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

Sermons XIV–XV

nostri Jesu Christi consecuti sumus, ad quos non umbra veteris Testamenti, sed ipsa veritas venit; quantum possumus, cum Dei gratia laboremus, ut quod nobis contulit judicatus, integrum inveniat judicaturus. Qui tibi tanta contulit, scit quantum reposcat. Idem ipse cum venerit, redditurus est quod promisit: sed requisiturus est quod redemit; et quod dedit in primo adventu, exacturus est in secundo. Nemo ergo Christo Domino nostro reddat mala pro bonis. Quis est qui ita impie agit? Qui accipit dulcedinem, et reddit amaritudinem; qui accipit vitam, et restituit mortem: mortem enim restituit, qui se ipsum male vivendo interficit. Quis est qui reddit mala pro bonis? Ille qui cum deberet dare propria, rapit aliena; qui pro charitate reddit odium, invidiam pro benignitate, pro humilitate superbiam, pro castitate luxuriam. Quis est qui Christo reddit mala pro bonis? Ille qui cum deberet lectioni insistere, et ad Ecclesiam currere, eligit potius ad tabulas ludere, spectacula furiosa, vel cruenta, vel turpia frequentare; et quem oportet peccata sua orando, legendo, eleemosynas faciendo consumere, studet potius augere, et amplius cumulare. Quis est qui reddit mala pro bonis? Qui pro luce tenebras, pro benignitate malitiam, pro sobrietate ebrietatem, pro eleemosynis rapacitatem, pro justitia iniquitatem restituit. Qui ergo haec mala adjuvante Domino non admisit, quantum potest, munera in se divina custodiat: qui vero his malis se sentit obnoxium, et intelligit obvolutum, cito ad poenitentiae medicamenta recurrat, et antequam anima tenebr⟨o⟩sa de corpore mortis suae discedat, eleemosynis, jejuniis et orationibus remedium sibi in die necessitatis acquirat. Sic ergo agamus, fratres, ut ante tribunal Christi, et qui boni sunt coronam, et qui negligentes sunt veniam consequantur; ut illos ornet vita integra, istos valeat excusare correcta: praestante Domino nostro Jesu Christo, cui est honor et imperium in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

our Jesus Christ have obtained, to whom not the shadow of the Old Testament but the truth itself has come; as far as we can, with the grace of God, let us labour so that what He bestowed on us when He was judged, He may find intact when He comes to judge. He who bestowed so much on you knows how much He demands back. When the same One comes, He will render what He promised; but He will require what He redeemed; and what He gave in His first coming He will exact in the second. Let no one therefore render evil for good to Christ our Lord. Who is it that acts so impiously? He who receives sweetness and renders bitterness; who receives life and returns death: for he returns death who kills himself by living wickedly. Who is it that renders evil for good? He who, when he ought to give what is his own, seizes what belongs to others; who for charity renders hatred, envy for kindness, pride for humility, lust for chastity. Who is it that renders evil for good to Christ? He who, when he ought to apply himself to the reading and hasten to church, chooses rather to play at the gaming-boards and to frequent frenzied, or bloody, or shameful spectacles; and he who ought to consume his sins by praying, reading and giving alms strives rather to increase them and heap them up further. Who is it that renders evil for good? He who returns darkness for light, malice for kindness, drunkenness for sobriety, rapacity for almsgiving, iniquity for justice. Let him therefore who, with the Lord's help, has not committed these evils guard the divine gifts in himself as far as he can; but let him who feels himself liable to these evils and understands himself to be entangled in them quickly have recourse to the remedies of penance, and before his darkened soul departs from the body of his death, let him acquire for himself by alms, fasts and prayers a remedy for the day of need. Let us therefore so act, brethren, that before the tribunal of Christ both those who are good may obtain a crown and those who are negligent may obtain pardon; that an unblemished life may adorn the former, and amendment may avail to excuse the latter: by the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom is honour and dominion for ages of ages. Amen.

SERMO XIV. De beato Joseph, II.

Sermon 14. On blessed Joseph, 2.

1. Invidia nec fratribus ipsis parcit. De beato Joseph scriptum est, fratres charissimi, quod ei invidebant fratres sui, et ideo non poterant ei loqui pacifice (Gen. XXXVII, 4). Verum est, dilectissimi, quia tam perniciosus est invidiae morbus, ut nec germanis, non dicam extraneis, parcere possit. Denique statim in initio mundi Abel justum Cain frater injustus occidit (Id. IV, 8). Joseph ergo sanctus et fidelis Domini famulus, tribulationibus magis justus ostenditur, qui primum per invidiam a fratribus Ismaelitis in servum addictus, ab eisque venditus a quibus se viderat adoratum; deinde Aegyptio domino traditus, semper tamen ingenui animi tenuit dignitatem; docuitque exemplo suo et servos liberos in non peccando, et non conditionem cuiquam obesse, sed mentem.

1. Envy does not spare even brothers. Of blessed Joseph it is written, dearest brethren, that his brothers envied him, and therefore could not speak peaceably to him (Gen. 37:4). It is true, most beloved, that the disease of envy is so pernicious that it cannot spare even brothers, not to speak of strangers. Indeed, straightway at the beginning of the world unjust Cain, his brother, killed just Abel (ibid. 4:8). Joseph, then, the holy and faithful servant of the Lord, is shown to be the more just through tribulations: first through envy he was consigned by his brothers as a slave to the Ishmaelites, and sold by those by whom he had seen himself adored; then, handed over to an Egyptian master, he nevertheless always kept the dignity of a freeborn mind; and he taught by his example both that slaves are free in not sinning, and that it is not one's condition that stands in anyone's way, but the mind.

