Homily 35

Pronounced before the people

in the basilica of saint Menne, martyr,

the day of his birthday

November 11, 591

Precursory signs of the end of time

Saint Menne died in Egypt during the persecution of Diocletian. His cult quickly took on an immense dimension. Bulbs of oil were used in his sanctuary throughout the Mediterranean basin, and churches were erected everywhere in his honor. In Rome, one was built outside the walls, between the door of Ostia and the basilica of St. Paul. It was here that Gregory preached Homily today, which deals with Luke's passage where Jesus announces the misfortunes that will mark the end of the world.

After commenting on the verse-by-verse text of the gospel, the Pope deals at length with the virtue of patience, although he announced at the outset that it would be brief, given the necessary steps to return to the City.

I- (1-3) The end of the world will be marked by great evils, which Christ makes known to us beforehand to make them easier to bear. These evils will come to us from all the elements, in punishment of the sins to which we have made them serve. They will punish the world for persecuting Christians. The latter must console themselves by the certainty that Jesus will lead the struggle they will have to support; their reward will be proportionate to their troubles, since they will be resurrected. In the meantime, it is through patience that they will possess their souls. The preacher will therefore discuss this virtue at greater length.

II- (4-9) Patience is for us the means to possess our soul, by suffering the evils coming from others without flinching, not keeping resentment, nor preparing revenge, but continuing, despite everything, to love that which torments us. It demands a very high inner victory over ourselves. It makes us martyrs by allowing us to drink from the chalice of Christ, as evidenced by the example of patience of the Italian abbot Etienne, whose speaker recounts the admirable death. He completes his Homily by enumerating the three great agents who exercise our patience: God, the devil, the neighbor. To bear the test is perhaps beyond our possibilities, but God only asks us to give us the strength we lack: it is enough for us to pray to it.

It is not surprising to hear so often the holy pope preach patience to his hearers. The innumerable trials that overwhelm the Roman people make this insistence very necessary. A great sick man, Gregory learned from his sufferings how much it costs to carry his cross in silence.

Lk 21, 9-19

At that time, Jesus said to his disciples, "When you hear about fighting and civil wars, do not be frightened, because it must first happen, but it will not be the end yet." He said to them, "The nations will stand against the nations, and the kingdoms against the kingdoms; there will be great earthquakes, pestilences and famines in various places, frightening phenomena from heaven, and great wonders.

"But before all that, they will lay hands on you and persecute you; you will be dragged into the synagogues and prisons, you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. All these things will come to your testimony. Put this in your mind: you do not have to prepare your answers, for it is I who will give you a language and a wisdom that none of your opponents can resist or answer. You will be delivered even by your parents and your brothers, by your relatives and your friends; they will condemn to death many of you. And you will be hated by all because of my name. But not a hair of your head will perish. It is through your patience that you will possess your souls. "

As we have moved far away from the City, we must content ourselves with a brief commentary on this text of the Holy Gospel, lest the late hour prevent us from returning.

The Lord, our Redeemer, announces the evils that will precede the end of the world, so that we will be less disturbed when they occur than we will have known in advance. Because the traits hurt less when we can see them coming, and the misfortunes of the world seem to us less intolerable if we protect ourselves by the shield of foresight.

The Lord says to us, "When you hear about fighting and civil wars, do not be frightened, for it must first happen, but it will not be the end yet." Our Redeemer's words: They tell us that we will have to suffer inside and out. Because the battles are relative to enemy armies, the civil wars to fellow citizens. And if the Lord declares to us that we will have to suffer here enemy armies and there of our brothers, it is to show us that we will be disturbed both inside and out. But these preliminary evils not having to be immediately followed by the end, he adds: "The

nations will stand against the nations, and the kingdoms against the kingdoms; there will be great earthquakes, pestilences and famines in various places, frightening phenomena from heaven, and great wonders. "Or, according to some variations:" frightening phenomena coming from the sky and storms ", to what is added: "great prodigies". The final tribulation is preceded by many others, and these frequent evils which will arrive first will only point out the eternal evils which will follow them. Thus, it will not be the end after the fighting and the civil wars, because it takes a long series of misfortunes to announce a misfortune that must have no end.

But where there are so many signs of disturbance, a quick examination of each of them is imposed on us, since we must suffer such things from heaven, such as earth, such elements and such men. When the Lord declares, "The nations will stand against the nations," it is a disorder coming from men; when he says, "There will be great earthquakes in many places," he refers to the effects of the wrath from on high; "There will be pest" concerns the disordered bodies; "There will be famines" means the sterility of the land; "Frightening phenomena coming from the sky and storms" describes the disturbance of the atmosphere.

