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Appendix to Augustine's Sermones: Sermones supposititii, Sermones 258-271

Sermons CCLX–CCLXII

de die in diem; et non magis times ne forte hodie habeas ultimum diem? Haec ergo quae suggessimus, fratres charissimi, si secundum vestram consuetudinem sanctam libenti animo accipitis, et sollicito ac vigilanti corde jugiter cogitatis; et in hac vita cum conscientia bona vivere poteritis, et in futuro saeculo ad aeternam beatitudinem feliciter pervenietis: praestante Domino nostro Jesu Christo, cui honor et imperium in saecula, etc.

from day to day; and do you not fear more that perhaps today you have your last day? If, then, dearest brethren, you receive with a willing mind these things which we have suggested, according to your holy custom, and ponder them continually with a careful and watchful heart, you will both be able to live in this life with a good conscience, and in the world to come you will happily attain to eternal beatitude: by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, to Whom be honour and dominion for ever, etc.

SERMO CCLX. Admonitio excerpta de libris antiquorum Patrum, ut qui se crimina capitalia fecisse cognoscit, ad poenitentiae medicamenta sine aliqua dissimulatione confugiat.

Sermon 260. An admonition excerpted from the books of the ancient Fathers, that whoever knows that he has committed capital crimes should flee to the remedies of penance without any dissimulation.

1. Confessio, tabula post naufragium. Anima mortua lacrymis suscitatur. Non autem solis eleemosynis. Unde vos frequenter admonui, fratres charissimi, iterum atque iterum admoneo et contestor, ut qui se cognoscit de littore continentiae, tempestate libidinis, in pelagum luxuriae fuisse jactatum, et castitatis incurrisse naufragium, peccatorum confessionem, velut tabulam fractae navis velociter apprehendat: ut per ipsam de abysso ac profundo luxuriae possit evadere, et ad portum poenitentiae pervenire; ubi jam tutiori loco spei anchoram figere, et salutem perditam valeat reparare. Oportet enim unumquemque super se ipsum quasi super mortuum conclamare, et magnos super exstinctam animam dare planctus. Et quomodo solet mater super mortuum unicum filium toto pectore lamentari; sic oportet super unicam animam nostram criminis gladio interfectam, totum pondus doloris effundi: si forte possit lacrymarum fomentis calore fidei suscitari. Ante omnia, sicut frequenter admonui, caveat et observet unusquisque peccator, ne pro suis criminibus ita eleemosynam tribuat, ut ipsa crimina non relinquat, timens illud quod Apostolus dixit, Si distribuero in cibos pauperum omnes facultates meas, charitatem autem non habuero, nihil mihi prodest (I Cor. XIII, 3).

1. Confession, a plank after shipwreck. The dead soul is raised up by tears. But not by alms alone. Hence I have frequently admonished you, dearest brethren, and again and again I admonish and adjure you, that whoever knows that he has been cast from the shore of continence, by the storm of lust, into the open sea of luxury, and has suffered the shipwreck of chastity, should swiftly lay hold of the confession of sins like a plank of a broken ship: so that by it he may escape from the abyss and depth of luxury and reach the harbour of penance; where now, in a safer place, he may be able to fix the anchor of hope and restore his lost salvation. For each one ought to cry out over himself as over a dead man, and to pour forth great lamentations over his extinguished soul. And just as a mother is wont to lament with her whole heart over her dead only son, so ought the whole weight of grief to be poured out over our only soul, slain by the sword of crime: if perhaps it may be raised up by the warm compresses of tears through the heat of faith. Above all, as I have frequently admonished, let every sinner beware and take heed not to give alms for his crimes in such a way that he does not abandon the crimes themselves, fearing that which the Apostle said: If I distribute all my goods as food for the poor, but have not charity, it profits me nothing (1 Cor. 13:3).

2. Eleemosynae peccatoris. Sed dicit aliquis: Quomodo charitatem non habere judicabitur, qui pauperibus tanta largitur? Cui ego respondeo: Quomodo in aliis charitatem custodit, qui se ipsum interficit, qui in animam suam crudelis existit? Non enim mentitur Spiritus sanctus, qui dicit, Anima quae peccaverit, ipsa morietur (Ezech. XVIII, 20). Si enim quoties aut adulteria, aut homicidia committimus, animas nostras occidimus; quid nobis prodest quod in aliis benigni sumus, et in nobis ipsis impii esse cognoscimur? Eleemosynas dando alienam carnem pascimus, et crimina committendo nostram animam jugulamus. Et ideo, sicut frequenter admonui, sic pro majoribus peccatis eleemosynas demus, ut nunquam ad ipsa crimina redeamus. Non sanitati credendum est, non aetati. In remedium salutis suae semper tardus est, qui vitae suae incertus est. O si tempus poenitentiae sic disponeretur, quando est in potestate positum, quomodo desideraretur amissum?

