PL 61 · cols. 300–303

Paulinus of Nola, Letters

Letter XXV

ut justitia, qua indigemus, abundemus; et iniquitate, qua abundamus, egeamus. Nudemur criminibus et virtutibus vestiamur. Ferat nobis opem contra voluntates nostras, nec tradat nos desideriis cordis nostri; et adversus carnem et sanguinem, zabulum et mortem det nobis victoriam, sicut Abrahae dedit adversus quatuor reges, quos ille fidei pater hoc mysterio superavit: quo fides nostra, si confirmata sit spiritu principali, totidem corporis nostri elementa verbo Dei subigeret. Et sicut ille pro fratre quinque in regibus victo victor: ita et fides pro anima, quae totidem sensibus viget, victrix, de exteriore homine triumphabit, in quo de totidem elementis composito quatuor Regum forma concluditur. Sed sicut ille, non multitudine nec virtute legionum, sed jam tum in sacramento crucis, cujus figura per litteram Graecam T. numero trecentorum exprimitur, adversarios principes debellavit: cujus mysterii virtute, trecentis in longum texta cubitis, superavit arca diluvium, ut nunc Ecclesia hoc seculum supernavigat: ita et nos non nostris opibus aut viribus freti, sed unica Crucifixi scientia, elevemus ad ipsum oculos nostros, ut mirificet super nos misericordias suas, qui salvos facit sperantes in se. Quia ipse est Dominus conterens bella, potens in praelio: qui nobis et fiduciam dimicandi et viam vincendi dedit, cum jam triumphantem in seipso naturam hominis portans ait: Constantes estote, quoniam ego vici mundum.

so that we may abound in the justice which we lack, and lack the iniquity in which we abound. Let us be stripped of sins and clothed with virtues. May He bring us help against our own wills, and not hand us over to the desires of our heart (Rom. 1:24); and may He give us victory against flesh and blood, the devil and death, as He gave it to Abraham (see note 116) against the four kings, whom that father of faith overcame by this mystery: by which our faith, if it be strengthened by the governing spirit, should subdue by the word of God the same number of elements of our body (Gen. 14:15; Heb. 7:1; Rom. 4:16; Ps. 50:14). And as he, for his brother, was victor over the five conquered in the kings (see note 117): so faith too, victorious for the soul, which thrives with the same number of senses, will triumph over the outward man, in whom, composed of the same number of elements, the figure of the four Kings is contained. But as he subdued the hostile princes, not by the multitude nor the strength of legions, but even then in the sacrament of the cross, whose figure is expressed through the Greek letter T (see note 118) by the number three hundred (Ezek. 9:4): by the power of which mystery the ark, built three hundred cubits in length (see note 119), overcame the flood, as now the Church sails over this world: so let us also, relying not on our own resources or strength but on the one knowledge of the Crucified, lift up our eyes to Him, that He may show wonderfully His mercies upon us, He who saves those who hope in Him (Ps. 16:7). For He is the Lord who crushes wars, mighty in battle (Ps. 45:10 and 23:8): who has given us both confidence in fighting and the way of conquering, when, bearing in Himself the nature of man already triumphant, He says: Be steadfast, for I have overcome the world (John 16:33).

EPISTOLA XXV.

LETTER XXV.

1. Etsi ignotus tibi sim facie, jam tamen te corde cognovi: quia filius meus in Domino carissimus Victor referens mihi religiosam vitam tuam, fecit, ut te, quamvis absentem, cognoscerem, et sicut consortem in Christo futurum diligere inciperem. Retulit enim mihi, quomodo et in militia seculari, in qua adhuc tu teneris, socius et secutor contubernii tui fuerit. Unde magis praesumpsi scribere ad te per ipsum. Spero enim et te ex eadem via ad viam nostram esse venturum; quandoquidem istum de tuis sociis ad nos praemisisti, quem pro pignore tuo Ecclesia tenet, ut te post eum capiat. Nihil

1. Although I am unknown to you by face, yet I have already come to know you in heart: for my son in the Lord, most dear Victor, by telling me of your religious life, has brought it about that I should know you, though absent, and should begin to love you as one who will be a partner in Christ. For he told me how, in the secular soldiering in which you are still held, he was the comrade and follower of your mess. Hence I have made the more bold to write to you through him. For I hope that you too will come from that same road to our road; since you have sent him on ahead to us from among your comrades, whom the Church holds as your pledge, that after him it may take you. For there is nothing,

Editors' notes and page, col. 300

Editors' prose

Viro nobili, cujus nomen ignoratur, suadet ut a profana Caesaris ad sacram Christi militiam transeat; et admonet ne aetatis fiducia aut amore seculi conversionem differat.

