Migne Reading Room
PL 39 · cols. 1533–1548
Augustine, Sermones 347-352 (Classis IV, de Diversis)
Sermons CCCL–CCCLI
est me dignus, non times? De quo dicit Christus, Non est me dignus, non est cum illo: qui cum illo non erit, ubi erit? Si non amas cum illo esse, time sine illo esse. Quare time sine illo esse? Quia cum diabolo eris, si cum Christo non fueris. Et ubi erit diabolus? Audi ipsum Christum: Ite in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo et angelis ejus (Matth. XXV, 41). Si igne coeli non accenderis, ignem time gehennarum. Si non amas esse inter Angelos Dei, time esse inter angelos diaboli. Si non amas esse in regno, time esse in camino ignis ardentis, inexstinguibilis, sempiterni. Vincat in te prius timor, et erit amor. Timor paedagogus sit, non ipse in te remaneat, sed te ad charitatem, quasi ad magistrum perducat.
worthy of Me, do you not fear? Of whom Christ says, He is not worthy of Me, he is not with Him: he who will not be with Him, where will he be? If you do not love to be with Him, fear to be without Him. Why fear to be without Him? Because you will be with the devil, if you have not been with Christ. And where will the devil be? Hear Christ Himself: Go into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). If you are not kindled by the fire of heaven, fear the fire of the Gehennas. If you do not love to be among the Angels of God, fear to be among the angels of the devil. If you do not love to be in the kingdom, fear to be in the furnace of burning fire, unquenchable, everlasting. Let fear first conquer in you, and there will be love. Let fear be the tutor; let it not itself remain in you, but let it lead you to charity, as to the master.
SERMO CCCL. De Charitate, II.
Sermon 350. On Charity, 2.
1. Charitatis laus. Per eam divina doctrina sine errore comprehenditur, sine labore custoditur. Mandatum novum faciens hominem novum. Divinarum Scripturarum multiplicem abundantiam, latissimamque doctrinam, fratres mei, sine ullo errore comprehendit, et sine ullo labore custodit, cujus cor plenum est charitate: dicente Apostolo, Plenitudo autem legis charitas (Rom. XIII, 10); et alio loco, Finis autem praecepti est charitas de corde puro, et conscientia bona, et fide non ficta (I Tim. I, 5). Quis est autem finis praecepti, nisi praecepti adimpletio? et quid est praecepti adimpletio, nisi legis plenitudo? Quod ergo ibi dixit, Plenitudo legis est charitas; hoc etiam hic dixit, Finis praecepti est charitas. Nec dubitari ullo modo potest, quod templum Dei sit homo, in quo habitat charitas. Dicit enim et Joannes, Deus charitas est (I Joan. IV, 8). Haec autem dicentes Apostoli et nobis charitatis excellentiam commendantes, non utique aliud, nisi quod comederant, ructuare potuerunt. Ipse quippe Dominus pascens eos verbo veritatis, verbo charitatis, quod est ipse panis vivus, qui de coelo descendit, Mandatum, inquit, novum do vobis, ut diligatis invicem: et iterum, In hoc scient omnes quia discipuli mei estis, si vos invicem dilexeritis (Joan. XIII, 34, 35). Ille enim qui venit per crucis irrisionem carnis perimere corruptionem, et vetustatem vinculi mortis nostrae suae mortis novitate dissolvere, mandato novo fecit hominem novum. Res enim vetus erat, ut homo moreretur. Quod ne semper valeret in homine, res nova facta est, ut Deus moreretur. Sed quia in carne mortuus est, non in divinitate, per sempiternam vitam divinitatis non permisit esse sempiternum interitum carnis. Itaque, sicut dicit Apostolus, Mortuus est propter delicta
1. The praise of charity. Through it divine teaching is grasped without error and kept without toil. The new commandment making a new man. The manifold abundance of the divine Scriptures and their most broad teaching, my brethren, he grasps without any error and keeps without any toil whose heart is full of charity: as the Apostle says, But the fullness of the law is charity (Rom. 13:10); and in another place, But the end of the commandment is charity from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned (1 Tim. 1:5). But what is the end of the commandment, if not the fulfilment of the commandment? and what is the fulfilment of the commandment, if not the fullness of the law? What therefore he said there, The fullness of the law is charity, this he said here too, The end of the commandment is charity. Nor can it be doubted in any way that the man in whom charity dwells is a temple of God. For John too says, God is charity (1 John 4:8). Now the Apostles, in saying these things and commending to us the excellence of charity, could surely belch forth nothing other than what they had eaten. For the Lord Himself, feeding them with the word of truth, with the word of charity, which is Himself the living bread that came down from heaven, says, A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: and again, By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another (John 13:34–35). For He Who came through the mockery of the cross to destroy the corruption of the flesh, and to dissolve the oldness of the bond of our death by the newness of His own death, made a new man by a new commandment. For it was an old thing that man should die. So that this might not prevail for ever in man, a new thing was done, that God should die. But since He died in the flesh, not in the divinity, through the everlasting life of the divinity He did not allow the destruction of the flesh to be everlasting. And so, as the Apostle says, He died on account of the sins
Editors' notes and page, col. 1533
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: Vincat in te prius timor› · call in col 1533
Sic in Mss. At in editis: Vincat in te pius timor.
So in the manuscripts. But in the printed editions: "Let holy fear prevail in you."
(printed under page 29)
(2) ‹anchor: fide non ficta› · call in col 1533
Hic in prius editis additur: Si ergo non vacat omnes paginas Scripturarum evolvere, tene charitatem, et in ea invenies omnem scientiam. Quae sententia in manuscriptis non isto loco, sed alio tantum infra cum nonnulla varietate reperitur.
Here the earlier editions add: "If, then, you have no leisure to unroll all the pages of the Scriptures, hold fast to charity, and in it you will find all knowledge." This sentence is found in the manuscripts not in this place, but only in another place further below, with some variation.
(printed under page 29) (*) ‹anchor: after "SERMO CCCL."› · call in col 1533 Emendatus ad duos e. et duos t. ad cb. m. et ad Am. Er. Par. Lov.
Corrected against two manuscripts e. and two t., against cb. and m., and against the Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain editions.
(printed under page 29)
(a) ‹anchor: after "SERMO CCCL."› · call in col 1533
Alias, de Tempore 39 et in tomo nono.
Elsewhere numbered "On the Season" 39, and also in volume nine.
(printed under page 29)
(b) ‹anchor: after "De Charitate, II"› · call in col 1533
Exstat in fine Excerptorum Eugypii cum titulo, « De laude charitatis. » Sic etiam vocant Beda et Florus ad I Cor. XIII et XIV, et ad I Tim. I. Legebatur olim et in tomo nono; sed interpolatus ibi, et Erasmi censura reprobatus.
It survives at the end of Eugippius's Excerpts with the title "On the Praise of Charity." Bede and Florus also call it so, on 1 Corinthians 13 and 14 and on 1 Timothy 1. It was formerly read in volume nine as well, but there in an interpolated form, and rejected by Erasmus's judgement.
(printed under page 29)
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- running head: 1533 SERMO CCCL.
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- other: footnote 1, the variant word read "pius" (italic, short second letter, not an ascender); QA Q1, UNSURE between pius/plus on this scan.
nostra, et resurrexit propter justificationem nostram (Rom. IV, 25). Qui ergo contra mortis vetustatem attulit vitae novitatem, ipse contra vetus peccatum opponit novum mandatum. Quapropter quisquis vetus peccatum vis exstinguere, mandato novo exstingue cupiditatem, et amplectere charitatem. Sicut enim radix omnium malorum est cupiditas; ita et radix omnium bonorum est charitas.
of ours, and rose again for our justification (Rom. 4:25). He therefore Who brought newness of life against the oldness of death, He Himself sets a new commandment against the old sin. Wherefore, you who wish to extinguish the old sin, extinguish cupidity by the new commandment, and embrace charity. For just as the root of all evils is cupidity, so also the root of all goods is charity.
2. Charitate doctrina Scripturarum tota possidetur. Totam magnitudinem et latitudinem divinorum eloquiorum secura possidet charitas, qua Deum proximumque diligimus. Docet enim nos coelestis unus Magister, et dicit: Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua, et ex tota mente tua: et diliges proximum tuum sicut te ipsum. In his duobus praeceptis universa Lex pendet, et Prophetae (Matth. XXII, 37-40). Si ergo non vacat omnes paginas sanctas perscrutari, omnia involucra sermonum evolvere, omnia Scripturarum secreta penetrare; tene charitatem, ubi pendent omnia: ita tenebis quod ibi didicisti; tenebis etiam quod nondum didicisti. Si enim nosti charitatem, aliquid nosti unde et illud pendet quod forte non nosti: et in eo quod in Scripturis intelligis, charitas patet; in eo quod non intelligis, charitas latet. Ille itaque tenet et quod patet et quod latet in divinis sermonibus, qui charitatem tenet in moribus.
2. By charity the teaching of the Scriptures is possessed whole. Charity, by which we love God and our neighbour, securely possesses the whole greatness and breadth of the divine utterances. For the one heavenly Master teaches us, and says: You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul, and with your whole mind: and you shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments hangs the whole Law, and the Prophets (Matt. 22:37–40). If therefore you have no leisure to search through all the holy pages, to unroll all the wrappings of the words, to penetrate all the secrets of the Scriptures, hold fast to charity, on which all things hang: so you will hold what you have learned there; you will hold also what you have not yet learned. For if you know charity, you know something on which that also hangs which perhaps you do not know: and in what you understand in the Scriptures, charity lies open; in what you do not understand, charity lies hidden. He therefore holds both what lies open and what lies hidden in the divine discourses who holds charity in his conduct.
3. Charitatis praeconium prosequitur. Quapropter, fratres, sectamini charitatem, dulce ac salubre vinculum mentium, sine qua dives pauper est, et cum qua pauper dives est. Haec in adversitatibus tolerat, in prosperitatibus temperat; in duris passionibus fortis, in bonis operibus hilaris; in tentatione tutissima, in hospitalitate latissima; inter veros fratres laetissima, inter falsos patientissima. In Abel per sacrificium grata, in Noe per diluvium secura, in Abrahae peregrinationibus fidelissima, in Moyse inter injurias lenissima, in David tribulationibus mansuetissima. In tribus pueris blandos ignes innocenter exspectat: in Machabaeis saevos ignes fortiter tolerat. Casta in Susanna erga virum, in Anna post virum, in Maria praeter virum. Libera in Paulo ad arguendum, humilis in Petro ad obediendum: humana in Christianis ad confitendum, divina in Christo ad ignoscendum. Sed quid ego de charitate majus aut uberius possum dicere, quam quas per os Apostoli laudes ejus intonat Dominus, supereminentem viam demonstrantis atquo dicentis: Si linguis hominum loquar et Angelorum, charitatem autem non habeam, factus sum aeramentum sonans, aut cymbalum tinniens. Et si habuero prophetiam, et sciero omnia sacramenta, et omnem scientiam, et si habuero omnem fidem, ita ut montes transferam, charitatem autem non habeam, nihil sum. Et si donavero omnes facultates meas, et si distribuero omnia mea pauperibus, et si tradidero corpus meum ut ardeam, charitatem autem non habeam, nihil mihi prodest. Charitas magnanima est. charitas benigna est. Charitas non aemulatur, non agit perperam, non inflatur, non dehonestatur, non quaerit quae sua sunt, non irritatur, non cogitat malum,
3. He continues the praise of charity. Wherefore, brethren, pursue charity, the sweet and wholesome bond of minds, without which the rich man is poor, and with which the poor man is rich. It endures in adversities, it keeps measure in prosperity; in hard sufferings it is brave, in good works cheerful; in temptation most safe, in hospitality most open-handed; among true brethren most joyful, among false ones most patient. In Abel it was pleasing through sacrifice, in Noah secure through the flood, in the wanderings of Abraham most faithful, in Moses most gentle amid injuries, in the tribulations of David most meek. In the three youths it awaits the gentle fires in innocence: in the Maccabees it endures the savage fires with fortitude. It is chaste in Susanna towards her husband, in Anna after her husband, in Mary apart from a husband. It is free in Paul for rebuking, humble in Peter for obeying: human in Christians for confessing, divine in Christ for pardoning. But what greater or richer thing can I say of charity than the praises of it which the Lord thunders through the mouth of the Apostle, showing the surpassing way and saying: If I speak with the tongues of men and of Angels, but do not have charity, I have become a sounding bronze, or a ringing cymbal. And if I have prophecy, and know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so that I move mountains, but do not have charity, I am nothing. And if I give away all my means, and if I distribute all my possessions to the poor, and if I hand over my body to be burned, but do not have charity, it profits me nothing. Charity is great-souled, charity is kind. Charity does not envy, does not act wrongly, is not puffed up, does not behave dishonourably, does not seek the things that are its own, is not provoked, does not think evil,
Editors' notes and page, col. 1534
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non gaudet super iniquitate, congaudet autem veritati. Omnia tolerat, omnia credit, omnia sperat, omnia suffert, Charitas nunquam ⟨c⟩adit (I Cor. XIII, 1-8)? Quanta est ista? Anima litterarum, prophetiae virtus, sacramentorum salus, scientiae solidamentum, fidei fructus, divitiae pauperum, vita morientium. Quid tam magnanimum, quam pro impiis mori? quid tam benignum, quam inimicos diligere? Sola est quam felicitas aliena non premit, quia non aemulatur. Sola est quam felicitas sua non extollit, quia non inflatur. Sola est quam conscientia mala non pungit, quia non agit perperam. Inter opprobria secura est, inter odia bene⟨f⟩ica est: inter iras placida est, inter insidias innocens: inter iniquitates gemens, in veritate respirans. Quid illa fortius, non ad retribuendas, sed ad non curandas injurias? Quid illa fidelius, non vanitati, sed aeternitati? Nam ideo tolerat omnia in praesenti vita, quia credit omnia de futura vita; et suffert omnia quae hic immittuntur, quia sperat omnia quae ibi promittuntur: merito nunquam cadit. Ergo sectamini charitatem, et eam sancte cogitantes afferte fructus justitiae. Et quidquid uberius, quam ego dicere potui, vos inveneritis in ejus laudibus, appareat in vestris moribus. Oportet enim ut senilis sermo non solum sit gravis, sed etiam brevis.
