Sermon for the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist: June 24th. on the Manner of John’s Burning and Shining. He Was a Burning and a Shining Light.’’—john V. 35

My brethren, it seems to me that these assemblies of ours are far from deserving that reproach of the Prophet addressed to the Jews: “ Your assemblies are wicked ” (Is. i. 13). For our assemblies are not wicked. Quite the contrary : they are manifestly holy, and religious, and full of grace, and worthy of the divine benediction. We come together for two purposes, namely, to hear the word of God in this chapter-house and to adore, supplicate, and praise Him in the church. Both are sacred assemblies, pleasing to the Lord and beloved of His angels. Consequently, dearest brethren, “ stand in reverential fear,” stand in solicitude and fervour of soul, above all in the place of prayer and in this school of Christ, this lecture-hall of the Holy Spirit. “ Look not,” most dearly beloved, ‘‘ at the things which are seen and which are temporal, but at the things which are not seen and are eternal”’ (2 Cor. iv. 18) ; “ judge not according to the appearance, but judge ” according to the principles of faith (John vii. 24). Thus estimated, both these places are very terrible indeed (Gen. xxviii. 17), and contain, as we ought to believe, not fewer angels than men. In both places, undoubtedly, the gate of heaven stands open (ibid.) ; in both is erected that mystical ladder on which “ the angels are ascending and descending upon the Son of man ” (ibid. 12, John i. 51). Oh, how great a giant is this Son of man, Whose throne is the heavens and the earth His footstool (Is. lxvi. 1)! His ‘‘ magnificence is elevated above the heavens ” (Ps. viii. 2), and nevertheless, He abides with us “ all days even to the consummation of the world ”? (Matt. xxviii. 20). The holy angels, therefore, ascend and descend to God, inasmuch as the Head and the body are one Christ.

Nevertheless, it is not wheresoever the Head, but “ wheresoever the body shall be, there shall the eagles also be gathered together ’’ (Matt. xxiv. 28), although the Head cannot be separated from the body. For He Who said this, said also, ‘‘ Where there are two or three gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of them ” (Matt. xviii. 20). But perhaps someone will say to me: “ Where now is Christ? Show us Christ ‘ and it is enough for us’ ” (John xiv. 8). Why do youlook around with those curiouseyes? Have you come hither to see the Lord and not rather to listen to His word ? “ The Lord hath opened mine ear,” says the Prophet (Is. 1. 5). He hath opened mine ear so that I may hear what He speaketh, not enlightened mine eyes that I may see His holy face. Or at any rate He hath opened His own ear to my prayer, not uncovered His countenance for my contemplation. “ He standeth behind the wall ”?” (Cant. ii. 9) ; He hears and is heard, but not yet does He show Himself. He listens to us when we pray, He instructs us when we listen to Him. “Do you seek a proof of Christ That speaketh inme?” (2 Cor. xiii. 3). Well, so He has said, < I am font et

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He That speak justice ” (Is. Ixiii. 1). Why should He not speak by the mouth He has fashioned? Why should not the Artificer make use of His own tools according to His pleasure? O Lord, open my lips (Ps. 1. 17) as well as the ears of those listening to me ; and “ I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, Thou knowest it” (Ps. xxxix. 10). For it is of Thee the people said of old, “ He hath done all things well: He hath made both the deaf to hear and the dumb to speak” (Mark vii. 37).

Listen, therefore, my brethren, to what He has said of John, the feast of whose nativity we are solemnising to-day: “ He was a burning and a shining light ” (John v. 35). A great testimony, most dearly beloved, because great is he to whom it is given, although greater far is He Who gives it. “ He,” says the Lord, “was a burning and a shining light.” For merely to shine is vain, merely to burn is little, but to burnand shine at once—that is perfection. Hear what the Scripture says, ‘‘ A wise* man continueth in wisdom as the sun, but a fool is changed as the moon ” (Ecclus. xxvii. 12). For inasmuch as the moon shines without heat, she shows herself to us at one time full, at another diminished, and sometimes even disappears altogether. Her light, being borrowed, “never continueth in the same state” (Job xiv. 2), but increases, decreases, grows wan, fades away, and is at last utterly extinguished. In the same way, he who puts his conscience in the mouths of other men appears now great, now little, now nothing at all, according as it shall please the tongues of sycophants to censure or applaud him. The splendour of the sun, on the contrary, is all fiery ; and forasmuch as it burns fiercely it appears the more luminous to the eyes in proportion. It is thus the interior fervour of the wise man shines outwardly : but if it is not possible for him to have both heat and light together, he chooses always to burn, so that “ the Father Who seeth in secret may repay him ” (Matt. vi. 4). Woe to us, brethren, if we are found to shine without burning! At present we are shining indeed, and are magnified by men: “‘ but to me it is a very small thing to be judged by man’s day ”’ (1 Cor. iv. 3). For “ He that judgeth me is the Lord”’ (ibid. 4), Who requires fervour from all, but not splendour. “I am come,” He said, “ to cast fire on the earth, and what will I but that it be kindled ” (Luke xii. 49)? This is a matter of universal obligation, this is something which everyone is bound to possess; and where it is wanting, no excuse is ever admitted.

