PL 38 · cols. 121–127

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

Sermons XVI–XVII

boni essent et pauci mali essent, pauci mali multis bonis nocere non auderent. Si non auderent, non exercerent. Nunc vero quia multi sunt mali, laboratur a paucis bonis inter multos malos: et cum laboratur, sudatur; et cum sudatur, aurum purgatur. Esto ergo in decorem domus Dei. Jam tecum in corde tuo litigavit infirmitas; invoca, ut vincas: adsit tibi Deus, adjuvet qui jubet. Jam factus es victor infirmitatis tuae, jam suscepisti animum et fructum orandi pro inimico tuo: vide quid boni sit; compara illum tibi. Ille meditatur tentationes, tu fundis orationes: ille si nocet, palam nocet; tu quod pro illo oras, Deus novit: ille non credit, quia cor tuum non discutit. Cum ergo ille palam nocet, tu occulte oras: in isto torculari (quia et torculari Ecclesia comparata est), vide si non ille qui palam nocet, amurca currens est per publicum. Amurca per publicum currit, oleum autem ad sedem suam occultos transitus habet. Et cum occulte transeat, in magnitudine apparet. Quam multi enim, o fratres mei, quam multi in ista conflictatione rerum, in hujus mundi malitia, in ista malorum abundantia subtraxerunt se, et conversi sunt ad Deum, et vale fecerunt mundo, et coeperunt pauperibus subito donare res suas, qui paulo ante rapiebant alienas! Sed multi raptores, invasores, spoliatores publice apparent; amurca illa est per plateas currens: illi autem, unus hinc, unus inde, corde conjuncto malus faciens mala permanere erubescens, Dei monita rogitans; spem saeculi irridens, spem coelestem exspectans, mutans amores et mores: oleum sanctitatis est in torculari, vas in honorem est in domo magna, aurum est in fornace, granum est in horreo. Ibi est decor domus Dei.

were good and few were bad, the few bad would not dare to harm the many good. If they did not dare, they would not do it. But now, because the bad are many, the few good labour among the many bad: and when there is labour, there is sweat; and when there is sweat, the gold is purified. Be, therefore, unto the beauty of the house of God. Already weakness has contended with you in your heart; call upon [Him], that you may conquer: may God be present to you, may He Who commands give help. Already you have become victor over your weakness, already you have taken up the resolve and the fruit of praying for your enemy: see what good it is; compare him with yourself. He devises temptations, you pour out prayers: if he does harm, he does harm openly; that you pray for him, God knows: he does not believe it, because he does not search your heart. Since, then, he does harm openly, you pray in secret: in this press (for the Church too has been compared to a press), see whether he who does harm openly is not the dregs running through the public way. The dregs run through the public way, but the oil has hidden passages to its own place. And though it passes in hiding, it appears in its greatness. For how many, my brothers, how many in this conflict of affairs, in the wickedness of this world, in this abundance of evil men, have withdrawn themselves and turned to God, and bidden farewell to the world, and suddenly begun to give their own possessions to the poor, who a little before were seizing those of others! But many robbers, invaders, plunderers appear in public; that is the dregs running through the streets: but those others, one from here, one from there, with heart joined [to God], a bad man doing bad things ashamed to remain [so], pondering the admonitions of God; laughing at the hope of the world, awaiting the heavenly hope, changing loves and ways: they are the oil of holiness in the press, the vessel unto honour in a great house, the gold in the furnace, the grain in the granary. There is the beauty of the house of God.

SERMO XVI. De eo quod scriptum est in Psalmo XXXIII, 13, Quis est homo qui vult vitam, et diligit videre dies bonos?

Sermon 16. On what is written in Psalm 33:13, Who is the man who wants life, and loves to see good days?

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Vita praesens nec vita est. Vocans humanum genus Spiritus Dei, jubendo quid facere, et promittendo quid sperare debeamus, prius mentem nostram inflammat ad praemium; ut quod praecipitur magis bonum amando, quam malum timendo faciamus. Quis est homo, inquit, qui vult vitam, et diligit videre dies bonos? Sic interrogatur quis iste sit, quasi possit inveniri qui non sit. Quis enim non vult vitam? qui non diligit videre dies bonos? Audi ergo quod sequitur, quicumque hoc vis et diligis, homo; audi quod sequitur, omnis homo: Cohibe, inquit, linguam tuam a malo, et labia tua non loquantur dolum. Declina a malo, et fac bonum; quaere pacem, et sequere eam (Psal. XXXIII, 13-15). Horum omnium caetera superiora sunt in praecepto, ultimum in praemio. Nam ut cohibeamus linguam nostram a malo, et labia nostra non loquantur dolum, declinemus a malo, et faciamus bonum, ut quaeramus pacem

Chapter One. — 1. The present life is not even life. The Spirit of God, calling the human race, by commanding what we ought to do and promising what we ought to hope for, first kindles our mind towards the reward; so that we may do what is commanded more by loving the good than by fearing the evil. Who is the man, He says, who wants life, and loves to see good days? Thus it is asked who this may be, as if someone could be found who is not so. For who does not want life? who does not love to see good days? Hear then what follows, whoever you are, O man, who want and love this; hear what follows, every man: Restrain, He says, your tongue from evil, and let your lips not speak deceit. Turn aside from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it (Ps. 33:13–15). Of all these, the rest, the earlier ones, belong to the command, the last to the reward. For that we should restrain our tongue from evil, and our lips should not speak deceit, that we should turn aside from evil and do good, that we should seek peace

Editors' notes and page, col. 121

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: mala permanere erubescens› · call in col 121

Am. Er. Par., corde conjuncto mala faciens, mala permanere erubescens.

Am., Er. and Par.: corde conjuncto mala faciens, mala permanere erubescens ["with heart joined, doing evil things, blushing that the evil things should remain"].

