ON THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD JESUS ​​CHRIST SERMON OF SAN AGUSTIN.

 

Sermon of the glorious Doctor San Agustín, on the most sacred feast, and ineffable joy of the Birth of our Redeemer. He teaches us how in this divine feast we have to promise and pay the Lord, turning away from sins, and following virtues.

I beg you, my very beloved brothers, to receive with a joyful heart everything that, on this most sweet day, the Lord helping me, I will tell you:  remember that the majesty of this day is so great that even the infidels feel pain in their hearts on this day. guilt: and the sinner is moved to mercy, and the penitent expects forgiveness: the captive expects to be released, and the wounded the remedy for his evil. This, finally, is the most sacred day on which the Lamb who takes away the sins of the world is born: at whose birth, the just man feels greater sweetness in his joy, and the sinner awakens to look at himself with greater attention than he used to, the good man. prays with affectionate love, and the sinner pleads with much devotion: sweet day, and truly sweet the one that brings forgiveness to all sinners! I promise you, my children, as a certainty that anyone who on this most sacred day repents with a good heart, and with such firmness that he does not return to the first faults, can surely ask the Lord for mercy and it will not be denied him: have constant faith and do not relapse into the bad past.

How can no sinner despair on this most sacred day, when sin is removed from the whole world? But you must understand that such penance must be: because you will find many who every day and every hour confess they are sinners, say that it weighs them down, and that they want to mend their lives, and along with this they like sin: this is a promise , but does not amend: in such the soul is accused, but not healed; Guilt is pronounced, but it is not removed: believe me that there is never true penance, except when the love of God and the hatred of sin are truly found in the soul. When you repent in such a way that what used to be sweet to you in your way of life embitters your heart, and what delighted your body already with true pain gives pain to your soul: being in this state you can truly say groaning before God: Lord, you alone I sinned, and in your presence I did evil: truly I say that you alone I sinned, for no man is without sin: and for this reason I sinned you only, because none is without sin: grant mercy then, Lord to me miserable that I ask you, because so long you have waited for me being a sinner. 

Bow down now, Lord, to the remedy, the humility of the penitent, for the long time I lived in sin could not move you. Speak with the tears of your heart, and tell him: immense pity, look at the wretch: public mercy, look at the one who has been cruel: I, Lord, come as a man who does not expect a remedy from another, to you who are Almighty: I come as wounded, to you who are true Doctor. And since you have so long and stopped the knife of your revenge on me, keep with me now the law of your mercy, and with the multitude of your mercies, remove the multitude of my miseries. This is, my children, the true penance, to convert to never be perverted again, to grieve to never delight in sin again. Let us see, then, today with the grace of the Lord, who will be the ones who will have this amendment, and exercising their souls in virtues, in such a way they will take advantage of what I will tell them today, that with double virtue they fight against the vices that are by themselves skinny.

In truth, the one who defeats himself is strong in fighting: and those who have had their ears open many times to hear harmful vanities, keep them open today out of reverence for God, to hear his commandments and his doctrine: and those who so many Sometimes you have had your eyes open to see shameful darkness, open them today to see the light that gives life with its light, and those who have had their hearts pierced for so long with the pestilential delight of guilt, wound it today with the loving and healthy knife of penance. Raise and stand up virtue to those who with vices for so long that they are knocked down to the ground. May those who until today have used it in the stench of guilt heal from the disease of smell. Lastly, I beg the Lord to open the eyes of your heart today, because today he was born for all of us, so that with his grace you can see how bitter will be in the eternal fire what in this moment of time seems to you with his deception so sweet; and you will know with what sorrow, so sad and so endless, this so brief delight has to be paid: this false taste of the world passes by, and leaves us dead: it passes, and leaves us wounded: it leaves us full of miseries, and flees: it burdens us of misadventures, and disappears. Or how beautiful is the cleansing of the soul! How blessed is science full of virtues and good works! If you think that he who achieves the sad pleasures of the world is happy, as long as it is true that he will lose them shortly, and you will know with what sorrow, so sad and so endless, this so brief delight has to be paid: this false taste of the world passes by, and leaves us dead: it passes, and leaves us wounded: it leaves us full of miseries, and flees: it burdens us of misadventures, and disappears. Or how beautiful is the cleansing of the soul! How blessed is science full of virtues and good works! If you think that he who achieves the sad pleasures of the world is happy, as long as it is true that he will lose them shortly, and you will know with what sorrow, so sad and so endless, this so brief delight has to be paid: this false taste of the world passes by, and leaves us dead: it passes, and leaves us wounded: it leaves us full of miseries, and flees: it burdens us of misadventures, and disappears. Or how beautiful is the cleansing of the soul! How blessed is science full of virtues and good works! If you think that he who achieves the sad pleasures of the world is happy, as long as it is true that he will lose them shortly, What  joy should the soul feel that waits for those of heaven to possess them without end?  If he who rules the world with tyranny, he considers himself powerful:  how much  more powerful and blessed is he who brings God into his consciousness?  Therefore, most sweet and beloved children of mine, all your greed is to have purity in the soul, and not find in it but love of God and neighbor. Forgive those who have offended you, and the Lord will forgive you your offenses. And those of you who find yourself with justice in your consciences, beware of offending God, and God will remain in you.

