Migne Reading Room
PL 38 · cols. 148–154
Augustine, Sermones 22-24 (Classis I, de Scripturis: de Psalmis)
Sermon XXII
SERMO XXII. De versu 3 Psalmi LXVII, Sicut deficit fumus, deficiant, etc.
Sermon 22. On verse 3 of Psalm 67, As smoke fails, let them fail, etc.
CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Propheta utens optantis figura, visionis suae certitudinem significat. Audivimus, et contremuimus, quod in voce Psalmi est prophetatum. Ait enim: Sicut deficit fumus, deficiant; sicut fluit cera a facie ignis, sic pereant peccatores a facie Dei. Non dubito, fratres mei, quod omnium vestrum corda concussa sint, nec cujusquam conscientia sub his verbis intrepida steterit. Quis enim gloriabitur castum se habere cor? aut quis gloriabitur mundum se esse a peccato? Ac per hoc cum Scriptura dicit, Sicut fluit cera a facie ignis, sic pereant peccatores a facie Dei (Prov. XX, 9), quis non contremiscat, quis non pavibundus exsiliat? Quid ergo faciemus, aut quae spes nobis est? Neque enim frustra haec cantantur; aut vero cum haec dicit Propheta, optat ea hominibus, ac non potius ventura praevidet.
Chapter I. — 1. The prophet, using the figure of one who wishes, signifies the certainty of his vision. We have heard, and we have trembled at, what has been prophesied in the voice of the psalm. For it says: As smoke fails, let them fail; as wax flows before the face of fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God. I do not doubt, my brothers, that the hearts of all of you have been shaken, and that no one's conscience has stood unafraid beneath these words. For who will boast that he has a chaste heart? or who will boast that he is clean from sin? And therefore, when Scripture says, As wax flows before the face of fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God (Prov. 20:9), who would not tremble, who would not leap up in fear? What then shall we do, or what hope is there for us? For these things are not sung in vain; nor indeed, when the Prophet says these things, does he wish them upon men, and not rather foresee things to come.
Editors' notes and page, col. 148
Footnotes
(*) ‹anchor: SERMO XXII› · call in col 148 Collatus est ad cs. cl. t. Am. Er. Ulim. Par. Lov.
Collated with cs., cl., t., Am., Er., Ulim., Par. and Lov.
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(a) ‹anchor: SERMO XXII› · call in col 148
Alias, de Tempore 100.
Elsewhere, de Tempore 100.
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(b) ‹anchor: defi-ciant, etc.› · call in col 148
De isto sermone Possidius in Indiculo, cap. 8, et Florus ad Rom. 8.
On this sermon, Possidius in the Indiculus, chapter 8, and Florus on Romans 8.
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In verbis quidem figura optantis apparet, sed intelligitur praescientia nuntiantis. Sicut enim quaedam in Scriptura Prophetarum tanquam in praeteritum facta narrantur, cum futura praedicantur: ita quaedam tanquam voto dicuntur optantis; sed qui recte intelligunt quod audiunt, visionem praenuntiantis agnoscunt. Longe autem ante nativitatem Dominicae incarnationis, isti Psalmi dicti atque conscripti sunt. Non ante Deum Christum, sed ante natum ex virgine Maria Christum. Nam profecto pater Abraham longe ante David regem, cujus tempore hi Psalmi cantati sunt, fuit. Dominus autem dixit, Ante Abraham ego sum (Joan. VIII, 58). Ipse enim est Verbum Dei, per quod facta sunt omnia: sed ipse implens Prophetas, in carne se esse venturum per eos praedixit. Ad ejus autem incarnationem pertinet passio. Neque enim potuit pati illa quae in Evangelio scripta sunt, nisi in carne mortali et passibili, quam gerebat. Et ibi utique legitur, quemadmodum Domino crucifixo hi qui crucifixerunt eum, vestimenta ejus diviserunt sibi, et cum invenissent in eis tunicam desuper textam, noluerunt eam conscindere, sed sortem super eam miserunt; ut ad quem perveniret, integra perveniret (Id. XIX, 23, 24): qua significabatur charitas, quae dividi non potest. Haec ergo cum in Evangelio jam facta narrentur, longe ante multos annos in Psalmo cum futura praenuntiarentur, tanquam gesta et transacta cantata sunt. Foderunt, inquit, manus meas et pedes meos, et dinumeraverunt omnia ossa mea. Ipsi vero consideraverunt et inspexerunt me: diviserunt sibi vestimenta mea, et super vestem meam miserunt sortem (Psal. XXI, 17-19). Omnia tanquam praeterita dicuntur, et futura praedicuntur. Sicut ergo in verbis praeteriti temporis futura facta significantur; sic in figura optantis praenuntiantis mens intelligenda est. Sic et de Juda Domini traditore, tanquam optat ei propheta, quod venturum esse praedicit. Et de ipsis Judaeis, Fiat, inquit, mensa eorum in laqueum, et in venationem, et in scandalum (Psal. LXVIII, 23). Quod de his praedictum esse sine dubitatione exponit: sicut de Juda quae sub eadem figura praenuntiata sunt, apostolus Petrus commemorat (Act. I, 20).
