Migne Reading Room
PL 39 · cols. 2036–2039
Appendix to Augustine's Sermones: Sermones supposititii, Sermones 138-154
Sermons CL–CLI
consummatione virtutem : Amen, inquit, dico tibi, quod in hac nocte, antequam gallus cantet, ter me negabis. Dicit ei beatus Petrus, Etiamsi me mori oportuerit tecum, non te negabo. Videte, fratres, responsionem discipuli, et intelligite dilectionis esse quod dixit. Sed quia per solum sui amoris studium, non addito etiam adjutorio Domini, voluit esse promissum, stare non potuit per hominem, quod sub divinitate pendebat. Fuit quidem in voluntate, sed non fuit in virtute : sicut ipse Dominus dicit, Spiritus promptus est, caro autem infirma (Matth. XXVI, 33-35, 41); et iterum, Sine me nihil potestis facere (Joan. XV, 5). Usque ad mortem promisit, et in timore negavit. Habuerat confessionem mirabilem, si habuisset in consummatione virtutem.
consummation that strength lies: Amen, He said, I say to you that in this night, before the cock crows, you will deny Me three times. Blessed Peter says to Him, Even if I must die with You, I will not deny You. See, brothers, the disciple's reply, and understand that what he said came from love. But because he wanted the promise to stand through the zeal of his own love alone, without the help of the Lord being added as well, what depended on the Godhead could not stand through a man. It was indeed in his will, but it was not in his strength: as the Lord Himself says, The spirit is ready, but the flesh is weak (Matt. 26:33–35, 41); and again, Without Me you can do nothing (John 15:5). He promised even unto death, and in fear he denied. He would have had a wonderful confession, if he had had strength at its consummation.
4. Conscientia a peccatis expurganda. Unde, dilectissimi fratres, rogo et admoneo vos, ut unusquisque recurrat ad testem idoneum, id est, conscientiam suam : et si ibi aliqua vulnera invenerit peccatorum, confugiat ad remedium lacrymarum; poeniteat se fecisse quod fecit, incipiat vigilantissimo corde praeterita curare, praesentia vitare, futura prospicere, et Deo auxiliante, repellere : quia quamdiu quis in hoc saeculo vivere possit ignorat; nec licet evadere, nisi poenitentia praecurrente. Illud ante omnia, dilectissimi fratres, quod specialiter pertinet ad fideles, pia fide et tota animi devotione cogitate, accessuros vos ad altare Domini Dei nostri. Inspicite universa latibula cordis vestri; ne forte sint ibi aliqua peccata, quae necdum curata sint eleemosynis atque jejuniis : et timete illud Apostoli, Qui manducaverit corpus Domini et biberit sanguinem ejus indigne, reus erit corporis et sanguinis Domini. Probet autem se ipsum homo, et sic de corpore illo edat, et de calice bibat (I Cor. XI, 27, 28). Nullus ex vobis contra ullum hominem odium reservet in corde suo; ut securi possitis dicere, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris (Matth. VI, 12). Castitatem autem ante omnia custodite, gulam refrenate, ebrietatem fugite, pauperibus secundum quod vires suppetunt, eleemosynas date.
4. The conscience must be cleansed of sins. Therefore, dearest brothers, I ask and admonish you that each one should have recourse to a fit witness, that is, his own conscience: and if he finds there any wounds of sins, let him flee to the remedy of tears; let him repent of having done what he did, let him begin with most watchful heart to heal what is past, to avoid what is present, to look ahead to what is to come and, with God's help, to repel it: for no one knows how long he may live in this world; nor is it possible to escape, unless penance goes before. Above all, dearest brothers, consider this, which pertains especially to the faithful, with devout faith and with the whole devotion of your mind: that you are about to approach the altar of the Lord our God. Search all the hiding places of your heart, lest perhaps there be some sins there which have not yet been healed by almsgiving and fasting: and fear that word of the Apostle, Whoever eats the body of the Lord and drinks His blood unworthily will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man prove himself, and so let him eat of that body and drink of the cup (1 Cor. 11:27–28). Let none of you keep hatred in his heart against any man, so that you may say without fear, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors (Matt. 6:12). Above all, guard chastity, rein in gluttony, flee drunkenness, give alms to the poor according as your means allow.