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO XVI› · call in col 121 Sermones 16 et 17 castigavimus ope duorum cl. et gr. rm. v. Am. Er. Par. Lov.

Sermons 16 and 17 we have corrected with the help of two [manuscripts], cl. and gr., and of rm. v. Am. Er. Par. Lov. [sigla kept as printed].

(printed under page 67)

(a) ‹anchor: corde conjuncto› · call in col 121

Forte, compuncto.

Perhaps, compuncto ["pricked", i.e. with heart pierced by compunction].

(printed under page 67)

(b) ‹anchor: SERMO XVI› · call in col 121

Alias, 1 inter Homilias 50.

Formerly, the 1st among the 50 Homilies.

(printed under page 67)

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praecipitur nobis: ut autem sequamur eam, promittitur nobis. Quae ista pax est, nisi quam non habet mundus? Quae ista pax est, nisi quam non habet ista vita, quae in hujus vitae comparatione nec vita est? Neque enim de hac vita diceret, Quis est homo, qui vult vitam? et ad istam vel retinendam vel producendam praeceptis consequentibus hortaretur, tanquam et istam quis non vellet. Nam et haec optatur saltem prolixa, quia non potest esse sempiterna: et per hanc potest homo pervenire ad illam, si quemadmodum vult eam longam, sic velit et bonam. Quantum est autem in hac vita, longum, quod erit aliquando finitum? Et quod erat longum, erit nullum: quia et quando erat, non stabat; quando producebatur, non augebatur; nec addendo crescebat, quia veniendo recedebat.

is commanded to us; but that we may follow it is promised to us. What is this peace, except that which the world does not have? What is this peace, except that which this life does not have, which in comparison with that life is not even life? For He would not be speaking of this life when He says, Who is the man who wills life? (Ps. 33:13), and urging us by the commands that follow to keep or prolong this one, as though there were anyone who did not want even this one. For even this life is desired, at least as a long one, since it cannot be everlasting; and through it a man can come to that other, if, just as he wants it long, so he would also want it good. But how great is anything long in this life, which will at some time be finished? And what was long will be nothing: because even when it was, it did not stand still; when it was being prolonged, it was not being increased; nor did it grow by being added to, because by coming it was going away.

CAPUT II. — 2. Vita bona hic sectanda. Redimere tempus quid. Quisquis igitur es amator longae vitae, esto potius bonae vitae. Nam si male vivere volueris, longa vita non erit verum bonum, sed erit longum malum. Vide autem quam sis absurdus atque perversus: cum te vitam fatearis plus amare, quam villam villam vis potius bonam habere, quam vitam. Nam ut inhiando et male concupiscendo adipiscaris villam bonam, fraudando efficis vitam malam. Tamen si tibi diceretur, si a te quaereretur, utrum malles villa bona carere perdendo, an vita mala moriendo; responderes, te, si utrumque retinere non posses, paratiorem esse ut villa tibi auferretur. Cur igitur non sic amatur vita, ut sit etiam bona, quae abs te omnibus tuis bonis praefertur etiam mala? Cupis certe ut longa sit, licet mala sit: imo fac ut bona sit, et noli timere ne brevis sit. Nam si te sollicito bene agitur, te securo cito finietur. Succedet ei namque vita aeterna, sine metu beata, sine fine longa. De illa quippe interrogat, qui dicit, Quis est homo qui vult vitam, et diligit vid⟨e⟩re dies bonos? In hac autem vita jubet nos Apostolus redimere tempus, quoniam dies mali sunt (Ephes. V, 16). Et quid est redimere tempus, nisi, cum opus est, etiam detrimento temporalium commodorum ad aeterna quaerenda et capessenda spatia temporis comparare? Unde et Dominus praecipit, dicens, Si quis voluerit tecum judicio contendere, et tunicam tuam tollere, dimitte illi et pallium (Matth. V, 40): ut scilicet amissa re aliqua temporali, impendas ad quietem, quod eras impensurus ad litem.

Chapter II. — 2. A good life is to be pursued here. What it is to redeem the time. Whoever you are, then, who are a lover of long life, be rather a lover of good life. For if you choose to live badly, a long life will not be a true good, but will be a long evil. But see how absurd and perverse you are: though you confess that you love life more than your country estate, you would rather have a good estate than a good life. For in order to acquire a good estate by gaping after it and coveting it wrongly, you make your life bad by defrauding. Yet if it were said to you, if you were asked, whether you would rather be without a good estate by losing it, or without a bad life by dying, you would answer that, if you could not keep both, you were readier to have the estate taken from you. Why then is life, which by you is preferred to all your goods even when it is bad, not so loved that it may also be good? You certainly desire that it be long, even though it be bad: rather, make it good, and do not fear that it be short. For if it is conducted well while you are anxious, it will be quickly finished while you are free from care. For eternal life will succeed it, blessed without fear, long without end. It is about that life indeed that he asks who says, Who is the man who wills life, and loves to see good days? (Ps. 33:13). But in this life the Apostle bids us redeem the time, because the days are evil (Eph. 5:16). And what is it to redeem the time, except, when there is need, to purchase spaces of time for seeking and laying hold of eternal things even at the loss of temporal advantages? Hence the Lord too commands, saying, If anyone will contend with you in judgement and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also (Matt. 5:40): that is to say, that having lost some temporal thing, you may spend on peace what you were going to spend on the lawsuit.

