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PL 38 · cols. 754–763

Augustine, Sermones 131-137 (Classis I, de Scripturis)

Sermon CXXXVII

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conformet se membris mortui, non mortuus, sed vivus. Hoc enim fecit: faciem super faciem, oculos super oculos, manus super manus, vestigia super pedes posuit, coarctavit se, contraxit se, cum magnus esset parvum se fecit (IV Reg. IV). Contraxit se; ut ita dicam, minoravit se. Quia cum in forma Dei esset, exinanivit se, formam servi accipiens (Philipp. II, 6). Quid est, conformavit se vivus mortuo? Quid sit, quaeritis? Apostolum audite: Misit Deus Filium suum. Quid est, conformavit se mortuo? Hoc dicat, sequatur, et ipse dicat: In similitudinem carnis peccati (Rom. VIII, 3). Hoc est conformare se mortuo vivum: venire ad nos in similitudinem carnis peccati, non ia carne peccati. Mortuus jacebat in carne peccati, conformavit se illi similitudo carnis peccati. Mortuus est enim qui quare moreretur non habebat. Mortuus est in mortuis solus liber; quoniam universa caro hominum erat utique caro peccati. Quomodo revivisceret, nisi ille qui non habebat peccatum conformans se mortuo, veniret in similitudinem carnis peccati? O Domine Jesu, passe pro nobis, non pro te, non habens culpam, et sustinens poenam, ut et culpam solvas et poenam.
let him conform himself to the limbs of the dead boy, not dead, but living. For this is what he did: he placed face upon face, eyes upon eyes, hands upon hands, footprints upon feet; he compressed himself, he contracted himself; though he was great, he made himself small (2 Kgs. 4). He contracted Himself; so to speak, He lessened Himself. For though He was in the form of God, He emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil. 2:6). What does it mean, that the living conformed Himself to the dead? What can it be, you ask? Hear the Apostle: God sent His Son. What does it mean, that He conformed Himself to the dead? Let him say it, let him continue, and let him himself say: In the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3). This is the living conforming Himself to the dead: to come to us in the likeness of the flesh of sin, not in the flesh of sin. The dead man lay in the flesh of sin; the likeness of the flesh of sin conformed itself to him. For He died Who had no reason why He should die. He died, alone free among the dead; since all the flesh of men was assuredly flesh of sin. How would it come back to life, unless He Who had no sin, conforming Himself to the dead, came in the likeness of the flesh of sin? O Lord Jesus, Thou Who didst suffer for us, not for Thyself, having no guilt, and bearing the punishment, so that Thou mightest loose both the guilt and the punishment.
SERMO CXXXVII. In Evangelii Joannis caput X, 1-16. De pastore, et mercenario, et fure.
Sermon 137. On the Gospel of John, chapter 10:1-16. On the shepherd, and the hireling, and the thief.
CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Sanitas membrorum in unitate et charitate. Non ignorat fides vestra, charissimi, et ita vos didicisse novimus, docente Magistro de coelo, in quo spem vestram posuistis, quia Dominus noster Jesus Christus, qui jam pro nobis passus est et resurrexit, caput est Ecclesiae, et est corpus ejus Ecclesia, et in ejus corpore unitas membrorum et compago charitatis, tanquam sanitas exsistit. Quicumque autem in charitate friguerit, infirmatur in corpore Christi. Sed potens est ille, qui jam exaltavit caput nostrum, etiam infirma membra sanare: dum tamen non nimia impietate praecidantur, sed haereant corpori donec sanentur. Quidquid enim adhuc haeret corpori, non desperatae sanitatis est: quod autem praecisum fuerit, nec curari, nec sanari potest. Cum ergo sit ille caput Ecclesiae, et sit corpus ejus Ecclesia, totus Christus et caput et corpus est. Resurrexit jam ille. Caput ergo habemus in coelo. Caput nostrum interpellat pro nobis. Caput nostrum sine peccato et sine morte, jam propitiat Deum pro peccatis nostris: ut et nos in fine resurgentes, et immutati in gloriam coelestem, sequamur caput nostrum. Quo enim caput, et caetera membra. Sed dum hic sumus, membra sumus; ne desperemus, quia secuturi sumus caput nostrum.
Chapter I. — 1. The health of the members lies in unity and charity. Your faith is not unaware, dearly beloved, and we know that you have learned it so, under the teaching of the Master from heaven in Whom you have placed your hope, that our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has already suffered for us and risen again, is the head of the Church, and the Church is His body, and in His body the unity of the members and the bond of charity exist as its health, so to speak. But whoever grows cold in charity becomes sick in the body of Christ. Yet He Who has already exalted our head is able to heal even the sick members, provided only that they are not cut off by excessive impiety, but cling to the body until they are healed. For whatever still clings to the body is not past hope of health; but what has been cut off can be neither treated nor healed. Since, then, He is the head of the Church, and the Church is His body, the whole Christ is both head and body. He has already risen. We therefore have our head in heaven. Our head intercedes for us. Our head, without sin and without death, already propitiates God for our sins, so that we too, rising at the end and changed into heavenly glory, may follow our head. For where the head is, there are the other members too. But while we are here, we are members; let us not despair, for we shall follow our head.
Editors' notes and page, col. 754

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 754

Hic in Ms. Colb. repetitur, non habens culpam, et poenam sustinens.

Here in the Colbert manuscript is repeated: non habens culpam, et poenam sustinens ("not having the guilt, and bearing the penalty").

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(2) ‹anchor: tanquam sanitas› · call in col 754

Lov., tanquam sanitatis; dissidentibus caeteris libris.

Lov. reads tanquam sanitatis ("as of health"); the other books disagree.

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CXXXVII› · call in col 754 Huic emendando opem attulerunt tres bn. quatuor cl. a. cb. †. fs. g. lr. m. pr. rm. vd.

Help in correcting this sermon came from three bn., four cl., and a. cb. †. fs. g. lr. m. pr. rm. vd. [The siglum after cb. cannot be read on the page, and the top of the f of fs. is broken.]

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(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CXXXVII *› · call in col 754

Alias, de Verbis Domini 49.

Formerly [numbered] On the Words of the Lord 49.

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(b) ‹anchor: et fure› · call in col 754

Notatur a Possidio in Indiculi capite 8; et a Floro citatur ad I Cor. IV, et ad Philipp. I.

It is noted by Possidius in chapter 8 of the Indiculus, and cited by Florus on 1 Cor. 4 and on Philippians 1.

