Migne Reading Room
PG 12 · cols. 842–846
Origen (Latin of Rufinus), Homilies on Joshua, Homily 4
Editors' preface
extra Ecclesiam nemo salvatur. Nam si quis foras exierit, mortis suae ipse fit reus. Hic sanguis est signum, quia hic est purificatio, quae per sanguinem constat. Quod autem in fenestra dependet hoc signum, illud arbitror indicari, quia fenestra est quae illuminat domum, et per quam non integrum, sed tantum quantum oculis et visui nostro sufficiat luminis capimus. Quia ergo et incarnatio Salvatoris non nobis merum ingessit et integrum Deitatis aspectum, sed tanquam per fenestram fecit nos per incarnationem suam lumen Deitatis aspicere, idcirco mihi videtur signum salutis per fenestram datum: quo signo salutem consequantur omnes, qui in domo ejus quae aliquando erat meretrix, fuerint inventi, mundati in aqua et Spiritu sancto, et in sanguine Domini et Salvatoris nostri Jesu Christi, cui est gloria et imperium in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
outside the Church no one is saved. For if anyone shall have gone outside, he is himself made guilty of his own death. This blood is a sign, because this is the purification which is constituted through blood. But that this sign hangs in the window, I judge it to indicate this: that the window is what gives light to the house, and through which we take in not the whole light, but only so much as may suffice for our eyes and our sight. Since therefore the incarnation of the Saviour also did not heap upon us the unmixed and entire sight of the Godhead, but as though through a window made us behold, through His incarnation, the light of the Godhead, for that reason the sign of salvation seems to me to have been given through the window: by which sign let all obtain salvation who shall have been found in the house of her who was once a harlot, cleansed in water and the Holy Spirit, and in the blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to Whom is glory and dominion unto the ages of ages. Amen.
HOMILIA IV. De transitu Jordanis.
HOMILY IV. On the crossing of the Jordan.
1. Peccatori quidem omnis terra hostis est, sicut de Aegyptiis scriptum est: terra eos impugnabat, fluvius impugnabat, aer ipse impugnabat. Justo vero quae inaccessibilia videntur, plana efficiuntur et proclivia. Mare Rubrum justus tanquam per aridam transit: Aegyptius vero si transire voluerit submergetur, nec fiet ei aqua murus dextra laevaque. Justus etiamsi eremum horribilem ingrediatur et vastam, cibus ei ministratur e coelis. Ita ergo et in Jordanem arca Testamenti dux erat populo Dei. Consistit ordo sacerdotalis et Leviticus, et aquae velut reverentiam quamdam Dei ministris deferentes, cursum suum refrenant, et coacervantur in cumulum, iter Dei populo innoxium concedentes. Et ne mireris cum haec gesta tibi erga priorem populum referuntur, tibi, Christiane, qui per baptismi sacramentum Jordanis fluenta digressus es, divinus sermo majora multo et celsiora promittit, iter tibi per aera ipsum et transitum pollicetur. Audi etenim Paulum dicentem de justis: Rapiemur, inquit, in nubibus
1. To the sinner indeed every land is an enemy, as it is written concerning the Egyptians: the earth assailed them, the river assailed them, the very air assailed them. But for the just man the things which seem impassable are made level and easy. The just man crosses the Red Sea as though over dry ground; but the Egyptian, if he shall have wished to cross, will be sunk, nor will the water become for him a wall on the right hand and on the left. The just man, even if he should enter a wilderness horrible and vast, has food ministered to him from the heavens. So therefore also into the Jordan the ark of the Testament was leader to the people of God. The priestly and Levitical order takes its stand, and the waters, as though rendering a certain reverence to the ministers of God, rein in their own course, and are heaped up into a mass, conceding a harmless passage to the people of God. And do not marvel when these deeds are reported to you as done in regard to the former people: to you, Christian, who through the sacrament of baptism have passed out of the streams of the Jordan, the divine word promises things far greater and loftier, it pledges to you a journey through the very air, and a passage. For hear Paul saying of the just: We shall be caught up, he says, in the clouds
Editors' notes and page, col. 842
Footnotes
(82) ‹anchor: Rapiemur, inquit› · call in col 842
I Thess. IV, 16.
