PL 35 · cols. 2053–2062

Augustine, Ten Homilies on the First Epistle of John

Tractate X

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substantiam; cujus praesentia semper gaudeat, qua perfruatur in aeternum conjunctus Angelis. Sed currat modo, ut aliquando in patria laetetur. Non amet peregrinationem, non amet viam: totum ama⟨r⟩um sit, praeter illum qui vocat, quousque inhaereamus illi, et dicamus quod dictum est in Psalmo, Perdidisti omnes qui fornicantur abs te. Et qui sunt qui fornicantur? Qui discedunt, et amant mundum. Tu autem quid? Sequitur et dicit: Mihi autem inhaerere Deo bonum est (Psal. LXXII, 27, 28). Totum bonum meum est, Deo inhaerere gratis. Nam si interroges, et dicas, Quare inhaeres Deo? Et dicat, Ut donet mihi. Quid tibi donet? Coelum ipse fecit, terram ipse fecit: quid tibi donaturus est? jam inhaeres illi: inveni melius, et donat tibi.

substance; in whose presence it may always rejoice, which it may enjoy for ever, joined to the Angels. But let it run now, that one day it may be glad in the homeland. Let it not love the sojourning, let it not love the way: let all be bitter, save Him Who calls, until we cleave to Him, and say what is said in the Psalm, "Thou hast destroyed all who go whoring from Thee." And who are they who go whoring? Those who depart and love the world. But you, what of you? It follows, and says: "But for me it is good to cleave to God" (Ps. 72:27–28). My whole good is to cleave to God freely. For if you ask and say, "Why do you cleave to God?" and he says, "That He may give to me": what is He to give you? He Himself made heaven, He Himself made earth: what is He going to give you? You already cleave to Him: find something better, and He gives it you.

11. Qui enim non diligit fratrem suum quem videt, Deum quem non videt, quomodo potest diligere? Et hoc mandatum habemus ab ipso, ut qui diligit Deum, diligat et fratrem suum. Magnifice dicebas, Diligo Deum; et odis fratrem! O homicida, quomodo diligis Deum? Non audisti superius in ipsa Epistola, Qui odit fratrem suum, homicida est? Sed prorsus diligo Deum, quamvis oderim fratrem meum. Prorsus non diligis Deum, si odis fratrem. Et modo probo alio documento. Ipse dixit, Dedit nobis praeceptum, ut diligamus invicem (I Joan. III, 15, 23): quomodo diligis eum, cujus odisti praeceptum? Quis est qui dicat, Diligo imperatorem, sed odi leges ejus? In hoc intelligit imperator si diligis eum, si observentur leges ejus per provincias. Lex imperatoris quae est? Mandatum novum do vobis, ut vos invicem diligatis (Joan. XIII, 34). Dicis ergo te diligere Christum; serva mandatum ejus, et fratrem dilige. Si autem fratrem non diligis; quomodo eum diligis, cujus mandatum contemnis? Fratres, ego non satior loquendo de charitate in nomine Christi. Quantum et vos habetis hujus rei avaritiam, tantum speramus quia crescit in vobis ipsa, et foras mittit timorem, ut remaneat ille timor castus permanens in saeculum saeculi. Toleremus mundum, toleremus tribulationes, toleremus scandala tentationum. Non recedamus a via; teneamus unitatem Ecclesiae, teneamus Christum, teneamus charitatem. Non divellamur a membris sponsae ipsius, non divellamur a fide, ut gloriemur in praesentia ipsius: et securi manebimus in eo, modo per fidem, tunc per speciem, cujus tantas arrhas habemus donum Spiritus sancti.

11. "For he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God Whom he does not see? And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also." You were saying grandly, "I love God"; and you hate your brother! O murderer, how do you love God? Did you not hear earlier in this same Epistle, "He who hates his brother is a murderer"? "But I do indeed love God, though I hate my brother." You do not love God at all, if you hate your brother. And now I prove it by another proof. He Himself said, "He has given us a commandment, that we love one another" (1 John 3:15, 23): how do you love Him Whose commandment you hate? Who is there that would say, "I love the emperor, but I hate his laws"? The emperor understands by this whether you love him, by whether his laws are kept through the provinces. What is the emperor's law? "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another" (John 13:34). You say, then, that you love Christ; keep His commandment, and love your brother. But if you do not love your brother, how do you love Him Whose commandment you despise? Brethren, I am not sated with speaking of charity in the name of Christ. As much as you too have a greed for this thing, so much do we hope that it grows in you, and casts out fear, so that that chaste fear may remain, enduring for ever and ever. Let us bear with the world, let us bear tribulations, let us bear the stumbling-blocks of temptations. Let us not withdraw from the way; let us hold the unity of the Church, let us hold Christ, let us hold charity. Let us not be torn away from the members of His Bride, let us not be torn away from the faith, that we may glory in His presence: and we shall abide secure in Him, now by faith, then by sight, of Whom we have so great a pledge, the gift of the Holy Spirit.

TRACTATUS X.

TRACTATE X.

De eo quod Joannes scribit, Omnis qui credit quod Jesus sit Christus, ex Deo natus est; usque ad id, Hae⟨c⟩ est enim dilectio Dei, ut praecepta ejus servemus. Cap. v, ℣. 1-13.

On what John writes, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God," as far as, "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." Chapter V, verses 1-13.

1. Meminisse vos credo, qui adfuistis hesterno die, ad quem locum in progressu hujus Epistolae pervenerit nostra tractatio: id est, Qui enim non diligit fratrem suum quem videt, Deum quem non videt quomodo potest diligere? Et hoc mandatum habemus ab ipso, ut qui diligit Deum, diligat et fratrem suum. Huc usque disputatum erat. Quae sequuntur ergo ex ordine

1. I believe that you who were present yesterday remember to what place in the course of this Epistle our treatment had come: that is, "For he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God Whom he does not see? And this commandment we have from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also." Thus far it had been discussed. Let us see, then, the things which follow in order.

