Migne Reading Room
PL 40 · cols. 637–652
Quodvultdeus (printed among the works of Augustine), First Sermon on the Creed
Editors' preface
DE SYMBOLO
ON THE CREED
SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS.
SERMON TO THE CATECHUMENS.
CAPUT PRIMUM. — 1. Sacramenta celebrata circa catechumenos. Crucis signum. Examen et scrutinium. Arma contra diabolum, Symbolum et Crux. Professio catechumenorum, renuntiare se diabolo et pompis ejus. Arma diaboli, voluptas et timor. Arma nostra spiritualia, timor Dei castus et fides orationis. Sacramentorum rationem, sive transactae noctis, sive praesentis sancti Symboli exponendam suscepimus Sanctitati vestrae, donante illo qui dat omnibus affluenter, et non improperat (Jacobi I, 5). Dives est enim in omnibus qui invocant illum (Rom. X, 12). Ipse quippe potest adjuvare intentionem nostram, acceptabilem pro nobis faciens orationem vestram. Accipite itaque vos qui fide desideratis verbum Dei, tanquam competentem cibum, ex quo vobis Dominus operetur incrementum. Nondum quidem adhuc per sacrum Baptismum renati estis, sed per crucis signum in utero sanctae matris Ecclesiae jam concepti estis. Agat itaque haec mater congruis alimentis prius pascere quos portat, ut post partum laetetur se tales suscepisse quos spiritualiter nutriat. Quid est, dilectissimi, quod in vobis celebratum est? Quid est quod hac nocte circa vos actum est, quod praeteritis noctibus actum non est; ut ex locis secretis singuli produceremini in conspectu totius Ecclesiae, ibique cervice humiliata quae male fuerat antea exaltata, in humilitate pedum cilicio substrato in vobis celebraretur examen, atque ex vobis exstirparetur diabolus superbus, dum super vos invocatus est humilis altissimus Christus? Omnes itaque humiles eratis, humiliterque petebatis, orando, psallendo atque dicendo, Proba me, Domine, et scito cor meum (Psal. CXXXVIII, 23). Probavit, examinavit, corda servorum suorum suo timore tetigit; diabolum sua virtute fugavit, atque ab ejus dominio suam familiam liberavit. Non aliter hic actus est pauper, aliter dives, aliter dominus, aliter servus : quia unus est omnibus introitus ad vitam (Sap. VII, 6); et si sic ad hanc fragilem atque caducam, quanto magis ad illam immortalem atque sempiternam?
CHAPTER I. — 1. The sacraments celebrated for the catechumens. The sign of the cross. The examination and scrutiny. The arms against the devil, the Creed and the Cross. The profession of the catechumens, that they renounce the devil and his pomps. The arms of the devil, pleasure and fear. Our spiritual arms, the chaste fear of God and the faith of prayer. We have undertaken to set out to your Holiness the meaning of the sacraments, both of the night just past and of the holy Creed now present, by the gift of Him who gives to all abundantly and does not upbraid (Jas. 1:5). For He is rich towards all who call upon Him (Rom. 10:12). For He is able to help our purpose, making your prayer acceptable on our behalf. Receive, then, you who by faith desire the word of God, as fitting food, from which the Lord may work increase in you. You have not yet been reborn through holy Baptism, but through the sign of the cross you have already been conceived in the womb of holy mother Church. Let this mother, then, see to feeding those she carries with suitable nourishment first, so that after the birth she may rejoice to have received such as she is to nourish spiritually. What is it, dearly beloved, that has been celebrated in you? What is it that was done for you this night which was not done on the nights before: that you were brought out one by one from secret places into the sight of the whole Church, and there, with the neck bowed which before had been wickedly lifted up, in humility of feet, a haircloth spread beneath, the examination was celebrated in you, and the proud devil was rooted out of you, while the humble Most High, Christ, was invoked over you? All of you, then, were humble, and humbly you asked, praying, singing psalms and saying: Prove me, O Lord, and know my heart (Ps. 138:23). He proved, He examined, He touched the hearts of His servants with His fear; He put the devil to flight by His power, and freed His household from his dominion. Here the poor man was not dealt with in one way and the rich in another, the master in one way and the servant in another: for there is one entrance to life for all (Wis. 7:6); and if it is so for this frail and perishable life, how much more for that immortal and everlasting one?
2. Purgata itaque familia Redemptoris, posteaquam cantavit canticum salutis, accepit Symboli remedium contra serpentis venenum : ut si quando voluerit adversarius diabolus denuo insidiari, noverit redemptus cum Symboli sacramento et crucis vexillo ei debere occurri; ut talibus armis indutus facile vincat christianus, de cujus oppressione male antea triumphaverat nequissimus diabolus. Ex qua re nobis factus est adversarius diabolus, nisi ex hac, quia videt liberos quos tenebat ante captivos, quia videt sanos quos suis jaculis prostraverat vulneratos, quia videt vestiri denuo immortalitate quos nudaverat propinando iniquitatem; quia muscipulae ejus comminutae sunt, et nos eruti sumus : adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini (Psal. CXXIII, 7, 8)? Si adjutorium nostrum in nomine ejus est; renuntiemus diabolo, pompis et angelis ejus. Hoc audistis, hoc et vos professi estis, renuntiare vos diabolo, pompis et angelis ejus. Videte, dilectissimi, quia hanc professionem vestram in curiam profertis angelicam : nomina profitentium in libro excipiuntur vitae, non a quolibet homine, sed a superiore coelitus potestate. Optimi jam tirones Dei, fortes milites Christi, dum arma sacramentorum suscipitis, pugnam adversus diabolum indicitis : dum
2. The Redeemer's household, then, having been cleansed, after it had sung the song of salvation, received the remedy of the Creed against the serpent's venom: so that if ever the adversary devil should wish to lay snares again, the redeemed man may know that he must meet him with the sacrament of the Creed and the banner of the cross; so that, clothed in such arms, the Christian may easily conquer, over whose oppression the most wicked devil had before wickedly triumphed. From what cause has the devil been made our adversary, if not from this: that he sees free those whom he held captive before, that he sees whole those whom he had laid low wounded with his darts, that he sees clothed again with immortality those whom he had stripped by giving them iniquity to drink; that his snares are broken and we are delivered: our help is in the name of the Lord (Ps. 123:7–8)? If our help is in His name, let us renounce the devil, his pomps and his angels. This you have heard, and this you too have professed: that you renounce the devil, his pomps and his angels. See, dearly beloved, that you are bringing this profession of yours into the angelic court: the names of those who profess are taken down in the book of life, not by any man you please, but by a higher power from heaven. Excellent recruits of God now, brave soldiers of Christ, while you take up the arms of the sacraments you declare war on the devil: while
Editors' notes and page, col. 637
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: hic actus est› · call in col 637
Sola editio Lov., exactus est.
Only the Louvain edition has "exactus est".
(printed under page 323)
(2) ‹anchor: contra serpentis› · call in col 637
Apud Lov. additur, antiqui.
The Louvain edition adds "antiqui" [of the ancient serpent].
(printed under page 323)
(a) ‹anchor: SERMO (title)› · call in col 637
Alias, Liber secundus, in ante editis, tom. 9.
Elsewhere, "Book Two", in the earlier editions, vol. 9.
(printed under page 323)
Editors' prose
Sequuntur alii de SYMBOLO sermones tres, Augustinum, cui hactenus adscripti in ante editis fuerunt, haudquaquam nobis repraesentantes, sed oratorem genere dicendi, eruditione et ingenio multo inferiorem.
There follow three other sermons on the Creed, which were ascribed to Augustine in the earlier editions until now, but which in no way show us Augustine; they show an orator far inferior in style, learning and talent.
Page
- running head: 637 DE SYMBOLO SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS. 638 (running head across the page, cols 637|638)
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the editors' line at the head of page 323 is printed full width above the sermon's title; set here once ("SYMBOLO" in small capitals). Augustine's sermon above it ends in col 636 (unit PL040/symbolo_catech).
ejus operibus renuntiatis, vehementius in vos ejus furias provocatis. Se⟨d⟩ non metuat miles Christi : induemini enim ipsum Christum, ut per eum velociter superetis adversarium diabolum. Quibus armis pugnat et ille? Illecebrosis et subdolis. Duo sunt genera armorum ejus valde fortia, contra quae vigilanter ac fortiter stare debet omnis miles Christi, qui triumphare cupit et superare virtutem diaboli. Quae sunt ista duo genera armorum? Voluptas et timor. Alios enim voluptate capit, alios timore frangit. Confirmetur et nostra acies, proferantur arma spiritualia. Contra timorem diaboli adsit timor Domini castus, permanens in saeculum saeculi (Psal. XVIII, 10). Contra voluptatem turpissimae delectationis, non desit fides orationis. Et quid metuat christianus, quando admonetur sic orare, sic praesumere, sic fidere, ut dicat : Dominus mihi adjutor est, et ego despiciam inimicos meos (Psal. CXVII, 7). Plures tamen noveritis, dilectissimi, capere adversarium per voluptatem, quam per timorem. Nam quare quotidie muscipulam spectaculorum, insaniam studiorum ac turpium voluptatum proponit, nisi ut his delectationibus capiat quos amiserat, ac laetetur denuo se invenisse quos perdiderat?
having renounced his works, you provoke his fury against you the more vehemently. But let the soldier of Christ not fear: for you will put on Christ Himself, so that through Him you may swiftly overcome the adversary devil. With what arms does he too fight? With enticing and crafty ones. There are two kinds of his arms, very strong, against which every soldier of Christ who desires to triumph and to overcome the devil's might must stand watchfully and bravely. What are these two kinds of arms? Pleasure and fear. For some he captures by pleasure, others he breaks by fear. Let our battle line too be strengthened, let spiritual arms be brought forward. Against the fear of the devil let there be present the chaste fear of the Lord, enduring for ever and ever (Ps. 18:10). Against the pleasure of most shameful delight let the faith of prayer not be lacking. And what should the Christian fear, when he is taught so to pray, so to presume, so to trust, that he says: The Lord is my helper, and I shall look down upon my enemies (Ps. 117:7)? Yet know, dearly beloved, that the adversary captures more through pleasure than through fear. For why does he daily set out the snare of the shows, the madness of the factions and of shameful pleasures, except to capture by these delights those he had lost, and to rejoice that he has found again those he had let perish?
CAPUT II. — 3. Spectacula circi fugienda : alia esse quae in Ecclesia cernuntur, spectacula salubria. Deterret a theatro Scandalistae. Amphitheatri cruenta certamina. Venatores cum ursis certantes. Quid nobis ire per multa? Breviter admonendi estis quid spernere, et quid diligere debeatis. Fugite, dilectissimi, spectacula, fugite caveas turpissimas diaboli, ne vos vincula teneant maligni. Sed si oblectandus est animus, et spectare delectat; exhibet vobis sancta mater Ecclesia veneranda ac salubria spectacula, quae et mentes vestras oblectent sua delectatione, et in vobis non corrumpant, sed custodiant fidem. Amator est quispiam circi? Quid delectat in circo? Aurigas videre certantes, populos insana furia anhelantes, quemlibet celerem praecedentem, adversarii sui equum frangentem. Ista est omnis delectatio, clamare, quia vicit quem diabolus vicit; exsultare et insultare, quod adversa pars perdiderit equum, cum is qui tali spectaculo delectatur, vanum perdiderit animum. Vide contra nostra sancta, sana, suavissima spectacula. Intuere in libro Actuum Apostolorum, claudum ex utero matris nunquam ambulantem quem Petrus fecit currentem; vide subito sanum, quem antea intuebaris infirmum (Act. III, 2-8) : et si est in te sanitas mentis, si in te fulget ratio aequitatis ac delectatio salutis, vide quid debeas exspectare, vide ubi debeas exclamare; illic ubi equi sani franguntur, an hic ubi homines fracti salvantur? Sed si te pompa illa, figura ea equorum, compositio curruum, ornatus et aurigae superstantis, equos regentis, vincere cupientis; si haec te, ut dixi, pompa delectat : nec hanc tibi denegavit, qui pompis diaboli renuntiare praecepit. Habemus et nos spiritualem nostrum aurigam sanctum prophetam Eliam, qui quadrigae igneae superimpositus, tantum cucurrit, ut metas prenderet coeli (IV Reg. II, 11). Et si adversarios, quos et vera virtus vicit, et quos ille volando transiit, atque ex quorum victoria palmam supernae celsitudinis accepit,
CHAPTER II. — 3. The shows of the circus are to be fled: there are other shows, wholesome ones, which are seen in the Church. He deters from the theatre of the Scandalista. The bloody contests of the amphitheatre. Hunters fighting with bears. Why should we go through many things? You must be briefly admonished what you ought to spurn and what to love. Flee the shows, dearly beloved, flee the most shameful cages of the devil, lest the chains of the evil one hold you. But if the mind must be delighted, and watching gives pleasure, holy mother Church sets before you venerable and wholesome shows, which both delight your minds with their own delight and do not corrupt but guard the faith in you. Is someone a lover of the circus? What delights him in the circus? To see charioteers contending, crowds panting with insane fury, some swift one going ahead, breaking his adversary's horse. This is the whole delight: to shout because he has won whom the devil has won; to exult and jeer because the opposing side has lost a horse, when he who delights in such a show has lost his mind to vanity. See, by contrast, our holy, healthy, most sweet shows. Behold in the book of the Acts of the Apostles the man lame from his mother's womb, never walking, whom Peter made to run; see suddenly whole the one you saw before infirm (Acts 3:2–8): and if there is soundness of mind in you, if the reason of justice and the delight of salvation shine in you, see what you ought to look upon, see where you ought to cry out: there where sound horses are broken, or here where broken men are saved? But if that pomp delights you, that shape of the horses, the fitting-out of the chariots, the adornment too of the charioteer standing above, guiding the horses, desiring to win; if this pomp, as I said, delights you: not even this has He denied you who commanded you to renounce the pomps of the devil. We too have our spiritual charioteer, the holy prophet Elijah, who, set upon a fiery chariot, ran so far that he reached the goal of heaven (2 Kgs. 2:11). And if the adversaries whom true virtue also conquered, and whom he passed over in flight, and from the victory over whom he received the palm of the height above,
Editors' notes and page, col. 638
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: Quid nobis› · call in col 638
Hic editi addunt, opus est.
Here the printed editions add "opus est" [what need is there for us].
(printed under page 323)
(2) ‹anchor: videre certantes› · call in col 638
Editio Lov. ad marginem habet: « Alias, currentes. »
The Louvain edition has in the margin: "Elsewhere, currentes [racing]."
(printed under page 323)
(3) ‹anchor: delectatur, vanum› · call in col 638
Sic Mss. At editi loco, vanum, habent, jam.
So the manuscripts. But the printed editions have "jam" in place of "vanum".
(printed under page 323)
(4) ‹anchor: figura ea equorum› · call in col 638
In Mss., figurae equorum.
In the manuscripts, "figurae equorum".
(printed under page 323)
Page
- running head: 637 DE SYMBOLO SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS. 638 (running head across the page, cols 637|638)
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
videre desideras : Currus Pharaonis et omnem virtutem ejus projecit in mare (Exod. XV, 4).
you desire to see: The chariots of Pharaoh and all his host He has cast into the sea (Exod. 15:4).
