PL 39 · cols. 1683–1686

Augustine, Sermones 376-387 (Classis V, Sermones dubii)

Sermons CCCLXXXI–CCCLXXXII

defuncti. Defunctus est Christus, acceperunt conjugem ejus Apostoli Ecclesiam. Quos de illa genuerunt, non Paulianos, aut Petrianos, sed Christianos nominaverunt. Loquantur ergo haec duo ambae passiones: Illum oportet crescere, me autem minui. Ille crevit in ligno, hic est diminutus in ferro. Locutae sunt et passiones hoc mysterium, loquantur et dies. Nascitur Christus, et augentur; nascitur Joannes, et minuuntur. Minuatur ergo honor hominis, augeatur honor Dei; ut honor hominis inveniatur in honore Dei.

of the deceased. Christ died; the Apostles received His spouse, the Church. Those whom they begot from her they named not Paulians, or Petrians, but Christians. Let both these two passions, then, speak: He must increase, but I must decrease. He grew upon the wood; this one was diminished by the iron. The passions too have spoken this mystery; let the days also speak. Christ is born, and they are increased; John is born, and they are decreased. Let the honour of man, therefore, be decreased, let the honour of God be increased, so that the honour of man may be found in the honour of God.

SERMO CCCLXXXI. De Natali apostolorum Petri et Pauli.

Sermon 381. On the Birthday of the Apostles Peter and Paul.

Petri et Pauli apostolorum dies, in quo triumphalem coronam, devicto diabolo, meruerunt, quantum fides Romana testatur, hodiernus est. Quibus solemnis festivitas exhibetur, solemnis etiam sermo reddatur. Laudes audiant a nobis, preces fundant pro nobis. Sicut traditione patrum cognitum memoria retinetur, non uno die passi sunt per coeli spatia decurrente. Natalitio ergo Petri passus est Paulus, non quo ex utero matris in numerum fusus est hominum, sed quo ex vinculo carnis in lucem natus est Angelorum; ac per hoc ita singuli dies dati sunt duobus, ut nunc unus celebretur ambobus. Magnum hoc mihi signum videtur esse concordiae: coapostolo suo novissimus primo, qui ad eumdem diem vocatus advenit, ad eumdem diem coronatus occurrit. Electus est ille ante Domini passionem, iste post ascensionem. Ordine temporis impares, aeternitate felicitatis aequales: ille ex piscatore, iste ex persecutore. In illo infirma mundi electa sunt, ut confundantur fortia (I Cor. I, 27): in isto abundavit peccatum, ut superabundaret gratia (Rom. V, 20). In utroque magna Dei gratia atque ejus gloria claruit, qui eorum fecit merita, non invenit. Quid enim aliud demonstrare dignatus est, qui ad regnum primo vocare voluit piscatores, postea vocaturus imperatores, nisi ut qui gloriatur, in Domino glorietur (I Cor. I, 31)? Nam utique nobilium, doctorum, potentum non salutem contempsit, quibus ignobiles, imperitos infirmosque praeposuit. Sed nisi prius eligeretur vilitas infirmorum, non sanaretur inflatio superborum. Si prius a Christo divites vocarentur, putarent et dicerent non in se electam nisi opulentiam, facundiam, eloquentiae doctrinam, scientiae splendorem, nobilitatem, generositatem, tranquillitatem, regalem potestatem; atque ita temporalibus et saecularibus felicitatibus tumidi, tanquam ipsi prius Christo conferrent quod essent, ut eis ille videretur reddere, non donare, quod futuri essent gratia Dei, nec intelligerent, nec tenerent. Quanto ergo nunc melius, quanto ordinatius, prius erexit de terra inopem, et de stercore exaltavit pauperem, ut collocaret eum cum potentibus populi sui (Psal. CXII, 7, 8); ut

