PL 39 · cols. 2040–2047

Appendix to Augustine's Sermones: Sermones supposititii, Sermones 138-154

Sermons CLII–CLIV

PL 39:2040

utique p⟨e⟩teb⟨a⟩t veniam, a quibus acc⟨ip⟩iebat injuriam. Hodie, inquit, mecum eris in paradiso. Nec mirum, si converso culpam ignoscebat, qui insultantibus veniam relaxabat. Potaverunt eum aceto (Matth. XXVII, 48). Bene ad consummanda omnia corruptio sinceritatis hauritur. Itaque acetum bibitur, vinum cum felle non bibitur. Sinceritati non debuit amaritudo misceri; quia pro nobis Dominum sine peccato docuit crucifigi. Pater, inquit, in manus tuas commendo Spiritum meum (Luc. XXIII, 38, 34, 43, 46). Bene tradidit, qui non amisit. Spiritus Patri commendatur, ut peccatorum vincula resolvantur. Sol occidit sacrilegis, ut spectaculum obumbraret funestis: finduntur petrae, et Judaeorum corda durantur. Elementa fugiunt, terra concutitur; judex arguit, miles custodit, monumenta reserantur, et Judaeorum perfidia denudatur.

surely He sought pardon, from whom He was receiving injury. Today, He says, you will be with Me in paradise. Nor is it a wonder if He forgave the fault of one who had turned, Who granted pardon to those who insulted Him. They gave Him vinegar to drink (Matt. 27:48). Fittingly, for the consummation of all things, the corruption of what is sound is drunk. And so vinegar is drunk; wine with gall is not drunk. Bitterness ought not to be mixed with soundness; because it showed that the Lord without sin was crucified for us. Father, He says, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit (Luke 23:38, 34, 43, 46). He handed it over well, Who did not lose it. The Spirit is commended to the Father, that the bonds of sinners may be loosed. The sun set for the sacrilegious, that it might overshadow the spectacle for the murderous: the rocks are split, and the hearts of the Jews are hardened. The elements flee, the earth is shaken; the judge accuses, the soldier keeps guard, the tombs are opened, and the faithlessness of the Jews is laid bare.

5. Cur Joseph occulte petit corpus Jesu. [Discipuli vigilant, et fletibus oculos moestos somnus invidus captat. Judaei, quid curiosi estis, ubi caro crucifixa remansit? In flammis cum tribus pueris apparuit, qui postea parvulus dignatus est nasci.] Stabant tamen mulieres haec videntes (Ibid., 49), stabat et mater Domini suo filio testimonium perhibente (Joan. XIX, 25). Joseph et Nicodemus Christum sepeliunt (Ibid., 39). Unus justus, alter in quo dolus non erat. Nam si Apostoli sepelirent, dicerent non sepultum, quem Judaei nuntiaverunt raptum. Nicodemus nocte venit propter metum Judaeorum. Simplicitas enim quaeritur, non ambitio desideratur. Quomodo justus latebras periculi timeret, qui corpus non timuit sepelire? Ideo occulte postulavit, ut corpus celaret, non ut periculum praecaveret. Mulieres longe stabant, quae diligenter locum servabant. Sexus nutat, devotio calet. Et cum discipuli fatigarentur, solae tamen ab angelo ne timeant admonentur. Noli me, inquit, tangere; nondum enim ascendi ad Patrem meum. Nondum tibi ascendi, quae viventem cum mortuis quaeris. Quare primum mulieri? Per mulierem mors antea est nuntiata, per mulierem vita hominibus reparatur. Mulier, quid ploras (Id. XX, 17, 15)? Mulier Christum videbat, sed hortulanum putabat Deus est qui adoratur, homo est qui tenebatur. Non renuit tangi a femina; quia non omnes possunt Christum tangere resurgentem, quem tetigerant in corpore commorantem.

5. Why Joseph secretly asks for the body of Jesus. [The disciples keep watch, and envious sleep seizes eyes sorrowful with weeping. Jews, why are you curious as to where the crucified flesh remained? He appeared in the flames with the three boys, Who afterwards deigned to be born a little child.] Yet the women stood seeing these things (ibid. 49), and the mother of the Lord stood, while her Son bore witness (John 19:25). Joseph and Nicodemus bury Christ (ibid. 39). The one a just man, the other one in whom there was no guile. For if the Apostles had buried Him, they would have said that He was not buried, Whom the Jews reported stolen. Nicodemus came by night for fear of the Jews. For simplicity is sought, ambition is not desired. How would a just man fear hiding-places from danger, who did not fear to bury the body? Therefore he asked secretly, that he might conceal the body, not that he might guard against danger. The women stood far off, who diligently watched the place. The sex wavers, devotion burns. And although the disciples were wearied, the women alone are nevertheless admonished by the angel not to fear. Do not touch Me, He says; for I have not yet ascended to My Father. I have not yet ascended for you, who seek the living among the dead. Why first to a woman? Through a woman death was formerly announced, through a woman life is restored to men. Woman, why are you weeping (ibid. 20:17, 15)? The woman saw Christ, but thought Him the gardener. It is God Who is adored, it is man Who was held. He did not refuse to be touched by a woman; because not all can touch Christ rising again, Whom they had touched while He dwelt in the body.

SERMO CLII. De Passione Domini III; et de Susanna.

SERMON 152. On the Passion of the Lord III; and on Susanna.

1. Cur Christus accusatus silet. Forsitan mirum videtur vobis, fratres, cur Dominus apud praesidem Pilatum a principibus sacerdotum accusetur, nec aliquem jam eorum responsione convincat; cum utique ingratam accusationem nonnisi repellere solet subsecuta defensio. Mirum, inquam, sit, fratres, quod arguatur Salvator, et taceat. Taciturnitas enim pro consensu habetur; videtur namque confirmare quod objicitur, cum non vult respondere quod quaeritur. Accusationem ergo suam Dominus tacendo nen firmat, sed despicit non repellendo. Bene enim tacet, qui defensione non indiget. Ambiat defendi, qui metuit superari. Festinet loqui, qui timet vinci. Christus autem cum condemnatur, exsuperat; cum judicatur, vincit, sicut ait Propheta, Ut justificeris in sermonibus tuis, et vincas cum judicaris (Psal. L, 6). Quid ergo

1. Why Christ, when accused, is silent. Perhaps it seems a wonder to you, brethren, why the Lord is accused before the governor Pilate by the chief priests, and does not now refute any of them by an answer; since surely a defence that follows usually does nothing but repel an unwelcome accusation. Let it be a wonder, I say, brethren, that the Saviour is accused and is silent. For silence is taken for consent; for one seems to confirm what is objected, when one will not answer what is asked. The Lord therefore by keeping silent does not confirm the accusation against Him, but despises it by not repelling it. For He is rightly silent, Who has no need of defence. Let him seek to be defended who fears to be overcome. Let him hasten to speak who fears to be conquered. But Christ, when He is condemned, overcomes; when He is judged, He conquers, as the Prophet says, That Thou mayest be justified in Thy words, and mayest conquer when Thou art judged (Ps. 50:6). What then

Editors' notes and page, col. 2040

Footnotes

1 ‹anchor: Hodie, inquit› · call in col 2040 Adde, latroni.

Add "latroni" ("to the thief").

(printed under page 282) 2 ‹anchor: docuit crucifigi› · call in col 2040 Recedit exscriptor ab Ambrosio, a quo mysterii alia ratio profertur, ut ostenderetur, inquit, sine amaritudine immortalitas resurgentium futura.