In the words, indeed, the form of one wishing appears, but the foreknowledge of one announcing is understood. For just as in the Scripture of the Prophets certain things are narrated as if done in the past, when future things are being foretold, so certain things are said as if in the prayer of one wishing; but those who rightly understand what they hear recognize the vision of one foretelling. Now these Psalms were spoken and written down long before the birth of the Lord's incarnation. Not before Christ as God, but before Christ born of the Virgin Mary. For certainly father Abraham was long before King David, in whose time these Psalms were sung. Yet the Lord said, Before Abraham I am (John 8:58). For He is the Word of God, through Whom all things were made; but He, filling the Prophets, foretold through them that He would come in the flesh. And to His incarnation belongs the passion. For He could not have suffered those things which are written in the Gospel except in the mortal and passible flesh which He bore. And there, certainly, it is read how, when the Lord had been crucified, those who crucified Him divided His garments among themselves, and when they had found among them a tunic woven from the top, they would not tear it, but cast lots over it, so that to whomever it came, it might come whole (John 19:23–24); by which was signified charity, which cannot be divided. These things, then, though they are now narrated in the Gospel as done, were, when they were foretold as future in the Psalm many years before, sung as things accomplished and past. They dug, it says, my hands and my feet, and they numbered all my bones. But they themselves considered and looked upon me: they divided my garments among themselves, and upon my vesture they cast lots (Ps. 21:17–19). All things are said as past, and yet future things are foretold. Just as, therefore, in words of past time future deeds are signified, so in the form of one wishing the mind of one foretelling is to be understood. So too concerning Judas, the betrayer of the Lord, the prophet as it were wishes upon him what he foretells is going to come. And concerning the Jews themselves he says, Let their table become a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block (Ps. 68:23). That this was foretold about them he sets forth without doubt; just as the apostle Peter recalls the things concerning Judas which were foretold under the same form (Acts 1:20).
CAPUT II. — 2. In figura Prophetae optantis, intelligenda divini decreti approbatio. Nec sine causa ea quae futura sunt, tanquam transacta dicuntur. Deo enim sic certa sunt, ut jam pro factis habeantur; et tanquam optans videtur dicere Propheta, quod certum praevidet esse venturum: nihil aliud, quantum mihi videtur, ostendens, nisi nobis non debere displicere cognitam sententiam Dei, quam fixam immobilemque constituit. Et ideo in Actibus Apostolorum, cum quidam propheta, nomine Agabus, praediceret apostolum Paulum in Jerusalem a Judaeis multa esse passurum, et usque ad vincula perventurum, cum hoc audito fratres revocare et retinere vellent, ne illuc pergeret: Quid facitis, inquit, conturbantes cor meum? Ego enim non solum alligari, sed etiam mori
Chapter II. — 2. In the form of the Prophet wishing, an approval of the divine decree is to be understood. Nor is it without cause that the things which are to come are spoken of as accomplished. For to God they are so certain that they are already held as done; and the Prophet seems to speak as one wishing what he foresees is certainly going to come, showing nothing else, as it seems to me, than that the known sentence of God, which He has established as fixed and immovable, ought not to displease us. And therefore in the Acts of the Apostles, when a certain prophet named Agabus foretold that the apostle Paul would suffer many things from the Jews in Jerusalem and would come even to chains, and when, having heard this, the brethren wished to call him back and hold him back so that he should not go there, he said: What are you doing, troubling my heart? For I not only to be bound, but also to die
Editors' notes and page, col. 149
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: quae futura sunt› · call in col 149
Sic legendum ex auctoritate Ms. cs. [Nec sine causa et quae futura sunt.]
So it is to be read on the authority of the manuscript cs. [The earlier reading: "Nec sine causa et quae futura sunt" — "Nor without cause also the things that are to come."]
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paratus sum pro nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi (Act. XXI, 13, 14). Atque ita cum viderent fratres immobilem viri ad omnia perferenda constantiam, dixerunt, Fiat Domini voluntas. Numquid ergo quia dixerunt, Fiat voluntas Dei, optaverunt Apostolo, ut talia pateretur, ac non potius mentem suam sublimi et divino statuto devotissime subdiderunt? Sic et Propheta cum dicit, Sicut fluit cera a facie ignis, sic pereant peccatores a facie Dei, videt hoc certissime peccatoribus imminere, et placet ei quod Deus statuit, ne Deo ipse displiceat.
I am ready for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 21:13–14). And so, when the brethren saw the man's unshakeable constancy in bearing all things, they said, The will of the Lord be done. Did they then, because they said, The will of God be done, wish for the Apostle that he should suffer such things, and not rather most devoutly submit their own mind to the sublime and divine decree? So too the Prophet, when he says, As wax melts before the face of fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God, sees that this most certainly threatens sinners, and what God has decreed pleases him, lest he himself displease God.