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videamus. Omnis qui credit ⟨q⟩uod Jesus sit Christus, ex Deo natus est. Quis est qui non credit quod Jesus sit Christus? Qui non sic vivit quomodo praecepit Christus. Multi enim dicunt, Credo; sed fides sine operibus non salvat. Opus autem fidei ipsa dilectio est, dicente Paulo apostolo, Et fides quae per dilectionem operatur (Galat. V, 6). Opera quidem tua praeterita, antequam crederes, vel nulla erant; vel si bona videbantur, inania erant. Si enim nulla erant; sic eras quasi homo sine pedibus, aut vexatis pedibus ambulare non valens: si autem bona videbantur; antequam crederes, currebas quidem, sed praeter viam currendo, errabas potius quam perveniebas. Est ergo nobis et currendum, et in via currendum. Qui praeter viam currit, inaniter currit: imo ad laborem currit. Tanto plus errat, quanto praeter viam currit. Quae est via per quam currimus? Christus dixit, Ego sum via. Quae patria, quo currimus? Christus dixit, Ego sum veritas (Joan. XIV, 6). Per illum curris, ad illum curris, in ipso requiescis. Sed ut curreremus per illum, extendit se usque ad nos: longe enim eramus, et longe peregrinabamur. Parum est quia longe peregrinabamur; et languidi nos movere non poteramus. Medicus venit ad aegrotos, via porrecta est ad peregrinos. Salvemur ab ipso, ambulemus per ipsum. Hoc est credere quia Jesus Christus est, quomodo credunt christiani, qui non solo nomine christiani sunt, sed et factis et vita: non quomodo credunt daemones. Nam et daemones credunt, et contremiscunt, sicut dicit Scriptura (Jacobi II, 19). Quid potuerunt plus credere daemones, quam ut dicerent, Scimus qui sis, Filius Dei? Quod dixerunt daemones, hoc dixit et Petrus. Cum Dominus quaereret quis esset, et quem illum dicerent homines, responderunt illi discipuli: Alii dicunt te Joannem Baptistam, alii Eliam, alii Jeremiam, aut unum ex Prophetis. Et ille: Vos autem quem me esse dicitis? Respondit Petrus, et ait: Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi. Et audivit a Domino: Beatus es, Simon Bar Jona, quia non revelavit tibi caro et sanguis, sed Pater meus qui est in coelis. Videte quae laudes prosequantur hanc fidem: Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam (Matth. XVI, 13-18). Quid est, super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam? Super hanc fidem, super id quod dictum est, Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi. Super hanc petram, inquit, fundabo Ecclesiam meam. Magna laus! Ergo dicit Petrus, Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi: dicunt et daemones, Scimus qui sis, Filius Dei, sanctus Dei. Hoc Petrus, hoc et daemones: eadem verba, non idem animus. Et unde constat quia hoc Petrus cum dilectione dicebat? Quia fides christiani cum dilectione est; daemonis autem sine dilectione. Quomodo sine dilectione? Hoc dicebat Petrus, ut Christum amplecteretur: hoc dicebant daemones, ut Christus ab eis recederet. Nam antequam dicerent, Scimus qui sis; tu es Filius Dei: Quid nobis et tibi est, dixerunt? Quid venisti ante tempus perdere nos (Matth. VIII, 29, et Marc. I, 24)? Aliud est ergo confiteri Christum, ut teneas Christum,

"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." Who is it that does not believe that Jesus is the Christ? He who does not live as Christ commanded. For many say, "I believe"; but faith without works does not save. But the work of faith is love itself, as the apostle Paul says, "And faith which works through love" (Gal. 5:6). Your past works indeed, before you believed, either were nothing; or if they seemed good, they were empty. For if they were nothing, you were like a man without feet, or unable to walk on injured feet: but if they seemed good, before you believed you were indeed running, but by running off the way you were straying rather than arriving. We must therefore both run, and run on the way. He who runs off the way runs in vain: nay, he runs to toil. He strays the more, the more he runs off the way. What is the way by which we run? Christ said, "I am the way." What is the homeland to which we run? Christ said, "I am the truth" (John 14:6). Through Him you run, to Him you run, in Him you rest. But that we might run through Him, He stretched Himself out even to us: for we were far off, and were sojourning far away. It is too little that we were sojourning far away; we were also so feeble that we could not move. The Physician came to the sick, the way was stretched out to the sojourners. Let us be saved by Him, let us walk through Him. This is to believe that Jesus is the Christ, as Christians believe who are Christians not in name alone, but also in deeds and life: not as the demons believe. For "the demons also believe, and tremble," as Scripture says (Jas. 2:19). What more could the demons believe than that they should say, "We know who Thou art, the Son of God"? What the demons said, Peter said too. When the Lord asked who He was, and whom men said He was, the disciples answered Him: "Some say that Thou art John the Baptist, others Elijah, others Jeremiah, or one of the Prophets." And He: "But whom do you say that I am?" Peter answered and said: "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." And he heard from the Lord: "Blessed are you, Simon Bar Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but My Father Who is in heaven." See what praises follow upon this faith: "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church" (Matt. 16:13–18). What is "upon this rock I will build My Church"? Upon this faith, upon that which was said, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." "Upon this rock," He says, "I will found My Church." Great praise! So Peter says, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God"; the demons too say, "We know who Thou art, the Son of God, the Holy One of God." Peter said this, the demons said this too: the same words, not the same mind. And whence is it evident that Peter said this with love? Because the faith of a Christian is with love; but the demon's without love. How without love? Peter said this in order to embrace Christ: the demons said this in order that Christ might depart from them. For before they said, "We know who Thou art; Thou art the Son of God," they said, "What have we to do with Thee? Why hast Thou come before the time to destroy us?" (Matt. 8:29, and Mark 1:24). It is one thing, then, to confess Christ so as to hold fast to Christ,

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aliud confiteri Christum, ut repellas a te Christum. Ergo videtis quia quomodo hic dicit, Qui credit, propria quaedam fides est; non quomodo cum multis. Itaque, fratres, nemo haereticorum dicat vobis, Et nos credimus. Ideo enim de daemonibus exemplum proposui, ne gaudeatis ad verba credentium, sed exploretis facta viventium.

another to confess Christ so as to drive Christ away from you. You see, then, that as he says here, "He who believes," it is a certain faith of its own kind; not as it is with many. Therefore, brethren, let none of the heretics say to you, "We too believe." For I set forth the example of the demons for this reason, that you may not rejoice at the words of those who believe, but examine the deeds of those who live.

2. Videamus ergo quid est credere in Christum; quid, credere quia Jesus ipse est Christus. Sequitur, Omnis qui credit quod Jesus sit Christus, ex Deo natus est. Sed quid est credere illud? Et omnis qui diligit qui genuit eum, diligit eum qui genitus est ab ipso. Statim fidei conjunxit dilectionem; quia sine dilectione fides inanis est. Cum dilectione fides christiani, sine dilectione fides daemonis: qui autem non credunt, pejores sunt quam daemones, et tardiores quam daemones. Nescio quis non vult credere in Christum; adhuc nec daemones imitatur. Jam credit in Christum, sed odit Christum; habet confessionem fidei in timore poenae, non in amore coronae: nam et illi puniri timebant. Adde huic fidei dilectionem, ut fiat fides qualem dicit Apostolus Paulus, Fides quae per dilectionem operatur (Galat. V, 6): invenisti christianum, invenisti civem Jerusalem, invenisti civem Angelorum, invenisti in via suspirantem peregrinum; adjunge te illi, comes tuus est, curre cum illo, si tamen et tu hoc es. Omnis qui diligit qui genuit eum, diligit eum qui genitus est ab ipso. Quis genuit? Pater. Quis est genitus? Filius. Quid ergo ait? Omnis qui diligit Patrem, diligit Filium.

2. Let us see, then, what it is to believe in Christ; what it is to believe that Jesus is Himself the Christ. It follows, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." But what is it to believe that? "And everyone who loves Him Who begot loves Him Who is begotten of Him." At once he has joined love to faith; because without love faith is empty. With love it is the faith of a Christian, without love the faith of a demon: but those who do not believe are worse than the demons, and slower than the demons. Someone or other will not believe in Christ; he does not yet even imitate the demons. Another now believes in Christ, but hates Christ; he has the confession of faith in fear of punishment, not in love of the crown: for they too feared to be punished. Add love to this faith, that it may become such faith as the Apostle Paul speaks of, "Faith which works through love" (Gal. 5:6): you have found a Christian, you have found a citizen of Jerusalem, you have found a fellow citizen of the Angels, you have found a pilgrim sighing on the way; join yourself to him, he is your companion, run with him, if only you too are this. "Everyone who loves Him Who begot loves Him Who is begotten of Him." Who begot? The Father. Who is begotten? The Son. What then does he say? Everyone who loves the Father loves the Son.