does not rejoice over iniquity, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Charity never falls (1 Cor. 13:1–8)? How great is this? The soul of letters, the power of prophecy, the salvation of the sacraments, the foundation of knowledge, the fruit of faith, the riches of the poor, the life of the dying. What is so magnanimous as to die for the ungodly? what so kind as to love enemies? It alone is the one that another's happiness does not oppress, because it is not envious. It alone is the one that its own happiness does not lift up, because it is not puffed up. It alone is the one that a bad conscience does not prick, because it does not act wrongly. Amid reproaches it is secure, amid hatreds it is beneficent; amid angers it is calm, amid snares innocent; amid iniquities groaning, in the truth breathing again. What is stronger than it, not for repaying injuries, but for disregarding them? What is more faithful than it, not to vanity, but to eternity? For it bears all things in the present life for this reason, that it believes all things concerning the future life; and it endures all things that are sent here, because it hopes for all things that are promised there: rightly it never falls. Therefore pursue charity, and, thinking on it in a holy manner, bring forth the fruits of justice. And whatever you have found in its praises more abundantly than I have been able to say, let it appear in your conduct. For it is fitting that an old man's sermon should be not only weighty, but also brief.
SERMO CCCLI. De utilitate agendae poenitentiae, I.
Sermon 351. On the usefulness of doing penance, 1.
CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Poenitentiae humilitas quam necessaria. Deo excelso humilitate propinquatur. Lex ad quid data. Quam sit utilis et necessaria poenitentiae medicina, facillime homines intelligunt, qui se homines esse meminerunt. Scriptum est enim, Deus superbis resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam (Jacobi IV, 6). Et Dominus in Evangelio dicit, Quoniam qui se exaltat, humiliabitur; et qui se humiliat, exaltabitur: magisque justificatus descendit de templo Publicanus ille peccatorum confessione sollicitus, quam Pharisaeus meritorum enumeratione securus. Quamvis enim et ipse gratias egerit Deo, dicens: Gratias tibi ago, Deus, quoniam non sum sicut caeteri homines, injusti, adulteri, raptores; quomodo et publicanus iste. Jejuno bis in sabbato, decimas do omnium quaecumque possideo: tamen ei praelatus est ille, qui de longinquo stabat, neque oculos audebat ad coelum levare, sed percutiebat pectus suum, dicens: Deus, propitius esto mihi peccatori (Luc. XVIII, 10-14). Non enim ille pharisaeus tam sua sanitate, quam morborum
Chapter One. — 1. How necessary the humility of penance is. One draws near to the exalted God by humility. For what purpose the law was given. How useful and necessary the medicine of penance is, those men understand most easily who remember that they are men. For it is written, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6). And the Lord says in the Gospel, For he who exalts himself will be humbled; and he who humbles himself will be exalted: and that Publican, anxious in the confession of his sins, went down from the temple more justified than the Pharisee, secure in the enumeration of his merits. For although he too gave thanks to God, saying: I give Thee thanks, O God, that I am not as the rest of men, unjust, adulterers, robbers; as also this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess: yet that man was preferred to him who stood afar off, and did not dare to raise his eyes to heaven, but struck his breast, saying: God, be merciful to me a sinner (Luke 18:10–14). For that Pharisee was rejoicing not so much in his own health as in the comparison with the diseases of
Editors' notes and page, col. 1535
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1535
Editi: Quanta est ista animarum salus, scientiae solidamentum. Nos hic sequimur codices manuscriptos.
The printed editions: "How great is this, the salvation of souls, the firm foundation of knowledge." Here we follow the manuscript codices.
(printed under page 30)
(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1535
Sic Mss. At editi: Quid illa facilius, non vanitate, sed veritate?
So the manuscripts. But the printed editions: "What is easier than that, not in vanity but in truth?"
(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCLI› · call in col 1535 Emendatus ad duos cl. ad f. gr. ph. r. rm. s. et ad Am. Er. Par. Lov.
Corrected against two manuscripts cl., against f., gr., ph., r., rm. and s., and against the Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain editions.
(printed under page 30)
(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCLI› · call in col 1535
Alias, 50 inter Homilias quinquaginta, et in tomo nono.
Elsewhere numbered 50 among the Fifty Homilies, and also in volume nine.
(printed under page 30)
(b) ‹anchor: agendae poenitentiae, I› · call in col 1535
Exstabat in tomo 9 membris multis mutilus apud Erasmum, qui hunc et subsequentem tractatum censuit plurimum discrepare ab Augustino. Sed ipsius sane et doctrinam uterque habet et stilum, nostro judicio. Notat utrumque seorsim Possidius in eodem Indiculi capite 8. Atque hunc priorem saepe citat Florus, appellans librum de Poenitentia, ad I Cor. V et VI, etc. Sermonem tamen sapiunt nonnulli modi loquendi, ut iste, cap. 2, « Quas mecum vestra Eruditio recognoscit. »
It stood in volume 9 of Erasmus's edition, mutilated in many members; Erasmus judged that this and the following treatise differ very greatly from Augustine. But in our judgement both certainly have his doctrine and his style. Possidius records each separately in the same chapter 8 of the Indiculus. And Florus often cites this former one, calling it the book On Penance, on 1 Corinthians 5 and 6, etc. Yet some turns of speech savour of a sermon, such as this one in chapter 2: "which your Learning recognizes along with me."
(printed under page 30)
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alienorum comparatione gaudebat. Utilius autem illi erat, quoniam ad medicum venerat, ea de quibus aegrotabat, confitendo monstrare, quam dissimulare a vulneribus suis, et de cicatricibus alienis audere gloriari. Non ergo mirum si publicanus magis curatus abscessit, quem non puduit ostendere quod dolebat. In rebus quippe visibilibus, ut excelsa quisque contingat, in excelsum erigitur: Deus autem cum sit omnium excellentissimus, non elatione, sed humilitate contingitur. Unde propheta dicit: Prope est Dominus his qui obtriverunt cor (Psal. XXXIII, 19). Et iterum: Excelsus Dominus, et humilia respicit, et excelsa a longe cognoscit (Psal. CXXXVII, 6). Excelsa ipsa posuit pro superbis. Illa ergo respicit, ut attollat; ista cognoscit, ut dejiciat. Cum enim ait, quod a longe excelsa cognoscit, satis eum ostendit humilia de proximo attendere: ipsum tamen Dominum excelsum esse praedixit. Solus enim Deus arrogans non est, quantacumque se praedicatione laudaverit. Non ergo se arbitretur ab oculis Dei abscondi superbia: Deus enim excelsa cognoscit. Nec se rursus Deo conjunctam putet: excelsa enim a longe cognoscit. Quisquis itaque poenitentiae recusat humilitatem, Deo propinquare non cogitat. Aliud est enim levare se ad Deum; aliud est levare se contra Deum. Qui ante illum se projicit, ab illo erigitur: qui adversus illum se erigit, ab illo projicitur. Alia est enim soliditas magnitudinis, alia est inanitas inflationis. Qui foris tumescit, intus tabescit. Qui eligit abjici in domo Dei, magis quam habitare in tabernaculis peccatorum; eligit illum Deus, ut inhabitet in atriis ejus; et nihil sibi assumentem ille in sedem beatitatis assumit. Unde in Psalmo suavissime et verissime canitur, Beatus vir cujus est susceptio ejus abs te, Domine. Ne putes eum qui se humiliat semper jacere; cum dictum sit, Exaltabitur. Et ne opineris ejus exaltationem in oculis hominum per sublimitates fieri corporales; cum enim dixisset, Beatus vir, cujus est susceptio ejus abs te, Domine; consequenter annexuit et ostendit ejusdem susceptionis celsitudinem spiritualem: Ascensus, inquit, in corde ejus disposuit in convalle plorationis, in locum quem disposuit. Ubi ergo disposuit ascensus? In corde, in convalle scilicet plorationis. Hoc est, Qui se humiliat, exaltabitur. Sicut enim ascensus exaltationem indicat; ita vallis humilitatem, et convallis plorationes. Sicut enim comes poenitentiae dolor est; ita lacrymae sunt testes doloris. Optime autem sequitur, et dicit: Etenim benedictionem dabit, qui legem dedit (Psal. LXXXIII, 11, 6, 7, 8). Ad hoc enim lex data est, ut vulnera ostenderet peccatorum, quae gratiae benedictio sanaret. Ad hoc lex data est, ut superbo infirmitatem suam notam faceret, infirmo poenitentiam suaderet. Ad hoc lex data est, ut diceremus in convalle plorationis, Video aliam legem in membris meis repugnantem legi mentis meae, et captivantem me in lege peccati, quae est in membris meis: et cum ipso ploratu clamaremus, Infelix ego homo! quis me liberabit de corpore mo⟨r⟩tis hujus? et succurreret nobis, exaudiente
others. But it was more profitable for him, since he had come to the physician, to show by confessing the things from which he was sick, than to dissemble about his own wounds and dare to boast about the scars of others. It is no wonder, then, if the publican went away more healed, he who was not ashamed to show what was paining him. For in visible things, in order that someone may reach lofty things, he is raised up on high; but God, since He is the most exalted of all, is reached not by elation but by humility. Hence the prophet says: The Lord is near to those who have crushed their heart (Ps. 33:19). And again: The Lord is exalted, and He regards lowly things, and lofty things He knows from afar (Ps. 137:6). By lofty things he meant the proud. The former, then, He regards, in order to lift them up; the latter He knows, in order to cast them down. For when he says that He knows lofty things from afar, he shows clearly enough that He attends to lowly things from close at hand; yet he declared that the Lord Himself is lofty. For God alone is not arrogant, with however great a proclamation He has praised Himself. Let pride, therefore, not suppose that it is hidden from the eyes of God: for God knows lofty things. Nor again let it think itself joined to God: for He knows lofty things from afar. Whoever, therefore, refuses the humility of penance has no thought of drawing near to God. For it is one thing to raise oneself towards God; it is another to raise oneself against God. He who casts himself down before Him is raised up by Him; he who raises himself up against Him is cast down by Him. For the solidity of greatness is one thing, the emptiness of being puffed up is another. He who swells outwardly wastes away inwardly. He who chooses to be cast down in the house of God rather than to dwell in the tents of sinners, him God chooses, that he may dwell in His courts; and him who takes nothing to himself He takes up into the seat of blessedness. Hence in the Psalm it is sung most sweetly and most truly: Blessed is the man whose taking up is from Thee, O Lord. Do not think that he who humbles himself always lies low, since it has been said: He shall be exalted. And do not suppose that his exaltation comes about in the eyes of men through bodily heights; for when he had said, Blessed is the man whose taking up is from Thee, O Lord, he accordingly added and showed the spiritual loftiness of that same taking up: Ascents, he says, he has arranged in his heart in the valley of weeping, into the place which he has arranged. Where, then, has he arranged the ascents? In the heart, that is, in the valley of weeping. This is: He who humbles himself shall be exalted. For just as ascent indicates exaltation, so the valley indicates humility, and the vale, lamentations. For just as grief is the companion of penance, so tears are the witnesses of grief. And most fittingly it follows and says: For He who gave the law will give a blessing (Ps. 83:11, 6, 7, 8). For to this end the law was given, that it might show the wounds of sinners, which the blessing of grace would heal. To this end the law was given, that it might make his weakness known to the proud man, and urge penance upon the weak. To this end the law was given, that we might say in the valley of weeping: I see another law in my members, fighting against the law of my mind, and taking me captive in the law of sin which is in my members; and that with that very weeping we might cry out: Unhappy man that I am! who will free me from the body of this death? and that there might come to our aid, while He hears us
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illo qui erigit elisos, solvit compeditos, illuminat caecos (Psal. CXLV, 7, 8), gratia Dei per Jesum Christum Dominum nostrum (Rom. VII, 23, 25).
