THE PURIFICATION
OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
(2 February)
SERMON 1
And he shall purify the sons of Levi, and shall refine them as gold, and as silver, and they shall offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice [Malachias 3:3].
(Introduction) Evil thoughts are an abomination to the Lord: and pure words most beautiful shall be confirmed by him [Proverbs 15:26].
The purity of the God we serve, adore and worship, is such that God can accept nothing impure nor detest anything pure, but evil thoughts are an abomination to the Lord, evil affections even more, and evil actions the most abominable. Anything unclean in thought, affection and deed is wholly abominable to the Lord; but pure words shall be confirmed by the Lord as most beautiful. I understand this to mean that pure words are most beautiful, appropriate and confirmed by God. Pure words are not tainted by error, oddity, vanity, faint-heartedness, flattery, contradiction or pretence. They are tainted when a person speaks what is false or speaks from vanity or curiosity but in such a way that there is nothing in the words other than beauty of words. Examples of this are when a person is faint-hearted, that is, when a person does not dare to speak the truth, or when a person flatters or contradicts the absent, or speaks with pretence, such as when a person says one thing in words but holds something other in the heart. Such are not pure words; but when none of these is present in speech and they are pure, then the words are most beautiful in the sight of God. Such are the words of God in so far as they are God’s words: The words of the Lord are pure words as silver tried by the fire, purged from the earth, refined seven times [Psalm 11:7]. The words of the Lord are silver refined seven times when they contain no element of pretence, contradiction, flattery, faint-heartedness, vanity, curiosity or error. But sometimes the word of the Lord is mixed with some vanity, curiosity or error by a speaker or by the hearers; it is then no longer a pure word because the speaker or the hearer is not pure; whatever is received is received according to the one receiving.[1] When a vase is dirty, even though a liquid be pure it becomes impure because of the dirty vase, just as when a speaker does not have a pure heart or pure lips, or when a hearer does not have a pure heart and ears. Who can make and create for us a pure heart? Isaiah 6:5 says: Woe is me, because I am a man of unclean lips and I dwell in the midst of a people that has unclean lips. So, lest we lose our opportunity, we should go to the One who can cleanse us of sin and who cleansed the lips of Isaiah, and we should ask to be given something to say etc.
And he shall purify the sons of Levi etc.
The sermon
The solemnity of today, the Purification of the glorious Virgin Mary, is explained by the words taken from Malachias, words that when regarded superficially are thought to have no connection with this feast and the prophecy is regarded as absurd. But the Holy Spirit examines more deeply what seems to be worthless; so, if the text is examined in a spiritual sense, its connection with the present solemnity becomes clear. The object of the present solemnity is the purification of the glorious Virgin Mary and the offering of her firstborn Child. The Virgin did not need to be purified nor did the Redeemer need to be offered legally. Gregory says[2]: ‘If there was question only of the literal remembering of the offering of turtle-doves and pigeons, the celebration of this feast would not be necessary’. But the purification of the glorious Virgin represents the purification of the hierarchy of the Church, and the offering of the Saviour begins the offering of the sacrifices of justice in the New Testament.
Division
The Holy Spirit expresses these two things through the mouth of the prophet Malachias: firstly, the purification of the ministers of the Church is prefigured in the purification of the glorious Virgin, when he says: And he shall purify the sons of Levi etc.; secondly, he points to the offering of the sacrifices of justice indicated by the Mother offering the Son of God, when he says: and they shall offer sacrifices to the Lord in justice. This is the only perfect sacrifice on earth because the sacrifices of the Old Testament had value only in so far as they represented this sacrifice.
Part I: The purification and its double significance
Firstly, I say, the purification of the glorious Virgin represents the purification of the hierarchy of the Church by a double purification, namely, one through the grace of baptism, the other through the grace of penance. There are two categories of sins that separate from the kingdom, namely, original and actual; hence she had to be justified in a double way in accord with this double purification.
Interior and exterior purification of the Virgin
The glorious Virgin was purified in a double way, namely, internally according to truth, and externally according to what she prefigured; so she needed the grace of baptism or its equivalent because she was conceived in the usual way[3] and so contracted original sin; but she did not need a grace of penance because she never committed actual sin.
The purification of the Virgin under three headings
So I say that the glorious Virgin, in order that the purification of the ministers of the church might begin, was purified internally and in truth by receiving the sanctifying grace by which she was purified by a perfect purification, as indicated in the text: Take away the rust from silver, and there shall come forth a most pure vessel [Proverbs 25:4]. Silver represents the integrity of human nature in the glorious Virgin and rust represents the original sin she contracted in the womb of her mother. The taking away of the rust from silver signifies for me the sanctifying grace by which she was sanctified by an excellent grace and by which the original fault was taken away from her concerning any sin, namely in her mind, and also concerning the cause, namely, in its origin from being joined to stained flesh. In others there is original sin and sanctification but only concerning any sin, because there remains in them the consequence of sin, namely, an inclination to sin; but the blessed Virgin was so sanctified that there remained in her senses no inclination to sin nor was she inclined to commit any venial sin. She was also purified of the cause of sin, namely its source, because she had the source of all purity. She was so pure that there could be no greater purity; hence Anselm[4] says: ‘It was fitting that the conception of that person should be from a most pure Mother than which no greater could be imagined under God’. From the influence of the sanctifying grace both inside and outside her womb and also from the conception of her Son, she was so purified that no stain, consequence nor cause of sin remained in her.
Purification of the hierarchy by baptism
The hierarchy of the Church was purified by a grace of baptism; hence we read: Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, says the Lord God, when I shall have made the land of Egypt desolate [Ezechiel 32:14-15]. The land of Egypt, that is, a land full of idols, is destroyed when the idols are destroyed. The Lord said through a Prophet: The Lord will ascend upon a swift cloud, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence [Isaiah 19:1]. The worship of God began with the destruction of idols. Before the coming of Christ purification was by circumcision, but now people are purified by baptism, a far greater purification.
Triple effect of original sin
Original sin soils as a stain, harms as sickness and binds as guilt; but the water of baptism is most pure and purifies the whole Church or the hierarchy of the Church, cleansing from stain, healing sickness and freeing from obligation. It purifies a soul so that the soul may be immediately offered in the sight of God. This is the meaning of the text: Then will I make their waters clear, and cause their rivers to run like oil, that is, the power of purification in the Holy Spirit represented by water, and the grace of the Holy Spirit represented by oil; and so oil is used in baptism. The spirit, and the water, and the blood[5] cleanse, so that the Spirit cleanses in water from any stain, heals from sickness and frees from guilt by the power of blood. The Apostle says of this purification: Christ loved the church, cleansing it by the laver of water in the word of life, to free it from the stain of sin that it should be holy and without blemish, he delivered himself up for it, that he might present it without spot or wrinkle [Ephesians 5:25-27].
Admonition
The glorious Virgin was purified so as to conceive the Son of God and through him the Church is made fruitful and purified by the grace of baptism or by the water of rebirth. The Apostle says: I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ [2 Corinthians 11:2]. Acknowledge your virginity by which God is your father, that you have been conceived by the Holy Spirit, that your mother is the glorious Virgin and that your inheritance is the kingdom of heaven. If you were a child of an earthly king and heir to the kingdom, you would not willingly debase yourself to become a keeper of pigs. You should protect the grace of baptism because, were you to lose it, you will not be able to regain it. Hear what the Apostle says:
A man making void the law of Moses, dies without any mercy under two or three witnesses. How much more, do you think, he deserves worse punishments, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has esteemed the blood of the testament unclean, by which he was sanctified, and has offered an affront to the Spirit of grace [Hebrews 10:28-29].
