PL 39 · cols. 1857–1864

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

Sermons LX–LXII

SERMO LX. De Susanna.

Sermon 60. On Susanna.

1. Justi in saeculi insidiis Deo liberante victor⟨e⟩s. Quotiescumque in hoc perverso saeculo contra l⟨a⟩udabiles viros multiformes tenduntur insidiae, vel diversae calumniarum emerserint causae, quid homo pestilens cogitet, quid diabolus machinetur, non metuet justus, quia cum ipso est Christus. Eligatur homo miles in praelio constitutus, officia semper exercere virtutum. Unum ergo de duobus amplectitur: aut patefactis insidiis, ejus innocentia in populo clarescit; aut persequentibus inimicis praeventus, cum conditionem mortis excesserit, molestiis saecularibus liberatus, portum securitatis intrabit. Daniel propheta nec in lacum projectus leonum timore perculsus expavit; sed inter ista bestiarum ora consistens, Dominum tota mente placavit, et tyrannicas dispositiones illaesus evasit. Zacharias pontifex magnus, pro cultu Dei, pro legibus sacris, pro censura in templo sacerdotali rebellem increpans populum, mortem constanter accepit, et detestabilis acies Judaeorum ejus cruore pavimentum infecit. Zacharias martyr triumphat, et Daniel confessor exsultat: unus moritur et triumphat, alter evadit et regnat. Sed nec femineus sexus suis fraudatur exemplis, qui pudicitiae ornatum salubriter reservavit.

1. The just, amid the snares of the world, are victors through God's deliverance. Whenever in this perverse world manifold snares are laid against praiseworthy men, or various grounds for calumnies have arisen, whatever a pestilent man may devise, whatever the devil may contrive, the just man will not fear, because Christ is with him. Let a man be chosen as a soldier set in battle, always to exercise the offices of the virtues. He therefore embraces one of two outcomes: either, once the snares have been laid bare, his innocence shines forth among the people; or, overtaken by persecuting enemies, when he has passed beyond the condition of death, freed from worldly troubles, he will enter the harbour of safety. Daniel the prophet, even when cast into the den of lions, was not struck with fear and did not take fright; but standing amid those mouths of beasts, he appeased the Lord with his whole mind, and escaped the tyrannical decrees unharmed. Zechariah the great high priest, for the worship of God, for the sacred laws, for the priestly censure in the temple, while rebuking a rebellious people, steadfastly accepted death, and the detestable battle line of the Jews stained the pavement with his blood. Zechariah the martyr triumphs, and Daniel the confessor exults: the one dies and triumphs, the other escapes and reigns. But neither is the female sex cheated of its own examples, a sex which has preserved the adornment of chastity to its salvation.

2. Susannae periculum et liberatio. Susanna illustris, decus pudicitiae, vicit impudentiam judicum, petulantiam seniorum compressit audacem; ne castitas in ea pateretur injuriam. Stabat Susanna in judicio falsorum mendacibus oppressa testimoniis damnatorum: stabat non tanquam rea, sed pro castitate firmiter moritura. Ibat ergo pudica ad supplicium, non adulterorum corpus, in quo extrema libido exarserat, et diabolus inflammaverat. Quod protexerat virtus, et ornabat pudor, illaesum ibat in mortis exitium. Egregium portabat caput, cujus vultum integra conscientia sublimabat ad coelum. Propter damna pudoris, salutis vota compressit; et cui fuerunt chara praemia castitatis, vitae gaudium non amisit. Contempsit unum; et consecuta est totum: et quae mori voluit, cum gloria castitatis evasit; et quam sententia prava dejecerat, illustris conscientiae integritas erigebat, metusque Dei et imminentis sacri judicii indubitata credulitas. O amor honestatis et Legis! Susanna adulterii conscientiam graviorem judicavit, quam poenam. Cum duceretur, non dolebat de supplicio; quoniam gaudebat de testimonio falsidico. Innocens accusatur per sententiam; sed nutu Dei suspenditur poena; ut judicantium falsitas denudaretur, et innocens purgaretur. Infirmus sexus contra viros surgit fortior, expugnat libidinem castitas et honestas, impulsu luxuriae horrenda prosternitur improbitas. Susanna propriam virtutem animi servavit, et judicium populorum constanter excepit. Conflantur de innocente falsa crimina. Ille enim munitus est, qui Deum habuerit defensorem. Denique Daniel propheta instinctu Dei commonitus, Redite in judicium, exclamavit. Stupet populus pro judicio repentino; revocatur addicta; falsos testes pavor invadit. Gemit diabolus, quod ipsius commenta nudantur: gaudent Angeli de pudoris integritate comperta, quod defendatur in terris veritas fatigata. Interrogatum est quo in loco Susanna facinus, quo arguebatur, admisit. Hic, Sub lentisco, dicit; ille, Sub prino. Cum ergo eorum discrepant prolata responsa, sic repugnantia dictorum facta nudantur, ut vigore mentis increpato populo, testibus confusis veritas ostenderetur. Gaudet populus de pudoris integritate: triumphat maritus, quod fidam invenerit conjugem: Laetatur familia, quod nihil invenerit

2. The danger and deliverance of Susanna. Susanna, illustrious, the glory of chastity, overcame the shamelessness of the judges, and crushed the bold wantonness of the elders, so that chastity in her should not suffer injury. Susanna stood in judgement, oppressed by the lying testimonies of false and condemned men: she stood not as one guilty, but as one ready to die steadfastly for chastity. So the chaste woman went to punishment, not the body of adulterers, in which the utmost lust had blazed up and the devil had kindled the flame. What virtue had protected and modesty adorned went unharmed to the doom of death. She bore her head nobly, her face lifted up towards heaven by an unblemished conscience. Because of the losses her modesty would suffer, she suppressed her wishes for safety; and she to whom the rewards of chastity were dear did not lose the joy of life. She despised one thing, and obtained the whole: and she who was willing to die escaped with the glory of chastity; and her whom a perverse sentence had cast down, the integrity of an illustrious conscience raised up, together with the fear of God and an undoubting belief in the impending sacred judgement. O love of honour and of the Law! Susanna judged the guilty knowledge of adultery to be heavier than the punishment. When she was being led away, she did not grieve over the punishment; for she rejoiced in the false-speaking testimony. The innocent woman is accused by sentence; but by the will of God the punishment is held back, so that the falsehood of those judging might be laid bare and the innocent woman cleared. The weak sex rises up stronger against men; chastity and honour overcome lust; dreadful wickedness, driven by the impulse of lust, is laid low. Susanna kept her own virtue of soul, and steadfastly underwent the judgement of the peoples. False charges are forged against the innocent woman. For he is fortified who has had God as defender. Then Daniel the prophet, prompted by the inspiration of God, cried out, Return to judgement. The people are astonished at the sudden judgement; the condemned woman is called back; dread seizes the false witnesses. The devil groans that his fabrications are laid bare: the Angels rejoice at the integrity of modesty discovered, that truth, wearied, is defended on earth. It was asked in what place Susanna committed the crime of which she was accused. This one says, Under a mastic tree; that one, Under a holm oak. Since, then, the answers they gave disagree, the contradictions in their statements are thus laid bare, so that, the people having been rebuked by vigour of mind and the witnesses confounded, the truth was shown. The people rejoice at the integrity of her modesty: the husband triumphs that he has found his wife faithful: the household is glad that it has found nothing

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Footnotes

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Olim, de Tempore 242, et post, in Appendice 69.

Formerly [Sermon] 242 de Tempore, and afterwards, no. 69 in the Appendix.

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Incerti auctoris et ineruditi. Observare juvat ipsum in Bibliotheca Patrum exstare, tomo editionis Coloniensis 3, Parisiensis 2, tametsi brevior aliquanto et passim varium, itaque sicut et in Remigiano Ms. Zenoni Veronensi tributum.

