Migne Reading Room
PL 38 · cols. 32–51
Augustine, Sermones 1-18 (Classis I, de Scripturis: de Vetere Testamento)
Sermons III–IV
corde, in sola fide est : quod autem immolandum duxit filium, quod intrepidus dexteram armavit, quod jam feriret, nisi voce teneretur, magna fides est utique, et magnum opus : et ipsum opus laudavit Deus, cum diceret, Quoniam exaudisti vocem meam. Quare ergo apostolus Paulus ait, Arbitramur justificari hominem per fidem sine operibus Legis (Rom. III, 28) ; et alio loco dicit, Et fides quae per dilectionem operatur (Galat. V, 6) ? Quomodo fides per dilectionem operatur ; et quomodo justificatur homo per fidem sine operibus Legis ? Quomodo ? intendite, fratres. Credidit aliquis, percepit fidei sacramenta in lecto, et mortuus est : defuit illi operandi tempus. Quid dicimus ? quia non est justificatus ? Plane dicimus justificatum, credentem in eum qui justificat impium (Rom. IV, 5). Ergo iste justificatus est, et operatus non est ; et impletur sententia Apostoli dicentis, Arbitramur justificari hominem per fidem sine operibus Legis. Latro qui cum Domino crucifixus est, corde credidit ad justitiam, ore confessus est ad salutem (Id. X, 10). Nam fides quae per dilectionem operatur, etsi non sit in quo exterius operetur, in corde tamen illa fervens servatur. Nam erant quidam in Lege, qui de operibus Legis gloriabantur, quae fortasse non dilectione, sed timore faciebant ; et volebant se justos videri, et praeponi Gentibus, quae opus Legis non fecerant. Apostolus autem praedicans fidem gentibus, cum eos qui accedebant ad Dominum, videret justificatos ex fide, ut jam qui crediderant bene operarentur, non quia bene operati sunt credere mererentur, exclamavit securus, et ait, Quia justificari homo potest ex fide sine operibus Legis : ut illi magis non fuerint justi, qui quod faciebant, timore faciebant ; cum fides per dilectionem operetur in corde, etiam si foras non exit in opere.
in the heart, is in faith alone: but that he led his son to be sacrificed, that he fearlessly armed his right hand, that he would already have struck had he not been held back by a voice, is certainly great faith, and a great work: and God praised that very work, when He said, Because you have hearkened to My voice. Why then does the apostle Paul say, We hold that a man is justified by faith without the works of the Law (Rom. 3:28); and in another place he says, And faith which works through love (Gal. 5:6)? How does faith work through love; and how is a man justified by faith without the works of the Law? How? Pay attention, brethren. Someone has believed, has received the sacraments of faith on his bed, and has died: time for working was lacking to him. What do we say? That he has not been justified? Plainly we say that he has been justified, believing in Him Who justifies the ungodly (Rom. 4:5). Therefore this man has been justified, and has not worked; and the sentence of the Apostle is fulfilled, who says, We hold that a man is justified by faith without the works of the Law. The thief who was crucified with the Lord believed with the heart unto righteousness, confessed with the mouth unto salvation (Rom. 10:10). For faith which works through love, even if there is nothing in which it may work outwardly, is nevertheless kept fervent in the heart. For there were certain men under the Law who gloried in the works of the Law, which they did perhaps not out of love but out of fear; and they wished to seem righteous, and to be set above the Gentiles, who had not done the work of the Law. But the Apostle, preaching faith to the Gentiles, when he saw that those who were coming to the Lord were justified by faith, so that those who had now believed might work well, not that they might merit to believe because they had worked well, cried out confidently and said, That a man can be justified by faith without the works of the Law: so that rather those men were not righteous who did what they did out of fear; since faith works through love in the heart, even if it does not go out of doors into a work.
SERMO III. De Agar et Ismaele. Fragmentum.
Sermon III. On Hagar and Ishmael. A fragment.
Quomodo ad Agar et Ismael pertineant haeretici et schismatici.
How heretics and schismatics belong to Hagar and Ishmael.
Testamentum vetus ad Judaeos proprie pertinet. Etenim carnalia beneficia promittebantur, quia spiritualia non capiebantur. Regnum illud terrenum, et vita terrena funditus dejecta, subjectioni inimicorum tradita. Totum carnaliter sperabant de Domino, et propter haec serviebant. Interrogentur Christiani, si modo nulli sunt tales. Tales ad Vetus Testamentum pertinent. Non enim nomen interrogo, sed vitam. De his talibus sunt haeresis et schisma. Fugit a facie Sarae illa, et affligebat eam Sara. Quid mirandum ? Affligebat eam corporaliter. Si quid afflictionis passa est pars Donati, propter superbiam suam Agar passa est
The Old Testament properly belongs to the Jews. For carnal benefits were promised, because spiritual ones were not grasped. That earthly kingdom, and earthly life utterly cast down, handed over to subjection to enemies. They hoped for everything from the Lord carnally, and served [Him] for the sake of these things. Let Christians be asked whether there are now none such. Such men belong to the Old Testament. For I do not ask about the name, but about the life. Of such men are heresy and schism. She fled from the face of Sarah, and Sarah was afflicting her. What is to be wondered at? She was afflicting her bodily. If the party of Donatus has suffered any affliction, Hagar has suffered on account of her pride
Editors' notes and page, col. 32
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: Et fides quae per dilectionem operatur› · call in col 32
Hic apud Am. Er et Par. finitur tractatus, apposita clausula, Per quam adipisci credimus salutem aeternam. Amen.
Here in Am., Er. and Par. the discourse ends, with the closing formula appended: Per quam adipisci credimus salutem aeternam. Amen.
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(2) ‹anchor: De Agar et Ismaele (call not legible; placed from the note's sense)› · call in col 32
Bedae Mss., ad Galat., cap. 4, v. 29, titulo addunt, in natali Martyrum.
The manuscripts of Bede, on Galatians, ch. 4, v. 29, add to the title: in natali Martyrum.
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(3) ‹anchor: pars Donati› · call in col 32
Ita in Mss. At in editis, pars Domini
So in the manuscripts. But in the printed editions, pars Domini.
(printed under page 20) (*) ‹anchor: SERMO III› · call in col 32 Recognitus est ad bd. fl. r. et ad Ulim. Par. Lov.
Revised against bd. fl. r. [manuscripts] and against Ulim., Par., Lov. [editions].
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(a) ‹anchor: FRAGMENTUM› · call in col 32
Alias, in Fragmentis 32. In Bedae ac Flori collectione et in Regio Ms. repertum.
Elsewhere, among the Fragments, 32. Found in the collection of Bede and Florus and in the Royal manuscript.
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ancilla a Sara. Audiat Agar vocem Angeli: Redi ad dominam tuam (Gen. XVI, 6, 9). Sed sicut tunc qui secundum carnem natus est, persequebatur eum qui secundum spiritum; ita et nunc. Non invenimus corporaliter persecutum Isaac ab Ismaele: sed tantum quia dixerit Apostolus persecutionem. Nota ibi ubi dixit: Sed sicut tunc ille qui secundum carnem natus est, persequebatur eum qui secundum spiritum; ita et nunc. Sed quid ait Scriptura? Ejice ancillam et filium ejus: non enim haeres erit filius ancillae cum filio liberae (Galat. IV, 29, 30). Ergo ubi illud dicit Scriptura, ibi quaeramus. Quid ait in Genesi? Et factum est, cum luderet Ismael et Isaac, vidit eos ludentes. Quis persecutus est? quem persecutus est? Ludentes eos vidit Sara, et ait: Ejice ancillam et filium ejus. Quare? Quia vidit eos ludentes. Sed lusum illum Paulus persecutionem vocat: quia lusio illa illusio erat. Si illusio, seductio et deceptio est. Omnis lusus puerorum simulacrum est negotii majoris: et quando major ludit cum minore, quasi ut seducatur, sciens se habere negotia alia quae intendit, et simulat quaedam puero, id est infirmo, ludens cum illo. Major erat Ismael, et roboratus in malitia: sed ludens cum puero Isaac, seducebat Isaac, et quasdam fraudes ludendi cum infirmo faciebat. Animadvertit mater lusum illum esse persecutionem. Sic intelligens Sara mater lusum illum dixit: Ejice ancillam et filium ejus: non enim haeres erit filius ancillae cum filio meo Isaac (Gen. XXI, 9, 10). Et Ecclesia dicit: Ejice haereses et filios earum: non enim haeredes erunt haeretici cum Catholicis. Sed quare non erunt haeredes? Nonne de semine Abrahae nati? Et quomodo Baptismum Ecclesiae habent? Baptismum habent: haeredem faceret semen Abrahae, nisi ab haereditate superbia excluderet. Eodem verbo nasceris, eodem Sacramento; sed ad eamdem haereditatem vitae aeternae non pervenis, nisi ad Ecclesiam catholicam reversus fueris. Ex semine Abrahae nasceris; sed filius ancillae foris propter superbiam.
maidservant by Sarah. Let Hagar hear the voice of the angel: Return to your mistress (Gen. 16:6, 9). But as then he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who [was born] according to the spirit, so also now. We do not find that Isaac was persecuted bodily by Ishmael; only that the Apostle spoke of persecution. Note there, where he said: But as then he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who [was born] according to the spirit, so also now. But what does Scripture say? Cast out the maidservant and her son: for the son of the maidservant shall not be heir with the son of the free woman (Gal. 4:29–30). Therefore where Scripture says that, there let us seek. What does it say in Genesis? And it came to pass, when Ishmael and Isaac were playing, she saw them playing. Who persecuted? whom did he persecute? Sarah saw them playing, and said: Cast out the maidservant and her son. Why? Because she saw them playing. But Paul calls that play persecution: because that playing was a mockery. If a mockery, it is seduction and deception. Every game of boys is an image of some greater business: and when an elder plays with a younger, as though so that he may be led astray, knowing that he has other business which he has in view, he also feigns certain things to the boy, that is, to the weak one, while playing with him. Ishmael was the elder, and strengthened in malice: but playing with the boy Isaac, he was leading Isaac astray, and was practising certain frauds of play upon the weak one. The mother perceived that that play was persecution. Understanding that play thus, Sarah the mother said: Cast out the maidservant and her son: for the son of the maidservant shall not be heir with my son Isaac (Gen. 21:9–10). And the Church says: Cast out the heresies and their sons: for heretics shall not be heirs with Catholics. But why shall they not be heirs? Were they not born of the seed of Abraham? And how is it that they have the Baptism of the Church? They have Baptism: the seed of Abraham would make [them] heir, if pride did not exclude [them] from the inheritance. You are born by the same word, by the same Sacrament; but you do not attain to the same inheritance of eternal life unless you return to the Catholic Church. You are born of the seed of Abraham; but [you are] the son of the maidservant, outside on account of pride.
SERMO IV. De Jacob et Esau. In festo Vincentii martyris habitus.
Sermon 4. On Jacob and Esau. Preached on the feast of Vincent the martyr.
CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Spiritualiter sapere datur a Spiritu sancto. Hesternae lectionis debitores nos esse meminimus: sed sicut nos debemus sermonem, ita et vos debetis audientiam. Et lectio quidem illa carnaliter sonat: qui autem Spiritum Dei accepit, spiritualiter sapit. Dixit enim Apostolus, Sapere secundum carnem, mors est (Rom. VIII, 6). Et ad hoc promisit Dominus Paracletum Spiritum veritatis. Ergo sicut promisit, et misit, ut unusquisque jam qui eum Spiritum recepit, non sit temporalibus voluptatibus servus, sed dominus corporis factus et servus Creatoris, dirigat
Chapter One. — 1. To be spiritually minded is given by the Holy Spirit. We remember that we are debtors for yesterday's reading: but as we owe the sermon, so you also owe a hearing. And that reading indeed sounds carnally: but he who has received the Spirit of God is spiritually minded. For the Apostle said: To be minded according to the flesh is death (Rom. 8:6). And for this the Lord promised the Paraclete, the Spirit of truth. Therefore as He promised, so also He sent [Him], so that each one who has now received that Spirit may not be a slave to temporal pleasures, but, having been made master of the body and servant of the Creator, may direct
Editors' notes and page, col. 33
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: et filios earum› · call in col 33
Sic Bedae Mss. Caeteri libri, Ejice haereticos et filios eorum.
So the manuscripts of Bede. The other books have Ejice haereticos et filios eorum.
(*) ‹anchor: SERMO IV› · call in col 33 Recognitus ad gr. r. Ulim. Par. Lov.
Revised against gr. r. [manuscripts] and Ulim., Par., Lov. [editions].
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(a) ‹anchor: SERMO IV› · call in col 33
Alias, de Diversis 44.
Elsewhere, de Diversis 44.
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(b) ‹anchor: Jacob et Esau› · call in col 33
Possidius hunc in Indiculo, c. 8, sermonem notat: qui quidem in Regio Ms. inscribitur, « De benedictionibus Esau et Jacob. »
Possidius records this sermon in the Indiculus, ch. 8; in the Royal manuscript it is in fact entitled "On the blessings of Esau and Jacob."
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se in viam praeceptorum Dei: nec vestigia ejus nutent, nec oculi ejus palpitent; sed intentione fidei proficiat, ut veniat ad id quod nec oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit (I Cor. II, 9): quod creditur antequam videatur, ut cum venerit, qui credidit non confundatur.
himself into the way of God's precepts: let neither his footsteps totter nor his eyes flicker; but let him advance by the straining of faith, so that he may come to that which neither eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it ascended into the heart of man (1 Cor. 2:9): which is believed before it is seen, so that when it comes, he who believed may not be put to shame.
CAPUT II. — Intendat ergo ambulans in spe, sperans quod nondum tenet, credens quod nondum videt, amans cui nondum haeret. Exercitatio autem animae in fide, in spe et charitate, facit eum idoneum capere quod venturum est.
Chapter II. — Let him therefore, walking in hope, strain forward, hoping for what he does not yet hold, believing what he does not yet see, loving Him to Whom he does not yet cleave. And the exercise of the soul in faith, in hope and charity, makes him fit to receive what is to come.
2. Petrus carnaliter sapiens infirmus. Ipsius et omnium martyrum fortitudo ex Spiritu sancto. Cum ergo carnaliter adhuc saperet Petrus, turbatus ad interrogationem ancillae, negavit Dominum ter. Praedixerat enim medicus aegroto quid in illo futurum erat: qui aeger casus aegritudinis suae non noverat, et plus de se aegrotus praesumpserat; sed verus medicus videbat. Dixerat enim se cum Domino et pro Domino moriturum (Matth. XXVI, 69-75, 31-35). Nondum autem poterat, quia infirmus erat. At ubi venit postea Spiritus sanctus missus de coelo, et confirmavit eos in quos venit; impletus ille fiducia spirituali, coepit jam vere paratus esse mori pro eo quem ante negaverat. Hac fiducia repleti omnes martyres, tenentes rectam fidem, non morientes nec patientes pro falsa fide, pro vano phantasmate, pro spe inani, pro re incerta; sed pro veritatis pollicitatione, certum habentes eum qui promisit, potentem esse qui exhibeat; omnia praesentia contempserunt, in futura exarserunt, quae cum fuerint illis praesentia, non erunt praeterita.
2. Peter, while minded carnally, was weak. His fortitude and that of all the martyrs is from the Holy Spirit. When, therefore, Peter was still minded carnally, troubled at the questioning of the maidservant, he denied the Lord three times. For the physician had foretold to the sick man what was going to happen in him: the sick man did not know the course of his own sickness, and the patient had presumed too much of himself; but the true physician saw. For he had said that he would die with the Lord and for the Lord (Matt. 26:69–75, 31–35). But he was not yet able, because he was weak. But when afterwards the Holy Spirit came, sent from heaven, and strengthened those upon whom He came, he, filled with spiritual confidence, began now truly to be ready to die for Him Whom he had before denied. Filled with this confidence, all the martyrs, holding the right faith, not dying or suffering for a false faith, for an empty phantasm, for a vain hope, for an uncertain thing, but for the promise of truth, holding it certain that He Who promised is able to bestow, despised all present things and burned with desire for the things to come, which, when they have become present to them, will not become past.
