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Augustine, Sermones 1-18 (Classis I, de Scripturis: de Vetere Testamento)

Sermon XV

perforatur. O paupertas! Ecce caput pauperum quos requiro, cujus pauperis membrum invenimus verum pauperem.

cea is pierced through. O poverty! Behold the Head of the poor whom I am seeking, of which poor man we have found a member, a true poor man.

10. Pupillus quis. Breviter quaeramus pupillum: quia in paupere requirendo fatigati sumus. Domine Jesu, pupillum quaero; fatigatus quaero: cito responde, ut inveniam. Ne vobis, inquit, dicatis patrem in terra (Matth. XXIII, 9). Pupillus in terra, immortalem patrem invenit in coelo. Ne vobis, inquit, dicatis patrem in terra. Inventus est pupillus iste. Oret pupillus iste: audiamus eum, et imitemur eum. Quae est ejus oratio? Quoniam pater meus et mater mea dereliquerunt me. Pater, inquit, meus et mater mea dereliquerunt me: Dominus autem assumpsit me (Psal. XXVI, 10). Si ergo beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum coelorum (Matth. V, 3); Tibi derelictus est pauper. Si pater meus et mater mea dereliquerunt me, Dominus autem assumpsit me; Pupillo tu eris adjutor.

10. Who the orphan is. Let us seek the orphan briefly, since we have grown weary in seeking the poor man. Lord Jesus, I am seeking the orphan; I seek him wearied: answer quickly, so that I may find him. Do not, He says, call anyone on earth your father (Matt. 23:9). An orphan on earth, he has found an immortal Father in heaven. Do not, He says, call anyone on earth your father. This orphan has been found. Let this orphan pray: let us hear him, and let us imitate him. What is his prayer? For my father and my mother have forsaken me. My father, he says, and my mother have forsaken me: but the Lord has taken me up (Ps. 26:10). If therefore blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 5:3), then To Thee the poor man is left. If my father and my mother have forsaken me, but the Lord has taken me up, then Thou wilt be a helper to the orphan.

SERMO XV. De versu 8 Psalmi XXV, Domine, dilexi decore⟨m⟩ domus tuae, et locum tabernaculi claritatis tuae. Habitus in Regione tertia, in basilica sancti Petri Carthaginensis.

Sermon 15. On verse 8 of Psalm 25, Lord, I have loved the beauty of Thy house, and the place of the tabernacle of Thy glory. Preached in the Third Region, in the basilica of Saint Peter of Carthage.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Decor domus Dei. Ecclesia viva. — Decorem domus Dei, et locum tabernaculi claritatis ejus diligimus, si et nos ipsi sumus. Quis est ergo decor domus Dei, et locus tabernaculi claritatis ejus; nisi templum ejus de quo Apostolus dicit, Templum enim Dei sanctum est, quod estis vos (I Cor. III, 17)? Sicut ergo in fabricis manufactis, cum eleganter et magnifice construuntur, corporalis noster mulcetur aspectus; ita cum lapides vivi, corda fidelium charitatis vinculo continentur, decor est domus Dei, et locus tabernaculi claritatis ejus. Discite ergo quod amare debetis, ut amare possitis. Qui enim diligit decorem domus Dei, non est dubium quia Ecclesiam diligit: non in fabre factis parietibus et tectis, non in nitore marmorum et laquearibus aureis; sed in hominibus fidelibus, sanctis, Deum diligentibus ex toto corde suo, et ex tota anima sua, et ex tota mente sua, et proximum suum tanquam seipsum.

Chapter I. — 1. The beauty of the house of God. The living Church. — We love the beauty of the house of God, and the place of the tabernacle of His glory, if we ourselves also are these. What, then, is the beauty of the house of God, and the place of the tabernacle of His glory, if not His temple, of which the Apostle says, For the temple of God is holy, which you are (1 Cor. 3:17)? Just as, therefore, in buildings made by hand, when they are constructed elegantly and magnificently, our bodily sight is delighted, so when living stones, the hearts of the faithful, are held together by the bond of charity, there is the beauty of the house of God, and the place of the tabernacle of His glory. Learn, therefore, what you ought to love, so that you may be able to love. For whoever loves the beauty of the house of God, there is no doubt that he loves the Church: not in skilfully made walls and roofs, not in the gleam of marbles and golden panelled ceilings, but in faithful, holy men, who love God with their whole heart, and with their whole soul, and with their whole mind, and their neighbour as themselves.