The day of the apostles Peter and Paul, on which, the devil having been vanquished, they merited the triumphal crown, as far as the Roman faith attests, is today. To those for whom a solemn festival is held, let a solemn sermon also be rendered. Let them hear praises from us, let them pour out prayers for us. As is retained in memory, known by the tradition of the fathers, they did not suffer on one day as it ran its course through the spaces of heaven. On Peter's birthday, therefore, Paul suffered: not the day on which he was poured forth from his mother's womb into the number of men, but the day on which, out of the chain of the flesh, he was born into the light of the Angels; and by this means separate days were given to the two, so that now one is celebrated for both. This seems to me a great sign of concord: the last [came] to the first, his fellow apostle, he who, called, came to the same day, and, crowned, hastened to meet the same day. The one was chosen before the Lord's passion, the other after the ascension. Unequal in order of time, equal in the eternity of happiness: the one from a fisherman, the other from a persecutor. In the one the weak things of the world were chosen, that the strong might be confounded (1 Cor. 1:27); in the other sin abounded, that grace might superabound (Rom. 5:20). In both the great grace of God and His glory shone forth, Who made their merits, and did not find them. For what else did He deign to show, Who willed to call to the kingdom fishermen first, being about to call emperors afterwards, except that he who glories, let him glory in the Lord (1 Cor. 1:31)? For assuredly He did not despise the salvation of the noble, the learned, the powerful, over whom He set the ignoble, the unskilled and the weak. But unless the lowliness of the weak were chosen first, the swelling of the proud would not be healed. If the rich were called by Christ first, they would think and say that nothing had been chosen in them but opulence, fluency, learning in eloquence, the splendour of knowledge, nobility, high birth, tranquillity, royal power; and thus, puffed up with temporal and worldly felicities, as though they themselves had first conferred on Christ what they were, so that He would seem to be repaying them, not bestowing on them, what they were to be by the grace of God, they would neither understand nor hold fast. How much better, then, how much more orderly is it now, that He first raised up the needy from the earth, and exalted the poor out of the dunghill, that He might set him with the powerful ones of His people (Ps. 112:7–8); so that

Editors' notes and page, col. 1683

Footnotes

(*) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of SERMO CCCLXXXI, above the crop)› · call in col 1683 Emendatus ad cl. d. r. rm. t. vat. et ad Vign.

Corrected against cl. d. r. rm. t. vat. and the Vignier edition.

(printed under page 104)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of SERMO CCCLXXXI)› · call in col 1683

Alias, inter Vignerianos 6.

Elsewhere, no. 6 among Vignier's sermons.

(printed under page 104)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible (title of SERMO CCCLXXXI)› · call in col 1683

Augustini nomen in veteribus Lectionariis praefert, neque stilus ab ipso omnino alienus videtur.

It bears Augustine's name in the old lectionaries, and the style does not seem wholly foreign to him.

(printed under page 104) (*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCLXXXII› · call in col 1684 Emendatus ad duos c. b. et duos n. ad cl. gr. r. v. et ad Am. Er. Par. Lov.

Corrected against two c. b. and two n., against cl. gr. r. v., and against the Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain editions.

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munus intelligentiae atque doctrinae non solum ex Deo esset, sed etiam ut ex Deo esse appareret? Cum quanta itaque laetitia et quanta Dei gloria contuemur ab animo piscatoris contemni opes imperatoris? fundi preces imperatoris ad Memoriam piscatoris? ut nec ille ex eo quod non habuit, jaceret; nec iste ex eo quod habuit, superbiret. Jamvero illud quod Paulum ex persecutore suo praedicatorem suum Christus operatus est, quid valeat ad salutem hominum, ne quisquam magnarum sibi conscius iniquitatum de misericordia Dei debeat desperare, ipse potius apostolus eloquatur. Humanus, inquit, sermo et omni acceptione dignus, quia Christus Jesus venit in hunc mundum peccatores salvos facere, quorum primus ego sum. Sed ideo misericordiam consecutus sum, ut in me primo ostenderet Christus Jesus omnem longanimitatem, ad informationem eorum qui credituri sunt illi in vitam aeternam (I Tim. I, 15, 16). Quis enim sub manu omnipotentis medici de salute desperet tanto informatus exemplo, considerans evangelizantem fidem quam aliquando vastabat, non solum evasisse poenam persecutoris, verum etiam coronam meruisse doctoris, et cujus sanguinem in ejus membris cupiebat saeviendo fundere, pro ejus nomine suum sanguinem credendo fudisse? Habet ergo Roma caput gentium, duo lumina gentium ab illo accensa, qui illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum: unum, in quo Deus abjectam exaltavit humilitatem; alterum, in quo damnandam sanavit iniquitatem. In illo discamus non superbire; in isto, non desperare. Quam breviter magna nobis exempla praemissa sunt, quam salubria; quae semper commemoremus, et in eorum laude lumen verum magnificemus. Nemo ergo se de hujus saeculi celsitudine extollat: Petrus piscator fuit. Nemo iniquitatem propriam cogitando misericordiam Dei defugiat: Paulus persecutor fuit. Ille dicit, Factus est Dominus refugium pauperum (Psal. IX, 10): iste dicit, Doceam iniquos vias tuas, et impii ad te convertentur (Psal. L, 15).

