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Augustine, Sermones 179-184 (Classis I, de Scripturis)

Sermon CLXXXI

Prorsus perjurus es, quia per id quod sanctum putas, falsum juras. Sed ego illud sanctum non puto. Sanctum putat cui juras. Non enim quando juras, tibi juras, aut lapidi juras; sed proximo juras. Homini juras ante lapidem: sed numquid non ante Deum? Non te audit lapis loquentem: sed punit te Deus fallentem.

You are plainly a perjurer, because by that which you think holy you swear falsely. "But I do not think it holy." The one to whom you swear thinks it holy. For when you swear, you do not swear to yourself, or swear to the stone; you swear to your neighbour. You swear to a man in front of the stone: but surely also in front of God? The stone does not hear you speaking, but God punishes you for deceiving.

14. Jurandi consuetudo quomodo convellitur. Ante omnia ergo, fratres mei, obsecro vos, ne sine causa me Deus haec loqui compulerit. Dico enim ante ipsum quod dixi, saepe me istam quaestionem devitasse: timui ne monendo et praecipiendo plus reos facerem non audituros: hodie autem plus timui ne loqui recusarem, quod loqui juberer. Quasi vero parvus sit fructus sudoris hujus mei, si omnes qui mihi acclamaverunt, clament et contra se, ne falsum jurent adversum se: si tot homines qui me attentissime audierunt, attenti sint adversus consuetudinem suam, et admoneant se hodie, cum ad domos suas venerint, cum consuetudinem suam lapsu linguae repetiverint; admoneat proximus proximum: Hoc est quod hodie audivimus, hoc est quod obstricti sumus. Non fiat hodie, certe cum recens sermo est, Expertus loquor: non fiat hodie, pigrius fit cras. Si et eras factum non fuerit, minus laborat qui custodit; adjuvatur enim consuetudine superioris diei. Triduo moritur pestis de qua laboramus: et gaudebimus de fructu vestro; quia magno bono abundabitis, si tam magno malo carebitis. Conversi ad Dominum, etc.

14. How the habit of swearing is torn out. Above all, then, my brothers, I beseech you, let it not be without cause that God has compelled me to say these things. For I say that before this very thing which I have said, I have often avoided this question: I feared that by warning and commanding I would make those who were not going to listen more guilty; but today I feared more lest I should refuse to say what I was bidden to say. As though the fruit of this sweat of mine were small, if all who acclaimed me were to cry out against themselves too, so as not to swear falsely against themselves; if so many men who listened to me most attentively were to be attentive against their own habit, and were to admonish themselves today, when they have come to their homes, when by a slip of the tongue they have fallen back into their habit; let neighbour admonish neighbour: "This is what we heard today, this is what we have been bound to." Let it not happen today, at least while the sermon is fresh; I speak from experience: let it not happen today, and it happens more sluggishly tomorrow. If it has not been done tomorrow either, the one who keeps watch labours less; for he is helped by the habit of the previous day. In three days the plague from which we suffer dies: and we shall rejoice in your fruit; for you will abound in a great good, if you are free of so great an evil. Turning to the Lord, etc.

SERMO CLXXXI. De verbis Epistolae I Joannis, cap. I, 8, 9, Si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est. Contra Pelagianos.

Sermon 181. On the words of the First Epistle of John, ch. 1:8-9, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us." Against the Pelagians.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Nemo hic vivit sine peccato. Beatissimus Joannes apostolus salubriter et veraciter scribens, inter caetera ait: Si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est. Si autem confessi fuerimus peccata nostra, fidelis est et justus, qui dimittat nobis peccata, et mundet nos ab omni iniquitate. His verbis docuit beatus Joannes, imo ipse Dominus Jesus non se tacens per Joannem, neminem in ista carne, in isto corruptibili corpore, in ista terra, in isto maligno saeculo, in ista vita tentationibus plena, neminem hic vivere sine peccato. Absoluta sententia est, nec expositore indiget: Si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus. Quis est enim qui non habet peccatum? Sicut Scriptura dicit, Nec infans cujus est vita diei unius super terram (Job XIV, 4, sec. LXX). Talis parvulus peccatum non fecit, sed de parentibus traxit. Ergo nullo modo quisquam potest dicere, non se habuisse peccatum. Sed accessit per fidem ad lavacrum regenerationis homo fidelis, et omnia dimissa sunt ei; jam sub gratia vivit, in fide vivit, membrum Christi factus est, templum Dei factus est: et tamen sic quomodo membrum