He urges a nobleman, whose name is unknown, to pass from the profane service of Caesar to the sacred service of Christ; and he warns him not to put off his conversion through confidence in his age or love of the world.

Page

running head: [...]NI NOLANI EPISCOP[...] 300
marginal letters: A ‹ut justitia, qua›; B ‹tudine nec virtute›; C ‹EPISTOLA * XXV.›; D ‹gnore tuo Ecclesia tenet›
old-edition numerals: 163 after ‹quem pro›
other: EDITORS' PROSE in this column: the italic summary under the title of Letter XXV ('Viro nobili, cujus nomen ignoratur, suadet ...') is an editors' argumentum and is not set; no separate address line is printed. The asterisk call after EPISTOLA points to the editors' foot note 'Alias 59, quae autem 25 erat, nunc 15. Scripta anno 403.', not set. The column ends with 'Ni-', split across the break; next column's top not to hand, so only the visible part is set (no English for it). '(V. not. 116–119)' are printed in the text; kept. Call q carries four references as printed.

PL 61:301

enim est, benedicte fili, quod possit aut debeat praeferri ei qui est verus Dominus, et verus pater, et Imperator aeternus. Cui enim rectius vitam nostram impendimus, quam ipsi a quo eam accepimus, et cui eam usque in finem debemus; quia ipsius beneficio vivimus? Si tamen in hoc seculo illi militaverimus, tunc ad ipsum transire merebimur. Quod si magis dilexerimus hoc seculum, et maluerimus Caesari militare quam Christo, postea non ad Christum, sed ad gehennam transferemur, ubi principum hujus seculi vertitur causa.

blessed son, that can or ought to be preferred to Him who is the true Lord, and the true Father, and the eternal Emperor. For to whom do we more rightly spend our life than to Him from whom we received it, and to whom we owe it to the end, since we live by His kindness? If, then, we serve as His soldiers in this world, we shall then deserve to pass over to Him. But if we love this world more, and prefer to soldier for Caesar rather than for Christ, afterwards we shall be carried over not to Christ but to Gehenna, where the case of the princes of this world is tried.

2. Ideo nec affectum, nec patriam, nec honores, nec divitias Deo praeferre debemus, quia scriptum est: Praeterit hujus mundi figura. Et qui hunc mundum dilexerint, cum ipso et peribunt. Ideo ipse Dominus in Evangelio contestatur, et dicit: Qui amat patrem aut matrem plus quam me, non est me dignus. Et qui non accipit crucem suam, et sequitur me, non potest meus esse discipulus. De divitiis autem hujus seculi, quas quidam pro summo bono et necessario amplectuntur et diligunt, ita dicit: Non proderunt thesauri iniquis, justitia autem eripit a morte. Et iterum per prophetam ait: Exterminati sunt omnes qui exaltati fuerant auro et argento. In Evangelio quoque clamat, etiamque praedamnat divites seculi dicens: Vae vobis divitibus, quia habetis consolationem vestram: vae vobis qui saturati estis, quia esurietis; vae vobis qui ridetis nunc, quia lugebitis et flebitis.

2. Therefore we ought to prefer to God neither affection, nor homeland, nor honours, nor riches, because it is written: The fashion of this world passes away (1 Cor. 7:31). And those who have loved this world will perish together with it. Therefore the Lord Himself solemnly declares in the Gospel and says: He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who does not take up his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple (Matt. 10:37 and 38; Luke 14:27). And of the riches of this world, which some embrace and love as the highest and a necessary good, He speaks thus: Treasures shall not profit the wicked, but justice delivers from death. And again He says through the prophet: All are destroyed (see note 120) who had been exalted by gold and silver. In the Gospel too He cries out, and condemns beforehand the rich of the world, saying: Woe to you rich, for you have your consolation: woe to you who are filled, for you shall hunger; woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep (Luke 6:24 and 25).

