The Angel And The Virgin

Audivimus, fratres, angelum a Deo Patre ad Virginem missum, audivimus Virginem novo salutationis famine salutatam, et in ipsa salutatione, ut Evangelium loquitur, fuissse turbatam. Audivimus Gabrielem archangelum verbis consolatoriis, ne timeret allocutum, eo quod invenisset gratiam apud Dominum, deinde generaturam et parituram asseruit filium, quem praecepit ut vocaret Jesum. Hunc esse magnum et filium Altissimi, sedem David, et domum Jacob, et regnum sempiternum sine fine secundum humanitatem adepturum praedixit. Quod semper secundum divnitatem cum Deo Patre et Spiritu sancto aeternaliter, antequam mundus fieret, in aeterna sua scientia habuit et disposuit. Post consolationis officiosissima et jucundissima famina, Virgo santissima interrogando et potius in cunctando coepit inquire quomodo fieri posset quod angelus insolitam et inauditam rem tanta auctoritate nuntiare praesumeret; hujus rei factum, quod natura non habuit, quod exemplo caruit, Spiritu sancto superveniente et virtute Altissimi obumbrante angelus fieri posse perdocuit. O inauditum et admirabile singularis humilitatis exemplum! Ea quae se Dominum et Creatorem suum concepisse gaudebat et de se nasciturum non dubitabat, cum posset se cognoscere sine dispendio suae sincerissimae humilitatis omnium fidelium dominam, non distulit se vocare Domini sui ancillam, dicens: Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo IV, De Incarnatione Dominica Source: Migne PL 142.1002d-1003a

We have heard, brothers, that the angel was sent from God the Father to the Virgin, we have heard the Virgin was hailed by a new speech of greeting, and by that greeting, as the Gospel says, she was troubled. We have heard the archangel Gabriel speak words of comfort, lest she fear the rest, telling her that she had found grace with God, and then that she would conceive and give birth to the Son of God, which he commanded her to name Jesus. He foretells that He who is great and the Son of the Most High, the seat of David and the house of Jacob, and whose kingdom has no end, shall take up humanity. Because according to Divinity He is always with God the Father and the Holy Spirit, before the world was made, in His eternity wisdom arranged and disposed it. After this most dutiful and joyful speech of consolation, the most holy Virgin, questioning, or rather hesitating, began to ask how it was possible that an angel should presume to announce something so strange and unheard of with such authority. He taught that this deed, of which nature was not capable, which lacked all example, was able to come to be by the coming of the Holy Spirit and the overshadowing of the power of the Most High. O unheard and wondrous example of singular humility. She who rejoiced to conceive her Lord and Creator and did not doubt concerning His birth, she who is able to be known, without loss of her own humility, as the Lady of all the faithful, did not refuse to call herself the handmaid of her Lord, saying, 'Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to my according to your word.' 1 Saint Odo of Cluny, from Sermon 4, On The Incarnation Of The Lord 1 Lk 1.38

Blushes And Believing

Talibus enim obsequiis angelus intentam invenit atque salutavit. Utpote virgo verecunda erubuit; a quo confortata, quae dicebantur credidit, et credendo auctorem nostrae salutis edidit Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum quem partriarchae et prophetae praeviderunt et praedixerunt de virgine nasciturum. Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo XIII De Nativitate Beatae Mariae Virginis Source: Migne PL 142.1028d-1029a

With such deference the angel found and saluted her attentive. As is natural in a modest maiden she blushed, by which greatly strengthened she believed in what was said, and in the believing conceived the creator of our salvation our Lord Jesus Christ, whom the patriarchs and prophets foresaw and foretold would be born from a virgin. Saint Odo of Cluny, from Sermon 13, On The Nativity of The Blessed Virgin Mary

