Sermon by S. Augustine, Bishop: On the Ascension of Our Lord

Sermon by S. Augustine, Bishop: On the Ascension of Our Lord

OUR Savior, beloved brethren, has ascended into heaven: then let us not be troubled here on earth. If our mind be with him, we shall also be at peace here. Meanwhile, let us ascend with Christ in heart, and then when his promised day comes, we shall follow him in body. However, we must realize, brethren, that neither pride, nor avarice, nor luxury, ascend with Christ: none of our sins ascend with our Physician. And therefore, if we wish to ascend, to follow our Physician, we must lay aside our sins and offences.

FOR all these things hold us down as though they were fetters, and strive to entangle us in a mesh of sin: and therefore, with God as our Helper, in the words of the Psalmist: Let us break their bonds asunder: that we may say to the Lord with sure confidence, Thou hast broken my bonds in sunder. I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving. The Lord's Resurrection is our hope: the Lord's Ascension is our glorification.

WE are celebrating today the festival of the Lord's Ascension. If we are to celebrate the Lord's Ascension fittingly, faithfully, devoutly, piously, and with holiness, then we must ascend with him, and lift up our hearts. But as we ascend, we must not be high minded, nor must we attribute our ascent to ourselves, as though it were due to our own merits. We must lift up our hearts to the Lord. A heart uplifted, but not to the Lord, is a proud heart: a heart lifted up to the Lord is a safe heart. Behold, a great wonder, brethren. God is high. Lift yourself up, and he flees from you; humble yourself, and he comes down to you. Why is this? Because, though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: as for the proud, he beholdeth them afar off. He hath respect unto the lowly, that he may lift them up: the proud, the high-minded he beholdeth afar off, that he may thrust them down.

CHRIST rose again, to give us hope that man, who is mortal, shall rise. He gave us confidence, that in dying we should not despair, • nor think that our life ends in death. For we were anxious about our very soul; and by his resurrection he has reassured us as to the resurrection, not only of the soul, but of the body as well. Believe then, that you may be purified. First you must believe, so that through faith you may afterwards be found worthy to see God. Do you wish to see God? Hear what he says: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Think out first, then, how to purify your heart: and remove whatever you see there displeasing to God.

Homily of St. Bernard: THE FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY: Magnanimity and humility unite in Mary and in the saints

Homily of St. Bernard: THE FEAST OF THE VISITATION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY: Magnanimity and humility unite in Mary and in the saints

Elizabeth marveled that so great a person should come to see her and she asked: How have I deserved to be thus visited by the mother of my Lord? She went on to commend Mary for her words of greeting. As soon as ever the voice of thy greeting sounded in my ears, she said, the child in my womb leaped for joy.  And in praise of her faith she said: Blessed art thou for thy believing. High praise indeed was this. But Mary's utter humility would not allow her to keep anything for herself; it only made her the more eager to refer all the credit to God, for it was his blessings that were being praised in her.

"You magnify me", she might have said, "because I am the Lord's mother; but my soul magnifies the Lords himself. You say that your child leaped for joy when he heard my voice; but my spirit has found joy in God, who is my Savior, and your son too rejoices at hearing the bridegroom's voice, for he is the bridegroom's friend You call me blessed because I have believed; but the reason why I believed and am blessed is that the merciful God looked down upon me from on high. If all generations are to count me blessed, it is because God has looked graciously upon his poor and lowly handmaid."

We must not therefore think, brethren, must we, that holy Elizabeth was mistaken when she said what the Spirit had told her to say? Of course, we must not. Obviously, Mary was blessed both because God had looked graciously upon her and because of her believing. That God looked graciously upon her had its effect, and a great effect it was. The Holy Spirit came upon her and by means beyond all telling contrived that her great humility should meet in the depths of her virginal heart with equally great magnanimity. Each gained luster from the mutual contact; neither was diminished by the other. Although she was so humble in estimating her own worth, she was magnanimous in believing the promise made to her. Thinking herself to be but a poor little servant, she yet never doubted that she had been chosen to accomplish an inscrutable mystery; she believed that in very truth she would soon be the mother of the God-man.

