PL 61 · cols. 312–321

Paulinus of Nola, Letters

Letter XXIX

causas non ediderit; qui et scholasticis et salutaribus litteris Graece juxta ac Latine dives est, vereor ne apud alium in his regionibus frustra requiramus. Quod si praesumtioni de se meae satisfecerit, prima occasione, si Dominus faverit, transmittam unanimitati tuae utcumque mihi super hac ratione rescripserit

does not set out the causes; he who is rich in both the scholastic and the saving letters, in Greek as much as in Latin, I fear we should seek in vain from anyone else in these regions. But if he satisfies my confidence in him, at the first opportunity, if the Lord favours it, I will send on to you, my other self, whatever he writes back to me on this question

6. Interim, ut aliquid de praeceptis tuis facerem, misi ex his, quae metuo ne inertiae potius vel imprudentiae meae testimonia sint, quam supernae ministrationis insignia; aut certe vel humanae documenta sapientiae: misi tamen tibi, id est commisi meo pectori meas nugas, non ut sensus tuos polluant tenebrae meae, sed ut tuis sensibus diluantur. Nugas autem meas de verbis ac sententiis meis dixi: ceterum materia sancta, et tuo potius ingenio eloquioque digna; etsi meis sermonibus velut atro habitu vestiatur, speciem tamen divini luminis, interni decoris, quamquam in egenae supellectilis vilitate custodit. Habes ergo libellos a me duos, unum versibus natalitium de mea solemni ad Dominaedium meum cantilena, cui corpore ac spiritu quotidie, lingua autem quotannis pensito dulcissimum voluntariae servitutis tributum, in die festo consecrationis ejus immolans Christo hostiam laudis, et reddens Altissimo vota mea. Alius libellus ex his est quos ad benedictum, id est, Christianum virum, amicum meum Endelechium scripsisse videor, non tamen edidisse convincar. Is enim mihi autor hujus in Domino opusculi fuit, sicut ipsius epistola, quae libello meo pro themate praescribitur, docet. Fateor autem idcirco me libenter hunc ab amico laborem recepisse, ut in Theodosio non tam imperatorem, quam Christi servum; non dominandi superbia, sed humilitate famulandi potentem; nec regno, sed fide principem, praedicarem.

6. Meanwhile, so as to carry out something of your commands, I have sent some of those things which I fear may be rather witnesses of my sloth or imprudence than marks of a ministry from above; or certainly even proofs of human wisdom: yet I have sent my trifles to you, that is, I have entrusted them to my own heart, not that my darkness may pollute your mind, but that they may be washed clean by your mind. I have called them my trifles in respect of my words and thoughts: but the matter is holy, and worthy rather of your talent and eloquence; even if it be clothed by my language as in a dark garment, it nevertheless keeps the beauty of the divine light, of an inner comeliness, though in the cheapness of poor furnishing. You have, then, two little books from me: one in verse, a birthday piece from my yearly song to my Lord-and-patron, to whom with body and spirit daily, but with the tongue yearly, I pay the sweetest tribute of a willing servitude, on the feast day of his consecration offering to Christ a sacrifice of praise, and paying my vows to the Most High (Ps. 49:14). The other little book is one of those which I seem to have written to a blessed, that is, Christian, man, my friend Endelechius, but cannot be proved to have published. For he was the author to me in the Lord of this little work, as his own letter, which is set at the head of my book as its theme, shows. And I confess that I willingly took on this labour from a friend for this reason: that in Theodosius I might proclaim not so much an emperor as a servant of Christ; one mighty not by the pride of lordship but by the humility of service; a prince not by his kingdom but by his faith.

EPISTOLA XXIX.

LETTER XXIX.

SEVERO fratri unanimo PAULINUS.

To Severus, his brother of one mind, Paulinus.

1. Immoderatam, ut arguimus, in litteris vestris onus nostrum loquentibus, caritatem, apta atque moderata ad utilitatem nostram munerum gratia temperastis: necessario enim peccatoribus et precatu deplorationis, et habitu indigentibus, pallia camelorum pilis texta misistis; quae nos in conspectu Altissimi stratos utilibus stimulis admonerent, dum asperitate setarum compungimur, et peccatorum nostrorum horrore compungi, atque intus

1. The love, immoderate as we judge it, in your letters, which speak of our burden, you have tempered with a fitting and measured grace of gifts for our profit: for to sinners, in need of both the prayer of lamentation and its garb, you have necessarily sent cloaks woven of camels' hair; that they might admonish us with useful goads as we lie prostrate in the sight of the Most High, while we are pricked by the roughness of the bristles, both to be pricked with horror of our sins, and inwardly

Editors' notes and page, col. 312

Footnotes

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 312 (upper part)

Ms. Vien., sincerit.

The Vienna manuscript has sincerit [so printed; the word is unclear on the scan].

(printed under page 159)

(g) ‹anchor: Severo› · call in col 312

Ms. Vien. Paulinus servus Christi Jesu, Severo carissimo fratri in Deo Patre et Christo Jesu salutem. Edit. Grin., Severo Paulinus.

The Vienna manuscript has: "Paulinus, servant of Christ Jesus, to Severus his dearest brother, greeting in God the Father and Christ Jesus." The Grin. edition has "To Severus, Paulinus".

(printed under page 159)

Editors' prose

Pallia e pilis camelorum recte sibi ut poenitentia egenti a Severo missa interpretatur. Eidem ut innocenti tunicam mittit de agnorum vellere acceptam a Melania, cujus laudes fuse exsequitur.

He interprets the cloaks of camel's hair sent him by Severus as rightly suited to one in need of penance. To the same man, as to one innocent, he sends a tunic of lambs' wool received from Melania, whose praises he sets out at length.

Page

running head: INI NOLANI EPISCOPI 312 (left part cut off; S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI)
marginal letters: A ‹causas non ediderit›; B ‹autem meas de verbis›; C ‹Domino opusculi fuit›; D ‹moderata ad utilitatem›
old-edition numerals: 175 after ‹pectori›
other: EDITORS' PROSE: the italic argumentum of Ep. XXIX, "Pallia e pilis camelorum ... fuse exsequitur.", not set; asterisk after EPISTOLA calls the editors' note "Alias 10; ... Scripta anno 402 exeunte aestate" (omitted). Editors' parenthetical gloss "(id est, humanioribus et sacris litteris. V. ep. 44, n. 1)" after "litteris", and cross-references "(V. not. 125)" after "Endelechium", "(V. not. 126)" after "Theodosio", "(V. not. 127)" after "compungimur" omitted. Superscripts 8, 9, 10, 11, 1 and calls (f), (g) omitted. "rescripserit" ends §5 with no stop printed; set as printed. Column ends at "in-" (split word, continuation not seen); visible part set, English left incomplete.

PL 61:313

spiritu conteri, dum extrinsecus terunt habitu. Multa praeterea in eorum usu, de veterum recordatione sanctorum, conformandae fidei emolumenta referuntur. Veniunt in mentem translatus Elias et praemissus Johannes: quorum alterum hispida setis zona cingebat, alterum pili, ut scriptum est, camelorum hirto tegmine vestiebant. Reminiscimur etiam David et omnis mansuetudinis ejus, qua contritum cor et humiliatum Deo sacrificans induebat se cilicio; et operiebat in jejunio animam suam, ut eam spiritali saturitate contegeret. Unde discimus vestimentum animae illud esse jejunium, quo ab omnibus lege divina vetitis abstinemus. Id enim et de primorum patrum dispoliatione cognoscimus, qui postquam ab interdicto cibo destiterant jejunare, nudati sunt. Sed et propheta ipse nos docet quali jejunio animam suam a confusionis nuditate munierit, cum ait Domino: Ab omni via mala prohibui pedem meum, ut custodiam verbum tuum.

to be worn down in spirit, while outwardly they wear [it] out as clothing. Besides, many benefits for shaping faith are drawn from the use of these [garments], from the remembrance of the saints of old. There come to mind Elijah, who was taken up, and John, who was sent before: the one a girdle bristling with hairs encircled, the other, as it is written, the hair of camels clothed with a shaggy covering (2 Kgs. 1:8; Matt. 3:4; Mark 1:6). We remember also David and all his meekness, by which, sacrificing to God a contrite and humbled heart, he put on sackcloth; and he covered his soul with fasting (Ps. 131:1; 50:19; 68:11), that he might clothe it with spiritual fullness. From this we learn that the garment of the soul is that fasting by which we abstain from all things forbidden by the divine law. For we learn this also from the stripping of our first parents, who, after they had ceased to fast from the forbidden food, were made naked (Gen. 3:7). And the prophet himself teaches us with what fast he guarded his soul from the nakedness of shame, when he says to the Lord: From every evil way I have restrained my foot, that I may keep Thy word (Ps. 118:101).

