PL 38 · cols. 467–471

Augustine, Sermones 71-75 (Classis I, de Scripturis)

Sermons LXXII–LXXIII

pulsavimus, ut haberemus unde et nos meditando aleremur, et vobis loquendo ministraremus.

we have knocked, that we might have that whereby both we might be nourished by meditating and might minister to you by speaking.

SERMO LXXII. De verbis Evangelii Matthaei, cap. XII, 33, Aut facite arborem bonam, et fructum ejus bonum, etc.

Sermon 72. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 12:33, "Either make the tree good, and its fruit good", etc.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Bona opera habere malus homo non potest. Admonuit nos Dominus Jesus Christus, ut bonae arbores simus, et fructus bonos habere possimus. Ait enim: Aut facite arborem bonam, et fructum ejus bonum; aut facite arborem malam, et fructum ejus malum. De fructu enim arbor cognoscitur. Ubi ait: Facite arborem bonam, et fructum ejus bonum: hoc utique non est admonitio, sed praeceptum salubre, cui obedientia necessaria est. Quod autem dicit: Facite arborem malam, et fructum ejus malum: non praeceptum est, ut facias; sed monitio, ut caveas. Contra hos enim dixit, qui putabant se, cum mali essent, loqui bona posse, vel bona opera habere. Hoc Dominus Jesus dicit non posse. Prius est enim mutandus homo, ut opera mutentur. Si enim manet homo in eo quod malus est, bona opera habere non potest: si manet in eo quod bonus est, mala opera habere non potest.

Chapter I. — 1. A bad man cannot have good works. The Lord Jesus Christ has admonished us that we should be good trees and be able to have good fruits. For He says: Either make the tree good, and its fruit good; or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad. For by the fruit the tree is known. Where He says: Make the tree good, and its fruit good, this is certainly not an admonition but a wholesome precept, to which obedience is necessary. But where He says: Make the tree bad, and its fruit bad, it is not a precept that you should do it, but a warning, that you should beware. For He said this against those who thought that, though they were bad, they could speak good things or have good works. This the Lord Jesus says is not possible. For the man must first be changed, so that the works may be changed. For if a man remains in that which is bad, he cannot have good works; if he remains in that which is good, he cannot have bad works.

2. Mali nos omnes inventi. Quis autem a Domino bonus inventus est, cum Christus pro impiis mortuus sit (Rom. V, 6)? Omnes ergo malas arbores invenit, sed dedit potestatem filios Dei fieri, credentibus in nomine ejus (Joan. I, 12). Quisquis igitur homo hodie bonus est, id est, arbor bona, mala inventa est et bona facta est. Et si quando venit, malas arbores eradicare vellet; quae remaneret, quae non digna esset eradicari? Sed venit praerogare misericordiam, ut postea exerceret judicium, cui dicitur: Misericordiam et judicium cantabo tibi, Domine (Psal. C, 1). Dedit ergo credentibus remissionem peccatorum, noluit cum eis et de praeteritis chartis habere rationem. Dedit remissionem peccatorum, fecit arbores bonas. Distulit securim, dedit securitatem.

2. We were all found bad. But who has been found good by the Lord, since Christ died for the ungodly (Rom. 5:6)? So He found all trees bad, but He gave power to become sons of God to those who believe in His name (John 1:12). Whatever man therefore is good today, that is, a good tree, was found bad and was made good. And if, when He came, He had willed to root out the bad trees, which would have remained that was not worthy to be rooted out? But He came to bestow mercy first, so that afterwards He might exercise judgement, He to Whom it is said: Mercy and judgement will I sing to Thee, O Lord (Ps. 100:1). He gave therefore to those who believe the remission of sins; He was unwilling to settle accounts with them even over past bonds. He gave remission of sins, He made the trees good. He put off the axe, He gave security.

