St. Maximus of Turin: On the Forty-Day Fast II (Homily 38)

 For an introduction to St. Maximus (or what little is known of him), see my translation of Homily 37, the first homily on the Forty-Day Fast.  Other translations of St. Maximus include Sermon on the Nativity II (Sermon 4) and Sermon on the Epiphany (Sermon 7).  As in my previous Lenten translation from St. Maximus, paragraph divisions below are my own.

Homily XXXVIII

On the Forty-Day Fast II

Yesterday, preaching the devotion of the Holy Forty Days, we offered the examples of the holy letters, by which we proved that this number of forty is not constituted by men, but divinely consecrated, not found by earthly thought, but a precept of heavenly majesty. And, therefore, he who breaks the constituted number by eating on one day is not accused as a violator of one day, but is charged as the transgressor of the whole Forty Days. Wherefore is it good for man to fast for the aforesaid number, without labor, and to pursue the sanctity of the whole Forty Days equally. But these are not the precepts of priests, but of God. And, therefore, he who spurns [them] spurns, not a priest, but Christ, Who speaks in His priest. Therefore, let us see at what time the Lord appointed us to this observance, since He willed all the elements to profit through this devotion.

For, behold, in the appointed Forty Days, the earth, bound up by wintry ice, is loosened, and the currents of the waters receive their paths, the ice being melted; so, too, in our bodies, at this time, the sins bound up in rigidities are unloosed, and our lives, in a purer course, the rigor of the devil being melted, recall their original path. The earth, I say, in the appointed Forty Days, sets aside the bitterness of winter; I, in the appointed Forty Days, relinquish the bitterness of transgressions. That earth is split by plows, so that it be fitting for worldly crops; my earth is plowed by fasts, so that it be apt for heavenly seeds. For just as he who more frequently, toiling, works the field, gains a richer return, so he who more often, fasting, works the field of his body, receives greater grace. For, behold, through a time of abstinence, the grass restrengthens in the harvested field, the shoot of the tree strives in the trunk, the sprigs of the vine ripen to gems, and everything lifts itself up from the lesser to the higher; so, at this same time, the deadened hope of men revives unto posterity, lost faith is repaired unto glory, temporal life advances unto eternity, and all the human race, lifting itself up to heavenly things, rises from the lower to the higher. Now the farmer, bearing iron, prunes the shoots of the vines. So, too, now the bishop, treating of the Gospel, cuts off the filth of the peoples, and, in that same forty-day course, all creatures do this, so that, having put aside superfluous things, they might advance to Pascha adorned or arranged.

Now, everything is in labor, and, then, it will be found in fruit. For, then, in contrast to nature’s kind, the thorn offers a rose, the reed smells of lily, the withered sticks give off sweetness; so, too, everything is adorned with flowers, so that that creature is believed to celebrate the festivity of the great day by its own striving. Therefore, let us, too, in this same time of fasts, produce roses from our thorns, that is, justice from sins, mercy from severity, largess from greed. For those are the thorns of our body, which choke off the soul, of which Scripture says, Thorns and thistles the earth will germinate unto you (Gen 3:18). For my earth germinates thorns unto me, if bodily lust pricks me with tribulation.¹ It generates thistles for me, when it tortures me through the desire for worldly riches. For the thorn, for the Christian, is the root of his greed; the thorn, for the good man, is the ambition for honor; for, in appearance, they seem to be pleasing in themselves, but they harm. Therefore, except by keeping vigil and fasting, we cannot be without these; however, through abstinence, these thorns turn into a rose. For, by fasting, lust produces chastity, pride, humility, sobriety, moderation. For these are the flowers of our life, which smell sweet to Christ, which breathe forth a good scent to God. Wherefore the Apostle says, Since we are the good scent of Christ to God (2 Cor 2:15).

