Sermon on St Stephens Day, Sermon
A SERMON Preached before the KING, ON St Stephen's-day.
By SY. PATRICK, D. D. Chaplain in Ordinary to His MAJESTY.
Printed By His Majeſties Special Command.
LONDON, Printed by A. Maxwell, for R. Royſton, Bookſeller to His Moſt Sacred Majeſty, at the Angel in Amen-corner, 1676.
A SERMON Preached before the KING, On St. Stephen's day, 1675.
ACT. VII. 59.
And they ſtoned Stephen, calling upon God, and ſaying, Lord Jeſus receive my Spirit.
O How beautiful is a Succeſſion of Good things! (as St. Gregory Nyſſen cries out in a Sermon on this Feſtival.) How ſweet is it when one Pleaſure tranſmits us to another, and the end of the preſent is the beginning of a new Satisfaction! Behold here that which we all ſo much deſire; foreign, Feaſt after Feaſt, and Grace upon Grace. Yeſterday the Lord of all entertained us; to day we are invited by the noble Imitator of our Lord. The one feaſted us by putting on the Man for us; the other by putting off the Man for him: the one by coming down into the Dungeon of this Life (as he calls it) for our ſake; the other by going out of it for his. O happy life of Chriſtians! whom their Lord would have to rejoyce alway; and in every thing to give thanks; firſt for him, and then for thoſe Worthies that followed him.
For next to the moſt Bleſſed Redeemer of Mankind, the great Captain of our Salvation, thoſe bleſſed Saints, who were the great Champions of his holy Truth, challenge our ſolemn and devout Commemoration. The Chriſtian Religion, which comforts us with ſuch a bleſſed Hope, was propagated by their means, eſpecially by their Sufferings;Col. 1.24. which filled up (as St. Paul ſpeaks) that which was behind, or wanting, of the afflictions of Chriſt in their fleſh. There were no Sufferings wanting indeed to complete Chriſt's Satisfaction; but there did ſome remain to complete the Teſtimony, which he had begun to give by Blood to the Truth of God. Theſe the Apoſtles and other Great perſons filled up and finiſhed, in thoſe parts of the World where he had not himſelf in Perſon appeared. There they publiſhed the ſame Truth for which he died, and teſtified and confirmed it in the ſame manner that he had done, by laying down their Life for it: ſo that in them he ſtill lived, and preached, and wrought wonders, and was perſecuted, and deſpiſed Death, and ſubdued the Nations under his feet. He that overcame death once for us (ſays one of theſe Martyrs) overcomes it always in us. In us he fights, and in us he conquers. In theſe combats which we conſtantly endure, & coronat pariter & coronatur, he both crowns, and is likewiſe crowned. They are the words of S. Cyprian.Epiſt. VIII.
Now among all thoſe Triumphant Souls, who ſo honourably witneſſed to our Saviour, the moſt Eminent was this Glorious Martyr S. Stephen, whoſe Memory is this day celebrated; becauſe he was the firſt who ſubſcribed the Chriſtian Doctrine, and ſealed it with his Blood; becoming thereby Primicerius Martyrum, (as S. Aug. calls him) the Chief, the Prince and Captain of the Martyrs, as Chriſt is the Prince and Captain of their and our Salvation. Before he had ſeen any mere Man leading him the way, when there were no footſteps but thoſe of our Saviours, wherein to tread; he led the way himſelf in a Bloody path, and arrived to the Honour of being the Firſtborn of all thoſe whoſe Nativities, that is, Martyrdoms, the Church commemorates with her Praiſes and Thankſgivings. And this he did in the very firſt year (as it is moſt probable) after our Lord's Aſcenſion to the Throne of his Glory; and when he had but newly received Impoſition of Hands:Lib. 11. Hiſt. Eccleſ. c. 1. foreign, (as Euſebius ſpeaks) as if he had been Ordained only for this Miniſtry, to ſacrifice his Life for the Teſtimony of Jeſus.
