Sermons to the People 312.1–314.1

The solemnity of so welcome and joyful a day, and the happy and delightful festival of the crown of so great a martyr, demand of me the sermon I owe. But his prayers carry so great a burden together with me that, if I pay less than is owed, he will not despise me as I speak to you, but will refresh you all by praying for you. I will certainly do what I am sure is most pleasing to him: in praising him in the Lord, I praise the Lord for him. For he was gentle even when he bore the dangers of this turbulent and stormy life in various temptations, and that man knew well how to sing to God with a truthful heart, “Let the gentle hear, and be glad.” And now, having left the land of the dying, he blessedly possesses the land of the living. For he was one of those of whom it was said, “Blessed are the gentle, for they shall possess the land.” But what land, except that of which it is said to God, “You are my hope, my portion in the land of the living”? Or, if the land of the living is nothing but the body of those who rise, taken from the earth and changed into heavenly glory: he is no longer groaning in the weakness of this mortality, for whom remaining in the flesh was not best, but necessary for our sake; rather, loosed and freed from the bond both of debt and of chain, he waits at rest with Christ for the redemption of his body. For he who was not overcome by the temptation of his living flesh is free of care about the restoring of his buried flesh.

In the Lord, then, let his soul be praised, so that the gentle may hear and be glad. In the Lord let the good soul be praised: by whose possessing it becomes good, by whose inspiring it thrives, by whose enlightening it shines, by whose forming it is beautiful, by whose filling it is fruitful. For when he was absent, it once drifted dead, dark, misshapen and barren, before it had believed in Christ. For what did eloquence profit him as a pagan, in which, as from a precious cup, he both drank deadly errors and passed them to others? But when the kindness and humanity of God our Savior shone forth, he cleansed him, once he believed, from worldly desires, and made him a vessel for honor, useful to his house, prepared for every good work. Nor did he, as if ungrateful, keep silent about these things. For far be it from him that, knowing God, he should not glorify him as God: rather he gave thanks, not impiously swallowing again the former things he had vomited up, but piously recalling what he had changed. For writing to his friend, so that he too might become light in the Lord out of the darkness that was in him, he says: “While I lay in darkness and in blind night, and while, wavering and doubtful, I drifted on the sea of the tossing world with straying steps, ignorant of my life, a stranger to truth and light.” And a little later: “For as I myself was held entangled in very many errors of my former life, from which I did not believe I could be stripped, so I was compliant with the vices that clung to me, and in despair of better things I indulged my evils as if they were now my own and homegrown.”

See what kind of Cyprian Christ found: see to what kind of soul that uprooter and planter came, to strike it and heal it. For not in vain does he say, “I will kill, and I will make alive; I will strike, and I will heal”; nor in vain was it said to Jeremiah, as a figure of things to come, “Behold, I have set you today over nations and kingdoms, to uproot, and to dig out, and to destroy, and to rebuild, and to plant.” So the uprooter and planter came to that soul; and he overthrew the old Cyprian, and, laying himself as the foundation there, he built a new Cyprian in himself, and made from himself a true Cyprian. For the Church says to Christ, “My kinsman is a cluster of cypress.” So when he was made a Christian by Christ, then he was truly made a Cyprian also from the cypress. For he became the good fragrance of Christ in every place, as the apostle Paul says, who was himself also torn down as a persecutor and built up as a preacher: “We are the good fragrance of Christ to God in every place, both among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing: to some the fragrance of life unto life, to others the fragrance of death unto death. And who is adequate for these things?” For some have lived by imitating Cyprian; others have perished by envying Cyprian.

To him be praise, to him be glory, who, by justifying his servant's soul through faith, rescued it from the ungodly and made it his sword, that is, a two-edged sword, so that through that tongue the folly of the Gentiles might be laid bare and struck, the folly which, covered and veiled by it before, had seemed beautiful to the clever; and so that the instrument of so noble an eloquence, by which unworthy adornments had been made for the ruinous teachings of demons, might be turned to the building up of the Church, as it grew and they collapsed; and so that the trumpet of so great a voice, which used to sharpen the contests of forensic lies, might rouse devoted martyrs, fighting for Christ and glorying in him, to lay the devil low by the precious deaths of the saints. Among them Cyprian himself too, by whose pious and holy eloquence they were set on fire, no longer raising fabulous smoke but with the Lord's light shining, lived by dying, as one judged overcame the judge, as one struck conquered the adversary, and as one killed killed death. For he who in the school of human perversity had taught his own and others' tongues to speak falsehood, so that what the opponent alleged might be denied by cunning deceit, had now learned in another school to escape the adversary by confessing. For where the enemy turned the name of Christ into a crime, there Christ turned the punishment into praise.

And if anyone still asks, perhaps, who has won: to pass over the heavenly kingdom of the saints, which unbelievers refuse to believe because they cannot see it, now in this land, in this life, in homes, in fields, in cities, in the whole world, see, there are fervent praises of the martyrs: where are the furious accusations of the ungodly? See how the memorials of the slain are honored; now let those people show the idols of the demons. What will he do to them in judging, whose temples they overthrew by dying? How will he condemn their proud deceits with the splendor of his soldiers when they rise, he who quenched their smoking altars with the blood of the dying?