Therefore, the Lord lavished this Forty Days upon us, so that, through the space of this time, in the custom of every creature, we might now conceive the sprouts of virtues, so that, on the day of Pascha, we might proffer the fruit of justice. But, for this number of forty days, the Lord Himself exercised Himself, not so that He might gain advancement, but so that He might show us the advancement of salvation. For there was no thorn of sin in Him, which would turn into a flower; for He Himself was the flower born, not of a thorn, but of a rod, as the prophet says: A rod will go out from the root of Jesse and a flower from his root will ascend (Is 11:1); for the rod was Mary, shining, slender, and virgin,² who germinated Christ like a flower through the integrity of her body.

Therefore, continuing through forty days, the Lord kept this fasting without hunger, but that Evangelist says that He was hungry afterwards (Mt 4:2). How, then, could this be, that He Who did not feel hunger and thirst for such a number of days, hungered afterwards? Clearly, He had hungered, nor can we deny that He hungered; for He hungered, not for the food of men, but for salvation; nor did He desire feasts of worldly dishes, but He desired the heavenly holiness for souls. For Christ’s food is the redemption of peoples; Christ’s food is the effecting of the Father’s will; for He Himself says, My food is that I might do the will of the Father, Who sent Me (Jn 4:34). Wherefore, let us also hunger for food, not that which is arranged in earthly feasts, but that which is gathered in the reading of the divine Scriptures. For that [food] nourishes the body for a time, this one refreshes the soul unto eternity. The end.

1There is a pun here with the Latin word for thistles (tribulos), used in the verse just quoted.

2The Latin word for rod is virga, while virgin is virgo. This wordplay is ubiquitous among Latin writers in discussing this verse of Isaiah.

 

 

Source: PL 57:308C-310C.

Translation ©2024 Brandon P. Otto.  Licensed via CC BY-NC.  Feel free to redistribute non-commercially, as long as credit is given to the translator.

 

St. Maximus of Turin: On the Forty-Day Fast I (Homily 37)

 Introduction

Little is known of St. Maximus, besides his writings and the fact that he was Bishop of Turin. It is thought he was a native of Rhaetia, in modern northern Italy, possibly born in the town of Vercelli. Some think he is the same Maximus who attended a few local synods and councils—the Synod of Milan in 451 and the Council of Rome in 465 (thus giving him a much longer life), but there is no certainty. What has truly cemented his legacy is a large collection of homilies and sermons, along with a few treatises.

This homily is the first in a series of 8 on "the Forty-Day Fast" (De jejunio Quadragesimæ), that is, Lent.  I have previously translated his Sermon on the Nativity II (Sermon 4), and his Sermon on Epiphany (Sermon 7).  It should be noted that Maximus' "sermons" and "homilies" are two complete separate sets of writings, with separate numberings.  Paragraph divisions below are my own; the Latin text I used prints the whole homily in one block.

Homily XXXVII

On the Forty-Day Fast I

You have heard, beloved, as the evangelical trumpet sounds it, that our Lord and Redeemer, against the temptations of the devil, indeed fought with words, but strove with the spirit; for He waged the struggle in speech, but He executed victory in majesty. Nor should we deem the conflict to be without a great mystery in this way, the conflict in which either the approaching devil overcomes in words, or the Lord of things, nevertheless, deigns to respond to His tempter with words. But in all this things, our salvation is the reason. For us the Savior went hungry; for us He spoke; we conquered in Him, since we were the cause of His fighting. For who would doubt that the Only-Begotten of the Father, Whom no creature could oppose, took up the struggle on behalf of those in whose flesh He dressed Himself? Therefore, the form of the human body persuaded the shrewdest enemy to approach, whom the true Son of God confused through a true man’s response. Because of which, wandering and uncertain, the tempter seeks out tender and terrible temptations, for, since he beheld the appearance of fleshly man in Christ, yet the presence of His divinity was hidden, he took up arms against He Who is more than man. Therefore, the feminine birth-giving animated him to presume sexual congress, but the virginity of the birth-giver terrified him, since Mary—certainly Eve’s daughter—gave birth to Christ, yet she did not conceive from Adam.

