PL 39 · cols. 1713–1717

Augustine, Sermones 388-395 (Classis V, Sermones dubii)

Sermons CCCXCIII–CCCXCV

non inveneritis : heu mihi, Deus meus! quid est quod dico, Si non inveneritis? Ergo in populo fidelium noh est quem inveniatis? Per tot annos, tot homines sine causa baptizavimus, si non ibi sunt qui servent quod acceperunt, qui custodiant quod audierunt. Absit a me ut hoc credam. Melius non vobis essem episcopus, si hoc ita est. Sed spero esse, credo esse. Inde est autem misera conditio mea, quia plerumque cogor adulteros nosse, castos nosse non possum. In occulto est unde gaudeam, in publico est unde torquear. Ergo desiderate gratiam Dei, eligite quos imitemini, cum quibus vivatis, et cum quibus colloquia dulcia charitatis habeatis. Nolite admittere susurrationes malas. Corrumpunt mores bonos colloquia mala (I Cor. XV, 33). Vivite sicut spicae inter zizania : ferte tribulationes hujus saeculi, sicut grana in area. Veniet ventilator : nemo sit passim isto tempore separator.

you have not found: woe is me, my God! What is it that I am saying, If you have not found? So among the people of the faithful there is no one whom you may find? For so many years we have baptized so many people to no purpose, if there are not there those who keep what they have received, who guard what they have heard. Far be it from me to believe this. It would be better for me not to be your bishop, if this is so. But I hope that there are, I believe that there are. Yet hence comes my wretched condition: that for the most part I am compelled to know the adulterers, the chaste I cannot know. What I may rejoice over is hidden; what I am tormented by is public. Therefore desire the grace of God, choose those whom you may imitate, with whom you may live, and with whom you may have sweet conversations of charity. Do not admit evil whisperings. Evil conversations corrupt good morals (1 Cor. 15:33). Live like ears of wheat among the tares: bear the tribulations of this world like grains on the threshing-floor. The winnower will come: let no one be a separator here and there at this time.

SERMO CCCXCIII. De poenitentibus.

Sermon 393. On penitents.

Poenitentia non vera, si non vita mutatur. Poenitentia in extremis quam incerta. Poenitentes, poenitentes, poenitentes (si tamen estis poenitentes, et non estis irridentes), mutate vitam, reconciliamini Deo. Et vos enim cum catena pascitis. Qua, inquis, catena? Quae ligaveritis in terra, erunt ligata et in coelo (Matth. XVIII, 18). Audis ligaturam, et Deo putas facere imposturam? Poenitentiam agis, genu figis, et rides, et subsannas patientiam Dei? Si poenitens es, poeniteat te : si non poenitet, poenitens non es. Si ergo poenitet, cur facis quod male fecisti? Si fecisse poenitet, noli facere. Si adhuc facis, certe non es poenitens. Equidem, charissimi, aegrotant homines, mittunt ad ecclesiam, vel portantur ad ecclesiam, et baptizantur, et renovantur, et felices hinc erunt. Sed non ipsa est causa poenitentiae. Qui nondum accepit Baptismum, nondum violavit Sacramentum : qui autem violavit Sacramentum male et perdite vivendo, et ideo remotus est ab altari, ne judicium sibi manducet et bibat ; mutet vitam, corrigat se, et reconcilietur, cum vivit, dum sanus est. Exspectat etiam ipse tunc reconciliari, quando incipit mori? Experti sumus multos exspirasse, exspectantes reconciliari. Deinde etiam dico in conspectu Dei, timori vestro, timorem meum. Qui autem non timet, timentem me contemnit, sed malo suo. Audi ergo. Certus sum quia homo baptizatus, si vitam, non audeo dicere sine peccato, quis enim sine peccato? sed vitam sine crimine duxerit, et talia peccata habuerit, quae quotidie dimittuntur in oratione dicenti, Dimitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos dimittimus debitoribus nostris (Id. VI, 12); quando diem finierit, vitam non finit,