Chapter I. — 1. No one here lives without sin. The most blessed apostle John, writing wholesomely and truthfully, says among other things: "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all iniquity." By these words blessed John, or rather the Lord Jesus Himself, not keeping silent through John, taught that no one in this flesh, in this corruptible body, on this earth, in this evil age, in this life full of temptations, no one here lives without sin. The statement is absolute, and needs no expositor: "If we say that we have no sin." For who is there who does not have sin? As Scripture says, "Not even an infant whose life is of one day upon the earth" (Job 14:4, according to the LXX). Such a little one has not committed sin, but has drawn it from his parents. Therefore in no way can anyone say that he has not had sin. But the believing man has come through faith to the bath of regeneration, and all things have been forgiven him; now he lives under grace, he lives in faith, he has been made a member of Christ, he has been made a temple of God: and yet, just as a member

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Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 979

Sic Mss. Editi vero, illum.

So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however: illum ("him/that").

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CLXXXI› · call in col 979 Collatus ad omnes Mss. et Edd. in sermone praecedenti modo designatos.

Collated against all the manuscripts and editions designated in the sermon just before.

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(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CLXXXI› · call in col 979

Alias, de Verbis Apostoli 29.

Formerly [numbered] Sermon 29 de Verbis Apostoli.

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Christi et templum Dei factus est, si dixerit se non habere peccatum, seipsum seducit, et veritas in eo non est; prorsus mentitur, si dicat, Justus sum.

of Christ and a temple of God has he been made, if he says that he has no sin, he deceives himself, and the truth is not in him; he plainly lies if he says, I am just.

CAPUT II. — 2. Pelagianorum error, justos hic sine peccato reperiri. Argumentum Pelagianorum. Sunt autem quidam inflati utres, spiritu elationis pleni, non magnitudine ingentes, sed superbiae morbo tumentes, ut dicere audeant, inveniri homines absque peccato. Dicunt ergo, justos prorsus in hac vita nullum habere peccatum. Haeretici autem sunt Pelagiani, iidemque Coelestiani, qui hoc dicunt. Et cum responsum illis fuerit, Quid est quod dicitis? Ergo vivit hic homo sine peccato, et non habet omnino ullum peccatum, nec facto, nec verbo, nec cogitatione? Respondent de illo superbiae vento, quo pleni sunt: quem ventum utinam finirent, reflarentur et tacerent, id est, humiles fierent, non elati: respondent, inquam, Prorsus isti homines sancti, fideles Dei, nec facto, nec verbo, nec cogitatione possunt ullum habere peccatum. Et cum eis dicitur, Qui sunt isti justi, qui sine peccato sunt? respondent et dicunt, Tota Ecclesia. Mirari potuissem, si invenirem unum, duos, tres, decem, quot quaerebat Abraham. Abraham enim a quinquaginta usque ad decem descendit (Gen. XVIII, 24-32): tu, haeretice, respondes, et dicis mihi totam Ecclesiam. Unde hoc probas? Probo, inquis. Proba, rogo te. Magnum enim mihi gaudium affers, si docere potueris, totam prorsus Ecclesiam in singulis quibusque fidelibus suis nullum habere peccatum. Probo, inquis. Dic unde? Apostolus loquitur. Quid loquitur Apostolus? Christus, inquit, dilexit Ecclesiam. Audio, et Apostoli verba esse cognosco. Mundans eam lavacro aquae in verbo, ut exhiberet sibi gloriosam Ecclesiam, non habentem maculam aut rugam, aut aliquid hujusmodi (Ephes. V, 25-27). Audivimus de nube magna tonitrua. Nubes enim Dei Apostolus. Verba ista sonuerunt, et tremere nos fecerunt.

