Migne Reading Room
PL 39 · cols. 1687–1694
Augustine, Sermones 376-387 (Classis V, Sermones dubii)
Sermons CCCLXXXIII–CCCLXXXV
SERMO CCCLXXXIII. In die anniversaria ordinationis episcopalis.
Sermon 383. On the anniversary day of his episcopal ordination.
CAPUT PRIMUM.—1. Episcopale onus quomodo gerat, secum inquirendum ducit. Die quidem omni, et omni hora, curaque omnino continua, dilectissimi, cogitare debet episcopus, quantae dispensationis sarcinam gerat, qualem de illa rationem Domino suo reddat. Verumtamen cum dies anniversarius nostrae ordinationis exoritur, tunc maxime onus hujus officii tanquam tunc primum imponatur, attenditur. Interest autem quod eo die, quo id prius suscepimus, tantum quemadmodum gerendum esset cogitavimus: at vero consequentibus diebus, praecipueque illo, quo ejus solemnitas agitur, non solum futura ejus, quemadmodum deinceps geri debeant, cauta praevisione consulimus; verum etiam praeterita, quemadmodum gesta sint, sollicita recordatione recolimus: ut nosmetipsos in benefactis imitemur, et si qua culpanda transierunt, ne repetantur curemus, ut ignoscantur oremus; et accusationem diaboli, ubi possumus, recte agendi sedulitate fugiamus; ubi autem non possumus, confitendi pietate vincamus. Sicut enim futura peccata, negligendo justitiam, committuntur; ita praeterita, injustitiam defendendo, firmantur. Sicut ergo ne fiant prospicit charitas, ita facta delet humilitas: ut quae jam non possunt recte agendo non admitti, possint saltem non superbiendo dimitti. Didicimus quippe dicere Patri nostro, qui est in coelis, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris (Matth. VI, 12). Quod ut veraciter dicere possimus, etiam inimicos nostros oportet utique diligamus: quos tamen habere, nisi cogente justitia, non debemus. Nam si homines nobis pro nostris malis meritis inimici sunt, non curandum est ut eis debita dimittamus, sed timendum potius ne reddamus. Quoniam si nos merito nostrae iniquitatis oderunt, nos eorum, non ipsi nostri sunt debitores.
Chapter I.—1. He resolves that he must inquire within himself how he is to bear the episcopal burden. Every day indeed, and every hour, and with care wholly continuous, dearly beloved, a bishop ought to consider how great a stewardship is the load he bears, and what account of it he is to render to his Lord. Yet when the anniversary day of our ordination dawns, then above all the burden of this office is given attention, as though it were then being laid on for the first time. There is, however, this difference: on the day on which we first took it up, we considered only how it was to be borne; but on the days that follow, and especially on that day on which its solemnity is celebrated, we not only take counsel with careful foresight about its future, how matters ought to be carried on henceforth, but we also go over its past with anxious recollection, how matters have been carried on: so that we may imitate ourselves in our good deeds, and, if any blameworthy things have passed, may take care that they not be repeated and pray that they be pardoned; and that we may escape the accusation of the devil, where we can, by diligence in acting rightly, but where we cannot, may overcome it by the piety of confessing. For just as future sins are committed by neglecting justice, so past ones are confirmed by defending injustice. Just as, therefore, charity provides that they not be done, so humility blots them out once done: so that those things which can no longer be not committed by acting rightly may at least be forgiven by not being proud. For we have learned to say to our Father, Who is in heaven, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors (Matt. 6:12). And so that we may be able to say this truthfully, we must certainly love even our enemies: whom, however, we ought not to have, unless justice compels it. For if men are enemies to us because of our own evil deserts, we need not trouble about forgiving them their debts, but should rather fear lest we have to pay our own. Since if they hate us by the desert of our iniquity, we are their debtors, not they ours.
CAPUT II. — 2. Debitoribus suis ignoscit. Die ergo isto solemni episcopatus mei, prius paucis alloquar debitores meos, qui mihi nescientes apud Deum suffragantur, dum faciunt debita quae demittam, ut et mea mihi debita dimitti promerear. Vobis itaque dico sive praesentibus, sive absentibus, quibus inimicus efficior verum praedicans, quibus consulendo videor onerosus, quorum requirens utilitatem cogor offendere voluntatem: Nolite esse sicut equus et mulus, non habentes intellectum (Psal. XXXI, 9). Nam et haec jumenta eos maxime calce morsuque appetunt, a quibus curantur, ut curentur eorum vulnera contrectantur. Non parcis, non parco: adversaris, adversor: resistis, resisto. Lucta nos comparat, sed causa separat. Tu inimicus es medico, ego morbo: tu diligentiae
Chapter II.—2. He pardons his debtors. On this solemn day of my episcopate, then, I will first address a few words to my debtors, who without knowing it plead on my behalf before God, while they incur debts which I may remit, so that I too may merit to have my own debts remitted to me. To you, therefore, I say, whether present or absent, to whom I become an enemy by preaching the truth, to whom I seem burdensome by giving counsel, whose will I am compelled to offend while seeking your benefit: Do not be like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding (Ps. 31:9). For these beasts too attack with heel and bite above all those by whom they are being cared for, whose wounds are handled so that they may be healed. You do not spare, I do not spare: you oppose, I oppose: you resist, I resist. The struggle makes us alike, but the cause sets us apart. You are an enemy to the physician, I to the disease: you to the diligence
Editors' notes and page, col. 1687
Footnotes
(*) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of SERMO CCCLXXXIII, above the crop)› · call in col 1687 Emendatus ad duos cl. ad gr. m. r. rm. t. et ad Am. Er. Par. Lov.
Corrected against two cl., against gr. m. r. rm. t., and against the Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain editions.
(printed under page 106)
(a) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of SERMO CCCLXXXIII)› · call in col 1687
Alias, 24 inter Homilias 50.
Elsewhere, no. 24 among the Fifty Homilies.
(printed under page 106)
(b) ‹anchor: not visible (title of SERMO CCCLXXXIII)› · call in col 1687
Augustinum non sapit stilus, studiose quidem elaboratus, sed inepte, absque arte et ingenio; quo fit ut sermo subobscurus sit, et in ea re quae commovendis auditorum affectibus de se maxime comparata erat, frigidissimus. — Aliter Bossuetius, qui eum inter genuinos Augustini sermones inscribendum arbitrabatur. M.
The style does not taste of Augustine: carefully worked, indeed, but clumsily, without art or talent; so the sermon is rather obscure, and very cold in a matter that was of itself especially suited to moving the hearers' feelings. — Bossuet thought otherwise; he judged it should be entered among Augustine's genuine sermons. M.