4. Alius fortassis theatri amator admonendus sit, quid fugiat, et quo delectetur; ac sic voluntatem spectandi non perdat, sed mutet. In theatris labes morum, discere turpia, audire inhonesta, videre perniciosa. Sed, adjuvante Domino, ea ex cordibus vestris firmiter repellamus. Singula singulis comparemus. Illic intuentur spectatores propositum nescio quem confictum deum Jovem, et adulterantem, et tonantem : hic respicimus verum Deum Christum, castitatem docentem, immunditiam destruentem, salubria praedicantem. Illic fingitur quod idem Jovis Junonem habeat sororem et conjugem : hic praedicamus sanctam Mariam matrem simul et virginem. Illic stupor ingeritur visui, ex usu hominem in fune ambulantem : hic magnum miraculum, Petrum mare pedibus transeuntem (Matth. XIV, 29). Illic per mimicam turpitudinem castitas violatur : hic per castam Susannam castumque Joseph libido comprimitur (Gen. XXXIX, et Dan. XIII), mors contemnitur, Deus amatur, castitas exaltatur. Chorus illic et cantio pantomimi illicit auditum, sed expugnat sanum affectum : et quid tale nostro cantico comparandum sit, in quo dicit qui amat et cantat, Narraverunt mihi peccatores delectationes suas, sed non ita ut lex tua, Domine; omnia mandata tua veritas (Psal. CXVIII, 85 et 86)? Nam illic universa fingit vanitas. Scandalistarum quis illic forte peritiam admiretur, videre parvulos in area ludentes, diversas historias exhibentes. Sed videte nostrorum lusus infantum. In utero Rebeccae duo certant infantes : procedente majore, minoris manu emissa ex utero, planta majoris apprehensa est (Gen. XXV, 22, 25). In quorum certamine magni sacramenti figura monstrata est, ut minor supplantaret majorem, eique postmodum primatum atque benedictionem auferret. In quibus parvulis quasi ludentibus, et sacramentum, ut dixi, magnum exhibentibus, et reprobi in Esau demonstrantur Judaei, et praedestinati in Jacob apparent Christiani. Ille enim Jacob unus parvulus sic garriens, multos in se praedestinatos etiam parvulos demonstrabat infantes, qui ex utero matris suscipiuntur manibus fidelium, nec eos sic excutiunt, ut in aere pendeant, sed ut renati in coelo vivant. His igitur oblectamentis mens delectetur, pascatur anima christiana; hanc sobrietatem retinens mentis, fugiat ebrietatem diabosi.
4. Another, perhaps, a lover of the theatre, is to be admonished what he should flee and in what he should take delight; and so he will not lose his wish to watch, but change it. In the theatres there is the ruin of morals: to learn shameful things, to hear indecent things, to see pernicious things. But with the Lord's help let us firmly drive these out of your hearts. Let us compare them one by one. There the spectators gaze upon some fabricated god, Jupiter, set before them, both committing adultery and thundering: here we look upon the true God, Christ, teaching chastity, destroying uncleanness, preaching wholesome things. There it is feigned that this same Jupiter has Juno as sister and wife: here we proclaim holy Mary, mother and virgin at once. There amazement is pressed upon the eye, a man walking on a rope by practice: here a great miracle, Peter crossing the sea on foot (Matt. 14:29). There chastity is violated by the mime's obscenity: here, through chaste Susanna and chaste Joseph, lust is repressed (Gen. 39 and Dan. 13), death is despised, God is loved, chastity is exalted. There the chorus and the pantomime's song entice the hearing, but storm the sound affection: and what of that kind could be compared with our song, in which he who loves and sings says: The wicked have told me of their delights, but not as Thy law, O Lord; all Thy commandments are truth (Ps. 118:85–86)? For there vanity feigns everything. Someone there perhaps admires the skill of the Scandalistae, to see little ones playing in the arena, presenting various stories. But see the play of our infants. In Rebecca's womb two infants contend: as the elder comes forth, the hand of the younger, put out from the womb, grasped the sole of the elder's foot (Gen. 25:22, 25). In their contest the figure of a great sacrament was shown, that the younger should supplant the elder and afterwards take from him the primacy and the blessing. In these little ones, as it were playing and presenting, as I said, a great sacrament, both the reprobate Jews are shown in Esau and the predestined Christians appear in Jacob. For that one Jacob, a little one prattling thus, showed in himself many predestined, little infants too, who from their mother's womb are taken up by the hands of the faithful; and these do not toss them so that they hang in the air, but so that, reborn, they may live in heaven. With these entertainments, then, let the mind be delighted, let the Christian soul be fed; keeping this sobriety of mind, let it flee the drunkenness of the devil.
5. Nec amphitheatri certamina seducant aut pertrahant christianum : quo quidem tanto avidius curritur, quanto tardius exhibetur. Sed etiam ibi quid non periculosum ingeritur aspectibus, quid non cruentum? ubi, sicut ait beatissimus Cyprianus, voluntas noxia ad feras homines nullo crimine damnat (Cypr. in epist. 2 ad Donat.). Non ergo vos, dilectissimi, illud spectaculum crudele invitet intueri, novem ursis duos altercantes venatores : sed delectet videre unum nostrum Danielem orando superantem septem leones. Discerne spiritualis amator certamina : vide duos noxios voluntate, vide unum innocentem ac plenum fide. Vide illos pro praemio terreno suas animas bestiis obtulisse : vide istum in oratione clamantem, Ne tradideris bestiis animas confitentes tibi (Psal. LXXIII, 19). In illo spectaculo contristatur editor, si venator evadat illaesus, qui ei plures bestias interemit : in isto nostro sine ferro pugnatur, nec Daniel laeditur, nec fera occiditur; et sic vincitur, ut rex miretur atque mutetur, et populi pertimescant, et inimici dispereant (Dan. XIV, 30-42). Admirabile spectaculum nostrum, plane mirabile, in quo Deus adjuvat, fides vires impetrat, innocentia pugnat, sanctitas vincit, praemium consequitur tale, quod et ille qui vicerit accipiet, et qui donaverit nihil amittet. Ista spiritualia munera concupiscite, ad haec intuenda et cum omni securitate spectanda alacriter ad ecclesiam convenite, ab omni
5. Nor let the contests of the amphitheatre lead astray or drag away the Christian: to which, indeed, people run the more greedily the more rarely it is shown. But even there what is not dangerous, what is not bloody, is forced upon the eyes? where, as the most blessed Cyprian says, a harmful will condemns to the beasts men guilty of no crime (Cyprian, Letter 2, To Donatus). Let not that cruel show, then, invite you, dearly beloved, to gaze on two hunters wrangling with nine bears: but let it delight you to see our one Daniel overcoming seven lions by praying. Distinguish the contests, you lover of the spiritual: see two guilty by their own will, see one innocent and full of faith. See those offering their lives to beasts for an earthly prize: see this man crying out in prayer, Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to Thee (Ps. 73:19). At that show the giver of the games is saddened if the hunter, who has killed several beasts for him, escapes unhurt: in this one of ours the fight is without steel, neither is Daniel hurt nor the beast killed; and the victory is such that the king marvels and is changed, the peoples are struck with fear, and the enemies perish (Dan. 14:30–42). Wonderful is our show, plainly marvellous, in which God helps, faith obtains strength, innocence fights, holiness conquers, and such a prize is won that both he who has conquered will receive it and He who has given it will lose nothing. Desire these spiritual gifts; to behold these and to watch them in all security, gather eagerly at the church, from every
Editors' notes and page, col. 639
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: duos noxios voluntate› · call in col 639
Er. et Mss., voluptate.
Erasmus and the manuscripts: "voluptate" [by pleasure].
(printed under page 324)
(a) ‹anchor: spiritualia munera› · call in col 639
Id est spectacula.
That is, the spectacles.
(printed under page 324)
Page
- running head: 639 DE SYMBOLO SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS. 640 (left half seen: "639 DE SYMBO…")
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
cupiditate carnali propositum cordis revocate, omnem sollicitudinem vestram Deo gubernandam committite : ut adversarius revereatur, nihil in vobis inveniens suum; vosque illum repudiantes, ejusque pompis renuntiantes, posteaquam ab ejus insidiis vestra fuerit eruta libertas, ne vos inveniat vacuos ille nefarius, quem novimus etiam non suos tenere cupientem.
desire of the flesh call back the purpose of your heart, commit all your care to God to be governed: so that the adversary may stand in awe, finding nothing of his own in you; and that, as you repudiate him and renounce his pomps, once your freedom has been rescued from his snares, that wicked one may not find you empty, he whom we know to desire to hold even those who are not his.
CAPUT III. — 6. Omnipotentia Dei probatur ex creatione rerum de nihilo. Trinitas. Filium quoque esse Deum omnipotentem, aeternum et aequalem Patri. Fideliter credite in Deum Patrem omnipotentem. Omnipotentem Deum credimus, qui omnia faciens factus non est : et ideo omnipotens est, quia de nihilo fecit quaecumque fecit. Non enim eum aliqua materies adjuvit, ex qua demonstraret artis suae potentiam : sed ex nihilo, ut dixi, cuncta creavit. Hoc est enim esse omnipotentem, ut non solum fabrica ipsa, sed etiam materies ab illo inveniatur esse, qui non habuit initium ut esset; et is qui sempiternus est, crearet, non id quod ipse esset, sed ut ab illo essent jam accepisse. Omne enim quod est, ab illo est : ipse autem a seipso est, qui non ab aliquo factus est. Fecit ergo facta non factus, creavit creaturam non creatus : qui etiam ipsi creaturae convenientibus gradibus per diversas ordinationes constituit potestates. Potest quippe secundum datam potestatem quilibet angelus vel homo dici potens; sed numquid potest dici omnipotens? Potest dici rex vel imperator, quod multa quae velit possit : non tamen eum qui sanum sapit, audebit dicere omnipotentem; nam si voluerit eum adulando ita laudare, incipit et illum et se ipsum fallendo decipere. Quomodo enim audebit dicere omnipotentem, quem videt multum velle vivere et vitam succedente morte finire? Si omnipotens est, non moriatur, a morte excludatur. Si autem ei mors terminum dabit, omnipotentem eum non fuisse ipsa mors demonstrabit. Non ergo quispiam audebit quamlibet creaturam, sive coelestem sive terrestrem, dicere omnipotentem, nisi solam Trinitatem; Patrem scilicet, et Filium, et Spiritum sanctum.
CHAPTER III. — 6. The omnipotence of God is proved from the creation of things out of nothing. The Trinity. That the Son too is God almighty, eternal and equal to the Father. Believe faithfully in God the Father almighty. We believe God almighty, who making all things was not made: and therefore He is almighty, because He made out of nothing whatever He made. For no material helped Him, from which He might show the power of His craft: but out of nothing, as I said, He created all things. For this is to be almighty: that not only the workmanship itself but also the material is found to come from Him who had no beginning that He might be; and that He who is everlasting should create, not what He Himself was, but that things should already have received from Him that they were. For everything that is, is from Him: but He is from Himself, who was made by no one. He made things made, then, not made; He created the creature, not created: who also established powers in the creation itself, by fitting degrees, through different orders. For according to the power given him any angel or man can be called powerful; but can he be called almighty? A king or emperor can be called so, because he can do many things he wishes: yet one who thinks soundly will not dare to call him almighty; for if he chooses to praise him so by flattering him, he begins to deceive both him and himself by falsehood. For how will he dare to call almighty one whom he sees greatly wishing to live, and ending his life as death comes on? If he is almighty, let him not die, let him be shut out from death. But if death will set an end to him, death itself will show that he was not almighty. No one, then, will dare to call any creature at all, whether heavenly or earthly, almighty, but the Trinity alone; namely the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
7. Non enim, cum dicimus nos credere in Deum Patrem omnipotentem, sicut haeretici Ariani, negamus Filium omnipotentem, aut Spiritum sanctum negamus omnipotentem. Si Filium negaveris omnipotentem, negabis et Patrem omnipotentem. Sed major est, inquiunt, Pater, minor est Filius. Hoc in hominibus, hoc in omnibus, et tu in omnibus perturbaris. Divinam naturam considera, Deum attende, sempiternum cogita : nam vane conturbaris. Si sempiternus est Pater, sempiternus est utique et Filius. Si enim fuit Filius quando non fuit Filius, fuit et Pater quando non fuit Pater : quod si fuit aliquando Pater non Pater, non fuit omnipotens; minus enim habuit in eo quod postea effectus est Pater. Si das initium Filio, das initium et Patri. Pater enim a Filio appellatus est Pater. Si autem semper fuit Pater, semper fuit et Filius. Et si Deus est Pater, Deus est et Filius : non enim aliud potuit procedere de Deo quam Deus. Quod si Deus est Pater, Deus est et Filius; et si sempiternus est Pater, sempiternus est et Filius : quem non praecessit aetate nec dignitate, non eum minuit aequalitate. Apostolum audi quid de Deo Filio dicat : Cum in forma Dei esset, inquit, non rapinam arbitratus est esse aequalis Deo (Philipp. II, 6). Non rapuit, quia naturaliter habuit. Omnipotentia itaque Patris in Filio, omnipotentia Filii in Patre; quia neque aliquando Pater sine Filio, neque aliquando Filius sine Patre. Divinam illam nativitatem qua Filius processit ex Patre, qua natus est Deus de Deo, sine initio, sine tempore, sine matre, sine aliqua fragilitate, sine ulla sui diminutione, non possumus explicare : Nativitatem autem ejus, ait propheta, quis enarrabit (Isai. LIII, 8)? Et revera
7. For when we say that we believe in God the Father almighty, we do not, like the Arian heretics, deny that the Son is almighty, or deny that the Holy Spirit is almighty. If you deny that the Son is almighty, you will deny that the Father too is almighty. But the Father, they say, is greater, the Son is less. This among men, this in all things, and you are thrown into confusion in all things. Consider the divine nature, attend to God, think of the everlasting: for you are troubled in vain. If the Father is everlasting, the Son too is surely everlasting. For if there was a Son when there was no Son, there was also a Father when there was no Father: but if the Father was once not Father, He was not almighty; for He had less in that He was afterwards made Father. If you give the Son a beginning, you give the Father a beginning too. For the Father is called Father from the Son. But if the Father always was, the Son too always was. And if the Father is God, the Son too is God: for nothing other than God could proceed from God. But if the Father is God, the Son too is God; and if the Father is everlasting, the Son too is everlasting: Him He did not precede in age nor in dignity, nor did He lessen Him in equality. Hear what the Apostle says of God the Son: Who, being in the form of God, he says, thought it not robbery to be equal with God (Phil. 2:6). He did not seize it, because He had it by nature. The omnipotence of the Father, then, is in the Son, the omnipotence of the Son in the Father; for never was the Father without the Son, nor ever the Son without the Father. That divine birth by which the Son proceeded from the Father, by which God was born of God, without beginning, without time, without mother, without any frailty, without any diminution of Himself, we cannot unfold: But His generation, says the prophet, who shall declare (Isa. 53:8)? And truly
Editors' notes and page, col. 640
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 640
Locus perplexus, in quo Fuliensium codex omittit, sed ut ab illo essent, jam accepisse.
A tangled passage, in which the Feuillants' manuscript omits "sed ut ab illo essent, jam accepisse".
(printed under page 324)
(2) ‹anchor: a morte excludatur› · call in col 640
Mss., a morte non excludatur.
The manuscripts: "a morte non excludatur" [is not shut out from death].
(printed under page 324)
(3) ‹anchor: non eum› · call in col 640
Mss., non enim. Sic etiam editio Er. quae deinde sola prosequitur, minuit aequalitatem.
The manuscripts: "non enim". So too Erasmus's edition, which then alone goes on "minuit aequalitatem".
