Migne Reading Room
PG 1 · cols. 349–378
Villecourt, epistola dedicatoria and dissertatio praevia to the Letters to Virgins
Editors' preface
S. CLEMENTIS ROMANI
OF SAINT CLEMENT OF ROME
S. PETRI DISCIPULI
DISCIPLE OF SAINT PETER
EPISTOLAE DUAE AD VIRGINES
THE TWO LETTERS TO VIRGINS
LATINE ET GALLICE VERTIT, DISSERTATIONEM PRO EARUM AUTHENTIA PRAEFIXIT
TRANSLATED INTO LATIN AND FRENCH, WITH A DISSERTATION IN DEFENCE OF THEIR AUTHENTICITY PREFIXED, BY
REVERENDISSIMUS
THE MOST REVEREND
D. D. CLEMENS VILLECOURT
LORD CLEMENT VILLECOURT
SANCTAE ECCLESIAE ROMANAE CARDINALIS.
CARDINAL OF THE HOLY ROMAN CHURCH.
(Lutetiae Parisiorum, apud Ludovicum Vives, editorem, 1853, in-8. Ex typis Friderici Boutet, Rupellae.)
(Paris, at the house of Louis Vivès, publisher, 1853, in octavo. From the press of Frédéric Boutet, La Rochelle.)
Loquimur non in doctis humanae sapientiae verbis, sed in doctrina spiritus. (I Cor. II, 13.)
We speak not in the learned words of human wisdom, but in the teaching of the Spirit. (1 Cor. 2:13.)
EPISTOLA DEDICATORIA
DEDICATORY LETTER
ILL. AC REV. D. D. J. B. MALOU EPISCOPO BRUGENSI
TO THE MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND MOST REVEREND LORD J. B. MALOU, BISHOP OF BRUGES,
CLEMENS VILLECOURT
CLEMENT VILLECOURT,
EPISCOPUS RUPELLENSIS AC SANTONENSIS, PONTIFICIO SOLIO ASSISTENS.
BISHOP OF LA ROCHELLE AND SAINTES, ASSISTANT AT THE PONTIFICAL THRONE.
ILLUSTRISSIME AC REVERENDISSIME PRAESUL,
MOST ILLUSTRIOUS AND MOST REVEREND PRELATE,
Prorsus ignorabam ab Amplitudine tua denuo editas fuisse, cum duabus Epistolis ad Corinthios in Latinum jam dudum conversis, ambas sancti Clementis Epistolas ad Virgines, quas, saeculo praecedenti, Wetstinus Basileensis e Syriaco Latinas fecerat.
I was wholly unaware that Your Greatness had published anew, together with the two Letters to the Corinthians long since turned into Latin, both of Saint Clement's Letters to Virgins, which in the preceding century Wettstein of Basel had put into Latin from the Syriac.
Haec cognitio, si ad me citius pervenisset, procul dubio ab hac publicatione me deterruisset. Quomodo enim imperfectum aestimare licuisset mihi opus quod recentiore publicatione dignum judicaverat tantus ac tam eruditus vir, propter litterarum splendorem ac sacrarum peritiam Scripturarum, cunctis plaudentibus piis ac bonis, ad episcopalem dignitatem evectus? Sed me, labore tandem absoluto, dicere puduit: In vacuum laboravi, sine causa, et vane fortitudinem meam consumpsi.
Had this knowledge reached me sooner, it would beyond doubt have deterred me from this publication. For how could I have been allowed to reckon imperfect a work which so great and so learned a man had judged worthy of a more recent publication, a man raised to the episcopal dignity, with all the devout and the good applauding, on account of the brilliance of his letters and his skill in the sacred Scriptures? But, the labour being at last finished, I was ashamed to say: I have laboured in vain, without cause, and to no purpose have I spent my strength.
Verumenimvero, eamdem ambo currimus viam, et ad sanctae Matris Ecclesiae tendimus glorificationem et triumphum. Nec dubito quin vivaci qua polles oculorum perspicacitate, naevos Wetstini translationis permultos animadverteris, etsi illos indicandi non susceperis curam, tot aliis sollicitudinibus intentus: non enim omnia possumus omnes.
But in truth we are both running the same road, and we strive towards the glorification and triumph of holy Mother Church. Nor do I doubt that, with the lively keenness of sight in which you excel, you have noticed very many blemishes in Wettstein's translation, even though, intent on so many other cares, you did not take upon yourself the task of pointing them out: for we cannot all do all things.
En igitur, doctissime Praesul, ad te redit, novis vestimentis indutus, apostolicus virginitatis praeco, dulcis ille Romanus Clemens, beatissimorum Petri et Pauli comes et interpres, primorum Christianorum deliciae, incipientium et perfectorum doctor et magister, Ecclesiae sedisque Romanae vertex et decus.
See then, most learned Prelate, there returns to you, clothed in new garments, the apostolic herald of virginity, that sweet Clement of Rome, companion and interpreter of the most blessed Peter and Paul, the delight of the first Christians, teacher and master of beginners and of the perfect, the summit and ornament of the Church and of the Roman see.
Quidni cor meum pandam? Erubuit Pontifex ille noster, dum illum a tenebris ad lucem haeretica manus erueret, noluitque tunc qualis esset apparere. Alter Samuel alteri Sauli dicere visus est: Quare inquietasti me ut suscitarer,... cum Dominus recesserit a te? Enimvero,
Why should I not open my heart? That Pontiff of ours blushed while a heretical hand was drawing him out from darkness into light, and he was unwilling then to appear such as he was. A second Samuel, he seemed to say to a second Saul: Why have you disturbed me, that I should be raised up,... when the Lord has departed from you? For indeed,
Editors' notes and page, col. 349
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: fortitudinem meam consumpsi› · call in col 349-350 (text set across the full page width)
Isa. XLIX, 4.
Isaiah 49:4.
(printed under page 172)
(2) ‹anchor: recesserit a te› · call in col 349-350 (text set across the full page width)
I Reg. XXVIII, 15, 16.
1 Kings [1 Samuel] 28:15, 16.
(printed under page 172)
Page
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Editors' notes and page, col. 350
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fidei Catholicae hostis gloriam propriam quaesivit, imo Ecclesiae humiliationem, dum thesaurum absconditum reseraret.
the enemy of the Catholic faith sought his own glory, nay rather the humiliation of the Church, while he was unlocking the hidden treasure.
Beati quidem Clementis Epistolas ad Virgines, laudibus extulit; sed, cum simul immaculatam Christi sponsam conviciis impeteret, adversarium Christi se detegit et ministrum Satanae, qui transfigurat se in angelum lucis.
He did indeed extol with praises the blessed Clement's Letters to Virgins; but since at the same time he assailed the spotless bride of Christ with insults, he reveals himself an adversary of Christ and a minister of Satan, who transfigures himself into an angel of light.
Non omnes qui extra Ecclesiam sunt, hostili semper spiritu loquuntur. Junius Patricius, Oxoniensis, aliam operam sancti Clementis publicans, in Ecclesiam Romanam non invehitur; quae catholice sanctus Clemens semper dicit, nunquam in Catholicos detorquet; his quae ad pacem restituendam sanctus Clemens profert, ad seditionem discordiamque spargendam nullibi abutitur; in Petram Ecclesiae immotam inferi portas commovere non tentat.
Not all who are outside the Church always speak in a hostile spirit. Patrick Young, of Oxford, in publishing another work of Saint Clement, does not inveigh against the Roman Church; what Saint Clement always says in a Catholic sense he never twists against Catholics; what Saint Clement brings forward for the restoring of peace he nowhere abuses for the sowing of sedition and discord; he does not try to stir up the gates of hell against the unmoved Rock of the Church.
Veniam igitur ab omnibus orthodoxis, praesertim vero a te spero, fidelissime Praesul, si beatum Clementem virgines alloquentem novis producam et dignioribus, dummodo mihi non illudam, ornamentis vestitum, et si sensum verborum ejus a Wetstini interpretatione prorsus alienum, non semel usurpem.
I therefore hope for pardon from all the orthodox, and especially from you, most faithful Prelate, if I bring forward the blessed Clement addressing virgins clothed in new and worthier adornments, provided I do not deceive myself, and if more than once I adopt a sense of his words wholly foreign to Wettstein's rendering.
Nunc quid in hac publicatione intenderim piis omnibus lectoribus declarare operae pretium judico, fusius in praevia dissertatione discussurus.
I now judge it worth while to declare to all devout readers what I have aimed at in this publication, intending to discuss it more fully in the preliminary dissertation.
Doctus Binius, qui scribebat diu antequam invenirentur Epistolae sancti Clementis ad Virgines, expresse profitetur eas exstitisse, canonicasque fuisse appellatas, sicut Epistolam primam ad Corinthios, quia in fidelium coetibus legebantur.
The learned Binius, who was writing long before Saint Clement's Letters to Virgins were found, expressly declares that they existed, and that they were called canonical, like the first Letter to the Corinthians, because they were read in the assemblies of the faithful.
Hic ego tantum dicam quod si eas authenticas esse non firmiter tenuissem, imo, si minimum etiam dubium de earum genuino auctore in mente remansisset, ab eis vertendis et evulgandis prorsus abstinuissem, vel rationes saltem dubii mei exposuissem.
Here I shall say only this: that if I had not firmly held them to be authentic, nay, if even the least doubt about their genuine author had remained in my mind, I should have abstained altogether from translating and publishing them, or should at least have set out the reasons for my doubt.
Non eamdem certe securitatem exprimere valeo circa verum sensum ab auctore intentum: cum enim adhuc desideretur primigenius earum textus Graecus, timendum est semper ne quandoque erraverit Syriacus interpres. Ut ut sit, non dubito quin Wetstinus, etiam Syriacum vertens, plures ipse addiderit errores: ideoque non semel ab ejus sensibus exorbitavi. Si recta et congrua fuisset Wetstini interpretatio, nihil fere redarguendum esset in translatione Gallica D. Boistard de Prémagny: ideoque non interpretationem ejus, sed annotationes carpo.
I certainly cannot express the same assurance about the true sense intended by the author: for since their original Greek text is still wanting, it is always to be feared that the Syriac translator has at times gone astray. However that may be, I do not doubt that Wettstein, in translating the Syriac in his turn, himself added more errors: and so more than once I have departed from his meanings. If Wettstein's rendering had been right and fitting, there would be almost nothing to refute in the French translation of M. Boistard de Prémagny: and so it is not his rendering but his annotations that I censure.
Cum vero nihil absolute certum de fidelitate vel erroribus interpretum affirmari queat, absente textu primitivo, cur et ipse novam interpretationem aggressus sum? Huic quaesito in praevia dissertatione satisfaciam. Dicam tamen plurima sacrae Scripturae loca a Wetstino aut non fuisse agnita, aut male reddita fuisse: quamvis id creditu difficile videri queat de viro tam diu in sacris litteris versato. Sed, si haec loca agnovit, cur communem etiam apud suos interpretationem abjudicavit? Errores Wetstini aberrationes traductoris Gallici induxerunt.
But since nothing absolutely certain can be affirmed about the fidelity or the errors of the translators, the original text being absent, why have I too undertaken a new rendering? To this question I shall give satisfaction in the preliminary dissertation. I shall say, however, that very many passages of sacred Scripture were either not recognized by Wettstein or were badly rendered: although this may seem hard to believe of a man so long versed in sacred letters. But if he did recognize these passages, why did he reject the rendering common even among his own people? Wettstein's errors brought on the aberrations of the French translator.
Praecipua igitur mihi cura incubuit ut, in hac silva densissima, divinas detegerem sententias easque manifestarem. An rectum iter tenuerim, judicet pius ac eruditus lector, inprimis textus antecedentes consequentibus jungendo et comparando. Dialectices enim regulas non ignorabat sanctus Clemens, nec supponi debet contra illas voluisse disserere.
My chief care, therefore, has been to uncover the divine sayings in this very dense forest and to make them plain. Whether I have kept the right path, let the devout and learned reader judge, above all by joining and comparing the preceding texts with those that follow. For Saint Clement was not ignorant of the rules of dialectic, nor ought it to be supposed that he wished to discourse against them.
Praeterea, ne unum quidem textum novum introduxi, sed semper Wetstini interpretatio oculis meis subjecta est, dum irregulares et contortas ejus locutiones rectitudini naturali restituebam. Nec primus viam hanc ingressus sum: multi enim ante me, in antiquorum auctorum explicatione, audaces, ut sic loquar, conjecturas emiserunt, quae postea, ab omnibus eruditis, ut veritates inconcussae receptae sunt. Ego vero rarissime, nec forsan semel, meris innixus sum conjecturis; sed, ut plurimum, pars quaedam textus agniti ad notitiam partis, prae confusione verborum ignotae, me deduxit. Si fere ubique verba Wetstini abdicaverim, etiam quando ipsius sensui stabam, nedum adversari, potius morem ipsi gerere, existimavi. Sic enim loquitur in suorum Prolegomenon conclusione: « Conversionis Latinae vitia et inelegantiam benignus lector condonabit homini in opere novo et satis
Moreover, I have not introduced even a single new text, but Wettstein's rendering was always before my eyes while I was restoring his irregular and twisted expressions to their natural straightness. Nor am I the first to have entered on this road: for many before me, in explaining ancient authors, have put forth bold conjectures, so to speak, which afterwards were received by all the learned as unshaken truths. I, however, have very rarely, and perhaps not even once, relied on mere conjectures; but for the most part some portion of a recognized text led me to the knowledge of a portion that was unknown by reason of the confusion of the words. If I have renounced Wettstein's words almost everywhere, even when I stood by his sense, I considered that, far from opposing him, I was rather complying with his wish. For he speaks thus at the conclusion of his Prolegomena: "The faults and inelegance of the Latin version the kindly reader will pardon in a man who, in a work that is new and quite
Editors' notes and page, col. 351
Footnotes
(3) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 351-352 (text set across the full page width; call lies above the rendered foot)
II Cor. XI, 14.
2 Corinthians 11:14.
(printed under page 173)
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Editors' notes and page, col. 352
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molesto parum exercitato, et amicorum etiam consiliis, licet undique expetitis, destituto. Quosdam etiam qui in textum Syriacum irrepserunt errores..., etiam me non monente, facile corriget. »
troublesome, is little practised, and is moreover destitute of the counsels of friends, though sought on every side. Certain errors also which have crept into the Syriac text..., he will easily correct, even without my pointing them out."
Prima hujus loci verba Wetstini modestiam commendant; posteriora quae non intellexerit aut neglexerit, confitentur. Modestiam laudo; tenebrosis locis, quantum in me est, lucem affero; negligentiam, si quae fuerit, reparare conor. Nonne sic Wetstini votis obtempero?
The first words of this passage commend Wettstein's modesty; the later ones confess what he did not understand or neglected. I praise the modesty; to the dark places I bring light, as far as in me lies; the negligence, if there was any, I try to repair. Do I not in this way comply with Wettstein's wishes?
Omnem fere sermonem suum sanctus Clemens e fontibus sacris desumpsit. Nullis ergo laboribus parcens, eosdem fontes assidue adivi, quos, ut jam dictum est, Wetstinus ne suspicatus quidem fuisse videtur. Unde textus deprompti fuerint, fere ubique notavi, saltem quando phrasis satis integra apparuit: non enim vocabulum quodlibet sacrum indicari debuit, ne innumerae forent notae. Versionem adoptavi, non Septuaginta Interpretum aut alterius cujusvis traductoris; sed Vulgatae, etsi nondum tempore sancti Clementis existeret. Imo, in caeteris locis, quando libera mihi poterat esse verborum idem significantium electio, praetuli fere semper voces a Vulgata consecratas.
Saint Clement drew almost all his discourse from the sacred sources. Sparing no labours, therefore, I have assiduously gone to those same sources, which, as has already been said, Wettstein seems not even to have suspected. Whence the texts were drawn I have noted almost everywhere, at least when the phrase appeared sufficiently entire: for not every sacred word needed to be indicated, lest the notes be numberless. I have adopted the version, not of the Seventy Translators or of any other translator whatever, but of the Vulgate, although it did not yet exist in Saint Clement's time. Indeed, in the other places, when the choice among words of the same meaning could be free to me, I have almost always preferred the words consecrated by the Vulgate.
Lector attentus et prudens, modo primitivae Ecclesiae tantisper calleat spiritum, movebitur has legendo Epistolas, extrinsecis quas praebent authenticitatis probationibus, sentietque quam insulsae viroque gravi indignae sint cavillationes D. de Prémagny. Sine fuco aut ambitiosis ornamentis sanctum Pontificem, spiritu apostolico plenum, locutum fuisse, nemo partium studio alienus, inficiabitur. Hinc doctus Junius Patricius jam odoratus fuerat authenticitatem primae sancti Clementis Epistolae ad Corinthios.
An attentive and prudent reader, provided he has some little acquaintance with the spirit of the primitive Church, will be moved, in reading these Letters, by the extrinsic proofs of authenticity which they offer, and will perceive how insipid and how unworthy of a serious man are the cavils of M. de Prémagny. That the holy Pontiff, full of the apostolic spirit, spoke without paint or ambitious ornaments, no one free from party zeal will deny. It was from this that the learned Patrick Young had already scented the authenticity of Saint Clement's first Letter to the Corinthians.
Monita quae virginibus dantur, a Scripturis sacris, ut jam dixi, sed praesertim a scriptis apostolorum et evangelistarum, eruuntur. Ad eosdem quandoque revertitur sensus pius Pontifex: tam ardens est ejus desiderium virginibus suis inspirandi amorem virtutum et vitiorum horrorem! Oblique perstringit Christianos hypocritas, qui carnales sensus sub vestimento pietatis occultabant; praecipue vero perfidos haereticos qui jam tunc Ecclesiam lacerabant, quosque pagani saepius confundebant cum veris Christi discipulis.
The admonitions given to virgins are drawn from the sacred Scriptures, as I have already said, but especially from the writings of the apostles and evangelists. The devout Pontiff sometimes returns to the same thoughts: so ardent is his desire of inspiring in his virgins the love of the virtues and the horror of the vices! He glances obliquely at hypocritical Christians, who were hiding carnal feelings under the garment of piety; but chiefly at the faithless heretics who were even then rending the Church, and whom the pagans very often confused with the true disciples of Christ.
His temporibus, quemadmodum hodie, castitati se devovebant duplicis generis personae: primo, qui ad ministerium sacrum vocabantur; deinde qui in saeculo remanentes, homines vel feminae, ad perfectionem evangelicam tendebant. Prioribus sanctus Clemens commemorat vocationis sublimitatem, ne degeneri conversatione illam deprimant. Et, quoniam humilitas custos est vitae angelicae quam ducere debent praesertim Christi ministri, sanctus Pontifex superbiam, quocunque se vertat et abscondat, persequitur, ejusque latebras detegit in praedicatione, exorcismis, caeterisque actibus etiam sanctissimis. Cum autem praesumptio ac temeritas plurimos in perditionem induxerint, cautiones suggerit quibus periculum devitetur.
In those times, just as today, persons of two kinds devoted themselves to chastity: first, those who were called to the sacred ministry; then those who, remaining in the world, men or women, were striving towards evangelical perfection. To the former Saint Clement recalls the sublimity of their vocation, lest they lower it by a degenerate manner of life. And since humility is the guardian of the angelic life which the ministers of Christ above all ought to lead, the holy Pontiff pursues pride wherever it turns and hides itself, and uncovers its lurking places in preaching, in exorcisms, and in the other acts, even the most holy. And since presumption and rashness have led very many into perdition, he suggests precautions by which the danger may be avoided.
Utrisque, id est clericis et virginibus in saeculo degentibus, ut sanctum timorem animis eorum incutiat, lapsum exhibet quarumdam columnarum quae inconcussae et immotae credi poterant. Eis tamen animum addit, memorans gratias protectionemque a coelo praeparatas animabus cautis ac prudentibus.
To both, that is, to clerics and to virgins living in the world, in order to strike a holy fear into their minds, he displays the fall of certain pillars which could have been believed unshaken and unmoved. Yet he gives them heart, recalling the graces and the protection prepared from heaven for cautious and prudent souls.
Wetstinus, qui certe laudari meretur quod sancti Clementis epistolas non depravaverit absona elegantia quae sensum earum intervertere potuisset, negligentiam interdum eas dedecorantem admisit, quae multum nocere debuit ipsarum auctoritati. Adeo parum curavit conjungere auctoris sui cogitationes, ut eas potius disjungere studuisse videatur. Nihil tamen facilius erat quam phraseos regularis constructio.
Wettstein, who certainly deserves to be praised for not having corrupted Saint Clement's letters with a discordant elegance that could have perverted their sense, at times allowed a negligence that disfigures them, which must have done much harm to their authority. So little did he care to join together his author's thoughts that he seems rather to have striven to disjoin them. Yet nothing was easier than the construction of a regular phrase.
