PL 4 · cols. 240–244

Cyprianus, Epistolae II-XXI

Letter VII

qui admirati fuerant prius in virtutibus gloriam, nunc admirentur in moribus disciplinam. Et quamquam clero nostro, et nuper cum adhuc essetis in carcere constituti, sed nunc quoque denuo, plenissime scripserim ut, si quid vel ad vestitum vestrum vel ad victum necessarium fuerit, suggeratur, tamen etiam ipse de sumpticulis propriis quos mecum ferebam misi vobis CCL, sed et alia CCL proxime miseram. Victor quoque ex lectore diaconus, qui mecum est, misit vobis CLXXV. Gaudeo autem quando cognosco plurimos fratres nostros pro sua dilectione certatim concurrere et necessitates vestras suis collationibus adjuvare. Opto vos, fratres charissimi, semper bene valere et nostri meminisse.

those who had before admired the glory in your virtues may now admire the discipline in your conduct. And although I have written most fully to our clergy, both lately, when you were still confined in prison, and now again as well, that if anything should be needed either for your clothing or for your food it should be supplied, nevertheless I myself also, from the small means of my own which I was carrying with me, have sent you 250, and I had lately sent another 250 as well. Victor too, made deacon from reader, who is with me, has sent you 175. And I rejoice when I learn that very many of our brethren, out of their love, are vying with one another in hastening to help and are relieving your needs with their contributions. I wish you, dearest brethren, always to fare well and to remember us.

EPISTOLA VII.

Letter 7.

(Erasm., IV, 4; Pamel., VIII; Oxon., Lips. XI; Rigalt., Baluz., Paris., VII.)

(Erasmus, 4, 4; Pamelius, 8; Oxford, Leipzig 11; Rigault, Baluze, Paris, 7.)

AD CLERUM, DE PRECANDO DEO.

To the clergy, on praying to God.

ARGUMENTUM. — Ejusdem fere est argumenti cum duabus praecedentibus, praeterquam quod hic ad preces exhortetur assiduas.

Argument. — It is of nearly the same argument as the two preceding, except that here he exhorts to unceasing prayers.

I. Cyprianus presbyteris et diaconibus fratribus salutem. Quamquam sciam, fratres charissimi, pro timore quem singuli debemus Deo, vos quoque illic

I. Cyprian to the presbyters and deacons, his brethren, greeting. Although I know, dearest brethren, that, on account of the fear which each of us owes to God, you too there

Editors' notes and page, col. 240

Page

running head: …IVI CYPRIANI 240 (left part cut off at the image edge)
marginal letters: A qui admirati fuerant prius; B (Erasm., IV, 4; Pamel.; C beside the Baluzii Notae heading (commentary); D pensatur, sed egenis alendis (commentary)
old-edition numerals: 13 before ‹admirentur›

PL 4:241

assiduis orationibus et enixis precibus instanter incumbere, admoneo tamen et ipse religiosam sollicitudinem vestram ut ad placandum atque exorandum Dominum, non voce sola, sed et jejuniis et lacrymis et omni genere deprecationis ingemiscamus. Intelligendum est enim et confitendum pressurae istius tam turbidam vastitatem, quae gregem nostrum maxima ex parte populata est et adhuc usque populatur, secundum peccata nostra venisse, dum viam Domini non tenemus, nec data nobis ad salutem coelestia mandata servamus. Fecit Dominus noster voluntatem Patris, et nos non facimus Domini voluntatem, patrimonio et lucro studentes, superbiam sectantes, aemulationi et dissensioni vacantes, simplicitatis et fidei negligentes, saeculo verbis solis et non factis renuntiantes, unusquisque sibi placentes et omnibus displicentes. Vapulamus itaque ut meremur, cum scriptum sit: Servus autem ille qui cognoscit voluntatem domini sui, et non paruerit voluntati ejus, vapulabit multis (Luc. XII, 47). Quas autem plagas, quae verbera non meremur, quando nec confessores, qui exemplo caeteris ad bonos mores esse debuerant, teneant disciplinam? Itaque, dum quosdam insolenter extollit confessionis suae tumida et inverecunda jactatio, tormenta venerunt, et tormenta sine fine tortoris, sine exitu damnationis, sine solatio mortis, tormenta quae ad coronam non facile dimittant, sed tamdiu torqueant quamdiu dejiciant; nisi si aliquis, divina dignatione subtractus, inter ipsa cruciamenta profecerit, adeptus gloriam non termino supplicii, sed velocitate moriendi.

