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Appendix to Augustine's Sermones: Sermones supposititii, Sermones 2-15

Sermons VI–VII

dicitur Deus. Vide ne ascensionem et descensionem localem sentias. Indignum est hoc de incorporea et ubique tota sentire substantia. Sed descendere dicitur Deus, quando curam humanae fragilitatis habere dignatur. Quod specialius de Domino ac Salvatore nostro sentire debemus, qui semetipsum exinanivit, servi formam accipiens (Philipp. II, 7).

God is said. See that you do not understand a local ascent and descent. It is unworthy to think this of a substance that is incorporeal and everywhere whole. But God is said to descend when He deigns to take care of human frailty. This we ought to understand more especially of our Lord and Saviour, Who emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant (Phil. 2:7).

7. Quomodo nesciat Deus p⟨e⟩ccatores. Sed videamus quid est quod dicit, Descendi ut viderem, utrum sermo qui ad me pervenit, opere completus sit; an non est ita, ut sciam. Solent enim nos hinc impugnare Pagani, et maxime immundissimi Manichaei dicentes: Ecce nesciebat Deus Legis, quid ageretur in Sodomis. Nos enim sano intellectu respondemus et dicimus, quod aliter dicitur Deus nosse justos, aliter noverit peccatores. Denique de justis quid dicitur? Novit Dominus qui sunt ejus (II Tim. II, 19). De peccatoribus quid dicitur? Discedite a me, omnes qui operamini iniquitatem, quia non novi vos (Matth. VII, 23). Et iterum Paulus Apostolus: Si quis est Domini, intelliget quae dico; qui autem ignorat, ignorabitur (I Cor. XIV, 37 et 38). Quid est ergo, Nescio? Non novi vos, non vos agnosco in regula mea, non in vobis recognosco imaginem meam. Cognovit in vobis justitia mea quod puniat, et non cognoscit misericordia quod coronet: ac si quorum actus indigni Deo sunt, indigni etiam notitia Dei dicuntur. Descendi ergo ut videam, non ut ego quid agunt sciam: sed ut ipsos scientia mea dignos efficiam, si quos ipsorum inveniam justos, si quos inveniam poenitentes, si quos tales quos debeam scire. Denique quia nullus qui poeniteret, nullus qui converteretur inventus est praeter Lot, ipse solus cognoscitur, ipse solus de incendio liberatur. Nos vero, fratres, demus operam, et tales esse cum Dei adjutorio laboremus, ut digni habeamur notitia Dei; ut nos et agnoscere dignetur et scire, praestante Domi⟨n⟩o nostro Jesu Christo, etc.

7. How God does not know sinners. But let us see what it is that He says: I have come down that I might see whether the report which has come to Me has been fulfilled in deed; or whether it is not so, that I may know. For the Pagans, and above all the most unclean Manichaeans, are accustomed to attack us on this point, saying: See, the God of the Law did not know what was being done in Sodom. But we, with sound understanding, answer and say that God is said to know the just in one way, and to know sinners in another. Indeed, what is said of the just? The Lord knows those who are His (2 Tim. 2:19). What is said of sinners? Depart from Me, all you who work iniquity, for I do not know you (Matt. 7:23). And again the Apostle Paul: If anyone is the Lord's, he will understand the things I say; but he who does not know will not be known (1 Cor. 14:37–38). What then is "I do not know"? I do not know you, I do not acknowledge you in My rule, I do not recognize My image in you. My justice has known in you what it may punish, and mercy does not know in you what it may crown: as if those whose deeds are unworthy of God are said to be unworthy also of God's knowledge. I have come down, therefore, that I may see, not so that I may know what they are doing, but so that I may make them worthy of My knowledge, if I find any of them just, if I find any penitent, if any such as I ought to know. And indeed, because no one was found who repented, no one who was converted, except Lot, he alone is known, he alone is freed from the burning. But let us, brethren, make the effort, and with God's help labour to be such that we may be held worthy of God's knowledge; that He may deign both to acknowledge and to know us, by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, etc.