Venia mihi concedatur si laborem viribus forte meis superiorem assumpserim. Homonymus filius Patrem honorare voluit. Praeterea saepius clare exprimit beatus Clemens sacramentorum Ecclesiae usum, praesertim divinae Eucharistiae, sacraeque exomologesis peccatorum; intemeratam extollit virginitatem beatissimae Mariae, quae coeli Dominum gremio suo gestare meruit. Pectori meo dulcis erat reproductio hujus antiquae fidei Romanae quae semper eadem fuit, est et erit. Sanctum Clementem amare debet Gallia, quae ab ipso suscepit plures antistites suos, generososque martyres. Nemo autem eum plus diligere ac venerari
Let pardon be granted me if I have taken up a labour perhaps beyond my strength. A son bearing the same name wished to honour his Father. Moreover the blessed Clement quite often clearly expresses the use of the Church's sacraments, especially of the divine Eucharist and of the sacred confession of sins; he extols the inviolate virginity of the most blessed Mary, who merited to bear the Lord of heaven in her womb. Sweet to my heart was the reproduction of this ancient Roman faith, which always has been, is and will be the same. Gaul ought to love Saint Clement, for from him she received several of her bishops and noble martyrs. But no one to love and venerate him more
Editors' notes and page, col. 353
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Editors' notes and page, col. 354
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debet quam episcopus qui claro ejus nomine insignitur, quique successor est sancti hujus Eutropii, episcopi et martyris, quem ad evangelizandos Santones beatus Clemens ipse miserat.
is bound than the bishop who is distinguished by his illustrious name, and who is the successor of that Saint Eutropius, bishop and martyr, whom the blessed Clement himself had sent to evangelize the Santones.
Latine Galliceque hunc librum edidi; non enim pro solis popularibus meis scribebam, sed pro omnibus etiam extraneis quibus haec lectio prodesse poterat. Caeterum necessarium erat opponere translationi confusae Wetstini textum clarum et lucidum. Utinam aedificatione et sanctificatione omnium lectorum Deus Optimus Maximus adimpleat cordis mei desideria!
I have published this book in Latin and in French; for I was not writing for my own countrymen alone, but also for all foreigners whom this reading could profit. Besides, it was necessary to set over against Wettstein's confused translation a clear and lucid text. May God, the Best and Greatest, fulfil the desires of my heart by the edification and sanctification of all readers!
Epistola haec, Antistes optime, longior apparebit quibusdam, praesertim longiore dissertatione eam subsequente. Aliud, spero, judicium erit, momentum hujus libri ponderantis.
This letter, most excellent Bishop, will appear too long to some, especially with a longer dissertation following it. Different, I hope, will be the judgement of one who weighs the importance of this book.
Si quid in hoc opere, vel in aliis publicationibus meis, minus exactum vel orthodoxum, contra voluntatem, mihi elapsum fuerit, hoc totum subjicio correctioni sanctae Matris Ecclesiae Romanae, sacrique illius Verticis, quibus spondeo ac juro omnimodam ac sinceram, intimo ex corde, fidelitatem et obedientiam.
If in this work, or in my other publications, anything less exact or less orthodox has slipped from me against my will, I submit the whole of it to the correction of holy Mother the Roman Church and of her sacred Head, to whom I pledge and swear, from my inmost heart, entire and sincere fidelity and obedience.
Qui mihi inspiravit ut hoc opus tibi dedicarem, Praesul ornatissime, Deus, omnium fons bonorum, spiritui tuo indesinenter adsit, teque diu Ecclesiae decus, fidelium lumen animarum, et Praesulum exemplar, incolumem servet.
May God, the fount of all good things, Who inspired me to dedicate this work to you, most distinguished Prelate, be unceasingly present to your spirit, and long preserve you safe, the ornament of the Church, the light of faithful souls, and the pattern of Prelates.
Tuus in Christo et Maria addictissimus servus,
Your most devoted servant in Christ and Mary,
† CLEMENS,
† CLEMENT,
EPISCOPUS RUPELLENSIS ET SANTONENSIS.
BISHOP OF LA ROCHELLE AND SAINTES.
Scribebam Rupellae, die octava Nativitatis B. M. V. 1852.
Written at La Rochelle, on the octave day of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, 1852.
DE DUABUS EPISTOLIS SANCTI CLEMENTIS ROMANI AD VIRGINES DISSERTATIO PRAEVIA
PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION ON THE TWO LETTERS OF SAINT CLEMENT OF ROME TO VIRGINS
In qua expenditur earum authenticitas et refelluntur objectiones quae huic opponuntur.
In which their authenticity is weighed and the objections raised against it are refuted.
RATIO NOVAE HUJUS PUBLICATIONIS.
THE REASON FOR THIS NEW PUBLICATION.
Diu desideravi et quaesivi duas sancti Clementis Romani Epistolas ad Virgines, quae saeculo praecedenti, divina favente Providentia, inventae fuerant.
I long desired and sought the two Letters to Virgins of Saint Clement of Rome, which had been found in the preceding century by the favour of divine Providence.
Noveram quidem acriter impugnatam fuisse a pseudo-reformatis earum authenticitatem, quae etiam quibusdam Catholicis anceps et dubia visa fuerat. Cum autem certe scirem in his reperiri quae perfecte congruebant testimoniis sancti Hieronymi et sancti Epiphanii, suspicabar a discipulis Lutheri et Calvini haec antiquitatis monumenta fuisse reprobata praecipue ex odio virginitatis, et a quibusdam catholicis ideo non fuisse admissa quod haec a suspectis manibus oblata non satis mature ponderassent⟨.⟩
I knew indeed that their authenticity had been sharply attacked by the pseudo-reformed, and that it had seemed uncertain and doubtful even to some Catholics. But since I knew for certain that there were found in them things which agreed perfectly with the testimonies of Saint Jerome and Saint Epiphanius, I suspected that these monuments of antiquity had been rejected by the disciples of Luther and Calvin chiefly out of hatred of virginity, and that they had not been admitted by some Catholics for this reason, that they had not weighed with sufficient maturity things offered by suspect hands.
Editors' notes and page, col. 355
Page
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- other: settle: full_width (upper part only). On the page of cols 355-356 (PG001b p. 175) the end of the dedicatory letter, its signature and date, and the title of the Dissertatio praevia with its italic sub-caption are printed full width; all of that is set here once, each line joined from the overlapping 355 and 356 crops. Below the title the page is in two columns: this file then carries the left column only (caption 'RATIO NOVAE HUJUS PUBLICATIONIS.' and two paragraphs). The page opens mid-sentence, continuing the previous page. The title's four display lines are set as one caption. The final stop after 'ponderassent' has not printed. 'Catholicis' is printed once with a capital and once without, as set. No foot notes on this page.
Prorsus firmatum est quod persenseram, quando in possessionem meam ambae istae Epistolae pervenerunt, easque attente consideravi. Insuper sola Wetstini, qui has e Syriaco in Latinum verterat, negligentia sufficere mihi visa est, ut lector respueret scriptum adeo inconditum: etiamsi enim vel minime attenderetur ruditati, ne dicam imperitiae, Latinitatis, rarissime, ut jam dixi, textus Scripturae interpres animadvertit et agnovit; nec forsan minus raro auctoris sui plene sensum attigit. Inde factum est ut saepius inintelligibilis aut barbarus prodiret pius sancti Clementis labor.
What I had sensed was wholly confirmed when both those Letters came into my possession and I considered them attentively. Moreover the negligence alone of Wettstein, who had turned them from Syriac into Latin, seemed to me enough to make a reader reject a writing so disordered: for even if no heed at all were paid to the roughness, not to say the unskilfulness, of the Latinity, the translator very rarely, as I have already said, noticed and recognized the texts of Scripture; and perhaps no less rarely did he fully reach his author's sense. Hence it came about that Saint Clement's devout labour quite often came forth unintelligible or barbarous.
Exhorrui, fateor, hanc difficultatum silvam ingrediendo: nec deerant rationes quibus ab his extricandis dumis removerer. Hic enim labor exigi non potest ab episcopo mille aliis gravibus curis intento.
I shuddered, I confess, on entering this forest of difficulties: nor were reasons lacking to turn me away from disentangling these thickets. For this labour cannot be demanded of a bishop intent on a thousand other weighty cares.
Editors' notes and page, col. 356
Page
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- marginal letters: A ‹Prorsus firmatum est quod persenseram, quando›; B ‹candis dumis removerer. Hic enim labor exigi non›; C (none on this page); D (none on this page)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: The upper part of this page (end of the dedicatory letter, signature, date, and the title of the Dissertatio praevia) is printed full width and is set once in c355_a.md (settle: full_width, upper part only). This file carries only the right column of the two-column lower part, which continues the Latin text of the dissertation (no facing version: both columns are the same running Latin). The column ends on a word split at the break (in- | tento.): set whole here from the top line of col 357, so c357_a.md begins at 'Praeterea'. 'pius' — the p is damaged in the type. No foot notes on this page.
Praeterea sciebam sectarios non aequiores futuros esse erga elucubrationem meam, postquam ejusdem generis fetum a sodali editum tam dire lacesserint. Expendebam quoque modicum, qui sperari posset, hujus opusculi fructum: fratres enim nostri errantes, hoc edito libello, non minus quam antea virginitati infensi erunt, etiamsi luce clarius probaretur authenticas esse sancti Clementis Epistolas ad Virgines. Non siquidem huic pontifici felicior obtingere sors potest quam divo Paulo cujus erat discipulus. Catholici hoc novo argumento non indigent ut doctrinam sanctae matris Ecclesiae commendatam habeant. Tandem, aiebam, si Deo placuerit emendari et explicatum prodire opus istud, lucem ac voluntatem, ut perficiatur, inspirabit uni ex tot piis doctoribus qui insudant hodie in eruendis et evulgandis tot veterum Patrum thesauris absconditis.
Moreover I knew that the sectaries would be no fairer towards my study, after they had so cruelly assailed a production of the same kind published by one of their own fellows. I also weighed how slight was the fruit that could be hoped for from this little work: for our erring brethren, once this small book is published, will be no less hostile to virginity than before, even if it were proved more clearly than light that Saint Clement's Letters to Virgins are authentic. For no happier lot can fall to this pontiff than to the divine Paul, whose disciple he was. Catholics do not need this new argument in order to hold dear the teaching of holy mother Church. Finally, I used to say, if it pleases God that this work should be amended and come forth explained, He will inspire the light and the will to accomplish it in one of the many devout scholars who toil today at unearthing and publishing so many hidden treasures of the ancient Fathers.
Semper tamen perseveravit in me motus interior quo ad hunc laborem urgebar. An ille motus supernaturalis fuerit nec affirmare, nec negare audeo. Dicam solummodo quod per plures annos cunctantem sanctus Clemens intus arguere me videbatur; quasi fidejussorem et adjutorem operis offerens sese: ut quemadmodum ipse virginitatem laudibus exornaverat, cautisque monitis eam praemunierat, sic ego Epistolarum suarum authenticitatem contra oblocutores naviter firmarem: qui enim aperit os mutorum, etiam, quando vult, loquacissimos et audacissimos mutos efficit.
Yet there always persisted in me an inward movement by which I was urged to this labour. Whether that movement was supernatural I dare neither affirm nor deny. I shall say only that through several years, as I delayed, Saint Clement seemed to reprove me inwardly; offering himself, as it were, as surety and helper of the work: so that, just as he himself had adorned virginity with praises and fortified it beforehand with cautious admonitions, so I should diligently establish the authenticity of his Letters against detractors: for He Who opens the mouth of the dumb also, when He wills, makes the most talkative and the most audacious dumb.
Quare diutius haesitassem, cum hujus libelli, per tot saecula absconditi, publicatio ad majorem Dei gloriam et ad sanctae matris Ecclesiae honorem vergere nata esset?
Why should I have hesitated longer, when the publication of this little book, hidden through so many centuries, was of its nature apt to tend to the greater glory of God and to the honour of holy mother Church?
Certe si sola eloquentia in scriptis antiquis quaereretur, in oblivione relinqui potuissent sancti Clementis Epistolae quas publicamus: libri namque superabundantes politioris litteraturae et eximiae poeseos undequaque ad nos pervenerunt. Et utinam periissent tot opera plena foeditatibus et immunditiis vitium eleganter insinuantibus! Utinam, e contra, conservati fuissent, eorum loco, innumeri sanctorum Patrum thesauri injuria temporum amissi, coelestemque sapientiam spirantes!
Certainly, if eloquence alone were sought in ancient writings, the Letters of Saint Clement which we are publishing could have been left in oblivion: for books of more polished literature and of excellent poetry have come down to us from every side in superabundance. And would that so many works had perished which are full of foulness and uncleanness, elegantly insinuating vice! Would that, on the contrary, there had been preserved in their place the numberless treasures of the holy Fathers lost by the injury of the times, and breathing heavenly wisdom!
PRETIUM HUJUS MONUMENTI ANTIQUI.
THE VALUE OF THIS ANCIENT MONUMENT.
Verum, has inter divitias, tanti nullae aestimari debent quanti virorum apostolicorum scripta quae prima Christianorum vestigia nobis detegunt, praecipue autem si ex his ad nos reboet quaedam echo remota pontificiae vocis quae penitus exstincta credebatur. Quis, porro, sonus, post apostolorum vocem, clarior nobis vel charior esse potest quam vox sancti Clementis quae toties in fidelium coetibus aures attentas implevit, pectora sancta commovit! Non modo namque ipse vivens praedicavit,
But among these riches none ought to be valued so highly as the writings of the apostolic men, which uncover for us the first footprints of the Christians, and above all if from them there resounds to us some distant echo of a pontifical voice that was believed utterly extinct. What sound, moreover, after the voice of the apostles, can be clearer or dearer to us than the voice of Saint Clement, which so often in the assemblies of the faithful filled attentive ears and stirred holy hearts! For not only did he himself preach while living,
Editors' notes and page, col. 357
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: aperit os mutorum› · call in col 357
Sap. X, 21.
Wisdom 10:21.
(printed under page 176)
Page
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- marginal letters: (none beside this column; the letters A B C D stand between the columns against the right column, see c358_a.md)
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- other: The column opens with 'tento.', the second half of 'intento.' which is set whole at the end of c356_a.md, so this file begins at 'Praeterea'. Both columns of this page are the same running Latin text (no facing version). The caption 'PRETIUM HUJUS MONUMENTI ANTIQUI.' is printed within this column. Foot note called in this column (call removed): 1 Sap. X, 21. (on 'os mutorum'). Damaged type, read from context and not marked in the text: 'Epistolas ad Virgines' (the E has lost its lower bar and looks like F), 'quam divo Paulo' (qu broken), 'virginitati' (a broken). The column ends mid-sentence at 'praedicavit,'.
sed et defunctus adhuc locutus est, dum, per plura saecula, ipsius scripta fidelibus legerentur. Eo purior aqua manat quo fonti propinquior est. Nemo vero nescit fidem ac vivendi formam cordi sancti Clementis instillatas fuisse ab ipsis apostolis Petro et Paulo quorum discipulus erat. Horum mores sanctissimos coram intuitus est, caeterisque intuendos ac imitandos proposuit: dignus profecto qui ab ipso Petro in successorem eligeretur: ejus quippe scientia, vita, martyrium satis probarunt a coelo inspiratam fuisse tam eximiam electionem.
but being dead he also spoke still, while through many centuries his writings were read to the faithful. Water flows the purer the nearer it is to the spring. And no one is unaware that the faith and the pattern of living were instilled into the heart of Saint Clement by the apostles Peter and Paul themselves, whose disciple he was. Their most holy ways he beheld face to face, and he set them before others to be beheld and imitated: worthy indeed to be chosen by Peter himself as his successor: for his knowledge, his life, his martyrdom sufficiently proved that so excellent a choice had been inspired from heaven.
Quale fuit illius meritum cujus praedestinatio gloriosa ab ipso beato Paulo praedicta est! Quem certatim laudibus efferunt maximis Ignatius Antiochenus, Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Clemens Alexandrinus, Origenes, Eusebius, Athanasius, Cyrillus Hierosolymitanus, Optatus Milevitanus, Epiphanius, Basilius, Hieronymus, Rufinus, Augustinus, Eucherius Lugdunensis, innumerique alii!
What was the merit of him whose glorious predestination was proclaimed by the blessed Paul himself! Whom Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus of Lyons, Clement of Alexandria, Origen, Eusebius, Athanasius, Cyril of Jerusalem, Optatus of Milevis, Epiphanius, Basil, Jerome, Rufinus, Augustine, Eucherius of Lyons, and countless others vie with one another in exalting with the highest praises!
Non solae sancti Clementis ad Virgines Epistolae temporum injuriam subierant, plurima alia tanti pontificis scripta amissa sunt, et quae supersunt, aut mutila aut corrupta ad nos transmissa sunt. Dominus autem qui custodit ossa Sanctorum suorum, eaque, cum sibi placet, revelat, scripta etiam eorum quandoque, per quemlibet, etiamsi Ecclesiae catholicae extraneum, manifestat.
Not only had Saint Clement's Letters to Virgins suffered the injury of the times; very many other writings of so great a pontiff have been lost, and those which survive have been handed down to us either mutilated or corrupted. But the Lord, Who keeps the bones of His Saints, and reveals them when it pleases Him, sometimes also makes their writings manifest through anyone whatever, even one who is a stranger to the Catholic Church.
Sic, anno 1633, doctissimus Junius Patricius, Oxoniensis, edidit Graece Latineque primam ejusdem sancti Clementis Epistolam ad Corinthios, ex antiquissimo manuscripto Alexandrino. Sic, fere diebus nostris, Joannes Jacobus Wetstinus, e protestantium etiam grege, Syriace ac Latine edidit, Lugduni Batavorum, duas alias sancti Clementis ad Virgines Epistolas, quas ex antiquo manuscripto Syriaco Novi Testamenti, Alepo, ab imperatore Turcarum misso, eruit.
Thus in the year 1633 the most learned Patrick Young, of Oxford, published in Greek and Latin the first Letter of the same Saint Clement to the Corinthians, from the very ancient Alexandrian manuscript. Thus, almost in our own days, Johann Jakob Wettstein, he too from the flock of the Protestants, published at Leiden, in Syriac and Latin, two other Letters of Saint Clement, to Virgins, which he drew out of an ancient Syriac manuscript of the New Testament, sent from Aleppo by the emperor of the Turks.
Litteras sancti Clementis ad Corinthios vocat sanctus Irenaeus potentissimas. Primam ad eos Epistolam sanctus Hieronymus testatur specialius esse valde utilem. « Haec videtur, ait, characteri Epistolae, quae sub Pauli nomine ad Hebraeos fertur, convenire. » Idem sanctus doctor dubitat de authenticitate posterioris epistolae sancti Clementis ad Corinthios.
Saint Irenaeus calls Saint Clement's letter to the Corinthians most powerful. Saint Jerome testifies more particularly that the first Letter to them is very useful. "This," he says, "seems to agree with the character of the Letter which goes under Paul's name to the Hebrews." The same holy doctor doubts the authenticity of Saint Clement's later letter to the Corinthians.
MOMENTA QUAE ASTRUUNT NOSTRARUM EPISTOLARUM AUTHENTICITATEM.
THE CONSIDERATIONS THAT ESTABLISH THE AUTHENTICITY OF OUR LETTERS.
De ambabus Epistolis quas hodie, post Wetstinum, publicamus, locutus est sanctus Hieronymus, lib. I contra Jovinianum, dicens: « Hi sunt eunuchi quos castravit non necessitas, sed voluntas, propter regnum coelorum. Ad hos et Clemens successor apostoli Petri scripsit epistolas; omnemque pene sermonem suum de virginitatis puritate contexuit: et deinceps multi apostolici, et martyres, et
Of both the Letters which we publish today, after Wettstein, Saint Jerome spoke in book I against Jovinian, saying: "These are the eunuchs whom not necessity but will has made eunuchs, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. To these Clement also, the successor of the apostle Peter, wrote letters; and he wove almost his whole discourse about the purity of virginity: and thereafter many apostolic men, and martyrs, and
Editors' notes and page, col. 358
Footnotes
(2) ‹anchor: defunctus adhuc locutus est› · call in col 358
Hebr. XI, 4.
Hebrews 11:4.
(printed under page 176)
(3) ‹anchor: ossa Sanctorum suorum› · call in col 358
Psal. XXXIII, 21.
Psalm 33:21.
(printed under page 176)
(4) ‹anchor: Irenaeus potentissimas› · call in col 358
l. III, c 3.
Book III, chapter 3.
(printed under page 176)
(5) ‹anchor: ad Hebraeos fertur, convenire› · call in col 358
De script. eccl., c. 15.
On Ecclesiastical Writers, chapter 15.