CAPUT II. — 3. Patientia Dei erga nos. De hac securi Joannes loquitur, dicens: Jam securis ad radicem arborum posita est. Omnis arbor quae non facit fructum bonum, excidetur, et in ignem mittetur (Matth. III, 10). De hac securi comminatur paterfamilias in Evangelio, dicens: Ecce triennium est quod venio ad hanc arborem, et fructum in ea non invenio. Nunc debeo locum evacuare: proinde amputetur. Et intercedit colonus, dicens: Domine, dimitte illam et hoc anno; circumfodiam illam, et adhibebo cophinum stercoris: si fecerit fructum, bene; sin minus, venies et amputabis eam (Luc. XIII, 7, 9). Tanquam per triennium Dominus visitavit genus humanum, hoc est, tribus quibusdam temporibus.

Chapter II. — 3. The patience of God towards us. Of this axe John speaks, saying: Already the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree that does not bear good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire (Matt. 3:10). With this axe the householder threatens in the Gospel, saying: Behold, it is three years that I have been coming to this tree, and I find no fruit on it. Now I ought to clear the ground: therefore let it be cut down. And the husbandman intercedes, saying: Lord, leave it this year also; I will dig around it and apply a basket of dung: if it bears fruit, well; if not, you shall come and cut it down (Luke 13:7, 9). It is as if for three years the Lord had visited the human race, that is, at certain three times.

Editors' notes and page, col. 467

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: call not visible in the foot image› · call in col 467

Pauciores Mss., quod malum est. Et infra, quod bonum est.

A smaller number of manuscripts: quod malum est ("what is evil"). And below: quod bonum est ("what is good").

(printed under page 240)

(2) ‹anchor: fecit arbores bonas› · call in col 467

Sic Mss. Editi vero : Remissio enim peccatorum facit arbores bonas.

So the manuscripts. But the printed editions: Remissio enim peccatorum facit arbores bonas ("For the remission of sins makes the trees good").

(printed under page 240)

(3) ‹anchor: debeo locum evacuare› · call in col 467

Sic nonnulli Mss. Alii autem cum Lov.: Non debeo locum evacuare. At Am. et Er., nam debeo, etc.

So some manuscripts. But others, with the Louvain edition: Non debeo locum evacuare ("I ought not to clear the ground"). But the editions of Amerbach and Erasmus: nam debeo ("for I ought"), etc.

(printed under page 240)

(4) ‹anchor: Domine, dimitte illam› · call in col 467

Mss., dimitte illi.

The manuscripts: dimitte illi ("let it be, for it" [dative]).

(*) ‹anchor: call not visible in the foot image› · call in col 467 Correctus est ad omnes codices scriptos et excusos in sermone 66 designatos.

Corrected against all the manuscript and printed codices indicated at sermon 66.

(printed under page 240)

(a) ‹anchor: call not visible in the foot image› · call in col 467

Alias, de Verbis Domini 12.

Formerly, On the Words of the Lord, 12.

(printed under page 240)

(b) ‹anchor: call not visible in the foot image› · call in col 467

Hujus sermonis meminit Possidius in Indiculo, cap. 9.

Possidius mentions this sermon in the Indiculus, ch. 9.

(printed under page 240)

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PL 38:468

Primum tempus, ante Legem; secundum, in Lege; tertium modo est, quod tempus est gratiae. Nam si non visitavit genus humanum ante Legem, unde Abel? unde Enoch? unde Noe? unde Abraham? unde Isaac? unde Jacob? quorum se Dominum dici voluit; et cujus omnes gentes erant, quasi trium hominum Deus esset: Ego sum, inquit, Deus Abraham, et Isaac, et Jacob (Exod. III, 14). In Lege autem si non visitaret, ipsam Legem non daret. Post Legem venit et ipse paterfamilias: passus est, mortuus est, resurrexit, Spiritum sanctum dedit, Evangelium per totum orbem praedicari fecit, et adhuc quaedam arbor infructuosa permansit. Est quaedam adhuc pars generis humani, quae adhuc se non corrigit. Intercedit colonus; pro plebe orat Apostolus: Flecto, inquit, genua mea pro vobis ad Patrem, ut in charitate radicati et fundati, valeatis apprehendere cum omnibus sanctis quae sit latitudo et longitudo, altitudo et profundum; cognoscere etiam supereminentem scientiam charitatis Christi, ut impleamini in omnem plenitudinem Dei (Ephes. III, 14-19). Flectendo genua, pro nobis intercedit apud patremfamilias, ne eradicemur. Ergo quia necesse est ut veniat, agamus ut fructuosos nos inveniat. Circumfossio arboris, est humilitas poenitentis. Omnis enim fossa humilis. Cophinus stercoris, sordes poenitentiae. Quid enim stercore sordidius? et tamen, si bene utaris, quid fructuosius?

