Second Sermon for the Feast of the Assumption: How the Spiritual House Has to be Swept and Garnished for the Reception of Christ

“ Now it came to pass that He entered into a certain citadel and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house. And she had a sister named Mary, who sitting also at the Lord’s feet heard His word. But Martha was busy about much serving.’’—Luke x. 38-40.

““ Now it came to pass that He entered into a certain citadel and a certain woman named Martha received Him into her house ” (Luke x. 38). It appears to me that I cannot do better than to subjoin to this the exclamation of the Prophet: “ O Israel, how great is the house of God, and how vast is the place of His possession ! ” (Bar. iii. 24). Vast beyond a doubt must that place be, in comparison with which this most spacious earth of ours is called a citadel. Do you not agree, brethren, that that land must be very vast, that country inconceivably great, since the Saviour, issuing forth therefrom and coming down to this lower world, is said to enter into a citadel ? Or does anyone doubt that the citadel of which the Evangelist makes mention is nothing else but the court of “ the strong man armed ” (Luke xi. 21), “ the prince of this world ”’ (John xiv. 30), upon whom a Stronger came and robbed him of his goods (Mark iii. 27) ? Dearest brethren, let us hasten to enter into that spacious abode of beatitude where there is room enough for all and no man presses on another, so that we “ may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth” (Eph. iii. 18) of the city of God, the heavenly Jerusalem. There is no reason why we should despair of being admitted into that celestial city, since the King thereof, Who is also its Creator, has not disdained to come into this narrow citadel of our earthly home.

But why do I say that He entered into the citadel ? “He condescended to do much more: He even entered the close prison of a Virgin’s womb. For so the Evangelist says: “ A certain woman received Him into her house.” O happy woman, who was found worthy to receive not the spies sent to Jericho (Josue ii. 1), but the most mighty Despoiler of that fool who indeed “‘ is changed as the moon ” (Ecclus. xxvii. 12) ; not the emissaries of “ Jesus the son of Nave ” (Ecclus. xlvi. 1), but the true Jesus Himself, the Son of God. Happy, | say, is the woman whose house at the coming of the Saviour, was found “swept and garnished ” indeed, but by no means “empty ” (Matt. xxii. 44). For how can she becalled empty whom the Archangel saluted as “ full of grace ” (Luke i. 22)? And not only that, but he also declared that the Holy Ghost was to come upon her (ibid. 35). To what purpose, think you, if it be not to fill her to overflowing ? To what purpose, I repeat, except that, being filled in herself by His first coming, she might be made to superabound and overflow unto us by His second? Would to God those spiritual spices, those precious gifts of grace were poured out upon us, so that of so great a fulness we might all receive! (John i. 16). For Mary is our Mediatrix ; she it is through whom “we have received Thy mercy, O God” (Ps, xlvii. Io) ;

II 16 she it is through whom we have received the Lord Jesus into our houses. My brethren, we have each of us his own house and each of us his own citadel. Divine Wisdom knocks at our several doors ; “ if any man shall hear His voice and open to Him the door, He will come into him and will sup with him” (Apoc. iii. 20). It is a common saying, one that is often enough in the mouths of men, but more often still in their hearts: He that takes good care of his body guards a noble citadel. But such is not the language of the Wise Man ; he rather counsels: “ With all watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out from it ” (Prov. iv. 23).

