Appendix to Augustine's Sermones: Sermones supposititii, Sermones 63-76

indeed you do to all men that which you would wish for yourself, you close the door of sins entirely. For there will be no way by which they can enter into your soul, if you are willing to love with your whole heart not only friends but also enemies.

8. Exhortation to almsgiving. I beg you, brothers, let us live in this world as guests and pilgrims. Whatever we acquire from any labour, from any just business, from any just military service, let us store up through almsgiving in the eternal homeland, except for daily food and simple clothing. Let not luxury consume us on this pilgrimage; but let mercy send [it] on to our homeland. We are making a journey, brothers, we are heading for the homeland: let us not live in luxury on the road of this life, let us never be secure; but, always keeping watch anxiously and carefully, let us not prepare delights for ourselves on the way: so that we who indeed could better carry [it] to the homeland, if in this country we consume on luxury, on gluttony, on drunkenness whatever we are able to labour for, how shall we come to that eternal one? With what face could we enter among the Angels and Archangels, naked of good works, wrapped in the filthy rags of sins, and wounded by evil deeds? Whatever gluttony was going to waste, let almsgiving store up; whatever avarice has buried in the earth, let mercy send on into heaven: so that when the soul goes forth from this body, it may be adorned with splendid garments, and with the pearls of chastity, mercy and patience, humility and concord; so that we may deserve to hear from the Lord, Well done, good and faithful servant, and the rest. These things, brothers, we ought to desire, and to dread that other sentence which the soul naked of good works and wrapped in the filth of vices is going to hear. For thus the Lord speaks of such a soul in the Gospel, saying: Friend, how did you come in here not having a wedding garment? and when he was struck dumb, He says to the servants: Bind his hands and feet, and cast him into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 22:12–13). May God turn away from us that sentence which all those are going to hear who now, by giving no alms, store up nothing or little in heaven. Of such the Apostle says, The soul that is in delights is dead while living (1 Tim. 5:6). Such men as these, when they have gone out of their body, are not lifted up by Angels with Lazarus into Abraham's bosom; but with the purple-clad rich man they are plunged into the depths of hell. Considering these things, therefore, let us restrict our food and clothing as much as we can while we are in this world: so that after our death we may deserve to be adorned in heaven with the most precious and splendid garments of our alms, and to hear that desirable voice, Well done, good and faithful servant, because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your Lord (Matt. 25:21); to which joy may the Lord lead us under His protection, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God in Trinity, for ever and ever. Amen.

Sermon 70. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 11, 25-30, I confess to Thee, Father, etc.

1. When the holy Gospel was being read, brothers, we heard that the Lord Jesus rejoiced in the Spirit and said, I confess to Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. Thus far, for the present, the words of the Lord. If we consider them worthily, if diligently, if, which comes first, piously, we find first of all, etc.

2. Lastly He opens up a heavenly mystery, that it so pleased God that He should reveal His grace to little ones rather than to the prudent of this world. Which the apostle

