PL 38 · cols. 241–246

Augustine, Sermones 35-45 (Classis I, de Scripturis: de Proverbiis, Ecclesiastico, Isaia)

Sermons XXXIX–XL

Multa jam tamen ostendit: Christum suum promisit, et dedit: resurrectionem ejus promisit, et dedit: Evangelium suum promisit, et dedit: Ecclesiam suam toto orbe diffundendam promisit, et dedit: tribulationes ipsas et aggeres calamitatum in rebus humanis praedixit, et ostendit. Quanta sunt quae restant? Implentur quae promissa sunt, implentur quae praedicta sunt: et titubas ne non veniat quod restat? Tunc timere deberes, si quod praedictum est non videres. Bella sunt, fames sunt, contritiones sunt. Regnum super regnum est, terrae motus sunt, calamitatum sunt exaggerationes, abundantia scandalorum, frigus charitatis, copia iniquitatis. Haec omnia lege, praedicta sunt. Lege, vide, quia omnia quae vides praedicta sunt: et crede te visurum esse quod nondum venit, numerans quanta venerunt. Tu autem videndo Deum ostendere quae praedixit, non credis daturum esse quod promisit? Ibi credere debes, ubi turbari coepisti.

gives. Yet He has already shown many things: He promised His Christ, and gave [Him]; He promised His resurrection, and gave it; He promised His Gospel, and gave it; He promised His Church, to be spread through the whole world, and gave it; He foretold the very tribulations and the heaps of calamities in human affairs, and has shown them. How much is there that remains? The things that were promised are being fulfilled, the things that were foretold are being fulfilled: and do you waver, fearing that what remains may not come? You would have reason to fear if you did not see what was foretold. There are wars, there are famines, there are crushings. Kingdom is upon kingdom, there are earthquakes, there are heapings-up of calamities, an abundance of scandals, a coldness of charity, a plenty of iniquity. Read: all these things were foretold. Read, see that all the things which you see were foretold: and believe that you will see what has not yet come, counting how many things have come. But do you, seeing God show the things which He foretold, not believe that He will give what He promised? There you ought to believe, where you have begun to be troubled.

11. Mundus amatores suos relinquit. Si finis mundi est, migrandum est de mundo, non amandus est mundus. Ecce turbatur mundus, et amatur mundus. Quid, si tranquillus es⟨s⟩et mundus? Formoso quomodo haereres, qui sic amplecteris foedum? Flores ejus quomodo colligeres, qui ab spinis non revocas manum? Non vis relinquere mundum, relinquit te mundus, et sequeris mundum. Cor ergo mundemus, charissimi: et non perdamus sustinentiam; sed percipiamus sapientiam, et teneamus continentiam. Transit labor, venit requies: transeunt falsa deliciosa, et venit bonum quod concupivit anima fidelis, cui inardescit et suspirat omnis peregrinus in saeculo: patria bona, patria coelestis, patria contemplationis Angelorum; patria ubi nullus civis moritur, quo nullus hostis admittitur; patria ubi habeas sempiternum Deum amicum, ubi nullum timeas inimicum.

11. The world forsakes its lovers. If it is the end of the world, we must depart from the world; the world is not to be loved. Behold, the world is troubled, and the world is loved. What if the world were tranquil? How would you cling to it when beautiful, you who thus embrace it when foul? How would you gather its flowers, you who do not draw your hand back from the thorns? You do not wish to leave the world; the world leaves you, and you follow the world. Let us therefore cleanse the heart, dearly beloved: and let us not lose endurance; but let us gain wisdom, and hold fast to continence. Toil passes, rest comes: false delights pass away, and there comes the good which the faithful soul has longed for, for which every pilgrim in this world burns and sighs: the good homeland, the heavenly homeland, the homeland of the contemplation of the angels; the homeland where no citizen dies, into which no enemy is admitted; the homeland where you may have God as your everlasting friend, where you need fear no enemy.

SERMO XXXIX. De eo quod scriptum est Ecclesiastici, V, 8, 9, Ne tardes converti ad Deum, neque differas de die in diem. Et de verbis Apostoli, I Tim. VI, 7-19, Nihil intulimus in hunc mundum, etc.

Sermon 39. On what is written in Ecclesiasticus (Ecclus. 5:8–9), Do not delay to be converted to God, and do not put it off from day to day. And on the words of the Apostle (1 Tim. 6:7–19), We brought nothing into this world, etc.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Conversio non differenda. — Audivimus, fratres, per prophetam dicentem Dominum, Ne tardes converti ad Deum, neque differas de die in diem. Subito enim veniet ira ejus, et in tempore vindictae disperdet te. Promisit tibi, quoniam quo die conversus fueris, obliviscitur mala tua praeterita: sed numquid vitam crastini diei promisit tibi? An forte non tibi illam promisit Deus, et promisit illam tibi mathematicus, ut damnet et te et illum Deus? Diem mortis incertum salubriter constituit Deus: diem ultimum suum quisque salubriter cogitet. Misericordia Dei est quia nescit homo quando moriatur. Latet ultimus dies, ut observentur omnes dies.