CAPUT III. — 3. Esau carnales, Jacob spirituales figurat. Spiritualis vitam Angelorum exspectat. Recordamini ergo, qui interfuistis hesterno die, duos filios Isaac, Esau et Jacob, quomodo majori praeponitur minor (Gen. XXV et XXVII): ut ad Jacob pertineatis, Esau non ametis. Erit autem Esau, qui vult carnaliter vivere, vel carnalia in futuro saeculo sperare. Sive ergo carnaliter vivens, et talibus gaudens in hoc tempore, et talia de Deo sperans, qualia habent et mali, et totam felicitatem suam in ipsa ponens de qua gaudent et iniqui; aut certe contemnens istam praesentem, et talem sperans in futuro; carnalis est, carnalem habens fidem, carnalem spem, carnalem charitatem. Fides autem spiritualis est, credere quod protector sit temporaliter Dominus tuus, ut venias ad illud quod temporale non erit; et sperare te habiturum vitam Angelorum, non in corruptionibus carnis, non in voluptatibus et illecebris, non in fornicationibus et ebrietatibus et gaudio epularum carnalium, non in superbia possess⟨i⟩onum dominationis terrenae; sed tantummodo quomodo Angeli vivunt.
Chapter III. — 3. Esau figures the carnal, Jacob the spiritual. The spiritual man awaits the life of the Angels. Recall, then, you who were present yesterday, the two sons of Isaac, Esau and Jacob, how the younger is set before the elder (Gen. 25 and 27): so that you may belong to Jacob, and not love Esau. Now he will be Esau who wishes to live carnally, or to hope for carnal things in the world to come. Whether, then, living carnally, and rejoicing in such things in this time, and hoping from God for such things as the wicked also have, and placing his whole happiness in that very [happiness] in which the unjust also rejoice; or at any rate despising this present [happiness], and hoping for such in the future; he is carnal, having a carnal faith, a carnal hope, a carnal charity. But faith is spiritual, to believe that your Lord is your protector in temporal things, so that you may come to that which will not be temporal; and to hope that you will have the life of the Angels, not in the corruptions of the flesh, not in pleasures and enticements, not in fornications and drunkenness and the joy of carnal feasts, not in the pride of possessions of earthly dominion; but solely as the Angels live.
CAPUT IV. — 4. Vita Angelorum beata ex visione Dei. Vivunt autem Angeli in gaudio, non creaturae, sed Creatoris Gaudium enim creaturae est quidquid
Chapter IV. — 4. The life of the Angels is blessed from the vision of God. Now the Angels live in joy, not of the creature, but of the Creator For the joy of the creature is whatever
Editors' notes and page, col. 34
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 34
Par. et Ulim., in via praeceptorum Dei. Regius autem Ms. praeterit isthaec verba, praeceptorum Dei: nec vestigia ejus nutent, nec; ac sic affirmanter dicitur, Oculi ejus palpitent. Forte non male, quando infra, n. 7, affirmans sententia est, Palpitet mentis acies, purgetur ut videat.
Par. and Ulim. have in via praeceptorum Dei. The Royal manuscript, however, passes over these words, praeceptorum Dei: nec vestigia ejus nutent, nec; and so it is said affirmatively, Oculi ejus palpitent. Perhaps not badly, since below, n. 7, the sentence is affirmative: Palpitet mentis acies, purgetur ut videat.
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videtur: gaudium Creatoris est quod non videtur oculis corporis, sed purgata acie mentis. Beati mundo corde. Ad quam visionem beati sunt? Quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt (Matth. V, 8). Non enim putetis, fratres, quia gaudent Angeli ex eo quia vident terram, aut coelum, vel quaecumque in his sunt. Non ex eo gaudent, quia vident coelum et terram; sed quia vident eum qui fecit coelum et terram.
is seen: the joy of the Creator is what is not seen with the eyes of the body, but with the purified keenness of the mind. Blessed are the clean of heart. For what vision are they blessed? Because they shall see God (Matt. 5:8). For do not think, brethren, that the Angels rejoice because they see the earth, or the heaven, or whatever things are in them. They do not rejoice because they see heaven and earth; but because they see Him Who made heaven and earth.
5. Deus non est quid corporeum, nec quale formari nostra cogitatione possit. Ille autem qui fecit coelum et terram, nec coelum est, nec terra; nec quid terrenum potest cogitari, nec quid coeleste, nec quid corporeum vel spirituale poteris cogitare: non hoc est Deus. Non tibi facias hominem aliquem grandem et pulchrum: non circumscribitur humana forma Deus; non continetur loco, non tenetur spatio. Non tibi facias quasi aureum Deum: non hoc est Deus. Nam aurum, unde tibi vis facere Deum, Deus ipse fecit; et hoc infirmum, quia in terra. Non tibi proponas, quia aliquid tale est Deus, quale vides in coelo, vel lunam, vel solem, vel sidera vel quidquid fulget et splendet in coelo: non hoc est Deus. Sed nec iterum ideo tibi non videatur Deus quod sol, quia sol tanquam rota quaedam est, non immensum lucis spatium; et dicas tibi, Ergo Deus infinitae lucis est et immensae: ut quasi tendas ipsum solem, et facias illum non habere finem, nec hac nec illac, nec sursum nec deorsum; et tamen lucem tibi immensam proponas Deum: nec hoc est Deus. Deus quidem habitat lucem inaccessibilem (I Tim. VI, 16): sed talis lux non est nota, nec potest esse nota oculis carnis.
5. God is not something bodily, nor such as can be formed by our thinking. But He Who made heaven and earth is neither heaven nor earth; nor can anything earthly be thought of, nor anything heavenly, nor anything bodily or spiritual that you can think of: this is not God. Do not make for yourself some great and beautiful man: God is not circumscribed by human form; He is not contained by place, He is not held by space. Do not make for yourself a God as it were of gold: this is not God. For the gold, out of which you wish to make yourself a God, God Himself made; and this is a weak thing, because it is in the earth. Do not set before yourself that God is some such thing as you see in the heaven, either the moon, or the sun, or the stars, or whatever shines and gleams in the heaven: this is not God. But again, let not God seem to you to be what the sun is, for the reason that the sun is like a kind of wheel, not an immeasurable expanse of light; and you say to yourself, Therefore God is of infinite and immeasurable light: so that you as it were stretch out the sun itself, and make it have no end, neither on this side nor on that, neither upwards nor downwards; and yet set before yourself an immeasurable light as God: neither is this God. God indeed dwells in light inaccessible (1 Tim. 6:16): but such light is not known, nor can it be known to the eyes of the flesh.
CAPUT V. — 6. Quid cogitandum cum dicitur Deus. Manichaeorum errorem perstringit. Sed si videre potes quid est veritas, quid est sapientia, quid justitia, quomodo dictum est, Accedite ad eum, et illuminamini (Psal. XXXIII, 6): quomodo est illud lumen verum, de quo dicit Joannes, Erat lumen verum, quod illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum; quomodo Joannes ipse Baptista non erat lumen verum. Dicit enim Joannes evangelista, Non erat ille lumen, sed ut testimonium perhiberet de lumine (Joan. I, 9, 8). Non solum autem Joannes Baptista verum lumen non erat, sed nec Paulus verum lumen erat, nec Petrus verum lumen erat, nec aliqui apostoli verum lumen erant. Etenim verum lumen est, quod illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum. Illi vero lumina erant, quia illuminabantur. Nam et oculi carnis nostrae dicuntur lumina; et unusquisque jurat, Per lumina mea. Lumina ista quid sunt? Si desit sol, si desit luna aut lucerna, certe in tenebris remanent. Ubi sunt lumina, videant ante se, praebeant ducatum pedibus, si lumina sunt: et tamen lumina sunt. Quare lumina sunt? Quia possunt lumen recipere. Etenim cum fuerit lumen illatum, lumen ipsum non sentit frons tua, nec auris tua, nec olfactus tuus, nec manus tua, nec pes tuus: sola membra in te qui vocantur oculi, sola sentiunt lumen
Chapter V. — 6. What is to be thought when God is spoken of. He touches on the error of the Manichaeans. But if you can see what truth is, what wisdom is, what justice is, how it was said, Come to Him, and be enlightened (Ps. 33:6): how that light is the true light, of which John says, That was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world; how John the Baptist himself was not the true light. For John the evangelist says, He was not the light, but [came] that he might bear witness concerning the light (John 1:9, 8). And not only was John the Baptist not the true light, but neither was Paul the true light, nor was Peter the true light, nor were any of the apostles the true light. For the true light is that which enlightens every man coming into this world. But they were lights, because they were enlightened. For the eyes of our flesh too are called lights; and everyone swears, By my lights. What are these lights? If the sun is lacking, if the moon or a lamp is lacking, they surely remain in darkness. Where there are lights, let them see before them, let them give guidance to the feet, if they are lights: and yet they are lights. Why are they lights? Because they can receive light. For when light has been brought in, your forehead does not perceive the light itself, nor your ear, nor your sense of smell, nor your hand, nor your foot: only the members in you which are called eyes, they alone perceive the light
Editors' notes and page, col. 35
Footnotes
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Par. et Ulim., vel quaecumque nihil sunt. Lov., in eo sunt. At Mss., in his sunt.
Par. and Ulim. have vel quaecumque nihil sunt. Lov. has in eo sunt. But the manuscripts have in his sunt.
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(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 35
Forte, infimum.
Perhaps, infimum.
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illatum. Absente lumine tenebrantur : sed illato lumine sola illuminantur, id est, quia sola sentiunt lumen. Illuminantur quidem et caetera membra tua ; sed ut videri possint, non ut videre possint. Nam lux quae oritur, vel quae infertur, omnia membra perfundit ; oculos, ut videant ; caetera, ut videantur. Sic omnes sancti illuminati sunt, ut viderent, et ut quod videbant, praedicarent. Ideo illis dictum est, Vos estis lumen mundi (Matth. V, 14). Sed lumen, non verum lumen. Quare ? Quia erat lumen verum, quod illumin⟨e⟩t omnem hominem. Omnem hominem dixit : si de isto sole diceret, non diceret, Omnem hominem ; quia iste sol non a solis hominibus videtur. Vident illum et pecora, et minutissima animalia, et muscae vident istum solem : illud autem lumen quod Deus est, nemo videt, nisi de quibus dictum est, Beati mundo corde, quoniam ipsi Deum videbunt.
brought in. When the light is absent they are darkened; but when the light is brought in, they alone are illuminated, that is, because they alone perceive the light. The other members of yours are indeed illuminated too; but so that they may be seen, not so that they may see. For the light which rises, or which is brought in, floods all the members: the eyes, so that they may see; the rest, so that they may be seen. Thus all the saints were illuminated, so that they might see, and so that what they saw they might preach. Therefore it was said to them, You are the light of the world (Matt. 5:14). But a light, not the true light. Why? Because that was the true light, which illuminates every man. Every man, he said: if he were speaking of this sun, he would not say, Every man; for this sun is not seen by men alone. Cattle see it, and the tiniest animals, and flies see this sun: but that light which God is, no one sees, except those of whom it was said, Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God.
CAPUT VI. — 7. Lumen quod Deus est, quale cogitandum. Conamini cogitare, fratres, lumen veritatis, lucem sapientiae, quomodo ubique praesens est omnibus : conamini cogitare lumen justitiae ; praesens est enim omni cogitanti. Quid enim est quod cogitat ? Qui vult injuste vivere, peccat. Deserit justitiam : diminuta est ? Conversus est ad justitiam : quid ? aucta est ? Deserit eam, integram illam relinquit : convertitur ad eam, integram illam invenit. Quid est ergo lumen justitiae ? De oriente hoc surgit, et in occidentem vadit ? An est alius locus unde oritur, aut quo venit ? Nonne ubique praesto est ? Homo certe qui est in occidente, si vult juste vivere, id est, secundum justitiam, numquid deest illi quam intueatur et videat secundum ipsam justitiam ? Iterum in oriente positus si velit juste vivere, id est, secundum eamdem justitiam, numquid deest illi ? Ibi enim est justitia : praesto est juste viventi. Secundum ejus regulam vident quemadmodum juste vivant et illi : sicut justi bene vivendo eam vident, ita et injusti male vivendo non eam vident. Nam et ille juste vivit, cum eam videt ; et ille ipsam videt, ut secundum eam actus suos dirigat : quia nisi secundum justitiae regulam direxerit actus suos, in errorem iniquitatis impingitur. Quia ergo et huic praesto esse potuit ibi consistenti, nullo loco est, et ubique est : sic justitia, sic sapientia, sic veritas, sic castitas. Conamini ergo videre talem lucem : sed non potestis, palpitat mentis acies ; purgetur, ut videat.
Chapter VI. — 7. The light which God is, how it is to be thought of. Try to think, brethren, of the light of truth, the light of wisdom, how it is present everywhere to all: try to think of the light of justice; for it is present to everyone who thinks. For what is it that he thinks? He who wishes to live unjustly sins. He deserts justice: has it been diminished? He has turned to justice: what then? has it been increased? He deserts it, he leaves it whole: he turns to it, he finds it whole. What then is the light of justice? Does it rise from the east and go into the west? Or is there some other place from which it rises, or to which it comes? Is it not at hand everywhere? A man who is in the west, surely, if he wishes to live justly, that is, according to justice, is that which he may gaze upon and see according to justice itself lacking to him? Again, one placed in the east, if he wishes to live justly, that is, according to the same justice, is it lacking to him? For justice is there: it is at hand for one who lives justly. According to its rule they too see how they should live justly: just as the just, by living well, see it, so also the unjust, by living badly, do not see it. For that man lives justly when he sees it; and that man sees it so that he may direct his acts according to it: for unless he directs his acts according to the rule of justice, he is driven into the error of iniquity. Since therefore it could be at hand for this man also, standing there, it is in no place, and it is everywhere: so is justice, so is wisdom, so is truth, so is chastity. Try therefore to see such a light: but you cannot, the gaze of the mind trembles; let it be purified, so that it may see.
CAPUT VII. — Ut autem purgetur et videat, credat, ut purgari mereatur. Quod ergo videre non potestis, differte, ut curemini, et videre possitis.
Chapter VII. — But so that it may be purified and may see, let it believe, so that it may deserve to be purified. What therefore you cannot see, defer, so that you may be healed and may be able to see.
8. Felicitas in futuro saeculo qualis speranda. Duo Testamenta. Non tamen tale aliquid in futuro saeculo cogitetis, quale nunc videtis : quia si tale aliquid cogitaveritis, et tale aliquid dilexeritis ; cum ipso mundo vultis ire extra mundum, tollere vobiscum vultis mundum. Non erunt ibi ista. Lux ibi erit quaedam, unde hoc rorat nescio quid, quod modo intelligimus, et gaudemus. Sed si habemus benedictionem a rore coeli, habemus
8. What kind of happiness is to be hoped for in the world to come. The two Testaments. Yet do not think of anything in the world to come such as you now see: for if you think of something such, and love something such, you wish to go out of the world together with the world itself, you wish to take the world with you. These things will not be there. There will be a certain light there, from which there drops like dew this something, I know not what, which we now understand, and we rejoice. But if we have the blessing from the dew of heaven, we
Editors' notes and page, col. 36
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: regulam vident› · call in col 36
Sic Mss. Editi vero, secundum enim regulam videt.
So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however, have secundum enim regulam videt.
(printed under page 22)
(a) ‹anchor: intueatur et videat› · call in col 36
Forte, ut vivat. [reading uncertain: the note's last two words are badly printed in the scan]
Perhaps, ut vivat.