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CAPUT II. — 2. Unitas Christi et membrorum. Videte enim, fratres, dilectionem ipsius capitis nostri. Jam in coelo est, et hic laborat, quamdiu hic laborat Ecclesia. Hic Christus esurit, hic sitit, nudus est, hospes est, infirmatur, in carcere est. Quidquid enim hic patitur corpus ejus, se dixit pati: et in fine segregans ipsum corpus suum ad dexteram, et reliquos a quibus modo conculcatur segregans ad sinistram, dicturus est his qui sunt ad dexteram: Venite, benedicti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod vobis paratum est ab origine mundi. Quibus meritis? Esurivi enim, et dedistis mihi manducare; et caetera sic exsequitur, tanquam ipse accepisset: usque adeo ut illi non intelligentes respondeant et dicant, Domine, quando te vidimus esurientem, hospitem, et in carcere? Et dicit eis: Cum uni ex minimis meis fecistis, mihi fecistis. Sic etiam in nostro corpore caput sursum est, pedes in terra sunt: tamen in aliqua constipatione et coarctatione hominum, quando tibi aliquis pedem calcat, nonne dicit caput, Calcas me? Nec caput tuum, nec linguam tuam quisquam calcavit: sursum est, in tuto est, nihil ei mali contigit; et tamen quia per connexionem charitatis unitas est a capite usque ad pedes, non se inde lingua separavit, sed dixit, Calcas me: cum eam nemo contigerit. Quomodo ergo lingua, quam nemo contigit, dicit, Calcas me: sic Christus caput, quod nemo calcat, dixit, Esurivi, et dedistis mihi manducare. Et illis qui hoc non fecerunt, dixit: Esurivi, et non dedistis mihi manducare. Et quomodo conclusit? Sic: Ibunt illi in ambustionem aeternam, justi autem in vitam aeternam (Matth. XXV, 31-46).
Chapter II. — 2. The unity of Christ and His members. For see, brethren, the love of our Head Himself. He is already in heaven, and yet He labours here, as long as the Church labours here. Here Christ hungers, here He thirsts, He is naked, He is a stranger, He is sick, He is in prison. For whatever His body suffers here, He has said that He suffers: and at the end, separating that body of His to the right, and separating the rest, by whom it is now trampled upon, to the left, He will say to those who are on the right: Come, you blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the origin of the world. For what merits? For I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; and He goes through the rest in the same way, as though He Himself had received it: so much so that they, not understanding, answer and say, Lord, when did we see Thee hungry, a stranger, and in prison? And He says to them: When you did it to one of My least ones, you did it to Me. So too in our own body the head is up above, the feet are on the ground: yet in some crush and press of people, when someone treads on your foot, does not the head say, You are treading on me? No one has trodden on your head, nor on your tongue: it is up above, it is in safety, no harm has befallen it; and yet, because through the bond of charity there is a unity from the head down to the feet, the tongue did not separate itself from that, but said, You are treading on me, though no one had touched it. So then, just as the tongue, which no one has touched, says, You are treading on me, so Christ the Head, Whom no one treads upon, has said, I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat. And to those who did not do this He said: I was hungry, and you did not give Me to eat. And how did He conclude? Thus: These shall go into everlasting burning, but the just into life everlasting (Matt. 25:31–46).
CAPUT III. — 3. Janua Christus. Petrus infirmus sibi ipsi ignotus. Cum ergo Dominus nunc loqueretur, dixit se esse pastorem, dixit se esse et januam. Utrumque ibi habes: et, Ego sum janua; et, Ego sum pastor. Janua est in capite, pastor in corpore. Dicit enim Petro, in quo uno format Ecclesiam: Petre, amas me? Respondit: Domine, amo. Pasce oves meas. Et tertio: Petre, amas me? Contristatus est Petrus, quod eum tertio interrogavit (Joan. XXI, 15-17): quasi ille qui vidit conscientiam negatoris, non videret fidem confitentis. Noverat illum semper, noverat illum et quando se Petrus ipse non noverat. Tunc enim se non noverat, quando dixit, Tecum ero usque ad mortem: et quam esset infirmus, nesciebat. Quomodo plerumque revera et infirmis contingit, ut aegrotus nesciat quid in illo agatur, medicus autem sciat: cum ille aegritudinem ipsam patiatur, medicus non patiatur. Magis dicit medicus quid agatur in altero, quam ille qui aegrotat quid agatur in se ipso. Petrus ergo tunc infirmus, Dominus autem medicus. Iste dicebat se habere vires, qui non habebat: ille autem tangens venam cordis ejus, dicebat quod ter eum esset negaturus. Et ita factum est quomodo praedixit medicus, non quomodo praesumpsit aegrotus (Luc. XXII, 33, 34, 55-61). Ergo post resurrectionem suam Dominus interrogavit eum, non nesci⟨e⟩ns quo ille animo confiteretur amorem Christi,
Chapter III. — 3. Christ the door. Peter, weak, unknown to himself. So when the Lord was speaking just now, He said that He is the shepherd, He said that He is also the door. You have both there: both, I am the door; and, I am the shepherd. The door is in the Head, the shepherd in the body. For He says to Peter, in whom alone He forms the Church: Peter, do you love Me? He answered: Lord, I love [Thee]. Feed My sheep. And a third time: Peter, do you love Me? Peter was saddened that He questioned him a third time (John 21:15–17): as though He Who saw the conscience of the denier did not see the faith of the confessor. He had always known him, He had known him even when Peter himself did not know himself. For he did not know himself then, when he said, I will be with Thee even unto death: and how weak he was, he did not know. As indeed commonly happens with the sick too, that the sick man does not know what is going on in him, but the physician knows: though the former suffers the sickness itself, the physician does not suffer it. The physician tells better what is going on in another than he who is sick tells what is going on in himself. Peter, then, was at that time the sick man, and the Lord the physician. The one said that he had strength, who did not have it: but the Other, feeling the pulse of his heart, said that he would deny Him three times. And it came about as the physician foretold, not as the sick man presumed (Luke 22:33–34, 55–61). So after His resurrection the Lord questioned him, not without knowing with what mind he was confessing his love for Christ,
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sed ut trina confessione amoris, deleret trinam negationem timoris.
but so that by a threefold confession of love he might blot out the threefold denial of fear.
CAPUT IV. — 4. Quia a Petro exigitur. Intrare per januam in ovile. Ergo hoc Dominus exigit a Petro, Petre, amas me? quasi, Quid mihi dabis, quid mihi praestabis, quia amas me? Quid erat praestaturus Petrus resurgenti Domino, et eunti in coelum, atque sedenti ad dexteram Patris? Quasi diceret, Hoc mihi dabis, hoc mihi praestabis, si amas me, ut pascas oves meas: per januam intres, non per aliam partem ascendas. Audistis, cum Evangelium legeretur, Qui intrat per januam, pastor est: qui autem ex alia parte ascendit, fur est et latro; et dissipare quaerit, et spargere, et tollere. Quis est qui intrat per januam? Qui intrat per Christum. Quis est iste? Qui imitatur passionem Christi, qui cognoscit humilitatem Christi: ut cum Deus factus sit homo pro nobis, cognoscat se homo non esse Deum, sed hominem. Qui enim vult Deus videri, cum sit homo, non imitatur illum, qui cum Deus esset, homo factus est. Tibi autem non dicitur, Esto aliquid minus quam es: sed, Cognosce quod es. Cognosce te infirmum, cognosce te hominem, cognosce te peccatorem; cognosce quia ille justificat, cognosce quia maculosus es. Appareat in confessione tua macula cordis tui, et pertinebis ad gregem Christi. Quia confessio peccatorum invitat medicum sanaturum: quomodo in aegritudine qui dicit, Sanus sum, non quaerit medicum. Numquid non ad templum ascenderat Pharisaeus ille et Publicanus? Ille de sua sanitate gloriabatur, iste vulnera sua medico ostendebat. Dicebat enim ille: Deus, gratias ago tibi, quia non sum sicut Publicanus iste. Gloriabatur super alterum. Ergo si Publicanus ille sanus esset, invideret illi Pharisaeus; quia non haberet super quem extolleretur. Quomodo ergo venerat, qui sic invidebat? Non erat utique sanus: et cum se sanum diceret, non descendit curatus. Ille autem ad terram oculos dejiciens, et non audens in coelum tollere, percutiebat pectus suum, dicens: Deus, propitius esto mihi peccatori. Et quid dicit Dominus? Amen dico vobis, quia descendit justificatus de templo Publicanus, magis quam Pharisaeus: quia omnis qui se exaltat, humiliabitur; et qui se humiliat, exaltabitur (Luc. XVIII, 10-14). Qui ergo se exaltant, per alteram partem volunt ascendere ad ovile: qui autem se humiliant, per januam intrant ad ovile. Ideo de illo dixit, intrat: de illo, ascendit. Qui ascendit, videtis, qui alta petit, non intrat, sed cadit. Ille autem qui se submittit, ut per januam intret, non cadit, sed pastor est.