SERMO VI. De immolatione Isaac, I.

Sermon 6. On the sacrifice of Isaac, 1.

1. Exordium. Lectio illa, fratres charissimi, in qua beatus Abraham Isaac filium suum in holocaustum legitur obtulisse, ideo in ordine suo diebus Quadragesimae non recitatur, quia, sicut ipsi nostis, in vigiliis Paschae propter sacramentum dominicae passionis reservatur. Et quia tunc non est in spatio, ut de ista possit aliquid dici; nunc, si videtur, expositionem ejus secundum quod eam patres nostri inspirante Domino tractaverunt, Charitatis vestrae auribus, quantum possumus, breviter intimemus.

1. Introduction. That reading, dearest brethren, in which blessed Abraham is read to have offered his son Isaac as a holocaust, is not recited in its order on the days of Lent for this reason, that, as you yourselves know, it is reserved for the vigils of Easter on account of the sacrament of the Lord's passion. And since there is then no time for anything to be said about it, now, if it seems good, let us briefly set before the ears of Your Charity, as far as we are able, its exposition according as our fathers, by the Lord's inspiration, treated it.

2. Trinitatis mysterium.—Dixit ergo Dominus ad Abraham; Tolle filium tuum, quem diligis Isaac, et offer eum mihi in holocaustum super unum montium, quem monstravero tibi. At ille surgens stravit asinam suam, et tulit secum duos pueros, et Isaac filium suum, et pervenit ad locum, quem ei ostenderat Dominus, die tertio (Gen. XXII, 2 et seqq.). Abraham enim quando Isaac filium suum obtulit, typum habuit Dei Patris; Isaac vero figuram Domini Salvatoris. Quod autem ad locum immolationis die tertia pervenitur, mysterium Trinitatis ostenditur. Nam quod dies tertius in sacramento vel mysterio accipi debeat Trinitatis, frequenter in voluminibus sacris invenitur, sicut in Exodo: Viam, inquit, trium dierum ibimus in deserto (Exod. V, 3).

2. The mystery of the Trinity. The Lord, then, said to Abraham: Take your son Isaac, whom you love, and offer him to Me as a holocaust upon one of the mountains which I shall show you. And he, rising, saddled his ass, and took with him two young men, and Isaac his son, and came to the place which the Lord had shown him, on the third day (Gen. 22:2 ff.). For Abraham, when he offered his son Isaac, bore the type of God the Father; Isaac, however, the figure of the Lord Saviour. And that the place of sacrifice is reached on the third day shows the mystery of the Trinity. For that the third day ought to be taken in the sacrament or mystery of the Trinity is frequently found in the sacred books, as in Exodus: We shall go, it says, a journey of three days in the desert (Exod. 5:3).

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De Manichaeis nihil in Origenis homilia, a qua etiam abest quae mox occurrit vox, « Legis. »

There is nothing about the Manichees in Origen's homily, from which the word that follows shortly, "of the Law", is also absent.

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Alias, de Tempore 71.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 71 de Tempore.

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In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Conflatus est ab incerto auctore, et interpolatus. Habet quaedam ex Origenis Homilia in Genesim octava, et quaedam aliunde congesta. In manuscriptis nostris strictius paulo quam in editis exordium habetur, hunc in modum: « Lectionis illius, fratres charissimi, in qua beatus Abraham Isaac filium suum in holocausto legitur obtulisse, nunc, si jubetis, expositionem secundum quod eam patres nostri inspirante Domino tractaverunt, Charitatis vestrae auribus, quantum possumus, breviter intimamus. Tolle filium tuum » etc. Quod exordiolum ex Caesarii verbis expressum videtur.

It is now placed in the Appendix for the first time. It was pieced together by an unknown author, and interpolated. It has some things from Origen's eighth Homily on Genesis, and some gathered from elsewhere. In our manuscripts the opening is somewhat shorter than in the printed editions, in this fashion: "Of that reading, dearest brethren, in which blessed Abraham is read to have offered his son Isaac as a holocaust, we now, if you so bid, briefly set before the ears of your Charity, as far as we can, the exposition according to which our fathers, by the Lord's inspiration, treated it. Take your son," etc. This little opening seems modelled on Caesarius's words.