All of you listen. Whoever among you has the grace of baptism, guard it carefully; should one lose it, beware of how serious a penalty you are worthy. You have been adopted as a child of God and you become a servant of the devil, you sell yourself for nothing, namely, for a slight pleasure of sin.
It is clear now how the whole Church is purified from original sin by the grace of baptism.
Restoration of the Church by grace
But because the whole Church frequently suffers harm in its members, it needs to be restored by divine grace and by another sanctifying grace, namely, the grace of penance. To signify this purification the blessed Virgin was purified by an external action so as to begin it and represent it. We read: And after the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they carried the boy Jesus to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord [Luke 2:22]. Luke says: according to the law of Moses because we read in the law of Moses: If a woman having received seed shall bear a man child, she shall be unclean for seven days and shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her purification [Leviticus 12:2.4]; this is a total of forty days. The text says: If a woman having received seed etc., but if the lawgiver is wise why add what anyone would know? If there is no woman who could bear a male child without receiving seed, why does he say: If a woman has received seed etc? However, if some woman could bear a male child without receiving seed, you ask, O Judah, who is she? She is no other than the glorious Virgin; she was not unclean because she conceived from the Holy Spirit. In Mary, the law of Moses did not oblige from necessity but for the sake of a mystery. What is the high mystery of the number forty in the purification of Mary?
The number forty
I say that the number forty is a number of transgression and a number of penance. The number for transgression is clear because the Lord says that for forty years long was I offended with that generation [Psalm 94:10]. The sin of transgression arises from a fourfold number, because in sin there is suggestion, pleasure, consent and action. Take each of these four ten times and you have the number forty: calculate transgression, suggestion, consent and pleasure, in so far as they are contrary to the divine law, and you have the number ten by four giving the number forty. Similarly, the number of penance is forty because if you want to be purified you must abstain for forty days. Full penance demands an acknowledgment of sin, a despising of sin, an accusation or confession of sin, and finally conversion; take these four ten times and they add up to the number forty. If you want to be purified you must have contrition, confession of sin and conversion; and these cannot be had without an acknowledgment of sin. Such acknowledgment is common both to penitents and to the impenitent. The number forty indicates the fullness of penance; and this is in Mary not for her sake but for the sake of the Church. The text says that they carried him to Jerusalem [Luke 2:22] and Jerusalem represents the Church. This purification is indicated by forty days in the Law, in prophecy and in the Gospel. To receive the Law, Moses fasted for forty days [Deuteronomy 9:9]; to come to the secret conversation with God, Elias fasted for forty days; and Christ fasted for forty days and forty nights before beginning to preach.
Legal, prophetical and evangelical purification
We have to understand what legal, prophetical and evangelical purification mean; all of these are prefigured in the purification of Mary. One is purification out of fear for a judicial enquiry, another from zeal in striving for justice, and the third comes from the sweetness of heavenly mercy. The first is legal, the second prophetical and the third is evangelical. The first is prefigured in the forty day fast of Moses; the second in the fast of Elias and the third in the fast of Christ. All these purifications were in the glorious Virgin.
First purification is legal
The first purification is legal from a fear of a judicial enquiry of which we read: Whose fan is in his hand, and he will separate wheat from chaff, and he will gather the wheat into his barn, but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire [Luke 3:17]. Christ who is a refining fire [Malachias 3:2] will hold a fan in his hand, that is, an examination of final testing. A meditation on divine judgment brings about in us by grace what will be in us from a just punishment: When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and being affrighted shall purify themselves [Job 41:16]. A meditation on the condemnation of the angels leads us to a penitential purification because the Lord by threatening is offering prayers so that we might be sorry for sin. Blessed Gregory[6] says: Listen ‘brothers, no one will come before the Judge [feeling secure] who has not felt afraid beforehand’; there is no change with them because they have not feared God [Psalm 54:20]. Such was the heart of Pharaoh who was softened neither by words, threats, nor promises [Exodus 5:2]; God has softened my heart [Job 23:16], I have meditated on his ways. The beginning of your purification should be in fear.
The second purification is penance
The second purification is from penance coming from zeal in striving for justice and this is prophetic; this is more excellent than legal purification and of it we read: All that may pass through the fire shall be purified by fire [Numbers 31:23]. This refers to all that pass through the fire, namely, of burning charity. Of such charity is said: The lamps thereof are fire and flames. Many waters cannot quench charity [Canticle 8:6-7]. The Holy Spirit says that whoever loves also has fire; one must pass through the fire, that is, be zealous for divine justice because charity is a love of God and neighbour. Elias had this zeal for he said: With zeal I have been zealous [3 Kings 19:10]; we read: I would you were cold, that is, fearful, or hot, that is, loving; but because you are lukewarm, that is, neither fearing or loving, I will begin to vomit you out of my mouth [Apocalypse 3:15-16].
Whenever persons abhor the things of God they are vomited out; it is written: I counsel you to buy of me gold fire tried [Apocalypse 3:18]. None are less suited for the kingdom of heaven than the lukewarm who, like Lot’s wife, stand like a statue [Genesis 19:6].
The third purification is evangelical
The third purification is represented by the fast of Christ who came from the sweetness of heavenly mercy and this purification is called evangelical, for the Gospel came with meekness. John and James said: Lord, will you that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them [Luke 9:54]? The Lord said: No, I did not come for that. Of this purification we read: Alms deliver from death; and the same is that which purges away sins, and makes to find mercy and life everlasting [Tobias 12:9]. The text says Alms; alms exist in giving, supporting and pardoning; God gave the greatest alms possible; God gave his Son to us and in doing so gave us everything belonging to God. The Apostle says: He that spared not even his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how has he not also, with him, given us all things [Romans 8:32]! This is the alms which purges away sins. Greedy indeed are you who are opposed to Christ who has given us everything that he had. Be you therefore merciful, as our Father also is merciful [Luke 6:36]; and: By mercy and faith sins are purged away, and by the fear of the Lord everyone declines from evil [Proverbs 15:27]. If you want your alms to purify you, you must have faith, namely, do not offend God. It is wicked to think I can rightly corrupt a virgin because I will marry her. Such people allow evil so as to cover her with mercy. What does it mean to say: I will wound you, then find a doctor for you? It is necessary to preserve faith with mercy; if you want to preserve faith it is necessary to be fearful because by the fear of the Lord people depart from evil [Proverbs 16:6].
The order in the three purifications
This purification presupposes two others, namely, the purification of Moses and of Elias. If you do not stop sinning but still give alms, it is like giving a slap with the alms. These three purifications are interconnected because the purification coming from fear is like the foundation; the other coming from the sweetness of divine mercy is like a complement. The first is only purifying; the second is purifying and illuminating; while the third is purifying, illuminating and perfecting.
