Forty Homilies on the Gospels

Forty Homilies on the Gospels

continued

Homily 39

Delivered to the people in the basilica of blessed John, which is called the Constantiniana.

Reading of the Holy Gospel According to Luke

At that time, when Jesus drew near to Jerusalem, seeing the city, he wept over it, saying: If you had known, even you, and indeed in this your day, the things that are for your peace; but now they are hidden from your eyes. For days shall come upon you, and your enemies shall surround you with a rampart; and they shall encircle you, and press you in on every side, and cast you to the ground, and your children who are in you; and they shall not leave in you a stone upon a stone, because you did not know the time of your visitation. And entering the temple, he began to cast out those selling in it and those buying, saying to them: It is written that my house is a house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves. And he was teaching daily in the temple. I wish to run through the brief reading of the holy Gospel with a brief discourse, if I can, so that a more extended consideration may be given to it by those who know how to think much from little. That the overthrow of Jerusalem which was accomplished by Vespasian and Titus, the Roman princes, is described while the Lord weeps, no one who has read the history of that destruction is unaware. For the Roman princes are indicated when it is said: "Because the days will come upon you, and your enemies will surround you with a rampart;

and they will encircle you, and hem you in on every side, and cast you to the ground, and your children who are in you. This also which is added: "They will not leave in you a stone upon a stone," even the very relocation of that city now testifies, because while it is now built in the place where the Lord had been crucified outside the gate, that former Jerusalem, as it is said, was utterly destroyed. From what fault the punishment of its destruction was inflicted upon it is added: "Because you did not know the time of your visitation. For the Creator of all things deigned to visit it through the mystery of his incarnation, but it did not remember the fear and love of him. Whence also through prophecy, in rebuke of the human heart, the birds of heaven are brought forward as testimony, when it is said: "The kite in the sky has known its time; the turtledove and the swallow and the stork have kept the time of their coming, but my people has not known the judgment of the Lord. But first we must ask what it means that is said: "Seeing the city, he wept over it, saying: If you had known, even you. For the Redeemer first wept over the ruin of the faithless city, which the city itself did not know was coming upon it. To which the weeping Lord rightly says: "If you had known, even you"—understand:

you would weep—you who now, because you do not know what threatens, rejoice. Whence it is also added: "And indeed in this your day, the things that are for your peace. For when it gave itself to the pleasures of the flesh and did not foresee the evils to come, it had in its day those things which could be for its peace. But why it had present goods for peace is made clear when it is said: "But now they are hidden from your eyes. For if the evils which threatened had not been hidden from the eyes of its heart, it would not have been joyful in present prosperity. Its punishment also, which was threatening from the Roman princes, as I said before, was soon added. Having described this, what the Lord did is added: because, entering the temple, he began to cast out those selling and buying in it, saying to them: It is written that my house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. For he who foretold the evils to come and immediately entered the temple to cast out from it those selling and buying, clearly made known that the ruin of the people came chiefly from the fault of the priests. Indeed, in describing the destruction but striking at those selling and buying in the temple, he showed by the very effect of his work whence the root of perdition sprang.

Moreover, as we have learned from another evangelist as witness, doves were being sold in the temple. And what is received through doves except the gift of the Holy Spirit? But he expels the sellers and buyers from the temple, because he condemns either those who grant the imposition of hands for a gift, or those who strive to buy the gift of the Spirit. About this temple it is soon added: My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves. For those who sat in the temple to receive gifts, it was certainly not doubtful that they would seek to harm those who gave nothing. Therefore the house of prayer had been made a den of thieves, because they knew how to stand in the temple for this purpose: either to eagerly pursue bodily those not giving gifts, or to kill spiritually those who did give. But because our Redeemer does not withhold the words of preaching even from the unworthy and ungrateful, after he maintained the vigor of discipline by casting out the perverse, he soon showed the gift of grace. For it is added: And he was teaching daily in the temple. We have run through these things briefly, treating them according to the historical sense.

But since we know that Jerusalem has now been destroyed and through its destruction has been changed for the better, since we know that the robbers were driven from the temple and that the temple itself has now been demolished, we ought to draw some likeness inwardly from external things and fear the ruin of morals from the ruined buildings of walls. For seeing the city, he wept over it, saying: If you had known, even you. This he did once, when he announced that the city would perish. This our Redeemer never ceases to do daily through his elect, when he considers that certain people have passed from a good life to wicked ways. For he mourns those who do not know why they are mourned, because, according to the words of Solomon: They rejoice when they have done evil and exult in the worst things. If they had recognized their damnation which hangs over them, they themselves would mourn with the tears of the elect. The sentence which follows fittingly applies to the soul about to perish: And indeed in this your day, the things that are for your peace, but now they are hidden from your eyes. Here the perverse soul has its own day, which rejoices in transitory time.

