PL 38 · cols. 1107–1111

Augustine, Sermones 217-233 (Classis II, de Tempore)

Sermon CCXXXII

positus; sed tertio die resurrexit, finito labore, mortua morte. Ecce ibi oculum habete in ejus resurrectione; quia ita magnificavit Sanctum suum, ut resuscitaret eum a mortuis, et daret ei honorem in coelo sedendi ad dexteram suam. Ostendit tibi quid debeas sapere, si vis beatus esse: hic enim esse non potes. In hac vita beatus esse nen potes: nemo potest. Bonam rem quaeris, sed terra ista non est regio ejus rei quam quaeris. Quid quaeris? Beatam vitam. Sed non est hic. Aurum si quaereres in loco ubi non est, ille qui novit quia non est ibi, nonne diceret tibi: Quid fodis? quid terram sollicitas? Fossam facis quo descendas, non ubi aliquid invenias. Quid es responsurus admonenti te? Aurum quaero. Et ille: Non tibi dico, Nihil est quod quaeris; sed, Non est ubi quaeris. Sic et tu quando dicis, Beatus esse volo; bonam rem quaeris, sed non est hic. Si habuit hic illud Christus, habebis et tu in regione mortis tuae, quid ille invenit, attende: veniens de alia regione quid hic invenit, nisi quod hic abundat? Manducavit tecum, quod abundat in cella miseriae tuae. Acetum hic bibit, fel hic habuit. Ecce quid in cella tua invenit. Sed ad magnam mensam suam te invitavit, mensam coeli, mensam Angelorum, ubi ipse panis est. Descendens ergo et ista mala inveniens in cella tua, et non dedignatus est talem mensam tuam, et promisit tibi suam. Et quid nobis dicit? Credite, credite vos venturos ad bona mensae meae, quando non sum dedignatus mala mensae vestrae. Malum tuum tulit, et bonum suum non dabit? Utique dabit. Vitam suam promisit nobis: sed incredibilius est quod fecit. Mortem suam praerogavit nobis: tanquam diceret, Ad vitam meam vos invito, ubi nemo moritur, ubi vere vita beata est, ubi cibus non corrumpitur, ubi reficit et non deficit. Ecce quo vos invito, ad regionem Angelorum, ad amicitiam Patris et sancti Spiritus, ad coenam sempiternam, ad fraternitatem meam; postremo ad me ipsum, ad vitam meam vos invito. Non vultis credere quia dabo vobis vitam meam? Tenete pignus mortem meam. Modo ergo cum in ista carne corruptibili vivimus, morum mutatione cum Christo moriamur, amore justitiae cum Christo vivamus: beatam vitam non accepturi, nisi cum ad illum venerimus, qui venit ad nos, et cum illo esse coeperimus, qui mortuus est pro nobis.

laid; but on the third day He rose again, His labour finished, death dead. See, there keep your eye on His resurrection; for He so magnified His Holy One that He raised Him from the dead and gave Him the honour of sitting in heaven at His right hand. He has shown you what you ought to savour, if you wish to be happy: for here you cannot be so. In this life you cannot be happy: no one can. You are seeking a good thing, but this earth is not the region of the thing you seek. What do you seek? A happy life. But it is not here. If you were seeking gold in a place where it is not, would not one who knew that it is not there say to you: Why are you digging? Why are you disturbing the earth? You are making a pit to go down into, not one where you may find something. What will you answer to the one who admonishes you? I am seeking gold. And he: I do not say to you, What you seek is nothing; but, It is not where you are seeking it. So you too, when you say, I want to be happy: you are seeking a good thing, but it is not here. If Christ had that here, you too will have it in the region of your death; what He found, pay attention: coming from another region, what did He find here, except what abounds here? He ate with you what abounds in the storeroom of your misery. Vinegar He drank here, gall He had here. See what He found in your storeroom. But He has invited you to His great table, the table of heaven, the table of the Angels, where He Himself is the bread. Coming down, then, and finding these evils in your storeroom, He did not disdain such a table as yours, and He promised you His own. And what does He say to us? Believe, believe that you will come to the good things of My table, since I did not disdain the evil things of your table. He took away your evil, and will He not give His good? Assuredly He will give it. He promised us His life: but what He did is more incredible. He bestowed His death on us beforehand: as if He were saying, To My life I invite you, where no one dies, where life is truly happy, where food does not corrupt, where it refreshes and does not fail. See where I invite you: to the region of the Angels, to the friendship of the Father and of the Holy Spirit, to the everlasting supper, to My brotherhood; lastly to Myself, to My life I invite you. You will not believe that I shall give you My life? Hold My death as a pledge. Now therefore, while we live in this corruptible flesh, let us die with Christ by a change of conduct, let us live with Christ by love of righteousness: we shall not receive the happy life except when we have come to Him Who came to us, and have begun to be with Him Who died for us.

