PL 194 · cols. 1806–1811

Isaac of Stella, Sermons

Sermons XXXV–XXXVI

quod pertingat ad aeternitatis praemium: quod ipse praestet. Amen.

which reaches to the reward of eternity: which may He Himself grant. Amen.

SERMO XXXV. IN EODEM FESTO III.

SERMON XXXV. ON THE SAME FEAST III

Oportebat, charissimi, hodierno sudore hesterni nos laboris recompensare dispendium. Prolixior enim sermo hesternus, sicut scitis, horam nobis laboris quasi furatus est. Ait quidam: Detinuit sermone diem; sed nobis sermone detentis elapsus est dies. Unde, quia fere jam nihil superest horae, et plenum laboris pensum solvimus, fere nihil dicamus. Non sum missus nisi ad oves, ait Dominus, quae perierunt domus Israel (Matth. XV). Breviter dici potest quia et hora brevis est: quibus promissus, illis missus. Abrahae, inquit, dictae sunt promissiones et semini ejus (Gal. III). Temporaliter facta promissio tempore solvitur suo, et Judaeis ex Judaeis, sicut scriptum est: Quoniam ex Judaeis salus est (Joan. IV). Ipsis enim de ipsis natus in carne Christus missus in fine temporis, quibus promissus ab initio temporis ante omnia tempora praedestinatus. Judaeis et gentibus praedestinatus, de solis Judaeis ex proximo in carne natus, secundum carnalem nativitatem illis exhibitus, quibus per temporalem vocem promissus. Verumtamen, si altius elevata mente verborum mysterium contemplari delectat, nequaquam nobis per gratiam verbi, cujus ipsa sunt verba, deesse poterunt. Scriptum est enim: Cum elevarentur animalia de terra, elevabantur pariter et rotae, sequentes ea (Ezech. I). Facile enim verba per Spiritum sanctum edita ad sensum spiritalem sequentur. Israel ergo, quoniam vir videns Deum interpretatur, mens rationalis recte accipitur. Domus itaque Israel illas continere mentes recte intelligitur, quarum numerus divina praedestinatione ad ipsum videndum ab aeterno certus praescitur. Igitur, nonaginta novem ovibus hujus domus in monte visionis et dilectionis proprii pastoris, id est Verbi Dei late spatiantibus et absque terrore cubantibus in pascuis pinguibus herbarum semper virentium, descendit pius pastor a Patre, cum venit tempus miserendi, misericorditer missus in tempore; sed in aeternae praedestinationis verbo, ubi simul et semel omnia locutus est Deus ab aeterno promissus, unam quaerere quae perierat; illi in tempore missus, illi ab aeterno promissus; illi natus, illi datus, cui ab aeterno praedestinatus. Ista est una ex Judaeis et gentibus, in Judaeis et gentibus. Una mysterialiter, multa personaliter. Multa per carnem naturaliter, una per gratiam spiritualiter. Ovis denique una et plures. Propter quod qui unam venit quaerere, quae perierat; missus est ad oves, quae perierunt domus Israel. Non ad hoedos, sed ad oves: utique ad solas, et ad omnes. Nam, sicut angeli refugae, tanquam hoedi ab ovibus, id est a sanctis angelis olim exierunt, sed non erant ex eis; ita et ex his ovibus quae erraverant, multae exierunt, sed non erant ex eis. Ovibus quidem per conditionem par natura, et propter inobedientiam

We ought, dearest brethren, by today's sweat to make up for the loss of yesterday's labour. For yesterday's sermon, being rather long, as you know, as it were stole from us an hour of work. Someone says: He held back the day with talk; but for us, held back by talk, the day has slipped away. Hence, since almost no time is now left, and we are paying the full task of labour, let us say almost nothing. I was not sent, says the Lord, except to the sheep that have perished of the house of Israel (Matt. 15). It can be said briefly, because the time too is brief: to whom He was promised, to them He was sent. To Abraham, it says, were the promises made, and to his seed (Gal. 3). A promise made in time is fulfilled in its own time, and to the Jews from the Jews, as it is written: For salvation is of the Jews (John 4). For Christ, born in the flesh of them for them, was sent at the end of time to those to whom He was promised from the beginning of time, predestined before all times. Predestined for Jews and Gentiles, born in the flesh immediately of the Jews alone, He was shown, according to His fleshly birth, to those to whom He was promised by a voice in time. Nevertheless, if it delights us to contemplate the mystery of the words with the mind raised higher, they will by no means be able to fail us, through the grace of the Word Whose words they are. For it is written: When the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels also were lifted up together, following them (Ezek. 1). For words uttered through the Holy Spirit will readily follow to the spiritual sense. Israel, then, since it is interpreted a man seeing God, is rightly taken as the rational mind. The house of Israel, therefore, is rightly understood to contain those minds whose number, by divine predestination to the vision of Him, is foreknown from eternity as fixed. While, then, the ninety-nine sheep of this house roamed far and wide on the mountain of the vision and love of their own shepherd, that is, of the Word of God, and lay down without fear in the rich pastures of ever-green grass, the devoted shepherd came down from the Father, when the time of mercy came, sent mercifully in time; but promised from eternity in the Word of eternal predestination, in which God spoke all things together and at once, to seek the one which had perished; sent in time to her, promised to her from eternity; born to her, given to her, for whom He was predestined from eternity. This is the one from Jews and Gentiles, in Jews and Gentiles. One mystically, many personally. Many by nature through the flesh, one spiritually through grace. The sheep, in short, is one and many. For this reason He Who came to seek the one which had perished was sent to the sheep that have perished of the house of Israel. Not to the goats, but to the sheep: to them alone, that is, and to all of them. For as the fugitive angels, like goats from the sheep, that is, from the holy angels, once went out, but were not of them, so also from these sheep which had strayed many went out, but were not of them. To the sheep, indeed, by their creation, of equal nature, and because of disobedience