Chapter I. — 1. Conversion is not to be put off. — We have heard, brethren, the Lord saying through the prophet, Do not delay to be converted to God, and do not put it off from day to day. For His wrath will come suddenly, and in the time of vengeance He will destroy you. He has promised you that on the day you are converted He forgets your past evils: but has He promised you the life of tomorrow? Or perhaps God has not promised it to you, and an astrologer has promised it to you, so that God may condemn both you and him? God has wholesomely appointed the day of death to be uncertain: let each one wholesomely think upon his own last day. It is the mercy of God that a man does not know when he will die. The last day lies hidden, so that all days may be watched.

Editors' notes and page, col. 241

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: et sequeris mundum› · call in col 241

Victorinus Ms., etsi sequeris mundum.

The Saint-Victor manuscript: etsi sequeris mundum ("even though you follow the world").

(printed under page 127)

(2) ‹anchor: mala tua praeterita› · call in col 241

Mss. loco, mala tua praeterita, habent, malitiae tuae praeteritae; aut malitiam tuam praeteritam.

In place of mala tua praeterita the manuscripts have malitiae tuae praeteritae, or malitiam tuam praeteritam.

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO XXXIX› · call in col 241 Sermones 39 et 40 ad duos cl. ad gr. rm. v. Am. Er. Par. Lov. emendati sunt.

Sermons 39 and 40 have been corrected against two cl. manuscripts, against gr., rm., v., and Amerbach, Erasmus, the Paris edition and the Louvain edition.

(printed under page 127)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO XXXIX› · call in col 241

Alias, 13 ex Homiliis 50.

Formerly, the 13th of the Fifty Homilies.

(printed under page 127)

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2. Contemptus mundi. Sed tenet mundus, illecebrae circumquaque blandiuntur; delectat pecuniae magnitudo, delectat honoris fulgor, delectat potentiae terror: delectant ista; sed audiatur Apostolus: Nihil intulimus in hunc mundum, sed nec auferre quid possumus. Honor te debet quaerere, non tu ipsum. Debes enim in loco humiliori discumbere, ut qui te invitavit, faciat te ad honoratiorem locum ascender⟨e⟩ (Luc. XIV, 10). Si autem noluerit, ubi recumbis, manduca: quia nihil intulisti in hunc mundum. Parum est tibi quia de alieno manducas? Discumbe ubicumque, et manduca. Dicturus es, De meo. Audi Apostolum: Nihil intulimus in hunc mundum. Ad mundum venisti, plenam mensam invenisti. Sed Domini est terra et plenitudo ejus (Psal. XXIII, 1).

2. Contempt of the world. But the world holds [us], its allurements fawn on every side; the greatness of money delights, the splendour of honour delights, the terror of power delights: these things delight; but let the Apostle be heard: We have brought nothing into this world, but neither can we carry anything out. Honour ought to seek you, not you it. For you ought to recline in a lower place, so that he who invited you may make you go up to a more honourable place (Luke 14:10). But if he does not wish to, eat where you are reclining: for you brought nothing into this world. Is it too little for you that you eat of what is another's? Recline anywhere, and eat. You are going to say, Of my own. Hear the Apostle: We have brought nothing into this world. You came into the world, you found a full table. But the earth is the Lord's, and its fullness (Ps. 23:1).

CAPUT II. — 3. Cupiditas divitiarum quam periculosa. — Nam qui volunt, inquit, divites fieri. Non dixit, Qui divites sunt; sed, Qui volunt divites fieri: cupiditates accusavit, non facultates. Qui volunt divites fieri, incidunt in tentationem et desideria multa stulta et noxia, quae mergunt homines in interitum et perditionem. Pecunia delectat, ista non times? Bona res est pecunia, bona res est magna pecunia. Incidunt in tentationem: non times? In desideria multa incidunt stulta et noxia: non times? Desideria quo ducunt, time. Quid est, quo ducunt? Quae mergunt, inquit, homines in interitum et perditionem. Et adhuc surdus es? Interitum et perditionem non times? Sic Deus tonat, et stertis?

Chapter II. — 3. How dangerous the desire of riches is. — For those who wish, he says, to become rich. He did not say, Those who are rich; but, Those who wish to become rich: he accused desires, not means. Those who wish to become rich fall into temptation and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and perdition. Money delights you; do you not fear these things? Money is a good thing, much money is a good thing. They fall into temptation: do you not fear? Into many foolish and harmful desires they fall: do you not fear? Fear where desires lead. What is it, where they lead? Which plunge, he says, men into ruin and perdition. And are you still deaf? Do you not fear ruin and perdition? God thunders thus, and you snore?