Speaking Of The Ascension

Hujus etenim ascensionis Dominicae nobilitatem et gloriam, Veteris Instrumenti multo ante multipliciter praenuntiavit auctoritas, et ipso ascendente exsultans angelica declaravit sublimitas, evangelicae etiam descriptionis atque apostoliciae praedicationis per totum orbem narravit satis aperte majestas. Apostolica vero praedicto, ut dictum est, mysteria supradicta vehementer enarrat, cum beatus Petrus apostolus, omnium de quibus loquitur, idoneum testem se esse declarat, et apostolica libertate subnixus, ut propositum est, liberalissimo sermone pronuntiat, dicens: Obedire oportet Deo magis quam hominibus. Statim subintulit. Et his cum quibus tunc res ipsa gerebatur dixit: Deus patrum nostrorum suscitavit Jesum, quem vos interemistis suspendentes in ligno. Hunc Deus, Principem ac Salvatorem, exaltavit dextera sua, ad dandam poenitentiam Israel et remissionem peccatorum. Et nos sumus testes horum verborum et Spiritus sanctus, quem dedit Deus hominibus obedientibus sibi. Et in alio loco idem pastor Ecclesiae, Davidico fruitus vaticinio, David igitur, inquit: Propheta cum esset et sciret quia jurejurando jurasset illi Deus de fructu lumbi ejus sedere super sedem ejus, providens locutus est de resurrectione Christi, quia neque derelictus est in inferno, neque caro ejus vidit corruptionem. Hunc Jesum suscitavit Deus, cui omnes nos testes sumus. Dextera igitur Dei exaltatus, et promissione Spiritus sancti accepta a Patre, effudit hoc donum quod vos videtis et auditis. Non enim David ascendit in coelos. Dicit autem ipse: Dicit Dominus Domino meo: Sede a dextris meis. Paulus denique praedicator egregius, cum hoc nostrae salutis mysterium auditoribus suis commendare vellet, affectu optantis et voto orantis prudentissima et spirituali circumlocutione aggressus est eos, dicens: Deus Domini nostri Jesu Christi, Pater gloriae, det vobis spiritum sapientiae et revelationis in agnitione ejus, illuminas oculos cordis vestri, ut sciatis quae sit spes vocationis ejus, et quae divitiae gloriae hereditatis ejus in sanctis, et quae sit supereminens magnitudo virtutis ejus in nos, qui credidimus secundum operationem potentiae virtutis ejus quam operatus est in Christo, suscitans illum a mortuis, et constituens ad dexteram suam in caelestibus, supra omnem principatum, et potestatem, et virtutem, et dominationem, et omne nomen quod nominatur non solum in hoc saeculo, sed et in futuro. Et: Omnia subjecit sub pedibus ejus, et ipsum dedit caput supra omnem Ecclesiam quae est corpus ipsius. Et ut idem Apostolus ad Timotheum scribit: Columna et firmamentum veritatis. Et manifeste: Magnum est pietatis sacramentum, quod manifestatum in carne, justificatum est in spiritu, apparuit angelis, praedicatum est in gentibus, creditum est in hoc mundo, assumptum est in gloria, sicut per Marcum et lucam descriptio intonat evangelica. Lucas vero cum ad Theophilum scriberet, dicit se sermonem fecisse: de omnibus quae caepit Jesus facere et docere, usque in diem qua praecipiens apostolis per Spiritum sanctum quos elegit, assumptus est. Et Marcus in hodierna lectione: Dominus, inquit, Jesus, postquam locutus est discipulis suis, assumptus est in caelum, et sedet a dextris Dei. Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo VIII, De Ascensione Domini Salvatoris Source: Migne PL 142.1012c-1013c