The first time, before the Law; the second, under the Law; the third is now, which is the time of grace. For if He did not visit the human race before the Law, whence Abel? whence Enoch? whence Noah? whence Abraham? whence Isaac? whence Jacob? whose Lord He willed to be called; and though all nations were His, [He spoke] as if He were the God of three men: I am, He says, the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob (Exod. 3:14). And in the Law, if He were not visiting, He would not have given the Law itself. After the Law came the householder Himself: He suffered, He died, He rose again, He gave the Holy Spirit, He caused the Gospel to be preached throughout the whole world, and still a certain tree has remained unfruitful. There is still a certain part of the human race which still does not correct itself. The husbandman intercedes; the Apostle prays for the people: I bend, he says, my knees for you to the Father, that, rooted and grounded in charity, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length, the height and depth; to know also the surpassing knowledge of the charity of Christ, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God (Eph. 3:14–19). By bending his knees, he intercedes for us with the householder, that we may not be uprooted. Therefore, since it is necessary that He come, let us act so that He may find us fruitful. The digging around the tree is the humility of the penitent. For every ditch is lowly. The basket of dung is the filth of penitence. For what is filthier than dung? and yet, if you use it well, what is more fruitful?

CAPUT III. — 4. Duae radices charitas et cupiditas. Quid est bonum. Sit ergo unusquisque arbor bona: non se arbitretur habere fructus bonos, si manet arbor mala. Non erit fructus bonus, nisi arboris bonae. Muta cor, et mutabitur opus. Exstirpa cupiditatem, planta charitatem. Sicut enim radix est omnium malorum cupiditas (I Tim. VI, 10); sic et radix omnium bonorum charitas. Quid ergo mussitant homines inter se, vel contendunt, dicentes: Quid est bonum? O si scires quid est bonum! Quod habere vis, non est valde bonum: quod esse non vis, hoc est bonum. Vis enim habere sanitatem corporis; hoc est bonum: nec tamen putes magnum bonum esse, quod habet et malus. Aurum et argentum habere vis; ecce et hoc dico, bonum est; sed si bene usus fueris: bene autem non uteris, si malus fueris. Ac per hoc aurum et argentum malis malum est, bonis bonum est: non quia eos bonos aurum et argentum facit; sed quia bonos invenit, in usum bonum convertitur. Honorem habere vis, bonum est: sed et hoc si bene utaris. Quam multis honor occasio exitii fuit? Quam multis honor ministerium boni operis fuit?

Chapter III. — 4. The two roots, charity and cupidity. What is good. Let each one, then, be a good tree: let him not suppose that he has good fruits if he remains a bad tree. The fruit will not be good unless it is of a good tree. Change the heart, and the work will be changed. Root out cupidity, plant charity. For just as cupidity is the root of all evils (1 Tim. 6:10), so too charity is the root of all goods. Why then do men mutter among themselves, or dispute, saying: What is good? O if you knew what is good! What you wish to have is not very good: what you do not wish to be, that is good. For you wish to have health of body; this is good: yet do not think that to be a great good which even the bad man has. You wish to have gold and silver; see, I say this too, it is good; but only if you use it well: and you will not use it well if you are bad. And for this reason gold and silver are bad for the bad and good for the good: not because gold and silver make them good; but because, finding them good, it is turned to good use. You wish to have honour; it is good: but this too only if you use it well. To how many has honour been an occasion of ruin? To how many has honour been the instrument of good work?