Editors' notes and page, col. 1806

Page

running head: [SERMONES. — SERMO] XXXV. IN DOMINIC. II QUADRAGESIMAE. 1806 (left part of the head cut off in the image; completed from col. 1805)
marginal letters: A ‹quod pertingat ad aeternitatis›; B ‹sus, illis missus›; C ‹tur pariter et rotae›; D ‹ab aeterno promissus, unam›
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: the sermon break (end of Sermo XXXIV, title of Sermo XXXV) falls in the top lines of this column. The final clause runs on into col. 1807 and is translated only as far as printed here.

PL 194:1807

similis corruptela; sed praedestinatis specialis est gratia. Sine poenitentia, ait Apostolus, sunt dona et vocatio Dei (Rom. XI).

of like corruption; but to the predestined belongs a special grace. Without repentance, says the Apostle, are the gifts and the calling of God (Rom. 11).

Manet igitur in ovibus suis, id est angelis et hominibus domus Israel, quantum ad pastoris pertinet praedestinationem et notitiam, numero integra, et electionis charactere immobilis, habens fundamentum hoc: Novit Dominus qui sunt ejus (II Tim. II), et custodiam fidelem, et fortem: generatio enim coelestis servat eos. Nemo autem alienorum hac in sorte jungere se poterit illis. Caeterum alii eis ad sacramentorum pascua aut non aggregantur, aut certe super numerum multiplicantur. Quod autem suum novit pastor iste, non est, qui ei de manu possit eruere. Cogi nimirum non valet potentia, nec falli sapientia, nec abjicere charitas. Unde et fidenter loquitur, dicens: Omne quod dedit mihi Pater, non perdam ex eo (Joan. VI). Item: Quos dedisti mihi non perdidi ex eis quemquam (Joan. XVIII). Profundo tamen et inscrutabili judicio ad tempus de suis cum non suis hic misceri et errare permittit, qui in montibus alias a commistione alienarum servavit. Ad has igitur segregandas et colligendas aeterna praedestinatione promissus, nova incarnatione missus dicit: Non sum missus, nisi ad oves, quae perierunt domus Israel (Matth. XV). Missus est itaque tanquam illusis veritas, errantibus via, mortuis vita, fatuis sapientia, infirmis medicina, captivis redemptio, famelicis refectio; et in omnibus his missus ad oves, quae perierunt, ne perirent, domus Israel. Missus denique, tanquam anima in corpus mortuum, ut ejus adventu calefacta reviviscerent membra, fieretque in veteribus membris nova vita, in carnalibus membris vita spiritualis, in terrenis membris vita coelestis, resurrectione videlicet prima. Unde dicitur: Amen amen dico vobis, quia venit hora, et nunc est, quando mortui audient vocem Filii Dei, et qui audierint, vivent (Joan. V). Hinc etiam de ovibus dicitur: Vocem meam audient, et alienum non sequentur (Joan. X). Aut fortasse magis proprie dici poterit missus, tanquam in corpus truncum et absque capite caput desuper immissum, unde sensum et motum acciperet: quod ipsum quasi de corde; quod primum omnium creatur in corpore, vitalem spiritum aliquatenus habeat, quod tamen sine capitis beneficio nec illuminari

