PL 38 · cols. 1039–1043

Augustine, Sermones 195-209 (Classis II, de Tempore)

Sermons CCV–CCVII

Deum (Galat. 1, 22-24). Isto modo Israeliticus paries cogitetur, et parieti ex Gentibus venienti, qui nunc est conspicuus, adjungatur: atque ita lapis angularis prius in praesepio positus, usque ad coeli culmen erectus, non frustra praedictus Christus Dominus invenitur.

God (Gal. 1:22–24). In this way let the Israelite wall be thought of, and let it be joined to the wall coming from the Gentiles, which is now plain to see: and so the cornerstone, first laid in the manger and raised up to the summit of heaven, Christ the Lord, is found to have been foretold not in vain.

SERMO CCV. In Quadragesima, I.

Sermon 205. On Lent, 1.

1. Quadragesimae tempore crux castigandi corporis assumenda. Christianus perpetuo debet pendere in cruce. Crux totius vitae nostrae. Observationem Quadragesimae, solemni reditu praesentatam, hodierno die ingredimur: quo vobis solemniter etiam exhortatio nostra debetur; ut Dei sermo per nostrum officium ministratus, jejunaturos corpore, pascat in corde; ac sic interior homo cibo suo refectus, exterioris castigationem possit agere, et robustius sustinere. Congruit enim nostrae devotioni, ut qui Domini crucifixi passionem jam propinquantem celebraturi sumus, reprimendarum carnalium voluptatum crucem nobis ipsi etiam faciamus, sicut dicit Apostolus: Qui autem Jesu Christi sunt, carnem suam crucifixerunt cum passionibus et concupiscentiis (Galat. V, 24). In hac quidem cruce, per totam istam vitam, quae in mediis tentationibus ducitur, perpetuo debet pendere christianus. Non enim est in h⟨a⟩c vita tempus evellendi clavos, de quibus in Psalmo dicitur: Confige clavis a timore tuo carnes meas (Psal. CXVIII, 120). Carnes, sunt carnales concupiscentiae; clavi, sunt praecepta justitiae: his illas timor Domini configit, qui nos illi acceptabilem hostiam crucifigit. Unde item dicit Apostolus: Obsecro itaque vos, fratres, per miserationem Dei, ut exhibeatis corpora vestra hostiam vivam, sanctam, Deo placentem (Rom. XII, 1). Crux ergo ista, in qua Dei servus non solum non confunditur, sed etiam gloriatur dicens, Mihi autem absit gloriari, nisi in cruce Domini nostri Jesu Christi, per quem mihi mundus crucifixus est, et ego mundo (Galat. VI, 14): crux, inquam, ista non quadraginta dierum est, sed totius hujus vitae, quae mystico numero quadraginta istorum significatur dierum; sive quod homo ducturus hanc vitam, sicut nonnulli asserunt, diebus quadraginta formatur in utero; sive quod Evangelia quatuor cum denaria Lege concordant, et quater deni istum numerum signant, nobisque in hac vita Scripturas utrasque necessarias esse demonstrant; sive alia qualibet probabiliore causa, quam potest intellectus melior et luculentior invenire. Unde et Moyses et Elias et ipse Dominus quadraginta diebus jejunaverunt: ut insinuaretur nobis et in Moyse et in Elia et in ipso Christo, hoc est, in Lege et Prophetis et in ipso Evangelio, id nobiscum agi, ne conformemur et haereamus huic saeculo, sed crucifigamus