Since all things must be destroyed, all are shaken before destruction. And we who have sinned by all these things, we are also struck by all, in order to realize what has been said: "The whole world shall fight for him against fools" (Wis 5:20). For all that we have received to live, we turn it to sin; but all that we have inflicted for criminal use turns against us for our punishment. The tranquility of peace between men, we conceive an illusory security: we preferred the exile of the land to stay in the homeland. We have made the health of our bodies serve the maintenance of our vices. Abundance born of the fertility of the soil, we have diverted it to feed our perverse pleasures, instead of using them to meet our bodily needs; even the charm of the azure sky, we enslaved it to our love of earthly pleasures. Therefore, it is quite normal that the elements, which we had all submitted together to our bad inclinations to satisfy our vices, all come together to strike us, and that we are obliged to suffer so many torments from the world that we have had fun when all was well.

It should be noted that we are told about "frightening phenomena from the sky and storms". The storms that erupt in winter belong to the usual course of the seasons. Why are they here predicted as a sign of misfortune, if not because the storms of which the Lord announces the coming do not respect the rhythm of the seasons? Those who come in their time are not signs, but storms have a character of sign when they no longer follow the natural order of the seasons. Is not this what we have just experienced recently, when a whole summer has been changed in winter by the abundance of rain?

2. Since all these disorders come, not from the injustice of the one who chastises, but from the fault of the world that suffers them, the Lord first describes the exactions of the depraved men in these terms: "But before all this they will lay hands on you and persecute you; you will be dragged into the synagogues, you will be brought before kings and governors because of my name. "It is as if he were saying clearly:" It is first the hearts of men, then the elements that will be upset. Thus one sees clearly what this confusion of the order of things comes to punish. For although it depends on the very nature of the world to have an end, the Lord, having in view all the perverse men, indicates which are those who deserve to be crushed under the ruins of the world: "They will bring you before the kings and governors because of my name. All these things will come to your testimony. "As a testimony against those who put you to death when they persecute you, or who do not imitate you when they see you. If, indeed, the death of the righteous is a help to the good ones, it bears witness against the wicked, so that even that which serves to bring the elect to good so that they live, removes all excuses from the wicked when they perish.

3. But the hearts of the still weak disciples could have been troubled to hear so many terrifying things; so the Lord adds a consolation, adding immediately: "Put this in your mind: you do not have to prepare your answers, for it is I who will give you a language, and a wisdom to which none of your adversaries can resist or answer. "It is as if he clearly said to his infirm members:" Do not be afraid; do not be afraid. It's you who go to fight, but I'm the one leading the fight. You say the words, but it's me who speaks. "

The text continues: "You will be delivered even by your parents and your brothers, your relatives and your friends; they will condemn to death many of you. "Evils cause less pain if they are brought to us by strangers. But they make us suffer more if we suffer them from those we trusted, because to the suffering of the body comes then to join that of having lost a friendship. This is why the Lord, through the mouth of the psalmist, says about Judas who betrayed him: "If my enemy had cursed me, I would have endured it; and if he who hated me uttered proud words about me, I would have kept myself hidden from him. But you who were one with me, my guide and my friend, who shared with me the sweet food of my table, we walked in full agreement in the house of God "(Ps 55, 13-15). And elsewhere: "Even the man who was my friend, who trusted me and ate my bread, raised his heel against me" (Ps 41, 10). It is as if he were saying clearly about the one who betrayed him: "I suffered all the more from his betrayal that I felt it coming from the one who seemed to be all mine."

Thus, all the elect, because they are the members of the supreme head, also follow in suffering their leader: they must suffer in death the enmity of those whose life inspired them confidence, and they see the reward of their works increase all the more as the loss of a friendship makes more progress in virtue.

4. But as these predictions of persecution and death are very harsh, the Lord speaks immediately after the consolation and joy of the resurrection: "Not a hair of your head shall perish." We know it, my brethren, the flesh suffers when cut, but not hair. The Lord therefore declares to his martyrs: "Not a hair of your head will perish", which means in plain language: "Why fear to see the suffering of death when you cut it, since even that which in you does not suffer when you the cup can not perish?