2. The alms of a sinner. But someone says: How will he be judged not to have charity, who bestows so much on the poor? To him I reply: How does he keep charity towards others, who kills himself, who is cruel towards his own soul? For the Holy Spirit does not lie, Who says: The soul that has sinned, it shall die (Ezek. 18:20). For if, as often as we commit adulteries or murders, we kill our souls, what does it profit us that we are kind towards others, and are known to be impious towards ourselves? By giving alms we feed another's flesh, and by committing crimes we cut the throat of our own soul. And therefore, as I have frequently admonished, let us so give alms for greater sins that we never return to those crimes. One must not trust in health, nor in age. He is always late for the remedy of his salvation who is uncertain of his life. Oh, if the time of penance were so treated, while it is placed in our power, as it would be longed for once lost!

3. Conclusio. Nos ergo quibus adhuc, etsi sub incerta brevitate conceditur curare maculas, lavare culpas, subvenire praeteritis, consulere futuris, et facere infecta de factis; totis viribus laboremus, ut quod vivimus ad vitam possit apponi, ut quod vivimus non morti proficiat, sed saluti. Sint tam efficaces gemitus, qui peccata in ossibus perscrutentur, qui in medullis crimina persequantur. Nihil intactum fletus, nihil incuratum medicabilis poenitentiae dolor relinquat, quod contra nos in die discussionis assurgat, quod post vetera saecula repente novum in reatum malae conscientiae mentis appareat. Festinemus emendatam vitam Domino, antequam auferatur, offerre. Hic exstinguamus mortem moriendo peccatis; hic vitam vitae mentis

3. Conclusion. We, then, to whom it is still granted, though within an uncertain brevity, to heal stains, to wash away faults, to remedy the past, to provide for the future, and to make deeds undone, let us labour with all our strength, that what we live may be added to life, that what we live may profit not death but salvation. Let our groans be so effective that they search out sins in the bones, that they pursue crimes in the marrow. Let weeping leave nothing untouched, let the pain of healing penance leave nothing unhealed, that might rise up against us on the day of examination, that might suddenly appear, after past ages, as a new charge against a mind of evil conscience. Let us hasten to offer an amended life to the Lord before it is taken away. Here let us extinguish death by dying to sins; here the life of the mind's life

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Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: desideraretur amissum› · call in col 2226

Ms., quomodo desideratur amissum?

One manuscript: "as it is longed for when lost?"

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon heading, above the crop)› · call in col 2226

Ipsa est in Bibliotheca Patrum Caesarii homilia decima septima, quae et in manuscriptis nomen ipsius praefert. De num. 1 vide infra serm. 262, n. 2; de num. 2, supra serm. 249, n. 6, et Eusebii homil. 3, de Epiphania.

It is Caesarius's seventeenth homily in the Bibliotheca Patrum, and in the manuscripts too it bears his name. On no. 1 see below, sermon 262, no. 2; on no. 2, above, sermon 249, no. 6, and Eusebius, homily 3, on the Epiphany.

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acquiramus, nec nos in tempore senectutis ad poenitentiae remedia reservemus. Qui enim dixit, Peccator in quacumque die conversus ingemuerit, omnes iniquitates illius oblivioni tradentur (Ezech. XVIII, 21 et 22); ipse etiam dixit, Noli tardare converti ad Dominum (Eccli. V, 8). Si te faciebat promissio illa securum; faciat te contestatio ista sollicitum: et audi Scripturam dicentem, Memento, fili, quia mors non tardat (Id. XIV, 12); et illud, Ne dixeris quia miseratio Dei magna est, multitudini peccatorum meorum ignoscet. Misericordia et ira apud ipsum sunt, et in peccatores, id est, in peccatis perseverantes, respicit ira ejus (Id. V, 6 et 7). Si enim haec fideliter et diligenter attendimus, et ad poenitentiae medicamenta sine aliqua dilatione confugimus; et poenam perpetuam evadere, et ad praemia aeterna possumus feliciter pervenire; adjuvante Domino nostro, qui vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

let us acquire, and let us not reserve the remedies of penance for the time of old age. For He Who said, The sinner, on whatever day he has turned and groaned, all his iniquities shall be given over to oblivion (Ezek. 18:21–22), also said, Do not delay to be converted to the Lord (Ecclus. 5:8). If that promise used to make you secure, let this solemn warning make you anxious: and hear the Scripture saying, Remember, son, that death does not delay (Ecclus. 14:12); and this, Do not say: The mercy of God is great, He will pardon the multitude of my sins. Mercy and wrath are with Him, and upon sinners, that is, those persevering in sins, His wrath looks (Ecclus. 5:6–7). For if we attend to these things faithfully and diligently, and flee to the medicines of penance without any delay, we can both escape perpetual punishment and happily attain to the eternal rewards; with the help of our Lord, Who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

SERMO CCLXI. Admonitio de illis qui publicam poenitentiam petunt.

Sermon 261. An admonition concerning those who ask for public penance.