For the rest, remember that it was to the apostles and apostolic men in particular the Lord gave the command, “ Let your light shine before men ” (Matt. v. 16). For such are enkindled and powerfully inflamed, and need have no fear of being blown out by a breath or by a gust of wind. To John also the same command was given. But the apostles heard it in the “ ear” (Matt. x. 27), whereas the Baptist, as an angel, was instructed in the spirit. For the Baptist stood the nearer to God in proportion as the “ voice” (John i. 23)* is nearer to the Word, between which no other voice that sounds externally ought to intervene; he received his knowledge, not, as others, from the preaching of men, but by divine inspiration, being filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother’s womb. Truly burning was he and violently inflamed since he was filled so soon with the celestial fire that he was conscious of the advent of Christ even before he could have been conscious of himself.* For that new fire which, falling from heaven, had entered the Virgin’s ear through Gabriel's lips, again, through the Virgin’s lips, entered Elizabeth’s ear, even to the infant in her womb. And from that moment the Holy Spirit filled His “ vessel of election ” (Acts ix. 15) in order to “prepare a lamp for Christ the Lord ”’ (Ps. cxxxi. 17). Already, therefore, he was a lighted candle, but as yet under a bushel, until the time came to put the lighted candle “ upon a candlestick that it might shine to all that were in the house” (Matt. v. 15) of the Lord. In the meantime all it couid do was to shine within its bushel, that is to say, the unborn Baptist could only enlighten his mother, revealing to her mind “ the great mystery of godliness ” (1 Tim. iii. 16) by leaping in her womb in an excess of newly-experienced joy. “ Whence is this to me,” she exclaimed, “ that the Mother of my Lord should come to me?”’ (ibid. 43).

According to St. Bernard’s idea, therefore, the Baptist was the voice or expression of the word—é roù Adyov Adyos—whilst the Word Himself was mute; and in support of this view we may note the interesting fact that St. Matthew sums up the teaching of both Christ and His Precursor in exactly the same words : ‘‘Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’’ (Matt. iii. 2, iv. 17).—(Translator.)

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“ But who has indicated to thee, O holy cousin,” we may imagine the Virgin replying, “that I am the Mother of the Lord? ‘Whence knowest thou me ?’ (John i. 48).” “ Behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy’ (Luke i. 44).

Consequently, this lighted candle even then illumined the bushel that covered it ; nor did it fail to perceive the presence of that other Lighted Candle, likewise concealed as yet under Its own bushel, but destined soon to fill the whole world with the splendours of a new and glorious dawn. “‘ He was a burning and a shining light,” so said the Lord. Notice how He did not say, “ a shining and a burning light,” because He wished to insinuate that John’s splendour proceeded from his fervour, not his fervour from his splendour. There are some, my brethren, who do not shine for the reason that they burn ; on the contrary, they burn in order to shine: they burn, I say, but rather with the desire of vainglory than from the spirit of charity. Do you wish to know what was the manner of John’s burning and shining ? It appears to me that he can be proved to have possessed both fervour and splendour in three different ways. He burned with a holy hatred against himself, as shown by the extreme austerity of his life, he burned with a full and heart-felt love for Christ, and he burned with zeal for his neighbour, whose sins he denounced with constancy and courage. His shining also was threefold: briefly, he shone by his example, he shone by his pointing, he shone by his words: presenting himself to us for our imitation, pointing out with his finger the “ greater Luminary ” (Gen. ii. 16) That lay concealed and was to take away the ee ‘se sin of the world (x John i. 29), and also enlightening our darkness with his words according to what is written, “ For Thou lightest my lamp, O Lord; O my God, enlighten my darkness” (Ps. xvii. 29), that is, by administering correction.

