PL 38 · cols. 648–651

Augustine, Sermones 113-120 (Classis I, de Scripturis)

Sermon CXIII

SERMO CXIII. De verbis Evangelii Lucae, Facite vobis amicos de mammona iniquitatis, etc., cap. XVI, ℣ 9.

Sermon 113. On the words of the Gospel of Luke, Make for yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity, etc. (Luke 16:9).

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Amici beneficos suos recepturi in coelum quinam sint. Minimi Christi quinam. Quod admonemur, admonere debemus. Recens evangelica lectio admonuit facere amicos de mammona iniquitatis, ut eos qui faciunt, recipiant et ipsi in tabernacula aeterna. Qui sunt qui habebunt tabernacula aeterna, nisi sancti Dei? Et qui sunt qui ab ipsis accipiendi sunt in tabernacula aeterna, nisi qui eorum indigentiae serviunt, et quod eis opus est, hilariter subministrant! Recordemur ergo, in novissimo judicio Dominum esse dicturum eis qui stabunt ad dexteram ejus, Esurivi, et dedistis mihi manducare: et caetera quae nostis. Et cum illi quaererent quando ei obsequia ista praebuissent, respondit: Quando uni ex minimis meis fecistis, mihi fecistis. Isti minimi sunt qui recipiunt in tabernacula aeterna. Hoc dixit dextris, quia fecerunt: hoc dixit sinistris, quia facere noluerunt. Sed dextri qui fecerunt, quid acceperunt, vel potius quid accepturi sunt? Venite, inquit, benedicti Patris mei, possidete paratum vobis regnum a constitutione mundi. Esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi manducare. Quando uni ex minimis meis fecistis, mihi fecistis (Matth. XXV, 45-40). Minimi ergo qui sunt Christi? Illi sunt qui omnia sua dimiserunt, et secuti sunt eum, et quidquid habuerunt, pauperibus distribuerunt; ut Deo sine saeculari compede expediti servirent, et ab oneribus mundi liberatos, velut pennatos sursum humeros tollerent. Hi sunt minimi. Quare minimi? Quia humiles, quia non elati, non superbi. Appende minimos istos, et grave pondus invenies.

Chapter I. — 1. Who are the friends that will receive their benefactors into heaven. Who are the least of Christ. What we are admonished, we ought to admonish. The Gospel reading just now admonished us to make friends of the mammon of iniquity, so that they too may receive those who do so into the eternal tabernacles. Who are they who will have eternal tabernacles, if not the saints of God? And who are they who are to be received by them into the eternal tabernacles, if not those who serve their need, and cheerfully supply what they require? Let us remember, then, that at the last judgement the Lord will say to those who will stand at His right hand, I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat: and the rest, which you know. And when they asked when they had rendered Him these services, He answered: When you did it to one of the least of Mine, you did it to Me. These least ones are those who receive into the eternal tabernacles. This He said to those on the right, because they had done it; this He said to those on the left, because they would not do it. But those on the right who had done it, what did they receive, or rather what are they going to receive? Come, He says, blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat. When you did it to one of the least of Mine, you did it to Me (Matt. 25:34–40). Who, then, are the least of Christ? They are those who have left all that was theirs, and have followed Him, and whatever they had, they have distributed to the poor; so that, unencumbered by any worldly fetter, they might serve God, and might lift up their shoulders, freed from the burdens of the world, as though winged. These are the least. Why least? Because they are lowly, because they are not lifted up, not proud. Weigh these least ones, and you will find a heavy weight.

