PL 54 · cols. 385–389

Leo the Great, Sermons

Sermon LXXI

PL 54:385

SERMO LXXI [Al. LXIX].

SERMON 71 [otherwise 69].

De Resurrectione Domini I; habitus sabbato sancto in pervigiliis Paschae.

On the Resurrection of the Lord, 1; delivered on Holy Saturday in the vigil of the Pasch.

Editors' notes and page, col. 385

Editors' prose

matutinarnm horarum partem absumebant. 2° Primus hic sermo ille ipse est quem in superiori promiserat, his verbis: Superest, ut de obtinendo resurrectionis consortio disseramus: quod ne, continuato sermone, et mihi et vobis fiat onerosum, in diem sabbati promissa differemus. Sabbato igitur sancto habitus est. Jam enim quadraginta dierum observantia effluxerat, ut ex primo capite manifestum est, et superiori proxime successisse ex ipso exordio edocemur. 3° Ex utriusque sermonis serie patet vix a pontifice resurrectionis mysterium summis labiis delibari, sed totum fere esse in explicanda participatione crucis ac mortis Christi: ut quidquid de resurrectione habet in antecessum dictum esse appareat, et propter festivitatis vicinitatem. 4° Perspicuum est ex sermone 2 eo ipso die quo habitus est lectam fuisse in Ecclesia totam Dominicae passionis et resurrectionis historiam ex evangelicis commentariis: quae lectio optime congruit sabbato sancto, quod inter mysterium utrumque velut medium, ad utrumque pertinet. Vix autem solemnitas resurrectionis, prolixaeque hujus diei caeremoniae hujusmodi lectionem admittere potuissent, multoque minus, ut solemnitati sacratissimae lectionis, ut ait S. Leo, subjungeretur adhortatio sacerdotis. 5° Revera Hincmarus Remensis lib. de Praedestinatione cap. 33 edit. Sirmondi, pag. 280, aliqua ex cap. 4 prioris referens, citat hoc modo: Item in homilia sabbati sancti. Et apud Florum Lugdunensem, iidem duo sermones, quos postmodum 1 et 2 de Resurrectione inscriptos habuimus, sunt 10 et 11 de Passione Domini. Sic ille in Commentariis quos in omnes S. Pauli Epistolas concinnavit et contexuit ex sanctorum Patrum scriptis excerptis, Augustino dempto, quem proprio volumine excerptum dedit quod illud opus libris duodecim constans R. P. Domno Luae Acherio religiosae memoriae mihique charissimae viro dono olim dederat Petrus Franciscus Chiffletius ex codice ms. Carthusiae Majoris acceptum, et aliquando in lucem edendum. 6° Ex Sozomeni Historiae lib. VII, cap. 19, docemur in Romana Ecclesia neque episcopum neque alium die prima paschalis solemnitatis sermonem ad populum habuisse. Cujus loci sensum genuinum nondum mihi perspectum, cum primae editioni allaborabam, ad autoris, ni fallor, mentem a me explicatum habet lector in prima dissertatione, cap. 12. Quamquam vero haec ita se habent, nihil tamen in titulis vel numeris sermonum immutandum putavimus: ne quid inde molestiae crearetur lectoribus priori numero assuefactis. Hactenus Paschasius Quesnellus, qui etsi quoad thesim quam statuit optime senserit, quaedam tamen vel corrigenda vel adjicienda sunt.

[…] took up [a great] part of the morning hours. Secondly, this first sermon is that very one which he had promised in the preceding one in these words: It remains that we should discourse on obtaining fellowship in the resurrection: lest this, by a continuous sermon, become burdensome both to me and to you, we shall defer what we have promised to the day of the sabbath. It was therefore delivered on Holy Saturday. For the observance of the forty days had already run out, as is manifest from the first chapter, and we are taught from the very opening that it followed immediately on the preceding one. Thirdly, from the course of both sermons it is plain that the mystery of the resurrection is scarcely touched by the pontiff with the tips of his lips, but that almost the whole is in explaining participation in the cross and death of Christ: so that whatever it has on the resurrection appears to have been said in anticipation, and on account of the nearness of the feast. Fourthly, it is clear from sermon 2 that on the very day on which it was delivered the whole history of the Lord's passion and resurrection was read in the church from the Gospel records: which reading fits Holy Saturday best, since it stands as it were in the middle between the two mysteries and pertains to both. But the solemnity of the resurrection and the lengthy ceremonies of that day could scarcely have admitted a reading of this kind, and much less that the exhortation of the priest should be joined, as St Leo says, to the solemnity of the most sacred reading. Fifthly, in fact Hincmar of Reims, in the book On Predestination, chap. 33, Sirmond's edition, p. 280, reporting some things from chap. 4 of the former [sermon], cites it thus: Likewise in the homily of Holy Saturday. And in Florus of Lyons the same two sermons, which we afterwards had entitled 1 and 2 On the Resurrection, are 10 and 11 On the Passion of the Lord. So he [has them] in the Commentaries on all the Epistles of St Paul which he compiled and wove together from excerpts of the writings of the holy Fathers, Augustine excepted, whom he gave excerpted in a volume of his own; which work, consisting of twelve books, Pierre-François Chifflet had once given as a gift to the Reverend Father Dom Luc d'Achery, of religious memory and a man most dear to me, having received it from a manuscript of the Grande Chartreuse, and it is one day to be brought to light. Sixthly, from Sozomen's History, book 7, chap. 19, we are taught that in the Roman Church neither the bishop nor anyone else delivered a sermon to the people on the first day of the paschal solemnity. The genuine sense of this passage, which I had not yet perceived when I was labouring on the first edition, the reader has explained by me, if I am not mistaken, according to the author's mind, in the first dissertation, chap. 12. But although these things are so, we have thought that nothing should be changed in the titles or numbers of the sermons, lest any annoyance should arise from it for readers accustomed to the former numbering. Thus far Paschasius Quesnel, who, although he judged very well as to the thesis he laid down, yet certain things are to be either corrected or added.