(printed under page 176)
Page
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- marginal letters: A ‹sed et defunctus adhuc locutus est, dum, per plura›; B ‹tiochenus, Irenaeus Lugdunensis, Clemens Alexan-›; C ‹Oxoniensis, edidit Graece Latineque primam ejus-›; D ‹thenticitate posterioris epistolae sancti Clementis›
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- other: Right column of the page; it continues the same running Latin text (no facing version). The column opens mid-sentence, continuing col 357. Foot notes of this page called in this column (calls removed): 2 Hebr. XI, 4. (on 'locutus est', the call printed in the first line of the column); 3 Psal. XXXIII, 21. (on 'Sanctorum suorum'); 4 l. III, c 3. (on 'potentissimas'); 5 De script. eccl., c. 15. (on 'convenire'). Foot note 1 of the page (Sap. X, 21) belongs to col 357. UNSURE: the year '1633' is smudged in the scan (the third and fourth digits could be read 3 or 5). 'ab imperatore Turcarum misso' is as printed. The guillemets are printed; the quotation from Jerome is still open at the foot of the column, which ends on 'et'.
illustres tam sanctitate quam eloquentia viri, quos ex propriis scriptis nosse perfacile est.»
men illustrious as much for holiness as for eloquence, whom it is very easy to know from their own writings.»
De iisdem Epistolis sic loquitur sanctus Epiphanius: «Ipse Clemens illos per omnia refutat in his quas scripsit epistolis circularibus quae in sanctis Ecclesiis leguntur... Virginitatem Clemens edocuit; isti repudiant. Ille etiam Davidem et Samsonem omnesque prophetas commendat; Ebionitae detestantur.»
Of the same Letters Saint Epiphanius speaks thus: «Clemens himself refutes them in every respect in those circular letters which he wrote, which are read in the holy Churches... Clement taught virginity; these men reject it. He also commends David and Samson and all the prophets; the Ebionites detest them.»
Haec verba, certissime adeo clare designant epistolas quas de Virginitate scripsit sanctus Clemens, ut de earum existentia dubitari nequeat. Enimvero, sanctus Clemens, juxta beatum Hieronymum, omnium virorum apostolicorum martyrumque sanctitate ac eloquentia illustrium qui hocce thema tractandum susceperunt, antesignanus est. Imo de iisdem Epistolis testatur sanctus Epiphanius eas, adhuc suo tempore, in Ecclesiis lectas fuisse. Quaedam insuper narrat quae in his Epistolis, et nusquam alibi, sanctus Clemens tractat: videlicet, quae attinent, hac in re, ad Davidem, Samsonem et prophetas.
These words most certainly designate so clearly the letters which Saint Clement wrote on Virginity, that their existence cannot be doubted. For indeed Saint Clement, according to blessed Jerome, is the leader of all the apostolic men and martyrs illustrious for holiness and eloquence who undertook to treat this theme. Indeed, of the same Letters Saint Epiphanius testifies that they were still, in his own time, read in the Churches. He relates moreover certain things which Saint Clement treats in these Letters and nowhere else: namely, those which pertain, in this matter, to David, Samson and the prophets.
Lambertus Gruterus Venradius, qui duo fere saecula ante Wetstinum scribebat, expresse ponit has Epistolas inter sancti Clementis scripta quae desiderantur. Idem sentit Baronius, cui Rondininus consentire videtur.
Lambertus Gruterus Venradius, who was writing almost two centuries before Wetstein, expressly places these Letters among the writings of Saint Clement which are missing. Baronius is of the same opinion, with whom Rondininus seems to agree.
Abbas Gratianus, qui nuper de Graeco in Italicam linguam traduxit primam Epistolam sancti Clementis ad Corinthios, super haec verba quae num. 38 hujus Epistolae reperiuntur: Qui carne castus est, ne insolescat, sciens alium esse qui ei continentiam donat: ait: «Quidam sentiunt hunc locum designari a sancto Epiphanio et a sancto Hieronymo, quando asserunt sanctum Clementem de virginitate disseruisse: sed quamvis expresse ibi mentio fiat de castitate et continentia, cum haec rap⟨t⟩im tantum dicantur, videtur probabilius de his materiis extensivo modo, et ex professo tractatum fuisse in quodam ex capitulis sancti Clementis quae casu perierunt. Firmatur haec conjectura ratiocinio et non ambigua assertione praedictorum sanctorum.»
The Abbé Gratianus, who has lately translated from the Greek into the Italian tongue the first Letter of Saint Clement to the Corinthians, upon these words which are found at no. 38 of this Letter: Let him who is chaste in the flesh not grow insolent, knowing that it is another who bestows continence upon him: says: «Some think that this passage is meant by Saint Epiphanius and by Saint Jerome, when they assert that Saint Clement discoursed on virginity: but although express mention is made there of chastity and continence, since these things are said only in passing, it seems more probable that these matters were treated at length and professedly in some one of the chapters of Saint Clement which have perished by chance. This conjecture is confirmed by reasoning and by the unambiguous assertion of the aforesaid saints.»
Non sic profecto locutus fuisset honorabilis iste scriptor, si ad eum pervenisset notitia inventionis Epistolarum quas denuo in lucem edimus, post Wetstinum et D. de Prémagny. Praeterea, non tantum capitula quaedam indicant sancti Epiphanius et Hieronymus, sed Epistolas integras. Veniamus nunc ad probationes intrinsecas. Prima eruitur ex lingua primigenia. Quamvis sanctus Clemens esset Romanus, nulla memorantur ipsius scripta quae Latino sermone evulgaverit. Graece scripsit ambas Epistolas
Assuredly this honourable writer would not have spoken thus, if knowledge of the discovery of the Letters which we bring to light anew, after Wetstein and M. de Prémagny, had reached him. Besides, Saints Epiphanius and Jerome indicate not merely certain chapters, but entire Letters. Let us come now to the intrinsic proofs. The first is drawn from the original language. Although Saint Clement was a Roman, no writings of his are recorded which he published in the Latin tongue. He wrote in Greek both Letters
Editors' notes and page, col. 359
Footnotes
(6) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 359 (inferred from print order; the call lies above the rendered foot)
Epiph. contra Ebionitas, haeres. 30, n. 15.
Epiphanius, Against the Ebionites, heresy 30, no. 15.
(printed under page 177)
(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 359 (inferred from print order; the call lies above the rendered foot)
Exemplo sint istae voces : Eucharistia, asotia, kindymos, praxis, schema, taxis, diatheke, agon, autolexei, philadelphia, philoxenia, philargyria, philoproteia, paraiteistai, etc.
Let these words serve as an example: Eucharistia, asotia, kindymos, praxis, schema, taxis, diatheke, agon, autolexei, philadelphia, philoxenia, philargyria, philoproteia, paraiteistai, etc.
(printed under page 177)
Page
- running head: 359 S. CLEMENTIS I ROM. PONT. O[...] (cut by the column crop)
- marginal letters: A illustres tam sanctitate; B thema tractandum susceperunt; C hujus Epistolae reperiuntur; D Wetstinum et D. de Prémagny
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: "Epistolas" at the column end completed from the first line of col. 360 visible at the crop edge ("las ad"). "leguntur..." the points of omission print as two dots and a comma-like mark; set as three points. "rap⟨t⟩im": the t is damaged type. Note call 6 after "Epiphanius" (foot: Epiph. contra Ebionitas, haeres. 30, n. 15) and foot notes (1), (2) at the page foot (two columns, cut by the crop) not set here; they belong in notes. Guillemets set as « ».
ad Corinthios. Patet etiam Graece scriptum fuisse archetypum duarum Epistolarum ad Virgines: versio quippe Syriaca plura conservavit vocabula quae mere Graeca sunt. Tempore quo sanctus pontifex scripsit, nulla probabiliter existebat adhuc sacrarum Scripturarum versio Latina, saltem authentica: et inde conjici potest cur Graece potius quam Latine sanctus Clemens opera sua scripserit: cum enim, ut plurimum, ex verbis sacris sermonem suum texuerit, multo commodius et securius citare poterat translationem Graecam quae in manibus omnium erat, quam sententias in Latinam vertere linguam. Utitur ergo jugiter versione Graeca Veteris Testamenti, etiam quando ab Hebraica lectione recedit. Quod certe magnam denotat antiquitatem istarum Epistolarum. Vetustatem etiam arguit narratio lotionis pedum quae, temporibus apostolicis, a provectae aetatis mulieribus adhuc peragebatur, et quae, ni fallor, ubique cessavit post dies apostolicorum virorum. Nemo mirari debet quod sanctus Clemens initio et fine harum Epistolarum vocetur Discipulus Petri apostoli, cum potius beati Pauli discipulus censeatur: Origenes enim, sancti Clementis aetati tam vicinus, sic ipse loquitur in Philocalia: Clemens Romanus, Petri apostoli discipulus. Si qua praeterea fides quibusdam Recognitionum narrationibus concedatur, nullum discipulum vel comitem magis assiduum ac unanimem habuit beatus Petrus quam sanctum Clementem. Quid autem incredibile, imo quid non maxime probabile quod sanctus Clemens, qui Romanus erat et Christianus, Romae sancto Petro adhaeserit, ipsiusque discipulus fuerit diu antequam sanctus Paulus Romam veniret?
to the Corinthians. It is plain also that the original of the two Letters to Virgins was written in Greek: for the Syriac version has preserved many words which are purely Greek. At the time when the holy pontiff wrote, there probably did not yet exist any Latin version of the sacred Scriptures, at least an authentic one: and from this it may be conjectured why Saint Clement wrote his works in Greek rather than in Latin: for since, for the most part, he wove his discourse out of the sacred words, he could much more conveniently and safely cite the Greek translation which was in the hands of all, than turn the sentences into the Latin tongue. He therefore constantly uses the Greek version of the Old Testament, even when it departs from the Hebrew reading. Which certainly denotes the great antiquity of these Letters. Their age is also shown by the account of the washing of feet which, in apostolic times, was still performed by women of advanced age, and which, unless I am mistaken, ceased everywhere after the days of the apostolic men. No one ought to wonder that Saint Clement at the beginning and end of these Letters is called Disciple of the apostle Peter, when he is rather reckoned a disciple of blessed Paul: for Origen, so near to the age of Saint Clement, himself speaks thus in the Philocalia: Clement the Roman, disciple of the apostle Peter. If moreover any credit be granted to certain narratives of the Recognitions, blessed Peter had no disciple or companion more constant and of one mind with him than Saint Clement. And what is incredible, nay what is not most probable, in this, that Saint Clement, who was a Roman and a Christian, attached himself to Saint Peter at Rome, and was his disciple long before Saint Paul came to Rome?
Certum est sanctum Clementem Romae natum fuisse patre Fausto quem Faustinianum plerique nominant, matre vero Mathidia. A parentibus Athenas, ubi tunc maxime florebant studia, ad discendam philosophiam missus est: brevique tempore scientiae princeps fuit existimatus. Cum autem opinionum varietas ancipitem illum efficeret quamnam sententiam amplecteretur de sublimioribus religionis quaestionibus, in manus Principis apostolorum incidisse fertur, et ab ipso in comitem itinerum assumptus, sic sub tali magistro profecit, ut, eodem jubente, praedicationis munus nonnunquam impleret. Magnum deinde Paulum audivit, eumdemque aliquandiu comitatus est: cui ita se probavit, ut ab ipso inter praecipuos et sanctissimos Evangelii collaboratores fuerit numeratus. Imo, probati scriptores, ut sanctus Hieronymus, probabiliter putant a sancto Paulo sanctum Clementem fuisse adhibitum ut interpretaretur
It is certain that Saint Clement was born at Rome, his father being Faustus, whom most call Faustinianus, and his mother Mathidia. He was sent by his parents to Athens, where studies were then flourishing most, to learn philosophy: and in a short time he was esteemed foremost in knowledge. But when the variety of opinions made him doubtful which view he should embrace concerning the higher questions of religion, he is said to have fallen into the hands of the Prince of the apostles, and, taken by him as a companion of his journeys, he so advanced under such a master that, at his bidding, he sometimes fulfilled the office of preaching. Afterwards he heard the great Paul, and accompanied him for some time: to whom he so approved himself that he was numbered by him among the chief and most holy fellow workers of the Gospel. Indeed, approved writers, such as Saint Jerome, think it probable that Saint Clement was employed by Saint Paul to translate
Editors' notes and page, col. 360
Footnotes
(7) ‹anchor: loquitur in Philocalia› · call in col 360
Philoc. c. 23.
Philocalia, chapter 23.
(printed under page 177)
(8) ‹anchor: collaboratores fuerit numeratus› · call in col 360
Philipp. IV, 3.
Philippians 4:3.
(printed under page 177)
(2) ‹anchor: quibusdam Recognitionum› · call in col 360
Opus Recognitionum quod ab antiquis sancto Clementi tribuitur, fuse narrat relationes sancti Clementis cum sancto Petro. A Graeco in Latinum versum est a Rufino. Omnes confitentur ab haereticis corruptum fuisse librum hunc caeteroqui sublimi philosophia plenum.
The work of the Recognitions, which is attributed by the ancients to Saint Clement, relates at length Saint Clement's dealings with Saint Peter. It was turned from Greek into Latin by Rufinus. All acknowledge that this book, otherwise full of sublime philosophy, was corrupted by heretics.
<!-- NOTE: in note (2) the right edge of the foot image clips the last letter of three lines; "Latinum", "haere-[ticis]" and "sublimi" are read with the final letter supplied. --> (printed under page 177)
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- running head: [S. CLEMENTIS] I ROM. PONT. OPERA GENUINA. 360
- marginal letters: A las ad Corinthios; B tatem istarum Epistolarum; C babile quod sanctus Clemens; D praedicationis munus
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the column opens with "las" (end of "Epistolas", set whole in col. 359). "interpretaretur" at the column end completed from the first line of col. 361. Note calls (1), 7, (2), 8 dropped; foot notes (7 Philoc. c. 23; 8 Philipp. IV, 3; the continuation of note (2)) not set here; they belong in notes.
Epistolam ad Hebraeos nuncupatam Clementique dictatam. Idem quidam conjectant de secunda beati Petri Epistola.
the Letter called to the Hebrews and dictated to Clement. Some conjecture the same of the second Letter of blessed Peter.
Decebat vero talem virum de virginitate ejusque custodia scribere, quem testantur antiqui auctores per omnem vitam in pura sanctaque virginitate permansisse. Permisit demum Dominus ut pretiosus ille thesaurus tandiu desideratus a sectatore pseudo-reformationis et inveniretur, et agnosceretur, et defenderetur. Ne autem talis inventio in fulmentum veniat catholicae doctrinae, inde occasionem sumit inventor declamandi contra Ecclesiam, quia, in his Epistolis «nihil reperitur, ut ait ille, de hierarchia, nihil de monachatu et coenobiis, nihil de terminis et formulis loquendi per concilia inventis et sancitis, a quibus vix se abstinuisset saeculorum sequentium scriptor.»
And it was fitting that such a man should write on virginity and the guarding of it, of whom ancient authors testify that he remained through his whole life in pure and holy virginity. At length the Lord permitted that this precious treasure, so long missed, should be found, and acknowledged, and defended, by an adherent of the pseudo-reformation. But lest such a discovery should come to the support of Catholic doctrine, the discoverer takes occasion from it to declaim against the Church, because in these Letters «nothing is found, as he says, about the hierarchy, nothing about monasticism and monasteries, nothing about the terms and formulas of speech devised and sanctioned by the councils, from which a writer of the following centuries would scarcely have abstained.»
Studio sectae suae abreptus et obcaecatus, Wetstinus non animadvertit se, tali declamatione, infensum praebere monumentis etiam quibus ipse sincera ac immota veneratione adhaeret. Agnoscit certe, cum omnibus eruditis, authenticitatem primae Epistolae sancti Clementis ad Corinthios quam invenit ac evulgavit Junius Patricius Anglicanus. In multis porro hujus Epistolae locis, hierarchia clare memoratur, sed nullibi forsan splendidius quam n. 40, de quo exscribere juvat verba quae sequuntur: «Summo sacerdoti sua munia tributa sunt, et sacerdotibus locus proprius assignatus est, et levitis sua munia incumbunt. Homo laicus praeceptis laicis constringitur.»
Carried away and blinded by zeal for his sect, Wetstein did not notice that, by such declamation, he shows himself hostile even to monuments to which he himself adheres with sincere and unshaken veneration. He certainly acknowledges, with all the learned, the authenticity of the first Letter of Saint Clement to the Corinthians, which Patricius Junius the Englishman discovered and published. Now in many places of this Letter the hierarchy is clearly mentioned, but nowhere perhaps more splendidly than at no. 40, from which it is worth copying out the words that follow: «To the high priest his own functions have been assigned, and to the priests their proper place has been appointed, and upon the levites their own functions are laid. The layman is bound by the precepts for laymen.»
Unice ut hierarchiam agnoscerent et venerarentur scripta fuerat haec Epistola ad Corinthios, qui monitis sancti Clementis obedientes, ad submissionem et pacem reversi sunt. De monachatu et coenobiis verum est sanctum Clementem nec locutum fuisse, nec loqui potuisse, cum tempore suo ista non existerent; sed virgines docet pius pontifex, ut inter saeculares in eadem vivant perfectione quae a monachis postea et coenobitis observata est. Nec diffiteor etiam his in Epistolis non reperiri formulas loquendi conciliorum. Hinc ego quoque authenticitatem harum Epistolarum facile concludam, modo his sanctissimis coetibus nihil detrahatur.
This Letter had been written to the Corinthians solely that they might acknowledge and revere the hierarchy; and they, obeying the admonitions of Saint Clement, returned to submission and peace. As to monasticism and monasteries, it is true that Saint Clement neither spoke nor could have spoken of them, since in his time those things did not exist; but the devout pontiff teaches virgins to live among those in the world in the same perfection which was afterwards observed by monks and cenobites. Nor do I deny either that the councils' formulas of speech are not found in these Letters. From this I too shall readily conclude the authenticity of these Letters, provided that nothing be taken away from those most holy assemblies.
INSULSAE WETSTINI INVECTIVAE.
WETSTEIN'S WITLESS INVECTIVES.
Gratum animum unice exprimere voluissem erga Wetstinum pro beneficio quod Ecclesiae et eruditioni praestitit has publicando sancti Clementis Epistolas; sed dolorem simul cohibere non licet, quod gratis tam injustum se exhibuerit erga sanctam Ecclesiam
I should have wished to express only gratitude towards Wetstein for the benefit which he rendered to the Church and to learning by publishing these Letters of Saint Clement; but at the same time one cannot restrain one's grief that he showed himself so gratuitously unjust towards the holy Church
Editors' notes and page, col. 361
Footnotes
(3) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; column not determined)
Hoc testimonium invenitur in quibusdam exemplaribus Epistolae S. Ignatii martyris ad Philadelphenses. Ibique alludit sanctus praesul Antiochenus consilio a sancto Clemente ad Virgines dato imitandi Patrem, et Filium, et Spiritum sanctum. Si vitiatus fuerit iste sancti Ignatii locus, cum in pluribus exemplaribus existat ejusmodi interpolatio, quae probabiliter anterior est amissioni nostrarum Epistolarum, credendum est ab eisdem Epistolis mutuatam fuisse invitationem imitandi tres sanctissimae Trinitatis personas : quod certe novum et grave praebet authenticitatis argumentum. »
This testimony is found in certain copies of the Epistle of St. Ignatius the martyr to the Philadelphians. And there the holy bishop of Antioch alludes to the counsel given by Saint Clement to the Virgins, of imitating the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If that passage of Saint Ignatius has been tampered with, since an interpolation of this kind exists in a good many copies, and is probably earlier than the loss of our Epistles, it must be believed that the invitation to imitate the three persons of the most holy Trinity was borrowed from these same Epistles: which certainly furnishes a new and weighty argument for their authenticity.
<!-- NOTE: note (3) closes with a guillemet (») as printed; no opening guillemet is visible in the note. --> (printed under page 178)
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- running head: 361 EPISTOLAE AD VIRGINES. — PROOEMIA.
- marginal letters: A terpretaretur Epistolam ad Hebraeos; B et sancitis, a quibus; C sua munia incumbunt; D (beside the rule above the caption INSULSAE WETSTINI INVECTIVAE)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the column opens with "terpretaretur" (end of "interpretaretur", set whole in col. 360). "Ecclesiam" at the column end completed from the first line of col. 362. Note call (3) after "permansisse" dropped; foot note (3) (two columns across the page foot, with the reference 9 S. Iren. Adv. haer., l. III, c. 3, which is called in col. 362) not set here; they belong in notes. Printer's signature "PATROL. GR. I." / "12" at the foot left out.
occasione hujus publicationis. Credendum est tunc ab illo praefocatam fuisse conscientiae propriae vocem intus contra ipsum reclamantem; sed talis est saepius conditio eorum qui se tyrannicae haeresis jugo manciparunt, ut non credant sibi licere unius veritatis praedicationem, quin simul laedant columnam et firmamentum veritatis.
on the occasion of this publication. It must be believed that he then stifled the voice of his own conscience crying out within against him; but such is very often the condition of those who have enslaved themselves to the yoke of tyrannical heresy, that they do not believe the proclaiming of a single truth to be permitted them, without at the same time wounding the pillar and ground of truth.
