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Augustine, Sermones 353-358 (Classis IV, de Diversis)

Sermon CCCLVI

aliquos habere aliquid, nisi aliqua necessitate religionis, non occasione cupiditatis. Quod ergo egero post Epiphaniam, Charitati vestrae in Domini voluntate nuntiabo; et quomodo litem finiero inter duos fratres, filios presbyteri Januarii, non vobis tacebo. Multa locutus sum, date veniam loquaci senectuti, sed timidae infirmitati. Ego, sicut videtis, per aetatem modo senui, sed per infirmitatem corporis olim sum senex. Tamen si Deo placet, quod dixi modo, ipse det vires, non vos desero. Orate pro me, ut quantum inest anima in hoc corpore, et qualescumque vires suppetunt, in verbo Dei serviam vobis.

any who have anything, except out of some necessity of religion, not on the occasion of covetousness. What, therefore, I shall have done after the Epiphany, I will announce to Your Charity, according to the will of the Lord; and how I shall have settled the dispute between the two brothers, the sons of the priest Januarius, I will not keep silent from you. I have said much; pardon a talkative old age, but [rather] a fearful infirmity. I, as you see, have only now grown old by age, but by infirmity of body I have long been an old man. Yet if it pleases God, as I said just now, may He give strength; I do not desert you. Pray for me, that as long as the soul is in this body, and whatever strength is at hand, I may serve you in the word of God.

SERMO CCCLVI. De Vita et Moribus clericorum suorum, II.

Sermon 356. On the Life and Conduct of His Clergy, II.

1. Forma vivendi coenobitarum in A⟨c⟩tibus Apostolorum descripta. Charitati vestrae hodie de nobis ipsis sermo reddendus est. Quod enim ait Apostolus, spectaculum facti sumus mundo et Angelis et hominibus (I Cor. IV, 9). Qui nos amant, quaerunt quod laudent in nobis: qui autem nos oderunt, detrahunt nobis. Nos autem in utroque medio constituti, adjuvante Domino Deo nostro, et vitam et famam nostram sic custodire debemus, ut non erubescant de detractoribus laudatores. Quomodo autem vivere velimus, quomodo Deo propitio jam vivamus, quamvis de Scriptura sancta multi noveritis, tamen ad commemorandos vos, ipsa de libro Actuum Apostolorum vobis lectio recitabitur, ut videatis ubi descripta sit forma quam desideramus implere. Dum ergo recitatur, vos intentissimos volo, ut post ejus recitationem, quod institui loquar, Deo donante, intentioni vestrae. (Et Lazarus diaconus legit:) « Cum orassent, mo⟨t⟩us est locus in quo erant congregati, et impleti sunt omnes Spiritu sancto, et loquebantur verbum Dei cum fiducia omni volenti. Multitudinis autem credentium erat anima una et cor unum: et nemo eorum quae possidebat, dicebat aliquid suum esse, sed erant illis omnia communia. Et virtute magna reddebant Apostoli testimonium resurrectionis Domini Jesu: gratiaque magna erat super omnes illos. Neque enim quisquam egens erat inter illos. Quotquot enim possessores praediorum vel domorum erant, vendentes afferebant pretia illorum, et ponebant ante pedes Apostolorum. Distribuebatur autem unicuique prout cuique opus erat » (Act. IV, 31-35). (Cumque Lazarus diaconus recitasset, et episcopo codicem tradidisset; Augustinus episcopus dixit:) Et ego legere volo. Plus enim me delectat bujus verbi esse lectorem, quam verbi mei disputatorem. « Cum orassent, motus

1. The form of living of the cenobites described in the Acts of the Apostles. Today an account of ourselves must be rendered to Your Charity. For, as the Apostle says, we have been made a spectacle to the world, and to angels, and to men (1 Cor. 4:9). Those who love us seek what they may praise in us; but those who hate us disparage us. We, however, set in the middle between both, with the help of the Lord our God, ought so to guard both our life and our reputation that those who praise us may not be put to shame by those who disparage us. Now, how we wish to live, how by God's favour we already live, although many of you know it from holy Scripture, yet to remind you, the reading itself from the book of the Acts of the Apostles will be recited to you, that you may see where the form which we desire to fulfil is described. While, then, it is being recited, I want you to be most attentive, so that after its recitation I may say, God granting, what I have undertaken, to your attention. (And Lazarus the deacon read:) "When they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered was moved, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with confidence to everyone who was willing. And of the multitude of believers there was one soul and one heart: and none of them said that anything of what he possessed was his own, but all things were common to them. And with great power the apostles gave testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. For neither was there anyone needy among them. For as many as were owners of lands or of houses, selling them, brought the prices of them, and laid them before the feet of the apostles. And distribution was made to each according as each had need" (Acts 4:31–35). (And when Lazarus the deacon had recited it, and had handed the book to the bishop, Augustine the bishop said:) I too wish to read. For it delights me more to be a reader of this word than a disputer of my own word. "When they had prayed, there was moved

Editors' notes and page, col. 1574

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: omni volenti› · call in col 1574

Editi, volenti credere. Abest, credere, a manuscriptis.

The editions read "to everyone willing to believe." "To believe" is absent from the manuscripts.

(*) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1574 Emendatus ad omnes Mss. et Edd. in sermone praecedenti modo designatos.

Corrected against all the manuscripts and editions designated in the preceding sermon.

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1574

Alias, de Diversis 50.

Elsewhere, On Various Subjects 50.

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(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1574

In Carthaginensi synodo anni 525 appellatur « de Moribus clericorum secundus liber. » In Landerici autem et Bertefridi Privilegio, « libri de Gradibus ecclesiasticis » vocantur iidem isti sermones, puta quod hic Augustinus clericorum singulos gradus percurrat, et n. 9 dicat, « sic enim ad eos gradatim ascendere volui. »

In the Synod of Carthage of the year 525 it is called "the second book on the Morals of the Clergy." In the Privilege of Landeric and of Bertefrid, however, these same sermons are called "books on the Ecclesiastical Grades," presumably because here Augustine runs through each grade of the clergy, and says at no. 9, "for so I wished to go up to them grade by grade."