Therefore, when the enemy saw God’s Son procreated through such a miracle, he turned back on himself, so that he would deliberate, and, wondering, he said, “Who is this who, without my knowledge, entered this world? For I know that he is born of a woman, but I don’t know whence he was conceived. Behold, the mother is present, but I can’t figure out the father. I see the birth, but I don’t know the one who is born; and—what increases my stupor—the mother, though she has given forth a son, exults like a virgin, which is not customary to the law of birth-giving. The little one lies in swaddling clothes, he soaks the swaddle with his tears, and he seems to be like mortals in his cries, and, though nothing of infancy is lacking n him, yet no corruption is in him, as in an infant. Bound up, he soils the rags, but heaven smiles at him with the ray of a more joyful star, and angels run between the stars and the lands in his honor, ministering to him, and, exulting, they announce a newness I don’t understand. What is this miracle? I see what I can’t turn away from, I hear what I can’t bear: that a new-born man is honored as God. Never, from the ages, have I encountered this, that someone is born a man and has nothing of human vices. What is this so new and powerful generation? Born among sinners and impious men, and coming forth from a mortal mother, he appears, to me, more purified than all those who are born and purer than heaven itself. No root of avarice rises up in him, no envy beats upon his heart, his tongue does not know lies, his eyes accept no concupiscence, neither ear is softened by lust; certainly, luxury, through which I subjected the human race to me, cannot penetrated his breast; no boasting is in him, no malice. And what more? I find in him nothing which delights me; he casts out all of my urges. What will I do? To whom shall I turn? I feel something stronger; I think he wants to reign in my kingdom—perhaps this is God, Whom no offense can stain. But if it is God, how does he bear the indignities of a woman’s birth-giving? How is content in cradles and rags? Who could believe an infant’s cry in God? To what listener is it not ridiculous that God would be nourished by a woman’s milk? Behold, after everyt8ing, he is hungry, when, certainly, no reason would persuade God to go hungry.”

The devil was excessively ignorant, since the fact that Christ preferred an infant’s food, and that He was hungry like a man, was not due to the body’s weakness, but to the sacrament of heavenly grace. For God’s Son, Whom timeless eternity befits, alongside the sempiternal Father, Who, with His begetter, naturally impassible, reigns in the incorrupt empire, performs the saving mystery in our flesh; and, for this reason, He submits to the common passion of mortals, so that He would triumph over the enemy of the human race in a contest, wherefore that reckless one, blinded by his rage, said to the Lord, If you are the Son of God, speak, so that this stones would become bread (Mt 4:3). Most stupid and empty is this ambush of his: through bread he means to tempt Him Who is bread, thinking that He would work for food-money, He Who preferred voluntary hunger! To which the Lord responded: It is written: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word of God” (Mt 4:4; Dt 8:3). That is to say: “In vain, devil, do you again strive to supplant through food; it was sufficient for you to persuade Adam with illicit foods in paradise for him to be deceived by you. Hunger does not conquer me, nor do I yield to your persuasions, for the will of God is My food: the word of God is my perfect refection.” Beaten back by this sentence, again, so I think, the devil said: “What is this thing? I see him hungering, and I don’t find a need for eating; he suffers everything like a man, and he conquers everything like God. That Adam, certainly made by God’s hands, once yield to my snares; this one, born of a women, is not bowed by his needs nor does he acquiesce to my counsels; I overcame that one by the serpent’s mouth, this one condemns me even when I myself speak.” Again, setting the Lord upon the pinnacle of the temple, he said: If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down (Mt 4:6). Troubled, he spoke these things to Him Whom he thought he could persuade to a fall, Him Whom no bread could convince. To which Christ responded, It is written: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Mt 4:7; Dt 6:16). That is, “what you are suggesting, devil, is the presumption of temptation, not the counsel of sanity, the vanity of leaping forth, not the example of virtue; for empty is every miracle which is not performed for the purpose of man’s salvation.” And, foiled by this response of the Lord, he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their honors, saying: All these things I will give you, if, falling down, you adore me (Mt 4:9). To which, again, He responded: It is written: “You shall adore the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve” (Mt 4:10; Dt 6:13). That is, “he who adores you, devil, is not owed kingdoms, but hell. For to adore the true God and to serve Him is the prerogative of ruling; but you, who promise the honors of the world in exchange for the expected transgression, you do not know how to give yourself rule.” Behold, tempter, now a three-fold interrogation has profited nothing; uncertain he came, more uncertain he returned; he assaulted so to prove, reproved, he drew back.

