PL 39 · cols. 1643–1649

Augustine, Sermones 364-375 (Classis V, Sermones dubii)

Sermons CCCLXV–CCCLXVI

non licebat occidere. Dicebant judici, Nobis non licet occidere aliquem (Joan. XVIII, 31). Decalvatus est Samson, revelata sunt condensa, remotum est v⟨e⟩lamentum; et Christus qui latebat apparuit. Capilli autem redivivi caput vestierunt: quia Judaei nec resurgentem Christum credere voluerunt. Fuit quidem in molendino caecatus, fuit in domo carceris. Domus carceris vel molendinum, labor est hujus saeculi. Excaecatio autem Samson illos indicat, qui infidelitate caecati Christum nec virtutes operantem, nec ascendentem ad coelestia cognoverunt. Caecitas ergo quam intulerunt, caecitatem Judaeorum significabat. Christus autem a Judaeis et comprehensus est et occisus: sed magis interficientes occidit. Adduxerunt ergo eum inimici, ut illuderent ei. Jam hic imaginem crucis attendite. Expansas enim manus ad duas columnas, quasi ad duo ligna crucis extendit: sed adversarios suos interemptus oppressit, et illius passio interfectio facta est persequentium. Et ideo Scriptura ita conclusit, Plures mortuus occidit, quam vivus occiderat. Quod mysterium in Domino nostro Jesu Christo evidenter impletum est: redemptionem nostram, quam vivens minime celebraverat, mortuus celebravit: qui vivit et regnat in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

it was not lawful to kill. They said to the judge, It is not lawful for us to kill anyone (John 18:31). Samson was shorn, the thickets were laid bare, the veil was removed; and Christ, Who lay hidden, appeared. But the hair, growing again, clothed the head: because the Jews were unwilling to believe in Christ even when He rose again. He was indeed blinded at the mill, he was in the prison house. The prison house, or the mill, is the toil of this world. Now the blinding of Samson points to those who, blinded by unbelief, recognized Christ neither when He was working miracles nor when He was ascending to heavenly things. The blindness, therefore, which they inflicted signified the blindness of the Jews. Christ, moreover, was both seized and killed by the Jews: but He rather killed those who were slaying Him. So his enemies brought him in, to make sport of him. Here now attend to the image of the cross. For he stretched out his hands, spread wide to the two pillars, as if to the two beams of the cross: but, being slain, he crushed his adversaries, and his suffering became the slaughter of his persecutors. And therefore Scripture concluded thus: He killed more by dying than he had killed while living. This mystery was manifestly fulfilled in our Lord Jesus Christ: our redemption, which He had by no means accomplished while living, He accomplished by dying: Who lives and reigns for ages of ages. Amen.

SERMO CCCLXV. De versu 7 Psalmi XV, Benedicam Dominum, qui tribuit mihi intellectum, etc.

Sermon 365. On verse 7 of Psalm 15, I will bless the Lord, Who has given me understanding, etc.

1. Deus corde laudandus et amore. Laus sine amore, nec vera, nec Deo accepta. Cantavimus, et diximus, Benedicam Dominum: utinam corde, non ore tantum: nam si ore et non corde, sordescit laus Domini in ore peccatoris (Eccli. XV, 9); nec sibi prodest oris confessio, si non sit intus charitatis professio. Videte, fratres: non est charitas virtus oris; ibi sedem figit, ubi pulchra est amica sponsi. Ubi autem haec pulchritudo? Omnis gloria filiae regis ab intus (Psal. XLIV, 14). Non est aliud ea gloria quam pulchritudo, non est aliud ea pulchritudo quam charitas, non est aliud charitas quam vita. Ergo ut vivas, ama. Si amas, pulcher es: amor bonum, amor pulchrum. Si absit illud pulchrum, non vivis; speciem quidem habes, sed non intus. Recludatur sepulcrum illud tantis fultum columnis, effringatur marmor; quid aliud occurret quam horrendum cadaver, ossa fetida, cineres, vermes? Est itaque species, sed tegit mortuum, ad aspectum cujus horrescis, fremis. Putas autem mortuus dicat, Benedicam Dominum? Imo teste Scriptura, Non mortui laudabunt te, Domine, neque omnes qui descendunt in infernum (Psal. CXIII, 17). Aperi Evangelium, audies Dominum increpantem et dicentem diabolo, Obmutesce (Marc. I, 25). Quare? Quia non mortui laudabunt te, neque omnes qui descendunt in infernum. Nemo eum laudat quem non amat; aut si inimicus laudat, virtutem amat quam in inimico laudat. Qui peccat, inimicitias exercet cum Deo: neque igitur Deum laudat, nec virtutem Dei laudat; quia laus aliquod bonum est, quod non cadit in peccatum. Qui aliquem laudat et mentitur, calumniatur, aut irridet potius quam laudat. Aufer a corde charitatem, solum superat mendacium. Vis ut mendacium laudet veritatem, et inde Deus sumat elogium, unde proficiscitur blasphemia? Non magni ducunt sapientes, qui ab insanis et malis laudantur: laudabitur Deus ab impuro et impudentissimo

1. God is to be praised with the heart and with love. Praise without love is neither true nor acceptable to God. We have sung, and we have said, I will bless the Lord: would that it were with the heart, not with the mouth only: for if it is with the mouth and not with the heart, the praise of the Lord grows foul in the mouth of a sinner (Sir. 15:9); nor does the confession of the mouth profit itself, if there is not within the profession of charity. See, brethren: charity is not a virtue of the mouth; it fixes its seat there where the bridegroom's beloved is beautiful. But where is this beauty? All the glory of the king's daughter is from within (Ps. 44:14). That glory is nothing other than beauty, that beauty is nothing other than charity, charity is nothing other than life. Therefore, that you may live, love. If you love, you are beautiful: love is a good thing, love is a beautiful thing. If that beauty is absent, you do not live; you have indeed an outward appearance, but not within. Let that tomb, propped up on so many columns, be opened, let the marble be broken open; what else will meet the eye but a horrible corpse, stinking bones, ashes, worms? So there is an outward appearance, but it covers a dead man, at the sight of whom you shudder and groan. Do you suppose, then, that a dead man may say, I will bless the Lord? On the contrary, as Scripture witnesses, The dead shall not praise Thee, O Lord, nor any of those who go down into hell (Ps. 113:17). Open the Gospel, you will hear the Lord rebuking the devil and saying to him, Be silent (Mark 1:25). Why? Because the dead shall not praise Thee, nor any of those who go down into hell. No one praises him whom he does not love; or if an enemy praises, he loves the virtue which he praises in his enemy. He who sins carries on enmity with God: therefore he neither praises God nor praises the virtue of God; because praise is something good, which does not fall into sin. He who praises someone and lies is slandering, or mocking rather than praising. Take charity away from the heart, and falsehood alone remains. Do you wish falsehood to praise truth, and God to take His eulogy from the source whence blasphemy proceeds? The wise do not set great store on being praised by the mad and the wicked: shall God be praised by an impure and most shameless

Editors' notes and page, col. 1643

Footnotes

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCLXV› · call in col 1643 * Non exstat in manuscriptis nostris.

It is not found in our manuscripts.

