Migne Reading Room

PL 61 · cols. 254–285

Paulinus of Nola, Letters

Letters XXII–XXIII

PL 61:254
et exorcistam daemoniis terribilem videremus. De cetero, frater, et ipsum, et omnes nostros, et nos ipsos commendamus vobis, ut per vos Domino commendemur impensis orationibus, ut et nostrorum omnium libertas Domino aeterno serviat, et nostra servitus in Christo libertatis aeternae meritum consequatur.
and an exorcist terrible to demons. For the rest, brother, we commend to you both him and all our people and ourselves, that through you we may be commended to the Lord by earnest prayers, so that the freedom of all our people may serve the eternal Lord, and our servitude in Christ may win the reward of eternal freedom.
EPISTOLA XXII
LETTER XXII
SEVERO fratri unanimo PAULINUS.
To Severus, his brother of one mind, Paulinus.
1. Epistolas quas per nostrum illum inspiritalem monachum miseras, vere spiritalis tabellarius intercepit et pertulit, id est, filius noster Sorianus: in quo duplicem gratiam Dominum contulisse perspeximus; ne vel ille ad nos sermonis tui vacuus adveniret, qui nos de tuis visceribus imbuto affectu desideraverat; ne vel iterum tuas nobis litteras Marracinus afferret: qui divinitus, ut credo, inspirata sibi aut verecundia nos videndi, aut pigritia ultra Urbem itineris porrigendi, Romae litteras tuas supradicto fratri dedit; gaudens optati occasione compendii, qua sibi adversum tua praecepta consultum putabat, ne cogeretur monachum aut in se, ut jusseras, fingere, aut in me, ut necesse erat, cernere. Sibi ergo ille habeat armilausam suam, et suas caligas, et suas buccas; quarum alias mutare, alias deducere timuit.
1. The letters which you had sent by that unspiritual monk of ours were intercepted and carried on by a truly spiritual letter-carrier, that is, our son Sorianus: and in this we perceived that the Lord had conferred a double grace: that neither should he come to us empty of your words, he who had longed for us with an affection steeped in your own heart, nor should Marracinus bring us your letters a second time: who, with either shyness at seeing us or laziness at stretching his journey beyond the City inspired in him, by God's doing, as I believe, gave your letters at Rome to the aforesaid brother, rejoicing at the chance of a longed-for short cut, by which he thought he had looked after himself against your instructions, so as not to be forced either to feign the monk in himself, as you had bidden, or to behold him in me, as he would have had to. So let him keep to himself his military cloak, and his boots, and his puffed cheeks, of which he was afraid to change the one and to draw in the other.
2. Nos adeant et revisant conservuli et compallidi nostri, non vestibus pictis superbi, sed horrentibus ciliciis humiles; nec chlamyde curtalini, sed sagulis palliati; nec balteo, sed reste succincti; nec improba attonsi capitis fronte criniti, sed casta informitate capillum ad cutem caesi, et inaequaliter semitonsi, et destituta fronte praerasi. Et ornatu pudicitiae inornati et decenter inculti sint, et honorabiliter despicabiles, cum ingenitam quoque speciem corporis pro interiore cultu aspernantes, etiam studio deformantur, ut fiant pudenter inhonesti vultibus, dum perficiantur salutariter honesti mentibus. Hujusmodi hominum et vultus, et habitus, et odor nauseam illis facit, quibus odor mortis est in odorem vitae; quibus dulce quod amarum, et turpe quod castum, et hostile quod sanctum est. Propterea justum est ut reddamus illis vicem, ut sit nobis odor eorum tamquam odor mortis, ne desinamus esse odor Christi. Quid enim nobis jure succenseant, si vicissim nobis foeteat odor vitae eorum, quibus odor nostrae in mortem est? Hic jejunium meum horret, ego illius crapulam ferre non possum. Ille halitum monachi loquentis evitat, ego flatum Thrasonis ructantis
2. Let our fellow-servants and fellow-pale ones come to us and visit us again: not proud in embroidered clothes but humble in bristling haircloth; not short-cloaked in the chlamys but mantled in little rough cloaks; girded not with a belt but with a rope; not with a shameless fringe of hair on the brow of a shorn head, but cropped to the skin in chaste unsightliness, unevenly half-shorn, and shaved in front so that the brow is left bare. Let them be unadorned with the adornment of modesty and becomingly unkempt, and honourably contemptible, since, despising for the sake of inner adornment even the body's native beauty, they make themselves unsightly on purpose, so that they become modestly unhandsome in face while they are made perfect, to their salvation, as handsome in mind. The face, the dress and the smell of such men make those sick for whom the odour of death is unto an odour of life (2 Cor. 2:16); for whom what is bitter is sweet (Isa. 5:20), what is chaste is base, and what is holy is hostile. Therefore it is just that we repay them in kind, so that their odour may be to us as the odour of death, lest we cease to be the odour of Christ. For what right would they have to be angry with us, if in turn the odour of the life of those for whom the odour of ours is unto death stinks to us? This one shudders at my fasting; I cannot bear his drunkenness. He avoids the breath of a monk speaking; I, the blast of a belching Thraso
Editors' notes and page, col. 254

Footnotes

(l) ‹anchor: in odorem vitae› · call in col 254

II Cor. II, 16.

2 Corinthians 2:16.

(printed under page 130)

(m) ‹anchor: quod amarum› · call in col 254

Isai. V, 20.

Isaiah 5:20.

Editors' notes

(*) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 253 Alias 7; quae autem erat 22, nunc 9. Scripta anno 400.

Formerly 7; the letter that was 22 is now 9. Written in the year 400.

(printed under page 130)

(d) ‹anchor: quarum (d) alias› · call in col 254

Ita ms. Vien. Ceteri, alia mutare, alia deducere.

So the Vienna manuscript. The others have "alia mutare, alia deducere".

(printed under page 130)

(e) ‹anchor: ut fiant (e) pudenter› · call in col 254

Ms. Vien., prudenter. Retinuimus vulgatam lectionem quae confirmatur ex epist. 23 ad Severum, n. 31, pudenter impudens, et pie improba.

The Vienna manuscript has "prudenter". We have kept the common reading, which is confirmed by Letter 23 to Severus, no. 31: "modestly immodest, and piously shameless".

(printed under page 130)

Editors' prose

Describit eleganter dissolutorum hominum tum secularium tum monachorum mores, et docet quales conveniant monachis familiares.

He describes with elegance the manners of dissolute men, both those of the world and monks, and teaches what kind of companions befit monks.

<!-- note: Argumentum of Epistola XXII. The bold marginal "115" (old edition's page number) preceding it is not set. Between "conveniant" and "monachis" the scan shows a small mark (a period or speck, no space); set as a plain space — UNSURE. -->

Page

  • running head: EPISTOLA XXII. 254
  • marginal letters: A ‹et exorcistam daemoniis terribilem›; B ‹quo duplicem gratiam Dominum›; C ‹nostri, non vestibus pictis superbi›; D ‹ea justum est ut reddamus illis›
  • old-edition numerals: 115 before ‹Describit eleganter› (beside the argumentum)
  • other: EDITORS' PROSE: the italic argumentum under the title ("Describit eleganter ... monachis familiares.") is not set; the asterisk after EPISTOLA (call to the editors' dating note at the foot of col. 253) is omitted. Number calls 1–5 and letter calls (d), (e), l, m omitted. Migne's cross-references to the notes printed in parentheses, "(V. not. 66 et 67)" after "armilausam suam" and "(V. not. 68)" after "curtalini", are left out as apparatus. "ructantis" is split at the column end ("ru-"), completed from col. 255's first line ("ctantis effugio"); its verb "effugio" is set in col. 255. "attonsi" read as printed. Editors' variant notes (d) "alia mutare, alia deducere" and (e) "prudenter" not set.
PL 61:255
effugio. Si illis displicet gutturis nostri siccitas, et nobis gulae eorum cruditas. Si illos offendit frugalitatis ariditas, et nos ventrium offendit ingluvies. Videant ergo nos non mane ebrii, sed vespere jejuni: nec hesterno inflati vino, sed hodierno abstemii: nec de crapula libidinis dementer instabiles, sed vigiliis honestatis integre saucii, et sobrie temulenti, quos parsimonia faciat, non vorago, titubare.
flee. If the dryness of our throat displeases them, the indigestion of their gullet displeases us too. If the aridity of frugality offends them, the gluttony of their bellies offends us too. Let them see us, then, not drunk in the morning but fasting in the evening; not bloated with yesterday's wine but abstaining today; not madly unsteady from the surfeit of lust, but wholly wounded by the vigils of virtue, and soberly tipsy, made to stagger by thrift, not by a bottomless gullet.
3. Talem nos epistolae tuae portitorem excepisse laetamur: quem rogo sic excipias, quasi a te missus mihi venerit. Namque inter eos qui vice fraternitatis tuae ad me venerunt, debet et iste numerari, cui Dominus ut ita a te numeraretur, litteras tuas etiam ignorante te tradidit. Puto autem quod et tu divinae hujus gratiae beneficium huic deputes, per quem et tibi praestitum est, ne litteras nobis tuas non tui corporis perlator afferret. Sed tamen ipsius pace laudatum Sorianum volo, ne me illi rursus accuses. Praedicasse enim me illum magis quam vituperasse existimo eorum commemoratione, in quibus necesse est glorietur, qui esse aut videri monachus erubescit. Denique meministi in Virgilio Furiam iis laudari quae solent objici. Vide autem ne mihi calumnieris quod aliquid de poeta, non nostri jam studii, tamquam propositi violator, assumserim: exempli tui autoritate hoc me fecisse contestor; teneo enim epistolam tuam, cui clausula est,
3. We rejoice to have received such a bearer of your letter: I ask you to receive him just as if he had come to me sent by you. For among those who have come to me in place of your brotherliness this man too ought to be counted, into whose hands the Lord, so that he might thus be counted by you, delivered your letters even without your knowing. And I think that you too credit to him the benefit of this divine grace, through whom it was granted to you as well that a carrier not of your own body should not bring us your letters. But still, by his leave, I want Sorianus to be praised, lest you accuse me to him again. For I think I have proclaimed him rather than blamed him by recalling the things in which one who blushes to be or to seem a monk must glory. After all, you remember that in Virgil the Fury is praised for the things usually thrown at one as reproaches. But see that you do not charge me with having taken something from a poet, no longer our study, as if I were a violator of my resolve: I protest that I have done this on the authority of your example; for I have your letter whose closing line is,
Vivite felices, quibus est fortuna peracta VIRGIL. Aeneid., III.
Live happily, you whose fortune is already accomplished. Virgil, Aeneid III.
Sed et illam, in qua pro domestica sede larem familiarem, Plautini memor Prologi, nominasti.
and also that one in which, mindful of the Prologue of Plautus, you called your home seat the household Lar.
Postquam omnes coquos tuos coquinae tuae renuntiasse cognovi, credo quia dedignarentur officium vilibus praebere pulmentariis: puerulum tibi ex nostra misimus officina, doctum satis pallentem coquere fabam, et ignobiles betas aceto et jure condire, vilemque pultem esurientium faucibus inferre monachorum; piperis nescium, laseris ignarum, familiarem cymini, et apprime callidum herbis suave redolentibus clamosum urgere mortarium. Unum habet vitium, quod hortorum omnium non est civilis inimicus; ita si admissus fuerit, proxima quaeque metet gladio, nec exsaturabitur umquam caede malvarum. In praebendis autem sibi lignis calumniosus
When I learned that all your cooks had renounced your kitchen, because, I suppose, they disdained to give their service to cheap dishes, we sent you a little lad from our workshop, well enough taught to cook the pale bean, to season lowly beets with vinegar and broth, and to bring cheap porridge to the jaws of hungry monks; a stranger to pepper, ignorant of laser, familiar with cumin, and above all skilled at plying the noisy mortar with sweet-smelling herbs. He has one fault, that he is no gentle enemy of every garden; so if he is let in, he will reap with the sword everything within reach, and will never have his fill of the slaughter of mallows. But in getting firewood for himself, troublesome
Editors' notes and page, col. 255

Scripture references

(printed under page 131)

(a) ‹anchor: suos› · call in col 256

Prov. VIII, 29; Jer. V, 22.

Proverbs 8:29; Jeremiah 5:22.

(printed under page 131)

Editors' notes

(a) ‹anchor: sic (a) excipias› · call in col 255

Sic ms. Vien., Ita et alibi passim Paulinus epist. 29 ad Severum, n. 6 et 12.

So the Vienna manuscript. So too Paulinus often elsewhere, Letter 29 to Severus, nos. 6 and 12.

(printed under page 131)

(b) ‹anchor: laudatum (b) Sorianum› · call in col 255

Ita legendum; nec audiendus Sacchinus qui pro Sorianum reponendum censet Marracinum. Quis enim non videat voces ipsius et illi Marracinum spectare, de quo superius fit mentio, n. 1?

So it should be read; nor should Sacchini be heeded, who thinks "Marracinum" should be restored in place of "Sorianum". For who does not see that the words "ipsius" and "illi" refer to Marracinus, who is mentioned above, no. 1?

(printed under page 131)

Editors' prose

Severus Paulino mittit coquum ad praeparandos monachorum cibos aptum.

Severus sends Paulinus a cook fit for preparing the food of monks.

<!-- note: the centred roman heading over Severus's letter (col. 255, with the asterisk call to "Scripta anno 400 exeunte.", set in n256) is an editors' descriptive sentence, not a title: moved here from the text by Q3. -->

Page

  • running head: 255 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI (the head runs across the page; its end is read in col. 256's image)
  • marginal letters: A ‹ctantis effugio. Si illis displicet›; B ‹divinae hujus gratiae beneficium huic deputes, per›; C ‹Sed et illam, in qua pro domestica sede larem fa-›; D ‹malvarum. In praebendis autem sibi lignis calumniosus›
  • old-edition numerals: 116 after ‹gutturis nostri›
  • other: the column opens "ctantis effugio": "ctantis" is the end of "ructantis", set whole at the end of col. 254, so this file starts at "effugio". Migne's cross-reference "(V. carm. 6, v. 68)" after "abstemii" left out as apparatus; note call 7 after "Virgilio" (no matching foot note on the page) and calls (a), (b) omitted from the text. The verse is printed centred with the reference "VIRGIL. Aeneid., III." beneath it; both set in one paragraph. The centred roman line "Severus Paulino mittit coquum ad praeparandos monachorum cibos aptum." (asterisk call to the foot note "Scripta anno 400 exeunte.") is editors' matter: set above under Editors' prose, not in the text. The italic text after it is Severus's letter to Paulinus (layer 1); its sentence "calumniosus / tibi non erit" runs over into col. 256. Scripture note a (Prov./Jer.) is called in col. 256 ("suos") and is kept here because n256 does not carry it.
PL 61:256
tibi non erit: obvia quaeque comburet, metet, nec dubitabit inferre tectis manus, et antiquos asseres laribus amovere. Hunc igitur cum his moribus atque virtutibus donatum tibi, non servum, sed pro servo filium cupimus, quia non erubescis minimorum esse pater. Ego tibi pro hoc servire voluissem, sed si voluntas facti portio est, tu modo facito ut inter prandia coenasque felices mei memineris; quia rectius est vestrum esse mancipium, quam dominum ceterorum. Ora pro me.
he will not be to you: he will burn whatever comes to hand, he will reap, and he will not hesitate to lay hands on the roofs and take the old rafters from the house. So we wish this boy, with these manners and virtues, to be given to you not as a slave but, in place of a slave, as a son, since you do not blush to be the father of the least. I would have wished to serve you in his place; but if the will is a part of the deed, only see to it that amid your happy lunches and dinners you remember me; for it is better to be your chattel than the master of the rest. Pray for me.
EPISTOLA XXIII.
LETTER XXIII.
SEVERO fratri PAULINUS.
To Severus, his brother, Paulinus.
1. Quid extorques, ut te plus amemus? crescere summa non recipit. Si potest mare superfluere obices suos, et quaecumque naturalem plenitudinem servant, incrementum temporale sentire, potest et caritas in te nostra cumulari: quam suo fine complemus, cum te sicut nosmetipsos diligamus. Itaque ut cubitum ad staturam nostram adjicere, sic amoris tui cumulum facere, non possumus; desideriis tamen modum nullum ponimus. Qui enim existimas satisfacere te nobis assiduitate ista honorificentiae ac pietatis tuae, qua praesentiam tuam nobis tam frequentibus epistolis compensare conaris, sollicitas potius gulam caritatis, tantoque minus exples gratia litterarum, quanto majorem sedulitate ipsa et humanitate sermonis tui causam suggeris, te ipsum, tam unicae nobis unanimitatis in Christo, frater, desiderandi. Quid enim fieri diligentius in Deo et proximo potest, quam quod in nobis exhibes Christo? in quo Dei praeceptum utrumque completur: quia idem nobis et Deus est majestate naturae suae, et assumtione nostrae proximus factus est. Hoc igitur in te proficiente consummatur caritas tua, quae sit in ipso infinito perfectio, quia finitur in Christo cujus magnitudinis non est finis: sed nobis in eo finis sit, ut per ipsum sine fine vivamus: quibus Christus et generale initium est, quia per ipsum omnia; et speciale fastigium, quia caput corporis, cujus membra sumus. Dulcis et rectus est Dominus, dulcis in te mihi: et quam
1. Why do you wring from us that we should love you more? The sum does not admit of growth. If the sea can overflow its barriers (Prov. 8:29; Jer. 5:22), and whatever things keep their natural fullness can feel an increase in time, then our charity towards you too can be heaped higher: but we fill it to its limit, since we love you as ourselves. So, just as we cannot add a cubit to our stature (Matt. 6:27), so we cannot add to the heap of our love for you; yet we set no measure to our longing. For you, who think you satisfy us by that constant attentiveness of your honour and kindness, by which you try to make up to us for your presence with such frequent letters, rather provoke the appetite of charity, and fill it the less with the favour of letters, the greater the reason you give, by that very diligence and kindness of your words, for longing for you yourself, brother, so uniquely one in heart with us in Christ. For what can be done with more care towards God and neighbour than what you show to Christ in us? In Him both of God's commands are fulfilled: for the same One is both God to us by the majesty of His nature, and by taking on ours has become our neighbour. So, as this advances in you, your charity is brought to completion, so that it may be perfection in the Infinite Himself, since it finds its bound in Christ, of Whose greatness there is no bound (Ps. 144:3): but let our end be in Him, so that through Him we may live without end: for us Christ is both the general beginning, since through Him are all things (Rom. 11:36), and the particular summit, since He is the head of the body whose members we are (Eph. 1:22; Col. 1:18). Sweet and upright is the Lord, sweet to me in you: and how
Editors' notes and page, col. 256

Footnotes

(b) ‹anchor: staturam nostram adjicere› · call in col 256

Matth. VI, 27.

Matthew 6:27.

(printed under page 131)

(c) ‹anchor: non est finis› · call in col 256

Psal. CXLIV, 3.

Psalm 144 (145):3.

(printed under page 131)

(d) ‹anchor: per ipsum omnia› · call in col 256

Rom. XI, 36.

Romans 11:36.

(printed under page 131)

(e) ‹anchor: membra sumus› · call in col 256

Eph. I, 22; Col. I, 18.

Ephesians 1:22; Colossians 1:18.

Editors' notes

(*) ‹anchor: Severus Paulino mittit coquum› · call in col 255 Scripta anno 400 exeunte.

Written at the end of the year 400.

(**) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 256 Alias 3 et 4; quae autem 23 erat, nunc 2. Scripta anno 401 ineunte.

Formerly 3 and 4; the letter that was 23 is now 2. Written at the beginning of the year 401.

(printed under page 131)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 256

Ms Vien. Paulinus servus Christi Jesu, Severo carissimo fratri secundum communem fidem in Deo Patre et Christo Jesu salutari nostro, salutem.

The Vienna manuscript: "Paulinus, servant of Christ Jesus, to Severus, his dearest brother according to the common faith in God the Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour, greeting."

(printed under page 131)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 256

Ms. Reg., tempore.

The Royal manuscript has "tempore".

(printed under page 131)

(e) ‹anchor: expleS (e) gratia› · call in col 256

Ms. codex Regius, gratiam.

The Royal manuscript codex has "gratiam".

(printed under page 131)

(f) ‹anchor: in quo (f) Dei praeceptum› · call in col 256

Ita mss. Vat. et Vien. At ed. Schot., Domino. Ed. Rosv., in quo Domino praeceptum suum utrumque completur. Ms. Reg. et tres editi codd., Domino praeceptum tuum utrumque completur, mendose.

So the Vatican and Vienna manuscripts. But Schott's edition has "Domino". Rosweyde's edition: "in quo Domino praeceptum suum utrumque completur". The Royal manuscript and three printed copies: "Domino praeceptum tuum utrumque completur", wrongly.

(printed under page 131)

(g) ‹anchor: in ipso (g) infinito› · call in col 256

Ita ms. Vien. Alii mss. cum edit. Rosv., infinita perfectio.

So the Vienna manuscript. Other manuscripts, with Rosweyde's edition, have "infinita perfectio".

(printed under page 131)

(h) ‹anchor: et (h) quam› · call in col 256

Sic mss. Vien. et Reg. cum Vulgata. At ms. Vat. cum editis, quanto.

So the Vienna and Royal manuscripts, with the Vulgate. But the Vatican manuscript, with the printed editions, has "quanto".

(printed under page 131)

Editors' prose

Severi caritas laudatur; item missum sibi ab eo Victorem, et exhibitum a Victore ministerium in cibis ritu monachorum praeparandis, eleganter sancteque commendat. Ex adhibita sibi ab eodem Victore etiam tonsoris opera, multa praeclare de coma disputat: totaque Samsonis et mulieris peccatricis ad Christi pedes historia allegorice exposita, clausulam de Christi caritate prorsus auream opponit.

Severus's charity is praised; he also commends, with elegance and holiness, Victor, whom Severus had sent him, and the service Victor rendered in preparing food after the manner of monks. From the barber's work that the same Victor also performed for him, he discusses the hair at length and admirably; and, having expounded allegorically the whole story of Samson and of the sinful woman at Christ's feet, he sets against it a truly golden conclusion on the charity of Christ.

<!-- note: Argumentum of Epistola XXIII. The scan's head numeral is blurred (reads like 255/256). "Samsonis" is faint on the scan (could be read "Samsenis"); set as Samsonis — UNSURE. The bold marginal numbers 116–118 (old pagination) are not set. -->

Page

  • running head: S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 256
  • marginal letters: A ‹tibi non erit: obvia quaeque›; B ‹pedes historia allegorice exposita› (in the argumentum); C ‹caritatis, tantoque minus exples›; D ‹et rectus est Dominus, dulcis in te mihi›
  • old-edition numerals: 116 at the head of the column (beside ‹tibi non erit›, belongs to col. 255's line); 117 before ‹donatum tibi›; 118 after ‹in te proficiente›
  • other: EDITORS' PROSE: the italic argumentum under EPISTOLA XXIII ("Severi caritas laudatur ... prorsus aueream opponit.") is not set. The double asterisk after EPISTOLA and calls (c)–(h), a–e omitted. "exples" and "assumtione" as printed. Foot-note refs: a Prov. VIII, 29; Jer. V, 22; b Matth. VI, 27; c Psal. CXLIV, 3; d Rom. XI, 36; e Eph. I, 22; Col. I, 18. "Dulcis et rectus est Dominus" carries no call in this column. Editors' variant notes (c)–(h) not set.
PL 61:257
magna multitudo dulcedinis ejus tu mihi; Nam quantus quantus es, qua mente, qua lingua es, totus desiderium es: et mihi dulcedinem Christi sapis ut hortus mihi, ut odor agri pleni, quem in odorem unguentorum illius currendo legisti. Nam et ager tu illi es, qui vicissim ager nobis est. In ipso enim serimus, et ab ipso metimus. Ager vero tu, non ille spinis horridus, aut arenis aridus, aut petrosis asper et nudus, in quo semen datum aut suffocatur, aut destituitur, aut uritur: sed ille, quem benedixit Deus a rore coeli, et ubertate terrae. Unde et lingua tua verbo Dei rorat, et cor tuum fertile Deo, semen exceptum spiritali fruge multiplicat; ut de fructibus tuis impleat manum suam messor, et sinum suum qui manipulos colligit; hoc est, ipse Deus, qui verbi in nobis sui et seminator et messor est. Ipse, et manus qui dextera Dei, quam bonis operibus implemus. Idem et ille Abraham sinus est, in quo operum mercede requiescimus.
what a great multitude of His sweetness (Ps. 24:8; Ps. 30:20) you are to me! For however great you are, in mind and in tongue, you are wholly a thing to be longed for: and to me you savour of the sweetness of Christ like a garden to me, like the smell of a plentiful field (Gen. 27:27), which you have gathered by running after the odour of His ointments. For you too are a field to Him Who in turn is a field to us. For in Him we sow, and from Him we reap. But you are a field, not that one bristling with thorns, or dry with sand, or rough and bare with stones, in which the seed sown is either choked, or forsaken, or scorched (Matt. 13:4): but that one which God has blessed with the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth (Gen. 27:28). Hence your tongue drips dew with the word of God, and your heart, fertile to God, multiplies the seed it has received with spiritual fruit; so that from your fruits the reaper may fill his hand, and he who gathers sheaves his bosom (Ps. 128:7); that is, God Himself, Who is both the sower and the reaper of His word in us. He is also the hand, He Who is the right hand of God, which we fill with good works. He is also that bosom of Abraham in which we rest with the reward of our works (Luke 16:22).
2. Sic nunc Deus in tua caritate nobis abundans; non solum litteris tuis nos, sed et tabellariis benedicit, visitat, pascit, illuminat; utroque nobis munere aperiens thesaurum bonum cordis tui: ex abundantia enim cordis os loquitur: et, omne enim, inquit, animal ad simile sibi congregatur. Propterea benedixit te Deus, quia innocentes et recti adhaeserunt tibi, et cum impiis non sedes; odisti iniquitatem, diligis animam tuam, quam projecisti in Christo, ut huic vitae perdita servaretur aeternae, damno sui semetipsam lucrifaciens, si per caritatem Christi vilescat sibi. Quo affectu vilis tibi, at pretiosae Deo animae tuae suavitatem in favis oris tui Christum spirantibus odorantes benedicimus Dominum, Dei Verbum Deum: qui sicut in ipso illo homine, quem gessit, ita in nostris mentibus gradus quosdam corporeae aetatis exsequitur; nascitur, crescit, roboratur, senescit. Sed orandus, ne in nobis diu aut jugiter parvulus, et infirmus, et pauper sit. In te quidem, ut gloriamur, quia bonum tuum gloria nostra est, profectus ejus experientes, agnoscimus bonitate grandem, malitia parvulum, sapientia senem, fide fortem, et in spiritu piae humilitatis pauperem, caritate divitem. Nam prioribus erga humilitatem nostram officiis alios anteverteras, omnibus nostris, ut saepe testati sumus, et amicis studiosior, et proximis
2. So now God, abounding to us in your charity, blesses, visits, feeds and enlightens us not only by your letters but also by your letter-carriers, opening to us by both gifts the good treasure of your heart: for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt. 12:34): and, For every animal, it says, is gathered to its like (Ecclus 13:20). Therefore God has blessed you, because the innocent and upright have clung to you, and you do not sit with the ungodly (Ps. 24:21; Ps. 25:5); you hate iniquity, you love your soul (Ps. 10:6; John 12:25), which you have cast away in Christ, so that, lost to this life, it might be kept for the eternal, gaining itself by its own loss if through the charity of Christ it grows worthless to itself. With this affection, scenting the sweetness of your soul, worthless to you but precious to God, in the honeycombs of your mouth that breathe out Christ, we bless the Lord, the Word of God, God: Who, as in that very manhood which He bore, so in our minds passes through certain stages of bodily age: He is born, grows, gains strength, grows old. But we must pray that in us He be not long or always a little one, and weak, and poor. In you indeed (that we may glory, since your good is our glory) we experience His progress, and we recognize Him great in goodness, a little one in malice (1 Cor. 14:20), an old man in wisdom, strong in faith, poor in the spirit of devout humility, rich in charity. For with earlier kindnesses towards our lowliness you had outstripped others, being, as we have often testified, more devoted than all our own both to friends, and to neighbours
Editors' notes and page, col. 257

Scripture references

(printed under page 132)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 257

Psal. XXIV, 8, et xxx, 20.

Psalm 24 (25):8, and 30 (31):20.

(printed under page 132)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 257

Gen. XXVII, 27.

Genesis 27:27.

(printed under page 132)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 257

Matth. XIII, 4.

Matthew 13:4.

(printed under page 132)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 257

Gen. XXVII, 28.

Genesis 27:28.

(printed under page 132)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 257

Psal. CXXVIII, 7.

Psalm 128 (129):7.

(printed under page 132)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 257

Luc. XVI, 22.

Luke 16:22.

(printed under page 132)

(g) ‹anchor: os loquitur› · call in col 257

Matth. XII, 34.

Matthew 12:34.

(printed under page 132)

(h) ‹anchor: omne enim› · call in col 257

Eccli. XIII, 20.

Ecclesiasticus 13:20.

(printed under page 132)

(i) ‹anchor: adhaeserunt tibi› · call in col 257

Psal. XXIV, 21, et xxv, 5.

Psalm 24 (25):21, and 25 (26):5.

(printed under page 132)

(j) ‹anchor: diligis animam tuam› · call in col 257

Psal. X, 6; Johan. xii, 25.

Psalm 10 (11):6; John 12:25.

(printed under page 132)

(k) ‹anchor: caritate divitem› · call in col 257

I Cor. XIV, 20.

1 Corinthians 14:20.

(printed under page 132)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 257

Ita tres mss. codices. Editi, ejus? Nam tu mihi.

So three manuscript codices. The printed editions have "ejus? Nam tu mihi".

(printed under page 132)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 257

Ita manuscriptus codex Vaticanus: quod venustius videtur quam vulgata lectio; confirmaturque ex epist. 16 ad Jovium, n. 5, juxta lectionem edit. Schot.

So the Vatican manuscript codex, which seems more graceful than the common reading; and it is confirmed by Letter 16 to Jovius, no. 5, according to the reading of Schott's edition.

(printed under page 132)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 257

Idem codex ms. Vatic., in ipso.

The same Vatican manuscript codex has "in ipso".

(printed under page 132)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 257

Sic tres mss. codices. Editi, verba; quae lectio etiam retineri poterat: eaque confirmatur ex epist. 19 ad Delphin., n. 1: Modica licet, dulcissima tamen oris tui stillicidia roraveras.

So three manuscript codices. The printed editions have "verba" (words), a reading that could also have been kept; it is confirmed by Letter 19 to Delphinus, no. 1: "you had let fall the drops of your mouth, few indeed, yet most sweet."

(printed under page 132)

(e) ‹anchor: non (e) sedes› · call in col 257

Ita mss. Vat. et Vien. Sed ms. Reg. et editi, sedisti.

So the Vatican and Vienna manuscripts. But the Royal manuscript and the printed editions have "sedisti".

(printed under page 132)

(f) ‹anchor: odorantes (f) benedicimus› · call in col 257

Sic manuscripti codices. Editi Schot. et Rosv., benedicimus donum Dei, verbum Domini. Editi tres, donum Dei.

So the manuscript codices. The editions of Schott and Rosweyde have "benedicimus donum Dei, verbum Domini"; three printed editions, "donum Dei".

(printed under page 132)

(g) ‹anchor: alios (g) anteverteras› · call in col 257

Manuscriptus codex Vien., ante viceras.

The Vienna manuscript codex has "ante viceras".