2. Culpa in eo qui male videt, non in eo qui male videri non vult. Cum esset decorus et speciosus facie, pulchritudinem vultus sui non ad alienam derivavit injuriam, sed ad suam gratiam conservavit: hoc se pulchriorem judicans, si non dispendio castitatis, sed cultu pudoris speciosior probaretur; et illum esse verum decorem, qui non alienos oculos caperet, nec mentes fragiles vulneraret. Crimen enim dominae suae fuit, quae male vidit; non beati Joseph, qui male videri non voluit. Nec in eo qui visus est, culpa est; quia non erat in potestate servili, ut non videretur a domina: maritus debuit cavere uxoris oculos. Discant

2. The fault lies in him who looks wrongly, not in him who does not wish to be looked at wrongly. Although he was comely and beautiful of face, he did not turn the beauty of his countenance to another's injury, but preserved it for his own grace: judging himself the more beautiful in this, if he were proved more comely not at the cost of chastity but by the cultivation of modesty; and that that is true beauty which does not captivate the eyes of others nor wound frail minds. For the crime was his mistress's, who looked wrongly; not blessed Joseph's, who did not wish to be looked at wrongly. Nor is there fault in him who was looked at; for it was not in a slave's power not to be seen by his mistress: the husband ought to have guarded against his wife's eyes. Let them learn

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Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO XIV› · call in col 1767

Alias, de Tempore 83.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 83 de Tempore.

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(b) ‹anchor: De beato Joseph, II› · call in col 1767

In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Totus centonis instar compactus est ex variorum dictis, scilicet Pelagii, Ambrosii, Cypriani, et ex fragmento sermonis 343, de Susanna et Joseph. Caeterum auctior paulo et sincerior nunc editur ad librum Theodericensem ante annos septingentos descriptum. De num. 1 vid. Pelagii epist. ad Demetriadem, cap. 5; de num. 2, Ambrosii librum de Joseph, cap. 5; de num. 3 et 4, Augustini serm. 343, n. 6-8; de num. 5, epist. Pelagii, cap. 5; de num. 6, usque ad medium, epist. ejusdem, n. 18.

It is now placed in the Appendix for the first time. It is wholly put together like a patchwork from the sayings of various writers, namely Pelagius, Ambrose, Cyprian, and from a fragment of Sermon 343, on Susanna and Joseph. It is now published somewhat fuller and purer, from the Thierry (Saint-Thierry) manuscript copied seven hundred years ago. On n. 1 see Pelagius's letter to Demetrias, ch. 5; on n. 2, Ambrose's book On Joseph, ch. 5; on nn. 3 and 4, Augustine's Sermon 343, nn. 6–8; on n. 5, Pelagius's letter, ch. 5; on n. 6, up to the middle, the same letter, n. 18.

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tunc et viri cavere oculos feminarum, cum amantur et qui nolunt amari. Denique adamatus est Joseph, qui amantem contempserat: et bene excusavit eum Scriptura, dicens, Immisit oculos uxor domini ejus in Joseph: hoc est, non iste se ostentavit, nec ille cepit incautam: sed illa retia sua immisit, et indagine sua capta est; catenas suas sparsit, et in suis vinculis colligata est. Dixit autem illi, Dormi mecum (Gen. XXXIX, 7). Prima adulterii oculorum tela sunt, secunda verborum. Sed qui non capitur oculis, potest verbis resistere. Excusatur, quod ingressus est: praedicatur, quod elapsus est. Nec pluris fecit vestimenta corporis, quam animi castimoniam: reliquit tanquam non sua, quae adultera manibus detinebat; et aliena judicavit, quae tactu impudicae potuerant comprehendi. Magnus plane vir, qui venditus servile tunc nescivit ingenium, adamatus non redamavit, rogatus non acquievit, apprehensus aufugit.

then, men too, to beware the eyes of women, since even those who do not wish to be loved are loved. Indeed, Joseph was loved, who had spurned the woman who loved him: and Scripture has rightly excused him, saying, His master's wife cast her eyes upon Joseph: that is, he did not display himself, nor did he catch her unawares; but she cast her own nets, and was caught in her own snare; she spread her own chains, and was bound in her own fetters. And she said to him, Sleep with me (Gen. 39:7). The first darts of adultery are those of the eyes, the second those of words. But he who is not caught by the eyes can resist words. He is excused for having gone in; he is praised for having slipped away. Nor did he value the garments of the body more than the chastity of the soul: he left behind, as not his own, what the adulteress held in her hands; and he judged alien to himself what could have been grasped by the touch of an unchaste woman. Truly a great man, who, though sold, did not then know a servile disposition; though loved, did not love in return; though asked, did not consent; though seized, fled away.

3. Amor impudicus non est amor. Concupiscitur adolescens a domina, nec ad concupiscentiam provocatur; rogatur, et refugit: una hac in re blanditur ac supplicat, quae in caeteris imperabat. Amabat illum, an potius se? Ego puto quia nec illum, nec se. Si illum amabat, quare volebat perdere? Si se amabat, quare volebat perire? Ecce probavi, quia non amabat: veneno libidinis ardebat, non flamma charitatis lucebat. Sed ille noverat videre quod illa non noverat. Pulchrior erat intus Joseph quam foris; pulchrior in luce cordis quam in facie corporis: ubi illius feminae oculus non penetrabat, ibi ipse sua pulchritudine fruebatur. Intuens ergo interiorem pulchritudinem castitatis in speculo conscientiae suae, quando illam maculari, quando violari illius feminae tentatione permitteret? Quod ergo videbat ille, si et tu vis, potes videre pulchritudinem pudicitiae interiorem et spiritualem, si habes ad illam qualescumque oculos. Exempli grati⟨a⟩ tibi aliquid propono. Ipsam amas in conjuge tua? Noli ergo odisse in aliena, quod amas in tua. Quid enim amas in conjuge tua? Utique castitatem. Hanc odisti in aliena, cum qua concumbendo ejus vis perdere castitatem. Quod amas in tua, hoc vis interficere in aliena? Quomodo habebis orationem puritatis homicida castitatis? Serva ergo in conjuge aliena quod servare cupis in tua: quia et in uxore tua castitatem potius diligis quam carnem.

