Pope Leo the Great on Lent I (Sermon 39)

Each week of Lent, I will be posting a sermon of Pope St. Leo the Great on Lent, with my meager commentary on the right in smaller blue.

This is Sermon 39 (and here it is in Latin).

I. The benefits of abstinence shown by the example of the Hebrews
In former days, when the people of the Hebrews and all the tribes of Israel were oppressed for their scandalous sins by the grievous tyranny of the Philistines, in order that they might be able to overcome their enemies, as the sacred story declares, they restored their powers of mind and body by the injunction of a fast.	He is referring to 1 Samuel 4, where the Philistines defeated the Israelites, and then 1 Samuel 7:6, where the Israelites fasted and sacrificed, and then defeated the Philistines.
For they understood that they had deserved that hard and wretched subjection for their neglect of God's commands, and evil ways, and that it was in vain for them to strive with arms unless they had first withstood their sin. Therefore abstaining from food and drink, they applied the discipline of strict correction to themselves, and in order to conquer their foes, first conquered the allurements of the palate in themselves. And thus it came about that their fierce enemies and cruel taskmasters yielded to them when fasting, whom they had held in subjection when full.	It is foolishness to seek a strictly natural solution to a supernatural problem. As the Psalmist says, unless the Lord builds the house, in vain do they labor who build it; so long as the Israelites battled against God because of their sinful conduct, they could not triumph over the Philistines. We must obtain victory in our interior battles if we wish to attain to victory in our exterior battles.
And so we too, dearly beloved, who are set in the midst of many oppositions and conflicts, may be cured by a little carefulness, if only we will use the same means. For our case is almost the same as theirs, seeing that, as they were attacked by foes in the flesh so are we chiefly by spiritual enemies. And if we can conquer them by God's grace enabling us to correct our ways, the strength of our bodily enemies also will give way before us, and by our self-amendment we shall weaken those who were rendered formidable to us, not by their own merits but by our shortcomings.	The physical foes of the Israelites correspond to the spiritual foes of Christians. We are made susceptible to the attacks of the devil and his angels "not by their own merits but by our shortcomings," and so we must implore God for His grace so that we can repent and reform our lives. Pope Leo emphasizes the primary role of God's grace in our self-correction.
II. Use Lent to vanquish the enemy, and be thus preparing for Eastertide
Accordingly, dearly-beloved, that we may be able to overcome all our enemies, let us seek Divine aid by the observance of the heavenly bidding, knowing that we cannot otherwise prevail against our adversaries, unless we prevail against our own selves. For we have many encounters with our own selves: the flesh desires one thing against the spirit, and the spirit another thing against the flesh. And in this disagreement, if the desires of the body be stronger, the mind will disgracefully lose its proper dignity, and it will be most disastrous for that to serve which ought to have ruled.	The struggle of the flesh against the spirit is described by St. Paul in Galatians 5:17 and Romans 6-7.
But if the mind, being subject to its Ruler, and delighting in gifts from above, shall have trampled under foot the allurements of earthly pleasure, and shall not have allowed sin to reign in its mortal body , reason will maintain a well-ordered supremacy, and its strongholds no strategy of spiritual wickednesses will cast down: because man has then only true peace and true freedom when the flesh is ruled by the judgment of the mind, and the mind is directed by the will of God.	In our fallen state, our intellect is darkened and our will is weakened, so our flesh has power over them, such that we do even those things we know we should not. The right ordering of things is that our flesh should be subjected to our minds, and our minds should be subjected to the will of God, so that what He wills, we will, and we do.
And although this state of preparedness, dearly-beloved, should always be maintained that our ever-watchful foes may be overcome by unceasing diligence, yet now it must be the more anxiously sought for and the more zealously cultivated when the designs of our subtle foes themselves are conducted with keener craft than ever. For knowing that the most hallowed days of Lent are now at hand, in the keeping of which all past slothfulnesses are chastised, all negligences alerted for, they direct all the force of their spite on this one thing, that they who intend to celebrate the Lord's holy Passover may be found unclean in some matter, and that cause of offense may arise where propitiation ought to have been obtained.	We are always to be on guard, but particularly so during the season of Lent, because our spiritual enemies seek to make us unworthy to partake in the Eucharist (the Passover of our Lord), so that we receive not mercy but condemnation. (cf. 1 Cor 11:27ff) Our participation in the Paschal feast of redemption, won for us at the price of our Lord's life, must not be an occasion for offending the Lord.