Chapter IV. — 4. What is required of Peter. To enter the sheepfold by the door. Therefore the Lord requires this of Peter: Peter, do you love Me? as if [to say], What will you give Me, what will you provide for Me, because you love Me? What was Peter going to provide for the Lord as He rose again, and went into heaven, and sat at the right hand of the Father? It is as if He were saying, This you will give Me, this you will provide for Me, if you love Me: that you feed My sheep; that you enter by the door, not climb up by another way. You heard, when the Gospel was being read, He who enters by the door is the shepherd; but he who climbs up from another side is a thief and a robber; and he seeks to scatter, and to disperse, and to carry off. Who is he who enters by the door? He who enters through Christ. Who is this? He who imitates the passion of Christ, who recognizes the humility of Christ: so that, since God became man for us, man may recognize himself to be not God, but man. For he who wishes to seem God, when he is a man, does not imitate Him Who, when He was God, became man. Yet it is not said to you, Be something less than you are; but, Recognize what you are. Recognize yourself as weak, recognize yourself as a man, recognize yourself as a sinner; recognize that it is He Who justifies, recognize that you are stained. Let the stain of your heart appear in your confession, and you will belong to the flock of Christ. For the confession of sins invites the physician who is to heal: just as in sickness he who says, I am healthy, does not seek a physician. Did not that Pharisee and the Publican go up to the temple? The one boasted of his health, the other showed his wounds to the physician. For the one said: God, I give Thee thanks, that I am not like this Publican. He was boasting over the other. Therefore, if that Publican had been healthy, the Pharisee would have envied him, because he would not have anyone over whom to exalt himself. In what state, then, had he come, he who envied in this way? He was certainly not healthy: and since he called himself healthy, he did not go down cured. But the other, casting his eyes down to the ground, and not daring to lift them to heaven, beat his breast, saying: God, be merciful to me a sinner. And what does the Lord say? Amen I say to you, the Publican went down from the temple justified rather than the Pharisee: for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled; and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Luke 18:10–14). So those who exalt themselves want to climb up into the sheepfold by the other way; but those who humble themselves enter into the sheepfold by the door. Therefore of the one He said, enters; of the other, climbs up. He who climbs up, you see, who seeks high things, does not enter, but falls. But he who submits himself, so as to enter by the door, does not fall, but is the shepherd.
CAPUT V. — 5. Tres personae ad ovile venientes: pastor, fur, mercenarius. Diligendus est pastor, mercenarius tolerandus, cavendus latro. Sed tres personas dixit Dominus, et debemus illas investigare in Evangelio; pastoris, mercenarii et furis. Cum legeretur, puto quod animadvertistis, designavit pastorem, designavit mercenarium, designavit furem. Pastorem dixit animam suam ponere pro ovibus et intrare per januam. Furem dixit et latronem ascendere per aliam
Chapter V. — 5. Three persons coming to the sheepfold: the shepherd, the thief, the hireling. The shepherd is to be loved, the hireling tolerated, the robber guarded against. But the Lord spoke of three persons, and we ought to search them out in the Gospel: those of the shepherd, the hireling and the thief. When it was being read, I think you noticed, He marked out the shepherd, He marked out the hireling, He marked out the thief. Of the shepherd He said that he lays down his life for the sheep and enters by the door. Of the thief and robber He said that he climbs up by another
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partem. Mercenarium dixit, lupum vel etiam furem si videat, fugere; quia non est illi cura de ovibus: mercenarius est enim, non pastor. Ille intrat per januam, quia pastor est; ille ascendit per aliam partem, quia fur est: ille videns eos qui volunt tollere oves, timet et fugit, quia mercenarius est, quia non est illi cura de ovibus; mercenarius est enim. Si invenerimus tres istas personas, invenit Sanctitas vestra et quos diligatis, et quos toleretis, et quos caveatis. Diligendus est pastor, tolerandus est mercenarius, cavendus est latro. Sunt homines in Ecclesia, de quibus dicit Apostolus, qui ex occasione evangelizant, quaerentes ab hominibus commoda sua (Philipp. I, 21), sive pecuniaria, sive honorum vel laudis humanae. Quomodolibet volentes accipere munera evangelizant, et non tam salutem ejus quaerunt cui annuntiant, quam commodum suum. Ille autem qui audit salutem ab eo qui non habet salutem si ei crediderit quem ille annuntiat, neque in illo spem posuerit, per quem illi annuntiatur salus: qui annuntiat, habebit detrimentum; cui annuntiatur, habebit lucrum.
way. He said that the hireling, if he sees the wolf or even the thief, flees; because he has no care for the sheep: for he is a hireling, not a shepherd. The one enters by the door, because he is the shepherd; the other climbs up by another way, because he is a thief; the other, seeing those who wish to carry off the sheep, is afraid and flees, because he is a hireling, because he has no care for the sheep; for he is a hireling. If we have found these three persons, Your Holiness has found both whom you should love, and whom you should tolerate, and whom you should beware of. The shepherd is to be loved, the hireling is to be tolerated, the robber is to be guarded against. There are men in the Church of whom the Apostle speaks, who preach the gospel on a pretext, seeking from men their own advantages (Phil. 1:21), whether pecuniary, or of honours or of human praise. Wishing in whatever way to receive rewards, they preach the gospel, and they seek not so much the salvation of him to whom they announce it as their own advantage. But he who hears of salvation from one who does not have salvation, if he believes Him Whom that man announces, and does not place his hope in the one through whom salvation is announced to him: he who announces will suffer loss; he to whom it is announced will have gain.
CAPUT VI. — 6. Dictum Christi in Pharisaeos, spectare et ad malos de Ecclesia pastores. Ecclesia una ex Judaeis et Gentibus. Habes Dominum dicentem de Pharisaeis, Cathedram Moysi sedent (Matth. XXIII, 2). Non eos solos significabat Dominus: quasi vero eos qui crederent in Christum, ad Judaeorum scholam mitteret, ut ibi discerent quemadmodum iter sit ad regnum coelorum. Nonne ideo Dominus venit, ut institueret Ecclesiam, ipsosque Judaeos bene credentes et bene sperantes et bene diligentes segregaret tanquam frumenta a paleis, et faceret unum parietem circumcisionis, cui conjungeretur alius paries ex praeputio Gentium, quibus duobus parietibus de diverso venientibus esset ipse lapis angularis? Nonne ergo idem Dominus de duabus istis plebibus in uno futuris dixit: Habeo et alias oves, quae non sunt ex hoc ovili? Loquebatur autem Judaeis: Oportet me, inquit, et eas adducere, ut sit unus grex, et unus pastor. Ideo duae naves erant, unde vocaverat discipulos. Duas ipsas plebes significabant, quando miserunt retia, et levaverunt tantam vim et tantum numerum piscium, ita ut pene retia rumperentur: Et oneraverunt, inquit, duas naves (Luc. V, 2-7). Duae naves significabant unam Ecclesiam, sed de duabus plebibus factam, conjunctam in Christo, quamvis de diverso venientem. Hoc significant etiam duae uxores, habentes unum virum Jacob, Lia et Rachel (Gen. XXIX). Has duas significant etiam duo caeci, qui sedebant juxta viam, quos Dominus illuminavit (Matth. XX, 30-34). Et si advertatis Scripturas, in multis locis invenietis significari duas Ecclesias, quae non sunt duae, sed una. Ad hoc enim valet lapis angularis, ut ex duabus faciat unam. Ad hoc valet ille pastor, ut de duobus gregibus faciat unum. Ergo Dominus docturus Ecclesiam, et habiturus scholam
Chapter VI. — 6. The saying of Christ against the Pharisees also concerns the bad shepherds of the Church. The Church is one, from Jews and Gentiles. You have the Lord saying of the Pharisees, They sit on the chair of Moses (Matt. 23:2). The Lord did not mean them alone: as if indeed He would send those who believed in Christ to the school of the Jews, so that there they might learn what the way to the kingdom of heaven is. Did not the Lord come for this purpose, that He might found the Church, and separate the Jews themselves who believed well and hoped well and loved well, as grain from chaff, and make one wall of the circumcision, to which would be joined another wall from the uncircumcision of the Gentiles, and of these two walls, coming from different directions, He Himself would be the cornerstone? Did not, therefore, the same Lord say of these two peoples, who were to be in one: I have other sheep also, which are not of this fold? And He was speaking to the Jews: I must, He says, bring them also, that there may be one flock and one shepherd. That is why there were two boats, from which He had called the disciples. They signified those two peoples, when they let down the nets, and hauled up so great a mass and so great a number of fish that the nets were almost breaking: And they loaded, it says, two boats (Luke 5:2–7). The two boats signified one Church, but made from two peoples, joined in Christ, though coming from different directions. This the two wives also signify, having one husband, Jacob, Leah and Rachel (Gen. 29). These two the two blind men also signify, who sat by the way, to whom the Lord gave sight (Matt. 20:30–34). And if you pay attention to the Scriptures, you will find in many places that two Churches are signified, which are not two, but one. For this is what the cornerstone is for, that from two it may make one. This is what that Shepherd is for, that from two flocks He may make one. Therefore the Lord, being about to teach the Church, and about to have a school
Editors' notes and page, col. 757