By an unknown and unlearned author. It is worth observing that it exists in the Bibliotheca Patrum, in volume 3 of the Cologne edition and volume 2 of the Paris edition, though somewhat shorter and differing here and there, and so, as also in the Reims manuscript, attributed to Zeno of Verona.

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in ea quod puniat, quod adulterii factum non invenerit, nec homicidium diabolus quod procurabat, impleverit (Dan. XIII).

in her that it might punish, since it did not find the deed of adultery, nor did the devil accomplish the murder which he was contriving (Dan. 13).

SERMO LXI. De Pace, in illud Evangelii Matthaei cap. V, ℣. 9, Felices pacifici, etc.

Sermon 61. On Peace, on that [saying] of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 5, verse 9, Happy are the peacemakers, etc.

1. Pacis fructus. Concordia fratrum.—Felices pacifici, quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur. Meritum christianae virtutis vilescit in cunctis, si unitatem non habeat pacis, nec pervenit ad vocabulum filii, nisi per nomen pacifici. Pax est, quae exspoliat hominem servitute, dat nomen ingenuum, mutat cum conditione personam; ex famulo liberum, filium facit ex servo; [Deum patrem vocat, et commutat servum in filio, amicum facit ex Deo, patrem reddit ex Domino. Sic sic facit, qui non vult perire, quod facit. Felices pacifici, quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur. En filius Dei esse incipit, qui pacificus esse coepit. Non vult filius dici, qui pacificus noluerit inveniri: negat sibi patrem Deum, qui haeres pacis esse nequivit. Severum sensurus est Deum, quem clementem blandumque ded⟨i⟩gnatus est patrem. Felices pacifici, quoniam filii Dei vocabuntur. Gaud⟨e⟩amus hoc nomine quasi filii et haeredes Dei, cohaeredes autem Christi. Quanta est hujus pacis retributio, haereditatem possidere cum Christo, substantiam Patris habere cum Filio, coe⟨l⟩este regnum participari cum Domino, et in consortium perpetuitatis admitti cum Domino? Quae sit haec pravitas morum, invidere melioribus, atque in sordidioribus inhaerere, adoptati victoriam perdere, ac nolle haereditatem regnorum coelestium possidere? Etenim filium se Dei et cohaeredem denegat Christi, qui recusaverit Patris regimine gubernari. Pax concordia est fratrum, sicut scriptum est: In tribus placuit spiritui meo, quae sunt probata coram Deo et hominibus: concordia fratrum, et amor proximorum, et vir et mulier consentientes sibi (Eccli. XXV, 1 et 2).] Concordia ergo fratrum, voluntas Dei est, jucunditas Christi, perfectio sancti⟨t⟩atis, justitiae regula, materia doctrinae, morum custodia, atque in rebus omnibus laudabilis disciplina. Pax suffragium precum est, supplicationum facilis atque impetrabilis via; quia desideriorum omnium competens est plenitudo [sicut scriptum in Apostolo (Philipp. IV, 7). Pax ergo conventionis amabilem Deo facit in fratribus, quae charitatis indicat testimonium]. Pax dilectionis mater est, concordiae vinculum, ac purae mentis indicium manifestum: quia sibi exigit de Deo quod velit, quidquid voluerit petat, et quidquid voluerit sumat.

1. The fruit of peace. The concord of brothers.—Happy are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. The merit of Christian virtue becomes worthless in all things if it does not have the unity of peace, and it does not attain to the name of son except through the name of peacemaker. It is peace that strips a man of servitude, gives him the name of freeborn, changes the person together with the condition; out of a household slave it makes a free man, a son out of a servant; [it calls God Father, and changes the servant into a son, makes a friend out of God, renders a Father out of the Lord. So, so does he act who does not wish what he does to perish. Happy are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Behold, he begins to be a son of God who has begun to be a peacemaker. He does not wish to be called a son who has refused to be found a peacemaker: he denies God as his Father who has been unable to be an heir of peace. He will experience as severe the God Whom he disdained as a clement and gentle Father. Happy are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God. Let us rejoice in this name as sons and heirs of God, and co-heirs of Christ. How great is the reward of this peace: to possess an inheritance with Christ, to have the substance of the Father with the Son, to share the heavenly kingdom with the Lord, and to be admitted into the fellowship of everlastingness with the Lord? What depravity of conduct is this: to envy the better, and to cling to baser things, as an adopted son to lose the victory, and to refuse to possess the inheritance of the heavenly kingdoms? For he denies that he is a son of God and co-heir of Christ who refuses to be governed by the rule of the Father. Peace is the concord of brothers, as it is written: In three things my spirit has been well pleased, which are approved before God and men: the concord of brothers, and the love of neighbours, and a man and a woman agreeing together (Ecclus. 25:1–2).] The concord of brothers, therefore, is the will of God, the delight of Christ, the perfection of holiness, the rule of justice, the matter of teaching, the guard of morals, and in all things a praiseworthy discipline. Peace is the support of prayers, an easy and effectual way for supplications; because it is the fitting fulness of all desires [as it is written in the Apostle (Phil. 4:7). The peace of agreement among brothers therefore makes them lovable to God, and it shows the testimony of charity]. Peace is the mother of love, the bond of concord, and the manifest sign of a pure mind: because it demands for itself from God what it wishes, may ask whatever it wishes, and may receive whatever it wishes.

2. Christum spernit qui pacem non custodit. Pax praeceptis regalibus conservanda est, Domino Christo dicente, Pacem meam do vobis, pacem relinquo vobis (Joan. XIV, 27). [Qui discipulus Christi est, Christi praecepta servat: servare mandatum, est pacem in omnibus custodire. Nam dividere unitatem, non est magistrum sequi; sed ejus mandatum calcare. Sequi enim Christum, est habere pacem: et non sequi quod pacis est, hoc est hoc habere in magistro ex parte quod diligas, et ex parte quod damnes. Illud est amare doctorem, doctoris mandata in omnibus custodire, dicentis: Pacem meam do vobis, pacem relinquo vobis. Libet, fratres, in pace protrahere moras; delectat hoc dixisse frequenter, et iterum atque iterum praeconari, Pacem meam do vobis, pacem dimitto vobis.] In pace vos dimitto, in pace vos dimisi, in pace vos inveniam. Proficiscens voluit dare quod desiderabat rediens in omnibus invenire. [Consultum voluit esse cui dederat, qui usque ad regressum suum servare quod praestiterat, imperabat. Quid ergo facturus est homo,

2. He spurns Christ who does not guard peace. Peace is to be preserved by the royal precepts, as the Lord Christ says, My peace I give to you, peace I leave to you (John 14:27). [He who is a disciple of Christ keeps the precepts of Christ: to keep the commandment is to guard peace in all things. For to divide unity is not to follow the Master, but to trample on His commandment. For to follow Christ is to have peace: and not to follow what belongs to peace, that is to have in the Master partly what you love and partly what you condemn. This is to love the Teacher: to keep in all things the commandments of the Teacher, Who says: My peace I give to you, peace I leave to you. It is pleasing, brothers, to linger long over peace; it delights me to have said this often, and again and again to proclaim, My peace I give to you, peace I leave behind for you.] In peace I dismiss you, in peace I have dismissed you, in peace may I find you. Setting out, He wished to give what on returning He desired to find in all. [He wished provision to be made for the one to whom He had given, He Who commanded that what He had bestowed be kept until His return. What then is a man to do,

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Alcuinus in libro de Virtutibus et Vitiis, cap. 6, qui pacificus esse contemnit.

Alcuin, in the book On the Virtues and Vices, ch. 6, reads, "who scorns to be peaceable."

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Olim, de Tempore 169; et post, in Appendice 57.