CAPUT II. — 2. Mammona iniquitatis. Eleemosyna non de rapinis, sed de justis laboribus facienda. Sed quid est, quod ait eos esse amicos de mammona iniquitatis? Quid est mammona iniquitatis? Primum quid est mammona? Verbum est enim quod latinum non est. Hebraeum verbum est, cognatum linguae Punicae. Istae enim linguae sibi significationis quadam vicinitate sociantur. Quod Punici dicunt mammon, latine lucrum vocatur. Quod Hebraei dicunt mammona, latine divitiae vocantur. Ut ergo latine totum dicamus, hoc ait Dominus noster Jesus Christus, Facite vobis amicos de divitiis iniquitatis. Hoc quidam male intelligendo rapiunt res alienas, et aliquid inde pauperibus largiuntur, et putant se facere quod praeceptum est. Dicunt enim: Rapere res alienas, mammona est iniquitatis; erogare inde aliquid, maxime egentibus

Chapter II. — 2. The mammon of iniquity. Alms are to be given not from plunder, but from just labours. But what does it mean, that He says they are friends of the mammon of iniquity? What is the mammon of iniquity? First, what is mammon? For it is a word that is not Latin. It is a Hebrew word, akin to the Punic language. For these languages are joined to one another by a certain nearness of meaning. What the Punic speakers call mammon is called in Latin lucrum [gain]. What the Hebrews call mammona is called in Latin divitiae [riches]. So, to say the whole in Latin, our Lord Jesus Christ says this: Make for yourselves friends of the riches of iniquity. Some, understanding this wrongly, seize the property of others, and bestow something from it on the poor, and think that they are doing what has been commanded. For they say: To seize the property of others is the mammon of iniquity; to pay out something from it, especially to the needy

Editors' notes and page, col. 648

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: et ipsi in tabernacula aeterna› · call in col 648

Plures Mss., et ipsi sint in tabernaculis aeternis. Et mox nonnulli, Qui sunt qui habent, etc.

Several manuscripts: "and that they themselves may be in the everlasting tabernacles." And soon after, some: "Who are they that have," etc.

(printed under page 330)

(2) ‹anchor: hoc dixit sinistris› · call in col 648

Fossatensis vetus Ms., hoc non dixit sinistris. Paulo post melioris notae Mss., Sed dextris qui fecerunt, qui acceperunt, vel potius qui accepturi sunt. Hos nimirum dextros a minimis distinctos ostendit Augustinus.

The old manuscript of Fossés: "this He did not say to those on the left." A little later the manuscripts of better mark: "But to those on the right who did it, who received, or rather who are going to receive." Augustine evidently shows these on the right to be distinct from the least ones.

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CXIII› · call in col 648 Emendatus ad omnes codices scriptos et excusos in sermone praecedenti modo designatos.

Corrected against all the written and printed codices just indicated at the preceding sermon.

(printed under page 330)

(b) ‹anchor: SERMO CXIII› · call in col 648

Alias, de Verbis Domini 35.

Formerly, On the Words of the Lord 35.

(printed under page 330)

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running head: [S. AU]GUSTINI EPISCOPI 648 (cut off at the left edge of the image)
marginal letters: (none)
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other: the column opens with the end of the previous work (another unit); not set here: the unit begins at SERMO CXIII.
other: foot note (a) of page 330 (Vide lib. de Correctione Donatist. seu epistolam 185, n. 24.) is called in the last line of the preceding sermon, above the title SERMO CXIII (another unit): not set here (taken out of the Footnotes by Q1a).
other: the call printed at the title SERMO CXIII is "* (a)"; the "(a)" is a misprint for "(b)", whose note (Alias, de Verbis Domini 35) belongs to this sermon.
other: misprints kept as printed: Matth. XXV, 45-40 (for 34-40; the English gives 25:34–40), §1; subministrant! (for subministrant?), §1.

