SERMON 1: UPON THE WORDS OF THE APOSTLE "IT IS GOOD FOR A MAN NOT TO TOUCH A WOMAN"
A for he alone turns us to himself: namely, his purple garments, the diadem, the chair, the brooch, the sandals, and the splendor of his face. When all these things have been weighed with care, turn your thoughts from them back to the things above, and consider that fearful day when Christ shall arrive. For you shall not see the team of mules then, nor the golden chariots, nor the dragons and asps, but rather that which strikes horror and casts such stupor that the very heavenly powers themselves shall stand amazed: for The powers of the heavens, he says, shall be shaken (Matt. 24:29). Then the whole heaven shall be opened, and the only-begotten Son of God shall descend, not surrounded by twenty or a hundred guards, but by thousands and ten thousands of thousands of angels and archangels. And all things shall be full of fear and trembling, with the earth riven asunder and all men from Adam until that day rising up from the earth and being snatched away, while He Himself shines with such glory that the light of the sun and the moon is altogether obscured, being surpassed by those very rays.
But, woe is me, what a stupor that is, when, waiting for such rewards, we still lust after the things present, and do not think of the craftiness of the devil, who through these small things deprives us of great goods, giving us clay so that he may snatch away heaven, showing us a shadow so that he may drive out the truth, and in dreams displaying a vain display (for such are present riches), so that when the light arrives, he may show us to be the poorest of all. Since we know these things, beloved, let us flee his guile, let us take care to avoid it, so that we be not condemned with him, so that the Judge may not say to us: Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). Is it therefore written in vain? By no means, you say; but only for the sake of a warning, so that we may repent. If, therefore, we do not repent, but remain wicked, will He not, tell me, inflict punishment? Will He then not reward the good? He will reward them, you say: for it is fitting for Him to bestow benefits even beyond merit. Therefore these things are true, and they shall entirely come to pass: but those things which pertain to punishments, shall they in no wise come to pass? O the great craftiness of the devil! O his inhuman humanity! For this thought is his own: that he may confer an empty grace and make us more slothful. Because he knows that the fear of punishment, like a bridle, ensures that we are pricked in our souls and are drawn back from vices, he does and attempts everything, so that he may uproot it entirely, by which at last we may be carried headlong without fear through precipices.
How then shall we overcome him? Whatever we bring forth from the Scriptures, those who contradict will say that it is written for the sake of a warning. B Truly, they might perhaps say this concerning future things, even though most impiously; but concerning the past, and concerning those things which have already occurred, it is not so. Let us therefore question them: Have you heard of the flood, and of that universal destruction? Was that also said for the sake of a warning? Did it not happen, and was it not brought to an outcome? Do not the mountains of Armenia bear witness to it, where the ark rested? Are not its relics preserved there even until now for our admonition? Many said similar things then, and for a hundred years while the ark was being built, and the wood was being prepared, and the just man was crying out, there was no one who believed: but because they did not believe the warning of his words, they underwent vengeance suddenly and in reality. And yet, will the One who inflicted such great punishment upon them not inflict a much greater one upon us? For these things are not less than the evils of that time. Then they were obsessed with illicit trysts: for the sons of God, he says, went in unto the daughters of men (Gen. 6:2): but now there is no kind of sin that is being left behind.
The curse of the Sodomites was not destroyed by the passage of time. But if it pleases, let us turn the discourse to other kinds of punishment, so that from what has passed, the things to come may be believed. Has anyone of you ever traveled in Palestine? I, indeed, think so. You, therefore, bear witness to the truth of what is said. For beyond Ascalon and Gaza, at the very latest end of the Jordan river, there was a certain region, great and most fertile, which could contend with the paradise of God: for Lot, he says, saw all the region around the Jordan, that it was irrigated as the paradise of God (Gen. 13:10). But now it is the most desolate of all deserts. For the trees stand, and they have fruit, but that fruit is a monument of divine wrath. Pomegranates stand there, offering to those who do not know them a hope of good things by their splendid appearance, but when taken in the hands and broken, they offer no fruit, but much dust and ash stored inside. Such is the earth, such are the stones, such is the air itself. All things are burned, all things are reduced to ash, except for the monuments of wrath, the signs of future punishment. Are these also warnings of words? Are these also merely the noise of discourse? If anyone does not believe in hell, let him consider Sodom, let him contemplate Gomorrah with himself, the punishment, namely, already taken and still remaining until now. This is what the divine Scripture, narrating of wisdom, speaks thus: She preserved the just, when the impious were perishing, delivering him as he fled from the fire descending on the Pentapolis (Wis. 10:6-7). This land even now stands as a smoking witness to wickedness, and in uncertain times it brings forth the fruits of trees. It is necessary, however, to tell the reason for which they suffered such things. One was their crime, grave indeed and execrable; yet one. They were carried away by an insane love for boys, and therefore they were consumed by a rain of fire: but now, six hundred times more and graver things are perpetrated, and no such fire is sent. Why? Because another fire is prepared, one that is never to be extinguished. For how— C