Caesarius, bishop of Arles, in his Sermon 217, On the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, celebrates the feast of the nativity of *John the Baptist (S00020). Written in Latin at Arles (southern Gaul), 503/542.
E07235
Literary - Sermons/Homilies
Caesarius of Arles
Caesarius of Arles, Sermon 217, In natale Sancti Iohannis Baptistae
Summary:
The sermon opens with the following statement about the uniqueness of the feast of John's nativity:
(1.) Hodie, dilectissimi fratres, Iohannis, qui domini praecucurrit adventum, natalem diem colimus, quod nulli sanctorum meminimus adtributum; hodie, inquam, eius natalem diem unica ac singulari celebritate veneramur.
'Today, dearest brothers, we celebrate the day of the birth of John, who was the forerunner of the coming of the Lord, something we remember being granted to none of the saints. Today, I say, we honour the day of his birth with a unique and singular celebration.'
(1-2.) Jesus' statement that among those born of women there was no one greater than John the Baptist (Luke 7:28). The humility of John's proclamations of his inferiority by comparison to Jesus.
(3.) John publicly condemned Herod for marrying the wife of someone still living, and thus lost his life but gained glory. We, however, are too concerned with gaining favour and afraid of causing offence to do such a thing; we opt for flattery and sell truth. But bishops and other preachers are not necessarily wrong if they often stop rebuking sinners because they know their rebukes may make hardened sinners worse. Sometimes they may bestow undeserved praise because this may prick the conscience of those who receive it.
(4.) John said that every valley shall be filled and every hill cast down (Luke 3:5), and that those who exalt themselves will be cast down and those who humble themselves exalted (Luke 14:11, 18:14, Matt. 23:12). This means that one day the humble will be raised up to heaven and the proud cast down to hell. Rich people who despise the poor will be punished; Lazarus will be lifted up to paradise and the rich man who refused to give him alms will be sent to hell unless he repents. Therefore we should always try to follow humility and justice.
Text: Morin 1953.
Summary and translation: David Lambert.
Service for the saint
Sermon/homily
FestivalsSaint’s feast
Non Liturgical ActivityTransmission, copying and reading saint-related texts
Source
After an early career as an ascetic monk, first at the island monastery of Lérins, Caesarius became bishop of Arles in 503, and held this post, through many political vicissitudes, until his death in 542 (for his Life see E06283).Caesarius acquired a considerable reputation as a preacher, delivering sermons in a straightforward style and language, with limited use of rhetorical effects; most of his sermons address issues of Christian morality and practice, and the handful that he delivered on the feast days of saints are often concerned with proper behaviour at their festivals. His sermons were popular, and are widely attested in the manuscript tradition.
Germain Morin, the most recent collector and editor of his sermons, attributed nearly 250, in whole or in part, to Caesarius; many, according to Morin, are reworkings of earlier sermons, with shorter or longer additions by Caesarius. Although Morin's attributions are not always certain, we have accepted them without question, since to look into this issue is beyond the scope of our project. Morin divided the sermons into five groups: sermons or admonitions on various topics (1-80), sermons on Scripture (81-186), seasonal sermons (187-213), sermons on the saints and feast days (214-232), and sermons to monks (233-238).
Discussion
The opening words of the sermon, taken virtually unchanged from its model, Eusebius Gallicanus, Sermon 30 (E06053), allude to the fact that the feast of the Nativity of John the Baptist was the only occasion on which the church celebrated the physical birth of a saint.This sermon closely follows the Eusebius Gallicanus sermon in its structure, and incorporates a number of passages from it with little or no alteration, but Caesarius also makes significant changes to the earlier text. He omits parts of it, including the greater part of its discussion of Jesus' statement that no one born of women was greater than John (Eusebius Gallicanus 30.2) and the entirety of its allegorical interpretation of the statements that John girded his loins and ate locusts and wild honey (Eusebius Gallicanus 30.4-5). He also makes additions, notably to the passage discussing John's condemnation of Herod's marriage (§ 3 = Eusebius Gallicanus 30.6): the Eusebius Gallicanus preacher observes that people of his own time do not act like John because they are too concerned with worldly benefits or too fearful of causing offence. Caesarius reproduces this but inserts a passage defending clerics who do not condemn the powerful, or who give them undeserved praise, because this may be a more effective way of reforming them than condemning them in public. The concluding passage, on John's words about exalting the humble and casting down the proud (§ 4 = Eusebius Gallicanus 30.6) is also altered by Caesarius, who adds a passage specifically condemning rich people who despise the poor and do not give alms.
Bibliography
Edition:Morin, G., Sancti Caesarii Arelatensis sermones (Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina 104; Turnhout: Brepols, 1953), 861-864.
Translation:
Mueller, M.M., Caesarius of Arles, Sermons, vol. 3 (Fathers of the Church 66; Washington, D.C.: Catholic University of America Press, 1973), 120-124.
Further reading:
Klingshirn, W.E., Caesarius of Arles: The Making of a Christian Community in Late Antique Gaul (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1994).
David Lambert
21/12/2023
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00020 | John the Baptist | Iohannes | Certain |
|---|
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