DE GEMINO PASCHATE

• 1059A

We keep a twofold Pasch; a twofold Pasch, surely, we ought to celebrate. The first is that which is commonly wont to be called the flowering Pasch, of which we are now constrained to say something suited to the season. But whom, I ask, 1059Bwould it not delight to speak of such a season? Whom would its loveliness not rouse to its praise, or inflame to its love? O lovely season, acceptable season, flowering season! A lovely season, which is marked out by the manifold variety of flowers; an acceptable season, which is besprinkled round about with a pleasing fragrance. To whom, I ask, would it not be pleasing or acceptable, when it can now be truly said: For now the winter is past, the rain is gone and departed: the flowers have appeared: the flowering Vinae have given their odor? (Cant. II.) Whom would it not please to cry out in its praise that word of the Apostle: Behold, now is the acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation? (II Cor. VI.) An acceptable time indeed, which is adorned with flowers; and no less healthful, since from it fruit also is hoped for. Without any ambiguity, if the flowering season does not 1059Cgo before, we look for fruit in vain and with an empty hope. Let the flower-bearing Pasch, then, go before, that the fruit-bearing Pasch may follow. This twofold Pasch we surely ought to keep as a feast, and to receive with all solemnity. Do you wish to know more plainly what it is that we mean to say? You know, as I judge, that Pasch is interpreted a passing over, and that the Pasch is named from the Lord's passing over. What, then, do we call the flowering Pasch, save an honorable and pleasing passage? And what the fruit-bearing Pasch, save a glad passage, full of all joy? Take, then, a twofold passage, both parts of it pleasing, both honorable. The first is that we pass over from wickedness to righteousness; the second, that we pass over from misery to glory. Brethren, what do we say to these things, or of what sort do we think such 1059Dpassages to be? What, I ask, will it be to pass over from iniquity to goodness, to pass over from calamity to blessedness? The first passage belongs to the first Pasch, the second to the second Pasch. You see, I beseech you, how gladly and how thankfully we ought to keep such a season as a feast, and to celebrate it solemnly. And that second Pasch, indeed, we all love in common and alike aspire to. But is that first one received with the same devotion, or celebrated with equal zeal? Would that all were as zealous to be good as they aspire to be blessed — then indeed they would be as blessed as they are good! Would that all aspired to the beginnings of the just as much as they long for their last ends! Let my soul die, says Balaam, the death of the just, and let my last end be like to theirs (Num. 1060AXXIII); but let those who wish to have the like of the last ends of the just be zealous to have the same beginnings. Let them flower meanwhile through righteousness, and they shall take fruit from it: life everlasting. From a righteous life, eternal life; from a good life, a blessed life; from such a flower, such a fruit; from a perfect life, 1060Ba perennial life. Every tree is known by its own fruit. That is no evil tree which makes good fruits. If the tree is good, its fruits also are good, and its flowers pleasing. But it is always necessary that the flowers go first, that the fruits may follow; otherwise, without preceding flowers, they are hoped for in vain. Let the flowering Pasch, then, go before, that the fruit-bearing Pasch may follow; let us meanwhile pass over from dishonor to honor, that afterward we may pass over from unhappiness to happiness. If we are still evil, let us pass from evil to good; if good, let us pass from good to better, and through the better to the best — and we have kept the flowering Pasch.

Why, I ask, do men come together at this flowering Pasch, unless to make a procession according to custom! Is not the very going in procession a passing over and a keeping of the Pasch? 1060CAnd we then keep that Pasch as a flowering one, if we pass over in due order and to more honorable things; and we make a fair procession indeed, if we make progress in good. How fair, how comely a procession do we think it to go from virtue to virtue, to forget the things that are behind and to stretch forth to the things that are before? O what flowers are the true virtues! Let us therefore strew our way with such flowers, and pass over through the flowering fields of the virtues; let us go in procession purely and honorably, that we may make our procession fair and pleasing, and may accomplish the flowering Pasch with a worthy solemnity. O how pure, how glad it will be to go through flowers and to pass through the lovely places of the virtues: through the crocus of charity, through the lily of chastity, through the rose of suffering and the violet of humility! O how praiseworthy, O how lovely, to scatter a pleasing fragrance on every side, 1060Dand to spread abroad round about the sweet smell of one's good name, and to draw to the glad spectacle of one's procession the hearts of those who run up from every side, and to summon the hearts of the beholders to the example of one's own uprightness! This, then, is the first procession, and it belongs to the first Pasch; for there is another also, and that one belongs to the second Pasch. The first procession is an advancement to the perfection of goodness; the second procession, an advancement to the fullness of blessedness. Christ made a twofold procession, and surely willed us to make a twofold one: I came forth, he says, from the Father, and came into the world; again I leave the world, and go to the Father (Joan. XVI). His going forth is from the highest heaven — this is the first procession; and his circuit even unto the height thereof — this is the second 1061Aprocession. First he descended, afterward he ascended. The first procession is of humiliation, the second of exaltation. If we are truly Christians, we ought to imitate Christ. For he who says that he abides in Christ ought himself