Paul set out in a fuller style, saying: Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, this world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe (1 Cor. 1:20–21). He says therefore, Even so, Father, for so it was pleasing before Thee. For the secrets and powers of the heavenly words are hidden from the wise and revealed to little ones: little ones in malice, not in understanding; but from the wise by reason of the presumption of foolishness, not by reason of prudence. And the Lord confirms the equity of this deed by the judgement of the Father's will, so that those who disdain to become little ones unto God may thenceforth become fools in their own wisdom. You see how terrible the Lord is in His counsels. Learn the examples of true humility, and do not rashly examine the counsels of the heavenly dispensation. For when He had set forth both things, namely that He had revealed the mysteries of His coming to some, but had hidden them from others, He did not at once give the reason, but said that it so pleased God: showing by this plainly that what pleased the just One cannot be unjust. And lest anything in Him should be reckoned less than what is in God, He immediately added: All things have been delivered to Me by My Father. A most beautiful passage concerning the faith is joined here, when He says that all things have been delivered to Him by His Father. When you read all things, you acknowledge Him almighty, not discoloured, not degenerate from the Father. When you read delivered, you confess the Son, to Whom by nature all things belong as His own by right of one substance, not conferred as a gift through grace. And He says that all things have been delivered to Him, not only the earth or the other elements which He Himself founded and made, but those who through the Son have access to the Father, and who, formerly rebels against God, afterwards began through faith to perceive [Him]: whence also in another place He says, All that the Father gives Me will come to Me (John 6:37). And no one knows the Son except the Father; nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal [Him]. When He said, No one knows the Son except the Father, He did not say, And he to whom the Father wills to reveal [Him]; whereas when He said, No one knows the Father except the Son, He added, And he to whom the Son wills to reveal [Him]. This is not to be understood as if [the Son] could be known by no one except by the Father alone, but the Father not only by the Son but also by those to whom the Son has revealed [Him]. Rather, it was said thus so that we may understand that both the Father and the Son Himself are revealed through the Son, because He is the light of our mind; so that what He added afterwards, and he to whom the Son wills to reveal, you may take to refer not to the Father only but also to the Son: for it was added to the whole of what He had said. For the Father declares Himself by His Word. For a word declares not only that which is declared through the word, but also declares itself. But so that you may know that, just as the Son reveals the Father to whom He wills, [the Father] reveals Him, hear the Lord Jesus Himself saying, when He praised Peter because he had confessed that He was the Son of God: Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, because flesh and blood has not revealed [it] to you, but My Father Who is in heaven (Matt. 16:17). Let us hear therefore Him Who follows on and says: Come to Me, all you who labour and are burdened.

3. It seems strange to some, dearest brethren, when they hear the Lord saying, Come to Me, all you who labour and are burdened, and I will refresh you. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am meek and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. My yoke is light, and My burden light: they consider those who [bear] the yoke itself, etc.

Sermon 71. On the words of the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 13:24-30, While men were sleeping, the enemy came and sowed tares over [the wheat], etc., and on other passages; exhortatory to good works.

1. The enemy is in figure called a man. The Lord

and our Redeemer speaks in His Gospel, saying: While men were sleeping, the enemy came and sowed tares over [the wheat]. The enemy, in a figure, has been called a man. Hear the Apostle saying: You were once darkness, but now light in the Lord (Eph. 5:8). Hear, O man: for He who gave you light did not give you darkness. Where are you going, O man? Where are you being dragged? Why do you pursue carnal desires, when you hear: Walk in the Spirit, and do not fulfil the desires of the flesh (Gal. 5:16)? Hear rather the Lord saying: Turn to Me, and I will turn to you (Zech. 1:3). Draw near to Him, and be enlightened; and your faces shall not blush (Ps. 33:6). Hear, O man: if you withdraw from God, you will not escape His hand; but if you draw near to Him, you will have Him at once, for He never withdraws. Hear the prophet saying: If I ascend into heaven, Thou art there; if I descend into hell, Thou art present (Ps. 138:8). Where, then, is God not, whom you are fleeing? You are evil, you who flee the good; you are death, you who flee life. You wish to wrap yourself in darkness, where you may hide yourself; but you cannot lie hidden from Him whose eyes see all things. And the Apostle says: What fruit did you have then in those things of which you are now ashamed (Rom. 6:21)? There follows the voice of the judge, saying: Depart, you cursed, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). Therefore he who flees the Lord and withdraws from God is put to confusion, and perishes in his impiety. So that he may not perish then, let him return to the Lord now; and he will be enlightened, and his face will not blush.

2. Who the tares in the Church are. The love of Christ above all things. Yet I will say, my brothers, what I think; and understand what I say. Among you, the crops of God, tares are mixed: that is, lovers of the world, lovers of money, lovers of pleasures, consulters of trifles, all who seek the things that are their own, not those of Jesus Christ. Those who enter the Church of Christ feignedly, who promise and do not perform, who vow and do not pay, who renounce evil and do the same again, those who love these things, are tares. They do not love Christ who love something more than Christ. Hear, O man, the voice of the Lord your God: He who loves, He says, father or mother or wife or sons or daughters or brothers or fields above Me is not worthy of Me (Matt. 10:37). If you wish to hold what you do not have, let go of what you have, so that the love of Christ may be in your heart.