III. Fights are necessary to prove our Faith
As we approach then, dearly-beloved, the beginning of Lent, which is a time for the more careful serving of the Lord, because we are, as it were, entering on a kind of contest in good works, let us prepare our souls for fighting with temptations, and understand that the more zealous we are for our salvation, the more determined must be the assaults of our opponents.	Again, we should serve the Lord with our whole being at all times, but the season of Lent is a lens with which we can better focus our intentions and efforts. Because of the heightened penitence and motivation to charity, we can be sure we will be tempted even more intently.
But stronger is He that is in us than He that is against us (1 John 4:4), and through Him are we powerful in whose strength we rely: because it was for this that the Lord allowed Himself to be tempted by the tempter, that we might be taught by His example as well as fortified by His aid.	Just as the Lord submitted to being baptized by John "to fulfill all righteousness" and set Himself as a model for us, so too He allowed Himself to be tempted so that He could be our supreme example of resistance in the face of temptation. Thus, through the Son, God is able to teach us by His own example how to be obedient to Him, rather than simply to demand it of us.
For He conquered the adversary, as you have heard, by quotations from the law, not by actual strength, that by this very thing He might do greater honour to man, and inflict a greater punishment on the adversary by conquering the enemy of the human race not now as God but as Man. He fought then, therefore, that we too might fight thereafter: He conquered that we too might likewise conquer. For there are no works of power, dearly-beloved, without the trials of temptations, there is no faith without proof, no contest without a foe, no victory without conflict. This life of ours is in the midst of snares, in the midst of battles; if we do not wish to be deceived, we must watch: if we want to overcome, we must fight.	It would appear that the Gospel reading for this day was Matthew 4:1-11, the same as we use on the First Sunday of Lent (Year A). Jesus conquered Satan's temptations with the Word of God, not with miracles, showing that He had the power as man to conquer Satan.
And therefore the most wise Solomon says, My son in approaching the service of God prepare your soul for temptation (Sirach 2:1). For He being a man full of the wisdom of God, and knowing that the pursuit of religion involves laborious struggles, foreseeing too the danger of the fight, forewarned the intending combatant; lest haply, if the tempter came upon him in his ignorance, he might find him unready and wound him unawares.	The more firmly we dedicate ourselves to the service of God, the more violently Satan will combat us. Pope Leo quotes from the book of Sirach ("Ecclesiasticus"), a deuterocanonical book of the Bible.
IV. The Christian's armour is both for defence and for attack
So, dearly-beloved, let us who instructed in Divine learning come wittingly to the present contest and strife, hear the Apostle when he says, for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of this dark world, against spiritual wickedness in heavenly things (Ephesians 6:12), and let us not forget that these our enemies feel it is against them all is done that we strive to do for our salvation, and that by the very fact of our seeking after some good thing we are challenging our foes.	Every good deed we perform, and every intention to perform a good deed, is a barb in the side of Satan and a frustration of his attempts to separate us from God.
For this is an old-standing quarrel between us and them fostered by the devil's ill-will, so that they are tortured by our being justified, because they have fallen from those good things to which we, God helping us, are advancing. If, therefore, we are raised, they are prostrated: if we are strengthened, they are weakened. Our cures are their blows, because they are wounded by our wounds' cure.	The wicked spirits cannot stand our good deeds, which flow from the grace of God which we have in Christ Jesus, through the salvation He won for us on the cross. The ultimate cure for our wounds, Christ's torturous Passion, was a torture for Satan as well.
Stand, therefore, dearly-beloved, as the Apostle says, having the loins of your mind girt in truth, and your feet shod in the preparation of the gospel of peace, in all things taking the shield of faith in which you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the evil one, and put on the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:14-17). See, dearly-beloved, with what mighty weapons, with what impregnable defences we are armed by our Leader, who is famous for His many triumphs, the unconquered Master of the Christian warfare.	The spiritual clothing of a Christian is both a weapon and a defense against the "wickedness and snares of the devil."