CAPUT II. — 2. Numerus et super numerum. Vasa in honorem, vasa in contumeliam. Sed in congregatione christiana, quantum pertinet ad participationem et communionem Sacramentorum, multiplicati sunt super numerum (Psal. XXXIX, 6). Alius est ergo numerus: alii super numerum. Numerus est, de quibus dicit Apostolus, Novit Dominus qui sunt ejus. Super numerum autem: Quoniam in magna domo non solum vasa sunt aurea et argentea, sed et lignea et fictilia; alia quidem in honorem, alia in contumeliam (II Tim. II, 19, 20). Numerus ergo, vasa

Chapter II. — 2. The number and beyond the number. Vessels unto honour, vessels unto dishonour. But in the Christian congregation, as far as concerns participation and communion in the Sacraments, they are multiplied beyond number (Ps. 39:6). There is, therefore, one thing that is the number; others are beyond the number. The number are those of whom the Apostle says, The Lord knows who are His. But beyond the number: For in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and of earthenware; some indeed unto honour, others unto dishonour (2 Tim. 2:19–20). The number, therefore, vessels

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Codex cs. : Breviter nunc quaeramus pupillum.

The codex cs.: Breviter nunc quaeramus pupillum ["Let us now briefly seek the orphan"].

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Ulim. et Lov. addunt clausulam : Conversi, etc., quae ab aliis libris abest.

Ulim. and Lov. add the closing formula Conversi ["Turning"], etc., which is absent from the other books.

(*) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 116 Recognitus in libris cs. cl. gr. Am. Er. Ulim. Par. Lov.

Revised on the books cs. cl. gr. Am. Er. Ulim. Par. Lov. [sigla of manuscripts and editions, kept as printed].

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Alias, de Tempore 254.

Formerly, de Tempore 254.

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in honorem: super numerum, vasa in contumeliam. Cum ergo sint ista duo genera vasorum, numquid dubitamus ubi sit decor domus Dei? Si ergo vis diligere, agens quod cantasti, decorem domus Dei, et locum tabernaculi claritatis ejus; quaere vasa in honorem. Et nolo dicas, Quaesivi, et non inveni. Ideo enim quaesisti, et non invenisti, quia quod quaesisti tu non fuisti. Similis simili cohaeret, dissimilis dissimilem refugit. Si fueris vas in contumeliam, procul dubio vas in honorem grave tibi erit et ad videndum. Non audis quomodo quidam de quodam dicant, Gravis nobis est etiam ad videndum (Sap. II, 15)? Quod tibi grave est ad videndum, quando erit apertum ad inveniendum? Vasa enim ista, interiorum hominum sunt. Non utique cum visus fuerit justus, jam agnoscitur justus. Eumdem aspectum habet et justus et injustus: uterque homo, sed non uterque domus Dei. Et si ambo christiani appellantur, utrumque vas, sed non utrumque in honorem; sed aliud in honorem, aliud in contumeliam.

unto honour; beyond number, vessels unto dishonour. Since, then, there are these two kinds of vessels, do we doubt where the beauty of the house of God is? If, then, you wish to love the beauty of the house of God and the place of the tabernacle of His glory, doing what you have sung, seek the vessels unto honour. And I do not want you to say, I sought, and I did not find. For you sought and did not find precisely because you yourself were not what you sought. Like clings to like; the unlike flees the unlike. If you are a vessel unto dishonour, without doubt a vessel unto honour will be grievous to you even to look upon. Do you not hear how certain men say of a certain man, He is grievous to us even to look upon (Wis. 2:15)? What is grievous for you to look upon, when will it be open for you to find? For these vessels belong to the inner men. Certainly, when a just man has been seen, he is not thereby already recognized as just. The just man and the unjust have the same appearance: each is a man, but not each is the house of God. And if both are called Christians, each is a vessel, but not each unto honour; rather one unto honour, the other unto dishonour.

