Qua die et cur judas vendidit dominum
The Conspiracy of the Leaders
The chief priests and elders plot to seize Jesus, reflecting the tendency of worldly leaders to oppose the truth.
On the following Wednesday, the chief priests, having heard Jesus say, "From now on you won't see me," were troubled. — Thinking he meant to flee from them, they gathered—along with the elders of the people, who were the regular judges—in the courtyard of the high priest named Caiaphas, and they held a council to seize Jesus by trickery and kill him, because they could find no grounds for a death sentence in him unless they fabricated them deceitfully. They had already decided to kill him and had deliberated on the deed, but now they were seeking counsel on how to execute it, and how they might act secretly without causing a riot among the people. Those who should have been preparing themselves for the paschal lamb and purifying themselves according to the rite of the Law, so that they might be worthy to eat the lamb, instead armed themselves against the true Lamb, doing so out of deceit and conspiracy, fearing that the people's support would be taken from them. Therefore, after holding council, they said: "Not on the feast day," meaning the feast of Unleavened Bread, the upcoming solemnity of the Passover; "he must not be seized for execution." They didn't say this out of reverence for the feast, but for fear that a riot might break out among the people because of the conflicting attitudes of the crowd—those who loved Christ and those who hated him, those who believed and those who didn't. Many had come to Jerusalem for the solemnity of the Passover, and because some considered Jesus to be the true Christ, they feared that if they laid hands on him during the Passover solemnity, the people who loved him would rise up against them to defend the innocent man, and thus he would escape their hands. They feared the people, not because they wanted to avoid scandal, but because they feared an attack; they weren't worried about sedition, but were anxious that he might be snatched from their hands, and for this reason they advised that his death be deferred until after the feast. Later, however, they changed their plan because they found an opportunity to seize him secretly through one of his disciples. Notice here that it was the leaders who were primarily seeking to destroy Jesus; for iniquity went out from Babylon through the chief priests and the elders. It’s the same today: the leaders rise up against him more than others, and they cause greater scandals than anyone else. Hence Saint Bernard says: 'O good Jesus, the whole world seems to have conspired against you; and those who seem to rule the people and direct the government are the first in your persecution.' So says Bernard.
The Betrayal of Judas
Judas allows Satan to enter his heart through greed, leading him to sell Christ for thirty pieces of silver.
Satan entered into Judas—that is, into the soul of Judas, who was called Iscariot because he was from the village of Iscarioth—one of the twelve. He entered, I mean, not by forcing his way, but by finding an open door; for Judas, having forgotten everything he had seen, focused his gaze on greed alone. He entered, however, not by his essence, nor by slipping into the soul essentially—because, according to Augustine, only God, who created the soul, enters into it in that way—but he entered first through the effect of suggestion, by proposing the selling and betrayal of Christ, and second, after the morsel, through the effect of fuller possession, by subjugating him to his own servitude. From this it’s clear that in every mortal sin, the devil enters a person so that he may possess them again, or even more than before. Then Judas, hearing that they were gathered to plot the death of Christ—for he had also heard from Christ that he was to be handed over to be crucified during the approaching Passover—and thinking to himself, and saying in his heart, 'This man will die soon, and I can hand him over for my own gain,' he went away from Christ. Having broken fellowship, not only in body but also in mind by withdrawing and apostatizing, he came to the council as a traitor and said to them, 'What are you willing to give me, and I will hand him over to you,' secretly, of course, and without a scene? They were pleased, because that method of capturing Christ through his own disciple seemed more convenient and secret; for this reason, they changed their previous plan, which was to delay his death until after the feast. For because they found a traitor, they killed Christ during the feast itself. This, however, according to Pope Leo, we understand to have been arranged by divine counsel. It was necessary that what had been promised for so long in a figurative mystery should be fulfilled in a manifest effect. Judas made a deal to betray Christ for thirty