Migne Reading Room
PL 38 · cols. 1193–1200
Augustine, Sermones 257-265 (Classis II, de Tempore)
Sermons CCLVII–CCLIX
SERMO CCLVII. In diebus Paschalibus, XXVIII. De versu Psalmi CXV, 11, Omnis homo mendax.
Sermon 257. On the Easter days, 28. On the verse of Psalm 115:11, Every man is a liar.
1. Deus corde laudandus. Quod hebraica lingua dicitur Alleluia, latine est Laudate Dominum. Laudemus ergo Dominum Deum nostrum, non tantum voce, sed etiam corde. Quoniam qui corde laudat, interioris hominis voce laudat. Vox ad homines, sonus est; vox ad Deum, affectus est.
1. God is to be praised with the heart. What in the Hebrew language is called Alleluia, in Latin is Praise the Lord. Let us therefore praise the Lord our God, not only with the voice, but also with the heart. For he who praises with the heart praises with the voice of the inner man. The voice towards men is sound; the voice towards God is affection.
2. Homo de suo mendax, ad Deum confugiat, ut sit verax. Dixit quidam in ecstasi sua, sicut legistis, sicut audistis: Omnis homo mendax. Inde fuit qui non credebat, nisi tetigisset corpus Domini. Mendacium ei videbatur, quod condiscipuli ejus verum loquebantur: et parum illi erat veritatem audire, volebat et tangere. Exhibuit autem illi hoc Dominus in his quae sequuntur in Evangelio postea recitanda (Joan. XX, 25 27). Quicumque autem audit, Omnis homo mendax, non se debet figere in mendacio,
2. Man, a liar of his own, should flee to God, so that he may be truthful. A certain man said in his ecstasy, as you have read, as you have heard: Every man is a liar. Hence there was one who would not believe unless he had touched the body of the Lord. What his fellow disciples were speaking as truth seemed to him a lie: and it was too little for him to hear the truth, he wanted also to touch it. But the Lord showed him this in the things which follow in the Gospel, to be read out afterwards (John 20:25–27). But whoever hears, Every man is a liar, ought not to fix himself in lying,
Editors' notes and page, col. 1193
Footnotes
(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCLVII› · call in col 1193
Prodit nunc primum ex veteri libro Floriacensi, descripto ante annos circiter 800.
Now published for the first time from an old manuscript of Fleury, copied about 800 years ago.
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(b) ‹anchor: in diebus Paschalibus, xxviii› · call in col 1193
Semesi tituli residua haec verba in libro Floriacensi vix leguntur, scilicet, « Tractatus die dominica, quem dixit ad « memoriam sanctorum. » Diem ibi intelliges dominicam post Pascha. Nam sermo in eodem codice proxime ante collocatus, quem supra ordine 253 posuimus, ibidem notatur « habitus die sabbato : » tametsi ille sermo 253 sit de ultima lectione Joannis; iste autem sermo 257 in die non ultimae lectionis pronuntiatus significetur, n. 2. Lectionem porro hanc non ultimam Joannis ex capite vigesimo recitatam fuisse in die dominica octavarum Paschae intelliges ex sermone 259, n. 1.
Of the half-eaten title, these remaining words can barely be read in the Fleury manuscript, namely: "Treatise on the Lord's day, which he gave at the memorial of the saints." By the day you will understand there the Sunday after Easter. For the sermon placed immediately before it in the same codex, which we have set above as number 253, is there noted as "delivered on the Saturday," although that sermon 253 is on the last reading of John; whereas this sermon 257 is indicated (n. 2) as delivered on a day that was not that of the last reading. That this reading of John, not the last, taken from chapter twenty, was read on the Sunday of the octave of Easter, you will understand from sermon 259, n. 1.
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et nolle inde surgere, tanquam ratiocinari apud se rationem inaniter, tanquam homo mendax, et dicere sibi: Quando non ero homo? Si autem quamdiu hic sum homo, ero mendax; melius ego mendax ero, quam mentiatur Scriptura quae dicit, Omnis homo mendax. Si enim ego verax, Scriptura mendax erit. Sed quia Scriptura mendax esse non potest, ego mendax ero. Haec ibi garriens requiescere sibi securus videtur, tanquam in portu mendacii, ubi faciat naufragium. Bene tibi requiescere, quasi in isto portu, cupiebas; audi scopulum, in quem incurras: Perdes omnes qui loquuntur mendacium (Psal. V, 7). Et ista Scriptura Dei est, quae dicit, Perdes omnes qui loquuntur mendacium. Ergo omnes perditurus est, quia Omnis homo mendax. Sed quid nobis dictum est? quid admoniti sumus? Quia de nostro mendaces sumus. Si autem veraces esse volumus, ad Dominum confugiamus. De illius veraces sumus, de nostro mendaces.
and to be unwilling to rise from there, as though reasoning out a reason within himself emptily, as though a lying man, and to say to himself: When shall I not be a man? But if, as long as I am a man here, I shall be a liar, better that I be a liar than that the Scripture lie which says, Every man is a liar. For if I am truthful, Scripture will be a liar. But because Scripture cannot be a liar, I shall be a liar. Chattering this, he seems to himself to rest there secure, as though in a harbour of lying, where he is to make shipwreck. You were longing to rest comfortably, as though in that harbour; hear the rock on which you may run: Thou wilt destroy all who speak a lie (Ps. 5:7). And this is the Scripture of God which says, Thou wilt destroy all who speak a lie. Therefore He is going to destroy all, because Every man is a liar. But what has been said to us? Of what have we been admonished? That of our own we are liars. But if we wish to be truthful, let us take refuge in the Lord. Of His we are truthful, of our own liars.