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est locus in quo erant congregati, et impleti sunt omnes Spiritu sancto, et loquebantur verbum Dei cum fiducia omni volenti. Multitudinis autem credentium erat anima una et cor unum: et nemo eorum quae possidebat, dicebat aliquid suum esse, sed erant illis omnia communia. Et virtute magna reddebant Apostoli testimonium resurrectionis Domini Jesu: gratiaque magna erat super omnes illos. Neque enim quisquam egens erat inter illos. Quotquot enim possessores praediorum vel domorum erant, vendentes afferebant pretia eorum, et ponebant ante pedes Apostolorum. Distribuebatur autem unicuique prout cuique opus erat. » (Cumque episcopus legisset, dixit:)

the place in which they were gathered, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with confidence to everyone who was willing. And of the multitude of believers there was one soul and one heart: and none of them said that anything of what he possessed was his own, but all things were common to them. And with great power the Apostles gave testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. For neither was anyone among them in need. For as many as were owners of lands or of houses, selling them, brought the prices of them, and laid them before the feet of the Apostles. And distribution was made to each one according as each had need." (And when the bishop had read it, he said:)

2. Unde Augustino visum est de suorum clericorum vita apud plebem agere. Audistis quid velimus: orate ut possimus. Contigit autem quaedam necessitas, ut haec diligentius agerem: quoniam, sicut jam nostis, presbyter in nostra societate constitutus, quali societati perhibet testimonium lectio, quam modo, cum recitaremus, audistis, moriens testamentum fecit, quia habuit unde faceret. Erat quod diceret suum, cum in ea societate viveret, ubi nemini licebat dicere aliquid suum, sed essent illis omnia communia. Si quis dilector et laudator noster apud detractorem nostrum praedicaret istam societatem, et diceret, Cum episcopo Augustino sic vivunt omnes cohabitatores ejus, quomodo scriptum est in Actibus Apostolorum: continuo ille detractor caput movens, dentem promovens, diceret, Ita vere sic ibi vivitur, quomodo tu dicis? Quare mentiris? Quare falsa laude honoras indignos? Nonne ibi modo in eorum societate positus presbyter testamentum fecit, et quod habuit quomodo voluit disposuit, et reliquit? Certe omnia ibi sunt communia? certe nemo dicit aliquid suum? Sub his verbis quid ageret laudator meus? Nonne os ejus quasi plumbo oppilaret ille detractor? Nonne illum laudasse poeniteret? Nonne reverentia perfusus et illius sermone confusus, vel nobis vel testatori illi malediceret? Haec fuit necessitas, ut ad istam diligentiam veniremus.

2. Why Augustine decided to treat of the life of his clergy before the people. You have heard what we wish: pray that we may be able. Now a certain necessity has arisen, obliging me to treat these things more carefully: because, as you already know, a presbyter established in our community, a community of the kind to which the reading you heard just now, when we recited it, bears witness, made a will when dying, because he had the means to make one. There was something he could call his own, although he was living in that community where no one was permitted to call anything his own, but all things were to be common to them. If someone who loves and praises us were to commend this community before one who disparages us, and were to say, "With Bishop Augustine all who live with him live thus, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles": at once that disparager, shaking his head and baring his tooth, would say, "Is it truly lived thus there, as you say? Why do you lie? Why do you honour the unworthy with false praise? Did not a presbyter placed in their community there just now make a will, and dispose of what he had as he wished, and leave it? Surely all things there are common? Surely no one calls anything his own?" Faced with these words, what would my praiser do? Would not that disparager stop up his mouth as though with lead? Would he not regret having praised? Would he not, suffused with shame and confounded by that man's speech, curse either us or that testator? This was the necessity, that we should come to this careful attention.

3. Clerici omnes Augustini in proposito paupertatis constantes inventi. Valens diaconus, Patricius subdiaconus. Nuntio ergo vobis unde gaudeatis. Omnes fratres et clericos meos, qui mecum habitant, presbyteros, diaconos, subdiaconos, et Patricium nepotem meum, tales inveni, quales desideravi. Sed qui de sua qualicumque paupertate, quod statuerant, nondum fecerunt, hi duo sunt, Valens diaconus, et paulo ante dictus nepos meus subdiaconus; sed matris vita impediebat, quia inde vivebat. Exspectabatur in illo etiam legitimae aetatis accessus, ut quod faceret, firmissime faceret. Nondum autem fecit, quia ipsos agellos habet cum suo fratre communes, et sub indiviso eos possident. Si autem divisi fuerint, eos cupit Ecclesiae conferre, ut inde alantur qui sunt in proposito sanctitatis, quousque in hac vita degunt.

3. All Augustine's clergy found constant in their resolve of poverty. Valens the deacon, Patricius the subdeacon. I announce to you, therefore, something to rejoice at. All my brothers and clergy who live with me, presbyters, deacons, subdeacons, and Patricius my nephew, I have found such as I desired. But those who have not yet done, with their poverty such as it is, what they had resolved, are these two: Valens the deacon, and my nephew the subdeacon mentioned a little before; but in his case his mother's life stood in the way, because she lived from that property. In him, too, the attainment of lawful age was being awaited, so that what he did, he might do most firmly. But he has not yet done it, because he holds those little fields in common with his brother, and they possess them undivided. If, however, they are divided, he desires to confer them on the Church, so that from them those who are in the resolve of holiness may be fed, for as long as they spend this life.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1575

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: eos cupit› · call in col 1575

Mss., Sic autem cupit eos; omisso, divisi fuerint. Et paulo infra, loco, Adhuc autem mancipia sunt; habent, Haec autem mancipia sunt.

The manuscripts read "But so he wishes them," leaving out "they have been divided." And a little below, in place of "But there are still slaves," they have "But these are slaves."

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Scriptum est enim, et hoc Apostolus loquitur, Qui autem suis, et maxime domesticis, non providet, fidem denegat, et est infideli deterior (I Tim. V, 8). Adhuc autem mancipia sunt ei similiter cum fratre communia, nondum divisa. Disponit ea manumittere; non potest antequam dividantur. Quid enim ad quem pertineat, adhuc ignorat. Ad ipsum sane, quia major est, pertinet divisio; et ad fratrem ejus electio. Et ipse frater ejus Deo servit, subdiaconus est cum sancto fratre meo et coepiscopo Severo in Ecclesia Milevitana. Hoc agitur, hoc sine dilatione peragendum est, ut illi servuli dividantur, manumittantur, et sic det Ecclesiae, ut eorum excipiat alimentum. Nepos autem meus ex quo conversus est, et mecum esse coepit, impediebatur et ipse aliquid de agellulis suis agere invita usufructuaria matre sua, quae hoc anno defuncta est. Inter ipsum et sorores ejus sunt quaedam in Christi adjutorio cito finienda: ut et ipse faciat quod servum Dei decet, quod ipsa professio, et ista exigit lectio.

