XIV.

A SERMON

ON THE DAY OF ALL SAINTS.

THE august festival of the present day, dearly-beloved brethren, is all the more devoutly to be observed, because the whole of it abounds more largely [than other days] with the prayers of all the saints. For it was prudently ordered by the holy fathers, that on one and the same day should be kept a memorial of all

servance of the festival was by no means confined to Rome." It had then extended to Germany, France, and England; but was still not universal. "It was perhaps this diversity of practice, which induced Gregory IV., in the year 835, to suggest to the Emperor Lewis the Pious a general ordinance on the subject. Sigebert in his Chronicon tells us, under that year; 'Then by the advice of Pope Gregory, and with the assent of all the Bishops, the Emperor Lewis made a decree, that in Gaul and Germany the festival of All Saints, which the Romans solemnize in pursuance of the ordinance of Pope Boniface, should be solemnized on the Kalends of November.' It would seem from this, that the festivals of May 13 and Nov. I had already coalesced on the latter day, and that the one festival then observed was referred to Boniface IV., who in fact instituted that of May 13. The time was perhaps chosen as being, in a large part of Lewis' dominions, the time of leisure after harvest, when men's hearts are disposed to thankfulness to the Giver of all good. From this time”—more than two centuries before the birth of our Herbert-"All Saints' Day became one of the great festivals of the Church, and its observance general throughout Europe." (Smith and Cheetham's Dict. of Christian Antiquities, ART. All Saints.)

The old collect for All Saints' Day in the Missal of Sarum is as follows:

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui nos omnium sanctorum merita sub una tribuisti celebritate venerari; quæsumus, ut desideratam nobis tuæ propitiationis abundantiam, multiplicatis intercessoribus, largiaris. Per Dominum nostrum.

Almighty and everlasting God, of whose gift it cometh that under one solemnity we venerate the virtues of all the saints, we beseech thee, as our intercessors are thus multiplied, to pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy, which is our heart's desire. Through our Lord.

i

nitas. ut quod diversis temporibus minus sollicite exhibebatur. una in die omnium sanctorum collectæ multitudoni (sic) attentius redderetur. Fuit itaque heri jejunandum. vigilandum. pauperibus serviendum. ut una suppleretur vigilia. quod tocius anni vigiliis neglectum fuit. Ita hodie in veneratione omnium sanctorum exultandum est ? eorumque agones et triumphos dignis præconiis recitandos. Magnus deus. et magna virtus ejus. et sapientie ejus ? non est numerus; Magna ecclesia. et magnus fidelium numerus. et fidelium electionis nullus finis; Prima etate electus est abel? seth. enos. enoc. quorum tanta fuit religio.

b This is obviously a mistake either of the author or of the copyist for agones et triumphi recitandi. Agon (the Greek ȧywv) is a very expressive and thoroughly scriptural word. It is used of the conflict undergone by saints in suffering for Christ's sake (Phil. i. 30); the wrestling in intercessory prayer for others (Col. ii. 1); of the struggle of anxiety and toil involved in the work of an Apostle (1 Thess. ii. 2); of the good fight of faith (1 Tim. vi. 12; 2 Tim. iv. 7); and of the Christian race (Heb. xii. 1). It is remarkable however, that in none of these places does the Vulgate use the Latin word agon. That word only occurs twice in the New Testament, once in 1 Cor. ix. 25, omnis qui in agone contendit, (râs d ȧywvišóμevos), “Every man that striveth for the mastery ;" and again in 2 Tim. ii. 5, qui certat in agone (ẻàv dè kal ảoλộ tɩ), “and if a man also strive for masteries."

"Of the election of the faithful there is no limit"-fidelium electionis nullus finis. These words are not to be taken literally; for of course the number of God's elect must one day be accomplished. (See the Prayer before the Collect in the Burial Service.) And the mention of the precise number of fish in the second miraculous draught, "an hundred and fifty and three," is generally supposed to teach the definiteness of the number of those who will attain to glory. Herbert simply means to say that the number of the elect is beyond the power of human calculation, as indeed they are said to be in the portion of Scripture appointed for the Epistle, "a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues." (Rev. vii. 9). Among the reasons, which Bede gives (Comment. in Lib. Gen. cap. xv) why the elect people of God are compared to stars, is this,-"sicut stellæ, ab hominibus dinumerari nequeunt,"-"like stars, they cannot be counted by men.”

the saints, and a solemn festival celebrated, so that the reverence that was less carefully paid at the sundry seasons [of the Christian year], might be more attentively rendered on one and the same day to the multitude of all the saints gathered together. Therefore yesterday we were required to fast, to watch, and to minister to the poor, in order that by one vigil might be supplied what had been neglected in the vigils of the whole year. And so to-day we are required to rejoice while paying [due] reverence to all the saints, and to rehearse their conflicts and their triumphs in worthy hymns of praise. Great is God, and great is Ps. cxlvi. his power: and of his wisdom there is no number. Great 5 (Douay). See Apoc. is the Church, and great is the number of the faithful, vii. 9. and of the election of the faithful there is no limit ". In the first aged of the world, Abel was elected, and Seth and Enos, and Enoch, whose devotion was so

For the six ages of the world according to the usual mediæval division, and for the symbolization of them by the six water-pots of stone at Cana, and for Herbert's division of the ages into eight, see above, pp. 61, 63, 65, and note z on p. 63.