Penitence is not true if the life is not changed. Penitence at the last, how uncertain it is. Penitents, penitents, penitents (if indeed you are penitents and not mockers), change your life, be reconciled to God. For you too are pastured with a chain. With what chain, you say? Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven (Matt. 18:18). You hear of the binding, and do you think you are practising an imposture on God? You do penance, you bend the knee, and you laugh, and you mock the patience of God? If you are a penitent, repent: if you do not repent, you are not a penitent. If then you repent, why do you do what you did wrongly? If you repent of having done it, do not do it. If you still do it, surely you are not a penitent. Indeed, dearly beloved, people fall sick, they send to the church, or are carried to the church, and are baptized, and are renewed, and will go hence happy. But that is not the case of penance. He who has not yet received Baptism has not yet violated the Sacrament: but he who has violated the Sacrament by living wickedly and abandonedly, and has therefore been removed from the altar, lest he eat and drink judgement to himself, let him change his life, correct himself, and be reconciled while he lives, while he is in health. Does he too wait to be reconciled only then, when he begins to die? We have known by experience many to have breathed their last while waiting to be reconciled. Further I also say in the sight of God, to your fear, my fear. But he who does not fear despises me who fear, but to his own harm. Hear then. I am certain that a baptized person, if he has led a life, I do not dare to say without sin, for who is without sin? but a life without crime, and has had such sins as are forgiven daily to one who says in prayer, Forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors (Matt. 6:12); when he has ended his day, he does not end his life,

Editors' notes and page, col. 1713

Footnotes

(*) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon title)› · call in col 1713 * Collatus ad tres cl. ad cr. cb. f. gr. r. rm. s. et ad Am. Er. Par. Lov.

Collated with three manuscripts cl., with cr., cb., f., gr., r., rm., s., and with the Amerbach, Erasmus, Paris and Louvain editions.

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon title)› · call in col 1713

(printed under page 119) (a) Alias, 41 inter Homilias 50.

Elsewhere, no. 41 among the Fifty Homilies.

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(b) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon title)› · call in col 1713

(printed under page 119) (b) Dubius erat Lovaniensibus, Verlino autem et Vindingo falsus aut centonis in modum ex variis laciniis conflatus videbatur. Exstat etiam inter opuscula Ambrosii ac Cæsarii, sed cum insigni varietate. Apud Ambrosium et Cæsarium prætermissis prioribus viginti quinque versibus, incipit in hæc verba : « Admoneo vos, fratres, in conspectu Dei, « timori vestro adjungere timorem meum, etc. Audite ergo « quæ dicturus sum. Certus sum, » etc. Sic in veteri quoque libro Ecclesiæ Carnutensis, in quo tamen Augustini nomen præfert.

It was doubtful to the Louvain editors, while to Verlinus and Vindingus it seemed false, or patched together like a cento from various scraps. It is also found among the minor works of Ambrose and of Caesarius, but with notable variation. In Ambrose and Caesarius the first twenty-five lines are passed over, and it begins with these words: "I warn you, brethren, in the sight of God, to join my fear to your fear, etc. Hear then what I am about to say. I am certain," etc. So too in an old book of the Church of Chartres, in which, however, it bears Augustine's name.

(printed under page 119) (a) Quæ paulo post cernuntur intra parenthesim, ipsa in Ambrosii ac Cæsarii editis et in Carnutensi Ms. sunt hic inserta, atque cum superioribus ita colligata : « et recon« ciliatus, si postea bene vixerit, securus est. Sed dicis : « Quid est, bene vixerit ? Vel hoc nos instrue, bone sacer« dos : tu nescire, » etc. Postque verba in parenthesis fine, « et post pœnitentiam melius ; » subjungitur, « Agens « vero pœnitentiam ad ultimum et reconciliatus, » etc. Cæterum quidquid est parenthesi contentum, abest prorsus a manuscriptis libris Homiliarum 50.

What is seen a little below within the parenthesis is inserted here in the editions of Ambrose and Caesarius and in the Chartres manuscript, and joined to what precedes thus: "and reconciled, if afterwards he lives well, he is safe. But you say: What is it, to live well? Instruct us in this at least, good priest: you say you do not know," etc. And after the words at the end of the parenthesis, "and after penance better," there follows, "But one who does penance at the last and is reconciled," etc. However, all that the parenthesis contains is entirely absent from the manuscript books of the Fifty Homilies.

