PL 39 · cols. 1758–1761

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

Sermons X–XI

SERMO X. De conceptu Rebeccae. Gen. XXV.

Sermon 10. On the conception of Rebecca. Gen. 25.

1. Eruditi se accommodent ad simplicium ignorantiam. Expositionem sanctarum Scripturarum si eo ordine et illo eloquio, quo a sanctis Patribus sunt expositae, Charitatis vestrae auribus voluerimus intimare; nonnisi ad paucos scholasticos cibus doctrinae poterit pervenire, reliqua vero populi multitudo jejuna remanebit. Et ideo rogo humiliter, ut contentae sint eruditae aures verba rustica aequanimiter sustinere, dummodo totus grex Domini simplici, et, ut ita dixerim, pedestri sermone pabulum spirituale possit accipere. Et quia imperiti et simplices ad scholasticorum altitudinem non possunt ascendere, eruditi se dignentur ad illorum ignorantiam inclinare. Quia quod simplicibus dictum fuerit, scholastici intelligere possunt; quod autem eruditis fuerit praedicatum, simplices capere non valebunt.

1. The learned should accommodate themselves to the ignorance of the simple. If we chose to convey to the ears of your Charity the exposition of the holy Scriptures in that order and with that eloquence with which it was set out by the holy Fathers, the food of doctrine could reach only a few scholars, while the rest of the multitude of the people would remain hungry. And therefore I humbly ask that learned ears be content to bear rustic words with equanimity, provided that the whole flock of the Lord can receive spiritual pasture in simple and, so to speak, pedestrian speech. And since the unskilled and the simple cannot ascend to the height of the scholars, let the learned deign to stoop down to their ignorance. For what is said to the simple, the scholars can understand; but what is preached to the learned, the simple will not be able to grasp.

2. Isaac Christi, Rebecca Ecclesiae figura. Jacob et Esau in utero Rebeccae, boni et mali in utero Ecclesiae. Lectio nobis de beato Isaac, et sancta Rebecca, et parvulis qui in ejus utero collidebantur, recitata est. Quod autem beatus Isaac typum habuerit Domini Salvatoris, pene nulli habetur incognitum. Isaac ergo Christum Dominum, beata autem Rebecca Ecclesiam figuravit. Quae cum multo tempore ad exemplum ipsius Ecclesiae sterilis permaneret, beato Isaac orante, et Domino donante, concepit. Sed collidebantur parvuli in utero ejus; quorum molestiam non sustinens dixit: Si sic mihi futurum erat, quid necesse fuit concipere? Et ait illi Dominus: Duae gentes in utero tuo sunt, et duo populi de ventre tuo dividentur, populusque populum superabit, et major serviet minori Haec omnia, fratres charissimi, sicut dicit Apostolus, in figura contingebant illis; scripta sunt autem propter nos (I Cor. X, 11). Concepit ergo corporaliter de beato Isaac Rebecca: quia conceptura erat spiritualiter de Christo Ecclesia. Sed sicut duo parvuli in utero Rebeccae collidebantur, sic et in utero Ecclesiae duo sibi populi jugiter adversantur. Si enim aut soli mali, aut soli boni essent; unus populus esset: quia vero in Ecclesia et boni inveniuntur, et mali; tanquam in ventre spiritualis Rebeccae duo populi colliduntur, humiles scilicet et superbi, casti et adulteri, mansueti et iracundi, benigni et invidi, misericordes et cupidi. Boni enim lucrari volunt malos; mali vero exstinguere cupiunt bonos. Bonorum desiderium est, ut qui mali sunt, corrigantur: malorum studium est, ut qui boni sunt, consumantur. Unum est genus piorum, aliud impiorum; genus piorum ad coelum erigitur per humilitatem; genus impiorum ad infernum demergitur per elationem. Omnes enim qui in Ecclesia catholica terrena sapiunt, terram diligunt, terram concupiscunt, et omnem spem suam in terra constituunt, ad Esau pertinent. Quicumque ideo Deo servire optat, ut honoribus crescat, et lucra terrena percipiat; et ipse ad Esau, id est, ad terrenam felicitatem pertinere cognoscitur. In Esau enim carnales intell⟨i⟩guntur; in Jacob vero spirituales. Isti enim sunt duo populi, sicut beatus Apostolus evidenter assignat, cum carnales demonstrat, et spirituales insinuat. Sic enim ait: Manifesta autem sunt opera carnis, quae sunt fornicatio, immunditia, luxuria, idolorum servitus, veneficia, inimicitiae, contentiones, aemulationes, irae, ⟨r⟩ixae, dissensiones, sectae, invidiae, homicidia, ebrietates, comessationes, etc. Ecce opera pertinentia ad Esau. Qui autem sunt fructus qui pertineant ad Jacob, idem