Who raises up those who are dashed down, looses the fettered, enlightens the blind (Ps. 145:7–8), the grace of God through Jesus Christ our Lord (Rom. 7:23, 25).
CAPUT II. — 2. Tria poenitentiae genera. Prima poenitentia, ante Baptismum. Tres sunt autem actiones poenitentiae, quas mecum vestra Eruditio recognoscit. Sunt enim usitatae in Ecclesia Dei, et diligenter attendentibus notae. Una est quae novum hominem parturit, donec per Baptismum salutare omnium praeteritorum fiat ablutio peccatorum: ut tanquam puero nato dolores transeant, quibus viscera urgebantur ad partum, et tristitiam laetitia consequatur. Omnis enim qui jam arbiter voluntatis suae constitutus est, cum accedit ad Sacramenta fidelium, nisi eum poeniteat vitae veteris, novam non potest inchoare. Ab hac poenitentia, cum baptizantur, soli parvuli sunt immunes: nondum enim uti possunt libero arbitrio. Quibus tamen ad consecrationem remissionemque originalis peccati prodest eorum fides, a quibus offeruntur; ut quascumque maculas delictorum per alios, ex quibus nati sunt, contraxerunt, aliorum etiam interrogatione ac responsione purgentur. Verissime quippe in Psalmis plangitur, Ecce in iniquitate conceptus sum, et in peccatis mater mea me in utero aluit (Psal. L, 7). Item quod scriptum est, non esse mundum in conspectu Dei, nec infantem, cujus est vita diei unius super terram (Job XIV, 4, sec. LXX). Exceptis ergo talibus, de quorum ordine ac merito in futura illa, quae promittitur, sorte sanctorum, velle amplius quaerere, hominum modulum excedit; pie tamen creditur eis prodesse ad spiritualem salutem, quod ecclesiasticae auctoritatis per totum orbem terrarum tam firmo robore custoditur: caeterorum hominum nullus transit ad Christum, ut incipiat esse quod non erat, nisi eum poeniteat fuisse quod erat. Haec prima poenitentia praecipitur Judaeis, dicente apostolo Petro, Poenitentiam agite, et baptizetur unusquisque vestrum in nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi (Act. II, 38). Talis ab ipso Domino imperabatur, cum diceret: Poenitentiam agite, appropinquavit enim regnum coelorum (Mauh. IV, 17). De hac etiam Joannes Baptista, plenus Spiritu sancto, praecursor et praeparator viae Domini ita dicit: Generatio viperarum, quis ostendit vobis fugere a ventura ira? Facite ergo fructum dignum poenitentiae (Id. III, 7, 8).
Chapter II. — 2. Three kinds of penance. The first penance, before Baptism. Now there are three actions of penance, which your Learning recognizes together with me. For they are customary in the Church of God, and known to those who pay careful attention. One is that which brings forth the new man, until through saving Baptism the washing away of all past sins takes place: so that, as when a child is born, the pains pass away by which the womb was pressed towards birth, and joy follows upon sorrow. For everyone who has already been established as the arbiter of his own will, when he approaches the Sacraments of the faithful, cannot begin the new life unless he repents of the old. From this penance, when they are baptized, only little children are exempt: for they cannot yet use free will. Yet for their consecration and the remission of original sin the faith of those by whom they are presented profits them; so that whatever stains of offences they have contracted through others, from whom they were born, they may be cleansed also by the questioning and answering of others. For most truly is it lamented in the Psalms, Behold, I was conceived in iniquity, and in sins my mother nourished me in the womb (Ps. 50:7). Likewise what is written, that not even the infant whose life is of one day upon the earth is clean in the sight of God (Job 14:4, according to the Septuagint). These, then, being excepted, concerning whose rank and merit in that future lot of the saints which is promised, to wish to inquire further exceeds the small measure of men; yet it is piously believed that what is guarded with so firm a strength of ecclesiastical authority throughout the whole world profits them towards spiritual salvation: of the rest of men none passes over to Christ, so as to begin to be what he was not, unless he repents of having been what he was. This first penance is enjoined upon the Jews, when the apostle Peter says, Do penance, and let each one of you be baptized in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38). Such [penance] was commanded by the Lord Himself, when He said: Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven has drawn near (Matt. 4:17). Of this too John the Baptist, full of the Holy Spirit, the forerunner and preparer of the way of the Lord, speaks thus: Brood of vipers, who showed you to flee from the wrath to come? Bear therefore fruit worthy of penance (Matt. 3:7–8).
CAPUT III. — 3. Altera poenitentia quae hic omnium est ac perpetua. Vitae hujus poenitere nos debet, quia corruptioni et tentationibus obnoxia est. Altera vero poenitentia est, cujus actio per totam istam vitam, qua in carne mortali degimus, perpetua supplicationis humilitate subeunda est. Primo, quia nemo vitam aeternam, incorruptibilem, immortalemque desiderat, nisi eum vitae hujus temporalis, corruptibilis, mortalisque poeniteat. Non enim sic quisque in vitam novam per sanctificationem Baptismi nascitur, ut quemadmodum deponit ibi omnia peccata praeterita, ita etiam statim mortalitatem ipsam carnis corruptionemque deponat. Quod si non ita est, restat ut illud
Chapter III. — 3. The second penance, which belongs to all here and is perpetual. We ought to repent of this life, because it is subject to corruption and temptations. The second penance, however, is that whose action must be undergone throughout the whole of this life which we spend in mortal flesh, with the perpetual humility of supplication. First, because no one desires eternal, incorruptible and immortal life unless he repents of this temporal, corruptible and mortal life. For no one is born into the new life through the sanctification of Baptism in such a way that, just as he lays aside there all past sins, so he also at once lays aside the very mortality and corruption of the flesh. But if this is not so, it remains that that
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quod scriptum est, quod etiam quisque in se sentit adhuc, dum in hac vita est, corpus quod corrumpitur aggravet animam, et deprimat terrena inhabitatio sensum multa cogitantem (Sap. IX, 15). Quod tunc in illa beatitudine quia non erit, cum absorbebitur mors in victoriam (I Cor. XV, 54); quis dubitet in quacumque temporali felicitate versemur, poenitere tamen nos debere hujus vitae, ut ad illam incorruptionem tota aviditate curramus? Inde est enim quod etiam Apostolus ait: Quamdiu sumus in corpore, peregrinamur a Domino: per fidem enim ambulamus, non per speciem (II Cor. V, 6, 7). Quis ergo festinat atque optat ad patriam remeare, et illam speciem quae est facie ad faciem contemplari, nisi quem peregrinationis suae poenituerit? Ex quo dolore poenitentis, etiam vox illa miserabilis erumpit et sonat: Heu me! quoniam peregrinatio mea longinqua facta est. Et ne putes nondum fidelem ista loqui, vide quid sequitur: Inhabitavi in tabernaculis Cedar: cum his qui oderunt pacem, eram pacificus; cum loquerer eis, impugnabant me valde (Psal. CXIX, 5-7). Non solum hominis fidelis, sed etiam evangelistae firmissimi et martyris fortissimi haec verba sunt. Nam inde est etiam illud Apostoli: Scimus enim, quia et si terrena nostra domus hujus habitationis dissolvatur, aedificationem habemus ex Deo, domum non manu factam, aeternam in coelis. Etenim in hoc ingemiscimus, habitaculum nostrum, quod de coelo est, superindui cupientes: si tamen et induti, non nudi inveniamur. Etenim qui sumus in hac habitatione, ingemiscimus gravati, in quo nolumus spoliari, sed supervestiri, ut absorbeatur mortale a vita (II Cor. V, 1-4). Quid ergo cupimus, nisi ita non esse ut nunc sumus? et quid ingemiscimus, nisi poenitendo quia ita sumus? Sed quando ita non erimus, nisi terrena domo resoluta, ut coelestem habitationem et animo et corpore totius hominis immutatione sortiamur? Quapropter et sanctus Job non ait esse tentationem in hac vita, sed hanc ipsam vitam tentationem dixit esse, ita loquens: Numquid non tentatio est vita humana super terram? Quo in loco etiam mysterium lapsi hominis mirabiliter tetigit dicens: Tanquam servus fugiens dominum suum, et consecutus umbram (Job VII, 1, 2, sec. LXX). Non enim haec vita dicenda est potius, quam umbra vitae. Nec immerito fugitivus Adam post offensionem peccati abscondit se a facie Domini, tectus foliis arborum, quibus opacantur umbracula, tanquam fugiens Dominum suum, sicut dictum est, et consecutus umbram.
which is written, which each person also still feels in himself while he is in this life: the body which is corrupted weighs down the soul, and the earthly dwelling presses down the mind that thinks many things (Wis. 9:15). Since this will not be so then, in that blessedness, when death will be swallowed up in victory (1 Cor. 15:54), who would doubt that, in whatever temporal happiness we may be engaged, we nevertheless ought to repent of this life, so that we may run with all eagerness towards that incorruption? For hence it is that the Apostle also says: As long as we are in the body, we are on pilgrimage away from the Lord: for we walk by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:6–7). Who, then, hastens and longs to return to the homeland, and to contemplate that sight which is face to face, except one who has come to repent of his pilgrimage? From this sorrow of the penitent there also bursts forth and resounds that pitiable cry: Woe is me! for my pilgrimage has been made long. And lest you think that it is not yet a believer who says these things, see what follows: I have dwelt in the tents of Kedar: with those who hated peace I was peaceable; when I spoke to them, they assailed me greatly (Ps. 119:5–7). These are the words not only of a believing man, but also of a most steadfast evangelist and a most valiant martyr. For hence also comes that saying of the Apostle: For we know that if our earthly house of this habitation is dissolved, we have a building from God, a house not made by hand, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, longing to be clothed over with our dwelling which is from heaven: if indeed, being clothed, we are not found naked. For we who are in this habitation groan, being burdened, in that we do not wish to be stripped, but to be clothed over, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life (2 Cor. 5:1–4). What, then, do we desire, except not to be as we now are? And why do we groan, except in repenting that we are so? But when shall we not be so, except when the earthly house has been dissolved, so that we may obtain the heavenly habitation through a change of the whole man, both in soul and in body? Therefore holy Job too does not say that there is temptation in this life, but he said that this very life is temptation, speaking thus: Is not human life upon earth a temptation? In which place he also wonderfully touched upon the mystery of fallen man, saying: Like a slave fleeing his master, and having attained a shadow (Job 7:1–2, according to the LXX). For this is not to be called life rather than a shadow of life. Nor without reason did the fugitive Adam, after the offence of sin, hide himself from the face of the Lord, covered with the leaves of trees, by which shady places are darkened, as one fleeing his Lord, as was said, and having attained a shadow.
4. Poenitentiae humilitas etiam justificatis necessaria. Quantumcumque justis, non gloriandi, sed poenitendi causam semper adesse. Dispensatoribus verbi Dei et Sacramentorum unde poenitentiae causa. Quae universa ad hoc dicta sunt, ne quis per Baptismum quamvis justificatus sit a prioribus peccatis, tamen superbire audeat, si nihil committat, unde ab altaris communione separetur, quasi jam de plena securitate se jactans; sed potius servet humilitatem, quae pene una
4. The humility of penitence is necessary even for the justified. However just they may be, there is always present cause not for boasting but for repenting. Whence there is cause of penitence for the dispensers of the word of God and of the Sacraments. All these things have been said to this end: that no one, although he has been justified through Baptism from his former sins, should nevertheless dare to be proud if he commits nothing for which he would be separated from the communion of the altar, as though now boasting of full security; but rather that he should keep humility, which almost alone
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Mss. carent verbo, felicitate; pro quo forte supplendum fuisset, vita.
