Niccolò Vicentino (after Parmigianino), 1540-50
Translation of the Holy Gospel According to Luke
At that time, as Jesus was going to Jerusalem, He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee: and as He entered into a certain town, there met Him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off, and lifted up their voice, saying: Jesus, Master, have mercy on us. Whom when He saw, He said: Go, show yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass, that, as they went, they were made clean. And one of them, when he saw that he was made clean, went back, with a loud voice glorifying God: and he fell on his face before His feet, giving thanks: and this was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering said: Were not ten made clean? And where are the nine? There is no one found to return, and give glory to God, but this stranger. And He said to him: Arise, go thy way for thy faith hath made thee whole.
A Message From St. Anthony of Padau, Sermons: 14th Sunday After Pentecost, Clause 2-3.
(On the five kinds of leprosy and their meaning.)
And as he entered into a certain town, there met him ten men that were lepers, who stood afar off; and lifted up their voice, saying: Jesus, master, have mercy on us. Whom when he saw, he said: Go, show yourselves to the priests. And it came to pass, as they went, that they were made clean. (Luke 17:12-14)
The allegorical meaning is plain. The town is the world, and as the Lord enters it, the lepers meet him, by whom we understand the human race, which had sinned against the ten commandments, having loved neither God nor neighbour. Covered with the leprosy of unfaithfulness and iniquity, humanity cried out: Jesus, master, etc. It called for salvation, it begged mercy upon the human race, and the Lord granted both. With the blood of redemption and the water of baptism he cleansed it of all the leprosy of infidelity and wickedness.
The moral interpretation is this. These ten lepers stand for all sinners, who are affected by five kinds of leprosy, in five places. Leviticus refers to the five kinds of leprosy, and the five places infected by it, to whit: white, shining, obscure, red. and pale; leprosy in the head, the beard, the skin of the body, the clothes, and the house.
Neapolitan School, 17th Century
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Let us see what these words mean, and explain each one:
The white leprosy is hypocrisy and pretence of religion; the shining is ambition for passing honour; the obscure is the uncleanness of fornication; the red is robbery and usury; and the pale is envy of another’s happiness.
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Leprosy in the head means impurity in thought; leprosy in the beard is wickedness in outward action; leprosy in the skin is degrading conversation; leprosy in the clothing is dissent from the faith of Christ, or imprudence in exercising virtue; leprosy in the house is discord in the community.
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If anyone should be infected with this kind of five-fold leprosy, and should want to beg mercy from the Lord, he should do these five things: he should ‘let his clothes hang loose’, that is, he should not trust in any merit of his own, and presume upon no deed of his own. Alternatively, the ‘loose clothes’ refer to his bodily members, afflicted by harsh penance. He should ‘have his head bare’, by laying bare whatever he has done wrong with his bodily senses. He should ‘have his mouth covered with a cloth’, always being ashamed of what he has done. He should ‘cry out at all times’ that he is defiled and unclean; and regarding himself as unclean he should dwell alone, far from the tumult of worldly and evil thoughts, ‘outside the camp’, reckoning himself unworthy of the company of saints. Whoever lacks these five characteristics is not truly penitent.
So whoever wants to be truly penitent should have his clothes loose, presuming on nothing of his own. In confession, he should bare his head before God and his angels.
He should be ashamed to have done such things, and not only should he proclaim himself defiled and unclean, he should humbly bear it if others reproach him as such. If he acts otherwise, he is not really sorry. He should reckon himself like a leper, unworthy of the society of saints; and he should cast himself at their feet with a humble mind. So we read that “Those doing public penance used to stand at the church doors, dressed in sack-cloth, and humbly beg the faithful entering the church, saying, We unworthy sinners beg you, faithful of Christ, to pour forth prayers for us for divine mercy; because we are unworthy to enter the church and take part in the assembly of the faithful.”
Such people can say, boldly, Jesus, master, have mercy on us. Note the three words, ‘Jesus’, ‘master’ and ‘mercy’. Jesus means ‘salvation’. If anyone wants salvation, he should keep the master’s words, and so find mercy. The word ‘master’ comes between
‘Jesus’ and ‘mercy’; if you keep the master’s words, you will find salvation on your right hand and mercy on your left, to guard your observance. As Ecclesiasticus says:
If thou wilt keep the commandments… they shall preserve thee. (Sir 15:16)
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Whom, when he saw, he said: Go, show yourselves to the priests. Note the three words, ‘go’, ‘show’ and ‘priests’. ‘Go’ indicates contrition of heart, ‘show’ confession by the mouth, and ‘priests’ satisfaction in deed.