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sed transit de vita in vitam, de laboriosa ad quietam, de misera ad beatam: sive iste voluntate sua currat ad Baptismum, sive in periculo constitutus baptizetur, et exeat de hac vita, ad Dominum vadit, ad requiem vadit. Baptizatus autem desertor et violator tanti Sacramenti, si agat poenitentiam ex toto corde, si agat poenitentiam ubi Deus videt, qui vidit cor David, quando increpatus a propheta, et graviter increpatus, post comminationes Dei terribiles exclamavit, dicens, Peccavi; et mox audivit, Dominus abstulit peccatum tuum (II Reg. XII, 13). Tantum valent tres syllabae. Tres syllabae sunt, Peccavi: sed in his tribus syllabis, flamma sacrificii cordis ascendit in coelum. Ergo qui egerit veraciter poenitentiam, et solutus fuerit a ligamento quo erat constrictus et a Christi corpore separatus, et bene post poenitentiam vixerit, sicut ante poenitentiam vivere debuit, post reconciliationem quandocumque defunctus fuerit, ad Deum vadit, ad requiem vadit, regno Dei non privabitur, a populo diaboli separabitur. Si quis autem positus in ultima necessitate aegritudinis suae, voluerit accipere poenitentiam, et accipit, et mox reconciliatur, et hinc vadit; fateor vobis, non illi negamus quod petit, sed non praesumimus quia bene hinc exit. Non praesumo: non vos fallo, non praesumo. Fidelis bene vivens, securus hinc exit. Baptizatus ad horam, securus hinc exit. Agens poenitentiam, et reconciliatus cum sanus est, et postea bene vivens, securus hinc exit. Agens poenitentiam ad ultimum et reconciliatus, si securus hinc exit, ego non sum securus. Unde securus sum, securus sum, et do securitatem: unde non sum securus, poenitentiam dare possum, securitatem dare non possum. (Sed dicat aliquis: Bone sacerdos, tu nescire et nullam securitatem nobis dare posse dicis, si ille salvatur, et Christum adire meretur, cui morienti poenitentia datur, qui dum vixit, dum sanus fuit, impoenitens fuit; instrue ergo nos, rogo, quomodo bene vivere post poenitentiam debeamus. Dico, abstinete vos ab ebrietate, a concupiscentia, a furto, et maliloquio, ab immoderato risu, a verbo otioso, unde reddituri sunt homines rationem in die judicii. Ecce quam levia dixi. Omnia tamen gravia et pestifera. Et aliud dico: non solum post poenitentiam, ab istis vitiis se homo servare debet, sed et ante poenitentiam, dum sanus est; quia si ad ultimum vitae steterit, nescit si ipsam poenitentiam accipere ac Deo et sacerdoti peccata sua confiteri poterit. Ecce quare dixi, quia et ante poenitentiam bene vivendum est, et post poenitentiam melius). Quod dico attendite: debeo illud planius exponere, ne me aliquis male intelligat. Numquid

but passes from life into life, from a toilsome one to a restful one, from a wretched one to a blessed one: whether this man runs to Baptism of his own will, or is baptized when placed in danger, and departs from this life, he goes to the Lord, he goes to rest. But a baptized man who is a deserter and violator of so great a Sacrament, if he does penance with his whole heart, if he does penance where God sees, Who saw the heart of David when, rebuked by the prophet, and severely rebuked, after the terrible threats of God he cried out, saying, I have sinned; and at once he heard, The Lord has taken away your sin (2 Sam. 12:13). So much are three syllables worth. Three syllables they are, Peccavi: but in these three syllables the flame of the heart's sacrifice ascends into heaven. Therefore whoever has truly done penance, and has been loosed from the bond by which he was bound and separated from the body of Christ, and after penance has lived well, as he ought to have lived before penance, whenever he dies after reconciliation, goes to God, goes to rest, will not be deprived of the kingdom of God, will be separated from the people of the devil. But if anyone, placed in the last extremity of his sickness, wishes to receive penance, and receives it, and is at once reconciled, and goes hence; I confess to you, we do not deny him what he asks, but we do not presume that he departs hence well. I do not presume: I do not deceive you, I do not presume. A believer who lives well departs hence secure. One baptized at the [last] hour departs hence secure. One who does penance, and is reconciled while he is healthy, and afterwards lives well, departs hence secure. One who does penance at the last and is reconciled, whether he departs hence secure, I am not secure. Where I am secure, I am secure, and I give security: where I am not secure, I can give penance, I cannot give security. (But someone may say: Good priest, you say that you do not know, and can give us no security, whether that man is saved and merits to come to Christ, to whom penance is given as he is dying, who while he lived, while he was healthy, was impenitent; instruct us therefore, I ask, how we ought to live well after penance. I say, keep yourselves from drunkenness, from lust, from theft, and from evil-speaking, from immoderate laughter, from the idle word, of which men are to render account on the day of judgement. See how light the things I have named are. Yet all are grave and pestilent. And I say something else: not only after penance ought a man to keep himself from these vices, but also before penance, while he is healthy; for if he stands at the end of life, he does not know whether he will be able to receive penance itself and confess his sins to God and to the priest. See why I have said that one must live well both before penance, and better after penance.) Pay attention to what I say: I must explain it more plainly, lest anyone understand me wrongly. Do

