PL 54 · cols. 313–316

Leo the Great, Sermons

Sermon LII

et praevaricationis pacta dirumpit. Ipsum audite, qui viam aperit ad coelum, et per crucis supplicium gradus vobis ascensionis parat ad regnum. Quid trepidatis redimi? quid pavetis saucii liberari? Fiat quod me volente vult Christus. Abjicite carnalem formidinem, et fideli vos armate constantia: indignum est enim, ut in Salvatoris passione timeatis, quod ipsius munere nec in vestro fine metuetis.

[…] and breaks the compacts of transgression. Hear Him, Who opens the way to heaven, and by the punishment of the cross prepares for you the steps of ascent to the kingdom. Why do you tremble to be redeemed? why are you afraid, being wounded, to be set free? Let that be done which Christ wills, as I also will. Cast away fleshly fear, and arm yourselves with faithful constancy: for it is unworthy that you should fear in the Saviour's passion what by His gift you will not dread even in your own end.

Cap. VIII. — Haec, dilectissimi, non ad illorum tantum utilitatem dicta sunt, qui ea propiis auribus audierunt, sed in illis tribus apostolis universa Ecclesia didicit quidquid eorum et aspectu vidit et auditus accepit. Coufirmetur ergo secundum praedicationem sacratissimi Evangelii omnium fides, et nemo de Christi cruce, per quam mundus redemptus est, erubescat. Nec ideo quisquam aut pati pro justitia timeat, aut de promissorum retributione diffidat, quia per laborem ad requiem, et per mortem transitur ad vitam: cum omnem humilitatis nostrae infirmitatem ille susceperit, in quo si in confessione et in dilectione ipsius permaneamus, et quod vicit vincimus, et quod promisit accipimus. Quia sive ad facienda mandata, sive ad toleranda adversa, praemissa Patris vox debet semper auribus nostris insonare dicentis: Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo mihi bene complacui: ipsum auditue: qui vivit et regnat cum Patre et Spiritu sancto in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Chap. VIII. — These things, dearly beloved, were not said for the benefit only of those who heard them with their own ears, but in those three apostles the whole Church learned whatever their sight saw and their hearing received. Let the faith of all, therefore, be confirmed according to the preaching of the most holy Gospel, and let no one be ashamed of the cross of Christ, by which the world was redeemed. Nor, for that reason, let anyone either fear to suffer for justice or distrust the repayment of the promises, because through labour one passes to rest and through death to life: since He has taken up the whole weakness of our lowliness, in Whom, if we abide in the confession and in the love of Him, we both conquer what He conquered and receive what He promised. For whether for doing the commandments or for bearing adversities, the voice of the Father sent before ought always to sound in our ears, as He says: This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased: hear Him: Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMO LII [Al. L.]

SERMON 52 [Otherwise 50]

De Passione Domini I. Habitus dominico die.

On the Passion of the Lord, 1. Delivered on the Lord's day.

Cap. I. — Sacramentum, dilectissimi, Dominicae passionis, quam Dominus Jesus Dei Filius, pro humani generis salute suscepit, et sicut promisit, omnia

Chap. I. — The sacrament, dearly beloved, of the Lord's passion, which the Lord Jesus, the Son of God, undertook for the salvation of the human race, and, as He promised, all […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 313

Footnotes

(a) ‹et praevaricationis› · printed under col 313

Idem codex Ven., pactum.

The same Venice codex, pactum ("compact", singular).

(b) ‹saucii liberari?› · printed under col 313

Laudatus cod., Fiat me volente quod vult Christus.

The codex cited, Fiat me volente quod vult Christus (the same words in another order).

Praepositionem in hoc secundo loco omittunt aliquot mss. Vatt. Codex Venetus praeterit et in dilectione. Mox, quod vicit, vicimus, et quod promisit accepimus in uno ms. Vat.

Several Vatican manuscripts omit the preposition in at this second place. The Venice codex passes over et in dilectione. Shortly after, quod vicit, vicimus, et quod promisit accepimus ("what He conquered we have conquered, and what He promised we have received") in one Vatican manuscript.

(d) ‹auribus nostris› · printed under col 313

Solus Quesnellus intonare.