CAPUT III. — 3. Vita in Psalmo quaenam proponitur. Quod itaque non de vita et diebus hujus temporis loquatur Spiritus Dei, dicens, Quis est homo qui vult vitam, et cupit videre dies bonos? sequentia docent. Talia enim praecepta subjungit, quibus obaudiendo vitam et dies bonos habere possimus, ut haec vita quam nunc agimus, et hi dies pro eisdem praeceptis implendis plerumque amittendi sint. Proinde

Chapter III. — 3. What life is set forth in the Psalm. That the Spirit of God, then, is not speaking of the life and days of this time when He says, Who is the man who wills life, and desires to see good days? (Ps. 33:13), the following words teach. For He adds such commands that, by obeying them, we may have life and good days, such that this life which we now lead, and these days, must often be lost for the sake of fulfilling those same commands. Accordingly

Editors' notes and page, col. 122

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: quis non vellet› · call in col 122

Sic aliquot Mss. At editi, quanquam et istam quis non velit?

So several manuscripts. But the printed editions: quanquam et istam quis non velit? ["although who would not want this one too?"]

(printed under page 67)

(2) ‹anchor: veniendo recedebat› · call in col 122

Mss., transibat.

The manuscripts: transibat ["was passing"].

(printed under page 67)

(3) ‹anchor: plus amare, quam villam› · call in col 122

Editi, cum te villam fateris plus amare quam vitam. Emendantur hic ad Mss.

The printed editions: cum te villam fateris plus amare quam vitam ["when you confess that you love a country estate more than life"]. They are here corrected by the manuscripts.

(printed under page 67)

(a) ‹anchor: spatia temporis comparare› · call in col 122

Vid. Serm. 167 in hunc locum Apostoli.

See Sermon 167 on this passage of the Apostle.

(printed under page 67)

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si hanc vitam, in qua nunc sumus, intellexerimus in eo quod dictum est, Quis est homo qui vult vitam? et propter hanc habendam quae connectuntur praecepta faciamus; quid acturi sumus, cum aliquis in malitia potens mortem nobis fuerit comminatus, nisi falsum testimonium dixerimus? Profecto enim si fecerimus quod hic jubetur, Cohibe linguam tuam a malo, ut propter hoc praeceptum testimonii fallaciam recusemus, quasi decepti videbimur: quia propter habendae vitae cupiditatem praeceptum servare suscepimus, et eam magis praeceptum servando perdidimus. Porro si vitam intellexerimus in aeternum beatam, quam post istam Deus dabit obedientibus sibi; de qua Dominus dixit ad quemdam, Si vis venire ad vitam, serva mandata (Matth. XIX, 17): tunc vero interrogati, Quis est homo qui vult vitam; respondemus nos velle vitam, et si etiam sub ipso percussoris ictu veritatem servabimus in testimonio, mortem contemnimus in mundo, vitam consequimur in coelo.

if we understand this life, in which we now are, in what was said, Who is the man that desires life? and for the sake of having it we carry out the precepts that are joined to it; what are we going to do when someone powerful in malice has threatened us with death unless we speak false testimony? For surely, if we do what is commanded here, Restrain your tongue from evil, so that on account of this precept we refuse the deceit of testimony, we shall seem as it were deceived: because out of desire for having life we undertook to keep the precept, and by keeping the precept we have rather lost it. But if we understand the life that is blessed for eternity, which after this one God will give to those who obey Him; of which the Lord said to a certain man, If you will come to life, keep the commandments (Matt. 19:17): then indeed, when asked, Who is the man that desires life; we answer that we desire life, and if even under the very stroke of the slayer we shall keep truth in testimony, we despise death in the world, we attain life in heaven.

4. Dies boni in psalmo, non hujus saeculi, sed aeterni promittuntur. Loqui dolum. Hoc de diebus bonis intelligamus. Nam si propter dies praesentis saeculi, qui boni dicuntur, et non sunt, in sepultura cordis per epularum aggeres, in luxuriae ac vinolentiae gurgitibus, in turpissimis ingluvium voluptatibus: si ergo propter istos dies, quasi propter dies bonos, susceperimus praeceptum, ut labia nostra non loquantur dolum; plerumque tales dies cogunt amatores suos loqui dolum, et tales dies negantur eis qui non loquuntur dolum. Quid enim aliud est, loqui dolum, nisi aliud labiis promere, cum aliud claudatur in pectore? Ad hoc maxime adulatorum exarsit negotium; quia pene semper, ne prohibeantur ab opimis mensis apparatisque conviviis, blandiendo non tacent falsum; et ab his prohibentur, si amando Deum dixerint verum. Ergo propter istos dies, quos putant bonos, ut eis exhibeantur, loquuntur dolum; et eis negantur, si non loquuntur dolum.

4. The good days promised in the psalm are not those of this age, but of the eternal one. To speak guile. Let us understand this of the good days. For if, on account of the days of the present age, which are called good and are not, in the burial of the heart beneath heaps of banquets, in the whirlpools of luxury and drunkenness, in the most shameful pleasures of gullets: if, then, on account of these days, as though on account of good days, we undertake the precept that our lips should not speak guile; for the most part such days compel their lovers to speak guile, and such days are denied to those who do not speak guile. For what else is it to speak guile, but to bring forth one thing with the lips while another is shut up in the breast? To this end above all the business of flatterers has blazed up; because almost always, so as not to be kept away from rich tables and well-furnished banquets, they do not keep silent about what is false in flattering; and they are kept away from them if, by loving God, they speak what is true. Therefore on account of these days, which they think good, that these may be provided for them, they speak guile; and these are denied them if they do not speak guile.