3. In hoc cognoscimus quia diligimus filios Dei. Quid est hoc, fratres? Paulo ante de Filio Dei dicebat, non de filiis Dei: ecce unus positus est Christus contemplandus nobis, et dictum est nobis, Omnis qui credit quod Jesus sit Christus, est ex Deo natus: et omnis qui diligit qui genuit eum, id est, Patrem, diligit eum qui genitus est ex ipso, id est, Filium Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum. Et sequitur, In hoc cognoscimus quia diligimus filios Dei; quasi dicturus esset, In hoc cognoscimus quia diligimus Filium Dei: filios Dei dixit, qui Filium Dei paulo ante dicebat; quia filii Dei corpus sunt unici Filii Dei; et cum ille caput, nos membra, unus est Filius Dei. Ergo qui diligit filios Dei, Filium Dei diligit; et qui diligit Filium Dei, Patrem diligit: nec potest quisquam diligere Patrem, nisi diligat Filium; et qui diligit Filium, diligit et filios Dei. Quos filios Dei? Membra Filii Dei. Et diligendo fit et ipse membrum, et fit per dilectionem in compage corporis Christi; et erit unus Christus amans seipsum. Cum enim se invicem amant membra, corpus se amat. Et si patitur unum membrum, compatiuntur omnia membra; et si gloriatur unum membrum, congaudent omnia membra. Et quid secutus ait? Vos autem estis corpus Christi et membra (I Cor. XII, 26, 27). Dicebat paulo ante de dilectione fraterna, et ait, Qui non diligit fratrem quem videt, Deum quem non videt quomodo poterit diligere (I Joan. IV, 20)? Si autem diligis fratrem, forte fratrem diligis, et Christum non diligis?

3. "In this we know that we love the sons of God." What is this, brethren? A little before he was speaking of the Son of God, not of the sons of God: see, one Christ was set before us to contemplate, and it was said to us, "Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and everyone who loves Him Who begot," that is, the Father, "loves Him Who is begotten of Him," that is, the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. And it follows, "In this we know that we love the sons of God"; as though he were about to say, "In this we know that we love the Son of God": he who a little before was saying "the Son of God" has said "the sons of God"; because the sons of God are the body of the only Son of God; and since He is the head and we the members, there is one Son of God. Therefore he who loves the sons of God loves the Son of God; and he who loves the Son of God loves the Father: nor can anyone love the Father unless he love the Son; and he who loves the Son loves the sons of God also. What sons of God? The members of the Son of God. And by loving he himself too becomes a member, and comes through love to be in the framework of the body of Christ; and there will be one Christ loving Himself. For when the members love one another, the body loves itself. "And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; and if one member is glorified, all the members rejoice with it." And what does he say, following on? "Now you are the body of Christ, and members" (1 Cor. 12:26–27). He was speaking a little before of brotherly love, and he says, "He who does not love his brother whom he sees, how will he be able to love God Whom he does not see?" (1 John 4:20). But if you love your brother, perhaps you love your brother and do not love him?

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Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: call not visible on the page-foot images› · call in col 2055 or 2056

Varie legitur locus ille apud editos. Lugd. et Ven. sic eum exhibent: Mentiris Deum si diligis, non solum Deum diligis; sed si diligis Patrem, diligis et Filium. Duo Mss. apud Lov., mentiris. Si diligis, non solum Patrem diligis, etc. M.

That passage is read in various ways in the printed editions. The Lyon and Venice editions give it thus: "You lie [in saying] that you love God; if you love, you do not love God alone; but if you love the Father, you love the Son too." Two manuscripts cited by the Louvain editors: "you lie. If you love, you do not love the Father alone," etc. M. [the Maurist editors]

(printed under page 376)

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Quomodo, quando membra Christi diligis? Cum ergo membra Christi diligis, Christum diligis; cum Christum diligis, Filium Dei diligis; cum Filium Dei diligis, et Patrem diligis. Non potest ergo separari dilectio. Elige tibi quid diligas; sequuntur te caetera. Dicas, Deum solum diligo, Deum Patrem. Mentiris: si diligis, non solum diligis; sed si diligis Patrem, diligis et Filium. Ecce, inquis, diligo Patrem, et diligo Filium: sed hoc solum, Patrem Deum et Filium Deum et Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum qui ascendit in coelos, et sedet ad dexteram Patris, illud Verbum per quod facta sunt omnia, et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis (Joan. I, 3, 14); hoc solum diligo. Mentiris: si enim diligis caput, diligis et membra; si autem membra non diligis, nec caput diligis. Non expavescis vocem capitis de coelo clamantem pro membris, Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris (Act. IX, 4)? Persecutorem suum vocavit persecutorem membrorum suorum: dilectorem suum vocavit dilectorem membrorum suorum. Jam quae sunt membra ejus, nostis, fratres; ipsa est Ecclesia Dei. In hoc cognoscimus quia diligimus filios Dei, quia Deum diligimus. Et quomodo? Non aliud sunt filii Dei, aliud Deus? Sed qui Deum diligit, praecepta ejus diligit. Et quae sunt praecepta Dei? Mandatum novum do vobis, ut vos invicem diligatis (Joan. XIII, 34). Nemo se excuset per aliam dilectionem, ad aliam dilectionem; omnino sic se tenet ista dilectio: quomodo ipsa compaginata est in unum, sic omnes quae ex illa pendent, unum facit, et quasi conflat illos ignis. Aurum est, conflatur massa, et fit unum aliquid: sed nisi fervor charitatis accendat, ex multis in unum conflari non potest. Quia Deum diligimus, inde cognoscimus quia diligimus filios Dei.

How so, when you love the members of Christ? When, then, you love the members of Christ, you love Christ; when you love Christ, you love the Son of God; when you love the Son of God, you love the Father also. Love, then, cannot be divided. Choose for yourself what you will love; the rest follow you. You may say, "I love God alone, God the Father." You lie: if you love, you do not love Him alone; but if you love the Father, you love the Son also. "See," you say, "I love the Father, and I love the Son: but this alone, God the Father and God the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, Who ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of the Father, that Word through Whom all things were made, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:3, 14); this alone I love." You lie: for if you love the head, you love the members too; but if you do not love the members, neither do you love the head. Do you not tremble at the voice of the head crying from heaven on behalf of the members, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" (Acts 9:4). He called the persecutor of His members His own persecutor: He called the lover of His members His own lover. What His members are you already know, brethren; it is the Church of God itself. "In this we know that we love the sons of God, because we love God." And how? Are not the sons of God one thing, God another? But he who loves God loves His commandments. And what are the commandments of God? "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another" (John 13:34). Let no one excuse himself by one love for another love; this love altogether holds together thus: as it is itself joined together into one, so it makes into one all who hang upon it, and as it were fire fuses them. It is gold; the mass is fused, and becomes some one thing: but unless the fervour of charity kindle it, it cannot be fused from many into one. "Because we love God, by this we know that we love the sons of God."

