PL 39 · cols. 1853–1856

Appendix to Augustine's Sermones: Sermones supposititii, Sermones 45-62

Sermons LVII–LIX

cui militat, possit! Nec stipendium promotionemve poterit adipisci, nisi superans hostem fortiter vicerit. Vigila, christiane, sub oculis Dei, ut perfecta victoria coroneris; pugna cum diabolo, qui jam armatus es Christo: tecum est Deus, qui te optat vincere, tecum est Christus, qui te desiderat munerari. Contemne praesentia, ut percipias futura: temporalia sperne, ut aeterna possis accipere. Possidebis coelum, quod diabolus possidere non potuit; habebis paradisum, unde inimicus exclusus est: accipies aeternitatem, quam praevaricator hostis amisit. Illum ad terram perfidia dejecit; te in coelum fides imponit: ille contemnendo coelesti virtute privatus est; tu serviendo angelica majestate suffultus es: illi aeterna sunt supplicia destinata; tibi divina sunt praemia praeparata: ille perfidus cum perfidis interibit; tu sanctificatus cum sanctis regnabis; ut qui fueras temporalis et mendicus, sis aeterna gloria decoratus. Nec quidquam in saeculo formidabis; quia auctorem formidinis diabolum cum saeculo respuisti. Amen.

for whom he fights! Nor will he be able to obtain pay or promotion unless, overcoming the enemy, he has conquered bravely. Keep watch, Christian, under the eyes of God, that you may be crowned with a perfect victory; fight with the devil, you who are already armed with Christ: God is with you, Who wishes you to conquer; Christ is with you, Who desires to reward you. Despise present things, that you may receive future ones; spurn temporal things, that you may be able to receive eternal ones. You will possess heaven, which the devil could not possess; you will have paradise, from which the enemy has been shut out; you will receive eternity, which the transgressing foe lost. Faithlessness cast him down to earth; faith sets you in heaven: he, by contempt, was deprived of heavenly power; you, by serving, are upheld by angelic majesty: for him eternal punishments are destined; for you divine rewards are prepared: he, faithless, will perish with the faithless; you, sanctified, will reign with the saints; so that you who had been temporal and a beggar may be adorned with eternal glory. Nor will you fear anything in the world, because you have rejected the devil, the author of fear, together with the world. Amen.

SERMO LVII. De muliere forti et de Ecclesia, in Proverbiorum cap. XXXI, 10-31.

Sermon 57. On the strong woman and on the Church, on Proverbs 31:10–31.

1. Verbum Dei cordis fervore fovendum. Rogo vos, fratres charissimi, ut secundum consuetudinem fidelium cum silentio et quiete ea quae vobis praedicantur, accipiatis. Animus enim noster quando, donante Deo, aliquid potuerit de lectione sanctarum Scripturarum concipere, spiritualem nidum in cordibus vestris desiderat invenire. Et ideo velut castissimi turtures divina verba sancti Spiritus fervore in nidum cordis vestri fovere contendite, nec permittatis ut in vobis semen verbum Dei peccatorum frigore congelescat, propter illud quod scriptum est, Abundavit iniquitas, refrigescit charitas (Matth. XXIV, 12). Estote magis, sicut dicit Apostolus, Spiritu ferventes (Rom. XII, 11). Quomodo enim columbae vel turtures postquam genuerint ova, si illa permiserint refrigerari, perdent fructum illorum; ita et vos, si conceptum verbum Dei per oblivionem refrigerari permittitis, desiderabilem fructum habere non potestis. Praestate in vobis nidum sermonibus sanctis, secundum quod scriptum est, Turtur invenit sibi nidum ubi reponat pullos suos (Psal. LXXXIII, 4). Et quoniam nobis Scriptura Salomonis commendat mulierem magnam, habentem magnum virum, dicens, Mulierem fortem quis inveniet? ideo de hac secundum tenorem pauca quae Deus dignatur suggerere, auribus vestris cupimus intimare.