(printed under page 132)

Page

  • running head: 257 EPISTOLA XXIII. (the head runs across the page)
  • marginal letters: A ‹magna multitudo dulcedinis›; B ‹qui dextera Dei, quam bonis operibus›; C ‹Deo animae tuae suavitatem in favis›; D ‹ut saepe testati sumus, et amicis studiosior, et proxi-›
  • old-edition numerals: 119 before ‹ita in nostris mentibus›
  • other: calls (a)–(g), a–k and numerals 1–7 omitted; Migne's cross-reference "(V. not. 69)" after "ex abundantia" left out as apparatus. "proximis" split at the column end ("proxi-"), completed from col. 258's first line ("mis religiosior"). UNSURE: "Sic nunc Deus" (the type is blurred; reads like "nic"); "favis" (the f looks like l at this resolution). Foot-note refs (read across cols 257–258): a Psal. XXIV, 8, et xxx, 20; b Gen. XXVII, 27; c Matth. XIII, 4; d Gen. XXVII, 28; e Psal. CXXVIII, 7; f Luc. XVI, 22; g Matth. XII, 34; h Eccli. XIII, 20; i Psal. XXIV, 21, et xxv, 5; j Psal. X, 6; Johan. xii, 25; k I Cor. XIV, 20. Editors' variant notes (a)–(e) not set.
PL 61:258
religiosior, et fratribus diligentior. Nunc vero ista nostrae visitationis vice, etiam temetipsum supergressa humanitate superasti. Sat enim nobis erat annuis commeatibus emereri litteras tuas, et a te missos videre, in quibus non solum vicem praesentiae tuae, sed et fidei teneremus effigiem. Tibi tamen satis non fuit institutam observantiam solemni perfunctione celebrare. Longum tibi multa dilectio fecit mora hiemis a nobis silere. Concaluit cor tuum intra te, et in meditatione pietatis sanctus tibi bonae impatientiae ignis exarsit. Nec suffecit litterarum ad nos editione (Latin. forte editionem; vid. ep. 5, n. 4) maturare, nisi gratiam sermonis tui, etiam de sanctis comitibus tuis lecto perlatore, cumulares.
more devout, and to brothers more attentive. But now, by this one in place of our visit, you have surpassed even yourself with a kindness that outgoes you. For it was enough for us to earn your letters by yearly journeys, and to see those sent by you, in whom we might hold not only a stand-in for your presence but also the image of your faith. Yet it was not enough for you to keep the established observance by a solemn discharge of it. Your great love made it a long thing for you to be silent towards us through the delay of winter. Your heart grew hot within you, and in the meditation of devotion a holy fire of good impatience blazed up in you (Ps. 38:4). Nor was it enough for you to hasten the sending of letters to us (in Latin perhaps "editionem"; see Letter V, no. 4), unless you also heaped up the grace of your words by choosing the bearer from your holy companions.
3. Benedictus, quem in hoc munus elegisti et assumsisti quo Deum feneras: quia etsi peccatores nos vera conscientiae nostrae professione, tamen tuae simplicitatis opinione falsa putans, ut ais, sanctos, non jam hominis, sed Christi caritate nos diligis: et idcirco mercedem prophetae accipies, quia propter nomen Christi prophetarum honore accipis etiam non prophetas. Nobis vero similis gratia non debetur hujus officii, quo fratrem Victorem in nomine Dei, tuaque persona ad nos venientem, intima affectione et magna gratulatione suscepimus. Id enim tantum fecimus inutiles servi, quod facere debuimus; quoniam perspicua veritas cogebat nos ovem puram in eo suscipere atque venerari; quem non solum ovem pelle, verum spiritus mansuetudinis, et expressa in verbo ejus atque silentio Christi modestia revelabat. Vere recognovimus in eo sanctorum formulam beatorum Martini et Clari, quem proximo intervallo illustris magistri sequacem te autore cognovimus. Horum se unius in regeneratione esse progeniem, alterius in via comitem fuisse filius pacis Victor asseruit. Homo vere, ut scripsisti, Dei humilis corde, non humilis gratia: vas misericordiae et mansio Altissimi quem recipit, et oblectat placido animae trementis hospitio. Is nobis benedictiones, praeter illas quas a vobis geminas in litteris et palliis afferebat, plures addidit de opibus mentis suae, non solum contubernio spiritali gratissimus nobis, sed et corporeo famulatu sedulus. Audeo enim rem oneris nostri fateri, dum tibi nihil de ejus bonis taceam, quae gaudium tuum esse certo
3. Blessed is he whom you chose and took up (Ps. 64:5) for this service, by which you lend to God at interest: for though we are sinners by the true confession of our conscience, yet, thinking us saints, as you say, by the false opinion of your simplicity, you love us no longer with a man's charity but with Christ's: and therefore you will receive a prophet's reward (Matt. 10:41), since for the name of Christ you receive with the honour due to prophets even those who are not prophets. But no like thanks is owed to us for this service, by which we received brother Victor, coming to us in the name of God and in your person, with deepest affection and great rejoicing. For we, unprofitable servants, have done only what we ought to have done (Luke 17:10); since plain truth compelled us to receive and revere in him a pure sheep, whom not only the sheep by his skin, but the spirit of meekness and the modesty of Christ expressed in his speech and his silence revealed. Truly we recognized in him the pattern of the saints, the blessed Martin and Clarus, the latter of whom we came to know, on your telling, as the follower of his illustrious master at the nearest remove. Victor, a son of peace (Luke 10:6), declared that he was the offspring of the one in regeneration, and had been the companion of the other on the road. Truly a man, as you wrote, humble of heart (Matt. 11:29) towards God, not humble in grace: a vessel of mercy and a dwelling of the Most High, Whom he receives and delights with the peaceful hospitality of a trembling soul. To the blessings he brought from you, twofold, in letters and cloaks, he added more of his own from the riches of his mind, not only most welcome to us in spiritual companionship but also diligent in bodily service. For I dare to confess a matter that weighs on me, so long as I keep silent to you about none of his good qualities, which for certain are your joy,
Editors' notes and page, col. 258

Footnotes

(l) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 258

Psal. XXXVIII, 4.

Psalm 38 (39):4.

(printed under page 132)

(m) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 258

Psal. LXIV, 5.

Psalm 64 (65):5.

(printed under page 132)

(n) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 258

Matth. X, 41.

Matthew 10:41.

(printed under page 132)

(o) ‹anchor: quod facere debuimus› · call in col 258

Luc. XVII, 10.

Luke 17:10.

(printed under page 132)

(p) ‹anchor: filius pacis› · call in col 258

Luc. X, 6.

Luke 10:6.

(printed under page 132)

(q) ‹anchor: humilis corde› · call in col 258

Matth. XI, 29.

Matthew 11:29.

Editors' notes

(printed under page 132)

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 258

Ita mss. Reg. et Vien. At editi, sileri.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscripts. But the printed editions have "sileri".

(printed under page 132)

(i) ‹anchor: spiritus (i) mansuetudinis› · call in col 258

Sic tres mss. codices Reg., Vat. et Vien. Editi, spiritus mansuetudine. Verum mss. codicum lectio confirmatur ex epist. 19 ad Delphinum, n. 2, spiritu mansuetudinis in via pacis radicati; et epist. 27 ad Severum, n. 3, ubi eadem fere verba usurpat, pauper in spiritu mansuetudinis.

So three manuscript codices, the Royal, Vatican and Vienna. The printed editions have "spiritus mansuetudine". But the manuscripts' reading is confirmed by Letter 19 to Delphinus, no. 2, "rooted by the spirit of meekness in the way of peace"; and by Letter 27 to Severus, no. 3, where he uses almost the same words, "poor in the spirit of meekness".

(printed under page 132)

Page

  • running head: EPISTOLA XXIII. 258
  • marginal letters: A ‹mis religiosior, et fratribus›; B ‹sumsisti quo Deum feneras›; C ‹destia revelabat. Vere recognovimus›; D ‹ejus bonis taceam, quae gaudium›
  • old-edition numerals: 120 after ‹placido›
  • other: the column opens "mis religiosior": "mis" ends "proximis", set whole at the end of col. 257, so this file starts at "religiosior". The parenthesis "(Latin. forte editionem; vid. ep. 5, n. 4)" is an inline editors' conjecture printed in the text; kept as printed, like an [alias] variant: UNSURE, coordinator may remove. Migne's cross-reference "(V. not. 70)" after "feneras" left out as apparatus; calls (h), (i), l–q omitted. Foot-note refs: l Psal. XXXVIII, 4; m Psal. LXIV, 5; n Matth. X, 41; o Luc. XVII, 10; p Luc. X, 6; q Matth. XI, 29. "ovem pelle" and "assumsisti" as printed. "sanctorum": the last letters are badly inked. The sentence runs on into col. 259 ("certo / scio"). Editors' variant notes (f)–(i) not set.
PL 61:259
scio: quoniam portio tua est bonum familiaris tui.
I know: since the good of one of your household is your portion.
4. Servivit ergo mihi, servivit inquam; et vae mihi misero, quod passus sum; servivit et peccatori, qui non serviebat peccato; et ego indignus a servo justitiae ministrabar. Sed hinc mihi levamen aliquod tanti ponderis spero, quod sancti fratris famulatum non superbia vindicavi, sed contestandae caritatis meae, et fide capiendae benedictionis admisi. Benedictio enim mihi erat sancta in nomine Dei famulatio, et in libertatis spiritu famula dilectio. Ob hoc voluntarium ejus bonum, et pro ipsius utilitate suscepi, praesumens eo potentiorem exorandi pro me futurum, quo plus meriti de religionis operibus acquisisset. Aget profecto orationibus suis, ne meis oneribus accreverit, quod etiam ex me accessit fructibus suis. Dilexi enim, fateor, in ejus obsequio benedictionem, timens ne repudiata elongaretur a me; quia scriptum tenebam: Noluit benedictionem, et elongabitur ab eo. Dedi itaque me totum manibus ejus atque visceribus: quia per viscera caritatis manus famulas, et membris meis unctor, et pedibus lotor adhibebat; liberalium plenus affectuum, sed servilium praereptor operum, vix ut me aquam ministrare manibus suis sineret. Ex libro enim tuo istius gratiam servitutis adamavi, ut minimam saltem guttulam de sacris Martini actibus delibarem. Ipse vero quotidie non solum pedes meos lavare, sed et calceamenta, si paterer, tergere cupiebat, avarus dominationis internae, et idcirco corporeae servitutis impiger
4. So he served me, served me, I say; and woe to wretched me, that I allowed it; he served a sinner, he who did not serve sin; and I, unworthy, was ministered to by a servant of righteousness. But I hope for some relief from so great a weight in this, that I did not claim the holy brother's service out of pride, but admitted it to bear witness to my charity and in faith that I would receive a blessing. For holy service in the name of God was a blessing to me, and serving love in the spirit of freedom. For this reason I accepted his good as freely given (Philem 14), and for his own profit, presuming that he would be the more powerful in praying for me the more merit he had gained from works of religion. He will surely see to it by his prayers that what has accrued to his fruits even from me may not have added to my burdens. For I loved, I confess, the blessing in his service, fearing that, refused, it might be put far from me; for I held what is written: He would not have blessing, and it shall be put far from him (Ps. 108:18). So I gave myself wholly into his hands and his heart: for through the heart of charity he set his serving hands to work, anointer of my limbs and washer of my feet; full of a free man's affections, but snatching away a slave's tasks, so that he scarcely let me pour water for his hands. For it was from your book that I came to love the grace of this servitude, so that I might taste at least the least little drop of the holy deeds of Martin. He indeed longed every day not only to wash my feet, but also, had I allowed it, to wipe my shoes, greedy of inner mastery and therefore untiring in bodily servitude
5. Sed de pedibus lavandis tantum semel fateor apostolico me exemplo cessisse, quos legeram pedes suos lavandos servienti Domino praebuisse. Neque enim partem in hereditate nisi famulantis obsequio recepissent; quoniam bonus Dominus et salutarium magister, serviendi ministerio dominandi meritum conferebat; et humilitatis humanae praebebat exemplum, quibus divinae sublimitatis parabat consortium. Unde perspecto muneris tanti mysterio, et intellecta boni magnitudine, qui primo ministrantis apparatu pedes offerre trepidaverant; jam non pedes tantum, sed totos se usque ad caput perlui rogaverunt. Et ego Dominum Jesum in fratre Victore veneratus, quia omnis anima fidelis ex Deo est, et humilis corde cor Christi est, fateor, ad remedium infirmitatis optavi, ut oleo me vel aqua melior conservus attingeret. Nec irritus fui praesumtae opis; nam quasi medicatum manibus piis oleum de ipsa ungentis mansuetudine mihi lenius in medullas perlapsum est, et exsultaverunt ossa humiliata. Benedixit anima mea Dominum, et omnia interiora mea nomen sanctum
5. But in the matter of washing the feet alone, I confess, I once yielded to the apostolic example, since I had read that the apostles offered their feet to be washed by the Lord as He served (John 13:9). For they would not have received a part in the inheritance except by the compliance of one being served; since the good Lord and Teacher of saving things was conferring the merit of ruling through the ministry of serving, and was giving an example of human humility to those for whom He was preparing a share in divine sublimity. So, once they had perceived the mystery of so great a gift and understood the greatness of the good, those who had at first trembled to offer their feet when He made ready to minister now asked to be washed not only as to their feet but wholly, up to the head. And I, venerating the Lord Jesus in brother Victor, since every faithful soul is from God, and the humble of heart (Matt. 11:29) is the heart of Christ, chose, I confess, as a remedy for my infirmity, that a better fellow-servant should touch me with oil or with water. Nor was I disappointed of the help I had counted on; for the oil, as though medicated by his devout hands from the very meekness of the one anointing, slipped more gently into my marrow, and the humbled bones rejoiced (Ps. 50:10). My soul blessed the Lord, and all that is within me His holy name
Editors' notes and page, col. 259

Scripture references

(printed under page 133)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 259

Philem. 14.

Philemon 14.

(printed under page 133)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 259

Psal. CVIII, 18.

Psalm 108 (109):18.

(printed under page 133)

(c) ‹anchor: Domino praebuisse› · call in col 259

Johan. xiii, 9.

John 13:9.

(printed under page 133)

(d) ‹anchor: humilis corde› · call in col 259

Matth. XI, 29.

Matthew 11:29.

(printed under page 133)

(e) ‹anchor: ossa humiliata› · call in col 259

Psal. L, 10.

Psalm 50 (51):10.

(printed under page 133)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 259

Psal. CII, 1.

Psalm 102 (103):1.

(printed under page 133)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 259

Psal. XLIV, 8.

Psalm 44 (45):8.

(printed under page 133)

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 259

Eccle. X, 1.

Ecclesiastes 10:1.

(printed under page 133)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 259

Ms. Vien., concitandae. Ms. Reg., contristandae.

The Vienna manuscript has "concitandae"; the Royal manuscript, "contristandae".

(printed under page 133)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 259

Ms. Vatic., religiosis.

The Vatican manuscript has "religiosis".

(printed under page 133)

(c) ‹anchor: (c) lotor adhibebat› · call in col 259

Ita ms. Vien. codex. Alii, lutor.

So the Vienna manuscript codex. Others have "lutor".

(printed under page 133)

(d) ‹anchor: et omnia (d) interiora› · call in col 259

Ita versio LXX interpretum, psalteria vetus et Romanum, et Augustinus in commentario super psalmos.

So the version of the Seventy translators, the Old and Roman psalters, and Augustine in his commentary on the Psalms.

(printed under page 133)

Page

  • running head: 259 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI (the head runs across the page)
  • marginal letters: A ‹scio: quoniam portio tua est›; B ‹fructibus suis. Dilexi enim, fateor›; C ‹5. Sed de pedibus lavandis›; D ‹optavi, ut oleo me vel aqua melior conservus attin-›
  • old-edition numerals: 121 before ‹totos se usque ad caput›
  • other: the paragraph ending "corporeae servitutis impiger" has no closing stop printed. Migne's cross-references "(V. not. 71)" after "praereptor" and "(V. not. 72)" after "Ex libro enim tuo" left out as apparatus. Calls a–e, (a)–(d) and numerals 8–12 omitted. "elongabitur" (the l is faint), "lotor" and "praesumtae" as printed. Foot-note refs (read across cols 259–260): a Philem. 14; b Psal. CVIII, 18; c Johan. xiii, 9; d Matth. XI, 29; e Psal. L, 10. "omnia interiora mea" per editors' note (d) (LXX reading). Editors' variant notes (a)–(d) not set.
PL 61:260
ejus. Nam et sensibus vegetandis proderat haec pietatis magis palaestra, quam corporis, qua frater bonus artus mihi fragiles, manu lingente, componens, mentis quoque vigorem recreatis ossibus erigebat, cooperante proculdubio manibus fide: ut dum infirmam carnem manus diligentis duceret, compatientem animam gratia credentis elueret, fieretque mihi intus oleum laetitiae, quod foris erat oleum sanitatis.
(Ps. 102:1). For this wrestling-school, of devotion rather than of the body, also served to quicken my senses; in it the good brother, setting my frail limbs to rights with his anointing hand, raised up the vigour of my mind as well once my bones were refreshed, faith no doubt working together with his hands: so that, while the hand of a diligent man stroked the weak flesh, the grace of a believing man washed the soul that suffered with it, and what outwardly was an oil of healing became within me an oil of gladness (Ps. 44:8).
6. Accipe modo aliam ejusdem in nostris sensibus servitutem. Quia non solum refectionis nostrae, sed et parsimoniae curam gerens, facilem nos victum cibo simplici capere, coctis in gutta olei et aquae copia pultibus, docuit: sed eas tanto gratiae sale, tanta dulcedine caritatis condiebat, ut coquos et condituras non desideraremus: quia aquae purae oleum suavitatis, quod nulla muscarum importunitas exterminavit, simplicitas caritati juncta miscebat. Verum spiritalis coquus interiorem hominem cibare doctior, quo destrueret escam gulae, non siligine nobis pultes, sed farina confecit aut milio. Ac ne in hoc ipso delicatius nobiscum agere videretur, qui nos ad orexim monachorum parabat imbuere, fabam intrivit panicio, quo citius senatorium poneremus fastidium. Sed in benedictione dulcedinis animae delicias habebamus, gratulantes quod frater etiam in carnalibus ministeriis spiritalis, propheticis nos cibis pasceret. Nam in contritione permixta panes illos tribulationis imitatus est, quos Ezechiel propheta de vario frugis et farris conficere sibi genere jussus est, et ad expressionem Judaicae confusionis, qui obliti Deum, immutaverunt gloriam suam in similitudinem vituli manducantis foenum, in stercore boum coquere, coctosque sub foetido cinere, cum lacrymis captivatis in mensura sumere. Videlicet ut superventuram perfidiae suae poenam corporaliter in propheta signatam providerent, et vel ita reverterentur ad Dominum, si eos ad poenitendum non solum verbis denuntiata, sed etiam corporibus Prophetarum expressa, offensi Dei ira revocaret.
6. Now hear of another service of his to our senses. For, taking care not only of our refreshment but of our frugality too, he taught us to take an easy diet of simple food, porridges cooked in a drop of oil and plenty of water: but he seasoned them with such salt of grace, such sweetness of charity, that we did not miss cooks and seasonings; for simplicity joined to charity mixed into the pure water an oil of sweetness which no importunity of flies destroyed (Eccl. 10:1). But the spiritual cook, more skilled at feeding the inner man, made our porridges, to destroy the food of gluttony, not of fine wheat but of coarse meal or millet. And so as not to seem to deal with us too delicately even in this, since he was preparing to train us to the appetite of monks, he mashed beans into panic-grass, so that we might the sooner lay aside a senator's fastidiousness. But in the blessing of sweetness we had delights for the soul, rejoicing that the brother, spiritual even in fleshly ministries, was feeding us with prophetic foods. For in the mixed mash he imitated those loaves of tribulation which the prophet Ezekiel (Ezek. 4:5) was ordered to make for himself from a mixture of grain and spelt, and, to express the confusion of the Jews, who, forgetting God, changed their glory into the likeness of a calf that eats hay (Ps. 105:20), to bake in cow dung, and to eat them, baked under the stinking ash, by measure, with the tears of the captives. That is, so that they might foresee the punishment that would come upon their faithlessness, signified bodily in the prophet, and might even so return to the Lord, if the anger of an offended God, not only announced in words but expressed in the bodies of the prophets, should call them back to repentance.
7. Voluit ergo frater Victor, ut non solum jejunio, sed et cibo humiliare animam disceremus: et recordatione peccatorum veterum, intellectuque praesentium tristes manducare panem doloris: quamvis ex parte nobis pepercerit, fabam tantum milio panicioque confundens: quod tamen forsitan oblivionis magis quam moderaminis fuerit. Nam homo sanctus fideli cautione metuisset aliquid nobis de Scriptura sancta subtrahere: et ut totam juxta Dei verbum confectionem prophetici panis impleret, lentem
7. So brother Victor wished us to learn to humble the soul not only by fasting but also by food, and, sorrowful at the remembrance of old sins and the recognition of present ones, to eat the bread of sorrow (Ps. 126:2); though he partly spared us, mixing only beans with the millet and panic-grass: which, however, may have come rather from forgetfulness than from moderation. For otherwise the holy man, in faithful caution, would have feared to withhold from us anything of holy Scripture, and, to carry out the whole recipe of the prophetic bread according to God's word, lentils
Editors' notes and page, col. 260

Footnotes

(i) ‹anchor: Ezechiel› · call in col 260

Ezech. IV, 5.

Ezekiel 4:5.

(printed under page 133)

(j) ‹anchor: manducantis foenum› · call in col 260

Psal. CV, 20.

Psalm 105 (106):20.

(printed under page 133)

(k) ‹anchor: panem doloris› · call in col 260

Psal. CXXVI, 2.

Psalm 126 (127):2.

Editors' notes

(printed under page 133)

(e) ‹anchor: citius (e) senatorium› · call in col 260

Ms. Vien., senatorum poneremus fastigium, male. Vide epist. 50 S. Ambrosii ad Sabinum de senatoria Paulini dignitate, Hieron. ep. 13 ad Paulinum, et ep. 3 ad Geruntii filias, necnon Ausonium epist. 25 ad Paulinum.

The Vienna manuscript has "senatorum poneremus fastigium", wrongly. See St Ambrose's Letter 50 to Sabinus on Paulinus's senatorial rank, Jerome's Letter 13 to Paulinus and Letter 3 to the daughters of Geruntius, and also Ausonius's Letter 25 to Paulinus.

(printed under page 133)

(f) ‹anchor: lacrymis (f) captivatis› · call in col 260

Ita mss. Reg. et Vien. Editi, captivitatis.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscripts. The printed editions have "captivitatis".

(printed under page 133)

Page

  • running head: S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 260
  • marginal letters: A ‹ejus. Nam et sensibus vegetandis›; B ‹condituras non desideraremus›; C ‹cere sibi genere jussus est›; D ‹quamvis ex parte nobis pepercerit›
  • old-edition numerals: 122 before ‹propheta signatam›
  • other: "lentem" split at the column end ("len-"), completed from col. 261's first line ("tem quoque"). Migne's cross-reference "(V. not. 73)" after "orexim" left out as apparatus. Calls f–l, (e), (f) and numeral 13 omitted. Foot-note refs: f Psal. CII, 1; g Psal. XLIV, 8; h Eccle. X, 1; i Ezech. IV, 5; j Psal. CV, 20; k Psal. CXXVI, 2. The call printed after "foenum" looks like "l" (taken as j). Editors' variant notes (e) "senatorum ... fastigium" and (f) "captivitatis" not set.
PL 61:261
quoque et hordeum et viciam miscuisset in crumilum, ut aestuantibus extra sui labra fervoribus, dissimilium sibi fructuum quasi repugnante coctura, fatiscens rimis olla crepitaret. Nihilominus tamen de paucioribus frugibus testam capacem replens, intulit nobis multo nidore catina infumantia; totumque non solum mensulae nostrae ambitum, sed et cellulae nostrae spatium olida caligine vaporavit: atque, ut multiplicaret nobis benedictionem, alterius quoque prophetae prandium coenulae nostrae contulit, ut Elisaei nobis ollam inferret: in quam misit farinam; nec herbam veneni, sed condimentum salutis incoxit, in nomine Domini gerens omne quod agebat: quo tuti atque securi non exclamavimus ad eum; Homo Dei, mors in olla: quia jam in olla nostra vita est, postquam Dominus Jesus Dei Verbum caro factus est, et habitavit in nobis: et vasa fictilia nostri corporis; voluntariae nobis pravitatis lubrico de suis manibus elapsa, et diuturnis contrita peccatis, ut in meliorem usum figulus ipse renovaret, assumsit in semetipso, factus et ipse de nostri corporis limo tamquam vas, ut ait, perditum, id est, in similitudinem carnis peccati, ut de peccato damnaret peccatum. Et ideo dicit: Moab olla spei meae, quia non solum ex Juda, sed ex Moab, hoc est, non solum de sanctorum, sed etiam de peccatorum origine corpus assumsit: qui decocta quasi per ollam carnis nostrae cruditate, sanctificavit in aeternum nobis cibum carnem suam. Caro enim ejus, ut ipse ait, vere cibus vitae est. Ipsa est et illa secundum Jeremiam olla urens peccata, et illo igne consumens, de quo ait: Ignem veni mittere in terram: quem et in nobis optemus accendi, ut in olla Dominici corporis, id est Ecclesia, concoquamur: perustisque vitiis defaecati, efficiamur argentum igne examinatum, probatum terrae, purgatum septuplo; ut jam non urenda sarmenta, sed palmites fructuosi in eodem Domino, id est, vera vite maneamus, fiatque nobis idem Dominus ad escam dulcis ille botrus, qui nobis in crucis vecte suspensus, de terra repromissionis et fructum ostendit, et gustum dedit, ut non jam sectemur vilia ruris inculti gramina, inter quae etiam pestiferos viticularum silvestrium racemos carpere periclitemur. Quod certe
and barley and vetch too he would have mixed into the mash (Ezek. 4:9), so that, with the boiling surging over its lips, the cooking of fruits unlike one another as it were fighting itself, the pot would have split with cracks and crackled. All the same, filling a capacious earthen pot with fewer grains, he brought in to us dishes smoking with a great reek, and filled with a rank fog not only the round of our little table but the space of our little cell as well: and, to multiply blessing for us, he brought to our little supper the luncheon of another prophet too, bringing in to us Elisha's pot: into which he threw meal (2 Kgs. 4:41); and he cooked in it no poisonous herb but a seasoning of salvation, doing all that he did in the name of the Lord: so that, safe and secure, we did not cry out to him: Man of God, there is death in the pot (2 Kgs. 4:40): for now there is life in our pot, since the Lord Jesus, the Word of God, was made flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14): and the earthen vessels of our body, slipped from His hands by the slipperiness of our wilful depravity and crushed by long-continued sins, He took up into Himself, that He, the potter, might renew them for a better use (Jer. 18:6), becoming Himself, from the clay of our body, like a vessel, as He says, that is lost (Ps. 30:13), that is, in the likeness of the flesh of sin, so that from sin He might condemn sin (Rom. 8:3). And therefore He says: Moab is the pot of my hope (Ps. 59:10), since He took a body not only from Judah but from Moab, that is, from a stock not only of saints but of sinners too: Who, having cooked down the rawness of our flesh as in a pot, sanctified His flesh as our food for ever. For His flesh, as He Himself says, is truly the food of life (John 6:56, 48). He is also that pot, according to Jeremiah (Jer. 1:13), that burns sins and consumes them with that fire of which He says: I have come to cast fire upon the earth (Luke 12:49): let us pray that it be kindled in us too, so that in the pot of the Lord's body, that is, the Church, we may be cooked through, and, cleansed of our vices by their burning, may become silver tried by fire, proved of earth, purified seven times (Ps. 11:7); so that we may remain no longer shoots for burning, but fruitful branches in the same Lord (John 15:2), that is, the true vine, and that the same Lord may become our food, that sweet cluster (Num. 13:24) which, hung for us on the pole of the cross, both showed us the fruit of the land of promise and gave us its taste, so that we may no longer go after the cheap grasses of untilled country, among which we risk picking even the deadly clusters of wild vines. Which surely
Editors' notes and page, col. 261

Scripture references

(printed under page 134)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 261

Ezech. IV, 9.

Ezekiel 4:9.

(printed under page 134)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 261

IV Reg. IV, 41.

4 Kings (2 Kings) 4:41.

(printed under page 134)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 261

Ibid., 40.

The same, verse 40.

(printed under page 134)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 261

Johan. i, 14.

John 1:14.

(printed under page 134)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 261

Jer. XVIII, 6.

Jeremiah 18:6.

(printed under page 134)

(f) ‹anchor: perditum› · call in col 261

Psal. XXX, 13.

Psalm 30 (31):13.

(printed under page 134)

(g) ‹anchor: damnaret peccatum› · call in col 261

Rom. VIII, 3.

Romans 8:3.

(printed under page 134)

(h) ‹anchor: olla spei meae› · call in col 261

Psal. LIX, 10.

Psalm 59 (60):10.

(printed under page 134)

(i) ‹anchor: vitae est› · call in col 261

Johan. vi, 56 et 48.

John 6:56 and 48.

(printed under page 134)

(j) ‹anchor: secundum Jeremiam› · call in col 261

Jer. I, 13.

Jeremiah 1:13.

(printed under page 134)

(k) ‹anchor: mittere in terram› · call in col 261

Luc. XII, 49.

Luke 12:49.

(printed under page 134)

(l) ‹anchor: purgatum (f) septuplo› · call in col 261

Psal. XI, 7.

Psalm 11 (12):7.

(printed under page 134)

(m) ‹anchor: in eodem Domino› · call in col 261

Johan. xv, 2.

John 15:2.

(printed under page 134)

(n) ‹anchor: ille botrus› · call in col 261

Num. XIII, 24.

Numbers 13:24.

(printed under page 134)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 261

Sic mss. Belg. et Vien. Forte legendum grumulum. Vide not. 74. Ms. Reg., crubilum. Ed. Rosv., cumulum. Schot. in marg., cumerum, ut et Cauchius.

So the Belgian and Vienna manuscripts. Perhaps "grumulum" should be read; see note 74. The Royal manuscript has "crubilum"; Rosweyde's edition, "cumulum"; Schott in the margin, "cumerum", as does Cauchius.

(printed under page 134)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 261

Ita mss. codices Reg. et Vien. et editi Bad. et Schot. At ed. Grin. et Sacchin., sua. Rosveydus emendaverat vasis ex conjectura.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscript codices and the editions of Badius and Schott. But Gryphius's edition and Sacchini have "sua". Rosweyde had emended to "vasis" by conjecture.

(printed under page 134)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 261

Sic ms. Regius et editi codices quatuor. Mss. Vatic. et Vien. et edit. Schot. et Latin, fumantia.

So the Royal manuscript and four printed copies. The Vatican and Vienna manuscripts, Schott's edition and Latini have "fumantia".

(printed under page 134)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 261

Manuscriptus codex Vaticanus, vas perditum, in similitudinem, sine interjectionibus illis, quas tamen non sine venustate ceteri codices habent.

The Vatican manuscript codex has "vas perditum, in similitudinem", without those interjected words, which the other codices nevertheless have, not without grace.

(printed under page 134)

(e) ‹anchor: vere cibus (e) vitae est› · call in col 261

Ita ms. Vien. cum edit. Grin. eaque lectio confirmatur, n. 8, ubi a cibo, vita est.

So the Vienna manuscript with Gryphius's edition; and the reading is confirmed at no. 8, where it is "a cibo, vita est".

(printed under page 134)

(f) ‹anchor: purgatum (f) septuplo› · call in col 261

Ita Paulinus in epist. 29 ad Delphinum, n. 6.

So Paulinus in Letter 29 to Delphinus, no. 6.