3. Noli ergo diutius diligere hunc mundum neque militiam ejus, quia secundum Scripturae autoritatem inimicus Dei est quicumque amicus est seculi. Et qui militat gladio, mortis minister est. Qui autem suum vel alienum sanguinem fundit, hic recipiet fructum stipendiorum. Aut enim exitu mortis tenebitur reus, aut crimine: quia necesse est ut miles in bello, in quo tamen non tam pro se quam pro alio dimicat, aut suam mortem victus inveniat, aut mortis causam victor acquirat, quia victor esse non poterit, si effusor sanguinis ante non fuerit. Ideo dicit Dominus: Non potestis duobus dominis servire. Sed quia uni Domino serviendum est, facile puto esse discerni, cui potius serviri debeat, Deo an mammonae, Christo an Caesari; cum ipse Caesar Christi servus studeat esse, ut aliquarum gentium rex esse mereatur. Neque

3. Do not, then, love this world any longer, nor its soldiering, because according to the authority of Scripture whoever is a friend of the world is an enemy of God (Jas. 4:4). And he who soldiers with the sword is a minister of death. And he who sheds his own or another's blood, he shall receive the fruit of his pay. For he will be held guilty either by the outcome of death or by crime: since it is necessary that the soldier in war, in which he fights not so much for himself as for another, either, conquered, meet his own death, or, as victor, incur the guilt of a death, because he cannot be victor unless he has first been a shedder of blood. Therefore the Lord says: You cannot serve two masters (Matt. 6:24). But since one Lord must be served, I think it is easy to discern which ought rather to be served, God or mammon, Christ or Caesar; since Caesar himself is eager to be the servant of Christ, that he may deserve to be king of some nations. For no

Editors' notes and page, col. 301

Footnotes

Scripture references ᵃ ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 301 (upper part) I Cor. VII, 31.

1 Corinthians 7:31.

ᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 301 (upper part) Matth. X, 37, et 38; Luc. XIV, 27.

Matthew 10:37 and 38; Luke 14:27.

ᶜ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 301 (upper part) Prov. X, 2; juxta LXX.

Proverbs 10:2, following the Septuagint.

ᵈ ‹anchor: auro et argento› · call in col 301 Sophon. i, 11.

Zephaniah 1:11.

ᵉ ‹anchor: et flebitis› · call in col 301 Luc. VI, 24 et 25.

Luke 6:24 and 25.

ᶠ ‹anchor: amicus est seculi› · call in col 301 Jacob. iv, 4.

James 4:4.

ᵍ ‹anchor: dominis servire› · call in col 301 Matth. VI, 24.

Matthew 6:24.

ʰ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 302 (upper part) Johan. i, 3.

John 1:3.

ⁱ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 302 (upper part) Apoc. XVII, 14.

Revelation 17:14.

ʲ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 302 (upper part) Psal. CXXXIV, 6.

Psalm 134 (135):6.

ᵏ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 302 (upper part) Eccli. XXXI, v, Prov. XI, 28.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 31, v[erse 5]; Proverbs 11:28.

ˡ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 302 (upper part) Eccli. XXXI, 6, 7, ex LXX.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 31:6, 7, from the Septuagint.

ᵐ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 302 (upper part) Eccli. XXI, 2.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 21:2.

ⁿ ‹anchor: quae possidet› · call in col 302 Luc. XII, 15.

Luke 12:15.

ᵒ ‹anchor: ira illius› · call in col 302 Eccli. V, 8.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 5:8.

ᵖ ‹anchor: rapiunt illud› · call in col 302 Matth. XI, 12; Luc. XVI, 16.

Matthew 11:12; Luke 16:16.

ᑫ ‹anchor: violentiae curare› · call in col 302 Luc. III, 14.

Luke 3:14.

Editors' notes (printed under page 154)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 301 (upper part)

Ms. codex Victorinus et sex editi addunt Quia.

The Victorine manuscript codex and six editions add Quia.