pieces of silver; they agreed to pay him that amount—the same price for which Joseph was sold by his brothers—for in the sale of Joseph, the sale of Christ was prefigured. Judas went to the gatherings where he sold Christ; in the same way, many go to spectacles where they sell Christ for a trivial temptation and a trivial price. He gave Him up for thirty pieces of silver, but sinners often give Him up for an even smaller price. Pope Leo says the same thing: a soul greedy for gain doesn't fear to perish even for a pittance, and there's no trace of justice in a heart where greed has made its home. The wretched merchant Judas gave so much for so little—God for a coin, Truth for vanity, the eternal for the fleeting. Because he had heard that the Lord would die on the third day and thought He would be held fast in death, he wanted to make a profit from the impending death. Since he was a thief who kept the money box, and he saw the ointment poured over the head and feet of the Lord—which he had thought should have been sold—he wanted to recover in the sale of the Master the price he had lost in the pouring out of the ointment. Those thirty pieces of silver were indeed worth three hundred standard denarii; each one was worth ten, and thus in the sale of Christ he recovered the value of that ointment and compensated for the loss of the three hundred denarii about which he had said: 'Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?' Perhaps this is why Matthew recorded the incident with Mary here: to tell the story of Judas’s betrayal of the Lord in a way that flows logically, connecting the effect to its cause, since that incident was the occasion for Christ being sold. Judas, then, was one of the twelve—in number, not in merit; in name, not in character; in body, not in soul. He wasn't invited by the leaders, nor was he forced; he was under no compulsion. Instead, he acted of his own free will and, out of his own malice, devised the plan of a wicked mind. Furthermore, in selling his Master, he didn't demand a set price, as is usually done with something precious; rather, he treated Him as something cheap and common, putting Him in the hands of the buyers to name their own price. For when cheap things are put up for sale, the seller usually asks the buyer, "How much will you give?" But when they are precious, it’s the other way around. The seller says, "This is how much you will give." In a mystical sense, Judas represents those judges, prelates, and priests who never stop selling justice, favors, and the Sacraments. They often say, if not in words, then by their actions: "What will you give me, and I will hand him over to you?" Bernard says: "How many today among those who have taken on the care of souls—and it is a thing that cannot be said without miserable groaning—forge Christ’s insults, scourges, nails, lance, cross, and death in the furnace of greed! They differ from Judas in this alone: he balanced the value of all these things by the number of coins, while they, in their voracious gluttony for profit, demand infinite sums of money. They crave these things, fear losing them, and rest in the love of them; among them, the fall of souls is not considered, nor is their salvation. And though they are made fat, thick, and bloated from Christ’s patrimony, they do not suffer with the contrition of Joseph." So says Bernard. Judas became what he was because of greed, for as Pope Leo says: 'A soul greedy for profit,' etc., as noted above.
Lessons from the Sale of Christ
The betrayal of Christ offers three lessons: guarding against selling justice, embracing humility in contempt, and offering oneself for the kingdom.
Three notable lessons can be drawn from this account of the selling of Christ. The first is that we must be on guard so that we never commit such a detestable crime—the selling of Christ—which we certainly fall into in various ways. Hence Bede says: "Many today shudder at the crime of Judas—that he sold his Lord, Master, and God for money—as something monstrous and wicked, yet they do not guard against it themselves." When they give false testimony against someone for the sake of bribes, they are in fact selling the Lord for money because they are denying the truth for money; for He Himself said, 'I am the truth.' When they stain the fellowship of brotherhood with the plague of discord, they betray the Lord, since God is love. Even if no one gives them money, they sell the Lord for silver because they take on the image of the prince of this world—that is, the examples of the ancient enemy—while neglecting the image of the Creator in whose likeness they were created. For according to Jerome, just as John the Baptist died not for the confession of Christ, but for the defense of the truth, yet he is still considered to have died for Christ because he suffered martyrdom for the truth; so, conversely, whoever scorns the