CAPUT IV.— Alii sunt igitur dies boni, de quibus admonemur, ut si eos videre diligimus, cohibeamus a malo linguam, nec dolum loquamur. Non sunt de isto saeculo dies illi: non eos habet coelum quod transiet, sed quod permanebit; non eos novit terra morientium, sed terra viventium. Hos quisquis intellexerit et dilexerit, linguam cohibet a malo: et si eum terror mortis cogat ad malum, labia ejus non loquuntur dolum: et si diebus fallaciter bonis invitetur ad dolum, declinat a malo etiam inter bona, facit bonum etiam inter mala; quaerit pacem, quae non est

Chapter IV.— There are, therefore, other good days, about which we are admonished that, if we love to see them, we should restrain our tongue from evil and not speak guile. Those days are not of this age: the heaven that will pass away does not hold them, but the one that will remain; the land of the dying does not know them, but the land of the living. Whoever has understood and loved these restrains his tongue from evil: and if the terror of death should drive him to evil, his lips do not speak guile: and if he should be invited to guile by deceitfully good days, he turns aside from evil even amid good things, he does good even amid evils; he seeks peace, which is not

Editors' notes and page, col. 123

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: ingluvium voluptatibus› · call in col 123

Editi, ingluviarum voluptatibus; pro quo Mss., ingluvium voluptatibus. — Morel. Elem. Critic., pag. 125, 126, censet forte legendum, inguinum. Lectionem a PP. Benedictinis admissam praeponimus, siquidem sensum rationi omnino consentaneum suppeditet, nec alium necesse sit excogitare. M.

The printed editions: ingluviarum voluptatibus; for which the manuscripts have ingluvium voluptatibus ["the pleasures of gluttony"]. — Morel, Elem. Critic., pp. 125, 126, thinks one should perhaps read inguinum ["of the loins"]. We prefer the reading admitted by the Benedictine Fathers, since it supplies a sense wholly agreeable to reason, and there is no need to devise another. M.

(printed under page 68)

(2) ‹anchor: ab his prohibentur› · call in col 123

Sic Mss. Editi vero, ne ab his prohibeantur.

So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however: ne ab his prohibeantur ["lest they be kept from these"].

(printed under page 68)

(3) ‹anchor: linguam cohibet› · call in col 123

Plures Mss., cohibeat. Et infra imperandi modo, loquantur, declinet, faciat, quaerat, sequatur.

Most manuscripts: cohibeat ["let him restrain"]. And below, in the imperative mood: loquantur, declinet, faciat, quaerat, sequatur ["let them speak, let him turn aside, let him do, let him seek, let him follow"].

(printed under page 68)

(4) ‹anchor: quaerit pacem› · call in col 123

Mss., declinet a malo : etiam inter mala faciat bonum, etiam inter mala quaerat pacem.

The manuscripts: declinet a malo : etiam inter mala faciat bonum, etiam inter mala quaerat pacem ["let him turn from evil: even amid evils let him do good, even amid evils let him seek peace"].

(printed under page 68)

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super terram, et sequitur eam in illo qui fecit coelum et terram.

upon the earth, and follows it in Him Who made heaven and earth.

5. Quanto ardore quaerenda pax et vita aeterna. — Proinde, fratres, concupiscite vitam, et diligite videre dies bonos ubi nulla nox erit: vitam in qua dies malus non timeatur; dies bonos, in quibus nunquam vita finiatur. Sed si hanc mercedem diligitis, cavete ne opus, cujus ea merces est, recusetis. Illam enim pacem quaerendo sequimini: quaerite autem manibus vestris nocte coram Deo, et non decipiemini (Psal. LXXVI, 3). Quid est enim manibus vestris, nisi operibus vestris? Quid est nocte, nisi in tribulatione? Quid est coram Deo, nisi conscientiae puritate? Sic vivendo et hoc amando, habebitis Deum in contemplatione, et in illo vitam sine defectione; dies bonos sine contenebratione, pacem sine dissensione.

5. With what ardour peace and eternal life are to be sought. Therefore, brethren, long for life, and love to see good days where there will be no night: a life in which no evil day is feared; good days, in which life never comes to an end. But if you love this reward, take care that you do not refuse the work whose reward it is. For pursue that peace by seeking it: but seek with your hands by night before God, and you will not be deceived (Ps. 76:3). For what is "with your hands", if not "with your works"? What is "by night", if not "in tribulation"? What is "before God", if not "with purity of conscience"? By living thus and loving this, you will have God in contemplation, and in Him life without failing; good days without darkening, peace without dissension.

SERMO XVII. De eo quod dicitur in Psalmo XLIX, 3, Deus manifestus veniet, Deus noster, et non silebit, etc.

Sermon 17. On what is said in Psalm 49:3, God will come manifest, our God, and will not keep silence, etc.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Judicium extremum. Cantavimus, fratres, Deus manifestus veniet, Deus noster, et non silebit. Deum Christum Scriptura praedixit venturum ad judicium vivorum et mortuorum. Quando enim prius venit judicari, occultus fuit: quando veniet judicare, manifestus erit. Quam fuerit tunc occultus, hinc intelligite quod ait Apostolus: Si enim cognovissent, nunquam Dominum gloriae crucifixissent (I Cor. II, 8). Tunc autem siluit interrogatus, sicut et Evangelium loquitur, et impletur in eo Isaiae prophetia dicentis: Sicut ovis ad immolandum ductus est, et sicut agnus coram tondente se fuit sine voce, sic non aperuit os suum (Isai. LIII, 7). Veniet ergo manifestus, et non silebit. Ad hoc dictum est, Non silebit, quia siluit judicatus. Nam quantum attinet ad voces ipsius nobis necessarias, quando siluit? Non siluit per Patriarchas, non siluit per os carnis suae: et modo si sileret, Scriptura non loqueretur. Lector ascendit, et ipse non silet. Tractator loquitur, si vera loquitur, Christus loquitur. Si sileret Christus, ego vobis ista non dicerem. Nec per os vestrum siluit: nam quando cantabatis, ipse loquebatur. Non silet, opus est ut nos audiamus, sed aure cordis: nam facile est audire auribus carnis. Illis auribus audire debemus, quas quaerebat magister ipse, cum diceret: Qui habet aures audiendi, audiat (Matth. XIII, 9). Quis enim ante illum, quando ista dicebat, sine auribus carnis stabat? Omnes aures habebant, et pauci habebant: non omnes habebant aures audiendi, hoc est obediendi.