2. Ex hoc eodem muneris vestri lanicio et illa nobis de Evangelio camelus ingeritur, quae facilius per foramen acus transit, quam dives in regnum coelorum. Ex quo nostras divitias quae nunc in peccatis tantum manent, cogitantes, quia similes divinis illis viris virtutes affectare non possumus, illius saltem nobis gratiam publicani cupimus provenire, qui in corde detrito semetipsum accusans Deo, et pectus afflictum crebra manu tundens, et oculos conscientiae pudore depressos in coelum levare non audens, iniquitate illa vitiorum dorso cameli aemula, ita se in humilitatem debitam strinxit, et resipiscentis animae complanatione direxit, ut se foramini acus, hoc est, viae verbi vel crucis, quae arcto tramite ducit ad vitam, divinarum aurium penetrator insereret. Oratio enim, inquit, humiliantis se, nubes penetrat: quo contra ille jactantiae suae spiritu dives Pharisaeus, qui imputatione operum debitorum, quia ex lege operandi debitor erat, tamen quasi voluntaria fecisset supra debitum, praedicator sui, accusator alieni, qui conveniret magis Deum quam rogaret, intrare non potuit: quia subsarcinatos arcta non capiunt. Nec poterat eo recipi lata jactantia, quo se humilitas angusta collegit, et angusto angustior contriti cordis exilitate penetravit.

2. From this same woollen stuff of your gift that camel of the Gospel is also brought before us, which passes more easily through the eye of a needle than a rich man into the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 19:24; Mark 10:25). From this, thinking of our riches, which now consist only in sins, since we cannot aspire to virtues like those of those godly men, we long that at least the grace of that publican may come to us, who, accusing himself before God with a crushed heart, and beating his stricken breast with frequent hand, and not daring to lift to heaven eyes cast down by the shame of conscience (Luke 18:13), [though] by that iniquity of his vices a rival of the camel's hump, so drew himself in to due humility, and so made himself straight by the levelling of a repentant soul, that he slipped into the eye of the needle, that is, of the way of the Word or of the cross, which leads by a narrow path to life (Matt. 7:14), and pierced through to the divine ears. For the prayer, it says, of him who humbles himself pierces the clouds (Sir. 35:21): whereas that Pharisee, rich in the spirit of his own boasting, who by reckoning up works that were owed, since by the law he was a debtor to perform them, yet as though he had done them voluntarily beyond what was owed, the herald of himself, the accuser of another, who rather summoned God than besought Him, could not enter in: because narrow places do not admit the heavily laden. Nor could broad boasting be received where narrow humility had drawn itself together, and, narrower than the narrow, had pierced through by the thinness of a contrite heart.

3. Interveniant orationes tuae, ut animam meam multa corruptione discissam, et spinis meorum sensuum temere consertam, Dominicae crucis acus inserto verbi salutaris filo sarciat. Fidem enim et verbum crucis Christi hanc arbitror acum, qua vitae

3. May your prayers intercede, that the needle of the Lord's cross, with the thread of the saving Word drawn through it, may mend my soul, torn by much corruption and rashly entangled with the thorns of my own thoughts. For faith and the word of the cross of Christ I judge to be this needle, by which of our life

Editors' notes and page, col. 313

Footnotes

Scripture references (printed under page 160)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 313

IV Reg. I, 8; Matth. III, 4; Marc. I, 6.

4 Kings (2 Kings) 1:8; Matthew 3:4; Mark 1:6.

(printed under page 160)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 313

Ps. LXXXI, 4; L, 19; LXVIII, 11; XXXI, 4.

Psalms 81:4; 50:19; 68:11; 31:4.

(printed under page 160)

Gen. III, 7.

Genesis 3:7.

(printed under page 160)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 313

Ps. CXVIII, 101.

Psalm 118:101.

(printed under page 160)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 313

Matth. XIX, 24; Marc. X, 25.

Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25.

(printed under page 160)

(f) ‹anchor: levare non audens› · call in col 313

Luc. XVIII, 13.

Luke 18:13.

(printed under page 160)

(g) ‹anchor: ducit ad vitam› · call in col 313

Matth. VII, 14.

Matthew 7:14.

(printed under page 160)

(h) ‹anchor: nubes penetrat› · call in col 313

Eccli. XXXV, 21.

Ecclesiasticus (Sirach) 35:21.

(printed under page 160)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 313

Matth. VII, 14.

Matthew 7:14.

(printed under page 160)

(j) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 313

Luc. XIII, 8.

Luke 13:8.

(printed under page 160)

(k) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 313

Luc. XVIII, 11.

Luke 18:11.

(printed under page 160)

(l) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 313

Matth. XXI, 19.

Matthew 21:19.

(printed under page 160)

(m) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 313

Job. II, 8.

Job 2:8.

(printed under page 160)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 313

Sic omnes codices, praeter Viennensem in quo, ille.... camelus inseritur, qui.

So all the manuscripts, except the Vienna one, in which "ille.... camelus" is inserted before "qui".

(printed under page 160)

(b) ‹anchor: Pharisaeus, qui› · call in col 313

Ms. Vien., computatione. Vera lectio quam retinemus, quaeque confirmatur n. 4, imputare non possumus debitam servitutem; et epist. 50, num. 5, quam pharisaeum de imputatione justitiarum suarum.

The Vienna manuscript has "computatione" (reckoning). The true reading is the one we keep, and it is confirmed in no. 4, "we cannot impute a service that is owed", and in Letter 50, no. 5, "quam pharisaeum de imputatione justitiarum suarum" (the Pharisee, of the imputing of his own righteous deeds).

(printed under page 160)

Ita mss. Reg. et Vatic., angusto, id est re angusta, vel angusto aditu. Clarior sensus quam in editis, in quibus erat, anguste.

So the Royal and Vatican manuscripts: "angusto", that is, "by a narrow thing" or "by a narrow entrance". The sense is clearer than in the printed editions, which had "anguste" (narrowly).

(printed under page 160)

Page

running head: 313 EPISTOLA XXIX. (the head spans the page; "EPISTOLA XXIX." is completed on the facing column's image)
marginal letters: A ‹tus spiritu conteri›; B ‹Sed et propheta ipse›; C ‹humilitatem debitam strinxit›; D ‹suum temere consertam›
old-edition numerals: 176 after ‹translatus›

PL 61:314

nostrae habitus innovatur, mens nostra compungitur, nosque ipsi Deo per interventum ipsius Mediatoris adfuimus. In eodem est et foramen illud, quia per ipsum et in ipso ad vitam via illa multis desiderabilis, paucis penetrabilis; per quam facilius ingreditur humiliata iniquitas, quam superba justitia. Quo majorem vobis ut medicis spiritalibus debemus gratiam, qui etiam carnalia nobis munera spiritali utilitate confertis; ut haec pallia nobis ad stimulum orationis et habitum humilitatis, tamquam sterili illi ficulneae cophinum stercoris miseritis. In quo mihi videtur aeterna piae humilitatis utilitas indicari, quae sterilem fecundat animam, ne per vacuam arrogantiae speciem sibi juxta illum Pharisaeum placens velut arbor infelix frugibus, inutili fronde luxuriet. Quam bonum autem et utile ad culturam salutis hujusmodi stercus sit, docemur in beato Job, qui postquam sedit in stercore, tentari destitit. Consumserat enim tentatoris invidiam humilitate perfecta, quae facilius surgere quam dejici potest. Quia in humo sedens, unde cadat non habet; sed habet unde consurgat, per eum qui suscitat de terra inopem, et de stercore erigit pauperem, et in stercora redigit superbos, quia omnis, ut scriptum est, superbus immundus coram Deo: et ideo justior apud Deum ille accusator iniquitatis suae, quam ille justitiae praedicator. Ille laudando se accusavit, hic accusando defendit.

the garment is renewed, our mind is pricked to compunction, and we ourselves have come before God through the intercession of the Mediator Himself. In Him too is that eye [of the needle], because through Him and in Him is that way to life, desired by many, passed through by few (Matt. 7:14); by which humbled iniquity enters more easily than proud righteousness. So much the greater thanks do we owe you as spiritual physicians, who confer on us even bodily gifts for a spiritual profit; so that you have sent us these cloaks as a goad to prayer and a garb of humility, like a basket of dung to that barren fig tree (Luke 13:8). In this, it seems to me, is shown the everlasting usefulness of godly humility, which makes the barren soul fruitful, lest, pleasing itself through an empty show of arrogance like that Pharisee (Luke 18:11), it should run riot in useless leaf, like a tree unhappy in its fruits (Matt. 21:19). And how good and useful such dung is for the cultivation of salvation, we are taught in blessed Job, who, after he sat on the dunghill (Job 2:8), ceased to be tempted. For by perfect humility he had used up the envy of the tempter, [humility] which can more easily rise than be cast down. For sitting on the ground it has nowhere from which to fall; but it has [the means] whereby to rise, through Him who raises the needy from the earth, and lifts the poor out of the dunghill (Ps. 112:7), and brings the proud down to the dung (Job 40:6), because, as it is written, every proud man is unclean before God: and therefore that accuser of his own iniquity is more righteous before God than that herald of his own righteousness. The one by praising himself accused himself; the other by accusing himself defended himself.