These three were in Mary under three names
These three were together in the glorious Virgin. She is all fair, and there is not a spot in her [Canticle 4:7]. She has in herself the whole adornment of the Church and now has the adornment of the heavenly hierarchy. She purifies, illuminates and perfects. I am in error if the name, Mary, does not imply these three things. Mary means a bitter sea, one who illuminates and a lady; she received purifying, illuminating and perfecting graces. She had purifying graces in so far as she was a bitter sea because of the most vehement sorrow she experienced; we read: Your own soul a sword shall pierce [Luke 2:35]. She had illuminating graces because she was totally illuminated and so is rightly called Mary. Her first illumination came in the conception of the Word. I dare not say anything about the heavenly hierarchy. Also she had perfecting graces because she had the highest perfection. Because she had these graces she purifies, illuminates and perfects.
The name star of the sea
The main meaning of the name Mary is star of the sea and this meaning embraces all the others. Bernard[7] says: Mary
is a shining star, excellent and secure. In dangers, when doubtful, think of Mary, call on Mary; she should not be far from your heart nor absent from your mouth; and to ask for the support of her prayer, do not abandon the imitation of her example.
The glorious Virgin is a star of the sea purifying, illuminating and perfecting all who are in the sea of this world. Therefore, we should follow the star of the sea that purifies by a sigh of bitter compunction, the star of the sea that illuminates by a pursuit of illuminating virtue, the star of the sea that perfects by a desire for perfection.
The purifying star of the sea
Firstly, I say, we should follow the star of the sea that purifies by a sigh of bitter compunction; we read: Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and put aside sinful actions; purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into sorrow [James 4:8-9].
Cleanse your hands, you sinners. We are all sinners: Who can say, my heart is clean, I am pure from sin [Proverbs 20:9]? Purify your hearts, you double-minded. We have reason drawing us to what is higher, and we have effeminacy,[8] namely sensuality, drawing us to evil. Be afflicted, that is, humble yourself; let your laughter be turned into mourning. If someone was feverish and I said, you may laugh, the person would be much annoyed with me; and if I wanted to take a seriously wounded person to dances, the person would be angry with me. Think on the sins into which you will be able to fall and taste the antidote, that is, the bitterness of penance. Christ was drunk with the bitterness of gall, and the glorious Virgin with the bitterness of sorrow, and the Lord invites us through the prophet Isaiah to the bitterness of penance:
And the Lord, the God of hosts, in that day shall call to weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth; and behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams, eating flesh, and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die [Isaias 22:12-13];
and: They shall take the timbrel and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ [Job 21:12]. I do not willingly go into the attic, lest I fall to the depths. We are here as in an attic; we should take care not to fall but rather be ready to go upwards in our heart: In his heart he has disposed to ascend by steps, in the vale of tears, in the place which he has set [Psalm 83:6-7]. May we follow the star of the sea as we are purified by a sigh of bitter compunction.
The star of the sea illuminating
Secondly, may we follow the star of the sea illuminating by a pursuit of illuminating virtue. We read that Asa[9] took away the effeminate from the land, and he removed all the filth of the idols, which his fathers had made [3 Kings 15:12]. Asa means a creation by the Lord, which represents a mind filled with wise laws. This Asa took away the effeminate from the land, and he removed all the filth of the idols, which his fathers had made. The effeminate are sensual feelings that make a man like a woman.[10] The idols are images of errors from which you should be purified if you want to come to the wisdom of truth.
An example
A certain Muslim woman said: You Christians are most proud in saying only Christians are saved. Our law can certainly be good and likewise the law of others can truly save. And the reply was: The law by which people are saved is nothing other than truth and our law contains no error and so it saves; but all other laws contain error and so do not save. Faith purifies: Purifying their hearts by faith [Acts 15:9]. This faith illuminates by a pursuit of truth; believe, namely, by the faith of truth; understand by the rule of truth grasped in contemplation. One should enter the kingdom of heaven by faith. Faith is the doorkeeper; when the doorkeeper purified the air but had not closed the door, thieves came in the middle of the day and killed King Isboseth [2 Kings 4:5]. A king is a person able to rule himself; when such a person becomes lazy then faith, the doorkeeper, sleeps and the thieves, that is, errors, enter. The Apostle says: Whoever holds anything other than what this faith teaches let him be anathema [Galatians 1:8]. Augustine[11] proves that the grace of baptism in infants is full grace.
An example
Some nobles in Africa had a baptized person in the home. This person was so dull that he understood nothing; even when beaten he remained peaceful and could not be saddened; he respected the husband and wife who fed him. Once, when a person spoke evil things contrary to the faith about God, he rose up in an excited way against him; he did this two or three times. Then the husband spoke evil things contrary to the faith about God; in a similar way he rose up in an excited way against the husband and his wife. He could not do this from nature or study but from the grace of baptism that was still in him and by which the truth of faith was planted in him.
The star of the sea perfecting
Thirdly, may we follow the star of the sea perfecting by a desire for perfection. It is written in the Book of Machabees that when Machabeus regained and purified the temple of the Lord, he built another altar [2 Machabees 10:1.3]. The law of the Gospel is added to the Law of Moses. The glorious Virgin embraced poverty and virginity and did not have the means to be able to offer a lamb; Bede[12] says she offered ‘the offering of the poor’. She was most humble and subject to her husband even though she was not joined to him in sexual union. She was a model of all chastity, poverty and humility. So, to be humble, chaste and poor is to build a new temple for the Lord; in this way a person can reach eternal glory, and may the Lord lead us there.
DISCOURSE
And he shall purify the sons of Levi etc.
(Introduction). Look and make it according to the pattern, that was shewn you in the mount [Exodus 25:40].
The pattern put before us today is the most glorious Virgin. She is the mountain of which Daniel spoke when he saw a stone cut out of a mountain without hands [Daniel 2:34], that is, Christ born from the Virgin without human seed. We should act according to the pattern we see in the blessed Virgin. She is the guiding pattern for the whole Church and so is called star of the sea.
Repetition
I have said today that the purification of the glorious Virgin represents the purification of the whole Church or the ministers of the Church, and the offering of the Saviour begins the offering of the sacrifices of justice. You have heard how Mary was purified in a double way according to truth internally and as a model externally. She represents the double purification of the whole Church by the grace of baptism and of penance. The glorious Virgin was purified by a triple purification in that she was purified and had purifying grace; in that she was illuminated and had illuminating grace, and in that she was perfect and had perfecting grace. So she was one who purifies, illuminates and perfects and for this reason is known as star of the sea. We should follow this star so as to be purified by a sigh of bitter compunction, illuminated by a pursuit of illuminating virtue, and, thirdly, we should follow her as the star of the sea that perfects by a desire for perfection. This is the three days after which Christ was found in the temple [Luke 2:46], just as Simeon found him in the temple when he sang his canticle: Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord etc. [Luke 2:29]. Because she purifies he calls her salvation in his Canticle, saying: Because my eyes have seen your salvation; because she illuminates, he calls her a light to the revelation of the Gentiles; because she perfects, he calls her the glory of the people. We spoke this morning about purification, now we will speak of the purity that should be in the ministers of the Church. All of us should be pure at all times because we are all clerics. We will speak about purity and the host you will offer when you will be priests. We will ask firstly etc.
Continuation of the sermon
And he shall purify the sons of Levi etc.