the gift of understanding and of teaching should not only be from God, but should also be seen to be from God? With how great joy, then, and with how great glory to God do we behold the riches of an emperor despised by the mind of a fisherman, and the prayers of an emperor poured out at the shrine of a fisherman? so that neither should the one lie cast down because of what he did not have, nor the other be proud because of what he had. Now as for that work of Christ by which He made Paul, from His persecutor, His preacher: of what avail it is for the salvation of men, so that no one conscious of great iniquities in himself should despair of the mercy of God, let the apostle himself rather declare. "It is a human saying," he says, "and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into this world to save sinners, of whom I am the first. But for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Christ Jesus might show all long-suffering, for the instruction of those who are to believe in Him unto life eternal" (1 Tim. 1:15–16). For who, under the hand of the almighty Physician, would despair of salvation, instructed by so great an example, considering that he who was preaching the faith which he once laid waste not only escaped the punishment of a persecutor, but even merited the crown of a teacher, and that for the name of Him Whose blood he had longed in his raging to shed in His members, he shed his own blood in believing? Rome therefore, the head of the nations, has two lights of the nations, kindled by Him Who enlightens every man coming into this world: one, in whom God exalted a lowliness that was cast down; the other, in whom He healed an iniquity that deserved condemnation. In the one let us learn not to be proud; in the other, not to despair. How briefly great examples have been set before us, how wholesome; let us always call them to mind, and in their praise magnify the true Light. Let no one, therefore, exalt himself on account of the loftiness of this world: Peter was a fisherman. Let no one, in thinking on his own iniquity, flee from the mercy of God: Paul was a persecutor. The one says, "The Lord has become the refuge of the poor" (Ps. 9:10): the other says, "I will teach the unjust Thy ways, and the ungodly shall be converted to Thee" (Ps. 50:15).

SERMO CCCLXXXII. De sancto Stephano.

Sermon 382. On Saint Stephen.

CAPUT PRIMUM.—1. Praeceptum de diligendis inimicis. Jesus filius Nave in eremo pugnabat, et Moyses orabat: non quidem ambo pugnabant, et ambo orabant; sed unus pugnabat, et alius orabat. Merito qui pugnabat, non deficiebat; quia alter orando vincebat. Ita et ego loqui quidem videor, sed aliis orantibus loquor, ut precibus eorum contingat mihi quod Dominus ait, Aperi os tuum, et ego adimplebo illud (Psal. LXXX, 11). Si ille ab uno tantum orante juvabatur,

Chapter I.—1. The precept of loving enemies. Jesus the son of Nave was fighting in the desert, and Moses was praying: not indeed that both were fighting and both were praying; but the one was fighting, and the other was praying. Rightly did he who was fighting not fail, because the other was conquering by praying. So I too seem indeed to be speaking, but I speak while others are praying, so that by their prayers there may befall me what the Lord says, "Open your mouth, and I will fill it" (Ps. 80:11). If he was helped by only one praying,

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Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCLXXXII *› · call in col 1684

Alias, de Sanctis 4.

Elsewhere, [Sermon] 4 de Sanctis.

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(b) ‹anchor: De sancto Stephano› · call in col 1684

Speciem centonis prae se fert hic sermo. Istud in exordio, « Loquendo jam non timebit cor meum, » etc., nec ad superiora, nec ad inferiora connectitur. Paulo post quod legitur, « Hic advertat vestra Sanctitas, » usque, « perceperunt mercedem suam, » totum hoc Vindingus esse dicit indoctae manus assumentum. Nobis, praeter alia quaedam, venit in suspicionem etiam illud in num. 3, « Diaconus erat, « Evangelia legebat, » etc. Quippe Evangelia scripta ante Stephani passionem non exstiterunt. Simile quidpiam dictum est supra in sermone 319, n. 3, sed ibi facilius excusatur, nec sufficit ut sermo caeteroqui probus repudietur.