(printed under page 106)
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meae, ego pestilentiae tuae. Retribuebant, inquit, mihi mala pro bonis; ego autem orabam (Psal. XXXIV, 12). Quid orabat, nisi, Pater, ignosce illis, quia nesciunt quid faciunt (Luc. XXIII, 34)? Cum vobis, inquit, detraxerint, et dixerint omne malum adversum vos propter justitiam, gaudete et exsultate, quoniam merces vestra multa est in coelis (Matth. V, 11 et 12). Vos tamen corrigite perversitatem vestram, agnoscite charitatem nostram; reddite dilectionem dilectioni: nolumus majorem cum vestra perditione mercedem. Haec debitoribus meis, quibus dimitto, ut dimittatur mihi, nunc pauca suffecerint.
of mine, I to your pestilence. "They repaid me," He says, "evil for good; but I was praying" (Ps. 34:12). What was He praying, if not, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do" (Luke 23:34)? "When they have disparaged you," He says, "and have said every evil against you for the sake of righteousness, rejoice and exult, for your reward is great in heaven" (Matt. 5:11–12). You, however, correct your perversity, acknowledge our charity; return love for love: we do not want a greater reward at the cost of your perdition. Let these few words now suffice for my debtors, whom I forgive, so that I may be forgiven.
CAPUT III. — 3. In gratiam cum eis redire cupit, in quorum forte offensionem incurrit. Deinceps alloquendi sunt paululum etiam illi quibus debitor sum. Nam sicut ait Apostolus, Graecis et Barbaris, sapientibus et insipientibus debitor sum (Rom. I, 14). Nam talis debitor etiam ego pro mearum virium exiguitate dispensationisque portiuncula, non quibusdam, sed omnibus sum. Verum nunc de his debitis loquor, quae mihi dimitti, non a me exigi cupio. Neque enim sic tumore vanae mentis extollor, ut audeam dicere, ex quo hujus muneris sarcinam porto, nullum hominem a me perperam laesum. Hoc cuilibet homini tam multis et tam molestis actibus occupato atque distento, ne dicam impossibile, certe difficile est: quanto magis mihi, qui novi infirmitatem meam, quam cum meis et pro me vestris orationibus diebus ac noctibus offero sanandam Domino Deo nostro? Diversarum ergo curarum aestibus ac difficultatibus conturbatus, si quem forte non ut poscebat audivi, si quem tristius quam opus erat aspexi, si in quem verbum durius quam oportebat emisi, si quem corde contribulatum et opis indigum responsione incongrua conturbavi, si quem pauperem mihi forte in aliud intento importunius instantem vel praetermisi, vel distuli, vel etiam nutu aspero contristavi; si cui de me falsi aliquid tanquam homini de homine suspicanti justo acerbius indignatus sum, si quis in sua conscientia non agnovit quod de illo humanitus suspicatus sum; vos quibus pro his atque hujusmodi offensis esse me fateor debitorem, simul me vestrum credite dilectorem. Nam pullos, quos fovet, saepe in angustiis, sed non toto pedis pondere calcat et mater, nec ideo desinit esse mater. Dimittite, ut dimittatur vobis. Dimittite amanti vos debita difficultatis, qui nec contra inimicos debita tenere debetis crudelitatis. Ad summam, omnes, obsecro, commendate, vos, Domino curam pro vobis meam: hinc enim juste expeto pro me vestram; ut quidquid mearum est in praeteritum offensionum propitius ignoscat, non severus agnoscat. Quod mihi deinceps temporis sub hac sarcina erit, iter agentem regat, et suis oculis placentem vobisque utilem faciat; ut non horrorem ac poenam meam, sed gaudium et coronam meam vos ejus conspectus inveniat.
Chapter III. — 3. He desires to return into favour with those whose offence he has perhaps incurred. Next, those to whom I am a debtor must also be addressed a little. For as the Apostle says, "To Greeks and to barbarians, to the wise and to the unwise I am a debtor" (Rom. 1:14). For I too am such a debtor, according to the slenderness of my strength and the small portion of my stewardship, not to some, but to all. But now I speak of those debts which I desire to have forgiven me, not exacted from me. For I am not so puffed up with the swelling of a vain mind as to dare to say that, since I have borne the burden of this office, no person has been wrongly hurt by me. For any man so occupied and distracted by so many and such troublesome affairs, this is, not to say impossible, certainly difficult: how much more for me, who know my infirmity, which with my prayers and with yours on my behalf I offer day and night to the Lord our God to be healed? Disturbed, then, by the heats and difficulties of diverse cares, if perhaps I did not hear someone as he asked, if I looked at someone more gloomily than was needful, if I let fall upon someone a harsher word than was fitting, if I disturbed with an unsuitable answer someone troubled in heart and in need of help, if some poor man pressing me too importunately when perhaps I was intent on something else I either passed over, or put off, or even saddened with a harsh nod; if I was indignant more bitterly than was just with anyone who, as man of man, suspected something false about me, if anyone did not recognize in his own conscience what I suspected of him in a human way; you to whom I confess that I am a debtor for these and suchlike offences, believe me at the same time to be your lover. For the mother too often treads on the chicks which she cherishes, in tight places, but not with the whole weight of her foot, and does not therefore cease to be a mother. Forgive, that you may be forgiven. Forgive one who loves you the debts of difficulty, you who ought not to hold even against enemies the debts of cruelty. In sum, I beseech you all, commend to the Lord my care for you: for hence I justly seek from you yours for me; that whatever offences of mine there are in the past He may graciously pardon, not severely take note of. Whatever time I shall have henceforth under this burden, may He guide me as I make my journey, and make me pleasing in His eyes and useful to you; so that the sight of Him may find you not my horror and punishment, but my joy and crown.
Editors' notes and page, col. 1688
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: me vestrum credite dilectorem› · call in col 1688
Sic Mss. At editi, debitorem.
So the manuscripts. But the printed editions read debitorem ("debtor").
(printed under page 106)
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SERMO CCCLXXXIV. De Trinitate, sive de Scripturis veteribus et novis contra Arianos.
Sermon 384. On the Trinity, or on the Old and New Scriptures, against the Arians.
CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Deus, quid sit. Sancta et divina eloquia, fratres, jugiter, imo quotidie nobis salubriter recitantur, ut animae nostrae pascantur: in futuro autem saeculo aeternis epulis saginentur; dicente propheta, Satiabor dum manifestabitur gloria tua (Psal. XVI, 15). Qualis sit autem haec gloria futura, et quibus divitiis floreat, quantoque splendore praefulgeat, laudare possumus, explicare non possumus. Quare? Quia legimus, Nec oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit, quae praeparavit Deus diligentibus se (I Cor. II, 9). Si igitur tanta et talia sunt bona aeterna coelestia, quae Dominus omnipotens praeparavit sanctis suis catholicis et fidelibus populis; quid est ipse Deus, qui talia et tanta praeparavit? Quid est, inquam, omnipotens Deus? quid, nisi inaestimabilis, ineffabilis, incomprehensibilis, ultra omnia, extra omnia, praeter omnia? Omnem enim creaturam suam excedit, omnem facturam praeterit, universa praecellit. Si enim quaeras magnitudinem, major est; si pulchritudinem, pulchrior; si dulcedinem, dulcior; si splendorem, fulgidior; si justitiam, justior; si fortitudinem, fortior; si pietatem, clementior. Nulla enim ratio patitur, ut vel factura factori suo aequetur, vel opus artifici comparetur: sicut legitur in propheta, Qui fecit fortia, fortior est; et qui fecit pulchra, pulchrior illis est (Sap. XIII, 3).