2. Isaac a figure of Christ, Rebecca of the Church. Jacob and Esau in the womb of Rebecca, the good and the wicked in the womb of the Church. The reading has been recited to us about blessed Isaac, and holy Rebecca, and the little ones who struggled together in her womb. Now that blessed Isaac bore the type of the Lord the Saviour is unknown to almost no one. Isaac, then, prefigured Christ the Lord, and blessed Rebecca the Church. When she had remained barren for a long time, after the pattern of the Church herself, she conceived, blessed Isaac praying and the Lord granting it. But the little ones struggled together in her womb; and, unable to bear their troublesomeness, she said: If it was to be thus for me, what need was there to conceive? And the Lord said to her: Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples shall be divided from your belly, and people shall overcome people, and the elder shall serve the younger. All these things, dearest brothers, as the Apostle says, happened to them in figure; but they were written for our sake (1 Cor. 10:11). So Rebecca conceived bodily by blessed Isaac, because the Church was to conceive spiritually by Christ. But just as the two little ones struggled together in Rebecca's womb, so too in the womb of the Church two peoples continually oppose one another. For if there were either only the wicked or only the good, there would be one people; but since in the Church both good and wicked are found, two peoples struggle together as if in the belly of a spiritual Rebecca: namely the humble and the proud, the chaste and the adulterous, the meek and the wrathful, the kind and the envious, the merciful and the greedy. For the good wish to win the wicked, but the wicked desire to destroy the good. The desire of the good is that those who are wicked be corrected; the zeal of the wicked is that those who are good be consumed. One is the race of the godly, another that of the ungodly; the race of the godly is raised up to heaven through humility; the race of the ungodly is plunged down to hell through pride. For all who in the Catholic Church savour earthly things, love the earth, covet the earth, and place all their hope in the earth, belong to Esau. Whoever wishes to serve God for this reason, that he may grow in honours and obtain earthly gains, he too is recognized as belonging to Esau, that is, to earthly happiness. For by Esau the carnal are understood, but by Jacob the spiritual. For these are the two peoples, as the blessed Apostle clearly assigns, when he points out the carnal and makes known the spiritual. For he says thus: Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are fornication, uncleanness, lust, the service of idols, sorceries, enmities, contentions, rivalries, wraths, quarrels, dissensions, sects, envies, murders, drunkenness, revellings, etc. Behold the works belonging to Esau. But what the fruits are that belong to Jacob, the same

Editors' notes and page, col. 1758

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Mss.: Die tertio nobis, ...... lectio recitata est.

Manuscripts: "On the third day ...... the reading was read to us."

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Alias, de Tempore 78.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 78 de Tempore.

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In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Dubium habuerunt Lovanienses, Verlinus et Vindingus supposititium: quem nos, tametsi Augustino in manuscriptis tribuatur, ponimus Caesarii quartum. Habitus fuit tempore Quadragesimae. De num. 5, vid. Caesarii homil. 2.

It is now placed in the Appendix for the first time. The Louvain editors held it doubtful, Verlinus and Vindingus spurious; we, although it is attributed to Augustine in the manuscripts, place it as Caesarius's fourth. It was preached in Lent. On n. 5, see Caesarius, homily 2.