SYNOPSIS. — I. Curandum esse ne jejunii fructus evacuetur, ut qui mortui sunt cum Christo, etiam cum ipso resurgant. — II. Sepulturae dies propter discipulos esse abbreviatos. — III. Multis suam resurrectionem Christum

SYNOPSIS. — I. That care must be taken lest the fruit of the fast be made void, so that those who have died with Christ may also rise with Him. — II. That the days of the burial were shortened on account of the disciples. — III. That Christ [proved] His resurrection by many […]

Page

running head: 385 SERMO LXXI 386 (printed across the full-width page)
marginal letters: A ‹tum probasse argumentis› (beside the synopsis, between the columns at the foot of the page); no other letters visible on this full-width page
old-edition numerals: 281 before ‹SERMO LXXI›
signature: none
other: cols 385–386 (PDF page 198) are printed in full-width lines of small type from the head of the page down to "dictum tradidit.": the continuation of the editors' Admonitio in duo sequentes sermones (begun at the foot of cols 383–384). Its upper part, from "matutinarnm" to "adjicienda sunt." (the end of § 1), is set here; §§ 2–5 are set in n386. Below it, in two columns, the caption of Sermo LXXI (set in c385_a) and the synopsis (its first part, through "Christum", set above under Editors' prose; the rest in n386).

PL 54:386

CAP. I. — Sermone proximo, dilectissimi, non incongrue vobis, quantum arbitror, participationem

CHAP. I. — In the last sermon, dearly beloved, not unfittingly, as far as I judge, […] to you participation […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 386

Editors' prose

2. Si is vidisset aut observasset primam editionem Sermonum S. Leonis, aut caeteras ex ea subinde recusas, haudquaquam scripsisset initio moniti, hos duos sermones in omnibus editis codicibus inscribi de Resurrectione Domini. Nam in tabula illis editionibus praemissa, quae Sermonum titulos prodit, prior sermo, perinde ac octo praecedentes, hoc titulo donatur: De Passione et Resurrectione Domini sermo XX, et secundus de Resurrectione Domini quidem inscribitur, at eadem numerorum serie cum illis de Passione comprehenditur, et appellatur sermo XXI. Porro utrique hi sermones in Lectionariis basilicae S. Petri non solum recensentur sub titulo de Passione Domini, verum etiam intermixti deprehenduntur inter caeteros ejusdem tituli, non autem subjiciuntur in fine; ut dubium esse nequeat ne forte titulus de Resurrectione negligentia amanuensium fuerit omissus. In mss. etiam collectionis 2 eodem modo inter sermones de Passione confusi leguntur; idemque alio licet ordine accidit in ms. Casinensi collect. 1, nec non in duobus Lectionariis mss. Veneto 153, et Vallicell. H, in quorum primo primus tantum sermo, in altero autem secundus caeteris de Passione sermonibus inserti leguntur. In mss. collectionis 5, quae alium ordinem praefert, utrique hi sermones sub titulo de Passione Domini similiter describuntur. Exemplar autem quo usus fuit Florus Lugdunensis, quodque sermonem primum et secundum apud nos de Resurrectione allegat tanquam 10 et 11 de Passione Domini, simile erat Lectionariis basilicae S. Petri, in quibus illi inter sermones de Passione iisdem numeris censentur.