Regarding the ‘go’ of contrition, the prodigal son in Luke says:
I will arise and will go to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee. (Lucke 15:18)
First he says, ‘I will arise’, and then, ‘I will go’; because if you do not first rouse yourself from your lethargy, you will not be able to ‘go’ in contrition. ‘I will arise’, because I recognise that I am lying prostrate; ‘I will go’, because I have gone far away; ‘to my father’, because I am growing faint with misery and need under the master of swine; ‘I have sinned against heaven’, before the angels and saints who are God’s throne; ‘and before you’, in the depths of conscience which only you penetrate.
Regarding the ‘show’ of confession, the Bridegroom says in Canticles:
Show me thy face. Let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is sweet and thy face comely. (Cant 2:14)
We are recognised by our faces, and so the face represents confession, which makes us known to God who knows the way of the just (Psa 1:6). The just is first accuser of himself (Pro 18:17).
So ‘show me your face’, if you want me to show you mine, on which the angels desire to gaze (1 Pet 1:12). Thy face is comely: a ‘comely face’ is an ashamed confession. When confession is joined to blushes, it is a lovely sight; and so the Book of Esther tells how she,
with a rosy colour in her face, and with gracious and bright eyes, hid a mind full of anguish and exceeding great fear. So going in she passed through all the doors in order, and stood before the king. (Est 15:8-9)
Esther is the penitent soul, whose face in confession should be suffused with the rosy colour of shame. Shame blushes at the truth, and whoever fears the true judgements of God undoubtedly has the shame which, in confession, leads to glory. Whoever does not blush, does not fear.
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There follows, to the priests. Because they enjoin penance, they represent satisfaction. These words clearly show that sinners should show themselves to priests in confession, to whom is committed authority to bind and loose.
There follows: And as they went, they were cured. See how great God’s mercy is; he cleanses souls from sin by contrition alone, as long as they have a firm intention to confess.
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From all these, leprosy arises in the soul, infecting it and driving it from the community of the saints, we ask you then, Lord Jesus Christ, to cleanse us from the leprosy of sin, so that being clean we may re-enter the congregation of the saints, and be able to go up with you to the heavenly Jerusalem. Grant this, you who are blessed for ever and ever. Amen.
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There follows, thirdly:
And one of them, when he saw that he was made clean, went back, with a loud voice glorifying God. And he fell on his face before his feet, giving thanks: and this was a Samaritan. And Jesus answering, said, Were not ten made clean? and where are the nine? There is no-one found to return and give glory to God, but this stranger. And he said to him: Arise, go thy way; for thy faith hath made thee whole. (Luke 17:15-19)
The foreigner did three things: he returned, he fell on his face, and he gave thanks.
Someone ‘returns’ when he attributes no virtue to himself. Whatever good he does, he recognises as coming from mercy. He is called a ‘Samaritan’ (guard) because he attributes to God those good things that he receives, so as to say with the psalmist: I will keep my strength to thee (Psa 58:10), that is, ‘by attributing it to thee’. Do you want to keep what you have received? Then attribute it to God, not yourself. If you give yourself credit for what is not yours, you are guilty of theft. And if you do not ascribe to yourself what belongs to another, you make what is yours another’s.
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(The two kinds of temptation.)
Again, someone ‘falls on his face’ when he is ashamed of the evil things he has done. A man ‘falls’ when he is brought low. He who falls on his face can see where he is falling; he who falls on his back cannot. So, the good fall on their faces, because they humble themselves in regard to visible things, seeing what follows from them, so that they may rise to what is unseen. Bad people fall backwards, onto what they cannot see, because they do not see the consequences of their actions.
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So the Samaritan gave thanks for his cleansing; and the Lord praised him for so doing, saying, Were not ten made clean? He asked where the ungrateful were, as if they were unknown to him. This is a lesson to us, to give thanks to the Lord for the benefits he has given us. If Job blessed God’s name and gave thanks in his sufferings, how much more should we give thanks for so many blessings bestowed on us? Ezechias fell ill because he did not sing a hymn of thanksgiving after his victory. We read that Moses’ sister Miriam, and Deborah and Judith, sang songs to the Lord for victory over their enemies. This teaches us that we should return songs of praise and thanksgiving to God, the bestower of all good things.
In this clause there are three words we should note particularly: ‘one’, ‘Samaritan’ and ‘foreigner’, which represent three virtues. ‘One’ means the concord that comes from unity; ‘Samaritan’ represents the guarding of humility; ‘foreigner’ is finding sufficient for our needs in poverty. These three correspond to the Lord’s words, ‘Rise’, ‘go’ and ‘your faith has saved you’. Arise, for you are at one. Go, for you are a Samaritan. Your faith has saved you, because you are a foreigner. He who lives in unity, rises to the uprightness of good works. He who strengthens himself with the guard of humility, goes safely everywhere. He who signs himself in this world with the mark of poverty, like a stranger, will find that the faith of Jesus Christ, who was poor and a stranger, will save him.