This sermon has the look of a patchwork. The passage in the opening, "In speaking my heart will now not fear," etc., connects neither with what precedes nor with what follows. What is read a little later, from "Here let your Holiness note" to "they have received their reward," Vindingus says is all an addition by an unlearned hand. To us, among some other things, the passage in n. 3 also came under suspicion: "He was a deacon, he read the Gospels," etc. For no written Gospels existed before Stephen's passion. Something similar is said above in Sermon 319, n. 3, but there it is more easily excused, and it is not enough for a sermon otherwise sound to be rejected.

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et non superabatur; quanto magis ego, pro quo non unus, sed multi rogant Deum mecum? Loquendo jam non timebit cor meum, quia laudem Domini loquetur os meum (Psal. CXLIV, 21). Dominus noster Jesus Christus, fratres, jubet nobis aliquid, et promittit nobis aliquid. Quod jubet, hic est: quod promittit alibi est. Quod jubet, finitur, quia temporale est: quod promittit, non finitur, quia aeternum est. Quod jubet, opus est: quod promittit, merces est. Hic advertat vestra Sanctitas, quanta est ejus misericordia erga nos, ut laborem hic posuerit cum fine, mercedem in coelo sine fine. Et ideo debemus prius hic laborare, et postea in coelo mercedem sumere, quam hic mercedem vel accipere, et postea laborare. De quibusdam enim dicit: Amen dico vobis, perceperunt mercedem suam (Matth. VI, 2). Sed forte avidus es ad mercedem, et piger ad laborem. Qua fronte postulas quod promisit Deus, si non facis quod jussit Deus? Prius audi monitiones, et sic exige repromissiones. Prius, inquam, audi jubentem, et tunc exige pollicentem. Jubet enim nobis, et dicit: Diligite inimicos vestros, bene facite his qui vos oderunt; et orate pro persequentibus et calumniantibus vos. Audisti opus, exspecta mercedem: Ut sitis, inquit, filii Patris vestri, qui in coelis est; qui solem suum oriri facit super bonos et malos, et pluit super justos et injustos (Id. V, 44, 45).

and he was not overcome; how much more I, for whom not one but many are asking God together with me? In speaking, my heart will now not be afraid, because my mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord (Ps. 144:21). Our Lord Jesus Christ, brothers, commands us something, and promises us something. What He commands is here; what He promises is elsewhere. What He commands comes to an end, because it is temporal; what He promises does not come to an end, because it is eternal. What He commands is work; what He promises is wages. Here let your Holiness take note how great His mercy is towards us, that He has set the labour here with an end, the wages in heaven without end. And therefore we ought first to labour here, and afterwards receive the wages in heaven, rather than receive the wages here and labour afterwards. For of certain people He says: Amen I say to you, they have received their wages (Matt. 6:2). But perhaps you are greedy for the wages and lazy for the labour. With what face do you demand what God has promised, if you do not do what God has commanded? First hear the admonitions, and so claim the promises. First, I say, hear Him commanding, and then claim from Him promising. For He commands us, and says: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you; and pray for those who persecute and slander you. You have heard the work; await the wages: That you may be, He says, sons of your Father Who is in heaven; Who makes His sun rise upon the good and the bad, and rains upon the just and the unjust (Matt. 5:44–45).