4. Et ideo nihil nobis de nostris operibus blandientes, semper in manus ejus commendemus spiritum nostrum, quoniam apud ipsum est fons vitae. Ab illo intellectum itineris nostri petamus, quoniam a Domino gressus hominis diriguntur. Sed et si potuerimus mandata ejus per ipsius opem facere, necesse habemus sic quoque inutilitatem nostram fateri: quia imputare non possumus debitam servitutem, si tantum praecepta faciamus. Inutilis enim et nequam servus est, qui nihil ad necessitatem debiti muneris voluntario addit affectu, non habiturus unde praemium speret, si tantum conditionis officia dependerit. Quamobrem etiam mandata complentes, ut saepe tibi scribo, timeamus, semper dicentes Domino: Ne intres in judicium cum servo tuo, quia non justificabitur in conspectu tuo omnis vivens. Poterit nos vel humilitas confessionis asserere quasi modestos apud bonum Dominum, quos commendare non poterit ut ignavos strenuae servitutis utilitas. Nam et Ninivitae probant quantum apud divinam clementiam peccatori remedium sit, ut sibi ipse non parcat; quandoquidem suffragio poenitentiae reconciliati Deo, meruerunt

4. And therefore, flattering ourselves in nothing about our own works, let us always commend our spirit into His hands (Ps. 30:6), since with Him is the fountain of life (Ps. 35:10). Let us ask of Him the understanding of our way, since the steps of a man are directed by the Lord (Ps. 36:23). And even if we are able to do His commandments through His own help, we must even so confess our unprofitableness (Luke 17:10): because we cannot claim credit for service that is owed, if we only do what is commanded. For he is an unprofitable and worthless servant who adds nothing of willing affection to the necessity of the duty he owes, and who will have no ground for hoping for a reward if he has only paid the services of his condition. Wherefore, even when we fulfil the commandments, let us fear, as I often write to you, always saying to the Lord: Enter not into judgement with Thy servant, for in Thy sight shall no man living be justified (Ps. 142:2). The humility of confession may at least claim us as modest before a good Lord, whom the usefulness of strenuous service will not be able to commend, idle as we are. For the Ninevites too prove how great a remedy it is for the sinner with the divine clemency that he should not spare himself; since, reconciled to God by the support of penance, they deserved

Editors' notes and page, col. 314

Footnotes

(n) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 314

Psal. CXII, 7.

Psalm 112:7.

(printed under page 160)

(o) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 314

Joh. XI, 6.

John 11:6 (reading of the reference uncertain on the scan).

(printed under page 160)

(p) ‹anchor: spiritum nostrum› · call in col 314

Psal. XXX, 6.

Psalm 30:6.

(printed under page 160)

(q) ‹anchor: fons vitae› · call in col 314

Psal. XXXV, 10.

Psalm 35:10.

(printed under page 160)

(r) ‹anchor: hominis diriguntur› · call in col 314

Psal. XXXVI, 23, sec. LXX.

Psalm 36:23, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 160)

(s) ‹anchor: nostram fateri› · call in col 314

Luc. XVII, 10.

Luke 17:10.

(printed under page 160)

(t) ‹anchor: omnis vivens› · call in col 314

Psal. CXLII, 2.

Psalm 142:2.

(printed under page 160)

(u) ‹anchor: remedium sit› · call in col 314

Jonae III, 10; Matth. XII, 41; Luc. XI, 32.

Jonah 3:10; Matthew 12:41; Luke 11:32.

Editors' notes (printed under page 160)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 314

Sic ms. Vien. codex. Caeteri, mors.

So the Vienna manuscript. The others have "mors" (death).

(printed under page 160)

Page

running head: EPISTOLA XXIX. 314
marginal letters: A ‹nostrae habitus innovatur›; B ‹Quam bonum autem›; C ‹intellectum itineris nostri›; D ‹ignavos strenuae servitutis›
old-edition numerals: 177 after ‹compungitur,›

PL 61:315

denuntiatum evadere excidium: quia se spontaneis luctibus cruciando, divinam sententiam praevenerunt sua.

to escape the destruction announced [to them] (Jonah 3:10; Matt. 12:41; Luke 11:32): because by tormenting themselves with voluntary mourning they forestalled the divine sentence with their own.

5. Nos vero neque verbis neque rebus digna pensantes, unica tamen facultate nobis caritatis, qua vobis sola pares sumus, misimus tunicam, quam ab usu meo, ut de stercoris vilitate collectum pannum dignare suscipere: nam vel hoc innocentiae tuae congruit, quod de tenero agnorum vellere contexta blanditur attactibus. Addo autem adhuc pretio ejus et gratiae, quod quo dignior probetur usu tuo, de sanctae et illustris in sanctis Dei feminae Melanii benedictione mihi pignus est. Unde te dignior visa est, cujus fides illi magis quam noster sanguis propinquat. Fateor tamen ausum me, ut eam, quamvis illico ut acceperam tibi destinatam, meo tamen vestitu initiando praeterirem; sciens magis me tibi hac injuria praestiturum, quam si te intemerata novitate illius honorassem: simul ut mihi benedictionem quasi de tua jam veste praecerperem; ut jactare possim vestimenti tui me esse participem, qui propitio Deo futuram usus tui tunicam, quasi fuisset, induerem.

5. We, for our part, weighing what is worthy neither in words nor in things, yet with the one resource of charity, in which alone we are your equals, have sent a tunic, which, coming from my own use, deign to accept as a rag gathered from the vileness of the dunghill: for this at least befits your innocence, that, woven from the tender fleece of lambs, it is soft to the touch. And I add this besides to its value and its grace, that, to prove it the worthier of your use, it is to me a pledge from the blessing of Melania, a woman holy and illustrious among the saints of God. Hence it seemed the worthier of you, whose faith is nearer to her than our blood is. Yet I confess that I made bold, although I had destined it for you the moment I received it, to forestall you by first putting it on myself; knowing that by this wrong I should do more for you than if I had honoured you with its untouched newness: at the same time, that I might take for myself a blessing in advance, as it were from your garment already; so that I can boast that I am a sharer in your clothing, I who, God being gracious, put on the tunic that was to be for your use as if it had already been so.

6. Addidit autem Dominus hanc gratiam de muneribus et litteris tuis, ut ad eos potissimum dies nobis frater Victor occurreret, quibus sanctam ipsam ex Hierusalem post quinque lustra remeantem excepimus. (At quam tandem feminam) si feminam dici licet, tam viriliter Christianam. Quid hoc loco faciam? Vetat fastidii intolerabilis metus voluminibus adhuc addere; sed personae dignitas, immo Dei gratia postulare videtur ut commemorationem tantae animae praegressus non raptim omittam, sed paulisper ad eam tibi narrandam, velut navigantes, si aliquem in littore locum spectabilem videant, non praetervehuntur, sed contractis paululum velis, aut remigio pendente pascunt oculos intuendi mora; ita sermonis mei cursum detorqueam, quo etiam illustri illi materia et eloquentia libro tuo vicem aliquam videar reddere, si feminam inferiorem sexu, virtutibus Martini Christo militantem prosequar, quae consulibus avis nobilis, nobiliorem se contemtu corporeae nobilitatis dedit.

6. And the Lord added this grace to your gifts and your letter, that brother Victor came to us precisely in those days in which we received that holy woman herself, returning from Jerusalem after five lustres. (And what a woman indeed!) if one may call a woman one so manfully Christian. What shall I do at this point? The fear of causing intolerable weariness forbids me to add still more to my volumes; but the dignity of the person, nay rather the grace of God, seems to require that, having come upon the mention of so great a soul, I should not pass it over hastily, but should turn aside the course of my discourse for a little to describe her to you, as seafarers, if they see some notable place on the shore, do not sail past it, but, slackening their sails a little or with oars suspended, feed their eyes by lingering to gaze; so that I may seem to make you some return even for that book of yours, illustrious in its matter and its eloquence, if I follow a woman, lower in sex, serving as a soldier of Christ with the virtues of Martin, who, noble through grandfathers who were consuls, made herself nobler by contempt of bodily nobility.

7. Opinor autem et hoc ad cumulum divinae gratiae pertinere, quod sanctitatem laudandam de laudibus generis praedicare ordior. Sed hunc ordinem non a rhetoricis institutis magis, quam de evangelicis exemplis usurpari doctissimus Lucas mihi testis est, qui Baptistae beati meritum ab originis claritate detexit: et ne tantum historiae gratia eum commemorasse existimes nobilem Dominici praecursoris parentem, veneranda priscae nobilitatis insignia, et suum cuique stemma connectit, dicens sacerdotem Zachariam de vice Abia. Credo ut ex eo ipso dignitatem meriti ejus ostenderet, adjiciens nomen ex infulis, quod proculdubio in Hebraeis esset insigne, de cujus

7. I think, moreover, that this too belongs to the full measure of divine grace, that I begin to proclaim a holiness worthy of praise from the praises of her lineage. But that this order is adopted not so much from the rules of rhetoric as from the examples of the Gospel, the most learned Luke is my witness (Luke 1:5), who disclosed the merit of the blessed Baptist from the distinction of his origin: and lest you should think he mentioned the noble parent of the Lord's forerunner only for the sake of the history, he joins the venerable insignia of ancient nobility, and to each his own pedigree, saying the priest Zechariah of the course of Abijah (Luke 1:5; 1 Chr. 24:10). I believe [he did so] so that by this very thing he might show the dignity of his merit, adding a name drawn from the priestly fillets, which was without doubt distinguished among the Hebrews, of whose

Editors' notes and page, col. 315

Footnotes

Scripture references (printed under page 161)

(a) ‹anchor: doctissimus Lucas› · call in col 315

Luc. I, 5.