It is an eaſie thing, as S. Gregory Nazianzen ſpeaks, foreign, to be a Chriſtian when there is no danger; and when there is, all ſufferings are the eaſier, when we have many Companions, or glorious Examples to encourage us. But it is the ſingular priviledg, and peculiar glory of this Saint, that foreign, &c. He was the firſt that opened the paſſage to the quire of Martyrs; Greg. Nyſſ. & Euſebius.the firſt that reſiſted unto blood, ſtriving againſt ſin; the firſt that was adorned (agreeable to his Name) with the crown and diadem of confeſſion.
It is not my intention, nor will the time permit me to relate the whole ſtory of this great mans ſufferings, together with the occaſion of them; how he overpowered his Adverſaries with the Wiſdom and Spirit wherewith he proved Jeſus to be the Son of God; how he aſtoniſhed them with the Wonders and Miracles he did among the people; how he ſtopt the mouths of thoſe that diſputed with him; and how Falſe Witneſſes were thereupon ſuborned to bring in an Accuſation againſt him: but ſhall only note the Invincible Reſolution, and the Pious Patience of this Bleſſed Martyr, under all that he endured: For they ſtoned Stephen, calling upon God, and ſaying, Lord Jeſus receive my ſpirit.
Stoning was the heavieſt Puniſhment that the Law of Moſes enacted againſt the moſt grievous Crimes. If a man had blaſphemed God, or made his Children paſs through the fire to Moloch, or committed villany with a Beaſt, or curſed his Parents (to name none of the reſt of thoſe XVIII ſorts of ſinners who were to be thus uſed), they could do no more, to ſhew their deteſtation of his wickedneſs, than to daſh him againſt the ſtones; and if that did not diſpatch him, to throw ſtones at him till he died. Now when a whole ſhowre of theſe came pouring down on this Good-mans head, when the blind Multitude ran upon him with ſuch a rage, as if he had been the vileſt creature on Gods earth, it did not move his ſpirit in the leaſt to any unchriſtian paſſion, nor extort from him one angry, one revengeful, one unſeemly word. He only commended himſelf to God, and prayed for his Perſecutors, and expreſſed his hope in Jeſus, that when they had beaten his Soul out of his Body, he would receive it unto himſelf.
And great reaſon he had for ſuch Hope, being already advanced by the Faith of Chriſt to ſuch an Heavenly and God-like nature, as to expreſs the greateſt love to thoſe who hated him ſo bitterly; and to expoſe himſelf to the greateſt danger for the ſake of Chriſtian Piety, which he deſired by theſe means to propagate even among its moſt deadly enemies. And if we rightly conſider it, we ſhall not eaſily find any thing that ſo much declares the Greatneſs, the Excellency (and as I may call it, the Divineneſs) of any mans ſpirit, or tends ſo effectually to promote the Chriſtian Faith, as truly pious Patience under the greateſt Sufferings upon its account.
I. Firſt, I ſay it is an argument of a great and noble Spirit; it declares more than any thing elſe, the force and vertue of any mans mind. As Complaints, continual Repinings, and violent Commotions, argue weakneſs and infirmity: ſo ſilent Meekneſs, chearful Submiſſion, and quiet compoſed Patience when we ſuffer wrongfully, ſpeak an Heart indued with ſtrength and fortitude. The World indeed thinks thoſe moſt powerful, who can do wrong and not be puniſhed for it; they that can irreſiſtably overpower and oppreſs others, have gained the Titles of Mighty, Illuſtrious, and Magnanimous: but in a right eſtimation of things, theſe Titles belong to ſuch Souls as can ſuffer all the evil that thoſe men do, with an humble conſtancy, and meek reſignation of themſelves to the Will of God. Theſe are the truly Great and Unconquerable Spirits; theſe ought moſt to be admired and renowned, for they remain Victorious even over their inſulting Enemies: they triumph over thoſe that lead them captive: Who find a ſtop put to the courſe of their Conqueſts, when they meet with ſuch Spirits as cannot be ſubdued; nay, are in pain, and inwardly grieved, to ſee men ſuffer chearfully, more than they can lay upon them. Jacuit inter poenas, poenis ſuis fortior, Epiſt. XXXIV.&c. ſays S. Cyprian of Celerinus. He lay tormented, ſtronger than the torments he indured; freer in priſon than they that ſhut him in; higher, when flat upon the ground, than they that trampled on him; more at liberty in chains, than they that bound him; ſublimer by far when condemned, than they that ſate on the Bench and judged him.
