sunday of Advent: Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 11: At that time, when John had heard in chains of the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples and said to him: Are you the one who is to come, or do we await another? And the rest of the same reading of the blessed bishop Maximus. NOTE. A paper codex of the Chisian Library, marked with the letters Avi 181, 16th century, a small folio written in very neat characters, but not a few places corrupt, supplied us with three homilies, which we have placed at the end of this appendix. That Maximus is not the author of these, anyone will easily recognize if he pays attention to the style. ARGUMENT. - The words of the Gospel are expounded literally and allegorically. Saint John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Lord and Savior, was placed in chains by Herod because of the truth. When he had heard of the works and miracles of Christ, as the Gospel reading shows, he sent two of his disciples to Christ, who were questioning their master, because they still doubted in faith, so that the disciples themselves, seeing the signs which the Lord was performing, might believe both the prophecy of their master and the word of Christ. The blessed John said to them: Go, say to him: Are you the one who is to come, or do we await another? In this manner it is to be understood that Saint John sent word to Christ, saying: I know that you are born for all, but I do not know if you deign to die for all.

So that I may know, while I am being killed by Herod and will descend to the underworld, whether I should announce to the dead in the underworld that you are coming for their redemption, just as I announced your coming to the living, and you have arranged to send [someone] to complete these sacraments. Our Lord responded to what he had been asked; but he rebuked the faithlessness of the messengers, saying: "Go, announce to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, and blessed is he who is not scandalized by me." In saying this, you see me performing such great miracles; yet understand this, that I die for all. But he will be blessed who is not scandalized by me; that is, he who does not believe me to be merely and purely a man when he sees me dead. What the Lord says—"the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed"—is to be understood spiritually. Certainly, all men were blind before the coming of Christ, and they were in darkness, not seeing the light of truth. They were lame who daily ran after the devil; they were lepers who were full of various open sins. They were deaf who did not have open ears for hearing the word of God. They were dead, because they always lay in many sins and vices; they were poor, because they were strangers to good works. But after the Lord deigned to come into this world in his mercy, he enlightened all who were blind. He made the lame walk, because he commanded all the elect to follow in his footsteps.

He cleansed lepers, because he purified the human race from many evils. He made the deaf hear, because he opened the ears of men to hear the word of God. He raised the dead, because he caused sinners, who lay in their sins, to be converted to true penance. He evangelized the poor, because he taught the doctrine of life to those who were strangers to true penance. They were dead in their sins. When they had departed, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John. Why did you go out into the desert to see? A reed shaken by the wind? A reed is a cane, and it has three characteristics. First, it grows in green places or in watery places. Second, whatever breeze touches it, it bends to the other side. Third, it is beautiful on the outside and empty on the inside. For by the reed is signified the carnal mind, which rejoices too much when it has prosperity, and when it has adversity it is too sad. Just as a cane, which bends to whichever side, by whatever breeze. But St. John was not like that; because he was born of chaste parents, and he loved chastity. He held it, and the sanctity which he showed in his habit he had in his heart; and he did not delight in prosperity or in praises, nor did he fear adversity. In whose praise the Lord further says: What did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Behold, those who are clothed in soft garments are in the houses of kings. St. John was not clothed in delicate garments, but his garments were made of camel's hair.

For indeed, coarse haircloth is made from the hairs of camels. Certainly, brothers, if it were not a sin to have delicate garments, the Lord would not have praised John for the roughness of his clothing. Those who have delicate garments serve an earthly king, for they are unwilling to endure hardships for God, but rather pursue riches and worldly pleasures, and for the sake of love of praise or fear of persecution, they chastise sinners in order to acquire goods from this world. But why have you come to see? A prophet? Behold, I tell you, more than a prophet. For the ministry of a prophet is to foretell what is to come, not also to point it out with a finger. But John is more than a prophet, because he pointed out with his finger the one whom he had foretold, coming to baptism, saying (John 1): "Behold the Lamb of God, behold the one who takes away the sins of the world." After the Lord demonstrated that St. John was more than a prophet, he added, saying: "For this is he of whom it is written: Behold, I send my angel before your face, who will prepare your way before you" (Mark 1). For "angel" in Greek is called "messenger" in Latin. Rightly is he called an angel who is sent to announce the supreme Judge. For all who preach Christ and announce the word of God, or who are counted among the name of priest, can be called angels; as the prophet Malachi says (Chapter 2): "The lips of priests guard knowledge, and they seek the law from his mouth, and of the Lord of hosts.