(printed under page 324)
Page
- running head: 639 DE SYMBOLO SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS. 640 (right half seen: "… SYMBOLO 640")
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
quis comprehendere vel dicere potest quomodo natus sit, qui semper est in Patre, et nunquam recedit a Patre? Digne, ut dixi, non possumus enarrare : sed debemus corda nostra ipsi Filio praeparare; ut illuminando et per fidem gubernando perducat nos ad speciem veritatis suae, ne remaneamus in tenebris infidelitatis nostrae, ne aliud aestimando de Filio quam quod est Pater, ipse Filius non docendo, sed increpando nos admoneat sicut Philippum, dicens, Philippe, qui vidit me, vidit et Patrem. Annon agnoscis quia ego in Patre, et Pater in me est (Joan. XIV, 9, 10)? Sicut ergo Deus de Deo natus est, et lux de lumine, et dies ex die; ita et Omnipotens ex omnipotente. In ista enim mortali nostra generatione qui est pater, aliquando non fuit pater; et qui est filius, non semper est filius : quia et ipse filius cum accessu temporis patrem amiserit, conjugem acceperit, prolemque susceperit, non erit filius, sed ipse vocabitur pater; et quilibet pater antequam suscipiat filium, non vocabitur pater. Accedit ergo aliquid tempore, quod praecedat tempore. Non ergo aestimemus hoc in illa divinitatis esse substantia, in illa generatione sempiterna. Non enim illic deficiendo moritur Pater, ut Filius crescendo perveniat ad Patris dignitatem; aut sunt ibi tempora, quia per ipsum facta sunt tempora.
who can comprehend or tell how He was born who is ever in the Father and never withdraws from the Father? Worthily, as I said, we cannot tell it: but we ought to prepare our hearts for the Son Himself, so that by enlightening us and governing us through faith He may lead us to the sight of His truth; lest we remain in the darkness of our unbelief, lest, by thinking the Son other than what the Father is, the Son Himself admonish us, not by teaching but by rebuking, as He did Philip, saying: Philip, he who has seen Me has seen the Father also. Do you not know that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me (John 14:9–10)? As, then, God was born of God, and light of light, and day of day, so too the Almighty of the almighty. For in this mortal generation of ours he who is a father was once not a father; and he who is a son is not always a son: for when the son himself, with the passing of time, has lost his father, taken a wife and received offspring, he will not be a son, but he himself will be called father; and any father, before he receives a son, will not be called father. Something, then, is added in time, so that it may go before in time. Let us not think, then, that this is so in that substance of the Godhead, in that everlasting generation. For there the Father does not die by failing, so that the Son by growing may come to the Father's dignity; nor are there times there, for through Him the times were made.
CAPUT IV. — 8. Idem contra Arianos confirmatur. Trinitatem totam esse Deum omnipotentem. Trinitas judex. Tota Trinitas omnipotens, immortalis et invisibilis. Idola cordium. In quo autem tu, haeretice, audes dicere Filium minorem, quem nos confitemur aequalem? In aetate? Non ibi sunt tempora. In divinitate? Deus est Pater, Deus est et Filius. In opere? Omnia per Filium facta sunt. Dicit quidem Scriptura, quod Deus fecerit mundum, sicut scriptum est in libro Geneseos, In principio fecit Deus coelum et terram (Gen. I, 1) : sed nos audientes Deum Patrem, cognoscimus Filium et Spiritum sanctum. Tu forsitan dicis, Deus Pater fecit mundum. Sed audi quid Joannes evangelista dicat : In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil (Joan. I, 1, 2). Ecce, sine Filio dicit nihil esse factum; quoniam omnia per ipsum facta sunt. Si sine Filio factum est nihil, quid fecit Pater quod non fecit Filius, de quo dicit Evangelista quod sine Filio factum est nihil? Si autem, sicut vera fides catholica habet, in Filio operante constituas Patrem, et in Patre operante constituas Filium, quoniam Filius in Patre est et Pater in Filio, omnipotens invenietur Filius, si in ipso omnipotens est Pater : si autem non est omnipotens Filius, ut praedicat haereticus arianus, non est in illo omnipotens Pater, falsumque erit secundum ipsos quod ipse Filius ait, Ego in Patre, et Pater in me est. Absit autem ut falsum sit quod Veritas dicit : confundatur arianus, qui veritati contradicit.
CHAPTER IV. — 8. The same is confirmed against the Arians. That the whole Trinity is God almighty. The Trinity is judge. The whole Trinity almighty, immortal and invisible. The idols of hearts. But in what do you, heretic, dare to call the Son less, whom we confess equal? In age? There are no times there. In godhead? The Father is God, the Son too is God. In work? All things were made through the Son. Scripture indeed says that God made the world, as it is written in the book of Genesis: In the beginning God made heaven and earth (Gen. 1:1): but we, hearing God the Father, recognize the Son and the Holy Spirit. Perhaps you say: God the Father made the world. But hear what John the evangelist says: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was made nothing (John 1:1–3). See, he says that without the Son nothing was made; for all things were made through Him. If without the Son nothing was made, what did the Father make that the Son did not make, of whom the Evangelist says that without the Son nothing was made? But if, as the true catholic faith holds, you place the Father in the Son as He works, and place the Son in the Father as He works, since the Son is in the Father and the Father in the Son, the Son will be found almighty, if the almighty Father is in Him: but if the Son is not almighty, as the Arian heretic preaches, the almighty Father is not in Him, and by their account what the Son Himself says will be false: I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me. But far be it that what the Truth says should be false: let the Arian be confounded, who contradicts the truth.
9. Demonstremus tamen ex Scripturis dictum Filium omnipotentem sicut et Patrem, ut non solum ratio vera, sed etiam divina testimonia haereticorum frontem percutiant impudentem. Dictus est Pater omnipotens, propheta dicente, Haec dicit Dominus omnipotens (I Cor. VI, 18). Dictus est et Filius omnipotens, Joanne apostolo in Apocalypsi dicente, Ab Jesu Christo Domino nostro, qui est, et qui fuit, et qui venturus est omnipotens (Apoc. I, 5, 8). Dictus est et Spiritus sanctus omnipotens, Salomone prophetante, Spiritus Domini replevit orbem terrarum, et is qui continet omnia, scientiam habet (Sap. I, 7). Annon est omnipotens qui continet omnia? Dicit enim Scriptura quod Deus judex sit, dicente Apostolo, Omnes astabimus ante tribunal Christi, ut referat unusquisque secundum ea quae per corpus gessit, sive bonum, sive malum (II Cor. V, 10). Sed nos quando audimus Deum judicem, totam intelligimus Trinitatem. Tu autem, haeretice, dic quis sit iste Deus judex; Pater, an Filius? Si dixeris, Pater est; negas Filium judicem, quem in Symbolo etiam tu confiteris venturum vivos mortuosque
9. Let us show, however, from the Scriptures that the Son is called almighty, just as the Father is, so that not only true reason but also the divine testimonies may strike the shameless brow of the heretics. The Father is called almighty, as the prophet says: Thus says the Lord almighty (2 Cor. 6:18). The Son too is called almighty, as the apostle John says in the Apocalypse: From Jesus Christ our Lord, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the almighty (Rev. 1:5, 8). The Holy Spirit too is called almighty, as Solomon prophesies: The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world, and that which contains all things has knowledge (Wis. 1:7). Is not He almighty who contains all things? For Scripture says that God is judge, as the Apostle says: We shall all stand before the judgement seat of Christ, that each may receive according to what he has done through the body, whether good or evil (2 Cor. 5:10). But we, when we hear of God the judge, understand the whole Trinity. But you, heretic, say who this God the judge is: the Father or the Son? If you say, It is the Father, you deny that the Son is judge, who, as even you confess in the Creed, is to come [to judge] the living and the dead
Editors' notes and page, col. 641
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 641
Sic melioris notae Mss. juxta graecum. At editi bis, videt.
So the manuscripts of better standing, following the Greek. But the printed editions have "videt" twice.
(printed under page 325)
Page
- running head: 641 SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS. 642 (left half seen: "641 SERMO AD CATEC…")
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: the reference after "Haec dicit Dominus omnipotens" is printed "I Cor. VI, 18"; the words are II Cor. VI, 18 (a figure missing or worn): set as printed, logged in misprints.tsv, English gives 2 Cor 6:18.
judicaturum. Contradicis etiam Evangelio dicenti, Cum Filius hominis venerit in claritate sua, congregabuntur ante eum omnes gentes; et separabit eos ab invicem, sicut separat pastor oves ab haedis. In quo loco ab Evangelista expressius judex demonstratus est Filius, ut etiam ejusdem judicis sententia panderetur, dicentis, Ibunt impii in combustionem aeternam, justi autem in vitam aeternam (Matth. XXV, 31, 32, 46). Quod si nolens obsistere tantae auctoritati dixeris Filium judicem, Patrem ergo negabis judicem? Non, inquis, nego Patrem judicem. Quomodo non negas? Quia Pater, inquis, potestatem dedit, Filius accepit. Video quidem, haeretice, quo strabis oculis intendas, quo perversae mentis aciem intentionis dirigas. Recitaturus enim mihi es ex Evangelio et dicturus : Pater non judicat quemquam, sed omne judicium dedit Filio (Joan. V, 22). In eo, inquis, quod Pater dedit, Filius accepit, major est utique qui dat, quam qui accipit : major est Pater, minor est Filius. Non ex hac sententia glorietur tua vanitas; quoniam ex ipsa te nunc divina convincit auctoritas. Pater, inquis, non judicat quemquam, sed omne judicium dedit Filio. Cognoscimus : novit quippe sana fides quomodo hoc intelligat. Homo enim ille susceptus, qui etiam ipse appellatus est Dei Filius, accepit potestatem, sed dante Patre et Filio; quoniam Filius in Patre est, et Pater in Filio. Caeterum si tu, haeretice, secundum illam perversam vestram doctrinam illi hoc volueris assignare divinitati, qua Filius aequalis est Patri, quaero abs te diligentius, et ut mihi respondeas celeriter insistam, quis sit ille qui in libro Deuteronomii Moysi dicebat, In die judicii reddam illis. Non potes dicere, Pater est; quoniam secundum Evangelii sententiam a te prolatam, Pater non judicat quemquam. Ergo Filius est qui dicebat, In die judicii reddam illis. Filius est? Responde, quid dubitas? Filius hoc dixit, annon? Non est quod dicas nisi Filium dixisse, In die judicii reddam illis; quoniam Pater non judicat quemquam. Sed vide sequentia libri hujus, quemadmodum te provocet, quemadmodum convincat. Cum enim dixisset, In die judicii reddam illis; post paululum secutus adjunxit, Videte, videte, inquit, quoniam ego sum Deus, et non est alius praeter me (Deut. XXXII, 35, 39). Quid agis, ariane? Non est qua exeas. Dic, si audes, Filium solum hoc dixisse, et negabis Patrem, nec Deum esse, nec judicem. Depone vel nunc convictus animositatem, audi veritatem, intellige Deum judicem Trinitatem. Audi quod et Spiritus sanctus judex sit. Ipse Dominus in Evangelio ait : Cum venerit Paracletus, ipse arguet mundum de peccato, de justitia, et de judicio (Joan. XVI, 8). Quid quaeris amplius? Item demonstrat Scriptura divina quod simul habitet Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus in homine, tanquam in templo suo. In Evangelio Filius, Si quis me, inquit, diligit, diligetur a Patre meo; et veniemus ad eum ego et Pater, et mansionem apud illum faciemus (Id. XIV, 23). Ecce Pater et Filius : quid Spiritus sanctus? Apostolum audi : Nescitis, inquit, quia templum Dei estis, et Spiritus Dei habitat in vobis (I Cor. III, 16)? Item demonstratur quod simul deserat impios Pater et Filius et Spiritus sanctus. Salomon propheta, Perversae, inquit, cogitationes separant a Deo. Ecce Deus Pater deserens perversas cogitationes. Quid Deus Filius? Sequitur : Quoniam in malevolam animam non introibit sapientia. Christus est enim Dei Virtus et Dei Sapientia (Id. I, 24). Ecce et Filius deserit malevolam animam, in qua sunt perversae cogitationes, quas deseruit Pater. Restat de Spiritu sancto. Audi post paululum quid sequatur : Sanctus, inquit, Spiritus disciplinae effugiet fictum, et auferet se a cogitationibus quae sunt sine intellectu (Sap. I, 3-5). Audi, sine intellectu deserere hominem Spiritum sanctum. Quando ista idem ipse Spiritus sanctus per Prophetam dicebat, vos praevidebat. Ecce jam illa inseparabilis Trinitas testimoniis divinarum Scripturarum demonstratur, quod simul habitet, simul regnet, simul possideat, simul deserat : quam vos, Ariani, separando et per diversos gradus Filio et Spiritui sancto injurias irrogando, non in vobis habitare
to judge. You contradict also the Gospel, which says: When the Son of Man comes in His glory, all nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. In this place the Son is shown by the Evangelist more expressly as judge, so that the sentence of the same judge might also be laid open, as He says: The wicked will go into everlasting burning, but the just into everlasting life (Matt. 25:31, 32, 46). But if, not wishing to resist so great an authority, you say that the Son is judge, will you then deny that the Father is judge? No, you say, I do not deny that the Father is judge. How do you not deny it? Because, you say, the Father gave the power, the Son received it. I see indeed, heretic, where you aim with squinting eyes, where you direct the edge of your perverse mind's intent. For you are about to recite to me from the Gospel and to say: The Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son (John 5:22). In that, you say, the Father gave and the Son received, surely he who gives is greater than he who receives: the Father is greater, the Son is less. Let your vanity not glory in this saying; for by it the divine authority now convicts you. The Father, you say, judges no one, but has given all judgement to the Son. We know it: for sound faith knows how to understand this. For that Man who was assumed, who is Himself also called the Son of God, received the power, but given by the Father and the Son; since the Son is in the Father, and the Father in the Son. But if you, heretic, according to that perverse doctrine of yours, wish to assign this to that Godhead by which the Son is equal to the Father, I ask of you more carefully, and I shall press you to answer me quickly, who it is that said to Moses in the book of Deuteronomy: In the day of judgement I will repay them. You cannot say, It is the Father; since according to the Gospel saying brought forward by you, The Father judges no one. So it is the Son who said: In the day of judgement I will repay them. It is the Son? Answer, why do you hesitate? Did the Son say this, or not? There is nothing you can say but that the Son said: In the day of judgement I will repay them; since the Father judges no one. But see what follows in this book, how it challenges you, how it convicts you. For when He had said, In the day of judgement I will repay them, a little after He went on to add: See, see, He says, that I am God, and there is no other besides Me (Deut. 32:35, 39). What will you do, Arian? There is no way out for you. Say, if you dare, that the Son alone said this, and you will deny that the Father is either God or judge. Lay aside your animosity, convicted at least now, hear the truth, understand that the Trinity is God the judge. Hear that the Holy Spirit too is judge. The Lord Himself says in the Gospel: When the Paraclete comes, He will convict the world of sin, of justice, and of judgement (John 16:8). What more do you seek? Again, divine Scripture shows that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit dwell together in man, as in Their temple. In the Gospel the Son says: If anyone loves Me, he will be loved by My Father; and We will come to him, I and the Father, and make Our abode with him (John 14:23). See the Father and the Son: what of the Holy Spirit? Hear the Apostle: Do you not know, he says, that you are the temple of God, and the Spirit of God dwells in you (1 Cor. 3:16)? Again it is shown that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit together abandon the wicked. Solomon the prophet says: Perverse thoughts separate from God. See God the Father abandoning perverse thoughts. What of God the Son? It follows: For wisdom will not enter into a malevolent soul. For Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24). See, the Son too abandons the malevolent soul in which are the perverse thoughts which the Father abandoned. It remains to speak of the Holy Spirit. Hear what follows a little after: For the holy Spirit of discipline, it says, will flee the deceitful, and will withdraw himself from thoughts that are without understanding (Wis. 1:3–5). Hear: the Holy Spirit abandons a man without understanding. When this same Holy Spirit said these things through the Prophet, He foresaw you. See, now that inseparable Trinity is shown by the testimonies of the divine Scriptures to dwell together, reign together, possess together, abandon together: which you, Arians, by separating it and by inflicting injuries on the Son and the Holy Spirit through different degrees, [cause] not to dwell in you
Editors' notes and page, col. 642
Page
- running head: 641 SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS. 642 (right half seen: "…D CATECHUMENOS. 642")
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: Column opens "tuosque", the end of "mor-|tuosque" split from col 641; set whole as "mortuosque" at the foot of col 641 (that file rewritten), so this column is set from "judicaturum". "(Id. XIV, 23)" = John; "(Id. I, 24)" = 1 Cor 1:24 (Id. after I Cor.); final figure read as 24, could be 21. Column ends mid-sentence "non in vobis habitare".
sinitis : quoniam et Deus Pater aufert se a cogitationibus perversis quae sunt in vobis : et in malevolam animam non introibit sapientia; quia per vestrae animae malitiam sicut Filium a Patre, ita gregem separatis a summo pastore : et Spiritus sanctus effugiet fictum, id est, fictionem perversae vestrae doctrinae, in qua demonstratum est, nec Patrem, nec Filium, neque manere Spiritum sanctum.
do not allow: since both God the Father withdraws Himself from the perverse thoughts that are in you, and wisdom will not enter into a malevolent soul; for by the malice of your soul, as you separate the Son from the Father, so you separate the flock from the supreme shepherd: and the Holy Spirit will flee the deceitful, that is, the fiction of your perverse doctrine, in which it has been shown that neither the Father, nor the Son, nor the Holy Spirit abides.
