Migne Reading Room
PL 38 · cols. 414–423
Augustine, Sermones 59-70 (Classis I, de Scripturis: de Evangelio Matthaei)
Sermon LXII
cibis pretiosis erubesceremus, quibus saturatus es? Esurit pauper, esurit dives: saturari quaerit pauper, saturari quaerit dives. Saturatur pauper de vilibus cibis, saturatur dives de pretiosis cibis. Saturitas aequalis est: possessio una est, quo ambo volunt pervenire; sed ille per compendium, ille per circuitum. Sed melius, inquis, mihi sapiunt apparata pretiosa. Vix fastidiosus satiaris. Nescis quomodo sapit, quod fames accendit. Neque ita hoc dixi, ut divites cogam epulis et cibis pauperum vesci. Utantur divites consuetudine infirmitatis suae: sed doleant, aliter se non posse. Melius enim possent, si aliter possent. Si ergo non extollitur pauper de mendicitate, tu quare extolleris de infirmitate? Utere cibis electis, pretiosis, quia sic consuesti, quia non aliter potes; quia si consuetudinem mutes, aegrotas. Conceditur tibi: utere superfluis, da pauperibus necessaria; utere pretiosis, da pauperibus vilia. Exspectat a te, exspectas a Deo: exspectat ille manum quae facta est secum, exspectas tu manum quae fecit te. Sed non solum te fecit, sed et pauperem tecum. Dedit vobis unam viam istam vitam; invenistis vos comites, unam viam ambulatis: ille nihil portat, tu nimium oneratus es: ille nihil secum portat, tu tecum plus portas quam opus est. Oneratus es: da illi de eo quod habes; et illum pascis, et onus minuis.
the costly foods with which you are filled, blush? The poor man hungers, the rich man hungers: the poor man seeks to be filled, the rich man seeks to be filled. The poor man is filled with cheap foods, the rich man is filled with costly foods. The fullness is equal: the possession at which both wish to arrive is one; but the one goes by a short cut, the other by a roundabout way. 'But,' you say, 'costly dishes taste better to me.' Fastidious as you are, you are scarcely satisfied. You do not know how that tastes which hunger kindles. Nor have I said this in order to compel the rich to feed on the dishes and foods of the poor. Let the rich keep to the habit of their infirmity: but let them grieve that they cannot do otherwise. For they would be better able, if they were able otherwise. If then the poor man is not puffed up by his beggary, why are you puffed up by your infirmity? Use choice, costly foods, because you are so accustomed, because you cannot do otherwise; because if you change your habit, you fall ill. It is granted you: use superfluities, give the poor necessities; use costly things, give the poor cheap things. He looks to you, you look to God: he looks to a hand which was made along with him, you look to the hand which made you. But He made not only you, but also the poor man along with you. He gave you this one road, this life; you have found yourselves companions, you walk one road: he carries nothing, you are overburdened: he carries nothing with him, you carry with you more than is needed. You are burdened: give him of what you have; and you both feed him and lessen your burden.
CAPUT XII.—13. Ad eleemosynas urget. Date ergo pauperibus: rogo, moneo, praecipio, jubeo. Quidquid vultis date pauperibus. Non enim occultabo Charitati vestrae, quare hunc sermonem necesse habui vobis promere. Ex quo hic sumus euntes ad ecclesiam, et redeuntes, pauperes interpellant nos, et dicunt ut dicamus vobis, ut aliquid accipiant a vobis. Nos monuerunt loqui vobis: et cum se vident non accipere a vobis, inaniter nos arbitrantur laborare in vobis. Exspectant aliquid et a nobis. Damus quantum habemus, damus sicut possumus: numquid tamen ad eorum necessitatem implendam idonei sumus? Quia ergo ad eorum necessitatem implendam idonei non sumus, vel ad vos legati ipsorum sumus. Audistis, laudastis: Deo gratias. Semen accepistis, verba reddidistis. Laudes istae vestrae gravant nos potius, et in periculum mittunt: toleramus illas, et tremimus inter illas. Tam⟨e⟩n, fratres mei, istae laudes vestrae folia sunt arborum: fructus quaeritur.
Chapter XII.—13. He urges almsgiving. Give, then, to the poor: I ask, I warn, I instruct, I command. Whatever you wish, give to the poor. For I shall not hide from your Charity why I have found it necessary to deliver this sermon to you. Ever since we have been here, as we go to the church and as we come back, the poor accost us and tell us to tell you, so that they may receive something from you. They have urged us to speak to you: and when they see that they receive nothing from you, they think that we labour among you in vain. They look for something from us too. We give as much as we have, we give as we are able: but are we sufficient to fill their need? Since, then, we are not sufficient to fill their need, at least we are their envoys to you. You have heard, you have applauded: thanks be to God. You have received the seed, you have given back words. These praises of yours weigh on us rather, and put us in danger: we bear them, and we tremble amid them. Yet, my brothers, these praises of yours are the leaves of trees: it is fruit that is sought.
SERMO LXII. De verbis Evangelii Matthaei, cap. VIII, 8-12, Non sum dignus ut sub tectum meum intres, etc. Necnon de verbis Apostoli, I Cor. VIII, 10-12, Si enim quis viderit eum qui habet scientiam, in idolio recumbentem, etc.
Sermon 62. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 8:8-12, 'I am not worthy for Thee to enter under my roof,' etc. And also on the words of the Apostle, 1 Cor. 8:10-12, 'For if anyone sees him who has knowledge reclining at table in an idol's temple,' etc.
CAPUT PRIMUM.—1. Centurionis humilitas. Audivimus,
Chapter I.—1. The humility of the centurion. We heard,
Editors' notes and page, col. 414
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: pervenire› · call in col 414
Lov., pervenere; dissentientibus editis aliis et Mss. Paulo post Am. Er. et plures Mss., ille circuit. Lov., ille multum circuit. Tres vero Mss., ille per circuitum.
Louvain: "pervenere" (they have arrived); the other printed editions and the manuscripts disagreeing. A little further on Amerbach, Erasmus and many manuscripts: "he goes round." Louvain: "he goes round much." But three manuscripts: "he by a roundabout way."
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(2) ‹anchor: et onus minuis› · call in col 414
Am. Er. et Mss., et pondus minuis.
Amerbach, Erasmus and the manuscripts: "and you lessen the weight."
(printed under page 213) (*) ‹anchor: SERMO LXII› · call in col 414 Emendatus est ad omnes codices scriptos et excusos qui in sermone superiore designantur.
It has been corrected against all the manuscript and printed codices that are indicated at the preceding sermon.
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(a) ‹anchor: SERMO LXII› · call in col 414
Alias, 4 de Verbis Domini 6.
Formerly, de Verbis Domini 6. [the "4" before "de" is as it appears in the scan; reading uncertain]
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(b) ‹anchor: recumbentem, etc.› · call in col 414
Possidius in Indiculo, cap 9, Tractatum notat, « De « Evangelio, ubi Centurio Dominum rogat pro puero suo. » Ejusdem sermonis excerpta refert Florus ad Rom. XIII, I Cor. VIII, et Coloss. III.
Possidius in the Indiculus, ch. 9, records a Tractate "On the Gospel, where the Centurion asks the Lord on behalf of his servant." Florus gives excerpts of the same sermon on Romans 13, 1 Corinthians 8, and Colossians 3.
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cum Evangelium legeretur, fidem nostram in humilitate laudari. Ad domum quippe Centurionis cum se promitteret Dominus Jesus iturum, ut puerum ejus sanaret, ille respondit: Non sum dignus ut sub tectum meum intres: sed tantum dic verbum, et sanabitur. Dicendo se indignum, praestitit dignum; non in cujus parietes, sed in cujus cor Christus intraret. Neque hoc diceret cum tanta fide et humilitate, nisi illum, quem timebat intrare in domum suam, corde gestaret. Nam non erat magna felicitas, si Dominus Jesus intraret in parietes ejus, et non esset in pectore ejus. Magister quippe humilitatis et verbo et exemplo, discubuit et in domo cujusdam pharisaei superbi, nomine Simonis (Luc. VII, 36). Et cum in domo ejus recumberet, non erat in corde ejus ubi caput Filius hominis reclinaret.
when the Gospel was being read, that our faith is praised in humility. For when the Lord Jesus promised that He would go to the Centurion's house to heal his servant, he answered: I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and he shall be healed. By calling himself unworthy, he showed himself worthy; worthy that Christ should enter not within his walls but into his heart. Nor would he have said this with such great faith and humility, had he not been carrying in his heart Him Whom he feared to have enter his house. For it would have been no great happiness if the Lord Jesus had entered within his walls and were not in his breast. For the Master of humility, by word and by example, reclined at table even in the house of a certain proud Pharisee, Simon by name (Luke 7:36). And though He reclined in his house, there was no place in his heart where the Son of Man might lay His head.