5. Perseverandum in piis operibus. Et hoc ante omnia rogo, fratres charissimi, ut gaudium quod nobis huc usque de vestra devotione fecistis, in die crastina, id est, in Passione Domini compleatis. Non enim qui coeperit, sed qui perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit (Id. XXIV, 13). Et ideo sic agere debetis, ne per unius diei negligentiam perdatis quod per totam Quadragesimam acquisistis. Sic est enim tota Quadragesima abstinere, orare vel psallere, et in passione Domini, id est, in Parasceve de ecclesia se subtrahere; quomodo si quis cum grandi labore studeat terram colere, et messem non mereatur accipere. Et ideo rogo vos, ut nullus de ecclesia se subtrahat, nisi forte quem aut corporis infirmitas, aut grandis et publica necessitas tenuerit occupatum. Ipse enim in Paschali solemnitate legitimum gaudium poterit celebrare; qui in Passione Domini se noluerit de ecclesiae conventu subtrahere. Qui me in hac suggestione libenter audierit, confido quod illi Deus et in hoc saeculo et in futuro gloriosa praemia repensabit. Quod ipse praestare dignetur, qui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum. Amen.
5. One must persevere in devout works. And above all I ask this, dearest brothers: that the joy which you have given us up to now by your devotion you complete tomorrow, that is, on the day of the Lord's Passion. For not he who has begun, but he who has persevered to the end, he will be saved (Matt. 24:13). And therefore you ought to act so that you do not lose through the negligence of a single day what you have gained through the whole of Lent. For to abstain, pray or sing psalms through the whole of Lent, and then on the day of the Lord's Passion, that is, on Good Friday, to withdraw from the church, is like someone who strives with great labour to till the ground and then does not deserve to receive the harvest. And therefore I ask you that no one withdraw from the church, unless perhaps someone whom either infirmity of body or some great and public necessity has kept occupied. For he will be able to celebrate a lawful joy at the Easter solemnity who has not chosen to withdraw from the assembly of the church on the day of the Lord's Passion. Whoever listens willingly to me in this exhortation, I trust that God will repay him with glorious rewards both in this world and in the world to come. May He Himself deign to grant this, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ages of ages. Amen.
SERMO CL. De Passiene Domini, I.
Sermon 150. On the Passion of the Lord, 1.
1. Judas Jesum non videbat, etsi mutatus non erat. Omnes, inquit Dominus Jesus, scandalum patiemini in hac nocte. Discipuli terrentur tali auditu, et Judam non terret tanti sceleris cogitatus. Consulite, Apostoli, Dominum; interrogate, discipuli, Magistrum. Qui mecum, inquit, mittit manum in paropside, ipse traditurus est me. O induratam frontem! Talia de se audit, et adhuc delectatur accumbere; videt publicari
1. Judas did not see Jesus, although He had not been changed. All of you, says the Lord Jesus, will suffer offence in this night. The disciples are terrified at hearing such a thing, and the thought of so great a crime does not terrify Judas. Consult the Lord, Apostles; question the Master, disciples. He who puts his hand with Me into the dish, He says, he is the one who will betray Me. O hardened brow! He hears such things about himself, and still he takes delight in reclining at table; he sees being made public
Editors' notes and page, col. 2036
Footnotes
(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CL› · call in col 2036
Olim, de Tempore 121; et post, in Appendice 46.
Formerly [Sermon] 121 on the Season; and later, no. 46 in the Appendix.
(printed under page 280)
(b) ‹anchor: De Passione Domini, I› · call in col 2036
Incerti auctoris.
By an uncertain author.