4. Vermis divitiarum superbia. Caeterum his qui jam divites sunt, adhuc consilium dedit Apostolus: Praecipe, inquit, divitibus hujus mundi non superbe sapere. Vermis divitiarum superbia est. Difficile est ut non sit superbus, qui dives est. Tolle superbiam, divitiae non nocebunt. Sed attende quid inde facere debeas, ne vacet apud te quod largitus est Deus. Non superbe sapere: istud vitium tolle. Neque sperare in incerto divitiarum: tolle et hoc vitium. Cum abstuleris ista, exerce opera bona. Quae? Audi: Divites sint, inquit, in operibus bonis, non sperent in incerto divitiarum. Sed ubi sperent? In Deo vivo qui praestat nobis omnia abundanter ad fruendum. Mundum praestat Deus pauperi, praestat et diviti. Numquid quia dives est, duos ventres impleturus est? Attendite, et videte quoniam de datis Dei pauperes saturati dormiunt. Qui pascit vos, pascit et illos per vos.

4. Pride, the worm of riches. Furthermore, to those who are already rich the Apostle has also given counsel: Charge, he says, the rich of this world not to be high-minded. Pride is the worm of riches. It is difficult for one who is rich not to be proud. Take away pride, and riches will do no harm. But attend to what you ought to do with them, lest what God has bestowed lie idle with you. Not to be high-minded: take away that vice. Nor to hope in the uncertainty of riches: take away this vice too. When you have removed these, practise good works. Which? Hear: Let them be rich, he says, in good works, let them not hope in the uncertainty of riches. But where should they hope? In the living God, Who provides us with all things abundantly to enjoy. God provides the world to the poor man, He provides it also to the rich. Is he going to fill two bellies because he is rich? Attend, and see that from the gifts of God the poor sleep satisfied. He Who feeds you feeds them also through you.

CAPUT III. — 5. Divitiarum usus in operibus bonis. Ergo non ametur pecunia: sed si jam habetur, hoc inde fiat. Divites estote, qui illam habetis. Sed ubi divites? In operibus bonis. Facile, inquit, tribuant, communicent. Hic jam avaritia contrahit se, quando audit, Facile tribuant, communicent: veluti aqua frigida perfunditur, rigescit, stringit sinum, et dicit, Non perdo labores meos. Infelix, perdere non vis labores tuos? Ecce morieris, et qui nihil huc attulisti, nihil hinc potes auferre: cum nihil abstuleris,

Chapter III. — 5. The use of riches in good works. Therefore let money not be loved: but if it is already possessed, let this be done with it. Be rich, you who have it. But rich where? In good works. Let them readily give, he says, let them share. Here at once avarice contracts itself, when it hears, Let them readily give, let them share: as though drenched with cold water, it stiffens, it tightens its purse, and says, I am not going to lose my labours. Wretch, you do not wish to lose your labours? Behold, you will die, and you who brought nothing here can carry nothing hence: since you will have taken nothing away,

Editors' notes and page, col. 242

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: quando audit› · call in col 242

Mss., Sequentia audi: Facile tribuant, etc.

The manuscripts: Sequentia audi: Facile tribuant, etc. ("Hear what follows: Let them give readily," etc.).

(printed under page 127)

(2) ‹anchor: perdere non› · call in col 242

Abest non a Mss.

The word non is absent from the manuscripts.

(printed under page 127)

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nonne perdidisti omnes labores tuos? Audi ergo consilium Dei. Non terrearis, quia dixit, Facile tribuant, communicent. Audi quod sequitur. Exspecta, noli contra me claudere ostium, nec aditum cordis tui; exspecta. Vis nosse, Facile tribuant, communicent, quia non perdes, et hoc solum non perdes? Thesaurizent, inquit, sibi fundamentum bonum in futurum, ut apprehendant veram vitam. Ista ergo quae te delectat, falsa vita est: quasi in somnis hic vivis. Si quasi in somnis hic vivis, evigilaturus es quando morieris, et sic nihil habes invenire in manibus tuis. Quomodo si mendicus dormiat, et in somnis illi veniat haereditas; nihil illo felicius antequam surgat. Videt se in somnis tractare manibus vestes egregias, pretiosa vasa aurea et argentea, intrare in amoenissima et amplissima praedia, obsequi sibi magnas familias: evigilat, et plorat. Et quomodo vigilans accusat hominem qui illum exspoliavit, sic ille accusat qui illum excitavit. Apertissime hinc locutus est Psalmus: Dormierunt, inquit, somnum suum, et nihil invenerunt omnes viri divitiarum in manibus suis (Psal. LXXV, 6), posteaquam finierunt somnum suum.

have you not lost all your labours? Hear, then, the counsel of God. Do not be frightened because he said, Let them give readily, let them share. Hear what follows. Wait, do not shut the door against me, nor the entrance of your heart; wait. Do you wish to know [why] Let them give readily, let them share? Because you will not lose, and this alone you will not lose. Let them store up for themselves, he says, a good foundation for the future, so that they may lay hold of true life. This life, then, which delights you, is a false life: you live here as if in dreams. If you live here as if in dreams, you will wake up when you die, and so you have nothing to find in your hands. It is as if a beggar should sleep, and in his dreams an inheritance should come to him; nothing is happier than he until he gets up. He sees himself in his dreams handling splendid garments with his hands, precious vessels of gold and silver, entering most delightful and most spacious estates, great households waiting upon him: he wakes up, and weeps. And as a man awake accuses the man who robbed him, so he accuses the one who woke him. Most plainly did the Psalm speak of this: They have slept, it says, their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands (Ps. 75:6), after they had finished their sleep.