For it is written, and the Apostle says this: But whoever does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever (1 Tim. 5:8). Moreover, he still has slaves held in common in the same way with his brother, not yet divided. He intends to manumit them; he cannot do so before they are divided. For he does not yet know which belongs to whom. To him indeed, since he is the elder, the division belongs; and to his brother the choice. And this brother of his also serves God; he is a subdeacon with my holy brother and fellow bishop Severus in the Church of Milevis. This is in hand, this must be completed without delay, that those slaves be divided, be manumitted, and that he so give to the Church that it may take on their maintenance. My nephew, moreover, from the time he was converted and began to be with me, was himself prevented from doing anything with his little plots of land, because his mother, who held the usufruct, was unwilling; she died this year. Between him and his sisters there are certain matters to be settled quickly with Christ's help, so that he too may do what befits a servant of God, what that very profession and this reading require.

4. Faustinus diaconus. Diaconus Faustinus, sicut pene omnes nostis, hic de militia saeculi ad monasterium conversus est: hic baptizatus, inde diaconus ordinatus. Sed quia exiguum est quod videtur possidere, sicut jurisperiti loquuntur, jure, non corpore reliquerat illud, et ab ejus fratribus tenebatur. Nunquam inde cogitavit ex quo conversus est, nec ipse aliquid quaesivit a fratribus suis, nec ab illo est aliquid quaesitum. Modo quia ventum est ad hunc articulum temporis, cum consilio meo divisit ipsam rem: et dimidiam donavit fratribus suis, dimidiam Ecclesiae pauperi in loco eodem constitutae.

4. Faustinus the deacon. The deacon Faustinus, as almost all of you know, was converted here from the service of the world to the monastery: here he was baptized, and then ordained deacon. But since what he seems to possess is small, he had relinquished it, as the jurists say, by right, not by body, and it was held by his brothers. He never gave it a thought from the time he was converted, nor did he himself ask anything of his brothers, nor was anything asked of him. Now, since we have come to this point of time, with my counsel he has divided that property: and he has given half to his brothers, and half to the poor church established in the same place.

5. Severus diaconus caecus. Diaconus Severus sub qua Dei disciplina et flagello sit, nostis: lumen tamen non perdidit mentis. Unam domum hic emerat propter matrem et sororem suam, quas de sua patria huc desiderabat adducere. Emerat autem non sua pecunia, quam non habebat; sed ex collatione religiosorum virorum, quos mihi quaerenti etiam nominans indicavit. De ipsa non possum dicere quid fecerit, aut quid disponat, nisi quia totum et ipse in mea posuit voluntate, ut quidquid ipse vellem, hoc inde fieret. Sed habet quasdam causas cum matre sua, quarum causarum me judicem posuit; ut cum illae causae fuerint terminatae, fiat de ipsa domo quod ego voluero. Quid autem velle potero Deo regente, nisi quod justitia jubet, et pietas postulat? Habet etiam in patria sua aliquos agellos: disponit eos sic distribuere, ut etiam illic in illo loco positae pauperi largiatur Ecclesiae.

5. Severus the blind deacon. Under what discipline and scourge of God the deacon Severus lives, you know: yet he has not lost the light of the mind. He had bought a house here for his mother and his sister, whom he wished to bring here from his homeland. He had bought it, however, not with his own money, which he did not have, but from a collection made by religious men, whom, when I asked, he pointed out to me, even naming them. About this house I cannot say what he has done or what he intends, except that he too has placed the whole of it at my will, so that whatever I wished should be done with it. But he has certain lawsuits with his mother, of which suits he has made me judge; so that, when those suits have been concluded, what I wish may be done with that house. But what shall I be able to wish, with God guiding, except what justice commands and piety demands? He also has some small plots of land in his homeland: he intends to distribute them in such a way that there too he may bestow them on the poor church situated in that place.

6. Hipponensis diaconus. Diaconus Hipponensis homo pauper est, quid alicui conferat, non habet: tamen de laboribus suis antequam esset clericus emerat aliquos servulos, hodie illos in conspectu vestro manumissurus est episcopalibus Gestis.

6. The deacon of Hippo. The deacon of Hippo is a poor man; he has nothing to confer on anyone: yet from his own labours, before he was a cleric, he had bought some slaves; today, in your sight, he is going to manumit them by the episcopal Acts.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1576

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1576

Mss., usufructuario matris suae; omissa voce, invita.

The manuscripts read "to his mother as usufructuary," leaving out the word "unwilling."

(printed under page 50)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1576

Sic Mss. et Aquisgranense concilium. At editi, et sororem ejus.

So the manuscripts and the Council of Aachen. But the editions read "and his sister."

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(3) ‹anchor: De ipsa› · call in col 1576

Mss., De ipso.

The manuscripts read "about it" (masculine).

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(a) ‹anchor: jure, non corpore› · call in col 1576

Forte, corpore, non jure.

Perhaps "in body, not in law."

