Hunolt Sermons/Volume 12/Sermon 64
SIXTY-FOURTH SERMON
ON ST. FELIX, ARCHBISHOP OF TREVES
Subject.
Great and manifold is the fortune that the city of Treves owes to St, Felix, and therefore it also owes him a debt of sincere gratitude and love. Preached on the feast of St. Felix.
Text.
" Happy is the day wherein thou didst return to the land of thy fathers, and sattest in the throne of their kingdom." (1 Mac 10:55)
Introduction.
Divine Providence, that arranges everything in the world, in number, weight, and measure, has also given to some people names that indicate their future lives, or the events that are to happen in them. Thus the precursor of Christ was called John, that is, the grace of God, for he was to announce the presence of the Author of all grace, Jesus Christ. The first martyr was called Stephen, or the crowned, because he was to be the first, after Christ, to gain the crown of martyrdom. The prince of the apostles was called Peter, or the rock, because, as Our Lord Him self explains, the Church was to be built on him. In the same way it seems to me that it is not without reason that the holy Archbishop whose feast we celebrate to-day was called Felix, that is, the happy. In truth he verified his title to that name. Fe lix was a happy bishop, or, rather, I should say that the city of Treves was fortunate in having received from God such a happy bishop. He it is by whose footsteps this ground on which we stand was trodden and honored, and by whose holy doctrine the church of Treves was enabled to grow in the true faith and to preserve it incorrupt. Happy Treves, I say again, in having Felix as a shepherd and superior!
Plan of Discourse.
What good fortune thou, city, owest him, and therefore what gratitude and love thou shouldst show him I mean to explain now, to his honor and praise.
We beg the help of the Holy Ghost, through the intercession of Mary and of the holy angels.
The good fortune brought to the church of Treves by Felix when he was called to this archiepiscopal see I cannot better or clearer describe than by inviting you to cast the eyes of the mind and memory on those sad and dangerous times in which the church of this land then was when Felix began to rule it, to its advantage and salvation; for from the greatness of the danger out of which one is rescued we must judge the benefit conferred by him who liberates him. sad times, when the bloodhound Riccius Varus was glutting his rage, and slaughtering and butchering,, when the city of Treves was running with the blood of her own children and inhabitants! you were indeed, according to outward appearance, terrible and awful, yet in reality sweet and golden times compared to those that preceded the arrival of Felix. For all that Riccius Varus with his cruelty could effect was to send countless numbers of souls from Treves to heaven by martyrdom, and thereby to make the fame and renown of this city undying in the whole world; a fact that might readily cause other cities to feel a sort of holy envy, and awaken in them a desire for a similar opportunity of distinction.
But quite different was the aspect of affairs in the time of St. But Felix, so that the author of his Life, Severus Sulpitius, compassionates him, and says that he was worthy of better times. For this city and archdiocese was then altogether torn to pieces by an internecine war, and that to the great disadvantage of the divine honor, and to the loss and ruin of the faith and of souls. The Catholic religion, which had been planted here in the beginning by the disciples whom the apostles sent forth, and confirmed by the blood of innumerable martyrs, was now on the point of suffering a shameful downfall, and not only open enemies, but, what was much more dangerous, hypocritical friends and children of the true faith were ready to give it the last push. To speak more plainly: Error and heresy had gained the upper hand, and infected with its baleful poison clergy and laity, without distinction, so that one could hardly distinguish between the lambs and the wolves disguised in sheep's clothing. The tyrant Maximus, who had placed himself on the throne by murder, assassination, and violence, held the reins of government here, and therefore obtained the surname of the Emperor of Treves. He arrogated to himself even the ecclesiastical power, and under the pretext of zeal against the heretics summoned the bishops from all parts to Treves. These bishops were pleased to flatter the emperor,, and, out of human respect, to give way to him in all their councils and assemblies; so that St. Martin, who had been brought hither by his concern for the danger which he saw threatening the church of Treves,, and St. Felix feared to incur excommunication if they had anything to do with those bishops; and these holy men bewailed afterwards with tears that they had gone to meet them even on one solitary occasion. And all pious and good people, among whom was St. Martin, who refused to agree with the opinion of those bishops, were condemned as here tics publicly,, and banished. Things got into such a disorderly state that recourse was had to fire and sword, and at last people were condemned as heretics merely from the expression of their countenances, from their dress and manner of clothing; so that a decree was made unanimously to imprison and put to death as Priscillianists all who practised fasting and prayer, or preserved a humble demeanor, or showed any other signs of piety. This sentence was ready to be executed; the swords were sharpened, the imperial soldiers were sent out to use them. In this woful condition of affairs the innocent were on the point of losing goods and life with the guilty, the pious and holy with the wicked and ungodly; there was no distinction made between them. I can not bear to reopen this wound of my fatherland and make it bleed again.