The text continues: "It is by your patience that you will possess your souls." If the possession of the soul lies in the virtue of patience, it is because patience is the root and protector of all virtues. It is through patience that we possess our souls, for it is only by learning to dominate ourselves that we begin to possess ourselves. Patience consists in suffering serenely the evils coming from others and in being tormented with no resentment against the one who inflicts them. To bear the bad deeds of the neighbor while suffering in silence and preparing the hour of the revenge, it is not to possess the patience, but to have only the outside ones. It is written in fact: "Charity is patient; she is benevolent "(1 Cor 13: 4). She is patient in that she bears the evils of others; she is benevolent in that she loves the very ones she supports. The truth in person says in the same sense: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who persecute and slander you" (Mt 5:44). If, then, in the eyes of men, it is virtue to support one's enemies, in the eyes of God, virtue is to love them. For the only sacrifice that God regards as pleasing is that which he sees consumed by the flame of charity on the altar of our good works.

5. We must know that we often appear patient only because we can not render evil for evil. But, as we have already said, not to render evil because we do not have the power, it is obviously not to be patient, since patience is to be sought in the heart, and not in this that we show outside.

The vice of impatience destroys even the good doctrine, the mother who nourishes virtues. For it is written, "The good doctrine of man is revealed by his patience" (Pr 19, 11). Thus, the more we let his impatience appear, the less we will pass for learning. It is impossible indeed to dispense the good by his teaching, if in his life one can not support patiently the harm caused by others.

Solomon further indicates to what summit attains the virtue of patience, by affirming, "He who is patient is better than the strong man; and he who is master of his soul is better than the warrior who takes cities "(Pr 16, 32). Taking cities is a lesser victory, since you only take it outside. To win by patience is greater, because it is of itself that the soul then triumphs, and it is still she who submits to herself when her patience compels her to a humble resignation. .

We must also know that it is usual for those who endure misfortunes or hear insults, to feel no resentment at the moment, and to show enough patience to be able to keep the innocence of the heart. But when soon after, they remember all they have suffered, they are inflamed with a very violent resentment: they seek a way to avenge themselves, and changing their attitude, they depart from the sweetness they had put to bear the evil.

6. The wily opponent, in fact, arouses war on both parties: the one he ignites with anger to bring him to utter the first insults, the other he excites, once injured, to respond to insults. But because he has made himself victorious over the man whom he has urged to utter insults, he is only more bitter against him whom he has not been able to urge to reply to insults. It follows that he stands with all his might against the man whom he sees valiantly enduring insults. Not having been able to excite him at the moment when he received the blows, he ceases to attack him openly, and in the secret of his thoughts, he watches for the favorable moment to deceive him; having lost the declared war, he strives to set traps secretly. At the hour of tranquility, he returns to the soul that had conquered him, and reminds him of either the damage done to his property or the insults he has received. He repeats it by exaggerating all that has been done to him, and presents it to him as intolerable. He who had calmed himself, he inflames him with such fury that this patient man, trapped in spite of his victory, often comes to blush for having borne all this with equality of mind, to regret have not responded to insults, and strive to make the weary evil if the opportunity arises.

Who, then, should compare such souls, if not to the warriors who prevail by their courage on the field of battle, but then, by their negligence, let themselves be captured within the city walls? Or to these men that a serious disease has not torn from life, but a slight rise in fever leads to death. Thus, he really keeps the patience which, at the moment, endures without resentment the evils caused by the neighbor, and when afterwards he remembers it, rejoices to have borne them, so as not to lose time of peace the blessing of the patience preserved in the storm.

7. Since we are celebrating today the martyr's feast, my brethren, we must be concerned about the kind of patience he has practiced. For if we strive with the help of the Lord to keep this virtue, we will not fail to obtain the prize of martyrdom, even though we live in the peace of the Church. There are two kinds of martyrs: one consisting of a disposition of the mind, the other joining to this disposition of the mind external acts. That's why we can be martyrs even if we do not die executed by the executioner's sword. To die by the hand of persecutors is martyrdom in action, in its visible form; to endure insults by loving the one who hates us is martyrdom in spirit, in its hidden form.

That there are two kinds of martyrs, one hidden, the other public, the Truth attests by asking the sons of Zebedee, "Can you drink the chalice that I am about to drink?" "We can," the Lord replies, "My chalice, you will drink it indeed" (Mt 20: 22-23). What must we understand by this chalice, if not the sufferings of the Passion, which he says elsewhere: "My Father, if it is possible, let this chalice pass away from me" (Mt 26:39). The sons of Zebedee, that is, James and John, did not all die martyrs, and yet they were told that they would drink the chalice. Indeed, although John did not die a martyr, he was, however, because the suffering he had not suffered in his body he felt in his mind. We must therefore conclude from this example that we too can be martyrs without passing through the sword, if we keep patience in our souls. I do not think it is out of place, dear brothers, to bring back here for your edification an example of this virtue of patience.