1 Thess. 4:16.
(printed under page 425)
(16) ‹anchor: De transitu Jordanis (title)› · call in col 842
De transitu Jordanis. Non alium titulum habent codices mss. Sangerman. et Gemeticensis et unus Ebroicensis. In libb. antea editis legitur : « De eo quod Jordanem transit arca Testamenti Domini cum sacerdotibus et Levitis et populo, ubi dicitur ad Jesum : In die hac incipio exaltare te : ubi praecipitur populo ut longe sit ab arca Testamenti duo millia cubita. »
"On the crossing of the Jordan." The manuscripts of Saint-Germain and Jumièges and one of Évreux have no other title. In the books published before, it reads: "On the ark of the Lord's Covenant crossing the Jordan with the priests and Levites and the people, where it is said to Jesus [Joshua]: On this day I begin to exalt you; where the people are commanded to keep two thousand cubits away from the ark of the Covenant."
(printed under page 425)
(17) ‹anchor: omnis terra› · call in col 842
Codex Sangerm. : « terra. » Libb. editi : « creatura. » Paulo post in iisdem libb. editis deest : « fluvius impugnabat.... coelum eos impugnabat, » sed istud restituitur auctoritate omnium manuscriptorum.
The Saint-Germain manuscript: "earth." The printed books: "creation." A little after, the same printed books lack "the river fought against … heaven fought against them"; but it is restored on the authority of all the manuscripts.
(printed under page 425)
(18) ‹anchor: erat populo Dei› · call in col 842
Libb. editi : « In Jordanem arca Testamenti duxerat populum Dei, » sed omnes mss. ut in nostro textu.
The printed books: "Into the Jordan the ark of the Covenant had led the people of God"; but all the manuscripts read as in our text.
(printed under page 425)
(19) ‹anchor: Dei ministris deferentes› · call in col 842
Codd. Sangerm. et Gemetic. « ministris deferentes. » Libb. editi : « mysteriis referentes. »
The Saint-Germain and Jumièges manuscripts: "deferring to the ministers." The printed books: "referring to the mysteries."
(printed under page 425)
(20) ‹anchor: inquit, in nubibus› · call in col 842
In nubibus. Deest in libb. antea editis, sed reperitur in omnibus mss.
"In the clouds." Missing in the books published before, but found in all the manuscripts.
(printed under page 425)
Page
- other: footnotes on this page called in Homily III or V belong to those homilies (another unit): pointer only.
obviam Christo in aera, et ita semper cum Domino erimus. Nihil omnino est quod metuat justus, omnis ei creatura famulatur. Audi denique quomodo etiam per prophetam promittit ei Deus dicens: Si transeas per ignem, flamma non aduret te, quoniam ego Dominus Deus tuus. Omnis igitur locus suscipit justum, et omnis creatura exhibet debitum famulatum. Et ne existimes quod haec in prioribus quidem gesta sunt, in te vero qui nunc auditor horum es nihil tale geratur: omnia complentur in te secundum mysticam rationem. Etenim tu qui nuper idololatriae tenebris derelictis cupis ad audientiam divinae legis accedere, nunc primum Aegyptum derelinquis. Cum catechumenorum aggregatus es numero, et praeceptis Ecclesiasticis parere coepisti, digressus es mare Rubrum, et in deserti stationibus positus, ad audiendam Dei legem, et intuendum Moysis vultum per gloriam Domini revelatum quotidie vacas. Si vero ad mysticum baptismi veneris fontem, et consistente sacerdotali et Levitico ordine initiatus fueris venerandis illis magnificisque sacramentis, quae norunt illi quos nosse fas est, tunc etiam sacerdotum ministeriis Jordane digresso terram repromissionis intrabis, in qua te post Moysen suscipit Jesus et ipse tibi efficitur novi itineris dux. Tu vero tantarum ac talium virtutum Dei memor, quod tibi mare divisum est, et quod aqua fluminis stetit, conversus ad ea dices: Quid tibi est, mare, quod fugisti? et tu Jordanis, quia conversus es retrorsum? Montes, quid exsultastis sicut arietes, et colles sicut agni ovium? Sed respondebit tibi sermo divinus et dicet: A facie Domini commota est terra, a facie Dei Jacob, qui convertit petram in stagnum aquae, et rupem in fontes aquarum.