Editors' notes and page, col. 1714

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: tamen gravia› · call in col 1714

¹ Apud Ambrosium : Ecce quam levia dixi, ut tacerem gravia. In cr. libro, et omisi illa gravia. In reliquis liber iste cr. Ambrosianis editis fere consentit.

In Ambrose: "See how light the things I have said, so as to keep silent about the grave ones." In manuscript cr., "and I have left out those grave ones." In the rest this manuscript cr. mostly agrees with the Ambrosian editions.

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dico, Damnabitur? Non dico. Sed nec dico etiam, Liberabitur. Et quid dicis mihi? Nescio: non praesumo, non promitto; nescio. Vis te de dubio liberare? vis quod incertum est evadere? Age poenitentiam, dum sanus es. Si enim agis veram poenitentiam, dum sanus es, et invenerit te novissimus dies, curre ut reconcilieris: si sic agis, securus es. Quare securus es? Quia egisti poenitentiam eo tempore, quo et peccare potuisti. Si autem tunc vis agere poenitentiam ipsam, quando jam peccare non petes; peccata te dimiserunt, non tu illa. Sed unde scis, inquis, ne forte Deus dimittat mihi? Verum dicis. Unde, nescio. Illud scio, hoc nescio. Nam ideo tibi do poenitentiam, quia nescio. Nam si scirem tibi nihil prodesse, non tibi darem. Item si scirem tibi prodesse, non te admonerem, non te terrerem. Duae res sunt. aut ignoscitur tibi, aut non ignoscitur: quid horum tibi futurum sit, nescio. Ergo dimitte incertum, tene certum.

I say, "He will be damned"? I do not say it. But neither do I say, "He will be set free." And what do you say to me? I do not know: I do not presume, I do not promise; I do not know. Do you wish to free yourself from doubt? Do you wish to escape what is uncertain? Do penance while you are healthy. For if you do true penance while you are healthy, and the last day finds you, run to be reconciled: if you act thus, you are secure. Why are you secure? Because you did penance at a time when you could also have sinned. But if you wish to do penance itself only then, when you can no longer sin, your sins have left you, not you them. "But how do you know," you say, "whether God may perhaps forgive me?" You speak the truth. How, I do not know. That I know, this I do not know. For I give you penance precisely because I do not know. For if I knew it would profit you nothing, I would not give it to you. Likewise, if I knew it would profit you, I would not admonish you, I would not frighten you. There are two possibilities: either you are pardoned, or you are not pardoned; which of these will be yours, I do not know. Therefore let go of the uncertain, hold on to the certain.

SERMO CCCXCIV. De Natali SS. Perpetuae et Felicitatis.

Sermon 394. On the Feast of Saints Perpetua and Felicity.