Indeed the nobility and glory of this ascension of the Lord, the authority of the Old Testament often before many times foretells, and His ascension the angelic heights exultant declared, and indeed the Gospels and the Apostolic preaching through the whole earth openly proclaimed its majesty. But with the Apostolic preaching, as it has been said, the mystery aforementioned is overtly declared, when the blessed Apostle Peter, concerning the things he spoke to all, declaring himself an able witness, elated with Apostolic liberty, as it has been recorded, with free speech spoke, saying, 'One must obey God rather than men.' 1 Immediately going on to those deeds then done and saying: 'The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed, hanging Him from a tree. God exalted Him at his right hand, Prince and Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witness of these words and the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to men obedient to Him.' 2 And in another place the shepherd of the Church, making use of the Davidic prophecy, says: 'David, then, when he was a Prophet , knowing that God had sworn an oath to him, that one from the fruit of his loins would sit upon his throne, foresaw and spoke of the resurrection of Christ, because neither was He forsaken in hell, nor did His flesh see corruption. This Jesus God raised, and we are all witnesses to Him. Therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and receiving the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He poured out this gift which you see and hear. For David did not ascend into heaven. He himself says: My Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand.' 3 Then Paul, that wondrous preacher, when he wished to commend the mystery of our salvation to hearers, impressing on them the emotion of choosing and the most prudent and spiritual vow of prayer, says: 'The God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may he give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in His knowledge, illuminating the eyes of your heart, that you may know the hope of our calling, and what inheritance of Divine glory is with his holy ones, and what is the supereminent greatness of His virtue in us, we who believe according to the work of the power of his virtue which worked in Christ, taking Him up from the dead and establishing Him at His right hand in the heavens, over all principalities and powers and virtues and dominion and every name which is named, not only in this age but even in the future.' 4 And: 'Everything He has made subject beneath His feet and He sets his head over every Church which is His body.' 5 And the same Apostle writes to Timothy: 'A column and firmament of truth.' 6 And openly: 'Great is the mystery of holiness, which has been manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, appeared to angels, is preached among the Gentiles, is believed in this world, and has been taken up in glory,' 7 as Mark and Luke pronounce in the telling of their Gospels. Luke when he wrote to Theophilus, and said in that passage: 'concerning everything which Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when having given commands to the Apostles He had chosen He was taken up.' 8 And Mark in today's reading: 'The Lord Jesus,' he says, 'after he had spoken to His Apostles, was taken up to heaven and sat at the right hand of the Father.' 9 Saint Odo of Cluny, from Sermon 8, On The Ascension Of The Lord 1 Acts 5.29 2 Acts 5.30-32 3 Acts 2.30-34 4 Ephes 1.17-21 5 Ephes 1.22 6 1 Tim 3.15 7 1 Tim 3.16 8 Acts 1.1-2 9 Mark 16.19

Reasons For Joy

Nimis dulce quod natus est; nimium salubre quod datus est, Cum audis etiam tibi natum, gaude. Cum audis etiam tibi datum, multo magis laetare. Sed inter patrem et natum, et inter datorem et datum, secundum divinam naturam non contingat tibi ullam tibi credere differentiam. Unius enim substantiae sunt secundum deitatis essentiam pater et natus, dator et datus. Tantus est ille qui datus est quantus est ille a quo datus est. Et qualis est ille qui genitus est, talis est ille a quo genitus est. Non praecessit tempore genitor; non est genitore genitus interior. Ejusdemque naturae, potentiae et majestatis creditur et praedicatur Spiritus sanctus, quo superveniente suscepit Verbum Dei sanctissimae et semper Virginis uterus, cujus singularem partum universus hodie recolit mundus. Tantae enim rei tamque divinissimi mysterii et ineffabilis sacramenti gratia, non solum in terris exsultant justi;sed etiam summae divinitatis in excelsis tripudiant ministri. Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo I, De Nativitate Domini Salvatoris Source: Migne PL 142.993a-b

Exceedingly delightful is what is born, very wholesome is that which has been given. Indeed when you hear what has been born for you, be glad, when you hear what has been given to you, much more rejoice. But between the Father and the child, and between the giver and the given, let it not occur to you to think that there is some difference in the Divine nature. For the Father and the Child, the giver and the given, are of one substance according to the essence of Divinity. He who is given is as great as He from whom He is given. And as He who is born is He from whom he was begotten. He who begot did not precede in time, nor is He who was begotten inferior to Him who begot. And the Holy Spirit is believed and preached to be of the same nature and power and majesty, by whose coming the womb of the most holy and always Virgin Mary received the Word of God, whose singular birth the whole world reflects on today. For of such a thing and so Divine a mystery and by the grace of ineffable sacrament, not only do the righteous exult on earth, but indeed in the heights the ministers of the highest Divinity rejoice. Saint Odo of Cluny, from Sermon 1, On The Nativity of The Lord