1. In the season of Lent the cross of chastening the body is to be taken up. The Christian ought to hang on the cross perpetually. The cross of our whole life. Today we enter upon the observance of Lent, brought before us by its solemn return: on which day our exhortation is also solemnly owed to you; so that the word of God, ministered through our office, may feed in the heart those who are about to fast in the body; and so the inner man, refreshed by his own food, may be able to carry out the chastening of the outer, and to endure it more robustly. For it befits our devotion that we, who are about to celebrate the passion of the crucified Lord now drawing near, should also make for ourselves a cross of restraining carnal pleasures, as the Apostle says: But those who are Jesus Christ's have crucified their flesh with its passions and concupiscences (Gal. 5:24). On this cross indeed, through the whole of this life, which is led in the midst of temptations, the Christian ought to hang perpetually. For in this life it is not the time for pulling out the nails, of which it is said in the Psalm: Pierce my flesh with nails from fear of Thee (Ps. 118:120). The flesh is the carnal concupiscences; the nails are the precepts of justice: with these the fear of the Lord pierces them, which crucifies us as a victim acceptable to Him. Whence again the Apostle says: I beseech you therefore, brothers, by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God (Rom. 12:1). This cross, then, in which the servant of God is not only not put to shame but even glories, saying, But far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world (Gal. 6:14): this cross, I say, is not of forty days, but of this whole life, which is signified by the mystical number of these forty days; whether because a man who is to lead this life, as some assert, is formed in the womb in forty days; or because the four Gospels agree with the tenfold Law, and four times ten marks this number, and shows us that both Scriptures are necessary in this life; or for any other more probable reason which a better and clearer understanding can find. Hence both Moses and Elijah and the Lord Himself fasted for forty days: so that it might be suggested to us, in Moses and in Elijah and in Christ Himself, that is, in the Law and the Prophets and in the Gospel itself, that this is being done with us, that we should not be conformed to and cling to this world, but should crucify

Editors' notes and page, col. 1039

Footnotes

(*) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon title, upper page)› · call in col 1039 Collatus est ad cl. r. v. et ad Lov.

Collated with cl. r. v. [manuscripts] and with the Louvain edition.

(printed under page 526)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon title, upper page)› · call in col 1039

Alias, de Diversis 68.

Formerly [numbered] De Diversis 68.

(printed under page 526)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon title, upper page)› · call in col 1039

Possidius in Indiculo, cap. 10 recenset, « de Quadragesima ante Pascha tractatus quinque. » Sex tamen aut septem hic habes; e quibus unum hunc citant Beda et Florus ad Galat. v.

Possidius, in the Indiculus, ch. 10, lists "five treatises on Lent before Easter." Here, however, you have six or seven; of these, Bede and Florus cite this one on Galatians 5.

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hominem veterem, non in comessationibus et ebrietatibus, non in cubilibus et impudicitiis, non in contentione et aemulatione agentes; sed induamus Dominum Jesum; et carnis curam ne fecerimus in concupiscentiis (Rom. XIII, 13 et 14). Sic semper hic vive, Christiane: si terreno limo gressus non vis immergere, noli de ista cruce descendere. Si autem hoc faciendum est per hanc totam vitam, quanto magis per istos Quadragesimae dies, quibus non solum agitur, verum etiam significatur haec vita?

the old man, not conducting ourselves in revellings and drunkenness, not in chambering and impurities, not in strife and rivalry; but let us put on the Lord Jesus; and let us not make provision for the flesh in its lusts (Rom. 13:13–14). Live thus always here, Christian: if you do not wish to sink your steps in the earthly mire, do not come down from this cross. But if this must be done through this whole life, how much more through these days of Lent, in which this life is not only lived but also signified?

