Fr. António Vieira, S.J. (1608–1697) was a Portuguese Jesuit priest, missionary to Brazil, and the most celebrated preacher of the seventeenth century. He served as court preacher to King João IV of Portugal, undertook missions among the indigenous peoples of Maranhão and Grão-Pará, and was eventually tried by the Portuguese Inquisition. His sermons, which fill many volumes, are considered masterpieces of Baroque Portuguese prose. The passages below are drawn from his sermons and other writings and are presented in their original Portuguese with English translations.
I. On the Jews as Obstinate Enemies of the Faith
From the Sermão do Santíssimo Sacramento (Sermon on the Most Holy Sacrament), preached at Santa Engrácia, Lisbon, in the year 1645.
Original: “Bendita seja, Senhor, a vossa Sabedoria, & Providencia, que contra toda a pertinácia, & astucia de tão obstinados inimigos de nossa Fe deyxastes armada vossa Igreja, defendida a verdade desse soberano Mysterio com huma só palavra: Verè.”
Translation: “Blessed be, O Lord, Your Wisdom and Providence, which, against all the obstinacy and cunning of such stubborn enemies of our Faith, have left Your Church armed, the truth of that sovereign Mystery defended by a single word: Verily.”
II. On the Jewish Rejection of the Cross and the Deicide
From the Sermão da Quinta Quarta-Feira da Quaresma (Sermon on the Fifth Wednesday of Lent), preached at the Misericórdia of Lisbon, in the year 1669, on the text Vidit hominem cæcum (John IX).
On the Pharisees’ Obstinacy and Blasphemy against Christ
Original: “obstinados na perfídia, & rebeldes contra a mesma Omnipotência negarão, blasfemarão, & condemnarão a Christo.”
Translation: “Obstinate in their perfidy and rebellious against Omnipotence itself, they denied, blasphemed, and condemned Christ.”
On the Jewish Rejection of the Crucified God
Original: “Que o Judeo tenha por escandalo a Cruz, & por naõ confessar q crucificou a Deos, naõ queyra adorar a hum Deus crucificado — Cegueyra he manifesta; mas cegueyra de olhos fechados.”
Translation: “That the Jew should hold the Cross as a scandal, and, because he will not confess that he crucified God, should refuse to adore a crucified God — that is a manifest blindness; but a blindness of closed eyes.”
On the Blindness of Each Category of Unbeliever
Original: “Se lançarmos os olhos por todo o mundo, acharemos que todo, ou quasi todo, he habitado de gente cega. O Gentio cego, o Judeo cego, o Herege cego, & o Catholico (que na5 devera ser) também cego.”
Translation: “If we cast our eyes over the whole world, we shall find that all of it, or nearly all, is inhabited by blind people. The Gentile blind, the Jew blind, the Heretic blind, and the Catholic (who ought not to be) also blind.”
On Christ’s Words Twisted by the Pharisees
Original: “Disse Cristo aos escribas e fariseus: Ego honorifico Patrem meum: «Eu honro a meu Pai»; […] Ouvidas estas palavras, quem não diria, quando menos, que era um santo quem as dizia, principalmente tendo provado a sua doutrina com tantos milagres? E os escribas e fariseus que disseram? — Nunc cognovimus quia dæmonium habes: «Agora conhecemos que trazes dentro em ti o Demónio».”
Translation: “Christ said to the scribes and Pharisees: Ego honorifico Patrem meum: ‘I honour my Father’; […] Having heard these words, who would not say, at the very least, that a saint was the one speaking them, above all having proved his doctrine with so many miracles? And what did the scribes and Pharisees say? — Nunc cognovimus quia dæmonium habes: ‘Now we know that you carry the Devil within you.'”
On the Pharisees as Sons of the Devil
Original: “Aqueles malditos homens eram filhos do Diabo, como Cristo lhes disse nesta mesma ocasião: Vos ex patre diabolo estis; e de uns corações diabólicos, de umas formas endemonianhadas, ainda que o metal fosse tão divino, que havia de sair senão um demónio: Dæmonium habes?”
Translation: “Those accursed men were sons of the Devil, as Christ told them on that very occasion: Vos ex patre diabolo estis [‘You are from your father the Devil’]; and from diabolical hearts, from forms possessed by demons, even though the metal was so divine, what could come out but a demon: Dæmonium habes [‘You have a devil’]?”
III. On the Jews Seeking False Witnesses and Destroying the Temple of Christ’s Body
From the Obras Escolhidas, Sermon on the Sower (Sémen est Verbum Dei), in the same volume.
Original: “Quando os Judeus acusaram a Cristo diante de Pilatos, buscavam diversos falsos testemunhos, e nenhum concluía. Últimamente diz o Evangelista, que vieram duas testemunhas falsas, as quais disseram que ouviram dizer a Cristo que, se o templo de Jerusalém se desfizesse, ele o reedificaria em três dias.”