Therefore, now, beloved brethren, since, having recalled the victories of the Lord’s fasting, we have come to know the triumph of our salvation, let us sanctify our fast with religious services. But what else is “sanctifying the fast” but wanting to fast for a holy cause, doing just deeds, avoiding iniquities? He sanctifies the fast whose heart the adulation of powerful friends and the graces of relatives, and the little and great gift-lefts of clients do not turn away from the right path. He sanctifies his fast whose heart does not revile justice. He sanctifies the fast who extinguishes the flames of ferocious wrath with the placability of a meek mind. He sanctifies the fast who turns lusting eyes away form the filthy sight through the reins of chastity. He sanctifies the fast who scatters the darts of revilers, beating them back with the shield of patience. He sanctifies the fast who calms the tumult of lawyers with speech of peaceful sanity and a tongue of more prudent art. He sanctifies the fast who cuts out the thorns of vain thoughts rising up within him, throwing them up with the plough of the Gospel, like some ploughman of his own breast. He sanctifies the fast who aids the poverty of the needy according to the amount of his goods, with a hand of pitying humanity. He most of all sanctifies the fast who, focused on the precepts of the divine law, spits the diabolical temptations out of his heart. And, therefore, beloved brethren, if we want to show God an appeasing fast, let us be strong in heart, just in judgments, faithful in friendship, patient in injuries, moderate in contentions, let us flee foul speech, standing against iniquities, sober in feasts, simple in charity, cautious among crafty, consoling the mournful, resisting arrogance, sparing in suspicions, hold-tongued among ill-speakers, coequal among the humble. If we want to sanctify our fast through such virtues, giving tribute to the Lord, we will come to the festival of Paschal grace and to the joys of the heavenly promises with undoubting trust and a more joyful conscience.

 

Source: PL 57:303D-308B.

Translation ©2024 Brandon P. Otto.  Licensed via CC BY-NC.  Feel free to redistribute non-commercially, as long as credit is given to the translator.

St. John of Ávila: Sermon 65.1 on the Annunciation / Treatise 1 on Mary: Part I

 Introduction

St. Juan de Ávila (1499-1569) was an Andalusian priest and preacher, brought to new prominence upon being named a Doctor of the Church by the late Pope Benedict XVI on October 7, 2012.  Though he tried to arrange a fraternal community of priests, little came of it outside his immediate circle, and, towards the end of his life, he started sending his interested disciples to the Jesuits.  The majority of his work was focused on being a preacher, for which he was nicknamed the "Apostle of Andalusia."  He was also the first rector of the University of Baeza, which became a model for Jesuit seminaries.  His process of veneration was slow: declared Venerable in 1759 (during the investigation for which the Vatican misplaced manuscripts for dozens of his works), he was not beatified until 1894 and not canonized until 1970.

Being primarily a preacher, it is fitting that a large portion of his writings consists of sermons.  Oddly, when many of these were originally published, shortly after his death, they were instead labelled "Treatises" (tratados).  The most well-known of these is the set of "Treatises on the Most Holy Sacrament," consisting of many, many sermons given around the Feast of Corpus Christi.  There were also groups of "treatises" related to Mary and the Coming of the Holy Spirit.  The sermon begun below was originally published as the first treatise of a set of 10 on the feasts of Mary; in the critical edition of St. John's works, it is labelled Sermon 65.1.  (There is another partial draft of this sermon, which is given the number 65.2.)  I originally translated this sermon from an early edition, where it was labelled a "treatise": there are many textual differences between this and the critical edition of the text, which is taken from a manuscript.  The version I have given below is the text of the original "treatise" edition, though I have broken it up with subheadings borrowed from the critical edition.  Sources for both versions are given at the end.