Since everything we have said is true, my beloved brothers, it seems to me that, considering the Lord to be born today, and to come for our redemption, it will be a very just thing that we present some vows on our part, and we fulfill them according to what the great Prophet teaches us, saying:  promise and pay what you promise to your Lord God. Let us sweetly promise with joy and confidence, that the Lord himself will give us the possibility to fulfill what we promise: and even the grace to promise has to come from the Lord himself. You will ask, by chance, what is it that you have to promise and pay today. Because the promises that men make to God on this day are very diverse: some promise some clothing, others oil, another wax so that the Church is illuminated at night, others promise that they will not drink wine for some years, others promise that they will fast for certain time, others that they will not eat meat. Know then, brothers, that none of these vows is one of the best and most perfect: another vow that is better than any of these is the one that I want: because God does not need your beauty, your oil, or your fasting: more than what The Lord wants from you, it is what he has redeemed today with his coming, which is your own soul. will measure someone, How can  I offer my soul to God, since he already has it in his power? To this I answer, that you have to offer it to them by living holyly, with chastity in your thoughts, with the fruit of good works, turning away from evil, following what is good, condemning vices, loving God and neighbor: having mercy on the poor and miserable, remembering how poor we all were before our redemption, forgiving those who sin against us, because all of us have someday been slaves to sin: putting pride under our feet, for we know that the first man was struck down by pride: throwing envy from us, since we are not unaware that by envy the devil deceived the human lineage. Since what I have told you is as true as it is, lift up your hearts so that there is no free man left, or servant, nobleman, or commoner who today does not offer this vow to the Lord, and together fulfill it: because it would be a great misery for us if today we did not offer something to the Lord of what is our own: seeing how he laid down his life for us, and being eternal and without beginning, he did it for our temporary reparation, taking our humanity. Well, seeing this, out of reverence for the Lord, he who has anger or grudges with his neighbor deposes him, and doing this offers a vow: he who has been wallowing in the stench of sensuality with a long and aged habit, wake up now, because it is time , and shaking off this blinding dust, wound his heart with pain, and turning to the Lord, say thus: it was done for our temporary repair, taking our humanity. Well, seeing this, out of reverence for the Lord, he who has anger or grudges with his neighbor deposes him, and doing this offers a vow: he who has been wallowing in the stench of sensuality with a long and aged habit, wake up now, because it is time , and shaking off this blinding dust, wound his heart with pain, and turning to the Lord, say thus: it was done for our temporary repair, taking our humanity. Well, seeing this, out of reverence for the Lord, he who has anger or grudges with his neighbor deposes him, and doing this offers a vow: he who has been wallowing in the stench of sensuality with a long and aged habit, wake up now, because it is time , and shaking off this blinding dust, wound his heart with pain, and turning to the Lord, say thus: Pious Lord, God full of mercy, the time that I have offended you is enough: enough is enough since until today I have despised you, I have complied with the stinking clumsiness of my flesh: now, Lord, availing myself of your holy inspiration , I promise to turn away from my wickedness, and turn to you, my God and Lord. Whoever says and does so can say that he offered a vote. Whoever feels entangled in envy, taking pleasure in the evil of his neighbors and regretting the good, which is a sin that even leads to death, promises himself that he will leave all the poison in his heart, and will think of loving the neighbor, and by doing this he already offered a vote. If within his conscience he brings some homicide committed by deed, or by desire, he himself penances himself: avenge himself with the pain of his own guilt, determine some kind of punishment on himself: punish himself with such penance before God, that may expect mercy: and with much humility and abstinence, desire so much affliction, that it is enough to wash the soul of the poison that is in it, by the blood of the neighbor shed by deed, or by desire.

