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Augustine, Sermones 277-283 (Classis III, de Sanctis)

Sermon CCLXXVIII

CAPUT XIX. — 18. De difficultate proposita, deque Deo et de corpore futuro spirituali quid tenendum. Non hoc ideo dixi (mementote quantum potestis, ut ea discamus, usquequo invenerimus, quae nondum novimus; quod autem novimus, non opus est ut discamus, sed Domino adjuvante, doceamus): non ergo hoc ideo dixi, quia carnem visuram negavi; sed quia quaerenda sunt testimonia clariora, si forte poterunt inveniri. Nam hoc quod prolatum est, videtis quale sit. Pro nobis enim magis facit, vel pro ipsa veritate, vel pro his qui quasi certo contendunt, carnem non visuram omnino ullo modo Deum, nec in resurrectione mortuorum. Nos hinc non contendimus, sed repetendo acutos commemoramus, tardis inculcamus. Licet multis taediosi simus, dicimus tamen. Deus non videtur in loco, quia non est corpus; quia ubique totus est, quia non in parte minor, et in parte major est. Hoc firmissime teneamus. Si autem caro illa tantam acceperit mutationem, ut possit, per eam videri quod non videtur in loco; omnino ita sit. Sed quaerendum est, unde doceatur. Et si nondum docetur, nondum negetur; sed certe vel dubitetur. Ita tamen ut carnem resurrecturam non dubitetur, spirituale corpus futurum ex animali non dubitetur, corruptibile hoc et mortale hoc induere immortalitatem et incorruptionem non dubitetur: ut in quod pervenimus, in eo ambulemus (Philipp. III, 16). Certe si nimis inquirendo in aliquo forte deviamus; saltem in creatura, non in Creatore deviemus. Conetur unusquisque quantum potuerit, corpus convertere in spiritum, dum tamen in corpus non convertat Deum.

Chapter XIX. — 18. On the difficulty proposed, and what is to be held concerning God and the future spiritual body. I did not say this (remember, as far as you can, that we are to learn what we do not yet know, until we have found it; but what we know, there is no need for us to learn, but, with the Lord's help, to teach): I did not, then, say this because I denied that the flesh will see; but because clearer testimonies must be sought, if perhaps they can be found. For you see of what kind this is which has been brought forward. For it tells rather in our favour, or in favour of the truth itself, or in favour of those who contend, as though with certainty, that the flesh will not see God at all in any way, not even in the resurrection of the dead. We are not contending on this point, but by repeating it we remind the quick and drive it home to the slow. Although we may be tedious to many, we say it nevertheless. God is not seen in a place, because He is not a body; because He is whole everywhere, because He is not less in one part and greater in another. Let us hold this most firmly. But if that flesh shall have received so great a change that through it there may be seen what is not seen in a place, let it by all means be so. But it must be sought from where this may be taught. And if it is not yet taught, let it not yet be denied; but let it at least be held in doubt. Yet in such a way that it is not doubted that the flesh will rise again, it is not doubted that a spiritual body will come to be from an animal one, it is not doubted that this corruptible and this mortal will put on immortality and incorruption: so that in what we have attained, in that we may walk (Phil. 3:16). Certainly, if by inquiring too much we perhaps go astray in some point, let us at least go astray concerning the creature, not concerning the Creator. Let each one strive, as far as he can, to convert the body into spirit, provided only that he does not convert God into a body.

SERMO CCLXXVIII. De vocatione apostoli Pauli, et commendatione dominicae orationis. Pro solemnitate conversionis S. Pauli, I.

Sermon CCLXXVIII. On the calling of the apostle Paul, and the commendation of the Lord's Prayer. For the solemnity of the conversion of St Paul, 1.

CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Paulus ex persecutore praedicator Christi. Gratiae Dei exemplum in Paulo datum, ne aliquis peccator desperet. Hodie lectio de Actibus Apostolorum haec pronuntiata est, ubi apostolus Paulus ex persecutore Christianorum, annuntiator Christi factus est. Hodie in illis regionibus etiam loca ipsa testantur, quod tunc gestum est: et nunc legitur, et creditur. Utilitas autem rei gestae hujus haec est, quam Apostolus ipse commemorat in Epistolis suis. Dicit enim ad hoc sibi veniam datam omnium peccatorum suorum, et illius furoris atque insaniae qua pertrahebat Christianos ad necem, qui minister erat furoris Judaeorum, sive in lapidatione

Chapter One. — 1. Paul, from a persecutor, a preacher of Christ. An example of the grace of God given in Paul, lest any sinner despair. Today the reading from the Acts of the Apostles was proclaimed, where the apostle Paul, from a persecutor of the Christians, was made a herald of Christ. Today in those regions the very places also bear witness to what was then done: and now it is read, and believed. The usefulness of this event, moreover, is this, which the Apostle himself recalls in his Epistles. For he says that pardon was given him for this purpose, of all his sins, and of that fury and madness with which he dragged Christians to death, he who was the servant of the fury of the Jews, whether in the stoning

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Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCLXXVIII› · call in col 1268

Alias, de Diversis 34.

Formerly [numbered] On Various Subjects 34.