CAPUT IV. — 5. Homo bona omnia vult habere praeter seipsum. Discernamus ergo ista bona, si possumus, quia de bonis arboribus loquimur. Et hic nihil est, quod sic quisque cogitare debeat, nisi ut in semetipsum oculos convertat, in se discat, se discutiat, se inspiciat, se quaerat, et se inveniat: et quod displicet, necet; quod placet, optet et plantet.

Chapter IV. — 5. Man wishes to have all things good except himself. Let us then distinguish these goods, if we can, since we are speaking of good trees. And here there is nothing that each one ought so to consider as that he turn his eyes upon himself, learn in himself, examine himself, inspect himself, seek himself, and find himself: and what displeases, let him kill; what pleases, let him desire and plant.

Editors' notes and page, col. 468

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: quod placet, optet› · call in col 468

Aliquot Mss., aptet.

Some manuscripts: aptet ("let him fit").

(printed under page 240)

(a) ‹anchor: in se discat› · call in col 468

Morel, Elem. critic., p. 211, hic legit, descendat, pro, discat. Nemo diffitebitur sensum sic clariorem emergere. M.

Morel, Elem. critic., p. 211, here reads descendat ("let him descend") for discat ("let him learn"). No one will deny that the sense thus emerges more clearly. M.

(printed under page 240)

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PL 38:469

Cum enim se homo inanem invenerit meliorum bonorum, utquid est avidus externorum bonorum? Et quid prodest plena bonis arca, inani conscientia? Bona vis habere, et bonus non vis esse? Non vides te erubescere debere de bonis tuis, si domus tua plena est bonis, et te habet malum? Quid enim est quod velis habere malum? Dic mihi. Nihil omnino; non uxorem, non filium, non filiam, non servum, non ancillam, non villam, non tunicam, postremo non caligam: et tamen vis habere malam vitam. Rogo te, praepone vitam tuam caligae tuae. Omnia quae circumjacent oculis tuis, elegantia et pulchra tibi chara sunt; et tibi ipse vilis es ac foedus? Si tibi possent respondere bona quibus est plena domus tua, quae habere optasti, perdere timuisti; nonne et tibi clamarent, Sicut tu nos bona vis habere, sic et nos volumus bonum habere Dominum? Tacita voce interpellant contra te Dominum tuum: Ecce bona tanta dedisti huic, et ipse malus est! Quid ei prodest quod habet, quando eum qui omnia dedit, non habet.

For when a man finds himself empty of better goods, why is he greedy for external goods? And what does a chest full of goods profit, with an empty conscience? You want to have good things, and you do not want to be good? Do you not see that you ought to blush before your goods, if your house is full of good things and holds you, a bad thing? For what is there that you would wish to have bad? Tell me. Nothing at all: not a wife, not a son, not a daughter, not a manservant, not a maidservant, not a country estate, not a tunic, finally not a boot; and yet you want to have a bad life. I beg you, set your life above your boot. All the things that lie around your eyes are elegant and beautiful and dear to you; and are you yourself cheap and foul to yourself? If the good things with which your house is full, which you wished to have and feared to lose, could answer you, would they not also cry out to you: Just as you want to have us good, so we too want to have a good master? With silent voice they appeal against you to your Lord: See, Thou hast given so many good things to this man, and he himself is bad! What does what he has profit him, when he does not have Him Who gave all things?

CAPUT V. — 6. Verum bonum quid. Quaerit ergo aliquis admonitus his verbis meis, et forte compunctus, quaerit quid sit bonum, quale bonum, unde bonum. Bene intellexisti hoc te quaerere debere. Respondebo quaerenti, et dicam: Hoc est bonum, quod non potes invitus amittere. Potes enim aurum perdere, et nolens; potes domum, potes honores, potes ipsam carnis salutem: bonum vero quo vere bonus es, nec invitus accipis, nec invitus amittis. Quaero ergo quale sit hoc bonum. Psalmus quidam admonet nos rem magnam, forte quam quaerimus. Ait enim: Filii hominum, quousque graves corde? Quousque arbor illa in triennio? Filii hominum, quousque graves corde? Quid est, graves corde? Utquid diligitis vanitatem, et quaeritis mendacium? Et ad haec ergo ait quod quaerendum est: Scitote, quoniam Dominus magnificavit Sanctum suum (Psal. IV, 3, 4). Jam et Christus venit, jam magnificatus est, jam surrexit et ascendit in coelum, jam nomen ejus per totum mundum praedicatur: quousque graves corde? Sufficiant praeterita tempora: jam magnificato illo Sancto, quousque graves corde? Post triennium quid restat, nisi securis? Quousque graves corde? Utquid diligitis vanitatem, et quaeritis mendacium? Adhuc vana, adhuc inutilia, adhuc pompatica et volatica, ita Christo sancto magnificato, adhuc ista requiruntur? Jam clamat veritas, et adhuc quaeritur vanitas? Quousque graves corde?

