PL 61 · cols. 322–329

Paulinus of Nola, Letters

Letters XXX–XXXI

EPISTOLA XXX

LETTER XXX

Sancto fratri et unanimo SEVERO PAULINUS.

Paulinus to his holy and like-minded brother Severus.

1. Beato Apostolo dictum est: Multae litterae te ad insaniam perduxerunt. In quo illorum vera insania apparet, quibus sapientia Dei, quam Paulus loquebatur, stultitia erat: quia vacui fide veritatis intelligere non merebantur sapientiam Dei Christum. At ego quamvis propitio Christo ab illorum persona discrepem, quorum infidelitati insanire ille sanitatis magister videbatur: tamen unanimitatis licentia, quae mihi tecum de unanimitate fidei est arctior, usurpabo verbi, non animi similitudinem, ut dicam: Severe, mi Severe, multa te caritas pene delirum facit, et circa me, non aetate, sed sensu parvulum tuum, tamquam avus circa serum nepotem, nimia pietate, quod tamen pace prudentiae tuae dixerim, stultus efficeris.

1. To the blessed Apostle it was said: Much learning has driven you to madness (Acts 26:24). In which the true madness of those people is plain, to whom the wisdom of God, which Paul spoke, was foolishness (1 Cor. 1:23): because, empty of the faith of truth, they did not deserve to understand Christ, the wisdom of God. But I, although by Christ's favour I differ from the character of those to whose unbelief that master of sanity seemed to be mad: yet by the licence of our oneness of mind, which is the closer between you and me from the oneness of our faith, I will borrow a likeness of the words, not of the mind, so as to say: Severus, my Severus, much charity makes you almost raving, and towards me, your little one not in age but in understanding, like a grandfather towards a late-born grandson, you are made foolish by excessive affection, if I may say so with the leave of your prudence.

2. Quid enim tibi de illa petitione respondeam, qua imagines nostras pingi tibi mittique jussisti? Obsecro itaque per viscera caritatis, quae amoris veri solatia de inanibus formis petis? qualem cupis ut mittamus imaginem tibi? terreni hominis, an coelestis? Scio quia tu illam incorruptibilem speciem concupiscis, quam in te Rex coelestis adamavit. Neque enim alia potest tibi a nobis necessaria esse, quam illa forma ad quam ipse formatus es, qua proximum juxta te diligas, nulloque te nobis excellere velis, ne quid inter nos inaequale videatur. Sed pauper ego, et dolens, quia adhuc terrenae imaginis squalore concretus sum, et plus de primo quam de secundo Adam carneis sensibus et terrenis actibus refero, quomodo tibi audebo me pingere, cum coelestis imaginem inficiari prober corruptione terrena? Utrimque me concludit pudor: erubesco pingere quod sum, non audeo pingere quod non sum: odi quod sum, et non sum quod amo. Sed quid mihi misero proderit odisse iniquitatem et amare virtutem, cum id potius agam quod odi, nec elaborem piger id potius agere quod amo? Ipse discors mei intestino bello distrahor, dum spiritus adversus carnem, et caro adversus spiritum dimicat; et lex corporis lege peccati legem mentis impugnat. Infelix ego! qui venenatum inimicae arboris gustum nec crucis ligno digessi: durat enim mihi illud ab Adam virus paternum, quo universitatem generis sui pater praevaricatus infecit: ut qui naturali bono oculos mentis apertos innocentiae et iniquitati clausos habebam, letalem prudentiam

2. For what am I to answer you about that request in which you bade our portraits be painted and sent to you? I beseech you, then, by the bowels of charity, what consolations of true love are you seeking from empty shapes? What sort of image do you desire us to send you? Of the earthly man, or of the heavenly (1 Cor. 15:47)? I know that you long for that incorruptible beauty which the heavenly King has loved in you. For no other [image] can be needful to you from us than that form to which you yourself have been formed, by which you love your neighbour as yourself, and wish to excel us in nothing, lest anything between us should seem unequal. But I, poor and sorrowing (Ps. 68:30), since I am still caked with the squalor of the earthly image, and recall more of the first than of the second Adam in fleshly senses and earthly deeds, how shall I dare to paint myself for you, when I am proved by earthly corruption to deny the image of the heavenly? On both sides shame shuts me in: I blush to paint what I am, I dare not paint what I am not: I hate what I am, and I am not what I love. But what will it profit me, wretch that I am, to hate iniquity and love virtue, when I rather do what I hate, and, sluggish, do not labour rather to do what I love? I myself, at discord with myself, am torn apart by civil war, while the spirit fights against the flesh, and the flesh against the spirit (Gal. 5:17); and the law of the body, by the law of sin, wars against the law of the mind (Rom. 7). Unhappy that I am! who have not digested the poisoned taste of the hostile tree even by the wood of the cross: for there endures in me that father's venom from Adam, with which the father, by his transgression, infected the whole of his race (Gen. 3:6): so that I, who by a natural good had the eyes of my mind open to innocence and closed to iniquity, a deadly prudence

Editors' notes and page, col. 322

Footnotes

(i) ‹anchor: an coelestis› · call in col 322

I Cor. XV, 47.

1 Corinthians 15:47.

(printed under page 164)

(j) ‹anchor: pauper ego, et dolens› · call in col 322

Psal. LXVIII, 30.

Psalm 68:30.

(printed under page 164)

(k) ‹anchor: spiritum dimicat› · call in col 322

Gal. V, 17.

Galatians 5:17.

(printed under page 164)

(l) ‹anchor: mentis impugnat› · call in col 322

Rom. VII, 23.

Romans 7:23 (the verse numeral is unclear on the scan).

(printed under page 164)

(m) ‹anchor: praevaricatus infecit› · call in col 322

Gen. III, 6.

Genesis 3:6.

Editors' notes (*) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of the new letter)› · call in col 321 or 322 Alias 8; quae autem 30 erat, nunc 39. Scripta anno 402

Formerly 8; and the one that was 30 is now 39. Written in the year 402.

(printed under page 164)

Sic emendavimus ex ms. Regio codice et editis quatuor. Edit. Rosv., aetatem

So we have corrected it from the Royal manuscript and four editions. Rosweyde's edition has "aetatem" (age).

(printed under page 164)

Editors' prose

Imaginem Paulini Severus postulaverat. Castigata illius immoderata benevolentia, occasione ejusmodi petitionis, quam ingeniose eludit, de homine interiore atque exteriore disputat.

Severus had asked for a portrait of Paulinus. Having rebuked his friend's immoderate goodwill, he takes occasion from this request, which he cleverly sidesteps, to discourse on the inner and the outer man.