3. Petrus mendax a se ipso, verax Dei beneficio. Audite hoc uno exemplo, brevi et magno: brevi, quia cito dicitur; magno, quia sapienter appenditur. Petrus unus ostendit hoc quod volo dicere. Quando dixit Domino Christo, Tu es Christus Filius Dei viri: quid respondit? Beatus es, Simon Bar-Jona, quia non tibi revelavit caro et sanguis, sed Pater meus qui in coelis est. Verum dixisti, sed non de tuo. Unde ergo? Pater meus qui in coelis est, tibi revelavit. Inde beatus, quia de Dei; non nisi miser de tuo. Post haec, ubi ei Dominus ait, Beatus es, quia non tibi revelavit caro et sanguis, sed Pater meus qui in coelis est; post haec verba, coepit Dominus Christus praenuntiare passionem et mortem suam. Ibi continuo Petrus: Absit a te, Domine. Omnis homo mendax. Ecce paulo ante Petrus verax, ecce modo Petrus mendax. Sed unde Petrus verax? Non tibi revelavit caro et sanguis, sed Pater meus qui in coelis est. Unde Petrus mendax? Redi post me, Satana; non enim sapis quae Dei sunt, sed quae sunt hominum (Matth. XVI, 16, 17, 22, 23). Omnis homo mendax. Dictum est ergo nobis, Omnis homo mendax, ut fugiamus nos ipsos, et curramus ad Deum, qui solus est verax.
3. Peter a liar of himself, truthful by the gift of God. Hear this by one example, short and great: short, because it is quickly said; great, because it is wisely weighed. Peter alone shows this which I wish to say. When he said to the Lord Christ, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God: what did He answer? Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. You have spoken the truth, but not of your own. From where, then? My Father Who is in heaven has revealed it to you. Hence blessed, because [it was] of God's; nothing but wretched of your own. After this, when the Lord said to him, Blessed are you, because flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but My Father Who is in heaven; after these words, the Lord Christ began to foretell His passion and death. There at once Peter: Far be it from You, Lord. Every man is a liar. See, a little before Peter was truthful; see, now Peter is a liar. But whence was Peter truthful? Flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. Whence was Peter a liar? Get back behind Me, Satan; for you do not savour the things that are of God, but the things that are of men (Matt. 16:16, 17, 22, 23). Every man is a liar. It has therefore been said to us, Every man is a liar, so that we may flee from ourselves and run to God, Who alone is truthful.
SERMO CCLVIII. In diebus Paschalibus, XXIX. Quem dixit ad basilicam Majorem. De versu Psalmi CXVII, 24, Hic est dies quem fecit Dominus.
Sermon 258. On the Days of Easter, 29. Which he preached at the Basilica Major. On the verse of Psalm 117:24, This is the day which the Lord has made.
1. Dies a Domino factus Christi Ecclesia ex Judaeis et Gentibus. Quod cantavimus Deo. Hic est dies quem fecit Dominus, hinc loquamur quod dederit. Hic Scriptura utique prophetica aliquid nos intelligere voluit, aliquem diem non vulgarem, non conspicuum oculis carnis, non eum diem qui oritur et occidit, sed diem
1. The day made by the Lord is the Church of Christ from Jews and Gentiles. What we have sung to God. This is the day which the Lord has made: of this let us speak what He may have granted. Here the prophetic Scripture certainly wished us to understand something, some day not ordinary, not visible to the eyes of the flesh, not that day which rises and sets, but a day
Editors' notes and page, col. 1194
Footnotes
(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCLVIII› · call in col 1194
Prodit nunc primum ex Floriacensi libro supra laudato.
Now published for the first time from the Fleury manuscript cited above.
(printed under page 603)
(b) ‹anchor: ad basilicam Majorem› · call in col 1194
Titulus in exemplari manuscripto est, « Incipit alius sermo, quem dixit ad basilicam Majorem, eadem die, » supple « dominica : » siquidem ibi subsequitur sermonem superiorem « die dominica » praenotatum. In basilicam vero « illam Majorem, » seu forte « Majorum, » quae apud Carthaginem erat, vide notam (b) ad sermonem 19, col. 132.
The title in the manuscript copy is: "Here begins another sermon, which he gave at the basilica Major, on the same day"; supply "Sunday," since there it follows the preceding sermon, headed "on the Lord's day." On that basilica "Major," or perhaps "of the Majores," which was at Carthage, see note (b) to sermon 19, col. 132.
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qui potuit scire ortum, nescire occasum. Videamus quod supra dixerat idem Psalmus: Lapidem quem reprobaverunt aedificantes, hic factus est in caput anguli. A Domino fa⟨c⟩tus est, iste est mirabilis in oculis nostris. Et sequitur, Hic est dies quem fecit Dominus. Exordium diei hujus a lapide angulari sumamus. Quis est lapis angularis, quem reprobaverunt Judaeorum doctores? Legis enim periti doctores Judaeorum reprobaverunt eum, dicentes: Non est iste a Deo, qui solvit sabbatum (Joan. IX, 16). Jam dixistis, Non est iste a Deo, qui solvit sabbatum. Lapidem quem reprobaverunt aedificantes, hic factus est in caput anguli. Quomodo in caput anguli? Quare angularis lapis dictus est Christus? Quia omnis angulus duos parietes de diverso pacificat. Venerunt Apostoli de circumcisione, venerunt de gente Judaeorum; venerunt inde et illae turbae quae praecedebant et sequebantur jumentum ejus, dicentes quod in hoc ipso Psalmo est, Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini (Matth. XXI, 9, et Psal. CXVII, 26). Venerunt inde tot Ecclesiae, de quibus dicit apostolus Paulus, « Eram ignotus facie Ecclesiis Judaeae, quae sunt in Christo: tantum autem audiebant quia ille qui aliquando nos persequebatur, nunc evangelizat fidem quam aliquando vastabat; et in me magnificabant Deum » (Galat. I, 22-24); Judaei, sed adhaerentes Christo, sicut Apostoli, venientes et credentes Christo, et unum parietem facientes. Restabat alius paries, Ecclesia de Gentibus veniens: invenerunt se. Pax in Christo, unitas in Christo, qui fecit utraque unum (Ephes. II, 11-22). Ipse est dies quem fecit Dominus. Totum diem intellige, caput et corpus: caput Christus, corpus Ecclesia. Iste est dies quem fecit Dominus.