It was a ſublime Spirit indeed that poſſſed theſe mens Breaſts: for it raiſed them by theſe means not only above the common rank of mankind, and above all thoſe who had aſtoniſhed the World with their Greatneſs and Power; but far above thoſe gods whom the Nations worſhipped. Moſt of which had left no Records but of their Amours, their Pleaſures and Volupteous Enjoyments; and none of which had made themſelves remarkable for patient Innocence, and pious Paſſing by injuries, without any thought or deſire of revenge. This was a thing proper to the Chriſtian Hero's, as the Martyrs and Confeſſors may be juſtly called, who became hereby more than Men; and, as ſome of the Ancients ventured to ſay, more than Angels: foreign, by the Agonies and Conflicts they endured in their bodies, excelling thoſe Natures which have no bodies, and conſequently no ſuch pains and miſeries to contend withal, as thoſe Souls (incumbred with Fleſh) overcame. Which proclaimed ſo loudly the Power of the Ineffable Father in them (as Juſtin one of theſe Martyrs ſpeaks), that they won the hearts of ſober Pagans to the Service of that God, who inſpired his worſhippers with ſuch meek and humble, but reſolved and undaunted Spirits. Which is the ſecond thing:
II. That Chriſtianity was hereby marvellouſly promoted, and made a great progreſs in the World, though this ſeemed to be the ready way to extinguiſh it. Celſus himſelf, as great an enemy as he was to Chriſtianity, was put to his ſhifts, and forced to quit his former Principles, when he came to conſider the ſufferings of the Martyrs. Though he was an Epicuraean in his other Writings,Lib. 1. contra Celſ. as Origen tells us; yet when he ſet himſelf to diſpute againſt Chriſtian Religion, he could not but confeſs that it was a Generous and Worthy thing, to lay down their Lives in the Defence of it; and, that nothing was more baſe, than for a Man to flinch from a true Opinion for fear of danger. For he goes on to acknowledg, when he was in this good mood, that there is in Man foreign, ſomething better than his earthy part; which is, ſays he, of kin to God. And therefore all well-bred Souls deſire to be near to their Original, and would willingly know more of him. A worthy Confeſſion, which the power of Truth ſometimes extorts from its greateſt Enemies. And it was eminently verified in this holy Martyr, of whom we may ſpeak truly in his words, that being well bred (in the School of Chriſt) foreign, he deſired by all means to be with his Heavenly Kindred. Which he knew would not leſſen the Family of Chriſt here on earth, but rather increaſe it, and make it more numerous. For as skilful Wreſtlers, ſays S. Greg. Nyſſ. by yielding a little, and bowing their bodies under thoſe that contend with them, more eaſily overthrow them, and lay them flat on the ground: So did this grrat Stephen bruiſe the mighty Adverſary the Devil, by falling to the earth himſelf. Then it was that the Apoſtles were driven away from Jeruſalem, and began to run throughout the World. This was the occaſion of the Publiſhing of the Word every where, to the ruine of the Devil's Kingdom. And beſides this, his wonderful Piety, and compaſſionate Kindneſs even to his Perſecutors, we may rationally think touch'd ſome of their Hearts, and made them relent and turn to God. For at that very time when they were murdering him, he like a Spiritual Prieſt (as the fore-named Father ſpeaks) whoſe blood was ſprinkled againſt their will before God, interceded with great charity for them, ſaying, Lord, lay not this ſin to their charge.