CAPUT III. — 3. Quibus modis Deus ad poenitentiam sollicitat. Flagellum Dei, admonitio nostra est. Poenitentia infructuosa, et fructuosa. Quid ergo faciemus, fratres, nisi, ut, dum tempus est, vitam mutemus, et facta nostra, si qua mala sunt, corrigamus? Ut quod sine ulla dubitatione venturum est peccatoribus, nos non inveniat super quos veniat: non quia non erimus, sed ut non tales inveniat, qualibus venturum esse praedictum est. Propterea se judex venturum minatur, ut non inveniat quos puniat, cum venerit. Propterea illud cantant Prophetae, ut corrigamur. Si damnare vellet, taceret. Nemo volens ferire dicit, Observa. Totum, fratres, quod audivimus per Scripturas, vox est Dei dicentis, Observa. Et totum quod patimur, tribulationes in hac vita, flagellum Dei est corrigere volentis, ne damnet in fine. Quasi dura sunt, molesta sunt, horrent quando narrantur, quae quisque gravia valde patitur in hac vita: in comparatione autem aeterni ignis non parva, sed nulla sunt. Sive ergo nos flagellemur, sive cum alii flagellantur admonemur a Domino. Omnia ista, fratres, quae in hac vita infliguntur a Domino, admonitiones sunt et stimuli correctionis nostrae. Veniet autem ignis aeternus, de quo dicetur illis qui ad sinistram constituendi sunt, Ite in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo et angelis ejus (Matth. XXV, 41). Tunc acturi sunt quidam poenitentiam. Nam scriptum est in libro quodam Sapientiae: Dicent intra se, poenitentiam agentes, et prae angustia spiritus gementes, Quid nobis profuit superbia? et quid divitiarum jactantia contulit nobis? Transierunt omnia illa, tanquam umbra (Sap. V, 3, 8, 9). Erit enim ibi poenitentia, sed infructuosa; erit ibi poenitentia, sed dolorem habens, medicinam non habens. Nunc est fructuosa poenitentia, quando correctio libera. Poeniteat te ad vocem Scripturae. Nam ad vocem praesentis judicis, sine causa poenitebit te. Tunc jam ille sententiam dicturus est: et non erit quod reprehendas, quando sententiam dicturus est. Non enim tacuit ante sententiam. Non enim te distulit, nisi ut corrigeres te: quandoquidem latroni in cruce pendenti se mutare permisit. Tunc enim latro pendens cum Domino, credidit in Christum (Luc. XXIII, 40-43), quando de illo discipuli titubaverunt. Contempserunt Judaei mortuos suscitantem, non contempsit latro secum in cruce pendentem. Non est ergo quod in fine dicatur Domino, Non me permisisti bene vivere; aut, dilationem correctionis non mihi dedisti; aut, non ostendisti quid appeterem, quid vitarem.
Chapter III. — 3. In what ways God urges us to repentance. The scourge of God is our admonition. Repentance fruitless and fruitful. What then shall we do, brethren, except, while there is time, change our life, and correct our deeds, if any of them are evil? So that what without any doubt is to come upon sinners may not find us for it to come upon: not because we shall not exist, but so that it may not find us such as those upon whom it has been foretold that it will come. For this reason the Judge threatens that He will come, so that He may not find any to punish when He has come. For this reason the Prophets sing that, so that we may be corrected. If He wished to condemn, He would keep silent. No one who means to strike says, Watch out. All that we have heard through the Scriptures, brethren, is the voice of God saying, Watch out. And all that we suffer, the tribulations in this life, is the scourge of God, Who wishes to correct, lest He condemn at the end. The very heavy things that each one suffers in this life seem hard, they are troublesome, people shudder when they are recounted; but in comparison with eternal fire they are not small, but nothing. Whether then we ourselves are scourged, or when others are scourged, we are admonished by the Lord. All these things, brethren, which are inflicted by the Lord in this life, are admonitions and goads to our correction. But the eternal fire will come, of which it will be said to those who are to be placed on the left, Go into the eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). Then some will repent. For it is written in a certain book of Wisdom: They will say within themselves, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit, What has pride profited us? and what has the boasting of riches brought us? All those things have passed away like a shadow (Wis. 5:3, 8–9). For there will be repentance there, but fruitless; there will be repentance there, but having pain, not having a remedy. Now repentance is fruitful, when correction is free. Repent at the voice of Scripture. For at the voice of the Judge when He is present, you will repent to no purpose. Then He will be about to pronounce sentence: and there will be nothing for you to find fault with, when He is about to pronounce sentence. For He was not silent before the sentence. For He did not put you off except that you might correct yourself: since He allowed the thief hanging on the cross to change himself. For then the thief, hanging with the Lord, believed in Christ (Luke 23:40–43), when the disciples wavered concerning Him. The Jews despised Him when He raised the dead; the thief did not despise Him when He hung with him on the cross. There is therefore no ground for anyone to say to the Lord at the end, Thou didst not allow me to live well; or, Thou didst not give me a delay for correction; or, Thou didst not show me what I should seek, what I should avoid.
Editors' notes and page, col. 150
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CAPUT IV. — Videte quia non tacet, videte quia differt, videte quia blanditur, hortatur, minatur. Constituit verbum suum in sublimitate; per totum mundum recitatur universo humano generi. Non est qui jam dicat, Nescivi, non audivi. Impletur quod dictum est in Psalmo, Nec est qui se abscondat a calore ejus (Psal. XVIII, 7). Modo ergo calor ejus in verbo ejus est: mutare modo a calore ejus, et non deflues sicut cera ab igne ejus.
Chapter IV. — See that He is not silent, see that He delays, see that He coaxes, exhorts, threatens. He has set His word on high; throughout the whole world it is recited to the entire human race. There is no one now who may say, I did not know, I did not hear. What is said in the Psalm is fulfilled, Nor is there anyone who may hide himself from His heat (Ps. 18:7). Now, then, His heat is in His word: be changed now by His heat, and you will not melt away like wax before His fire.