which was able to know the rising, [was able] not to know the setting. Let us see what the same Psalm had said above: The stone which the builders rejected, this has been made the head of the corner. By the Lord it has been made, it is wonderful in our eyes. And there follows, This is the day which the Lord has made. Let us take the beginning of this day from the corner-stone. Who is the corner-stone which the teachers of the Jews rejected? For the teachers of the Jews, skilled in the Law, rejected Him, saying: This man is not from God, Who breaks the sabbath (John 9:16). You have already said, This man is not from God, Who breaks the sabbath. The stone which the builders rejected, this has been made the head of the corner. How the head of the corner? Why has Christ been called the corner-stone? Because every corner brings into peace two walls coming from different directions. The Apostles came from the circumcision, they came from the nation of the Jews; from there also came those crowds which went before and followed His beast of burden, saying what is in this very Psalm, Blessed is He Who comes in the name of the Lord (Matt. 21:9, and Ps. 117:26). From there came so many Churches, of which the apostle Paul says, "I was unknown by face to the Churches of Judaea which are in Christ: but they only heard that he who once persecuted us now preaches the faith which he once laid waste; and they glorified God in me" (Gal. 1:22–24); Jews, but cleaving to Christ, like the Apostles, coming to and believing in Christ, and making one wall. There remained the other wall, the Church coming from the Gentiles: they found each other. Peace in Christ, unity in Christ, Who has made both one (Eph. 2:11–22). He is the day which the Lord has made. Understand the whole day, head and body: the head Christ, the body the Church. This is the day which the Lord has made.
2. Baptizati dies ex tenebris facti. Recolite primam mundi conditionem. « Tenebrae erant super abyssum, et Spiritus Dei superferebatur super aquam. Et dixit Deus, Fiat lux: et facta est lux. Et divisit Deus lucem a tenebris; et lucem vocavit diem, tenebras autem vocavit noctem » (Gen. I, 2-5). Cogitate tenebras istorum, antequam venirent ad remissionem peccatorum. Tenebrae ergo erant super abyssum, antequam ista fuissent dimissa peccata. Sed Spiritus Dei superferebatur super aquas: descenderunt isti in aquam, super aquas ferebatur Spiritus Dei, pulsae sunt tenebrae peccatorum. Iste est dies quem fecit Dominus. Huic diei Apostolus dicit: Fuistis enim aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in Domino (Ephes. V, 8). Numquid dixit, Fuistis tenebrae in Domino? Tenebrae in vobis; lux in Domino. Vocavit autem Deus lucem diem: quia ipsius gratia fit quod fit. Illi per se ipsos tenebrae esse potuerunt: lux fieri, nisi Dominus fecisset, non potuerunt. Quia iste est dies quem fecit Dominus: non ipse dies, sed Dominus.
2. The baptized made into day out of darkness. Call to mind the first establishing of the world. "Darkness was over the abyss, and the Spirit of God was borne above the water. And God said, Let there be light: and light was made. And God divided the light from the darkness; and He called the light day, but the darkness He called night" (Gen. 1:2–5). Think of the darkness of these people, before they came to the remission of sins. Darkness, then, was over the abyss, before those sins had been forgiven. But the Spirit of God was borne above the waters: these went down into the water, the Spirit of God was borne above the waters, the darkness of sins was driven away. This is the day which the Lord has made. To this day the Apostle says: For you were once darkness, but now light in the Lord (Eph. 5:8). Did he say, You were darkness in the Lord? Darkness in yourselves; light in the Lord. But God called the light day: because what comes to be comes to be by His grace. They by themselves were able to be darkness: to become light, unless the Lord had made [them so], they were not able. For this is the day which the Lord has made: not the day itself, but the Lord.
3. Thomas factus dies. Numquid non homo erat Thomas, unus de discipulis, quasi homo de turba? Dicebant ei condiscipuli ejus: Vidimus Dominum. Et dicebat ipse: Nisi tetigero, nisi digitum misero in latus
3. Thomas made into day. Was not Thomas a man, one of the disciples, a man as it were from the crowd? His fellow disciples said to him: We have seen the Lord. And he said: Unless I touch, unless I put my finger into the side
Editors' notes and page, col. 1195
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: antequam ista› · call in col 1195
Forte, istis, id est, baptizatis.
Perhaps "istis," that is, "to those baptized."
(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCLIX› · call in col 1196 Emendatus ad m. r. vat. v. et ad Sirm.
Corrected against the manuscripts ... [m. r. vat. v.: the abbreviation not certainly expanded; likely a Vatican manuscript] and against Sirmond.