Chapter I. — 1. What God is. The holy and divine utterances, brethren, are continually, indeed daily, read out to us for our health, so that our souls may be fed; but in the age to come they shall be fattened with eternal banquets, as the prophet says, I shall be satisfied when Thy glory is made manifest (Ps. 16:15). But of what kind this future glory is, with what riches it flourishes, and with how great a splendour it shines forth, we can praise, but we cannot explain. Why? Because we read, Neither has eye seen, nor ear heard, nor has it ascended into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love Him (1 Cor. 2:9). If, then, the eternal heavenly goods which the almighty Lord has prepared for His holy, catholic and faithful peoples are so great and of such a kind, what is God Himself, Who has prepared things of such a kind and so great? What, I say, is almighty God? What, but inestimable, ineffable, incomprehensible, beyond all things, outside all things, above all things? For He exceeds all His creation, He surpasses all His handiwork, He excels the whole universe. For if you seek greatness, He is greater; if beauty, more beautiful; if sweetness, sweeter; if splendour, more radiant; if justice, more just; if strength, stronger; if loving-kindness, more merciful. For no reasoning allows either that the thing made be made equal to its Maker, or that the work be compared to the craftsman: as is read in the prophet, He Who made strong things is stronger; and He Who made beautiful things is more beautiful than they (Wis. 13:3).
CAPUT II. — 2. Trinitas unus Deus. Arianorum error. In sole tria inseparabilia. In igne quoque tria inseparabilia. Sic autem hujus unicae deitatis praecelsa insignia praedicamus, ut tamen non sicut Judaei, sed sicut Christiani, Trinitatis divinae mysteria pariter fateamur. Sicut enim omnipotens et ineffabilis Pater est, ita omnipotens et incomprehensibilis Filius: ita etiam Spiritus sanctus in Patre et Filio indiscrete connexus, ineffabilis atque immensus est. Pater enim et Filius et Spiritus sanctus, unus omnipotens Deus, unus in trinitate, unus in potestate, unitas, trinitas, sempiterna majestas, unum po⟨t⟩ens per omnia, et trinitas in unitate, et unitas in trinitate consistit: sed nec trinitas dividitur, nec unitas separatur. Hac igitur catholica fide armati atque instructi, charissimi, nefandos Arianos haereticos, qui se hoc tempore impie jactitant, et multos Christianos nostros seducendo corrumpunt atque decipiunt, breviter percontemur, quomodo orant Dominum, qui sentiunt contra Dominum. Respondent nobis, dicentes: Oramus Dominum utique in trinitate, sed ut legimus, Patrem majorem, Filium minorem, Spiritum sanctum inferiorem, quia ipse Christus dicit, Pater major est me (Joan. XIV, 28).
Chapter II. — 2. The Trinity is one God. The error of the Arians. In the sun, three inseparable things. In fire also, three inseparable things. We proclaim the lofty marks of this unique deity in such a way, however, that not as Jews but as Christians we likewise confess the mysteries of the divine Trinity. For just as the Father is almighty and ineffable, so the Son is almighty and incomprehensible; so too the Holy Spirit, joined without distinction in the Father and the Son, is ineffable and immeasurable. For the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, one almighty God, one in trinity, one in power, unity, trinity, everlasting majesty, one mighty through all things, stands both as trinity in unity and as unity in trinity: yet neither is the trinity divided, nor is the unity separated. Armed, then, and equipped with this catholic faith, dearly beloved, let us briefly ask the abominable Arian heretics, who in this time impiously vaunt themselves, and who, by seducing them, corrupt and deceive many of our Christians, how they pray to the Lord, they who think against the Lord. They answer us, saying: We pray to the Lord, certainly, in trinity, but as we read: the Father greater, the Son lesser, the Holy Spirit inferior, because Christ Himself says, The Father is greater than I (John 14:28).
CAPUT III. — His respondemus, Sic, inquam, oratis et colitis Deum? Sic plane; sic legimus, sic colimus, sic oramus. Ad hos dicimus: Si ergo ita Deum colitis et oratis, hoc non est Deum magnum unum colere et rogare, sed tres deos facere: et ubi est quod in lege divina legitur, Audi, Israel; Dominus Deus tuus, Deus unus est? Et iterum alibi ait, Dominum Deum tuum adorabis, et illi soli servies (Deut. VI, 4, 5, 13). Si enim aliud est Pater, aliud Filius, aliud Spiritus sanctus; jam non est una trinitas, sed divisa potestas. Quomodo autem discrepans potestas stare potest, cum juxta quod in Evangelio legimus, Domus in semetipsa divisa vel regnum, stare non potest (Matth. XII, 25)? Quomodo autem divinitas a semetipsa discernitur,
Chapter III. — To these we reply: Is it thus, I say, that you pray to and worship God? Thus, plainly; thus we read, thus we worship, thus we pray. To them we say: If, then, you worship and pray to God in this way, this is not to worship and entreat the one great God, but to make three gods: and where is that which is read in the divine law, Hear, Israel; the Lord your God is one God? And again elsewhere it says, You shall adore the Lord your God, and Him alone shall you serve (Deut. 6:4, 5, 13). For if the Father is one thing, the Son another, the Holy Spirit another, then it is no longer one trinity, but a divided power. But how can a discordant power stand, when, according to what we read in the Gospel, A house or a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand (Matt. 12:25)? But how is the divinity distinguished from itself,
Editors' notes and page, col. 1689
Footnotes
(*) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of SERMO CCCLXXXIV, above the crop)› · call in col 1689 Emendatus ad codices duos bn. et tres cl. ad cb. f. fs. g. lr. m. pr. rm. vd. et ad Am. Er. Par. Lov.
Corrected against two bn. manuscripts and three cl., against cb. f. fs. g. lr. m. pr. rm. vd., and against the Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain editions.
(printed under page 107)
(a) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of SERMO CCCLXXXIV)› · call in col 1689
Alias, de Verbis Apostoli 1.
Elsewhere, [Sermon] 1 de Verbis Apostoli.