CAPUT II. — 2. Christi exemplum orantis pro suis interfectoribus. Christus orat pro nobis, orat in nobis, et oratur a nobis. Attende ipsum Dominum qui hoc jussit, quid fecerit. Nonne post tanta quae in eum commiserunt impii Judaei, qui retribuebant ei mala pro bonis, pendens in cruce ait: Pater, ignosce illis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt? Oravit in homine, qui exaudivit cum Patre. Nam et modo orat pro nobis, orat in nobis, et oratur a nobis. Ut sacerdos noster orat pro nobis, ut caput nostrum orat in nobis, ut Deus noster oratur a nobis. Quando ergo in cruce pendens orabat, videbat et praevidebat omnes inimicos; sed multos ex illis futuros amicos praevidebat, et ideo omnibus veniam postulabat. Illi saeviebant, et ille orabat. Illi dicebant Pilato, Crucifige (Luc. XXIII, 34, 21); ille clamabat, Pater, ignosce. In asperis clavis pendebat: sed lenitatem non amittebat. Illis jam petebat veniam, a quibus tantam accipiebat injuriam. Illi saeviebant, illi circumlatrabant, illi insultando caput agitabant, quod sanum non habebant; quia caput quod est Christus, non habebant, et quasi in uno summo medico in medio constituto phrenetici circumquaque saeviebant: pendebat ille, et sanabat. Pater, inquit, ignosce illis. Attendite, fratres. Magna pietas. Pendebat, et tamen petebat. Et non descendebat, quia de sanguine suo medicamentum phreneticis faciebat. Denique, post resurrectionem sanavit quos pendens insanissimos toleravit: et sanguinem quem fuderunt saevientes biberunt, credentes; et facti sunt sequentes, qui erant persequentes. Ecce quare venit Christus, non perdere quod invenerat, sed quaerere et salvare quod perierat (Id. XIX, 10); ut diligendo saevientes inimicos, faceret credentes amicos.

Chapter II. — 2. The example of Christ praying for His slayers. Christ prays for us, prays in us, and is prayed to by us. Consider what the Lord Himself, Who commanded this, did. After so many things that the impious Jews committed against Him, who repaid Him evil for good, did He not say as He hung on the cross: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing? He prayed in the man, He Who heard the prayer together with the Father. For even now He prays for us, prays in us, and is prayed to by us. As our priest He prays for us, as our head He prays in us, as our God He is prayed to by us. When, therefore, hanging on the cross, He was praying, He saw and foresaw all His enemies; but He foresaw that many of them would become friends, and therefore He asked pardon for them all. They were raging, and He was praying. They were saying to Pilate, Crucify (Luke 23:34, 21); He was crying out, Father, forgive. He hung on harsh nails, but He did not lose His gentleness. He was already asking pardon for those from whom He was receiving such great injury. They were raging, they were barking all around, they were wagging their head in mockery, a head which they did not have sound; because the head which is Christ they did not have, and, as if around one supreme physician set in their midst, the frenzied were raging on every side: He was hanging, and He was healing. Father, He says, forgive them. Take note, brothers. Great is the devotion. He was hanging, and yet He was asking. And He did not come down, because from His own blood He was making a medicine for the frenzied. Finally, after the resurrection He healed those whom, as He hung, He had endured in their utter madness: and the blood which they had shed in their raging, they drank as believers; and those who had been persecutors became followers. Behold why Christ came: not to destroy what He had found, but to seek and to save what had perished (Luke 19:10); so that by loving raging enemies He might make believing friends.

CAPUT III. — 3. Exemplum Stephani orantis pro lapidatoribus. Sed ne multum a te longe dicas imitari Dominum tuum, qui pro te passus est, relinquens tibi exemplum ut sequaris vestigia ejus (I Petr. II, 21), attende Stephanum conservum tuum. Homo erat, sicut et tu: de massa peccati creatus, sicut et tu: eo pretio redemptus, quo et tu. Diaconus erat, Evangelia legebat, quae legis vel audis et tu. Ibi invenit scriptum, Diligite inimicos vestros (Matth. V, 44). Didicit legendo, perfecit implendo. Qui cum a Judaeis saxorum grandine caederetur, non solum non comminabatur, sed insuper lapidatoribus suis veniam precabatur. Positis enim genibus orabat, dicens: Domine,

Chapter III. — 3. The example of Stephen praying for his stoners. But lest you say that it is too far beyond you to imitate your Lord, Who suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His footsteps (1 Pet. 2:21), consider Stephen, your fellow servant. He was a man, just as you are: created from the mass of sin, just as you are: redeemed at the same price as you. He was a deacon, he read the Gospels, which you too read or hear. There he found written, Love your enemies (Matt. 5:44). He learned it by reading, he accomplished it by fulfilling it. When he was being struck by the Jews with a hail of stones, not only did he not threaten, but he even prayed for pardon for his stoners. For, having knelt down, he was praying, saying: Lord,

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(1) ‹anchor: et tamen petebat› · call in col 1685

Aliquot Mss., et tamen impendebat.