Chapter I. 1. The last judgement. We have sung, brethren, God will come manifest, our God, and will not keep silence. Scripture foretold that God, Christ, would come to judge the living and the dead. For when He came earlier to be judged, He was hidden: when He comes to judge, He will be manifest. How hidden He was then, understand from what the Apostle says: For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory (1 Cor. 2:8). Then, however, He kept silence when questioned, as the Gospel too relates, and in Him is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, who says: As a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer He was without voice, so He did not open His mouth (Isa. 53:7). He will come therefore manifest, and will not keep silence. To this end it was said, He will not keep silence, because He kept silence when judged. For as far as concerns His utterances that are necessary to us, when has He kept silence? He did not keep silence through the patriarchs, He did not keep silence through the mouth of His flesh: and now, if He were silent, Scripture would not speak. The reader goes up, and he is not silent. The preacher speaks; if he speaks true things, Christ speaks. If Christ were silent, I would not be saying these things to you. Nor has He kept silence through your mouth: for when you were singing, He was speaking. He is not silent; what is needed is that we hear, but with the ear of the heart: for it is easy to hear with the ears of the flesh. We ought to hear with those ears which the Master Himself was seeking when He said: He who has ears for hearing, let him hear (Matt. 13:9). For who stood before Him, when He was saying these things, without ears of the flesh? All had ears, and few had them: not all had ears for hearing, that is, for obeying.

CAPUT II. — 2. Praepositis munus impositum. Votum pii pastoris. Quam terribiliter locutus est per prophetam Ezechielem, credo adhibuistis aurem, credo audistis quemadmodum dixerit, Ad domum

Chapter II. 2. The duty laid upon those set over others. The wish of a devout pastor. How terribly He spoke through the prophet Ezekiel, I believe you have lent your ear, I believe you have heard how He said, To the

Editors' notes and page, col. 124

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: Non silebit› · call in col 124

Editi, Non silebit judicaturus quia. Abest, judicaturus, a Mss.

The printed editions: Non silebit judicaturus quia ["He will not be silent when about to judge, because"]. Judicaturus is absent from the manuscripts.

(*) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 124 Castigatus est ad omnes codices scriptos et excusos in sermone praecedenti modo designatos.

Corrected against all the written and printed codices just named at the preceding sermon.

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 124

Alias, 28 inter Homilias 50.

Formerly, the 28th among the 50 Homilies.

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PL 38:125

Israel mittam te, non ad populum altioris linguae te mittam. Populus autem ille nolent audire te, quia nolunt audire me (Ezech. III, 5-7). Quid ostendit, nisi quia ipse Deus per Prophetam loquebatur? Quia vero in ipsis verbis propheticis nos maxime territi sumus, id est, praepositi quos posuit loqui ad populum suum, prius in illis verbis videmus faciem nostram. Demonstratum est enim nobis, sonante lectore; quasi speculum ubi nos inspiceremus; et inspeximus nos: inspicite vos. Ecce ego facio, quod ibi audivi. Si non discreveris, inquit, justum, si non dixeris peccatori, Morte morieris, et ostenderis illi ut recedat ab iniquitatibus suis; ipse quidem in peccatis suis morietur, sanguinem autem ejus de manu tua exquiram. Si autem dixeris, et ille contempserit, et non obedierit; ille in sceleribus suis morietur, tu autem animam tuam liberabis (Id. XXXIII, 8, 9). Dico vobis, libero animam meam. In magno enim sum, non periculo, sed exitio constitutus, si tacuero. Sed cum ego dixero, et implevero officium meum, vos jam attendite periculum vestrum. Quid autem volo? quid desidero? quid cupio? quare loquor? quare hic sedeo? quare vivo? nisi hac intentione, ut cum Christo simul vivamus? Cupiditas mea ista est, honor meus iste est, gloria mea ista est, gaudium meum hoc est, possessio mea ista est. Sed si non me audieritis, et tamen ego non tacuero, animam meam liberabo. Sed nolo salvus esse sine vobis.

[ho]use of Israel I send you, not to a people of a deeper tongue do I send you. But that people will not hear you, because they will not hear Me (Ezek. 3:5–7). What does He show, except that God Himself was speaking through the Prophet? But since in these very prophetic words we are the ones most terrified, that is, the overseers whom He has appointed to speak to His people, we first see our own face in those words. For it was shown to us as the reader sounded them out, as a mirror in which we might look at ourselves; and we have looked at ourselves: look at yourselves. See, I am doing what I heard there. If you do not discern, He says, the just, if you do not say to the sinner, You shall surely die, and show him that he should withdraw from his iniquities, he indeed shall die in his sins, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you have spoken, and he has scorned it and not obeyed, he shall die in his crimes, but you shall free your soul (ibid. 33:8–9). I tell you, I am freeing my soul. For I am placed not in great danger but in great ruin, if I keep silent. But when I have spoken and fulfilled my office, do you then look to your own danger. And what do I want? what do I desire? what do I long for? why do I speak? why do I sit here? why do I live? if not with this intention, that we may live together with Christ? This is my longing, this is my honour, this is my glory, this is my joy, this is my possession. But if you do not hear me, and yet I do not keep silent, I shall free my soul. But I do not wish to be saved without you.

