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How
did Saint Anthony write?
 The
following is a brief anthology from the Sermones, which
offers the chance to "hear" some expressions of
his thought and his spirituality. Saint Anthony writes
with inspiration coming directly from the word of God, which
he cites from memory. Also common are references to the
great Fathers of the Church. Saint Anthony's Sermones are
a biblical and knowledgeable itinerary offered to whomever
wishes to approach God and change life, guided by his Word.
These
are brief, but intense passages, taken from the over 1260
pages of the volume of sermons in which they are included.
This volume was translated and edited by padre Giordano
Tollardo and edited by Edizioni Messaggero di sant'Antonio.
The
Passion of Christ Christ's
passion attracts many to him, more than the rest of his life.
Thus is his saying fulfilled (John 13, 32): When I
shall be lifted up from the earth, I shall attract everyone
to me!
For
four reasons, as I see it, the Lord showed the apostles his
hands, his rib and his feet.
-
First,
to make it clear that he had really been resurrected,
and to eliminate any doubt.
-
Second,
so that the dove, that is, the Church or the faithful
soul, could make a nest in his wounds, where it could
hide itself from the presence of the sparrow-hawk that
threatens to kidnap it.
-
Third,
to imprint in our hearts, as a sign, the stigmata
of his passion.
-
Fourth,
to beg us to share his suffering, so that we could
avoid crucifying him again with the nails of our sins.
Therefore,
he shows us his hands and his rib, saying, "Look at how
the hands that shaped you have been pierced with nails! Here
is the rib from which you faithful, my Church, were generated,
like Eve from the chest of Adam. It has been opened by
a lance, to open the entrance to paradise for you, the
entrance that was closed by the cherub with the flaming sword."
In fact, the virtue of the blood that flowed from the rib
of Christ distanced the angel and softened the sword, while
the water flowing out from the rib put out the flame.
The
Holy Spirit
Fire
is, by nature, bodiless and invisible. But, when near some
body it assumes a different colour, depending on the material
that burns. In the same way, the Holy Spirit can not be
seen, except by means of the creatures in which he operates.
And
all were full of Holy Spirit (Acts 2, 4). They were
full of Holy Spirit, which alone can fill the soul. In
fact, the whole world can not fill it.
And
they began to speak various languages, depending on how the
Holy Spirit let them express themselves (Acts., 2, 4). He
who overflows with Holy Spirit speaks various languages.
The various languages are the different testimonials of
Christ, which are:
- humility
- poverty
- patience
and
- obedience
We
speak these languages when we show others these virtues in
ourselves. Speaking is something alive when our deeds speak!
Words end, deeds speak! We are full of words, but empty
of deeds and, for this reason we incur the malediction of
the Lord, he who damned the fig tree in which he found only
leaves, and no fruit.
Gregory
writes, "The law of the preacher is to realise in
facts that which he proclaims in words. In vain he brags
of knowing the law of God, he who destroys his own teachings
with his actions." The apostles, on the other hand, spoke
in the way that the Holy Spirit allowed them to express themselves.
Blessed be he who speaks as inspired by the Holy Spirit, and
not by his own soul!"
Saint
Anthony's spiritual testament
Life
or death proceed from three things:
- the
heart,
-
the tongue and
- the
hand.
The
heart symbolises the consensus of good or evil;
the tongue, our expression in words; the hand,
our actions. If we have renounced the Lord in these
three ways, fine: treating evil with its contrary, let us
praise Him in these same ways.
He
who does not have faith, or agrees to moral sin, renounces
with his heart. Stephen says in Acts 7, 35, "They
had renounced Moses, saying, "Who made you prince and
judge above us?" Moses, which means "aquatic,"
represents faith, which is nurtured with the water of baptism,
or the grace of repentance. Faith is the first virtue with
which the sinner judges himself and condemns the evil done.
He who has no faith or who agrees to mortal sin renounces
Moses and wants neither prince nor judge above him.
He
who, through lies, destroys truth or denigrates his neighbour,
renounces Christ with his tongue. Peter says (Acts 3,
13-14), "In the presence of Pilate you refused the Just
and asked for the release of a murderer." Pilate, which
means "mouth of the hammerer," is the lie and denigration.
He who hammers and ruins the truth with lies and his neighbour's
charity with denigration renounces Christ.