Chapter II. — 2. The error of the Pelagians, that the just are found here without sin. The argument of the Pelagians. Now there are certain puffed-up wineskins, full of the wind of self-exaltation, not huge in greatness but swollen with the disease of pride, so that they dare to say that men are found without sin. They say, then, that the just have absolutely no sin in this life. Now those who say this are heretics, the Pelagians, who are also the Coelestians. And when it has been answered them, What is it that you are saying? Does this man then live without sin, and has he no sin at all, neither in deed, nor in word, nor in thought? They answer out of that wind of pride with which they are full: would that they would let go of that wind, be deflated and fall silent, that is, become humble, not exalted! They answer, I say, These holy men, the faithful of God, can have absolutely no sin, neither in deed, nor in word, nor in thought. And when they are asked, Who are these just men who are without sin? they answer and say, The whole Church. I could have marvelled if I were to find one, two, three, ten, as many as Abraham was seeking. For Abraham came down from fifty to ten (Gen. 18:24–32): you, heretic, answer and tell me, the whole Church. Whence do you prove this? I prove it, you say. Prove it, I beg you. For you bring me great joy if you can show that the whole Church, absolutely, in each and every one of her faithful, has no sin. I prove it, you say. Tell me whence. The Apostle speaks. What does the Apostle say? Christ, he says, loved the Church. I hear, and I recognize these to be the words of the Apostle. Cleansing her with the washing of water in the word, that He might present to Himself a glorious Church, having no spot or wrinkle or anything of this kind (Eph. 5:25–27). We have heard great thunders from the cloud. For the Apostle is a cloud of God. These words have sounded, and have made us tremble.

CAPUT III. — 3. Refutantur ab ipsorum de se ipsis professione. Haeretici extra Ecclesiam sunt. Sed dicite nobis, antequam quaeramus quomodo ista verba Apostolus dixerit; dicite, inquam, nobis, utrum vos justi estis, an non. Respondent, Justi sumus. Ergo non habetis peccatum? Per omnes dies, per omnes noctes nihil mali facitis, nihil mali dicitis, nihil mali cogitatis? Non audent dicere, Nihil. Sed quid respondent? Nos quidem peccatores sumus; sed de sanctis loquimur, non de nobis. Hoc vos interrogo: Christiani estis? Non dico, Justi estis? Christiani estis? Non audent negare: Christiani, inquiunt, sumus. Fideles ergo estis? Baptizati estis? Baptizati, inquiunt, sumus. Dimissa sunt vobis cuncta peccata? Dimissa, inquiunt. Quomodo ergo estis peccatores? Sufficit mihi unde vos repellam. Vos christiani estis, baptizati estis, fideles estis, membra Ecclesiae estis, et habetis maculas et rugas? Quomodo ergo est Ecclesia isto tempore sine macula et ruga, cum vos sitis ruga ejus et macula? Aut si non vultis esse Ecclesiam, nisi eam quae sine macula et ruga est, cum rugis vestris et maculis praecidite vos a membris ejus,