Luke 1:5.

(printed under page 161)

(b) ‹anchor: de vice Abia› · call in col 315

Luc. I, 5; I Par. XXIV, 10.

Luke 1:5; 1 Chronicles 24:10.

(printed under page 161)

Luc. I, 5.

Luke 1:5.

(printed under page 161) Editors' notes

(a) ‹anchor: feminae (a) Melanii› · call in col 315

Ita edit. Schot. Recte. Vide not. 138.

So Schott's edition, rightly. See note 138.

(printed under page 161)

Page

running head: 315 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPIS… (cut at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹ruerunt denuntiatum evadere›; B ‹illico ut acceperam›; C ‹stulare videtur›; D ‹rhetoricis institutis›
old-edition numerals: 178 after ‹spontaneis›; 179 after ‹priscae›
other: column opens mid-word, completing col. 314's "me-ruerunt"; ends mid-sentence ("de cujus"). Superscript calls 7, 8, 9, 10 and (a) omitted; foot note (a) on "Melanii": "Ita edit. Schot. Recte. Vide not. 138." — the form is the editors' accepted reading, not a misprint. §7 "ad cumulum divinae gratiae": the scan's c looks like e ("eumulum"); read cumulum (Q3; formerly set "†aemulum"). "(At quam" read as At; the letter is indistinct. The 1 Par. reference reads "XXIV, 40" or "10" in the image; 10 taken (UNSURE). Scripture note c is called in col. 316.

PL 61:316

vice honoratum sortitus sacerdotium fungeretur. Denique addit: Et uxor illius de filiabus Aaron. Vides evangelistam de commemoratione natalium sancti, dictionem fecisse meritorum; ut iis quos erat de propriis meritis praedicaturus, nomina avita praeferret: et uxor, inquit, illi erat de filiabus Aaron. Auxit meritum sacerdotis commemorata nobilitate conjugii; et laudaturus vitam, genus ante laudavit, ut venerabilior existeret, qui sanctis parentibus responderet sanctitate ingenita, quasi quadam justitiae hereditate: qui illud principale in sacerdotibus nomen Aaron, et honoris in munere, et generis in uxore successor referret: atque illa, quae concors in itinere jugum veritatis cum marito trahebat ad pariendum eligenda per angelum, de quo scriptum est: Ecce mittam angelum ante faciem tuam, dignior et viro sacerdote, et filio prophetis praeferendo existeret, quam divinis idoneam dotibus, non solum vita justitiae, sed et familiae praerogativa fecisset. Sed et ipsius Domini ortum, praeter illum a fonte divino fluentem, etiam istum quo Filius hominis esse dignatus est, evangelistae duo numeratis ab initio majoribus ordiuntur, diversam utroque scriptore corporei sanguinis venam pari fide et dignitate referente: quia dignum erat ut Unigenitus Dei, et primogenitus totius creaturae, atque universi corporis caput, etiam in generis corporei dignitate primatum teneret. Ut unus in coelo Dei Filius ante secula ineffabili natus exordio, etiam in terris illustrium titulorum sibi apices vindicaret, regum pariter et sacerdotum (ut duo testantur autores) clara progenies. Quam ob rem non videbimur aliena potius quam nostra uti regula, terrenam quoque nobilitatem in supradicta Dei famula praedicantes: qua perspicuum sit id quoque ad operis sui gloriam Dominum contulisse, quo magis confunderetur iste mundus, qui talibus titulis gloriatur, ut quo vanitas hominum ad contemtum Dei utitur, ista potius ad contemtum mundi uteretur: simul ut major salutaris exempli proderetur autoritas humiliandis superborum oculis, mulier celsiore gradu ad humilitatis cultum ob amorem Christi dejecta sublimiter; ut viros desides in infirmo sexu fortis argueret, arrogantes in sexu utroque personas pauperata dives, et nobilis humiliata confunderet.

course, having obtained by lot the honoured priesthood, he discharged it. Then he adds: And his wife was of the daughters of Aaron (Luke 1:5). You see that the evangelist, by recording the saint's birth, made a statement of his merits; so that to those whose own merits he was going to proclaim he set their ancestral names first: and his wife, he says, was of the daughters of Aaron. He increased the merit of the priest by recording the nobility of his marriage; and, being about to praise his life, he first praised his lineage, so that he might appear the more venerable who answered to holy parents with an inborn holiness, as by a kind of inheritance of righteousness: since he carried on that name of Aaron, chief among priests, as successor both of the honour in his office and of the lineage in his wife: and she who, of one mind with her husband, drew the yoke of truth on the way, being chosen by an angel to bear him of whom it is written: Behold, I will send My angel before Thy face (Mal. 3:1; Matt. 11:9; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:26), might prove worthier both of a priest for husband and of a son to be preferred to the prophets, as one whom not only a life of righteousness but also the privilege of her family had made fit for divine endowments. Moreover the birth of the Lord Himself, besides that birth which flows from the divine fountain, also that by which He deigned to be the Son of Man, two evangelists begin by counting His forebears from the beginning (Matt. 1:1; John 1:1), each writer relating a different vein of bodily blood with equal faith and dignity: because it was fitting that the Only-begotten of God, the firstborn of all creation and the head of the whole body, should hold the primacy also in the dignity of bodily lineage. So that He who in heaven is the one Son of God, born before the ages from an ineffable beginning, might also on earth claim for Himself the summits of illustrious titles, the renowned offspring of kings and of priests alike (as the two authors testify) (Matt. 1:1; Luke 3:23). Wherefore we shall not seem to be using another's rule rather than our own, if we proclaim also the earthly nobility of the aforesaid handmaid of God: by which it may be plain that the Lord has turned this also to the glory of His work, so that this world, which glories in such titles, might be the more confounded, in that what the vanity of men uses for contempt of God, she should rather use for contempt of the world: at the same time, that a greater authority of saving example might be set forth for humbling the eyes of the proud, a woman of loftier rank cast down sublimely to the practice of humility for love of Christ (Ps. 17:28); so that, strong in the weaker sex, she might reprove slothful men, and, rich and made poor, noble and humbled, might confound arrogant persons of either sex.

8. Igitur Marcellino consule avo, de ambitu generis et opum luxu, in teneris adhuc annis nuptias passa, et brevi mater, sed ea felicitate mortalium non longum potita est, ne diu terrena diligeret. Nam praeter alias orbitates quas irrito in fetibus abortivis labore adhuc marito participe deflevit, ita crevit aerumnis ut duos filios et maritum intra anni tempus amitteret; unico tantum sibi parvulo ad memoriam potius quam ad compensationem affectuum derelicto. Sed et de malorum nostrorum seminibus, causas bonorum

8. So then, with the consul Marcellinus for her grandfather, she was, because of the ambition of her family and the luxury of wealth, given in marriage while still in her tender years, and was soon a mother; but she did not enjoy that happiness of mortals for long, lest she should long love earthly things. For besides other bereavements, which she bewailed with her husband still sharing them, in fruitless labour over miscarried offspring, she so grew in afflictions that she lost two sons and her husband within the space of a year; only one little son being left to her, rather for remembrance than for the consolation of her affections. But even from the seeds of our evils [the Lord] the causes of good things

Editors' notes and page, col. 316

Footnotes

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 316

Malac. III, 1; Matth. XI, 9; Marc. I, 2; Luc. VII, 26.

Malachi 3:1; Matthew 11:9; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:26.

(printed under page 161)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 316

Matth. I, 1; Johan. I, 1.

Matthew 1:1; John 1:1.

(printed under page 161)

(f) ‹anchor: duo testantur autores› · call in col 316

Matth. I, 1; Luc. III, 23.

Matthew 1:1; Luke 3:23.

(printed under page 161)

(g) ‹anchor: dejecta sublimiter› · call in col 316

Psal. XVII, 28.

Psalm 17:28.

Editors' notes (printed under page 161)

Page

running head: S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 316
marginal letters: A ‹vice honoratum sortitus›; B ‹est: Ecce mittam angelum›; C ‹testantur autores›; D ‹de ambitu generis›
old-edition numerals: 180 after ‹8.›
other: column opens mid-sentence (continuing col. 315 "de cujus"), ends mid-sentence ("causas bonorum"). Editors' inline cross-references left out of the source and recorded here: "(V. not. 128)" after "sancti"; "(V. n. 129)" after "avo"; "(id est diu. V. carm. 32, v. 593)" after "non longum". Superscript calls 11–15 omitted. Scripture references as printed in the foot notes (d: Matth. XI, 9 and Luc. VII, 26 as printed; the Luke number partly read on col. 315's image). "dictionem" as printed.