apply yourselves urgently to assiduous prayers and earnest entreaties, nevertheless I myself also admonish your religious solicitude that, in order to appease and entreat the Lord, we groan not with the voice alone, but also with fastings and tears and every kind of supplication. For it must be understood and confessed that the so turbulent devastation of this affliction, which has laid waste our flock for the greatest part and lays it waste even until now, has come according to our sins, while we do not keep the way of the Lord, nor observe the heavenly commandments given to us for salvation. Our Lord did the will of the Father, and we do not do the will of the Lord, being eager for patrimony and gain, pursuing pride, given over to rivalry and dissension, negligent of simplicity and faith, renouncing the world by words alone and not by deeds, each pleasing himself and displeasing all. We are beaten, therefore, as we deserve, since it is written: But that servant who knows the will of his lord, and has not obeyed his will, shall be beaten with many [stripes] (Luke 12:47). And what blows, what lashes do we not deserve, when not even the confessors, who ought to have been an example to the rest for good conduct, keep discipline? Therefore, while the swollen and shameless boasting of their confession insolently exalts some, torments have come, and torments without end of the torturer, without the issue of condemnation, without the solace of death, torments which do not readily release to the crown, but torture so long until they cast down; unless someone, withdrawn by divine favour, has advanced amid the very tortures, having attained glory not by the ending of the punishment, but by the swiftness of dying.

II. Haec patimur delicto et merito nostro, sicut praemonuit divina censura dicens: Si dereliquerint legem meam et in judiciis meis non ambulaverint, si justificationes meas profanaverint et praecepta mea non observaverint, visitabo in virga facinora eorum et in flagellis delicta eorum (Psal. LXXXVIII, 31 - 33). Virgas igitur et flagella sentimus, qui Deo nec bonis factis placemus, nec pro peccatis satisfacimus. Rogemus de intimo corde et de tota mente misericordiam Dei, quia et ipse addidit dicens: Misericordiam autem meam non dispergam ab eis (Ibid.). Petamus, et accipiemus; et si accipiendi mora et tarditas fuerit, quoniam graviter offendimus, pulsemus, quia et pulsanti aperietur (Matth. VII, 7, 8, XVIII, 19; Luc. XI, 9, 10),

II. These things we suffer by our own fault and desert, as the divine judgement forewarned, saying: If they forsake my law and do not walk in my judgements, if they profane my justifications and do not observe my precepts, I will visit their misdeeds with the rod and their offences with scourges (Ps. 88:31–33). We feel the rods and the scourges, therefore, who neither please God by good deeds nor make satisfaction for our sins. Let us ask the mercy of God from the inmost heart and with the whole mind, because He Himself also added, saying: But my mercy I will not scatter from them (ibid.). Let us ask, and we shall receive; and if there be delay and slowness in receiving, since we have gravely offended, let us knock, because to him who knocks also it shall be opened (Matt. 7:7–8; 18:19; Luke 11:9–10),

Editors' notes and page, col. 241

Footnotes

LECTIONES VARIANTES. (printed under page 116)

(a) ‹ut› · call in col 241

Religionem vestram, ut Rig.

"Your religion," as in Rig.

(printed under page 116)

(b) ‹non paruerit› · call in col 241

Fecerit M. R.

"Fecerit" ("has done") M. R.

(printed under page 116)

Tumor Corb.

"Tumor" ("swelling") Corb.

(printed under page 116)

(d) ‹et tormenta› · call in col 241

In tormenta venerunt, tormenta Corb.

"They came into torments, torments" Corb.

(printed under page 116)

(e) ‹profecerit› · call in col 241

Defecerit Oxon.

"Defecerit" ("has failed") Oxon.

(printed under page 116)

(f) ‹in judiciis meis› · call in col 241

Viis meis Voss. 1. Pem.

"In my ways" Voss. 1, Pem.

