Leo the Great, Sermons

(a) ‹SERMO V [Al. IV].› (the call stands before the sub-caption De Natali ipsius V) · printed under cols 153–154

Hic sermo ante annos aliquot editus ex ms. codice Nicolai Fabri, qui postea D. Thuani fuit, nunc in Colbertina bibliotheca servatur. Sic Quesnellus. Antelmius vero diss. 6, de veris operibus SS. Leonis, et Prosperi, num. 4, pag. 348, monuit huic sermoni in eo codice prima manu Prosperi nomen fuisse praefixum hoc titulo: Incipit sermo Prosperi de Natali papae: recentiori autem charactere abrasae membranae inscriptum fuisse Leonis nomen. Cum vero sermonis contextus auctorem praeferat Romanum pontificem, stylus autem cum caeterorum Leonis sermonum stylo plane conveniat, multumque discrepet a stylo Prosperi, de genuino Leonis fetu dubitandum non est. De inscripto autem Prosperi nomine confer quae conjecimus in praefatione num. 10.

This sermon, published some years ago from the manuscript codex of Nicolas Le Fèvre, which afterwards belonged to M. de Thou, is now kept in the Colbert library. So Quesnel. Antelmi, however, in diss. 6, On the Genuine Works of SS. Leo and Prosper, num. 4, p. 348, pointed out that in that codex the name of Prosper had been set before this sermon by the first hand, with this title: Here begins the sermon of Prosper on the Birthday of the Pope; but that the name of Leo had been written in a later hand on the erased parchment. Since, however, the content of the sermon shows its author to be a Roman pontiff, while its style agrees entirely with the style of Leo's other sermons and differs much from the style of Prosper, there is no need to doubt that it is Leo's genuine offspring. On the inscribed name of Prosper, compare what we have conjectured in the preface, num. 10.

SYNOPSIS — I. Omnia in Deum esse referenda. — II. Quo quisque altiorem in Ecclesia tenet locum, eo magis illi timendum esse. — III. Christum verum esse Sacerdotem secundum ordinem Melchisedech, et suae semper adesse Ecclesiae. — IV. Petrum Romanae sedis semper curam gerere. — V. Illi potissimum honorem esse impendendum, cujus sedi successores ejus serviunt.

SYNOPSIS — I. That all things are to be referred to God. — II. That the higher the place anyone holds in the Church, the more he must fear. — III. That Christ is the true Priest according to the order of Melchisedech, and is always present to His Church. — IV. That Peter always has the care of the Roman see. — V. That honour is to be paid above all to him whose see his successors serve.

(none) The end of note (a), called in col 153, is printed under this column; it is set whole in n153.

(none) Note (a) printed under this column is called in col 156 (sive (a) dignatione fratrum) and is set in n156.

(none) The ADMONITIO IN SEQUENTES SERMONES DE COLLECTIS printed across the full width of this page below the notes (under cols 155 and 156) is set once, in n156.

(a) ‹hodie sive› · printed under cols 155–156

Officium quo fratres sibi aliquid ex dignatione detulisse S. Leo tradit, eos tantum respicit episcoporum conventus, ad quos isti ob celebrandum anniversarium diem ordinationis ejus invitati concurrerant. Lege serm. 2, c. 2. Haec et his similia officia, ad quae nulla lex, praeceptum nullum cogeret, sicut pietate filiorum ita dignatione fratrum pendebantur. Nihil ergo erat cur Quesnellus huic loca generalem propositionem in postilla apponeret: Episcopi ex dignatione officia deferunt Romano pontifici.

The service which St Leo says the brethren paid him out of condescension concerns only the assemblies of bishops to which they had come together, invited to celebrate the anniversary of his ordination. Read serm. 2, c. 2. These and similar services, to which no law, no precept compelled, were paid by the condescension of brethren as by the devotion of sons. There was therefore no reason for Quesnel to attach to this passage in a marginal gloss the general proposition: Bishops pay services to the Roman pontiff out of condescension.

ADMONITIO IN SEQUENTES SERMONES DE COLLECTIS.

ADMONITION ON THE FOLLOWING SERMONS ON THE COLLECTIONS.