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7. Eraclius diaconus. Diaconus Eraclius ante vestros oculos versatur; opera ejus lucent coram oculis vestris. De opere ejus et expensa pecunia memoriam sancti Martyris habemus. De pecunia sua emit etiam possessionem ex consilio meo: nam ipsam pecuniam volebat per manus meas erogari, sicut mihi placeret. Ego si pecuniae avidus essem, aut necessitates meas ipsas, quas pro pauperibus habeo, in hac causa plus curarem, pecuniam acciperem. Quare, dicit aliquis? Quia possessio illa quae ab illo empta et Ecclesiae donata est, adhuc nihil praestat Ecclesiae. Minus enim habebat ad pretium, et quia mutuatus fuerat, hoc de ejus adhuc fructibus reddit. Homo sum senex, quantus mihi de illa possessione potest fructus accedere? Numquid promitto mihi tot annos esse victurum, donec suum pretium illa persolvat? Quod ergo vix diu partibus reddit, de proximo haberem totum, si accipere voluissem. Non feci, aliud attendi. Fateor enim vobis, et ipsa suspecta mihi adhuc aetas ejus fuit, et verebar ne forte, ut sunt homines, matri ejus hoc displiceret; et diceret inductum a me fuisse adolescentem, ut bona ejus paterna consumerem, et eum egentem relinquerem. Ideo volui ejus pecuniam in illa possessione servari; ut si aliquid, quod Deus avertat, aliter quam volumus, evenisset, redderetur villa ne culparetur episcopi fama. Scio enim quantum vobis sit fama mea necessaria: nam mihi sufficit conscientia mea. Emit etiam spatium ab ista postea ecclesia notum vobis, et sua pecunia aedificavit domum. Et hoc nostis. Ante paucos dies priusquam sermonem de hac re haberem vobiscum, eam donavit Ecclesiae. Exspectabat enim ut eam perficeret, et perfectam donaret. Fabricandi autem domum necessitas illi nulla erat, nisi quia cogitavit matrem suam huc esse venturam. Si autem venisset, in re filii sui habitaret: modo si venerit, in opere filii sui habitabit. Testimonium ei perhibeo, pauper remansit: sed in charitatis possessione permansit. Aliqui servuli ei reliqui fuerant, jam quidem in monasterio viventes, quos tamen Gestis ecclesiasticis manumissurus est hodie. Nemo ergo dicat, Dives est: nemo existimet, nemo male loquatur, nemo se ipsum vel animam suam suis dentibus laniet. Pecuniam nullam habet servatam: utinam quam debet restituat.

7. Eraclius the deacon. The deacon Eraclius moves before your eyes; his works shine in your sight. From his work and the money he spent we have the shrine of the holy Martyr. With his own money he also bought an estate on my advice: for he wished that very money to be paid out through my hands, as I should see fit. If I were greedy for money, or if in this matter I cared more for those very needs of mine which I have on behalf of the poor, I would have accepted the money. Why, someone says? Because that estate which was bought by him and given to the Church still yields nothing to the Church. For he had less than the price, and because he had borrowed, he is still repaying this out of its produce. I am an old man; how much produce can come to me from that estate? Do I promise myself that I shall live so many years, until it pays off its price? What, then, it barely repays in instalments over a long time, I would have had in full straight away, if I had been willing to accept it. I did not do so; I had something else in view. For I confess to you, his age too was still a cause of misgiving to me, and I was afraid that perhaps, as men are, this might displease his mother; and that she might say that the young man had been led on by me, so that I might consume his paternal property and leave him in want. Therefore I wished his money to be kept in that estate; so that if anything, which God forbid, had turned out otherwise than we wish, the farm might be given back and the bishop's good name not be blamed. For I know how necessary my good name is to you: for my conscience is enough for me. He also afterwards bought a plot from this church, as you know, and with his own money built a house. And this you know. A few days before I held a sermon with you on this matter, he gave it to the Church. For he was waiting until he could finish it, and give it finished. Yet he had no need to build a house, except that he thought his mother was going to come here. If she had come, she would have lived in her son's property: now, if she comes, she will live in her son's work. I bear witness to him: he has remained poor, but he has remained in the possession of charity. Some young slaves had been left to him, already living in the monastery, whom nevertheless he is going to manumit today by ecclesiastical acts. Therefore let no one say, He is rich: let no one think it, let no one speak ill, let no one tear himself or his own soul with his own teeth. He has no money kept back: would that he may repay what he owes.

8. Subdiaconi. Caeteri, id est, subdiaconi, pauperes sunt, Deo propitio, misericordiam Dei exspectant. Unde ipsi faciant non habent: nullas habentes facultates, finierunt mundi cupiditates. Vivunt nobiscum in societate communi: nemo eos distinguit ab illis qui aliquid attulerunt. Charitatis unitas praeponenda est terrenae commodo haereditatis.

8. The subdeacons. The rest, that is, the subdeacons, are poor, by God's favour; they await the mercy of God. They do not have the means with which to do anything themselves: having no resources, they have put an end to the desires of the world. They live with us in common fellowship: no one distinguishes them from those who brought something with them. The unity of charity is to be preferred to the advantage of an earthly inheritance.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1577

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: redderetur villa› · call in col 1577

Sic Mss. et Aquisgranense concilium. At editi, redderetur illa.

So the manuscripts and the Council of Aachen. But the editions read "it would be returned."

(printed under page 51)

(2) ‹anchor: ab ista postea ecclesia› · call in col 1577

Mss., ab ista postera ecclesia.

The manuscripts read "from this rear church."

(printed under page 51)

(3) ‹anchor: in charitatis possessione› · call in col 1577

Sic Mss. et Aquisgranense concilium. At Ulim., professione. Lov., promissione.

So the manuscripts and the Council of Aachen. But Ulim. reads "profession"; Lov., "promise."

(printed under page 51)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1577

Stephani forte collocandis reliquiis, quae non multo ante annum 425 in Africam allatae sunt, aedificatam. Sic sermo paulo post Epiphaniam habitus, ad initium anni 425 pertinebit. Eraclium porro, de quo hic loquitur, factum postea presbyterum Augustinus suum in episcopatu successorem designavit anno 426, die 26 septembris, ex epist. 213.

Built perhaps to house the relics of Stephen, which were brought to Africa not long before the year 425. So the sermon, preached shortly after Epiphany, will belong to the beginning of the year 425. Further, Eraclius, of whom he speaks here, afterwards made a priest, was designated by Augustine as his successor in the episcopate in the year 426, on 26 September, according to Letter 213.

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9. De presbyteris. Restant presbyteri. Sic en⟨i⟩m ad eos gradatim ascendere volui. Cito dixerim, pauperes Dei sunt. Nihil ad domum societatis nostrae attulerunt, nisi ipsam, qua nihil charius est, charitatem. Verumtamen quoniam scio natos fuisse rumores de divitiis ipsorum, non a me ad aliquid compellendi, sed vobis meo sermone purgandi sunt.

9. On the presbyters. There remain the presbyters. For thus I wished to ascend to them by degrees. To say it briefly, they are God's poor. They brought nothing to the house of our fellowship except that very thing than which nothing is dearer: charity. Nevertheless, since I know that rumours have arisen about their riches, they are not to be compelled by me to anything, but are to be cleared before you by my sermon.