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: plebes significabant› · call in col 757

Sic manuscripti. Editi autem, Duas personas plebis significabant.

So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however, read Duas personas plebis significabant ("they signified two persons of the people").

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suam praeter Judaeos, sicut modo videmus, numquid credentes in se, ad Judaeos missurus erat, ut discerent? Sed nomine Pharisaeorum et Scribarum significavit quosdam in Ecclesia sua futuros, qui dicerent, et non facerent: se autem figuraverat in persona Moysi. Etenim personam ejus gerebat Moyses, et velum ante se ideo ponebat, quando loquebatur populo; quia quamdiu illi in Lege carnalibus gaudiis et voluptatibus dediti erant, et regnum terrenum quaerebant, velamen positum erat contra faciem eorum, ne viderent Christum in Scripturis. Ablato enim velamine, posteaquam passus est Dominus, visa sunt secreta templi. Ideo cum in cruce penderet, scissum est velum templi a summo usque deorsum (Matth. XXVII, 51): et aperte dicit apostolus Paulus, Cum autem transieris ad Christum, auferetur velamen. Qui autem non transierit ad Christum, quamvis legat Moysen, velamen positum est super cor ejus, sicut dicit Apostolus (II Cor. III, 16, 15). Cum ergo praefiguraret quosdam tales futuros Dominus in Ecclesia sua, quid ait? Scribae et Pharisaei cathedram Moysi sedent: quae dicunt, facite; sed quae faciunt, facere nolite.
of His own apart from the Jews, as we now see, would He have been going to send those who believe in Him to the Jews, so that they might learn? But by the name of the Pharisees and Scribes He signified certain people who would be in His Church, who would speak and not do; but He had represented Himself in the person of Moses. For Moses bore His person, and for this reason he placed a veil before himself when he spoke to the people; because as long as they were given over in the Law to carnal joys and pleasures, and sought an earthly kingdom, a veil was placed against their face, so that they might not see Christ in the Scriptures. For when the veil was taken away, after the Lord had suffered, the secrets of the temple were seen. Therefore when He was hanging on the cross, the veil of the temple was torn from top to bottom (Matt. 27:51): and the apostle Paul says openly, But when you pass over to Christ, the veil will be taken away. But whoever has not passed over to Christ, although he reads Moses, a veil is placed over his heart, as the Apostle says (2 Cor. 3:16, 15). Since, then, the Lord was prefiguring that certain such people would be in His Church, what does He say? The scribes and Pharisees sit on the chair of Moses: what they say, do; but what they do, do not do.
CAPUT VII.—7. Clerici mali pervertere nitentes Evangelium, dum exemplo suo laicos ad peccatum trahunt. Quando illud audiunt clerici mali quod in ipsos dicitur, volunt pervertere. Nam audivi quosdam pervertere velle istam sententiam. Numquid non, si illis liceret, non delerent illam de Evangelio? Quia vero delere illam non possunt, pervertere illam quaerunt. Sed adest Domini gratia et misericordia, nec sinit eos facere; quia circumsepsit veritate sua omnes sententias suas, et libravit; ut quisquis inde aliquid praecidere voluerit, aut inducere male legendo vel interpretando, ille qui cor habet, quod praecisum est de Scriptura jungat Scripturae, et legat superiora vel inferiora, et inveniet sensum quem volebat i⟨l⟩le male interpreta⟨r⟩i. Quid ergo putatis dicere istos de quibus dicitur, Quae dicunt, facite? Quia revera laicis dicitur. Laicus enim qui vult bene vivere, cum attenderit clericum malum, quid sibi dicit? Dominus dixit, Quae dicunt, facite; quae faciunt, facere nolite. Ambulem viam Domini, non sequar istius mores. Audiam ab illo, non verba ipsius, sed Dei. Sequar Deum, sequatur ille cupiditatem suam. Quia si voluero apud Deum sic me defendere, ut dicam, Domine, vidi male viventem illum clericum tuum, et ideo male vixi: nonne mihi dicturus est, Serve nequam, non a me audieras, Quae dicunt, facite; quae autem faciunt, facere nolite? Malus autem laicus, infidelis, non pertinens ad gregem Christi, non pertinens ad frumentum Christi, qui tanquam palea in area toleratur, quid sibi dicit, quando coeperit illum arguere verbum Dei? Exi: quid mihi loqueris? Ipsi episcopi, ipsi clerici non illud faciunt, et me cogis ut faciam? Quaerit sibi non patronum ad causam malam, sed comitem ad poenam. Nam nunquam eum ille defensurus est in die judicii, quemcumque malum voluerit imitari. Quomodo enim diabolus
Chapter VII.—7. Wicked clerics strive to pervert the Gospel, while by their example they draw lay people into sin. When wicked clerics hear that which is said against them, they want to pervert it. For I have heard that certain people want to pervert this saying. Would they not, if they were allowed, delete it from the Gospel? But because they cannot delete it, they seek to pervert it. But the grace and mercy of the Lord is at hand, and does not allow them to do so; for He has fenced round all His sayings with His truth, and weighed them out; so that whoever wishes to cut anything off from there, or to bring something in by reading or interpreting wrongly, the one who has a heart may join to Scripture what has been cut off from Scripture, and read what goes before or what follows, and he will find the sense which that man wanted to interpret wrongly. What, then, do you think those men are saying of whom it is said, What they say, do? Because in truth it is said to lay people. For the lay person who wishes to live well, when he has observed a wicked cleric, what does he say to himself? The Lord has said, What they say, do; what they do, do not do. Let me walk in the way of the Lord, let me not follow that man's ways. Let me hear from him not his words, but God's. Let me follow God; let him follow his own greed. For if I should wish to defend myself before God in such a way as to say, Lord, I saw that cleric of Thine living wickedly, and therefore I lived wickedly: will He not say to me, Wicked servant, had you not heard from Me, What they say, do; but what they do, do not do? But the wicked lay person, the unbeliever, who does not belong to the flock of Christ, who does not belong to the wheat of Christ, who is tolerated like chaff on the threshing-floor, what does he say to himself when the word of God has begun to rebuke him? Go away: why are you talking to me? The bishops themselves, the clerics themselves do not do that, and are you forcing me to do it? He seeks for himself not an advocate for a bad cause, but a companion for punishment. For whatever wicked person he has chosen to imitate will never defend him on the day of judgement. For just as the devil
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Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: laicis dicitur› · call in col 758

Ita Ms. Colbertinus. Alii quidam Mss., re vera a fidelibus laicis dicitur. Editi vero, a sanis laicis dicitur.