For such a soul the things present are for peace, because while it rejoices in temporal things, while it is exalted by honors, while it dissolves in carnal pleasure, while it is terrified by no fear of future punishment, it has peace in its day, which will have the grave scandal of its damnation in another's day. For there it will be afflicted, where the just will rejoice; and all the things which now are for its peace will then be turned into the bitterness of strife, because it will begin to quarrel with itself as to why it did not dread the damnation it suffers, why it closed the eyes of its mind from foreseeing the evils to follow. Hence it is told: But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the perverse soul, devoted to present things, dissolved in earthly pleasures, hides from itself the evils to follow, because it refuses to foresee future things which would disturb its present joy; and while it abandons itself to the delights of the present life, what else does it do but go to the fire with closed eyes? Hence it is well written: In the day of good things, do not be forgetful of evil things. And therefore it is said through Paul:

Let those who rejoice be as though not rejoicing, because even if there is any joy of the present time, it is to be experienced in such a way that the bitterness of the following judgment never departs from memory, so that while the fearful mind is pierced through by fear of final vengeance, as much as present joy now prevails, so much will the wrath that follows afterward be tempered. For hence it is written: Blessed is the man who is always fearful; but he who is hard of mind will fall into evil. For the wrath of the following judgment will then be borne all the more severely, the less it is feared now even amid sins. There follows: Because the days shall come upon thee, and thine enemies shall surround thee with a rampart. Who are ever greater enemies of the human soul than the malignant spirits, who besiege it as it departs from the body, whom they nourished with deceitful pleasures while it was placed in love of the flesh? They surround it with a rampart, because by bringing back before the eyes of its mind the iniquities which it perpetrated, they constrict it, dragging it to the fellowship of their damnation, so that caught now in the very extremity of life, it may see both by what enemies it is surrounded, and yet be unable to find a way of escape, because it is no longer permitted to perform the good works which, when it was permitted to do them, it despised.

Concerning these, what follows can also be aptly understood: They shall surround thee and press thee in on every side. For malignant spirits press in upon the soul on every side, when they bring back to it the iniquities not only of deed, but also of speech and moreover of thought, so that she who formerly spread herself abroad through many crimes may at the end be pressed in on all sides in retribution. There follows: And they shall cast thee to the ground, and thy children who are in thee. Then the soul is cast to the ground through the knowledge of its guilt, when the flesh which it believed to be its life is compelled to return to dust. Then her children fall into death, when the illicit thoughts which now proceed from her are scattered in the final punishment of life, as it is written: In that day all their thoughts shall perish. These harsh thoughts can also be understood through the signification of stones. For there follows: And they shall not leave in thee stone upon stone. For when a perverse mind adds a yet more perverse thought to a perverse thought, what else does it do but place stone upon stone? But in the destroyed city stone is not left upon stone, because when the soul is led to its punishment, the whole structure of its thoughts is scattered. Why it suffers this is added: "Because you did not know the time of your visitation.

Almighty God is accustomed to visit every wicked soul in many ways. For He visits it continually through His commandment, sometimes through affliction, and sometimes through a miracle, so that it may hear the truths it did not know, and yet if still proud and contemptuous, it may return pricked by pain, or overcome by benefits may blush at the evil it has done. But because it does not recognize the time of its visitation, it is handed over at the end of life to those enemies with whom it will be bound in the fellowship of perpetual damnation at the eternal judgment, as it is written: "When you go with your adversary to the magistrate on the way, make an effort to be freed from him, lest perhaps he drag you to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the officer, and the officer cast you into prison. For our adversary on the way is the word of God, contrary to our carnal desires in the present life. He is freed from it who humbly submits to His commandments. Otherwise the adversary will hand him over to the judge, and the judge will hand him over to the officer, because from the contempt of the Lord's word the guilty sinner will be held liable at the examination of the judge.

The judge hands him over to the officer, because He permits the malignant spirit to drag him away for punishment, so that he himself may exact the soul driven from the body for punishment, the soul that willingly consented to him for sin. The officer casts him into prison, because through the malignant spirit he is thrust back into hell until the day of judgment comes, from which point he himself also will be tormented together in the fires of hell. After the destruction of the city is completed, which we have applied to the likeness of a perishing soul, it is immediately added: "And entering the temple, he began to cast out those selling and buying in it. Just as the temple of God is in the city, so also is the life of religious persons among the faithful people. And often some take up the habit of religion, and when they receive a place in the sacred orders, they turn the office of holy religion into a commerce of earthly business. Those selling in the temple are they who bestow for a reward what rightly belongs to certain persons. For to sell justice is to maintain it in exchange for receiving a reward. Those buying in the temple are they who, while refusing to render to their neighbor what is just, and while disdaining to do what is rightly owed, give a reward to patrons and buy sin. To them it is rightly said:

"My house is a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves," because when perverse men sometimes hold a place of religion, there they slay with the swords of their malice where they ought to have given life to their neighbors through the intercession of their prayer. The temple and house of God is also the very mind and conscience of the faithful. If at any time it brings forth perverse thoughts in injury to a neighbor, it is as though robbers are dwelling in a cave and killing those who walk by in simplicity, when they thrust swords of injury into those who are guilty of nothing. For the mind of the faithful is no longer a house of prayer but a den of thieves when, having abandoned the innocence and simplicity of holiness, it strives to do that by which it might harm its neighbors. But because against all these perverse things we are ceaselessly instructed by the words of our Redeemer through the sacred pages, what is reported to have been done is still being done now, when it says: "And he was teaching daily in the temple. For when he subtly instructs the mind of the faithful to guard against evils, Truth teaches daily in the temple. But we must know that we are truly instructed by the words of truth if we look upon our final evils with fear and without ceasing, according to what is said by a certain wise man:

"In all your works remember your last end, and you will never sin. Indeed, we ought to consider daily what we have heard from the voice of our same Redeemer: "If only on this day of yours you knew the things that are for your peace; but now they are hidden from your eyes. For while the strict Judge waits and does not yet extend his hand in striking, while there seems to be a certain security of time before the retribution of final vengeance, we ought to consider the evil that follows, and considering it, groan; groaning, avoid it; and look upon the sins we have committed without ceasing; looking upon them, weep; and weeping, wipe them away. Let no joy of passing prosperity dissolve us, nor let transitory things obstruct the eyes of our mind, nor lead us blind to the fire. For if it be considered strictly, from the mouth of Truth it is known how weighty is the reproach, when it is said to the negligent one who does not look ahead to future things: "If only on this day of yours you knew the things that are for your peace; but now they are hidden from your eyes. For we must consider deeply how terrible for us will be the hour of our death, what fear of mind, how great then the memory of all our evils, what forgetfulness of past happiness, what dread and consideration of the Judge.

What, therefore, ought the present things be to us for delight, when, as all things pass away together, that which threatens cannot pass away? When that which is loved is utterly ended, and that begins where pain never ends? Then malign spirits seek their own works in the departing soul; then they recount the evils they persuaded, that they may drag the soul as their companion to torments. But why do we say this only of the perverse soul, when they come also to the elect as they depart, and seek something of their own in them, if they might prevail? Yet One among men existed, who before His passion says with free voice: "I will no longer speak much with you; for the prince of this world comes, and in me he has nothing. For since he saw Him as a mortal man, the prince of the world believed he could find something of his own in Him. But He departed from the corruption of the world without any sin, who came into the world without sin. This Peter did not presume to say of himself against the prince of the world, Peter who deserved to hear: "Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven. This Paul did not presume to say, who before he paid the debt of death reached the secrets of the third heaven.

This John did not dare to say, who for his special love reclined on the breast of his Redeemer at supper. For since the Prophet says: "Behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins did my mother bear me," he could not be without fault in the world who came into the world with fault. Hence the same Prophet says: "No living person shall be justified in your sight. Hence Solomon says: "There is no just man on earth who does good and does not sin. Hence John says: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. Hence James says: "For in many things we all offend. For it is established that all who were conceived from the pleasure of the flesh—without doubt in their action, or speech, or thought—the prince of this world had something of his own in them. But therefore he could not seize them afterward or hold them before, because He snatched them from their debts who paid the debt of death for us without being in debt, so that our debts do not hold us under the right of our enemy, because the mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, freely rendered for us what He did not owe. For He who rendered for us the unowed death of the flesh freed us from the owed death of the soul. He says therefore: "For the prince of this world comes, and in me he has nothing.

Hence we must take care, and consider daily with great weeping, how ravenous, how terrible the prince of this world may come seeking his own works in us on the day of our departure, if he came even to God dying in the flesh, and sought something in Him in whom he could find nothing. What then shall we wretches say, what shall we do, we who have committed innumerable evils? What shall we say to the adversary who searches us and finds much of his own in us, except only this which is our certain refuge and solid hope: that we have been made one with him in whom the prince of this world sought something of his own and could find nothing at all? For he alone is free among the dead. And we are now released from the bondage of sin with true liberty, because we are united to him who is truly free. For it is established, and we cannot deny it, but we truthfully confess that the prince of this world has much in us; yet at the time of our death he cannot seize us, because we have become members of him in whom he has nothing. But what does it profit that we are joined to our Redeemer through faith, if we are separated from him by our conduct? For he himself says: Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore right works must be joined to right faith.

Let us wash away the evils we have done through daily laments; let right works arising from love of God and neighbor overcome our past wickedness; let us refuse no good that we can bestow upon our brothers. For we do not otherwise become members of our Redeemer unless by clinging to God and showing compassion to our neighbor. But because examples rather than words more often stir the hearts of listeners to the love of God and neighbor, I am eager to relate to your charity what my son Epiphanius the deacon, who is present here, born in the province of Isauria, is accustomed to tell as a miracle that occurred in the neighboring land of Lycaonia. For he says that there was a certain monk named Martyrius, a man of very venerable life, who was traveling from his own monastery to visit another monastery over which a spiritual father presided. And so as he went on his way, he found a leper whom the elephantine disease had disfigured throughout his limbs with dense wounds, wanting to return to his lodging but unable to do so because of weariness. And this man said that he had his lodging on that very road where the same monk Martyrius was hastening to go.