The copyist departs from Ambrose, by whom another account of the mystery is given: "that it might be shown," he says, "that the immortality of those who rise again would be without bitterness."

(printed under page 282) 3 ‹anchor: ut corpus celaret› · call in col 2040 Ambrosius, impetraret.

Ambrose, "impetraret" ("that he might obtain").

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Morel, Elem. Crit., p. 164, opinatur legendum, decuit, pro, docuit. Hanc sensus non requirit correctionem, quae tamen non est contemnenda. M.

Morel, Elements of Criticism, p. 164, thinks one should read "decuit" ("it befitted") for "docuit" ("he taught"). The sense does not require this correction, which is nevertheless not to be despised. M.

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Forte, num. M.

Perhaps "num". M.

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Olim, de Tempore 118; et post, in Appendice 44.

Formerly [Sermon] 118 on the Season; and later, no. 44 in the Appendix.

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Maximo in manuscriptis et in impressis tribui monent Lovanienses. Ipsa porro est, quae in ejus Homiliarum libris exhibetur post Dominicam in Ramis prima, quae et in subsequente ibidem homilia citatur. Nonnulla tamen Ambrosii in Lucam, cap. 23, verba habet hinc inde inspersa.

The Louvain editors note that it is attributed to Maximus in the manuscripts and in the printed editions. It is, moreover, the one shown in the books of his Homilies as the first after Palm Sunday, which is also cited in the homily that follows there. It nevertheless has some words of Ambrose on Luke, ch. 23, sprinkled here and there.

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opus erat ei loqui ante judicium, cui ipsum judicium erat plena victoria? Vincit ergo, cum judicatur Christus; quia sic innocens approbatur: unde ait Pilatus, Innocens ego sum a sanguine hujus justi (Matth. XXVII, 24). Melior est igitur causa quae non defenditur, et probatur: plenior justitia, quae non verbis astruitur, sed veritate fulcitur. Taceat lingua necesse est, ubi ipsa veritas sibi adest: taceat lingua in bono negotio, quae in malas causas obtinere consuevit. Nolo sic defendi justitiam, sicut solet iniquitas excusari. Quod vincit Christus, non orationis est, sed virtutis. Scivit enim Salvator, qui est sapientia, quomodo tacendo vinceret, quomodo non respondendo superaret: atque ideo causam suam maluit comprobare, quam dicere. Quae enim res illum compelleret ad loquendum, cum silentio satis sufficeret ad vincendum? Fortasse metus eum cogeret, ne salutem perderet, nisi quod ipsa erat tota causa victoriae. Suam enim salutem perdidit, ut salutem omnium lucraretur. In se vinci maluit, ut victor esset in cunctis.

need was there for Him to speak before the judgement, when the judgement itself was for Him full victory? He conquers, therefore, when Christ is judged; for thus is He proved innocent: whence Pilate says, I am innocent of the blood of this just man (Matt. 27:24). Better, then, is the cause which is not defended and yet is proved; fuller the justice which is not established by words but is upheld by truth. The tongue must needs be silent where truth itself is present on its own behalf: let the tongue be silent in a good business, the tongue which is accustomed to prevail in bad causes. I do not wish justice to be defended in the way that iniquity is usually excused. That Christ conquers is a matter not of speech but of power. For the Saviour, Who is wisdom, knew how He might conquer by keeping silent, how He might prevail by not answering: and therefore He preferred to prove His cause rather than to plead it. For what thing would compel Him to speak, when silence sufficed amply for conquering? Perhaps fear would have forced Him, lest He lose His safety, except that this very thing was the whole cause of the victory. For He lost His own safety in order to gain the salvation of all. He preferred to be conquered in Himself, that He might be victor in all.

2. Susanna castitate defensa. Judicem virginem meretur. Sed quid de Deo Christo loquar? Susanna mulier inimicos suos tacuit et vicit. Non enim apud Danielem judicem verborum se ratione defendit, non patrocinii sermone tutata est: sed in sancta femina tacente lingua, pro ea castitas loquebatur. Castitas enim Susannae adfuit in judicio, quae eam defendit in paradiso: ibi enim pudori ejus consuluit, hic saluti; ibi, ne macularetur pudicitia; hic, ne innocentia damnaretur. Castitas enim Susannae et presbyteros impudicos convicit in paradiso, et in judicio falsos accusatores obtinuit; bisque victrix reos facit testimonii, quos reos fecerat adulterii: atque tandem judicem meretur castitas Danielem puerum juniorem, necdum pubescentis aetatis. Multum igitur de Deo pudicitia consequitur, cum judicem virginem promeretur. Secura enim est de victoria castitas, cui est judicatura virginitas. Pudicitiae autem causas nisi vir pudicus audire non debuit. Talem enim arbitrum meretur castimonia, apud quem non periclitetur verecundia.

2. Susanna defended by chastity. She earns a virgin judge. But why do I speak of Christ, Who is God? The woman Susanna kept silent before her enemies and conquered. For before Daniel the judge she did not defend herself by reasoning with words, nor was she protected by the speech of an advocate: but while the tongue of the holy woman kept silent, chastity spoke on her behalf. For the chastity of Susanna was present for her in the judgement, the chastity which defended her in the garden: there it took care of her modesty, here of her safety; there, that her purity might not be stained; here, that her innocence might not be condemned. For the chastity of Susanna both convicted the unchaste elders in the garden and prevailed over the false accusers in the judgement; and, twice victorious, it makes guilty of false witness those whom it had made guilty of adultery: and at last chastity earns as judge Daniel, a boy still young, not yet of the age of puberty. Much, therefore, does purity obtain from God, when it earns a virgin judge. For chastity is secure of victory when virginity is to judge it. And the causes of purity ought not to have been heard except by a pure man. For chastity deserves such an arbiter, before whom modesty may not be endangered.

3. Danielis et Pilati idem judicium. Pilati iniquitas. Cognito igitur Daniel Susannae negotio, cum eam falsis accusationibus vellet plebs imperita damnare, ait idem: Mundus ego sum a sanguine hujus (Dan. XIII, 46). Quo dicto, peccantis populi revocavit errorem. Hac ergo voce circa Susannam Daniel utitur, qua circa Dominum usus est Pilatus. Ait enim Pilatus, Mundus ego sum a sanguine hujus justi (Matth. XXVII, 24). Eadem igitur sententia absolvitur pudicitia, qua est et absoluta justitia. Sed Daniel melius quam Pilatus: ille enim pudicum sanguinem nec condemnat, et liberat; hic autem justi sanguinem confitetur, et tradit. Quid enim profuit testimonium perhibuisse innocentiae, et velut reum addixisse nequitiae; nisi quod gravius peccatum est unum eumdemque et pronuntiare justum, et tradere criminosis? Ipse enim iniquitatis suae testis est, qui ore absolvit, et corde condemnat. Laverit licet manus suas Pilatus; tamen sua facta non diluit: quamvis abstergere se putaverit justi sanguinem de suis membris; eodem tamen sanguine mens ejus tenetur infecta. Ipse enim occidit Christum, qui eum tradidit occidendum. Judex enim bonus et constans, ne sanguinem innocentis addiceret, nec invidiae cedere debuit, nec timori. Daniel ergo melius quam Pilatus. Ille peccantis populi revocavit errorem; hic autem furentis Synagogae sacrilegium confirmavit.

