Migne Reading Room

PL 35 · cols. 1492–1501

Augustinus, In Joannis Evangelium tractatus XIII-XIX

Tractate XIII

PL 35:1492
TRACTATUS XIII.
Tractate 13.
Ab eo Evangelii loco, Post haec venit Jesus et discipuli ejus in Judaeam terram, etc., usque ad id, Amicus autem sponsi, qui stat et audit eum, gaudio gaudet propter vocem sponsi. Cap. III, ℣. 22-29.
From that place of the Gospel, After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judaea, etc., up to this, But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the voice of the bridegroom. Chap. 3, vv. 22-29.
1. Ordo lectionis evangelicae secundum Joannem, sicut potestis meminisse, qui curam geritis profectus vestri, ita sequitur, ut haec quae modo lecta est, hodie nobis tractanda proponatur. Ab ipso principio usque ad hodiernam lectionem, quae supra dicta sunt, meministis jam esse tractata. Et si forte inde multa estis obliti, certe vel officium nostrum manet in vestra memoria. Quae hinc audieritis de baptismo Joannis, etsi non tenetis omnia, audisse vos tamen credo quod teneatis: quae dicta sunt etiam, quare Spiritus sanctus in columbae specie apparuerit; et quomodo illa nodosissima quaestio soluta sit, quia nescio quid quod non noverat, didicit Joannes in Domino per columbam, cum jam eum nosset, quando venienti ut baptizaretur, ait, Ego a te debeo baptizari, et tu venis ad me? Quando ei Dominus respondit, Sine modo, ut impleatur omnis justitia (Matth. III, 14 et 15).
1. The order of the Gospel reading according to John, as you who take care for your own progress can remember, follows in such a way that this which has just been read is set before us today for treatment. From the very beginning up to today's reading, you remember that the things said above have already been treated. And if perhaps you have forgotten many of them, certainly at least our discharge of the duty remains in your memory. What you heard on this matter concerning the baptism of John, even if you do not retain it all, I believe nevertheless that you retain what you heard: there were also things said as to why the Holy Spirit appeared in the form of a dove; and how that most knotty question was solved, that John learned through the dove something in the Lord that he had not known, though he already knew Him, when to Him coming to be baptized he said, I ought to be baptized by Thee, and comest Thou to me? When the Lord answered him, Allow it now, that all righteousness may be fulfilled (Matt. 3:14–15).
2. Nunc ergo ad eumdem Joannem cogit nos ordo lectionis reverti. Ipse est ille qui prophetatus est per Isaiam, Vox clamantis in eremo, Parate viam Domino, rectas facite semitas ejus (Isa. XL, 3). Tale testimonium reddidit Domino suo, et (quia ille dignatus est) amico suo: Dominusque ipsius et amicus ipsius perhibuit et ipse testimonium Joanni. Dixit enim de Joanne, In natis mulierum non exsurrexit major Joanne Baptista. Sed quia illi se praeposuit, in hoc quod plus erat Joanne, Deus erat. Qui autem minor est, inquit, in regno coelorum, major est illo (Matth. XI, 11). Minor nativitate, major potestate, major divinitate, majestate, claritate: tanquam in principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Sic autem perhibuerat in superioribus lectionibus Joannes Domino testimonium, ut Filium Dei quidem diceret, Deum non diceret, nec tamen negaret: tacuerat Deum, non
2. Now therefore the order of the reading compels us to return to the same John. He is the one who was prophesied through Isaiah, The voice of one crying in the desert, Prepare the way for the Lord, make His paths straight (Isa. 40:3). Such testimony he gave to his Lord, and (because He deigned it) to his friend: and his Lord and his friend Himself also bore testimony to John. For He said of John, Among those born of women there has not arisen a greater than John the Baptist. But because He set Himself before him, in that wherein He was more than John, He was God. But He who is less, He says, in the kingdom of heaven, is greater than he (Matt. 11:11). Less in birth, greater in power, greater in divinity, in majesty, in glory: as in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now in the earlier readings John had borne testimony to the Lord in such a way that he called Him indeed the Son of God, did not call Him God, and yet did not deny it: he had been silent about [His being] God, not
Editors' notes and page, col. 1492

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: non te adulas› · call in col 1491 (left column of page 94, previous unit; not in this unit's text)

Sic MSS. At editi, tibi adularis.

So the manuscripts. But the printed editions have "tibi adularis" ("you flatter yourself").

(printed under page 94)

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  • other: ligature doubt raised by the check (text not changed): coelorum | caelorum
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negaverat Deum; sed non omnino tacuit Deum: fortassis enim invenimus hoc in hodierna lectione. Dixerat Filium Dei: sed dicti sunt et homines filii Dei. Dixerat tantae excellentiae illum fuisse, ut non esset ipse dignus corrigiam calceamenti ejus solvere (Joan. I, 1, 34, 27). Jam magnitudo ista multum dat intelligi, cujus non erat dignus corrigiam calceamenti solvere, ille quo nemo surrexerat major in natis mulierum. Plus enim erat omnibus hominibus et Angelis. Nam angelum invenimus prohibuisse, ne homo illi ad pedes caderet. Cum enim quaedam in Apocalypsi Angelus ostenderet Joanni, qui scripsit hoc Evangelium, conterritus magnitudine visionis Joannes cecidit ad pedes Angeli. Et ille: Surge, vide ne feceris hoc; Deum adora nam ego conservus tuus sum et fratrum tuorum (Apoc. XXII, 8, 9). Cadere ergo sibi ad pedes hominem angelus prohibuit. Nonne manifestum est quia super omnes Angelos est, cui talis homo, quo major nemo surrexit in natis mulierum, dicit indignum se esse solvere corrigiam calceamenti?
had denied God; but he did not altogether keep silent about God: for perhaps we find this in today's reading. He had called [Him] the Son of God: but men too have been called sons of God. He had said that He was of such great excellence that he himself was not worthy to loose the strap of His shoe (John 1:1, 34, 27). Now this greatness gives much to be understood, that of Him whose shoe-strap he was not worthy to loose, he than whom no one greater had arisen among those born of women. For He was more than all men and Angels. For we find that an angel forbade a man to fall at his feet. For when an Angel was showing certain things in the Apocalypse to John, who wrote this Gospel, John, terrified by the greatness of the vision, fell at the feet of the Angel. And he [said]: Rise, see that you do not do this; worship God, for I am your fellow servant and [the fellow servant] of your brothers (Rev. 22:8–9). So the angel forbade a man to fall at his feet. Is it not manifest that He is above all Angels, of Whom such a man, than whom no one greater has arisen among those born of women, says that he is unworthy to loose the strap of His shoe?
3. Tamen aliquid evidentius dicat Joannes, quia Deus est Dominus noster Jesus Christus. Inveniamus hoc in praesenti lectione, quia forte et de illo cantavimus, Regnavit Deus super omnem terram: contra quod surdi sunt, qui putant eum in Africa sola regnare. Non enim non dictum est de Christo, cum dictum est, Regnavit Deus super omnem terram. Quis est enim alius rex noster, nisi Dominus noster Jesus Christus? Ipse est rex noster. Et quid audistis in ipso Psalmo, recenti versu modo cantato? Psallite Deo nostro, psallite: psallite regi nostro, psallite. Quem dixit Deum, ipsum dixit regem nostrum: Psallite Deo nostro, psallite: psallite regi nostro, psallite intelligenter. Ne in una parte velis intelligere cui psallis: Quoniam rex omnis terrae Deus (Psal. XLVI, 3, 7, 8). Et quomodo est omnis terrae rex, qui visus est in una parte terrarum, in Jerosolyma, in Judaea, ambulans inter homines, natus, sugens, crescens, manducans, bibens, vigilans, dormiens, fatigatus ad puteum sedens, comprehensus, flagellatus, sputis illitus, spinis coronatus, ligno suspensus, lancea percussus, mortuus, sepultus? quomodo ergo rex omnis terrae? Quod videbatur in loco, caro erat: oculis carneis caro apparebat; in carne mortali majestas immortalis occultabatur. Et quibus oculis majestas immortalis penetrata compage carnis poterit intueri? Est alius oculus, est interior oculus. Non enim nullos oculos habebat et Tobias, quando caecus oculis corporeis filio dabat praecepta vitae (Tob. IV). Ille patri manum tenebat, ut pedibus ambularet: ille filio consilium dabat, ut viam justitiae teneret. Et hac oculos video, et hac oculos intelligo. Et meliores oculi dantis vitae consilium, quam oculi tenentis manum. Tales oculos quaerebat et Jesus, quando ait Philippo, Tanto tempore vobiscum sum, et non cognovistis me? Tales oculos quaerebat, cum ait, Philippe, qui videt me, videt et Patrem (Joan. XIV, 9). Isti oculi in intelligentia sunt, isti oculi in mente sunt. Ideo cum dixisset Psalmus, Quoniam rex omnis terrae
3. Yet let John say something more evident, that our Lord Jesus Christ is God. Let us find this in the present reading, since perhaps we have also sung of Him, God has reigned over all the earth: against which they are deaf who think that He reigns in Africa alone. For it was not left unsaid of Christ, when it was said, God has reigned over all the earth. For who else is our king, if not our Lord Jesus Christ? He is our king. And what did you hear in that same Psalm, in the verse sung just now? Sing psalms to our God, sing psalms: sing psalms to our king, sing psalms. Him Whom it called God, it called our king: Sing psalms to our God, sing psalms: sing psalms to our king, sing psalms with understanding. Do not wish to understand Him to Whom you sing psalms as in one part: For God is king of all the earth (Ps. 46:3, 7, 8). And how is He king of all the earth, Who was seen in one part of the world, in Jerusalem, in Judaea, walking among men, born, suckling, growing, eating, drinking, waking, sleeping, sitting wearied at the well, seized, scourged, smeared with spittle, crowned with thorns, hung on a tree, struck with a lance, dead, buried? How then king of all the earth? What was seen in a place was flesh: to eyes of flesh flesh appeared; in mortal flesh immortal majesty was hidden. And with what eyes will one be able to behold the immortal majesty, the framework of the flesh having been penetrated? There is another eye, there is an inner eye. For Tobias too did not lack all eyes, when, blind in his bodily eyes, he was giving his son precepts of life (Tob. 4). The one held his father's hand, that he might walk with his feet: the other gave his son counsel, that he might keep to the way of justice. And in this case I see eyes, and in this case I understand eyes. And better are the eyes of the one giving counsel of life than the eyes of the one holding the hand. Such eyes Jesus too was seeking, when He said to Philip, So long a time I am with you, and have you not known Me? Such eyes He was seeking when He said, Philip, he who sees Me sees the Father also (John 14:9). These eyes are in the understanding, these eyes are in the mind. Therefore, when the Psalm had said, For the king of all the earth
Editors' notes and page, col. 1493