10. Quoniam igitur de unitate agitur Trinitatis, Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti, quam unitatem non audemus dicere tres deos, nec tres omnipotentes, nec tres invisibiles, nec tres immortales, sed unum Deum, de quo dicit Apostolus, Immortali, invisibili, incorruptibili soli Deo honor et gloria (I Tim. I, 17) : non ergo nobis ipsis fingamus Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti diversas dignitates, separabiles et inaequales aetates, ampliores et infirmas potestates, ne quod ipse Dominus Salvator noster virtute ac majestate sua idola eradicavit et templa, rursus in cordibus Christianorum diabolus fabricet idola. Fides itaque catholica haec est : Omnipotentem, immortalem, atque invisibilem credere Deum Patrem : omnipotentem, immortalem, atque invisibilem credere Deum Filium, secundum divinam nativitatem; visibilem autem, mortalem, minoremque angelis factum secundum susceptam humanitatem : omnipotentem, immortalem atque invisibilem credere Spiritum sanctum secundum aequalem divinitatem; visum autem in specie columbae propter Filii attestationem (Matth. III, 16). Et haec est Trinitas simplex unitas, inseparabilis, inenarrabilis, semper manens, semper praesens, ubique regnans, unus Deus, de quo propheta David dicit : Tu es solus Deus magnus (Psal. LXXXV, 10).
10. Since, then, the matter in hand is the unity of the Trinity, of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, which unity we do not dare to call three gods, nor three almighties, nor three invisibles, nor three immortals, but one God, of whom the Apostle says: To the immortal, invisible, incorruptible, only God be honour and glory (1 Tim. 1:17): let us not, then, invent for ourselves different dignities of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, separable and unequal ages, greater and weaker powers, lest what the Lord our Saviour Himself rooted out by His power and majesty, the idols and the temples, the devil should build again as idols in the hearts of Christians. This, then, is the catholic faith: to believe God the Father almighty, immortal and invisible; to believe God the Son almighty, immortal and invisible according to His divine birth, but visible, mortal and made lower than the angels according to the humanity He assumed; to believe the Holy Spirit almighty, immortal and invisible according to His equal Godhead, but seen in the form of a dove to bear witness to the Son (Matt. 3:16). And this Trinity is a simple unity, inseparable, unspeakable, ever abiding, ever present, reigning everywhere, one God, of whom the prophet David says: Thou alone art the great God (Ps. 85:10).
CAPUT V. — 11. Nativitas Filii ex virgine. Signa in Christi nativitate. Infanticidium. Puer Jesus in medio doctorum inventus. Aquae in vinum conversio. Credimus in Filium ejus Jesum Christum, natum de Spiritu sancto ex virgine Maria. Hanc nativitatem, incredule, quid expavescis? Noli credere, si tantum homo erat qui natus est : si autem Deus homo erat, de qua voluit natus est, quia sicut voluit natus est. Illud potius mirare, quia Verbum suscepit carnem : nec est mutatum in carnem, quia manens Deus suscepit hominem. Caeterum quid miraris, quia genitrix suum genuit genitorem, quia creavit creatura factorem? Sic voluit nasci excelsus humilis, ut in ipsa humilitate ostenderet majestatem. Portabat filium mater intacta, mirabatur et ipsa in aspectu suae prolis, quam amplexus non strinxerat maritalis. Sed, incredule, audi praedictum, cognosce impletum. David propheta dicit, Mater Sion, dicet homo; et homo factus est in ea, et ipse fundavit eam Altissimus (Psal. LXXXVI, 5). Ipse qui fundavit eam Altissimus, ipse in ea factus est homo : Altissimus, quia talem matrem creavit; Altissimus, quia sic se in ea formavit, ut procedens ex ejus utero, et filium ejus redderet, et integritatem non corrumperet. Quae est gratia matris hujus et virginis? Quae est gratia hujus feminae, quae virum nesciens filium portat? Quae est gratia? Audite Gabrielem angelum eam salutantem : Ave, inquit, gratia plena, Dominus tecum (Luc. I, 28). Quando Angelus istam virginem sic salutavit, tunc eam Spiritus sanctus fecundavit : tunc illa femina virum sine viro concepit, tunc repleta est gratia, tunc Dominum suscepit, ut esset in ea qui fecerat eam. Neque enim, dilectissimi, credendum est, quod illo jam praesente ac protegente poterat illi feminae dominari corruptio, in qua non erat ardoris libido.
CHAPTER V. — 11. The birth of the Son from the virgin. The signs at Christ's birth. The slaughter of the infants. The boy Jesus found in the midst of the doctors. The changing of water into wine. We believe in His Son Jesus Christ, born of the Holy Spirit from the virgin Mary. Why, unbeliever, do you take fright at this birth? Do not believe it, if He who was born was only a man: but if God was man, He was born of whom He willed, because He was born as He willed. Wonder rather at this, that the Word took flesh: and was not changed into flesh, because, remaining God, He took man. For the rest, why do you wonder that the mother bore her own begetter, that the creature created her maker? The Most High willed to be born lowly in such a way as to show His majesty in that very lowliness. The untouched mother carried a son, and she herself marvelled at the sight of her offspring, she whom no husband's embrace had clasped. But, unbeliever, hear what was foretold, recognize it fulfilled. The prophet David says: Mother Sion, a man shall say; and a man was made in her, and the Most High Himself founded her (Ps. 86:5). The Most High who founded her, He Himself was made man in her: the Most High, because He created such a mother; the Most High, because He so formed Himself in her that, coming forth from her womb, He both rendered her a son and did not corrupt her integrity. What is the grace of this mother and virgin? What is the grace of this woman, who, knowing not a man, carries a son? What is the grace? Hear the angel Gabriel greeting her: Hail, he says, full of grace, the Lord is with you (Luke 1:28). When the Angel greeted this virgin thus, then the Holy Spirit made her fruitful: then that woman conceived a man without a man, then she was filled with grace, then she received the Lord, so that He who had made her might be in her. For we must not believe, dearly beloved, that with Him already present and protecting, corruption could have dominion over that woman, in whom there was no lust of passion.
12. Noverit tamen quem portavit Virgo mater, noverit, stupor abscedat, fides accedat. Ecce quem portat nascitur; nondum loquitur, et totum concutit mundum. Clamat coelum, novi sideris radians fulgore : clamat terra, turbata per Herodem; veniunt Magi admoniti, inquirunt Judaei turbati; quaerunt ubi esset qui ubique totus est, quaeritur in mundo fabricator mundi. Ad hoc autem quaerebatur non ut agnosceretur
12. Yet let her know whom she carried, the Virgin mother, let her know; let amazement depart, let faith draw near. See, He whom she carries is born; He does not yet speak, and He shakes the whole world. Heaven cries out, shining with the brightness of a new star: earth cries out, troubled by Herod; the Magi come, forewarned, the Jews inquire, troubled; they seek where He might be who is whole everywhere; the maker of the world is sought in the world. Yet He was sought for this, not that He might be acknowledged
Editors' notes and page, col. 643
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 643
Mss., non in vobis habitat.
The manuscripts: "non in vobis habitat" [does not dwell in you].
(printed under page 326)
Page
- running head: 643 DE SYMBOLO SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS. 644 (left half seen: "643 DE SYMBOL…")
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
, sed ut occideretur (Matth. II) : quia mundus per eum factus est, et mundus eum non cognovit (Joan. I, 10). O munde immunde, venit qui te redimat, et turbaris; et tunc eum vis perdere, quando ille te disposuit liberare! O Judaeorum terra impia, non congruis coelo. Coelum demonstrat, ut adoretur; tu quaeris, ut infans necetur. Ille tibi annuntiat Deum hominem suscepisse pro te, et tu vis perdere eum qui venit redimere te. Exspecta paululum; ad hoc quidem venit, ut tuam etiam pessimam impleat voluntatem : sed sustine, ut suam ille colligat haereditatem. Collige, collige, Redemptor : non glorietur dispersor. Vindica in eos qui te parvulum persequuntur, parvuli ipsorum pro te moriantur. Si ipsi in te crudeles existunt, parvuli ipsorum pro te moriantur. Vindica, sic vindica. Insultent filii parentibus nondum loquentes, convincant saevientes : infantes dicant testimonium de tua innocentia, quia non est in te ulla malitia; et ii qui te volunt innocentem occidi, hoc eis proveniat, ut suos parvulos ab eis facias separari. Lugeatis licet Judaei atque plangatis filios vestros, non illi moriuntur, quia a vita suscipiuntur : vobis irrogatur poena orbitatis, caeterum illis gloria offertur immortalitatis. Nuntiastis Herodi ubi occidendus inveniri potest Filius Dei : sed ille filios vestros occidens pro Filio Dei, et vos orbitatis poena nesciens punit tanquam proditores, et filios vestros Dei fecit haeredes. Sic vos irridebat ille, ille qui habitans in coelo, jacebat in terra : sic furias vestras vestrique regis subsannabat, quando mala vestra in vos retorquebat, et de malis vestris multa ille bona faciebat.
but that He might be killed (Matt. 2): for the world was made through Him, and the world knew Him not (John 1:10). O unclean world, He comes to redeem you, and you are troubled; and you wish to destroy Him at the very time when He has determined to free you! O impious land of the Jews, you do not agree with heaven. Heaven points Him out, that He may be adored; you seek Him, that the infant may be slain. It announces to you that God has taken man for your sake, and you wish to destroy Him who comes to redeem you. Wait a little; He has come for this indeed, to fulfil even your most wicked will: but bear it, that He may gather His inheritance. Gather, gather, Redeemer: let not the scatterer glory. Avenge Thyself on those who persecute Thee as a little one: let their little ones die for Thee. If they are cruel to Thee, let their little ones die for Thee. Avenge, avenge in this way. Let the sons, not yet speaking, mock their parents, let them convict the raging: let the infants bear witness to Thy innocence, that there is no malice in Thee; and to those who wish Thee, the innocent, to be killed, let this befall, that Thou cause their little ones to be separated from them. You may mourn, Jews, and lament your sons; they do not die, for they are taken up by life: on you is inflicted the punishment of bereavement, but to them is offered the glory of immortality. You told Herod where the Son of God, who was to be killed, could be found: but he, killing your sons in place of the Son of God, both unknowingly punished you as traitors with the penalty of bereavement and made your sons heirs of God. Thus He mocked you, He who, dwelling in heaven, lay upon the earth: thus He laughed to scorn your fury and your king's, when He turned your evils back upon you, and out of your evils made many goods.
13. Agnovisti, Virgo mater, filii tui infantiam, agnosce et pueritiam. Evangelium loquitur : Perrexerunt, ait, cum puero Jesu parentes ejus in Jerusalem, ut pro eo offerrent sacrificium secundum legem. Et factum est remeantibus illis, puer Jesus remansit in templo : et erat disputans cum senioribus et scribis; et mirabantur omnes in sapientia quae erat in eo, et turbabat multos. Sed cum reversi essent quaerentes illum, invenerunt illum sedentem in medio seniorum, interrogantem et respondentem illis. Et ait illi illa mater : Fili, quid fecisti nobis? Ecce enim solliciti et anxii quaerebamus te. Tunc ille : Quid sollicita eras, inquit? nescis quia oportet me in his quae Patris mei sunt operari (Luc. II, 43-49)? Quando talia mater a puero filio audivit, corde expavit : non enim patrem nominabat ille quem nesciebat in terra, sed illum qui fecit coelum et terram.
13. You have come to know, Virgin mother, your son's infancy; come to know also His boyhood. The Gospel speaks: His parents, it says, went with the boy Jesus to Jerusalem, to offer sacrifice for Him according to the law. And it came to pass, as they returned, the boy Jesus remained in the temple: and He was disputing with the elders and the scribes; and all marvelled at the wisdom that was in Him, and He troubled many. But when they had gone back seeking Him, they found Him sitting in the midst of the elders, questioning them and answering them. And His mother said to Him: Son, what have You done to us? For see, anxious and troubled we were seeking You. Then He said: Why were you anxious? Do you not know that I must be at work in the things that are My Father's (Luke 2:43–49)? When the mother heard such things from her boy son, she trembled at heart: for He was not naming a father whom He did not know on earth, but Him who made heaven and earth.
14. Agnoscat et ejus adolescentiam, videat multa et magna miracula, conversionem aquarum in vinum. In quo primo miraculo tentavit illa femina jubere se filio posse tanquam mater domina quae se agnoscebat ancillam. Fili, ait, deficit illis vinum, fac rursus ut aquae convertantur in vinum. Et ille ut distingueret inter Deum et hominem, quia secundum hominem minor erat, secundum hominem subditus erat, secundum Deum autem supra omnes erat (Joan. II, 3, 4) : Quid mihi et tibi, inquit, mulier? nondum venit hora mea. Tanquam ei diceret : Veniet hora, quando id quod natum est de te in cruce pendens agnoscat te, et discipulo dilecto commendet te; in hoc autem miraculo quid mihi et tibi? Non enim hoc processit ex te, sed ex eo qui fecit te : non competit tibi ut jubeas Deo, competit autem ut subdita sis Deo. Sed pia mater quae non aspere tulit admonitionem filii dicentis, Quid mihi et tibi? videat in caeteris miraculis Deum operantem, quem intuebatur filium adolescentem, videat caecorum illuminationem, leprosorum mundationem, claudorum cursus, surdorum auditus, daemonum fugationes; et quod majus his omnibus, mortuorum resurrectionem. Sed adhuc agnoscat haec mater, et expavescat filii sui etiam juventutem.
14. Let her come to know also His youth; let her see many and great miracles, the changing of the waters into wine. In this first miracle that woman, as a mother and mistress, tried to show that she could command her son, she who knew herself a handmaid. Son, she says, they have no wine; act again, that the waters may be changed into wine. And He, to distinguish between God and man, since as man He was less, as man He was subject, but as God He was above all (John 2:3–4), says: Woman, what is that to Me and to you? My hour has not yet come. As if He said to her: The hour will come when that which was born of you, hanging on the cross, will acknowledge you and commend you to the beloved disciple; but in this miracle what is that to Me and to you? For this did not come forth from you, but from Him who made you: it is not fitting for you to command God, but it is fitting for you to be subject to God. But let the devoted mother, who did not take harshly the admonition of her son saying, What is that to Me and to you?, see God working in the other miracles, Him whom she beheld as a young son; let her see the enlightening of the blind, the cleansing of lepers, the running of the lame, the hearing of the deaf, the putting to flight of demons; and, what is greater than all these, the resurrection of the dead. But let this mother go on to come to know and to tremble at even her son's prime of life.