Formerly [Sermon] 169 de Tempore; and afterwards, no. 57 in the Appendix.

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Est Petri Chrysologi sermo quinquagesimus tertius, sed hic passim interpolatus, seu multis auctior sententiis, quas commonstrant ansulae. Confer Alcuini librum de Virtutibus et Vitiis, cap. 6.

It is the fifty-third sermon of Peter Chrysologus, but interpolated here and there in this copy, that is, enlarged by many sentences, which the square brackets point out. Compare Alcuin's book On the Virtues and Vices, ch. 6.

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cum vener⟨i⟩t Deus, et quaesitum non invenerit quod donavit? qua excusatione usurus, qui pacem servare non potuit? Pacem meam do vobis, pacem dimitto vobis.] In pace vos dimisi, in pace vos inveniam. Regale mandatum servate: divina vox est. Inveniam quod dimisi.

when God has come, and has not found, on seeking it, what He gave? What excuse will he use who could not keep peace? My peace I give to you, peace I leave behind for you.] In peace I have dismissed you, in peace may I find you. Keep the royal commandment: it is a divine voice. Let me find what I left.

3. Pax opus Dei; discordia, diaboli. Plantare pacem radicitus, Dei est; evellere penitus, inimici. Amor fratris ex Deo est; odium ex diabolo constat. Propter quod damnanda sunt odia; quia scriptum est, Qui oderit fratrem suum, homicida est (I Joan. III, 15). Cohibeamus iram; quia scriptum est, Qui irascitur fratri suo, reus erit judicio (Matth. V, 22). Amanda est pax, et diligenda concordia. Ista sunt quae generant charitatem; et scitis secundum Apostolum, quod Deus charitas est (I Joan. IV, 8). Sine Deo est, qui non habet charitatem. [Paternus affectus non potest non amare, quod docet.] Pax plebis, gloria est sacerdotis: et parentum laetitia, perfecta charitas filiorum. Sacerdotis est, admonere quod decet; plebis est, audire quod monet. Quidquid non licet, pastoris est prohibere ne fiat; gregis est audire, ut faciat. Utraque conveniant; et universa salvata sunt: nec Deus invenit in plebe quod puniat, nec sacerdos potest habere quod doleat. Servemus mandata, quae vitae sunt; teneat se profundae pacis nexibus colligata fraternitas, et salutari vinculo charitatis, mutua se dilectione constringat; quia dilectio magnanimum facit. [Suavis est dilectio, non zelatur, non aemulatur. Dilectio non est falsiloqua, non inflatur, nihil dedecoris admittit, non quaerit quae sua sunt, non exacerbatur, non cogitat malum, non gaudet in injustitia; congaudet autem veritati. Omnia credit, omnia sperat, omnia sustinet (I Cor. XIII, 4-7)]. Dilectio ergo omnibus votis ac desideriis amplectenda est, quae tot bona potest habere, quot praemia. Custodienda omnibus viribus pax est; quoniam Deus semper in pace est. Non habeat locum quo obrepat inimicus, ne in tritici segetem valeat zizania seminare, et securo jam rustico et spe longi laboris eluso exspectatus fructus in ipsa messis maturitate subducatur; aut vinum vetustate suavius, in acriori subito perfidia demutatum in effusae faecis se permixtione conjungat; aut inter dulcia mella, felle venena amariora suffundat [aut inter vernantes floribus campos ac pratorum varietate gemmatos, tribulorum interjectione animas grati odoris occidat]. Procul contentiones, procul lites et odia, procul maledicta mittantur: et quia laqueus mortis est lingua susurronis ac bilinguis, parcat unusquisque animae suae, ne in supplicium suum vincula sibi mortis adducat. Amate pacem; et tranquilla sunt omnia: ut et vobis praemia et nobis gaudia reservetis, ut Ecclesia Dei in pacis unitate fundata, perfectam teneatis disciplinam, per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum, cui est gloria in saecula saeculorum, Amen.

3. Peace is the work of God; discord, of the devil. To plant peace by the roots is God's work; to tear it out utterly, the enemy's. Love of a brother is from God; hatred comes from the devil. For this reason hatreds are to be condemned; for it is written, Whoever hates his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15). Let us restrain anger; for it is written, Whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgement (Matt. 5:22). Peace is to be loved, and concord to be cherished. These are the things that generate charity; and you know, according to the Apostle, that God is charity (1 John 4:8). He who does not have charity is without God. [A father's affection cannot but love what it teaches.] The peace of the people is the glory of the priest: and the joy of parents is the perfect charity of their children. It is the priest's part to admonish what is fitting; it is the people's part to hear what he warns. Whatever is not lawful, it is the shepherd's part to forbid that it be done; it is the flock's part to listen, so as to do [what he says]. Let both agree; and all things are saved: neither does God find in the people anything to punish, nor can the priest have anything to grieve over. Let us keep the commandments, which are of life; let the brotherhood hold itself bound together by the bonds of deep peace, and by the saving chain of charity let it bind itself fast with mutual love; for love makes one magnanimous. [Love is sweet, it is not jealous, it does not envy. Love is not false-speaking, it is not puffed up, it admits nothing unseemly, it does not seek its own, it is not embittered, it does not think evil, it does not rejoice in iniquity; but it rejoices together with the truth. It believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things (1 Cor. 13:4–7)]. Love therefore is to be embraced with all our vows and desires, since it can have as many goods as rewards. Peace is to be guarded with all our strength; for God is always in peace. Let the enemy have no place by which to creep in, lest he be able to sow tares in the crop of wheat, and, when the farmer is now secure and the hope of his long labour is cheated, the awaited fruit be taken away at the very ripeness of the harvest; or lest wine made sweeter by age, suddenly changed into a sharper perfidy, join itself in a mixture with poured-out dregs; or lest among sweet honeys he pour in poisons more bitter than gall [or lest, among fields springing with flowers and gemmed with the variety of the meadows, by scattering thistles among them he kill souls of pleasing fragrance]. Far away let strifes, far away quarrels and hatreds, far away curses be sent: and since the tongue of the whisperer and the double-tongued is a snare of death, let each one spare his own soul, lest he bring upon himself the chains of death for his own punishment. Love peace; and all things are tranquil: so that you may reserve both rewards for yourselves and joys for us, so that, the Church of God being founded in the unity of peace, you may hold perfect discipline, through Jesus Christ our Lord, to Whom is glory unto the ages of ages, Amen.

SERMO LXII. De verbis Evangelii Matthaei, cap. V, 43-48, et cap. VI, 1-6, Ego autem dico vobis, Diligite inimicos vestros, etc.

Sermon 62. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, chap. 5:43-48, and chap. 6:1-6, But I say to you, Love your enemies, etc.

1. Inimicus quomodo diligendus. Proximus quis. Gradum esse aliquem in Pharisaeorum justitia, quae ad Legem pertinet, hinc intelligitur, quod multi homines

1. How an enemy is to be loved. Who is one's neighbour. That there is some degree in the righteousness of the Pharisees, which pertains to the Law, is understood from this, that many men

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Addit Chrysologus, et nutriunt.

Chrysologus adds, "and they nourish."

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Apud Alcuinum, Pax plebis est sanitas, gloria sacerdotis, et patriae laetitia, et terror hostium, sive visibilium, sive invisibilium.

In Alcuin, "Peace is the health of the people, the glory of the priest, and the gladness of the homeland, and the terror of enemies, whether visible or invisible."

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Chrysologus, ac velle ne fiat.

Chrysologus reads, "and to will that it not be done."

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Apud Chrysologum, Custodienda prae omnibus virtutibus, pax est.

In Chrysologus, "Peace is to be guarded before all the virtues."

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Olim, de Tempore 59; et post, in Appendice 35.

Formerly [Sermon] 59 de Tempore; and afterwards, no. 35 in the Appendix.