2. Pia opera ferventius exercenda per Quadragesimae tempus. Per alios ergo dies non graventur corda vestra in crapula et ebrietate (Luc. XXI, 34): per hos autem etiam jejunate. Per alios dies, adulteria, fornicationes, omnesque illicitas corruptelas nolite contingere: per hos autem etiam a conjugibus abstinete. Quod vobis demitis jejunando, eleemosynis addite praerogando. Tempus quod reddendo conjugali debito occupabatur, supplicationibus impendatur. Corpus quod carnalibus affectibus solvebatur, puris precibus prosternatur. Manus quae amplexibus implicabantur, orationibus extendantur. Vos autem qui etiam per alios dies jejunatis, per hos augete quod facitis. Qui per alios dies perpetua continentia crucifigitis corpus, per hos Deo vestro crebrioribus et intentioribus inhaerete orationibus. Omnes unanimes, omnes fideles fideliter, omnes in hac peregrinatione unius patriae desiderio suspirantes, et amore ferventes. Dounm Dei, quod ipse non habet, nullus in altero invideat, nullus irrid⟨e⟩at. In spiritualibus bonis, tuum deputa, quod amas in fratre: suum deputet, quod amat in te. Nemo sub abstinentiae specie, mutare affectet potius, quam resec⟨a⟩re delicias; ut pretiosos cibos quaerat, quia carne non vescitur, et inusitatos liquores, quia vinum non bibit: ne per occasionem quasi domandae carnis, magis agat negotium voluptatis. Alimenta quidem mundis munda sunt omnia: sed in nullo est munda luxuria.

2. Works of piety are to be practised more fervently through the season of Lent. On other days, then, let your hearts not be weighed down with surfeiting and drunkenness (Luke 21:34): but on these days fast as well. On other days do not touch adulteries, fornications and all unlawful corruptions: but on these days abstain even from your spouses. What you take away from yourselves by fasting, add to your alms by bestowing it. Let the time that was taken up in rendering the conjugal debt be spent on supplications. Let the body that was relaxed in carnal affections be laid prostrate in pure prayers. Let the hands that were entwined in embraces be stretched out in prayers. And you who fast on other days too, increase on these days what you do. You who on other days crucify the body by perpetual continence, cleave on these days to your God with more frequent and more intent prayers. All of one mind, all faithful faithfully, all in this pilgrimage sighing with longing for the one homeland, and fervent with love. Let no one envy in another the gift of God which he himself does not have; let no one mock it. In spiritual goods, count as yours what you love in your brother: let him count as his what he loves in you. Let no one, under the appearance of abstinence, aim to change his delicacies rather than to cut them away; so as to seek costly foods because he does not eat meat, and unusual drinks because he does not drink wine: lest under the pretext, as it were, of taming the flesh he should rather carry on the business of pleasure. All foods indeed are clean to the clean: but in no one is luxury clean.

3. A litibus in primis jejunandum. Prae caeteris, fratres, a litibus et discordiis jejunate. Mementote prophetam quibusdam exprobrantem atque clamantem: In diebus jejunii vestri, inveniuntur voluntates vestrae, quod omnes qui sub jugo vestro sunt stimulatis, et caeditis pugnis; auditur in clamore vox vestra (Isai. LVIII, 3 5), et caetera talia. Quibus commemoratis adjunxit: Non hoc jejunium ego elegi, dicit Dominus. Si clamare vultis, illum frequentate clamorem, de quo scriptum est: Voce mea ad Dominum clamavi (Psal. CXLI, 2). Ille quippe non est litis, sed charitatis; nec carnis, sed cordis. Non est talis ille, de quo dicitur: Expectavi ut faceret judicium, fecit autem iniquitatem; et non justitiam, sed clamorem (Isai. V, 7). Dimittite, et dimittetur vobis; date, et dabitur vobis (Luc. VI, 37 et 38). Hae sunt duae alae orationis, quibus volat ad Deum: si illud quod committitur, ignoscit delinquenti, et donat egenti.

3. Above all one must fast from quarrels. Before all else, brethren, fast from quarrels and discords. Remember the prophet reproaching certain people and crying out: In the days of your fast your own wills are found, in that you goad all who are under your yoke, and strike them with fists; your voice is heard in clamour (Isa. 58:3–5), and other such things. Having recalled these, he added: Not this fast have I chosen, says the Lord. If you wish to cry out, frequent that cry of which it is written: With my voice I cried to the Lord (Ps. 141:2). For that cry is not of strife but of charity; not of the flesh but of the heart. That one is not such as the one of which it is said: I waited for him to do judgement, but he did iniquity; and not justice, but a clamour (Isa. 5:7). Forgive, and it will be forgiven you; give, and it will be given to you (Luke 6:37–38). These are the two wings of prayer by which it flies to God: if it pardons the wrongdoer what is committed, and gives to the needy.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1040

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: volat ad Deum› · call in col 1040

Lov., quibus quisque volat ad Deum. Abest quisque a Mss.; cujus loco subauditur, oratio.