1. Poenitentia publica cur petatur. Poenitentis indumentum. Supplicatio. Quotiescumque, fratres charissimi, aliquem de fratribus vel sororibus nostris poenitentiam publice videmus petere, magnam in nobis ipsis Deo inspirante compunctionem divini timoris possumus et debemus accendere. Quis enim non gratuletur et gaudeat, et quantas potest Deo gratias agat, videns peccatorem contra peccata sua irascentem, publica voce clamantem; ut quae solebat impudentissima fronte defendere, salubriter incipiat accusare? Jam enim se coepit Deo adjungere; et ideo peccatorum suorum non vult defensor, sed persecutor existere. Et quia Deus odio habet peccata; statim ubi negligens quisque peccata sua odio habere coeperit, et a suis criminibus separatur, et Deo conjungitur. Et ille quidem qui poenitentiam publice accepit, poterat eam secretius agere: sed, credo, considerans multitudinem peccatorum suorum, videt se contra tam gravia mala solum non posse sufficere; ideo adjutorium totius populi cupit expetere. Quomodo solet fieri, ut cujus vinea per negligentiam deserta remanserit, roget vicinos et proximos suos; et una die multitudinem hominum congregans, quod per se solum non potuit, multorum manibus adjutus, id quod desertum fuerat reparet: ita ergo et ille qui publice poenitentiam vult petere, quasi corrogatum dignoscitur congregare; ut totius populi orationibus adjutus, et spinas et tribulos peccatorum suorum possit evellere: ut in eo bonorum messis valeat Deo auxiliante consurgere; et vinea cordis sui, quae non uvas, sed spinas, consueverat dare, dulcedinem spiritualis vini incipiat exhibere. Et illud, fratres charissimi, non otiose considerandum est, quod ille qui poenitentiam accipit, cilicio cooperitur. Et quia cilicium de pilis caprarum texitur, et caprae peccatorum similitudinem habere videntur; et ille qui poenitentiam accipit, non se agnum sed haedum publice profitetur, rebus ipsis clamans et dicens: Videte me, omnes populi, et pro me misero omnes lacrymas pietatis effundite; et qualis sum foris, talem me intus esse agnoscite. Jam enim me nolo foris quasi justum ostendere, et iniquitates vel rapinas intra animam meam abscondere. Jam velut ille publicanus incurvatus in terram oculos ad coelum levare non audeo (Luc. XVIII, 13); sed vulnera peccatorum meorum illi coelesti Medico curanda humiliter offero. Et ideo rogo, ut omnes pro me illius misericordiam supplicetis; ut putredines peccatorum meorum usque ad vivum curare et ad veram sanitatem revocare dignetur. Timeo enim ne in me impleatur illud quod Dominus de hypocritis dixit, Veniunt ad vos

1. Why public penance is asked for. The penitent's garment. Supplication. Whenever, dearest brethren, we see one of our brothers or sisters publicly asking for penance, we can and ought to kindle in ourselves, by God's inspiration, a great compunction of divine fear. For who would not rejoice and be glad, and give God as many thanks as he can, seeing a sinner angry against his own sins, crying out with a public voice, so that what he used to defend with a most shameless brow he begins, to his own health, to accuse? For he has now begun to join himself to God; and therefore he wishes to be not the defender of his sins but their prosecutor. And because God holds sins in hatred, as soon as any negligent person has begun to hold his own sins in hatred, he is both separated from his crimes and joined to God. And indeed he who has received penance publicly could have performed it more secretly; but, I believe, considering the multitude of his sins, he sees that alone he cannot suffice against such grave evils; therefore he desires to seek the help of the whole people. Just as it usually happens that one whose vineyard has remained deserted through negligence asks his neighbours and those near him, and, gathering a multitude of men on a single day, restores with the help of many hands what had been deserted, which he could not do by himself alone: so too he who wishes to ask publicly for penance is recognized as gathering, as it were, a company called together by entreaty, so that, helped by the prayers of the whole people, he may root out both the thorns and the thistles of his sins; that in him a harvest of good things may, with God's help, spring up; and the vineyard of his heart, which was accustomed to yield not grapes but thorns, may begin to bring forth the sweetness of spiritual wine. And this too, dearest brethren, must not be considered idly, that he who receives penance is covered with sackcloth. And because sackcloth is woven from the hair of goats, and goats are seen to bear the likeness of sinners, he too who receives penance professes publicly that he is not a lamb but a kid, crying out by the very facts and saying: See me, all you peoples, and pour out all the tears of compassion for wretched me; and such as I am outwardly, recognize me to be within. For I no longer wish to show myself outwardly as though just, and to hide iniquities or plunder within my soul. Now, like that publican, bowed towards the earth, I dare not raise my eyes to heaven (Luke 18:13); but I humbly offer the wounds of my sins to that heavenly Physician to be cured. And therefore I ask that you all beseech His mercy for me, that He may deign to cure the rottenness of my sins to the quick and to restore me to true health. For I fear lest there be fulfilled in me that which the Lord said of the hypocrites, They come to you

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon heading, above the crop)› · call in col 2227

Ex Caesarianis a Stephano Baluzio editis est homilia prima. Caesario nostri quoque assignant manuscripti. De num. 1 vide supra serm. 68, n. 4; de num. 2, serm. 229, n. 2, et 257, n. 4.