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Constat sententiis et interpretationibus emendicatis ab Augustino, lib. 1 de Sermone Domini in monte, Hieronymo, in Matth., cap. 3 et 6; Caesario, homil. 7 inter editas a Baluzio; et sermone hic subsequenti, et aliis.

It is made up of sentences and interpretations begged from Augustine, book 1 of On the Lord's Sermon on the Mount; from Jerome on Matthew, chs. 3 and 6; from Caesarius, Homily 7 among those published by Baluze; and from the sermon that follows here, and others.

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eos etiam a quibus diliguntur, oderunt, sicut luxuriosi filii parentes coercitores luxuriae suae. Ascendit ergo aliquem gradum, qui proximum diligit, quamvis adhuc oderit inimicum. Ejus autem imperio, qui venit Legem implere, non solvere, perficiet benevolentiam et benignitatem, cum eam usque ad inimici dilectionem perduxerit. Nam ille gradus quamvis nonnullus sit, tam parvus est tamen, ut cum Publicanis possit esse communis. Nec quod in Lege dictum est, Oderis inimicum tuum, vox jubentis justo est accipienda, sed permittentis infirmo. Sic autem diligendus est inimicus, non in quantum inimicus; sed in quantum homo est: ut ei hoc velis provenire, quod tibi; id est, ut ad regnum correctus revocatusque perveniat. Proximus est autem omnis homo. Omnes proximi sumus conditione terrenae nativitatis et mortalitatis, et etiam spe coelestis haereditatis; quia nescimus quis quid futurus sit, quoniam aut Judaeus, aut haereticus, aut Paganus: forte enim per misericordiam Dei convertetur ad Deum, et inter sanctos primum locum habere merebitur. Quod in Lege Dominus non inimicos, sed inimicum praecipit odiri; ut qui spirituales erant in Lege, solum diabolum odio haberent, cujus odium Christus non venit solvere, sed adimplere.

hate even those by whom they are loved, as dissolute sons hate the parents who restrain their dissoluteness. He therefore climbs some step who loves his neighbour, although he still hates his enemy. But at the command of Him Who came to fulfil the Law, not to abolish it, he will bring benevolence and kindness to perfection, when he has carried it as far as love of the enemy. For that step, although it is something, is nevertheless so small that it can be shared even with the publicans. Nor is what was said in the Law, You shall hate your enemy, to be taken as the voice of one commanding the just, but of one making allowance for the weak. The enemy, then, is to be loved not inasmuch as he is an enemy, but inasmuch as he is a man: so that you wish to befall him what you wish for yourself; that is, that, corrected and called back, he may attain to the kingdom. Now every man is a neighbour. We are all neighbours by the condition of earthly birth and mortality, and also by the hope of the heavenly inheritance; for we do not know what anyone will become, whether Jew, or heretic, or pagan: for perhaps by the mercy of God he will be converted to God, and will deserve to hold the first place among the saints. That in the Law the Lord commands not enemies but the enemy to be hated: so that those who were spiritual under the Law should hold the devil alone in hatred, the hatred of whom Christ came not to abolish but to fulfil.

2. Praecepta Dei non sunt impossibilia. A dilectione nemo se potest excusare.—Ego autem dico vobis, Diligite inimicos vestros, benefacite illis qui oderunt vos. [Multi praecepta Dei sua imbecillitate, non sanctorum viribus, aestimantes, putant esse impossibilia quae praecepta sunt; et dicunt sufficere virtutibus non odisse inimicos, caeterum diligere plus praecipi quam humana natura patiatur. Sciendum est ergo Christum non impossibilia praecipere, sed perfecta; quae David fecit in Saul et Absalon. Stephanus quoque martyr pro inimicis se lapidantibus deprecatus est: et Paulus anathema esse cupit pro persecutoribus suis. Haec autem Jesus et docuit et fecit, dicens: Pater, ignosce illis] (Luc. XXIII, 34). [In reliquis operibus bonis interdum potest aliquis qualemcumque excusationem praetendere: in habenda vero dilectione nullus se poterit excusare. Potest mihi aliquis dicere, Non possum jejunare: numquid potest dicere, Non possum amare? Potest dicere, Propter infirmitatem corporis mei non possum a vino et carnibus abstinere: numquid potest dicere, Non possum diligere? Potest aliquis dicere, virginitatem se non posse servare; potest dicere non posse res totas vendere, et pauperibus erogare: numquid potest dicere, Non possum diligere inimicos? Non enim ibi aut pedes laborant currendo, aut aures audiendo, aut manus operando lassantur; ut nos per ipsam excusationem liberare conemur. Non nobis dicitur, Ite ad orientem, et quaerite charitatem: navigate ad occidentem, et invenietis dilectionem. Intus in corde nostro est, ubi redire jubemur, dicente propheta, Redite, praevaricatores, ad cor (Isai. XLVI, 8). Non enim in longinquis regionibus invenitur, quod a nobis petit.] Et orate pro persequentibus et calumniantibus vos. Quid aliud pro inimicis orandum est, nisi hoc quod ait Apostolus, Ut det illis Deus poenitentiam, et resipiscant a diaboli laqueis, a quo capti tenentur (II Tim. II, 25, 26)?

2. The commandments of God are not impossible. No one can excuse himself from love.—But I say to you, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. [Many, measuring the commandments of God by their own weakness and not by the strength of the saints, think that the things commanded are impossible; and they say that it is enough for virtue not to hate one's enemies, but that to love them is to command more than human nature can bear. It must therefore be known that Christ commands not impossible things but perfect ones; which David did in the case of Saul and Absalom. Stephen the martyr too prayed for the enemies who were stoning him: and Paul desires to be anathema for his persecutors. And Jesus both taught and did this, saying: Father, forgive them] (Luke 23:34). [In other good works someone can sometimes put forward some excuse or other: but in having love no one will be able to excuse himself. Someone can say to me, I cannot fast: can he say, I cannot love? He can say, Because of the infirmity of my body I cannot abstain from wine and meats: can he say, I cannot love? Someone can say that he cannot keep virginity; he can say that he cannot sell all his goods and give to the poor: can he say, I cannot love my enemies? For here neither do the feet toil in running, nor the ears in hearing, nor are the hands wearied in working, so that we might try to free ourselves by that very excuse. It is not said to us, Go to the east and seek charity: sail to the west and you will find love. It is within, in our heart, where we are bidden to return, as the prophet says, Return, you transgressors, to the heart (Isa. 46:8). For what is asked of us is not found in distant regions.] And pray for those who persecute and slander you. What else is to be prayed for on behalf of enemies, but what the Apostle says, That God may give them repentance, and they may recover themselves from the snares of the devil, by whom they are held captive (2 Tim. 2:25–26)?

3. Praecepto de diligendis inimicis nil in Scripturis adversum. Quinam sint pro quibus non orandum. Peccatum ad mortem. Sed hic merito movet, quomodo huic praecepto Domini non sit adversum, quod et in Prophetis inveniuntur multae imprecationes adversus inimicos, quae maledictiones putantur: sicuti est illud, Fiat mensa eorum coram ipsis in laqueum (Psal. LXVIII, 25), et caetera quae ibi dicuntur: et Joannes apostolus ait, Qui scit fratrem suum peccare peccatum non ad mortem, petat, et dabitur ei vita peccanti non ad mortem. Est peccatum ad mortem, non pro illo dico ut roget quis (I Joan. V, 16). Ubi primo videndum, quia Prophetae per imprecationem quid esset futurum cecinerunt, non optantis voto, sed spiritu praevidentis

3. Nothing in the Scriptures is contrary to the commandment of loving one's enemies. Who those are for whom one is not to pray. The sin unto death. But here it rightly troubles us how it is not contrary to this commandment of the Lord that in the Prophets too there are found many imprecations against enemies, which are taken to be curses: such as that saying, Let their table become a snare before them (Ps. 68:23), and the other things that are said there: and the apostle John says, He who knows that his brother is sinning a sin not unto death, let him ask, and life will be given him, for one sinning not unto death. There is a sin unto death; I do not say that anyone should ask for that (1 John 5:16). Where it is first to be seen that the Prophets by imprecation foretold in song what was to come, not with the wish of one desiring it, but in the spirit of one foreseeing

Editors' notes and page, col. 1860

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: excusationem liberare conemur› · call in col 1860

Caesarius, per ipsam fatigationem excusare possimus.