(printed under page 22)
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abundantiam a fertilitate terrae : sic est enim benedictus Jacob (Gen. XXVII, 28) : ad eum pertineamus, et non carnaliter vivamus. Quia unusquisque incipit carnaliter vivere, ideo major dictus est Esau (Id. XXV, 23). Duo Testamenta dicuntur in Lege, unum Vetus, et alterum Novum. Vetus promissiones habebat temporales, sed significationes spirituales. Intendat Charitas vestra. Si promissa est Judaeis terra repromissionis, significat aliquid spiritualiter terra repromissionis : si promissa est Judaeis civitas pacis Jerusalem, significat aliquid nomen civitatis Jerusalem : si data est Judaeis circumcisio carnis, significat aliquam spiritualem circumcisionem : si jussi sunt Judaei unum diem sabbatum observare de septem diebus, significat spiritualem quietem, quae non habet vesperam. Nam et in ipsis septem diebus, in Genesi in omnibus diebus dictum est, Facta est vespera (Id. I) : in septimo die non dicitur, Facta est vespera. Septimo die qui vesperam non habet, significatur nobis requies sempiterna, ubi nullus est occasus. Si data sunt sacrificia Judaeis carnalia, per victimas animalium omnia significant sacrificia spiritualia.
abundance from the fertility of the earth: for so was Jacob blessed (Gen. 27:28): let us belong to him, and not live carnally. Because each one begins by living carnally, therefore Esau is called the elder (Gen. 25:23). Two Testaments are spoken of in the Law, the one Old, and the other New. The Old had temporal promises, but spiritual significations. Let your Charity attend. If the land of promise was promised to the Jews, the land of promise signifies something spiritually: if the city of peace, Jerusalem, was promised to the Jews, the name of the city Jerusalem signifies something: if circumcision of the flesh was given to the Jews, it signifies a certain spiritual circumcision: if the Jews were commanded to observe one day out of seven as the sabbath, it signifies a spiritual rest, which has no evening. For in those very seven days, in Genesis, it is said on all the days, There was evening (Gen. 1): on the seventh day it is not said, There was evening. By the seventh day, which has no evening, is signified to us everlasting rest, where there is no setting. If carnal sacrifices were given to the Jews, through the victims of animals they all signify spiritual sacrifices.
CAPUT VIII.—Ergo qui sic intellexerunt, quasi praesens illis aliquid daretur pro magno, et futurum nihil quaesierunt, nec spiritualiter ea quae carnaliter agebantur, intelligere valuerunt, ad majorem filium pertinent, ad vetus Testamentum pertinent.
Chapter VIII.—Therefore those who understood it thus, as though something present were being given them as a great thing, and sought nothing future, and were not able to understand spiritually the things that were done carnally, belong to the elder son, belong to the old Testament.
9. Testamenti Veteris et Novi discrimen et consonantia. Vetus enim Testamentum est promissio figurata : Novum Testamentum est promissio spiritualiter intellecta. Cum enim Jerusalem quae fuit in terra, pertineat ad Vetus Testamentum, imaginem habet ad Jerusalem quae est in coelo, et pertinet ad Novum Testamentum. Circumcisio carnalis pertinet ad Vetus Testamentum : Circumcisio cordis pertinet ad Novum Testamentum. Liberatur secundum Vetus Testamentum populus de Aegypto : liberatur secundum Novum Testamentum populus a diabolo. Persecutores Aegyptii et Pharao persequuntur exeuntes de Aegypto Judaeos : persequuntur populum christianum peccata ipsorum et diabolus princeps peccatorum. Sed sicut Judaeos usque ad mare persequuntur Aegyptii ; sic Christianos usque ad Baptismum persequuntur peccata.
9. The difference and the agreement of the Old and New Testament. For the Old Testament is a promise in figure: the New Testament is the promise spiritually understood. For whereas the Jerusalem which was on earth belongs to the Old Testament, it bears an image of the Jerusalem which is in heaven, and that belongs to the New Testament. Carnal circumcision belongs to the Old Testament: circumcision of the heart belongs to the New Testament. According to the Old Testament a people is set free from Egypt: according to the New Testament a people is set free from the devil. The Egyptian persecutors and Pharaoh pursue the Jews going out from Egypt: their own sins and the devil, the prince of sins, pursue the Christian people. But just as the Egyptians pursue the Jews as far as the sea, so sins pursue Christians as far as Baptism.
CAPUT IX. — Eremus est christiano hic mundus. Intendite, fratres, et videte : liberantur per mare Judaei, obruuntur in mari Aegyptii : liberantur Christiani in remissione peccatorum, delentur peccata per Baptismum. Exeunt post mare Rubrum, et ambulant per eremum : sic et Christiani post Baptismum nondum sunt in terra repromissionis, sed sunt in spe. Saeculum autem hoc eremus est ; et vere christiano est eremus post Baptismum, si intelligat quod accepit. Si non solum signa corporalia in illo fiant, sed si etiam in corde spiritualis effectus, intelligit
Chapter IX. — This world is a desert to the Christian. Attend, brethren, and see: the Jews are set free through the sea, the Egyptians are overwhelmed in the sea: Christians are set free in the remission of sins, sins are blotted out through Baptism. They go out after the Red Sea, and walk through the desert: so also Christians after Baptism are not yet in the land of promise, but are in hope. Now this world is a desert; and truly to the Christian it is a desert after Baptism, if he understands what he has received. If not only bodily signs are wrought in him, but if also in his heart there is a spiritual effect, he understands
Editors' notes and page, col. 37
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: ad Novum Testamentum› · call in col 37
Isthaec sententia, Circumcisio carnalis pertinet ad Vetus Testamentum: circumcisio, etc., omissa in editis fuerat. Restituitur ex Ms. Corb.
This sentence, Circumcisio carnalis pertinet ad Vetus Testamentum: circumcisio, etc., had been omitted in the printed editions. It is restored from the Corbie manuscript.
(printed under page 23)
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sibi eremum esse istum mundum, intelligit in peregrinatione se vivere, patriam desiderare. Quamdiu autem desiderat, in spe est. Spe enim salvi facti sumus. Spes autem quae videtur, non est spes: quod enim videt quis, quid sperat? Si autem quod non videmus, speramus, per patientiam exspectamus (Rom. VIII, 24, 25). Ista patientia in eremo facit aliquid sperare: si jam se putat in patria, non pervenit ad patriam: si jam se putat in patria, remanet in via: ⟨u⟩t autem non remaneat in via, speret patriam, desideret patriam, ne deviet. Nam occurrunt tentationes: ita post Baptismum occurrunt. Sicut enim non soli erant hostes Judaeorum Aegyptii, qui illos ab Aegypto persequebantur (ipsi enim praeteriti hostes erant, quomodo unumquemque persequitur praeterita vita sua et praeterita peccata sua cum principe suo diabolo), sed exstiterunt in eremo, qui vellent impedire viam; et pugnatum est cum illis, et victi sunt: sic post Baptismum cum coeperit ambulare ⟨C⟩hristianus viam cordis sui in spe promissorum Dei, non deviet. Nam occurrunt tentationes aliud aliquid suggerentes, delicias hujus mundi, aliam quamdam vitam, ut unumquemque de via detorqueant, et a proposito abducant. Si autem isto desiderio istas suggestiones viceris, vincuntur hostes in via, et perducitur populus ad patriam.
this world is a desert for him, understands that he is living in exile and longs for his homeland. And as long as he longs, he is in hope. For by hope we have been saved. But hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man sees, why does he hope for it? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it through patience (Rom. 8:24–25). This patience in the desert makes one hope for something: if he already thinks himself in the homeland, he does not reach the homeland; if he already thinks himself in the homeland, he stays on the road. But so that he may not stay on the road, let him hope for the homeland, let him long for the homeland, lest he go astray. For temptations come against him: so they come against him after Baptism. For just as the Egyptians, who pursued them out of Egypt, were not the only enemies of the Jews (for they were past enemies, in the way that each person is pursued by his past life and his past sins together with their prince, the devil), but there arose in the desert those who wished to block the way, and battle was joined with them, and they were defeated: so after Baptism, when the Christian has begun to walk the way of his heart in the hope of God's promises, let him not go astray. For temptations come against him, suggesting something else, the delights of this world, some other kind of life, in order to twist each one off the road and lead him away from his purpose. But if by this longing you overcome these suggestions, the enemies are defeated on the road, and the people is brought through to the homeland.
CA⟨P⟩UT X.—10. Figurae nostrae ea quae Israelitico populo contigerunt. Audi Apostolum, quia ista figurae nostrae fuerunt. Nolo enim, inquit, vos ignorare, fratres, quia omnes patres nostri sub nube fuerunt. Si sub nube fuerunt, sub caligine fuerunt. Quid est, sub caligine fuerunt? Non eis intelligent⟨i⟩bus spiritualiter, quae cum eis corporaliter agebantur. Et omnes per mare transierunt, et omnes in Moyse baptizati sunt, et omnes eumdem cibum spiritualem manducaverunt. Datum est enim illis manna in deserto (Exod. XVI, 13), sicut nobis datur dulcedo Scripturarum, ut duremus in ista eremo vitae humanae. Et norunt quale manna accipiunt Christiani, quibus dixit ipse Psalmus, Gustate et videte, quam suavis est Dominus (Psal. XXXIII, 9). Et omnes, inquit, eumdem cibum spiritualem manducaverunt. Quid est, eumdem? Idem significantem. Et omnes eumdem potum spiritualem biberunt. Et attende quomodo unam rem exposuit, et caetera tacuit: Bibebant enim de spirituali sequente petra; petra autem erat Christus. ⟨H⟩aec autem figurae nostrae fuerunt (I Cor. X, 1-6). Illis sunt exhibitae, sed figurae nostrae fuerunt: quia illis corporaliter exhibebantur, nobis spiritualiter significabantur. Ergo illi qui corporaliter ea tenuerunt, ad Vetus Testamentum pertinuerunt.
Chapter X.—10. What happened to the Israelite people are figures of us. Hear the Apostle, that these things were figures of us. For I do not wish you to be ignorant, brethren, he says, that all our fathers were under the cloud. If they were under the cloud, they were in darkness. What is "they were in darkness"? They did not understand spiritually the things that were done with them bodily. And all passed through the sea, and all were baptized in Moses, and all ate the same spiritual food. For manna was given to them in the desert (Exod. 16:13), just as the sweetness of the Scriptures is given to us, so that we may endure in this desert of human life. And Christians know what manna they receive, to whom the Psalm itself has said, Taste and see how sweet the Lord is (Ps. 33:9). And all, he says, ate the same spiritual food. What is "the same"? Signifying the same thing. And all drank the same spiritual drink. And notice how he explained one thing and kept silent about the rest: For they drank from the spiritual rock that followed; and the rock was Christ. Now these things were figures of us (1 Cor. 10:1–6). They were displayed to them, but they were figures of us: for they were displayed to them bodily, signified to us spiritually. Therefore those who held these things bodily belonged to the Old Testament.
CA⟨P⟩UT XI.—⟨1⟩1. Isaac et Rebecca in benedictione Jacob, quid figurabant. Ad Ecclesiam pertinent omnes sancti. Jam videte quia senuerat Isaac. Cujus personam gessit Isaac, quando voluit benedicere filium suum majorem (Gen. XXVII, 1)? Jam senuerat: ubi senectus, vetustas; per senectutem intelligo vetustatem; et per vetustatem intelligo Vetus Testamentum. Hoc ergo Vetus Testamentum quia illi non intelligebant, qui
Chapter XI.—11. What Isaac and Rebecca prefigured in the blessing of Jacob. All the saints belong to the Church. Now see that Isaac had grown old. Whose person did Isaac bear when he wished to bless his elder son (Gen. 27:1)? He had already grown old: where there is old age, there is oldness; by old age I understand oldness, and by oldness I understand the Old Testament. So because those did not understand this Old Testament, who
Editors' notes and page, col. 38
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: isto desiderio› · call in col 38
Corbeiensis Ms., ista desideria.
The Corbie manuscript has ista desideria.
(printed under page 23)
(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 38
Forte, desideriis. [reading uncertain: the last word is badly printed in the scan]
Perhaps, desideriis.
(printed under page 23)
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sub nube fuerunt, ideo dicuntur caligasse oculi Isaac. Caligo oculorum corporis Isaac, caliginem significat mentium Judaeorum: senectus Isaac, vetustatem significat Veteris Testamenti. Quid ergo, fratres? Vult tamen benedicere et majorem filium Esau. Minorem amabat mater, et majorem pater, tanquam primogenitum: nam aequalis in ambos justitia, sed erat charitas major erga primogenitum. Vult ille benedicere majorem, quia Vetus Testamentum primo populo promittebat. Promissiones non loquitur nisi ad Judaeos: ipsis videtur promittere, ipsis videtur omnia polliceri. Vocantur ab Aegypto, liberantur ab hostibus, per mare ducuntur, pascuntur manna, accipiunt Testamentum, accipiunt Legem, accipiunt promissiones, accipiunt ipsam terram repromissionis. Non mirum quia ille benedicere voluit primum filium: sed sub figura majoris benedicitur minor. Mater enim typum gestat Ecclesiae. Ecclesiam autem accipite, fratres, non in his solis qui post Domini adventum et nativitatem esse coeperunt sancti; sed omnes quotquot fuerunt sancti, ad ipsam Ecclesiam pertinent. Non enim non ad nos pertinet pater Abraham, quia ille fuit antequam Christus nasceretur de Virgine, et nos tanto post, id est, post passionem Christi facti sumus christiani: cum dicat Apostolus quia filii sumus Abrahae, imitando fidem Abrahae (Rom. IV, 12; Galat. III, 7). Ergo nos imitando illum ad Ecclesiam admittimur, et ipsum ab Ecclesia exclusuri sumus? Haec Ecclesia significatur in Rebecca uxore Isaac: haec Ecclesia erat in sanctis etiam Prophetis, qui intelligebant Vetus Testamentum, quia promissiones illae carnales spirituale nescio quid significabant. Si spirituale, spirituales ergo ad minorem filium: quia prior est carnalis, et postea spiritualis.
were under a cloud, for that reason the eyes of Isaac are said to have grown dim. The dimness of the eyes of Isaac's body signifies the dimness of the minds of the Jews: the old age of Isaac signifies the oldness of the Old Testament. What then, brethren? Yet he wishes to bless the elder son too, Esau. The mother loved the younger, and the father the elder, as the first-born: for there was equal justice towards both, but the affection towards the first-born was greater. He wishes to bless the elder, because the Old Testament made its promises to the first people. It speaks its promises only to the Jews: to them it seems to promise, to them it seems to pledge all things. They are called out of Egypt, they are delivered from their enemies, they are led through the sea, they are fed with manna, they receive the Testament, they receive the Law, they receive the promises, they receive the very land of promise. It is no wonder that he wished to bless the first son: but under the figure of the elder the younger is blessed. For the mother bears the type of the Church. But understand the Church, brethren, not only in those who began to be saints after the coming and nativity of the Lord; but all, as many as were saints, belong to that same Church. For it is not the case that father Abraham does not belong to us because he was before Christ was born of the Virgin, and we so long after, that is, after the passion of Christ, became Christians: since the Apostle says that we are sons of Abraham by imitating the faith of Abraham (Rom. 4:12; Gal. 3:7). Are we then, by imitating him, admitted into the Church, and are we going to shut him himself out of the Church? This Church is signified in Rebecca the wife of Isaac: this Church was also in the holy Prophets, who understood the Old Testament, that those carnal promises signified something or other spiritual. If spiritual, then the spiritual belong to the younger son: because first is the carnal, and afterwards the spiritual.