to meet Christ in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. There is nothing at all which the just man should fear; every creature does him service. Hear, finally, how through the prophet also God promises him, saying: If you pass through fire, the flame shall not burn you, for I am the Lord your God. Every place, therefore, receives the just man, and every creature exhibits the service that is owed. And do not suppose that these things were done indeed among the men before, but that in you, who are now a hearer of them, nothing of the kind is done: all things are fulfilled in you according to the mystical reason. For you who, having lately left behind the darkness of idolatry, desire to come to the hearing of the divine law, are now for the first time leaving Egypt behind. When you were gathered into the number of the catechumens, and began to obey the precepts of the Church, you passed out of the Red Sea, and, set in the stations of the desert, you give yourself daily to hearing the law of God and to beholding the face of Moses unveiled through the glory of the Lord. But if you shall have come to the mystical font of baptism, and, the priestly and Levitical order standing by, shall have been initiated into those venerable and magnificent sacraments which they know who are permitted to know them, then also, the Jordan having been passed by the ministries of the priests, you will enter the land of promise, in which, after Moses, Jesus receives you and He Himself is made for you the leader of a new journey. But you, mindful of such and so great powers of God — that the sea was divided for you, and that the water of the river stood still — turning to them will say: What ails you, O sea, that you fled? and you, O Jordan, that you were turned backward? Mountains, why did you exult like rams, and hills like lambs of the flock? But the divine word will answer you and will say: At the face of the Lord the earth was moved, at the face of the God of Jacob, Who turned the rock into a pool of water, and the cliff into fountains of waters.
2. Quanta ante gesta sunt! Mare Rubrum pedibus transitum est, manna de coelo datum est, fontes in eremo disrupti sunt, lex per Moysen data est, signa et prodigia multa in eremo gesta sunt, et nusquam dicitur exaltatus esse Jesus. Ubi vero Jordanis transitur, ibi dicitur ad Jesum: In hac die incipio exaltare te in conspectu populi. Neque enim ante mysterium baptismi exaltatur Jesus, sed exaltatio ejus et exaltatio in conspectu populi inde sumit exordium. Si enim omnes qui baptizantur in Christo, in morte ipsius baptizantur, mors autem Jesu in crucis exaltatione completur, merito
2. How many things were done before! The Red Sea was crossed on foot, manna was given from heaven, springs were broken open in the wilderness, the law was given through Moses, many signs and wonders were done in the wilderness — and nowhere is Jesus said to have been exalted. But where the Jordan is crossed, there it is said to Jesus: On this day I begin to exalt you in the sight of the people. For Jesus is not exalted before the mystery of baptism, but His exaltation, and His exaltation in the sight of the people, takes its beginning from there. For if all who are baptized in Christ are baptized into His death, and the death of Jesus is completed in the exaltation of the cross, deservedly
Editors' notes and page, col. 843
Footnotes
(83) ‹anchor: Deus dicens› · call in col 843
Isai. XLII, 2, 3.
Isa. 42:2–3 (as read; the passage on passing through the waters is Isa. 43:2–3).
(printed under page 426)
(84) ‹anchor: ad ea dices› · call in col 843
Psal. CXIII, 5, 6, 7, 8.
Ps. 113 (Vulgate numbering):5–8.
(printed under page 426)
(85) ‹anchor: dicitur ad Jesum› · call in col 843
Jos. III, 9.
Josh. 3:9 (as read; the words quoted are Josh. 3:7).
(printed under page 426)
(21) ‹anchor: ne existimes› · call in col 843
Codex Gemeticensis et unus Ebroicensis : « itane existimas. »
The Jumièges manuscript and one of Évreux: "do you think so, then?"
(printed under page 426)
(22) ‹anchor: Aegyptum derelinquis› · call in col 843
Gemetic. « dereliquisti. »
The Jumièges manuscript: "you have forsaken."
(printed under page 426)
(23) ‹anchor: consistente sacerdotali› · call in col 843
Idem cum uno Ebroicensi : « confitens a sacerdotali, » etc. Paulo post codd. Sangerm. et Gemetic. « illi quos nosse fas est. » Libb. editi : « illi quibus nosse fas est. »
The same, with one of Évreux: "confessing from the priestly," etc. A little after, the Saint-Germain and Jumièges manuscripts: "those who are permitted to know." The printed books: "those to whom it is permitted to know."