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Et iterum quando ad montem Sinai ventum est, dictum est populo: Sanctificamini, et estote parati in die tertia (Exod. XIX, 15). Et Josue transiturus Jordanem, ut in die tertia populus paratus esset admonuit (Josue I, 11). Et Dominus noster die tertia resurrexit (Matth. XXVIII). Hoc ideo diximus, quia beatus Abraham die tertia venit ad locum, quem ei ostenderat Dominus.

And again, when they had come to Mount Sinai, it was said to the people: Sanctify yourselves, and be ready on the third day (Exod. 19:15). And Joshua, when about to cross the Jordan, admonished that the people should be ready on the third day (Josh. 1:11). And our Lord rose again on the third day (Matt. 28). We have said this for this reason, because blessed Abraham came on the third day to the place which the Lord had shown him.

3. Christi figura aries et Isaac. Duo pueri quos cum asina remanere jussit, typum habuerunt populi Judaeorum, qui pro eo quod in Christo non erant credituri, ideo ad locum ubi immolandus erat, ascendere vel pervenire non poterant. Asina illa significavit Synagogam. Aries vero ille qui inter spinas cornibus tenebatur, et ipse typum Domini habuisse videtur. Nam et Christus quasi cornibus inter spinas haerebat, quando ad crucis cornua clavorum confixione pendebat. Quod vero Isaac ipse sibi ad immolandum ligna detulit, et in hoc Christum figuravit, qui ad locum passionis crucem suam ipse portavit. De quo mysterio multo ante dictum fuerat per prophetam: Et erit, inquit, principatus ejus super humerum ejus (Isai. IX, 6). Tunc enim Christus principatum super humeros habuit, quando crucem suam admirabili humilitate portavit. Non incongrue crux Christi principatum significat. Nam per ipsam et diabolus vincitur, et totus mundus ad Christi notitiam vel gratiam revocatur. Denique sic et Apostolus dixit, cum de passione Domini loqueretur: Factus, inquit, obediens usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis: propter quod et Deus illum exaltavit, et donavit illi nomen quod est super omne nomen (Philipp. II, 8 et 9). Hoc ideo dicimus, fratres, ut agnosceret Charitas vestra quod principatus Christi, de quo scriptum est, Et erit principatus super humerum ejus, non sit alius nisi crux ejus. Et ideo lectio ipsa in Pascha legitur, quando Isaac verus, cujus typum gerebat filius Abrahae, pro genere humano in patibulo crucis affigitur.

3. The ram and Isaac a figure of Christ. The two servants whom he ordered to remain with the ass bore the type of the people of the Jews, who, because they were not going to believe in Christ, were therefore unable to go up to or reach the place where He was to be sacrificed. That ass signified the Synagogue. The ram, moreover, which was held by its horns among the thorns, seems itself also to have borne the type of the Lord. For Christ too hung as it were by the horns among thorns, when He hung on the horns of the cross by the piercing of the nails. And in that Isaac himself carried the wood for his own sacrifice, in this too he prefigured Christ, Who Himself carried His cross to the place of the passion. Of which mystery it had been said long before through the prophet: And His government, he says, shall be upon His shoulder (Isa. 9:6). For Christ had His government upon His shoulders then, when He carried His cross with wonderful humility. Not unfittingly does the cross of Christ signify government. For through it both the devil is conquered and the whole world is called back to the knowledge or grace of Christ. Finally, thus also the Apostle spoke, when he was speaking of the Lord's passion: Having become, he says, obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; for which reason God also exalted Him, and gave Him a name which is above every name (Phil. 2:8–9). We say this, brothers, so that your Charity may recognize that the government of Christ, of which it is written, And the government shall be upon His shoulder, is nothing other than His cross. And for this reason that very reading is read at Easter, when the true Isaac, whose type the son of Abraham bore, is fastened on the gibbet of the cross for the human race.