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apostolus in consequentibus adjunxit, dicens: Fructus autem Spiritus est charitas, gaudium, pax, longanimitas, fides, bonitas, benignitas, modestia, continentia. (Galat. V, 19-21). Ecce opera spiritualia ad beatum Jacob, id est, ad piorum populum pertinentia.

apostle added in what follows, saying: But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace, long-suffering, faith, goodness, kindness, modesty, continence (Gal. 5:19–21). Behold the spiritual works that belong to blessed Jacob, that is, to the people of the godly.

3. Populus major, Judaei; minor, Gentes. Quod autem dictum est, Populus populum superabit, et major serviet minori, secundum litteram in Esau vel Jacob non videmus impletum: non enim corporaliter beato Jacob Esau servisse commemorat Scriptura. Quomodo ergo hoc oporteat intelligi, aut qualiter major populus minori serviat, spiritualiter debemus intelligere. Nisi enim fieret, non hoc sancta Scriptura commemoraret. Quomodo ergo populus major serviat minori, qui hoc diligenter attendit, in Christianis vel in Judaeis agnoscit. Major enim et senior populus Judaeorum juniori, id est, populo christiano servire probatur, dum per totum mundum libros divinae Legis ad instructionem omnium gentium portare cognoscitur. Ideo enim per omnem terram Judaei dispersi sunt, ut cum aliquem paganum ad fidem Christi voluerimus invitare, et ab omnibus Prophetis ipsum Christum esse annuntiatum testamur; et ille resistens dixerit, a nobis potius quam a Spiritu sancto libros divinae Legis esse conscriptos; nos habeamus unde eum redarguere certa r⟨a⟩tione po⟨s⟩simus dicentes ei: Si de meis libris tibi dubitatio nascitur, ecce Judaeorum libros, utique inimicorum nostrorum (quos certum est, quod ego c⟨o⟩nscribere vel immutare non potui), ipsos relege; et cum in ipsis hoc inveneris, quod et in meis, noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis. Hoc ordine major populus minori servire cognoscitur, dum etiam per illorum libros ad credendum in Christo Gentium populus invitatur.

3. The greater people, the Jews; the lesser, the Gentiles. But as for what was said, People shall overcome people, and the greater shall serve the lesser, we do not see it fulfilled according to the letter in Esau or Jacob: for Scripture does not record that Esau served blessed Jacob bodily. How then this ought to be understood, or in what way the greater people serves the lesser, we must understand spiritually. For unless it were taking place, holy Scripture would not record it. How then the greater people serves the lesser, whoever attends to this carefully recognizes in the Christians or in the Jews. For the greater and elder people of the Jews is shown to serve the younger, that is, the Christian people, inasmuch as it is known to carry the books of the divine Law throughout the whole world for the instruction of all nations. For this is why the Jews have been scattered through all the earth: so that when we wish to invite some pagan to the faith of Christ, and testify that Christ Himself was foretold by all the Prophets, and he, resisting, says that the books of the divine Law were written by us rather than by the Holy Spirit, we may have the means to refute him with sure reasoning, saying to him: If doubt arises in you about my books, see the books of the Jews, who are certainly our enemies (books which it is certain I could not have written or altered); read them yourself; and when you find in them the same thing that is in mine, do not be unbelieving, but believing. In this way the greater people is known to serve the lesser, since even through their books the people of the Gentiles is invited to believe in Christ.