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(b) ‹anchor: dominicae orationis› · call in col 1268

Cum hoc titulo ediderunt post Ulimmerium Lovanienses: quibus veterrimum Germanense exemplar, imo et Possidius in Indiculo, cap. 8, suffragatur. Florus tamen in I Cor. III, et I Thess. IV, et I Tim. I, sermonem « de Conversione apostoli Pauli appellat. » Baronius in martyrologio, die 25 januarii, putat in solemnitate conversionis S. Pauli habitum ab Augustino. Hujus vero solemnitatis in antiquo Carthaginensis Ecclesiae calendario recens vulgato, nulla mentio. Et certe infra, cap. 14, his verbis, « Si non « illas » amaritudines dierum « omiserunt, vel per istos « dies videant, » etc., designari videtur Paschale tempus: quo, ut notum est, tempore legebatur olim et exponebatur liber Actuum Apostolorum

The Louvain editors, following Ulimmerius, published it with this title, and the very old Germain manuscript supports them, as indeed does Possidius in his Indiculus, chapter 8. Florus, however, on 1 Corinthians 3, 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Timothy 1, calls the sermon "On the Conversion of the apostle Paul." Baronius in the Martyrology, at 25 January, thinks Augustine preached it on the feast of the conversion of St Paul. But the ancient calendar of the Church of Carthage, recently published, makes no mention of this feast. And certainly below, in chapter 14, the words "If they have not let go those bitter days, let them at least in these days see," etc., seem to point to Eastertide, the season in which, as is well known, the book of the Acts of the Apostles used to be read and expounded.

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sancti martyris Stephani, sive in caeteris exhibendis et adducendis ad poenam; ut nemo de se desperet, qui fuerit magnis peccatis involutus, et magnis sceleribus irretitus, quasi veniam non sit accepturus, si conversus fuerit ad eum, qui pendens in cruce oravit pro persecutoribus dicens: Pater, ignosce illis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt (Luc. XXIII, 34). Factus est ille ex persecutore praedicator et doctor Gentium. Fui primo, inquit, blasphemus et persecutor et injuriosus: sed ideo misericordiam consecutus sum, ut in me primo ostenderet Christus Jesus omnem longanimitatem, ad informationem eorum qui credituri sunt illi in vitam aeternam (I Tim. I, 13 et 16). Gratia enim Dei salvi efficimur a peccatis nostris, in quibus aegrotamus. Illius, illius medicina est, quae sanat animam. Nam se ipsa vulnerare potuit, sanare non potuit.

of the holy martyr Stephen, or in bringing forth and dragging the others to punishment; so that no one who has been entangled in great sins and ensnared in great crimes should despair of himself, as though he were not going to receive pardon, if he has turned to Him who, hanging on the cross, prayed for His persecutors, saying: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke 23:34). That man was made, from a persecutor, a preacher and teacher of the Gentiles. I was at first, he says, a blasphemer and a persecutor and insolent; but for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Christ Jesus might show all His long-suffering, for the instruction of those who are to believe in Him unto eternal life (1 Tim. 1:13, 16). For by the grace of God we are made safe from our sins, in which we are sick. His, His is the medicine which heals the soul. For the soul was able to wound itself; it was not able to heal itself.

2. Aegrotare et convalescere non aeque habet homo in potestate. Ex libera hominis voluntate semen mortis. Medicus proprie quis. Namque et in ipso corpore in potestate habet homo aegrotare, convalescere autem non ita habet in potestate. Si enim excedat modum, et intemperanter vivat, faciatque illa quae sunt incommoda valetudini, et expugnantia sanitatem, uno die, si vult, cadit in morbos; non autem cum ceciderit, convalescit. Ut enim aegrotet, se ipsum adhibet ad intemperantiam: ut autem convalescat, medicum adhibet ad salutem. Non enim potest, ut diximus, in potestate habere recipiendam sanitatem, quomodo habet in potestate amittendam.

2. To fall sick and to recover man does not have equally in his power. From the free will of man, the seed of death. Who is properly a physician. For even in the body itself man has it in his power to fall sick, but to recover he does not so have in his power. For if he exceeds due measure, and lives intemperately, and does those things which are harmful to health and which assail soundness, in one day, if he wishes, he falls into diseases; but when he has fallen, he does not recover. For in order to fall sick, he applies himself to intemperance; but in order to recover, he applies a physician to his health. For he cannot, as we have said, have the regaining of health in his power in the way that he has the losing of it in his power.

CAPUT II. — Sic etiam secundum animam, ut peccando in mortem caderet homo, ut ex immortali mortalis fieret, ut subderetur diabolo seductori, fuit in ejus libero arbitrio; quo ad inferiora declinando superiora deseruit, et aurem praebendo serpenti, aurem clausit ad Deum, at⟨q⟩ue constitutus inter praeceptorem et seductorem, magis seductori quam praeceptori obtemperare delegit. Unde enim audivit Deum, inde audivit diabolum. Quare ergo non potius meliori credidit? Ideoque invenit verum esse quod praedixerat Deus, falsum quod promiserat diabolus. Haec prima origo malorum nostrorum, haec radix omnium miseriarum, hoc semen mortis ex propria et libera voluntate primi hominis: qui sic est factus, ut si obediret Deo, semper beatus et immortalis esset; si negligeret et contemneret praeceptum ejus, qui volebat in illo salutem perpetuam custodire, in morbum mortalitatis irrueret. Tunc ergo medicus a sano contemptus est, nunc curat aegrotum. Alia sunt enim praecepta, quae dat medicina ad tenendam sanitatem; sanis enim dantur, ne aegrotent: alia sunt autem, quae jam aegroti accipiunt, ut recuperent quod amiserunt.