4. Judicii futuri fides tot aliis praedictionibus impletis firmatur. Martyrum sanguis, semen. Nam illud, fratres mei, venturum est aliquando, quod modo rident impii, quod modo contemnunt derisores, quod putant falso cantari; aliquando venturum est. Si non venerunt tanta, quanta praedicta sunt; desperemus et illud aliquando venturum: si autem omnia quae de Ecclesia futura praenuntiata sunt, jam videmus exhibita, et caecorum etiam oculos feriunt; quid dubitamus etiam illa ventura? Quando dicebatur Ecclesia Christi futura per totum orbem terrarum, dicebatur a paucis, et ridebatur a multis. Modo jam impletum est, quod tanto ante praedictum est: diffusa est Ecclesia per totum orbem terrarum. Ante millia annorum promissum est Abrahae, In semine tuo benedicentur omnes gentes (Gen. XXII, 18). Venit Christus ex semine Abrahae, benedictae sunt in Christo jam omnes gentes. Praedicta sunt schismata, et haereses futurae: videmus illa. Praedictae sunt persecutiones: factae sunt a regibus colentibus idola. Pro ipsis idolis adversus nomen Christi repleta est terra martyribus. Sparsum est semen sanguinis, surrexit seges Ecclesiae. Nec frustra oravit Ecclesia pro inimicis suis: crediderunt et qui persequebantur. Praedictum est etiam quia ipsa idola evertenda essent per nomen Christi: nam et hoc invenimus in Scripturis. Ante paucos annos Christiani illa legebant, et non videbant; adhuc futura illa exspectabant, et sic abierunt: non illa viderunt, sed tamen credentes quod futura essent, cum fide abierunt ad Dominum: nostris temporibus etiam ipsa cernuntur. Omnia quae ante praedicta sunt de Ecclesia, videmus impleta: solus dies judicii non est venturus? Ipse solus praenuntiatur, et non veniet? Usque adeo sumus duri et lapidei cordis, ut legamus Scripturas, et videamus omnia prorsus ad litteram evenisse quae scripta sunt, et de his quae remanent desperemus? Quantum est enim quod remanet, ad ea quae jam nobis exhibita videmus? Tam plura Deus ostendit, et de residuo nos fraudaturus est?
4. Faith in the future judgement is strengthened by so many other predictions having been fulfilled. The blood of the martyrs, a seed. For that thing, my brethren, will come one day, which the ungodly now laugh at, which scoffers now despise, which they think is sung falsely; one day it will come. If such great things as were foretold have not come, let us despair that this too will come one day: but if all the things that were foretold as future concerning the Church we already see displayed, and they strike even the eyes of the blind, why do we doubt that those things too will come? When it was said that the Church of Christ would be throughout the whole world, it was said by few, and it was laughed at by many. Now that has already been fulfilled which was foretold so long before: the Church is spread throughout the whole world. Thousands of years ago it was promised to Abraham, In your seed shall all nations be blessed (Gen. 22:18). Christ came from the seed of Abraham; all nations are already blessed in Christ. Schisms and heresies were foretold as future: we see them. Persecutions were foretold: they were carried out by kings who worshipped idols. On behalf of those very idols, against the name of Christ, the earth was filled with martyrs. The seed of blood was scattered; the harvest of the Church sprang up. Nor did the Church pray in vain for her enemies: even those who persecuted believed. It was foretold also that the idols themselves would be overthrown through the name of Christ: for this too we find in the Scriptures. A few years ago Christians used to read those things, and did not see them; they were still awaiting them as future, and so they departed: they did not see them, but nevertheless, believing that they would come to pass, they departed in faith to the Lord: in our times even these things are seen. All the things that were foretold beforehand concerning the Church we see fulfilled: is the day of judgement alone not going to come? Is it alone foretold, and will it not come? Are we so hard and stony of heart that we read the Scriptures, and see that absolutely all the things that are written have come to pass to the letter, and despair of those that remain? For how much is it that remains, compared with the things that we see already displayed to us? Has God shown so many things, and is He going to cheat us of the remainder?
CAPUT V. — Veniet judicium redditurum pro meritis, bonis bona, malis mala. Boni simus, et securi judicem exspectemus.
Chapter V. — The judgement will come that will render according to deserts, good things to the good, evil things to the evil. Let us be good, and let us await the Judge free from care.
5. Deus et justus et misericors. Fratres mei, maxime nunc dicentem me audite. Nolo tecum computare praeterita: ab hodierno die te muta, cras te alterum inveniat. Nos autem perversitate nostra sic volumus Deum misericordem, ut non sit justus. Alii rursus quasi praefidentes de justitia sua, sic volunt
5. God both just and merciful. My brethren, listen to me especially now as I speak. I do not wish to reckon up past things with you: change yourself from this very day, so that tomorrow may find you another man. But we, in our perversity, want God to be merciful in such a way that He is not just. Others again, as if over-confident of their own justice, so want
Editors' notes and page, col. 151
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 151
Codex cs., si non venerunt tanta quae praedicta sunt.
Codex cs.: "si non venerunt tanta quae praedicta sunt" ("if so many things that were foretold have not come").
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(2) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 151
Idem codex cs., ante multa millia annorum.