4. Populus major, mali; minor, boni. Sed et alio modo populus major servit minori. Quo, inquis, ordine? Illo utique quo mali serviunt bonis; non utique obsequendo, sed persequendo. Quomodo mali serviunt bonis? Quomodo persecutores martyribus, quomodo limae vel mallei auro, quomodo molae serviunt tritico, quomodo panibus coquendis furnalia, ut illi coquantur, illa consumantur. Quomodo, inquam, mali serviunt bonis? Quomodo in fornace aurificis palea servit auro; ubi sine dubio palea consumitur, aurum probatur. Non ergo glorientur, nec se extollant mali, quando bonis aliquas tribulationes immiserint: quia cum illos persequuntur in corpore, se occidere probantur in corde. Ut ad virum bonum perveniat hominis mali adversitas, jam illius animam putrefacit iniquitas. Qui ergo malo animo virum bonum iracundiae furore succensus conatur incendere; utrum ille possit exuri, adhuc dubium est; quod autem iste jam ardeat dubium non est: quia forte ille vir bonus spirituali succo et sancti Spiritus refrigerio plenus, apposito persecutionis igne non ardet; ille vero qui eum conatur exurere, sine dubio non potest non ardere. De uno ergo semine Isaac, Esau nascitur et Jacob: sicut de uno Baptismo Domini Salvatoris et de uno Ecclesiae utero procreatur populus christianus: qui tamen pro morum diversitate, sicut Esau et Jacob, in duas partes dividitur; cum ex fructibus operum una pars cognoscitur carnalis, alia spiritualis. Ideo autem dixit, Major serviet minori, quia semper major est numerus malorum quam bonorum. Et sicut illi duo parvuli in utero Rebeccae; ita et isti duo populi in ventre Ecclesiae usque in diem judicii colliduntur; dum, sicut jam supra diximus, humilibus adversantur superbi, dum castos adulteri persequuntur, dum, quorum infinitus est numerus, ebriosi sobrios insectantur, dum benignos invidi aemulantur, dum eleemosynarios raptores, dum pacificos exstinguere cupiunt iracundi, dum eos qui

4. The greater people, the wicked; the lesser, the good. But in another way too the greater people serves the lesser. In what manner, you ask? In that manner, surely, in which the wicked serve the good; not, surely, by obeying, but by persecuting. How do the wicked serve the good? As persecutors serve martyrs, as files or hammers serve gold, as millstones serve wheat, as furnaces serve the loaves to be baked, so that the former are baked and the latter are consumed. How, I say, do the wicked serve the good? As in the goldsmith's furnace the chaff serves the gold; where without doubt the chaff is consumed and the gold is tested. Let the wicked therefore not boast nor exalt themselves when they have brought some tribulations upon the good: for when they persecute them in the body, they are shown to be killing themselves in the heart. Before the hostility of a wicked man reaches a good man, his iniquity is already rotting his own soul. Whoever, then, with an evil mind, inflamed by the fury of anger, tries to set a good man on fire: whether the one can be burned up is still in doubt; but that the other is already burning is not in doubt: for perhaps that good man, full of spiritual sap and the refreshment of the Holy Spirit, does not burn when the fire of persecution is applied; but he who tries to burn him up cannot without doubt but burn. From the one seed of Isaac, then, Esau and Jacob are born: just as from the one Baptism of the Lord Saviour and from the one womb of the Church the Christian people is begotten: which nevertheless, according to the diversity of conduct, is divided into two parts, like Esau and Jacob; since from the fruits of its works one part is recognized as carnal, the other as spiritual. And it said, The greater shall serve the lesser, for this reason, that the number of the wicked is always greater than that of the good. And as those two little ones in the womb of Rebecca, so too these two peoples clash in the belly of the Church until the day of judgement; while, as we have already said above, the proud oppose the humble, while adulterers persecute the chaste, while drunkards, whose number is infinite, harass the sober, while the envious are jealous of the kind, while robbers [are jealous of] the almsgivers, while the wrathful desire to extinguish the peaceable, while those who

Editors' notes and page, col. 1759

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In r. Ms. tres adduntur virtutes, patientia, mansuetudo, castitas.

In one(?) manuscript [the siglum before "Ms." is unclear on the scan] three virtues are added: patience, meekness, chastity.

(printed under page 142)

(2) ‹anchor: potest non ardere› · call in col 1759

Sic editi. At Mss., sine dubio potest ardere.

So the printed editions. But the manuscripts: "without doubt he can burn".

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coelestia sapiunt, ad terram retrahere luxuriosi conantur.

mind heavenly things, the self-indulgent try to drag back down to the earth.