It is the first of the Caesarian homilies published by Étienne Baluze. Our manuscripts too assign it to Caesarius. On no. 1 see above, sermon 68, no. 4; on no. 2, sermon 229, no. 2, and 257, no. 4.

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(b) ‹anchor: accipit, cilicio cooperitur› · call in col 2227

De hoc poenitentis indumento vide concil. Agath. can. 15, et Elig. homil. 8.

On this garment of the penitent see the Council of Agde, canon 15, and Eligius, homily 8.

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in vestimentis ovium, intrinsecus autem sunt lupi rapaces (Matth. VII, 15): et ideo, sicut jam dixi, qualem me intus esse cognosco, talem foris ostendo. Et quia huc usque pretiosis vestibus me foris ornabam, et intus in anima mea peccatorum lepra perfusus eram; ideo cilicio indutus et toto corde poenitentiam petens rogo, ut vestris orationibus a peccatorum meorum paralysi merear liberari. Unde iterum atque iterum precor, ut quia, Deo vobis inspirante, nostis flere cum flentibus, pro remissione peccatorum meorum ad fletus vel gemitus vestra pietas provocetur: credo enim quod apud illum misericordissimum judicem sanctae orationes vestrae mihi possint indulgentiam obtinere.

in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves (Matt. 7:15): and therefore, as I have already said, such as I know myself to be within, such I show myself outwardly. And because until now I adorned myself outwardly with precious garments, while inwardly, in my soul, I was steeped in the leprosy of sins, therefore, clothed in haircloth and asking for penance with my whole heart, I beg that by your prayers I may deserve to be freed from the paralysis of my sins. Wherefore again and again I pray that, since by God's inspiration you know how to weep with those who weep, your devotion may be moved to tears or groans for the remission of my sins: for I believe that before that most merciful Judge your holy prayers can obtain pardon for me.

2. Hac prece non moveri inhumanum. Nec Deus Ecclesiae pro poenitente preces despicit. Vere dico, fratres charissimi, quia si est aliquis qui taliter poenitentiam petenti non condolet, nec toto corde Deo supplicare contendit, nimis inhumanus et impius judicandus est. Et quia Dominus dixit, Omnia quaecumque vultis ut faciant vobis homines, et vos facite illis similiter; haec est enim Lex et Prophetae (Ibid., 12): et nos quod nobis ab aliis fieri volumus, quando poenitentiam publice petere disponimus, hoc aliis toto corde et toto animo impendere festinemus. Quid enim voluimus quando ad poenitentiae remedium pervenire meruimus, nisi ut omnis populus pro nobis intenderet divinam misericordiam exorare? Quod ergo nobis desideramus ab aliis fieri, hoc et aliis cum perfecta charitate debemus impendere; propter illud quod scriptum est, Confitemini alterutrum peccata vestra, et orate pro invicem ut salvemini (Jacobi V, 16); et illud, Frater fratrem adjuvans exaltabitur (Prov. XVIII, 19). Haec ergo si cum perfecta charitate fideliter volumus agere, certissime et possumus et debemus credere, quod nos Domini dignabitur ineffabilis pietas exaudire. Et quia ipse dixit, Si duo vel tres consenserint super terram, quidquid petierint, fiet illis (Matth. XVIII, 19); pius et misericors Dominus, qui duos aut tres se exaudire promittit, potest fieri ut totum populum pro unius poenitentis indulgentia non exaudiat? Absit a nobis, ut hoc vel leviter de illius ineffabili misericordia cogitemus. Toto enim corde credere debemus, quod nos pro poenitentibus fratribus nostris benigno ac pio animo supplicantes exaudiat, qui ut rogetur invitat; sicut ipse in Evangelio dixit, Petite, et accipietis (Joan. XVI, 24). Et hoc attendite, fratres, quod qui poenitentiam petit, excommunicari se supplicat. Denique ubi accepit poenitentiam, coopertus cilicio foris ejicitur. Ideo enim se excommunicari rogat quia ad percipiendam Eucharistiam Domini indignum esse se judicat. Et propterea aliquandiu se ab isto altari alienum vult fieri, ut ad illud altare quod in coelo est, mereatur cum secura conscientia pervenire. Propterea se a communione corporis et sanguinis Christi quasi reum et impium cum grandi reverentia vult removeri, ut per ipsam humilitatem tandem aliquando ad communionem mereatur sacrosancti altaris accedere.