CAPUT VI. — 15. De passione et resurrectione Christi. Quid restat juveni, nisi ut procedat velut sponsus de thalamo suo? Accipiat sponsus sponsam,
CHAPTER VI. — 15. On the passion and resurrection of Christ. What remains for the young man but that He come forth as a bridegroom from His chamber? Let the bridegroom receive the bride,
Editors' notes and page, col. 644
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: qui fecit te› · call in col 644
Sic Fuliensium codex. At Divionensis, sed in eo fecit te. Editi vero, sed in eo qui fecit te.
So the Feuillants' manuscript. But the Dijon manuscript has "sed in eo fecit te", and the printed editions "sed in eo qui fecit te".
(printed under page 326)
Page
- running head: 643 DE SYMBOLO SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS. 644 (right half seen: "…SYMBOLO 644")
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
quaeratur, inveniatur quae ei conjungatur. Non est solus homo, sed Deus est et homo : quaeratur quae ei conjungatur. Qualis est de qua natus est, talis ei inveniatur, quae et matrem reddat fecundam, et virginem servet intactam. Filius permanentis virginis, virginem permansuram accipiat. Ecce tempus est : modo Judaei suam impleant voluntatem, quando dignatur ipse dare potestatem. Agite, Judaei, nescientes nuptias Agni, date praemium pecuniae malo nebuloni Judae : agite ut ille qui natus est de virgine, a Pontio Pilato suspendatur in cruce. Ascendat sponsus noster thalami sui lignum, ascendat sponsus noster thalami sui lectum. Dormiat moriendo, aperiatur ejus latus, et Ecclesia prodeat virgo : ut quomodo Eva facta est ex latere Adae dormientis, ita et Ecclesia formetur ex latere Christi in cruce pendentis. Percussum est enim ejus latus, ut Evangelium loquitur, et statim manavit sanguis et aqua (Joan. XIX, 34), quae sunt Ecclesiae gemina Sacramenta. Aqua, in qua est sponsa purificata : sanguis, ex quo invenitur esse dotata. In isto sanguine sancti martyres amici sponsi stolas suas laverunt, candidas eas fecerunt, ad nuptias Agni invitati venerunt, ab sponso calicem acceperunt, biberunt, eique propinaverunt. Sanguinem ejus biberunt, sanguinem suum pro illo fuderunt. Quid egit vesana impietas Judaeorum, quia invitati non solum venire noluerunt, sed insuper sponsum occiderunt? Quid egit iniquitas Judae qui eum vendidit, a quo redimi debuit? Ecce nec Judas tenuit pretium, nec Judaei quem comparaverant Christum. Illi dico, Ubi est quod accepisti? Judaeo dico, Ubi est quod emisti? Illi dico, quando vendidisti, tunc te decepisti : isti dico, Quod emisti, possidere non potuisti. Exsulta, Christiane; in commercium inimicorum tuorum tu vicisti : quod Judas vendidit et Judaeus emit, tu acquisisti. Exsulta, exsulta, sponsa Ecclesia; quia nisi ista in Christo facta essent, tu ab illo formata non esses. Venditus redemit te, occisus dilexit te : et quia te plurimum dilexit, mori voluit propter te. O magnum sacramentum hujus conjugii! O quam magnum mysterium hujus sponsi et hujus sponsae! non explicabitur digne humanis verbis. De sponso sponsa nascitur, et ut nascitur, statim illi conjungitur; et tunc sponsa nubit, quando sponsus moritur; et tunc ille sponsae conjungitur, quando a mortalibus separatur : quando ille super coelos exaltatur, tunc ista in omni terra fecundatur. Quid est hoc? Quis est iste sponsus absens et praesens? Quis est iste sponsus praesens et latens, quem sponsa Ecclesia fide tantum concipit, et sine ullo amplexu membra ejus quotidie parit? Quis est iste qui sic natus est, sic crevit, sic mortuus est? Quis est iste qui infans regem terruit, puer Judaeos convicit, juvenis Pontium Pilatum turbavit? Quis est iste? Vultis nosse? Dominus virtutum, ipse est rex gloriae (Psal. XXIII, 10). Si Dominus virtutum ipse est rex gloriae : ergo nec Judaeos timuit quando armati venerant, nec judicem injuste judicantem, nec milites irridentes, nec inimicos subsannantes, nec coronam spineam imponentes, nec sua vestimenta dividentes, nec fel, nec acetum, nec crucem, nec lanceam, nec mortem. Quando enim ista Judaei Pontiusque Pilatus faciebant, Dominus virtutum negotium nostrum agebat; quae non rapuerat, tunc reddebat. Non rapuit iniquitatem, et pro iniquis suscepit mortem : ut impleretur quod de eo scriptum est, Quae non rapueram, tunc reddebam (Psal. LXVIII, 5). Denique ut noveritis pro nobis reddidisse quod non debebat (Christus enim pro impiis mortuus est [Rom. V, 6]), mox ut sacculum carnis suae in crucis ligno solvit, et pretium nostrum exactori reddidit; ibi statim illum latronem fecit confessorem (Luc. XXIII, 42), ut per eum impiorum restauraret ruinam. Videte redemptum quem diabolus possederat homicidam : videte Dominum
let one be sought, let one be found to be joined to Him. He is not man alone, but He is God and man: let one be sought to be joined to Him. As she is of whom He was born, such let one be found for Him, who may both render the mother fruitful and keep the virgin untouched. The Son of a virgin abiding a virgin, let Him receive a virgin who shall abide so. See, the time has come: now let the Jews fulfil their will, since He Himself deigns to give them power. Go on, Jews, not knowing the marriage of the Lamb, give the reward of money to the wicked knave Judas: go on, that He who was born of the virgin may be hung on the cross by Pontius Pilate. Let our bridegroom mount the wood of His chamber, let our bridegroom mount the bed of His chamber. Let Him sleep by dying, let His side be opened, and let the Church come forth a virgin: so that, as Eve was made from the side of the sleeping Adam, so too the Church may be formed from the side of Christ hanging on the cross. For His side was pierced, as the Gospel says, and at once there flowed blood and water (John 19:34), which are the twin Sacraments of the Church. Water, in which the bride is purified: blood, from which she is found to be dowered. In this blood the holy martyrs, the friends of the bridegroom, washed their robes, made them white, came as guests to the marriage of the Lamb, received the cup from the bridegroom, drank, and pledged Him in it. They drank His blood, they shed their own blood for Him. What did the mad impiety of the Jews achieve, in that, invited, they not only refused to come but moreover killed the bridegroom? What did the iniquity of Judas achieve, who sold Him by whom he ought to have been redeemed? See, neither did Judas keep the price, nor did the Jews keep Christ, whom they had bought. To the one I say: Where is what you received? To the Jew I say: Where is what you bought? To the one I say: When you sold, then you deceived yourself: to the other I say: What you bought you could not possess. Exult, Christian; in the bargain of your enemies you have won: what Judas sold and the Jew bought, you have acquired. Exult, exult, bride Church; for if these things had not been done in Christ, you would not have been formed by Him. Sold, He redeemed you; slain, He loved you: and because He loved you very greatly, He willed to die for you. O great sacrament of this marriage! O how great a mystery of this bridegroom and this bride! It will not be worthily unfolded in human words. The bride is born from the bridegroom, and as she is born, she is at once joined to him; and the bride marries at the moment the bridegroom dies; and he is joined to the bride at the moment he is separated from mortals: when He is exalted above the heavens, then she is made fruitful in all the earth. What is this? Who is this bridegroom, absent and present? Who is this bridegroom, present and hidden, whom the bride Church conceives by faith alone, and whose members she bears daily without any embrace? Who is this who was so born, so grew, so died? Who is this who as an infant terrified a king, as a boy confuted the Jews, as a young man troubled Pontius Pilate? Who is this? Do you wish to know? The Lord of hosts, He is the king of glory (Ps. 23:10). If the Lord of hosts is Himself the king of glory, then He feared neither the Jews when they had come armed, nor the judge judging unjustly, nor the soldiers mocking, nor the enemies jeering, nor those putting on the crown of thorns, nor those dividing His garments, nor gall, nor vinegar, nor cross, nor lance, nor death. For when the Jews and Pontius Pilate were doing these things, the Lord of hosts was conducting our business; what He had not taken by robbery He then paid back. He did not seize iniquity, and for the iniquitous He accepted death: that what was written of Him might be fulfilled: What I had not taken by robbery, then I paid back (Ps. 68:5). Finally, that you may know that He paid for us what He did not owe (for Christ died for the ungodly [Rom. 5:6]), as soon as He untied the purse of His flesh on the wood of the cross and paid our price to the exactor, there at once He made that robber a confessor (Luke 23:42), so that through him He might repair the ruin of the ungodly. See the murderer redeemed, whom the devil had possessed: see the Lord
Editors' notes and page, col. 645
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: fide tantum concipit› · call in col 645
In Mss., conspicit.
In the manuscripts, "conspicit" [beholds].
(printed under page 327)
(2) ‹anchor: Pontiusque Pilatus› · call in col 645
Sic Mss. At editi, potius quam Pilatus.
So the manuscripts. But the printed editions have "potius quam Pilatus".
(printed under page 327)
(3) ‹anchor: in crucis ligno solvit› · call in col 645
Er. et Mss., persolvit.
Erasmus and the manuscripts: "persolvit" [paid in full].
(printed under page 327)
Page
- running head: 645 SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS. 646 (left half seen: "645 SERMO AD CATEC…")
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
virtutum et in ipsa morte miracula facientem. Tunc latro confitebatur, quando Petrus turbabatur; tunc iste agnovit, quando ille negavit. Sed numquid quia Dominus acquisivit latronem, Petrum perdidit negatorem? Absit, absit. Agebat mysterium qui fundebat pretium, in Petro demonstrans non in se quemquam justum debere praesumere; in latrone, nullum impium conversum posse perire. Timeat bonus, ne pereat per superbiam : non desperet malus de multa malitia. Colligantur praesumentes, colligantur desperantes. Magnum pretium pro nobis datum esse cognoscimus, quia sanguine Christi redempti sumus. Agamus quomodo tali Domino non displiceamus. Ecce amavit servos, et quos redemit servos, fecit liberos. Ecce parum est, quia donat libertatem suam; exhibet fraternitatem, promittit etiam haereditatem. Habes amplius quod exspectes? Suscepit veniendo mortem tuam, donavit resurgendo vitam suam. Habes amplius quod exspectes? Ille, ille qui crucifixus est pro te, die tertio a mortuis resurgens, super coelos exaltavit te; filium Dei fecit te. Habes amplius quod exspectes? Quid retribuemus Domino, pro omnibus quae retribuit nobis (Psal. CXV, 12)? Fecit nos antequam essemus, donavit vitam, donavit aetatem, donavit liberam voluntatem, donavit substantiam, donavit ingenium, donavit rationem, donavit scientiam, donavit omnia sua ut essent tua; et his bonis omnibus male usi sumus, superbi effecti sumus, Creatorem tanta bona largientem, merito praevaricationis offendimus : perivimus, quaesivit : captivi ducti sumus, subvenit; ad mortem perpetuam ducebamur, liberavit. Quid tibi minus exhibuit, qui se ipsum pro te tradidit? Et dubitas quod tibi donet vitam suam, qui tecum communicavit mortem suam? Quid retribuemus ei? Si non est quod ei retribuamus, ab ipso accipiamus quod ei offeramus. Hoc a te quaerit Christus, hoc tibi dicit : Quod feci pro te, hoc et tu fac pro me; animam meam posui pro te, et tu pro fratribus tuis animam tuam pone. Noli timere mortem, quia cum vincere non posses, ego sum mortuus, ut tu vinceres : vinceres, non per te, sed per me; quia et ego quod sum mortuus, non est propter me, sed propter te. Tu enim mori noveras, resurgere non noveras : suscepi mortem quam noveras, demonstravi resurrectionem quam ignorabas. Credendo ama resurgentem, ut per illum et tu resurgas. Diximus, et, quantum ille donavit, exposuimus has tres sententias, quod natus sit de virgine Maria, crucifixus sub Pontio Pilato et sepultus, tertia die a mortuis resurrexerit. Si enim de singulis, ut dignum est, loqui possemus, prolixitas sermonis fastidium vobis quam delectationem incuteret.
of hosts working miracles even in death itself. The robber confessed at the moment Peter was troubled; this one acknowledged when that one denied. But because the Lord gained the robber, did He lose Peter the denier? Far be it, far be it. He who poured out the price was working a mystery, showing in Peter that no just man ought to presume on himself; in the robber, that no wicked man who is converted can perish. Let the good man fear lest he perish through pride: let the bad man not despair because of his great malice. Let the presuming be gathered in, let the despairing be gathered in. We know that a great price was given for us, because we have been redeemed by the blood of Christ. Let us so act as not to displease such a Lord. See, He loved servants, and those servants whom He redeemed He made free. See, it is too little that He gives His freedom; He shows brotherhood, He promises even an inheritance. Have you anything more to look for? By coming He took your death, by rising He gave His life. Have you anything more to look for? He, He who was crucified for you, rising from the dead on the third day, has exalted you above the heavens; He has made you a son of God. Have you anything more to look for? What shall we render to the Lord for all that He has rendered to us (Ps. 115:12)? He made us before we were, He gave life, He gave the span of life, He gave free will, He gave substance, He gave talent, He gave reason, He gave knowledge, He gave all that is His so that it might be yours; and we have used all these goods badly, we have been made proud, we have offended the Creator who bestows such great goods, by the guilt of transgression: we perished, He sought us; we were led captive, He came to our aid; we were being led to everlasting death, He set us free. What less did He show you, who gave Himself up for you? And do you doubt that He will give you His life, who shared your death with you? What shall we render to Him? If there is nothing we can render Him, let us receive from Him what we may offer Him. This Christ asks of you, this He says to you: What I did for you, do also for Me; I laid down My life for you, and do you lay down your life for your brothers. Do not fear death, for when you could not conquer, I died, that you might conquer: conquer, not through yourself, but through Me; for that I died, too, was not for My sake, but for yours. For you knew how to die, you did not know how to rise: I took up the death that you knew, I showed the resurrection of which you were ignorant. By believing, love Him who rises, so that through Him you too may rise. We have spoken, and, as far as He has granted, we have expounded these three statements: that He was born of the virgin Mary, crucified under Pontius Pilate and buried, and on the third day rose from the dead. For if we could speak of each as it deserves, the length of the sermon would bring you weariness rather than delight.
CAPUT VII. — 16. De ascensione Domini et sessione ad dexteram Patris. Quia ergo diximus, quousque ille altissimus descenderit propter nos; nunc dicamus quomodo id quod suscepit ex nobis, in coelum levaverit, ad dexteram Patris collocaverit, ac fidei nostrae certum pignus dederit, ut secura sint membra de tanto capite, fideliterque sperent ad ipsum se posse pervenire, quem jam credunt ad dexteram Patris sedere. Assumptus in coelos. Sessionem istam, dilectissimi, non accipiatis humanis membris positam, tanquam Pater sedeat in sinistra, ut Filius sedeat ad dexteram; sed ipsam dexteram intelligite potestatem, quam accepit homo ille susceptus a Deo, ut veniat judicaturus qui prius venerat judicandus. Ad hoc enim ascendit in coelum, ut fides suum impleat locum. Praedictum quippe hoc invenitur per David prophetam : ait enim, Congregatio populorum circumdabit te, et propter hanc in altum regredere; Dominus judicat populos (Psal. VII, 8, 9). Hoc quippe ait : Quoniam humiliatus es in forma servi usque ad crucis opprobrium (Philipp. II, 6), et hi qui te viderunt crucifixum, aliqui crediderunt, multi dubitaverunt; resurgens a mortuis in altum regredere, super
CHAPTER VII. — 16. On the ascension of the Lord and His session at the right hand of the Father. Since, then, we have said how far that Most High descended for our sake, let us now say how He raised into heaven that which He took from us, set it at the right hand of the Father, and gave a sure pledge to our faith, so that the members may be secure about so great a head, and may faithfully hope that they can come to Him whom they already believe to sit at the right hand of the Father. Taken up into the heavens. Do not take this sitting, dearly beloved, as set out with human limbs, as though the Father sat on the left so that the Son might sit at the right; but understand the right hand itself as the power which that Man assumed by God received, so that He who had first come to be judged may come to judge. For He ascended into heaven for this, that faith might fill its own place. For this is found foretold by David the prophet: for he says, The congregation of the peoples shall surround Thee, and for its sake return on high; the Lord judges the peoples (Ps. 7:8–9). For this is what he says: Since Thou wast humbled in the form of a servant even to the reproach of the cross (Phil. 2:6), and of those who saw Thee crucified some believed, many doubted; rising from the dead, return on high, above
Editors' notes and page, col. 646
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 646
Sic Er. et Mss. At Lov., collidantur praesumentes.