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1493

Plerique Mss., illum adora, hoc est Deum.

Most manuscripts: "illum adora, hoc est Deum" ("adore him, that is, God").

(printed under page 95)

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Deus; subjecit statim, Psallite intelligenter. Quod enim dico, Psallite Deo nostro, psallite; Deum dico regem nostrum. Sed regem nostrum inter homines vidistis tanquam hominem, vidistis passum, crucifixum, mortuum: latebat aliquid in illa carne quam oculis carneis videre potuistis. Quid ibi latebat? Psallite intelligenter; nolite oculis quaerere quod mente conspicitur. Psallite lingua, quia inter vos caro; sed quia Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis, reddite sonum carni, reddite Deo mentis obtutum. Psallite intelligenter, et videtis quia Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis.
God; he added at once, Sing psalms with understanding. For what I say, Sing psalms to our God, sing psalms, I mean God our King. But our King you saw among men as a man, you saw Him suffer, crucified, dead: something lay hidden in that flesh which you were able to see with eyes of flesh. What lay hidden there? Sing psalms with understanding; do not seek with the eyes what is perceived with the mind. Sing psalms with the tongue, because flesh is among you; but because the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, render sound to the flesh, render to God the gaze of the mind. Sing psalms with understanding, and you see that the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us.
4. Dicat et Joannes testimonium: Post haec venit Jesus et discipuli ejus in Judaeam terram, et illic demorabatur cum eis, et baptizabat. Baptizatus baptizabat. Non eo baptismo baptizabat quo baptizatus est. Dat baptismum Dominus baptizatus a servo, ostendens humilitatis viam, et perducens ad baptismum Domini, hoc est baptismum suum, praebendo humilitatis exemplum, quia ipse non respuit baptismum servi. Et in baptismo servi via praeparabatur Domino, et baptizatus Dominus viam se fecit venientibus. Ipsum audiamus: Ego sum via, veritas et vita (Joan. XIV, 6). Si veritatem quaeris, viam tene: nam ipsa est via quae est veritas. Ipsa est quo is, ipsa est qua is; non per aliud is ad aliud, non per aliud venis ad Christum: per Christum ad Christum venis. Quomodo per Christum ad Christum? Per Christum hominem ad Christum Deum: per Verbum carnem factum, ad Verbum quod in principio erat Deus apud Deum; ab eo quod manducavit homo, ad illud quod quotidie manducant Angeli. Sic enim scriptum est, Panem coeli dedit eis: panem Angelorum manducavit homo (Psal. LXXVII, 24 et 25). Quis est panis Angelorum? In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Quomodo panem Angelorum manducavit homo? Et Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis (Joan. I, 1, 14).
4. Let John too bear witness: After these things Jesus and His disciples came into the land of Judaea, and there He remained with them, and baptized. The Baptized baptized. He did not baptize with that baptism with which He was baptized. The Lord, baptized by a servant, gives baptism, showing the way of humility and leading on to the baptism of the Lord, that is, His own baptism, by offering an example of humility, in that He Himself did not reject the baptism of the servant. And in the baptism of the servant a way was being prepared for the Lord, and the Lord, having been baptized, made Himself the way for those who come. Let us hear Him: I am the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). If you seek the truth, keep to the way: for the very way is that which is the truth. It is that to which you go, it is that by which you go; you do not go by one thing to another, you do not come to Christ by something else: by Christ you come to Christ. How by Christ to Christ? By Christ the man to Christ God: by the Word made flesh, to the Word which in the beginning was God with God; from that which man ate, to that which the Angels eat daily. For thus it is written, He gave them the bread of heaven: man ate the bread of Angels (Ps. 77:24–25). What is the bread of Angels? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. How did man eat the bread of Angels? And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:1, 14).
5. Sed quia diximus manducare Angelos, fratres, ne putetis morsibus fieri. Nam si hoc intellexeritis, quasi dilaniatur Deus quem manducant Angeli. Quis dilaniat justitiam? Sed rursum mihi aliquis dicit: Et quis est qui manducat justitiam? Unde ergo, Beati qui esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam, quoniam ipsi saturabuntur (Matth. V, 6)? Cibus quem manducas per carnem, ut reficiaris tu, ille deficit; ut reparet te, consumitur: manduca justitiam, et tu reficeris, et illa integra perseverat. Quomodo videndo istam lucem corpoream reficiuntur isti oculi nostri, et res est corporea quae videtur oculis corporeis. Multi enim cum fuerint diutius in tenebris, infirmatur acies ipsorum, quasi jejunio lucis. Fraudati oculi cibo suo (luce quippe pascuntur), defatigantur jejunio et debilitantur, ita ut ipsam lucem qua reficiuntur, videre non possint: et si diutius abfuerit, exstinguuntur, et tanquam moritur in eis ipsa acies lucis. Quid ergo? quia tot oculi quotidie ista luce pascuntur, minor fit? Et illi reficiuntur, et ipsa integra permanet. Si hoc potuit Deus
5. But because we have said that the Angels eat, brethren, do not suppose that it happens by bites. For if you understand it so, God whom the Angels eat is, as it were, torn to pieces. Who tears righteousness to pieces? But again someone says to me: And who is it that eats righteousness? Whence then, Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled (Matt. 5:6)? The food which you eat through the flesh, that you may be refreshed, fails; that it may restore you, it is consumed: eat righteousness, and you are refreshed, and it continues whole. Just as by seeing this bodily light these eyes of ours are refreshed, and it is a bodily thing which is seen by bodily eyes. For many, when they have been too long in darkness, have their sight weakened, as if by a fast from light. The eyes, defrauded of their food (for they feed on light), are wearied by the fast and enfeebled, so that they cannot see the very light by which they are refreshed: and if it is absent too long, they are extinguished, and the very keenness of light, as it were, dies in them. What then? because so many eyes feed daily on this light, does it become less? Both they are refreshed, and it remains whole. If God was able to do this
Editors' notes and page, col. 1494

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1494

Sic Mss. At editi, quod oculis carneis videre non potuisti.