The same codex cs.: "ante multa millia annorum" ("many thousands of years before").
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justum, ut nolint misericordem. Utrumque se exhibet Deus, utrumque praestat; nec misericordia ejus praescribit justitiae, nec justitia ejus aufert misericordiam. Misericors et justus est. Unde misericordem probamus? Parcit modo peccatoribus, dat veniam confitentibus. Unde probamus quod justus est? Quia venturus est dies judicii, quem modo differt, non aufert; et cum venerit, redditurus est pro meritis. An hoc vultis ut reddatur aversis, quod reddetur conversis? Fratres, justum videtur vobis, ut ibi ponatur Judas, ubi positus est Petrus? Et ipse ibi poneretur, si se correxisset. Sed de venia desperans, potius sibi collum ligavit, quam Regis clementiam supplicavit.
just, so that they would not have Him merciful. God shows Himself as both, He performs both; neither does His mercy prejudice His justice, nor does His justice take away His mercy. He is merciful and just. From what do we prove that He is merciful? He spares sinners now, He grants pardon to those who confess. From what do we prove that He is just? Because the day of judgement is to come, which He now defers but does not take away; and when it comes, He will render according to deserts. Or do you want this, that the same should be rendered to those turned away as will be rendered to those turned back? Brethren, does it seem just to you that Judas should be placed where Peter has been placed? He too would have been placed there, if he had corrected himself. But despairing of pardon, he bound his own neck rather than beseech the King's clemency.
CAPUT VI. — 6. Mutato reo judex mutatur. Itaque, fratres, sicut dicere coeperam, non est unde reprehendamus Deum. Quid contra illum dicamus, non erit, cum venerit judicare. Cogitet unusquisque peccata sua, et modo illa emendet, cum tempus est. Sit fructuosus dolor, non sit sterilis poenitudo. Tanquam hoc dicit Deus: Ecce indicavi sententiam, sed nondum protuli; praedixi, non fixi. Quid times, quia dixi, Si mutaris, mutatur? Nam scriptum est quod poeniteat Deum (Gen. VI, 6). Numquid quomodo hominem, sic poenitet Deum? Nam dictum est, Si poenituerit vos de peccatis vestris, poenitebit et me de omnibus malis quae facturus eram vobis (Jerem. XVIII, 8). Numquid quasi errantem poenitet Deum? Sed poenitentia dicitur in Deo mutatio sententiae. Non est iniqua, sed justa. Quare just⟨a⟩? Mutatus est reus, mutavit judex sententiam. Noli terreri. Sententia mutata est, non justitia. Justitia integra manet: quia mutato debet parcere qui justus est. Quomodo pertinaci non parcit, sic mutato parcit. Ipse rex est indulgentiae, qui dator est legis. Misit legem, venit cum indulgentia. Reum te fecerat lex, absolvit te qui dedit legem. Imo non absolvit: nam absolvere est innocentem judicare: donat potius peccata converso. Omnes enim sunt rei, qui peccatis suis involuti sunt. Nemo se optet absolvi: omnes veniam deprecemur. Venia vero datur mutato: et erimus securi, cum audierimus, Sicut fluit cera a facie ignis, sic pereant peccatores a facie Dei.
Chapter VI. — 6. When the accused is changed, the judge is changed. And so, brethren, as I had begun to say, there is no ground on which we may reprove God. What we might say against Him there will not be, when He comes to judge. Let each one consider his own sins, and amend them now, while there is time. Let the sorrow be fruitful, let the repentance not be barren. It is as if God says this: Behold, I have made known the sentence, but I have not yet pronounced it; I have foretold it, I have not fixed it. Why do you fear, since I have said, If you are changed, it is changed? For it is written that God repents (Gen. 6:6). Does God repent in the way a man does? For it has been said, If you repent of your sins, I too shall repent of all the evils which I was about to do to you (Jer. 18:8). Does God repent as one who errs? But repentance in God means a change of sentence. It is not unjust, but just. Why just? The accused has been changed, the judge has changed the sentence. Do not be terrified. The sentence has been changed, not the justice. Justice remains intact: for He who is just ought to spare one who has been changed. Just as He does not spare the obstinate, so He spares the one who has been changed. He who is the giver of the law is Himself the king of indulgence. He sent the law, He came with indulgence. The law had made you guilty; He who gave the law has acquitted you. Nay rather, He has not acquitted you: for to acquit is to judge innocent; rather, He forgives the sins of the one who has turned back. For all are guilty who are entangled in their own sins. Let no one wish to be acquitted: let us all pray for pardon. But pardon is given to the one who has been changed: and we shall be secure when we hear, As wax melts before the face of fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God.