Page

running head: EPISTOLA XXX. 322
marginal letters: A ‹EPISTOLA XXX›; B ‹fidei est arctior›; C ‹te diligas, nulloque›; D ‹mentis impugnat›
old-edition numerals: 186 after ‹mittamus›

PL 61:323

boni malique delectu, de infausto nemoris (id est arboris, seu fructus) interdicti cibo caecatus pariter et male luminatus haurirem.

in the choosing of good and evil, I should drink in, blinded and at the same time ill-enlightened, from the forbidden food of the ill-omened grove (that is, of the tree, or fruit).

3. Atque utinam hoc saltem remedio crimen illicitae concupiscentiae diluissem, ut accepta per gustum nocentem boni et mali scientia, bonum potius elegissem! praesertim cum salutare consilium Dei suadentis audissem, ut aqua et igne, vita et morte propositis, ad aquam potius manum mitterem et vitae munus eligerem. Sed de insipientiae crimine mihi culpa crevit audaciae, quod cum et boni et mali electum accepissem, malui quod nocebat appetere. Quae ergo misero mihi suppetit venia peccati, cui ignorantiae excusatio non remansit? Agnovi bonum, et feci malum; cum aeque mihi liberum esset bonum facere, nisi utilitatem animae contemsissem vitio voluntatis: qua id quod non expediebat admisi, dum non tempero quod licebat. Propterea juste illos innocentiae oculos, quibus malum non videbam, perdidi; et istos invicem, quibus peccatum agnoscitur in poenam conscientiae, iniquitatis accepi.

3. And would that by this remedy at least I had washed away the crime of unlawful desire, so that, having received through tasting the harmful knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:9), I had rather chosen the good! especially since I had heard the saving counsel of God persuading me that, with water and fire, life and death set before me, I should rather stretch out my hand to the water and choose the gift of life. But from the crime of folly the guilt of rashness grew upon me, in that, though I had received the choice of both good and evil, I preferred to seek what was harmful. What pardon for sin, then, is at hand for wretched me, for whom no excuse of ignorance remained? I knew the good, and did the evil; though I was equally free to do good, had I not despised the profit of my soul through a fault of the will: by which I committed what was not expedient, while I do not keep measure in what was permitted. Therefore I justly lost those eyes of innocence, by which I did not see evil; and in their place I received these eyes of iniquity, by which sin is recognized, to the punishment of conscience.

4. Nam et vidisse primos generis humani parentes, et non vidisse, Scriptura declarat. Vidit enim mulier arborem quia bonu ad manducandum, et grata erat oculis ad videndum. Vidit, inquit: ergo habebat oculos. Et quid deinde subtexit? Cum manducassent, inquit, aperti sunt oculi eorum. Ergo caeci fuerant? Unde advertimus? Quoniam non potest in eodem corpore simul convenire caecitas et visus oculorum. Sed certe est quoddam caecum in nobis etiam videntibus, et e contrario etiam in caecis videns. Propter quod arbitror illud a Domino esse dictum: In judicium ego veni in hunc mundum, ut qui non vident, videant; et qui vident, caeci fiant. Venit enim in hunc mundum quaerere quod perierat, et reluminare quod caecatum fuerat. Denique hujus medici egens homo in Propheta clamat: Illumina tenebras meas, Domine. Etenim misericors et miserator Dominus, qui in tenebris caecitatis humanae lumen exortum est, ut erigeret elisos, solveret compeditos, illuminaret caecos; quomodo caecandis videntibus venerat? Atqui in Evangelio docemur illum multis caecis visum redonasse, nemini sustulisse. Sed sicut scriptum est in lege: Ego occidam, et ego vivere faciam: sicut etiam in Evangelio, quia ipse positus est in ruinam, et in resurrectionem multorum; ita et illud est: In judicium veni in hunc mundum, ut qui non vident videant, et videntes caeci fiant. Venit ergo Dominus ut vetera transirent, et nova orirentur. Et impletum

4. For Scripture declares that the first parents of the human race both saw and did not see. For the woman saw the tree, that it was good to eat, and pleasing to the eyes to behold (Gen. 3:6). She saw, it says: therefore she had eyes. And what does it then add? When they had eaten, it says, their eyes were opened (Gen. 3:7). Had they, then, been blind? How do we come to see this? Because blindness and sight of the eyes cannot meet together in the same body. But surely there is something blind in us even when we see, and, on the contrary, something seeing even in the blind. For this reason I think that saying was spoken by the Lord: For judgement I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind (John 9:39). For He came into this world to seek what had perished (Luke 19:10), and to give light again to what had been blinded (John 8:12). Accordingly man, in need of this physician, cries out in the Prophet: Illumine my darkness, O Lord (Ps. 17:29). For the merciful and compassionate Lord, Who has risen as a light in the darkness of human blindness (Ps. 111:4), to raise up the crushed, to loose the fettered, to give light to the blind (Ps. 145:8): how had He come to blind those who see? Yet in the Gospel we are taught that He gave back sight to many blind (Luke 7:21), and took it from none. But as it is written in the law: I will kill, and I will make to live (Deut. 32:39); as also in the Gospel, that He Himself is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many (Luke 2:34); so too is that saying: For judgement I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind (John 9:39). The Lord came, then, that the old things might pass away and the new arise (Rev. 21:5). And fulfilled

Editors' notes and page, col. 323

Footnotes

Scripture references (printed under page 165)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323

Gen. II, 9.

Genesis 2:9.

(printed under page 165)

(b) ‹anchor: oculis ad videndum› · call in col 323

Gen. III, 6, sec. LXX.

Genesis 3:6, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 165)

Ibid., 7.

The same, 3:7.

(printed under page 165)

(d) ‹anchor: caeci fiant› · call in col 323

Johan. IX, 39.

John 9:39.

(printed under page 165)

(e) ‹anchor: quod perierat› · call in col 323

Luc. XIX, 10.

Luke 19:10.

(printed under page 165)

(f) ‹anchor: caecatum fuerat› · call in col 323

Johan. VIII, 12.

John 8:12.

(printed under page 165)

(g) ‹anchor: tenebras meas, Domine› · call in col 323

Psal. XVII, 29.

Psalm 17:29.

(printed under page 165)

(h) ‹anchor: lumen exortum est› · call in col 323

Psal. CXI, 4.

Psalm 111:4.

(printed under page 165)

(i) ‹anchor: ut erigeret elisos› · call in col 323

Psal. CXLV, 8.