So Erasmus and the manuscripts. But the Louvain edition has "collidantur praesumentes" [let the presumptuous be dashed together].
(printed under page 327)
Page
- running head: 645 SERMO AD CATECHUMENOS. 646 (right half seen: "…D CATECHUMENOS. 646")
- marginal letters: (none)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
coelos dignare ascendere : ut congregatio populi fidelis congregetur in unum per fidem, ut fides deducat eos ad speciem. Ipsa est virtus omnipotentiae tuae, ut plus possis in ipsis fidelibus, quando absens ab eis in homine illo suscepto sentiris. Caeterum praesentia tuae majestatis de cordibus fidelium tuorum nunquam discedis. Videte autem, dilectissimi, quid donaverit iste qui ascendit in altum, captivam duxit captivitatem, dedit dona hominibus (Psal. LXVII, 19, et Ephes. IV, 8) ; videte quid donaverit. Venit mirabiliter, crevit mirabiliter, exhibuit multa miracula, quae superius commemoravimus, salus aeterna multis praestitit salutem. Qui infirmitates nostras suscepit, multas variasque infirmitates curavit. Circumdatus etiam tunc fuit multitudine populorum, quos adduxerat non fides, sed curiositas oculorum. Denique visa miracula multi laudabant, alii detrahebant. Nam inde est illud detractionis verbum dicentium, quod in Beelzebub principe daemoniorum ejiceret daemonia (Luc. XI, 15). Cum tanta tamen miracula faceret, contemptus est : non solum digne habitus non est, sed insuper occisus est. Quare non tunc factum est ut ejus praesentia numerus ille colligeretur, nisi quia oportebat impleri omnia quae de eo erant scripta? Etenim quando illa agebantur, jam illi ab ipso praeparabantur, jam captivitas eorum capta erat. Exspectabatur ut ascenderet Salvator, et donaret dona. Quae dona? Dona quae acceperunt discipuli; quae accepit Petrus, ut moreretur pro absente, quem desperando negaverat praesentem. Videte quid idem Petrus dicat in Epistola sua, quid effundat ex dono illo sancti Spiritus : Credentes, inquit, in eum quem non videtis, gaudete inenarrabili gaudio (I Petr. I, 8). Gaudeamus et nos credendo in eum quem non videmus; ut securi illum videamus, cum ad ipsum pervenerimus. Veniet autem et ipse, sed non talis qualis antea venit.
deign to ascend to the heavens: that the congregation of the faithful people may be gathered into one through faith, that faith may lead them to sight. This is the very power of Thy omnipotence, that Thou canst do more in the faithful themselves when Thou art felt to be absent from them in that Man whom Thou didst assume. For the rest, in the presence of Thy majesty Thou never departest from the hearts of Thy faithful. But see, most beloved, what He has given, He who ascended on high, led captivity captive, gave gifts to men (Ps. 67:19, and Eph. 4:8); see what He has given. He came wonderfully, He grew wonderfully, He displayed many miracles, which we recalled above; eternal Salvation granted salvation to many. He who took up our infirmities cured many and various infirmities. He was even then surrounded by a multitude of peoples, whom not faith but the curiosity of their eyes had brought. In short, when the miracles were seen, many praised them, others disparaged them. For hence comes that word of disparagement from those who said that He cast out demons by Beelzebub the prince of demons (Luke 11:15). Yet though He did such great miracles, He was despised: not only was He not held in due esteem, but He was even put to death. Why was it not brought about then that that number should be gathered by His presence, unless because all things that were written of Him had to be fulfilled? For when those things were being done, those men were already being prepared by Him; already their captivity had been taken captive. It was awaited that the Saviour should ascend and give gifts. What gifts? The gifts which the disciples received; which Peter received, so that he should die for the absent One whom in despair he had denied when present. See what the same Peter says in his Epistle, what he pours forth from that gift of the Holy Spirit: Believing, he says, in Him whom you do not see, rejoice with unspeakable joy (1 Pet. 1:8). Let us too rejoice by believing in Him whom we do not see; that we may see Him without care when we have come to Him. And He Himself will come, but not such as He came before.
CAPUT VIII. — 17. Christus ad judicium in qua forma veniet. Venturus est enim vivos et mortuos judicare. Veniet autem ut judicet qui stetit sub judice; veniet in ea forma in qua judicatus est, ut videant in quem pupugerunt. Cognoscant Judaei quem negaverunt : convincat eos ille homo susceptus, et ab eis crucifixus. Fortasse, dilectissimi, quoniam veritas evangelica non tacuit eum cum cicatricibus resurrexisse, qui posset si vellet de corpore suscitato et clarificato omnem maculam cujuslibet cicatricis abstergere (sed sciebat quare cicatrices in corpore suo servaret, ut vulnera dubitationis in cordibus discipulorum sanaret) : fortasse ergo, ut dixi, sicut demonstravit Thomae, non credenti nisi tangeret et videret, ita etiam inimicis suis vulnera demonstraturus est sua. Propter quod dictum est per prophetam, Videbunt in quem pupugerunt (Zach. XII, 10) : non ut eis dicat, sicut Thomae, Quia vidisti, credidisti (Joan. XX, 25-29); sed ut convincens eos Veritas dicat, Ecce hominem quem crucifixistis, ecce Deum et hominem in quem credere noluistis. Videtis vulnera quae inflixistis, agnoscitis latus quod pupugistis : quoniam et per vos et propter vos apertum est, nec tamen intrare voluistis. Qui non estis redempti pretio mei sanguinis, non estis mei; discedite a me in ignem aeternum, qui paratus est diabolo et angelis ejus (Matth. XXV, 41). Sed illorum mors proficiat ad nostram salutem. Si illi contempserunt, nos timeamus eum qui sic venturus est judicare. Festinet unusquisque cum vivit, ut vivat; currat, ut ejus pretioso sanguine redimatur : ne cum non fuerit inventus in numero redemptorum, in numero maneat perditorum. Hic, hic dum vivitur, melior eligatur locus. Hic est tempus fidei. Caeterum, In inferno, ait propheta, quis confitebitur tibi (Psal. VI, 6)? Qui vult semper vivere, et non timere mortem, teneat vitam, ut mors superetur a vita. Qui non vult timere justum judicem judicantem, ipsum nunc sibi adhibeat defensorem.
CHAPTER VIII. — 17. In what form Christ will come to judgement. For He is to come to judge the living and the dead. And He who stood under a judge will come to judge; He will come in that form in which He was judged, that they may see Him whom they pierced. Let the Jews recognize Him whom they denied: let that assumed Man, crucified by them, convict them. Perhaps, most beloved, since the truth of the Gospel did not keep silent that He rose with His scars, He who could, had He willed, have wiped from His raised and glorified body every mark of any scar whatever (but He knew why He kept the scars in His body: to heal the wounds of doubt in the hearts of the disciples): perhaps then, as I said, just as He showed them to Thomas, who would not believe unless he touched and saw, so too He will show His wounds to His enemies. On which account it was said through the prophet, They shall see Him whom they pierced (Zech. 12:10): not that He may say to them, as to Thomas, Because you have seen, you have believed (John 20:25–29); but that the Truth, convicting them, may say, Behold the man whom you crucified, behold the God and man in whom you would not believe. You see the wounds which you inflicted, you recognize the side which you pierced: since it was opened both by you and for you, and yet you would not enter. You who are not redeemed by the price of My blood are not Mine; depart from Me into everlasting fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. 25:41). But let their death profit our salvation. If they despised Him, let us fear Him who is to come thus to judge. Let each one hasten, while he lives, that he may live; let him run, that he may be redeemed by His precious blood: lest, when he has not been found in the number of the redeemed, he remain in the number of the lost. Here, here, while life lasts, let the better place be chosen. Here is the time of faith. Otherwise, In hell, says the prophet, who shall confess to Thee (Ps. 6:6)? He who wishes to live for ever and not to fear death, let him hold fast to life, that death may be overcome by life. He who does not wish to fear the just Judge when He judges, let him now take that same Judge to himself as his advocate.
CAPUT IX. — 18. De Spiritu sancto. Adversus Arianos dicentes Patrem majorem, Filium minorem,
CHAPTER IX. — 18. On the Holy Spirit. Against the Arians, who say the Father is greater, the Son less,
Editors' notes and page, col. 647
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: vulnera quae inflixistis› · call in col 647
Er. et Mss, infixistis.
Erasmus and the manuscripts: "infixistis" [you drove in].
(printed under page 328)
Page
- running head: 647 DE SYMBOL[O] (rest of head on facing column, cropped)
- marginal letters: (none visible in these crops)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
Spiritum sanctum multo inferiorem. Refelluntur adhuc Ariani. Credimus et in Spiritum sanctum. Spiritum sanctum Deum credimus aequalem Patri et Filio, quia simul est et in Patre et in Filio. Quomodo est in Patre? Filium audi : Spiritus, inquit, qui procedit a Patre, ipse introducet vos in omnem veritatem (Joan. XV, 26, et XVI, 13). Quomodo est in Filio? Ipse Filius post resurrectionem mittens discipulos suos praedicare Evangelium, insufflavit in faciem ipsorum, et ait illis : Accipite Spiritum sanctum (Id. XX, 22). Quomodo est Spiritus Patris? Ipse Dominus in Evangelio : Non enim vos estis qui loquimini, sed Spiritus Patris vestri qui loquitur in vobis (Matth. X, 20). Quomodo est et Spiritus Filii? Apostolus dicit : Si quis Spiritum Christi non habet, hic non est ejus (Rom. VIII, 9). Quomodo idem ipse Spiritus Patris et Filii procedens a Patre et Filio attestatur Filium suscepisse carnem? Joannes evangelista dicit : Spiritus, inquit, nondum erat datus, quia Jesus nondum erat clarificatus (Joan. VII, 39). Quando autem clarificatus est Filius, ipse dicit : Aperti sunt, ait, coeli, et descendit super baptizatum Jesum Spiritus sanctus in specie columbae, voxque facta est dicens : Hic est Filius meus dilectus, in quo bene complacui (Matth. III, 16 et 17).
the Holy Spirit much inferior. The Arians are refuted further. We believe also in the Holy Spirit. We believe the Holy Spirit to be God, equal to the Father and the Son, because He is at once both in the Father and in the Son. How is He in the Father? Hear the Son: The Spirit, He says, who proceeds from the Father, He will lead you into all truth (John 15:26, and 16:13). How is He in the Son? The Son Himself, after the resurrection, sending His disciples to preach the Gospel, breathed upon their faces and said to them: Receive the Holy Spirit (John 20:22). How is He the Spirit of the Father? The Lord Himself in the Gospel: For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you (Matt. 10:20). How is He also the Spirit of the Son? The Apostle says: If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His (Rom. 8:9). How does the same Spirit of the Father and the Son, proceeding from the Father and the Son, bear witness that the Son took flesh? John the evangelist says: The Spirit, he says, had not yet been given, because Jesus had not yet been glorified (John 7:39). But when the Son was glorified, he himself says: The heavens were opened, he says, and the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus when He had been baptized, in the form of a dove, and a voice came saying: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt. 3:16 and 17).
19. Haec tu, haeretice ariane, cum audis vel legis, Filium clarificatum, Spiritum sanctum in specie columbae de coelis esse transmissum : hac auctoritate carnalis tua cogitatio, et phantasia spiritus mali qui operatur in filiis diffidentiae, Patrem inducit majorem, quia visus non est; Filium minorem, quia visus est in homine; Spiritum sanctum Filio multo inferiorem, quia in specie apparuit columbae. Dicis enim tibi, et perverse ratiocinaris : Quantum distat visibilis ab invisibili, tantum distat Filius a Patre; et quantum distat species hominis ab specie columbae, tantum distat honor Filii ab honore Spiritus sancti. Haec cogitans illi proximus es praecipitio erroris. Neque enim defuerunt qui hoc sentirent de anima humana, quod tu vis asserere de substantia divina. Introduxerunt enim quidam, pro meritis animas dari corporibus, et esse revolutiones et circulos. Propheta David divina voce disrumpens, In circuitu, inquit, impii ambulant. Qui talia credunt vel praedicant, impii sunt. Et tanquam ei Deus diceret, Quid tu de propagine hominum sentis? secutus adjunxit, Secundum altitudinem tuam multiplicasti filios hominum (Psal. XI, 9). Sed haec alia quaestio est, in qua nunc non opus est diutius immorari. Verumtamen quia de specie hominis et columbae nostra tecum, haeretice, est disceptatio : in hoc enim Filium ampliorem esse Spiritu sancto dicis, quia pro dignitate gradus sui, sicut multum distat inter naturam hominis et columbae, tantam distantiam vis esse Filii et Spiritus sancti : possem quidem tibi respondere, quia innocentiam quam habet columba, non habet homo : sed non dico; de illo enim homine agimus qui venit sine peccato. Sed si hoc te movet, quia Filius hominem suscepit, Spiritus in columba apparuit; movere te et hoc debet, quia et ipse homo a Filio Dei susceptus a Scriptura divina dictus est agnus. Nam et Joannes Baptista dicit : Ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccatum mundi (Joan. I, 29). Et Isaias propheta dicit : Sicut ovis ad immolandum ductus est, et sicut agnus coram tondente se, sic non aperuit os suum (Isai. LIII, 7). Et Joannes apostolus in Apocalypsi dicit : Vidi Agnum stantem quasi occisum (Apoc. V, 6). Dic mihi, si valueris tu exponere, quare sit dictus agnus Filius Dei : exponam tibi et ego columbae speciem Spiritus sancti. Si mihi dixeris, Agnus Filius Dei propter innocentiam : hoc et ego tibi de Spiritu sancto referam, Ideo columba Spiritus sanctus propter innocentiam. Si Christus agnus propter innocentiam, et Spiritus sanctus columba propter innocentiam : custodi et tu innocentiam, et vide aequitatem (Psal. XXXVI, 37). Vides aequitatem, si Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti intelligis unitatem.