Chapter III. — 3. They are refuted by their own profession about themselves. Heretics are outside the Church. But tell us, before we inquire how the Apostle said these words; tell us, I say, whether you are just or not. They answer, We are just. Then you have no sin? Through all the days, through all the nights, you do nothing evil, say nothing evil, think nothing evil? They do not dare to say, Nothing. But what do they answer? We indeed are sinners; but we are speaking of the saints, not of ourselves. This I ask you: Are you Christians? I do not say, Are you just? Are you Christians? They do not dare to deny it: We are Christians, they say. Are you then faithful? Are you baptized? We are baptized, they say. Have all your sins been forgiven you? Forgiven, they say. How then are you sinners? I have enough with which to repel you. You are Christians, you are baptized, you are faithful, you are members of the Church, and you have spots and wrinkles? How then is the Church at this time without spot and wrinkle, when you are her wrinkle and spot? Or if you will not have the Church to be anything but that which is without spot and wrinkle, cut yourselves off, with your wrinkles and spots, from her members,

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praecidite vos a corpore ejus. Sed quid adhuc dicam ut se ab Ecclesia segregent, cum hoc jam fecerint? Haeretici enim sunt, jam foris sunt: cum tota munditia sua foris remanserunt. Redite, et audite; audite, et credite.

cut yourselves off from her body. But why should I still say that they should separate themselves from the Church, when they have already done this? For they are heretics, they are already outside: with all their cleanness they have remained outside. Come back, and listen; listen, and believe.

4. Mendax humilitas Pelagianorum. Forte dicturi estis, in corde vestro tumido et inflato: Numquid potuimus dicere quia justi sumus? Necesse utique erat propter humilitatem, ut diceremus nos peccatores esse. Propter humilitatem ergo mentiris? Justus es, sine peccato es: sed propter humilitatem dicis te peccatorem. Quomodo te accipiam tanquam christianum in alterum testem, quem contra te ipsum. teneo falsum testem? Justus es, sine peccato es, et dicis te habere peccatum. Testis ergo falsus es contra te. Non accipit Deus mendacem humilitatem tuam. Inspice vitam tuam, vide conscientiam tuam. Ergo justus es, sed non potes nisi dicere te peccatorem? Audi Joannem; ipse tibi repetit quod etiam superius veraciter dixit: Si dixerimus, inquit, quia peccatum non habemus, nos ipsos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est. Tu non habes peccatum, et dicis te habere peccatum; veritas in te non est. Quia non dixit Joannes, Si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, humilitas in nobis non est: sed dixit, nos ipsos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est. Ergo mentimur, si dixerimus nos non habere peccatum. Si mendacium timuit Joannes, tu mendacium non times, ut cum sis justus, dicas te esse peccatorem? Quomodo ergo te accipiam ad alienam causam testem, qui in causa tua mentiris? Sanctos reos constituis, dum contra te falsum testimonium dicis. Quid facturus es alteri, qui te infamas? Quomodo alter tuam calumniam devitabit, quando te tuae linguae mendacio reum facis?

4. The lying humility of the Pelagians. Perhaps you are going to say, in your swollen and puffed-up heart: Could we say that we are righteous? It was surely necessary, on account of humility, that we should say that we are sinners. So you lie on account of humility? You are righteous, you are without sin: but on account of humility you call yourself a sinner. How am I to accept you, as a Christian, as a witness against another, when I hold you to be a false witness against yourself? You are righteous, you are without sin, and you say that you have sin. So you are a false witness against yourself. God does not accept your lying humility. Examine your life, look at your conscience. So you are righteous, but you cannot do otherwise than call yourself a sinner? Listen to John; he repeats to you what he also said truthfully above: If we say, he says, that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. You have no sin, and you say that you have sin; the truth is not in you. For John did not say, If we say that we have no sin, humility is not in us: but he said, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. So we lie if we say that we have no sin. If John feared a lie, do you not fear a lie, so that, though you are righteous, you say that you are a sinner? How then am I to accept you as a witness in another's case, when you lie in your own case? You make the saints guilty, while you bear false witness against yourself. What will you do to another, you who defame yourself? How will another escape your slander, when by the lie of your own tongue you make yourself guilty?