Let us yield this point, however, and let us say with the multitude: He that takes good care of his body, guards a noble citadel. But it remains to be asked : in what way are we to guard this noble citadel ? Does it seem to you, my brethren, that that soul has guarded the citadel of her body as she ought, whose members she has suffered to conspire, so to speak, and to hand over to the enemy the possession thereof ? For there are some who “‘ have entered into a league with death and have made a covenant with hell” (Is. xxviii. 15). “ The beloved one,” says Moses, “‘ grew fat and kicked, he grew fat and thick and gross ” (Deut. xxxii. 15). Such, doubtless, is the manner of guarding the body which is praised by the sinner in the desires of his flesh (Ps. x. 111, juxta Heb.). What think you, brethren? Ought we to yield to the multitude in this matter as well? God forbid! Let us rather interrogate Paul, that most strenuous leader in the spiritual combat. Tell us, then, O blessed Apostle, how thou guardest the citadel of thy body. “I so run,” he says, “ not as at an uncertainty ; I so fight, not as one beating the air. For I chastise my body and bring it into subjection, lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway ” (x Cor. ix. 26, 27). And in another place he writes, “ Let not sin reign in your mortal body, so as to obey the lusts thereof ” (Rom. vi. 12). This beyond doubt is a useful custody, and happy the soul that thus guards her body so that the enemy may never claim it for his own. There was a time when the wicked one had subjected this citadel of mine to his tyrannic sway, ruling its members with the authority of a master.* Its present desolation and misery bear witness still to the severity of its sufferings during that period. Alas! there is left in it neither the wall of continence nor the bulwark of patience (Jer. Lam. ii, 8). The cruel oppressor “ hath laid waste the vineyard ” (Ps. Ixxix. 14), cut down the corn, and rooted up the fruit trees. At his instigation, even “ mine eye hath wasted my soul”’ (Jer. Lam. iii. 51), so that “unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell”’ (Ps. xciii. 17): I speak of the ‘“ lower hell ” (Ps. Ixxxv. 13) where no one shall confess to Him (Ps. vi. 6) and out of which there is no deliverance.

But even as it was, my soul was not without a hell and a prison-house. For having been made captive at the very beginning of this detestable conspiracy and betrayal, she was confined and guarded as a prisoner in her own house, whilst the jailers assigned to her were none other than the members of her household. Her conscience became her prison, and her torturers her reason and her memory, cruel torturers indeed, harsh and pitiless, but far less terrible than the lions “roaring, ready to devour ” (Ecclus. li. 4) to which she was on the point of being abandoned. ‘“ Blessed be the Lord Who hath not given me to be a prey to their teeth 2 (Ps. cxxiii. 6). Yes, “ blessed be the Lord God of Israel because He hath visited and wrought the redemption ” (Luke i. 68) of my soul. For whilst the malignant one was preparing to thrust her down into the “lower hell ’’ and designing to burn the citadel itself with everlasting flames, so that the bodily members also should be punished as their perfidy deserved: there appeared upon the scene a Mightier than he. Jesus “entered into the citadel,” and “ first binding the strong man, robbed him of his goods ” (Mark iii. 27), so that He might “ make unto honour ” the vessels that were “unto dishonour” (Rom. ix. 21). ‘“‘ He hath broken the gates of brass and burst the iron bars ” (Ps. cvi. 16), and “‘ brought forth the captive out of prison ” (Is. lii. 7) and out of the shadow of death’ (Ps. cvi. 10). Now it is only through confession such a captive can be delivered. Confession is the broom, so to speak, by means of which the prison-house puts off its forbidding aspect and reassumes its former home-like appearance, being first ‘‘ swept, and garnished ” (Matt. xii. 44) afterwards with the beautiful green rushes of regular observances. The woman has now a home, she has now a place for the entertainment of Him to Whom she is so deeply indebted by reason of countless favours bestowed. Woe to her if she refuses to receive Him, if she neglects to detain Him, if she does not constrain Him to stay with her, “ because it is towards evening ” (Luke xxiv. 29) For he that has been driven forth shall find on his return the house “ swept and garnished ” indeed, but without an occupant. Then shall he go and, taking with him seven other spirits worse than himself, entering in he shall dwell there (Matt. xii. 45).