Consider, therefore, my brethren, this man who was promised by the mouth of an angel, miraculously conceived and sanctified in the womb; and wonder to behold in so singular a saint so singular a devotion to penance. “Having food,” says the Apostle, “and wherewith to be covered, with these we are content ”’ (1 Tim. vi. 8). This is apostolic perfection. But even this did not satisfy John. For hear what the Lord says of him in the Gospel: “ John came neither eating nor drinking’’ (Matt. xi. 18), nor, it might be added, wearing clothes ; for as locusts cannot becalled the food of man but only of certain wild beasts, perhaps, neither ought camel’s hair to be regarded as human clothing (Matt. iii. 4). Wherefore, O camel, hast thou put off thy hair ? Would to God thou didst rather put off thy hump!* And you, O irrational beasts and reptiles of the desert, how long will you seek after delicate food ? John, a man of singular holiness, “‘ a man sent from God ” (John i. 6), yea, an angel of God, since of him the Father said to the Son, ‘‘ Behold I send My angel before Thy face ” (Luke vii. 27), this John, than whom “a greater hath not arisen among them that are born of women ” (Matt. xi. 11), thus chastises, thus consumes, thus afflicts his most innocent body ; and do you desire to be “ clothed in purple and fine linen, and to feast sumptuously’’? (Luke xvi. 19). Alas, my brethren! Is it with this kind of vanity alone . that the present solemnity is to be honoured ? Is this the way in which men prove their devotion to the holy Baptist ? Is this the rejoicing which, according to the angel’s prophecy, his birth should occasion ? (Lukei. 14). O ye over-delicate worshippers, do you know what manner of man he was whose memory you are honouring ? Do you know whose birthday you are celebrating ? Is it not his who lived in the wilderness, clothed with camel’s hair and wasted from fasting? O ye sons of Babylon, “ what went you out into the desert to see? A reed shaken with the wind? What then? A man clothed in soft garments?” (Matt. xi. 7, 8). A man nourished with delicate food? One might beled to think so from your manner of solemnising this festival which you honour no otherwise than by pursuing the wind of popular favour,* by the splendour of costly attire, and by the pleasures of the table. But what could be less in keeping with the Baptist’s birthday ? For John certainly gave you no example of this kind ; he never could take delight in such vanities.

“Many,” said the angel, “ shall rejoice in his nativity ” (Luke i. 14). The prophecy has been fulfilled. Even still “ many rejoice in his nativity.” That day, so we are informed, is kept with joy and solemnity even by the pagans. They, however, honour what they know not (John iv. 22), but thisshouldnot be the case with Christians. Nevertheless, although Christians keep the birthday of St. John the Baptist as a day of rejoicing, it is much to be feared that they rejoice more in worldly vanity than over the Precursor’s nativity.

What but “ vanity of vanities ”? (Eccles. i. 2) is everything that is under the sun? Or “ what hath man more of his labour ’’ wherewith he hath wearied himself under the sun ? (Eccles. iii. 9, 11, 22). Brethren, under the sun is all that you can perceive with your eyes, all that is illumined by this corporeal light. And what is all that but “ a vapour which appeareth for a little while ” (James iv. 15)? What is it, I say, but grass and the flower thereof ? “‘ All flesh is grass,” saith the Lord, “ and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field. The grass is withered and the flower is fallen, but the Word of the Lord endureth for ever ” (Is. xl. 6-8). It is in this Word we ought to labour, dearest brethren, in which alone we can attain to everlasting life and happiness. Let us “ labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth unto life everlasting ” (John vi. 27). And what is that meat? Listen : “ not in bread alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth of God ” (Matt. iv. 4). Most dearly beloved, let us sow our seed in this Word, let us “‘ sow in the Spirit,” because “‘ he that soweth in his flesh, of the flesh also shall reap corruption’ (Gal. vi. 8). Let our rejoicing be not “ under the sun,” but in the interior of the heart. As the Apostle counsels, let us be “ as sorrowful ” in the humility and gravity of our external deportment, “ yet always rejoicing ” (2 Cor. vi. 10) on account of inward consolation. Yes, dearest brethren, let us rejoice on this feast of the nativity of the blessed John, and let the motive of our joy be the object of the festival. We have indeed in the Precursor’s memory abundant reason for rejoicing, manifold motives for gladness. “He was a burning and a shining light,” and the