laws of love and truth betrays Christ, who is both truth and love. Indeed, universally, as Origen says, all who abandon justice for the sake of temporal and worldly things sell God, who is justice. In the same way, anyone who sells justice or counsel sells the Lord, for He Himself is justice, the Spirit, and the Angel of Counsel. That person also sells the Lord who, neglecting His fear and love, is proven to love and care more for earthly and fleeting things—or even for criminal ones. One also sells the Lord for temporal money who spends his own goods for the sake of empty glory. Likewise, those who practice simony sell God, for they don't fear exchanging the grace of God for money—grace that is found in the sacrifice of the Mass, in the Sacraments, and in other sacred and spiritual things. And because the sin of simony exists as much in the giver as in the receiver, Judas wasn't the only one who sinned in selling Christ. The Jews also sinned in buying Him. Yet, anyone who gives me something temporal and thereby takes Christ away from me is buying Christ from me. For example, if a flatterer gives me false praise that puffs up my heart, he takes Christ away from me, and I, by consenting to it for the sake of empty praise, sell Christ. Likewise, anyone who gives me money to entice me into mortal sin takes Christ away from me, and I, by consenting, sell Christ. Yet he doesn't hold onto it by buying it, and neither do I; it belongs neither to me nor to you. That’s how it was with Judas and the Jews; neither of them held onto Christ. He kept nothing; instead, he has been acquired by us Christians. Rabanus says: 'Rejoice, Christian, for by the exchange of your enemies you have won what Judas sold and the Jew bought; you have acquired this. For Christ is ours, not theirs, who bought him.' The second point is that we should also suffer being sold and held in low regard for the praise of God; for whoever sells something values what he sells it for more than the thing itself. Therefore, if someone judges you to be of less value in his heart and actions than you perhaps are, don't be troubled, especially if it's for the sake of God. For if the Lord and our Savior himself—who is the highest good and the treasure of all things—deigned to be valued at such a cheap and meager price for our sake, and to be sold and unjustly held in contempt, why shouldn't we (who are truly lowly, and who, if we look at the misery of our condition, are rightly held in contempt) suffer being held in low regard, or even as nothing, for the sake of Christ? Hence the Psalm: 'For your sake I have endured insults.' The third lesson is that a person ought to sell himself for the sake of the kingdom.
Self-Examination and Penitence
The reader is invited to reflect on their own worth and the practice of fasting in memory of the Lord's betrayal.
If the kingdom of heaven is for sale, and it's worth exactly what you have to offer, but you have nothing better than yourself, then sell yourself for the kingdom of heaven, just as Christ was willing to be sold so that He might acquire the kingdom of heaven for us. Reflecting on this, let a person consider their own worthlessness; if they were valued at a fair price, they would barely be worth a penny—or rather, nothing at all compared to Christ, who was sold for such a meager and cheap price. Also, let them consider whether they have ever sold Christ by abandoning Him and His commands for the sake of some temporal thing or fleeting pleasure. Let them also consider how they have gained Christ—who was sold in this way—freely through His own pure goodness. Also, because Christ is still being sold today, just as Judas wickedly sold Christ, you should do the opposite and buy Him with acts of charity; or if you have nothing else, give Him your heart, for He desires this more than anything in the world, according to the words of the Wise Man: "My son, give me your heart." Furthermore, let no one, however perfect they may be, presume anything about themselves when they hear that the apostle of Christ—their Master and Lord, and indeed the God and Creator of all—was betrayed. And because the Lord was sold on Wednesday and crucified on Friday, Wednesday is kept as a day of penitential fasting throughout the year, following Friday in importance, in memory of this betrayal of the Lord. This is why many have made it a custom to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, and many also abstain from meat on Wednesday because that was when the flesh of Christ was sold. From that time on, after the Wednesday on which He was sold, we omit the beginnings and endings of the hours for the three following days, as if the Alpha and Omega had been taken from us and handed over to the wicked.
The Patient Endurance of the Lord
Christ's life of service is contrasted with the insults and abuse he endured, calling the believer to patience.