2. Superbus a discipulatu Christi repulsus. Vita animae, Deus. Ita enim quemdam superbum, quantum intelligitur ex verbis ipsius Domini, ultro secum ire cupientem, a suo discipulatu revocavit. Sequar te, Domine, ait, quocumque ieris. Et Dominus in ejus corde invisibilia videns: Vulpes, inquit, foveas habent, et volatilia coeli nidos: Filius autem hominis non habet ubi caput suum reclinet. Hoc est, Habitant in te insidiae sicut vulpes, habitat superbia sicut coeli volatilia: Filius autem hominis simplex contra insidias, humilis contra superbiam, non ha⟨b⟩et ubi caput suum reclinet. Et ipsa reclinatio capitis, non erectio, humilitatis magistra est. Revocat ergo istum ire cupientem, trahit alium recusantem. Eodem quippe loco ait cuidam: Sequere me. Et ille: Sequar te, Domine: sed sine me primo ire et sepelire patrem meum. Pie quidem excusavit: et ideo dignior cujus excusatio removeretur, vocatio firmaretur. Pium erat quod volebat facere: sed docuit magister quid deberet praeponere. Volebat enim eum esse vivi verbi praedicatorem, ad faciendos victuros. Erant autem alii, per quos illa necessitas impleretur. Sine, inquit, mortuos sepelire mortuos suos (Id. IX, 57-60). Infideles cadaver quando sepeliunt, mortui mortuum sepeliunt. Illius corpus animam perdidit: illorum anima Deum. Sicut enim vita corporis anima est: sic vita animae Deus. Sicut exspirat corpus, cum animam emittit: ita exspirat anima, cum Deum amittit. Deus amissus, mors animae: anima emissa, mors corporis. Mors corporis necessaria: mors animae voluntaria.
2. The proud man repelled from the discipleship of Christ. God, the life of the soul. For thus He turned away from His discipleship a certain proud man, as is understood from the words of the Lord Himself, who of his own accord desired to go with Him. I will follow Thee, Lord, he says, wherever Thou goest. And the Lord, seeing the invisible things in his heart, says: Foxes have holes, and the birds of heaven nests: but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. That is: Wiles dwell in you like foxes, pride dwells in you like the birds of heaven: but the Son of Man, simple against wiles, humble against pride, has nowhere to lay His head. And the very laying down of the head, not its lifting up, is the teacher of humility. So He turns away this man who desires to go, and draws another who refuses. For in the same place He says to someone: Follow Me. And he: I will follow Thee, Lord: but let me first go and bury my father. He excused himself dutifully indeed: and so he was the more worthy to have his excuse removed and his calling made firm. What he wished to do was dutiful: but the Master taught what he ought to put first. For He wished him to be a preacher of the living word, for making men who would live. And there were others through whom that necessary duty might be fulfilled. Let, He says, the dead bury their dead (Luke 9:57–60). When unbelievers bury a corpse, the dead bury the dead. His body has lost its soul: their soul has lost God. For as the soul is the life of the body, so God is the life of the soul. As the body expires when it sends forth the soul, so the soul expires when it loses God. God lost is the death of the soul: the soul sent forth is the death of the body. The death of the body is necessary: the death of the soul is voluntary.
3. Centurionis fides in humilitate. Discumbebat ergo Dominus in domo pharisaei cujusdam superbi. In domo ejus erat, ut dixi; et in pectore ejus non erat. In hujus vero Centurionis domum non intravit, et pectus possedit. Zacchaeus vero Dominum et domo suscepit, et animo (Id. XIX, 6). Hujus tamen fides in humilitate laudatur. Dixit enim, Non sum dignus ut sub tectum meum intres. Et Dominus, Amen dico vobis, non inveni tantam fidem in Israel: secundum carnem. Nam et iste jam Israelites erat secundum spiritum. Venerat Dominus ad Israelem carnalem, id est, ad Judaeos, ibi primum quaerere oves perditas, in quo populo, et de quo populo etiam corpus assumpserat:
3. The Centurion's faith in humility. So the Lord reclined at table in the house of a certain proud Pharisee. He was in his house, as I said; and He was not in his breast. But into the house of this Centurion He did not enter, and yet He took possession of his breast. Zacchaeus, however, received the Lord both in his house and in his mind (Luke 19:6). Yet it is this man's faith that is praised in humility. For he said, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter under my roof. And the Lord: Amen I say to you, I have not found such great faith in Israel: according to the flesh. For this man was already an Israelite according to the spirit. The Lord had come to Israel according to the flesh, that is, to the Jews, there first to seek the lost sheep, in which people, and from which people, He had also taken a body:
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Non ibi inveni tantam fidem, ipse dicit. Possumus ⟨n⟩os metiri fidem hominum, sicut homines: ille qui interiora cernebat, ille quem nemo fallebat, perhibuit testimonium cordi homin⟨i⟩s, audiens verba humilitatis, pronuntians sententiam sanitatis.
"I have not found such great faith here," He Himself says. We can measure the faith of men as men do: He Who discerned the inner things, He Whom no one deceived, bore witness to the man's heart, hearing words of humility, pronouncing a sentence of healing.
CAPUT II. — 4. In centurione Gentes figuratae. Unde autem hoc praesumpsit? Et ego, inquit, homo sum sub potestate constitutus, habens sub me milites; et dico huic, Vade, et vadit; et alii, Veni, et venit; et servo meo, Fac hoc, et facit. Potestas sum quibusdam sub me positis, positus sub potestate quadam super me. Si ergo ego, inquit, homo sub potestate, jubendi habeo potestatem; quid tu possis, cui omnes serviunt potestates? Erat autem iste de Gentibus: erat quippe centurio. Jam Judaea gens habebat militem Romani imperii. Ibi iste militem agebat, quantum agere centurio poterat; et sub potestate, et habens potestatem; subditus obediens, subditos regens. Dominus autem (quod intendat praecipue necessario Charitas vestra), quamvis in populo Judaico esset jam pronuntiabat Ecclesiam toto orbe terrarum futuram, in quam erat missurus Apostolos: ipse a Gentibus non visus et creditus, a Judaeis visus et occisus. Quomodo enim domum hujus Dominus corpore non intravit, et ejus tamen fidem atque ipsam domum absens corpore, praesens majestate sanavit: sic et idem Dominus in solo Judaeo populo corpore fuit; apud alias gentes nec de virgine natus est, nec passus est, nec pedibus ambulavit, nec humana pertulit, nec divina mirabilia fecit. Nihil horum in caeteris gentibus: et tamen de illo impletum est, quod dictum erat, Populus quem non cognovi, servivit mihi. Quomodo, si non cognovit? In auditu auris obedivit mihi (Psal. XVII, 45). Judaea gens cognovit, et crucifixit: orbis terrarum audivit, et credidit.
Chapter II. — 4. In the centurion the Gentiles are prefigured. But from where did he presume this? "I too," he says, "am a man set under authority, having soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go,' and he goes; and to another, 'Come,' and he comes; and to my servant, 'Do this,' and he does it." I am an authority over certain men placed under me, being myself placed under a certain authority above me. If then I, he says, a man under authority, have the authority to command, what canst Thou do, Whom all authorities serve? Now this man was from the Gentiles: for he was a centurion. Already the Jewish nation had soldiery of the Roman empire. There this man served as a soldier, as far as a centurion could serve; both under authority and having authority; a subject obeying, ruling subjects. But the Lord (and let your Charity attend to this especially, as is necessary), though He was among the Jewish people, was already proclaiming that the Church would be throughout the whole world, into which He was going to send the apostles: He Himself not seen and yet believed by the Gentiles, seen and killed by the Jews. For just as the Lord did not enter this man's house in body, and yet, absent in body, present in majesty, healed his faith and the house itself: so too the same Lord was in body among the Jewish people alone; among other nations He was neither born of a virgin, nor suffered, nor walked on foot, nor endured human things, nor did divine wonders. None of these things among the rest of the nations: and yet there was fulfilled concerning Him what had been said, "A people whom I did not know has served Me." How, if it did not know Him? "At the hearing of the ear it obeyed Me" (Ps. 17:45). The Jewish nation knew Him, and crucified Him: the world heard, and believed.