SERMO CCXXXII. In diebus Paschalibus, III. De resurrectione Christi secundum Lucam.

Sermon 232. On the Paschal days, 3. On the resurrection of Christ according to Luke.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Resurrectio secundum quatuor Evangelistas recitari solita. Passio nonnisi secundum Matthaeum. Resurrectio Domini nostri Jesu Christi et hodie recitata est; sed de altero libro

Chapter I. — 1. The resurrection customarily read according to the four Evangelists. The Passion only according to Matthew. The resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ has been read today too; but from another book

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Quidam manuscripti hic addunt, labores, dolores, mortem.

Some manuscripts add here labores, dolores, mortem ("toils, pains, death").

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCXXXII› · call in col 1107 * Emendatus est ad omnes codices scriptos et excusos qui in sermone modo praecedenti designantur.

* Corrected against all the manuscript and printed copies listed for the sermon just before.

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Alias, de Tempore 144.

Formerly On the Season 144.

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Multis in Mss. hic sermo inscribitur, « Feria secunda: » quo solum indicatur ea die legendus in Ecclesia. Nam in optimae notae codice Floriacensi praenotatur, « Habitus tertia feria. » Et certe hic, nn. 2 et 8 significat Augustinus pridie dictum fuisse sermonem superiorem, cui tamen in plerisque codicibus praefigitur titulus idem, « Feria secunda. »

In many manuscripts this sermon is headed "Monday," which shows only that it was to be read in church on that day. For in the Fleury codex, of the highest quality, it is headed "Preached on Tuesday." And certainly here, nos. 2 and 8, Augustine indicates that the previous sermon was given the day before; yet in most codices that one carries the same title, "Monday."

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Evangelii, qui est secundum Lucam. Primo enim lecta est secundum Matthaeum, hesterno autem die secundum Marcum, hodie secundum Lucam: sic habet ordo Evangelistarum. Sicut enim passio ipsius ab omnibus Evangelistis conscripta est; sic dies isti septem vel octo dant spatium, ut secundum omnes Evangelistas resurrectio Domini recitetur. Passio autem quia uno die legitur, non solet legi, nisi secundum Matthaeum. Volueram aliquando, ut per singulos annos secundum omnes Evangelistas etiam passio legeretur: factum est; non audierunt homines quod consueverant, et perturbati sunt. Qui autem amat Litteras Dei, et non vult esse semper idiota, omnia novit, et omnia diligenter inquirit. Sed sicut cuique Deus partitus est mensuram fidei, sic quisque proficit.

of the Gospel which is according to Luke. For first it was read according to Matthew, yesterday according to Mark, today according to Luke: such is the order of the Evangelists. For just as His passion was written down by all the Evangelists, so these seven or eight days give room for the resurrection of the Lord to be recited according to all the Evangelists. But the passion, because it is read on a single day, is not usually read except according to Matthew. I once wished that each year the passion too should be read according to all the Evangelists: it was done; people did not hear what they had been accustomed to, and they were disturbed. But whoever loves the Letters of God, and does not wish to be always unlearned, knows them all, and investigates them all diligently. But as God has allotted to each the measure of faith, so each makes progress.