3. Unchaste love is not love. The young man is desired by his mistress, and is not provoked to desire; he is asked, and he flees: in this one matter she flatters and entreats, she who in all else used to command. Did she love him, or rather herself? I think that she loved neither him nor herself. If she loved him, why did she wish to destroy him? If she loved herself, why did she wish to perish? See, I have proved that she did not love: she burned with the poison of lust, she did not shine with the flame of charity. But he knew how to see what she did not know. Joseph was more beautiful within than without; more beautiful in the light of the heart than in the face of the body: where that woman's eye did not penetrate, there he enjoyed his own beauty. Beholding, then, the inner beauty of chastity in the mirror of his conscience, when would he allow it to be stained, when to be violated, by that woman's temptation? What he saw, then, you too can see, if you will: the inner and spiritual beauty of modesty, if you have any eyes at all for it. By way of example I put something before you. Do you love it in your wife? Do not, then, hate in another's wife what you love in your own. For what do you love in your wife? Chastity, surely. This you hate in another's wife, when by lying with her you wish to destroy her chastity. What you love in your own, do you wish to kill in another's? How will you have the prayer of purity, being a murderer of chastity? Keep, then, in another's wife what you desire to be kept in your own: for in your own wife too it is chastity rather than flesh that you love.

4. Castit⟨a⟩s adamanda, non caro. Sed forte existimas te amatorem esse carnis uxoris tuae, et non castitatis. Sordida quidem cogitatio, misera et voluptuosa libido: sed non te dimitto sine exemplo. Tu putas quod carnem amas uxoris tuae: ego enim dico quod castitatem plus amas in conjuge. Sed ut te absolutissime ostendam amatorem esse castitatis magis quam carnis; hanc plus amas in filia tua. Quis enim hominum est, qui non filias suas castas esse velit? Quis hominum est qui non filiarum suarum congaudeat castitati? Numquid et ibi carnem amas? Numquid concupiscis corpus pulchrum, ubi exhorrescis incestum? Ecce convici te amatorem esse castitatis magis quam carnis. Denique si habueris conjugem pulchram, et forte, nec castam, nec sobriam; numquid amas carnem pulchram, et non potius detestaris? Consideratur quidem foris pulchritudo corporis; sed intus pulchritudo requiritur castitatis: quae si non fuerit, omnis continuo amor corporis refrigescit; quia quamvis pulchritudo consideretur, plus tamen amoris vicissitudo requiritur intus. Si ergo amatorem te castitatis convici, quid te offendisti, ut eam non ames in te? Quod amas in filia tua, ama hoc in uxore aliena: quia et filia tua uxor erit aliena. Ama ergo et in te castitatem. Nam si amas uxorem alienam, non continuo habebis: castitatem si amaveris, mox habebis, auxiliante Domino, eam. Sic ancillam pulchram, aut elegantem uxorem alienam amare debes, ut eam quasi extra te et foris requiras: si castitatem amas, apud te est quod amas. Blanditur tibi castitas sancta intus in cubiculo cordis tui, suavis est ejus amplexus, non habet amaritudinem conversatio illius. Non tecum

4. Chastity is to be loved, not flesh. But perhaps you think that you are a lover of your wife's flesh, and not of her chastity. A sordid thought indeed, a wretched and voluptuous lust: but I do not let you go without an example. You think that you love your wife's flesh: but I say that you love chastity more in your wife. But to show you most conclusively that you are a lover of chastity rather than of flesh: you love this more in your daughter. For what man is there who does not wish his daughters to be chaste? What man is there who does not rejoice in the chastity of his daughters? Do you love the flesh there too? Do you covet a beautiful body where you shudder at incest? See, I have convicted you of being a lover of chastity rather than of flesh. Again, if you have a beautiful wife, and perhaps neither chaste nor sober, do you love her beautiful flesh, and not rather detest it? The beauty of the body is indeed regarded outwardly; but within, the beauty of chastity is required: and if it is not there, all love of the body at once grows cold; because, although beauty is regarded, yet a return of love is required more within. If, then, I have convicted you of being a lover of chastity, how have you offended yourself, that you do not love it in yourself? What you love in your daughter, love this in another man's wife: for your daughter too will be another man's wife. Love, then, chastity in yourself too. For if you love another man's wife, you will not at once have her: if you love chastity, you will soon have it, with the Lord's help. You ought to love a beautiful maidservant, or another man's elegant wife, in such a way that you seek her as though outside yourself and abroad: if you love chastity, what you love is with you. Holy chastity caresses you within, in the chamber of your heart; sweet is her embrace, her company has no bitterness. Not with you

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litigat castitas, non te subvertit, in nullo tibi in domo conscientiae contradicit. Ama ergo et in te et in aliis castitatem, ut habeas aeternam beatitudinem. Si ergo et in te hanc valde pulchram amaveris, quae castitas dicitur; imitaberis beatum Joseph, qui noluit impudicae mulieri ad concubitum illicitum consentire; repulit concupiscentiam alienam, amplexus est pudicitiam suam. Fecit tamen illa quod comminata est, mentita est viro, credita est: adhuc patiens Deus. Traditur Joseph sanctus in carcerem, custoditur tanquam reus, a quo non offensus Deus. Sed nec ibi defuit Deus, quia ille non obnoxius erat. Adfuit Dominus sancto Joseph. Et quia sanctum amabat, mulieris amore non vincitur castus animus, nec aetas adolescentiae permovit, nec diligentis auctoritas, contemptam frequentare dominam. Ore proprio adolescenti tendit insidias, secreto ac sine testibus manu impudens apprehendit, procacioribus verbis hortatur ad crimen; nec ibi quidem vincitur: sed ut verba verbis, ita et res rebus refert; nam qui frequenter rogatus negaverat, tunc comprehensus aufugit.

does chastity contend; it does not overthrow you, and in nothing does it contradict you in the house of conscience. Love chastity, therefore, both in yourself and in others, so that you may have eternal blessedness. If, then, you love in yourself too this exceedingly beautiful thing which is called chastity, you will imitate blessed Joseph, who would not consent to an unchaste woman for unlawful intercourse; he repelled another's lust and embraced his own purity. Yet she did what she had threatened: she lied to her husband, and she was believed; God was still patient. Holy Joseph is handed over to prison and guarded as a guilty man, he by whom God had not been offended. But not even there was God absent, because he was not guilty. The Lord was present with holy Joseph. And because He loved the holy man, the chaste mind is not overcome by the love of a woman; neither did the age of youth move him, nor the authority of the one who loved him, to frequent the mistress he had spurned. With her own mouth she lays snares for the youth; secretly and without witnesses she shamelessly seizes him with her hand; with rather wanton words she urges him to the crime; and not even there is he overcome: but as he answers words with words, so too he answers deeds with deeds; for he who, often asked, had refused, then, when seized, fled.