First Treatise: On the Incarnation of the Son of God

Sermon 65.1: "This Business Is Full of Love"

 

Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. (Lk 1:38)

[Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to your word.]

Exordium: A Day of Good News

Today is the day of good news: if we are silent, a great fault will be ours. Today God became man for men; if He became a stone, what would the stones do today? What thanks they would give Him for such a great mercy and compassion!

The good news that such a day as today brought into the world was first made known to the most sacred Virgin Our Lady, and the true Mother of God. And because, each day that we preach, we say the salutation, asking grace for the Virgin, it is good that we should say it today, since, on such a day as today, it was said.

Gospel of the Annunciation

The holy Gospel recounts today this holy salutation and happy news. Missus est Angelus Gabriel a Deo [The Angel Gabriel was sent by God] (Lk 1:26). When God willed to perform mercy for the world, when He willed to show how far His love reached, I wandered, looking for what day it was, how to name it, and I could not find or know how to give a name to the day which is today. A day of such news, let us call it the day of the mercies of God. Bless the Lord, all His works (Dan 3:57). If we call it the day of the mercies of the world, it is so: if the day of the redemption of captives, it is so; if we call it the day of dispensation, it is so: if the day of giving great alms, it is so too. He Who knew and performed mercy, He knows what will make us understand the day which is today, and He makes us understand how great is the grace which the world received today, and He places it in our hearts, so that we would recognize it and give thanks.

When the time came for God to unfold His mercies in the world, the time to teach men how far it reached, when His mercy was extended—how far?—St. Ambrose says: “You who read this, see the letter and note the most holy mystery; married and pregnant, married with a man, and pregnant with God: married, and pregnant by the Holy Spirit: note so high a mystery.”¹ Each one of our Christian Churches is married with one, and pregnant with other: married with the Prelate, with the Pastor, and pregnant with the other, Who is God eternal: married with man, and pregnant with God, Who is the Prelate, and the Preacher. Souls are married with Him, but there, within, Jesus Christ enters into his innards, and makes them fecund with His virtue and with His word, so that they produce salutary fruits. I do not know how to speak this holy mystery.

“I will hide” (says God) “this from your eyes, this which I do, this great secret no one will know how to speak, no understanding of flesh will reach it (cf. Is 6:10). I know it well, that, on that day, I will remove the ill of the earth, I will remove the sins of the world, I will wash all your stains (cf. Zac 3:9).” Glory be to You, Lord, forever.

The Prophet Daniel said the same thing about today: Consummetur prævaricatio, & finem accipiat peccatum, et deleatur iniquitas, & adducatur justitia sempiterna, & impleatur visio, & prophetia, & ungatur Sanctus Sanctorum (Dan 9:24): he said, that, at this time, the prevarication would be finished, sin would be removed, sempiternal justice would be brought, visions would be completed, when the Holy of Holies were anointed. Today, sin is removed and will be removed, and justice is given. Thus if, in every sermon, we say the salutation to the Virgin, today there is much more reason for it to be there than at any other time.

Since the time came in which God willed to give His mercy, and to teach how far the love which He has for men reached, God sent His messenger, an Archangel, with the embassy, so that he would go bring it to the Virgin. Thus Abraham did when he sent for a spouse for his son Isaac (Gen 24). God calls a Great One of His house, an Archangel, gives Him an embassy, which he goes to bring to a maiden betrothed with a man, whose name was Joseph, and her name was Mary. Oh, blessed be God, that there is a Nazareth, a province very low according to the world’s honor; there God sets His eyes, there the Archangel came, and knew well the house! He takes the figure of a man, enters into the house, finds the Virgin alone and in prayer, falls before her on his knees, there, very close to her, where there are signs unto today: a little marble where the Virgin was, and another were the Archangel was.² He speaks to the Virgin, proposes his embassy to her, and says: Ave gratia plena, Dominus tecum (Lk 1:28): “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you, the Lord be with you (since all is good).” He greeted her as it was usual to greet at that time: “Peace be with you.” The Lord commanded him thus: “When you enter into another house, say: ‘Peace be in this house’” (cf. Lk 10:5). The Gloss says afterwards: “Whoever says peace, let him desire peace, and say all the goods together.”³ Peace be to you, Lady. Saint Luke says, “delight”: all is good. Delight be with you, peace be with you, since He Who will pacify, rejoice, and give delight to the world is coming to you. It is the reason that you should delight, it is the reason, Lady, that you should taste of the fruit that you will give to the world. May God maintain you, God hail you, full of grace, the Lord be with you. A great salutation was that, good news was it.