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sanctis, hoc est facere amicos de mammona iniquitatis. Intellectus iste corrigendus est, imo de tabulis cordis vestri omnino delendus est. Nolo sic intelligatis. De justis laboribus facite eleemosynas: ex eo quod recte habetis date. Non enim corrupturi estis judicem Christum, ut non vos audiat cum pauperibus, quibus tollitis. Si enim depraedareris aliquem invalidum, tu validior et potentior, et veniret tecum ad judicem hominem quemlibet in hac terra, habentem judicandi aliquam potestatem, velletque tecum causam dicere, si tu de praeda et spoliatione illa inopis dares aliquid judici, ut pro te judicaret, judex ille vel tibi placeret? Nempe pro te judicavit, et tamen tanta vis est justitiae, ut et tibi displiceat. Noli tibi talem pingere Deum, noli collocare in templo cordis tui tale idolum. Non est talis Deus tuus, qualis non debes esse nec tu. Si tu non sic judices, sed juste judices; etiam sic melior est te Deus tuus: non est inferior; justior est, fons justitiae est. Quidquid boni fecisti, inde sumpsisti; et quidquid boni eructuasti, inde bibisti. Laudas vas, quia habet inde aliquid, et vituperas fontem? Nolite velle eleemosynas facere de fenore et usuris. Fidelibus dico, eis quibus Christi Corpus erogamus dico. Timete, corrigite vos: ne dicam postea, Tu facis et tu facis. Et puto, quia si fecero, non mihi debetis irasci, sed vobis, ut corrigamini. Ad hoc enim valet quod dictum est in Psalmo: Irascimini, et nolite peccare (Psal. IV, 5). Volo vos irasci, sed ut non peccetis. Ut autem non peccetis, quibus habetis irasci, nisi vobis? Quid est enim homo poenitens, nisi homo irascens sibi? Ut accipiat veniam, de se ipso exigit poenam; et recte dicit Deo, Averte oculos tuos a peccatis meis, quoniam peccatum meum ego agnosco (Psal. L. 11, 5). Si tu agnoscis, et ille ignoscit. Qui faciebatis, nolite facere: non licet.

saints, this is to make friends of the mammon of iniquity. This understanding must be corrected, indeed it must be wholly erased from the tablets of your heart. I do not want you to understand it so. Give alms from just labours: give from what you rightly possess. For you are not going to corrupt the judge, Christ, so that He does not hear you together with the poor from whom you take. For if you were to plunder some weak man, you being the stronger and more powerful, and he were to come with you before any human judge in this land having some power of judging, and wished to plead his case against you, if you gave something to the judge out of that plunder and despoiling of the needy man, so that he might judge in your favour, would that judge please even you? Of course he judged in your favour, and yet so great is the force of justice that he displeases even you. Do not paint for yourself such a God, do not set up such an idol in the temple of your heart. Your God is not such as you yourself ought not to be. If you do not judge so, but judge justly, even so your God is better than you: He is not inferior; He is more just, He is the fount of justice. Whatever good you have done, you took from there; and whatever good you have belched forth, you drank from there. Do you praise the vessel because it has something from there, and find fault with the fount? Do not wish to give alms from interest and usury. I am speaking to the faithful, I am speaking to those to whom we distribute the Body of Christ. Fear, correct yourselves, so that I do not say afterwards, You do it, and you do it. And I think that, if I do, you ought not to be angry with me, but with yourselves, so that you may be corrected. For this is the force of what is said in the Psalm: Be angry, and do not sin (Ps. 4:5). I want you to be angry, but so that you do not sin. But so that you do not sin, with whom have you to be angry, except with yourselves? For what is a penitent man, except a man angry with himself? In order to receive pardon, he exacts punishment from himself; and rightly does he say to God, Turn away Thine eyes from my sins, for I acknowledge my sin (Ps. 50:11, 5). If you acknowledge, He also pardons. You who used to do it, do not do it: it is not lawful.

