St. Bernardine of Siena and the Gospel of Divine Mercy (Luke 15:11-32)

31 Franciscan Studies 62 (2004) ST. BERNARDINE OF SIENA AND THE GOSPEL OF DIVINE MERCY (LUKE 15:11-32) St. Bernardine of Siena (1380-1444) was a very influential preacher and created a school of followers. As Nirit Ben-Aryeh Debby writes: “The cult of Bernardino began during his lifetime; his canonization in 1450, only six years after his death, reflects universal admiration for him and led to the remarkable dissemination of his writings. . . .Bernardino . . . by writing a collection of Latin sermons for the benefit of others, created a school of followers.”1 As one peers back through the centuries at Bernardine, it may be hard to take the measure of this preacher saint. Much attention is given to his devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus, to his miracles, to his work of reform within the Franciscan Order, even to his demons.2 My purpose is to try to convey some of the depth and power of Bernardine’s preaching by providing an annotated translation of Sermon XXIV in his Latin Lenten Cycle, De christiana religione.3 I take my marching orders from Cynthia L. Polecritti: “Bernardino’s listeners have vanished and the mighty voice has been silenced. . . .What remains alive are the sermons, which still connect us to that living audience which heard him speak.”4 Sermon XXIV deals with the divine mercy evidenced in Christ’s Parable of the Prodigal Son or what Bernardine calls the moral heart of the Gospel. I proceed by treating the form of Sermon XXIV, showing the relationship of this sermon to three other sermons Bernardine devoted to the Parable of the Prodigal Son, investigating the sources behind Sermon XXIV, and considering the significance of this sermon. 1 Renaissance Florence in the Rhetoric of Two Popular Preachers: Giovanni Dominici (13561419 ) and Bernardino da Siena (1380-1444), Late Medieval and Early Modern Studies 4; (Turnhout: Brepols, 2001), 210, 212. 2 See Franco Mormando, The Preacher’s Demons: Bernardino of Siena and the Social Underworld of Early Renaissance Italy (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1999). See further the balanced review by William V. Hudon of Mormando’s unbalanced viewpoints in Theological Studies 61 (2000): 155-156. 3 Even though Bernardine collected his Lenten sermons into a “treatise,” they have not lost their character as sermons. 4 Preaching Peace in Renaissance Italy: Bernardino of Siena and His Audience (Washington: Catholic University of America, 2000), 242. 32 ROBERT KARRIS The Form Of Sermon XXIV 5 Simply put, the form of Sermon XXIV is that of the sermo modernus. In #1 Bernardine sets as his thematic text, Luke 15:21: “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.” In the remainder of his Proemium (#1-3) he restates his theme. In #2 he says: “Penitence (is) that aspect of religion . . . by which a sinner who is humbly penitent seeks and pleads for the mercy of God.” In #3 Bernardine introduces an Old Testament text, Psalm 48:13-14, to illumine his threefold development of his theme: Sin ruins; grace resurrects; envy angers. If an earnest student were to outline Sermon XXIV, she would see the dominance of threefold divisions. For example, there are three articles. Each article has three chapters. With one exception each chapter has three points. The exceptional chapter is chapter three of article two, which has three three’s and accentuates the theme of the entire sermon, that is, God’s mercy to the penitent.6 At times Bernardine will collapse the boundaries of objectivity found in the sermo modernus and address his readers/listeners directly. See #35: “You, my readers, abandon your idleness and be earnest and step forward to receive the Lord’s Sacrament.” In #46 Bernardine moves alongside his readers and exhorts them: “. . . let us consider the father’s attempt to satisfy his older son, as we treat the three reasons the father gives to placate his older son . . . .” Finally in #50 he concludes his Sermon by addressing his listeners/readers: “Now pay very close attention to the great weight the father puts on each word of his response, in order to melt down and soften the soul of the...