CAPUT XII. — 12. Carnales de Ecclesia in sorte sunt Esau. Jam hesterno die praemisimus Sanctitati vestrae, ideo majorem filium dici Esau, quia nemo fit spiritualis, nisi ex carnali: sed si perseveret in prudentia carnis, semper erit Esau: si autem fiat spiritualis, est filius minor; sed ipse minor erit major: ille enim tempore praecedit, iste virtute. Namque cum coxisset lentem Jacob, desideravit Esau accipere, antequam veniret ad istam benedictionem: et ille ait illi, Da mihi primogenita tua, et dabo tibi lentem quam coxi (Gen. XXV, 31). Vendidit primogenita sua minori: abstulit ille voluptatem temporalem, abstulit ille dignitatem sempiternam. Ergo qui temporalibus voluptatibus serviunt in Ecclesia, lentem manducant. Quam quidem coxit Jacob, sed non manducavit Jacob: idola enim magis in Aegypto viguerant. Lens cibus est Aegypti. Per lentem omnes errores Gentium significantur. Quia ergo Ecclesia eminentior et manifestior in filio minore de Gentibus ventura significabatur, lentem coxisse dicitur Jacob, et manducasse Esau. Etenim dimiserunt idola Gentes, quae colebant; Judaei autem serviebant idolis, nam conversi corde in Aegyptum, ducebantur per eremum; et cum
Chapter XII. — 12. The carnal in the Church are in the lot of Esau. Already yesterday we set before your Holiness that the elder son is called Esau for this reason, that no one becomes spiritual except out of the carnal: but if he persists in the prudence of the flesh, he will always be Esau: if however he becomes spiritual, he is the younger son; but the younger himself will be the greater: for the one comes first in time, the other in virtue. For when Jacob had cooked the lentil pottage, Esau desired to receive it, before he came to this blessing: and the former said to him, Give me your birthright, and I will give you the lentil pottage which I have cooked (Gen. 25:31). He sold his birthright to the younger: the one carried off a temporal pleasure, the other carried off an everlasting dignity. Therefore those in the Church who are slaves to temporal pleasures eat the lentil pottage. Jacob indeed cooked it, but Jacob did not eat it: for idols had flourished especially in Egypt. The lentil is the food of Egypt. By the lentil all the errors of the Gentiles are signified. Since therefore the Church, more eminent and more manifest in the younger son, was signified as going to come from the Gentiles, Jacob is said to have cooked the lentil pottage, and Esau to have eaten it. For the Gentiles put away the idols which they used to worship; but the Jews served idols, for, having turned in heart to Egypt, they were being led through the desert; and when
Editors' notes and page, col. 39
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 39
Editi, primo promittebat; omissa voce, populo, quae exstat in manuscriptis.
The printed editions have primo promittebat, omitting the word populo, which stands in the manuscripts.
(printed under page 24)
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interfecti essent in mari hostes eorum, et fluctibus obruti essent inimici eorum, desideraverunt idolum facere, quia non viderunt Moysen (Exod. XXXII, 1), et non intellexerunt secum praesentem Deum; sed in praesentia hominis habentes spem, non viderunt oculis hominem, et putare coeperunt quia non ibi esset Deus, cum ipse solus per Moysen tanta patraret. Quaesierunt hominem oculis carnis, quia non habebant oculos cordis, unde Deum in Moyse viderent. Perdiderunt ergo primatum suum, quia conversi corde in Aegyptum manducaverunt lentem.
their foes had been slain in the sea, and their enemies had been overwhelmed by the waves, they desired to make an idol, because they did not see Moses (Exod. 32:1), and they did not understand that God was present with them; but, having their hope in the presence of a man, they did not see the man with their eyes, and they began to think that God was not there, although He alone was accomplishing such great things through Moses. They sought a man with the eyes of the flesh, because they did not have the eyes of the heart by which they might see God in Moses. Therefore they lost their primacy, because, turned back in heart to Egypt, they ate the lentil.
CAPUT XIII. — Accipite. Populus Christianus est; sed in ipso populo Christiano illi primatum tenent, qui pertinent ad Jacob: qui vero carnaliter vivunt, carnaliter credunt, carnaliter sperant, carnaliter diligunt, adhuc ad Vetus Testamentum pertinent, nondum ad Novum; adhuc in sorte sunt Esau, nondum in benedictione Jacob.
Chapter XIII. — Take this in. There is the Christian people; but within the Christian people itself those hold the primacy who belong to Jacob: whereas those who live carnally, believe carnally, hope carnally, love carnally, still belong to the Old Testament, not yet to the New; they are still in the lot of Esau, not yet in the blessing of Jacob.
13. Benedictio minoris sub specie majoris. Intendat Sanctitas vestra. Benedicere ergo volebat majorem filium Isaac senex caliginosis oculis, quia Vetus Testamentum ad Judaeos directum erat. Quod Vetus Testamentum non ab eis intelligebatur, ideo caliginosi oculi dicuntur. Ut dixi, fratres, ad majorem loquitur, ad minorem pervenit benedictio. Etenim mater ista, quae in sanctis omnibus intelligitur, id est, Ecclesia, quae intellexit prophetiam, ipsa dat consilium filio minori, et dicit illi: Ego ipsa audivi patrem tuum dicentem fratri tuo: Vade, et affer mihi venationem, ut manducem, et benedicat te anima mea, antequam moriar. Nunc ergo, fili, audi me. Et dedit illi consilium ut iret, afferretque duos haedos de proximo grege; et faceret illos mater, quemadmodum delectabatur pater ejus, et manducaret, et benediceret filium suum minorem, absente majore. Ille autem timuit, et ait: Frater meus pilosus est, ego autem levis sum; ne contingat me et compalpet pater meus, et intelligat quia ego sum Jacob, et acquiram non benedictionem, sed maledictionem. At illa: Vade, inquit, fili, audi me: maledictio tua super me sit (Gen. XXVII, 6-13). Perrexit, et attulit duos haedos: facti sunt, et apposuit patri suo: et quemadmodum praedixit, quia non illum agnoscebat in voce, tetigit, invenit pilos; quia pellibus haedorum circumdederat mater brachia ejus: credidit majorem esse, et benedixit. In benedictione majorem intendebat, et benedictio ad minorem perveniebat.
13. The blessing of the younger under the appearance of the elder. Let Your Holiness attend. So the old man Isaac, with his dim eyes, wished to bless his elder son, because the Old Testament was directed to the Jews. Because the Old Testament was not understood by them, therefore the eyes are said to be dim. As I said, brethren, he speaks to the elder, the blessing comes to the younger. For that mother, who is understood in all the saints, that is, the Church, which understood the prophecy, herself gives counsel to the younger son, and says to him: I myself heard your father saying to your brother: Go, and bring me venison, that I may eat, and my soul may bless you, before I die. Now therefore, son, listen to me. And she gave him counsel that he should go and bring two kids from the nearby flock; and that the mother should prepare them in the way his father delighted in, and that he should eat, and bless his younger son, the elder being absent. But he was afraid, and said: My brother is hairy, but I am smooth; lest it happen that my father feel me, and understand that I am Jacob, and I gain not a blessing, but a curse. But she said: Go, son, listen to me: your curse be upon me (Gen. 27:6–13). He went, and brought two kids: they were prepared, and he set them before his father: and as he had foretold, because he did not recognize him by his voice, he touched him, he found hairs; for the mother had wrapped his arms in the skins of the kids: he believed that it was the elder, and he blessed him. In the blessing he intended the elder, and the blessing came to the younger.
CAPUT XIV. — Quid est ergo quod sub specie majoris benedicitur minor, nisi q⟨u⟩ia sub figuris Veteris Testamenti promissi populo Judaeorum, pervenit benedictio spiritualis ad populum Christianorum? Attendite, fratres: audiunt illi terram promissionis, audimus et nos: tanquam ad Judaeos videtur Scriptura loqui de terra promissionis, et ad nos pervenit intellectus terrae promissionis, qui dicimus Deo, Spes mea es tu, portio mea in terra viventium (Psal. CXLI, 6). Sed hoc ut diceremus, mater nos docuit, id est, in
Chapter XIV. — What then is it that the younger is blessed under the appearance of the elder, except that, under the figures of the Old Testament promised to the people of the Jews, the spiritual blessing has come to the people of the Christians? Attend, brethren: they hear of the land of promise, we hear of it too: the Scripture seems to speak to the Jews about the land of promise, and the understanding of the land of promise has come to us, who say to God, Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living (Ps. 141:6). But that we should say this, our mother taught us, that is, in
Editors' notes and page, col. 40
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 40
Sic Mss. Editi vero, oculis hominum.
So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however, have oculis hominum.
(printed under page 24)
(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 40
Mss., praestaret.
The manuscripts have praestaret.
(printed under page 24)
(3) ‹anchor: benedictio spiritualis› · call in col 40
Sic in Mss. At in editis deest vox, spiritualis.
So in the manuscripts. But in the printed editions the word spiritualis is wanting.
(printed under page 24)
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sanctis Ecclesia ipsa Prophetis ⟨d⟩ocet nos, quemadmodum spiritualiter intelligamus ipsa promissa carnalia.
holy Prophets the Church herself teaches us how we are to understand spiritually the very promises that are carnal.
14. Peccata aliena patienter portanda. Sed non posset ad nos pervenire benedictio, nisi jam mundati a peccatis per nativitatem regenerationis, aliorum peccata per tolerantiam portemus. Genuit enim mater ambos filios. Intendite, fratres: genuit unum pilosum, alterum lenem. Pili peccata significant, lenitas autem mansuetudinem, id est, munditiem a peccatis. Duo filii benedicuntur: quia duo genera benedicit Ecclesia. Quomodo duos peperit Rebecca, generantur in utero Ecclesiae duo, unus pilosus, alter lenis: quorum diversitatem exposuimus. Sunt enim homines qui nec post Baptismum volunt dimittere peccata sua, et ea volunt facere quae antea faciebant. Verbi gratia, si faciebant fraudes, volunt iterum fraudare: si mendacium jurabant, volunt adhuc pejerare: si circumveniebant dolis innocentes, volunt adhuc circumvenire: si homicidia cogitabant, eadem cogitant: si fornicabantur, si inebriabantur, ea ipsa nihilominus faciunt. Ecce Esau natus pilosus. Quid facit Jacob? Dicitur ei a matre: Vade, benedicat te pater tuus. Et dicit, Timeo, non accedam. Sunt enim homines in Ecclesia, qui timent misceri peccatoribus, ne quasi per consortium peccatorum in unitate maculentur, et per haereses et schismata pereant.
14. The sins of others are to be borne patiently. But the blessing could not come to us unless, already cleansed of sins through the birth of regeneration, we bear the sins of others with tolerance. For the mother bore both sons. Pay attention, brothers: she bore one hairy, the other smooth. The hairs signify sins, while smoothness signifies gentleness, that is, cleanness from sins. Two sons are blessed: because the Church blesses two kinds. Just as Rebecca gave birth to two, so two are generated in the womb of the Church, one hairy, the other smooth: and we have explained the difference between them. For there are men who even after Baptism do not wish to let go of their sins, and wish to do the things they were doing before. For example, if they used to commit frauds, they wish to defraud again; if they used to swear to a lie, they still wish to perjure themselves; if they used to entrap the innocent with tricks, they still wish to entrap them; if they used to plot murders, they plot the same things; if they used to fornicate, if they used to get drunk, they nonetheless do those very things. Behold Esau, born hairy. What does Jacob do? His mother says to him: Go, let your father bless you. And he says, I am afraid, I will not go near. For there are men in the Church who are afraid to mix with sinners, lest, as it were through fellowship with sinners in unity, they be defiled, and they perish through heresies and schisms.
CAPUT XV.—15. Quomodo Jacob sine dolo, et cum dolo. Quid ergo dicitur huic piloso Esau, qui non bene conversatus est in domo? Nam et hoc de illis dicitur: Erat ille agrestis venator, Jacob autem sine dolo conv⟨e⟩rsabatur in domo (Gen. XXV, 27). Ideoque eum amabat mater, cujus conversationem dulcem sentiebat. Ipse est Jacob, qui postea appellatus est Israel, cum luctaretur cum Angelo: et hoc in magno mysterio. Benedictus, appellatus est Israel (Id. XXXII, 28): ideoque quia sine dolo erat. Intendite, fratres mei, et videte quam sine dolo fuerit. Nathanaelem Dominus quando vidit, quia noverat qualis esset, ait: Ecce vere Israelita, in quo dolus non est (Joan. I, 47). Si ergo ideo iste Israelita, quia non est in eo dolus; in ipso Israel utique non erat dolus. Quid sibi ergo vult, quod dicitur, Venit frater tuus cum dolo, et abstulit benedictionem (Gen. XXVII, 35)? Sine dolo eum commendat Scriptura conversantem in domo: Dominus etiam perhibet testimonium, quia sine dolo erat, cum dicit de Nathanaele, Ecce vere Israelita, in quo dolus non est. Quid sibi ergo vult, cum dicitur, Accessit cum dolo, et abstulit benedictionem?
Chapter XV.—15. How Jacob was without guile, and with guile. What, then, is said of this hairy Esau, who did not conduct himself well at home? For this too is said of them: He was a hunter of the field, but Jacob dwelt at home without guile (Gen. 25:27). And therefore his mother loved him, for she found his way of life sweet. He is the Jacob who was afterwards called Israel, when he wrestled with the Angel: and this in a great mystery. Blessed, he was called Israel (Gen. 32:28): and that because he was without guile. Pay attention, my brothers, and see how without guile he was. When the Lord saw Nathanael, because He knew what kind of man he was, He said: Behold, truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile (John 1:47). If, then, this man was an Israelite for this reason, that there is no guile in him, in Israel himself there was certainly no guile. What, then, is meant by what is said, Your brother came with guile, and took away the blessing (Gen. 27:35)? Scripture commends him as dwelling at home without guile: the Lord also bears witness that he was without guile, when He says of Nathanael, Behold, truly an Israelite, in whom there is no guile. What, then, is meant when it is said, He came with guile, and took away the blessing?
CAPUT XVI.—16. Haedinas pelles habere quid. Dolus interim quid significet, attendamus; et videamus quid debeat facere Jacob. Portat aliena peccata, et portat cum tolerantia quamvis aliena: hoc est enim habere pelles haedinas: id est, patienter aliena portat, non haeret suis.
Chapter XVI.—16. What it is to have the skins of kids. Let us meanwhile consider what guile signifies; and let us see what Jacob ought to do. He bears the sins of others, and bears them with tolerance, although they are others': for this is to have the skins of kids: that is, he patiently bears what is others', he does not cling to his own.
Editors' notes and page, col. 41
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 41
Regius et Victorinus Ms., in scriptis Ecclesia propheticis docet nos, etc.
The Royal and Saint-Victor manuscripts have in scriptis Ecclesia propheticis docet nos, etc.
(printed under page 25)
(2) ‹anchor: schismata pereant› · call in col 41
Forte, pereunt.
Perhaps, pereunt.
(printed under page 25)
(3) ‹anchor: sine dolo erat› · call in col 41
Duo Mss., ideo sine dolo erat; omisso, quia.
Two manuscripts have ideo sine dolo erat, omitting quia.
(printed under page 25)
(a) ‹anchor: abstulit benedictionem› · call in col 41
Quaestionem hanc Augustinus in quaest. 72 super Gen. indicat jam a se in hoc ipso sermone tractatam.
In question 72 on Genesis Augustine indicates that this question has already been treated by him in this very sermon.
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Sic omnes qui pro unitate Ecclesiae tolerant aliena peccata, Jacob imitantur. Quia et ipse Jacob in Christo est: siquidem Christus in semine Abraham. Dictum est enim, In semine tuo benedicentur omnes gentes (Gen. XXII, 18). Dominus ergo noster Jesus Christus, qui nullum peccatum fecit, portavit aliena peccata: et dedignatur portare aliena peccata, cui peccata dimissa sunt? Sic ergo Jacob transit ad Christum post aliena peccata, id est, haedinas pelles. Et quid est dolus?