And so, once this deal was made, Judas looked for the right opportunity—in terms of place, time, and company—to hand Him over secretly and without a scene, specifically when the crowds weren't with the disciples; this he did, handing Him over after the meal and at night while He was in the garden with them, so that He wouldn't be rescued by the rush and force of the people who had been following Him by day. Consider now how the Lord Jesus labored for the Jews throughout His whole life, right up to this day. Yet they, like ungrateful people, repaid the Lord with evil for good, and after many insults, they raged until they had bought Him and put Him to death. Hence Anselm says: 'At last You came, Lord, to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, openly lifting up the lamp of the divine Word to illuminate the whole world, and announcing the kingdom of God to all who obeyed Your word. You confirmed Your message with signs that followed, and You showed the power of Your divinity to all who were suffering, freely offering to everyone what was fitting for their salvation, so that You might win them all.' But their foolish hearts were darkened, Lord, and they threw Your words behind them. They paid no attention to all the wonders You worked among them, except for a few noble athletes whom You chose from among the weak and despised of the world, so that through them You might miraculously conquer the strong and the proud. They were not only ungrateful for Your free benefits, but they even heaped insults upon You, the Lord of lords, and did to You whatever they wanted. For while You were doing works among them that no one else had done, what did they say? This man is not from God. . He casts out demons by the prince of demons. They said, "He's a deceiver." They said, "He's a Samaritan." He has a demon. They said, "He blasphemes." They said, "He's guilty of death." He is a profaner of the Lord's Sabbath. He leads the crowds astray. They said, "Away with him!" — a glutton and a drunkard. — — a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Why do you weep, why do you sigh, O man of God, while you endure the insults of words? Don't you hear how many insults have fallen upon your Lord God because of you? If they called the head of the house Beelzebub, how much more his household? You endured these things and others like them patiently, good Jesus, even when they blasphemed and sometimes attacked you with stones; you stood before them like a man who doesn't hear, with no retort in your mouth. Finally, they even valued your just blood, good Jesus, at thirty pieces of silver, paid to your own disciple, that son of perdition, so they could cast your soul into death without cause—so says Anselm. It should truly be a source of great confusion for us that we lack patience in our own adversities. Jesus, who was innocent, patiently endured so much and so many things for us—even his Passion and death—yet we, weighed down by sins and deserving of God's wrath, cannot endure small insults and minor burdens, and often cannot even tolerate light words spoken for his name. As Chrysostom says: 'Christ, when insulted, bears the abuse; you, however, want to be honored everywhere and will not bear the reproach of Christ.'
Final Warning and Prayer
A warning against neglecting small sins is followed by a prayer for grace to imitate Christ's humility.
Consider also how dangerous it is to give any room to sin, and not to repel its beginnings and its entry points; for the devil often starts with small things so that he may lead you into greater evils. For if Judas had resisted his greed and avarice, and if the Jews had resisted their vainglory and envy, he would never have reached the point of betrayal, nor would they have reached the point of murdering Him. But because they made light of smaller things, they consequently fell into greater ones; for as Ecclesiasticus says: 'He who makes light of small things will gradually fall.' PRAYER: O most merciful Jesus, who for our salvation endured the labor of preaching, the exhaustion of travel, insults and abuse, injuries and distress, and who finally willed to be sold by one of your own disciples and valued by the Jews at thirty pieces of silver—willed, indeed, to be sold for such a cheap price—grant me the grace to imitate the example of such patience and humility. Help me, by your grace and counsel, to patiently overcome the insults, injuries, and everything else brought against me; never to wickedly trade you for any passing thing; and to bear my own humiliations and distress for the glory of your name with an even mind. Amen.
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— TUHC, SCiHcet quarta feria sequenti, principes sacerdotum, qui audierant Jesum dixisse : 'Non me videbitis amodo ^Y\denieseu. m. abiisse, et putantes ipsum velle ab eis fugere, congregati siint, et cum eis seniores populi, qui erant judices ordinarii, in atrium principis sacerdotum qui dicebatur Caiphas, et concilium feceruntj ut eum, Jesum scilicet dolo tenerent, et occiderent; quia nullam mortis causam in eo invenire poterant, nisi eam dolose confingerent. Prius quidem determinaverant ipsum interficere, etdeliberaverant de facto ; sed nunc quaerebant consihum de faciendi modo, et (juahter possent facere occulte, et sine popuh seditione. Qui se debuerant parare ad paschalem agnum, et secundum ritum Legis purificari, ut esu agni di^ni fiercnt, contra verum Agnum magis et potius se armant, et hoc faciunt ex dolo et consilio, timentes ne eis auferatur popuU auxilio. Unde, dicebant habito concilio : Non in die festo^ scihcet azymorum, id est in solemnitate paschah imminenti de proximo, supple capiendus est ad occidendum ; quod non dicebant propter reverentiam festi, sed ne forte tumultus fieret in populo propter diversa studia ipsius populi scihcet diligentis Christum et odien tis, credentis et non credentis. Mult enim propter solemnitatem Paschae venerant in Jerusalem : et quia ahqui reputabant Jesum esse verum Christum, timebant si, durante solemnitate paschah, in eum manus mitterent, ne populus qui eum diligebat illis consurgens, innocentem defenderet ; et sic ipse manus eorum evaderet. Timebant quidem plebem, non vitantesscandalum,sed impetum; nec seditionem metuentes, sed ne de suis manibus toheretur caventes, propter quod consulebant mortem suam differri usque post festum.