5. Benignitas Joseph. Mirati estis castitatem Joseph, aspicite nunc benignitatem. Ille pro odio reddit charitatem: et cum videret fratres suos, imo inimicos ex fratribus, cumque ab eis agnosci vellet, dilectionis affectum pio dolore testatus est. Deosculabatur singulos, et irriguis fletibus paventium colla perfundens, odium fratrum charitatis lacrymis abluebat, quos tam vivo patre quam mortuo, germano semper amore dilexit; nec recordatur illum in quo ad necem fuerat dejectus lacum; non cogitavit addictam pretio germanitatem; sed pro malis bona restituens, jam tunc necdum data apostolica praecepta complevit. Ergo beatus Joseph cogitans verae charitatis dulcedinem, venenum invidiae, quo fratres suos noverat fuisse percussos, Deo auxiliante, studuit de corde suo repellere.

5. The kindness of Joseph. You have marvelled at the chastity of Joseph; behold now his kindness. He repays hatred with charity: and when he saw his brothers, nay, enemies made out of brothers, and wished to be recognized by them, he bore witness to the affection of love with a dutiful grief. He kissed each one, and, drenching the necks of the frightened men with streaming tears, he washed away the hatred of his brothers with the tears of charity, those whom, both while their father was living and when he was dead, he always loved with a brother's love; nor does he remember that pit into which he had been cast to his death; he gave no thought to the brotherhood sold for a price; but, rendering good for evil, even then he fulfilled the apostolic precepts not yet given. Therefore blessed Joseph, pondering the sweetness of true charity, strove, with God's help, to drive from his heart the poison of envy with which he knew his brothers had been stricken.

6. Invidia comparatur aerugini et viperis. Et revera, fratres, quid infelici invido praestat invidia, quem secretis conscientiae quibusdam ungulis livor ipse discerpit, et alienam felicitatem tormentum illius facit? Quam, inquam, mercedem ex odio suo recipiet, nisi horribiles animae tenebras, et confusae mentis horrorem, qui vultu semper animoque moerente, voto quo vult alii nocere, se cruciat, quem saevissimis exagitatum stimulis ab omni consilio ac mentis sobrietate deturbat? Et ideo observemus, fratres, vitii hujus incursum, ne forte participes operis diaboli inveniamur, et pari cum illo sententia condemnemur. Sic enim scriptum est: Invidia diaboli mors intravit in orbem terrarum. Imitantur autem eum qui sunt ex parte ipsius (Sap. II, 24, 25). Quod malum laedit parum aliquid etiam eos in quos intenditur; gravius tamen et perniciosius eos prius a quibus procedit, affligit. Sicut enim aerugo ferrum; ita invidia illam ipsam animam, in qua est, interimit et consumit. Et sicut aiunt viperas dilacerato et disrupto illo ipso materno utero, in quo conceptae sunt, nasci; ita et invidia illam ipsam animam, a qua concepta est, consumit et perdit. Qualis haec animae tinea est, quae cogitationum tabes, pectoris quanta rubigo, zelare in homine donum Dei, et in malum proprium bona aliena convertere, aliorumque gloriam facere poenam suam; et velut quosdam pectori suo admovere carnifices, cogitationibus et sensibus suis adhibere tortores, qui se intestinis cruciatibus lacerent? Non cibus talibus laetus, non potus potest esse jucundus. Suspiratur semper ab eadem et ingemiscitur ac doletur, diebus ac noctibus pectus obsessum sine intermissione laniatur: quia zelus terminum non habet, permanens jugiter malum et sine fine peccatum. Et quantum ille cui invidet successu meliore profecerit, tantum invidus in majus incendium livoris ignibus exardescit. Hinc efficitur pallor in facie, tremor in labiis, stridor

6. Envy is compared to rust and to vipers. And truly, brethren, what does envy bestow on the unhappy envious man, whom spite itself tears apart with certain hidden claws of conscience, and whose torment it makes out of another's happiness? What reward, I say, will he receive from his hatred, except horrible darkness of soul and the dread of a confounded mind, he who, ever sad of countenance and of spirit, torments himself with the wish by which he would harm another, whom it drives, harried by the cruellest goads, away from all counsel and sobriety of mind? And therefore let us watch, brethren, for the onset of this vice, lest perhaps we be found sharers in the work of the devil and be condemned with him by a like sentence. For thus it is written: By the envy of the devil death entered into the world. And they imitate him who are of his party (Wis. 2:24–25). This evil harms somewhat even those against whom it is directed; yet it afflicts more grievously and more ruinously, first of all, those from whom it proceeds. For as rust [consumes] iron, so envy slays and consumes that very soul in which it is. And as they say that vipers are born by tearing and bursting that very womb of their mother in which they were conceived, so also envy consumes and destroys that very soul by which it was conceived. What a moth of the soul is this, what a wasting of the thoughts, how great a rust of the breast, to be jealous of the gift of God in a man, and to turn another's good things into one's own evil, and to make the glory of others one's own punishment; and, as it were, to bring executioners up to one's own breast, to apply torturers to one's own thoughts and senses, who would tear one with inward torments? To such men no food is cheerful, no drink can be pleasant. By the same [envy] there is ever sighing and groaning and grieving; day and night the besieged breast is torn without respite: for jealousy has no end, being an evil that abides continually and a sin without end. And the more he whom he envies has advanced with better success, the more the envious man blazes into a greater conflagration with the fires of spite. Hence arise pallor in the face, trembling in the lips, gnashing

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(a) ‹anchor: consumit et perdit› · call in col 1769

Deinceps pleraque ex Cypriano, in orat. de Zelo et livore.

From here on, most of it is from Cyprian, in the treatise On Jealousy and Envy.