As I had begun to say there is a model of the purification of the whole Church in the purification of the glorious Virgin, and she herself is the model of the purity of the whole church. He explains the purity that should be in the ministers of the Church when he says: And he shall purify the sons of Levi, and shall refine them etc. All ministers of the Church should be purified and refined. It is true that the glorious Virgin was most pure and a model of the purity that should be in ministers of the Church. The highest purity was in her because of the excellence of her virtues.
According to the Philosophers,[13] some virtues are cardinal and some intellectual; according to sacred Scripture, some virtues are active and some contemplative; according to the masters some virtues are practical and some habitual.[14] It is true that the Holy Spirit is given by infusion but the habit of virtues is acquired by practice. It is true that the glorious Virgin possessed all the virtues. Speculative or contemplative virtues excel over active virtues just as gold excels over silver and the goal excels over what leads to the goal. So we read in the Gospel: Mary has chosen the better part [Luke 10:42]. Martha represents the active life and Mary the contemplative. Because of the purity of her intellectual or contemplative virtues the glorious Virgin is compared to gold: Frame an ark of setim wood and overlay it with the purest gold [Exodus 25:10-11]. The ark, over which the two Cherubim shaded the propitiatory, is the glorious Virgin filled with deifying lights and totally intent on the divine. Because of her habitual and practical virtues the blessed Virgin is compared to silver. Uncreated wisdom says: My fruit is better than gold and precious stone, and my blossoms than choice silver [Proverbs 8:19]. Blossoms are the practical virtues bursting forth. Wisdom says: Come over to me, all you that desire me, and be filled with my fruits [Ecclesiasticus 24:26]. The glorious Virgin is the most precious and purified silver. So Solomon, wanting to express the great purity of the Virgin, says in the Canticle 3:9-10:
King Solomon has made him a litter of the wood of Lebanon. The pillars thereof he made of silver, the seat of gold, the going up of purple, the midst he covered with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem.
The glorious Virgin is called a litter, a word derived from the word carry, that is, a seat; hence a certain person said:
Hail, Mother of piety and noble throne of the whole Trinity.[15]
Types of virtues
God made in the glorious Virgin pillars of silver, that is, cardinal and practical virtues as pure and perfect as silver because she possessed the virtues of a soul already purified. The union of the contemplative and practical virtues comes about through charity; so we read: the midst he covered with charity. The going up of purple, that is, ruddy from his blood. Charity is the link between the cardinal and theological virtues. Charity as the love of God is a theological virtue and as the love of neighbour it is a cardinal virtue. Purple dye comes from the blood of shell fish; it is used for the clothing of kings and represents charity that is always patient and kind [1 Corinthians 13:4]. In so far as it is patient it is dyed with the blood of Christ; in so far as it is kind it is the clothing of a king when adorned. Charity in so far as it is patient is the source of the active virtues; in so far as it a lover of Christ it is the source of the contemplative virtues. The Virgin was an ark of gold and most pure silver and was the litter of the highest King. Look and make it according to the pattern [Exodus 25:40]. Do we want to be good ministers of the glorious Virgin? We must be gold and choice silver, namely, having the active and contemplative virtues.
Virtues purified in two ways – temptation that attracts
It is necessary also for us to be purified. But how will we be purified? Certainly like gold and silver. I say that the active and contemplative virtues are purified and perfected in us in two ways, namely, by overcoming temptations and by the exercise of the virtues to be cultivated in us. Do you want to be gold? You must be purified in the fire of temptation. There is a double temptation, one that attracts, another that troubles because the devil tempts us in two ways, namely, by troubling us with sadness and attracting us by pleasures. So, if you want to be gold, you must conquer the temptations that attract and trouble. As silver is tried in the fining-pot and gold in the furnace so a man is tried by the mouth of him that praises [Proverbs 27:21]. Who praises us? Certainly it is another person and an enemy. It is an unfortunate and great danger when a person agrees with the praises of others, because praises puff up a person and make virtue empty, the silver becoming lead. When a person is praised externally by a neighbour, or by himself or herself or by an enemy, the person should reflect and say: This praise is not for me but for the person the one praising believes me to be. Someone praised a rhomb imagining he was praising a wild boar and in the same way people praise a person whom they believe to be someone else. Bede[16] says that the Lord was surprisingly angry against hypocrites because what could have helped them gain eternal life they gave away for a small coin of vain praise. I do not want anyone to work for virtues for the sake of praise; I am not better for the sake of a shadow, nor am I better for the sake of your praise. The one who runs does not outstrip a shadow. Alexander[17] spoke a true word. When he had been wounded in the foot and the foot was so swollen he thought he would die, he said: Everyone praises me saying I am a son of Jupiter; but this wound states I am a man. To the only God is honour and glory [1 Timothy 1:17].
Temptations that trouble
The first furnace is the furnace of temptations that attract; the other is of temptations that trouble of which it is said: Gold and silver are tried in the fire, but acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation [Ecclesiasticus 2:5]. How will you be able to be patient unless you suffer? Similarly, you will not be able to acquire virtues unless you act virtuously. A soldier who always wants to be with women is not virtuous and does not want to endure anything. Today people become transparent; we want to be virtuous but we do not want to suffer. Jeremias 6:29-30 says: The bellows have failed, their wicked deeds are not consumed. Call them reprobate silver.
Two virtues
We are melted down not only by fighting temptation but also by exercising virtues. Many know little of the exercise of virtues. In their practice, the contemplative and active virtues are closely linked; first is the exercise of the active virtues but a person should be neither only active nor only contemplative.
Active virtues
Firstly, one must practise the active virtues and then follows contemplation; afterwards a person should be busy in contemplation and then action should follow. Firstly, I say, a person should practice the active virtues. Job 28:11 says: Silver has beginnings of its veins, and gold has a place wherein it is melted. Silver is mentioned first because a person should be active; the road comes before the goal. Like the angels, we should be assistants and ministers. There is a double hierarchy, namely, heavenly and earthly: the earthly is where there are veins of silver; the heavenly is the place wherein gold is melted. The earthly is the source of the active virtues but by what veins? The veins are the incarnation of the Word and the spiration of the Holy Spirit. Without these there is no true virtue. Christ, whom we should imitate, is the true virtue.
The exercise of virtue
But how shall I exercise myself in virtues? Certainly it has to be by a meditation of Christ on the cross. Do you want the Holy Spirit to assist you? You should be at prayer because the Holy Spirit comes down upon those who are praying. Those meditating on the passion of Christ and praying have this silver precisely when they make it apparent in actions. Meditation gives knowledge but action increases desire. No one can have this silver without frequently acting well. Hence, with grace one needs good actions. This is the gold and silver you can have. If I were to teach you how to find the veins in which you could find gold and silver, you would gladly listen to me but you do not care for this gold and silver. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread [Isaias 55:2]? You desire the earthen silver that God gives to the wicked, but you do not desire the silver from which virtues come. One needs to reflect on this. Therefore, silver has beginnings of its veins.
Contemplative virtue
Gold has a place wherein it is melted, because, just as in the earthly hierarchy silver has beginnings of its veins so in the heavenly hierarchy gold has a place wherein it is melted and in which one finds contemplative virtues. We read in Apocalypse 21:18 that the city itself was pure gold like to clear glass. Who will lift me up to reflect on that city? God gave us three things by which we are able to be lifted up to contemplation: hope raises the soul to heaven; faith leads us because faith is the substance of things to be hoped for, the evidence of things that appear not [Hebrews 11:1]; love in the affections, faith in looking and hope lift up the soul. Whoever has these three virtues, namely, hope, faith and love, can be lifted upwards. The Apostle in Colossians 3:1-2 says to such people: Mind the things that are above, seek the things that are above.