Quesnel alone, intonare ("thunder").

(e) ‹ipsum auditue:› · printed under col 313

Prima editio: Qui vivit et regnat in saecula benedictus.

The first edition: Who lives and reigns, blessed for ever.

(f) before the sub-caption ‹De Passione Domini I.› · printed under col 313

In uno ms. antiquo Vat. et in prima editione hic Sermo inscribitur: In Parasceve Domini ejusdem Leonis Sermo I. Cum vero sub finem sermonis S. pontifex spondeat se alia, quae nunc omittit, prosecuturum feria 4, melius utique Quesnellus in postilla ad marginem posita notavit: Dominico die Palmarum videtur dictus non ante detectum Eutychis errorem, ut ex variis locis apparet.

In one old Vatican manuscript and in the first edition this Sermon is headed: On the Lord's Preparation Day, Sermon 1 of the same Leo. But since towards the end of the sermon the holy pontiff promises to follow up on the fourth weekday other things which he now omits, Quesnel did far better to note in an annotation placed in the margin: It seems to have been preached on Palm Sunday, not before the error of Eutyches was detected, as appears from various places.

(g) ‹Cap. I. —› · printed under col 313, continued under col 314

In vulgatis et nonnullis etiam codd. hic Sermo sic incipit: Sacratissimum, dilectissimi, Dominicae passionis diem, quam, etc. Praetulimus lectionem vetustissimi Lectionarii Vat. 3835, qui codex certe Romanus, ad Basilicam SS. apostolorum Philippi et Jacobi pertinebat, cum praesertim concinant mss. potiorum collectionum 1 et 2. Contextus etiam magis congruit: nam proprius dicitur evangelicus sermo reserasse sacramentum Dominicae Passionis, quam sacratissimum diem.

In the common editions and also in some codices this Sermon begins thus: The most holy day, dearly beloved, of the Lord's passion, which, etc. We have preferred the reading of the very old Vatican Lectionary 3835, a codex certainly Roman, which belonged to the Basilica of the Holy Apostles Philip and James, especially since the manuscripts of the better collections 1 and 2 agree. The context also fits better: for the Gospel discourse is more properly said to have unlocked the sacrament of the Lord's Passion than the most holy day.

Editors' prose

SYNOPSIS. — I. Per solam Verbi incarnationem salutem homini contingere, cujus fides etiam in veteri Testamento et ante legem necessaria. — II. Per Verbi potentiam et carnis humilitatem, salutem pari. — III. Non spernendam ejus crucem et abjectionem, qui unico verbo in passione prostravit satellites. — IV. Ultro se Christum traditione morti, qui et Patri zelum repressit, et servi aurem restituit. — V. Morte Christi nos liberari, Judaeos et Judam accusari; qui tamen etiam potuissent illa redimi.

SYNOPSIS. — I. That salvation comes to man only through the incarnation of the Word, faith in which was necessary even in the Old Testament and before the law. — II. That salvation is brought forth through the power of the Word and the lowliness of the flesh. — III. That His cross and abasement are not to be despised, Who with a single word laid low the attendants in His passion. — IV. That Christ gave Himself up to death of His own accord, Who both checked the zeal of Peter [printed Patri, "of the Father"] and restored the servant's ear. — V. That by the death of Christ we are set free, and the Jews and Judas are accused; who yet could also have been redeemed by it.

Page

running head: 313 SERMO LII. (spread across cols 313–314: "313 SERMO" over col 313, "MO LII. 314" over col 314)
marginal letters: A ‹graphum et praevaricationis›; B ‹de Christi cruce, per quam mundus redemptus est›; C ‹Synopsis. — I. Per solam Verbi›; D ‹(c) ... accepimus in uno ms. Vat.› (in the footnotes)
old-edition numerals: 598 [sic, the sequence requires 198] before ‹SERMO LII›
signature: none
other: caption SERMO LII [Al. L.] with sub-caption printed within col 313 only