The Handmaid

Ecce ancilla Domini, fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. Videte, fratres, humilitatem Virginis Verbum Dei concipientis. Videte obedientiam Domini ad nos per Virginem venientis. Videte claritatem et delictionem, circa humanum genus, Dei Patris angelum ad Virginem, nomine Mariam, mittentis. Hujus nobilissimi nominis praedulcis interpretatio claritudinem meritorum illius atque virtutum aperta ratione demonstrat. Interpretatur enim Maria stella maris sive domina. Merito vocatur Domina, quia Dominum totius creaturae, salva perpetua sua virginitate, hodierna die concipere et certo tempore gignere meruit. Cui Deus Pater, ut David partriarcha testatur in psalmo, dicens: Data est mihi omnis potestas in coelo et in terra, etc. De quo idem Propheta: Domini est terra et plenitudo eius. Item in eadem psalmo: Dominus fortis et potens, Dominus potens in praelio. Et ut illum fortem et potentem credamus, Gabriel archangelus qui fortitudo Dei dicitur, nasciturum de Virgine evangelizare debuit, quam ad debellandum perditionis principem et mortis imperium destruendum, velut geminae gigantem substantiae omnipotens Pater unicum Filium suum transmisit. Consequens etenim est ut Dei genitrix et semper virgo Maria maris stella vocetur, quia sicut illi qui inter fluctus maris exercitatione navigii laborant, stellis sibi Deo auctore famulantibus, ad portum quietis venire desiderant; ita quisquis in hujus saeculi periculoso naufragio, fluctibus perniciosis irruentibus, sive de animae, sive de corporis vita periclitatur, necesse est ad contemplationem istius stellae aciem mentis dirigat, per cuius meritum et gratiam posse se ab omni periculo liberari non dubitat. Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo IV, De Incarnatione Dominica Source: Migne PL 142.1003b-d

Behold, the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done to me according to your word. 1 See, brothers, the humility of the Virgin conceiving the Word of God. See the obedience of the Lord coming to us through the Virgin. See the glory and love for the human race of God the Father sending the angel to the Virgin by the name of Mary. The interpretation of this most noble and sweetest name with evident reason shows the clarity of her merits and virtue. For Mary is understood as 'Star of the Sea' and 'Lady.' And rightly 'Lady', because she merited, by the security of her perptual virginity, this day to conceive, and after a certain time to give birth to, the Lord of all creation. To which God the Father, the patriarch David gives witness in the Psalm, saying: 'All power in heaven and earth has been given to me.' 2 Concerning which the same Prophet says: 'The earth is the Lord's and the fullness of it.' 3 And in the same Psalm: 'The Lord strong and powerful, the Lord powerful in war.' 4 And so that we believe Him strong and powerful, it was befitting that the archangel Gabriel, whose name means 'Strength of God,' announce the coming birth from the Virgin, that for the defeat of the prince of ruin and the destruction of the empire of death, as a giant from dual substance, the almighty Father had sent the only Son. Consequently the mother of God and ever virgin Mary is called 'Star of the Sea,' because as they who labour to sail amid the waves of the sea, attend to the stars of God the creator, desiring to come to the port of rest, so for anyone in the perilous shipwreck of the world, with the wicked waves pouring in, endangering either the life of the soul or the body, it is necessary that he direct the attention of his mind to the contemplation of this star, not doubting that by its merit and grace it is possible that he be freed from every danger. Saint Odo of Cluny, from Sermon 4, On The Incarnation Of The Lord 1 Lk 1.38 2 Mt 28.18 3 Ps 23.1 4 Ps 23.8