2. That one is inhuman who is not moved by this prayer. Nor does God despise the prayers of the Church for a penitent. Truly I say, dearest brethren, that if there is anyone who does not feel compassion for one who asks for penance in this way, nor strives to make supplication to God with his whole heart, he is to be judged exceedingly inhuman and impious. And because the Lord said, All things whatsoever you wish that men should do to you, do you also likewise to them; for this is the Law and the Prophets (ibid., 12): let us too hasten to bestow on others, with our whole heart and our whole mind, what we wish to be done to us by others when we resolve to ask publicly for penance. For what did we wish, when we were found worthy to come to the remedy of penance, except that the whole people should strive to implore the divine mercy for us? What therefore we desire to be done for us by others, this we ought also to bestow on others with perfect charity; because of that which is written, Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be saved (Jas. 5:16); and that other, A brother helping a brother shall be exalted (Prov. 18:19). If, therefore, we are willing to do these things faithfully with perfect charity, we both can and ought to believe most surely that the ineffable goodness of the Lord will deign to hear us. And since He Himself said, If two or three agree on earth, whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done for them (Matt. 18:19); can it be that the pious and merciful Lord, Who promises that He hears two or three, does not hear a whole people for the pardon of one penitent? Far be it from us to think this of His ineffable mercy even lightly. For we ought to believe with our whole heart that He Who invites us to ask Him hears us when we make supplication with a kind and devout mind for our penitent brethren; as He Himself said in the Gospel, Ask, and you shall receive (John 16:24). And mark this, brethren, that he who asks for penance begs to be excommunicated. Then, when he has received penance, he is put out of doors covered with haircloth. For he asks to be excommunicated for this reason, that he judges himself unworthy to receive the Eucharist of the Lord. And therefore he wishes to be estranged for a while from this altar, that he may deserve to come with a secure conscience to that altar which is in heaven. Therefore, as one guilty and impious, he wishes with great reverence to be removed from the communion of the body and blood of Christ, that through that very humility he may at length one day deserve to approach the communion of the most holy altar.

3. Non ideo tamen a bonis operibus poenitens vacet. Vinum et carnes ei interdicuntur. Et tamen, fratres charissimi, hic ipse qui tam fideliter compuncto et contrito corde poenitentiam petit, sic de intercessione totius populi debet esse securus, ut totis viribus in bonis operibus se exercens cum Dei adjutorio de sua sit salute sollicitus: ne forte dicat in corde suo, Ecce totus populus pro meis iniquitatibus supplicavit; jam ergo et possum et debeo esse securus. Absit ut hoc vel in cogitatione, non dicam in sermone, habeat ille qui poenitentiam agit: sed cum Dei adjutorio, quantum potest, sic de oratione aliorum confidat, ut sive in jejuniis, sive in eleemosynis, sive in orationibus, in humilitate et charitate, sive in opere sancto se exercere contendat; infirmos etiam visitando, discordes ad concordiam revocando, peregrinos excipiendo, sanctorum peregrinantium pedes humiliter abluendo, a detractione vel maliloquio abstinendo. Vinum, si permittit infirmitas, non accipiat: si vero hoc propter

3. Yet the penitent should not on that account be idle in good works. Wine and meat are forbidden him. And yet, dearest brethren, this very man who asks for penance so faithfully with a compunct and contrite heart ought to be secure about the intercession of the whole people in such a way that, exercising himself with all his strength in good works with the help of God, he is anxious for his own salvation: lest perhaps he should say in his heart, Behold, the whole people has made supplication for my iniquities; now therefore I both can and ought to be secure. Far be it that he who does penance should hold this even in thought, not to say in speech: but with the help of God, as far as he can, let him so trust in the prayer of others that he strives to exercise himself, whether in fasts, or in almsgiving, or in prayers, in humility and charity, or in holy work; also by visiting the sick, recalling the discordant to concord, receiving strangers, humbly washing the feet of holy pilgrims, abstaining from detraction or evil-speaking. Wine, if his infirmity permits, let him not take: but if this on account of

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senectutem vel propter dolorem stomachi non potest, audiat Apostolum dicentem, Vino modico utere propter stomachum tuum (I Tim. V, 23). Sunt enim aliqui poenitentes, qui ideo cito reconciliari volunt, ut carnes accipiant. Certum est quod non satis compuncte poenitentiam accipit, qui carnes nulla infirmitate cogente aut desiderat aut praesumit accipere. Et ideo etiam reconciliatus poenitens, ubicumque aut in suo aut in alieno convivio olera aut legumina aut pisciculos invenire potuerit, aliam carnem non debet accipere. Hoc ideo dico, quia, quod pejus est, sunt aliqui poenitentes, qui et carnes cum grandi aviditate accipiunt, et vinum forte aliquoties usque ad ebrietatem bibunt. Cum grandi enim cautela sustinendum est corpusculum nostrum, ne per ebrietatem et gulam iterum nos talia sollicitet peccata committere, ut aut parum aut nihil prosit, quod poenitentiam visi sumus egisse. Sic ergo cum Dei adjutorio totis viribus laboremus, ut quidquid de peccatorum nostrorum vulneribus per Dei misericordiam ad sanitatem reducitur, non iterum per negligentiam vulneretur. Quod ipse praestare dignetur, qui cum Patre et Spiritu sancto vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