Psalm 145:8.

(printed under page 165)

(j) ‹anchor: illuminaret caecos› · call in col 323

Luc. VII, 21.

Luke 7:21.

(printed under page 165)

(k) ‹anchor: vivere faciam› · call in col 323

Deut. XXXII, 39.

Deuteronomy 32:39.

(printed under page 165)

(l) ‹anchor: in resurrectionem multorum› · call in col 323

Luc. II, 34.

Luke 2:34.

(printed under page 165)

(m) ‹anchor: videntes caeci fiant› · call in col 323

Johan. IX, 39.

John 9:39.

(printed under page 165)

(n) ‹anchor: nova orirentur› · call in col 323

Apoc. XXI, 5.

Revelation 21:5.

(printed under page 165)

(o) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323 or 324

Deut. XXXII, 39.

Deuteronomy 32:39.

(printed under page 165)

(p) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323 or 324

Col. II, 15.

Colossians 2:15.

(printed under page 165)

(q) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323 or 324

Eph. II, 6.

Ephesians 2:6.

(printed under page 165)

(r) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323 or 324

Psal. CXVIII, 37.

Psalm 118:37.

(printed under page 165)

(s) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323 or 324

Col. III, 9.

Colossians 3:9.

(printed under page 165)

(t) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323 or 324

Psal. CII, 5.

Psalm 102:5.

(printed under page 165)

(u) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323 or 324

Psal. LXXVI, 11.

Psalm 76:11.

(printed under page 165)

(v) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323 or 324

Eph. IV, 24.

Ephesians 4:24.

(printed under page 165)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323

Sic emendavimus ex ms. codice Viennensi et edit. Grin. Alii, innocentem.

So we have corrected it from the Vienna manuscript and Grynaeus's edition. Others have "innocentem".

(printed under page 165)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323

Addidimus, et mali, ex ms. codice Viennensi: quae additio erat necessaria, et confirmatur ex iis quae praecesserunt, n. 2. boni malique delectu, et n. 3, accepta... boni et mali scientia.

We have added "et mali" (and of evil) from the Vienna manuscript: the addition was necessary, and is confirmed by what went before, no. 2, "by the choice of good and evil", and no. 3, "accepta... boni et mali scientia" (the knowledge of good and evil, received).

(printed under page 165)

Ms. Vien. bis, videat.

The Vienna manuscript has "videat" twice.

(printed under page 165)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 323 or 324

Ms. codex Vien., immutamur.

The Vienna manuscript has "immutamur" (we are changed).

(printed under page 165)

Page

running head: 323 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 324 (one head across the page)
marginal letters: A ‹tiam boni malique delectu› (between the columns); B ‹facere, nisi utilitatem animae›; C ‹videntibus, et e contrario›; D ‹in resurrectionem multorum; ita›
old-edition numerals: 187 before ‹4. Nam›

PL 61:324

est quod dixerat: Ego occidam, et ego vivere faciam: quia veterem nostrum hominem assumendo interfecit, affigens illum cruci, dispolians se carne traduxit principatus et potestates, libere triumphans eum in semetipso; et vivificavit novum ex resurrectione mortuorum, ascendens in altum, et collocans eum in coelestibus.

is what He had said: I will kill, and I will make to live (Deut. 32:39): because by taking on our old man He slew him, fastening him to the cross; stripping Himself of the flesh He led forth principalities and powers, triumphing over him freely in Himself (Col. 2:15); and He brought the new man to life out of the resurrection of the dead, ascending on high (Eph. 2:6), and setting him in the heavenly places.

5. Sic ergo venit ut illuminarentur caeci, et caecarentur videntes: ut oculi nostri qui in transgressionem aperti fuerant, caecarentur; et vicissim qui caecati fuerant, aperirentur. Bene enim caecus sum, si non video peccatum; et bene oculatus, si cerno justitiam. Ora ergo, mi frater, ut utrumque in me operetur Dominus, caecet videntem meum, ne videam vanitatem; et illuminet non videntem, ut videam aequitates. Occidat in me veterem hominem cum actibus suis, ut reflorescat in Christo caro mea, et renovetur sicut aquilae juventus mea. Haec est enim mutatio dexterae Excelsi, cum immutabimur a nobis in illum hominem qui secundum Deum creatus est, cujus imago coelestis est: deponentes eum qui corrumpitur secundum desideria erroris. Hujus imaginem in me, quaeso, Deus conterat, et ad nihilum redigat imaginem nostram, id est terrenam, in civitate circumstantiae; et instauret in nobis atque perficiat imaginem suam, in qua nos pingi non pudet, quam praeferentes vere dicamus: Defecit cor meum et caro mea, Deus cordis mei, et pars mea; Deus in secula. Cum enim bona commutatione, quae est homini a dextera Excelsi, defecerit cor meum et caro mea, id est actus voluntatis et fructus carnis meae, tum jam, ut a corporeis nexibus liber, et a meo corde purgatus dicere audeam: Deus cordis mei, et pars mea Deus in secula. Utinam compleatur in me verbum illud evangelici Symeonis, ut fiat mihi Christus in ruinam et in resurrectionem. Ruina exteriori meo, et interiori resurrectio; ut cadat in me peccatum, quod anima cadente consistit; et exsurgat ille immortalis, qui cecidit exsurgente peccato. Exterioris enim status, interioris casus est: et ideo quando infirmatur exterior, qui intus est renovatur de die in diem. Quo genere perfectus magister (id est S. Paulus. V. ep. 23, n. 14) ait: Quando infirmor, tunc potens sum.

5. So, then, He came that the blind might be enlightened and those who see be blinded: that our eyes, which had been opened unto transgression, might be blinded; and in turn those which had been blinded might be opened. For I am blind to good purpose if I do not see sin; and sighted to good purpose if I discern justice. Pray, then, my brother, that the Lord may work both in me: that He may blind what sees in me, lest I see vanity; and enlighten what does not see, that I may see what is equitable (Ps. 118:37). May He slay in me the old man with his deeds (Col. 3:9), that my flesh may flower again in Christ, and my youth be renewed like the eagle's (Ps. 102:5). For this is the change of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 76:11), when we shall be changed from ourselves into that man who is created according to God (Eph. 4:24), whose image is heavenly: putting off him who is corrupted according to the desires of error (Eph. 4:22). May God, I beg, break the image of this one in me, and bring to nothing our image, that is, the earthly (1 Cor. 15:49), in the city of encompassing; and may He restore in us and perfect His own image (Ps. 72:20), in which we are not ashamed to be painted, bearing which we may truly say: My heart and my flesh have failed, God of my heart, and my portion; God for ever (Ps. 72:26). For when, by the good exchange which comes to man from the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 76:11), my heart and my flesh have failed, that is, the acts of the will and the fruits of my flesh, then at last, as one free from bodily bonds and cleansed from my own heart, I may dare to say: God of my heart, and my portion, God for ever (Ps. 72:26). Would that that word of the evangelical Symeon might be fulfilled in me, that Christ may become for me a fall and a resurrection (Luke 2:34): a fall to my outer man, and resurrection to the inner; that sin may fall in me, which stands while the soul falls; and that the immortal one may rise, who fell when sin rose. For the standing of the outer is the fall of the inner: and therefore when the outer man is weakened, he who is within is renewed from day to day (2 Cor. 4:16). In this manner the perfect master (that is, St Paul; see Ep. XXIII, n. 14) says: When I am weak, then I am strong (2 Cor. 12:10).