The Lord's Advent

Sed Deus omnipotens, qui hominem ad imaginem suam condidit, noluit illum in sua deformitate aeternaliter perire, misit Filium suum, qui etiam apparuit inter homines speciosus forma prae filiis hominum, ut hominem quem potestate suae divinitatis mirabiliter formaverat humanitatis suae praesentia misericorditer reformaret, et de informi forma formosam in formam transformaret. Susecpit Dominus formam servi, ut reconciliaret nos Deo Patri. In nostra carne visibilis voluit apparere, ut ad amorem invisibilium ipso duce possemus redire. O magnae pietatis indicium! O ineffabile divinae misericordiae sacramentum! Omnipotens Deus hominem decrevit redimere, et redimendo homini etiam se corporaliter ostendit, et ipse, ut ita dixerim, fugitivi sui vestigia subsequens, ad redimendum quem amiserat hominem locus venit. Si enim appellari locus nequaquam Conditor posset, Deum laudans nequaquam Psalmista dixisset: Filii servorum tuorum inhabitabunt ibi. Ibi enim non dicimus, nisi cum specialiter locum designamus. Conditor etenim noster cum sit omnium rerum locus, sed illocalis, veniens in mundum, non habuit proprium locum in terris, sicut ipse dixit: Filius autem hominis non habet ubi caput reclinet. Et secundum Lucam evangelistam, positus est in praesepio, quia non erat integerimae genitrici ejus locus in diversorio. Quis vidit unquam tale? Quis audivit huic simile? Tanta enim erat in assumpta humanitate humilitas, quanta in divina majestate sublimitas. Quam sublimis in suis, quam humilis in nostris, in praesepe jacebat, in coelo residebat. Jacens in sinu matris, sedens in dextera Patris. Cum esset Dei Patris ante tempora unicus, factus est Virginis tempore Filius. Non amittens quod erat, factus est quod non erat. Factus est particeps moralitatis nostrae, ut nos vitae suae participes faceret. Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo I, De Nativitate Domini Salvatoris Source: Migne PL 142.992b-993a

But almighty God, who made man in His own image, 1 unwilling that he should perish eternally in his deformity, sent His Son, who appeared among men, fair before the eyes of men, 2 so that man whom the power of His divinity had wonderously formed He reform by the merciful presence of His Humanity, and transform unformed form into fairest form. The Lord took up the form of a servant, 3 that He reconcile us with God the Father. He wished to appear visible in our flesh that with Him leading we be able to return to the invisible love. O sign of great piety! O ineffable mystery of Divine mercy! Almighty God decreased to redeem, and for the redemption of man showed himself corporally, and He, as I might say, following the path of His fugitive, for redemption came to the place into which He had expelled man. If indeed it is possible to name a place where the Creator is not, the Pslamist not at all praising God, when he said: 'The sons of your servants dwell there.' 4 For 'there' we do not say, unless we designate a specific sort of place. Our Creator, who is in every place, but unbound by place, coming into the world, does not have His place on the earth, as He said: 'The Son of Man has nowhere to rest His head.' 5 And according to Luke, He was placed in a manger, because there was no place for His immaculate mother in the inn. 6 Who has seen such a thing? Who has heard the like? For so great was His humility in the assumpton of humanity, as is His sublimity in His Divine majesty. As sublime as He is in Himself, so He was humble in ourself, being laid in a manger, in heaven residing, laying in the lap of His mother, sitting at the right hand of the Father. When He was one with the Father before time, He is made the Son of the Virgin in time. He does not lose what He was, being made what He was not. He is made a participent of our mortality, that He might make us participents of His life. Saint Odo of Cluny, from Sermon 1, On The Nativity of The Lord 1 Gen 1.26 2 Ps 41.3 3 Philip 2.7 4 Ps 101.29 5 Mt 8.20, Lk 9.58 6 Lk 2.7

Simeon's Example

Nunc dimittis, Domine, servum tuum in pace, quia viderunt oculi mei salutare tuum. Nos ergo dilectissimi fratres, hujus sanctissimi senis Simenois exemplum sequentes, Dominum Christum in mundum venisse credamus, ulnis sincerissimae dilectionis adventus ejus memoriam fideliter amplectentes, ei utpote membra capiti conjungamur, ita ut non ab eo separemus, usque dum eum in templo gloriae suae videre mereamur. Vitam quoque istam fallecem et caducam fugientes, ad illam quae vera et permanens est, toto mentis desiderio tendamus, auxiliante Domino nostro Jesus Christo, qui est, ut ipse dicit, via, veritas et vita: via, videlicet recte gradientium; veritas, veritatem amantium; vita, bene viventium. Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo III, De Purificatione Sanctae Dei Genitricis Mariae Source: Migne PL 142.1001b-c