So the manuscripts. But the printed editions have "quod oculis carneis videre non potuisti" ("which you could not see with eyes of flesh").

(printed under page 95)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1494

Mss. quatuor, viam fecit ad se venientibus. Tres alii, viam se fecit ad se venientibus.

Four manuscripts: "viam fecit ad se venientibus" ("he made a way for those coming to him"). Three others: "viam se fecit ad se venientibus" ("he made himself the way for those coming to him").

(printed under page 95)

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de luce corporea corporeis oculis exhibere; non exhibet mundis cordibus lucem illam infatigabilem, integram perseverantem, nulla ex parte deficientem? Quam lucem? In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum. Videamus si lux est. Quoniam apud te est fons vitae, et in lumine tuo videbimus lumen (Psal. XXXV, 10). In terra aliud est fons, aliud lumen. Sitiens quaeris fontem, et ut pervenias ad fontem, quaeris lucem: et si dies non est, accendis lucernam, ut ad fontem pervenias. Fons ille, ipsa est lux; sitienti fons est, caeco lux est: aperiantur oculi ut videant lucem, aperiantur fauces cordis ut bibant fontem; quod bibis, hoc vides, hoc audis. Totum tibi fit Deus; quia horum quae diligis, totum tibi est. Si visibilia attendis, nec panis est Deus, nec aqua est Deus, nec lux ista est Deus, nec vestis est Deus, nec domus est Deus. Omnia enim haec visibilia sunt, et singula sunt: quod est panis, non hoc est aqua; et quod est vestis, non hoc est domus; et quod sunt ista, non hoc est Deus: visibilia enim sunt. Deus tibi to⟨t⟩um est: si esuris, panis tibi est; si sitis, aqua tibi est; si in tenebris es, lumen tibi est, quia incorruptibilis manet; si nudus es, immortalitatis vestis tibi est, cum corruptibile hoc induerit incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induerit immortalitatem (I Cor. XV, 53, 54). Omnia possunt dici de Deo, et nihil digne dicitur de Deo. Nihil latius hac inopia. Quaeris congruum nomen, non invenis; quaeris quoquo modo dicere, omnia invenis. Quid simile, agnus et leo? De Christo utrumque d⟨i⟩ctum est: Ecce agnus Dei (Joan. I, 29). Quomodo leo? Vicit leo de tribu Juda (Apoc. V, 5).
to display concerning bodily light to bodily eyes; does He not display to clean hearts that tireless light, persevering whole, failing in no part? What light? In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. Let us see whether it is light. For with Thee is the fountain of life, and in Thy light we shall see light (Ps. 35:10). On earth a fountain is one thing, light another. Thirsting, you seek a fountain, and that you may reach the fountain, you seek light; and if it is not day, you light a lamp, that you may reach the fountain. That fountain is itself the light: to the thirsty it is a fountain, to the blind it is light: let the eyes be opened that they may see the light, let the jaws of the heart be opened that they may drink the fountain; what you drink, this you see, this you hear. God becomes all to you, because of these things which you love He is the whole to you. If you attend to visible things, neither is bread God, nor is water God, nor is this light God, nor is a garment God, nor is a house God. For all these things are visible, and they are each single things: what bread is, this water is not; and what a garment is, this a house is not; and what these things are, this God is not: for they are visible. God is all to you: if you hunger, He is bread to you; if you thirst, He is water to you; if you are in darkness, He is light to you, because He remains incorruptible; if you are naked, He is a garment of immortality to you, when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:53–54). All things can be said of God, and nothing is worthily said of God. Nothing is wider than this poverty. You seek a fitting name, you do not find one; you seek to speak in any way whatever, you find all things. What likeness is there, a lamb and a lion? Each has been said of Christ: Behold the Lamb of God (John 1:29). How a lion? The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered (Rev. 5:5).
6. Audiamus Joannem: Baptizabat Jesus. Diximus quia baptizabat Jesus. Quomodo Jesus? quomodo Dominus? quomodo Dei Filius? quomodo Verbum? Sed Verbum caro factum est. Erat autem et Joannes baptizans in Aenon juxta Salim. Lacus quidam Aenon. Unde intelligitur quia lacus erat? Quia aquae multae erant ibi, et veniebant, et baptizabantur. Nondum enim missus erat in carcerem Joannes. Si meministis (ecce iterum dico), dixi quare baptizabat Joannes: quia oportebat ut Dominus baptizaretur. Et quare oportebat ut Dominus baptizaretur? Quia multi contempturi erant Baptismum, eo quod jam majore gratia praediti viderentur, quam viderent alios fideles. Verbi gratia, jam continenter vivens catechumenus, contemneret conjugatum, et diceret se meliorem quam ille sit fidelis. Ille catechumenus posset dicere in corde suo: Quid mihi opus est Baptismum accipere, ut hoc habeam quod et iste, quo jam melior sum? Ne ergo cervix ista praecipitaret quosdam de meritis justitiae suae plurimum clatos, baptizari voluit Dominus a servo; tanquam alloquens filios capitales: Quid vos extollitis? quid erigitis, quia habetis, ille prudentiam, ille doctrinam, ille castitatem, ille fortitudinem patientiae? Numquid tantum habere potestis, quantum ego qui dedi? Et tamen ego baptizatus sum a servo, vos dedignamini a Domino. Hoc est, Ut impleatur omnis justitia (Matth. III, 15).
6. Let us hear John: Jesus was baptizing. We have said that Jesus was baptizing. How Jesus? How the Lord? How the Son of God? How the Word? But the Word was made flesh. And John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim. Aenon is a certain lake. Whence is it understood that it was a lake? Because there were many waters there, and they came and were baptized. For John had not yet been sent into prison. If you remember (see, I say it again), I said why John was baptizing: because it was fitting that the Lord should be baptized. And why was it fitting that the Lord should be baptized? Because many were going to despise Baptism, on the ground that they would seem already endowed with greater grace than they saw other believers to have. For example, a catechumen already living in continence would despise a married man, and would say that he was better than that man, though the latter is one of the faithful. That catechumen could say in his heart: What need have I to receive Baptism, so as to have what this man too has, than whom I am already better? Lest, then, this neck should throw headlong certain men greatly lifted up by the merits of their own righteousness, the Lord willed to be baptized by a servant; as though addressing His chief sons: Why do you exalt yourselves? Why do you raise yourselves up, because you have, one prudence, another learning, another chastity, another the fortitude of patience? Can you have as much as I Who gave it? And yet I was baptized by a servant; you disdain [to be baptized] by the Lord. This is, That all righteousness may be fulfilled (Matt. 3:15).
Editors' notes and page, col. 1495

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: Lacus quidam Ænon› · call in col 1495

In aliquot Mss., Salim locus quidam, Ænon lacus.

