First Sermon for Advent: On the Coming of Christ and the Circumstances Which Attended it

To-day, my brethren, we celebrate the beginning of the season of advent. The name of this, as of all our other solemnities, is familiar enough and well known to the entire world. But perhaps the meaning of the name is not so generally understood. For the unhappy children of Adam, taken up as they are with the pursuit of things transitory and perishable, pay but little attention to what is salutary and true. “To what shall we liken ” the men of this generation, “or to what shall we compare” them, those, I mean, who, as we see, cannot be drawn or weaned away from earthly and material consolations? They resemble persons who have suffered shipwreck and are now battling for their lives in the water. You know with what desperate tenacity such people cling to everything they chance to lay hold of and refuse, on any account, to i, A let it go, whatever it happens to be, even though it be something which cannot in the least help them tosave themselves, for example, the roots of a plant, or some other such frail object. And should some of the witnesses of their peril venture forth to assist them, the drowning men are wont to clasp them so closely that they—the would-be rescuers—are rendered powerless to save either themselves or those whom they have come to succour. So do sinners perish in “this great sea which stretcheth wide its arms,” so perish miserable mortals, because whilst they devote themselves to the pursuit of the unstable goods of nature and fortune, they lose the more solid goods of grace, by firmly clinging to which they would have escaped the danger and saved their souls. For it is not of vanity but of truth that the Saviour has promised, “‘ You shall know it and it shall make you free.” Do you, therefore, my brethren, to whom, as to His little ones, God reveals what is hidden from the wise and prudent, do you, I say, ponder well, in assiduous meditation, those things which are truly salutary, and diligently reflect on the meaning of this advent, asking yourselves, Who is He that comes ? whence does He come ? to what place does He come ? for what purpose does He come? at what time does He come ? by what road does He come? Such curiosity is evidently as commendable as it is wholesome. For the universal Church would not observe this season of advent with so much devotion unless she knew that some great and holy mystery lies hidden therein.

In the first place, therefore, let us also, like the Apostle, be overwhelmed with awe and admiration whilst we consider the infinite greatness of Him Whose coming we celebrate. For, according to the testimony of the Angel Gabriel, He is the Son of the Most High, and consequently is Himself also Most High. It would be blasphemy to suppose the Son of God unworthy of His Father. So we must confess that the Father and the Son are equally exalted and one and the same in Majesty. Who does not know that the sons of princes are themselves princes and that the sons of kings are kings ? Yet the question may be asked—why is it that of the Three Divine Persons Whom we believe, Whom we confess, Whom we adore in the Sovereign Trinity, it is not the Father, nor the Holy Ghost, but the Son Who comes to us? To me it appears manifest that there must be some special reason for this. But “ who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been His counsellor ?’’ So much at least is certain, that the coming of the Second Person was not decreed without a solemn counsel of the Most Blessed Trinity. And perhaps if we consider the cause of our banishment, we shall be able to understand in some degree how fitting it was that the Son especially should be our Deliverer. Lucifer, he who “ arose in the morning,” was instantly hurled down from the height of heaven, because he attempted as a usurper to make himself like to the Most High and as a robber would pretend to an equality with God, which is the exclusive prerogative of the Son. For the Father exercised His zeal in defence of the Son’s glory, and by His action seemed to express what He afterwards spoke through His Prophet, “ Revenge to Me, I will repay.” Immediately that happened whereof Christ speaks when He says, “I saw Satan, as lightning, falling from heaven.” What motive, then, hast thou for pride, thou who art but dust and ashes? If God has not spared the proud princes of heaven, how much less will He spare pride in thee, a mass of rottenness and worms ? Lucifer performed no criminal action, he was guilty of no evil deed, his only sin was a proud thought, and “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,” he was precipitated down in irreparable ruin, because, as the Evangelist says, “ He stood not in the truth.” Therefore, dearest brethren, keep far away from pride. Shun it, I beg of you, with all possible diligence, “ for pride is the beginning of all sin,” that pride which so swiftly overcast with a cloud of eternal darkness the glory of Lucifer, whose-brightness had eclipsed the very stars of heaven, that pride which changed into demons not only an angel but the very first and highest of the angels. Hence, he at once grew envious of man, and the iniquity which he had conceived in himself he brought forth in our first parents, persuading them that, by tasting the forbidden fruit, they should become like God, knowing good and evil. O miserable one, what art thou promising them ? What art thou holding out to their hope? It is not to thee but to the Son of the Most High that belongs the key of knowledge. Yea, He is Himself “ the Key of David That openeth and no man shutteth.” ‘In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” And wilt thou have the power and the impious daring to steal those treasures therefrom, in order that thou mayest deliver them to man? You thus perceive, my brethren, how Lucifer, according to the words of Christ, “is a liar and the father thereof.” For he became a liar when he’ said, ‘‘ I will be like the Most High,” and the father of lies when he infused into man also the poisoned seed of his falsity, with the words, ‘‘ You shall be as gods.” But thou too, O man, “‘if thou didst see the thief, thou didst run with him.”