4. In pueris Abrahae figura est Judaeorum. Legitur in ipsa lectione, quod veniens beatus Abraham cum filio suo, viderit locum a longe, et dixerit ad pueros suos, Sedete hic cum asina; ego et puer proficiscemur, et cum adoraverimus, revertemur ad vos. Quare pueris, qui figuram habuerunt Judaeorum dicitur, Sedete hic cum asina? Numquid asina illa sedere poterat, charissimi? Sed ideo dicitur, Sedete cum asina; quia Judaeorum populus, qui in Christum crediturus non erat, stare non poterat, sed ut debilis et velut peccator languidus, qui baculum crucis despexerat, in terram casurus erat. Dixit ergo Abraham beatus, Sedete hic cum asina; ego et puer proficiscemur, et cum adoraverimus, revertemur ad vos. Quid est quod dicis, beate Abraham? Ad immolandum filium vadis, et dicis quod cum filio reverteris? Si eum in holocaustum obtuleris, utique tecum redire non poterit. Potuit respondere beatus Abraham: Verum dico, et offero filium, et cum filio revertar ad vos. Tanta est enim fides mea, ut credam quod ille qui mihi eum de matris steril⟨i⟩s utero dignatus est dare, possit etiam eum mortuum suscitare: et ideo verum dico, quia cum adoraverimus, revertemur ad vos.

4. In the servants of Abraham is a figure of the Jews. It is read in that same reading that blessed Abraham, coming with his son, saw the place from afar, and said to his servants: Sit here with the ass; I and the boy will go on, and when we have worshipped, we will return to you. Why is it said to the servants, who bore the figure of the Jews, Sit here with the ass? Could that ass sit, dearly beloved? But it is said, Sit with the ass, for this reason: because the people of the Jews, which was not going to believe in Christ, could not stand, but, as one weak and like a feeble sinner who had despised the staff of the cross, was going to fall to the ground. So blessed Abraham said: Sit here with the ass; I and the boy will go on, and when we have worshipped, we will return to you. What is it that you say, blessed Abraham? You are going to sacrifice your son, and you say that you will return with your son? If you offer him as a holocaust, surely he will not be able to return with you. Blessed Abraham could have answered: I speak the truth, and I offer my son, and with my son I shall return to you. For so great is my faith that I believe that He Who deigned to give him to me from the womb of a barren mother can also raise him up when dead; and therefore I speak the truth, that when we have worshipped, we will return to you.

5. Adam sepultus in Calvariae loco. Quod autem aries occisus est, et Isaac non est occisus, ideo factum est, quia Isaac figura et non veritas erat. In ipso enim designatum est quod postea in Christo completum est. Videte Deum cum hominibus magna pietate certantem: Abraham mortalem filium non moriturum obtulit Deo, et Deus immortalem Filium pro hominibus tradidit morti. Potest tamen de beato Isaac, et de illo ariete etiam sic intelligi, ut in beato Isaac significata sit divinitas, in ariete humanitas Christi. Et quia in passione non divinitas, sed humanitas crucifixa creditur; ideo non Isaac, sed aries immolatur. Dei enim Filius vel unigenitus offertur,

5. Adam buried in the place of Calvary. Now that the ram was slain and Isaac was not slain came about for this reason, because Isaac was a figure and not the reality. For in him was signified what was afterwards fulfilled in Christ. See God contending with men in great kindness: Abraham offered to God a mortal son who was not to die, and God handed over His immortal Son to death for men. It can, however, also be understood thus of blessed Isaac and of that ram, that in blessed Isaac the divinity is signified, in the ram the humanity of Christ. And because in the passion it is believed that not the divinity but the humanity was crucified, therefore not Isaac but the ram is sacrificed. For the Son of God, or the Only-begotten, is offered,

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Mss., renovatur.