2. Had he seen or examined the first edition of the Sermons of St Leo, or the others reprinted from it thereafter, he would by no means have written at the beginning of his notice that these two sermons are entitled On the Resurrection of the Lord in all the printed editions and manuscripts. For in the table prefixed to those editions, which gives the titles of the Sermons, the former sermon, just like the eight preceding, is given this title: On the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord, sermon 20; and the second is indeed entitled On the Resurrection of the Lord, but is included in the same series of numbers with those on the Passion, and is called sermon 21. Moreover, in the Lectionaries of the basilica of St Peter both these sermons are not only listed under the title On the Passion of the Lord, but are also found mixed in among the others of the same title, and are not placed at the end; so that there can be no doubt whether perhaps the title On the Resurrection was omitted through the negligence of copyists. In the manuscripts of collection 2 too they are read in the same way mingled among the sermons on the Passion; and the same happens, though in another order, in the Monte Cassino manuscript of collection 1, and also in two manuscript Lectionaries, Venice 153 and Vallicelliana H, in the first of which only the first sermon, and in the other the second, are read inserted among the other sermons on the Passion. In the manuscripts of collection 5, which presents another order, both these sermons are likewise copied under the title On the Passion of the Lord. And the copy which Florus of Lyons used, and which cites the first and second sermons On the Resurrection in our numbering as 10 and 11 On the Passion of the Lord, was like the Lectionaries of the basilica of St Peter, in which they are counted among the sermons on the Passion with the same numbers.

3. Hos sermones habitos fuisse sabbato sancto ex documentis a Quesnello propositis num. 2 et 5 nihil dubitamus. Quod si Hincmarus Remensis in lib. de Praedest., c. 33, sermonem primum, quem S. pontifex in superiori sermone c. 6 habendum rejecerat in diem sabbati, citavit hoc modo: Item in homilia sabbati sancti; secundus pariter sermo in Lectionario ms. Vat. 4951 non absimiliter inscribitur: Sermo B. Leonis papae in sancto sabbato; idemque titulus in alio vetustissimo codice deprehensus memoratur a scriptore codi⟨c⟩is Barberini 3520. Habitos vero in pervigiliis Paschae, cum passionis Dominicae commemorationem resurrectionis officium excipit, nihil ambigendum est; hinc enim de utroque mysterio fit in iisdem sermonibns mentio.

3. That these sermons were delivered on Holy Saturday we do not doubt at all, from the proofs put forward by Quesnel under nos. 2 and 5. And if Hincmar of Reims, in the book On Predestination, c. 33, cited the first sermon, which the holy pontiff in the preceding sermon, c. 6, had put off to be delivered on the day of the sabbath, thus: Likewise in the homily of Holy Saturday; the second sermon likewise is entitled not dissimilarly in the manuscript Lectionary Vatican 4951: Sermon of blessed Leo the pope on Holy Saturday; and the same title is recorded as found in another very ancient manuscript by the writer of the Barberini manuscript 3520. But that they were delivered in the vigil of the Pasch, when the office of the resurrection follows the commemoration of the Lord's passion, is not to be doubted at all; for hence mention is made of both mysteries in the same sermons.

3. Historiam passionis et resurrectionis Domini hoc sabbato lectam fuisse in Ecclesia Quesnellus affirmat n. 4. Id autem collegit ex serm. 2 de Resurrect., qui sabbato sancto habitus, c. 1, tradit, divinitus inspiratae textum historiae evidenter ostendisse, qua Dominus Jesus Christus impietate traditus, quo judicio addictus, qua saevitia crucifixus, et qua sit gloria suscitatus. Haec autem tum passionis tum resurrectionis historiam ex Evangelio lectam indicant quidem; sed non ita aperte utriusque mysterii lectionem ipsi diei sabbati tribuunt, ut de lectione passionis pridie, seu in Parasceve facta, et de lectione resurrectionis sabbato sancto nocte in vigiliis Paschae subsecuta intelligi nequeant. Forte vero Quesnellus ista laudati capitis verba, quae mox subjiciuntur, Solemnitati sanctissimae lectionis subsequatur exhortationis officium, non tam resurrectionis quam passionis lectionem eodem sabbati die sermoni praemissam significare credidit; quod tamen non omnino exploratum est. Nulli quidem antiqui ordines, nulla capitula, Evangeliorum hanc ejus diei lectionem indigitant. Sed cum haec posteriora sint, fieri potuit ut Leonis tempore hic ritus vigeret, sicuti vigebat apud Graecos saltem in Ecclesia Antiochena, ut liquet ex homil. 87 in Matth. a S. Joanne Chrysostomo Antiochiae habita, ubi in magna Paschatis vespera passionis historiam publice lectam affirmat. Hinc Quesnelli ratio num. 4. proposita minus est efficax.