You have heard, my brethren, what was read to us from the Prophet Isaias in the office of vigils last night : “ Thy princes are faithless, the companions of thieves,” or, as it is read in another version :* “ Thy princes are disobedient, the companions of thieves.” In truth, Adam and Eve, who are our princes (principes), as being the first parents of our race, became‘ disobedient and the companions of thieves ” when, at the suggestion of the serpent, or rather of the devil in the serpent, they attempted to usurp the prerogative of the Son of God. Nor did the Father regard with indifference the dishonour done to His Son, “ for the Father loveth the Son,” as the Evangelist assures us. Rather He took summary vengeance on the transgressors, and instantly His hand commenced to weigh heavy upon us all. For we have all sinned in Adam, and in him likewise we have all received the sentence of condemnation. Now what will the Son do, seeing the Father full of zeal for His glory and sparing no creature to avenge the injury done it? ‘‘ Behold,” He seems to say, “ the Father, on My account, has lost many of His intelligent creatures. The first of the angels ambitioned My Majesty, and he found many to support his pretensions. But the zeal of My Father wreaked instant and terrible vengeance upon him, smiting both him and his followers with an incurable plague, a most fearful chastisement. Man also endeavoured to usurp the knowledge which equally belongs to Me, and him, likewise, My Father punished without mercy, neither hath His eye spared

'* He means the Septuagint Version which has: “oi dpxovrés cov amreiOovct, kowwvol krerroyv.”—(Translator.)

him. ‘Doth God take care for oxen?’ Only two orders of noble creatures has He made, endowed with the gift of understanding and with the capacity for eternal happiness, the angelic, namely, and the human. And lo! because of Me He has suffered the loss of many angels and of all men. Therefore that they ‘may know that I love the Father,’ He shall have restored to Him through Me those whom through Me—in some sense at least—He seems to have lost. ‘ Take me up,’ then, ye despairing ones, ‘ and cast Me into the sea, for I know that for My sake this great tempest is upon you.’* All are envious of Me. Therefore, ‘ behold I come,’ and I will show Myself to them in such a character that for all who may wish to envy Me, and for all who may strive to imitate Me, this envy and this emulation shall turn to their advantage. I know, nevertheless, that the apostate angels ‘have passed into an affection of the heart’ in ‘ malice and wickedness,’ and that their sin has not the excuse of ignorance or infirmity. Consequently, as they refuse to repent, it is necessary that they perish. For the Father’s affection as well as ‘the honour of the King loveth judgment.’ ”’+