Caesarius reads, "we may make excuse through weariness itself."

(printed under page 192)

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: qui maxime solent figura imprecantis futura praedicere, sicut figura praeteriti temporis, ea quae ventura erant, saepe cecinerunt. Deinde in Apostoli verbis intelligendum esse quosdam fratres, pro quibus non orare nobis praecipitur; cum Dominus etiam pro persecutoribus nostris nos orare jubeat. Quae solvi quaestio non potest, nisi fateamur esse aliqua peccata in fratribus, inimicorum persecutione graviora. Fratres autem Christianos significari, multis divinarum Scripturarum documentis probari potest. Peccatum ergo fratris ad mortem puto esse, cum post agnitionem Dei per gratiam Domini nostri Jesu Christi quisque oppugnat fraternitatem, et adversus ipsam gratiam, qua reconciliatus est Deo, invidentiae facibus agitur. Peccatum autem non ad mortem est, si quisquam non amorem a fratre alienaverit, sed officia fraternitati debita, per infirmitatem aliquam animi non exhibuerit. Quapropter et Dominus in cruce ait, Pater, ignosce illis; quia nesciunt quid faciunt. Nondum enim gratia Spiritus sancti participes facti, societatem sanctae fraternitatis inierant. Et beatus Stephanus in Actibus Apostolorum orat pro eis a quibus lapidatur (Act. VII, 59); quia nondum Christo crediderant, neque adversus illam communem gratiam dimicabant. Apostolus vero Paulus propterea, credo, non orat pro Alexandro, quia frater erat; et ad mortem, id est, fraternitatem invidentia oppugnando, peccaverat. Pro his autem qui non abruperant amorem, sed timore succubuerant, orat ut eis ignoscatur. Sic enim dixit : Alexander aerarius multa mala mihi ostendit : reddet illi Deus secundum opera illius; quem et tu devita : valde enim restitit sermonibus nostris. Deinde subjungit pro quibus orat, ita dicens : In prima mea defensione nemo mihi adfuit, sed omnes me dereliquerunt : non illis imputetur (II Tim. IV, 14-16). Et nota quod Apostolus non ait, Reddat; sed, Reddet illi Deus secundum opera ejus : quod verbum praenuntiantis est, non imprecantis; sicut de illa hypocrisi Judaeorum est dictum, cui eversionem imminere cernebat, Percutiet te Deus, paries dealbate (Act. XXIII, 3).

for they are especially accustomed to foretell future things in the form of one who imprecates, just as, in the form of past time, they often sang of the things that were to come. Next, in the words of the Apostle it must be understood that there are certain brothers for whom we are commanded not to pray, although the Lord commands us to pray even for our persecutors. This question cannot be resolved unless we acknowledge that there are some sins in brothers graver than the persecution of enemies. That Christians are signified by "brothers" can be proved by many testimonies of the divine Scriptures. The sin of a brother unto death, then, I think, is when anyone, after the knowledge of God through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, assails brotherhood, and is driven by the firebrands of envy against that very grace by which he was reconciled to God. But the sin is not unto death if someone has not estranged his love from a brother, but through some infirmity of mind has failed to render the duties owed to brotherhood. Wherefore the Lord too says on the cross, Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. For not yet made partakers of the grace of the Holy Spirit, they had not entered into the fellowship of holy brotherhood. And blessed Stephen in the Acts of the Apostles prays for those by whom he is being stoned (Acts 7:59), because they had not yet believed in Christ, nor were they fighting against that common grace. But the apostle Paul, I believe, does not pray for Alexander for this reason, that he was a brother, and had sinned unto death, that is, by assailing brotherhood through envy. But for those who had not broken off love, but had given way through fear, he prays that they may be forgiven. For thus he said: Alexander the coppersmith showed me many evils: God will repay him according to his works; whom do you also avoid, for he greatly withstood our words. Then he adds for whom he prays, saying thus: At my first defence no one stood by me, but all forsook me: may it not be imputed to them (2 Tim. 4:14–16). And note that the Apostle does not say, "May He repay", but, God will repay him according to his works: which is the word of one foretelling, not of one imprecating; just as was said of that hypocrisy of the Jews, whose overthrow he saw to be impending, God will strike you, you whitewashed wall (Acts 23:3).

4. Quid orent sancti petentes vindictam. Peccati regnum quomodo evertendum. Quaeritur autem quomodo huic praecepto, quo nobis jubetur, Orate pro persequentibus et calumniantibus vos, illud non est contrarium, quod in Apocalypsi legitur, martyres orare Deum, ut vindicentur (Apoc. VI, 10)? Sed hoc quempiam movere non oportet. Quis enim audeat affirmare, cum illi sancti candidati se vindicare petiverunt, utrum contra ipsos homines, an contra regnum peccati petierint? Nam ipsa est sincera et plena justitiae et misericordiae vindicta martyrum, ut evertatur regnum peccati, quo regnante tanta perpessi sunt. Ad cujus eversionem nititur Apostolus, dicens : Non ergo regnet peccatum in vestro mortali corpore (Rom. VI, 12). Destruitur autem et evertitur peccati regnum, partim correctione hominum, ut caro spiritui subjiciatur; partim depravatione perseverantium in peccato, ut ita ordinentur, ut justis cum Christo regnantibus molesti esse non possint. Quis ergo convincit sanctos, non talem suam vindictam a Domino esse deprecatos?

4. What the saints pray for when they seek vengeance. How the kingdom of sin is to be overthrown. Now it is asked how that which is read in the Apocalypse, that the martyrs pray God that they may be avenged (Rev. 6:10), is not contrary to this precept by which we are commanded, Pray for those who persecute and slander you. But this ought not to trouble anyone. For who would dare to affirm, when those holy ones clothed in white asked to be avenged, whether they asked against the men themselves or against the kingdom of sin? For this is the sincere vengeance of the martyrs, full of justice and mercy, that the kingdom of sin be overthrown, under whose reign they suffered so much. Towards its overthrow the Apostle strives, saying: Therefore let not sin reign in your mortal body (Rom. 6:12). And the kingdom of sin is destroyed and overthrown partly by the correction of men, so that the flesh is subjected to the spirit; partly by the depravation of those persevering in sin, so that they are so ordered that they cannot be troublesome to the just reigning with Christ. Who then can convict the saints of not having entreated of the Lord such a vengeance as this?

5. Qui sint filii Dei. Quod autem consequenter positum est, Ut sitis filii Patris vestri, qui in coelis est : ex illa regula intelligendum e⟨s⟩t, qua Joannes dicit, Dedit eis potestatem filios Dei fieri (Joan. I, 12). Unus enim naturaliter Filius est, qui nescit omnino peccare : nos autem potestate accepta efficimur filii, in quantum ea quae ab illo praecipiuntur implemus. Unde apostolica disciplina adoptionem appellat, qua in aeternam haereditatem vocamur, ut cohaeredes Christi esse possimus (Rom. VIII, 17; Galat. IV, 5) Filii ergo efficimur regeneratione spirituali, ut adoptemur in regnum Dei, non tanquam alieni, sed tanquam ab illo facti et conditi. Itaque non ait, Facite i⟨s⟩ta, qui estis filii : sed, facite, ut sitis filii Patris

5. Who are the sons of God. Now what is set down next, That you may be sons of your Father Who is in heaven, is to be understood according to that rule by which John says, He gave them power to become sons of God (John 1:12). For there is one Son by nature, Who does not know how to sin at all; but we, having received power, are made sons in so far as we fulfil the things that are commanded by Him. Hence the apostolic teaching calls it adoption, by which we are called to an eternal inheritance, so that we may be co-heirs of Christ (Rom. 8:17; Gal. 4:5). We are made sons, then, by spiritual regeneration, so that we may be adopted into the kingdom of God, not as strangers, but as made and created by Him. Therefore He does not say, Do these things, you who are sons; but, Do them, that you may be sons of the Father

Editors' notes and page, col. 1861

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1861

I Retract. cap. 19, n. 7.

