[Sermones "Dormi secure" de tempore]

the Son of man has the power of forgiving sins on behalf of the Father, I say to you: Arise, take up your bed. This legate had the power to reform peace between God and man. Therefore, the Apostle says to Ephesians 2: He Himself is our peace. Therefore, He can well say: I must be about my Father's business.

Second, He was in these things as a most wise doctor, or master for informing man. Whence He Himself says: You call me Master and Lord, and you say well, for I am. Whence the Jews, recognizing Him for a master, said that in Matthew 22: Master, we know that you are truthful, and you teach the ways of God in truth. Concerning this master, we read a figure in Revelation 5, where we read that John saw a throne, and he who sat on the throne had a book in his right hand sealed with seven seals, and the book was given to the clerks who did not know how to read. Thus, spiritually, He who sits on the throne is a most wise doctor. Whence Gregory: That sitting one pertains to the dignity of a master, having a book in his hand, a sign of His wisdom, teaching us the works of mercy. Therefore, the book was sealed with seven seals. He, therefore, who hosts a pilgrim for God's sake, loosens the first seal. He who feeds the hungry loosens the second. He who gives drink to the thirsty the third. He who clothes the naked the fourth. He who visits the infirm the fifth. He who buries the dead the sixth. He who liberates the captive the seventh. Therefore, the same master says: What you did to one of these my least ones, you did to me. Come, blessed of my Father, receive the kingdom. But alas, there are few; therefore, laymen and clerks do not know how to read this book. Therefore, the most wise master says: In

those things that are of my Father I must be.

Third, I say that Christ was in these things as a most strenuous defender for liberating the human soul from the power of the devil. Whence we read a figure or painting in the deeds of the Greeks: that there was a great emperor who had a most beautiful daughter whom he loved very tenderly. A certain most strong pugilist came for her to the field with a robber who snatched her by force, and he overcame him and restored the virgin to the father. Then, reconciled to the father, she received various gifts. The father gave her a beautiful tunic, covered everywhere with golden fringes, as if to say: I have forgiven you; do not add to sin anymore. The friend received a crown having written: "From me is your dignity, because I have begged for you." From the defender, she received a ring inscribed: "I loved you, therefore learn to love me, and I desire nothing else from you." Thus, spiritually, this king is God the Father, who is the King of kings and Lord of lords, as John Revelation 19 says. This king had a beautiful daughter, that is, the human soul. A most wicked robber, that is, the devil, snatched her when he led her to sin and enclosed her in limbus the place where the souls of the just await salvation. But a most strenuous defender, that is, Christ, came so that He might liberate her. Whence Isaiah 63: I am a defender to save. This one entered the field of this world with the devil the robber, where he overcame him through death and the cross, as if by a staff, and reconciled her to the heavenly Father. Then the Father gave her a tunic, that is, the garment of innocence which she lost, in which He wrote: "I have forgiven you; therefore go and do not sin anymore." The Father gave her a crown of glory, and this is the Mother of Mercy. The defender gave the ring of faith, in which was written: "I loved you, therefore