(printed under page 107)
(b) ‹anchor: not visible (title of SERMO CCCLXXXIV)› · call in col 1689
Cum hoc titulo extremum locum occupat in veteribus libris Sermonum de Verbis Evangelii, qui manuscripti omnes Augustino assignant. Haud injuria tamen dubium habuerunt Lovanienses, imo Verlinus et Vindingus suppositilium affirmarunt, non habentem ipsius, nec stilum, nec ingenium.
With this title it holds the last place in the old books of the Sermons on the Words of the Gospel, which in manuscript all assign it to Augustine. Not without reason, however, the Louvain editors held it doubtful; indeed Verlinus and Vindingus declared it spurious, as having neither his style nor his mind.
(*) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCLXXXV› · call in col 1690 Emendatus ad duos cl. ad gr. rm. v. et ad Am. Er. Par. Lov.
Corrected against two cl., against gr. rm. v., and against the Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain editions.
(printed under page 107)
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cum lucis splendor aut solis calor nullatenus separetur? Ecce enim sicut videmus, in sole tria sunt, et separari omnino non possunt. Quae autem tria sunt videamus: cursus, splendor, et calor. Videmus enim solem in coelo currentem, fulgentem, calentem. Divide ergo, si potes, ariane, solem, et tum demum divide Trinitatem. Sed fortassis de sole discernendo difficilis est ratio, quia in coelo est, et a nobis longe positus est. Ecce aliud proponimus elementum quod minus est, et in terra nobiscum est: ignem dico, qui in manibus nostris habetur, et tamen non dividitur. Et ignis enim tria habet, et dividi non potest: hoc est, motum, lucem et fervorem. Si igitur, nefande haeretice, dividere non potes creatum solem et ignem, quomodo potes dividere Deum omnium creatorem?
when the splendour of the light or the heat of the sun is in no way separated? For behold, as we see, in the sun there are three things, and they cannot be separated at all. Now let us see what the three are: course, splendour and heat. For we see the sun in the sky running, shining, giving heat. Divide, then, if you can, Arian, the sun, and only then divide the Trinity. But perhaps reasoning about distinguishing the sun is difficult, because it is in the sky and is placed far from us. Behold, we put forward another element which is lesser and is with us on earth: I mean fire, which is held in our hands and yet is not divided. For fire too has three things, and it cannot be divided: that is, motion, light and heat. If, therefore, wicked heretic, you cannot divide the created sun and fire, how can you divide God, the Creator of all things?
CAPUT IV. — 3. Scripturarum testimonia de divina Trinitate. Fidei catholicae encomium. Audi autem et disce hanc magnam et unicam Trinitatem ab exordio generis humani fuisse ostensam. Audi in Lege et Prophetis, in Psalmis et in Evangelio, audi in Apostolo procul dubio declaratam. Audi, inquam, in Genesi: Fecit Deus hominem ad imaginem Dei. Ut simul ostenderet inseparabilem Trinitatem, ait in eo libro, Et Spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas (Gen. I, 27, 2). Audi prophetam dicentem ex persona Christi: Spiritus Domini super me, propter quod unxit me, evangelizare pauperibus misit me (Isai. LXI, 1). Audi in Psalmis, Verbo Domini coeli firmati sunt, et spiritu oris ejus omnis virtus eorum (Psal. XXXII, 6): et iterum, Redde mihi laetitiam salutaris tui, et spiritu principali confirma me (Psal. L, 14). Audi hoc idem in Evangelio confirmatum: Dominus Christus Apostolis dicit, Data est mihi omnis potestas in coelo et in terra: euntes baptizate omnes gentes in nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus sancti (Matth. XXVIII, 18 et 19). Audi Apostolum: O altitudo divitiarum sapientiae et scientiae Dei! quam inscrutabilia sunt judicia ejus, et investigabiles viae ejus! Quis enim cognovit sensum Domini? Aut quis consiliarius ejus fuit? Aut quis prior dedit illi, et reddetur ei? Quoniam ex ipso, et per ipsum, et in ipso sunt omnia: ipsi gloria in saecula saeculorum (Rom. XI, 33-36) Si igitur tam veteribus quam novis Scripturis satis aperteque probatum est divinam unitatem esse Trinitatem inseparabilem, spretis penitus haereticis secundum Apostolum dicentem, Haereticum post unam correptionem devita (Tit. III, 10); jam fideles nostros populos de ipsa fide catholica confirmemus. Nullae quippe sunt majores divitiae, nulli thesauri, nulli honores, nulla mundi hujus major substantia, quam est fides catholica, quae peccatores homines salvat, caecos illuminat, infirmos curat, catechumenos baptizat, fideles justificat, poenitentes reparat, justos augmentat, martyres coronat, virgines, viduas et conjugales casto pudore conservat, clericos ordinat, sacerdotes consecrat, regnis coelestibus praeparat, in aeterna haereditate cum Angelis sanctis communicat. Sicut ipse Dominus promittendo confirmat: In resurrectione neque nubunt, neque uxores ducunt, sed erunt aequales Angelis Dei (Matth. XXII, 30); per Christum Dominum nostrum.
Chapter IV. — 3. Testimonies of the Scriptures concerning the divine Trinity. Praise of the Catholic faith. Hear, then, and learn that this great and only Trinity was shown from the beginning of the human race. Hear it in the Law and the Prophets, in the Psalms and in the Gospel; hear it declared beyond doubt in the Apostle. Hear, I say, in Genesis: God made man in the image of God. That He might at the same time show the inseparable Trinity, He says in that book, And the Spirit of God was borne over the waters (Gen. 1:27, 2). Hear the prophet speaking in the person of Christ: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me; He has sent me to preach the gospel to the poor (Isa. 61:1). Hear in the Psalms: By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all their power by the spirit of His mouth (Ps. 32:6); and again: Restore to me the joy of Thy salvation, and strengthen me with a princely spirit (Ps. 50:14). Hear this same thing confirmed in the Gospel: the Lord Christ says to the Apostles, All power has been given to me in heaven and on earth: going, baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 28:18–19). Hear the Apostle: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How inscrutable are His judgements, and His ways unsearchable! For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counsellor? Or who first gave to Him, and it will be repaid to him? For from Him, and through Him, and in Him are all things: to Him be glory for ages of ages (Rom. 11:33–36). If, therefore, it has been proved sufficiently and openly both by the Old and by the New Scriptures that the divine unity is an inseparable Trinity, the heretics being utterly spurned according to the Apostle, who says, Avoid a heretic after one correction (Titus 3:10), let us now confirm our faithful peoples concerning the Catholic faith itself. For there are no greater riches, no treasures, no honours, no greater substance of this world, than the Catholic faith, which saves sinful men, enlightens the blind, heals the sick, baptizes catechumens, justifies the faithful, restores penitents, increases the just, crowns martyrs, preserves virgins, widows and the married in chaste modesty, ordains clerics, consecrates priests, prepares for the heavenly kingdoms, and gives a share in the eternal inheritance with the holy angels. As the Lord Himself confirms by promising: In the resurrection they neither marry nor take wives, but they will be equal to the angels of God (Matt. 22:30); through Christ our Lord.