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in dentibus, verba rabida et effrenata convicia. Quisquis ille est quem zelo suo persequitur invidus, subterfugere eum poterit et vitare: invidus vero refugere non valebit. Ubicumque fuerit, adversarius suus secum est, hostis in pectore semper inclusus. Denique Dominus in Evangelio, cum eum discipuli interrogarent, quis inter illos major esset, respondit: Quisquis fuerit, inquit, minimus in omnibus vobis, hic erit magnus (Matth. XVIII, 4). Quo verbo omnem causam et materiam mordacis invidiae eruit et abscidit.

in the teeth, rabid words and unbridled insults. Whoever it is that the envious man pursues with his jealousy will be able to slip away from him and avoid him; but the envious man will not be able to escape. Wherever he may be, his adversary is with him, an enemy always shut up in his breast. Finally the Lord in the Gospel, when the disciples asked Him who among them was the greater, answered: Whoever, He says, is the least among you all, he will be great (Matt. 18:4). By this word He dug out and cut away every cause and matter of biting envy.

7. Venena fellis, quicumque invidus est, evomat. Christiano ergo populo zelare non licet, non licet invidere: de humilitate ad summa crescit. Audi beatum Joannem apostolum in Epistola sua dicentem, Qui odit fratrem suum, homicida est; et iterum, Qui dicit se in luce esse, et fratrem odit, in tenebris est et in tenebris ambulat, et nescit quo vadat (I Joan. III, 15, et II, 10). Descendit enim in gehennam ignarus, et caecus praecipitatur in poenam, recedens scilicet a Christi lumine monentis et dicentis, Ego sum lux mundi; et, Qui credit in me, non ambulabit in tenebris; sed habebit lumen vitae (Joan. VIII, 12). Quomodo autem vel pacem Domini, vel charitatem tenet, qui in zeli vitio nec pacificus potest esse, nec securus? Nos vero, fratres, Deo auxiliante, zeli vel invidiae venena fugientes, non solum cum bonis, sed etiam erga malos charitatis dulcedinem teneamus: ut nos non reprobet Christus propter invidiae malum; sed laudet potius et invitet ad praemium, dicens: Venite, benedicti, percipite regnum (Matth. XXV, 34). Sit in manibus divina lectio, in sensibus dominica cogitatio, oratio jugis omnino non cesset, salutaris operatio perseveret; ut quoties ad tentandos nos accesserit inimicus, semper nos bonis operibus inveniat occupatos. Consideret ergo unusquisque conscientiam suam; et si se videt de prosperitate proximi sui invidiae veneno percussum, evellat de pectore suo spinas et tribulos, ut in eo semen Domini quasi in fertili agro multiplicata fruge locupletet, ut divina et spiritualis seges in copiam fecundae messis exuberet. Venena ergo fellis, quicumque invidus est, evomat, discordiarum virus excludat, purget, Deo adjuvante, mentem quam serpentinus livor infecerat: amaritudo omnis invidiae, Christi dulcedine leniatur. Amet eos quos ante oderat, diligat quibus injustis obtrectationibus invidebat: bonos imitetur, et de meliorum semper profectibus gratuletur. Non deroget sacerdotibus, nec praepositos suos venenatis dentibus laceret, faciat se illis adunata dilectione participem. Dimittetur ei, quando et ipse dimiserit: accipientur sacrificia sua, cum et ipse pacificus ad Deum accesserit. Cogitet unusquisque paradisi delicias, regnum coeleste desideret, ad quod misericordes atque unanimes Christus admittit. Cogitemus, fratres, quod filii Dei ii soli possunt vocari, qui sunt pacifici, secundum illud quod scriptum est: In hoc cognoscent omnes, quia mei discipuli estis, si dilectionem habueritis ad invicem; et iterum, Hoc est praeceptum meum, ut diligatis invicem (Joan. XIII, 35, 34). Ad quam dilectionem vos pius Dominus bonis operibus sua protectione perducat, cujus est honor et gloria cum Patre et Spiritu sancto in cuncta saecula saeculorum. Amen.

7. Let whoever is envious vomit out the poisons of gall. To a Christian people, then, it is not permitted to be jealous, it is not permitted to envy: from humility it grows to the highest things. Hear the blessed apostle John saying in his Epistle, Whoever hates his brother is a murderer; and again, Whoever says that he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he goes (1 John 3:15 and 2:10). For he goes down into Gehenna unawares, and blind he is cast headlong into punishment, withdrawing, that is, from the light of Christ, Who warns and says, I am the light of the world; and, Whoever believes in Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12). But how does he hold either the peace of the Lord or charity, who in the vice of jealousy can be neither peaceable nor secure? But let us, brethren, with God's help, fleeing the poisons of jealousy or envy, hold fast the sweetness of charity not only with the good but also towards the wicked: so that Christ may not reject us because of the evil of envy, but rather praise us and invite us to the reward, saying: Come, blessed ones, receive the kingdom (Matt. 25:34). Let the divine reading be in our hands, the thought of the Lord in our minds; let continual prayer never cease at all, let saving work persevere; so that as often as the enemy approaches to tempt us, he may always find us occupied with good works. Let each one, then, examine his own conscience; and if he sees himself struck by the poison of envy at the prosperity of his neighbour, let him pluck out of his breast the thorns and thistles, so that the seed of the Lord may enrich him as in a fertile field with multiplied fruit, so that a divine and spiritual crop may overflow into the abundance of a fruitful harvest. Let whoever is envious, then, vomit out the poisons of gall, shut out the venom of discords, cleanse, with God's help, the mind which serpent-like spite had infected: let all the bitterness of envy be softened by the sweetness of Christ. Let him love those whom he formerly hated, let him cherish those whom he envied with unjust disparagements: let him imitate the good, and always rejoice at the progress of the better. Let him not detract from priests, nor tear his superiors with poisoned teeth; let him make himself a sharer with them in united love. It will be forgiven him when he too has forgiven: his sacrifices will be accepted when he too has approached God as a peaceable man. Let each one think on the delights of paradise, let him long for the heavenly kingdom, into which Christ admits the merciful and the like-minded. Let us consider, brethren, that only those can be called sons of God who are peaceable, according to that which is written: By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another; and again, This is My commandment, that you love one another (John 13:35, 34). To which love may the loving Lord lead you by good works under His protection, to Whom is honour and glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit unto all ages of ages. Amen.