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ejus, non credam. Evangelistae tibi annuntiant, et non credis. Ipsis credidit mundus, et non credit discipulus. De ipsis dictum est: In omnem terram exiit sonus eorum, et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum (Psal. XVIII, 5). Exeunt, verba eorum, perveniunt usque in fines terrae; credit totus mundus: annuntiant omnes uni, et non credit. Nondum erat dies quem fecerat Dominus. Adhuc tenebrae erant in abysso, in profunditate cordis humani: tenebrae ibi erant. Veniat ille, caput diei hujus veniat, et dicat patiens, mitis, non iratus, quia medicus: Veni, inquit; veni tange hoc, et crede. Dixisti, Nisi tetigero, nisi digitum misero, non credam. Veni, tange; mitte digitum, et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis. Veni, mitte digitum. Sciebam vulnera tua, servavi tibi cicatricem meam. Sed plane mittens manum suam complevit fidem. Quae est enim fidei plenitudo? Ut non credatur Christus tantum homo, nec credatur Christus tantummodo Deus, sed homo et Deus. Ipsa est fidei plenitudo: quia Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis (Joan. I, 14). Ergo iste discipulus oblatis sibi tangendis cicatricibus et membris Salvatoris sui, ubi tetigit, exclamavit: Dominus meus et Deus meus (Id. XX, 25-28)! Hominem tetigit, Deum cognovit: et tetigit carnem, respexit ad Verbum; quia Verbum caro factum est, et habitavit in nobis. Verbum hoc passum est carnem suam suspendi in ligno: Verbum hoc passum est in carne sua clavos figi: Verbum hoc passum est carnem suam lancea transforari: Verbum hoc passum est carnem suam in sepulcro poni: Verbum hoc resuscitavit carnem suam, obtulit aspectibus discipulorum videndam, praebuit manibus contrectandam. Tangunt, exclamant, Dominus meus et Deus meus! Iste est dies quem fecit Dominus.
of Him, I will not believe. The evangelists announce it to you, and you do not believe. The world believed them, and a disciple does not believe. Of them it was said: Into all the earth their sound has gone forth, and their words to the ends of the world (Ps. 18:5). Their words go forth, they reach even to the ends of the earth; the whole world believes: all announce it to one man, and he does not believe. Not yet was it the day which the Lord had made. Darkness was still upon the abyss, in the depth of the human heart: darkness was there. Let Him come, the head of this day, let Him come and speak, patient, gentle, not angry, because He is a physician: Come, He says; come, touch this, and believe. You said, Unless I touch, unless I put in my finger, I will not believe. Come, touch; put in your finger, and do not be unbelieving, but believing. Come, put in your finger. I knew your wounds; I kept my scar for you. But indeed, by putting in his hand he made his faith complete. For what is the fullness of faith? That Christ be not believed to be man only, nor Christ be believed to be God only, but man and God. That is the fullness of faith: because the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us (John 1:14). So this disciple, when the scars and limbs of his Saviour had been offered him to touch, as soon as he touched, cried out: My Lord and my God (John 20:25–28)! He touched the man, he recognized God: he touched the flesh, he looked towards the Word; because the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. This Word suffered His flesh to be hung upon the wood: this Word suffered nails to be fixed in His flesh: this Word suffered His flesh to be pierced through with a lance: this Word suffered His flesh to be laid in the tomb: this Word raised up His flesh, offered it to the eyes of the disciples to be seen, presented it to their hands to be handled. They touch, they cry out, My Lord and my God! This is the day which the Lord has made.
SERMO CCLIX. In die Dominico octavarum Paschae.
Sermon 259. On the Lord's Day of the octave of Easter.
1. In futuram vitam esse debet Christianorum intentio. Hodiernus dies magno sacramento perpetuae felicitatis est nobis. Non enim sicut iste dies transiturus est, sic transitura est et vita quam dies iste significat. Itaque, fratres, exhortamur et obsecramus vos in nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi, per quem nobis peccata dimissa sunt, qui voluit pretium nostrum esse sanguinem suum, qui nos indignos qui vel servi ejus diceremur, fratres facere dignatus est, ut omnis intentio vestra, quare christiani estis, et nomen ejus in fronte et in corde portatis, non dirigatur nisi ad illam vitam, quae nobis cum Angelis est futura: ubi perpetua quies, sempiterna laetitia, indeficiens beatitudo, nulla perturbatio, nulla tristitia, nulla mors. Quam vitam nosse non possunt, nisi qui experiuntur: experiri autem non poterunt, nisi qui credunt. Si enim exigatis ut quod vobis promittit Deus, demonstremus vobis, non possumus. Sed audistis quomodo conclusit Evangelium Joannis: Beati
1. The intention of Christians ought to be directed towards the future life. Today's day is for us a great sacrament of perpetual happiness. For not as this day is going to pass away, so too will the life pass away which this day signifies. Therefore, brothers, we exhort and beseech you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, through Whom our sins have been forgiven us, Who willed His blood to be our price, Who deigned to make us His brothers, unworthy as we are to be called even His servants, that your whole intention, for which you are Christians and bear His name on your forehead and in your heart, be directed only towards that life which we are to have with the angels: where there is perpetual rest, everlasting joy, unfailing blessedness, no disturbance, no sadness, no death. That life none can know except those who experience it; but none will be able to experience it except those who believe. For if you demand that we demonstrate to you what God promises you, we cannot. But you have heard how the Gospel of John concluded: Blessed [are they]
Editors' notes and page, col. 1196
Footnotes
(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCLIX› · call in col 1196
Alias, ex Sirmondianis 19.
Formerly no. 19 of the Sirmond sermons.
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qui non vident, et credant (Joan. XX, 29). Et videre vultis, et ego. Pariter credamus, et simul videbimus. Non simus duri adversus verbum Dei. Numquid enim, fratres, dignum est ut Christus descendat modo de coelo, et cicatrices suas nobis ostendat? Ideo illi incredulo ostendere dignatus est, ut objurgaret dubios, et instrueret credituros.
who do not see, and believe (John 20:29). You wish to see, and so do I. Let us believe alike, and together we shall see. Let us not be hard against the word of God. For is it fitting, brothers, that Christ should come down from heaven now and show His scars to us? He deigned to show them to that unbeliever for this reason: to rebuke the doubting and to instruct those who were to believe.