When their brutiſh fury was a little over, and they reflected on what had paſſed with ſome coolneſs, they could not ſure but (ſome of them) be melted with ſuch ardent love, as well as aſtoniſhed at ſuch rare courage. For in ſucceeding times, it is certain, Chriſtian Patience had ſuch effect upon many hearts, that it gave a great ſtroke to their converſion unto Chriſt. Juſtin, whom I mentioned before, profeſſes, That the firſt thing that inclined him to the faith of Chriſt, was the devout conſtancy which he beheld in thoſe, who ſuffered for it. And Tertullian avows in his Apology to all the Pagan world, that Cicero, Seneca, Pyrrho, Callinicus, with all the reſt of their great Writers, who had exhorted men to indure pain and death, could never make ſo many Diſciples by their Eloquent words, as ſimple Chriſtians had done by their deeds. Illa ipſa obſtinatio quam ex probatis, Magiſtra eſt. That very obſtinate Reſolution, which you upbraid us withal, is a Miſtreſs that inſtructs the world. Who is there that beholds it, and is not moved to enquire into the cauſe? And who is there that takes the pains to enquire into the cauſe, and doth not become a Proſelyte to this Religion? and who is there that becomes a Proſelyte to it, and is not ready alſo to loſe his life for it, that he may obtain the favour of God with the expence of his blood?
And indeed it may be queſtioned whether the Apoſtles and their followers, did more amaze the world by the wonder of their Miracles, or by their ſtupendious patience under the moſt cruel Torments. This, I think, is certain, That the Divine manner of their ſuffering, was a thing leſs controverted, than their prodigious aſtoniſhing works. They, I mean, who diſputed the laſt, could not but admire and commend the firſt. They aſcribed their Miracles ſometime to the power of evil ſpirits: But their meek and Lamblike Patience, their tender-hearted Charity to thoſe that hated them, their forgiving their Enemies, their praying for their Perſecutors, their bleſſing thoſe that curſed them, and obliging thoſe that reviled and abuſed them; theſe things the Devil himſelf knew not how to calumniate, no more than he knew how to counterfeit.
His Agents and Factors had not the heart to ſuffer any thing, but loved their eaſe and their pleaſure; though they appeared with a very ſtrange power of marvels, and ſigns, and lying wonders. As Jannes and Jambres, 2 Tim. 3.8ſays St. Paul, withſtood Moſes, ſo did theſe alſo reſiſt the Truth, which was preached by the Apoſtles. That is, as thoſe Egyptian Magicians vied a while with Moſes in ſtrange works, and aſtoniſhing operations, whereby they ſought to impair his credit with the people: So did theſe new Juglers contend for ſome time with the Apoſtles, and hoped to gain as great admiration, by imitating their Miracles. But they were not more deſirous all this time to ſhew themſelves in mighty works, than they were craftily careful to ſhun all pain and trouble for their cauſe. For it is expreſly noted as a part of their Character by the ſame St. Paul, Philip. III. 18. that they were Enemies to the Croſs of Chriſt, in which the Apoſtles gloried and rejoyced, II Cor. XII. 9, 10.
And here it will not be unfit to note theſe two things:
I. Firſt, That what glory ſoever there was in Miracles (as they did at laſt ſo outſhine all Impoſters, that they quite eclipſed them, no leſs than Moſes did the Magicians), it never appeared more illuſtrious, than when the Apoſtles exerciſed perfect patience under the ſoreſt diſtreſſes. Then the Divine vertue in them broke out, and ſhone moſt brightly. When they were weak, then were they ſtrong, as St. Paul ſpeaks in the place forenamed. When they were cruſhed by the power of their Enemies, then they moſt amazed them, by diſcovering this mighty power of Chriſt in ſuch weak and earthen Veſſels. What could be more aſtoniſhing, than to ſee thoſe who were faſt manacled and fettered, unlooſe their own and others bands, ſhake the foundations of Priſons, open without any Key, or other Inſtrument, the Dores which were ſtrongly lock'd and barr'd upon them: Nay, unchain not only faſt-bound bodies, but alſo miſerably inthralled Souls? Was it not a great wonder to ſee Jaylors come and crouch to thoſe whom they had newly ſcourged; deſiring to be unbound and abſolved by their chained Captives, and yeilding themſelves voluntary Priſoners to thoſe, whom they had violently kept in durance? Yet this we read in the Story of the bleſſed St. Paul, Act. XVI, who then triumphed when he ſate in the Stocks; then appeared illuſtrious, when he was thruſt into a Dungeon (for that's the meaning of the inner Priſon there mentioned); then was highly honoured, inſomuch that they were ready to kiſs his Stripes, when he was treated as a man of no account.