PL 54:314

ad se exaltatus attraxit, tam plane ac lucide evangelicus sermo reseravit, ut religiosis et piis cordibus non aliud sit audisse quae lecta sunt, quam vidisse quae gesta sunt. Unde cum indubitabilem obtineat auctoritatem sacra narratio, annitendum nobis est, auxiliante Domino, ut perspicuum habeat intelligentia, quod notum fecit historia. Post illam namque humanae praevaricationis primam et universalem ruinam, ex qua per per unum hominem peccatum introivit in hunc mundum, et per peccatum mors, et ita in omnes homines mors pertransiit, in quo omnes peccaverunt Rom. v, 12); nemo tetram diaboli dominationem, nemo vincula dirae captivitatis evaderet; nec cuiquam aut reconciliatio ad veniam, aut reditus pateret ad vitam nisi coaeternus et coaequalis Patri Deo Filius Dei etiam hominis filius esse dignaretur, veniens quaerere et salvare quod perierat (Luc. XIX, 10): ut sicut per Adam mors, ita per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum esset resurrectio mortuorum (I Cor. XV, 22).

[…] He drew to Himself when lifted up, the Gospel discourse has unlocked so plainly and clearly that for religious and devout hearts to have heard what was read is nothing other than to have seen what was done. Hence, since the sacred narrative holds unquestionable authority, we must strive, with the Lord's help, that understanding may hold clear what the history has made known. For after that first and universal ruin of human transgression, from which through one man sin entered into this world, and through sin death, and so death passed to all men, in whom all have sinned (Rom. 5:12); no one would escape the foul dominion of the devil, no one the chains of dire captivity; nor would reconciliation to pardon or return to life lie open to anyone, unless the Son of God, co-eternal and co-equal with God the Father, deigned to be also the son of man, coming to seek and save what had perished (Luke 19:10): so that, as through Adam death, so through our Lord Jesus Christ there might be the resurrection of the dead (1 Cor. 15:22).

Non enim quia secundum inscrutabile propositum sapientiae Dei novissimis diebus Verbum caro factum est (Joan. I, 14), ideo salutiferae Virginis partus, extremi tantum temporis generationibus profuit, et non se etiam in praeteritas refudit aetates. Omnis prorsus antiquitas colentium Deum verum, omnis numerus apud saecula priora sanctorum, in hac fide vixit et placuit; et neque patriarchis, neque prophetis, neque cuiquam omnino sanctorum, nisi in redemptione Domini nostri Jesu Christi salus et justificatio fuit: quae sicut exspectabatur multis prophetarum oraculis signisque promissa, ita est etiam ipso munere atque opere praesentata.

For it is not because, according to the inscrutable purpose of the wisdom of God, the Word was made flesh in the last days (John 1:14), that the saving childbearing of the Virgin therefore profited only the generations of the final time, and did not pour itself back also into past ages. The whole antiquity of those who worshipped the true God, the whole number of the saints in the earlier ages, lived and pleased [God] in this faith; and neither for the patriarchs, nor for the prophets, nor for any of the saints at all, was there salvation and justification except in the redemption of our Lord Jesus Christ: which, as it was awaited, promised by many oracles and signs of the prophets, so has also been made present by the gift and work itself.

Cap. II. — Unde nunc, dilectissimi, in toto ordine dominicae passionis, non ita infirmitatem consideremus humanam, ut arbitremur illic potentiam defuisse divinam: neque illam ita coaeternam et aequalem Patri formam Unigeniti cogitemus, ut putemus non fuisse vera quae Deo videntur indigna. Prorsus utraque natura, unus est Christus: nec Verbum ibi ab homine disjunctum, nec homo est dissociatus a Verbo. Non est fastidita humilitas, quia nec imminuta majestas. Nihil nocuit naturae inviolabili,

Chap. II. — Hence now, dearly beloved, in the whole course of the Lord's passion, let us not so consider the human weakness as to think that the divine power was absent there: nor let us so think of that form of the Only-begotten, co-eternal and equal with the Father, as to suppose that the things which seem unworthy of God were not real. In both natures Christ is altogether one: neither is the Word there disjoined from the man, nor is the man dissociated from the Word. The lowliness was not disdained, because neither was the majesty diminished. Nothing harmed the inviolable nature […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 314

Footnotes

(g) continued from col 313, set in n313

(h) ‹auxiliante Domino, ut› · printed under col 314

Mss. collect. 2, perspicuam habeat intelligentiam.