In some manuscripts: "Salim locus quidam, Ænon lacus" ("Salim is a certain place, Aenon a lake"). [faint print; reading of "Salim locus quidam" not fully certain]

(printed under page 96)

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  • misprints kept as printed: "clatos" for elatos (Q2a)
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7. Sed dicet aliquis : Sufficiebat ergo ut baptizaret Dominum Joannes; quid opus erat ut alii baptizarentur a Joanne? Et hoc diximus, quia si solus Dominus baptizaretur a Joanne, non deesset ista cogitatio hominibus, quod meliorem habebat baptismum Joannes quam Dominus. Dicerent enim : Usque adeo magnus erat baptismus quem habuit Joannes, ut solus Christus illo fuerit dignus baptizari. Ergo ut ostenderetur melior baptismus quem daturus erat Dominus, et ille tanquam servi intelligeretur, ille tanquam Domini, baptizatus est Dominus, ut praeberet humilitatis exemplum : non solus autem baptizatus est ab eo, ne baptismus Joannis melior baptismo Domini videretur. Ad hoc autem viam praebuit Dominus noster Jesus Christus, sicut audistis, fratres, ne quis arrogans quod habeat abundantiam alicujus gratiae, dedignetur baptizari baptismo Domini. Quantumcumque enim catechumenus proficiat, adhuc sarcinam iniquitatis suae portat : non illi dimittitur, nisi cum venerit ad Baptismum. Quomodo non caruit populus Israel populo Aegyptiorum, nisi cum venisset ad mare Rubrum (Exod. XIV); sic pressura peccatorum nemo caret, nisi cum ad fontem Baptismi venerit.
7. But someone will say: Then it was enough that John should baptize the Lord; what need was there that others should be baptized by John? We have said this too: because if the Lord alone were baptized by John, men would not lack this thought, that John had a better baptism than the Lord. For they would say: So great was the baptism which John had that Christ alone was worthy to be baptized with it. Therefore, so that the baptism which the Lord was to give might be shown to be better, and the one might be understood as a servant's, the other as the Lord's, the Lord was baptized, in order to give an example of humility; but He was not the only one baptized by him, lest the baptism of John should seem better than the baptism of the Lord. For this, moreover, our Lord Jesus Christ prepared the way, as you have heard, brothers, so that no one, arrogant because he has an abundance of some grace, should disdain to be baptized with the baptism of the Lord. For however far a catechumen advances, he still carries the burden of his iniquity: it is not forgiven him until he has come to Baptism. Just as the people of Israel was not rid of the people of the Egyptians until it had come to the Red Sea (Exod. 14), so no one is rid of the oppression of sins until he has come to the font of Baptism.
8. Facta est ergo quaestio ex discipulis Joannis cum Judaeis de purificatione. Baptizabat Joannes, baptizabat Christus : moti sunt discipuli Joannis; concurrebatur ad Christum, veniebatur ad Joannem. Qui enim veniebant ad Joannem, mittebat illos ad Jesum baptizari; non mittebantur ad Joannem, qui a Christo baptizabantur. Turbati sunt discipuli Joannis, et coeperunt quaestionem tractare cum Judaeis, quomodo solet fieri. Intelligas dixisse Judaeos majorem esse Christum, et ad ejus baptismum debere concurri. Illi nondum intelligentes, defendebant baptismum Joannis. Ventum est ad ipsum Joannem, ut solveret quaestionem. Intelligat Charitas vestra. Et hic utilitas ipsa humilitatis agnoscitur, et ostenditur utrum in ipsa quaestione cum errarent homines, gloriari apud se voluerit Joannes. Fortasse enim dixit : Verum dicitis, recte contenditis, baptismus meus est melior. Nam ut noveritis quod baptismus meus est melior, ipsum Christum ego baptizavi. Poterat hoc dicere Joannes, baptizato Christo. Quantum, se si vellet extendere, habebat ubi se extenderet? Sed melius noverat apud quem se humiliaret : quem se noverat nascendo antecedere, illi voluit confitendo cedere; salutem suam intelligebat in Christo esse. Jam dixerat superius, Nos omnes de plenitudine ejus accepimus (Joan. I, 16) : et hoc confiteri Deum est. Quomodo enim omnes homines de plenitudine ejus accipiunt, nisi ille sit Deus? Nam si sic ille homo ut non Deus, de plenitudine Dei accipit etiam ipse, et sic non Deus est. Si autem omnes homines de plenitudine ejus accipiunt, ille est fons, illi bibentes. Qui bibunt fontem, et sitire possunt et bibere; fons nunquam sitit, fons se ipso non eget. Fonte egent homines; aridis visceribus, aridis faucibus currunt ad fontem ut reficiantur : fons fluit ut reficiat; ita Dominus Jesus.
8. So a question arose on the part of John's disciples with the Jews about purification. John was baptizing, Christ was baptizing: John's disciples were stirred; people were flocking to Christ, people were coming to John. For those who came to John, he sent them to Jesus to be baptized; those who were baptized by Christ were not sent to John. John's disciples were troubled, and began to debate the question with the Jews, as usually happens. You are to understand that the Jews said that Christ was greater, and that people ought to flock to His baptism. They, not yet understanding, defended the baptism of John. They came to John himself, so that he might settle the question. Let your Charity understand. Here too the usefulness of humility itself is recognized, and it is shown whether, in that very question, when men were in error, John wished to glory in himself. For perhaps he said: You speak truly, you contend rightly, my baptism is better. For, that you may know that my baptism is better, I baptized Christ Himself. John could have said this, since Christ had been baptized. How far, if he wished to extend himself, did he have room to extend himself? But he knew better before Whom he should humble himself: Him Whom he knew he preceded in being born, to Him he willed to yield in confessing; he understood that his salvation was in Christ. He had already said above, We have all received of His fullness (John 1:16): and this is to confess God. For how do all men receive of His fullness, unless He is God? For if He were a man in such a way as not to be God, He too receives of the fullness of God, and so He is not God. But if all men receive of His fullness, He is the fountain, they are the drinkers. Those who drink from a fountain can both thirst and drink; a fountain never thirsts, a fountain does not need itself. Men need a fountain; with parched insides, with parched throats they run to the fountain to be refreshed: the fountain flows in order to refresh; so the Lord Jesus.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1496

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: veniebatur ad Joannem› · call in col 1496

Duo Mss., veniebatur a Joanne.

Two manuscripts: "veniebatur a Joanne" ("people were coming away from John").

