Fourth Sermon for Advent: On True and False Virtue and That Our Virtues Must be Modelled on the Virtues of Christ. Length of Days is in (his) Right Hand, and in (his) Left Hand

riches and glory.’’—Prov. iii. 16.

It is fitting, my brethren, that we should celebrate this season of advent with all possible devotion, rejoicing in so great a consolation, marvelling at so great a condescension, inflamed with love by so great a manifestation of charity. But let us not think of that advent only whereby the Son of man has “come to seek and to save that which was lost,” but also of that other by which He will come again and will take us to Himself. Would to God you kept these two advents constantly in your thoughts, revolving them in assiduous meditation, pondering in your hearts how much we have received by the first, how much we are promised at the second! Would to God you were able thus to “ sleep among the midst of lots ”? !* For these two comings of the Lord are the two arms of the Bridegroom, between which the Bride was sleeping when she said, “ His Left Hand is under my head, and His

Right shall embrace me ” ; because, as we read elsewhere, “ Length of days is in (His) Right Hand, and in (His) Left Hand riches and glory.” ‘‘ In His Left Hand riches and glory,” so speaks the inspired author of the Book of Proverbs. Attend to this, ye sons of Adam, slaves to avarice and ambition. What concern have you with earthly riches and temporal glory, which are neither solid nor subject to your dominion ? Silver and gold! What are these but clay of the earth, coloured white and yellow, which the error of men alone makes, or rather reputes, of value? I say they are not subject to your dominion, for if they are, why, then, not take them away with you? But it is written of man, ‘“ When he shall die he shall take nothing away ; nor shall his glory descend with him.” Consequently, my brethren, true riches do not consist in the external goods of fortune, but in the virtues of the soul, which accompany the conscience to judgment and render us everlastingly wealthy. And with regard to glory, the Apostle writes, “Our glory is this, the testimony of our conscience.” This indeed is true glory which comes from the Spirit of truth: “ For the Spirit Himself giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God.” But the glory which is given and received amongst men, who “seek not the glory which is from God alone,” that is only vain glory, because the sons of men are vain. What a fool thou art who consignest thy money to a sack full of holes ! who puttest thy treasure in the mouths of men !* Knowest thou not that this coffer is never closed and has no lock to secure it? How much wiser they who * *“ The glory of men is in their own consciences, not in the mouths of others.” —Imitation of Christ, Bk. II. ch. vi. I. c guard their treasure themselves and refuse to entrust it to others! But shall they keep it always concealed ? Shall it be hidden for ever ? No, surely not. The time will come when the hidden things of the heart shall be made manifest, and when that which was boastfully exhibited shall no longer appear. Hence it is that at the coming of the Bridegroom the lamps of the foolish virgins go out ; hence too they who receive their reward from men are ignored by Christ. Wherefore I say to you, my dearest brethren, it is much more profitable to hide whatever of good we may seem to possess than to make a public display of it. Thus, when beggars solicit an alms, it is their custom to show, not splendid garments, but half-naked bodies, and sores or ulcers if they have them, in order that the heart of the beholder may more quickly be moved to mercy. This practice was observed much better by the publican of the Gospel than by the Pharisee, and therefore it was that “he went down to his house justified rather than the other.”

My brethren, “ the time is that judgment should begin at the house of God.” What shall be the end of them that obey not the Gospel? They that rise not in this judgment, what judgment shall they receive ? Let me tell you: all whosoever are unwilling to be judged by this judgment which now is and in which “the prince of this world is cast out,” must await or rather must fear the coming of the eternal Judge by Whom they shall themselves be cast out together with their prince. Butas for us, let us now judge ourselves strictly, and then securely may “ we look for the Saviour, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Who will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the Body of His glory.” “Then shall the just shine,” those who possessed little learning in thislife being now as resplendent in glory as they that had greater ; for they “ shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” But “ the light of (that) sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days.”

The Saviour, when He comes, “ will reform the body of our lowness, made like to the Body of His glory,” only on condition, however, that He finds our hearts already reformed and made like to the humility of His own Heart. Therefore has He said, “ Learn of Me, because I am meek and humble of Heart.” In connection herewith, I would have you take notice, my brethren, that there are two kinds of humility, the one appertaining to knowledge (or to the understanding), the other belonging to the affections (or to the will). It is this latter which Christ calls humility of the heart. By humility of the understanding we know that we are nothing ; and we learn this humility from ourselves and from the experience of our own infirmity. Humility of the will, or of the heart, enables us to trample under foot the glory of the world; but it is only to be learned from Him Who “ emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant,’’ Who fled when the people desired to make Him King, and Who freely offered Himself when they wished to make Him suffer all kinds of ignominy and the shameful death of the cross. Therefore, if we desire to “ sleep among the midst of lots,” that is to say, if we would rest in security between the two comings of Christ, let our “ wings be covered with silver,” that is, let us express in our lives that form of the virtues which Christ, when present in the flesh, commended to us both by

