Introduction
Raoul (also known by the Latinized forms Radulfus or Radulphus) was born to a noble family in the Diocese of Poitiers, France, perhaps in the village of Beaulieu, near Bressuire. According to some, he was born in the first half of the 11th century, became a priest and then court preacher of Guillaume (William) IX, count of Poitiers and duke of Aquitaine, considered the first troubadour, and died shortly after joining Guillaume on the Crusade of 1101. More recent research, though, says that Raoul flourished in the 1190s, was a follower of the theologian Gilbert of Poitiers, and court chaplain of Richard I of England, the Lionheart. (Richard I was the younger brother of a different William IX, count of Poitiers, which may have assisted in the confusion.)
Raoul left a large collection of homilies, on the Epistles and Gospels for the various feast days of the year, among other occasions. He also wrote a long, unfinished treatise of systematic theology and ethics called the Speculum universale (Universal Mirror). In addition, there are some letters and a book of history attributed to him. Below is a sermon for Palm Sunday. The source is PL 155:1827D-1830C.
Homily XLV: On Palm Sunday I
Raoul Ardens (12th c.)
So have this mind among yourselves, which is also
in Christ Jesus, Who, though He be in the form of God, did not deem it robbery
to be equal with God (Phil 2:6-7), etc.
The Apostle exhorts us in this reading, beloved brethren, that a
Christian should follow the path which Christ followed. Christ followed humility, obedience, and
patience; and, because of this, He was exalted, and He was given the name which
is above every name (Phil 2:9). As the
first man followed pride, disobedience, and impatience, so, because of this, he
fell. Since, therefore, through these
three vices, the ruin of the human race came to be, it was necessary that,
through three virtues, the contraries of the aforesaid vices, it should be
repaired. But there was a four-fold
pride in the first man: first, because he willed to be equal to his superior,
when he deemed it robbery to be equal with God, which is, properly,
arrogance. Second, because he willed to
extol himself over his equal, namely, the angel, which is, properly,
pride. Third, that he wanted to lived
according to his own law, not God’s, which is, properly, presumption. Fourth, that he strove to defend his sin,
which is, properly, contumacy. In which
we, too, my brethren, imitate the old Adam, when we either strive to equal
ourselves with our superiors, or when we extol ourselves over our equals, or
when we want to do, not God’s, but our own will, or when we defend or excuse
our sins.
In the end, that this four-fold pride be destroyed, Christ,
descending, displayed in himself a four-fold humility: first, since, as is
shown in this reading, He did not deem it robbery to be equal with God. For what He had by nature, He did not assume by
robbery. Second, since He emptied
Himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil 2:7), lower not only than His
co-equals—namely, the Father and the Holy Spirit—but also His inferiors,
namely, the angels. In accord with which,
it is said of Him, to the Father, through the Prophet: You lowered Him a
little lower than the angels (Ps 8:5).
He was also subjected to men, such as Mary and Joseph (Lk 2:51), even
rendering tribute to Caesar (Mt 22:21), and washing the feet of His servants
(Jn 13:1-20). Third, since, in all
things, He sought to do the will of the Father, not His own. Wherefore I descended, He says, from
heaven, not that I might do My will, but the will of Him Who sent Me (Jn
6:38). Fourth, since, when He did not
has His own sins, He bore others’.
Wherefore Peter says, He bore our sins upon the wood (1 Pet
2:24). Wherefore He Himself says, God,
My God, why have You abandoned Me? Far
from My salvation are the words of My offenses (Ps 22:1), calling our
offenses His own.
Let us, therefore, my brethren, follow not the old man Adam,
but Christ, the new man. Let us humble
ourselves not only to our superiors, but also to our coequals and inferiors;
let us seek to do, not our own, but God’s will; let us attend to carrying, not
only the burden of our sins, but also the burden of others’ sins, making
satisfaction and praying.
There was also disobedience in Adam, since he did not want
to obey his Creator in His good, and he obeyed the devil, His enemy, in his
evil. Contrarywise, Christ, as is said,
was made obedient to the Father even unto death (Phil 2:8), and this unto the
salvation of the human race, not His own race, and He did not obey the
devil in hastening unto him. Adam did
not want to obey God in the lightest things, and Christ obeyed the Father in
the hardest. Adam did not want to obey
God either through threats or through promises; Christ obeyed the Father, led
by His own will. Adam did not want to obey
God so that he would live, abstaining from the tree; Christ obeyed the Father,
so that He would merit to be hung on the tree.
Adam, because he was disobedient, lost the dominion which he had over
all worldly creatures; Christ, because He was obedient, was given all power in
heaven and on earth.