(printed under page 116)

Page

running head: 241 EPISTOLA VII.
marginal letters: A assiduis orationibus et enixis precibus; B tiantes, unusquisque sibi placentes; C velocitate moriendi.; D beside the variant notes at the page foot (Religionem vestram, ut Rig.)
old-edition numerals: (none)
other: variants g, h, i (calls in col 242) are set in n242

PL 4:242

si modo pulsent ostium preces, gemitus et lacrymae nostrae, quibus insistere et immorari oportet, etsi sit unanimis oratio.

if only our prayers, groans and tears knock at the door, on which we must press and dwell, even though the prayer be of one mind.

III. Nam quod magis suasit et compulit ut has ad vos litteras scriberem, scire debetis, sicut Dominus ostendere et revelare dignatus est; dictum esse in visione: Petite, et impetratis; tunc deinde praeceptum plebi assistenti ut pro quibusdam personis designatis sibi peterent, in petendo autem fuisse dissonas voces et dispares voluntates, et vehementer hoc displicuisse illi qui dixerat, Petite, et impetratis, quod plebis inaequalitas discreparet, nec esset fratrum consensio una et simplex et juncta concordia, cum scriptum sit, Deus qui inhabitare facit unanimes in domo (Psal. LXVII, 7), et in Actis Apostolorum legamus, Turba autem eorum qui crediderant anima ac mente una agebant (Act. IV, 32); et Dominus sua voce mandaverit dicens: Hoc est mandatum meum, ut diligatis invicem (Joa. XV, 17). Et iterum: Dico autem vobis quoniam, si duobus ex vobis convenerit in terr⟨a⟩, de omni re quamcumque petieritis continget vobis a Patre meo qui in coelis est (Matth. XVIII, 19). Quod si duo unanimes tantum possunt, quid si unanimitas apud omnes esset? Quod si secundum pacem quam nobis Dominus dedit universis fratribus conveniret, jampridem de divina misericordia impetrassemus quod petimus, nec tamdiu in hoc salutis et fidei nostrae periculo fluctuaremus. Immo vero, nec venissent fratribus haec mala, si in unum fraternitas fuisset animata.

III. For what most of all persuaded and compelled me to write this letter to you, you ought to know, as the Lord has deigned to show and reveal: that it was said in a vision, Ask, and you obtain; that then next the people standing by were instructed to ask for certain persons designated to them, but that in asking their voices were discordant and their wills unequal, and that this greatly displeased Him Who had said, Ask, and you obtain, because the unevenness of the people was at variance, and there was not among the brethren one simple consent and joined concord, since it is written, God, Who makes those of one mind to dwell in a house (Ps. 67:7), and in the Acts of the Apostles we read, But the multitude of those who had believed acted with one soul and mind (Acts 4:32); and the Lord with His own voice commanded, saying: This is My commandment, that you love one another (John 15:17). And again: But I say to you that, if two of you agree on earth, concerning anything whatever that you ask, it will befall you from My Father Who is in heaven (Matt. 18:19). But if two of one mind can do so much, what if there were unanimity among all? But if, in accordance with the peace which the Lord gave us, all the brethren were in agreement, we would long ago have obtained from the divine mercy what we ask, and would not be tossing so long in this peril to our salvation and faith. Indeed, these evils would not even have come upon the brethren, if the brotherhood had been animated as one.

IV. Nam et illud ostensum est, quod sederet paterfamilias, sedente sibi ad dexteram juvene; qui juvenis, anxius et cum quadam indignatione subtristis, maxillam manu tenens, moesto vultu sedebat. Alius vero in sinistra parte consistens rete portabat, quod se mittere, ut circumstantem populum caperet, minabatur. Et cum miraretur quid hoc esset ille qui vidit, dictum est ei juvenem qui ad dexteram sic sederet, contristari et dolere quod praecepta sua non observarentur; illum vero in sinistra exultare quod sib⟨i⟩ daretur occasio ut a patrefamilias potestatem sumeret saeviendi. Hoc prius longe ostensum est, quam tempestas vastitatis hujus oriretur. Et vidimus impletum quod fuerat ostensum, ut, dum Domini praecepta contemnimus, dum datae legis mandata salutaria

IV. For this too was shown: that a father of a household was sitting, with a young man sitting at his right hand; and this young man, anxious and somewhat sad with a certain indignation, holding his jaw in his hand, sat with a sorrowful countenance. But another, standing on the left side, was carrying a net, which he was threatening to cast so as to catch the people standing around. And when he who saw this wondered what it was, he was told that the young man who sat thus at the right was saddened and grieved that His precepts were not observed; but that the one on the left was exulting that an occasion was given him to receive from the father of the household power to rage. This was shown long before the storm of this devastation arose. And we have seen fulfilled what had been shown, that, while we despise the Lord's precepts, while the salutary commands of the given law

Editors' notes and page, col. 242

Footnotes

(g) ‹dignatus est› · call in col 242

Dignatur Oxon.