(printed under page 84)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCLXV› · call in col 1643

(printed under page 84) (a) Alias, inter Vigneranios 28.

Formerly, no. 28 among the Vignier sermons.

(printed under page 84)

(b) ‹anchor: tribuit mihi intellectum, etc.› · call in col 1643

(printed under page 84) (b) Adversus Pelagianos et Semipelagianos egregius, sed stilo non videtur scriptus Augustiniano.

Excellent against the Pelagians and Semipelagians, but it does not seem to be written in Augustine's style.

(printed under page 84)

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corde, a blasphema et amentissima mente? Dic ergo, Benedicam Dominum, qui tribuit mihi intellectum. Insanus non es, sanatus es, intellectum habes; lauda Deum tuum, qui tribuit tibi intellectum, qui praestat oculum: intellectum, ut capias; oculum, ut aspicias; capias quanta sit latitudo et longitudo amoris Dei, aspicias in auctorem et consummatorem fidei; capias charitatem, aspicias Christum; charitatem, ut ames; Christum, ut benedicas, et amando et benedicendo cognoscas Dominum, qui tibi tribuit intellectum; et cognoscendo vivas: quia, Haec est vita aeterna, ut cognoscant te solum Deum, et quem misisti Jesum Christum (Joan. XVII, 3).

heart, by a blasphemous and most demented mind? Say therefore, I will bless the Lord, Who has given me understanding. You are not insane, you have been healed, you have understanding; praise your God, Who has given you understanding, Who supplies the eye: understanding, that you may grasp; the eye, that you may behold; that you may grasp how great is the breadth and length of the love of God, that you may look upon the Author and Finisher of faith; that you may grasp charity, that you may behold Christ; charity, that you may love; Christ, that you may bless, and by loving and blessing you may come to know the Lord, Who has given you understanding; and by knowing you may live: for, This is eternal life, that they may know Thee the only God, and Him Whom Thou hast sent, Jesus Christ (John 17:3).

2. Contra haereticos, intellectum bonum, quo benedicitur Deus, habere se a natura jactantes. Sed unde, quaeso, tibi intellectus iste? Veniet aliquis de transverso, et dicet: Qui naturam dedit, dedit intellectum; bona natura, bonus intellectus; hanc bonam sortiar, sufficit: neque enim intellectus erit degener; et inde benedicam Dominum, unde mihi tribuit intellectum, hoc est, a natura. O haeretice, ergo bonam sortitus es naturam? Taceat Apostolus et confundatur: Non quod volo, inquit, bonum, hoc facio (Rom. VII, 19); et tamen bonam sortitus est naturam, et in hac bona natura, bonum quod vult agere, non potest agere. Vult, desiderat, conatur: vult infirme, desiderat incassum; conatur frustra; et contra quod vult, quod desiderat, quod conatur, bonum hoc non perficit. O bonam naturam, cujus imbecilla voluntas, irritum desiderium, conatus inutiles! Partes suas agant philosophi, et maximam tibi gratiam habebunt, qui tam gratuito bonam eis naturam indulges. Quid inde? Noverunt coelum, noverunt terram, noverunt mare, abyssos rimantur, abstrusa naturae scrutantur, sciunt rerum discrimina, differentias, essentias; de his omnibus rationem reddunt; quid inde? Perge, dic amplius. Post tot tantaque deficiunt, nec sicut Deum glorificaverunt, et in cogitationibus suis evanuerunt, et insipientes facti sunt, cum se sapientes arbitrarentur, et mutaverunt similitudinem Dei in similitudinem vituli comedentis fenum, et effusi sunt in errore Baalim; et obcaecavit eos Deus saeculi, et traditi sunt in ignominiosas passiones, et similes facti sunt iis quae adorabant (Id. I, 21-28). Et tamen bona natura gaudebant, et per naturam intellectu. O insane, vides an haec natura tribuat intellectum, quo Deum benedicant? Quin potius tribuat intellectum, quo Deo maledicant, et adversus Creatorem exsurgant? Dicite potius, fratres, Benedicam Dominum, qui tribuit mihi intellectum: nisi tribuisset, non intellexissem; nisi intellexissem, nunquam benedixissem: intellectum tribuit, oculum dedit. Caeca natura, quo ipsa caret non praestat. Fac tibi intellectum, et te facies caecum. Lumen quod in te est, tenebrae sunt. Dic ergo, Illumina tenebras meas, ne unquam obdormiam in morte (Psal. XII, 4). Quid est obdormire in morte? Aliquid a natura sperare, brachium suum carnem facere, sibi ipsi intellectum fingere: haec qui fecerit, non tantum in morte est, sed obdormit in morte, plusquam quatriduanus est, plusquam foetet (Joan. XI, 39). Si tantum in morte esset, suscitari posset: sed in ipsa morte plusquam ferreum somnum dormit. in ea requiescit. Actum est de eo.

2. Against the heretics who boast that they have from nature the good understanding by which God is blessed. But whence, I ask, do you have this understanding? Someone will come from the side and say: He Who gave nature gave understanding; a good nature, a good understanding; let me be allotted this good [nature], it is enough: for the understanding will not be degenerate; and thereby I will bless the Lord, from that source whence He has given me understanding, that is, from nature. O heretic, have you then been allotted a good nature? Let the Apostle be silent and be confounded: The good that I will, he says, this I do not (Rom. 7:19); and yet he was allotted a good nature, and in this good nature he cannot do the good that he wills to do. He wills, he desires, he strives: he wills feebly, he desires in vain; he strives to no purpose; and contrary to what he wills, what he desires, what he strives for, he does not accomplish this good. O good nature, whose will is weak, whose desire is ineffectual, whose strivings are useless! Let the philosophers play their parts, and they will owe you the greatest thanks, you who so freely grant them a good nature. What follows from this? They have known the heaven, they have known the earth, they have known the sea, they search out the abysses, they scrutinize the hidden things of nature, they know the distinctions of things, their differences, their essences; of all these they give an account; what follows from this? Go on, say more. After so many and such great things they fail, and they did not glorify Him as God, and they became vain in their thoughts, and they became foolish, while they thought themselves wise, and they changed the likeness of God into the likeness of a calf eating hay, and they were poured out into the error of Baalim; and the god of this world blinded them, and they were given over to shameful passions, and they became like those things which they worshipped (Rom. 1:21–28). And yet they rejoiced in a good nature, and in understanding through nature. O madman, do you see whether this nature gives an understanding by which they may bless God? Does it not rather give an understanding by which they may curse God and rise up against the Creator? Say rather, brethren, I will bless the Lord, Who has given me understanding: had He not given it, I would not have understood; had I not understood, I would never have blessed: He gave understanding, He gave the eye. Blind nature does not supply what it itself lacks. Make understanding for yourself, and you will make yourself blind. The light that is in you is darkness. Say therefore, Lighten my darkness, lest I ever sleep in death (Ps. 12:4). What is it to sleep in death? To hope for something from nature, to make one's own flesh one's arm, to fashion understanding for oneself: whoever does these things is not only in death but sleeps in death, he is more than four days dead, he more than stinks (John 11:39). If he were only in death, he could be raised up: but in death itself he sleeps a sleep more than iron, in it he rests. It is all over with him.

