Third Sermon for the Feast of the Epiphany: On Imitating Herod and the Magi and on the Virtues Commended in the Different Manifestations

“ Where is He That is born King of the Jews ? ’’—Matt. ii. 11.

I think it necessary, my brethren, according to my custom on other festivals, to explain to you the meaning of the present solemnity also. Sometimes I preach to you dehortative discourses on the subject of vice, and sermons of this kind are indeed very useful. It seems to me, however, that they are more suitable for ordinary days. But on festivals, and particularly on the principal feasts, I think we should rather occupy ourselves with what belongs to the mystery commemorated, so that our minds may be instructed and our affections excited. For how can you celebrate an event which you know not? Or how can you know if it be not announced to you? Wherefore, let it not seem burdensome to such as are learned in the law, if I accommodate myself to the capacity of the less enlightened, as the order of charity requires. Nor do I think that they shall be defrauded of their own proper aliments, if they will only allow the more simple, the common people, as it were, to be served first with the coarser meats. And they will show themselves thus willing if, out of regard for fraternal charity, they accept contentedly what is needful for at the uninstructed, although it may seem unnecessary to themselves. For they may afterwards gather up the fragments (John vi. 12) for their own use, by diligently reflecting on the points of greater subtlety, and, like “clean animals’’ (Gen. vii. 2), ruminating the delicate morsels which the less discerning pass over. The name of the present solemnity, therefore, signifies an Apparition or Manifestation, such being the meaning of the Greek word Epiphany (èrmıpávera). We are, consequently, celebrating to-day the manifestation of the Lord, not a single manifestation, however, but a threefold, as we have heard from our fathers. For on this day our Infant King, so soon after His nativity, was revealed by the guiding star to the first-fruits of the Gentiles. On this day also, when He Who, according to His Divinity, is “ always the self-same and His years do not fail” (Ps. ci. 28), had already lived nearly thirty years in His mortal condition, He came to the Jordan, concealed in the crowds, and presented Himself to John to be baptised, but was made manifest by the testimony of God the Father. On this day, again, the wine failing at a marriage feast to which He had been invited with His followers, by an admirable exhibition of supernatural power, He changed water into wine. But I desire to dwell more particularly upon the manifestation of our Saviour as an Infant, both because it is so much sweeter than either of the other two, and also because, as you know, it is more especially commemorated in the solemnity of to-day. To-day, then, as we are told in the Gospel, the Magi came from the Orient to Jerusalem. Rightly are they said to come from the Orient, since they announce to us the rising of the Sun of Justice and fill the whole

IMITATING HEROD AND THE MAGI 23 world with their gladsome tidings: the whole world, except perhaps unhappy Judaea, which, as hating the light, is only blinded still more by the brilliancy of the new dawn, and her dimmed eyes rendered darker than ever by the dazzling rays of the Eternal Sun. Let us hear now what the Magi said on arriving at Jerusalem from the East. ‘‘ Where is He That is born King of the Jews?” What steadfast faith, and how absolutely undoubting! They do not inquire if He has been born; but they speak with full confidence and ask unhesitatingly, “ Where is He That is born King of the Jews?” The mention of a new-born King alarms King Herod, who begins to suspect the advent of a rival. It is nothing wonderful, however, that Herod should be troubled thereat. But who can read without astonishment that Jerusalem, the city of God, the very name of which signifies ‘‘ the vision of peace ’’—that “all Jerusalem was troubled with him ” (Matt. ii. 3)? You perceive, my brethren, how much mischief may be done to a state by a wicked ruler, and how an ungodly king can form his subjects to the likeness of his own impiety. Unhappy indeed is the nation which is governed by a Herod, because it shall undoubtedly become a participant in Herod’s guilt, and shall be troubled with Herod at every new birth of salvation. I trust that, by the help of God, no Herod shall ever rule over us, even though—which heaven forbid—one should be found in our society. For he is a Herod in malice and a Babylonian in cruelty whosoever attempts to destroy a newly-inspired religious sentiment and to “dash against the rock the little ones ”? of Israel (Ps. cxxxvi. 9). I mean to say whosoever resists or opposes even the first beginnings of pious affections or salutary inspirations in his soul is manifestly striving with the Egyptians to murder the children of the Hebrew race, and persecutes with Herod the new-born Saviour. But let us now return to the inspired narrative which we have undertaken to study ; for I am sure that if anyone here is conscious of the wickedness whereof I have been speaking, he will for the future be more watchful over himself, and will put away from him with horror the disposition of Herod, lest otherwise he should meet with the fate of Herod.