The manuscripts lack the word "felicitate" (happiness); in its place perhaps "vita" (life) should have been supplied.
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disciplina christiana est: nec superbiat terra et cinis (Eccli. X, 9), donec ista nox tota transeat, in qua pertranseunt omnes bestiae silvae, catuli leonum rugientes, quaerentes a Deo escam sibi (Psal. CIII, 21). In hanc escam Job ipse petitus est, qui dixit, Tentatio est vita humana super terram. Etiam Dominus, In hac nocte, inquit, postulavit satanas vexare vos sicut triticum (Luc. XXII, 31). Quis itaque sanae mentis non ingemiscat? Cui non per poenitentiam sic esse displiceat? Quis non tota humilitate supplicans divino adjutorio se exaudibilem praebeat, donec transeat omnis ista tentationum materies atque umbra terrena: et ille qui nunquam deficit, etiam nobis illucescat sempiternus dies, et illuminet abscondita tenebrarum, et manifestet cogitationes cordis, et tunc laus erit unicuique a Deo (I Cor. IV, 5)? Deinde quamvis se quisque glorietur sic habere corpus edomitum, ut mundo crucifixus ab omni opere malo, in servitutem redacta membra castiget, ne jam regnet peccatum in ejus mortali corpore, ad obediendum desideriis ejus; solum unum verum Deum colat, nulli simulacrorum ritui deditus, nullis sacris daemoniorum irretitus, non accipiens in vanum nomen Domini Dei sui, quietem sempiternam certus exspectans, debitum honorem parentibus reddens, nec cruentus homicidio, nec fornicatione turpatus, nec furto fraudulentus, nec mendacio duplicatus, nec rei vel uxoris alienae concupiscentia sordidus; non in suis etiam rebus aut luxuria diffluat, aut arescat avaritia; non sit contentiosus, non sit contumeliosus, non maledicus; vendat postremo omnia sua, et det pauperibus, et sequatur Christum, atque thesauro coelesti radicem cordis infigat: quid videtur addi posse ad tam plenam justitiam? tamen nolo glorietur. Intelligat haec omnia praestita sibi esse, non a se existere. Quid enim habet, quod non accepit? Quod si accepit, quid gloriatur, quasi non acceperit (Ibid., 7)? Eroget sane pecuniam dominicam: consulat proximo, sicut sibi sentit esse consultum. Nec putet satis esse servare integrum quod accepit, ne dicatur ei: Serve nequam et piger, dares pecuniam meam, et ego veniens cum usuris exigerem: ne auferatur ab eo quod accepit, ne projiciatur in tenebras exteriores (Matth. XXV, 26-30). Quam vehementissimam poenam si timere debent illi, qui servare integrum possunt quod acceperunt; quae spes illorum est, qui hoc impie scelerateque disperdunt? Versabitur ergo iste in rebus humanis, non carnalis, sed spiritualis acquisitionis devinctus officio; non quidem negotiis saecularibus obligatus, sed tamen quia militat Deo, non otio desidiae torpidus et abjectus. Det ergo, si potest, suas eleemosynas omnes cum hilaritate, sive cum carnalibus necessitatibus pauperum aliquid erogat, sive cum panis coelestis dispensator invicta adversus diabolum castra in credentium cordibus construit. Hilarem enim datorem diligit Deus (II Cor. IX, 7). Non itaque taedio frangatur in difficultatibus rerum, quae necesse
Christian discipline is: and let earth and ashes not be proud (Ecclus. 10:9), until this whole night passes, in which all the beasts of the forest go about, the lions' whelps roaring, seeking their food from God (Ps. 103:21). For this food Job himself was sought, who said, Human life upon earth is a temptation. The Lord too says, In this night Satan has asked to harass you like wheat (Luke 22:31). Who, then, of sound mind would not groan? To whom would it not be displeasing, through penitence, to be thus? Who, supplicating with all humility, would not make himself fit to be heard by the divine help, until all this matter of temptations and this earthly shadow pass away: and He Who never fails, the everlasting day, shines upon us also, and illuminates the hidden things of darkness, and makes manifest the thoughts of the heart, and then each one will have praise from God (1 Cor. 4:5)? Next, although someone may boast that he has his body so tamed that, crucified to the world, he chastises his members, brought into servitude, away from every evil work, so that sin may no longer reign in his mortal body to obey its desires; let him worship the one true God alone, given over to no rite of idols, entangled in no sacred rites of demons, not taking the name of the Lord his God in vain, awaiting with certainty the everlasting rest, rendering due honour to his parents, neither bloodied by murder, nor defiled by fornication, nor deceitful by theft, nor double by lying, nor soiled by coveting another's property or wife; let him not even in his own affairs either dissolve in luxury or wither with avarice; let him not be contentious, not insulting, not a slanderer; let him finally sell all that he has, and give to the poor, and follow Christ, and fix the root of his heart in the heavenly treasure: what seems able to be added to so full a righteousness? Yet I do not want him to boast. Let him understand that all these things have been bestowed on him, not that they arise from himself. For what does he have that he has not received? And if he has received it, why does he boast as though he had not received it (1 Cor. 4:7)? Let him indeed pay out the Lord's money: let him provide for his neighbour, as he feels that he himself has been provided for. Nor let him think it enough to keep intact what he has received, lest it be said to him: Wicked and slothful servant, you should have given out my money, and I on coming would have demanded it with interest: lest what he has received be taken away from him, lest he be cast into the outer darkness (Matt. 25:26–30). If those who are able to keep intact what they have received must fear this most severe punishment, what hope is there for those who squander it impiously and wickedly? This man, then, will be engaged in human affairs, bound by the duty not of carnal but of spiritual acquisition; not indeed tied up in secular business, but nevertheless, because he serves as a soldier of God, not sluggish and cast down in the idleness of sloth. Let him therefore, if he can, give all his alms with cheerfulness, whether when he pays out something for the bodily necessities of the poor, or when, as dispenser of the heavenly bread, he builds in the hearts of believers a camp unconquerable against the devil. For God loves a cheerful giver (2 Cor. 9:7). Let him not, therefore, be broken by weariness in the difficulties of affairs, which necessarily
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In editis additur, vel consulendum; quod abest a manuscriptis.
The printed editions add "or to be counselled"; this is absent from the manuscripts.
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Sic in Mss. At in editis, dispensatione.
So in the manuscripts. But in the printed editions, "dispensatione" (by the dispensing).
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est existant, ut ostendatur homini quod homo est. Non ira subrepat in eum qui aut odiose irruit, aut inopportune inopia coactus petit; aut negotio suo, cum tu majore occupatus es, indifferenter flagitat subveniri; aut in verbo manifestae justitiae resistit caeca cupiditate, aut miserabili tarditate. Non det quidquam amplius vel minus quam oportet: non loquatur amplius quam opus est, aut cum etiam non opus est. Speciosi enim pedes evangelizantium pacem, evangelizantium bona (Rom. X, 15). Sed tamen de terra sicca pulverem contrahunt, qui sane in judicium eorum excutitur, qui sibi hanc exhibitionem perversa voluntate contemnunt. Non solum ergo propter ipsam vitae hujus mortalitatem et ignorantiam, et propter diei malitiam, quae utinam sufficeret, sicut de illa dictum est, Sufficit diei malitia sua (Matth. VI, 34); quam jubemur ferre atque portare, donec transeat, et sustinere Deum viriliter agendo, ut fructum afferamus cum tolerantia: sed etiam propter ipsum pulverem mundi hujus, qui per itinera consulendi consulentium pedibus adhaerescit, et damna quae in ipsa negotiosissima dispensationis actione contingunt, quae Dominus praestet ut cum lucris majoribus compensentur, quotidianam debemus habere poenitentiam.
exist, so that it may be shown to man that he is a man. Let anger not creep up against one who either rushes in offensively, or, driven by want, asks at an inopportune time; or demands indiscriminately to be helped in his own business when you are occupied with a greater one; or in a matter of manifest justice resists with blind greed or with wretched slowness. Let him give nothing more or less than is fitting; let him not speak more than is needful, or when it is not needful at all. For beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news of peace, who bring the good news of good things (Rom. 10:15). But nevertheless they gather dust from the dry earth, which indeed is shaken off for judgement against those who with a perverse will despise this service offered to them. Not only, therefore, on account of the very mortality and ignorance of this life, and on account of the evil of the day (would that it were sufficient, as was said of it, Sufficient for the day is its own evil (Matt. 6:34)), which we are bidden to bear and carry until it passes, and to wait for God by acting manfully, that we may bear fruit with patience; but also on account of the very dust of this world, which clings to the feet of those who give counsel along the paths of counselling, and the losses which occur in the very busy work of stewardship, which may the Lord grant to be compensated with greater gains, we ought to keep daily penitence.
5. Laicorum peccata quotidiana. Conjugii usus quandonam inculpabilis. Sed si hoc dispensatores verbi Dei et ministri Sacramentorum ejus, milites Christi; quanto magis caetera stipendiaria multitudo, et quaedam provincia magni regis? Quam ne forte vel falsa suspicione avaritiae miles ille fidelissimus atque fortissimus apostolus Paulus offenderet, suis stipendiis militavit: et ubi forte defuit sumptus necessarius, Alias, inquit, Ecclesias exspoliavi, accipiens ab eis stipendium ad vestram ministrationem (II Cor. XI, 8). Quanto ergo magis Ecclesiae provinciales saecularibus negotiis obligati, quotidianam debent agere poenitentiam? Qui quamvis a furtis, a rapinis, a fraudibus, ab adulteriis et fornicationibus omnique luxuria, a crudelitate odiorum et inimicitiarum pertinacia, ab omni denique idololatriae foeditate, spectaculorum nugacitate, haeresum atque schismatum impia vanitate, atque ab omnibus hujuscemodi flagitiis et facinoribus immunes, puri atque integri esse debeant: tamen propter administrationem rerum familiarium, et conjugiorum arctissima vincula, tam multa peccant, ut non tam de istius mundi pulvere aspergi, quam luto obliniri videantur. Hoc est quod Apostolus eis dicit: Jam quidem omnino delictum est in vobis, quia judicia habetis vobiscum. Quare non magis iniquitatem patimini? quare non potius fraudamini? Nam illud exsecrabile est, quod propter quosdam
5. The daily sins of the laity. When the use of marriage is blameless. But if the dispensers of the word of God and ministers of His Sacraments, the soldiers of Christ, [are in] this [case], how much more the rest of the tributary multitude, and a kind of province of the great King? Lest by chance he should offend it even by a false suspicion of avarice, that most faithful and most valiant soldier, the apostle Paul, served at his own wages; and when perhaps the necessary means were lacking, Other Churches, he says, I despoiled, taking wages from them for your ministry (2 Cor. 11:8). How much more, then, ought the Church's provincials, bound up in secular affairs, to do daily penance? Although they ought to be free, pure and whole from thefts, from robberies, from frauds, from adulteries and fornications and all luxury, from the cruelty of hatreds and the obstinacy of enmities, and finally from all the foulness of idolatry, the frivolity of the shows, the impious vanity of heresies and schisms, and from all crimes and misdeeds of this kind, yet on account of the management of household affairs and the very close bonds of marriage they sin so much that they seem not so much to be sprinkled with the dust of this world as smeared with mud. This is what the Apostle says to them: Now indeed there is altogether a fault in you, that you have lawsuits among you. Why do you not rather suffer wrong? Why are you not rather defrauded? For that is execrable which, on account of certain people, he
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Footnotes
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Ita Mss. Editi vero, mutabilitatem.
So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however, have "mutabilitatem" (changeableness).
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(2) ‹anchor: mundi pulvere aspergi› · call in col 1540
Mss., de isto mundo pulvere aspergi.
The manuscripts: "to be sprinkled with dust from this world."
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(a) ‹anchor: Ecclesiae provinciales› · call in col 1540
Quos laicos usitatius dicimus, ipsos vocat Ecclesiae provinciales et stipendiarios: pulchre alludens, ut saepe alias, ad popularem loquendi usum, quo provinciae quae solvendo militibus stipendio obnoxiae essent, stipendiariae dicebantur. Vide supra serm. 302, n. 15, et citata ibidem loca sermonum quorumdam in Psalmos, necnon Tractatum 122 in Joan., n. 3.