1. The word of God is to be kept warm by the fervour of the heart. I ask you, dearest brethren, that, according to the custom of the faithful, you receive with silence and quiet the things that are preached to you. For our mind, whenever, God granting it, it has been able to conceive something from the reading of the holy Scriptures, desires to find a spiritual nest in your hearts. And therefore, like most chaste turtle-doves, strive to keep the divine words warm with the fervour of the Holy Spirit in the nest of your heart, and do not allow the seed, the word of God, to freeze in you with the cold of sins, on account of that which is written, Iniquity has abounded, charity grows cold (Matt. 24:12). Be rather, as the Apostle says, fervent in spirit (Rom. 12:11). For just as doves or turtle-doves, after they have laid their eggs, if they allow them to grow cold, lose the fruit of them; so you too, if you allow the word of God once conceived to grow cold through forgetfulness, cannot have the desirable fruit. Provide within yourselves a nest for holy discourses, according to that which is written, The turtle-dove has found for herself a nest where she may lay her young (Ps. 83:4). And since the Scripture of Solomon commends to us a great woman, having a great husband, saying, A strong woman who shall find? therefore we desire to impart to your ears, following the course [of the text], the few things concerning her which God deigns to suggest.

2. Ecclesia catholica latere non potest. — Mulierem fortem quis inveniet? Difficile est invenire eam, et difficile est nescire eam. Nonne ipsa est civitas in monte quae abscondi non potest (Matth. V, 14)? Quare ergo dictum est, Quis inveniet? cum dici debuerit, Quis non inveniet? Sed tu civitatem in monte positam vides: ut autem in monte poneretur, inventa est. Ipsa est enim ovis illa quae perierat. Et revera, fratres, Ecclesia catholica est, quae jam illustrata est, quis ergo eam non videt? Quando latebat quis eam inveniebat? Sicut enim jam dicta est ipsa civitas; ita et ovis quam perditam quaesivit pastor. Ipse pastor mons est: ovis ergo in humeris ejus civitas est in monte. Facile est eam videre collocatam in monte. Quomodo autem eam invenires, cum lateret inter vepres et spinas utique delictorum suorum? Ibi eam quaesisse magnum, ibi invenisse mirabile est. Haec ejus difficilis commendatur inventio, cum dicitur, Mulierem fortem quis inveniet? id est, Ecclesiam. Quis non videt eam jam a Christo inventam, jam

2. The Catholic Church cannot be hidden. — A strong woman who shall find? It is difficult to find her, and it is difficult not to know her. Is she not the city on a mountain which cannot be hidden (Matt. 5:14)? Why then was it said, Who shall find? when it ought to have been said, Who shall not find? But you see the city set on a mountain: yet in order that it might be set on the mountain, it was found. For she is that sheep which had been lost. And truly, brethren, it is the Catholic Church, which has now been made illustrious; who then does not see her? When she lay hidden, who was finding her? For just as she has already been called the city itself, so too [she is] the sheep which the shepherd sought when it was lost. The Shepherd Himself is the mountain: the sheep, then, on His shoulders is the city on the mountain. It is easy to see her placed on the mountain. But how would you find her, when she lay hidden among the briars and thorns, namely of her own offences? To have sought her there is a great thing; to have found her there is a marvel. This finding of her, so difficult, is commended when it is said, A strong woman who shall find? that is, the Church. Who does not see her now found by Christ, now

Editors' notes and page, col. 1853

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: hostem fortiter vicerit› · call in col 1853

Ita Mss. At editi, poterit despicere, si superans hostem fortiter vicerit. Erubescit siquidem despici, nisi superet hostem forti victoria.

So the manuscripts. But the printed editions read, "he will be able to look down on it, if, overcoming the enemy, he has bravely conquered. For he is ashamed to be looked down on unless he overcomes the enemy with a brave victory."

(printed under page 189)

(2) ‹anchor: cum saeculo respuisti› · call in col 1853

In tribus Mss., superasti.

In three manuscripts, "you have overcome."

(printed under page 189)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO LVII› · call in col 1853

Alias, de Tempore 218.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 218 de Tempore.

(printed under page 189)

(b) ‹anchor: cap. XXXI, 10-31› · call in col 1853

In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Descriptus est ex Augustini sermone 37, nonnullis mutatis, et addito exordio, quod ad Caesarii stilum prope accedit.

