A REFLECTION ON THE FESTIVITY OF THE HOLY MAGICIANS WIZARDS.

Note. This sermon abounds in very necessary spiritual expressions so that, with the grace of that day, our love for God increases because the end of the divine infant is not another but to fill us with his divine love. Divine love that, for today, is very scarce in a more pagan and superstitious world, lacking that spirituality that in other times it had in abundance.

The purpose of its complete reading is to once again direct our gaze on Our Lord Jesus Christ the infant, not with the gaze of the shepherds of Balen but with the praise of the Magi to rejoice our hearts that are in the midst of so much bitterness and darkness in the soul.

Where is the king of the Jews who has been born, etc.

I have told you today that these words show the faith of the noble Kings, the first Christians, who were, from among the Gentiles, the first fruits of the Christian faith; and his faith in the intrinsic act, in the previous act, and in the subsequent act is shown. The intrinsic act consists of searching; and this is indicated by saying: Where is the king of the Jews who has been born? And I was telling you how the Kings were looking for the King of the Jews, a child, poor man and reputed for nothing; They were looking for, I mean, the child king, a little infant for the mother's generation, but eternal for the Paternal generation; They were looking for the poor little king, stripped of all transitory goods, but opulent by the endless inheritance; they were looking, finally, for the king reputed for nothing, despised for his state liable to condescension, but glorious for his triumphant power over all. That is why it was necessary for them to believe with faith in a different way than what they saw with their eyes, since it was not possible for them to reach the mystery through the senses.

That is why the Lord deigned to come by means of miracles to the aid of the Kings, who arrived at the previous act of faith by the vision of the star; and this is indicated when it is said: We saw his star in the east. A certain thing is that this star was not one of those that are fixed in the sky, nor was any of the moving stars; for it was close to the Magi, and it was so large that it could be guided along the way, which is why it had to appear, not by natural virtue, but supernatural. The Magi walked; the star went ahead of them and stopped. It is true, and we do not deny it, that the author of nature uses it in things that are within his reach. But when nature is incapable of producing an effect, as in our case, then it gives rise to the stars by supernaturally divine virtue. There are five kinds of comets, and they are not produced by the sun or the stars; and there are nine kinds of stars, among which the eighth, called pink, is very beautiful, which, according to the philosophers, is large and ruddy, with the figure of a man and a color similar to that of silver in alloy with gold. . And that such a star was the one that appeared in the east; Saint John Chrysostom seems to have been supported; but it is impossible that it occurred naturally; so, it must be necessary that the angels supplied what nature could not produce and that star appeared, not only for the Magi, but also to clarify the mystery that enlightens the whole world.

Now the whole world is taught by the mystery of the star; They are enlightened, I say, those who follow the route of the star, which is, it is not a natural route, but an evangelical one; and just as the Magi were led by the natural star, so we know it by the spiritual star. And so I say that the star induced the Magi to appear before Christ, led them to Christ and reduced them to Christ. And that he induces them is implied when it is said: We have seen his star in the east. And let him lead them, is hinted with these words: The star went ahead of them until it came to a stop where the child was. And that he should reduce them, it is indicated by saying: And seeing the star, they rejoiced exceedingly. And entering the house, they found the child, etc. This star, therefore, induces, conducts and reduces. But this star is but a figure of the spiritual star, which also induces us to go to Christ, leads us to Christ and reduces us to Christ. The star that induces us to the presence of Christ is signified by the morning star, from which, if any, the star appeared to the Magi had its origin; and we can well say that the external star is the one that induces us to present ourselves before Christ; the upper star is the one that leads us to Christ.

 The outer star, whose virtue induces us to the presence of Christ, is Sacred Scripture; the upper star, to which we lead Christ, is the holy and blessed Virgin Mary; and the inner star, which reduces us to Christ, is the grace of the Holy Spirit. These three stars lead us as if by the hand to the presence of Christ.

Coming to the first, it must be said that the star that induces us to go to where Christ is, is the Sacred Scripture, of which it is said in the Ecclesiastical: Shine like the morning star, in the middle of the fog, and like the full moon in its days, etc. The Scripture is in the midst of the fog, that is, in the midst of the darkness of human ignorance. Since we cannot see higher things, neither can we see the divine face of Christ; Hence, the direction of the heavenly light is a necessary requirement to see it; and this light is Sacred Scripture, light from heaven, brought by the Angels to the Patriarchs, Prophets and Apostles. This is the light that we have to look at; and of her says Saint Peter, II Canonical: And we have even more firm the word of the prophets; which you do well to attend as a torch that shines in a dark place. We need the light of Sacred Scripture, until the day of eternity shines.

Sacred Scripture is legal light in the Patriarchs, prophetic in the Prophets, and evangelical in the Apostles. In the Patriarchs there is a shine of merits, in the Prophets there is a shine of merits and miracles, and in the Apostles, there is a shine of merits, miracles and martyrdom.