CAPUT III. — 3. Peccata consuetudine vilescunt, nec sentiuntur. Ebriositas. Excommunicatio. Nolite ergo contemnere, fratres mei, peccata in quibus forte consuetudinem jam fecistis. Omne enim peccatum consuetudine vilescit, et fit homini quasi nullum sit: obduruit, jam dolorem perdidit. Quod valde putre est, nec dolet: quod non dolet, non pro sano habendum, sed pro mortuo computandum est. Attendite quae dicat Scriptura, et ibi videte quemadmodum vivere debeatis. Quis non contemnat ebriositatis peccatum? Abundat tale peccatum, et contemnitur. Jam cor ebriosum perdidit sensum, non habet dolorem, quia nec salutem. Quando aliquid pungitur et dolet, aut sanum est, aut est in illo spes aliqua sanitatis: quando autem tangitur, pungitur, vellicatur, nec dolet; pro mortuo habendum est, ac de corpore praecidendum. Sed aliquando nos parcimus, et non novimus nisi loqui: excommunicare, de Ecclesia projicere pigri sumus. Aliquando enim timemus ne ipso flagello pejor fiat qui caeditur. Et quamvis qui tales sunt, jam in anima mortui sint: tamen quia Medicus noster omnipotens est, non est desperandum de iis; sed totis viribus supplicandum, ut aures cordis, quas clausas habere probantur, Dominus aperire dignetur. Sed numquid ille parcet, numquid silebit quem timere debemus? Audistis in ipso Psalmo, fratres mei, cum enumeraret peccata peccatoris, ait, Haec fecisti, et tacui. Contra hoc dictum est, Veniet, et non silebit.

Chapter III. — 3. Sins grow cheap through habit and are not felt. Drunkenness. Excommunication. Do not, then, my brothers, think lightly of the sins in which you have perhaps already formed a habit. For every sin grows cheap through habit, and becomes to a man as if it were nothing: it has hardened, it has already lost its pain. What is badly rotten does not even hurt: what does not hurt is not to be held healthy, but to be reckoned dead. Attend to what Scripture says, and see there how you ought to live. Who does not think lightly of the sin of drunkenness? Such a sin abounds, and is thought light of. The drunken heart has already lost its feeling; it has no pain, because it has no health either. When something is pricked and hurts, either it is healthy, or there is in it some hope of health: but when it is touched, pricked, plucked, and does not hurt, it is to be held dead and cut off from the body. But sometimes we spare, and know only how to speak: to excommunicate, to cast out of the Church, we are sluggish. For sometimes we fear that he who is beaten may become worse through the very scourge. And although those who are such are already dead in soul, yet because our Physician is almighty, we must not despair of them; but we must pray with all our strength that the Lord may deign to open the ears of the heart, which they are shown to have closed. But will He spare, will He keep silent, He Whom we ought to fear? You heard in that very Psalm, my brothers, when He was listing the sins of the sinner, He says, These things you have done, and I kept silent. Against this it is said, He will come, and will not keep sil-

Editors' notes and page, col. 125

Footnotes

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Er. Lugd. Ven. Lov. sic legunt hunc locum : Populus autem ille non vult audire te, quia non vult audire me. M.

Er., Lugd., Ven. and Lov. read this passage thus: Populus autem ille non vult audire te, quia non vult audire me ["But that people will not hear you, because it will not hear me"]. M.

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(2) ‹anchor: pungitur, vellicatur› · call in col 125

Codex gr., loco, vellicatur, habet, ulcatur. At rm., sulcatur.

The codex gr., in place of vellicatur ["is plucked"], has ulcatur. But rm.: sulcatur ["is furrowed"].

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Praesentia sua non silebit. Excepto enim quod Dominus Christus significatur, quia siluit in judicio, ut impleretur in illo etiam ea prophetia, quam paulo ante commemoravi; hoc excepto, modo Deus ipse per se ipsum Dominus Christus tacet. Ascendit enim in coelum, et sedet ad dexteram Patris, inde venturus est judicare vivos et mortuos: quamdiu ibi est, donec veniat tacet. Voces ejus in Libris audimus, de ore ipsius non audimus. Audistis vocem ipsius de sanctis Scripturis isto loco: auditis cum vos ipsas commemoratis, et forte de his rebus inter vos sermocinamini.

keep silence. By His presence He will not keep silence. For apart from the fact that the Lord Christ is signified, because He kept silence at the judgement, so that there might be fulfilled in Him also that prophecy which I mentioned a little before; this apart, God Himself, in His own person the Lord Christ, is now silent. For He has ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of the Father, whence He is to come to judge the living and the dead: as long as He is there, until He comes, He is silent. His words we hear in the Books; from His own mouth we do not hear them. You have heard His voice from the holy Scriptures in this place: you hear it when you yourselves recall them, and perhaps converse about these things among yourselves.

CAPUT IV. — 4. Peccantes videt et odit Deus, etsi nunc tacet. Qui vult audiri a Deo, charissimi, prius audiat Deum. Numquid audis illum quando facis adulterium; et latere te putas, quia homo te non videt? Ille te videt, sed tacet. Quando furtum facis, captas oculos ejus cui furaris, et si eum latet, facis: si propterea non facis, quia times ne videaris, intus fecisti, in corde fecisti; fur teneris, et nihil tulisti: sed et tu, si opportunitas detur ad implendum malum factum tuum, furaris, et laetaris quia tacet. Audi ergo Psalmum: te admonuit, te quicumque es, qui forte hic hodie stas, et nocte aliquid fecisti, te admonuit, tibi dixit, Haec fecisti et tacui. Suspicatus es iniquitatem, quod ero tibi similis? O homines, qui haec verba quae dicturus sum, nec in ore habetis, nec in corde, felices estis. Nonne quotidie homines mala facientes, aut quos bene fecisse poenitet, et poenitentia perversa fundunt quod mulserunt; nonne quotidie dicunt, et ista murmura inter se rodunt: Vere si Deo displicerent ista, permitteret illa fieri, aut illi qui ea faciunt felices essent in terra? Videmus raptores, videmus infirmorum oppressores, videmus vicinorum expulsores, videmus violentos limitum invasores, videmus calumniatores; et tamen potentes, divites, felices in hac terra. Si vere Deus ista videret, si ista curaret, parceret eis? Addunt et hoc, quod pejus est: Non placent nisi mali. Contingat autem ut faciat bene aliquis, et sequatur forte aliqua tentatio, continuo ad manum habet: Non expedit bene facere; qui fecerit bene, nihil illi prodest. Parum est tibi quod male vis facere, et bene facientibus maledicis? Haec fecisti, inquit, et tacui. Suspicatus es iniquitatem, quod ero tibi similis. Quid est, quod ero tibi similis? Quia sic mihi placet malum, quomodo tibi: hoc es suspicatus. Hoc dixisti in corde tuo: sed ego audivi, quando dixisti in corde tuo. Quod pejus est, in haec verba progrediuntur, ut nec audiri timeant.