It is the prerogative of divine grace so to work in the hearts of the elect that humility does not make them pusillanimous or magnanimity arrogant. The two virtues collaborate. Thus, magnanimity cannot serve as a cloak for pride; in fact, it greatly increases humility and makes men fear God and be grateful to the Giver of their gifts. In the same way, humility affords no entry to pusillanimity. The less a man relies on his own powers, even in the smallest things, the more does he lean on God's strength whenever he has some great enterprise in hand.

IN VISITATIONE BEATÆ MARIÆ VIRGINIS

Ad Officium lectionis: saec. XIV

Veni, præcélsa Dómina;

María, tu nos vísita,

quæ iam cognátæ dómui

tantum portásti gáudii.

Veni, iuvámen sæculi,

sordes aufer piáculi,

ac visitándo pópulum

pœnæ tolle perículum.

Veni, stella, lux márium,

infúnde pacis rádium;

rege quodcúmque dévium,

da vitam innocéntium.

Veni, precámur, vísites

nobísque vires róbores

virtúte sacri ímpetus,

ne fluctuétur ánimus.

Veni, virga regálium,

reduc fluctus errántium

ad unitátem fídei,

in qua salvántur cælici.

Veni, tecúmque Fílium

laudémus in perpétuum,

cum Patre et Sancto Spíritu,

qui nobis dent auxílium. Amen.

Come, O heavenly Lady, O Mary, visit us, who once carried such great joy to the house of your kinswoman. Come, O help of the world, remove the evil squalor, and by visiting the people, take away the threat of punishment.  Come, O star, O light of the seas, pour out the brightness of peace, steer the wandering back to innocence of life.  Come, visit us, we pray, and strengthen us with your power, by the force of your holy virtue prevent our souls from wavering. Come, O royal scepter, lead back the wave of errors to the unity of faith, by which the saints are saved. Come, let us eternally praise you and your Son, with the Father and Holy Spirit, who are our help. Amen.

Ad Laudes matutinas: saec. XVI?

Véniens, mater ínclita,

cum Sancti dono Spíritus,

nos ut Ioánnem vísita

in huius carnis sédibus.

Procéde, portans párvulum,

ut mundus possit crédere

et tuæ laudis títulum

omnes sciant extóllere.

Salúta nunc Ecclésiam,

ut tuam vocem áudiens

exsúrgat in lætítia,

advéntum Christi séntiens.

María, levans óculos,

vide credéntes pópulos:

te quærunt piis méntibus,

his opem feres ómnibus.

O veræ spes lætítiæ,

nostræ portus misériæ,

nos iunge cæli cúriæ

ornátos stola glóriæ.

Tecum, Virgo, magníficat

ánima nostra Dóminum,

qui laude te nobílitat

et hóminum et cælitum. Amen.

Hastening, O noble mother, with the gift of the Holy Spirit, visit us in our fleshly abode as you once visited John. Go forth, carrying the little baby that the world might believe and all may know to praise your name. Greet now the Church, that hearing your voice she may rise to gladness, knowing the coming of Christ. Mary, raise your eyes, see the people who believe; they seek you with dutiful souls , you who bring help to all.  O hope of true joy,  the safe port for our misery, join us to the heavenly courts and adorn us with the robes of glory. With you, O Virgin, our souls magnify the Lord, we, who ennoble you with the praise of men and of  the heavenly hosts. Amen.

Ad Vesperas: novus

Cóncito gressu petis alta montis,

Virgo, quam matrem Deus ipse fecit,

ut seni matri studiósi amóris

  pígnora promas.

Cum salutántis capit illa vocem,

ábditus gestit puer exsilíre,

te parens dicit dóminam, salútat

  teque beátam.

Ipsa prædícis fore te beátam

Spíritu fervens pénitus loquénte,

ac Deum cantu célebras amœno

  magna operántem.