3. Let him who wants the things that are God's let go of his own. See, you ask of God and say: Lord, give to me. What will He give you, who sees your hands occupied with other things? See, the Lord wishes to give what is His, and He has nowhere to put it. Look, then: let go of what you hold, and you receive what you seek; let go of things temporal and perishable, and you will receive eternal and everlasting life; let go of earthly things, and you receive heavenly ones. Now someone said to Jesus: Good Master, what good shall I do, that I may have eternal life? Certainly he who said, What good shall I do, desired eternal life; but he loved more what he held. The Lord saw the hands occupied. He wishes to give, and He has nowhere to put it: the hands of the receivers are occupied. For the Lord says to you: Go, sell all things, and give to the poor (Matt. 19:16, 21), and place them in heaven; for on earth they hinder.

4. What is given to the poor is not lost. Why are you afraid, O man, to give to the poor? You will not lose these things; rather, they are kept for you in heaven. I did not command it so that you might lose, says the Lord, but I suggested where you might place it. After this you will have, O man, a treasure not to perish on earth, but to endure in heaven. Sometimes there comes upon a man tribulation,

there comes the fear of loss. You fear, O man, that you may lose your money; you fear that you may lose your silver; you fear that you may lose your possession; and do you not fear that you yourself may perish wholly? For this you bear false witness, for this you lie and seize what belongs to others, for this you swear and forswear, which the law altogether forbids. When you do all these things, are you not wholly hay, wholly stubble, wholly chaff; and do you not fear that you may burn wholly? Your soul is always troubled by the loves of the world. Say: Why are you sad, my soul? and why do you trouble me? (Ps. 41:6).

5. Gold is in the earth, and from the earth, and is earth. The covetous man has sadness on account of his gold, suffers tribulation, has dangers from his slaves, dangers from robbers. The covetous man loves gold more than his own soul: you, Christian, love Christ more than all that is yours. He burns in the love of gold: you, Christian, burn in the love of Christ; and you will be blessed in the kingdom of Christ. Hear, O man: gold is in the earth, and it is from the earth, and it is earth, and it is a part of the earth. The ungodly man, while he loves the creature, offends the Creator; and he loses Him Who created all things out of nothing. Hear, O man: it is not you who lose God; rather, you yourself perish from God. He is the Redeemer of the soul, He Whom you are willing to lose. For what will it profit you, if you gain the whole world, but suffer the loss of your soul? (Matt. 16:26).

6. Why God calls one and does not call another. Awake at last, O man, and love Christ. For this is true wisdom, that is, to love Christ. For many say, and wish to know, why the Lord calls this man to Himself and does not call that man; helps one and not another; holds this one worthy and that one unworthy; honours this one and torments and afflicts that one. Hear, O man. He holds this one worthy for his good works; He holds that one unworthy for his evil works: for the Lord is a debtor, and He will render good things to the good and evil things to the evil. Perhaps you will say: Why is he thus? The Lord your God answers you: Because I have not denied the good; but I said beforehand: Wash yourselves, be clean (Isa. 1:16). What did you want? what were you seeking? what did you desire? The grace of God. Therefore, if you seek the grace of God, first take away wickedness from your soul and from the sight of My eyes; now cease from evil and do good; seek peace, and pursue it with all your strength (Ps. 33:15): and when you have done these things, you will both receive My grace, and My eyes will be upon you, and My ears towards your prayers, and before you have sought Me I will say: Here I am.

7. Good things are to be provided for here. There is no hope of mercy except for the merciful. He becomes an enemy to himself who does not forgive his enemy. One must pray for him before he asks. What the praise of God ought to be. Let us do good things, dearest brethren, that we may deserve to find in the world to come the rest which our Lord promised us, saying: Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy (Matt. 5:7). And exulting with the prophet before the Lord, let us say: Mercy and judgement I will sing to Thee, O Lord (Ps. 100:1). They find mercy who are merciful. Let the despisers fear judgement, who neither spare themselves nor have mercy on others: who say, Let us sin, and God will spare us, because He is merciful and good. God is altogether merciful and good: but He Who spares now will not spare in the future. The ungodly have judgement prepared for them without mercy. Let us understand, brethren, and let us see where we ought to place our hope. Mercy to him who has shown mercy. Blessed are the merciful; for God will have mercy on them. There is hope in mercy, if we have not been dry of the work of mercy. O man, why do you seek mercy from God, if you yourself are not merciful? Why do you seek from God the pardon of your sins, when you yourself do not forgive one like yourself? Hear, man, hear the voice of the Lord your God, where He Himself says: Give, and it shall be given to you; forgive, and it shall be forgiven you (Luke 6:37–38). Hear again where you yourself say: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. For if you do not forgive your adversary, you yourself will first be your own adversary. He harmed you by taking away your money,