We are given a face turned upwards to gaze on heaven.[18]
Summary
This exercise of virtues begins with active virtues and moves to contemplative virtues; on the other hand beginning with the contemplative virtues should bring one back to the active because what has been learnt in Scripture should be done in practice; as we hear so we act; Psalm 67:14: If you sleep among the midst of lots, you shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and the hinder parts of her back with the paleness of gold. The interpretation of this verse is as follows – there is an error in one word – ‘cleric is the same as lot’;[19] the word cleric is used when the tonsure is given: The Lord is the portion of my inheritance [Psalm 15:5]. ‘A cleric is a person who has God as his lot or who belongs to the lot of God.’ If you sleep among the midst of lots, that is, in the midst of lots and promises, is the promise of the Old and New Testaments: to sleep is to rest in the embrace of Christ by contemplation. Christ is the propitiatory between the Cherubim [Exodus 25:20], the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New. His wings covered with silver, namely, the virtues by which he was raised above were perfect in him. And the hinder parts of his back with the paleness of gold, that is, the affections and intentions of the mind were made noble in contemplation. Busy yourselves not only in human writing but in sacred Scripture; Psalm 118:72: The law of your mouth is good to me, above thousands of gold and silver. If you wish to be purified take care to have the active and contemplative virtues.
Part II: The offering of the Son
There is still need to talk about offering. The glorious Virgin offered for her Son a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons [Luke 2:24]. By offering the Son she had a most pure and holy sacrifice. A sacrifice should purify us and be pleasing to God, and Christ was pure and holy. To represent this she offered a pair of turtle-doves, a most chaste bird, and pigeons, a most holy bird.
Priests are to imitate this
We offer a sacrifice and so it is necessary that our sacrifices be pure and holy. The blessed Virgin with Christ offered a pair of turtle-doves, or two young pigeons. O priest, you offer the blood of Christ, how necessary then to offer yourself as holy and pure. Who taught you this? The glorious Virgin. You offered her Son in the hands of the Church just as he was held in the hands of Simeon. Be grateful to God! A certain person with spiritual eyes saw that the one assisting a priest at Mass received the body of Christ more perfectly than did the priest. Whoever offers the sacrifice should be pure with a double purity and holy with a double holiness.
Double purity demanded of priests
I say he ought to be pure with a double purity because he should be purified of the dregs of the flesh and from the gore of cruelty. If you want to sing Mass well do what the Apostle says: I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God [Romans 12:1]. A living sacrifice by chastity; living because it must be alive not with fear but with love of glory; pleasing unto God, namely, that you aim to please God rather than other people. Were you to offer with dirty hands bread to a king, the king would be angry. Keep your bodies clean. I heard of a most base person, defiled with the ugliness of lust who, when he offered this sacrifice, was struck with paralysis and was never cured. God does not always do this but sometimes waits for damnation.
It is also necessary that the person who offers this sacrifice be purified from the gore of cruelty. We read in Ecclesiasticus 34:21: The sacrifice of him that sacrifices a thing wrongfully gotten is stained; and in 34:24: He that offers sacrifice of the goods of the poor, is as one that sacrifices the son in the presence of his father. Are you a bishop? It provokes God when you extort from others what you offer. Soldiers and others provoke God greatly because their hands are full of blood [Isaias 1:15]; God rejects their sacrifice. Does an officer or warden of prisons want to be a bishop and offer sacrifice? He must be free of cruelty and sensuality.
Double holiness demanded of priests
Also such a person must be holy with a double holiness, namely, with a holiness of divine veneration and heavenly mercy. The Lord says of the first: The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me [Psalm 49:23]; but praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner [Ecclesiasticus 15:9]. If you cannot offer incense, offer myrrh; if you are not worthy to thank God, reflect and say: I am not worthy of divine kindness but of suspension from office, and then you will be a sacrifice to God, an afflicted spirit [Psalm 50:19]. The song of a dove is a sigh.
Secondly, one who has to offer this sacrifice should be holy with a holiness of heavenly mercy; this is a sacrifice most acceptable to God because the Lord said: I will have mercy and not sacrifice [Matthew 9:13]. Such a sacrifice supports one’s neighbour and makes us pleasing to God.
A person pure with a double purity can offer sacrifice, and a person holy with a double holiness is acceptable to God. May God deign to give this to us.
SERMON 2
Hebrews 10:14: By one oblation he has perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
Judith 8:29: Now therefore pray for us, for you are a holy woman.
(Introduction) This second verse was spoken by the priests and Levites to Judith, the deliverer of the people of Israel. We should say the same verse, directing it to the glorious Virgin, the deliverer of the whole human race, and say to her: Pray for us etc. You, glorious Virgin, named Mary, that is, star of the sea, named Mary, that is, a bitter sea, named Mary, that is, Lady, pray for us to be enlightened, purified and perfected. Because you are a star of the sea, pray for us to be enlightened; because you are a bitter sea that tolerates no pollution, pray for us to be purified; because you are Lady, pray for us to be perfected. We are in need of these three things so that there might be in us the virtue of the divine word, because a divine word is directed towards enlightening our minds, purifying our affections, and perfecting our actions or what we do. We cannot do this without the intervention of the glorious Virgin and so we will request that she would wish to intercede for us and ask for the grace to preach the divine word so that by it we might be enlightened, purified and perfected.
By one oblation etc.
Sermon
This is a text spoken of incarnate Wisdom and it can be understood of the glorious Virgin, our Lady. In this text the subject matter of this present solemnity is explained to us; the subject matter is twofold, one is the offering of the Child, the other is the purification of the Mother, because it was prescribed in the Law[20] that a woman, after giving birth to a male child, should offer the infant to the Lord, and that the mother herself should be purified. The glorious Virgin offered her Son in the temple and added an offering for her purification[21]. It was not without reason that Christ wanted to be offered and the Virgin Mary to be purified, even though they were not bound to do this. It was done so that Christ might show he was the end of legal offerings and that the Virgin might show she was to be the model and form of spiritual sanctifications. This is shown in the text mentioned: By one oblation etc. Firstly, the offering of the child is shown in the word oblation. By the word sanctification we understand the sanctification and purification we see in the offering of the Child and the purification of the virgin. And when it says perfected the cause of both is understood.[22] Accordingly, because the present feast is named from the purification of the Virgin, who is the model of our purification, we are to treat firstly of the purification and then of the offering.
Part 1: The purification of the Virgin
Dionysius[23] says that ‘holiness is genuine goodness, free of any stain’; accordingly, to speak about sanctification is nothing other than to speak about purification and what makes one true is true of the other. The Virgin wanted to be purified, not because she was unclean, nor because she was bound by the Law, but so that she might be the form of sanctification and purification. That she was not unclean is evident because she did not conceive from a male seed, and so for this reason was not bound by the Law. Moses wisely gave that law saying: If a woman after receiving seed shall bear a man child, she shall be unclean forty days [Leviticus 12:2ff.]. Not for nothing does he add after receiving seed since there is nothing superfluous in Scripture. Unless he had added this, he would have blasphemed the Mother of the Saviour, that is, had he said simply: A woman who bears a son, shall be unclean. Therefore, he had to add this so that he could exempt the Mother of the Lord from that law and not blaspheme the Mother of the Lord. She was not unclean and was not bound by the Law; however, because it was fitting that she give a form of sanctification as the Holiest Woman, in Greek παναγία, which means the same, she wanted to be purified and sanctified. And note that what was in her was the form and model of sanctification for others.