3 [so printed; for 4]. Quesnel asserts, no. 4, that the history of the Lord's passion and resurrection was read in the church on this sabbath. He gathered this from sermon 2 On the Resurrection, delivered on Holy Saturday, which says in c. 1 that the text of the divinely inspired history has shown clearly by what impiety the Lord Jesus Christ was betrayed, by what judgement He was sentenced, with what cruelty He was crucified, and with what glory He was raised. These words indeed indicate that the history both of the passion and of the resurrection was read from the Gospel; but they do not so plainly assign the reading of both mysteries to the very day of the sabbath that they could not be understood of a reading of the passion made on the day before, that is on the Parasceve, and of a reading of the resurrection following on Holy Saturday at night in the vigil of the Pasch. Perhaps Quesnel believed that these words of the cited chapter, which are added shortly after, Let the office of exhortation follow the solemnity of the most holy reading, signify a reading not so much of the resurrection as of the passion placed before the sermon on the same sabbath day; which, however, is not altogether certain. No ancient ordines indeed, no capitularies of the Gospels, point to this reading for that day. But since these are later, it could have happened that in Leo's time this rite was in force, as it was in force among the Greeks, at least in the Church of Antioch, as is clear from homily 87 on Matthew delivered at Antioch by St John Chrysostom, where he asserts that the history of the passion was read publicly on the great evening of the Pasch. Hence Quesnel's argument set out under no. 4 is less effective.

5. Item prima ratio quod occupatissimus esset paschalis dies, nequaquam convincit. Sicut emim probare nequit pro excludendis a die paschali sermonibus SS. Augustini, Petri Chrysologi, Gregorii Magni et aliorum episcoporum, quos habitos in Paschate certissimum est, ita nec valet pro extrudendis ab eo die Leonis Sermonibus. Sozomeni vero testimonium a Quesnello allatum num. 6 multo minus cogit, ut patebit ex iis quae de ipso Sozomeni sensu annotabimus in dissertationem 1 Quesnelli, cap. 12. Sola documenta num. 2 et 5 a Quesnello allata pro astruendo sabbato sancto satis efficacia approbavimus et confirmavimus, ita tamen ut non ipso die sabbati sed nocte ejusdem diei, cum in pervigiliis Paschatis resurrectionis officium inciperet, sequentes sermones recitatos liqueat; unde tertia quoque Quesnelli ratio eliditur qua de Resurrectione in antecessum dictum tradidit.

5. Likewise the first argument, that the paschal day was very fully occupied, is by no means convincing. For just as it cannot prove the exclusion from the paschal day of the sermons of Saints Augustine, Peter Chrysologus, Gregory the Great and other bishops, which it is most certain were delivered at Easter, so neither does it avail for thrusting Leo's Sermons out of that day. And the testimony of Sozomen brought forward by Quesnel under no. 6 compels much less, as will be evident from what we shall note on Sozomen's meaning itself on Quesnel's first dissertation, chap. 12. Only the proofs brought by Quesnel under nos. 2 and 5 for establishing Holy Saturday have we approved and confirmed as sufficiently effective, yet so that it is clear the following sermons were recited not on the very day of the sabbath but in the night of that same day, when the office of the resurrection began in the vigil of the Pasch; whence Quesnel's third argument too is struck down, by which he held that [what is said] on the Resurrection was said in anticipation.

probasse argumentis. — IV. Quae commutatio in carne Christi per resurrectionem facta fuerit. — V. Christianum, spretis terrenis, coelestibus mente inhaerere debere. — VI. Cavendum ne ad peccati voluptatem quis redeat post festum paschale.

[…] proved by arguments [i.e. That Christ proved His resurrection by many arguments]. — IV. What change was made in the flesh of Christ through the resurrection. — V. That the Christian, having spurned earthly things, ought to cleave in mind to heavenly things. — VI. That care must be taken lest anyone return to the pleasure of sin after the paschal feast.

Page

running head: 385 SERMO LXXI 386 (printed across the full-width page)
marginal letters: A ‹tum probasse argumentis› (in the gutter beside the head of this column's synopsis lines)
old-edition numerals: none in this column
signature: none
other: the full-width Admonitio lines of PDF page 198 from "2. Si is vidisset" to "dictum tradidit." are set here (the upper part is in n385). The paragraph numbered "3." a second time is so printed (for 4). "codi✱is" has a damaged letter, supplied as codi⟨c⟩is. Below, in col 386: the rest of the Sermo LXXI synopsis, then the opening of CAP. I. (set in c386_a).