SERMO CCCLXXXV. De amore hominis in hominem.
Sermon 385. On the love of man for man.
CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Amor hominis alius rectus, alius perversus. Non solum in Novo, sed etiam in Veteri Testamento admonemur, fratres dilectissimi, qualiter perfectam charitatem tenere debeamus. Sic
Chapter I. — 1. Man's love is in one case right, in another perverse. Not only in the New but also in the Old Testament we are admonished, dearly beloved brethren, how we ought to hold perfect charity. Thus
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(a) ‹anchor: SERMO CCCLXXXV *› · call in col 1690
Alias, 38 inter Homilias 50.
Elsewhere, no. 38 among the Fifty Homilies.
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(b) ‹anchor: De amore hominis in hominem› · call in col 1690
Excepto exordio, quod hic male aptatum videtur; seposita etiam conclusione, quae Caesarium Arelatensem sapit, totum corpus sermonis doctrinam exhibet ac sensus Augustini, sed hinc forsitan ex ipsius scriptis alicujus opera collectos et digestos. Stilus certe injucundus, resque invicem minus eleganter compactae.
Apart from the opening, which seems badly fitted here, and setting aside also the conclusion, which smacks of Caesarius of Arles, the whole body of the sermon presents Augustine's teaching and thoughts, but perhaps gathered and arranged from his writings by someone's labour. Certainly the style is unpleasing, and the matter is put together none too elegantly.
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enim ipse Dominus in Evangelio dixit : Diliges proximum tanquam te ipsum (Matth. XXII, 39). Tractemus ergo aliquantum de amore hominis in hominem : quia sunt amores hominum perversi. Ipse perverse amat alterum, qui et se perverse amat : qui autem recte se amat, et alterum recte amat. Verbi gratia, sunt amores flagitiosi, detestabiles : amores adulterorum, amores corruptorum, immundi amores. Malos amores detestantur omnes leges humanae, et leges divinae. Remove ergo istos illicitos, quaeramus licitos.
indeed the Lord Himself said in the Gospel: You shall love your neighbour as yourself (Matt. 22:39). Let us therefore treat somewhat of the love of man for man, because there are perverse loves of men. He loves another perversely who also loves himself perversely; but he who loves himself rightly also loves another rightly. For example, there are shameful, detestable loves: the loves of adulterers, the loves of seducers, unclean loves. All human laws and divine laws detest evil loves. Set aside, then, these illicit ones; let us seek the licit.
2. Liciti amoris gradus. Incipit licitus amor a conjugio ; sed adhuc carnalis est. Videtis quia communis est cum pecoribus : et passeres illi qui personant, habent conjugia, et nidos faciunt, simul ova confovent, simul pullos nutriunt. Licitus quidem amor iste in hominibus, sed videtis quia carnalis est. Secundus amor filiorum est ; sed adhuc ipse carnalis est. Non enim est laudandus qui amat filios, sed detestandus qui non amat. Pro magno enim laudaturus sum in homine, quod video in tigride? Serpentes amant filios suos, leones et lupi amant filios suos. Noli ergo magnum putare, quod amas filios tuos. Adhuc in hoc amore serpentibus compararis. Si non amaveris, a serpentibus vinceris. Honestos amores jam dico : illos enim flagitiosos exclusi. Alius amor qui est propinquorum, jam iste videtur proprius hominum, si non sit consuetudinis. Nam major est amor qui extenditur ultra propinquos, quam qui tenetur inter propinquos. Qui amat propinquos suos, adhuc sanguinem suum amat. Amet alios qui non sunt propinqui, suscipiat peregrinum ; jam multum dilatatus est amor iste. Tantum autem crescit, ut a conjuge ad filios, a filiis ad propinquos, a propinquis ad extraneos, ab extraneis ad inimicos perveniat. Sed ut perveniat illuc, multos habet gradus.
2. The steps of licit love. Licit love begins from marriage; but it is still carnal. You see that it is shared with the cattle: those sparrows that sing all around have marriages too, and build nests, together warm the eggs, together feed the young. This love is indeed licit in men, but you see that it is carnal. The second is the love of children; but it too is still carnal. For he who loves his children is not to be praised, but he who does not love them is to be detested. Am I to praise as something great in a man what I see in a tigress? Serpents love their young, lions and wolves love their young. Do not, then, think it something great that you love your children. In this love you are still compared with serpents. If you do not love them, you are surpassed by serpents. I am now speaking of honourable loves, for I have excluded those shameful ones. Another love is that of kinsfolk; this now seems proper to men, if it is not [a matter] of habit. For greater is the love that is extended beyond kinsfolk than that which is held within kinsfolk. He who loves his kinsfolk still loves his own blood. Let him love others who are not kinsfolk, let him take in the stranger; now this love has been greatly widened. But it grows so far that it reaches from spouse to children, from children to kinsfolk, from kinsfolk to strangers, from strangers to enemies. But to reach there, it has many steps.
CAPUT II. — 3. Amicitia alia consuetudinis, alia rationis. De amicitia ergo videte quid dicam. Sunt amici, excepta amicitia, quae nec amicitia dicenda est, quam facit mala conscientia. Sunt enim homines qui pariter mala committunt, et ideo videntur sibi conjuncti, quia conscientia mala ligati sunt : excepta ergo ista nefaria amicitia, est quaedam amicitia adhuc carnalis per consuetudinem cohabitandi, colloquendi, simul conversandi ; ut contristetur homo, quando deseritur ab amico, cum quo solet colloqui, et habere conjunctiones. Conveniunt duo homines, ambulant secum triduo, et jam nolunt a se recedere. Et ista quaedam amicitiae dulcedo est : honesta quidem ; sed adhuc discutiamus illam, quia gradus amoris hujus quaerimus ; et videamus quousque pervenerimus, usque ad amicitiam talem qualem dixi. Est ergo ista amicitia consuetudinis, non rationis. Habent illam et pecora. Duo equi manducent simul, desiderant se : si alia die praecedat unus, festinat alter, desiderans quasi amicum suum : vix regitur a sessore ; et tamdiu impetu suo provocat, quousque perveniat. Cum pervenerit ad eum qui praecessit, sedatur : pondus illum ferebat, pondere amoris urgebatur ; venit tanquam ad locum suum, et conquievit. Adhuc et ista amicitia consuetudinis est in pecoribus : surgamus
Chapter II. — 3. Friendship: one kind of habit, another of reason. Concerning friendship, then, see what I say. There are friends (setting aside that friendship which should not even be called friendship, which a bad conscience makes). For there are men who commit evils together, and therefore seem joined to one another, because they are bound by a bad conscience. Setting aside, then, this wicked friendship, there is a certain friendship still carnal, through the habit of living together, talking together, keeping company together; so that a man is saddened when he is deserted by a friend with whom he is accustomed to talk and to have dealings. Two men meet, walk together for three days, and now they do not wish to part from each other. And this is a certain sweetness of friendship: honourable indeed; but let us still examine it, because we are seeking the steps of this love; and let us see how far we have come, up to such friendship as I have described. This friendship, then, is of habit, not of reason. Even cattle have it. Two horses eat together, they miss each other: if one day one goes on ahead, the other hurries, longing as it were for its friend; it is scarcely controlled by its rider, and it presses on with its own impetus until it arrives. When it has reached the one that went ahead, it is calmed: a weight was carrying it, it was driven by the weight of love; it comes as to its own place, and is at rest. This friendship of habit too is still found in cattle: let us rise
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adhuc et ab ista. Est alia superior amicitia, non consuetudinis, sed rationis, qua diligimus hominem propter fidem et mutuam benevolentiam in ista vita mortali. Hac superius quidquid jam invenerimus, divinum est. Incipiat homo amare Deum, et non amabit in homine nisi Deum.