The house of Israel, therefore, remains in His sheep, that is, in the angels and men of the house of Israel, as far as concerns the shepherd's predestination and knowledge, complete in number and immovable by the mark of election, having this foundation: The Lord knows who are His (2 Tim. 2), and a faithful and strong guard: for the heavenly generation keeps them. And none of those who are strangers will be able to join himself to them in this lot. Others, indeed, are either not gathered with them to the pastures of the sacraments, or are certainly multiplied beyond the number. But what this shepherd knows as His own, there is no one who can snatch out of His hand. For His power cannot be compelled, nor His wisdom deceived, nor His charity cast off. Hence He also speaks with confidence, saying: Of all that the Father has given Me, I shall lose nothing (John 6). Again: Of those whom Thou gavest Me I have not lost any one (John 18). Yet by a deep and inscrutable judgement He permits some of His own to be mixed for a time here with those not His own, and to stray, He Who at another time kept them on the mountains from mingling with strangers. Promised, then, by eternal predestination, to separate and gather these, and sent by a new incarnation, He says: I was not sent except to the sheep that have perished of the house of Israel (Matt. 15). He was sent, therefore, as truth to the deluded, the way to the straying, life to the dead, wisdom to the foolish, medicine to the sick, redemption to captives, refreshment to the hungry; and in all these He was sent to the sheep of the house of Israel that had perished, that they might not perish. He was sent, lastly, like a soul into a dead body, so that, warmed by His coming, the members might come back to life, and there might be in the old members a new life, in the carnal members a spiritual life, in the earthly members a heavenly life, by the first resurrection, that is. Hence it is said: Amen, amen, I say to you, that the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear shall live (John 5). Hence also it is said of the sheep: They will hear My voice, and they will not follow a stranger (John 10). Or perhaps He may more properly be said to have been sent like a head put on from above into a body that was maimed and without a head, from which it might receive sensation and motion: so that, although the body has some vital spirit from, as it were, the heart, which is the first of all things created in the body, yet without the benefit of the head it could neither be enlightened

Editors' notes and page, col. 1807

Page

running head: 1807 ISAAC DE STEL[LA] (right part of the head cut off in the image)
marginal letters: A ‹similis corruptela›; B ‹falli sapientia, nec abjicere›; C ‹his missus ad oves›; D ‹creatur in corpore›
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 194:1808

ad sensum, nec moveri ad virtutem ullatenus potuit. Sicut enim asseverant talium curiosi, vitalis spiritus in animalis corde nascitur, et inde in totum corpus vita diffunditur; sensus autem de anteriori parte capitis, et motus de posteriori. Quasi ergo in homine, qui semivivus relictus est, qui et ipse est ovis, quae perierat, vitalis inerat spiritus de statu primae conditionis, id est voluntas rationalis, aut libertas naturalis: quae a Christo Dei sapientia et virtute illuminari posset ad sensum, et moveri ad virtutem.

to sensation nor moved to strength in any way. For, as those who are curious about such things assert, the vital spirit arises in the heart of a living creature, and from there life is spread through the whole body; but sensation comes from the front part of the head, and motion from the back. So, as it were, in the man who was left half-alive, who is himself also the sheep that had perished, there was present a vital spirit from the state of the first creation, that is, the rational will, or natural freedom, which could be enlightened to sensation and moved to strength by Christ, the wisdom and power of God.

Missus est itaque Christus sua ipsius praedicatione prius sensificans ad fidem: et sui Spiritus missione postea movens ad virtutem. S⟨e⟩dete, inquit, in civitate, donec induamini virtute ex alto (Luc. XXIV). Ex ipso enim est naturae rationali, vel rationi naturali, ad operationem bonam, sensus et motus, veritas et virtus. Fides interim, spes, et charitas, sine quibus desipere et languere, illudi phantasiis potuit, ac insaniis falsis oblectari: sine ipso etenim non nisi nihil facere potuit, qui ad oves missus, eis dixit: Sine me nihil potestis facere (Joan. XV). Sine ipso sola erat, et solum cadere poterat libertas naturalis, cui dicitur: Vae soli: quia, cum ceciderit, non est qui sublevet eum (Eccle. IV). Missus est ergo pastor pius, qui quod confractum erat solidaret, et quod debile confortaret. Confractum autem et debile liberum hominis erat arbitrium: quod olim supra se nitens, infra se ruit, et se ferre non valens, se in se a se oppressit ac confregit: confractum autem a se, ac per hoc debilitatum in se, surgere non potuit per se. Consolidatum tandem, et confortatum per fidem et charitatem ipsius Christi, ac per hoc fetatum, quoniam nondum omnino pingue et validum, donec simul cum nonaginta novem in pascuis pinguibus collocetur, in ulnis portat. In sinu suo, inquit, levabit agnos, fetas ipse portabit (Isai. XL). Missus est itaque propter haec omnia, et alia, quae multipliciter dici possunt multa ad oves quae perierunt, quantum ad vitae suae modum, et erroris meritum, domus Israel. Exhibita est tandem ab aeterno praeparata gratia, multifarie rebus et verbis olim praefigurata; ne perirent, quos electio perire non sinit, et naturalis libertas salvare nequit. Sed dum haec, quasi secreta, secreto et familiariter discipulis respondit,