Well, then. The Magi having inquired concerning the new-born King of the Jews, King Herod interrogated the scribes as to the Saviour’s birthplace. They answered by giving the name of the city for which, according to the Prophet’s prediction, that honour was destined. Now it happened that when the travellers resumed their journey and had left Jerusalem, ‘“‘ behold the star which they had seen in the East, went before them ” (Matt. ii. 9). Thus, as is clear, they were given to understand that it was through seeking for human counsel they had lost the divine guidance, and that their demand for natural evidence had been punished by the withdrawal of the heavenly light. And hence, on parting from Herod, “ they rejoiced with exceeding great joy,” because “the star again went before them, until it stood over where the Child was.” Then “ entering into the house, they found the Child with Mary His Mother, and falling down they adored Him” (ibid. rr). Tell me, O strangers, how such light has come to you? For “TI have not found so great faith in Israel” (Matt. viii. ro). A common stable for a dwelling-place, a manger for a cradle: how is it you

IMITATING HEROD AND THE MAGI 25 do not turn away in disgust ? How is it you are not scandalised at the appearance of the poor Mother and of the Infant at the breast ?

But, as the Evangelist goes on, “ opening their treasures, they offered Him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” Had they offered nothing but gold, it would have seemed perhaps that they simply wished to’ consult for the Mother’s poverty, providing her with the means of bringing up her infant Son. But since, along with the gold, they offered frankincense and myrrh, we have good reason to suspect that by these gifts they meant to symbolise offerings of a spiritual kind. Now amongst the treasures of this world, gold appears to be reputed the most precious, and this we have all of us devotedly offered to the Saviour through His grace, by entirely renouncing the world and the riches thereof for His name’s sake. But it is further necessary that, after utterly repudiating all earthly possessions, we should now long with most ardent desire for the riches of heaven. Thus we offer to the Lord the sweet odour of incense ; for incense symbolises the prayers of the saints, as you may read in the Apocalypse of St. John (Apoc. v. 8). Hence the Royal Prophet also sings in one of his psalms, “ Let my prayer be directed as incense in Thy sight” (Ps. cl. 2). So too it is said in another place, ‘‘ The prayer of the just man pierceth the heavens ” * (Ecclus. XXXV. 21)—the prayer, observe, not of every man,

*: “ Oratio justi coelos penetrat.” The Vulgate has, “ Oratio humiliantis se coelos penetrabit ’’—the prayer of him that humbleth himself shall pierce the heavens. There is, however, but little difference in the sense, For as the Saint says (Sermon XLVII. on the Canticle of Canticles), “ Who is the just man but the humble man ? ’—(Translator.)

but only of the just man. For “he that turneth away his ears from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an abomination ” (Prov. xxviii. 9).

Moreover, if thou desirest to be just and art unwilling to turn away thine ear from hearing the commandments of the Lord, lest the Lord should likewise turn away His ear from thy prayers: it is necessary for thee not only to despise this present world, but also to chastise thine own flesh “ and bring it into subjection ” (í Cor. ix. 27). For He Who said, “ Every one of you that doth not renounce all that he possesseth cannot be My disciple ” (Luke xiv. 33), and elsewhere, “ If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and come, follow Me” (Matt. xix. 21): the Same has also said in another place, “ If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke ix. 23)— which the Apostle explains for us where he writes, “They that are Christ’s have crucified their flesh with the vices and concupiscences’’ (Gal. v. 24). Let our prayer, consequently, soar aloft on the two wings of contempt of the world and mortification of the flesh ; then there can be no doubt that it will pierce the heavens, and be directed as incense in the sight of the Lord. For then our sacrifice will be pleasing and our oblation acceptable, as including the myrrh now together with the gold and the frankincense. Myrrh is pungent indeed, nevertheless it is very useful, and preserves “the body which is dead because of sin” (Rom. viii. 10) from being dissolved in the corruption of vice. These few remarks are sufficient to show you how you may imitate the oblation of the Magi.