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9. Videamus ergo quid responderit Joannes : Venerunt ad Joannem, et dixerunt ei : Rabbi, qui erat tecum trans Jordanem, cui tu testimonium perhibuisti, ecce hic baptizat, et omnes veniunt ad illum : hoc est, Quid dicis? non sunt prohibendi, ut ad te potius veniant? Respondit, et dixit : Non potest homo quidquam accipere, nisi ei datum fuerit de coelo. De quo putatis hoc dixisse Joannem? De seipso : Quasi homo accepi, ait, de coelo. Intendat Charitas vestra. Non potest homo quidquam accipere, nisi fuerit ei datum de coelo. Ipsi vos mihi testimonium perhibetis quod dixerim, Ego non sum Christus. Tanquam dicens, quid vos fallitis? vos ipsi mihi quomodo proposuistis istam quaestionem? Quid mihi dixistis? Rabbi, qui erat tecum trans Jordanem, cui tu testimonium perhibuisti. Nostis ergo quale testimonium illi perhibui : modo dicturus sum non esse illum quem dixi esse? Ergo quia aliquid accepi de coelo ut aliquid essem, inanem me vultis esse, ut loquar contra veritatem? Non potest homo accipere quidquam, nisi fuerit illi datum de coelo. Ipsi vos mihi testimonium perhibetis quod dixerim, Ego non sum Christus. Non es tu Christus : sed quid, si major illo, quia tu illum baptizasti? Missus sum : ego praeco sum, ille judex est.
9. Let us see, then, what John answered: They came to John and said to him: Rabbi, He Who was with you beyond the Jordan, to Whom you bore witness, behold, He baptizes, and all are coming to Him; that is, What do you say? Are they not to be prevented, so that they may come to you instead? He answered and said: A man cannot receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. Of whom do you think John said this? Of himself: As a man, he says, I have received from heaven. Let your Charity attend. A man cannot receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ. As though saying: Why do you deceive yourselves? You yourselves, how did you put this question to me? What did you say to me? Rabbi, He Who was with you beyond the Jordan, to Whom you bore witness. You know, then, what sort of witness I bore to Him: am I now going to say that He is not the one I said He was? So, because I have received something from heaven so that I might be something, do you want me to be empty, so that I speak against the truth? A man cannot receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ. You are not the Christ: but what if you are greater than He, because you baptized Him? I have been sent: I am the herald, He is the judge.
10. Et audi testimonium multo vehementius, multo expressius. Videte quid nobiscum agitur; videte quid amare debeamus; videte quia aliquem hominem amare pro Christo, adulterium est. Quare hoc dico? Attendamus vocem Joannis : poterat in illo errari, poterat ipse putari qui non erat; respuit a se falsum honorem, ut teneat solidam veritatem. Videte quid dicat Christum, quid se : Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est. Casti estote, sponsum amate. Quid autem tu es, qui nobis dicis, Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est? Amicus autem sponsi, qui stat et audit eum, gaudio gaudet propter vocem sponsi. Aderit Dominus Deus noster pro motu cordis mei, multo enim gemitu plenum est, dicere quod doleo : sed obsecro vos per ipsum Christum, ut quod dicere non potuero, vos cogitetis; novi enim dolorem meum exprimi satis digne non posse. Multos enim adulteros video, qui sponsam tanto pretio emptam, amatam foedam ut pulchra fieret, illo emptore, illo liberatore, illo decoratore, possidere volunt; et id agunt verbis suis, ut pro sponso amentur. De illo dictum est, Hic est qui baptizat (Joan. I, 33). Quis huc exit et dicit, Ego baptizo? quis huc exit et dicit, Ego quod dedero, hoc est sanctum? quis huc procedit qui dicit, Bonum est tibi ut nascaris ex me? Amicum sponsi audiamus, non adulteros sponsi : audiamus zelantem, sed non sibi.
10. And hear a testimony much more forceful, much more explicit. See what is being done with us; see what we ought to love; see that to love any man in place of Christ is adultery. Why do I say this? Let us attend to the voice of John: it was possible to err about him, he himself could be thought to be what he was not; he rejected from himself a false honour, so that he might hold to the solid truth. See what he says Christ is, and what he says he himself is: He who has the bride is the bridegroom. Be chaste, love the bridegroom. But what are you, who say to us, He who has the bride is the bridegroom? But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. The Lord our God will be present to the movement of my heart, for it is full of much groaning to say what grieves me; but I beseech you by Christ Himself that what I shall not be able to say, you may think out for yourselves; for I know that my grief cannot be expressed worthily enough. For I see many adulterers who wish to possess the bride bought at so great a price, loved when foul so that she might become beautiful, though He is the purchaser, He the liberator, He the adorner; and they work at this with their words, that they may be loved in place of the bridegroom. Of Him it was said, This is He Who baptizes (John 1:33). Who comes out here and says, I baptize? Who comes out here and says, What I give, that is holy? Who comes forward here and says, It is good for you to be born of me? Let us hear the friend of the bridegroom, not the adulterers against the bridegroom: let us hear one who is jealous, but not for himself.
11. Fratres, regredimini corde ad vestras domos, carnalia loquor, terrena loquor; humanum dico, propter infirmitatem carnis vestrae (Rom. VI, 19). Multi habetis conjuges, multi habere vultis, multi etsi non vultis, habuistis; multi qui omnino conjuges habere non vultis, de conjugibus patrum vestrorum nati estis : nullum cor est quod non iste tangat affectus; nullus in rebus humanis tam avius a genere humano
11. Brothers, return in heart to your own homes; I speak of carnal things, I speak of earthly things; I speak in human terms because of the infirmity of your flesh (Rom. 6:19). Many of you have wives, many wish to have them, many, even if you do not wish it now, have had them; many of you who do not wish to have wives at all were born of the wives of your fathers: there is no heart that this affection does not touch; no one in human affairs so far astray from the human race
Editors' notes and page, col. 1497

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1497

In pluribus Mss., ego qui.

In several manuscripts: "ego qui" ("I who").

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est, qui quod dico non sentiat. Ponite aliquem peregre profectum, commendasse amico suo sponsam suam: Vide, quaeso te, charus meus es, ne forte me absente pro me aliquis ametur. Qualis ergo ille, qui custodiens sponsam vel uxorem amici sui, dat quidem operam ut nullus alius ametur, sed si se amari pro amico voluerit, et uti voluerit commendata sibi, quam detestandus universo humano generi apparet? Videat illam aliquanto petulantius per fenestram attendere aut jocari cum aliquo, prohibet tanquam zelet: video zelantem, sed videam cui; utrum amico absenti, an sibi praesenti. Putate hoc Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum fecisse. Commendavit amico suo sponsam suam, peregre profectus est accipere regnum, sicut dicit ipse in Evangelio (Luc. XIX, 12), et tamen praesens est majestate. Fallatur amicus qui trans mare profectus est; et si fallitur, vae illi qui fallit! quid Deum fallere conantur, Deum intuentem omnium corda, et omnium secreta rimantem? Existit aliquis haereticus, et dicit: Ego do, ego sanctifico, ego justifico, nolo eas ad illam sectam. Bene quidem zelat, sed vide cui. Non eas ad idola, bene zelat: non ad sortilegos, bene zelat. Videamus cui zelat: Ego quod do sanctum est, quia ego do; ego quem baptizo baptizatus est, quem non baptizo non est baptizatus. Audi amicum sponsi, disce zelare amico tuo: audi vocem illius, Hic est qui baptizat. Quare tibi vis arrogare quod tuum non est? Usque adeo absens est qui hic reliquit sponsam suam? Nescis quia ille qui a mortuis resurrexit, ad dexteram Patris sedet? Si contempserunt eum Judaei in ligno pendentem, tu contemnis in coelo sedentem? Noverit Charitas vestra magnum dolorem me pati de hac re: sed, ut dixi, dimitto caetera cogitationibus vestris. Non enim dico, si loquar tota die; si plangam tota die, non sufficio: non dico, si habeam, sicut dicit propheta, fontem lacrymarum (Jerem. IX, 1); sed si convertar in lacrymas, et lacrymae fiam, in linguas, et linguae fiam, parum est.
is, who does not grasp what I am saying. Suppose that someone setting out abroad has entrusted his bride to his friend: See, I beg you, you are dear to me, lest perhaps in my absence someone be loved in my place. What sort of man, then, is he who, guarding the bride or wife of his friend, does indeed take pains that no other be loved, but if he wishes himself to be loved in place of his friend, and wishes to make use of her who was entrusted to him, how detestable does he appear to the whole human race? Let him see her looking out of the window somewhat too wantonly, or joking with someone, he forbids it as though he were jealous: I see him jealous, but let me see for whom; whether for the absent friend, or for himself who is present. Suppose that our Lord Jesus Christ has done this. He entrusted His bride to His friend, He set out abroad to receive a kingdom, as He Himself says in the Gospel (Luke 19:12), and yet He is present in majesty. Let the friend who has set out across the sea be deceived; and if he is deceived, woe to him who deceives! Why do they try to deceive God, God who beholds the hearts of all, and searches out the secrets of all? Some heretic comes forward and says: I give, I sanctify, I justify; I do not want you to go to that sect. He is indeed jealous well, but see for whom. Do not go to idols: he is jealous well; not to soothsayers: he is jealous well. Let us see for whom he is jealous: What I give is holy, because I give it; he whom I baptize is baptized, he whom I do not baptize is not baptized. Hear the friend of the bridegroom, learn to be jealous for your friend: hear his voice, This is He who baptizes. Why do you wish to arrogate to yourself what is not yours? Is He who left His bride here so very absent? Do you not know that He who rose from the dead sits at the right hand of the Father? If the Jews despised Him hanging on the wood, do you despise Him sitting in heaven? Let Your Charity know that I suffer great sorrow over this matter: but, as I said, I leave the rest to your own reflections. For I do not say, if I were to speak the whole day; if I were to lament the whole day, I am not sufficient: I do not say, if I had, as the prophet says, a fountain of tears (Jer. 9:1); but if I were turned into tears, and became tears, into tongues, and became tongues, it is too little.
12. Redeamus, videamus quid dicit iste: Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est; non est mea sponsa. Et non gaudes in nuptiis? Imo gaudeo, ait: Amicus autem sponsi, qui stat et audit eum, gaudio gaudet propter vocem sponsi. Non, inquit, gaudeo propter vocem meam, sed propter vocem sponsi gaudeo. E⟨g⟩o sum in audiendo, ille in dicendo: ego sum enim illuminandus, ille lumen; ego sum in aure, ille Verbum. Ergo amicus sponsi stat et audit eum. Quare stat? Quia non cadit. Quare non cadit? Quia humilis est. Vide stantem in solido: Non sum dignus corrigiam calceamenti ejus solvere (Joan. I, 27). Bene te humilias, merito non cadis, merito stas, merito audis eum, et gaudio gaudes propter vocem sponsi. Sic et Apostolus amicus sponsi, zelat et ipse, non sibi, sed sponso. Audi vocem zelantis: Zelo Dei vos zelo, dixit; non meo, non mihi, sed zelo Dei. Unde? quomodo? quam zelas, vel cui zelas? Desponsavi enim vos uni viro, virginem castam exhibere Christo. Quid ergo times? quare zelas?
12. Let us go back, let us see what this man says: He who has the bride is the bridegroom; she is not my bride. And do you not rejoice at the wedding? Indeed I rejoice, he says: But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears Him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. I do not, he says, rejoice because of my own voice, but I rejoice because of the bridegroom's voice. I am in the hearing, He in the speaking: for I am one to be enlightened, He the light; I am in the ear, He the Word. Therefore the friend of the bridegroom stands and hears Him. Why does he stand? Because he does not fall. Why does he not fall? Because he is humble. See him standing on solid ground: I am not worthy to loosen the strap of His sandal (John 1:27). Rightly do you humble yourself, deservedly you do not fall, deservedly you stand, deservedly you hear Him, and rejoice with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. So too the Apostle, a friend of the bridegroom, is himself jealous, not for himself, but for the bridegroom. Hear the voice of one who is jealous: I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God, he said; not with mine, not for me, but with the jealousy of God. Whence? how? whom are you jealous over, or for whom are you jealous? For I have betrothed you to one husband, to present a chaste virgin to Christ. What then do you fear? why are you jealous?
Editors' notes and page, col. 1498