Christ was sent, therefore, first giving sensation for faith by His own preaching, and afterwards moving to strength by the sending of His Spirit. Stay, He says, in the city, until you are clothed with power from on high (Luke 24). For from Him the rational nature, or the natural reason, has sensation and motion, truth and strength, for good working. Faith meanwhile, hope and charity, without which it could be foolish and languish, be deluded by fantasies and take delight in false follies: for without Him it could do nothing but nothing, He Who, sent to the sheep, said to them: Without Me you can do nothing (John 15). Without Him natural freedom was alone, and could only fall, natural freedom to which it is said: Woe to him who is alone: for when he falls, there is no one to lift him up (Eccl. 4). The devoted shepherd was sent, therefore, to bind up what was broken and strengthen what was weak. And what was broken and weak was the free choice of man, which, once striving above itself, fell below itself, and, unable to bear itself, crushed and broke itself in itself by itself: and, broken by itself and therefore weakened in itself, it could not rise by itself. At length bound up and strengthened through faith in Christ Himself and His charity, and therefore made fruitful, He carries it in His arms, since it is not yet altogether fat and strong, until it is placed together with the ninety-nine in the rich pastures. In His bosom, it says, He will lift up the lambs; He Himself will carry those that are with young (Isa. 40). He was sent, therefore, for all these things, and for many others which can be said in many ways, to the sheep that have perished of the house of Israel, as regards the manner of their life and the desert of their straying. At length the grace prepared from eternity was displayed, once prefigured in many ways by things and words, so that those should not perish whom election does not allow to perish, and whom natural freedom cannot save. But while He answered these things, as secrets, to the disciples secretly and familiarly,

Editors' notes and page, col. 1808

Footnotes

(10) ‹anchor: libertas salvare nequit› · call in col 1808

Sententia, quam hic docet Isaac, de electione ac reprobatione ante praevisa opera, fuit olim, et est adhuc multorum: quaedam tamen indubitata adducenda sunt, quae opus nostrae salutis in potestate nostra statuunt. Primum, vult Deus omnes salvos (I Tim. II), neminemque, id est ne unum quidem, perire (II Petr. III), antecedente scilicet voluntate, et quantum in se est. Nullum ergo illa antecedente voluntate a salute exclusit, sive positive, sive negative. Christus item pro omnibus mortuus est, etiam pro iis qui pereunt (II Cor. V; II Petr. II; Rom. XIV), ut apostoli tradunt, pontificesque adversus Jansenium definiunt. Ad quid autem passus esset pro iis, quos Deus salvos non vellet? Quid eis profuisset ejus passio? Quod si se a salute excludunt, sibi imputent, non Deo. Item Deus invitat homines ad salutem, quam in eorum potestate esse dicit: Ante hominem vita et mors, bonum et malum: quod placuerit, dabitur ei (Eccli. XV). Item: Venite ad me, omnes (Matth. XI). Si vis ad vitam ingredi, serva mandata (Matth. XIX). Illuderetur eis his verbis, qui non posset ad coelum pervenire. At impossibilis est salus ei, qui non fuit illa antecedenti electione comprehensus. Quomodo enim non vocatus irrumperet in coetum beatorum, non invitatus ad nuptias Agni veniret: ordinem a Deo constitutum mutaret? Audi S. Augustinum (Aug. lib. 83 Quaestionum). « Ad coenam, quam Dominus in Evangelio dicit praeparatam, nec omnes qui vocati sunt, venire voluerunt... qui noluerunt venire, debent sibi tribuere, quoniam, ut venirent vocati in eorum erat libera voluntate. » Non ergo (continues)

The opinion that Isaac teaches here, on election and reprobation before works are foreseen, was once, and still is, the opinion of many; yet certain undoubted points must be brought forward which place the work of our salvation in our own power. First, God wills all to be saved (1 Tim. 2), and none, that is, not even one, to perish (2 Pet. 3) — by his antecedent will, that is, and as far as lies in him. By that antecedent will, therefore, he has shut no one out of salvation, either positively or negatively. Likewise Christ died for all, even for those who perish (2 Cor. 5; 2 Pet. 2; Rom. 14), as the apostles teach and as the popes define against Jansenius. For to what end would he have suffered for those whom God did not will to be saved? What would his passion have profited them? And if they shut themselves out of salvation, let them blame themselves, not God. Again, God invites men to salvation, and says it lies in their power: Before man are life and death, good and evil: whichever he pleases shall be given him (Ecclus. 15). Again: Come to me, all (Matt. 11). If you would enter into life, keep the commandments (Matt. 19). Anyone who could not reach heaven would be mocked by these words. But salvation is impossible for one who was not included in that antecedent election. For how could one who was not called break into the company of the blessed, or one not invited come to the marriage of the Lamb, and alter the order God has established? Hear St Augustine (Aug., book of 83 Questions): "To the supper which the Lord in the Gospel says was prepared, not all who were called were willing to come... those who were unwilling to come must ascribe it to themselves, since it lay in their free will to come when called." Not therefore (continues)