Igitur Wetstinus satis insulse invehitur in Romanam Ecclesiam, dicens huic displicere disciplinam in Epistolis sancti Clementis traditam: ideoque has ab Ecclesia semotas per tot saecula latuisse: «Solent enim, ait, qui in Ecclesia dominantur, non, quod prae se ferunt, mores suos et opiniones ad doctrinam olim traditam conformare, sed doctrinam veterem ad mores et opiniones sui temporis inflectere; et ubi nimis manifestus est dissensus, aut vi agere, aut flammis libros abolere.... Minime tamen decebat ut ab his qui se traditionum veterum tenacissimos esse gloriantur, repudiaretur Clemens noster qui vidit beatos apostolos, et cum illis conversatus fuit, et adhuc in auribus praedicationem apostolorum, et traditionem prae oculis habeat.» Has injurias protulisse non contentus, addit Wetstinus «Clericos non pati se privari familiaritate cum mulieribus; feminas dominari in Ecclesias, ita ut de sacerdotali gradu favor judicet feminarum; praesules Ecclesiae has Clementis Epistolas, in quibus victus tam tenuis commendatur, et ne umbra quidem auctoritatis reperitur, contempsisse atque abjecisse, cum hodie vel infimi ordinis clericus ad dignitatem suam pertinere judicet, ut et lautiori cibo vescatur, et in spiritualibus, personam apostoli vel prophetae sibi sumat.» Tandem, vix sperat Wetstinus has Epistolas authenticas agnosci ab his quorum mores non sunt, ut ait, harum doctrinae conformes.
Wetstein therefore inveighs witlessly enough against the Roman Church, saying that the discipline handed down in the Letters of Saint Clement displeases her: and that for this reason these, set aside by the Church, lay hidden through so many centuries: «For those who hold sway in the Church, he says, are accustomed not, as they profess, to conform their morals and opinions to the doctrine handed down of old, but to bend the ancient doctrine to the morals and opinions of their own time; and where the disagreement is too manifest, either to act by force, or to destroy the books by the flames.... Yet it was by no means fitting that by those who boast themselves most tenacious of the ancient traditions our Clement should be rejected, who saw the blessed apostles and lived in their company, and has the preaching of the apostles still in his ears, and their tradition before his eyes.» Not content with having uttered these insults, Wetstein adds «that clerics do not suffer themselves to be deprived of familiarity with women; that women rule over the Churches, so that the favour of women decides concerning the priestly rank; that the prelates of the Church have despised and cast away these Letters of Clement, in which so slender a diet is commended, and not even a shadow of authority is found, since today a cleric even of the lowest order judges it to belong to his dignity both to feed on more sumptuous food and, in spiritual things, to assume the character of an apostle or prophet.» Finally, Wetstein scarcely hopes that these Letters will be acknowledged as authentic by those whose morals are not, as he says, conformed to their doctrine.
RESPONSIO INVECTIVIS WETSTINI.
REPLY TO WETSTEIN'S INVECTIVES.
Minoribus expensis poterat Wetstinus famam zelantis reformati sibi conquirere, quamvis dubitem num reipsa acquisiverit. Quot namque persecutiones, apud suos, subiit propter Epistolarum istarum publicationem! Ipsi, nedum in patrocinium authenticitatis quam vindicabat, faverent declamationibus ejus contra Ecclesiam et clerum catholicum, in declamatorem ipsum debacchati sunt. Imo fere inter solos Catholicos Epistolarum authenticitas defensores et advocatos invenit. Hic memorabo tantum Diarium eruditorum, mensis Jun. vol. XI, 1758, p. 446. Diarium istud fatetur harum Epistolarum inventionem esse maximi momenti; Commentaria Trivoltiana
Wetstein could have won for himself the reputation of a zealous reformed man at less cost, although I doubt whether he in fact acquired it. For how many persecutions he underwent, among his own people, on account of the publication of these Letters! They, so far from favouring, in support of the authenticity which he was vindicating, his declamations against the Church and the Catholic clergy, raged against the declaimer himself. Indeed the authenticity of the Letters found defenders and advocates almost among Catholics alone. Here I shall mention only the Journal des savants, of the month of June, vol. XI, 1758, p. 446. That Journal acknowledges that the discovery of these Letters is of the greatest importance; the Mémoires de Trévoux
Editors' notes and page, col. 362
Footnotes
(9) ‹anchor: prae oculis habeat› · call in col 362
S. Iren. Adv. haer., l. III, c. 3.
St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Book III, chapter 3.
(printed under page 178)
Page
- running head: [EPISTOLAE] AD VIRGINES. — PROOEMIA. 362
- marginal letters: A clesiam occasione hujus; B poris inflectere; C abjecisse, cum hodie; D ejus contra Ecclesiam
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the column opens with "clesiam" (end of "Ecclesiam", set whole in col. 361). "Trivoltiana" at the column end completed from the first line of col. 363. "in Ecclesias" read so (the ending small; †Ecclesiis possible). Pen marks on the scan over "publicationis" and "traditionum" do not hide the type. Note call 9 after "habeat" dropped (foot: S. Iren. Adv. haer., l. III, c. 3, printed under col. 361); the second half of foot note (3) at the page foot not set here; they belong in notes. Printer's signature "12" left out. English titles of the two journals are the usual names of Diarium eruditorum and Commentaria Trivoltiana.
, Aug., 1758, p. 2076; Godescard, in Vita sancti Clementis; Caillau, in selecta Collectione Patrum; etc.
, August 1758, p. 2076; Godescard, in the Life of Saint Clement; Caillau, in the select Collection of the Fathers; etc.
Hocce judiciorum discrimen evidenter demonstrat quibus displicuerit doctrina in Epistolis nostris tradita, quique illas semper latuisse peroptassent.
This difference of judgements plainly shows who they were whom the doctrine handed down in our Letters displeased, and who would have dearly wished that they had lain hidden for ever.
Quod sentio candide fatebor: nescio utrum sub infelicioribus auspiciis quam sub patrocinio et tempore Wetstini, hae pretiosae Epistolae publicari potuerint. Caelibatus pseudo-reformatis semper odiosi quidam reformatus apologiam incunabulis Ecclesiae coaetaneam in lucem edebat: Lutherum discipulus Lutheri pungebat. Quis favor, ex hac parte, sperandus? In proceres cleri catholici, non lacessitus, indistinctim calumnias struxerat, ipsis imputando mores perversos, hypocrisim ac voluntatem comburendi libros quorum doctrina non poterat ad eorum, ut aiebat, pravitatem et nequitiam inflecti.
I shall candidly confess what I think: I do not know whether these precious Letters could have been published under more unhappy auspices than under the patronage and in the time of Wetstein. A reformed man was bringing to light a defence, coeval with the cradle of the Church, of celibacy, which has always been hateful to the pseudo-reformed: a disciple of Luther was stinging Luther. What favour was to be hoped for from that side? Against the chief men of the Catholic clergy he had, unprovoked, heaped up calumnies indiscriminately, imputing to them perverse morals, hypocrisy, and the will to burn books whose doctrine could not be bent to their, as he said, depravity and wickedness.
Maledicta nec in sectam accusatoris nec in ipsum accusatorem regeram: quid enim prodessent convi⟨c⟩ia? Quid vindicta? Nemo, nisi insaniat, diffiteri potest mille scripta veterum, injuria temporum amissa et oblitterata, revixisse tandem cura et sollicitudine praesertim pontificum qui nullis pepercerunt expensis, ut hos conquirerent thesauros absconditos. Merito omnium risui se exponeret qui immensam comparare auderet cujusvis generis librorum antiquorum multitudinem a clero catholico detectorum, cum rarissimis sectariorum inventionibus.
I shall throw back abuse neither upon the accuser's sect nor upon the accuser himself: for what would reproaches profit? What would revenge? No one, unless he is mad, can deny that a thousand writings of the ancients, lost and effaced by the injury of time, have at last come to life again by the care and solicitude especially of the pontiffs, who spared no expense to search out these hidden treasures. He would deservedly expose himself to the laughter of all who should dare to compare the immense multitude of ancient books of every kind uncovered by the Catholic clergy with the very rare discoveries of the sectaries.
Non sibi consentiunt hostes nostri: modo namque accusant Ecclesiae proceres quod bellum intulerint libris veterum licentioribus, modo ipsis imputant quod, ex industria, moliti fuerint destructionem operum castitatem sanctamque disciplinam docentium.
Our enemies do not agree with themselves: for at one time they accuse the chief men of the Church of having made war on the more licentious books of the ancients, at another they impute to them that they deliberately contrived the destruction of works teaching chastity and holy discipline.
Quare clerus catholicus insimulatur a Wetstino nimiae familiaritatis cum mulieribus, cum inde praecipue pseudo-reformationi displiceat quod sit continens? Haec etiam inter se pugnant. Arguit Ecclesiae praesules et clericos quod contempserint et abjecerint sancti Clementis Epistolas, studio gulae et ambitus; unde gradus ecclesiasticos, ut eos criminatur, usurpant; unde quoque sibi arrogant apostolorum vel prophetarum qualitates! Miserum, sane, perfugium haeresis, quae quos aversatur, sic injuste dehonestat! Speravitne Wetstinus his insanis accusationibus ora claudere eorum qui, in ipso Lutheranorum grege, eum ut Socinianum pestiferumque novatorem denuntiantes a gradu quem occupaverat
Why is the Catholic clergy charged by Wetstein with excessive familiarity with women, when it displeases the pseudo-reformation chiefly for this, that it is continent? These things too conflict with one another. He reproaches the prelates and clerics of the Church with having despised and cast away the Letters of Saint Clement out of devotion to gluttony and ambition; whence, as he charges them, they usurp ecclesiastical ranks; whence also they arrogate to themselves the qualities of apostles or prophets! A wretched refuge indeed of heresy, which so unjustly dishonours those whom it abhors! Did Wetstein hope by these mad accusations to shut the mouths of those who, in the very flock of the Lutherans, denouncing him as a Socinian and pestilent innovator, from the rank which he had held
Editors' notes and page, col. 363
Footnotes
(10) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; column not determined)
Prolegomen., n. 10.
Prolegomena, no. 10.
(printed under page 179)
(4) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; column not determined)
Quare hic ultimus scriptor nostras Epistolas non admisit in sua Collectione, cum eas authenticas esse non neget ? Probabile est aut nullum earum exemplar in manus ejus pervenire potuisse, aut si quoddam pervenerit, pedem ejus retrogressum esse ad solum conspectum hirsutae translationis Wetstini. Eadem de causa, ego ipse plures annos distuli meum laborem, qui utinam adhuc sancto Clemente indignus non sit !
Why did this last writer not admit our Epistles into his Collection, since he does not deny that they are authentic? It is probable either that no copy of them was able to come into his hands, or, if one did come, that he drew back his foot at the mere sight of Wetstein's shaggy translation. For the same reason I myself put off my labour for a good many years; and would that even now it may not be unworthy of Saint Clement!
(printed under page 179)
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- running head: 363 S. CLEMENTIS I ROM. PONT. O[PERA GENUINA.]
- marginal letters: A voltiana, Aug., 1758; B tus, indistinctim calumnias; C librorum antiquorum multitudinem; D et ambitus; unde gradus
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the column opens with "voltiana" (end of "Trivoltiana", set whole in col. 362), so this file begins at the comma that follows it. "occupaverat" at the column end completed from the first line of col. 364. "convi⟨c⟩ia": the c is damaged type. Ink blots on the scan over "ecclesiasticos", "arrogant", "qualitates", "Wetstinus" do not prevent reading. Note call (4) after "Patrum" dropped; foot references 10, 11, 12 (called in col. 364) and foot note (4) at the page foot not set here; they belong in notes.
dispoliari flagitaverunt et obtinuerunt anno 1730?
demanded that he be stripped, and obtained it, in the year 1730?
Risu digna est ratio quam affert de exorcismis in principio Ecclesiae adhibitis, quosque vult confundi cum cura aegrotorum. Inde etiam ansam sumit accusandi indirecte hodiernos Ecclesiae ritus, asserendo olim saltem omnem fraudis et imposturae suspicionem, omnem sordidi quaestus spem abfuisse.
Laughable is the account which he gives of the exorcisms employed in the beginning of the Church, which he would have confounded with the care of the sick. From this too he takes a handle for indirectly accusing the present rites of the Church, by asserting that of old, at least, all suspicion of fraud and imposture, all hope of sordid gain was absent.
COMPENSATIO INJUSTITIAE PRAECEDENTIS.
COMPENSATION FOR THE FOREGOING INJUSTICE.
Wetstinus, in Ecclesiam catholicam ejusque clerum invehens, sectae suae vestigia secutus est. Ignoscamus illi: nesciebat fortassis quid ageret. Nullum inde ipsi commodum obvenit. Cultus pseudo reformati patroni in collegam primi insurrexerunt. Utinam hinc potuisset intelligere in solo matris Ecclesiae gremio veritatem cum laude vera dignoque suffragio defendi ac propugnari! Nec Wetstino a Catholicis denegandus est quem ei consectarii disputant, meritus honos. Quis porro extraneus partium studiis ipsum non laudabit haec loquentem? «Erunt forte quibus harum Epistolarum scriptor videbitur et matrimonio esse iniquior, caelibatum vero nimium extollere, quando virginibus sanctis excellentiorem in coelis locum datum iri statuit quam conjugibus sanctis, et morosius quam vel humanitas, vel saeculi nostri consuetudo fert, omni cum mulieribus familiaritate et commercio interdicere, aditumque earum et sermonem defugere jubere, ne quid ex contagione incommodi accipiamus, ut verbis Caesaris utar.
Wetstein, in inveighing against the Catholic Church and her clergy, followed the footsteps of his sect. Let us forgive him: perhaps he did not know what he was doing. No advantage came to him from it. The patrons of the pseudo-reformed worship were the first to rise up against their colleague. Would that he had been able to understand from this that only in the bosom of mother Church is truth defended and championed with true praise and worthy approval! Nor is the merited honour which his fellow sectaries dispute him to be denied to Wetstein by Catholics. Who indeed, being a stranger to party zeal, will not praise him when he says this? «There will perhaps be some to whom the writer of these Letters will seem both to be too unfair to marriage and to extol celibacy too much, when he lays down that a more excellent place in the heavens will be given to holy virgins than to holy spouses, and, more peevishly than either courtesy or the custom of our age allows, to forbid all familiarity and intercourse with women, and to bid us shun their approach and conversation, lest we receive some harm from the contagion, to use the words of Caesar.
«Aliter, fateor, de caelibatu et matrimonio sentit Clemens quam Lutherus; at nondum probatum est illum male sensisse: si quis enim genium defraudat, et voluptates etiam licitas spernit, ut eo melius et expeditius doctrinae Evangelii et curandae Ecclesiae vacare possit, cur non in altera vita majus a Deo praemium speraret, quam illi qui partem mercedis suae jam in hac vita receperunt? Caeterum, Clemens nec caelibatum jubet, nec nuptias vetat, ut tum ex ipso loco modo allato patet, tum ex alia ejusdem Epistola scripta adversus eos qui matrimonium rejiciunt, quam legisse testatur Dionysius Barsalibi, apud Asseman: nec de caelibatus praemio quidquam dicit diversum ab iis quae Paulus docuerat.»
«Clement, I confess, thinks otherwise of celibacy and marriage than Luther; but it has not yet been proved that he thought wrongly: for if anyone denies himself and spurns even lawful pleasures, that he may the better and more freely be at leisure for the doctrine of the Gospel and the care of the Church, why should he not hope for a greater reward from God in the other life than those who have already received part of their wages in this life? For the rest, Clement neither commands celibacy nor forbids marriage, as is plain both from the very passage just adduced and from another Letter of the same man written against those who reject marriage, which Dionysius Barsalibi, in Assemani, testifies that he read: nor does he say anything about the reward of celibacy different from what Paul had taught.»
EXPENDUNTUR AC REFELLUNTUR RATIONES QUIBUS D. DE PREMAGNY IN DUBIUM REVOCAT AUTHENTICITATEM AMBARUM EPISTOLARUM SANCTI CLEMENTIS.
THE REASONS BY WHICH M. DE PRÉMAGNY CALLS IN DOUBT THE AUTHENTICITY OF BOTH LETTERS OF SAINT CLEMENT ARE WEIGHED AND REFUTED.
Stephanus Franciscus Boistard de Premagny, honesta familia, Rothomagi natus, vir magnae litteraturae
Étienne-François Boistard de Prémagny, born at Rouen of an honourable family, a man of great learning
Editors' notes and page, col. 364
Footnotes
(11) ‹anchor: quam conjugibus sanctis› · call in col 364
Ep. I, n. 1.
Epistle I, no. 1.
(printed under page 179)
(12) ‹anchor: apud Asseman› · call in col 364
Biblioth. Orient., t. II, p. 155.
Bibliotheca Orientalis, vol. II, p. 155.
(printed under page 179)
(13) ‹anchor: Paulus docuerat› · call in col 364
I Cor. VII, 9.
1 Corinthians 7:9.
(printed under page 179)
Page
- running head: [S. CLEMENTIS] I ROM. PONT. OPERA GENUINA. 364
- marginal letters: A paverat dispoliari; B mati patroni in collegam; C cere, aditumque earum; D Dionysius Barsalibi
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the column opens with "paverat" (end of "occupaverat", set whole in col. 363). "litteraturae" at the column end completed from the first line of col. 365. Note calls 10, 11, 12, 13 dropped (foot: 10 Prolegomen., n. 10; 11 Ep. I, n. 1; 12 Biblioth. Orient., t. II, p. 155; 13 I Cor. VII, 9); these and the second half of foot note (4) not set here; they belong in notes. The first quoted paragraph has no closing guillemet; the quotation runs on into the next paragraph, as printed.
, inter praecipuos modernae philosophiae patronos, quorum amicus erat, versatus, innumera fere opuscula a se composita legit coram Academia Rothomagensi, cujus membrum erat. Solam vero traductionem Gallicam nostrarum Epistolarum evulgavit, quamvis varia scientiarum penetralia adierit. Catalogus manuscriptorum quae reliquit non exhibet hominem fidei infensum. Nec tamen negari potest adnotationes ejus plurimas versioni subjectas reprehensione dignas esse, ut patebit ex his quae modo dicturus sum.
, having moved among the chief patrons of modern philosophy, whose friend he was, read almost innumerable little works composed by himself before the Academy of Rouen, of which he was a member. Yet he published only the French translation of our Letters, although he had entered various inner chambers of the sciences. The catalogue of the manuscripts which he left does not show a man hostile to the faith. Nevertheless it cannot be denied that very many of his annotations subjoined to the version are deserving of censure, as will be plain from what I am now about to say.
Ordinem sequar numerorum quos affixit D. de Premagny in suis adnotationibus.
I shall follow the order of the numbers which M. de Prémagny affixed in his annotations.
I. Vix morabor ut probem contra adnotatorem non nocere Epistolarum authenticitati sanctorum ac beatorum vocabula quibus utitur sanctus Clemens. Ut ab eo adhiberi potuerint, sufficeret unicus horum verborum usus in Novo Testamento, ubi frequenter reperiuntur.
I. I shall scarcely delay to prove against the annotator that the words saints and blessed, which Saint Clement uses, do no harm to the authenticity of the Letters. For them to have been able to be employed by him, a single use of these words in the New Testament would suffice, where they are frequently found.
II. Indirecte et transeunter pers⟨t⟩ringit apostolatum beati Petri Romae. Ille autem incursus responsum non meretur: innumeri quippe libri exstabant, tempore D. de Premagny, et nunc exstant, probantes nullum insulsiorem in mentibus eruditorum remanere posse dubitationem quam de longa sancti Petri Romae commoratione: in hoc enim historiae facto unanimes sunt cum tota retro antiquitate doctissimi scriptores, tum inter Catholicos, tum etiam inter protestantes.
II. Indirectly and in passing he touches upon the apostolate of blessed Peter at Rome. But that attack does not deserve an answer: for innumerable books existed, in the time of M. de Prémagny, and exist now, proving that no more witless doubt can remain in the minds of the learned than that concerning the long sojourn of Saint Peter at Rome: for on this fact of history the most learned writers, both among Catholics and also among Protestants, are unanimous with all antiquity before them.