But nevertheless, dearest brothers, if you wish, you are able to merit the height of this name. For each one of you, to the extent that he has received such grace of the divine dispensation, most certainly exists, if he first recalls himself from wickedness, and if he takes care to exhort his brother to do good as much as he is able, and if he announces to the erring one either the eternal kingdom or eternal punishment. Therefore, my brothers, if you are striving toward God, see that you do not come to Him alone; rouse your neighbors together with you to eternal joys, and turn idle conversations to the study of reading. Consider how swiftly the days of this life flee, and pay attention to how strict a judge is coming to judge the whole world. Certainly, if you proclaim the Lord according to your abilities with words and good works, you will gain eternal joy with the holy angels, which He Himself deigns to bestow. HOMILY II. On the Gospel of Saint John, chapter 2: At that time, a wedding took place in Cana of Galilee.

ARGUMENT. — Why Christ the Savior came to the wedding. Concerning the miracle of the turning of water into wine performed by him, and concerning the spiritual meaning of the six water-jars. Whenever, dearest brothers, we read that our Redeemer came to a wedding, we ought not to suppose that he did so for the pleasure of gluttony, as the scribes and Pharisees did, who said that he was a drunkard and a friend of publicans; but we ought to believe that he came for the sake of winning souls. For just as a skilled fisherman and a wise hunter casts his nets in that place where he knows many fish or many birds or beasts come, so that he may catch some of them when many are gathered together, so the Lord wished to come to a feast or to a wedding, where many were assembling, so that he might catch some of them by the word of his preaching. Spiritually, however, when the Lord came into the world, the wine ran out, because the Jews had lost the sweetness of the law which they formerly had. Jesus says to her: "What is that to me and to you, woman? My hour has not yet come" (John 2). We ought not to suppose that the Lord dishonored his mother, who commands us to honor parents. But he says this to her for this reason, so that he might raise her mind to the power of his divinity. It is as if the Lord were saying to her: "Woman, what common ground does your humility have with the miracle? What you seek is a work of divine power; works, powers, and miracles are its domain.

My hour has not yet come, that is, the hour of my passion has not yet come, when I might openly reveal what the human nature which I received from you can do. That hour was fulfilled when, hanging on the cross, he said: "Woman, behold your son"; as if he were saying: behold what I assumed from you can suffer and die; the miracle you seek cannot be performed without the divinity. His mother says to the servants: "Whatever he tells you, do" (Ibid.). Saint Mary understood from those words that the Lord said he was not angered, and therefore, with confidence, she told the servants to carry out her son's commands. Now there were six stone water-jars placed there according to Jewish purification, each holding two or three measures. It was the custom of the Jews, especially the Pharisees, to have vessels filled with prepared water at banquets and weddings for washing hands or for whatever was necessary. Jesus says to them: "Fill the water-jars with water." And they filled them to the brim, and they were turned into wine. Certainly, dearest faithful, the Lord could well have filled the empty jars with wine, he who created everything from nothing before they existed; but he first ordered them to be filled with water, and afterwards turned it into wine. This signifies that when our Lord came to earth, he did not give a different law from the one he had given through his servant Moses, but he opened up the spiritual understanding that was hidden in that law.

