Sermon for the Feast of the Holy Innocents: On the Three Kinds of Sanctity or Martyr- Dom, Represented by St. Stephen, St. John Evangelist, and the Holy Innocents

“ Out of the mouth of infants and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise.”-—Ps. viii. 3.

“Blessed is He That cometh in the name of the Lord. The Lord is God, and hath shined upon us.” So speaks the Psalmist. And the Prophet Daniel says, “Blessed is the name of His glory, which is holy.” It was not in vain, my brethren, that the Holy One was born of Mary, seeing that thereby both the name and the grace of His sanctity have been so widely diffused. For it is by participation in His holiness that Stephen and John and the Innocents are holy. Therefore it has been wisely ordained that the solemnities in honour of these saints should immediately follow that of the Lord’s nativity ; because not only does such a succession of feasts keep alive our devotion, but it also makes more clearly manifest to us the fruit of Christ’s coming, by representing these three festivals as a continuation, so to speak, of Christmas. You may have noticed that in the same three solemnities we celebrate three distinct kinds of sanctity. Nor will it be easy to discover any human sanctity which does not belong to one of the three. For in St. Stephen we have

L 417 2D both the will and the act of martyrdom ; in St. John Evangelist we have the will without the act; whilst in the Holy Innocents we have the act without the will. All of them drank the chalice of salvation, either in act and will together, or in will alone, or in act alone. “ My chalice indeed you shall drink,” said the Lord to James and John, speaking no doubt of the chalice of His passion. And when He said to Peter, “ Follow Me,” inviting him, as is evident, to imitate Himself by martyrdom, “‘ Peter, turning about, saw that disciple whom Jesus loved following,” not so much with his bodily feet as with the feet of his fervent devotion. Therefore John also drank the chalice of suffering, and followed his Lord, like Peter, although not like Peter in every way. For that he so remained as not to follow his Master even by a visible martyrdom was due to the divine will, ‘‘So will I have him to remain,” answered Jesus to Peter, “ till I come. What is it to thee? ” As if He should say, “ He indeed desires to follow Me, but it is My will that he shall remain.”

Who has any doubt that the Holy Innocents have received the martyr’s crown ? He who does not admit this, who does not admit that the crown of martyrdom has been the reward of the infants slain for Christ, ought also to disbelieve that infants regenerated in Christ are numbered amongst the children of adoption.

For how could that Little One Who was born not — against us but for us, have suffered so many other little ones of His own time to be slaughtered on His account, when with the will He might have prevented it, unless He had prepared for them something more precious than the life they were robbed of? We may then suppose that the martyrdom they endured for Christ’s sake was sufficient to sanctify them, just as circumcision sufficed for the salvation of other infants at that time,* and as baptism suffices now, without any voluntary co-operation. And if you ask what was their merit before God that they should becrowned, inquire also what was their crime against Herod that they should be slain. Shall the mercy and love of Christ, think you, be out-done by Herod’s wickedness, so that He shall not have power to crown the infants done to death for His sake, whilst the tyrant is permitted to massacre the innocent ? Let us say, therefore, that Stephen is a martyr to the eyes of men, the voluntariness of whose suffering was shown by this especially, that at the very moment of death he manifested more solicitude for his persecutors than for himself, as if the interior affection of compassion overcame in him the sense of bodily pain ; for he grieved more for their crimes than for his own wounds. Let us say that John was a martyr to the eyes of the angels, who, as being spiritual creatures, could discern more surely the interior evidences of his ardent desire. But the Innocents were truly and in a special sense Thy martyrs, O Lord, because the power and excellence of Thy grace Thou hast clearly manifested in them, in whom neither men. nor angels could discover any merit. Thus, as the Psalmist predicted, “‘ out of the mouth of infants and sucklings Thou hast perfected praise.” “Glory to God in the highest,” sang the angels, “and on earth peace to men of good will.” That, my brethren, was great praise, indeed: but I make bold to affirm, it was as yet imperfect, until the coming of Him Who should say, “Suffer the little children and forbid them not to come to Me, for the kingdom of heaven is for such,” and until there should be peace for men in the sacrament of mercy even without the co-operation of their own will. Let those who are fond of disputing so contentiously about the intention and the act weigh these things well. Let them observe and consider that neither must be neglected even when both are not in our power ; especially because, where we cannot have the two, either without the other may suffice, not only for salvation, but even for sanctification. But let them be firmly persuaded of this also, that although the act without the intention may be enough for salvation, the act against the intention profiteth nothing ; so that the very same thing—the mere external act—which for the infant merits a crown, becomes for the hypocrite a cause of damnation. Furthermore, the intention is sometimes sufficient without the act, yet not against the act- To give you an example. A person dies with a will that is good indeed, but not perfect, not adequate to the enduring of martyrdom. Will anyone dare to deny him salvation because of this imperfection? Perhaps the very reason why God did not allow him to sustain so grievous a trial was lest he should sink under it, and so be lost. For were he subjected to an ordeal too trying for his imperfect will, and received at the same time no special succour of grace, can there beany doubt that he would yield, that he would deny the faith and, dying in his apostasy, would perish for ever ? “He that shall deny Me before men,” says the Lord, “I will also deny Him before my Father Who is in heaven.” Therefore, that imperfect will, which now is sufficient to save him whilst there is no opportunity for the act, would then be of no avail, because of the defect of the act when the occasion has been provided, or rather I should say, because of the act of defection. The same thing might happen through ignorance.* Let us, therefore, my brethren, have zeal for charity, and apply ourselves diligently to the practice of good works, never making light of any sins, even sins of - ignorance and frailty. Let us rather, with all fear and solicitude, return thanks to our most kind and generous Redeemer, Who seeks out occasions for saving human souls with such abounding love that He is delighted not only when in some He discovers both the will and the act, but also when He finds in others either the will without the act or the act without the will. For He “ will have all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” And “this is eternal life that (we) may know Thee, (O Father) the only true God, and Jesus Christ Whom Thou hast sent,” and Who is also with Thee the one true God, over all things, and blessed for evermore Amen.

CIRCUMCISION.