2. Octavi et septimi diei mysterium. Regnum Christi et sanctorum in terra post separationem malorum. Sabbatismus sanctorum in terra. Octavus ergo iste dies in fine saeculi novam vitam significat: septimus quietem futuram sanctorum in hac terra. Regnabit enim Dominus in terra cum sanctis suis, sicut dicunt Scripturae, et habebit hic Ecclesiam, quo nullus malus intrabit, separatam atque purgatam ab omni contagione nequitiae; quam significant centum quinquaginta tres illi pisces (Id. XXI, 11), de quibus jam, quantum memini, aliquando tractavimus. Nam Ecclesia hic primo apparebit in magna claritate et dignitate et justitia. Non ibi libebit decipere, non mentiri, non sub ovis pelle lupum latere. Veniet enim Dominus, sicut scriptum est, et illuminabit abscondita tenebrarum et manifestabit cogitationes cordium: et tunc laus erit unicuique a Deo (I Cor. IV, 5). Iniqui ergo non ibi erunt: jam enim separabuntur. Tunc tanquam massa purgata apparebit, veluti in area, multitudo sanctorum, et sic mittetur in horreum coeleste immortalitatis. Sicut enim frumentum prius ubi trituratur, ibi purgatur, et locus ubi frumenta pertulerunt trituram, ut a palea mundarentur, decoratur dignitate massae purgatae. Videmus quippe in area post ventilationem, acervum palearum ex una parte, et acervum frumenti ex alia. Quo autem palea destinata sit, novimus; et quemadmodum agricolis faciant frumenta laetitiam. Quomodo ergo apparet in area prius frumentum a palea separatum, et cum g⟨a⟩udium fecerit post tantos labores inspecta illa congeries, quae latebat in palea, quae non videbatur, quando triturabatur; deinde in horreum mittitur, atque in secreto servatur: sic in isto saeculo, videtis quomodo trituratur haec area, sed palea frumento ita permixta est, ut difficile discernatur: quia nondum ventilata est. Sic ergo post ventilationem diei judicii apparebit massa sanctorum, fulgens dignitate, praepotens meritis, et misericordiam liberatoris sui prae se gerens. Et ipse erit septimus dies. Quasi primus dies sit in toto saeculo tempus quod est ab Adam usque ad Noe; secundus, a Noe usque ad Abraham, et quomodo jam dividit Evangelium Matthaei, tertius ab Abraham usque ad David; quartus, a David usque ad transmigrationem in Babyloniam; quintus, a transmigratione usque ad adventum Domini nostri Jesu Christi (Matth.
2. The mystery of the eighth and seventh day. The reign of Christ and of the saints on earth after the separation of the wicked. The sabbath-rest of the saints on earth. This eighth day, then, signifies the new life at the end of the age; the seventh, the future rest of the saints on this earth. For the Lord will reign on earth with His saints, as the Scriptures say, and He will have here a Church, into which no wicked person will enter, separated and purged from every contagion of wickedness; which those hundred and fifty-three fish signify (ibid. 21:11), about which, as far as I remember, we have already spoken at some time. For the Church will first appear here in great splendour and dignity and justice. There no one will have the wish to deceive, nor to lie, nor for a wolf to lurk under a sheep's skin. For the Lord will come, as it is written, and will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the thoughts of hearts: and then praise will come to each one from God (1 Cor. 4:5). The wicked, therefore, will not be there: for by then they will be separated. Then the multitude of the saints will appear like a purged heap, as on a threshing-floor, and so will be sent into the heavenly granary of immortality. For just as grain is first purged in the place where it is threshed, and the place where the grain underwent threshing, so that it might be cleansed of the chaff, is adorned with the dignity of the purged heap. For we see on the threshing-floor after the winnowing a heap of chaff on one side and a heap of grain on the other. Where the chaff is destined to go, we know; and how the grain gives joy to the farmers. As, then, the grain first appears on the threshing-floor separated from the chaff, and, when that pile which lay hidden in the chaff, which was not seen while it was being threshed, has given joy at the sight of it after so many labours, it is then sent into the granary and kept in secret: so in this age you see how this threshing-floor is being threshed, but the chaff is so mixed with the grain that it is hard to distinguish them, because it has not yet been winnowed. So then, after the winnowing of the day of judgement, the heap of the saints will appear, shining with dignity, mighty in merits, and bearing before it the mercy of its Deliverer. And that will be the seventh day. As if the first day in the whole age were the time which runs from Adam to Noah; the second, from Noah to Abraham, and as the Gospel of Matthew already divides it, the third from Abraham to David; the fourth, from David to the migration into Babylon; the fifth, from the migration to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matt.
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Additur hic, in terra, auctoritate Vaticani Ms. Caeterum de illo regno et sabbatismo sanctorum in terra post resurrectionem, quem mille annos duraturum putabant, mutata sententia sic demum loquitur Augustinus in libro 20 de Civitate Dei, cap. 7 : « Quae opinio esset utcumque tolerabilis, si aliquae deliciae spirituales in illo sabbato affuturae sanctis per Domini praesentiam crederentur : nam etiam nos hoc opinati fuimus aliquando. » Consule ejusdem operis librum 22, cap. 30.
"On earth" is added here on the authority of the Vatican manuscript. As for that kingdom and sabbath-rest of the saints on earth after the resurrection, which they supposed would last a thousand years, Augustine, having changed his opinion, at last speaks thus in book 20 of the City of God, ch. 7: "This opinion would be in some measure tolerable, if it were believed that some spiritual delights would be present to the saints in that sabbath through the presence of the Lord; for we too once held this opinion." Consult book 22, ch. 30, of the same work.
