St. Augustine, Homily 200 for the Epiphany
Magi come from the East to adore the Virgin's Child. Today we celebrate this event; we pay our respects and deliver a sermon in keeping with the feast. This day first shone resplendently for the Magi; its anniversary is renewed by us with a festal rejoicing. They were the first-fruits of the Gentiles; we are a nation of Gen- tiles. The words of Apostles announced His birth to us; a star was, as it were, the language of heaven for them; like the heavens, therefore, the Apostles announced the glory of God to us. Why should we not recognize as heavens those who have become the abode of God, as it is written: The soul of the just is the seat of wisdom? [Wis. 71] For, through these heavens [the Apostles], the One who made and who dwells in the heavens has sounded forth. The earth trembled at the sound and now, behold, it believes. O mighty mystery! The Lord lay in a manger, yet He drew the Magi from the East. He was hidden in a stable, yet He was acknowledged in the heavens, so that, thus recognized in the heavens, He might be manifested in the stable and that this day might be called the Epiphany or, in the Latin derivative, the Manifestation. Thus, at one and the same time, He set His seal of approval on His high and His lowly estate, so that He to whom the heavens bore witness by a starry sign might, when sought, be found in an insignificant dwelling where, helpless in His tiny frame and wrapped in swaddling clothes, He might be adored by the Magi and feared by the wicked.
Now, then, my dearly beloved sons and heirs of grace, look to your vocation and, since Christ has been revealed to both Jews and Gentiles as the cornerstone, cling together with most constant affection. For He was manifested in the very cradle of His infancy to those who were near and to those who were afar—to the Jews whose shepherds were nearby; to the Gentiles whose M gi were at a great distance. The former came to Him on the very day of His birth; the latter are believed to have come on this day. He was not revealed, therefore, to the shepherds because they were learned, nor to the Magi because they were righteous, for ignorance abounds in the rusticity of shepherds and impiety amid the sacrileges of the Magi. He, the cornerstone, joined both groups to Himself since He came to choose the foolish things of the world in order to put to shame the wise and to call sinners, not the just [Mt. 9, 13], so that the mighty would not be lifted up nor the lowly be in despair.
Vesperas I & Laudes:
Prudentius
From
Cantus XII of The Cathemerinon.
Quicúmque
Christum quæritis, (1)
óculos
in altum tóllite:
illic
licébit vísere
signum
perénnis glóriæ.
Hæc
stella, quæ solis rotam
vincit
decóre ac lúmine,
venísse
terris núntiat
cum
carne terréstri Deum.
En,
Pérsici ex orbis sinu,
sol
unde sumit iánuam,
cernunt
períti intérpretes
regále
vexíllum magi.
«Quis
iste tantus — ínquiunt —
regnátor
astris ímperans,
quem
sic tremunt cæléstia,
cui
lux et æthra insérviunt?
Illústre
quiddam cérnimus
quod
nésciat finem pati,
sublíme,
celsum, intérminum,
antíquius
cælo et chao.
Hic
ille rex est géntium
populíque
rex Iudáici,
promíssus
Abrahæ patri
eiúsque
in ævum sémini».
Iesu,
tibi sit glória,
qui
te revélas géntibus,
cum
Patre et almo Spíritu,
in
sempitérna sæcula. Amen.
The brightness we found will know no end: the most
high, heavenly, infinite, older than heaven and the formless void. This is the
King of the nations, the King of the Jews, promised to Father Abraham and his
seed forever. O Jesus, to you be glory, you who revealed yourself to the
Gentiles, with the Father and loving Spirit for eternal ages. Amen.
Ad Officium lectionis: Prudentius
The
continuation of Quicumque Christum quaeritis.
eóa
promunt múnera,
stratíque
votis ófferunt
tus,
myrrham et aurum régium.
Agnósce
clara insígnia
virtútis
ac regni tui,
Puer,
cui trinam Pater
prædestinávit
índolem:
Regem
Deúmque annúntiant
thesáurus
et fragrans odor
turis
Sabæi, at mýrrheus
pulvis
sepúlcrum prædocet.
O
sola magnárum úrbium
maior
Bethlem, cui cóntigit
ducem
salútis cælitus
incorporátum
gígnere!
Hunc
et prophétis téstibus
îsdémque
signatóribus
testátor
et sator iubet
adíre
regnum et cérnere:
Regnum
quod ambit ómnia
dia
et marína et térrea
a
solis ortu ad éxitum
et
tártara et cælum supra.
Iesu,
tibi sit glória,
qui
te revélas géntibus,
cum
Patre et almo Spíritu,
in
sempitérna sæcula. Amen.
The Magi seeing the baby present him with gifts from the East, prostrate they offer prayers incense, myrrh and gold fit for kings. Child, recognize these clear signs of your power and your kingdom, to you the Father predestined a threefold nature. The treasure of gold and the fragrant smell of the incense of Sheba proclaim you King and God, while the myrrh dust foretells the tomb. Bethlehem, greater than all great cities, where the Captain of heavenly salvation took flesh and was born. Here in accord with prophetic testimony and witness the Father and Testator commands that the kingdom come and be seen. A kingdom which encompasses all things, divinity, sea and earth from the rising of the sun to its setting both the underworld and the heaven above. O Jesus, to you be glory, you who revealed yourself to the Gentiles, with the Father and loving Spirit for eternal ages. Amen.
Vesperas II: Sedulius
This hymn continues A solis ortus cardine. The
manifestation of Christ as threefold: to the Gentiles in the Magi; to the Jews
in the baptism of Christ in the Jordan; and to the Apostles at the wedding in
Cana. The three middle stanzas each in turn address the Magi, the Baptism and
Wedding at Cana.
Hostis
Heródes ímpie,
Christum
veníre quid times?
Non
éripit mortália
qui
regna dat cæléstia.
Ibant
magi, qua vénerant
stellam
sequéntes præviam,
lumen
requírunt lúmine,
Deum
faténtur múnere.
Lavácra
puri gúrgitis
cæléstis
Agnus áttigit;
peccáta
quæ non détulit
nos
abluéndo sústulit.
Novum
genus poténtiæ:
aquæ
rubéscunt hýdriæ,
vinúmque
iussa fúndere
mutávit
unda oríginem.
Iesu,
tibi sit glória,
qui
te revélas géntibus,
cum
Patre et almo Spíritu,
in
sempitérna sæcula. Amen.
Why, O impious Herod, do you fear the coming of Christ? He who gives a heavenly kingdom does not usurp mortal ones. Following the lead of the star, the Magi came to worship, by light they seek light, by their gifts they profess him to be God. The heavenly Lamb touched Jordan’s cleansing waters; by washing he took washed us from sins that were not his own. A new type of power: the water in the jars becomes red and by his command wine flows out, its nature transformed. O Jesus, to you be glory, you who revealed yourself to the Gentiles, with the Father and loving Spirit for eternal ages. Amen
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