CAPUT III. — 3. Malorum est male uti bonis; Dei contra, bene uti malis. Animae adulterae et fornicariae. Numquid propter mala vasa deserenda est domus magna? Novit Deus uti, id est Dominus magnae domus, et vasis in honorem, et vasis in contumeliam. Sicuti est malorum male uti etiam bonis; sic e contra Dei bene uti etiam malis. Quantis bonis utuntur mali? Omnis enim creatura Dei bona est (I Tim. IV, 4). Quomodo ea male utuntur mali? Quomodo eos increpat Scriptura, dicens, Petitis, et non accipitis, eo quod male petatis, ut in concupiscentiis vestris insumatis. Quod nomen acceperunt isti male utentes bonis Dei? Sequitur, et dicit, Adulteri. Unde adulteri? Nescitis quia amicus hujus mundi, inimicus Deo constituitur (Jacobi IV, 3, 4)? Adulteri, inquit. Sunt animae adulterae, sunt fornicariae: discutiamus eas. Fornicariae animae sunt, multis diis falsis quodam modo prostitutae: adulterae autem, tanquam legitimo jam conjugio copulatae, et ipsi legitimo conjugio non servantes animae castitatem. Ut autem hoc dicam expressius, pagani anima fornicaria est, christiani mali adultera. Pagani anima fornicaria, legitimum virum non habet, per diversa daemonia prostituta corrumpitur: christiani autem mali quare adultera est? Quia nec castitatem diligit, nec virum deserit. Non ergo dicas, Quare sunt isti in domo Dei? Respondetur tibi, Vasa sunt in contumeliam. Novit eis uti Deus: non errat qui creavit; quoniam qui potuit creare, novit ordinare: habent in domo magna locum suum. Si autem quaeras a me, quomodo eis bene utatur Deus: fateor, Dei consilium, sicut homo, explicare non possum. Novi enim cum Paulo apostolo expavescere, quod etiam ille cum consideraret, expavit, et expavescens exclamavit: O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei! quam inscrutabilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles viae ejus! Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini? aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit? aut quis prior

Chapter III. — 3. It belongs to the wicked to use good things badly; to God, on the contrary, to use bad things well. Adulterous and fornicating souls. Must the great house be deserted because of the bad vessels? God knows how to use (that is, the Lord of the great house) both the vessels unto honour and the vessels unto dishonour. Just as it belongs to the wicked to use even good things badly, so, on the contrary, it belongs to God to use even bad things well. How many good things do the wicked use! For every creature of God is good (1 Tim. 4:4). How do the wicked use them badly? As Scripture rebukes them, saying, You ask, and you do not receive, because you ask badly, that you may spend it on your lusts. What name have these men received who use the good things of God badly? It goes on and says, Adulterers. Why adulterers? Do you not know that the friend of this world is made an enemy to God (Jas. 4:3–4)? Adulterers, it says. There are adulterous souls, there are fornicating souls: let us examine them. Fornicating souls are those prostituted, in a certain manner, to many false gods; adulterous souls, on the other hand, are those already joined as it were in lawful wedlock, and yet not keeping the chastity of the soul for that very lawful wedlock. But to put this more expressly: the soul of the pagan is a fornicatress, that of the bad Christian an adulteress. The fornicating soul of the pagan has no lawful husband; prostituted through various demons, it is corrupted. But why is the soul of the bad Christian an adulteress? Because it neither loves chastity nor leaves its husband. Do not say, then, Why are these men in the house of God? The answer to you is, They are vessels unto dishonour. God knows how to use them: He Who created does not err; since He Who was able to create knows how to set in order: they have their own place in the great house. But if you ask me how God uses them well, I confess that, being a man, I cannot unfold the counsel of God. For I know how to stand in dread together with the apostle Paul, who also, when he considered this, was struck with dread, and in his dread exclaimed: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! how unsearchable are His judgements, and His ways past tracing out! For who has known the mind of the Lord? or who has been His counsellor? or who first

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Codex cs. : Si ergo vis diligere, sic enim agis quod cantasti; si vis diligere decorem domus Dei.