Now dimiss your servant in peace, O Lord, for my eyes have seen your salvation.1 Let us then, dearest brothers, following the example of this most holy old man Simeon, believe that the Lord Christ has come into the world, in our arms faithfully embracing the memory of his coming with dearest love, as members joined to Him the head, that we be not separated from Him, until we merit to see Him in the temple of His glory. Fleeing this deceitful and fallen life, let us hold to what is true and permanent with all the desire of our heart, with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is, as He Himself says, The Way, The Truth and The Life. 2 The way certainly of those who walk correctly; the truth of the lovers of truth, the life of those who live well. Saint Odo of Cluny, from Sermon 3, On The Purification of Mary, The Holy Mother Of God 1 Lk 2.29-30 2 Jn 14.6

Ascension And Salvation

Quomodo vel qualiter praesentis solemnitatis gaudia, ascendente Domino, angelica declaravit sublimitas, non potest ore dicere, non corde concipere humana fragilitas. Sed tamen illud unum, ut Lucas narrat, testimonium admirable atque jucundum, officis ecclesiasticis adeo festive recitandum, huic declamatiunculae dignum duximus inserendum. Cumque intuerentur apostoli Dominum euntem in caelum, ecce duo viri astiterunt juxta illos in vestibus albis, qui et dixerunt, Viri Galilaei, quid statis aspicientes in caelum? Hic Jesus qui assumptus est a vobis in caelum, sic veniet quemadmodum vidistis eum euntem in caelum. Ascendente Domino angeli apparuisse leguntur in vestibus albis, qui humanum genus, quod fuerat obtectum tenebris mortiferae caecitatis, per gratiam Christi meruit percipere indumentum aeternae jucunditatis, et consortium angelicae dignitatis. Instrumenti Veteris auctoritatem, ut proposuimus, multo ante multipliciter praenuntiasse manifestum est, illis videlicet qui Scriptuam sanctam et studiose legunt et fideliter intelligunt. Quid per Enoch Scriptura divina clamat transaltum, quid per Eliam igneo curro transvectum nisi Dominum Christum hodierna festivitate in dextera paternae majestis elevatum? Sicut ipse per Prophetam in psalmo dicit ad Patrem: Tenuisti manum dexteram meam, et in voluntate tua deduxisti me, et cum gloria assumpsisti me. Ecce illud Domini Salvatoris iter astriferum, sanctus in psalmo vocari voluit cursum. Quod David cursum vocat Salomon in Canticis saltus appellat. Ecce iste venit saliens in montibus, transiliens colles. Et ille: A summo caelo egressio ejus, et occursus ejus usque ad summum ejus. Hunc enim quem David currentem praecinuit, Salomon salientem praevidit. O prudentissimi vates, o tantae prolis felicissimi parentes, cujus meruistis prophetica denuntiatine fieri parentes et testes! De vestra namque radice Isaias propheta virgam cum flore processuram praedixit. De quo ipse alias dicit: Erit in novissimis diebus praeparatus mons domus Domini in verticem montium, et elevabitur super colles. Et in alio loco: Erit germen domus Domini in magnificentia, et fructus terrae sublimis. Quem, fratres, intelligere debemus per montem super verticem montium praeparatum, nisi mediatorem Dei et hominum, hominem Jesum Christum omnium hominum naturam superantum et meritum? Quem per germen Domini magnificum et gloriosum, et fructum terrae sublimem, nisi eumdem Dei hominis filium, hodierna die super caelos coelorum et dignitatem omnium angelorum in dextera Dei Patris assumptum? Ergo, dilectissimi fratres, omnium vitiorum phantasmata fugientes, cunctarum virtutum charismata diligentes, ipsum, de quo loquimur, toto cordis affectu quaeramus, toto mentis ardore diligamus, passibus dilectionis et fidei sequamur, ut per ipsum cum ipso ad eum possimus pervenire, qui per ipsum corruptam generis humani naturam voluit reparare, et reparatam in ipso, hodierna festivitate ad se dignatus est revocare. Qui eum eo vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus sancti Deus per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo VIII, De Ascensione Domini Salvatoris Source: Migne PL 142.1013c-1014c