Jews ‘‘ were willing for a time to rejoice in his light ” (John v. 35). But for himself, he chose rather to rejoice in the fervour of devotion, to “ rejoice with joy because of the Bridegroom’s voice,” as being “ the friend of the Bridegroom ” (John iii. 29). We ought to rejoice in both his light and his heat, in the latter for his sake, for our own sake in the former. For his shining was for us and his burning for himself. Let us, then, so rejoice in his fervour that we shall learn to imitate it, and let us so rejoice in his light that we shall not rest therein, but “in his light may see the Light” (Ps. xxxv. 10), “ the true Light’ (John i. 9). Which he was not, but to Which he rendered testimony (ibid. 8). ‘ John came neither eating nor drinking,” said the Lord. This is for me an incentive to fervour and a motive of humility. Which of us, my brethren, after considering the Baptist’s penance, will presume— I do not say to magnify, but—to set any value at all upon his own? Which of us will dare to murmur at the labours imposed on him, and to answer, “ My sufferings are already sufficiently—not to say, excessively—great.’’ For what murders, what sacrileges, what abominations was John guilty of that he should chastise himself with such unsparing severity ? Oh, let us be inflamed with zeal for penance, dearest brethren, let us carefully scrutinise our conscience, and let us be animated with courage to wreak a holy vengeance on ourselves ; so that in the time to come we may be able to escape the fearful judgment of the Living God (Heb. x. 31). And whatsoever may be wanting toour fervour, let the humility of a sincere confession supply. For “ God is faithful,” and “if we confess our sins,” if we expose to Him our miseries, if we attempt not

Cos ee Fe te eee ee ee re D to excuse our defects, “ He will cleanse us from all iniquity °. (x John i. 9).

Having now seen the Baptist’s severity towards himself, consider next the burning ardour of his zeal against the sins of his neighbour. For in the matter of zeal, this is the right order and what reason approves, namely, that one should remember to begin with oneself. Hence the Psalmist sings, addressing the Lord, “ From my secret sins cleanse me, O Lord, and from those of others spare Thy servant ” (Ps. xviii. 13, 14). ‘‘ Ye offspring of vipers,” said John to the Jews, “ who hath shewed you to flee from the wrath to come? ” (Luke iii. 7). How great, think you, must have been the fervour of mind that could send forth such sparks, nay, such “ desolating coals” (Ps. cxix. 4)! Nor did he spare the Pharisees, but rebuked them with equal boldness, crying out, “ Do not begin to say: we have Abraham for our father. For I say to you : God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham ” (Luke iii. 8). It might seem, however, that he had not given sufficient proof of fortitude unless he also showed himself fearless before the face of the powerful, and reproved with all liberty of spirit a sinful monarch, as cruel as he was proud; unless, after coming forth from the desert, under the impulse of ardent zeal and with that purpose, he made it clear that he could be induced neither by favours nor by frowns, nor even by the threat of death, to turn aside from the path of duty. “ Herod feared John,” says the Evangelist, and when “he heard him did many things, and he heard him willingly ” (Mark vi. 20). Yet not on that account did the Baptist spare the adulterer, but told him plainly, “ It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother’s wife ’

(ibid. 18). And when bound and thrust into prison, “ he stood in the truth ” (John viii. 44) with the same unyielding fortitude, and at length had the supreme happiness of giving his life for the truth. Most dearly beloved, let us also be inflamed with this holy zeal, let us burn like John with the love of justice and the hatred of iniquity (Ps. xliv. 8). Let us, my dearest brethren, learn from him never to flatter vice, never to connive at wickedness, never to say, “ Am I my brother’s keeper ?’’ (Gen. iv. 9); never to see good order suffering and discipline relaxing, with the calmness of unconcern and without doing our very utmost to prevent it. For to be silent about evil when thou art in a position to protest, is the same thing as to consent to that evil. And we know that the one penalty is appointed for those that do the evil and for those that consent to it (Rom. i. 32).

I now come to speak of John’s humble and most intensely fervent devotion to his Lord. But what shall I say of it? It was that which made him leap with exultation in his mother’s womb ; it was that which caused him to tremble when about to baptise his Lord in the Jordan ; it was that which made him acknowledge not only that he was not the Christ, as he was supposed to be (John i. 20), but that he was “ not worthy to loose the latchet of His shoes ” (Luke iii. 16) ; it was that which made him as “ the friend of the Bridegroom, to rejoice with joy because of the Bridegroom’s voice” (John ili. 29); it was that, finally, which made him avow that he had “ received of His fulness grace for grace ” (John i. 16) and that to Him was given the Spirit not “ by measure ” (ibid. 34), but in plenitude wherein we might all participate.