"Dignatur" ("deigns") Oxon.

(printed under page 116)

(h) ‹Petite, et impetratis› · call in col 242

Impetrabilis Bod. 3. Vet. innom.

"Impetrabilis" ("able to obtain") Bod. 3, an unnamed old [edition].

(printed under page 116)

(i) ‹dispares› · call in col 242

Dissonantes voces et dissipatas Lin.

"Discordant and scattered voices" Lin.

(printed under page 116)

(j) ‹convenerit› · call in col 242

Duo ex vobis convenerint Bod. 1, 3. Voss. 1, 2. conveneritis Rig.

"Two of you agree" (plural verb) Bod. 1, 3, Voss. 1, 2; "conveneritis" ("you agree") Rig.

(printed under page 116)

(k) ‹oriretur› · call in col 242

Operaretur Lin. Et videmus Vet. innom.

"Operaretur" ("was at work") Lin.; "And we see" an unnamed old [edition].

STEPH. BALUZII NOTAE. (Baluze) ‹Epist. VII.— De precando Deo› · lemma note

(continued) Illa etiam omiserunt Angli. Nos restituimus propter auctoritatem Augustini et plurimorum veterum librorum.

(Baluze) ‹I.— Religiosam sollicitudinem› · lemma note I. — Religiosam sollicitudinem. Haec est lectio omnium veterum librorum et editionum. In Rigaltiana tamen scriptum est religionem vestram. Angli reposuerunt veterem lectionem.

I. — "Religiosam sollicitudinem" (devout solicitude). This is the reading of all the old books and editions. In Rigault's, however, "religionem vestram" (your religion) is written. The English restored the old reading.

(Baluze) ‹Viam Domini non tenemus› · lemma note Viam Domini non tenemus. Citat hunc quoque locum sanctus Augustinus in libro paulo ante laudato, cap. 3.

"Viam Domini non tenemus" (we do not keep the way of the Lord). Saint Augustine also cites this passage in the book praised a little above, chapter 3.

(Baluze) ‹IV.— Oriretur› · lemma note IV. — Oriretur. In uno codice regio legitur, vastitatis hujus accederet et impetus malitiae nostrae erga nos ingrueret. Sed alii codices repugnant et omnes editiones. In vetustissimo codice Remigiano scriptum est, tempestas vastationis hujus oriretur. In Lamoniano, tempestas vastis hujus operaretur.

IV. — "Oriretur" (should arise). In one royal manuscript one reads "of this devastation should come on and the onset of our malice should fall upon us." But the other manuscripts and all the editions are against it. In the very old Saint-Remi manuscript is written "the storm of this laying waste should arise." In the Lamoignon one, "the storm of this waste should be at work."

(printed under page 116)

Page

running head: EPISTOLA VII. 242 (left part of head cut off at image edge)
marginal letters: A si modo pulsent ostium preces; B mus, Turba autem eorum; C IV. Nam et illud ostensum est; D beside the first line of the Variae lectiones (g Dignatur Oxon.)
old-edition numerals: 14 before ‹quibus›

PL 4:243

non tenemus, facultatem nocendi inimicus acciperet, minus armatos et ad repugnandum minus cautos jactu retis operiret.

we do not keep, the enemy might receive the power of harming, and might cover us, less armed and less wary for resisting, with the cast of his net.