Such were thy circumstances then, wretched Treves! but even in thy misery a fortunate Treves! Why fortunate? Because at that very time God raised up for thee a fortunate, wise, and virtuous father and shepherd, by whose prudent government the dangerous storm was tided over and changed into calm and tranquil weather. It was St. Felix who undertook this great work, aided indeed at first by St. Martin, but he accomplished it by himself. He, with Martin, courageously opposed the senseless fury of the other bishops, went to the imperial palace, and after a long conference at last obtained that the bloody sentence should not be carried into execution,, and that the soldiers sent out through the country should be recalled. He then tried to calm the perturbed minds of the malcontents, and partly by persuasion and preaching, partly by kindness and leniency, to bring the heretics and apostates back to the true faith, until at last he managed, during his government, to secure the desired peace and tranquility.
What labor this must have cost Felix until he brought it to a happy termination is easily imagined. When St. Paul was about to set forth for Jerusalem, to preach the gospel there, he said to his friends: " Behold, I go to Jerusalem, not knowing the things which shall befall me there; save that the Holy Ghost in every city witnesseth to me, saying that bonds and afflictions wait for me at Jerusalem. But I fear none of these things . . . so that I may consummate my course and the ministry of the word which I received from the Lord Jesus," x and do the duty imposed on me by Him. So could St. Felix with reason have thought and said when he was placed over the church of Treves in such troublous times: There is a duty imposed on me; how things will go with me there I know not, but I am well aware that I shall be confronted by serious difficulties that I must overcome. And in truth such were the circumstances that it could not be otherwise. To bring apostates back to the right way, to calm the discontented, to restrain the rebellious, to chastise and tame the obstinate, to take up arms against the opinion of great, learned, and seemingly pious superiors, and to manage all that so fortunately as to bring back peace and contentment what skill, trouble, inconvenience, reflection, and difficulties of all kinds a task of that sort would require I leave to the consideration of those who know how hard it is to bring to subjection a country or city that has begun to rebel. Here I may use the words of St. John Chrysostom when he describes the great difficulties the apostles had to contend with in the conversion and changing of the world: In such a vast and mighty undertaking, when all had, as it were, to be turned upside down, when old customs had to be abolished, and new manners and morals, quite opposed to the former, introduced, even if there were no opposition, and a work of this kind succeeded in peace and quietness, that would be a great, unexpected, and wonderful result. What hardships Felix had to undergo might have been still more clearly explained if, unfortunately, by a deplorable mischance in the devastations and plunderings of subsequent times, the writings and histories of this and other saints of Treves had not been destroyed.
From the little I have told you you may see for yourselves what gratitude, honor, love, and confidence you owe your holy bishop and patron. Suppose that the persecution, or, what was still worse, heresy, had then gained the upper hand, and become fixed in the land an evil that St. Felix happily averted what would have become of Treves? Could it now boast of that glorious name it has above most countries of Germany that it has never had a ruler addicted to heresy? Go in thought for a moment through Europe, and consider what has been done in different places by heresy when it managed to insinuate itself into a country where it found no opposition. Consider what evil it has caused, what hateful abuses it has introduced, how many thousand souls it has sent to hell. And then ask yourselves: If this fearful evil has brought such ruin to so many kingdoms and provinces, how would it have been here, how would it probably still be, if it had not been stifled in its birth? a benefit that, after God, we have to ascribe to the care, watchfulness, and labors of St. Felix. Truly, this is a happy day! " Happy is the day wherein thou didst return to the land of thy fathers, and sattest in the throne of their kingdom; " happy the day on which Felix came into the land of our forefathers, and sat on the throne of their kingdom.