The blessed maiden was not fickle in belief, like Eve: she raised her eyes and her heart to God, and did not respond. She who is later troubled has virginal modesty. The Virgin saw a man before her, he said to her that she was full of grace, and that she was gracious, and he, praising, troubled her. There is nothing that so troubles the humble, and sounds more ill to her eyes, than to see herself praised. “What will this be? Is it of God, or is it not of God?” Good counsel. What fresh deceit will it be to think that the Holy Spirit comes to one, and for the evil spirit to come instead? And, for this reason, when you see yourself in doubt, ask for light from Our Lord so that you can recognize if that which comes to you is a good spirit, or an evil spirit; and so the Virgin responds nothing.

And as the Archangel saw her so troubled, he provided for her trouble, and said to her: “Ne timeas Maria, invenisti enim graciam apud Deum [Do not fear, Mary, for you have found grace with God] (Lk 1:30). This grace which I tell you is not here, in the eyes of men; I do not bring an embassy of men, I do not come on an ill behalf; the grace which I bring you is not of men, but of God.” Then God assured her. The Angel proposes his embassy: the greatest embassy, the greatest and highest which was ever given. Blessed the woman who thus heard, and the womb which thus received!

“Be attentive, maiden”—the Lord commands you to say—“Ecce concipies, & paries [Behold, you will conceive, & you will give birth] (Lk 1:31). Hear, Lady, these greatnesses: you will conceive and you will bear a Son, and He will be called Jesus, which is to say, ‘Savior.’ He will be great, and will be called Son of the Most High, and He will reign, and His kingdom will not have an end, forever.” Oh, blessed be she who gave us such a Son! He will be Great, and He will have, not that small kingdom of Judea, of a hundred leagues: see what a great kingdom, see what a kingdom of a hundred leagues will be given Him, the seat of David His Father, not that kingdom, but the one figured by it; for that kingdom of David was very small, this one [is] very large: that [kingdom] of David [was] temporal, this one [is] spiritual: that [kingdom] of David was ended, the other will never be ended. “The kingdom of David will be given Him, and He will reign in the house of Jacob forever.”

Why did he say “in the house of Jacob,” instead of in that of Abraham or of Isaac? Because, of those who descended from Abraham, Isaac was faithful, Ishmael unfaithful. Among those from Isaac, Jacob was faithful and a great friend of God, and Esau was evil: in the house and family of Jacob, all were faithful and believing. He will reign in the house of Jacob, to wit, among those who know God, among the good, and His kingdom will not be ended. What a gentle Messiah we were to have, who would reign a hundred years, and his kingdom would be ended, and then another would come! Our King and our Messiah will reign forever, and His kingdom will not be ended; just like there, where He is in heaven, here, He reigns and rules; here He maintains you, and defends you, and sustains, and raises grace and pardon of sins, and frees you from demons, consoles you in your labors, and, finally, gives you all goods.

The embassy of the Archangel continues, and says: “This One, your Son, will be called Son of the Most High.” “He will be called”: frasis Hebrea es [it is a Hebrew phrase], which intends to say the same as “He will be.”