CAPUT VII. — 7. Peccator pereat, ne homo pereat. Certe, fratres, modo pereant peccatores, et non pereunt peccatores. Si incipiant juste vivere, peribunt utique peccatores, sed non peribunt homines. Homo peccator, duo nomina sunt: homo unum nomen est, et peccator unum nomen est. In his duobus nominibus intelligimus quia unum horum Deus fecit, alterum horum homo fecit. Hominem enim Deus fecit, peccatorem se ipse homo fecit. Quid ergo contremiscis, quando tibi dicit Deus, Pereant peccatores a facie mea? Hoc tibi dicit Deus: Pereat in te quod tu fecisti, et servo quod ego feci. Et modo ardet ignis in calore verbi, res est in fervore Spiritus sancti, sicut diximus jamdudum, quia scriptum est in alio psalmo, Nec est qui se abscondat a calore ejus. Spiritum autem sanctum esse calorem dicit Apostolus, Spir⟨i⟩tu ferventes (Rom. XII, 11). Ergo pro facie Dei, tibi pone interim Scripturam Dei: liquesce ab illa; poeniteat te, cum audis
Chapter VII. — 7. Let the sinner perish, lest the man perish. Certainly, brethren, let sinners perish now, and sinners do not perish. If they begin to live justly, the sinners will indeed perish, but the men will not perish. Man and sinner are two names: man is one name, and sinner is another name. In these two names we understand that God made one of them, man made the other of them. For God made the man; the man made himself a sinner. Why then do you tremble when God says to you, Let sinners perish before My face? This is what God says to you: Let what you made perish in you, and I preserve what I made. And now the fire burns in the heat of the word; the thing is in the fervour of the Holy Spirit, as we said a while ago, because it is written in another psalm, Nor is there anyone who may hide himself from His heat. And the Apostle says that the Holy Spirit is heat: Fervent in spirit (Rom. 12:11). Therefore, in place of the face of God, set before yourself meanwhile the Scripture of God: melt before it; let it repent you, when you hear
Editors' notes and page, col. 152
Page
- running head: …GUSTINI EPISCOPI 152 (left part of the running head cut off at the image edge)
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the right edge of column 151 is visible at the left of all three images and is not set; "Quare just⟨a⟩?" has a damaged final letter; "Spir⟨i⟩tu" has a damaged i; "Si mutaris, mutatur?" and "et non pereunt peccatores" are set as printed; the overlap lines between the images ("quam hoc dicit Deus…", "facie ignis, sic pereant…") are set once; no full-width line is visible; the column ends mid-sentence at "audis"; UNSURE: italic "peccatores" before "a facie Dei" looks like "peccatorcs" in the scan, probably a worn e, set as peccatores
haec de peccatis tuis. Cum autem te poenitet, et cum te ipsum excrucias sub calore verbi, cum etiam lacrymae currunt, nonne cerae tabescenti, et tanquam in lacrymas currenti similis inveniris? Modo ergo fac quod in posterum times, et non habebis quod in posterum timeas: tantum non sicut fumus deficias.
these things about your sins. But when you repent, and when you torment yourself under the heat of the word, when tears too are running, are you not found like wax that is melting and, as it were, running into tears? Now therefore do what you fear for hereafter, and you will have nothing to fear hereafter: only do not vanish like smoke.
CAPUT VIII. — 8. Sicut fumus deficiunt, qui peccata sua defendunt. Nam utrumque habes ibi positum: forte non sine causa, quia est etiam distantia peccatorum. In ipso uno verbo utrumque posuit Psalmus: Sicut deficit fumus, deficiant; et sicut fluit cera a facie ignis, sic pereant peccatores a facie Dei. Qui sunt, qui sicut fumus deficiunt? Qui sunt, nisi superbi, non confitentes peccata sua, sed defendentes? Quare fumo comparati sunt? Quia fumus erigit se, extollit se tanquam in coelum: sed quanto fit superior, tanto facilius evanescit et disperit. Rursus considerate quod dixi. Solidior est fumus igni proximus, et terrae proximus; nondum sic evanuit, nondum sic est dispersus in ventos: tanto autem attenuatur, evanescit, et disperit, quanto se multum extulerit. Quia ergo superbus sic se erigit contra Deum, quomodo fumus contra coelum; restat ut ita deficiat, et tanquam in ventos suae vanitatis elatione dissipatus intereat; quemadmodum disperit fumus elatus, tumida, non solida magnitudine inflatus. Sic est enim fumus: vides magnam molem; habes quasi quod videas, et non habes quod teneas. Talem ergo poenam, fratres, ante omnia detestamini, nec defendatis peccata vestra: et si adhuc facitis, nolite defendere. Subdite vos Deo, et sic tundite pectora vestra, ut et ipsa quae remanserunt, non fiant. Conamini non facere, et si fieri potest, nulla facite: si autem fieri non potest ut nulla faciatis, maneat tamen illa pia confessio. Erit enim respectus misericordiae ipsius, ut te conante omnia perimere, et quantum adjuverit perimente, de reliquis quae tibi restant in itinere invento et in conatu comprehenso, facile ignoscat: tantum proficere affecta, non deficere. Si non te invenit dies ultimus victorem, inveniat vel pugnantem, non captum et addictum.