you harm yourself by not pardoning your adversary. Perhaps you are going to say: I will not spare him; because he has harmed me greatly, and has sought my blood. If you do not pardon him, you will have the perdition of your soul: and on top of that you still say, I will not spare him, because he was my adversary. Believe me, man, you will be a worse adversary to yourself, if you do not spare him. You say, He does not ask me. If he does not ask you, ask on his behalf; that what he did wrong against you may be forgiven him by the Lord. For if you say, I will not spare him; you wish to quarrel, not to forgive. And with what face or with what confidence are you going to say to your Lord, Forgive, because I have forgiven? Consider, O man, and see another law in your members fighting against the law of your mind, and taking you captive in the law of sin (Rom. 7:21). Already you yourself are being dragged off a captive; and are you angry with the despoiler? Let no one lay it to our charge, my brethren, if through you we have not been able to double the Lord's money. We shall be bad servants, if we have not done what has been commanded us: but if we have done it, we shall be good servants, and shall rejoice with the Lord without end. Let us all love Him, through Whom we were made; let us cherish Him, through Whom we were redeemed. For His sake let us love one another in this world, that we may deserve to rejoice with Him alike in the world to come: since it has so pleased the Lord our God concerning us, that, being set here with your Charity, we should sing to Him. Let us praise the Lord, brethren, with tongue, heart, mouth and voice. For He wishes praise to be spoken to Him in such a way that there be no discord among us: but He wishes there to be in us concord in voices and in conduct. O happy praise in heaven, where the Angels are the temple of God! There is the highest concord of those who praise, where no law fights in our members; there is no strife there, nor any covetousness. Here therefore let us sing praise to the Lord with anxious care, that there we may be able to be secure.

8. Here there ought to be not security, but anxious care. The body, a prison. But why should we be anxious here, my brethren? Hear why: because human life is a temptation (Job 7:1). For thus the Lord exhorts us in His speech, saying, Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation (Matt. 26:41). Are you unwilling to be anxious, when you are seen to say, Forgive us our debts? How are you secure, who are seen daily to ask for the remission of sins? How are you secure, when you still say, Forgive me my sins; and again you say, And bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil (ibid. 6:12–13)? How then are you seen to cry out, Deliver us from evil, if you are secure? Hear, man, hear. You yourself are the evil, since God delivers you from your own evil self. You see another law in your members fighting against the law of your mind, and taking you captive in the law of sin. Hear what we are, what we carry about with us. As long as we are held in the body of this death, we carry vice about with us. Hear again the prophet saying, Lord, bring my soul out of prison (Ps. 141:8). It is my prison, as long as I shall be in the body of death. For when I shall have been set free from this body, earth is given back to earth, the spirit is received into heaven. I go therefore, I leave the earth; because as long as I am here, with the mind I serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.

9. How in the resurrection the whole man is spiritual. One of the faithless will say: So when you have been set free from this flesh, you will then be nothing but spirit. Hear then, heretic. The flesh of which I speak I do not put away for ever, but put off here. The unbeliever replies: So you are going to return to the body of death? And why then did you cry out so pious a word, Bring my soul out of prison? Hear, ignorant one, deaf to the daily readings. I return to a body not of this death; because this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality. Now it is animal, then it will be spiritual. No one can receive the eternal, unless he has first let go the temporal. Therefore let go this temporal evil, that you may receive that eternal good.

10. The land of the living and the land of the dying. Hear, brethren, and beware. For here we are making a journey, and we are set on the road; we have not yet arrived at the homeland. Let us beware of those who lie in wait for us on the road: because