Chapter V. — 6. What the true good is. So someone, admonished by these words of mine and perhaps pricked to the heart, asks, asks what the good is, what sort of good, whence the good. You have understood well that you ought to ask this. I shall answer the one who asks, and I shall say: This is the good, which you cannot lose against your will. For you can lose gold, even unwilling; you can lose a house, you can lose honours, you can lose the very health of the flesh: but the good by which you are truly good, you neither receive against your will nor lose against your will. I ask, then, what sort of good this is. A certain psalm admonishes us of a great thing, perhaps the one we are seeking. For it says: Sons of men, how long heavy of heart? How long that tree in the three years? Sons of men, how long heavy of heart? What is "heavy of heart"? Why do you love vanity and seek falsehood? And to this, then, it says what is to be sought: Know that the Lord has magnified His Holy One (Ps. 4:3–4). Already Christ too has come, already He has been magnified, already He has risen and ascended into heaven, already His name is preached through the whole world: how long heavy of heart? Let past times suffice: now that that Holy One has been magnified, how long heavy of heart? After three years what remains, but the axe? How long heavy of heart? Why do you love vanity and seek falsehood? Are vain things still, useless things still, showy and fleeting things still sought after, when Christ the Holy One has thus been magnified? Truth now cries aloud, and is vanity still sought? How long heavy of heart?

CAPUT VI. — 7. Cur mundus tam acriter flagellatur. Merito fortiter flagellatur hic mundus: cognovit enim jam verba Domini mundus. Et servus, inquit, nesciens voluntatem domini sui, et faciens digna plagis, vapulabit paucis. Quare? Ut quaerat voluntatem domini sui Servus ergo nesciens voluntatem, hoc erat mundus, antequam magnificaret Sanctum suum; servus erat nesciens voluntatem domini sui, et ideo vapulabat paucis. Servus autem jam voluntatem sciens domini sui, hoc est modo, ex quo magnificavit Deitas Sanctum suum; et non faciens voluntatem ejus, vapulabit multis. Quid ergo mirum, si mundus multum vapulat?

Chapter VI. — 7. Why the world is scourged so sharply. Deservedly is this world scourged hard: for the world has now come to know the words of the Lord. And the servant, He says, who does not know the will of his lord, and does things worthy of stripes, will be beaten with few. Why? So that he may seek the will of his lord. The servant, then, not knowing the will, this was the world before He magnified His Holy One; it was a servant not knowing the will of his lord, and therefore it was beaten with few stripes. But the servant now knowing the will of his lord, this is [the world] now, since the Godhead magnified His Holy One; and not doing His will, it will be beaten with many. What wonder, then, if the world is beaten much?

Editors' notes and page, col. 469

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: haec ergo ait› · call in col 469

Am. Er. et Mss., Et a tergo ait.

The editions of Amerbach and Erasmus and the manuscripts: Et a tergo ait ("And from behind he says").

(printed under page 241)

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PL 38:470

Servus est sciens voluntatem domini et faciens digna plagis. Non ergo recuset vapulare multis (Luc. XII, 48, 47) : quoniam si non vult audire praeceptorem injuste, juste patietur ultorem. Vel non murmuret contra castigatorem, cum videat se plagis dignum, ut misericordiam mereatur : per Christum Dominum nostrum, qui vivit et regnat cum Deo Patre et Spiritu sancto in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

It is a servant who knows the will of his lord and does things worthy of stripes. Let him not, then, refuse to be beaten with many stripes (Luke 12:48, 47): for if he unjustly refuses to listen to the instructor, he will justly suffer the avenger. Or let him not murmur against the chastiser, since he sees himself worthy of stripes, so that he may merit mercy: through Christ our Lord, Who lives and reigns with God the Father and the Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.