Retractations I, ch. 19, no. 7.

(printed under page 193)

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vestri. Nos autem cum patimur inimicos, hoc clamare debemus, Pater, ignosce illis. Phrenetici enim sunt, a contrario spiritu possidentur, ut nos persequantur; et majorem persecutionem a diabolo patiuntur. Qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos, et pluit super justos et injustos. Scriptum est, Orietur timentibus vobis nomen Domini sol justitiae, ut etiam pluriam accipias irrigationem doctrinae veritatis (Malach. IV, 2); quia et bonis et malis apparuit, bonis et malis evangelizatus est Christus. Sive istum solem mavis accipere non solum hominum, sed etiam pec⟨o⟩rum corporeis oculis prolatum; et istam pluviam, qua fructus gignuntur, qui ad refectionem corporis dati sunt: quod probabilius intelligi existimo: ut ille sol spiritualis non oriatur nisi bonis et sanctis; quia hoc ipsum est, quod plangunt iniqui in illo libro, qui Sapientia Salomonis inscribitur, Et sol non ortus est nobis (Sap. V, 6): et illa spiritualis pluvia non irriget nisi bonos; quia malos significabat vinea, de qua dictum est, Mandabo nubibus meis, ne pluant super eam imbrem (Isai. V, 6).

of yours. But we, when we suffer enemies, ought to cry out this: Father, forgive them. For they are frenzied, they are possessed by a contrary spirit, so that they persecute us; and they suffer a greater persecution from the devil. Who makes His sun to rise upon the good and the bad, and rains upon the just and the unjust. It is written, The sun of justice shall rise for you who fear the name of the Lord (Mal. 4:2), so that you may also receive the rain, the watering of the doctrine of truth; for Christ appeared both to the good and to the bad, Christ was preached to the good and to the bad. Or if you prefer to take this sun as the one brought forth to the bodily eyes not only of men but also of cattle, and this rain as that by which the fruits are produced which have been given for the refreshment of the body: which I judge the more probable understanding: [then it means] that that spiritual sun does not rise except for the good and holy; for this is the very thing that the wicked lament in that book which is entitled the Wisdom of Solomon, And the sun has not risen for us (Wis. 5:6): and that that spiritual rain does not water any but the good; for the vineyard signified the wicked, of which it was said, I will command My clouds that they rain no rain upon it (Isa. 5:6).

6. Qui sint Publicani, Ethnici. Inimici plus diligendi quam amici. — Si enim diligitis eos qui vos diligunt, quam mercedem habebitis? Filios et parentes amat latro, amat et leo, amat et draco, amant et ursi, amant et lupi. Si enim amantes non diligimus filios vel parentes, pejores leonibus vel supra dictis bestiis sumus. Si vero amantibus vicem reddimus, adhuc nihil ab istis bestiis distare videmur. Nonne et Publicani hoc faciunt? Publicani sunt, qui sectantur lucra, et exigunt vectigalia per negotiationes, et fraudes, et furta, sceleraque et perjuria. Et si salutaveritis fratres vestros tantum, quid amplius facitis? Nonne et Ethnici hoc faciunt? Ethnici ex graeco in latinum interpretantur Gentiles. Ἔθνος enim graece gens dicitur. Si ergo, inquit, etiam peccatores, Publicani, Ethnici erga dilectores suos natura duce norunt esse benefici; quanto magis vos, quibus ut gradus professionis eximior, ita cura necesse est sit veritatis uberior, latiori sinu dilectionis amplecti debetis et non amantes? Nam diligere inimicos Deus praecipit. Et petulantes humanarum mentium motus, publicae charitatis frangis affectu, non solum iram ab ultione depellens, sed etiam in amorem mitigans injuriosi: quia gentium est, amantes amare; et commune est, diligere diligentes. Plus diligendi sunt inimici quam amici. Qui enim inimici sunt, corpori adversantur, et animae praeparant aeterna praemia: quia qui carnalia nostra et terrena rapiunt, coelestia nobis et spiritualia congregant. Nonne magis diligendus est quam odiendus, qui nobis dat aeternas opes? Amici vero carnis nostrae nobis suavia suadere contendunt, quae animae nostrae praeparant aeternam mortem.

6. Who the publicans and the heathens are. Enemies are to be loved more than friends. — For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have? The robber loves his children and parents, the lion loves too, the dragon loves too, bears too love, and wolves too love. For if we do not love the children or parents who love us, we are worse than lions or the beasts mentioned above. But if we return love to those who love us, we still seem to differ in nothing from these beasts. Do not even the publicans do this? Publicans are those who pursue gains and exact taxes through business dealings, and frauds, and thefts, and crimes and perjuries. And if you greet your brothers only, what more are you doing? Do not even the heathens do this? Ethnici is rendered from Greek into Latin as Gentiles. For in Greek a nation is called ethnos. If then, He says, even sinners, publicans, heathens know, with nature as their guide, how to be kind towards those who love them; how much more ought you, for whom, as the rank of your profession is more exalted, so the care of truth must needs be richer, to embrace with a wider bosom of love even those who do not love? For God commands us to love enemies. And Thou breakest the wanton motions of human minds by the affection of a common charity, not only driving anger away from vengeance, but even softening it into love of the one who does the injury: for it belongs to the Gentiles to love those who love; and it is common to love those who love. Enemies are to be loved more than friends. For those who are enemies oppose the body, and prepare eternal rewards for the soul: since those who seize our fleshly and earthly things gather for us heavenly and spiritual things. Is not he who gives us eternal riches to be loved rather than hated? But friends of our flesh strive to urge pleasant things upon us, which prepare eternal death for our soul.

7. Idem tractatur argumentum. — Estote ergo vos perfecti, sicut et Pater vester coelestis perfectus est. Quis autem haec facit, nisi plene perfecteque misericors? Quo uno consilio miseria devitatur, opitulante illo qui ait, Misericordiam magis volo quam sacrificium (Osee VI, 6). Perfectio namque misericordiae, qua plurimum animae laboranti consulitur, ultra dilectionem inimicorum porrigi non potest. Ideoque sic concluditur, Estote vos perfecti, sicut et Pater vester perfectus est: ita tamen, ut Deus intelligatur perfectus tanquam Deus, et anima perfecta tanquam anima.

7. The same argument is treated. — Be you therefore perfect, as also your heavenly Father is perfect. But who does these things, except one who is fully and perfectly merciful? By this one counsel misery is avoided, with the help of Him Who says, I desire mercy rather than sacrifice (Hos. 6:6). For the perfection of mercy, by which a labouring soul is most of all provided for, cannot be extended beyond the love of enemies. And therefore it is concluded thus, Be you perfect, as also your Father is perfect: yet in such a way that God is understood to be perfect as God, and the soul perfect as a soul.