PL 61:317

coelestium nobis Domino providente, pietatem divinam per humanae pietatis damna concepit. Misera facta est, ut efficeretur beata. Percussa est, ut sanaretur: Quoniam ego percutiam, et ego sanabo, dicit Dominus. Tanta est enim summi Patris pietas, ut etiam ira ejus ex misericordia sit, et ideo castiget ut parcat. Denique beatus Apostolus ideo caecatus est, ut illuminaretur; cecidit persecutor, ut apostolus surgeret; in itinere iter reperit, et in impietatis via viam pacis agnovit. Sic ergo bonus Dominus in omni tempore iisdem circa nos quoque minimos suae pietatis impendiis usque adhuc; ut ipse testatus est, opera Patris operans, sanctam quoque istam, non quia infidelem haberet, sed ut perfectam redderet, paterna pietate corripiens, in misericordia verberavit tentationibus, ut patientia coronaret: flagellat enim omnem filium quem recipit. Itaque luctuoso ambitu trium funerum comes, vidua pariter et orbata, Romam venit cum unico suo incentore potius quam consolatore lacrymarum; sive infans ante sui sensum mala sentiens, jam saperet alienam lugere mortem, qui adhuc vitam suam nosse nesciret: sive ignara male securus infantia, miserabili ludo inter matris lamenta rideret.

of heavenly things, the Lord providing for us, she conceived divine love through the losses of human love. She was made wretched, that she might be made blessed. She was struck, that she might be healed: For I will strike, and I will heal, says the Lord (Deut. 32:39; Ps. 76:10). For so great is the love of the supreme Father that even His anger comes from mercy, and He chastises for this reason, that He may spare (Rev. 3:19). Thus the blessed Apostle was blinded for this reason, that he might be enlightened (Acts 9:8); the persecutor fell, that the apostle might rise; on the road he found the way, and on the way of impiety he recognized the way of peace. So then the good Lord, at every time and up to now, [deals] with the same outlays of His love towards us too, the least; as He Himself testified, working the works of the Father (John 5:17; 9:4; 10:25), He also chastised this holy woman with a father's love, not because He held her unfaithful but to make her perfect (Prov. 3:12), [and] in mercy scourged her with trials, that He might crown her for patience: for He scourges every son whom He receives (Heb. 12:6; Rev. 3:19). And so, the companion of a mournful procession of three funerals, at once widowed and bereaved, she came to Rome with her only [son], the kindler rather than the consoler of her tears; whether the infant, feeling evils before he had any sense of himself, already knew how to mourn another's death, he who did not yet know how to know his own life: or, ill secure in unknowing infancy, he laughed in pitiable play amid his mother's laments.

9. His edocta documentis, non fidere seculo fragili, et spem tantum in Deo ponere, quem solum amittere inviti non possumus, salutarem sibi filioque scientiam induit; ut parvulum suum negligendo diligeret, et dimittendo retineret, firmius habitura absentem quem Domino commendasset, quam complexura praesentem si sibi credidisset. Imitata est, conditione qua potuit, Annae sterilis fidele votum: nam et istam damnosa fecunditas sterili proximam fecerat; et talis effici post evacuatam fecunditatem timens, qualis illa fuerat ante promeritam fecunditatem, diversum Deo munus simili dedicavit affectu. Ista de parto pignore, illa de concipiendo sollicita. Illa ut mater esse inciperet, haec ne esse desineret. Quod si ideo dissimile judicatur, quia non hujus ita ut illius filius in templo depositus serviat Domino, qui et opibus seculi utatur et honoribus; tamen e diverso compensatione pietatis et fidei videtur aequari: quia haec idem de semetipsa persolverit Domino, quod gloriosa Anna de filio. Illi enim votivus Samuel in plures partus postea repensatus est; huic unicus suus summa partuum, finis luctuum fuit. Illam mandato primogenito in statione templi, et alia domi pignora, et ipsius quamquam sacrati filii, non longinqua tamen discretio

9. Taught by these lessons not to trust the fragile world, and to place hope in God alone, whom alone we cannot lose against our will, she put on a knowledge saving for herself and for her son; so that she loved her little one by neglecting him, and kept him by letting him go, being sure to hold him more firmly absent, once she had commended him to the Lord, than she would embrace him present had she entrusted him to herself. She imitated, in the condition in which she could, the faithful vow of barren Hannah (1 Sam. 1:11): for a ruinous fruitfulness had made her too next to barren; and fearing to be made, after her fruitfulness was emptied, such as Hannah had been before she merited fruitfulness, she dedicated to God a different gift with a like affection. This one was anxious over a pledge already born, that one over a pledge to be conceived. That one, that she might begin to be a mother; this one, that she might not cease to be one. But if it is judged unlike for this reason, that her son is not, like Hannah's, placed in the temple to serve the Lord (1 Sam. 3:1), since he enjoys both the wealth and the honours of the world; yet, from the other side, she seems to be made equal by a recompense of devotion and faith: because she paid to the Lord in respect of herself the same that glorious Hannah paid in respect of her son. For to the one her vowed Samuel was afterwards repaid in many births; to the other her only son was the sum of her childbearing and the end of her mournings. For the one, when her firstborn had been committed to the service of the temple, both her other pledges at home and the separation from that son himself, consecrated though he was, being no great distance

Editors' notes and page, col. 317

Footnotes

Scripture references (printed under page 162)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 317

Deut. XXXII, 39; Psal. LXXVI, 10.

Deuteronomy 32:39; Psalm 76:10.

(printed under page 162)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 317

Apoc. III, 19.

Revelation 3:19.

(printed under page 162)

Act. IX, 8.

Acts 9:8.

(printed under page 162)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 317

Johan. V, 17, et IX, 4, et X, 25, et XII, 10, et XV, 24.

John 5:17; 9:4; 10:25; 12:10; 15:24.

(printed under page 162)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 317

Prov. III, 12.

Proverbs 3:12.

(printed under page 162)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 317

Heb. XII, 6; Apoc. III, 19.

Hebrews 12:6; Revelation 3:19.

(printed under page 162)

(g) ‹anchor: fidele votum› · call in col 317

I Reg. I, 11.

1 Kings (1 Samuel) 1:11.

(printed under page 162)

(h) ‹anchor: serviat Domino› · call in col 317

I Reg. III, 1.

1 Kings (1 Samuel) 3:1.

(printed under page 162)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 317

Psal. LIV, 23.

Psalm 54:23.

(printed under page 162)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 317

Ms. Reg. et edit. Bad. et Grav., luctuosa ambitu. Ed. Grin. lactuosa obitu.

The Royal manuscript and the Badius and Gravius editions have "luctuosa ambitu"; Grynaeus's edition has "lactuosa obitu" (as printed; read "luctuosa obitu", by a mournful death).

(printed under page 162)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 317

Ita reposuimus ex mss. codicibus Vat. et Vien. Alii, solatore.

So we have restored it from the Vatican and Vienna manuscripts. Others have "solatore".

(printed under page 162)

Sic emendatum ex ms. Vaticano codice. Ita quoque editi Grin., Schot. et Latinius. Alii codices, finiri.

So corrected from the Vatican manuscript. So also the editions of Grynaeus and Schott, and Latinius. Other manuscripts have "finiri".

(printed under page 162)

(d) ‹anchor: e diverso› · call in col 317

Ita correximus iuxta editionem Grin, faventibus ms. Vaticano, in quo compensatione... videtur aequa, et Sacchino qui legendum censet, compensatione... videatur aequari. Verissima lectio quam restituimus, quaeque confirmatur ex praecedentibus. Mss. codices Reg. et Vien., compensationem... vide adaequari. Ed. Rosv., compensationem videat aequari, mendose.

So we have corrected it following Grynaeus's edition, with the support of the Vatican manuscript, which has "compensatione... videtur aequa", and of Sacchini, who judges that one should read "compensatione... videatur aequari". The reading we have restored is the truest, and it is confirmed by what precedes. The Royal and Vienna manuscripts have "compensationem... vide adaequari"; Rosweyde's edition has "compensationem videat aequari", wrongly.