CAPUT II. — 2. Incredulitas discipulorum audita resurrectione Christi. Nunc attendamus quod hodie, cum legeretur, audivimus: nam quod heri commendavi charitati vestrae, expressius hodie audivimus, infidelitatem discipulorum: ut intelligamus quantum ejus beneficio nobis praestitum est, ut quod non vidimus, sic credamus. Vocavit eos, instruxit eos, vixit cum eis in terra, fecit ante eorum oculos tanta mirabilia usque ad mortuos suscitandos. Mortuos r⟨e⟩suscitavit, carnem suam posse resuscitare non credebatur. Venerunt mulieres ad monumentum: corpus in monumento non invenerunt; resurrexisse Dominum ab Angelis audierunt: feminae viris nuntiaverunt. Et quid scriptum est? quid audistis? Visa sunt ista ante oculos eorum quasi deliramenta. Magna infelicitas conditionis humanae! Quando locuta est Eva quod dixerat serpens, audita est cito. Mulieri mentienti creditum est, ut moreremur: non est creditum feminis vera dicentibus, ut viveremus. Si non erat credendum feminis, quare Adam credidit Evae? Si feminis credendum, quare sanctis mulieribus non crediderunt discipuli? Et ideo in hoc facto consideranda est benigna dispensatio Domini nostri. Nam hoc est quod egit Dominus Jesus Christus, ut prius illum sexus femineus resurrexisse nuntiaret. Quia per sexum femineum cecidit homo, per sexum femineum reparatus est homo, quia virgo Christum pepererat, femina resurrexisse nuntiabat. Per feminam mors, per feminam vita. Sed non crediderunt discipuli ut dixerant feminae: delirare putaverunt, quando tamen vera nuntiabant.

Chapter II. — 2. The unbelief of the disciples when they heard of the resurrection of Christ. Now let us attend to what we heard today when it was read: for what I commended to your charity yesterday we heard more expressly today, the unbelief of the disciples: so that we may understand how much has been bestowed on us by His kindness, that we believe what we have not seen. He called them, He instructed them, He lived with them on earth, He performed before their eyes such great wonders, even to the raising of the dead. He raised the dead; that He could raise His own flesh was not believed. The women came to the tomb: they did not find the body in the tomb; they heard from Angels that the Lord had risen: the women announced it to the men. And what is written? what have you heard? These things seemed before their eyes as ravings. Great is the unhappiness of the human condition! When Eve spoke what the serpent had said, she was heard at once. A lying woman was believed, so that we should die: women speaking the truth were not believed, so that we might live. If women were not to be believed, why did Adam believe Eve? If women are to be believed, why did the disciples not believe the holy women? And therefore in this event the kindly dispensation of our Lord is to be considered. For this is what the Lord Jesus Christ brought about, that the female sex should be first to announce that He had risen. Since through the female sex man fell, through the female sex man was restored; because a virgin had given birth to Christ, a woman announced that He had risen. Through a woman death, through a woman life. But the disciples did not believe as the women had told them: they thought they were raving, though in fact they were announcing the truth.

CAPUT III. — 3. Discipuli abeunt in alienorum opinion⟨e⟩s de Christo. Petri de Christo confessio. Ecce alii duo ambulabant in via, et loquebantur secum de his quae acciderant in Jerusalem, de iniquitate Judaeorum, de morte Christi: ambulabant fabulantes, et quasi mortuum dolentes, resurrexisse nescientes. Apparuit e⟨is⟩ ipsis, factus est tertius viator, miscuit cum eis ami⟨ca⟩ colloquia. Oculi eorum tenebantur, ne agnoscere⟨nt⟩ eum. Oportebat enim, ut melius cor instrueretur: cognitio differtur: quaerit ab eis quid inter se loquerentur,

Chapter III. — 3. The disciples go off into the opinions of outsiders about Christ. Peter's confession concerning Christ. Behold, two others were walking on the road, and were talking together about the things that had happened in Jerusalem, about the wickedness of the Jews, about the death of Christ: they walked along conversing, and grieving as if for one dead, not knowing that He had risen. He appeared to them themselves, became a third traveller, joined in friendly conversation with them. Their eyes were held, so that they should not recognize Him. For it was necessary that the heart should be better instructed: recognition is deferred: He asks them what they were speaking about among themselves,

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Nonnunquam tamen Passio legebatur prius secundum Lucam, posterius secundum Marcum; uti patet ex sermone 230, n. 2, et ex sermone 217, n. 1.