SERMO XV. De beato Joseph, III.

Sermon 15. On blessed Joseph, 3.

1. Cur Joseph sortem suam patri notam non fecerit statim. In beato Jacob, fratres charissimi, et in sancto filio ejus Joseph, qui diligenter attendit, rem

1. Why Joseph did not at once make his lot known to his father. In blessed Jacob, dearest brethren, and in his holy son Joseph, whoever attends carefully, a thing

Editors' notes and page, col. 1770

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO XV (the call is printed "(b)" on the scan; the note is "(a)")› · call in col 1770

Alias, de Tempore 82.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 82 de Tempore.

(printed under page 147)

(b) ‹anchor: De beato Joseph, III› · call in col 1770

In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Dubius remanserat Lovaniensium censura, supposititius postea Verlini et Vindingi sententia renuntiatus fuit. Caesario adscribendum censemus, tametsi exeunte num. 6 nonnihil habeat excerptum ex Pelagii ad Demetriadem Epistola, quae quidem Augustini aut Hieronymi esse olim credita est. De num. 3, vid. Caesarii homil. 14 ex editis a Baluzio; de num. 6, Pelagii Epist. ad Demetriadem, cap. 5.

It is now placed in the Appendix for the first time. By the judgement of the Louvain editors it had remained doubtful; afterwards, by the opinion of Verlinus and Vindingus, it was declared spurious. We judge it should be ascribed to Caesarius, although at the end of n. 6 it has something excerpted from Pelagius's Letter to Demetrias, which was once believed to be Augustine's or Jerome's. On n. 3 see Caesarius, homily 14 among those edited by Baluze; on n. 6, Pelagius's Letter to Demetrias, ch. 5.

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nimis admirabilem Deum fecisse cognoscit. Primum non credo fuisse sine causa, quod Dominus, qui se toties dignatus fuerat ostendere beato Jacob, per tot annos noluit ei ind⟨i⟩care, quod Joseph filius ejus viveret, sed permisit eum longa afflictione consumi. Si hoc quisquam sine certa et evidenti ratione factum esse credit, vel hoc consideret, quod nec filius ejus Joseph in tam proximo positus, permissus sit ad patrem suum mittere, ut ei nuntiaret quod non solum viveret, sed etiam in grandi honore positus esset. Ab illo enim loco ubi erat beatus Jacob, us⟨q⟩ue in Aegyptum vix erant trecenta millia. Unde frequentissime ex Aegypto in locum illum ubi Jacob erat, plurimi properabant; et ex illo loco ad Aegyptum infinitae multitudines assidue confluebant. Sed for⟨t⟩e aliquis dicit, quod beatus Joseph parvulus exierit a patre suo; et ideo recordari eum non potuisset. Non ita est, fratres charissimi. Puer enim sexdecim annorum nulla ratione parentes suos poterat oblivisci. Nam in tantum eos oblitus non erat, ut fratres suos, ubi primum vidit, agnoverit.

exceedingly wonderful, recognizes that God has done. First, I do not believe it was without cause that the Lord, Who had so often deigned to show Himself to blessed Jacob, for so many years was unwilling to reveal to him that Joseph his son was alive, but allowed him to be consumed by long affliction. If anyone believes that this was done without a sure and evident reason, let him at least consider this, that not even his son Joseph, placed so near, was permitted to send to his father to tell him that he was not only alive, but also set in great honour. For from that place where blessed Jacob was, as far as Egypt, there were scarcely three hundred miles. Hence very many people very frequently hurried from Egypt to that place where Jacob was; and from that place countless multitudes constantly flowed together to Egypt. But perhaps someone says that blessed Joseph left his father as a little child, and that therefore he could not have remembered him. It is not so, dearest brethren. For a boy of sixteen years could by no means forget his parents. Indeed, so far was he from having forgotten them that he recognized his brothers as soon as he saw them.

2. Occulto Dei judicio non ad patrem suum misit. Sed dicit aliquis, quia pr⟨o⟩ eo quod Aegyptio domino serviebat, licentiam aut potesta⟨t⟩em non habuerit mittendi ad patrem suum. Etiamsi hoc quasi verisimile videatur; posteaquam de carcere eductus est, et dominus factus est in totam terram Aegypti, per illos septem annos fertilitatis, et illos duos qui transacti sunt tempore inopiae antequam fratres sui ad eum descenderent; per istos novem annos in trecentis millibus non potuit mittere ad patrem suum? Sine ulla dubitatione potuit: sed occulto judicio hoc Dominus fieri non permisit; in tantum ut nec tunc se manifestaret fratribus suis, quando ad emendum triticum ⟨v⟩enerant: quinimo durissime eis loquens, fratrem illorum in vinculis tenuit, et ad patrem suum eos cum grandi dolore redire jussit.

2. By a hidden judgement of God he did not send to his father. But someone says that, because he was serving an Egyptian master, he did not have leave or power to send to his father. Even if this should seem as it were likely; after he was brought out of prison and was made lord over the whole land of Egypt, through those seven years of plenty, and those two which passed in the time of want before his brothers came down to him, through these nine years could he not send to his father over three hundred miles? Without any doubt he could; but by a hidden judgement the Lord did not permit this to happen; so much so that not even then did he make himself known to his brothers, when they had come to buy wheat; nay rather, speaking very harshly to them, he kept their brother in chains, and ordered them to return to their father with great grief.

3. Cur Simeon et Benjamin retinendo patris dolorem auxerit. Attendite adhuc et aliud majus miraculum, et videte quomodo beatus Joseph, qui patrem suum noverat pro se intolerabilem amaritudinem sustinere, quasi parum esset quod ante pertulerat, insuper et Benjamin ei fecit auferri: quo facto utique noverat eum multiplicem passurum esse dolorem. Haec enim omnia Spiritus sancti dispensatione facta fuisse credo. Deus enim, cujus judicia plerumque sunt occulta, nunquam tamen injusta, qui beato Jacob noluit indicare filium suum vivere; ille etiam sanctum Joseph non permisit ut patri suo gloriam suam nuntiaret: quinimo adhuc Simeon in vinculis tenendo et Benjamin auferendo, ipsius patris sui angustias cumulavit. Haec autem, fratres charissimi, si fideliter et diligenter attendimus, cum grandi misericordia Dominum fecisse cognoscimus. Ab initio enim mundi hoc Deus in sanctis suis exercuit, quod in beato Jacob cum grandi pietate complevit. Sed hoc quare sit factum diligenter attendite.