PL 54:387

crucis Christi insinuavimus, ut paschale sacramentum ipsa in se habet vita credentium, et quod festo honoratur moribus celebretur. Quam autem hoc utile sit ipsi probastis, et ex vestra devotione didicistis quantum prosint animis atque corporibus prolixiora jejunia, frequentiores preces et eleemosynae largiores. Nemo enim fere est qui non hac exercitatione profecerit, et in abdito conscientiae suae aliquid quo recte possit gaudere condiderit. Sed haec lucra perseveranti sunt servanda custodia, ne in desidiam, resoluto labore, quod donavit Dei gratia, diaboli furetur invidia. Cum igitur quadraginta dierum observantia hoc voluerimus operari, ut aliquid sentiremus crucis in tempore Dominicae passionis adnitendum nobis est ut etiam resurrectionis Christi inveniamur esse consortes, et de morte ad vitam, dum in isto sumus corpore, transeamus.

[…] in the cross of Christ we commended, so that the very life of believers has the paschal mystery in itself, and that what is honoured by the feast should be celebrated in conduct. How useful this is you have proved yourselves, and have learnt from your own devotion how much longer fasts, more frequent prayers and more generous alms profit souls and bodies. For there is scarcely anyone who has not advanced by this exercise and laid up in the hidden place of his conscience something in which he may rightly rejoice. But these gains are to be kept with persevering watchfulness, lest, the labour being relaxed into sloth, the envy of the devil should steal what the grace of God has given. Since, then, by the observance of the forty days we have willed to bring this about, that we should feel something of the cross in the time of the Lord's passion, we must strive that we may be found to be sharers also in the resurrection of Christ, and may pass from death to life while we are in this body.

Unicuique enim homini, qui ex alio in aliud aliqua conversione mutatur, finis est non esse quod fuit, et ortus, esse quod non fuit. Sed interest cui quis aut moriatur aut vivat: quia est mors quae causa est vivendi, et est viva quae causa est moriendi. Nec alibi quam in hoc transitorio saeculo utrumque conquiritur; et ex qualitate temporalium actionum differentiae retributionum pendent aeternarum. Moriendum ergo est diabolo et vivendum Deo; deficiendum iniquitati, ut justitiae resurgatur. Occumbant vetera, ut oriantur nova. Et quoniam, sicut ait Veritas, nemo potest duobus dominis servire (Matth. VI, 24; Luc. XVI, 13), Dominus sit non ille qui stantes impulit in ruinam, sed ille qui dejectos erexit in gloriam.

For for every man who is changed by some conversion from one thing into another, the end is not to be what he was, and the beginning is to be what he was not. But it matters to whom one either dies or lives: for there is a death which is the cause of living, and there is a life which is the cause of dying. Nor is either of them acquired anywhere but in this passing world; and on the quality of temporal actions depend the differences of eternal retributions. We must therefore die to the devil and live to God; fail to iniquity, that we may rise again to righteousness. Let the old things fall, that the new may arise. And since, as the Truth says, no one can serve two masters (Matt. 6:24; Luke 16:13), let him be Lord not who drove those standing into ruin, but He Who raised the fallen to glory.

CAP. II. — Dicente ergo Apostolo: Primus homo de terra terrenus, secundus homo de coelo coelestis. Qualis terrenus, tales et terreni; et qualis coelestis, tales et coelestes. Sicut portavimus imaginem terreni, portemus et imaginem ejus qui est de coelo (I Cor. XV, 47-49); multum nobis de hac commutatione gaudendum est, qua de ignobilitate terrena od coelestem transferimur dignitatem per illius ineffabilem misericordiam qui ut nos in sua proveheret, in nostra descendit; ut non solum substantiam, sed etiam conditionem naturae peccatricis assumeret, et ea sibi pateretur inferri divina impassibilitas, quae miserrime experitur humana mortalitas. Unde, ne turbatos discipulorum animos longa moestitudo cruciaret, denuntiatam tridui moram tam mira celeritate breviavit, ut dum ad integrum secundum diem pars primi novissima et pars tertii prima concurrit, et aliquantum temporis spatio decideret, et nihil dierum numero deperiret. Resurrectio igitur Salvatoris nec animam in inferno nec carnem diu morata est in sepulcro; et tam velox incorruptae carnis vivificatio fuit, ut major ibi esset soporis similitudo quam

CHAP. II. — Since, then, the Apostle says: The first man, of the earth, earthly; the second man, from heaven, heavenly. As is the earthly, such also are the earthly; and as is the heavenly, such also are the heavenly. As we have borne the image of the earthly, let us bear also the image of Him Who is from heaven (1 Cor. 15:47–49); we must greatly rejoice in this exchange, by which we are carried over from earthly ignobility to heavenly dignity through the ineffable mercy of Him Who, to raise us into what is His, came down into what is ours; so that He took on not only the substance but also the condition of sinful nature, and the divine impassibility suffered those things to be inflicted on itself which human mortality most wretchedly experiences. Hence, lest long sorrow should torment the troubled minds of the disciples, He shortened the announced delay of three days with such wonderful speed that, while the last part of the first day and the first part of the third concur with the whole second day, something was cut off from the space of time and nothing was lost from the number of days. The resurrection of the Saviour, therefore, did not long detain either His soul in the underworld or His flesh in the tomb; and the quickening of the incorrupt flesh was so swift that there was more the likeness of sleep there than […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 387

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: moribus celebretur.› · printed under col 387

Prima editio, quantum autem. Post pauca eadem editio cum duobus Vatt. mss., ex vestra probatione didicistis.