Here the Apoſtles and their Succeſſors left all their oppoſers far behind them, who fled from dangers, and timerouſly avoided all pain and trouble, or endured them with a baſe and abject Spirit, which ſunk when it wanted the peoples breath to blow it up. They were far from taking pleaſure in infirmities, in reproaches, in neceſſities, in perſecutions, in diſtreſſes; having no hopes to win any glory by this means, as St. Paul did: who demonſtrated his Apoſtleſhip in all patience, as well as in ſigns, and wonders, and mighty deeds, II Cor. XII. 10.12.
But true Patience is ſuch an admirable property, that the Devil hath not the power to attain ſo much as a ſhadow of it. It is too beautiful for his deformed nature, and crooked diſpoſition: being a compoſition of all thoſe lovely virtues and graces of the Holy Spirit, to which he is a perfect ſtranger. He can ſometime transform himſelf into an Angel of Light; but when do we find him in the form of a truly reſigned and contented ſufferer? This is the unalienable Prerogative of Chriſt; and the great Champions of his Faith, who with ſuch a Charity as St. Paul deſcribes, I Cor. XIII. 4, 5, 6, 7. (every property of which is the Character of Patience, as Tertullian hath truly obſerved) endured all the contempt, hatred and cruelty of the world; accounting it a great honour and gain (no diſparagement or damage at all) to be vile, and to loſe all they had, for the ſake of their Dear Lord and Maſter Chriſt Jeſus.
There did, it is true, ariſe in after Ages ſuch ſturdy Spirits (for inſtance the Circumcellions, a part of the Donatiſts Faction) as would endure any thing with a barbarous reſolution, for the credit of thoſe Dotages wherewith they troubled the world: But they were wholly void of that ancient Spirit, which had ever been in Chriſtian ſufferers. They had nothing of that Modeſtiſſima Patientia (as the Author of the Book de Duplici Martyrio ſpeaks) that moſt Modeſt Patience wherewith Chriſtian Religion inſpired its followers. Illud placidum, illud manſuetum, &c. That ſweet, that ſoft, that gentle and tender, that humbly ſublime (as his Phraſe is) and ſublimely humble Spirit, was no where to be found but among the Martyrs; who never ſpake a worſe word, when they were condemned, than Deo gratias, thanks be to God, which was the common form wherein they received their Sentence from the mouth of their Judges: That's the ſecond thing I have to add,
II. That when ſome Impoſtors endeavoured to imitate the reſolution of the Apoſtles and Martyrs, in expoſing even their lives for the ſake of their vain imaginations, they were not able to imitate them at all in the Divine manner of their ſufferings. It is excellently ſaid by St. Gregory Nazianzen, in his Funeral Oration for his Father,Orat. XIX. That this bleſſed Martyr St. Stephen offered to God a greater thing than Death, viz. Long-ſuffering, meekneſs, and forgiving of his Enemies. He oppoſed, as the other Gregory ſpeaks, foreign, &c. to their anger a patient ſpirit, to their threats ſilence, to their hatred ardent love, to their malignity good will, to their falſe accuſations preaching of the Truth. If the falſe Apoſtles and other pretenders, could have appeared in this handſom dreſs, their deluſion had been very dangerous: But here they halted, and knew not how to follow the genuine Diſciples of Chriſt Jeſus.
Their hardineſs, as St. Auſtin ſpeaks of the ſurly Sect before-mentioned (many of which would kill themſelves, and force others to kill them), was to be admired, for it was very great: but their patience was not to be admired, for it was none at all. They ſuffered much evil, that they might do the more. They cared not what others did to them; but withal, they cared not what they did to others.