(printed under page 154)

(b) ‹anchor: per prophetam› · call in col 301

Ex ms. Victorino et edit. Mogunt. emendavimus ait. Alii codd., dicitur, minus bene. Vide antecedentia et subseqq.

From the Victorine manuscript and the Mainz edition we have corrected to ait. Other codices have dicitur, less well. See what goes before and after.

(printed under page 154)

Mss. Vatic. et Victor. cum editis sex, Deo. Sed ratiocinatio postulat, Domino, ne id assumatur quod colligendum est. Sacchin.

The Vatican and Victorine manuscripts, with six editions, have Deo. But the argument requires Domino, so that what is to be concluded is not assumed. Sacchini.

(printed under page 154)

Page

running head: 301 EPISTOLA XX[...] (rest cut off at image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹hil enim est›; B ‹minus in Evangelio contestatur›; C ‹militiam ejus, quia›; D (printed in the foot-note area, beside the facing column's foot notes)
old-edition numerals: 164 after ‹Deo an mammonae,›
other: The column opens with '-hil', completing 'Ni-' at the foot of col. 300 (English for 'Nihil' given here). It ends with 'Ne-', split across the break; next column's top not to hand, so only the visible part is set. Foot notes c (eripit a morte) and d (auro et argento) cut off at the image edge: no references given. 'autoritatem' as printed. '(V. not. 120)' printed in the text; kept.

PL 61:302

enim quicumque terrenus rex totius terrae dominus est. Christus autem totius mundi dominus et Rex est: quia omnia per ipsum facta sunt, et sine ipso factum est nihil; et ipse est Rex regum, et Dominus dominantium; et in terris, et in mari, et in abyssis omnia quae vult facit.

earthly king whatever is lord of the whole earth. But Christ is Lord and King of the whole world: for all things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made (John 1:3); and He is King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 17:14); and on earth, and in the sea, and in the deeps He does all that He wills (Ps. 134:6).

4. Hunc igitur sequamur, huic militemus; cui cinctus numquam discingitur miles: qui militantibus sibi gloriam vitae aeternae, honorem regni coelestis, et divitias hereditatis suae, et divinae cognitionis consortium perenne largitur. Scriptum est autem: Qui pecuniam diligit, non justificabitur: et qui terrenas possessiones concupiscit, in illis, sicut scriptum est, implanabitur. Nam in Ecclesiastico per Salomonem loquitur divina Sapientia: Quia multi periclitati sunt auri causa, et facta est in facie illius perditio ipsorum. Lignum, inquit, offensionis ejus est aurum, et dejicit eos (Al. vae illis) qui sectantur illud. Sed non omnis nisi imprudens disperiet in illo. Quamobrem fuge ab illo, fili, sicut a facie serpentis, credens Christo, qui in Evangelio testatur omnibus hominibus: Quia non in abundantia cujusquam vita ejus est ex his quae possidet.

4. Let us therefore follow Him, let us soldier for Him; the soldier girded for Him is never ungirded: He who bestows on those who soldier for Him the glory of eternal life, the honour of the heavenly kingdom, and the riches of His inheritance, and a lasting share in divine knowledge. And it is written: He who loves money shall not be justified: and he who covets earthly possessions shall, as it is written, be led astray in them (Sir. 31:5; Prov. 11:28). For in Ecclesiasticus the divine Wisdom speaks through Solomon: For many have been brought into danger for the sake of gold, and their ruin was before its face. Gold, it says, is a stumbling-block, and it casts down (another reading: woe to them) those who pursue it. But none but the foolish shall perish in it (Sir. 31:6, 7, from the Septuagint). Therefore flee from it, son, as from the face of a serpent (Sir. 21:2), believing Christ, who testifies in the Gospel to all men: That a man's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses (Luke 12:15).