(printed under page 134)

Page

  • running head: 261 EPISTOLA XXIII. (the head runs across the page; read in full in col. 262's image)
  • marginal letters: A ‹tem quoque et hordeum et viciam›; B ‹Dei Verbum caro factus est›; C ‹illa secundum Jeremiam olla urens›; D ‹vestrium racemos carpere periclitemur. Quod certe›
  • old-edition numerals: 123 after ‹Ipsa est et›
  • other: the column opens "tem quoque": "tem" ends "lentem", set whole at the end of col. 260, so this file starts at "quoque". Migne's cross-reference "(V. not. 74)" after "crumilum" left out as apparatus. Calls a–n, (a)–(f) and numerals 14–17 omitted. "crumilum", "sui", "infumantia", "assumsit" as printed (see editors' notes (a)–(c), not set). Foot-note refs (read across cols 261–262): a Ezech. IV, 9; b IV Reg. IV, 41; c Ibid., 40; d Johan. i, 14; e Jer. XVIII, 6; f Psal. XXX, 13; g Rom. VIII, 3; h Psal. LIX, 10; i Johan. vi, 56 et 48 (second numeral UNSURE: 43 or 48); j Jer. I, 13; k Luc. XII, 49; l Psal. XI, 7; m Johan. xv, 2; n Num. XIII, 24.
PL 61:262
nobis accidit, cum squalente curarum secularium spinis anima, cui cultura Dei verbum est, vitam hanc aevi brevem et boni sterilem suspirantes, inter actus supervacuos peccata noxia quasi inter agrestes herbas germina venenata colligimus, et sic in ollam corporis vel cordis nostri mortem mittimus. Sed gratias Deo, qui nos liberavit de corpore mortis hujus per Christum Jesum Dominum nostrum; quo infirmitati nostrae sui spiritus virtutem permiscente, et amaritudo malitiae nostrae, et sterilitas inutilitatis, infuso praecordiis verbo Dei, velut convertente salutaris e vividi salis aspergine, ad dulcedinem fecunditatemque mutata est.
happens to us when, our soul, whose tillage is the word of God (Luke 8:14), being overgrown with the thorns of worldly cares, we sigh over this life, short in time and barren of good, and among needless doings gather harmful sins like poisonous shoots among wild herbs, and so put death into the pot of our body or our heart. But thanks be to God, Who has freed us from the body of this death through Christ Jesus our Lord (Rom. 7:24–25): for as He mingles the power of His Spirit with our weakness, both the bitterness of our malice and the barrenness of our uselessness, once the word of God is poured into our hearts, have been changed into sweetness and fruitfulness, as though He converted them by a sprinkling of saving and living salt.
8. Recurramus ad fratrem Victorem, qui vas etiam farinulae nostrae ex usu usurpationis suae, quam in nomine Dei faciebat, copiosum de benedictione fecit: ut aliquid etiam de beati Eliae hydria nobis daret, qua propheta coelestis in verbo sacro ad sufficientiam indeficientem repleta, benedictam cum filiis Sareptae viduam per triennii famem pavit. In qua vidua jam tum per prophetam Christus, ut opinor, Ecclesiam suam non frumenti, sed verbi pane pascebat; de qua dicit: Viduam ejus benedicens benedicam; illam scilicet viduam quam Apostolus ait, mortuo viro, quibus volet nuptiis liberam; quia desinente lege, cui finis est Christus, a gratia ad libertatem transitum faciens Ecclesia, Christo quasi vidua legis innupsit. Hujus nunc vasis oleum gratiae et benedictionis farina non defecit in omnium foris gentium fame, quarum miseram a cibo vitae et fide Trinitatis inediam congrue praefiguravit illa quondam triennii fames. Sed, ut super hoc institutum concludam, ita Domini gratiam farina nostra in fratris Victoris manu sensit, ut quae vix ante sufficiebat panibus, nunc abundet et pultibus, fraternitatemque monacham vespertini post jejunia cibi avidam, duplici ministerio, aut fermentatis orbibus, aut soluto farre distendat.
8. Let us return to brother Victor, who, by the use he made of it, which he did in the name of God, made even the vessel of our little flour plentiful with blessing: so as to give us something even of the jar of blessed Elijah, by which the heavenly prophet, filled in the holy word to an unfailing sufficiency, fed the widow of Zarephath, blessed with her children, through a famine of three years (1 Kgs. 17:16). In this widow, I think, Christ was even then, through the prophet, feeding His Church with the bread not of grain but of the word; of whom He says: Blessing I will bless her widow (Ps. 131:15); that is, the widow whom the Apostle (Rom. 7:3) calls free, once her husband is dead, for whatever marriage she will (1 Cor. 7:39); for when the law ceased, whose end is Christ, the Church, passing from grace to freedom, married Christ as the widow of the law. The oil of grace and the meal of blessing of this vessel have not now failed in the famine of all the nations outside (1 Kgs. 17:16), whose wretched hunger for the food of life and the faith of the Trinity that famine of three years once fittingly prefigured. But, to conclude on this subject, our flour so felt the grace of the Lord in brother Victor's hand that what before scarcely sufficed for bread now abounds for porridge too, and fills the monkish brotherhood, eager for the evening meal after fasting, by a double ministry, either with leavened rounds or with spelt boiled loose.
9. Verum idem Victor meus quamvis fortioribus cibis inducere stomachum nostrum studeret, tamen et hoc infirmitati nostrae frater necessarius consulebat, quod defectiones fidei nostrae in illis pultibus absumendis adimplebat: et opera manuum suarum consummabat uno pro nobis adjutore istius
9. But though this same Victor of mine was eager to bring our stomach round to stronger foods, yet the brother, indispensable to us, also took thought for our weakness in this, that he made up the failings of our faith in using up those porridges: and he completed the works of his hands with one helper for us of this
Editors' notes and page, col. 262

Footnotes

(o) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 262

Luc. VIII, 11.

Luke 8:11.

(printed under page 134)

(p) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 262

Rom. VII, 24 et 25.

Romans 7:24 and 25.

(printed under page 134)

(q) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 262

III Reg. XVII, 16.

3 Kings (1 Kings) 17:16.

(printed under page 134)

(r) ‹anchor: benedicens benedicam› · call in col 262

Psal. CXXXI, 15.

Psalm 131 (132):15.

(printed under page 134)

(s) ‹anchor: quam Apostolus› · call in col 262

Rom. VII, 3.

Romans 7:3.

(printed under page 134)

(t) ‹anchor: nuptiis liberam› · call in col 262

I Cor. VII, 39.

1 Corinthians 7:39.

(printed under page 134)

(u) ‹anchor: gentium fame› · call in col 262

III Reg. XVII, 16.

3 Kings (1 Kings) 17:16.

Editors' notes

(printed under page 134)

(g) ‹anchor: Christus, (g) a gratia› · call in col 262

Ms. Vien., ad gratiae libertatem.

The Vienna manuscript has "ad gratiae libertatem" (to the freedom of grace).

(printed under page 134)

(h) ‹anchor: vix ante (h) sufficiebat› · call in col 262

Ms. Vien. addit paucis.

The Vienna manuscript adds "paucis" (few).

(printed under page 134)

(i) ‹anchor: aut (i) fermentatis› · call in col 262

Ita mss. codices. Sacchinus putat legendum, frumentationibus, quia infra subditur: Frumentationem mihi misit. Et videtur (inquit Sacchinus) sic appellasse illas pultes ex mixtione multarum frugum.

So the manuscript codices. Sacchini thinks "frumentationibus" should be read, because below is added: "He sent me a frumentatio." And he seems (says Sacchini) to have given that name to those porridges made from a mixture of many grains.

(printed under page 134)

(j) ‹anchor: farre (j) distendat› · call in col 262

Edd. Bad., Grin. et Schot., distentat.

The editions of Badius, Gryphius and Schott have "distentat".

(printed under page 134)

(k) ‹anchor: (k) et hoc› · call in col 262

Ms. Vien., et in hoc.

The Vienna manuscript has "et in hoc".

(printed under page 134)

(l) ‹anchor: pultibus (l) absumendis› · call in col 262

Ita ms. Vien. et editio Schot. Alii, assumendis. Vide not. 16.

So the Vienna manuscript and Schott's edition. Others have "assumendis". See note 16.

(printed under page 134)

Page

  • running head: EPISTOLA XXIII. 262
  • marginal letters: A ‹nobis accidit, cum squalente›; B ‹in nomine Dei faciebat, copiosum›; C ‹124 et fide Trinitatis inediam›; D ‹suarum consummabat uno pro nobis›
  • old-edition numerals: 124 before ‹et fide Trinitatis›
  • other: calls o–u, (g)–(l) and numerals 18–22 omitted. "vas" read from blurred type ("va:"): UNSURE. "a gratia ad libertatem" and "absumendis" as printed (editors' notes (g), (l), not set). Foot-note refs: o Luc. VIII, 14; p Rom. VII, 24 et 25; q III Reg. XVII, 16; r Psal. CXXXI, 15; s Rom. VII, 3 (numeral faint: 3 or 5); t I Cor. VII, 39; u III Reg. XVII, 16. The column ends mid-sentence at "istius". Editors' variant notes (f)–(l) not set.
PL 61:263
ferculi, quem ex rusticanis receptum domi renutrimus, aetate corporis senem, mentis infantem: quia jam senectute deficiens renatus est gratiae, et in novitatem vitae de vetustate carnis effloruit. Eum fratris Victoris coquina, et assueto cibo, ut ex rusticis hominem, et apto, ut edentulum saginavit. Iste pauper clamavit, et Dominus exaudivit eum. Eripuit eum de tenebris et umbra mortis; et nunc aspersus hyssopo et emundatus, in voce exsultationis et confessionis epulatur, et clamat: Erravi sicut ovis quae perierat: Benedicam Dominum in omni tempore, qui mihi tribuit intellectum, et eripuit me de luto faecis, et immisit in os meum canticum novum. Junior fui, et senui: sed non defecerunt in vanitate dies mei. Quia fecit mihi magna, qui potens est. Torrente voluptatis suae potavit me, et refloruit caro mea. Frumentationem mihi misit in abundantia, et saturavit animam inanem et nunc senectus mea in misericordia pingui, donec in pace dormiam et requiescam in longitudinem dierum.
dish, a man whom, taken in from among the country folk, we are nursing back to health at home, old in the age of his body, an infant in mind; for, already failing with old age, he has been reborn to grace, and from the oldness of the flesh has blossomed into newness of life. Brother Victor's kitchen has fattened him up, with familiar food, as a man from the country, and with suitable food, as a toothless one. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him. He snatched him out of darkness and the shadow of death (Ps. 33:7; 106:14); and now, sprinkled with hyssop and cleansed, he feasts with the voice of exultation and of confession, and cries out: I have gone astray like a sheep that was lost: I will bless the Lord at all times, who has given me understanding, and has snatched me out of the mire of the dregs, and has put a new song into my mouth. I was young, and have grown old: but my days have not failed in vanity. For He who is mighty has done great things for me. With the torrent of His pleasure He has given me drink, and my flesh has flourished again. He has sent me a ration of corn (see note 76) in abundance, and has filled the empty soul, and now my old age is in rich mercy, until I sleep in peace and rest unto length of days.
10. Venio nunc ad majorem fratris erga me victoris operam, qua me suis manibus tondere dignatus est: quod ipsum tamen beneficium tibi debere me voluit, mandato tuo dicens se mihi artem suam prodere. Propterea rogavi eum ut quod perita manu fecit, id impensis orationibus ambo faciatis; videlicet ut exorato precibus vestris Domino, peccata nostra, quibus super capillos capitis multiplicatis animam habemus, impexam non accisione medii tondeantur, sed ad vivum quasi novacula radente perimantur. Est autem nobis novacula nunc salutiferae, nunc pestiferae sectionis. Remedii et decoris novacula nobis Christus Deus est, qui cor nostrum circumcidit, vitia radit, animae caput levigat, et faciem mentis accurat: nosque, ut illam in lege captivam, purgat, et liberat horrido miserae servitutis capillo: ut conjungendi Domino, velut illa in Israelitae viri nuptias transitura, criminibus carnis nostrae, quasi barbaris crinibus exuamur. Deinde sensibus innovatis, ut comis rudibus enitescamus, vitamque nostram, quasi Nazaraeum crinem pascentes, Deo in castitate et parsimonia consecremus.
10. I come now to a greater service of brother Victor towards me, in that he deigned to shear me with his own hands: yet he wished me to owe this very kindness to you, saying that it was at your command that he was making his art over to me. Therefore I asked him that what he did with skilled hand you might both do with earnest prayers; that is, that the Lord being entreated by your prayers, our sins, multiplied beyond the hairs of the head, by which we have an unkempt soul, may be shorn, not by a cutting through the middle, but done away to the quick, as by a razor shaving. Now we have a razor of cutting that is now saving, now deadly. The razor of healing and of comeliness is for us Christ God, who circumcises our heart, shaves away vices, smooths the head of the soul (see Letter XLI, n. 3, and Poem XXI, line 537), and tends the face of the mind: and, like that captive woman in the Law, He cleanses us (Deut. 21:12), and frees us from the shaggy hair of wretched servitude: so that, being about to be joined to the Lord, as she was to pass into marriage with an Israelite husband, we may be stripped of the crimes of our flesh as of barbarous locks. Then, our senses renewed, that we may shine with fresh tresses (Num. 6:5), and, letting our life grow like a Nazirite's hair, we may consecrate it to God in chastity and frugality.
11. Cavendum vero, ne illa inimica ex diverso novacula, quae in protoplastis noxia
11. But we must beware lest that hostile razor from the opposite side, which, harmful in the first-formed (see note 78),
Editors' notes and page, col. 263

Scripture references

(printed under page 135)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 263

Psal. XXXIII, 7, et cvi, 14.

Psalm 33 (34):7, and 106 (107):14.

(printed under page 135)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 263

Psal. L, 9; Psal. CXVIII, 176, et xxxiii, 2; Psal. XXXIX, 3; Psal. LXXVII, 33; Luc. I, 49; Psal. XXXV, 9, et xxxvii, 7; Psal. LXXXVII, 25, sec. Psalter. Rom.

Psalm 50 (51):9; Psalm 118 (119):176, and 33 (34):2; Psalm 39 (40):3; Psalm 77 (78):33; Luke 1:49; Psalm 35 (36):9, and 37 (38):7; Psalm 87 [so the scan appears to read; perhaps 77], verse 25, according to the Roman Psalter.

(printed under page 135)

(c) ‹anchor: super capillos capitis› · call in col 263

Psal. LIX, 13.

Psalm 59, verse 13 [so the scan appears to read; the words quoted are Psalm 39 (40):13].

(printed under page 135)

(d) ‹anchor: cor nostrum circumcidit› · call in col 263

Col. II, 11.

Colossians 2:11.

(printed under page 135)

(e) ‹anchor: nuptias transitura› · call in col 263

Deut. XXI, 12.

Deuteronomy 21:12.

(printed under page 135)

(f) ‹anchor: comis rudibus enitescamus› · call in col 263

Num. VI, 5.

Numbers 6:5.

(printed under page 135)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 263

Judic. XVI, 19.

Judges 16:19.

(printed under page 135)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 263

Ms. Vat., cibo, et apto, ut ex rusticis hominem, et edentulum saginavit.

The Vatican manuscript: "cibo, et apto, ut ex rusticis hominem, et edentulum saginavit" (and with suitable food, as a man from among rustics, he fattened even a toothless one).

(printed under page 135)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 263

Ms. Reg. et edit. Grav., Junior.

The Royal manuscript and Gravius's edition have "Junior".

(printed under page 135)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 263

Sic ms. Vien., cui lectioni favent mss. Reg. et Vat. Ita in psalmo xci, ad quem alluditur, est ἐν γήρει πίονι. Vide not. 76. Editi codd., in misericordia pinguedinis.

So the Vienna manuscript, a reading the Royal and Vatican manuscripts support. So it is in Psalm 91, to which the allusion is made: "in a rich old age". See note 76. The printed copies have "in misericordia pinguedinis".

(printed under page 135)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 263

Mss. Regius et Vat., in longitudine.

The Royal and Vatican manuscripts have "in longitudine".

(printed under page 135)

(e) ‹anchor: non (e) accisione› · call in col 263

Ms. codex Viennensis, abscisione. Bona utraque lectio. Ms. codicis Vien. lectio inferius confirmatur n. 11, invictus (Samson) crine servato, cautius

The Vienna manuscript codex has "abscisione". Both readings are good. The Vienna codex's reading is confirmed below, no. 11: "unconquered (Samson) while his hair was kept, more cautiously" [the rest of the note is cut off at the foot of the image]

(printed under page 135)

(f) ‹anchor: sensibus (f) innovatis› · call in col 263

Ms. Vien., renovatis.

The Vienna manuscript has "renovatis".

(printed under page 135)

Page

  • running head: 263 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPI[STOLAE] (right part of the head lies in the other column's image)
  • marginal letters: A ‹ferculi, quem ex rusticanis›; B ‹ptatis suae potavit me›; C ‹perimantur. Est autem nobis›; D ‹novacula, quae in protoplastis›
  • old-edition numerals: 125 after ‹radente›
PL 61:264
fraude deceptis generis humani caput rasit, in caput nostrum, hoc est, fidem qua nobis caput Christus efficitur, ascendat; nosque gratia spiritali, tamquam illo Nazaraeo crine dispoliet: qui quanto servantibus bono maneat, et exitio decerpatur incautis, ille in Judicum libro ab oraculis sacer heros argumento est, invictus crine servato, captivus absciso, et iterum fortis renato. Utinamque tam prudens ad cavendam mulierem, quam fortis ad strangulandum leonem: sed carnali victus illecebra, qui gratia spiritali vicerat, cum praevaluisset forti, ab infirmitate superatus est. Quod patiantur necesse est, qui suam feminam, id est carnem, viro suo, hoc est spiritui in Dei leges non subjugant, et tamquam malesuadae conjugi moles mariti fluentibus animis acquiescunt; degeneres ab illo Magistro (Paulo; vid. ep. 30, n. 5), qui mox ut agnovit Christum, inter ipsa militiae rudimenta, magni certaminis victor non acquievit carni et sanguini.
shaved the head of the human race when it had been deceived by fraud, should mount up to our head, that is, to the faith by which Christ is made our Head, and strip us of spiritual grace as of that Nazirite hair: how great a good this hair remains to those who keep it, and to what ruin it is plucked from the heedless, that hero consecrated by oracles in the Book of Judges is the proof, unconquered while his hair was kept, a captive when it was cut off, and strong again when it grew anew (Judg. 16:19). Would that he had been as prudent in guarding against a woman as he was strong in strangling a lion (Judg. 14:6): but he who had conquered by spiritual grace was conquered by fleshly allurement, and, though he had prevailed over the strong, was overcome by weakness. This must needs be suffered by those who do not subject their woman, that is, the flesh, to her husband, that is, to the spirit, under the laws of God, and who, like soft husbands with wills that flow away, give way to an ill-counselling wife; falling short of that Master (Paul; see Letter XXX, n. 5), who, as soon as he knew Christ, amid the very first rudiments of his service, a victor in a great contest, did not give way to flesh and blood (Gal. 1:16).
12. Videamus itaque omnia quae Samson pertulerit ab infida uxore corruptus, quia eadem peccatores spiritaliter feremus, quae ille carnaliter ad nostram eruditionem expressa sustinuit. Ita enim nobis violata Christi gratia, ut illi incisa coma, hostis illudet; auferet oculos, mittet in carcerem, et vertendis molis velut asinos deputabit. Unde nos Dominus, ne collum nostrum non subditum jugo Christi dignum faciamus asinaria mola, admonet per prophetam: Nolite fieri sicut equus et mulus, quibus non est intellectus. Homo enim, ut alibi dicit idem propheta, non intelligens honorem suum, hoc est naturae suae dignitatem, quae ceteris in terra animantibus ratione dominatur, ideo rationalis factus, ut autorem suum intelligere nosset et colere, abutens tanto munere Creatoris ad licentiam erroris sui, comparatur jumentis, et similis efficitur. Quod in rege Babylonio videmus evidenter impletum, qui stoliditatis impiae et vecordis superbiae poenam sensu hominis exutus, in belluino haec corde sustinuit. Etenim homo in errore positus, et a justitia relapsus, juste, ut Samson, sapientiae pariter et gratiae virtute desertus, caecitate punitur et mola: quia dignus est opere jumentario, qui semeptisum lumine rationis orbaverit, et in similitudinem belluarum corporis servus abjecerit.
12. Let us see, then, all that Samson endured when corrupted by a faithless wife (Judg. 14:1, 16), since we sinners shall bear spiritually the same things which he, carnally, endured as an express image for our instruction. For so, if the grace of Christ is violated in us, as when his hair was cut off for him, the enemy will mock us; he will take away our eyes, send us to prison, and assign us like asses to the turning of mills. Hence the Lord, lest we make our neck, not subject to the yoke of Christ, deserving of the ass's millstone (Matt. 11:29; 18:6), warns us through the prophet: Do not become like the horse and the mule, which have no understanding (Ps. 31:9). For man, as the same prophet says elsewhere, not understanding his honour, that is, the dignity of his nature, which by reason has dominion over the other living things on earth, and which was made rational for this, that it might know how to understand and to worship its Author, abusing so great a gift of the Creator for the licence of his own error, is compared to the beasts of burden, and is made like them (Ps. 48:13). This we see plainly fulfilled in the king of Babylon (Dan. 4:30), who, stripped of the sense of a man as the penalty of impious folly and senseless pride, endured these things with the heart of a beast. For man, set in error and fallen back from righteousness, is justly, like Samson, forsaken by the power both of wisdom and of grace, punished with blindness and the mill (Judg. 16:21): for he is worthy of the work of a beast of burden who has bereft himself of the light of reason, and as the slave of the body has cast himself down into the likeness of beasts.
Editors' notes and page, col. 264

Footnotes

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 264

Judic. XIV, 6.

Judges 14:6.

(printed under page 135)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 264

Gal. I, 16.

Galatians 1:16.

(printed under page 135)

(j) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 264

Judic. XIV, 1, 16.

Judges 14:1, 16.

(printed under page 135)

(k) ‹anchor: asinaria mola› · call in col 264

Matth. XI, 29; Matth. XVIII, 6.

Matthew 11:29; Matthew 18:6.

(printed under page 135)

(l) ‹anchor: non est intellectus› · call in col 264

Psal. XXXI, 9.

Psalm 31 (32):9.

(printed under page 135)

(m) ‹anchor: nosset et colere› · call in col 264

Psal. XLVIII, 13.

Psalm 48 (49):13.

(printed under page 135)

(n) ‹anchor: videmus› · call in col 264

Dan. IV, 30.

Daniel 4:30.

(printed under page 135)

(o) ‹anchor: punitur et mola› · call in col 264

Judic. XVI, 21.

Judges 16:21.

Editors' notes

(printed under page 135)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 264

Samson scilicet, qui n. 10 dicitur bellator acer.

That is, Samson, who at no. 10 is called a fierce warrior.

(printed under page 135)

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 264

Ita mss. Reg. et Vien. cum edit. Bad., Grav. et Bign., absciso. Sic vetustiores codices ad Prudentium Peristeph. hymno 3, v. 125, habent abscisa papilla, ut ibidem in notis admonet N. Heinsius.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscripts with the editions of Badius, Gravius and Bigne: "absciso". So the older codices of Prudentius, Peristephanon hymn 3, line 125, have "abscisa papilla", as N. Heinsius points out in his notes there.

(printed under page 135)

(i) ‹anchor: (i) intelligere nosset› · call in col 264

Ita mss. tres cum Sacchino. Ms. Vatic., nosceret. Editi intelligeret, nosset, et coleret. Utraque lectio bona.

So three manuscripts, with Sacchini. The Vatican manuscript has "nosceret". The printed editions have "intelligeret, nosset, et coleret". Both readings are good.

(printed under page 135)

Page

  • running head: [S. PAUL]INI NOLANI EPISCOPI 264
  • marginal letters: A ‹fraude deceptis generis›; B ‹degeneres ab illo Magistro›; C ‹intelligens honorem suum›; D ‹cerit.›
  • old-edition numerals: 126 after ‹naturae suae›
PL 61:265
13. Considera hujusmodi mortalium vitam, et tota tibi species jumenti molentis occurret. Ut ille panis oculos corporis, sic iste sordibus vitae suae oculos mentis obsutus, per errores suorum sensuum, quasi circa ambages molarum, laboriosa miser statione versatur, usui suo vacuus, et operosus alieno: stat in via peccatorum, compeditus vinculis cupiditatum suarum: et ipse sibi carcer est obsessus tenebris erroris sui, et conscientiae squalore concretus: in semetipso pistrini ergastulum patitur; saxum cordis sui pertinacia iniquitatis induratum quasi molam versat, farinam hostibus suis de corrupta animae suae fruge conficiens. Quia, sicut scriptum est, peccator de anima sua currit: ita qui peccatum operatur, de mola vitae suae hostile triticum molit, ut zabulum pascat, cui panis fit anima quae sibi fames est. Quod si non semper vadens, sed aliquando revertens, spiritus fiat, velut coma reduci, ita gratia reflorente integrabitur,
13. Consider the life of mortals of this kind, and the whole likeness of a grinding beast of burden will meet you. As that one has the eyes of his body sewn up with cloths, so this one, the eyes of his mind sewn up by the filth of his life (see note 79), through the wanderings of his senses, as round the windings of the millstones, turns about, wretched, at his toilsome post, idle for his own use and busy for another's: he stands in the way of sinners (Ps. 1:1), fettered by the chains of his desires: and he is himself his own prison, beset by the darkness of his error and crusted with the squalor of his conscience: within himself he suffers the slave-house of the mill; he turns, as a millstone, the rock of his heart, hardened by obstinacy in iniquity, making flour for his enemies out of the corrupted grain of his soul. Because, as it is written, the sinner runs at the cost of his soul (Prov. 7:23, according to the Septuagint) (see note 80): so he who works sin grinds the enemy's wheat on the millstone of his life, to feed the devil, for whom the soul becomes bread, the soul that is famine to itself. But if he become a spirit not always going away, but at some time returning (Ps. 77:39), it will be made whole by grace flourishing again, as by hair grown back,
14. Sed ut totam de capillis texamus epistolam, juvat indulgere sermoni, et illum Domini fortem usque ad finem suum prosequi. Nam et in caecitate ipsius, et in morte divini sacramenta mysterii praelineata mirabimur. Quia quod scriptum est, plures illum hostes stravisse morientem, quam toto prius vitae suae tempore perculisse, arbitror principe loco vim Dominicae passionis interpretandam, qua zabuli domus cecidit, et regnum mortis solutum est. Quod, vivente semper, ut vivit, Christo, et ante carnalem adventum suum in majestate naturae suae apud Deum Patrem Deo Verbo, tamen dispositis in ordinem suum seculis ab Adam usque ad Moysem, mortis potestas, licentia bacchante, regnaverat; et de lege intellecto, nec evitato, peccato creverat: hoc regnum Rex regum, et dispensator temporum Dei Filius passione sua divisit ac diruit, Deus factus sub lege, ut subjugatos legis solveret, factus per mulierem, sed mulierem sexu, virginem partu, ut sanctificaret utrumque sexum Creator utriusque, suspiciendo virum, nascendo per feminam. Itaque mortem ipsam moriendo destruxit, solvens, ut scriptum est, inimicitias in carne sua, et faciens utrumque unum, id est, hominem et Deum, quem in seipso connexuit Deus et homo Christus Jesus. In quo utriusque substantia naturae discordiam posuit (id est, deposuit), et unificantis gratiae aeternum foedus agnovit. Spoliatos nos zabuli latrocinio, et vulneratos
14. But that we may weave the whole letter out of hair, it is pleasing to give rein to the discourse, and to follow that strong man of the Lord to his end. For both in his blindness and in his death we shall wonder at the sacraments of the divine mystery traced out beforehand. For that which is written, that in dying he laid low more enemies than he had struck down in all the time of his life before, I think is to be interpreted in the first place of the power of the Lord's Passion, by which the devil's house fell and the kingdom of death was dissolved. For although Christ was ever living, as He lives, and before His coming in the flesh was God the Word with God the Father in the majesty of His nature, yet, the ages being set out in their order, from Adam to Moses (Rom. 5:14) the power of death had reigned with riotous licence; and it had grown through sin, understood by means of the Law yet not avoided: this kingdom the King of kings and Steward of the times, the Son of God, divided and overthrew by His Passion, God made under the Law, that He might set free those subjugated to the Law, made of a woman (Gal. 4:4), but a woman in sex, a virgin in childbearing, so that the Creator of both might sanctify both sexes, taking up man, being born through woman. Thus by dying He destroyed death itself, dissolving, as it is written, the enmities in His flesh, and making both one (Eph. 1:14), that is, man and God, whom in Himself the God and man Christ Jesus joined together. In whom the substance of each nature laid down its discord (that is, laid it aside), and acknowledged the eternal covenant of unifying grace. Us, despoiled by the devil's brigandage, and wounded
Editors' notes and page, col. 265

Scripture references

(printed under page 136)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 265

Psal. V, 1.

Psalm 5:1.

(printed under page 136)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 265

Prov. VII, 23, juxta LXX.

Proverbs 7:23, following the Septuagint.

(printed under page 136)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 265

Psal. LXXVII, 39.

Psalm 77 (78):39.

(printed under page 136)

(d) ‹anchor: quod scriptum est› · call in col 265

Judic. XVI, 30.

Judges 16:30.

(printed under page 136)

(e) ‹anchor: ad Moysem› · call in col 265

Rom. V, 14.

Romans 5:14.

(printed under page 136)

(f) ‹anchor: per mulierem› · call in col 265

Gal. IV, 4.

Galatians 4:4.

(printed under page 136)

(g) ‹anchor: faciens utrumque unum› · call in col 265

Eph. I, 14.

Ephesians 1:14 [so printed; the words are Ephesians 2:14].

(printed under page 136)

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 265

Luc. X, 31, 32.

Luke 10:31, 32.

(printed under page 136)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 265

Sic ms. Vien. codex. Ceteri, occurrat.

So the Vienna manuscript codex. The others have "occurrat".

(printed under page 136)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 265

Ms. codex Regius cum editis tribus, versaturus, visu suo vacuus. Ed. Grin., versatur, visu suo vacuus.

The Royal manuscript codex with three printed editions has "versaturus, visu suo vacuus"; Gryphius's edition, "versatur, visu suo vacuus".

(printed under page 136)

(c) ‹anchor: passionis (c) interpretandam› · call in col 265

Ita mss. Reg. et Vien. cum editis quatuor. Ed. Rosv., interpretandum.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscripts with four printed editions. Rosweyde's edition has "interpretandum".

(printed under page 136)

(d) ‹anchor: apud (d) Deum Patrem› · call in col 265

Sic ms. Vien. et edit. Grin. et Schot. Alii, Dominum.

So the Vienna manuscript and the editions of Gryphius and Schott. Others have "Dominum".

(printed under page 136)

(e) ‹anchor: et (e) unificantis› · call in col 265

Ita ms. Regius codex, ceteris refragantibus, in quibus vivificantis. Vide praecedentia.

So the Royal manuscript codex, against the others, in which it is "vivificantis". See what precedes.