4. Et unde cognoscimus quia diligimus filios Dei? Quia Deum diligimus, et praecepta ejus facimus. Suspiramus hic ex difficultate faciendi praeceptum Dei. Audi quid sequatur. Homo, quid laboras amando? Amando avaritiam. Cum labore amatur quod amas: sine labore amatur Deus. Avaritia jussura est labores, pericula, trituras, tribulationes; et obtemperaturus es. Quo fine? Ut habeas unde impleas arcam, perdas securitatem. Securior forte eras antequam haberes, quam cum habere coepisti. Ecce quid tibi jussit avaritia: implesti domum, timentur latrones; acquisisti aurum, perdidisti somnum. Ecce quid tibi jussit avaritia, Fac, et fecisti. Quid tibi jubet Deus? Dilige me. Aurum diligis, quaesiturus es aurum, et forte non inventurus: quisquis me quaerit, cum illo sum. Amaturus es honorem, et forte non perventurus: quis me amavit, et non ad me pervenit? Dicit tibi Deus, Patronum tibi vis facere, aut amicum potentem; ambis per alium inferiorem. Me ama, dicit tibi Deus: non

4. And whence do we know that we love the sons of God? "Because we love God, and do His commandments." We sigh here because of the difficulty of doing God's commandment. Hear what follows. Man, why do you toil in loving? In loving avarice. What you love is loved with toil: God is loved without toil. Avarice will command toils, perils, grindings, tribulations; and you will obey. To what end? That you may have the means to fill your chest, and lose your peace of mind. Perhaps you were more secure before you had, than when you began to have. See what avarice commanded you: you have filled your house, robbers are feared; you have gained gold, you have lost sleep. See what avarice commanded you, "Do it," and you did it. What does God command you? "Love Me." You love gold, you will seek gold, and perhaps not find it: whoever seeks Me, I am with him. You will love honour, and perhaps not attain it: who has loved Me, and not attained to Me? God says to you, "You want to make yourself a patron, or a powerful friend; you canvass for him through another, of lower rank. Love Me," God says to you: "no

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Footnotes

(2) ‹anchor: Amando avaritiam› · call in col 2056

Sic Lov.: homo qui laboras amando avaritiam, cum labore. Er. Lugd. Ven., homo qui laborabas, et caetera ut Lov. M.

So Louvain: "homo qui laboras amando avaritiam, cum labore" ("man, you who labour in loving avarice, with labour"). The Erasmus, Lyon and Venice editions read "homo qui laborabas" ("man, you who were labouring"), and the rest as in Louvain. M. [the Maurist editors]

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ad me ambitur per aliquem; ipse amor praesentem me tibi facit. Quid dulcius dilectione ista, fratres? Non sine causa modo audistis in Psalmo, fratres, Narraverunt mihi injusti delectationes; sed non sicut lex tua, Domine (Psal. CXVIII, 85). Quae est lex Dei? Mandatum Dei. Quod est mandatum Dei? Novum illud mandatum, quod ideo novum dicitur, quia innovat: Mandatum novum do vobis, ut vos invicem diligatis. Audi quia ipsa est lex Dei: Apostolus dicit, Invicem onera vestra portate, et sic adimplebitis legem Christi (Galat. VI, 2). Ipsa est consummatio omnium operum nostrorum, dilectio. Ibi est finis: propter hoc currimus; ad ipsam currimus; cum venerimus ad eam requiescemus.

is courted for me through someone; love itself makes me present to you. What is sweeter than this love, brethren? Not without cause did you hear just now in the Psalm, brethren, "The unjust have told me of delights; but not as Thy law, O Lord" (Ps. 118:85). What is the law of God? The commandment of God. What is the commandment of God? That new commandment, which is called new for this reason, that it makes new: "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another." Hear that this itself is the law of God: the Apostle says, "Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfil the law of Christ" (Gal. 6:2). This itself is the consummation of all our works: love. There is the end: for this we run; towards it we run; when we have come to it we shall rest.

5. Audistis in Psalmo, Omnis consummationis vidi finem (Psal. CXVIII, 96). Dixit, Omnis consummationis vidi finem: quid viderat iste? Putamus, ascenderat in verticem alicujus altissimi montis et acutissimi, et perspexerat, et viderat ambitum terrae et circulos orbis universi; et ideo dixit, Omnis consummationis vidi finem? Si hoc laudabile est, oculos carnis quaeramus a Domino tam acutos, ut aliquem excelsissimum montem, qui est in terra, requiramus, de cujus cacumine videamus omnis consummationis finem. Noli ire longe: ecce dico tibi, ascende in montem, et vide finem. Christus mons est; veni ad Christum, vides inde finem omnis consummationis. Quis est iste finis? Paulum interroga: Finis autem praecepti est charitas de corde puro, et conscientia bona, et fide non ficta (I Tim. I, 5); et alio loco, Plenitudo autem legis charitas (Rom. XIII, 10). Quid tam finitum et terminatum quam plenitudo? Etenim, fratres, finem ponit laudabiliter. Nolite putare consumptionem, sed consummationem. Aliter enim dicitur, Finivi panem; aliter, Finivi tunicam. Finivi panem manducando; finivi tunicam intexendo. Et ibi finis sonat, et illic finis sonat: sed tamen panis finitur ut consumatur, tunica finitur ut consummetur; panis finitur ut non sit, tunica finitur ut perfecta sit. Ergo sic audite finem, et quando legitur Psalmus, et auditis, In finem Psalmus David. Assidue auditis hoc in Psalmis, et debetis nosse quod auditis. Quid est, in finem? Finis enim Legis Christus est, ad justitiam omni credenti (Id. X, 4). Et quid est, finis Christus? Quia Christus Deus, et finis praecepti charitas, et Deus charitas: quia Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus unum sunt. Ibi tibi finis est: alibi via est. Noli haerere in via, et non pervenire ad finem. Ad quidquid aliud veneris, transi usquequo pervenias ad finem. Quid est finis? Mihi autem adhaerere Deo bonum est (Psal. LXXII, 28). Adhaesisti Deo, finisti viam; permanebis in patria. Intendite. Pecuniam aliquis quaerit; non sit tibi finis: transi tanquam peregrinus. Quaere ubi transeas, non ubi remaneas. Si autem amas, per avaritiam implicatus es: erit tibi avaritia catena pedum; ultra progredi non potes. Transi ergo et hoc; quaere finem. Salutem corporis quaeris, adhuc noli ibi remanere. Quae est enim ista salus corporis, quae morte perimitur, quae aegritudine debilitatur, frivola,

5. You heard in the Psalm, "Of all consummation I have seen the end" (Ps. 118:96). He said, "Of all consummation I have seen the end": what had he seen? Do we suppose he had climbed to the top of some very high and very sharp mountain, and had looked out, and had seen the circuit of the earth and the circles of the whole world, and that for this reason he said, "Of all consummation I have seen the end"? If this is praiseworthy, let us ask of the Lord eyes of the flesh so sharp that we may seek out some loftiest mountain that is on the earth, from whose summit we may see the end of all consummation. Do not go far: see, I tell you, climb the mountain and see the end. Christ is the mountain; come to Christ, from there you see the end of all consummation. What is this end? Ask Paul: "Now the end of the commandment is charity from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned" (1 Tim. 1:5); and in another place, "But the fullness of the law is charity" (Rom. 13:10). What is so finished and bounded as fullness? For indeed, brethren, he sets down "end" in praise. Do not think of consumption, but of consummation. For it is said one way, "I have finished the bread"; another way, "I have finished the tunic." I have finished the bread by eating it; I have finished the tunic by weaving it. Both here "finish" sounds, and there "finish" sounds: but yet the bread is finished so that it is consumed, the tunic is finished so that it is completed; the bread is finished so that it is no more, the tunic is finished so that it is perfect. So hear "end" in this way also when a Psalm is read and you hear, "Unto the end, a Psalm of David." You constantly hear this in the Psalms, and you ought to know what you hear. What is "unto the end"? "For Christ is the end of the Law, unto justice for everyone that believes" (Rom. 10:4). And what is "Christ the end"? Because Christ is God, and the end of the commandment is charity, and God is charity: because the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one. There is your end: elsewhere is the way. Do not stick fast in the way and fail to reach the end. Whatever else you come to, pass on until you reach the end. What is the end? "But for me to cleave to God is good" (Ps. 72:28). You have cleaved to God, you have finished the way; you will abide in the homeland. Pay attention. Someone seeks money; let it not be your end: pass on as a pilgrim. Seek where you may pass through, not where you may remain. But if you love it, you are entangled through avarice: avarice will be a chain on your feet; you cannot go any farther. So pass this by too; seek the end. You seek health of body; still, do not remain there. For what is this health of body, which is destroyed by death, which is weakened by sickness, trifling,

Editors' notes and page, col. 2057

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: non sit tibi finis : transi› · call in col 2057

Er. Ludg. et Ven., non sit ibi finis. Transit. Lov., non sit ibi finis. Transi. M.