19. When you, Arian heretic, hear or read these things, that the Son was glorified, that the Holy Spirit was sent down from the heavens in the form of a dove: on this authority your carnal thinking, and the fantasy of the evil spirit who works in the children of unbelief, brings in the Father as greater, because He was not seen; the Son as less, because He was seen in a man; the Holy Spirit as much inferior to the Son, because He appeared in the form of a dove. For you say to yourself, and reason perversely: As far as the visible is distant from the invisible, so far is the Son distant from the Father; and as far as the form of a man is distant from the form of a dove, so far is the honour of the Son distant from the honour of the Holy Spirit. Thinking these things you are very near that precipice of error. For there have not been lacking those who held concerning the human soul what you wish to assert concerning the divine substance. For certain men introduced the doctrine that souls are given to bodies according to their merits, and that there are revolutions and cycles. The prophet David, bursting out with a divine voice, says: The wicked walk round about. Those who believe or preach such things are wicked. And as though God were saying to him, What do you think of the begetting of men? he went on to add: According to Thy height Thou hast multiplied the sons of men (Ps. 11:9). But this is another question, on which there is no need now to dwell longer. Nevertheless, since our dispute with you, heretic, is about the form of a man and of a dove: for you say the Son is greater than the Holy Spirit in this, that by the dignity of His rank, just as there is much distance between the nature of a man and of a dove, you would have there be as great a distance between the Son and the Holy Spirit: I could indeed answer you that the innocence which the dove has, man does not have; but I do not say it, for we are treating of that Man who came without sin. But if this moves you, that the Son took a man and the Spirit appeared in a dove, this too ought to move you, that the very Man taken by the Son of God was called a lamb by the divine Scripture. For John the Baptist also says: Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). And Isaiah the prophet says: As a sheep He was led to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer, so He opened not His mouth (Isa. 53:7). And John the apostle says in the Apocalypse: I saw a Lamb standing as though slain (Rev. 5:6). Tell me, if you are able to explain it, why the Son of God was called a lamb, and I too will explain to you the dove-form of the Holy Spirit. If you tell me, The Son of God is a lamb on account of innocence, I too will report this to you about the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is a dove for that reason, on account of innocence. If Christ is a lamb on account of innocence, and the Holy Spirit a dove on account of innocence, keep innocence you too, and behold equity (Ps. 36:37). You behold equity if you understand the unity of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
20. Sed adhuc vanas tuas machinas diversasque
20. But still your vain and diverse contrivances
Editors' notes and page, col. 648
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: praecipitio erroris› · call in col 648
Mss., Haec cogitans ille, maximus est praecipitio erroris
The manuscripts: "Haec cogitans ille, maximus est praecipitio erroris" [one who thinks this is greatest in the headlong fall of error].
(printed under page 328)
Page
- running head: [DE] SYMBOLO 648
- marginal letters: (none visible in these crops)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
comparationes de Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti substantia, catholica doctrina suffodiat; ut aedificium tuum, quod super arenam non super petram aedificas, flatu ventorum, divinorum scilicet eloquiorum, et pluvia gratiae descendente subvertat, subversumque fiat ruina magna. Quamvis nos invisibilem totam Trinitatem noverimus, credamus, teneamus : dic tu nobis, haeretice, quis sit ille qui apparuit Moysi in flamma ignis in monte Sina, cujus posteriora vidit Moyses ipso se Domino demonstrante. Nam cum ille quaereret faciem Dei videre, dicens, Si inveni gratiam ante te, ostende mihi faciem tuam; hoc ei Dominus respondit : Ascende in Horeb, et sta super petram, et transiet claritas mea ante te, et posteriora mea videbis, facies autem mea non videbitur tibi (Exod. XXXIII, 13-23). Quis est iste qui ducatum praebuit filiis Israel exeuntibus de Aegypto? Deus, ait liber Exodi, praeibat illos, die quidem in columna nubis, nocte autem in columna ignis (Id. XIII, 21). Quis est iste? Pater est, an Filius? Si dixeris, Pater est : visus est ergo et Pater in aliqua specie. Non autem audes dicere, Filius est : ne rursus ipsius testimonio Moysi obruaris, Tu es Deus solus, et alium non novimus absque te (Deut. XXXII, 39). Ergo Deo Patri assignabis quod apparuit in columna ignis vel nubis. Si Deo Patri hoc assignabis, redi modo ad illam ratiocinationem tuam; et dic mihi quae sit melior natura, ignis, nubis, aut hominis. Et si dixeris, ignis, vel, nubis, irrideris non solum ab hominibus, qui certa ratione sunt praediti, non qui vestra vana seductione decepti; sed etiam ab ipsis pecoribus, quibus etsi non est rationalis intellectus, inest tamen naturalis sensus, qui non est attributus igni vel nubibus. Si autem dixeris, Hominis est melior : Filius a te demonstratur Patre major; quia Filius apparuit in homine, Pater apparuit in igne. Hoc, Ariani, secundum vos dictum sit : secundum rectam autem veramque doctrinam, quemadmodum non est Filius Patre major, quia Filius apparuit in homine, Pater in igne; sic non est Spiritus sanctus minor Filio, quia in specie apparuit columbae. Divina illa substantia Trinitatis manens in se ipsa sicuti est, ut innovaret perdita, nostramque restauraret ruinam, pro captu hominum, et pro congruentia cujuslibet rei se visibiliter demonstravit; unitatem, aequalitatemque suam non amisit. In igne Deus, sed non est ignis : in homine Filius, sed non hoc solum quod videbatur erat, erat et quod latebat. Nam si totum quod videbatur erat, quid est quod dicebat discipulis suis : Qui me diligit, diligetur a Patre meo; et ego diligam eum, et manifestabo me ipsum illi (Joan. XIV, 21)? Quid manifestaturus erat, si totum quod videbatur erat? Ergo erat et quod latebat. Ita et Spiritus in columba apparuit, sed non columba erat Spiritus.
comparisons concerning the substance of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, let Catholic doctrine undermine them; that your building, which you build upon sand and not upon rock, it may overthrow by the blast of the winds, namely of the divine utterances, and by the rain of grace coming down, and that, overthrown, it may become a great ruin. Although we know, believe and hold the whole Trinity to be invisible: tell us, heretic, who He is who appeared to Moses in the flame of fire on Mount Sinai, whose back parts Moses saw when the Lord Himself showed Himself. For when he sought to see the face of God, saying, If I have found grace before Thee, show me Thy face; the Lord answered him this: Go up into Horeb, and stand upon the rock, and My glory shall pass before you, and you shall see My back parts, but My face shall not be seen by you (Exod. 33:13–23). Who is this who gave guidance to the children of Israel as they went out of Egypt? God, says the book of Exodus, went before them, by day in a pillar of cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire (Exod. 13:21). Who is this? Is it the Father, or the Son? If you say, It is the Father: then the Father too was seen in some form. But you do not dare to say, It is the Son: lest you be overwhelmed in turn by the testimony of Moses himself, Thou alone art God, and we know no other besides Thee (Deut. 32:39). So you will assign to God the Father what appeared in the pillar of fire or of cloud. If you assign this to God the Father, go back now to that reasoning of yours; and tell me which is the better nature, that of fire, of cloud, or of man. And if you say, fire, or, cloud, you will be laughed at not only by men who are endowed with sound reason, not those deceived by your vain seduction, but even by the very beasts, which, although they have no rational understanding, yet have natural sense, which has not been given to fire or to clouds. But if you say, That of man is better: then the Son is shown by you to be greater than the Father, because the Son appeared in a man, the Father appeared in fire. Let this be said, Arians, according to you: but according to right and true doctrine, just as the Son is not greater than the Father because the Son appeared in a man and the Father in fire, so the Holy Spirit is not less than the Son because He appeared in the form of a dove. That divine substance of the Trinity, remaining in itself as it is, in order to renew what was lost and to restore our ruin, showed itself visibly according to the capacity of men and according to the fitness of each thing; it did not lose its unity and its equality. God was in the fire, but He is not fire: the Son was in a man, but He was not only this which was seen; He was also what lay hidden. For if He was all that was seen, what is it that He said to His disciples: He who loves Me will be loved by My Father; and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him (John 14:21)? What was He going to manifest, if He was all that was seen? Therefore He was also what lay hidden. So too the Spirit appeared in a dove, but the Spirit was not a dove.
21. Totum hoc, homo, factum est propter te. Noli injuriam facere illi qui fecit te, ut consequaris ab illo, quod in isto sancto Symbolo sequitur :
21. All this, O man, was done for your sake. Do not do wrong to Him who made you, that you may obtain from Him what follows in this holy Creed:
CAPUT X. — De remissione peccatorum. Remissionem omnium peccatorum. Noli minorem praedicare eum qui te perducit ad regnum coelorum in remissione peccatorum. Sine ista fide si quis ad Baptismum accedit, ipse contra se januam indulgentiae claudit. Nec propter aliud, dilectissimi, factum est ut et Pater mitteret Filium, et ipse Filius susciperet hominem sanandum, et Spiritus sanctus hoc effunderet donum, nisi ut nostrae animae eruerentur a sarcinis peccatorum. Totum quidem hominem suscepit ille curandum; sed ampliorem curam demonstravit adhibendam esse animae quam corpori. Namque cum ipse Salvator inter caetera miracula quae praesens faciebat, paralyticum antiqua valetudine oppressum videret, prius ejus animam censuit esse sanandam, tunc demum etiam ejus corpori dignatus est donare salutem.
CHAPTER X. — On the remission of sins. The remission of all sins. Do not proclaim as less Him who brings you to the kingdom of heaven in the remission of sins. If anyone comes to Baptism without this faith, he shuts the door of pardon against himself. Nor was it done for any other reason, most beloved, that the Father sent the Son, and the Son Himself took up a man to be healed, and the Holy Spirit poured out this gift, except that our souls might be rescued from the burdens of sins. He took up the whole man indeed to be cured; but He showed that greater care is to be given to the soul than to the body. For when the Saviour Himself, among the other miracles which He did while present, saw a paralytic oppressed by a long-standing infirmity, He judged first that his soul should be healed, and only then did He deign to grant health to his body as well.
Editors' notes and page, col. 649
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: se visibiliter demonstravit› · call in col 649
In Mss., et pro congruentia sui cujusque rei se invisibiliter demonstravit. Erasmiana quoque editio habet, invisibiliter demonstravit.
In the manuscripts: "et pro congruentia sui cujusque rei se invisibiliter demonstravit" [and according to the fitness of each thing showed himself invisibly]. Erasmus's edition too has "invisibiliter demonstravit".
(printed under page 329)
Page
- running head: 649 SERMO AD CATE[CHUMENOS] (rest on facing column, cropped)
- marginal letters: (none visible in these crops)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
Fili, inquit, confide, quoniam remissa sunt tibi peccata tua. Magna salus non est contemnenda. Hanc appetere debet, quisquis interius et exterius salvus esse desiderat. Mundate, ait ipse Dominus, quae intus sunt; et quae foris sunt, munda erunt (Matth. XXV, 26). Verumtamen intentio illa perversa Judaeorum, quae non fideliter sequebatur Christum, sed ad hoc eum frequentabant, quia ei dolosi dolose insidias praeparabant, quando audierunt Dominum paralytico dicentem, Dimissa sunt tibi peccata tua; continuo susurratio illa cogitationis pessimae, ubi eos audiebat qui corda inspiciebat, Quis est iste, inquiunt, qui peccata dimittit? Blasphemat : nemo enim potest dimittere peccata, nisi solus Deus. Ille autem ut eis demonstraret se esse Deum, eorumque nequitiam ostenderet, ac suam demonstraret potentiam, ait illis : Quid cogitatis nequam in cordibus vestris? Quid est amplius dicere, Dimissa sunt tua tibi peccata; aut dicere, Surge et ambula? Ut noveritis autem quia habet potestatem Filius hominis in terra dimittendi peccata (ait paralytico) : Surge, tolle grabatum tuum, et vade in domum tuam. Et statim surrexit, et tulit grabatum suum, et abiit (Id. IX, 2-7). O quam melius illi esset, si post acceptam remissionem peccatorum, non de lecto ad peccandum iterum surgeret, sed de sepulcro ad veram vitam liber securusque surgeret! Non enim vacat, dilectissimi, quod ei dictum est, Tolle grabatum tuum, et vade in domum tuam. Sic enim Dominus eum curari interius volebat, ut jam ulterius non laboraret. Tolle autem grabatum tuum, quid est, nisi, porta rursus sarcinam delictorum tuorum? Non erunt scapulae tuae liberae, portabis quod te premat, curvus eris sub onere, caput jam liberum iterum gravabitur servitute. Omnis enim, ait Dominus, qui facit peccatum, servus est peccati (Joan. VIII, 34). Si post remissionem peccatorum ille paralyticus ex hac vita migraret, plenam acciperet libertatem. Quod autem hic vivere postea permissus est, etsi non peccavit, quod credere difficile est; multum periclitatus est : quia tota haec vita tentatio est (Job VII, 1). Quisquis itaque, dilectissimi fideliter credit, et hanc professionem fidei suae, in qua remittuntur omnia peccata, indubitanter tenet atque amplectitur, praeparet voluntatem suam voluntati Dei : ut si eum post Baptismum dignatus fuerit in hac vita aliquantulum detinere, iste non quiescat orare ac dicere, Adjutor meus esto, ne derelinquas me (Psal. XXVI, 9, 10). Si autem dignatus fuerit liberum atque ab omni faece peccati mundatum ad se evocare, incunctanter ac sine tristitia pergat ad eum, cum quo et per quem incipiat et ipse regnare; nec vehiculum mortis timeat, in quo prior ascendit ipse qui vocat. Sicut enim ipsum resurgendo perduxit ad Patrem, ita et te illi per resurrectionem repraesentavit. Quia ut te invitaret ad coelum, ad terram descendit, sed non deseruit coelum.
Son, He says, be of good heart, for your sins are forgiven you. Great salvation is not to be despised. Whoever desires to be saved inwardly and outwardly ought to seek it. Cleanse, says the Lord Himself, what is within; and what is without will be clean (Matt. 23:26). Yet that perverse intent of the Jews, which did not follow Christ faithfully, but they kept company with Him for this reason, that, being deceitful, they were deceitfully laying snares for Him: when they heard the Lord saying to the paralytic, Your sins are forgiven you, at once there came that whispering of most wicked thought, where He who looked into hearts heard them: Who is this, they say, who forgives sins? He blasphemes: for no one can forgive sins but God alone. But He, to show them that He was God, and to lay bare their wickedness, and to show His own power, said to them: Why do you think evil in your hearts? Which is greater, to say, Your sins are forgiven you; or to say, Rise and walk? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins (He said to the paralytic): Rise, take up your bed, and go into your house. And at once he rose, and took up his bed, and went away (Matt. 9:2–7). O how much better it would be for him if, after receiving the remission of sins, he did not rise from his bed to sin again, but rose from the tomb to true life, free and secure! For it is not idle, most beloved, that it was said to him, Take up your bed, and go into your house. For the Lord wished him to be cured inwardly in such a way that he should no longer labour. But Take up your bed, what is it but, carry again the burden of your offences? Your shoulders will not be free, you will carry what weighs you down, you will be bent under the load, your head, now free, will again be burdened with servitude. For everyone, says the Lord, who commits sin is the slave of sin (John 8:34). If after the remission of sins that paralytic had passed from this life, he would have received full freedom. But in that he was afterwards permitted to live here, even if he did not sin, which is hard to believe, he was in great peril: because the whole of this life is temptation (Job 7:1). Whoever therefore, most beloved, believes faithfully, and holds and embraces without doubting this profession of his faith, in which all sins are forgiven, let him make his will ready for the will of God: so that, if God deigns to keep him a little while in this life after Baptism, he may not cease to pray and to say, Be Thou my helper, forsake me not (Ps. 26:9, 10). But if God deigns to call him to Himself free and cleansed from all the dregs of sin, let him go to Him without delay and without sadness, with whom and through whom he too may begin to reign; and let him not fear the vehicle of death, in which He who calls ascended first. For as by rising He brought Himself to the Father, so too He has presented you to Him through the resurrection. For to invite you to heaven He came down to earth, but He did not forsake heaven.