Louvain: "quibus quisque volat ad Deum" [on which each one flies to God]. "Quisque" is absent from the manuscripts; in its place "oratio" [prayer] is understood.

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SERMO CCVI. In Quadragesima, II.

Sermon 206. In Lent, 2.

1. Quadragesimae tempus operibus pietatis et humilitatis fervere debet. Anniversario reditu Quadragesimae tempus advenit, quo vobis exhortatio nostra debetur: quia et vos tempori congrua Domino opera vestra debetis: quae tamen non Domino utilia possint esse, sed vobis. Orationibus, jejuniis, eleemosynis et alia quidem tempora debent christiano fervere: verumtamen et illos qui diebus aliis in his pigri sunt, debet ista solemnitas excitare; et ii qui per alios dies ad ista sunt alacres, nunc ea debent ferventius exercere. Tempus quippe humilitatis nostrae vitae in hoc saeculo est, quam dies significant isti, Domino pro nobis Christo, qui semel moriendo passus est, velut annis omnibus revoluta solemnitate passuro. Quod enim semel in toto tempore factum est, ut vita nostra novaretur; celebratur annis omnibus, ut in memoriam revocetur. Si ergo veracissimae pietatis affectu, toto peregrinationis hujus tempore, quo in mediis tentationibus vivimus, humiles corde esse debemus: quanto magis his diebus, quibus ipsum tempus humilitatis nostrae non solum vivendo agimus, sed etiam celebrando significamus? Humiles esse nos docuit humilitas Christi, quia impiis moriendo cessit: excelsos nos facit celsitudo Christi, quia pios resurgendo praecessit. Si enim commortui sumus, ait Apostolus, et convivemus: si toleramus, et conregnabimus (II Tim. II, 11 et 12). Unum horum modo, tanquam ejus propinquante passione; alterum post Pascha, tanquam ejus resurrectione completa, devotione debita celebramus. Tunc enim post dies hujus humilitatis, etiam nostrae celsitudinis tempus, etsi nondum videndo agere vacat; jam tamen praemeditando significare delectat. Nunc itaque orationibus ingemiscamus instantius: tunc uberius exhilarabimur laudibus.

1. The season of Lent ought to be fervent with works of piety and humility. By its yearly return the season of Lent has come, in which our exhortation is owed to you: since you too owe to the Lord works befitting the season, works which nevertheless can be of use not to the Lord but to you. Other seasons too ought indeed to be fervent for a Christian with prayers, fasts and almsgiving; nevertheless this solemnity ought to rouse those who on other days are sluggish in these things, and those who through other days are eager for them ought now to practise them more fervently. For the time of our life in this world is a time of humility, which these days signify, the Lord Christ, Who suffered once for us by dying, being as it were about to suffer every year as the solemnity comes round. For what was done once in all time, that our life might be renewed, is celebrated every year, that it may be called back to memory. If, then, with the affection of the truest piety, through the whole time of this pilgrimage, in which we live amid temptations, we ought to be humble of heart, how much more in these days, in which we not only pass the very time of our humility by living it, but also signify it by celebrating it? The humility of Christ has taught us to be humble, because He yielded to the ungodly by dying; the loftiness of Christ makes us lofty, because He went before the godly by rising again. For if we have died with Him, says the Apostle, we shall also live with Him; if we endure, we shall also reign with Him (2 Tim. 2:11–12). The one of these we celebrate with due devotion now, as His passion draws near; the other after Easter, as His resurrection is accomplished. For then, after the days of this humility, though we are not yet free to pass the time of our loftiness also by seeing it, yet it delights us already to signify it by meditating on it beforehand. Now therefore let us groan more urgently in prayers; then we shall be gladdened more abundantly with praises.