(printed under page 136)

Page

  • running head: 265 EPISTOLA XXI[…] (the rest of the head lies beyond the image)
  • marginal letters: A ‹13. Considera hujusmodi›; B ‹triticum molit, ut zabulum›; C ‹(d) Deum Patrem Deo Verbo›; D ‹posuit), et (e) unificantis›
  • old-edition numerals: 127 after ‹seculis›
  • other: both misprints UNSURE: "panis" (the blindfolding cloths call for "pannis") and "suspiciendo" (the sense "taking up" calls for "suscipiendo") are set as read. Section 13 ends with a comma ("integrabitur,") as printed. Last word "vulnera-" completed as "vulneratos" from the first line of col. 266 visible at the right of the top image. Migne's "(V. not. 79)", "(V. not. 80)" and the italic "(id est, deposuit)" kept as printed. Superscript note mark after "utriusque" omitted. Page-foot scripture notes partly cut off at the right edge: a Psal. I, 1; b Prov. VII, 23, juxta LXX; c Psal. LXXVII, 39 (last digit partly clipped); d and e clipped (e at "Moysem" given as Rom 5:14, UNSURE, inferred, not read); f read only as "…IV, 4" (given as Gal 4:4, UNSURE); g printed "Eph. I, 14" (the passage is Eph 2:14), given as printed.
PL 61:266
in via, praeterierat frater in levita, frater in sacerdote, quos lex nec sacrificiis redemerat, nec prophetis. Sed non praeterivit ille Samarites, qui propter nos hujus etiam nominis suscepit injuriam; non praeterivit, quia non erat mercenarius, sed verus et bonus pastor, qui animam suam pro ovibus positurus advenerat. Hic hominem saucium praetermissum a praeviis, nec curatum, miseratus accessit, et jumento suo, hoc est Verbi incarnatione suscepit: et oleo gratiae, et vino passionis suae, commendatum stabulario, perfecto illi magistro gentium (id est, S. Paulo. V. n. 24; ep. 30, n. 5; carm. 22, v. 178 et 32, v. 353), in duobus Testamentis denarii mercede sanavit, redditurus illi et beatae virginitatis de innumeris hujus boni fructibus uberes gratias, et innumerabiles coronas, quia hoc consilium praecepto adjiciens, de suo supererogavit.
on the way, the brother in the Levite and the brother in the priest had passed by, those whom the Law had redeemed neither by sacrifices nor by prophets (Luke 10:31–32). But that Samaritan did not pass by, who for our sake took on Himself even the insult of this name; He did not pass by, because He was not a hireling but the true and good Shepherd, who had come to lay down His life for the sheep (John 10:18, 12). He, pitying the wounded man passed over by those who went before and not tended, came up to him, and took him up on His own beast, that is, by the incarnation of the Word: and with the oil of grace and the wine of His Passion He healed him, entrusted to the innkeeper (Luke 10:34), that perfect master of the Gentiles (that is, Saint Paul; see n. 24; Letter XXX, n. 5; Poem XXII, line 178, and XXXII, line 353), with the wage of a denarius in the two Testaments; and He will repay him also abundant thanks from the countless fruits of this good, blessed virginity, and countless crowns, because, adding this counsel to the precept, he spent beyond what was required out of his own.
15. Non ergo erat iste frater, qui et conditione Dominus a servis, et natura Deus a mortalibus discrepabat: sed tamen et homo erat ille, de quo scriptum est: Et homo est, et quis cognoscet eum? Neque ideo frater noster, quamquam et hoc divina pietas pro humilitate cordis sui famulis nomen indulserit, dicens: Narrabo nomen tuum fratribus meis, tamen nostra arrogantia non audendus dici frater, nec quia homo fieri dignatus est; quia et in ipso hominis ortu nihil habet commune nobiscum; qui citra nostrae generationis usum caro factus de Spiritu sancto, intemerata sacrae matris virginitate, et conceptus et natus est. Et ideo sine ullo corporis nostri contagio, nostrum corpus effectus, non dedit Deo placationem suam, quia ipse propitiatio erat: nec pretium redemptionis animae suae, sed nostrae, quia non egebat salute Salvator. Nos enim venditi sub peccato egebamus pretio redemtionis; et ideo propter nos homo, propter nos forma servi, propter nos filius ancillae. Qui benedictus et sanctificator sanctorum, pro nobis tamen et peccatum et maledictum factus est, quod non erat; ut nos, qui et ex praevaricatione peccatum, et ex damnatione maledictum eramus, ab utroque absolveret, utrumque in sua carne affigens cruci. Ideo dictum puto: Frater non redimit, redimet homo: quia quos frater non redemerat, hoc est, propheta, seu legislator, qui homo tantum erat; hic homo redemit, qui et Deus erat. Deus enim, inquit, erat in Christo reconcilians sibi mundum. Hujus enim modi homo solus praevalere
15. He, then, was not that brother, He who differed from servants by His condition as Lord, and from mortals by His nature as God: but yet He was also that man of whom it is written: He is also a man, and who shall know Him (Jer. 17:9) (see note 81)? Nor is He therefore our brother, although the divine kindness, in the humility of His heart, has granted this name also to His servants, saying: I will declare Thy name to my brethren (Ps. 21:23); yet by our presumption He is not to be ventured to be called brother, not even because He deigned to become man; for even in His very birth as man He has nothing in common with us; for, apart from the manner of our begetting, made flesh of the Holy Spirit, the virginity of His holy mother unviolated, He was both conceived and born. And therefore, without any contagion of our body, made our body, He did not give to God His own appeasement, because He Himself was the propitiation (Ps. 48:8; 1 John 2:2): nor the price of the redemption of His own soul, but of ours, because the Saviour had no need of salvation. For we, sold under sin (Rom. 7:14), were in need of the price of redemption; and therefore for us He was man, for us the form of a servant, for us the son of a handmaid (Phil. 2:7). He who is blessed and the Sanctifier of the saints was yet, for us, made both sin and a curse (2 Cor. 5:21; Gal. 3:13), which He was not; that us, who were both sin by transgression and a curse by condemnation, He might release from both, nailing both to the cross in His flesh (Col. 2:14). Therefore I think it was said: A brother does not redeem, a man shall redeem (Ps. 48:8): because those whom a brother had not redeemed, that is, a prophet or lawgiver, who was only a man, this man redeemed, who was also God. For God, he says, was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself (2 Cor. 5:19). For a man of this kind alone could prevail
Editors' notes and page, col. 266

Footnotes

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 266

Johan. x, 18 et 12.

John 10:18 and 12.

(printed under page 136)

(j) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 266

Luc. X, 34.

Luke 10:34.

(printed under page 136)

(k) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 266

Jerem. xvii, 9.

Jeremiah 17:9.

(printed under page 136)

(l) ‹anchor: fratribus meis› · call in col 266

Psal. XXI, 23.

Psalm 21 (22):23.

(printed under page 136)

(m) ‹anchor: placationem suam› · call in col 266

Psal. XLVIII, 8.

Psalm 48 (49):8.

(printed under page 136)

(n) ‹anchor: animae suae› · call in col 266

I Johan. ii, 2.

1 John 2:2.

(printed under page 136)

(o) ‹anchor: pretio redemtionis› · call in col 266

Rom. VII, 14.

Romans 7:14.

(printed under page 136)

(p) ‹anchor: filius ancillae› · call in col 266

Philip. ii, 7.

Philippians 2:7.

(printed under page 136)

(q) ‹anchor: maledictum factus est› · call in col 266

II Cor. V, 21; Gal. III, 13.

2 Corinthians 5:21; Galatians 3:13.

(printed under page 136)

(r) ‹anchor: affigens cruci› · call in col 266

Col. II, 14.

Colossians 2:14.

(printed under page 136)

(s) ‹anchor: redimet homo› · call in col 266

Psal. XLVIII, 8.

Psalm 48 (49):8.

(printed under page 136)

(t) ‹anchor: reconcilians sibi mundum› · call in col 266

II Cor. V, 19.

2 Corinthians 5:19.

Editors' notes

(printed under page 136)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 266

Omnes codices, profecto. Emendavimus perfecto, quia semel et iterum eadem verba usurpat Paulinus ad Severum suum scribens, ubi constanter juxta omnes codices legitur perfectus fidei ac disciplinae magister in eadem epist., n. 24, et epist. 30, n. 5, perfectus magister ait.

All the codices have "profecto". We have emended to "perfecto", because Paulinus uses the same words more than once when writing to his Severus, where, in all the codices alike, "perfect master of faith and discipline" is read in the same letter, no. 24; and in Letter 30, no. 5, he says "perfect master".

(printed under page 136)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 266

Mss. Vat. et Vien., in hoc; non male si intelligas, in hac re.

The Vatican and Vienna manuscripts have "in hoc"; not wrongly, if you take it as "in this matter".

(printed under page 136)

(h) ‹anchor: erat; (h) hic homo› · call in col 266

Ita ms. codex Regius. Ceteri, hos.

So the Royal manuscript codex. The others have "hos".

(printed under page 136)

Page

  • running head: EPISTOLA XXIII. 266
  • marginal letters: A ‹tos in via, praeterierat›; B ‹numerabiles coronas›; C ‹nostri contagio, 128›; D ‹erat. Deus enim, inquit›
  • old-edition numerals: 128 after ‹contagio›
  • other: the column's first printed syllable "tos" completes "vulneratos", already set whole at the end of c265, so this file begins at "in via". The column ends "prae-" hyphenated; the next column was not in view, so only the visible part is set and the English stops at "alone". "redemtionis" set as printed. Migne's inline "(id est, S. Paulo. V. n. 24; ep. 30, n. 5; carm. 22, v. 178 et 32, v. 353)" and "(V. not. 81)" kept as printed. Superscript note numbers 28, 29, 30 omitted. Page-foot notes h–t read in full: Luc. X, 31, 32; Johan. X, 18 et 12; Luc. X, 34; Jerem. XVII, 9; Psal. XXI, 23; Psal. XLVIII, 8; I Johan. II, 2; Rom. VII, 14; Philip. II, 7; II Cor. V, 21, Gal. III, 13; Col. II, 14; Psal. XLVIII, 8; [II] Cor. V, 19. They also confirm col. 263–265 notes: c Psal. LXXVII, 39; d Judic. XVI, 30; e Rom. V, 14; f Gal. [IV], 4.
PL 61:267
potuit adversus sententiam mortis, et aculeum peccati, ut chirographum mortis aboleret, et humiliaret calumniatorem: non tamen ei majestate naturae suae, sed habitu nostrae congrediens; et nihil ei extorquens violento dominatu, sed superans eum lege justitiae; ut (quoniam femina decepta, et dejecto per feminam viro, omnem prolem primi hominis tamquam peccatricem legibus mortis, malitiosa quidem nocendi cupiditate, sed tamen ut aequissimo jure victoriae vindicabat) tamdiu potestas ejus valeret, donec interficeret justum, in quo nihil dignum morte posset ostendere: non solum quia sine delicto occisus est, sed etiam quia sine libidine natus, cui subjugaverat ille, quos coeperat; ut quidquid exinde nasceretur tamquam suae arboris fructus, prava quidem habendi cupiditate, sed tamen non iniquo possidendi jure retineret. Justissime itaque cogitur dimittere credentes in eum, quem injustissime occidit; ut, et quod temporaliter moriuntur, debitum exsolvant; et quod semper vivunt, in illo vivant, qui pro eis quod non debebat exsolvit.
against the sentence of death and the sting of sin, so as to blot out the bond of death (Col. 2:14) and humble the slanderer (Ps. 71:4): yet engaging him not in the majesty of His own nature but in the garb of ours; and wresting nothing from him by violent dominion, but overcoming him by the law of justice; so that (since, the woman having been deceived, and the man cast down through the woman, he was claiming all the offspring of the first man as sinful under the laws of death, with a malicious desire to harm, indeed, yet as by a most equitable right of victory) his power should prevail just so long, until he should kill a just man in whom he could show nothing deserving of death: not only because He was slain without fault, but also because He was born without lust, to which he had subjugated those whom he had taken captive; so that whatever was born thereafter he might keep, as the fruit of his own tree, by a depraved desire of having, indeed, yet not by an unjust right of possessing. Most justly, therefore, is he compelled to release those who believe in Him whom he most unjustly killed; so that both in dying in time they pay the debt, and in living for ever they live in Him who paid for them what He did not owe.
16. Quamobrem puto et ipse nobis leo ille est, in cujus mortui ore cibum mellis invenimus. Quid enim dulcius Dei Verbo? et quid fortius Dei dextera? Aut in cujus mortui ore favus et apes, nisi in cujus verbo salutis nostrae bonum, et congregatio gentium? Quarum potius figuram plerique in hoc leone posuerunt, quia populus gentium qui credidit, corpus feritatis erat ante, nunc Christi est: in quo Apostoli velut apes a rore coeli, et divinarum floribus gratiarum mella sapientiae condiderunt, ac si esca ab ore edentis exierit: quia prius efferae Deo nationes receptum Dei verbum fideli corde sumentes, fructum salutis ediderint. Qui vero Christum magis in eodem sibi leone proponunt, Samsonem Judaeorum figuram, videlicet ut illum leonem quasi Christum Judaeus occiderit: id quoque assignantes mysticae praeparationi, quod eo potissimum tempore quo conjugium petebat, optatam potentis belluae egerit caedem; quia videlicet non posset firmari conjugium, quod in Christo et Ecclesia pactum est, nisi occiso leone de tribu Juda. Idem enim Dominus leo, ille, qui vicit, et catulus est leonis, sua sponte sopitus, et a semetipso resuscitatus de quo scriptum est: Quis suscitabit eum? Voluntarie enim sacrificans pro nobis Patri hostiam sui corporis, idem summus et in aeternum sacerdos, animam suam sicut ipse testatur, eadem resumsit potestate,
16. Wherefore I think that He Himself is for us that lion in whose mouth, when dead, we find the food of honey. For what is sweeter than the Word of God? And what stronger than the right hand of God? Or in whose mouth, when dead, are the honeycomb and the bees, if not in His in whose word is the good of our salvation and the gathering of the nations? Many have rather placed a figure of these in this lion, because the people of the nations which believed was formerly a body of savagery and is now Christ's: in which the Apostles, like bees, from the dew of heaven and the flowers of divine graces stored up the honey of wisdom, as if food had come forth from the mouth of the eater: because the nations, before savage towards God, receiving the word of God and taking it with faithful heart, have brought forth the fruit of salvation. But those who rather set Christ before themselves in that same lion take Samson as the figure of the Jews, namely, that the Jew killed that lion as Christ: and this too they assign to a mystical preparation, that it was at the very time when he was seeking a marriage that he wrought the longed-for slaughter of the mighty beast; because, that is, the marriage covenanted in Christ and the Church could not be made firm unless the lion of the tribe of Judah were slain. For the same Lord is the lion, He who has conquered, and He is the lion's whelp (Gen. 49:9), who fell asleep of His own will and was raised again by Himself, of whom it is written: Who shall raise him up? For, voluntarily offering for us to the Father the victim of His own body, He, the same high priest and priest for ever (Heb. 7:17), took up His life again, as He Himself testifies, by the same power,
Editors' notes and page, col. 267

Scripture references

(printed under page 137)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 267

Col. II, 14.

Colossians 2:14.

(printed under page 137)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 267

Psal. LXXI, 4.

Psalm 71 (72):4.

(printed under page 137)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 267

Gen. II, 15.

Genesis 2:15.

(printed under page 137)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 267

Psal. LXVII, 5.

Psalm 67 (68):5.

(printed under page 137)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 267

Judic. XIV, 8.

Judges 14:8.

(printed under page 137)

(f) ‹anchor: pactum est› · call in col 267

Eph. V, 32.

Ephesians 5:32.

(printed under page 137)

(g) ‹anchor: de tribu Juda› · call in col 267

Apoc. V, 5.

Revelation 5:5.

(printed under page 137)

(h) ‹anchor: catulus est leonis› · call in col 267

Gen. XLIX, 9.

Genesis 49:9.

(printed under page 137)

(i) ‹anchor: suscitabit eum› · call in col 267

Psal. LIII, 8.

Psalm 53 (54):8.

(printed under page 137)

(j) ‹anchor: in aeternum sacerdos› · call in col 267

Heb. VII, 17.

Hebrews 7:17.

(printed under page 137)

(k) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 267

Johan. x, 18.

John 10:18.

(printed under page 137)

(l) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 267

Judic. XIV, 14.

Judges 14:14.

(printed under page 137)

(m) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 267

I Pet. v, 8.

1 Peter 5:8.

(printed under page 137)

(n) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 267

Johan. xiv, 16.

John 14:16.

(printed under page 137)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 267

In omnibus codicibus legitur sine Deo, nullo sensu. Emendavimus sine delicto, certa ut videtur conjectura ex praecedentibus et subsequentibus, et orto errore ex compendio litterarum delo. Eodem modo Sacchinus paulo inferius legendum suspicatur delicto, ubi manuscripti et editio Rosv. habent efferae Deo. Editi 4 codices, efferae a Deo. Itaque indubitatum vult legi, efferae a delicto, id est propter delictum: quod non placet.

In all the codices "sine Deo" (without God) is read, which makes no sense. We have emended to "sine delicto" (without fault), by a conjecture that seems certain from what precedes and follows, the error having arisen from the abbreviation "delo". In the same way Sacchini suspects that "delicto" should be read a little further on, where the manuscripts and Rosweyde's edition have "efferae Deo"; four printed copies have "efferae a Deo". So he would have "efferae a delicto", that is, "on account of the fault", read beyond doubt: which does not satisfy us.

(printed under page 137)

(b) ‹anchor: sapientiae (b) condiderunt› · call in col 267

Ms. Vien., ediderunt.

The Vienna manuscript has "ediderunt".

(printed under page 137)

(c) ‹anchor: Christum (c) Judaeus› · call in col 267

Sic mss. Vien., Reg. et edd. Grin. et Schot. At ms. Reg. cum editis quatuor, occideret.

So the Vienna and Royal manuscripts and the editions of Gryphius and Schott. But the Royal manuscript with four printed editions has "occideret" [the Royal manuscript is named on both sides as printed].

(printed under page 137)

Page

  • running head: 267 S. PAULINI NOLANI EP[ISTOLAE] (the rest of the head lies beyond the image)
  • marginal letters: A ‹valere potuit adversus›; B ‹dem habendi cupiditate›; C ‹rum floribus gratiarum›; D ‹enim sacrificans pro nobis›
  • old-edition numerals: 129 before ‹corpus feritatis›
PL 61:268
qua posuit. Hic leonis catulus, quia Filius Dei, et idem leo, quia aequalis Patri. Quare ut mihi videtur, huic aptius est leoni: De edente exivit esca, et de potente dulce. A quo enim, nisi a Salvatore nostro, cujus sermo vita est, et qui hanc nobis escam simul et ruminavit docens et promsit impertiens; et, si placet aliter, ut de edente esca sic exeat, quia hic leo de tribu Juda pro nobis victor ex ore nos adversi leonis eripiens ideo venatur, ut servet; capit, ut absolvat; frangit, ut solidet; mandit, ut integret; hoc in nobis edens quo corrumpimur. Quamobrem optemus hujus leonis praeda fieri, ne simus praeda leonis inimici. Efficiamur esca Dei, ne simus esca serpentis. Edat nos Christus, ne zabulus voret. Edente enim Christo, ut dixi, in nobis absumitur, quo consumimur. Christus etenim vita est: et mortale hoc non poterimus deponere, nisi absorbeamur, quia mortem nostram devorat Christus. Cibus autem Christi esse non possumus, nisi faciamus voluntatem ejus: ut vicissim et ipse nobis cibus fiat, in quo semper vivimus, si ad ejus praecepta vivamus. Sic ergo de potente exit dulce, cum amaritudine malitiae nostrae per ipsum in dulcedinem benitatis commutata, dulcis a verbo ejus esca procedimus, qui nos edendo, consumsit peccato, reparavit ad vitam. Solus hic potens, dulciter potens, qui liberavit pauperem ab avaro potente, qui feritatem mei corporis per mysterium pietatis suae in mortem sui corporis perimens, ibi cibum vitae edit, ubi miserae fames mortis arebat. Qui mihi offensionem gratia, peccatum justitia, infirmitatem virtute, mortem vita, confusionem gloria, regno mutavit exilium. Qui audiebamus: Terra es, et in terram ibis; nunc jam audimus: Conversatio vestra in coelis est.
with which He laid it down (John 10:18). He is the lion's whelp, because He is the Son of God, and the same is the lion, because He is equal to the Father. Wherefore, as it seems to me, this fits this lion more aptly: Out of the eater came forth food, and out of the strong, sweetness (Judg. 14:14). For from whom, if not from our Saviour, whose word is life, and who both chewed this food over for us by teaching and brought it out by imparting it? And, if one prefers otherwise, let the food so come forth from the eater because this lion of the tribe of Judah (1 Pet. 5:8), victor for us, snatching us out of the mouth of the adverse lion, hunts us in order to save; seizes, in order to release; breaks, in order to make solid; chews, in order to make whole; eating in us that by which we are corrupted. Therefore let us long to become the prey of this lion, lest we be the prey of the enemy lion. Let us become the food of God, lest we be the food of the serpent. Let Christ eat us, lest the devil devour us. For when Christ eats, as I have said, that is consumed in us by which we are consumed. For Christ is life (John 14:6): and we shall not be able to lay aside this mortal thing unless we are swallowed up (1 Cor. 15:54), for Christ devours our death. But we cannot be the food of Christ unless we do His will (John 4:34): so that in turn He Himself may become food for us (John 6:48), in whom we live for ever, if we live according to His precepts. So, then, out of the strong comes sweetness, when, the bitterness of our malice having been changed through Him into the sweetness of goodness, we come forth as sweet food from His word, He who by eating us consumed us to sin and restored us to life. He alone is strong, sweetly strong, who has delivered the poor man from the greedy mighty one (Ps. 71:12), who, destroying the savagery of my body through the mystery of His mercy in the death of His own body, brought forth the food of life there where the hunger of wretched death was parching. He who changed for me offence into grace, sin into righteousness, weakness into strength, death into life, shame into glory, exile into a kingdom. We who used to hear: Earth you are, and into earth you shall go (Gen. 3:19, according to the Septuagint); now hear: Your citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20).
17. Itaque illam speciem, quae in illo Samsone vel recrinito vel moriente retexitur, et in omnem Christi famulum convenire arbitror. Homo enim, qui praeventus fuerit in aliquo peccato, et salubriter poenitendo ad instaurationem gratiae, quasi capillis renascentibus revertitur, ponens ut arcum aereum brachia sua, id est fidem spei verae, et spem fidei non fictae, exercens idem ad praelium manus suas operibus pietatis, cujus exercitatio ad omnia utilis est: tum ut quibusdam bonae conscientiae et fidei firmae lacertis valens audebit invadere, et poterit vertere inimicorum columnas. Hae autem sunt columnae hostilis domus, quibus nititur: in qua velut nostri victor epulatur illudens captis, si membris nostris,
17. And so I judge that the figure which is woven in that Samson, whether with his hair grown again or dying, fits every servant of Christ too. For a man who has been overtaken in some sin (Gal. 6:1), and by wholesome penance returns to the renewal of grace, as by hair growing again, setting his arms like a bow of bronze (Ps. 17:35), that is, faith of true hope and hope of unfeigned faith, the same training his hands for battle (Ps. 143:1) by works of godliness, the exercise of which is profitable for all things (1 Tim. 4:8): then, strong as with certain sinews of a good conscience and firm faith, he will dare to attack, and will be able to overturn the pillars of the enemies. Now these are the pillars of the hostile house on which it rests: in which, as though victor over us, he feasts, mocking the captives, if with our members,
Editors' notes and page, col. 268

Footnotes

(k) ‹anchor: qua posuit› · call in col 268

Johan. X, 18.

John 10:18.

(printed under page 137)

(l) ‹anchor: de potente dulce› · call in col 268

Judic. XIV, 14.

Judges 14:14.

(printed under page 137)

(m) ‹anchor: leo de tribu Juda› · call in col 268

I Pet. V, 8.

1 Peter 5:8.

(printed under page 137)

(n) ‹anchor: vita est› · call in col 268

Johan. XIV, 16.

John 14:16 (so printed; the words quoted are John 14:6).

(printed under page 137)

(o) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 268

I Cor. XV, 54.

1 Corinthians 15:54.

(printed under page 137)

(p) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 268

Johan. iv, 34.

John 4:34.

(printed under page 137)

(q) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 268

Johan. vi, 48.

John 6:48.

(printed under page 137)

(r) ‹anchor: ab avaro potente› · call in col 268

Psal. LXXI, 12.

Psalm 71 (72):12.

(printed under page 137)

(s) ‹anchor: in terram ibis› · call in col 268

Gen. III, 19, sec. LXX.

Genesis 3:19, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 137)

(t) ‹anchor: in coelis est› · call in col 268

Philip. iii, 20.

Philippians 3:20.

(printed under page 137)

(u) ‹anchor: in aliquo peccato› · call in col 268

Gal. VI, 1.

Galatians 6:1.

(printed under page 137)

(v) ‹anchor: brachia sua› · call in col 268

Psal. XVII, 35.

Psalm 17 (18):35.

(printed under page 137)

(x) ‹anchor: operibus pietatis› · call in col 268

Psal. CXLIII, 1.

Psalm 143 (144):1.

(printed under page 137)

(y) ‹anchor: omnia utilis est› · call in col 268

I Tim. IV, 8.

1 Timothy 4:8.

Editors' notes

(printed under page 137)

(d) ‹anchor: ubi (d) miserae› · call in col 268

Ms. Vien., miserae famis morte arebat.

The Vienna manuscript: "miserae famis morte arebat" (was withering with the death of wretched hunger).

(printed under page 137)

(e) ‹anchor: jam (e) audimus› · call in col 268

Ms. Vien. et edit. Grin., audivimus.

The Vienna manuscript and Gryphius's edition have "audivimus".

(printed under page 137)

(f) ‹anchor: poterit (f) vertere› · call in col 268

Vertere pro evertere, simplex pro composito: quod Paulino familiare est, et usitatum semel et iterum in carm. 32.

"Vertere" for "evertere", the simple verb for the compound: a habit of Paulinus, used more than once in Poem 32.

(printed under page 137)

Page

  • running head: [S. PAUL]INI NOLANI EPISCOPI 268
  • marginal letters: A ‹qua posuit. Hic leonis›; B ‹sumimur. Christus etenim›; C ‹tia, peccatum justitia›; D ‹micorum columnas. Hae autem›
  • old-edition numerals: 130 after ‹pietatis›
  • other: "promsit", "consumsit" and "benitatis" set as printed (the last perhaps for "benignitatis"; not recorded as a misprint, UNSURE). Superscript note numbers 34, 35, 36, 37 omitted. Page-foot notes k–y read: Johan. X, 18; Judic. XIV, 14; I Pet. V, 8 (at "leo de tribu Juda", as printed); Johan. XIV, 16 as printed (the text's English gives John 14:6, the verse actually quoted; UNSURE, coordinator to rule); I Cor. XV, 54; Johan. IV, 34; Johan. VI, 48; Psal. LXXI, 12; Gen. III, 19, sec. LXX; Philip. III, 20; Gal. VI, 1; Psal. XVII, 35; Psal. CXLIII, 1; I Tim. IV, 8. Notes k–n added by Q3 (they were missing). Same page foot completes col. 267: c Gen. [II]I, 13; d Psal. LXVII[?], 5; e Judic. XIV, 8; f Eph. V, 32; g Apoc. V, 5; i Psal. [?], 8 (unclear).
PL 61:269
ut armis suae iniquitatis, utatur. Dejicimus ergo hunc inimicum domo sua, interitu subjugatae carnis; qua adjutrice intus in nobismetipsis hostis inclusus, intestino animam nostram bello quatit; crimine voluntatis nostrae potens nostri factus, nostra adversus nos vitia satellites habet, interioremque nostrum ministerio exterioris oppugnat.
as with the weapons of his iniquity, he makes use. We cast this enemy down, then, from his house by the death of the flesh brought under subjection; with its help the enemy, shut up within, inside ourselves, shakes our soul with civil war; made master of us by the crime of our own will, he has our vices as his henchmen against us, and assails our inner man through the service of the outer.
18. Sed meminerimus pacti, quo per baptismatis gratiam consepulti Christo in crucis sacramenta juravimus, ne jam quasi viventes agamus in hoc mundo; vivamusque jam non nos, sed Christus in nobis. Quo nobis in honorem capitis restituto, cadet zabuli domus et tota inimicorum c⟨o⟩hors cum peccati nostri m⟨o⟩rte morietur. Quamobrem non solum morte Samsonis commori disco hostibus meis, hoc est, mortificando carnem meam simul interficere peccatum, ut superstite spiritu victor salutis triumphem, et dicam animae meae: Convertere in requiem tuam, quoniam Dominus benefecit mihi; sed et caecitate Samsonis, qua corporeis tantum captus oculis, spiritales non amisit, illuminor ad intellectum bonum ut exemplo illius sciam quos magis debeam oculos habere. Non enim invocasset ille vir Dominum in suae virtutis auxilium, nisi mentis oculos habuisset incolumes, quibus lumen est Christus, in cujus lumine videbimus lumen. Quod si semper ardet in lucerna corporis nostri, tunc opera tenebrarum occidunt, et princeps hujus mundi mittitur foras: non utique extra mundum hunc, cum quo, sicut scriptum est, in damnatione conjudicatus mixto fine vacuabitur: sed foras a cordibus nostris, a quibus, si Christum recipiamus, expellitur.
18. But let us remember the covenant by which, buried together with Christ through the grace of baptism, we swore the oath of the cross, no longer to act as though living in this world; and that we might live, no longer we, but Christ in us (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12; 2 Cor. 5:15; Gal. 2:20). When this has been restored to us to the honour of our head, the devil's house will fall, and the whole band of our enemies will die with the death of our sin. Therefore I learn not only, by Samson's death, to die together with my enemies, that is, by mortifying my flesh to kill sin at the same time, so that, the spirit surviving, I may triumph as victor of salvation and say to my soul: Return to your rest, for the Lord has done good to me; but also by Samson's blindness, in which, taken captive only in his bodily eyes, he did not lose the spiritual ones, I am enlightened to a good understanding, so that by his example I may know which eyes I ought rather to have. For that man would not have called upon the Lord to aid his strength, had he not kept unharmed the eyes of the mind, whose light is Christ, in whose light we shall see light (Ps. 35:10). But if He burns always in the lamp of our body, then the works of darkness perish, and the prince of this world is cast out: not, indeed, outside this world, with which, as it is written, condemned together in judgement, he will be brought to nothing in a common end: but out of our hearts, from which, if we receive Christ, he is driven.
19. Ergo, quia illum imitantur qui sunt ex parte illius, nos imitemur Dominum Jesum, qui nos vocavit in sortem hereditatis suae, et tollere nos jussit jugum suum suave, ut grave illud legis et mortis jugum discuteret a nobis. Est autem et crinis ut jugum levitatis; nam, ut Scriptura divina nos docet, levis est sanctorum coma, impiorum gravis. Haec aut virtutis, ut in Samsone; aut sanctificationis, ut in Samuele: illa autem aut ponderis, ut in Abessalone; aut squaloris, ut in Nabuchodonosor. Qua hominum comarumque discordia docemur in capillis opera censere; siquidem regi Assyrio in solitudinem feritatemque damnato, luctuosa concretio capitis intonsi in jubam leonis horruerit: ut etiam corporis specie transiret in belluam, qui non solum
19. Therefore, since those who are of his part imitate him (John 8:44), let us imitate the Lord Jesus, who has called us into the lot of His inheritance, and has bidden us take up His sweet yoke, that He might shake off from us that heavy yoke of the Law and of death. Now hair too is, like a yoke, a matter of lightness; for, as divine Scripture teaches us, the hair of the saints is light, that of the wicked heavy. The one is either of strength, as in Samson, or of sanctification, as in Samuel: the other either of weight, as in Absalom, or of squalor, as in Nebuchadnezzar (1 Sam. 1:11; 2 Sam. 14:26; Dan. 4:30). By this disagreement of men and of their locks we are taught to appraise works in the hair; since in the Assyrian king, condemned to the wilderness and to savagery, the mournful matting of his unshorn head bristled into a lion's mane: so that he passed into a beast even in the appearance of his body, he who not only
Editors' notes and page, col. 269

Scripture references

(printed under page 138)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 269

Rom. VI, 4; Col. II, 12; II Cor. V, 15; Gal. II, 20.

Romans 6:4; Colossians 2:12; 2 Corinthians 5:15; Galatians 2:20.

(printed under page 138)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 269

Psal. CXIV, 7.

Psalm 114 (116):7.

(printed under page 138)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 269

Psal. CX, 10.

Psalm 110 (111):10.

(printed under page 138)

(d) ‹anchor: videbimus lumen› · call in col 269

Johan. viii, 12; Psal. XXXV, 10.

John 8:12; Psalm 35 (36):10.

(printed under page 138)

(e) ‹anchor: mittitur foras› · call in col 269

Johan. xxxv, 12.