Subdivision
There was in her a clean receptacle from the fullness of divine grace; there was an excellent mirror from her pleasing way of life; thirdly, there was in her a source dispensing all sanctification from the conception of the Son of God; fourthly, there was a model to be imitated in all sanctification from the celebration of her purification. And if she had the first three, it was fitting that she should have the fourth.
Firstly, Mary is a receptacle of all sanctification
I say that there was a clean receptacle of all sanctification for her to receive the fullness of divine grace, something she received before her birth. What the Lord said to Jeremiah applies to her: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you [Jeremias 1:5], not only from a knowledge of predestination, but from multiple prophecies; for from the beginning of the world until her birth she was foretold for five thousand years before her birth. And before you came forth from the womb, I sanctified you [Jeremias 1:5], because Bernard[24] says: ‘Without a doubt the Mother of the Lord was holy before she was born’; and it was right and just because she was to be the receptacle of the whole Trinity, the tabernacle of the Son of God. So she rightly should have been sanctified; Psalm 45:4 says: The Most High has sanctified his own tabernacle; she was sanctified in the womb of the mother immediately after the infusion of her soul and its union with her body and this for our benefit.
Exhortation
Dearly beloved, we who are sinners and pitiable, we who are profane, needy and pitiable should go to her to recover and possess grace. We have her as a receptacle of holiness and we find refuge in her.
Secondly, she is a mirror of holiness
Secondly, I say that there was in her an excellent mirror of all holiness, so that the text of Ecclesiasticus 26:19 can be applied to her: A holy and shamefaced woman is grace upon grace. The blessed Virgin was a holy woman, because she was holy interiorly in her mind and externally in her flesh, and such holiness and grace were in her so that she might draw all to the beauty of holiness. In her unparalleled beauty she was pleasing to the eyes of all so that a text of the Apostle may rightly apply to her: The unmarried woman and the virgin thinks on how she may please God alone by her sanctification and cleanness [1 Corinthians 7:34.32]. This unmarried woman is the blessed Virgin who was the first to vow virginity; she wanted to please God alone in the purity of her virginity.
Thirdly, she is a source of holiness
Thirdly, the blessed Virgin was a source dispensing all sanctification so that the angel could say to her: The Holy Spirit shall come upon you etc. [Luke 1:35]; the Holy Spirit made her holy with a special sanctification not only as a person but also in her nature because she was made holy not only for herself and in herself; she was to be the beginning of another by generation so that what was to be born from her would be born holy. Through the one born from her all are to be made holy; and so she is rightly called a source dispensing all sanctification; Ecclesiasticus 24:15 says: And so was I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, that is, in the holy Church so that through him to whom she gave birth the whole Church might be made holy; Ephesians 4:25-26 says: Christ loved the Church and delivered himself up for it that he might sanctify it. There the blessed Virgin rests in the holy city, that is, in the Church; but take root in my elect [Ecclesiasticus 24:13], because the sanctification of the Church is given through her Son, and so takes root in the elect of my sanctification. Certainly, if the root is holy, so are the branches [Romans 11:16]; those who take root in the Virgin Mother by love and devotion are made holy through her, because she asks her Son for their sanctification. There is no record of a Saint who did not have a special devotion to the glorious Virgin.
Fourthly, she is a model of holiness
Fourthly, she was a model to be imitated in all sanctification when she was purified and sanctified in the same way as others. This was desired by the Prophet who said: Arise, O Lord, into your resting place, you and the ark which you have purified [Psalm 131:8]. The Psalmist wants the Son of God to come into the temple, so he says: Arise, O Lord, into your resting place, as if to say, come into Jerusalem which means a vision of peace. Not you alone but with the Virgin Mother: You and the ark which you have purified. And why? He adds: Let the priests be clothed with justice, and let your saints rejoice [Psalm 131:9]. See why he says this! In the Law the priests offered sacrifices that were unable to justify anyone; but later the blessed Virgin brought to the temple a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God, namely, her blessed Son, and then the priests could be clothed with justice because they were able to offer a sacrifice that sanctified and justified; for this reason the saints of God, who understood this, were able to rejoice. Hence, Simeon, that holy old man, coming by the Spirit into the temple and seeing that true and holy sacrifice, embraced it and, rejoicing greatly over this, sang from the rejoicing of his heart: Now dismiss your servant, O Lord, in peace etc. [Luke 2:25ff.], as if to say: now I want to rejoice because I see the ark which you have purified at rest, and so I now want to be at rest; dismiss me then in peace.
Today’s solemn feast
This is today’s solemnity in which the whole world is made holy through Christ, who is the sanctification of the world, the holy and true sacrifice. Note, you priests, you used to offer rams, calves and birds, that is, turtle-doves, sparrows and doves; now you sacrifice on the altar one true sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ, and this is sufficient for the sanctification of all. The glorious Virgin brought much when she brought to the temple such a sacrifice which she offered for all. Although few were there who recognized him, namely, Simeon the old man and the old lady, Anna [Luke 2:36], now throughout the world great processions are held in which is indicated to us that the Lord begins from small things and after the beginnings he magnifies and exalts. His feast always increases, while on the contrary the world works; today the world holds a great feast, but tomorrow nothing; a feast of the world does not increase, but decreases and is annihilated.
Why Mary wanted to present her Son in the Temple
Because a soul is not made holy unless it becomes a temple of God, so, as a sign of this, the glorious Virgin wanted to present her Son in the temple; Malachias 3:1 says: Presently the Lord whom you seek shall come to his holy temple etc. And it is to this temple that Christ comes willingly to sanctify it and for it to remain holy; in 1 Corinthians 3:17 the Apostle says: The temple of God is holy, which you are; and in Ephesians 2:22: In whom you also are built together into a habitation of God in the Holy Spirit.
Exhortation
Do you want to be built into a temple of God so that you might have Christ in your hearts? If you want this, you should come in the Spirit to the temple, that is, you should prepare your heart as a spiritual dwelling for God. Necessarily, dearly beloved, your heart will be either a brothel of the devil or a holy temple of the Son of God; there is nothing in between. A person is insane who prefers to be a brothel of the devil rather than a holy temple of the Holy Spirit, a dwelling of the whole Trinity. If a virgin, ready to be married to a husband, a most handsome emperor, were to place herself in a brothel of lepers, should she not be killed and her nose cut off and thrown into a lavatory? And so in the same way, if a soul that should be espoused to Christ, makes itself a brothel of the devil, it is a wonder that the earth does not engulf such a soul and that it does not go down living into hell.