10. Leporius presbyter. Vobis dico, qui forte nescitis (nam vestrum plurimi sciunt), presbyterum Leporium, quamvis saeculi natalibus clarum, et apud suos honestissimo loco natum, tamen jam Deo servientem, cunctis quae habebat relictis, inopem suscepi; non quia nihil habuit, sed quia jam fecerat quod lectio ista persuadet. Hic non fecit, sed nos scimus et ubi fecit. Unitas Christi et Ecclesiae una est. Ubicumque fecit opus bonum, pertinet et ad nos, si congaudeamus. Hortus est unus ubi nostis ⟨s⟩ibi monasterium suis cons⟨t⟩ituit, quia et ipsi Deo serviunt. Ille hortus ad Eccles⟨i⟩am non pertinet, nec ad ipsum. Et ad quem, dixerit aliquis? Ad illud quod ibi est monasterium. Sed quod verum est, usque ad hoc tempus curam pro illis ita gerebat, ut sumpticulos, quibus sustentantur, apud se haberet, et eis ipse, ut videbatur, impenderet. Sed ne propter hoc daretur locus hominibus, suspiciones suas rodentibus, et ventrem non implentibus, hoc placuit et mihi et ipsi, ut sic se illi transigant, quasi iste jam de saeculo exierit. Numquid enim cum obierit ipse, illis dispensaturus est aliquid? Melius est ut videat illos ibi bene conversantes, et regente Deo in disciplina Christi sic viventes, ut de illis tantummodo gaudeat, non eorum necessitatibus occupetur. Pecuniam non habet, quam suam dicere possit: habebat xenodochium aedificandum, quod modo videtis aedificatum. Ego illi injunxi, ego jussi. Obtemperavit mihi libentissime, et sicut videtis, operatus est, quomodo meo jussu etiam basilicam ad octo Martyres fabricavit, de his quae per vos Deus donavit. Coepit enim de pecunia quae data erat Ecclesiae propter xenodochium, et cum coepisset aedificare, ut sunt religiosi desiderantes opera sua in coelo scribi, adjuverunt prout quisque voluit, et fabricavit. Opus ante oculos habemus: omnis homo quid factum sit videt. De pecunia, quia non habet, mihi credant, dentem compescant, non frangant. Emerat de ipsa pecunia xenodochii quamdam domum in Carraria, quam sibi existimabat propter lapides profuturam; sed lapides ejus domus fabricae necessarii non fuerunt, quoniam aliunde provisi sunt. Domus ergo ipsa sic remansit, pensionem praestat; sed Ecclesiae, non presbytero. Nemo amplius dicat: In domum presbyteri, ante domum presbyteri, ad domum presbyteri. Ecce ubi est domus presbyteri, ubi est domus mea, ibi est domus presbyteri: alibi non habet domum; sed ubicumque habet Deum.

10. The presbyter Leporius. I tell you who perhaps do not know (for most of you know) that the presbyter Leporius, although illustrious by worldly birth and born among his own people in a most honourable station, I nevertheless received as one already serving God, poor, having left all that he had; not because he had nothing, but because he had already done what this reading urges. He did not do it here, but we know also where he did it. The unity of Christ and of the Church is one. Wherever he did a good work, it pertains to us too, if we rejoice with him. There is a garden where, as you know, he set up a monastery for his own people, since they too serve God. That garden does not belong to the Church, nor to him. And to whom, someone may say? To the monastery that is there. But to tell the truth, up to this time he took care of them in such a way that he kept with himself the small funds by which they are supported, and himself spent them on them as seemed good. But lest on this account occasion be given to men who gnaw at their own suspicions and do not fill their belly, it has pleased both me and him that they should manage their affairs as though he had already departed from the world. For when he himself has died, will he be dispensing anything to them? It is better that he should see them living well there and, with God ruling, so living in the discipline of Christ that he may only rejoice over them, not be occupied with their needs. He has no money that he could call his own: he had a hospice to build, which you now see built. I enjoined it on him, I commanded it. He obeyed me most willingly, and, as you see, he has done the work, just as at my command he also built the basilica at the Eight Martyrs from what God has given through you. For he began with the money that had been given to the Church for the sake of the hospice, and when he had begun to build, religious people, as they are, desiring their works to be written in heaven, helped as each one wished, and he built it. We have the work before our eyes: everyone sees what has been done. As to money, since he has none, let them believe me, let them restrain their tooth, not break it. He had bought with that same money of the hospice a certain house in Carraria, which he thought would be of use to him on account of its stones; but the stones of that house were not needed for the building, since they were provided from elsewhere. So the house itself has remained as it was; it yields rent, but to the Church, not to the presbyter. Let no one say any more: Into the presbyter's house, before the presbyter's house, to the presbyter's house. Behold where the presbyter's house is: where my house is, there is the presbyter's house; elsewhere he has no house; but wherever [he is] he has God.

11. Lis inter Januarii filios, sponte finita. Quid amplius

11. The dispute among the sons of Januarius, ended of their own accord. What more

Editors' notes and page, col. 1578

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1578

Mss., Unitas Christi est, Ecclesia una est.

The manuscripts read: "It is the unity of Christ; the Church is one."

(printed under page 51)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1578

Ita in Mss. et in concilio Carthaginensi. In editis autem et in Aquisgranensi concilio, ut sibi congaudeamus.

So in the manuscripts and in the Council of Carthage. But in the editions and in the Council of Aachen, "that we may rejoice together."

(printed under page 51)

(3) ‹anchor: sed ubicumque› · call in col 1578

Editi, nisi ubicumque. Longe verius Mss., sed ubicumque.

The editions read "except wherever." Far truer, the manuscripts: "but wherever."