(printed under page 162)

Page

running head: 317 EPISTOLA XXI… (cut at the image edge; XXIX on the facing page)
marginal letters: A ‹coelestium nobis Domino›; B ‹tentationibus, ut patientia›; C ‹conditione qua potuit›; D ‹huic unicus suus›
old-edition numerals: 181 after ‹haec›

PL 61:318

solemnisque ad templum recurrendo visitatio consolabantur: ista, ut unicum suum a pectore suo abscidit, et in sinum Christi jactavit, ut eum ipse Dominus enutriret, nihil postea illi suae sollicitudinis dedit, diffidentiae peccatum judicans, si quem Christo commiserat, ipsa curasset. Quanta autem hoc fide fecerit, hinc perspici licet, quod in magna licet potentissimorum et clarorum propinquorum Romae copia, nemini parvulum suum verbo, ut dici solet, alendum, erudiendum, tuendum mandare dignata est. Tam certa fuit a Christo esse susceptum, et ideo meruit obtinere, quia frui noluit: et nunc revisere meruit per ejus fidei pietatem, qua semel relictum in Deo non desideraverat in hoc seculo. Itaque fecit illi magna qui potens est, majora praesumto donare credentibus. Ita huic ut filium et in hoc loco videret adjecit, sicut Salomoni, quia sapientiam petere elegisset, etiam ceteras opes quas non poposcerat, ob hoc ipsum quia non desideraverat, contulit. Remuneratus intellectum bonum, quo infimis summa praetulerat, minora majoribus superfudit. Ita ille meruit possessor omnium opum fieri, qui esse summarum petitor elegerat. Quo quidem omnes exemplo admonemur sapere, cum docemur eligere. Minora enim majoribus, et summis infima bona, id est, terrena coelestibus anteponentes: in poenam stultae cupiditatis, omni carebimus summo simul atque infimo bono; et illa juste non accepturi, quae non desideraverimus; et istis merito defraudandi, quorum amore noxio potiora neglexerimus. Sic et pater Abraham recepit oblatum Deo unicum, quia prompte obtulit postulatum. Suffecit Domino sacrificium pietatis in corde perfectum, et ob hoc interposita angeli manu jam vibrantem dexteram percussuri patris excipiens, subjecit victimae ovem subito praeparatam, ut nec Deo deforet hostia, nec patri filius. Simul ut mysterium in Christo complendum, quatenus imagini licebat, in Isaac exercitum, in ariete formaretur; cum et agnus ille ad formam Salvatoris in Aegypto postea immolandus, jam in sui generis pecore praetenderetur, hoc est, in eo ariete qui pro Isaac occurrit in victimam, ut pro Christo in figuram praecurreret. Itaque aries illi inventus est, cui non debebatur summa mysterii: sed ille occisus est, cui reservabatur perfectio sacramenti.

and the solemn visiting by returning to the temple consoled: this one, when she cut her only son from her breast and cast him into the bosom of Christ, that the Lord Himself might nourish him (Ps. 54:23), afterwards gave him none of her own care, judging it a sin of distrust if she herself had looked after one whom she had committed to Christ. With how great faith she did this may be seen from the fact that, although at Rome there was a great abundance of most powerful and illustrious kinsfolk, she did not deign to entrust her little one to anyone even by a word, as the saying is, to be fed, taught and protected. So certain was she that he had been taken up by Christ; and therefore she merited to keep him, because she would not enjoy him: and now she has merited to see him again through the devotion of that faith of hers, by which she had not longed for him in this world once she had left him in God. So He who is mighty has done great things for her (Luke 1:49; Eph. 3:20), He who gives to believers greater things than they presume. Thus He added to her that she should see her son even in this place, just as to Solomon, because he had chosen to ask for wisdom, He bestowed also the other riches which he had not asked for, for this very reason, that he had not desired them (2 Chr. 1:10; 1 Kgs. 3; Wis. 7:11). Rewarding the good understanding by which he had preferred the highest things to the lowest, He poured out the lesser on top of the greater. So he merited to become the possessor of all riches who had chosen to be a seeker of the highest. By this example indeed we are all admonished to be wise, since we are taught to choose. For if we set the lesser goods before the greater, and the lowest before the highest, that is, earthly before heavenly: as the penalty of foolish covetousness we shall lack every good, the highest and the lowest alike; justly not to receive the one, which we have not desired; and deservedly to be cheated of the other, for love of which we have hurtfully neglected the better. So too father Abraham received back the only son offered to God (Genesis), because he promptly offered him when he was asked for. The sacrifice of devotion completed in the heart sufficed for the Lord, and for this reason, catching by the interposed hand of an angel the right hand of the father, already brandished to strike, He put in place of the victim a sheep suddenly made ready, so that neither should God lack an offering nor the father a son. At the same time, that the mystery to be fulfilled in Christ, so far as an image permitted, might be rehearsed in Isaac and shaped in the ram; since that lamb too which was afterwards to be sacrificed in Egypt after the pattern of the Saviour (Exod. 12:3) was already foreshown in a beast of its own kind, that is, in that ram which came to hand as a victim in place of Isaac, so that it might run before as a figure in place of Christ. And so the ram was found for him to whom the fullness of the mystery was not owed: but He was slain for whom the perfecting of the sacrament was reserved.

10. Multa illi et in ipsius hujus militiae rudimentis adversus draconem invidum fuere certamina: non enim passa est lividi hostis invidia facili illam et pacato abire digressu; sed tota nobilium propinquorum

10. Many too were her contests against the envious dragon in the very first trainings of this warfare: for the envy of the spiteful enemy did not allow her to depart by an easy and peaceable leaving; but the whole [company] of her noble kinsfolk

Editors' notes and page, col. 318

Footnotes

(j) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 318

Luc. I, 49; Ephes. III, 20.

Luke 1:49; Ephesians 3:20.

(printed under page 162)

(k) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 318

II Par. I, 10; III Reg. III, 23; Sap. VII, 11.

2 Chronicles 1:10; 3 Kings (1 Kings) 3:23; Wisdom 7:11.

(printed under page 162)

(l) ‹anchor: oblatum Deo unicum› · call in col 318

Genes. XXII.

Genesis 22.

(printed under page 162)

(m) ‹anchor: postea immolandus› · call in col 318

Exod. XII, 3.

Exodus 12:3.

Editors' notes (printed under page 162)

(e) ‹anchor: potiora› · call in col 318

Mss. Reg. et Vatic., negligimus

The Royal and Vatican manuscripts have "negligimus" (we neglect).

(printed under page 162)

Page

running head: EPISTOLA XXIX 318
marginal letters: A ‹20, n. 1), solemnisque›; B ‹dentibus. Ita huic›; C ‹et pater Abraham›; D ‹10. Multa illi›
old-edition numerals: 182 after ‹quatenus›

PL 61:319

potentia ad retinendum armata, propositum impedire, et eunti obstare conatus est. Sed illa ultra virtutem tentationum jam confortata, et corporea et pietatis vincula, et navem cunctis flentibus laeta solvit: constanterque congressa fluctibus maris, ne tantum seculi fluctus vinceret, navigavit; et simul seculum orbemque commutans, urbem Hierusalem spiritali dono, in qua a corpore peregrinaretur, elegit, exsul civium, et civis effecta sanctorum. Prudenter et sancte in ista voluit servire quae servit, ut in illa possit regnare quae libera est.

power, armed to hold her back, tried to hinder her purpose and to block her going. But she, already strengthened beyond the force of temptations, joyfully loosed both the bonds of the body and of family affection, and the ship, while all wept: and, steadfastly engaging the waves of the sea, she sailed, so as not only to overcome the waves of the world; and, exchanging world and region at once, she chose the city of Jerusalem by a spiritual gift, in which to be a pilgrim from the body, made an exile from her fellow citizens and a fellow citizen of the saints (Eph. 2:19). Wisely and holily she chose to serve in this [city] which is in bondage, that she might be able to reign in that which is free.

11. De multis tamen in illa virtutibus Dei unam saltem, de qua ejus omnia aestimentur opera, praedicabo. Tempore illo Valentis, quando Ecclesiam Dei vivi furor Arianorum rege ipso impietatis satellite persequebatur, haec erat princeps vel particeps cunctis pro fide instantibus. Haec fugatos recipiebat, aut apprehensos comitabatur: sed cum eos recepisset in latebram, qui propter insignem fidem, majore et haereticorum odio infestabantur, et occultantium detegebantur invidia, gravi tunc seditione diabolicis facibus inflammata, quasi contra legem publicam contumax protrahi ac pati jussa est, quae illos manebant, nisi prodere maluisset. Processit impavide cupida passionis, et injuria publicationis exsultans, quamvis non exspectasset trahi, tracturos antevolans ad judicem: qui confusus veneratione praesentis, non exsecutus est infidelitatis iram, dum fidei miratur audaciam. Eadem tempestate per triduum quinque millia monachorum latentium panibus suis pavit, ut per ejus manum iterum Dominus Jesus pristinum numerum in deserto pasceret, tanto quidem tunc impensiore clementia, quanto minore licentia fovebantur occulti, quam illi quondam, qui ad Dominum voluntarie in libertate et pace convenerant. Sed haec nec timida deprehendi, interdictum secura praebebat officium; nec volens gloria operationis agnosci, tamen operis magnitudine prodebatur: totidem apud homines testimoniis gloriosa, quot pastis Deo conscia. Quid haec meriti habeant aestimemus? Cum in historia Regnorum ille celebretur, qui absconditos ab ira aeque impii regis centum viros Dei pavit, dubitandum est, hanc in opere simili saepe millies hunc numerum supergressam fructum fecisse centesimum.