The manuscripts of collection 2, perspicuam habeat intelligentiam ("that it may have clear understanding").

(i) ‹peccaverunt Rom. v, 12); nemo› · printed under col 314

Vocem tetram addidimus ex antiquisisimo Vat. et codd. antiquarum collectionum.

We have added the word tetram from the very old Vatican manuscript and the codices of the ancient collections.

(j) ‹coaequalis Patri Deo› (call printed "(i)") · printed under col 314

Idem Vat., Filius Deus.

The same Vatican manuscript, Filius Deus ("God the Son").

(k) ‹sanctorum,› · printed under col 314

Editi, sacra fide. Magis placuit lectio mss. collect. 5, quae contextui aptissima est.

The editions, sacra fide ("in the sacred faith"). The reading of the manuscripts of collection 5 pleased us more, being most suited to the context.

(l) ‹sicut exspectabatur› · printed under col 314

Ms. Casanatens, addit ab hominibus. Mox codex Barberin., in Christi munere pro ipso munere; et ms. Bon., prosecuta pro praesentata, in alio codice repraetata.

The Casanatensis manuscript adds ab hominibus ("by men"). Shortly after, the Barberini codex has in Christi munere ("in the gift of Christ") for ipso munere; and the Bonus manuscript prosecuta for praesentata, in another codex repraetata [as printed].

(m) ‹coaeternam et› · printed under col 314

Duo nostri codd., coaequalem. In vetustissimo Vat., neque illam aequalem et coaeternam Patri.

Two of our codices, coaequalem ("co-equal"). In the very old Vatican manuscript, neque illam aequalem et coaeternam Patri ("nor that [form] equal and co-eternal with the Father").

(n) ‹utraque natura, unus› · printed under col 314

Verbum est adjecimus ex eodem Vat. et ex ms. Casanat.

We have added the verb est from the same Vatican manuscript and from the Casanatensis manuscript.

(o) ‹nec imminuta majestas.› · printed under col 314

Nec nocuit in eodem Casanat.

Nec nocuit ("nor did it harm") in the same Casanatensis.

Page

running head: 313 SERMO LII. (spread across cols 313–314; "MO LII. 314" over col 314)
marginal letters: A ‹ad se exaltatus attraxit›; B ‹Dei etiam hominis filius›; C ‹etiam ipso munere atque opere›; D ‹cratissimum diem.› (in the footnotes)
old-edition numerals: 199 after ‹resurrectio›
signature: none
other: the second call after ‹Patri Deo› is printed "(i)" but answers note (j)

PL 54:315

quod passibili oportebat inferri: totumque illud sacramentum, quod simul et humanitas consummavit et Deitas, dispensatio fuit misericordiae, et actio pietatis. Talibus enim vinculis tenebamur obstricti, ut nisi per hanc opem non possemus absolvi. Humilitas igitur Divinitatis nostra provectio est. Nos tanto redimimur pretio, nos tanto curamur impendio. Quis enim ab impietate ad justitiam, a miseria ad beatudinem esset recursus, nisi et justus ad impios, et beatus inclinaretur ad miseros?

[…] what had to be inflicted on the passible [nature]: and that whole sacrament, which the humanity and the Godhead accomplished together, was a dispensation of mercy and an act of loving-kindness. For we were held bound by such chains that except through this help we could not be set free. The lowliness of the Divinity, therefore, is our advancement. We are redeemed at so great a price, we are healed at so great a cost. For what return would there be from ungodliness to justice, from misery to blessedness, unless the Just One stooped to the ungodly and the Blessed One to the miserable?