Postea tamenmutaveruntistudconsihum, qiiia invenerunt opportunitatem capiendi eum secrete per discipulum. Attende hic, quia majores principaliter quserebant Jesum perdere ; a principibus enim et senioribus egressa est iniquitas de Babylone. Sic et hodie majores prae ceteris contra eum insurgunt, et majora scandala quam ceteri faciunt. Unde Siii Bernardus : « 0 bone Jesu, totus mundus videtur contra te conjurasse; et hi in persecutione tua primi sunt qui videntur regcrepopulum, et dirigere principatum : » haec Bernardus.
Intravit autem Satanas in Judam, id est in Judae animam, qui cognominabatur Iscariotes, quia de villa Iscarioth fuit oriundus, unum de duodecim. Intravit, inquam,non impellens, sed patulum inveniens ostium; uam oblitus omnium quae viderat, ad solam avaritiam dirigebatintuitum; intravit autem, non per essentiam, et essentialiter in animam illabendo , quia, secundum Augustinum, sic solus Deus intrat in animam, qui creavit eam ; sed intravit primo per effectum suggestionis, venditionem ettraditionem Christi suggerendo, et secundo post buccelam per effectum plenioris possessionis eum suae servituti subiugando. Ex quo patet quod in omni peccato mortah diabolus intrat hominem, ut ipsum denuo vel amplius quam ante possideat. Tunc ergo Judas audiens eos congregatos ad tractandum de Christi morte, qui etiam audierat a Christo se tradendum ut crucifigeretur in Paschatuncinstanti, et apud se cogitans, et dicens incorde : In proximo morietur homo iste, et ad iucrum meum possum eum tradere, abiit, a Christo, et facta societate, non tantum corpore, sed etiam mente recedendo et apostatando, et veniens ad consilium proditor, ait illis : Quid vultis mihi dare, et ego vobis eum tradam, occulte scilicet, et sine strepitu? Eti^^sigavin sunt^ quia ille modus capiendi Christum, per suum discipulum videbatur magis conveniens et secrotus ; propter quod mutaverunt consilium praedictum, sciiicet de difTerenda niorte ejus, usque post festum. Quia enim traditorem invenerunt, in ipsa festivitate Christum occiderunt. Hoc autem, secundum Leonem P. ipam, divino intelligimus disposilum fuisse consilio.
0portebatenim ut manifesto implerenlur effectu, quae diu figurato fuerant promissa mysterio. Et pepigit Judas cum eis de Christo tradendo pro triginta argenteis : At illi constituerunt ei triginta argenteos, idem pretium quo Joseph venditus est a fratribus suis : in venditione enim Joseph praefigurata fuit venditio Cliristi. Judas ad congregationes ivit ubi Christum vendidit ; sic multi ad spectacula vadunt, ubi Christum pro modica tentatione et modico pretio vendunt. Ipse dedit pro triginta argenteis, sed peccatores dant saepe pro pretio minori. Ubi dicit idem Leo Papa, quod anima iucri cupida etiam pro exiguo perire non metuit, nuilumque in illo corde est justitiae vestigium, in quo sibi avaritia fecit habitaculum. Infelix mercator Judas, qui tantumdedit pro tanto, Deum pro nummo, verura pro vano, aeternum pro transitoriol Quia enim audierat Dominum tertia die moriturum, et eum in morte detineri putavit, mortem imminentem lucrativam sibi facere voluit. Cum enim esset fur et loculos habens, et videret unguentum super caput et pedes Domini effusum, quod putaverat esse vendendum, et pretium sibi tradendum, quod perdiderat in effusione unguenti, voluit recuperare in venditione Magistri. Illi quippe triginta argentei valebanttrecentos denarios usuales ; quiJibet enim decem valebat, et ita in venditione Christi recuperavit valorem unguenti praedicti, et recompensavit damnum trecentorum denariorum de quo dixerat: Quare hoc unguentum non veniit trecentis denariis et datumest egenis?