So all who for the unity of the Church tolerate the sins of others imitate Jacob. For Jacob himself too is in Christ, since Christ is in the seed of Abraham. For it is said, In your seed shall all nations be blessed (Gen. 22:18). So our Lord Jesus Christ, Who committed no sin, bore the sins of others: and does he disdain to bear the sins of others, to whom sins have been forgiven? So then Jacob passes over to Christ after the sins of others, that is, the kids' skins. And what is the guile?
17. Venit enim ille sero, et affert quod jussit pater; et invenit fratrem suum benedictum pro se: et non benedicitur altera benedictione. Quia duo illi homines, duo populi erant: una benedictio unitatem significat Ecclesiae. Duo autem populi ipsi sunt, qui est et Jacob. Se⟨d⟩ alio modo figurati duo populi pertinentes ad Jacob. Et enim Dominus noster Jesus Christus, qui ad Judaeos et Gentes venerat, repudiatus est a Judaeis, qui pertinebant ad filium majorem: elegit tamen quosdam, qui pertinebant ad filium minorem, qui spiritualiter coeperant desiderare et intelligere promissa Domini, non carnaliter illam terram, quam desiderabant accipientes; sed spiritualem illam civitatem desiderantes, ubi nemo nascitur carnaliter; quia nemo ibi carnaliter, nemo spiritualiter moritur.
17. For that one comes late, and brings what his father ordered; and he finds his brother blessed in his stead: and he is not blessed with another blessing. For those two men were two peoples: the one blessing signifies the unity of the Church. But the two peoples are themselves [the one] who is also Jacob. But in another way the two peoples belonging to Jacob are figured. For indeed our Lord Jesus Christ, Who had come to the Jews and the Gentiles, was rejected by the Jews, who belonged to the elder son: yet He chose some, who belonged to the younger son, who had begun spiritually to desire and to understand the promises of the Lord, not taking in a carnal sense that land which they were desiring, but desiring that spiritual city where no one is born carnally; because no one there dies carnally, no one dies spiritually.
CAPUT XVII. — 18. Duo haedi, duo populi. Hanc ergo cum coepissent desiderare, coeperunt pertinere ad Jacob, qui crediderunt in Christo, et factus est grex Domini in ipsa Judaea. Sed quid dicit Dominus de ipso grege? Habeo alias oves, quae non sunt de hoc ovili: vado, adducam eas, et erit unus grex et unus pastor (Joan. X, 16). Quas alias oves habet Dominus Jesus Christus, nisi de Gentibus? Junctae sunt oves de Gentibus Judaeis ovibus. De Judaeis enim Apostoli. Inde erant et quingenti fratres, qui viderunt Dominum post resurrectionem (I Cor. XV, 6). Inde erat ipse Nathanael, cui testimonium perhibuit Dominus, in quo dolus non esset. Inde erant centum viginti, qui cum essent in domo, venit Spiritus sanctus, ut eos perfunderet, quem promiserat discipulis. Inde erant tot millia hominum, quae legimus in Actibus Apostolorum baptizata in nomine Christi, ex his qui crucifixerant Christum (Act. I, II, et IV). Ergo inde erant oves, et multae oves; sed non solae: habebat Dominus alias de Gentibus. Ipsi duo populi tanquam de diverso venientes, etiam duobus parietibus significantur. Venit enim Ecclesia Judaeorum de circumcisione; venit Ecclesia Gentium de praeputio: de diverso venientes in domo conjuncti sunt. Ideo Dominus dictus est lapis angularis: dicit enim Psalmus, Lapidem quem reprobaverunt aedificantes, hic factus est in caput anguli (Psal. CXVII, 22); dicit et Apostolus, Ipso summo angulari lapide existente Christo Jesu (Ephes. II, 20). Ubi est angulus, duo parietes
Chapter XVII. — 18. Two kids, two peoples. So when they had begun to desire this, those who believed in Christ began to belong to Jacob, and the flock of the Lord was formed in Judaea itself. But what does the Lord say of this flock? I have other sheep, which are not of this fold: I go, I will bring them, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd (John 10:16). What other sheep does the Lord Jesus Christ have, if not from the Gentiles? The sheep from the Gentiles were joined to the Jewish sheep. For the Apostles were from the Jews. From there too were the five hundred brethren who saw the Lord after the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:6). From there was Nathanael himself, to whom the Lord bore witness that there was no guile in him. From there were the hundred and twenty upon whom, when they were in the house, the Holy Spirit came to pour Himself over them, Whom He had promised to the disciples. From there were the many thousands of men who, as we read in the Acts of the Apostles, were baptized in the name of Christ, from among those who had crucified Christ (Acts 1, 2 and 4). So from there were sheep, and many sheep; but not they alone: the Lord had others from the Gentiles. These two peoples, as coming from different directions, are also signified by two walls. For the Church of the Jews came from circumcision; the Church of the Gentiles came from uncircumcision: coming from different directions they were joined in the house. Therefore the Lord is called the cornerstone: for the Psalm says, The stone which the builders rejected, this has become the head of the corner (Ps. 117:22); and the Apostle says, Christ Jesus Himself being the chief cornerstone (Eph. 2:20). Where there is a corner, two walls
Editors' notes and page, col. 42
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: Sic ergo› · call in col 42
Mss.: si ergo. Pauloque post duo Mss., id est, haedinas pelles, quod est dolus.
The manuscripts have si ergo. And a little further on two manuscripts have id est, haedinas pelles, quod est dolus.
(printed under page 25)
(2) ‹anchor: ad Christum post› · call in col 42
Forte, portat.
Perhaps, portat.
(printed under page 25)
(3) ‹anchor: ex his› · call in col 42
Sic duo Mss. Editi vero, et hi.
So two manuscripts. The printed editions, however, have et hi.
(printed under page 25)
(4) ‹anchor: in domo› · call in col 42
Duo Mss., in Domino.
Two manuscripts have in Domino.
(printed under page 25)
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copulantur: in ang⟨u⟩lo duo parietes, nisi de diverso, non conveniunt: nam si ex una parte veniunt, angulum non faciunt. Duo ergo haedi, ipsi sunt duo populi, ipsa sunt duo ovilia, ipsi sunt duo parietes; ipsi sunt duo caeci qui sedebant in via (Matth. XX, 30); ipsae sunt duae naves in quas levati sunt pisces (Luc. V, 7). Multis in locis Scripturarum intelliguntur duo populi: sed unum sunt in Jacob.
are joined: in a corner two walls do not meet unless they come from different directions, for if they come from one side they do not make a corner. The two kids, then, are the two peoples; they are the two sheepfolds, they are the two walls; they are the two blind men who were sitting by the way (Matt. 20:30); they are the two ships into which the fish were hauled (Luke 5:7). In many places of the Scriptures two peoples are understood: but they are one in Jacob.
CAPUT XVIII. — 19. Haedi cur populi. Quare haedi, dicet aliquis? Haedi nostis quia peccatores sunt: nam ad sinistram erunt haedi, et ad dexteram agni (Matth. XXV, 33). Sed qui perseveraverint haedi, ipsi erunt ad sinistram. Nam nisi prius haedi essent, non diceret Dominus: Non veni vocare justos, sed peccatores. Quando enim Dominus conversabatur cum peccatoribus, et manducabat cum publicanis, Judaei quasi agni, id est, quasi justi, et per superbiam magis hirci, objecerunt Domino tanquam crimen, imo discipulis ejus dixerunt: Quare magister vester cum publicanis et peccatoribus manducat? Respondens Dominus, quomodo se defendit? Non est opus, inquit, sanis medicus, sed male habentibus: non veni vocare justos, sed peccatores (Id. IX, 11-13). Vocat ergo haedos, sed ut non perseverent haedi. Occidit enim illos Jacob, et praeparavit inde epulas patri suo; id est, ad intelligentiam spiritualem, quae in illa benedictione habebat intelligi, quamvis figurabatur in filio majori: ad hoc occisi sunt haedi, et manducati sunt, et trajecti in corpus unum. Sic occiduntur peccata in peccatoribus, et transeunt interfecti in corpus unum Ecclesiae: cujus Ecclesiae figuram gerebat Petrus, quando ei dictum est, Macta et manduca (Act. X, 13). Ergo ille agrestis, iste in domo, mansuetus: ille major, iste minor: ad illum videbantur respicere benedictiones, ad istum perveniebant. Respiciebant ad illum, quia promissa carnalia promittebantur Judaeis: ad istum perveniebant, quia spiritualiter intelligenda erant, et accipienda Christianis. Ad istum benedictio non perveniret, nisi portaret peccata, quae ipse jam non faciebat.
Chapter XVIII. 19. Why the kids are the peoples. Why kids, someone will say? You know that kids are sinners: for the kids will be on the left, and the lambs on the right (Matt. 25:33). But those who persevere as kids, they will be on the left. For unless they had first been kids, the Lord would not say: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners. For when the Lord was keeping company with sinners and eating with publicans, the Jews, as though lambs, that is, as though righteous, but through pride rather he-goats, cast it at the Lord as a crime; nay, they said to His disciples: Why does your master eat with publicans and sinners? The Lord, answering, how does He defend Himself? It is not the healthy, He says, that need a physician, but those who are unwell: I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Matt. 9:11–13). He calls kids, then, but so that they may not persevere as kids. For Jacob slew them, and from them prepared a meal for his father; that is, for the spiritual understanding which was to be understood in that blessing, although it was figured in the elder son: for this the kids were slain, and were eaten, and were passed into one body. So sins are slain in sinners, and, once slain, they pass into the one body of the Church: the figure of which Church Peter bore when it was said to him, Kill and eat (Acts 10:13). So that one was of the field, this one at home, gentle: that one the elder, this one the younger: the blessings seemed to look towards that one, but they came to this one. They looked towards that one, because carnal promises were promised to the Jews: they came to this one, because they were to be understood spiritually and received by Christians. The blessing would not have come to this one, had he not borne sins which he himself was no longer committing.
CAPUT XIX. — 20. Aliena peccata sic portanda sunt, ut corrigantur. Charitas. Intelligat itaque Sanctitas vestra, quomodo sint portanda peccata. Sunt enim qui portare sibi videntur peccata, et tacent peccatoribus: jam ista simulatio detestanda est. Porta peccatorem, non ut ames peccatum in illo, sed ut persequaris peccatum propter illum. Dilige peccatorem, non in quantum peccator est, sed in quantum homo est. Quomodo si diligis aegrum, persequeris febrem: nam si parcis febri, non diligis aegrum. Dic ergo quod verum est fratri tuo, noli tacere. Quid enim aliud agimus, quam dicere vobis quod verum est? Noli mendaciter; aperta veritate dic quod verum est: sed donec corrigatur, portetur. Diversis temporibus fieri potuerunt occisio haedorum
Chapter XIX. 20. Others' sins are to be borne in such a way that they are corrected. Charity. Let your Holiness understand, then, how sins are to be borne. For there are some who think they are bearing sins, and keep silent towards sinners: such pretence is now to be detested. Bear with the sinner, not so that you love the sin in him, but so that you pursue the sin for his sake. Love the sinner, not in so far as he is a sinner, but in so far as he is a man. Just as, if you love a sick man, you pursue the fever: for if you spare the fever, you do not love the sick man. Tell your brother, then, what is true; do not keep silent. For what else are we doing but telling you what is true? Not deceitfully; with open truth say what is true: but until he is corrected, let him be borne with. At different times there could take place the slaying of the ki-
Editors' notes and page, col. 43
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: quamvis figurabatur› · call in col 43
Duo Mss., quae figurabatur.
Two manuscripts have quae figurabatur.
(printed under page 26)
(2) ‹anchor: ad istum perveniebant› · call in col 43
Isthaec verba: Respiciebant ad illum, quia, etc., in ante editis omissa restituuntur ex Mss.
These words, Respiciebant ad illum, quia, etc., omitted in the earlier editions, are restored from the manuscripts.
(printed under page 26)
(3) ‹anchor: benedictio non perveniret› · call in col 43
Lov., benedictio perveniret; omissa negante particula, quae habetur in caeteris libris
Lov. has benedictio perveniret, omitting the negative particle, which is found in the other books.
(printed under page 26)
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et portatio pellium : rem tamen significan⟨t⟩, quae uno tempore fieri potest. Simul enim et arguit justus peccatores, quod est haedos occidere; et peccata eorum misericorditer tolerat, quod est pelles portare. Quantum in ipso fuit, occidit haedos, occidit peccatores : sed portabat aliena peccata, et portabat cum tolerantia; meruit benedici : quia charitas omnia tolerat. Ipsa charitas erat in matre, et figuram charitatis ipsius gerebat mater : quae figura omnium sanctorum erat, figuram charitatis gerebat; quia sancti non sunt, nisi qui habuerint charitatem. Quid enim proderit, si linguis hominum loquar et Angelorum, charitatem autem non habeam? Factus sum aeramentum sonans, aut cymbalum tinniens. Et si habuero omnem fidem, ita ut montes transferam, charitatem autem non habeam, nihil sum. Et si sciero omnia sacramenta, et omnem prophetiam, et tradam corpus meum ut ardeam, charitatem autem non habeam, nihil mihi prodest (I Cor. XIII, 7, 1-3). Qualis est ergo charitas, quae sola multum prodest, sine qua caetera nihil prosunt? Ergo ipsa charitas dat consilium, et obedit filius charitatis.
of the kids and the carrying of the skins: yet they signify a thing which can be done at one time. For at one and the same time the righteous man both rebukes sinners, which is to kill the kids; and mercifully bears with their sins, which is to carry the skins. As far as it lay in him, he killed the kids, he killed the sinners: but he carried the sins of others, and carried them with patience; he deserved to be blessed: because charity bears all things. Charity itself was in the mother, and the mother bore the figure of that charity: she who was the figure of all the saints bore the figure of charity; because none are saints except those who have charity. For what will it profit, if I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not charity? I have become sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I have all faith, so that I move mountains, but have not charity, I am nothing. And if I know all mysteries, and all prophecy, and give up my body to be burned, but have not charity, it profits me nothing (1 Cor. 13:7, 1–3). What then is charity like, which alone profits much, without which all other things profit nothing? So charity itself gives counsel, and the son of charity obeys.
CAPUT XX.—21. Isaac in dolo Jacob figuram intellexit. Quale consilium dat? Ut accipiat ille pelles haedinas, et accedat ad patrem. Majorem quaerit pater, et minorem benedicit : Vetus Testamentum Judaeos intuetur per litteram, et per spiritualem ejus intelligentiam Christiani in illo benedicuntur. Intendat Sanctitas vestra, magnum mysterium, magnum sacramentum. Dicit Isaac, Venit frater tuus cum dolo, de homine sine dolo. Sine dubio Isaac ille, ut erat spiritu prophetico, noverat quid agebatur, et ipse figurate agebat; omnia ponit in magna altitudine sacramentorum : nam si nesciret quid ageret, irasceretur fallenti se filio. Venit major, et dicit, Ecce, pater; manduca : sicut jussisti mihi, feci. Dicit ille : Quis es tu? Respondit : Ego sum filius tuus major Esau. Et quis est, inquit, ille a quo jam manducavi; et benedixi eum, et benedictus erit (Gen. XXVII, 31 33)? Irasci videbatur, exspectabat ab ore ipsius Esau maledictionem aliquam in fratrem : cum exspectat ille maledictionem, confirmat iste benedictionem. O irasci! o indignari! Sed noverat mysterium, et caligo oculorum ejus corporeorum significabat caliginem mentis Judaeorum : oculi autem cordis ejus videbant altitudinem mysteriorum.