(printed under page 280)
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suam conscientiam, et adhuc manum porrigit ad buccellam. Numquid ego sum, Rabbi? O Juda, cui dicis, Numquid ego sum, Rabbi? jam dic, Ego sum. Non est oblivi⟨o⟩ nescientis, sed pietas miserantis. Tu, Juda, quem possedit cupiditas, omnia in te novit divinitas: sed vae tibi in quo semel periit humanitas. Omnes, inquit, scandalum patiemini in hac nocte. Et Petrus: Et si omnes scandalizati fuerint in te, ego tamen non scandalizabor. Coeperunt altercari medicus et aegrotus: ille sine aegritudine se esse putabat, ille futuram accessionem vid⟨e⟩bat. Cui Dominus ait: Paululum sequestremur, donec rei exitum comprobemus. Et Judas: Quem osculatus fuero, ipse est, tenete eum (Matth. XXVI, 31, 23, 25, 33, 48). O signum sacrilegum, o placitum fugiendum, ubi ab osculo incipitur bellum, et per pacis indicium pacis rumpitur sacramentum! Venerunt ad hortum, qui jam antea perdiderant paradisum, quaerentes Dominum Jesum Christum: egrediuntur quaerentes, qui ante praevenerant venientes. Stat Jesus, et dicunt, Jesum quaerimus. Aspicit eos ipse Salvator, quos praecedebat Judas tenebrosus ducator. Ducatum praebebat, et Magistrum non videbat, non quia Jesus mutabilis erat; erat quod erat. Lucem in tenebris quaerebant; sed lucem tenebrae non comprehenderunt. Sed audiamus vocem lucis, qui dicit tenebris venientibus cum laternis, Quem quaeritis? Illi dixerunt, Jesum. Respondit Jesus, Ego sum: audita voce abierunt prostrati in faciem caecitatis (Joan. XVIII, 4, 5, 7, 6). Sed quia lucet lux in tenebris (Id. I, 5), excitat elisos a mortuis. Iterum dicit eis, Quem quaeritis? Jesum, inquiunt. Et ait illis, Ego sum. O insensati Judaei! Interrogastis, et cecidistis; levati estis, et ingrati estis. Qua vos concutiemini comminatione vel terrore, qui ad solam cecidistis simplicem vocem? Di⟨c⟩ Israel, Venisti tenere me; quia ego defendi te a persequentibus te? Utinam teneres me, et non perderes te. In aquis parietes construxi, faculam columnae micantis erexi, Aegyptios caecitate percussi, tota nocte pro te pugnavi: factum est mane, et transisti incolumis mare. Male me quaeritis; ideo cecidistis. Ecce qualiter cadunt, qui male Dominum quaerunt.
his own conscience, and still he stretches out his hand to the morsel. Is it I, Rabbi? O Judas, you who say, Is it I, Rabbi? say now, It is I. This is not the forgetfulness of One Who does not know, but the compassion of One Who pities. You, Judas, whom greed has possessed, the Godhead knows everything in you: but woe to you, in whom humanity has perished once for all. All of you, He says, will suffer offence this night. And Peter: Even if all are offended in You, yet I will not be offended. The physician and the sick man began to dispute: the one thought himself to be without sickness, the Other saw the coming attack of fever. To whom the Lord says: Let us part for a little while, until we prove the outcome of the matter. And Judas: Whomever I kiss, it is he; seize him (Matt. 26:31, 23, 25, 33, 48). O sacrilegious sign, O compact to be shunned, where war begins with a kiss, and through a token of peace the sacrament of peace is broken! They came to the garden who had long before lost paradise, seeking the Lord Jesus Christ: those who had arrived beforehand go out seeking. Jesus stands, and they say, We seek Jesus. The Saviour Himself looks upon them, whom Judas, the dark guide, was leading. He was providing guidance, and did not see the Master, not because Jesus was changeable; He was what He was. They were seeking the light in darkness; but the darkness did not comprehend the light. But let us hear the voice of the light, Who says to the darkness coming with lanterns, Whom do you seek? They said, Jesus. Jesus answered, I am: having heard the voice they went back, thrown down on the face of their blindness (John 18:4, 5, 7, 6). But because the light shines in the darkness (John 1:5), He raises from the dead those who were struck down. Again He says to them, Whom do you seek? Jesus, they say. And He said to them, I am. O senseless Jews! You asked, and you fell; you were raised up, and you are ungrateful. By what threat or terror will you be shaken, you who fell at a single simple word? Say, Israel, have you come to seize Me because I defended you from those who pursued you? Would that you held fast to Me, and did not lose yourself. I built walls in the waters, I raised the torch of a gleaming pillar, I struck the Egyptians with blindness, all night I fought for you: morning came, and you crossed the sea unharmed. You seek Me wrongly; therefore you fell. See how they fall who seek the Lord wrongly.