3. Rursus confutantur verbis Salomonis. Sed vis scire quid egerit is qui bonam sortitus erat naturam? Dixitne ut tu: In bona natura, bonus mihi est intellectus, et qui unum tribuit, alterum non negavit? Allidamus scorpium, conteramus, obstruatur iniquitati os suum. Lege: Sortitus sum animam bonam. Perge, audiamus qualem nactus fueris thesaurum, qui fortasse vertetur in carbones, et utinam in carbon⟨e⟩s qui super caput tuum congesti absumant superflua. Et cum essem magis bonus, veni ad corpus incoinquinatum: et ut scivi quod non aliter continere possem, nisi Deus det; et hoc ipsum erat sapientiae, cujus esset donum cognoscere; conveni Dominum, et deprecatus sum (Sap. VIII, 19-21). Verissime sortitus es naturam bonam,

3. They are refuted again by the words of Solomon. But do you wish to know what he did who had been allotted a good nature? Did he say, as you do: In a good nature, I have a good understanding, and He Who gave the one did not deny the other? Let us dash the scorpion down, let us crush it, let the mouth of iniquity be stopped. Read: I was allotted a good soul. Go on, let us hear what sort of treasure you have obtained, which perhaps will be turned into coals, and would that it were into coals which, heaped upon your head, might consume what is superfluous. And when I was more good, I came to a body undefiled: and as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent unless God grant it; and this very thing belonged to wisdom, to know Whose gift it was; I went to the Lord and besought Him (Wis. 8:19–21). Most truly you were allotted a good nature,

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quis neget? Nam et diaboli natura bona est, et omnia quae Deus fecit, bona sunt: sed in hac natura licet bona, tu sapientem intellectum habebis, quo possis abstinere a concupiscentiis et desideriis, quae militant adversus animam, si Deus non dederit? Disce, haeretice, disce tandem. Et scivi quod non aliter continere possem, nisi Deus det: et in hoc praecipuum sapientiae, quae tota est intellectus, scire unde contineas, et non aliter contineas nisi a solo Deo. O egregiam naturam quae a nullo abstinere potest, nec aliter potest, nisi ut ruat, si Deus non dederit intellectum, quo non ruat! Cantemus ergo, fratres, cantemus. Benedicam Dominum, qui tribuit mihi intellectum: dedit naturam, dedit intellectum; sanavit naturam, sanavit intellectum. In utroque pius Samaritanus misericordiam exhibuit; descendit, alligavit vulnera, vino quod intelligimus, tersit, curavit, in stabulum tulit, hoc est in Ecclesiam, hospiti commendavit (Luc. X, 33-35). Quali hospiti? Spiritui sancto Ecclesiae sanctae inhabitatori. Is accepta moneta, sed quam conscisso sacco effudit qui pro miseris solvit, oleo suo, unguento suo, vulnera naturae jacentis et exspirantis sanavit, et eodem oleo quod accendit, tenebras meas illuminavit, et intellectum lucidum fecit. Hoc si non credideris, non tibi erit Samaritanus, et peribis in vulnere, qui medentis manum renuis admittere.

who would deny? For even the nature of the devil is good, and all things that God made are good: but in this nature, good though it is, will you have a wise understanding by which you may abstain from the concupiscences and desires which war against the soul, if God has not given it? Learn, heretic, learn at last. And I knew that I could not be continent otherwise, unless God gave it: and herein is the chief point of wisdom, which is wholly understanding, to know whence you are continent, and that you are continent in no other way than from God alone. O excellent nature, which can abstain from nothing, and can do nothing else but fall, if God has not given the understanding by which it may not fall! Let us sing therefore, brethren, let us sing. I will bless the Lord, Who has given me understanding: He gave nature, He gave understanding; He healed nature, He healed understanding. In both the kindly Samaritan showed mercy; He came down, bound up the wounds, cleansed them with wine, by which we understand [understanding], cured, carried [the man] to the inn, that is, into the Church, and entrusted him to the innkeeper (Luke 10:33–35). To what innkeeper? To the Holy Spirit, the indweller of the holy Church. He, having received the coin (but the coin which He Who paid for the wretched poured out from a rent bag), with His oil, with His ointment, healed the wounds of a nature lying prostrate and expiring, and with the same oil which He kindled He illuminated my darkness and made the understanding bright. If you do not believe this, the Samaritan will not be yours, and you will perish in your wound, you who refuse to admit the hand of the healer.

4. Intellectus bonus a Spiritu sancto. Spiritus sanctus donum nobis Christi passione emptum. Interrogentur Apostoli, et dicant quis in illo quinquagesimo a resurrectione Domini die tribuit illis intellectum? An fortassis excitaverant illi strepitum terribilem, quo concussus est locus, in quo exspectabant promissa Patris? Fortassis accenderunt illum supernum ignem, quo toti ardebant? Fortassis linguas illas ignitas ipsi creaverunt? Fortassis ipsi divina illa munera, ex quibus est intellectus, sibi procuraverunt, et in se secundum desideria cordis effuderunt? Hoc qui ait, nullam in hoc sacro quinquagenario partem habet; nec accipit intellectum, qui secundum naturam dari putat intellectum. Quando ergo datus est intellectus, nisi quando et datus est Spiritus? Agamus simul, jam confunderis, jam erubescis; et utinam ita confundaris ut aedificeris, ita erubescas ut glorificeris. Quid est Spiritus sanctus, nisi promissum Patris munus, nisi Filii donum? Si promittitur, habes a quo promittitur, nam quae promittuntur, extra nos sunt; et promitteretur frustra quod aut in potestate nostra esset cum promittitur, aut cum liberet possideretur. Hoc tibi promitto quod non habes, et in me est cum promitto, ut in te descendat quod promitto. Est etiam Spiritus sanctus donum, et super omne donum, et quod nulli debetur donum, et quod gratis tribuitur donum. Natus est Christus, et in praesepio qui piorum jumentorum esca fieret, reclinatus: tamen sitim, lassitudines passus est, a suis venditus, a Judaeis traditus et accusatus, a Gentibus flagellatus, spinis coronatus, crucifixus, saxo tandem inclusus: quorsum haec omnia? Ut hoc tibi emeret donum, quod postea credenti dispensaret; aut potius dispensaret, ut crederes. Nam nisi prius dedisset, neque ante, neque post credidisses. Unde si a natura donum hoc habes, inanem reddis mortem Christi, passionem, crucem. Frustra enim moritur, ut tibi acquirat quod in te est, et donet quod possides. Redde Domino praesepii humilitatem, redde crucis maledictionem, redde profusi sanguinis copiam, incassum haec omnia: tibi sufficis, inania haec omnia; dives es, et in divitis naturae bonis computas intellectum, quem dedit natura, non gratia, et cujus non es debitor Creatori, nisi in quantum naturam tribuit, quae tibi intellectum fecit.