Ei fqrte haec causa fuit quare Matthaeus hic factum Mariae recitavit, ut scilicet congruenter factum Judae, quo Dominum vendidit, narraret, tamquam continuans effectum ad causam, quia hoc factum fuit occasio venditionis Christi. Judas itaque unus de duodecim, numero non merito, nomine non raunere, corpore non anirao, a principibus non invitatur, non cogitur, nulla necessitate constringitur, scd propria sponte processit et propria malignitate cunsiliura sceleratae raentis iniit; nec in venditione Magistri certam postulavit summam, ut dc re cara lieri soiet, sed quasi vile tradens et venale exponens mancipium, in potestate ementium posuit quantura dare vellent. Cum enim vilii^ expoountur, solet quaprere veoditor ab emptore,quantum dabis? Gum autem cara, e conver. -o dicit, tantum dabis.
Mystice autem per Judam significantur judices ac praelati et sacerdotes, qui judicia ac beneficia et sacramenta vendere non cessant. dicentes saepe,etsi non verbo,tamen facto : Quidvultis mihi dare^et ego vobis eum tradam ? Unde Bernardus : « Quanti hodie de his qui animas regere susceperunt, quod sine miserabili gemitu non est dicendum, Christiopprobria, flagella, clavos, lanceam, crucem, mortem in fornace avaritiae conflant, hoc solo a Juda differentes : quod ille omnium horum emolumentumdenariorum numero compensavit: isti, voratoria ingluvie lucri, inflnitas exigunt pecunias, his inhiant, timent ne amittant, mharum amorequiescunt, animarum apud eos nec casus reputatur nec salus ; et cum sint de patrimonio Christinimium impinguaii, incrassati, dilatati, non compatiuntur super contritioneJoseph! » haec Bernardus. Propter avaritiam vero Judas factus est talis, quia, ut Leo Papa dicit : Anima lucri cupida, etc, ubi supra.
Ex hoc autem articulo venditionis Christi, tria trahuntur notabilia documenta. Primum est, ut nobis caveamus ne et nos tam detestandumfacinus, scilicet venditionisChristi, umquam perpetremus, quod utique diversis modis incurrimus. Unde Beda : « Multi hodie Judae scelus, quod Dominum et Magistrum Deumque suum pecunia vendiderit, velut immane et nefarium exhorrent, nec tamen cavent. Nam, cum pro muneribus falsum contra queTnlibet testimonium dicunt, profecto quia veritatem pro pecunia negant, Dominum propecunia vendunt, ipse enim dixit: Ego sum veritas. Cum societatem fraternilatisdiscordiae pestecommaculant, Dominumprodunt : Quoniam Beus caritas est. » Qui,etiamsi nullus pecuniam det, Dominum argenteis vendunt, quia principis seculi imaginem, id est exempla hostis antiqui, neglecta Conditoris ad quam creati sunt imaginem, sumunt. Nam, secundum Hieronymum, sicut Joaones Baptista, qui non pro Christi confessione, sed pro defensione veritatis occubuit, ideo tamen pro Christo, quia pro veritate martyrium suscepit; iia e contrario gui caritatis et veritatis jura spernit, Christum utique, qui est veritas etcaritas, prodit. Imo universaliter, sicut dicit Origenes, omnes qui pro temporalibus et mundiahbus rebus justitiam deserunt, Deum qui est juslitia vendunt.
Similiter Dominum vendit: qui justitiam, vel consihurn vendit, ipse enim est justitia, ac spiritus, et Angelus consilii. Ille etiam Dominum vendit : qui, ejus timore et amore neglecto, terrena ac caduca, imo etiam criminosa plus amare etcurare convincitur. Dominum etiam pro temporali pecunia vendit, qui bona sua pro vana gloria expendit. Item, Deum vendunt et simoniaci, qui gratiam Dei, quae est in missae sacrificio, in sacramentis, in aliis sacratis et spiritualibus rebus, pecunia commutare non verentur. Et, quia simoniae peccatum est tam in dante, quam in recipiente, ideo non solum peccavit Judas in vendendo Christum. sedetiam Judaeiin emendo Christum. Emit autem a me Christum, qui dando mihi aliquod temporale, aufert mihi Christum; verbi gratia, si adulator dat mihi laudem falsam, ex quacormeumextollitur, aufertmihi Ciiristum, et ego consentiens pro vana laude vendo Christum. Item, dans mihi pecuniam, qua aUicit me ad peccatum mortale, aufert mihi Christum ; et ego consentiendo vendo Christum.