(printed under page 426)
(24) ‹anchor: post Moysen› · call in col 843
Mss., « suscipit. » Libb. editi : « suscepit. »
The manuscripts: "receives." The printed books: "received."
(printed under page 426)
(25) ‹anchor: Montes, quid› · call in col 843
Ms., Gemetic. « quid. » Libb. editi : « quia. »
The manuscript of Jumièges: "why." The printed books: "because."
(printed under page 426)
(26) ‹anchor: convertit petram› · call in col 843
Gemetic. et unus Ebroicensis : « solidam petram. »
The Jumièges manuscript and one of Évreux: "the solid rock."
(printed under page 426)
(27) ‹anchor: per Moysen data est› · call in col 843
Sangerm. « lata est. »
The Saint-Germain manuscript: "was brought."
(printed under page 426)
(28) ‹anchor: baptizantur in Christo› · call in col 843
In Christo. Deest in libris antea editis. Sed habetur in codice Gemeticensi.
"In Christ." Missing in the books published before, but it is in the Jumièges manuscript.
(printed under page 426)
unicuique fidelium tunc primum Jesus exaltatur, cum ad mysterium baptismi pervenitur, quia sic et scriptum est, quod exaltavit illum Deus, et donavit ei nomen, quod est super omne nomen, ut in nomine Jesu omne genu flectatur coelestium et terrestrium et infernorum. Verumtamen per sacerdotes deducitur populus, et iter agit ad terram repromissionis magisterio sacerdotum. Et quis hodie in sacerdotibus tantus ac talis est, qui in illo ordine mereatur ascribi? Si enim sit aliquis talis, cedent ei fluenta Jordanis, et ipsa elementa verebuntur, pars aquarum fluminis retrorsum resiliet, ac post tergum frenabitur, pars vero in mare salsum rapido lapsu diffugiet. Quod tamen nec ipsum absque mysterii ratione arbitror scriptum, quod pars aquarum Jordanis mergatur in mare, atque in amaritudinem profluat, pars vero in dulcedine perseveret.
to each one of the faithful Jesus is then first exalted, when one comes to the mystery of baptism, since thus also it is written, that God exalted Him, and gave Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things heavenly and earthly and infernal. Nevertheless the people is led through by the priests, and makes its journey to the land of promise by the teaching office of the priests. And who today among the priests is so great and such a one as to deserve to be enrolled in that order? For if there be any such, the streams of the Jordan will yield to him, and the very elements will stand in awe; one part of the waters of the river will leap back and be reined in behind him, but another part will flee away in swift descent into the salt sea. Yet I judge that this itself is not written without a reason of mystery, that a part of the waters of the Jordan is plunged into the sea and flows out into bitterness, but a part continues in sweetness.
Si enim omnes qui baptizantur, acceptam coelestis gratiae dulcedinem custodirent, et nullus in peccatorum amaritudinem verteretur, non utique esset scriptum quia pars fluminis salsi maris gurgitibus fuisset immersa. Et ideo mihi videtur in his verbis baptizatorum varietas designari, quam quidem nos (quod cum dolore commemoro) saepe videmus accidere, ut hi qui sanctum baptisma consequuntur, cum se rursum ad negotia saeculi et illecebras libidinum tradunt, et cum avaritiae salsum poculum bibunt, in ea aquarum parte formentur, quae in mare profluit, atque in salsis fluctibus deperit: pars vero illa quae cum stabilitate permanet et dulcedinem suam servat, designet eos qui acceptum Dei munus indeclinabiliter tenent. Et recte una pars est eorum qui salvantur, quia et panis unus est, qui de coelo descendit, et dat huic mundo vitam, et fides una est, et unum baptisma, et unus spiritus quo omnes potantur in baptismo, et unus Deus Pater omnium. Interea sacerdotalis ordo est et Leviticus, qui iter ostendat populo Dei, qui exiit de Aegypto. Ipsi enim sunt qui edocent populum exire de Aegypto, de erroribus scilicet mundi, et transire per eremum vastam, id est tentationum genera diversa transcurrere, neque noceri a serpentibus, qui sunt morsus daemonum, et malarum suggestionum venena vitare. Quod si aliquis forte percussus fuerit in eremo a serpente, ut ostendant ei aeream serpentem in cruce suspensum: quem qui