Cap. III. — Non est ergo nobis, dilectissimi, erubescenda crux Christi, quae de virtute est divini consilii, non de conditione peccati. Quamvis enim ex infirmitate nostra vere passus Dominus Jesus, vereque sit mortuus, non tamen ita se abstinuit a gloria sua, ut inter contumelias passionis nihil divinae operationis exerceret. Nam cum impius Judas, non jam ovina pelle velatus, sed lupino furore manifestus, vim sceleris per speciem pacis incipiens, signum traditionis saeviore omnibus telis osculo praebuisset, et multitudo furibunda quae ad comprehendendum Dominum cum armata militum cohorte confluxerat, inter faces atque laternas, lumen verum tenebris suis obcaecata non cerneret, Dominus, qui exspectare potius turbas quam declinare delegerat, sicut Joannes Evangelista testatur (Joan. XVIII, 4), quem quaerant necdum inventus interroget: illisque dicentibus, quod Jesum quaererent, Ego sum, inquit (Ibid. 5). Quod verbum ita illam manum ex ferocissimis congregatam, quasi quodam fulmineo ictu stravit et perculit, ut omnes illi atroces, minaces atque terribiles, retroacti corruerent. Ubi fuit saevitiae conspiratio? ubi ardor irarum? ubi instructus armorum? Dominum dicit, Ego sum: et ad vocem ejus turba prosternitur impiorum. Quid jam poterit majestas ejus judicatura, cujus hoc potuit humilitas judicanda?

Chap. III. — The cross of Christ, therefore, dearly beloved, is not to be a cause of shame to us, for it comes from the power of the divine counsel, not from the condition of sin. For although the Lord Jesus truly suffered from our weakness and truly died, yet He did not so hold Himself back from His glory as to exercise nothing of divine working amid the insults of the passion. For when the wicked Judas, no longer veiled in sheep's skin but manifest in wolfish fury, beginning the violence of the crime under the appearance of peace, had given the sign of betrayal with a kiss more savage than all weapons, and the raging multitude which had flocked together with an armed cohort of soldiers to seize the Lord, amid torches and lanterns, blinded by its own darkness, did not perceive the true light, the Lord, Who had chosen rather to await the crowds than to avoid them, as John the Evangelist testifies (John 18:4), not yet found, asks whom they seek: and when they said that they were seeking Jesus, I am He, He says (ibid. 5). This word so struck down and smote that band gathered from the fiercest men, as if with a stroke of lightning, that all those savage, threatening and terrible men were driven back and fell. Where was the conspiracy of savagery? where the heat of anger? where the array of arms? The Lord says, I am He: and at His voice the crowd of the ungodly is thrown to the ground. What will His majesty be able to do when it is to judge, Whose humility, when it was to be judged, could do this?

Cap. IV. — Verumtamen Dominus sciens quid magis mysterio suscepto conveniret, in hac potestate non perstitit; non persecutores suos in facultatem dispositi sceleris redire parmisit. Nam si teneri nollet, non utique teneretur. Sed quis hominum posset salvari, si ille se non sineret comprehendi? Nam et beatus Petrus, qui animosiore constautia Domino cohaerebat, et contra violentorum impetus, fervore sanctae charitatis exarserat, in servum principis sacerdotum usus est gladio, et aurem viri ferocius instantis absicidit (Matth. XXVI, 51; Marc. XIV, 47;

Chap. IV. — Nevertheless the Lord, knowing what better befitted the mystery He had undertaken, did not persist in this power; He let His persecutors return to the opportunity of their planned crime. For if He had not wished to be held, He certainly would not have been held. But which of men could be saved, if He did not allow Himself to be seized? For blessed Peter too, who clung to the Lord with a more spirited constancy, and had blazed up against the assault of the violent with the fervour of holy charity, used the sword on the servant of the chief priest, and cut off the ear of the man who was pressing on too fiercely (Matt. 26:51; Mark 14:47; […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 315

Footnotes

(a) ‹tenebamur› · printed under col 315

Sic antiquissimus Vat. Al., constricti, vel astricti.

So the very old Vatican manuscript. Otherwise, constricti or astricti ("bound").

(b) ‹Non est ergo› · printed under col 315

Inseruimus nobis ex eodem Vat. et tribus aliis codd.

We have inserted nobis from the same Vatican manuscript and three other codices.

Hic et in aliquibus aliis locis hujus sermonis quorumdam verborum collocationem ab editis diversam ad probatiorum mss. fidem exegimus.

Here and in some other places of this sermon we have settled the order of certain words, differing from the editions, on the authority of the more approved manuscripts.