still, even from this one. There is another, higher friendship, not of custom but of reason, by which we love a man for the sake of faith and mutual goodwill in this mortal life. Whatever we may find above this is now divine. Let a man begin to love God, and he will love nothing in a man except God.
CAPUT III. — 4. Amicitiae amor gratuitus. V⟨i⟩deat enim Charitas vestra primum amicitiae amor qualiter debeat esse gratuitus. Non enim propterea debes habere amicum, vel amare, ut aliquid tibi praestet. Si propterea illum amas, ut praestet tibi vel pecuniam, vel aliquod commodum temporale; non illum amas, sed illud quod praestat. Amicus gratis amandus est, propter sese, non propter aliud. Si hominem te hortatur amicitiae regula, ut gratis diligas; quam gratis amandus est Deus, qui jubet ut hominem diligas? Nihil delectabilius Deo. Nam in homine sunt quae offendant; per amicitiam tamen cogis te, ut etiam illa quae offendunt in homine toleres propter amicitiam: si ergo non debes propter quaedam toleranda dissolvere hominis amicitiam; Dei amicitia quibus rebus debet cogi, ut dissolvatur a te? Nihil invenis delectabilius Deo. Deus non est unde te offendat, si tu eum non offendas: nihil illo pulchrius, nihil illo dulcius. Sed dicturus es mihi: Non illum video; quomodo sum amaturus quem non video? Ecce quomodo discis amare quem non vides: modo ostendo unde coneris videre, quod istis oculis non potes videre. Ecce amas amicum; quid in illo amas? Gratis eum amas. Sed forte amicus iste tuus, ut alia omittam, senex homo est: fieri enim potest ut habeas amicum senem. Quid amas in sene? Incurvum corpus, album caput, rugas in fronte, contractam maxillam? Si corpus quod vides, nihil deformius prae senectute: et tamen aliquid amas, et corpus quod vides non amas, quia deforme est. Unde vides quod amas? Si enim quaeram a te, Quare amas? responsurus es mihi, Homo est fidelis. Ergo fidem amas. Si fidem amas; quibus oculis videtur fides, ipsis oculis videtur Deus. Incipe ergo amare Deum, et amabis hominem propter Deum.
Chapter III. — 4. The love of friendship is freely given. For let your Charity see first how the love of friendship ought to be freely given. For you ought not to have a friend, or to love him, for this reason, that he may furnish you with something. If you love him for this reason, that he may furnish you with money or some temporal advantage, you do not love him, but that which he furnishes. A friend is to be loved freely, for his own sake, not for the sake of something else. If the rule of friendship urges you to love a man freely, how freely is God to be loved, Who commands you to love man? Nothing is more delightful than God. For in a man there are things which give offence; yet through friendship you compel yourself to bear even those things in a man which give offence, for the sake of friendship. If therefore you ought not to dissolve friendship with a man on account of certain things that must be borne, by what things ought the friendship of God to be forced to be dissolved by you? You find nothing more delightful than God. There is nothing in God by which He may offend you, if you do not offend Him: nothing is more beautiful than He, nothing sweeter than He. But you are going to say to me: I do not see Him; how am I to love Him Whom I do not see? See how you learn to love Him Whom you do not see: I am now showing you how you may try to see what you cannot see with these eyes. See, you love a friend; what do you love in him? You love him freely. But perhaps this friend of yours, to pass over other things, is an old man: for it can happen that you have an old friend. What do you love in an old man? A bent body, a white head, wrinkles on the forehead, a shrunken jaw? If it is the body which you see, nothing is more deformed through old age; and yet you love something, and the body which you see you do not love, because it is deformed. Whence do you see what you love? For if I ask you, Why do you love him? you will answer me, He is a faithful man. Therefore you love faith. If you love faith, with the very eyes with which faith is seen, God is seen. Begin therefore to love God, and you will love man for the sake of God.
CAPUT IV. — 5. Deus gratis diligendus. Audite magnum testimonium. Diabolus certe accusator sanctorum est: et quia non apud talem judicem cogit quem fallat, non potest in nos crimina falsa dicere. Novit apud quem dicat. Quia ergo falsa contra nos non potest dicere, quaerit vera quae dicat. Ideo tentat ut habeat quod dicat. Hic ergo adversarius noster, qui nobis invidet regnum coelorum, qui non vult ut ibi simus, unde ipse dejectus est: Numquid, inquit, Job gratis colit Deum (Job. I, 9)? Adhuc ad hoc provocamur ab adversario, ut gratis Deum colamus, quando ille quaerens quod objiciat, pro magno se putavit invenisse quia dixit, Numquid gratis Job colit Deum? Non quia viderat cor ipsius, sed quia videbat divitias ejus. Cavere debemus ne ad praemium diligamus
Chapter IV. — 5. God is to be loved freely. Hear a great testimony. The devil is certainly the accuser of the saints; and because it is not before such a judge that he presses his case, one whom he might deceive, he cannot speak false charges against us. He knows before whom he speaks. Since therefore he cannot speak false things against us, he seeks true things to say. Therefore he tempts, so that he may have something to say. This adversary of ours, then, who envies us the kingdom of heaven, who does not wish us to be there whence he himself was cast down, says: Does Job worship God freely? (Job 1:9). Even to this we are challenged by the adversary, that we should worship God freely, when he, seeking something to object, thought he had found something great because he said, Does Job worship God freely? Not because he had seen his heart, but because he saw his riches. We must beware lest we love for a reward
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Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: nihil illo dulcius› · call in col 1692
Aliquot Mss., lucidius.