For if all who are baptized were to guard the sweetness of heavenly grace which they received, and none were turned into the bitterness of sins, it would surely not have been written that a part of the river had been sunk in the whirlpools of the salt sea. And therefore it seems to me that in these words the diversity of the baptized is signified — a thing which indeed we (as I recall with grief) often see to happen: that those who obtain holy baptism, when they hand themselves over again to the business of the world and to the enticements of lusts, and when they drink the salt cup of avarice, are shaped in that part of the waters which flows out into the sea, and perishes in the salt waves; but that part which remains with stability and keeps its own sweetness signifies those who hold without deviation the gift of God which they received. And rightly the part of those who are saved is one, because the bread also is one which came down from heaven and gives life to this world, and the faith is one, and one the baptism, and one the spirit whereof all are given to drink in baptism, and one God the Father of all. Meanwhile there is the priestly and Levitical order, to show the way to the people of God which has come out of Egypt. For they are the ones who teach the people to go out of Egypt, that is, from the errors of the world, and to cross the vast wilderness, that is, to run through the diverse kinds of temptations, and not to be harmed by the serpents, which are the bites of the demons, and to avoid the poisons of evil suggestions. But if anyone should perhaps have been struck in the wilderness by a serpent, that they may show him the bronze serpent hung upon the cross: which he who
Editors' notes and page, col. 844
Footnotes
(86) ‹anchor: scriptum est› · call in col 844
Philip. II, 9, 10.
Phil. 2:9–10.
(printed under page 426)
(29) ‹anchor: baptismi pervenitur› · call in col 844
Mss., « pervenitur. » Libb. editi : « pervenerit. »
The manuscripts: "one arrives." The printed books: "will have arrived."
(printed under page 426)
(30) ‹anchor: cedent ei fluenta› · call in col 844
Sangerm. et unus Ebroicensis : « fluenta. »
The Saint-Germain manuscript and one of Évreux: "the streams."
(printed under page 426)
(31) ‹anchor: rapido lapsu diffugiet› · call in col 844
Gemetic. et unus Ebroic. « desiliet. »
The Jumièges manuscript and one of Évreux: "will leap down."
(printed under page 426)
(32) ‹anchor: baptizantur, acceptam› · call in col 844
Iidem « acceptam. » Libb. editi : « accepta. »
The same: "acceptam" (accepted, singular). The printed books: "accepta" (plural).
(printed under page 426)
(33) ‹anchor: qui sanctum› · call in col 844
Sangerm. et unus Ebroicensis : « sanctum. » Libb. editi : « secundum. » Paulo post idem mss., « illecebra libidinum. » Libb. editi : « illecebra libidinis. »
The Saint-Germain manuscript and one of Évreux: "holy." The printed books: "second." A little after, the same manuscripts: "the allurement of lusts." The printed books: "the allurement of lust."
(printed under page 426)
(34) ‹anchor: aquarum parte formentur› · call in col 844
Mss., « formentur. » Et paulo post « in salsis fluctibus deperit. Libb. editi firmentur, et paulo post in salsis fluctibus diffluit.
The manuscripts: "are formed," and a little after, "perishes in the salt waves." The printed books: "are strengthened," and a little after, "flows away in the salt waves."
(printed under page 426)
(35) ‹anchor: aeream serpentem› · call in col 844
Mss., « aereum serpentem. » Libb. editi : « eremum serpentem, » male.
The manuscripts: "the bronze serpent." The printed books: "the desert serpent," wrongly.
(printed under page 426)
Page
- misprint kept as printed: the text reads "aeream serpentem" (feminine for masculine); the footnote quotes "aereum".
viderit, id est qui crediderit in eum cujus figuram serpens ille monstrabat, diabolica per hoc venena diffugiet.
shall have seen, that is, who shall have believed in Him Whose figure that serpent showed forth, will through this escape the diabolical poisons.