Nec tamen ille emendo retinet, sicut nec ego,sed necmihi nec tibi. Sic fuit de Juda, et Judaeis, quorum neuter Chr. stum retinuit ; sedacquisitus est nobis Christianis. Unde Rabanus : « Exsulta, Christiane, io commercio inimicorum tuorum vicisti, quod Judas vendidit, et Judaeus emit, hoc tu acquisisti; noster enim Christus, non Judaeorum, qui eum emerunt. » — Secundum est, ut etiam et nos vendi et vihpendi pro laude Dei patiamur; qui euim vendit rem aliquam, id pro quo rem vendit, plus appretiatur, quam rem if)sam. Unde, si quis te minoris valoris in corde suo et factis jEstimet, quam forte sis, non turberis, et maxime in causa Dei ; si enim ipse Dominus et Salvator noster, qui est summum bonum, et inthesauri reconditi, dignatus est pro nobis tam vili et exiguo pretio aestimari, ac vendi et vilipendi injuste, nos qui veraciter viles, et ob hoc vilipensibilessumuSjSi conditionis nostrae miseriam aspicere volumus, cur non pro Christo vihpendi, imo nihilipendi patiamur juste? Unde Psalmus : Ego propter te sustinui opprobria. — Tertium documentum est, quod homo debet vendere seipsum pro regno.
Si enim regnum coeloram venale est, et tantum valet quantum habes ; sed tu nihil habes melius teipso, vende ergo teipsum pro regno coelorum, sicut Christus voluit vendi, ut nobis acquireret regnum coelorum.
lu recolendo istum articulum, recogitet homo vilitatem suam, quia si justo pretio aestimari deberet, vix unum obolum valeret, imo nihil, in comparatione Christi, qui tam exiguo et vili pretio venditus est. Item, recogitet an ipse umquam Christum vendiderit : ipsum, et mandata ejus, pro re temporali vel pro delectatione transitoria deserendo. Item, recogitet quaUter ipse Christum sic venditum gratis sua mera bonitate acquisivit. Item, quia Christus adhuchodie venaHs est, ideo sicut Judas nequiter vendidit Christum, sic tu per contrarium cum eleemosynis eme ipsum; vel si ahud non habes, da pro eo cor tuum, hoc enim desiderat prse omni re mundi, juxta illud Sapientis : Prdebe, fili^ cor tuum mihi. Item, quiUbet, quantumcumque perfectus, non praesumat de seipso, cum audit Christi apostolum, Magistrum etDominumsuum, imo et Deum et Creatorem omnium, prodidisse. Et, quia quarta feria Dominus fuit venditus, sic sexta feria fuit crucilixus, ideoinmemoriam hujus venditionis Domini, pertotum annum jejuniis pcBjiitentialibus feria quarta secundum post sextam tenet locum. Hinc est etiam quod multi quartis et sextis jejunare consueverunt, multi quoque abstinent a carnibus quarta feria, quia tunc caro Christi fuit vendita ; ex tunc etiam post feriam quartam illam, qua fuit venditus, tribus diebus sequentibus initia et fines horarum omittimus, quasi nobis ablatus sit alpha et omega^ et impiistraditus.