Some manuscripts read lucidius ("brighter").
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(a) ‹anchor: ipsis oculis videtur Deus› · call in col 1692
Vide Enarr. 2 in Psal. 32, serm. 1, n. 6, et in Psal. 64, n. 8.
See Enarrationes in Psalmos, the second on Psalm 32, sermon 1, n. 6, and on Psalm 64, n. 8.
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Deum. Quid enim? Propter praemium dilecturus es Deum? Quale praemium est quod tibi daturus est Deus? Quidquid tibi aliud dederit, minus est quam ipse. Colis non gratis, ut aliquid ab ipso accipias. Gratis cole, et ipsum accipies. Se enim servat tibi Deus, quo fruaris. Et si amas quae fecit, qualis est ille qui fecit? Si pulcher est mundus, qualis est artifex mundi? Evelle ergo cor tuum ab amore creaturae, ut inhaereas Creatori, et dicas quod in Psalmo scriptum est, Mihi autem adhaerere Deo, bonum est.
God. For what? Will you love God for the sake of a reward? What reward is there that God is going to give you? Whatever else He gives you is less than He Himself. You do not worship freely if you worship so as to receive something from Him. Worship freely, and you will receive Him Himself. For God keeps Himself for you, that you may enjoy Him. And if you love the things He made, what is He like Who made them? If the world is beautiful, what is the maker of the world like? Tear your heart away, therefore, from love of the creature, that you may cleave to the Creator and say what is written in the Psalm: But for me to cleave to God is good.
CAPUT V. — 6. Creaturam deserto Creatore diligere, adulterare est. Si autem deseris eum qui te fecit, et amas illa quae fecit, deserto illo qui te fecit, adulter es. Sic clamat Epistola Jacobi, adulteros appellans, Adulteri. Et unde adulteri? Quaeris unde? Nescitis, inquit, quia amicitia hujus mundi inimica est Dei? Quicumque ergo voluerit amicus esse saeculi hujus, inimicus Dei constituitur (Jacobi IV, 4 et 5). Expressit quid dixit, Adulteri. Anima, deserto Creatore, amans creaturam adultera est. Illius enim amore nihil castius, nihil delectabilius. Illo deserto, hoc amplectendo, efficeris immunda. O anima, ut illius amplexibus digna sis, dimitte ista, et illi inhaere gratis. Nam inde dixit Psalmus: Mihi autem adhaerere Deo, bonum est. Versu priore sic dixit: Perdidisti omnes qui fornicantur abs te (Psal. LXXII, 28, 27). Et quasi ostenderet quae sit fornicatio, subjecit: Mihi autem adhaerere Deo, bonum est. Nihil aliud volo, sed ipsum. Adhaerere illi, hoc est bonum meum, hoc gratuitum bonum meum. Ideo et gratia dicitur, quia gratis constat. Cum ergo coeperis Deum amare gratis, securitas est: quia et amicum gratis amas, et ad hoc eum amas, ut tecum amet Deum. Attendite enim ipsam amicitiam vulgarem, unde coepimus, per quam gradus fecimus; attendite illam. Amat maritus uxorem, et uxor maritum: sine dubio et ille illam, et illa illum salvum vult. Vult illum habere incolumem, vult illum habere felicem. Ad hoc amat, quia ipsa vult incolumis esse et felix: quod sibi vult, hoc illi vult. Amat filios: quisnam vult, nisi salvos habere filios suos? Amat amicum: quis nisi incolumem habere vult? adeo ut, si forte contingat illi aliquid, contremiscat, contristetur, conturbetur, currat, accedat: cum accesserit, plangit. Quid ergo vult? Salvum habere. Si ergo omnis qui amat, salvum vult habere quod amat; si intelligat quae sit vera salus, incipit illam amare in se, et ipsam cogitur veram amare et in amico.
Chapter V. — 6. To love the creature with the Creator abandoned is to commit adultery. But if you abandon Him Who made you, and love the things He made, having abandoned Him Who made you, you are an adulterer. So the Epistle of James cries out, calling them adulterers: Adulterers. And why adulterers? Do you ask why? Do you not know, it says, that the friendship of this world is an enemy of God? Whoever therefore wishes to be a friend of this world is made an enemy of God (Jas. 4:4–5). He expressed what he meant by saying Adulterers. The soul that abandons the Creator and loves the creature is an adulteress. For nothing is more chaste than love of Him, nothing more delightful. When you abandon Him and embrace this, you are made unclean. O soul, that you may be worthy of His embraces, let these things go and cleave to Him freely. For that is why the Psalm said: But for me to cleave to God is good. In the verse before, it said thus: Thou hast destroyed all who commit fornication away from Thee (Ps. 72:28, 27). And as if to show what fornication is, it added: But for me to cleave to God is good. I want nothing else but Him Himself. To cleave to Him, this is my good, this is my freely given good. And that is why it is also called grace, because it comes gratis. When therefore you have begun to love God freely, there is security: for you also love your friend freely, and you love him to this end, that he may love God with you. For consider ordinary friendship itself, from which we began, by which we have made our steps; consider it. A husband loves his wife, and a wife her husband: without doubt he wants her safe, and she wants him safe. She wants to have him unharmed, she wants to have him happy. She loves to this end, because she herself wants to be unharmed and happy: what she wants for herself, this she wants for him. He loves his sons: what does he want, except to have his sons safe? He loves a friend: who does not want to have him unharmed? So much so that, if something should chance to happen to him, he trembles, is saddened, is troubled, runs, comes to him; when he has come, he laments. What then does he want? To have him safe. If therefore everyone who loves wants to have what he loves safe, then if he understands what true salvation is, he begins to love it in himself, and is compelled to love it, the true one, in his friend as well.
CAPUT VI. — 7. Salus vitae hujus quam vana. Si oculis carneis quaeris Deum, vide tres pueros de igne liberatos (Dan. III). Si fide quaeris Deum, vide Machabaeos in igne coronatos (II Machab. VII). Salus ergo illa amanda est, ista utenda. Haec enim ad usum necessaria est: nam transitura est. Non enim vera salus est, fratres, quam dicunt medici. Aegrotamus quodam modo: nam aegritudo perpetua est in ista fragilitate carnis. Putatis enim tunc hominem aegrotare, quando frebricitat; et sanum esse, quando esurit? Sanus est, dicitur. Vis videre quantum malum est esurire? Dimitte illum sine medicamento septem diebus, occiditur.