Teque felícem pópuli per orbem

semper, o mater, récitant ovántes

atque te credunt Dómini favórum

  esse minístram.

Quæ, ferens Christum, nova semper affers

dona, tu nobis fer opes salútis,

qui pie tecum Tríadem supérnam

  magnificámus. Amen.

Quickly you search out the hill country, O Virgin, whom God has made a mother, anxious to relate to the older mother the pledge of love. When she hears the voice of  your greeting, the boy hiding in her womb eagerly leaps, calls you the lady giving birth and greets you as blessed. She foretells that you will be blessed,  the fiery Spirit speaking to her inwardly and you celebrate with a pleasing canticle the One who does great things.  The people throughout the world greet you and proclaim you happy, O Mother, and believe that you serve in the favor of the Lord. You, bearing Christ, ever bring new gifts, advancing the work of salvation for us, who with you lovingly magnify the heavenly Trinity. Amen.

Ascension Collect

Fac nos, omnípotens Deus, sanctis exsultáre gáudiis, et pia gratiárum actióne lætári, quia Christi Fílii tui ascénsio est nostra provéctio, et, quo procéssit glória cápitis, eo spes vocátur et córporis.

Make us, O almighty God, to rejoice with holy joys and to be glad with due thanksgiving for the Ascension of Christ your Son, which is our advancement, and where the head has gone before, there also is called the hope of the body.

This collect is a new composition, but based on Sermon 73, 4 of St. Leo the Great:

"since the Ascension of Christ is our ascension, and where the glory of the head has gone before, thither is the hope of the body summoned, let us exult, beloved brethren, with befitting joys, and rejoice with devout thanksgiving. To-day, not only have we been confirmed in the possession of Paradise, but in Christ have even penetrated to the heights of heaven."

Collect: The Memorial of St. Paul VI, Pope

Deus, qui Ecclésiam tuam regéndam beáto Paulo papæ commisísti, strénuo Fílii tui Evangélii  apóstolo, præsta, quǽsumus, ut, ab eius institútis illumináti,ad civílem amóris cultum in mundum dilatándum tibi collaboráre valeámus.

O God, who did entrust the rule of your Church to blessed Pope Paul, a strong apostle of the Gospel of your Son, grant, we beseech you, that, illuminated by his teaching, we may collaborate with you in opening the world to the cultivation of a civilization of love.

Ascension: St. Catherine of Sienna: The Dialogue

When My only-begotten Son returned to Me, forty days after the resurrection, this Bridge, namely Himself, arose from the earth, that is, from among the conversation of men, and ascended into Heaven by virtue of the Divine Nature and sat at the right hand of Me, the Eternal Father, as the angels said, on the day of the Ascension, to the disciples, standing like dead men, their hearts lifted on high, and ascended into Heaven with the wisdom of My Son—'Do not stand here any longer, for He is seated at the right hand of the Father!' When He, then, had thus ascended on high, and returned to Me the Father, I sent the Master, that is the Holy Spirit, who came to you with My power and the wisdom of My Son, and with His own clemency, which is the essence of the Holy Spirit. He is one thing with Me, the Father, and with My Son. And He built up the road of the doctrine which My Truth had left in the world. Thus, though the bodily presence of My Son left you, His doctrine remained, and the virtue of the stones founded upon this doctrine, which is the way made for you by this Bridge. For first, He practiced this doctrine and made the road by His actions, giving you His doctrine by example rather than by words; for He practiced, first Himself, what He afterwards taught you, then the clemency of the Holy Spirit made you certain of the doctrine, fortifying the minds of the disciples to confess the truth, and to announce this road, that is, the doctrine of Christ crucified, reproving, by this means, the world of its injustice and false judgment. . . .