This was a remarkable difference, which is all the time will give me leave to mention, between the Chriſtian Martyrs and their Counterfeits: The one were meek, the other angry and furious. The one humble, the other haughty. The one ready to do good to thoſe by whom they ſuffer'd, the other deſirous of revenge. The one loved their Enemies, the other only contemn'd them. The one were forward to excuſe their folly, the other to aggravate and upbraid them with it. The one ſmiled upon their perſecutors and bleſſed them, the other look'd as if they would pour out Anathema's, and excommunicate them from all their charitable thoughts. Nothing was more peaceable and quiet than the one, while the other were tumultuous and violent. The Martyrs were ſubmiſſive and eaſily govern'd, but the other were boiſterous and violent. It was proper to the former to appear with a modeſt chearfulneſs, and a humble confidence; but the other ſeemed to be ſurly rather than well ſatisfied; bold, rather than well aſſured.
And therefore no wonder that theſe Holy Souls ſo mightily prevailed over all the powers of darkneſs, in what ſhape ſoever they appeared; and that they overcame, as St. John writes, the Dragon, that old Serpent the Devil, by the blood of the Lamb, and the word of their teſtimony, not loving their lives unto the death. And no wonder alſo, they had ſuch a lively hope in God, and could look up ſo ſtedfaſtly to Jeſus, as this bleſſed Martyr did, expecting that he would receive their Spirits, with the kindeſt affection unto himſelf: For they had attained to the Baptiſm wherewith he the King of glory was Baptized: A Baptiſm (as St. Cyprian calls Martyrdom) In gratia majus, De Exhort. Martyrii.in poteſtate ſublimius, &c. In grace greater, in power more ſublime, in honour more precious. A Baptiſm in which the Angels baptize, in which God and his Chriſt rejoyce. A baptiſm after which no man ſins; which conſummates the encreaſe of our faith; and parting us from the world, ſtraight-way unites us to God. In the baptiſm of water is received remiſſion of ſins; but in this of blood, the Crown of Virtues.
And a very noble Crown ſure it was, that ſuch faithful followers might hope to receive from the hands of ſo gracious a Maſter. For being ſo much advanced above the world while they were in it, and having done him ſuch eminent Service; they could not doubt of his favour in lifting them up to live with himſelf in exceeding great bliſs, when his Enemies would not permit them to live here any longer. If there were any thrones higher than other, in thoſe heavenly places, where St. Stephen ſaw our Saviour, they might very well expect to be promoted to them; to reign with him there in endleſs glory, and to be honoured here on earth with perpetual praiſes.
I. For from all this you cannot but ſee how ſit and juſt it is, that we ſhould make moſt ſolemn commemorations of thoſe, to whom the Chriſtian world ſtands ſo deeply obliged: and that the Church ſhould give a kind of firſt-fruits of them unto this glorious Martyr,Orat. XXII. whom St. Gregory Naz. calls foreign, the firſt fruits of thoſe who ſuffered after Chriſt. This the ancient Chriſtians did with ſo great affection, that their Enemies calumniated it, and ſaid: they worſhipped them. No, ſays St. Cyril in his VI Book againſt Julian (where he juſtifies this practice excellently; and therefore give me leave to contract a long diſcourſe he hath about it), There is no foreign. Man-worſhip among Chriſtians. For we have not made a God of a Man, nor adore one that is not by nature God, when we worſhip Chriſt himſelf. But acknowledging that man, who appeared to be the Word of God, by whom all things were made, we go to him as God; for ſo he is. As for the Martyrs, we neither call them Gods, nor give them any Divine Worſhip: Yet we cannot but honour them; or rather we crown them foreign, with the higheſt honours: As thoſe who have generouſly contended for the truth, and reſolutely preſerved the purity of our Faith, and propounded themſelves as certain Images of that ſo much admired fortitude and gallantry to all the world. There can be no abſurdity in it; but rather it is neceſſary, that they who excelled in ſuch famous deeds, ſhould be crowned with endleſs honour. Did not common reaſon teach the ancient Greeks as much? For thoſe that hazarded their lives at Marathon for the ſafety of their Country, and thoſe that ſtoutly oppoſed the Army of Xerxes in aftertimes, the Athenians were wont, meeting together every year at their Graves, to crown with their Encomiums and high commendations, as men that dyed a glorious death. And your Plato ſays, That they who live excellently and dye bravely, ſhould be honoured as more than men, and their Tombs become venerable. It is no wonder then that we account the Holy Martyrs worthy foreign of all reſpect and reverence, and that we honour their very Monuments; making a perpetual never-fading commemoration of them, ſerve in ſtead of a ſmall recompence of ſuch illuſtrious vertue. Thus He.