When the disposition of your conscience is such that you can do so, consider that you have offered a vote.

He who is accustomed, like many, to gossip about his neighbors, always looking at the faults of others and never his own, promises God saying within his heart: Lord, I have used to speak ill of others, and I did not look at my faults : and being more full of clumsiness than everyone in the world, I only saw the miseries of others: forgive me, Lord, what I have sinned up to now with my tongue, that from today I offer the amendment of everything: whoever does this offers vote. And whoever feels a spirit of cruelty in himself, offer that he will have mercy with the next: and the arrogant promise humility: the intemperate in eating and drinking, promise temperance: the one who has offended those greater than him, to whom he owes obedience, ask them for forgiveness: and if you don't know how to ask, it's right that the superior should forgive you. When you have fulfilled these things, my beloved brothers, be sure that you have offered an acceptable vote to the Lord, and you correspond to the one who has done you so many favors. You can have for certain the blessing that will come to you after this, your votes being presented before the tribunal of His Majesty, and even accepted.

And as the wise man said:  your memory will not be forgotten, before it will be said of you: look that the people that I won with my blood, have filled me with vows, and have offered me many good smells; therefore, I will be like their Lord, and they will be like my people, and they will never be seen captive or forsaken again.  Let us take, then, what a sweet thing and how glorious it will be for us, when the blessed Angels chosen for our guardianship present before God our vows, which we have declared above. If we give a mortal man here on earth a present that pleases him, we are always in the hope that he will be grateful to us: for how much more just is it that we have it in God? Let us rejoice, then, and rejoice in the Lord with tears of joy and devotion, remembering the greatness that works with us today, of the sad captivity in which we were. He who, because he sees himself powerful, rises to pride, put before his eyes the profound humility of Christ: otherwise the words of the wise will be against him. Or earth and ashes: what are you proud of?  when we see someone placed in misery, need or poverty, let us remember God. When we see a captive, let us remember how copious our redemption was.

When the deceitful suggestion makes us present some sin, let us remember that by the mercy of God our sins are already forgiven. Let us not lose the admirable benefit that the precious Blood of our Redeemer has brought us: let us not stain the stole of innocence that our soul has, with the vileness of greed, or sensuality. Let us remember that we were on the ground, and the Lord has raised us up; that we were wounded, and he has healed us: and no one can be excused by saying, the devil deceived me, the devil, he told me: because all his forces can only invite us to evil, represent us deceitful pleasures, but it is not enough to force us : they can advise us with thought, but not fight with us so that we put it into action. And since on this most sacred feast we celebrate the most pure birth of the Virgin and Mother: I want to speak with virgins, both men and women: I will also speak with widows, and with all penitents, poor or rich, servants or lords: because before of the divine Majesty, there is no other difference, but that of the works; otherwise they are all one. Listen to me, then, all of you who, by the mercy of God, possess such a lofty and excellent gift as that of virginity, and see that I speak to everyone, men and women: listen to me, then, and he who knows that he has this in his body well that I have said, try to have him also in the soul and in such a way be glad to see yourself a virgin in the body, that from this does not come harm to the soul, and enjoy this precious gift that Jesus Christ has given you, with such concert May your joy be full of humility, and mixed with tears of pity: give thanks to the Lord for giving him the mercy of such great purity and happiness, that he can follow the Lamb without blemish wherever he may go; and this will be so, according to the doctrine of the Apocalypse, if a lie is ever found in his mouth; beg God to give you perseverance in this perfection to the end, in such a way that the pleasures of the world, the deceit and envy of the devil, cannot rob you of such a precious gift, nor cloud such great clarity, nor obscure so big glow.

Try to defend him with great strength, and do not lose anything, which has no repair after loss, do not lose for a moment of delight, such a great beauty of your body, or consent to such clumsy ugliness in your soul, due to the greed of a so brief and vain figuration; Finally, do not let yourself be defeated by such low weakness. If the one who is well reached believes me, he will remain with him, and if not he will feel a damage that has no repair.