Let us therefore flee, brethren, the disobedience of the old
man, lest we be excluded from the inheritance of the heavenly fatherland, but
let us imitate the obedience of the new man, Christ, so that we merit to be glorified
with Him. Moreover, obedience is
necessary, because no good can profit without it, and no evil can do harm with obedience. For though it is good to eat an apple, yet,
through disobedience, it was evil. And
so evil that it forbid, not only the doer, Adam, but also his whole posterity,
from paradise. Although it be good to
sacrifice to God, and to refrain from food through piety, yet, because Saul did
this contrary to obedience, he gravely sinned in this. Wherefore it was also said by Samuel to him: Obedience
is worth more than sacrificial victims (1 Sam 15:22). Contrarywise, though it is evil to steal or
snatch neighbors’ goods, yet the Israelites, despoiling the Egyptians, did not
sin, but rather merited, because they did this through obedience (Ex
12:35-36). Again, though to marry a harlot,
and to sire sons of harlotry, is a grave offense, yet the prophet, doing this
at God’s command, did not sin, but rather profited (Hos 1:2-3). And how good obedience is, many miracles of
the saints have shown. Indeed, it is
said that Maurus, running at the command of Father Benedict, so that he would
snatch the boy Placidus out of the water, walked upon the waters.[1] It is said that another, too, leaping into a
burning oven at the command of the abbot, departed unburned.[2]
Let us therefore love, brethren, obedience in all things,
being obedient to God in all things, and obeying our superiors in all things
which are not against God, knowing that whatever seems useless or idle in
itself, if it is done through obedience, becomes useful and meritorious. There was also impatience in Adam, since he
did not want to suffer the meekest yoke of God, so that, living, he would evade
death. Contrarywise, in Christ, there
was maximum patience, since He bore the hard mandate of the Father, so that,
dying, He would recall the dead to life.
Adam, also, could not suffer most meekly for himself, but Christ
suffered most hardly for others. Adam
could not suffer so to abstain from the tree; Christ sustained so that He would
die on the tree—which death is most cruellest, shameful, and long, wherefore His patience was also greater, and
more abject, and more long-suffering.
For the cruel death is not quick, but slays slowly. Shameful death is reported to occur among
the iniquitous. A long-suffering death
is when one is dissolved by long vexation.
But the iniquitous suffered with Him, but dissimilarly. For, on the left side, the thief suffers
for his own sin and he is not corrected, but he reproaches more, and he is more
deteriorated. Also, on the right side, the
thief suffers for his own sin, and he is corrected; he prays for himself
and is saved. But Christ does not suffer
for His own, but for others’ sins; He prays for enemies, and His virtue is more
and more glorified. Through these three
things, three kinds of patience are signified.
Indeed, through the left thief, they are signified who, scourged for
their sins, do not amend themselves, but they murmur and are reproached the
more. But through the right thief, they
are signified who, scourged for their sins, amend themselves, give thanks, and
are saved. But through Christ, the innocent
are signified, they who, without cause, sustain sufferings patiently,
give thanks, and pray for their enemies, grow more and more clear. Therefore, since Christ was so humble, so
obedient, and so patient, He was exalted at the right hand of the Father, and
He was given a name, which is above every name, so that, namely, He would be
one God, with the Father and the Holy Spirit.
And this, too, is, thuswise, said to be given: since it was by nature
that He was God, grace was given Him according to man. So that in the Name of Jesus every knee—that
is, every power—would bow, heavenly, and earthly, and infernal. And so that every tongue, that is,
every kind of speech, would confess, that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory
of God the Father (Phil 2:10-11).
Therefore, most beloved brethren, if we desire to attain to
God’s glory, let us follow His way. Let
us be humbled, let us obey, let us suffer. For he who is proud, disobedient,
and impatient, does not attain to the way of Christ, but the way of the devil,
and, therefore, with him, he is cast down and damned. For however much we desire to be exalted in
this age instead of humbled, that much more, instead of obeying, we prosper in
worldly lusts instead of suffering corrections; we do not know the things of
God, but those of the devil. Let us,
therefore, humble ourselves, not only to our superiors, but also to our
equals and inferiors. Let us obey God
and our superiors, not by fear, nor for profit, but by love. Let us suffer scourges and tribulations with
equal soul, and let us say that we bear evils, if not innocently (like Christ),
then, like the right-hand thief, because of our own sins, giving thanks, and,
praying for our persecutors, insofar as these passions are purging and useful
for us, so that, with that thief, we might merit to enter paradise. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[1]
See St. Gregory the Great, Dialogues II.VII.
[2] A later chapter in St. Gregory’s Dialogues (II.X) tells of how an idol caused the monks to hallucinate fire in a kitchen until St. Benedict told them of the delusion and bid them to bless their eyes to remove the hallucination. Perhaps Raoul is thinking of this story, or possibly a later expansion of it.
Translation ©2023 Brandon P. Otto. Licensed via CC BY-NC. Feel free to redistribute non-commercially, as long as credit is given to the translator.
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