Wherefore, first I gave you the Bridge of My Son living and conversing in very deed amongst men, and when He, the living Bridge, left you, there remained the Bridge and the road of His doctrine, as has been said, His doctrine being joined with My power and with His wisdom, and with the clemency of the Holy Spirit. This power of Mine gives the virtue of fortitude to whoever follows this road, wisdom gives him light, so that, in this road, he may recognize the truth, and the Holy Spirit gives him love, which consumes and takes away all sensitive love out of the soul, leaving there only the love of virtue. Thus, in both ways, both actually and through His doctrine, He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life; that is, the Bridge which leads you to the height of Heaven.

Ascension: Homily by S. Gregory the Great

THE disciples were slow to believe in the resurrection of the Lord: it was not due to their weakness but rather, so that future generations might be strong. It is through their doubting, that so many proofs of the resurrection are given to us, and as we read of them, through this doubt our belief is confirmed. The witness of Mary Magdalene, who believed immediately, means less to me than that of Thomas, who doubted for so long. For through his doubting, he touched the prints of the wounds, and removed the wounds of doubt from our hearts.

BUT Mark records that the Lord, before he ascended into heaven, upbraided his disciples with their unbelief and hardness of heart. And what are we to gather from this, but that the Lord chose this particular time of bodily withdrawal from them, as the time to upbraid them, so that his words, spoken on departure, might be more firmly planted in their hearts?

LET us hear, then, the commandment that he gave them after he had rebuked their hardness: Go ye into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. Surely, my brethren, the Evangelist did not mean that the Gospel was to be preached to insensible objects and to brute-beasts, when it was said, Preach to every creature? But man is suggested by every creature, since man has something in common with every creature: he has his creation in common with the stones, his life and growth with the trees, his senses with the animals, his understanding with the Angels. If, then, he has something in common with every creature, man is connected with every creature, and therefore every creature has the Gospel preached to it, when it is preached to man alone.

THE ASCENSION: Homily of St. Leo the Great

The sacred period of forty days following the blessed and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, wherein by divine power he raised up in three days the true Temple of God which the impious Jews had destroyed—that period, dearly beloved, prescribed by God's holy providence that we might have the instruction we needed, has now come to an end. By thus prolonging his corporal presence, our Lord intended that faith in his Resurrection should rest on irrefutable proofs. The death of Christ had deeply troubled the hearts of his disciples. The anguish of the Cross, the yielding up of the spirit, the burial of the lifeless body, had gravely saddened their minds; the lethargy of doubt overshadowed them. Throughout the period from the Resurrection to the Ascension of our Lord, divine providence had in view that which God wished to teach to his own, to impress upon their minds and hearts, the certitude that the Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ was as true as his birth, his passion and his death.

Whence the blessed Apostles and all the disciples, though they had trembled at the outcome of the crucifixion and been left in doubt about the Resurrection, were so strengthened by the clear perception of this truth, that when our Lord was ascending, not only were they not sad, but were even filled with great joy. And a truly great and ineffable cause of rejoicing it was, when in the sight of a holy multitude, human nature ascended above the dignity of all celestial creatures, to pass above the angelic rank, to be raised beyond the highest archangels, to advance unimpeded from height to height until it was admitted to the presence of the Father, there to sit at his right hand and share the glorious throne of him to whose nature it was united in the person of the Son!

And since the Ascension of Christ is our ascension, and where the glory of the head has gone before, thither is the hope of the body summoned, let us exult, beloved brethren, with befitting joys, and rejoice with devout thanksgiving. To-day, not only have we been confirmed in the possession of Paradise, but in Christ have even penetrated to the heights of heaven. The blessings which the ineffable grace of Christ has merited for us outweigh those which the envy of Satan deprived us of; for those whom the venomous enemy cast down from the happiness of their first estate, these the Son of God has made to be of one body with himself and placed at the right hand of the Father.

IN ASCENSIONE DOMINI:

Ad I  & II Vesperas: saec. VII-VIII

Walsh-Husch: “It could be argued that this hymn more appropriately belongs to Holy Week (it was earlier appointed for Nocturns at Easter) than to Ascension Thursday, to which the revised Breviary allots it for First Vespers.” However, Milfull notes that the collector in H (the ‘Leofric Collectar’) assigns it “also to Compline and Matins of the Ascension”.