(printed under page 907)

Page

running head: [I]SAAC DE STELLA 1808 (left edge cut off in the image)
marginal letters: A ‹minari ad sensum›; B ‹XXIV). Ex ipso enim›; C ‹valens, se in se a se›; D ‹libertas salvare nequit›
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 194:1809

festinans mulier advenit, et adoravit: quem et nos adoremus et ut nos ad sequentia illuminare dignetur, exoremus, cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivum et verum Deum. Amen

the woman came in haste and worshipped: Him let us also worship, and let us entreat Him to deign to enlighten us for what follows, the living and true God with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SERMO XXXVI. IN EODEM FESTO IV.

SERMON XXXVI. ON THE SAME FEAST IV.

Non est bonum sumere panem filiorum et dare canibus (Matth. XV). Sicut hesterno sermone tractavimus, sine poenitentia sunt dona et vocatio Dei, unde quod ad ejus incommutabilem praedestinationis pertinet veritatem, qui semel filii, nunquam non filii; nec unquam filii, qui semel non filii. Quantum vero ad opera justitiae, sive justitiam operum, et de non filiis filii, et de filiis non filii vicissim fiunt. Qui autem vere filii, et qui non filii, penes Patrem verum, apud quem non est transmutatio, nec vicissitudinis obrumbratio (Jac. I): et numerus et ratio est. Novit enim quid in unigenito suo, incommutabili Verbo, semel ipsum perfectum, et simul et semper gignendo dixit, et dicendo genuit: ubi simul et semel omnia statuit. Quorum quidem sic nihil omnino praeterire poterit, quomodo nec ipse falli potuit, qui non tam futura praevidit quae faceret, quam praefecit futura quae facta videret. Non enim ideo fecit, quia futura erant, aut fieri debuerant, quaecunque fecit, sed ideo futura erant fierique debuerant, quia is ea facere debuit. Unde nec futura erant nisi quae voluit, et haec quia voluit: qui sicut velle quod vult nunquam coepit; sic nolendo ipsum terminare non poterit, aut volendo quod non vult, mutare quod voluit, aut de recenti consilio superaddito primae voluntati, quod antea noluit. Consilium enim ejus in aeternum manet, et cogitationes cordis ejus in generatione et generationem. Omnipotens autem potest omnia, sed veritas seipsam negare non potest, nec sapientiam fugere potuit, quod postea reminisci debuisset; nec charitas agere perperam, quod postmodum correxisset. Sicut igitur quod factum videtur, non quia fieri debuit effecit, sed quia praefecit, fieri debuit, sic nimirum quod bonum esse dicitur, non tam quia bonum est, id facit et diligit: quam ideo bonum est, quia id facit ipse et diligit. Ab ipso etenim tanquam ab efficienti principio, fieri, et bonitatem habere necesse est, quidquid in rebus factum et bonum est. Hinc est quod exsultans in spiritu, qui perfecte novit Patrem Filius, eique de operatione sua confitens ait: Confiteor tibi, Pater, Domine coeli et terrae, quia abscondisti haec a sapientibus et prudentibus, et revelasti ea parvulis (Matth. XI). Cujus operationis quasi causam assignans, subintulit: Ita, Pater, quoniam sic placitum fuit ante te (ibid.).

