-
Liberius II
- The Catholic University of America Press
- Chapter
- Additional Information
of why he was elected to the pontifical see in the life of blessed Liberius, his successor, because I have found almost nothing about the life of the said Liberius. It is therefore necessary that we add to his pages a small part about the life of Severus the confessor of Christ, so that the reading about Liberius might appear not small but great, and so that you might read it with desire rather than with boredom, and give great thanks to God, who is blessed forever . Amen. He sat __ years, __ months, __ days. CONCERNING HOLY LIBERIUS II . Liberius, the twelfth bishop, a distinguished man, father to orphans, generous with alms, he ruled the pontificate in peace. He truly guarded the evangelical preaching, as it is written, “In your patience you shall possess your souls.”1 He did not steal or seize anything from anyone else; he honored God with his just labors. After the end of his life he was most dutifully buried and possesses eternal rest. I have told you as much as I have learned about the life of the above-mentioned Liberius. .2 But I ask, O most beloved, that you direct your attention with greater care to the many virtues which the all-powerful God gives to his faithful; not only those alive in the flesh, but even the bones of the dead would obey him. Thus the truth states, “If you had faith like to a grain of mustard seed, you might say to this mulberry tree, Be thou rooted up, and be thou transplanted into the sea; and it would obey you.”3 Why among the other plants is only the mustard seed mentioned ? Because unless the mustard seed is ground, its power is not . Luke :. . In this translation the chapter numbering developed by Holder-Egger for his MGH edition has been retained. Holder-Egger placed the sermonette about the mustard seed in the Life of Severus and called it c. . In the edition of the text on which this translation is based (ed. Deliyannis), this sermonette is restored to the Life of Liberius; however, it is still numbered as c. . . Luke :. known; when it has been ground, at once strength and sweetness proceed from it. And thus when the saints arrive at martyrdom, their prudence and humility appear when they sustain harsh torments , and do not fear the blows or attacks of the executioners, and remain silent. In his kindness, he would call his sons all those whom he has brought to the Lord from the worship of idols, since there does not seem to be only one type of martyrdom. One type is performed openly before all, another in secret. It is martyrdom in public when someone is led before the judge, is dragged, beaten, wounded, mocked, derided, bound in chains, thrust through the entrance of prison, and after all these things is decapitated, and as a martyr does not deny the name of Christ.The secret martyrdom of man is to abstain by himself, to fast, to keep vigils, to pray, to beware of evil habits, to renounce carnal desires, not to do to another what he does not want to happen to him, to keep no worldly desire, to give alms to the crowds of paupers from his own property , to preach urgently to the unbeliever and to the infidel and to snatch them from blind error and to show them the road of truth and light, as it is written: “be wise in good, and simple in evil.”4 Again it is written, “Be ye therefore wise as serpents and simple as doves.”5 And if a serpent is wise, why does that truth of Solomon say, “There is no head worse than the head of a serpent ”?6 And if it is wise, why therefore is it written, “The serpent was more subtle than all the beasts of the earth”?7 And if wise, why was it cursed by God among all the other animals of the world, as it is written, “And the Lord God said to the serpent, ‘Thou art cursed among all beasts of the earth; upon thy breast and belly shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy life’”?8 Why is this? Because it tempted man, it made him eat from the forbidden fruit, the devil entered into the poisonous throat of the . Rom. :. . Matt. :. . Ecclus. :. . Gen. :. . Gen. :. ...