3. The same judgement of Daniel and of Pilate. The iniquity of Pilate. Daniel, then, having learned of Susanna's affair, when the ignorant common people wished to condemn her on false accusations, said: I am clean of the blood of this woman (Dan. 13:46). By this saying he called back the error of the sinning people. Daniel, therefore, uses with regard to Susanna the same words which Pilate used with regard to the Lord. For Pilate says, I am clean of the blood of this just man (Matt. 27:24). By the same sentence, then, purity is acquitted by which justice too was acquitted. But Daniel did better than Pilate: for the former both does not condemn the pure blood and sets it free; the latter, however, acknowledges the blood of the just man and hands it over. For what did it profit to have borne witness to innocence, and yet to have handed it over to wickedness as though guilty; except that it is a graver sin for one and the same man both to pronounce a man just and to hand him over to criminals? For he is himself the witness of his own iniquity, who acquits with his mouth and condemns with his heart. Pilate may have washed his hands; yet he did not wash away his deeds: although he thought he was wiping the blood of the just man from his limbs, yet his mind remains stained with that same blood. For he himself killed Christ who handed Him over to be killed. For a good and steadfast judge, so as not to deliver up the blood of an innocent man, ought to have yielded neither to ill will nor to fear. Daniel, therefore, did better than Pilate. The former called back the error of the sinning people; the latter, however, confirmed the sacrilege of the raging Synagogue.

Editors' notes and page, col. 2041

Footnotes

1 ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2041 Ms. vd. a secunda manu, tacendo vicit. Ambrosius autem omittit, inimicos suos.

Ms. vd., in a second hand, "tacendo vicit" ("he conquered by keeping silent"). But Ambrose omits "inimicos suos" ("his enemies").

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2041

Opinatur Morel, Elem. Crit. p. 255, melius legendum in malo causas obtinere Cui sententiae adversamur; nihil est enim cur textus mutetur. Latine dici potest neut. genere in causas obtinere, pro, in causas exerceri. M.

Morel, Elements of Criticism, p. 255, thinks it better to read "in malo causas obtinere". We oppose this view; for there is no reason why the text should be changed. In Latin one can say, in the neuter, "in causas obtinere" for "in causas exerceri" ("to be engaged in lawsuits"). M.

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SERMO CLIII. De Passione Domini, IV.

Sermon 153. On the Passion of the Lord, 4.

1. Mundus totus redemptus. Admonet nos, fratres charissimi, ad solemnitatem Dominicae passionis ipse, in quo eam nec muta elementa tacuerunt. Celebret eam lux fidei linguis hominum, quam conclamaverunt etiam silentia tenebrarum. Hodie Dominus noster in statera crucis pretium nostrae salutis appendit, et una morte universum mundum, sicut omnium conditor, ita omnium reparator absolvit. Indubitanter enim credamus, quod totum mundum redemit, qui plus dedit quam totus mundus valeret. Meritum enim redemptae mercedis dignitas insignis pretii supergressa est. Inter redemptum et redimentem dispensatio fuit, compensatio non fuit. Qui ergo non habebat peccata propria, digne delevit aliena: solus hic pia victima pro omnibus cecidit, ut omnes levaret. Et quia debitum solus non habuit, recte fenus misericordiae pro debitoribus erogavit. Perpende inter haec qui talem pro nobis dedit pecuniam, qualem a nobis sit exacturus usuram. In hac itaque die fides propheticae annuntiationis impleta est, ita dicentis: Corpus meum dedi percutientibus, et genas meas vellentibus; faciem meam non averti a foeditate sputorum (Isai. L, 6). Suscepit mala nostra, ut tribueret bona sua.

1. The whole world redeemed. That very [day] on which not even the mute elements kept silent about it admonishes us, dearest brethren, towards the solemnity of the Lord's Passion. Let the light of faith celebrate it with the tongues of men, which even the silences of the darkness cried aloud. Today our Lord weighed out on the balance of the cross the price of our salvation, and by one death He set free the whole world, being, as He is the founder of all, so the restorer of all. For let us believe without doubt that He redeemed the whole world, Who gave more than the whole world was worth. For the distinguished dignity of the price surpassed the merit of the purchased wage. Between the redeemed and the Redeemer there was a dispensation; there was no compensation. He therefore Who had no sins of His own worthily blotted out those of others: He alone fell as a holy victim for all, that He might raise up all. And because He alone had no debt, He rightly paid out the interest of mercy on behalf of debtors. Weigh, amid these things, what kind of usury He Who gave such money for us will exact from us. On this day, therefore, the faith of the prophetic announcement was fulfilled, which says thus: I gave my body to those who struck, and my cheeks to those who plucked; I did not turn away my face from the foulness of spittings (Isa. 50:6). He took up our evils, that He might bestow His own goods.

2. Homo quam Deo charus, quantum valeat, quantum debeat. Mysterium chlamydis coccineae, coronae spineae, sitis in cruce, veli scissi, et monumentorum apertorum. Hinc intelligamus, quantum hominem diligere dignatus sit ante culpam, quem sic diligit post ruinam. Agnosce, homo, quantum valeas, et quantum debeas; et dum tantam redemptionis tuae perspicis dignitatem, ipse tibi indicito peccandi pudorem. Ecce pro impio pietas flagellatur, pro stulto sapientia illuditur, pro mendace veritas necatur, damnatur justitia pro iniquo, misericordia afficitur pro crudeli, pro misero repletur sinceritas aceto, inebriatur felle dulcedo, addicitur innocentia pro reo, moritur vita pro mortuo. Expavit scelus hominum natura rerum, et quem creatura rebellis non agnoscit, eum mundi Dominum tremens terra testatur, et coeli regem sol fugiens confitetur. Chlamyde coccinea induitur; quia sanguine martyrum suorum Ecclesiae corpus ornatur. Corona spinea capiti ejus imponitur; quia punctio peccatorum nostrorum, quorum remissione Redemptoris gloria struitur, aridis tribulis comparatur. Studeamus nunc e diverso, ut membrorum vita capitis sit corona. Quod vero sitire se in cruce positus dicit, fidem incredulae gentis concupiscit: sed e contra acetum malitiae porrigunt; quia vinum sapientiae, quod a Deo acceperant, peccando corruperant. Velum templi scinditur; quia Synagoga honore nudatur: observatio antiqua dissolvitur; Ecclesiae unitas praemonstratur. Monumenta aperiuntur, quia mortis jura jure superantur. Laxata sede tartarea a Domino rerum profundae noctis claustra reserantur, et quem homines non recipiunt, inferi Deum esse cognoscunt.

2. How dear man is to God, how much he is worth, how much he owes. The mystery of the scarlet cloak, the crown of thorns, the thirst on the cross, the torn veil, and the opened tombs. Hence let us understand how much He deigned to love man before the fault, whom He so loves after the fall. Recognize, O man, how much you are worth, and how much you owe; and while you perceive the dignity of so great a redemption of yours, enjoin upon yourself shame at sinning. Behold, for the impious Piety is scourged, for the foolish Wisdom is mocked, for the liar Truth is put to death, Justice is condemned for the unjust, Mercy is afflicted for the cruel, for the wretched Sincerity is filled with vinegar, Sweetness is made drunk with gall, Innocence is sentenced in place of the guilty, Life dies for the dead. The nature of things was terrified at the crime of men, and Him Whom rebellious creation does not acknowledge the trembling earth attests as Lord of the world, and the fleeing sun confesses as King of heaven. He is clothed in a scarlet cloak, because the body of the Church is adorned with the blood of His martyrs. A crown of thorns is placed upon His head, because the pricking of our sins, by whose remission the glory of the Redeemer is built up, is likened to dry thistles. Let us now strive, on the contrary, that the life of the members may be the crown of the head. But in that, placed on the cross, He says that He thirsts, He longs for the faith of an unbelieving nation; but they on the contrary offer the vinegar of malice, because the wine of wisdom which they had received from God they had corrupted by sinning. The veil of the temple is rent, because the Synagogue is stripped of honour: the ancient observance is dissolved; the unity of the Church is foreshown. The tombs are opened, because the rights of death are overcome by right. The infernal seat having been loosened by the Lord of things, the bars of profound night are unbarred, and Him Whom men do not receive the underworld recognizes to be God.