CAPUT III. — 5. Mulier tangens fimbriam Christi, cum eum turba premit. Hanc quodam modo absentiam corporis sui et praesentiam virtutis suae in omnibus Gentibus, et in illa muliere significavit, quae fimbriam vestimenti ejus tetigerat, cum requirit dicens: Quis me tetigit? Tanquam absens, requirit: tanquam praesens, sanat. Turbae te, inquiunt discipuli, comprimunt, et dicis: Quis me tetigit (Luc. VIII, 43-48)? Quasi enim sic ambularet, ut a nullo prorsus corpore tangeretur, ita dixit, Quis me tetigit? Et illi, Turbae te comprimunt. Et tanquam diceret Dominus, Tangentem quaero, non prementem. Sic etiam nunc est corpus ejus, id est, Ecclesia ejus. Tangit eam fides paucorum, premit turba multorum. Corpus enim Christi esse Ecclesiam, tanquam filii ejus, audistis: et si vultis, ipsi estis. Apostolus multis locis hoc dicit: Pro corpore, inquit, ejus quae est Ecclesia (Coloss. I, 24). Et iterum: Vos autem estis corpus Christi et membra (I Cor. XII, 27). Si ergo corpus ejus sumus, quod tunc corpus ipsius in turba patiebatur, hoc patitur Ecclesia ipsius. A turbis premitur: a paucis tangitur. Caro eam premit, ⟨f⟩ides tangit. ⟨E⟩rigite igitur oculos, obsecro vos, qui
Chapter III. — 5. The woman touching the hem of Christ, when the crowd presses upon Him. This absence, in a certain manner, of His body and presence of His power among all the Gentiles He signified also in that woman who had touched the hem of His garment, when He asks, saying: "Who touched Me?" As one absent, He asks: as one present, He heals. "The crowds," the disciples say, "press upon Thee, and Thou sayest: 'Who touched Me?'" (Luke 8:43–48). For as if He were walking in such a way as to be touched by no body at all, so He said, "Who touched Me?" And they: "The crowds press upon Thee." And it was as though the Lord were saying, "I am looking for one who touches, not one who presses." So too now is His body, that is, His Church. The faith of a few touches it, the crowd of many presses it. For you have heard, as His children, that the Church is the body of Christ: and if you are willing, you yourselves are it. The apostle says this in many places: "For His body," he says, "which is the Church" (Col. 1:24). And again: "But you are the body of Christ and members" (1 Cor. 12:27). If then we are His body, what His body then suffered in the crowd, this His Church suffers. It is pressed by crowds: it is touched by a few. The flesh presses it, faith touches it. Lift up therefore your eyes, I beseech you, you who
Editors' notes and page, col. 416
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Editi, habebat militem, habebat Romanum imperium. Emendantur ad Mss.
The printed editions: "he had a soldier, he had the Roman empire." They are corrected against the manuscripts.
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habetis unde videatis. Habetis enim quod videatis. Erigite oculos fidei, tangite extremam fimbriam vestimenti, sufficiet ad salutem.
have that by which you may see. For you have what you may see. Raise the eyes of faith, touch the outermost fringe of the garment; it will suffice for salvation.
6. Impletum nunc quod in Evangelio praedicebatur. Judaei quare filii regni. Videte quod audistis ex Evangelio tunc futurum, tunc praesens est. Ideo, inquit, dico vobis: propter laudatam Centurionis fidem, tanquam alienigenae carne, domestici corde⟨.⟩ Propterea, inquit, multi ab oriente et occidente venient. Non omnes, sed multi: tamen ipsi ab oriente et occidente: istis duabus partibus totus orbis designatur. Multi ab oriente et occidente venient, et recumbent cum Abraham, et Isaac, et Jacob, in regno coelorum: filii autem regni ejicientur in tenebras exteriores. Filii autem regni, Judaei scilicet. Unde filii regni? Quia Legem acceperunt, ad quos Prophetae missi sunt, apud quos templum et sacerdotium fuit, qui celebrabant figuras omnium futurorum. Quarum enim rerum figuras celebraverunt, praesentiam non agnoverunt. Filii ergo regni ibunt, inquit, in tenebras exteriores; ibi erit ploratus et stridor dentium. Videmus Judaeos reprobatos, videmus Christianos ab oriente et occidente vocatos ad quoddam convivium coeleste, ut recumbant cum Abraham et Isaac et Jacob; ubi panis justitia, ubi potus sapientia.
6. What was foretold in the Gospel is now fulfilled. Why the Jews are sons of the kingdom. See that what you heard from the Gospel as then future is then present. Therefore, He says, I say to you: on account of the praised faith of the centurion, a foreigner as it were in the flesh, one of the household in heart. Therefore, He says, many will come from the east and the west. Not all, but many: yet these from the east and the west: by these two parts the whole world is designated. Many will come from the east and the west, and will recline with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven: but the sons of the kingdom will be cast out into the outer darkness. But the sons of the kingdom, that is, the Jews. Why sons of the kingdom? Because they received the Law, to them the Prophets were sent, among them were the temple and the priesthood, they celebrated the figures of all things to come. For the things whose figures they celebrated they did not recognize when present. The sons of the kingdom therefore will go, He says, into the outer darkness; there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. We see the Jews rejected, we see Christians called from the east and the west to a certain heavenly banquet, to recline with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; where the bread is justice, where the drink is wisdom.
CAPUT IV. — 7. Reprehenduntur in idolio convivantes cum Paganis. Attendite ergo, fratres: hoc enim estis, ex hoc populo estis, jam tunc praedicto, nunc praesentato. De his utique estis, qui vocati sunt ab oriente et occidente recumbere in regno coelorum, non in templo idolorum. Estote ergo corpus Christi, non pressura corporis Christi. Habetis vestimenti fimbriam, quam tangatis, ut a profluvio sanguinis, id est, carnalium voluptatum fluxu sanemini. Habetis, inquam, vestimenti fimbriam, quam tangatis. Vestem putate Apostolos, sub textura unitatis adhaerentes lateribus Christi. In his Apostolis erat tanquam fimbria minimus et novissimus Paulus: ipso dicente, Ego sum minimus Apostolorum (I Cor. XV, 9). In veste novissimum et minimum, fimbria est. Fimbria cum contemptu aspicitur: sed cum salute tangitur. Usque ad hanc horam et esurimus, et sitimus, et nudi sumus, et colaphizamur (Id. IV, 11). Quid tam extremum, quid tam contemptibile? Tange, si fluxum sanguinis pateris: exiet virtus de illo cujus vestis est, et sanabit te. Fimbria modo tangenda proponebatur, quando ex eodem apostolo legebatur: Si enim quis viderit eum qui habet scientiam, in idolio recumbentem; nonne conscientia ejus, cum sit infirma, aedificabitur ad manducandum idolothyta? Et peribit infirmus in tua scientia, frater, propter quem Christus mortuus est? Quomodo putatis decipi posse simulacris homines, quae a Christianis honorari putant? Novit, inquit, Deus cor meum. Sed frater tuus non novit cor tuum. Si infirmus es, cave majorem aegritudinem: si firmus es, cura fratris infirmitatem. Qui vident ista, aedificantur ad alia, ut non tantum ibi manducare, sed et sacrificare desiderent.