Those whom we more usually call laymen he calls the Church's provincials and tributaries: a neat allusion, as often elsewhere, to the popular way of speaking by which provinces liable to pay the soldiers' wages were called stipendiary. See above, Sermon 302, n. 15, and the passages of certain sermons on the Psalms cited there, and also Tractate 122 on John, n. 3.
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addit et dicit : Sed vos iniquitatem facitis, et fraudatis, et hoc fratribus (I Cor. VI, 7, 8). Exceptis tamen iniquitatibus et fraudibus, hoc ipsum habere inter se judicia et lites de saecularibus rebus, delictum esse dicit : quod tamen ferendum esse admonet, si vel ecclesiastico judicio lites hujuscemodi finiantur. Hinc est etiam illud : Qui sine uxore est, cogitat ea quae sunt Dei, quomodo placeat Deo : qui autem matrimonio conjunctus est, cogitat ea quae sunt mundi, quomodo placeat uxori. Quod etiam de femina similiter notat. Vel illud cum ait, Et iterum ad idipsum estote, ne vos tentet satanas propter intemperantiam vestram. Quod ut peccatum esse demonstraret, sed infirmitati concessum; subjecit statim : Hoc autem dico secundum veniam, non secundum imperium (Id. VII, 32, 33, 5, 6). Sola enim generandi causa est inculpabilis sexus utriusque commixtio. Quam multa sunt alia peccata, sive in loquendo de rebus et negotiis alienis, quae non ad te pertinent; sive in vanis cachinnationibus, cum scriptum sit, Stultus in risu exaltat vocem suam, sapiens autem vix tacite ridebit (Eccli. XXI, 23) : sive in ipsis escis, quae ad necessitatem sustentandae hujus vitae praeparantur, avidior atque immoderatior appetitus, saepe excessum modum postridiana cruditate contestans : sive in vendendis et emendis rebus charitatis et vilitatis vota perversa. Piget cuncta colligere, quae quisque in se ipso certius comprehendit atque reprehendit, si divinarum Scripturarum speculum non negligenter attendat. Quae quamvis singula non lethali vulnere ferire sentiantur, sicuti homicidium et adulterium, vel caetera hujusmodi : tamen omnia simul congregata velut scabies, quo plura sunt necant, aut nostrum decus ita exterminant, ut ab illius sponsi speciosi forma prae filiis hominum (Psal. XLIV, 3) castissimis amplexibus separent, nisi medicamento quotidianae poenitentiae desiccentur.
adds and says: But you commit iniquity and defraud, and that to brothers (1 Cor. 6:7–8). Yet, iniquities and frauds excepted, he says that this very thing, having lawsuits and disputes among themselves about worldly matters, is a fault; which, however, he advises is to be tolerated, if at least disputes of this kind are settled by ecclesiastical judgement. Hence also is that saying: He who is without a wife thinks of the things that are God's, how he may please God; but he who is joined in marriage thinks of the things that are the world's, how he may please his wife. And he notes the same likewise concerning the woman. Or that, when he says, And come together again, lest Satan tempt you because of your incontinence. And to show that this was a sin, yet one conceded to weakness, he added at once: But I say this by way of indulgence, not by way of command (1 Cor. 7:32–33, 5–6). For the intercourse of the two sexes is blameless only for the sake of begetting. How many other sins there are, whether in speaking of other people's affairs and business which do not concern you; or in idle guffaws, since it is written, A fool lifts up his voice in laughter, but a wise man will scarcely laugh quietly (Ecclus. 21:23); or in the very food which is prepared for the necessity of sustaining this life, a greedier and more immoderate appetite, often attesting by the next day's indigestion that due measure has been exceeded; or in selling and buying things, perverse wishes for dearness and cheapness. It is wearisome to gather together all the things which each person more surely grasps and reproves in himself, if he does not attend negligently to the mirror of the divine Scriptures. And although these, taken singly, are not felt to strike with a deadly wound, as murder and adultery or other things of this kind do, yet all of them gathered together, like a scab, the more numerous they are, kill, or so destroy our comeliness that they separate us from the most chaste embraces of that Bridegroom beautiful in form above the sons of men (Ps. 44:3), unless they are dried up by the medicine of daily penance.
6. Peccata quotidiana omnes ex carnis infirmitate contrahimus. Lucta christianae animae. Quod si falsum est, unde quotidie tundimus pectora? Quod nos quoque antistites ad altare assistentes cum omnibus facimus. Unde etiam orantes dicimus, quod in tota ista vita oportet ut dicamus : Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris (Matth. VI, 12). Non enim ea dimitti precamur, quae jam in Baptismo nisi dimissa credimus, de ipsa fide dubitamus : sed utique de quotidianis peccatis hoc dicimus, pro quibus etiam sacrificia eleemosynarum, jejuniorum, et ipsarum orationum ac supplicationum quisque pro suis viribus offerre non cessat. Quisquis itaque se diligenter attendens, nulla se ipsum adulatione seducit, satis intelligit cum quanto periculo mortis aeternae, et cum quanta penuria perfectae justitiae peregrinetur a Domino; quamvis jam in Christo, hoc est, in via constitutus redire conetur. Nam si non habemus peccata, et tundentes pectora
6. Daily sins we all contract from the weakness of the flesh. The struggle of the Christian soul. But if this is false, why do we beat our breasts every day? Which we bishops too do with everyone as we stand at the altar. Hence also when praying we say what we must say throughout this whole life: Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors (Matt. 6:12). For we do not pray that those things be forgiven which, unless we believe them already forgiven in Baptism, we doubt the faith itself; but we say this assuredly about daily sins, for which also each person, according to his strength, does not cease to offer the sacrifices of almsgiving, of fasting, and of prayers and supplications themselves. Whoever, therefore, attending diligently to himself, deceives himself with no flattery, understands well enough with how great a danger of eternal death, and with how great a want of perfect righteousness, he is a pilgrim away from the Lord, although, being now in Christ, that is, set on the way, he strives to return. For if we have no sins, and beating our breasts
Editors' notes and page, col. 1541
Footnotes
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Apud Er. Lugd. Ven. Lov., ut illud. M.
In Erasmus and the Lyons, Venice and Louvain editions: "ut illud" (as that). M.
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Mss., post triduana. Lov., postriduana. Melius Parisiensium editio Nivelliana, postridiana.
The manuscripts: "post triduana" (after a three-day …). Louvain: "postriduana." Better the Parisians' Nivelle edition: "postridiana" (of the day after).
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Lov., nota perversa; dissentientibus editis aliis et manuscriptis.
Louvain: "nota perversa" (perverse marks), against the other editions and the manuscripts.
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Sic Er. et Mss. At Lov., desecentur.
So Erasmus and the manuscripts. But Louvain: "desecentur" (be cut away).
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dicimus, Dimitte nobis debita nostra; ex hoc ipso certe et graviter nullo dubitante peccamus, cum inter ipsa Sacramenta mentimur. Quamobrem, in quantum Deo nostro fide, spe et charitate connectimur, et eum in quantum possumus, imitamur, non peccamus, sed filii Dei sumus: in quantum autem ex occasione carnalis infirmitatis, quia nondum morte resoluta, nondum resurrectione mutata est, motus reprehensibiles improbique subrepunt, peccamus. Quod utique fateri nos convenit; ne dura cervice, non languoris nostri sanitatem, sed damnationem superbiae mereamur. Unde utrumque verissime scriptum est: et, Qui natus est ex Deo, n⟨o⟩n peccat (I Joan. III, 9); et quod in eadem Joannis Epistola legimus, Si dixerimus quia peccatum non habemus, nosmetipsos decipimus, et veritas in nobis non est (Id. I, 8). Illud enim ex primitiis novi hominis, hoc ex reliquiis veteris dictum est: utrumque enim agimus in hac vita. Paulatim autem novitas accedit, et paulatim vetustate cedente succedit. Cum vero utrumque agitur, in stadio sumus; nec solum percutimus adversarium bonis operibus, sed etiam peccata incautius evitando percutimur. Neque nunc quis nostrum vicerit, sed quis crebrius feriat, quis fortius confligat attenditur; donec alios secum in sempiternam mortem pertrahat, qui homini stanti lapsus invidit, et ab aliis triumphantibus in fine dicatur: Ubi est, mors, contentio tua? ubi est, mors, aculeus tuus (I Cor. XV, 55)? Sed neque facilius ab inimico dejicimur, quam cum eum superbiendo imitamur; nec vehementius eum prosternimus, quam cum humilitate Dominum sequimur; nec acriores ei dolores infligimus, quam cum plagas peccatorum nostrorum confitendo et poenitendo sanamus.
we say, Forgive us our debts; by this very thing, beyond anyone's doubt, we certainly and gravely sin, since we lie in the very midst of the Sacraments. Therefore, in so far as we are joined to our God by faith, hope and charity, and imitate Him as far as we can, we do not sin, but are sons of God; but in so far as, by occasion of the weakness of the flesh, because it is not yet dissolved by death, not yet changed by resurrection, blameworthy and wicked motions creep in, we sin. This it is certainly fitting for us to confess, lest by a stiff neck we earn not the healing of our sickness but the condemnation of pride. Hence both things have been most truly written: both, He who is born of God does not sin (1 John 3:9); and what we read in the same Epistle of John, If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us (1 John 1:8). The former is said from the first-fruits of the new man, the latter from the remnants of the old: for we do both in this life. Little by little, however, the newness approaches, and little by little, as the oldness gives way, it takes its place. But while both are going on, we are in the arena; and not only do we strike the adversary with good works, but we are also struck through guarding against sins too incautiously. Nor is it now considered which of us has won, but who strikes more often, who fights more bravely; until he who, having fallen, envied man standing drags others with himself into everlasting death, and it is said to him at the end by others in triumph: Where, O death, is your strife? Where, O death, is your sting (1 Cor. 15:55)? But neither are we more easily thrown down by the enemy than when we imitate him by being proud; nor do we lay him low more forcefully than when we follow the Lord in humility; nor do we inflict sharper pains on him than when we heal the wounds of our sins by confessing and repenting.
CAPUT IV. — 7. Tertia poenitentia severior pro peccatis mortiferis. Lacrymae sanguis poenitentis. Tertia actio est poenitentiae, quae pro illis peccatis subeunda est. Quae Legis decalogus continet; et de quibus Apostolus ait, Quoniam qui talia agunt, regnum Dei non pos⟨s⟩idebunt (Galat. V, 21). In hac ergo poenitentia, majorem quisque in se severitatem debet exercere; ut a se ipso judicatus, non judicetur a Domino, sicut idem apostolus ait: Si enim nos judicaremus, a Domino non judicaremur (I Cor. XI, 31). Ascendat itaque homo adversum se tribunal mentis suae; si timet illud quod oportet nos exhiberi ante tribunal Christi, ut illic recipiat unusquisque quod per corpus gessit, sive bonum, sive malum (II Cor. V, 10). Constituat se ante faciem suam, ne hoc ei postea fiat. Nam minatur hoc Deus peccatori, dicens: Arguam te, et statuam te ante faciem tuam (Psal. XLIX, 21). Atque ita constituto in corde judicio, adsit accusatrix cogitatio, testis conscientia, carnifex timor. Inde quidam sanguis animi confitentis per lacrymas profluat. Postremo ab ipsa mente talis sententia proferatur, ut se indignum homo judicet participatione corporis et sanguinis Domini: ⟨u⟩t qui separari a regno coelorum timet per ultimam sententiam summi judicis,
Chapter IV. — 7. The third penance, more severe, for deadly sins. Tears the blood of the penitent. The third action is that of penance, which must be undergone for those sins which the decalogue of the Law contains; and of which the Apostle says, For those who do such things shall not possess the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:21). In this penance, therefore, each person ought to exercise greater severity against himself, so that, judged by himself, he may not be judged by the Lord, as the same apostle says: For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged by the Lord (1 Cor. 11:31). Let a man therefore mount the tribunal of his mind against himself, if he fears this, that we must be presented before the tribunal of Christ, so that there each one may receive what he has done through the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10). Let him set himself before his own face, lest this be done to him afterwards. For God threatens the sinner with this, saying: I will rebuke you, and set you before your own face (Ps. 49:21). And when judgement has thus been set up in the heart, let thought be present as accuser, conscience as witness, fear as executioner. Then let a kind of blood of the confessing soul flow forth through tears. Finally, let such a sentence be pronounced by the mind itself, that the man judge himself unworthy of participation in the body and blood of the Lord: so that he who fears to be separated from the kingdom of heaven by the final sentence of the supreme judge,
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Lov., existimet. Aptius caeteri libri, si timet.