Erasmus, the Lyons and Venice editions: "let there be no end there. He passes on." Louvain: "let there be no end there. Pass on." M[aurists].

(printed under page 377)

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mortalis, fluxa? Quaere illam, ne impediat forte morbida valetudo opera tua bona. Ergo non est ibi finis; quia propter aliud quaeritur. Quidquid propter aliud quaeritur, non est ibi finis: quidquid propter se et gratis quaeritur, ibi est finis. Quaeris honores; forte ad aliquid agendum quaeris, ut peragas aliquid, ut placeas Deo: noli ipsum honorem amare, ne ibi remaneas. Quaeris laudem? Si Dei quaeris, bene facis: si tuam quaeris, male facis; remanes in via. Sed ecce amaris tu, laudaris: noli gratulari quando in te laudaris; laudare in Domino, ut cantes, In Domino laudabitur anima mea (Psal. XXXIII, 3). Sermonem aliquem bonum dicis, et laudatur sermo tuus? Non laudetur quasi tuus, non est ibi finis. Si ibi ponis finem, finiris: sed non finiris quasi perficiaris, sed finiris ut consumaris. Ergo non laudetur sermo tuus quasi abs te, quasi tuus. Sed quomodo laudetur? Quomodo dicit Psalmus, In Deo laudabo sermonem, in Deo laudabo verbum? Ex hoc fit ut fiat in te quod sequitur, In Deo speravi, non timebo quid faciat mihi homo (Psal. LV, 5, 11). Quando enim omnia tua in Deo laudantur, non timetur ne pereat laus tua; quia non deficit Deus. Ergo transi et ipsam.

mortal, fleeting? Seek it, lest perhaps a sickly state of health hinder your good works. Therefore the end is not there, because it is sought for the sake of something else. Whatever is sought for the sake of something else, the end is not there: whatever is sought for its own sake and freely, there is the end. You seek honours; perhaps you seek them for something to be done, that you may accomplish something, that you may please God: do not love the honour itself, lest you remain there. Do you seek praise? If you seek God's, you do well: if you seek your own, you do ill; you remain in the way. But see, you are loved, you are praised: do not rejoice when you are praised in yourself; be praised in the Lord, so that you may sing, "In the Lord shall my soul be praised" (Ps. 33:3). You speak some good discourse, and your discourse is praised? Let it not be praised as yours; the end is not there. If you set the end there, you are finished: but you are not finished as one made perfect, but you are finished as one consumed. Therefore let your discourse not be praised as from you, as yours. But how is it to be praised? As the Psalm says, "In God I will praise the discourse, in God I will praise the word"? From this it comes about that there comes to be in you what follows, "In God I have hoped, I will not fear what man may do to me" (Ps. 55:5, 11). For when all that is yours is praised in God, there is no fear that your praise may perish, because God does not fail. So pass beyond even that.

6. Videte, fratres, quanta transimus, in quibus non est finis. His utimur quasi in via; quasi in mansionibus stabulorum reficimur, et transimus. Ubi ergo finis? Dilectissimi, filii Dei sumus, et nondum apparuit quid erimus; hic dictum est, in hac Epistola. Adhuc ergo in via sumus; adhuc quocumque venerimus, transire debemus, usquequo perveniamus ad aliquem finem. Scimus quia cum apparuerit, similes ei erimus, quoniam videbimus eum sicuti est (I Joan. III, 2). Iste finis; ibi perpetua laudatio, ibi semper Alleluia sine defectu. Ergo ipsum finem dixit in Psalmo, Omnis consummationis vidi finem. Et quasi diceretur illi, Quis est finis quem vidisti? Latum mandatum tuum valde (Psal. CXVIII, 96). Ipse est finis, latitudo mandati. Latitudo mandati charitas est; quia ubi est charitas, non sunt angustiae. In ipsa latitudine erat Apostolus, cum diceret, Os nostrum patet ad vos, o Corinthii; cor nostrum dilatatum est: non angustamini in nobis (II Cor. VI, 11-12). Ideo ergo latum mandatum tuum valde. Quod est latum mandatum? Mandatum novum do vobis, ut vos invicem diligatis. Charitas ergo non angustatur. Vis non angustari in terra? In lato habita. Quidquid enim tibi fecerit homo, non te angustat; quia illud diligis quod non nocet homo: Deum diligis, fraternitatem diligis, legem Dei diligis, Ecclesiam Dei diligis; sempiterna erit. Laboras in terra, sed pervenies ad fructum promissum. Quis tibi tollit quod diligis? Si nemo tollit tibi quod diligis, securus dormis: imo securus vigilas, ne dormiendo perdas quod diligis. Non enim frustra dictum est, Illumina oculos meos, ne quando obdormiam in morte (Psal. XII, 4). Qui claudunt oculos contra charitatem, obdormiscunt in concupiscentiis delectationum carnalium. Evigila ergo. Delectationes enim sunt, manducare, bibere, luxuriari, ludere, venari: pompas istas vanas omnia mala sequuntur. Numquid nescimus quia delectationes

6. See, brethren, how many things we pass by in which there is no end. We use them as on the way; we refresh ourselves as at the lodgings of inns, and pass on. Where then is the end? "Beloved, we are sons of God, and it has not yet appeared what we shall be"; this was said here, in this Epistle. So we are still on the way; still, wherever we have come, we must pass on, until we reach some end. "We know that when He shall appear, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is" (1 John 3:2). That is the end; there is everlasting praise, there Alleluia always, without failing. So he spoke of this very end in the Psalm, "Of all consummation I have seen the end." And as if it were said to him, "What is the end that you have seen?": "Thy commandment is exceedingly broad" (Ps. 118:96). This is the end, the breadth of the commandment. The breadth of the commandment is charity, because where charity is, there are no straits. In this very breadth was the Apostle when he said, "Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians; our heart is enlarged: you are not straitened in us" (2 Cor. 6:11–12). Therefore, then, "Thy commandment is exceedingly broad." What is the broad commandment? "A new commandment I give you, that you love one another." Charity, then, is not straitened. Do you wish not to be straitened on earth? Dwell in the broad place. For whatever a man does to you does not straiten you, because you love what man does not harm: you love God, you love the brotherhood, you love the law of God, you love the Church of God; it will be everlasting. You labour on earth, but you will come to the promised fruit. Who takes from you what you love? If no one takes from you what you love, you sleep secure: rather, you keep watch secure, lest by sleeping you lose what you love. For not in vain was it said, "Enlighten my eyes, lest at any time I fall asleep in death" (Ps. 12:4). Those who close their eyes against charity fall asleep in the lusts of carnal delights. Wake up, then. For there are delights: eating, drinking, indulging in luxury, playing, hunting: all evils follow these empty pomps. Do we not know that they are delights

Editors' notes and page, col. 2058

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: hic dictum est› · call in col 2058

Er. Lugd. Ven. Lov., hoc. M.