So the Colbert manuscript. Some other manuscripts read re vera a fidelibus laicis dicitur ("it is truly said by faithful laymen"). The printed editions, however, a sanis laicis dicitur ("it is said by sound laymen").

(printed under page 385)

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omnes quos seducit, non seducit cum quibus regnet, sed cum quibus damnetur: sic omnes qui sequuntur malos, comites sibi ad gehennam quaerunt, non patrocinia ad regnum coelorum.
does not seduce all whom he seduces so as to reign with them, but so as to be damned with them: so all who follow evil men seek companions for themselves to Gehenna, not patronage towards the kingdom of heaven.
CAPUT VIII. — 8. Perversa interpretatio Evangelii. Quomodo ergo pervertunt isti hanc sententiam, quando illis dicitur male viventibus, Merito dictum est a Domino, Quae dicunt, facite; quae faciunt, facere nolite? Recte dictum est, inquiunt. Dictum est enim vobis, ut quae dicimus, faciatis; quae autem nos facimus, vos non faciatis. Nos enim offerimus sacrificium, vobis non licet. Videte versutias hominum: quid dicam? mercenariorum. Nam si pastores essent, ista non dicerent. Ideo Dominus, ut os illis clauderet, secutus est, et dixit, Cathedram Moysi sedent: quae dicunt, facite; quae autem faciunt, facere nolite: dicunt enim, et non faciunt. Quid est ergo, fratres? Si diceret de sacrificio offerendo; diceret, Dicunt enim, et non faciunt? Faciunt enim sacrificium, Deo offerunt. Quid est quod dicant, et non faciunt? Audi quid sequatur: Alligant enim on⟨e⟩ra gravia et importabilia, et imponunt ea super cervices hominum, quae ipsi uno digito nolunt tangere (Matth. XXIII, 2-4). Aperte exprobravit, descripsit et ostendit. Sed illi quando sic volunt pervertere sententiam, ostendunt quia nihil quaerunt in Ecclesia, nisi commoda sua; nec Evangelium legerunt: si enin nossent ipsam paginam, et totum legissent, nunquam hoc dicere auderent.
Chapter VIII. — 8. A perverse interpretation of the Gospel. How then do these men pervert this saying, when it is said to them, as they live evilly: It was rightly said by the Lord, What they say, do; what they do, do not do? It was rightly said, they say. For it was said to you, that what we say, you should do; but what we do, you should not do. For we offer the sacrifice; for you it is not lawful. See the cunning of men: what shall I call them? Of hirelings. For if they were shepherds, they would not say these things. Therefore the Lord, to shut their mouths, went on and said, They sit on the chair of Moses: what they say, do; but what they do, do not do: for they say, and do not do. What is it then, brothers? If He were speaking of offering the sacrifice, would He say, For they say, and do not do? For they do perform the sacrifice; they offer it to God. What is it that they say and do not do? Hear what follows: For they bind heavy and unbearable burdens, and lay them upon the necks of men, which they themselves will not touch with one finger (Matt. 23:2–4). He openly reproached them, described them, and exposed them. But those men, when they wish thus to pervert the saying, show that they seek nothing in the Church but their own advantages; nor have they read the Gospel: for if they knew that very page, and had read the whole, they would never dare to say this.
9. Malos pastores esse in Ecclesia similes Pharisaeorum. Pastor quis mercenarius, quis castus. Uxor casta. Sed apertius attendite, quia habet tales Ecclesia. Ne quis dicat nobis: Prorsus de Pharisaeis dixit, de Scribis dixit, de Judaeis dixit: nam tales non habet Ecclesia. Qui sunt ergo illi, de quibus omnibus Dominus dicit: Non omnis qui mihi dicit, Domine, Domine, intrabit in regnum coelorum? Et addidit: Multi dicent mihi in illa die, Domine, Domine, nonne in tuo nomine prophetavimus, et in nomine tuo ⟨v⟩irtutes multas fecimus, et in nomine tuo manducavimus et bibimus? Numquid in nomine Christi, Judaei faciunt ista? Certe manifestum est quia de his dicit qui nomen Christi habent. Sed quid sequitur? Tunc dicam illis: Nunquam vos cognovi. Recedite a me, omnes qui operamini iniquitatem (Id. VII, 21-23). Audi Apostolum gementem de talibus. Dicit alios annuntiare Evangelium per charitatem, alios per occasionem: de quibus dicit, Annuntiant Evangelium non recte (Philipp. I, 17). Rem rec⟨t⟩am, sed ipsi non recti. Quod annuntiant, rectum est; sed qui annuntiant, non sunt recti. Quare non est rectus? Quia aliud quaerit in Ecclesia, non Deum quaerit. Si Deum quaereret, castus esset; quia legitimum maritum anima Deum habet. Quisquis a Deo praeter Deum aliquid quaerit, non caste Deum quaerit. Videte, fratres: si uxor amet maritum quia dives est; non est casta. Non enim maritum amat, sed aurum mariti. Si autem maritum amat, et nudum amat, et pauperem amat. Si enim propterea amat, quia dives est; quid, si (quomodo sunt casus humani) proscribatur et subito egens remaneat?
9. That there are bad shepherds in the Church, like the Pharisees. Which shepherd is a hireling, which is chaste. A chaste wife. But attend more openly, that the Church has such men. Let no one say to us: He spoke entirely of the Pharisees, He spoke of the Scribes, He spoke of the Jews: for the Church has no such men. Who then are those of whom the Lord says, all of them: Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven? And He added: Many will say to Me on that day, Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Thy name, and in Thy name do many mighty works, and in Thy name eat and drink? Do the Jews do these things in the name of Christ? Certainly it is manifest that He speaks of those who bear the name of Christ. But what follows? Then I will say to them: I never knew you. Depart from Me, all you who work iniquity (Matt. 7:21–23). Hear the Apostle groaning over such men. He says that some proclaim the Gospel out of charity, others for an occasion: of whom he says, They proclaim the Gospel not rightly (Phil. 1:17). A right thing, but they themselves not right. What they proclaim is right; but those who proclaim it are not right. Why is he not right? Because he seeks something else in the Church; he does not seek God. If he sought God, he would be chaste; for the soul has God as its lawful husband. Whoever seeks from God anything besides God does not seek God chastely. See, brothers: if a wife loves her husband because he is rich, she is not chaste. For she does not love her husband, but her husband's gold. But if she loves her husband, she loves him both naked and poor. For if she loves him for this reason, because he is rich, what if (as human misfortunes go) he should be proscribed and suddenly be left destitute?