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Therefore, “ shall not my soul be subject to God?” (Ps. lxi. 1). For I cannot be “a burning light ” unless I love the Lord my God with my whole heart, and with my whole soul, and with my whole strength (Deut. vi. 5) ; since nothing but divine charity can cause me to burn unto salvation, nothing but that charity which is infused and inflamed by the Holy Spirit (Rom. v. 5) Whom we are warned not to extinguish (1 Thess. v. Ig). You now understand how John burned. And in explaining this, I have also indicated—as you may have noticed—the manner of his shining. In fact, it is only through his outward shining that his inward heat could become known to us at all.

He shone, therefore, as already stated, by his example, by his pointing, and by his words, showing us himself by his actions, pointing out Christ to us with his finger, revealing to us ourselves by his preaching. “And thou, child,’’ said his father, “ shalt becalled the prophet of the Most High, for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, to give knowledge of salvation to His people ” (Luke 1. 76, 77). Observe, he does not say, “ to give salvation ” for “ he was not the Light” (John i. 8), but “ to give knowledge of salvation,” that he might “ give testimony of the Light ” (ibid. 7) : “ to give knowledge of salvation to his people unto the remission of their sins.” Can any person of prudence make little of this knowledge of salvation ? Let us suppose the Precursor has not yet appeared, has not yet pointed out to us the Saviour. Whither shall we look for salvation? I have committed a most heinous crime which “ the blood of goats or of calves ” (Heb. ix. 12) is powerless to efface, because the Most High has no pleasure in whole burnt-offerings

(Ps. 1. 18). My memory is stained with the dregs of this filthy oil, and there is no knife that can scrape clean this parchment, for it has entirely absorbed the sediment and is wholly saturated therewith. If I forget my fault, I become guilty of folly and ingratitude ; if it endures in my memory, it will torment me for ever. What then shall Ido? I will go to John, I will listen to ‘‘ the voice of joy and gladness” (Jer. xxxiii. II), the voice of mercy, “‘ the word of grace” (Acts xx. 32), the word of pardon and peace: “ Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him Who taketh away the sins of the world ”? (John i. 29). And in another place he says, “He that hath the Bride is the Bridegroom ” (John iii. 29). He tells us, therefore, that God has come, that the Lamb has come, that the Bridegroom has come. Now, since He That is come is God, He certainly has the power to forgive sin; but whether or not He has also the good will remains still uncertain. All doubt, however, vanishes when we are told that He is the Bridegroom, and consequently full of sweetness and amiability. And John himself is “ the friend of the Bridegroom ” (ibid.), because the Bridegroom can have about Him none but friends. He desires indeed to have “a glorious spouse, not having spot or wrinkle, ey nate or any such thing ’’ (Ephes. v. 27) ; nevertheless, He _ does not seek for such—for where indeed could such be found ?>—but He rather designs to form such and to “ present her to Himself ” (ibid.). Hear what He has said by the mouth of His Prophet: “ It is commonly said: If a man put away his wife and she go from him and marry another man, shall he return to her any more? ... But thou hast gone after many lovers ; nevertheless, return to Me, saith the Lord, and I will receive thee” (Jer. iii. I). Behold, myig

M $ x Be a brethren, what He is able to do, and behold what He desires to do.

But perhaps you fear the “ purgation of sins ’’ which He has come to make (Heb. i. 3), imagining that with fire and iron He will penetrate to the bone and to the marrow of the bone, inflicting pain more terrible than death itself ? Listen : He comes as a Lamb, He comes in all mildness, with nothing more frightening than milk and wool, justifying the impious with the easy remedy of a word. What can be easier, as the Poet says,* than to speak a word? “ Only say the word,” cried the Centurion, “ and my servant shall be healed ” (Matt. viii. 8). Why then should we hesitate any longer and not “ go with confidence to the throne of grace’’ (Heb. iv. 13)? Let us give thanks to John, and from him pass on to Christ (John i. 37), because, as he has himself said, ‘‘ He must increase, but I must decrease ” (John v. 30). But in what manner must John decrease? In his splendour, doubtless, not in his fervour. He has recalled his rays, he has collected himself within himself, lest he should be as the fool that “‘ giveth forth all his spirit” (Prov. xxix. II). “ He must increase,” Who can never be exhausted, “‘ of Whose fulness we have all received’’ (John i. 16) ; “but I must decrease,” he says, ‘“‘ for to me ‘ God hath given the Spirit by measure’ (John iii. 34), and I must see how I shall be able to burn always rather than to shine. I have preceded the Sun, like the morning star: therefore, it is necessary that I should fade now when the Sun has arisen. ‘ I have but a little oil to anoint me’ (4 Kings iv. 2), and I want to keep that little in my vessel where it will be safer than in the lamp.”