CAPUT IV. — 5. Mendacium specie humilitatis, peccatum est. Iterum te interrogo alio modo: Justus es, aut peccator? Respondes, Peccator. Mentiris, quia non quod te esse corde credis, hoc ore dicis. Ergo et si non eras peccator, esse incipies dum mentiris. Dicis enim: Humilitatis causa nos dicimus peccatores esse; nam Deus videt quia justi sumus. Cum ergo humilitatis causa mentiris, si non eras peccator antequam mentireris, mentiendo efficeris quod evitaveras. Veritas in te non est, nisi te ita dixeris peccatorem, ut etiam esse cognoscas. Veritas autem ipsa est, ut quod es dicas. Nam quomodo est humilitas, ubi regnat falsitas?

Chapter IV. — 5. A lie under the appearance of humility is a sin. I question you again in another way: Are you righteous, or a sinner? You answer, A sinner. You lie, because what you believe in your heart that you are, that you do not say with your mouth. So even if you were not a sinner, you will begin to be one while you lie. For you say: For the sake of humility we say that we are sinners; for God sees that we are righteous. When therefore you lie for the sake of humility, if you were not a sinner before you lied, by lying you become what you had avoided. The truth is not in you, unless you call yourself a sinner in such a way that you also know yourself to be one. And truth itself is this: that you say what you are. For how is there humility where falsehood reigns?

6. Ecclesiam hic non esse sine peccato, liquet ex dominica oratione. Postremo omittamus Joannis verba: ecce in corpore Ecclesiae, quam dicis non habere maculam aut rugam aut aliquid ejusmodi, et esse sine peccato, ecce veniet hora orationis, oratura est tota Ecclesia: et tu quidem foris es; veni ad orationem dominicam, veni ad trutinam, veni, dic, Pater noster, qui es in caelis. Sequere: Sanctificetur nomen tuum. Veniat regnum tuum. Fiat voluntas tua, sicut in caelo, et in terra. Panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie. Sequere, et dic: Dimitte nobis debita nostra. Responde, haeretice, quae sunt

6. That the Church here is not without sin is clear from the Lord's Prayer. Finally, let us leave aside the words of John: see, in the body of the Church, which you say has no spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, and is without sin, see, the hour of prayer will come, the whole Church is about to pray: and you indeed are outside; come to the Lord's Prayer, come to the balance, come, say, Our Father, Who art in heaven. Go on: Hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth. Give us this day our daily bread. Go on, and say: Forgive us our debts. Answer, heretic, what are

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debita tua? An forte pecuniam mutuam a Deo accepisti? Non, inquit. Non te ego amplius interrogabo de hoc: ipse enim Dominus expositurus est, quae sint debita quae nobis petimus relaxari. Dicamus ergo sequentia: Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Exponat hoc Dominus: Si enim dimiseritis hominibus peccata (ergo debita vestra peccata sunt), dimittet vobis et Pater vester peccata vestra. Redi ergo, haeretice, ad orationem, si obsurduisti contra veram fidei rationem. Dimitte nobis debita nostra, dicis, an non dicis? Si non dicis, etsi praesens fueris corpore, foris tamen es ab Ecclesia. Ecclesiae enim oratio est, vox est de magisterio Domini veniens. Ipse dixit, Sic orate (Matth. VI, 9-14): discipulis dixit, Sic orate: discipulis dixit, Apostolis dixit, et nobis qualescumque agniculi sumus dixit; arietibus gregis dixit, Sic orate. Videte quis dixerit, et quibus dixerit. Veritas discipulis, Pastor pastorum arietibus: Sic orate, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Rex militibus, Dominus servis, Christus Apostolis, veritas hominibus loquebatur, sublimitas humilibus loquebatur. Scio quid in vobis agatur: ego vos appendo, ego de trutina mea renuntio, prorsus dico quid in vobis agitur. Hoc enim ego plus quam vos scio. Dicite, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris.