CAPUT IV. — 6. Eleemosynae qua mensura et quo fine faciendae.— Quia ergo nihil attulisti, nihil hinc ablaturus es. Mitte sursum quod invenisti, et non perditurus es. Da Christo: Christus enim hic voluit accipere. Da Christo, et non perdis. Non perdis, si commendas servo tuo; et perdis, si commendas Domino tuo? Non perdis, si commendas servo tuo quod acquisisti; et perdes, si commendes Domino tuo quod accepisti ab ipso Domino tuo? Egere hic voluit Christus, sed propter nos. Omnes pauperes quos videtis; potuit illos Christus pascere, quomodo per corvum Eliam pavit: tamen et ipsi Eliae subtraxit corvum, ut a vidua pasceretur non Eliae praestitit, sed viduae (III Reg. XVII, 6). Quando ergo Deus pauperes facit, quia ipse non vult ut ipsi habeant; quando facit pauperes, probat divites. Sic enim scriptum est: Pauper et dives occurrerunt sibi. Ubi sibi occurrerunt? In hac vita. Natus est ille, natus est et ille: invenerunt se, occurrerunt sibi. Et quis fecit illos ambos? Dominus (Prov. XXII, 2). Divitem, unde pauperem adjuvaret; pauperem, unde divitem probaret. Pro viribus suis quisque faciat: non sic faciat, ut ipse patiatur angustias. Non hoc dicimus. Superflua tua necessaria sunt alii. Audistis modo, cum Evangelium l⟨e⟩geretur: Quicumque dederit calicem aquae frigidae uni ex minimis meis propter me, non perdet mercedem suam (Matth. X, 42). Regnum coelorum venale proposuit, et pretium ejus calicem aquae frigidae esse voluit. Sed quando pauper est qui facit eleemosynas, tunc debent eleemosynae ejus esse calix aquae frigidae. Qui plus habet, plus faciat. Vidua illa de duobus minutis fecit (Marc. XII, 42): Zacchaeus dimidium rerum suarum dedit, et ad reddendas fraudes suas, aliud dimidium reservavit (Luc. XIX, 8). Eleemosynae illis prosunt, qui vitam mutaverunt. Das enim Christo egenti, ut peccata tua redimas praeterita. Nam si ideo

Chapter IV. — 6. In what measure and to what end alms are to be given. — Since, then, you brought nothing, you will carry nothing away from here. Send up on high what you have found, and you will not lose it. Give to Christ: for Christ willed to receive here. Give to Christ, and you do not lose. Do you not lose if you entrust to your servant, and do you lose if you entrust to your Lord? Do you not lose if you entrust to your servant what you have acquired, and will you lose if you entrust to your Lord what you received from that very Lord of yours? Christ willed to be in need here, but for our sake. All the poor whom you see: Christ could have fed them, as He fed Elijah by a raven; yet even from Elijah He withdrew the raven, so that he might be fed by a widow; He conferred the benefit not on Elijah, but on the widow (1 Kgs. 17:6). When, therefore, God makes people poor, because He Himself does not will that they should have; when He makes people poor, He tests the rich. For thus it is written: The poor man and the rich man have met each other. Where have they met each other? In this life. This one was born, and that one was born: they found each other, they met each other. And who made them both? The Lord (Prov. 22:2). The rich man, so that he might help the poor; the poor man, so that he might test the rich. Let each do according to his means: let him not do it in such a way that he himself suffers hardship. We do not say this. Your superfluities are necessities for another. You heard just now, when the Gospel was being read: Whoever gives a cup of cold water to one of my least ones for my sake shall not lose his reward (Matt. 10:42). He put the kingdom of heaven up for sale, and willed its price to be a cup of cold water. But when it is a poor man who gives alms, then his alms ought to be a cup of cold water. Let him who has more do more. That widow did it out of two mites (Mark 12:42): Zacchaeus gave half of his goods, and kept back the other half for restoring what he had taken by fraud (Luke 19:8). Alms profit those who have changed their life. For you give to Christ in need so that you may redeem your past sins. For if for this reason

Editors' notes and page, col. 243

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 243 or 244 (call not visible)

Alias, 11 inter Homilias 50.

Formerly, the 11th among the Fifty Homilies.