III. Miratur quod sancto Paulo titulus Divini Apostoli a contemporaneo tribuatur, isque vocetur Apostolus sine nominis additione, et per antonomasiam. Sed sanctus Clemens in prima Epistola ad Corinthios, quae authentica ab omnibus agnoscitur, dicit: «Sumite Epistolam beati Pauli.» Quodnam tantum discrimen est inter divinum et beatum? Nullum profecto. Praeterea utrumque vocabulum, tempore sancti Clementis indifferenter usurpabatur. Hinc in Actis martyrii sancti Ignatii Antiocheni, quae scripta sunt ab ejus discipulis, legitur (n. 9): «Ut convenienter ei quod dixit divinus Paulus, ipse quoque fieret spectaculum mundo, et angelis et hominibus.» Igitur hac aetate ejusmodi voces adhiberi solebant.
III. He wonders that the title of Divine Apostle is given to Saint Paul by a contemporary, and that he is called the Apostle without the addition of his name, and by antonomasia. But Saint Clement in the first Letter to the Corinthians, which is acknowledged by all as authentic, says: «Take up the Letter of blessed Paul.» What so great difference is there between divine and blessed? None assuredly. Moreover both words were used indifferently in the time of Saint Clement. Hence in the Acts of the martyrdom of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, which were written by his disciples, we read (no. 9): «That, in accordance with what the divine Paul said, he too might become a spectacle to the world, and to angels and to men.» Therefore in this age words of this kind were customarily employed.
Nec mirum quod etiam tunc sanctus Paulus per antonomasiam Apostolus dictus fuerit, cum tam divinitus ad apostolatum fuerit vocatus, ac tanto encomio a sancto Petro fuerit celebrata sapientia talis viri, qui, ut ait sanctus Clemens in prima Epistola ad Corinthios: «Patientiae praemium obtinuit, cum catenas septies portasset, vapulasset, lapidatus
Nor is it strange that even then Saint Paul was called the Apostle by antonomasia, since he was so divinely called to the apostolate, and with so great a eulogy the wisdom of such a man was celebrated by Saint Peter, a man who, as Saint Clement says in the first Letter to the Corinthians: «Obtained the reward of patience, when he had seven times borne chains, had been beaten, stoned
Editors' notes and page, col. 365
Footnotes
(14) ‹anchor: fuerit celebrata sapientia› · call in col 365
II Petr. III, 15, 16.
2 Peter 3:15, 16.
(printed under page 180)
(15) ‹anchor: Epistola ad Corinthios› · call in col 365
N. 5.
No. 5.
(printed under page 180)
(5) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; column not determined)
Hunc catalogum benigne mihi transmisit D. D. Archiepiscopus Rothomagensis cum brevi notitia hujus auctoris. Tanto Praesuli grates rependo debitas pro isto totque aliis beneficiis mihi praestitis. Hinc didici D. de Premagny inter religionis amplexus ante mortem se projecisse. Obiit 3 Februarii anno 1767, annis natus 58.
This catalogue was kindly sent to me by the Lord Archbishop of Rouen, with a brief notice of this author. To so great a Prelate I render the thanks that are due for this and for so many other kindnesses done me. From it I learned that M. de Prémagny, before his death, threw himself into the embraces of religion. He died on 3 February in the year 1767, aged 58.
(printed under page 180)
(6) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; column not determined)
Ex historia discimus duos fuisse Romae praefectos ultimo Neronis anno.
From history we learn that there were two prefects at Rome in the last year of Nero.
(printed under page 180)
(7) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; column not determined)
Scribitur qui non quae, quia Epistola dirigitur ad virgines utriusque sexus.
"Qui" is written, not "quae", because the Epistle is addressed to virgins of both sexes.
(printed under page 180)
Page
- running head: 365 EPISTOLAE AD VIRGINES. — PROOEMIA.
- marginal letters: A turae, inter praecipuos; B ac beatorum vocabula; C III. Miratur quod sancto Paulo; D Nec mirum quod etiam tunc
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the column opens with "turae" (end of "litteraturae", set whole in col. 364), so this file begins at the comma that follows it. "lapidatus" at the column end completed from the first line of col. 366; the clause runs on there (esset). "pers⟨t⟩ringit": the t is damaged type. Note calls (5), 14, 15 dropped (foot: 14 II Petr. III, 15, 16; 15 N. 5; 16 Apocal. XIV, called in col. 366); these and foot note (5) at the page foot not set here; they belong in notes.
esset, praeco factus in ⟨O⟩riente et Occidente; qui eximium fidei suae decus accepit, totum mundum docens justitiam, et ad Occidentis veniens terminum, et sub praefectis martyrium passus, ita e mundo migravit, atque in locum sanctum abiit, patientiae magnum exemplar factus. His viris qui divinam vitam duxerunt, aggregata est ingens electorum multitudo,» etc.
, having become a herald in the East and in the West; who received the surpassing glory of his faith, teaching the whole world righteousness, and coming to the boundary of the West, and having suffered martyrdom under the prefects, so departed from the world, and went away to the holy place, having become a great pattern of patience. To these men who led a divine life there was joined a vast multitude of the elect,» etc.
IV. Dubiam esse harum Epistolarum authenticitatem, inde pronuntiat D. de Premagny quod, juxta ipsum, impossibile sit conjicere quibusnam scriptae fuerint.
IV. M. de Prémagny pronounces the authenticity of these Letters to be doubtful on this ground, that, according to him, it is impossible to conjecture to whom they were written.
Et tamen magis clara esse non possunt verba quae initio primae Epistolae reperiuntur: Omnibus virginibus beatis qui constituerunt servare virginitatem propter regnum coelorum. Ad hos solos utriusque sexus virgines scriptas fuisse has Epistolas agnovit sanctus Hieronymus: ita ut animum mire distractum habere debuerit D. de Premagny qui supra dicta verba prius ab ipso Latine transcripta, deinde in nostram linguam verterat, quando dixit conjici non posse quibus istae destinarentur Epistolae.
And yet the words which are found at the beginning of the first Letter cannot be clearer: To all the blessed virgins [men] who have resolved to keep virginity for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. That these Letters were written to these alone, virgins of both sexes, Saint Jerome recognized: so that M. de Prémagny must have had a strangely distracted mind, who had first transcribed the aforesaid words in Latin himself and then turned them into our language, when he said that it could not be conjectured for whom those Letters were intended.
Boni pastoris officium implebat sanctus Clemens dum invigilaret perfectioni eorum qui illustriorem gregis Christi portionem efficiunt. Dilectus discipulus ipse locum in coelis honoratissimum eis assignat. Postquam enim nuntiavit eos habere nomen Agni Dei et Patris ejus scriptum in frontibus suis, dicit eos cantare ante sedem canticum novum, quod nemo praeter illos, cantare potest, additque: Hi sunt qui cum mulieribus non sunt coinquinati: virgines enim sunt. Hi sequuntur Agnum quocunque ierit. Hi empti sunt ex hominibus primitiae Deo et Agno.
Saint Clement was fulfilling the office of a good shepherd when he watched over the perfection of those who make up the more illustrious portion of Christ's flock. The beloved disciple himself assigns them a most honoured place in the heavens. For after he has announced that they have the name of the Lamb of God and of His Father written on their foreheads, he says that they sing before the throne a new song, which no one besides them can sing, and he adds: These are they who have not been defiled with women: for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb wherever He goes. These have been purchased from among men as first fruits to God and to the Lamb.
V. Domino de Premagny, post Wetstinum animadvertere placet, nihil in his Epistolis inveniri dictum de hierarchia et ecclesiastica auctoritate; et inde concludere vult dubiam esse earum authenticitatem. Dixerat vero Wetstinus hanc authenticitatem astrui praecise illo silentio. Wetstino jam responsum dedi. Restat ergo ut respondeam adnotatori ibidem quaestionem nullam fuisse de hierarchia et de auctoritate ecclesiastica. Omnia tempus et locum suum habent.
V. It pleases M. de Prémagny, after Wetstein, to observe that nothing is found said in these Letters about the hierarchy and ecclesiastical authority; and from this he wishes to conclude that their authenticity is doubtful. Wetstein, however, had said that this authenticity is established precisely by that silence. To Wetstein I have already given an answer. It remains therefore for me to answer the annotator that there was in that place no question of the hierarchy and of ecclesiastical authority. All things have their own time and place.
VI. Vitiligat quoque D. de Premagny super vocabulis Apostoli et Evangelii, quasi hoc tempore usurpari non debuerint. Liceat mihi dicere litem hanc esse summopere ridiculam: postquam enim voces istae a Christo, ab apostolis et evangelistis adhibitae fuerint, quis dicere auderet a sancto Clemente
VI. M. de Prémagny also quibbles over the words Apostle and Gospel, as though they ought not to have been used at this time. Let me be allowed to say that this dispute is supremely ridiculous: for after those terms had been employed by Christ, by the apostles and the evangelists, who would dare to say that by Saint Clement
Editors' notes and page, col. 366
Footnotes
(16) ‹anchor: Deo et Agno› · call in col 366
Apocal. XIV.
Apocalypse 14.
(printed under page 180)
Page
- running head: [EPISTOLAE] AD VIRGINES. — PROOEMIA. 366
- marginal letters: A pidatus esset, praeco factus; B propter regnum coelorum; C eos cantare ante sedem; D cum suum habent
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the column opens with "pidatus" (end of "lapidatus", set whole in col. 365). "Clemente" at the column end completed from the first line of col. 367. "⟨O⟩riente": the initial prints as a broken letter resembling C. "Vitiligat": UNSURE, an ink blot on the scan covers the middle of the word, but the space does not allow "Vitilitigat". "[men]" in the English supplies the masculine of "qui" (see the editor's foot note (7)). Note calls (6), (7), 16 dropped. Foot note 16 (Apocal. XIV, printed in the foot line under col. 365) is set above. Foot notes (6) and (7) are both called in this column, as seen in the column image: (6) after "martyrium passus", (7) after "beatis qui"; their text, with the end of (5), is printed under this column and is set in notes/n365.md, where the calling column is still marked as not determined (pointer only here, so that the notes are not set twice).
non potuisse adhiberi? Utramque vocem sanctus Clemens in eadem linea usurpat, scribens ad Corinthios primam Epistolam, ut jam dixi, sine controversia authenticam. «Apostoli, inquit, n. 42, missi a Domino Jesu Christo, Evangelium praedicarunt.»
they could not have been employed? Saint Clement uses both terms in the same line, when writing to the Corinthians the first Letter, which is, as I have already said, authentic beyond dispute. «The Apostles, he says, no. 42, sent by the Lord Jesus Christ, preached the Gospel.»
Sed quaerit D. de Premagny utrum in versione Syriaca reperiantur ista vocabula: Evangelium, Apostolus? Respondeo id parvi referre, modo sensus idem exprimatur. Ut autem curiositati ejus satisfaciam, dicam in Syriaco exprimi tantum sensum verbi Apostoli, id est missi, et introductum fuisse vocabulum Evangelii. Non consulit suae famae qui has naenias proponit.
But M. de Prémagny asks whether these words are found in the Syriac version: Gospel, Apostle? I answer that it matters little, provided the same sense is expressed. But to satisfy his curiosity, I shall say that in the Syriac only the sense of the word Apostle, that is, one sent, is expressed, and that the word Gospel has been brought in. He does not consult his own reputation who puts forward these trifles.
VII. Qui libidine contradicendi abripitur solem ipsum splendentem negaret, aut ejus existentiam in dubium revocaret. Sic D. de Premagny litem suscitat auctori Epistolarum quia nec praecursorem Domini Baptistam appellavit, nec dilectum discipulum Evangelistam. Inde etiam perpendit utrum ambae nostrae Epistolae antecedere potuerint publicationem et cognitionem Evangelii sancti Joannis. Misera prorsus discussio! Si enim antecesserint istae Epistolae publicationem Evangelii sancti Joannis, cur eorum antiquitatem impugnat? Sed, procul dubio, adhuc distractus erat legendo et exscribendo has Epistolas: pluries enim ibi sanctus Clemens citavit Evangelium sancti Joannis. In solo n. 15 secundae Epistolae, bis hujus Evangelium adduxit: 1° Mirati sunt quia cum muliere loquebatur; 2° Noli me tangere: nondum enim ascendi ad Patrem meum. Cum ergo sanctus Clemens citaverit hoc sancti Joannis Evangelium, nonne evidens est illud fuisse ante nostras Epistolas scriptum? Hinc etiam patet praecursorem Domini a sancto Clemente ut Baptistam fuisse agnitum: in primo siquidem capite Evangelii sancti Joannis, sexies beatus praecursor Baptizans appellatur.
VII. He who is carried away by the lust of contradicting would deny the shining sun itself, or call its existence in doubt. Thus M. de Prémagny raises a quarrel with the author of the Letters because he neither called the Lord's forerunner the Baptist, nor the beloved disciple the Evangelist. From this he also weighs whether both our Letters could have preceded the publication and knowledge of the Gospel of Saint John. An altogether wretched discussion! For if those Letters preceded the publication of the Gospel of Saint John, why does he attack their antiquity? But, without doubt, he was still distracted in reading and copying out these Letters: for several times Saint Clement there cited the Gospel of Saint John. In no. 15 alone of the second Letter he twice adduced this man's Gospel: first, They wondered that He was speaking with a woman; secondly, Do not touch Me: for I have not yet ascended to My Father. Since therefore Saint Clement cited this Gospel of Saint John, is it not evident that it was written before our Letters? From this it is also plain that the Lord's forerunner was recognized by Saint Clement as the Baptist: for in the first chapter of the Gospel of Saint John the blessed forerunner is six times called the one Baptizing.
VIII. Jam superius dixi aegre concedi posse sanctum Clementem strictiori vinculo cum sancto Paulo quam cum sancto Petro ligatum fuisse: commoratio namque sancti Petri Romae multo diuturnior, necessitudinem quoque multo arctiorem inter eos producere debuit: quod fatendum esset, etiamsi nihili penderentur tot veterum testimonia quae sanctum Clementem sancti Petri comitem fuisse evincunt, et eum ab hoc apostolo consecratum episcopum unanimiter tradunt.
VIII. I have already said above that it can hardly be granted that Saint Clement was bound by a stricter tie with Saint Paul than with Saint Peter: for the much longer sojourn of Saint Peter at Rome must also have produced a much closer intimacy between them: which would have to be admitted, even if no weight were given to so many testimonies of the ancients which prove that Saint Clement was the companion of Saint Peter, and unanimously hand down that he was consecrated bishop by this apostle.
Pudet me redarguere quod adnotator tam erronee profert de vocibus Filii Virginis, quas applicat sanctus Clemens Domino nostro Jesu Christo: quasi titulus Virginis adhibitus nondum fuisset ad designandam Genitricem Salvatoris. Nunquid D. de Premagny in dubium revocavit authenticitatem Symboli apostolici, in quo dicitur: Natus ex Maria virgine? Aut nunquid verba haec quamdam obscuritatem involvunt? Addit verba sancti Matthaei
I am ashamed to refute what the annotator so erroneously puts forward about the words Son of the Virgin, which Saint Clement applies to our Lord Jesus Christ: as though the title of Virgin had not yet been employed to designate the Mother of the Saviour. Did M. de Prémagny call in doubt the authenticity of the Apostles' Creed, in which it is said: Born of the virgin Mary? Or do these words involve some obscurity? He adds that the words of Saint Matthew
Editors' notes and page, col. 367
Footnotes
(17) ‹anchor: cum muliere loquebatur› · call in col 367
Joan. IV, 27.
John 4:27.
(printed under page 181)
(18) ‹anchor: ad Patrem meum› · call in col 367
Joan. XX, 17.
John 20:17.
(printed under page 181)
(19) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (no call 19 can be made out in the rendered foot; it falls between call 18 in col 367 and call 20 in col 368, probably at the head of col 368; column not determined)
Luc. I, 34, 35.
Luke 1:34, 35.
(printed under page 181)
Page
- running head: 367 S. CLEMENTIS I ROM. PONT. O[PERA GENUINA.]
- marginal letters: A mente non potuisse adhiberi; B ipsum splendentem negaret; C me tangere: nondum enim; D nihili penderentur tot veterum
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the column opens with "mente" (end of "Clemente", set whole in col. 366). "eorum antiquitatem": so printed, where the sense (Epistolae) asks for "earum". Note calls 17, 18 dropped (foot: 17 Joan. IV, 27; 18 Joan. XX, 17); the foot line of references 17 to 25 runs across the page under both columns and is not set here; it belongs in notes. No scripture reference is printed in the text, so none is given in the English.
magis favere virginitati beatissimae Mariae quam verba sancti Lucae. Non facile tamen concipio quibusnam verbis sanctus Lucas clarius exprimere potuisset Deiparae virginitatem quam hoc sermone: Dixit autem Maria ad Angelum: Quomodo fiet istud, quoniam virum non cognosco? Et respondens angelus, dixit ei: Spiritus sanctus ⟨s⟩uperveniet in te, et v⟨i⟩rtus Altissimi obumbrabit tibi: ideoque et quod nascetur ex te sanctum vocabitur Filius Dei.
favour the virginity of the most blessed Mary more than the words of Saint Luke. Yet I do not easily conceive in what words Saint Luke could have expressed the virginity of the Mother of God more clearly than in this saying: And Mary said to the Angel: How shall this be, since I do not know a man? And the angel answering said to her: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you: and therefore also the holy one that shall be born of you will be called the Son of God.
IX. Miratur etiam adnotator a sancto Clemente adhiberi haec verba: Dominus noster Jesus Chritus, Dei Filius. Nunquid igitur insolitae erant hae voces quae toties reperiuntur et in Evangelistis et in Epistolis apostolorum? Quod si haec nondum sufficiant, remitto adhuc philosophum Rothomagensem ad Symbolum apostolorum quod Christiani omnes, tempore sancti Clementis, recitabant sicut et nos, dicentes: Et in Jesum Christum Filium ejus unicum Dominum nostrum.
IX. The annotator also wonders that these words are employed by Saint Clement: Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Were then these terms unusual, which are so often found both in the Evangelists and in the Letters of the apostles? But if these things are not yet enough, I further refer the philosopher of Rouen to the Creed of the apostles, which all Christians, in the time of Saint Clement, used to recite just as we do, saying: And in Jesus Christ His only Son our Lord.
Non libenter legit simultaneam trium personarum enuntiationem a sancto Clemente expressam. Cur vero non aeque displicerent ei verba Christi ad apostolos: Euntes ergo, docete omnes gentes, baptizantes eos in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti? Putatne a discipulis Christi hoc praeceptum non fuisse fideliter et quotidie observatum? Num existimat a primis Christianis non efformatum fuisse signum crucis in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti? Audacter dicit usque ad annum 165 tres sanctissimae Trinitatis personas nunquam fuisse verbis conjunctas. Fallitur: quotidie enim conjunctae fuerunt in forma baptismatis, et in signo crucis. Imo in scriptis sacris et in traditione hujus temporis illas unitas fuisse evidenter patet. Satis enim clare tres sanctissimae Trinitatis Personae exprimuntur simul in his beati Pauli verbis ad Corinthios scriptis: Gratia Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et charitas Dei, et communicatio sancti Spiritus, sit cum omnibus vobis; et ad eosdem: Confirmat nos in Christo, et unxit nos Deus, et signavit nos, et dedit pignus Spiritus in cordibus nostris.
He does not read with pleasure the simultaneous naming of the three persons expressed by Saint Clement. But why should not the words of Christ to the apostles displease him equally: Going therefore, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit? Does he think that this precept was not faithfully and daily observed by the disciples of Christ? Does he suppose that the sign of the cross was not formed by the first Christians in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit? He boldly says that down to the year 165 the three persons of the most holy Trinity were never joined together in words. He is mistaken: for they were joined daily in the form of baptism, and in the sign of the cross. Indeed it is plainly evident that they were united in the sacred writings and in the tradition of this time. For clearly enough the three Persons of the most holy Trinity are expressed together in these words of blessed Paul written to the Corinthians: The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the charity of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit, be with you all; and to the same: God confirms us in Christ, and has anointed us, and has sealed us, and has given the pledge of the Spirit in our hearts.
Non minus clare sanctus Petrus divinas personas simul conjunctas enuntiat, dicens: Electis... secundum praescientiam Dei Patris, in sanctificationem Spiritus, in obedientiam et aspersionem sanguinis Jesu Christi.
No less clearly does Saint Peter name the divine persons joined together, saying: To the elect... according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, unto the sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ.
Aeque aperte sanctus Joannes dicit: Tres sunt qui testimonium dant in coelo: Pater, Verbum et Spiritus sanctus; et hi tres unum sunt.