It is now placed in the Appendix for the first time. It is copied from Augustine's Sermon 37, with some things changed and an opening added that comes close to Caesarius's style.

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eminentem, jam conspicuam, jam gloriosam, jam ornatam, jam lucidam; et, ut cito explicem, toto terrarum orbe diffusam? Mulierem istam Ecclesiam qui quaesivit et invenit, Christus agnoscitur. Et postquam eam invenit, non solummodo de spinis peccatorum suorum eripuit, sed etiam lapidibus pretiosis ornavit: ideo de ipsa dicitur, Pretiosior est lapidibus pretiosis. Volo aliud commendare Charitati vestrae, quantum capitis, quantum timeo, quantumque timere debetis de his lapidibus pretiosis. Sunt in Ecclesia lapides pretiosi et semper fuerunt, docti scilicet, abundantes scientia et eloquentia et omni instructione Legis. Pretiosi plane isti lapides sunt; de ipsis fuit Cyprianus, de ipsis fuit Ambrosius, et caeteri eorum similes. Ex eorum numero quidam erraverunt ab ornatu hujus mulieris.

eminent, now conspicuous, now glorious, now adorned, now shining, and, to explain it briefly, spread throughout the whole world? He who sought and found this woman, the Church, is recognized to be Christ. And after He found her, He not only rescued her from the thorns of her sins, but also adorned her with precious stones: therefore it is said of her, She is more precious than precious stones. I wish to commend something else to your Charity, as far as you grasp it, how much I fear, and how much you ought to fear, concerning these precious stones. There are precious stones in the Church and there always have been, namely the learned, abounding in knowledge and eloquence and in all instruction in the Law. Plainly these are precious stones; of their number was Cyprian, of their number was Ambrose, and others like them. Of their number some have strayed from the adornment of this woman.

SERMO LVIII. In eumdem locum Proverbiorum, cap. XXXI, ℣. 10-31.

Sermon 58. On the same passage of Proverbs, chapter 31, verses 10-31.

1. Ecclesia in multis figurata. Ecclesia catholica, fratres charissimi, non solum post adventum Domini et Salvatoris nostri praedicata est; sed etiam ab initio mundi multis figuris et sacramentis secretioribus designata. Nam et in sancto Abel Ecclesia catholica fuit, et in Noe, et in Abraham, et in reliquis usque ad adventum Domini Salvatoris: do ipsa enim ait Salomon, Mulierem fortem quis inveniet? Quod dixit, quis inveniet, difficultatem inveniendi, non impossibilitatem oportet intelligi. Mulier ista fortis, Ecclesia est. Quomodo non est fortis, quae ab initio mundi tantis tribulationibus fatigatur; et tamen non vincitur? Mulierem fortem quis inveniet? Quis alius, nisi Christus? Non autem eam fortem invenit; sed inveniendo fortem fecit. Nam ut eam inveniret, nonaginta novem dimisit in montibus, et quaesivit unam quae erraverat, et humeris suis impositam ad ovile proprium revocavit (Luc. XV, 4, 5).

1. The Church prefigured in many things. The Catholic Church, dearest brethren, has not only been preached after the coming of our Lord and Saviour, but has also been designated from the beginning of the world by many figures and more hidden sacraments. For the Catholic Church was in holy Abel, and in Noah, and in Abraham, and in the rest up to the coming of the Lord Saviour: for it is of her that Solomon says, Who shall find a strong woman? When he said, who shall find, one must understand a difficulty of finding, not an impossibility. This strong woman is the Church. How is she not strong, who from the beginning of the world is wearied by such great tribulations, and yet is not overcome? Who shall find a strong woman? Who else but Christ? Yet He did not find her strong, but by finding her He made her strong. For in order to find her, He left the ninety-nine on the mountains, and sought the one which had strayed, and, having placed her on His shoulders, brought her back to His own fold (Luke 15:4–5).