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: et lacrymae fiam› · call in col 1498

Mss. prope omnes omittunt, in lacrymas et lacrymae fiam.

Almost all the manuscripts omit "in lacrymas et lacrymae fiam" ("into tears, and become tears").

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Timeo, inquit, ne sicut serpens seduxit Evam astutia sua, sic et vestri sensus corrumpantur a castitate quae est in Christo (II Cor. XI, 2, 3). Omnis Ecclesia virgo appellata est. Diversa esse membra Ecclesiae, diversis donis pollere videtis atque gaudere: alii conjugati, aliae conjugatae, alii viduati uxores ultra non quaerunt, aliae viduatae maritos ultra non quaerunt, alii integritatem ab ineunte aetate conservant, aliae virginitatem suam Deo voverunt; diversa sunt munera, sed omnes isti una virgo est. Ubi est ista virginitas? non enim in corpore. Paucarum feminarum est, et si dici virginitas in viris potest, paucorum virorum sancta integritas etiam corporis est in Ecclesia, et honorabilius membrum est: alia autem membra non in corpore, sed omnia in mente servant virginitatem. Quae est virginitas mentis? Integra fides, solida spes, sincera charitas. Hanc virginitatem timebat ille, qui zelabat sponso, a serpente corrumpi. Sicut enim membrum corporis violatur in quodam loco, sic seductio linguae violat virginitatem cordis. In mente non corrumpatur, quae non vult sine causa tenere corporis virginitatem.
I fear, he says, lest, as the serpent seduced Eve by his cunning, so your minds too be corrupted from the chastity that is in Christ (2 Cor. 11:2–3). The whole Church has been called a virgin. You see that the members of the Church are diverse, that they are strong in and rejoice in diverse gifts: some men are married, some women are married, some widowed men seek wives no further, some widowed women seek husbands no further, some men preserve their integrity from their earliest years, some women have vowed their virginity to God; the gifts are diverse, but all these are one virgin. Where is this virginity? For it is not in the body. It belongs to few women, and, if virginity can be spoken of in men, the holy integrity even of the body belongs to few men in the Church, and it is a more honourable member: but the other members preserve virginity not in the body, yet all of them preserve it in the mind. What is the virginity of the mind? Whole faith, firm hope, sincere charity. This virginity he who was jealous for the Bridegroom feared would be corrupted by the serpent. For just as a member of the body is violated in a certain place, so the seduction of the tongue violates the virginity of the heart. Let her not be corrupted in mind, who does not wish to keep the virginity of the body to no purpose.
13. Quid ergo dicam, fratres? Et haeretici habent virgines, et multae sunt virgines haereticorum. Videamus si sponsum amant, ut virginitas ista custodiatur. Cui custoditur? Christo, inquit. Videamus si Christo, non Donato: videamus cui servetur ista virginitas; cito probare poteritis. Ecce ostendo sponsum, quia ipse se ostendit: perhibet illi testimonium Joannes, Hic est qui baptizat. O tu virgo, si sponso huic servas virginitatem tuam, quare curris ad eum qui dicit, Ego baptizo; cum amicus sponsi tui dicat, Hic est qui baptizat? Deinde sponsus tuus totum orbem tenet; quare tu in parte corrumperis? Quis est sponsus? Quoniam rex omnis terrae Deus (Psal. XLVI, 8). Ipse sponsus tuus totum tenet, quia totum emit. Vide quanti emerit, ut intelligas quid emerit: quod pretium dedit? Sanguinem dedit. Ubi dedit, ubi fudit sanguinem suum? In passione. Nonne sponso tuo cantas, aut cantare te fingis, quando emptus est totus orbis: Foderunt manus meas et pedes, dinumeraverunt omnia ossa mea: ipsi vero consideraverunt, et conspexerunt me; diviserunt sibi vestimenta mea, et super vestem meam miserunt sortem? Sponsa es, agnosce vestem sponsi tui. Super quam vestem missa est sors? Interroga Evangelium; vide cui desponsata sis, vide a quo arrhas accipias. Interroga Evangelium; vide quid tibi dicat in passione Domini. Erat ibi tunica: videamus qualis: desuper texta. Desuper texta tunica quid significat, nisi charitatem? desuper texta tunica quid significat, nisi unitatem? Hanc tunicam attende, quam nec persecutores Christi diviserunt. Ait enim: Dixerunt inter se, Non dividamus eam, sed sortem super eam mittamus (Joan. XIX, 23, 24). Ecce unde audistis Psalmum. Vestem persecutores non consciderunt: christiani Ecclesiam dividunt.
13. What then shall I say, brothers? The heretics too have virgins, and there are many virgins of the heretics. Let us see whether they love the Bridegroom, so that this virginity may be guarded. For whom is it guarded? For Christ, she says. Let us see whether for Christ, not for Donatus: let us see for whom this virginity is kept; you will soon be able to prove it. Behold, I show you the Bridegroom, because He Himself shows Himself: John bears witness to Him, This is He Who baptizes. O you virgin, if you keep your virginity for this Bridegroom, why do you run to him who says, I baptize, when the friend of your Bridegroom says, This is He Who baptizes? Next, your Bridegroom holds the whole world; why are you corrupted in a part? Who is the Bridegroom? For God is the king of all the earth (Ps. 46:8). Your Bridegroom Himself holds the whole, because He bought the whole. See at how great a price He bought, that you may understand what He bought: what price did He give? He gave His blood. Where did He give it, where did He pour out His blood? In the passion. Do you not sing to your Bridegroom, or pretend to sing, when the whole world was bought: They dug my hands and feet, they numbered all my bones: but they themselves considered and gazed upon me; they divided my garments among them, and upon my vesture they cast lots? You are the bride: recognize the vesture of your Bridegroom. Upon what vesture was the lot cast? Ask the Gospel; see to whom you are betrothed, see from whom you receive the pledge. Ask the Gospel; see what it says to you in the passion of the Lord. There was a tunic there: let us see of what kind: woven from above. A tunic woven from above, what does it signify but charity? A tunic woven from above, what does it signify but unity? Pay attention to this tunic, which not even the persecutors of Christ divided. For it says: They said among themselves, Let us not divide it, but let us cast lots upon it (John 19:23–24). See whence you have heard the Psalm. The persecutors did not tear the vesture apart: Christians divide the Church.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1499