CAPUT XI. — 22. De carnis resurrectione. In carnis resurrectionem. Resurrecturam esse omnem carnem, rationalem scilicet creaturam, fideliter teneamus. Haec est summa fidei nostrae, quae separat ab infidelibus. Neque enim de pecudibus vel caeteris animantibus, quibus non est attributa imago Creatoris, fas est nobis disputare. Ista enim omnia ad usus nostros creata esse cognoscimus. Legat quis quid Deus dixit homini, quando eum formavit atque benedixit, et inveniet ita scriptum in libro Geneseos : Fecit Deus hominem, ad imaginem suam fecit illum; masculum et feminam fecit eos, et benedixit eis dicens : Crescite et multiplicamini, et replete terram, et dominamini ejus; et habete potestatem piscium maris, pecorum terrae, volatilium coeli (Gen. I, 27, 28). Ista ergo omnia propter usus nostrae infirmitatis, ut dixi, creata sunt. Sed quemadmodum non nobiscum resurgit nostra corruptio, neque infirmitas; ita nec ea quae sunt necessaria
CHAPTER XI. — 22. On the resurrection of the flesh. In the resurrection of the flesh. Let us faithfully hold that all flesh will rise again, that is, the rational creature. This is the sum of our faith, which separates us from unbelievers. For it is not right for us to dispute about cattle or the other living things, to which the image of the Creator has not been given. For we know that all these were created for our uses. Let anyone read what God said to man when He formed and blessed him, and he will find it thus written in the book of Genesis: God made man, to His own image He made him; male and female He made them, and He blessed them, saying: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth, and have dominion over it; and have power over the fish of the sea, the cattle of the earth, the birds of the heaven (Gen. 1:27, 28). All these things, then, as I said, were created for the uses of our infirmity. But just as our corruption does not rise with us, nor our infirmity, so neither do those things which are necessary
Editors' notes and page, col. 650
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 650
Ita Mss. At editi: Quid cogitatis malum?
So the manuscripts. But the printed editions: "Quid cogitatis malum?" [Why do you think evil?].
(printed under page 329)
(2) ‹anchor: not visible in the foot image› · call in col 650
Sic Mss. Editi vero, curari exterius volebat, ut jam interius non laborabat.
So the manuscripts. The printed editions, however: "curari exterius volebat, ut jam interius non laborabat" [he wished to be healed outwardly, since he no longer suffered inwardly].
(printed under page 329)
Page
- running head: [SERMO A]D CATECHUMENOS. 650
- marginal letters: (none visible in these crops)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- signature line: "(Vingt-une.)" at the foot of the column, below the footnotes
- other: "Matth. XXV, 26" is the editors' wrong citation (the words are Matt 23:26), not a mis-set figure: set as printed, English gives Matt 23:26. (Pass 1 logged it in misprints.tsv; that row stands, append-only.)
nunc nostrae infirmitati. Qualia futura sint nostra corpora, Paulus dicit apostolus : Seminatur, inquit, in corruptione, resurget in incorruptione; seminatur in infirmitate, surget in virtute; seminatur in contumelia, surget in gloria; seminatur corpus animale, surget corpus spirituale (I Cor. XV, 42-44). Incorruptio haec, virtus, et gloria, et spiritus vivificans, faciet nos, sicut ipse Dominus promittere dignatus est, aequales Angelis Dei (Matth. XXII, 30); ut vivamus cum ipsis in aeterna vita, in una immortalitate ac sempiterna patria. In qua patria vita nostra aeterna ipse Christus erit : Ipse enim est verus Deus et vita aeterna (I Joan. V, 20).
now for our infirmity. What our bodies will be like, Paul the apostle says: It is sown, he says, in corruption, it will rise in incorruption; it is sown in weakness, it will rise in power; it is sown in dishonour, it will rise in glory; it is sown an animal body, it will rise a spiritual body (1 Cor. 15:42–44). This incorruption, power and glory, and the life-giving spirit, will make us, as the Lord Himself deigned to promise, equal to the Angels of God (Matt. 22:30); that we may live with them in eternal life, in one immortality and an everlasting homeland. In which homeland Christ Himself will be our eternal life: for He is the true God and eternal life (1 John 5:20).
CAPUT XII. — 23. De vita aeterna. Hoc sequitur etiam in isto sancto Symbolo, quod post resurrectionem carnis credamus. Et in vitam aeternam. Non nostri jam dominabitur corruptio, immortaliter viventibus, et cum ipsa aeterna vita manentibus. Neque enim indigebimus illic vestimento, ubi erimus immortalitate vestiti : nec cibus nobis deerit, quando ipse panis vivus, qui propter nos de coelo ad terras usque descendit, sui praesentia nostras animas satiabit : nec potus nobis deerit, praesente fonte vitae. Saturabit enim nos ab ubertate domus suae, et torrente deliciarum suarum corda nostra rigabit. Aestus illic non patiemur : illic est enim refrigerium nostrum, qui nos sub umbra alarum suarum protexit et protegit (Psal. XXXV, 8-10). Frigus illic non patiemur : est enim ibi sol justitiae; qui suo amore calefaciens corda nostra, radiis divinitatis suae illuminat oculos nostros, ut videant divinitatem aequalitatemque Patris et Filii et Spiritus sancti. Non ibi fatigabimur : nobiscum enim erit virtus nostra, cui nunc dicimus, Diligam te, Domine, virtus mea (Psal. XVII, 2). Non ibi dormiemus : non enim sunt ibi tenebrae, quae excludere possint permanentem diem. Nulla ibi erit negotiatio, nulla servitus, nullum opus. Et quid illic acturi sumus? Fortasse illud quod Scriptum est : Vacate, et videte, quoniam ego sum Deus (Psal. XLV, 11). Vacuitas ista contemplationis, erit opus nostrae actionis; ut contemplantes delectemur, et delectabiliter contemplemur videre. Quid videre? Bona Domini (Psal. XXVI, 13). Quae bona? Possumus exprimere illud quod nec oculus vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit (I Cor. II, 9)? Possumus explicare quomodo erit Deus omnia in omnibus? Possumus explicare quomodo ipse Filius cum tradiderit regnum Deo et Patri (Id. XV, 28, 24), id est, sanctam congregationem fidelium, ita illum hominem susceptum ampliusque clarificatum non dimittat, ut tamen claritatem quam habet cum Patre antequam mundus fieret, ipsis jam fidelibus demonstrare non differat? Possumus explicare quemadmodum sponsa Ecclesia, quae ex viris et feminis constat, omnis convertatur in virum perfectum, atque ita dignitatem virilem accipiat, ut tamen sponsae nomen non perdat? Possumus explicare sanctorum corpora resuscitata, ex qua gloria in quam gloriam transeant? Possumus explicare quo Christum sequantur virgines, quo eum sequi nequeant non virgines, atque illas nescio quo ubique manens secum ducat, nec
CHAPTER XII. — 23. On eternal life. This too follows in this holy Creed, which we are to believe after the resurrection of the flesh: And in eternal life. Corruption will no longer have dominion over us, who will live immortally and abide with eternal Life itself. For we shall have no need of clothing there, where we shall be clothed with immortality: nor will food be lacking to us, when the living Bread Himself, who for our sake came down from heaven even to the earth, will satisfy our souls with His presence: nor will drink be lacking to us, with the fountain of life present. For He will fill us with the abundance of His house, and will water our hearts with the torrent of His delights. We shall not suffer heat there: for there is our refreshment, He who has sheltered and shelters us under the shadow of His wings (Ps. 35:8–10). We shall not suffer cold there: for the sun of justice is there; who, warming our hearts with His love, enlightens our eyes with the rays of His divinity, that they may see the divinity and equality of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. We shall not grow weary there: for our strength will be with us, to whom we now say, I will love Thee, O Lord, my strength (Ps. 17:2). We shall not sleep there: for there is no darkness there that could shut out the abiding day. There will be no trading there, no servitude, no toil. And what shall we do there? Perhaps that which is written: Be still, and see that I am God (Ps. 45:11). That stillness of contemplation will be the work of our activity; that contemplating we may delight, and delightfully contemplate to see. To see what? The good things of the Lord (Ps. 26:13). What good things? Can we express that which neither eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man (1 Cor. 2:9)? Can we explain how God will be all in all? Can we explain how the Son Himself, when He has delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father (1 Cor. 15:28, 24), that is, the holy congregation of the faithful, does not let go that Man whom He assumed and further glorified, and yet does not delay to show to the faithful themselves the glory which He has with the Father before the world was made? Can we explain how the Church, the bride, who consists of men and women, is wholly turned into the perfect man, and so receives the dignity of a man, yet does not lose the name of bride? Can we explain the raised bodies of the saints, from what glory into what glory they pass? Can we explain whither the virgins follow Christ, whither those who are not virgins cannot follow Him, and how He, abiding everywhere, leads those women with Him I know not whither, nor
Editors' notes and page, col. 651
Footnotes
(1) ‹anchor: nescio quo ubique manens› · call in col 651
In Mss., ubi manens.
In the manuscripts, "ubi manens" [where abiding].
(printed under page 330)
Page
- running head: 651 DE SYMBO[LO] (rest on facing column, cropped)
- marginal letters: (none visible in these crops)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: below the full-width title "DE SYMBOLO AD CATECHUMENOS SERMO ALIUS (a)" on page 330 the page belongs to the next sermon (unit PL040/sermo_symbolo2): pointer only; its note (a) is set there.
tamen eas quae non sunt virgines deserat? Quis audet de his rebus positus in hac mortali carne quae aggravat animam (Sap. IX, 15), aliquid dicere; cum Paulus apostolus hoc non valuit explicare, qui in isto positus corpore usque in tertium coelum gratia operante valuit ascendere (II Cor. XII)? Non simus curiosi ad investigandum quod Apostoli exprimere minime potuerunt. Certe ex me nemo scire quaerat quod me nescire scio, nisi forte ut nescire discat quod sciri non posse sciendum est. Sed per fidem et patientiam et sanctam matrem Ecclesiam speremus nos accipere, quidquid magnis et pusillis dignatus fuerit ille donare.
yet does not abandon those who are not virgins? Who, set in this mortal flesh which weighs down the soul (Wis. 9:15), dares to say anything about these things, when Paul the apostle was not able to explain this, he who, set in this body, was able by the working of grace to ascend even to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12)? Let us not be curious to search out what the Apostles were quite unable to express. Certainly let no one seek to learn from me what I know that I do not know, unless perhaps to learn not to know what must be known to be unknowable. But through faith and patience and holy mother Church let us hope to receive whatever He shall have deigned to give to great and small.
CAPUT XIII. — 24. Ecclesiae catholicae filios jubet cavere ab Arianis. Sancta Ecclesia, in qua omnis hujus sacramenti terminatur auctoritas, mater et virgo, corpore casta, prole fecunda, sponsa Christi superius declarata, pie nutrit filios quos Deo Patri dignos assignare contendit. Filii boni amate tantam matrem, filii boni nolite deserere quotidie vos requirentem : rependite vicem, amate amantem. Tanta est, talis est, nobilis est, regia prole fecunda est. Non eam patiamini aut filiorum malorum, aut pessimorum servorum injuriis atque insidiis macerari : agite causas matris vestrae, exserite ejus amplissimam dignitatem. Servus malus non insultet dominae; haereticus arianus non insultet Ecclesiae. Lupus est, agnoscite : serpens est, ejus capita conquassate. Blanditur, sed fallit : multa promittit, sed decipit. Venite, inquit, defendam : si necessitas est, pascam; si nuditas, vestiam : dabo pecuniam, statuam quid per singulos dies quisque accipiat. O lupe male! o serpens inique! o serve nequissime! dominam calcas, veram matrem impugnas, Christum exsufflas, catholicum rebaptizas; et quod est pessimum artis tuae, alios potentia premis ut perdas, alios pecunia comparas quos occidas. Ergone, haeretice, ad hoc vestis nudum, ut exspolies intus Christo vestitum? Ad hoc pascis esurientem, ut animae auferas cibum coelestem? Ad hoc das pecuniam, ut sic tibi isti vendant Christum rebaptizandum, quemadmodum Judas Judaeis Christum crucifigendum? Pecunia tua tecum sit in perditionem (Act. VIII, 20) Pejora, haeretice, facis quam quae fecit Judaeus. Ecce enim Judaeus etsi praemio comparavit Christum occidendum, semel latus in cruce pendentis pupugit, sed totum ejus corpus integrum reservavit : tu vero ad hoc eum quotidie comparas pecunia, ut sedentis in coelo diversa laceres membra. Vos autem, dilectissimi, qui ab initio uberibus sanctae matris Ecclesiae nutriti, usque ad solidum cibum estis ab ea perducti, manete in ea. Si quis ejus vel disciplinam vel quamlibet admonitionem aspere tulit, et iratus abscessit, agnoscat matrem, redeat ad eam libenter : et haec suscipit quae requirit; gaudebitque filium perditum fuisse conversum. Sed licet multum gaudeat filium perditum fuisse conversum, stabilitatis dignitatem non quiescit praedicare secum permanentium filiorum.
CHAPTER XIII. — 24. He bids the sons of the Catholic Church beware of the Arians. Holy Church, in which all the authority of this sacrament has its end, mother and virgin, chaste in body, fruitful in offspring, declared above to be the bride of Christ, lovingly nourishes the sons whom she strives to present as worthy to God the Father. Good sons, love so great a mother; good sons, do not desert her who seeks you daily: pay her back in turn, love her who loves you. So great is she, such is she, noble is she, fruitful in royal offspring is she. Do not suffer her to be worn down by the injuries and snares either of bad sons or of most wicked slaves: plead the causes of your mother, set forth her most ample dignity. Let not the bad slave insult his mistress; let not the Arian heretic insult the Church. He is a wolf, recognize him: he is a serpent, crush his heads. He flatters, but he deceives: he promises much, but he cheats. Come, he says, I will defend you: if there is need, I will feed you; if nakedness, I will clothe you: I will give money, I will fix what each is to receive day by day. O evil wolf! O wicked serpent! O most worthless slave! You trample on your mistress, you attack the true mother, you breathe out against Christ, you rebaptize the Catholic; and, what is the worst of your craft, some you press down with power that you may destroy them, others you buy with money that you may kill them. Is it then for this, heretic, that you clothe the naked, that you may strip inwardly one clothed with Christ? Is it for this that you feed the hungry, that you may take from the soul its heavenly food? Is it for this that you give money, that these men may sell you Christ to be rebaptized, as Judas sold Christ to the Jews to be crucified? Your money perish with you (Acts 8:20). You do worse things, heretic, than the Jew did. For behold, the Jew, though he bought Christ for a price to be killed, pierced once the side of Him hanging on the cross, but kept His whole body intact: but you buy Him daily with money for this, that you may tear apart the various members of Him who sits in heaven. But you, most beloved, who, nourished from the beginning at the breasts of holy mother Church, have been brought by her as far as solid food, abide in her. If anyone has taken her discipline or any admonition of hers harshly, and has gone off in anger, let him recognize his mother, let him return to her willingly: and she takes up those whom she seeks again; and she will rejoice that the lost son has been converted. But though she rejoices greatly that the lost son has been converted, she does not cease to proclaim the dignity of steadfastness of the sons who remain with her.
Editors' notes and page, col. 652
Page
- running head: [D]E SYMBOLO 652
- marginal letters: (none visible in these crops)
- old-edition numerals: (none)
- other: set only the upper part above the full-width title "DE SYMBOLO AD CATECHUMENOS SERMO ALIUS (a)"; the sermon ends "secum permanentium filiorum." Below the title (next sermon's text, "estis vos. Ita enim credentibus...") not set. "Act. VIII, 20)" followed by "Pejora" with no full stop, as printed. "et haec suscipit quae requirit": English renders "haec" as the Church and "quae" as plural objects; UNSURE of intended sense.
- other: below the full-width title "DE SYMBOLO AD CATECHUMENOS SERMO ALIUS (a)" on page 330 the page belongs to the next sermon (unit PL040/sermo_symbolo2): pointer only; its note (a) is set there.