Even Years: Pope St. Leo the Great, Christmas Sermon 6
| Quamvis illa infantia, quam Filii Dei non est dedignata maiestas, in virum perfectum aetatis adiectione provecta sit, et, consummato passionis et resurrectionis triumpho, omnes susceptae pro nobis humilitatis transierint actiones, renovat tamen nobis hodierna festivitas nati Iesu ex Maria Virgine sacra primordia; et, dum Salvatoris nostri adoramus ortum, invenimur nos nostrum celebrare principium.
| The infancy which the Son of God did not think beneath his glory, grew over the years to mature manhood. When the triumph of his passion and resurrection was completed, all the actions of humility which were undertaken for us ceased. However, today's feast renews for us the holy infancy of Jesus born of the Virgin Mary. And as we adore the birth of our Saviour we find that we are celebrating our own beginnings.
| | Generatio enim Christi origo est populi christiani, et natalis capitis natalis est corporis.
| For the birth of Christ is the origin of the people of Christ, and the birthday of the head is the birthday of the body.
| | Habeant licet singuli quique vocatorum ordinem suum, et omnes Ecclesiae filii temporum sint successione distincti, universa tamen summa fidelium, fonte orta baptismatis, sicut cum Christo in passione crucifixi, in resurrectione resuscitati, in ascensione ad dexteram Patris collocati, ita cum ipso sunt in hac nativitate congeniti.
| It is true that each of those who are called is allotted a particular place, and that all the sons of the Church are separated from each other by intervals of time. However, just as all the faithful together, born of the waters of baptism, are crucified with Christ in his passion, raised with him in his resurrection, and given a place with him at the Father's right hand in his ascension, so too, with him they are born in this his birth.
| | Quisquis enim hominum in quacumque mundi parte credentium regeneratur in Christo, interciso originalis tramite vetustatis, transit in novum hominem renascendo; nec iam in propagine habetur carnalis patris, sed in germine Salvatoris, qui ideo Filius hominis est factus, ut nos filii Dei esse possimus.
| Throughout the world, every one of the faithful is reborn in Christ, and leaving the path of his old origins passes by rebirth into a new man. No longer is he reckoned among his human father's stock but among the seed of the Saviour, who became the Son of man in order that we might have the power to be the sons of God.
| | Nisi enim ille ad nos hac humilitate descenderet, nemo ad illum ullis suis meritis perveniret.
| If he had not come down to us by this humility, no one could have come to him by any merits of his own.
| | Unde ipsa colati muneris magnitudo dignam a nobis exigit suo splendore reverentiam. Ideo enim, sicut beatus Apostolus docet, non spiritum hius mundi accepimus, sed Spiritum qui ex Deo est, ut sciamus quae a Deo donata sunt nobis; qui non aliter pie colitur, nisi id ei, quod ipse tribuit, offeratur.
| Hence the very greatness of the gift conferred demands of us reverence worthy of its splendour. As the blessed Apostle teaches, we have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which is from God, that we might understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. He can in no other way be rightly worshipped, except by offering him what he himself bestowed on us.
| | Quid autem in thesauro dominicae largitatis ad honorem praesentis festi tam congruum possumus invenire, quam pacem, quae in nativitate Domini primo est angelico praedicata concentu?
| But, in the treasury of the Lord's generosity what can we find more suitable to honour the present feast than the peace first proclaimed by the angels' chorus at the Lord's nativity?
| | Ipsa enim est, quae parit filios Dei, nutrix dilectionis et genetrix unitatis, requies beatorum et aeternitatis habitaculum; cuius hoc opus proprium et speciale beneficium est, ut iungat Deo quos secernit de mundo.
| Peace it is that gives birth to the sons of God. Peace is the nurse of love, the mother of unity, the repose of the blessed, and our eternal home. The real work and special blessing of peace is to join to God those whom it sets apart from the world.
| | Qui ergo non ex sanguinibus, neque ex voluntate carnis, neque ex voluntate viri, sed ex Deo nati sunt, offerant Patri pacificorum concordiam filiorum, et in primogenitum novae creaturae, qui venit non suam, sed mittentis, facere voluntatem, universa adoptionis membra concurrant: quoniam gratia Patris non discordes neque dissimiles, sed unum sentientes unumque amantes adoptavit heredes. Ad unam reformatos imaginem, oportet animam habere conformem.