He has girt our loins with the belt of chastity, He has shod our feet with the bonds of peace: because the unbelted soldier is quickly vanquished by the suggester of immodesty, and he that is unshod is easily bitten by the serpent. He has given the shield of faith for the protection of our whole body; on our head has He set the helmet of salvation; our right hand has He furnished with a sword, that is with the word of Truth: that the spiritual warrior may not only be safe from wounds, but also may have strength to wound his assailant.	Satan is the "suggester of immodesty" and the ancient "serpent" who bites at the heel. But we are protected from his attacks by wearing the spiritual clothing provided by our champion and the "pioneer and perfecter of our faith."
V. Abstinence not only from food but from other evil desires, especially from wrath, is required in Lent
Relying, therefore, dearly-beloved, on these arms, let us enter actively and fearlessly on the contest set before us: so that in this fasting struggle we may not rest satisfied with only this end, that we should think abstinence from food alone desirable. For it is not enough that the substance of our flesh should be reduced, if the strength of the soul be not also developed. When the outer man is somewhat subdued, let the inner man be somewhat refreshed; and when bodily excess is denied to our flesh, let our mind be invigorated by spiritual delights.	We do not fast and abstain simply for physical reasons; our fast is not only from food, as Isaiah reminds us. (cf. Isa. 58) The physical fast we undergo should strengthen us in spirit.
Let every Christian scrutinise himself, and search severely into his inmost heart: let him see that no discord cling there, no wrong desire be harboured. Let chasteness drive incontinence far away; let the light of truth dispel the shades of deception; let the swellings of pride subside; let wrath yield to reason; let the darts of ill-treatment be shattered, and the chidings of the tongue be bridled; let thoughts of revenge fall through, and injuries be given over to oblivion. In fine, let every plant which the heavenly Father has not planted be removed by the roots (Matthew 15:13). For then only are the seeds of virtue well nourished in us, when every foreign germ is uprooted from the field of wheat.	Simply put, we should replace every vice with the virtue it offends. Instead of seeking to separate the wheat from the chaff in the Church (which is for the angels to do at the end of time, cf. Matt. 13:24ff), let us straighten out our own gardens.
If any one, therefore, has been fired by the desire for vengeance against another, so that he has given him up to prison or bound him with chains, let him make haste to forgive not only the innocent, but also one who seems worthy of punishment, that he may with confidence make use of the clause in the Lord's prayer and say, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors (Matthew 6:12). Which petition the Lord marks with peculiar emphasis, as if the efficacy of the whole rested on this condition, by saying, For if you forgive men their sins, your Father which is in heaven also will forgive you: but if you forgive not men, neither will your Father forgive you your sins (Matthew 6:14-15)	The measure we give will be the measure we receive (cf. Matt. 7:2), and so we must forgive others — the innocent and the guilty alike — if we (who are guilty) wish to receive forgiveness from the Father.
VI. The right use of Lent will lead to a happy participation in Easter
Accordingly, dearly-beloved, being mindful of our weakness, because we easily fall into all kinds of faults, let us by no means neglect this special remedy and most effectual healing of our wounds. Let us remit, that we may have remission: let us grant the pardon which we crave: let us not be eager to be revenged when we pray to be forgiven. Let us not pass over the groans of the poor with deaf ear, but with prompt kindness bestow our mercy on the needy, that we may deserve to find mercy in the judgment.	Our forgiveness of others is fruitful for us, because we do need God's forgiveness, due to our many faults.
And he that, aided by God's grace, shall strain every nerve after this perfection, will keep this holy fast faithfully; free from the leaven of the old wickedness, in the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (1 Corinthians 5:8), he will reach the blessed Passover, and by newness of life will worthily rejoice in the mystery of man's reformation through Christ our Lord Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.	God's grace is what enables us to desire to reach that perfection of faith, hope, and charity which finds us welcome in His kingdom; it gives us the power to keep the holy fast of Lent faithfully and so participate worthily in the Paschal banquet on Easter, on earth as it is in heaven.