Some manuscripts read et tamen impendebat ("and yet he hung over [them]").

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(a) ‹anchor: et oratur a nobis› · call in col 1685

Enarr. in Psal. 85, n. 1.

Enarrationes in Psalmos, on Psalm 85, n. 1.

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ne statuas illis hoc peccatum (Act. VII, 59). Illi lapidabant, et ille orabat. Illi eum furore persequebantur; ille pacatus Christum sequebatur. Illi malitia caecabantur; ille aperto coelo viso Dei Filio sapientia illustrabatur. Illi lapides mittebant; ille orationes praemittebat: tanquam dicens: Domine, si istos modo occideris inimicos, quos postea facies amicos?

do not set this sin against them (Acts 7:59). They were stoning, and he was praying. They were pursuing him with fury; he, at peace, was following Christ. They were blinded by malice; he, with heaven opened and the Son of God seen, was enlightened with wisdom. They were sending stones; he was sending prayers on ahead, as if saying: Lord, if Thou shouldst kill these enemies now, whom wilt Thou afterwards make friends?

CAPUT IV. — 4. Saulo Stephani oratione gratia et salus impetrata. Denique, fratres, ut noveritis quantum valuerit oratio sancti martyris Stephani, recurrite nobiscum ad illum adolescentem nomine Saulum: qui, cum sanctus Stephanus lapidaretur, omnium vestimenta servabat, et tanquam manibus omnium lapidabat (Act. VII). Et postea, sicut nostis, accepit epistolas a p⟨r⟩incipibus sacerdotum, ut quoscumque invenisset Christianos viros ac mulieres, vinctos adduceret in Jerusalem, torquendos et puniendos. Hic cum iret in via, subito circumfulsit eum lumen de coelo, et cecidit in terram, et audivit vocem de coelo, dicentem sibi: Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris? Et ille: Tu quis es, Domine? Et Dominus ad illum: Ego sum, inquit, Jesus Nazarenus, quem tu persequeris. Durum est tibi contra stimulum calcitrare: quia non stimulum, sed pedes quibus calcitras, vulnerabis. Quid mihi et tibi? Quare me persequeris? Quare te erigis contra me malo tuo, et te non potius humilias bono tuo? Sed contra tanta mala quae committis in me, olim quidem debui perdere te, sed Stephanus servus meus oravit pro te. Elisus est saeviens, erectus est credens: elisus est lupus, erectus est agnus: elisus est persecutor, erectus est praedicator. Dicam planius, dicam apertius: elisus est filius perditionis, erectus est vas electionis: elisus est Saulus, erectus est Paulus (Id. IX). Nam si martyr Stephanus non sic orasset, Ecclesia Paulum hodie non haberet. Sed ideo de terra erectus est Paulus, quia in terra inclinatus exauditus est Stephanus.

Chapter IV. — 4. By Stephen's prayer grace and salvation were obtained for Saul. Then, brothers, so that you may know how much the prayer of the holy martyr Stephen availed, run back with us to that young man named Saul: who, while holy Stephen was being stoned, was keeping the garments of them all, and was stoning as if with the hands of them all (Acts 7). And afterwards, as you know, he received letters from the chief priests, so that whatever Christians he might find, men and women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem, to be tortured and punished. As he was going on the way, suddenly a light from heaven shone round about him, and he fell to the ground, and heard a voice from heaven saying to him: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? And he: Who art Thou, Lord? And the Lord to him: I am, He said, Jesus of Nazareth, Whom you persecute. It is hard for you to kick against the goad: for it is not the goad but the feet with which you kick that you will wound. What have I to do with you? Why do you persecute Me? Why do you raise yourself up against Me to your own harm, and not rather humble yourself to your own good? But for such great evils as you commit against Me, I ought indeed long ago to have destroyed you, but Stephen My servant prayed for you. The raging one was struck down, the believing one was raised up: the wolf was struck down, the lamb was raised up: the persecutor was struck down, the preacher was raised up. Let me say it more plainly, let me say it more openly: the son of perdition was struck down, the vessel of election was raised up: Saul was struck down, Paul was raised up (ibid. 9). For if the martyr Stephen had not prayed so, the Church would not have Paul today. But Paul was raised up from the ground for this reason, that Stephen, bowed down on the ground, was heard.