But the man of God, having pity on the weariness of this leper, immediately threw down and spread out on the ground the cloak with which he was clothed, and placed the leper upon it, and lifting him up wrapped all around in his cloak upon his shoulder, he carried him back with him. And when he was now approaching the doors of the monastery, the spiritual father of that monastery began to cry out with a loud voice: Run, open the doors of the monastery quickly, because brother Martyrius is coming carrying the Lord. But immediately when Martyrius reached the entrance of the monastery, he who was thought to be a leper leaped from his neck, and appearing in that form in which the Redeemer of the human race is accustomed to be recognized by men, God and man Christ Jesus, he returned to heaven while Martyrius watched, and ascending he said to him: Martyrius, you were not ashamed of me on earth; I will not be ashamed of you in heaven. And when this holy man had just entered the monastery, the father of the monastery said to him: Brother Martyrius, where is he whom you were carrying? To which he replied, saying: If I had known who he was, I would have held his feet. Then the same Martyrius related that when he had carried him, he had not felt his weight at all. Nor is this surprising;

for how could he feel weight, when he who was being carried was himself carrying the one who bore him? In this matter we must consider how much fraternal compassion avails, how much the bowels of mercy join us to almighty God. For we draw near to him who is above all things precisely when we lower ourselves even beneath ourselves through compassion for our neighbor. In bodily matters, no one touches high things unless he stretches upward; but in spiritual matters it is certain that the more we are drawn down through compassion, the more truly we approach the heights. But behold, for our edification it is not enough for the Redeemer of the human race that he declared he would say at the last judgment: Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me, unless he also showed in himself before the judgment what he had said; so that he might demonstrate that whoever now renders good works to the needy renders them especially to him for whose love he renders them. And the more anyone receives a greater reward, the more he does not despise even him who seems most deserving of contempt. For what in human flesh is more sublime than the flesh of Christ, which is exalted above the angels? And what in human flesh is more abject than the flesh of a leper, which is torn apart by swelling wounds and filled with exhaling stenches?

But behold, he appeared in the form of a leper; and he who is to be revered above all things did not disdain to be seen as despised below all things. Why this, except to admonish us who are slower of understanding, that whoever hastens to stand before him who is in heaven should not refuse to be humbled on earth and to suffer with even the abject and despicable brethren? I had resolved to speak to your charity briefly; but because the way of man is not in himself, the flowing speech cannot be restrained, which he himself of whom we speak disposes, who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through all ages of ages. Amen.

Homily 40

Delivered to the people in the basilica of the holy martyr Lawrence on the second Sunday after Pentecost.

Reading of the Holy Gospel According to Luke

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples: There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at his gate, full of sores, desiring to be filled with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, and no one gave to him. But even the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died, and was buried in hell. And lifting up his eyes when he was in torments, he saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. And Abraham said to him: Son, remember that you received good things in your lifetime, and Lazarus likewise evil things. But now he is comforted, and you are tormented. And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been established, so that those who wish to pass from here to you cannot, nor can they cross over from there to here. And he said: I ask you then, father, that you send him to my father's house;

for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come into this place of torments. And Abraham said to him: They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. But he said: No, father Abraham; but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent. But he said to him: If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe if someone rises from the dead. In the words of sacred Scripture, dearest brothers, the truth of history must first be preserved, and afterward the spiritual understanding of allegory must be sought. For then the fruit of allegory is sweetly gathered when it is first established through history in the root of truth. But since sometimes allegory builds faith and history builds morality, we who by God's authority now speak to the faithful do not think it unreasonable if we set aside this order of speaking, so that you who already hold firm faith should first hear something briefly about allegory; and what is very necessary for you concerning the moral sense of history, let this be kept for last in the order of our exposition, because those things which happen to be heard afterward are usually better remembered. And so we pass quickly over the allegorical meanings, that we may come more swiftly to the breadth of the moral sense. There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day.

Whom, dearest brothers, does this rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and feasted sumptuously every day signify, if not the Jewish people, who had the cultivation of life outwardly, who used the delights of the law they received for show, not for usefulness? And whom does Lazarus full of sores figuratively represent, if not the Gentile people? For when he turned to God and was not ashamed to confess his sins, he had a wound on his skin. For in a wound of the skin, poison is drawn from the inner parts and bursts forth outward. What then is the confession of sins, if not a kind of breaking open of wounds? For the poison of sin is healthfully opened in confession, which was festering within the mind. For wounds of the skin draw the fluid of corruption to the surface. And in confessing sins, what else do we do but open the evil that lay hidden within us? But the wounded Lazarus desired to be filled with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table, and no one gave to him, because that proud people scorned to admit any Gentile to knowledge of the law. And since they held the teaching of the law not for charity but for pride, they swelled as it were with the riches they had received. And because words flowed from them out of knowledge, crumbs as it were fell from the table. But on the other hand, dogs licked the wounds of the poor man lying there.

Sometimes in sacred speech preachers are understood by dogs. For the tongue of a dog, when it licks a wound, heals it, because holy teachers too, when they instruct us in the confession of our sin, touch as it were the wound of the mind through their tongue; and because by speaking they rescue us from sins, by touching wounds as it were they restore us to health. For that by the name of dogs the tongue of preachers is signified, the Lord says through the Psalmist: The tongue of your dogs from enemies, from him. For from the unbelieving Jews the holy preachers were chosen, who, coming against thieves and robbers in defense of the truth, gave great barkings, so to speak, for the Lord. Against this it is said of certain reprobates: Dumb dogs, not able to bark. Because therefore holy preachers condemn sins, but approve the confession of sins, saying: Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be saved, dogs lick the sores of Lazarus. For holy teachers, when they receive the confessions of the Gentiles, restore the wounds of minds to health. Hence also Lazarus is well interpreted as "one who is helped," because they help him toward deliverance, because they heal his wounds through the correction of their tongue. The licking of dogs can also signify the broad tongue of flatterers. For flatterers lick our wounds, who often are accustomed to praise with wicked favor even those very evils which we reprove in ourselves.