5. Virtutes ⟨i⟩n Quadragesima colendae. Unde rogo, fratres charissimi, ut quicumque in his malis se sentiunt obnoxios, dum tempus est, cum Dei adjutorio studeant transferri ad dexteram, et relictis vitiorum sordibus, ad virtutum ornamenta redire festinent: ut in die judicii ab auditu malo liberati, illam vocem desiderabilem mereantur audire, Euge, serve bone, intra in gaudium Domini tui (Matth. XXV, 21). Attentius tamen rogo et admoneo, fratres, ut ad Vigilias maturius surgere studeatis, ad Tertiam, ad Sextam, ad Nonam fideliter veniatis. Castitatem ante omnia per totam Quadragesimam et usque ad fin⟨e⟩m Paschae etiam cum propriis uxoribus custodite. Quod pransuri eratis, pauperibus erogate. Pacem et ipsi habete, et quos discordes agnoveritis, ad concordiam revocate. Peregrinos excipite, nec vos pigeat eorum pedes abluere. Non erubescat exercere christianus, quod implere dignatus est Christus. Cum bona voluntate pauperibus secundum vires vestras eleemosynas erogate: hilarem enim datorem diligit Deus (II Cor. IX, 7). Impedimenta mundi, si ad integrum non potestis abscindere, vel ex parte aliqua temperate, ut lectioni vel orationi possitis insistere: ut in sancto exceptorio pec⟨t⟩oris vestri spirituale vinum, id est, verbum Dei abundantius reponentes, repudiatis omnibus criminibus atque peccatis, cum libera et sincera conscientia Deo servire possitis: et cum sancta solemnitas Paschalis advenerit, charitatem non solum cum bonis, sed etiam cum malis fideliter retinentes, cum gaudio exsultationis mundo corde et casto corpore ad altare Domini possitis accedere, et corpus et sanguinem ejus unusquisque vestrum non ad judicium animae suae mereatur accipere: praestante eodem Domino nostro Jesu Christo, cui est honor et imperium cum Patre et Spiritu sancto in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

5. The virtues to be cultivated in Lent. Therefore I ask, dearest brothers, that whoever feel themselves bound by these evils should, while there is time, strive with God's help to be transferred to the right hand, and, having left behind the filth of vices, hasten to return to the adornments of the virtues: so that on the day of judgement, freed from the evil hearing, they may deserve to hear that desirable voice, Well done, good servant, enter into the joy of your Lord (Matt. 25:21). Yet I ask and admonish you more earnestly, brothers, that you strive to rise rather early for the Vigils, and that you come faithfully to Terce, to Sext, to None. Above all, keep chastity throughout the whole of Lent and right up to the end of Easter, even with your own wives. What you would have eaten at midday, give out to the poor. Keep peace yourselves, and call back to concord those whom you know to be at variance. Welcome strangers, and let it not irk you to wash their feet. Let a Christian not blush to do what Christ deigned to fulfil. With good will give out alms to the poor according to your means: for God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). The hindrances of the world, if you cannot cut them off entirely, at least moderate them in some part, so that you may be able to apply yourselves to reading or prayer: so that, storing up more abundantly in the holy cellar of your breast the spiritual wine, that is, the word of God, and having renounced all crimes and sins, you may be able to serve God with a free and sincere conscience: and when the holy solemnity of Easter has come, keeping charity faithfully not only with the good but also with the wicked, you may be able to approach the altar of the Lord with the joy of exultation, with a clean heart and a chaste body, and each one of you may deserve to receive His body and blood not unto the judgement of his soul: by the gift of the same our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom is honour and dominion with the Father and the Holy Spirit unto the ages of ages. Amen.

SERMO XI. De beato Jacob, I.

Sermon 11. On blessed Jacob, 1.

