Leo the Great: The Holy Spirit Came to Enkindle to a Greater Heat and Fill with Larger Abundance the Hearts Dedicated to Him Friday, May 17 2013

The Lord Jesus had promised that the Holy Spirit should come, not then for the first time to be the Indweller of the saints, but to kindle to a greater heat, and to fill with larger abundance the hearts that were dedicated to Him, increasing, not commencing His gifts, not fresh in operation because richer in bounty.

For the Majesty of the Holy Ghost is never separate from the Omnipotence of the Father and the Son, and whatever the Divine government accomplishes in the ordering of all things, proceeds from the Providence of the whole Trinity.

Therein exists unity of mercy and loving-kindness, unity of judgment and justice:  nor is there any division in action where there is no divergence of will.  What, therefore, the Father enlightens, the Son enlightens, and the Holy Ghost enlightens, and…both the Unity and the Trinity are at the same time revealed to us….

The fact, therefore, that, with the co-operation of the inseparable Godhead still perfect, certain things are performed by the Father, certain by the Son, and certain by the Holy Spirit, in particular belongs to the ordering of our Redemption and the method of our salvation.

For if man, made after the image and likeness of God, had retained the dignity of his own nature, and had not been deceived by the devil’s wiles into transgressing through lust the law laid down for him, the Creator of the world would not have become a Creature, the Eternal would not have entered the sphere of time, nor God the Son, Who is equal with God the Father, have assumed the form of a slave and the likeness of sinful flesh.

But because “by the devil’s malice death entered into the world,” and captive humanity could not otherwise be set free without His undertaking our cause, Who without loss of His majesty should both become true Man, and alone have no taint of sin, the mercy of the Trinity divided for Itself the work of our restoration in such a way that the Father should be reconciled, the Son should reconcile, and the Holy Ghost enkindle.

For it was necessary that those who are to be saved should also do something on their part, and by the turning of their hearts to the Redeemer should quit the dominion of the enemy, even as the Apostle says, “God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying Abba, Father,” “And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty,” and “no one can call Jesus Lord except in the Holy Spirit.”

Leo the Great (c.400-461): Sermon 77, 1-2.

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Leo the Great: “They that Live Should Henceforth not Live to Themselves but to Him Who Died for All and Rose Again” Friday, Mar 29 2013

(Following on from here…)

Let us, then, dearly-beloved, confess what the blessed teacher of the nations, the Apostle Paul, confessed, saying:

“Faithful is the saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.”

For God’s mercy towards us is the more wonderful that Christ died not for the righteous nor for the holy, but for the unrighteous and wicked.

And though the nature of the Godhead could not sustain the sting of death, yet at His birth He took from us that which He might offer for us.

For of old He threatened our death with the power of His death, saying by the mouth of Hosea the prophet, “O death, I will be thy death, and I will be thy destruction, O hell.”

For by dying He underwent the laws of hell, but by rising again He broke them, and so destroyed the continuity of death as to make it temporal instead of eternal.

“For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”

And so, dearly-beloved, let that come to pass of which S. Paul speaks, “that they that live, should henceforth not live to themselves but to Him who died for all and rose again.”

And because the old things have passed away and all things are become new, let none remain in his old carnal life, but let us all be renewed by daily progress and growth in piety.

For however much a man be justified, yet so long as he remains in this life, he can always be more approved and better.

And he that is not advancing is going back, and he that is gaining nothing is losing something.

Let us run, then, with the steps of faith, by the works of mercy, in the love of righteousness, that keeping the day of our redemption spiritually, “not in the old leaven of malice and wickedness, but in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth,” we may deserve to be partakers of Christ’s resurrection.

Leo the Great (c.400-461): Sermon 59, 8.

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Leo the Great: O Wondrous Power of the Cross! O Ineffable Glory of the Passion! Sunday, Mar 24 2013

Let our understandings, illumined by the Spirit of Truth, foster with pure and free heart the glory of the Cross which irradiates heaven and earth.

Let us see with the inner sight what the Lord meant when He spoke of His coming Passion:  “The hour is come that the Son of man may be glorified.”

