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Chapter 3KazSwiet.1.3

Kazanie na Dzień Bożego Narodzenia

The Coming of the King

The sermon introduces the arrival of the King and Savior who comes to deliver his people from their enemies.

Your King and Savior is coming to you, so that He may save us from eternal death.✦ The King will save His people from their sins.✦1 That is, He says, when He comes He will save His people from their great sins.2 Truly, it would do us no good to simply remain as we are; rather, we should long for our34 . .] Savior and His coming, that He might deign this day to visit our hearts and keep us from our enemies, both visible and invisible.5 Of them, Jeremiah says:

The Call to Contrition

The preacher calls the faithful to recognize their sins and repent, turning away from the darkness of Chorazin to welcome the Lord.

. . . Coming out of the city of Chorazin, the enemies—that is, the devils, enemies of the sinful human being—heard, he says, the voice of contrition: Hurry, and where will you settle on dry land, so that you free your souls from the hands of your enemies, the devils? See, dear brothers, the salvation; see the great friendship of the Son of God.67 This word Chorazin is explained: “My secret is mine,” and it signifies the hea89 . . defiled with secret sins and by evil deeds from that Savior.10 . . [?] Torn away, and in this very city of Corrozaim, in everlasting hell, submerged and drowned by mortal sins.11 When the sinful person descends into it, recalling his sins—that is, when he remembers himself—he pours streams of bitter tears from his secret heart for his sins, and he recognizes when he sinned, at what time he sinned, how many times he sinned, and by which sins he provoked his Creator to anger; and when the sinful person does this, then suddenly his heart counsels him to leave off sin, to regret his sins from the heart, and with the holy Church today to cry out: Come, Lord!1213 And do not delay; forgive the crimes of your people Israel!14 And this is the truth: the King and Savior is coming to you, so that He may save us from eternal death.

The Poverty of the King

Christ's humble birth in poverty is presented as a model for believers to endure their own hardships without complaint.

And third, he comes to you poor, so you won't complain about poverty. And so the prophet David, having marked his severe poverty, has given witness, saying: A man went out to his work.✦15 To what work?16 To this, which he himself makes known, saying: I am poor, and in labors from my youth.✦17 So he was a poor king, for he had nowhere to lay his head. And therefore, because at his birth he had nowhere to lay his head, the Son of God was for that reason laid in a manger before an ox and a donkey—for the Virgin Mary did not even have good swaddling clothes at that time, and so she wrapped him in poor rags.✦1819 They found him wrapped in swaddling clothes and laid in a manger.✦20 They found him, it says, in swaddling clothes.21 . . wrapped and laid in the manger.22 Truly, what great poverty this honored King endured—that He had such a humble arrival and such a humble birth, He who has reigned with God the Father from the beginning.2324 And this is why the poor king comes to you: so that you would not grumble in poverty.25

Humility Against Pride

The sermon concludes by contrasting the humility of Christ with the pride of the devil, urging the faithful to follow the humble King into his eternal kingdom.

Third, a humble king comes to you for this reason: so you won't swell with pride and imitate that proud king, the devil.26 . . Do not, do not27 . . …company of the people and of the proud king, but let us be of the company of the humble king, so that we may enter the height of the heavenly kingdom.2829 . . And I know, he says, you despair, O man, that He will not give you His good—He who did not wish to take on human baseness.30 Truly, in what can you be proud, O man—and yet you will not remember that a humble king is coming to you?31 . . . When, he says, such a mighty Godhead has humbled itself, what can our frail humanity be proud of? For as Gregory says: Behold, we have heard that a true king is coming to you, for He has done wrong to no one; an eternal king is coming to you, so that you might reign with Him forever; a poor king is coming to you, so that you might not complain in poverty; a humble king is coming to you, so that you might not grow proud.32 And so it speaks these words: your king is coming to you, so that you may reign with him forever and ever—into whose kingdom may almighty God bring us.✦33 Amen.