Sometimes, however, the Passion was read first according to Luke and afterwards according to Mark, as is clear from Sermon 230, no. 2, and from Sermon 217, no. 1. [Both sermon numbers are faint on the scan; the reading is uncertain.]

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ut quod ipse sciebat illi faterentur. Et quod audistis, mirari coeperunt, quia de re clara et tam manifesta velut a nesciente interrogabantur. Tu solus, inquiunt, peregrinus es in Jerusalem, et nescis quae ibi gesta sunt? At ille dixit: Quae? De Jesu Nazareno, qui fuit propheta potens factis et dictis (Luc. XXIV, 1-19). Hoc est, o discipuli? Propheta erat Christus, Dominus prophetarum? Judici vestro nomen praeconis imponitis. Ad alienorum verba devenerant. Quid est quod dixi, alienorum verba? Recolite, quando ipse Jesus ait discipulis suis, Quem me homines esse dicunt filium hominis? responderunt opiniones alienas. Alii dicunt quod Elias es; alii, quia Joannes Baptista; alii, quia Jeremias, aut unus ex Prophetis. Verba ista alienorum erant, non discipulorum. Ecce ad ipsa verba discipuli venerunt. Nunc ergo vos quem me esse dicitis? Respondistis mihi opiniones alienas, fidem vestram volo audire. Tunc ait Petrus, unus pro omnibus, quia unitas in omnibus: Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi. Non quicumque unus ex Prophetis, sed Filius Dei vivi; adimpletor Prophetarum, creator et Angelorum. Tu es Christus Filius Dei vivi. Audivit quod decuit illum audire ex hac voce, et tali voce. « Beatus es, Simon Bar-Jona; quia non tibi revelavit caro et sanguis, sed Pater meus qui in coelis est. Et ego dico tibi, Tu es Petrus, et super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferorum non vincent eam. Tibi dabo claves regni coelorum: et quaecumque solveris in terra, soluta erunt et in coelo; et quaecumque ligaveris in terra, ligata erunt et in coelo. » Fides hoc meruit audire, non homo. Nam ipse homo quid erat, nisi quod ait Psalmus, Omnis homo mendax (Psal. CXV, 11)?

So that what He Himself knew they might confess. And, as you have heard, they began to marvel that, about a matter so clear and so manifest, they were being questioned as if by someone who did not know. Are you alone, they say, a stranger in Jerusalem, and do you not know the things that have been done there? And He said: What things? Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, who was a prophet mighty in deeds and words (Luke 24:1–19). Is that it, O disciples? Was Christ a prophet, He the Lord of the prophets? You impose on your Judge the name of a herald. They had come down to the words of outsiders. What is it that I said, the words of outsiders? Recall when Jesus Himself said to His disciples, Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am? they answered with the opinions of others. Some say that you are Elijah; others, that you are John the Baptist; others, Jeremiah, or one of the Prophets. Those were the words of outsiders, not of the disciples. Behold, the disciples came to those very words. Now then, who do you say that I am? You have answered Me with the opinions of others; I wish to hear your faith. Then Peter said, one for all, because there is unity in all: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Not just any one of the Prophets, but the Son of the living God; the fulfiller of the Prophets, the creator even of the Angels. You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. He heard what it was fitting for him to hear in return for this utterance, and for such an utterance: 'Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona; for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. And I say to you, You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not overcome it. To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven.' It was faith that deserved to hear this, not the man. For what was the man himself, except what the Psalm says, Every man is a liar (Ps. 115:11)?