Louvain: "existimet" (if he reckons). The other books more fittingly: "si timet" (if he fears).
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per ecclesiasticam disciplinam a Sacramento coelestis panis interim separetur. Versetur ante oculos imago futuri judicii: ut cum alii accedunt ad altare Dei, quo ipse non accedit, cogitet quam sit contremiscenda illa poena, qua percipientibus aliis vitam aeternam, alii in mortem praecipitantur aeternam. Ad hoc enim altare, quod nunc in Ecclesia est in terra positum, terrenis oculis expositum, ad mysteriorum divinorum signacula celebranda, multi etiam scelerati possunt accedere: quoniam Deus commendat in hoc tempore patientiam suam, ut in futuro exserat severitatem suam. Accedunt enim ignorantes quoniam patientia Dei ad poenitentiam eos adducit. Illi autem secundum duritiam cordis sui et cor impoenitens, thesaurizant sibi iram in die irae et revelationis justi judicii Dei, qui reddet unicuique secundum opera sua (Rom. II, 4-6). Ad illud autem altare, quo praecursor pro nobis introiit Jesus, quo caput Ecclesiae praecessit, membris caeteris secuturis, nullus eorum accedere poterit, de quibus, ut jam commemoravi, dixit Apostolus, Quoniam qui talia agunt, regnum Dei non possidebunt. Solus enim sacerdos, sed plane ibi totus assistet, adjuncto scilicet corpore qui caput est, quod jam ascendit in coelum. Ipse est cui dixit apostolus Petrus, Plebs sancta, regale sacerdotium (I Petr. II, 9). Quomodo ergo in interiora veli, et in illa invisibilia Sancta sanctorum intrare audebit aut poterit, qui medicinam coelestis disciplinae contemnens, noluit paulisper a visibilibus separari? Qui enim noluit humiliari, ut exaltaretur; cum exaltari voluerit, dejicietur; et in aeternum sejungetur ab aeternis sanctis, quisquis hoc tempore per merita obedientiae et per satisfactionem poenitentiae non sibi providit locum in corpore sacerdotis. Qua enim fronte impudentiae tunc volet averti faciem Dei a peccatis suis, qui nunc toto corde non dicit, Quoniam facinus meum ego agnosco, et peccatum meum ante me est semper (Psal. L, 5)? Quo pacto, quaeso, Deus dignatur ignoscere, quod in se ipse homo dedignatur agnoscere?
let him for the time being be separated, through ecclesiastical discipline, from the Sacrament of the heavenly bread. Let the image of the judgement to come be kept before his eyes: so that, when others approach the altar of God which he himself does not approach, he may reflect how much that punishment is to be trembled at, by which, while some receive eternal life, others are hurled headlong into eternal death. For to this altar, which is now in the Church, set upon the earth, exposed to earthly eyes, for celebrating the signs of the divine mysteries, many even wicked men are able to approach: because God in this time shows His patience, so that in the future He may put forth His severity. For they approach not knowing that the patience of God leads them to repentance. But they, according to the hardness of their heart and their impenitent heart, treasure up for themselves wrath on the day of wrath and of the revelation of the just judgement of God, Who will render to each according to his works (Rom. 2:4–6). But to that altar, into which Jesus entered as forerunner for us, whither the Head of the Church has gone before, the other members being about to follow, none of those will be able to approach of whom, as I have already mentioned, the Apostle said, For those who do such things will not possess the kingdom of God. For the Priest alone, but there indeed whole, will stand there, the body, namely, being joined to Him Who is the Head, Who has already ascended into heaven. It is that body to which the apostle Peter said, A holy people, a royal priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9). How then will he dare or be able to enter into the inner places of the veil, and into that invisible Holy of holies, who, despising the medicine of heavenly discipline, would not be separated for a little while from things visible? For he who would not be humbled, that he might be exalted, when he wishes to be exalted, will be cast down; and he will be severed for ever from the eternal saints, whoever at this time, through the merits of obedience and through the satisfaction of penance, has not provided for himself a place in the body of the Priest. For with what brow of shamelessness will he then wish the face of God to be turned away from his sins, who does not now say with his whole heart, For I acknowledge my crime, and my sin is ever before me (Ps. 50:5)? On what terms, I ask, does God deign to forgive what man himself disdains to acknowledge in himself?
8. In eos qui sibi salutem praeter regnum coelorum pollicentur. Sententia ultima mittens aut in regnum, aut in ignem. Aut illud quale est, in quo sibi blandiuntur, qui sua se vanitate seducunt? Perseverantes enim in malitiis atque luxuriis suis, cum audiunt Apostolum dicentem, Quoniam qui talia agunt, regnum Dei nou possidebunt: audent sibi praeter Dei regnum salutem, quam desiderant, polliceri; atque ita inter se loquuntur, dum recusant agere poenitentiam pro peccatis suis, et perditos mores aliquando in melius commutare: Regnare nolo, sufficit mihi salvum me esse. In quo primum eos fallit, quia eorum nec salus ulla est; quorum iniquitas perseverat. Quod enim ait Dominus, Quoniam abundavit iniquitas, refrigescet charitas multorum; qui autem perseveraverit usque in finem, hic salvus erit (Matth. XXIV, 12, 13): salutem utique promisit perseverantibus in charitate, non in iniquitate. Ubi autem charitas est, opera illa mala a regno Dei separantia esse
8. Against those who promise themselves salvation apart from the kingdom of heaven. The final sentence sending either into the kingdom or into the fire. Or what sort of thing is that with which those flatter themselves who lead themselves astray by their own vanity? For, persevering in their wickednesses and their debaucheries, when they hear the Apostle saying, For those who do such things will not possess the kingdom of God, they dare to promise themselves the salvation they desire apart from the kingdom of God; and thus they speak among themselves, while they refuse to do penance for their sins and at some time to change their depraved ways for the better: I do not want to reign; it is enough for me to be saved. In which, first of all, it deceives them that there is no salvation at all for those whose iniquity perseveres. For what the Lord says, Because iniquity has abounded, the charity of many will grow cold; but he who has persevered to the end, he will be saved (Matt. 24:12–13): He certainly promised salvation to those persevering in charity, not in iniquity. But where charity is, for those evil works separating from the kingdom of God to exist
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non possunt. Omnis enim lex in uno sermone impleta est, in eo quod scriptum est, Diliges proximum tuum tanquam te ipsum (Galat. V, 14). Deinde si est aliqua differentia inter regnantes et non regnantes; oportet tamen ut in uno regno sint omnes, ne in hostium aut alienorum numero deputentur. Omnes enim Romani Romanum regnum possident; quamvis non omnes in eo regnent, sed caeteris regnantibus pareant. Non autem ait Apostolus, Qui talia agunt, non regnabunt cum Deo; sed regnum Dei non possidebunt. Quod etiam de carne et sanguine dictum est, Caro et sanguis regnum Dei non possidebunt: quia corruptibile hoc induet incorruptionem, et mortale hoc induet immortalitatem (I Cor. XV, 50, 53); ut jam non caro et sanguis, sed ex animali corpore spiritualis corporis habitum naturamque mereatur. Vel illa eos terreat ultima sententia judicis nostri, quam propterea nunc aperiri voluit, ut ab ejus fidelibus praecaveatur; dans metuentibus se significationem, ut fugiant a facie arcus (Psal. LIX, 6). Exceptis enim eis qui cum illo etiam judicabunt, quibus et promisit, dicens: Sedebitis super duodecim thronos, judicantes duodecim tribus Israel (Matth. XIX, 28). In quo numero judicantium omnes intelliguntur, qui propter Evangelium omnia sua dimiserunt, et secuti sunt Dominum. Duodenarius quippe numerus ad quamdam universitatem refertur. Non enim Paulus apostolus ibi non erit, quia inter illos duodecim non fuit. Exceptis ergo illis, quos etiam nomine Angelorum significavit, quando ait, Cum venerit Filius hominis judicare cum Angelis suis. Angeli enim utique nuntii sunt. Nuntios autem rectissime accipimus omnes qui salutem coelestem hominibus nuntiant. Unde etiam Evangelistae boni nuntii possunt interpretari: et de Joanne Baptista dictum est, Ecce mitto angelum meum ante faciem tuam (Malach. III, 1). His ergo, ut dicere coeperam, exceptis, caetera omnium hominum multitudo, sicu⟨t⟩ in ipsius verbis Domini manifestum est, in duas partes dividetur. Positurus est enim oves ad dexteram haedos ad sinistram: et dicetur ovibus, id est justis Venite, benedicti Patris mei, percipite regnum quo⟨d⟩ vobis paratum est a constitutione mundi. De hoc utique regno dixit Apostolus, cum enumeraret opera mala, Quoniam qui talia agunt, regnum Dei non possidebunt. Audi quid audiant qui a sinistris erunt: Ite, inquit, i⟨n⟩ ignem aeternum, qui praeparatus est diabolo et angelis ejus (Matth. XXV, 31-41). Quapropter, praesumere quis audeat de nomine christiano, et non cum omni obedientia et timore audiat Apostolum dicentem, Hoc enim scitote, cognoscentes quoniam omnis fornicator, aut immundus, aut avarus, quod est idolorum servitus, non habet haereditatem in regno Christi et Dei? Nemo vos seducat inanibus verbis: propter haec enim venit ⟨i⟩ra Dei in filios diffidentiae. Nolite itaque effici participes eorum (Ephes. V, 5-7). Latius autem ad Corinthios haec dicit: Nolite errare; neque fornicatores, neque idolis servientes, neque adulteri, neque molles, neque masculorum
is not possible. For the whole law is fulfilled in one word, in that which is written, You shall love your neighbour as yourself (Gal. 5:14). Then, if there is some difference between those who reign and those who do not reign, it is nevertheless necessary that all be in one kingdom, lest they be reckoned among the number of enemies or strangers. For all Romans possess the Roman kingdom, although not all reign in it, but obey the others who reign. Now the Apostle does not say, Those who do such things shall not reign with God; but, they shall not possess the kingdom of God. This is also said of flesh and blood: Flesh and blood shall not possess the kingdom of God: because this corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality (1 Cor. 15:50, 53); so that it is no longer flesh and blood, but from an animal body it merits the condition and nature of a spiritual body. Or let that last sentence of our Judge terrify them, which He wished to be disclosed now for this reason, that it may be guarded against beforehand by His faithful; giving to those who fear Him a sign, that they may flee from the face of the bow (Ps. 59:6). For excepting those who will also judge with Him, to whom He also made a promise, saying: You shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19:28). In this number of those who judge are understood all who for the sake of the Gospel have given up all that they had, and have followed the Lord. For the number twelve refers to a certain universality. For Paul the apostle will not be absent there because he was not among those twelve. Excepting therefore those whom He also signified by the name of Angels, when He says, When the Son of man comes to judge with His Angels. For angels are certainly messengers. And by messengers we most rightly understand all who announce heavenly salvation to men. Whence the Evangelists too can be interpreted as messengers of good; and of John the Baptist it is said, Behold, I send My angel before your face (Mal. 3:1). These therefore excepted, as I had begun to say, the remaining multitude of all men, as is manifest in the very words of the Lord, will be divided into two parts. For He is to place the sheep on the right, the goats on the left: and it will be said to the sheep, that is, to the just, Come, blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the world. Of this kingdom indeed the Apostle spoke, when he enumerated evil works: For those who do such things shall not possess the kingdom of God. Hear what those who will be on the left hear: Go, He says, into the eternal fire, which has been prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:31–41). Wherefore, who would dare to presume on the Christian name, and not hear with all obedience and fear the Apostle saying, For know this, understanding that every fornicator, or unclean person, or covetous person, which is the service of idols, has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God? Let no one deceive you with empty words: for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the children of unbelief. Do not therefore become partakers with them (Eph. 5:5–7). More fully, moreover, he says this to the Corinthians: Do not err; neither fornicators, nor those who serve idols, nor adulterers, nor the effeminate, nor those who lie with
Editors' notes and page, col. 1544
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: quis audeat› · call in col 1544
Mss.: Quis gaudeat; omisso verbo, praesumere.
The manuscripts: "Quis gaudeat" (who would rejoice), the word "praesumere" (to presume) being omitted.