Chapter IV. — 7. Those who feast with pagans in an idol's temple are rebuked. Pay attention therefore, brothers: for this is what you are, you are of this people, foretold even then, now made present. You are surely of those who have been called from the east and the west to recline in the kingdom of heaven, not in the temple of idols. Be therefore the body of Christ, not a pressing upon the body of Christ. You have the fringe of the garment to touch, that you may be healed of the issue of blood, that is, of the flux of carnal pleasures. You have, I say, the fringe of the garment to touch. Consider the Apostles to be the garment, clinging to the sides of Christ in the weave of unity. Among these Apostles the least and last, Paul, was like the fringe, as he himself says: I am the least of the Apostles (1 Cor. 15:9). In a garment the last and least part is the fringe. The fringe is looked upon with contempt, but it is touched with salvation. Up to this hour we both hunger, and thirst, and are naked, and are buffeted (ibid. 4:11). What is so outermost, what so contemptible? Touch it, if you suffer an issue of blood: power will go out from Him Whose garment it is, and will heal you. The fringe was just now set before you to be touched, when from the same apostle it was read: For if anyone sees him who has knowledge reclining in an idol's temple, will not his conscience, since it is weak, be built up to eat things sacrificed to idols? And through your knowledge the weak one will perish, the brother for whom Christ died? How do you think men can be deceived by images, which they think are honoured by Christians? God, he says, knows my heart. But your brother does not know your heart. If you are weak, beware of a greater sickness; if you are strong, take care of your brother's weakness. Those who see these things are built up towards other things, so that they desire not only to eat there, but also to sacrifice.
Editors' notes and page, col. 417
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: jam tunc praedicto› · call in col 417
Mss., praedicato.
The manuscripts: "preached" (praedicato).
(printed under page 215)
(2) ‹anchor: non pressura› · call in col 417
Florus et Colbertinus Ms., pressores.
Florus and the Colbert manuscript: "pressers" (pressores).
(printed under page 215)
(3) ‹anchor: aedificantur ad alia› · call in col 417
Sic Florus et omnes Mss. At editi, aedificantur ad idola.
So Florus and all the manuscripts. But the printed editions: "are built up towards idols."
(printed under page 215)
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- running head: 417 SERMO LXII.
- marginal letters: (none)
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Ecce perit infirmus in tua scientia frater. Audi, frater: si contemnebas infirmum, etiam fratrem contemnis? Expergiscere. Quid, si in ipsum Christum peccas? Attende enim quod nullo pacto possis contemnere. Sic autem, inquit, peccantes in fratres, et percutientes conscientiam eorum infirmam, in Christum peccatis. Eant nunc, qui ista contemnunt, et recumbant in idolio: nonne erunt prementes, non tangentes? et cum recubuerint in idolio, veniant et impleant ecclesiam; non salutem accepturi, sed pressuram facturi.
Behold, the weak brother perishes in your knowledge. Listen, brother: if you despised the weak man, do you despise a brother as well? Wake up. What if you sin against Christ Himself? For pay attention to what you can by no means despise. "But thus," he says, "sinning against the brethren and striking their weak conscience, you sin against Christ." Let them go now, those who despise these things, and recline in the idol's temple: will they not be those who press, not those who touch? And when they have reclined in the idol's temple, let them come and fill the church, not to receive salvation, but to make a press.
CAPUT V. — 8. Majoris alicujus metu recumbentes in idolio. Observantia in majorem quemque sit ordinata. Sed timeo, inquies, ne offendam majorem. Time prorsus, ne offendas majorem; et non offendis Deum. Qui enim times, ne offendas majorem, vide ne forte sit major isto, quem times offendere. Majorem certo noli offendere. Haec tibi regula proponitur. Nonne manifestum est, eum minime offendendum, qui major est caeteris? Discute nunc majores tuos. Primi tibi sunt pater et mater: si recte educantes, si in Christum nutrientes; audiendi in omnibus, obtemperandum eis in omni jussione; contra majorem nihil jubeant, et serviatur illis. Quis est, inquis, major eo qui me generavit? Ille qui te ipsum creavit. Generat enim homo, creat Deus. Unde generat homo, nescit: quid generaturus sit, nescit. Ille qui te vidit ut faceret, antequam esset quem fecit, certe major est patre tuo. Major sit patria et ipsis parentibus tuis; ut quidquid jusserint parentes contra patriam, non audiantur. Et quidquid jusserit patria contra Deum, non audiatur. Si enim sanari vis, si post fluxum sanguinis, si post duodecim annos in illo morbo, si post consumpta omnia in medicis, et non recepta sanitate aliquando vis sana fieri, o mulier, quam alloquor in typo Ecclesiae, jubet illud pater tuus, et illud jubet populus tuus. Sed dicit tibi Dominus tuus, Obliviscere populum tuum et domum patris tui. Quo bono? quo fructu? qua mercede? Quoniam concupivit, inquit, rex decorem tuum (Psal. XLIV, 11, 12). Concupivit quod fecit: qu⟨o⟩niam ut pulchram faceret, foedam amavit. Pro infideli et foeda sanguinem fudit, fidelem ac pulchram reddidit, dona sua in te amavit. Quid enim sponso tuo contulisti? Quid in dotem a priore patre et priore populo accepisti? Nonne luxurias et pannos peccatorum? Abjecit pannos tuos, discidit cilicium tuum: misertus est, ut ornaret; ornavit, ut amaret.
Chapter V. — 8. Those reclining in the idol's temple for fear of some superior. Deference should be ordered towards each according to his greatness. "But I am afraid," you will say, "of offending a superior." By all means be afraid of offending a superior; and you do not offend God. For you who are afraid of offending a superior, see whether perhaps there is someone greater than the one you are afraid of offending. Certainly, do not offend the greater. This rule is set before you. Is it not plain that he is least of all to be offended who is greater than the rest? Now examine your superiors. First for you are father and mother: if they bring you up rightly, if they nurture you towards Christ, they are to be listened to in all things and obeyed in every command; let them command nothing against one greater, and let them be served. "Who," you say, "is greater than he who begot me?" He Who created you yourself. For man begets, God creates. Man does not know from what he begets; he does not know what he is going to beget. He Who saw you in order to make you, before he whom He made existed, is certainly greater than your father. Let the fatherland be greater than even your parents themselves, so that whatever parents command against the fatherland is not heeded. And whatever the fatherland commands against God, let it not be heeded. For if you wish to be healed, if after the flow of blood, if after twelve years in that disease, if after spending everything on physicians and not regaining health, you wish at last to be made whole, O woman, whom I address as a figure of the Church, your father commands that, and your people commands that. But your Lord says to you, "Forget your people and your father's house." For what good? For what fruit? For what reward? "Because," he says, "the king has desired your beauty" (Ps. 44:11–12). He desired what He made: for in order to make her beautiful, He loved her when she was foul. For the faithless and foul one He shed His blood; He rendered her faithful and beautiful; He loved His own gifts in you. For what did you bring to your bridegroom? What did you receive as dowry from your former father and former people? Was it not luxuries and the rags of sins? He cast away your rags, He tore your sackcloth: He had mercy, that He might adorn you; He adorned you, that He might love you.
CAPUT VI. — 9. Scandalum fratri, peccatum est in Christum. Quid plura, fratres? Christiani audistis, quia peccantes in fratres, et percutientes conscientiam eorum infirmam, in Christum peccatis. Nolite contemnere, si non vultis deleri de libro vitae. Quamdiu conamur luculenter et delectabiliter vobis dicere, quod dolor noster cogit quomodocumque dicere, et tacere non permittit? Quicumque voluerint ista contemnere, in Christum peccant, videant quid agant. Paganos reliquos colligi volumus, lapides estis in via; venire volentes offendunt, et redeunt. Dicunt enim in cordibus suis: Quare nos relinquamus deos, quos Christiani ipsi nobiscum colunt? Absit, a ⟨m⟩e, inquit, ut ego deos
Chapter VI. — 9. A stumbling block to a brother is a sin against Christ. What more, brethren? You Christians have heard that "sinning against the brethren and striking their weak conscience, you sin against Christ." Do not despise it, if you do not wish to be blotted out of the book of life. How long are we to strive to say to you clearly and pleasingly what our grief compels us to say in whatever way we can, and does not allow us to keep silent? Whoever choose to despise these things sin against Christ; let them see what they are doing. We wish the remaining pagans to be gathered in; you are stones in the road; those wishing to come stumble, and go back. For they say in their hearts: "Why should we abandon the gods whom the Christians themselves worship with us?" "Far be it from me," he says, "that I should worship the gods
Editors' notes and page, col. 418
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- other: column begins mid-paragraph at "Ecce perit" (continued from col. 417) and ends mid-sentence at "deos"; cut-off lines of the left column (417) visible but not set; no marginal letters visible in the crops; "venire" partly damaged; "a ⟨m⟩e" has a damaged m; "qu⟨o⟩niam" has a damaged o
Gentium colam. Novi, intelligo, credo. Quid facis de conscientia infirmi, quam percutis? Quid facis de pretio, si contemnis quod emptum est? Vide quanti emptum est. Peribit, inquit, infirmus in tua scientia: quam te dicis habere, ut scias quia nihil est idolum, et animo cogites Deum, et sic recumbas in idolio. In hac scientia perit infirmus. Et ne contemnas infirmum, addidit, propter quem Christus mortuus est. Quem vis contemnere, pretium ipsius attende, et cum morte Christi totum mundum appende. Et ne adhuc putares te in infirmum peccare, et leve duceres peccatum ac parvi penderes, In Christum, inquit, peccatis. Solent enim homines dicere: In hominem pecco, numquid in Deum? Nega Christum Deum. Audes negare Christum Deum? An aliud, in idolio cum recumberes, didicisti? Non admittit istam doctrinam Christi doctrina. Quaero ubi didiceris non esse Christum Deum. Pagani hoc solent dicere. Vides quid faciunt mensae malae? Vides quoniam corrumpunt mores bonos colloquia mala (I Cor. XV, 33)? Tu ibi de Evangelio loqui non potes, et de idolis loquentes audis. Amittis ibi quod Christus Deus est: et quod ibi bibis, in Ecclesia vomis. Forte hic audes loqui, forte inter turbas audes murmurare: Numquid Christus non homo fuit? nonne crucifixus est? A Paganis hoc didicisti, salutem perdidisti, fimbriam non tetigisti. Tange et in hoc fimbriam, recipe salutem. Sicut eam te tangere docuimus in eo quod scriptum est, Qui viderit fratrem in idolio recumbentem: tange illam et de divinitate Christi. De Judaeis dicebat eadem fimbria, Quorum patres, et ex quibus Christus secundum carnem, qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in saecula (Rom. IX, 5). Ecce in quem verum Deum peccas, dum discumbis apud deos falsos.