6. Gratias autem Domino, quod perenni magis et vivente pictura imagines nostras non in tabulis putribilibus, neque ceris liquentibus, sed in tabulis carnalibus cordis tui pinxit: ubi nos impressos et animae tuae conformatos, fidei, et gratiae unitate

6. But thanks be to the Lord, that with a more lasting and living painting He has painted our images, not on perishable panels nor in melting wax, but on the fleshly tablets of your heart (2 Cor. 3:3): where, impressed and conformed to your soul, in the unity of faith and of grace

Editors' notes and page, col. 324

Footnotes

(x) ‹anchor: desideria erroris› · call in col 324

Eph. IV, 22.

Ephesians 4:22.

(printed under page 165)

(y) ‹anchor: id est terrenam› · call in col 324

I Cor. XV, 49.

1 Corinthians 15:49.

(printed under page 165)

(z) ‹anchor: imaginem suam› · call in col 324

Psal. LXXII, 20.

Psalm 72:20.

(printed under page 165)

(aa) ‹anchor: Deus in secula› · call in col 324

Psal. LXXII, 26, sec. Psalter. Rom.

Psalm 72:26, according to the Roman Psalter.

(printed under page 165)

(bb) ‹anchor: a dextera Excelsi› · call in col 324

Psal. LXXVI, 11.

Psalm 76:11.

(printed under page 165)

(cc) ‹anchor: pars mea Deus in secula› · call in col 324

Psal. LXXII, 26.

Psalm 72:26.

(printed under page 165)

(dd) ‹anchor: in resurrectionem› · call in col 324

Luc. II, 34.

Luke 2:34.

(printed under page 165)

(ee) ‹anchor: de die in diem› · call in col 324

II Cor. IV, 16.

2 Corinthians 4:16.

(printed under page 165)

(ff) ‹anchor: tunc potens sum› · call in col 324

II Cor. XII, 10.

2 Corinthians 12:10.

(printed under page 165)

(gg) ‹anchor: carnalibus cordis› · call in col 324

II Cor. III, 3.

2 Corinthians 3:3.

Editors' notes (printed under page 165)

(e) ‹anchor: in civitate› · call in col 324

Ita ms. codex Viennensis. Alii, circumstantiae.

So the Vienna manuscript. Others have "circumstantiae".

(printed under page 165)

(f) ‹anchor: conformatos,› · call in col 324

Ms. Reg., fide.

The Royal manuscript has "fide".

(printed under page 165)

Page

running head: 323 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 324 (one head across the page)
marginal letters: A ‹est quod dixerat›; B ‹aequitates. Occidat in me›; C ‹et caro mea, id est actus›; D ‹et vivente pictura imagines›
old-edition numerals: 188 after ‹secundum›

PL 61:325

custodiens, non solum istic, sed etiam in aeterno seculo, individua semperque praesenti contemplatione conspicies. Hic etiam, si tantus amor est visibilia quoque captare solatia, poteris per magistras animi tui lineas vel imperitis aut ignorantibus nos dictare pictoribus, memoriam illis tuam, in qua nos habes pictos, velut imitanda de conspicuis assidentium vultibus ora proponens. Sed si forte ad intellectum verbi tui inscitior manus artis (forte leg. artificis) erraverit, dissimiles pinget aliis: tibi tamen (fort. leg. autem) nos semper animo consideranti et complectenti, quoslibet vultus sub nostro nomine imperitia sua pinxerit, tamen tua conscientia nos erimus.

keeping, not only here but also in the eternal age, you will behold with an undivided and ever-present contemplation. Here too, if your love is so great as to seek visible comforts as well, you will be able, through the lines that are your mind's teachers, to dictate us even to unskilled or ignorant painters, setting before them your memory, in which you have us painted, as faces to be copied from the visible countenances of sitters. But if perhaps the hand of art (perhaps read: of the artist), too unskilled to grasp your word, should go astray, it will paint us unlike for others: yet for you (perhaps read: but), who ever contemplate and embrace us in mind, whatever faces its unskill may have painted under our name, we shall still be ourselves in your inward knowledge.

EPISTOLA XXXI.

LETTER XXXI.

SEVERO fratri unanimo PAULINUS.

To Severus, his brother of one mind, Paulinus.

1. Frater Victor inter alias operum tuorum et votorum narrationes retulit nobis desiderare te ad basilicam quam modo apud Primuliacum nostram majorem priore condideris, de sacris sanctorum reliquiis benedictionem, qua adornetur domestica tua ecclesia, ut fide et gratia tua dignum est. Testis est autem Dominus quod si vel scrypulum (pro scrupulum) sacri cineris habuissemus, supra quam nobis ad basilicam, quae proxime in nomine Domini consummabitur, dedicandam necessarium erat, misissemus unanimitati tuae: sed quia nos non habuimus hujus muneris copiam, et ille se spem ejusdem gratiae copiosam habere dixit a sancta Silvia, quae illi de multorum ex Oriente martyrum reliquiis spopondisset, invenimus quod digne et ad basilicae sanctificationem vobis, et ad sanctorum cinerum cumulandam benedictionem mitteremus, partem particulae de ligno divinae crucis. Quod nobis bonum benedicta Melanius ab Hierusalem munere sancti inde episcopi Johannis attulit, hoc specialiter sorori nostrae venerabili Bassulae misit (id est Therasia, uxor Paulini) conserva communis; sed quod alteri vestrum datur, utriusque vestrum est; quia in utroque vestrum una ratio manet; et sexum evacuat fides, qua in virum perfectum ambo concurritis. Accipite ergo ab unanimis fratribus in omni bono vestrum sibi consortium cupientibus, accipite magnum in modico munus; et in segmento pene atomo astulae brevis sumite munimentum praesentis, et pignus aeternae salutis. Non angustetur fides vestra carnalibus oculis parva cernentibus, sed interna acie totam in hoc minimo vim crucis videat. Dum videre vos cogitatis lignum illud, quo salus nostra, quo