Spiritually, however, these water jars signify the hearts of the holy teachers, who have within them water, that is, knowledge of the Scriptures; and the fact that they were made of stone signifies the hearts of the saints, which are always firm and strong against the temptations of the devil. And these six water jars signify the six ages of the world. The first age of the world was from Adam up to Noah; the second was from Noah up to Abraham; the third from Abraham up to David; the fourth from David up to the Babylonian Captivity; the fifth from the Babylonian Captivity up to the coming of Christ in the flesh; the sixth age is that which now continues from the coming of the Lord up to the end of the world. In all these ages, almighty God sent holy men who always preached the divine words. In the first age of the world we read that God made man from the earth in his own image and likeness, and from his side, while he slept, he took one of his ribs and made Eve. And after this he placed them in paradise, and commanded them to eat of every fruit of paradise, but concerning the tree of the knowledge of good and evil he commanded them not to touch. Afterwards, seduced by the serpent, that is, by the devil, they ate the fruit which had been forbidden to them. Therefore the Lord became angry and cast them out of paradise.

Whoever hears this and fears to transgress the Lord’s commandment finds in the first age a water jar full of water; and if he finds it, he understands spiritually through Adam our Lord, who took flesh from the Virgin, and through Eve he understands holy Church, which was formed from the Virgin and from the side of Christ hanging on the cross. Immediately the water jar, which was full of water, was turned into wine. In the second age we read that the Lord commanded Noah to make an ark because of the flood; and He wished to send it upon the earth, because all men had abandoned the precepts of God and were working evil. Whoever hears these things and desires to be saved with the few rather than to perish with the many finds in the second age a water jar full of water; and if he wishes to understand spiritually, through Noah, who built the ark, he understands our Lord, who was the builder and ruler of holy Church; and through the flood which He wished to send upon the earth to destroy sinful men, he understands baptism, in which sins are destroyed. He who thus understands these things spiritually has the water jar, which he first had full of water, changed into wine. In the third age we read that He commanded Abraham to go out from the land of his kindred and from his father’s house; and he came into the land which He Himself would show him, and he immediately did this as God commanded him.

Whoever hears these things and ponders in his heart with how much zeal he ought to obey God has in the third age a water jar full of water; and if he wishes to understand spiritually through Abraham God the Father, the water jar, which he previously had full of water, is changed into wine. In the fourth age we read that David was king, who was humble and merciful, and who endured much passion and tribulation from King Saul. Whoever hears these things and wishes to follow the humility of David finds in the fourth age a water jar full of water; if he wishes to understand spiritually, through the salvation of the people of the Jews, who persecuted the Lord, and through David wishes to understand our Lord, who deigned to pray for his persecutors, he has the fourth water jar changed into wine, which previously had water. In the fifth age we read that the people of the Jews transgressed the commandment of God, and because of this the Lord handed them over into the hand of the king of Babylon, who led them captive into Babylon and destroyed the city of Jerusalem.

Whoever hears these things and fears to sin against the Lord, lest infirmity or some tribulation come upon him, that one finds in the fifth age a water jar full of water; and if he wishes to understand spiritually the human race through the people of Israel, and to understand hell through Babylon, and the devil through the king of Babylon, who always desires to drag the human race into hell: that one who understands thus has his jar changed into wine, which he had full of water. In the sixth age we read that our Redeemer deigned to become man for all, and on the eighth day was circumcised, and on the thirty-third day was presented in the temple. Whoever hears these things and ponders in his heart with how much zeal he ought to observe the precepts of God, that one in the sixth age finds a water jar full of water; and if he wishes to understand spiritually that we cannot enter the kingdom of God unless in this present life we have been purified through confession and almsgiving, that one has the jar turned into good wine. And these six jars each held two or three metretae, that is, two or three measures. Moreover, the servants who filled the jars signify the holy apostles and doctors of the Church, who preach the precepts of God, of whom it is rightly said: And they filled them to the brim.

Certainly from the beginning of the world there was no time in which there was not some mind of him who daily manifested him through teaching, or through good example, or through preaching. And Jesus says to them: Draw now, and bring to the architriclinus; and they brought (John 2). The architriclinus is the master of the house, and signified the teachers of holy Church, who knew how to discern between the Old and New Testament, and between good and evil. The architriclinus calls the bridegroom, and says to him: Every man first puts forth good wine, and when they have become drunk, then that which is worse (ibid.). There are many who say that this bridegroom was Saint John the Evangelist, who because of the miracle he saw, left the wedding and followed the Lord. This was the beginning of the signs of Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and he manifested his glory, and his disciples believed in him. The disciples of our Redeemer before this miracle was done believed him to be only a mere man; but after they saw this, with great confidence they believed him to be true God and true man. And we, dearest brothers, at all times let us believe his works, and let us do his precepts, and always let us announce his teaching to others, so that in the future we may rejoice with him. With our Lord Jesus Christ granting, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, etc.