of the Gentiles. I know, I understand, I believe. What are you doing about the conscience of the weak man, which you strike? What are you doing about the price, if you despise what was bought? See at how great a price it was bought. The weak man, he says, will perish in your knowledge: the knowledge which you say you have, so that you know that an idol is nothing, and think of God in your mind, and so recline in the idol's temple. In this knowledge the weak man perishes. And lest you despise the weak man, he added, for whom Christ died. The one you want to despise, look at his price, and weigh the whole world against the death of Christ. And lest you should still think that you sin against a weak man, and consider the sin light and count it of little weight, Against Christ, he says, you sin. For people are accustomed to say: I sin against a man; surely not against God? Deny, then, that Christ is God. Do you dare deny that Christ is God? Or did you learn something else when you were reclining in the idol's temple? The doctrine of Christ does not admit that doctrine. I ask where you learned that Christ is not God. The pagans are accustomed to say this. Do you see what evil tables do? Do you see that evil conversations corrupt good morals (1 Cor. 15:33)? There you cannot speak of the Gospel, and you hear people speaking of idols. There you lose the truth that Christ is God: and what you drink there, you vomit up in the Church. Perhaps here you dare to speak, perhaps among the crowds you dare to murmur: Was Christ not a man? Was He not crucified? You learned this from the Pagans, you have lost salvation, you have not touched the hem. Touch the hem in this too, receive salvation. Just as we taught you to touch it in what is written, Whoever sees a brother reclining in an idol's temple: touch it also concerning the divinity of Christ. The same hem said of the Jews, Whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ according to the flesh, Who is over all, God blessed for ever (Rom. 9:5). See against what true God you sin, while you recline at table among false gods.
10. Inepta excusatio recumbentium in idolio. Non est, inquit, Deus; quia genium est Carthaginis. Quasi si Mars aut Mercurius esset, Deus esset. Sed quomodo ab ipsis habeatur, attende; non quid sit. Nam et ego tecum scio quia lapis est. Si genium ornamentum est aliquod; cives Carthaginis bene vivant, et ipsi erunt genium Carthaginis. Si autem genium daemonium est, audisti et ibi: Quae immolant Gentes, daemonibus immolant, et non Deo. nolo vos socios fieri daemoniorum (I Cor. X, 20). Novimus quia non est Deus; utinam et ipsi sic norint: sed propter eos qui hoc non norunt infirmos, non debet percuti conscientia ipsorum. Hoc monet Apostolus. Nam et illi quod numen habeant et pro numine accipiant illam statuam, ara testatur. Quid illic facit ara, si illud non habetur pro numine? Nemo mihi dicat, Non est numen, non est Deus. Jam dixi, Utinam sic ipsi norint hoc, quomodo novimus omnes nos. Sed quid habeant, pro qua re habeant, quid ibi faciant, ara illa testatur. Convicit omnium colentium mentes, non convincat recumbentes.
10. The foolish excuse of those who recline in the idol's temple. It is not a god, he says; because it is the genius of Carthage. As though, if it were Mars or Mercury, it would be a god. But consider how it is regarded by them, not what it is. For I too know as well as you that it is a stone. If the genius is some ornament, let the citizens of Carthage live well, and they themselves will be the genius of Carthage. But if the genius is a demon, you have heard there too: What the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God. I do not want you to become partners of demons (1 Cor. 10:20). We know that it is not a god; would that they too knew it so: but on account of the weak who do not know this, their conscience ought not to be struck. This is what the Apostle warns. For that they hold it a deity and take that statue for a deity, the altar testifies. What is an altar doing there, if that is not held for a deity? Let no one say to me, It is not a deity, it is not a god. I have already said, Would that they themselves knew this as all of us know it. But what they hold it to be, for what they hold it, what they do there, that altar testifies. It has convicted the minds of all who worship it: let it not convict those who recline.
Editors' notes and page, col. 419
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: Nega› · call in col 419
Am. et Er., Negas. Lov., Negat. Sed aptius Florus et aliquot Mss., Nega.
Amerbach and Erasmus: "You deny." Louvain: "He denies." But more fittingly Florus and several manuscripts: "Deny."
(printed under page 216)
(2) ‹anchor: Quaero› · call in col 419
Editi, Quaere ubi didiceris. At plures Mss. Quaero.
The printed editions: "Ask where you learned it." But many manuscripts: "I ask."
(printed under page 216)
(3) ‹anchor: quid ibi faciant› · call in col 419
Plures Mss., facit. Am. et Er., faciat.
Many manuscripts: "does" (facit). Amerbach and Erasmus: "may do" (faciat).
(printed under page 216)
(4) ‹anchor: omnium colentium mentes› · call in col 419
Colbertinus Ms., Convincat hominum colentium mentes. Florus, Convincit hominum colentium mentes.
The Colbert manuscript: "Let it convict the minds of the men who worship." Florus: "It convicts the minds of the men who worship."
(printed under page 216)
(a) ‹anchor: genium est Carthaginis› · call in col 419
Hinc facile intelligas sermonem hunc Carthagine habitum.
From this you may easily understand that this sermon was delivered at Carthage.
(printed under page 216)
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CAPUT VII. — 11. Corpus Christi premere et tangere. Sed non premant Christiani, si premant Pagani. Corpus Christi est. Nonne hoc dicebamus, quia corpus Christi premebatur, et non tangebatur? Tolerabat ille prementes, quaerebat tangentes. Atque utinam, fratres, a Paganis prematur corpus Christi, a quibus premi solet; Christiani non premant corpus Christi. Fratres, ad nos pertinet vobis dicere, ad nos pertinet Christianis loqui. Quid enim mihi de his qui foris sunt judicare? ipse Apostolus ait (I Cor. V, 12). Illos aliter alloquimur, tanquam infirmos. Blandiendum est illis, ut audiant veritatem: in vobis secanda putredo est. Si quaeritis unde vincantur Pagani, unde illuminentur, unde ad salutem vocentur: deserite solemnitates eorum, deserite nugas ipsorum; et si non consentiunt veritati nostrae, erubescant paucitati suae.
Chapter VII. — 11. To press upon the body of Christ and to touch it. But let Christians not press upon it, even if pagans press upon it. It is the body of Christ. Were we not saying this, that the body of Christ was being pressed upon and was not being touched? He bore with those pressing upon Him; He sought those touching Him. And would that, brothers, the body of Christ were pressed upon by pagans, by whom it is accustomed to be pressed; let Christians not press upon the body of Christ. Brothers, it is our business to speak to you, it is our business to address Christians. For what have I to do with judging those who are outside? says the Apostle himself (1 Cor. 5:12). Those we address otherwise, as weak ones. They must be coaxed, so that they may hear the truth: in you the rottenness must be cut away. If you ask how the pagans are to be overcome, how they are to be enlightened, how they are to be called to salvation: abandon their festivals, abandon their trifles; and if they do not consent to our truth, let them blush at their own fewness.
