Caesarius of Arles

In his own words on 1 Samuel

• 1 Samuel 1:13-14

  As often as we apply ourselves to prayer, dearly beloved, we should above all pray in silence and quiet. If a man wants to pray aloud, he seems to take the fruit of prayer away from those who are standing near him. Only moans and sighs and groans should be heard. Indeed our prayer ought to be like that of holy Hannah, the mother of blessed Samuel, of whom it is written that "she prayed, shedding many tears, and only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard at all." Let everyone hear and imitate this, especially those who pray aloud without any embarrassment and in such a chattering fashion that they do not allow those near them to pray. Therefore, let us pray, as I said, with sighs and moans and groans, in accord with the words of the prophet: "I roared with the groaning of my heart." Let us pray, I repeat, not with a loud voice but with our hearts crying out to God.

  SERMON 72.2

• 1 Samuel 4:18

  Harsh preaching provides remedies for souls that are sick and arranges adornments for the healthy. What the Holy Spirit threatens the Lord's priests through the prophet is not a slight matter. "If you do not declare to the wicked his iniquity," he says, "I will require his blood at your hand," and again: "cry, do not cease; lift up your voice like a trumpet, and show my people their sins." … For this reason, dearly beloved, I absolve my conscience in the sight of God as often as I mention with humility a few words for the salvation of your soul. Indeed, I fear and shudder at the example of Eli, the priest, for, when he heard that his sons were committing adultery, he pretended to kill them or to suspend them from communion, but only gently admonished them, saying, "My sons, it is no good report that I hear about you. If one man shall sin against another, the priest will pray for him; but if the priest himself sins, who shall pray for him?" Now, in spite of this admonition, he fell backwards from his stool and died of a broken neck, and his name was blotted out of the book of life, because he did not punish his sons with great severity.

  SERMON 5

• 1 Samuel 17:17-18

  Just as this happened, then, in the blessed patriarchs, Isaac and Jacob, dearest brothers, so we know it was prefigured in Jesse the father of David; for when he sent his son David to look for his brothers, he seems to have typified God the Father. Jesse sent David to search for his brother, and God sent his only-begotten Son of whom it is written: "I will proclaim your name to my brothers." Truly, Christ had come to seek his brothers, for he said, "I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."4"And Jesse said to David his son, 'Take an ephah of flour, and ten little cheeses, and go see your brothers.' " An ephah, brothers, is a quantity of three measures, and in three measures is understood the mystery of the Trinity. Blessed Abraham knew this mystery well; for when he merited to perceive the mystery of the Trinity in the three persons under the holm-oak of Mamre, he ordered three measures of flour to be mixed. It is three measures, and for this reason Jesse gave this amount to his son. In the ten little cheeses we recognize the decalogue of the Old Testament. Thus, David came with the three measures and ten cheeses, in order to visit his brothers who were in battle, because Christ was to come with the decalogue of the law and the mystery of the Trinity to free the human race from the power of the devil.

  SERMON 121.1-2

• 1 Samuel 17:19-20

  As David came, he found the Jewish people located in the valley of Terebinth in order to fight against the Philistines, because Christ the true David was to come in order to lift up the human race from the valley of sins and tears. They stood in a valley facing the Philistines. They were in a valley, because the weight of their sins had pressed them down. However, they were standing but did not dare to fight against their adversaries. Why did they not dare to do so? Because David who typified Christ had not yet arrived. It is true, dearly beloved. Who was able to fight against the devil before Christ our Lord freed the human race from his power? Now the word David is interpreted as strong in hand; and what is stronger, brothers, than he who conquered the whole world, armed with a cross but not a sword? Furthermore, the children of Israel stood against their adversaries for forty days. Because of the four seasons and the four parts of the world, those forty days signify the present life in which the Christian people do not cease to fight against Goliath and his army, that is, the devil and his angels. Moreover, it would be impossible to conquer, if Christ the true David had not come down with his staff which is the mystery of the cross. Truly, the devil was free before the advent of Christ, dearly beloved; but at his coming Christ did to him what is recorded in the Gospel: "No one can enter the strong man's house, and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man." For this reason Christ came and bound the devil.

  SERMON 121.5

• 1 Samuel 17:28

  Now when David came, one of his brothers rebuked him, saying, "Why did you leave those few sheep and come to the battle?" This elder brother, maliciously chiding David who typified our Lord, signified the Jewish people who jealously slandered Christ the Lord even though he had come for the salvation of the human race, for they frequently chastised him with many insults. "Why did you leave the sheep and come to the battle?" Does it not seem to you as though through his lips the devil is speaking in envy of the salvation of humankind? It is as though he said to Christ: "Why did you leave the ninety-nine sheep who had strayed and come looking for the one which was lost, in order that you might call him back to your sheepfold, after freeing him with the staff of the cross from the hand of the spiritual Goliath, that is, from the power of the devil?" "Why did you leave those few sheep?" He spoke the truth, although in a wicked and haughty spirit. Jesus intended to leave the ninety-nine sheep, as was already said, in order to seek the one and to bring it back to his sheepfold, that is, to the company of the angels.

  SERMON 121.3

• 1 Samuel 17:34-37

  When David had been anointed by blessed Samuel before he came here, he had killed a lion and a bear without any weapons, as he himself told King Saul. Both the lion and the bear typified the devil, for they had been strangled by the strength of David for having dared to attack some of his sheep. All that we read prefigured in David at that time, dearly beloved, we know was accomplished in our Lord Jesus Christ; for he strangled the lion and the bear when he descended into hell to free all the saints from their jaws. Moreover, listen to the prophet entreating the person of our Lord: "Rescue my soul from the sword, my loneliness from the grip of the dog. Save me from the lion's mouth." Since a bear possesses his strength in his paw and a lion has his in his mouth, the same devil is prefigured in those two beasts. Thus, this was said concerning the person of Christ, in order that his sole church might be removed from the hand, that is, the power or mouth of the devil.

  SERMON 121.4