3. Why by detaining Simeon and Benjamin he increased his father's grief. Consider further yet another, greater wonder, and see how blessed Joseph, who knew that his father was enduring unbearable bitterness on his account, as if what he had suffered before were too little, caused Benjamin also to be taken away from him besides: by which deed he certainly knew that he would suffer manifold grief. For I believe that all these things were done by the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. For God, Whose judgements are for the most part hidden, yet never unjust, Who was unwilling to reveal to blessed Jacob that his son was alive, He also did not permit holy Joseph to announce his glory to his father; nay rather, by still keeping Simeon in chains and by taking away Benjamin, he heaped up the distress of his own father. But these things, dearest brethren, if we consider them faithfully and diligently, we recognize that the Lord did with great mercy. For from the beginning of the world God has practised this in His saints, which He fulfilled in blessed Jacob with great kindness. But consider diligently why this was done.

4. Amici Dei non sine minutis peccatis, quae tribulationis igne consumuntur. Quamvis enim servi et amici Dei capitalia crimina vitaverint, et multa opera bona fecerint; tamen sine minutis peccatis eos fuisse non credimus; quia non mentitur ille qui dixit: Non est immunis a peccato, nec infans cujus est unius diei vita super terram (Job XV, 15, sec. LXX). Et beatus Joannes evangelista, qui utique meritis non erat inferior sancto Jacob, clamat et dicit: Si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, ipsi nos seducimus, et veritas in nobis non est (I Joan. I, 8). Et illud quod alibi scriptum est: Justus septies cadit, et resurgit (Prov. XXIV, 16) Quia ergo, sicut jam dictum est, sine istis minutis peccatis Jacob esse non potuit; volens Deus ipsa parva peccata in hoc seculo tribulationis igne consumere, implevit in eo quod ipse per Spiritum sanctum dixit: Vasa figuli probat fornax, et homines justos tentatio tribulationis (Eccli. XXVII, 6); et illud, Flagellat Deus omnem filium quem recipit (Hebr. XII, 6); et illud, Per multas tribulationes oportet nos intrare

4. The friends of God are not without small sins, which are consumed by the fire of tribulation. For although the servants and friends of God have avoided capital crimes and have done many good works, yet we do not believe that they were without small sins; for he does not lie who said: No one is free from sin, not even an infant whose life upon the earth is of one day (Job 15:15, according to the Septuagint). And blessed John the evangelist, who was certainly not inferior in merits to holy Jacob, cries out and says: If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). And that which is written elsewhere: The just man falls seven times, and rises again (Prov. 24:16). Since therefore, as has already been said, Jacob could not be without these small sins, God, wishing to consume those very small sins in this world by the fire of tribulation, fulfilled in him what He Himself said through the Holy Spirit: The furnace tries the potter's vessels, and the trial of tribulation just men (Ecclus. 27:6); and that saying, God scourges every son whom He receives (Heb. 12:6); and that saying, Through many tribulations we must enter

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(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1771 or 1772 (not visible; note printed under col 1772)

Totus n. 5 in manuscriptis desideratur.

The whole of n. 5 is missing in the manuscripts.

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in regnum Dei (Act. XIV, 21). Ut ergo sanctum Jacob Deus noster velut aurum, purgatum in futuro judicio praesentaret, prius ab illo omnes maculas peccatorum abstersit; ut in eo ignis ille arbiter quod exureret, invenire non posset.

into the kingdom of God (Acts 14:21). So then, in order that our God might present holy Jacob, like refined gold, at the judgement to come, He first wiped away from him all the stains of sins, so that that arbitrating fire might not be able to find in him anything to burn up.

5. Exemplo Joseph docemur castigari eum qui non magis a Deo quam ab homine auxilium postulat. Quod etiam in ipso beato Joseph factum esse cognoscimus. Cum enim, sicut dixit Scriptura, Dominus esset cum eo, et gratiam ei apud dominum suum et apud principem carceris dedisset (Gen. XXXIX, 2, 4, 21), praeventus tunc est ut ab homine auxilium postularet, dicens magistro pincernarum: Memento mei, cum tibi bene fuerit; et supplica Pharaoni, ut me ejiciat de isto carcere (Id. XL, 14). Et quia nondum scriptum erat, Bonum est sperare in Domino, quam sperare in homine (Psal. CXVII, 8); cum in omnibus Dei gratiam meruisset, subreptum est illi ut ab h⟨o⟩mine auxilium peteret. Pro qua re additi sunt duo anni, quibus adhuc teneretur in carcere, tanquam diceret ei Deus: Ego tibi ostendo, ut magis a me quam ab homine debeas auxilium postulare. Sine ulla enim dubitatione credendum est, quod pro castigatione sancti Joseph non permisit Deus magis⟨t⟩rum pincernarum ut in mente haberet, quod ei sanctus Joseph quando de carcere dimissus est, supplicaverat. Et quia etiam et ipse Joseph quamvis sanctus, tunc sine peccato esse non poterat; ideo tanto tempore fuit in carcere clausus, ut in eo impleretur quod scriptum est: Ego quos amo, arguo; et quos diligo, castigo (Apoc. III, 19).