old age or on account of pain of the stomach he is not able [to do], let him hear the Apostle saying, Use a moderate amount of wine on account of your stomach (1 Tim. 5:23). For there are some penitents who wish to be reconciled quickly for this reason, that they may take meat. It is certain that he does not receive penance with sufficient compunction who, with no infirmity compelling him, either desires or presumes to take meat. And therefore even a reconciled penitent, wherever he is able to find vegetables or pulses or little fish, whether at his own table or at another's, ought not to take any other flesh. I say this for this reason, because, what is worse, there are some penitents who both take meat with great greed and drink wine, perhaps several times, to the point of drunkenness. For our poor little body must be sustained with great caution, lest through drunkenness and gluttony it should again entice us to commit such sins, so that it would profit little or nothing that we appeared to have done penance. So then, with God's help, let us labour with all our strength, that whatever of the wounds of our sins is brought back to health through God's mercy may not be wounded again through negligence. May He Himself deign to grant this, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns for ages of ages. Amen.

SERMO CCLXII. De Poenitentia.

Sermon 262. On Penance.

1. Poenitentiae effectus. Delictis commensuretur. Poenitentiae publicae obnoxia crimina. Poenitentiae publicae ratio. Ait quodam loco sermo divinus: In diebus solemnitatum vestrarum affligite animas vestras (Levit XVI, 29). Quare hoc dixit? Quia jejunia ac vigiliae et sanctae afflictiones humiliata corpora macerant, sed maculata corda purificant; membris subtrahunt fortitudinem, sed conscientiis addunt nitorem. Nihilominus de contritione animi redimuntur crimina voluptatum, et per durae crucis exercitia, deceptae dudum carnis gaudia puniuntur: ac sic mortificatione praesenti futurae mortis sententia praevenitur; et dum culpae auctor humiliatur, culpa consumitur, dumque exterior afflictio voluntariae districtionis infertur, tremendi Judicis offensa sedatur; et ingentia debita labor solvit exiguus, quae vix consumpturus erat ardor aeternus. Tractantes ergo causa⟨m⟩ salutis nostrae, faciamus intra nos quod circa nos medici facere solent. Si laesura aliqua vel querela in prima corporis cute sentitur, curatio medicamenti blandioris apponitur: si vero in ossibus vulnus absconditum, aut in viscerum profunda demersum est, austeriorem ac violentiorem poscit vis occulta medicinam. Similis ratio in aegritudine interioris hominis adhibenda est. Si levia sunt fortasse delicta, verbi gratia, si homo vel in sermone, vel in aliqua reprehensibili voluntate, si oculo peccavit aut corde; verborum et cogitationum maculae quotidiana oratione curandae, et privata compunctione tergendae sunt. Si vero quisque conscientiam suam interrogans, facinus aliquod capitale commisit, ut si fidem suam falso testimonio expugnavit ac prodidit, aut sacrum Veritatis nomen perjurii temeritate violavit; si veram baptismi tunicam, et speciosam virginitatis holosericam, coeno commaculati pudoris infecit; si in semetipso novum hominem nece hominis occidit; si per augures et divinos

1. The effect of penance. It should be measured to the offences. The crimes liable to public penance. The rationale of public penance. The divine word says in a certain place: On the days of your solemnities afflict your souls (Lev. 16:29). Why did it say this? Because fasts and vigils and holy afflictions wear down the humbled bodies, but purify the stained hearts; they take strength away from the limbs, but add brightness to consciences. Nonetheless, the crimes of pleasures are redeemed by contrition of mind, and through the exercises of the hard cross the joys of the flesh, long deceived, are punished: and thus by present mortification the sentence of future death is forestalled; and while the author of the fault is humbled, the fault is consumed, and while the outward affliction of voluntary severity is inflicted, the offence of the dread Judge is appeased; and a small labour pays off huge debts, which eternal burning would scarcely have consumed. Treating, then, the cause of our salvation, let us do within ourselves what physicians are accustomed to do around us. If some injury or complaint is felt in the outer skin of the body, the treatment of a gentler remedy is applied: but if a wound is hidden in the bones, or sunk in the depths of the entrails, the hidden force demands a harsher and more violent medicine. A similar method is to be applied in the sickness of the inner man. If the offences are perhaps light, for example, if a man has sinned either in speech, or in some blameworthy wish, if with the eye or the heart, the stains of words and thoughts are to be cured by daily prayer and wiped away by private compunction. But if anyone, questioning his conscience, has committed some capital crime, for instance, if he has assailed and betrayed his faith by false testimony, or violated the sacred name of Truth by the rashness of perjury; if he has stained the true tunic of baptism and the beautiful silken robe of virginity with the filth of defiled chastity; if he has killed the new man in himself by the slaying of a man; if through augurs and diviners

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In Theodericensi Ms., ut jam reconciliatus fuerit, etc.