(printed under page 128)

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marginal letters: (none)
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other: "Non" printed with a stray accent-like mark (Noń), set Non; "veram vitam" looks like "xeram" in the scan, read as italic v; "hinc" twice looks like "binc" in the scan, read as h; gap in type in "l⟨e⟩geretur"; "alii" is printed and is a genuine dative form, not a misprint; Prov. reference numeral partly blurred, read XXII; right-hand column (next column) visible but not set

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das, ut liceat tibi semper impune peccare; non Christum pascis, sed judicem corrumpere conaris. Ergo ad hoc facite eleemosynas, ut vestrae orationes exaudiantur, et adjuvet vos Deus ad vitam in melius commutandam. Et qui commutatis eamdem vit⟨a⟩m, in melius commutate; ut per eleemosynas et orationes deleantur mala vestra praeterita, et futura bona veniant sempiterna.

you give, so that you may always sin with impunity, you are not feeding Christ, but trying to bribe the Judge. Therefore give alms for this purpose, that your prayers may be heard, and that God may help you to change your life for the better. And you who are changing that same life, change it for the better, so that through alms and prayers your past evils may be blotted out, and future everlasting goods may come.

SERMO XL. De eodem loco Ecclesiastici V, 8, Ne tardes converti ad Deum, etc. In eos qui conversionem de die in diem differunt, quorum alii male sperando, alii desperando pereunt.

Sermon 40. On the same passage of Ecclesiasticus 5:8, Do not delay to turn to God, etc. Against those who put off conversion from day to day, of whom some perish by hoping wrongly, others by despairing.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Sustinere Dominum quid. Frequenter, fratres, cum Psalmista cantavimus, Sustine Dominum, viriliter age; et confortetur cor tuum, et sustine Dominum (Psal. XXVI, 14). Quid est, Sustine Dominum? Ut tunc accipias, quando dabit; non tunc exigas, quando vis. Tempus dandi nondum est: sustinuit te, sustine illum. Quid est quod dixi, Sustinuit te, sustine illum? Si jam juste vivis, si jam ad illum conversus es, si tibi displicent facta tua praeterita, si jam placuit tibi eligere vitam bonam novam; noli festinare exigere. Sustinuit te, ut mutares vitam malam: sustine illum, ut coronet vitam bonam. Nam si et ille non sustineret, non esset cui daret. Sustine ergo, quia sustentatus es.

Chapter I. — 1. What it is to wait for the Lord. Often, brethren, we have sung with the Psalmist, Wait for the Lord, act manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, and wait for the Lord (Ps. 26:14). What does Wait for the Lord mean? That you should receive at the time when He will give, not demand at the time when you wish. The time for giving has not yet come: He has waited for you, wait for Him. What is it that I said, He has waited for you, wait for Him? If you are now living justly, if you have now turned to Him, if your past deeds displease you, if it has now pleased you to choose a good new life, do not be in a hurry to demand. He waited for you, that you might change your bad life: wait for Him, that He may crown your good life. For if He too had not waited, there would be no one for Him to give to. Wait therefore, because you have been borne with.

2. Conversionem alii sperando, alii desperando differentes. Tu vero qui non vis corrigi, o quisquis hic es qui adhuc non vis corrigi; quasi unus sit: magis dicere debui, Quicumque hic estis. Tu tamen qui hic es, qui non statuisti corrigi: sic loquar quasi ad unum, Quisquis non vis corrigi, quid tibi promittis? Desperando peris, an sperando? Quisquis desperando peris, hoc dicis in animo tuo: Iniquitas mea super me est, in peccatis meis contabesco; quae mihi spes est vivendi? Audi prophetam dicentem, Nolo mortem impii; tantum revertatur impius a via sua pessima, et vivat (Ezech. XXXIII, 11). Qui sperando peris, hoc dicis in animo tuo: Bonus est Deus, misericors est Deus, ignoscit omnia, non reddit mala pro malis. Audi Apostolum dicentem, Ignoras quia patientia Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit (Rom. II, 4)?

2. Some putting off conversion by hoping, others by despairing. But you who do not wish to be corrected, O whoever you are here who still do not wish to be corrected (as though it were one person; I ought rather to have said, Whoever of you are here). Yet you who are here, who have not resolved to be corrected: I shall speak thus, as if to one, Whoever you are that do not wish to be corrected, what do you promise yourself? Are you perishing by despairing, or by hoping? Whoever you are that perish by despairing, you say this in your mind: My iniquity is upon me, I am wasting away in my sins; what hope of living do I have? Hear the prophet saying, I do not want the death of the wicked man; only let the wicked man turn back from his most evil way, and live (Ezek. 33:11). You who perish by hoping say this in your mind: God is good, God is merciful, He forgives everything, He does not render evil for evil. Hear the Apostle saying, Do you not know that the patience of God leads you to repentance (Rom. 2:4)?