(printed under page 51)

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quaeritis? Nisi quia me illud memini etiam promisisse, ut ad vos perferrem quid egissem inter duos, fratrem videlicet et sororem, filios Januarii presbyteri, quia orta inter illos fuerat controversia pecuniaria: sed tamen, sicut inter fratres, salva, Deo propitio, charitate. Promiseram ergo audire, ut inter illos quidquid esset, judicando finirem. Paraveram me judicem: sed antequam judicarem, ipsi unde judicaturus fueram, finierunt. Non inveni unde judicarem, sed unde laetarer. Acquieverunt omnino concorditer voluntati meae et consilio meo, ut pares essent in pecunia, quam reliquit pater eorum, Ecclesia renuntiante.

do you seek? Only that I remember having also promised this: that I would report to you what I had done between two persons, namely a brother and a sister, the children of the priest Januarius, since a dispute over money had arisen between them, though still, as between brothers, with charity preserved, God being gracious. I had promised, then, to hear them, so that whatever there was between them I might settle by judging. I had prepared myself as judge; but before I could judge, they themselves settled the matter on which I was to have judged. I found nothing to judge, but something to rejoice at. They acquiesced in complete concord to my will and my counsel, that they should be equal in the money which their father left, the Church renouncing [its claim].

12. Obtrectatorum calumniae sine rixa refellendae. Post sermonem meum locuturi sunt homines; sed et quodlibet homines loquantur, qualicumque aura flante, perducetur inde aliquid ad aures meas. Et si fuerit tale, ut sit iterum necesse nos purgare, respondebo detractoribus, respondebo maledicis, respondebo incredulis, non nobis credentibus praepositis suis, ut potero, respondebo quod Dominus dederit: interim modo non est necesse, quia nihil forte dicturi sunt. Qui nos amant, libere gaudebunt: qui nos oderunt, tacite dolebunt. Tamen si linguas exercuerint, audient, Deo propitio, vobiscum responsionem meam, non litem meam. Non enim homines nominaturus sum et dicturus, Ille hoc dixit, iste sic detraxit, cum fortasse etiam ad me falsa, quia et hoc potest fieri, perferantur. Verumtamen quaecumque perlata fuerint, si oportere videbitur, loquar inde Charitati vestrae. Ante oculos vestros volo sit vita nostra. Scio quia quaerentes licentiam male faciendi, quaerunt sibi exempla male viventium, et multos infamant, ut socios invenisse videantur. Ideo quod nostrum est, fecimus: plus quid faciamus, non habemus. Ante oculos vestros sumus. Nullius aliquid desideramus, nisi bona opera vestra.

12. The calumnies of detractors are to be refuted without quarrelling. After my sermon people will talk; but whatever people say, whichever way the breeze blows, something of it will be carried to my ears. And if it should be such that it is again necessary for us to clear ourselves, I shall answer the detractors, I shall answer the slanderers, I shall answer the unbelieving, those who do not believe us, their superiors; as I am able, I shall answer what the Lord shall give: for the present there is no need, since perhaps they will say nothing. Those who love us will rejoice freely; those who hate us will grieve in silence. Yet if they exercise their tongues, they will hear, God being gracious, together with you, my answer, not my quarrel. For I am not going to name people and say, That man said this, this man slandered thus, since perhaps even false things may be reported to me, for this too can happen. Nevertheless, whatever things shall have been reported, if it seems fitting, I shall speak of them to your Charity. I want our life to be before your eyes. I know that those who seek licence to do evil seek for themselves the examples of those who live evilly, and defame many, so that they may seem to have found companions. Therefore what was ours to do, we have done: we have nothing more that we could do. We are before your eyes. We desire nothing from anyone, except your good works.

13. In communem usum cedere vult, quae clericis suis offeruntur a fidelibus. Augustini modestia. Et vos exhortor, fratres mei, si aliquid vultis clericis dare, sciatis quia non debetis quasi vitia eorum fovere contra me. Omnibus offerte quod vultis, offerte de voluntate vestra. Quod commnne erit, distribuetur unicuique sicut cuique opus erit. Gazophylacium attendite, et omnes habebimus. Valde me delectat, si ipsum fuerit praesepe nostrum, ut nos simus jumenta Dei, vos ager Dei. Nemo det byrrhum, vel lineam tunicam, seu aliquid, nisi in commune: de communi

13. He wishes that what is offered by the faithful to his clerics should pass into common use. Augustine's modesty. And I exhort you, my brothers, if you wish to give something to the clerics, to know that you must not, as it were, foster their vices against me. Offer to all whatever you wish; offer of your own free will. What is common will be distributed to each as each has need. Look to the treasury, and we shall all have. It delights me greatly if that is our manger, so that we may be God's beasts of burden, and you God's field. Let no one give a byrrhus [cloak], or a linen tunic, or anything, except into the common [stock]: from the common [stock]

Editors' notes and page, col. 1579

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: praepositis suis› · call in col 1579

Sic Mss. At editi, non vobis credentibus presbyteris suis.

So the manuscripts. But the editions read "not believing you, their priests."

(printed under page 52)

(2) ‹anchor: nisi in commune› · call in col 1579

Codices manuscripti, Nemo det byrrhum, lineam tunicam, nisi in commune; omisso, vel, et, seu aliquid. Pyrrhum hic legi volebat Erasmus, pileum rubrum episcopo usitatum interpretatus in censura ad Reg. Aug., tom. 1. Sed verius omnino libri editi et manuscripti habent, byrrhum. Quod indumentum nonnullis clericale est aut episcopale, aliis vero communius quoddam usuque etiam apud profanos vulgare. Augustinus supra, in sermone 161, cap. 10, n. 10, de femina ad amasium suum: « Illa dixerit, Nolo habeas « talem byrrhum, non habet. » Messianus in Caesarii Vita, n. 9, ipseque Caesarius in suo Testamento amicularis byrrhi sui meminit. Byrrhus albus dictus etiam est, quo induebantur recens baptizati, apud Gregorium papam, lib. 7 ind 2, epist. 5.

The manuscript codices read "Let no one give a byrrhus, a linen tunic, except in common," leaving out "or" and "or anything." Erasmus wanted "pyrrhum" read here, interpreting it, in his censure on the Rule of Augustine (vol. 1), as the red cap used by a bishop. But the printed and manuscript books all, more truly, have "byrrhum." Some take this garment to be clerical or episcopal; others, something more common, in ordinary use even among lay people. Augustine above, in Sermon 161, ch. 10, no. 10, of a woman to her lover: "Should she have said, I don't want you to have such a byrrhus, he does not have it." Messianus in the Life of Caesarius, no. 9, and Caesarius himself in his Testament, mention his cloak-byrrhus. The garment in which the newly baptized were clothed was also called a white byrrhus, in Pope Gregory, book 7, indiction 2, letter 5.