Now it happened that both died. The rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, was buried in hell; but Lazarus was led by angels into Abraham's bosom. What does Abraham's bosom signify but the secret rest of the fathers? Of which the Truth says: Many, he says, will come from the East and the West, and will recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom will be cast out into outer darkness. For he who is said to have been clothed in purple and fine linen is rightly called a child of the kingdom. He who lifts his eyes from afar to see Lazarus, because while the unfaithful are in the depths through the punishments of their damnation, they behold the faithful above them in rest before the day of the last judgment, whose joys afterward they can in no way contemplate. But what they see is far away, because they do not attain there by merit. Moreover he is shown to burn more in his tongue, when he says: Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame. The unbelieving people held the words of the law in their mouth, which they scorned to keep in deed. Therefore he will burn more there, where he showed himself to know what he was unwilling to do. Wherefore it is well said of the learned and negligent through Solomon:

All the labor of man is in his mouth, but his soul will not be filled, because whoever labors only to know what he ought to say, fasts with an empty mind from the very refreshment of his knowledge. He desires to be touched by the tip of a finger, because given over to eternal punishments he wishes to share in even the least work of the just. To whom it is answered that in this life he received his good things, because he considered all his joy to be transitory happiness. For the just can have good things here, and yet not receive them as recompense, because while they seek better things, that is eternal things, whatever good things may have been present, in their judgment, when they burn with holy desires, they seem hardly good at all. Hence the prophet David, who was supported by the riches of his kingdom and many attendants, although he perceived that these things were good for necessity, nevertheless panted with longing for one singular good alone, saying: But for me, to cling to God is good. Among these things it should be noted what is said to him: Remember, son. For behold, Abraham calls him son, whom nevertheless he does not free from torment, because the faithful forefathers of this unfaithful people, since they see that many have strayed from their faith, do not rescue from torments by any compassion those whom nevertheless they recognize as sons according to the flesh.

Moreover the rich man placed in torments declares that he has five brothers, because that same proud Jewish people, which has already been condemned for the most part, knows that his followers whom he left upon the earth are given over to the five senses of the body. Therefore by the number five he expresses the brothers he had left behind, because he who is placed in hell groans that they do not rise to spiritual understanding, and asks that Lazarus be sent to them. To whom it is said that they have Moses and the prophets. But he says: They will not believe, unless someone rises from the dead. To whom it is immediately answered: If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe even if someone rises from the dead. Certainly the Truth says of Moses: If you believed Moses, you would certainly believe me also. For he wrote of me. Therefore what is said through Abraham's response is fulfilled. For the Lord rose from the dead, but that Jewish people, because they were unwilling to believe Moses, also scorned to believe him who rose from the dead. And since they scorned to understand the words of Moses spiritually, they did not come to him of whom Moses had spoken. Let this suffice, dearest brothers, for us to have briefly touched upon in searching out the mysteries of allegory; now let the mind return to contemplate more broadly the moral meaning of the historical event:

"There was a certain rich man, who was clothed in purple and fine linen, and feasted sumptuously every day. And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus, who lay at the gate of the rich man, full of sores. Some think that the precepts of the Old Testament are stricter than those of the New; but these are certainly deceived by careless consideration. For in the Old Testament, not avarice but robbery is punished. There, property unjustly taken is punished by fourfold restitution. But here this rich man is not blamed for taking what belonged to others, but for not giving what was his own. Nor is it said that he oppressed anyone by violence, but that he exalted himself in the things he had received. From this, therefore, we must especially conclude with what punishment he should be punished who seizes what belongs to others, if he is struck with the condemnation of hell who does not share his own possessions. Therefore let no one consider himself safe, saying: "Behold, I do not seize what belongs to others, but I enjoy things lawfully granted to me," because this rich man was not punished for taking what belonged to others, but because he wrongly abandoned himself to the things he had received. This too is what delivered him to hell:

that he was not fearful in his prosperity, that he turned the gifts he received to the use of arrogance, that he knew nothing of the bowels of compassion, that he refused to redeem his sins even when he had abundant means to do so. And there are some who do not think that the wearing of fine and costly garments is a sin. But if indeed it were not a fault, the Word of God would never so carefully express that the rich man who is tormented in hell had been clothed in fine linen and purple. For no one seeks exceptional garments except for vainglory, that is, to appear more honorable than others. For the thing itself testifies that more costly clothing is sought only for empty glory, because no one wishes to be clothed in precious garments where he cannot be seen by others. We can better understand this fault also from the opposite: for if the lowliness of cheap clothing were not a virtue, the evangelist would not carefully say of John: "He was clothed with camel's hair. But we must note especially how great is the order of narration in the mouth of Truth concerning the proud rich man and the humble poor man. For behold it is said: "There was a certain rich man"; and immediately it is added: "And there was a certain beggar, named Lazarus. Certainly among the people the names of the rich are usually known more than those of the poor.