Celeberrimi sunt S. Leonis sermones de Collectis; quippe peculiares quasdam collectas indicant, quae etsi ex Leone memorantur a pluribus, eas tamen a quopiam explicatas reperire non licuit. Quesnellus in notatione ad primum de Collectis sermonem hoc unum subjecit: De collectarum usu et antiquitate multa hic congerere esset actum agere. Consulat qui volet em. card. Baronium ad an. Ch. 44 n. 30, 31, et ad an. 58, num. 35 Illas non in sola Dominica fieri solitas Leonis tempore, patet ex sermone 2 et 3, ubi secundae et tertiae feriae fit mentio. Non tamen de communibus collectis, quae in omnibus Ecclesiis olim fiebant, sed de extraordinaria ac praecipua eleemosynarum collectione S. Leonem his in sermonibus loqui credimus: quae certo anni tempore, ac in certum primum diem indicta et incoepta, aliis consequentibus diebus perficiebatur.

St Leo's sermons on the Collections are very celebrated; for they point to certain special collections which, although many mention them on Leo's authority, we have not been able to find explained by anyone. Quesnel, in his annotation on the first sermon on the Collections, added only this: "To heap up much here on the use and antiquity of collections would be to do what has already been done. Let whoever wishes consult His Eminence Cardinal Baronius at the year of Christ 44, n. 30, 31, and at the year 58, num. 35. That in Leo's time they were not customarily held on Sunday alone is clear from sermons 2 and 3, where mention is made of the second and third feria." We believe, however, that in these sermons St Leo is speaking not of the ordinary collections which were once made in all the Churches, but of an extraordinary and special collection of alms, which, announced for a fixed time of the year and begun on a fixed first day, was completed on the following days.

Patet indictio in certum diem ex uncquoque sermone: nam sermone primo in Dominicam, secundo in secundam feriam, tertio in feriam tertiam, quarto in quartam feriam, vel potius quintam, quinto iterum in primam Dominicam, ac sexto in diem sabcati collectae indicuntur. Cum hi sermones diversis annis habiti fuerint, in hac dierum varietate certus procul dubio alicujus mensis dies innuitur, qui uno anno in Dominicam, alio in feriam secundam, alio in tertiam, etc., incideret, et annorum cursu iterum caderet in Dominicam. Dies autem in his sermonibus memoratus, non unicus sed primus collectarum dies appellatur sermone 2, et serm. 5, c. 4 dicitur: Die Dominica prima est futura collectio, Igitur aliis diebus aliae collectiones fiebant; ac perinde hae collectae in aliquot dies producebantur.

The announcement for a fixed day is plain from each sermon: for in the first sermon the collections are announced for Sunday, in the second for the second feria, in the third for the third feria, in the fourth for the fourth feria, or rather the fifth, in the fifth again for the first Sunday, and in the sixth for the Sabbath day. Since these sermons were delivered in different years, in this variety of days a fixed day of some month is without doubt indicated, which in one year fell on a Sunday, in another on the second feria, in another on the third, etc., and in the course of the years fell again on a Sunday. Moreover, the day mentioned in these sermons is called not the only but the first day of the collections in sermon 2, and in serm. 5, c. 4 it is said: "On Sunday the first collection will take place." Therefore other collections were made on other days; and accordingly these collections were extended over several days.

His autem diebus Romani per Ecclesias suarum regionum debebant convenire ad eam eleemosynarum largitionem, quam et facultas et pietas suadebat, uti traditur serm. 3 et 4, c. 3, et serm. 6, c. 2. Erant vero Leonis tempore septem regiones ecclesiasticae in Urbe, quarum singulae suam diaconiam habebant, ubi nosocomia et pauperum diversoria erant, in quibus viduae aliique egentes ecclesiastica stipe alebantur. Vide Mabillonium Comment. in Ordin. Roman. tom. II Musei italici, pag. 17. Ad has ergo diaconias deferendae erant eleemosynae, quae per praesidentium curam necessariis serviebant expensis: quia ad Ecclesiam maxime ab unoquoque opem quaerente decurritur, ut ait Leo serm. 6, c. 2.

On these days the Romans were to assemble through the churches of their regions for that bestowal of alms which both their means and their piety urged, as is related in serm. 3 and 4, c. 3, and serm. 6, c. 2. In Leo's time there were seven ecclesiastical regions in the City, each of which had its own diaconia, where there were hospitals and lodgings for the poor, in which widows and other needy people were fed from the Church's alms. See Mabillon, Commentary on the Ordo Romanus, vol. II of the Museum Italicum, p. 17. To these diaconiae, then, the alms were to be brought, which through the care of those in charge served the necessary expenses: "because it is above all to the Church that everyone seeking help runs", as Leo says, serm. 6, c. 2.