The codex cs.: Si ergo vis diligere, sic enim agis quod cantasti; si vis diligere decorem domus Dei ["If then you wish to love, for so you do what you have sung; if you wish to love the beauty of God's house"].

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dedit illi, et retribuetur ei? Quoniam ex ipso et per ipsum et in ipso sunt omnia: ipsi gloria in saecula saeculorum (Rom. XI, 33-36). Nobis consideratio, admiratio, tremor, exclamatio: quia nulla penetratio. Ipsi autem quid? Gloria in saecula saeculorum. Sive de vasis in honorem, sive de vasis in contumeliam, ipsi gloria in saecula saeculorum. Alios coronat, alios damnat, nusquam errat: alios probat, de aliis probat, omnes ordinat.

has given to Him, and it shall be repaid to him? For from Him and through Him and in Him are all things: to Him be glory for ages of ages (Rom. 11:33–36). Ours are consideration, wonder, trembling, exclamation: for there is no penetrating [it]. But what is His? Glory for ages of ages. Whether of the vessels unto honour, or of the vessels unto dishonour, to Him be glory for ages of ages. Some He crowns, others He condemns, nowhere does He err: some He proves, by means of others He proves, all He sets in order.

CAPUT IV. — 4. Ad quid mali in mundo. Quid faciunt, inquit, in hoc mundo homines mali? Responde mihi, in fornace aurificis palea quid facit? Puto non ibi esse sine causa paleam, ubi aurum purgatur. Videamus quae ibi sint omnia: fornax est, palea est, aurum est, ignis est, artifex est: sed illa tria, aurum, palea, ignis, in fornace; artifex, ad fornacem. Attende etiam istum mundum: mundus fornax est; palea, homines mali; aurum, homines boni; ignis, tribulatio; artifex, Deus. Attende et vide: aurum non purgatur, si palea non uratur. Vide aurum in hoc ipso psalmo, ubi diligimus decorem domus Dei; et locum tabernaculi claritatis ejus. Vide ibi aurum, vide vocem auri; purgari cupit: Proba me, Domine, et tenta me; ure renes meos et cor meum. Proba me, inquit, Domine, et tenta me. Qui timere debuit tentationem, petit tentationem. Proba me, inquit, Domine, et tenta me. Et vide si non ignem quaerit: Proba me, et tenta me; ure renes meos et cor meum. Non times ne in igne deficias? Non, inquit. Quare? Quio misericordia tua ante oculos meos est (Psal. XXV, 2, 3). Ecce, inquit, quare securus dico, Proba me, Domine, et tenta me; ure renes meos et cor meum: non quia idoneus sum viribus meis ignem sustinere tentationis, sed quia misericordia tua ante oculos meos est. Qui mihi, inquit, donasti ut aurum probatum essem, in fornace me perire permittis? Prorsus mittis purgandum, ejicis purgatum. Custodiat Dominus introitum tuum et exitum tuum (Psal. CXX, 8). Vide ipsum exitum, vide ingressum in fornacem. Omne gaudium existimate, fratres mei, cum in tentationes varias incideritis (Jacobi I, 2). Ecce audisti ingressum, quaere exitum. Facile enim est intrare: exire magnum est. Sed noli timere: Fidelis Deus. Nempe quia ingressus fueras, de exitu cogitabas. Fidelis Deus, qui non vos permittit tentari supra id quod potestis; sed faciet cum tentatione etiam exitum. Quid est exitum? Ut possitis sustinere (I Cor. X, 13). Intrasti, incidisti; sustinuisti, existi.