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1499

Sic aliquot Mss. At editi: Non enim in corpore. In corpore paucarum feminarum est. Et post, loco sancta integritas, habent, sanctitas, integritas.

So some manuscripts. But the printed editions read: "Non enim in corpore. In corpore paucarum feminarum est" ("For it is not in the body. In the body it belongs to few women"). And after that, in place of "sancta integritas" ("holy integrity"), they have "sanctitas, integritas" ("holiness, integrity").

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  • old-edition numerals: (none)
PL 35:1500
14. Sed quid dicam, fratres? Aperte videamus quid emerit. Ibi enim emit, ubi pretium dedit. Pro quanto dedit? Si pro Africa dedit, simus Donatistae, et non appellemur Donatistae, sed Christiani; quia Christus solam Africam emit: quanquam et hic non soli Donatistae. Sed non tacuit in commercio suo quid emerit. Fecit tabulas: Deo gratias, non nos fefellit. Opus est ut audiat illa sponsa, et ibi intelligat cui voverit virginitatem. Ibi in ipso psalmo ubi dictum est, Foderunt manus meas et pedes, dinumeraverunt omnia ossa mea; ubi passio Domini apertissime declaratur: qui psalmus omni anno legitur novissima hebdomada intento universo populo, imminente passione Christi, et apud nos, et apud illos psalmus iste legitur. Intendite, fratres, quid ibi emit; recitentur tabulae commerciales; quid ibi emit, audite: Commemorabuntur et convertentur ad Dominum universi fines terrae; et adorabunt in conspectu ejus universae patriae gentium: quoniam ipsius est regnum, et ipse dominabitur gentium (Psal. XXI, 29-3). Ecce quid emit. Ecce quoniam rex omnis terrae Deus est sponsus tuus. Quid ergo ad pannos vis deduci talem divitem? Agnosce: totum emit, et tu dicis, Partem hic habes. O si placeres sponso, o si non corrupta loquereris, et corrupta, quod pejus est, corde, non corpore! Amas hominem pro Christo, amas dicentem, Ego baptizo: amicum sponsi non audis dicentem, Hic est qui baptizat; non audis dicentem, Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est. Ego non habeo sponsam, dixit: sed quid sum? Amicus autem sponsi, qui stat et audit eum, gaudio gaudet propter vocem sponsi (I Cor. XIII, 1).
14. But what am I to say, brothers? Let us see openly what He bought. For He bought there, where He gave the price. For how much did He give it? If He gave it for Africa, let us be Donatists, and let us not be called Donatists, but Christians; because Christ bought Africa alone: although even here there are not Donatists only. But He did not keep silent in His transaction about what He bought. He drew up the deeds: thanks be to God, He has not deceived us. That bride needs to hear, and to understand there to whom she has vowed her virginity. There, in the very psalm where it is said, They dug My hands and feet, they numbered all My bones; where the Lord's passion is most openly declared: which psalm is read every year in the last week, with the whole people attentive, when the passion of Christ is at hand, and both among us and among them this psalm is read. Attend, brothers, to what He bought there; let the deeds of sale be read out; hear what He bought there: All the ends of the earth shall remember and be turned to the Lord; and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship in His sight: for the kingdom is His, and He shall rule over the nations (Ps. 21:29–3). Behold what He bought. Behold, because God, the King of all the earth, is your bridegroom. Why then do you want so rich a man to be brought down to rags? Acknowledge it: He bought the whole, and you say, You have a part here. O if you pleased the bridegroom, O if you did not speak corruptly, and were not corrupt, what is worse, in heart, not in body! You love a man in place of Christ, you love one who says, I baptize: you do not hear the friend of the bridegroom saying, This is He Who baptizes; you do not hear him saying, He who has the bride is the bridegroom. I do not have the bride, he said: but what am I? But the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom's voice (1 Cor. 13:1).
15. Evidenter ergo, fratres mei, nihil prodest istis servare virginitatem, habere continentiam, eleemosynas dare; omnia illa quae laudantur in Ecclesia, nihil illis prosunt: quia conscindunt unitatem, id est, tunicam illam charitatis. Quid faciunt? Diserti sunt multi inter illos, magnae linguae, flumina linguarum. Numquid angelice loquuntur? Audiant amicum sponsi zelantem sponso, non sibi: Si linguis hominum loquar et Angelorum, charitatem autem non habeam, factus sum ut aeramentum sonans, aut cymbalum tinniens (I Cor. XIII, 1).
15. Evidently, then, my brothers, it profits these people nothing to keep virginity, to practise continence, to give alms; all those things that are praised in the Church profit them nothing: because they tear apart unity, that is, that tunic of charity. What do they do? Many among them are eloquent, great tongues, rivers of tongues. Do they speak like angels? Let them hear the friend of the bridegroom, zealous for the bridegroom, not for himself: If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have charity, I have become like sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal (1 Cor. 13:1).
16. Sed quid dicunt? Habemus Baptismum. Habes, sed non tuum. Aliud est habere, aliud dominari. Baptismum habes, quia accepisti ut baptizatus sis, accepisti tanquam illuminatus; si tamen a te non tenebratus: et quando das, minister das, non possessor; praeco clamas, non judex. Per praeconem loquitur judex, et in actis tamen non scribitur, Praeco dixit; sed, Judex dixit. Proinde vide si tuum est quod das, potestate. Si autem accepisti, confitere cum amico sponsi, Non potest homo accipere quidquam, nisi datum fuerit ei de coelo. Confitere cum amico sponsi, Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est; amicus autem sponsi stat et audit eum. Sed o si stares et audires eum, et non caderes ut audires te! Audiendo enim eum, stares et audires: nam loqueris, et tibi caput inflas. Ego, inquit Ecclesia, si sponsa sum, si arrhas accepi, si pretio sanguinis illius redempta sum, audio vocem sponsi; et vocem amici sponsi tunc audio, si sponso
16. But what do they say? We have Baptism. You have it, but it is not yours. It is one thing to have, another to be lord of it. You have Baptism, because you received it so that you might be baptized, you received it as one enlightened; if, however, you have not been darkened by yourself: and when you give it, you give as a minister, not as an owner; you cry out as a herald, not as a judge. Through the herald the judge speaks, and yet in the records it is not written, The herald said; but, The judge said. Therefore see whether what you give is yours by authority. But if you received it, confess with the friend of the bridegroom, A man cannot receive anything, unless it has been given him from heaven. Confess with the friend of the bridegroom, He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom stands and hears him. But O if you stood and heard him, and did not fall so as to hear yourself! For by hearing him you would stand and hear: for you speak, and puff up your head. I, says the Church, if I am the bride, if I have received the pledge, if I have been redeemed by the price of His blood, hear the voice of the bridegroom; and I hear the voice of the bridegroom's friend then, if to the bridegroom
Editors' notes and page, col. 1500

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: ubi pretium dedit› · call in col 1500

Er., ibi. M.