Chapter II. — So too with regard to the soul: that man should fall into death by sinning, that from immortal he should become mortal, that he should be made subject to the devil the seducer, lay in his free choice; by which, in declining towards lower things, he forsook the higher, and by lending his ear to the serpent he closed his ear to God, and, placed between the instructor and the seducer, he chose to obey the seducer rather than the instructor. For with the same ear with which he heard God, he heard the devil. Why then did he not rather believe the better one? And so he found that what God had foretold was true, and what the devil had promised was false. This is the first origin of our evils, this the root of all miseries, this the seed of death, from the first man's own and free will: who was so made that, if he obeyed God, he would be always blessed and immortal; if he neglected and despised the precept of Him who wished to guard perpetual health in him, he would rush into the disease of mortality. Then, therefore, the physician was despised by the healthy man; now He heals the sick one. For there are some precepts which medicine gives for keeping health; for they are given to the healthy, so that they may not fall sick; but there are others which those already sick receive, so that they may recover what they have lost.

CAPUT III. — Bonum erat homini ut obediret medico, cum sanus esset, ne medicus illi opus esset. Non est enim opus sanis medicus, sed aegrotantibus. Proprie quippe medicus dicitur, per quem sanitas recuperatur. Nam semper Deus medicus opus est etiam sanis, ut sanitas ipsa teneatur. Bonum ergo illi erat tenere perpetuam sanitatem, in qua conditus erat.

Chapter III. — It was good for man to obey the physician while he was healthy, so that he should not need a physician. For the healthy have no need of a physician, but the sick. For he is properly called a physician through whom health is recovered. For God as physician is always needed even by the healthy, so that health itself may be kept. It was good, then, for him to keep the perpetual health in which he had been created.

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Contempsit, abusus est, intemperantia sua decidit in malam valetudinem hujus mortalitatis: audiat vel modo praecipientem medicum, ut possit inde surgere, quo per peccatum, ipse decubuit.

He despised it, he abused it, by his own intemperance he fell into the bad health of this mortality: let him at least now listen to the physician giving instructions, so that he may be able to rise from where he himself lay down through sin.

3. Aegrotus praecepta medici observando nonnisi paulatim fit sanus. Sed plane, fratres, quemadmodum in ipsa medicina sanus faciendo quae imperat sapientia salutis, manet in eo quod habet; si autem coeperit aegrotare, incipit audire praeceptum, et incipit facere, si vere curat recipere bonam et integram valetudinem; cum autem coeperit id facere, non continuo jam sanus est; sed diu observando pervenit ad illam sanitatem, quam minus temperando perdiderat: hoc illi autem prodest quod jam incipit observare, ne augeat aegritudinem, et ut non solum deterior non fiat, sed etiam incipiat melius habere, qui paulatim fit sanus: spes est enim perfectae sanitatis, quando incipit homo minus minusque aegrotare. Sic etiam juste vivere in hac vita, quid est aliud, nisi audire praecepta legis, et facere? Numquid ergo quicumque faciunt praecepta legis, jam sani sunt? Nondum: sed ut sani fiant, faciunt. Non deficiant faciendo: quia paulatim recipitur quod semel amissum est. Si enim cito rediret homo ad pristinam beatitudinem, ludus illi esset peccando cadere in mortem.

3. A sick man, by observing the physician's instructions, becomes healthy only little by little. But plainly, brethren, just as in medicine itself a healthy man, by doing what the wisdom of health commands, remains in what he has; but if he has begun to be sick, he begins to listen to the instruction, and begins to carry it out, if he truly cares to recover good and sound health; yet when he has begun to do this, he is not at once already healthy; but by observing it for a long time he arrives at that health which he had lost by too little self-restraint: yet this profits him, that he now begins to observe it, so that he may not increase the sickness, and that he may not only not become worse, but may even begin to be better, he who becomes healthy little by little: for there is hope of perfect health when a man begins to be sick less and less. So also, to live justly in this life, what else is it but to hear the precepts of the law, and to do them? Are all, then, who do the precepts of the law already healthy? Not yet: but they do them in order to become healthy. Let them not fail in doing them: for what has once been lost is recovered little by little. For if a man returned quickly to his former blessedness, it would be a game for him to fall into death by sinning.

CAPUT IV. — 4. Cum praeceptis medici ferendus etiam dolor sectionis. Cecidit quisque, verbi gratia, in morbum corporis per intemperantiam, natum est illi aliquid in corpore, quod opus est etiam secari: sine dubio dolores passurus est; sed dolores illi non erunt infructuosi. Si dolores sectionis pati non vult, vermes putredinis patietur. Incipit ergo dicere medicus: Observa illud atque illud, hoc noli tangere, noli isto cibo uti vel potu, inquietus esse ad illam rem noli. Incipit facere, jam observans est praeceptorum; sed nondum sanus. Quo ergo valet quod observat? Ne pestis quae illi accidit augeatur, atque ut etiam minuatur. Quid ergo sequitur? Accedat oportet ad observationem praeceptorum etiam medici secantis manus, et dolores salubres infligentis. Si ergo ille positus in ulcere putrido dicat, Quid mihi prodest quia observo praecepta, si dolores patior sectionis? respondetur, Sed utroque curaberis, et observantia praeceptorum, et tolerantia dolorum. Tantum est enim quod fecisti tibi, non observando cum sanus esses. Acquiesce itaque medico, donec saneris; meritum est enim ulceris tui, quidquid pateris molestiarum.