HOMILY III On the Gospel according to Matthew, chapter 2: "At that time: an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph," etc. ARGUMENT.—Concerning the departure of Joseph with Mary and the child Jesus into Egypt; and concerning the reason why Herod delayed the slaughter of the Bethlehemite children. This holy John the Evangelist, dearest brothers, reveals to us the treachery of Herod, who had promised the Magi that he would come and adore the Lord. But this promise did not come from a good heart, that he wished to adore the Lord. Rather, he promised to come for this reason, because he wished to kill him, just as he killed many children. But the angel of the Lord, who is a minister in the heavens, seeing the treachery of Herod, appeared to Joseph in a dream and warned him to take the child and his mother and flee into Egypt, lest Herod be able to vent his fury against the Lord, as he did against the children. But holy Joseph, the bearer and nourisher of the Lord, the guardian of chastity, as soon as he was warned by the angel, arose with great zeal and solicitude and fulfilled the commands of God. And the Evangelist reveals this when he says: "Who, rising up, took the child and his mother by night and withdrew into Egypt; and he was there until the death of Herod." In this place, dearest brothers, we can know that Joseph himself was holy and good, because he did not fear the darkness of night: he did not wait for daybreak, and he did not turn aside to another region because of the unbelief of any perfidious people.

But that same night he arose, took the boy and his mother, and went into Egypt; and he stayed there until the death of Herod. Then Herod, seeing that he had been mocked by the Magi, became very angry, and sending out, he killed many children who were in Bethlehem and in all its territory, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had inquired of the Magi (Matthew 2). After Herod saw that his plots were of no avail, he became very angry, and ordered that all the children who were in Bethlehem of Judea be killed. For he himself thought that if all the children were killed, the one he sought could not escape. That wretch did not consider that there is no wisdom, no prudence, no counsel against the Lord. When Herod himself ordered all the children to be killed, he commanded that all children who were two years old be killed, and also children of one night. He carried out this slaughter two years after the birth of Christ, because ecclesiastical history relates that at that time Herod himself, who had heard from the Magi that a king of the Jews had been born, received a legation on behalf of the emperor, so that he might suddenly go to Rome. For he was strongly accused by his enemies. However, when he himself came before the emperor and before the entire Roman senate, he most honorably and wisely cleared himself of all the things that were being said against him. For he himself was very ingenious and eloquent. After this was done, he was exalted with greater glory on the part of the emperor.

He was so greatly honored that he gave him a royal crown and granted him the power to rule in Judea. And when he himself had returned to Judea with great glory after two years, then, reflecting on what he had heard from the Magi—that a king of the Jews had been born—he suddenly sent men and killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem. Then was fulfilled what the prophet Jeremiah said: "A voice was heard in Ramah, much weeping and wailing. Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be consoled, because they are not" (Matt. 2). Ramah in this place is not the name of a city nor of any place, but signifies "on high." It is as if one were to say: a voice was heard on high, and much weeping; because Rachel—that is, the holy Church—weeps for her children; that is, the holy Church groans over the persecution of the faithful; and she does not wish to accept that consolation, that those who are crowned through martyrdom and reign with Christ should return again to fight in the contests of the world. And one could understand it otherwise: that the holy Church daily laments over those whom she cannot recall to penance. But we, dearest ones, as far as God has granted us, let us hold to an innocent life; even if we cannot be martyrs in body, let us follow the martyrs in mind. Certainly, if we abstain from evil desires and wicked thoughts, and if we do what is right, we will be able to be among the number of those who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.

May he himself grant us this, who lives with the Father and the Holy Spirit, etc.