What is it, therefore, that the Lord, speaking of a poor man and a rich man, tells the name of the poor man and does not tell the name of the rich man, except that God knows and approves the humble, and does not know the proud? Hence also to some who are proud of the power of their miracles He will say at the end: "I know you not whence you are: depart from me, all you workers of iniquity. But on the contrary, to Moses it is said: "I know you by name. Therefore He says of the rich man: "A certain man. He says of the poor man: "A beggar, named Lazarus. As if He openly said: I know the humble poor man, I do not know the proud rich man. The one I hold as known through approval, the other I do not know through the judgment of reprobation. We must also consider with what great consideration our Creator dispenses all things. For one thing is not done for one purpose alone. For behold, Lazarus the beggar, full of sores, lies before the gate of the rich man. From this one circumstance the Lord fulfilled two judgments. For the rich man would perhaps have had some excuse if Lazarus, poor and ulcerous, had not lain before his gate, if he had been far away, if his poverty had not been troublesome to his eyes.

Again, if the rich man had been far from the eyes of the ulcerous poor man, the poor man would have endured less temptation in his soul. But when He placed the needy and ulcerated man before the gate of the rich man abounding in delights, in one and the same circumstance He both heaped up condemnation upon the rich man who showed no mercy at the sight of the poor man, and again by the sight of the rich man daily tested and proved the tempted poor man. For how many temptations do you think this needy man, beset with wounds, endured in his thoughts, when he himself lacked bread and did not even have health, and saw before him a rich man having both health and delights with pleasure; when he saw himself afflicted with pain and cold, while the other rejoiced, clothed in fine linen and purple; himself brought low by wounds, the other overflowing with the things he had received; himself in need, the other unwilling to give? How great, my brothers, do we think was the tumult of temptation then in the heart of the poor man, for whom certainly poverty could have sufficed as punishment, even if he had been healthy; and again, sickness would have sufficed, even if he had had some support? But that the poor man might be more fully proved, both poverty and sickness together wasted him away.

And moreover he saw the rich man going forth, surrounded by throngs of attendants, while he himself in his weakness and want was visited by no one. For that no one was there to visit him, the dogs testify, who freely licked his wounds. From this one circumstance, therefore, almighty God rendered two judgments, when He permitted Lazarus the poor man to lie before the gate of the rich man, so that both the wicked rich man might increase for himself the vengeance of condemnation, and the tempted poor man might grow unto reward. The one daily beheld him on whom he showed no mercy; the other saw him by whom he was being proved. Two hearts below, but one observer above, who both by tempting exercised the one unto glory, and by tolerating awaited the other unto punishment. For there follows: And it came to pass that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died, and was buried in hell. This rich man, when placed in his own torment, seeks as a patron the one on whom he was unwilling to have mercy in this life. For behold it is added: Who lifting up his eyes, when he was in torments, saw Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried out and said: Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his finger in water to cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this flame.

O how great is the subtlety of God's judgments! O how strictly is the recompense of good and evil deeds carried out! Certainly it was said above that in this life Lazarus sought the crumbs falling from the rich man's table, and no one gave to him; now concerning the torment of the rich man it is said that he desires water to be dropped from the tip of Lazarus's finger into his mouth. From this therefore, from this, brethren, gather how great is the strictness of God's severity. For this rich man who was unwilling to give even the least things from his table to the wounded poor man, placed in hell, came to seeking even the least things. For he who denied crumbs of bread asked for a drop of water. But it must be carefully noted what it means that the rich man placed in the fire asks for his tongue to be cooled. For it is the custom of sacred Scripture sometimes to say one thing, but to indicate another by that same saying. Now above the Lord had described this proud rich man not as given to talkativeness, but as feasting excessively. And He did not narrate that he sinned by talkativeness, but that he sinned by pride and greed through gluttony. But because talkativeness usually abounds at feasts, he who is said to have feasted wickedly here is reported to burn more grievously in his tongue in hell.

For the sin of talkativeness first serves those who feast wickedly, and after talkativeness the levity of jesting also follows. For that jesting follows gluttony, sacred Scripture testifies, which says: The people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to play. But before the body is moved to play, the tongue is moved to jokes and empty words. What therefore is indicated by the fact that the rich man placed in torments asks for his tongue to be cooled, except that he who by feasting had sinned more by talkativeness was burning more fiercely in his tongue through the justice of retribution? But this which is said to him through Abraham's response must be considered with very great fear: "Son, remember that you received good things in your life, and Lazarus likewise evil things. But now he is comforted here, and you are tormented. This sentence, my brothers, needs fear rather than exposition. For if any of you have received something of external good in this world, you ought to fear that very external gift, so to speak, lest it be given to you as recompense for certain of your deeds, lest the Judge who here restored external goods reject you from the retribution of inward good, lest honor here or riches be not an aid to virtue but a reward for labor.

For behold, when it is said, "You received good things in your life," it is indicated that this rich man also had something of good, from which he might receive good things in this life. And again, when it is said of Lazarus that he received evil things, it is clearly shown that Lazarus also had some evil that needed to be purged. But the fire of poverty purged the evils of Lazarus, and the happiness of passing life rewarded the goods of the rich man. Poverty afflicted and cleansed the one; abundance rewarded and repelled the other. Therefore whoever among you have good things in this world, when you recall that you have done good deeds, greatly fear concerning them, lest the prosperity granted to you be the reward of those same goods. And when you see any poor people committing some blameworthy acts, do not despise them, do not despair of them, because perhaps the furnace of poverty purges what the excess of very slight depravity stains. Fear greatly concerning yourselves, because a prosperous life has even followed some evil deeds. But consider carefully concerning them, because the teacher poverty also torments their life until it leads them to righteousness. There follows: "And in all these things, between us and you a great chasm has been established, so that those who wish to cross from here to you cannot, nor can they pass from there to here.