CAPUT III. — 3. Zacchaeus imitandus. Sed jam si fecistis, et pecunias tales habetis, et inde saccellos implestis, inde thesaurizabatis: de malo est quod habetis, jam nolite malum addere, et facite vobis amicos de mammona iniquitatis. Numquid Zacchaeus de bono habebat? Legite et videte. Major erat publicanorum, id est, cui vectigalia publica conferebantur: inde habebat divitias. Multos presserat, multis abstulerat, multa congesserat. Intravit domum ejus Christus, et venit salus super domum ejus: sic enim ait ipse Dominus, Hodie salus domui huic facta est. Sed ipsam salutem videte. Primo desiderabat Dominum videre, quia statura parvus erat: sed turba impediente ascendit in arborem sycomori, et vidit transeuntem. Ille autem aspexit eum, et ait: Zacchaee, descende; apud te oportet me manere. Tu pendes, sed non te suspendo, hoc est, non te differo. Volebas videre transeuntem, hodie me apud te invenies habitantem. Ingressus est ad eum Dominus: repletus ille gaudio ait, Dimidium rerum mearum do pauperibus. Ecce quomodo currit, qui currit facere amicos de

Chapter III. — 3. Zacchaeus is to be imitated. But if you have already done it, and have such money, and have filled your purses from it, and were treasuring up from it: what you have is from evil; do not now add evil, and make yourselves friends of the mammon of iniquity. Did Zacchaeus have his wealth from good? Read and see. He was the chief of the publicans, that is, one to whom the public taxes were brought: from this he had his riches. He had oppressed many, taken from many, amassed much. Christ entered his house, and salvation came upon his house: for so the Lord Himself says, Today salvation has come to this house. But look at that salvation itself. First he longed to see the Lord, because he was small of stature: but since the crowd hindered him he climbed a sycamore tree, and saw Him passing by. And He looked at him and said: Zacchaeus, come down; I must stay with you. You are hanging, but I do not keep you hanging, that is, I do not put you off. You wanted to see Me passing by; today you will find Me dwelling with you. The Lord went in to him: filled with joy he said, Half of my goods I give to the poor. See how he runs who runs to make friends of

Editors' notes and page, col. 649

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: inde thesaurizabatis› · call in col 649

Sic aliquot Mss. Alii vero, thesaurizastis. At editi, thesaurizabitis.

So some manuscripts. But others, "you laid up treasure." The printed editions, however, "you will lay up treasure."

(printed under page 331)

(2) ‹anchor: nolite malum addere› · call in col 649

Am. Er. et Mss., malum facere.

Amerbach, Erasmus and the manuscripts: "to do evil."

(printed under page 331)

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mammona iniquitatis. Et ne reus aliunde teneretur: Si cui aliquid tuli, ait, quadruplum reddam (Luc. XIX, 2, 9). Inflixit sibi condemnationem, ne incurreret damnationem. Ergo qui habetis de malo, facite inde bonum. Qui non habetis de malo, nolite acquirere de malo. Esto bonus tu qui bonum facis de malo: et cum coeperis aliquid boni facere de malo, noli remanere tu malus. Nummi tui convertuntur in bonum, et tu remanes malus?

the mammon of iniquity. And so that he might not be held guilty on some other account: If I have taken anything from anyone, he says, I will restore fourfold (Luke 19:2, 9). He inflicted condemnation on himself, so as not to incur damnation. Therefore you who have something from evil, make good out of it. You who have nothing from evil, do not acquire from evil. Be good, you who make good out of evil: and when you have begun to do some good out of evil, do not yourself remain evil. Are your coins turned into good, and do you remain evil?

CAPUT IV. — 4. Mammona iniquitatis cui dictae divitiae. Est quidem et alius intellectus; nec ipsum tacebo. Mammona iniquitatis, divitiae sunt saeculi omnes, undecumque sint. Undecumque enim congregentur, mammona iniquitatis est, id est, divitiae sunt iniquitatis. Quid est, divitiae sunt iniquitatis? Pecunia est, quam nomine divitiarum appellat iniquitas. Si enim veras divitias quaeris, aliae sunt. Talibus Job nudus abundabat, quando in Deum cor plenum habebat, et laudes Deo perditis omnibus rebus tanquam gemmas pretiosissimas proferebat (Job I, 21). De quo thesauro, si nihil habebat? Ipsae sunt verae divitiae. Istae autem ab iniquitate appellantur divitiae. Habes illas, non reprehendo: haereditas venit, pater tuus dives fuit, et dimisit tibi. Honeste acquisisti: de justis laboribus plenam domum habes, non reprehendo. Tamen etiam sic noli illas dicere divitias. Nam si dicis illas divitias, amabis illas: et si amaveris illas, peribis cum illis. Perde, ne pereas: dona, ut acquiras: semina, ut metas. Has divitias noli appellare; quia verae non sunt. Paupertate plenae sunt, et semper obnoxiae casibus. Quales divitiae sunt, propter quas latronem times, propter quas times servum tuum, ne te occiso auferat, et fugiat? Si verae divitiae essent, securitatem tibi darent.