2. Lana et linum quid significent. — Lanam et linum fecit manibus suis. Lanificam et linificam matronam istam sanctus sermo describit. Quaeris forte a nobis, quid sit lana, quid linum? Lana carnale aliquid, linum vero spirituale significat: quia in ordine vestimentorum interiora sunt linea vestimenta, lanea vero exteriora. [Lana etiam de commixtione animalium nascitur. Linum vero sine carnis voluptate de terra procreatur; ideo castitatis imaginem praeferre videtur: in tantum ut sacerdotes Veteris Testamenti ex praecepto Legis, propter castitatis indicium, lineis femoralibus uterentur. Ergo in lana carnale aliquid, in lino vero spirituale significatur. Pro laude etiam ponuntur.] Invenis enim hominem porrigentem manu eleemosynas pauperi, nec tamen de Deo ibi cogitantem, sed hominibus placere cupientem: laneam vestem, quae videri potest, habet; interiorem lineam non habet. Invenis alium dicentem tibi, Sufficit mihi conscientia mea, Deum colo, Deum adoro; quid mihi opus est ad ecclesiam ire, aut visibiliter Christianis misceri? lineam vult habere sine tunica. Non novit neque commendat talia opera mulier ista. Invenit haec mulier lanum et linum, et fecit utile. Multi inveniunt; sed non faciunt utile manibus suis. Cum libenter auditis, invenitis: cum bene vivitis, facitis.

2. What wool and flax signify. — She made wool and flax with her hands. The holy word describes this matron as a worker of wool and a worker of flax. Perhaps you ask of us what the wool is, what the flax? Wool signifies something carnal, but flax something spiritual: because in the order of garments the linen garments are the inner ones, while the woollen are the outer. [Wool, moreover, is produced from the coupling of animals. But flax is brought forth from the earth without the pleasure of the flesh; therefore it seems to bear the image of chastity: so much so that the priests of the Old Testament, by the precept of the Law, wore linen breeches as a token of chastity. Therefore in wool something carnal, but in flax something spiritual is signified. They are also set down by way of praise.] For you find a man stretching out alms to a poor man with his hand, and yet not thinking of God in it, but desiring to please men: he has the woollen garment, which can be seen; the inner linen one he does not have. You find another saying to you, My conscience is enough for me, I worship God, I adore God; what need have I to go to church, or to mingle visibly with Christians? He wants to have the linen without the tunic. This woman neither knows nor commends such works. This woman found wool and flax, and made [it] useful. Many find; but they do not make [it] useful with their hands. When you listen gladly, you find: when you live well, you make.

3. Quid colum et fusum. — Brachia sua firmavit in fuso. De fuso isto, quod Dominus dederit, dicam: neque enim ista lanificia sunt a viris aliena. In fuso lanificium signat, in lanificio bonum opus tanquam castae mulieris et matronae impigrae. Diligenter tamen attende in lanificio duo instrumenta, colum et fusum. In colo lana involuta, quae filo ducenda transeat in fusum. Quod in colo involutum est, adhuc in sinistra,

3. What the distaff and the spindle [signify]. — She strengthened her arms at the spindle. Concerning this spindle I shall say what the Lord may grant: for these works of wool are not foreign to men. By the spindle it signifies wool-working, and by wool-working the good work, as of a chaste woman and a diligent matron. Yet attend carefully to the two instruments in wool-working, the distaff and the spindle. On the distaff the wool is wound, which, to be drawn out into thread, is to pass onto the spindle. What is wound on the distaff is still in the left hand,

Editors' notes and page, col. 1854

Footnotes

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Apud Augustinum, Donatus.

In Augustine, "Donatus."

(printed under page 189)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1854

Alias, de Tempore 217.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 217 de Tempore.

(printed under page 189)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1854

In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Ex eodem fonte haustus unde praecedens. Conclusio referre Caesarii ingenium videtur. Additamenta alia praecipua uncinulis distinguenda curavimus.

It is now placed in the Appendix for the first time. It is drawn from the same source as the preceding one. The conclusion seems to reflect the mind of Caesarius. We have had the other principal additions marked off with square brackets.