your debts? Did you perhaps receive money on loan from God? No, he says. I will not question you further about this: for the Lord Himself is going to explain what the debts are which we ask to have remitted to us. Let us say, then, what follows: As we also forgive our debtors. Let the Lord explain this: For if you forgive men their sins (therefore your debts are sins), your Father also will forgive you your sins. Return, then, heretic, to the prayer, if you have grown deaf against the true reasoning of the faith. Forgive us our debts: do you say it, or do you not say it? If you do not say it, even though you are present in body, you are nevertheless outside the Church. For it is the prayer of the Church; it is a voice coming from the teaching of the Lord. He Himself said, Pray thus (Matt. 6:9–14): to the disciples He said, Pray thus: to the disciples He said it, to the Apostles He said it, and to us, such little lambs as we are, He said it; to the rams of the flock He said, Pray thus. See who said it, and to whom He said it. The Truth to the disciples, the Shepherd of shepherds to the rams: Pray thus, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. The King was speaking to soldiers, the Lord to servants, Christ to Apostles, the truth to men, loftiness to the lowly. I know what is going on in you: I weigh you, I report from my own balance, I say outright what is going on in you. For this I know better than you do. Say, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors.

CAPUT V. — 7. Tota Ecclesia hic petit sibi dimitti peccata. Hic agitur ut Ecclesia in coelis sit sine macula et ruga. Interrogo te, homo juste, sancte, homo sine macula et ruga; interrogo te, inquam: Oratio ista Ecclesiae est, fidelium est, an catechumenorum? Certe utique regeneratorum est, id est, baptizatorum: postremo, quod totum superat, filiorum est. Nam si non est filiorum, qua fronte dicitur, Pater noster, qui es in coelis? Ubi ergo estis, o justi et sancti? In membris Ecclesiae hujus estis, an non estis? Ibi eratis, sed jam non estis ibi. Et utinam jam praecisi accepta ratione audiant et credant. Ergo si tota Ecclesia dicit, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, reprobus est qui hoc non dicit. Et nos quidem cum dicimus, debita nostra, quousque id quod petimus accipiamus, reprobi sumus, quia peccatores sumus: sed quod vos non facitis, nos faciendo, id est peccata nostra confitendo, mundamur; si tamen faciamus quod dicimus, Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Ubi es ergo, haeretice Pelagiane vel Coelestiane? Ecce tota Eeclesia dicit, Dimitte nobis debita nostra. Habet ergo maculas et rugas. Sed confessione ruga extenditur, confessione macula abluitur. Stat Ecclesia in oratione, ut mundetur confessione: et quamdiu hic vivitur, sic stat. Et cum de corpore exierit unusquisque, dimittuntur ei omnia, quae talia habebat ut dimitterentur debita; quia et quotidianis precibus dimittuntur: et tunc

Chapter V. — 7. The whole Church here asks that its sins be forgiven it. Here it is brought about that the Church in heaven may be without spot and wrinkle. I ask you, righteous man, holy man, man without spot and wrinkle; I ask you, I say: Is this prayer the Church's, is it the faithful's, or the catechumens'? Certainly it is the prayer of the regenerated, that is, of the baptized: finally, what surpasses everything, it is the prayer of sons. For if it is not the prayer of sons, with what face is it said, Our Father, Who art in heaven? Where, then, are you, O righteous and holy ones? Are you among the members of this Church, or are you not? You were there, but now you are no longer there. And would that those now cut off, having received the reasoning, might listen and believe. Therefore if the whole Church says, Forgive us our debts, he who does not say this is reprobate. And we indeed, when we say, our debts, until we receive what we ask for, are reprobate, because we are sinners: but by doing what you do not do, that is, by confessing our sins, we are cleansed; provided, however, that we do what we say, As we also forgive our debtors. Where, then, are you, Pelagian or Caelestian heretic? See, the whole Church says, Forgive us our debts. It has, therefore, spots and wrinkles. But by confession the wrinkle is stretched out, by confession the spot is washed away. The Church stands in prayer, that it may be cleansed by confession: and as long as life is lived here, so it stands. And when each one has gone out of the body, all those things are forgiven him which he had of such a kind that the debts might be forgiven; because they are forgiven by daily prayers too: and then

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Er. Lugd. et Ven. omittunt, discipulis dixit, Sic orate. M.