Chapter IV. — 4. To what end the wicked are in the world. What, he says, are wicked men doing in this world? Answer me: in a goldsmith's furnace, what is the chaff doing? I think the chaff is not there without cause, where the gold is purified. Let us see what all the things there are: there is a furnace, there is chaff, there is gold, there is fire, there is a craftsman: but those three, gold, chaff, fire, are in the furnace; the craftsman, at the furnace. Consider also this world: the world is a furnace; the chaff, wicked men; the gold, good men; the fire, tribulation; the craftsman, God. Consider and see: the gold is not purified unless the chaff is burnt. See the gold in this very psalm, where we love the beauty of the house of God, and the place of the tabernacle of His glory. See the gold there, see the voice of the gold; it desires to be purified: Prove me, O Lord, and try me; burn my reins and my heart. Prove me, he says, O Lord, and try me. He who ought to have feared temptation asks for temptation. Prove me, he says, O Lord, and try me. And see whether he does not seek the fire: Prove me, and try me; burn my reins and my heart. Do you not fear lest you fail in the fire? No, he says. Why? Because Thy mercy is before my eyes (Ps. 25:2–3). Behold, he says, why I say without fear, Prove me, O Lord, and try me; burn my reins and my heart: not because I am able by my own strength to endure the fire of temptation, but because Thy mercy is before my eyes. Thou Who hast granted me, he says, to be proven gold, wilt Thou let me perish in the furnace? Assuredly Thou sendest [me] in to be purified, Thou castest [me] out purified. May the Lord keep your coming in and your going out (Ps. 120:8). See the very going out, see the entering into the furnace. Count it all joy, my brethren, when you fall into various temptations (Jas. 1:2). Behold, you have heard of the entering, seek the going out. For it is easy to enter: to go out is a great thing. But do not fear: God is faithful. Surely because you had entered, you were thinking about the going out. God is faithful, Who does not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are able; but will make with the temptation also a way out. What is the way out? That you may be able to endure (1 Cor. 10:13). You entered, you fell in; you endured, you went out.

CAPUT V. — 5. Abundantia malorum, propter purgationem bonorum. Magna materies est purgationis bonorum, abundantia malorum. Nam in multitudine malorum quamvis permixti lateant boni, novit Dominus qui sunt ejus. Sub manu tanti artificis, auri mica in magna palea perire non potest. Quanta ibi palea, quam modicum aurum? Sed noli timere, tantus est artifex, ut purgare possit, perdere non possit. Vide aurum beatum Apostolum in ista fornace mundi hujus quemadmodum periculis probatur: ut veniamus ad vasa inhonorata quae intus sunt, quibus novit bene uti Dominus magnae domus. Apostolus

Chapter V. — 5. The abundance of the wicked, for the purification of the good. A great material for the purification of the good is the abundance of the wicked. For although the good lie hidden, mingled in the multitude of the wicked, the Lord knows who are His. Under the hand of so great a craftsman, a grain of gold cannot perish in much chaff. How much chaff there is, how little gold! But do not fear: so great is the craftsman that He can purify, He cannot destroy. See the gold, the blessed Apostle, how he is proved by perils in this furnace of this world: so that we may come to the dishonoured vessels which are within, which the Lord of the great house knows well how to use. The Apos-

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ergo cum periculis probaretur, quid dicebat? Periculis in mari, periculis in deserto, periculis ex genere, periculis ex gentibus. Ista omnia foris sunt. Intus attende: Periculis in falsis fratribus (II Cor. XI, 26). Alloquor ergo aurum Dei, alloquor vasa facta in honorem, alloquor grana in tritura areae inter paleam laborantia. Tibi dico, quisquis audis, non me, sed per me: Esto bonus, tolera malum. Nolo dicas, Quis est bonus? Imo et hoc volo dicas: quoniam quantumcumque fueris bonus, non eris sine aliquo malo. Unde rectissime dicitur, Nemo bonus, nisi unus Deus (Luc. XVIII, 19). Sed bonus ille qui facit bona, Deus est. Si ergo bonus Deus qui facit bona, et solus ille bonus effector bonorum; quomodo est effector bonorum, si nullus hominum est bonus? Secundum modulum ergo proximum est et homo bonus. Qui si non esset, Dominus ipse non diceret, Homo bonus de bono thesauro cordis sui profert bona (Id. VI, 45).