2. Oratio fulcienda jejunio et eleemosyna. Duo genera eleemosynarum. In paupere pascitur Deus. Nemo pauper in altero eleemosynae genere. Sed orationibus nostris, quibus ad Deum facilius volando perveniant, eleemosynis et jejuniis pennas pietatis addamus. Hinc autem intelligit animus christianus, quantum remotus esse debet a fraude alienae rei; quando sentit simile esse fraudi, si superflua sua non tribuerit indigenti. Dominus dicit: Date et dabitur vobis; dimittite et dimittetur vobis (Luc. VI, 37 et 38). Haec duo genera eleemosynarum, tribuendi et ignoscendi, clementer et ferventer operemur; qui nobis a Domino ut bona tribuantur, et mala non retribuantur, oramus. Date, inquit, et dabitur vobis. Quid verius, quid justius; ut qui dare detrectat, se fraudet ipse, nec accipiat? Si

2. Prayer is to be propped up by fasting and almsgiving. Two kinds of almsgiving. In the poor man God is fed. No one is poor in the second kind of almsgiving. But to our prayers, so that by flying they may more easily reach God, let us add the wings of piety through almsgiving and fasting. From this, moreover, the Christian mind understands how far removed it ought to be from defrauding another of his property, when it perceives that it is like fraud if it does not give its superfluities to the needy. The Lord says: Give, and it shall be given to you; forgive, and it shall be forgiven you (Luke 6:37–38). These two kinds of almsgiving, of giving and of forgiving, let us practise mercifully and fervently, we who pray that good things may be bestowed on us by the Lord and that evil things may not be repaid to us. Give, He says, and it shall be given to you. What is truer, what is more just, than that he who refuses to give should defraud himself and not receive? If

Editors' notes and page, col. 1041

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon title, upper page)› · call in col 1041

In editione Lovaniensium et in recentioribus tantum Mss. r. v. praenotatur hic sermo, Dominica 2 Quadragesimae; non quod hac die dictus sit ab Augustino, sed ut in ea legatur plebi. Sic sermo superior aliique ex subsequentibus quidam certis diebus assignantur in praedictis libris.

In the Louvain edition, and only in the more recent manuscripts r. and v., this sermon is headed "Second Sunday of Lent"; not because Augustine preached it on that day, but so that it might be read to the people on it. In the same way the preceding sermon and some of those that follow are assigned to particular days in the books mentioned.

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(2) ‹anchor: volando perveniant› · call in col 1041

Lov., facilius volando perveniamus. At Mss., facilius volando perveniant: supple, orationes nostrae.

Louvain: "facilius volando perveniamus" [that we may more easily arrive by flying]. But the manuscripts: "facilius volando perveniant" [that they may …]; supply "orationes nostrae" [our prayers].

(*) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon title, upper page)› · call in col 1041 Ad hunc emendandum usi sumus codicibus cl. r. rm. v. et edit. Lov.

To correct this one we used the codices cl. r. rm. v. and the Louvain edition.

(printed under page 527)

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Alias, de Diversis 70.

Formerly [numbered] De Diversis 70.

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impudenter agricola quaerit messem, ubi se novit non praemisisse semen; quanto impudentius quaerit Deum divitem dantem, qui hominem pauperem noluit exaudire poscentem? In paupere enim se pasci voluit, qui non esurit. Deum ergo nostrum egentem non spernamus in paupere, ut egentes satiemur in divite. Habemus egentes, et egemus: demus ergo, ut accipiamus: Veruntamen quid est quod damus? Et pro isto exiguo, visibili, temporali atque terreno, quid est quod accipere desideramus? Quod oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit (I Cor. II, 9). Nisi ipse promitteret, impudentiae fuisset dare ista, et accipere velle illa: et nolle dare nec ista: quae tamen ista nec ipsa haberemus, nisi dante illo qui exhortatur ut demus. Qua igitur fronte in utrisque speramus dantem, si in minimis contemnimus imperantem? Dimittite, et dimittetur vobis. Hoc est, Ignoscite, et ignoscetur vobis. Conservus conservo reconcilietur; ne juste servus a Domino puniatur. In hoc genere eleemosynae, nullus est pauper. Potest hoc facere ut in aeternum vivat, etiam qui ad tempus non habet unde vivat. Gratis datur, dando cumulatur, quae non consumitur, nisi quando non erogatur. Cujus ergo usque ad hos dies inimicitiae perdurarunt, confundantur atque finiantur. Finiantur, ne finiant: non teneantur, ne teneant: perimantur per redemptorem, ne perimant retentorem.