1. Brother Victor, among other accounts of your works and vows, told us that you desire, for the basilica which you have lately built at Primuliacum (see note 137), larger than our former one, a blessing from the sacred relics of the saints, by which your household church may be adorned, as is worthy of your faith and grace. But the Lord is witness that if we had had even a scruple (for scrupulum) of sacred ash beyond what was necessary for us to dedicate the basilica which will shortly be completed in the name of the Lord, we would have sent it to your Unanimity: but since we had no supply of this gift, and he said that he had abundant hope of the same grace from holy Silvia, who had promised him relics of many martyrs from the East, we have found something to send you worthily both for the sanctifying of the basilica and for heaping up the blessing of the saints' ashes: a part of a particle of the wood of the divine cross. This good thing the blessed Melanius (see note 138) brought us from Jerusalem, as a gift of the holy bishop John of that place; this our common fellow-servant (that is, Therasia, wife of Paulinus) has sent especially to our venerable sister Bassula; but what is given to one of you belongs to both of you; because in each of you one principle abides (Gal. 3:28); and faith makes void the difference of sex, by which you both run together into the perfect man (Eph. 4:13). Receive, then, from brothers of one mind, who desire your fellowship with them in every good, receive a great gift in a small one; and in the almost atom-sized fragment of a tiny splinter take a defence for the present and a pledge of eternal salvation. Let not your faith be narrowed by the fleshly eyes that see small things, but let it see with the inward gaze the whole power of the cross in this least thing. While you think that you are seeing that wood by which our salvation, by which

Editors' notes and page, col. 325

Footnotes

Scripture references (printed under page 166)

(a) ‹anchor: una ratio manet› · call in col 325

Gal. III, 28.

Galatians 3:28.

(printed under page 166)

(b) ‹anchor: ambo concurritis› · call in col 325

Eph. IV, 13.

Ephesians 4:13.

(printed under page 166)

Matth. XXVII, 51; Marc. XV, 38.

Matthew 27:51; Mark 15:38.

(printed under page 166)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 325 or 326

Psal. XCIV, 8.

Psalm 94:8.

(printed under page 166)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 325 or 326

II Cor. III, 18.

2 Corinthians 3:18.

(printed under page 166)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 325 or 326

Apoc. III, 18.

Revelation 3:18.

(printed under page 166)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 325 or 326

Luc. XVII, 21. Luc. XVI, 16.

Luke 17:21. Luke 16:16.

(printed under page 166)

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 325 or 326

Rom. VIII, 17.

Romans 8:17.

(printed under page 166)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 325 or 326

Rom. X, 17.

Romans 10:17.

(printed under page 166)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible (address of the letter)› · call in col 325

Ms. Vatic., sancto et unanimo fratri Severo Paulinus. Ms. Vien., Carissimo fratri Severo Paulinus.

The Vatican manuscript has "Paulinus to his holy and like-minded brother Severus"; the Vienna manuscript, "Paulinus to his dearest brother Severus".

(printed under page 166)

(b) ‹anchor: dedicandam necessarium› · call in col 325

Mss. Reg. et Vatic., erit. Utraque lectio bona.

The Royal and Vatican manuscripts have "erit" (will be). Both readings are good.

(printed under page 166)

Mss. Vatic. et Vien., dicebat.

The Vatican and Vienna manuscripts have "dicebat" (he was saying).

(printed under page 166)

(d) ‹anchor: benedicta› · call in col 325

Ita ms. Vien. codex. Alii codices, Melania. Prior lectio verissima. Vide not. 138.

So the Vienna manuscript. Other manuscripts have "Melania". The former reading is the truest. See note 138.

(printed under page 166)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 325 or 326

Ms. Vien., ed. Grin. et Latin., facto. Bignaeus, factis.

The Vienna manuscript and the editions of Grynaeus and Latinius have "facto"; Bignaeus has "factis".

(printed under page 166)

Editors' prose

In basilicae consecrationem Severo mittit particulam sanctissimae crucis, quoque cultu habenda sit docet. Inde crucis inventae subnectit historiam.

For the consecration of his basilica he sends Severus a fragment of the most holy Cross, and teaches with what veneration it is to be kept. He then appends the history of the finding of the Cross.

Page

running head: 325 EPISTOLA XXXI. 326 (one head across the page)
marginal letters: A ‹custodiens, non solum istic› (between the columns); B ‹docet. Inde crucis inventae›; C ‹quae illi de multorum ex Oriente›; D ‹atomo astulae brevis›
old-edition numerals: 189 before the argumentum of Ep. XXXI

PL 61:326

Dominus majestatis affixus, tremente mundo, pependerit, exsultetis cum tremore. Recordemur et petras fissas ad hujus aspectum crucis; et saltem saxorum aemulatione, praecordia nostra findamus timore divino. Reputemus et velum templi eodem crucis mysterio scissum; et intelligamus illius veli scissuram eo fuisse praetentam, ut audientes vocem Domini, et mysterium pietatis immensae, non obduremus corda nostra; sed a carnalibus dividamur, et scindamus infidelitatis velamen, ut revelata cordis facie, salutarium Dei munerum sacramenta videamus.

the Lord of majesty, fastened to it, hung while the world trembled, may you exult with trembling. Let us remember too the rocks split at the sight of this cross; and, at least in emulation of the stones, let us split our hearts with divine fear. Let us consider too the veil of the temple rent by the same mystery of the cross (Matt. 27:51; Mark 15:38); and let us understand that the rending of that veil was held out before us to this end: that, hearing the voice of the Lord and the mystery of immense loving-kindness, we may not harden our hearts (Ps. 94:8); but may be parted from carnal things, and may rend the veil of unbelief, so that with the face of the heart unveiled we may see the mysteries of God's saving gifts (2 Cor. 3:18).

2. Non autem vobis et hoc scribimus, ut imitemini compositionem istam, qua tubello aureolo rem tantae benedictionis inclusimus. Magis enim nos tali paratu fidem vestram imitati sumus, ut vestram vobis formulam mitteremus in specie auri. Quia scimus vos, ut aurum ignitum, intra vos habere regnum Dei, hoc est fidem crucis: qua regnum coelorum invaditur. Si enim, inquit, compatiamur, et conregnabimus. Et ideo non ad fidei firmamentum, quia visionem fide praevenistis; sed propter meritum fidei, quam auditu receptam, factu probatis, misimus vobis in Domino ligni salutaris donum: ut crucem et corpore possideretis, quam tenetis spiritu, et propositi virtute portatis.