Manuscripts: "renovatur" (is renewed).

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et virginis primogenitus immolatur. Audite et aliud sacramentum. Beatus Hieronymus presbyter scripsit, ab antiquis et senioribus Judaeorum se certissime cognovisse, quod ibi oblatus est Isaac, ubi postea Dominus Christus crucifixus est. Denique ab eo loco unde beatus Abraham jussus est proficisci, tertio die ad locum ubi Christus crucifixus est pervenitur. [Etiam hoc antiquorum relatione refertur, quod et Adam primus homo in ipso loco ubi crux fixa est, fuerit aliquando sepultus; et ideo Calvariae locum dictum esse, quia caput humani generis ibi dicitur esse sepultum. Et vere, fratres, non incongrue creditur, quia ibi erectus sit medicus, ubi jacebat aegrotus. Et dignum erat, ut ubi occiderat humana superbia, ibi se inclinaret divina misericordia: et sanguis ille pretiosus etiam corporaliter pulverem antiqui peccatoris dum dignatur stillando contingere, redemisse credatur.] Haec enim, fratres charissimi, secundum quod potuimus, e diversis Scripturarum voluminibus, pro animae nostrae profectu collegimus, et charitatis contemplatione suggessimus. Vos vero, auxiliante Domino, dum frequentius Scripturas divinas relegitis, si diligenter attenditis, credo quod etiam meliorem expositionem invenire possitis.

and the first-born of a virgin is sacrificed. Hear also another mystery. The blessed priest Jerome wrote that he had learned most certainly from the ancient and elder men of the Jews that Isaac was offered in the place where afterwards the Lord Christ was crucified. Indeed, from the place from which blessed Abraham was commanded to set out, one arrives on the third day at the place where Christ was crucified. [This too is related by the account of the ancients, that Adam also, the first man, was at one time buried in the very place where the cross was fixed; and that it was therefore called the place of Calvary, because the head of the human race is said to have been buried there. And truly, brethren, it is not unfittingly believed that the Physician was raised up there where the sick man lay. And it was fitting that where human pride had fallen, there divine mercy should stoop down; and that precious blood, while it deigns by dripping to touch even bodily the dust of the ancient sinner, should be believed to have redeemed it.] These things, then, dearest brethren, so far as we were able, we have gathered from the various volumes of the Scriptures for the profit of our soul, and have set before you out of regard for charity. But you, with the Lord's help, while you reread the divine Scriptures more often, if you attend diligently, I believe that you may find an even better exposition.

[6. Baptismi sacramentum non negligenter aut tardius requirendum. Rogo vos, fratres, ut quicumque aut filium, aut vernaculum suum baptizari desiderat, jam nunc eum Ecclesiae offerre non differat: quia non est justum, ut res quae tam magna, tam praeclara creditur, negligenter aut tardius quam expedit requiratur. Timeo enim ne aliquae mulieres ideo tardius infantulos suos offerant, quia cum ipsis ad Vigilias venire dissimulant. Certissime enim credimus, quod qui statim incipiente Quadragesima, eos qui baptizandi sunt offerre voluerint, et cum ipsis ad Vigilias feliciter venerint, et filii eorum legitimo ordine accipient Baptismi sacramentum, et ipsi acquirent indulgentiam peccatorum, praestante Domino nostro Jesu Christo, etc.]

[6. The sacrament of baptism is not to be sought negligently or too late. I ask you, brethren, that whoever desires his son or his household slave to be baptized should not delay to offer him to the Church now: for it is not right that a thing which is believed to be so great, so excellent, should be sought negligently or later than is expedient. For I fear that some women offer their little infants later for this reason, that they neglect to come with them to the Vigils. For we believe most certainly that, as for those who are willing to offer those who are to be baptized right at the beginning of Lent, and who come happily with them to the Vigils, both their children will receive the sacrament of baptism in lawful order, and they themselves will obtain the forgiveness of sins, by the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, etc.]

SERMO VII. De immolatione Isaac, II.