(printed under page 189)

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et nondum in fuso est: quod in fuso collectum est, jam praeteritum est. Opus ergo tuum in fuso sit, non in colo. In colo enim est quod facturus es; in fuso quod fecisti. Vide ergo si habes aliquid in fuso. Ibi enim firmantur brachia tua, ibi erit fortis constantia tua, ibi securus Deo dices: Da, quia dedi; dimitte, quia dimisi; fac, quia feci. Quod pendet in colo, ad fusum trajiciendum est: non autem quod collectum est in fusum, ad colum revocandum est. Ergo vide quid agas, ut habeas in fuso, ut brachia tua firmes in fuso, quod te consoletur, quod te confirmet, quod tibi det fiduciam deprecandi et sperandi.

and is not yet on the spindle: what has been gathered on the spindle is already past. So let your work be on the spindle, not on the distaff. For on the distaff is what you are going to do; on the spindle, what you have done. See, then, whether you have anything on the spindle. For there your arms are made firm, there your constancy will be strong, there you will say to God with assurance: Give, because I have given; forgive, because I have forgiven; do, because I have done. What hangs on the distaff must be passed across to the spindle; but what has been gathered onto the spindle must not be called back to the distaff. So see what you are doing, so that you may have something on the spindle, so that you may make your arms firm on the spindle, something to console you, to strengthen you, to give you confidence in praying and in hoping.

4. Christus dupliciter et simpliciter laudandus. Sequitur, Manus suas aperuit pauperi. Eia, fratres, exerce⟨t⟩e lanificium sanctum. Si quis habet plenum cellarium, plenum horreum; omnia ista in colo sunt, transeant in fusum. [In sinistra sunt, quamdiu pauperibus non erogaveris: at ubi coeperis eleemo⟨s⟩ynam facere, transferuntur ad dexteram, et fit opus, unde vestis fieri possit.] Omnes domestici ejus vestiti sunt. Numquid de nuditate servorum suorum sollicitus erit vir ejus habens conjugem talem? [Quis est iste vir, nisi Christus? aut quae est conjux, nisi Ecclesia?] Vestiti sunt, quotquot in Christo baptizati sunt. Et boni servi et mali vestiti sunt. Non cessat illa mulier omnes vestire: ut nemo queratur et dicat, Ideo non sum bene operatus, quia non sum bene vestitus. Duplicia pallia fecit viro suo. Pallia laudes sunt, fides et confessiones. Laudas Deum, laudas hominem. Dupliciter laudas, et simpliciter laudas: dupliciter, quia homo est et Deus; simpliciter, non ut sis fictus. Photinus, a quo haeretici Photiniani appellantur, quasi simplex pallium fecit viro suo. Solum enim hominem credidit, Christum Deum colere noluit. Existit alter texens viro suo pannosum pallium. Ait enim, Christus Deus est tantum, omnino hominis nihil habens: hoc Manichaei dicunt. Photiniani dicunt, Homo tantum est; Manichaei dicunt, Deus tantum est. [Ecce de quali ecclesia quam pretiosa vestimenta procedunt. Et propterea de illa scriptum est quod] duplicia pallia fecerat viro suo. Duplicia pallia; confitemur enim Deum in homine, et hominem in Deo. De bysso et purpura vestimenta spiritualia praeparavit. De bysso candidam confessionem, de purpura gloriosam passionem. Byssum, cum Deum confitemur, agnoscimus: purpuras in martyribus collaudamus.

4. Christ to be praised doubly and simply. There follows: She opened her hands to the poor man. Come, brethren, practise this holy wool-working. If anyone has a full cellar, a full granary, all these things are on the distaff; let them pass across to the spindle. [They are on the left hand as long as you have not paid them out to the poor; but when you begin to give alms, they are transferred to the right hand, and work is made from which a garment may be made.] All her household are clothed. Will her husband, having such a wife, be anxious about the nakedness of his servants? [Who is this husband, if not Christ? Or what is the wife, if not the Church?] As many as have been baptized in Christ are clothed. Both the good servants and the bad are clothed. That woman does not cease to clothe all, so that no one may complain and say: The reason I have not worked well is that I am not well clothed. She made double cloaks for her husband. The cloaks are praises, faith and confessions. You praise God, you praise man. You praise doubly, and you praise simply: doubly, because He is man and God; simply, so that you may not be feigned. Photinus, from whom the heretics called Photinians take their name, made, as it were, a single cloak for her husband. For he believed Him to be man only, and refused to worship Christ as God. Another arises, weaving a ragged cloak for her husband. For he says: Christ is God only, having nothing at all of man: this the Manichaeans say. The Photinians say, He is man only; the Manichaeans say, He is God only. [See from what kind of church what precious garments come forth. And for this reason it is written of her that] she had made double cloaks for her husband. Double cloaks, for we confess God in man, and man in God. Of fine linen and purple she prepared spiritual garments. Of fine linen, the white confession; of purple, the glorious passion. The fine linen we acknowledge when we confess God; the purples we praise together in the martyrs.