2. Nor do we write this to you so that you should imitate this setting, in which we have enclosed a thing of such blessing in a little golden tube. Rather, by such an adornment we have imitated your faith, so as to send you your own likeness in the form of gold. For we know that you, like gold tried in the fire (Rev. 3:18), have within you the kingdom of God (Luke 17:21; Luke 16:16), that is, faith in the cross: by which the kingdom of heaven is taken by storm. For if, it says, we suffer together, we shall also reign together (Rom. 8:17). And so it is not for the strengthening of faith, since by faith you have outrun sight, but on account of the merit of faith, which, received by hearing (Rom. 10:17), you prove in deed, that we have sent you in the Lord the gift of the saving wood: that you might possess in the body also the cross which you hold in the spirit and carry by the strength of your resolve (Gal. 6:14).

3. Sed quia idipsum fides videtur postulare, non alienum puto, quia cognitu dignum est, enarrare specialem post tempora passionis historiam revelatae et inventae crucis. Quae si ignoretur, facile est perspici, qua difficultate approbetur, Dominicae crucis esse lignum hoc, quod certum est, si in manus Judaeorum venisset omnia contra fidem Christi praecaventium, conterendum et exurendum fuisse. Neque enim in cruce abolenda negligentes fuissent, qui signaverunt sepulcrum: nec ferre potuissent; ut in cruce superstite passio illius coleretur, cujus resurrectionem, vacuato discussis signaculis suis monumento probatam, coli ferre non possunt. Quid ergo nunc quaeritur ubi fuerit abdita, quia nisi latuisset, illis praesertim persecutionum temporibus Judaicam consecutis invidiam, et pene supergressis saevitiam, manifestum est abolendam fuisse? Facile enim assequi conjectura possumus, qua vi excidissent crucem, si exstare vidissent, qui et crucis locum persecuti sunt. Nam Hadrianus imperator existimans se fidem Christianam loci injuria perempturum, in loco passionis simulacrum Jovis consecravit; et Bethlehem Adonidis fano profanata est: ut quasi radix et fundamentum Ecclesiae tolleretur, si in iis locis idola colerentur, in quibus Christus natus est ut pateretur, passus est ut

3. But since faith itself seems to require it, I think it not out of place, since it is worth knowing, to relate the particular history of the cross, revealed and found after the times of the Passion. If this were not known, it is easy to see with what difficulty it could be proved that this is the wood of the Lord's cross, which, it is certain, would have had to be broken and burned had it come into the hands of the Jews, who took every precaution against faith in Christ. For they would not have been negligent in doing away with the cross, they who sealed the sepulchre (Matt. 27:66; 28:13): nor could they have borne that His Passion should be venerated in a surviving cross, whose resurrection, proved by the tomb emptied with its seals broken (see note 139), they cannot bear to see venerated. Why, then, is it now asked where it was hidden, since it is plain that, had it not lain concealed, it would have been done away with, especially in those times of persecution which followed upon the hatred of the Jews and all but surpassed their cruelty? For we can easily guess by conjecture with what violence they would have cut down the cross had they seen it standing, they who persecuted even the place of the cross. For the emperor Hadrian, thinking that by outraging the place he would destroy the Christian faith, consecrated an image of Jupiter (see note 140) on the place of the Passion; and Bethlehem was profaned with a shrine of Adonis: so that, as it were, the root and foundation of the Church might be taken away, if idols were worshipped in those places in which Christ was born that He might suffer, suffered that

Editors' notes and page, col. 326

Footnotes

(j) ‹anchor: virtute portatis› · call in col 326

Gal. VI, 14.

Galatians 6:14.

(printed under page 166)

(k) ‹anchor: signaverunt sepulcrum› · call in col 326

Matth. XXVII, 66, et XXVIII, 13.

Matthew 27:66 and 28:13.

Editors' notes (*) ‹anchor: not visible (heading of the letter)› · call in col 325 or 326 Alias 11; quae autem 31 erat, nunc 44. Scripta anno 403.

Formerly 11; and the one that was 31 is now 44. Written in the year 403.

(printed under page 166)

(f) ‹anchor: abdita,› · call in col 326

Sic. mss. codices Reg. et Vien. cum editis tribus. Ed. Rosv., quae mendose.

So the Royal and Vienna manuscripts, with three editions. Rosweyde's edition has "quae", wrongly.

(printed under page 166)

Page

running head: 325 EPISTOLA XXXI. 326 (one head across the page)
marginal letters: A ‹Dominus majestatis affixus›; B ‹bis formulam mitteremus›; C ‹esse lignum hoc, quod certum›; D ‹perator existimans se fidem›
old-edition numerals: 190 after ‹intelligamus›

PL 61:327

resurgeret, surrexit ut regnaret judicatus ut judicaret. Me miserum! Etiam ista pro nobis Dominus omnipotens perpeti non recusavit, ut ubi pro salute generis humani crucifixus pependerat, ibi hominum sacrilegio sperneretur: et super crucem (ad quam orbe concusso, et sole refugo, et dissilientibus mortuorum excitatione monumentis, rerum natura nutaverat) stabat simulacrum daemonis, et ara simulacri pecudum busta fumabat; et Dei nomen deferebatur statuis mortuorum, cum ipse vivorum Deus, qui et resurrectio mortuorum est, non solum mortui, sed et crucifixi hominis blasphemaretur opprobrio. In Bethlehem quoque, ubi agnoverat bos possessorem suum, et asinus praesepe Domini sui; ibi principes hominum inficiati Salvatorem Deum, infames hominum amores mortesque coluerunt. Prodita novo sidere Regis aeterni incunabula ubi supplices cum suis opibus adoraverant Chaldaei, ibi barbaras libidines sacraverunt Romani. Ubi natum Salvatorem cum exercitu angelorum concinentes coelesti gaudio salutaverant illustrata nocte pastores, ibi Veneris Amasium mixtae semiviris planxere meretrices. Proh dolor! quae pietas hominum hanc impietatem compensare poterit? Ubi sacra nati Salvatoris infantia vagierat, illic Veneris lamenta fingentium lascivis luctibus infamis ritus ululabat: et ubi Virgo pepererat, adulteri colebantur.