He says, “Now is My spirit troubled.  And what shall I say?  Father, save Me from this hour, but for this cause came I unto this hour.  Father, glorify Your Son.”

And when the Father’s voice came from heaven, saying, “I have both glorified it and will glorify it again,” Jesus in reply said to those that stood by:

“This voice came not for Me but for you.  Now is the world’s judgment, now shall the prince of this world be cast out.  And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things unto Me.”

O wondrous power of the Cross!  O ineffable glory of the Passion, in which is contained the Lord’s tribunal, the world’s judgment, and the power of the Crucified!

For You draw all things unto Yourself, Lord. And, when You had stretched out Your hands all the day long to an unbelieving people that gainsaid You, the whole world at last was brought to confess Your majesty.

You drew all things unto Yourself, Lord…, when the lights of heaven were darkened, and the day turned into night, and the earth also was shaken with unwonted shocks….

You didst draw all things unto Yourself, Lord, for the veil of the temple was rent, and the Holy of Holies existed no more…, so that type was turned into Truth, prophecy into Revelation, law into Gospel.

You drew all things unto Yourself, Lord, so that what before was done in the one temple of the Jews in dark signs, was now to be celebrated everywhere by the piety of all the nations in full and open rite.

For now there is a nobler rank of Levites, there are elders of greater dignity and priests of holier anointing, because Your Cross is the fount of all blessings, the source of all graces, and through it the believers receive strength for weakness, glory for shame, life for death.

Now, too, the variety of fleshly sacrifices has ceased, and the one offering of Your Body and Blood fulfils all those different victims.

For You are the true “Lamb of God, that takes away the sins of the world,” and in Yourself You so accomplish all mysteries, that as there is but one sacrifice instead of many victims, so there is but one kingdom instead of many nations.

Leo the Great (c.400-461): Sermon 59, 6-7.

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Leo the Great: The Cross of Christ was the Altar not of the Temple but of the World Friday, Mar 22 2013

And so the Lord was handed over…, and, in mockery of His kingly state, ordered to be the bearer of His own instrument of death.

This was so that what Isaiah the prophet foresaw might be fulfilled, saying, “Behold a Child is born, and a Son is given to us whose government is upon His shoulders.”

When, therefore, the Lord carried the wood of the cross which should turn for Him into the sceptre of power, it was indeed in the eyes of the wicked a mighty mockery.

But, to the faithful, a mighty mystery was set forth, seeing that He, the glorious vanquisher of the Devil, and the strong defeater of the powers that were against Him, was carrying in noble sort the trophy of His triumph, and on the shoulders of His unconquered patience bore into all realms the adorable sign of salvation.

This was…to confirm all His followers by this mere symbol of His work, and say, “He that taketh not his cross and followeth Me, is not worthy of Me.”

But as the multitudes went with Jesus to the place of punishment, a certain Simon of Cyrene was found on whom to lay the wood of the cross instead of the Lord.

This act pre-signified the Gentiles’ faith, to whom the cross of Christ was to be not shame but glory.

It was not accidental, therefore, but symbolical and mystical, that while the Jews were raging against Christ, a foreigner was found to share His sufferings, as the Apostle says, “if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him”.

This happened so that no Hebrew nor Israelite, but a stranger, was substituted for the Saviour in His most holy degradation.

For by this transference the propitiation of the spotless Lamb and the fulfilment of all mysteries passed from the circumcision to the uncircumcision, from the sons according to the flesh to the sons according to the spirit,

For, as the Apostle says, “Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us.”

Offering Himself to the Father a new and true sacrifice of reconciliation, He was crucified not in the temple, whose worship was now at an end, and not within the confines of the city which for its sin was doomed to be destroyed, but outside, “without the camp.”

This took place so that, on the cessation of the old symbolic victims, a new Victim might be placed on a new altar, and the cross of Christ might be the altar not of the temple but of the world.

Leo the Great (c.400-461): Sermon 59, 4-5.