also to walk even as Christ walked. First let us be humbled with Christ, that afterward we may be exalted with Christ. Be humbled meanwhile under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in the day of judgment, in the time of the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let us therefore follow Christ meanwhile by the way he went on earth, that at length we may deserve to follow by the way he has gone in heaven: The eyes of wisdom are in his head (Eccle. II). If you are wise, you who have Christ for your head ought to look to him. Mark the footprints of his journey, and strive to follow with what strength you can. See therefore how he went in procession, or by what way he went before you — 1061Bsurely this paschal procession of today's festivity, which generally may be out of the remembrance or the imitation of his works, proceeded. Mark, then, what procession of his the evangelist describes for you, or what he sets before you to be imitated. Let us see, then, whence he began; let us see whither he went on; let us see by what way he passed; let us see how he went in procession. This is what I mean to say, this is what I warn you to mark: whence, and whither, by what way and how Christ made his procession. Whence did he begin? From Bethany (Joan. XII; Matth. XXI; Marc. XI; Luc. XIX). Whither does he make his way? To Jerusalem. By what way did he pass? By the Mount of Olives. How did he come? On an ass. From Bethany, then, he began his journey, and went on to Jerusalem, sitting on an ass and passing by Olivet: this is the procession of Christ, which Christians ought 1061Cto imitate. Behold in what order, behold by what journey, we ought to go to Jerusalem; behold to what end we ought to tend in everything that we do. Keep, brethren, the unity of faith in the bond of peace, and you are in Jerusalem, and you have completed such a procession as Christ taught. For Jerusalem, as you know, is interpreted vision of peace. Behold, brethren, what it is to which we mean to exhort you: that we seek peace, that we lay hold of peace, that we guard peace. Turn away from evil and do good, and you have begun such a procession as befits a Christian; seek after peace and pursue it, and you have come to Jerusalem, and have completed the procession. In fine, a fifth thing is in us: let us have peace with all men, and we are in Jerusalem; 1061Dwe have, surely, some who are above us, some below us, and some our equals. Let us therefore have peace with our superiors, peace with our inferiors, peace with our equals; and we have peace with all, and have come even to Jerusalem. The first thing, surely, and in every way most necessary, is that we not disturb the peace of our prelates, to whom it was said by the Lord: He that heareth you heareth me, and he that despiseth you despiseth me (Luc. X). Let us be ready at every hour for every obedience, and without doubt we have full peace with our prelates. In what, I ask, can they be disturbed toward us, if we refuse everything that they refuse, and will everything that they will? If therefore we wish to make for Jerusalem and to obtain true peace, we must begin from obedience, and 1062Abegin the journey of peace from Bethany. For Bethany is interpreted house of obedience.

But neither do I think that this is to be passed over here, though I mean to mention it only briefly: that some are above us in power, others in dignity; the former by office, the latter by merit. The former preside by certain grades of honor and power; the latter excel by certain increases of wisdom and of holiness. Human election perfected the former; divine ordination raised up the latter. Consider, then, what a thing it is to reverence those whom human appointment has set in front, and to be unwilling to venerate those whom the divine disposition has singularly magnified. If those who preside over us for a time are to be venerated with due honor, with how great honor are they worthy who by the merit of holiness excel us forever in eternal exaltation? Hence it is that 1062Bgood prelates venerate with great honor such subjects as these, over whom nevertheless, as has been said, they rule by certain grades of prelacy. First therefore and chiefly must we take pains to have peace with all who are above us; but neither ought this to suffice, unless we are zealous to keep the bond of peace with our inferiors and with the weaker also. Our superiors we ought to soothe by compliance and obedience; our inferiors, by having compassion on their weakness and by coming to their aid. To superiors obedience is to be shown; upon inferiors mercy is to be expended. The journey, then, is to be begun from Bethany, but the passage is to be made by Olivet. For ὄλεον among the Greeks sounds mercy, and oil itself designates the works of piety. And so we pass by the Mount of Olives when we expend the labor of piety upon whatever weaker brethren there are, 1062Cwhen we have compassion on their weakness rather than grow angry or indignant. Assuredly you see how much this avails for obtaining peace with the weak, and for possessing the tranquillity of your own soul. For he who is troubled and grows indignant at every offense that he sees — when, I ask, will he find peace? When, I beseech you, will he obtain true tranquillity of soul, or at least hope to obtain it? He will always find in weaker men something that he may rightly blame, something that ought to be mercifully borne with. Otherwise those who had nothing of weakness would not be weak. Let the advancement or procession of our progress, then, be made by the Mount of Olives, and let our piety grow immeasurably, so that by right of its greatness it may justly 1062Dbe called a mountain; so that we may learn to bear with tranquillity of soul not only the least failings of the weak but even the greatest, and to sustain patiently and with piety our neighbors' weakness, not only bodily but spiritual also. Assuredly, if we do these things, we are already drawing near to Jerusalem, and we reach the fullness of peace the more nearly as we lay hold of the perfection of obedience and of mercy the more highly.