Erasmus, the Lyons, Venice and Louvain editions: "this" [for "here"]. M[aurists].

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sunt? Quis neget quia delectant? Sed plus diligitur lex Dei. Clama contra tales suasores, Narraverunt mihi injusti delectationes; sed non sicut lex tua, Domine. Ista delectatio manet. Non solum manet quo venias, sed etiam revocat fugientem

? Who would deny that they delight? But the law of God is loved more. Cry out against such persuaders, "The unjust have told me of delights; but not as Thy law, O Lord." This delight abides. Not only does it abide, for you to come to it, but it even calls back the one who flees.

7. Haec est enim dilectio Dei, ut praecepta ejus servemus. Jam audistis, In his duobus praeceptis tota Lex pendet et Prophetae. Quomodo noluit te dividere per multas paginas? In his duobus praeceptis tota Lex pendet et Prophetae. In quibus duobus praeceptis? Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota mente tua; et, Diliges proximum tuum sicut teipsum. In his duobus praeceptis tota Lex pendet et Prophetae (Matth. XXII, 37-40). Ecce de quibus praeceptis narrat tota ista Epistola. Tenete ergo dilectionem, et securi estote. Quid times ne male facias alicui? Quis male facit ei quem diligit? Dilige, non potest fieri nisi bene facias. Sed forte corripis? Amor hoc facit, non saevitia. Sed forte caedis? Ad disciplinam facis; quia amor ipsius dilectionis non te permittit negligere indisciplinatum. Et fit quodammodo quasi diversus fructus et contrarius, ut aliquando odium blandiatur, et charitas saeviat. Nescio quis odit inimicum suum, et fingit illi amicitiam: videt illum facere aliquid mali, laudat: vult eum esse praecipitem, vult caecum ire per abrupta cupiditatum suarum, unde forte non redeat; laudat, Quoniam laudatur peccator in desideriis animae suae (Psal. IX, 3); adhibet illi unctionem adulationis suae: ecce odit, et laudat. Alter videt amicum suum tale aliquid facere, revocat; si illum non audiat, profert verba etiam castigationis, objurgat, litigat: aliquando venitur ad hanc necessitatem ut litiget. Ecce odium blanditur, et charitas litigat. Noli attendere verba blandientis, et quasi saevitiam objurgantis; venam inspice, radicem unde procedant quaere. Ille blanditur ut decipiat, iste litigat ut corrigat. Ergo non opus est, fratres, ut per nos distendatur cor vestrum; impetrate a Deo ut diligatis invicem. Omnes homines, etiam inimicos vestros diligatis: non quia sunt fratres, sed ut fratres sint; ut semper fraterno amore flagretis, sive in fratrem factum, sive in inimicum, ut frater fiat diligendo. Ubicumque fratrem diligitis, amicum diligitis. Jam tecum est, jam in unitate etiam catholica tibi conjunctus est. Si bene vivis, fratrem diligis factum ex inimico. Sed diligis aliquem qui nondum credidit Christo, aut si credidit Christo, ut daemones credit; reprehendis vanitatem ipsius. Tu dilige, et fraterno amore dilige: nondum est frater, sed ideo diligis ut sit frater. Ergo tota dilectio nostra fraterna est erga Christianos, erga omnia membra ejus. Disciplina charitatis, fratres mei, robur, flores, fructus, pulchritudo, amoenitas, pastus, potus, cibus, amplexus, sine satietate est. Si sic nos delectat peregrinos, in patria quomodo gaudebimus?

7. "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments." You have already heard, "On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets." How He would not have you divided over many pages! "On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets." On which two commandments? "You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind"; and, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets" (Matt. 22:37–40). See, these are the commandments of which this whole Epistle speaks. Hold fast to love, then, and be secure. Why do you fear that you may do harm to someone? Who does harm to one he loves? Love: it cannot be that you do anything but good. But perhaps you rebuke? Love does this, not cruelty. But perhaps you strike? You do it for discipline, because the love of love itself does not allow you to neglect the undisciplined. And there comes about in a way, as it were, a different and contrary fruit, so that sometimes hatred flatters and charity is severe. Someone hates his enemy and feigns friendship towards him: he sees him doing something evil, he praises him: he wants him to be headlong, he wants him to go blind over the precipices of his lusts, from which perhaps he may not return; he praises him, "For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul" (Ps. 9:3 [10:3]); he applies to him the ointment of his flattery: see, he hates, and he praises. Another sees his friend doing some such thing, he calls him back; if he does not listen to him, he utters even words of chastisement, he scolds, he quarrels: sometimes it comes to this necessity, that he quarrels. See, hatred flatters, and charity quarrels. Do not attend to the words of the flatterer and the seeming severity of the one who scolds; look at the vein, seek the root from which they proceed. The one flatters to deceive, the other quarrels to correct. So there is no need, brethren, for your heart to be enlarged by us; ask of God that you may love one another. Love all men, even your enemies: not because they are brethren, but that they may be brethren; that you may always burn with brotherly love, whether towards one made a brother or towards an enemy, that by being loved he may become a brother. Wherever you love a brother, you love a friend. He is already with you, already he is joined to you even in catholic unity. If you live well, you love a brother made from an enemy. But you love someone who has not yet believed in Christ, or if he has believed in Christ, believes as the demons do; you rebuke his vanity. You, love, and love with brotherly love: he is not yet a brother, but you love him for this reason, that he may be a brother. So all our brotherly love is towards Christians, towards all His members. The discipline of charity, my brethren, its strength, flowers, fruits, beauty, pleasantness, pasture, drink, food, embrace, is without satiety. If it so delights us as pilgrims, how shall we rejoice in the homeland?

Editors' notes and page, col. 2059

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2059

Editi, diligatur. Novem Mss., diligitur. Alii duo, delectat.

The printed editions: "let it be loved". Nine manuscripts: "it is loved". Two others: "it delights".

(printed under page 378)

(2) ‹anchor: diligis aliquem› · call in col 2059

Er. Lugd. Ven., si, pro, sed, et paulo infra cum Lov., tu diligis. M.

Erasmus, the Lyons and Venice editions: "if" for "but"; and a little below, with Louvain, "you love". M[aurists].

(printed under page 378)

(3) ‹anchor: ut daemones credit› · call in col 2059

Er. Lugd. Ven. Lov., credidit. M.

Erasmus, the Lyons, Venice and Louvain editions: "believed". M[aurists].

(printed under page 378)

(4) ‹anchor: reprehendis vanitatem ipsius› · call in col 2059

Aliquot Mss., reprehendit unitatem ipsius.

Some manuscripts: "he rebukes its unity".

