me to place it in the years of Augustine'smaturity as a preacher; say, about 415.
SERMON 223J
AT THE EASTER VIGIL
Date: uncertain1
Let us watch and pray in this vigil, in order to come to where we will never need to sleep anymore
When the blessed apostle was reminding us of the importance of prayer, he also reminded us at the same time about being watchful: Be persistent at prayer he said, being watchful in it (Col 4:2)! Impure love, brothers and sisters, compels those who are possessed by it to keep awake; the shameless person watches, in order to seduce; the evildoer, in order to harm; the drunkard, to drink; the bandit, to slay; the self-indulgent, to spend; the miser, to hoard; the thief, to steal; the robber, to smash and grab.2 How much more, therefore, ought charity to keep awake in holy and harmless people, if iniquity can extort wakefulness from the criminal and the corrupt?
They, however, are weighed down by a deep sleep of the heart, and it is that that forces them to keep awake in the flesh. It is against that sort of sleep that the cry is raised, Awake, you sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shed his light uponyou (Eph 5:14). In us, on the other hand, that call has shattered the sleep of this world, provided we have heard it and risen from the dead, about whom it says, Let the dead bury their dead (Lk 9:60).
Meanwhile, let us pay this solemnity its due of the wakefulness of the fleshbut enlightened by Christ, let us keep that of the heart perpetual and unceasing! Let us keep watch in the flesh, as best we can, in order to pray; and let us pray so that we: may come to where we can keep watch also in the flesh without ceasing. The angels don't sleep, after all, and we have been promised equality with them on the day of the resurrection,3 if charity keeps awake in us now
NOTES
1. The matchless brevity of this little sermon inclines maturity as a preacher; say, about 415. me to place it in the years of Augustine's