V. Oremus instanter et assiduis precibus ingemiscamus. Nam et hoc nobis non olim per visionem, fratres charissimi, exprobratum sciatis, quod dormitemus in precibus, nec vigilanter oremus. Et Deusutique, qui quem corripit diligit (Prov. III, 12), quando corripit ad hoc corripit ut emendet, ad hoc emendat ut servet. Excutiamus itaque et abrumpamus somni vincula, et instanter ac vigilanter oremus, sicut Paulus apostolus praecipit dicens: Instate orationi vigilantes in ea (Coloss. IV, 2). Nam et Apostoli orare diebus ac noctibus non destiterunt, et Dominus quoque ipse disciplinae magister et exempli nostri via frequenter et vigilanter oravit, sicut in Evangelio legimus: Exiit in montem orare, et fuit pernoctans in oratione Dei (Luc. VI, 12). Et utique quod orabat orabat ille pro nobis, cum peccator ipse non esset, sed aliena peccata portaret. Adeo autem pro nobis ille deprecabatur ut legamus alio loco: Dixit autem Dominus ad Petrum: Ecce Satanas postulavit ut vos vexaret quomodo triticum. Ego autem rogavi pro te ne deficiat fides tua (Luc. XXII, 31). Quod si pro nobis ac pro delictis nostris ille et laborabat et vigilabat et precabatur, quanto nos magis insistere precibus et orare, et primo ipsum Dominum rogare, tum deinde per ipsum Deo Patri satisfacere debemus? Habemus advocatum et deprecatorem pro peccatis nostris Jesum Christum Dominum et Deum nostrum, si modo nos in praeteritum peccasse poeniteat, et confitentes atque intelligentes delicta nostra, quibus nunc Dominum offendimus, vel de caetero nos ambulare in viis ejus et praecepta ejus metuere spondeamus. Pater nos corrigit et tuetur, stantes tamen in fide et pressuris atque angustiis, scilicet Christo ejus firmiter adhaerentes, sicut scriptum est: Quis nos separabit a dilectione Christi? pressura, an angustia, an persecutio, an fames, an nuditas, an periculum, an gladius (Rom. VIII, 35)? Nihil horum potest separare credentes, nihil potest avellere corpori ejus et sanguini cohaerentes. Persecutio ista examinatio est atque exploratio

V. Let us pray urgently and groan with unceasing prayers. For know, most dear brothers, that this too was not long ago laid to our reproach through a vision: that we are drowsy in our prayers and do not pray watchfully. And God indeed, Who loves whom He rebukes (Prov. 3:12), when He rebukes, rebukes for this, that He may amend, and amends for this, that He may preserve. Let us therefore shake off and break the bonds of sleep, and let us pray urgently and watchfully, as Paul the apostle instructs, saying: Persist in prayer, keeping watch in it (Col. 4:2). For the Apostles too did not cease to pray by day and by night, and the Lord Himself also, the master of discipline and the way of our example, prayed often and watchfully, as we read in the Gospel: He went out onto the mountain to pray, and He was passing the night in the prayer of God (Luke 6:12). And certainly what He prayed, He prayed for us, since He Himself was not a sinner, but was bearing the sins of others. And so much did He intercede for us that we read in another place: And the Lord said to Peter: Behold, Satan has demanded that he might harass you like wheat. But I have asked for you that your faith may not fail (Luke 22:31). But if He laboured and kept watch and prayed for us and for our offences, how much more ought we to persist in prayers and to pray, and first to ask the Lord Himself, and then through Him to make satisfaction to God the Father? We have as advocate and intercessor for our sins Jesus Christ our Lord and God, if only we repent of having sinned in the past, and, confessing and understanding our offences by which we now offend the Lord, promise at least for the rest of time to walk in His ways and to fear His precepts. The Father corrects and protects us, yet as men standing firm in faith and in afflictions and straits, that is, clinging firmly to His Christ, as it is written: Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Affliction, or distress, or persecution, or hunger, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword (Rom. 8:35)? None of these can separate believers, nothing can tear away those who cleave to His body and blood. This persecution is an examination and a searching

Editors' notes and page, col. 243

Footnotes

LECTIONES VARIANTES. (printed under page 117)

(a) ‹non olim› · call in col 243

Jam olim Erasm.

"Long since" Erasm.

(printed under page 117)

(b) ‹aliena peccata› · call in col 243

Nostra peccata Lin. Voss. 1, 2. Bod. 1. Pem.

"Our sins" Lin., Voss. 1, 2, Bod. 1, Pem.

