Homily on Pascha. -St. Leo, Pope of Rome
St. Leo the Great
Beloved, in my last sermon, as far as I can tell, I rightly urged you to partake in the Cross of Christ, so that the very life of the faithful might embody the Paschal mystery and that our conduct would glorify what is honored in the feast. And you yourselves have experienced how beneficial this is, for through your self-denial you have come to know the blessings that prolonged fasting, frequent prayer, and generous almsgiving bring to both soul and body. Indeed, there is likely no one who has not received some benefit from this discipline, who has not gained something within their heart that rightfully brought them joy. But this treasure must be guarded with unwavering vigilance, lest the weakening of our efforts allow the devil’s malice to steal what divine grace has given, plunging us back into idleness.
Therefore, since through forty days of abstinence we have desired to partake, at least to some extent, in the Lord’s Passion, we must now also strive to become sharers in His Resurrection, and even while we yet live in the body, pass from death into life. For every man who is changed and becomes another, his end is not to remain what he was, and his beginning is to become what he was not. Yet what matters is for whom a person dies, and for whom he lives—for there is a death that leads to life, and a life that leads to death. And this is found not elsewhere, but in this passing world: from our deeds in time depends the distinction of eternal rewards. Thus, we must die to the devil and live unto God; we must depart from injustice in order to rise unto righteousness. Let the old fall away, that the new may arise. And since, as the Truth declares, “No man can serve two masters,” let not the one who cast down the standing be our master, but He who raised up the fallen unto glory.
Thus the Apostle says: “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is the Lord from heaven. As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.” We must rejoice beyond measure in this transformation, through which we pass from earthly lowliness to heavenly glory, by the inexpressible mercy of Him who, in order to give us what is His, descended to share what is ours—taking on not only the nature, but even the condition, of the fallen, when divine impassibility allowed that which human mortality bitterly suffers to enter into His assumed flesh. Out of His mercy, lest the prolonged sorrow should afflict the troubled hearts of the disciples, He shortened the foretold three-day interval with such wondrous swiftness that, by counting the latter part of the first day and the early part of the third along with the full second day, He both shortened the time somewhat and yet kept the full number of days. Thus, the Savior’s Resurrection delayed neither the soul in Hades nor the body in the tomb. The reanimation of the incorruptible flesh happened so swiftly that it seemed more like a sleep than death—for the divinity, which never departed from the soul or the body of the man He assumed, reunited with the same power what had been separated by that same power.
To confirm the authority of the faith that was to be proclaimed throughout the whole world, many signs were given: the stone was rolled away, the tomb left empty, the burial linens were laid aside, and angels declared what had occurred, eloquently affirming the truth of the Lord’s Resurrection. And He Himself appeared to the eyes of the women and often revealed Himself to the apostles—not only speaking with them, but also living with them, eating with them, and allowing Himself to be reverently and carefully touched by those who were overcome by doubt. For this reason, He entered to them through closed doors and breathed the Holy Spirit upon them; He opened their minds to understand the mysteries of the Scriptures, and He showed them His pierced side, the wounds of the nails, and all the signs of His recent suffering, so that all might recognize that in Him the characteristics of divine and human nature remained inseparable. And knowing that the Word is not the same as the flesh, they would confess that the one and only Son of God is both the Word and the flesh.
This faith, beloved, is upheld without wavering by the teacher of the nations, the Apostle Paul, when he says: “Yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.” For the Resurrection of the Lord did not abolish the flesh, but changed it. Human nature was not destroyed by the increase of power. The substance was transformed, not diminished: the body that had been crucified became impassible; the body that had died became immortal; the body that had been wounded became incorruptible. Therefore, the Apostle rightly says he no longer knows Christ after the flesh in the same state as before—for nothing of weakness or suffering remained, though the nature was still the same in substance, it was no longer the same in glory.
And what wonder is it if he speaks this of the body of Christ, when he says the same of all spiritual Christians: “Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh.” Henceforth, he says, the beginning of resurrection has been laid for us in Christ, when the image of all our hope was shown forth in Him who died for all. We are not shaken by doubt, nor do we remain undecided because of uncertain expectation. Having received the firstfruits of the promise, we already behold with the eyes of faith the things to come; and rejoicing in the exaltation of our nature, we already possess what we believe.
Therefore, let us not be preoccupied with the illusions of the temporal, and let not earthly things divert our gaze away from what is heavenly. Let us count as already gone that which, for the most part, is no longer present; and let our mind, attentive to what abides, direct its desire toward that realm where what it perceives is eternal. For although we are saved by hope (Romans 8:24), and still carry about a body that is corruptible and mortal, yet it is rightly said of us that we are “not in the flesh” if fleshly passions do not rule in us; and we justly cease to be called “flesh” if we do not follow after its desires. Thus, although the Apostle says, “Make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof” (Romans 13:14), we understand that this does not forbid what is necessary for our health and what human weakness requires.
But because we are not to serve every desire, nor to satisfy every longing of the flesh, we must understand that God has called us to embrace the necessary measure of temperance: that the flesh, being subject to the rule of the soul, should neither be indulged to excess, nor deprived of what is needful. For this reason the same Apostle says elsewhere, “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherisheth it” (Ephesians 5:29). Without doubt, this is not for the sake of vice or luxury, but for the sake of proper service—that the renewed nature may retain its proper order, that the lower not rule over the higher in shame and disgrace, and that the higher not be subject to the lower; and that through vices which overpower the soul, slavery not arise where there ought to be dominion.
Therefore, the people of God must recognize that they are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17), and, remaining vigilant, understand by whom the new creation has been assumed, and whom it shall receive. Let the renewed not return again to the frailty of what is old; let not the one who has laid his hand to the plough look back, but let him press forward to what is sown, and not turn toward what is left behind (cf. Luke 9:62). Let no one fall again into that from which he has arisen; and even if, by reason of fleshly weakness, he still lies in some infirmities, let him now firmly resolve to be healed and rise up. For this is the path of salvation, and such is the imitation of the Resurrection wrought by Christ—that, since on the slippery road of this life many errors and falls occur, the footsteps of those who walk may be transferred from unsteady ground to firm footing. For it is written, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand” (Psalm 36[37]:23–24).
Let this reflection, beloved, remain with you not only for the sake of the Paschal celebration, but for the sanctification of your whole life. And may the present exhortation encourage you to make a habit of that which has delighted the souls of the faithful through the experience of a brief season of abstinence—that it may be preserved without reproach, and, if any sin should creep in, let it be extinguished by swift repentance. For since healing of old wounds is difficult and slow, one must hasten to the remedies as soon as the wound is received—so that, always rising unharmed from every fall, we may be found worthy to attain to that glorious resurrection of the flesh in Christ Jesus our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with the Father and the Holy Ghost, now and forever. Amen.