Easter homily - St. Melito of Sardis, bishop

The Lamb Who was slain for us

The Lamb that was slain 

has delivered us from death 

and given us life

From an Easter homily by Saint Melito of Sardis, bishop

Saint Melito of Sardis, bishop died c180

There was much proclaimed by the prophets about the mystery of the Passover: that mystery  is Christ, and to him be glory for every and ever. Amen.

For the sake of suffering humanity he came down from heaven to earth, clothed himself in that humanity in the Virgin’s womb, and was born a man.  Having then a body capable of suffering, he took the pain of fallen man upon himself; he triumphed over the diseases of soul and body that were its cause, and by his Spirit, which was incapable of dying, he dealt man’s destroyer, death, a fatal blow.

He was led forth like a lamb; he was slaughtered like a sheep.  He ransomed us from our servitude to the world, as he had ransomed Israel from the land of Egypt, he freed us from our slavery to the devil, as he had freed Israel from the hand of Pharaoh.  He sealed our souls with his own Spirit, and the members of our body with his own blood.

Pharaoh and his dead son - The Last Plague

He is the One who covered death with shame and cast the devil into mourning, as Moses cast Pharaoh into mourning.  

He is the One who smote sin and robbed iniquity of offspring, as Moses robbed the Egyptians of their offspring.  He is the One who brought us out of slavery into freedom, out of darkness into light, out of death into life, out of tyranny into an eternal kingdom, who made us a new priesthood, a people chosen to be his own for ever.  He is the Passover that is our salvation.

It is He who endured every kind of suffering 

in all those who foreshadowed him.  

In Abel he was slain, in Isaac bound, 

in Jacob exiled, in Joseph sold, 

in Moses exposed to die.  

He was sacrificed in the Passover lamb, 

persecuted in David, 

dishonored in the prophets.

It is he who was made man of the Virgin, he who was hung on the tree; it is he who was buried in the earth, raised from the dead, and taken up to the heights of heaven.  He is the mute lamb, the slain lamb, the lamb born of Mary, the fair ewe.  He was seized from the flock, dragged off to be slaughtered, sacrificed in the evening, and buried at night.  

On the tree no bone of his was broken; 

in the earth his body knew no decay.  

He is the One who rose from the dead, 

and who raised man from the depths of the tomb.

CHRIST IS RISEN!!!!

Advent is Here!! Come Lord Jesus!

Sound the trumpets in Zion, 

summon the nations; 

call the people together and tell them the good news: 

Our God and our Saviour 

is coming!

St. Charles Borromeo

The Season of Advent

From a pastoral letter from St. Charles Borromeo, bishop

Beloved, now is the acceptable time spoken of by the Spirit, the day of salvation, peace and reconciliation.  The great season of Advent.  

This is the time eagerly awaited by the patriarchs and prophets, the time that holy Simeon rejoice at last to see.  This is the season that the Church has always celebrated with special solemnity.  

We too should always observe it with faith and love, offering praise and thanksgiving to the Father for the mercy and love he has shown us in this mystery.  In his infinite love for us, though we were sinners, he sent his only Son to free us from the tyranny of Satan, to summon us to heaven, to welcome us into its innermost recesses, to show us truth itself, to train us in right conduct, to plant within us the seeds of virtue, to enrich us with the treasures of his grace, and to make us children of God and heirs of eternal life.

Every year, as the Church recalls this mystery, she urges us to renew the memory of the great love God has shown us.  This holy season teaches us that Christ’s coming was not only for the benefit of his contemporaries; his power has still to be communicated to us all.  We shall share his power, if, through holy faith and sacraments, we willingly accept the grace Christ earned for us and live by that grace and in obedience to Christ.

The Church asks us to understand that Christ, who came once in the flesh, is prepared to come again.  When we removed all obstacles to his presence he will come, at any hour and moment, to dwell spiritually in our hearts, bringing with him the riches of his grace.

In her concern for our salvation, our loving mother the Church uses this holy season to teach us through hymns, canticles and other forms of expression, of voice and ritual, used by the Holy Spirit.  She shows us how grateful we should be for so great a blessing, and how to gain its coming of Christ as if he were still to come into this world.  The same lesson is given us for our imitation by the words and example of the holy men of the Old Testament.

Lord, help me welcome You once again 

and make room for You in my daily life, 

that You may make Your home in my heart.