Sermon 7. On the sacrifice of Isaac, 2.

1. Novum praecepti genus est, homini legem sceleris dare; et religiosum habere, si impium voluerit perpetrare. Abraham si parricidium fecerit, justus est; si non fecerit, indevotus est. Quid sit ergo, quod nunquam Deum nisi pietate placamus? Cupit sibi vota offerri, non crudeliter coli. Ecce inter pietatem patris et devotionem Dei, filium est quidem scelus occidere; sed Deum scelestius non audire. In angusto posita est perfecta justitia. Parricidium juberis ut facias, tuis te manibus orbaturus. Quid hoc est? Imperat parricidium, qui prohibet homicidium? Jubetur, inquit, filium victimare, solatium paternae

1. It is a new kind of commandment, to give a man a law of crime, and to count it religious if he is willing to perpetrate an impious deed. If Abraham commits parricide, he is just; if he does not, he is undevout. What then can this be, since we never appease God except by piety? He desires that vows be offered to Him, not that He be worshipped cruelly. Behold, between a father's piety and devotion to God: to kill a son is indeed a crime, but not to listen to God is more criminal still. Perfect justice is set in a strait place. You are commanded to commit parricide, about to bereave yourself by your own hands. What is this? Does He command parricide Who forbids homicide? He is commanded, it says, to sacrifice his son, the solace of paternal

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Sic in Mss. In editis autem, immolatus.

So in the manuscripts. In the printed editions, however, "immolatus" (sacrificed).

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Manuscripti non habent quae ansulis includuntur.

The manuscripts do not have what is enclosed in brackets.

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Mss., de divinis.

Manuscripts: "de divinis" (from the divine [things]).

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Hic sermo desinit in Mss.

Here the sermon ends in the manuscripts.

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Legitur in Commentariis in Marc. cap. 15, sed Hieronymo perperam adscriptis.

It is read in the Commentaries on Mark, ch. 15, but these are wrongly ascribed to Jerome.

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Id quidem, quod de Adami sepultura in Calvariae loco dicitur, tradunt Tertullianus, lib. 2 contra Marcionem; Origenes in Matthaeum, tract. 35; Basilius in Levit. cap. 5; Ambrosius in Lucam, cap. 23; Chrysostomus in Joannem, homil. 84, etc.; sed improbat Hieronymus in Matthaeum, cap. 27.

What is said of Adam's burial at the place of Calvary is handed down by Tertullian, Against Marcion book 2; Origen on Matthew, tractate 35; Basil on Leviticus, ch. 5; Ambrose on Luke, ch. 23; Chrysostom on John, homily 84, etc.; but Jerome rejects it, on Matthew, ch. 27.

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Alias, de Tempore 73.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 73 de Tempore.

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In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Non enim Augustinum, sed auctorem refert plane eumdem ac sermo Appendicis tertius per Lovanienses jam olim rejectus. Ut in illo sermone haud procul ab initio praeceptum divinum, Exi de terra tua, sic exponebatur, « Novum probationis genus, habenti propria, exsilia indicere peregrina; » ita in hujus principio dicitur, « Novum praecepti genus est, homini legem sceleris dare: » pro interpretanda scilicet Dei jussione illa, quam praemitti hic oportebat, sicuti inferius habetur, Accipe filium tuum, et offer mihi illum. »

It is now placed in the Appendix for the first time. For it plainly shows not Augustine but the very same author as the third sermon of the Appendix, rejected long ago by the Louvain editors. As in that sermon, not far from the beginning, the divine command "Go out from your land" was expounded thus, "A new kind of trial: to impose foreign exile on one who has his own"; so at the beginning of this one it is said, "It is a new kind of command, to give a man a law of crime": namely, to interpret that command of God which ought to have been set first here, as it is found below, "Take your son, and offer him to me."