Equally openly Saint John says: There are three who give testimony in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
Equidem infidelibus primi Christiani non debebant revelare imprudenter mysteria religionis nostrae, ne ista ab eis deriderentur, et persecutiones gratis suscitarentur: ideoque Christus dixerat: Nolite dare sanctum canibus, neque mittatis margaritas ante porcos; ne forte conculcent eas pedibus suis, et conversi dir⟨u⟩mpant vos; sed adeo frequens erat inter initiatos sanctissimae Trinitatis invocatio,
The first Christians indeed were not bound to reveal imprudently to unbelievers the mysteries of our religion, lest these be mocked by them, and persecutions be stirred up needlessly: and for that reason Christ had said: Do not give what is holy to dogs, nor cast pearls before swine; lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning tear you apart; but so frequent among the initiated was the invocation of the most holy Trinity,
Editors' notes and page, col. 368
Footnotes
(20) ‹anchor: et Spiritus sancti› · call in col 368
Matth. XXVIII, 19.
Matthew 28:19.
(printed under page 181)
(21) ‹anchor: cum omnibus vobis› · call in col 368
II Cor. XIII, 13.
2 Corinthians 13:13.
(printed under page 181)
(22) ‹anchor: et ad eosdem› · call in col 368
II Cor. I, 21.
2 Corinthians 1:21.
(printed under page 181)
(23) ‹anchor: sanguinis Jesu Christi› · call in col 368
I Petr. I, 1, 2.
1 Peter 1:1, 2.
(printed under page 181)
(24) ‹anchor: tres unum sunt› · call in col 368
I Joan. V, 7.
1 John 5:7.
(printed under page 181)
(25) ‹anchor: conversi dirumpant vos› · call in col 368
Matth. VII, 6.
Matthew 7:6.
(printed under page 181)
Page
- running head: [S. CLEMENTIS] I ROM. PONT. OPERA GENUINA. 368
- marginal letters: A magis favere virginitati; B sem ad Symbolum apostolorum; C sanctissimae Trinitatis personas; D Spiritus, in obedientiam
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the column begins and ends at whole words; it ends at a comma, mid-sentence. "Chritus": printed Chri-tus across the line break, without the s. "⟨s⟩uperveniet", "v⟨i⟩rtus", "dir⟨u⟩mpant": damaged type. Note calls 19 to 25 dropped (foot: 19 Luc. I, 34, 35; 20 Matth. XXVIII, 19; 21 II Cor. XIII, 13; 22 II Cor. I, 21; 23 I Petr. I, 1, 2; 24 I Joan. V, 7; 25 Matth. VII, 6); the foot line runs across the page under both columns and is not set here; it belongs in notes. No scripture reference is printed in the text, so none is given in the English. A stray mark before the colon after "suscitarentur" is not type.
ut auctor Dialogi Philopatris qui sub Trajani imperio scripsit, hac ipsa ratione Christianos derideat, et cuidam fideli dicat : Jura mihi per Deum coeli, et supremum Dominum, per Filium Patris, per Spiritum qui a Patre procedit, Deum unum in tribus, et trinum in uno.
that the author of the dialogue Philopatris, who wrote under the reign of Trajan, mocks the Christians on this very ground, and says to one of the faithful: Swear to me by the God of heaven and supreme Lord, by the Son of the Father, by the Spirit Who proceeds from the Father, one God in three, and three in one.
Abstinere debuisset ab omni contentione D. de Premagny occasione alterius textus quem deprompserat sanctus Basilius ab alio sancti Clementis opere quod periit. En ille textus : Clemens Romanus antiquior dicit : Vivit Deus, et Dominus Jesus Christus, et Spiritus sanctus. Credidit sanctus Basilius haec sancti Clementis verba sufficere ut stabiliretur consubstantialitas Verbi divini, Arianique refellerentur. Hoc non admittit D. de Premagny. Quis vero haerebit inter affirmantis et negantis auctoritatem?
M. de Prémagny ought to have refrained from all contention on the occasion of another text, which Saint Basil had drawn from another work of Saint Clement that has perished. Here is that text: Clement of Rome, the more ancient, says: God lives, and the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Saint Basil believed that these words of Saint Clement sufficed to establish the consubstantiality of the divine Word and to refute the Arians. This M. de Prémagny does not admit. But who will hesitate between the authority of the one who affirms and that of the one who denies?
X. Aegre D. de Premagny videtur suscipere verba quibus Epistolarum auctor incitat ad imitationem trium divinarum personarum. Remitto hac de re lectorem ad ea quae subjeci in adnotatione loci hujus.
X. M. de Prémagny seems to take ill the words by which the author of the Letters urges to the imitation of the three divine persons. On this matter I refer the reader to what I have subjoined in the annotation on that passage.
XI. Juxta adnotatorem multum nutat Epistolarum nostrarum auctoritas ex fraude et hypocrisi quae exprobrantur quibusdam directoribus. Non major, ait, declamatio erat tempore Chrysostomi. Sed si inde anceps esset Epistolarum auctoritas, sequeretur dubias quoque judicari posse plerasque sancti Pauli Epistolas : in his enim vehementer invehitur vas electionis contra pseudo-apostolos. Nos vero qui tenemus ab initio mendacem ac homicidam fuisse daemonem, scimus quoque ab incunabulis Ecclesiae huic praesto fuisse ministros quorum versutiae omni tempore revelatae sunt et fortiter explosae. Non defuit Satanae suppositum in ipsa Christi societate; nec tamen testimonium de illius perfidia ab evangelistis praestitum, infirmare unquam potuit caetera quae scripserunt.
XI. According to the annotator, the authority of our Letters is greatly shaken by the fraud and hypocrisy with which certain directors are reproached. The declamation, he says, was no greater in the time of Chrysostom. But if the authority of the Letters were on that account doubtful, it would follow that most of the Epistles of Saint Paul could likewise be judged doubtful: for in them the vessel of election inveighs vehemently against false apostles. We, however, who hold that the devil was a liar and a murderer from the beginning, know also that from the cradle of the Church he has had ministers at hand, whose wiles have at every time been laid bare and vigorously driven off. Satan did not lack an agent in the very company of Christ; and yet the testimony borne by the evangelists to that man's treachery has never been able to weaken the rest of what they wrote.
Occasione possessionum et exorcismorum, infert adnotator in illis abditas fuisse meras fraudes, ab Asiae Judaeis derivatas. Inde in campum divertit morborum, praesertim eorum qui convulsiones pariunt, quibus fideles delusos fuisse asserit, quasi daemonis operationes in his fingerentur. Post hanc irruptionem, philosophus Rothomagensis ait : «Quo major antiquitas ambabus nostris Epistolis dabitur, eo propius ad originem Christianorum abusus adducentur : quod est incommodum et creditu difficile.
On the occasion of possessions and exorcisms, the annotator infers that sheer frauds lay hidden in them, derived from the Jews of Asia. From there he turns aside into the field of diseases, especially those which produce convulsions, by which he asserts that the faithful were deluded, as though the workings of a demon were imagined in them. After this sally, the philosopher of Rouen says: "The greater the antiquity that is given to both our Letters, the nearer to the origin of the Christians will the abuses be brought: which is awkward and hard to believe.
At mihi respondere permittatur : cur mutat adnotator naturam rerum de quibus locutus est Epistolarum auctor? Ne unum quidem verbum ille protulit de fraudibus aut de fictis morbis, aut de convulsionibus diabolo attributis. Ergo in aerem locutus est D. de Premagny, ejusque opera periit. Certissime Christus (velit, nolit criticus noster) abjecit ipse daemones, praecepitque apostolis ac discipulis
But let me be permitted to reply: why does the annotator change the nature of the things of which the author of the Letters spoke? Not a single word did he utter about frauds or feigned diseases, or about convulsions attributed to the devil. M. de Prémagny has therefore spoken into the air, and his labour is lost. Most certainly Christ (whether our critic will or no) Himself cast out demons, and commanded the apostles and disciples
Editors' notes and page, col. 369
Footnotes
(26) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; column not determined)
Bas. De Spirit. S., c. 29.
Basil, On the Holy Spirit, chapter 29.
(printed under page 182)
(27) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; probably at the head of col 370, where the sentence on Christ's command to the apostles runs over from the foot of col 369; column not confirmed)
Matth. X, 8.
Matthew 10:8.
(printed under page 182)
(28) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; probably in the upper part of col 370; column not confirmed)
Matth XVII, 18 et seq.
Matthew 17:18 and following.
<!-- NOTE: in note (28) no point is visible after "Matth"; set as read. --> (printed under page 182)
Page
- running head: 369 EPISTOLAE AD VIRGINES. — PROOEMIA. 370
- marginal letters: (letters stand between the columns) A ‹ut auctor Dialogi›; B ‹Quis vero haerebit›; C ‹vas electionis contra›; D ‹irruptionem, philosophus›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the whole column is editors' prose (Villecourt, dissertatio praevia), set as this unit's text. Last word split at the break (di-/scipulis), completed from the first line of col. 370 and set whole here. The quotation opened with « before Quo has no closing mark printed. Foot note 26 is called after "Spiritus sanctus" (Bas. De Spirit. S., c. 29); call removed. Italics of the page not marked.
suis ut eos ipsi abjicerent, quando dixit : Daemones ejicite. Quid mirum igitur si auctor Epistolarum regulas statuat quas sequi debeant exorcistae? Quid porro istae redolent nisi castitatem, mortificationem, humilitatem? Indicat quid sit agendum ut spiritus malignus efficaciter expellatur; sed non ideo fraudis insimulat eos qui hanc exorcizandi rationem non adhibuerint. Ipse Christus docuit discipulos suos quibusnam armis muniti pravos spiritus debellare deberent; sed fraudis aut mendacii reos esse non pronuntiavit quando ei narrarunt se optato caruisse effectu. Rem sic exponit Evangelista : Tunc discipuli accesserunt ad Jesum secreto, et dixerunt : Quare nos non potuimus ejicere illum? Dixit illis Jesus : Propter incredulitatem vestram. Amen, quippe, dico vobis, si habueritis fidem sicut granum sinapis, dicetis monti huic : Transi hinc illuc : et transibit, et nihil impossibile erit vobis. Hoc autem genus non ejicitur nisi per orationem et jejunium.
of His that they should themselves cast them out, when He said: Cast out demons. What wonder, then, if the author of the Letters lays down rules which exorcists ought to follow? And what do those rules breathe but chastity, mortification, humility? He indicates what must be done for the evil spirit to be effectually expelled; but he does not on that account charge with fraud those who have not employed this manner of exorcizing. Christ Himself taught His disciples with what arms they ought to be furnished to vanquish the wicked spirits; but He did not pronounce them guilty of fraud or falsehood when they told Him that they had failed of the desired effect. The Evangelist sets the matter out thus: Then the disciples came to Jesus privately, and said: Why could we not cast him out? Jesus said to them: Because of your unbelief. For amen, I say to you, if you have faith as a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain: Pass from here to there: and it will pass, and nothing will be impossible to you. But this kind is not cast out except by prayer and fasting.
Cessent ergo philosophi hujus saeculi in sanctis Patribus vituperare quae in Christo revereri debent, nisi forte Christo renuntiaverint.
Let the philosophers of this age therefore cease to blame in the holy Fathers what they ought to revere in Christ, unless perhaps they have renounced Christ.
Sed res notatu dignissima est, plerosque haereticos et philosophos, ad solam commemorationem daemonum et exorcismorum excandescere et exagitari quasi ipsi a daemonibus obsiderentur.
But it is a thing most worthy of note that most heretics and philosophers, at the mere mention of demons and exorcisms, blaze up and are thrown into agitation, as though they themselves were beset by demons.
XII. Auctorem Epistolarum arguit adnotator quasi narratorem parum veracem eorum quae ad Dominum nostrum pertinebant. « Clemens, inquit, non est diligens relator itinerum Christi. Absque dubio enim, plures comitatae sunt eum mulieres, paulo ante quam vitam consummaret. Non semel hospitatus est ac manducavit in domo Mariae et Marthae; nec semel mulieres effuderunt unguentum super caput et pedes illius, » etc.
XII. The annotator charges the author of the Letters with being a narrator of little truthfulness in what concerned our Lord. "Clement," he says, "is not a careful reporter of the journeys of Christ. For without doubt a number of women accompanied Him, shortly before He ended His life. More than once He lodged and ate in the house of Mary and Martha; and more than once women poured ointment upon His head and feet," etc.
Nullus est in pauperum scholis puerulus aut puellula quae eamdem ac philosophus Rothomagensis eruditionem hic producere non valuisset. Nunquid propterea ausi fuissent docere aut reprehendere virum apostolicum, summum pontificem et martyrem? Ut autem reclamationes domini de Premagny alicujus ponderis essent, debuisset citare quaedam sancti Clementis verba quae suis reclamationibus occasionem aequam dedissent; sed nulla prorsus ejusmodi verba existunt. Dicetur forte non verum, sed pseudo-Clementem hic impeti : admitti potest ejusmodi excusatio, quin admittatur hypothesis gratuita quam textus sedulo examinatus respuit.
There is no little boy or little girl in the schools of the poor who could not have brought forward here the same learning as the philosopher of Rouen. Would they on that account have dared to instruct or to reprove an apostolic man, a supreme pontiff and martyr? But for M. de Prémagny's protests to be of any weight, he ought to have cited some words of Saint Clement that would have given fair occasion for his protests; yet no words of that kind exist at all. It will perhaps be said that not the true Clement but a pseudo-Clement is here attacked: such an excuse can[not] be admitted without admitting a gratuitous hypothesis which the text, carefully examined, rejects.
Quod autem adnotator tam serena fronte asserit Christum non semel hospitatum fuisse in domo Marthae et Mariae, verum est quidem de prandiis; sed facillime contradici potest quoad pernoctationem : veteres enim tradidere Christum secedere consuetum in montem et solitudinem quando apostoli ipsi ad quietem sumendam lectum petebant.
As for what the annotator asserts with so untroubled a brow, that Christ more than once lodged in the house of Martha and Mary, it is true indeed of meals; but it can very easily be contradicted as regards passing the night: for the ancients have handed down that Christ was accustomed to withdraw to the mountain and to solitude when the apostles themselves sought their beds to take rest.
Editors' notes and page, col. 370
Page
- running head: 369 EPISTOLAE AD VIRGINES. — PROOEMIA. 370
- marginal letters: (letters stand between the columns) A ‹scipulis suis ut eos›; B ‹dulitatem vestram›; C ‹Dominum nostrum pertinebant›; D ‹tionibus occasionem aequam›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the whole column is editors' prose (Villecourt, dissertatio praevia), set as this unit's text. The column's first printed letters are "scipulis", the tail of "discipulis", which is set whole at the end of col. 369 and not repeated here. UNSURE: "admitti potest ejusmodi excusatio, quin admittatur" is set as printed; the sense requires a negative ("admitti non potest"), supplied in brackets in the English only. Foot notes called in this column (calls removed), both calls confirmed from the column image: 27 Matth. X, 8 (after "Daemones ejicite", second line of the column); 28 Matth XVII, 18 et seq. (after "jejunium"). Their text is set in notes/n369.md, where the calling column is still marked as not confirmed (pointer only here, so that the notes are not set twice). Italics of the page not marked.
Haec porro traditio optime congruit his verbis Evangelii : Exiit in montem orare : et erat pernoctans in oratione Dei. En factum pernoctationis. Visne habere consuetudinem? Et egressus, ait idem evangelista de tempore nocturno loquens, ibat, secundum consuetudinem, in montem Olivarum. Omnes evangelistae signarunt sedulo hunc specialem locum orationis Christi in monte Olivarum, vocantes illum praedium, vel hortum Gethsemani. In publico, easdem fere relationes Christus habuit cum viris et mulieribus : ad salvandum enim utrumque sexum venerat; sed privatim, eodem modo non se gerebat : ideoque mirantur apostoli quando eum solum vident, quamvis in aperto, cum muliere Samaritana colloquentem.
Now this tradition agrees very well with these words of the Gospel: He went out to the mountain to pray: and He was passing the night in the prayer of God. There is the fact of passing the night. Do you wish to have the custom? And going out, says the same evangelist, speaking of the night-time, He went, according to custom, to the Mount of Olives. All the evangelists have carefully marked this special place of Christ's prayer on the Mount of Olives, calling it an estate, or the garden of Gethsemane. In public, Christ had much the same dealings with men and with women: for He had come to save both sexes; but in private He did not conduct Himself in the same way: and so the apostles marvel when they see Him alone, although in the open, conversing with the Samaritan woman.
Ex eo quod sanctus Clemens Christi verba retulerit ad Mariam Magdalenam dicentis : Noli me tangere, concludere vellet adnotator, contra Wetstinum, ab auctore Epistolarum melius cognitum fuisse sancti Joannis Evangelium quam Evangelium sancti Matthaei qui hanc circumstantiam tacet. Hoc ratiocinium philosopho parum convenit : neque enim sanctus Matthaeus, neque caeteri evangelistae voluerunt, imo velle potuerunt scribere omnia quae Christus gesserit. Igitur ab hoc silentio nihil omnino concludi potest. Qui enim concluderet dominum de Premagny nihil aliud scripsisse quam versionem Gallicam nostrarum Epistolarum, cum adjunctis adnotationibus, quia has solum typis mandavit, non satis famae illius consuleret; probabiliter namque opus istud merito inferius est sexaginta aliis opusculis ejus quae manuscripta remanserunt.
From the fact that Saint Clement has reported the words of Christ saying to Mary Magdalene: Do not touch Me, the annotator would like to conclude, against Wettstein, that the Gospel of Saint John was better known to the author of the Letters than the Gospel of Saint Matthew, who is silent on this circumstance. This reasoning little befits a philosopher: for neither Saint Matthew nor the other evangelists wished, nay, could they even have wished, to write everything that Christ did. From this silence, therefore, nothing whatever can be concluded. For anyone who should conclude that M. de Prémagny wrote nothing other than a French version of our Letters, with annotations attached, because these alone he committed to print, would not sufficiently consult his reputation; for probably that work is deservedly inferior to the sixty other small works of his which have remained in manuscript.
XIII. Auctorem Epistolarum accusat D. de Premagny quasi infideliter narrarit historiam Elisei et Sunamitidis. Sed quae paucis verbis refert sanctus Clemens optime concordant cum rebus relatis in quarto libro Regum, quamvis res minutissimas non fuerit consectatus. Achilleam philosophus noster aestimavit hanc objectionem : Eliseus acceptavit cubiculum in domo Sunamitidis : ergo non erat hic propheta extraneus omni relationi cum mulieribus. Ergo auctor Epistolarum falsam induxit hypothesim. Ergo honorat sanctum Clementem qui hunc non recipit quasi istarum Epistolarum auctorem.
XIII. M. de Prémagny accuses the author of the Letters of having related unfaithfully the history of Elisha and the Shunammite woman. But what Saint Clement reports in a few words agrees very well with the things related in the fourth book of Kings, although he did not pursue the most minute details. Our philosopher reckoned this objection his Achilles: Elisha accepted a chamber in the house of the Shunammite: therefore this prophet was not a stranger to all dealings with women. Therefore the author of the Letters has brought in a false supposition. Therefore he honours Saint Clement who does not receive him as the author of those Letters.
Ut funditus ruat hujusmodi argumentatio satis erit adnotare hospitalitatem quam interdum propheta recepit apud Sunamitidem, non fuisse cohabitationem quam prohibet sanctus Clemens.
For an argument of this kind to collapse utterly, it will be enough to note that the hospitality which the prophet from time to time received at the Shunammite's was not the cohabitation which Saint Clement forbids.
Enimvero domus Sunamitidis una erat ex his opulentis habitationibus quae plerumque servis abundant. Ipsa declarat se in medio populi sui quasi principem habitare, et nulla re indigere. In illa domo, quasi transiens habitat Eliseus cum servo suo. Quare enim sub dio pernoctasset? Quamvis autem domus illa ampla foret vastaque, constructum
For indeed the house of the Shunammite was one of those wealthy dwellings which commonly abound in servants. She herself declares that she dwells in the midst of her own people like a princess, and lacks nothing. In that house Elisha lodges, as one passing through, with his servant. For why should he have passed the night in the open air? And although that house was ample and vast, there was built
Editors' notes and page, col. 371
Footnotes
(29) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; column not determined)
Luc. VI, 12.
Luke 6:12.
(printed under page 183)
(30) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; column not determined)
Luc. XXII, 39.
Luke 22:39.
(printed under page 183)
(31) ‹anchor: medio populi sui› · call in col 371
IV Reg. IV, 13.
4 Kings [2 Kings] 4:13.
(printed under page 183)
(32) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; probably at the head of col 372, where the sentence on the house of the Shunammite runs over from the foot of col 371; column not confirmed)
Ibid., 10.
The same, 10.