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II, 17). Ab adventu ergo Domini sextus agitur, in sexto die sumus Et ideo quomodo formatus est homo in Genesi sexto die ad imaginem Dei (Gen. I, 26, 27), sic et in isto tempore, quasi sexto die totius saeculi, renovamur in Baptismo, ut recipiamus imaginem Conditoris nostri. Sextus autem dies iste cum transierit, veniet requies post illam ventilationem, et sabbatizabunt sancti et justi Dei. Post septimum autem, cum apparuerit in area dignitas messis, fulgor, meritumque sanctorum, ibimus in illam vitam et in illam requiem, de qua dictum, Quia oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit, quae praeparavit Deus diligentibus se (I Cor. II, 9). Tunc velut ad caput reditur. Quomodo enim cum peracti fuerint isti septem dies, octavus ipse est qui primus: sic post terminatas et peractas aetates septem saeculi transeuntis, ad illam immortalitatem beatitudinemque rediemus, de qua lapsus est homo. Et ideo octavae complent sacramenta infantium. Hinc et ipse septenarius numerus septies multiplicatus facit quadraginta novem; et addito uno tanquam reditur ad caput, et fiunt quinquaginta: qui numerus a nobis usque ad Pentecosten in mysterio celebratur. Qui etiam secundum illam divisionem quadragesimi numeri, cui accedit tanquam merces denarius, diversa ratione idem rursus apparet. Ambae quippe rationes ad eumdem quinquagenarium numerum redeunt. Qui ter multiplicatus propter mysterium Trinitatis, facit centum quinquaginta. Addito quippe ipso ternario, tanquam teste atque indice triplicationis et Trinitatis, intelligimus Ecclesiam in illis piscibus centum quinquaginta tribus.
2:17). So from the coming of the Lord the sixth [age] is being passed; we are in the sixth day. And therefore, just as man was formed in Genesis on the sixth day after the image of God (Gen. 1:26–27), so also in this time, as on the sixth day of the whole world, we are renewed in Baptism, so that we may receive the image of our Maker. But when this sixth day has passed, rest will come after that winnowing, and the holy and righteous of God will keep sabbath. And after the seventh, when the worth of the harvest has appeared on the threshing-floor, the splendour and merit of the saints, we shall go into that life and into that rest of which it was said, That eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9). Then there is, as it were, a return to the head. For just as, when these seven days have been completed, the eighth is the same as the first, so after the seven ages of this passing world have been ended and completed, we shall return to that immortality and blessedness from which man fell. And that is why octaves complete the sacraments of infants. Hence also the number seven itself, multiplied seven times, makes forty-nine; and when one is added there is, as it were, a return to the head, and they make fifty: and this number is celebrated by us in a mystery up to Pentecost. The same number appears again by a different reckoning, according to that division of the number forty to which ten is added as a wage. For both reckonings come back to the same number fifty. This, multiplied three times on account of the mystery of the Trinity, makes one hundred and fifty. For when the three itself is added, as witness and indicator of the tripling and of the Trinity, we understand the Church in those hundred and fifty-three fishes.
3. Misericordiae opera commendat. Sed interim modo, donec veniamus ad illam requiem, isto tempore quo laboramus, et in nocte sumus, quamdiu non videmus quod speramus, et in eremo iter agimus, donec ad Jerusa⟨l⟩em coelestem, veluti ad terram promissionis fluentem lac et mel, veniamus: nunc ergo cum tentationes non cessant, bene operemur. Medicina semper adsit, veluti prope quotidianis adhibenda vulneribus. Est autem medicina in bonis operibus misericordiae. Si enim vis impetrare misericordiam Dei, esto misericors. Si tu negas homini, cum tu homo sis, humanitatem; negabit tibi et Deus divinitatem, hoc est incorruptionem immortalitatis, qua nos facit deos. Non enim a te quidquam indiget Deus: tu autem indiges a Deo. Nihil a te ille petit, ut beatus sit: tu autem, nisi ab illo accipias, beatus esse non poteris. Quid ab illo accipis? Nescio utrum auderes conqueri si ab illo, qui omnia condidit, acciperes aliquid quod excellentissimum condidit. At ille non aliquid ex iis quae condidit; sed se ipsum tibi dat ad fruendum, se ipsum omnium conditorem. Quid enim ex iis quae facta sunt ab illo, pulchrius et melius potest esse eo qui fecit? Et quomodo tibi dabit? an quasi meritis tuis? Si quaeris quid merueris, attende peccata tua; audi sententiam
3. He commends the works of mercy. But meanwhile, for now, until we come to that rest, in this time in which we labour and are in the night, as long as we do not see what we hope for and are making our way in the desert, until we come to the heavenly Jerusalem as to a land of promise flowing with milk and honey: now therefore, while temptations do not cease, let us do good works. Let medicine be always at hand, as one to be applied to wounds that are almost daily. And the medicine is in good works of mercy. For if you wish to obtain the mercy of God, be merciful. If you deny humanity to a man, though you are a man, God too will deny you divinity, that is, the incorruption of immortality, by which He makes us gods. For God does not need anything from you, but you need from God. He asks nothing of you in order to be blessed; but you, unless you receive from Him, will not be able to be blessed. What do you receive from Him? I do not know whether you would dare to complain if from Him who made all things you received something that He made most excellent. But He gives you not something out of the things He has made, but Himself to enjoy, Himself the Maker of all things. For what, among the things that have been made by Him, can be more beautiful and better than He who made them? And how will He give to you? As if for your merits? If you ask what you have merited, look to your sins; hear the sentence
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Sic Vaticanus Ms. Alii cum Sirmondo, quod absit.
So the Vatican manuscript. Others, with Sirmond, read "quod absit" ("which God forbid").
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Sirmondus, non excellentissimum. Abest, non, a Vaticano Ms.
Sirmond reads "non excellentissimum" ("not the most excellent"). "Non" is absent from the Vatican manuscript.