It is not good to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs (Matt. 15:26). As we treated in yesterday's sermon, the gifts and the calling of God are without repentance; hence, as regards the unchangeable truth of His predestination, those who are once sons are never not sons, nor are those ever sons who are once not sons. But as regards the works of righteousness, or the righteousness of works, sons come to be from those who are not sons, and in turn those who are not sons from sons. Yet who are truly sons, and who are not sons, lies with the true Father, with Whom there is no change, nor shadow of alteration (Jas. 1:17): with Him are both their number and their reckoning. For He knows what, in His only-begotten, the unchangeable Word, He said once, Himself perfect, both at once and always, by begetting, and begot by saying: where He established all things at once and once for all. Of these, indeed, nothing at all will be able to pass away, just as He Himself could not be deceived, Who did not so much foresee the future things He would make as make beforehand the future things which He would see done. For He did not make whatever He made because those things were to be, or ought to come to be; rather they were to be and ought to come to be because He was to make them. Hence nothing was to be except what He willed, and these because He willed: He Who, as He never began to will what He wills, so will not be able to end it by unwilling it, or, by willing what He does not will, change what He willed, or, by a fresh counsel added on to His first will, [will] what He formerly did not will. For His counsel abides for ever, and the thoughts of His heart from generation to generation. The Almighty, then, can do all things, but truth cannot deny itself; nor could He escape wisdom, something He would afterwards have had to recall; nor could charity act amiss, something He would later have corrected. As therefore what is seen to be made He did not make because it ought to be made, but it ought to be made because He made it beforehand, so assuredly what is said to be good He does not so much make and love because it is good, as it is good because He Himself makes and loves it. For whatever in things is made and is good must needs come to be, and have goodness, from Him as from its efficient principle. Hence it is that the Son, Who perfectly knows the Father, exulting in spirit and confessing to Him concerning His working, says: I confess to Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones (Matt. 11:25). And as though assigning the cause of this working, He added: Yes, Father, for so it was well-pleasing before Thee (ibid. 11:26).

Editors' notes and page, col. 1809

Footnotes

(continued) ‹anchor: not visible (call on a previous page)› · runs across col 1809 and col 1810

(continued) exclusi a coena coelesti antecedenti Dei decreto. Idem alibi (serm. de Symb.) inducit Christum judicem, reprobos sic alloquentem: « Pro vobis hoc latus apertum est, et noluistis intrare. » S. Prosper (Prosp. in respons. ad cap. Gallor., cap. 3.) ait reprobos ideo non fuisse praedestinatos, quia futuri mali ex voluntaria praevaricatione praesciti sunt. Idem (Id., in 7 Sentent. sub fine): « Quia hoc, scilicet malum, ipsos voluntaria acturos defectione praevidit, ideo in praedestinationis sorte illos non habuit. » Mitto alia innumera. Quae in contrarium proferuntur, in tractatu De praedestinatione solvuntur.

(printed under page 908)

Page

running head: SERMONES. — SERMO XXXVI. IN DOMI[...] (right part of the head lies over the other column, not visible)
marginal letters: A festinans mulier advenit; B penes Patrem verum; C volendo quod non vult; D bonitatem habere necesse est
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 194:1810

Credamus, fratres mei, credamus obsecro, servi Filio de Patre suo: Pater enim omnia quae facit Filio ostendit, et sine ipso nihil omnino facit: imo per ipsum omnia facit, qui cum factore Patre a Patre eadem, et similiter omnia factor Filius facit. Ita, inquit, Pater, quia sic fuit placitum ante te. Haec est tota principaliter factorum omnium ratio: haec primaria et principalis eventuum causa. Post hanc, sub hanc causam primam, et maximam, suboriri ab hac plurimae possunt diversorum effectuum diversae causae. Qui autem ante hanc causarum causam aliam ipsius causam quaerit, hic ultra, ut dicitur, Deum ratiocinando pergit. Quod ergo placitum est ante Patrem, hoc bonum, et non nisi bonum, et solum hoc in rebus bonum; et ideo bonum, quia placitum: non ideo illi postea placitum, quia prius in se, aut a se, aut per se bonum. Quod autem non placitum, non bonum, et non nisi non bonum, et solum id non bonum: ac ideo non bonum, quia non placitum. Bonum igitur, et solum, et totum, quod ei bene placitum, et ideo bonum, quia illi bene placitum. Quoniam ergo, dilectissimi, quomodo qui bonorum nostrorum non eget, bona quae facere putamur acceptet, prorsus ignoramus, utrum in omnibus digni simus amore, vel odio, cum tanto tremore et exspectatione dubitamus: quae si tamen bona esse, quia illi grata, nosse aliquomodo poterimus: quibus tamen utilia, quibus profutura, quibus bona esse debeant, nobis, an aliis fortasse, quomodo scimus? Alto enim et occulto judicio, qui stultus est, servit sapienti, stultus autem ut luna mutatur; et qui diu crescendo profecit, subito decrescendo deficit. Sapiens vero ut sol permanet, et qui perseveraverit, sine dubio salvus erit: et non solum aliis, sed et sibi laboravit. Et quod fecit non simpliciter bonum, quia placitum; aut extraneis tantum, sed sibi bonum, quia in hoc Deo placuit. Nonnunquam enim in conspectu superni Judicis placitum est quod ab aliquo fit, nec tamen in hoc ipso placet ille, qui facit, neque semper quod simpliciter est bonum, id universaliter bonum: non enim omne quod bonum est, omnibus bonum est. Quare nec mulieri dictum est: Non est bonum canibus tolli panem filiorum et dari illis, sed simpliciter: Non est bonum sumere panem filiorum, et dare canibus. Siquidem tam bonum esset canibus, si id fieret quam filiis malum. Similiter non omne quod malum, omnibus malum; sed simpliciter malum, quod non est Deo placitum, sicut simpliciter bonum, quod bene placitum.