Read the original Latin

Idzie tobie krol zbawiciel, iżby nas ot wieczne śmirci zbawił. [Salvum rex] faciet populum suum a pecratis eorum. Tet to, prawi, gdaż przydzie, zbawi [lud swoj ot] wielikich grzechow. Zawierne nicsz by nam nie mieszkać, aleby [naszego. . .] zbawiciela i jego przyszcia pożędać, by on raczył tog[o dnia w na]sza sirca zawitać i nas wrogow naszych widomych i niewidomych uchować. O nichże mówi Jeremijasz:

. . . Wystąpając z miasta Corrozaim, nieprzyjaciele, to są diabli, wrodzy człowieka grzesznego, głos są, prawi, skruszenia usłyszeli: pośpieszycie się, a kamoć na s [uszy będziecie sie]dzieć, iżbyście dusze wasze zdręki wrogów waszych [diabłow zwol]nili, widzcie, bracia miła, zbawienie, widzcie wielikie Syna Bożego przyjaźni. [To słowo] Oorrozaim wyprawia się: tajnica moja mnie, a znamionuje się si[rce. . .] tajnymi grzechy skalano i ot togo zbawiciela złymi uczynan.

. . [?] [ottargnione] i w tem to mieście Corrozaim, w piekle wiekujem, śmirtny[mi grzechy zanu]rzone i utonęło. K niemuż gdaż człowiek grzeszny rozpamię[taję grzechy z]stąpi, to czu sam siebie wspomienie, z tajnego sirca [strumienie gor]zkich słez za grzechy wylije i to uznaje, kiegdy sgrzeszył, w kakie wrzemię sgrzeszył, kilkokroć sgrzeszył, którymi grzechy twórca swego na gniew powabił; a jakokoli to grzeszny człowiek uczyni, tako nagle sirce jego jemu doradzi, iżby grzecha ostał, swojich grzechów sirdecznie żałował i [z] świętą cyrekwią dzińsia zawołał: Veni, Domine! et noli tardare; relaxa facinora plebi tue Israel! Toć to i jeść prawda, iże idzie tobie kroi zbawiciel, iżby nas ot wieczne śmirci zbawił.

A trzecie idzie tobie ubogi, iżby ty w ubóstwie nie styskował. Jakoż prorok Dawid, uznamionaw o jego silnem ubóstwie, jeść świadeczstwo dał, rzeka: Exivit homo ad opus suum. Na które? Na to, jeż sam zjawia, rzeka: Pauper sum ego et in laboribus a iuventute mea. Toć ubogi królowie był, iże nie imiał, gdzieby swoje g[łowę podkłonił] A przeto iże nie imiał w swem narodzeni, gdzieby swą g[łowę podkłonił], togodla przed wołem a przed osłem w jasłkach S[yn Boży położon] był, bo dziewica Maryja aż pieluszek dobrych [w to wrzemię] nie imiała, a togodla ji we złe chustki ogar[nęła. Invenerunt] eum pannis involutum et positum in presepio. Naleźli ji, prawi, pieluszkami. .

.] ogarnienego a w jasłkach położonego. Toć wiem wielikie u[bostwo krola] tako czsnego, iż jeść tako śmierne przyszcie i tako śmierne narodzenie [imiał jet], jenże przez początka z Bogiem Oćcem jeść krolewał. Toć i jeść, iżc idzie tobie krol ubogi na to, iżby ty w ubóstwie nie styskował.

A trzecie idzie tobie kroi śmierny na to, iżby ty nie bujał, iżby onogo bujnego króla diabła nie naśladował. . . Nie nie[. . . towarzy]stwa luda i krola bujnego, ale bądźmy z towarzystwa króla śm[iernego, iżbychom wstąpili na wy]sokość krolewstwa niebieskiego. .

. A wiem, prawi, rozpaczasz, człowiecze, [iże uie da tobie] dobra swego, jenże się nie żądał przyjąć lichot człowiec[zych. Zaprawdę] w czemże ty, człowiecze, możesz bujać, a togo iże idzie tobie krol śmierny, nie chcesz pamiętać? . . . Gdaż,się, prawi, uśmierzyło tako mocne bostwo, w czem bujać może nasze mdłe człowieczstwo? Bo jako mówi Gregorius: Otoć jesmy [słyszeli], iże idzie [tobie kroi praw]dziwy, bo nikomemu krzywdy nie uczynkał; idzie tobie krol [wieczny, i]żby ty s nim na wieki krolował; idzie tobie krol ubogi, by ty [w ubóstwie] nie styskował; idzie tobie krol śmierny, by ty nie bujał.