In the Saint-Thierry manuscript: "so that he has already been reconciled," etc.

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Vide concil. Cabillon. sub Carolo Magno, can. 33.

See the Council of Chalon held under Charlemagne, canon 33.

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In Bibliotheca Patrum erat Homilia Caesarii prima, eademque ipsa Eusebii ad Monachos decima. Praeterea observare est eumdem sermonem in Lectionario Ottemburano prae se ferre sancti Faustini nomen, quo quidem Faustus Regiensis solet designari, sed tamen in Compendiensi codice aeque veteri Caesario attribui. Si quis contenderit eum a Fausto primum scriptum, ac deinde cum aliis nonnullis a Caesario adoptatum esse, haud multum renitemur; maxime cum in memorato Lectionario Ottemburano aliud sit ejus exordium, nempe : « Ecce, fratres charissimi, dies Quadragesimae sancti. » De num. 1 vide supra serm. 256, n. 4; de num. 2, serm. 174, n. 3; serm. 260, n. 1; de num. 3, serm. 142, n. 8; de num. 4 serm. 51, n. 4.

In the Bibliotheca Patrum it was Caesarius's first homily, and the very same piece is Eusebius's tenth homily to the monks. It should also be observed that in the Ottobeuren lectionary this same sermon bears the name of Saint Faustinus, by which Faustus of Riez is commonly meant, while in the equally old Compiègne codex it is ascribed to Caesarius. If anyone should maintain that it was first written by Faustus and afterwards, with some others, adopted by Caesarius, we shall not much resist, especially since in the said Ottobeuren lectionary its opening is different, namely: "Behold, dearest brethren, the holy days of Lent." On no. 1 see above, sermon 256, no. 4; on no. 2, sermon 174, no. 3, and sermon 260, no. 1; on no. 3, sermon 142, no. 8; on no. 4, sermon 51, no. 4.

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atque incantatores captivum se diabolo tradidit: haec et ejusmodi commissa expiari penitus communi et mediocri vel secreta satisfactione non possunt; sed graves causae graviores et acriores et publicas curas requirunt: ut qui cum plurimorum destructione se perdidit, simili modo cum plurimorum aedificatione se redimat. Homo enim ipse se decipit, si cum in medullis fervere sibi sentiat morbum, per superficiem corporis molle deducat unguentum.

and enchanters, has handed himself over as a captive to the devil: these and suchlike offences cannot be wholly expiated by a common and moderate or secret satisfaction; but grave cases require graver and sharper and public remedies: so that he who has ruined himself with the destruction of very many may in like manner redeem himself with the edification of very many. For a man deceives himself if, when he feels a disease raging in his marrow, he spreads a soft ointment over the surface of the body.

2. Adjungendae lacrymae ob interitum unicae suae. Cur anima unica. Nec desint misericordiae opera. Haec itaque principalia mala ingenti rugitu et gemitu et fonte indigent lacrymarum: atque per lacrymas clamandum est cum propheta, Rugiebam a gemitu cordis mei (Psal XXXVII, 9); et, Lavabo per singulas noctes lectum meum (Psal. VI, 7); et iterum, Ego autem cinerem sicut panem manducabam, et potum meum cum fletu miscebam (Psal. CI, 10). Nemo despiciat hanc humilitatem; summus rex erat qui ista faciebat et dicebat. Oportet itaque sicut super mortuum conclamatum, ita magnos super exstinctam animam dare planctus. Et quomodo solet mater orbata super amissione unici sui fracto pectore lamentari: ita convenit super unicam suam, sed cum spe reparationis, affligi. De qua unica sermo propheticus dicit, Erue a framea, Deus, animam meam; et de manu canis unicam meam (Psal. XXI, 21)? Quare unicam dixit? Sive quia tanquam unica diligenda est, sive quia ipsa sola et singularis ante tribunal coeleste rationem, remotis omnibus solatiis, redditura est. Ita, inquam, necesse est super hanc unicam criminum mucrone confossam totum pondus doloris effundi; si forte possit lacrymarum vivificata fontibus, calore fidei suscitari. Accendenda est compunctio, corroborandae sunt preces futuri recordatione judicii, atque misericordiarum operibus adjuvandae. Audienda est prophetae sententia, sed audienda obedientiae aure, dicentis, Accipe, inquit, o rex, consilium meum, et peccata tua eleemosynis redime (Dan. IV, 24). Exemplum etiam illius evangelici viri ita est audiendum, quasi vere pro nostra redemptione conscriptum, Ecce dimidium bonorum meorum, Domine, do pauperibus (Luc. XIX, 8): de quibus audivimus in Evangelio Dominum ineffabili dignatione et charitate dicentem, Qui fecit uni ex minimis istis, mihi fecit (Matth. XXV, 40); quae verba eleemosynarum nobis effectus coelesti auctoritate commendant.