12. Praelatus seu bonus seu malus, piis nocere non valet. Bonus si fuerit qui tibi praeest, nutritor tuus est: malus si fuerit, tentator tuus est. Et nutrimenta libenter accipe, et in tentatione approbare. Esto aurum. Attende mundum istum tanquam fornacem aurificis: in uno angusto loco tria sunt, aurum, palea, ignis. Ad illa duo ignis apponitur, palea uritur, aurum purgatur. Cessit nescio quis minis, et adductus est ad idolium: vae mihi, quia paleam plango, cinerem video. Alius non cessit minis, non cessit terroribus; adductus ad judicem, stetit in confessione sua, non est flexus ad idolium: quid facit flamma? Nonne aurum purgat? State in Domino, fratres: potentior est qui vocavit vos. Minas impiorum ne timueritis. Inimicos patimini; habetis pro quibus oretis; prorsus non vos terreant. Haec est sanitas, haurite hinc in ist⟨o⟩ convivio: hic bibite, unde satiemini, non illic, unde insaniatis. State in Domino. Argentei estis, aurum eritis. Ista similitudo non a nobis est, de divina Scriptura est. Legistis, audistis: Sicut aurum in fornace probavit illos; et sicut holocausti hostiam accepit illos (Sap. III, 6). Ecce quid eritis ad thesauros Dei. Estote divites de Deo: non eum facturi divitem, sed de illo futuri divites. Impleat vos, aliud non admittatis ad cor vestrum.
12. A superior, whether good or bad, has no power to harm the godly. If he who is set over you is good, he is your nourisher; if he is bad, he is your tester. Both accept the nourishment gladly, and in the testing be proved. Be gold. Consider this world as a goldsmith's furnace: in one narrow place there are three things, gold, straw, fire. To those two the fire is applied: the straw is burned, the gold is purified. Someone or other yielded to threats and was led to the idol-temple: woe is me, for I lament the straw, I see the ash. Another did not yield to threats, did not yield to terrors; led before the judge, he stood firm in his confession, he was not bent towards the idol-temple: what does the flame do? Does it not purify the gold? Stand firm in the Lord, brothers: He who has called you is more powerful. Do not fear the threats of the ungodly. Endure your enemies; you have those for whom you may pray; let them not frighten you at all. This is soundness of mind; draw it from here at this banquet: drink here, whence you may be filled, not there, whence you may go mad. Stand firm in the Lord. You are silver; you will be gold. This simile is not from us; it is from divine Scripture. You have read, you have heard: As gold in the furnace He tested them; and as the victim of a holocaust He accepted them (Wis. 3:6). See what you will be for the treasuries of God. Be rich from God: not to make Him rich, but to become rich from Him. Let Him fill you; admit nothing else into your heart.
CAPUT VIII. — 13. Observantia potestatum ordinata. Numquid in superbiam vos erigimus, aut dicimus vobis ut adversus potestates ordinatas contemptores sitis? Non hoc dicimus. Qui et hinc aegrotatis, tangite et hinc fimbriam illam vestimenti. Ipse dicit Apostolus: Omnis anima potestatibus sublimioribus subdita sit: non est enim potestas nisi a Deo. Quae autem sunt, a Deo ordinatae sunt. Qui autem resistit potestati, Dei ordinationi resistit (Rom. XIII, 1, 2). Sed quid, si illud jubeat, quod non debes facere?
Chapter VIII. — 13. The ordered observance of authorities. Are we raising you up into pride, or telling you to be despisers of the authorities that have been ordained? We do not say this. You who are sick on this account too, touch on this account too that fringe of the garment. The Apostle himself says: Let every soul be subject to the higher authorities: for there is no authority except from God. And those that exist have been ordained by God. But whoever resists authority resists the ordinance of God (Rom. 13:1–2). But what if it should command that which you ought not to do?
Editors' notes and page, col. 420
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 420
Am. Er. et aliquot Mss., Sed non premantur Christiani, si premuntur Pagani. Sic etiam Florus.
Amerbach, Erasmus and several manuscripts: "But let not Christians be pressed, if Pagans are pressed." So also Florus.
(printed under page 216)
(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 420
Particula, non, quae desideratur in editis et pluribus Mss. restituta hic est ex Floro et ex vetere libro Fossatensi.
The particle "non" (not), which is wanting in the printed editions and in most manuscripts, has been restored here from Florus and from the old book of Saint-Maur-des-Fossés.
(printed under page 216)
(3) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 420
Am. et plures Mss., erubescunt.
Amerbach and most manuscripts: "they blush."
(printed under page 216)
(4) ‹anchor: non cessit terroribus› · call in col 420
Tres Mss., tortoribus.
Three manuscripts: "to the torturers."
(printed under page 216)
(5) ‹anchor: flexus ad idolium› · call in col 420
Sic Am. et Er. At Lov. et Mss., idolum.
So Amerbach and Erasmus. But Louvain and the manuscripts: "idolum" (idol).
(printed under page 216)
(6) ‹anchor: futuri divites› · call in col 420
Fossatensis Ms., facturi divites.
The Saint-Maur-des-Fossés manuscript: "about to make rich" (facturi divites).
(printed under page 216)
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Hic sane contemne potestatem, timendo potestatem. Ipsos humanarum rerum gradus advertite. Si aliquid jusserit curator, nonne faciendum est? Tamen si contra proconsulem jubeat, non utique contemnis potestatem, sed eligis majori servire. Nec hinc debet minor irasci, si major praelatus est. Rursum si aliquid ipse proconsul jubeat, et aliud jubeat imperator, numquid dubitatur isto contempto illi esse serviendum? Ergo si aliud imperator, et aliud Deus, quid judicatis? Solve tributum, esto mihi in obsequium. Recte, sed non in idolio. In idolio prohibet. Quis prohibet? Major potestas. Da veniam: tu carcerem, ille gehennam minatur. Hinc jam tibi assumenda est fides tua tanquam scutum, in quo possis omnia ignita jacula inimici exstinguere (Ephes. VI, 16).
Here indeed despise power, by fearing power. Observe the very ranks of human affairs. If the curator has commanded something, must it not be done? Yet if he commands against the proconsul, you certainly do not despise power, but choose to serve the greater. Nor ought the lesser to be angry at this, if the greater has been preferred. Again, if the proconsul himself commands something, and the emperor commands something else, is there any doubt that, the one being disregarded, the other is to be served? So if the emperor [commands] one thing and God another, what do you judge? 'Pay tribute, be at my service.' Rightly, but not in an idol-temple. In the idol-temple He forbids it. Who forbids it? A greater power. Pardon me: you threaten prison, He threatens Gehenna. Here now you must take up your faith as a shield, with which you may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the enemy (Eph. 6:16).
CAPUT IX. — 14. Dolus potentis mali novaculae comparatur. Sed insidiatur contra te potens, et molitur contra te potens: acuit novaculam unde capillos radat, non unde caput incidat. Quod dixi, modo audistis in Psalmo: Sicut novacula acuta fecisti dolum (Psal. LI, 4). Quare dolum potentis mali novaculae comparavit? Quia non admittitur, nisi ad superflua nostra. Sicut capilli in corpore nostro tanquam superflui videntur, et sine detrimento carnis raduntur; sic quidquid potest tibi facere iratus potens, inter superflua tua numera. Tollit paupertatem tuam: numquid tollit divitias tuas? Paupertas tua, divitiae tuae in corde tuo. Superflua tua potuit tollere, damno potuit afficere, permissus et usque ad laedendum corpus. Etiam ista vita, cogitantibus aliam vitam; ista, inquam, vita inter superflua deputanda est. Nam et martyres contempserunt illam. Non vitam perdiderunt, sed vitam acquisierunt.