Chapter IV. — 4. God sees and hates sinners, even though He is now silent. Whoever wishes to be heard by God, dearly beloved, let him first hear God. Do you hear Him when you commit adultery; and do you think yourself hidden, because no man sees you? He sees you, but He is silent. When you commit theft, you watch the eyes of the one from whom you steal, and if he does not notice, you do it: if you refrain from doing it only because you fear to be seen, you have done it within, you have done it in your heart; you are held a thief, though you have carried nothing off: but you too, if the opportunity is given for carrying out your evil deed, steal, and rejoice because He is silent. Hear then the Psalm: it has admonished you, you, whoever you are, who perhaps stand here today, and did something in the night; it has admonished you, it has said to you, These things you did, and I was silent. Did you suspect iniquity, that I shall be like you? O men, you who have neither in your mouth nor in your heart these words which I am about to speak, you are happy. Do not men every day who do evil, or who repent of having done good, and by a perverse repentance pour out what they had milked; do they not every day say, and gnaw over these murmurings among themselves: Truly, if these things displeased God, would He permit them to be done, or would those who do them be happy on earth? We see robbers, we see oppressors of the weak, we see expellers of their neighbours, we see violent invaders of boundaries, we see slanderers; and yet they are powerful, rich, happy in this land. If God truly saw these things, if He cared about them, would He spare them? They add this also, which is worse: None please [Him] but the wicked. And should it happen that someone does good, and perhaps some trial follows, straightway he has at hand: It does not profit to do good; whoever has done good, nothing avails him. Is it too little for you that you will to do evil, and that you also curse those who do good? These things you did, He says, and I was silent. Did you suspect iniquity, that I shall be like you. What is, that I shall be like you? That evil pleases me just as it pleases you: this is what you suspected. This you said in your heart: but I heard, when you said it in your heart. What is worse, they go so far in these words that they do not even fear to be heard.

CAPUT V. — 5. Dei judicium in peccantes. Poenitendi tempus. Ergo suspicatus es inique, quod ero tibi similis. Arguam te: quomodo non putas, et quando non putas, arguam te. Sileo cum facis: sed non sileo cum

Chapter V. — 5. The judgement of God upon sinners. The time for repentance. So you suspected wickedly that I shall be like you. I will rebuke you: in a way you do not think, and when you do not think, I will rebuke you. I am silent when you act: but I am not silent when

Editors' notes and page, col. 126

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Sic Mss. Editi vero, cum vos ipsi commemoratis.

So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however: cum vos ipsi commemoratis ["when you yourselves call to mind"].

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Mss. non habent, ne videaris.

The manuscripts do not have ne videaris ["lest you seem"].

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Sic Mss. At editi, nisi mala.

So the manuscripts. But the printed editions: nisi mala ["except evil things"].

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(4) ‹anchor: nihil illi prodest› · call in col 126

Mss. : Non expedit facere bene, malo qui fecerit bene; nec habent, nihil illi prodest, quod etiam abest ab Am. et Er.

The manuscripts: Non expedit facere bene, malo qui fecerit bene ["It does not pay to do well; it goes ill with him who has done well"]; nor do they have nihil illi prodest ["it profits him nothing"], which is also absent from Am. and Er.

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(5) ‹anchor: in corde tuo› · call in col 126

In editis deerat, sed ego audivi, quando dixisti in corde tuo; quod hic restitutum est ex manuscriptis.

In the printed editions there was wanting sed ego audivi, quando dixisti in corde tuo ["but I heard, when you said it in your heart"]; which is here restored from the manuscripts.

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judico. Arguam te. Quid tibi faciam, quando arguam te? Statuam te ante faciem tuam. Modo enim quando male facis, putas quia bonus es, quia non vis te videre. Alios reprehendis, te non respicis; alios accusas, de te non cogitas; alios ponis ante oculos tuos, te ponis post dorsum tuum. Ego quando te arguo, contra facio; tollo te a dorso tuo, et pono te ante oculos tuos. Videbis te, et planges te; et non erit jam tunc quomodo corrigas te. Contemnis ergo tempus misericordiae, veniet tempus judicii: quia tu in ecclesia mihi cantasti, Misericordiam et judicium cantabo tibi, Domine (Psal. C, 1). Ex ore nostro exit, et ubique ecclesiae concrepant Christo, Misericordiam et judicium cantabo tibi, Domine. Tempus est misericordiae, ut corrigamur: nondum venit tempus judicii. Locus est, spatium est: peccavimus, corrigamur. Nondum finita est via, nondum clausus est dies, nondum exspiratum est; non desperetur, quod est pejus: quoniam propter ipsa peccata humana et tolerabilia, et tanto crebriora, quanto minora, constituit Deus in Ecclesia tempore misericordiae praerogandae quotidianam medicinam, ut dicamus, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris (Matth. VI, 12): ut his verbis lota facie ad altare accedamus, et his verbis lota facie corpore Christi et sanguine communicemus.