And it is very well known how, in thoſe days, their names were ſolemnly rehearſed in the Publick Liturgies of the Church. Which cuſtom, though it be not ſtill continued, yet their memory is ever precious; we honour them with due praiſe; we make mention of their noble deeds with hearty thankſgivings to God for them: Laudamus, glorificamus, admiramur, &c. (to ſpeak in the words of St. Auſtin, or whoever he was that wrote the Book de excidio urbis), we praiſe, we glorifie, we admire the holy Martyrs; we celebrate their days with a pious ſolemnity; we venerate their worth, and as far as we can we imitate them, and endeavour to do as they did. For by their zealous labours and ſufferings, Infidels were converted, lapſed Chriſtians recovered, the doubtful confirmed, the luke-warm inflamed, the fervour of the pious doubled; and all Poſterity excited both to adore the power of the Divine Grace in them, and alſo to hope in God for the like Grace, to help in time of need. Thoſe are the two reaſons St. Baſil gives why thoſe that loved the Martyrs were ſo unwearied in their commemoration of them,In XL. Martyres. Becauſe the honour which is given to our pious fellow-ſervants, is a demonſtration of our affection to our common Maſter: And he that entertains brave men with due reſpect, will not fail to imitate them on the like occaſion.
II. And that I muſt needs ſay, is the greateſt honour we can do them, to propound them always to our ſelves as our patterns, and to follow them in their conſtant love to God, to Religion, and to all Mankind, whatſoever we ſuffer for it. True Chriſtian Piety and Vertue, if we will allow the Martyrs to have had any judgment, is the moſt valuable thing in the whole world; for they preferred it before their lives. And therefore all Infidelity is a direct reproach to thoſe bleſſed Souls; repreſenting them as a company of raſh Zealots, that threw away their lives for a fancy: And all vice and wickedneſs is a conſtant manifeſt ſcorn and contempt of their Sanctity, as the fooliſh ſtrictneſs of thoſe who underſtood not their liberty. If we will honour them, we muſt heartily believe and obey that Goſpel which they preached and aſſerted with their blood. We muſt endeavour, as one under the name of St. Cyprian ſpeaks, Ʋt tota etiam vita Martyrium, hoc eſt teſtimonium Deo reddat; that our whole life may be a Martyrdom; that is, a teſtimony unto God. Let it teſtifie that we own him, that we remember him, that we fear and reverence him, and that we love him, and eſteem his love and favour more than life it ſelf. Let it witneſs how much we love his will better than our own; and what a Grace we think it, that he hath taught us to deny ungodlineſs and wordly luſts, and to live ſoberly, righteouſly, and godly in the world. Thoſe luſts (called worldly, becauſe they are ſo common) are the Perſecutors, which now we are to conflict withal, as the Martyrs did with other Enemies. Here is now the trial of our Vertue; here is the proof our Fidelity; theſe put us to the teſt, whether we will ſtick to our Lord and Maſter, or yeild to their deſires. Si deeſt Tyrannus, ſi tortor, ſi ſpoliator, &c. as St. Auſtin: ſpeaks; though there be no Tyrant (bleſſed be God in theſe peaceable days), no Tormentor, no Plunderer; yet evil deſires are never wanting, to afford daily occaſion of Martyrdom. For it is a kind of death (ſine cruore Martyrium, in the Phraſe of Sulpitius, a Martyrdom without blood: oecultum Martyrium, in the language of St. Ambroſe, a ſecret unſeen Martyrdom) to ſuppreſs all deſires of ſinful pleaſures; to bear with the unkind cenſures of the envious, and the reproaches of the malicious; to forbear revenge, when a fair opportunity is offered; to ſtifle all motions of anger, and wrath, and diſcontent, and hatred, and pride, vainglory and ambition, when there are conſtant provocations, and ſtrong temptations to them. Theſe are the evil affections we muſt manfully reſiſt and crucifie: and when they are dead, it will not be hard for us, by the Grace of God, to dye too, if need be, for our Saviour's ſake.