(printed under page 117)

Page

running head: 243 DIVI CYPRIANI (cut off at the right edge)
marginal letters: A ria non tenemus, facultatem nocendi inimicus acci-; B gilanter oravit, sicut in Evangelio legimus; C teat, et confitentes atque intelligentes delicta nostra; D beside the right-hand note column of Baluze's notes (tamen usus), level with "V. — Pectoris nostri"
old-edition numerals: 35 after satisfacere (printed as a small numeral before debemus)
other: column begins with the fragment "ria" of a word broken from the previous column; the whole word stands at the end of col 242, so neither the source nor the English here repeats it; last word "explo-" broken at the column break (exploratio); "Ego autem" partly damaged but legible; full-width lines "LECTIONES VARIANTES" and "STEPH. BALUZII NOTAE" at the page foot not set; variae lectiones and Baluze's notes left for the later pass

PL 4:244

pectoris nostri. Excuti nos Deus voluit et probari, sicut suos semper probavit; nec tamen in probationibus ejus aliquando auxilium credentibus defuit.

of our breast. God willed that we be shaken out and tested, as He has always tested His own; and yet in His testings help has never at any time been lacking to believers.

VI. Denique ad minimum famulum suum et in delictis licet plurimis constitutum et dignatione ejus indignum, tamen ille pro sua circa nos bonitate mandare dignatus est. « Dic illi, inquit, securus sit, quia pax ventura est; sed quod interim morula est, supersunt adhuc aliqui qui probentur. » Sed et de victu parco et sobrio potu divinis dignationibus admonemur; scilicet ne vigore coelesti sublime jam pectus illecebra saecularis enervet, vel ne largioribus epulis mens gravata minus ad preces orationis evigilet.

VI. Finally, to His least servant, one set amid offences, albeit very many, and unworthy of His regard, He nevertheless, in His goodness towards us, deigned to send word. « Tell him, He says, that he may be untroubled, because peace is coming; but that there is meanwhile a little delay, because some still remain to be tested. » We are also admonished by divine favours about frugal food and sober drink; namely, lest worldly allurement enervate a breast now lifted up by heavenly vigour, or lest the mind, weighed down by more lavish feasts, keep less watchful for the prayers of supplication.

VII. Dissimulare haec singula et apud conscientiam meam solus occultare non debui, quibus unusquisque nostrum et instrui et regi possit. Nec ipsi denique apud vos hanc epistolam teneatis occultam, sed legendam fratribus suggeratis. Intercipere enim quibus nos Dominus admonere et instruere dignatur, ejus est qui admoneri et instrui fratrem suum nolit. Probari nos a Domino nostro sciant, nec umquam a fide qua in eum semel credidimus, praesentis pressurae conflictatione deficiant. Delicta sua singuli recognoscentes, vel modo conversationem veteris hominis exponant. Nemo enim retro attendens et superponens manum suam super aratrum aptus est regno Dei. Denique et uxor Lot, quae liberata, contra praeceptum, retro respexit, quod evaserat perdidit. Attendamus non posteriora, quo diabolus revocat, sed priora, quo Christus vocat. Oculos erigamus ad coelum, ne oblectamentis et illecebris nos suis terra decipiat. Unusquisque oret Deum, non pro se tantum, sed pro omnibus fratribus, sicut Dominus oraro nos docuit; ubi non singulis privatam precem mandat, sed oratione communi et concordi prece orantes pro omnibus jussit orare. Si nos Dominus humiles et quietos, si nobis invicem copulatos, si circa iram suam timidos, si praesenti tribulatione correctos emendatosque conspexerit, tutos ab inimici infestationibus

VII. I ought not to pass over these several matters in silence and hide them alone within my own conscience, matters by which each one of us can be both instructed and guided. Nor, in turn, should you yourselves keep this letter hidden among you, but you should bring it forward to be read by the brethren. For to intercept the things by which the Lord deigns to admonish and instruct us belongs to one who does not wish his brother to be admonished and instructed. Let them know that we are being tested by our Lord, and let them never fall away, through the struggle of the present affliction, from the faith with which we once believed in Him. Let each, recognizing his own offences, at least now put off the manner of life of the old man. For no one who looks back and sets his hand upon the plough is fit for the kingdom of God. Finally, Lot's wife too, who had been delivered, looked back against the command and lost what she had escaped. Let us attend not to the things behind, whither the devil calls us back, but to the things before, whither Christ calls. Let us lift our eyes to heaven, lest the earth deceive us with its delights and allurements. Let each one pray to God, not for himself only, but for all the brethren, as the Lord taught us to pray; where He does not enjoin a private prayer on individuals, but commanded those praying with common prayer and concordant petition to pray for all. If the Lord sees us humble and quiet, if joined to one another, if fearful of His wrath, if corrected and amended by the present tribulation, safe from the enemy's hostilities

Editors' notes and page, col. 244

Footnotes

Ipsi utique Oxon.