In this matter, it must be carefully investigated how it is said, "Those who wish to cross from here to you cannot. For there is no doubt that those who are in hell desire to cross over to the lot of the blessed. But those who have already been received into the lot of blessedness—in what sense is it said that they wish to cross over to those who are tortured in hell? But just as the reprobate desire to cross over to the elect, that is, to migrate away from the affliction of their punishments, so for the just to cross over to those who are afflicted and placed in torments means to go in mind through mercy and to wish to free them. But those who wish to cross from the seat of the blessed to those who are afflicted and placed in torments cannot do so, because the souls of the just, although they have mercy in the goodness of their nature, being now joined to the justice of their Creator, are bound by such great rectitude that they are moved by no compassion toward the reprobate. For they are in harmony with the Judge to whom they cling, and they do not condescend out of mercy to those whom they cannot rescue, because they will then see them as foreign to themselves to the same degree that they perceive them to be rejected by their Creator whom they love.

Therefore neither do the unjust cross over to the lot of the blessed, because they are bound by perpetual damnation; nor can the just cross over to the reprobate, because, already raised up through the justice of judgment, they have no mercy on them from any compassion whatsoever. But after hope concerning himself is taken from the burning rich man, his mind runs back to the relatives whom he had left behind, because the punishment of the reprobate sometimes unprofitably instructs their mind toward charity, so that they then love their own spiritually, who here, while they loved sins, did not even love themselves. Hence it is now added: "I ask you therefore, Father, to send him to my father's house; for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come into this place of torments. In this matter it should be noted how much is heaped upon the burning rich man for his punishment. For both knowledge and memory are preserved for him unto his punishment. For he recognizes Lazarus whom he despised, and he also remembers his brothers whom he left behind. For his vengeance from the poor man would not be complete if he did not recognize him in retribution. And the punishment in fire would not be complete if he did not fear for his own what he himself suffers.

Therefore, that sinners may be punished more in their torment, they both see the glory of those whom they despised, and are also tortured by the punishment of those whom they loved unprofitably. Indeed it is to be believed that before the retribution of the last judgment the unjust see certain just ones in rest, so that seeing them in joy they may be tortured not only by their own punishment but also by the good of those others. But the just always behold the unjust in torments, so that their joy may increase from this, because they see the evil which they mercifully escaped; and they give so much greater thanks to their deliverer, as they see in others what they themselves could have suffered if they had been abandoned. Nor does the observed punishment of the reprobate darken that brightness of such great blessedness in the minds of the just, because where there will no longer be compassion for misery, it will without doubt be unable to diminish the joy of the blessed. But what wonder if, while the just behold the torments of the unjust, this comes to them as a service to their joys, when even in a painting black color is placed beneath so that white or red may appear brighter? For as was said, the joys of the good increase so much more as the evils of the damned which they escaped lie beneath their eyes.

And although their own joys suffice them fully for enjoyment, yet they without doubt always behold the evils of the reprobate, because those who see the brightness of their Creator, nothing is done in creation that they cannot see. But when the rich man asked that Lazarus be sent, Abraham immediately answered: They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them. But he who had despised the words of God thought that his followers could not hear these things. Hence the rich man also replied: No, my father; but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will believe. To whom a truthful judgment is immediately spoken: If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe someone who has risen from the dead, because indeed those who despise the words of the law will fulfill the precepts of the Redeemer, who rose from the dead, with greater difficulty the more subtle they are. For whatever is said through the law is less than what is commanded through the Lord. For the law commands that tithes be given, but our Redeemer commands that everything be given up by those who follow perfection. The law cuts away sins of the flesh, but our Redeemer condemns even unlawful thoughts. If therefore they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe if someone rises from the dead, because when will those who neglect to fulfill the lesser precepts of the law grow strong enough to obey the higher commands of our Savior?

And indeed it is certain that those who refuse to fulfill his words undoubtedly refuse to believe him. Let it suffice that we have said these things from consideration of the event itself. But you, brothers, knowing both the rest of Lazarus and the punishment of the rich man, act diligently, seek intercessors for your sins, and secure the poor as advocates for yourselves on the day of judgment. For you now have many Lazaruses; they lie before your doors, and they need what falls daily from your table while you are already satisfied. The words of sacred scripture ought to instruct us to fulfill the commands of piety. Every day, if we seek Lazarus, we find him; every day, even if we do not seek him, we see Lazarus. Behold, the poor present themselves persistently, they ask of us, who will then come as intercessors for us. Certainly we ought to have asked them entirely, yet we are the ones being asked. Consider whether we ought to refuse what is requested of us, when those who ask are our patrons. Therefore do not waste the times for mercy, do not neglect the remedies you have received. Before punishment, think about punishment. When you look upon any who are lowly in this world, even if some things of theirs seem reprehensible, do not despise them, because perhaps those whom weakness of character wounds, the medicine of poverty heals.