8. Praecepta observantur dupliciter. — Attendite ne justitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus, ut videamini ab eis: alioquin mercedem non habebitis apud Patrem vestrum, qui in coelis est. Cavete, inquit, justitiam vestram facere coram hominibus: id est, hoc animo juste vivere, et ibi constituere bonum vestrum, ut vos videant homines. Alioquin mercedem non habebitis apud Patrem vestrum, qui in coelis est: non si ab hominibus videamini, sed si propterea juste vivatis, ut ab hominibus videamini. Nam et Apostolus dicit, Si adhuc hominibus placerem, Christi servus non essem

8. Precepts are observed in two ways. — Take heed that you do not do your justice before men, in order to be seen by them: otherwise you will not have a reward with your Father, Who is in heaven. Beware, He says, of doing your justice before men: that is, of living justly with this intention, and of placing your good in this, that men may see you. Otherwise you will not have a reward with your Father, Who is in heaven: not if you are seen by men, but if you live justly for this reason, that you may be seen by men. For the Apostle too says, If I were still pleasing men, I would not be the servant of Christ

Editors' notes and page, col. 1862

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(Galat. I, 10) : cum alio loco dicat, Sicut et ego omnibus per omnia placeo (I Cor. X, 33). Omnem curam rerum praesentium amovet, et attentos tantum esse in spe futuri jubet : neque sectari vel hominum favorem ostentatione bonitatis, vel jactantiam religionis, orationis publicae copia, sed intra conscientiam fidei fructum boni operis continendum ; quia humanae laudis consectatio eam tantum, quam ab hominibus exspectat, mercedem sit receptura. Justitia non aliud est, quam non peccare : non peccare autem, Legis praecepta servare. Praeceptorum autem observatio duplici genere continetur, ut nihil eorum quae prohibentur facias, et omnia quae jubentur implere contendas. Hoc est enim quod Psalmista dicit, Recede a malo, et fac bonum (Psal. XXXIII, 15). Si a malo recesseris, et non feceris bonum, transgressor es Legis : quae non tantum in malorum actuum abominatione, sed in bonorum perfectione completur. Neque hoc solum tibi praecipitur, ut vestitum suis non spolies indumentis, sed ut spoliatos operias tuis.

(Gal. 1:10): since in another place he says, Just as I too please all men in all things (1 Cor. 10:33). He removes all care for present things, and bids them be attentive only in the hope of what is to come: and not to pursue either the favour of men by a display of goodness, or a boast of religion by an abundance of public prayer, but [he bids] that the fruit of a good work be kept within the conscience of faith; because the pursuit of human praise will receive only that reward which it expects from men. Righteousness is nothing other than not to sin: and not to sin is to keep the precepts of the Law. And the observance of the precepts is contained in a twofold kind: that you do none of the things which are forbidden, and strive to fulfil all the things which are commanded. For this is what the Psalmist says, Depart from evil, and do good (Ps. 33:15). If you have departed from evil and have not done good, you are a transgressor of the Law: which is fulfilled not only in the abhorrence of evil deeds, but in the perfection of good ones. Nor is this alone commanded you, that you should not strip the clothed man of his garments, but that you should cover the stripped with yours.

9. Hypocrita. Nemo sine hypocriseos labe. — Cum ergo facis eleemosynam, noli tuba canere ante te, sicut hypocritae faciunt in synagogis et vicis, ut honorificentur ab hominibus. Hypocrita graeco sermone simulator interpretatur : qui dum intus malus sit, bonum se palam ostendit. Nomen autem hypocritae translatum est a specie eorum, qui spectaculis tecta facie incedunt, distinguentes vultum caeruleo niveoque colore et caeteris pigmentis, habentes simulacra oris, lintea gipsata, et vario colore distincta, nonnunquam colla et manus creta perungentes, ut ad personae colorem pervenirent, et populum, dum in ludis agerent, fallerent, modo in specie viri, modo in forma feminae et reliquis praestigiis. Quae species argumenti translata est in his qui falso incedunt vultu, et simulant quod non sunt. Sed hypocriseorum maculam non habere, aut paucorum aut nullorum est. Nam quicumque vult se videri quod non est, hypocrita est. [Qui tuba canit faciens eleemosynam, hypocrita est. Qui in synagogis et in platearum angulis orat, ut videatur ab hominibus, hypocrita est. Qui jejunans demolitur faciem, ut ventris inanitatem demonstret in vultu, et hic hypocrita est. Ex quibus omnibus intelligitur hypocritas esse, qui faciunt quodlibet, ut ab hominibus glorificentur. Mihi videtur et ille hypocrita esse, qui dicit fratri suo, Dimitte ut tollam festucam de oculo tuo : nam propter glo⟨r⟩iam hoc facere videtur, ut ipse esse justus videatur. Unde ei a Domino dicitur, Hypocrita, ejice prius trabem de oculo tuo (Luc. VI, 42). Non itaque virtus, sed causa virtutis apud Deum mercedem habet. Et si a recta semita paululum deviaveris, non interest utrum ad dexteram vadas, an ad sinistram ; cum verum iter amiseris. S⟨i⟩gnanter autem dicit, Receperunt mercedem suam : hoc est, non Dei, ⟨s⟩ed suam.] Laudati enim sunt ab hominibus, quor⟨u⟩m causa exercuere virtutes.

9. The hypocrite. No one is without the stain of hypocrisy. — When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be honoured by men. Hypocrite in the Greek tongue is interpreted "pretender": one who, while he is evil within, openly shows himself good. And the name of hypocrite is transferred from the appearance of those who walk in the shows with covered face, marking their countenance with blue and snow-white colour and other pigments, having likenesses of a face, linen cloths plastered with gypsum and marked out with varied colour, sometimes smearing their necks and hands with chalk, so that they might attain to the colour of the mask and deceive the people while they performed in the games, now in the appearance of a man, now in the form of a woman, and by other illusions. This kind of representation has been transferred to those who walk with a false countenance and pretend to be what they are not. But not to have the stain of hypocrisies belongs either to few or to none. For whoever wishes to seem what he is not is a hypocrite. [He who sounds a trumpet when giving alms is a hypocrite. He who prays in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets, that he may be seen by men, is a hypocrite. He who when fasting disfigures his face, that he may show the emptiness of his belly in his countenance, he too is a hypocrite. From all of which it is understood that they are hypocrites who do anything whatever in order to be glorified by men. To me he too seems to be a hypocrite who says to his brother, Let me take the mote out of your eye: for he seems to do this for the sake of glory, that he himself may seem to be righteous. Hence it is said to him by the Lord, Hypocrite, cast out first the beam from your eye (Luke 6:42). Therefore it is not virtue, but the motive of virtue, that has a reward with God. And if you have turned aside a little from the right path, it makes no difference whether you go to the right or to the left, since you have lost the true way. And He says pointedly, They have received their reward: that is, not God's, but their own.] For they have been praised by men, for whose sake they practised the virtues.

10. Quid sinistra; quid dextra. Dextrae et sinistrae alia explicatio. — Te autem faciente eleemosynam, nesciat sinistra tua quid faciat dextera. In dextera intelligitur amor Dei; in sinistra, vanitas vel cupiditas mundi. Si pro humana laude dederis eleemosynam, totum est sinistra : si vero pro remissione peccatorum, totum dextera facit. Quid est ergo, Nesciat sinistra quid faciat dextera; nisi, Quod facit Dei amor, non corrumpat inanitas vel cupiditas mundi? Nam si hoc aliquis secundum litteram impleri posse credit, quid faciet? Si enim manus dextera doluerit, numquid de sinistra eleemosynam dare non debet? In superioribus, Cavete, inquit, ne justitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus: ubi justitiam generaliter nominavit, deinde particulariter exsequitur. Est enim pars aliqua justitiae opus quod per eleemosynam fit : et ideo connectit dicendo, Cum ergo facis eleemosynam, noli tuba canere ante te. Ad hoc respicit quod superius ait, Cavete facere justitiam vestram coram hominibus, ut scilicet, videamini ab eis. Quod autem sequitur.