“« word and example. For silver may be taken not unreasonably as symbolic of His Human Nature, just as gold is understood to represent His Divinity. Accordingly, in as far as every virtue of ours falls short of the pattern given us by Christ, in so far does it fall short of true virtue : no wing that we possess is of any worth to bear us aloft unless it be covered with silver. A powerful wing is evangelical poverty, which enables us to fly speedily to the kingdom of heaven. Observe that the other virtues which follow in the Beatitudes obtain only a promise of this kingdom, to be fulfilled at a future time; but to poverty it is not so much promised as actually given. Hence the reason of the blessedness belonging to the poor isassigned in the present time, “ For theirs 7s the kingdom of heaven ” ; whereas the future is employed in all the other instances, thus, “ Blessed are the meek for they shall possess the land,” “ Blessed are they that mourn for they shall be comforted,” and so on. Butsome even ofthe voluntary poor whom we meet with have not the true poverty beatified by Christ ; because if they had they would not appear so downcast and disconsolate, as being truly kings, aye, kings of heaven. Such are those who desire indeed to be poor, yet on condition that they shall never want for anything ; and they love poverty in such a manner that they will submit to no privation. There are others again who appear to be meek enough so long as there is nothing said or done except what is according to their liking ; but on the slightest occasion, they will show how far they are from true meekness. How can such counterfeit meekness hope to inherit the land, since it does not survive to receive the inheritance ? There are some also whom I see mourning ; but if the tears which flow from their eyes came really from their heart, they would not so easily and so speedily give place to laughter. As it is, however, whilst idle and = jocose words issue forth in greater abundance than did the tears upon which they quickly follow, I cannot believe that it is to such tears the divine consolation has been promised, since unworthy consolation is so soon admitted. There are others still who manifest such ardent zeal against their neighbour’s shortcomings that they might be supposed to “hunger and thirst after justice,’ if only they appeared to judge their own failings with the same rigorous severity. But, as a matter of fact, they do not weigh others in the same balance as themselves, and “diverse weights are an abomination before the Lord.” For whilst with equal impudence and futility they are pouring out their anger upon their brother, they are also just as foolishly and just as idly commending themselves.

Some, too, there are who can be very merciful in regard to things with which they have no concern, who are scandalised if all are not abundantly provided for, yet so that they themselves are made to suffer no inconvenience, even the smallest. Now if such persons would be truly merciful, they ought to exercise mercy at their own expense. And if they cannot show mercy by giving alms out of their earthly substance, they should at any rate grant pardon with a good will to all who may seem to have offended them. They should give the pleasant look and the kind word—which is better than any gift—in order to soften the hearts of their enemies and to bring them to repentance. Moreover, they should give the alms of their compassion and their prayer not only to such as injure them, but likewise to all whom they know to be in a state of sin; otherwise, their mercifulness is a mere pretence, and shall not avail toobtain mercy. We mayalsomeet with some who confess their sins in such a way as to lead one to © think that they are influenced solely by the desire of purifying their hearts, for confession is a laver in which all things are made clean. And yet the fact that they cannot bear to be accused by others of the very faults of which they voluntarily accuse themselves shows that such is not the case. Were they really as anxious as they seem to be cleansed of their stains, instead of feeling irritated, they would rather feel thankful to those who point out to them their failings. And finally there are people who, when they see another scandal-ised even in the least particular, are filled with anxiety, studying how they can restore him to peace; and so they appear to be peace-makers. Yet when something is said or done which seems to give offence to themselves, it takes more time and trouble to calm their own agitation than that of anybody else.* But evidently, if they had a true love of peace, they would seek it for themselves as much as for their neighbours.

Therefore, my brethren, let us silver our wings in the life of Christ, just as the holy martyrs ‘ have washed their robes ” in the Blood of His passion. Let us imitate, as best we can, Him Who loved poverty to such a degree that, although “in His Hand are all the ends of the earth,” He yet “had not where to lay His Head,” so that the disciples who followed Him (so we read), as they went through the corn-fields, compelled by hunger, “ plucked the ears and did eat, knock at thy door, then thy counsel and thy courage fail thee.” —Imitation of Christ, Bk. III. ch. Ivii. :

rubbing them in their hands.” Let us imitate the meekness of Him Who was “led as a sheep to the slaughter ” and was “dumb as a lamb before His shearer and opened not His Mouth.” Let us imitate Him Who wept over Lazarus and over Jerusalem, and Who passed whole nights “in the prayer of God,” but Who is nowhere said to have laughed or jested.* Let us imitate Him Who so hungered and thirsted after justice that, although He had no sins of His own, He nevertheless exacted from Himself so terrible a satisfaction for ours, and on the cross thirsted for nothing else but justice. Let us imitate Him Who refused not to die for His enemies, Who prayed for His executioners, Who, though “ He did no sin,” listened with patience when falsely accused, and Who endured such torments in order to reconcile sinners to Himself.

• Similarly St. John Chrysostom (Homily 14 on 1 Tim.); “ Thou laughest and givest thyself up to mirth : thou, who art a monk by profession, who art crucified, who oughtest rather to weep, thou laughest! Tell me, pray, when did Christ ever act thus? Thou hast never heard of it, but thou hast often read of His being sad. He wept on beholding Jerusalem, He was troubled at the thought of Judas’s treachery, He shed tears when about to call Lazarus from the tomb: and dost thou give way to laughter ? ” St. Bernard probably owed his strict views on jesting to the teaching of his master, St. Benedict, who says in chapter vi. of his Rule, “ But as to jests (scurrtlitates = buffoonery) or idle and jocose words, we utterly condemn them, and forbid the brethren to utter a single word of this kind, under any circumstances.” Yet the Mellifluous Doctor could appreciate innocent pleasantries. Replying to a facetious epistle sent him by Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny, he says (Ep. ccxxviii.) : “ And so thou art pleased to be jocular. Thou art indeed very condescending and sociable. Th letter was most welcome. I read it with avidity, I read it a second time with renewed pleasure, I read it over and over again and always with fresh delight. The humour (jocus), I confess, pleased me very much. It charms by its gracefulness, without offending against decorum. I know not how, with all thy jesting, thou canst still ‘ dispose thy words in judgment,’ so that thy humour detracts nothing from thy deny, and thy dignity is no obstacle to the sprightliness of thy wit.” — (Translator.)