3. Plerique male sperando differunt. Quid ergo restat? Quia si obtinuimus apud te aliquid, si intravit in cor quod dixi; video quid mihi respondeas. Verum est, nec despero, ut desperando peream; nec spero male, ut sperando peream. Non mihi dico: Iniquitas mea super me est, jam nullam spem habeo. Nec mihi illud dico: Bonus est Deus, nemini reddit mala. Nec illud dico, nec illuc dico: premit me Propheta,

3. Most put it off by hoping wrongly. What then remains? For if we have gained anything with you, if what I said has entered your heart, I see what you will answer me. It is true, I do not despair, so as to perish by despairing, nor do I hope wrongly, so as to perish by hoping. I do not say to myself: My iniquity is upon me, I now have no hope. Nor do I say this to myself: God is good, He renders evil to no one. I say neither this nor that: there presses upon me the Prophet,

Editors' notes and page, col. 244

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 244

In praecipuis Mss. titulus est, Admonitio S. Augustini ad eos qui dicunt, Exspecto adhuc modicum, et converto me; et dum differtur de die in diem, subito supervenit ultima dies.

In the principal manuscripts the title is: An admonition of St. Augustine to those who say, "I am waiting a little longer, and then I turn myself"; and while it is put off from day to day, the last day suddenly comes upon them.

(printed under page 128)

(2) ‹anchor: si obtinuimus› · call in col 244

Mss., quasi obtinuimus.

The manuscripts: quasi obtinuimus.

(printed under page 128)

(3) ‹anchor: nec illuc dico› · call in col 244

Er. Lugd. Ven. et Lov. Bonus est Deus, nemini reddet mala. Nec illud dico, nec hoc dico. M.

Erasmus, the Lyons, the Venice and the Louvain editions: Bonus est Deus, nemini reddet mala. Nec illud dico, nec hoc dico ("God is good, he will render evil to no one. I say neither that nor this"). M.

(printed under page 128)

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premit me Apostolus.

the Apostle presses upon me.

CAPUT II. — Et quid dicis? Adhuc modicum tempus vivam quomodo volo. Isti sunt qui nos fatigant: plurimi sunt, molesti sunt. Adhuc modicum tempus vivam quomodo volo, postea quando me correxero, utique verum est quod dixit Propheta, Nolo mortem impii; tantum revertatur impius a via sua pessima, et vivat. Quando conversus fuero, delebit omnia mala mea: quare non addo aliquid voluptatibus meis, et vivo quantum volo, quomodo volo, postea me conversurus ad Deum?

Chapter II. — And what do you say? "For a little time yet let me live as I please." These are the ones who wear us out: they are very many, they are troublesome. "For a little time yet let me live as I please; afterwards, when I have corrected myself, surely what the Prophet said is true, I do not will the death of the wicked man; only let the wicked man turn back from his most evil way, and live. When I have been converted, He will blot out all my evils: why do I not add something to my pleasures, and live as long as I please, as I please, intending afterwards to turn myself to God?"

4. Poenitentia in crastinum non differenda. Quare hoc dicis, frater? quare? Quia promisit Deus indulgentiam, si me mutavero. Video, scio, promisit Deus indulgentiam; per sanctum Prophetam hanc promittit, et per me minimum servum suum promittit, verum est quod promittit, hanc promisit per unicum Filium suum. Sed quid vis addere dies malos diebus malis? Sufficit diei malitia sua (Matth. VI, 34). Malus dies hesternus, malus et hodiernus, malus et crastinus. An putas esse bonos dies, quando facis satis voluptatibus tuis, quando in luxuriis enutris cor tuum, quando insidiaris alienae pudicitiae, quando fraude contristas proximum tuum, quando commendata negas, quando falsum pro nummo juras? Quando exhibes tibi bonum prandium, ideo putas quia bonum diem ducis? Unde fieri potest ut dies bonus sit, cum malus sit homo? Malos dies vis addere malis diebus?

4. Penance is not to be put off until tomorrow. Why do you say this, brother? Why? "Because God has promised pardon, if I change myself." I see, I know, God has promised pardon; through the holy Prophet He promises it, and through me, His least servant, He promises it; what He promises is true; He promised it through His only Son. But why do you wish to add evil days to evil days? Sufficient for the day is its own evil (Matt. 6:34). Yesterday was an evil day, today is evil too, tomorrow is evil too. Or do you think those are good days, when you satisfy your pleasures, when you nourish your heart in luxuries, when you lay snares for another's chastity, when you grieve your neighbour by fraud, when you deny what was entrusted to you, when you swear falsely for a coin? When you provide yourself a good luncheon, do you therefore think that you are spending a good day? How can it be that the day is good, when the man is evil? Do you wish to add evil days to evil days?

5. Idem tractatur argumentum. Rogo, aliquantum, inquit, dimittatur mihi. Quare? Quia promisit mihi Deus indulgentiam.

5. The same argument is treated. "I ask," he says, "let a little while be left to me." Why? "Because God has promised me pardon."