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Dei in transgressorem hominem latam : Terra es, et in terram ibis (Gen. III, 19). Quoniam comminatio praecessit, cum praeceptum daretur : Qua die tetigeritis, morte moriemini (Id. II, 17). Si peccatorum meritum quaeris, quid occurrit nisi supplicium? Obliviscere ergo merita tua, ne tibi faciant in corde terrorem : aut noli potius oblivisci, ne per superbiam repellas misericordiam. Commendamus nos, fratres, Deo operibus misericordiae. Confitemini Domino, quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia ejus (Psal. CXVII, 29). Confitere, quoniam habet Deus misericordiam, et vult peccata donare confessis. Sed offer illi sacrificium. Miserere hominis, homo, et tui miserebitur Deus. Tu homo, et alter homo, duo miseri. Deus autem non est miser, sed misericors. Si autem miser non miseratur miserum, quomodo exigit misericordiam ab illo qui nunquam erit miser? Videte quid dicam, fratres. Quicumque est contra naufragum crudelis, verbi gratia, tamdiu crudelis est, donec contingat illi naufragium. Si autem contigerit, recordatus in pristinam vitam, quando viderit naufragum, percutit illum similis aliquando miseria; et quem non poterat ad misericordiam flectere societas humanitatis, flectit consortium calamitatis. Servo quam cito miseretur, qui aliquando servivit. Mercenarium mercede fraudatum quam cito dolet, qui mercenarius fuit. Homini filium suum plangenti amarissime compatitur, qui aliquando tale aliquid planxit. Ergo quantamvis duritiam cordis humani solvit similitudo miseriae. Si ergo tu, qui aut miser fuisti, aut times ne miser sis (quamdiu enim hic vivis, et timere debes quod non fuisti, et meminisse quod fueris, et cogitare quid sis): positus ergo et in memoria praeteritarum miseriarum, et in timore futurarum, et afflictione praesentium, non misereris calamitosi hominis et egentis ope tua, et exspectas ut misereatur tibi ille, quem nunquam tangit miseria? Et tu non das ex eo quod a Deo accepisti, et vis ut det tibi Deus ex eo quod a te non accepit?
of God passed upon man the transgressor: Earth you are, and into earth you shall go (Gen. 3:19). For the threat went before, when the commandment was given: On the day you touch it, you shall die the death (Gen. 2:17). If you ask what sins merit, what comes to mind but punishment? Forget, then, your merits, lest they cause terror in your heart; or rather, do not forget them, lest through pride you thrust mercy away. We commend ourselves to God, brothers, by works of mercy. Confess to the Lord, for He is good, for His mercy is for ever (Ps. 117:29). Confess, for God has mercy, and wills to forgive sins to those who have confessed. But offer Him a sacrifice. Have mercy on a man, O man, and God will have mercy on you. You are a man, and the other is a man: two wretches. But God is not wretched, but merciful. If, then, a wretch does not pity a wretch, how does he demand mercy from Him Who will never be wretched? See what I am saying, brothers. Whoever is cruel towards a shipwrecked man, for example, is cruel just so long as shipwreck has not befallen him. But if it has befallen him, recalling his former life, when he sees a shipwrecked man, a misery like his own of a former time strikes him; and him whom the fellowship of humanity could not bend to mercy, the partnership of calamity bends. He who was once a slave is quick to pity a slave. He who was a hired labourer is quick to grieve for a hired labourer cheated of his wages. He who once mourned some such thing has compassion on a man mourning his son most bitterly. So the likeness of misery melts the heart of man, however hard it be. If, then, you who either have been wretched or fear lest you be wretched (for as long as you live here, you ought both to fear what you have not been, and to remember what you have been, and to consider what you are): placed, then, both in the memory of past miseries, and in the fear of future ones, and in the affliction of present ones, you do not pity a man in calamity and in need of your help, and you expect Him to pity you Whom misery never touches? And you do not give out of what you have received from God, and you want God to give to you out of what He has not received from you?
4. Opera misericordiae superare debent offensiones nostras. Misericordia gemina. Misericordiam, fratres mei, omnes qui ituri estis ad domos vestras, et ex hoc vix nos videbimus, nisi per aliquam solemnitatem, misericordiam operamini, quia abundant peccata. Alia requies, alia via non est, qua perveniamus ad Deum, qua redintegremur, qua reconciliemur ei, quem periculosissime offendimus. Venturi sumus in conspectum ejus : loquantur ibi pro nobis opera nostra; et ita loquantur, ut superent offensiones nostras. Quod enim amplius fuerit, hoc obtinebit, vel ad poenam, si peccata meruerint; vel ad requiem, si opera bona. Misericordia autem gemina est in Ecclesia : una in eo titulo quo nemo impendit pecuniam, nemo etiam vel laborem; altera quae de nobis exigit aut officium operis, aut impendia pecuniae. Illa quae a nobis exigit nihil erogationis vel laboris, in animo constituta est, ut ignoscas ei qui in te peccavit. Ad hanc eleemosynam impendendam thesaurus tuus in corde tuo est : ibi te explicas coram Deo. Non tibi
4. Works of mercy ought to outweigh our offences. Mercy is twofold. Mercy, my brothers, all of you who are about to go to your homes, and after this we shall hardly see one another except at some festival, practise mercy, for sins abound. There is no other rest, no other way by which we may come to God, by which we may be restored, by which we may be reconciled to Him Whom we have most perilously offended. We are going to come into His sight: let our works speak there for us; and let them so speak that they outweigh our offences. For whichever is the greater will prevail, either to punishment, if sins have deserved it, or to rest, if good works [have]. Now mercy in the Church is twofold: one under that heading in which no one spends money, nor even labour; the other, which demands of us either the service of work or the expense of money. That which demands of us nothing in outlay or labour is seated in the mind: that you forgive him who has sinned against you. For spending this alms your treasure is in your heart: there you lay yourself open before God. Not to you
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dicitur, Profer sacculum, aperi arcam, resigna horreum : neque hoc tibi dicitur, Veni, ambula, curre, festina, intercede, loquere, visita, labora. Stans uno loco projecisti de pectore tuo duo tenes contra fratrem tuum, fecisti misericordiam, nullo sumptu, nullo labore, sola bonitate, sola misericordiae cogitatione. Nam si dicamus, Erogate res vestras pauperibus; duri videbimur. Certe vel nunc lenes et faciles sumus, quando dicimus : Impendite unde nihil minuetis, dimittite ut dimittatur vobis. Dicamus tamen etiam istud, Date et dabitur vobis. Conjunxit haec Dominus in praecepto, et ista duo misericordiae genera expressit. Dimittite, et dimittetur vobis : misericordia est ignoscentis. Date et dabitur vobis (Luc. VI, 37, 38) : misericordia est erogantis. Vide si non amplius Deus dat nobis. Tu ignoscis homini, in quo te laesit homo hominem : ignoscit tibi Deus, in quo offendisti homo Deum. Numquid enim hoc est hominem laedere, quod est Deum offendere? Ergo plus tibi dedit : quia tu hoc dimisisti, in quo homo laesus est; hoc ille dimittit, in quo Deus offensus est. Attendite aliam misericordiam dispensationis. Tu das panem, ille dat salutem; tu das sitienti poculum liquoris alicujus, ille tibi dat poculum sapientiae suae. Numquid ista vel comparanda sunt, quod das, et quod accipis? Ecce quomodo fenerandum est. Si quis vult esse fenerator, omnino non prohibemus : sed illum feneretur, qui non sit pauper plura et majora reddendo, et cujus est etiam hoc ipsum qualecumque quod ei das, ut amplius meliusque recipias.