(d) ‹quid magis mysterio suscepto conveniret,› · printed under col 315

Ms. Barb., uti hac potestate noluit.

The Barberini manuscript, uti hac potestate noluit ("He was unwilling to use this power").

Page

running head: 315 S. LEONIS MAGNI SERMONES. (spread across cols 315–316: "315 S. LEONIS MAG" over col 315, "AGNI SERMONES. 316" over col 316)
marginal letters: A ‹quod passibili oportebat›; B ‹gloria sua, ut inter contumelias passionis nihil di-›; C ‹illi atroces, minaces atque terribiles›; D ‹sanctae charitatis exarserat, in servum principis sa-›
old-edition numerals: 200 after ‹armata militum›
signature: none
other: notes (e), (f), (g), printed under col 315, belong to calls in col 316 and are set in n316

PL 54:316

Luc. XXII, 50; Joan. XVIII, 10). Sed hunc zelantis apostoli pium motum progredi Dominus ultra non patitur: recondi gladium jubet, nec sinit se adversus impios manu ferroque defendi. Contra sacramentum enim erat redemptionis nostrae, ut qui mori pro omnibus venerat, capi nollet: ne dilato gloriosae Crucis triumpho et dominatio diabolica fieret longior, et captivitas humana diuturnior. Dat ergo in se furentibus licentiam saeviendi, nec tamen etiam talibus dedignatur se indicare Divinitas. Aurem servi jam ipsa sectione demortuam, et a compage viventis corporis alienam, in sedem dehonestati capitis revocat manus Christi. Reformat quod ipse formaverat: nec tarde caro sequitur ejus imperium, cujus erat figmentum.

[…] Luke 22:50; John 18:10). But the Lord does not allow this devout impulse of the zealous apostle to go further: He orders the sword to be put away, and does not permit Himself to be defended against the ungodly by hand and steel. For it was contrary to the sacrament of our redemption that He Who had come to die for all should be unwilling to be taken: lest, the triumph of the glorious Cross being put off, both the dominion of the devil should become longer and the captivity of mankind more lasting. He gives, therefore, to those raging against Him licence to be cruel, and yet the Divinity does not disdain to show itself even to such men. The ear of the servant, already dead from the very cutting and estranged from the framework of the living body, the hand of Christ recalls to its seat on the disfigured head. He re-forms what He Himself had formed: nor is the flesh slow to follow the command of Him Whose handiwork it was.

Cap. V. — Habent ergo divinam haec opera virtutem. Sed quod Dominus majestatis suae potentiam comprimit, et vim in se persecutoris admittit, ex illa est voluntate qua dilexit nos, tradidit semetipsum pro nobis (Ephes. v, 2): cooperante in hoc ipsum Patre, qui Filio proprio non pepercit, sed pro nobis omnibus tradidit illum (Rom, VIII, 32). Una est enim Patris et Filii voluntas, ut est una Divinitas: de cujus dispositionis effectu, nihil vobis gratiae, Judaei, nihil tibi, Juda, debemus. Salvationi quidem nostrae, non hoc vobis volentibus, impietas vestra servivit, et per vos factum est quidquid manus Dei et consilium decreverunt fieri (Act. IV, 28). Mors igitur Christi nos liberat, vos accusat. Merito soli non habetis quod omnibus perire voluistis. Et tamen tanta est nostri bonitas Redemptoris, ut etiam vos possitis consequi veniam, si Christum Dei Filium confitendo, illam parricidalem malitiam relinquatis. Non enim Dominus in cruce frustra oravit, dicens: Pater, dimitte illis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt (Luc. XXIII, 34). Quod remedium nec te, Juda, transiret, si ad eam poenitentiam confugisses quae te revocaret ad Christum, non quae instigaret ad laqueum. Dicendo enim: Peccavi, tradens sanguinem justum (Matth. XXVII, 4), in impietatis tuae perfidia perstitisti: quia Jesum non Deum Dei Filium, sed nostrae tantummodo conditionis hominem inter extrema mortis tuae pericula credidisti; cujus flexisses misericordiam, si ejus non negasses omnipotentiam. Haec hodie, dilectissimi, piis auribus vestris insinuata sufficiant, ne fastidium de prolixitate subrepat. Quae autem desunt plenitudini, quarta feria auxiliante Domino reddenda promittimus: quoniam qui dedit quod locuti sumus, dabit, sicut credimus, quod loquamur: per Dominum