CAPUT III. — Sed crastino die te victurum nemo tibi promisit. Aut lege mihi, quomodo legis Prophetam, Evangelium, Apostolum, quia cum te converteris, delet Deus omnes iniquitates tuas: lege mihi ubi tibi promissus est crastinus dies, et vive crastino die male. Quanquam, frater meus, non tibi hoc debui dicere. Longa erit forte vita tua: si longa erit, bona sit. Quare vis habere longam vitam et malam? Aut longa non erit; et illa longa debet te delectare, quae non habet finem: aut longa erit; et quid mali erit, quia diu bene vixisti? Tu male vis diu vivere, bene non vis? Et tamen crastinum diem nemo tibi promisit. Corrige te, audi Scripturam: Ne tardes converti ad Deum. Verba ista mea non sunt: sed et mea sunt. Si amo, mea sunt: amate, et vestra sunt. Sermo iste quem modo dico, Scripturae sanctae est: si contemnis illum, adversarius tuus est. Sed audi Dominum dicentem, Concorda cum adversario tuo cito (Matth. V, 25). Audiant omnes, verba recito Scripturae divinae. O male dilator, o crastini male appetitor, audi Dominum dicentem, audi Scripturam sanctam praedicentem. De isto loco speculator sum. Ne tardes converti ad Deum, neque differas de die in diem. Vide si non vidit illos, vide si non inspexit illos qui di⟨c⟩unt, Crastino bene vivo, hodie male vivam. Et cum cras venerit, hoc dicturus es. Ne tardes converti ad Deum, neque differas de die in diem. Subito enim veniet ira ejus, et in tempore vindictae disperdet te. Numquid ego

Chapter III. — But no one has promised you that you will live tomorrow. Either read to me, as you read the Prophet, the Gospel, the Apostle, that when you have turned, God blots out all your iniquities: read to me where tomorrow has been promised to you, and then live evilly tomorrow. And yet, my brother, I ought not to have said this to you. Perhaps your life will be long: if it will be long, let it be good. Why do you wish to have a long life and an evil one? Either it will not be long; and that long [life] which has no end ought to delight you: or it will be long; and what harm will there be in your having lived well for a long time? Do you wish to live evilly for a long time, and do not wish to live well? And yet no one has promised you tomorrow. Correct yourself, hear the Scripture: Do not delay to turn to God. These words are not mine: and yet they are mine too. If I love, they are mine: love, and they are yours too. This discourse which I am now speaking belongs to holy Scripture: if you despise it, it is your adversary. But hear the Lord saying, Agree with your adversary quickly (Matt. 5:25). Let all hear: I am reciting the words of divine Scripture. O evil delayer, O evil craver of tomorrow, hear the Lord saying, hear holy Scripture foretelling. From this place I am a watchman. Do not delay to turn to God, nor put it off from day to day. See whether it did not see them, see whether it did not look into those who say, "Tomorrow I live well, today let me live evilly." And when tomorrow comes, you will be saying this. Do not delay to turn to God, nor put it off from day to day. For suddenly His wrath will come, and in the time of vengeance He will destroy you. Is it that I

Editors' notes and page, col. 245

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hoc scripsi? Numquid ego delere illud possum? Si delevero, timeo deleri. Tacere illud possum: timeo tacere. Praedicare cogor: territus terreo. Timete mecum, ut gaudeatis mecum. Ne tardes converti ad Deum, Domine, vide quia dico: Domine, scis quia terruisti me, cum tuus Propheta legeretur. Domine, nosti in illa cathedra timorem meum, cum tuus Propheta legeretur. Ecce dico, Ne tardes converti ad Deum, neque differas de die in diem. Subito enim veniet ira ejus, et in tempore vindictae disperdet te. Sed nolo perdat te.

have I written this? Can I delete it? If I delete it, I fear to be deleted. I can keep silent about it: I fear to keep silent. I am compelled to preach: terrified, I terrify. Fear with me, so that you may rejoice with me. Do not delay to turn to God. Lord, see that I am saying it: Lord, Thou knowest that Thou didst terrify me when Thy Prophet was being read. Lord, Thou knowest my fear in that chair, when Thy Prophet was being read. Behold, I say: Do not delay to turn to God, and do not put it off from day to day. For suddenly His wrath will come, and in the time of vengeance He will destroy you. But I do not want Him to destroy you.

CAPUT IV. — 6. Excitandus aegrotus etiam nolens. Nolo mihi dicas, Perire volo: quia ego nolo. Melius est ergo, Nolo meum, quam, Volo tuum. Si lethargicus pater tuus aegrotaret inter manus tuas, et tu adesses ju⟨v⟩enis aegrotanti seni, et diceret medicus, Periclitatur pater tuus; somnus iste gravedo est quaedam lethalis; observa eum, noli eum permittere dormire; si videris eum dormire, excita eum; si parum est excitare, vellica; si et hoc parum, stimula eum, ne moriatur pater tuus: adesses juvenis seni onerosus. Ille in dulcem morbum resolutus iret, oculos gravedine illa premente clauderet, tu contra clamares patri: Noli dormire. At ille: Dimitte me, dormire volo. Et tu: Sed medicus dixit, Si voluerit dormire, non dormiat. At ille: Rogo, dimitte me, mori volo. S⟨e⟩d ego nolo, dicit filius patri. Cui? Utique optanti se mori. Et tamen vis differre mortem patris tui, et aliquanto diutius vivere cum morituro sene patre tuo. Dominus tibi clamat: Noli dormire, ne in aeternum dormias; evigila, ut mecum vivas, et patrem habeas quem non efferas. Audis, et surdus es.