4. Good understanding is from the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is a gift bought for us by the passion of Christ. Let the Apostles be questioned, and let them say who on that fiftieth day from the resurrection of the Lord bestowed understanding on them. Or had they perhaps stirred up that terrible noise by which the place was shaken in which they were awaiting the promises of the Father? Perhaps they kindled that heavenly fire with which they were wholly burning? Perhaps they themselves created those fiery tongues? Perhaps they procured for themselves those divine gifts, among which is understanding, and poured them out into themselves according to the desires of their heart? He who says this has no part in this sacred Pentecost; nor does he receive understanding who thinks that understanding is given according to nature. When, then, was understanding given, if not when the Spirit too was given? Let us reason together: now you are confounded, now you blush; and would that you were so confounded as to be built up, that you so blushed as to be glorified. What is the Holy Spirit, if not the promised gift of the Father, if not the gift of the Son? If it is promised, you have Him by Whom it is promised, for the things that are promised are outside us; and that would be promised in vain which either was in our power when it is promised, or would be possessed whenever one pleased. I promise you this which you do not have, and it is in me when I promise, so that what I promise may descend into you. The Holy Spirit is also a gift, and above every gift, and a gift owed to no one, and a gift bestowed freely. Christ was born, and was laid in a manger, He Who was to become the food of the pious beasts: yet He suffered thirst and weariness, was sold by His own, betrayed and accused by the Jews, scourged by the Gentiles, crowned with thorns, crucified, and finally shut in by a stone: to what end all these things? That He might buy for you this gift, which He would afterwards dispense to you as a believer; or rather would dispense so that you might believe. For had He not first given it, you would have believed neither before nor after. Hence if you have this gift from nature, you make empty the death of Christ, the passion, the cross. For in vain does He die to acquire for you what is in you, and to give what you possess. Give back to the Lord the humility of the manger, give back the curse of the cross, give back the abundance of the blood poured out; all these things are to no purpose: you suffice for yourself, all these things are empty; you are rich, and among the goods of nature's riches you count understanding, which nature gave, not grace, and for which you are not a debtor to the Creator, except in so far as He bestowed the nature which made understanding for you.

5. Convincuntur postremo experientia propriae infirmitatis et concupiscentiae. Agnoscis, ut puto, errorem: et utinam emendent te renes tui (Psal. XV, 7), ut melius agnoscas, et agnoscendo petas, et petendo obtineas spiritum intellectus et consilii et timoris, quo sapientior evadas, quo fias cautior et Domino subjectior. Haec, fratres, etsi non tractarem, alius tamen

5. They are refuted, finally, by the experience of their own weakness and concupiscence. You recognize, I think, the error: and would that your reins might correct you (Ps. 15:7), so that you may recognize it better, and by recognizing may ask, and by asking may obtain the spirit of understanding and of counsel and of fear, by which you may become wiser, by which you may become more cautious and more subject to the Lord. These things, brethren, even if I were not to treat of them, another nevertheless

Editors' notes and page, col. 1645

Footnotes

(a) Alias, inter Sirmondianos 9.

Formerly, no. 9 among the Sirmond sermons.

(printed under page 85) (b) Augustino tributum reperit Sirmondus in tribus codicibus, uno Germanensi, et Victorinis duobus: nos praeterea (continues)

Sirmond found it attributed to Augustine in three codices, one of Saint-Germain and two of Saint-Victor; we, moreover, (continues)

(printed under page 85)

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esset qui vos erudiret: et apud vosmetipsos tractatores essetis. Si enim, quod avertat Deus, in tam crassum et stupidum errorem prolapsi essetis, ut a natura vobis intellectum tribui putaretis, quem a sola gratia et misericordia Dei habetis, emendarent vos renes vestri, et clamarent, Quare ascendunt cogitationes hujusmodi in cor vestrum (Luc. XXIV, 38)? Unusquisque se ipsum consulat, se ipsum palpet, scrutetur, nec se quaesierit extra; interroget renes suos, et dicent illi, fuisse legem in membris meis contrariam legi mentis meae (Rom. VII, 23); pronus sum ad omne flagitium, ita me obruunt concupiscentiae fluctus, ut quotidie mergar, et in profundum peccatorum ruam. Ascendit invidia, ascendit superbia, ascendit luxuria, agmine facto miserum petunt: si Charybdim declinaverim, Scyllam incurro; si libidinem propulso, irae succumbo; si non me domat avaritia, caedit ebrietas; si rapinis abstineo, manum et viscera pauperibus claudo; si calumniis aures obduco, mors intrat per fenestras, hoc est, per oculos libidinum et voluptatum incentiva haurio; denique si rimam unam obturo, centum patent, quibus accipiam inimicum imbrem, et tandem fatiscam. Haec sunt quae apud te tractant renes tui, et propria infirmitate conscii erudiunt te, increpant te, emendant te, et usque in noctem. Qualem noctem? Conscientiae tuae caliginosae, cujus tenebris involutus velles, si posses, his quasi clypeum adversus lumen veritatis obtendere, et de fortitudine tua bene sperare. Sed emendant te renes tui. In renibus et in lumbis robur, ut est alicubi in Scriptura (Job XL, 11): sed quandoquidem adeo elumbes sint lumbi tui, adeo flaccescentes renes tui, erudiunt et dicunt, Si in renibus, unde est fortitudo, tanta est debilitas, tanta infirmitas, quid de caeteris fiet? Cum nos ergo erudierint lumbi nostri, et docuerint quam vana sit salus hominum; quid superest, nisi ut succingamus lumbos nostros, ut non diffluant? Quando apud nos tabulata nostra, aut nimia vetustate, aut nimio calore, aut tempestatum impulsione, vel alia quapiam de causa dehiscunt, illa statim clavis et nervis compingimus: hoc fiat de lumbis tuis, hoc est, de fortitudine tua; laxantur, ruunt, fatiscunt, solvitur tota compago; habes clavos in crucifixo, fortiter impinge, et tanto melius, quanto profundius; noli ponere labanti, ut sustentetur; sic firmabitur compago resoluta. Habent clavi crucis, quo jacentes erigant, quo debiles restituant, quo labentes retineant. Impelle, tunde, usque ad medullas, usque ad ipsam animam, ex hac emendatione sanaberis, et sanatus dices ad Dominum, Fortitudinem meam ad te custodiam (Psal. LVIII, 10): ex te fortitudo mea, ad te fortitudo mea. Conversi ad Dominum, etc.