It was, indeed, for this reason that God in the beginning created men, in order, namely, to fill up the places left vacant by the fall of the angels and to repair the ruins of the heavenly Jerusalem.t For He knew that t This is one of the three reasons assigned by St. Thomas to show how congruous it was that the Second Person should become incarnate rather than the First or Third (Sum. Theol., III. q. iii. a. 8). For the other “‘ congruities ”? or “ conveniences °” which theologians have discerned in the Incarnation of the Word, see Faber’s Bethlehem, pp. 21-27.—(Translator.)

tł This opinion seems to have been very common amongst the Fathers, and was even supposed to be implied in certain passages of Scripture. Thus the celebrated Peter Lombard, the “ Master of the Sentences,” says of it : “ De hominejquoque for these rebellious spirits there was no possibility of a return to grace, being aware “ of the pride of Moab, that he is exceeding proud,” and that his pride does not admit the remedy of repentance, nor, consequently, the remedy of pardon. But when man also fell, He, the Creator, produced no new order of creatures to make good the loss. Thus He intimated that the human race was to be redeemed, because, as it had been seduced by a malice not its own, it could also be saved by a charity not its own. According to Thy merciful design, therefore, “ be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me, for I am weak.” Like Joseph “ I was stolen away out of my native land, and here without any fault was cast into the dungeon.” I do not pretend indeed to be absolutely innocent, I only claim a relative innocence: that my guilt is as nothing compared to the guilt of him who seduced me. He led me, O Lord, to assent to a lie. Let truth come, therefore, in order that his falsity may be exposed. So shall I know the truth and the truth shall make me free, if yet I renounce completely the lie when unmasked and cleave to the truth when ascertained. Were I to act otherwise, I should no longer be yielding to a human temptation, nor committing a human sin, but making in Scriptura interdum reperitur quod factus sit propter reparationem angelicae ruinae.” But, he adds, ‘‘ quod non ita est intelligendum quasi non fuisset homo factus si non pecasset angelus, sed quia inter alias causas, scilicet, praecipuas, haec etiam nonnulla causa extitit.” It is at the present time less generally held, because (amongst other reasons) of its apparent incompatibility with the doctrine maintained by Scotus and Suarez against St. Thomas, and now widely accepted, namely, that amongst the divine operations ad extra the Incarnation was decreed first and absolutely, as being the end and motive of all the others, so that even though the angels and man had remained faithful, Christ would still have taken flesh. Cf. Hurter, Theol. dogm., vol. ii. 347-50.—(Translator.)

myself guilty of diabolical obstinacy. For to continue voluntarily in evil is the sin of the devil; and they who choose to imitate his perseverance in sin deserve to be his associates in everlasting perdition.

You have now heard, my brethren, Who it is that comes. Consider next whence He comes and whither : He comes from the Heart of God the Father into the womb of a Virgin Mother : He comes from the highest heavens to the lowest parts of the earth. What then ? Are not we also under the necessity of living on the earth ? Aye, and it will be a painful exile for us unless He consents to keep us company. For where can it be well with us without Him? Or with Him where can it be ill with us ?* “ What have I in heaven? And besides Thee what do I desire upon earth? For Thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: Thou art the God of my heart and the God That is my portion for ever.” “ For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, (provided) Thou art with Me.” Now, as I perceive, He descends to the earth, and even into hell, not however as a captive, but as one Who is “ free among the dead.” For “He is the Light (That) shineth in darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend It.” Therefore, according to the words of David, His Soul was not left in hell, nor did His Body see corruption in the heart of the earth. For Christ ‘‘ Who descended is the Same also That ascended above all the heavens, that He might fill all things.” Of Him it is written that “He went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed by the devil,” and also that, “ He hath

Jesus is a sweet paradise. If Jesus bewith thee, no enemy can hurt thee.’’—Imitation of Christ, Bk. II. ch. viii.