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Renuntiat illi forte; quia quod amabat, non maritus erat, sed res ejus. Si autem vere maritum amat, etiam pauperem plus amat; quia cum misericordia amat.
Perhaps she renounces him; because what she loved was not her husband, but his property. But if she truly loves her husband, she loves him even more when he is poor; because she loves with compassion.
CAPUT IX. — 10. Deus caste quaerendus. Et tamen, fratres, Deus noster nunquam pauper esse potest. Dives est, ipse fecit omnia, coelum et terram, mare et Angelos. Quidquid videmus, quidquid non videmus in coelo, ipse fecit. Sed tamen non divitias amare debemus, sed eum qui fecit illas. Non enim tibi promisit nisi se. Inveni aliquid pretiosius, et hoc tibi dabit. Pulchra est terra, coelum et Angeli: sed pulchrior est qui fecit haec. Qui ergo annuntiant Deum, amantes Deum; qui annuntiant Deum, propter Deum, pascunt oves, et non sunt mercenarii. Ipsam castitatem exigebat ab anima Dominus noster Jesus Christus, quando dicebat Petro, Petre, amas me? Quid est, Amas me? Castus es? Non est cor tuum adulterum? Non tua quaeris in Ecclesia, sed mea? Si ergo talis es, et amas me, pasce oves meas (Joan. XXI, 15). Non enim eris mercenarius, sed eris pastor.
Chapter IX. — 10. God is to be sought chastely. And yet, brethren, our God can never be poor. He is rich; He made all things, heaven and earth, the sea and the Angels. Whatever we see, whatever we do not see in heaven, He made. But nevertheless we ought not to love the riches, but Him Who made them. For He has promised you nothing but Himself. Find something more precious, and He will give you that. Beautiful is the earth, heaven and the Angels: but more beautiful is He Who made these things. Those therefore who proclaim God, loving God; who proclaim God for God's sake, feed the sheep, and are not hirelings. This very chastity our Lord Jesus Christ required of the soul when He said to Peter, Peter, do you love Me? What does Do you love Me mean? Are you chaste? Is your heart not adulterous? Do you seek in the Church not your own things, but Mine? If therefore you are such, and love Me, feed My sheep (John 21:15). For you will not be a hireling, but you will be a shepherd.
11. Mercenarii quomodo utiles. Pastores pauci, mercenarii multi. Illi autem non caste annuntiabant, de quibus gemit Apostolus. Sed quid dicit? Quid enim? dum omni modo, sive occasione, sive veritate Christus annuntietur (Philipp. I, 18). Permisit ergo esse mercenarios. Pastor veritate Christum annuntiat, mercenarius occasione Christum annuntiat, aliud quaerens. Tamen et ille Christum annuntiat, et ille Christum. Audi vocem pastoris Pauli: Sive occasione, sive veritate Christus annuntietur. Ipse pastor voluit habere mercenarium. Faciunt enim ubi possunt, utiles sunt quantum possunt. Quando autem ad alios usus quaerebat Apostolus, cujus vias imitarentur infirmi: Misi vobis, inquit, Timotheum, qui vos commonefaciat vias meas (I Cor. IV, 17). Et quid ait? Misi pastorem qui vos commoneret vias meas: id est, qui quomodo ego ambulo, et ipse ambulat. Et mittens pastorem, quid ait? Neminem enim habeo tam unanimem, qui sincera affectione pro vobis sollicitus sit. Nonne cum illo erant multi? Sed quid sequitur? Omnes enim sua quaerunt, non quae sunt Jesu Christi (Philipp. II, 20, 21): id est, Ego vobis pastorem mittere volui; nam multi mercenarii sunt: sed non oportuerat ut mercenarius mitteretur. Ad alias res et negotia peragenda mittitur mercenarius: ad illas autem quas tu⟨n⟩c volebat Paulus, pastor erat necessarius. Et vix invenit unum pastorem inter multos mercenarios: quia pauci pastores, multi mercenarii. Sed quid dicitur de mercenariis? Amen dico vobis, perceperunt mercedem suam (Matth. VI, 2). De pastore autem quid ait Apostolus? Quisquis autem mundaverit se ab hujusmodi, erit vas in honorem sanctificatum, et utile Domino, ad omne opus bonum paratum semper (II Tim. II, 21). Non ad quasdam res paratum, et ad quasdam non paratum; sed ad omne ⟨b⟩onum opus paratum. Haec de pastoribus dixi.
11. How hirelings are useful. Shepherds are few, hirelings many. Now those over whom the Apostle groans did not proclaim chastely. But what does he say? What then? provided that in every way, whether by pretext or in truth, Christ is proclaimed (Phil. 1:18). He therefore permitted hirelings to exist. The shepherd proclaims Christ in truth; the hireling proclaims Christ by pretext, seeking something else. Yet both the one proclaims Christ, and the other Christ. Hear the voice of the shepherd Paul: Whether by pretext or in truth, let Christ be proclaimed. The shepherd himself was willing to have a hireling. For they act where they can; they are useful as far as they can be. But when the Apostle was seeking for other uses, someone whose ways the weak might imitate: I have sent you, he says, Timothy, who is to remind you of my ways (1 Cor. 4:17). And what does he say? I have sent a shepherd to remind you of my ways: that is, one who walks just as I walk. And when sending a shepherd, what does he say? For I have no one so like-minded, who would be anxious for you with sincere affection. Were there not many with him? But what follows? For all seek their own things, not the things that are Jesus Christ's (Phil. 2:20–21): that is, I wished to send you a shepherd; for there are many hirelings: but it was not fitting that a hireling should be sent. For other matters and for business to be transacted a hireling is sent: but for those matters which Paul then wished, a shepherd was necessary. And he scarcely found one shepherd among many hirelings: because shepherds are few, hirelings many. But what is said of hirelings? Amen I say to you, they have received their reward (Matt. 6:2). But of the shepherd what does the Apostle say? But whoever cleanses himself from such things will be a vessel for honour, sanctified, and useful to the Lord, ready always for every good work (2 Tim. 2:21). Not ready for some things and not ready for others; but ready for every good work. This I have said about shepherds.
CAPUT X. — 12. Mercenarius fugiens, Donatistae, lupi et latrones. De mercenariis autem jam dicemus, Mercenarius quando videt lupum insidiantem ovibus, fugit. Hoc Dominus dixit. Quare? Quia non est e⟨i⟩