CAPUT IV. — 4. Petri mox humana cogitatio de Christo. Denique continuo post haec verba denuntiavit illis pa⟨s⟩sionem suam et mortem. Expavit Petrus, et ait: Absit a te, Domine, non fiet istud. Tunc Dominus: Redi post me, satanas. Petrus satanas? Ubi sunt illa verba, Beatus es, Simon Bar-Jona? Numquid beatus satanas? Beatus, de Dei: satanas, de hominis. Denique ipse Dominus exposuit quare illum dixerit satanam: Non enim sapis quae sunt Dei, sed quae sunt hominis (Matth. XVI, 13-23). Unde tunc beatus? Quia non tibi revelavit caro et sanguis, sed Pater meus qui in coelis est. Unde postea satanas? Non sapis quae Dei sunt; quae quando sapiebas, beatus eras: sed sapis quae hominum sunt. Ecce quomodo alternabat anima discipulorum, quasi ex ortu et occasu: modo stabat, modo jacebat; modo illuminabatur, modo tenebrabatur; quia de Dei illuminabatur, de suo tenebrabatur. Unde illuminabatur? Accedite ad eum, et illuminamini (Psal. XXXIII, 6). Unde tenebrabatur? Qui loquitur mendacium, de suo loquitur (Joan. VIII, 44). Filium Dei vivi dixerat, et timebat ne moreretur, cum Filius Dei esset, et ad hoc venisset, ut moreretur.

Chapter IV. — 4. Peter's merely human thought about Christ soon afterwards. Then, immediately after these words, He announced to them His passion and death. Peter was terrified, and said: Far be it from you, Lord, this shall not happen. Then the Lord: Get behind Me, Satan. Peter Satan? Where are those words, Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona? Is Satan blessed? Blessed, from what is God's [gift]; Satan, from what is man's [evil]. Then the Lord Himself explained why He had called him Satan: For you do not savour the things that are God's, but the things that are man's (Matt. 16:13–23). Whence, then, blessed? Because flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. Whence, afterwards, Satan? You do not savour the things that are God's; when you savoured them, you were blessed: but you savour the things that are men's. Behold how the soul of the disciples alternated, as it were between rising and setting: now it stood, now it lay fallen; now it was enlightened, now it was darkened; because it was enlightened from what is God's, darkened from what is its own. Whence was it enlightened? Draw near to Him, and be enlightened (Ps. 33:6). Whence was it darkened? He who speaks a lie speaks from his own (John 8:44). He had said, Son of the living God, and yet he feared lest He should die, though He was the Son of God and had come for this very purpose, that He should die.

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Hic ex Mss. addimus, quia unitas in omnibus. Praeterea plura superius et inferius omissa in editis, restituuntur ex eisdem Mss.

Here we add from the manuscripts quia unitas in omnibus ("because there is unity in all"). Besides, a number of things above and below that were omitted in the printed editions are restored from the same manuscripts.

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Editi, de Deo: et infra de homine. At manuscripti, de Dei; subaudi, dono: et, de hominis; supple, malo.

The printed editions have de Deo ("from God") and below de homine ("from man"). But the manuscripts have de Dei ("from God's"), understand dono ("gift"); and de hominis ("from man's"), supply malo ("evil").

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Nisi ille venisset ut moreretur, nos unde viveremus?

Had He not come to die, whence would we live?

CAPUT V. — 5. Nec mors Christo, nec vita nobis debebatur. Unde nobis vita, unde illi mors? Ipsum attende: In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Quaere ibi mortem. Ubi? unde? quomodo? Erat Verbum, Verbum apud Deum, Deus Verbum. Si invenis ibi carnem et sanguinem, invenis mortem. Ergo illi Verbo unde mors? Nobis autem hominibus in terra positis, mortalibus, corruptibilibus, peccatoribus, unde vita? Non erat illi unde haberet mortem; non habebamus nos unde haberemus vitam: accepit ille mortem de nostro, ut daret nobis vitam de suo. Quomodo ille mortem de nostro? Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Accepit hinc a nobis, quod offerret pro nobis. Vita autem unde nobis? Et vita erat lux hominum (Joan. I, 1, 14, 4). Ipse nobis vita, nos illi mors. Sed qualis mors? Dignatione, non conditione; quia dignatus est, quia voluit, quia misertus est: potestate mortuus est. Potestatem, inquit, habeo ponendi animam meam, et potestatem habeo iterum sumendi eam (Id. X, 18). Hoc Petrus nesciebat, quando audita morte Domini expavit. Sed ecce jam dixerat Dominus moriturum se, et resurrecturum tertia die. Factum est quod praedixerat, et non credebant qui audierant. Ecce jam triduum est, ex quo ista facta sunt; et nos putabamus quia ipse esset redempturus Israel (Luc. XXIV, 21). Sperabatis, jam desperatis? de spe cecidistis? Levat vos qui vobiscum ambulat. Discipuli erant, ipsum audierant, cum ipso vixerant, magistrum ipsum noverant, ab illo instructi erant, et non potuerunt imitari et habere fidem latronis pendentis in cruce!