Chapter IV. — 4. Along with the physician's instructions, the pain of cutting must also be borne. Someone, for example, has fallen into a bodily disease through intemperance; something has grown in his body which must even be cut out: without doubt he is going to suffer pains; but those pains will not be fruitless for him. If he is unwilling to suffer the pains of cutting, he will suffer the worms of putrefaction. So the physician begins to say: Observe this and that, do not touch this, do not take this food or drink, do not be restless about that matter. He begins to do so, he is now observant of the instructions; but not yet healthy. What, then, does his observing avail? That the plague which has befallen him may not be increased, and that it may even be diminished. What, then, follows? To the observance of the instructions there must also be added the hand of the physician who cuts and inflicts wholesome pains. If, then, that man, lying in his putrid ulcer, should say, What does it profit me that I observe the instructions, if I suffer the pains of cutting? the answer is given, But you will be cured by both, by observance of the instructions and by endurance of the pains. For so great is what you did to yourself by not observing when you were healthy. Submit, therefore, to the physician until you are healed; for whatever troubles you suffer are what your ulcer has deserved.

CAPUT V. — 5. Christus medicus quomodo nos paulatim sanat. Sic venit ad afflictum et laborantem medicus Christus, qui ait: Non est opus sanis medicus, sed male habentibus. Non veni vocare justos, sed peccatores (Matth. IX, 12 et 13). Vocat peccatores ad pacem, vocat aegrotantes ad sanitatem. Imperat fidem, imperat continentiam, temperantiam, sobrietatem; refrenat concupiscentiam avaritiae: dicit quid faciamus, quid observemus. Qui observat haec, jam potest dici juste vivere secundum praeceptum medicinae: sed nondum recepit illam sanitatem et illam integram valetudinem,

Chapter V. — 5. How Christ the physician heals us little by little. So Christ the physician came to the afflicted and suffering man, He Who says: There is no need of a physician for the healthy, but for those who are unwell. I came not to call the just, but sinners (Matt. 9:12–13). He calls sinners to peace, He calls the sick to health. He commands faith, He commands continence, temperance, sobriety; He reins in the desire of avarice: He tells us what we are to do, what we are to observe. He who observes these things can already be said to live justly according to the instruction of the medicine: but he has not yet recovered that health and that sound health,

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quam Deus promittit per Apostolum, dicens: « Oportet corruptibile hoc induere incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induere immortalitatem. Tunc fiet sermo qui scriptus est, Absorpta est mors in victoriam. Ubi est, mors, contentio tua? ubi est, mors, aculeus tuus » (I Cor. XV, 53-55)? Tunc plena sanitas erit, et cum Angelis sanctis aequalitas. Sed modo antequam fiat, fratres mei, cum coeperimus observare praecepta, quae medicus praecipit, quando patimur etiam aliquas tentationes et tribulationes, non putemus nos sine causa observare, quia major dolor videtur sequi praecepta illa quae observas. Quod enim pateris tribulationes, manus est secantis medici, non sententia judicis punientis. Fit hoc ut perfecta sit sanitas: patiamur, feramus dolores. Dulce peccatum est: per amaritudines ergo tribulationis perniciosa dulcedo digeratur. Delectabat te, quando fecisti malum: sed incidisti in infirmitatem faciendo. A contrario medicina est, facit tibi ad tempus dolorem, ut recipias perpetuam sanitatem. Utere illa, et noli repellere.

which God promises through the Apostle, saying: "This corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. Then shall come about the word that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your contention? Where, O death, is your sting?" (1 Cor. 15:53–55)? Then there will be full health, and equality with the holy angels. But now, before it comes about, my brothers, when we have begun to observe the precepts which the physician prescribes, when we suffer also some temptations and tribulations, let us not think that we observe them without cause, because a greater pain seems to follow those precepts which you observe. For the fact that you suffer tribulations is the hand of a physician who cuts, not the sentence of a judge who punishes. This is done so that health may be perfect: let us suffer, let us bear the pains. Sin is sweet: therefore let the pernicious sweetness be digested through the bitternesses of tribulation. It delighted you when you did evil: but by doing it you fell into sickness. The medicine is from the contrary; it causes you pain for a time, so that you may recover everlasting health. Make use of it, and do not push it away.

CAPUT VI. — 6. Antidotum contra omnia peccata. Duobus peccatorum generibus duo opponuntur praecepta. Sane ante omnia illud antidotum non recedat, quod contra omnes putredines, contra omnium peccatorum venena plurimum valet, ut dicas, et verum dicas Domino Deo tuo: Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris (Matth. VI, 12). Hoc enim pactum cum aegrotis medicus conscripsit atque firmavit. Quoniam duo sunt genera peccatorum; unum quo in Deum, alterum quo in hominem peccatur. Unde etiam duo sunt praecepta illa, in quibus tota Lex pendet et Prophetae: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota mente tua; et diliges proximum tuum tanquam te ipsum (Id. XXII, 37-40). Et in his continetur etiam decalogus praeceptorum Legis, ubi tria praecepta pertinent ad dilectionem Dei, septem ad proximi: de quibus satis aliquando tractavimus.