SERMO LXXIII. De verbis Evangelii Matthaei, ubi Dominus Jesus parabolas seminantis exponit. Cap. XIII, ℣ 24-30, 36-43.

Sermon 73. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, where the Lord Jesus expounds the parables of the sower. Chapter 13, verses 24-30, 36-43.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Mali inter bonos. Et hesterno die et hodie, loquente Domino nostro Jesu Christo, parabolas seminantis audivimus. Qui adfuistis heri, recordamini hodie. Heri lectum est de illo seminante qui cum semina spargeret, aliud cecidit in viam, quod aves collegerunt; aliud in petrosis locis, quod aestu exaruit; aliud inter spinas, quod suffocatum est, et fecundari non potuit; aliud in terram bonam, et attulit fructum centenum, sexagenum, tricenum (Matth. XIII, 3-23). Hodie autem aliam parabolam rursus Dominus de seminante narravit, qui seminavit bonum semen in agro suo. Dormientibus hominibus venit inimicus, et superseminavit zizania. Quando herba erat, nondum apparebat : ubi coepit fructus boni seminis apparere, ibi etiam zizania claruerunt. Offensi sunt servi patrisfamilias, videntes in bona segete multa zizania, et voluerunt eradicare, et permissi non sunt : sed dictum est eis, Sinite utraque crescere usque ad messem. Exposuit autem etiam Dominus Jesus Christus istam parabolam : et boni seminis seminatorem se esse dixit, seminatorem zizaniorum inimicum hominem diabolum ostendit; tempus messis, finem saeculi; agrum suum, totum mundum. Sed quid ait? In tempore messis dicam messoribus : Colligite primum zizania ad comburendum ea, triticum autem meum recondite in horreo. Quid festinatis, inquit, servi zelo pleni? Videtis zizania inter frumentum, videtis malos christianos inter bonos; eradicare vultis malos : quiescite, non est tempus messis. Veniat, et frumentum vos inveniat. Quid stomachamini? quid aegre toleratis malos permixtos bonis? In agro vobiscum esse possunt, in horreo non erunt.

Chapter One. — 1. The wicked among the good. Both yesterday and today, as our Lord Jesus Christ spoke, we have heard parables of the sower. You who were present yesterday, recall it today. Yesterday the reading was about that sower who, as he scattered the seeds, some fell on the road, which the birds gathered up; some on rocky places, which withered in the heat; some among thorns, which was choked and could not bear fruit; some on good ground, and it brought forth fruit a hundredfold, sixtyfold, thirtyfold (Matt. 13:3–23). Today, however, the Lord again told another parable about a sower, who sowed good seed in his field. While men were sleeping, an enemy came and oversowed tares. When it was in the blade, it did not yet appear; when the fruit of the good seed began to appear, then the tares also became plain. The servants of the householder were offended, seeing many tares in the good crop, and they wished to root them up, and they were not permitted; but it was said to them, Let both grow until the harvest. And the Lord Jesus Christ also expounded this parable: He said that He Himself is the sower of the good seed; He showed that the sower of the tares, the enemy man, is the devil; the time of the harvest, the end of the age; His field, the whole world. But what does He say? In the time of harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather first the tares to burn them, but store up my wheat in the barn. Why do you hurry, He says, you servants full of zeal? You see tares among the grain, you see bad Christians among the good; you wish to root up the bad: be still, it is not the time of harvest. Let it come, and let it find you grain. Why are you indignant? Why do you bear with difficulty the bad mixed with the good? In the field they can be with you; in the barn they will not be.