How we should come to the temple
But how should we come spiritually to the temple? Note what you have to do in your soul so that it might be a temple of God. It is certain that ‘a rational soul is an image of God, and because it is an image of God, it is able to be a companion of God’, as Augustine says in The Trinity.[25]
The fourfold power in the soul
God is three and one, and corresponding to this there is a fourfold power in a soul that perfectly represents God. For in a soul there is a faculty of power, of love, of thought and a faculty governing the whole body. Such a soul is a temple of God, in whose faculty of power the majesty of God dwells; this only happens where there is fear. Similarly in its faculty of thought the wisdom of God dwells and this happens only where there is truth. In the soul’s faculty of love the goodness of God dwells and this happens only where there is love and charity. In the soul’s faculty of governing the whole body the holiness of God dwells and this happens only where there is cleanliness and chastity. Therefore, for the soul to be a temple of the Holy Spirit there must be a fourfold holiness.
The faculty of power
Firstly, God should dwell in its faculty of power as majesty by the holiness of divine fear. Isaiah 8:13ff. exhorts us to this: Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself. He is the Lord of hosts presiding over all the angelic powers. Therefore, sanctify him, that is, so that you glorify, exalt and praise the Holy One; and let him be your fear and let him be your dread. And what then comes to you? Behold: And he shall be a sanctification to you, because Ecclesiasticus 1:28 says: He that is without fear cannot be justified, and so not sanctified; in Ecclesiasticus 2:20 we read: They that fear the Lord will prepare their hearts, and in his sight will sanctify their souls. For if sanctification is a separation from all that is unclean and from sin,[26] a person is on guard and flees from sin only from fear; therefore, holiness comes through fear. Dearly beloved, know for certain, that if you were to fear God truly, you would never want to go against a commandment or transgress a law, nor dishonour God in any way.
The faculty of thought
Secondly, a soul is sanctified when the Wisdom of God enlightens its faculty of thought by knowledge of truth; in the Gospel of John 17:17 is said: Sanctify them in truth. Truth, when joined to a human heart, sanctifies, cleanses and purifies the heart just as a ray or brightness of the sun cleans a transparent substance. A ray of divine truth is joined to a human heart firstly by faith. Faith, however, is the acceptance of what is not yet perfectly known; therefore, this purification and sanctification comes about through faith; Acts 15:9 says: Purifying their hearts by faith. Christ became for us the truth that purifies and the wisdom that sanctifies. Because wisdom cannot flow into a human heart except by sanctifying faith through which it enters and remains, Wisdom 7:27 says: She conveys herself into holy souls, she makes the friends of God and prophets; and all of this by faith. Abraham believed God, and it was reputed to him to justice, and he was called the friend of God [James 2:23; Genesis 15:6]. A person has this sanctifying faith when the brightness of eternal Truth shines on a human mind. Even if the whole world were to state the contrary, a soul should never for this reason draw back from the truth of faith; it is this that sanctifies when it works in love. All of us are seen to believe, yet there is no greater lack in the world than faith. If we were to recognize the divine gifts faithfully, if we were to pay attention to the punishments of hell, we would never offend God so easily.
The faculty of love
Thirdly, a soul is sanctified when the goodness of God dwells in its faculty of love by the sanctification of love; the Apostle says: But now being made free from sin and become servants of God, you have your fruit unto sanctification and as end life everlasting [Romans 6:22]. What is it that makes a soul free from sin? It is love and so the Apostle says: You have not received the spirit of bondage again in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of sons, whereby we cry, Abba, Father [Romans 8:15]. If we are true sons, we truly love God, our Father; if we love God, we are truly free. Accordingly, the sanctification that comes about by love is that by which God dwells in a soul, because what else is charity than a love of what is good? ‘Good and love are a uniting force.’[27] Hence, a soul becomes a temple of God when it is sanctified by charity; in Ephesians 1:4 the Apostle says: He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and unspotted in his sight in charity. Unhappy people desire and love an abundance of temporal possessions, but you, a Christian, love God so that God may dwell in you as in a temple sanctified and cleansed by charity.
The faculty that governs
Fourthly, so that God may dwell in the soul we should be sanctified in the faculty that governs the body, and this is done by a sanctification of uprightness and of the exterior way of life; 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5: This is the will of God, our sanctification, that everyone of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour, not in the passion of lust. The vessel is our body because it is the vessel of the soul, in so far as it is matter and a receptacle of the Holy Spirit through grace. Our limbs are the temple of the Holy Spirit and so should be clean and holy. Why did the Son of God come down into the Virgin? Because he kept the limbs of the Virgin sanctified and most clean for himself. Therefore, if you want to be a temple of God [1 Corinthians 6:19] you have to guard your vessel in sanctification and honour. Note what the Apostle says in Romans 6:19:
I speak a human thing because of the infirmity of your flesh. For as you have yielded your members to serve uncleanness and iniquity unto iniquity, so now yield your members to serve justice unto sanctification.
Objection
But someone may say how are we able to preserve cleanliness and sanctification in our limbs, we who have concupiscence, longing and passion? But, for the sake of this cleanliness and sanctification, you can do at least what a wanton person does to satisfy longing. He does not hesitate because of hunger, cold nor death, in fact sometimes he exposes himself to all these for the sake of one small pleasure. What is this you are saying, that you are not able to safeguard this cleanliness, and yet you are able to expose yourself completely for one most miserable pleasure? Will an unhappy corruption within you be more powerful than what nature with grace can do in you? Let this not be. It is true that a bad habit has a significant effect upon and corrupts affection; but nothing is easier to a mortified and punished body than to protect what is holy and clean. One ought to expose oneself more easily and quickly to hot flames than commit such sin.
Example
There is an example in De Vitis sanctorum Patrum[28] of a solitary anchorite in a certain desert; a woman came to his doorway in winter and began to weep because night was approaching and she was cold; if she lay down outside she was afraid she would perish of the cold or that wild animals would devour her. Hearing this, the holy man began to feel compassion for her and he was afraid he would be blamed for cruelty if he sent her outside and so he let her in. When she was inside she said that she was so cold she was not able to endure it. And that good man prepared a small fire, such as he was able, and she warmed herself. When she was warm she began to ask that good man how could he be so cruel as to want to live so roughly and harshly, that God did not command us to kill ourselves. By a long way round she began to arrive at saying that he could be in the world and have one good woman as his wife and from her procreate children for the worship of God and it would be better that leading such a solitary life. And then arose a virile spirit and turning away, as befitting a holy and clean man, he placed his hand in the fire, and held it there so long that one whole finger was burnt. He held it in the fire only so that the temptation and passion might be fully quelled. How much he was gladdened over that finger than over all the others! He exposed himself to bodily fire in this way, so that the fire of lust, a very evil fire, might be extinguished in him.
Warning to priests to be holy
Hear what Job 31:12 says: It is a fire that devours even to destruction, and roots up all things that spring. We read in Sacred Scripture that Nabuzardan burnt the temple of God [4 Kings 25:9]; this happens when a person who should be a temple of God burns in a fire of lust. Dearly beloved, you are priests, to whom blessed Peter in his Canonical Letter, your great pastor and bishop, says that you are children of obedience, not fashioned according to the former desires of your ignorance [1 Peter 1:14]. This is Peter. Pay attention, clerics, disciples of Peter, more rather disciples of Christ, to where does your Master say: Be great, wise, rich or glorious because I am great. This you will never find. But he does say: Be holy because I am holy [Leviticus 11:44]. So, from where comes such great insanity that people have no concern to become holy, but are much concerned over riches, glory, temporal honour and knowledge? And, God of heaven, who will work for the sake of acquiring holiness, namely, for the purpose of being holy? Not because of riches, knowledge, riches and honours is a person holy or regarded by God as holy, and yet we expend all our time on such things. Time is given to us for becoming holy and we spend it on what is superfluous and harmful! Listen to what the wise man says and advises: Have pity on your own soul, pleasing God, and contain yourself, gather up your heart in his holiness [Ecclesiasticus 30:24], not on your body, nor on flesh but on your soul. We do the contrary for we love more a sack full of excrement, namely, our body, than our soul that is a temple of God, of the Holy Spirit.