[5. Eleemosynas facientes, de colo trahere festinemus ad fusum, et de sinistra transferamus ad dexteram. Nos, fratres, quibus Deus tantum bonum conferre dignatus est, ut nec de Judaeis, nec de haereticis nasceremur, sed catholicae Ecclesiae filii esse mereremur; quantum possumus, Deo gratias referamus, qui nobis fidem rectam, et sibi placitam inspirare vel insinuare dignatus est: et totis viribus (quia fides sine operibus nos salvare non potest) ad spirituale lanificium illud nostros animos praeparemus. Jugiter ideo eleemosynas facientes, de colo trahere festi⟨n⟩emus ad fusum, et de sinistra transferamus ad dexteram: ut per eleemosynas pauperum stolam unusquisque nostrum praeparet in aeternum, ut, sicut dicit Apostolus, in coele⟨s⟩ti convivio vestiti et non nudi inveniamur (II Cor. V, 3): ne nobis dicatur, Amice, quomodo huc intrasti non habens vestem nuptialem (Matth. XXII, 12)? sed magis ab auditu malo liberati, illam felicem et desiderabilem vocem audire mereamur, Venite, benedicti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod praeparatum est ab origine mundi (Id. XXV, 34); quod ipse praestare dignetur.]

[5. Giving alms, let us hasten to draw from the distaff to the spindle, and let us transfer from the left hand to the right. Brethren, we on whom God has deigned to confer so great a good, that we were born neither of Jews nor of heretics, but were found worthy to be sons of the Catholic Church, let us give thanks to God as much as we can, Who has deigned to inspire or instil in us a right faith, and one pleasing to Himself; and with all our strength (since faith without works cannot save us) let us prepare our minds for that spiritual wool-working. Therefore, continually giving alms, let us hasten to draw from the distaff to the spindle, and let us transfer from the left hand to the right, so that through the alms given to the poor each one of us may prepare a robe for eternity, so that, as the Apostle says, at the heavenly banquet we may be found clothed and not naked (2 Cor. 5:3); lest it be said to us: Friend, how did you come in here not having a wedding garment (Matt. 22:12)? But rather, freed from the evil hearing, may we be found worthy to hear that happy and desirable voice: Come, blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared from the beginning of the world (Matt. 25:34); which may He Himself deign to grant.]

SERMO LIX. De tribus pueris missis in fornacem ignis.

Sermon 59. On the three youths sent into the furnace of fire.

1. Tyranni saevitia in tres pueros. Jubet tyrannus

1. The savagery of the tyrant against the three youths. The tyrant orders

Editors' notes and page, col. 1855

Footnotes

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Augustinus, adhuc futurum est; quod in fuso est.

Augustine reads, "is still to come; what is on the spindle."

(printed under page 190)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1855

Hoc nunc ab Augustino abest: sed tamen reperitur in vera Bedae Collectione ad Galat. 1.

This is now absent from Augustine; but it is nonetheless found in the genuine Collection of Bede on Galatians 1.

(printed under page 190)

(b) ‹anchor: SERMO LIX› · call in col 1855

Alias, de Tempore 240.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 240 de Tempore.

(printed under page 190)

In Appendice nunc primum collocatur. Incerti auctoris est, suae in dicendo facultatis et eloquentiae periculum facientis: cujus itidem ingenium sapiunt alii quidam superius impressi sermones, scilicet 3, 7, 23, 27, 46, etc., quique proxime subsequitur, 60.