Duae gemmae hodie in Ecclesia refulserunt et una claritas: quia Perpetua et Felicitas una solemnitas; nec potest dubitari de felicitate, quae perpetuam possidet dignitatem. Junxit illas carceris custodia, junxit et gratia: quia non est in eis ulla discordia. Simul cantant in carcere, simul Christo obviam veniunt in aere; simul pugnant ad vaccam, simul intrabunt in patriam sempiternam; simul martyrium gerebant; una lactabat, altera pariebat. Perpetua dicebat, cum traderet infantem et amoveret lactentem: Quis nos separabit a charitate Christi (Rom. VIII, 35)? Felicitas de partu gemitus dabat, et post comites suos intrepida festinabat; et gemendo liberata, quid Christo dicebat? Dirupisti vincula mea; tibi sacrificabo sacrificium laudis (Psal. CXV, 17). Et beatus David ad ejus gemitum consolandum dicebat: Det tibi Dominus secundum cor tuum, et omne consilium tuum confirmet (Psal. XIX, 5). O fragilitas! Tenebrae fugiebant, et humana conditio non transibat. Sed qui mortem vicit, et illam a partus periculo liberavit, et Perpetuam a lactis pondere sublevavit. Cum enim scalae illius gradus ascenderent, et draconis insidiosa colla calcarent, venerunt ad viridarium coelestium pratorum, et invenerunt illic pastorem bonum animam suam ponentem pro ovibus suis, et lactis succum quaerentem a gregibus suis. Nam sedebat, inquit, pastor juvenis et senex, viridis aetate, canus capite, qui non novit senectutem. Juvenis in illo vultus micabat, quia idem ipse est, et anni ejus non deficient (Psal. CI, 28). Capite canescebat, quia justus Dominus justitiam diligebat, aequitatem agnoscebat in Martyribus. In circuitu ejus oves inclinatae cubabant, ipse eas digito pastorali mulgebat, in quibus inveniebat lactis copiam et fecundam pietatis conscientiam. Mulgebat digitis et alloquebatur paternis solatiis, promissis coelestibus praeparatis dicens: Venite, benedicti Patris mei, percipite regnum quod vobis praeparatum est ab origine mundi (Matth. XXV, 34). Et ostendit illis lactis alvea puro corde spumantia per lucidam eleemosynam, et dicit: Esurivi, et dedistis mihi manducare; sitivi, et potastis me (Id. 35). Accepit Perpetua a dulci pastore lac novum, antequam funderet sanguinem pretiosum. Responderunt, Amen, et coeperunt petere pietatem. Orabant in carcere, securae jam de pastore. Domine, inquiunt, non sit arida confessio nostra, ut et nos mereamur tuis pretiosis gregibus sociari, et a tuis martyribus non separari. Proponitur eis in visione palaestra, in amphitheatro arena pomposa. Adest ille Aegyptius, qui fuit in coelo Lucifer speciosus: ipse pugnaturus

Two gems shone forth today in the Church, and one brightness: because Perpetua and Felicity are one solemnity; nor can there be any doubt about felicity, which possesses perpetual dignity. The custody of the prison joined them, and grace joined them too: for there is no discord at all in them. Together they sing in prison, together they come to meet Christ in the air; together they fight against the cow, together they will enter the everlasting homeland; together they bore martyrdom; one was nursing, the other was giving birth. Perpetua said, as she handed over her infant and put the suckling child away: Who shall separate us from the charity of Christ? (Rom. 8:35). Felicity uttered groans in childbirth, and hastened fearless after her companions; and, freed by her groaning, what did she say to Christ? Thou hast broken my bonds; to Thee I will sacrifice a sacrifice of praise (Ps. 115:17). And blessed David, to console her groaning, said: May the Lord give you according to your heart, and confirm all your counsel (Ps. 19:5). O frailty! The darkness was fleeing, and the human condition did not pass away. But He Who conquered death both freed her from the danger of childbirth and relieved Perpetua of the burden of milk. For when they climbed the steps of that ladder and trod on the treacherous neck of the dragon, they came to the garden of the heavenly meadows, and found there the good shepherd laying down His life for His sheep, and seeking the juice of milk from His flocks. For there sat, she says, a shepherd young and old, green in age, white of head, Who has not known old age. In Him a youthful face shone, because He is the selfsame, and His years shall not fail (Ps. 101:28). He was white of head, because the just Lord loved justice and recognized equity in the martyrs. Round about Him the sheep lay bowed down; He milked them with His shepherd's finger, and in them He found an abundance of milk and a fruitful conscience of piety. He milked with His fingers and addressed them with fatherly consolations, saying, with heavenly promises made ready: Come, blessed of My Father, receive the kingdom which has been prepared for you from the origin of the world (Matt. 25:34). And He showed them troughs of milk foaming with a pure heart through shining almsgiving, and says: I was hungry, and you gave Me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me to drink (Matt. 25:35). Perpetua received new milk from the sweet shepherd before she poured out her precious blood. They answered, Amen, and began to seek piety. They prayed in prison, now secure about the shepherd. Lord, they say, let our confession not be barren, so that we too may deserve to be joined to Thy precious flocks, and not to be separated from Thy martyrs. In a vision a wrestling-ground is set before them, in the amphitheatre a splendid arena. There is present that Egyptian, who was in heaven the beautiful Lucifer: he, about to fight

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(a) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon title)› · call in col 1715

(printed under page 120) (a) Ex Vaticana bibliotheca erutus per Holstensium.

