St. Maximus of Turin: On the Forty-Day Fast I (Homily 37)

 Introduction

Little is known of St. Maximus, besides his writings and the fact that he was Bishop of Turin. It is thought he was a native of Rhaetia, in modern northern Italy, possibly born in the town of Vercelli. Some think he is the same Maximus who attended a few local synods and councils—the Synod of Milan in 451 and the Council of Rome in 465 (thus giving him a much longer life), but there is no certainty. What has truly cemented his legacy is a large collection of homilies and sermons, along with a few treatises.

This homily is the first in a series of 8 on "the Forty-Day Fast" (De jejunio Quadragesimæ), that is, Lent.  I have previously translated his Sermon on the Nativity II (Sermon 4), and his Sermon on Epiphany (Sermon 7).  It should be noted that Maximus' "sermons" and "homilies" are two complete separate sets of writings, with separate numberings.  Paragraph divisions below are my own; the Latin text I used prints the whole homily in one block.

Homily XXXVII

On the Forty-Day Fast I

You have heard, beloved, as the evangelical trumpet sounds it, that our Lord and Redeemer, against the temptations of the devil, indeed fought with words, but strove with the spirit; for He waged the struggle in speech, but He executed victory in majesty. Nor should we deem the conflict to be without a great mystery in this way, the conflict in which either the approaching devil overcomes in words, or the Lord of things, nevertheless, deigns to respond to His tempter with words. But in all this things, our salvation is the reason. For us the Savior went hungry; for us He spoke; we conquered in Him, since we were the cause of His fighting. For who would doubt that the Only-Begotten of the Father, Whom no creature could oppose, took up the struggle on behalf of those in whose flesh He dressed Himself? Therefore, the form of the human body persuaded the shrewdest enemy to approach, whom the true Son of God confused through a true man’s response. Because of which, wandering and uncertain, the tempter seeks out tender and terrible temptations, for, since he beheld the appearance of fleshly man in Christ, yet the presence of His divinity was hidden, he took up arms against He Who is more than man. Therefore, the feminine birth-giving animated him to presume sexual congress, but the virginity of the birth-giver terrified him, since Mary—certainly Eve’s daughter—gave birth to Christ, yet she did not conceive from Adam.

Therefore, when the enemy saw God’s Son procreated through such a miracle, he turned back on himself, so that he would deliberate, and, wondering, he said, “Who is this who, without my knowledge, entered this world? For I know that he is born of a woman, but I don’t know whence he was conceived. Behold, the mother is present, but I can’t figure out the father. I see the birth, but I don’t know the one who is born; and—what increases my stupor—the mother, though she has given forth a son, exults like a virgin, which is not customary to the law of birth-giving. The little one lies in swaddling clothes, he soaks the swaddle with his tears, and he seems to be like mortals in his cries, and, though nothing of infancy is lacking n him, yet no corruption is in him, as in an infant. Bound up, he soils the rags, but heaven smiles at him with the ray of a more joyful star, and angels run between the stars and the lands in his honor, ministering to him, and, exulting, they announce a newness I don’t understand. What is this miracle? I see what I can’t turn away from, I hear what I can’t bear: that a new-born man is honored as God. Never, from the ages, have I encountered this, that someone is born a man and has nothing of human vices. What is this so new and powerful generation? Born among sinners and impious men, and coming forth from a mortal mother, he appears, to me, more purified than all those who are born and purer than heaven itself. No root of avarice rises up in him, no envy beats upon his heart, his tongue does not know lies, his eyes accept no concupiscence, neither ear is softened by lust; certainly, luxury, through which I subjected the human race to me, cannot penetrated his breast; no boasting is in him, no malice. And what more? I find in him nothing which delights me; he casts out all of my urges. What will I do? To whom shall I turn? I feel something stronger; I think he wants to reign in my kingdom—perhaps this is God, Whom no offense can stain. But if it is God, how does he bear the indignities of a woman’s birth-giving? How is content in cradles and rags? Who could believe an infant’s cry in God? To what listener is it not ridiculous that God would be nourished by a woman’s milk? Behold, after everyt8ing, he is hungry, when, certainly, no reason would persuade God to go hungry.”