John 35:12 [so printed; the words are John 12:31].

(printed under page 138)

(f) ‹anchor: discuteret a nobis› · call in col 269

Johan. viii, 44; Eph. I, 11; Col. I, 12; Matth. XI, 30.

John 8:44; Ephesians 1:11; Colossians 1:12; Matthew 11:30.

(printed under page 138)

(g) ‹anchor: impiorum gravis› · call in col 269

I Johan. v, 3.

1 John 5:3.

(printed under page 138)

(h) ‹anchor: in Nabuchodonosor› · call in col 269

I Reg. I, 11; II Reg. XIV, 26; Dan. IV, 30.

1 Kings (1 Samuel) 1:11; 2 Kings (2 Samuel) 14:26; Daniel 4:30.

(printed under page 138)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 269

Luc. XVII, 22.

Luke 17:22.

(printed under page 138)

(j) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 269

II Reg. XIV, 25.

2 Kings (2 Samuel) 14:25.

(printed under page 138)

(k) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 269

Judic. XVI, 7, sec. LXX.

Judges 16:7, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 138)

(l) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 269

I Cor. I, 21.

1 Corinthians 1:21.

(printed under page 138)

(m) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 269

Sap. I, 4.

Wisdom 1:4.

(printed under page 138)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 269

Ms. Reg., domu sua. Sic olim antiqui dixere in sexto casu.

The Royal manuscript has "domu sua". So the ancients once said it in the sixth (ablative) case.

(printed under page 138)

(b) ‹anchor: tenebrarum (b) occidunt› · call in col 269

Mss. Reg. et Vien., occident; et mox Viennensis codex, mittetur.

The Royal and Vienna manuscripts have "occident"; and shortly after, the Vienna codex has "mittetur".

(printed under page 138)

(c) ‹anchor: in damnatione (c) conjudicatus› · call in col 269

Ms. Vien., cum judicatis.

The Vienna manuscript has "cum judicatis".

(printed under page 138)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 269

Ita mss. codices Reg. et Vien. cum editis Bad. et Grav., et sic legitur in mss. codicibus ad Prudentii Hamartigen. vers. 566, ut monet N. Heinsius. Legitur tamen apud LXX interpretes Ἀβεσσαλὼμ, et in tribus editis Abessalom.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscript codices with the editions of Badius and Gravius; and so it is read in the manuscript codices at Prudentius's Hamartigenia, line 566, as N. Heinsius points out. But in the Seventy translators "Abessalom" is read, and so in three printed editions.

(printed under page 138)

Page

  • running head: 269 EPISTOLA XXI[II] (the rest of the head lies beyond the image)
  • marginal letters: A ‹ut armis suae iniquitatis›; B ‹cere peccatum, ut superstite›; C ‹cuabitur: sed foras›; D ‹capitis intonsi in jubam›
  • old-edition numerals: 131 before ‹corporis nostri›
  • other: "cohors" and "morte" have a damaged o, supplied in ⟨ ⟩. "sanctificationis", "hominum" and "horruerit" have worn letters but are legible; set whole. Superscript note numbers 38–44 omitted. Page-foot notes partly clipped at the right: a Rom. VI, 4; Col. II, 12; II Cor. V, 15; Gal. II, 20; b (Psal. …) and c clipped, no reference given; d Psal. XXXV, 10; e numeral unclear (Johan. …), no reference given; f Johan. VIII, 44; Eph. … (only John given); g clipped (… v, 3); h I Reg. I, 11; II Reg. XIV, 26; Dan. IV, 30.
PL 61:270
a regnis suis, sed etiam a sensibus exsulabat humanis, coma tristi leonem, uncis unguibus vulturem, sensu et pabulo bovem referens: ne unius tantum belluae similitudinem ferret in poenis, qui multorum similis fuisset in moribus.
was exiled from his kingdom, but also from his human senses, recalling a lion by his grim mane, a vulture by his hooked talons, an ox by his mind and fodder: so that he who had been like many beasts in his ways should not bear the likeness of one beast only in his punishment.
20. Intellecto tamen tandem Deo, et sensui reformatus et regno, factus et ipse nobis est in exemplar fidei, ut regnum, quod intra nos est, timeamus amittere peccando, et meminerimus repetere poenitendo. Nec Abessalon, quamvis decoro et corpore superbus et capite, poterat dicere quod Samson dixit: Si tonsus fuero, discedet a me virtus mea; quia non habebat illam in pulcherrimo licet crine virtutem, quae non corporalium capillorum, sed gratiae spiritalis erat, quam impius habere non poterat. Virtus enim et sapientia Dei Christus est; qui in parricidalem animam non adibat, quia non habitabat in corpore subdito peccatis. Denique capillaturam illius pro iniquitatum mole desectam, etiam tonsurae necessitas indicata testatur. Sic enim habes: Tondebat caput suum, quia gravaretur; cum autem detonsus esset, ponderabat capillos capitis sui, et erant centum siclorum pondere regali. Quo apertius exprimi potest pro operibus numerari capillos, cum in impii capite non aliquam virtutem, sed tantum sarcinam capillorum Scriptura signaverit? Ponderabat, inquit, capillos capitis sui. Gloria enim impio est iniquitas sua. Neque solum operatio eum nequam, sed et nequitiae, ut quidam ait, fama delectat. Unde illud in Psalmis habes: Quid gloriaris in malitia, qui potens es in iniquitate? Lumen etenim impiorum tenebrae, honor umbra, celsitudo transitus, caput zabulus; et ideo coma pondus est: propter quod Scriptura regali pondere gravem illius parricidae comam dicit, hoc est, zabulico pondere. Zabuli etenim regnum est omnis impius; sic et qui mollibus vestiuntur, in domibus, inquit, regum sunt; hoc est, principum aeris hujus, et nequitiae spiritalis ducum: in quorum domibus et regnis agunt, aut impietate duri, aut lascivia molles: quorum divitiae peccatum, itinera lubricum, finis interitus, gloria in inferno, domus in sepulcro est. Talium crines crimina sunt, et idcirco illi crines esse non possunt, quibus bellator sacer funes hostium, et novas restes quasi mollia fila solvebat. Sed illi potius, de quibus scriptum est: Funes peccatorum circumplexi sunt mihi. Peccatis
20. Yet, having at last understood God, and restored both to his senses and to his kingdom, he too has been made for us an example of faith, so that we may fear to lose by sinning the kingdom which is within us, and may remember to seek it again by repenting (Luke 17:21). Nor could Absalom, though proud both of his comely body and of his head (2 Sam. 14:25), say what Samson said: If I am shorn, my strength will depart from me (Judg. 16:7, according to the Septuagint); for he did not have, in his hair however beautiful, that strength which belonged not to bodily hair but to spiritual grace, which the wicked man could not have. For Christ is the power and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24); who would not enter into a parricidal soul, because He would not dwell (see note 82) in a body subject to sins (Wis. 1:4). Lastly, that his head of hair was cut off on account of the mass of his iniquities is witnessed also by the necessity of the shearing that is pointed out (see note 83). For thus you have it: He used to shear his head because it weighed him down; and when he had been shorn, he weighed the hair of his head, and it was a hundred shekels by the royal weight (2 Sam. 14:26, according to the Septuagint). How could it be more plainly expressed that hairs are counted for works, since in the head of the wicked man Scripture has marked not any strength, but only a burden of hair? He weighed, it says, the hair of his head. For his iniquity is glory to the wicked man. Nor is it only the evil work that delights him, but also, as someone says, the fame of wickedness. Hence you have that in the Psalms: Why do you glory in malice, you who are mighty in iniquity (Ps. 51:3)? For the light of the wicked is darkness, their honour a shadow, their height a passing away, their head the devil (Ps. 34:6); and therefore their hair is a weight: for which reason Scripture calls the heavy hair of that parricide heavy by the royal weight (2 Sam. 14:26), that is, by the devil's weight. For every wicked man is the kingdom of the devil; so also those who are clothed in soft garments, it says, are in the houses of kings (Matt. 11:8; Luke 7:25); that is, of the princes of this air (Eph. 2:2) and the leaders of spiritual wickedness: in whose houses and kingdoms they live, either hard in impiety or soft in wantonness: whose riches are sin, whose ways are slippery, whose end is destruction (Phil. 3:19), whose glory is in hell, whose house is in the grave (Ps. 48:12). The hairs of such men are crimes, and therefore they cannot be those hairs by which the holy warrior loosed the cords of his enemies and the new ropes as though they were soft threads (Judg. 16:9). But rather they are those of which it is written: The cords of sinners have wrapped themselves about me (Ps. 118:61). By sins
Editors' notes and page, col. 270

Footnotes

(n) ‹anchor: pondere regali› · call in col 270

II Reg. XIV, 26, sec. LXX.

2 Kings (2 Samuel) 14:26, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 138)

(o) ‹anchor: potens es in iniquitate› · call in col 270

Psal. LI, 3.

Psalm 51 (52):3.

(printed under page 138)

(p) ‹anchor: caput zabulus› · call in col 270

Psal. XXXIV, 6.

Psalm 34 (35):6.

(printed under page 138)

(q) ‹anchor: zabulico pondere› · call in col 270

II Reg. XIV, 26.

2 Kings (2 Samuel) 14:26.

(printed under page 138)

(r) ‹anchor: regum sunt› · call in col 270

Matth. XI, 8; Luc. VII, 25.

Matthew 11:8; Luke 7:25.

(printed under page 138)

(s) ‹anchor: aeris hujus› · call in col 270

Ephes. II, 2.

Ephesians 2:2.

(printed under page 138)

(t) ‹anchor: finis interitus› · call in col 270

Philip. iii, 19.

Philippians 3:19.

(printed under page 138)

(u) ‹anchor: domus in sepulcro› · call in col 270

Psal. XLVIII, 12.

Psalm 48 (49):12.

(printed under page 138)

(v) ‹anchor: fila solvebat› · call in col 270

Judic. XVI, 9, et xii, 15.

Judges 16:9, and 12:15 [second reference as the scan appears to read].

(printed under page 138)

(x) ‹anchor: (e) mihi› · call in col 270

Psal. CXVIII, 61.

Psalm 118 (119):61.

Editors' notes

(printed under page 138)

(e) ‹anchor: circumplexi sunt (e) mihi› · call in col 270

Unum vidi Paulinum qui scriberet, circumplexi sunt mihi. Psalteria 5 et S. August. in psalmos circumplexi sunt me.

I have seen Paulinus alone writing "circumplexi sunt mihi". Five psalters and St Augustine on the Psalms have "circumplexi sunt me".

(printed under page 138)

Page

  • running head: EPISTOLA XXIII. 270
  • marginal letters: A ‹a regnis suis, sed etiam›; B ‹rat, Virtus enim et sapientia›; C ‹Quid gloriaris in malitia›; D ‹bat. Sed illi potius›
  • old-edition numerals: 132 after ‹capitis sui, et›
  • other: Migne's "(V. not. 82)" and "(V. not. 83)" kept as printed. Superscript note numbers 45–49 omitted. Page-foot notes i–x, read at low resolution: i Luc. XVII, 2[1/2] (given as Luke 17:21, UNSURE); j II Reg. XIV, 25; k Judic. XVI, [1]7, sec. LXX (read "7"; given as printed, UNSURE — the saying is at 16:17); l I Cor. I, 2[4] (given as 1 Cor 1:24, UNSURE); m Sap. I, 4; n II Reg. XIV, 26, sec. LXX; o Psal. LI, 3; p Psal. XXXIV, 6; q II Reg. XIV, 26; r Matth. XI, 8, Luc. VII, 25; s Ephes. II, 2; t Philip. III, 19; u Psal. XLVIII, 12; v Judic. XVI, 9, et … (second reference unclear, omitted); x Psal. CXVIII, 61. Same page foot completes col. 269: b Psal. CXIV, 7; c Psal. CX, 10; d Johan. VIII, 12, Psal. XXXV, 10; f Johan. VIII, 44, Eph. I, 11, Col. I, 12, Matth. XI, 30; g I Johan. V, 3.
PL 61:271
enim suis anima et implicatur et premitur. Quod bene probat Propheta, qui dicit: Superposuerunt iniquitates meae caput meum, sicut onus grave gravatae sunt super me.
the soul is both entangled and weighed down by its own [sins]. Which the Prophet well proves, who says: My iniquities have gone over (see note 84) my head; like a heavy burden they have weighed heavy upon me (Ps. 37:5).
21. Vides quam graves habeat peccator comas. At, cui coma Christus est, levis et volucer exsultat, dicens: Deus, qui praecinxit me virtute, et posuit immaculatam viam meam: qui perfecit pedes meos tamquam cervi, et super excelsa statuit me. Jugum enim, ut dixi, et coma Christi levis est, quia servientes Christo operamur bona, quibus pennati in alta provehimur. Unde etiam in carne positis Christianis Apostolus dicit: Vos autem jam non estis in carne, sed in spiritu. Subjecta enim subditae Deo animae caro transit in spiritum, non substantiae commutatione, sed vitae. Itaque et mortem mihi Samsonis et caecitatem volo, ut vivam et videam Deo. Nam forsitan ille receptis propter futurum mysterium in coma viribus, recipere simul, ut amiserat, oculos ideo non desideravit, quia virtus illa coelestis gratiae internis sana luminibus corporeo non egebat obtutu.
21. You see how heavy is the hair the sinner has. But he whose hair is Christ leaps up light and winged, saying: God, who has girded me with strength, and made my way spotless: who has made my feet like the hart's, and set me upon the heights (Ps. 17:33). For, as I have said, both the yoke and the hair of Christ are light (Matt. 11:30), because in serving Christ we work good things, by which, as though feathered, we are borne up on high. Hence the Apostle says even to Christians placed in the flesh: But you are now not in the flesh, but in the spirit. For the flesh, made subject to a soul that is subject to God, passes into spirit, not by a change of substance, but of life. And so I want for myself both the death of Samson and his blindness, that I may live and see for God. For perhaps the reason why, when his strength had been restored in his hair for the sake of the mystery to come, he did not desire to receive back at the same time his eyes, as he had lost them, was this: that the power of heavenly grace, sound in its inner lights, had no need of bodily sight.
22. Hoc igitur exemplo et nos contentis ad Dominum sensibus, carnales oculos secularium rerum aversione caecemus, quibus orbari propheta desiderabat, cum diceret: Averte oculos meos ne videant vanitatem. Et Dominus ipse oculis Judaeorum caecitatem praeferens, dicit: Si caeci essetis, peccatum non haberetis. Reminiscamur qua pernicie illis in paradiso oculi sint aperti, quos tamdiu habuerunt illuminatos Deo, quamdiu clausos habuere peccato. Nam tum demum nuditatis suae hauserunt pudorem, cum bonae conscientiae castitatem, cujus lumine vestiebantur, praevaricationis crimine perdiderunt. Et ideo veri luminis damnum est, ad usum tenebrarum uti luminibus; et oculos in terrena defixos caecare coelestibus. Illuminatur autem anima tali caecitate, qua despicit mundum, ut conspiciat Deum. Quia omne, inquit, quod in mundo est, concupiscentia oculorum est. Ob hoc Apostolus obduci aciem nostram huic mundo, et enubilari Christo docens, ei scilicet qui illuminat omnem hominem venientem in hunc mundum, id est, omnis hominis mentem venientem, sollicitat nos ab aspectu praesentium in suspectum
22. By this example, then, let us too, with our senses strained towards the Lord, blind our carnal eyes by turning away from the things of this world, eyes of which the prophet longed to be deprived when he said: Turn away my eyes, that they may not see vanity. And the Lord Himself, preferring blindness to the eyes of the Jews, says: If you were blind, you would have no sin. Let us remember with what ruin their eyes were opened in paradise (Gen. 3:7), eyes which they had enlightened by God for just so long as they kept them closed to sin. For only then did they drink in the shame of their nakedness, when by the crime of transgression they lost the chastity of a good conscience, with whose light they were clothed. And therefore it is a loss of the true light to use one's eyes for the service of darkness; and eyes fixed on earthly things are blinded to heavenly ones. But the soul is enlightened by such a blindness as that by which it looks down on the world in order to behold God. For all, he says, that is in the world is the lust of the eyes (1 John 2:16). For this reason the Apostle, teaching that our gaze should be veiled to this world and cleared of cloud (see Poem XXI, line 667) for Christ, that is, for Him who enlightens every man coming into this world (John 1:9), that is, the mind of every man that comes, urges us away from the sight of present things to the upward look
Editors' notes and page, col. 271

Scripture references

(printed under page 139)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

Psal. XXXVII, 5.

Psalm 37 (38):5.

(printed under page 139)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

Psal. XVII, 33.

Psalm 17 (18):33.

(printed under page 139)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

Matth. XI, 30.

Matthew 11:30.

(printed under page 139)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

Rom. VIII, 9.

Romans 8:9.

(printed under page 139)

(e) ‹anchor: videant vanitatem› · call in col 271

Psal. CXVIII, 37.

Psalm 118 (119):37.

(printed under page 139)

(f) ‹anchor: non haberetis› · call in col 271

Johan. ix, 41.

John 9:41.

(printed under page 139)

(g) ‹anchor: habuere peccato› · call in col 271

Gen. III, 7.

Genesis 3:7.

(printed under page 139)

(h) ‹anchor: concupiscentia oculorum est› · call in col 271

I Johan. ii, 16.

1 John 2:16.

(printed under page 139)

(i) ‹anchor: in hunc mundum› · call in col 271

Johan. i, 9.

John 1:9.

(printed under page 139)

(j) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

I Johan. ii, 25.

1 John 2:25.

(printed under page 139)

(k) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

I Cor. VII, 31; Col. V, 1.

1 Corinthians 7:31; "Colossians" 5:1 as printed [probably Galatians 5:1].

(printed under page 139)

(l) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

Eccle. I, 14.

Ecclesiastes 1:14.

(printed under page 139)

(m) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

Johan. xv, 4; Rom. I, 25.

John 15:4; Romans 1:25.

(printed under page 139)

(n) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

I Cor. XI, 1.

1 Corinthians 11:1.

(printed under page 139)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

Ms. Regius codex cum editis Grav. et Schot., plene.

The Royal manuscript codex with the editions of Gravius and Schott has "plene".

(printed under page 139)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

Codices omnes, meas. Emendavimus meae; in epistola enim 12 ad Amandum, n. 10, in eodem Scripturae loco omnes tum editi tum mss. codices constanter habent sicut et Psalterium Romanum: Superposuerunt iniquitates meae caput meum. S. Augustinus cum veteri Psalterio legit: Iniquitates meae sustulerunt caput meum. S. Ambrosius, Superposuerunt, et explicat: Iniquitates meae supertransierunt caput meum. Et praeterea Paulinus noster epist. 40, n. 4, scribit, Superposuerunt iniquitates nostrae caput nostrum. Vide not. 83.

All the codices have "meas". We have emended to "meae"; for in Letter 12 to Amandus, no. 10, at the same place of Scripture, all the codices, printed and manuscript alike, consistently have, as does the Roman Psalter: "My iniquities have set themselves over my head." St Augustine, with the Old Psalter, reads: "My iniquities have lifted up my head." St Ambrose has "Superposuerunt" and explains: "My iniquities have passed over my head." And besides, our Paulinus writes in Letter 40, no. 4: "Our iniquities have set themselves over our head." See note 83.

(printed under page 139)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

Ita alibi Paulinus, et sic mss. Reg. et Vien. Ceteri codices, cerrorum.

So Paulinus elsewhere, and so the Royal and Vienna manuscripts. The other codices have "cerrorum" [word as it appears in the scan].

(printed under page 139)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 271

Expunximus nihil, quae vox aberat a ms. codice Viennensi et edit. Schot., sensum enim tollebat.

We have struck out "nihil", a word missing from the Vienna manuscript codex and Schott's edition, for it destroyed the sense.

(printed under page 139)

(e) ‹anchor: demum (e) nuditatis› · call in col 271

Ita mss. Vatic. et Vien. Ante erat pubertatis et nuditatis.

So the Vatican and Vienna manuscripts. Previously it read "pubertatis et nuditatis".

(printed under page 139)

Page

  • running head: 271 S. PAULINI NOLANI EP[ISTOLAE] (the rest of the head lies beyond the image)
  • marginal letters: A ‹enim suis anima›; B ‹nis et caecitatem volo›; C ‹diu clausos habuere peccato›; D ‹sollicitat nos ab aspectu›
  • old-edition numerals: 133 after ‹in coma viribus,›
PL 61:272
aeternorum, et dicit: Nolite quaerere quae in hoc mundo sunt; praeterit enim hujus mundi figura. Et iterum idem: Quae sursum sunt quaerite, ubi Christus est ad dexteram Patris. Omnia enim, ut Ecclesiastes ait, sub sole vanitas. Proinde super solem veritas. Ita et qui in veritate consistunt, etsi intra mundum vivant habitatione corporea, tamen supra mundum sunt conversatione coelesti. Et astrorum choros, vel coelorum polos evolantes spiritu scandunt et supervadunt, celsioresque elementis agunt, non subditi rebus et usibus elementorum, sed affixa in Christo vita superiores mundo fiunt, manentes in eo qui est super omnia Deus benedictus in secula.
of eternal things, and says: Do not seek the things that are in this world; for the fashion of this world passes away (1 John 2:15). And again the same: Seek the things that are above, where Christ is at the right hand of the Father (1 Cor. 7:31; Col. 3:1). For all things, as Ecclesiastes says, under the sun are vanity (Eccl. 1:14). Accordingly, above the sun is truth. So too those who stand firm in the truth, though they live within the world by bodily dwelling, are yet above the world by their heavenly way of life. And, flying out in spirit, they climb and pass beyond the choirs of the stars or the poles of the heavens, and live higher than the elements, not subject to the things and uses of the elements, but, their life fastened in Christ, they become superior to the world, abiding in Him who is over all, God blessed for ever (John 15:4; Rom. 1:25).
23. Vides quemadmodum nos a mortalibus ad Deum transferat imitator Christi, doctrina pariter exemploque virtutis, auferens velamentum a corde nostro, ut revelata facie contemplemur gloriam Dei; quae infidelibus velamine legis absconditur, fidelibus Evangelii revelatione detegitur. Jam ergo nobis illa carnali coma opus non est. Vetera enim, inquit, transierunt, et ecce nunc omnia nova, quoniam exortum est in tenebris lumen rectis corde, misericors et miserator, et justus Dominus. Dominus autem spiritus est. Ubi vero spiritus Domini, ibi libertas: et ideo tunc honori fuerit capillatio, cum adhuc illud spiritale velamen legis etiam corporali habitu praeferri oportebat; nunc jam oneri est, postquam sol aeternae libertatis illuxit, et caput nobis factus est Christus, qui nos ut jugo, ita et onere capitum depressorum levaret. Propterea jam audemus in voce exsultationis et confessionis, ut liberi, proclamare: Disrumpamus vincula eorum, et projiciamus a nobis jugum ipsorum. Nunc enim tempus acceptum, nunc salutis dies, cum jam non in umbra nubis, sed in lumine corporis sui Veritas adest. Et opportune ad gratiae tempus et speciem libertatis tonsor in promptu est, qui nos et prolixio e capitis velamento levet, ut gratiae spiritalis beneficium etiam corporalis forma testetur, et in libertatis internae laetitiam serenitas revelatae frontis ostentet.
23. You see how the imitator of Christ (1 Cor. 11:1) carries us over from mortal things to God, by teaching and example of virtue alike, taking away the veil from our heart, so that with unveiled face we may contemplate the glory of God (2 Cor. 3:18); which is hidden from unbelievers by the veil of the Law, and uncovered to believers by the revelation of the Gospel. Now, then, we have no need of that carnal hair. For the old things, he says, have passed away, and behold, now all things are new (2 Cor. 5:17), because light has arisen in the darkness for the upright of heart, the Lord merciful and compassionate and just. Now the Lord is the Spirit. And where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty (Ps. 111:4; John 4:24; 2 Cor. 5:17): and therefore long hair may have been an honour then, when that spiritual veil of the Law had still to be displayed even in bodily appearance; now it is a burden, since the sun of eternal liberty has shone forth, and Christ has been made our Head, to relieve us of the burden of bowed-down heads as of a yoke (Matt. 11:29). Therefore we now dare, in the voice of exultation and confession (Ps. 41:5), as free men, to cry aloud: Let us burst their bonds, and cast their yoke from us (Ps. 2:3). For now is the acceptable time, now the day of salvation (2 Cor. 6:2), since the Truth is now present, no longer in the shadow of a cloud but in the light of His own body. And opportunely, for the time of grace and the appearance of liberty, the barber is at hand, to relieve us of the long covering of the head too, so that the bodily form also may bear witness to the benefit of spiritual grace, and the serenity of an unveiled brow may display it, to the joy of inner liberty.
24. Feminis tantum comam apostolica reliquit auctoritas; quia etsi ipsis una nobiscum fides velamentum cordis amoveat, tamen tegimentum capitis, et frontis umbraculum, verecundiae decus postulat:
24. To women alone has apostolic authority left their hair; because, although one faith with us removes from them the veil of the heart, yet the covering of the head and the shading of the brow are demanded by the ornament of modesty:
Editors' notes and page, col. 272

Footnotes

(o) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 272

II Cor. III, 18.

2 Corinthians 3:18.

(printed under page 139)

(p) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 272

II Cor. V, 17.

2 Corinthians 5:17.

(printed under page 139)

(q) ‹anchor: ibi libertas› · call in col 272

Psal. CXI, 4; Johan. iv, 24; II Cor. V, 17.

Psalm 111 (112):4; John 4:24; 2 Corinthians 5:17 [so printed; the words are 2 Corinthians 3:17].

(printed under page 139)

(r) ‹anchor: depressorum levaret› · call in col 272

Matth. XI, 29.

Matthew 11:29.

(printed under page 139)

(s) ‹anchor: et confessionis› · call in col 272

Psal. XLI, 5.

Psalm 41 (42):5.

(printed under page 139)

(t) ‹anchor: jugum ipsorum› · call in col 272

Psal. II, 3.

Psalm 2:3.

(printed under page 139)

(u) ‹anchor: nunc salutis dies› · call in col 272

II Cor. VI, 2.

2 Corinthians 6:2.

Editors' notes

(printed under page 139)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 272

Ms. Reg., evolante spiritu: quae lectio confirmatur inferius n. 24, ne exaltato spiritu.... et scientia inflante dissiliant.

The Royal manuscript has "evolante spiritu": a reading confirmed below at no. 24, "lest with spirit exalted... and with knowledge puffing them up, they burst apart".

(printed under page 139)

(g) ‹anchor: Et (g) opportune› · call in col 272

Ms. Reg. cum editis Bad., Grav. et Schot., et opportune ad gratiam, tempus, et species libertatis tonsori in promptu est. Ed. Grin., ad gratiarum tempus et speciem libertatis tonsori in promptu est.

The Royal manuscript, with the editions of Badius, Gravius and Schott: "et opportune ad gratiam, tempus, et species libertatis tonsori in promptu est". Gryphius's edition: "ad gratiarum tempus et speciem libertatis tonsori in promptu est".

(printed under page 139)

(h) ‹anchor: apostolica (h) reliquit› · call in col 272

Ed. Rosv., relinquit.

Rosweyde's edition has "relinquit".

(printed under page 139)

(i) ‹anchor: cordis (i) amoveat› · call in col 272

Sic manuscripti codices, amovet.

So the manuscript codices: "amovet".

(printed under page 139)

Page

  • running head: [S. PAUL]INI NOLANI EPISCOPI 272
  • marginal letters: A ‹aeternorum, et dicit›; B ‹exemploque virtutis›; C ‹voce exsultationis et confessionis›; D ‹pitis, et frontis umbraculum›
  • old-edition numerals: 134 after ‹et ecce nunc›
  • other: column ends "po-" hyphenated; next column not in view, so only the visible part is set and the English stops at "modesty". "in hoc mundo" read in worn type (could look like "hor"); set "hoc". Superscript note numbers 50–53 omitted. Page-foot notes, read at low resolution, placed as printed: j I Johan. II, [1]5 (given as 1 John 2:15, UNSURE); k I Cor. VII, 31; Col. [III], 1 (UNSURE); l Eccle. I, 14; m Johan. XV, 4; Rom. I, 25 (as printed); n I Cor. XI, 1; o II Cor. III, 18; p II Cor. V, 17; q Psal. CXI, 4; Johan. IV, 24; II Cor. V, 17 (as read; the "ubi spiritus Domini" text is 2 Cor 3:17 — check the numeral); r Matth. XI, 29; s Psal. XLI, 5; t Psal. II, 3; u II Cor. VI, 2. Same page foot completes col. 271: d Rom. VIII, 9; e Psal. CXVIII, 37; f Johan. IX, 41.
PL 61:273
et ideo perfectus fidei ac disciplinae Magister docet indecorum viro crinem, quia abscondi non potest caput viri Christus, quod est et illa supra montem aedificata civitas, in Ecclesia, quae corpus est Christi. Itaque viro dedecens, feminae decus est: quae nemini caput est, sed honestatis cultu ornat virum, et corporis seriem, quae a capite Christi Deo, et viri Christo, et mulieris viro texitur, quasi in fundamentum locata sustentat. Sed eam quoque per consortium corporis, membrorumque texturam, participem et summi capitis facit Christus: in quo nec masculus, nec femina sumus. Habeant sane capillos, quibus juxta illam evangelicam peccatricem vestigia Christi tergeant, et sapientiae pedibus implicentur: ut aliud nisi sapientiam amare, nisi virtutem amplecti, nisi pudicitiam osculari nesciant; et ut extremo saltem rore verbi coelestis aspersae dicant: Ros enim, qui abs te est, sanitas est nobis. Sint mulieribus nostris comae, spiritalium acta virtutum, jejunia misericordiae, orationes. Tales enim et virum decent crines. Ornet eas Christi gratia, non capilli; castitatis gemma, non lapidis; et operum in his, non odorum fragret unguentum. Meminerint esse se filias illius filiae regis, cujus gloria omnis ab intus est. Intelligant cur illas Apostolus prolixiori capitis velamento tegi jusserit: Propter angelos, inquit, illos videlicet ad seductionem paratos, de quibus sancti judicabunt. Hi enim petulantius infirmiora vasa pertentant, sicut non Adam, sed Evam coluber aggressus est. Unde etiam docere in Ecclesia prohibentur, ne exaltato spiritu decreta sapientiae audeant intueri, et scientia inflante dissiliant. Profecto enim valet ad confusionem malorum, si videant mulierem sensus suos ignorantiae specie per silentium tegere, disciplinam intellectus sui verecundo habitu confiteri, ut non audeat serpens tentandam rursus aggredi desperatione capiendae.
and therefore the perfect Master of faith and discipline teaches that long hair is unbecoming to a man, because Christ, the head of the man, cannot be hidden, He who is also that city built upon a mountain, in the Church, which is the body of Christ (Matt. 5:14; 1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 1:22). So what is unbecoming to a man is a woman's adornment: she is head to no one, but by the grace of modesty she adorns the man, and she supports, as though set for its foundation, the chain of the body, which is woven from Christ the head to God, from the man to Christ, and from the woman to the man. But Christ makes her too, through fellowship in the body and the weaving together of the members, a sharer also in the supreme head: in whom we are neither male nor female. Let them by all means have hair, with which, after the example of that sinful woman of the Gospel, they may wipe the feet of Christ (Luke 7:38), and be entwined about the feet of Wisdom: so that they know nothing but to love wisdom, to embrace virtue, to kiss chastity; and that, sprinkled at least with the last dew of the heavenly word, they may say: For the dew that is from you is health to us (Isa. 26:19). Let our women's tresses be the deeds of spiritual virtues, fasts, works of mercy, prayers. For such locks become even a man. Let the grace of Christ adorn them, not their hair; the gem of chastity, not of stone; and let the ointment of works, not of perfumes, be fragrant in them. Let them remember that they are daughters of that king's daughter whose whole glory is from within (Ps. 44:14). Let them understand why the Apostle ordered them to be covered with a longer veil upon the head: Because of the angels (1 Cor. 11:10), he says, those, that is, who are ready for seduction, whom the saints shall judge. For these more wantonly assail the weaker vessels, as the serpent attacked not Adam but Eve (Gen. 3:1). Hence they are also forbidden to teach in the Church (1 Cor. 14:34; 1 Tim. 2:12), lest with spirit exalted they dare to gaze upon the decrees of wisdom, and burst asunder with puffed-up knowledge. For truly it avails for the confounding of the wicked, if they see a woman cover her understanding under the appearance of ignorance by silence, and confess the discipline of her intellect by a modest bearing, so that the serpent does not dare to attack her again for trial, in despair of capturing her.
25. Non frustra autem hoc eo potissimum tempore fieri debere Apostolus docet, cum aut oret mulier, aut prophetet. Tunc enim venit in spiritus conceptionem: et ideo tunc magis excitat tentatoris invidiam, cum in virum perfectum spirans exit terminos infirmitatis suae. Quod autem et de oratione eadem Apostolus quae et de prophetia sentit, non mirum, cum et alio loco dicat orari spiritu: nam et cum oramus, inquit, quemadmodum peti debeat nos nescimus, sed ipse nos Spiritus docet. Igitur quia et in oratione fit conceptio spiritalis, ne quis, ut scriptum est, mulieri
25. Not without reason does the Apostle teach that this should be done chiefly at that time, when a woman either prays or prophesies (1 Cor. 11:5). For then she comes to the conceiving of the spirit: and therefore she then rouses the tempter's envy the more, when, breathing towards the perfect man, she passes beyond the bounds of her weakness. That the Apostle holds the same about prayer as about prophecy is no wonder, since in another place too he says that prayer is made by the spirit: for when we pray, he says, we do not know how one ought to ask, but the Spirit Himself teaches us. Therefore, since in prayer also a spiritual conception takes place, lest, as it is written, when the woman
Editors' notes and page, col. 273

Footnotes

Scripture references ᵃ ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 273 Matth. V, 14; I Cor. XI, 3; Eph. I, 22.