2. Petri lapsus. Ejusdem fletus. Tenetur interea Dominus ad sacerdotum principem perducendus: et cum discipuli laberentur, Petrus promissor egregius coepit ambulare longius, pervenit ad principis domum. Et quia Petrum frigus urgebat, calefaciendus sollicitus assistebat. Ecce ille qui nihil infirmitatis se putabat habere, paulatim coepit ad verba medici pervenire. Negat territus Christum, qui se promiserat animam pro eo positurum. Prostravit eum anicula decrepita, quasi gravis febricula. Pressit eum lethargicus somnus, et cepit eum praeco impiger matutinus. Audit gallum cantantem, et vidit se discipulus Dominum offendisse. Sub ancilla coepit pondere vergi atque demergi: non erat qui adjuvaret, nisi de interioribus praetorii Petrum Dominus respexisset. Cum nox media declinatum subito teneret incursum, gallus cantavit, et nocte naufragus respiravit. Contum invenit fidei liberalem, quousque impelleret navem, ut in medio scopulorum portum quaereret lacrymarum. Vidit navim cordis sui sine mercibus nudam: flere coepit amare; quia Dominum suum coepit amare. Jesus pelago navigatorem terrebat, Petrus de gubernatore securitatem sperabat. Domine, inquit Petrus, ubi me dimisisti? Lumen tuum video, te adhuc non video. Lavasti pedes meos, tersisti linteo tuo; lumine tuo aperi oculos meos: quando possum videre te, nisi respexeris me? Ita permansit in amaritudine lacrymarum, quousque Dominus de portis erumperet inferorum. Petrus lacrymas fudit confessionis, et Judas osculum porrigit falsitatis.
2. The fall of Peter. His weeping. Meanwhile the Lord is held, to be led to the chief of the priests: and while the disciples were slipping away, Peter, that distinguished promiser, began to walk at a distance; he came to the house of the chief priest. And because the cold pressed upon Peter, he stood by, anxious to be warmed. See, he who thought he had no weakness began little by little to come to the words of the physician. Terrified, he denies Christ, he who had promised to lay down his life for Him. A decrepit little old woman laid him low, like a severe little fever. A lethargic sleep weighed him down, and the tireless herald of the morning caught him. He hears the cock crowing, and the disciple saw that he had offended the Lord. Under a maidservant he began to be bowed down by the weight and to sink: there was no one to help, had not the Lord looked back at Peter from the inner parts of the praetorium. When midnight, declining, suddenly checked its onslaught, the cock crowed, and in the night the shipwrecked man breathed again. He found the generous pole of faith, with which to push the ship along, so that in the midst of the rocks he might seek the harbour of tears. He saw the ship of his heart bare, without merchandise: he began to weep bitterly, because he began to love his Lord. Jesus was frightening the sailor with the sea, Peter was hoping for safety from the Helmsman. Lord, says Peter, where hast Thou let me go? I see Thy light, Thee I do not yet see. Thou didst wash my feet, Thou didst wipe them with Thy towel; with Thy light open my eyes: when can I see Thee, unless Thou look back upon me? So he remained in the bitterness of tears until the Lord should burst forth from the gates of the underworld. Peter shed tears of confession, and Judas offers a kiss of falsehood.
3. Venditionis Christi pretiu⟨m⟩.— Orate, inquit discipulis, ne intretis in tentatienem (Matth. XXVI, 41). Inquieta nox in fugam compulit piscatores. Pastor tenetur, et Petrus turbatur. Ipse pastor tristis erat, anima ejus turbatur, divinitas inc⟨on⟩cussa laetatur.
3. The price of the selling of Christ.— Pray, He says to the disciples, that you may not enter into temptation (Matt. 26:41). The restless night drove the fishermen to flight. The Shepherd is held, and Peter is troubled. The Shepherd Himself was sorrowful, His soul is troubled, the unshaken Godhead rejoices.
Editors' notes and page, col. 2037
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Orat semel, orat et iterum, tertioque precatur. Tanquam aquila tegebat nidum suum velamento pennarum; et sollicitus cum oraverat, ad pullos revertebatur, propter quos tristitiam patiebatur. Obtulerunt Judaei triginta argenteos. Ille tali pretio debet comparari, cui non potest aliquid aestimari. Bene, Synagoga, triginta stateres argenti pensasti, dum Dei Filium suspendisti. Abiit ergo Judas, et laqueo se suspendit. Vide, Juda, sententiam divinae majestatis, quae te puniri noluit manibus alienis. Pendes in laqueo, et argentum jacet in templo. Nullus gratulatur de tali commercio; quia sacrilegum pronuntiat pretium. Non licet mitti in corbonam, quoniam pr⟨e⟩tium sanguinis est. Ecce Judaeorum improbitas condemnat admissum, et non condemnat sacrilegium. Si tollere non licet pretium, cur implere festinas homicidium? Aut pretium innocentis sanguinis in corbonam non licebat mittere, ipsum innocentem licebat occidere? Emerunt, inquit, agrum in sepulturam peregrinorum. Invenit tandem mens caeca remedium. Ad requiem peregrinorum Salvatoris deputant pretium. Licet non agnoscant, impletur tamen mysterii sacramentum.
