Even Years: Pope Saint Leo the Great, Sermon
| Salvator noster, dilectissimi, hodie natus est, gaudeamus. Neque enim locum fas est ibi esse tristitiae, ubi natalis est vitae; quae, consumpto mortalitatis timore, nobis ingerit de promissa aeternitate laetitiam.
| Rejoice, dearly beloved, for today our Saviour is born! There can be no place for sadness on the birthday of life itself. For this day has swallowed up all fear of death, and in its promise of eternity has replaced fear with joy.
| | Nemo ab huius alacritatis participatione secernitur, una cunctis laetitiae communis est ratio: quia Dominus noster, peccati mortisque destructor, sicut nullum a reatu liberum repperit, ita liberandis omnibus venit. Exsultet sanctus, quia propinquat ad palmam. Gaudeat peccator, quia invitatur ad veniam. Animetur gentilis, quia vocatur ad vitam.
| No one at all is excluded from today's festive celebration, for there is a single great cause of joy which applies to everyone alike. For our Lord is the destroyer of sin and death; and since he found no one at all free from guilt, so he came in order to set all alike free. Let the Saint then be filled with joy, for he is hastening to receive his palm. Let the sinner rejoice, for he is invited to receive pardon. Let the gentile be filled with eager hope, for he is called to life.
| | Dei namque Filius secundum plenitudinem temporis, quam divini consilii inscrutabilis altitudo disposuit, reconciliandam auctori suo naturam generis assumpsit humani, ut inventor mortis diabolus, per ipsam qua vicerat, vinceretur.
| According to the inscrutable disposition of Divine Providence, so far beyond our capacity to fathom, when the fullness of time had come, the Son of God took upon himself the nature of the human race, in order to reconcile us with our Creator. He did this so that the devil, through whom death entered the world, might be conquered in the very nature which he himself had conquered.
| | Ab exsultantibus ergo angelis, nascente Domino, Gloria in excelsis Deo canitur, et pax in terra bonae voluntatis hominibus nuntiatur. Vident enim caelestem Ierusalem ex omnibus mundi gentibus fabricari: de quo inenarrabili divinae pietatis opere, quantum laetari debet humilitas hominum, cum tantum gaudeat sublimitas angelorum?
| It was in recognition of this that on the day of his birth the exulting Angels first of all sang Glory be to God on high; and then they announced: Peace on earth to men of good will. These Angels could see the heavenly Jerusalem being constructed out of every nation on earth. If they, from their lofty height, rejoice so much before this ineffable work of divine love, how much more ought we to be glad, we who contemplate it from the lowliness of our mortality?
| | Agamus ergo, dilectissimi, gratias Deo Patri, per Filium eius, in Spiritu Sancto, qui propter multam misericordiam suam, qua dilexit nos, misertus est nostri; et cum essemus mortui peccatis, convivificavit nos in Christo, ut essemus in ipso nova creatura, novumque figmentum.
| Dearly beloved, let us together give thanks to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit: for in his great mercy by which he loved us, he had mercy on us; and "while were were dead in sin, he brought us to life in Christ," to be a new creation, a new product.
| | Deponamus ergo veterem hominem cum actibus suis; et adepti participationem generationis Christi, carnis renuntiemus operibus.
| Let us put aside the old man with his actions. Now that we have been made participants in the generation of Christ, let us renounce all works of the flesh.
| | Agnosce, o christiane, dignitatem tuam, et, divinae consors factus naturae, noli in veterem vilitatem degeneri conversatione redire. Memento cuius capitis et cuius corporis sis membrum. Reminiscere quia erutus de potestate tenebrarum, translatus es in Dei lumen et regnum.
| O Christian: recognise your dignity! You have been made a sharer in the divine nature! Do not then by an unworthy way of life return to your former wretchedness! You have been snatched from the power of darkness, and transferred into the light and the Kingdom of God.
| | Per baptismatis sacramentum Spiritus Sancti factus es templum: noli tantum habitatorem provis de te actibus effugare, et diaboli te iterum subicere servituti: quia pretium tuum sanguis est Christi.
| You have been made a temple of the Holy Spirit: do not by your behaviour drive him away again, and subject yourself once more to the tyranny of the devil! For Christ who has redeemed you with a price.
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Odd Years: Petrus Chrysologus, Sermon 149 (PL 52, 598-599)
In aduentu domini et saluatoris nostri atque in praesentia eius corporali, angeli ducentes choros
caelestes euangelizabant pastoribus dicentes: adnuntiamus uobis gaudium magnum hodie, quod erit omni populo. Ab ipsis ergo sanctis angelis etiam nos mutuati
uocem, adnuntiamus uobis gaudium magnum. Hodie enim ecclesia in pace est, et haeretici in ira. Hodie ecclesiae nauis in portu est, et haereticorum furor
iactatur in fluctibus. Hodie, fratres, pastores ecclesiae in securitate, et haeretici in perturbatione sunt. Hodie oues domini in tuto, et lupi insaniunt.
Hodie uinea domini in abundantia, et operarii iniquitatis in egentia. Hodie populus christi, carissimi, exaltatus est, et inimici ueritatis humiliati sunt.
Hodie, dilectissimi, christus in laetitia, et diabolus in luctu. Hodie angeli in exultatione, et daemones in confusione. Et quid plura dicere? hodie
christus, qui est rex pacis, cum sua pace procedens fugauit omne discidium, dissensiones depulit, discordiam proturbauit. Et sicut caelum splendor solis, ita
ecclesiam fulgor pacis inluminat. Quia natus est uobis hodie, ait, saluator mundi.
O quam desiderabile nomen
pacis! quam religionis christianae stabile fundamentum, et altaris dominici
caelestis ornatus! et quid dignum possumus de pace proloqui? pax nomen est
ipsius christi, sicut et apostolus dicit: quia christus est pax nostra, qui
fecit utraque unum. Vtraque, quae non sententiis neque fide, sed inuidia
diaboli dissidebant. Verum sicut procedente rege et plateae mundantur, et omnis
ciuitas diuersis floribus et ornatibus coronatur, et nihil fit quod minus
dignum uultui regis appareat, ita et nunc procedente rege pacis omne quod
triste est auferatur a medio, et inlucescente ueritate fugetur mendacium,
fugiat discordia, resplendeat concordia...
Et ideo etiam si in terris
pax laudatur a sanctis, laudis eius splendor redundat in caelum. Laudant eam
caelestes angeli, et dicunt: gloria in excelsis deo, et in terra pax hominibus
bonae uoluntatis.
Videtis, fratres, quomodo
caelestes omnes et terrestres inuicem sibi munera pacis mittunt: caelestes
angeli pacem terris adnuntiant, sancti in terris christum, qui est pax nostra,
conlaudant in caelestibus positum, et mysticis choris conclamant: osanna in
excelsis!
dicamus ergo et nos cum
angelis: gloria in altissimis deo, quia humiliauit diabolum, et exaltauit
christum suum. Gloria in altissimis deo, quia discordiam fugauit, et pacem
statuit.
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Psalm 2