Let us believe, my brethren, let us believe, I beseech you, the servants, the Son concerning His Father: for the Father shows the Son all things that He does, and without Him He does nothing at all; nay rather, He does all things through Him, since with the Father as maker the Son, Himself maker, does the same things from the Father, and all things in like manner. Yes, He says, Father, for so it was well-pleasing before Thee. This is, in the first place, the whole reason of all things made: this the primary and principal cause of events. After this, under this first and greatest cause, many diverse causes of diverse effects can arise from it. But whoever seeks, before this cause of causes, another cause of it, goes on reasoning, as the saying is, beyond God. What, then, has been well-pleasing before the Father is good, and nothing but good, and this alone is good in things; and good because well-pleasing: not afterwards well-pleasing to Him because previously good in itself, or from itself, or through itself. But what is not well-pleasing is not good, and nothing but not good, and that alone is not good: and it is not good because not well-pleasing. That, therefore, is good, alone and wholly, which is well-pleasing to Him, and good for this reason, because well-pleasing to Him. Since, then, beloved, we are wholly ignorant how He Who has no need of our goods accepts the goods we are thought to do, whether in all things we are worthy of love or of hatred, we remain in doubt with so much trembling and expectation: and even if we shall be able in some way to know that these things are good because pleasing to Him, yet for whom they are useful, for whom they will profit, for whom they ought to be good, for us or perhaps for others, how do we know? For by a deep and hidden judgement he who is a fool serves the wise man, but the fool changes like the moon; and he who long advanced by growing suddenly fails by waning. But the wise man abides like the sun, and he who perseveres will without doubt be saved: and he has laboured not only for others but also for himself. And what he did is not simply good because well-pleasing, nor good for strangers only, but good for himself, because in it he pleased God. For sometimes what is done by someone is well-pleasing in the sight of the Judge on high, and yet in this very thing he who does it does not please; nor is what is simply good always universally good: for not everything that is good is good for all. That is why it was not said to the woman: It is not good that the children's bread be taken from the dogs and given to them, but simply: It is not good to take the children's bread and give it to the dogs. For it would be as much a good for the dogs, if it were done, as an evil for the children. Likewise, not everything that is evil is evil for all; but that is simply evil which is not well-pleasing to God, just as that is simply good which is well-pleasing.

Non est ergo bonum, id est placitum Deo, sumere gratiam praedestinatorum, panemque coelestem

It is not good, then, that is, well-pleasing to God, to take the grace of the predestined, and the heavenly bread

Editors' notes and page, col. 1810

Page

running head: SERMONES. — SERMO XXXVI. IN DOMINIC. II QUADRAGESIMAE. (left part of the head lies over column 1809)
marginal letters: A Credamus, fratres mei; B num, quia placitum; C quomodo scimus; D et dari illis
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 194:1811

eum duntaxat qui non potest communicari alienis, sed est eis quasi fons proprius, et dare non praedestinatis et ab aeterno reprobis, sed in tempore malis; nec tamen ideo malis, quia reprobis; nec utique ideo prius reprobis, quia postea malis: juste tamen tunc reprobatis, quando voluntate aut opere malis. Sic tamen, si fieri posset, istis id esset bonum, quomodo illis malum. Unde manifestum est, non omne bonum omnibus esse bonum; esse autem aliquid alicui malum, sed sua perversitate: nec omne malum omnibus malum: esse quidem aliquid alicui bonum, sed divina bonitate. Nec omne quod alicui bonum, simpliciter bonum esse, sicut nec omne quod alicui malum, statim malum. Sunt etenim bona bonis bona, sicut mala malis mala. Et sunt bona malis mala; sicut mala bonis bona. Nec tamen unquam mala bona, aut bona mala. Sunt et fortasse bona bonis mala, sicut et mala malis bona. Simpliciter autem semper bonum, quod Deo placitum, et ex eo bonum, qui per se, et in se, et non alio a se semper ipsum summum bonum, sicut scriptum est: Nemo bonus, nisi unus Deus (Marc. X). Simpliciter autem non bonum quod illi non placitum, cujus placitum non ex alio bono bonum, sed est idipsum bonum. Unde necessario, quod illi non convenit, a bono disconvenit, ac per hoc malum fit. Eia, fratres, in tanta rerum multiplicitate, et vicissitudinum varietate, qua nec sibi ipsa multiplicitas constare permittitur (nequaquam enim bona ipsa vel mala omnibus semper uniformiter mala vel bona dignoscuntur). videte quomodo et quantum oporteat nos dubios semper fore et timoratos, circumspectos ac sollicitos, ne quae desideramus tanquam bona, sint nobis mala; aut quae hodie bona, cras mala; aut quae cavemus ac fugimus, quasi mala, sint nobis bona; et quae hodie mala, cras bona.