Translation: “When the Jews accused Christ before Pilate, they sought various false testimonies, and none was conclusive. In the end the Evangelist says that two false witnesses came, who said they had heard Christ say that, if the temple of Jerusalem were destroyed, he would rebuild it in three days.”
Original: “o qual os Judeus destruíram pela morte e o Senhor o reedificou pela ressurreição.”
Translation: “which the Jews destroyed by his death, and the Lord rebuilt by his resurrection.”
IV. On Men as Worse Enemies than Demons — The Crucifiers
From the Sermão no Sábado Quarto da Quaresma (Sermon on the Fourth Saturday of Lent), preached in Lisbon, in the year 1652, on the text Hoc autem dicebant tentantes eum (John VIII).
Original: “Que os homens sejão mayores inimigos, que os Demónios, he verdade, que eu tenho muyto averiguada.”
Translation: “That men are greater enemies than the Demons, is a truth which I have thoroughly established.”
Original: “As feras nem lhe quizeraõ fazer mal, nem lho fizeraõ: o Demónio quiz-lhe fazer mal; mas naõ lho fez: os homens quizeraõ-lhe fazer mal, & fizeraõ-lho. Olhay para aquella Cruz. As feras naõ o comeraõ; o Demónio naõ o defpenhou; os que lhe tiràraõ a vida, foraõ os homens.”
Translation: “The wild beasts neither wished to harm Him nor did they harm Him; the Devil wished to harm Him, but did not; the men both wished to harm Him and did. Look at that Cross. The wild beasts did not devour Him; the Devil did not cast Him down; those who took His life were men.”
Original: “Do Demónio defendeis-vos com a Cruz: os homens poemvos nella.”
Translation: “From the Devil you defend yourselves with the Cross: men put you on it.”
V. On the Veil of Jewish Infidelity
From the História do Futuro (History of the Future), Book I.
Original: “Fallava o apostolo do veu da infidelidade com que os judeus teem cobertos os olhos para não vér a Christo, e diz que nós os christãos, que somos os membros de que se compõe a egreja, tirado pela fé aquelle veu, com os olhos abertos e desempedidos por meio da própria especulação e estudo, imos crescendo de claridade em claridade.”
Translation: “The Apostle spoke of the veil of infidelity with which the Jews have covered their eyes so as not to see Christ, and he says that we Christians, who are the members of which the Church is composed, having removed that veil by faith, with open eyes and unfettered by means of our own study and reflection, go on growing from clarity to clarity.”
On the “Jewish Blindness” Obstinately Denying the Prophecies of Christ
Original: “estas são as que mais obstinadamente nega a Cegueira judaica, porque teem os olhos cobertos com aquelle antigo veu de Moysés, como lhes lançou em rosto o grande Paulo Judeu e semente de Abraháo, como elles, do tribu de Benjamim: Usque in hodiernum diem, cum legitur Moyses, velamen positum est super cor eorum; cùm autem conversus fuerit ad Dominum, auferetur velamen.“
Translation: “These are the ones most obstinately denied by Jewish Blindness, because they have their eyes covered with that ancient veil of Moses, as the great Paul threw in their faces — Paul, himself a Jew and seed of Abraham, as they were, of the tribe of Benjamin: ‘Even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil is placed over their hearts; but when he shall be converted to the Lord, the veil shall be taken away.’“
VI. On the Pharisees Conspiring Against Christ After the Resurrection
From the Obras Várias, treatise on the apparitions of the Risen Christ to the Virgin Mary.
Original: “No dia da sabbado, depois de morto e sepultado o Senhor, foram os príncipes dos sacerdotes e phariseus em corpo de tribunal (como escreve S. Mattheus) pedir soldados a Pilatos, para que fossem guardar o sepulchro, allegando que se lembravam que aquelle Enganador (assim chamavam aquém lhes pregava a verdade) tinha dito, estando ainda vivo, que havia de resuscitar ao terceiro dia.”
Translation: “On the Sabbath day, after the Lord had been put to death and buried, the chief priests and the Pharisees went as a body of tribunal (as St. Matthew writes) to ask soldiers of Pilate, that they might go to guard the sepulchre, alleging that they remembered that that Deceiver (thus they called him who preached the truth to them) had said, when still alive, that he would rise on the third day.”
Original: “Não contentes, como diz S. Severino, da tor morta o Mestre, e mochinando também de destruir aos discípulos: Non contenti interferisse Magistrum, discipulos etiam perdere moliebatur.“
Translation: “Not content, as St. Severinus says, with having put the Master to death, they were also plotting to destroy the disciples: ‘Not content with having killed the Master, they were contriving to destroy the disciples as well.’“
VII. On Supersessionism: Christ Receiving Circumcision in Order to Abolish It, and the Old Law Yielding to the New
From the Sermão dos Bons-Anos (Sermon of the Good New Year), preached at the Royal Chapel of Lisbon, in the year 1642.
On Christ Abolishing Circumcision
Original: “Ea ratione pro nobis circumcisus est, ut circumsionem auferret: «Recebeu Cristo a circuncisão, porque, como autor da Lei Nova, queria tirar do Mundo a circuncisão».”