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- other: the word masculorum was split at the column break and stands whole here (joined on receipt); check that the English reads whole across the break into col 1545
concubitores, neque fures, neque avari, neque ebriosi, neque maledici, neque rapaces, regnum Dei possidebunt. Sed videte quemadmodum timorem et desperationem salutis abstulerit eis, qui haec in vita veteri commiserunt. Et haec quidem, inquit, fuistis, sed abluti estis, sed sanctificati estis in nomine Domini nostri Jesu Christi, et in Spiritu Dei nostri (I Cor. VI, 9-11).
males, nor thieves, nor the avaricious, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers, shall possess the kingdom of God. But see how he took away the fear and despair of salvation from those who committed these things in their former life. And such indeed, he says, you were; but you have been washed, but you have been sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God (1 Cor. 6:9–11).
9. Poenitentia relapsis post Baptismum amplectenda. Quisquis ergo post Baptismum aliquorum pristinorum malorum opere obligatus tenetur, usque adeone sibi inimicus est, ut adhuc dubitet vitam mutare, cum tempus est, cum ita peccat et vivit? Nam utique quod ita perseveranter peccat, thesaurizat sibi iram in die irae et revelationis justi judicii Dei. Quod autem adhuc vivit, patientia Dei ad poenitentiam eum adducit. Implicatus igitur tam mortiferorum vinculis peccatorum detrectat, aut differt, aut dubitat confugere ad ipsas claves Ecclesiae, quibus solvatur in terra, nt sit solutus in coelo; et audet sibi post hanc vitam, quia tantum christianus dicitur, salutem aliquam polliceri; nec veridico illo dominicae vocis tonitruo contremiscit, Non omnis qui dicit mihi, Domine, Domine, intrabit in regnum coelorum; sed qui facit voluntatem Patris mei qui in coelis est, ipse intrabit in regnum coelorum (Matth. VII, 21)? Quid, ad Galatas idem apostolus, nonne talia enumerans eodem fine concludit? Manifesta sunt, inquit, opera carnis, quae sunt fornicationes, immunditiae, luxuriae, idolorum servitus, veneficia, inimicitiae, contentiones, aemulationes, animositates, dissensiones, haereses, invidiae, ebrietates, comessationes, et his similia; quae praedico vobis, sicut praedixi, quoniam qui talia agunt, regnum Dei non possidebunt (Galat. V, 19-21). Judicet ergo se ipsum homo in istis voluntate, dum potest, et mores convertat in melius: ne cum jam non poterit, etiam praeter voluntatem a Domino judicetur. Et cum ipse in se protulerit severissimae medicinae, sed tamen medicinae sententiam, veniat ad antistites, per quos illi in Ecclesia claves ministrantur: et tanquam bonus jam incipiens esse filius, maternorum membrorum ordine custodito, a praepositis Sacramentorum accipiat satisfactionis suae modum; ut in offerendo sacrificio cordis contribulati devotus et supplex, id tamen agat quod non solum ipsi prosit ad recipiendam salutem, sed etiam caeteris ad exemplum. Ut si peccatum ejus, non solum in gravi ejus malo, sed etiam in tanto scandalo aliorum est, atque hoc expedire utilitati Ecclesiae videtur antistiti, in notitia multorum, vel etiam totius plebis agere poenitentiam non recuset, non resistat, non lethali et mortiferae plagae per pudorem addat tumorem. Meminerit semper, quod superbis Deus resistit, humilibus autem dat gratiam (Jacobi IV, 6). Quid enim est infelicius, quid perversius, quam de ipso vulnere, quod latere non potest, non erubescere, et de ligatura ejus erubescere?
9. Penance must be embraced by those who have relapsed after Baptism. Whoever, then, after Baptism is held bound by the deed of some of his former evils, is he so much his own enemy that he still hesitates to change his life, while there is time, while he thus sins and lives? For indeed, in that he sins so persistently, he is storing up for himself wrath on the day of wrath and of the revelation of the just judgement of God. But in that he still lives, the patience of God is leading him to penance. Entangled, therefore, in the bonds of such deadly sins, does he refuse, or put off, or hesitate to flee for refuge to the very keys of the Church, by which he may be loosed on earth, so that he may be loosed in heaven; and does he dare to promise himself some salvation after this life, because he is merely called a Christian; and does he not tremble at that truthful thunder of the Lord's voice, Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father Who is in heaven, he shall enter into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 7:21)? What of the same apostle to the Galatians: does he not, in enumerating such things, conclude with the same end? The works of the flesh, he says, are manifest, which are fornications, impurities, lusts, the service of idols, sorceries, enmities, contentions, rivalries, animosities, dissensions, heresies, envyings, drunkenness, revellings, and things like these; of which I forewarn you, as I have forewarned you, that those who do such things shall not possess the kingdom of God (Gal. 5:19–21). Let a man therefore judge himself in these things by his will, while he can, and change his ways for the better: lest, when he can no longer do so, he be judged by the Lord even against his will. And when he has pronounced upon himself the sentence of a most severe, but nevertheless a healing, remedy, let him come to the bishops, through whom the keys are administered to him in the Church: and, as one now beginning to be a good son, keeping the order of his mother's members, let him receive from those set over the Sacraments the measure of his satisfaction; so that, devout and suppliant in offering the sacrifice of a contrite heart, he may yet do that which not only profits himself for recovering salvation, but also serves others as an example. So that if his sin is not only to his own grave harm, but also to such great scandal of others, and this seems to the bishop expedient for the benefit of the Church, let him not refuse to do penance in the knowledge of many, or even of the whole people; let him not resist, let him not through shame add swelling to a lethal and deadly wound. Let him always remember that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble (Jas. 4:6). For what is more unhappy, what more perverse, than not to blush at the wound itself, which cannot be hidden, and to blush at its binding?
10. In eos qui poenitentiae negligendae exemplum ex aliis sumunt. A communione non prohibentur nisi sponte confessi, vel legitime convicti. Nemo arbitretur, fratres, propterea se consilium salutiferae hujus poenitentiae
10. Against those who take from others an example for neglecting penance. None are barred from communion except those who have confessed of their own accord, or have been lawfully convicted. Let no one think, brethren, that on this account the counsel of this saving penance is something he
Editors' notes and page, col. 1545
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debere contemnere, quia multos forte advertit et novit ad Sacramenta altaris accedere, quorum talia crimina non ignorat. Multi enim corriguntur, ut Petrus: multi tolerantur, ut Judas: multi nesciuntur, donec veniat Dominus, qui illuminet abscondita tenebrarum, et manifestet cogitationes cordis (I Cor. IV, 5). Nam plerique propterea nolunt alios accusare, dum se per illos cupiunt excusare. Plerique autem boni christiani propterea tacent, et sufferunt aliorum peccata quae noverunt, quia documentis saepe deseruntur, et ea quae ipsi sciunt, judicibus ecclesiasticis probare non possunt. Quamvis enim vera sint quaedam; non tamen judici facile credenda sunt, nisi certis indiciis demonstrentur. Nos vero a communione prohibere quemquam non possumus (quamvis haec prohibitio nondum sit mortalis, sed medicinalis), nisi aut sponte confessum, aut in aliquo sive saeculari, sive ecclesiastico judicio nominatum atque convictum. Quis enim sibi utrumque audeat assumere, ut cuiquam ipse sit et accusator et judex? Cujusmodi regulam etiam Paulus apostolus in eadem ad Corinthios Epistola breviter insinuasse intelligitur, cum quibusdam talibus commemoratis criminibus, ecclesiastici judicii formam ad omnia similia ex quibusdam daret. Ait enim: Scripsi vobis in epistola non commisceri fornicariis: non utique fornicariis hujus mundi, aut avaris, aut raptoribus, aut idolis servientibus; alioquin debueratis de hoc mundo exire. Non enim possunt homines in hoc mundo viventes, nisi cum talibus vivere: nec eos possunt lucrifacere Christo, si eorum colloquium convictumque vitaverint. Unde et Dominus cum publicanis et peccatoribus comedens: Non est opus, inquit, sanis medicus, sed male habentibus. Non enim veni vocare justos, sed peccatores (Matth. IX, 12 et 13). Et ideo sequitur Apostolus, et adjungit: Nunc autem scripsi vobis non commisceri. Si quis frater nominatur aut fornicator, aut idolis serviens, aut avarus, aut maledicus, aut ebriosus, aut rapax; cum hujusmodi nec quidem cibum sumere. Quo enim mihi de his qui foris sunt judicare? Nonne de his qui intus sunt vos judicatis? De his autem qui foris sunt, Deus judicabit. Auferte malum a vobis ipsis (I Cor. V, 9-13). Quibus verbis satis ostendit non temere aut quomodolibet, sed per judicium auferendos esse malos ab Ecclesiae communione: ut si per judicium auferri non possunt, tolerentur potius, ne perverse malos quisque evitando, ab Ecclesia ipse discedens, eos quos fugere videtur, vinciat ad gehennam. Quia et ad hoc nobis sunt in Scripturis sanctis exempla proposita, velut in messe, ut palea sufferatur usque ad ultimum ventilabrum (Matth. III, 12); velut intra illa retia, ubi pisces boni cum malis usque ad segregationem, quae futura est in littore, id est, in fine saeculi, aequo animo tolerentur (Id. XIII, 47-50). Non enim contrarium est huic loco id quod alio loco dicit Apostolus: Tu quis es qui judicas alienum servum? Suo domino
ought to despise, because he perhaps notices and knows that many approach the Sacraments of the altar whose crimes of this kind he is not ignorant of. For many are corrected, like Peter; many are tolerated, like Judas; many remain unknown, until the Lord comes, Who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the thoughts of the heart (1 Cor. 4:5). For very many are unwilling to accuse others for this reason, that they wish to excuse themselves through them. But very many good Christians keep silent for this reason, and bear the sins of others which they know, because they are often left without proofs, and what they themselves know they cannot prove to ecclesiastical judges. For although certain things may be true, they are nevertheless not easily to be believed by a judge unless they are demonstrated by sure indications. We, however, cannot bar anyone from communion (although this prohibition is not yet deadly but medicinal), unless he has either confessed of his own accord or been named and convicted in some court, whether secular or ecclesiastical. For who would dare to take both upon himself, so as to be himself both accuser and judge of anyone? The apostle Paul too is understood to have briefly intimated a rule of this kind in the same Epistle to the Corinthians, when, having mentioned certain such crimes, he gave from some of them the form of ecclesiastical judgement for all similar ones. For he says: I wrote to you in a letter not to mix with fornicators: not indeed with the fornicators of this world, or the covetous, or robbers, or those who serve idols; otherwise you would have had to go out of this world. For men living in this world cannot but live with such people; nor can they gain them for Christ if they shun their conversation and company. Hence the Lord too, eating with publicans and sinners, says: The healthy have no need of a physician, but those who are unwell. For I did not come to call the just, but sinners (Matt. 9:12–13). And therefore the Apostle goes on and adds: But now I have written to you not to mix. If anyone who is named a brother is a fornicator, or a server of idols, or covetous, or a slanderer, or a drunkard, or a robber; with such a one not even to take food. For to what purpose is it for me to judge those who are outside? Do you not judge those who are inside? But those who are outside God will judge. Remove the evil from among yourselves (1 Cor. 5:9–13). By these words he shows sufficiently that the wicked are to be removed from the communion of the Church not rashly or in any way whatever, but through judgement: so that, if they cannot be removed through judgement, they should rather be tolerated, lest anyone, perversely shunning the wicked and himself departing from the Church, should bind to Gehenna those whom he seems to flee. For to this end too examples are set before us in the holy Scriptures: as in the harvest, that the chaff is to be borne until the last winnowing-fan (Matt. 3:12); as within those nets, where good fish together with bad are to be tolerated with an even mind until the separation, which is to take place on the shore, that is, at the end of the world (Matt. 13:47–50). For what the Apostle says in another place is not contrary to this passage: Who are you who judge another's servant? To his own master
Editors' notes and page, col. 1546
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: sunt judicare› · call in col 1546
Apud Er. Lugd. Ven. Lov., Quid enim mihi de his qui foris sunt judicare? M.
In Erasmus and the Lyons, Venice and Louvain editions: "For what have I to do with judging those who are outside?" M.
(printed under page 35)
(2) ‹anchor: videtur, vinciat› · call in col 1546
Mss., vincat.
The manuscripts: "vincat" (should conquer).