3. Mysterium Judae venditi Christi pretium refundentis.

3. The mystery of Judas throwing back the price of the sold Christ.

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Olim, de Tempore 114; et post, in Appendice 41.

Formerly [Sermon] 114 on the Season; and later, no. 41 in the Appendix.

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Ejusdem forsitan auctoris est, cujus pleraeque et illis quae sub nomine Eusebii circumferuntur Homiliae. Enimvero illic solemnius nihil conversione illa ad hominem, cum iisdem quibus hic urgetur verbis, ut attendat quantum ex Creatoris aestimatione valeat, quantum ei debeat. Ita homil. 2 de Pascha: « Perspice, o homo, quantum valeas, « et perpende quantum debeas. Perspice quantum valeas, « ut tandem vilis esse tibi desinas; ut vel per hoc erubescendo subjacere vitiis dedigneris. » Ita etiam homil. 1 et 2 de Symbolo, in expositione verborum, Inde venturus est judicare, etc. Denique homil. 6 de Pascha, « Aestimemus, » inquit, « in quantum suum servum diligere potuit ante culpam, quem sic glorificat post ruinam. » Haec ipsa verba hic n. 2. Vide sermonem subsequentem, n. 8. De num. 1 vide Eusebii in fine et circa medium homil. 6 de Pascha; de num. 2, vide Euseb. homil. 1 de Symbolo.

It is perhaps by the same author as most of the Homilies that circulate under the name of Eusebius. Indeed, nothing is more customary there than that turning to man, with the very words by which he is urged here to consider how much he is worth in the Creator's estimation and how much he owes him. So Homily 2 on Easter: "Consider, O man, how much you are worth, and weigh how much you owe. Consider how much you are worth, that at last you may cease to be cheap in your own eyes, so that, if only through this, you may scorn for shame to lie subject to vices." So too Homilies 1 and 2 on the Creed, in expounding the words "From thence he shall come to judge," etc. Finally Homily 6 on Easter: "Let us reckon," he says, "how much he could love his servant before the fault, whom he so glorifies after the fall." These very words are here in no. 2. See the following sermon, no. 8. On no. 1 see Eusebius at the end and about the middle of Homily 6 on Easter; on no. 2, see Eusebius, Homily 1 on the Creed.

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Quod autem triginta argenteos Judas venditor profanus refudit; indicabat nihil sibi Christi pretium profuturum, sed salutis beneficium scelere suo aliis conferendum. Videamus quid hoc refuso pretio emptum esse eloquia divina testantur. Emerunt, inquit, ex eo agrum figuli in sepulturam peregrinorum (Matth. XXVII, 7). Figulus Christus est: ager Christi Ecclesia, acquisitio peregrinorum populus Gentium. Superest, charissimi, ut agri hujus quotidiani atque perpetui studeamus esse cultores: seminemus in eo frugem bonae conscientiae, ut cum tempus messis, id est, consummationis, et dies reddendae rationis advenerit, cum securitate et exsultatione bonorum operum manipulos reportemus, et post contritionem jejuniorum praesentis Quadragesimae, laudabilium actuum candore vestiti, et indumento castitatis ornati, ad festa futura procedamus, et Pascha illud aeternum piorum inserti conciliis celebremus; praestante Domino nostro Jesu Christo, qui cum Patre, etc.

But that Judas, the profane seller, threw back the thirty pieces of silver indicated that the price of Christ would be of no profit to him, but that the benefit of salvation was to be conferred on others through his crime. Let us see what the divine utterances testify was bought with this price thrown back. They bought, it says, with it the potter's field for the burial of strangers (Matt. 27:7). The potter is Christ; the field of Christ is the Church; the acquisition of the strangers is the people of the Gentiles. It remains, dearest brethren, that we strive to be daily and perpetual cultivators of this field: let us sow in it the fruit of a good conscience, so that when the time of harvest, that is, of the consummation, and the day of rendering account has come, we may bring back with security and exultation the sheaves of good works; and after the contrition of the fasts of the present Quadragesima, clothed in the whiteness of praiseworthy acts and adorned with the garment of chastity, we may go forward to the feasts to come and, inserted into the assemblies of the pious, celebrate that eternal Pasch; by the gift of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who with the Father, etc.

SERMO CLIV. De Passione Domini, V; et de beato Latrone.

Sermon 154. On the Passion of the Lord, 5; and on the blessed Thief.

1. Scopus Christi in mysteriis carnis. Frequenter audivimus, fratres dilectissimi, beatum Paulum apostolum dicentem, Deus erat in Christo, mundum reconcilians sibi (II Cor. V, 19): id est, divinitas operabatur in corpore; apparebat in fragilitate humanitas, et in virtute majestas. Ad hoc itaque nobiscum vixit in carne, ut praeferret nobis exempla justitiae; ad hoc pro nobis mortem subiit, ut conferret munera salutis aeternae. Hominem ad hoc induit, ut erudiret; ad hoc tradidit, ut redimeret; ad hoc resumpsit, ut in Deum sumeret. Vitam ad hoc deposuit, ut donaret; mortem ad hoc suscepit, ut vinceret: cui tamen morti praesumptum dominium redditurae, quasi servus quidem succubuit, sed quasi Dominus imperavit. Siquidem nec animam inferni porta, nec corpus tenere potuit sepultura: quae per illud triduum nequaquam carnem mortali corruptione violabat; quia 1n inferno sub eadem mora regnum mortis anima destruebat.

1. The aim of Christ in the mysteries of the flesh. We have often heard, dearly beloved brethren, the blessed apostle Paul saying, God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19): that is, the divinity was working in the body; humanity appeared in frailty, and majesty in power. For this purpose, then, He lived with us in the flesh, that He might set before us examples of righteousness; for this He underwent death for us, that He might confer the gifts of eternal salvation. He put on man for this, that He might instruct him; for this He gave him up, that He might redeem him; for this He took him up again, that He might take him up into God. He laid down life for this, that He might bestow it; He accepted death for this, that He might conquer it: to which death, however, which was to give back the dominion it had presumed to seize, He succumbed indeed as a servant, but He commanded as Lord. For neither could the gate of hell hold His soul, nor the sepulchre His body: which through those three days in no way violated the flesh with mortal corruption, because in hell, during that same delay, the soul was destroying the kingdom of death.