8. At a time close to ours, he found a person named Stephen, who was abbot of the monastery near the city walls of Rieti. He was a most holy man, remarkable for his patience. Many who knew him are still alive, and they tell about his life and his death. His language was not learned, but his life was that of a sage. He had despised everything for the love of the heavenly country, and he refused to possess anything in this world; he avoided the agitation of men and applied himself to long and repeated prayers. The virtue of patience had grown so much in him that he held for friends those who had wronged him, and whom he thanked for the outrages received. In spite of his destitution, he took for a great advantage the damages inflicted upon him, and he saw in all his adversaries only support. When the day of death came to force him out of his body, many came to recommend their souls to that holy soul who was leaving the world. All these people had gathered around the bed. Some saw with their own eyes angels who entered without being able to speak a word; the others did not see anything at all. And all the audience was seized with a fear so violent that no one could stand there while this holy soul was coming out [of his body]. Those who had seen, like those who had not seen anything at all, fled, struck and terrified by the same fear, and none of them could witness this death.

Consider then, my brethren, what a terror the almighty God will strike us when he comes to a judge full of threat, if he has so terrified those who were there when he came to judge benevolently to reward, and how much will there be to fear him when he will be visible to us, if he has thus frightened those who were present when they could not see him.

Behold, dear brothers, how great was the reward of which God has endowed the patience which this holy man had preserved in the peace of the Church. What great good has the Creator given to this saint within himself, since he has made us known outside by such glory at the moment of his death! Should not we think that he was associated with the holy martyrs, the one who was welcomed by the blessed spirits, as some have been assured by their bodily eyes? It was not with a sword that he died, and yet he received in his death the crown of the patience he had kept in mind. We verify every day the truth of what has been said before us: "The holy Church is full of the flowers of the elect: in peace, she has lilies; in the persecution, roses. "1

9. It must be known that the virtue of patience can be practiced in three ways, according to whether it is ordeals imposed by God, by the ancient enemy, or by the neighbor. From the next, we support persecution, damages and insults; from the ancient enemy, temptations; and of God, the trials. The soul must therefore look after itself with great care over these three fields: it must neither allow itself to be led to render the evil to evil, nor allow itself to be seduced by the temptations of the enemy to the complacency and until consent to the fault, nor to revolt against the trials sent by the Creator to the point of murmuring2 against him. For to be perfectly victorious of the enemy, our soul must at the same time refuse all complacency and all consent in the face of temptation, to guard against all hatred in the face of the outrages coming from the neighbor, and not to murmur in the face of the trials sent by God.

In doing so, we must not seek our reward in the goods of the present life. For the goods that we must hope for as a reward for our patience efforts are in the life to come: we will begin to enjoy the fruits of our troubles at the moment when all pain will cease. It is in this sense that the psalmist says: "In the end, we will not forget the poor; the patience of the poor will not perish in the end "(Ps 9, 19). It seems, as it were, that the patience of the poor perishes, since the humble receive no reward in this world. But the patience of the poor will not perish in the end, for it is at the moment when all their troubles will come to an end that they will receive its glory.

This [virtue of] patience, my brethren, exercise it therefore in spirit, and put it into action when the need arises. Let no insulting word lead you to hate your neighbor, let no loss suffered in your perishable goods trouble you. If you always keep in mind the fear of eternal loss, you will no longer care about the loss of things that pass. If you consider the glory of the eternal reward, you will not grieve for ephemeral injustice. So bear your enemies; but love as brothers those whom you endure. Look for eternal rewards for losses that are only ephemeral. Do not believe, however, that you will be able to achieve such virtue by your own strength, but pray for it from the one who commands you to practice it. We know that God enjoys hearing himself ask what he commands us. For those who continually knock on his door while praying, he gives his help without delay in temptation, through Jesus Christ our Lord, who, being God, lives and reigns with him in the unity of the Holy Spirit. , in the centuries of ages. Amen.

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1 On the word "compunction", cf. the introduction to homily 15.

2 The Executioner is an officer of justice charged with making people pay what they owe.

3 Isauria and Lycaonia are ancient countries of Asia Minor.

4 The bowels are, according to the Bible, the seat of compassion and tenderness.