(printed under page 183)
Page
- running head: 371 S. CLEMENTIS I ROM. PONT. OPERA GENUINA. 372
- marginal letters: (letters stand between the columns) A ‹Haec porro traditio›; B ‹Ex eo quod sanctus Clemens›; C ‹mandavit, non satis famae›; D ‹hunc non recipit quasi›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the whole column is editors' prose (Villecourt, dissertatio praevia), set as this unit's text. Last word split at the break (constru-/ctum), completed from the first line of col. 372 and set whole here. Foot notes called in this column (calls removed): 29 Luc. VI, 12 (after "oratione Dei"); 30 Luc. XXII, 39 (after "montem Olivarum"); 31 IV Reg. IV, 13 (after "populi sui"). Italics of the page not marked.
est pro propheta novum cubiculum omnino separatum ab ea. Textus Hebraicus expresse designat separationis murum qui aedificatus est. Hoc ignoravit D. de Premagny, ideoque insuperabilem judicavit argumentationem suam. Aliunde non exigit sanctus Clemens ut nulla sit mulier in domo quam habitant homines virgines, praesertim quando iter faciunt, sed ut fugiant contubernia cum mulieribus, et ut ipsis non ministrent mulieres. Jam dixi cubiculum Elisei apud Sunamitidem fuisse separatum; ibi vero ministerium a mulieribus non recipiebat : illi enim sufficiebat servus qui semper comitabatur eum.
for the prophet a new chamber wholly separated from her. The Hebrew text expressly indicates a wall of separation which was built. Of this M. de Prémagny was ignorant, and so he judged his argument insuperable. Besides, Saint Clement does not require that there be no woman in a house in which virgin men dwell, especially when they are on a journey, but that they flee from living together with women, and that women not minister to them. I have already said that Elisha's chamber at the Shunammite's was separate; and there he did not receive service from women: for the servant who always accompanied him sufficed for him.
Naevos quaerit invenire criticus philosophus in Epistolis nostris ut auctoritatem earum elevet. Grandis igitur, ipsius judicio, naevus est quod quater sanctus Clemens Christianos nominaverit, cum vox ista ter tantum in Novo Testamento reperiatur. Perspicacitatem hujus adnotationis judicandam relinquo cuilibet lectori. Si cui tamen non sufficeret hoc responsum, scire debet hoc vocabulum adeo commune fuisse hac aetate, ut a gentilibus passim adhiberetur, sicut patet ex Actis martyrii Sancti Ignatii Antiocheni, et ex Epistola Plinii ad Trajanum imperatorem, de Christianis.
The philosopher-critic seeks to find blemishes in our Letters in order to lessen their authority. A great blemish, then, in his judgement, is that Saint Clement named Christians four times, whereas that word is found only three times in the New Testament. The perspicacity of this annotation I leave to be judged by any reader. Yet if this answer should not suffice for anyone, he ought to know that this term was so common in that age that it was used everywhere by the pagans, as is plain from the Acts of the martyrdom of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, and from the Letter of Pliny to the emperor Trajan, on the Christians.
XIV. Wetstinus allegaverat auctoritatem sancti Epiphanii qui haereticis aevi sui opponebat Epistolas sancti Clementis ad virgines, in quibus commemorantur Elias, David, Samson et omnes prophetae. Ad hoc argumentum reduci potest Wetstini ratiocinatio : « Non solum Epiphanius, sicut Hieronymus, Epistolas indicat quas sanctus Clemens ad virgines scripsit; sed has specialiter Epistolas distinxit enuntiatione textus qui in caeteris operibus sancti Clementis nullibi reperitur. In solis enim Epistolis ad virgines mentio fit de Elia, Davide, Samsone et omnibus prophetis. »
XIV. Wettstein had alleged the authority of Saint Epiphanius, who set against the heretics of his age the Letters of Saint Clement to virgins, in which Elijah, David, Samson and all the prophets are mentioned. Wettstein's reasoning can be reduced to this argument: "Not only does Epiphanius, like Jerome, point to Letters which Saint Clement wrote to virgins; but he has specially distinguished these Letters by stating a text which is nowhere found in the other works of Saint Clement. For in the Letters to virgins alone is mention made of Elijah, David, Samson and all the prophets."
Robur hujus ratiocinii quasi non advertens D. de Premagny, sermonem gyroflectit ad inscitiam exempli Samsonis, quasi pessime sanctus Clemens Samsonem huc induxisset. Sed etsi concederetur domino de Premagny Samsonem non debuisse huc introduci, non minus invicta esset conclusio Wetstini, qui, ex hac prolatione authenticitatem Epistolarum nostrarum infert.
M. de Prémagny, as though not noticing the force of this reasoning, wheels his discourse round to the ineptness of the example of Samson, as though Saint Clement had brought Samson in here very badly. But even if it were granted to M. de Prémagny that Samson ought not to have been introduced here, the conclusion of Wettstein would be no less unconquered, who from this citation infers the authenticity of our Letters.
Ut autem, ex hac etiam parte, debilem esse adnotatorem pateat, dico exempla Samsonis et Davidis mirifice inservire thesi auctoris Epistolarum. Si namque prudentia prophetarum nos cautos esse monet, quorumdam sanctorum virorum casus valentior adhuc praedicatio est ut nobismetipsis diffidamus. Non solum Samsonem et Davidem appellat sanctus Hieronymus in hac materia, sed etiam Salomonem. Omnes norunt haec sancti doctoris verba ad Nepotianum : « Ne sub eodem tecto mansites, nec in praeterita castitate confidas. Nec sanctior David, nec Samsone fortior, nec Salomone potes esse sapientior. »
But that it may be plain that on this side too the annotator is weak, I say that the examples of Samson and David serve the thesis of the author of the Letters wonderfully. For if the prudence of the prophets warns us to be cautious, the fall of certain holy men is a still more powerful preaching that we should distrust ourselves. Saint Jerome appeals not only to Samson and David in this matter, but also to Solomon. All know these words of the holy doctor to Nepotian: "Do not stay under the same roof, nor trust in your past chastity. You cannot be holier than David, nor stronger than Samson, nor wiser than Solomon."
Editors' notes and page, col. 372
Page
- running head: 371 S. CLEMENTIS I ROM. PONT. OPERA GENUINA. 372
- marginal letters: (letters stand between the columns) A ‹ctum est pro propheta›; B ‹Grandis igitur, ipsius judicio›; C ‹ratiocinatio : « Non solum›; D ‹stolarum nostrarum infert›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the whole column is editors' prose (Villecourt, dissertatio praevia), set as this unit's text. The column's first printed letters are "ctum", the tail of "constructum", which is set whole at the end of col. 371 and not repeated here. Foot note called in this column (call removed): 32 Ibid., 10 (after "separatum ab ea"). Italics of the page not marked.
Praeterea, peccaverunt quidem Samson et David; sed in peccatis non perseveraverunt : ideoque sanctus Epiphanius Ebionitas arguit quod eos repudiaverint cum caeteris prophetis.
Moreover, Samson and David did indeed sin; but they did not persevere in their sins: and so Saint Epiphanius reproves the Ebionites for having repudiated them along with the other prophets.
Quantum ad verbum laudat quo usus est Wetstinus citando textum sancti Epiphanii, scire debuisset D. de Premagny hac voce, saepissime, nihil aliud significari quam commemorationem, nec laudem ab eo semper indicari.
As for the word laudat, which Wettstein used in citing the text of Saint Epiphanius, M. de Prémagny ought to have known that by this word, very often, nothing else is signified than mention, and that praise is not always indicated by it.
XV. Prudenter siluisset adnotator quae dicere praesumpsit de privatione matrimonii. Vult enim sanctus Paulus ut a nobis absit scurrilitas quae ad rem non pertinet. Plerique homines nubere volunt, quia caelibatum viribus suis superiorem judicant. His dicit Apostolus : Melius est nubere quam uri. Isti vero reprehensibiles forent si propterea virginitatem impugnarent, aut eam omnibus impossibilem pronuntiarent : doctrinam quippe e diametro contrariam statuit Christus, docendo non omnes quidem capere verbum istud, sed quibus datum est, et addendo : Qui potest capere, capiat : quae verba invitant animas generosas et fortes ad virginitatem, propter regnum coelorum. Eamdem invitationem et doctrinam protulit sanctus Paulus, dicens : Volo omnes vos esse sicut meipsum; sed unusquisque proprium donum habet ex Deo : alius quidem sic, alius vero sic.
XV. The annotator would have been prudent to keep silent what he presumed to say about going without marriage. For Saint Paul wishes that there be far from us scurrility which is not to the purpose. Most people wish to marry, because they judge celibacy to be beyond their strength. To these the Apostle says: It is better to marry than to burn. But they would be blameworthy if on that account they attacked virginity, or pronounced it impossible for all: for Christ laid down a doctrine diametrically opposed, teaching that not all indeed take in this word, but those to whom it is given, and adding: He who can take it, let him take it: which words invite generous and strong souls to virginity, for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Saint Paul put forward the same invitation and doctrine, saying: I wish you all to be as myself; but each one has his own gift from God: one indeed in this way, and another in that.
Nugatur autem D. de Premagny, insinuando matrimonium potius expiationis quam felicitatis statum esse, ideoque plus mereri qui nubit quam qui a nuptiis se abstinet : quasi qui continentiam respuunt poenitentiae meritum intendissent.
But M. de Prémagny trifles when he insinuates that marriage is a state of expiation rather than of happiness, and that therefore he who marries merits more than he who abstains from marriage: as though those who reject continence had aimed at the merit of penance.
Nemo quidem negare potest magnas sollicitudines conjugibus reservari. Ab his praeservare cupiebat Apostolus illos quibus dicebat : Volo autem vos sine sollicitudine esse; sed certissimum est mortificationem carnis aut spiritus non esse finem eorum qui conjugium eligunt. Et utinam multo pauciores essent quibus applicari valerent verba Raphaelis archangeli : Audi me, et ostendam tibi qui sunt quibus praevalere potest daemonium : hi namque qui conjugium ita suscipiunt, ut Deum a se et a sua mente excludant, et suae libidini ita vacent sicut equus et mulus, quibus non est intellectus : habet potestatem daemonium in eos.
No one indeed can deny that great cares are in store for the married. From these the Apostle desired to preserve those to whom he said: But I wish you to be without care; yet it is most certain that mortification of flesh or of spirit is not the aim of those who choose marriage. And would that those were far fewer to whom the words of the archangel Raphael could be applied: Hear me, and I will show you who they are over whom the demon can prevail: for those who so enter upon marriage as to shut out God from themselves and from their mind, and so give themselves to their lust as the horse and the mule, which have no understanding: over them the demon has power.
Si attendisset his monitis adnotator, non tam leviter de hac materia locutus fuisset.
If the annotator had attended to these admonitions, he would not have spoken so lightly of this matter.
Caeterum, qui propter regnum coelorum matrimonio valedicunt, nullam similitudinem habent cum hac impura philosophorum lue qui nexus conjugales et, ut verbis Apostoli utar, honorabile connubium fugiunt, ut liberius ac turpius voluptatibus carnis habenas laxent. Vae talibus qui generis humani opprobrium sunt!
For the rest, those who bid farewell to marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven bear no likeness to that impure plague of philosophers who flee the bonds of wedlock and, to use the words of the Apostle, honourable marriage, in order to give rein more freely and more shamefully to the pleasures of the flesh. Woe to such as are the reproach of the human race!
Sic loquitur D. de Premagny : « Ministri reformati (nuptias contrahendo) praetulerunt praesens
M. de Prémagny speaks thus: "The Reformed ministers (by contracting marriage) have preferred the present
Editors' notes and page, col. 373
Footnotes
(33) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; column not determined, probably col 373)
Ephes. V, 4.
Ephesians 5:4.
(printed under page 184)
(34) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call not visible (lies above the rendered foot; column not determined, probably col 373)
I Cor. VII, 9.
1 Corinthians 7:9.
(printed under page 184)
(35) ‹anchor: capiat› · call in col 373 (the line is cut by the top edge of the foot image; word and call read from its lower half)
Matth. XIX, 12.
Matthew 19:12.
(printed under page 184)
(36) ‹anchor: alius vero sic› · call in col 373
I Cor. VII, 7.
1 Corinthians 7:7.
(printed under page 184)
(37) ‹anchor: sine sollicitudine esse› · call in col 373
Ibid., 32.
The same, 32.
(printed under page 184)
(38) ‹anchor: daemonium in eos› · call in col 373
Tob. VI, 16, 17.
Tobit 6:16, 17.
(printed under page 184)
Page
- running head: 373 EPISTOLAE AD VIRGINES. — PROOEMIA. 374
- marginal letters: (letters stand between the columns) A ‹Praeterea, peccaverunt quidem›; B ‹uri. Isti vero reprehensibiles›; C ‹tum esse, ideoque plus mereri›; D ‹bet potestatem daemonium›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the whole column is editors' prose (Villecourt, dissertatio praevia), set as this unit's text. The column ends mid-sentence inside a quotation (no word split). Foot notes called in this column (calls removed): 33 Ephes. V, 4 (after "non pertinet"); 34 I Cor. VII, 9 (after "quam uri"); 35 Matth. XIX, 12 (after "capiat"); 36 I Cor. VII, 7 (after "alius vero sic"); 37 Ibid., 32 (after "sollicitudine esse"); 38 Tob. VI, 16, 17 (after "daemonium in eos"). The page prints "cælibatum" (set caelibatum) and "cœlorum" (set coelorum). Italics of the page not marked.
futuro, certum incerto. Ministri Romani aliter sentiunt et agunt, a quibusdam saeculis, et a matrimonio abstinent. » Priora verba orthodoxa non sunt; posteriora historice sunt falsa. Saepe legendo adnotationes domini de Premagny, suspicio mihi oborta est illum fortasse pertinuisse ad sectam protestantium. Errabam : nullum quippe hujus familiae membrum unquam huic haeresi adhaesit. Tantummodo certior factus sum adnotatorem fuisse, ut jam alibi dictum est, socium consuetum philosophorum saeculi praecedentis qui religionem lacessere gloriabantur. In altera editione versionis Gallicae nostrarum Epistolarum, D. de Premagny id superaddendum judicavit his quae in priori editione jam dixerat : « Deus non proponit incrementum mercedis pro caelibibus : et satis mirum est a sancto Clemente prolatum fuisse hoc paradoxum tempore adeo apostolis vicino, praesertimque sancto Petro praedecessori suo, cujus matrimonium non habetur ut dubium, nec etiam matrimonium horum episcoporum quos volebat sanctus Paulus esse unius uxoris viros. »
to the future, the certain to the uncertain. The Roman ministers think and act otherwise, for some centuries past, and abstain from marriage." The former words are not orthodox; the latter are historically false. Often, in reading the annotations of M. de Prémagny, the suspicion arose in me that he had perhaps belonged to the sect of the Protestants. I was mistaken: for no member of that family ever adhered to this heresy. I have only been informed that the annotator was, as has already been said elsewhere, a habitual companion of the philosophers of the preceding century who gloried in assailing religion. In the second edition of the French version of our Letters, M. de Prémagny judged that this should be added to what he had already said in the earlier edition: "God does not hold out an increase of reward for the celibate: and it is rather surprising that this paradox was put forward by Saint Clement at a time so near to the apostles, and especially to Saint Peter his predecessor, whose marriage is not held to be doubtful, nor yet the marriage of those bishops whom Saint Paul wished to be husbands of one wife."
Textus jam a me adducti satis explodunt ac refutant hanc domini de Premagny assertionem. Non exspectavit Novum Testamentum Dominus ut mercedis incrementum virginibus spontaneis polliceretur. Dabo eis, inquit per Isaiam, in domo mea, et in muris meis locum, et nomen melius a filiis et filiabus : nomen sempiternum dabo eis, quod non peribit. Merito igitur concilium Tridentinum anathemate percellit « eos qui dicunt clericos in sacris ordinibus constitutos, vel regulares castitatem solemniter professos, posse matrimonium contrahere, non obstante lege ecclesiastica, vel voto. » Eadem poena plectit eos « qui dicunt non esse melius ac beatius manere in virginitate aut caelibatu quam jungi matrimonio. »
The texts already adduced by me sufficiently explode and refute this assertion of M. de Prémagny. The Lord did not wait for the New Testament to promise an increase of reward to those who are virgins of their own free will. I will give them, He says through Isaiah, a place in My house and within My walls, and a name better than sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, which shall not perish. Rightly, therefore, does the Council of Trent strike with anathema "those who say that clerics constituted in sacred orders, or regulars who have solemnly professed chastity, can contract marriage, notwithstanding the ecclesiastical law or the vow." With the same penalty it punishes those "who say that it is not better and more blessed to remain in virginity or celibacy than to be joined in marriage."
Quantum ad hypothesim domini de Premagny, a quibusdam tantum saeculis continentiam fuisse Ecclesiae ministris praescriptam, dicam illum se historiae ecclesiasticae imperitum praebere qui omnibus monumentis ecclesiasticis contradicit, quae inconcusse evincunt in Ecclesia occidentali continentiam perpetua lege praescriptam fuisse clericis in sacris ordinibus constitutis. Jubet sanctus Paulus ut qui ad episcopatum promoventur, si antea fuerint uxorati, sancti et continentes, post consecrationem suam, permaneant.
As for M. de Prémagny's supposition that continence has been prescribed to the ministers of the Church only for some centuries, I will say that he shows himself unskilled in ecclesiastical history who contradicts all the ecclesiastical records, which prove unshakeably that in the Western Church continence was prescribed by a perpetual law to clerics constituted in sacred orders. Saint Paul commands that those who are promoted to the episcopate, if they were previously married, remain holy and continent after their consecration.
XVI. Paucis respondebo cavillationi adnotatoris de verbo dixit, quod reperitur quandoque in Epistolis sine subjecto. Cum sanctus Clemens assidue sacram Scripturam legisset, probabiliterque in primitivo textu, locutionum ejus usum assumpsit. Si tantisper D. de Premagny Hebraicos aut Syriacos fontes delibasset, nihil in sacris Scripturis frequentius agnovisset quam subaudiri subjectum,
XVI. I will reply in few words to the annotator's cavil about the word dixit, which is sometimes found in the Letters without a subject. Since Saint Clement had assiduously read sacred Scripture, and probably in the original text, he took up the usage of its turns of speech. If M. de Prémagny had tasted the Hebrew or Syriac sources even for a little while, he would have recognized that nothing is more frequent in the sacred Scriptures than for the subject to be understood,
Editors' notes and page, col. 374
Footnotes
(39) ‹anchor: quod non peribit› · call in col 374
Isa. LVI, 5.
Isaiah 56:5.
(printed under page 184)
(40) ‹anchor: concilium Tridentinum› · call in col 374
Sess. XXIV, De matrim., can. 9.
Session 24, On Matrimony, canon 9.
(printed under page 184)
(41) ‹anchor: consecrationem suam, permaneant› · call in col 374
Tit. I, 8.
Titus 1:8.
(printed under page 184)
Page
- running head: 373 EPISTOLAE AD VIRGINES. — PROOEMIA. 374
- marginal letters: (letters stand between the columns) A ‹futuro, certum incerto›; B ‹mercedis pro caelibibus›; C ‹peribit. Merito igitur concilium›; D ‹in sacris ordinibus constitutis. Jubet›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the whole column is editors' prose (Villecourt, dissertatio praevia), set as this unit's text. Begins mid-sentence inside the quotation opened in col. 373; ends mid-sentence at a comma (no word split). Foot notes called in this column (calls removed): 39 Isa. lvi, 5 (after "non peribit"); 40 Sess. xxiv, De matrim., can. 9 (after "Tridentinum"); 41 Tit. I, 8 (after "permaneant"). The page prints "cælibibus", "cælibatu" (set with ae). Italics of the page not marked.
quando ex contextu satis intelligitur. Saepe, in Bibliis, verbum dixit his aequivalet dicitur, dictum est. Poterat ergo scriptor criticus Pythagoricorum somnum non turbare, nec eruditionem prorsus inutilem nobis ostentare. Hanc ego difficultatem expunxi in versione mea : eamdem poterat de medio tollere ipse Wetstinus.
when it is sufficiently understood from the context. Often, in the Bible, the word dixit is equivalent to these: dicitur, dictum est. The critical writer could therefore have left the sleep of the Pythagoreans undisturbed, and refrained from parading before us an altogether useless erudition. This difficulty I have struck out in my version: Wettstein himself could have removed the same.
XVII et XVIII. Adnotationes quae sub his duobus numeris includuntur, probant dominum de Premagny non semper praejudiciis obcaecatum et allucinatum fuisse. Has scribendo lineas, optime de justitia et veritate meritus est. Quilibet nihilominus animadvertet ipsum Wetstino semper contradixisse, sive quando rectam viam sequebatur, sive quando ab ea deflectebat. Optandum certe erat ut his ultimis numeris nihil addidisset D. de Premagny. Sed altera, de qua jam locutus sum, opusculi ejus editio quasi poenitentem ipsum exhibet optime finiisse quod male coeperat. Duas ergo novas prioribus suis adnotationibus adjecit, quae famae illius plus nocebunt quam proderunt.