11. Yet of the many powers of God in her I will proclaim at least one, from which all her works may be judged. In that time of Valens, when the fury of the Arians, with the king himself as the henchman of impiety, was persecuting the Church of the living God, she was leader or sharer to all who stood firm for the faith. She took in those who were put to flight, or accompanied those who were seized: but when she had received into hiding those who, because of their outstanding faith, were harassed by the greater hatred of the heretics and were being betrayed by the ill will of those who had concealed them, [and] when a grievous sedition had then been kindled by the devil's torches, she was ordered, as one contumacious against the public law, to be dragged forth and to suffer what awaited them, unless she preferred to betray them. She went forth fearlessly, eager for suffering, and exulting in the wrong of being publicly exposed; though she had not waited to be dragged, she flew ahead of those who would drag her to the judge: who, confounded by reverence for her presence, did not carry out the anger of unbelief, while he marvelled at the boldness of faith. In the same storm she fed for three days with her own loaves five thousand monks in hiding, so that through her hand the Lord Jesus fed again in the desert the former number (Matt. 14:21), with all the more lavish mercy then, by as much as those in hiding were sustained with less freedom than those who once came together to the Lord willingly in liberty and peace. But she, neither fearing to be caught, rendered without fear a forbidden service; nor, though unwilling to be known for the glory of her working, was she yet any the less betrayed by the greatness of the work: glorious among men in as many testimonies as there were men fed, known to God. What merit, let us reckon, do these things have? When in the history of the Kingdoms he is celebrated who fed a hundred men of God hidden from the anger of a king likewise impious (1 Kgs. 18:13), is it to be doubted that she, in a like work having often passed this number a thousandfold, has borne the hundredfold fruit (Matt. 13:8)?

12. Reliqua nunc ejus negotia ac tempora transilibo, et hoc ipsum quo remeans navigavit, ut cursum ipsius aemuler, transfretabo, quo citius sermonem meum in ejus ad nos adventu exponendo determinem, in quo magnae Dei gratiae spectator fui.

12. Her other doings and times I will now leap over, and this very [sea] across which she sailed on her return I will cross, to emulate her course, so that I may the sooner bring my discourse to an end in setting out her coming to us, in which I was a spectator of the great grace of God.

Editors' notes and page, col. 319

Footnotes

Scripture references (printed under page 163)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 319

Ephes. II, 19.

Ephesians 2:19.

(printed under page 163)

(b) ‹anchor: in deserto pasceret› · call in col 319

Matth. XIV, 21.

Matthew 14:21.

(printed under page 163)

III Reg. XVIII, 13.

3 Kings (1 Kings) 18:13.

(printed under page 163)

(d) ‹anchor: fecisse centesimum› · call in col 319

Matth. XIII, 8.

Matthew 13:8.

(printed under page 163)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 319

Sic mss. Vatic. et Vien. cum ed. Grin. At editi Bad., Grav. et Sacchin., corpore. Alii, corporeae.

So the Vatican and Vienna manuscripts, with Grynaeus's edition. But the editions of Badius, Gravius and Sacchini have "corpore"; others have "corporeae".

(printed under page 163)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 319

Ita ms. Vaticanus codex. Alii, tegebantur.

So the Vatican manuscript. Others have "tegebantur" (were covered).

(printed under page 163)

Page

running head: 319 S. PAULINI NOLANI EP… (cut at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹potentia ad retinendum›; B ‹persequebatur, haec erat›; C ‹per ejus manum iterum›; D ‹libo, et hoc ipsum›
old-edition numerals: 183 after ‹timida›

PL 61:320

Neapolim urbem brevi spatio a Nolana, qua degimus, civitate distinctam advecta est, ubi filiorum nepotumque occursu excepta, mox Nolam ad humilitatis nostrae hospitium festinavit: quo nobis advenit ambitioso ditissimorum pignorum vallata comitatu. Vidimus gloriam Domini in illo matris et filiorum itinere quidem uno, sed longe dispari cultu: macro illam et viliore asellis burico sedentem tota hujus seculi pompa, qua honorati et opulenti poterant circumflui senatores prosequebantur, carrucis nutantibus, phaleratis equis, auratis pilentis, et carpentis pluribus, gemente Appia atque fulgente: sed splendoribus vanitatis praelucebat Christianae humilitatis gratia. Admirabantur divites pauperem sanctam: at illos nostra pauperies ridebat. Vidimus dignam Deo hujus mundi confusionem, purpuream, sericam, auratamque supellectilem pannis veteribus et nigris servientem. Benediximus Dominum, qui humiles et excelsos facit sapientes, esurientes implet bonis, et divites dimittit inanes. In istis tamen divitibus eadem die de maternis bonis pauperem spiritum stupebamus, qui magis sancta matris inopia quam sua visibili abundantia gloriabantur. Idipsum autem gloria Domini videbatur operari, quod egenulae nostrae divitias in ejus filiis intuebamur; ut jam hinc fructum fidei suae caperet, cum victoriam suam de hujus seculi vanitate ipsa despectaret, cominus videns omnia quae propter Christum reliquerat, et contemnere perseverarat. Illi sericati, et pro suo quisque sexu toga aut stola soliti splendere filii, crassam illam velut spartei staminis tunicam; et vile palliolum gaudebant manu tangere, et vestimenta sua velleribus, auro, arte pretiosa, pedibus ejus substernere, pannisque conterere gestiebant; expiari se a divitiarum suarum contagio judicantes, si quam de vilissimo ejus habitu, aut vestigio sordem colligere mererentur.

she was carried to the city of Naples, separated by a short distance from the city of Nola, where we live; there, received by the meeting of her sons and grandsons, she soon hastened to Nola, to the lodging of our lowliness: and she came to us hedged about by an ostentatious retinue of her very wealthy children. We saw the glory of the Lord in that journey of the mother and her children, one journey indeed, but in far unequal array: her, seated on a lean pony of less worth than donkeys, the senators, as many as were in office and wealthy, escorted, flowing round her with the whole pomp of this world, with swaying carriages, caparisoned horses, gilded litters and many coaches, while the Appian [Way] groaned and glittered: but the grace of Christian humility outshone the splendours of vanity. The rich wondered at the poor saint: but our poverty laughed at them. We saw a confounding of this world worthy of God, furnishings of purple, of silk and of gold in the service of old black rags. We blessed the Lord, who makes the lowly and the lofty wise (1 Sam. 2:7), fills the hungry with good things, and sends the rich away empty (Luke 1:53). Yet in these rich men, on that same day, we were amazed at a spirit made poor by their mother's goods, who gloried more in the holy want of their mother than in their own visible abundance. And the glory of the Lord seemed to be working this very thing, that we beheld the riches of our poor little one in her sons; so that she might already from this reap the fruit of her faith, when she herself looked down on her victory over the vanity of this world, seeing close at hand all that she had left for Christ's sake and had persevered in despising. Those sons, clad in silk, and accustomed each according to sex to shine in toga or in stole, rejoiced to touch with their hand that coarse tunic, as if of rush thread, and the cheap little cloak, and they eagerly longed to spread their garments, precious with fleece, gold and craftsmanship, under her feet, and to wear them out as rags; judging themselves cleansed from the contagion of their riches if they merited to gather any dirt from her most mean dress or from her footprint.

13. Tugurium vero nostrum, quod a terra suspensum coenaculo, una porticu cellulis hospitalibus interposita, longius tenditur, quasi dilatatum gratia Domini non solum sanctis, qui illam plurimi comitabantur, sed etiam divitum illorum catervis non incapaces angustias praebuit: in quo personis puerorum ac virginum choris vicina Dominaedii nostri Felicis culmina resultabant. Neque e diverso habitationis ejusdem, dissoni licet proposito, hospites obstrepebant; sed et in illis religiosa modestia imitabatur nostrae silentium disciplinae; ut si dissimularent concinere vigilantibus, pigro ventre sopiti, tamen non

13. Our hut, however, which, raised from the ground as an upper room, stretches out lengthwise with a single portico set between the little guest cells, as if widened by the grace of the Lord, afforded a narrowness not too small to hold not only the saints, who accompanied her in great numbers, but even the troops of those rich men: in it the neighbouring roofs of our lord Felix rang back to the choirs of boys and maidens, sounding together. Nor did the guests on the other side of the same dwelling, though of a discordant way of life, make an uproar; but in them too a religious modesty imitated the silence of our discipline; so that, if, put to sleep by a sluggish belly, they neglected to sing with those keeping vigil, yet not

Editors' notes and page, col. 320

Footnotes

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 320

I Reg. II, 7.

1 Kings (1 Samuel) 2:7.

(printed under page 163)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 320

Luc. I, 53.

Luke 1:53.

Editors' notes (printed under page 163)

Sic emendavimus ex ms. codice Viennensi: id est unici filii nepotumque duorum Melaniae superstitum, ut testatur Palladius in Lausiaca cap. 117. Alii codices mendose, filiarum. Correctionem nostram praeterea antecedentia et subsequentia confirmant. Vide epist. 45 ad Augustinum, num. 2.