He prays once, He prays again, and a third time He makes entreaty. Like an eagle He was covering His nest with the covering of His wings; and, being anxious, when He had prayed He would return to the chicks on whose account He was suffering sorrow. The Jews offered thirty pieces of silver. He must be bought at such a price, against Whom nothing can be valued! Well done, Synagogue, you weighed out thirty staters of silver, when you hung up the Son of God. So Judas went away and hanged himself with a noose. See, Judas, the sentence of the divine majesty, which did not wish you to be punished by the hands of others. You hang in the noose, and the silver lies in the temple. No one rejoices over such a transaction, because it declares the price sacrilegious. It is not lawful to put it into the corbona, since it is the price of blood. Behold, the wickedness of the Jews condemns the deed committed, and does not condemn the sacrilege. If it is not lawful to take up the price, why do you hasten to accomplish the homicide? Or was it not lawful to put the price of innocent blood into the corbona, yet lawful to kill the innocent man himself? They bought, it says, a field for the burial of strangers. The blind mind has at last found a remedy. They assign the price of the Saviour to the rest of strangers. Although they do not recognize it, the sacrament of the mystery is nevertheless fulfilled.
4. Apparent signa in morte Jesu. Interrogavit Pilatus Jesum. Tu es rex Judaeorum? Et Jesus, Tu dixisti. Qui ait vulgo, Quem vultis dimittam vobis, Barabbam, an Jesum? Vulgus clamat, Crucifigatur! O inordinata nequitia judicantis! Pronuntiat innocentem; et eligendi tribuit facultatem. Multa enim sum passa pro justo isto hac nocte, ejus mulier mandat. In nativitate mundi uxor ducit virum ad mortem; in passione Christi uxor provocat ad salutem: illic serpentis subtilitas praecipitat; hic terror angelicus revocat: ut inde inciperet venia, unde videntur prorupisse peccata. Aqua manus lavat, dicens, Innocens sum a sanguine hujus justi (Matth. XXVII). Illuminatur per aquae mysterium judicis sensus, et Christum pronuntiat justum, ut populum faceret reum. Magnum tibi delicti vindicas principatum. Ecce judex Salvatoris se amore excusat; et traditor se cum Judaeis propria voce condemnat. Omnia sunt elementa permota, coelum non est quietum, cum caput Dominicum colaphis verberatur. Non curia coelestis coelo contenta permansit, quia in commotione fuerunt. Coeli luminaria conturbantur, et de stationibus suis stellae sulphureae cadunt in lapsum. Ligni cuspide rumpitur Golgotha, resonant mallei securesque cadentes, scinduntur montis sacrati petrae: ille solus Petrus qui fuerat super petram, tanquam in mollem tenuemque arenam solvebatur ex petra. Latro veniam petiit, deitate largiente percepit. Ille sui meminisse rogavit; Salvator in paradiso secum venisse promisit.
4. Signs appear at the death of Jesus. Pilate questioned Jesus: Are You the king of the Jews? And Jesus: You have said it. He says to the crowd: Whom do you want me to release to you, Barabbas or Jesus? The crowd shouts: Let Him be crucified! O disordered wickedness of the one judging! He declares Him innocent, and grants the power of choosing. For I have suffered many things this night on account of that just man, his wife sends word. At the birth of the world a wife leads her husband to death; in the passion of Christ a wife calls [him] to salvation: there the subtlety of the serpent casts down; here angelic terror calls back: so that pardon might begin from the very place from which sins are seen to have burst forth. With water he washes his hands, saying: I am innocent of the blood of this just man (Matt. 27). The judge's mind is enlightened through the mystery of the water, and he declares Christ just, so as to make the people guilty. A great primacy in guilt you claim for yourself. Behold, the judge of the Saviour excuses himself out of love; and the betrayer condemns himself with the Jews by his own voice. All the elements are moved; heaven is not at rest, when the Lord's head is beaten with blows. The heavenly court did not remain content in heaven, because they were in commotion. The lights of heaven are thrown into confusion, and sulphurous stars fall in ruin from their stations. Golgotha is broken open by the point of the wood, the hammers and the falling axes resound, the rocks of the sacred mount are split: that Peter alone, who had been upon the rock, was dissolved from the rock as though into soft and fine sand. The thief asked for pardon; he received it, the Godhead bestowing it. He asked to be remembered; the Saviour promised that he had come with Him into paradise.