Chapter IV. — 4. Why riches are called the mammon of iniquity. There is indeed another understanding too; nor shall I keep silent about it. The mammon of iniquity is all the riches of the world, from wherever they come. For from wherever they are gathered, it is the mammon of iniquity, that is, they are riches of iniquity. What does "they are riches of iniquity" mean? It is money, which iniquity calls by the name of riches. For if you seek true riches, they are of another kind. In such riches Job abounded when naked, when he had a heart full towards God, and, having lost all things, brought forth praises to God like most precious gems (Job 1:21). From what treasure, if he had nothing? These are the true riches. But those others are called riches by iniquity. You have them; I do not reproach you: an inheritance came to you, your father was rich and left them to you. You acquired them honestly: you have a house full from just labours; I do not reproach you. Yet even so do not call them riches. For if you call them riches, you will love them; and if you love them, you will perish with them. Lose, lest you perish; give, that you may acquire; sow, that you may reap. Do not call these riches, because they are not true. They are full of poverty, and always exposed to mishaps. What sort of riches are they, on account of which you fear the robber, on account of which you fear your own slave, lest he kill you, carry them off and flee? If they were true riches, they would give you security.

CAPUT V. — 5. Divitiae quae verae et quae falsae. Ergo illae sunt verae divitiae, quas cum habuerimus, perdere non possumus. Et ne forte propter illas furem timeas, ibi erunt ubi nullus auferat. Audi Dominum tuum: Thesaurizate vobis thesauros in coelo, quo fur non accedat (Matth. VI, 20). Tunc erunt divitiae, quando eas migraveris. Quamdiu in terra sunt, divitiae non sunt. Sed divitias vocat illas mundus, iniquitas vocat. Deus ideo mammona iniquitatis, quia divitias illas vocat iniquitas. Audi Psalmum: Domine, libera me de manu filiorum alienorum, quorum os locutum est vanitatem; et dextera eorum dextera iniquitatis. Quorum filii sicut novellae constabilitae a juventute sua. Filiae eorum compositae, circumornatae sicut similitudo templi. Cellaria eorum plena, eructantia ex hoc in illud. Boves eorum crassi, oves eorum fecundae, multiplicatae in itineribus suis. Non est ruina maceriae, neque transitus, neque clamor in plateis eorum. Vidisti Psalmum, qualem felicitatem descripsit: sed audi quid sit, quos proposuit filios iniquitatis. Quorum os locutum est vanitatem, et dextera eorum dextera

Chapter V. — 5. Which riches are true and which false. Therefore those are true riches which, once we have them, we cannot lose. And lest perhaps you fear a thief on their account, they will be where no one can carry them off. Hear your Lord: Treasure up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where the thief does not approach (Matt. 6:20). They will be riches then, when you have transferred them there. So long as they are on earth, they are not riches. But the world calls them riches; iniquity calls them so. God [calls it] the mammon of iniquity for this reason, because iniquity calls those things riches. Hear the Psalm: Lord, deliver me from the hand of foreign sons, whose mouth has spoken vanity; and their right hand is a right hand of iniquity. Whose sons are like young plants established from their youth. Their daughters adorned, decked round about like the likeness of a temple. Their storerooms full, overflowing from this into that. Their oxen fat, their sheep fruitful, multiplied in their ways. There is no ruin of the wall, nor passage, nor outcry in their streets. You have seen the Psalm, what happiness it has described: but hear what is meant by those whom it set forth as sons of iniquity. Whose mouth has spoken vanity, and their right hand is a right hand

Editors' notes and page, col. 650

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 650

Manuscripti, qui facis de malo; et omittunt, bonum.