a farmer impudently seeks a harvest where he knows he has not sown seed beforehand; how much more impudently does he seek God as a rich giver, who refused to hear a poor man begging? For He Who does not hunger willed to be fed in the poor man. Let us therefore not spurn our God in need in the poor man, so that we in our need may be satisfied in the rich One. We have the needy, and we are needy: let us therefore give, that we may receive. Yet what is it that we give? And in return for this small, visible, temporal and earthly thing, what is it that we desire to receive? What eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has ascended into the heart of man (1 Cor. 2:9). Unless He Himself promised it, it would have been impudence to give these things and to wish to receive those: and to be unwilling to give even these: yet these very things we would not have, unless He gave them Who exhorts us to give. With what face then do we hope for Him as giver in both, if in the least things we despise Him as commander? Forgive, and it will be forgiven you. That is, Pardon, and you will be pardoned. Let fellow servant be reconciled to fellow servant, lest the servant be justly punished by the Lord. In this kind of almsgiving no one is poor. Even he who for the present has nothing to live on can do this, so that he may live for ever. It is given freely, it is heaped up by giving, it is not used up except when it is not paid out. Therefore let those whose enmities have lasted until these days be confounded and brought to an end. Let them be ended, lest they end [you]: let them not be held, lest they hold [you]: let them be destroyed through the Redeemer, lest they destroy the one who retains them.

3. Jejunia Deo accepta. Jejunia vestra non sint talia, qualia propheta condemnat, dicens: Non hoc jejunium elegi, dicit Dominus (Isai. LVIII, 5). Arguit enim jejunia litigiosorum: quaerit piorum. Arguit opprimentes: quaerit relaxantes. Arguit inimicantes: quaerit liberantes. Inde enim per hos dies a rebus licitis desideria vestra frenatis, ne illicita committatis. Nullis diebus se ingurgitet vino, nec adulterio, qui diebus istis temperat a conjugio. Ita oratio nostra humilitate et charitate, jejunando et dando, temperando et ignoscendo, bona tribuendo et mala non retribuendo, a malo declinando et bona faciendo, quaerit pacem, et consequitur eam (Psal. XXXIII, 15). Volat enim talibus oratio pennis adminiculata virtutum: et quo Christus pax nostra praecessit, facilius perfertur in coelum.

3. Fasts acceptable to God. Let your fasts not be such as the prophet condemns, saying: I have not chosen this fast, says the Lord (Isa. 58:5). For He rebukes the fasts of the quarrelsome: He seeks those of the godly. He rebukes those who oppress: He seeks those who release. He rebukes those who keep up enmity: He seeks those who set free. For this is why during these days you rein in your desires from lawful things, so that you may not commit unlawful ones. On no days let him gorge himself with wine, nor with adultery, who on these days abstains from the marriage bed. Thus our prayer, by humility and charity, by fasting and giving, by restraining and pardoning, by bestowing good things and not repaying evil things, by turning away from evil and doing good, seeks peace and attains it (Ps. 33:15). For prayer, supported by such wings of virtues, flies: and it is more easily carried into heaven, whither Christ our peace has gone before.

SERMO CCVII. In Quadragesima, III.

Sermon 207. In Lent, 3.