5. Sed te forsitan aetatis fiducia, et stipes dignitatum, vel divitiarum augmenta sollicitant, ut dicas: Adhuc juvenis sum; est nunc tempus ut parumper militem, et uxorem ducam, et filios habeam, et postea Deo serviam. Ad haec tibi respondet, non ego, sed Dominus, qui loquitur in prophetis et apostolis suis, et Sapiens dicit: Ne tardes converti ad Dominum, nec differas de die in diem, ne subito veniat ira illius. In Evangelio autem quo ardore properandum sit ad conversionem, ostendit, cum dicit: A diebus autem Johannis usque ad hodiernum diem vim patitur regnum coelorum, et qui vim faciunt, rapiunt illud. Talis violentia Deo grata est, quae neminem concutit, nullius damno committitur. In hanc rapinam manus tuas verte, quae crimen non habet, et confert salutem. Et quid tibi militarium stipendiorum curationes (forte rationes) cum invidia violentiae curare, cum forsitan pro tua honestate etiam debitorum moderatus exactor sis? cum sine cujusquam invidia et cum Dei gratia possis esse violentus ut rapias regnum coelorum, quod sibi auferri patitur, et gaudet Christus invadi;

5. But perhaps confidence in your age, and the pay of rank, or the increase of riches, tempt you to say: I am still young; now is the time for me to serve as a soldier for a while, and to take a wife, and to have sons, and afterwards to serve God. To this there answers you, not I, but the Lord, who speaks in His prophets and apostles, and the Wise Man says: Do not delay to turn to the Lord, and do not put it off from day to day, lest His wrath come suddenly (Sir. 5:8). And in the Gospel He shows with what ardour one must hasten to conversion, when He says: From the days of John until this day the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent seize it (Matt. 11:12; Luke 16:16). Such violence is pleasing to God, which strikes no one, is committed to no one's loss. Turn your hands to this plunder, which holds no crime and confers salvation. And why should you care for the managing (perhaps 'accounts') of military pay, with the odium of violence (Luke 3:14), when perhaps, for the sake of your good name, you are even a moderate exactor of debts? when, without odium from anyone and with the grace of God, you can be violent so as to seize the kingdom of heaven, which Christ suffers to be taken from Him, and rejoices to be invaded;

Editors' notes and page, col. 302

Footnotes

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 302 (upper part)

Duae voces Dominus et absunt a ms. Vict. et edd. Mogunt., Rom., Erasm. et Ponc.

The two words Dominus et are missing from the Victorine manuscript and from the Mainz, Roman, Erasmus and Ponce editions.

(printed under page 154)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 302 (upper part)

Ita mss. Vatic. et Vict. cum edit. Rosv. Et optime conveniunt vocabula militaria, inquit Sacchinus. In editis sex, cui conjunctus numquam disjungitur. Verissima lectio ea quam retinemus. Sic quoque discingitur. Apud Prudentium, quod idem est ac exarmatur, lib. Psychomach. v. 634, Discingitur omnis Terror; et ibid., v. 824.... sedem properet discincta juventus.

So the Vatican and Victorine manuscripts, with Rosweyde's edition. "And the military terms fit excellently," says Sacchini. In six editions: cui conjunctus numquam disjungitur. The reading we keep is the truest. So too discingitur ("is ungirded"), which in Prudentius means the same as "is disarmed": Psychomachia, line 634, "All Terror is ungirded"; and the same work, line 824, "… let the ungirded youth hasten to its seat".

(printed under page 154)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 302 (upper part)

Graece, πεσεῖται; Vulgata, corruet. Ed. Erasm., implicabitur.

In Greek, πεσεῖται ("will fall"); the Vulgate, corruet. The Erasmus edition has implicabitur.

(printed under page 154)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 302 (upper part)

Juxta textum Graecum legerem: Multi dati sunt in casum auri causa, faventibus ms. Victor. et ed. Rom. in quibus, Multi ditati sunt in auri causa. Vulg., dati sunt in auri casus.

Following the Greek text I would read Multi dati sunt in casum auri causa ("many have been brought to ruin for the sake of gold"), with the support of the Victorine manuscript and the Roman edition, which have Multi ditati sunt in auri causa. The Vulgate has dati sunt in auri casus.

(printed under page 154)

(h) ‹anchor: suis, et› · call in col 302

Ms. Vict. et edit. Rom. et Mog., Propheta.

The Victorine manuscript and the Roman and Mainz editions have Propheta.

(printed under page 154)

(i) ‹anchor: Ne› · call in col 302

Ms. Vict. cum editis Rom. Mog. et Ponc., tardaveris.

The Victorine manuscript, with the Roman, Mainz and Ponce editions, has tardaveris.