would be there to instruct you: and you would be expounders among yourselves. For if, which God avert, you had fallen into so gross and stupid an error as to think that understanding is bestowed on you by nature, when you have it from the grace and mercy of God alone, your reins would correct you, and would cry out, Why do thoughts of this kind arise in your heart? (Luke 24:38). Let each one consult himself, feel himself, search himself, and not seek himself outside; let him question his reins, and they will tell him that there has been a law in my members contrary to the law of my mind (Rom. 7:23); I am prone to every shameful deed, the waves of concupiscence so overwhelm me that daily I am submerged and rush headlong into the depth of sins. Envy rises up, pride rises up, lust rises up; forming a column, they attack a wretched man: if I avoid Charybdis, I run upon Scylla; if I drive back lust, I yield to anger; if avarice does not master me, drunkenness strikes me down; if I abstain from plunder, I close my hand and my bowels to the poor; if I shut my ears against slanders, death enters through the windows, that is, through the eyes I drink in the incitements of lusts and pleasures; in short, if I stop up one chink, a hundred lie open, through which I may take in the hostile rain and at last give way. These are the things which your reins discuss with you, and, conscious of their own weakness, they instruct you, rebuke you, correct you, even into the night. What night? That of your darkened conscience, wrapped in whose darkness you would wish, if you could, to hold these out as a kind of shield against the light of truth, and to hope well of your own strength. But your reins correct you. In the reins and in the loins is strength, as it says somewhere in Scripture (Job 40:11): but since your loins are so feeble, your reins so languishing, they instruct you and say, If in the reins, whence strength comes, there is such weakness, such infirmity, what will become of the rest? Since, then, our loins have instructed us and taught us how vain is the salvation of men, what remains but that we gird up our loins, so that they do not fall apart? When among us our floorboards gape open, whether from excessive age, or from excessive heat, or from the battering of storms, or from some other cause, we at once fasten them together with nails and sinews: let this be done with your loins, that is, with your strength; they slacken, collapse, give way, the whole frame is loosened; you have nails in the Crucified, drive them in strongly, and so much the better, the deeper; do not lay [them] aside for what is tottering, that it may be held up; thus the loosened frame will be made firm. The nails of the cross have that by which they may raise those who lie fallen, restore the weak, hold back those who are slipping. Drive, strike, even to the marrow, even to the very soul; by this correction you will be healed, and, once healed, you will say to the Lord, My strength I will keep towards Thee (Ps. 58:10): from Thee is my strength, towards Thee is my strength. Turning to the Lord, etc.

SERMO CCCLXVI. De Psalmo XXII, Dominus regit me, et nihil mihi deeri⟨t⟩.

Sermon 366. On Psalm 22, The Lord rules me, and nothing will be lacking to me.

1. Psalmus reformationis hominis mysterium continens. Psalmum vobis, dilectissimi, qui ad Christi Baptismum properatis, in nomine Domini tradimus memoriae collocandum; cujus necesse est, ut mysterium, illuminante divina gratia, exponamus. Hic enim psalmus specialiter reformationem lapsus humani generis, et sanctae Ecclesiae disciplinam, simulque continet sacramenta. Pateant igitur silentio aures cordis vestri ad audiendum, et totius intentionis paratos sulcos verbi semen inveniat: ut quod nunc sitiens terra susceperit, tempore accepto inebriata sanguine Christi, in procero germinans culmo, copiosos afferat fructus.

1. The psalm containing the mystery of man's reformation. To you, most beloved, who are hastening to the Baptism of Christ, we hand over, in the name of the Lord, a psalm to be committed to memory; and it is necessary that we expound its mystery, with divine grace giving light. For this psalm specially contains the reformation of the human race after its fall, and the discipline of holy Church, and at the same time her sacraments. Let the ears of your heart, then, be open in silence to hear, and let the seed of the word find the furrows of your whole attention prepared: so that what the thirsty earth has now received, at the acceptable time, made drunk with the blood of Christ and springing up on a tall stalk, may bring forth abundant fruits.

2. Hominis lapsi figura in eo qui descendit ab Jerusalem in Jericho.—Dominus regit me, et nihil mihi deerit. Magnum, charissimi, principium confitentis. Firmavit

2. The figure of fallen man in him who went down from Jerusalem to Jericho.—The Lord rules me, and nothing shall be lacking to me. A great beginning, dearly beloved, for one who confesses. He has made firm

Editors' notes and page, col. 1646

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: in procero germinans culmo› · call in col 1646

1 Sirmondus, prospero. At Mss., procero.

Sirmond reads "prospero" (thriving). But the manuscripts read "procero" (tall).

(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCLXVI› · call in col 1646 * Collatus ad duos v. ad gr. rm. et ad sirm.

Collated against the two v. manuscripts, against gr. and rm., and against Sirmond's edition.

(printed under page 85)

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCLXVI› · call in col 1646

(printed under page 85)

(b) ‹anchor: et nihil mihi deerit› · call in col 1646

(printed under page 85)

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PL 39:1647

enim defensionis fiduciam, divitiarum roboravit infinitam substantiam. Dominus regit me, firmavit defensionis fiduciam. Et nihil mihi deerit, roboravit divitiarum infinitam substantiam. Sed quaeramus cujus, quantique, qualisve sit ista confessio. Illius, illius est, dilectissimi, qui descendens ex Jerusalem in Jericho, incidit in latrones. Qui dispoliatus primae originis dignitate, mortisque telo prostratus humo sine viribus jacebat et nudus. Qui tuba Legis et Prophetarum insonante, dum suis conatur surgere viribus, vulneris dolore retractus, in lapsum gravius recidit quo jacebat. Quia Lex, ut ait Apostolus, ad perfectum nihil adduxit (Hebr. VII, 19). Quem Samaritanus ille noster, Christus scilicet, qui Samaritanus a Judaeis est dictus, quod interpretatur Custos, miserando cum eadem via transiret, id est, cum in carne justus pro nobis peccatoribus mori venisset, in jumentum suum, elevans a terra, imposuit; et aberrantem ut ovem subvectans humeris propriis, in paradisum, unde lapsus fuerat, ad centenarium, hoc est, ad perfectum numerum revocavit (Luc. X, 30-35). Ipse enim, ut ait propheta, peccata nostra portavit, et pro nobis doluit (Isai. LIII, 4). Dic jam, homo, dic in jumento misericordiae, et humeris dominicae dilectionis sedens, qui cognitus recognoscis auctorem tuum et Dominum, Dominus regit me. Quod utique, nisi a Domino erectus, jacens dicere non posses. Ipse ergo regit te, qui portat te. Cum enim dicis, Dominus regit me; nihil est proprium, unde fidas in te. Itaque cave ne extollaris de meritis tuis. Nulla enim fuerunt, cum ad te erigendum Dominus venit. Denique nudum invenit, non vestitum; plagatum invenit, non sanum; jacentem invenit, non stantem: errantem reperit, non revertentem. Cave jactantiam, cave; quia qui te semivivum miserando a terra sustulit, humilem portat, praecipitat extollentem. Cum enim dixeris timendo, et in innocentia ambulando, Dominus regit me; fiducialiter addes, et nihil mihi deerit. Quoniam nihil deest timentibus eum (Psal. LXXXIII, 13); et non privabit Dominus bonis ambulantes in innocentia (Psal. XXXIII, 10).