Chapter IX. — 14. The guile of the wicked powerful man is compared to a razor. But a powerful man lies in wait against you, and a powerful man plots against you: he sharpens a razor with which to shave the hair, not with which to cut off the head. What I have said you heard just now in the Psalm: Like a sharp razor you have made guile (Ps. 51:4). Why did he compare the guile of the wicked powerful man to a razor? Because it is not admitted except to what is superfluous in us. Just as the hairs on our body seem, as it were, superfluous, and are shaved off without harm to the flesh, so whatever an angry powerful man can do to you, count it among your superfluities. He takes away your poverty: does he take away your riches? Your poverty, your riches are in your heart. He could take away your superfluities, he could inflict loss, being permitted even to the point of harming the body. Even this life, for those who think of the other life; this life, I say, must be reckoned among superfluities. For the martyrs too despised it. They did not lose life, but gained life.
CAPUT X. — 15. Securitas piorum sub Dei praesidio. Certi estote, fratres, inimicos non admitti adversus fideles, nisi quantum prodest tentandis et probandis fidelibus. Certi estote, fratres, nemo aliud dicat. Omnem curam vestram super Dominum mittite, prorsus vos ipsos totos projicite in illum. Non se subducit, ut cadatis. Ille qui nos creavit, et de ipsis capillis nostris securitatem nobis dedit. Amen dico vobis, inquit, et capilli capitis vestri omnes numerati sunt (Matth. X, 30). Capilli nostri numerati sunt Deo: quanto magis mores nostri, cui sic noti sunt capilli nostri? Videte, quia minima nostra non contemnit Deus. Nam si contemneret, nec crearet. Nam et capillos nostros ipse utique creavit, et numeratos habet. Sed modo cum sint, inquis, forte peribunt. Et hinc audi vocem ejus: Amen dico vobis, capillus capitis vestri non peribit (Luc. XXI, 18). Quid times hominem, o homo in sinu Dei positus? Tu de illius sinu noli cadere: quidquid ibi passus fueris, a⟨d⟩ salutem valebit, non ad perniciem. Laniatus membrorum martyres pertulerunt, et timent Christiani injurias temporum Christianorum? Qui tibi facit injuriam
Chapter X. — 15. The security of the godly under the protection of God. Be certain, brothers, that enemies are not admitted against the faithful except so far as is profitable for the testing and proving of the faithful. Be certain, brothers; let no one say otherwise. Cast all your care upon the Lord, throw your whole selves entirely upon Him. He does not withdraw Himself so that you fall. He Who created us has given us security even concerning our very hairs. Amen I say to you, He says, even the hairs of your head are all numbered (Matt. 10:30). Our hairs are numbered by God: how much more our conduct, to Whom our hairs are thus known? See that God does not despise our least things. For if He despised them, He would not create them. For He Himself certainly created our hairs too, and has them numbered. 'But now, though they exist,' you say, 'perhaps they will perish.' Hear His voice on this too: Amen I say to you, a hair of your head shall not perish (Luke 21:18). Why do you fear man, O man placed in the bosom of God? Do not fall from His bosom: whatever you suffer there will avail for salvation, not for destruction. The martyrs endured the tearing of their limbs, and do Christians fear the injuries of Christian times? He who does you injury
Editors' notes and page, col. 421
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 421
Sic potiores Mss. Editi vero, Quare dolum potentis malae novaculae comparavit?
So the better manuscripts. The printed editions, however: "Why did he compare the deceit of the powerful man to an evil razor?"
(printed under page 217)
(2) ‹anchor: in corde tuo› · call in col 421
Colbertinus Ms., Paupertas tua foris, divitiae tuae in corde tuo.
The Colbert manuscript: "Your poverty is outside, your riches are in your heart."
(printed under page 217)
(3) ‹anchor: inimicos non admitti› · call in col 421
Plerique Mss., admittit.
Most manuscripts: "admittit" (he admits).
(printed under page 217)
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- marginal letters: (none)
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modo, timens facit. Non dicit aperte, Veni ad idolum: non dicit aperte, Veni ad aras meas, ibi convivare. Et si dixerit, et nolueris, hoc conqueratur, hoc in postulationem, hoc in querimoniam deponat: Noluit venire ad aras meas, noluit venire ad templum quod veneror. Hoc dicat. Non audet dicere: sed alia machinatur dolose. Para capillos, novaculam acuit: ablaturus est superflua tua, rasurus quidquid relicturus es. Tollat quidquid permanebit, si potest. Quid tulit potens nocens? quid magnum tulit? Quod fur, quod effractor; ut multum saeviat, quod latro. Si et ad ipsum corpus occidendum permissus fuerit, quid tollit nisi quod latro? Honoravi, cum dixi, Latro. Nam qualiscumque latro, homo est. Quod febris, quod scorpius, quod fungus malus. Ista tota potentia saevientium est, facere quod fungus. Manducant homines fungum malum, et moriuntur. Ecce in qua fragilitate est vita humana: quam quandoque relicturus es, noli pro illa sic pugnare, ut tu relinquaris.
now, does it out of fear. He does not say openly, Come to the idol; he does not say openly, Come to my altars, feast there. And if he should say it, and you should refuse, let him complain of this, let him lodge this as a charge, this as a grievance: He would not come to my altars, he would not come to the temple which I revere. Let him say this. He does not dare to say it, but contrives other things by guile. Get your hair ready, he is sharpening the razor: he is going to take away your superfluities, to shave off whatever you are going to leave behind anyway. Let him take away whatever will endure, if he can. What has the powerful wrongdoer taken? What great thing has he taken? What a thief takes, what a housebreaker takes; however much he rages, what a robber takes. Even if he were permitted to kill the body itself, what does he take but what a robber takes? I have honoured him in saying, Robber. For a robber, of whatever sort, is a man. [He takes] what a fever takes, what a scorpion takes, what a poisonous mushroom takes. This whole power of those who rage comes to this: to do what a mushroom does. Men eat a poisonous mushroom, and they die. See in what frailty human life stands: since you are going to leave it at some time, do not fight for it in such a way that you yourself are left behind.
CAPUT XI. — 16. Vita aeterna laboris merces. Vita nostra Christus est: Christum attende. Pati venit, sed et glorificari; contemni, sed etiam exaltari; mori, sed etiam resurgere. Opus te terret, mercedem vide. Quare vis pervenire delicatus ad eam rem, ad quam non perducit nisi labor? Sed times ne perdas argentum tuum; quia ad argentum tuum cum magno labore pervenisti. Si ad argentum quod quandoque vel moriens amissurus es, non pervenisti sine labore; ad vitam aeternam sine labore vis pervenire? Charior sit tibi illa, ad quam post omnes labores sic pervenies, ut nunquam amittas. Si hoc tibi charum est, ad quod post omnes labores sic pervenisti, ut aliquando amissurus sis; quanto magis illa perpetua desiderare debemus?
Chapter XI. — 16. Eternal life the reward of labour. Our life is Christ: look to Christ. He came to suffer, but also to be glorified; to be despised, but also to be exalted; to die, but also to rise again. The work frightens you; look at the wage. Why do you wish to arrive, delicately, at that thing to which nothing but labour leads? But you are afraid of losing your silver, because you came by your silver with great labour. If you did not come without labour to silver which at some time, at the latest when dying, you are going to lose, do you wish to come to eternal life without labour? Let that life be dearer to you, at which after all your labours you will so arrive that you never lose it. If this is dear to you, at which after all your labours you have so arrived that you are going to lose it at some time, how much more ought we to desire those perpetual things?
17. Idola nisi legitima potestas detur, non frangenda. Verbis ipsorum ne credatis, nec timeatis. Hostes nos dicunt idolorum suorum. Sic praestet Deus, et det omnia in potestate, quomodo dedit quod fractum est. Hoc enim dicimus Charitati vestrae; ne faciatis ista, quando in potestate vestra non est, ut faciatis illud. Pravorum hominum est, furiosorum Circumcellionum, et ubi potestatem non habent saevire, et velle mori properant sine causa. Audistis quae vobis legimus, omnes qui nuper in Mappalibus adfuistis. Cum data vobis fuerit terra in potestatem (prius ait, in potestatem; et sic dixit quae facienda sunt), aras eorum, inquit, destruetis, lucos eorum comminuetis, et omnes titulos eorum confringetis (Deut. VII, 1, 5). Cum acceperitis potestatem, hoc facite. Ubi nobis non est data potestas, non facimus; ubi data est, non praetermittimus. Multi pagani habent istas abminationes
17. Idols are not to be broken unless lawful power is given. Do not believe their words, nor fear them. They call us enemies of their idols. So may God grant it, and give all things into [our] power, as He gave that which has been broken. For this we say to your Charity: do not do these things when it is not in your power to do that. It is the way of depraved men, of raging Circumcellions, both to rage where they have no power, and they hasten to want to die without cause. You heard what we read to you, all of you who were lately present at the Mappalia. When the land has been given into your power (first he said, into power; and then he said what things are to be done), you shall destroy, he says, their altars, you shall break in pieces their groves, and you shall shatter all their pillars (Deut. 7:1, 5). When you have received power, do this. Where power has not been given to us, we do not do it; where it has been given, we do not neglect it. Many pagans have these abominations
Editors' notes and page, col. 422
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: Vita nostra› · call in col 422
Sic habent plures Mss. Alii vero cum editis, Via nostra.