The first edition [reads] "quantum autem". A little after, the same edition, with two Vatican manuscripts, [reads] "ex vestra probatione didicistis".

(b) ‹anchor: utrumque conquiritur;› · printed under col 387

Haec lectio duorum codd. S. Petri melior quam vulgatorum et aliorum mss., ut ex qualitate... pendeant.

This reading of two manuscripts of St Peter's is better than that of the printed editions and other manuscripts, "ut ex qualitate... pendeant".

Cod. Bon. et prima editio, quia.

The Bologna manuscript and the first edition [read] "quia".

(d) ‹anchor: aliquantum temporis› · printed under col 388

Duo codd. S. Petri, spatium.

Two manuscripts of St Peter's [read] "spatium".

(e) ‹anchor: carnem diu› · printed under col 388

Editio Coloniensis an. 1547, in margine, morari passa est.

The Cologne edition of the year 1547, in the margin, [reads] "morari passa est" [allowed to stay].

Page

running head: 387 S. LEONIS MAGNI (continuing across the page)
marginal letters: A ‹crucis Christi insinuavimus›; B ‹inveniamur esse consortes›; C ‹CAP. II. — Dicente ergo›; D ‹viavit, ut dum ad integrum›
old-edition numerals: 282 after ‹hoc transitorio›
signature: none
other: "voluerinus" (worn m) set as voluerimus

PL 54:388

mortis: quoniam Deitas quae ab utraque suscepti hominis substantia non recessit, quod potestate divisit, potestate conjunxit.

[…] of death: since the Godhead, which did not withdraw from either substance of the man He had taken up, joined by power what it had divided by power.

CAP. III. — Subsecuta sunt itaque multa documenta quibus praedicandae per universum mundum fidei auctoritas conderetur. Et licet revolutio lapidis, evacuatio monumenti, depositio linteorum, et totius facti angeli narratores copiose veritatem Dominicae resurrectionis astruerent; et mulierum tamen visui, et apostolorum frequenter oculis manifestus apparuit (Act, I. 3): non solum loquens cum eis, sed etiam habitans atque convescens, et pertractari se diligenti curiosoque contactu ab eis quos dubitatio perstringebat, admittens. Ideo enim et clausis ad discipulos ostiis introibat (Joan. XX, 19), et flatû suo dabat Spiritum sanctum, et dato intelligentiae lumine, sanctarum Scripturarum occulta pandebat (Luc. XXIV, 27), et rursus idem vulnus lateris, fixuras clavorum, et omnia recentissimae passionis signa monstrabat (Joan. XX, 27), ut agnosceretur in eo proprietas divinae humanaeque naturae individua permanere, et ita sciremus Verbum non hoc esse quod carnem, ut unum Dei Filium et Verbum confiteremur et carnem.

CHAP. III. — Many proofs therefore followed, by which the authority of the faith to be preached throughout the whole world might be founded. And although the rolling away of the stone, the emptying of the tomb, the laying aside of the linen cloths, and the angels who told of the whole event abundantly established the truth of the Lord's resurrection; yet He also appeared manifestly to the sight of the women and frequently to the eyes of the apostles (Acts 1:3): not only speaking with them, but also dwelling and eating with them, and allowing Himself to be handled with careful and curious touch by those whom doubt was pinching. For this reason He both came in to the disciples when the doors were shut (John 20:19), and by His breath gave the Holy Spirit, and, having given the light of understanding, opened the hidden things of the holy Scriptures (Luke 24:27), and again showed the same wound of the side, the prints of the nails, and all the signs of the most recent passion (John 20:27), so that it might be recognized that the proper character of the divine and the human nature remained undivided in Him, and that we might so know the Word not to be that which the flesh is, as to confess the one Son of God to be both Word and flesh.