I think that by now it will be needful to seek an ass, and, amid such emblems of the virtues, to claim for oneself the protection of humility. So too Christ Jesus, when they drew near to Jerusalem, caused an ass to be brought to him, and sat upon it. Now we all know that the ass is a filthy and cheap animal, most gentle indeed, 1063Abut almost more contemptible than all the rest; and so it bears, as I judge, the figure of humility, by which the soul becomes cheap to itself and comes into contempt. And indeed without such an animal our procession may perhaps be worth the looking at; yet without it, beyond doubt, it will not be, nor could it be, so wholly admirable. Who, I beseech you, would not rightly marvel that an ass should be present among the choirs of those going before and singing psalms on this side and on that, and that so filthy an animal should appear amid such glorious and solemn array? Certainly, so far as concerns me, it appears in my own eyes more wonderful that a man clothed in pontifical vestments should sit upon an ass, and amid such insignia should not blush at such a seat, than that he should carry in his hands that wood which is sweet to almost all, or should wear a mitre upon his head 1063Bor a pallium upon his shoulders. It is surely neither new nor wonderful to glory in the virtues; but this is a great thing and to be wondered at: amid all the highest ornaments of the virtues not to disdain the ass, to cleave firmly to the good of humility, that one and the same man should appear wonderful to all others and contemptible to himself alone. In this order, surely, we make our procession wonderful, if amid the summits of obedience and mercy we do not forsake the modesty of humility. By this art, surely, we shall be able to win over our equals: if with the utmost diligence we are zealous always to hold the last place; to prefer them before ourselves in the office of veneration and in place of honor, without dissimulation; nay, truly to believe that they are to be preferred, and to persuade oneself of it, 1063Cand to wish others to be persuaded of it. You surely see that in this business we have need — a thing that almost slipped from us — of the she-ass and of her colt. There are two things, humility and humiliation: humility is designated in the she-ass, humiliation in the colt. The colt is born of the she-ass, and true humiliation arises out of humility. Humility is within, humiliation without; humility in the heart, humiliation in action; humility belongs to the affection, humiliation to the act. But that humiliation alone must needs be true which comes down from humility. He who truly acknowledges his own weakness, and becomes cheap to himself in his own eyes, has already, as it were, brought the she-ass into his presence. But if he does not blush to humble himself before the eyes of men, or to appear contemptible, he has the mother present indeed, but has thus far lacked the colt's 1063Dpresence. If you humble yourself outwardly, but esteem yourself something great, you have the colt, but you do not have the mother. Let us therefore bring the she-ass and the colt with her, that we may be truly humble in mind and may exhibit true humiliation in action. Otherwise, if you humble yourself feignedly and walk deceitfully, him, according to the prophet's word — when thou shalt be compelled to pass over the rivers, to uncover the thighs, without doubt thy shame shall be revealed (Isa. XLVII) — since nothing is covered that shall not be revealed.

Let us therefore be zealous to be truly humble, and truly to appear humble; and in this order, as I judge, we shall be able to win over our equals. For it is agreed that among equals envy is especially wont to be born, and from envy discord? But if we sit upon the ass, as has been said, 1064Aand hold among them the lowest place, a cheap one and an abject, we cut away the tinder of envy. Without doubt true humiliation not only restores peace among equals, but also confirms it with superiors and with inferiors. See therefore what it is to seek such a seat, and, if there be need, to fetch it even from afar. For by some it is easily taken up from near at hand; but by others it must be fetched from afar. For those who still live outrageously, and commit things to blush at, find ready to hand enough for which to blush and to humble themselves. Such was that publican who blushed, and did not dare so much as to lift his eyes to heaven. But those who find nothing in their life to blush at — such as I believe those to be who come from Bethany and pass by 1064BOlivet, who keep the flowering Pasch and strew their way with the flowers of the virtues — must, as I judge, fetch the ass from afar, and take the matter of their humilationis either from the lapse of their former life or from the state of the life to come. So Paul too, because he had not ready to hand anything from which he might take an ass from near by — since he was conscious to himself of nothing — sent the scouts of his consideration to the road of his old manner of life, and thence summoned to himself matter for humbling himself. Hear whence he fetches an ass for himself, and what a lowly place of abasement he chooses for himself, when he says: I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God (I Cor. XV). But what shall he do 1064Cwho can say with blessed Job: For neither doth my heart reprove me in all my life (Job XXVII)? Assuredly he who is such has nothing from which to fetch an ass out of those things which he has already left behind his back, since he finds nothing in his past manner of life whereby he might become cheap to himself. But behold, he has what he may do: let him set before his own face the measure of that highest perfection which he has not yet laid hold of, and let him look toward it. Let him consider what that perfection of angelic purity is, what that consummation of angelic integrity; and without doubt, in the village that is over against him, he can gather by comparison the measure of his own imperfection. Let him consider what that purity of the life to come is, and of what sort its integrity; how pure it is from every evil, how whole in every good, pure from all corruption, 1064Dwhole from all imperfection; and I think that in this twofold ministry he is able to fetch an ass for himself, and to find whence he ought truly to humble himself. Assuredly it will not be safe, without such a humble seat, to meet the children of the Hebrews as they cry out on every side, Well done! well done! — since they are children, and therefore cannot discern whom, or when, or how they ought to praise. Such a seat, as I judge, the Apostle wished us to seek, when he admonished us not to be high-minded concerning ourselves: Not minding high things, he says, but consenting to the humble (Rom. XII). This is the manner of procession which Christ held, and which surely he willed us also to hold. Do you wish to know more plainly that he came from Bethany, and that in everything he did he held to obedience? I came not, he says, 1065Ato do my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me (Joan. VI). And the Apostle testifies: That he was made obedient unto death, even the death of the cross (Philipp. II). He surely passed also by the Mount of Olives, and by his own death, which he endured for us, he showed how much he loved us. For greater charity hath no man than that a man lay down his life for his friends. Do you wish to know how he sat upon the ass, or how humbly he came? Whereas he was in the form of God, he thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made into the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. But that by every such way he makes for Jerusalem, who is ignorant — unless perhaps it can lie hidden from someone that he himself is 1065Bour peace, who hath made both one, breaking down the middle wall of partition, the enmities in his own flesh, making void the law of commandments by decrees? Behold how Christ passed over; behold with what flowers he strewed his way, that he might keep a flowering Pasch and pass through the lovely places of the virtues. Behold what Christ's procession was. Behold whence and whither; behold by what way and how — which I recall having set forth above. Out of obedience, through piety, with humility, unto peace. I know not whether what a longer discourse above set out more copiously could have been summed up more briefly. Remember that you too must strew your way with such flowers, if you desire to celebrate the flowering Pasch. Good flowers are obedience and mercy; good flowers are humility and peace. Behold, you say, 1065Cenough of the flowers; and where are the fruits. Do you wish to know in Christ what the fruits are of obedience kept and of mercy bestowed — in that he was made obedient to the Father for us unto death? Recall that word of the Apostle: That Christ rising again from the dead dieth now no more, death shall no more have dominion over him; for in that he liveth, he liveth unto God (Rom. VI). Take this also: what the fruit is of peace sought and of humility taken up. For which cause, he says, God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and in hell (Philipp. II). Behold what a passage, behold how fruitful. From death to life, from tribulation to glory: behold the second Pasch, behold the fruit-bearing Pasch. O what a fruit are life and glory! O sweet 1065Dfruit, O lofty fruit: everlasting life with the highest glory, and the highest glory with everlasting life. But Christ was unwilling to eat these fruits alone; nay rather, he distributed, he gave to the poor. And now: As in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But every one in his own order. The firstfruits, Christ; then they that are his (I Cor. XV). And in the place where it was said: You are not my people, there it is now said to them, sons of the living God (Ose. I). For as by the disobedience of one man many were made sinners, so also by the obedience of one many are made just. For if by one man's offense death reigned through one, much more they who receive abundance of grace, and of the gift, and of justice, shall reign in life through one, Jesus Christ (Rom. 1066AV). Knowing therefore what the fruit of obedience is — true immortality and the incorruption of eternal life — let us all run with great haste to Bethany, subjecting ourselves to every obedience; distrusting nothing of its fruit, but holding without any hesitation that this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.

