§1Etsi aput plurimos uestrum, fratres dilectissimi, mens solida est et fides firma et anima deuota quae ad praesentis mortalitatis copiam non mouetur, sed tamquam petra fortis et stabilis turbidos impetus mundi et uiolentos saeculi fluctus frangit potius ipsa nec frangitur, et temptationibus non uincitur sed probatur, tamen quia animaduerto in plebe quosdam uel inbecillitate animi uel fidei paruitate uel dulcedine saecularis uitae uel sexus mollitie uel, quod magis est, ueritatis errore minus stare fortiter nec pectoris sui diuinum adque inuictum robur exerere, dissimulanda res non fuit nec tacenda, quominus quantum nostra mediocritas sufficit uigore pleno et sermone de dominica lectione concepto delicatae mentis ignauia conprimatur et qui homo Dei et Christi esse iam coepit Deo et Christo dignus habeatur.
Although among most of you, beloved brethren, there is a steadfast mind, a firm faith, and a devoted soul that is not moved by the abundance of the present mortality, but like a strong and stable rock rather shatters the turbulent onslaughts of the world and the violent waves of the age, itself remaining unbroken, and is not conquered but tested by temptations, yet because I perceive that among the common people some—either through weakness of mind, or smallness of faith, or the sweetness of secular life, or the softness of their sex, or, what is more significant, through the error of truth—stand less firmly and do not exert the divine and unconquerable strength of their breast, the matter was not to be dissembled or kept silent, lest, as far as our insignificance suffices, with full vigor and speech conceived from the Lord's reading, the sluggishness of a delicate mind should be compressed, and he who has already begun to be a man of God and Christ should be deemed worthy of God and Christ.
§2Agnoscere enim se debet, fratres dilectissimi, qui Deo militat, qui positus in caelestibus castris diuina iam sperat, ut ad procellas et turbines mundi trepidatio nulla sit nobis, nulla turbatio, quando haec uentura praedixerit Dominus prouidae uocis hortatu instruens et docens et praeparans adque corroborans ecclesiae suae populum ad omnem tolerantiam futurorum: bella et fames et terrae motus et pestilentias per loca singula exurgere praenuntiauit et cecinit, et ne inopinatus nos et nouus rerum infestantium metus quateret, magis ac magis in nouissimis temporibus aduersa crebrescere ante praemonuit.
For he who fights for God, beloved brethren, who, stationed in the heavenly camp, already hopes for divine things, ought to acknowledge himself, so that we may have no fear, no disturbance at the storms and tempests of the world, since the Lord foretold that these things would come, instructing, teaching, preparing, and strengthening the people of His church with the encouragement of a provident voice for all endurance of things to come. He foretold and sang that wars, famines, earthquakes, and pestilences would arise in various places, and lest an unexpected and new fear of hostile events should shake us, He forewarned that adversities would multiply more and more in the last times.
fiunt ecce quae dicta sunt, et quando fiunt quae ante praedicta sunt sequentur et quaecumque promissa sunt Domino ipso pollicente et dicente: cum autem uideritis haec omnia fieri, scitote quoniam in proximo est regnum Dei. regnum Dei, fratres dilectissimi, esse coepit in proximo: praemium uitae et gaudium salutis aeternae et perpetua laetitia et possessio paradisi nuper amissa mundo transeunte iam ueniunt: iam terrenis caelestia et magna paruis et caducis aeterna succedunt.
Behold, the things that were spoken are taking place, and since the things that were foretold are happening, whatever has been promised will also follow, as the Lord Himself promises and says: 'But when you see all these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of God is at hand.' The kingdom of God, beloved brethren, has begun to be at hand; the reward of life, the joy of eternal salvation, perpetual gladness, and the possession of paradise lately lost are already coming as the world passes away; already heavenly things succeed earthly, great things succeed small, and eternal things succeed transitory.
quis hic anxietatis et sollicitudinis locus est? quis inter haec trepidus et maestus.
What room is there here for anxiety and worry?
est nisi cui spes et fides deest? eius est enim mortem timere qui ad Christum nolit ire.
Who among these is fearful and sorrowful, except he who lacks hope and faith? For it belongs to him to fear death who does not wish to go to Christ.
eius est ad Christum nolle ire qui se non credat cum Christo incipere regnare.
It belongs to him to be unwilling to go to Christ who does not believe that he begins to reign with Christ.
§3Scriptum est: iustum fide uiuere. si iustus es et fide uiuis, si uere [in Deum] credis, cur non cum Christo futurus et de Domini pollicitatione securus, quod ad Christum uoceris amplecteris et quod diabolo careas gratularis? Simeon denique ille iustus qui uere iustus fuit, qui fide plena Dei praecepta seruauit, cum ei diuinitus responsum fuisset quod non ante moreretur quam Christum uidisset et Christus infans in templum cum matre uenisset, agnouit in spiritu natum esse iam Christum, de quo sibi fuerat ante praedictum: quo uiso sciuit se cito esse moriturum.
It is written: 'The just lives by faith.' If you are just and live by faith, if you truly believe in God, why—since you are to be with Christ and are secure in the Lord's promise—do you not embrace your being called to Christ and rejoice that you are free from the devil? Simeon, finally, that just man who was truly just, who with full faith observed the commandments of God, when he had been answered divinely that he should not die before he had seen Christ, and when the infant Christ had come into the temple with His mother, recognized in spirit that Christ was already born, of whom it had been foretold to him before; upon seeing Him, he knew he was soon to die.
laetus itaque de morte iam proxima et de uicina arcessitione securus accepit in manus puerum et benedicens Deum exclamauit et dixit: nunc diI:ųittis seruum tuum, Domine, secundum uerbum tuum in pace, quoniam uiderunt oculi mei salutarem tuum, probans scilicet adque contestans tunc esse semis Dei pacem, tunc liberam, tunc tranquillam quietem, quando de istis mundi turbinibus extracti sedis et securitatis aeternae portum petiuimus, quando expuncta hac morte ad immortalitatem uenimus.
Joyful, therefore, at his already approaching death and secure of his near summons, he took the child into his hands, and blessing God, cried out and said: 'Now, Lord, you dismiss your servant in peace, according to your word, because my eyes have seen your salvation,' proving, of course, and testifying that then is peace for the servants of God, then free, then tranquil quiet, when, drawn out from these tempests of the world, we have sought the harbor of our eternal home and security, when, this death being wiped out, we come to immortality.
illa est enim nostra pax, illa fida tranquillitas, illa stabilis et firma et perpetua securitas.
For that is our peace, that is our faithful tranquility, that is our stable, firm, and perpetual security.