Matthew 5:14; 1 Corinthians 11:3; Ephesians 1:22.

ᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 273 Luc. VII, 38.

Luke 7:38.

ᶜ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 273 Isai. XXVI, 19.

Isaiah 26:19.

ᵈ ‹anchor: omnis ab intus› · call in col 273 Psal. XLIV, 14.

Psalm 44 (45):14.

ᵉ ‹anchor: Propter angelos› · call in col 273 I Cor. XI, 10.

1 Corinthians 11:10.

ᶠ ‹anchor: aggressus est› · call in col 273 Gen. III, 1.

Genesis 3:1.

ᵍ ‹anchor: Ecclesia prohibentur› · call in col 273 I Cor. XIV, 34; I Tim. II, 12.

1 Corinthians 14:34; 1 Timothy 2:12.

ʰ ‹anchor: Apostolus docet› · call in col 273 I Cor. XI, 5.

1 Corinthians 11:5.

ⁱ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 274 (upper part) I Cor. XI, 10.

1 Corinthians 11:10.

ʲ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 274 (upper part) I Tim. II, 9.

1 Timothy 2:9.

ᵏ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 274 (upper part) Luc. XII, 7.

Luke 12:7.

ˡ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 274 (upper part) Cant. V, 11, sec. LXX.

Song of Songs 5:11, according to the Septuagint.

ᵐ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 274 (upper part) Gen. II, 12.

Genesis 2:12.

ⁿ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 274 (upper part) Apoc. III, 18.

Revelation 3:18.

ᵒ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 274 (upper part) Sap. III, 5.

Wisdom 3:5.

ᵖ ‹anchor: numisma signarent› · call in col 274 Matth. XXII, 21.

Matthew 22:21.

ᑫ ‹anchor: fronte caneremus› · call in col 274 Ezech. IX, 4.

Ezekiel 9:4.

ʳ ‹anchor: vultus tui, Domine› · call in col 274 Psal. IV, 7.

Psalm 4:7.

ˢ ‹anchor: aurum esse mereamur› · call in col 274 Eph. I, 22.

Ephesians 1:22.

ᵗ ‹anchor: scriptum est› · call in col 274 Cant. IV, 1, juxta LXX.

Song of Songs 4:1, following the Septuagint.

ᵘ ‹anchor: in lacte est› · call in col 274 Prov. XXVII, 27.

Proverbs 27:27.

ᵛ ‹anchor: Spiritu sancto› · call in col 274 Act. X, 38.

Acts 10:38.

ˣ ‹anchor: omnium viventium› · call in col 274 Gen. III, 20.

Genesis 3:20.

ʸ ‹anchor: super vinum› · call in col 274 Cant. I, 1, sec. LXX.

Song of Songs 1:1, according to the Septuagint.

ᶻ ‹anchor: autem vivificat› · call in col 274 II Cor. III, 6.

2 Corinthians 3:6.

Editors' notes (printed under page 140)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 273 (upper part)

Ita mss. Reg., Vien. et edit. Schot. Editi quatuor, dedecus.

So the Regius and Vienna manuscripts and Schott's edition. Four editions have dedecus ("disgrace").

(printed under page 140)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 273 (upper part)

Edit. Rosv., tergant. At tergeant verissima lectio, quae inferius confirmatur n. 35 et carm. 32 de Obitu Celsi, v. 542.

Rosweyde's edition has tergant. But tergeant is the truest reading, which is confirmed below at n. 35 and in Poem 32, On the Death of Celsus, line 542.

(printed under page 140)

(c) ‹anchor: et› · call in col 273

Sic mss. codices Reg., Vat. et Vien. et edit. Grin. in marg. Sed editi, scientia inflatae: utraque lectio recepta.

So the Regius, Vatican and Vienna manuscript codices, and the Grin. edition in the margin. But the editions have scientia inflatae: both readings are accepted.

(printed under page 140)

Page

  • running head: 273 EPISTOLA XXIII. (title spans both columns of the page)
  • marginal letters: A ‹stulat: et ideo perfectus›; B ‹tem rore verbi coelestis›; C ‹deant intueri, et›; D ‹inquit, quemadmodum peti›
  • old-edition numerals: 135 after ‹odorum›
PL 61:274
ultra vasculi sui fines agenti †dolus hostis et laqueus occurrat, vult Apostolus in habitu ejus ostendi esse illi supra caput potestatem, qua regatur pariter et defendatur: ea ipsa humilitate cordis virtutem illi conferente, quae scientiae supercilium premit gubernaculo disciplinae: et mavult timere, quam altum sapere; tutius tacita per timorem fidei, quam perita cum lingua, incassum pressura frontem capillo, nisi etiam pudore velaverit.
acts beyond the bounds of her little vessel, any guile and snare of the enemy should meet her, the Apostle wishes it to be shown in her attire that she has authority over her head (1 Cor. 11:10), by which she may be ruled and defended alike: that very humility of heart lending her strength, which presses down the haughty brow of knowledge with the rudder of discipline: and she prefers to fear rather than to be high-minded; safer silent through the fear of faith than learned with her tongue, she will press down her brow with her hair in vain, unless she has veiled it with modesty as well (1 Tim. 2:9).
26. Ergo in commune omnis anima studeamus illis adornari capillis, quos Deus numerabiles habet, sicut ipse dicit: Sed et capilli capitis vestri omnes numerati sunt. Cujus vero ille capitis capillos magis numerare dignetur quam ejus cujus ipse verticis caput est? de quo dicitur: Caput ejus ut aurum cephaz: quo nomine probabilius aliquod et purius aurum significari puto, sicut illud de terra Evilath. Hoc enim aurum forma sanctorum est, qui in capite corporis, ut lumina micant, et sunt aurum ignitum Deo. Quia videlicet eos per examina passionum in hujus mundi fornace conflatos, invenit, ut scriptum est, dignos se: et in his sacram imaginis suae percussit monetam imprimens cordibus et linguis eorum veritatis suae verbum: eosdemque ipsos statuens nummularios, ut secundum suam formam probabiles Domino cuderent nummos; et abolita de nobis figura Caesaris, vivum Regis aeterni numisma signarent, ut spiritu redemtionis inscripti, cervice jam jugo libera, et salutis titulo praemunita fronte caneremus: Signatum est super nos lumen vultus tui, Domine.
26. Therefore let us all in common, with every soul, be eager to be adorned with that hair which God holds numbered, as He Himself says: But even the hairs of your head are all numbered (Luke 12:7). And whose head's hairs would He deign to number rather than the head of him whose very crown He is the head? Of whom it is said: His head is as gold of cephaz (Song 5:11): by which name I think some more approved and purer gold is meant, like that from the land of Havilah (Gen. 2:12). For this gold is the figure of the saints, who in the head of the body shine like lights, and are gold refined in the fire for God (Rev. 3:18). For having, that is, smelted them through the trials of sufferings in the furnace of this world, He found them, as it is written, worthy of Himself (Wis. 3:5): and in them He struck the sacred coin of His own image, stamping the word of His truth upon their hearts and tongues: and He appointed these same men as moneyers, to strike coins approved by the Lord according to His own form; so that, the figure of Caesar effaced from us, they might stamp the living coin of the eternal King (Matt. 22:21), that, inscribed with the spirit of redemption, our neck now free of the yoke and our brow fortified with the title of salvation (Ezek. 9:4), we might sing: The light of Thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us (Ps. 4:7).
27. Summa igitur ope enitamur ita nos comparare, ut divini capitis, quod nobis per gratiam Dei Christus est, crines et aurum esse mereamur. Ex ipso enim capite pullulat illa caesaries, de qua scriptum est: Capillatura ejus, ut greges caprarum. Et bene illorum potissimum animalium nomine designantur greges Christi, quorum maxime usus in lacte est: quia omnis qui credit Deum Christum, totam Trinitatis plenitudinem in eo, quem Pater unxit Spiritu sancto, fide pietatis amplectitur. Et ideo ipsa mater omnium viventium, Christi corpus, Ecclesia, succo pietatis exuberat: et bona ubera ejus super vinum. In quo opinor significari, quod dulcior sit libertas gratiae in lacte misericordiae, quam in vino justitiae legis austeritas. Littera enim, inquit, occidit, vides censurae merum; spiritus autem vivificat, vides uberum munus, et lactis effectum. Sed hoc, ut tu
27. Let us therefore strive with all our might so to fit ourselves that we may deserve to be the locks and the gold of the divine head, which for us, through the grace of God, is Christ (Eph. 1:22). For from that very head springs that flowing hair of which it is written: His hair is like flocks of goats (Song 4:1). And rightly are the flocks of Christ designated by the name of those animals above all whose chief use lies in their milk (Prov. 27:27): because everyone who believes Christ to be God embraces with the faith of piety the whole fullness of the Trinity in Him whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit (Acts 10:38). And therefore the mother of all the living herself (Gen. 3:20), the body of Christ, the Church, overflows with the sap of piety: and her breasts are good beyond wine (Song 1:1). In this I think it is signified that the freedom of grace in the milk of mercy is sweeter than the severity of the law in the wine of justice. For the letter, he says, kills: you see the neat wine of censure; but the spirit gives life (2 Cor. 3:6): you see the gift of the breasts, and the effect of the milk. But this, as you
Editors' notes and page, col. 274

Footnotes

(d) ‹anchor: omnis qui› · call in col 274

Ita ms. Vien. Alii, credidit.

So the Vienna manuscript. Others have credidit ("believed").

(printed under page 140)

(e) ‹anchor: Sed hoc, ut tu› · call in col 274

Ms. Regius codex cum editis Bad., Grav. et Schot., ut tu maris intelligi, semen detur. Utraque lectio plausibilis. Vide not. 87.

The Regius manuscript codex, with the editions of Badius, Gravius and Schott, has ut tu maris intelligi, semen detur. Either reading is plausible. See note 87.

(printed under page 140)

Page

  • running head: EPISTOLA XXIII. 274
  • marginal letters: A ‹ultra vasculi sui fines›; B ‹87): quo nomine probabilius›; C ‹caneremus: Signatum est›; D ‹legis austeritas. Littera›
  • old-edition numerals: 136 after ‹conflatos,›
PL 61:275
magis intelligis, emendetur, quo prima nascentium mulctra coalescit. Bona igitur ubera, quae pastor bonus, qui pro ovibus animam suam posuit, illis immulsit infantibus, de quorum ore perfecit laudem sibi, ut destrueret inimicum boni, et defensorem mali.
better understand, let it be corrected, by which the first milking of the newborn grows firm. Good then are the breasts which the good shepherd, who laid down his life for the sheep (John 10:11), milked into those infants, out of whose mouth He perfected praise for Himself, to destroy the enemy of good and the defender of evil (Ps. 8:3).
28. Ex harum caprarum gregibus erat ille vir gregis qui parvulos Christi nondum aptos solidiori cibo, teneris lactabat alimentis, quibus dicebat: Lacte vos potavi, non esca: nondum enim poteratis, sed nec adhuc potestis. Cum autem hujus lactis alimonia creverimus, firmatis primum fidei conceptione vestigiis, adolescemus in robur juventae: et firmata per fidem caritate atque patientia levabimus manus nostras in actionem robustiorem; operibusque virtutum velut cibo fortiore vivemus, ut efficiamur et illi crines, de quibus scriptum est: Crines ejus abietes nigrae, sicut corax: id est, corvus. Sed bonus iste corvus, nec ille ad arcam revertendi immemor, sed ille pascendi prophetae memor: cui bene comparantur illarum abietum aemuli crines, de quibus dicit, abietes bonae et nigrae, adducentes naves Tharsis; unde nunc corax iste non noctis, sed luminis corvus est; cujus coloris speciosi crines sunt: ideo sancti, genus regale et sacerdotale, quibus divinum caput ut ostro gloriae suae purpurat: quia et juvenalis gratia in hujus praecipue coloris capillo florentem vestit aetatem.
28. Of the flocks of these goats was that man of the flock who nourished with tender food the little ones of Christ, not yet fit for more solid food, and to whom he said: I gave you milk to drink, not meat: for you were not yet able, nor are you able even now (1 Cor. 3:2). But when we have grown on the nourishment of this milk, our steps first made firm by the conception of faith, we shall grow up into the strength of youth: and, charity and patience being made firm through faith, we shall lift up our hands to more vigorous action; and we shall live on the works of the virtues as on stronger food, so that we too may become those locks of which it is written: His locks are firs, black as a raven (Song 5:11): that is, a crow. But this is the good crow, not the one forgetful of returning to the ark, but the one mindful of feeding the prophet: to which the locks that rival those firs are fittingly compared, of which he speaks: firs good and black, bringing the ships of Tarshish (1 Kgs. 5:8; 2 Chr. 9:21); whence this raven is now a crow not of the night but of the light; and its colour is that of beautiful locks: therefore the saints are a royal and priestly race (1 Pet. 2:9), with whom He empurples the divine head as with the purple of His glory: because the grace of youth too clothes the flowering age above all in hair of this colour.
29. Non dissimulandum tamen, quod avis ista interdum forma peccati in Scripturis, interdum gratiae species invenitur. Videtur enim esse mortifera, cum ad supplicium producitur impiorum: quia mala, sicut scriptum est, per malos angelos mittit Deus: vel cum in ultione maledicti dicitur: Oculum qui irriserit patrem et matrem, effodiant eum corvi de convallibus. Laudabilis autem eadem avis vel cum prophetam mane panibus, et ad vesperam carnibus alit; vel cum pulli corvorum invocant nomen Domini. Sed et color ejus aliquando in sanctis, aliquando in impiis dicitur. Sponsa namque Christi dicit se fuscam esse, et decoram; et Dominus tenebras posuit latibulum suum. Et rursus e contrario ab Apostolo commonemur, ne nos tenebrae comprehendant. Verum tamen illae abietes nigrae, et bonae, adducentes naves Tharsis, secundum ejus formam sunt, quae fusca pariter et decora est. Ipsius enim et membra sunt Sancti, qui sicut et palmae florentes, et cedri multiplicabiles; ita et abietes nigrae, et bonae sunt, quia in Ecclesia, hoc est, Dei monte, verticibus meritorum eminent, ut abietes in suis montibus. Et sicut illae aptae navibus contexendis, ita illi principes populi de monte legis, ut a Libano excisi, arcam Domini,
29. It must not, however, be passed over that this bird is found in the Scriptures sometimes as a figure of sin, sometimes as an image of grace. For it seems to be deadly when it is brought forth for the punishment of the impious: because God sends evils, as it is written, by evil angels (Ps. 77:49): or when it is said in the vengeance of the curse: The eye that has mocked father and mother, let the crows of the valleys dig it out. But the same bird is praiseworthy, both when it feeds the prophet with bread in the morning and with meat in the evening, and when the young of the crows call upon the name of the Lord. And its colour too is spoken of sometimes in the saints, sometimes in the impious. For the bride of Christ says that she is dark, and comely; and the Lord made darkness His hiding place. And again, on the contrary, we are warned by the Apostle that the darkness should not overtake us (John 12:35). Yet those firs black and good, bringing the ships of Tarshish, are after the form of her who is dark and comely alike. For the saints are also her members, who, as they are flourishing palms and multiplying cedars, so are they also firs black and good, because in the Church, that is, the mountain of God, they stand out with the summits of their merits, as firs upon their mountains. And as those are fit for building ships, so those princes of the people from the mountain of the law, as though hewn from Lebanon, the ark of the Lord,
Editors' notes and page, col. 275

Footnotes

Scripture references ᵃ ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 275 (upper part) Joan. X, 10.

John 10:10.

ᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 275 (upper part) Johan. x, 11.

John 10:11.

ᶜ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 275 (upper part) Psal. VIII, 3.

Psalm 8:3.

ᵈ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 275 (upper part) I Cor. III, 2.

1 Corinthians 3:2.

ᵉ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 275 (upper part) Cant. V, 11.

Song of Songs 5:11.

ᶠ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 275 (upper part) III Reg. V, 8; II Paral. IX, 21.

3 Kings (1 Kings) 5:8; 2 Chronicles 9:21.

ᵍ ‹anchor: regale et sacerdotale› · call in col 275 I Pet. ii, 9.

1 Peter 2:9.

ʰ ‹anchor: mittit Deus› · call in col 275 Psal. LXXVII, 49.

Psalm 77 (78):49.

ⁱ ‹anchor: de convallibus› · call in col 275 Psal. CXLVI, 9.

Psalm 146 (147):9.

ʲ ‹anchor: comprehendant› · call in col 275 Johan. xii, 35; III Reg. V, 8.

John 12:35; 3 Kings (1 Kings) 5:8.

ᵏ ‹anchor: naves Tharsis› · call in col 275 Psal. XCI, 15.

Psalm 91 (92):15.

ˡ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 276 (upper part) Isai. XI, 1.

Isaiah 11:1.

ᵐ ‹anchor: a Tharsis› · call in col 276 III Reg. V, 8.

3 Kings (1 Kings) 5:8.

ⁿ ‹anchor: opes Tyrias afferebat› · call in col 276 III Reg. IX, 20, et x, 22.

3 Kings (1 Kings) 9:20 and 10:22.

ᵒ ‹anchor: major Solomone hic› · call in col 276 II Par. VIII, 18, et ix, 10; Matth. XII, 42; Luc. XI, 31.

2 Chronicles 8:18 and 9:10; Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31.

ᵖ ‹anchor: naves Tharsis› · call in col 276 Psal. XLVII, 8.

Psalm 47 (48):8.

ᑫ ‹anchor: spatiosum vehemus› · call in col 276 Psal. CIII, 25.

Psalm 103 (104):25.

Editors' notes (printed under page 141)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 275 (upper part)

Sic mss. Vatic. et Vien. Ceteri codices; et confirmata per fidem caritatemque patientia. Utraque lectio bona.

So the Vatican and Vienna manuscripts. The other codices have et confirmata per fidem caritatemque patientia ("and patience strengthened through faith and charity"). Both readings are good.

(printed under page 141)

(b) ‹anchor: corvus est; cujus› · call in col 275

Mss. Reg. et Vien., color.

The Regius and Vienna manuscripts have color.

(printed under page 141)

Page

  • running head: 275 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOP[I] (title spans both columns)
  • marginal letters: A ‹magis intelligis, emendetur›; B ‹nigrae (V. not. 88 bis)›; C ‹cum ad supplicium producitur›; D ‹Sancti, qui sicut et palmae›
  • old-edition numerals: 137 after ‹de quibus›
PL 61:276
sive navem, hoc est, Ecclesiam per hujus mundi diluvia navigaturam, edolatis verbo Dei gentibus texuerunt, et in compagem caritatis fide stringente conjunctam fluctus mundi istius imputribiliter secare docuerunt.
or the ship, that is, the Church that was to sail through the floods of this world, they built out of the nations hewn smooth by the word of God, and they taught it, joined into a frame of charity with faith binding it fast, to cleave the waves of this world without rotting.
30. Sed et nunc eruditae ad apostolicam fidem animae abietes sunt nigrae, et bonae; nigrae vero jam non de peccato, ut puto, magisque adhuc vel de inhabitatione corporea, vel de exercitationis internae quasi bellico pulvere, vel pulverulento sudore nigrantes; bonae tamen, propter spiritalem etiam in noctibus corporum conversationem. Sic et naves, quae fluctibus mundi supernatant: et fide veri, atque opere justi a dextris, ut scriptum est, et sinistris, velut remis armantur: qui verbo Dei quasi gubernaculo diriguntur, et ad auram Spiritus sancti sensuum suorum sinus pandunt, et cordis sui velum vinculis caritatis, ut funibus ad antennam crucis stringunt. Et arbor illis est virga de radice Jesse, quae totam corporis nostri quadriremem regit; et cui si juxta illam poeticam fabulam, in prophetica veritate nectamur, voluntariis adstricti nexibus, et obstructis non cera, sed fide; neque corporis, sed cordis auribus, contra hujus mundi varias ad capiendum, pares ad nocendum, illecebras tuti et innocui scopulos voluptatum, quasi saxa sirenum, praetervehimur. Adstringamur autem huic arbori fune validissimo, vincti in spe, fide, caritate, credentes cordibus, et oribus confitentes individuam Trinitatem, quae est spartum triplex, quod non rumpitur. Hoc sparto et opera nostra textantur, quo et rudente fidei nostrae arbor erigatur caritatis antenna, et vitae nostrae vela sinuentur: ut simus et abietes illae, quae in fabricam templi magnis ratibus intextae ducebantur a Tharsis; vel iidem naves, qui illam aemulemur, quae Solomoni quondam electum aurum, et opes Tyrias afferebat. Tanto autem studiosius et quaestuosius nostra negotiatio debet agitari, quanto rex noster aeternus Jesus illo temporali Solomone praestantior est. Ecce, enim, inquit, major Solomone hic: qui non conteret nos spiritu vehementi inter naves Tharsis, si illi, bono actu vitae nostrae, lucrum, quod est pretiosissimum Deo mercimonium, convehamus: ut suum ipse pretium accipiat a nobis; quia ipse est et margarita, quam tota spiritalis istius mercaturae conversatio sibi nititur comparare. Cui coemendae si facultas nostra suffecerit, non deprimentem sarcinam, sed levantem nos per hoc mare magnum et spatiosum vehemus: et dormientem in nobis pro nostra segnitia Dominum, si vel dormientem vectare mereamur, excitare audebimus, ut increpans ventos spirituum
30. But now too souls trained in the apostolic faith are firs black and good; black, however, no longer from sin, as I think, but rather still darkened either by their dwelling in the body, or by the dust, as it were of battle, of their inward exercise, or by dusty sweat; good nevertheless, because of their spiritual way of life even in the nights of the body. So too they are ships, which float upon the waves of the world: and they are armed with faith in the true and the work of the just, on the right hand, as it is written, and on the left, as with oars: they are steered by the word of God as by a rudder, and they spread the bosom of their senses to the breeze of the Holy Spirit, and bind the sail of their heart with the bonds of charity, as with ropes to the yard of the cross. And their mast is the rod from the root of Jesse (Isa. 11:1), which steers the whole quadrireme of our body; and if, after that poets' fable, but in prophetic truth, we are bound to it, tied with willing bonds, and with ears stopped not with wax but with faith, and the ears not of the body but of the heart, then, safe and unharmed against the manifold allurements of this world, as varied for catching as they are matched for harming, we sail past the reefs of pleasures as past the rocks of the Sirens. Let us then be bound to this mast with a most strong rope, bound in hope, faith and charity, believing with our hearts and confessing with our mouths the undivided Trinity, which is the threefold cord that is not broken. With this cord let our works too be woven, by which, as by the cable of our faith, the mast may be raised with the yard of charity, and the sails of our life may swell: that we may be also those firs which, bound in great rafts, were brought from Tarshish for the building of the temple (1 Kgs. 5:8); or the same ships, we who would emulate that one which once brought to Solomon choice gold and the riches of Tyre (1 Kgs. 9:28; 10:22). And our trading ought to be carried on the more zealously and profitably, as our eternal King Jesus is more excellent than that temporal Solomon. For behold, He says, a greater than Solomon is here (2 Chr. 8:18; 9:10; Matt. 12:42): who will not crush us with a vehement wind among the ships of Tarshish (Ps. 47:8), if we bring to Him, by the good conduct of our life, the gain which is the most precious merchandise to God: that He may receive His own price from us; for He Himself is also the pearl which the whole commerce of this spiritual trading strives to buy for itself. If our means suffice to purchase it, we shall carry a burden that does not weigh us down but lifts us up through this great and wide sea (Ps. 103:25): and the Lord, asleep in us through our sloth, if we deserve to carry Him even asleep, we shall dare to wake, so that, rebuking the winds of hostile spirits,
Editors' notes and page, col. 276

Footnotes

(c) ‹anchor: saxa sirenum› · call in col 276

Ita manuscripti codices. Editi, praetervehemur.

So the manuscript codices. The editions have praetervehemur ("we shall sail past").

(printed under page 141)

(d) ‹anchor: Tharsis; vel› · call in col 276

Ms. Vien., illae.

The Vienna manuscript has illae.

(printed under page 141)

Page

  • running head: [S. PAULI]NI NOLANI EPISCOP[I] 276
  • marginal letters: A ‹mini, sive navem›; B ‹culo diriguntur›; C ‹opera nostra textantur›; D ‹versatio sibi nititur›
  • old-edition numerals: 138 after ‹totam›
PL 61:277
inimicorum, vel etiam nostrorum sensuum, salvos nos faciat a pusillo animo, et tempestate; tendentibusque nobis ad tranquillitatem suam, maria consternat ut quasi naves suarum onerarias opum deducat in portum salutis, victricibusque fluctuum puppibus virides laetus imponat coronas.
or even of our own senses, He may save us from faintness of heart and from the storm (Matt. 8:24; Mark 4:38; Luke 8:23; Ps. 54:9); and as we make for His calm, He may lay the seas flat, so as to bring us, like merchant ships laden with His riches, into the harbour of salvation (Ps. 106:30), and gladly set green garlands on the sterns that have conquered the waves.
31. Simus et dextera ejusdem, qui totus dextera est, non habentes in actibus nostris sinistram: ut ad dexteram Judicis stare, vel potius dextera ipsius Judicis esse mereamur; et opera nostra in die retributionis sicut capillos sui capitis Dominus remunerator adnumeret, ut ipse jam praefatus est in Evangelio, pronuntianda judicio; cum benedictione divina, et attributione regifica remunerabit spiritalium merita virtutum, hoc est pulcherrimas sui capitis comas qualibus et illa in Ecclesiae typo mulier, Christi vestigia unguento et lacrymis rigans tersit: quae non tam pretio munerum, quam obsequii placuit affectu. Non enim unguentum in illa Dominus, sed caritatem dilexit, qua pudenter impudens, et pie improba sine opprobrii et repulsae metu, extraneam sibi domum Pharisaei, non invitata, illa vi petulans penetravit, qua rapitur regnum coelorum: et tantum verbi coelestis esuriens, non ad dapes illius, sed ad pedes Christi cucurrit, seque in illis abluit, et cibavit: atque ipsos sibi pedes sacrarium, ut ita dixerim, et altare constituit. In quibus libavit fletu, litavit unguento, sacrificavit affectu. Sacrificium enim Deo spiritus contribulatus: quem illa immolans Deo, non solum remissionem delictorum, sed et gloriam praedicandi cum Evangelio nominis meruit.
31. Let us be also the right hand of Him who is wholly right hand (Matt. 25:33), having no left hand in our deeds: that we may deserve to stand at the right hand of the Judge, or rather to be the right hand of the Judge Himself; and that the Lord, the rewarder, may number our works on the day of retribution like the hairs of His own head (Matt. 10:30; Luke 12:7), works to be pronounced upon at the judgement, as He Himself has already foretold in the Gospel; with divine blessing and royal bestowal He will reward the merits of the spiritual virtues, that is, the most beautiful tresses of His head, such as those with which that woman too, in the figure of the Church, wiped the feet of Christ, bathing them with ointment and tears: she who pleased not so much by the price of her gifts as by the affection of her homage. For the Lord loved in her not the ointment but the charity by which, modestly shameless and devoutly bold, without fear of reproach or rebuff, uninvited, she forced her way into the house of the Pharisee, a house strange to her, wanton with that violence by which the kingdom of heaven is seized (Matt. 11:12): and hungering only for the heavenly word, she ran not to his banquet but to the feet of Christ, and in them she both washed and fed herself: and she made those very feet her sanctuary, so to speak, and her altar. On them she poured libation with her weeping, offered with her ointment, sacrificed with her affection. For a sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit (Ps. 50:19): offering which to God, she deserved not only the remission of her sins but also the glory of having her name proclaimed together with the Gospel (Matt. 26:13; Mark 14:9; John 12:3).
32. Et quia vocandae ex gentibus Ecclesiae imaginem praeferebat, omnia in semetipsa mysterii salutaris insignia gessit. Uncta est chrismate sui muneris; poenitentiae lacrymas habuit in lavacrum, viscera caritatis in sacrificium: et ipsum vivum vivificantemque panem manibus et ore praesumsit; sanguinem quoque calicis, antequam fieret calix sanguinis, osculis sugentibus praelibavit. Beata quae Christum in carne gustavit, et in ipso corpore Christi corpus accepit: merito praelata Pharisaeo, pascenti licet Christum; quae Judaeo epulante jejuna, non cibi, ut dixi, sed salutis avida serviebat. Beata, quae meruit in Ecclesiae typum hac quoque specie figurari, ut in domo et convivio Pharisaei non ipse Pharisaeus, sed peccatrix ad veniam justificaretur. Plus hujus importunitas consequitur, quam
32. And because she bore the image of the Church that was to be called from the Gentiles, she carried in herself all the insignia of the saving mystery. She was anointed with the chrism of her own gift; she had the tears of penitence for her washing, the bowels of charity for her sacrifice: and she took beforehand with hands and mouth the living and life-giving bread itself; the blood of the cup too, before the cup of blood existed, she tasted beforehand with sucking kisses. Blessed she who tasted Christ in the flesh, and in the very body received the body of Christ: rightly preferred to the Pharisee, though he was feeding Christ; she who, fasting while the Jew feasted, served, eager, as I said, not for food but for salvation. Blessed she who deserved to be figured in this form too as a type of the Church, so that in the house and at the banquet of the Pharisee not the Pharisee himself, but the sinful woman, was justified unto pardon. Her importunity obtains more than
Editors' notes and page, col. 277

Footnotes

Scripture references ᵃ ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 277 (upper part) Matth. VIII, 24; Marc. IV, 38; Luc. VIII, 23; Psal. LIV, 9.

Matthew 8:24; Mark 4:38; Luke 8:23; Psalm 54 (55):9.

ᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 277 (upper part) Psal. CVI, 30.

Psalm 106 (107):30.

ᶜ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 277 (upper part) Matth. XXV, 35.

Matthew 25:35.

ᵈ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 277 (upper part) Matth. X, 30; Luc. XII, 7.

Matthew 10:30; Luke 12:7.