| Let those then who are born not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man but of God, offer to the Father the oneness of heart of peace-loving sons. Let all the members of adoption come together in the first-born of the new creation, who came to do not his own will but the will of him who sent him. The grace of the Father has not adopted as his heirs those who divided among themselves and at odds with each other, but those who are one in mind and heart. Remodelled according to the one image, they should have a spirit in conformity with it.
| | Natalis Dominis, natalis est pacis: sic enim ait Apostolus: Ipse est pax nostra, qui fecit utraque unum; quoniam sive Iudaeus, sive gentilis, per ipsum habemus accessum in uno Spiritu ad Patrem.
| The birthday of the Lord is the birthday of peace. As Apostle says, He is our peace, who made us both one. For, whether we be Jew or Gentile, through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.
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Odd Years: Gregory of Nyssa, On Canticle of Canticles, Hom 5: (PG 44, 859-862,863,874,875)
| «Ἰδοὺ οὗτος
ἥκει πηδῶν ἐπὶ
τὰ ὄρη,
διαλλόμενος ἐπὶ
τοὺς βουνούς»... τί οὖν ἐν
τούτοις ὑπενοήσαμεν;
προβλέπει
τάχα τὴν διὰ
τοῦ εὐαγγελίου
φανερωθεῖσαν
ἡμῖν τοῦ θεοῦ λόγου
οἰκονομίαν τὰ
εἰρημένα, τὴν
προκαταγγελθεῖσαν
μὲν διὰ τῶν
προφητῶν, φανερωθεῖσαν
δὲ διὰ τῆς κατὰ
σάρκα τοῦ θεοῦ
ἐπιφανείας...
«Ἰδοὺ οὗτος
ἕστηκεν ὀπίσω
τοῦ τοίχου
ἡμῶν παρακύπτων
διὰ τῶν
θυρίδων,
ἐκκύπτων διὰ
τῶν δικτύων»...
ὁδῷ γὰρ καὶ
ἀκολουθίᾳ
προσοικειοῖ
τῷ θεῷ τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην
φύσιν ὁ λόγος,
πρῶτον μὲν
αὐτὴν διὰ τῶν
προφητῶν
καταυγάζων
καὶ τῶν
νομικῶν παραγγελμάτων
(οὕτω γὰρ
νοοῦμεν·
θυρίδας μὲν τοὺς
προφήτας τοὺς
τὸ φῶς εἰσάγοντας,
δίκτυα δὲ τὴν
τῶν νομικῶν
παραγγελμάτων
πλοκήν, δι' ὧν
ἀμφοτέρων ἡ
αὐγὴ τοῦ
ἀληθινοῦ
φωτὸς ἐπὶ τὰ
ἐντὸς παραδύεται)·
μετὰ ταῦτα δὲ ἡ
τελεία τοῦ φωτὸς
ἔλλαμψις
γίνεται, ὅταν
ἐπιφανῇ τὸ φῶς
τὸ ἀληθινὸν
τοῖς ἐν σκότει
καὶ σκιᾷ θανάτου
καθημένοις
διὰ τῆς πρὸς
τὴν φύσιν ἡμῶν συνανακράσεως.
πρότερον οὖν
αἱ αὐγαὶ τῶν
προφητικῶν τε
καὶ νομικῶν
νοημάτων ἐλλάμπουσαι
τῇ ψυχῇ διὰ τῶν
νοηθεισῶν
ἡμῖν θυρίδων
τε καὶ δικτύων
ἐπιθυμίαν
ἐμποιοῦσι τοῦ
ἰδεῖν ἐν
ὑπαίθρῳ τὸν
ἥλιον, εἶθ' οὕτω
τὸ ποθούμενον
εἰς ἔργον προέρχεται...
| How should we interpret the words, Behold he comes, leaping over the mountains? Perhaps they foresee the divine plan, spoken of in the Gospel and foretold by the prophets, whereby the Word of God became visible to us by his coming in the flesh. See, there he stands, looking through the windows, peeping through the lattices. The Word unites humanity to God methodically, step by step. First he enlightens us through the prophets and the precepts of the law; for we take the prophets to be the windows admitting the light and the network of the law's commands to be the lattice. Through both of these steals the brilliance of the true light. Afterward comes the full illumination when by union with our nature the true light shines upon those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. First the light of the ideas contained in the prophets and the law shines upon the soul through windows and lattices apprehended by our minds, filling it with a desire to see the sun in the open air. Then the desire is fulfilled.