1. Christi mysteria in Jacob adumbrantur. Cum divina lectio legeretur, fratres charissimi, audivimus quod supplicante sancta Rebecca, Isaac vocaverit filium suum Jacob, et dixerit ei ut pergeret in Mesopotamiam Syriae, et inde sibi uxorem acciperet: et quod ille humiliter obediens patri abierit, et in ipso itinere venerit ad quemdam locum, et supposuerit lapidem capiti suo atque dormierit, et viderit in somnis scalam usque ad coelos pertingentem, et Angelos Dei ascendentes et descendentes per eam, Dominum autem incumbentem scalae et dicentem sibi: Jacob, Jacob, noli t⟨i⟩mere, ego sum tecum, et ego ero socius itineris tui (Gen. XXVIII, 1-5, 10-15). Beatus enim Isaac, fratres charissimi, quando filium suum dirigebat in Mesopotamiam, Dei Patris typum praefigurabat; Jacob vero Christum Dominum designabat. Beatus ergo

1. The mysteries of Christ are foreshadowed in Jacob. When the divine reading was being read, dearest brothers, we heard that, at the entreaty of holy Rebecca, Isaac called his son Jacob and told him to go into Mesopotamia of Syria and take a wife for himself from there: and that he, humbly obeying his father, departed, and on that very journey came to a certain place, and put a stone under his head and slept, and saw in his sleep a ladder reaching up to the heavens, and the Angels of God ascending and descending by it, and the Lord leaning upon the ladder and saying to him: Jacob, Jacob, do not fear, I am with you, and I will be the companion of your journey (Gen. 28:1–5, 10–15). For blessed Isaac, dearest brothers, when he was sending his son into Mesopotamia, was prefiguring a type of God the Father; while Jacob signified Christ the Lord. Blessed therefore

Editors' notes and page, col. 1760

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Mss. non habent, vel orationi.

The manuscripts do not have "or to prayer".

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In manuscriptis sermonis conclusio est, praestante eodem Domino nostro Jesu Christo qui vivit cum Patre, etc.

In the manuscripts the sermon's conclusion is: "by the gift of the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives with the Father," etc.

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De Caesario in ejus Vita, lib. 1, n. 10, dicitur: « Instituit ut quotidie Tertiae, Sextaeque et Nonae opus in sancti Stephani basilica clerici cum hymnis cantarent; ut si quis forte saecularium vel poenitentium sanctum opus exsequi ambiret, absque excusatione aliqua quotidiano interesse posset officio. » Omittitur Primae officium, quod nonnisi Dominica, Sabbato et festis solemnibus persolvi jussit Caesarius, uti liquet ex Appendice quam regulae primae Sanctimonialium subjecit.

In his Life, book 1, n. 10, it is said of Caesarius: "He ordained that every day the clergy should sing the office of Terce, Sext and None with hymns in the basilica of Saint Stephen, so that if any layman or penitent should wish to carry out the holy work, he could take part in the daily office without any excuse." The office of Prime is omitted, which Caesarius ordered to be said only on Sunday, Saturday and solemn feasts, as is clear from the Appendix he added to the first Rule for Nuns.

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Alias, de Tempore 79.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 79 de Tempore.

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In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Fuit dubius Lovaniensibus, supposititius Verlino et Vindingo. Nobis est ex iis quos censemus Caesarii quintus. Habitus fuit tempore Quadragesimae. De num. 3 vid. enarr. in Psal. 30, n. 3, et Appendicis hujus serm. 8, n. 4; de num. 5, Enarr. in Psal. 44, n. 20, et in Psal. 119, n. 2.

It is now placed in the Appendix for the first time. It was doubtful to the Louvain editors, spurious to Verlinus and Vindingus. To us it is the fifth of those we judge to be Caesarius's. It was preached in Lent. On n. 3 see the Enarration on Psalm 30, n. 3, and Sermon 8 of this Appendix, n. 4; on n. 5, the Enarration on Psalm 44, n. 20, and on Psalm 119, n. 2.

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Isaac neglectis mulieribus regionis in qua habitabat, mittebat filium suum, ut in regione longinqua sibi uxorem acciperet: quia Deus Pater missurus erat Unigenitum suum, qui repudiata Synagoga, de Gentibus sibi Ecclesiam sociaret. Hoc tunc in veritate completum est, quando Judaeis Apostoli dixerunt: Vobis quidem primum oportebat loqui verbum Dei; sed quia vos indignos judicastis aeternae vitae, ecce convertimur ad Gentes (Act. XIII, 46).