Translation: “Ea ratione pro nobis circumcisus est, ut circumcisionem auferret: ‘Christ received circumcision because, as the author of the New Law, He wished to remove circumcision from the World.'”
Original: “Circuncida-se Cristo para tirar do Mundo a circuncisão, porque quem entra a introduzir uma lei nova, não pode tirar de repente os abusos da velha.”
Translation: “Christ is circumcised in order to remove circumcision from the World, because one who undertakes to introduce a new law cannot remove the abuses of the old one all at once.”
On the Old Law as Obsolete
Original: “Tinha servido a circuncisão no tempo passado e na Lei Velha, pois honre-se no tempo presente e premie-se na Lei Nova; […] Assim recebe Cristo e autoriza hoje a circuncisão, conforme as honras do tempo antigo, não porque se quisesse servir dela, que já estava muito envelhecida e a queria aposentar, senão pelo bem que dantes tinha servido.”
Translation: “Circumcision had served in time past and in the Old Law; let it be honoured in the present time and rewarded in the New Law; […] Thus does Christ today receive and authorise circumcision, in keeping with the honours of the ancient time — not because He wished to make use of it, for it was already very old and He wished to retire it, but on account of the service it had formerly rendered.”
On the Veil of the Temple as Figure of the Old Law
Original: “Já Cristo não estava vivo, quando se rasgou o véu do templo, figura da Lei Antiga.”
Translation: “Christ was no longer alive when the veil of the temple was torn — that figure of the Old Law.”
On the Eucharist Supplanting the Legal Lamb
Original: “Queria Cristo introduzir o sacramento e lançar fora o cordeiro da Lei, e para isso permitiu que o cordeiro estivesse embora na mesma mesa com o sacramento, que desta maneira se desterram com suavidade as sombras das leis velhas, e se vão introduzindo e conciliando os resplandores das novas.”
Translation: “Christ wished to introduce the sacrament and to cast out the lamb of the Law, and to that end He permitted the lamb to remain on the same table as the sacrament, for it is in this manner that the shadows of the old laws are gently banished, and the splendours of the new are gradually introduced and reconciled.”
VIII. On the Jews Continuing to Practise the Law of Moses
From the Arte de Furtar (The Art of Stealing), attributed to Vieira.
Original: “ficaram tão mal instruídos, que el-rei D. João III vendo que não só professavam a lei de Moysés publicamente, mas que também a ensinavam até aos christãos velhos, alcançou do papa Clemente VII o tribunal do santo officio no anno de 1531.”
Translation: “They remained so poorly instructed that King D. João III, seeing that they not only professed the law of Moses publicly, but also taught it even to Old Christians, obtained from Pope Clement VII the tribunal of the Holy Office in the year 1531.”
IX. On the First Council of the Church and the Rites of the Old Law
From the Sermões, Terceira Parte (Sermons, Third Part), Lisbon, 1683.
Original: “naquella grave questão que se disputou, & decidio no primeiro Concilio da Igreja sobre os Judeos terem, maes da Ley Velha, tinha sido de parecer Sam Pedro, que em quanto naõ obrigava a Nova, por naõ estar sufficientemente promulgada, se devia dissimular os mesmos Ritos com os Gentios, por nam escandalizar os Judeus, huns, & outros novamente convertidos.”
Translation: “In that grave question which was debated and decided at the first Council of the Church concerning whether the Jews should retain the rites of the Old Law, St. Peter had been of the opinion that, so long as the New Law was not yet sufficiently promulgated and therefore not yet binding, one should permit those same rites even among the Gentiles, so as not to scandalise the Jews, both groups being recently converted.”
Sources
The passages above are drawn from the following original editions, all available at the Internet Archive:
- Sermoens do P. António Vieira da Companhia de Jesu, Terceira Parte (Lisboa: Officina de Miguel Deslandes, 1683) — File 1 https://archive.org/details/sermoensdopanton01viei
- Sermoens do P. António Vieira — Tomo III (various sermons including the Sacrament, Quaresma, and Enemies sermons) — File 2 https://archive.org/details/sermoensdopanton03viei
- Sermoens do P. António Vieira — Tomo IV (including the Third Part sermons with the Crucifixion passages) — File 3 https://archive.org/details/sermoensdopanton04viei
- Obras Escolhidas do P.º António Vieira — Vol. X (including the Sermão dos Bons-Anos and Sermão do Mandato) — File 4 https://archive.org/details/obrasescolhidas10viei
- Obras Escolhidas do P.º António Vieira — Vol. XI (including sermons on the Sower and Lenten sermons) — File 5 https://archive.org/details/obrasescolhidas11viei
- Obras Várias do P. António Vieira (including the História do Futuro, the treatise on the Virgin’s sorrows, and the Arte de Furtar) — File 6 https://archive.org/details/obrasvariasdopa00vieigoog
- Obras Várias — Cartas e outros escritos (letters and miscellaneous writings) — File 7 https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_4qkDAAAAYAAJ