Et, facta igitur ista pactione, qudsrebat Judas opportunitatemy scilicet loci, et temporis, et societatis, ut traderet illum occulte et sine ^Mr62S,scihcet quando populus non erat cum discipulis ; quod et fecit tradens eum post coenam, et de nocte cum in horto esset cum eis, ne per concursum et impetum populi tolleretur, qui de die eum sequebatur. Considera nunc quomodo Dominus Jesustoto vitse suaetempore usque hodie pro Judaeis laboravit ; sed ipsi tanquam ingrati mala pro bonis Domino reddiderunt, et post multas contumelias usque ad ipsius emptionem et mortem saevierunt. Unde ait Anselmus : « Demum venisti, Domine, ad oves quae perierant domus Israel , divini verbi lampadem palam extollens, ad illuminationem orbis terrae, et regnum Dei annuntians cunctis obtemperantibus verbo tuo, sermonem sequentibus signis confirmasti; et virtutem divinitatis tuae obstendisti in cunctis male habentibus, omnia omnibus gratis exhibens, quae saluti ipsorum congruebant, ut omnes lucrifaceres. Sed obscuratumestinsipienscor eorum, Domine, et projecerunt sermones tuos retrorsum ; nec attenderunt ad omnia mirabilia, quae operatus es in eis, exceptis paucis nobilibus athIetis,quos inter infirma et abjecta mundi elegisti, ut per ipsos fortia et alta miritice expugnares; nec solum ingrati gratuitis tuis beneficiis exstiterunt, sed etiam contumeliis affecerunt te Dominum dominantium, et fecerunt in te quaecumque voluerunt. Te enim faciente opera in eis, quae nemo ahus fecit, quid dixerunt ? Non est hic homo a Beo;,. . in principe daemoniorum ejicit dasmonia ; .
. . dwmonium habet',. . . CaHNA DOMINI. seducit turbas\. .
. voraxest et potator vini,. . . amicus publicanorum et peccatorum. Quid fles, quid suspiras, o homo Dei,dumsustines verborum injurias? Nonaudisquanta propter te in Dominum Deum tuum ceciderunt opprobria ? Si patrem familias Beelzebub vocaverunt^ quanto magis domesticos ejus?
Haec quidem et his similia blasphemantes, et aliquoties de lapidibus impetentes, Jesu bone, paticnter sustinuisti, et factus es coram eis, sicut homo Qon audiens, et non habens in ore suo redargutiones. Novissime autem et justum sanguinem tuum, bone Jesu, a discipulo tuo filio perditionis, triginta argenteis appretiati sunt, utprsecipitarentanimara tuam in mortem sine causa : » hsec Anselmus. Vere magna deberet nobis esse confusio, quod patientiam in adversitatibus non habemus. Jesus innocens tot et tanta, ac etiam Passionem et mortem patienter pro nobis sustinuit; et nos peccatis aggravati, et ira Dei digni non possunius parvas injurias et gravamina modica sustinere, et multoties nec verba levia pro ejus nomine tolerare 1 Unde Chrysostomus : « Christus exprojjratus contumelias fert ; tu vero ubique honorari vis,et non fers opprobrium Christi : » haec Chrysostomus.
Considera etiam hic, quam periculosum sit peccatis locum dare, ac principia et introitus eorum non repellere ; quia frequenter a miaoribus diabolus incipit, ut ad majora mala inducat. Si enim Judas cupiditate et avaritia, ac Judaei vanae gloriae et invidiae,restitissent,numquam ille ad proditionem, nec isti ad ejus occisionem pervenissent , sed quia minora contempserunt, ideo consequenteradmajoradecideruntjUt enim Ecclesiasticus ait : Qui spemitmodica^ paulatim decidet. ORATIO 0 Jesu clementissime, qui labores in praedicando, fatigationes in discurrendo, convitia et opprobria, injurias et angustias pro nostra salute pertuhsti, ac tandem ab uno discipulorum tuorum vendi, et a Judaeis appretiari triginta argenteis, sic quoque vili pretio vendi voluisti, da mihi tantae patientiae et humilitatis exemplum imitari, atque opprobria, injurias et omnia quae mihi illata fuerint patienter tua gratia tuoque consilio superare, et pro nulla re transitoria te nequiter commutare, vilipensiones quoque meas et angustias pro tui nominis gloria aequanimiter tolerare. Amen.
The Life of Christ (Vita Christi) companion
A prayer for every moment, already on your phone
Chosen Portion puts a curated historic prayer in front of you each day — so the words are there before the moment arrives.
Chosen Portion is the digital descendant of the carried prayer book: the short daily prayers this collection preserves, delivered one a day to your pocket.
- One short, memorable prayer delivered daily — build your repertoire a card at a time
- Prayers matched to real situations: fear, gratitude, decisions, grief, sleep
- Save favourites into your personal pocket collection you can open anywhere