It is now placed in the Appendix for the first time. It is by an unknown author who is making trial of his own power of speaking and eloquence; some other sermons printed above smack of the same mind, namely 3, 7, 23, 27, 46, etc., and the one that immediately follows, 60.

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fornacem incendi, et quan⟨t⟩um ipse igne furor⟨i⟩s ardebat, tanto sanctiores pueros consummabat. Nunc undantis fumi densitate coelum contegitur, nunc horrifico sonitu Chaldaei cuncti terrentur; ut magnitudo divinae severitatis per supplicia monstraretur. Saeviebat violentus inimicus, supplicium suis famulis quaesiturus. Saeviebat, non ut justos trucidaret, sed suis interitum procuraret. Saeviebat, non ut crescerent poenarum augmenta, sed ut cunctis monstraretur divina potestas; ut dum impii suppliciis gloriarentur, flammarum impetu vorarentur. Saeviebant scelerati Chaldaei suppliciis praesentibus perituri, et futurorum ignari ministri jussa accelerant, parant incendia, flammas exaggerant. Crudelitas ejus possidet mentem, saevitia immutat voluntatem.

the furnace to be kindled, and the more he himself burned with the fire of fury, the holier he made the boys in their consummation. Now the sky is covered by the thickness of the billowing smoke, now all the Chaldaeans are terrified by a horrifying sound, so that the greatness of the divine severity might be shown through the punishments. The violent enemy raged, about to seek out punishment for his own servants. He raged, not so as to slaughter the just, but so as to bring about destruction for his own. He raged, not so that the increases of punishments might grow, but so that the divine power might be shown to all; so that while the impious gloried in punishments, they might be devoured by the onrush of the flames. The wicked Chaldaeans raged, who were to perish by the present punishments, and the servants, ignorant of what was to come, hasten the commands, prepare the fires, heap up the flames. Cruelty possesses his mind, savagery changes his will.

2. Tres pueri in fornace illaesi. In fornacem missi sunt sancti, fugiunt flammae, cedunt ignes, incendia expavescunt. Timent ignes laedere quos fuerant jussi incolumes reservare. Ostendunt justorum meritum, dum tyranni contemnunt imperium. Licet sanctis cum igne jocari, quibus cum hominibus non licuit commorari. Licuit in fornace Deum venerari, quem apud homines non licuit honorari. Licet flammarum mereri obsequia, qui non meruerant Chaldaeorum supplicia. Licet ignibus conservari illaesos, quos tyrannus dederat exurendos. Licet in poena esse securos, quos extra poenam non licuit esse intactos: ut ubi interitus, ibi salus; ubi supplicia, ibi invenirentur refrigeria. Accipe, hostis, a suppliciis exemplum, qui humanitatis perdidisti consilium. Fugiunt ignes justos, quos injuste damnasti: expavescunt flammae, et innocentes pronuntiant, quos dignos supplicio deputas: et quae s⟨ae⟩vire consueverant, dignos sanctos in fornace cernebant. Damnant hostes et absolvunt ignes. Chaldaei adjiciunt, et poenae defendunt. Homines saeviunt, et supplicia venerantur. Tyrannus putabat tantum tormenta posse saevire, quantum ipse sacrilegus existimabat se potestatem habere. Ignes justis cedunt, ardores flammarum in refrigerium vertuntur, et institutae naturae voraces impetus obliviscuntur; ut justos venerantes timerent, et eorum hostes persequentes punirent. Ignes justos hospitio cum omni honore suscipiunt, et libenter obsequium praebent. Hostis mutato genere saevit, nec aliqua pietate movetur, nec humanitate blanditur. Posset vincere, si ignibus imperaret. Offeruntur ergo ignibus justi vestitu tecti, vinculis colligati: defenduntur ardoribus justi, et quos vis humana damnavit, ignis absolvit. Nihil cogitat, nihil metuit. Sic namque crudelitas tyrannica superata prosternitur, dum sui satellites devorantur. Cernit poenam, et servorum Dei aspicit gloriam. Justis ignes obsequium praestant, injustis interitum subministrant. Dum vindicat flamma, impii necantur, et justi salvantur.