Nunc statuenda, si fieri poterit, harum collectarum institutio, nec non in quem mensem inciderent, et quo inchoarent mensis die, quotque diebus peragerentur. Institutionem subindicat S. pontifex serm. 3, 4 et 5, ubi collectus ejusmodi olim a Patribus inductas prodit, ut eo die quo pagani superstitionibus suis diabolo serviebant, Christiani suas oblationes Deo sacratius offerrent. Sic enim serm. 2: Ad destruendas antiqui hostis insidias in die quo impii sub idolorum suorum nomine diabolo serviebant, providentissime in sancta Ecclesia prima est institua collectio. Et apertius serm. 4, cap. 3: Dies nos apostolicae institutionis invitat, in quo sanctarum collationum prima collectio est prudenter a Patribus et utiliter ordinata, ut quia in hoc tempore gentilis quondam populus superstitiosus daemonibus serviebat, contra profanas hostias impiorum sacratissima nostrarum eleemosynarum celebraretur oblatio. Quod quia incrementis Ecclesiae fructuosissimum fuit, placuit esse perpetum. Et serm. 5, c. 1, testatur hanc institutionem antiquis profuisse ad destructionem vanitatum Duo ex his colligenda. Primum ab antiquis Ecclesiae Patribus, qui plures alios dies superstitionibus pollutos in pios cultus traduxerunt, celebrem aliquam paganorum superstitionem, qua profanae hostiae: seu oblationes aliquae conferebantur celebri quodam die in impium idolorum cultum, in pias ejusmodi collectas fuisse conversam. Secundum adeo solemnem hanc institutionem fuisse, ut ecclesiae utilem, ut iidem Patres voluerint esse perpetuam, et idcirco sublata licet ea veteri superstitione, Leonis adhuc aetate vigebat.

Now we must determine, if it can be done, the institution of these collections, and also into which month they fell, on what day of the month they began, and over how many days they were carried out. The holy pontiff hints at their institution in serm. 3, 4 and 5, where he reports that collections of this kind were introduced of old by the Fathers, so that on the day on which the pagans served the devil with their superstitions, Christians might offer their oblations to God the more holily. For thus serm. 2: "To destroy the snares of the ancient enemy, on the day on which the ungodly served the devil under the name of their idols, the first collection was most providently instituted in the holy Church." And more openly serm. 4, chap. 3: "The day of apostolic institution invites us, on which the first collection of holy contributions was prudently and usefully ordained by the Fathers, so that, because at this season the once-heathen people superstitiously served demons, the most sacred oblation of our alms might be celebrated against the profane victims of the ungodly. And because this was most fruitful for the growth of the Church, it was decided that it should be perpetual." And serm. 5, c. 1, testifies that this institution served the ancients for the destruction of vanities. Two things are to be gathered from these. First, that some celebrated superstition of the pagans, in which profane victims or certain oblations were brought together on a certain festal day for the impious worship of idols, was turned into pious collections of this kind by the ancient Fathers of the Church, who transferred many other days polluted by superstitions to pious observances. Second, that this institution was so solemn, and so useful to the Church, that the same Fathers willed it to be perpetual; and for this reason, although that old superstition had been done away with, it was still flourishing in Leo's time.

Quo porro haec superstitio fuerit, unbe ejusmodi collectae originem sumpserint, et quem in mensem ac diem inciderint, unde collectarum mensis ac dies statuatur, cum S. Leo nihil prodat, aliunde colligendum est. In hoc autem juvat horum sermonum ordo quem in aliquot mss. reperimus. In Lectionario Vallicellano A, 6, quatuor ex his sermonibus continentur. Describuntur autem post sermones diei SS. Petri et Pauli, et ante sermonem Leonis 84, qui in mss. collectionibus tertia, quarta, et quinta octavae eorumdem apostolorum affigitur; idemque ordo deprehenditur in codicibus collectionis secundae. Igitur in initium Julii et superstitiones jam memoratae, et

What this superstition was, then, from which collections of this kind took their origin, and into which month and day they fell, from which the month and day of the collections may be fixed, must be gathered from elsewhere, since St Leo reveals nothing. In this, however, the order of these sermons which we have found in several manuscripts is of help. In the Vallicelliana Lectionary A 6, four of these sermons are contained. They are copied after the sermons for the day of SS. Peter and Paul, and before Leo's sermon 84, which in the manuscript collections three, four and five is assigned to the octave of the same apostles; and the same order is found in the codices of the second collection. Therefore at the beginning of July both the superstitions already mentioned and […]