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senectutis, et uni⟨cae⟩ posteritatis: qui quanto serior, tanto dulcior; quan⟨t⟩o solus aut unicus, tanto charior et dilectus. In utroque senes creandae prolis desperatio retinebat; utpote post tempus quod natura fraudaverat, aetas in sene patre, sterilitas in anicula matre. Jam enim Sara actus suae vulvae perdiderat, et senem patrem vis generandi lassaverat; quia fructum sterilis non habebat. Ecce subito frigens vulva materna non instinctu libidinis, sed fomite virtutis incaluit, redivivo successit flore juventutis. Moerentis jam artus corporis viruerunt, marcida membra et annosae aetatis tabe pallentia, pueritiae rubore viruerunt, et insuccido tepore veterascens jam corpus, non tanquam concubitus, sed promissio vegetabat. Canis jam togatum caput albebat, et rugas suas vulva in ventre tendebat. Tumebat uterus gravidae, tremebat gressus in poplite. Gestabat onustum uterum, quae corpus jam non regebat incurvum. Novissimis annis feta et fessa mulier, quae non noverat in juventute concipere, discit in senectute lactare. Discite conjugati vacare effectum seminis, ubi non fuerit munus auctoris, ipso dicente: Priusquam te formarem in utero, novi te (Jerem. I, 5).

old age, and of an only posterity: which, the later it comes, the sweeter it is; the more it is alone or only, the dearer and more beloved. In both of them despair of begetting offspring held the old couple back, inasmuch as, after the time which nature had cheated, there was age in the old father and barrenness in the aged mother. For Sarah had already lost the functions of her womb, and the power of begetting had wearied the old father, because the barren woman bore no fruit. Behold, suddenly the cold maternal womb grew warm, not by the impulse of lust but by the kindling of power, and passed into a revived flower of youth. The limbs of the now mournful body flourished; the withered members, pale with the wasting of aged years, flourished with the ruddy glow of boyhood; and the body, now growing old in sapless warmth, was quickened not as if by intercourse but by the promise. The head, already clad in grey hairs, was white, and the womb was stretching out its wrinkles in the belly. The womb of the pregnant woman swelled, her step trembled at the knee. She who no longer held her body upright carried, bent over, a laden womb. In her last years the woman, fruitful and weary, who had not known how to conceive in youth, learns to give suck in old age. Learn, you married people, that the effect of seed is void where the gift of the Author has not been present, as He Himself says: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you (Jer. 1:5).

2. Accipe, inquit, filium tuum, et offer mihi illum in unum de montibus quem demonstravero tibi (Gen. XXII, 2). Senex pater et unici mater, novi parentes, et veteres genitores, ad tam acerbum non moventur imperium. Hilaris accingebatur, qui nec timorem facinoris formidavit, nec implere quod jussus est degener animus dubitavit. Spes illa futura tot gentium paterna manu jubetur occidi. Devotus pater eo voto suscepit parricidium, quo susceperat filium: nec refert utrum impendat aut perdat; dum quoquo modo quod acceperat, reddat. O Domine piissime, quem scis patri dilectum, quid imperas victimandum? Nunc nuper senem sterilem fecundasti; et tam cito quod donaveras, repetisti? Ubi est quod senibus praestitisti? Ergo iratus potes laedere, sicut propitius imperas orbitatem? Absit a nobis ista incredulitas. Deus pro nobis filium suum jussit occidi, non nostros mactari. Ideo jubetur filium occidere, ut manifestetur mundo qui jam notus fuerat Deo. Nam quomodo innocentis desiderat sanguinem, qui reum damnat pro sanguine? Demonstrare cunctis hominibus devotionem voluit qui parricidium ut fieret, imperavit. Paret illico imperiis, praeceptis obtemperat, pergit percussor paratus; imo filius cum patre proficiscitur moriturus: atque utinam tantummodo moriturus, non insuper et patris gladio obiturus.