[Pau]l, then, when he was being tested by perils, what did he say? In perils on the sea, in perils in the wilderness, in perils from my race, in perils from the gentiles. All these are outside. Attend to what is within: In perils among false brethren (2 Cor. 11:26). I address therefore the gold of God, I address the vessels made for honour, I address the grains labouring among the chaff on the threshing of the floor. I say to you, whoever you are that hear, not I, but [God] through me: Be good, bear with evil. I do not want you to say, Who is good? Nay, I even want you to say this: since however good you may be, you will not be without some evil. Hence it is most rightly said, No one is good but God alone (Luke 18:19). But He who is good, who does good things, is God. If therefore God is good who does good things, and He alone is the good maker of good things, how is He the maker of good things if no one among men is good? According to his small measure, then, a man too is good in a near degree. If it were not so, the Lord Himself would not say, A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things (Luke 6:45).

CAPUT VI. — 6. Mali foris et intus tolerandi. — Esto ergo bonus, et tolera malum. Esto simpliciter bonus, et dupliciter tolera malum. Bonus, nonnisi intus: nam si non intus, nusquam bonus. Esto ergo bonus intus, malum tolera et foris et intus. Foris tolera haereticum, tolera paganum, tolera Judaeum; tolera et intus malum Christianum. Quia inimici hominis domestici ejus (Michaeae VII, 6). Patiens molestos multos intus malos stomacharis, indignaris, quasi jam venerit tempus ventilationis. In tritura positus es, in tritura es adhuc, area trituratur adhuc; adhuc grana et manipuli, cum Gentes credunt, ad aream colliguntur. Putas esse te posse in area triticum solum? Erras. Geme in area, ut gaudeas in horreo. Fiunt multa mala a christianis malis: illi qui foris sunt, et nolunt esse christiani, inveniunt occasiones ad excusationes. Hortatori suo ut credat, ista respondet: Vis me esse quod est ille et ille? Et nominat illum et illum: aliquando et verum dicit. Cum autem vernm non potest inveniri, quid magnum est calumniari? Cum ille non trepidat calumniari, facit alium quod non videt suspicari. Tu cum audieris hominem ista dicentem, forte quia nosti fratr⟨e⟩s tuos malos, dicis apud te ipsum, Verum dicit: Periculis in falsis fratribus. Sed noli deficere; quod ille quaerit, tu esto. Esto bonus christianus, ut convincas calumniosum paganum.

Chapter VI. — 6. The wicked are to be borne both outside and within. — Be good, then, and bear with evil. Be good singly, and bear with evil doubly. Good only within: for if not within, good nowhere. Be good, then, within; bear with evil both outside and within. Outside, bear with the heretic, bear with the pagan, bear with the Jew; bear also within with the bad Christian. For a man's enemies are those of his own household (Mic. 7:6). Suffering many troublesome bad people within, you are vexed, you are indignant, as if the time of winnowing had already come. You are placed in the threshing, you are still in the threshing, the floor is still being threshed; still the grains and the sheaves, while the Gentiles believe, are being gathered to the floor. Do you think that you can be on the floor wheat alone? You are mistaken. Groan on the threshing floor, that you may rejoice in the granary. Many evils are done by bad Christians: those who are outside and do not want to be Christians find occasions for excuses. To the one exhorting him to believe, he replies thus: Do you want me to be what this man and that man is? And he names this one and that one: sometimes he even speaks the truth. But when the truth cannot be found, what great thing is it to slander? When he does not shrink from slandering, he makes another suspect what he does not see. When you hear a man saying these things, perhaps because you know your brothers to be bad, you say within yourself, He speaks the truth: In perils among false brethren. But do not fail; what he is looking for, be that yourself. Be a good Christian, that you may refute the slandering pagan.

CAPUT VII. — 7. Constantia in ferendis intus malis. Sed ille calumniatur, et de bonis dicit falsa, plerumque illi creditur. Quid facit aurum? Undique palea est, ignis. Sordes pone, non fidem: esto mundior, ipsa exercitatione esto mundior; valeat tibi ille qui auferat quo sordidior es, non qui opprimat quod aurum es. Etenim si defeceris, peris in palea: et si peris in palea, aurum non eras, sed aurum te esse fingebas. Novit Dominus qui sunt ejus (II Tim. II, 19). Illi autem qui sunt mali, de quibus erubescis quando es inter malos qui sunt foris, memento quod non sint

Chapter VII. — 7. Constancy in bearing the wicked within. But he slanders, and says false things about the good, and very often he is believed. What does the gold do? All around is chaff, and fire. Lay aside the dross, not faith: be purer, by this very exercise be purer; let him avail for you who takes away that by which you are dirtier, not him who crushes that by which you are gold. For if you fail, you perish in the chaff: and if you perish in the chaff, you were not gold, but were pretending to be gold. The Lord knows who are His (2 Tim. 2:19). But as for those who are bad, on whose account you blush when you are among the bad who are outside, remember that they are not

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Codex cs., non me, sed Dominum per me.