Sacerdotalis et Leviticus ordo est, qui astat arcae testamenti Domini, in qua lex Dei portatur sine dubio, ut ipsi illuminent populum de mandatis Dei, sicut Propheta dicit: Lucerna pedibus meis verbum tuum, Domine, et lumen semitis meis. Hoc lumen per sacerdotes accenditur et Levitas. Quod si forte aliquis ex hoc ordine accensam lucernam posuerit sub modio, et non super candelabrum, ut luceat omnibus qui in domo sunt: videat quid sibi agendum sit, cum Domino lucis reddere coeperit rationem pro iis qui nihil illuminationis a sacerdotibus capientes in tenebris ambulant, et peccatorum obscuritate caecantur.
There is the priestly and Levitical order, which stands beside the ark of the testament of the Lord, in which the law of God is doubtless carried, so that they themselves may illuminate the people concerning the commandments of God, as the Prophet says: Thy word, O Lord, is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths. This light is kindled through the priests and the Levites. But if perhaps anyone of this order shall have set the kindled lamp under a bushel, and not upon a lampstand, that it may shine for all who are in the house: let him see what must be done by him, when he shall have begun to render an account to the Lord of light for those who, taking no illumination from the priests, walk in darkness, and are blinded by the obscurity of sins.
3. Vide denique quid dicit: Populus, inquit, ut longe sit ab arca testamenti duo millia cubitorum. Sacerdotes vero et Levitae proximi, et satis proximi, ita ut humeris ipsorum arca Domini et legislatio divina portetur. Beati qui merentur proximi esse Deo. Sed memento quod scriptum est: Qui approximant mihi, approximant igni. Si aurum vel argentum fueris, et igni approximaveris, multo per ignem splendidior et rutilantior effulgebis. Si vero supra fundamentum in te fidei positum conscius tibi es superaedificasse te ligna, fenum, stipulam, cum tali aedificatione si igni approximaveris, consumeris. Beati igitur qui proximi sunt, et qui ita proximi sunt, ut ignis eos illuminet, non adurat. Salvabitur tamen et Israel, sed longe positus salvabitur, et iter aget non sua virtute, sed adminiculis et providentia sacerdotum.
3. See, finally, what he says: Let the people, he says, be far from the ark of the testament two thousand cubits. But the priests and the Levites nearest, and very near indeed, so that upon their own shoulders the ark of the Lord and the divine legislation is carried. Blessed are they who deserve to be nearest to God. But remember what is written: They who draw near to me draw near to fire. If you shall have been gold or silver, and shall have drawn near to the fire, you will shine out far more splendid and more glowing through the fire. But if, upon the foundation of faith laid in you, you are conscious to yourself that you have built up wood, hay, stubble, then with such a building, if you shall have drawn near to the fire, you will be consumed. Blessed therefore are they who are nearest, and who are so near that the fire illumines them, not scorches them. Israel nevertheless will also be saved, but placed far off it will be saved, and it will make its journey not by its own strength, but by the supports and the providence of the priests.
4. Quando autem veniunt ad transitum Jordanis? Notavi enim et hoc non sine causa esse signatum, ut et tempus distingueretur. Decima, inquit, mensis primi. Ista ipsa est dies, in qua et agni mysterium praecipiebatur in Aegypto. Decima die mensis primi terram repromissionis incedunt: quod mihi valde beatum videtur, ut eadem ipsa die qua errores quis subterfugerit saeculi, etiam terram repromissionis ingredi mereatur, id est in hac die qua in hoc saeculo vivimus. Omnis enim vita nostra praesens in uno die designatur. Et ideo edocemur per istud mysterium, ne actus nostros et opera justitiae in crastinum differamus, sed hodie, id est donec vivimus, donec in mundo
4. But when do they come to the crossing of the Jordan? For I have noted that this too is not marked without cause, so that the time also might be distinguished. On the tenth, he says, of the first month. That is the very day on which the mystery of the lamb also was commanded in Egypt. On the tenth day of the first month they march into the land of promise: which seems to me exceedingly blessed, that on that same day on which one shall have escaped the errors of the world, he should also deserve to enter the land of promise — that is, on this day on which we live in this world. For the whole of our present life is signified in one day. And therefore we are taught through this mystery not to defer our acts and the works of justice to the morrow, but today, that is, while we live, while in the world
Editors' notes and page, col. 845
Footnotes
(87) ‹anchor: Propheta dicit› · call in col 845
Psal. CXVIII, 105.
Ps. 118 (Vulgate numbering):105.
(printed under page 427)
(88) ‹anchor: Vide denique quid dicit› · call in col 845
Jos. III, 4.