(printed under page 154)

Page

running head: EPISTOLA XXV. 302
marginal letters: A ‹que enim quicumque›; B ‹periclitati sunt auri›; C ‹Dominum, nec differas›; D (printed in the foot-note area)
old-edition numerals: 165 after ‹cujusquam›
other: The column opens with '-que', completing 'Ne-' at the foot of col. 301 (English 'For no' given here). Call i is printed after 'in terris' but its foot note is Apoc. XVII, 14 (Rex regum); the reference is placed after 'Dominus dominantium'. Call k foot note printed 'Eccli. XXXI, v, Prov. XI, 28' (verse 'v' read as 5). '(Al. vae illis)' and '(forte rationes)' printed in the text; kept. This page's foot notes also complete col. 301's cut references: c Prov. X, 2, juxta LXX; d Sophon. i, 1? (digit blurred, 11 or 18).

PL 61:303

quia pro abundantia caritatis et potentiae suae capax est et largiendi quod tenet, et quod donaverit, obtinendi. Nam quando sanctis suis in regno suo regnare concesserit, ipse regnabit in illis quos consortes regni coelestis assumserit. Scriptum est enim et regnum Dei cum sanctis fore, et ipsos sanctos esse regnum Dei; quod propitio Deo, cum conversus fueris, et legendo cognosces, et credendo intelliges.

because in the abundance of His love and power He is able both to bestow what He holds and to keep what He has given. For when He grants His saints to reign in His kingdom, He Himself will reign in those whom He has taken up as sharers of the heavenly kingdom (Rev. 1:6). For it is written both that the kingdom of God will be with the saints and that the saints themselves are the kingdom of God (Rev. 20:6); and this, God being gracious, when you have been converted, you will both come to know by reading and understand by believing.

6. De aetatis autem flore primo quis audeat gloriari? Admonet divina Scriptura, dicens: Omnis caro fenum, et omnis claritas ejus, ut flos feni. Aruit fenum, et flos decidit: sermo autem Domini manet in aeternum. Ideo et Propheta illa potius, in quibus aeterna corporis redivivi gloria post resurrectionem possit manere, desiderans clamat: Quam amabilia sunt tabernacula tua, Domine virtutum! Concupiscit et deficit anima mea in atria Domini.

6. But who would dare to glory in the first flower of youth? Divine Scripture warns us, saying: All flesh is grass, and all its brightness as the flower of grass. The grass has withered and the flower has fallen; but the word of the Lord abides for ever (Isa. 40:6). Therefore the Prophet too, longing rather for those things in which the eternal glory of the body restored to life may abide after the resurrection, cries out: How lovely are Thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord (Ps. 83:2).

7. Et de vinculis conjugalibus, et ceteris temporalium rerum tam spinosis quam inanibus curis Apostolus, in quo Christus loquitur, admonet ne in longum hujus seculi tempus irrita vota mittamus; et cognoscere nos jubet, quia tempus breviatum est, et dicit: Reliquum est, ut qui habent uxores, tamquam non habentes sint; et qui flent, tamquam non flentes; et qui gaudent, tamquam non gaudentes; et qui emunt, tamquam non possidentes; et qui utuntur hoc mundo, tamquam non utentes. Quod cum dicit, ostendit liberos non debere implicari, quandoquidem liberari suadeat impeditos. Si ergo jam forsitan alligatus es uxori, noli quaerere solutionem. Quod si adhuc liber es ab uxore, noli quaerere implicationem. Non enim Apostolus propter conjugii condemnationem hoc dicit, quandoquidem hujus foederis religionem magno Christi et Ecclesiae Sacramento comparat; sed propter instantem necessitatem bonum esse asserens hominem sic esse, quemadmodum ipse erat. Volo, inquit, vos sine sollicitudine esse hoc est, ut nihil praeter Deum et salutem nostram cogitemus. Nam uxor et filii, quamquam et ipsa divinitus nobis pignora data sint, tamen gravissimarum curarum onera sunt. Unde idem Apostolus ait: Quia tribulationem carnis habebunt hujusmodi: quia necessitudines nostrae carnales, quanto cariores nobis sunt, tanto magis nos discruciant et fatigant. Nam uxore accepta primum optantur