In
addition, he who acts perversely in his deeds renounces
Christ with his hand. He refuses God with his actions,
says the Apostle (Tt 1, 16). Therefore, those who renounce
Christ in the darkness of sin, repent at the preaching of
the word of God, so that in the light of repentance they can
confess together with Peter three times: I love, I love,
I love!
I
love with my heart,
by
means of faith and devotion;
I
love with my tongue,
affirming
truth and edifying my neighbour;
I
love with my hand,
by
means of pure actions.
Eulogy
to silence and solitude
God
gives peace to the soul in the solitude of the mind and the
body. This is spoken of in Lamentations 3, 28-29: he
will sit alone and will be quiet, in order to rise above himself;
he will put his mouth in the dust.
In
this sentence, five things are mentioned that are necessary
for any just man:
- peace
of the soul, in the words: he will sit;
- separation
from earthly things, in the word: alone;
- silence
of the mouth, in the addition of: and will be quiet;
- elevation
in contemplation: to rise above himself;
-
memory
of one's own fragility: he will put his mouth in
the dust, to speak of this, mindful of that which is written:
You are dust and will return to dust (Gen. 3, 19).
The
barque of repentance and conversion
At
least four things are needed to pilot a barque: mast,
sail, oars and anchor.
- The
mast symbolises the heart's contrition;
-
the
sail, the mouth's confession; in fact, confession
must be tied to contrition as the sail is tied to the
mast;
- the
oars, the deeds of reparation: fasting, prayer,
alms;
- the
anchor, the memory of death.
As
an anchor holds a ship back from sinking on the rocks, in
the same way the memory of death holds back our soul, so
it will not be founder in sin. Siracide, 7, 40 speaks
of this: Remember your end, and you will never fall into sin.
He who wishes to pass from the shore of this mortal life to
the shore of immortality, arriving at the heavenly city of
Jerusalem, must embark on the boat of repentance, according
to the exhortation of the Apostle (El. 4, 23-24).
Renew
yourselves in the spirit of your minds,
in
the contrition in your heart,
and
clothe yourselves as a new man
in
the confession of the mouth,
created
according to God in justice and sanctity of truth
in
repairing evil with good deeds.
The
scent of eternal communion
Jesus
says: In my Father's house, there are many homes (John
14,2). Take the pomegranate, whose seeds are all covered
by the same peel, and yet each grain has its own special cell.
In the same way, in glorious eternity there will be a single
home, but each of you will have a private cell, since
even in eternity there are different dignities, one is the
splendour of the sun, another that of the moon and yet another
that of the stars.
In
any case, even in different splendours, the joy shall be equal,
since I shall benefit from your well-being as much as from
my own, and you from mine as much as from your own. An
example: we are together and I hold a rose in my hand.
The
rose is mine, and yet you take as much pleasure in its beauty
and its fragrance as I do. In the same way, in eternal life,
my glory shall be your bliss and exultance; and vice-versa.
Bodies
will be so luminous in that radiance that I will be able
to see myself in your face as in a mirror, and you will be
able to see yourself in my face, and from that will spring
an ineffable love. Augustine says, "What love will
there be when each person sees his own face in the face of
his brothers, as down here we each see the face of the other?".
Everything will be brilliant in that splendour, nothing will
be hidden from the others, nothing will be obscure.
In
Apocalypse 21, 18 we read: The city of Jerusalem will
be pure gold, similar to pure crystal. Jerusalem is called
pure gold for the splendour of the glorified bodies which
will be similar to pure crystal because, as anything that
is contained in pure crystal is clearly visible from the outside,
in the same way in that vision of peace all the secrets
of the heart will be mutually clear, and therefore, will burn
with inextinguishable, ineffable and reciprocal love.
At
this time, unfortunately, we do not really love each other
as we should, because we hide in the darkness, we distance
each other from the secrets of our hearts, and in this
way love cools and iniquity abounds.
If
it were not so, I would have told you (John 14, 2), that
is, if things were different I would not have kept it from
you, I would have made it honestly clear that up there, there
are many homes. But know that I am going to prepare a place
for you. A father prepares a place for his son, even a bird
readies a nest for its chicks. In this way, Christ has
prepared a place for us: the tranquillity of eternal life;
and even before that, he has shown us the road to take to
reach it. May he be blessed in the centuries. Amen.
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