"Ipsi utique" ("you yourselves certainly") Oxon.

STEPH. BALUZII NOTAE. (Baluze) ‹V.— Pectoris nostri› · lemma note V. — Pectoris nostri. Duae sunt hujus loci lectiones in antiquis codicibus. Eam quam nos retinemus invenimus in octo codicibus. Aliam, quae habet peccati nostri, exhibent omnes editiones quae Pamelianam antecesserunt, eam vero praeferunt etiam undecim libri veteres ; eaque adjuvari potest ex eo quod in initio libri Job reperitur : ut quaeras iniquitatem meam et peccatum meum scruteris. Nostram vero confirmant plurima sacrae Scripturae loca in quibus Deus vocatur scrutator cordis et renis, ut etiam adnotatur in calce Epistolae octavae. In codice Flori scriptum erat peccati nostri.

V. — "Pectoris nostri" (of our breast). There are two readings of this passage in the ancient manuscripts. The one we keep we found in eight manuscripts. The other, which has "peccati nostri" (of our sin), all the editions before Pamelius's give, and eleven old books also show it; and it can be supported by what is found at the beginning of the book of Job: "that you seek out my iniquity and search out my sin." Ours, however, is confirmed by very many places of Holy Scripture in which God is called the searcher of heart and reins, as is also noted at the end of the eighth letter. In the manuscript of Florus "peccati nostri" was written.

(Baluze) ‹VII.— Nec ipsi denique› · lemma note VII. — Nec ipsi denique. Quamquam prior lectio, quae habet utique, bona sit, eam praetuli quae nititur auctoritate omnium fere veterum exemplarium.

VII. — "Nec ipsi denique" (nor in short should you yourselves). Although the earlier reading, which has "utique," is good, I have preferred the one that rests on the authority of almost all the old copies.

(Baluze) ‹Intercipere› · lemma note Intercipere, id est supprimere, modo loquendi multum remoto a vera significatione hujus vocabuli. Et tamen Tacitus in Vita Agricolae videtur eo vocabulo usus esse in eodem sensu quo Cyprianus. Ait enim : Nec Agricola unquam per alios gesta avidus intercepit, sed centurio seu praefectus incorruptum facti testem habebat. Item Seneca, lib. de Beneficiis, p. 17 : Urit illum et angit intercepti beneficii conscientia. Q. Curtius lib. XV : Alieno enim sanguine partam gloriam intercipi. Arnobius lib. III : Nam intercipere scripta et publicatam velle submergere lectionem non est deos defendere, sed veritatis testificationem timere. Cassianus, l. IX, c. 11 : Intercipiens efficaciam orationum, et Collat. lib. I, cap. 11 : Charitas nullo intercipiatur tempore.

"Intercipere" (to intercept), that is, to suppress, a way of speaking far removed from the true meaning of this word. Yet Tacitus in the Life of Agricola seems to have used the word in the same sense as Cyprian. For he says: "Nor did Agricola ever greedily appropriate what others had done; but centurion or prefect had in him an honest witness of the deed." Likewise Seneca, book On Benefits, p. 17: "The consciousness of a benefit suppressed burns and torments him." Quintus Curtius book 15: "[that] glory won by another's blood be intercepted." Arnobius book 3: "For to suppress writings and to wish to drown a published reading is not to defend the gods, but to fear the testimony of truth." Cassian, book 9, chapter 11: "intercepting the efficacy of prayers," and Conferences book 1, chapter 11: "Let charity be intercepted at no time."

(Baluze) ‹Perdidit› · lemma note Perdidit. Ita veteres editiones et omnes fere libri veteres. In uno tamen meo scriptum est indicit. Quod videtur esse melius. In vetustissimo Remigiano percidit.

"Perdidit" (she lost). So the old editions and almost all the old books. In one of mine, however, is written "indicit." That seems better. In the very old Saint-Remi manuscript, "percidit."

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