1. Eleemosyna isto maxime tempore eroganda. In adjutorio misericordiae Domini Dei nostri, tentationes saeculi, insidiae diaboli, mundi labor, carnis illecebra, turbulentorum temporum fluctus, et corporalis omnis atque spiritualis adversitas, eleemosynis, et jejuniis, atque orationibus superandae sunt. Haec cum per totam vitam fervere debeant christiano; tum maxime propinquante solemnitate Paschali, quae suo reditu anniversario nostras excitat mentes; innovans

1. Alms to be paid out especially at this time. With the help of the mercy of the Lord our God, the temptations of the world, the snares of the devil, the toil of the world, the allurement of the flesh, the waves of turbulent times, and every bodily and spiritual adversity are to be overcome by alms, and fasts, and prayers. Although these ought to be fervent in a Christian throughout the whole of life, then most of all when the Paschal solemnity is drawing near, which by its yearly return stirs up our minds; renewing

Editors' notes and page, col. 1042

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: solemnitate Paschali› · call in col 1042

Colbertinus Ms., tum maxime appropinquante Dominica, quae suo, etc.

The Colbert manuscript: "tum maxime appropinquante Dominica, quae suo" [especially as the Lord's Day draws near, which by its …], etc.

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCVII› · call in col 1042 Castigatus ad cl. r. rm. v. et Lov.

Corrected against cl. r. rm. v. [manuscripts] and Louvain.

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1042

Aliquid hic supplendum.

Something is to be supplied here.

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(b) ‹anchor: SERMO CCVII› · call in col 1042

Alias, de Diversis 71.

Formerly [numbered] De Diversis 71.

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in eis memoria salutari, quod Dominus noster unicus Dei Filius misericordiam praestitit nobis, jejunavit oravitque pro nobis. Eleemosyna quippe graece, misericordia est. Quae autem major esse misericordia super miseros potuit, quam illa quae coeli creatorem de coelo deposuit, et terreno corpore terrae induit conditorem; eum qui in aeternitate Patris manet aequalis, mortalitate coaequavit et nobis, formam servi mundi Domino imposuit; ut ipse panis esuriret, satietas sitiret, virtus infirmaretur, sanitas vulneraretur, vita moreretur? Hoc autem, ut nostra pasceretur fames, rigaretur ariditas, consolaretur infirmitas, exstingueretur iniquitas, ardesceret charitas. Quae major misericordia, quam creari creatorem, servire dominatorem, vendi redemptorem, humiliari exaltatorem, occidi suscitatorem? Nobis de praebendis eleemosynis praecipitur ut panem demus esurienti (Isai. LVIII, 7): ille se i⟨p⟩sum ut nobis daret esurientibus, prius pro nobis se tradidit saevientibus. Praecipitur nobis ut peregrinum r⟨e⟩cipiamus: ille pro nobis in sua propria venit, et sui eum non receperunt (Joan. I, 11). Ipsum denique benedicat anima nostra, qui propitius fit omnibus iniquitatibus ejus, qui sanat omnes languores ejus, qui redimit de corruptione vitam ejus, qui eam coronat in miseratione et misericordia: qui satiat in bonis desiderium ejus (Psal. CII, 2-5). Exerceamus itaque eleemosynas nostras tanto impensius, tantoque frequentius, quanto propinquior fit dies ⟨q⟩ua nobis praerogata eleemosyna celebratur. Quia je⟨j⟩unium sine misericordia ei nihil est qui jejunat.