might rise again, rose that He might reign, was judged that He might judge. Woe is me! Even these things the almighty Lord did not refuse to endure for us: that where He had hung crucified for the salvation of the human race, there He should be scorned by the sacrilege of men: and over the cross (at which, when the world was shaken, the sun fled and the tombs burst open as the dead were roused, the nature of things had tottered) stood the image of a demon, and the altar of the image smoked with the burnt carcasses of cattle; and the name of God was conferred on statues of the dead, while He Himself, the God of the living (Matt. 22:32; John 11:25), Who is also the resurrection of the dead, was blasphemed with the reproach not only of a dead but of a crucified man. In Bethlehem too, where the ox had known its owner, and the ass the manger of its Lord (Isa. 1:3), there princes of men, denying the Saviour God, worshipped the infamous loves and deaths of men. Where the cradle of the eternal King, revealed by a new star, had been adored by the Chaldeans, suppliant with their treasures, there the Romans consecrated barbarous lusts. Where the shepherds, on the night made bright, had greeted the newborn Saviour, singing with heavenly joy together with the host of angels (Luke 2:13), there harlots mingled with half-men bewailed the lover of Venus. Alas, the grief! What piety of men will be able to make amends for this impiety? Where the sacred infancy of the newborn Saviour had cried, there the infamous rite of those who feign the laments of Venus howled with wanton mourning: and where the Virgin had given birth, adulterers were worshipped.

4. Mansit hoc seculi prioris nefas in tempora nostris proxima Constantini; qui princeps esse principibus Christianis non magis sua quam matris Helenae fide meruit: quae divino, ut exitus docuit, inspirata consilio, cum Hierosolymam agnosceret nomine, quae Augusta cum filio conregnabat, eum rogavit ut sibi facultatem daret cuncta illic loca Dominicis impressa vestigiis, et divinorum erga nos operum signata monimentis purgare, destructis templis et idolis, ab omni prophanae impietatis contagio, et religioni suae reddere: ut Ecclesia tandem in terra originis suae celebraretur. Itaque prompto filii imperatoris assensu mater Augusta, patefactis ad opera sancta thesauris, toto abusa fisco est: quantoque sumtu atque cultu

4. This wickedness of the former age lasted into the times of Constantine, close to our own; who deserved to be a prince to Christian princes not more by his own faith than by that of his mother Helena: who, inspired by divine counsel, as the outcome showed, when she came to know Jerusalem by name, she who reigned as Augusta with her son (see note 141), asked him to give her the means to cleanse all the places there imprinted with the Lord's footsteps and marked with the memorials of the divine works done for us, destroying the temples and idols, from every contagion of profane impiety, and to restore them to their own religion: so that the Church might at last be celebrated in the land of its origin. And so, with the ready assent of her son the emperor, the mother Augusta, the treasuries being opened for the holy works, drew upon the whole exchequer: and with as much expense and adornment

Editors' notes and page, col. 327

Footnotes

Scripture references (printed under page 167)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 327

Matth. XXII, 32; Johan XI, 25.

Matthew 22:32; John 11:25.

(printed under page 167)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 327

Isai. I, 3.

Isaiah 1:3.

(printed under page 167)

Luc. II, 15.

Luke 2:15.

(printed under page 167)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 327 or 328

Act. I, 9; Ephes. IV 8. Psal. VI, 19

Acts 1:9; Ephesians 4:8; Psalm "VI", 19 (as read on the scan; probably LXVII, 19, i.e. Ps. 67:19, which Eph. 4:8 quotes).

(printed under page 167)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 327 or 328

Psal. CXXXI, 7.

Psalm 131:7.

Editors' notes (printed under page 167)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 327

Mss. Reg. Vien. et edit. Grin. in marg., surrexit ut regnaret judex, vel rex judicaret me miserum. Concinnior vulgata lectio.

The Royal and Vienna manuscripts, and Grynaeus's edition in the margin, have "surrexit ut regnaret judex, vel rex judicaret me miserum" (rose up so that a judge might reign, or a king might judge wretched me). The common reading is neater.

(printed under page 167)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 327

Mss. codices Reg. et Vien. cum duobus editis, ubi cunabula supplices.

The Royal and Vienna manuscripts, with two editions, have "ubi cunabula supplices" (where suppliants ... the cradle).

(printed under page 167)

Ita emendavimus ex edit. Grin. et sic profecto legendum. Vide antecedd. et seqq. Alii codices, adoraverunt.

So we have corrected it from Grynaeus's edition, and so it must certainly be read. See what precedes and follows. Other manuscripts have "adoraverunt" (they worshipped).

(printed under page 167)

(d) ‹anchor: nomine,› · call in col 327

Hunc locum in omnibus editis mutilum et depravatum cum ex mss. codicibus restituere non possemus, Sulpicium Severum, ad quem data est isthaec epistola, consuluimus in Histor. sacr. lib. II, cap. 48, ubi ea quae de inventione sanctae crucis edisserit ex hac epistola ab ipso inserta fuisse certissimum est. Sic igitur, nulla e nostro facta additione, emendavimus ex Sulpicio Severo succurrentibus mss. codicibus, quae Augusta cum filio conregnabat, eum rogavit, etc. Apud Sulpicium enim in Histor. sacr. lib. II, c. 48, legitur Helena mater principis Constantini, QUAE AUGUSTA CUM FILIO CONREGNABAT, cum Hierosolymam agnoscere concupisceret, etc. In mss. Reg. et Vatic. et in editis, CONREGNABAT, et in ms. Vien., EUM ROGAVIT. Ante erat, nomine, conregnabat ut sibi, etc., nullo sensu.

Since we could not restore this passage, mutilated and corrupted in all the editions, from the manuscripts, we consulted Sulpicius Severus, to whom this letter was addressed, in his Sacred History, book II, ch. 48, where it is quite certain that what he sets out on the finding of the holy cross was put in by him from this letter. So, adding nothing of our own, we have corrected it from Sulpicius Severus, with the manuscripts' support: "quae Augusta cum filio conregnabat, eum rogavit", etc. For in Sulpicius, Sacred History book II, ch. 48, one reads: "Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine, WHO REIGNED AS AUGUSTA WITH HER SON, when she longed to see Jerusalem", etc. The Royal and Vatican manuscripts and the editions have CONREGNABAT, and the Vienna manuscript EUM ROGAVIT. Before, it read "nomine, conregnabat ut sibi", etc., which makes no sense.