• The reason why Herbert places Enos among the elect, doubtless is, that the Vulgate, the only translation of the Scriptures with which he was acquainted, makes Enos to have been the first man who called upon the name of the Lord.

GEN. iv. 26.

Sed et Seth natus est filius, quem vocavit Enos iste cœpit invocare nomen Domini.

DOUAY.

But to Seth also was born a son, whom he called Enos; this man began to call upon the name of the Lord.

According to the true rendering of the Hebrew, the verb "to call" is impersonal, and the meaning is, "then the practice of calling upon the name of the Lord was begun." But, anyhow, the commencement of this practice is closely connected by the sacred text with the birth of Enos.

Bishop Wordsworth sees a special significance in the use of the incommunicable name of Jehovah: "What the sacred writer here declares is, that the holy family of Seth were so impressed by a consideration of their own weakness and sinfulness-a weakness expressed by the name of Seth's son Enosh, and of God's majesty and love, that in this family there was thenceforth a public profession of faith, not only in the Creator (Elohim), but in the Ever-living Author of Life-the loving and merciful Lord God, who revealed Himself in relations of special tenderness to man." (Comment. on Genesis, in loc.)

f. 239.

ut usque in hodiernum diem eorum memoria protendatur. Magnus noe. cum filiis suis propaga (sic) hominum. et inter fluctus et tempestates diluvii omnium animantium clementissimus conservator. forma fortitudinis. et exemplum spei. qui cunctis animantibus aquarum violentia submersis domini non diffidebat de promissione; Triumphavit noe de aquis. et justicie nomen adeptus est sempiternum. Successit habraham. vir caldéuus (sic). et siderum contemplator. audivit deum. et obedivit dei. et mandata dei intrepidus custodivit. Egredere inquit deus de terra tua? et de cognatione tua. et de domo patris tui. et veni in terram quam monstravero tibi. et faciam te in gentem magnam. Egressus de domo sua vir fidelis. et diuturno fatigatus ex itinere. non ultra rediit ad cognationem suam. Exemplum prebens abrenuntiantibus sæculi ne ulterius redeant ad sæculum quoniam nemo mittens manum aratro et respiciens retro. aptus est regno dei. Magnus Isaac. pollens castitate. et justicia. et qui nulla

*

f Dei, an evident mistake for Deo. The words mandata Dei immediately following, may have caught the eye of the scribe and led him

into error.

"An observer of the stars." Josephus tells us (Ant. I. Book I. cap. 8, sec. 2) that, on occasion of Abram's going down into Egypt, "he communicated to the Egyptians arithmetic, and delivered to them the science of astronomy, for before Abram came into Egypt they were unacquainted with those parts of learning." It is possible that the idea of Abraham's having been an astronomer and student of the stars, may have taken its rise from Gen. xv. 5, where God bids him "look toward heaven and tell the stars," as if the Divine Being would enforce the promise He was on the point of giving to Abraham, by some object with which the Patriarch was familiar. Perhaps also the word Chaldæan, being equivocal, may have caused some confusion of thought. Abraham was a Chaldæan geographically, inasmuch as he came from Ur of the Chaldees. But the name Chaldæan was also given to a

great that the memory of them reaches even unto the present day. Great was Noah, who with his sons formed the [second] graft of the human race, and who amidst the waves and storms of the flood was the compassionate preserver of all living things, a patter of patient endurance, and an example of hope; who, when all living creatures were drowned by the violence of the waters, felt no mistrust of the Lord's promise. Noah triumphed over the waters, and gat thereby the ever- See Heb. lasting renown of righteousness. To him succeeded xi. 7. Abraham, a Chaldæan, and an observer of the stars . He heard the Lord's voice, and obeyed God, and kept His commandments without quailing [at them]. Go Gen. xii. forth, said God to him, out of thy country, and from thy 1, 2. kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land which I shall shew thee. And I will make of thee a great nation. The faithful man went forth from his home, and wearied by long pilgrimages, never again returned to his kindred, giving an example to those who renounced the world that they should never again return to the world, since no man putting hand to the St. Luke plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. Great was Isaac, mighty in chastity and righteous

branch of the order of Babylonian Magi, who were professors of astronomy and astrology, in which application of it there is no geographical reference. An interesting story is told of Abraham in the Koran, which shews that while he contemplated the host of heaven, he was not fascinated into idolatry by its beauty, his heart was not secretly enticed, nor did his hand kiss his mouth. The story is thus given by Dean Stanley (Lectures on the Jewish Church, London, 1863, vol. i. p. 17): "When night overshadowed him, he saw a star, and said, 'This is my Lord.' But when it set, he said, 'I like not those that set.' And when he saw the moon rising, he said, 'This is my Lord.' But when the moon set, he answered, 'Verily if my Lord direct me not in the right way, I shall be as one of those who err.' And when he saw the sun rising, he said, 'This is my Lord, this is greater than the star or moon.' But when the sun went down, he said, 'O my people, I am clear of these things. I turn my face to Him who hath made the heaven and the earth.""

"Isaac, mighty in chastity." The idea of the conjugal chastity of Isaac was probably derived from the account of his meeting with Rebecca

I,

ix. 62.