2. Immensa Dei in hominem dignatio. Christi mors hominem, resurrectio Deum prodit. Latronis absolutio fit mundi spes et consolatio. Salutis spes ex duobus. Quid retribuemus Domino pro muneribus tantae dignationis? De plenitudine coelesti in facturam se suam factor exinanivit, figulus in figmentum suum transiit, et Rex coeli homini militavit. Militavit, dixi; crux enim pugnantem indicat, resurrectio triumphantem. Quis tantam possit narrare pietatem? A summo coelo egressio ejus (Psal. XVIII, 7), et usque ad inferni profunda descensio. In una eademque persona quam bene manifestantur humana pariter et divina? Nam sedem tartari penetraturus, hominem se confessus est dum descenderet; Deum se prodidit dum rediret. Ut redimeret impios, sicut ait sermo divinus, ut redimeret iniquos, inter iniquos reputatus est (Isai. LIII, 12), inter duos, quos dextra laevaque legimus pependisse (Luc. XXIII, 33). Se ipsum confusioni, et opprobrio crucis tradidit, ut latronem glorificaret. Sed si bene respicimus, non illi soli hoc praestitum deprehendimus. Nam dum tam insignem reum relaxat, dum tanto debitori refundit immanis debiti cautionem, humano generi conscripsit securitatem; ut consolatio ac spes fieret totius populi, absolutio unius desperati, et privatum donum in

2. The immense condescension of God towards man. The death of Christ reveals the man, the resurrection the God. The absolution of the thief becomes the hope and consolation of the world. The hope of salvation from the two. What shall we render to the Lord for the gifts of so great a condescension? From the heavenly fullness the Maker emptied Himself into His own making, the potter passed into His own figment, and the King of heaven served as a soldier for man. He served as a soldier, I have said; for the cross shows Him fighting, the resurrection triumphing. Who could tell of such great loving-kindness? His going forth is from the highest heaven (Ps. 18:7), and His descent even to the depths of hell. In one and the same person how well are the human and the divine alike made manifest? For, being about to penetrate the seat of Tartarus, He confessed Himself man while He descended; He revealed Himself God when He returned. That He might redeem the impious, as the divine word says, that He might redeem the wicked, He was reckoned among the wicked (Isa. 53:12), between two, who we read hung on the right and on the left (Luke 23:33). He gave Himself up to the confusion and disgrace of the cross, that He might glorify the thief. But if we look closely, we find that this was not granted to him alone. For while He releases so notorious a defendant, while He gives back to so great a debtor the bond of an enormous debt, He wrote out security for the human race; so that the absolution of one desperate man might become the consolation and hope of the whole people, and a private gift into

Editors' notes and page, col. 2043

Footnotes

1 ‹anchor: narrare pietatem› · call in col 2043 Verba, Quis tantam possit narrare pietatem, desunt in manuscriptis et apud Eusebium.

The words "Who could tell such great mercy?" are wanting in the manuscripts and in Eusebius.

(printed under page 284)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2043

Olim, de Tempore 120; et post, in Appendice 45.

Formerly [Sermon] 120 on the Season; and later, no. 45 in the Appendix.

(printed under page 284)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2043

Exstat inter Homilias in Bibliotheca Patrum sub nomine Eusebii vulgatus; ibique, sicut in manuscriptis incipit ab his verbis, « Deus erat in Christo, » etc. Non indignus est Fausto semipelagiano, cujus inspecto lib. 1 de Libero Arbitrio, cap. 7, et lib. 2, cap. 6, mox intelliges ipsius esse loquendi modos quos habes hic n. 3, « fides novella; » n. 7, « credulitatis affectum; » n. 9, « felicitas credulitatis, credulitatis compendiosa devotio. » De num. 4 vide Eusebii homil. 10 de Pascha; de num. 8, confer Euseb. homil. 2 de Pascha, et supra serm. 153, n. 2.

It stands among the Homilies in the Bibliotheca Patrum, published under the name of Eusebius; and there, as in the manuscripts, it begins with the words "God was in Christ," etc. It is not unworthy of Faustus the Semipelagian: inspect his book 1 On Free Will, ch. 7, and book 2, ch. 6, and you will soon see that the turns of speech you have here are his: in no. 3, "new-born faith"; in no. 7, "the disposition of believing"; in no. 9, "the happiness of believing, the compendious devotion of believing." On no. 4 see Eusebius, Homily 10 on Easter; on no. 8, compare Eusebius, Homily 2 on Easter, and above, sermon 153, no. 2.

1 ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2044 Ita manuscripti et Eusebius. At editi, etiam cum latrone.

So the manuscripts and Eusebius. But the printed editions, "etiam cum latrone" ("even with the thief").

2 ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2044 Editi Augustiniani: Quantum sit in spe, etc.

The Augustinian printed editions: "How much there is in hope," etc.

3 ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2044 In editis hic addebatur, et patientiae magnitudo, ostenditur cum hominem, etc. Eusebium et manuscriptos secuti sumus.

In the printed editions there was added here, "and the greatness of patience is shown when [he] ... the man," etc. We have followed Eusebius and the manuscripts.

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publicum cresceret beneficium. Quare indubitanter credendum est, quod latroni illi ad commendationem fidei suae, etiam causa spei nostrae et utilitatis accesserit. Immensa enim Dei nostri bonitas libenter tribuit, quae etiam generaliter profutura praenoscit. Et ideo juxta fiduciam tantae clementiae, si quis nostrum crimina sua probabili conversatione damnaverit, et Christum toto corde crediderit, etiam nunc latroni in semetipso ingressum paradisi aperuisse se noverit. Quantum agit in spe salutis humanae magnitudo fidei, et altitudo divitiarum misericordiae Dei? Ecce hominem in sceleribus involutum poena misit ad innocentiam, et offensa perduxit ad gloriam. Quem saluti culpa perdiderat, perditio invenit, cruciatus absolvit, damnatio consecravit.

a public benefit might grow. Therefore it must be believed without doubt that to that thief, for the commendation of his faith, there was added also a cause of our hope and of usefulness. For the immense goodness of our God gladly bestows what He foreknows will also be of profit generally. And therefore, in accordance with confidence in so great a clemency, if any one of us has condemned his crimes by a commendable manner of life and has believed in Christ with his whole heart, let him know that even now he has, in himself, opened to the thief the entrance of paradise. How much does the greatness of faith achieve in the hope of human salvation, and the depth of the riches of the mercy of God? Behold, punishment sent a man entangled in crimes to innocence, and offence led him to glory. Him whom guilt had lost to salvation, perdition found, torment absolved, condemnation consecrated.

3. Latro salutem merito obtinet, Christum credens dum derelinquitur. Sed non sine causa tantum meruit. Videamus quo tempore fidelis apparuit. Ecce inter signa atque virtutes attestantibus miraculis et acclamantibus, aliquoties in discipulis mens jam robusta titubavit; et nunc Christi suppliciis quodam modo contradicentibus in latrone fides novella convaluit. Sub ipso passionis tempore ab ancilla interrogatus unus ex discipulis beatus Petrus, peculiarius Christo cognitus, ita respondit, Non novi hominem istum (Matth. XXVI, 72): et iste qui ante non noverat, exclamat, Memento mei, Domine, cum veneris in regnum tuum (Luc. XXIII, 42). Quam singularis et quam stupenda devotio! Sub illo tempore credidit reus, quo negavit electus. Laudabilius hoc itaque in latrone ac magnificentius fuit, quod hominem addictum et inter extrema deficientem supplicia, Deum credidit, quam si inter virtutum opera credidisset. Non itaque sine causa tantum meruit.

3. The thief rightly obtains salvation, believing in Christ while He is forsaken. But not without cause did he merit so much. Let us see at what time he appeared as one of the faithful. Behold, amid signs and mighty works, with miracles attesting and acclaiming, the mind of the disciples, already strong, sometimes wavered; and now, while the sufferings of Christ in a certain manner contradicted it, a new faith grew strong in the thief. At the very time of the Passion, questioned by a maidservant, one of the disciples, blessed Peter, known to Christ more particularly, answered thus: I do not know this man (Matt. 26:72); and this man, who had not known Him before, cries out: Remember me, Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom (Luke 23:42). How singular and how astounding a devotion! At that very time the guilty man believed, when the chosen one denied. This therefore was more praiseworthy and more magnificent in the thief, that he believed to be God a man condemned and failing amid the extremest torments, than if he had believed amid works of power. Not without cause, therefore, did he merit so much.