Erasmus, the Lyons and Venice editions omit "he said to the disciples, Pray thus". M[aurists].

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(2) ‹anchor: Oratio ista Ecclesiae est› · call in col 982

Lov., Oratio ista ex Deo est, Ecclesiae est. Am. et Er. omittunt Ecclesiae est. Manuscripti vero non habent, ex Deo est.

Louvain: "This prayer is from God, it is the Church's". Amerbach and Erasmus omit "it is the Church's". The manuscripts, however, do not have "it is from God".

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(3) ‹anchor: quae talia habebat› · call in col 982

Sic Mss. At Lov., dimittuntur ei peccata, quia talia habebat.

So the manuscripts. But Louvain: "his sins are forgiven him, because he had such [prayers]".

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exit mundatus, et thesaurizatur Ecclesia in thesauros Domini aurum purum; ac per hoc in thesauros Domini Ecclesia est sine macula et ruga. Et si ibi sine macula et ruga est, hic quid orandum est? Ut venia percipiatur. Qui dat veniam, maculam extergit: qui ignoscit, rugam extendit. Et ubi extenditur ruga nostra? Tanquam in tendicula magni fullonis, in cruce Christi. In ipsa enim cruce, id est, in ipsa tendicula pro nobis sanguinem fudit. Et nostis fideles quale testimonium perhibeatis sanguini quem accepistis. Certe enim dicitis, Amen. Nostis qui sit sanguis qui pro multis effusus est in remissionem peccatorum. Ecce quomodo fit Ecclesia sine macula et ruga, tanquam bene mundata in tendicula crucis extenditur: sed hic omnino potest id agi. Exhibet sibi Ecclesiam gloriosam Dominus, non habentem maculam aut rugam. Agit hoc et hic, exhibet ibi. Hoc enim agit, ut non habeamus maculam aut rugam. Magnus est qui agit, bene curat, doctissimus artifex est. Extendit in ligno, et facit nos sine ruga, quos abluendo fecerat sine macula. Ipse qui venit sine macula et sine ruga, extensus est in tendicula; sed propter nos, non propter se, ut nos faceret sine macula et ruga. Rogemus ergo eum ut faciat, et postquam fecerit, ad horrea nos ducat, ibique nos reponat, ubi pressorium non erit.

comes out cleansed, and the Church is stored up as pure gold in the Lord's treasuries; and for this reason in the Lord's treasuries the Church is without spot and wrinkle. And if there she is without spot and wrinkle, what must be prayed for here? That pardon may be received. He Who gives pardon wipes away the spot; He Who forgives stretches out the wrinkle. And where is our wrinkle stretched out? As on the stretching-frame of the great fuller, on the cross of Christ. For on that very cross, that is, on that very stretching-frame, He shed His blood for us. And you faithful know what testimony you bear to the blood which you have received. For you certainly say, Amen. You know what blood it is that was poured out for many for the remission of sins (cf. Matt. 26:28). See how the Church is made without spot and wrinkle: as one well cleansed she is stretched out on the stretching-frame of the cross; but here this can wholly be done. The Lord presents to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle (Eph. 5:27). He does this here too, and presents it there. For He does this, that we may not have spot or wrinkle. Great is He Who does it; He takes good care; He is a most skilled craftsman. He stretches out on the wood, and makes us without wrinkle, whom by washing He had made without spot. He Himself, Who came without spot and without wrinkle, was stretched out on the stretching-frame; but for our sake, not for His own, that He might make us without spot and wrinkle. Let us therefore ask Him to do it, and when He has done it, to lead us to the granaries and store us there, where there will be no winepress.