Josh. 3:4.
(printed under page 427)
(89) ‹anchor: approximaveris, consumeris› · call in col 845
I Cor. III, 12.
1 Cor. 3:12.
(printed under page 427)
(90) ‹anchor: Decima, inquit› · call in col 845
Jos. III, 19.
Josh. 3:19 (as printed; the verse is Josh. 4:19).
(printed under page 427)
(36) ‹anchor: qui astat› · call in col 845
Sangerm. « astat. » Libb. editi : « adsistit. »
The Saint-Germain manuscript: "stands by." The printed books: "stands near."
(printed under page 427)
(37) ‹anchor: ipsi illuminent› · call in col 845
Mss., « ut ipsi illuminent. » Libb. editi : « et ipsi illuminant. »
The manuscripts: "so that they themselves give light." The printed books: "and they themselves give light."
(printed under page 427)
(38) ‹anchor: aliquis ex hoc› · call in col 845
Mss., « quod si forte aliquis ex hoc. » Libb. editi : « quod si alius forte ex hoc. »
The manuscripts: "but if perhaps someone from this." The printed books: "but if perhaps another from this."
(printed under page 427)
(39) ‹anchor: transitum Jordanis› · call in col 845
Libb. editi : « Quando autem? Ad transitum Jordanis. » Sed mss. ut in nostro textu.
The printed books: "But when? At the crossing of the Jordan." But the manuscripts read as in our text.
(printed under page 427)
Page
- other: footnotes on this page called in Homily III or V belong to those homilies (another unit): pointer only.
demoramur, omnia quae ad perfectionem pertinent, festinemus implere, et ita demum poterimus decima die mensis primi terram repromissionis, id est beatitudinem perfectionis intrare. Sed et alia quamplurima si diligenter observes, in hanc diem recapitulari Scripturarum relatione deprehendes. De quibus singulis uti ne nunc sermo nobis plus quam volumus dilatetur, hoc sentiendum est de eo, quod saepius dies iste repetitur: quia licet generalis nobis sit una perfectio, tamen secundum unamquamque speciem virtutum quam aggredimur explicare, si eam potuerimus integre perfecteque complere, est ipsius virtutis sua quoque perfectio.
we tarry, let us hasten to fulfil all things which pertain to perfection, and so at last we shall be able on the tenth day of the first month to enter the land of promise, that is, the beatitude of perfection. But if you diligently observe very many other things also, you will detect by the report of the Scriptures that they are recapitulated into this day. That our discourse concerning these several things may not now be drawn out more than we wish, this is to be understood about the fact that this day is rather often repeated: that although the general perfection is for us one, nevertheless according to each several kind of the virtues which we undertake to unfold, if we shall have been able to complete it wholly and perfectly, there is also its own perfection of that virtue itself.
Verbi causa, si is qui iracundus est, virtutem mansuetudinis cupiat adipisci, sine dubio primo offendit in multis, donec longa meditatione usum multi temporis in naturam convertat. Et cum obtinuerit quod proposuit, adipiscitur quidem perfectionem mansuetudinis, non tamen ex hoc etiam perfectionem virtutum omnium possidet. Sic ergo per singulas virtutes inveniuntur multae perfectiones. Perfectio vero generalis illa est, quae omnium in se perfectionum continet summam. Propterea ergo multa in hac die gesta recapitulantur, ut multas perfectiones ad unum tendere significent finem, sicut et Propheta dicit: Multum peregrinata est anima mea. Et iterum: Dum dicunt mihi per singulos dies: Ubi est Deus tuus? haec memoratus sum, et effudi in me animam meam: quia pertranseam in locum tabernaculi admirabilis usque ad domum Dei, in voce exsultationis, et confessionis sonus epulantum. Post labores enim et tentationes quas in hujus vitae eremo pertulerimus, post transitum Rubri maris, post fluenta Jordanis, si digni fuerimus terram repromissionis intrare, cum laetitia et exsultatione perveniemus, sequentes sacerdotes Domini Christi et Salvatoris nostri, cui est gloria et potestas in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
For example, if he who is prone to anger desires to acquire the virtue of gentleness, without doubt he at first offends in many things, until by long meditation he turns the practice of much time into nature. And when he shall have obtained what he purposed, he acquires indeed the perfection of gentleness, yet not from this does he possess also the perfection of all the virtues. So therefore through the several virtues many perfections are found. But that perfection is the general one, which contains in itself the sum of all perfections. For this reason, therefore, many deeds done on this day are recapitulated, that they may signify that many perfections tend towards one end, as the Prophet also says: My soul has long been a sojourner. And again: While they say to me every day, Where is your God? these things I remembered, and poured out my soul within me: for I shall pass over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God, in the voice of exultation, and of confession the sound of them that feast. For after the labours and temptations which we shall have endured in the wilderness of this life, after the crossing of the Red Sea, after the streams of the Jordan, if we shall have been worthy to enter the land of promise, we shall arrive with gladness and exultation, following the priests of the Lord Christ and our Saviour, to Whom is glory and power unto the ages of ages. Amen.