Thus, dearest brethren, her house is “ left desolate ” (Matt. xxiii. 38) to the soul that neglects to make it worthy of the Saviour’s presence. But you may desire to know how this can be. Is it possible, you may feel inclined to ask, that a house “ swept ”?” by confession of past sins and “‘ garnished ” with regular observance should nevertheless be reputed unworthy to be inhabited by heavenly grace or to be entered by the Saviour? Most certainly, my brethren, it is possible, if only the exterior parts of the house have been swept clean and adorned, as I have said, with the green rushes of faithful discipline, whilst all within is covered with filth. Surely no one believes that the Lord can be worthily entertained in the “ whited sepulchres ”’ of the dead, “ which outwardly appear to men beautiful but within are full of all filthiness’’ (Matt. xxiii. 27) and corruption. I allow that occasionally, allured as it were by the attractive appearance of the outside, He begins to enter, and has already, so to speak, one foot on the threshold, by the bestowal of some first grace of divine visitation: but does He not immediately withdraw in anger ? Does He not at once take flight, exclaiming “I have stuck fast in the mire of the deep and there is here nothing solid”’ (Ps. Ixviii 3). That is, there is no true and solid virtue but only an appearance, a quality as it were without a substance. But the thin varnish of an externally virtuous life affords no firm footing for the entrance of Christ, Who penetrates all things and desires to make His dwelling in the very centre of the heart. We are told that the Spirit of discipline “ will not dwell in a body manifestly subject to sins” (Wisdom i. 4); but He will not alone avoid, He will flee and remove Himself far from the body where sins lie concealed, covered with the simulation of virtue. What else is that but a detestable simulation, if, instead of plucking up vice by the roots within, we content ourselves with pruning it on the exterior? Oh, be sure it will sprout again more abundantly than before; be sure the malicious tenant that has been expelled will come back again “with seven other spirits more wicked than himself ” (Matt. xii. 45) and re-enter the house, “‘ finding it swept and garnished ” indeed, yet “ empty.” For “ the dog that returneth to his vomit ” (Prov. xxvi. 11) becomes more hateful than ever; and he is made ‘‘a child of hell ” (Matt. xxiii. 15) many times worse than before, whosoever, after obtaining the pardon of his sins, falls back into the same, like “the sow that was washed wallowing again in the mire ” (2 Peter ii. 20). Brethren, do you wish to behold a house that is “swept and garnished” but “empty”? Look at that man who has confessed and renounced “ sins manifest, going before to judgment ” (1 Tim. v. 24), and who now applies nothing but his hands to the works of justice, going through every spiritual exercise with a heart devoid of all devotion and merely from custom, as the “ heifer of Ephraim, taught to love to tread out the corn ”? (Osee x. 11). With regard to exterior observances which are “ profitable to little ” (rt Tim. iv. 8), he passes over not “ one jot or one tittle ” (Matt. v. 18), although whilst ‘straining out a gnat he swallows a camel ” (Matt. xxiii. 24). For in his heart he is the slave of self-will, of avarice, of vainglory, of ambition, fostering secretly, if not all these vices together, at least each of them in turn. And so “iniquity lieth to itself ’’ (Ps. xxvi. 12), although “God is not deceived” (Gal. vi. 7). For you may sometimes see a man so perfectly tricked out in the colours of virtues as to deceive even himself, not noticing the worm that devours his vitals. He considers everything secure because the fair exterior is still preserved. In the words of the Prophet, ‘‘ Strangers have devoured his strength and he hath not known ”’ (Osee vii. 9). He says to himself, “ I am rich, and made wealthy and have need of nothing,” whereas he is “‘ wretched and miserable, and poor ” (Apoc. iii. 17). Yes, and given the due conditions you shall see the corrupted matter, now concealed, welling out from the festering sore, and the tree that has been pruned but not uprooted sending out new branches in greater abundance than ever. Dearest brethren, if we would avoid this danger, let us lay the axe, not to the branches, but to the root of the trees (Matt. iii. I). Let there be found in us not only “ bodily exercise ” which by itself “ is profitable to little ” (x Tim. iv. 8), but “ piety ” also, which “ is profitable to all things ” (ibid.), and the practice of solid virtue.

“A certain woman,” says the Evangelist, “ named Martha, received Him into her house ; and she had a sister called Mary.” Martha and Mary are sisters and so, like good sisters, should live under the same roof.

The former is “ busy with much serving,” the latter attends exclusively to the words of Christ (ibid. 39, 40). To Martha appertains the “ garnishing ” of the house, to Mary the filling thereof, so that it shall not be found “ empty ” : for her time is left vacant to attend to the Lord that the house itself may not be left vacant by Him. But, brethren, to whom can we assign the sweeping ? For if we are able to discover someone for this, the house into which the Saviour is received shall be found “swept and garnished ”? in truth yet not “empty.” Suppose, then, we give the broom to Lazarus, that is, unless you have something better to suggest. Being a brother to the two sisters, he has a right to share their home. I am speaking, observe, of that Lazarus who, after he had been four days in the tomb and was already corrupted, was awakened from the dead by “ the voice of power ” (Ps. Ixvii. 34). He can therefore be considered without the least impropriety as the type of holy penitence. We may suppose, then, that the Saviour will enter and visit often that house which is swept by the penitent Lazarus, which is garnished by the busy Martha, and filled by the reposeful Mary whilst she occupies herself with the contemplation of spiritual things.