Among these legions of Christ the most blessed Cyprian, a teacher of glorious battles and himself a glorious fighter, taught what he was going to do and did what he had taught; so that in the words of the teacher the spirit of the martyr was known beforehand, and in the spirit of the sufferer the words of the teacher were recognized. For he was not like those of whom the Lord says, “What they say, do; but what they do, do not do: for they say and do not do.” This man, because he believed, spoke; because he spoke, he suffered. So he taught in his life what he did, and did in his death what he taught. To him be praise, to him be glory, to the Lord our God, King of the ages, creator and re-creator of human beings, who enriched the Church of this city with such a bishop, and consecrated the breadth of this place with so holy a body. To him be praise, to him be glory, who deigned to predestine that man among his saints before the ages, to create him among men at the fitting time, to call him when he wandered, to cleanse him when he was filthy, to form him as a believer, to teach him as one obedient, to guide him as a teacher, to help him as he fought, to crown him as he conquered. To him be praise, to him be glory, who made him such a man that in him above all he might show his Church against what great evils love must be set and before what great goods it must be placed, and that there is no love in a Christian by whom the unity of Christ is not kept. This unity he so loved that he did not spare the wicked, for the sake of love, and yet tolerated the wicked for the sake of peace; and he was free in saying what he himself thought, and peaceable in hearing what he learned the brothers thought. Deservedly in the Catholic Church he won the height of so great an honor, whose most harmonious bond he kept with such humility. Therefore, dearly beloved, now that the sermon owed to so welcome a festival has been paid as well as I am able, I exhort your love and devotion that we spend this day honorably and soberly, and that we offer to the day on which the most blessed Cyprian suffered what he loved in order to suffer.

A most holy and most solemn day, more familiar and more renowned as an ornament of this Church, has dawned today to gladden us: the day which the most blessed Cyprian made illustrious for us by the glory of his passion. No tongue would suffice for the praises of this revered bishop and venerable martyr, not even if he were to praise himself. In this sermon of ours, then, which we render to your ears as owed concerning him, approve rather the affection of the will than demand the effect of ability. For so too in the praises of God, for which not only speech but not even any thought is adequate, when the holy praiser saw himself less than fit, he said, “Make the freewill offerings of my mouth well-pleasing, O Lord.” This I too would say: let this devotion of mine also be such that, if I am not equal to setting out what I wish, it may be received because I wish it.

For what are the praises of so great a martyr but the praises of God? Or whose honor is Cyprian, turned to God with his whole heart, but his to whom it is said, “God of hosts, turn us”? Whose work is Cyprian the teacher, but his to whom it is said, “Teach me your statutes”? Whose work is Cyprian the shepherd, but his who said, “I will give you shepherds according to my heart, and they will feed you with discipline”? Whose work is Cyprian the confessor, but his who said, “I will give you a mouth and wisdom which your enemies will not be able to resist”? Whose work is Cyprian, the endurer of that great persecution for the truth, but his to whom it is said, “The patience of Israel, O Lord”; and of whom it is said, “For from him is my patience”? Lastly, whose work is Cyprian, the victor in all things, but his of whom it is said, “In all things we more than conquer through him who loved us”? So we do not withdraw from the praises of God when we praise the works of God, and the battles of God in the soldier of God.

For so the Apostle exhorts: “Stand with your loins girded in truth, and clothed with the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod in the preaching of the gospel of peace; in all things taking up the shield of faith, with which you may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the most wicked one; and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” What is it to be clothed with the breastplate of righteousness, and to take up the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God, but to be armed by the Lord with his gifts? Nor would being armed have been enough for this soldier, had he not obtained from the very one by whom he had been armed, himself armed, to be helped. For the most holy martyr, in that conflict of his passion, did not fail to pray and say: “Judge, O Lord, those who harm me; fight against those who fight against me. Take hold of arms and shield, and rise up to help me. Draw out the sword, and shut it against those who persecute me; say to my soul, I am your salvation.” How could he be conquered, whom the Lord so brought forth armed, and so helped, himself armed?

But far be it from us to believe, with a childish heart, that God is armed with some bodily instruments. What kind of arms those are by which God, armed, is accustomed to help his soldiers, those who have been helped themselves confess, when they cry out with thanksgiving and say, “Lord, you have crowned us as with the shield of your good will.” As for the sword of God, that is, God's blade, which the body of Christ, which is the Church, prays to have drawn out and shut against those who persecute it: it can indeed be understood where the Savior himself says to his body, “I did not come to send peace on earth, but a sword.” With this spiritual sword he cut away from his martyrs, who longed for heavenly joys, the earthly affections that flatter wickedly, by which they would have been bound and called back from heaven to earth had the sword of Christ not cut between. But there is also another most evident sword of God, the soul of the righteous in the hand of God, of which it is said to him in the Psalm, “Rescue my soul from the ungodly, your sword from the enemies of your hand.” What he said, “my soul,” he repeated as “your sword”; what he said, “from the ungodly,” he repeated as “from the enemies of your hand.”