Advent is the beginning of the new liturgical year. 

It is a season of spiritual preparation, 

marked by eager longing for the

coming of the Saviour 

through grace at Christmas, 

and for His second and final coming.

In Honor of Mary, Mother of God by St. Sophronius, Bishop

Through Mary the Father’s blessing 

has shone forth on mankind

A sermon by Saint Sophronius, bishop

Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. What joy could surpass this, O Virgin Mother?  What grace can excel that which God has granted to you alone?  What could be imagined more dazzling or more delightful?  Before the miracle we witness to you, all else pales; all else is inferior when compared with the grace you have been given.  All else, even what is desirable, must take second place and enjoy a lesser importance.

The Lord is with you.  Who would dare challenge you?  You are God’s mother; who would not immediately defer to you and be glad to accord you a greater primacy and honor?  For this reason, when I look upon the privilege you have above all creatures, I extol you with the highest praise: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.  On your account joy has not only graced men, but is also granted to the powers in heaven.

Truly, you are blessed among women.  For you have changed Eve’s curse into a blessing; and Adam, who hitherto lay under a curse, has been blessed because of you. 

Truly, you are blessed among women. Through you the Father’s blessing has shone forth on mankind, setting them free of their ancient curse.

Truly, you are blessed among women, because through you your forebears have found salvation. For you were to give birth to the Savior who was to win them salvation.

Truly, you are blessed among women, for without seed you have borne, as your fruit, him who bestows blessings on the whole world and redeems it from that curse that made it sprout thorns.

Truly, you are blessed among women, because, though a woman of nature, you will become, in reality, God’s mother.  If he whom you are to bear is truly God made flesh, then rightly do we call you God’s mother.  For you have truly given birth to God.

Enclosed within your womb is God himself.  He makes his abode in you and comes forth from you like a bridegroom, winning joy for all and bestowing God’s light on all.

You, O Virgin, are like a clear and shining sky, in which God has set his tent. From you he comes forth like a bridegroom leaving his chamber.  Like a giant running his course, he will run the course of his life which will bring salvation for all who will ever live, and extending from the highest heavens to the end of them, it will fill all things with divine warmth and with life-giving brightness.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception December 8

Virgin Mary, All Nature is Blessed in You

A Sermon by Saint Anselm, bishop

Blessed Lady, sky and stars, earth and rivers, day and night—everything that is subject to the power or use of man—rejoice that through you they are in some sense restored to their lost beauty and are endowed with inexpressible new grace.  All creatures were dead, as it were, useless for men or for the praise of God, who made them.  The world, contrary to its true destiny, was corrupted and tainted by the acts of men who served idols.  Now all creation has been restored to life and rejoices that it is controlled and given splendor by mean who believe in God.

The universe rejoices with new and indefinable loveliness.  Not only does it feel the unseen presence of God himself, its Creator, it sees him openly, working and making it holy.  These great blessings spring from the blessed fruit of Mary’s womb.

Through the fullness of the grace that was given you, dead things rejoice in their freedom, and those in heaven are glad to be made new.  Through the Son who was the glorious fruit of your virgin womb, just souls who died before his life-giving death rejoice as they are freed from captivity, and the angels are glad at the restoration of their shattered domain.

Lady, full and overflowing with grace, all creation receives new life from your abundance. Virgin, blessed above all creatures, through your blessing all creation is blessed, not only creation from its Creator, but the Creator himself has been blessed by creation.

To Mary God gave his only-begotten Son, whom he loved as himself.  Through Mary God made himself a Son, not different but the same, by nature Son of God and Son of Mary. The whole universe was created by God and God was born of Mary.  God created all things, and Mary gave birth to God.  The God who made all things gave himself form through Mary, and thus he made his own creation.  He who could create all things from nothing would not remake his ruined creation without Mary.

God, then, is the Father of the created world and Mary the Mother of the re-created world.  God is the Father by whom all things were given life, and Mary the Mother through whom all things were given new life.  For God begot the Son, through whom all things were made, and Mary gave birth to him as the Savior of the world.  Without God’s Son, nothing could exist; without Mary’s Son, nothing could be redeemed. 

Truly the Lord is with you, to whom the Lord granted that all nature should owe as much to you as to himself.

taken from Liturgy of the Hours, Advent Season, December 8 Office of Readings