(printed under page 378)

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8. Curramus ergo, fratres mei, curramus, et diligamus Christum. Quem Christum? Jesum Christum. Quis est iste? Verbum Dei. Et quomodo venit ad aegrotos? Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis (Joan. I, 14). Completum est ergo quod Scriptura praedixit, Oportebat Christum pati, et resurgere tertia die a mortuis. Corpus ipsius ubi jacet? Membra ipsius ubi laborant? Ubi esse debes, ut sub capite sis? Et praedicari in nomine ejus poenitentiam et remissionem peccatorum per omnes gentes, incipiens ab Jerusalem (Luc. XXIV, 46, 47). Ibi diffundatur charitas tua. Dicit Christus et Psalmus, id est, Spiritus Dei, Latum mandatum tuum valde; et nescio quis ponit in Africa fines charitatis! Extende charitatem per totum orbem, si vis Christum amare; quia membra Christi per orbem jacent. Si amas partem, divisus es: si divisus es, in corpore non es: si in corpore non es, sub capite non es. Quid prodest quia credis, et blasphemas? Adoras illum in capite, blasphemas in corpore. Amat ille corpus suum. Si tu te praecidisti a corpore ipsius, caput non se praecidit a corpore suo. Sine causa me honoras, clamat tibi caput desuper; sine causa me honoras. Tanquam si velit tibi aliquis osculari caput, et calcare tibi pedes: forte caligis clavatis contereret pedes tuos, volens tibi tenere caput, et osculari; nonne inter verba honorantis clamares et diceres, Quid facis, homo? calcas me. Non diceres, Calcas caput meum; quia caput honorabat: sed plus clamaret caput pro membris calcatis, quam pro se, quia honorabatur. Nonne clamat ipsum caput, Nolo honorem tuum; calcare me noli? Jam tu dic, si potes, Quare te calcavi? dic illud capiti, Te osculari volui, amplecti volui. Sed non vides, o stulte, quia quod vis amplecti, per quamdam compagem unitatis pervenit ad id quod calcas? Susum me honoras, jusum me calcas. Plus dolet quod calcas, quam gaudet quod honoras; quia quod honoras, dolet pro eis quos calcas. Quomodo clamat lingua? Dolet mihi. Non dicit, Dolet pedi meo; sed, Dolet mihi, dicit. O lingua, quis te tetigit? quis percussit? quis stimulavit? quis pupugit? Nemo, sed conjuncta sum eis quae calcantur. Quomodo vis non doleam, quando non sum separata?

8. Let us run, then, my brethren, let us run, and let us love Christ. Which Christ? Jesus Christ. Who is He? The Word of God. And how did He come to the sick? "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us" (John 1:14). So what the Scripture foretold has been fulfilled, "It behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise again from the dead on the third day." Where does His body lie? Where do His members labour? Where ought you to be, so as to be under the Head? "And that penance and the remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:46, 47). There let your charity be spread abroad. Christ says, and the Psalm, that is, the Spirit of God, "Thy commandment is exceedingly broad"; and someone or other sets the bounds of charity in Africa! Extend charity through the whole world, if you wish to love Christ, because the members of Christ lie throughout the world. If you love a part, you are divided: if you are divided, you are not in the body: if you are not in the body, you are not under the Head. What does it profit that you believe, and blaspheme? You worship Him in the Head, you blaspheme in the body. He loves His body. If you have cut yourself off from His body, the Head has not cut Itself off from Its body. "In vain do you honour Me," the Head cries to you from above; "in vain do you honour Me." It is as if someone wished to kiss your head and to tread on your feet: perhaps he would crush your feet with hobnailed boots, wishing to hold your head and kiss it; would you not, amid the words of the one honouring you, cry out and say, "What are you doing, man? You are treading on me." You would not say, "You are treading on my head," because he was honouring your head: but the head would cry out more for the members trodden on than for itself, because it was being honoured. Does not the Head Itself cry out, "I do not want your honour; do not tread on Me"? Now say, if you can, "How have I trodden on You?" Say this to the Head: "I wished to kiss You, I wished to embrace You." But do you not see, you fool, that what you wish to embrace reaches, through a certain bond of unity, to that which you tread on? Above you honour Me, below you tread on Me. What you tread on pains more than what you honour gladdens, because what you honour is pained for those whom you tread on. How does the tongue cry out? "It pains me." It does not say, "It pains my foot"; but it says, "It pains me." O tongue, who has touched you? who has struck you? who has goaded you? who has pricked you? "No one, but I am joined to those that are trodden on. How would you have me not be pained, when I am not separated?"

9. Dominus ergo noster Jesus Christus ideo ascendens in coelum die quadragesimo, commendavit corpus suum qua habebat jacere, quia vidit multos honoraturos se, quia ascendit in coelum; et vidit quia honor ipsorum inutilis est, si conculcant membra ipsius in terra. Et ne quis erraret, et cum adoraret caput in coelo, calcaret pedes in terra, dixit ubi essent membra ipsius. Ascensurus enim dixit verba novissima; post ipsa verba non est locutus in terra. Ascensurum caput in coelum commendavit membra in terra, et discessit. Jam non invenis loqui Christum in terra: invenis illum loqui, sed de coelo. Et de ipso coelo quare? Quia membra calcabantur in terra. Persecutori enim Saulo dixit desuper, Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris (Act. IX, 4)? Ascendi in coelum, sed adhuc in terra jaceo:

9. So our Lord Jesus Christ, ascending into heaven on the fortieth day, for this reason commended His body where it was to lie, because He saw that many would honour Him because He ascended into heaven; and He saw that their honour is useless if they trample on His members on earth. And lest anyone should go astray, and while he adored the Head in heaven, tread on the feet on earth, He said where His members would be. For when about to ascend He spoke His last words; after those words He did not speak on earth. The Head, about to ascend into heaven, commended the members on earth, and departed. You no longer find Christ speaking on earth: you find Him speaking, but from heaven. And from heaven itself, why? Because the members were being trodden on on earth. For to the persecutor Saul He said from above, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" (Acts 9:4). I have ascended into heaven, but I still lie on earth:

Editors' notes and page, col. 2060

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2060

Er., Corpus ipsius ubi jacet, membra ipsius laborant. M.

Erasmus: "Where his body lies, his members labour." M[aurists].

(printed under page 378)

(2) ‹anchor: contereret pedes tuos› · call in col 2060

Er. Lugd. Ven. Lov., conteret pedes tuos. M.

Erasmus, the Lyons, Venice and Louvain editions: "will crush your feet". M[aurists].

(printed under page 378)

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hic ad dexteram Patris sedeo; ibi adhuc esurio, sitio, et peregrinus sum. Quomodo ergo corpus commendavit in terra ascensurus? Cum interrogarent illum discipuli, Domine, si hoc in tempore praesentaberis, et quando regnum Israel? respondit iturus, Non est vestrum scire tempus quod Pater posuit in sua potestate: sed accipietis virtutem Spiritus sancti supervenientem in vos, et eritis mihi testes. Videte qua diffundat corpus suum, videte ubi se calcari non vult: Eritis mihi testes in Jerusalem, et in totam Judaeam, et Samariam, et usque in totam terram (Act. I, 6-8). Ecce qua jaceo qui ascendo. Ascendo enim, quia caput sum: jacet adhuc corpus meum. Qua jacet? Per totam terram. Cave ne percutias, cave ne violes, cave ne calces: novissima verba Christi sunt ista, ituri in coelum. Considerate ⟨l⟩anguentem in lecto hominem, in domo jacentem, et maceratum aegritudine, proximum morti, anhelantem, jam animam quodammodo inter dentes habentem, qui forte sollicitus de aliqua re chara sibi, quam multum diligit, veniat illi in mentem, et vocet haeredes suos et dicat, Rogo vos, facite hoc. Tenet quodammodo violenter animam, ne ante exeat quam illa verba firmentur. Cum illa verba novissima dictaverit, efflat animam: tollitur cadaver in sepulcrum. Haeredes ipsius quomodo meminerunt novissima verba morientis? Quomodo, si quis existat qui dicat eis, Nolite facere: quid ergo illi dicant? Ergo non facio quod mihi pater meus efflans animam novissime mandavit, quod ultimum sonuit in aures meas, proficiscente hinc patre meo? Quaevis alia verba ipsius aliter possum habere, novissima verba me plus tenent: non eum vidi amplius, non audivi loquentem. Fratres, cogitate visceribus christianis, si haeredibus sunt tam dulcia, tam grata, tam magni ponderis verba ituri in sepulcrum; haeredibus Christi, qualia debent esse verba novissima, non redituri in sepulcrum, sed ascensuri in coelum! Namque ille qui vixit et mortuus est, rapitur ad alia loca anima ipsius, corpus ipsius ponitur in terra: an fiant illa verba, an non fiant, non ad eum pertinet; jam aliud agit, aut aliud patitur: aut in sinu Abrahae gaudet, aut in igne aeterno aquae modicum desiderat (Luc. XVI, 22, etc.); in sepulcro autem ipsius