(printed under page 35)
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stat, aut cadit (Rom. XIV, 4). Noluit enim hominem ab homine judicari ex arbitrio suspicionis, vel etiam extraordinario usurpato judicio: sed potius ex lege Dei secundum ordinem Ecclesiae, sive ultro confessum, sive accusatum atque convictum. Alioquin illud cur dixit, Si quis frater nominatur aut fornicator, aut idolis serviens, et caetera; nisi quia eam nominationem intelligi voluit quae fit in quemquam, cum sententia ordine judiciario atque integritate profertur? Nam si nominatio sufficit, multi damnandi sunt innocentes, quia saepe falso in quoquam crimine nominantur.
stands, or falls (Rom. 14:4). For he did not wish a man to be judged by a man at the discretion of suspicion, or even by an extraordinary, usurped judgement, but rather according to the law of God, following the order of the Church, whether he has confessed of his own accord, or has been accused and convicted. Otherwise why did he say, If any brother is named either a fornicator, or one serving idols, and the rest, unless because he wished that naming to be understood which is made against anyone when sentence is pronounced in judicial order and with integrity? For if naming suffices, many innocent people must be condemned, since they are often falsely named in some crime.
11. Adversus eos qui pravis exemplis acquiescentes contemnunt poenitentiam. Praepositi mali non imitandi. Elegans similitudo. Non ergo illi, quos monemus agere poenitentiam, quaerant sibi comites ad supplicium; nec gaudeant quia plures inveniunt. Non enim propterea minus ardebunt, quia cum multis ardebunt. Non est enim hoc sanitatis certum consilium, sed malevolentiae vanum solatium. An forte attendunt multos etiam in ipsis honoribus ecclesiasticis praepositorum et ministrorum non congruenter vivere sermonibus et Sacramentis, quae per eos populis ministrantur? O miseros homines, qui hos intuendo Christum obliviscuntur! qui et tanto ante praedixit, ut legi Dei potius obtemperetur, quam imitandi videantur illi, qui ea quae dicunt non faciunt (Matth. XXIII, 3): et traditorem suum tolerans usque in finem, etiam ad evangelizandum cum caeteris misit. Tam sunt autem isti absurdi et praeposteri et miseri, qui praepositorum suorum malos mores imitari eligunt, quam per eos praedicata Domini praecepta servare; quam si quisquam viator remanendum sibi esse existimet in itinere, cum viderit milliaria lapidea litteris plena viam docere, et non ambulare. Cur enim non potius, si pervenire desiderat, tales comites intuetur et consequitur, qui et viam bene demonstrant, et in ea perseveranter atque alacriter ambulant? Quod si isti desint, vel potius minus appareant, nam deesse non possunt: non enim sic quaerunt homines charitate studiosa quod praedicent ad imitationem, quomodo quaerunt iniquitate suspiciosa quod murmurent ad deceptionem, partim non inveniendo bonos, dum ipsi mali sunt; partim timendo invenire, dum mali esse semper volunt. Sed tamen concedamus non apparere nunc homines dignos imitatione. Quisquis hoc putas, mente Dominum intuere, qui homo factus est, ut hominem vivere doceret. Si habitat Christus in interiore homine per fidem in corde tuo, recordarisque illud quod Joannes ait, Qui dicit se in Christo manere, debet quemadmodum ille ambulavit, et ipse ambulare (I Joan. II, 6): ita nec tibi deerit quem sequaris, et cum te alius viderit, de bonorum inopia conqueri desinet. Si enim non nosti quid sit recte vivere, divina praecepta cognosce. Fortassis enim multi recte vivunt; sed propterea tibi nullus recte vivere videtur, quoniam quid sit recte vivere
11. Against those who, acquiescing in bad examples, despise penance. Bad superiors are not to be imitated. An elegant comparison. Let those, then, whom we admonish to do penance not seek companions for themselves towards punishment, nor rejoice because they find more of them. For they will not burn the less because they will burn with many. For this is not a sure counsel of health, but a vain consolation of ill will. Or do they perhaps observe that many, even in the very ecclesiastical honours of superiors and ministers, do not live in keeping with the sermons and Sacraments which are ministered through them to the peoples? O wretched men, who by gazing at these forget Christ! Who also foretold so long beforehand that the law of God should rather be obeyed than that those should be thought worthy of imitation who do not do the things they say (Matt. 23:3); and, bearing with His betrayer to the end, He sent him too with the rest to preach the gospel. Yet these men are as absurd and perverse and wretched, who choose to imitate the bad morals of their superiors rather than to keep the precepts of the Lord preached through them, as if some traveller were to think he ought to stay on his journey when he saw that the stone milestones, full of letters, show the way and do not walk. For why does he not rather, if he desires to arrive, look at and follow such companions as both point out the way well and walk in it perseveringly and eagerly? But if these are lacking, or rather appear less, for they cannot be lacking (for men do not seek with zealous charity something to preach for imitation in the way that they seek with suspicious iniquity something to murmur about for deception, partly by not finding good men, since they themselves are bad, partly by fearing to find them, since they always wish to be bad), let us nevertheless grant that men worthy of imitation do not appear now. Whoever you are who think this, behold with your mind the Lord, Who was made man so that He might teach man to live. If Christ dwells in the inner man through faith in your heart, and you remember what John says, He who says he abides in Christ ought himself also to walk as He walked (1 John 2:6), then neither will you lack someone to follow, and when another sees you he will cease to complain of the scarcity of good men. For if you do not know what it is to live rightly, learn the divine precepts. For perhaps many live rightly; but no one seems to you to live rightly for this reason, because what it is to live rightly
Editors' notes and page, col. 1547
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: malos mores› · call in col 1547
Sic Mss. At editi, crimina.
So the manuscripts. But the printed editions: "crimina" (crimes).
(printed under page 36)
(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1547
Er. Lugd. et Ven., invenerint Lov., inveniant.
Erasmus and the Lyons and Venice editions: "invenerint" (they shall have found); Louvain: "inveniant" (they may find).
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ignoras. Si autem nosti, age quod nosti; ut et tu quod quaeris habeas, et aliis quod imitentur ostendas. Christum animo attende, attende Apostolos, quorum novissimus est ille qui dicit, Imitatores mei estote, sicut et ego Christi (I Cor. IV, 16). Attende animo tot martyrum millia. Cur enim te Natalitia eorum conviviis turpibus celebrare delectat, et eorum vitam sequi honestis moribus non delectat? Ibi videbis non solum viros, sed etiam feminas, postremo pueros et puellas, nec imprudentia decipi, nec iniquitate perverti, nec periculi timore frangi, nec saeculi amore corrumpi. Ita te non invenientem quid excuses, non solum praeceptorum inevitabilis rectitudo, sed etiam exemplorum innumerabilis multitudo circumdabit.
you do not know. But if you do know, do what you know, so that you too may have what you seek, and may show others what they should imitate. Turn your mind to Christ, turn it to the Apostles, the last of whom is he who says, Be imitators of me, as I also am of Christ (1 Cor. 4:16). Turn your mind to so many thousands of martyrs. For why does it delight you to celebrate their birthday feasts with shameful banquets, and does it not delight you to follow their life with honest conduct? There you will see not only men but also women, and lastly boys and girls, neither deceived by imprudence, nor perverted by iniquity, nor broken by fear of danger, nor corrupted by love of the world. Thus, finding nothing with which to excuse yourself, you will be surrounded not only by the inescapable rightness of the precepts but also by the innumerable multitude of examples.
CAPUT V. — 12. Peccator nullus desperet, sed ad poenitentiam confugiat. Mutatio vitae et satisfactio pro commissis. Sed de utilitate ac salubritate poenitentiae, ut quod instituimus aliquando peragamus: si jam de sanitate desperans addis peccata peccatis, sicut scriptum est, Peccator, cum venerit in profundum malorum, contemnit (Prov. XVIII, 3): noli contemnere, noli desperare; clama etiam de profundo ad Dominum, et dic ei: De profundis clamavi ad te, Domine; Domine, exaudi vocem meam. Fiant aures tuae intendentes in vocem obsecrationis meae. Si iniquitates observaveris, Domine; Domine, quis sustinebit? Quoniam apud te propitiatio est (Psal. CXXIX, 1-4). De tali profundo Ninivitae clamaverunt, et hanc propitiationem invenerunt: faciliusque est evacuata comminatio Prophetae, quam humiliatio poenitentiae (Jonae III). Hic fortasse dicis: Sed ego jam baptizatus sum in Christo, a quo omnia mihi peccata praeterita dimissa sunt; vilis factus sum nimis iterans vias meas, et canis horribilis oculis Dei, conversus ad vomitum suum. Quo abibo a spiritu ejus? et a facie ejus quo fugiam? Quo, frater, nisi ad ejus misericordiam poenitendo, cujus potestatem peccando contempseras? Nemo enim recte fugit ab illo, nisi ad illum, ab ejus severitate ad ejus bonitatem. Quis enim locus te excipiet fugientem, ubi ejus praesentia te non inveniat? Si ascenderis in coelum, ibi est: si descenderis ad infernum, adest. Recipe ergo pennas tuas in directum, et habita in spe in extrema hujus saeculi: etenim illuc manus sua deducet te, et perducet te dextera sua (Psal. CXXXVIII, 7-10). Quidquid enim feceris, quaecumque peccaveris; adhuc in hac vita es, unde te Deus omnino, si sanare nollet, auferret. Cur ergo ignoras quia patientia Dei ad poenitentiam te adducit (Rom. II, 4)? Qui enim clamando non tibi persuasit ut non recederes, parcendo clamat ut redeas. Intuere David regem: jam utique et ipse illius temporis sacramenta perceperat, jam utique circumcisus erat, quod patres nostri pro Baptismo habebant. Nam ad hoc dicit Apostolus sanctum Abraham signaculum justitiae fidei recepisse (Id. IV, 11). Jam etiam unctus erat unctione venerabili, qua regale sacerdotium praefigurabatur Ecclesiae. Repente autem factus et adulterii et
Chapter V. — 12. Let no sinner despair, but let him take refuge in penitence. Change of life and satisfaction for things committed. But concerning the usefulness and wholesomeness of penitence, so that we may at last carry through what we have undertaken: if, already despairing of health, you add sins to sins, as it is written, The sinner, when he has come into the depth of evils, despises (Prov. 18:3): do not despise, do not despair; cry out even from the depth to the Lord, and say to Him: Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord; Lord, hear my voice. Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. If Thou wilt observe iniquities, O Lord; Lord, who shall endure it? For with Thee is propitiation (Ps. 129:1–4). From such a depth the Ninevites cried out, and they found this propitiation: and the threat of the Prophet was more easily made void than the humiliation of penitence (Jonah 3). Here perhaps you say: But I have already been baptized in Christ, by Whom all my past sins have been forgiven; I have become exceedingly vile by repeating my ways, and a dog horrible in the eyes of God, turned back to his own vomit. Whither shall I go from His spirit? and from His face whither shall I flee? Whither, brother, but to His mercy by repenting, Whose power you had despised by sinning? For no one rightly flees from Him except to Him, from His severity to His goodness. For what place will receive you as you flee, where His presence would not find you? If you ascend into heaven, He is there; if you descend into hell, He is present. Take up again, therefore, your wings straight forward, and dwell in hope in the uttermost parts of this world: for even thither His hand will lead you, and His right hand will bring you through (Ps. 138:7–10). For whatever you have done, whatever sins you have committed, you are still in this life, from which God would wholly take you away if He did not wish to heal you. Why then do you not know that the patience of God leads you to penitence (Rom. 2:4)? For He Who by crying out did not persuade you not to depart, by sparing cries out that you should return. Look at King David: he too had certainly already received the sacraments of that time, he was certainly already circumcised, which our fathers held in place of Baptism. For to this effect the Apostle says that holy Abraham received the seal of the righteousness of faith (ibid. 4:11). He had moreover already been anointed with the venerable anointing by which the royal priesthood of the Church was prefigured. But having suddenly become both of adultery and
Editors' notes and page, col. 1548
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: in extrema› · call in col 1548
Editi, in extremo. At Mss., in extrema. Augustinus eumdem Psalmum 138 enarrans legebat, in novissima.
The printed editions: "in extremo." But the manuscripts: "in extrema" (to the uttermost parts). Augustine, expounding this same Psalm 138, read "in novissima" (to the last parts).
(printed under page 36)
(2) ‹anchor: sanare nollet› · call in col 1548
Mss., si sanari nollet.
The manuscripts: "if he were unwilling to be healed."
(printed under page 36)
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