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Leo the Great: “The Sufferings of the Present Time are not Worthy to be Compared with the Future Glory which shall be Revealed in Us” Sunday, Feb 24 2013

(Following on from here…)

And in this Transfiguration the foremost object was to remove the offence of the cross from the disciple’s heart, and to prevent their faith being disturbed by the humiliation of His voluntary Passion by revealing to them the excellence of His hidden dignity.

But with no less foresight, the foundation was laid of the Holy Church’s hope, that the whole body of Christ might realize the character of the change which it would have to receive, and that the members might promise themselves a share in that honour which had already shone forth in their Head.

About this the Lord had Himself said, when He spoke of the majesty of His coming, “Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in their Father’s Kingdom.”

And the blessed Apostle Paul bears witness to the self-same thing, and says:  “for I reckon that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the future glory which shall be revealed in us;”

and again, “for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.  For when Christ our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with Him in glory.”

[...] Moses and Elias, that is the Law and the Prophets, appeared talking with the Lord.

[...] St John says, “the law was given through Moses:  but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ,” in Whom is fulfilled both the promise of prophetic figures and the purpose of the legal ordinances.

For He both teaches the truth of prophecy by His presence, and renders the commands possible through grace.

The Apostle Peter…, being excited by the revelation of these mysteries, despising things mundane and scorning things earthly, was seized with a sort of frenzied craving for the things eternal.

Filled with rapture at the whole vision, he desired to make his abode with Jesus in the place where he had been blessed with the manifestation of His glory.

Whence also he says, “Lord, it is good for us to be here:  if thou wilt let us make three tabernacles, one for Thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias.”

But to this proposal the Lord made no answer, signifying that what he wanted was not indeed wicked, but contrary to the Divine order.

For the world could not be saved, except by Christ’s death, and by the Lord’s example the faithful were called upon to believe that, although there ought not to be any doubt about the promises of happiness, yet we should understand that amidst the trials of this life we must ask for the power of endurance rather than the glory, because the joyousness of reigning cannot precede the times of suffering.

Leo the Great (c.400-461): Sermon 51, 3-5.

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Leo the Great: The Mystery of the Magi and of the Star Sunday, Jan 6 2013

Taught then, dearly-beloved, by these mysteries of Divine grace, let us with reasonable joy celebrate the day of our first-fruits and the commencement of the nations’ calling:

“giving thanks to” the merciful God “who made us worthy,” as the Apostle says, “to be partakers of the lot of the saints in light:  who delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of His love.”

As Isaiah prophesied, “the people of the nations that sat in darkness, have seen a great light, and they that dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.”

Of whom he also said to the Lord, “nations which knew not thee, shall call on thee:  and peoples which were ignorant of thee, shall run together unto thee.”

This day “Abraham saw and was glad,” when he understood that the sons of his faith would be blessed in his seed that is in Christ, and foresaw that by believing he should be the father of all nations, “giving glory to God and being fully assured that What He had promised, He was able also to perform.”

This day David sang of in the psalms saying:  “all nations that thou hast made shall come and worship before Thee, O Lord:  and they shall glorify Thy name.”

And again:  “The Lord hath made known His salvation:  His righteousness hath He openly showed in the sight of the nations.”

This in good truth we know to have taken place ever since the three wise men aroused in their far-off land were led by a star to recognize and worship the King of heaven and earth.

And surely their worship of Him exhorts us to imitation; that, as far as we can, we should serve our gracious God who invites us all to Christ.

For whosoever lives religiously and chastely in the Church and “sets his mind on the things which are above, not on the things that are upon the earth,” is in some measure like the heavenly light.

And, whilst he himself keeps the brightness of a holy life, he points out to many the way to the Lord like a star.

In which regard, dearly-beloved, ye ought all to help one another in turn, that in the kingdom of God, which is reached by right faith and good works, ye may shine as the sons of light.

Leo the Great (c.400-461): Sermon 33, 5.

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Leo the Great: In Adoring the Birth of Our Saviour, We are Celebrating the Commencement of Our Own Life Monday, Dec 31 2012

Today’s festival renews for us the holy childhood of Jesus born of the Virgin Mary, and, in adoring the birth of our Saviour, we find we are celebrating the commencement of our own life.