A przeto [mowi ta to sło]wa: krol twój idzie tobie, iżby ty s nim na wieki wiekom królował, jegoż krolewstwa domieści [nas Bóg wszemogący. Amen.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Zech.9.9 — Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king comes to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey.
  2. ↩Matt.1.21 — She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.
  3. ↩Ps.104.23;Ps.104.23 — Man goes out to his work and to his labor until evening. Ps.104.23 — Man goes out to his work and to his labor until evening.
  4. ↩Ps.88.16;Ps.89.15 — I am afflicted and dying from my youth; I have borne your terrors — I am numb. Ps.89.15 — Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne; steadfast love and faithfulness go before your face.
  5. ↩Isa.1.3 — An ox knows its owner, and a donkey its master's manger; but Israel does not know, my people do not understand.
  6. ↩Luke.2.12 — And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.
  7. ↩Zech.9.9;Matt.21.5 — Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your king comes to you; he is righteous and victorious, humble and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey. Matt.21.5 — And "Say to daughter Zion, Look, your king is coming to you, gentle and mounted on a donkey, and on a colt, the foal of a donkey."

Notes

  1. 1 ↩Latin citation is partly reconstructed: [Salvum rex] and pecratis (for peccatis). Sense taken as Mt 1:21 (salvum faciet populum suum a peccatis eorum), with rex supplied from the sermon’s king-savior frame.
  2. 2 ↩Bracketed [lud swoj ot] (‘his people from’) is an editorial restoration completing the paraphrase of the Latin citation in s2.
  3. 3 ↩Sentence breaks mid-phrase into a lacuna: aleby [naszego. Continuum restored from the section’s continuous reading as ‘aleby [naszego…] zbawiciela i jego przyszcia pożędać…’.
  4. 4 ↩nicsz by nam nie mieszkać is elliptic Old Polish. Rendered as ‘it would do us no good merely to dwell as we are’ (mieszkać = dwell/remain/tarry), contrasting with active longing for the Savior; another plausible reading is ‘it would profit us nothing not to have him dwell [in us]’.
  5. 5 ↩Continues the lacuna begun in s4. Bracketed tog[o dnia w na]sza sirca restored as ‘this/that day… our hearts’; translated from the bracket-completed continuum with s4’s naszego… pożędać.
  6. 6 ↩Bracketed restorations in the source ([uszy będziecie sie]dzieć; [diabłow zwol]nili) are followed as the most plausible normalized reading: 'settle on dry land' and 'free … from the hands of … the devils'.
  7. 7 ↩Old Polish skruszenia is rendered 'contrition' (compunction/crushing sorrow for sin). przyjaźni is rendered 'friendship' (divine favor/love of the Son of God), not mere sociability.
  8. 8 ↩Editorial restoration [To słowo] is accepted. Manuscript Oorrozaim is treated as Corrozaim/Chorazin. The sentence breaks mid-word at si[rce ('heart'), continued after lacunae in s8.
  9. 9 ↩tajnica moja mnie is the medieval etymological gloss of Chorazin as Latin secretum meum mihi ('my secret is mine'), applied to the heart as the hidden seat of sin.
  10. 10 ↩Fragment continues the incomplete heart-gloss of s5. złymi uczynan is incomplete (for uczynkami/uczynan[iami]); the following section supplies [ottargnione] ('torn away'), which would complete the sense as 'torn away from that Savior by evil deeds.' Here only the extant words are translated, without silently inventing the missing participle.
  11. 11 ↩Bracketed restorations in the witness: [ottargnione] and śmirtny[mi grzechy zanu]rzone. Subject continues the heart (sirce) allegory of Corrozaim from the previous section.