Isaac, passing over the women of the region in which he lived, sent his son so that he might take a wife for himself in a far-off region: because God the Father was going to send His Only-begotten, Who, having rejected the Synagogue, would join a Church to Himself from the Gentiles. This was then fulfilled in truth when the Apostles said to the Jews: To you indeed it was necessary first to speak the word of God; but because you have judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we turn to the Gentiles (Acts 13:46).

2. Jacob baculum portat, Christus lignum crucis. De beato Jacob non legimus quod cum equis aut asinis aut camelis abierit: sed hoc tantum legimus, quod baculum in manu portaverit. S⟨i⟩c enim ipse dum supplicaret Domino, dixit: Domine, inquit, minor sum omnibus miserationibus tuis, cum baculo meo transivi Jordanem istum, et ecce cum duabus turmis regredior (Gen. XXXII, 10). Jacob ergo ad accipiendam uxorem exhibuit baculum; et Christus ad redime⟨n⟩dam Ecclesiam d⟨e⟩tulit crucis lignum. Jacob dormiens posuit lapidem sub capite suo, et vidit scalam pertingentem ad coelum, et Dominum incumbentem scal⟨ae⟩. Videte, fratres, quanta sint in hoc loco mysteria: Jacob typum gerebat Domini Salvatoris, et lapis quem supposuit capiti suo, nihilominus Christum Dominum figurabat. Quare lapis ad caput Christum significet, audi Apostolum: Quia caput viri Christus (I Cor. XI, 3). Denique unxit beatus Jacob lapidem ipsum. Attendite unctum, et intelligit⟨i⟩s Christum. Christus ab unctione, id est, a chrismate unctus interpretatur.

2. Jacob carries a staff, Christ the wood of the cross. Of blessed Jacob we do not read that he went away with horses or asses or camels; but we read only this, that he carried a staff in his hand. For so he himself, while making supplication to the Lord, said: Lord, he says, I am less than all Thy mercies; with my staff I crossed this Jordan, and behold, I return with two companies (Gen. 32:10). Jacob, then, to take a wife, displayed a staff; and Christ, to redeem the Church, bore the wood of the cross. Jacob, sleeping, placed a stone under his head, and saw a ladder reaching to heaven, and the Lord leaning upon the ladder. See, brothers, how great are the mysteries in this passage: Jacob bore the type of the Lord the Saviour, and the stone which he placed under his head likewise prefigured Christ the Lord. Why the stone at the head signifies Christ, hear the Apostle: For the head of the man is Christ (1 Cor. 11:3). Finally, blessed Jacob anointed that very stone. Pay attention to "anointed", and you understand Christ. Christ is interpreted "anointed" from anointing, that is, from chrism.

3. Scala quae visa est Jacob, quid figuret. Sed si Jacob Dominum in terra dormiens figurabat, quid est quod in coelo Dominus scalae innixus incumbebat? Quomodo Christus Dominus et in cacumine scalae in coelo, et in beato Jacob esse videbatur in terra? Quod autem et in coelo sit Christus et in terra, audi ipsum Christum dicentem: Nemo ascendit in coelum, nisi qui de coelo descendit Filius hominis, qui est in coelo (Joan. III, 13). Advertite, quia et ipse Dominus et in coelo et in terra se esse dixit. Christum Dominum, fratres charissimi, caput esse Ecclesiae confitemur. Si caput est Ecclesiae, secundum caput in coelo est, secundum corpus in terra. Denique cum beatus Paulus apostolus persequeretur Ecclesiam, Christus de coelo clamavit: Saule, Saule, quid me perse⟨q⟩ueris (Act. IX; 4)? Non dixit, Quid persequeris servos meos? nec hoc dixit, Quid persequeris membra mea? sed hoc dixit, Quid me persequeris? Jam quasi pede calcato lingua clamat, Calcasti ⟨m⟩e; cum utique lingua calcari non posset: sed per concordiam charitatis caput pro membris omnibus clamat. Jacob ergo dormiebat, et Dominum in cacumine scalae videbat incumbere. Quid est in scala incumbere, nisi in ligno pendere? Considerate, fratres, quis in ligno crucis pendens pro Judaeis oraverit; et agnoscetis quis ad Jacob scalae incumbens de coelo clamaverit. Sed quare hoc in itinere factum est, antequam Jacob uxorem acciperet? Quia et verus Jacob Dominus noster prius in scala, id est, in cruce occubuit, et postea sibi Ecclesiam sociavit, dans ei in praesenti arrham sanguinis sui, daturus dotem postmodum sui regni.