Chapter V. — 5. Neither was death owed to Christ, nor life to us. Whence comes life to us, whence death to Him? Consider Him Himself: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Seek death there. Where? From what source? In what way? The Word was, the Word was with God, the Word was God. If you find flesh and blood there, you find death. So whence comes death to that Word? But to us men placed on the earth, mortal, corruptible, sinners, whence comes life? He had nothing from which to have death; we had nothing from which to have life: He received death from what is ours, so as to give us life from what is His. How did He receive death from what is ours? The Word was made flesh, and dwelt in us. He received from us here what He might offer for us. But whence comes life to us? And the life was the light of men (John 1:1, 14, 4). He is life to us, we are death to Him. But what sort of death? By condescension, not by condition; because He deigned, because He willed, because He had mercy: by power He died. I have power, He says, to lay down My life, and I have power to take it up again (ibid. 10:18). This Peter did not know when, having heard of the Lord's death, he was terrified. But see, the Lord had already said that He would die, and rise again on the third day. What He had foretold came to pass, and those who had heard it did not believe. See, it is now three days since these things were done; and we thought that He was the one who would redeem Israel (Luke 24:21). You were hoping, and now you despair? Have you fallen from hope? He who walks with you lifts you up. They were disciples, they had heard Him, they had lived with Him, they had known Him as their master, they had been instructed by Him, and they could not imitate and have the faith of the thief hanging on the cross!

CAPUT VI. — 6. Latronis fides quam magna, cum titubant discipuli. Sed forte aliqui vestrum nesciunt quod dixi de latrone, non audiendo passionem secundum omnes Evangelistas. Iste enim evangelista Lucas narravit quod dico. Quia duo latrones crucifixi sunt cum Christo, dixit hoc et Matthaeus (Math. XXVII, 38)? sed unus eorum latronum quia insultavit Domino, et alter eorum quia credidit in Christum, Matthaeus non dixit, Lucas dixit. Recolamus fidem latronis, quam non invenit Christus post resurrectionem in discipulis suis. Pendebat in cruce Christus, pendebat et latro: in medio ille, illi a lateribus. Insultat unus, credit alter, judicat medius ille. Ille enim qui insultabat, hoc dixit: Si Filius Dei es, libera te. Et alius ad illum: Tu non times Deum. Si nos propter facta nostra merito patimur, ipse quid fecit? Et conversus ad eum: Memento mei, Domine, cum veneris in regnum tuum. Magna fides! huic fidei quid addi possit, ignoro. Titubaverunt ipsi qui viderunt Christum mortuos suscitantem: credidit ille qui videbat secum in ligno pendentem. Quando illi titubaverunt, tunc ille credidit. Qualem fructum Christus de arido ligno percepit? Quid ei dixerit Dominus audiamus. Amen dico tibi, hodie mecum eris in paradiso (Luc. XXIII, 39⟨-⟩43). Tu differs te, ego agnosco te. Quando s⟨p⟩eraret latro, de