Erasmus reads "ibi" ("there"). M. [Migne's own note]

(printed under page 98)

Page

  • running head: EVANGELIUM, S. AUGUSTINI 1500 (start of head cut off at left edge of image)
  • marginal letters: (none)
  • old-edition numerals: (none)
  • misprints kept as printed: "(Psal. XXI, 29-3)" for 29-31 (Q2a); "(I Cor. XIII, 1)" after "gaudio gaudet propter vocem sponsi", which is John 3:29 (Q2a)
PL 35:1501
meo det gloriam, non sibi. Dicat amicus, Qui habet sponsam, sponsus est: amicus autem sponsi stat et audit eum, et gaudio gaudet propter vocem sponsi. Ecce habes Sacramenta, et ego concedo. Habes formam, sed sarmentum es de vite praecisum; tu formam ostendis, ego radicem quaero: de forma fructus non exit, nisi ubi est radix; ubi autem est radix, nisi in eharitate? Et audi formam sarmentorum; Paulus loquatur: Si sciam, inquit, omnia sacramenta, et habeam omnem prophetiam et omnem fidem (et quantam fidem?), ita ut montes transferam, charitatem autem non habeam, nihil sum (I Cor. XIII, 1, 2).
mine may give glory, not to himself. Let the friend say: He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom stands and hears him, and rejoices with joy because of the bridegroom's voice. See, you have the Sacraments, and I grant it. You have the form, but you are a branch cut off from the vine; you display the form, I seek the root: from the form no fruit comes forth, except where there is a root; and where is the root, except in charity? And hear the form of the branches; let Paul speak: If I know, he says, all sacraments, and have all prophecy and all faith (and how great a faith?), so that I move mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing (1 Cor. 13:1–2).
17. Nemo ergo vobis fabulas vendat. Et Pontius fecit miraculum; et Donatus oravit, et respondit ei Deus de coelo. Primo, aut falluntur aut fallunt. Postremo, fac illum montes transferre: Charitatem autem, inquit, non habeam, nihil sum. Videamus utrum habuerit charitatem. Crederem, si non divisisset unitatem. Nam et contra istos, ut sic loquar, mirabiliarios cautum me fecit Deus meus, dicens: In novissimis temporibus exsurgent pseudoprophetae, facientes signa et prodigia, ut in errorem inducant, si fieri potest, etiam electos: ecce praedixi vobis (Marc. XIII, 22, 23). Ergo cautos nos fecit sponsus, quia et miraculis decipi non debemus. Aliquando enim et desertor terret provincialem; sed utrum in castris sit, et aliquid illi prosit character ille in quo signatus est, hoc attendit qui terreri et seduci non vult. Teneamus ergo unitatem, fratres mei: praeter unitatem, et qui facit miracula nihil est, In unitate enim erat populus Israel, et non faciebat miracula: praeter unitatem er⟨a⟩nt magi Pharaonis, et faciebant similia Moysi (Exod. VII, 12, 22, et VIII, 7). Populus Israel, ut dixi, non faciebat: qui erant salvi apud Deum; qui faciebant, an qui non faciebant? Petrus apostolus resuscitavit mortuum (Act. IX, 40); Simon Magus fecit multa (Id. VIII, 10): erant ibi quidam christiani qui non poterant facere, nec quod faciebat Petrus, nec quod faciebat Simon; sed unde gaudebant? Quia nomina eorum erant scripta in coelo. Nam et redeuntibus discipulis, Dominus noster Jesus Christus propter fidem gentium hoc ait. Dixerunt enim gloriantes ipsi discipuli, Ecce, Domine, in nomine tuo etiam daemonia nobis subjecta sunt. Bene quidem confessi sunt, detulerunt honorem nomini Christi; et tamen quid ait eis? Nolite in hoc gloriari, quia daemonia vobis subjecta sunt; sed gaudete, quia nomina vestra scripta sunt in coelo (Luc. X, 17-20). Petrus daemonia exclusit; nescio quae anicula vidua, nescio quis homo qualiscumque laicus habens charitatem, tenens integritatem fidei, non facit hoc: Petrus in corpore oculus est, ille in corpore digitus; in eo tamen corpore est, in quo et Petrus; et si minus valet digitus quam oculus, non est tamen praecis⟨u⟩s a corpore. Melius est esse digitum et esse in corpore, quam esse oculum et evelli de corpore.
17. So let no one sell you fables. "Pontius too worked a miracle; and Donatus prayed, and God answered him from heaven." First, either they are deceived or they deceive. Lastly, suppose he moves mountains: But have not charity, he says, I am nothing. Let us see whether he had charity. I would believe it, if he had not divided unity. For against these men too, these wonder-mongers, so to speak, my God has put me on my guard, saying: In the last times false prophets will arise, working signs and wonders, so as to lead into error, if it can be done, even the elect: see, I have foretold it to you (Mark 13:22–23). So the Bridegroom has made us wary, because we ought not to be deceived even by miracles. For sometimes a deserter too frightens a provincial; but whether he is in the camp, and whether that mark with which he was branded profits him anything, this is what he attends to who does not wish to be frightened and led astray. Let us therefore hold fast to unity, my brethren: outside unity, even he who works miracles is nothing. For the people of Israel were in unity, and did not work miracles: outside unity were the magicians of Pharaoh, and they did things like Moses (Exod. 7:12, 22, and 8:7). The people of Israel, as I said, did not work them: which were saved before God, those who worked them, or those who did not? The apostle Peter raised a dead man (Acts 9:40); Simon Magus did many things (ibid. 8:10): there were there certain Christians who could do neither what Peter did, nor what Simon did; but in what did they rejoice? In this, that their names were written in heaven. For to the disciples on their return also our Lord Jesus Christ said this, on account of the faith of the Gentiles. For the disciples themselves said, glorying: See, Lord, in Thy name even the demons are subject to us. They confessed well indeed, they gave honour to the name of Christ; and yet what does He say to them? Do not glory in this, that the demons are subject to you; but rejoice, that your names are written in heaven (Luke 10:17–20). Peter cast out demons; some little old widow or other, some ordinary layman or other, having charity, holding the integrity of the faith, does not do this: Peter is the eye in the body, that man a finger in the body; yet he is in the same body in which Peter also is; and if a finger is of less account than an eye, still it is not cut off from the body. Better to be a finger and be in the body, than to be an eye and be plucked out of the body.
18. Proinde, fratres mei, nemo vos fallat, nemo vos seducat: amate pacem Christi, qui pro vobis crucifixus est, cum Deus esset. Paulus dicit, Neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque qui rigat, sed qui incrementum
18. Therefore, my brethren, let no one deceive you, let no one lead you astray: love the peace of Christ, Who was crucified for you, though He was God. Paul says: Neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters, but He who gives the increase
Editors' notes and page, col. 1501

Page

  • running head: 1501 TRACTATUS XIV. CA[...] (cut off at the image edge)
  • marginal letters: (none)
  • old-edition numerals: (none)
  • other: column begins with "meo" belonging to a phrase from the column before; ends mid-word "incremen-" (incrementum). "Habes" in line 4 has damaged b but is legible. "nihil est, In unitate" printed with a comma before a capital, set as printed. A stray point in "ait eis.?" is omitted. Pontius/Donatus sentence rendered as the opponents' claim, in quotation marks. Right-hand column (Tract. XIV with its summary "Ab eo...") not part of this column.
  • other: the word incrementum was split at the column break and stands whole here (joined on receipt); check that the English reads whole across the break into col 1502
  • other: misprints kept as printed: "eharitate" (for charitate), §16.
  • other: QA Q1a joined the English across the break: col 1501 now ends "but He who gives the increase"; col 1502's English still opens "-ment God gives (1 Cor. 3:7)" and should open "is God (1 Cor. 3:7)" instead (fix in col 1502, not here). The page-99 footnote (Sic MSS. At editi, et pauca dixi …) belongs to col 1502.