How or in what way the joy of the present solemnity, the Ascension of the Lord, the angelic sublimity declared, neither the mouth of our human fragility is able to tell, nor the heart to conceive. Yet one joyful and admirable testimony, as Luke narrates, is recited during the ecclesiastical offices, which small portion we have thought it worthy to insert here: 'And when the Apostles watched the Lord ascending into heaven, behold two men stood beside them in white vestments, and they said, 'Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing into the sky? Jesus who ascended from you is in heaven, and so He shall come as you saw Him going into heaven.' 1 With the Ascension of the Lord the angels appear clothed in white vestments, for the human race, which was wrapped in the darkness of death bringing blindness, through the grace of Christ, has merited to take possession of the raiment of eternal joy and the dignity to be associates of angels. By the use of the authority of the Old Testament, as we have said, many things in many ways have openly foretold this: quite obviously to those who have studiously read and understood the Holy Scriptures. What does Divine Scripture cry out by the translation of Enoch? 2 What by Elijah's riding off in the fiery chariot? 3 Is it not today's feast of our Lord Christ elevated to the right hand of the Father's majesty? So through the Prophet in the Psalm He says to the Father: 'You held my right hand, and in your will you led me, and you took me up in glory.' 4 Behold the astral way of the Lord our Saviour, which holy way he wished to speak of in the Psalm. And that way David spoke of, Solomon in the Song of Songs names a leap. 'Behold he comes leaping on the mountains, springing over the hills.' 5 And David again says, 'From heaven's height his going out, and his setting even at its height.' 6 Thus the one whom David foretells as running, Solomon sees as leaping. O most wise prophets, O such parents of happy children, you who with prophetic proclamation merited to be parents and witnesses. For concerning your root the prophet Isaiah foretells the coming of a shoot with a flower. Concerning which he says elsewhere: 'In the last days shall be prepared the mount of the house of the Lord on the peak of the mountains, and it shall be lifted up over all the hills.' 7 And in another place: 'He shall be a seed of the house of the Lord in magnificence and the finest fruit of the earth.' 8 Whom, brothers, shall we understand by the mountain over the peak of the mountain prepared, unless the mediator of God and men, the man Jesus Christ, over all men superior in nature and merit? Whom by the seed of the Lord, magnificent and glorious and the finest fruit of the earth, unless the same son of God and man, who this day is taken up above the heaven of heavens and the dignity of all angels to the right hand of God the Father? Therefore, dear brothers, fleeing the apparitions of every vice, loving the anointings of every virtue, let us seek Him of whom we speak with all the desire of our heart, let us love with all the longing of of our mind, let us follow with the steps of love and faith, that through Him, with Him, to Him, we are able to come. Saint Odo of Cluny, from Sermon 8, On The Ascension of the Lord 1 Acts 1.11-12 2 Gen 5.24 3 4 Kings 4.11 4 Ps 62.24 5 Song 2.8 6 Ps 18.7 7 Isaiah 2.2 8 Isaiah 4.2