Chapter VIII. — 8. Those who defend their sins vanish like smoke. For you have both set down there, perhaps not without reason, since there is also a difference among sinners. In one and the same verse the Psalm has set down both: As smoke vanishes, let them vanish; and as wax flows before the fire, so let sinners perish before the face of God. Who are they who vanish like smoke? Who are they, if not the proud, who do not confess their sins but defend them? Why are they compared to smoke? Because smoke raises itself up, lifts itself up as if into heaven: but the higher it becomes, the more easily it fades and perishes. Consider again what I have said. Smoke is more solid when it is nearest the fire and nearest the earth; it has not yet faded so, it has not yet been so scattered into the winds: but it is thinned out, fades, and perishes the more, the higher it has lifted itself. Since, then, the proud man so raises himself up against God, as smoke does against heaven, it remains that he should vanish in the same way, and perish scattered as if into the winds by the exaltation of his own vanity; just as smoke perishes when lifted up, puffed out with a swollen, not a solid, greatness. For such is smoke: you see a great mass; you have, as it were, something to see, and you have nothing to hold. Such a punishment, therefore, brethren, detest above all things, and do not defend your sins: and if you still commit them, do not defend them. Submit yourselves to God, and so beat your breasts that even those which remain may not be done. Strive not to commit them, and if it is possible, commit none: but if it is not possible for you to commit none, let that pious confession nevertheless remain. For His mercy will have regard to this: that, while you strive to destroy them all, and destroy them as far as He has helped you, He may readily pardon the remainder that is left to you, once you are found on the way and caught in the striving: only be bent on advancing, not on failing. If the last day does not find you a victor, let it at least find you fighting, not captured and handed over.
CAPUT IX. — 9. Misericordia Dei, quanta erga hominem. Est autem misericordia Dei abundantissima, et larga ejus benevolentia, qui nos sanguine Filii sui redemit, cum propter peccata nostra nihil essemus. Nam ipse aliquid magnum fecit, cum hominem ad imaginem et similitudinem suam creavit. Sed quia nos nihil fieri voluimus peccando, et traducem mortalitatis de parentibus duximus, et massa peccati, massa irae facti sumus: placuit tamen illi per misericordiam suam redimere nos tanto pretio; dedit pro nobis sanguinem Unici sui innocenter nati, innocenter viventis, innocenter mortui. Qui nos tanto pretio redemit,
Chapter IX. — 9. How great is God's mercy towards man. Now the mercy of God is most abundant, and His benevolence generous, Who redeemed us with the blood of His Son, when on account of our sins we were nothing. For He made something great when He created man in His image and likeness. But since by sinning we chose to become nothing, and drew the inheritance of mortality from our parents, and became a mass of sin, a mass of wrath, it nevertheless pleased Him in His mercy to redeem us at so great a price; He gave for us the blood of His Only One, innocently born, innocently living, innocently dying. He Who redeemed us at so great a price
Editors' notes and page, col. 153
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 153
Sic textus ad codicem cs. restitutus est. [Et non habebis quod in posterum timeas. Tantum non sicut fumus deficiant. Nam, etc.]
The text has been restored thus according to codex cs. [The earlier reading: "And you will have nothing to fear for the future. Only let them not vanish as smoke. For," etc.]
(printed under page 83)
(2) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 153
Haec ad eumdem Ms. cs. emendavimus. [Quando autem attenuatur, evanescit et disperit, quando se multum extulerit.]
We have emended these words according to the same manuscript cs. [The earlier reading: "But when it is thinned out, it vanishes and perishes, when it has lifted itself up greatly."]
(printed under page 83)
(3) ‹anchor: abundantissima› · call in col 153
Idem liber cs. [Est autem misericordia abundantissima.]
The same book cs. [The earlier reading: "Est autem misericordia abundantissima" — "But mercy is most abundant."]
(printed under page 83)
Page
- running head: 153 SERMO XXII.
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
non vult perire quos emit. Non emit quos perdat: sed emit quos vivificet. Si peccata nostra superant nos, pretium suum non contemnit Deus. Pretium magnum dedit. Nec tamen nobis tantum de ipsius misericordia blandiamur, si non fuerimus conati adversus peccata nostra; nec si aliqua maxime capitalia fecerimus, speremus ita futuram esse misericordiam, ut ei conjungatur iniquitas. Numquid enim et eos qui nihil egerunt, quemadmodum correcti viverent, sed in pertinacia et duritia animi permanserunt, accusaverunt etiam Deum defendendo peccata sua, ibi constituturus est, ubi constituit sanctos martyres, ubi constituit sanctos Apostolos, Prophetas, Patriarchas, et fideles suos bene de se meritas, sibi servientes, ambulantes in castitate, modestia, humilitate, eleemosynas facientes, ignoscentes quod a quoquam perpessi sunt? Talis est enim via justorum, talis est via sanctorum tenentium Deum Patrem, tenentium Ecclesiam matrem, nec illum parentem, nec istam offendentes, sed in amore utriusque parentis viventes, et ad haereditatem aeternam properantes, non laeso patre, non laesa matre, datur unicuique haereditas.
does not wish those whom He bought to perish. He did not buy those whom He would destroy, but He bought those whom He would bring to life. If our sins overcome us, God does not despise His own price. He paid a great price. Yet let us not flatter ourselves so much about His mercy if we have not striven against our sins; nor, if we have committed any especially capital [sins], let us hope that His mercy will be such that iniquity may be joined to it. For will He really set those also who did nothing towards living as corrected men, but persisted in obstinacy and hardness of mind, and even accused God in defending their sins, in the place where He has set the holy martyrs, where He has set the holy Apostles, Prophets, Patriarchs, and His faithful who have deserved well of Him, serving Him, walking in chastity, modesty, humility, giving alms, forgiving what they have suffered from anyone? For such is the way of the just, such is the way of the saints who hold to God as Father and hold to the Church as mother, offending neither that parent nor this one, but living in the love of both parents and hastening to the eternal inheritance; with the father not offended and the mother not offended, the inheritance is given to each one.