And now, with mixed feelings of joy and sorrow, I cast my eyes on ancient church of St. Paulinus, and on the ruined heap beside it (may God forgive those, if they are still capable of forgiveness, who left such tokens of their rage behind them!). Again we have a reason, my dear brethren, for acknowledging our debt of gratitude to St. Felix, and calling happy the day on which he came into our city to sit on the archiepiscopal chair. If it were not for him never would that beautiful and celebrated temple have been built; for during his lifetime he had it erected at great expense in honor of the Mother of God and of the holy martyrs of Treves; and its size and magnificence were so great that in length it measured 410 feet, and in breadth 120. Were it not for Felix this church in which we are now assembled would not have stood in this land for the last 1340 years, nor would the praises of God have been uttered in prayer and hymn by so many religious devoted to the divine service; of all this daily devotion Felix was the first author and founder. If it had not been for him we should not now be able to honor the relics of St. Paulinus, whose body, as that of his predecessor in this see., he had brought at great trouble and expense from distant Phrygia, where Paulinus, banished for the faith, laid down his life; Felix caused the relics to be enshrined in a costly casket. If it had not been for Felix perhaps the relics of our holy forefathers, who gave up their lives for their God and faith, would still be hidden under earth and stones; for he had their bones collected in order, and placed in the crypt of the church built by himself, and thus drew crowds of people from nearly every part of Germany to pay them public honor.
Would to God, my dear brethren, that I could as quickly awaken in you feelings of gratitude, devotion, and love towards this Saint as it is easy to show from the little I have told you how much you owe him. Truly, if even heathen cities and countries always remember and show devotion and gratitude to their first founders, from whom they acknowledge to have received their origin, just as the city of Rome in the darkness of heathenism adored its founder Romulus as a god, what, then, cannot a saint who is really reigning with God in heaven expect and require from you, since you have much more reason to be grateful to him than if he had merely laid the first stone of your city?
Meanwhile might he not perhaps have reason to say, in the words of the Prophet: "lam forgotten as one dead from the heart "? I am so little thought of that when my name happens to be mentioned once or twice a year there is hardly one who remembers me, or the benefits that my beloved Treves owes to my care and labors. " I have brought up children, and exalted them, but they have despised me." a Whether St. Felix has such reasons for complaint I know not; or, rather, I cannot say whether there is on your part a carelessness in following his example, for imitation is the true way of honoring the saints. All the thoughts, cares, and labors of Felix had for their sole object to save the Christian, Catholic faith in the sheep entrusted to his care, to adorn the churches and sacred buildings, and to further the divine honor by his efforts and those of his flock. In this he spent all his strength, to this he devoted all his in come, and for the same end he at last, after twelve years rule, resigned his dignity to another, and entered this cloister in order to be able to attend more strictly in solitude to his salvation and higher perfection. Here he spent the remaining years of his life as the lowest among his brethren, in prayer and praising God.
What direction do our thoughts and cares mostly take, my dear brethren? Whither tend our desires and efforts? Are there not some of us of whom the words might be said that St. Paul wrote to the Philippians: " All seek the things that are their own, not the things that are Jesus Christ's? They seek the things that are their own their honor, their profit, their revenues, their repose, their comfort, their temporal well-being; all their care is devoted to such things. They begin with them and end with them, as if they had received life for the sake of them, and had been born into the world and placed in the state they occupy only for them. They think little of and seek not at all the things that are Jesus Christ s; they are careless of the honor of God, the progress of the Church, the amassing treasure and merits for their immortal souls. Let each one look to him self, and see how matters stand with him in this respect, and whether the life he is now leading will at the end bring him the same consolation that St. Felix felt, whose soul was seen ascending into heaven in the shape of a golden dove, accompanied by the songs of the angels.
I conclude with the short but impressive words of St. Felix, which he said on his death-bed to his brethren who were bewailing the loss of their beloved shepherd, and to the other Christians who were present: " Do not deceive those who are subject to you, but instruct them as your children by the word of God and your example. ... Do not adore dumb idols; " that is, let not the love of any creature take the upper hand in your hearts; but let Him alone rule in your minds to whom you have sworn fidelity and service, namely, our Father in heaven and His only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. I have nothing more to add, but: Amen.