10. What the left hand is; what the right. Another explanation of the right and the left. — But when you give alms, let your left hand not know what your right hand does. By the right hand is understood the love of God; by the left, the vanity or covetousness of the world. If you have given alms for the sake of human praise, the whole is the left hand: but if for the remission of sins, the right hand does the whole. What then is, Let the left hand not know what the right hand does, except, What the love of God does, let the emptiness or covetousness of the world not corrupt? For if anyone believes that this can be fulfilled according to the letter, what will he do? For if his right hand is in pain, must he not give alms with the left? In what precedes He says, Take care not to do your righteousness before men: where He named righteousness in general, then He follows it out in particular. For the work which is done by almsgiving is some part of righteousness: and therefore He connects it by saying, When therefore you give alms, do not sound a trumpet before you. To this refers what He said above, Take care not to do your righteousness before men, that is, so as to be seen by them. But what follows.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1863

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running head: 1863 APPENDIX.
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PL 39:1864

Amen dico vobis, perceperunt mercedem suam; ad illud respicit quod supra posuit, Alioquin mercedem non habebitis apud Patrem vestrum, qui in coelis est. Deinde sequitur, Te autem faciente eleemosynam. Cum dicit, Te autem, quid aliud dicit, quam, Non quomodo, illi? Quid ergo mihi jubet? Te igitur, inquit, faciente eleemosynam, nesciat sinistra tua quid faciat dextera tua. Ergo illi sic faciunt, ut sciat sinistra eorum quid faciat dextera. Quod igitur in illis culpatum est, hoc tu facere vetaris. In eis autem hoc culpatum est, quod ita faciunt, ut laudes hominum quaerant. Quapropter nihil consequentius sinistra videtur significare, quam ipsam delectationem laudis. Dextera autem significat intentionem implendi praecepta divina. Nesciat ergo sinistra quid faciat dextera: id est, non se misceat conscientiae tuae laudis humanae appetitio, cum in eleemosyna facienda divinum praeceptum contendis implere. Ut sit eleemosyna tua in absconso. Quid est in absconso, nisi in ipsa bona conscientia, quae oculis humanis demonstrari non potest, nec verbis aperiri? Multi foras faciunt eleemosynam, et intus non faciunt, qui vel ambitione, vel alicujus temporalis rei gratia, misericordes volunt videri. Et Pater tuus qui videt in absconso, reddet tibi. Rectissime omnino et verissime. Si enim praemium ab eo exspectas, qui conscientiae inspector est, sufficiat tibi ad promerendum Deum ipsa conscientia.

Amen I say to you, they have received their reward; this looks back to what He set down above, Otherwise you will not have a reward with your Father, Who is in heaven. Then there follows, But you, when doing alms. When He says, But you, what else does He say than, Not as those? What then does He bid me? You therefore, He says, when doing alms, let your left hand not know what your right hand does. So those men act in such a way that their left hand knows what the right does. What therefore is blamed in them, you are forbidden to do. Now in them this is blamed, that they act so as to seek the praises of men. Wherefore nothing seems more consistently to be signified by the left hand than the very delight in praise. The right hand, on the other hand, signifies the intention of fulfilling the divine precepts. Let the left hand, then, not know what the right does: that is, let the craving for human praise not mingle itself with your conscience, when in giving alms you strive to fulfil the divine precept. That your alms may be in secret. What is "in secret", except in the good conscience itself, which cannot be shown to human eyes nor laid open in words? Many give alms outwardly and do not give them inwardly, who wish to appear merciful either from ambition or for the sake of some temporal thing. And your Father Who sees in secret will repay you. Most rightly altogether, and most truly. For if you expect the reward from Him Who is the inspector of the conscience, let the conscience itself suffice you for meriting God.

11. Cubiculum. Ostium. Quae sint orationis alae. — Et cum oratis, non eritis sicut hypocritae, qui amant in synagogis et in angulis platearum stantes orare, ut videantur ab hominibus. Neque hic ab hominibus videri nefas est: sed ideo haec agere ut videaris, et fructus in eis exspectetur placendi hominibus. Plateae perpetuae ac latiores civitatum viae sunt, juxta proprietatem linguae graecae a latitudine nominatae: πλάτη enim latum dicitur. Amen dico vobis, perceperunt mercedem suam. Et hinc ostendit Dominus in se prohibere, ut ea merces appetatur, qua gaudent stulti, cum laudantur ab hominibus. Tu autem cum orabis, intra in cubiculum, et clauso ostio, ora Patrem in absconso. Cubiculum quod nominat, non occultam domum ostendit, sed cordis nostri secretum. Hinc Psalmista dicit, Quae dicitis in cordibus vestris, et in cubilibus vestris compungimini (Psal. IV, 5). Et claudentes ostia, orate, inquit, ad Patrem vestrum in abscondito. Parum est intrare in cubicula, si ostium pateat importunis, per quod ostium ea quae foris sunt, improbe se immergunt, et interiora nostra aperiunt. Foris autem dicimus esse omnia temporalia et visibilia, quae per ostium, id est carnalem sensum, in cogitationes nostras penetrant, et turbae vanorum phantasmatum orantibus obstrepunt. Claudendum est ergo ostium, id est, carnali sensui resistendum; ut oratio spiritualis dirigatur ad Patrem, quae fit in intimo cordis, ubi oratur Pater in absconso. Qui vero vult orationem suam volare ad Deum, faciat illi duas alas, id est, eleemosynam et jejunium, et ascendat celeriter, et exaudietur. Et Pater tuus, qui videt in absconso, reddet tibi. Et hoc tali clausula terminandum fuit. Non enim monet nunc ut oremus, sed quomodo oremus; neque ut superius, ut eleemosynam faciamus, sed quo animo faciamus: quoniam de corde mundando praecipit, quod non mundat nisi simplex intentio in aeternam vitam, solo et puro amore sapientiae.

11. The chamber. The door. What the wings of prayer are. — And when you pray, you will not be like the hypocrites, who love to pray standing in the synagogues and at the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Here it is not wicked to be seen by men: but [it is] to do these things in order that you may be seen, and that the fruit of pleasing men be expected in them. Streets (plateae) are the long and broader ways of cities, named from breadth according to the proper usage of the Greek language: for πλάτη means broad. Amen I say to you, they have received their reward. And hereby the Lord shows that He forbids in Himself that that reward be sought in which fools rejoice when they are praised by men. But you, when you pray, enter into your chamber, and having shut the door, pray to the Father in secret. The chamber that He names does not indicate a hidden house, but the secret place of our heart. Hence the Psalmist says, What you say in your hearts, be also compunct in your beds (Ps. 4:5). And shutting the doors, pray, He says, to your Father in secret. It is little to enter into chambers, if the door lies open to the importunate, through which door the things that are outside shamelessly thrust themselves in and lay open our inward parts. Now we say that outside are all things temporal and visible, which through the door, that is, carnal sense, penetrate into our thoughts, and crowds of vain phantasms clamour against those who pray. The door therefore must be shut, that is, carnal sense must be resisted, so that spiritual prayer may be directed to the Father, which takes place in the innermost part of the heart, where the Father is prayed to in secret. But whoever wishes his prayer to fly to God, let him make it two wings, that is, almsgiving and fasting, and let it ascend swiftly, and it will be heard. And your Father, Who sees in secret, will repay you. And with such a close it had to be ended. For He does not now admonish us to pray, but how we should pray; nor, as above, to give alms, but with what mind we should give them: since He gives precepts about cleansing the heart, which nothing cleanses but a simple intention towards eternal life, with a sole and pure love of wisdom.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1864

Footnotes

(none) — the foot notes (a) and (b) printed under page 194 are called in SERMO LXIII (another unit) and are not set here (QA Q1).