ᵉ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 277 (upper part) Matth. VI, 17.

Matthew 6:17.

ᶠ ‹anchor: spiritus contribulatus› · call in col 277 Psal. L, 19.

Psalm 50 (51):19.

ᵍ ‹anchor: nominis meruit› · call in col 277 Matth. XXVI, 13; Marc. XIV, 9; Johan. xii, 3.

Matthew 26:13; Mark 14:9; John 12:3.

ʰ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 278 (upper part) Johan. i, 30.

John 1:30.

ⁱ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 278 (upper part) Psal. CXL, 5.

Psalm 140 (141):5.

ʲ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 278 (upper part) Psal. XXII, 5.

Psalm 22 (23):5.

ᵏ ‹anchor: repletum est rore› · call in col 278 Cant. II, 10, et v, 2, sec. LXX.

Song of Songs 2:10 and 5:2, according to the Septuagint.

ˡ ‹anchor: coruscare designat› · call in col 278 Philip. ii, 15.

Philippians 2:15.

ᵐ ‹anchor: in deliciis meis› · call in col 278 Psal. CXXXVIII, 11.

Psalm 138 (139):11.

Editors' notes (printed under page 142)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 277 (upper part)

Ms. codex Viennensis, praenuntianda.

The Vienna manuscript codex has praenuntianda ("to be foretold").

(printed under page 142)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 277 (upper part)

Ms. Vatic., retributione.

The Vatican manuscript has retributione ("by repayment").

(printed under page 142)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 277 (upper part)

Ms. Vatic., remunerabitur. Sic alibi Paulinus hoc verbo utitur active. Vide epist. 26 ad Sebastianum, num. 2.

The Vatican manuscript has remunerabitur. Elsewhere too Paulinus uses this verb in the active sense. See Letter 26, to Sebastian, no. 2.

(printed under page 142)

(d) ‹anchor: non ad› · call in col 277

Ante erat opes. Cum Sacchino emendavimus dapes, certa quidem conjectura petita, tum ex subsequentibus, tum inferius n. 42, ubi Paulinus ad Pharisaeum: Malo inter capillos illius Christi pedibus illigari, quam inter dapes tuas tecum juxta Christum sine Christo discumbere; et n. 39.

Previously the text read opes. With Sacchini we have corrected it to dapes ("feast"), a conjecture that is indeed certain, drawn both from what follows and from n. 42 below, where Paulinus says to the Pharisee: "I would rather be bound to Christ's feet among her hair than recline at your feast with you, beside Christ yet without Christ"; and n. 39.

(printed under page 142)

(e) ‹anchor: salutis avida› · call in col 277

Ms. Vatic. et ed. Grin., esuriebat. Utraque lectio bona. Verissima illa quam retinemus, nempe quae confirmatur n. 40: Tu enim epulabaris ut superbires, illa jejunabat ut serviret.

The Vatican manuscript and the Grin. edition have esuriebat ("hungered"). Both readings are good. Truest is the one we keep, since it is confirmed at n. 40: "For you feasted so as to be proud; she fasted so as to serve."

(printed under page 142)

Page

  • running head: 277 EPISTOLA XXIII.
  • marginal letters: A ‹tuum inimicorum, vel etiam›; B ‹mas qualibus et illa›; C ‹praedicandi cum Evangelio›; D ‹non ipse Pharisaeus›
  • old-edition numerals: 139 after ‹mulier,›
PL 61:278
Pharisaei dapsilitas. Etenim dispositi a seculis sacramenti ordo poscebat, juxta illam Noe patris propheticam benedictionem, in tabernacula Sem transire habitationem Japheth, hoc est in domo legis et prophetarum, Ecclesiam potius justificari, minorem temporum aevo, sed gratiae lege majorem; unde ipsius in Johanne legis persona profitetur: Qui post me venit, ante me factus est, quia prior me erat.
the Pharisee's lavishness. For the order of the mystery disposed from the ages required, according to that prophetic blessing of father Noah, that the dwelling of Japheth should pass into the tents of Shem, that is, that in the house of the law and the prophets it should rather be the Church that was justified, younger in the age of time, but greater by the law of grace; whence the person of the law itself, in John, professes: He who comes after me was made before me, because He was before me (John 1:30).
33. Ut autem etiam in typo congrueret Ecclesia capiti suo, bene formam peccatricis acceperat, quia Christus quoque formam peccatoris accepit. Sed Judaeus neque caput neque fundamentum habiturus in Christo, nec caput Christi, nec pedes, unxerat; quod utrumque pretiosis unguentis mulier evangelica irrigaverat. Propterea Synagogae, neque oleum gratiae, neque aqua refectionis a Christo est; cujus typum illi Pharisaeo gerenti, circa ipsum et olei et aquae salutaris fontem, et aqua et oleum caritatis exaruit. De hoc fonte praedixerat per prophetam: Oleum peccatoris non impinguet caput meum; sicut ad Ecclesiam suam dicere potuit: Impinguasti in oleo caput meum: quae non solum confectione, sed etiam vase pretiosum detulerat unguentum, quod multorum graminum sive florum mixta in unum gratia et virtute fragrabat. Quae potuit nisi Ecclesia tale conficere? quae de variis coelestium gratiarum floribus et succis odora, multimodas suavitates ex diversis gentibus Deo spirat, orationesque sanctorum, velut aromata pateris incensa flagrantibus, spiritu veritatis exhalat: ut ei talium florum odoribus, seu liquorum roribus, affluenti Sponsus ipse gratetur illa qua et in Canticis Canticorum voce blanditur: Columba, inquit, mea, perfecta mea, quoniam caput meum repletum est rore: caput Christi Deus, et crines ejus electio Sanctorum, quibus Pater gaudet in Christo, et crines mei guttis noctis. Ros, ut scimus, non est imbris humor, sed refrigerii, quo reficiuntur arida ab aestu diurno gramina. Hujus roris lucidis guttis non nisi serena nocte spargitur terra. Unde intelligi datur, eas noctis guttas, quibus caput et crines suos sapientia maduisse laetatur, formam esse sanctorum, quam et in stellis Apostolus coruscare designat, quae aeque serenis noctibus micant, quibus rores cadunt. Quae autem nox intellectu spiritali putanda, nisi passio Domini, quae et dies illuminavit? de qua puto scriptum: Et nox illuminatio mea in deliciis meis.
33. And so that the Church might match her head in the type as well, she had fittingly taken the form of a sinful woman, because Christ too took the form of a sinner. But the Jew, who was to have neither head nor foundation in Christ, had anointed neither the head of Christ nor His feet; both of which the woman of the Gospel had bathed with precious ointments. Therefore the Synagogue has from Christ neither the oil of grace nor the water of refreshment; and for that Pharisee, who bore its type, both the water and the oil of charity dried up beside Him who is the very fountain of oil and of saving water. Of this fountain He had foretold through the prophet: Let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head (Ps. 140:5); as He could say to His Church: Thou hast fattened my head with oil (Ps. 22:5): she had brought an ointment precious not only in its making but also in its vessel, which was fragrant with the grace and virtue of many herbs or flowers mingled into one. Who but the Church could make such a thing? she who, fragrant with the various flowers and juices of heavenly graces, breathes forth to God manifold sweetnesses from diverse nations, and exhales the prayers of the saints, like spices kindled in blazing bowls, by the spirit of truth: so that, as she abounds in the scents of such flowers or the dews of such liquors, the Bridegroom Himself may give her thanks in that voice with which He caresses her in the Song of Songs too: My dove, He says, my perfect one, for my head is filled with dew (Song 2:10; 5:2): the head of Christ is God, and His locks are the chosen of the saints, in whom the Father rejoices in Christ, and my locks with the drops of the night. Dew, as we know, is not the moisture of rain but of refreshment, by which the grasses parched by the heat of the day are restored. The earth is sprinkled with the shining drops of this dew only on a clear night. Whence it is given to understand that those drops of the night, with which Wisdom rejoices that its head and locks are wet, are the figure of the saints, which the Apostle also shows shining in the stars (Phil. 2:15), which likewise glitter on the clear nights on which the dews fall. But what night is to be understood in the spiritual sense, if not the passion of the Lord, which also lit up the day? of which I think it is written: And night is my illumination in my delights (Ps. 138:11).
Editors' notes and page, col. 278

Footnotes

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 278 (upper part)

Juxta ms. codicem Vien. expunximus illa verba, unde lex ipsa, quae in aliis codicibus librariis inserta fuisse videntur.

Following the Vienna manuscript codex we have struck out the words unde lex ipsa ("whence the law itself"), which seem to have been inserted by copyists in the other codices.

(printed under page 142)

Page

  • running head: [E]PISTOLA XXIII. 278
  • marginal letters: A ‹Pharisaei dapsilitas›; B ‹mulier evangelica irrigaverat›; C ‹spiritu veritatis exhalat›; D ‹Quae autem nox intellectu›
  • old-edition numerals: 140 after ‹unguentis›
PL 61:279
Sed si et hoc seculum noctem putes, quod conversione gentium, quarum ante fidem tenebris horrebat, ut nubibus serenatum est; et nunc Ecclesiae lumine quasi pleno lunae perfectae speculo, et sanctis hominibus, ut puris in serenitate sideribus, opera fidelium, quibus animam suam quisque vivificans a praeteritae siccitatis siti reficit, quasi rores in hac, ut diximus, seculi nocte destillant.
But if you take this world too for the night, because by the conversion of the nations, with whose darkness it was dreadful before their faith, it has been cleared as of clouds; then now, by the light of the Church, as by the full mirror of the perfect moon, and by holy men, as by stars pure in a clear sky, the works of the faithful, by which each one, quickening his own soul, restores it from the thirst of its former drought, fall like dews in this night of the world, as we have said.
34. Et ideo caput suum Christus tali repletum rore laetatur, et illuminator noctium nostrarum tamen guttis noctis nostrae crines suos gaudet esse perfusos; quia ipsius refrigerium et refectio est illa fidelium operatio, quibus vel fratres juvantur, vel inopes confoventur. Ideo denique et vocem Judae aspernatus est, qui recepti corde suo zabuli spiritu mulieris unguentum Christi pedibus invidebat. Operibus enim pietatis et misericordiae et ungitur, et feneratur, et pascitur Christus. Verum traditor, antequam proderet Dominum, perfidiam suam prodidit: quem non pauperum, sed furtorum suorum cura commoverat, et livor mentis infidae, ut unguentum illud, quamlibet pretiosum, dominici tamen sanguinis comparatione vilissimum, pretiosius corpore salutari judicans, indignaretur in feminam pie prodigam, quam ipse Dominus bonum in se opus testatur operatam; docens egentium curam esse posthabendam, sed sibi tantum: ut in eo ostenderet, quod corde perverso fidei misericordiam praetulisset, cum fomes operum fides sit, et praeceptis suis praestet ipse praeceptor. Nisi quod in hoc quoque filius perditionis ostendit, quam vilem Christum haberet; qui unguentum, quod supra Christum effundebatur, perire dixit. Et ideo non est in pretio sanguinis Christi, quia habere non potest redemtorem, quem maluit habere venalem; et jure a commercio vitae mortis contractor excluditur, suo ipsius damnandus judicio, quo triginta aureis vendidit eum, quem mulier, ut ipse taxaverat, unxit trecentis. Sed in hoc perversus, quod ipsum vili aestimans Dominum, unguentum illud, quod in salutarem nobis ejus sepulturam praemittebatur, caro aestimavit. Vere, ut zabulus, ignarus gratiae Dei, in qua illi non esset portio; non caritate, sed invidia, magno aestimavit pretium mortis ejus, qua nos gratis servat, qui magno emit, non vendit. Nos enim ille vult pretiosos facere sui muneris vilitate. Ipse nobis
34. And therefore Christ rejoices that His head is filled with such dew, and He, the illuminator of our nights, nevertheless rejoices that His locks are drenched with the drops of our night (Song 5:2); because that working of the faithful, by which brothers are helped or the needy are cherished, is His refreshment and restoring. That, in short, is why He spurned the voice of Judas, who, having received into his heart the spirit of the devil, begrudged the feet of Christ the woman's ointment (John 12:2; Matt. 26:10; Mark 14:6). For by works of piety and mercy Christ is both anointed and lent to and fed. But the traitor, before he betrayed the Lord, betrayed his own faithlessness (John 12:6): he whom not care for the poor but for his own thefts had moved, and the envy of an unfaithful mind, so that, judging that ointment, however precious, yet most worthless in comparison with the Lord's blood, more precious than the saving body, he was indignant at the woman piously prodigal, whom the Lord Himself testifies to have wrought a good work upon Him; teaching that the care of the needy was to be placed second to Himself alone: so that He might show in him that with perverse heart he had preferred mercy to faith, since faith is the kindling of works, and the Teacher Himself is above His own teachings. Except that in this too the son of perdition showed how cheap he held Christ; he who said that the ointment poured out over Christ was wasted. And therefore he has no part in the price of the blood of Christ, because he cannot have as redeemer Him whom he preferred to have as merchandise; and the contractor of death is rightly shut out from the commerce of life, to be condemned by his own judgement, by which he sold for thirty gold pieces Him whom the woman anointed with three hundred, as he himself had reckoned it. But he was perverse in this, that, valuing the Lord Himself cheaply, he valued dear that ointment which was sent before for His burial, saving for us (Matt. 26:15; Mark 14:5; Luke 22:5). Truly, like the devil, ignorant of the grace of God, in which he was to have no portion, not in charity but in envy he reckoned great the price of His death, by which He saves us freely, He who bought at a great price, not sold (1 Cor. 6:20). For He wishes to make us precious by the cheapness of His gift. He Himself to us
Editors' notes and page, col. 279

Footnotes

Scripture references ᵃ ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 279 (upper part) Cant. V, 2.

Song of Songs 5:2.

ᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 279 (upper part) Johan. xii, 2; Matth., xxvi, 10; Marc. XIV, 6.

John 12:2; Matthew 26:10; Mark 14:6.

ᶜ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 279 (upper part) Johan. xii, 6.

John 12:6.

ᵈ ‹anchor: caro aestimavit› · call in col 279 Matth. XXVI, 15; Marc. XIV, 5; Luc. XXII, 5.

Matthew 26:15; Mark 14:5; Luke 22:5.

ᵉ ‹anchor: emit, non vendit› · call in col 279 I Cor. VI, 20.

1 Corinthians 6:20.

ᶠ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 279/280 (upper part) Matth. X, 8.

Matthew 10:8.

ᵍ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 280 (upper part) Act. III, 6.

Acts 3:6.

ʰ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 280 (upper part) II Cor. II, 15; II Cor. IV, 10; Matth. XVI, 7; Marc. XIV, 3.

2 Corinthians 2:15; 2 Corinthians 4:10; Matthew 16:7; Mark 14:3.

ⁱ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 280 (upper part) Gal. VI, 14.

Galatians 6:14.

ʲ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 280 (upper part) Philipp. II, 21.

Philippians 2:21.

ᵏ ‹anchor: hostiam laudis› · call in col 280 Psal. CXV, 16 et 17.

Psalm 115 (116):16 and 17.

ˡ ‹anchor: nocte pulsemus› · call in col 280 Luc. XI, 5 et 8.

Luke 11:5 and 8.

ᵐ ‹anchor: in sancta› · call in col 280 Psal. CXXXIII, 2.

Psalm 133 (134):2.

ⁿ ‹anchor: in lingua› · call in col 280 I Cor. XIV, 19.

1 Corinthians 14:19.

ᵒ ‹anchor: tabernaculis peccantium› · call in col 280 Psal. LXXXV, 11.

Psalm 85, 11 as printed (the verse quoted is Psalm 83 (84):11).

Editors' notes (printed under page 143)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 279 (upper part)

Sic manuscripti codices Reg., Vat. et Vien. At editi, purissimis servitute.

So the Regius, Vatican and Vienna manuscript codices. But the editions have purissimis servitute.

(printed under page 143)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 279 (upper part)

Abest tamen ab editione Schot. et a ms. codice Vaticano, in quo totus locus sic legitur: Et illuminatur noctium nostrarum guttis noctis nostrae crines suos esse perfusos gaudet.

Tamen is missing from Schott's edition and from the Vatican manuscript codex, in which the whole passage reads thus: "And he is illumined by the drops of our nights; he rejoices that his locks are drenched with the drops of our night."

(printed under page 143)

(c) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 279 (upper part)

Ita mss. Reg. et Vien. Alii codices, serenatur. Vide not. 92.

So the Regius and Vienna manuscripts. Other codices have serenatur ("is made clear"). See note 92.

(printed under page 143)

(d) ‹anchor: ut in eo ostenderet,› · call in col 279

Sic ms. Vien. cum edit. Schot. Ceteri, ut.

So the Vienna manuscript, with Schott's edition. The others have ut.

(printed under page 143)

(e) ‹anchor: Christum haberet;› · call in col 279

Expunximus particulam ut quae a manuscriptis codicibus aberat.

We have struck out the particle ut, which was missing from the manuscript codices.

(printed under page 143)

Page

  • running head: 279 S. PAULINI NOLANI E[PISCOPI]
  • marginal letters: A ‹Sed si et hoc seculum›; B ‹mulieris unguentum Christi›; C ‹ceptis suis praestet›; D ‹vult pretiosos facere›
  • old-edition numerals: 141 after ‹vel›
PL 61:280
hac pietate pretiosior, quod se vili vult aestimari, ut ab omnibus ematur. Quoniam enim, inquit, ipse fecit pauperem et divitem, et aequaliter illi cura est pro omnibus. Unde ait: Gratis accepistis gratiam, gratis date. Hujus gratiae gratuitis opibus dives Petrus debilem pauperem, et tantummodo egenae stipis cupidum, pecuniam non habens, sanitate ditavit.
is the more precious for this kindness, that He wishes to be valued cheaply, so as to be bought by all. For since, it says, He made the poor and the rich, and His care is equally for all. Hence He says: Freely you have received grace, freely give (Matt. 10:8). Rich in the free riches of this grace, Peter, having no money, enriched with health a poor cripple who longed only for a needy alms (Acts 3:6).
35. Itaque egeamus avaritia auri, ut abundemus gratiis; et per inopiam voluntariam vilescentes huic seculo, pretiosum Domino efficiamur unguentum. Spirabimus enim bonum Christi odorem Deo, si mortem Christi in corpore nostro circumferentes, et vitam in spiritu manifestantes, et passionis Dominicae et resurrectionis odore fragremus. Mittemus autem unguentum in corpus Christi, si substantiam vitamque nostram in fidem veritatis ejus et praecepti obedientiam conferamus. Tunc in ejus corpore replentia domum totam unguenta fragrabimus, si caritate perfecta possimus umquam dicere: Mihi autem mundus crucifixus est; non amanti divitias, non honores seculi: non amanti quae propria sunt, sed quae sunt Christi: non amanti quae videntur, sed quae non videntur. Hae nobis erunt in virtutem et ministerium sanctum comae, quibus et pedes Christi detergeamus, et funes peccatorum rumpere possimus, et in spiritu libertatis gratulantes dicere: Disrupisti vincula mea, tibi sacrificabo hostiam laudis.
35. Let us therefore be in want of the greed for gold, so that we may abound in graces; and growing cheap to this world through voluntary poverty, let us become a precious ointment for the Lord. For we shall breathe forth the good odour of Christ to God, if, carrying about the death of Christ in our body and showing forth His life in the spirit, we are fragrant with the odour both of the Lord's passion and of His resurrection (2 Cor. 2:15; 4:10). And we shall pour ointment on the body of Christ, if we devote our substance and our life to faith in His truth and obedience to His precept. Then in His body we shall be fragrant as ointments filling the whole house, if with perfect charity we can ever say: But to me the world is crucified (Gal. 6:14); to one who loves not riches, not the honours of the world: who loves not the things that are his own, but those that are Christ's (Phil. 2:21): who loves not the things that are seen, but those that are not seen. These will be for us tresses for virtue and holy ministry, with which we may wipe the feet of Christ, and may break the cords of sins, and rejoicing in the spirit of liberty say: Thou hast broken my bonds, to Thee I will sacrifice the sacrifice of praise (Ps. 115:16–17).
36. Sed dum currendi spatium, dum serviendi tempus est, pascamus hujusmodi comam: et imitemur non solum dilectionem illius evangelicae peccatricis, ut amore magno magna debita diluamus, sed et importunitatem ejusdem, ut praeripiamus irae imminenti salutem. Opportune, importune panem vitae quaerentes, patrisfamilias januam et nocte pulsemus. In noctibus enim, inquit, extollite manus vestras in sancta. Omnis in Christo sapientis limina, ut jussum est, exterentes, ubique captemus cibum vitae, ubicumque aucupemur verbum Dei; de omnium fidelium ore pendeamus, quia in omnem fidelem Spiritus Dei spirat: et necesse est a minimo Dei servo vel guttam coelestis sapientiae destillare, quae ariditatem mei cordis irroret; et mihi supra hujus seculi sapientium flumina ad potum utilitatis exuberet: quia malo quinque verba loqui in lege, quam multa millia in lingua; sicut unum diem in atriis Domini vivere, quam millia in tabernaculis peccantium,
36. But while there is space for running, while it is time for serving, let us grow hair of this kind: and let us imitate not only the love of that sinful woman of the Gospel, so that with great love we may wash away great debts, but also her importunity, so that we may snatch salvation ahead of the wrath that threatens. Seeking the bread of life in season and out of season, let us knock at the householder's door even by night (Luke 11:5, 8). For in the nights, it says, lift up your hands to the holy places (Ps. 133:2). Wearing out, as we are commanded, the thresholds of every man wise in Christ, let us everywhere catch at the food of life, wherever we can let us hunt for the word of God; let us hang upon the lips of all the faithful, because the Spirit of God breathes into every believer: and it must be that even from the least servant of God some drop of heavenly wisdom distils, to bedew the dryness of my heart; and for me it overflows, beyond the rivers of the wise of this world, into a profitable drink: for I would rather speak five words in the law than many thousands in a tongue (1 Cor. 14:19); as I would rather live one day in the courts of the Lord than thousands in the tents of sinners (Ps. 83:11),
Editors' notes and page, col. 280

Footnotes

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 280 (upper part)

Addidimus gratiam ex mss. Reg. et Vatic. Vide seqq.

We have added gratiam from the Regius and Vatican manuscripts. See what follows.

(printed under page 143)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 280 (upper part)

Sic mss. codices. Editi, in fide... et obedientia.

So the manuscript codices. The editions have in fide ... et obedientia.

(printed under page 143)

(h) ‹anchor: pedes Christi› · call in col 280

Ita ms. Reg. cum editis quatuor. Alii codd., detergamus. Vide not. 24, tergeant.

So the Regius manuscript, with four editions. Other codices have detergamus. See note 24, tergeant.

(printed under page 143)

(i) ‹anchor: ejusdem, ut› · call in col 280

Sic mss. Reg. et Vien. Verissima lectio quae ex infra sequentibus confirmatur n. 36 et n. 4 supra.

So the Regius and Vienna manuscripts. The truest reading, confirmed by what follows below at n. 36, and at n. 4 above.

(printed under page 143)

(j) ‹anchor: cibum vitae,› · call in col 280

Hic et inferius ex mss. Reg. et Vien. reposuimus ubicumque: quae lectio confirmatur ex sequentibus. Editi, ubique.

Here and below we have restored ubicumque ("wherever") from the Regius and Vienna manuscripts: this reading is confirmed by what follows. The editions have ubique ("everywhere").

(printed under page 143)

Page

  • running head: [PAU]LINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 280
  • marginal letters: A ‹hac pietate pretiosior›; B ‹unguentum in corpus Christi›; C ‹non solum dilectionem›; D ‹Domini vivere, quam millia›
  • old-edition numerals: 142 after ‹Mittemus›
PL 61:281
quoniam spiritus ubi vult spirat, et audio vocem ejus et nescio unde veniat. Igitur ubicumque auram ejus captabo: undecumque vel tenuem halitum legam. Quocumque vel in domum indigni, vel in domum Pharisaei audiam justum venisse, contendam praeripere hospitis gratiam, praeripere si possim regnum coelorum. Ubicumque mihi resonaverit Christi nomen, accurram; ad cujuscumque interiorem domum Jesum intrare cognovero, et ipse properabo. Cum reperero sapientiam, cum reperero justitiam in alicujus penetralibus recumbentem, curram ad pedes Christi, ut vel extremo sapientiae vestigio signer; nec fastidiam pedes, immo optabo, ut vel pedibus suis tangat caput meum Christus. Illa fimbriam tetigit, et curata est; alios et transitu apostolici corporis inumbrando sanavit.
since the spirit breathes where it will, and I hear its voice and do not know whence it comes (John 3:8). Therefore I shall catch its breeze wherever it blows: from whatever quarter I shall gather even a faint breath. Wherever I hear that the Just One has come, whether into the house of an unworthy man or into the house of a Pharisee, I shall strive to snatch first the favour of the guest, to snatch first, if I can, the kingdom of heaven. Wherever the name of Christ resounds for me, I shall run to it; into whosesoever inner house I learn that Jesus enters, I too shall hasten. When I find wisdom, when I find justice reclining in the inner rooms of anyone, I shall run to the feet of Christ (Matt. 9:10), that I may be marked even by the last footprint of wisdom; nor shall I disdain His feet, rather I shall pray that Christ may touch my head even with His feet. She touched the hem and was cured; He healed others even by the passing of an apostle's body as it overshadowed them (Acts 5:15).
37. Expandamus illi capillos, id est, omnes nostrorum insignium dignitates ante ipsum sternamus; et dejiciamur a nobismetipsis, ut exaltemur ab illo, qui in altis habitat, et humilia respicit. Lacrymis delicta nostra fateamur, ut de nobis quoque dicat Justitia illa coelestis: Lacrymis rigavit pedes meos, et capillis suis tersit. Fortasse enim ideo non laverit pedes suos cum discipulorum lavaret, ut eos nostris lacrymis nos lavemus. Non mediocris anima illa meriti est, de qua potest dicere Sapientia: Ex quo intravit, non cessavit osculari pedes meos. Quid est hoc osculum, nisi pignus aeternum illius caritatis, quae operit multitudinem peccatorum. Haec oscula Sponso suo jam tunc parabat Ecclesia, quando cantabat: Osculetur me ab osculis oris sui. Quod privilegium sola sibi catholica dilectio jure vendicat, quae unica atque perfecta uni viro ab ipsius ore Verbi petit oscula veritatis, ne fraudis haereticae veneno, ut incestis oris alieni osculis polluatur.
37. Let us spread out our hair for Him, that is, let us lay down before Him all the dignities of our distinctions; and let us be cast down from ourselves, that we may be exalted by Him who dwells on high and regards the lowly (Ps. 112:5). Let us confess our sins with tears, so that that heavenly Justice may say of us too: She has bathed my feet with tears, and wiped them with her hair. For perhaps He did not wash His own feet when He washed those of the disciples (John 13:5) precisely so that we might wash them with our tears. Of no common merit is that soul of which Wisdom can say: From the time she came in, she has not ceased to kiss my feet (Luke 7:45). What is this kiss, if not the eternal pledge of that charity which covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8). These kisses the Church was already then preparing for her Bridegroom, when she sang: Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth (Song 1:1, according to the Septuagint). This privilege catholic love alone rightly claims for itself, which, unique and perfect, seeks the kisses of truth for the one husband from the mouth of the Word Himself, lest it be defiled by the poison of heretical deceit, as by the unchaste kisses of a stranger's mouth.
38. Pedibus ergo Christi oscula casta figamus, ut mereamur a pedibus in caput surgere; et in superiora corporis membra crescentes, jam de proximo vultus audeamus et oris ipsius oscula postulare. Et, cum Dei verbum puro corde libantes, gustaverimus quam suavis est Dominus, tunc anima nostra totis in amore sapientiae visceribus accensa, dulci refrigeretur
38. Let us therefore press chaste kisses on the feet of Christ, so that we may deserve to rise from the feet to the head; and growing up to the higher members of the body, may at length dare, from near His face, to ask for the kisses of His very mouth. And when, sipping the word of God with a pure heart, we have tasted how sweet the Lord is, then our soul, set on fire in all its inmost parts with love of wisdom, will be refreshed with a sweet
Editors' notes and page, col. 281

Footnotes

Scripture references ᵃ ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 281 (upper part) Johan. iii, 8.

John 3:8.

ᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 281 (upper part) Matth. IX, 10.

Matthew 9:10.

ᶜ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 281 (upper part) Act. V, 15.

Acts 5:15.

ᵈ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 281 (upper part) Psal. CXII, 5.

Psalm 112 (113):5.

ᵉ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 281 (upper part) Johan. xiii, 5.

John 13:5.

ᶠ ‹anchor: pedes meos› · call in col 281 Luc. VII, 45.

Luke 7:45.

ᵍ ‹anchor: multitudinem peccatorum› · call in col 281 I Pet. iv, 8.

1 Peter 4:8.

ʰ ‹anchor: oris sui› · call in col 281 Cant. I, 1, sec. LXX.

Song of Songs 1:1, according to the Septuagint.

ⁱ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 282 (upper part) Cant. II, 5, et iv, 9.

Song of Songs 2:5 and 4:9.

ʲ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 282 (upper part) Isai. VI, 7.

Isaiah 6:7.

ᵏ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 282 (upper part) Psal. XXXIII, 9. [numerals blurred on the scan; the reference is read from the verse quoted, "gustaverimus quam suavis est Dominus"]

Psalm 33 (34):9.

ˡ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 282 (upper part) Luc. VII, 39.

Luke 7:39.

ᵐ ‹anchor: quae eum tangit› · call in col 282 Luc. VII, 39.

Luke 7:39.

ⁿ ‹anchor: dives assumere› · call in col 282 II Cor. VIII, 9.

2 Corinthians 8:9.

ᵒ ‹anchor: ut serviret› · call in col 282 Johan. iv, 38.

John 4:38.

ᵖ ‹anchor: crine detersit› · call in col 282 Luc. VII, 44.

Luke 7:44.

Editors' notes (printed under page 144)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 281 (upper part)

Manuscriptus codex Vaticanus addit in coelo et in terra.

The Vatican manuscript codex adds "in coelo et in terra" ("in heaven and on earth").

(printed under page 144)

(b) ‹anchor: ideo non› · call in col 281

Ms. Vien., laverat.

The Vienna manuscript has "laverat".

(printed under page 144)

(c) ‹anchor: lacrymis nos› · call in col 281

Ms. codex Vaticanus et ed. Schot., lavaremus, recte si cohaereat superiori lectioni codicis Viennensis. Vulgata lectio est ex Ambrosio.

The Vatican manuscript codex and Schott's edition have "lavaremus", rightly, if it is to agree with the Vienna codex's reading above. The common reading comes from Ambrose.

(printed under page 144)

(d) ‹anchor: pedes meos.› · call in col 281

Mss. Reg. et Vien. cum ed. Bad., Quod.

The Regius and Vienna manuscripts, with Badius's edition, have "Quod".

(printed under page 144)

(e) ‹anchor: Osculetur me› · call in col 281

Ab osculis, secundum versionem LXX interpretum. In explanatione homiliae I Origenes ostendit legendum esse in numero plurali ab osculis; et sic etiam Ambrosius in psal. cxviii serm. 1, et lib. de Isaac, cap. 3.

"Ab osculis" ("with the kisses"), following the version of the Seventy translators. In his explanation, in Homily 1, Origen shows that it should be read in the plural, "ab osculis"; and so too Ambrose on Psalm 118, Sermon 1, and in the book On Isaac, chapter 3.