indeed, the confidence of protection; He has strengthened the infinite substance of riches. The Lord rules me: He has made firm the confidence of protection. And nothing shall be lacking to me: He has strengthened the infinite substance of riches. But let us ask whose, how great and of what kind this confession is. It is his, his, dearly beloved, who, going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, fell among robbers. He, stripped of the dignity of his first origin and laid low on the ground by the weapon of death, lay without strength and naked. When the trumpet of the Law and the Prophets sounded, while he tried to rise by his own strength, he was drawn back by the pain of his wound and fell back more heavily into the fall in which he lay. For the Law, as the Apostle says, brought nothing to perfection (Heb. 7:19). Him that Samaritan of ours, namely Christ, who was called a Samaritan by the Jews, which is interpreted Guardian, when in mercy He passed by the same way, that is, when He, the Just One, had come in the flesh to die for us sinners, lifting him from the ground, set him upon His own beast; and carrying him, straying like a sheep, on His own shoulders, He called him back into paradise, whence he had fallen, to the hundredth, that is, to the perfect number (Luke 10:30–35). For He, as the prophet says, bore our sins and grieved for us (Isa. 53:4). Say now, man, say, sitting on the beast of mercy and on the shoulders of the Lord's love, you who, having been known, recognize your Maker and Lord: The Lord rules me. This, surely, you could not say while lying down, unless you had been raised up by the Lord. He, then, rules you, Who carries you. For when you say, The Lord rules me, there is nothing of your own on account of which you might trust in yourself. Therefore beware lest you be lifted up on account of your merits. For there were none when the Lord came to raise you up. In short, He found you naked, not clothed; He found you wounded, not sound; He found you lying down, not standing: He found you straying, not returning. Beware of boasting, beware; for He Who in mercy lifted you half-dead from the ground carries the humble and casts down the one who exalts himself. For when you have said, by fearing and by walking in innocence, The Lord rules me, you will confidently add, and nothing shall be lacking to me. For nothing is lacking to those who fear Him (Ps. 83:13); and the Lord will not deprive of good things those who walk in innocence (Ps. 33:10).

3. Ovis per Christum ad ovile reductae securitas. Pascua animae christianae. Nam ut scias, quia nihil tibi deerit, adde quod sequitur: In loco pascuae ibi me collocavit; super aquam refectionis educavit me. Agnosce, homo, quid fueris, ubi fueris, sub quo fueris. Ovis errans eras, in invio et inaquoso, spinis et tribulis pascebaris: sub mercenario posita, veniente lupo, secura non eras. Nunc autem requisita a vero pastore, humeris ejus pietate subvecta, reducta es ad ovile, id est, ad domum Dei, videlicet Ecclesiam, ubi pastor tuus Christus, et oves commanent congregatae. Pastor iste non est ut mercenarius, sub quo misera laborabas, sub quo lupum timebas. Vis autem scire quantam tui curam habeat hic pastor bonus? Animam suam pro te posuit. Ipse enim in Evangelio dicit: Pastor bonus animam suam ponit pro ovibus suis. Hoc fecit. Insidianti enim lupo tibi, se obtulit occidendum pro te. Nunc ergo secura manes in ovili. Nec indiges quempiam alium, qui cortis tuae claudat aperiatque januam: quia Christus tibi et pastor, et janua est; ipse et pascua, et provisor. Ego sum, inquit, ostium ovium. Per me si quis ingressus fuerit, salvabitur; et egredietur et ingredietur, et pascua inveniet (Joan. X, 11, 9). Pascua igitur, quae tibi pastor hic bonus paravit, in quibus te satiari collocavit, non sunt herbarum virentium varietas, in quibus quaedam dulci succo, quaedam amarissimo constant, quae successu temporum aliquando sunt,

3. The security of the sheep brought back to the fold through Christ. The pastures of the Christian soul. For that you may know that nothing shall be lacking to you, add what follows: In a place of pasture there He has set me; beside the water of refreshment He has brought me up. Recognize, man, what you were, where you were, under whom you were. You were a straying sheep; in a pathless and waterless place you fed on thorns and thistles: placed under a hireling, when the wolf came, you were not safe. But now, sought out by the true shepherd and carried by His loving-kindness on His shoulders, you have been brought back to the fold, that is, to the house of God, namely the Church, where your shepherd is Christ, and the sheep dwell together, gathered as one. This shepherd is not like the hireling under whom you laboured in misery, under whom you feared the wolf. Do you wish to know how great a care for you this good shepherd has? He laid down His life for you. For He Himself says in the Gospel: The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep. This He did. For when the wolf lay in wait for you, He offered Himself to be slain for you. Now, therefore, you remain safe in the fold. Nor do you need anyone else to shut and open the gate of your fold: for Christ is to you both shepherd and gate; He is both pasture and provider. I am, He says, the door of the sheep. If anyone enters by Me, he shall be saved; and he shall go out and go in, and shall find pasture (John 10:11, 9). The pastures, then, which this good shepherd has prepared for you, in which He has set you to be filled, are not a variety of green herbs, of which some consist of a sweet juice, some of a most bitter one, which in the course of time sometimes are,

Editors' notes and page, col. 1647

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: qui cortis tuae› · call in col 1647

1 Sirmondus, cordis tui. Verius autem rm. Ms., cortis tuae.

Sirmond reads "of your heart". But the rm. manuscript more truly reads "of your fold".

(printed under page 86) (a) Forte, non datur.

Perhaps "is not given".

(printed under page 86) (b) Forte, promissorum.

Perhaps "of the things promised".

(printed under page 86)

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PL 39:1648

aliquando non sunt. Pascua tibi eloquia Dei et mandata sunt dulcia seminata. De his pascuis gustaverat ille qui dicebat Deo: Quam dulcia faucibus meis eloquia tua, super mel et favum ori meo (Psal. CXVIII, 103)! De his pascuis idem ipse dominicis ovibus clamat, et dicit: Gustate et videte quam suavis est Dominus (Psal. XXXIII, 9). Lege igitur decalogum veteris Testamenti: Non occides, non furaberis, non falsum testimonium dices (Exod. XX, 13-16), et caetera. Lege praeceptorum laudem novi Testamenti: Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum coelorum. Beati mites, quoniam ipsi haereditate possidebunt terram (Matth. V, 3, 4): et caetera consequentia, vel similia, et plura per Prophetas et Apostolos seminata. De his utique pascuis clamat pastor ad oves, Operamini cibum qui non perit (Joan. VI, 27). Ideo autem non perit, quia verbum Domini manet in aeternum, Verbum Domini cibus tuus est, et non solum cibus, sed et potus. Audi eum per Prophetam dicentem veteri populo, Qui edunt me, adhuc esurient; et qui bibunt me, adhuc sitient (Eccli. XIV, 29). Item per semetipsum, Caro mea, inquit, vere est cibus, et sanguis meus vere est potus (Joan. VI, 56). Non sunt autem longe pascua haec ab aqua refectionis. Unus his locus est Ecclesia Dei catholica; ubi mandata vitae sunt pascua tua, et fons aquae salientis in vitam aeternam, cujus reficieris fluentis, cum baptizaberis reparandus in Christo. Hac igitur aqua nisi rigata fuerint pascua tua, educari non poteris: quia mandata Dei sine Christi Baptismate germinare non possunt, nec edi ad animae satietatem.

sometimes are not. Your pastures are the utterances and commandments of God, sweet things sown. Of these pastures he had tasted who said to God: How sweet to my throat are Thy utterances, above honey and the honeycomb to my mouth (Ps. 118:103)! Of these pastures the very same man cries out to the Lord's sheep, and says: Taste and see how sweet the Lord is (Ps. 33:9). Read therefore the decalogue of the Old Testament: You shall not kill, you shall not steal, you shall not bear false witness (Exod. 20:13–16), and the rest. Read the praise of the precepts of the New Testament: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth by inheritance (Matt. 5:3–4): and the rest that follows, or things like them, and many more sown through the Prophets and Apostles. Of these pastures indeed the shepherd cries to the sheep, Labour for the food which does not perish (John 6:27). And it does not perish for this reason, that the word of the Lord abides for ever; the Word of the Lord is your food, and not only food, but drink as well. Hear Him saying through the Prophet to the ancient people, Those who eat me shall hunger still; and those who drink me shall thirst still (Ecclus. 14:29). Likewise in His own person: My flesh, He says, is truly food, and my blood is truly drink (John 6:56). Now these pastures are not far from the water of refreshment. There is one place for them, the catholic Church of God; where the commandments of life are your pastures, and the fountain of water springing up into eternal life, by whose streams you will be refreshed when you are baptized to be restored in Christ. Unless, then, your pastures have been watered with this water, you cannot be nourished: for the commandments of God cannot sprout without the Baptism of Christ, nor be eaten to the satisfying of the soul.