Chapter XX.—21. Isaac understood the figure in the deceit of Jacob. What counsel does she give? That he should take the kid skins, and go to his father. The father seeks the elder, and blesses the younger: the Old Testament looks upon the Jews through the letter, and through its spiritual understanding Christians are blessed in it. Let Your Holiness attend: a great mystery, a great sacrament. Isaac says, Your brother came with deceit, of a man without deceit. Without doubt that Isaac, being as he was of a prophetic spirit, knew what was being done, and was himself acting figuratively; he sets everything in a great depth of sacraments: for if he had not known what he was doing, he would have been angry with the son who deceived him. The elder comes, and says, Behold, father; eat: as you commanded me, I have done. He says: Who are you? He answered: I am your elder son Esau. And who is, he says, that one from whom I have already eaten; and I blessed him, and he shall be blessed (Gen. 27:31–33)? He seemed to be angry; Esau was expecting from his mouth some curse against his brother: while that one expects a curse, this one confirms the blessing. O what anger! O what indignation! But he knew the mystery, and the dimness of his bodily eyes signified the darkness of the mind of the Jews: but the eyes of his heart saw the depth of the mysteries.
CAPUT XXI.—22. Dolus, non dolus.—Venit, inquit, frater tuus cum dolo, et abstulit benedictionem. Dicebamus : videte quid est cum dolo : dolus hic, non est dolus. Quomodo dolus non est dolus? Quomodo petra non est petra? Quomodo dicitur mare, et non est mare? quia aliud significat : sic dicitur petra, et non est petra; quia aliud significat. Dicitur mons, et non est mons : dicitur leo de tribu Juda Dominus Jesus Christus, et non est leo : dicitur agnus, et non est agnus : dicitur pecus, et non est pecus : dicitur
Chapter XXI.—22. Deceit, not deceit.—Your brother, he says, came with deceit, and took away the blessing. We were saying: see what "with deceit" is: this deceit is not deceit. How is deceit not deceit? How is a rock not a rock? How is something called sea, and is not sea? Because it signifies something else: so it is called rock, and is not rock; because it signifies something else. It is called mountain, and is not mountain: the Lord Jesus Christ is called the lion of the tribe of Judah, and is not a lion: He is called a lamb, and is not a lamb: He is called a beast of the flock, and is not a beast of the flock: He is called
Editors' notes and page, col. 44
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: ille, ut erat› · call in col 44
Duo Mss. omittunt, ille ut erat.
Two manuscripts omit ille ut erat.
(printed under page 26)
(2) ‹anchor: videte quid est› · call in col 44
Duo Mss.: Videamus quid est; omisso, dicebamus.
Two manuscripts have Videamus quid est, omitting dicebamus.
(printed under page 26)
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- old-edition numerals: (none)
⟨v⟩itulus, et aliud est. Sic dicitur dolus, et non est dolus. Quare ergo dicitur dolus, quaeramus. Quare dicta sunt illa omnia, quaeramus. Quare dictus est leo? Propter fortitudinem. Quare dictus est petra? Propter firmitatem. Quare dictus est agnus? Propter innocentiam. Quare dictus est vitulus? Propter victimam. Quare dictus est mons? Propter magnitudinem. Quare manna? Propter dulcedinem. Quare ergo dolus? Jam quid sit dolus videamus, et inveniamus quare dictus sit dolus. Novimus enim quid sit petra: et tamen dicitur de homine absurdo et duro petra, et de homine robusto et immobili dicitur petra; et ad laudem inde duxisti firmitatem, et ad vituperationem duritiam. Novimus in petra firmitatem, et accepimus Christum petram: Petra autem erat Christus (I Cor. X, 4). In leone fortitudinem novimus: et tamen leo etiam diabolus nominatus est. In dolo quid novimus, ut accipiamus in figura dolum, quemadmodum accipitur et mons, quemadmodum accipitur leo, quemadmodum accipitur agnus, quemadmodum accipitur petra, et caetera?
a calf, and it is something else. So it is called guile, and it is not guile. Why then is it called guile, let us inquire. Why were all those things said, let us inquire. Why is He called a lion? On account of strength. Why is He called a rock? On account of firmness. Why is He called a lamb? On account of innocence. Why is He called a calf? On account of the victim. Why is He called a mountain? On account of greatness. Why manna? On account of sweetness. Why then guile? Now let us see what guile is, and let us find out why it is called guile. For we know what a rock is: and yet a senseless and hard man is called a rock, and a robust and immovable man is called a rock; and for praise you have drawn firmness from it, and for censure hardness. We know firmness in a rock, and we have received Christ as a rock: But the rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). In a lion we know strength: and yet the devil too has been named a lion. In guile what do we know, so that we may take guile figuratively, in the way that a mountain also is taken, in the way that a lion is taken, in the way that a lamb is taken, in the way that a rock is taken, and the rest?
CAPUT XXII. — 23. Dolus in Jacob quid. Jacob a mendacio defenditur. Dolus ergo quid est? Dolus est quando aliud agitur, et aliud simulatur. Quando itaque aliud est in intentione, aliud in factis, dolus dicitur. Dolus ergo in proprietate reprehensibilis, quomodo petra in proprietate. Qui dixerit petram in proprietate Christum, blasphemat: quomodo vitulum qui dixerit in proprietate Christum, blasphemat. Vitulus in proprietate pecus est; in figura, victima: in proprietate lapis terra obdurata est; in figura, firmitas. Dolus in proprietate fraus; in figura, ipsa figura. Omnis enim figurata et allegorica lectio vel locutio, aliud videtur sonare carnaliter, aliud insinuare spiritualiter. Hanc ergo figuram doli nomine appellavit. Quid est ergo, Venit cum dolo, et abstulit benedictionem tuam? Quia figuratum erat quod agebatur, ideo dictum est, Venit cum dolo. Nam ille doloso homini benedictionem non confirmaret, cui debebatur justa maledictio. Non ergo erat verus ille dolus: maxime quia non est mentitus dicendo, Ego sum filius tuus major Esau: jam enim pactus erat ille cum fratre suo, et vendiderat primogenita sua. Hoc se dixit habere patri, quod emerat a fratre: quod ille perdiderat, in istum transierat. Non enim primogeniti honor exclusus erat de domo Isaac: primogeniti honor ibi erat; in illo non erat, qui eum vendiderat: ubi erat, si non in minore erat? Ideo sciens hoc in mysterio Isaac, confirmavit benedictionem, et dicit filio: Quid tibi facturus sum? Et ille: Benedic et me, pater: non enim una tibi est benedictio (Gen. XXVII, 37, 38). Isaac autem sciebat unam.
Chapter XXII. — 23. What the guile in Jacob is. Jacob is defended from lying. What then is guile? Guile is when one thing is done and another is feigned. So when there is one thing in the intention and another in the deeds, it is called guile. Guile, then, in the proper sense is blameworthy, as a rock is in the proper sense. Whoever says that Christ is a rock in the proper sense blasphemes: just as whoever says that Christ is a calf in the proper sense blasphemes. A calf in the proper sense is a beast; figuratively, a victim: in the proper sense a stone is hardened earth; figuratively, firmness. Guile in the proper sense is fraud; figuratively, it is the figure itself. For every figurative and allegorical reading or utterance seems to sound one thing carnally and to suggest another spiritually. This figure, then, he called by the name of guile. What then is: He came with guile, and took away your blessing? Because what was being done was figurative, therefore it was said, He came with guile. For he would not have confirmed a blessing to a guileful man, to whom a just curse was due. That, then, was not true guile: above all because he did not lie in saying, I am your elder son Esau: for the other had already made a pact with his brother, and had sold his birthright. He said to his father that he had what he had bought from his brother: what the one had lost had passed over to the other. For the honour of the firstborn had not been shut out of the house of Isaac: the honour of the firstborn was there; it was not in him who had sold it: where was it, if it was not in the younger? Therefore Isaac, knowing this in a mystery, confirmed the blessing, and says to his son: What shall I do for you? And he: Bless me also, father: for you do not have only one blessing (Gen. 27:37–38). But Isaac knew of one.
CAPUT XXIII. — 24. Benedictio Jacob. Quare unam? Aderit Spiritus sanctus, ut dicam, et intelligatis. Videamus ipsas benedictiones, qualem benedictionem accepit Jacob, et qualem benedictionem ⟨a⟩ccepit Esau. Ipse Isaac ad Jacob: Tu es filius meus Esau? Respondit Jacob: Ego. Et dixit: Appone mihi, et manducabo de venatione tua, fili, et benedicat te anima
Chapter XXIII. — 24. The blessing of Jacob. Why one? The Holy Spirit will be present, so that I may speak and you may understand. Let us look at the blessings themselves, what sort of blessing Jacob received, and what sort of blessing Esau received. Isaac himself to Jacob: Are you my son Esau? Jacob answered: I am. And he said: Set it before me, and I will eat of your venison, son, and may my soul bless you
Editors' notes and page, col. 45
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mea, antequam moriar; sed admove mihi osculum. Illum non est osculatus: a pace coepit hujus benedictio. Quare osculo confirmavit pacem? Quia et ille propter pacem portabat aliena peccata. Et accessit, et osculatus est eum: et odoratus est odorem vestis ejus. Stolam enim habebat fratris sui: id est, dignitatem primogenitorum, quam ille perdiderat, iste habebat. In isto jam bene olebat, quod ille male perdiderat. Odoratus est odorem vestis ejus, et benedixit eum, et dixit: Ecce odor filii mei, sicut odor agri pleni, quem benedixit Dominus. Odorem vestimenti accepit, et dixit odorem agri. Intellige Christum in mysterio interiori, et intellige vestem Christi Ecclesiam.
my soul, before I die; but bring a kiss near to me. That one he did not kiss: this one's blessing began from peace. Why did he confirm peace with a kiss? Because He too, for the sake of peace, carried the sins of others. And he came near, and kissed him: and he smelled the smell of his garment. For he had his brother's robe: that is, the dignity of the first-born, which that one had lost and this one had. In this one there was now a good smell from what that one had wickedly lost. He smelled the smell of his garment, and blessed him, and said: Behold, the smell of my son is like the smell of a full field, which the Lord has blessed. He perceived the smell of the garment, and spoke of the smell of a field. Understand Christ in the inner mystery, and understand the garment of Christ as the Church.
CAPUT XXIV. — 25. Una res multis modis significata. Intelligat Sanctitas vestra. Multis enim modis significatur una res: id est, Ecclesiam, quam significant illi duo haedi, ipsam significat vestis ista. Quia una res multis modis significatur, quae nihil horum est per essentiam, omnia per figuram. Agnus non potest esse leo; leo non potest esse agnus: Dominus autem noster Jesus Christus et leo potuit esse, et agnus: sed quia nec leo nec agnus per essentiam, et leo et agnus per figuram. Sic haedi non possunt esse vestis, et vestis non potest esse haedi: Ecclesia vero, quia nec haedi nec vestis per essentiam, et haedi et vestis est per figuram; et quidquid aliud dici potest.
Chapter XXIV. — 25. One thing signified in many ways. Let your Holiness understand. For one thing is signified in many ways: that is, the Church, which those two kids signify, this garment signifies the same. For one thing is signified in many ways, a thing that is none of these by essence, but all of them by figure. A lamb cannot be a lion; a lion cannot be a lamb: but our Lord Jesus Christ could be both lion and lamb: but because He is neither lion nor lamb by essence, He is both lion and lamb by figure. So kids cannot be a garment, and a garment cannot be kids: but the Church, because it is neither kids nor garment by essence, is both kids and garment by figure; and whatever else can be said.
CAPUT XXV. — 26. Ecclesia ager. Odoratus est vestimenta ejus, et dixit: Ecce odor filii mei, sicut odor agri pleni quem benedixit Dominus. Ager iste, Ecclesia est. Probemus quia ager est Ecclesia. Audi Apostolum dicentem fidelibus: Dei agricultura estis, Dei aedificatio estis (I Cor. III, 9). Non solum ager est Ecclesia, sed et agricola Deus. Audi ipsum Dominum: Ego sum vitis, vos sarmenta, et Pater meus agricola est (Joan. XV, 1 et 5). In hoc ergo agro laborans operarius, et sperans mercedem sempiternam, ipse Apostolus nihil sibi arrogat, nisi quantum decet operarium. Ego, inquit, plantavi, Apollo rigavit; sed Deus incrementum dedit. Itaque neque qui plantat est aliquid, neque qui rigat; sed qui incrementum dat Deus. (I Cor. III, 6 et 7). Quomodo servavit humilitatem, ut ad Jacob pertineret, ut ad ipsum agrum, id est, Ecclesiam, ne amitteret stolam, cujus odor erat sicut odor agri pleni, et transiret ad superbiam Esau, carnaliter intelligens et typho plenus? Olet ergo ager de veste filii: sed non ager ille ex se aliquid est, ideo adjecit, quem benedixit Dominus. Et dabit tibi Dominus de rore coeli desursum, et ab ubertate terrae, et multitudinem frumenti et vini: et servient tibi gentes, et eris dominus fratris tui, et aaorabunt te filii patris tui. Qui maledixerit te, maledictus erit; et qui benedixerit te, benedictus erit (Gen. XXVII, 19-29). Haec benedictio Jacob:
Chapter XXV. — 26. The Church a field. He smelled his garments, and said: Behold, the smell of my son is like the smell of a full field which the Lord has blessed. This field is the Church. Let us prove that the field is the Church. Hear the Apostle saying to the faithful: You are God's tillage, you are God's building (1 Cor. 3:9). Not only is the Church the field, but God is also the husbandman. Hear the Lord Himself: I am the vine, you are the branches, and My Father is the husbandman (John 15:1 and 5). So labouring as a workman in this field, and hoping for an everlasting reward, the Apostle himself claims nothing for himself except as much as befits a workman. I, he says, planted, Apollo watered; but God gave the increase. So neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters; but God, who gives the increase. (1 Cor. 3:6–7). How did he keep humility, so as to belong to Jacob, so as to belong to the field itself, that is, the Church, lest he should lose the robe whose smell was like the smell of a full field, and pass over to the pride of Esau, understanding carnally and full of conceit? So the field gives off a smell from the son's garment: but that field is not anything of itself, therefore he added: which the Lord has blessed. And the Lord will give you of the dew of heaven from above, and of the fruitfulness of the earth, and an abundance of grain and wine: and nations shall serve you, and you shall be lord of your brother, and the sons of your father shall worship you. Whoever curses you shall be cursed; and whoever blesses you shall be blessed (Gen. 27:19–29). This is the blessing of Jacob:
Editors' notes and page, col. 46
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 46
Editi: Illum enim est osculatus. At. Mss.: Illum non est osculatus, Scilicet Esau.
The printed editions have Illum enim est osculatus. But the manuscripts have Illum non est osculatus, that is, Esau.
(printed under page 27)
(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 46
Sic aliquot Mss. Editi vero, et benedixit.
So several manuscripts. The printed editions, however, have et benedixit.
(printed under page 27)
(3) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 46
Editi et Ms. Corbeiensis, quae nihil horum est per evidentiam, omnia sunt per figuram. Itemque infra ubi legitur, per essentiam, habent iidem libri constanter, per evidentiam. Quibus locis Victorinum Ms. et Regium secuti sumus
The printed editions and the Corbie manuscript have quae nihil horum est per evidentiam, omnia sunt per figuram. And likewise below, where per essentiam is read, the same books consistently have per evidentiam. In these places we have followed the Saint-Victor manuscript and the Royal one.
(printed under page 27)
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si non benediceretur et Esau, nulla esset quaestio: benedicitur et ipse, sed non ipsa benedictione; nec tamen ab hac penitus aliena.
if Esau too were not blessed, there would be no question: he too is blessed, but not with that same blessing; yet not with one wholly foreign to it.