Iesu, nostra redémptio

amor et desidérium,

Deus creátor ómnium,

homo in fine témporum,

Quæ te vicit cleméntia,

ut ferres nostra crímina,

crudélem mortem pátiens,

ut nos a morte tólleres;

Inférni claustra pénetrans,

tuos captívos rédimens;

victor triúmpho nóbili

ad dextram Patris résidens?

Ipsa te cogat píetas,

ut mala nostra súperes

parcéndo, et voti cómpotes

nos tuo vultu sáties.

Tu esto nostrum gáudium,

qui es futúrus præmium;

sit nostra in te glória

per cuncta semper sæcula. Amen.

O Jesus, our redemption, love and desire, God, creator of all things, man at the end of time. What mercy conquered you that you should bear our sins, suffering a cruel death to rescue us from death.  Penetrating the enclosure of hell, redeeming your captives, victor in noble triumph, sitting at the right hand of the Father.  May that love compel you to overcome our evils with pardon,  our desires completely satisfied by your presence. Be our joy, you who are our future reward, may our glory be in you ever through all ages.

In officio dominicali et feriali: Rabanus Maurus?

Originally sung at Vespers on Pentecost through the octave, this hymn is now sung between Ascension and Pentecost. Perhaps this is because of the elimination of the Pentecost octave. “No other Latin hymn, except those of the daily office, has been so frequently and widely used as this” (Walpole).

Veni, creátor Spíritus,

mentes tuórum vísita,

imple supérna grátia,

quæ tu creásti, péctora.

Qui díceris Paráclitus,

donum Dei altíssimi,

fons vivus, ignis, cáritas

et spiritális únctio.

Tu septifórmis múnere,

dextræ Dei tu dígitus,

tu rite promíssum Patris

sermóne ditans gúttura.

Accénde lumen sénsibus,

infúnde amórem córdibus,

infírma nostri córporis,

virtúte firmans pérpeti.

Hostem repéllas lóngius

pacémque dones prótinus;

ductóre sic te prævio

vitémus omne nóxium.

Per te sciámus da Patrem

noscámus atque Fílium,

te utriúsque Spíritum

credámus omni témpore. Amen.

Come, O creator Spirit, visit the souls which are yours; fill with heavenly grace the hearts which you have created. You who are called the Comforter, the gift of God most high, the living source, fire and love, and spiritual anointing. You are the sevenfold gift, the finger of the right hand of God, you truly the promise of the Father, enriching throats with speech. Enkindle our thoughts with light, pour love into our hearts, strengthen the weakness of our bodies with your perpetual virtue. Drive the enemy far from us and continually grant us your peace,  so that with you leading us and going before us we may avoid all harm. Through you may we know the Father, and know the Son, and you, the Spirit of both, we may confess at all times. Amen.

Ad Officium lectionis: saec. X

Milfull; “This hymn was sing at Lauds on the Ascension. The collector of H, however, assigns it to Matins”.  Walpole: “The most noteworthy fact concerning [this hymn] is that a short version is found in two of the oldest MSS….One can understand the expansion of a hymn, but abbreviation is very uncommon. It may be that the short form was the original and was afterwards expanded to the form in which the great majority of the MSS give it. The Mozarabic MSS insert further stanzas.

Ætérne rex altíssime,

redémptor et fidélium,

quo mors solúta déperit,

datur triúmphus grátiæ,

Scandis tribúnal déxteræ

Patris tibíque cælitus

fertur potéstas ómnium,

quæ non erat humánitus,

Ut trina rerum máchina

cæléstium, terréstrium

et inferórum cóndita,

flectat genu iam súbdita.

Tremunt vidéntes ángeli

versam vicem mortálium;

culpat caro, purgat caro,

regnat caro Verbum Dei.