CAPUT V. — 5. Mala precari inimicis quam iniquum. Ecce quare Dominus dicit, Diligite inimicos vestros: quia diligendo inimicum, facis amicum. Sed contra tanta et talia haec, tu quis es qui non diligis? Figis genu, collidis frontem in terram, et dicis: O si moriatur inimicus meus! Deus, si quid a te promerui, occide inimicum meum. Et utique tu qui oras ut homo moriatur, malus oras contra malum, et facti estis duo mali: ille male agendo, tu male orando. Tu malus orando incipis esse quando dicis, Deus, occide malum. Respondet tibi ipse: Quem vestrum? Te malum, an tuum inimicum? Advertat Sanctitas vestra. Judex homo per se ipsum reum non occidit, sed jubet, et spiculator occidit. Judex dicit, Occide: et tortor occidit. Et tu quando dicis, Occide inimicum meum, te facis judicem, et Deum quaeris esse tortorem. Respondet tibi Deus: Non ero prorsus, non ero peccatoris tortor, sed liberator; quia nolo mortem peccatoris, sed ut convertatur, et vivat (Ezech. XXXIII, 11). Nam si voluntatem tuam haberem, te prius occiderem, antequam invitatus venires. Nonne me blasphemasti? Nonne me in tuis malis operibus irritasti? Nonne nomen meum de terra delere voluisti? Nonne me in praeceptis vel in servis meis contempsisti? Si tunc te occidissem inimicum, quem modo facerem amicum? Quid ergo male orando doces me, quod non feci in te? Imo ego, dicit tibi Deus, doceam te ut imiteris me. In cruce pendens dixi, Pater, ignosce illis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt. Docui hoc milites meos, docui hoc martyres meos. Prius esto et tu martyr meus, tiro meus, adversus diabolum: aliter invicte nullo modo pugnabis, nisi pro tuis inimicis oraveris. Quod nobis praestare dignetur, etc.

Chapter V. — 5. How wicked it is to pray for evil upon enemies. See why the Lord says, Love your enemies: because by loving an enemy you make a friend. But against such great and such grave things as these, who are you that do not love? You bend the knee, you strike your forehead on the ground, and you say: Oh, if only my enemy would die! God, if I have deserved anything of Thee, kill my enemy. And surely you who pray that a man may die, being evil you pray against an evil man, and you have become two evil men: he by doing evil, you by praying evil. You begin to be evil by praying when you say, God, kill the evil man. He Himself answers you: Which of you? You, the evil man, or your enemy? Let your Holiness pay attention. A human judge does not kill the guilty man by himself, but he commands, and the executioner kills. The judge says, Kill: and the torturer kills. And you, when you say, Kill my enemy, make yourself the judge, and seek that God be the torturer. God answers you: I will not be so at all, I will not be the sinner's torturer, but his deliverer; for I do not will the death of the sinner, but that he be converted and live (Ezek. 33:11). For if I had your will, I would have killed you first, before you came, having been invited. Did you not blaspheme Me? Did you not provoke Me by your evil works? Did you not wish to blot out My name from the earth? Did you not despise Me in My precepts or in My servants? If I had killed you then as an enemy, whom would I now be making a friend? Why then, by praying evil, do you teach Me what I did not do to you? Rather, God says to you, let Me teach you to imitate Me. Hanging on the cross I said, Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do. I taught this to My soldiers, I taught this to My martyrs. Be first you too My martyr, My recruit, against the devil: otherwise you will in no way fight unconquerably, unless you have prayed for your enemies. May He deign to grant this to us, etc.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1686

Footnotes

(a) ‹anchor: Deum quaeris esse tortorem› · call in col 1686

Enarr. in Psal. 33, n. 9.

Enarrationes in Psalmos, on Psalm 33, n. 9.

(printed under page 105)