CAPUT XXVI. — 27. Benedictio Esau. Audiamus ergo quomodo benedicitur Esau; et videamus quid intersit inter spirituales Ecclesiae filios, et carnales; inter eos qui spiritualiter vivunt, et eos qui semper carnalibus gaudiis delectantur. Respondens autem Isaac, dixit ad Esau: Quis ergo venatus est mihi venationem, et intulit mihi? benedictus sit. Factum est autem ut audivit Esau verba Isaac patris sui, exclamavit voce magna, et dixit: Benedic et me pater. Et dixit illi: Venit frater tuus cum dolo, et accepit benedictionem tuam.
Chapter XXVI. — 27. The blessing of Esau. Let us hear, then, how Esau is blessed; and let us see what difference there is between the spiritual sons of the Church and the carnal ones; between those who live spiritually and those who always take delight in carnal joys. And Isaac answering said to Esau: Who then has hunted game for me, and brought it in to me? Let him be blessed. And it came to pass, when Esau heard the words of Isaac his father, he cried out with a loud voice, and said: Bless me also, father. And he said to him: Your brother came with guile, and received your blessing.
28. Jacob supplantatio. — Et dixit Esau: Juste vocatum est nomen ejus Jacob. Supplantatio enim vocatur Jacob. Et nec ipsa supplantatio inanis est: quia in figura accipitur, quomodo dolus. Non enim jam erat tanta malitia in fratre, ut vellet supplantare fratrem suum. Tunc enim dictus est supplantator, quando manu fratris sui nascentis pedem tenuit: tunc supplantator est dictus (Gen. XXV, 25). Supplantatio autem carnalium, vita spiritualium est.
28. Jacob, supplanting. — And Esau said: Rightly was his name called Jacob. For Jacob is called Supplanting. And not even this supplanting is empty: for it is taken in a figure, as the guile is. For there was not yet such malice in the brother that he would wish to supplant his brother. For he was called supplanter then, when with his hand he held the foot of his brother as he was being born: then he was called supplanter (Gen. 25:25). But the supplanting of the carnal is the life of the spiritual.
CAPUT XXVII. — Omnes enim carnales, cum in Ecclesia invident spiritualibus, supplantantur, et fiunt pejores. Audi Apostolum hoc ipsum dicentem, maxime quia ibi commemoravit odorem, quem hic expressit Isaac, dicens, Ecce odor filii mei, sicut odor agri pleni, quem benedixit Dominus. Ait ergo Apostolus, Christi bonus odor sumus in omni loco: et adjecit, Aliis quidem odor vitae, in vitam; aliis odor mortis, in mortem: et ad haec quis idoneus (II Cor. II, 15, 16)? id est, ut intelligat quomodo odor mortis sumus in mortem hominum, nulla nostra culpa. Ambulant etenim vias suas spirituales, nihil aliud norunt quam bene vivere: et qui innocenter viventibus invident, faciunt peccata gravia, unde illos puniat Deus; et fit eis ille odor in mortem, qui est aliis odor ad vitam. Nam ipse Dominus prius factus est odor bonus ad vitam credentibus, et odor malus ad mortem persequentibus. Quia ⟨e⟩nim multi illi crediderant, inviderunt Judaei, et fecerunt tantum scelus occidendo innocentem, Sanctum sanctorum: quod si non facerent, ad mortem eis non valeret bonus odor Christi. Ergo supplantatus est Esau in benedictione patris.
Chapter XXVII. — For all the carnal, when in the Church they envy the spiritual, are supplanted, and become worse. Hear the Apostle saying this very thing, especially since there he mentioned the odour which Isaac expressed here, saying: Behold, the odour of my son is as the odour of a full field, which the Lord has blessed. So the Apostle says: We are the good odour of Christ in every place; and he added: To some indeed the odour of life unto life; to others the odour of death unto death: and for these things who is sufficient (2 Cor. 2:15–16)? That is, so as to understand how we are an odour of death unto the death of men through no fault of ours. For the spiritual walk their ways, they know nothing else but to live well: and those who envy those living innocently commit grave sins, for which God punishes them; and that odour becomes for them unto death which for others is an odour unto life. For the Lord Himself first became a good odour unto life for those who believed, and an evil odour unto death for those who persecuted. For because many had believed in Him, the Jews were envious, and committed so great a crime by killing the Innocent One, the Holy of holies: and if they had not done this, the good odour of Christ would not have availed unto death for them. Therefore Esau was supplanted in the blessing of his father.
29. Iterum de benedictione Esau. Respondit autem Isaac, et dixit ad illum, Dominum illum tuum feci: non enim aliud potuit accipere Esau quod dictum est, Et omnes fratres ejus servient illi: tibi autem quid faciam, fili? Et dixit Esau ad patrem suum: Benedic tamen et me. Cum strangulatus esset Isaac: id est, cum coactus esset. Magna res, magnum sacramentum, utinam capiamus: coactus benedicit, et tamen benedicit; et quod benedicit, verum est, sed tamen coactus benedicit. Quid sit hoc, attendite. Videamus ipsam benedictionem, et intelligamus quid sit coactum benedicere.
29. Again on the blessing of Esau. And Isaac answered and said to him: I have made him your lord: for Esau could not receive otherwise what was said, And all his brothers shall serve him: but what shall I do for you, son? And Esau said to his father: Bless me nevertheless also. When Isaac had been strangled: that is, when he had been constrained. A great matter, a great sacrament, would that we may grasp it: constrained he blesses, and yet he blesses; and what he blesses is true, but nevertheless he blesses under constraint. Attend to what this is. Let us look at the blessing itself, and understand what it is to bless under constraint.
CAPUT XXVIII. — 30. In benedictione quid proprium,
Chapter XXVIII. — 30. In the blessing, what is
Editors' notes and page, col. 47
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: Supplantatio enim› · call in col 47
Regius Ms., supplantator enim.
The Royal manuscript has supplantator enim.
(printed under page 28)
(a) ‹anchor: in benedictione patris› · call in col 47
Forte, fratris.
Perhaps, fratris.
(printed under page 28)
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quid commune Jacob et Esau. Respondit autem Isaac (pater sane Esau non est osculatus), et ait illi, Ecce a fertilitate terrae erit habitatio tua, et a rore coeli desuper. Dixit hoc et illi, ab ubertate terrae, et a rore coeli: hoc ergo commune est Jacob et Esau. Quid est proprium Jacob? Servient tibi gentes. Quid est proprium Jacob? Omnes fratres tui tibi servient: et qui te benedixerit, benedictus erit; et qui te maledixerit, maledictus erit. Habet et iste nescio quid proprium, quod non dictum est Jacob: Et in gladio vives, et fratri tuo servies. Sed ne tolleret liberum arbitrium (jam hinc et hesterno diximus), adjecit, Erit autem, cum deposueris et solveris jugum de collo tuo. Quid est, Erit autem, cum deposueris et solveris jugum de collo tuo (Gen. XXVII, 39, 40)? Liberum tibi est, si volueris, converti: non quasi duo eritis, sed unus Jacob. Omnes enim qui convertuntur ab Esau, ad Jacob pertinent. Similitudo unum facit, dissimilitudo facit diversitatem. Quid ergo? A rore coeli, et a fertilitate terrae, ambo habent. Servient tibi gentes et fratres tui et filii patris tui, solus Jacob habet. In gladio autem tuo vives, solus Esau. Quiddam commune habent, quaedam singuli.
proper, and what is common to Jacob and Esau. Now Isaac answered (the father did not, to be sure, kiss Esau), and said to him, Behold, from the fertility of the earth shall your dwelling be, and from the dew of heaven above. He said this to the other also, from the richness of the earth, and from the dew of heaven: this, then, is common to Jacob and Esau. What is proper to Jacob? The nations shall serve you. What is proper to Jacob? All your brothers shall serve you: and whoever blesses you shall be blessed; and whoever curses you shall be cursed. This one too has something proper to him, which was not said to Jacob: And by the sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother. But so as not to take away free choice (we have already spoken of this yesterday), he added, But it shall be, when you lay down and loose the yoke from your neck. What is, But it shall be, when you lay down and loose the yoke from your neck (Gen. 27:39–40)? You are free, if you will, to be converted: not as though you will be two, but one Jacob. For all who are converted from Esau belong to Jacob. Likeness makes one; unlikeness makes diversity. What then? From the dew of heaven, and from the fertility of the earth, both have. The nations shall serve you, and your brothers and the sons of your father, Jacob alone has. But by your sword you shall live, Esau alone. Something they have in common, certain things each by himself.
31. Scripturae et Sacramenta bonis et malis communia. Sunt mali in Ecclesia pertinentes ad Esau: quia et ipsi filii Rebeccae, filii matris Ecclesiae, de utero ipsius nati, et pilosi in peccatis carnalibus perseverantes, de illius tamen utero nati. Habent ergo a rore coeli, et a fertilitate terrae: a rore coeli omnes Scripturas, omnem sermonem divinum: a fertilitate vero terrae, omnia visibilia Sacramenta; visibile enim Sacramentum ad terram pertinet. Haec omnia communia habent in Ecclesia et boni et mali. Nam et ipsi habent et participant Sacramentis: et quod norunt fideles, a tritico et vino. Et habent de rore coeli: quia super omnes descendit sermo Dei de coelo. Venit sermo Dei, et irrigat: sed qui irriget, et quid irriget, attende. Nam et illos irrigat et illos, bonos et malos: sed illi bonam pluviam in radicem spinarum convertunt; illi autem ad fructum bonum pluviam trahunt. Nam simul pluit Dominus super segetem et super spinas; sed segeti pluit ad horreum, spinis ad ignem: et tamen una est pluvia. Sic Verbum Dei omnes compluit. Videat quisque qualem radicem habeat; videat quisque quo trahat pluviam bonam: si eam trahit, ut generet spinas, numquid ideo pluvia Dei accusanda est? Antequam veniat ad radicem, dulcis est pluvia illa; dulce est verbum Dei, donec veniat ad cor malum, et convertat ad fraudem suam pluviam Dei, convertat ad hypocrisim, convertat ad radices malarum concupiscentiarum, ad perversitates et depravationes suas. Incipit quidem generare spinas, sed de pluvia bona: habet enim a rore coeli. Et quoniam non excluduntur omnes mali a Sacramentis Dei, habet et
31. The Scriptures and the Sacraments are common to the good and the bad. There are bad men in the Church who belong to Esau: because they too are sons of Rebecca, sons of mother Church, born from her womb, and though hairy, persisting in carnal sins, they are nevertheless born from her womb. They have, therefore, from the dew of heaven, and from the fertility of the earth: from the dew of heaven all the Scriptures, all the divine discourse; from the fertility of the earth, all the visible Sacraments; for a visible Sacrament pertains to the earth. All these things the good and the bad alike have in common in the Church. For they too have and partake of the Sacraments: and what the faithful know of, from wheat and wine. And they have of the dew of heaven: because the word of God comes down from heaven upon all. The word of God comes and waters: but consider whom it waters, and what it waters. For it waters both these and those, the good and the bad: but the latter turn the good rain into the root of thorns; the former draw the rain towards good fruit. For the Lord rains at the same time upon the crop and upon the thorns; but He rains on the crop for the barn, on the thorns for the fire: and yet the rain is one. So the Word of God rains upon all. Let each one see what kind of root he has; let each one see where he draws the good rain: if he draws it so as to produce thorns, is the rain of God therefore to be accused? Before it comes to the root, that rain is sweet; the word of God is sweet, until it comes to an evil heart, and that heart turns the rain of God to its own deceit, turns it to hypocrisy, turns it to the roots of evil desires, to its own perversities and depravities. It begins indeed to produce thorns, but from good rain: for it has from the dew of heaven. And since not all the bad are excluded from the Sacraments of God, he has also
Editors' notes and page, col. 48
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 48
Duobus in Mss. deest, non est osculatus.
In two manuscripts non est osculatus is wanting.
(printed under page 28)
(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 48
Victorinus Ms. et Regius habent, benedictio tua. At caeteri libri, habitatio tua: juxta LXX, hê katoikêsis sou. Et consentit hebraeus textus.
The Saint-Victor manuscript and the Royal one have benedictio tua. But the other books have habitatio tua, in accordance with the Septuagint, hê katoikêsis sou. And the Hebrew text agrees.
(printed under page 28)
(3) ‹anchor: de rore coeli› · call in col 48
Sic Mss. cum Par. et Ulim. At Lov., a tritico et vino, habent de rore coeli.
So the manuscripts, with Par. and Ulim. But Lov. has a tritico et vino, habent de rore coeli.
(printed under page 28)
(4) ‹anchor: habet› · call in col 48
In duobus Mss., habent.
In two manuscripts, habent.
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ab ubertate terrae, quod norunt illi, qui jam voluerunt esse participes mysteriorum fidelium.
of the fatness of the earth, which those know who have already wished to be partakers of the mysteries of the faithful.
CAPUT XXIX. — 32. Omnes gentes spiritualibus subjectae. Cum ad ambos pertineant ista, non tamen pertinent omnes gentes nisi ad spirituales, quia ipsi pertinent ad Ecclesiam, quae implevit totum orbem terrarum. Attendite, fratres, et discernite quantum potestis, vel quantum vobis Dominus dat. Omnis spiritualis videt quia Ecclesia per totum orbem terrarum est una, vera, catholica, et nihil sibi arrogat, et tolerat peccata hominum, quos non potest purgare de area dominica, antequam veniat ille ultimus ventilator, qui falli non potest, ut purget aream suam, et frumentum mittat in horreum, paleas autem det ad comburendum (Matth. III, 13): quia ipse habet excludere paleam, et segregare a frumento, et praeparare horreum tritico, paleis ignem. Itaque quia novit, tolerat peccatores in fine separandos. Per omnes gentes peccatores et omnes carnales mixti sunt spiritualibus, et serviunt eis: spirituales autem non serviunt; quia de illis proficiunt, cum ipsi deficiunt. Attendite, fratres mei; dicam, si possum, et non timeam, non tacebo: urgeor enim ut dicam: etsi mihi forte aliqui succensuerint; sed dent veniam, timeo enim, ut dixi; timori dent veniam. Christus neminem timuit: nos autem Christum timendo non parcimus, ne nobis, dum tales nolumus contristare, ille non parcat. Quid velim dicere dignamini audire, et intentissime advertere. Acceperunt ambo a rore coeli et ab ubertate terrae, Jacob et Esau; ambo illud habent quod jam diximus, quod novimus, quod nostis: sed ut serviant ei gentes, non accepit nisi Jacob; quia carnales in Ecclesia per totum orbem terrarum non serviunt nisi spiritualibus. Quare? Quia de illis proficiunt spirituales. Nam ideo carnales homines servi dicuntur: et si quod nolunt faciunt, prodest tamen spiritualibus mala conversatio carnalium; quia et ex eadem conversatione proficiunt, et per tolerantiam coronantur.
Chapter XXIX. — 32. All nations subject to the spiritual. Although these things belong to both, yet all the nations do not belong except to the spiritual, because they belong to the Church, which has filled the whole world. Give heed, brethren, and discern as far as you can, or as far as the Lord grants you. Every spiritual man sees that the Church throughout the whole world is one, true, catholic, and claims nothing for herself, and tolerates the sins of men whom she cannot purge from the Lord's threshing-floor before that last winnower comes, Who cannot be deceived, to purge His threshing-floor and put the wheat into the granary, but give the chaff to be burned (Matt. 3:13): for it is He Who has to shut out the chaff and separate it from the wheat, and prepare the granary for the grain, the fire for the chaff. Therefore, because she knows this, she tolerates sinners who are to be separated at the end. Throughout all nations sinners and all the carnal are mixed with the spiritual, and they serve them: but the spiritual do not serve; for they profit from them, while those fall away. Give heed, my brethren; I shall speak, if I can, and let me not be afraid, I shall not keep silent: for I am pressed to speak: even if some should perhaps be angry with me; but let them grant pardon, for I am afraid, as I have said; let them grant pardon to fear. Christ feared no one: but we, through fearing Christ, do not spare, lest, while we are unwilling to sadden such men, He should not spare us. Deign to hear what I wish to say, and to attend most intently. Both received of the dew of heaven and of the fatness of the earth, Jacob and Esau; both have that which we have already spoken of, which we know, which you know: but that nations should serve him, none received but Jacob; for the carnal in the Church throughout the whole world serve none but the spiritual. Why? Because the spiritual profit from them. For it is for this reason that carnal men are called servants: and even if they do what they do not wish, yet the evil conduct of the carnal profits the spiritual; for they both profit from that same conduct and are crowned through their endurance.