is said, Bring out your purse, open your chest, unseal your granary; nor is it said to you, Come, walk, run, hurry, intercede, speak, visit, labour. Standing in one place you have cast out of your heart what you held against your brother; you have done mercy, at no expense, with no labour, by goodness alone, by the thought of mercy alone. For if we say, Pay out your goods to the poor, we shall seem harsh. Surely now at least we are gentle and easy, when we say: Spend from that by which you will lose nothing, forgive that it may be forgiven you. Let us nevertheless say this too, Give and it shall be given to you. The Lord joined these together in a precept, and expressed these two kinds of mercy. Forgive, and it shall be forgiven you: this is the mercy of one who pardons. Give and it shall be given to you (Luke 6:37–38): this is the mercy of one who pays out. See whether God does not give us more. You pardon a man in that in which a man has hurt you, a man; God pardons you in that in which you, a man, have offended God. For is hurting a man the same thing as offending God? Therefore He has given you more: for you forgave that in which a man was hurt; He forgives that in which God was offended. Consider another mercy, that of dispensing. You give bread, He gives salvation; you give to the thirsty a cup of some drink, He gives you the cup of His wisdom. Are these even to be compared, what you give and what you receive? See how one ought to lend at interest. If anyone wishes to be a lender at interest, we do not forbid it at all: but let him lend to Him Who is not made poor by returning more and greater things, and to Whom belongs even this very thing, whatever it is, that you give Him, so that you may receive more and better.
5. Eleemosyna eroganda cum humilitate et hilaritate. Illud etiam moneo Sanctitatem vestram, ut sciatis eum duplam misericordiam facere, qui pauperibus sic dat aliquid, ut ipse eroget. Non enim debet esse sola benignitas largientis, sed et humilitas ministrantis. Nescio quomodo, fratres mei, animus ejus qui porrigit pauperi, velut communi humanitati atque infirmitati compatitur, quando ponitur manus habentis in manum indigentis. Quamvis ille det, ille accipiat, conjunguntur minister et cui ministratur. Non enim jungit nos calamitas, sed humilitas. Abundantia vestra erit vobis, si Domino placet, et filiis vestris. Sed de ista terrena abundantia nulla mentio est, quam videtis obnoxiam tantis casibus. Jacet in domo thesaurus quietus, dominum quietum esse non sinit. Timetur latro, timetur effractor, timetur servus infidelis, timetur vicinus malus et potens. Quanto plus tenetur, tanto plus timetur. Si autem erogas Deo in pauperes, non perdis, et securus efficeris, quia ipse Deus custodit tibi in coelo, qui et tibi necessaria dat super terram. An forte times, ne perdat Christus quod illi commendaveris? Nonne dispensatorem unusquisque eligit de familia sua fidelem, cui committat pecuniam suam? Qui etsi habet in potestate non auferre, non tamen habet in potestate non perdere. Quid fide Christi prolixius? quid omnipotentia divinius? Nec auferre tibi aliquid potest, quia ipse dedit tibi spe quod illi dares : nec aliquid perdere, quia universa omnipotens tenet. Reficitis viscera, quand⟨o⟩ agapes
5. Alms are to be paid out with humility and cheerfulness. This also I urge upon your Holiness, that you should know that he does a double mercy who gives something to the poor in such a way that he pays it out himself. For there ought to be not only the kindness of the one bestowing, but also the humility of the one serving. I do not know how, my brothers, the mind of him who holds something out to a poor man suffers along, as it were, with our common humanity and weakness, when the hand of one who has is placed in the hand of one in need. Although the one gives and the other receives, the servant and the one who is served are joined together. For it is not calamity that joins us, but humility. Your abundance will be yours, if it pleases the Lord, and your children's. But of this earthly abundance there is no mention, which you see is exposed to so many mishaps. A treasure lies quiet in the house; it does not allow its owner to be quiet. The robber is feared, the housebreaker is feared, the faithless slave is feared, the bad and powerful neighbour is feared. The more is held, the more is feared. But if you pay out to God among the poor, you do not lose, and you are made secure, because God Himself keeps it for you in heaven, He Who also gives you what is necessary upon earth. Or do you perhaps fear lest Christ lose what you have entrusted to Him? Does not each man choose from his household a faithful steward, to whom to commit his money? And he, even if he has it in his power not to take it away, nevertheless does not have it in his power not to lose it. What is more ample than the faithfulness of Christ? What is more divine than omnipotence? He can neither take anything from you, since He Himself gave you in hope what you were to give Him; nor lose anything, since, being omnipotent, He holds all things. You refresh the inward parts when love-feasts
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