2. The three boys unharmed in the furnace. The saints were sent into the furnace; the flames flee, the fires give way, the blazes are terrified. The fires are afraid to harm those whom they had been ordered to keep unhurt. They show the merit of the just, while they despise the command of the tyrant. The saints may sport with the fire, who were not permitted to dwell with men. In the furnace they were permitted to worship God, Whom among men they were not permitted to honour. They may earn the services of the flames, who had not earned the punishments of the Chaldaeans. They may be kept unharmed by the fires, whom the tyrant had given up to be burned. They may be safe in punishment, who outside punishment were not permitted to be untouched: so that where there was destruction, there was salvation; where there were punishments, there refreshments were found. Take, O enemy, an example from the punishments, you who have lost the counsel of humanity. The fires flee the just, whom you unjustly condemned: the flames are terrified, and pronounce innocent those whom you reckon worthy of punishment: and those that had been accustomed to rage beheld the saints in the furnace as worthy. The enemies condemn and the fires acquit. The Chaldaeans add [fuel], and the punishments defend. Men rage, and the punishments show reverence. The tyrant thought that the torments could rage as much as he himself, the sacrilegious man, reckoned that he had power. The fires yield to the just, the heat of the flames is turned into refreshment, and they forget the voracious onrush of the nature appointed for them; so that they might fear the just, revering them, and punish their enemies, pursuing them. The fires receive the just with hospitality and with all honour, and willingly offer them service. The enemy rages in a changed manner, and is moved by no piety, nor softened by humanity. He could have conquered, if he had commanded the fires. So the just are offered to the fires covered in clothing, bound with chains: the just are defended from the heat, and those whom human force condemned, the fire acquitted. He considers nothing, he fears nothing. For thus tyrannical cruelty is overcome and laid low, while its own attendants are devoured. He sees the punishment, and beholds the glory of the servants of God. The fires render service to the just, and supply destruction to the unjust. While the flame takes vengeance, the impious are killed and the just are saved.

3. Miraculum agnoscit tyrannus. Cum ad fornacem tyrannus festinanter accederet, stupet laudem, miratur factum, veneratur Deum cum tribus pueris in fornace. Aspicit justo divinoque ambitu protegi, quos nuper jusserat violentus exstingui. In illis in fornace videt, quem in illis ante non esse putaret. Quo visu territus furori addit lenitatem: fit repente confessor, qui nuper fuerat persecutor. Praedicat quem paulo ante negabat, venerari praecipit, qui venerantes damnavit. Rogat de fornace justos procedere, precatur de igne Dei famulos prosilire. Exite, inquit, servi Dei excelsi. Nunc me defensorem Dei profiteor, cujus inimicum fuisse constat; ut cujus servos ignarus persequebar, ejus inimicos ut defensor, ulciscar. Tunc de fornace egrediuntur illaesi Hebraei, laetantur incolumes, triumphant victores, quod Deo fideliter servierunt, et furorem tyranni contempserunt (Dan. III).

3. The tyrant acknowledges the miracle. When the tyrant came hastily to the furnace, he is astounded at the praise, marvels at the deed, worships God together with the three boys in the furnace. He sees protected by a just and divine encircling those whom, in his violence, he had lately ordered to be put to death. In them, in the furnace, he sees Him Whom he had previously thought not to be in them. Terrified at this sight, he adds gentleness to fury: he who had lately been a persecutor suddenly becomes a confessor. He proclaims Him Whom a little before he denied; he who condemned those who worshipped commands worship. He asks the just to come forth from the furnace, he begs the servants of God to leap forth from the fire. "Come out," he says, "servants of the most high God. Now I profess myself a defender of God, Whose enemy it is evident I have been; so that, as a defender, I may take vengeance on the enemies of Him Whose servants I in ignorance persecuted." Then the Hebrews come out of the furnace unharmed, they rejoice unhurt, they triumph as victors, because they served God faithfully and despised the fury of the tyrant (Dan. 3).

Editors' notes and page, col. 1856