in them by a salutary remembrance, that our Lord, the only Son of God, showed mercy to us, fasted and prayed for us. For eleemosyna in Greek is mercy. But what greater mercy towards the wretched could there be than that which brought the Creator of heaven down from heaven, and clothed the Founder of the earth with an earthly body; which made Him Who abides equal to the Father in eternity equal also to us in mortality, and laid the form of a servant upon the Lord of the world; so that Bread itself should hunger, Fullness thirst, Strength be made weak, Health be wounded, Life die? And this, so that our hunger might be fed, our dryness watered, our weakness consoled, our iniquity extinguished, our charity kindled. What greater mercy than that the Creator should be created, the Ruler serve, the Redeemer be sold, the Exalter be humbled, the Raiser of the dead be slain? Concerning the giving of alms we are commanded to give bread to the hungry (Isa. 58:7): He, in order to give Himself to us who hunger, first handed Himself over for us to those who raged. We are commanded to receive the stranger: He for our sake came to His own, and His own did not receive Him (John 1:11). Let our soul, then, bless Him Who is merciful to all its iniquities, Who heals all its infirmities, Who redeems its life from corruption, Who crowns it in compassion and mercy, Who satisfies its desire with good things (Ps. 102:2–5). Let us therefore practise our almsgiving the more earnestly and the more frequently, the nearer the day draws on which the alms bestowed on us beforehand is celebrated. For fasting without mercy is nothing to him who fasts.

2. Jejunium et abstinentia qualis requiritur. Minuendae voluptates, non mutandae. Jejunemus etiam humiliantes animas nostras, appropinquante die quo magister humilitatis humiliavit semetipsum, factus subditus usque ad mortem crucis (Philipp. II, 8). Imitemur ejus crucem, abstinentiae clavis edomitas concupiscentias configentes. Castigemus corpus nostrum, et servituti subjiciamus: et ne per indomitam carnem ad illicita prolabamur, in ea domanda aliquantum et li⟨c⟩ita subtrahamus. Crapula et ebrietas etiam per dies caeteros devitanda: per hos autem dies etiam concessa prandia removenda. Adulteria et fornicationes semper exsecranda atque fugienda: his autem diebus et a conjugibus temperandum est. Facile tibi obtemperabit caro, ne inhaereat alienis, quae refrenari consueverit et a suis. Sane cavendum est ne mutes, non minuas voluptates. Videas enim quosdam pro usitato vino, inusitatos liquores exquirere, et aliorum expressione pomorum, quod ex uva sibi denegant, multo suavius compensare; cibos extra carnes multiplici varietate ac jucunditate conquirere; et suavitates quas alio tempore consectari pudet, huic tempori quasi opportune colligere: ut videlicet observatio Quadragesimae non sit veterum concupiscentiarum repressio, sed novarum deliciarum occasio. Haec, fratres, ne vobis persuasa subrepant, quanta potestis vigilantia providete. Parcimonia jejuniis conjungatur. Sicut ventris castiganda saturitas, ita gulae irritamenta

2. What kind of fasting and abstinence is required. Pleasures are to be diminished, not exchanged. Let us also fast, humbling our souls, as the day approaches on which the Master of humility humbled Himself, made subject even unto the death of the cross (Phil. 2:8). Let us imitate His cross, fastening to it with the nails of abstinence our subdued lusts. Let us chastise our body and bring it into subjection; and lest through untamed flesh we slip into what is unlawful, let us, in taming it, withdraw from it somewhat even of what is lawful. Gluttony and drunkenness are to be avoided even on the other days; but on these days even permitted meals are to be put away. Adulteries and fornications are always to be abhorred and fled from; but on these days there must be restraint even with one's spouse. The flesh will easily obey you so as not to cling to what belongs to others, if it has grown accustomed to being reined in even from what is its own. Truly one must beware lest you exchange your pleasures rather than diminish them. For you may see some people, instead of their customary wine, seeking out unaccustomed drinks, and making up for what they deny themselves from the grape by the pressing of other fruits, much more sweetly; procuring foods other than meat in manifold variety and delightfulness; and gathering at this season, as if it were fitting, delicacies which at another time they would be ashamed to pursue: so that, forsooth, the observance of Lent becomes not a repression of old lusts but an occasion for new delights. Take care, brethren, with as much vigilance as you can, that these notions do not creep in upon you and persuade you. Let frugality be joined to fasting. Just as the fullness of the belly is to be chastised, so the incitements of the palate

Editors' notes and page, col. 1043