CAP. IV. — Non dissonat, dilectissimi, ab hac fide magister gentium apostolus Paulus, cum dicit: Etsi cognovimus secundum carnem Christum, sed nunc jam non novimus (II Cor. V, 16). Resurrectio enim Domini non finis carnis, sed commutatio fuit, nec virtutis augmento consumpta substantia est. Qualitas transiit, non natura defecit; et factum est corpus impassibile, quod potuit crucifigi; factum est immortale, quod potuit occidi; factum est incorruptibile, quod potuit vulnerari. Et merito dicitur caro Christi in eo statu quo fuerat nota, nesciri: quia nihil in ea passibile, nihil remansit infirmum, ut et ipsa sit per essentiam, et non sit ipsa per gloriam. Quid autem mirum, si hoc de corpore Christi profitetur, qui de omnibus Christianis spiritalibus dicit: Itaque nos ex hoc neminem novimus secundum carnem (II Cor. V, 16)? Ex hoc, inquit, initium nobis factum est resurrectionis in Christo, ex quo in eo qui pro omnibus mortuus est, totius spei nostrae forma praecessit. Non haesitamus diffidentia, nec incerta exspectatione suspendimur, sed accepto promissionis exordio, fidei oculis quae sunt futura, jam cernimus; et naturae provectione gaudentes, quod credimus jam tenemus.

CHAP. IV. — The teacher of the nations, the apostle Paul, dearly beloved, does not disagree with this faith when he says: Even if we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him so no longer (2 Cor. 5:16). For the resurrection of the Lord was not the end of the flesh but its change, nor was the substance consumed by the increase of power. The quality passed over; the nature did not fail; and the body that could be crucified was made impassible; that which could be killed was made immortal; that which could be wounded was made incorruptible. And rightly is the flesh of Christ said to be unknown in the state in which it had been known: because nothing passible, nothing weak remained in it, so that it is itself by essence and is not itself by glory. But what wonder if he professes this of the body of Christ, who says of all spiritual Christians: So from now on we know no one according to the flesh (2 Cor. 5:16)? From this, he says, the beginning of the resurrection was made for us in Christ, from the time when, in Him Who died for all, the pattern of our whole hope went before. We do not waver in distrust, nor are we held in suspense by an uncertain expectation, but, having received the beginning of the promise, we already discern with the eyes of faith the things that are to come; and, rejoicing in the advancement of our nature, we already hold what we believe.

CAP. V. — Non ergo nos rerum temporalium occupent species, nec ad se contemplationem nostram a coelestibus terrena deflectant. Pro transactis habeantur quae ex maxima parte jam non sunt; et mens in⟨t⟩enta mansuris, ibi desiderium suum figat, ubi

CHAP. V. — Let not, then, the appearances of temporal things take hold of us, nor let earthly things bend our contemplation away from heavenly things to themselves. Let those things be held as past which for the most part already are not; and let the mind, intent on the things that will abide, fix its desire there where […]

Editors' notes and page, col. 388

Footnotes

(d), (e) calls in col 387, printed under col 388, set in n387

(f) ‹anchor: cum eis, sed› · printed under col 388

Particulam etiam ex omnibus nostris mss. supplevimus.

We have supplied the particle "etiam" from all our manuscripts.

(g) ‹anchor: de corpore Christi profitetur,› · printed under col 388

Al., quod; et mox, pro dicit, alias dicitur. QUESNELLUS in margine.

Another [reading], "quod"; and shortly after, for "dicit", another [reading] "dicitur". QUESNEL in the margin.

Page

running head: GNI SERMONES. 388 (the page head reads S. LEONIS MAGNI SERMONES. across cols 387–388)
marginal letters: A ‹mortis: quoniam Deitas›; B ‹bat Spiritum sanctum›; C ‹passibile, quod potuit›; D ‹et naturae provectione›
old-edition numerals: 283 before ‹ostiis introibat›
signature: none
other: "in⟨t⟩enta" has a gap in the type. The column ends with the whole word "ubi".

PL 54:389

quod offertur aeternum est. Quamvis enim spe salvi facti simus, et corruptibilem adhuc carnem mortalemque gestemus, recte tamen dicimur in carne non esse, si carnales nobis non dominentur affectus; et merito ejus rei deponimus nuncupationem, cujus non sequimur voluntatem. Cum itaque Apostolus dicat: Carnis curam ne feceritis in desideriis (Rom. XIII, 14), non ea nobis interdicta intelligimus quae saluti congruunt et quae humana poscit infirmitas. Sed quia non omnibus desideriis serviendum, nec quidquid caro concupiscit implendum est, de adhibendo temperantiae modo admonitos nos esse cognoscimus, ut carni, quae sub animi est constituta judicio, nec superflua concedamus, nec necessaria denegemus. Unde idem Apostolus alibi ait: Nemo enim umquam carnem suam odio habuit, sed nutrit et fovet eam (Ephes. V, 29): cum utique non ad vitia, non ad luxuriam, sed ad debitum sit alenda et fovenda famulatum: ut teneat ordinem suum renovata natura, nec perverse ac turpiter superioribus inferiora praevaleant, aut inferioribus superiora succumbant, et vitiis animum superantibus, ibi fiat servitus ubi debet esse dominatus.