2. Tears are to be added for the death of one's only one. Why the soul is called "only one". Let works of mercy not be lacking. These principal evils, therefore, need a great roaring and groaning and a fountain of tears: and through tears one must cry out with the prophet, I roared from the groaning of my heart (Ps. 37:9); and, I will wash my bed every night (Ps. 6:7); and again, But I ate ashes as bread, and mingled my drink with weeping (Ps. 101:10). Let no one despise this humility; it was a supreme king who did and said these things. It is fitting therefore that, as over a dead man whose death has been cried aloud, so over an extinguished soul one should raise great lamentations. And as a bereaved mother is wont to lament with broken heart over the loss of her only son, so it is fitting to be afflicted over one's only one, but with hope of restoration. Of which only one the prophetic word says, Deliver my soul from the sword, O God; and my only one from the hand of the dog (Ps. 21:21)? Why did he say "only one"? Either because it must be loved as one's only one, or because it alone and by itself, all comforts being removed, will render account before the heavenly tribunal. Thus, I say, it is necessary that over this only one, pierced through by the sword of crimes, the whole weight of grief be poured out; if perhaps, quickened by the fountains of tears, it may be raised up by the warmth of faith. Compunction must be kindled, prayers must be strengthened by remembrance of the judgement to come, and aided by works of mercy. The sentence of the prophet must be heard, but heard with the ear of obedience, as he says, Accept, he says, O king, my counsel, and redeem your sins with alms (Dan. 4:24). The example also of that man in the Gospel must be heard as though written truly for our redemption, Behold, half of my goods, Lord, I give to the poor (Luke 19:8): concerning whom we have heard the Lord in the Gospel saying with ineffable condescension and charity, He who did it to one of these least, did it to Me (Matt. 25:40); which words commend to us the effect of alms by heavenly authority.

3. Et haec perficere pauperes possunt. Pauperes cur permisit Deus. Sed forte quando de eleemosynis loquimur, expavescit angusta paupertas. Non ita est, Charissimi. Meminerit potius aera minuta divitum thesauris fuisse praelata: quia Deus noster non solum copia largitatis, sed benevolentia pascitur largientis. Ego autem puto, charissimi, quod ita Deus noster pauperes in hoc mundo esse permiserit, ut in pauperibus divitum fidem probaret; vel in pauperum misericordia divitibus misereretur: ut abundantibus boni operis ac redemptionis suae occasio non deesset, ut benevolum locupletem etiam inopia aliena ditaret, et opulentior quisque ingentia de egente lucra reciperet; et mirifico summoque commercio, dum inopi misericordia temporaria largitate confertur, inde aeternus thesaurus compensetur. Dirigamus ergo actus nostros, et quidquid possumus, et quidquid valemus, in exercitia bonae voluntatis, in studia justitiae ac misericordiae conferamus.

3. And the poor too can accomplish these things. Why God has permitted the poor. But perhaps, when we speak of alms, straitened poverty takes fright. It is not so, dearly beloved. Let it rather remember that the small coins were preferred to the treasures of the rich: for our God is fed not only by the abundance of the giving, but by the goodwill of the giver. But I think, dearly beloved, that our God has permitted there to be poor in this world in such a way that in the poor He might test the faith of the rich; or that in mercy towards the poor He might have mercy on the rich: so that those who abound might not lack an occasion of good work and of their own redemption, so that another's need might enrich even the well-disposed rich man, and every wealthier man might receive immense gains from the needy; and that by a wonderful and supreme exchange, while mercy is bestowed on the needy by a temporal bounty, an eternal treasure might thence be repaid. Let us therefore direct our actions, and whatever we can and whatever we are able, let us devote it to the exercises of good will, to the pursuits of justice and mercy.

4. Operibus misericordiae post vitam non est locus. Indumenta beatorum merita. Pauper sibi alium ditare potest. — Curramus dum lucem vitae habemus, priusquam nos tenebrae comprehendant (Joan. XII, 35): quia jam in illo saeculo emendationi ac redemptioni prospicere

4. After this life there is no place for works of mercy. The garments of the blessed are their merits. A poor man can enrich another for his own benefit. — Let us run while we have the light of life, before darkness overtakes us (John 12:35): because already in that world to provide for amendment and redemption

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Istorum criminum reos, scilicet, « homicidas et falsos testes a communione ecclesiastica submovendos, » synodus Agathensis, can. 37, praesidente Caesario sancivit, « nisi « poenitentiae satisfactione crimina admissa diluerint. » Idemque, can. 42 de sortilegis vel auguratoribus statuit. De perjuris vide concil. Matisconense 1, can. 17.

Those guilty of these crimes, that is, "murderers and false witnesses, are to be removed from the communion of the Church," as the synod of Agde decreed in canon 37 with Caesarius presiding, "unless they have washed away the crimes committed by the satisfaction of penance." It laid down the same in canon 42 concerning fortune-tellers or diviners. On perjurers see the first Council of Mâcon, canon 17.

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