If there are any such things of theirs that ought rightly to be reproved, turn these, if you wish, to the use of your own reward, so that from their very faults the increase of your piety may be accumulated, inasmuch as you give both bread and word equally, the bread of refreshment with the word of correction; and let those who sought one thing receive two forms of nourishment from you, while they are satisfied both outwardly with food and inwardly with discourse. Therefore when a poor person is seen to be blameworthy, he ought to be admonished, not despised. But if he has nothing deserving of reproof, he ought to be greatly venerated as an intercessor. But behold, we see many people, and we do not know what merit each one has. Therefore all are to be venerated, and it is necessary that you humble yourself before all, the more so because you do not know which of them is Christ. I am telling of a matter, brothers, which he who is present—my brother and fellow presbyter Speciosus—knows well. At that time when I entered the monastery, there was a certain old woman named Redempta, established in the religious habit, who dwelt in this city near the church of blessed Mary ever virgin. She had been a disciple of that Herundo who, endowed with great virtues, was said to have led the eremitic life upon the Praenestine mountains. Two disciples in the same habit were attached to her:

one named Romula, and another who still survives to this day, whom indeed I know by face but not by name. These three, therefore, living together in one dwelling, led a life full of riches of character yet nevertheless poor in possessions. Now this Romula whom I have mentioned surpassed her fellow disciple whom I spoke of by great merits of life. For she was of marvelous patience, of the highest obedience, a guardian of her mouth for silence, and greatly devoted to the practice of continual prayer. But since often those whom people already esteem as perfect still have something of imperfection in the eyes of the supreme Maker—just as we unskilled people often behold statues not yet perfectly sculpted and already praise them as if perfect, which the artist still examines and polishes, and already hears them praised yet does not cease to strike them for improvement—this Romula whom we mentioned was struck by that bodily affliction which physicians call by the Greek word paralysis, and lying in bed for many years, she lay deprived of the use of nearly all her limbs. Yet these same afflictions had not brought her mind to impatience. For the very losses of her limbs had become increases of her virtues, since she had grown all the more diligently to the practice of prayer, inasmuch as she was utterly unable to do anything else. Therefore one night she called to that same Redempta whom I mentioned, who was nurturing both her disciples in the place of daughters, saying: "Mother, come; mother, come.

She arose at once with the other disciple, as became known to many from both of them reporting the matter, and as I too learned at that same time. And when they stood by the bed of the one lying there at midnight, suddenly light sent from heaven filled the whole space of that little cell, and such great brilliance shone forth that it struck the hearts of those standing by with inestimable fear, and, as they themselves recounted afterward, their whole body became rigid and they remained in sudden stupor. For there began to be heard a sound as of a great multitude entering, the door of the cell being shaken as if pressed by a throng of those entering. And, as they said, they sensed a multitude of those entering, but because of the excess of fear and light they could see nothing, for both terror had pressed down their eyes and the very brightness of so great a light was dazzling them. This light was immediately followed by a fragrance of wondrous odor, so that the sweetness of the scent refreshed their spirit, which the light sent forth had terrified. But when they could not bear the force of that brightness, Romula began to console with gentle voice the trembling Redempta standing by her, the teacher of her character, saying: "Do not fear, mother; I am not dying now. And while she said this repeatedly, gradually the light that had been sent in was withdrawn, but the odor that had followed remained.

And so the second and third day passed, with the fragrance of the scent remaining. Therefore on the fourth night she called her teacher again. When she came, Romula asked for and received the viaticum. But Redempta and the other disciple had not yet withdrawn from the bed of the one lying there when suddenly in the street before the door of that cell two choirs of those singing psalms stood still, and as they themselves said they distinguished the sexes by their voices, they said men were singing the psalm and women were responding. And while these heavenly obsequies were being performed before the doors of the cell, that holy soul was released from the flesh. As she was being led to heaven, the higher the choirs of singers ascended, the more faintly the psalmody began to be heard, until both the sound of that psalmody and the sweetness of the odor ended in the distance. Therefore, as long as she lived in the body, who held her in honor? She seemed unworthy to all, despised by everyone. Who would deign to approach her, who would deign to see her? But God's pearl lay hidden in a dunghill. By dunghill, brothers, I mean this very corruptibility of the body; by dunghill I designate the rejection of poverty. Therefore the pearl that lay in the dunghill was taken up and placed in the adornment of the heavenly King; now she shines among the citizens above, now she gleams among those fiery stones of the eternal diadem.

O you who believe yourselves to be rich in this world, or who are, compare, if you can, your false riches with the true riches of Romula. You possess all things in the way of this world, only to lose them; she sought nothing on the journey, and found everything upon arrival. You lead a joyful life, you fear a sad death; she endured a sad life, she arrived at a joyful death. You seek the service of men for a time; she, despised by men, found the choirs of angels as companions. Learn therefore, brothers, to despise all temporal things; learn to scorn passing honor, to love eternal glory. Honor those whom you see as poor, and those whom you observe outwardly as despised by the world, consider them inwardly as friends of God. Share with them what you have, so that one day they may deign to share with you what they have. Consider what is said by the mouth of the teacher of the nations: In this time let your abundance supply their want, that their abundance also may be a supplement to your want. Consider what Truth itself says in person: As long as you did it to one of these my least brethren, you did it to me. Why are you slow to give, when what you extend to one lying on earth you give to him who sits in heaven?

But may almighty God, who speaks through me in your ears, speak through himself in your minds—he who lives and reigns with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through all ages of ages. Amen.