The codex cs.: non me, sed Dominum per me ["not me, but the Lord through me"].

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(2) ‹anchor: Sordes pone, non fidem› · call in col 119

Am. et Er. : Ignis sordes punit, non fidem. Lov. et Germanensis Ms., ignis, sordes. Pone nunc fidem. Codex cs. : Ignis sordes urit non fidem.

Am. and Er.: Ignis sordes punit, non fidem ["The fire punishes the dross, not faith"]. Lov. and the Saint-Germain manuscript: ignis, sordes. Pone nunc fidem ["fire, dross. Now put on faith"]. The codex cs.: Ignis sordes urit non fidem ["The fire burns the dross, not faith"].

(printed under page 66)

Page

running head: 119 S. AUGUSTINI EPISC (cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: (none)
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 38:120

in domo magna ubi es, vas in honorem, sed in contumeliam. Instruxit te Apostolus, regat te Deus. Si mali non essent pro quibus oraremus, quando nobis diceretur, Orate pro inimicis vestris? An forte vellemus bonos habere inimicos? Unde fieri potest? Non habebis bonum inimicum, nisi fueris malus: si autem fueris bonus, inimicus tuus non erit, nisi malus. Orate pro inimicis vestris. Ergo boni orate pro malis. Redi ad cor tuum. O tu qui in ista fornace purgaris, si potuit esse vox tua, Proba me Domine, et tenta me; ure renes meos et cor meum: quoniam misericordia tua ante oculos meos est; ecce redi ad cor tuum. Sub Deo es, orationem fusurus es; occurrit tibi qui te laesit, occurrit tibi qui te pressit, occurrit tibi qui te spoliavit, occurrit tibi qui in te carcerem misit: eia attende cor tuum, respice Dominum tuum. Ecce malus inimicus tuus, ecce bonus Dominus tuus: nocet tibi inimicus tuus malus, ora pro inimico tuo, dicit tibi Dominus tuus bonus. Inter inimicum tuum malum et Dominum bonum, quid tu facturus es? Contra illum oraturus, aut huic obtemperaturus?

in the great house where you are, a vessel unto honour, but unto dishonour. The Apostle has instructed you; may God rule you. If there were no bad men for whom we might pray, when would it be said to us, Pray for your enemies? Or would we perhaps wish to have good men as enemies? How can that come about? You will not have a good enemy unless you are bad; but if you are good, your enemy will not be anything but bad. Pray for your enemies. Therefore, you good, pray for the bad. Return to your heart. O you who are being purged in this furnace, if your voice could be, Prove me, O Lord, and try me; burn my reins and my heart: for Thy mercy is before my eyes; see, return to your heart. You are under God, you are about to pour out a prayer; there comes to your mind the one who wounded you, there comes to your mind the one who oppressed you, there comes to your mind the one who despoiled you, there comes to your mind the one who sent you into prison: come now, attend to your heart, look to your Lord. See, your enemy is bad; see, your Lord is good: your bad enemy harms you; pray for your enemy, says your good Lord to you. Between your bad enemy and your good Lord, what are you going to do? Will you pray against the one, or obey the other?