This sword he drew out by scattering his martyrs everywhere, and he shut it against those who persecuted the Church, so that those who were not bent by the voices of preachers might be broken by the virtues of the dying. For God makes strong weapons for himself against his enemies out of the very ones he makes his friends. So the soul of the most blessed Cyprian was a great sword of God, shining with love, sharp with truth, driven and brandished by the power of God as he fought: what wars did it finish? what crowds of opponents did it overcome by refuting them? how many hostile people did it strike? how many adversaries did it lay low? In the hearts of how many enemies did it kill the very enmity by which it was attacked, and make them friends, through whom God might fight more abundantly against others? But when the time came for him to be seized, as though the enemies were prevailing, then indeed, so that he should not, crushed and conquered by the ungodly, give way to their vanities, he was present through whom he was made unconquerable: he took up the victory, when no contest remained except the one to be won over this world and over the prince of this world. He was present altogether to his most faithful witness as he contended for the truth even to death; he did what he had been entreated to do; he rescued his soul from the ungodly, his sword from the enemies of his hand. The holy flesh of that victorious soul, as the sheath of that sword, we adorn in this place with the height of the divine altar; to be restored to that same soul in a triumphal resurrection and never again to be laid aside by any death.

Yesterday we celebrated the Lord's birthday; today we celebrate the servant's birthday. But the Lord's birthday we celebrated as the day on which he deigned to be born; the servant's birthday we celebrate as the day on which he was crowned. We celebrated the Lord's birthday, on which he put on the garment of our flesh; we celebrate the servant's birthday, on which he put off the garment of his flesh. We celebrated the Lord's birthday, on which he was made like us; we celebrate the servant's birthday, on which he was made nearest to Christ. For as Christ by being born was joined to Stephen, so Stephen by dying was joined to Christ. But the Church keeps the day of the birth and the day of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ with the service of a twofold devotion, because both are medicine. For he was born so that we might be born again; he died so that we might live for ever. But the martyrs by being born came to evil struggles, drawing original sin with them; by dying they passed over to the most certain good things, ending all sin. For if the rewards of future blessedness did not console those placed in persecution, how could they have borne those punishments of various sufferings? If blessed Stephen, set under a shower of stones, had not thought of future rewards, how could he have endured that hail? But he carried in his mind the command of him whose presence he saw in heaven; and hanging on him with most burning love, he longed to leave the flesh as quickly as possible and to fly to him. Nor did he now fear death, because he saw living the Christ whom he knew had been killed for him; and therefore he himself also hastened to die for him, so as to live with him. What the most blessed martyr saw, placed in that contest, you surely recall from his words, which you are accustomed to hear from the book of the Acts of the Apostles: “Behold,” he says, “I see the heavens opened, and Christ standing at the right hand of God.” He saw Jesus standing: therefore he stood and did not fall; because Jesus, standing above and watching from on high the one fighting below, supplied unconquered strength to his soldier so that he should not fall. “Behold,” he says, “I see the heavens opened.” Blessed the man to whom the heavens lay open! But who opened heaven? He of whom it is said in the Apocalypse, “Who opens, and no one shuts; shuts, and no one opens.” When Adam was cast out of paradise after that first and abominable sin, heaven was shut against the human race; after the passion of Christ the thief entered first, afterwards Stephen saw it open. Why do we wonder? What he faithfully saw, he faithfully declared, and took by force. Come, brothers, let us follow him; for if we follow Stephen, we shall be crowned. But he is to be followed and imitated by us above all in love of enemies. For you know that, surrounded by a gathering of many enemies, while he was beaten by repeated blows of stones from this side and that, calm and fearless, gentle and mild among the stones by which he was being killed, looking to him for whom he was being killed, he did not say, “Lord, judge my death,” but, “receive my spirit.” He did not say, “Lord Jesus, avenge your servant, whom you see condemned to this punishment of death,” but, “do not hold this sin against them.” So the most blessed martyr, persisting in the testimony of the truth and burning in the spirit of love, came, as you know, to a most glorious end; and he who, being called, persevered to the end, obtained at the end what he was called: Stephen, by the glory of his own name, was brought to the crown. When, then, blessed Stephen first shed his blood for Christ, a crown, as it were, came forth from heaven, so that those following might take it as a reward who imitated in battle the virtue of the one who went before. Afterwards many martyrdoms filled the earth. Whoever afterwards shed their blood for the confession of Christ placed that crown on their own heads and kept it whole for those who would follow. And now, brothers, it hangs from heaven: whoever longs for it will fly swiftly to it. And to exhort your Holiness briefly and plainly, there is no need of many words: let whoever desires the crown follow Stephen. Turning to the Lord, etc.