HOMILIA V. De duabus ac semis tribubus, quae transierunt Jordanem. Et de Jesu, quomodo exaltavit eum Dominus in conspectu filiorum Israel. Quomodo populum circumcidit cultris petrinis secundo.
HOMILY V. On the two and a half tribes which crossed the Jordan. And concerning Jesus, how the Lord exalted him in the sight of the sons of Israel. How he circumcised the people with knives of stone a second time.
1. De iis quidem qui mare Rubrum transierunt, Apostolus dicit, quia omnes in Moyse baptizati sunt in nube et in mari. De iis vero qui Jordanem transierunt, possumus etiam nos simili modo pronuntiare, quia omnes in
1. Concerning those indeed who crossed the Red Sea, the Apostle says that all were baptized in Moses in the cloud and in the sea. But concerning those who crossed the Jordan, we too can in like manner declare, that all in
Editors' notes and page, col. 846
Footnotes
(91) ‹anchor: Propheta dicit› · call in col 846
Psal. CIX, 6.
Ps. 109:6 (as printed; the words are Ps. 119 [Vulgate numbering]:6).
(printed under page 427)
(92) ‹anchor: Et iterum› · call in col 846
Psal. XLII, 3, 4.
Ps. 42:3–4 (as read; the words are Ps. 41 [Vulgate numbering]:4–5).
(printed under page 427)
(40) ‹anchor: uti ne nunc› · call in col 846
Libb. editi : « deprehendes de libris singulis. Uti ne nunc. » Codex Gemetic. et unus Ebroicensis : « Deprehendes. In quibus singulis uti ne nunc. » Sangermanensis cum altero Ebroicensi lectionem textus nostri exhibet
The printed books: "you will find from the single books. So as not now." The Jumièges manuscript and one of Évreux: "You will find. In which, each one, so as not now." The Saint-Germain manuscript, with the other of Évreux, gives the reading of our text.
(printed under page 427)
(41) ‹anchor: tamen secundum› · call in col 846
« Secundum. » Deest in libris antea editis, sed reperitur in codice Gemeticensi et uno Ebroicensi.
"Second." Missing in the books published before, but found in the Jumièges manuscript and one of Évreux.
(printed under page 427)
(42) ‹anchor: sua quoque perfectio› · call in col 846
Sangerm. « quaeque perfectio. »
The Saint-Germain manuscript: "each perfection."
(printed under page 427)
(43) ‹anchor: admirabilis usque› · call in col 846
Libb. editi : « in loco tabernaculi usque. » Mss. Sangerm. et Gemetic. ut in nostro textu. Paulo post iidem mss. « sonus epulantum. » Libb. editi : « sonus epulantis. »
The printed books: "in the place of the tabernacle, as far as." The Saint-Germain and Jumièges manuscripts read as in our text. A little after, the same manuscripts: "the sound of those feasting." The printed books: "the sound of one feasting."
(printed under page 427)
(44) ‹anchor: eremo pertulerimus› · call in col 846
Libb. editi : « quas in hujus mundi eremo. » In codice Gemeticensi deest « hujus, » in Sangermanensi pro « mundi, » legitur « vitae. »
The printed books: "which in the desert of this world." In the Jumièges manuscript "this" is missing; in the Saint-Germain manuscript "life" is read for "world."
(printed under page 427)
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- other: footnotes on this page called in Homily V (93, and 45 onward) belong to that homily (another unit): pointer only.