CAPUT II. — 2. Una res multa nomina, et duae res unum interdum nomen sortiuntur in figuris Scripturae. Nostis autem illa tria hesterno die commemorata, ubi semen non profecit, viam, loca saxosa, loca spinosa; ipsa sunt zizania. Aliud nomen in alia similitudine acceperunt. Quia quando similitudines dantur, vel proprietas non exprimitur, per eas non veritas, sed similitudo veritatis exprimitur. Quod dico, scio paucos intellexisse : sed propter omnes loquimur. In rebus visibilibus via via est, saxosa loca loca saxosa

Chapter II. — 2. One thing receives many names, and two things sometimes one name, in the figures of Scripture. Now you know those three things mentioned yesterday, where the seed did not prosper: the road, the stony places, the thorny places; these very things are the tares. They have received another name in another similitude. For when similitudes are given, or the proper sense is not expressed, through them not the truth but a likeness of the truth is expressed. What I am saying, I know few have understood; but we speak for the sake of all. In visible things a road is a road, stony places are stony places,

Editors' notes and page, col. 470

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: call not visible in the foot image› · call in col 470

Addititiam clausulam hanc esse vel ex eo conjectamus, quod in illa plurimum variant codices manuscripti.

That this closing passage is an addition we conjecture even from the fact that the manuscript codices vary very greatly in it.

(*) ‹anchor: call not visible in the foot image› · call in col 470 Correximus ad gr. Ulim. Par. Lov.

We have corrected [this sermon] against gr., Ulim. [the edition of Vlimmerius], Par. [the Paris edition] and Lov. [the Louvain edition]. [The siglum "gr." is left unexpanded.]

(printed under page 241)

(a) ‹anchor: call not visible in the foot image› · call in col 470

Alias, de Diversis 46.

Formerly, De Diversis 46.

(printed under page 241)

Page

running head: SERMO LXXIII. 470
marginal letters: (none)
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 38:471

sunt, spinosa loca loca spiuosa sunt: quod sunt, hoc sunt; quia proprie nominantur. In parabolis autem et similitudinibus potest una res multis nominibus appellari: ideo non est incongruum ut dicerem vobis, Via illa, loca illa saxosa, illa spinosa christiani mali sunt, ipsi sunt et zizania. Nonne agnus Christus? nonne et leo Christus? Inter feras et pecora, qui agnus agnus, qui leo leo: utrumque Christus. Illa singula per proprietatem: ista utrumque per similitudinem. Plus etiam est quod accidit, ut per similitudinem multum a se res distantes, vocentur uno nomine. Quod enim tam distat ab invicem, quam Christus et diabolus? Tamen leo et Christus est appellatus, et diabolus. Christus leo: Vicit leo, de tribu Juda (Apoc. V, 5). Diabolus leo: Nescitis quia adversarius vester diabolus tanquam leo rugiens circuit, quaerens quem devoret (I Petr. V, 8)? Ergo et ille leo et ille leo: ille leo propter fortitudinem; ille leo propter feritatem: ille leo ad vincendum; ille leo ad nocendum. Ipse coluber diabolus est, serpens antiquus (Apoc. XII, 9): numquid jussi sumus diabolum imitari, quando nobis dixit Pastor noster, Estote simplices ut columbae, astuti ut serpentes (Matth. X, 16)?

thorny places are thorny places: what they are, that they are; because they are named in the proper sense. But in parables and similitudes one thing can be called by many names: therefore it is not incongruous that I should say to you, That way, those stony places, those thorny ones are bad Christians, they are also the tares. Is not Christ a lamb? Is not Christ also a lion? Among wild beasts and cattle, what is a lamb is a lamb, what is a lion is a lion: Christ is both. Those are each one thing by their proper nature: He is both by similitude. There is even more that happens, namely that by similitude things far distant from one another are called by one name. For what is so distant from one another as Christ and the devil? Yet both Christ and the devil have been called a lion. Christ a lion: The lion has conquered, of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5). The devil a lion: Do you not know that your adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour (1 Pet. 5:8)? Therefore both the one is a lion and the other is a lion: the one a lion on account of strength; the other a lion on account of ferocity: the one a lion to conquer; the other a lion to do harm. The devil himself is a snake, the ancient serpent (Rev. 12:9): were we commanded to imitate the devil, when our Shepherd said to us, Be simple as doves, cunning as serpents (Matt. 10:16)?