What woman would not receive such a Son gladly, without asking nor doubting? Such is the contentment which the most holy Virgin has with regards to her virginity and purity that she responds to the Archangel: “How will this be? This frightens me.” O purity, how loved are you by the Virgin! O purest innards, how sealed in your heart is the love of virginity! Not without cause do you ask: “Angel, how will this be, since I do not know man?” It is not a word of incredulity. See that the Virgin has such love for her purity, that she does not truncate her virginity to become Mother of the Son of God. She does not say if she will or not, since she does not doubt it, but she says: “Teach me how it will be, since I have proposed and determined to not know man.” I have already said this other times, that this is worth as much as when we say here, “I do not eat meat,” I mean to say, “I have the intention to not eat meat for all my life.” “How am I to conceive? Has is this to be? Since I would not want to lose my purity, nor would I want to disobey God. Declare to me what I ask you, if my purity will be guarded, since I well know that for God all will be possible.” What an example for maidens! In all, she wants to do God’s pleasure. O blessed maiden, who does not dare to truncate her virginity to become Mother of the Son of God! How will this be?

The Angel responds that he does not know, that he is not the one who has to understand in this affair, that he comes as a messenger to negotiate, he comes on the part of God, since He Who will do it is the Holy Spirit, since He alone is Holy; “but the power and force of the Most High will overshadow you, will strain you, will teach you, will sustain you: since this matter is not so low that your forces would be enough for it; but the power and forces of the Most High will overshadow you.” (This is a Hebrew phrase.) “And, for this reason, that which will be born of you will be called Holy.” Not masculine, but neuter, so that you will know that He did not take on a person, but our nature. He will be the Son, not of Joseph, not of man, [but] the Son of the Most High, conceived by the Holy Spirit. As He is Holy, He cannot do anything which is not holy: He will be called Son of God. See, maiden, so that you would praise God, so that you would give Him many thanks and see His mercies,” says the Angel, “your relative Elizabeth, since she is old and wise (because you do not fear what I have told you), in her old age has conceived a son, so that you would know that there is nothing impossible with God, and, for this reason I reveal it to you: since that is possible, this too [is possible]. This is the Embassy; I hope for your response, and the Most Holy Trinity hopes for your consent: what do you respond?”

When the sacred Virgin hears the great mercies which the Angel promises her on behalf of God, assured by God that what He promises her will be done, on His part: knees bent, her eyes and heart fixed on heaven, she says humbly and with reverence: Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum [Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to Your word] (Lk 1:38). Here is the slave of the Lord, be it done in me according to Your word. In that moment, the divine Word entered into her innards, and the greatest work which was done, and will ever be done, was done. Then, why does she call herself a slave and abase herself? Thus God wills it, and this is the reason why men and angels, and archangels, exalt and confess her, who received such a Son and so abased herself, as Lady, and honor her, and hold her as such, and reverence her in the heavens and on earth: she who knew so well how to abase herself, and to receive the embassy on behalf of God.

The greatest delight did the Virgin receive today with this embassy, and so, now, each time that we say it to her, she is delighted: and, so that we would know how to greet her and recount these mysteries, we ask her that the spirit with which she heard it might raise us, so that we can know how to please her. 

 

1The first publication of this sermon had no quotation marks; the critical edition ends the quote here. St. John seems to be very loosely paraphrasing St. Ambrose, Exposition of the Gospel of Luke II.1: “Indeed, divine mysteries lie hidden, nor is it easy, in accord with the Prophetic saying, for any man to be able to know the counsel of God, and yet, from certain facts and precepts of the Lord of Salvation, we can understand and be closer to this counsel, that she who was betrothed to a man was most powerfully chosen, so that she would give birth to God” (PL 15:1551D-1552D).

2 St. John never visited the Holy Land, as far as we know; he is probably reporting what he has heard about it.

3 The Glossa Ordinaria says, “Having described the various hospitalities of the house, He also teaches the pious what they should do in the cities: share in everything, separate from all society with the impious.” See Blblia sacra cum glossis interlineari et ordinaria et Nicolai Lyrani Postilla… (Venice, 1588), V:152.

Sources: Tercera parte de las obras del padre maestro Juan de Ávila... (Madrid: Pedro Madrigal, 1596), II:161-185.
Obras completas del B. Mtro. Juan de Ávila, ed. Luis Sala Balust (Madrid: La Editorial Católica, S.A., 1953), II:1004-1019.

 

Translation and Notes ©2024 Brandon P. Otto.  Licensed via CC BY-NC.  Feel free to redistribute non-commercially, as long as credit is given to the translator.