that bread alone which cannot be shared with strangers, but is to them as their own fountain, and to give it to those not predestined and reprobate from eternity, but evil in time; and yet not evil for this reason, because reprobate; nor indeed reprobate beforehand for this reason, because afterwards evil: but justly reprobated then, when evil in will or in deed. Yet, were it possible, it would be as good for these as it is evil for those. Hence it is manifest that not every good is good for all; but that something is evil for someone, yet by his own perversity; nor is every evil evil for all; something indeed is good for someone, yet by the divine goodness. Nor is everything that is good for someone simply good, just as not everything that is evil for someone is at once evil. For there are goods that are good for the good, as there are evils that are evil for the evil. And there are goods that are evil for the evil, as there are evils that are good for the good. And yet evils are never goods, nor goods evils. And perhaps there are also goods that are evil for the good, as also evils that are good for the evil. But that is simply and always good which is well-pleasing to God, and good from Him Who through Himself, and in Himself, and from none other than Himself, is always Himself the highest good, as it is written: No one is good but God alone (Mark 10:18). But that is simply not good which is not well-pleasing to Him, Whose being well-pleased is not good from some other good, but is goodness itself. Hence necessarily what does not agree with Him disagrees with the good, and through this becomes evil. Come then, brethren, in so great a multiplicity of things and variety of changes, in which multiplicity itself is not allowed to be consistent with itself (for by no means are goods themselves, or evils, always recognized uniformly by all as evil or good), see how and how much it behoves us always to be doubtful and fearful, circumspect and anxious, lest the things we desire as good be evil for us; or those that are good today be evil tomorrow; or those we beware of and flee as evil be good for us; and those that are evil today be good tomorrow.

Videte quoque, quoniam non solum quid agamus, verum etiam quid oremus aut optemus, sicut oportet, nescimus (Rom. VIII). Ad haec tamen, Spiritum qui scrutatur, non inquirendo, sed penetrando profunda Dei, et scit omnem voluntatem et beneplacitum Patris, secundum quod postulat pro sanctis, postulemus semper juvare infirmitatem nostram, ut non quod volumus, quia volumus; sed quod vult Pater, quia vult Pater; solum, et semper velimus, potius exspectantes ab eo quid velit, et illud amantes, quam definientes quid ipsi velimus; et id desiderantes, dicentes ei, a suo Verbo edocti: Fiat voluntas tua in coelo et in terra (Matth. VI). Et illud: Non quod ego volo, sed quod tu vis (Matth. XXVI). Cui beatus Pater Augustinus in Confessionibus suis religiose loquens ait: « Optimus minister tuus est, qui non intuetur a te audire, quod vult: sed hoc potius velle, quod a te audierit. » Sed dicitis, quod vult quare oramus, quando etiam nobis non orantibus fiet? Imo, quod non vult, quare orabitis, cum vobis, non dico orantibus, sed praecordia orando rumpentibus, nullatenus fiet? Si tamen

See also that not only what we should do, but also what we should pray for or wish, as we ought, we do not know (Rom. 8:26). For these things, however, let us always ask the Spirit, Who searches the depths of God, not by inquiring but by penetrating, and knows the whole will and good pleasure of the Father, according to which He intercedes for the saints, to help our weakness, so that we may will, not what we will because we will it, but what the Father wills because the Father wills it, this alone and always, rather awaiting from Him what He wills, and loving it, than determining what we ourselves will; and desiring this, saying to Him, as taught by His Word: Thy will be done in heaven and on earth (Matt. 6:10). And that other: Not what I will, but what Thou wilt (Matt. 26:39). Speaking devoutly to Him in his Confessions, the blessed Father Augustine says: « He is Thy best servant who does not look to hear from Thee what he wills, but rather to will what he has heard from Thee. » But you say: why do we pray for what He wills, when it will be done even if we do not pray? Nay rather, why will you pray for what He does not will, when it will in no way be done for you, not, I say, if you pray, but even if you burst your hearts with praying? If, however,

Editors' notes and page, col. 1811

Page

running head: ISAAC DE STELLA (centred over the page)
marginal letters: A stem, eum duntaxat; B sunt bona malis mala; C mala vel bona dignoscuntur; D stram, ut non quod volumus
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: column opens with "stem," the end of coele-|stem, set whole in column 1810 and not repeated here. Last word ta-|men completed from the first line of column 1812. The lower-case "videte" after the parenthesis appears so printed; UNSURE (could be a worn capital). "(Marc. X)": numeral partly worn.