5. By the example of Joseph we are taught that he who does not ask help from God more than from man is chastised. That this was done also in the case of blessed Joseph himself, we know. For when, as Scripture said, the Lord was with him and had given him favour with his master and with the chief of the prison (Gen. 39:2, 4, 21), he was then overtaken so as to ask help from a man, saying to the master of the cupbearers: Remember me, when it is well with you; and entreat Pharaoh to cast me out of this prison (Gen. 40:14). And because it had not yet been written, It is good to hope in the Lord rather than to hope in man (Ps. 117:8), although in all things he had merited the grace of God, it stole upon him that he should seek help from a man. On account of this two years were added, during which he was still kept in prison, as though God were saying to him: I show you that you ought to ask help from Me rather than from man. For without any doubt it must be believed that, for the chastisement of holy Joseph, God did not permit the master of the cupbearers to keep in mind what holy Joseph had entreated of him when he was released from prison. And because even Joseph himself, holy though he was, could not at that time be without sin, he was therefore shut up in prison for so long a time, that there might be fulfilled in him what is written: Those whom I love, I rebuke; and those whom I cherish, I chastise (Rev. 3:19).

6. Cur Joseph tam dure egerit cum fratribus. Si diligenter attendimus, fratres charissimi, quod erga beatum Jacob Deum fecisse credimus, hoc etiam Joseph circa fratres suos exercuisse cognoscimus; qui utique tam sanctus fuit, ut eos odio habere ⟨n⟩on potuisset. Unde credendum est, quod ideo eos tantis tribulationibus fatigaverit, ut illos ad confessionem criminis, et ad medicamentum poenitentiae provocaret. Denique cum ingenti dolore dixerunt se merito pati illa, quia peccassent in fratrem suum videntes angustiam ejus (Gen. XLII, 21). Et quia sciebat beatus Joseph, quod fratribus suis fratricidii crimen sine grandi poenitentia indulgeri non posset, semel ac secundo et tertio illos medicabili tribulatione tanquam spirituali igne decoxit; non ut se vindicaret, sed ut illos corrigeret et de tam gravi crimi⟨n⟩e liberaret. Denique priusquam peccatum suum confiterentur, et crimen quod admiserant, mutua inter se castigatione consumerent, nec agnoscendum eis se dedit, nec pacis osculum eis indulsit. Cum vero illos pro peccato quod in ipsum admiserant, humiliter vidit afflictos, deosculatus est singulos, et per singulos flevit, et paventium colla pio oculorum rore perfundens, odium fratrum charitatis lacrymis abluebat.

6. Why Joseph dealt so harshly with his brothers. If we consider carefully, dearest brethren, what we believe God did towards blessed Jacob, we recognize that Joseph too did this towards his brothers; for he was certainly so holy that he could not have held them in hatred. Hence it must be believed that he wore them down with such great tribulations for this reason: to move them to the confession of their crime and to the remedy of penance. Indeed, with great grief they said that they deservedly suffered those things, because they had sinned against their brother, seeing his anguish (Gen. 42:21). And because blessed Joseph knew that the crime of fratricide could not be pardoned to his brothers without great penance, once, and a second and a third time, he refined them with healing tribulation as with a spiritual fire; not to avenge himself, but to correct them and free them from so grave a crime. Indeed, until they confessed their sin and consumed the crime they had committed by mutual reproach among themselves, he neither allowed himself to be recognized by them nor granted them the kiss of peace. But when he saw them humbly afflicted for the sin they had committed against him, he kissed each one, and wept over each one, and, bathing the necks of the trembling men with the loving dew of his eyes, he washed away the hatred of the brothers with tears of charity.

7. Correptio fraterna. Taliter indulgendum aliis, qualiter volumus ut nobis indulgeat Deus. Quod ergo Deus in beato Jacob fecit, et quod Joseph erga fratres exercuit, hoc et⟨i⟩am et nos in illis qui in nos peccaverint debemus implere: ut non ipsos, sed peccata eorum studeamus odisse; et ita velimus secundum culpae merita durissima castigatione corripere, ut eos semper stude⟨a⟩mus in veritate diligere. Haec si facimus, fratres charissimi, impletur in nobis illud quod scriptum est: Invicem onera vestra portate, et sic adimplebitis legem Christi (Galat. VI, 2). Ad extremum ut totum quod dixi, brevi sermone concludam, taliter indulgeamus eis qui in nos peccaverint, qualiter volumus ut nobis indulgeat Deus, quoties in illum peccamus. Hoc si facimus, securi possumus dicere, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris (Matth. VI, 12).

7. Brotherly correction. We must pardon others in the way we wish God to pardon us. What, then, God did in blessed Jacob, and what Joseph practised towards his brothers, this we too ought to carry out towards those who have sinned against us: that we strive to hate not them but their sins; and that we be willing to correct them with the harshest chastisement according to the deserts of their fault in such a way that we always strive to love them in truth. If we do this, dearest brethren, there is fulfilled in us what is written: Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfil the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2). Finally, to conclude in a brief word all that I have said, let us pardon those who have sinned against us in the way we wish God to pardon us whenever we sin against Him. If we do this, we can say with confidence, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors (Matt. 6:12).

8. Propter pauperes qui ad opera sua festinant, de Joseph alia loqui reservat in crastinum diem. Adhuc nos delectabat cum Charitate vestra de beato Joseph aliquid

8. For the sake of the poor who are hurrying to their work, he reserves further speaking about Joseph for the next day. It would still have delighted us, with your Charity, something about blessed Joseph

Editors' notes and page, col. 1772

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(2) ‹anchor: debitoribus nostris› · call in col 1772

Hic in manuscriptis absolvitur sermo per clausulam, quod ipse praestare dignetur, qui vivit, etc.

Here in the manuscripts the sermon ends with the closing formula, "which may he himself deign to grant, who lives," etc.

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loqui: sed propter pauperes qui ad opera sua festinant, melius est hoc ut nobis in diem crastinam reservemus. Et ideo conversi ad Dominum misericordiam ipsius deprecemur, ut desiderium audiendi verbum Dei, quod in nos placatus contulit, et augere semper et conservare dignetur, qui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

to speak; but for the sake of the poor, who hurry to their work, it is better that we keep this back for ourselves until tomorrow. And so, turning to the Lord, let us implore His mercy, that He may deign both always to increase and to preserve the desire of hearing the word of God which, being appeased, He has bestowed on us, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit for ages of ages. Amen.

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Footnotes

(none: every foot note under page 149 is called in SERMO XVI (another unit), at its title, at "feminae vivificatae" and in col 1774; none is called in the last lines of Sermon 15, so none is set here. Removed in QA Q1.)