  12. 12 ↩Bracketed restorations: rozpamię[taję grzechy z]stąpi; [strumienie gor]zkich słez; [z] świętą cyrekwią. Latin cry rendered in English as the sermon's Advent petition (source: Veni, Domine!).
  13. 13 ↩to czu = 'that is / to wit' (explanatory gloss). ostał grzecha = leave off / abandon sin. cyrekwią = Church (Old Polish cerkiew/cyrekiew).
  14. 14 ↩Latin liturgical continuation of Veni, Domine: et noli tardare; relaxa facinora plebi tue Israel! Source orthography tue for tuae preserved in analysis only.
  15. 15 ↩Embedded Latin Exivit homo ad opus suum rendered in English; candidate Ps 103/104:23 (Vulgate numbering).
  16. 16 ↩Rhetorical question picking up Latin opus suum from the preceding verse; English supplies 'work' for clarity.
  17. 17 ↩Embedded Latin Pauper sum ego et in laboribus a iuventute mea rendered in English; candidate Ps 87:16 Vulgate (Ps 88:15).
  18. 18 ↩Bracketed reconstructions in the witness adopted: głowę podkłonił; Syn Boży położon; w to wrzemię; ogarnęła. Sentence also appears to trail into the following section's continuation.
  19. 19 ↩we złe chustki: rendered as 'poor rags' (mean/wretched cloths), not moral evil; contrast with pieluszki dobre 'good swaddling clothes'.
  20. 20 ↩Source surface Invenerunt] shows a bracket artifact; translated as the expected Gospel reading Invenerunt eum...
  21. 21 ↩Polish gloss of the Latin appears truncated; next section continues with ogarnionego a w jasłkach położonego ('wrapped and laid in the manger').
  22. 22 ↩Continues the split Polish paraphrase of Luke 2:12 begun in the previous section (Naleźli ji… pieluszkami): ogarnionego a w jasłkach położonego = wrapped and laid in the manger.
  23. 23 ↩czsnego read as czesnego 'honorable/honored' (paradox of the honored king's poverty). Alternate reading czasnego 'temporal' is possible but less natural with the eternal reign clause that follows.
  24. 24 ↩Bracketed restorations taken as intended sense: u[bostwo krola] → ubóstwo króla; [imiał jet] → imiał jeść (he had). śmierne = humble/lowly (cf. next section kroi śmierny), not 'mortal'.
  25. 25 ↩styskował = complain/murmur/be discontented under hardship; rendered 'grumble' to keep the plain pastoral force.
  26. 26 ↩śmierny = humble/lowly (same root as śmierne in 1.3.5), not 'mortal'; bujać/bujny = swell with pride / proud, kept consistent with the later Gregory paraphrase (krol śmierny, by ty nie bujał).
  27. 27 ↩Source is the damaged opening 'Nie nie[.' Continuous witness elsewhere joins it to s7 as 'Nie nie[... towarzy]stwa…'. The double Nie is negation, but the rest of the clause is lost; no safe reconstruction of the missing verb or object is offered here.
  28. 28 ↩Bracket restorations taken as intended sense: towarzy]stwa → towarzystwa; śm[iernego → śmiernego; wy]sokość → wysokość. Opening of the clause is lost after s4's 'Nie nie['; genitive 'towarzystwa' shows the sentence began earlier (likely a prohibition against belonging to that company).
  29. 29 ↩towarzystwo = company/fellowship (not modern 'society'); luda = of the people; bujnego = proud; śmiernego = humble. wstąpili na wysokość = enter/ascend into the height.
  30. 30 ↩Bracketed span [iże uie da tobie] is damaged; rendered as iże nie da tobie (“that He will not give you”), taking uie as a corrupt nie. lichot człowieczych = human baseness/wretchedness.
  31. 31 ↩bujać = to swagger/be proud (paired throughout with bujny, “proud”); śmierny = humble/meek, as opposite of bujny in this sermon.
  32. 32 ↩Bracketed restorations adopted: słyszeli; kroi prawdziwy; wieczny, iżby; w ubóstwie. styskował = murmur/complain; śmierny = humble/meek.
  33. 33 ↩Bracketed editorial restorations fill damaged manuscript gaps: [mowi ta to sło]wa and [nas Bóg wszemogący. Reading follows the reconstructed normalized text.

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