4. Deum confitens dum patitur. Advertamus plenius, quo tempore Dominum confitetur. Fervebat iniquitas persequentium, exsultabat impietas blasphemantium; contritio, livores et vulnera solum Christum hominem demonstrabant. Sacrarum manuum in ligno crucis extensio, et reverenda confixio, quae condemnabat Adae et Evae manus ad interdictum ligni cibum ingemiscenda saeculis transgressione porrectas; haec, inquam, confixio per omnia infirmitatem hominis asserebat. Illisae per latus lanceae tremenda percussio quantum ostendebat hominem, tantum abscondebat Deum. Apostolis post divina miracula desperantibus, solus hic non acquiescit scandalo crucis et mortis; solus hic testis est majestatis, qui socius probatur doloris, et ideo adhuc in latrociniis positus, invisibilem Deum angelicis jam oculis videt. Illuminaverat, credo, nascentem fidem lateri jam credentis in Christum propius corpore admota divinitas, quae se largius sub momento illo peragendae redemptionis infuderat.

4. Confessing God while He suffers. Let us consider more fully at what time he confesses the Lord. The iniquity of the persecutors was seething, the impiety of the blasphemers was exulting; the bruising, the weals and the wounds showed Christ to be only a man. The stretching out of the sacred hands on the wood of the cross, and the venerable nailing, which condemned the hands of Adam and Eve stretched out to the forbidden food of the tree in a transgression to be lamented by the ages; this nailing, I say, asserted in every way the weakness of a man. The dreadful blow of the lance driven into His side, as much as it showed a man, so much did it hide God. While the apostles despaired after divine miracles, he alone does not yield to the scandal of the cross and of death; he alone is a witness of the majesty who is shown to be a companion of the suffering, and therefore, though still placed amid his robberies, he already sees the invisible God with angelic eyes. The divinity, brought bodily nearer to the side of one already believing in Christ, had, I believe, illumined his nascent faith, the divinity which had poured itself out more abundantly at that moment of the redemption that was to be accomplished.

5. Orationis illius fides. Latro martyr. Videamus autem qualis fuerit ipsa deprecatio confitentis. Memento, inquit, mei, Domine, cum veneris in regnum tuum. Non dixit, Si Deus es, de praesenti supplicio eripe me: sed magis, Quia Deus es, de futuro judicio libera me. Quam cito eum replevit Spiritus sancti eruditio, per quam futuri examinis diem cogitans, etsi intolerabile probat esse quod sentit, gravius tamen intelligit esse quod metuit. Praedicat saeculis judicem regemque saeculorum: nondum vocatus, et jam electus; nondum famulus, et jam amicus; nondum discipulus, et jam magister, atque ex latrone confessor. Memento, inquit, mei. Gloriosa voce praesentes temperat cruciatus. Temperat, diximus: quia etsi poena coeperat in latrone, novo genere consummatur in martyre. De ligno crucis clamat; sed jam tempora retributionis cogitat.

5. The faith of his prayer. The thief a martyr. But let us see of what kind was the very supplication of the one confessing. Remember me, he says, Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom. He did not say: If Thou art God, rescue me from the present punishment; but rather: Because Thou art God, deliver me from the future judgement. How quickly the instruction of the Holy Spirit filled him, through which, thinking of the day of the future examination, although he finds what he feels to be unbearable, he nevertheless understands what he fears to be heavier. He proclaims to the ages the Judge and King of the ages: not yet called, and already chosen; not yet a servant, and already a friend; not yet a disciple, and already a master, and from a thief a confessor. Remember me, he says. With a glorious voice he tempers his present torments. Tempers, we have said: because, although the punishment had begun in a thief, by a new kind it is completed in a martyr. He cries out from the wood of the cross; but already he thinks of the times of retribution.

Editors' notes and page, col. 2044

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 2044

Cave a semipelagiano.

Beware of the Semipelagian.

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6. Merces Latroni promissa. Videamus quid inter ista respondeat dives et larga Dei bonitas: quae sicut excedit vota, ita gratiam adjungit ad merita. Hodie, inquit; tanquam si diceret, Quid me, inquit, o fidelissime comes et unice tanti testis triumphi, quid me tantopere exorandum putas, ut in die judicii mei meminerim tui? Quid me ad praesentem retributionem paratum, in tempora tam longa dissimulas? quid in futura saecula fidem in te perfectam fatigas? Hodie mecum eris in paradiso (Luc. XXIII, 43). Ergo tanquam haereditaria et paterna sedes, quae expulso Adam, quae expulsis duobus, clausa est innumeris populis, te introeunte reserabitur. Ingredere illuc primus; sed ingressu feliciore quam primus. Intra paradisum, nequaquam ultra cum Adam visurus infernum. Nullum illic cibum lethalem, nullam jam legem, nullam arborem pertimescas: ego tibi illic ero victus et vita. Et ne forte verearis, ne tibi aliquis hostis in illo beato nemore, ne antiquus ille latro insidietur, possessio tibi illic me introducente firmabitur. Recedat ergo infidelitas, quae Deum et hominem non recognoscit. Nam sicut diabolus est qui de paradiso expulit; ita Deus est qui reduci⟨t⟩.

6. The reward promised to the Thief. Let us see what the rich and generous goodness of God answers amid these things: which, just as it exceeds prayers, so adds grace to merits. Today, He says; as if He were saying, Why, He says, O most faithful companion and sole witness of so great a triumph, why do you think I must be so earnestly entreated, that I should remember you on the day of My judgement? Why do you put Me off, ready as I am for a present recompense, into times so long? Why do you weary the faith perfected in you into ages to come? Today you shall be with Me in paradise (Luke 23:43). Therefore that hereditary and paternal seat, as it were, which, when Adam was expelled, when the two were expelled, was closed to innumerable peoples, will be unbarred as you enter. Enter there first; but with an entrance happier than the first [man's]. Enter into paradise, never again to see hell with Adam. There you need fear no deadly food, no law any longer, no tree: I shall be your sustenance and life there. And lest perhaps you fear that some enemy in that blessed grove, that that ancient robber may lie in wait for you, the possession will be made secure for you there, since it is I who bring you in. Let unbelief therefore withdraw, which does not acknowledge God and man. For just as it is the devil who expelled from paradise, so it is God who brings back.