7. And concerning the bonds of marriage and the other cares of temporal things, as thorny as they are empty, the Apostle, in whom Christ speaks (2 Cor. 13:3), warns us not to cast fruitless vows into the long time of this world; and he bids us recognize that the time has been shortened, and says: It remains that those who have wives be as though they had none; and those who weep, as though they did not weep; and those who rejoice, as though they did not rejoice; and those who buy, as though they did not possess; and those who use this world, as though they did not use it (1 Cor. 7:29). In saying this he shows that the free ought not to entangle themselves, since he urges those who are bound to be set free. If therefore you are perhaps already bound to a wife, do not seek a loosing (1 Cor. 7:27). But if you are still free of a wife, do not seek an entanglement. For the Apostle does not say this in condemnation of marriage, since he compares the sanctity of this covenant to the great Sacrament of Christ and the Church; but because of the pressing necessity, declaring it good for a man to be thus, as he himself was. I want you, he says, to be without anxiety (1 Cor. 7:32), that is, that we should think of nothing but God and our salvation. For wife and children, though they too are pledges given us by God, are nevertheless burdens of the heaviest cares. Hence the same Apostle says: For such shall have tribulation of the flesh (1 Cor. 7:28): because our fleshly ties, the dearer they are to us, the more they torment and weary us. For once a wife is taken, first are longed for

Editors' notes and page, col. 303

Footnotes

Scripture references ᵃ ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 303 (upper part) Apoc. I, 6.

Revelation 1:6.

ᵇ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 303 (upper part) Apoc. XX, 6.

Revelation 20:6.

ᶜ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 303 (upper part) Isai. XL, 6, ex vers. LXX.

Isaiah 40:6, from the Septuagint version.

ᵈ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 303 (upper part) Psal. LXXXIII, 2, sec. LXX et Psalter. vetus et Romanum.

Psalm 83 (84):2, according to the Septuagint and the Old and Roman Psalters.

ᵉ ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 303 (upper part) II Cor. XIII, 5.

2 Corinthians 13:5.

ᶠ ‹anchor: tamquam non utentes› · call in col 303 I Cor. VII, 29.

1 Corinthians 7:29.

ᵍ ‹anchor: quaerere solutionem› · call in col 303 I Cor. VII, 27.

1 Corinthians 7:27.

ʰ ‹anchor: sine sollicitudine esse› · call in col 303 I Cor. VII, 32.

1 Corinthians 7:32.

ⁱ ‹anchor: habebunt hujusmodi› · call in col 303 I Cor. VII, 28.

1 Corinthians 7:28.

ʲ ‹anchor: in solitudine› · call in col 304 Psal. LIV, 8.

Psalm 54 (55):8.

Note on the letter * ‹anchor: EPISTOLA XXVI› · call in col 304 Alias 40; quae autem 26 erat, nunc 40 et 41. Scripta anno 401.

Formerly 40; and the one that was 26 is now 40 and 41. Written in the year 401.

Editors' notes (printed under page 155)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible on the page foot› · call in col 303 (upper part)

Sic mss. codices Vatic. et Victor. cum edit. Rom. et Mogunt. Alii editi, viris.

So the Vatican and Victorine manuscript codices, with the Roman and Mainz editions. Other editions have viris.

(printed under page 155)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 303 (upper part)

Expunximus namque, quia ab omnibus codicibus nostris aberat.

We have struck out namque, because it was missing from all our codices.

(printed under page 155)

Ita ms. Victorinus codex cum editis 4 et Vulgata juxta textum Graecum, melius quam edit. Rosv., absolutionem.

So the Victorine manuscript codex, with four editions and the Vulgate, following the Greek text: better than Rosweyde's edition, absolutionem.

(printed under page 155)

(d) ‹anchor: Quia tribulationem› · call in col 303

Sic ms. Vict. et edit. Mog. faventibus editis quatuor in quibus carnes. Edit. Rosv., carnis. Nostra lectio confirmatur ex sequentibus.

So the Victorine manuscript and the Mainz edition, with the support of four editions, which have carnes. Rosweyde's edition has carnis. Our reading is confirmed by what follows.

(printed under page 155)