Tu, Christe, nostrum gáudium,

manens perénne præmium,

mundi regis qui fábricam,

mundána vincens gáudia.

Hinc te precántes quæsumus,

ignósce culpis ómnibus

et corda sursum súbleva

ad te supérna grátia,

Ut, cum rubénte cœperis

clarére nube iúdicis,

pœnas repéllas débitas,

reddas corónas pérditas.

Iesu, tibi sit glória,

qui scandis ad cæléstia

cum Patre et almo Spíritu,

in sempitérna sæcula. Amen.

Eternal and heavenly King most high and redeemer of the faithful, by you death loses its grip on us and is destroyed.  You scale the judgement seat at the right hand of the Father, for power, which is not that of man,  was given to you. That the threefold fabric of the world, created things of heaven and earth and below the earth subdued should bend the knee. The angels tremble when they see the reversal of the lot of mortal men: flesh sins, flesh cleanses, the flesh of God now reigns.  You, O Christ, our joy,  abiding as our endless reward, you who rule the fabric of the world, victorious over worldly joys.  Praying, we ask you: forgive us our sins, raise up our hearts to you by heavenly grace.  When you begin to gleam red carried on the cloud of judgement, you will drive away of just punishment and restore the crowns which we lost. To you,  O Jesus, be glory, who scaled the heavens, with the Father and the Holy Spirit for eternal ages. Amen.

Ad Laudes matutinas: saec. X

Walpole: “Blume Analecta LI. 92 heads this hymn In Ascensione Domini. Ad Vesperas; but he notes (p. 93) that the usage varies. The Ambrosian use assigns it to the eve of the Ascension ; Werner to the first Nocturn. Various stanzas of it are omitted in various MSS”. Milfull: “This hymn was sung at Matins (Nocturn) of Ascension, except in B, the oldest Ango-Saxon hymnal extant”.

Optátus votis ómnium

sacrátus illúxit dies,

quo Christus, mundi spes, Deus,

conscéndit cælos árduos.

Magni triúmphum prœlii,

mundi perémpto príncipe,

Patris præséntans vúltibus

victrícis carnis glóriam.

In nube fertur lúcida

et spem facit credéntibus,

iam paradísum réserans

quem protoplásti cláuserant.

O grande cunctis gáudium,

quod partus nostræ Vírginis,

post sputa, flagra, post crucem

patérnæ sedi iúngitur.

Agámus ergo grátias

nostræ salútis víndici,

nostrum quod corpus véxerit

sublíme ad cæli régiam.

Sit nobis cum cæléstibus

commúne manens gáudium:

illis, quod semet óbtulit,

nobis, quod se non ábstulit.

Nunc, Christe, scandens æthera

ad te cor nostrum súbleva,

tuum Patrísque Spíritum

emíttens nobis cælitus. Amen.

The holy day, desired by the prayers of all, now shines, when Christ, the hope of the world, God ascended  into the highest heavens. Triumphant in the great combat, the prince of this world cast out, presenting to the Father’s face the glory of a fleshly victory. Borne upon a gleaming cloud he brought hope to believers, now opening paradise which our first parents had closed. O immense joy of all that the offspring of our Virgin after spitting, whipping, after the cross, should share the throne of the Father. Therefore let us give thanks to the vindicator of our salvation, for our body now lives on high in the kingdom of heaven. May we with the heavenly hosts share an abiding joy, for he offered himself to those above, for us he is not gone. Now, O heavenly Christ, climbing the heavens, raise our hearts to you, sending upon us the Spirit of the Father. Amen.

St. Thomas Aquinas: Commentary on John 15

Our Lord consoles them by using himself as an example of one who has suffered the persecution of oppressors, saying, If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. Note that just as the source of all benefits is love, so the source of all persecutions is hatred. And so our Lord foretells that they will be hated: "You will be hated by all nations" (Mt 24:9); "Blessed are you when men hate you" (Lk 6:22).

