They cannot yet speak, yet they already confess Christ
They cannot yet speak, yet they already confess Christ
From a Sermon by Saint Quodvultdeus (+450 AD), Bishop
(Sermo 2 de Symbolo: PL 40, 655)
(Sermo 2 de Symbolo: PL 40, 655)
The Great King is born as a little child. The wise men come from far away lands. They come to adore the One who is still reclining on a manger, yet who already reigns Heaven and Earth. When the magi let Herod know that a King has been born, Herod becomes perturbed. And, so as to not lose his kingdom, he wants to kill this newborn child; nevertheless, if he had believed in him he could have reigned peacefully here on earth and forever in the life to come.
Why do you fear, Herod, upon hearing that the King has been born? He has not come to dethrone you, but rather, to conquer the devil. But this you do not understand and for this reason you are disturbed and fill yourself with rage; and, so as to lose the only son you seek, you turn into a cruel assassin of many.
You are not restrained by the tears of weeping mothers nor by the pain of fathers who cry for the death of their sons, nor by the cries and sobs of the children. You kill the bodies of the children, because fear is killing your heart; and you think that, if you achieve your objective, you will be able to live for a long time, when in reality you pretend to kill the One who is Life, in person.
The One who is the font of grace, who is small and great at the same time, lying on a manger, makes you fear for your throne. Through you, and without you knowing it, He realizes His plans and frees souls from the captivity of the devil. Those that had been born in sin He receives into the ranks of His adopted children.
Those children, without knowing it, died for Christ, and their parents cry for the death of those martyrs. Christ converts them into His ideal witnesses, even though they are not capable of talking. This is how the Kingdom of the one who has come to Be King, is. In this way he liberates the one who has come to be liberator; He saves the one who has come to be a Savior. But you, Herod, ignoring all this, become agitated and fill yourself up with fury; and, by filling up with fury against that child, you render him your homage without knowing it.
How great and free is this gift! What merits did those children have so as to obtain victory? They cannot yet speak, yet they already confess Christ.Their bodies do not yet have the sufficient strengh to fight and yet they have already achieved victory, hands-down.
PRAYER
Lord God, whose glory the Innocent Martyrs proclaimed on this day, not with words but rather in giving their lives for You, make our own conduct testify with deeds the faith that we proclaim with our lips. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit and is God, for ever and ever. Amen
Translated from the Spanish Liturgies of the Hours by Jan Paul von Wendt -
liturgiasdelashoras.com.ar
They cannot yet speak, yet they already confess Christ
From a Sermon by Saint Quodvultdeus (+450 AD), Bishop
(Sermo 2 de Symbolo: PL 40, 655)
(Sermo 2 de Symbolo: PL 40, 655)
The Great King is born as a little child. The wise men come from far away lands. They come to adore the One who is still reclining on a manger, yet who already reigns Heaven and Earth. When the magi let Herod know that a King has been born, Herod becomes perturbed. And, so as to not lose his kingdom, he wants to kill this newborn child; nevertheless, if he had believed in him he could have reigned peacefully here on earth and forever in the life to come.
Why do you fear, Herod, upon hearing that the King has been born? He has not come to dethrone you, but rather, to conquer the devil. But this you do not understand and for this reason you are disturbed and fill yourself with rage; and, so as to lose the only son you seek, you turn into a cruel assassin of many.
You are not restrained by the tears of weeping mothers nor by the pain of fathers who cry for the death of their sons, nor by the cries and sobs of the children. You kill the bodies of the children, because fear is killing your heart; and you think that, if you achieve your objective, you will be able to live for a long time, when in reality you pretend to kill the One who is Life, in person.
The One who is the font of grace, who is small and great at the same time, lying on a manger, makes you fear for your throne. Through you, and without you knowing it, He realizes His plans and frees souls from the captivity of the devil. Those that had been born in sin He receives into the ranks of His adopted children.
Those children, without knowing it, died for Christ, and their parents cry for the death of those martyrs. Christ converts them into His ideal witnesses, even though they are not capable of talking. This is how the Kingdom of the one who has come to Be King, is. In this way he liberates the one who has come to be liberator; He saves the one who has come to be a Savior. But you, Herod, ignoring all this, become agitated and fill yourself up with fury; and, by filling up with fury against that child, you render him your homage without knowing it.
How great and free is this gift! What merits did those children have so as to obtain victory? They cannot yet speak, yet they already confess Christ.Their bodies do not yet have the sufficient strengh to fight and yet they have already achieved victory, hands-down.
PRAYER
Lord God, whose glory the Innocent Martyrs proclaimed on this day, not with words but rather in giving their lives for You, make our own conduct testify with deeds the faith that we proclaim with our lips. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit and is God, for ever and ever. Amen
Translated from the Spanish Liturgies of the Hours by Jan Paul von Wendt -
liturgiasdelashoras.com.ar
December 28 - Feast of the Holy Innocents - "They cannot yet speak, yet they already confess Christ" - from a Sermon by Saint Quodvultdeus (+450)
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