CAPUT XXX. — 33. Carnalibus cur non subjectae gentes. Intendat Sanctitas vestra quod dicimus. Illi autem Esau non sunt datae gentes: quia omnes carnales, qui sunt in Ecclesia, aut divisi sunt, aut faciles sunt ad divisionem. Ecce pars Donati inde facta est, inde est, de ipsis carnalibus carnaliter sentientibus. Carnales erant: sed quia quaesierunt honorem suum, vel patientiam perdiderunt, invenerunt aditum, et divisi sunt: amaverunt honorem suum, multum ei tribuerunt, typho superbiae tumuerunt, non habuerunt tolerantiam, id est, non habuerunt charitatem. Scriptum est enim: Charitas omnia tolerat, omnia sustinet; non aemulatur, non inflatur, non agit perperam (I Cor. XIII, 7, 4). Itaque quidquid aliud haberent, quia illud non habebant per quod prodest quidquid habetur, diviserunt se. Et quotquot haereses vel praecisiones et schismata facta sunt, per hos carnales facta sunt. Aut enim carnaliter senserunt, et fecerunt
Chapter XXX. — 33. Why the nations were not subjected to the carnal. Let Your Holiness attend to what we are saying. But to that Esau the nations were not given: because all the carnal who are in the Church either are divided or are prone to division. Behold, the party of Donatus was made from there, is from there, from those very carnal men who think carnally. They were carnal: but because they sought their own honour, or lost their patience, they found an opening, and were divided: they loved their own honour, they attributed much to it, they swelled with the vanity of pride, they did not have tolerance, that is, they did not have charity. For it is written: Charity tolerates all things, endures all things; it is not jealous, it is not puffed up, it does not act wrongly (1 Cor. 13:7, 4). Therefore, whatever else they might have had, because they did not have that through which whatever is had is of profit, they divided themselves. And as many heresies or cuttings-off and schisms as have been made, have been made through these carnal men. For either they thought carnally, and did-
Editors' notes and page, col. 49
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: erant: sed› · call in col 49
Particula, sed, et quae hic paulo post occurrit, vel, abest a duobus Mss.
The particle sed, and the vel which occurs here a little further on, are absent from two manuscripts.
(printed under page 29)
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sibi imagines phantasmatum suorum, et erraverunt, et reprehendit eos fides catholica; et cum arguerentur, exclusi sunt foras pondere suo: aut invenientes sibi lites et simultates cum hominibus, diviserunt se. Qui se ergo diviserunt, nisi ad quos pertinet gladius ille, de quo dictum est, In gladio tuo vives? Non quia gladius non accipitur in bono: nam quemadmodum dicta sunt illa superiora, id est quomodo accipitur lapis ille, et ad firmitatem propter Christum, et ad reprehensionem propter stultum; quomodo leo dictus est Christus propter aliud, et leo dictus est diabolus propter aliud: sic accipitur gladius aliquando in bono, aliquando in malo. Sed hic non sine causa non datus est Jacob, sed datus est Esau: nisi quia aliquid mysterii significatur in gladio. Quomodo et ipsa servitus non est aliena a mysterio; id est, quod dictum est, Servies fratri tuo: nam et hoc in magno mysterio dictum est.
[made] for themselves images of their own phantasms, and they went astray, and the catholic faith rebuked them; and when they were reproved, they were shut out of doors by their own weight; or else, finding for themselves quarrels and rivalries with men, they divided themselves off. Who then are they who divided themselves off, if not those to whom that sword belongs of which it was said, By your sword you shall live? Not that the sword is not taken in a good sense: for just as those earlier things were said, that is, how that stone is taken both for firmness on account of Christ and for rebuke on account of the fool; how Christ was called a lion for one reason, and the devil was called a lion for another reason: so the sword is taken sometimes in a good sense, sometimes in a bad one. But here it was not without reason that it was not given to Jacob but was given to Esau: unless it is because something of a mystery is signified in the sword. Just as the servitude itself is not foreign to a mystery; that is, what was said, You shall serve your brother: for this too was said in a great mystery.
CAPUT XXXI. — 34. Contra schismaticos. Ergo, fratres, qui se dividunt, ipsi habent gladium divisionis, et in gladio suo moriuntur, et in gladio suo vivunt. Sed quia verum dixerat Dominus, Qui gladio percutit, gladio morietur (Matth. XXVI, 52); videte illos, fratres mei, qui se ab unitate praeciderunt, in quot frusta praecisi sunt. Nostis quot partes fecit pars Donati, nec arbitror latere Sanctitatem vestram, quia qui gladio percutit, gladio peribit. Dictum est illi, In gladio tuo vives. Sic et illi qui non recesserunt ab Ecclesia, et tales sunt, quales si foris essent. Qui enim amant honores suos in Ecclesia, omnino tales sunt; qui amant in Ecclesia commoda sua saecularia, et ipsi palea sunt; sed ventus deest, ideo non volant de area: hoc est quod dico breviter, tentatio deest, nam volarent de area. Denique quando contra illos aliquid egerit Ecclesia, quomodo facile se praecidunt? quomodo facile extra colligunt, et nolunt dimittere principatum suum? quomodo pro ipso principatu mori volunt? quomodo tenere volunt sub se plebes, et non dimittere plebes unitati Christi? quomodo volunt facere oves suas, quas suo sanguine non emerunt, et ideo viles habent, quia non emerunt? Quid opus est hinc diutius disputare? Attendite illos per universam Ecclesiam, videte tales, et eos qui intus sunt, et eos qui inventa occasione de area volaverunt, et volunt secum trahere grana; sed grana vera et plena tolerant paleam, et manent in area usque in finem, quousque veniat ultimus ventilator: sicut ille cum pellibus haedinis toleravit aliena peccata, et meruit accipere benedictionem paternam.
Chapter XXXI. — 34. Against the schismatics. Therefore, brethren, those who divide themselves have the sword of division, and by their own sword they die, and by their own sword they live. But since the Lord had spoken truly, He who strikes with the sword shall die by the sword (Matt. 26:52), see those, my brethren, who have cut themselves off from unity, into how many fragments they have been cut. You know how many parts the party of Donatus has made, nor do I think it is hidden from your Holiness that he who strikes with the sword shall perish by the sword. It was said to him, By your sword you shall live. So too those who have not withdrawn from the Church are nonetheless such as they would be if they were outside. For those who love their own honours in the Church are wholly such; those who love their worldly advantages in the Church are themselves chaff as well; but the wind is lacking, therefore they do not fly from the threshing-floor: this is what I am saying briefly, temptation is lacking, for otherwise they would fly from the threshing-floor. Indeed, when the Church takes some action against them, how readily they cut themselves off! How readily they gather [people] outside, and refuse to give up their primacy! How willing they are to die for that very primacy! How they want to keep the congregations under themselves, and not release the congregations to the unity of Christ! How they want to make their own the sheep which they did not buy with their blood, and therefore hold them cheap, because they did not buy them! What need is there to argue about this any longer? Observe such men throughout the whole Church, look at them, both those who are inside and those who, having found an opportunity, have flown from the threshing-floor and want to drag the grain along with them; but the true and full grains bear with the chaff, and remain on the threshing-floor until the end, until the last winnower comes: just as he, with the kids' skins, bore with the sins of another, and was found worthy to receive his father's blessing.
CAPUT XXXII. — 35. Extorta benedictio. Quare autem sugillatus Isaac benedixit? Jam enim necessitate, jam coactus pater ejus dixit illi, Ecce ab
Chapter XXXII. — 35. The extorted blessing. But why did Isaac, smitten [with distress], give the blessing? For now under necessity, now constrained, his father said to him, Behold, from
Editors' notes and page, col. 50
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: in gladio› · call in col 50
Sic duo Mss. Editi vero, in malo.
So two manuscripts. The printed editions, however, have in malo.
(printed under page 29)
(2) ‹anchor: qui amant› · call in col 50
Lov., qui enim amant. M.
Lov. has qui enim amant. M.
(printed under page 29)
(3) ‹anchor: facere oves› · call in col 50
Ms. Regius caret voce, oves.
The Royal manuscript lacks the word oves.
(printed under page 29)
(a) ‹anchor: autem sugillatus› · call in col 50
Supra in cap. 27 habetur, strangulatus: quod videlicet apud LXX graece esset catanachthéntos, Gen. ℣. 27, cap. 39, ubi nunc legitur catanuchthéntos, compuncto. [first Greek word uncertain in the scan: catanachthéntos or catamachthéntos]
Above, in ch. 27, strangulatus is found: evidently because in the Septuagint the Greek would have been catanachthéntos, at Gen., verse 27, ch. 39 [as printed], where catanuchthéntos, "pricked with compunction," is now read.
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ubertate terrae erit tibi habitatio et a rore coeli. Et ne ideo te putes bonum, In gladio tuo vives, et fratri tuo servies. Sed ne de te desperes, quia potes te corrigere, Erit autem, cum deposueris et solveris jugum de collo tuo. Ecce ab ubertate terrae et a rore coeli accipiet; sed Isaac sugillatus projicit illi benedictionem, non dat. Nonne fit modo in Ecclesia malis hominibus, qui volunt perturbare Ecclesiam, ut tolerentur ad necessitatem ipsius pacis, ut admittantur, ut habeant Sacramenta communia? Et aliquando scitur quia mali sunt, et convinci forte non possunt ut emendentur et degradentur; ut excludantur, ut excommunicentur, non possunt convinci. Si institerit aliquis, aliquando itur in disruptiones Ecclesiae. Cogitur gubernator Ecclesiae tanquam dicere, Ecce ab ubertate terrae erit tibi, et a rore coeli: utere Sacramentis, tibi manducas judicium, tibi bibis judicium: Qui enim manducat et bibit indigne, judicium sibi manducat et bibit (I Cor. XI, 29). Nosti quia admitteris ex necessitate pacis Ecclesiae, non habes in corde nisi perturbationes et divisiones. Ideo in gladio tuo vives: nam in eo quod accipis a rore coeli, et ab ubertate terrae, non ibi vives; non enim hoc te delectat, aut suavis est tibi Dominus. Si enim hoc te delectaret, et suavis tibi esset Dominus, imitareris humilitatem Domini, non superbiam diaboli. [Quamvis ergo accipiat mysterium humilitatis Domini a rore coeli et ab ubertate terrae, non tamen deponit superbiam diaboli; cui nihil faciam, qui semper dissensionibus et seditionibus gaudet.] Quamvis sit tibi ista communio a rore coeli et ab ubertate terrae; tamen in gladio tuo vivis, seditionibus et dissensionibus aut gaudes aut terreris. Muta ergo te, et tolle jugum a collo tuo.
fatness of the earth shall your dwelling be, and from the dew of heaven. And lest you should therefore think yourself good: By your sword you shall live, and you shall serve your brother. But lest you should despair of yourself, since you can correct yourself: But it shall be, when you have put down and loosed the yoke from your neck. See, from the fatness of the earth and from the dew of heaven he shall receive; but Isaac, affronted, throws the blessing to him, he does not give it. Does it not happen now in the Church to evil men, who wish to disturb the Church, that they are tolerated for the necessity of peace itself, that they are admitted, that they have the Sacraments in common? And sometimes it is known that they are evil, and perhaps they cannot be convicted so as to be amended and degraded; that they may be excluded, that they may be excommunicated, they cannot be convicted. If anyone presses the matter, sometimes it comes to ruptures of the Church. The governor of the Church is compelled as it were to say: See, from the fatness of the earth it shall be yours, and from the dew of heaven: use the Sacraments, you eat judgement to yourself, you drink judgement to yourself: For he who eats and drinks unworthily eats and drinks judgement to himself (1 Cor. 11:29). You know that you are admitted out of the necessity of the peace of the Church, you have nothing in your heart but disturbances and divisions. Therefore by your sword you shall live: for in that which you receive from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of the earth, there you shall not live; for this does not delight you, nor is the Lord sweet to you. For if this delighted you, and the Lord were sweet to you, you would imitate the humility of the Lord, not the pride of the devil. [Although, therefore, he receives the mystery of the humility of the Lord from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of the earth, yet he does not put down the pride of the devil; to whom I shall do nothing, who always rejoices in dissensions and seditions.] Although this communion is yours from the dew of heaven and from the fatness of the earth, yet by your sword you live; in seditions and dissensions you either rejoice or are terrified. Change yourself, therefore, and take the yoke from your neck.
CAPUT XXXIII. — 36. Epilogus, de pugna contra diabolum exemplo martyrum suscipienda. Vincentii martyris natalitia. Haec vobis, fratres, pro magnitudine mysteriorum forte pauca; pro tempore tamen et pro viribus nostris et pro vestris multa dicta sunt: et si forte enucleatius haec quaestio discussa non est, partim tamen magna mysteria, quae postea si tractentur, inveniuntur. Date veniam et angustiae temporis, et viribus nostris, et capacitati vestrae. Vultis plus capere, crescite: vultis crescere, bene vivite. Qui enim non vult bene vivere, non vult crescere. Has vobis epulas exhibuerit Dominus Deus noster per natalitia martyris sui Vincentii. Vincentius nomen victoriae est. Amate aut⟨e⟩m, ut vincatis: non enim deest persecutio; diabolus persecutor est, nunquam desit occasio coronae: tantum miles Christi intelligat pugnam, et sciat quem vincat. Numquid quia non te urget hostis manifestus corporis, non te urget persecutor occultus illecebris carnis? Quanta suggerit mala? quanta per cupiditatem, quanta per timorem? Quibus illecebris persuadet ut eas ad sortilegos, ad mathematicos, quando
Chapter XXXIII. — 36. Epilogue, on the fight against the devil to be undertaken after the example of the martyrs. The birthday of the martyr Vincent. These things, brothers, are perhaps few for the greatness of the mysteries; yet for the time, and for our strength and for yours, many things have been said: and if perhaps this question has not been discussed with greater precision, yet in part [there are] great mysteries, which, if they are treated later, are found. Pardon both the shortness of the time, and our strength, and your capacity. Do you wish to take in more? Grow: do you wish to grow? Live well. For he who does not wish to live well does not wish to grow. May the Lord our God have set out this banquet for you through the birthday of His martyr Vincent. Vincent is a name of victory. Love, then, so that you may conquer: for persecution is not lacking; the devil is a persecutor, may the occasion of a crown never be lacking: only let the soldier of Christ understand the fight, and know whom he is to conquer. Is it the case that, because a manifest enemy of the body does not press upon you, a hidden persecutor does not press upon you with the allurements of the flesh? How many evils does he suggest? how many through desire, how many through fear? With what allurements does he persuade you to go to fortune-tellers, to astrologers, when
Editors' notes and page, col. 51
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 51
Editi, non tibi vives. Melius Mss., ibi.
The printed editions have non tibi vives. Better the manuscripts: ibi.
(printed under page 30)
(2) ‹anchor: seditionibus gaudet› · call in col 51
Quae ansulis includuntur, desunt in duobus Mss.
What is enclosed in brackets is wanting in two manuscripts.
(printed under page 30)
(3) ‹anchor: tractentur, inveniuntur› · call in col 51
Duo Mss., discussa non est, date veniam, etc., omissis verbis istis, partim tamen magna, etc.
Two manuscripts have discussa non est, date veniam, etc., omitting these words, partim tamen magna, etc.
(printed under page 30)
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