2. Take, He says, your son, and offer him to Me on one of the mountains which I shall show you (Gen. 22:2). The old father and the mother of an only son, new parents and aged begetters, are not moved at so bitter a command. He girded himself cheerfully, who neither dreaded the fear of the deed, nor did a degenerate mind hesitate to fulfil what he was commanded. That future hope of so many nations is ordered to be slain by a father's hand. The devoted father undertook the parricide with the same vow with which he had received the son: nor does it matter to him whether he spends him or loses him, provided that in whatever way he gives back what he had received. O most loving Lord, why dost Thou command to be made a victim him whom Thou knowest to be beloved by his father? Just now, lately, Thou didst make a barren old man fruitful; and so soon hast Thou demanded back what Thou hadst given? Where is what Thou didst bestow on the old? Canst Thou, then, when angry, do harm, just as when gracious Thou commandest bereavement? Far from us be this unbelief. God commanded His own Son to be slain for us, not ours to be slaughtered. Therefore he is commanded to kill his son, so that he who was already known to God might be made manifest to the world. For how does He desire the blood of an innocent, Who condemns the guilty for blood? He Who commanded the parricide to be done wished to show his devotion to all men. He at once obeys the commands, complies with the precepts, goes forth ready as the slayer; nay, the son sets out with the father to die: and would that he were only to die, and not, besides, to perish by his father's sword.

3. Venerunt ergo ad locum, quem dixerat Deus; ambo pariter aram construunt sacerdotes; ligna arae imponit, filium alligavit, et extento gladio, angelus, Ne percutias puerum, exclamavit: oculis respice, et vide arietem in vepre. Videte, fratres, Abraham patientia fortem, devotione constantem; non cum aliqua fera luctantem, sed cum natura pugnantem. Devotio dicebat, Percute: pietas clamabat, Parce. Illa revocabat; ista provocabat. Filius tunc moriturus jacebat: erigit dexteram feriturus, et locum quo libens percutiebat, aucupat. Parce, inquit, Abraham. Qui jusserat ut feriret, modo vociferatur ut parceret. Sciebat enim probatum patrem et in devotione ferventem gladium temperare, et filium non perimere; sed nec cremare. Parce, inquit, devote pater; parricida sine crimine, parce. Tuum sacrificium quod paraveras intendi, ego quod jusseram ut obtulisses accepi; in voto probavi, quod in facto renui; acceptavi votum, nec repuli sacrificium; laudo fidem, nec reprobo pietatem, nec tibi patior inferri orbitatem. Perfecta sunt omnia, et salva sunt universa. Vincitur innocens hostia, ne offerentis devotio putaret se minus aliquid exhibere, si impatientia doloris victima calcitraret. Ecce spirituali praesagio meum praevenisti consilium.

3. So they came to the place which God had spoken of; both alike, as priests, build the altar; he places the wood on the altar, he bound the son, and with the sword outstretched, the angel cried out, Do not strike the boy: look with your eyes, and see the ram in the thicket. See, brethren, Abraham strong in patience, constant in devotion; not struggling with some wild beast, but fighting with nature. Devotion said, Strike: fatherly affection cried, Spare. The one called him back; the other urged him on. The son, then about to die, lay there: he raises his right hand to strike, and seeks out the spot where he would willingly strike. Spare, He says, Abraham. He Who had commanded him to strike now cries out that he should spare. For He knew that the father, proven and fervent in devotion, would restrain the sword and not slay the son, nor indeed burn him. Spare, He says, devout father; parricide without crime, spare. I have attended to your sacrifice which you had prepared; I have received what I had commanded you to offer; in the vow I approved what in the deed I refused; I have accepted the vow, nor have I rejected the sacrifice; I praise the faith, nor do I reprove the fatherly affection, nor do I allow bereavement to be inflicted on you. All things are accomplished, and all are kept safe. The innocent victim is bound, lest the devotion of the offerer should think it was presenting something less, if the victim should kick out through impatience of pain. Behold, by a spiritual presage you have anticipated My counsel.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1752

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1752

Am., utpote posset tempus.

Amerbach: "utpote posset tempus".

(printed under page 138)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1752

Lov., in succiso tempore.

Louvain edition: "in succiso tempore" (in the time cut short).

(printed under page 138)