Chapter X. — 12. The hireling fleeing; the Donatists, wolves and robbers. But concerning hirelings we shall now speak: The hireling, when he sees the wolf lying in wait for the sheep, flees. This the Lord said. Why? Because he has no
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cura de ovibus. Tamdiu ergo est utilis mercenarius, quamdiu non videt lupum, quamdiu non videt furem et latronem: cum autem viderit, fugit. Et quis est de mercenariis, qui non fugit de Ecclesia, quando videt lupum et latronem? Abundant lupi, abundant latrones. Ipsi sunt qui ascendunt per alteram partem. Qui sunt isti qui ascendunt? Qui de parte Donati volunt depraedari oves Christi, ipsi per alteram partem ascendunt. Non per Christum intrant: quia non sunt humiles. Quia superbi sunt, ascendunt. Quid est, ascendunt? Extolluntur. Unde ascendunt? Per alteram partem: unde de parte dici volunt. Qui in unitate non sunt, de altera parte sunt, et de ipsa parte ascendunt, id est, extolluntur, et volunt tollere oves. Quomodo ascendunt, videte. Nos, inquiunt, sanctificamus, nos justificamus, nos facimus justos. Ecce quo ascenderunt. Sed qui se exaltat, humiliabitur (Luc. XIV, 11). Potens est Dominus Deus noster humiliare eos. Lupus autem diabolus est: insidiatur ut decipiat, et qui illum sequuntur; nam dictum est, quod induti quidem pellibus ovium, intus autem sunt lupi rapaces (Ma⟨t⟩th. VII, 15). Si viderit mercenarius aliquem loqui prava, aut sentire secundum perniciem animae suae, aut aliquid facere sceleratum et obscoenum, et tamen quia videtur habere alicujus momenti personam in Ecclesia, unde si sperat commoda, mercenarius est: et cum videt hominem perire in peccato, videt illum sequi lupum, videt illius guttur morsu trahi ad supplicium; non illi dicit, Peccas; non illum objurgat, ne perdat commoda sua. Hoc est ergo, Cum viderit lupum, fugit: non illi dicit, Scelerate facis. Non corporis, sed animae haec fuga est. Quem vides corpore stare, fugit animo, cum videt peccatorem, et non illi dicit, Peccas; cum etiam consilium cum illo habet.
care for the sheep. So the hireling is useful only for as long as he does not see the wolf, as long as he does not see the thief and the robber: but when he has seen them, he flees. And who is there among the hirelings who does not flee from the Church when he sees the wolf and the robber? Wolves abound, robbers abound. They are the ones who climb up by another part. Who are these who climb up? Those who, from the party of Donatus, wish to plunder the sheep of Christ: they climb up by another part. They do not enter through Christ, because they are not humble. Because they are proud, they climb up. What is "they climb up"? They exalt themselves. Whence do they climb up? By another part: which is why they wish to be called "of the party". Those who are not in unity are of another party, and from that very party they climb up, that is, they exalt themselves, and they wish to carry off the sheep. See how they climb up. "We," they say, "sanctify, we justify, we make men just." See to what height they have climbed. But he who exalts himself shall be humbled (Luke 14:11). The Lord our God is able to humble them. But the wolf is the devil: he lies in wait to deceive, and [so do] those who follow him; for it has been said that they are clothed indeed in the skins of sheep, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Matt. 7:15). If the hireling sees someone speaking perverse things, or thinking in a way that leads to the ruin of his soul, or doing something wicked and obscene, and yet, because that man seems to hold the standing of a person of some importance in the Church, if he hopes for advantages from that quarter, he is a hireling: and when he sees a man perishing in sin, sees him following the wolf, sees his throat dragged off by its bite to punishment, he does not say to him, "You are sinning"; he does not rebuke him, lest he lose his advantages. This, then, is: When he has seen the wolf, he flees: he does not say to him, "You are acting wickedly." This flight is not of the body but of the soul. The one whom you see standing firm in body flees in spirit when he sees the sinner and does not say to him, "You are sinning"; when he even takes counsel with him.
CAPUT XI. — 13. Uva de spinis quomodo legatur. Fratres mei, numquid non ascendit aliquando aut ⟨p⟩resbyter aut episcopus, et non dicit aliud de superiore loco, nisi ne rapiantur res alienae, ne fraudes fiant, ne scelera admittantur? Non possunt dicere aliud, qui cathedram Moysi sedent, et ipsa de illis loquitur, non ipsi. Quid est ergo, Numquid colligunt de spinis uvas, aut de tribulis ficus? et, Omnis arbor ex fructu cognoscitur (Ibid. 16)? Pharisaeus potest bona loqui? Pharisaeus spina est: quomodo de spina lego uvam? Quia tu, Domine, dixisti, Quae dicunt, facite; quae autem faciunt, facere nolite. De spinis me jubes uvam decerpere, cum dixeris, Numquid colligunt de spinis uvam? Respondet tibi Dominus: Non jussi te de spinis uvam legere; sed vide, attende bene, ne forte, ut fieri solet, vitis cum circumerrat per terram, involuta sit in spinis. Nam aliquando invenimus illud, fratres mei, vitem positam super caricem, quia ibi habet sepem spinosam, extendit palmites suos, et inserit in sepem spinosam, et pendet
Chapter XI. — 13. How a grape is gathered from thorns. My brothers, does not sometimes either a priest or a bishop go up, and say nothing else from the higher place than that the property of others should not be seized, that frauds should not be committed, that crimes should not be perpetrated? Those who sit on the chair of Moses cannot say anything else, and it is the chair itself that speaks from them, not they themselves. What then is: Do they gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? and, Every tree is known by its fruit (ibid. 16)? Can a Pharisee speak good things? The Pharisee is a thorn: how do I gather a grape from a thorn? Because Thou, Lord, hast said, What they say, do; but what they do, do not do. Thou biddest me pluck a grape from thorns, though Thou hast said, Do they gather a grape from thorns? The Lord answers you: I did not command you to gather a grape from thorns; but look, pay good attention, lest perhaps, as usually happens, the vine, when it wanders over the ground, has become entangled in thorns. For sometimes we find this, my brothers: a vine set above the sedge, because it has a thorny hedge there, stretches out its branches, and thrusts them into the thorny hedge, and there hangs
Editors' notes and page, col. 761