But inasmuch as I have spoken of the vocation of

IMITATING HEROD AND THE MAGI 27 the Magi as an apparition or manifestation, it is worth our while to examine and see what was manifested to them. Now, according to the testimony of St. Paul, “the benignity and Humanity of God our Saviour appeared ” or became manifest (Titus iii. 4). And in truth we have just heard from the Gospel how the Magi, “ entering into the house, found the Child with Mary, His Mother.” In this infant Body, so fondly clasped to the Mother’s virginal breast, what else is apparent except the reality of the Flesh assumed ? And the fact that the Child is found with His Mother, what else does it signify save that He is a true Man and a true Son of man? But in the second manifestation, at the river Jordan, see if He is not openly proclaimed to be the Son of God by the voice of the Father. For the heavens were opened above His head, and the Holy Ghost descended upon Him, in bodily — shape, in the form of a dove, and the Father’s voice was heard, saying, “ This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased ” (Matt. iii. 16, 17). This testimony makes it manifest enough, makes it evident and indubitable, that Christ is truly God, since the Son ot God must Himself be God by necessary consequence. For are not the sons of men called men, and even in the case of the irrational animals, are not the offspring regarded by all as belonging to the same species as the parents? Nevertheless, so that no room at all might be left for sacrilegious error, He Who in the first manifestation was revealed as a true Man and a true Son of man, and in the second as the true Son of God, the Same now manifests Himself in the third as the true God, and the Omnipotent Author of nature whose course He changes at His pleasure. Therefore, my dearest brethren, let us love Jesus Christ as a true Man and our Brother, let us honour Him as the Son of God, let us adore Him as very God. Let us confidently believe in Him, let us confidently entrust ourselves to Him, Who neither lacks the power to save us, since He is true God and the Son of God, nor the good will to save us, since He is as one of ourselves, a true Man and our true Brother. For how can He be inexorable to us for whose sake He has made Himself “like unto us passible ”? (James v. 17) ?

If you desire to hear now, in connection with these manifestations, something which may be useful for your spiritual advancement, observe that in the first apparition Christ shows Himself as a little Child in the arms of His Virgin Mother, in order to teach us that simplicity and modesty must besought before everything else. For simplicity belongs naturally to children, whilst modesty is the virtue characteristic of virgins. We may suppose then, that there is no virtue more indispensable for us all at the beginning of our conversion than humble simplicity and modest gravity. In the second manifestation Christ comes to the waters of baptism, not however to be cleansed, but to receive testimony from His Father. These waters, my brethren, represent the tears of devotion wherewith we no longer seek the forgiveness of our faults but only the Father’s good pleasure : when there descends upon us “the Spirit of adoption of sons” Who “ giveth testimony to our spirit that we are the sons of God ” (Rom. viii. 15, 16); so that we seem to hear the mellifluous voice sounding from heaven and giving assurance to our conscience that God the Father is well pleased with us. There is a vast difference

IMITATING HEROD AND THE MAGI 29 between such devotional tears, which belong, so to speak, to our spiritual maturity, and those which are shed at the beginning of our spiritual life, accompanied with infantine wailing: I mean the tears of confession and repentance. But far more precious than either are those other tears which are flavoured with the sweetness of wine. For it may be said with truth that the tears of fraternal compassion are changed into wine as they flow forth in the fervour of charity, which soberly inebriating, can sometimes make a man appear forgetful of himself, if only for the space of a single hour.