XVII and XVIII. The annotations included under these two numbers prove that M. de Prémagny was not always blinded and deluded by prejudices. In writing these lines he deserved very well of justice and truth. Anyone will nevertheless observe that he always contradicted Wettstein, whether when the latter was following the right way or when he was turning aside from it. It was certainly to be wished that M. de Prémagny had added nothing to these last numbers. But the second edition of his little work, of which I have already spoken, shows him as though repenting of having ended very well what he had begun badly. He therefore added to his earlier annotations two new ones, which will do his reputation more harm than good.
Prima refertur ad separationem quam sanctus Clemens a Moyse factam fuisse asserit inter viros et mulieres, dum incederent Israelitae, Aegyptum relinquentes. Secunda spectat nomen maris quod sicco vestigio filii Israel transierunt.
The first refers to the separation which Saint Clement asserts was made by Moses between the men and the women while the Israelites were on the march, leaving Egypt. The second regards the name of the sea which the sons of Israel crossed dry-shod.
1° Juxta adnotatorem, sanctus Clemens locutus est de virorum ac mulierum separatione quam Moyses nullatenus memoravit. Probabile ergo judicat Moysen, virum tam prudentem, consensisse ut promiscue sexcenta millia virorum armatorum procederent cum multo superiori numero mulierum, puellarum et infantium! Quis unquam talem confusionem admissam fuisse imaginari audebit?
1. According to the annotator, Saint Clement spoke of a separation of men and women which Moses in no way recorded. He therefore judges it probable that Moses, so prudent a man, consented that six hundred thousand armed men should go forward promiscuously with a far greater number of women, girls and infants! Who will ever dare to imagine that such confusion was allowed?
Hanc vero considerationem adnotator, quasi puer inexpertus, forsan mente revolvit : Unde didicit sanctus Clemens hanc factam fuisse separationem de qua Scriptura non loquitur?
But perhaps the annotator, like an inexperienced boy, turned this consideration over in his mind: Whence did Saint Clement learn that this separation was made, of which Scripture does not speak?
Nulla mihi profecto difficultas esset admittendi sanctum Clementem a traditione Judaeorum, hac de circumstantia, fuisse edoctum.
I should certainly have no difficulty in admitting that Saint Clement had been informed of this circumstance by the tradition of the Jews.
Sed nulla nobis est traditionis non scriptae necessitas, quando aequivalentibus verbis hanc virorum ac mulierum separationem Moyses exprimit.
But we have no need of unwritten tradition, since Moses expresses this separation of men and women in equivalent words.
Enimvero sic legitur in capite XII Exodi, v. 37 : Profecti sunt filii Israel de Ramesse in Socoth, sexcenta fere millia peditum virorum, absque parvulis. Hic soli viri, quasi emphatice, designantur. Capite XV expressius innuitur separatio. Canticum enim Moyses cum viris concinit. Deinde egrediuntur mulieres, et ipsae vice sua id canticum cum Maria Moysis et Aaronis sorore, recinunt.
For indeed in chapter XII of Exodus, verse 37, we read thus: The sons of Israel set out from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides the little ones. Here the men alone are designated, as it were emphatically. In chapter XV the separation is more expressly intimated. For Moses sings the canticle together with the men. Then the women go out, and they in their turn sing that canticle back with Miriam, the sister of Moses and Aaron.
Philo Judaeus, sancto Clementi coaetaneus, hanc separationem clare exprimit. Postquam enim Aegyptiorum narravit ruinam, addit : « Factum istud ingens et stupendum Hebraei mirati, quod sine sanguine,
Philo the Jew, a contemporary of Saint Clement, expresses this separation clearly. For after he has related the ruin of the Egyptians, he adds: "The Hebrews, marvelling at that great and astounding deed, that without blood
Editors' notes and page, col. 375
Footnotes
(42) ‹anchor: word ending in -runt (its beginning is cut by the col 375 crop; complete it from c376)› · call in col 376, line 6, at the end of the quotation from Philo that runs over from the foot of col 375 (the call numeral is seen at the right edge of the col 375 crop)
Philo De vita Moysis, lib. I.
Philo, On the Life of Moses, Book I.
(printed under page 185)
Page
- running head: 375 S. CLEMENTIS I ROM. PONT. OPERA GENUINA. 376
- marginal letters: (letters stand between the columns) A ‹quando ex contextu satis›; B ‹his ultimis numeris nihil›; C ‹cat Moysen, virum tam prudentem›; D ‹rorum ac mulierum separationem›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the whole column is editors' prose (Villecourt, dissertatio praevia), set as this unit's text. Begins mid-sentence. Last word split at the break (san-/guine), completed from the first line of col. 376 and set whole here. The chapter numerals of Exodus are printed in small capitals (xii, xv), set as capitals. The only foot note at the foot of this column (42 Philo De vita Moysis, lib. i) is called in col. 376. Italics of the page not marked.
insperata victoria potiti essent, cum cernerent temporis puncto, hostium internecionem, duas choreas, unam virorum, alteram mulierum, in littore instituunt : et Moyse viris praecinente, ejus sorore mulieribus, gratulationem Deo cecinerunt. »
they had gained an unhoped-for victory, when they beheld in a moment of time the utter destruction of their enemies, form two choirs on the shore, one of men, the other of women: and with Moses leading the men in song, and his sister the women, they sang thanksgiving to God."
Ultimam adnotatoris objectationem de mari Suph attingamus. Non dubitat criticus scriptor hujus maris nomen nullibi in Exodo inveniri. Si de Vulgata versione locutus fuisset, verum quidem dixisset; si vero de textu Hebraico aut Syriaco, temere certe locutus est, praesertim cum esset academicus vir; nunquam enim sive in Exodo, sive in locis aliis sacrae Scripturae, Hebraice aut Syriace, aliis verbis mare Rubrum designatur quam verbis Im Suph, quae reddit Vulgata nostra per Mare Rubrum.
Let us touch on the annotator's last objection, about the sea of Suph. The critical writer does not doubt that the name of this sea is nowhere found in Exodus. If he had spoken of the Vulgate version, he would indeed have said what is true; but if of the Hebrew or Syriac text, he certainly spoke rashly, especially as he was an academician; for never, whether in Exodus or in other places of sacred Scripture, in Hebrew or in Syriac, is the Red Sea designated by other words than the words Im Suph, which our Vulgate renders by Mare Rubrum.
Quis porro ferat hominem praesumentem loqui de his quae absolute ignorat?
Who, then, could bear a man presuming to speak of things of which he is absolutely ignorant?
Verbum Suph quater invenitur in textu Hebraico et Syriaco Exodi. Si recti fuerint calculi mei, vicesies novies hoc verbum Suph eumdem sensum exprimens invenitur in Veteri Testamento Hebraico, et plus quam tricesies in Syriaco Novum Testamentum complectente. Santes Pagninus in sua versione Latina litterali semper conservat nomen primitivum, ac vertit : Mare Suph.
The word Suph is found four times in the Hebrew and Syriac text of Exodus. If my reckonings are right, this word Suph, expressing the same sense, is found twenty-nine times in the Hebrew Old Testament, and more than thirty times in the Syriac, which includes the New Testament. Santes Pagninus in his literal Latin version always preserves the original name, and translates: Mare Suph.
Existimavit sanctus Hieronymus verbo zuph significari rubrum. Graeci idem mare Erythraeum vocant, quod etiam rubrum sonat. Sed quidam isti mari hoc nomen datum autumant a rege Erythro qui regnavit in insula hujus maris finitima.
Saint Jerome considered that by the word suph "red" is signified. The Greeks call the same sea Erythraean, which also means "red". But some assert that this name was given to that sea from King Erythrus, who reigned in an island bordering on this sea.
Qui uberius hujus vocabuli significationem callere cupiunt, doctissimum adeant Drusium (Comment. in Exod., c. 26).
Those who desire to be more fully versed in the meaning of this term should go to the most learned Drusius (Commentary on Exodus, ch. 26).
Haec sunt fere quae a pluribus annis scripsissem de duabus Epistolis sancti Clementis ad Virgines, nisi partim temporis angustia, partim laboris difficultas voluntati meae obices posuissent.
These are more or less the things I should have written several years ago about the two Letters of Saint Clement to Virgins, had not partly the shortness of time, partly the difficulty of the labour, put obstacles in the way of my will.
Has Epistolas firmissime credo esse authenticas, quantumvis amarissime feram nondum hucusque repertum fuisse primigenium textum. Si inveniatur tandem, quod instantissimis precibus a Deo postulo, omnibus innotescet verus sancti pontificis sensus, qui per traductorem Syriacum vitiari potuit. Spero tamen traductionis vitia a me non modo adaucta non fuisse, sed valde imminuta.
I most firmly believe these Letters to be authentic, however bitterly I grieve that the original text has not yet been found to this day. If it should at last be found, which I ask of God with most earnest prayers, the true meaning of the holy pontiff, which may have been marred by the Syriac translator, will become known to all. I hope, however, that the faults of the translation have not only not been increased by me, but greatly lessened.
Mira fuit sors scriptorum sancti Clementis. A Junio Patricio Anglicano inventa est ejus Epistola ad Corinthios scripta; a Wetstino non minus Ecclesiae Romanae infenso inventae sunt ambae ejusdem sancti Clementis ad Virgines Epistolae.
The fortune of Saint Clement's writings has been remarkable. By Patrick Young, an Anglican, was found his Letter written to the Corinthians; by Wettstein, no less hostile to the Roman Church, were found both Letters of the same Saint Clement to Virgins.
Notae Patricii in Epistolam quam invenit vix dissidentem hominem detegunt. Prolegomena Wetstini, duobus locis exceptis in quibus odium suum erga Romanam Ecclesiam exerit, testimonia exhibent sinceritatis ac veritatis.
Young's notes on the Letter which he found scarcely disclose a dissident. Wettstein's Prolegomena, two places excepted in which he puts forth his hatred towards the Roman Church, display testimonies of sincerity and truth.
Editors' notes and page, col. 376
Page
- running head: 375 S. CLEMENTIS I ROM. PONT. OPERA GENUINA. 376
- marginal letters: (letters stand between the columns) A ‹guine, insperata victoria›; B ‹bis Im Suph, quae reddit›; C ‹quod etiam rubrum sonat›; D ‹qui per traductorem Syriacum›
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the whole column is editors' prose (Villecourt, dissertatio praevia), set as this unit's text. The column's first printed letters are "guine," — the tail of "sanguine", set whole at the end of col. 375 and not repeated here; the comma printed after it stands in this column and is not set in either file (Q1: it belongs with the whole word at the end of c375_a.md; noted only, that file not written by Q1). Begins mid-sentence inside the quotation from Philo. Foot note called in this column (call removed): 42 Philo De vita Moysis, lib. i (after "cecinerunt"; the note is printed at the foot of col. 375 and is set once, in n375.md; Q1 confirms from the column image that its call stands in col. 376). The parenthesis "(Comment. in Exod., c. 26)" is the author's own, in the text. Misprint kept as printed (Q1): the page prints "zuph" (lower case, italic) in "verbo zuph significari", for "suph"; the source keeps "zuph", the English gives "suph". Italics of the page not marked.
Permisit Deus haec monumenta a viris sedi apostolicae hostilibus detegi et publicari, ut a sectariis minus impugnarentur, aut fraus Catholicis non imputaretur. Siluit generaliter haeresis de epistola a Junio Patricio inventa : nullusque, quod sciam, novator hujus authenticitatem aggressus est : vix enim, in hac Epistola, sanctus Pontifex delibaverat veritates haeresi odiosas. Dixi vix delibaverat quia non absolute de his omnibus tacuerat, ut jam alibi notatum est. Longe aliter se res habuit in epistolis de virginitate tractantibus : Protestantes enim virginitatis osores, quasi unanimi voce contra authenticitatem earum insurrexerunt. Nec quisquam inde mirari debet : « Omnes namque quaerunt placentia; omnes ea audire gestiunt quae habenas carni laxent, non quae inducant conscientiae custodiendae studium, religionis curam, Christianorum morum pondus. » Haec Wicelius Senior qui optime noverat sectam quae seduxerat illum.
God permitted these monuments to be uncovered and published by men hostile to the apostolic see, so that they might be less attacked by the sectaries, or that fraud might not be imputed to Catholics. Heresy was in general silent about the letter found by Patrick Young: and no innovator, so far as I know, has assailed its authenticity: for in that Letter the holy Pontiff had scarcely touched on truths hateful to heresy. I said he had scarcely touched on them because he had not been absolutely silent about all of these, as has already been noted elsewhere. The case was far otherwise with the letters treating of virginity: for the Protestants, haters of virginity, rose up as with one voice against their authenticity. Nor should anyone wonder at that: "For all seek what is pleasing; all are eager to hear the things that loosen the reins on the flesh, not those that bring in zeal for guarding the conscience, care for religion, the gravity of Christian morals." So Witzel the Elder, who knew very well the sect that had led him astray.
Certe si qualiscunque epistola, nomine sancti Clementis insignita, reperta fuisset, cujus interpretatio sensum praebuisset caelibatui infensum, mille buccinatores adlaborassent, inter sectarios, ut eam superextollerent, ejusque authenticitatem assererent.
Certainly, if a letter of any sort whatever, marked with the name of Saint Clement, had been found, the interpretation of which had yielded a sense hostile to celibacy, a thousand trumpeters among the sectaries would have laboured to exalt it beyond measure and to assert its authenticity.
Id abunde probat testimonium quod sancto Paphnucio Socrates tam mendaciter imputat, tanquam in ipso concilio Nicaeno prolatum, quodque nunc tot probationibus falsum demonstratum est.
This is abundantly proved by the testimony which Socrates so mendaciously imputes to Saint Paphnutius, as though delivered in the Council of Nicaea itself, and which has now been shown by so many proofs to be false.
Nec negabo tria concurrisse, non ut pessumdaretur, sed ut differretur agnitio authenticitatis nostrarum Epistolarum : primo inventorem, secundo adnotatorem, tertio inventionis aetatem.
Nor will I deny that three things combined, not to ruin, but to delay the recognition of the authenticity of our Letters: first the discoverer, secondly the annotator, thirdly the age of the discovery.
Inventorem, qui apud suos etiam suspectae admodum fidei erat; adnotatorem, qui nomen habebat inter ultimi saeculi philosophos et in academia Rothomagensi ut oraculum audiebatur. Inventionis aetatem, quam vocare possemus incredulitatis aeram. Haec nunc prodesse, non nocere debent judicio eruditorum.
The discoverer, who even among his own was of very suspect faith; the annotator, who had a name among the philosophers of the last century and was listened to in the Academy of Rouen as an oracle. The age of the discovery, which we might call the era of unbelief. These things ought now, in the judgement of the learned, to help, not to harm.
Editors' notes and page, col. 377
Footnotes
(43) ‹anchor: seduxerat illum› · call in col 377
Epist. 8 Jun., 1533.
Letter of 8 June 1533.
(printed under page 186)
(44) ‹anchor: coram Domino› · call in col 378 (not called in col 377; anchor as recorded in n378.md; the note is set once, here)
Psal. LXXVII, 37.
Psalm 77:37.
(printed under page 186)
Page
- running head: 377 EPISTOLAE AD VIRGINES. — PROOEMIA. 378
- marginal letters: (letters stand between the columns) A ‹Permisit Deus haec monumenta›; B ‹centia; omnes ea audire gestiunt›; C ‹Nec negabo tria concurrisse›; D (none: the column stops short of it)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the whole column is editors' prose (Villecourt, dissertatio praevia), set as this unit's text. The column ends about two thirds down the page, at "eruditorum."; the rest of the page is blank apart from Syriac show-through from the next leaf and a short rule (none of it set). Foot note called in this column (call removed): 43 Epist. 8 Jun., 1533 (after "seduxerat illum"). Foot note 44 has no call in this column; it is called in col. 378 and kept here so that it is set once (Q1). The page prints "cælibatui" (set with ae). Italics of the page not marked.
Non nocebit inventor qui certe monumentum ipse non struxit quod tot ante illum saeculis existebat, sicut adhuc existit, antiquitatis suae signa praeferens. Imo quo magis suspectae fidei inventor probabitur, eo clarius patebit inimicum dogmatum orthodoxorum, non sponte in eorum favorem tam splendidum protulisse fulcimentum. Nec illud exhibuit sine conviciis in Ecclesiam sibi invisam.
The discoverer will do no harm, who certainly did not himself construct a monument which existed so many centuries before him, as it still exists, bearing upon it the marks of its antiquity. Indeed, the more the discoverer is shown to be of suspect faith, the more clearly will it appear that an enemy of orthodox dogmas did not of his own accord bring forward so splendid a support in their favour. Nor did he present it without abuse of the Church he hated.
Adnotator Epistolarum authenticitati non nocet. Quilibet lector aestimare potuit valorem objectationum illius, ac penetrare animum hostilem quo movebatur : Non enim cor ejus erat rectum coram Domino, cum esset vesanae philosophiae labe infectum.
The annotator does no harm to the authenticity of the Letters. Any reader has been able to assess the worth of his objections, and to see into the hostile spirit by which he was moved: For his heart was not right before the Lord, since it was infected with the taint of an insane philosophy.
Tandem inventionis aetas vix campum liberum relinquebat verae eruditioni : hujus enim aetatis philosophia undique sannis ac dicteriis veritates etiam apertissimas audacter persequebatur. Ideo conversum est retrorsum judicium, et justitia longe stetit et corruit in platea veritas et aequitas non potuit ingredi.
Lastly, the age of the discovery scarcely left a free field to true learning: for the philosophy of that age boldly pursued on every side, with jeers and gibes, even the most evident truths. Therefore judgement was turned backward, and justice stood far off, and truth fell in the street, and equity could not enter.
Hodie vero Ecclesia mater longis expleta fastidiis contemptores suos contemptui traditos intuetur. Ipsi jam comedunt fructus viae suae et suis consiliis saturantur. Si quaedam adhuc remanent priscae fraudis sectatores, ultra non proficient : insipientia enim eorum manifesta erit.
But today Mother Church, having had her fill of long disdain, beholds her despisers given over to contempt. They themselves now eat the fruits of their own way and are sated with their own counsels. If some followers of the old deceit still remain, they will make no further progress: for their folly will be manifest.
Et nunc, divine Clemens, exsurge, et quasi de tenebris erumpe. Sonet iterum vox tua dulcis quae prima virginitatis lilia immaculato et intacto splendore olim adornare gestiebat. Te perflante hortum Ecclesiae, fluant aromata illius; novi semper appareant flores in terra nostra. Hos flores protege, nunquam deficiant; nunquam marcescant. Sacer pontifex, virgo sacerdos, coelestis rore doctrinae pasce clericos; pasce presbyteros; pasce praesules; pasce candidas sponsas Christi, cui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto sit honor et gloria in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
And now, divine Clement, arise, and break forth as from the darkness. Let your sweet voice sound again, which once longed to adorn the first lilies of virginity with spotless and untouched splendour. As you blow through the garden of the Church, let its spices flow; let new flowers ever appear in our land. Protect these flowers; may they never fail; may they never wither. Holy pontiff, virgin priest, with the dew of heavenly doctrine feed the clerics; feed the presbyters; feed the prelates; feed the white-robed brides of Christ, to Whom with the Father and the Holy Spirit be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Editors' notes and page, col. 378
Footnotes
(45) ‹anchor: ingredi› · call in col 378
Isa. LIX, 14
Isaiah 59:14.
(printed under page 186)
(46) ‹anchor: consiliis saturantur› · call in col 378
Prov. I, 31.
Proverbs 1:31.
(printed under page 186)
(47) ‹anchor: eorum manifesta erit› · call in col 378
II Tim. III, 9.
2 Timothy 3:9.
<!-- NOTE: in note (45) no closing point is visible after "14"; set as read. --> (printed under page 186)
Page
- running head: 377 EPISTOLAE AD VIRGINES. — PROOEMIA. 378
- marginal letters: (letters stand between the columns) A ‹Non nocebit inventor›; B ‹labe infectum›; C ‹tenebris erumpe. Sonet iterum›; D (none: the column stops short of it)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the whole column is editors' prose (Villecourt, dissertatio praevia), set as this unit's text; the dissertatio ends here with "Amen." about two thirds down the page, followed by a short rule and blank paper with Syriac show-through from the next leaf (not set). UNSURE: "quaedam ... sectatores" is printed so (feminine/neuter with a masculine noun); recorded as a probable misprint for "quidam" and left as printed. Foot notes called in this column (calls removed): 44 Psal. LXXVII, 37 (after "coram Domino"); 45 Isa. lix, 14 (after "ingredi"); 46 Prov. I, 31 (after "saturantur"); 47 II Tim. III, 9 (after "manifesta erit"). The page prints "cœlestis" (set coelestis). Italics of the page not marked.