Brought to light from the Vatican Library by Holstenius.

(printed under page 120) (a) Nunc primum prodit erutus ex vetustissimo codies Remigiano.

Now published for the first time, brought to light from a very old codex of Saint-Remi. [Print reads "codies", apparently for "codice".]

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volutatur in pulvere, et Perpetua triumphatura Domino Salvatore, adjunxit manus in crucem, habens ante se dominicum juvenem defensorem. Accipit triumphum de victoria, et ramum consequitur de corona. Offeramus illi et nos munera nostra: alii eis in tempore offerebant visitationes carceris; nos offeramus illis votum solemnitatis, ut regnum mereamur cum omnibus sanctis.

is rolled in the dust, and Perpetua, about to triumph through the Lord Saviour, joined her hands into a cross, having before her the Lord's young man as her defender. She receives a triumph from the victory, and obtains the [palm-]branch from the crown. Let us too offer to her our gifts: others in their time offered them visits to the prison; let us offer them the vow of the solemnity, that we may merit the kingdom with all the saints.

SERMO CCCXCV. De Ascensione Domini, VI.

Sermon 395. On the Ascension of the Lord, 6.

1. Hodierno die Ascensionem Domini in coelum celebramus: Sursum cor non inaniter audiamus, et integro corde cum illo ascendamus, docente Apostolo et dicente, Si consurrexistis cum Christo, quae sursum sunt quaerite, ubi Christus est in dextera Dei sedens; quae sursum sunt sapite, non quae super terram (Coloss. III, 1, 2). Necessitas actionis in terra sit; voluntas ascensionis in coelo. Spes hic, res ibi. Veniet enim tempus, quando res ibi. Quando autem res ibi, spes nec hic, nec ibi: non quia inanis est spes; sed quia finitur, quando venerit res. Denique audite de spe quid dixit Apostolus. Spe, inquit, salvi facti sumus. Spes autem quae videtur non est spes: quod autem videt quis, quid sperat? Si autem quod non videmus speramus, per patientiam exspectamus (Rom. VIII, 24, 25). Attendite in ipsis rebus humanis, et considerate quod si sperat aliquis ducere uxorem, adhuc ergo nondum habet. Nam si habet, quid sperat? Ducit ergo uxorem, quam sperabat; et jam non sperabit. Feliciter ergo finitur spes, quando venerit res. Sperat quispiam peregrinus ad patriam suam se esse venturum: quamdiu ibi non est, sperat; cum venerit, jam non sperat. Spei enim successit res. Feliciter spes finitur, quando quod sperabatur tenetur. Modo ergo, charissimi, quod audistis ut sursum cor habeamus, ipso corde fit ut de illa futura vita cogitemus. Hic bene vivamus, ut ibi vivamus.

1. On this day we celebrate the Ascension of the Lord into heaven: let us not hear "Lift up the heart" in vain, and let us ascend with Him with a whole heart, as the Apostle teaches and says, If you have risen together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God; savour the things that are above, not the things upon the earth (Col. 3:1–2). Let the necessity of action be on earth; the will of ascension in heaven. Hope here, the reality there. For the time will come when the reality is there. But when the reality is there, hope is neither here nor there: not because hope is empty, but because it comes to an end when the reality has come. Finally, hear what the Apostle said about hope. By hope, he says, we have been saved. But hope that is seen is not hope: for what someone sees, why does he hope for it? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it through patience (Rom. 8:24–25). Pay attention in human affairs themselves, and consider that if someone hopes to marry a wife, he therefore does not yet have her. For if he has her, what does he hope for? So he marries the wife he was hoping for; and now he will not hope. Happily, therefore, hope comes to an end when the reality has come. Some traveller abroad hopes that he will come to his homeland: as long as he is not there, he hopes; when he has come, he no longer hopes. For the reality has taken the place of hope. Happily hope comes to an end when what was hoped for is held. Now therefore, dearly beloved, as to what you have heard, that we should have the heart lifted up, by that very heart it comes about that we think of that future life. Let us live well here, that we may live there.