(printed under page 52)

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PL 39:1580

accipio et mihi ipsi, cum sciam commune me habere velle quidquid habeo. Nolo talia offerat Sanctitas vestra, quibus ego solus quasi decentius utar; offerat mihi, verbi gratia, byrrhum pretiosum: forte decet episcopum, quamvis non deceat Augustinum, id est, hominem pauperem, de pauperibus natum. Modo dicturi sunt homines quia inveni pretiosas vestes, quas non potuissem habere vel in domo patris mei, vel in illa saeculari professione mea. Non decet: talem debeo habere, qualem possum, si non habuerit, fratri meo dare. Qualem potest habere presbyter, qualem potest habere decenter diaconus et subdiaconus, talem volo accipere: quia in commune accipio. Si quis meliorem dederit, vendo: quod et facere soleo; ut quando non potest vestis esse communis, pretium vestis possit esse commune. Vendo, et erogo pauperibus. Si hoc eum delectat, ut ego habeam; talem det, unde non erubescam. Fateor enim vobis, de pretiosa veste erubesco: quia non decet hanc professionem, hanc admonitionem, non decet haec membra, non decet hos canos. Etiam illud dico: si forte in nostra domo vel in nostra societate aeger est aliquis, vel post aegritudinem, ut necesse sit eum ante horam prandii reficere; non prohibeo religiosos vel religiosas mittere eis quod eis videtur ut mittant: prandium tamen et coenam extra nemo habebit.

I receive, and for myself too, since I know that I wish to have in common whatever I have. I do not want your Holiness to offer such things as I alone would use, as it were more becomingly; suppose it offers me, for example, a costly cloak: perhaps it befits a bishop, although it does not befit Augustine, that is, a poor man, born of poor people. Now people are going to say that I have found costly garments, which I could not have had either in my father's house or in that secular profession of mine. It is not fitting: I ought to have such a one as I can give to my brother, if he has none. Such as a presbyter can have, such as a deacon and subdeacon can fittingly have, such a one I am willing to accept: because I receive in common. If anyone gives a better one, I sell it: which I am also accustomed to do; so that when a garment cannot be common, the price of the garment may be common. I sell it, and pay it out to the poor. If it pleases someone that I should have it, let him give such a one as I need not blush at. For I confess to you, I blush at a costly garment: because it does not befit this profession, this admonition; it does not befit these limbs, it does not befit these grey hairs. This too I say: if perhaps in our house or in our community someone is sick, or after a sickness, so that it is necessary to give him refreshment before the hour of dinner, I do not forbid religious men or religious women to send them what it seems good to them to send: nevertheless no one shall have dinner and supper outside.

14 Clericorum albo expungendum statuit, qui paupertatis propositum violaverit. Ecce dico, audistis, audiunt: Qui habere voluerit proprium et de proprio vivere, et contra ista praecepta nostra facere, parum est ut dicam, non mecum manebit: sed et clericus non erit. Dixeram enim, et scio me dixisse, quod si nollent suscipere socialem vitam nostram, non illis tollerem clericatum; sed seorsum manerent, seorsum viverent, quomodo nossent Deo viverent. Et tamen ante oculos posui, quantum malum sit a proposito cadere. Malui enim habere vel claudos, quam plangere mortuos. Qui enim hypocrita est, mortuus est. Quomodo ergo quicumque voluisset extra manere et de suo vivere, non ei tollerem clericatum: ita modo quia placuit illis, Deo propitio, socialis haec vita, quisquis cum hypocrisi vixerit, quisquis inventus fuerit habens proprium, non illi permitto ut inde faciat testamentum, sed delebo eum de tabula clericorum. Interpellet contra me mille concilia, naviget contra me quo voluerit, sit certe ubi potuerit: adjuvabit me Deus, ut ubi ego episcopus sum, ille clericus esse non possit. Audistis, audierunt. Sed spero in Deum nostrum et misericordiam ejus, quia sicut dispositionem meam istam hilariter acceperunt, sic eam pure fideliterque servabunt.

14 He decrees that whoever has violated the resolve of poverty is to be struck off the roll of clerics. See, I say it, you have heard, they hear: whoever wishes to have property of his own and to live on his own property, and to act against these precepts of ours, it is too little for me to say that he shall not remain with me: he shall not even be a cleric. For I had said, and I know that I said it, that if they were unwilling to take up our common life, I would not take the clerical office from them; but they would remain apart, live apart, and live to God as best they knew how. And yet I set before their eyes how great an evil it is to fall from one's resolve. For I preferred to have even the lame rather than to mourn the dead. For whoever is a hypocrite is dead. Therefore, just as I would not take the clerical office from whoever wished to remain outside and live on his own, so now, because this common life has pleased them, God being gracious, whoever lives in it with hypocrisy, whoever is found having property of his own, I do not permit him to make a will from it, but I shall strike him from the list of clerics. Let him appeal against me to a thousand councils, let him sail against me wherever he will, let him be indeed wherever he can: God will help me, so that where I am bishop, he cannot be a cleric. You have heard; they have heard. But I hope in our God and His mercy that, just as they have received this arrangement of mine cheerfully, so they will keep it purely and faithfully.

15. Presbyter Barnabas. Dixi aliquid suum non habere presbyteros cohabitatores meos, inter quos est et presbyter Barnabas. Sed de illo audivi quaedam fuisse jactata, ante omnia quod emit villam a dilecto et honorabili filio meo Eleusino. Hoc falsum est;

15. The presbyter Barnabas. I said that the presbyters who live with me have nothing of their own, among whom is also the presbyter Barnabas. But concerning him I have heard that certain things have been bandied about, above all that he bought an estate from my beloved and honourable son Eleusinus. This is false;

Editors' notes and page, col. 1580

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: habere vel claudos› · call in col 1580

Editi, caecos vel claudos. Vox, caecos, abest a manuscriptis.

The editions read "the blind or the lame." The word "blind" is absent from the manuscripts.