For the birth of Christ is the source of life for Christian folk, and the birthday of the Head is the birthday of the body.

[...] A the entire body of the faithful being born in the font of baptism is crucified with Christ in His passion, raised again in His resurrection, and placed at the Father’s right hand in His ascension, so are they born with Him in this nativity.

For any believer in whatever part of the world that is re-born in Christ, quits the old paths of his original nature and passes into a new man by being re-born.

And no longer is he reckoned of his earthly father’s stock but among the seed of the Saviour, who became the Son of man in order that we might have the power to be the sons of God.

[...] The Saviour then, dearly beloved, is born not of fleshly seed but of the Holy Spirit, in such wise that the condemnation of the first transgression did not touch Him.

And hence the very greatness of the boon conferred demands of us reverence worthy of its splendour.

For, as the blessed Apostle teaches: “we have received not the spirit of this world but the Spirit which is of God, that we may know the things which are given us by God.”

And that Spirit can in no other way be rightly worshipped, except by offering Him that which we received from Him.

But in the treasures of the Lord’s bounty what can we find so suitable to the honour of the present feast as the peace, which at the Lord’s nativity was first proclaimed by the angel-choir?

For that it is which brings forth the sons of God…, whose proper work and special office it is to join to God those whom it removes from the world.

Whence the Apostle incites us to this good end, in saying, “being justified therefore by faith let us have peace towards God.”

[...] How will he be partaker of divine peace, who is pleased with what displeases God and desires to get delight from what he knows to be offensive to God?

That is not the spirit of the sons of God; such wisdom is not acceptable to the noble family of the adopted.

That chosen and royal race must live up to the dignity of its regeneration, must love what the Father loves, and in nought disagree with its Maker.

Leo the Great (c.400-461): Sermon 26, 2-3.

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Leo the Great: The Birthday of the Life which Destroys the Fear of Mortality and Brings Us the Joy of Promised Eternity Tuesday, Dec 25 2012

Our Saviour, dearly-beloved, was born today:  let us be glad.

For there is no proper place for sadness, when we keep the birthday of the Life, which destroys the fear of mortality and brings to us the joy of promised eternity.

[...] The Son of God in the fulness of time…has taken on Him the nature of man, thereby to reconcile it to its Author, in order that the inventor of death, the devil, might be conquered through that nature which he had conquered.

And in this conflict undertaken for us, the fight was fought on great and wondrous principles of fairness.

For the Almighty Lord enters the lists with His savage foe not in His own majesty but in our humility, opposing him with the same form and the same nature, which shares indeed our mortality, though it is free from all sin.

[...] Unless He were true God, He would not bring us a remedy, unless He were true man, He would not give us an example.

Therefore the exulting angel’s song when the Lord was born is this, “Glory to God in the highest,” and their message, “peace on earth to men of good will.”

For they see that the heavenly Jerusalem is being built up out of all the nations of the world:  and over that indescribable work of the divine love how ought the humbleness of men to rejoice, when the joy of the lofty angels is so great?

Let us then, dearly beloved, give thanks to God the Father, through His Son, in the Holy Spirit.

He “for His great mercy, wherewith He has loved us,” has had pity on us:  and “when we were dead in sins, has quickened us together in Christ,” that we might be in Him a new creation and a new production.

Let us put off then the old man with his deeds:  and having obtained a share in the birth of Christ let us renounce the works of the flesh.

Christian, acknowledge your dignity, and becoming a partner in the divine nature, refuse to return to the old baseness by degenerate conduct.

Remember the Head and the Body of which you are a member.  Recollect that you were rescued from the power of darkness and brought out into God’s light and kingdom.

By the mystery of baptism you were made the temple of the Holy Spirit:  do not put such a denizen to flight by base acts, subjecting yourself once more to the devil’s thraldom.

For your purchase money is the blood of Christ, because He shall judge you in truth Who ransomed you in mercy, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit reigns forever and ever.

Leo the Great (c.400-461): Sermon 21, 1-3.