But since, according to the Apostle, bodily labor is profitable to little, whereas piety is profitable to all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come, let us pass by the Mount of Olives, exercising ourselves unto piety, knowing beyond doubt that we shall receive oil for oil, the oil of gladness for the oil of mercy. For blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. And let it not shame you to sit upon 1066Bthe ass, or to recline in the last place, being not ignorant that God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. Let nothing therefore be done through contention, nor through vainglory, but in humility, each esteeming others better than themselves; each one considering not the things that are his own, but the things that are other men's. Gladly, as I judge, do we humble ourselves, or if we consider the fruit of true humiliation. Without doubt, as everyone that exalteth himself shall be humbled, so everyone that humbleth himself shall be exalted. Yet consider what that exaltation is, that you may recognize what fruit true humiliation has. What sort of thing, or how great a thing, do you think it is to possess the kingdom of heaven? For that I judge to be the fruit of true humiliation. For blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs 1066Cis the kingdom of heaven. Behold in what order, behold with what fruit or with what end we ought to go in procession and to make for Jerusalem. Assuredly, if we walk in this order, if we hasten with this intention, we are drawing near to Jerusalem; if we keep obedience together with charity and humility, the sooner do we find the true peace which we seek. O the fool, O the blind man, who does not zealously hasten where he may find peace, and true peace! Yet do you wish to recognize its fruit, that from it you may be able to gather how greatly we must hasten to obtain it? Blessed, I say, are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God (Matth. V). O wonderful fruit, O singular fruit, O how great a glory for a servant — and a servant so unworthy — to be made a son of God. What, I ask, can now have savor for him, or satisfy him, whom the longing for this fruit 1066Ddoes not draw? If we hunger for this fruit, if we desire to enjoy it, let us be zealous for true peace. Let us meanwhile hold the peace which Christ left us, and let us securely await that which he promised: Peace, he says, I leave with you, my peace I give unto you (Joan. XIV). Let not your heart, then, be troubled, neither let it be afraid, and you have the peace which Christ left you and willed you to keep. But perhaps you ask also what that peace is which Christ promised, and called his own. But with what words, I ask, can I explain what that peace of God is, which surpasseth all understanding? Let us therefore run through peace to peace, through inward peace to eternal peace. For there is a peace which is only outward, and there is a peace which is only inward, and there is a peace which is at once inward and outward. The first belongs 1067Ato the flesh alone, the second to the mind alone, the third to mind and flesh together. The first and the second we can have in this life, yet never at the same time — we always see them apart and separate in unlike characters; the third we hope for in the life to come alone, whence we have also named it eternal. The first Christ came to destroy, the second to establish, the third to give — yet to reserve it for the future. Of the first he says: I came not to send peace upon earth, but a sword (Matth. XI). Of the second and the third we understand that which we have already set down above: Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you (Joan. XII). Let us therefore detest that peace which Christ condemned; let us love that which Christ taught; let us hope for that which Christ has laid up for us, because he is faithful 1067Bwho promised. Let us love the inward, let us hope for the eternal. The former belongs to the flower, the latter to the fruit; the former to the first Pasch, the latter to the second Pasch. Let him who still loves the first forsake it and pass over to the second, certain that through it he will pass over to the third. He who has passed over to the second has now celebrated the first Pasch, the flowering Pasch. What from the second to the third, he has now made the second passage and has tasted of its fruits; he has now passed over to the second Pasch, whose solemnity shall be everlasting. Behold, we make trial of the flowers; behold, of the fruits: let us desire these, let us merit those — as it was unto eternity — and let us rejoice without end in the eternal solemnity.

1067CChrist our Pasch is sacrificed. Brethren, you know the Scriptures and their power. Therefore our sermon to you will not be teaching, but admonition, and a recalling to memory of things known. For from what fountain I drink, you also drink. Where I draw, you also draw. If I draw waters in joy from the fountains of the Savior, you also draw. Judge therefore, as spiritual men, whether the water which I shall pour out for you flows from the midst of the fountains, or has been drawn from the fountains of the Savior. Christ our Pasch is sacrificed. The fruitful passion of the Lord and his glorious resurrection are not only deeds and signs, but remedies besides. They are not only truth and figure, but medicine also. They are truth, because he who truly died 1067Dout of weakness rose again out of power. They are signs and figure, because he died and rose again that we, being dead to sins, might live to righteousness. They are medicine, because he died for our offenses and rose again for our justification. Let us therefore treat, according to our small measure, of the example and the remedy of the passion, and of the remedy and the example of the resurrection. Christ was made obedient unto death; he gave us an example of perfect humility and of consummate charity. But what true and unfeigned humility is, he expressed in these very words, speaking to the Father and saying: Not as I will, but as thou wilt (Matth. XXVI). This is the voice of true humility, which always sets the divine will before the human, and in this is directed from human things into divine. And not this only, but it also 1068Asets another man's will before its own — not only that of a greater or of a part, but even of an inferior. The contrary is the voice of pride: not as thou wilt, but as I will; whose property it is to set its own will