He says, If the world hates you, that is, it will come to pass that the world will hate you, and show its hatred by persecuting you, know that it has hated me before it hated you: "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me" (7:7). This thought is a great consolation for the just so that they can courageously endure persecutions: "Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted" (Heb 12:3); "Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps" (1 Pet 2:21). According to Augustine, the members should not consider themselves greater than the Head, nor refuse to be part of his body by being unwilling to endure with their Head the hatred of the world

The world can have two meanings. First a good meaning, for those who lead a good life in the world: "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself" (2 Cor 5:19). Secondly, it can have an evil sense, meaning those who love the world: "The whole world is in the power of the evil one" (1 Jn 5:19). And so the whole world hates the whole world, because those who love the world, and they are spread throughout the whole world, hate the whole world, that is, the Church of the good, which has been established throughout the whole world.

Now he mentions a second point for their consolation, and this is based on the reason for their being hated. When a person endures another's hatred because of his own sins, there is reason for regret and sorrow; but when he is hated because of his virtue he should rejoice. First, our Lord gives the reason why some are loved by the world; secondly, why the apostles are hated by the world (v 19).

The reason why some are loved by the world is that they are like the world; If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Like loves like: "Every creature loves its like" (Sir 13:15). And thus the world, that is, those who love the world, love those who love the world. Accordingly, our Lord says, If you were of the world, that is, followers of the world, the world would love its own, because you would be its own and like to it: "The world cannot hate you, but it hates me" (7:7). "They are of the world, therefore what they say is of the world, and the world listens to them" (I Jn 4:5).

One might object that our Lord meant by the world the authorities of the world, who would persecute the apostles. Yet these very same authorities persecute other worldly people, like murderers and thieves. Therefore, the world does not love its own any more than it loves the apostles.

I reply that it is possible to find something purely good, but not something purely evil, since the subject of evil is something good. Consequently, the evil of guilt is located in some good of nature. Therefore, no person can be a sinner and evil without having some good. So it is because of the evil of these authorities, the evil of their unbelief, that they belong to the world and hate the apostles and those who are not of the world. But because of the good they possess they are not of the world and hate those who are of the world, as thieves and robbers, and such. Still, there were some who were living well in the world yet loved the apostles and approved of their actions.

Now he gives the reason why the world hates the apostles, which is because they are unlike the world. He says, but because you are not of the world, because your spirit has been lifted above it ‑ although you are of the world by your origin: "You are from below, I am from above" (8:23) ‑ lifted above it not by yourselves but by my grace, because I chose you out of the world, therefore, because you are not of the world, the world hates you, that is, those who love the world and who are unlike you, hate you: "An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but he whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked" (Prv 29:27); and in the same chapter "Bloodthirsty men hate one who is blameless" (v 10).

Collect: Easter VI

Fac nos, omnípotens Deus, hos lætítiæ dies, quos in honórem Dómini resurgéntis exséquimur, afféctu sédulo celebráre, ut, quod recordatióne percúrrimus, semper in ópere teneámus.

Make us, O Almighty God, to celebrate with earnest affection these joyful days, in which we honor the Lord rising, that what we hasten to remember, we may hold to in deed.

Almighty God,

  give us the grace of an attentive love

  to celebrate these days of joy

  devoted to the honor of the Risen Lord.

Teach us to hold fast in our actions

  to the mystery we recall in worship.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

  who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

  one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

Glossa Ordinaria on 1 John: 1-10 Translated by Sarah Van Der Pas

1:1] That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;

That which was from the beginning. In the true being of the Divinity. That which we have heard, through the law and the prophets, that which we have seen by our senses, a man coming, that which we have looked upon, noticing divinity in the man, and that which our hands have handled, of the Word of life: not fortuitously agreeing with him who was seen in the flesh, but examining with much handling the Scriptures that provide testimony about the Word itself. That which someone has seen, he can announce to others, that which he has perfectly discerned once, he cannot explain with words.