CAPUT III. — 3. Ad Christianos malos, ut mutentur. Ergo heri allocutus sum viam, allocutus sum loca saxosa, allocutus sum loca spinosa: et dixi, Mutamini, cum potestis; dura aratro versate, de agro lapides projicite, de agro spinas evellite. Nolite habere durum cor, unde cito verbum Dei pereat. Nolite habere tenuem terram, ubi radix charitatis alta non sedeat. Nolite curis et cupiditatibus saecularibus offocare bonum semen, quod vobis spargitur laboribus nostris. Etenim Dominus seminat: sed nos operarii ejus sumus. Sed estote terra bona. Heri diximus, et hodie omnibus dicimus: Ferat alius centenum, alius sexagenum, alius tricenum. In alio major, in alio minor est fructus: sed omnes ad horreum pertinebunt. Heri ista diximus, hodie zizania alloquor: sed ipsi sunt oves zizania. O christiani mali! o qui implendo premitis Ecclesiam male vivendo! corrigite vos antequam messis adveniat! Non dicatis, Peccavi, et quid accidit mihi (Eccli. V, 4)? Non perdidit Deus potentiam: sed a te exigit poenitentiam. Hoc dico malis, et tamen christianis; hoc dico zizaniis. In agro enim sunt: et fieri potest ut qui hodie sunt zizania, cras sint frumentum. Ideo et triticum alloquor.

Chapter III. — 3. To bad Christians, that they may be changed. So yesterday I addressed the way, I addressed the stony places, I addressed the thorny places: and I said, Be changed, while you can; turn over the hard ground with the plough, throw the stones out of the field, pull the thorns out of the field. Do not have a hard heart, from which the word of God quickly perishes. Do not have thin soil, where the root of charity cannot settle deep. Do not choke with worldly cares and desires the good seed which is scattered for you by our labours. For the Lord sows: but we are His labourers. But be good soil. Yesterday we said, and today we say to all: Let one bear a hundredfold, another sixtyfold, another thirtyfold. In one the fruit is greater, in another less: but all will belong to the barn. Yesterday we said these things, today I address the tares: but the very sheep are the tares. O bad Christians! O you who, by filling it, weigh down the Church by living badly! Correct yourselves before the harvest comes! Do not say, I have sinned, and what has happened to me (Sir. 5:4)? God has not lost His power: but He demands penance of you. This I say to the bad, and yet to Christians; this I say to the tares. For they are in the field: and it can happen that those who today are tares may tomorrow be wheat. Therefore I address the wheat also.

CAPUT IV. — 4. Ad bonos Christianos, ut malos tolerent. O vos, christiani, qui bene vivitis, pauci inter multos suspiratis, pauci inter plurimos gemitis. Transiet hiems, veniet aestas, ecce aderit messis. Venient Angeli, qui possunt separare, et nesciunt errare. Nos in hoc tempore similes sumus servis illis, de quibus dictum est: Vis, imus et colligimus ea? Volebamus enim, si fieri possit, nullum malum remanere inter bonos. Sed dictum est nobis: Sinite utraque crescere usque ad messem. Quare? Tales enim estis, ut falli possitis. Denique audi: Ne forte, dum vultis

Chapter IV. — 4. To good Christians, that they may tolerate the bad. O you Christians who live well, few among many you sigh, few among very many you groan. The winter will pass, the summer will come, behold, the harvest will be at hand. The angels will come, who are able to separate and do not know how to err. We at this time are like those servants of whom it was said: Do you wish that we go and gather them? For we would wish, if it were possible, that no evil one should remain among the good. But it was said to us: Let both grow until the harvest. Why? Because you are such that you can be deceived. Finally, hear: Lest perhaps, while you wish

Editors' notes and page, col. 471

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: dura aratro versate› · call in col 471

Sic vetus codex Germanensis. At editi, dura corda versate.

So the old codex of Saint-Germain. But the printed editions: dura corda versate ("turn over your hard hearts").

(printed under page 242)