SERMO CLI. De Passione Domini, II.
Sermon 151. On the Passion of the Lord, 2.
1. Christus cur tristis. Suscepit Dominus tristitiam nostram, ut nobis largiretur laetitiam suam. Et vestigiis nostris descendit usque ad mortis aerumnam, ut nos suis vestigiis revocaret ad vitam. Percutiam, inquit, pastorem, et dispergentur oves gregis (Matth. XXVI, 31). Tristis erat, quia nos parvulos relinquebat. Anima tristis erat non pro sua passione, sed pro nostra dispersione. Proditorem osculo libenter suscepit; non quia Deus Dei Filius mortem timebat, sed quia nec malos pro se perire volebat. Juda, osculo Filium hominis tradis (Luc. XXII, 48)? Fungebaris disciplina virtutis, et discipulus factus es consilii iniquitatis? Officio sanguinem fundis? pro pignore amoris vulnus infligis? pacis argumento mortem immittis? servus Dominum tradis, discipulus magistrum prodis?
1. Why Christ was sorrowful. The Lord took up our sorrow, that He might bestow on us His joy. And in our footsteps He descended even to the hardship of death, that by His footsteps He might call us back to life. I will strike, He says, the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock will be scattered (Matt. 26:31). He was sorrowful because He was leaving us, His little ones. His soul was sorrowful not for His own passion, but for our scattering. He willingly received the betrayer with a kiss; not because God, the Son of God, feared death, but because He did not wish even the wicked to perish on His account. Judas, do you betray the Son of Man with a kiss (Luke 22:48)? You were practising the discipline of virtue, and have you become a disciple of the counsel of iniquity? With an act of service do you shed blood? In pledge of love do you inflict a wound? With a token of peace do you send death? Do you, a servant, hand over the Lord, a disciple, betray the master?
Editors' notes and page, col. 2038
Footnotes
1 ‹anchor: libenter suscepit› · call in col 2038 Ambrosius, Charitatis officio.
Ambrose, "Charitatis officio" ("by the office of charity").
2 ‹anchor: Officio› · call in col 2038 Horum loco, Proditorem osculo, etc., in Ambrosii Commentariis legitur, Transfer hunc calicem a me non quia Deus, etc.
In place of these words, "the betrayer with a kiss," etc., Ambrose's Commentaries read, "Take this cup from me, not because God," etc.
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(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CLI› · call in col 2038
Olim, de Tempore 117; et post, in Appendice 43.
Formerly [Sermon] 117 on the Season; and later, no. 43 in the Appendix.
(printed under page 281)
(b) ‹anchor: De Passione Domini, II› · call in col 2038
Constat frustulis ex Ambrosio in Lucam cap. 22-24, decerptis: quae apud Ambrosium non reperimus, uncis distinguuntur.
It is made of fragments taken from Ambrose on Luke, chs. 22–24; what we do not find in Ambrose is marked off with brackets.
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Utiliora sunt vulnera amici, quam voluntaria oscula inimici (Prov. XXVII, 6). Signo dato, ab his qui cum fustibus venerant, detinetur. Injicit manus turba, nectuntur vincula, deridetur justitia, et traditur ab injustitia.
More useful are the wounds of a friend than the willing kisses of an enemy (Prov. 27:6). When the sign has been given, He is held fast by those who had come with clubs. The crowd lays hands on Him, chains are fastened, justice is mocked, and is handed over by injustice.