3. What the ladder which was seen by Jacob prefigures. But if Jacob, sleeping on the earth, prefigured the Lord, what does it mean that in heaven the Lord, resting upon the ladder, was leaning on it? How was Christ the Lord seen to be both at the top of the ladder in heaven and in blessed Jacob on earth? That Christ is both in heaven and on earth, hear Christ Himself saying: No one has ascended into heaven except He Who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, Who is in heaven (John 3:13). Notice that the Lord Himself said that He is both in heaven and on earth. We confess, dearest brothers, that Christ the Lord is the head of the Church. If He is the head of the Church, according to the head He is in heaven, according to the body on earth. Finally, when blessed Paul the apostle was persecuting the Church, Christ cried out from heaven: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me (Acts 9:4)? He did not say, Why do you persecute My servants? nor did He say, Why do you persecute My members? but He said, Why do you persecute Me? It is as when a foot is trodden on and the tongue cries out, You have trodden on me; although of course the tongue could not be trodden on: but through the concord of charity the head cries out on behalf of all the members. Jacob, then, was sleeping, and saw the Lord leaning on the top of the ladder. What is leaning on the ladder, if not hanging on the wood? Consider, brothers, Who, hanging on the wood of the cross, prayed for the Jews; and you will recognize Who, leaning on the ladder, cried out from heaven to Jacob. But why did this take place on the journey, before Jacob took a wife? Because the true Jacob, our Lord, likewise first lay down on the ladder, that is, on the cross, and afterwards joined the Church to Himself, giving her in the present the pledge of His blood, and about to give her afterwards the dowry of His kingdom.

4. Dominus scalae incumbens Christum figuravit. Quod autem et Jacob dormiens, et Dominus scalae incumbens, Christum figuravit, attendite et videte rei hujus altitudinem. Cum enim Salvator noster de Nathanael loquens beatum Jacob nominasset, dicens: Ecce Israelita, in quo dolus non est; in consequentibus dixit: Amodo videbitis coelos apertos, et Angelos Dei ascendentes et descendentes ad Filium hominis (Joan. I, 47, 51). Quod Jacob per figuram in somnis viderat, hoc de se Dominus in Evangeliis praedicabat. Videbitis, inquit, coelos apertos, et Angelos Dei ascendentes et descendentes ad Filium hominis. Si ad Filium Angeli descendebant, quia in terris erat; quomodo hi ipsi Angeli ascendebant ad Filium hominis, nisi quia et in coelis erat? Ac sic in Jacob ip⟨s⟩e dormiebat, et de coelo ad Jacob ipse clamabat.

4. The Lord leaning on the ladder prefigured Christ. That both Jacob sleeping and the Lord leaning on the ladder prefigured Christ, attend and see the depth of this matter. For when our Saviour, speaking of Nathanael, had named blessed Jacob, saying: Behold an Israelite, in whom there is no guile; in what follows He said: Henceforth you will see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending to the Son of Man (John 1:47, 51). What Jacob had seen in a figure in his sleep, this the Lord proclaimed of Himself in the Gospels. You will see, He says, the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending to the Son of Man. If the angels descended to the Son because He was on earth, how did these same angels ascend to the Son of Man, if not because He was also in heaven? And thus He Himself was sleeping in Jacob, and He Himself was crying out from heaven to Jacob.

5. Praedicatores, Angeli ascendentes et descendentes.

5. Preachers, the angels ascending and descending.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1761