[…] what is offered is eternal. For although we have been saved in hope, and still bear a corruptible and mortal flesh, yet we are rightly said not to be in the flesh if carnal affections do not rule us; and we deservedly lay aside the name of that thing whose will we do not follow. So when the Apostle says: Make no provision for the flesh in its desires (Rom. 13:14), we understand that those things are not forbidden us which befit health and which human weakness demands. But since not every desire is to be served, nor is whatever the flesh covets to be fulfilled, we recognize that we have been admonished to apply the measure of temperance, so that to the flesh, which has been placed under the judgement of the mind, we neither grant what is superfluous nor deny what is necessary. Hence the same Apostle says elsewhere: For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it (Eph. 5:29): since indeed it is to be nourished and cherished not for vices, not for luxury, but for due service, so that renewed nature may keep its proper order, and the lower things may not perversely and shamefully prevail over the higher, nor the higher succumb to the lower, and, with vices overcoming the mind, servitude arise where there ought to be mastery.

CAP. VI. — Agnoscat igitur populus Dei novam se esse in Christo creaturam, et a quo suscepta sit quemve susceperit vigilanter intelligat. Quae nova facta sunt, non redeant ad instabilem vetustatem; et non omittat opus suum, qui manum misit ad aratrum (Luc. IX, 62); sed ad hoc attendat quod serit, non ad id respiciat quod reliquit. Nemo in id recidat unde surrexit, sed etiamsi pro infirmitate corporea in aliquibus adhuc languoribus jacet, sanari instanter desideret ac levari. Haec est enim salutis via, et coeptae in Christo resurrectionis imitatio: ut quia in lubrico istius vitae diversi casus lapsusque non desunt, vestigia gradientium a fluidis ad solida transferantur: quoniam, sicut scriptum est, a Domino gressus hominis diriguntur et viam ejus volet. Cum ceciderit justus, non collidetur, quia Dominus supponet manum suam (Ps. XXXVI, 23, 24). Haec meditatio, dilectissimi, non pro sola solemnitate paschali, sed pro totius vitae sanctificatione retinenda est, et ad hoc praesens exercitatio debet intendi, ut quae animum fidelium experimento brevis observantiae delectarunt, in consuetudinem transeant, intemerata permaneant, ac si aliquid delicti irrepserit, celeri poenitudine deleatur. Et quia antiquorum morborum difficilis et tarda curatio est, tanto velocius adhibeantur remedia, quanto recentiora sunt vulnera: ut semper ab omnibus offensionibus in integrum resurgentes, ad illam incorruptibilem glorificandae carnis resurrectionem pervenire mereamur in Christo Jesu Domino nostro, qui vivit et regnat

CHAP. VI. — Let the people of God therefore acknowledge that they are a new creature in Christ, and let them watchfully understand by Whom they have been taken up and Whom they have taken up. Let the things that have been made new not go back to unstable oldness; and let him who has put his hand to the plough not leave off his work (Luke 9:62), but attend to what he sows, not look back at what he has left behind. Let no one fall back into that from which he has risen; but even if through bodily weakness he still lies in some ailments, let him earnestly desire to be healed and raised up. For this is the way of salvation and the imitation of the resurrection begun in Christ: that, since on the slippery ground of this life various falls and slips are not lacking, the footsteps of those who walk may be transferred from what is fluid to what is solid; for, as it is written, the steps of a man are directed by the Lord, and he will desire His way. When the just man falls, he will not be dashed, because the Lord will put His hand under him (Ps. 36:23, 24). This meditation, dearly beloved, is to be kept not for the paschal solemnity alone but for the sanctification of the whole of life, and the present exercise ought to be aimed at this: that the things which have delighted the souls of the faithful through the experience of a brief observance may pass into habit and remain undefiled, and, if any fault has crept in, that it may be wiped out by swift penitence. And since the cure of old diseases is difficult and slow, let remedies be applied the more quickly the fresher the wounds are: so that, always rising again whole from all offences, we may deserve to attain to that incorruptible resurrection of the flesh that is to be glorified, in Christ Jesus our Lord, Who lives and reigns

Editors' notes and page, col. 389

Footnotes

(a) ‹nobis interdicta› · printed under col 389

Prima editione, intelligamus.

In the first edition, intelligamus [let us understand].

(b) ‹a Domino gressus hominis› · printed under col 389

Duo mss. Vatt. collect. 4 et 5, dirigentur.

Two Vatican manuscripts of collections 4 and 5: dirigentur [will be directed].

Duo codd. S. Petri et Quesnellus in margine, pertinere.

Two codices of St Peter's, and Quesnel in the margin: pertinere [to reach / to belong].