7. Christum in cruce Deum testantur, judicium illius de latronibus, mira illius patientia, creatura universa. Hominis quanta durities. Secundum haec, charissimi, per omnem gestorum ordinem, Deum sub homine agnoscamus operantem. Positus in patibulo velut arbiter in medio damnatorum, negantem repulit, suscepit confitentem; hunc deputat regno, illum relinquit inferno. Per haec ergo credamus in majestate judicaturum, quem jam in cruce et misericordiam videmus exercere et judicium. Credamus, inquam, Deum, vel ex sola virtute patientiae, qui dum ab homine cruci et neci traditur, sic quoque homini gloriam pollicetur: qui illas ipsas injurias et plagas congestas in corpus suum, convertit in pretium nostrum. Sed et ipsa totius mundi rationabilis creatura motibus suis Deum loquitur. Nam in media passione Domini Salvatoris coelestia et terrena turbantur; lux cum nocte miscetur, elementa quatiuntur, et ab antiquis ministeriis effugantur. Aperte rerum natura perspicitur commoveri, velut in vindictam auctoris sui velit armari. Terra ipsa concussa a fundamentis suis, quasi quae crucem Domini vix sustineat, tanquam ad scelus proprium contremiscit. Dies refugo lumine, quomodo potest, sumit lamentum, et fusco tristium tenebrarum habitu, more lugentis, induitur: et sicut tota coeli facies Dominicae nativitatis gloriam nova luce testatur; ita crucis injuriam novis tenebris detestatur. Et quae duritia cordis humani? Vae eis qui inter ista non credunt; quandoquidem creatura insensibilis, quae recipere non potest credulitatis affectum, dat tamen Deo confessionis obsequium: et cum pro solo homine Christus mortuus sit, perhibet ei tamen etiam pars illa mundi testimonium divinitatis, ad quam non pervenerunt beneficia passionis.

7. That Christ on the cross is God is attested by His judgement concerning the thieves, by His wondrous patience, by the whole creation. How great is the hardness of man. In accordance with these things, dearly beloved, through the whole order of the deeds, let us recognize God working under the man. Placed on the gibbet like an arbiter in the midst of the condemned, He repelled the one who denied, He received the one who confessed; this one He assigns to the kingdom, that one He leaves to hell. Through these things, therefore, let us believe that He will judge in majesty, Whom we already see exercising both mercy and judgement on the cross. Let us believe, I say, that He is God, if only from the power of His patience, Who, while He is handed over by man to the cross and to death, even so promises glory to man: Who converted those very injuries and blows heaped upon His body into our ransom. But the rational creation of the whole world too declares God by its movements. For in the midst of the passion of the Lord Saviour things heavenly and earthly are thrown into turmoil; light is mingled with night, the elements are shaken and are driven from their ancient services. Nature is plainly seen to be moved, as though it wished to arm itself to avenge its Author. The earth itself, shaken from its foundations, as though it could scarcely bear the cross of the Lord, trembles as if at a crime of its own. The day, its light fleeing, takes up lamentation as it can, and is clothed in the dark garb of sad shadows, after the manner of one mourning: and just as the whole face of the sky bears witness with a new light to the glory of the Lord's nativity, so it execrates the injury of the cross with new darkness. And what is this hardness of the human heart? Woe to those who do not believe amid these things; since insensible creation, which cannot receive the disposition of belief, nevertheless renders to God the homage of confession: and though Christ died for man alone, even that part of the world which the benefits of the passion did not reach nevertheless bears Him witness of His divinity.

8. Quantum homo valeat et debeat. Quam reus cum peccat. Judicii futuri oblivio, magna peccati poena. Quae cum ita sint, charissimi, agnoscat homo quantum valeat, et quantum illum Deo obnoxium faciat vel natura vel gratia. Agnoscat homo quantum ab illo exspectet Deus; et quem tanta dignatione habuit charum, quam velit esse in conversatione pretiosum. Agnoscat homo quantum valeat, et quantum debeat: et dum pretium suum cogitat, vilis sibi esse desinat, et potius vicem muneris Salvatori ex ipso bono suo, id est, de conservata salute restituat. Custodiamus ergo sollicite quod tanti sudoris commercio Christus redemit. Reus itaque erit non parvi pretii, sed sanguinis Christi, qui violat et commaculat animam,

8. How much man is worth and owes. How guilty he is when he sins. Forgetfulness of the judgement to come, a great penalty of sin. Since these things are so, dearly beloved, let man recognize how much he is worth, and how much either nature or grace makes him beholden to God. Let man recognize how much God expects from him; and how precious in his manner of life He wishes him to be whom He has held dear with such great condescension. Let man recognize how much he is worth, and how much he owes: and while he considers his price, let him cease to be cheap in his own eyes, and rather let him render to the Saviour a return for the gift out of that very good of his, that is, from the salvation preserved. Let us therefore carefully guard what Christ redeemed by the exchange of so great a toil. Accordingly he will be guilty not of a small price, but of the blood of Christ, who violates and defiles the soul,

Editors' notes and page, col. 2045

Footnotes

1 ‹anchor: et misericordiam› · call in col 2045 In mss. et apud Eusebium desiderantur voces, et misericordiam; adjectae hic forte contra mentem auctoris pelagianistae.

In the manuscripts and in Eusebius the words "et misericordiam" ("and mercy") are wanting; perhaps added here against the mind of the Pelagianist author.

2 ‹anchor: vix sustineat› · call in col 2045 Eusebius, quasi quae super crucem Deum vix sustineat.

Eusebius, "as though it could scarcely bear God upon the cross."

1 ‹anchor: mente concipiuntur› · call in col 2046 Forte legendum, conceduntur. Aut certe abundant verba, et mihi resoluta mente concipiuntur. Et ipsa quidem omittunt cum Eusebio manuscripti.

Perhaps one should read "conceduntur" ("are granted"). Or else the words "and are conceived by me with a careless mind" are certainly superfluous. And indeed the manuscripts, with Eusebius, omit them.

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Christi sanguine et passione mundatam; blasphemus, homicida, castitatis proditor. Haec tria capitaliter occidunt. Contestamur Charitati vestrae causas aeternorum malorum. Blasphemus, homicida, proditor castitatis suae, expugnator alienae; id est, qui legitimi cubilis jura transgreditur, qui extra conjugem suam per mortiferos errat amplexus, reus erit aeternae mortis: quia vilem in se habuit sanguinem Redemptoris. Et quia clamat Apostolus, Neque rapaces, neque adulteri regnum Dei possidebunt (I Cor. VI, 10); abstineamus manus ab alienis, oculos ab aliena femina caveamus: ne corpori illi quod de nostro Christus assumpsit, injuriam faciamus in nostro corpore. Caveamus ita peccatis et criminibus vitam prodere; ut ad nos non respiciat prophetia illa terribilis, Non est, inquit, Deus in conspectu ejus, polluuntur viae ejus in omni tempore, auferuntur judicia tua a facie ejus (Psal. IX, 5). Irremediabile periculum est, sic aliquem vitiis et cupiditatibus frena laxare, ut se rationem Deo non meminerit redditurum; quia puto magna sit jam peccati poena, metum ac memoriam futuri perdidisse judicii. Non nobis ita dulcia sint pauperum spolia postmodum nimis amaricatura. Nihilominus, sicut dictum est, refugiamus carnis alienae abominanda contagia, vitemus obscena inimicae voluptatis incendia. Haec qui agit, charissimi, de stipula ac lignis iniquitatum perpetuos sibi succendit ignes, et nunquam exstinguendos concinnat vapores. Non tanti est vita, si ad hoc vivat homo, ut in paucis hujus vitae annis consumat aeternos, et sub brevi fine congreget sibi poenas sine fine mansuras.

cleansed by the blood and passion of Christ; the blasphemer, the murderer, the betrayer of chastity. These three kill mortally. We solemnly declare to your Charity the causes of eternal evils. The blasphemer, the murderer, the betrayer of his own chastity and the assailant of another's; that is, he who transgresses the rights of the lawful marriage-bed, who outside his own wife wanders through deadly embraces, will be guilty of eternal death: because he held the blood of the Redeemer cheap in himself. And since the Apostle cries, Neither the rapacious nor adulterers shall possess the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:10), let us keep our hands from what belongs to others, let us guard our eyes from another man's woman: lest we do injury in our own body to that body which Christ took from ours. Let us beware of thus betraying our life to sins and crimes, so that that terrible prophecy may not look upon us: God is not, it says, in his sight; his ways are defiled at all times; Thy judgements are taken away from his face (Ps. 9:5). It is an irremediable danger for anyone so to slacken the reins to vices and desires that he does not remember he will render account to God; for I think it is already a great punishment of sin to have lost the fear and the memory of the judgement to come. Let not the spoils of the poor be so sweet to us, which will afterwards be exceedingly bitter. Nevertheless, as has been said, let us flee the abominable contagion of another's flesh, let us shun the obscene fires of hostile pleasure. He who does these things, dearest ones, kindles for himself everlasting fires from the stubble and wood of iniquities, and prepares fumes never to be extinguished. Life is not worth so much, if a man lives for this, that in the few years of this life he should consume the eternal [years], and within a brief end gather to himself punishments that will remain without end.

