O Christ Jesus[75], BY THE WOUNDS OF THOMAS, Loosen the sins which bind us; Lest the enemy, the world, or the works of the flesh. Bear us captive to hell. By[76] THEE, O Thomas ... Let the right hand of God embrace us.
The satellites of Satan rushing into the temple Perpetrate an unexampled, unheard-of, crime. Thomas proceeds to meet their drawn swords: He yields not to threats, to swords, nor even to death.
Happy place! Happy Church, In which the memory of Thomas lives! Happy the land which gave the prelate! Happy the land which supported him in exile! Happy Father! succour us miserable, That we may be happy, and joined with those above!
Christe Jesu per Thomæ vulnera, Quæ nos ligant relaxa scelera Ne captivos ferant ad infera Hostis, mundus, vel carnis opera. ]
Per te, Thoma, post lævæ munera Amplexetur nos Dei dextera. ]
Jesus said unto his disciples, I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd layeth down his life for the sheep.
Ye have heard, most dear brethren, from the reading of the Gospel, your instruction; ye have heard also { 212} your danger. For behold! he who is not from any gift happening to him, but who is essentially good, says, I am the good shepherd; and he adds the character of the same goodness, which we may imitate, saying, The good shepherd layeth down his life for his sheep. He did what he taught; he showed what he commanded. The good shepherd laid down his life for his sheep; that in our sacrament he might change his body and blood, and satisfy, by the nourishment of his flesh, the sheep which he had redeemed. Here is shown to us the way, concerning the contempt of death, which we should follow; the character is placed before us to which we should conform. [In the first place, we should of our pity sacrifice our external good for his sheep; and at last, if it be necessary, give up our own life for the same sheep. From that smallest point we proceed to this last and greater. But since the soul by which we live is incomparably better than the earthly substance which we outwardly possess, who would not give for the sheep his substance, when he would give his life for them? And there are some who, whilst they love their earthly substance more than the sheep, deservedly lose the name of shepherd: of whom it is immediately added, But the hireling who is not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep and fleeth. He is called not a shepherd, but a hireling, who feeds the Lord's sheep not for inward love, but with a view to temporal wages. He is a mercenary who seeks indeed the place of shepherd, but seeks not the gain of souls.]