(printed under page 144)

Page

  • running head: 281 EPISTOLA XXIII.
  • marginal letters: A ‹quoniam spiritus ubi vult›; B ‹143 37. Expandamus illi›; C ‹parabat Ecclesia, quando›; D ‹amore sapientiae visceribus›
  • old-edition numerals: 143 before ‹37. Expandamus›
  • other (Q3): "multitudinem peccatorum" may be printed "pecatorum" (single c) on this scan; not changed, UNSURE. Note ᵏ's numerals may read "xxxiv, 6" on the scan; UNSURE. Call ᵉ (Johan. XIII, 5) stands after "tersit" on the page; the English places the reference at the foot-washing, which it fits.
PL 61:282
ardore, et confixa ignitis dominicae caritatis sagittis, quibus omnis alia inimicarum delectationum dilectio interficitur, dicat in corde compuncto: Quoniam vulnerata caritatis ego sum. Beatus vero qui potest et osculo tangere pedes Christi. Quis mihi misero os adureret, et linguam meam coelesti illo carbone purgaret, ut vel calcaneum Christi mererer summo tenus ore contingere, et subdito capite sola sancta tergere, ut caput meum potius Christi pedibus tergeretur; et, dum pedes lambo divinos, piarem castis labia immunda vestigiis.
glow, and, pierced by the fiery arrows of the Lord's charity, by which every other love of hostile delights is slain, may say with a contrite heart: For I am wounded with charity (Song 2:5). Blessed indeed is he who can touch the feet of Christ even with a kiss (Isa. 6:7). Who would burn my mouth, wretch that I am, and cleanse my tongue with that heavenly coal, so that I might deserve to touch even the heel of Christ with the very tip of my lips, and with bowed head wipe His holy soles, so that rather my head might be wiped by the feet of Christ; and, while I lick the divine feet, I might expiate my unclean lips with those chaste footprints?
39. Exhortemur ergo nos invicem, certatimque dicamus: Venite adoremus, et ploremus ante Dominum, qui fecit nos. Illi flentes, nostra gaudia seminabimus: illius vestigia perungentes, vulnera nostra sanabimus. Quidquid enim Christo impendimus, nobis potius conferimus. Denique illa perfundendo Christum se abluit; pedes illius detergendo, sua peccata mundavit: illum diligens, se dilexit. Et ideo meruit audire: Filia, fides tua te salvam fecit: quod ille, qui erat de filiis regni, non meruit audire, magisque justificata est haec servitio, quam ille convivio. Pharisaeus enim non crediderat, ista credebat. Denique ille dicebat: Hic si esset propheta, sciret utique quae esset mulier quae eum tangit; et ideo non justificatus est convivio, ad quod quasi tantum hominem invitaverat Christum, imputans forte illi, qui propter nos et pauper erat, quod tanti fecisset in dapes suas, pauperem dives assumere. Illa vero non tanto ambitu servitutis, et impendii, et lacrymarum, sperasset remissionem peccatorum, nisi Deum credidisset in Christo: et ideo in extremo licet Salvatoris vestigio caput suae salutis invenit.
39. Let us therefore exhort one another, and say with rivalry: Come, let us adore, and weep before the Lord, who made us (Ps. 94:6). Weeping for Him, we shall sow our joys: anointing His footprints, we shall heal our wounds. For whatever we spend on Christ we rather bestow on ourselves. In short, she washed herself by pouring ointment over Christ; by wiping His feet she cleansed her own sins: loving Him, she loved herself. And therefore she deserved to hear: Daughter, your faith has saved you (Luke 7:50): which he, who was of the children of the kingdom, did not deserve to hear, and she was justified more by her service than he by his banquet. For the Pharisee had not believed; she believed. In short, he said: This man, if he were a prophet, would surely know what woman this is who touches him (Luke 7:39); and therefore he was not justified by the banquet to which he had invited Christ as though only a man, perhaps charging it to Him, who for our sakes was even poor, that he, a rich man, had thought so much of taking a poor man to his feast (2 Cor. 8:9). But she would not have hoped for the remission of sins by so great an effort of service, of expense and of tears, had she not believed God to be in Christ: and therefore, though at the last footprint of the Saviour, she found the head of her salvation.
40. Quo te, miser Judaee, jactabis? In domo tua te peccatrix nostra praevenit, ingressa in labores tuos. Tu enim epulabaris ut superbires, illa jejunabat ut serviret. Et quam de urceis tuis effundendam negaveras aquam, illa de suis oculis ministrabat. Tu pedes Christi nec linteo, illa crine detersit. Quos tu indigne nec manibus contingere voluisti, illa osculis mulcere non destitit. At certe tu potius hoc ministerium
40. Where will you boast yourself, wretched Jew? In your own house our sinful woman has gone before you, entering into your labours (John 4:38). For you feasted that you might be proud, she fasted that she might serve. And the water which you had refused to pour out from your pitchers, she supplied from her own eyes. You did not wipe the feet of Christ even with a towel, she wiped them with her hair (Luke 7:44). Those which you unworthily would not touch even with your hands, she did not cease to caress with kisses. But surely you rather would have owed this ministry
Editors' notes and page, col. 282

Footnotes

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 282 (upper part)

Ante erat caritate. Legimus cum ms. codice Regio vulnerata caritatis, juxta versionem LXX interpretum. Graecismus ille Paulino nostro familiaris est, sic epist. 11 ad Severum, n. 8, dixit raris sparsae; et in Natali 6 S. Felic., carm. 18, v. 125, pietatis circumfusus. Vide not. 101.

Previously the text read caritate. With the Regius manuscript codex we read vulnerata caritatis, following the version of the Seventy translators. That Graecism is familiar to our Paulinus: so in Letter 11 to Severus, n. 8, he said raris sparsae; and in the sixth Natalicium of St Felix, Poem 18, line 125, pietatis circumfusus. See note 101.

(printed under page 144)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 282 (upper part)

Ms. cum editis quatuor, ungere. Oleo ungere apud Ambros. lib. vi in Lucam, cap. 7. Sed lectio quam retinemus concinnior est, eaque confirmatur ex praecedentibus et subsequentibus verbis.

The manuscript, with four editions, has ungere. Ambrose has oleo ungere ("to anoint with oil") in Book VI on Luke, chapter 7. But the reading we keep is neater, and it is confirmed by the words before and after.

(printed under page 144)

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 282 (upper part)

Ms. Vien. codex, soleam sanctam. Vide not. 102.

The Vienna manuscript codex has soleam sanctam ("the holy sole"). See note 102.

(printed under page 144)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 282 (upper part)

Edit. Rosv. seminabamus, mendose, refragantibus ceteris codicibus. Vide seqq.

Rosweyde's edition has seminabamus, wrongly, against all the other codices. See what follows.

(printed under page 144)

(j) ‹anchor: forte illi› · call in col 282

Ms. Viennensis codex, favente nisi Regio, quis.

The Vienna manuscript codex, with the Regius in support, has quis.

(printed under page 144)

Page

  • running head: EPISTOLA XXIII. 282
  • marginal letters: A ‹tur ardore, et confixa›; B ‹minabimus: illius vestigia›; C ‹sumere. Illa vero›; D ‹lis mulcere non destitit›
  • old-edition numerals: 144 after ‹nobis›
PL 61:283
in domo tua recepto hospiti debuisses, si vel exemplo patrum fas hospitale servasses. Sed sufficit vobis ad superbiam jactare patrem Abraham; et ideo te illa praevenit, quae affectu fideli se potius patris tui filiam comprobavit; a quo te degenerem etiam ista inhumanitas arguit, qua dedignatus es lavare pedes Domini cum et Abraham angelorum, et ipse Dominus laverit servulorum. Quamquam tunc quoque fidei pater etiam Christi pedes laverit, quem unum de tribus propheticis videns oculis adoravit; et ideo vos ipse sic increpat ore praesenti: Si filii Abraham essetis, opera Abraham faceretis, et addit: Ille vidit diem meum, et gavisus est. Beati autem et qui non viderunt, sed cum videntibus crediderunt. Ex quo manifestum est, nobis acquisitam fidem, tibi perfidia perisse naturam.
to the guest received in your house, if you had kept the law of hospitality even by the example of the fathers. But it is enough for you, for your pride, to boast of Abraham as your father (Gen. 18:3; 19:2; 24:31); and therefore she has gone before you, who by her faithful affection proved herself rather the daughter of your father; and from him this very inhumanity also convicts you of being degenerate, by which you disdained to wash the feet of the Lord, when both Abraham washed the feet of angels, and the Lord Himself washed the feet of His little servants. And yet even then the father of faith washed the feet of Christ too, Whom he adored, seeing Him with prophetic eyes as one of the three; and therefore He Himself rebukes you thus with His own present mouth: If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham (John 8:39), and He adds: He saw My day, and was glad. But blessed also are those who have not seen, yet have believed together with those who saw (John 20:29). From which it is plain that faith has been acquired by us, and that nature has perished for you through faithlessness.
41. Sibi ergo habeant arrogantiam, sibi divitias, sibi nobilitatem et justitiam suam, qui Abraham patrem corpore magis quam spiritu gloriantur, incircumcisi corde, et sola carne Judaei. Nobis et ad salutem et ad gloriam satis est Christus, et ipse crucifixus; qui nos de lapidibus in Abraham filios excitavit, illis contra de Abraham filiis in nostrae originis lapides obrigescentibus. Nobis Ephrem sinister ad dexteram, benedictus proficit, illos in Manasse, qui praesumptione senioris avo dexter astiterat, translata in caput sinistra, crucis mysterio denotavit: quia crux Judaeis scandalum, Christianis futura gloria, illum esset sinistrum factura de dextero, et me dexterum de sinistro: quia Judaeis in nostra deserta labentibus, et nobis in illorum sata invadentibus, sunt caecitate quod fuimus, et sumus gratia quod fuerunt. Sed non ita nostra salute gaudebimus, ut vestro laetemur interitu. Docti enim sumus a vestri corporis fratre, sed spiritus nostri Magistro, non insultare ramis fractis: quia ipsi non ex operibus, sed ex muneribus miserationum Dei, in arborem vestrae stirpis inolevimus. Potens autem est communis Dominus, sed Christianorum pater, hoc est, fidelium Deus, item vos genuinis corticis vestrae sinibus inserere, et vestro cespiti replantare; qui nos vestrae pinguedinis succo per adoptionis beneficium medullavit, ut utrosque in unum Domino fructificantes radix una sustineat.
41. Let them keep their arrogance to themselves, then, their riches to themselves, to themselves their nobility and their own righteousness, who glory in Abraham as their father by the body rather than by the spirit, uncircumcised in heart, and Jews in the flesh alone (John 8:39; Acts 7:51; 1 Cor. 2:2). For us, both for salvation and for glory, Christ is enough, and Him crucified; Who raised us up from stones into sons of Abraham, while they, on the other hand, from sons of Abraham stiffen into the stones of our origin (Matt. 3:9). For us Ephraim, on the left, advances to the right hand by being blessed; them he marked in Manasseh, who in the presumption of the elder had stood at his grandfather's right, by the left hand moved across onto his head (Gen. 48:14), in the mystery of the cross: because the cross, a stumbling-block to the Jews (1 Cor. 1:23) and to be the glory of Christians, would make him left from right, and me right from left; because, as the Jews slip into our wilderness and we invade their sown fields, they are by blindness what we were, and we are by grace what they were (John 9:39). But we shall not so rejoice in our own salvation as to be glad at your destruction. For we have been taught by a brother of your body, but the Master of our spirit (see Letter 50, no. 5), not to insult the broken branches (Rom. 11:18): because we ourselves, not from works but from the gifts of God's mercies, have grown into the tree of your stock. But the common Lord, yet the Father of Christians, that is, the God of the faithful, is able to graft you again into the folds of your native bark, and to replant you in your own turf; He Who through the benefit of adoption has filled us to the marrow with the sap of your fatness, so that one root may sustain both, bearing fruit as one to the Lord.
42. Interim malo peccatricis et pauperis nostrae divitias in lacrymis et affectu, quam tuas in impietate et littera: illius jejunium, quam tuum convivium.
42. Meanwhile I prefer the riches of our sinful and poor woman, in tears and affection, to yours in impiety and the letter: her fasting to your banquet (Luke 7:38).
Editors' notes and page, col. 283

Footnotes

Scripture references ᵃ ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 283 (upper part) Gen. XVII, 5, et xix, 2, et xxiv, 31.

Genesis 17:5, and 19:2, and 24:31.

ᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 283 (upper part) Johan. viii, 39.

John 8:39.

ᶜ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 283 (upper part) Johan. xx, 23.

John 20:23.

ᵈ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 283 (upper part) Johan. viii, 39; Act. VII, 51; I Cor. II, 2.

John 8:39; Acts 7:51; 1 Corinthians 2:2.

ᵉ ‹anchor: lapides obrigescentibus› · call in col 283 Matth. III, 9.

Matthew 3:9.

ᶠ ‹anchor: caput sinistra› · call in col 283 Genes. xlviii, 14.

Genesis 48:14.

ᵍ ‹anchor: Judaeis scandalum› · call in col 283 I Cor. I, 23.

1 Corinthians 1:23.

ʰ ‹anchor: quod fuerunt› · call in col 283 Johan. iv, 38.

John 4:38.

ⁱ ‹anchor: ramis fractis› · call in col 283 Rom. XI, 18.

Romans 11:18.

ʲ ‹anchor: tuum convivium› · call in col 283 Luc. VII, 38.

Luke 7:38.

ᵏ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 284 (upper part) Matth. XXV, 3.

Matthew 25:3.

ˡ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 284 (upper part) Rom. VI, 4.

Romans 6:4.

ᵐ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 284 (upper part) Coloss. III, 3.

Colossians 3:3.

ⁿ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 284 (upper part) Luc. XII, 37.

Luke 12:37.

ᵒ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 284 (upper part) Matth. XXV, 40.

Matthew 25:40.

ᵖ ‹anchor: refugium et virtus› · call in col 284 Psal. XLV, 2.

Psalm 45 (46):2.

ᑫ ‹anchor: populus ejus Jacob› · call in col 284 Deut. XXXII, 9.

Deuteronomy 32:9.

ʳ ‹anchor: mea Dominus› · call in col 284 Psal. CXVIII, 57, et cxli, 6.

Psalm 118 (119):57, and 141 (142):6.

ˢ ‹anchor: lux hujus mundi› · call in col 284 Johan. viii, 12.

John 8:12.

ᵗ ‹anchor: Vos estis lux hujus mundi› · call in col 284 Matth. V, 14.

Matthew 5:14.

ᵘ ‹anchor: petra autem erat Christus› · call in col 284 I Cor. X, 4.

1 Corinthians 10:4.

ᵛ ‹anchor: adversus eam› · call in col 284 Matth. XVI, 18.

Matthew 16:18.

ˣ ‹anchor: filios Dei fieri› · call in col 284 Johan. i, 12.

John 1:12.

ʸ ‹anchor: Excelsi omnes› · call in col 284 Psal. LXXXI, 6.

Psalm 81 (82):6.

[Several numerals in this series are blurred on the scan (a, c, d, j); they are set as best read.] Editors' notes (printed under page 145)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 283 (upper part)

Ms Reg. Beavit. Ita Paulinus ep. 49 ad Macarium n. 5, beavit pauperes spiritu.

The Regius manuscript has Beavit ("blessed"). So Paulinus in Letter 49, to Macarius, n. 5: beavit pauperes spiritu ("he blessed the poor in spirit").

(printed under page 145)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 283 (upper part)

Sic mss. Vatic. et Reg. Editi addunt non. Emendavimus perfidia, refragantibus omnibus codicibus, in quibus perfidiae, nullo seu potius contrario sensu. Vide ep. 50, n. 1.

So the Vatican and Regius manuscripts. The editions add non. We have corrected to perfidia, against all the codices, which have perfidiae, giving no sense, or rather the opposite sense. See Letter 50, n. 1.

(printed under page 145)

(c) ‹anchor: crucis› · call in col 283

Ita mss. Vatic. et Vien. Editi mendose, ministerio.

So the Vatican and Vienna manuscripts. The editions wrongly have ministerio.

(printed under page 145)

(d) ‹anchor: nostra salute› · call in col 283

Ms. Vien., gaudemus.

The Vienna manuscript has gaudemus.

(printed under page 145)

Page

  • running head: 283 S. PAULINI NOLANI EP[...] (right half of the head cut off in the image)
  • marginal letters: A ‹nisterium in domo tua›; B ‹tibi perfidia perisse naturam›; C ‹serta labentibus, et nobis›; D ‹vitias in lacrymis et affectu›
  • old-edition numerals: 145 before ‹41. Sibi ergo›
  • other: superscript numerals 91–95 in the text (after addit, acquisitam, in, item, Domino) are calls to numbered notes, left out. Foot-note references read from the low-resolution image across the c283/c284 images: c Johan. xx, 29; d Johan. viii, 39; Act. VII, 51; 1 Cor. II, 2; g 1 Cor. I, 23; h Johan. ix, 39; i Rom. XI, 18; j Luc. VII, 38 — UNSURE of the final digits of c, h and j (image soft). 'Ille vidit diem meum' carries no foot-note reference. 'Ephrem sinister ad dexteram, benedictus proficit' construed as 'Ephraim on the left advances to the right by being blessed'; subject of 'denotavit' unexpressed (Jacob).
PL 61:284
Malo inter capillos illius Christi pedibus illigari, quam inter dapes tuas tecum juxta Christum sine Christo discumbere. Si modo unguentum ad pedes Christi non habeam, in adventu ejus ad meas faces oleum non habebo. Et vae mihi si unguentum meum vile sit: pretioso enim opus est, ut consepeliri merear sepulturae ejus: cujus nisi morte commoriar, resurrectione non vivam. Ergo illum amemus, quem amare debitum est. Illum osculemur, quem osculari castitas est. Illi copulemur, cui nupsisse virginitas est. Illi subjiciamur, sub quo jacere, supra mundum stare est. Propter illum dejiciamur, cui cadere resurrectio est. Illi commoriamur, in quo vita est.
I prefer to be bound to the feet of Christ among her hair, than to recline with you among your dishes beside Christ without Christ. If now I should have no ointment for the feet of Christ, at His coming I shall have no oil for my torches (Matt. 25:3). And woe to me if my ointment (see note 103) is cheap: for there is need of a precious one, that I may deserve to be buried with Him in His burial: for unless I die with Him in His death, I shall not live in His resurrection (Rom. 6:4). Let us therefore love Him Whom it is a duty to love. Let us kiss Him Whom to kiss is chastity. Let us be joined to Him, to have wedded Whom is virginity. Let us be subject to Him, beneath Whom to lie is to stand above the world. Let us be cast down for His sake, for Whom to fall is resurrection. Let us die with Him, in Whom is life.
43. Et quam digne vicem huic Domino referre poterimus, in quo et mortui vivimus? qui vicissim nobis hoc esse dignatur, quidquid illi fuerimus servuli sui. Ita enim se immiscet nobis, ac nos sibi conserit, ut quod ipse accepit, nobis proficere faciat; qui quod nobis, id est, minimis ejus tribuitur, sibi acceptum ferat. Sic et honori suo implicans suos, prope omnia nobis etiam nomina sua communicavit. Ut virtus Dei dicitur, ita et nobis virtus esse dignatur. Deus enim nostrum refugium et virtus. Hereditas ut illi nos, et ille nobis. Nam sicut habes in Moyse: Facta est Dei portio populus ejus Jacob; ita et in psalmis habes. Portio mea Dominus. Ut sicut ipse de se ait: Ego sum lux hujus mundi; ita et ad suos dixit: Vos estis lux hujus mundi. Ego sum, inquit, panis vivus: et nos omnes unus panis sumus. Ego sum, ait, vitis vera; et tibi dicit: Plantavi te vitem fructuosam, omnem veram. Mons Dei Christus, in quo beneplacitum est Deo habitare in eo, et sancti ejus montes Dei, montes uberes, de quibus nos illuminat mirabilis a montibus aeternis. Petra est Christus: Bibebant enim de spiritali sequente eos petra, petra autem erat Christus. Etiam discipulo suo hujus vocabuli gratiam non negavit, cui dicit: Super hanc petram aedificabo Ecclesiam meam, et portae inferi non praevalebunt adversus eam.
43. And how worthily shall we be able to make return to this Lord, in Whom even when dead we live (Col. 3:3)? Who in turn deigns to be to us whatever we have been to Him as His little servants (Luke 12:37). For so He mingles Himself with us, and joins us to Himself, that what He Himself has received He makes to profit us; He Who counts as received by Himself what is given to us, that is, to the least of His (Matt. 25:40). So too, entwining His own in His honour, He has shared with us almost all His names as well (see note 104). As He is called the power of God, so He deigns to be power to us also. For God is our refuge and power (Ps. 45:2). We are an inheritance to Him, and He to us. For as you have in Moses: His people Jacob has become the portion of God (Deut. 32:9); so too you have in the psalms: The Lord is my portion (Ps. 118:57; 141:6). So that, as He says of Himself: I am the light of this world (John 8:12), so He also said to His own: You are the light of this world (Matt. 5:14). I am, He says, the living bread: and we all are one bread. I am, He says, the true vine; and to you He says: I planted you a fruitful vine, wholly true. Christ is the mountain of God, in which it has pleased God to dwell in it, and His saints are mountains of God, rich mountains, from which He Who is wonderful enlightens us from the everlasting mountains. Christ is the rock: For they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ (1 Cor. 10:4). Even to His disciple He did not deny the grace of this name, saying to him: Upon this rock I will build My Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. 16:18).
44. Sed quid miramur eum famulis suis indulsisse sua nomina, quibus et patrem suum participat et regnum. Dedit enim potestatem recipientibus se filios Dei fieri: et, quantum in ipso est, omnibus dixit hominibus: Dii estis, et filii Excelsi omnes. Nos vero nostrarum crimine voluntatum, sicut homines morimur,
44. But why do we wonder that He granted His names to His servants, with whom He shares both His Father and His kingdom? For He gave to those who receive Him power to become sons of God (John 1:12): and, as far as lies in Him, He said to all men: You are gods, and all sons of the Most High (Ps. 81:6). But we, by the fault of our own wills, like men we die,
Editors' notes and page, col. 284

Footnotes

(e) ‹anchor: vitem fructuosam,› · call in col 284

Sic mss. Reg. et Vatic. et S. Ambrosius l. vi in Luc. C. 9. Quod magis respondet editioni LXX interpretum, Plantavi te vineam frugiferam omnem veram, πᾶσαν ἀληθινήν. Ubi Vulgata: Plantavi te vineam electam, omne semen verum. Editi codices nostri, vitem veram. Vide not. 105.

So the Regius and Vatican manuscripts and St Ambrose, Book VI on Luke, chapter 9. This answers better to the edition of the Seventy translators: "I planted you a fruitful vine, all true", πᾶσαν ἀληθινήν. Where the Vulgate has: "I planted you a chosen vine, all true seed." Our printed codices have vitem veram. See note 105.

(printed under page 145)

(f) ‹anchor: nos illuminat› · call in col 284

Legit Paulinus, θαυμαστός, pro θαυμαστῶς.

Paulinus reads θαυμαστός ("wonderful", adjective) for θαυμαστῶς ("wonderfully").

(printed under page 145)

Page

  • running head: [S. PAU]LINI NOLANI EPIS[...] 284 (left part of the head cut off in the image; final letters blurred)
  • marginal letters: A ‹Malo inter capillos›; B ‹poterimus, in quo et mortui›; C ‹omnes unus panis sumus›; D ‹hominibus: Dii estis›
  • old-edition numerals: 146 after ‹vivimus?›
  • other: superscript numerals 96–100 (after illigari, Christo, Ita, ait, sequente) and foot-note calls (e) after fructuosam, (f) after illuminat are left out. 'capillos' read from a soft image (looks like 'capnfos'). Section numeral 43 printed blurred (looks like 45). Last word split at the column end: 'mori-' set as visible. Punctuation before 'Portio mea Dominus' read as a full stop, UNSURE (may be a colon).
PL 61:285
et sicut unus de principibus cadimus. Unus enim principum angelorum fuit, antequam dejiciendo cadens fieret zabulus, cui dicitur: Quomodo cecidit Lucifer, qui mane oriebatur? Sed non sicut ille, in aeternum interitum damnati sumus: quia ille autor peccati fuit, simulque pro se et pro homine punietur, qui eodem periit scelere, quo perdidit. Homo autem non in finem meruit exterminari paradiso, et terra esse, quia divina justitia levius judicavit, aliena mente peccasse, quam propria. Criminosius est decipere quam decipi, et peccatum excogitare, quam facere. Et ideo temporaliter et ad emendationem punitus est fraudis assensor, in aeternum autem supplicium destinatus mortis inventor, cui numquam deficiet poena peccati, quia numquam desinit. Itaque non angelus, non legatus, ut scriptum est, sed ipse Dominus venit erigere allisos, solvere compeditos, et salvum facere quod perierat. Sed ut illum deceptorem nostrum mutua quasi deceptione confunderet, per mysterium pietatis suae dignatus est unigenitus Dei Filius ipsam nostrae fragilitatis suscipere naturam, ut de ipsa, quam deceperat, zabulus vinceretur; et qui semper sub Dei virtute et legibus fuit, ut est, homini subjugaretur.
and we fall like one of the princes (Ps. 81:7). For he was one of the princes of the angels, before, falling through casting down, he became the devil, to whom it is said: How has Lucifer fallen, who rose in the morning (Isa. 14:12)? But we have not, like him, been condemned to eternal destruction: because he was the author of sin, and will be punished at once for himself and for man, he who perished by the same crime by which he destroyed. But man did not deserve to be banished from paradise for ever, and to be earth, because divine justice judged it a lighter thing to have sinned by another's mind than by one's own. It is more criminal to deceive than to be deceived, and to devise sin than to commit it. And therefore the one who assented to the fraud was punished for a time and for amendment, but the inventor of death is destined to eternal punishment, for whom the penalty of sin will never fail, because he never ceases [to sin]. And so not an angel, not an envoy, as it is written, but the Lord Himself came to raise up those who were dashed down, to loose those in fetters (Ps. 145:8), and to save what had perished (Luke 19:10). But that He might confound that deceiver of ours by, as it were, a deception in return, through the mystery of His loving-kindness the only-begotten Son of God deigned to take up the very nature of our frailty, so that the devil might be conquered by that very nature which he had deceived; and that he who was always under the power and laws of God, as he is, might be made subject to man.
45. Quid ergo illi retribuemus pro omnibus quae retribuit nobis? Retribuit enim, sed ut bonus Dominus bona pro malis, cui nos mala pro bonis ingesseramus. Benedicebat, et maledicebamus. Ille sanabat, et nos blasphemabamus: justificabat impios, et cum iniquis deputabatur. Quid ergo illi pro malis meis quae pertulit, quid pro bonis suis quae contulit, referam? quid pro suscepta carne? quid pro alapis? quid pro opprobriis? quid pro flagellis? pro cruce, obitu, sepultura, rependam? Esto, reddamus crucem pro cruce, funus pro funere; numquid poterimus reddere quod ex ipso, et per ipsum, et in ipso habemus omnia; et ipsi, qui habemus, ab eo sumus? Ipse enim fecit nos, et non ipsi nos, et anima nostra semper in manibus ejus. Reddamus ergo amorem pro debito, caritatem pro munere, gratiam pro pecunia. Vae enim nobis, nisi dilexerimus.
45. What then shall we render to Him for all the things that He has rendered to us (Ps. 115:12)? For He has rendered, but as a good Lord, good for evil, He on Whom we had heaped evil for good. He was blessing, and we were cursing. He was healing, and we were blaspheming: He was justifying the ungodly, and He was reckoned among the wicked (Isa. 53:12). What then shall I return to Him for my evils which He bore, what for His goods which He bestowed? What for the flesh He took up (see note 106)? What for the blows? What for the reproaches? What for the scourges? For the cross, the death, the burial, what shall I pay back? Be it so, let us render cross for cross, burial for burial; shall we be able to render what we have, since we have all things from Him, and through Him, and in Him (Rom. 11:36); and since we ourselves, who have, exist from Him? For He made us, and not we ourselves (Ps. 99:3), and our soul is always in His hands. Let us therefore render love for the debt, charity for the gift, thanks for the money. For woe to us, unless we love.
46. Quando autem sperem me miserum et egenum huic Domino posse reddere, cui nec apostoli se reddidisse profitentur. Audi denique unum de ipsis confitentem se non reddidisse, qui dicit: Quis prior dedit ei, et retribuetur illi (Ambros. lib. vi in Luc. C. 7)? Sed ipsi gratias, qui nobis tanti fenoris
46. But when could I hope, wretched and needy as I am, to be able to repay this Lord, to Whom not even the apostles profess to have repaid? Hear, in short, one of them confessing that he has not repaid, who says: Who has first given to Him, and it shall be repaid him (Rom. 11:35; Ambrose, Book VI on Luke, ch. 7)? But thanks to Him, Who for us [remits] the interest on so great a loan,
Editors' notes and page, col. 285

Footnotes

Scripture references ᵃ ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 285 (upper part) Psal. LXXXI, 7.

Psalm 81 (82):7.

ᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 285 (upper part) Isai. XIV, 1.

Isaiah 14:1.

ᶜ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 285 (upper part) Psal. LXXV, 8, justa Psal. Rom. [psalm numeral blurred on the scan]

Psalm 75 (76):8, according to the Roman Psalter.

ᵈ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 285 (upper part) Luc. XIX, 10.

Luke 19:10.

ᵉ ‹anchor: retribuit nobis› · call in col 285 Psal. CXV, 12.

Psalm 115 (116):12.

ᶠ ‹anchor: iniquis deputabatur› · call in col 285 Isai. LIII, 12.

Isaiah 53:12.

ᵍ ‹anchor: habemus omnia› · call in col 285 Rom. XI, 36.

Romans 11:36.

ʰ ‹anchor: non ipsi nos› · call in col 285 Psal. XCIX, 3.

Psalm 99 (100):3.

ⁱ ‹anchor: retribuetur illi› · call in col 285 Rom. XI, 35.

Romans 11:35.

ʲ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 286 (upper part) Psal. XVII, 2, juxta Psalt. Rom.

Psalm 17 (18):2, according to the Roman Psalter.

ᵏ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 286 (upper part) Johan. xiii, 35.

John 13:35.

ˡ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 286 (upper part) Act. IV, 32.

Acts 4:32.

ᵐ ‹anchor: fieri cupit› · call in col 286 Matth. VII, 12.

Matthew 7:12.

Note on the letter * ‹anchor: EPISTOLA XXIV› · call in col 286 Alias 2; quae autem erat 24, nunc 21. Scripta et missa cum superiore, anno 401.

Formerly 2; and the one that was 24 is now 21. Written and sent with the preceding letter, in the year 401.

Editors' notes (printed under page 146)

(a) ‹anchor: qui habemus,› · call in col 285

Ex ms. Vatic. et ed. Grin. addidimus ab eo.

From the Vatican manuscript and the Grin. edition we have added ab eo ("from him").

(printed under page 146)

(b) ‹anchor: dedit ei, et› · call in col 285

Ita ms. Vien. codex, Graecus textus, Vulgata et Tertullianus adversus Hermogenem, n. 17 et Ambrosius lib. vi, cap. 7 in Luc. Alii codd., retribuitur.

So the Vienna manuscript codex, the Greek text, the Vulgate, Tertullian Against Hermogenes, n. 17, and Ambrose, Book VI, chapter 7 on Luke. Other codices have retribuitur.

(printed under page 146)

Page

  • running head: 285 EPISTOLA XXIV[...] (end of the head cut off in the image)
  • marginal letters: A ‹mur, et sicut unus›; B ‹numquam desinit. Itaque non angelus›; C ‹lis meis quae pertulit›; D ‹confitentem se non reddidisse›
  • old-edition numerals: 147 before ‹venit erigere›
  • other: superscript numerals 101–105 (after levius, assensor, deficiet, est, opprobriis) and foot-note calls (a) after 'habemus,' and (b) after 'et' in 'et retribuetur' left out; the words 'ab eo' after call (a) are in the printed text and are set. Foot-note c reads 'Psal. CXLV, 8, juxta Psal. Rom.' (Roman Psalter); b read as Isai. XIV, 12 (last digit faint). D placed between 'reddidisse profitentur' and 'confitentem', UNSURE which line. 'ut est' rendered literally.