CAPUT VIII. — 8. Dura jussa, sed magna promissa. Suscipis ex praecepto Domini tui orare pro maligno illo inimico tuo: quid facturus es? Dominus jussit: dura jussit, sed magna promisit. Quae dura jussit? Diligite inimicos vestros, benefacite his qui oderunt vos, et orate pro persequentibus vos. Dura sunt: sed propter verba labiorum tuorum ego custodivi vias duras (Psal. XVI, 4). Unde tibi viribus tuis custodire vias duras, nisi quia misericordia tua ante oculos meos est? Ecce dura jussit, amara jussit; vide quae promisit. Orate pro persequentibus vos, ut sitis filii Patris vestri qui in coelis est (Matth. V, 44, 45). Si tibi diceret, Ora pro inimico tuo, ut sis filius patris tui, ne exhaeredet te pater carnalis, qui hoc tibi relicturus est, quod hinc non est ablaturus; timeres, et faceres: promittitur tibi pro his duris, ut sis filius Altissimi; cogita Patrem, et agnosce haereditatem. Dic ergo, incipe orare pro inimico tuo illo magno, qui tibi multa mala fecit, qui in te multa dura congessit: incipe pro illo orare, et vide cor tuum tecum litigare. Quod ergo vis, quod placet tibi, quod delectaris secundum interiorem hominem, quod obtemperas Domino tuo, et oras pro inimico tuo, aurum est: quod vero, cum orare coeperis, incipit tecum carnalis infirmitas litigare, ipsae sunt sordes, a quibus te Deus vult in fornace purgare.

Chapter VIII. — 8. Hard commands, but great promises. You undertake, by the precept of your Lord, to pray for that malicious enemy of yours: what are you going to do? The Lord has commanded: He has commanded hard things, but He has promised great things. What hard things has He commanded? Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who persecute you. They are hard: but because of the words of Thy lips I have kept hard ways (Ps. 16:4). Whence would you have it in your own strength to keep hard ways, unless it be that Thy mercy is before my eyes? See, He has commanded hard things, He has commanded bitter things; see what He has promised. Pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father Who is in heaven (Matt. 5:44–45). If it were said to you, Pray for your enemy, that you may be your father's son, lest your fleshly father disinherit you, he who is going to leave you that which he will not take away from here; you would be afraid, and you would do it: for these hard things it is promised to you that you shall be a son of the Most High; think of the Father, and recognize the inheritance. Say, then, begin to pray for that great enemy of yours, who has done you many evils, who has heaped many hard things upon you: begin to pray for him, and see your heart quarrel with you. That, then, which you will, that it pleases you, that you delight according to the inner man, that you obey your Lord and pray for your enemy, is gold: but that, when you have begun to pray, the weakness of the flesh begins to quarrel with you, these are the dross from which God wishes to purge you in the furnace.

CAPUT IX. — 9. Mali ideo multi, ut exerceantur boni. Amurca, oleum. Exercere ergo in mediis malis, o bone, si quis es bonus: non de tuo bone, quia fuisti malus, sed de illius qui nunquam est malus: exercere in mediis malis. Nec mihi volo dicas: Saltem si necesse esset propter exercitationem nostram ut essent mali, pauci essent mali, et boni multi essent. Non attendis quia si pauci essent, multis non nocerent? Utique considera, vir prudens, quia si multi

Chapter IX. — 9. The bad are many so that the good may be exercised. Dregs, oil. Exercise yourself, then, in the midst of the bad, O good one, if you are good at all: not [good] of your own, O good one, for you were bad, but of Him Who is never bad: exercise yourself in the midst of the bad. Nor do I want you to say to me: At least, if it were necessary for our exercise that there be bad men, the bad would be few, and the good would be many. Do you not observe that if they were few, they would not harm many? Surely consider, prudent man, that if many

Editors' notes and page, col. 120

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 120

Sic Am. Er. et Ms. Germanensis. At Lov., rogat te Deus, Forte pro, rogas tu Deum.

So Am., Er. and the Saint-Germain manuscript. But Lov.: rogat te Deus ["God asks you"]. Perhaps for rogas tu Deum ["you ask God"].

(printed under page 66)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 120

Mss., dicit tibi Dominus bonus; omisso, tuus.

The manuscripts: dicit tibi Dominus bonus ["the good Lord says to you"]; with tuus ["your"] left out.

(printed under page 66)

(3) ‹anchor: non de tuo bone› · call in col 120

Sic Mss. At editi, de tuo bono.

So the manuscripts. But the printed editions: de tuo bono ["from your own good"].

(printed under page 66)