So we have corrected it from the Vienna manuscript: that is, of Melania's only surviving son and her two grandsons, as Palladius testifies in the Lausiac History, ch. 117. Other manuscripts have "filiarum" (of daughters), wrongly. What goes before and after confirms our correction besides. See Letter 45, to Augustine, no. 2.

(printed under page 163)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 320

Vox sapientes abest a ms. codice Vien.

The word "sapientes" is missing from the Vienna manuscript.

(printed under page 163)

(e) ‹anchor: et contemnere› · call in col 320

Mss. Reg. et Vien., perseverat. Legerem, perseverabat.

The Royal and Vienna manuscripts have "perseverat". I would read "perseverabat".

(printed under page 163)

(f) ‹anchor: pannisque› · call in col 320

Ita ms. Vatic. et Sacchin. tacente ms. Regio. Ms. Vien., conteri. Alii, contegere.

So the Vatican manuscript and Sacchini, the Royal manuscript being silent. The Vienna manuscript has "conteri"; others have "contegere".

(printed under page 163)

(g) ‹anchor: coenaculo,› · call in col 320

Sic mss. Reg. et Vien. codices cum editis 4. Ed. Rosv., coenaculo uno, porticu.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscripts, with four editions. Rosweyde's edition has "coenaculo uno, porticu" (by one upper room, by a portico).

(printed under page 163)

(h) ‹anchor: illorum catervis non› · call in col 320

Mss. Reg. et Vien. cum ed. Grav., non capaces, male. Vide praecedentia.

The Royal and Vienna manuscripts, with Gravius's edition, have "non capaces", wrongly. See what precedes.

(printed under page 163)

Page

running head: S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 320
marginal letters: A ‹Neapolim urbem brevi›; B ‹nostra pauperies ridebat›; C ‹aut stola soliti›; D ‹nis ejusdem›
old-edition numerals: 184 after ‹tangere,›

PL 61:321

auderent piis vocibus dissonare, fideli timore compositi: quo placitis psallentium vocibus compresso secularium turbarum tumultu, etiam taciti concinebant. Verum ut ad perfectam Domini columbam recurram, scito nunc istam tantam in sexu infirmitatis virtutem Dei, cui refectio in jejunio, requies in oratione, panis in verbo, habitus in panno, lectus in sagulo et centone, durus in terra fit mollis in littera, qua rigidi cubilis injuriam mitigat lectionis voluptas; et sanctae animae in Domino vigilare, requiescere est. Hanc ergo filia Sion hactenus habuit et desiderat, nunc filia Babylonis habet et admiratur: quia jam et ipsa urbs in pluribus filia Sion est, quam filia Babylonis; et ideo miratur in humilitatis obscuro et veritatis luce viventem, et fidei incitamenta divitibus, angustiarum solatia pauperibus ministrantem; quamquam illa quietis et latebrae suae apud Hierusalem in Romanis modo turbis aestuans, clamet: Heu me! quod incolatus meus prolongatus est. Ideone dilata sum, ut nunc habitarem cum habitantibus Cedar? Hoc enim nomine apud Hebraeos, ut comperi, significatur obscuritas. Quare ita illi gratulandum de memoratis virtutibus puto, ut de praesenti sede timeatur, ut tam insignis anima plus Romae conferat quam de Roma trahat: et sic sedeat super flumina Babylonis, ut recordetur Sion; et organo corporis sui suspenso ab inimicae omnibus Babylonis insidiis et illecebris, in sui propositi tenore, velut in salicibus genuino semper humore viventibus constituta virere non desinat; et permanente fidei constantia, virtutisque gratia, folium ejus non defluat: ut sicut vita ejus in itinere adspectatur, ita et laus in exitu canatur.

dared to clash with the holy voices, composed by a faithful fear: so that, the tumult of the worldly crowds being hushed by the pleasing voices of those singing psalms, they too sang along in silence. But to return to the Lord's perfect dove, know now that this so great power of God in the sex of weakness, whose refreshment is in fasting, rest in prayer, bread in the word, clothing in a rag, bed in a cloak and a patchwork quilt, though hard on the ground becomes soft in letters, by which the pleasure of reading soothes the harshness of a rigid couch; and for a holy soul to keep watch in the Lord is to rest. Her, then, the daughter of Zion has had until now and longs for; now the daughter of Babylon has her and marvels at her: because even that city itself is now in more people the daughter of Zion than the daughter of Babylon; and therefore it marvels at her living in the obscurity of humility and the light of truth, and ministering incitements of faith to the rich and consolations in hardship to the poor; although she, chafing now amid the Roman crowds for her quiet and her hiding place at Jerusalem, cries out: Woe is me! that my sojourning is prolonged. Was I sent away for this, that now I should dwell with the dwellers of Kedar (Ps. 119:5)? For by this name among the Hebrews, as I have learned, darkness is signified. Wherefore I think she is to be congratulated on the virtues I have recounted in such a way that there is fear for her present abode, that so outstanding a soul may bring more to Rome than she draws from Rome: and that she may so sit upon the rivers of Babylon as to remember Zion (Ps. 136:1); and, the instrument of her body hung up away from all the snares and allurements of hostile Babylon, set in the course of her purpose as among willows always living by their native moisture, she may not cease to be green; and with an abiding constancy of faith and grace of virtue, her leaf may not fall (Ps. 1:3): so that as her life is watched on the journey, so her praise may also be sung at the going out (Ps. 113:1).

14. Non tuli, frater, ut te ista nesciret. Ut gratiam in te Dei plenius nosceret, tuo te illi magis quam meo sermone patefeci. Martinum enim nostrum illi studiosissimae talium historiarum ipse recitavi. Quo genere te et venerabili episcopo atque doctissimo Nicetae, qui ex Dacia Romanis merito admirandus advenerat, et plurimis Dei sanctis in veritate non magis tui praedicator quam mei jactans, revelavi. Gloria enim mihi est diligi te et amari, quem famulum veritatis consona linguae vita testatur. Det nobis in illa die misericordiam Dominus a Domino, per hanc gratiam cujus ipse autor est; ut sicut nunc in visceribus caritatis tuae refrigeramur, ita ab ignibus meritis in tuae sortis digito refrigeremur. Spero enim habebimus, indulgente Domino, ut amantissimi tui, de justitia tua suffragium, etsi indigni coronae non audeamus sperare consortium.

14. I could not bear, brother, that she should not know these things about you. That she might know more fully the grace of God in you, I disclosed you to her by your own words rather than mine. For I myself read our Martin aloud to her, most eager as she is for such histories. In this way I revealed you also to the venerable and most learned bishop Niceta, who had come from Dacia, rightly to be admired by the Romans, and to very many saints of God, in truth not more as your herald than as boasting of myself. For it is glory to me that you are loved and cherished, whom a life in harmony with your tongue attests as a servant of the truth. May the Lord grant us mercy from the Lord in that day (2 Tim. 1:18), through this grace of which He Himself is the author; so that, as we are now refreshed in the bowels of your charity, so from the fires we have deserved we may be refreshed by the finger of your lot (Luke 16:24). For I hope that, by the Lord's indulgence, we shall have, as those who most love you, the support of your righteousness, even if, unworthy, we dare not hope for a share in your crown.

Editors' notes and page, col. 321

Footnotes

Scripture references (printed under page 164)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 321

Psal. CXIX, 5.

Psalm 119:5.

(printed under page 164)

(b) ‹anchor: ut recordetur Sion› · call in col 321

Psal. CXXXVI, 1.

Psalm 136:1.

(printed under page 164)

Psal. I, 3.

Psalm 1:3.

(printed under page 164)

(d) ‹anchor: in exitu canatur› · call in col 321

Psal. CXIII, 1.

Psalm 113:1.

(printed under page 164)

(e) ‹anchor: Dominus a Domino› · call in col 321

II Tim. I, 18.

2 Timothy 1:18.

(printed under page 164)

(f) ‹anchor: digito refrigeremur› · call in col 321

Luc. XVI, 24.

Luke 16:24.

(printed under page 164)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 321 or 322

Act. XXVI, 24.

Acts 26:24.

(printed under page 164)

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 321 or 322

I Cor. I, 23.

1 Corinthians 1:23.

(printed under page 164)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 321

Ms. Reg. et edd. Bad., Grav. et Schot., voluntas: quae lectio Sacchino non displicet, ut ep. 12... meditandae in lege voluntas.

The Royal manuscript and the editions of Badius, Gravius and Schott have "voluntas" (will); a reading Sacchini does not dislike, as in Letter 12, "... meditandae in lege voluntas" (the will to meditate on the law).

(printed under page 164)

(b) ‹anchor: Martinum enim nostrum› · call in col 321

Sic Paulinus epist. 11 ad eumdem Severum, n. 11, enarrare Martinum. Ms. Vien., artini enim nostri, illi studiosissimae talium, historiam ipse recitavi. Vide not. 132.

So Paulinus in Letter 11 to the same Severus, no. 11: "to tell of Martin". The Vienna manuscript has "artini [sic] enim nostri, illi studiosissimae talium, historiam ipse recitavi" (I myself read the history of our Martin to her, who is most eager for such things). See note 132.

(printed under page 164)