Conclusion
Accordingly, that soul is a holy temple of God when the majesty of God dwells in its faculty of power, when the wisdom of God dwells in its faculty of knowing, when the goodness of God dwells in its faculty of love, when God as holiness dwells in its faculty of governing. We have an example of these in the glorious Virgin of whom it is clear how fearful she was, how full of faith, how loving, how correct in her conduct.
Example
Look at Simeon who carries Christ in his arms. Carry Christ, you too, in the arms of your heart; embrace him with faith and love. For this you should come to church so as to carry Christ not for the sake of money as many do and once they have it they go away, but so as to carry Christ whom God the Father offers to us every day on the altars in the Sacrament; we should take him spiritually and if we do not take the Sacrament of the altar every day, we should however carry him in our arms beside our heart in love, so that finally we may came to the open vision of him to which may Christ our Lord lead us.
DISCOURSE
By one oblation he has perfected for ever them that are sanctified.
1 Timothy 4:4-5: Nothing is to be rejected that is received with thanksgiving, for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer.
The Apostle is speaking of eating material foods, saying, that by prayer they are made holy. It is clear that all good people say a blessing before eating; and they want all others to have this custom, at least by saying the Our Father and making the sign of the cross, not approaching the food of meat as do brute animals.
Example
There is an example of this,[29] namely, that the devil entered into a certain nun through lettuce, and, later, a certain man, feeling sympathy for the nun, asked the devil who had entered her, how he had entered, why and how he had dared to enter a handmaid of the all powerful God. The devil replied: ‘I was sitting on a lettuce and she ate me. What wrong have I done?’ The Saint commented on this that she hurried to the lettuce without making a sign of the cross but by his prayers the Saint made the devil get out of her. This is an example to us that we should not hurry to food like beasts, but we should turn to the inner person and say a prayer before eating food. So, if we should pray before the refreshment of food, how much more before the refreshment of the mind! And if the food of flesh is sanctified by prayer, much more is food of the mind asked for and sanctified by prayer. For this reason prayer is put first in everything. So we will ask the Lord to give us, in what remains of our sermon today, to speak in such a way that it might be for the honour of his name and for the building up of our souls.
Repetition
By one oblation etc.
It was said to you today that in this text is explained the content and the cause of the present solemnity. The content is twofold, namely, the offering of the Child and the purification of Mary; the cause is twofold, namely, one is the carrying out of the legal sacrifices, and the other is the beginning of spiritual purifications. For this reason she wanted to offer and he wanted to be offered. It has also been said that it was fitting for the Virgin to be the form and model of all sanctification and this for the four reasons already mentioned; and the form of all our sanctification was that she presented her Son in a material temple. To be noted in this is that, if we want to be sanctified, we should be a temple of God, something that happens in four ways as already stated.
How to come to sanctification
Now it is still to be explained how we might come to this sanctification so that we would be a temple of God. Solomon built the temple of God.[30] If you ask how he built it, and how are we to sanctify ourselves, listen to what is said of that sanctification in the Old Testament; it is not without reason that the Old is placed before the New, because many things are foretold in it that are to happen in the New Testament. It is said in the Old Testament that some things are sanctified by washing, some by anointing, some by a vow, some by a sacrifice. And in the New some things are sanctified by a washing of bitter compunction, some by an anointing of a pleasant bestowal of grace, some by a vow of austere profession, and some by a sacrifice of unconquered effort.
The first way of sanctification
The first manner of sanctification is found in Numbers 31:23: Whatever cannot abide the fire shall be sanctified with the water of expiation. This water is made, as stated there in Numbers 19:9, from a mixture of water with the ashes of a red heifer burnt outside the camp, because by the power of the Holy Spirit contrition contains water for washing and sanctification, that is the grace of the Holy Spirit, because contrition and acknowledge-ment of sins ought to be joined with the ashes of a red heifer, that is, with the memory of the Lord’s passion. Hence the Apostle says in Hebrews 9:13-14:
For if the blood of goats and of oxen, and the ashes of a heifer being sprinkled, sanctify such as are defiled, to the cleansing of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who by the Holy Spirit offered himself unspotted unto God etc.
Therefore, join the memory and recalling of your sins with the ashes of a red heifer, that is, with the memory of the passion of the Lord, and begin to weep and in this way you will be able to be purified and sanctified. This is what David did when he said: Every night I will wash my bed, I will water my couch with tears [Psalm 6:7]; and he adds immediately: My eye is troubled through indignation [Psalm 6:8]. Through indignation, that is, from indignation over my sins, my eye is troubled bursting forth into tears. Were a person to reflect carefully that the Son of God poured out his blood for our sins, this person would sorrow greatly and weep over the fact that he or she had sinned. So we have to be washed in order that we might be clean.
Protecting cleanliness
It is to be noted that many are washed yet do not protect their cleanliness but quickly lose it by sinning. Against such Isaiah 1:16 says: Wash yourselves, be clean. What gain is there when people are washed and then immediately become defiled? Ecclesiasticus 34:30: He who washes himself after touching the dead, if he touches him again, what does his washing avail? I am not saying that it is not good to confess and to accustom oneself to good works, even when one falls back into sin, provided one realizes that to have eternal life such cleanliness is useless unless it is preserved. Noteworthy are the words: Whatever cannot abide the fire, because there are some sins that are not to be purified in this way because in the perfect they are devoured by the fire of charity. For when the perfect commit a venial sin, immediately it is devoured like a drop of water in a furnace; but this does not apply to mortal sin for which there is no such fire. It is recorded[31] that formerly the priests and Levites hid the fire from the altar in a certain pit and later dug there and they did not find the fire but thick water. They placed this on the sacrifices and holocausts and it was totally consumed. This represents a tearful devotion flowing from compunction and it consumes all sins. This is the fire that ought to burn on the altar, that is, in the depths of a human heart.
The second way of sanctification
Secondly, we should be sanctified by the anointing of a pleasant bestowal of grace, of which we read in Exodus 30:9: And you shall take the oil of unction and anoint the tabernacle with its vessels, that they may be sanctified. This ointment was from the most valuable and sacred ingredients mentioned in the Old Testament. The ointment was made from olive oil with myrrh, cinnamon, cane and cassia [Exodus 30:23ff.]. Note that in Sacred Scripture oil represents grace that gladdens and enters a serene and joyful soul: That he may make the face cheerful with oil [Psalm 103:15]. But perfect grace enters with oil joined to the foregoing, with myrrh and the other items. Myrrh preserves the bodies of the dead from corruption and represents cleanness of the flesh, curbing movements rising from the flesh like worms; cinnamon takes away darkness in the eye; and cane is useful to strengthen the heart; cassia is useful for cleansing the blood and purifying by making clean. So by oil the grace gladdening the mind is represented.
Three hierarchical actions
However, Dionysius