The devil was excessively ignorant, since the fact that Christ preferred an infant’s food, and that He was hungry like a man, was not due to the body’s weakness, but to the sacrament of heavenly grace. For God’s Son, Whom timeless eternity befits, alongside the sempiternal Father, Who, with His begetter, naturally impassible, reigns in the incorrupt empire, performs the saving mystery in our flesh; and, for this reason, He submits to the common passion of mortals, so that He would triumph over the enemy of the human race in a contest, wherefore that reckless one, blinded by his rage, said to the Lord, If you are the Son of God, speak, so that this stones would become bread (Mt 4:3). Most stupid and empty is this ambush of his: through bread he means to tempt Him Who is bread, thinking that He would work for food-money, He Who preferred voluntary hunger! To which the Lord responded: It is written: “Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word of God” (Mt 4:4; Dt 8:3). That is to say: “In vain, devil, do you again strive to supplant through food; it was sufficient for you to persuade Adam with illicit foods in paradise for him to be deceived by you. Hunger does not conquer me, nor do I yield to your persuasions, for the will of God is My food: the word of God is my perfect refection.” Beaten back by this sentence, again, so I think, the devil said: “What is this thing? I see him hungering, and I don’t find a need for eating; he suffers everything like a man, and he conquers everything like God. That Adam, certainly made by God’s hands, once yield to my snares; this one, born of a women, is not bowed by his needs nor does he acquiesce to my counsels; I overcame that one by the serpent’s mouth, this one condemns me even when I myself speak.” Again, setting the Lord upon the pinnacle of the temple, he said: If you are the Son of God, cast yourself down (Mt 4:6). Troubled, he spoke these things to Him Whom he thought he could persuade to a fall, Him Whom no bread could convince. To which Christ responded, It is written: “You shall not tempt the Lord your God” (Mt 4:7; Dt 6:16). That is, “what you are suggesting, devil, is the presumption of temptation, not the counsel of sanity, the vanity of leaping forth, not the example of virtue; for empty is every miracle which is not performed for the purpose of man’s salvation.” And, foiled by this response of the Lord, he showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their honors, saying: All these things I will give you, if, falling down, you adore me (Mt 4:9). To which, again, He responded: It is written: “You shall adore the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve” (Mt 4:10; Dt 6:13). That is, “he who adores you, devil, is not owed kingdoms, but hell. For to adore the true God and to serve Him is the prerogative of ruling; but you, who promise the honors of the world in exchange for the expected transgression, you do not know how to give yourself rule.” Behold, tempter, now a three-fold interrogation has profited nothing; uncertain he came, more uncertain he returned; he assaulted so to prove, reproved, he drew back.

Therefore, now, beloved brethren, since, having recalled the victories of the Lord’s fasting, we have come to know the triumph of our salvation, let us sanctify our fast with religious services. But what else is “sanctifying the fast” but wanting to fast for a holy cause, doing just deeds, avoiding iniquities? He sanctifies the fast whose heart the adulation of powerful friends and the graces of relatives, and the little and great gift-lefts of clients do not turn away from the right path. He sanctifies his fast whose heart does not revile justice. He sanctifies the fast who extinguishes the flames of ferocious wrath with the placability of a meek mind. He sanctifies the fast who turns lusting eyes away form the filthy sight through the reins of chastity. He sanctifies the fast who scatters the darts of revilers, beating them back with the shield of patience. He sanctifies the fast who calms the tumult of lawyers with speech of peaceful sanity and a tongue of more prudent art. He sanctifies the fast who cuts out the thorns of vain thoughts rising up within him, throwing them up with the plough of the Gospel, like some ploughman of his own breast. He sanctifies the fast who aids the poverty of the needy according to the amount of his goods, with a hand of pitying humanity. He most of all sanctifies the fast who, focused on the precepts of the divine law, spits the diabolical temptations out of his heart. And, therefore, beloved brethren, if we want to show God an appeasing fast, let us be strong in heart, just in judgments, faithful in friendship, patient in injuries, moderate in contentions, let us flee foul speech, standing against iniquities, sober in feasts, simple in charity, cautious among crafty, consoling the mournful, resisting arrogance, sparing in suspicions, hold-tongued among ill-speakers, coequal among the humble. If we want to sanctify our fast through such virtues, giving tribute to the Lord, we will come to the festival of Paschal grace and to the joys of the heavenly promises with undoubting trust and a more joyful conscience.

 

Source: PL 57:303D-308B.

Translation ©2024 Brandon P. Otto.  Licensed via CC BY-NC.  Feel free to redistribute non-commercially, as long as credit is given to the translator.