first, before not only another man's will but even before the divine — and in this it is plunged from divine things into the lowest. The humble man, therefore, does not his own will but God's. But the proud man does not God's will but his own; the humble man seeks not his own glory but God's. But the proud man seeks not God's glory but his own. The humble man builds upon rock, the proud upon sand. All the proud, therefore, are disciples of the devil, who is king and master over the children of pride. But all the humble are disciples of Christ, who, that he might teach humility and become the master of humility, was made humble; 1068Bwhence he also glories in his disciples, the humble one in the humble, saying: Behold, I and my children whom the Lord hath given me (Isa. VIII). For such men he gives to the Son, drawing them to the Son, according to that word: No man cometh to me unless my Father draw him (Joan. VI). They who come to the Son, drawn by the Father, do not come unwillingly, but without compulsion, without necessity — by will, by love, and in the bond of the heart. For in this the Father draws the humble to the Son: that he reveals the Son to them. Whence: Thou hast hidden these things from the wise, and hast revealed them to little ones (Matth. XI). But the Son does not cast out those who come to him; he receives them kindly. And that he may test them, whether they love him, he sets before them a bundle of myrrh, of which he himself also ate, as he also drank of the torrent, passing 1068Cthrough the eye of the needle, that is, through the straits of the passion. But they, by reason of the greatness of their love, do not feel the bitterness of the myrrh, glorying in tribulation. Whence one of them says: We know that neither death nor life shall be able to separate us from the charity of Christ (Rom. VIII). He gave us also an example of consummate charity in his very immolation, by praying for his enemies. This charity he described where he says: No man hath greater charity than that he lay down his life for his friends (Joan. XV). But the Lord Jesus laid down his life while we were enemies, and in this he commended his charity — which the Apostle says surpasses knowledge. And this indeed we cannot comprehend unless we have been rooted and founded in charity: rooted after the likeness of a tree, founded 1068Dafter the likeness of a house; founded through the love of God, by which we are the house of God and a temple, and God dwells in us; rooted through the love of neighbor, by which we are fruit-bearing trees, putting forth the leaves of protection and the fruit of sustenance. But those who are thus rooted and founded in charity can comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and the length and the height and the depth of charity. The breadth of charity is considered in this: that the enemy be loved; the length, that one persevere unto the end; the height, that all things be done for God's sake. But the depth of charity is regarded in this: that a man ascribe no good to himself, but all to the grace of God — whose causes to investigate is too deep, exceeding human understanding, namely why he hardens this man 1069Aand calls that one. Whence the Apostle: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible are his judgments (Rom. XI). By the medicine of humility the disease of all elation is healed. By the gift of charity the sickness of cupidity is cured. Through these two, namely pride and concupiscence, the prince of this world used to dwell in us: through pride in the mind, through concupiscence in the flesh. But now the prince of this world has been cast out through the grace of Christ; whence he himself says: Behold, I cast out devils and perform cures (Luc. XXIII). In this, that sins are forgiven, devils are cast out. In this, that the virtues are poured into minds, cures are performed.

It remains for us to speak of the remedy of the passion, which is understood in justice and in mercy. For our Savior, 1069Bsince he is almighty, could by the sole word of his power have freed man from the power of darkness. But in our deliverance he preferred to use justice rather than power, because the devil is a lover of power, a deserter of justice. In which those men the more imitate him who aspire to power and hold justice in hatred. What is that justice? Hear. Christ is innocent and free from every sin, alone free among the dead, having no cause of sin under the author of sin. As he himself says: The prince of this world cometh, and in me he hath not anything (Joan. XIV). For the whole possession of the ancient enemy is sin — to whom there was given for an inheritance a land barren of hope, full of thorns and briars, a land which the Lord cursed, 1069Cand to whom the lines have fallen in dark and shadowy places. Of all this his substance nothing is found in Christ; yet he slew the innocent one, and therefore he has been commanded to withdraw from the guilty who flee for refuge to Christ. He slew him who owed nothing to death, and has been commanded to withdraw from the debtors of death who believe in him who died for them. But the mercy of our redemption is intimated in this: that Christ, out of charity alone, out of compassion for our misery, obedient to the Father, endured death; and in this very thing he merited much with God the Father, and granted all his merit to his own members. And in his passion he destroyed him who had the empire of death, and expiated man's guilt, and reconciled the sinner to God the Father; and as David slew Goliath with his own sword, 1069Dso Christ destroyed the devil with his own weapons. What were the devil's weapons, by which he conquered the world and was conquered by Christ? Death; because, as the author of sin, he was therefore able by the divine sentence to inflict bodily death upon whom he would; and therefore men were, through fear, liable to the servitude of sin or of the devil, and suffered anything whatever rather than die. Whence Job says: Skin for skin, and all that a man hath will he give for his life (Job II). But the Savior took death upon himself willingly, and by dying destroyed death, and so snatched men away from the fear of death. Whence the saints now fear death, but desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Of this remedy the Savior says: As Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of man be lifted up, that whosoever believeth in him may not 1070Aperish, but may have life everlasting (Joan. III).