III. And now eſpecially (which is the laſt thing) let every one of our lives give a teſtimony to God, and do honour to his Religion; when we ſolemnly commemore (as we do at this time of the year) both the wonderful great Love of our Lord the Eternal Son of God, in becoming a man for us, and the love alſo which the Martyrs, thoſe rational whole burnt-offerings (as Greg. Naz. calls them),Oraet. XVIII. in laud. Cypr. thoſe perfect Sacrifices, thoſe acceptable Oblations, expreſſed to him, in dying for his Service. Let us now carefully avoid all things contrary to our profeſſion; all riot and luxury, drunkenneſs and revelling, chambering and wantonneſs, fooliſh (that is filthy, laſcivious) talking and jeſting: For theſe things, ſaith the Apoſtle, are not convenient (do not agree with Chriſtianity): but rather giving of thanks for God's ineſtimable benefits beſtowed on us. V. Eph. 4. Seccine exprimitur publicum gaudium per publicum dedecus, &c. (as Tertullian ſpeaks of the Pagan Feſtivities), Is this the way to expreſs a publick joy by a publick ſhame? Do thoſe things become our ſolemn days, which are unfit to be done at any time? Valde abſurdum eſt (to uſe alſo the words of St. Hierom) velle nimia ſaturitate honorare Martyrem, quem ſcimus Deo placuiſſe jejuniis. It is extreamly abſurd to think to honour the Martyr by exceſs, who we know pleaſed God by faſtings: To celebrate his memory, meerly with Plays, and Sports and Merriment, who we know was acceptable to our Lord, by devout Prayers, Praiſes and Thankſgivings: To keep his day after the Heatheniſh faſhion, whoſe Martyrdom was the deſtruction of error (as the forenamed Greek Father ſpeaks), the perſecution of Vice, the drowning of Sin, and the cleanſing of the world.
Not that it is unfit now to Feaſt and recreate our ſelves: for it is never more ſeaſonable, nor more ſafe, to feaſt and refreſh our bodies, than when at ſuch ſolemnities we have feaſted our Souls. We can never be better diſpoſed, nor better underſtand how to uſe God's bleſſings thankfully, ſoberly, and charitably, than when he is freſh in our thoughts, and we have been commemorating his marvellous bounty to us all. And therefore after the Pſalms and Hymns wherewith they;Ad Sanct. Coelum. C. 12. anciently praiſed God for the Martyrs; there followed in many places, foreign (as the great Conſtantine ſpeaks) moſt ſober feaſts of Chriſtian good-fellowſhip; wherein the poor were fed; and all enmities buried. Nor did they think it an unfit expreſſion of their joy, to dance at the Sepulchres of the Martyrs,Hom. in Barlaam. foreign, with Godly and Religious dances; as both St. Baſil and his great Friend ſo often mentioned,Carm. 63. expreſly tell us. And is it not poſſible for us to ſeparate ſuch innocent things from that intemperance and wantonneſs, which at laſt robbed the Martyrs of this part of their honour, and cauſed theſe cuſtoms to be aboliſhed? Let us but ſo devoutly attend upon the Divine Service on ſuch days, as to carry away a ſenſe of God in our mind; and the buſineſs is done. That will ſufficiently ſecure us, and preſerve us from danger. Whatſoever we do, we ſhall expreſs the Character which Clemens Alexandrinus gives of his wiſe Chriſtian, who, he ſays,Strom. L. VII. is foreign, at the ſame time both grave and merry in all things. Grave, becauſe he remembers God: and merry, becauſe of the many good things which he enjoys by the favour of God.
For all which his Holy Name be praiſed, as well as for his Spiritual bleſſings in Chriſt Jeſus; To whom with the Father and the Holy-Ghoſt, be all honour, thankſgiving, love and faithful ſervice both now and evermore.
Amen.
THE END.
End of the text · Simon Patrick, Sermon on St Stephens Day (1676)