Chapter VI. — 6. An antidote against all sins. Two precepts are set against two kinds of sins. Above all, indeed, let that antidote not depart which is of the greatest power against all corruptions, against the poisons of all sins: that you say, and say truly, to the Lord your God: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors (Matt. 6:12). For this is the compact which the physician has drawn up with the sick and confirmed. For there are two kinds of sins: one by which sin is committed against God, the other by which it is committed against man. Hence also there are those two precepts on which the whole Law and the Prophets depend: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind; and you shall love your neighbour as yourself (Matt. 22:37–40). And in these is contained also the decalogue of the precepts of the Law, where three precepts pertain to the love of God, seven to [the love] of neighbour: concerning which we have at some time treated sufficiently.

CAPUT VII. — 7. Peccat in Deum, qui in se corrumpit templum ejus. Quomodo ergo duo sunt praecepta, sic et duo genera peccatorum. Aut enim in Deum peccatur, aut in hominem. Peccatur autem in Deum, etiam corrumpendo templum ejus in te: etenim Deus redemit te sanguine Filii sui. Quanquam et antequam redimereris, cujus servus eras, nisi ejus qui condidit omnia? Peculiariter quodam modo te habere voluit redemptum sanguine Filii sui. Et non estis vestri, inquit Apostolus; empti enim estis pretio magno: glorificate et portate Deum in corpore vestro (I Cor. VI, 19 et 20). Ergo ille a quo redemptus es, fecit te domum suam. Numquid tu vis everti domum tuam? Sic nec Deus suam, hoc est, te ipsum. Si tibi non parcis propter te ipsum, parce tibi propter Deum, qui te fecit templum suum. Templum enim Dei sanctum est, inquit, quod estis vos; et, Qui templum Dei corruperit, corrumpet illum Deus (Id. III, 17). Quae peccata homines quando faciunt, putant se non peccare, quia nulli homini nocent.

Chapter VII. — 7. He sins against God who corrupts His temple in himself. As, then, there are two precepts, so also there are two kinds of sins. For sin is committed either against God or against man. And sin is committed against God also by corrupting His temple in you: for God has redeemed you with the blood of His Son. And yet even before you were redeemed, whose servant were you, if not His Who founded all things? In a certain way He wished to have you as His own particularly, redeemed with the blood of His Son. And you are not your own, says the Apostle; for you have been bought at a great price: glorify and carry God in your body (1 Cor. 6:19–20). Therefore He by Whom you have been redeemed has made you His house. Do you wish your house to be overthrown? Neither, then, does God wish His own, that is, yourself. If you do not spare yourself for your own sake, spare yourself for the sake of God, Who has made you His temple. For the temple of God is holy, he says, which you are; and, Whoever corrupts the temple of God, God will corrupt him (1 Cor. 3:17). When men commit these sins, they think they are not sinning, because they harm no man.

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CAPUT VIII. — 8. Corruptores sui, non innocentes. Innocens quis. Hoc itaque volo intimare Sanctitati vestrae, quantum breve tempus admittit, quid mali faciant, qui se ipsos corrumpunt voracitate, ebrietate, fornicatione; et reprehendentibus respondent, Feci de ratione mea, de possessione mea: cui quid rapui? cui quid abstuli? contra quem feci? Bene mihi sit volo, ex eo quod Deus mihi dedit. Videtur iste innocens, quod quasi nulli noceat. Sed quomodo est innocens, qui non parcit sibi? Ille enim innocens est, qui nulli nocet: quia dilectionis proximi regula ab ipso est. Hoc enim dixit Deus, Diliges proximum tuum tanquam te ipsum. Quomodo ergo in te salva est dilectio proximi, quando dilectio tui per intemperantiam vulneratur? Deinde dicit tibi Deus: Cum per ebrietatem corrumpere te vis, non cujuslibet domum evertis, sed domum meam. Ubi habitabo? In istis ruinis? in istis sordibus? Si hospitem reciperes aliquem servum meum, reficeres et mundares domum, quo intraret servus meus: non mundas cor, ubi habitare ego volo?

Chapter VIII. — 8. Corrupters of themselves, not innocent. Who is innocent. This, then, I wish to make known to Your Holiness, so far as the brief time allows: what evil they do who corrupt themselves by gluttony, drunkenness and fornication; and to those who reprove them they answer, I have acted on my own account, with my own possession: from whom have I seized anything? from whom have I taken anything away? against whom have I acted? I want to be well off from what God has given me. Such a man seems innocent, since he harms, as it were, no one. But how is he innocent who does not spare himself? For he is innocent who harms no one: because the rule of love of neighbour starts from oneself. For God said this, You shall love your neighbour as yourself. How then is love of neighbour safe in you, when love of yourself is wounded through intemperance? Then God says to you: When you will to corrupt yourself through drunkenness, you overturn not just anyone's house, but My house. Where shall I dwell? In these ruins? in this filth? If you were receiving some servant of Mine as a guest, you would repair and clean the house which My servant was to enter: do you not clean the heart, where I will to dwell?