Confidence And The Resurrection

Certissima fiducia est Christianorum divinitus promissa resurrectio mortuorum. Hanc enim veritas repromisit; Veritas autem mentiri non potest. Vera est igitur de resurrectione corporum promissio veritas, quia Veritas quae mentiri non novit, totum necesse est impleat quod promisit. Hanc autem resurrectionem corporum, ut futuram certissime noverimus, ipse Dominus nobis in suo corpore dignatus est demonstrare. Resurrexit Christus, ut resurrecturum se non dubitet Christianus. Quod enim praecessit in capite, sequitur in corpore. Nosse autem debemus, dilectissimi fratres, duas esse mortes et duas resurrectiones. Dicitur enim mors prima, dicitur et secunda. Porro primae mortis duae sunt partes: una qua peccatrix anima per culpam descedit a Creatore suo, altera qua, judicante Deo, excluditur per poenam de corpore suo. Mors autem secunda ipsa est mors corporis et animae punitio sempiterna. Per mortem ergo primam, anima boni et mali hominis ad tempus a suo corpore separatur. Per mortem vero secundam, anima solius mali hominis in aeternum cum suo corpore cruciatur. Utraque ergo mors omnem hominem tenebat obstrictum, quia naturae transgressio unumquemque peccati propagine tenebat obnoxium. Venit autem Dei Filius immortalis et justus, et ut moreretur pro nobis, carnem mortalem suscepit ex nobis. In qua carne, quia nullum potuit habere peccatum, sine reatu pertulit peccati supplicium. Secundam itaque primae mortis partem, id est solius corporis mortem, Dei Filius pro nobis accepit, per quam a nobis et dominationem peccati, et poenam aeternae punitionis abstersit. Hoc ergo Christus nunc in mundo misericorditer operatur, his quos ad bene vivendum hortatur, donans fidem ut recte credant, tribuens charitatem ut bonis operibus libenter insistant. In novissimo vero die, ad hoc eos corpore resuscitare dignabitur, ut eis aeternam beatitudinem largiatur. Resuscitati ergo in anima per fidem, dilectissimi fratres, cum justitia vivamus, ut etiam corpore ad aeternam laetitiam resurgamus. Sentiemus primae resurrectionis munus quod nobis largitus est Christus, ut, cum, resurrexerimus corpore mereamus cum ipso Salvatore sine fine regnare, quando absorbebitur mors in victoriam et dabitur fidelibus vera vita veraque laetitia, cum idem omnipotens Deus pro meritis fideli, atque bonorum operum dabit suis fidelibus regna coelorum. Qui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivit et regnat Deus per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. Odilo Cluniacensis Abbas, Sermo V, De Resurrectione Domini Source: Migne PL 142. 1004b-1005a

Most certain is the confidence of Christians, Divine is the promise of the resurrection of the dead. For this the truth promised, and the Truth is not able to lie. True, therefore, is the promise of the truth concerning the resurrection of bodies; for because the truth does not know how to lie, completely necessary it is that He fulfill what He promised. Indeed this resurrection of the body, that we might know it most certainly will be in the future, the Lord Himself in his own body condescended to demonstrate. Christ rose, that the Christian not doubt his own resurrection. For what goes before in the head follows in the body. We should know, dear brothers, that there are two deaths and two resurrections. 1 For it is said that there is a first death and a second death. However the first death has two parts, one by which the sinful soul is by fault is cut off from its creator, and the other, when by the judgement of God it is shut out as a punishment from its body. The second death is the death of the body and the soul in eternal punishment. By the first death, then, the soul of the good and of the evil man is for a time separated from its body. By the second death, however, only the soul of the evil man along with his body is tormented in eternity. Both deaths, then, have been imposed on every man because by the transgression of nature all were seized by the propagation of sin. But then came the immortal and righteous Son of God, and that He might die for us He took up our mortal flesh. In which flesh, because He was not able to have sin, without guilt He underwent the punishment for sin. The second part of the first death, that is the death of the body alone, the Son of God accepted for us, by which he washed off from us the domination of sin and eternal punishment. Thus Christ in the world acted mercifully, exhorting men to the good life, giving faith that they might believe rightly, offering love that they freely take to good works. However on the last day He will give eternal blessedness to those who are worthy to be raised in the body. Therefore revived in soul by faith, dear brothers, in righteousness let us live, that even in the body we may rise to eternal joy. Let us know the gift of the first resurrection that Christ has given to us, that when we have risen, we merit in the body to rule without end with our Saviour, when death is swallowed up in victory, 2 when true life and joy is given to the faithful, when the same almighty God for the merits of the faithful, and good works, gives to them the kingdom of heaven. He who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, God forever and ever. Amen. Saint Odo of Cluny, Sermon 5, On The Resurrection of the Lord 1 Apoc 20.6 2 1 Cor 15.54