4. Conversio ex Dei gratia, non ex meritis. Semitae justitiae quaenam. Cum ergo per aquam refectionis Christi coeperis esse idoneus, ut sapore pascuarum dulcium satieris; tunc cognosces, et clamabis gaudens, et dicens, Animam meam convertit, deduxit me per semitas justitiae propter nomen suum. Diabolus per peccatum animam tuam evertit, et a Deo avertit; quam Deus Pater per Christum, non meritis tuis ad se, sed propter nomen suum, convertit. Jam ergo illuminatus, jam conversus, jam credens, jam divinis pascuis per aquam refectionis satiatus dices, Animam meam convertit. Bona est gloria confessionis tuae, si non sit mutatio conscientiae tuae. Tunc enim vere et immutabili conscientia hoc dices, cum non ob meritum tuum, sed propter nomen suum dices. Quae sunt autem semitae justitiae, in quibus te deduxit? Audi deductorem tuum. Quam lata est, inquit, et spatiosa via quae ducit ad perditionem; arcta autem et angusta via est quae ducit ad vitam (Matth. VII, 13 et 14). Omnis namque semita brevis est et compendiosa. Non ergo per delicias mundi, per opulentiam auri et argenti, lapidibus etiam vestibusque pretiosissimis conspicuum honore omni, nobilitate praeditum, sapientia philosophorum cuncta tumentem, Deus te ordinavit ire ad regnum coelorum: quia haec omnia, et his similia, quibus male utuntur, quibus uti bene datur, efficiuntur eis via lata et spatiosa, id est in spe tantum quae videtur; et ducit eos, cum praesenti fuerint vita privati, non ad spem, in qua non habuerunt spem, sed ad perditionem. Dormierunt enim somnum suum, et nihil invenerunt omnes viri divitiarum in manibus suis (Psal. LXXV, 6). Per semitas justitiae ire te disposuit, id est, per misericordiam et veritatem. Universae enim viae Domini misericordia et veritas (Psal. XXIV, 10). Contempta via lata et spatiosa, semitas arctas et compendiosas incedere te vult, id est, per famem et sitim, per nuditatem, per jejunium, per ignobilitatem, per paupertatem, per patientiam, per despectum omnium praesentium, habentem vero spem promissam. Vis autem evidenter cognoscere compendium semitarum, per quas jussus es ambulare? Diliges Dominum Deum tuum ex toto corde tuo, et ex tota anima tua; et proximum tuum

4. Conversion comes from the grace of God, not from merits. What the paths of righteousness are. When, therefore, through the water of Christ's refreshment you have begun to be fit to be satisfied with the savour of the sweet pastures, then you will know, and will cry out rejoicing and saying, He has converted my soul, He has led me along the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. The devil through sin overturned your soul and turned it away from God; and God the Father through Christ has turned it back to Himself, not for your merits, but for His name's sake. Now therefore, enlightened, now converted, now believing, now satisfied with the divine pastures through the water of refreshment, you will say, He has converted my soul. Good is the glory of your confession, if there be no change of your conscience. For then you will say this truly and with an unchanging conscience, when you say it not on account of your merit, but for His name's sake. But what are the paths of righteousness along which He has led you? Hear your Guide. How wide, He says, and spacious is the way that leads to perdition; but narrow and strait is the way that leads to life (Matt. 7:13–14). For every path is short and direct. Not, then, through the delights of the world, through abundance of gold and silver, conspicuous too with most precious stones and garments, with every honour, endowed with nobility, swelling in all things with the wisdom of the philosophers, has God appointed you to go to the kingdom of heaven: for all these things, and things like them, which they use badly, which it is given to use well, become for them the wide and spacious way, that is, in a hope only of what is seen; and it leads them, once they have been deprived of the present life, not to hope, in which they had no hope, but to perdition. For they have slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands (Ps. 75:6). He has arranged for you to go by the paths of righteousness, that is, by mercy and truth. For all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth (Ps. 24:10). Having scorned the wide and spacious way, He wishes you to advance along narrow and direct paths, that is, through hunger and thirst, through nakedness, through fasting, through obscurity, through poverty, through patience, through contempt of all present things, but having the promised hope. Do you wish, then, to know clearly the short cut of the paths by which you have been commanded to walk? You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, and with your whole soul; and your neighbour

Editors' notes and page, col. 1648

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: quibus uti bene datur› · call in col 1648

(printed under page 86) (a) Forte, non datur.

Perhaps "is not given".

(printed under page 86)

(b) ‹anchor: spem promissam› · call in col 1648

(printed under page 86) (b) Forte, promissorum.

Perhaps "of the things promised".

(printed under page 86)

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PL 39:1649

sicut te ipsum. In his enim duobus mandatis omnis Lex pendet et Prophetae (Matth. XXII, 37-40). Ut ergo cito pervenias, si festinas ad regnum coelorum, in duabus his semitis, quae omnium caput sunt, et unam faciunt viam, gradere; ut universas, cum perveneris, naviter te et sine fatigatione peregisse congaudeas.

as yourself. For on these two commandments hangs the whole Law and the Prophets (Matt. 22:37–40). So then, that you may arrive quickly, if you are hastening to the kingdom of heaven, walk in these two paths, which are the head of all and make one way, so that, when you have arrived, you may rejoice that you have travelled through all of them diligently and without fatigue.

5. Umbra mortis via peccati. Has ergo tene semitas, in his maneant incessus tui, inter diaboli saevientis insidias, ut securus possis cantare Deo, et dicere: Nam et si ambulavero in medio umbrae mortis, non timebo mala; quoniam tu mecum es. Umbra mortis, via peccati est, in qua nebulo pirataque diabolus recte gradientibus retia deceptionis expandit. Umbra est, quia nihil commune luci cum tenebris. Hujus umbrae opera repudianda docet Apostolus, inquiens: Abjiciamus opera tenebrarum, et induamur arma lucis; sicut in die honeste ambulemus, non in comessationibus et ebrietatibus, non in cubilibus et impudicitiis, non in contentione et aemulatione (Rom. XIII, 12 et 13). Quamdiu igitur in praesenti vita manes, in medio vitiorum, saecularium pressurarum, quae sunt umbra mortis, ambulas. Luceat in corde tuo Christus, qui illuminat lucernam mentis nostrae per dilectionem Dei et proximi: et non timebis mala, quoniam ipse tecum est. Non te, inquit per prophetam, deseram, neque derelinquam (Josue I, 5). Item in Evangelio: Ecce ego ero vobiscum omnibus diebus usque ad consummationem saeculi (Matth. XXVIII, 20). Idoneus est custos tuus. Tecum est Dominus Deus tuus. Cave ne jactantia deseras comitantem, et remaneas desertus in umbra mortis.