2. Petrus quare percutit aurem Quare friget. Quem negat. Percussit ergo Petrus aurem pueri principis. Quare Petrus? Quia ipse accepit regni coelorum claves, et solvendi ligandique ipse adeptus est potestatem. Abscissa est pueri auricula male audientis, aure interiore Christum male intelligentis, qui non est passus Christum prophetam aestimari, sed Dei Filium docuit fideli confessione signari. Limus suum agnoscit operatorem, et caro suam sequitur operatricem. Jubere potuit: operari maluit, qui e limo terrae corporis membra formavit, qui hostes suos non passus est vulnerari. Illi justo mortem inferebant; persecutorum vulnera iste sanabat. Petrus sequebatur a longe: neque enim negare potuisset, si Christo Domino adhaesisset. Ter me, inquit, negabis. In domo principis sacerdotum ignis ardebat, ubi Petrus occultus sedebat. Frigus erat, ubi Christus non erat. Petrus ab ancilla proditus negat. Mallem Petrum Dominum negasse, quam Jud⟨a⟩m Dominum vendidisse. Interrogatus Petrus: Et tu, inquit, ex illis es qui cum Galilaeo erant. Non enim erat qui in principio erat. Hominem negavit, hominum consortium refutavit: non enim hominis erat apostolus, qui fuerat Christi discipulus.
2. Why Peter strikes the ear. Why he is cold. Whom he denies. So Peter struck the ear of the servant of the chief. Why Peter? Because he himself received the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and he himself obtained the power of loosing and binding. The little ear was cut off from the servant who heard amiss, who with the inner ear understood Christ amiss, he who did not allow Christ to be reckoned a prophet, but taught that He be marked out by faithful confession as the Son of God. The clay recognizes its workman, and the flesh follows the one that works it. He could have commanded: He preferred to work, He Who formed the members of the body from the clay of the earth, He Who did not allow His enemies to be wounded. They were bringing death upon the Just One; He was healing the wounds of His persecutors. Peter followed from afar: for he could not have denied, if he had clung to Christ the Lord. Three times, He says, you will deny Me. In the house of the chief of the priests a fire was burning, where Peter sat hidden. It was cold where Christ was not. Peter, betrayed by a maidservant, denies. I would rather that Peter had denied the Lord than that Judas had sold the Lord. Peter is questioned: And you, she says, are of those who were with the Galilean. For He Who was in the beginning was not there. He denied the man, he rejected the fellowship of men: for he who had been Christ's disciple was not the apostle of a man.
3. Petri fletus. Ager figuli. Ergo flevit amare (Luc. XXII, 50, 54, 34, 56, 62): maluit ipse suum accusare peccatum, ut justificaretur fatendo, quam gravaretur negando. Lacrymas lego, satisfactionem non lego. Petrus negavit in nocte; sed confitetur in die. Habebat lacrymas Petrus, quas pio fundebat affectu: non habebat proditor fletus, quibus culpam ablueret; ut dum reus suo judicio damnatur, spontaneum facinus expietur. Peccavi, inquit, quod tradiderim sanguinem justum. Et Judaei: Quid ad nos? tu videris (Matth. XXVII, 4). Pertinacibus studiis funestam sibi vindicant sanguinis auctionem, cum refunderet venditor sacrilegii mercedem. Dum pretium sanguinis a Judaeorum gazophylacio separatur, et ager figuli Christi pecunia comparatur, locus humandis peregrinorum reliquiis: prophetiae testimonium adimpletur, et surgentis Ecclesiae mysterium revelatur (Zach. XI, 12). Ergo pretio sanguinis emitur mundus: venit enim ut salvetur mundus. Non enim cognovit mundus eum, qui fuerat in mundo mundus.
3. Peter's weeping. The potter's field. So he wept bitterly (Luke 22:50, 54, 34, 56, 62): he preferred to accuse his own sin, that he might be justified by confessing, rather than be weighed down by denying. I read of tears, I do not read of satisfaction. Peter denied in the night; but he confesses in the day. Peter had tears, which he shed with pious feeling: the betrayer had no weeping with which to wash away his guilt; so that, while the guilty man is condemned by his own judgement, the wilful crime might be expiated. I have sinned, he says, in that I have betrayed just blood. And the Jews: What is that to us? See to it yourself (Matt. 27:4). With obstinate zeal they claim for themselves the deadly sale of the blood, when the seller was paying back the wage of sacrilege. While the price of the blood is separated from the treasury of the Jews, and the potter's field is bought with the money of Christ, a place for burying the remains of strangers: the testimony of prophecy is fulfilled, and the mystery of the rising Church is revealed (Zech. 11:12). So the world is bought with the price of blood: for He came that the world might be saved. For the world did not know Him, Who had been pure in the world.