But perchance someone, piously curious, is anxious to know why it is that in this Gospel lesson there is no mention at all of Lazarus? To my mind, this omission is quite in accord with the mystical interpretation I have just proposed to you. For the Holy Spirit, intending that we should understand the house of our Gospel to be Mary’s virginal soul, avoids, as is only becoming, any allusion to penitence which presupposes sin, God forbid that this house should be ea, said to have ever had any such defilement of its own so as to need the broom of Lazarus! Even supposing that the Virgin inherited the original stain from her parents,* Christian piety will not allow us to believe that she was less sanctified in the womb than was the Prophet Jeremias (Jer. i. 5) or less filled with the Holy Ghost than the Baptist (Luke i. 44). Besides, had she not been born holy, her birthday would not be honoured throughout the universal Church with such joyous festivities. Finally, since there can be no doubt at all that Mary was cleansed from the inherited defilement by grace alone—just as it is by grace alone that stain is now washed away in the sacrament of baptism, whilst with the “ knives of stone ” (Josue v. 11) alone it could be removed under the former Dispensation : such being the case, and the holy Virgin being entirely free from personal sin, as we all piously believe, it follows that her most innocent heart could have had no experience of penitence. Therefore, let Lazarus abide with them that have need to “ cleanse their conscience from dead works ” (Heb. ix. 14) ; let him dwell with “ the wounded sleeping in the sepulchres’’ (Ps. Ixxxvii. 6) : but in the Virgin’s home let none be found save the sisters Mary and Martha. For did she not act the part of Martha whilst for three months she humbly attended her aged cousin Elizabeth, who was about to become a mother (Luke i. 56) ? And she fulfilled the role of Mary when she kept all the words that were said of her Son, “ pondering them in her heart ” (Luke ii. 19).

Let no one be surprised, therefore, that the woman who received the Saviour is called, not Mary, but Martha: because this incomparable Virgin is found to unite in her single self the busy ministrations of Martha and the equally busy repose of Mary. For not only is it said that “all the glory of the King’s daughter is within ” (Ps. xliv. 14), but likewise that she is “clothed round about with varieties, in golden borders ” (ibid.). For the Virgin Mary is not one of the foolish virgins ; she is the most prudent of virgins: not only is she possessed of a lamp, but she has oil alsoin her vessel (Matt. xxv. 2-4). You have not forgotten, I suppose, ‘the Gospel parable which represents the foolish virgins as excluded from the wedding-feast ? Now, their house was certainly swept, because they are said to have been virgins ; it was garnished too, since we are told that all the virgins together, that is, both the wise and the foolish, trimmed their lamps; but it was empty, for the reason that they had no oil in their lamps. Hence it was that the Heavenly Bridegroom deigned neither to be received by them into their house nor to admit them to the marriage supper in His own. Very different from these was that “ valiant woman ” (Prov. xxxi. 10) by whom has been crushed the serpent’s head (Gen. iii. 15). For amongst the many eulogies pronounced upon her by the Wise Man you may read this also: “ Her lamp shall not be put out in the night ” (Prov. xxxi. 18), This has been said as a reproach to the foolish virgins, who, when the Bridegroom came at midnight, began to lament all too late that their lamps had gone out (Matt. xxv. 8). But our glorious Virgin advanced to meet Him with her lamp alight and burning so brightly as to astonish the very angels of light (2 Cor. xi. 14), causing them to exclaim, ‘‘Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array?” (Cant. vi. 9). For Mary surpasses in splendour all other creatures, being anointed and filled with the cil of grace above her fellows (Ps. xliv. 8) by Him Whois the Author of grace, Jesus Christ, her Son and our Lord.