CAPUT IX. — 9. Modus in rerum concessarum usu difficile tenetur. Usus uxoris immoderatus, nisi liberorum procreandorum causa fiat. Unam ergo rem commemoravi, fratres, ut videatis quomodo peccent, qui se ipsos corrumpunt, cum sibi innocentes videntur. Sed quoniam in ipsa fragilitate et mortalitate vitae hujus difficile est ut homo non excedat modum aliquantum in his rebus, quibus ad necessitatem utitur; adhibendum est illud remedium, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris: si dicatur, et vere dicatur. Adulterium facere prohiberis, ne noceas proximo. Quomodo enim non vis accedi ad tuam, sic non debes accedere ad alienam uxorem. Si autem tua intemperantius usus fueris, numquid videris nocere alicui, quia uteris tua? Sed eo ipso concesso immoderatius utendo, corrumpis in te templum Dei. Nemo te accusat extraneus: sed quod responsum dabit conscientia tua Deo dicenti per Apostolum, Ut sciat unusquisque vestrum suum vas possidere in sanctificatione et honore; non in morbo desideriorum, sicuti Gentes quae ignorant Deum (I Thess. IV, 4, 5)? Quis est autem habens uxorem, qui eo modo utatur uxore, ut non excedat legem liberos procreandi? Ad hoc enim data est: convincunt te tabulae quae scribuntur in matrimonio. Pactus es quemadmodum duceres: sonat tibi scriptura pactionis, Liberorum procreandorum causa. Non ergo accedas, si potes, nisi liberorum procreandorum causa. Si modum excesseris, contra illas tabulas facies et contra pactum. Nonne manifestum est? Eris mendax, et pacti violator: et quaerit in te Deus integritatem templi sui et non invenit; non quia tua usus es, sed quia immoderate usus es. Nam et vinum de apotheca tua bibis, et tamen si sic bibis, ut inebrieris, non quia re tua usus es, ideo non peccasti: donum enim Dei convertisti ad corruptionem tuam.

Chapter IX. — 9. Measure in the use of things permitted is kept with difficulty. Immoderate use of a wife, unless it is done for the sake of begetting children. I have mentioned one thing, then, brethren, so that you may see how they sin who corrupt themselves while they seem to themselves innocent. But since, in the very frailty and mortality of this life, it is difficult for a man not to exceed the measure somewhat in those things which he uses out of necessity, that remedy must be applied, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors: if it is said, and truly said. You are forbidden to commit adultery, lest you harm your neighbour. For just as you do not want your own wife to be approached, so you ought not to approach another's wife. But if you have used your own more intemperately, do you seem to harm anyone, because you are using your own? Yet by using the very thing permitted more immoderately, you corrupt the temple of God in yourself. No outsider accuses you: but what answer will your conscience give to God, Who says through the Apostle, That each one of you should know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honour; not in the disease of desires, as the Gentiles who do not know God (1 Thess. 4:4–5)? But who is there that has a wife and uses his wife in such a way as not to exceed the law of begetting children? For it is for this that she was given: the tablets that are written at marriage convict you. You made a compact on what terms you were marrying: the writing of the compact sounds in your ears, For the sake of begetting children. Do not, therefore, approach her, if you can help it, except for the sake of begetting children. If you exceed the measure, you will act against those tablets and against the compact. Is it not plain? You will be a liar and a violator of the compact: and God seeks in you the integrity of His temple and does not find it; not because you used what is yours, but because you used it immoderately. For you also drink wine from your own storeroom, and yet if you drink so as to become drunk, you have not therefore not sinned because you used your own property: for you have turned the gift of God to your own corruption.

CAPUT X. — 10. Deus ipse offenditur usu rerum concessarum immoderato. Remedium contra peccata

Chapter X. — 10. God Himself is offended by immoderate use of things permitted. A remedy against sins

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ejusmodi immoderationis. Quid ergo, fratres? Certe manifestum est, et renuntiat omnium conscientia, quia difficile est sic uti rebus concessis, ut non aliquantulum excedatur modus. Quando autem excesseris modum, offendis Deum, cujus templum es. Templum enim Dei sanctum est, quod estis vos. Nemo se fallat: Quisquis templum Dei corruperit, corrumpet illum Deus. Dicta sententia est, teneris reus. Quid dicturus es in orationibus tuis, quando rogabis Deum, quem offendis in templo suo, quem pellis de templo suo? Quomodo mundabis rursus in te domum Dei? quomodo eum reduces ad te? Quomodo, nisi dicendo ex vero corde tuo, et verbis et factis, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris? Quis enim te accusabit immoderate utentem tuo cibo, tuo potu, tua conjuge? Nemo accusabit hominum: sed tamen quia Deus arguit, exigens de te integritatem templi sui et incorruptionem habitationis suae, dedit tibi remedium, tanquam dicens: Si excedendo modum offendis me, et ego tenebo te reum, ubi te nullus hominum accusat; dimitte homini quod in te peccavit, ut dimittam tibi quod peccas in me.

of such immoderation. What then, brethren? It is certainly plain, and the conscience of all declares it, that it is difficult so to use the things granted that the measure is not exceeded somewhat. But when you have exceeded the measure, you offend God, Whose temple you are. For the temple of God is holy, which you are. Let no one deceive himself: Whoever corrupts the temple of God, God will corrupt him. The sentence has been pronounced; you are held guilty. What will you say in your prayers, when you ask God, Whom you offend in His temple, Whom you drive out of His temple? How will you cleanse again the house of God within you? how will you bring Him back to you? How, except by saying from your true heart, both in words and in deeds, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors? For who will accuse you of using your food, your drink, your wife immoderately? No one among men will accuse you; but nevertheless, because God reproves you, demanding of you the integrity of His temple and the incorruption of His dwelling, He has given you a remedy, as if saying: If by exceeding the measure you offend Me, and I shall hold you guilty where no man accuses you, forgive a man what he has sinned against you, so that I may forgive you what you sin against Me.