(printed under page 52)

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PL 39:1581

monasterio donavit ille, non vendidit. Ego sum testis. Quid amplius quaeratis, ignoro. Ego sum testis: donavit ille, non vendidit. Sed dum non creditur donare potuisse, creditus est vendidisse. Beatus homo, qui tam bonum opus fecit, ut non crederetur. Tamen vel modo credite, et detractores audire libenter desinite. Jam dixi, ego sum testis. Dictum est de illo quod anno praepositurae suae per industriam debita fecerit, ut dum volo ego reddi debita, darem illi licentiam poscendi fundum Victorianensem: tanquam dixisset mihi, Ut reddam debita mea, da mihi in decem annos fundum Victorianensem. Et hoc falsum est. Sed fuit unde rumor nasceretur, fecit debita reddenda. A nobis reddita sunt partim, unde potuerunt. Remansit aliquid quod non debebatur, etiam monasterio illi quod per ipsum Deus instituit. Cum ergo remansisset, coepimus quaerere unde debitum redderemus. Ad conductionem ipsius fundi nullus accessit, nisi quadraginta solidorum offerens pensionem. Sed vidimus fundum amplius posse dare, ut celerius redderetur debitum; et commisi fidei ejus, ut de ipsa conductione lucra non requirerent fratres; sed quidquid daret fundus, de ipsis fructibus imputarent ad debitum. Fide agitur. Paratus est presbyter ut alium constituam, qui de fructibus fratribus reddat. Ex numero vestro sit aliquis, cui haec committam; ex numero ipsorum qui ad nos talia pertulerunt. Sunt enim in vobis homines religiosi, qui eum rumorem falso reprehensum esse doluerunt, et tamen crediderunt factum. Ex ipsis ergo aliquis veniat ad nos, suscipiat possessionem, omnes fructus pretiis suis fideliter vendat, ut reddi possit facilius quod debetur, et hodie recedit inde cura presbyteri. Locus etiam ipse, ubi monasterium constitutum est a memorato honorabili filio meo Eleusino, ipsi presbytero Barnabae donatus est antequam ordinaretur presbyter; in ipso loco monasterium instituit. Sed tamen quia nomine ipsius donatus erat locus, mutavit instrumenta, ut nomine monasterii possideatur. De fundo Victorianensi, ego rogo, ego hortor, ego peto, ut si quis religiosus est, fide agat, et exhibeat Ecclesiae istam operam, ut cito debitum reddam. Quod si nemo de laicis fuerit inventus, ego praepono alium, iste illuc non accedet. Quid vultis amplius? Nemo laceret servos Dei: quia non expedit lacerantibus. Servis Dei quidem merces falsis detractionibus crescit: sed crescit etiam poena detrahentibus. Non sine causa dictum est, Gaudete et exsultate, quando detrahunt de vobis, dicentes falsa: quia merces vestra magna est in coelis (Matth. V, 11, 12). Nolumus cum detrimento vestro magnam habere mercedem. Minus ibi habeamus, et tamen vobiscum ibi regnemus.

he gave it to the monastery, he did not sell it. I am a witness. What more you may be asking, I do not know. I am a witness: he gave it, he did not sell it. But since it is not believed that he could have given it, he has been believed to have sold it. Blessed the man who did so good a work that he was not believed! Yet believe it at least now, and cease to listen gladly to detractors. I have already said it: I am a witness. It has been said of him that in the year of his superiorship he incurred debts through his management, so that, while I wish the debts to be paid, I should give him leave to claim the Victorianensian estate: as though he had said to me, "So that I may pay my debts, give me the Victorianensian estate for ten years." And this is false. But there was something from which the rumour could arise: he incurred debts that had to be paid. They have been paid by us in part, from what means we could. There remained something which was not owed, even to that monastery which God founded through him. Since, then, it had remained, we began to seek whence we might pay the debt. For the lease of that estate no one came forward except one offering a rent of forty solidi. But we saw that the estate could yield more, so that the debt might be paid more quickly; and I entrusted it to his good faith, so that the brothers should not seek profits from the lease itself, but whatever the estate yielded, they should set from those very fruits against the debt. It is done in good faith. The presbyter is ready for me to appoint another, who may render the fruits to the brothers. Let there be someone from your number to whom I may commit this; from the number of those very people who have carried such things to us. For there are among you religious men who grieved at that rumour, [that he was] falsely reproached, and yet believed it had been done. Let someone from among these, then, come to us, take over the property, sell all the fruits faithfully at their prices, so that what is owed may be paid more easily, and from today the presbyter's charge withdraws from it. The place itself, too, where the monastery was established, was given by my aforementioned honourable son Eleusinus to the presbyter Barnabas himself before he was ordained presbyter; in that place he founded the monastery. But nevertheless, because the place had been given in his own name, he changed the deeds, so that it may be held in the name of the monastery. Concerning the Victorianensian estate, I ask, I exhort, I beg, that if anyone is a religious man, he act in good faith and render this service to the Church, so that I may quickly pay the debt. But if no one from among the laity is found, I am putting another in charge; that man will not go there. What more do you want? Let no one tear at the servants of God, for it does not profit those who tear. For the servants of God, indeed, the reward grows through false detractions; but the punishment also grows for the detractors. Not without cause was it said, "Rejoice and exult when they detract from you, saying false things: for your reward is great in the heavens" (Matt. 5:11–12). We do not wish to have a great reward to your detriment. Let us have less there, and yet reign there with you.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1581

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1581

Mss. carent voce, licentiam. Hac forte omissa, loco, poscendi, legendum erat, poscenti, vel, pro annis decem.

The manuscripts lack the word "permission." With it perhaps left out, one should read, in place of "of demanding," "to the one demanding," or "for ten years."

(printed under page 53)

(2) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1581

In Colbertino codice scriptum a prima manu fuerat, dabatur.

In the Colbert codex the first hand had written "was being given."

(printed under page 53)

(3) ‹anchor: fratribus reddat› · call in col 1581

Editi, debitum reddat. At Mss. non habent, debitum.

The editions read "may pay the debt." But the manuscripts do not have "the debt."

(printed under page 53)

(4) ‹anchor: ego praepono› · call in col 1581

Editi, propono. Melius Mss., praepono.

The editions read "I propose." Better, the manuscripts: "I put in charge."

(printed under page 53)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1581

Forte, dictum est et de illo, scilicet Barnaba presbytero.

Perhaps "it was said of him too," that is, of the priest Barnabas.

(*) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1582 Emendatus ad cl. v. et ad Sirm.

Corrected against cl. v. and against Sirm.

(printed under page 53)