9. Latronis exemplum ne remissioris vitae sit occasio: quia paucis fides Latronis, et multi hac inani spe decepti. Sed ne forte, charissimi, aliquem nimis securum faciat aut remissum tam nova felicitas credulitatis, ne forte dicat aliquis in corde suo: Non me usque adeo conturbet et cruciet rea conscientia, non me usque adeo co⟨n⟩tristet culpabilis vita; video sub momento, video sub exiguo spatio latroni crimina sua donata, et mihi resoluta mente concipiuntur. Primum consideranda est in latrone illo non solum credulitatis compendiosa devotio, sed temporis illius, sub quo haec agebantur, occasio, quo justorum legitur titubasse perfectio. Deinde ante mihi fidem latronis ostende, et tunc tibi latronis beatitudinem pollicere. Immittit diabolus securitatem, ut inferat perditionem: neque dinumerari possunt, quantos haec inanis spei umbra deceperit. Deterreant, quaeso, nos ab hac persuasione innumerabiles populi sub tali securitate nudi et vacui bonis, et malis pleni, ex hac luce praerepti.

9. Let not the example of the Thief be an occasion for a more remiss life: because the Thief's faith belongs to few, and many have been deceived by this empty hope. But lest perhaps, dearest ones, so new a happiness of believing should make someone too secure or remiss, lest perhaps someone should say in his heart: Let not a guilty conscience trouble and torment me so very much, let not a culpable life grieve me so very much; I see that in a moment, I see that in a brief space the thief's crimes were forgiven him, and with a relaxed mind they are conceived by me. First, one must consider in that thief not only the concise devotion of his believing, but also the occasion of that time in which these things were done, at which, we read, the perfection of the just wavered. Next, show me first the faith of the thief, and then promise yourself the blessedness of the thief. The devil sends in security in order to bring on perdition: nor can it be numbered how many this shadow of empty hope has deceived. Let the innumerable peoples deter us, I beg, from this persuasion, who under such security, naked and empty of good things and full of evil ones, were snatched away from this light.

10. Salutis tempus differre, periculosissimum, stultissimum, Deo odibile. Latro salutis opus non distulit. Quotidie expavescenda transitus nostri et commigrationis incerta hora; quae et modo vel insperata vel subita sunt, et in aeternum remediis caritura sunt. Praeveniendus est dies qui praevenire consuevit. Ipse se seducit, et de morte sua ludit, qui hoc cogitat: Potest mihi extremi temporis indulgentia subvenire. Non est hoc: primum, quia periculosissima est in ultimum diem promissa securitas; deinde, stultissimum est ut causa quae de necessitatibus agitur aeternis, inutilitatibus vitae deficientis committatur extremis. Odibile est apud Deum, quando homo sub fiducia poenitentiae in senectutem reservatae liberius peccat. Credite, charissimi, difficile est ut callida dissimulatio ordinandae consummationis obtinere digna sit facultatem: apud illum cordis interpretem ars non admittitur ad salutem. Ille autem, de quo locuti sumus, beatus latro, beatus, inquam, non jam juxta viam insidias tendens, sed viam ipsam in Christo tenens, ac vitae praedam subito rapiens, immutato genere et nova spolia de morte propria reportans, ille nec salutis tempora sciens distulit, nec remed⟨i⟩a status sui

10. To put off the time of salvation is most dangerous, most foolish, hateful to God. The thief did not put off the work of salvation. Daily must the uncertain hour of our passing and departure be dreaded; for these are at times either unexpected or sudden, and will be without remedies for eternity. The day must be forestalled which is accustomed to forestall. He deceives himself and makes sport of his own death who thinks this: The indulgence of the last moment can come to my aid. It is not so: first, because security promised for the last day is most dangerous; next, it is most foolish that a cause which is pleaded concerning eternal necessities should be entrusted to the final uselessnesses of a failing life. It is hateful in the sight of God when a man sins more freely in reliance on a penance reserved for old age. Believe me, dearest ones, it is difficult for the cunning dissimulation of arranging one's end to be worthy of obtaining the opportunity: before that Interpreter of the heart craft is not admitted to salvation. But he of whom we have spoken, the blessed thief, blessed, I say, no longer laying ambushes beside the way, but holding the Way itself in Christ, and suddenly seizing the booty of life, with his kind changed and carrying back new spoils from his own death, he neither knowingly put off the times of salvation, nor did he place the remedies of his state

Editors' notes and page, col. 2046

Footnotes

1 ‹anchor: concipiuntur› · call in col 2046 Forte legendum, conceduntur. Aut certe abundant verba, et mihi resoluta mente concipiuntur. Et ipsa quidem omittunt cum Eusebio manuscripti.

Perhaps read "conceduntur" ("are granted"). Or at any rate the words "and with a relaxed mind they are conceived by me" are superfluous. And indeed the manuscripts, with Eusebius, omit them.

(printed under page 285)

Page

running head: SERMO CLIV. 2046
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PL 39:2047

in m⟨o⟩menta ultima infelici fraude posuit, nec redemptionis suae spem in desperationis novissimum reservavit: nec religionem ante, nec Christum scivit. Quod si scisset, fuisset forsitan inter Apostolos non postremus in numero, qui prior factus est in regno. Ergo etiam ex hoc in extremo placuit Deo; quia ad consequendam fidem non fuit extrema hora illa, sed prima. Opus est ergo ut sibi homo quotidiano actu provideat, et procuret bonam consummationem: opus est ut tota vita nostra talis sit in conversatione, ut liberi mereamur esse in fine. Incessabiliter diem transitus nostri et tempus judicii cogitantes, nos quoque cum latrone jugiter proclamemus, Memento mei, Domine, cum veneris in regnum tuum.

in the last moments by an unhappy deceit, nor did he reserve the hope of his redemption for the final point of despair: he knew neither religion beforehand, nor Christ. Had he known, he would perhaps not have been the last in number among the Apostles, he who was made first in the kingdom. Therefore even from this, at the very end, he pleased God; because for the obtaining of faith that hour was not the last, but the first. It is needful, then, that a man provide for himself by daily action, and procure a good consummation: it is needful that our whole life be such in its conduct, that we may merit to be free at the end. Unceasingly thinking upon the day of our passing and the time of judgement, let us too continually cry out with the thief, Remember me, Lord, when Thou comest into Thy kingdom.

Editors' notes and page, col. 2047

Footnotes

(none) The foot notes printed under page 286 (1, 2, (a), (b) under col 2047; 1, 2 under col 2048) are all called in Sermo CLV, which belongs to a later unit; they are not set here.