Chapter VI. — 7. How vain the health of this life is. If you seek God with eyes of flesh, see the three youths freed from the fire (Dan. 3). If you seek God by faith, see the Maccabees crowned in the fire (2 Macc. 7). That health, therefore, is to be loved; this one is to be used. For this one is necessary for use, since it is going to pass away. For that is not true health, brothers, which the doctors speak of. We are sick in a certain way, for sickness is perpetual in this frailty of the flesh. For do you think that a man is sick only when he has a fever, and healthy when he is hungry? He is healthy, it is said. Do you want to see how great an evil it is to be hungry? Leave him without medicine for seven days, he is killed.
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(a) ‹anchor: not visible (call above the crop)› · call in col 1693 or 1694
Vide Enarr. in Psal. 122, nn. 11 et 12.
See Enarrationes in Psalmos, on Psalm 122, nn. 11 and 12.
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- other: misprint kept as printed: frebricitat (for febricitat) — listed by QA Q2.
Sed quia ponis quotidie medicamentum, vivit. Medicamentum autem famis, cibus est; medicamentum sitis, potus est; medicamentum lassitudinis, somnus est; medicamentum sessionis, deambulatio est; medicamentum deambulationis, sessio est; medicamentum fatigationis, dormitio est; medicamentum dormitionis, vigilatio est. Et vide quam imbecille sit corpus humanum: hoc ipsum adjutorium, quod dixi, qui assumit, si in eo perseveraverit, deficit. Esuriendo cibi quaerebas adjutorium: ecce adest adjutorium cibi; manducas, reficeris; si plus feceris, plus deficis. Adjutorium sitis quaerebas potum: multum bibendo offocaris, qui sitiendo urgebaris. Lassasti ambulando, sedere vis: sede perpetuo, vide si non lassabis. Quidquid ergo assumpserit, ut aliud pellat, in eo ipso si perseveraverit, deficit.
But because you apply a remedy daily, it lives. Now the remedy for hunger is food; the remedy for thirst is drink; the remedy for weariness is sleep; the remedy for sitting is walking about; the remedy for walking about is sitting; the remedy for fatigue is slumber; the remedy for slumber is waking. And see how feeble the human body is: this very help that I have mentioned, whoever takes it up, if he persists in it, fails. Being hungry, you were seeking the help of food: see, the help of food is at hand; you eat, you are refreshed; if you do more, you fail the more. As a help for thirst you were seeking drink: by drinking much you are choked, you who were pressed by thirsting. You have grown tired by walking, you want to sit: sit perpetually, see whether you will not grow tired. Whatever, therefore, one has taken up in order to drive away something else, if one persists in that very thing, one fails.
CAPUT VII. — 8. Vera salus vita aeterna. Amicus ad salutem aeternam diligendus. Charitas perfecta. Qualis est ergo ista salus, fratres, transitura, fragilis, peritura, vana? Vere quomodo dictum est, Quae enim est vita vestra? Vapor est, ad modicum parens (Jacobi IV, 15). Qui ergo in vita ista amat animam suam, perdet eam. Qui autem in hoc saeculo odio habuerit animam suam, in vitam aeternam custodit eam (Joan. XII, 25). Quae est vita aeterna? Vera salus. Et si amicum tuum videris, quem amabas in hoc saeculo ut salvus esset, quia tu jam talem salutem desideras quae aeterna est, ad ipsam salutem diligis amicum tuum; et totum quidquid vis amico tuo praestare, ad hoc vis praestare, ut illam tecum teneat salutem. Amas enim justitiam, vis illum esse justum: amas sub Deo esse, vis et illum esse sub Deo: amas vitam aeternam, illic eum vis tecum regnare in aeternum. Inimicum tuum vides illum persequi te, iniquitas est quae te persequitur. In illo irasci debes misericordia, febrit in anima. Quomodo ergo amicus hujus saeculi secundum saeculum amans animam suam, febrem vult expellere de amico suo, quem similiter amat ut se, propter praesentem salutem: sic tu quemcumque diligis, propter vitam aeternam dilige; cum inveneris iram, indignationem, odium, iniquitatem, sic coneris expellere morbum animi, quomodo amicus saeculi morbum corporis: ad hoc enim amas, ut facias quod et tu es: et erit in te perfecta charitas. Hoc si inveneris, ad hoc ama conjugem, ad hoc ama filium, ad hoc ama propinquum, vicinum, ignotum, inimicum, et erit in te perfecta charitas. Quae si fuerit in te, vincis mundum, et pellitur foras princeps mundi. Audistis enim quod ait Dominus, Princeps hujus mundi missus est foras (Ibid. 31): quia ipse passurus erat, et per passionem suam facturus in hominibus dilectionem. Majorem hac dilectionem nemo habet, quam ut animam suam ponat pro amicis suis (Id. XV, 13). Ut ergo amaretur, prior amavit: ut in nomine ejus nemo mori timeret, prior
Chapter VII. — 8. True health is eternal life. A friend is to be loved for the sake of eternal health. Perfect charity. What sort of health, then, is this, brethren, passing, fragile, perishable, vain? Truly, as it has been said: For what is your life? It is a vapour, appearing for a little while (Jas. 4:15). He therefore who loves his soul in this life will lose it. But he who has hated his soul in this world keeps it unto life eternal (John 12:25). What is eternal life? True health. And if you look upon your friend, whom you used to love in this world so that he might be in health, because you now desire such health as is eternal, you love your friend for the sake of that health itself; and the whole of whatever you wish to bestow on your friend, you wish to bestow to this end, that he may hold that health together with you. For you love justice, you wish him to be just: you love to be under God, you wish him also to be under God: you love eternal life, you wish him to reign there with you for ever. You see your enemy persecuting you; it is iniquity that persecutes you. In him you ought to be angry out of mercy; it is a fever in the soul. As, then, a friend of this world, loving his soul according to the world, wishes to drive out a fever from his friend, whom he loves likewise as himself, for the sake of present health: so you, whomever you love, love him for the sake of eternal life; when you find anger, indignation, hatred, iniquity, try to drive out the disease of the mind in the same way as the friend of the world drives out the disease of the body: for you love to this end, that you may make him what you also are: and there will be perfect charity in you. If you find this, to this end love your wife, to this end love your son, to this end love your kinsman, your neighbour, the stranger, the enemy, and there will be perfect charity in you. And if it is in you, you conquer the world, and the prince of the world is driven out. For you have heard what the Lord says: The prince of this world has been cast out (John 12:31): because He was about to suffer, and through His passion to bring about love in men. Greater love than this no one has, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). In order, then, that He might be loved, He loved first: in order that no one might fear to die in His name, He first
Editors' notes and page, col. 1694
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: tuum vides illum› · call in col 1694
Apud Er. Lugd. Ven. et Lov. abest, illum; et melius, ut videtur. M.
In the Erasmus, Lyons, Venice and Louvain editions illum is absent; and better so, it seems. M.
(printed under page 109)
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- running head: SERMO CCCLXXXV. 1694
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