The manuscripts: "you who do it out of evil"; and they omit "good."

(printed under page 331)

(2) ‹anchor: Perde, ne pereas› · call in col 650

Nonnulli codices, perde, ne perdas.

Some codices: "lose, lest you lose."

(printed under page 331)

(3) ‹anchor: iniquitas vocat. Deus› · call in col 650

Sic Am. Er. et aliquot Mss. At Lov., iniquitatis vocat Deus. Ideo, etc. Quidam ex veteribus libris, iniquitates vocat Deus.

So Amerbach, Erasmus and some manuscripts. But the Louvain editors: "God calls [them] of iniquity. Therefore," etc. Certain of the old books: "God calls [them] iniquities."

(printed under page 331)

(4) ‹anchor: Vidisti Psalmum› · call in col 650

In Mss., Vidisti Deus qualem, etc.

In the manuscripts: "You have seen, O God, what sort of," etc.

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(5) ‹anchor: audi quid sit› · call in col 650

Aliquot Mss., qui sint.

Some manuscripts: "who they are."

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iniquitatis. Ipsos proposuit, et dixit felicitatem eorum tantum super terram. Et quid adjunxit? Beatum dixerunt populum cui haec sunt. Sed qui dixerunt? Filii alieni, alienigenae, et non pertinentes ad semen Abrahae: ipsi dixerunt populum beatum cui haec sunt. Qui dixerunt? Quorum os locutum est vanitatem. Ergo vanum est, dicere beatos esse eos quibus haec sunt. Et tamen dicitur ab eis quorum os locutum est vanitatem. Ab ipsis dicuntur istae divitiae, quae vocantur mammona iniquitatis.

of iniquity. He set them themselves before us, and spoke of their happiness as being only upon the earth. And what did he add? They have called the people happy that has these things. But who have said this? Strange sons, foreigners, and those not belonging to the seed of Abraham: they have called the people happy that has these things. Who said it? Those whose mouth has spoken vanity. Therefore it is a vain thing to say that those are happy who have these things. And yet it is said by those whose mouth has spoken vanity. By these very people those riches are spoken of which are called the mammon of iniquity.

6. Verae divitiae. Colimus nos Deum, et colit nos Deus. Tn autem quid dicis? Quia illi filii alieni, quia illi quorum os locutum est vanitatem, dixerunt beatum esse populum cui haec sunt; tu quid dicis? Falsae sunt istae divitiae, da mihi veras. Reprehendis ista, ostende quod laudas. Vis ut contemnam hoc, ostende quod praeferam. Dicat ipse Psalmus. Qui enim dixit, Beatum dixerunt popnlum cui haec sunt; tale nobis dat responsum, quasi diceremus illi, id est, ipsi Psalmo, Ecce hoc nobis tulisti, et nihil nobis dedisti: ecce ista, ecce ista contemnimus, unde vivimus? unde beati erimus? Quia qui locuti sunt, ipsi de se ipsis recipient. Homines enim divitias habentes beatos esse dixerunt. Tu quid dicis?

6. True riches. We worship God, and God cultivates us. But you, what do you say? Since those strange sons, since those whose mouth has spoken vanity, have said that the people is happy that has these things; what do you say? These riches are false, give me true ones. You find fault with these things, show what you praise. You want me to despise this, show what I am to prefer. Let the Psalm itself speak. For he who said, They have called the people happy that has these things, gives us such an answer, as though we were saying to him, that is, to the Psalm itself: See, you have taken this from us and have given us nothing: see, these things, see, these things we despise; from what are we to live? from what shall we be happy? For those who have spoken will themselves receive it from themselves. For it was men who have riches that said such men are happy. What do you say?