Chapter VI. — 6. How great the thief's faith, when the disciples waver. But perhaps some of you do not know what I have said about the thief, not having heard the Passion according to all the Evangelists. For it is the evangelist Luke who narrated what I am saying. That two thieves were crucified with Christ, Matthew too said this (Matt. 27:38); but that one of those thieves mocked the Lord, and that the other of them believed in Christ, Matthew did not say, Luke said. Let us call to mind the faith of the thief, which Christ did not find in His disciples after the resurrection. Christ hung on the cross, the thief hung too: He in the middle, they at the sides. One mocks, the other believes, He in the middle judges. For the one who was mocking said this: If You are the Son of God, free Yourself. And the other to him: You do not fear God. If we suffer deservedly for our deeds, what has He done? And turning to Him: Remember me, Lord, when You come into Your kingdom. Great faith! What could be added to this faith, I do not know. They wavered who had seen Christ raising the dead: he believed who saw Him hanging with him on the tree. When they wavered, then he believed. What fruit did Christ gather from the dry tree? Let us hear what the Lord said to him. Amen I say to you, today you will be with Me in paradise (Luke 23:39–43). You put yourself off; I recognize you. When would the thief have hoped, from

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other: column opens with a sentence continuing from col. 1109; left-hand column (1109) partly visible and not set; hyphen in "39-43" not clearly visible, set as gap; "s⟨p⟩eraret" has damaged p; "latro" at foot blurred, could read "latre"; column ends mid-sentence at "de"; Google digitization mark at foot not set

PL 38:1111

latrocinio ad judicem, de judice ad crucem, de cruce ad paradisum? Denique ipse attendens merita sua, non dixit, Memento mei, ut liberes me hodie: sed, cum veneris in regnum tuum, tunc mei memor esto; ut si mihi tormenta debentur, vel quousque veneris in regnum tuum. Et ille: Non sic; invasisti in regnum coelorum, vim fecisti, credidisti, rapuisti. Hodie mecum eris in paradiso. Non te differo: tantae fidei hodie reddo quod debeo. Latro dicit, Memento mei, cum veneris in regnum tuum. Non solum credebat resurrecturum, sed etiam regnaturum. Pendenti, crucifixo, cruento, haerenti: Cum veneris, inquit, in regnum tuum. Et illi, Nos sperabamus. Ubi spem latro invenit, discipulus perdidit.

robbery to the judge, from the judge to the cross, from the cross to paradise? Finally, he himself, considering his own deserts, did not say, Remember me, that Thou free me today: but, when Thou come into Thy kingdom, then be mindful of me; so that, if torments are owed to me, [they may last] at least until Thou come into Thy kingdom. And He: Not so; you have burst into the kingdom of heaven, you have used force, you have believed, you have seized it. Today you will be with Me in paradise. I do not put you off: to such great faith I render today what I owe. The thief says, Remember me, when Thou come into Thy kingdom. He believed not only that He would rise again, but also that He would reign. To One hanging, crucified, bloodied, fixed [there]: When Thou come, he says, into Thy kingdom. And they: We were hoping. Where the thief found hope, the disciple lost it.

CAPUT VII. — 7. In fractione panis agnoscitur Dominus. Deinde jam, charissimi, magnum sacramentum quod cognovimus, audite. Ambulabat cum illis, suscipitur hospitio, panem frangit, et cognoscitur (Luc. XXIV, 21-31). Et nos non dicamus quia Christum non cognovimus: novimus, si credimus. Parum est, novimus si credimus; habemus si credimus. Habebant illi Christum in convivio, nos intus in animo. Plus est Christum habere in corde, quam in domo. Cor enim nostrum interius nobis est, quam sit domus nostra. Jam vero ubi eum debet fidelis agnoscere? Agnoscit qui fidelis est: qui autem catechumenus est, ignorat. Sed januam contra illum nemo claudat, ut noverit.

Chapter VII. — 7. In the breaking of bread the Lord is recognized. Next, then, dearly beloved, hear the great mystery which we have come to know. He was walking with them, He is received as a guest, He breaks bread, and He is recognized (Luke 24:21–31). And let us not say that we have not known Christ: we know [Him], if we believe. It is too little [to say], we know [Him] if we believe; we have [Him] if we believe. They had Christ at the meal, we [have Him] within, in the soul. It is more to have Christ in the heart than in the house. For our heart is more inward to us than our house is. Now where ought the faithful man to recognize Him? He who is one of the faithful recognizes [Him]; but he who is a catechumen does not know. But let no one shut the door against him, so that he may come to know.

