Introduction
Shared responsibility of Judas and the Jews in the death of Jesus («concurrebant isti, scilicet Judas vendendo et Iudei emendo»; f. v7v) and postillatio of Psalm 108, with the topos of the Jewish blindness as infidels and their (eternal) condemnation («non intrent in iusticia tua, deleantur de libro viventium»).
Divisio First part: beside emphatic passages that commemorate the Passion of Christ (e.g. «Impi vero iudei nedum illam divinam Christi personam vituperaverunt blasphemando, verumetiam ledendo, percutiendo, irridendo, accusando false et insuper occidi procurando. O peccatum grande. O peccatum enorme, delictum grave, percutere deum vivum, ligare, trahere, vituperare...»; f. v8v) but also the hypothesis of what would happen if Judas and the Jews did not betray Jesus: the preacher opts for the necessity of his death for the redemption (against those who state that Jesus’ readiness was enough) and imagine that Jesus would have asked Peter or even to the Virgin Mary to crucify him (in the latter case, as re-enactment of the sacrifice of Abraham and Isaac). [It’s a passage (f. x1r) – the same dramatic reasoning is used also on Good Friday (sermon 62)]. Continuing in the same emotional tone, the sermon quotes at length the impropreria of the Good Friday liturgy against the Jews’ ingratitude («O divinorum beneficiorum ingratissimi, vobis improperat omnis mundus, contra te clamat ecclesiasticus sacer chorus in persona Christi dicens: Popule meus quid feci tibi...», example of anti-Judaism rhetoric). Finally, the sermon discuss how Judas and the Jews sinned against the Holy Spirit, presenting the six type of sin against the Holy Spirit.
Second part: shorter than the first one; punishment of the Jews is triple: spiritual, judicial, corporal. The most interesting section is that about the «pena iudiciali», where the sermon quotes at length the legal norms (mainly from canon law) about the Jews. The part on the corporal pain first discusses Jesus’s prophecy of the destruction of Jerusalem (Matthew 23 and Luke 19, on the basis of Nicholas of Lyra) and then it presents its events in detail on the basis of Flavius Josephus, before reasserting the rightness of this Divine punishment divine punishment: «Iuste ergo iuste deus illos exterminari permisisti» (f. x3v).
... against the Holy Spirit , presenting the six type of
sin against the Holy Spirit
. Second part: shorter than the first one; punishment...
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T18/5 Thursday after Cinerum
Johannes Gritsch [Conrad Grütsch]
Introduction
Parallel between illness and sin: one has to remember the sins and present them now to the physician of the soul, without waiting the final judgment when they will be recalled in front of everyone. “Debemus ergo stimulo peccatorum in coscientia cum centurionem Christum invocare” (note the use of plural person). The servant ill at home is the soul wounded by sins in the body that is unable to move, i.e. to perform good works [1U].
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Three questiones
“Queritur utrum aliquid peccatum mortale sit ita grave quod per dei misericordiam non possit deleri” [1X]. All type of mortal sin can be forgiven by the divine mercy in this life. It follows the interpretation of the biblical passage on the sin against the Holy Spirit.
“Queritur secundo an sit aliquid peccatum ita leve quod absque dei misericordia possit removeri” [1Y]. Every sin is against God, so even the allegedly lesser sin cannot be forgiven without divine mercy, i.e. it needs the previous intervention of grace, which provokes contrition in conscience: “offensa non remittitur nisi per gratiam que causat benignitatem contritionis in coscientia”.
“[Queritur] tertio an unum peccatum mortale sine alio per dei gratiam possit removeri” [1Z]. No mortal sin can be forgiven if other equal sin remains, since the divine grace is incompatible with it. The confession of sins needs to be complete.
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Divisio (see above)
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First part
First “circa literam” (postil to the pericope) and then moraliter: the servant becomes the soul of a friend in Purgatory (“designari potest amicus defunctus cuiuslibet fidelis viventis [...] quod ut miser in purgatorio detinetur et torquetur”; 2A). In particularly, one must suffrage for the souls of his parents for three reasons:
Familiaritatis et caritatis, quia puer sive servus;
Debilitatis, quia iacet paraliticus;
Penalitatis, quia male torquatur.
1.1 Natural exempla: storks take care of their old parents, covering them with their fathers and feeding them; other birds protect those hit by the sun, with a ¬a fortiori reasoning, “quantomagis homines” need to provide for the relatives and friends in Purgatory with prayer and almsgiving [2B]. Note the use of the first-person plural, inclusive and parenetic. Four types of suffrages: the offer of priests, the prayer of saints, the alms of friends, the fasting of relatives. The power of the mass for the deaths is underlined, referring an exemplum by Gregory the Great: “volens igitur parentes et amicos celeriter a vinculis purgatori liberari faciat pro eis missas celebrari” [2C]. Shorter on almsgiving [2E].
1.2 Weakness of the souls in Purgatory, since they cannot gain merit and help themselves. Within the mystical body of the Church, one can benefit another.
1.3 Are the pain in purgatory superiors to those on earth? Yes.
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Second part
Centurion’s humility, and the goods that derive from it:
patris [celestis] furorem placare
hominem a dyabolo liberare
donum gratie abundanter procreare
2.1. Humility is effective against divine wrath, as a plant able to bow resists to the strongest winds. Fable of the oak and the reed by Aesop: “Propter quod fabulose dicitur [...] inter quercum et arundinem”. Oak is rigid and strong, it does not flex (no humility), is broken by the wind and asks the reed how it survived. In the same way happens in front of the divine wrath one has to humiliate itself opposing no resistance; exemplum of Socrates and the tyrant [2I].
2.2. The devil has no power on humble people: they are like small fishes that escape from his net [2K]. Reference to the example (figura) of Hezekiah discussed by the epistle of the day.
2.3. Divine grace is like water, which flow towards and fill in the lower places. Example is the humility of the Virgin Mary that became “full of grace”. In the same way, Abraham and the centurion.
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Third part
Firm faith is the radix, the foundation of every good (“firma fides vel credulitas est fundamentum omnins boni”), since it is said: Iustus ex fide vivit (Galatians 3:11). From faith:
Peccatorum remissionem
Demoniorum confusionem
Optatorum consecutionem
3.1. From faith the remission of sins. Different ways to believe: credere deo, credere deum, credere in deum (i.e. “credendo in eum tendere cum amore”; 2L).
3.2. Faith chases devils away. Reference to “Papias in exphositione super Iuvenalem” (Juvenalis): the shield given to Achilles descends from the sky, which symbolizes Christ who descends from heaven to preach the faith, identified with the shield [2N].
3.3. How faith allows to reach the desired goals is demonstrated by an exemplum about Alexander the Great: “narrat magister in hystoriis quod cum Alexander magnus venisset ad montem Caspios...”
... follows the interpretation of the biblical passage on the
sin against the Holy Spirit
. “Queritur secundo an sit aliquid peccatum ita leve...