CAPUT XI. — 11. Contempto illo remedio non remanet spes ulla salutis. Tenete istud fortiter, fratres. Qui enim et ad hujusmodi antidotum renuntiaverit, nulla illi spos salutis omnino remanebit. Qui mihi dixerit, Non remitto peccata, quae in me forte homines peccant: non est unde illi promittam salutem. Non enim possum ego promittere, quod non promittit Deus. Ero enim non dispensator verbi Dei, sed dispensator serpentis. Serpens enim promisit bonum peccanti, Deus autem mortem minatus est. Quid enim illi evenit, nisi quod minatus est Deus? Et longe ab eo factum est, quod ille pollicitus est. Vultis ergo, fratres, ut dicam vobis: Etsi peccaveritis, etsi non dimiseritis peccata hominibus, prorsus salvi eritis, cum venerit Christus Jesus, omnibus indulgentiam dabit? Non dico, quia non audio: non dico quod mihi non dicitur. Promittit quidem Deus indulgentiam peccatori, sed praeterita omnia dimittens conversis, credentibus, baptizatis. Hoc lego, hoc audeo promittere, hoc promitto, et quod promitto promittitur mihi. Et cum legitur, omnes audimus: condiscipuli enim sumus, unus magister est in ista schola.

Chapter XI. — 11. When that remedy is despised, no hope of salvation remains. Hold this firmly, brethren. For whoever renounces even an antidote of this kind, no hope of salvation at all will remain for him. Whoever says to me, I do not remit the sins which men perhaps sin against me: there is no ground on which I may promise him salvation. For I cannot promise what God does not promise. For I should be not a steward of the word of God, but a steward of the serpent. For the serpent promised good to the sinner, but God threatened death. For what befell him, except what God threatened? And far from him came to pass what that one had promised. Do you wish, then, brethren, that I should say to you: Even if you have sinned, even if you have not forgiven men their sins, you will certainly be saved; when Christ Jesus comes, He will grant indulgence to all? I do not say it, because I do not hear it: I do not say what is not said to me. God does indeed promise indulgence to the sinner, but by forgiving all past things to those who are converted, who believe, who are baptized. This I read, this I dare to promise, this I promise, and what I promise is promised to me. And when it is read, we all hear: for we are fellow-pupils; there is one master in this school.

CAPUT XII. — 12. Peccata gravia, quae poenitentiae laborem exigunt vehementiorem. Levia peccata multitudine opprimunt, nisi a Deo dimittantur. Omnia ergo praeterita conversis dimittuntur: caeterum hujus vitae sunt quaedam gravia et mortifera, quae nisi per vehementissimam molestiam humiliationis cordis et contritionis spiritus et tribulationis poenitentiae non relaxantur. Haec dimittuntur per claves Ecclesiae. Si enim tu te coeperis judicare, si tibi coeperis displicere; Deus veniet, ut misereatur. Si tu te punire volueris, parcet ille. Qui autem agit bene poenitentiam, suus ipse punitor est. Sit oportet ipse severus in se, ut in eum sit misericors Deus: quomodo dicit David, Averte

Chapter XII. — 12. Grave sins, which demand a more vehement labour of penance. Light sins overwhelm by their multitude, unless they are forgiven by God. All past things, then, are forgiven to those who are converted; but in this life there are certain grave and deadly sins, which are not remitted except through the most vehement distress of humiliation of heart and contrition of spirit and tribulation of penance. These are forgiven through the keys of the Church. For if you begin to judge yourself, if you begin to be displeasing to yourself, God will come to have mercy. If you are willing to punish yourself, He will spare. But he who does penance well is his own punisher. He must be severe towards himself, so that God may be merciful towards him: as David says, Turn away

Editors' notes and page, col. 1273

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: Non remitto› · call in col 1273

Ulim. et Mss., non relinquo.

Ulimmerius and the manuscripts: "I do not leave aside."

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(2) ‹anchor: quia non audio› · call in col 1273

Sic Germanensis. At editi, audeo.

So the Germain manuscript. But the printed editions read "I dare."

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faciem tuam a peccatis meis, et omnes iniquitates meas dele. Sed quo merito? Ait in ipso psalmo: Quoniam iniquitatem meam ego agnosco, et peccatum meum ante me est semper (Psal. L, 11, 5). Si ergo tu agnoscis, ille ignoscit. Sunt autem peccata levia et minuta, quae devitari omnino non possunt, quae quidem videntur minora, sed multitudine premunt. Nam et acervus frumenti minutissimis granis colligitur, et tamen onerantur inde naves: et si amplius onerentur, demerguntur. Unum fulmen dejicit aliquem, et occidit: sed et si pluvia sit nimia, minutissimis guttis tamen multos interficit. Illud uno ictu perimit, illa ex multitudine exstinguit. Magnae bestiae uno morsu occidunt hominem: minutae autem cum fuerint multae congregatae, plerumque interimunt, et talem perniciem inferunt, ut poenis hujusmodi gens superba Pharaonis judicari meruerit. Si ergo, quamvis minuta sint ista peccata, tamen quia tam multa sunt, ut congregata acervum faciant, quo te premant; bonus est Deus, qui etiam ipsa dimittit, sine quibus non potest ista vita duci. Quomodo autem dimittit, si tu non dimittas quae in te committuntur?

Thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. But by what merit? He says in the same psalm: For I acknowledge my iniquity, and my sin is ever before me (Ps. 50:11, 5). If, then, you acknowledge, He pardons. There are, moreover, light and small sins which cannot be avoided altogether, which indeed seem lesser, but weigh one down by their multitude. For a heap of grain too is gathered from very small grains, and yet ships are loaded with it; and if they are loaded more heavily, they sink. A single thunderbolt strikes a man down and kills him; but if the rain is excessive, it still kills many with very small drops. The one destroys with a single stroke, the other extinguishes by multitude. Great beasts kill a man with one bite; but small ones, when many have been gathered together, often kill, and inflict such destruction that the proud nation of Pharaoh deserved to be judged with punishments of this kind. If therefore, although these sins are small, yet because they are so many that, gathered together, they form a heap with which to weigh you down; God is good, Who forgives even these, without which this life cannot be lived. But how does He forgive, if you do not forgive what is committed against you?

CAPUT XIII. — 13. Sentinare, debita debitoribus nostris dimittendo. Sententia ista sic est in corde hominis, quomodo cadus, unde sentinatur navis in pelago. Non potest enim nisi aquam admittere per rimas compaginis suae. Paulatim tamen adhibendo tenuem liquorem, facit multam collectionem, ita ut si non exhauriatur, navem opprimat. Sic et in ista vita habemus quasdam mortalitatis fragilitatisque nostrae rimulas, per quas intrat peccatum de fluctibus hujus saeculi. Arripiamus, tanquam sitellam, istam sententiam, ut sentinemus, ne demergamur. Dimittamus debita debitoribus nostris, ut dimittat nobis Deus debita nostra. Per hanc sententiam (si fiat, ut vere dicatur) exhauris quidquid influxerat. Sed cautus esto: adhuc enim in mari es. Nam cum hoc semel feceris, non sufficit, nisi perveneris trajecto isto mari ad illam patriae soliditatem et firmitatem, ubi nullis fluctibus quatiaris, nec dimittas quod in te non admittitur, nec tibi dimitti velis quod non admittis.

Chapter XIII. — 13. To bail out the bilge by forgiving debts to our debtors. This sentence is in the heart of a man as a bucket is, with which a ship at sea is bailed. For it cannot but admit water through the cracks of its joinery. Yet by letting in a thin trickle little by little, it makes a great accumulation, so that, if it is not drained, it swamps the ship. So too in this life we have certain small cracks of our mortality and frailty, through which sin enters from the waves of this world. Let us seize this sentence like a bucket, that we may bail, lest we be sunk. Let us forgive debts to our debtors, that God may forgive us our debts. By this sentence (if it is done, so that it is said truly) you drain whatever had flowed in. But be careful: for you are still at sea. For when you have done this once, it is not enough, unless, having crossed this sea, you arrive at that solidity and firmness of the homeland, where you are tossed by no waves, and neither forgive what is not committed against you, nor wish to be forgiven what you do not commit.

CAPUT XIV. — 14. Odium cito deponendum, ne corrumpat cor. Satis me hoc commendasse arbitror Charitati vestrae, et commendo propter fluctus istos, in quibus periclitamur, remedium salutare teneamus. Et videte etiam quantum peccet, qui nocere studet innocenti; cum ille jam non sit ferendus, qui non dimittit quod ei quisque nocuerit. Attendant ergo fratres nostri, et videant adversus quos habebant aliquas amaritudines odiorum. Si non illas dimiserunt, vel per istos dies videant quid faciant ista de cordibus eorum. Aut certe si se tutos putant, mittant acetum in vasa, in quibus bonum vinum servare consueverunt. Non mittunt, et cauti sunt, ne testa vitietur: et odium mittunt in cor suum, non timentes ne quid ibi corruptionis operetur? Servate ergo, fratres, ut

Chapter XIV. — 14. Hatred is to be laid aside quickly, lest it corrupt the heart. I think I have commended this sufficiently to your Charity, and I commend it, that on account of these waves in which we are in peril we may hold fast a saving remedy. And see also how greatly he sins who is eager to harm an innocent man, since he is no longer to be borne who does not forgive the harm anyone has done him. Let our brothers therefore pay heed, and let them see against whom they were holding some bitternesses of hatred. If they have not forgiven them, let them at least during these days see what these things are making of their hearts. Or surely, if they think themselves safe, let them put vinegar into the vessels in which they are accustomed to keep good wine. They do not put it in, and they are careful lest the earthenware be spoiled: and do they put hatred into their own heart, not fearing that it may work some corruption there? Keep therefore, brothers, that you

Editors' notes and page, col. 1274

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 1274

In Germanensi et Colbertino Mss., et minuta de vita humana, quae non possunt nisi committi, videntur minora, sed, etc.

In the Germain and Colbertine manuscripts: "and the small [sins] of human life, which cannot but be committed, seem lesser, but," etc.

(printed under page 643)

(2) ‹anchor: istam sententiam› · call in col 1274

Editi, sentinam. Melius Mss., sententiam.

The printed editions: "bilge." The manuscripts better: "saying."

(printed under page 643)