8. Ad poenitentes. Hesterno die monui, et admoneo Charitatem vestram, quia resurrectio Christi est in nobis, si bene vivamus; si vita vetus nostra mala moriatur, et quotidie nova proficiat (In sermone superiori, nn. 2, 3). Abundant hic poenitentes: quando illis imponitur manus, fit ordo longissimus. Orate, poenitentes; et eunt orare poenitentes. Discutio poenitentes, et invenio male viventes. Quomodo poenitet quod fit? Si poenitet, non fiat. Si autem fit, nomen errat, crimen manet. Aliqui ipsi sibi poenitentiae locum petierunt; aliqui excommunicati a nobis in poenitentiae locum redacti sunt: et qui sibi petierunt, hoc volunt facere quod faciebant; et qui a nobis excommunicati in poenitentiae locum redacti sunt, nolunt inde surgere, quasi electus sit locus poenitentium. Qui debet esse locus humilitatis, fit locus iniquitatis. Vobis dico, qui vocamini poenitentes, et non estis: vobis dico. Quid vobis dicam? Laudo vos, in hoc non laudo: sed gemo et plango.

8. To the penitents. Yesterday I warned, and I warn again, your Charity, that the resurrection of Christ is in us, if we live well; if our old, evil life dies, and the new one advances daily (In the preceding sermon, nos. 2, 3). Penitents abound here: when hands are laid on them, the line becomes very long. Pray, penitents; and the penitents go to pray. I examine the penitents, and I find them living badly. How does one repent of what is still being done? If one repents, let it not be done. But if it is done, the name is wrong, the crime remains. Some have sought the place of penance for themselves; some, excommunicated by us, have been reduced to the place of penance: and those who sought it for themselves want to go on doing what they used to do; and those who, excommunicated by us, have been reduced to the place of penance refuse to rise from it, as though the place of the penitents were a place of choice. What ought to be a place of humility becomes a place of iniquity. To you I speak, who are called penitents and are not: to you I speak. What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? In this I do not praise you: but I groan and lament.

CAPUT VIII. — Et quid faciam, factus vile canticum? Mutamini, mutamini, rogo. Vitae finis incertus est. Omnis homo cum casu suo ambulat. Quid differtis bene vivere, cum putatis quia longa erit vita? Longam vitam putatis, et mortem subitaneam non timetis? Sed ecce longa sit: et quaero unum poenitentem,

Chapter VIII. — And what am I to do, made into a worthless song? Be changed, be changed, I beg you. The end of life is uncertain. Every man walks along with his own fall. Why do you put off living well, when you suppose that life will be long? Do you suppose a long life, and not fear sudden death? But look, let it be long: and I ask for one penitent,

Editors' notes and page, col. 1111

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: quam sit domus nostra› · call in col 1111

Floriacensis Ms., quasi domus nostra. Mox plures Mss., Jam vero ubi eum debeat fidelis agnoscere, agnoscit qui fidelis est.

The Fleury manuscript has quasi domus nostra ("as if our house"). Just after, several manuscripts have Jam vero ubi eum debeat fidelis agnoscere, agnoscit qui fidelis est ("But where the faithful should recognize him, he who is faithful recognizes").

(printed under page 562)

(2) ‹anchor: claudat, ut noverit› · call in col 1111

Plures Mss., ut non intret.

Several manuscripts have ut non intret ("so that he may not enter").

(printed under page 562)

(3) ‹anchor: fit locus iniquitatis› · call in col 1111

Sic manuscripti. At editi, sit locus humilitatis.

So the manuscripts. But the printed editions have sit locus humilitatis ("let it be a place of humility").

(printed under page 562)

(4) ‹anchor: factus vile canticum› · call in col 1111

Aliquot Mss., factus sum vile canticum. Alii non habent, sum.

Several manuscripts have factus sum vile canticum ("I have become a worthless song"). Others lack sum ("I am").

(printed under page 562)