rejoiced as a giant to run His way: His going out is from the end of heaven, and His circuit even to the end thereof.” Good reason, then, has the Apostle to cry out to us, saying, “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is sitting at the Right Hand of God.” But he would have laboured in vain to lift our hearts to heaven, unless he could show us the Author of our salvation enthroned there. However, let us now pass on to consider the remaining points. For although the matter is extremely rich and abundant, the shortness of the time at our disposal will not allow us to deal with it at adequate length. To sum up the results of our enquiries so far: the question as to Who is He That comes, has brought before us a Majesty infinitely sublime and ineffable; and, when we lifted up our eyes to discover whence He comes, we beheld a road of immeasurable length, according to the testimony of Isaias, who, filled with the prophetic spirit, exclaimed, “ Behold the name of the Lord cometh from afar” ; finally, on considering whither He comes, we have been led to realise that most admirable but utterly incomprehensible loving-kindness whereby the infinite Majesty of God has honoured us by coming down into the gloomy abode of our prison.

Now who can doubt that there must be interests of paramount importance at stake when the Divine Majesty deigned to descend from an eminence so sublime to a place so unworthy? The object must surely be something great, since the mercy is so great, and the kindness so great, and so great too the charity. What, then, shali we say is the purpose for which the Son of the Most High has.come down amongst us? For this is the question which, in the order I have proposed to follow, comes next for discussion. Here, however, we shall not have far to seek for an answer, since the Lord Himself, by His words and actions, has clearly proclaimed the cause of His coming. He descended in haste from the heavenly hills to seek the one sheep of His hundred which had strayed from the fold : He came down for our sakes, in order that, more manifestly than before, “ the mercies of the Lord might give praise to Him and His wonderful works to the children of men.” Oh, how marvellous a condescension in God to come down from heaven in quest of man! And how great an honour to man so to besought by God! Surely “ though we should have a mind to glory ” in such an honour “‘ we shall not be foolish.” Not that man seems to be anything as of himself, but because He Who made him has made so much of him. For all the riches and all the glory of the world, and whatever else it possesses which the human heart may desire, all this is little, yea, it is nothing at all in comparison with the honour of being sought after by God. O Lord, “ what is a man that Thou shouldst magnify him? Or why dost Thou set Thy Heart upon him ? ”

Nevertheless, I should like to know the reason why He has come to us, and why did not we rather go to Him. For it is we who have need of Him, not He of us.* Thus, amongst men, it is not the custom of the rich to visit the poor, even when they wish to give them assistance. Such in truth is the case, my brethren : it were more fitting that we should go to Him than that He should come to us. But there were two obstacles which prevented our access. For, in the first place, our eyes were weak and dim, whereas He “inhabiteth light inaccessible ” ; and, secondly, we were as the paralytic lying helpless in his bed, and could not by any means attain to the loftiness of the Divine Majesty. Therefore, our most benign Saviour, the tender Physician of our souls, descended from His throne on high and tempered His glory’s splendour to the weakness of our vision. For He, “ the Brightness of eternal Light,” enclosed Himself in the lantern, so ‘to speak, of that glorious, that most pure and spotless Flesh Which He took from a virgin mother, and which is manifestly signified by that most light and luminous cloud upon which, according to the prediction of Isaias, the Lord was to ascend, in order that He might come down into Egypt.*

I now proceed to the consideration of the time at which the Saviour made His advent. He came (as I am sure you do not need to be told) not at the beginning of the world’s history, nor in the middle, but towards the end. This was not without good reason : it was a wise disposition of infinite Wisdom, Who, knowing how prone to ingratitude are the children of Adam, decreed _ to defer sending them succour until the time of their greatest necessity. It was then, indeed, “ towards evening and the day (was) now far spent,” since the Sun of Justice had almost disappeared from the gaze of mortals, and very little of His light or heat any longer reached the earth. I mean to say, the light of the knowledge of God had become exceedingly dim, and, whilst iniquity abounded, charity had lost its fervour and had grown cold. The angels had ceased to show themselves, and the prophets preached no longer. It seemed as if they had given up in despair, frustrated in their efforts by the incredible hardness and obstinacy of men. It was then that the Son of God spoke to the Father, saying, ‘‘ Behold I come.” Thus, thus, O Lord, “ while all things were in quiet silence, and night was in the midst of her course, Thy almighty Word leapt down from heaven from Thy royal throne.” The Apostle Paul is alluding to the same circumstance of the time when he says, “‘ But when the fulness of time was come, God sent His Son.” For the fulness and plenty of the good things that belong to time had produced spiritual indigence, and even forgetfulness, as regards the goods of eternity. Opportunely, therefore, the eternal appeared to compete with the temporal at the moment when the latter had attained its fullest development.* For, to say nothing of other things, so great was the peace then prevailing amongst men, that at the bidding of a single ruler the whole world was enrolled.