| | «Ἀνάστα,
ἐλθέ, ἡ πλησίον
μου, καλή μου,
περιστερά μου.» ὅσα
δόγματα δι'
ὀλίγων ἐν τοῖς
ῥήμασι τούτοις
ὁ λόγος ἡμῖν
ὑποδείκνυσιν... ὁρῶμεν
τοίνυν ὥσπερ
ἐν βαθμῶν
ἀναβάσει χειραγωγουμένην
διὰ τῶν τῆς
ἀρετῆς ἀνόδων
ἐπὶ τὰ ὕψη
παρὰ τοῦ λόγου
τὴν νύμφην, ᾗ
ἐνίησι πρῶτον
διὰ τῶν
προφητικῶν
θυρίδων καὶ
τῶν δικτυωτῶν τοῦ
νόμου
παραγγελμάτων
τὴν ἀκτῖνα ὁ
λόγος καὶ προσκαλεῖται
αὐτὴν ἐγγίσαι
τῷ φωτὶ καὶ
καλὴν
γενέσθαι πρὸς
τὸ εἶδος τῆς περιστερᾶς
ἐν τῷ φωτὶ
μορφωθεῖσαν. εἶτα
μετασχοῦσαν
τῶν καλῶν ὅσον
ἐχώρησε πάλιν ἐξ
ὑπαρχῆς ὡς ἔτι
τῶν καλῶν οὖσαν
ἀμέτοχον πρὸς
τὴν τοῦ
ὑπερκειμένου
κάλλους
μετουσίαν
ἐφέλκεται,
ὥστε αὐτῇ κατὰ
τὴν ἀναλογίαν
τῆς προκοπῆς
πρὸς τὸ ἀεὶ
προφαινόμενον
καὶ τὴν ἐπιθυμίαν
συναύξεσθαι
καὶ διὰ τὴν
ὑπερβολὴν τῶν πάντοτε
κατὰ τὸ
ὑπερκείμενον εὑρισκομένων
ἀγαθῶν πρώτως
ἅπτεσθαι τῆς
ἀνόδου δοκεῖν.
| Rise up my companion, my fair one, my dove, and come. How much the Word teaches us in these few words! We watch him leading the bride to the heights along the ascending path of virtue, as though up a flight of steps. First he sends her a ray of light through the windows which are the prophets and the lattice which is the precepts of the law, calling her to approach the light and to become beautiful as she takes on in the light the form of a dove. Then when she has taken on as much of the divine beauty as she can, as though she had not yet received any part in it, he draws her once again from the beginning toward the supreme Beauty in which she is to share. As a result her desire becomes more intense the further she advances toward what is continually being revealed to her. Moreover, because of the surpassing greatness of the blessings she is always receiving by his grace who surpasses all, she seems to be making the journey for the first time.
| | διὰ
τοῦτό φησι
πάλιν πρὸς τὴν
ἐγηγερμένην
ὅτι «Ἀνάστηθι»
καὶ πρὸς τὴν
ἐλθοῦσαν ὅτι «Ἐλθέ·»
οὔτε γὰρ τῷ οὕτως
ἀνισταμένῳ
λείψει ποτὲ τὸ
ἀεὶ
ἀνίστασθαι
οὔτε τῷ
τρέχοντι πρὸς
τὸν κύριον ἡ
πρὸς τὸν θεῖον
δρόμον
εὐρυχωρία
δαπανηθήσεται.
ἀεί τε γὰρ
ἐγείρεσθαι
χρὴ καὶ μηδέποτε
διὰ τοῦ δρόμου
προσεγγίζοντας
παύεσθαι. ὥστε
ὁσάκις ἂν λέγῃ
τὸ «Ἀνάστηθι»
καὶ τὸ «Ἐλθέ,»
τοσαυτάκις
τῆς πρὸς τὸ
κρεῖττον
ἀναβάσεως τὴν
δύναμιν δίδωσιν.
| And so, after she has risen the Word again says 'Rise' and after she has come he says 'Come'. One who has thus risen never lacks the opportunity to rise further and one who is running toward the Lord never reaches the end of the space available for the divine race. We should always be rising and those whom the race is bringing close to the goal should never stop. Each time the Word says 'Rise' and 'Come' he gives the power to ascend to still loftier heights.
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