I judge. I will reprove you. What shall I do to you when I reprove you? I will set you before your own face. For now, when you do evil, you think that you are good, because you do not want to see yourself. Others you rebuke, yourself you do not look at; others you accuse, of yourself you do not think; others you place before your eyes, yourself you place behind your back. When I reprove you, I do the opposite: I take you from behind your back and place you before your eyes. You will see yourself, and you will lament over yourself; and there will then no longer be any way for you to correct yourself. You despise, then, the time of mercy; the time of judgement will come: for you sang to Me in church, Mercy and judgement will I sing to Thee, O Lord (Ps. 100:1). It goes out from our mouth, and everywhere the churches resound to Christ, Mercy and judgement will I sing to Thee, O Lord. It is the time of mercy, that we may be corrected: the time of judgement has not yet come. There is room, there is space: we have sinned, let us be corrected. The way is not yet finished, the day is not yet closed, the last breath is not yet breathed out; let there be no despair, which is worse: for on account of those very sins that are human and tolerable, and the more frequent the smaller they are, God has established in the Church, in the time when mercy is to be bestowed, a daily medicine, that we may say, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors (Matt. 6:12): so that, our faces washed by these words, we may approach the altar, and, our faces washed by these words, we may communicate in the body and blood of Christ.

CAPUT VI. — 6. Medicina post peccatum non respuenda. Sed quod est gravius, ipsam medicinam sic homines contemnunt, ut non solum non dent veniam quando in illos peccatur, sed nec velint petere quando ipsi peccant. Intravit tentatio, subrepsit ira; tantum dominata est iracundia, quantum potuit, ut non solum tumultuaretur cor, sed et convicia et crimina vomeret lingua. Non vides quo te impulit? non vides quo te praecipitavit? Tandem corrige, dic, Male feci, peccavi. Non enim morieris, si dixeris: crede, non mihi, sed Deo. Quid sum ego? Homo sum, par vester sum, carnem porto, infirmus sum: omnes credamus Deo. Attendite vobis. Ipse Dominus Christus ait, Attendite vobis: Si peccaverit frater tuus, corripe eum inter te et ipsum solum. Si te audierit, lucratus es fratrem tuum: si te non audierit, adhibe tecum duos aut tres. In ore duorum aut trium testium stabit omne verbum. Si nec ipsos audierit, refer ad Ecclesiam. Si nec ipsam audierit, sit tibi tanquam ethnicus et publicanus (Matth. XVIII, 15-7). Ethnicus gentilis est: gentilis ille est, qui in Christum non credit. Si nec Ecclesiam audierit, mortuum computa. Sed ecce vivit, ecce intrat, ecce signat, ecce genu figit, ecce orat, ecce ad altare accedit. Sed sit tibi tanquam ethnicus et publicanus. Noli in illo attendere falsa signa: vivens mortuus est. Unde vivit? Quomodo vivit? Si dicam alicui in conspectu vestro, Tu hoc fecisti: respondebit postea, Quantum erat? Intus me moneret, intus mihi diceret quia male feci, intus viderem peccatum

Chapter VI. — 6. The medicine after sin is not to be spurned. But what is more serious, men so despise this very medicine that not only do they not grant pardon when sin is committed against them, but neither are they willing to ask for it when they themselves sin. Temptation entered, anger crept in; wrath held sway as far as it could, so that not only was the heart in tumult, but the tongue also vomited out insults and accusations. Do you not see where it has driven you? Do you not see where it has hurled you headlong? At last correct yourself, say, I have done wrong, I have sinned. For you will not die if you say it: believe, not me, but God. What am I? I am a man, I am your equal, I bear flesh, I am weak: let us all believe God. Look to yourselves. The Lord Christ Himself says, Look to yourselves: If your brother sins, rebuke him between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother: if he does not listen to you, take with you two or three. In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand. If he does not listen even to them, refer it to the Church. If he does not listen even to her, let him be to you as a heathen and a publican (Matt. 18:15–17). A heathen is a gentile: a gentile is he who does not believe in Christ. If he does not listen even to the Church, count him dead. But look, he lives, look, he comes in, look, he signs himself, look, he bends the knee, look, he prays, look, he approaches the altar. But let him be to you as a heathen and a publican. Do not heed false signs in him: living, he is dead. Whence does he live? How does he live? If I should say to someone in your sight, You did this: he will answer afterwards, How great a thing was it? In private he should have warned me, in private he should have told me that I did wrong, in private I should have seen the sin

Editors' notes and page, col. 127

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: par vester sum› · call in col 127

Editi, par vestrum sum. Codex rm., parvus sum. Alii vero manuscripti, par vester sum.

The printed editions: par vestrum sum ["I am the equal of you"]. The codex rm.: parvus sum ["I am small"]. But the other manuscripts: par vester sum ["I am your equal"].

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(2) ‹anchor: Quomodo vivit› · call in col 127

Mss. : Noli in illo attendere falsa signa viventis : mortuus est. Unde vivitur ? Quomodo vivitur ?

The manuscripts: Noli in illo attendere falsa signa viventis : mortuus est. Unde vivitur ? Quomodo vivitur ? ["Do not heed in him the false signs of one living: he is dead. Whence does one live? How does one live?"]

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Editi : Quantum errat ? At Mss. : Quantum erat ? Ex his Victorinus addita particula prosequitur, ut intus me moneret.

The printed editions: Quantum errat ? ["How greatly he errs?"] But the manuscripts: Quantum erat ? ["How great a thing was it?"] Of these the Saint-Victor manuscript, with a particle added, continues: ut intus me moneret ["that he should warn me within"].

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