The history is known to you: how the children of Israel, as they murmured, were struck by fiery serpents in the desert. Then Moses, at the Lord's precept, set up a brazen serpent upon a pole; and the children of Israel, looking upon it, were healed of the serpents' bites. By this brazen serpent lifted up on a pole we understand Christ crucified; for because through the serpent death entered into the world, therefore death is figured by it. That brazen serpent had the likeness of a serpent, but had not the venom. So Christ too had the likeness of sinful flesh, but had not the venom of sin. For if he had the venom of sin, he would not free us from the venom of sin. As often, therefore, as we are struck by serpents — that is, are wounded by demons — 1070Blet us look upon this serpent with the eye of the flesh and with the eye of the mind: with the eye of the flesh, by the imitation of the example, that we may crucify the flesh with its vices and concupiscences; with the eye of the mind, by faith in the remedy, saying with Peter: For there is no other name in which we must be saved (Act. IV). And without doubt we shall be perfectly cured of every wound; and by the imitation of the example we shall be healed of every act of sin, and by faith in the remedy we shall be purged of every guilt. This is the weakness of God, which is stronger than men. For what man could do what Christ accomplished through his death? None — nay, not the whole world. This is the foolishness of God, which is wiser than men. For who can penetrate the depth of this mystery? Now we must speak 1070Cof the remedy of the resurrection: Christ our Pasch is sacrificed. Pasch is interpreted a passing over, which belongs to the resurrection; nay rather, the Lord's passing over is the very resurrection of the Lord, whence the present day is called the day of the Pasch and the day of the resurrection. For Christ, rising from the dead, passed over from death to life, from corruptibility to incorruption; and in this he was made our Pasch, because in him and through him we pass over from darkness to light, from vices to virtues, from the enemy to the Father, from death to life.

And see how it stands that the just man lives by faith. Where therefore there is no faith, neither is there justice; there there is neither justice nor life. But in the death of Christ, faith in him died also in the apostles; for the shepherd being struck, 1070Dthe sheep were scattered. But when he rose again and appeared to his disciples, faith was restored in the apostles. Moreover their hearts were kindled and set aflame with love and with the desire of immortality and of the blessedness to come; and thus, quickened and justified within, they passed over from unbelief to faith, from sin to justice, and so passed from the death of the soul to life. For today, as the Apostle says, there was given to Christ a name which is above every name (Philipp. XXI). From eternity indeed he had, according to his divinity, the name which is above every name; and in his incarnation the name was given to the man by grace; but what lay hidden until then came out into the open through the resurrection. And therefore the Lord proved that resurrection by so many arguments. For when it stands firm, 1071Athe rest stand firm; for it is as it were the base beneath the column, as it were the foundation of foundations, upon which all the articles of faith lean. Whence the Apostle placed the whole sum of our salvation in it, saying: If thou believe in thy heart, and confess with thy mouth that God raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved (Rom. X). This, therefore, we ought not only to believe, but also to hold in unceasing memory. Whence the Apostle says to Timothy: Be mindful that the Lord Jesus rose again from the dead (II Tim. II). For as from cupidity, which is the root of all evils, there arise evil and hurtful desires which plunge a man into perdition and into destruction, so from the constant memory of the resurrection are born holy desires and pious affections, contempt of the world, love of eternal things; and a man is changed 1071Binto another man, and is made spiritual. The one resurrection of the Lord according to the flesh, therefore, effects our twofold resurrection: both the resurrection of souls in the present, of which John says in the Apocalypse, Blessed is he who hath part in the first resurrection, for he shall not be hurt by the second death (Apoc. XX), and the resurrection of bodies in the time to come, of which the Apostle says: And he will reform the body of our lowliness, made conformable to the body of his brightness (Philipp. III). It remains to speak of the example of the resurrection, of which the Apostle says: As Christ rose from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we also may walk in newness of life (Rom. VI). Now therefore, being renewed and set in newness of life, let us walk from newness to newness, from brightness to brightness, 1071Cfrom virtue to virtue; for even within the same virtue we advance from step to step.