Chap. V. — These works, therefore, have divine power. But that the Lord restrains the might of His majesty and admits against Himself the violence of the persecutor comes from that will by which He loved us and gave Himself up for us (Eph. 5:2): the Father co-operating to this very end, Who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all (Rom. 8:32). For the will of the Father and of the Son is one, as the Divinity is one: for the effect of this disposition we owe no thanks to you, Jews, none to you, Judas. Your ungodliness served our salvation indeed, though you did not will it, and through you was done whatever the hand and counsel of God decreed to be done (Acts 4:28). The death of Christ, therefore, sets us free and accuses you. Rightly do you alone not have what you wished all to lose. And yet so great is the goodness of our Redeemer that even you can obtain pardon, if, by confessing Christ the Son of God, you abandon that parricidal malice. For not in vain did the Lord pray on the cross, saying: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do (Luke 23:34). This remedy would not have passed you by either, Judas, if you had fled for refuge to that penitence which would have called you back to Christ, not that which drove you on to the noose. For in saying: I have sinned in betraying just blood (Matt. 27:4), you persisted in the faithlessness of your ungodliness: because amid the final dangers of your death you believed Jesus to be not God, the Son of God, but only a man of our condition; Whose mercy you would have moved, had you not denied His omnipotence. Let these things, dearly beloved, instilled into your devout ears today, suffice, lest weariness creep in from length. But what is lacking to completeness we promise to render on the fourth weekday, with the Lord's help: since He Who has given what we have spoken will give, as we believe, what we are to speak: through the Lord […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 316

Footnotes

(e) ‹capi nollet:› (call printed like "(c)") · printed under col 315

Prima editio et ms. Vat. collect. 3 et 5: Nam dilato. Mox in alio Vat., glorioso crucis triumpho.

The first edition and the Vatican manuscript of collections 3 and 5: Nam dilato ("for, being put off"). Shortly after, in another Vatican manuscript, glorioso crucis triumpho ("the glorious triumph of the cross").

(f) ‹revocat manus Christi.› · printed under col 315

Prima editio, Reformatur cum ms. Bon.

The first edition, Reformatur ("is re-formed"), with the Bonus manuscript.

(g) ‹cooperante in hoc› · printed under col 315

Editi ante Quesnellum, ipso Patre. Nostri codd. ut in textu, quem cum Quesnello retinuimus.

The editions before Quesnel, ipso Patre ("the Father Himself"). Our codices as in the text, which we have kept with Quesnel.

(h) ‹non quae instigaret› · printed under col 316

Duo mss. Vat., in laqueum. Mox autem pro enim in tribus mss. Vat.

Two Vatican manuscripts, in laqueum ("into the noose"). Shortly after, autem for enim in three Vatican manuscripts.

(i) ‹conditionis hominem› · printed under col 316

Sic ex vetustissimo Vat. Al., inter extremum mortis tuae periculum. Duo Vat. etiam inter extremum mortis tuae periculum.

So from the very old Vatican manuscript. Otherwise, inter extremum mortis tuae periculum ("amid the final danger of your death"). Two Vatican manuscripts also inter extremum mortis tuae periculum.

(j) ‹quod loquamur:› · printed under col 316, continued under col 317

Ita ex eodem antiquissimo Vat. In prima editione: Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. In aliis editis ante Quesnellum: Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Similiter etiam plures mss. qui solum omittunt Filium tuum. Apud Quesn., Per Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum Filium tuum, qui cum Deo et Spiritu sancto, etc. Editio Antuerpiensis an. 1583 idem ac Quesnellus, sed pro Deo habet eo.

So from the same very old Vatican manuscript. In the first edition: Through Christ our Lord. Amen. In the other editions before Quesnel: Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen. Likewise also several manuscripts, which only omit Filium tuum. In Quesnel: Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, Who with God and the Holy Spirit, etc. The Antwerp edition of the year 1583 is the same as Quesnel, but for Deo it has eo.