5. The shadow of death is the way of sin. Hold, then, to these paths; in them let your steps remain amid the snares of the raging devil, so that you may securely sing to God and say: For even if I walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will not fear evils, since Thou art with me. The shadow of death is the way of sin, in which the devil, a rogue and a pirate, spreads out the nets of deception for those who walk rightly. It is a shadow, because light has nothing in common with darkness. The Apostle teaches that the works of this shadow are to be rejected, saying: Let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the arms of light; let us walk honourably as in the day, not in revellings and drunkenness, not in bedchambers and impurities, not in strife and rivalry (Rom. 13:12–13). As long, therefore, as you remain in the present life, you walk in the midst of vices, of worldly afflictions, which are the shadow of death. Let Christ shine in your heart, Who illuminates the lamp of our mind through the love of God and of neighbour: and you will not fear evils, since He is with you. I will not, He says through the prophet, desert you, nor abandon you (Josh. 1:5). Likewise in the Gospel: Behold, I will be with you all days, even to the consummation of the age (Matt. 28:20). Your guardian is equal to the task. The Lord your God is with you. Beware lest through boasting you desert Him Who accompanies you, and remain deserted in the shadow of death.

6. Virga disciplinam, baculus adjutorium significat. Mensa per Christum praeparata. Cum itaque insidiis inimici oppugnari te in umbra, et deterreri cognoveris, apprehende virgam disciplinae, et in baculo misericordiae fidenter incumbe, ut cum tibi auxilio sol justitiae refulserit Christus, veraciter dicas, Virga tua et baculus tuus ipsa me consolata sunt. Virga namque superbum regit, secundum quod dictum est in Psalmo secundo de Christo: Reges eos in virga ferrea et tanquam vas figuli confringes eos (Psal. II, 9). Baculus vero debilem sustentat et fessum. Memento ergo correptionis et disciplinae virgae, ut cum repletus fueris bonis donorum Dei, non extollaris superbia, et murmures adversus eum: quia sicut vas figuli iratus in ea confringet te. Memento etiam adjutorii baculi, et ne confidas in virtute tua, neve dicas, Sanctus sum, titubare non possum. Multos habet lapsus infirmitas nostra, nec sanctitate operum suorum adhuc in terra dante spinas et tribulos posita regitur, vel habet gloriam puritatis. Quamdiu ergo redeat in terram de qua sumpta est, nisi baculo divinae gratiae regatur, stare non potest. Sive itaque prospereris in Deo, sive tentationum tempestate turberis, totum te in baculum misericordiae Dei projice, ut cum supra eum donis spiritualibus pascendus occubueris, delectatus gustu suavitatis ejus, convenienter dicas, Parasti in conspectu meo mensam adversus eos qui tribulant me. Impinguasti in oleo caput meum, et poculum tuum inebrians quam praeclarum est! Hoc per orbem terrarum fulta gratiae baculo universa cantat Ecclesia. Hoc adversus haereticos, Judaeos atque Gentiles, qui eam deridendo tribulant, praedicat, non in se, sed in Domino gloriando. Mensa namque jucunditatis passio Christi est, qui se pro nobis in mensa crucis obtulit sacrificium Deo Patri, donans Ecclesiae suae catholicae vitale convivium, corpore suo nos videlicet satians, et inebrians sanguine. Hac mensa pasta et vivificata, adversus eos qui tribulant eam, exsultat Ecclesia, habens spem vitae aeternae per suam vitam Dominum Christum, qui eam oleo laetitiae per sanctum Spiritum unxit abunde. Propter hanc mensam corripiebat in idolio recumbentes Corinthios Apostolus, dicens: Non potestis communicare mensae Domini et mensae daemoniorum:

6. The rod signifies discipline, the staff help. The table prepared through Christ. When, therefore, you perceive that you are assailed in the shadow by the snares of the enemy, and are being frightened, take hold of the rod of discipline, and lean confidently on the staff of mercy, so that, when Christ, the sun of justice, has shone forth to help you, you may truly say: Thy rod and Thy staff, they have comforted me. For the rod governs the proud man, according to what is said of Christ in the second Psalm: Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and like a potter's vessel Thou shalt shatter them (Ps. 2:9). But the staff supports the weak and the weary. Remember, then, the correction and discipline of the rod, so that, when you have been filled with the good things of God's gifts, you may not be lifted up by pride and murmur against Him: for, being angry, He will shatter you with it like a potter's vessel. Remember also the help of the staff, and do not trust in your own strength, nor say: I am holy, I cannot stumble. Our infirmity has many falls, and, placed as it still is on an earth that yields thorns and thistles, it is not governed by the holiness of its own works, nor does it have the glory of purity. Until, therefore, it returns to the earth from which it was taken, unless it is governed by the staff of divine grace, it cannot stand. Whether, then, you prosper in God, or are troubled by the tempest of temptations, cast your whole self upon the staff of God's mercy, so that, when you have reclined upon it to be fed with spiritual gifts, delighted by the taste of its sweetness, you may fittingly say: Thou hast prepared a table in my sight against those who afflict me. Thou hast anointed my head with oil, and Thy cup that inebriates, how excellent it is! This the whole Church throughout the world, propped up by the staff of grace, sings. This she proclaims against heretics, Jews and Gentiles, who afflict her by mocking, glorying not in herself but in the Lord. For the table of delight is the passion of Christ, Who on the table of the cross offered Himself for us as a sacrifice to God the Father, granting to His Catholic Church a life-giving banquet, namely satisfying us with His body and inebriating us with His blood. Fed and quickened by this table, the Church exults against those who afflict her, having the hope of eternal life through her life, the Lord Christ, Who anointed her abundantly with the oil of gladness through the Holy Spirit. On account of this table the Apostle rebuked the Corinthians who reclined in an idol's temple, saying: You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons:

Editors' notes and page, col. 1649

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 1649

(printed under page 87) (a) Alias, 25 de Verbis Domini.

Formerly, 25 De Verbis Domini.

(printed under page 87) (b) Augustino tribuunt manuscripti omnes, magno numero: sed indubitatam iis adjungi fidem non patitur dictionis ratio impropria, inelegans et numerose desinens, sententiis quandoque simili verborum sono studiose nimium terminatis. Dubium habuerunt Lovanienses, Verlinus autem suppositicium: Vindingus porro censuit Augustini nomine, si non stilus prohiberet, jure merito inscribendum.

All the manuscripts, a great number of them, attribute it to Augustine; but the manner of expression does not allow unquestioning credit to be given them: it is improper, inelegant and rhythmical in its endings, its sentences sometimes ending with the same sound of words too studiously. The Louvain editors held it doubtful, Verlin spurious; Vindingus, further, judged that it would rightly and deservedly bear Augustine's name, if the style did not forbid it.

(printed under page 87)