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Leo the Great: Christ was Consubstantial with the Father, and Deigned to be Consubstantial with His Mother Monday, Dec 17 2012

It is of no avail to say that our Lord, the Son of the blessed Virgin Mary, was true and perfect man, if He is not believed to be Man of that stock which is attributed to Him in the Gospel.

For Matthew says: “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham,”  and follows the order of His human origin, so as to bring the lines of His ancestry down to Joseph to whom the Lord’s mother was espoused.

Whereas Luke going backwards step by step traces His succession to the first of the human race himself, to show that the first Adam and the last Adam were of the same nature.

No doubt the Almighty Son of God could have appeared for the purpose of teaching, and justifying men in exactly the same way that He appeared both to patriarchs and prophets in the semblance of flesh.

For instance, He engaged in a struggle, and entered into conversation (with Jacob), or when He refused not hospitable entertainment, and even partook of the food set before Him.

But these appearances were indications of that Man whose reality it was announced by mystic predictions would be assumed from the stock of preceding patriarchs.

And the fulfilment of the mystery of our atonement, which was ordained from all eternity, was not assisted by any figures because the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon the Virgin, and the power of the Most High had not over-shadowed her.

Finally, “Wisdom building herself a house” within her undefiled body, “the Word became flesh.”

The form of God and the form of a slave coming together into one person, the Creator of times was born in time; and He Himself through whom all things were made, was brought forth in the midst of all things.

The New Man was made in the likeness of sinful flesh, and took on Him our old nature, and was consubstantial with the Father, and deigned to be consubstantial with His mother also, and, being alone free from sin, united our nature to Him.

Otherwise, the whole human race would still be held in bondage beneath the devil’s yoke, and we should not be able to make use of the Conqueror’s victory, if it had been won outside our nature.

From Christ’s marvellous sharing of the two natures, the mystery of regeneration shone upon us so that through the self-same Spirit, through whom Christ was conceived and born, we too, who were born through the desire of the flesh, might be born again from a spiritual source.

Leo the Great (c.400-461): Letter 31, 2-3.

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Leo the Great: Love of God and Neighbour Saturday, Nov 10 2012

There are two loves from which proceed all wishes, as different in quality as they are different in their sources.

For the reasonable soul, which cannot exist without love, is the lover either of God or the world.

In the love of God there is no excess, but in the love of the world all is hurtful.

Therefore we must cling inseparably to eternal treasures, but things temporal we must use like passers-by.

Accordingly, as we are sojourners hastening to return to our own land, all the good things of this world which meet us may be as aids on the way, not snares to detain us.

[...] But as the world attracts us with its appearance, and abundance and variety, it is not easy to turn away from it unless in the beauty of things visible the Creator rather than the creature is loved.

When He says, “thou shalt love the Lord thy God from all thy heart, and from all thy mind, and from all thy strength” He wishes us in nothing to loosen ourselves from the bonds of His love.

And when He links the love of our neighbour also to this command, He enjoins on us the imitation of His own goodness, that we should love what He loves and do what He does.

For … in all things He requires our ministry and service, and wishes us to be the stewards of His gifts, that he who bears God’s image may do God’s will.

For this reason, in the Lord’s prayer we say most devoutly, “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done as in heaven, so also on earth.”

What else do we ask for in these words but that God may subdue those whom He has not yet subdued, and as in heaven He makes the angels ministers of His will, so also on earth He may make men?

And in seeking this we love God, we love also our neighbour. And the love within us has but one Object, since we desire the bond-servant to serve and the Lord to have rule.

This state of mind, therefore, beloved, from which earthly love is excluded, is strengthened by the habit of well-doing, because the conscience must needs be delighted at good deeds, and do willingly what it rejoices to have done.

Thus it is that fasts are kept, alms freely given, justice maintained, frequent prayer resorted to, and the desires of individuals become the common wish of all.

Labour fosters patience, gentleness extinguishes anger, loving-kindness treads down hatred, unclean desires are slain by holy aspirations, avarice is cast out by liberality, and burdensome wealth becomes the means of virtuous acts.

Leo the Great (c.400-461): Sermon 90, 3-4.

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