De arte praedicatoria

Knowing that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep:¹ it must be noted, dearest brothers, that sleep is threefold. There is a sleep, when someone is caught up into the contemplation of heavenly things, and then the natural powers rest; of which it is said: The Lord cast a deep sleep upon Adam;² and there is another sleep, when the sensitive powers rest, and the natural powers work; of which it is said, that an angel appeared to Joseph in his sleep.³ The third sleep is when reason sleeps, and sensuality goes astray. The first sleep occurs above man; the second according to man; the third below man. The first is miraculous, the second imaginative, the third monstrous. Through the first man becomes God, through the second spirit, through the third beast. In the first he dreams true things, in the second monstrous things; the third occurs in the night of sin, in the darkness of vice, in the shadow of crime. Now, therefore, in this time of grace, it is the hour for us to rise from the sleep of error, to rise up from the sleep of sin. Four things ought to rouse us from sleep: the rising sun, the cock's crow, fear of the thief, concern for household affairs. The sun of justice rouses us from the sleep of sin, which has already risen for us through grace in baptism, when we renounced sin. Through this, then, that we have already received grace, we are invited to concern of mind, and to its guarding.

The cock's crow rouses us from sleep, that is, the admonition of the preacher. Fear of the thief also, that is, of the devil, who, if he finds us sleeping, will enter the body through lust, the soul through pride, taking away the purple robes of the virtues, the riches of good works. Concern for household affairs also ought to rouse us from the sleep of sin. Let us be roused, then, since so many things rouse us; let us watch, since so many things invite us to vigilance, and because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed;⁴ let us persevere in grace, because glory is at hand. Let us run through the race course, because the prize is at hand. In two ways, however, does the just man approach eternal salvation: through the regimen of natural life, through the regimen of spiritual life, because the more the just man fulfills the regimen of temporal life, the more he approaches the life of glory.

The more he fulfills the regimen of spiritual life, the more he approaches the salvation of eternal life. The holier the just man, therefore, the nearer he is to salvation, and the older he is, the closer to it. Our salvation is nearer now than when we believed,⁵ because when faith was first given to us, a greater part of the regimen of life remained, and therefore a greater part of righteousness had yet to be completed. The night has passed, and the day is at hand (in the same place). Night is threefold: the night of ignorance, the night of guilt, the night of worldly tribulation. Of the night of ignorance it is said: The night has passed, and the day is at hand. Of the night of guilt it is said: Every night I will wash my bed.⁶ Of the night of worldly tribulation it is said: In the day the Lord has commanded his mercy, and in the night his song.⁷ In the first walk the foolish, in the second the impious, in the third the wretched. Now the night of ignorance has receded, because we are already instructed by the law, informed by reason, taught by every creature. For the law teaches what is to be done, reason how it is to be done, creation for whose sake it is to be done. For every creature, in serving the Creator, instructs us to serve God.

The night of guilt has also receded, because since grace has been conferred upon us in baptism, guilt has been banished from us. The night of worldly tribulation has receded, because although the primitive Church endured various tribulations, from the assault of tyrants, from the attack of false brothers, from the impugning of heretics; now the storm has in part been calmed, so that the Church may be able to fight for God in quiet. Therefore, the day is at hand, namely the day of knowledge, that it may enlighten the ignorant; the day of grace, that it may direct the one going astray; the day of worldly prosperity, that it may soothe the laboring. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness.⁸ Just as there are various kinds of night, so there are diverse kinds of darkening. For there are darknesses of ignorance, of which it is said: The people of the Gentiles who walked in darkness have seen a great light.⁹ There are darknesses of sins, of which it is said: He who walks in darkness does not know where he is going.¹⁰ There are darknesses of punishments, of which it is said: Cast him into the outer darkness;¹¹ the darknesses of ignorance are interior; the darknesses of sins, innermost; the darknesses of punishments, exterior. Let us therefore cast off the works of darkness,¹² that we may act well, let us flee the works of punishment, lest we live miserably. Let us cast off the works of ignorance, that we may be prudent; the works of sins, that we may be simple; the works of punishments, that we may be happy. And thus let us put on the armor of light,¹³ fortified with the light of wisdom against heretics, the light of grace against the devil, the light of glory against hell. Let us walk honestly, as in the day.¹⁴ He who walks in the night frequently walks dishonestly, because he either strikes against a scandal, or falls into mud, or slips over a precipice, or plunges into a pit: so he who walks in the night of sins sometimes strikes against the mountain of pride, falls into the precipice of gluttony, plunges into the pit of avarice. Let us walk honestly, then, in the day of good work, that we may arrive at the day of eternity.