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 761

Am. Er. et omnes Mss., qui fugit; absque negante particula.

Am., Er. and all the manuscripts read qui fugit ("who flees"), without the negative particle.

(printed under page 387)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 761

Nonnulli Mss., Ecce quomodo ascendunt.

Some manuscripts read Ecce quomodo ascendunt ("See how they go up").

(printed under page 387)

(3) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 761

Sic unus e Colbertinis codicibus. Caeteri manuscripti, aliquem loqui peccata. Editi vero, aliquem peccare.

So one of the Colbert codices. The other manuscripts read aliquem loqui peccata ("someone speaking sins"); the printed editions, however, aliquem peccare ("someone sinning").

(printed under page 387)

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  • running head: 761 SERMO CXXXVII.
  • marginal letters: (none)
  • old-edition numerals: (none)
PL 38:762
inter spinas botrus; et qui videt botrum carpit, non tamen de spinis, sed de vite, quae circumplexa est spinis. Sic ergo illi spinosi sunt: sed sedendo in cathedra Moysi, involvit eos vitis, et pendent ad eos botri, id est, verba bona, praecepta bona. Tu lege uvam, non te pungit spina, quando legis, Quae dicunt, facite; sed quae faciunt, facere nolite. Pungit autem te spina, si quod faciunt facis. Ut ergo legas uvam, et non inhaereas spinis, Quae dicunt, facite; sed quae faciunt, facere nolite. Facta ipsorum spinae sunt, verba ipsorum uva est, sed de vite, id est, de cathedra Moysi.
a bunch of grapes among thorns; and he who sees the bunch plucks it, yet not from the thorns, but from the vine which is entwined with the thorns. So then those men are thorny: but because they sit in the chair of Moses, the vine has wrapped itself about them, and bunches of grapes hang upon them, that is, good words, good precepts. Gather [read] the grape; the thorn does not prick you when you read, What they say, do; but what they do, do not do. But the thorn does prick you if you do what they do. So that you may gather the grape and not get caught on the thorns: What they say, do; but what they do, do not do. Their deeds are thorns, their words are a grape, but from the vine, that is, from the chair of Moses.
14. Mercenarii fugientes, dum iniquis favent. Augustinus non mercenarius. Fugiunt ergo isti, quando vident lupum, quando vident latronem. Hoc autem dicere coeperam, quia de loco superiore non possunt dicere isti, nisi, Bene facite, nolite perjurare, nolite fraudare, nolite aliquem circumvenire. Aliquando autem sic vivunt, ut de tollenda aliena villa, cum episcopo consilium habeatur, et petatur ab ipso tale consilium. Aliquando nobis contigit, experti dicimus: nam non crederemus. Multi a nobis consilia mala petunt, consilia mentiendi, circumveniendi; putantes quia placent nobis. Sed in nomine Christi, si Domino placet quod dicimus, nullus talis nos tentavit, et invenit quod volebat in nobis. Quia si vult ipse qui nos vocavit, pastores sumus, non mercenarii. Sed quid ait Apostolus? Mihi minimum est ut a vobis judicer, aut ab humano die: sed neque ego meipsum judico. Nihil enim mihi conscius sum; sed non in hoc justificatus sum. Qui autem judicat me, Dominus est (I Cor. IV, 3, 4). Non ideo bona est conscientia mea, quia vos illam laudatis. Quid enim laudatis, quod non videtis? ille laudet, qui videt: ille etiam corrigat, si quid ibi videt quod ejus oculos offendit. Quia et nos non dicimus perfecte nos sanos: sed tundimus pectus nostrum, et dicimus Deo, Propitius esto, ne peccem. Tamen puto, coram illo enim loquor, nihil aliud a vobis quaerens nisi salutem vestram; et gemimus plerumque in peccatis fratrum nostrorum, et vim patimur, et torquemur animo, et aliquando corripimus illos: imo nunquam non corripimus. Testes sunt omnes qui recordantur quod dico, quoties sunt a nobis correpti fratres peccantes, et vehementer correpti.
14. Hirelings flee while they favour the wicked. Augustine not a hireling. These men, then, flee when they see the wolf, when they see the robber. Now I had begun to say this because from the higher place these men cannot say anything but: Do well, do not swear falsely, do not defraud, do not circumvent anyone. But sometimes they live in such a way that counsel is taken with a bishop about seizing another man's estate, and such counsel is sought from him. It has sometimes happened to us; we speak from experience, for otherwise we would not have believed it. Many seek bad counsel from us, counsel for lying, for circumventing, thinking that such things please us. But in the name of Christ, if what we say pleases the Lord, no such man has tempted us and found in us what he wanted. For if He Who called us so wills, we are shepherds, not hirelings. But what does the Apostle say? To me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you, or by man's day: but neither do I judge my own self. For I am conscious of nothing against myself; yet not by this am I justified. But He Who judges me is the Lord (1 Cor. 4:3–4). My conscience is not good for this reason, that you praise it. For why do you praise what you do not see? Let Him praise Who sees: let Him also correct, if He sees anything there that offends His eyes. For we too do not say that we are perfectly sound: but we beat our breast and say to God, Be merciful, that I may not sin. Yet I think, for I speak in His presence, that I seek nothing else from you but your salvation; and we often groan over the sins of our brethren, and suffer violence, and are tormented in mind, and sometimes we rebuke them: nay, we never fail to rebuke them. All who remember what I say are witnesses how often sinning brethren have been rebuked by us, and rebuked vehemently.
CAPUT XII. — 15. De ovibus quae ratio reddenda a pastore. Modo consilium nostrum tracto cum Sanctitate vestra. In nomine Christi plebs Dei estis, plebs catholica estis, membra Christi estis: Non estis divisi ab unitate. Communicatis membris Apostolorum, communicatis memoriis sanctorum martyrum, diffusorum per orbem terrarum, et pertinetis ad curam nostram, ut rationem de vobis bonam reddamus. Tota autem ratio nostra quae est, scitis. Domine, scis quia dixi, scis quia non tacui, scis quo animo dixi, scis quia flevi tibi, cum dicerem, et non audirer.
Chapter XII. — 15. Concerning the sheep, what account is to be rendered by the shepherd. Now I am discussing our counsel with Your Holiness. In the name of Christ you are the people of God, you are the catholic people, you are members of Christ: you are not divided from unity. You are in communion with the members of the Apostles, you are in communion with the memorials of the holy martyrs, spread throughout the world, and you belong to our care, so that we may render a good account of you. But what our whole account is, you know. Lord, Thou knowest that I spoke, Thou knowest that I was not silent, Thou knowest in what spirit I spoke, Thou knowest that I wept to Thee when I spoke and was not heard.
Editors' notes and page, col. 762

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: volebat in nobis› · call in col 762

Mss., nullus illud tentavit, et invenit in nobis. Sic etiam Am. et Er. nisi quod pro, illud, habent, illum.

The manuscripts read nullus illud tentavit, et invenit in nobis ("no one has tried that, and found it in us"). So also Am. and Er., except that for illud they have illum.

(printed under page 387)

(2) ‹anchor: et vim patimur› · call in col 762

Colbertinus Ms., et compatimur.

The Colbert manuscript reads et compatimur ("and we suffer with them"). [The word is blurred in the scan.]

(printed under page 387)

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  • running head: SERMO CXXXVII. (only "RMO CXXXVII." visible, cut at left edge)
  • marginal letters: (none)
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PL 38:763
Ipsa puto quod integra ratio nostra est. Securos enim nos fecit Spiritus sanctus per Ezechielem prophetam. Nostis ipsam lectionem de speculatore: Fili, ait, hominis, speculatorem posui te domui Israel: si me dicente ad impium, Impie, morte morieris, non dixeris: hoc est, ergo enim tibi dico, ut dicas; si non annuntiaveris: veneritque gladius, et tulerit eum, id est, quod minatus sum peccatori; ille quidem impius in impietate sua morietur, sanguinem autem ejus de manu speculatoris requiram. Quare? Quia non dixit. Si autem speculator viderit gladium venientem, et cecinerit tuba, ut fugiat; et non se observaverit; id est, non se correxerit, ut non eum inveniat in supplicio, quod minatur Deus; veneritque gladius, et tulerit aliquem; ille quidem impius in iniquitate sua mortuus est: tu autem, inquit, animam tuam liberasti (Ezech. XXXIII, 7-9). Et in illo loco Evangelii quid aliud dicit servo? cum diceret, Domine, sciebam te molestum sive durum hominem, quia metis ubi non seminasti, et colligis ubi non sparsisti; et timens abii, et abscondi talentum tuum in terra: ecce habes quod tuum est. Et ille: Serve, inquit, nequam et piger, magis quia me sciebas molestum et durum esse, metere ubi non seminavi, et colligere ubi non sparsi, ipsa avaritia mea debuit te docere quia lucrum quaero de pecunia mea. Oportuit te ergo ut dares pecuniam meam nummulariis et ego veniens cum usuris exegissem quod meum est (Luc. XIX, 20-23). Numquid dixit, Dares et exigeres? Nos ergo, fratres, damus; veniet ille qui ex⟨i⟩gat. Orate, ut paratos nos inveniat.
This, I think, is our whole account. For the Holy Spirit has made us secure through Ezekiel the prophet. You know that very reading about the watchman: Son of man, He says, I have set you as watchman for the house of Israel: if, when I say to the wicked man, Wicked man, you shall die the death, you do not speak: that is, for I say it to you so that you may say it; if you do not announce it: and the sword comes and takes him away, that is, what I have threatened to the sinner; that wicked man indeed shall die in his wickedness, but his blood I will require from the hand of the watchman. Why? Because he did not speak. But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and sounds the trumpet, that he may flee; and he does not take heed; that is, does not correct himself, so that God may not find him in the punishment which He threatens; and the sword comes and takes someone away; that wicked man indeed has died in his iniquity: but you, He says, have delivered your soul (Ezek. 33:7–9). And in that passage of the Gospel what else does He say to the servant? when he had said, Lord, I knew you to be a troublesome or hard man, because you reap where you did not sow, and gather where you did not scatter; and in fear I went away, and hid your talent in the ground: behold, you have what is yours. And he: Wicked and slothful servant, he says, all the more because you knew me to be troublesome and hard, reaping where I did not sow, and gathering where I did not scatter, my very avarice ought to have taught you that I seek profit from my money. You ought therefore to have given my money to the moneychangers, and I, on coming, would have exacted with interest what is mine (Luke 19:20–23). Did he say, You should give and exact? We therefore, brethren, give; He will come Who will exact. Pray that He may find us ready.
Editors' notes and page, col. 763

Page

  • running head: 763 S. AUGUSTINI EPISC (cut off at the image's right edge)
  • marginal letters: (none)
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  • other: the column continues with SERMO CXXXVIII. (another unit); not set here
  • other: the foot notes (*), (a) and (b) printed under page 388's left column are called in the title of Sermon CXXXVIII (another unit); removed from this file by QA Q1, to be set with that unit
  • other: misprint kept as printed: "ergo enim tibi dico" for "ego enim tibi dico" (the English follows the sense) (QA Q1)