CAPUT VI. — Respondet quasi sic interrogatus, et dicit, Illi dicunt divites beatos: ego dico, Beatus populus cujus est Dominus Deus ipsins (Psal. CXLIII, 11-15). Audisti veras divitias, fac amicos de mammona iniquitatis, et eris beatus populus, cujus est Dominus Deus ipsius. Aliquando transimus viam, et videmus amoenissimos et uberes fundos, et dicimus: Cujus est ille fundus? Asseritur illius: et nos dicimus, Beatus homo: vanitatem loquimur. Beatus cujus est illa domus, beatus cujus est ille fundus, beatus cujus est illud pecus, beatus cujus est ille servus, beatus cujus est illa familia. Tolle vanitatem, si vis audire veritatem. Beatus est, cujus est Dominus Deus ipsius. Non enim cujus est fundus iste, beatus est: sed cujus est ille Deus. Sed ut apertissime beatitudinem rerum annunties, dicis quod beatum te fecit fundus tuus. Quare? Quia inde vivis. Nam quando laudas pro magno fundum tuum, hoc dicis: Ipse me pascit, inde vivo. Attende unde vivas. Ille est unde vivis, cui dicis: Apud te est fons vitae (Psal. XXXV, 10). Beatus populus cujus est Dominus Deus ipsius. O Domine Deus meus, o Domine Deus noster, ut veniamus ad te, fac nos beatos de te. Nolumus de auro, neque de argento, nec de fundis: nolumus de terrenis istis, et vanissimis, et caducae vitae transitoriis. Non loquatur os nostrum vanitatem. Fac nos beatos de te, quia non perdemus ⟨t⟩e. Cum tenuerimus te, nec te perdemus, nec nos peribimus. Fac nos beatos de te, quia Beatus populus, cnjus est Dominus Deus ipsius. Nec irascitur si dixerimus de Deo, Fundus no⟨s⟩ter. Legimus enim quoniam Dominus pars haereditatis meae (Psal. XV, 5). Magna res, fratres, et haereditas ipsius sumus, et haereditas nostra est: quia et colimus eum, et colit nos. Nulla est injuria illi quia colit nos. Quia si nos colimus illum ut Deum nostrum, ille colit nos ut agrum

Chapter VI. — He answers as though questioned in this way, and says: They call the rich happy; I say, Happy the people whose God is the Lord (Ps. 143:11–15). You have heard of the true riches; make friends of the mammon of iniquity, and you will be a happy people, whose God is the Lord. Sometimes we pass along a road and see most pleasant and fertile estates, and we say: Whose is that estate? We are told it is so-and-so's; and we say, A happy man: we are speaking vanity. Happy is he whose house that is, happy he whose estate that is, happy he whose livestock that is, happy he whose servant that is, happy he whose household that is. Take away vanity, if you wish to hear truth. Happy is he whose God is the Lord. For it is not he whose that estate is who is happy, but he whose God that One is. But, to proclaim most openly the happiness that comes from things, you say that your estate has made you happy. Why? Because you live from it. For when you praise your estate as something great, this is what you are saying: It feeds me, I live from it. Consider from what you live. He is the One from Whom you live, to Whom you say: With Thee is the fountain of life (Ps. 35:10). Happy the people whose God is the Lord. O Lord my God, O Lord our God, that we may come to Thee, make us happy from Thee. We do not wish it from gold, nor from silver, nor from estates; we do not wish it from these earthly things, most vain and passing away with this perishable life. Let not our mouth speak vanity. Make us happy from Thee, because we shall not lose Thee. When we have held Thee fast, we shall neither lose Thee nor perish ourselves. Make us happy from Thee, because Happy the people whose God is the Lord. Nor is He angry if we say of God, Our estate. For we read that The Lord is the portion of my inheritance (Ps. 15:5). A great thing, brethren: we are both His inheritance, and He is our inheritance; because we both worship Him and He cultivates us. It is no insult to Him that He cultivates us. For if we worship Him as our God, He cultivates us as a field

Editors' notes and page, col. 651