4. Christus in cruce vermis et scarabaeus. Accusatur, et tacet. Bene tacet, qui defensione non eget: ambiant defendi, qui timent vinci. Non ut reus excusat se tacendo, sed despicit falsidicos non refellendo. Manus quidem Pilatus lavit, sed facta non lavit. Uxor verberatur in nocte, admonet virum in die. Veritas fatigatur, et a servo Dominus judicatur. Coronam de spinis annexam compungentes, caput ejus coronant, et illudentes adorant. Ut rex salutatur, ut victor coronatur: et quasi Deus et Dominus adoratur. Pulchre crucem ascendit, judicio victor assistit. Talis ergo ascendit, qui saeculum vincere parat. Posuerunt titulum scriptum, Hic est Jesus, rex Judaeorum. Vermis in cruce, scarabaeus in cruce. Bonus vermis, qui haesit in ligno; bonus scarabaeus, qui clamavit e ligno. Quid clamavit? Ne statuas illis hoc peccatum. Illis
4. Christ on the cross a worm and a beetle. He is accused, and He is silent. Well is He silent Who has no need of defence: let those who fear to be defeated canvass to be defended. Not as a guilty man does He excuse Himself by keeping silent, but He despises the false speakers by not refuting them. Pilate indeed washed his hands, but he did not wash his deeds. The wife is lashed in the night, she warns her husband in the day. The Truth is wearied, and the Lord is judged by a servant. Piercing Him with a crown woven of thorns, they crown His head, and mocking they worship. As a king He is saluted, as a victor He is crowned: and as God and Lord He is worshipped. Beautifully He ascends the cross, He stands at the judgement as victor. Such then is He Who ascends, Who prepares to conquer the world. They placed a written title, This is Jesus, king of the Jews. A worm on the cross, a beetle on the cross. A good worm, Who clung to the wood; a good beetle, Who cried out from the wood. What did He cry out? Do not establish this sin against them. For them
Editors' notes and page, col. 2039
Footnotes
1 ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2039 Nec videtur abs re hic omissa Ambrosii referre verba: Ille condemnat, qui et absolvit, quoniam idem et ligandi, etc.
Nor does it seem beside the point to report here Ambrose's words that are omitted: "He condemns who also absolves, since the same [has power] of binding," etc.
2 ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2039 Ambrosius sic: Ponamus negasse Petrum, quia dixit Dominus, Ter me negabis; malo negasse Petrum, quam fefellisse Dominum
Ambrose thus: "Let us suppose that Peter denied, because the Lord said, You will deny me three times; I would rather Peter denied than that the Lord was mistaken."
3 ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2039 Ambrosius, Verbum aeternitatis refugit..... ille solus erat, qui in principio erat.
Ambrose, "The Word of eternity fled ..... he alone was, who was in the beginning."
4 ‹anchor: facinus expietur› · call in col 2039 Apud Ambrosium, et spontaneo supplicio facinus expiatur, pietas Domini, qui se ipse nollet ulcisci, et divinitas probaretur, qui conscientiam mentis invisibili potestate interrogaret.
In Ambrose, "and the crime is expiated by a voluntary punishment, so that the mercy of the Lord, who would not avenge himself, and his divinity, who questioned the conscience of the mind by invisible power, might be proved."
5 ‹anchor: se tacendo› · call in col 2039 Forte, accusat. Vide verba Ambrosii sermone sequenti, n. 1.
Perhaps "accusat" ("accuses"). See Ambrose's words in the following sermon, no. 1.
6 ‹anchor: Ne statuas› · call in col 2039 Apud Ambrosium, Pater, dimitte illis; hoc est, ne statuas, etc.
In Ambrose, "Father, forgive them; that is, do not lay," etc.
1 ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2040 Adde, latroni.
Add "latroni" ("to the thief").
2 ‹anchor: corpus celaret› · call in col 2040 Recedit exscriptor ab Ambrosio, a quo mysterii alia ratio profertur, ut ostenderetur, inquit, sine amaritudine [print unclear] immortalitas resurgentium futura.
The copyist departs from Ambrose, by whom another account of the mystery is offered: "that it might be shown," he says, "that the immortality of those who rise will be without bitterness."
3 ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2040 Ambrosius, impetraret.
Ambrose, "impetraret" ("might obtain").
(printed under page 282)
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