2. Ecce enim quanta dignatio Domini nostri: qui fecit nos, descendit ad nos; quia cecideramus ab illo nos. Et ut veniret ad nos, non ipse cecidit, sed descendit ad nos. Si ergo descendit ad nos, levavit nos. Jam in corpore suo levavit nos caput nostrum: ubi est, sequentur et membra. Quia quo praecessit caput, secutura sunt membra. Ille est caput, nos sumus membra. In coelo est ille, nos in terra. Quasi longe est ille a nobis? Absit. Spatia si interroges, longe est: charitatem interroga, nobiscum est. Si enim non esset ille nobiscum, non diceret ille in Evangelio: Ecce ego vobiscum sum usque ad consummationem saeculi (Matth. XXVIII, 20). Si non est nobiscum, mentimur quando vobis dicimus, Dominus vobiscum. Non de coelo clamaret Saulo persequente, non ipsum, sed sanctos ejus, servos ejus; et quod familiarius dixerim, membra ejus: Saule, Saule, quid me persequeris (Act. IX, 4)? Ecce ego hic sum in coelo, tu in terra, et in persecutoribus. Quare me? Quia membra mea: per quae membra mea ibi sum. Non enim si calcetur planta, non clamat lingua. Ille ergo per quem factum

2. For see how great is the condescension of our Lord: He Who made us came down to us, because we had fallen away from Him. And in order to come to us, He did not fall, but came down to us. If therefore He came down to us, He raised us up. Already in His own body our Head has raised us up: where He is, the members too will follow. For where the Head has gone before, the members are going to follow. He is the Head, we are the members. He is in heaven, we on earth. Is He, as it were, far from us? Far from it. If you ask about distances, He is far; ask charity, He is with us. For if He were not with us, He would not say in the Gospel: Behold, I am with you even to the consummation of the age (Matt. 28:20). If He is not with us, we lie when we say to you, "The Lord be with you." He would not have cried out from heaven when Saul was persecuting not Him Himself but His saints, His servants, and, to speak more familiarly, His members: Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me? (Acts 9:4). Behold, I am here in heaven, you on earth, and among the persecutors. Why Me? Because [they are] My members: through which members of Mine I am there. For if the sole of the foot is trodden on, does not the tongue cry out? He therefore through Whom was made

Editors' notes and page, col. 1716

Footnotes

(1) ‹anchor: et in persecutoribus› · call in col 1716

¹ Forte, tu in terra, et me persequeris.

Perhaps "tu in terra, et me persequeris" (you on earth, and you persecute me).

(printed under page 120)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible (sermon title)› · call in col 1716

(printed under page 120)

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running head: I EPISCOPI SERMO CCCXCV. 1716 (left part of the head cut off at the image edge)
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PL 39:1717

est coelnm et terra, propter eum quem fecit de terra, descendit in terram, et in coelum hinc levavit terram. Quod ergo in illo praecessit, in finem speremus. Reddet nobis quod promisit: securi sumus, cautionem fecit, Evangelium scripsit; reddet nobis. Plus est quod impendit nobis. Num putamus enim non eum redditurum vitam suam, qui pro nobis jam erogavit mortem suam? Humilitatem passionis, injurias, contumelias, omnes indignitates in terra suscepit pro nobis: regnum, felicitatem, immortalitatem, aeternitatem non donabit nobis? Mala nostra pertulit, bona sua nobis non donabit? Ad hanc spem, quia promissor est verax, securi ambulemus: sed sic vivamus, ut bona fronte illi dicamus, Fecimus quod jussisti, redde quod promisisti.

heaven and earth, on account of him whom He made from earth, came down to earth, and from here lifted earth into heaven. What therefore has gone before in Him, let us hope for at the end. He will render to us what He promised: we are secure, He has given a bond, He has written the Gospel; He will render it to us. What He has spent for us is more. For do we think that He will not give back His life, Who for us has already paid out His death? The humiliation of the passion, injuries, insults, all indignities He took upon Himself on earth for us: the kingdom, happiness, immortality, eternity, will He not grant to us? He bore our evils; will He not grant us His goods? Towards this hope, since the promiser is truthful, let us walk secure: but let us so live that with an unashamed face we may say to Him, We have done what Thou commanded, render what Thou promised.

Editors' notes and page, col. 1717