Chapter IV. — 6. The sick man must be roused even against his will. Do not tell me, I want to perish; because I do not want it. Better, then, is my I do not want than your I want. If your father were sick with lethargy in your hands, and you, a young man, were attending the sick old man, and the physician said, Your father is in danger; this sleep is a kind of deadly heaviness; watch him, do not allow him to sleep; if you see him sleeping, rouse him; if rousing is too little, pinch him; if even this is too little, prod him, lest your father die: you, a young man, would attend the old man as a burden to him. He would be drifting off, dissolved into a sweet sickness, closing his eyes as that heaviness pressed on them; you on the other hand would cry out to your father: Do not sleep. And he: Let me be, I want to sleep. And you: But the physician said, If he wants to sleep, let him not sleep. And he: I beg you, let me be, I want to die. But I do not want it, says the son to his father. To whom? Surely to one who wishes to die. And yet you want to put off your father's death, and to live a little longer with your old father who is going to die. The Lord cries to you: Do not sleep, lest you sleep for ever; wake up, so that you may live with Me, and have a Father whom you will not carry out to burial. You hear, and you are deaf.

7. Nulla est securitas, nisi a Deo. — Quid ego feci speculator? liber sum, non vos gravo. Scio dicturos quosdam: Quid nobis voluit dicere? Terruit, gravavit nos, reos nos fecit. Imo a reatu volui liberare. Foedum est, turpe est: nolo dicere malum, nolo dicere periculosum, nolo dicere exitiosum: turpe est ut vos fallam, si Deus me non fallit.

7. There is no security except from God. — What have I done as watchman? I am free, I do not burden you. I know that some will say: What did he want to tell us? He frightened us, he burdened us, he made us guilty. On the contrary, I wanted to free you from guilt. It is foul, it is shameful: I do not want to say evil, I do not want to say dangerous, I do not want to say ruinous: it is shameful that I should deceive you, if God does not deceive me.

CAPUT V. — Dominus mortem minatur impiis, nequissimis, fraudatoribus, sceleratis, adulteris, voluptatum inquisitoribus, suis contemptoribus, de temporibus murmurantibus et mores suos non mutantibus: Dominus illis mortem minatur, gehennas minatur, interitum sempiternum minatur. Quid volunt, ut ego promittam quod ille non promittit? Ecce dat tibi securitatem procurator: quid tibi prodest, si paterfamilias non acceptet? Procurator sum, servus sum: vis dicam tibi, Vive quomodo vis, Dominus te non perdet? Securitatem tibi procurator dedit: nihil valet securitas procuratoris. Utinam Dominus tibi daret, et ego te sollicitum facerem! Domini enim securitas valet, etiamsi nolim; mea vero nihil valet, si ille noluerit. Quae est autem securitas, fratres, vel mea vel vestra, nisi ut Domini jussa intente et diligenter audiamus, et promissa fideliter exspectemus? In his fatigamur, quia homines sumus: ipsius adjutorium

Chapter V. — The Lord threatens death to the ungodly, to the most wicked, to defrauders, to criminals, to adulterers, to seekers after pleasures, to those who despise Him, to those who grumble about the times and do not change their ways: the Lord threatens them with death, threatens them with Gehennas, threatens them with everlasting destruction. What do they want, that I should promise what He does not promise? See, a steward gives you security: what does it profit you, if the head of the household does not accept it? I am a steward, I am a servant: do you want me to say to you, Live as you please, the Lord will not destroy you? The steward has given you security: the steward's security is worth nothing. Would that the Lord gave it to you, and I made you anxious! For the Lord's security holds good even if I am unwilling; but mine is worth nothing if He is unwilling. But what is security, brethren, whether mine or yours, except that we listen to the Lord's commands attentively and diligently, and await His promises faithfully? In these things we grow weary, because we are men: His help

Editors' notes and page, col. 246

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: Terruit, gravavit› · call in col 246

Sic Mss. At editi, graviter nos.

So the manuscripts. But the printed editions: graviter nos.

(printed under page 129)

(2) ‹anchor: de temporibus› · call in col 246

Editi, detractoribus. Victorinus codex, deceptoribus. Alii Mss., de temporibus.

The printed editions: detractoribus ("detractors"). The Saint-Victor codex: deceptoribus ("deceivers"). Other manuscripts: de temporibus ("about the times").

(printed under page 129)

(3) ‹anchor: In his fatigamur› · call in col 246

Editi, in his quibus fatigamur. At Mss., in his fatiga- (continues)

The printed editions: in his quibus fatigamur ("in these things by which we are wearied"). But the manuscripts: in his fatiga- (continues) [the image ends at this line; the rest of the note is not visible]

(printed under page 129)