CAPUT VI. — 8. Remedia peccatorum sine quibus vivi non potest. — Mortifera non facit bonae fidei et bonae spei Christianus. Conditio qua nobis relaxantur quotidiana peccata. Tu ergo qui loquebaris, sine macula et ruga es? Quid hic facis in Ecclesia, quae dicit, Dimitte nobis debita nostra? Debita se habere confitetur, quae relaxentur. Qui non confitentur, non ideo non habent: sed ideo eis non relaxabuntur. Confessio nos sanat, et vita cauta, vita humilis, oratio cum fide, contritie cordis, lacrymae non fictae de vena cordis profluentes, ut dimittantur nobis peccata, sine quibus esse non possumus. Confessio, inquam, nos sanat, dicente apostolo Joanne, Si confiteamur peccata nostra, fidelis est et justus, ut dimittat nobis peccata, et mundet nos ab omni iniquitate. Non autem, quia dico quod non possumus hic esse sine peccato, homicidia facere debemus, aut adulteria, vel caetera mortifera peccata, quae uno ictu perimunt. Talia non facit bonae fidei et bonae spei christianus: sed illa sola, quae quotidiano orationis penicillo terguntur. Humiles et devoti dicamus quotidie, Dimitte nobis debita nostra: sed si faciamus quod sequitur, Sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris. Sponsio haec cum Deo, vera sponsio et fixa conditio est. Tu homo es, et habes debitorem, et debitor etiam tu es. Accedis ad Deum, qui habet debitores, et debitor non est, ut postules tibi debita relaxari. Sed hoc tibi dicit: Ego debita non habeo, tu habes debita; debes enim mihi: sed etiam frater tuus debet tibi. Debitor

Chapter VI. — 8. The remedies for the sins without which one cannot live. — A Christian of good faith and good hope does not commit deadly sins. The condition on which our daily sins are remitted to us. You, then, who were speaking, are you without spot and wrinkle? What are you doing here in the Church, which says, Forgive us our debts (Matt. 6:12)? She confesses that she has debts, to be remitted. Those who do not confess do not for that reason not have them; but for that reason they will not be remitted to them. Confession heals us, and a careful life, a humble life, prayer with faith, contrition of heart, unfeigned tears flowing from the vein of the heart, so that the sins without which we cannot be may be forgiven us. Confession, I say, heals us, as the apostle John says, If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all iniquity (1 John 1:9). But not, because I say that we cannot be here without sin, ought we therefore to commit murders, or adulteries, or the other deadly sins, which kill at one stroke. Such things a Christian of good faith and good hope does not do, but only those which are wiped away by the daily sponge of prayer. Humble and devout, let us say daily, Forgive us our debts; but only if we do what follows, As we also forgive our debtors (Matt. 6:12). This is a pledge with God, a true pledge and a fixed condition. You are a man, and you have a debtor, and you too are a debtor. You approach God, Who has debtors and is no debtor, to ask that your debts be remitted to you. But He says this to you: I have no debts, you have debts; for you owe Me; but your brother also owes you. A debtor

Editors' notes and page, col. 983

Footnotes

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Benignianus Ms., omnino non potest id agi : sed refragantibus caeteris libris. In subsequenti sententia facile crederemus legendum, Exhibet ibi Ecclesiam ; si non, sibi, vox Apostoli esset in ipso de quo disputatur loco, ad Ephes. cap. v, 27.

The Benignus manuscript: "this cannot be done at all"; but the other copies are against it. In the following sentence we would readily believe the reading should be "He presents the Church there", were not sibi ("to himself") the Apostle's word in the very passage under discussion, Ephesians 5:27.

(printed under page 498)

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Sic Am. Er. et manuscripti. At Lov., Magnum est, quia hoc agit.

So Amerbach, Erasmus and the manuscripts. But Louvain: "It is a great thing, because he does this".

(printed under page 498)