The Patriarchs had clarity of intellectual vision only the Prophets, clarity of intellectual vision along with the imaginary; and the Apostles, clarity of intellectual and imaginary vision, united with the certain vision, corporal, I say, not spiritual; Therefore the Lord says: Because you have seen me, Thomas, you have believed; and in the first epistle of Saint John: What we saw with our eyes and what our hands felt from the Word of life, etc., we announce to you. It combines the brilliance of the merits of miracles and martyrdoms with the clarity of imaginary intellectual vision and patent to the senses; together I say, in one these six

Excellencies and their friendly concert, and you will have the certainty of authority, which will always be unfailing for you. This is the most fruitful star, by which we can go to Christ. Pope Saint Leo says: "When we are going to consider the mystery of the Son of God, born of the Virgin, let the darkness of earthly reasonings fade away and the smoke of worldly wisdom dissipates, to the gleams of faith that illuminate our eyes ", etc. By this star, which is Sacred Scripture, one goes to Christ.

But he who is heading towards the perfidy of Herod loses the direction of this star. Herod was extremely perfidious, and he was determined to put an end to Christ. This light was lost first by the Jews, then by the pagans, and finally by the heretics. The Jews lack it, as they occupy themselves with endless genealogies; the pagans, for understanding in teachings: of the demons, and the heretics, for indulging in fallacious philosophies. Let us beware of these errors, because, otherwise, we will lose the light of Scripture, as the Magi admonish us who, when going to Herod, lost the direction of the star. Let us conclude: the outer star induces us to go to the presence of Christ: As for the second, the upper star, which is the Blessed Virgin, leads us to Christ; and from her we understand what is said in the book of Numbers, with these words: From Jacob a star will rise, and from Israel a rod will rise and smite the leaders of Moab. Let the blessed Virgin be called a star for her stable and unshakable virtue; by Moab the voluptuous are understood. Leaders of Moab are the demons or the deadly sins. This star, that is, the blessed Virgin, destroys the leaders of Moab, which are the seven capital sins: the spirit of pride, being most humble; the spirit of envy, being most benign: the spirit of anger, being most meek; the spirit of laziness, for being very devout; the spirit of greed, for its most liberal generosity: the spirit of gluttony, for its very moderate temperance, and, finally, the spirit of lust, being as it is most integrity and all-chaste. So, I destroy that star from the leaders of Moab; and led the Magi to Christ. And just as falling into the perfidy of Herod, man loses the direction of the star that induces him to the presence of Christ, that is, to the knowledge of Sacred Scripture, so too, incurring the hypocrisy of Herod, he deviates from the direction of the blessed Virgin, radiant star, whose office is to lead Christ.

In Herod the hypocrites are figurative. It is said in the Gospel that Herod, secretly calling the Magi, carefully questioned them about the time of the appearance of the star; and he said to them: go and find out diligently about this child, and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him. Saint Gregory says, commenting on this passage, that there is nothing so much apart from the direction of the blessed Virgin as hypocrisy. Herod spoke in this way: Find out diligently where the child is, so that I too may go to worship him. As he manifested with this, he wanted the Magi to find out about the boy, so that he too would worship him, but, in reality, he wanted something else. In this way the hypocrite is externally informed of the virtues and pretends to follow the blessed Virgin, when something else is what he is trying to do.

When you appear to be humble, being arrogant; that you are benign, being envious; that you are meek, being irate; that you are devout, being lazy; that you are chaste, being lustful: believe me, by God, that you are Herod, a name that is interpreted as the one who glorifies himself in the epidermis, meaning, by the same token, the hypocrites. He gloried, I repeat, in the epidermis, that is, in the outer crust, just like the hypocrites, who glory in external appearances. If you are, then, one of the hypocrites, understand that you do not follow Christ. See how two-faced men attract the judgment of God. Saint Augustine used to say that "there is no greater unhappiness than the happiness of those who sin." This or that personable man is supposed to be when he is nothing but a lousy man. Here is an idolatry: to make men believe that you have the spirit of God, when you only have the spirit of the devil. Flee therefore hypocrisy.

As for the third, the inner star, which is the grace of the Holy Spirit, reduces us to Christ. About her it is said in the Apocalypse: And to him who overcomes and keeps my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations, etc., and I will give him the morning star. More it should be noted that the grace of the Holy Spirit can be initial, promoted and final. It does not reduce us to Christ but to final grace. He who incurs the hardening of Herod, that is, he who extinguishes divine inspirations in himself, loses the direction of this star. Let us show that you have conceived the purpose of practicing works of piety, amending life and entering a Religion. Well, if you leave it without fulfilling it, you are like Herod, who tried to kill the child.