Now these inward processions, these spiritual advances, these increases of the virtues, are figured by those outward processions which in these days we have frequented more solemnly — processions which it befits us to celebrate with great devotion, rejoicing both in the resurrection of our head, and in the resurrection of minds in the present, and in the resurrection of bodies which shall be in the time to come. But chiefly in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the cause of our twofold resurrection. And therefore the sum of our joys is from thence, in that we sing: Christ rising from the dead, and so forth. But the inward processions are to be made at every time indeed, yet chiefly at this solemnity, at which they are not only enacted but also presented. 1071DBut that they may be made to profit, two things are necessary, namely the cithara and the psaltery — not indeed the material instruments, but the things they signify. The cithara sounds from below, and therefore signifies the mortification of vices; but the psaltery sounds from above, and therefore signifiat the showing forth of good works. He who plays the cithara and does not play the psaltery, or plays the psaltery and not the cithara, does not go in procession, does not make progress; for neither of them without the other renders a pleasant sound, since the psaltery is pleasant with the cithara. For, as it is written, The honor of the king loveth judgment (Psal. XCV), we give honor to the supreme King when we return thanks for his benefits. But this honor loves judgment, by which evils are punished and vices mortified; for praise is not comely in the mouth of sinners. For praise befits the upright alone. Whence 1072Athe Apostle too, teaching us to celebrate this paschal solemnity, says: Purge out the old leaven (I Cor. V). He calls the old leaven any mortal sin whatsoever, which corrupts us and renders us old and sour. Whence the same Paul had said before: A little leaven corrupteth the whole lump (ibid.). For one sin, being deadly, renders all good merits useless and insufficient for salvation, according to that word: He that offendeth in one is become guilty of all (Jac. II). Which is not to be understood as though he who has one sin has all, and is to be punished for all; nor do we concede this even of the virtues, that he who has one has all. For Jerome says that this is a philosophers' opinion: "He who has one virtue has all" — but 1072Bit is not a divine one. Nor, he says, is it a care to us what Aristotle says; but what does Paul say? How, then, is it to be understood, "He that offendeth in one is become guilty of all"? Is he who commits a theft guilty of homicide, of adultery, of sacrilege, and of the rest? To be guilty of something is not said in one way only. For in one way a man is called guilty of a sin, in another guilty of a capital charge. Someone is guilty of a sin, that is, more deserving that he be punished for the sin. He is guilty of a capital charge, that is, deserving to lose his head. So, when it is said, "He that offendeth in one is become guilty of all," it is not understood of all sins, as though he were to be punished for all, but is understood of all the good things which he has done, that he should lose them. As, if anyone should keep nine commandments and transgress one only, offending in one he has become 1072Cguilty of all — that is, deserving to lose the merit of the nine commandments; for one commandment transgressed is more efficacious unto damnation than nine fulfilled are unto salvation. And Solomon confirms this opinion, saying: He that offendeth in one shall lose many good things (Eccle. IX). These three authorities, therefore — namely, a little leaven corrupteth the whole lump, and he that offendeth in one is become guilty of all, and he that offendeth in one shall lose many good things — are to be understood according to one and the same sense. You therefore, brethren, who have lived praiseworthily for a long time, must take care lest a little leaven corrupt the whole lump of your good merits; lest, offending in one, you be guilty of all and lose many good things. Lest this then should befall, you must, according to the Apostle, celebrate the paschal solemnity in your 1072Dsouls. Unleavened bread is without leaven, if it begets sincerity, that is, purity from vices. But by the fact that it is solid, it designates truth, that is, the showing forth of good works. Sincerity partly to the cithara, truth to the psaltery. But behold, there is someone who mortifies vices and does good things, but twists them all back to his own glory. This man goes in procession, but makes no progress, because he does not seek the glory of God. Whence the Lord through the Prophet: Arise, my glory; arise, psaltery and cithara (Psal. XXXVI). For it profits nothing to carry the cithara and the psaltery, unless the whole be done for God's sake. For we ought to turn aside from evils and to press on in good things, unto the praise and glory of God. Whence the Apostle: The man is the image and glory of God (I Cor. XXI) — man in the mortification of vices, 1073Aimage in the doing of good things. For he who says that he abides in Christ ought himself also to walk even as he walked, that is, to imitate him; and therefore he is an image, from imitating, namely, and the glory of God, so that God, and not the man himself, may be glorified in all things. The Lord designates this same procession where he says: Arise, take up thy bed, and go into thy house (Marc. II). Rise from vices; take up thy bed — that is, carry him by whom thou wilt be carried; that is, as thy brother bore thy weaknesses, so do thou bear thy brother's weaknesses; and doing these things, walk by a right intention into thy house, that is, into paradise, so that thou mayest do all things for the hope of the life to come. Let no one look back with Lot's wife, or return like a dog to his vomit, or go in mind with the children of Israel into Egypt to the fleshpots; 1073Bfor, according to the Truth: No man putting his hand to the plough (Luc. IX), and so forth. Now, therefore, let us see in sum whence this procession ought to begin, and how far it ought to come, or to proceed. Let the mind, then, be glad; let the spirit exult; let mouth and tongue bring forth a new song. Let the left hand beat the timbrel, or play the cithara. Let the right hand play the psaltery — nay rather, let us use both hands for a right hand, that all things inward and outward may resound praise 1074Aand glory to God, that the whole man may tend toward God, according to that word: Let us lift up our hearts with our hands to heaven, that he who made the whole may possess the whole (Thren. III). Let us therefore so go in procession until we all meet unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ, to meet Christ in the air. May God, the good shepherd, who laid down his life for his sheep, bring us into the true land of promise, into the land of the living, which flows with milk and honey. This land of the living has been promised us by Christ, who is the power of God and the wisdom of God; and this land he will give us for an inheritance when he shall manifest himself to us, leading us to the vision of the Father, to the enjoyment of the highest good, to the affluence of all delights. And we, going out and coming in, shall find pastures. 1074BWe shall go out through the sense of the flesh, and shall find pastures in the milk of Christ's humanity. We shall come in through the sense of reason, and shall find pastures in the honey of his divinity. There shall be eternal satiety, full joy which no one shall take from us, because this shall be eternal, in an end without end; to which may the very author of loving-kindness lead us. Amen.