here I sit at the right hand of the Father; there I still hunger, thirst, and am a stranger. How then, when about to ascend, did He commend His body on earth? When His disciples asked Him, "Lord, wilt Thou be present at this time, and when will the kingdom of Israel be?", He answered as He was about to go, "It is not yours to know the time which the Father has put in His own power: but you shall receive the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me." See where He spreads His body abroad, see where He will not have Himself trodden on: "You shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and Samaria, and even to the whole earth" (Acts 1:6–8). See where I lie, I who ascend. For I ascend, because I am the Head: My body still lies. Where does it lie? Throughout the whole earth. Beware lest you strike, beware lest you violate, beware lest you tread: these are the last words of Christ as He was about to go into heaven. Consider a man languishing in bed, lying in his house, and wasted by sickness, near to death, gasping, already holding his soul, as it were, between his teeth, who, anxious perhaps about something dear to him which he greatly loves, has it come into his mind, and he calls his heirs and says, "I beg you, do this." He holds back his soul in a way by force, lest it go out before those words are made firm. When he has dictated those last words, he breathes out his soul: the corpse is carried to the tomb. How do his heirs remember the last words of the dying man? How, if someone arises who says to them, "Do not do it": what then would they say? "Am I then not to do what my father, as he breathed out his soul, enjoined last of all, what sounded last in my ears as my father departed hence? Any other words of his I may hold otherwise; his last words hold me more: I did not see him any more, I did not hear him speaking." Brethren, consider with Christian hearts: if to heirs the words of one about to go to the tomb are so sweet, so welcome, of such great weight, to the heirs of Christ what ought to be the last words of One not about to return to the tomb, but about to ascend into heaven! For he who lived and died, his soul is carried off to other places, his body is laid in the earth: whether those words are done or not done does not concern him; already he is doing something else, or suffering something else: either he rejoices in Abraham's bosom, or in the eternal fire he longs for a little water (Luke 16:22, etc.); but in his tomb

Editors' notes and page, col. 2061

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jacet cadaver sine sensu; et custodiuntur verba novissima morientis. Quid sibi sperant illi qui verba novissima sedentis in coelo non custodiunt, videntis desuper an contemnantur, an non contemnantur? illius qui dixit, Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris? qui servat ad judicium quidquid videt pati membra sua?

the corpse lies without sense; and the last words of the dying man are kept. What do they hope for themselves who do not keep the last words of Him Who sits in heaven, Who sees from above whether they are despised or not despised? of Him Who said, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?", Who keeps for the judgement whatever He sees His members suffer?

10. Et quid nos fecimus, inquiunt? nos sumus passi persecutionem, non fecimus. Vos fecistis, o miseri: primo, quia divisistis Ecclesiam. Major est machaera linguae quam ferri. Superba fuit ancilla Sarae Agar; et afflicta est a domina sua propter superbiam. Disciplina erat illa, non poena. Ideo cum recessisset a domina sua, quid ei dixit angelus? Revertere ad dominam tuam (Gen. XVI, 4-9). Sic ergo carnalis anima, tanquam ancilla superba, si forte aliquas molestias passa es propter disciplinam, quid insanis? Redi ad dominam tuam, tene dominicam pacem. Ecce proferuntur Evangelia, legimus qua diffunditur Ecclesia: disputatur contra, et dicitur nobis, Traditores. Cujus rei traditores? Christus commendat Ecclesiam suam, et non credis: ego tibi crediturus sum maledicenti parentibus meis? Vis ut credam tibi de traditoribus? crede tu prius Christo. Quid est dignum? Christus Deus est, tu homo es: cui prius debet credi? Christus Ecclesiam suam toto orbe diffudit: ego dico, contemne; Evangelium loquitur, cave. Quid dicit Evangelium? Oportebat pati Christum, et resurgere a mortuis die tertia, et praedicari in nomine ejus poenitentiam, et remissionem peccatorum. Ubi remissio peccatorum, Ecclesia est. Quomodo Ecclesia? Illi enim dictum est, Tibi dabo claves regni coelorum: et quae solveris in terra, soluta erunt et in coelis; et quae ligaveris in terra, ligata erunt et in coelis (Matth. XVI, 19). Qua diffunditur ista remissio peccatorum? Per omnes gentes, incipiens ab Jerusalem (Luc. XXIV, 47). Ecce crede Christo. Sed quia intelligis, si credideris Christo, non te habere quod dicas de traditoribus; tibi vis ut credam parentibus meis maledicenti, quam tu credas Christo praedicenti.

10. "And what have we done?" they say. "We have suffered persecution, we have not inflicted it." You have inflicted it, O wretched men: first, because you have divided the Church. The sword of the tongue is greater than that of iron. Hagar, Sarah's handmaid, was proud; and she was afflicted by her mistress on account of her pride. That was discipline, not punishment. So when she had gone away from her mistress, what did the angel say to her? "Return to your mistress" (Gen. 16:4–9). So then, carnal soul, like the proud handmaid, if perhaps you have suffered some troubles for the sake of discipline, why do you rage? Return to your mistress, hold fast to the Lord's peace. See, the Gospels are brought forward, we read where the Church is spread abroad: it is disputed against, and it is said to us, "Traitors!" Traitors of what? Christ commends His Church, and you do not believe: am I to believe you when you speak evil of my parents? Do you wish me to believe you about traitors? You first believe Christ. Which is the worthier? Christ is God, you are man: which ought to be believed first? Christ has spread His Church through the whole world: I say, "Despise it"; the Gospel speaks, "Beware." What does the Gospel say? "It behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that penance and the remission of sins should be preached in His name." Where there is remission of sins, there is the Church. How the Church? For to it was said, "To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven" (Matt. 16:19). Where is this remission of sins spread abroad? "Among all nations, beginning from Jerusalem" (Luke 24:47). See, believe Christ. But because you understand that, if you believe Christ, you have nothing to say about traitors, you wish me to believe you speaking evil of my parents, rather than that you should believe Christ preaching.

Editors' notes and page, col. 2062

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: ut credam› · call in col 2062

Plures e Mss., ut credam et parentibus. Ft prope omnes pro, praedicenti, quod ultimum verbum est, habent, praedicanti.

Several of the manuscripts: "that I should believe my parents too". And nearly all have, for "foretelling", which is the last word, "preaching".

(printed under page 379)

(a) ‹anchor: Christo praedicenti› · call in col 2062

Hic desinit Tractatus in omnibus codicibus.

Here the Tractate ends in all the manuscripts.

(printed under page 379)