CAPUT X. — 10. Duo parentes ad vitam, et duo ad mortem. Quia duo parentes nos genuerunt ad mortem, duo parentes nos genuerunt ad vitam. Parentes qui nos genuerunt ad mortem, Adam est et Eva; parentes qui nos genuerunt ad vitam, Christus est et Ecclesia. Et pater meus qui me genuit ad mortem, Adam mihi fuit; et mater mea Eva mihi fuit. Nati sumus secundum istam progeniem carnis, ex munere quidem Dei; quia et istud munus non est alterius, sed Dei: et tamen, fratres, quomodo nati sumus? Certe ut moriamur. Praecessores genuerunt sibi successores: numquid genuerunt sibi cum quibus hic semper vivant? Sed tanquam decessuri, qui illis succederent, genuerunt sibi. Deus autem pater et mater Ecclesia, non ad hoc generant: generant autem ad vitam aeternam, quia et ipsi aeterni sunt. Et habemus haereditatem promissam a Christo vitam aeternam. Secundum quod Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis (Joan. I, 14), nutritus crevit, passus, mortuus et resuscitatus accepit haereditatem regnum coelorum. In ipso homine accepit resurrectionem et vitam aeternam, in ipso homine accepit: in Verbo autem non accepit; quia incommutabiliter manet ab aeterno in aeternum. Quia ergo accepit resurrectionem et vitam aeternam caro illa, quae resurrexit et vivificata ascendit in coelum, hoc nobis promissum est. Ipsam haereditatem exspectamus, vitam aeternam. Adhuc enim non totum corpus accepit; quia caput in coelo est, membra adhuc in terra sunt: nec caput solum accepturum est haereditatem, et corpus relinquetur: totus Christus accepturus est haereditatem; totus secundum hominem, id est caput et corpus. Membra ergo Christi sumus, speremus haereditatem: quia cum omnia ista transierint, hoc bonum accepturi sumus quod non transibit,
Chapter X. — 10. Two parents unto life, and two unto death. Since two parents begot us unto death, two parents have begotten us unto life. The parents who begot us unto death are Adam and Eve; the parents who have begotten us unto life are Christ and the Church. And my father who begot me unto death was Adam to me; and my mother was Eve to me. We were born according to this lineage of the flesh, indeed by the gift of God; for this gift too belongs to no other but God: and yet, brethren, how were we born? Surely in order to die. Predecessors begot successors for themselves: did they beget for themselves those with whom they might live here forever? No, but as men about to depart, they begot for themselves those who would succeed them. But God the Father and the Church the mother do not beget for this: rather they beget unto eternal life, because they themselves too are eternal. And we have the inheritance promised by Christ, eternal life. According as the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), being nourished He grew, and having suffered, died and been raised again He received the inheritance, the kingdom of heaven. In the very man He received resurrection and eternal life, in the very man He received it: but in the Word He did not receive it, because [the Word] abides unchangeably from eternity to eternity. Since, then, that flesh which rose again and, made alive, ascended into heaven received resurrection and eternal life, this has been promised to us. That very inheritance we await, eternal life. For the whole body has not yet received it; because the head is in heaven, the members are still on earth: nor will the head alone receive the inheritance and the body be left behind: the whole Christ will receive the inheritance; the whole according to the man, that is, head and body. We are therefore members of Christ; let us hope for the inheritance: because when all these things have passed away, we shall receive this good which will not pass away,
Editors' notes and page, col. 154
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 154
Ita codex cs. [Ibi constituturus est, ubi constituit sanctos Apostolos.]
So codex cs. [The earlier reading: "There will He set [them], where He has set the holy Apostles."]
(printed under page 83)
(2) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 154
Florus hoc loco addit, cum utrique fideliter adhaerent.
Florus adds at this place: "cum utrique fideliter adhaerent" ("when they cling faithfully to both").
NOTE: in the right-column note (1) the words "constituit sanctos" are faint in the scan and are read with some uncertainty. Q2 re-read (2026-10-12): in note (1) the third word stands in broken type; its length and the text of the column (which the note quotes, without the words on the martyrs) give "constituturus", not "constitutus"; the initial of "Apostolos" is broken and is read as a capital, UNSURE. In note (2) the middle letters of the last word are broken (adhaerent or adhaereant), UNSURE; left as first read. In the column image call (1) stands after "martyres" and call (2) after "matrem". (printed under page 83)
Page
- running head: SERMO XXII. 154
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the word transibit, was split at the column break and stands whole here (joined on receipt); check that the English reads whole across the break into col 155
- other: Q2 (2026-10-12): the English of transibit, is now set whole at the end of this column (contract rule of 2026-09-28: the joined word is translated in the earlier column). The English of col 155 still opens with the translation of the word's tail, which now doubles these words: to be cut in c155_a.md (not written by Q2).
- other: Q2 (2026-10-12): the column opens mid-sentence (the sentence begins in col 153 with the joined word redemit,); the English here now opens without a repeated subject so that it follows on from col 153. The closing English words of col 153 (c153_a.md) are disordered, with a bracketed auxiliary: to be mended there (not written by Q2).
- other: misprint kept as printed: meritas (for meritos), in "fideles suos bene de se meritas"; the English translates the intended word. Possibly a broken o; read as a on the image.