So many manuscripts have it. Others, however, with the printed editions: "Our way."
(printed under page 217)
(a) ‹anchor: nuper in Mappalibus› · call in col 422
Locum significat, ubi Cypriani martyris corpus quiescebat; de quo Victor. in lib. 1 de Persecutione Vandalica scribit : « Sed etiam foris muros Carthaginis, quascumque « voluit Gensericus, basilicas occupavit, et praecipue duas « egregias et amplas S. martyris Cypriani; unam ubi sanguinem fudit, aliam ubi ejus sepultum est corpus, qui « locus Mappalia vocitatur.
He means the place where the body of the martyr Cyprian rested; of which Victor writes in book 1 of On the Vandal Persecution: "But also outside the walls of Carthage Genseric seized whatever basilicas he wished, and especially the two outstanding and spacious ones of the holy martyr Cyprian: one where he shed his blood, the other where his body is buried, which place is called Mappalia."
(printed under page 217)
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- running head: SERMO LXII. 422
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- other: misprint kept as printed (listed by Q2, UNSURE): abminationes, for abominationes; the column foot reads ab- and the head of col 423 reads minationes; the right edge of the scan is worn at this line, so a lost o before the hyphen cannot be ruled out
- other: anchor of note 1 supplied by Q2 from the column image, where the call is visible
in fundis suis : numquid accedimus, et confringimus ? Prius enim agimus, ut idola in eorum corde frangamus. Quando christiani et ipsi facti fuerint, aut invitant nos ad tam bonum opus, aut praeveniunt nos. Modo orandum est pro illis, non irascendum illis. Si movet dolor magnus, adversum Christianos movet, adversum fratres nostros movet, qui sic volunt intrare in ecclesiam, ut hic corpus habeant, alibi cor. Totum intus esse debet. Si intus est quod videt homo, quare foris est quod videt Deus ?
on their estates: do we go up to them and smash them? For first we act so that we may break the idols in their heart. When they too have become Christians, they either invite us to so good a work or they get ahead of us. For now we must pray for them, not be angry with them. If great grief moves us, it moves us against Christians, it moves us against our brethren, who want to enter the church in such a way that they have their body here and their heart elsewhere. The whole ought to be within. If what man sees is within, why is what God sees outside?
CAPUT XII. — 18. Idololatrarum injustae querimoniae. Sciatis autem, charissimi, murmura illorum conjungere se cum haereticis, cum Judaeis. Haeretici, Judaei et Pagani unitatem fecerunt contra unitatem. Quia contigit ut in aliquibus locis disciplinam acciperent Judaei propter improbitates suas; criminantur, et suspicantur, aut fingunt, quia talia de illis semper quaeramus. Quia contigit ut alicubi haeretici poenas darent legibus pro impietate et furore violentiarum suarum; jam dicunt nos per omnia quaerere aliquam incommoditatem ipsorum ad perniciem. Rursus quia contra Paganos placuit ut leges ferrentur, imo pro Paganis, si sapiant (Sicut enim pueris insensatis ad lutum ludentibus, et manus inquinantibus, paedagogus cum venit severus, lutum de manu excutit, codicem porrigit : ita voluit Deus per principes subditos sibi terrere corda insensata puerilia, ut abj⟨i⟩ciant lutum de manibus, et aliquid utile faciant. Quid est utile de manibus? Frange esurienti panem tuum, et egenum sine tecto induc in domum tuam (Isai. LVIII, 7). Et tamen pueri evadunt ab oculis paedagogi, et redeunt ad lutum furtim; et quando inveniuntur, abscondunt manus, ne videantur) : quia ergo voluit Deus, putant nos ubicumque quaerere idola; quae cum invenerimus, in omnibus locis frangere. Quare? Non ante nos sunt loca, in quibus sunt? Aut vere ignoramus ubi sint ista ? Et tamen non facimus : quia non dedit in potestatem Deus. Quando dat Deus in potestatem? Quando christianus erit cujus res est. Modo factum voluit cujus res est. Si nollet ipsum locum dare Ecclesiae, et tantum juberet in re sua non esse idola; puto quia debuit summa devotione fieri, ut a Christianis adjuvaretur absens christiana anima, quae in terra vult Deo gratias agere, non vult ibi aliquid esse in contumeliam Dei. Huc accedit, ⟨q⟩uia Ecclesiae dedit ipsa loca. Et in re Ecclesiae idola futura erant? Fratres, ecce quid displicet Paganis. P⟨a⟩rum est illis quia de villis ipsorum non illa tollimus, non illa frangimus : et in nostris volunt ea servar⟨i⟩. Contra idola praedicamus, de cordibus illa tollim⟨us⟩ : sumus persecutores idolorum : profitemur. Num⟨q⟩uid servatores ? Non facio ubi non possum; non facio u⟨bi⟩ conqueritur dominus rei : ubi autem vult fieri, et ⟨g⟩ratias agit; reus ero; si non fecero
Chapter XII. — 18. The unjust complaints of the idolaters. But know, dearly beloved, that their murmurings join themselves with the heretics, with the Jews. Heretics, Jews and Pagans have made a unity against unity. Because it happened that in some places the Jews received correction on account of their wickedness, they accuse us, and suspect, or pretend, that we are always seeking such things against them. Because it happened that somewhere heretics paid the penalty to the laws for the impiety and fury of their acts of violence, they now say that we seek in every way some harm to them, to their ruin. Again, because it was decided that laws should be enacted against the Pagans, or rather for the Pagans, if they were wise (for just as, when senseless boys are playing with mud and dirtying their hands, the tutor comes along stern, knocks the mud out of their hand and holds out a book, so God has willed through the princes subject to Him to frighten senseless childish hearts, so that they may throw the mud out of their hands and do something useful. What is useful for the hands? Break your bread to the hungry, and bring the needy without a roof into your house (Isa. 58:7). And yet the boys escape the tutor's eyes and go back to the mud by stealth; and when they are found out, they hide their hands so as not to be seen): because, then, God has so willed, they think that we seek idols everywhere, and that when we have found them we break them in all places. Why? Are the places where they are not before us? Or are we really ignorant of where these things are? And yet we do not do it, because God has not given them into our power. When does God give them into our power? When he whose property it is becomes a Christian. As it is, he whose property it is has willed it to be done. Even if he had been unwilling to give the place itself to the Church, and had merely ordered that there be no idols on his property, I think it ought to have been done with the utmost devotion, so that an absent Christian soul might be helped by Christians, a soul which wishes to give thanks to God on earth and does not wish there to be anything there as an insult to God. Add to this that he gave the places themselves to the Church. And were there to be idols on the Church's property? Brethren, see what displeases the Pagans. It is too little for them that we do not remove those things from their estates, that we do not break them: they want them to be preserved on ours too. We preach against idols, we remove them from hearts: we are persecutors of idols; we profess it. Are we to be their preservers? I do not do it where I cannot; I do not do it where the owner of the property complains; but where he wishes it to be done and gives thanks, I shall be guilty if I do not do it
Editors' notes and page, col. 423
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: quia ergo voluit Deus› · call in col 423
Hic apud Lov. additur, terrere eos; quod a caeteris libris abest.
Here in Louvain is added "to frighten them"; which is absent from the other books.
(printed under page 218)
(2) ‹anchor: Deo gratias agere› · call in col 423
Omnes Mss., qua de terra, unde vult Deo gratias agere
All the manuscripts: "from which land, whence it wishes to give thanks to God" [last word damaged at the edge of the scan]
(*) ‹anchor: not visible (title of the sermon)› · call in col 424 Hunc sermonem non invenimus nisi in Edit. Par. et Lov.
We have not found this sermon except in the Paris and Louvain editions.
(printed under page 218)
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