You now understand, my brethren, Who it is That comes ; you know whence He comes and whither ; and you know also the time and the cause of His coming. Only one point more remains to be examined, namely, by what road does He come? We must labour with all diligence to ascertain this, in order that (as is proper) we may be able to go forth to meet Him in the way. Now, just as He came once for all visibly and in the flesh to “ work our salvation in the midst of earth,” so He comes daily, in spirit and invisibly, to save individual souls. Hence it is written, “ A Spirit before our face is Christ the Lord.” And to give us to understand that this spiritual advent is secret, the Prophet continues, “‘ Under Thy shadow we shall live among the gentiles.” It is therefore becoming, if the sick man cannot go forth any distance to meet so august a Physician, that he should at least show Him honour on His arrival by making an effort to raise his head and to sit up in his couch. There is no necessity for thee, O man, to cross the seas, or to penetrate the clouds, or to pass over the mountains. Thou art not invited to undertake any great journey. Even within thine own soul rise to meet thy God. For it is written : “The Word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart.” Rise to welcome Him by compunction of the heart and by confession of the mouth, so that thou mayest issue forth in His honour, at least from the sink of thy miserable conscience ; for it would be a grievous crime to introduce hither the Author of all purity. So much concerning this spiritual advent of the Word, whereby He condescends to illumine with His invisible presence the soul of every one of us.

But it is also a delight for me to consider the road by which He came to us visibly, because “ His ways are beautiful ways and all His paths are peaceful.” “ Behold,” exclaims the Spouse in the Canticle, “ behold He cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills.” Thou now seest Him coming to thee, O beautiful Bride of the Word; but before thou couldst not discover Him, whilst He was reclining in repose. For thou didst say to Him, “ Shew me, O Thou Whom my soul loveth, where Thou feedest, where Thou liest in the mid-day.” He reclines at ease where for endless ages He pastures His flock of celestial spirits, feeding them with the vision of His own eternity and immutability. But, O beautiful one, be not ignorant of thyself and thy capacity. That vision which thou desirest “ is become wonderful to thee, it is high and thou canst not reach to it.” But behold, He has come forth from His holy place. He Who reclining feeds the angels, “ He hath taken us and He will heal us.” And He Who before could not beseen whilst reclining and feeding the angels, shall now be made manifest, visibly coming and visibly fed. ‘‘ Behold He cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills.” By these mountains and hills understand the prophets and apostles. And in what sense He came leaping and skipping you shall find explained in the “ Book of generation,” “ Abraham begot Isaac, and Isaac begot Jacob,” etc. From these mountains, as you shall see, grew out the root of Jesse, from which, according to the prediction of the Prophet Isaias, a rod came forth, and from the rod a flower, whereon the sevenfold Spirit hath rested. The same Prophet has declared this more explicitly in another place, where he says, “‘ Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and His name shall becalled Emmanuel, which, being interpreted, is God with us.” For Him Whom before he called a Flower, he here calls Emmanuel, and the rod from which he said the Flower was to spring, he now explains to signify a virgin. However, the consideration of this most profound mystery must be postponed to another day ; for it is a subject that deserves a special sermon to itself, and besides, to-day’s discourse has already been sufficiently prolonged.