From the beginning. The Son of God has been from the beginning, yet the disciples have seen and heard this same in the flesh. (Bede)

And our hands. Joined with him by a great familiarity, we have found him to have a real flesh by touching him, both before and after the resurrection, we to whom it is said "Handle and see" (Lk. 24:39).

[1:2] (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)

And we have seen. It is obvious that we are not unfaithful witnesses, because announcing to the incredulous we have become martyrs.

And declare unto you. Thus have we heard through them, but we have not seen, therefore we are no less blessed than they are. (Augustine)

[1:3] That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

That you also may have society. Whoever wants to be a partner with God, must first unite himself with the society of the Church. Nor do they who have believed through the apostles have less than they who have believed through Christ himself. Whence it is said, "Blessed are they that have not seen, and have believed" (Jn. 20:29), and again "Not for them only do I pray, but for them also who through their word shall believe in me" (Jn. 17:20). (Bede)

[1:4] And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full. [5] This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

And this is the annunciation. Why did the Word become flesh? What new thing did he bring to the world? Why did he come to suffer? It was not for nothing; see what he wanted to teach: that God is light. This statement shows the excellence of divine purity, which we are enjoined to imitate. By this the Manicheans are refuted, who say that the nature of God was conquered in war by the prince of darkness and was tainted. (Bede)

Declare unto you, That God is light. We have applied ourselves to the light; the light has illumined us. We were darkness, now through the light we are light, and we illuminate others when we announce that the sins are being forgiven and the darkness driven away.

God is light. Therefore, let him who wants to have communion with light drive away the darkness of sins, because darkness cannot have communion with light. Whence it follows. If we say "this is the reason why the Word became flesh, to announce this to the world". (Augustine)

[1:6] If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:

If we shall say. The commending of the epistle ends here; from here he shows how one must have charity.

And walk in darkness. Those who persist in sins and those who cover others with obscurity are not reckoned among his members, whence: what concord has Christ with Belial? (2 Cor. 6:15) And what communion has light with darkness? (2 Cor. 6:14)

[1:7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we walk in the light. Thus are we clean, but yet we ought not to think ourselves, while we live, able to be cleansed entirely of sins. (Bede)

As he also is in the light. God is said to be in the light, because the utmost goodness does not find where it could (still) advance; man walks in the light, because he advances towards better things through work of virtues.

AUG. God is light which no place lays hold of, voice which no time takes hold of, smell which no breeze disperses, food which no gluttony diminishes, loving embrace which no satiety tears apart. (Pseudo-Augustine liber soliloquiorum animae ad Deum 31)

[1:8] If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we shall say, etc. Those also do not have charity, who, taking pride in their merits, say that they are clean.

We have. He did not say "we have not had", lest it should look as if it were said about the past life.

[1:9] If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

If we confess. Because we cannot be without sin, the first hope of salvation is confession itself, done more out of humility than through necessity, then there is the love with which we love him to whom we are humbled, and charity atones for a multitude of sins. (Bede)

Pride extinguishes charity, charity extinguishes sins, therefore let humility strengthen charity, let humility lead to confession. (Augustine)

Forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity. Or sins the more serious things, iniquity the lesser things.

[1:10] If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Liar. Only God is truthful by himself: man is truthful by God, by himself he is a liar. It is impossible for any saint not to fall into very small sins sometimes. But they do not cease being just, because with God's help they rise more quickly. (Bede)

And word. AUG. in book 15 on the Trinity. The words which we express are signs of those things which we think.  Accordingly, the word that sounds outwardly is the sign of the word that gives light inwardly; which latter has the greater claim to be called a word. For that which is uttered with the mouth of the flesh, is the articulate sound of a word; and is itself also called a word, on account of that from which it was taken to appear outwardly. For so does our word somehow become a voice of the body by assuming the form in which it may be manifested to men's senses, as the Word of God was made flesh by assuming the form in which he might be manifested to men's senses. And as our word is made a voice, but is not changed into a voice, so was the Word of God made flesh, but is not changed into flesh.