(printed under page 167)

Page

running head: 327 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 328 (one head across the page)
marginal letters: A ‹resurgeret, surrexit ut regnaret› (between the columns); B ‹dere Regis aeterni›; C ‹lenae fide meruit›; D (in the footnote block, beside note (a))
old-edition numerals: 191 after ‹judicatus›; 192 after ‹cultu›

PL 61:328

regina poterat, et religio suadebat, aedificatis basilicis contexit omnes et excoluit locos, in quibus salutaria nobis mysteria pietatis suae, incarnationis, et passionis, et resurrectionis, atque ascensionis sacramentis Dominus Redemtor impleverat. Mirum vero inter haec quod in basilica Ascensionis locus ille tantum de quo in nube susceptus ascendit, captivam in sua carne ducens captivitatem nostram, ita sacratus divinis vestigiis dicitur, ut numquam tegi marmore aut paviri receperit, semper excussis solo respuente, quae manus adornandi studio tentavit apponere. Itaque in toto basilicae spatio solus in sui cespitis specie virens permanet; et impressam divinorum pedum venerationem calcati Deo pulveris perspicua simul et attigua venerantibus arena conservat, ut vere dici possit: adoravimus ubi steterunt pedes ejus.

as a queen could, and as religion urged, she covered with basilicas built upon them and adorned all the places in which the Lord Redeemer had accomplished for us the saving mysteries of His loving-kindness by the sacraments of the incarnation, the Passion, the resurrection and the ascension. But a marvel among these things is that in the basilica of the Ascension only that place from which, taken up in a cloud, He ascended, leading in His flesh our captivity captive (Acts 1:9; Eph. 4:8; Ps. 67:19), is said to be so hallowed by the divine footprints that it has never allowed itself to be covered with marble (see note 142) or paving, the ground always rejecting and casting off whatever the hand has tried to lay on it in zeal to adorn it. And so in the whole space of the basilica it alone remains green, in the appearance of its own turf; and the sand of the dust trodden by God, at once visible and touchable (see poem 15, v. 291), keeps for those who venerate it the imprinted veneration of the divine feet, so that it can truly be said: We have adored where His feet stood (Ps. 131:7).

5. Sed in historia crucis accipite magnum et vere divinum miraculum. Regina illa venerabilis ut venit Hierosolymam diligenter et pie locis, illic et circa omnibus, divinorum curiosa insignium, et oculis haurire gestiens fidem quam piis auribus litterisque perceperat, crucem Domini studiosissime inquirere adorsa est. Sed quae via vel ratio inveniendi subesset, cum index idoneus nemo inveniri posset, ubi memoriam et curam religiosae conscientiae vel observantiae et antiquitas aevi (Virgil. aevi vetustas), et superstitionis impiae diuturnitas abolevisset? Verum ipso omnium et terris et animis opertorum conscio et teste Domino, fidelis mulier sanctum Spiritum per affectum pium meruit: quo aspirante, cum rem ab humana conscientia divinitus remotam frustra diligens requisisset, de loco tantum passionis certior fieri studuit. Itaque non solum de Christianis dotrina et sanctitate plenos viros, sed et de Judaeis peritissimos, ut propriae, qua miseri et gloriantur, impietatis indices exquisivit, et accitos in Hierosolymam congregavit. Tum omnium una de loco testificationis (id est martyrii seu passionis, ut supra) confirmata, jussit illico, urgente sine dubio conceptae revelationis instinctu, in ipsum locum operam fossionis accingi; parataque mox civium pariter et militari manu,

5. But in the history of the cross receive a great and truly divine miracle. That venerable queen, when she came to Jerusalem, diligently and devoutly eager to learn of the places, of all the tokens of the divine there and round about, and longing to drink in with her eyes the faith which she had received through devout ears and through letters, set about seeking the cross of the Lord most zealously. But what way or method of finding it was there, since no fit informant could be found, when the antiquity of the age (Virgil: the age's oldness) and the long continuance of impious superstition had abolished the memory and care of religious conscience or observance? But with the Lord Himself as knower and witness of all things hidden both in the earth and in souls, the faithful woman merited the Holy Spirit through her devout affection: under Whose inspiration, when she had diligently sought in vain a thing divinely removed from human knowledge, she strove to be made more certain at least about the place of the Passion. And so she sought out not only men of the Christians full of learning and holiness, but also the most expert of the Jews, as informants on their own impiety, in which, wretches, they even glory; and she summoned them and gathered them in Jerusalem. Then, when the single testimony of all concerning the place of witness (that is, of martyrdom or Passion, as above) had been confirmed, she ordered at once, impelled without doubt by the prompting of the revelation she had conceived, that the work of digging be girded up at that very spot; and soon, a band of citizens and soldiers alike being made ready,

Editors' notes and page, col. 328

Footnotes

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 328

Ms. Vien. parimentari. Sed pariri, vera lectio, quae confirmatur carm. 23, v. 40..... medio spatiosa parito. De Christi vestigiis in Oliveti monte humo impressis mentio fit etiam in libro de Locis Hebraicis inter Hieronymi opera, apud Augustinum tractatu 47 in cap. X Johan., n. 4; apud Sulpicium Severum Histor. sacr. lib. II, cap. 48, et apud Bedam de Nominibus locorum in Actis apostolorum cap. VII.

The Vienna manuscript has "parimentari" (as printed). But "pariri" is the true reading, confirmed by Poem 23, line 40, "..... medio spatiosa parito". Christ's footprints pressed into the ground on the Mount of Olives are also mentioned in the book On Hebrew Places among Jerome's works; in Augustine, Tractate 47 on John ch. 10, no. 4; in Sulpicius Severus, Sacred History book II, ch. 48; and in Bede, On the Names of Places in the Acts of the Apostles, ch. 7.

(printed under page 167)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 328

Ms. codex Viennensis addit in loco.

The Vienna manuscript adds "in loco" (in the place).

(printed under page 167)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 328

Sic emendavimus ex mss. Reg. et Vien. Ante erat illis. Vide n. 4, cuncta illic loca

So we have corrected it from the Royal and Vienna manuscripts. Before, it read "illis". See no. 4, "cuncta illic loca" (all the places there).

(printed under page 167)

Page

running head: 327 S. PAULINI NOLANI EPISCOPI 328 (one head across the page)
marginal letters: A ‹regina poterat, et religio›; B ‹venerantibus arena conservat›; C ‹affectum pium meruit›; D (in the footnote block, beside note (d) continued 'c. 48, legitur')
old-edition numerals: (none)

PL 61:329

brevi laborem istius molitionis hausit; et contra spem omnium, sed secundum ipsius tantum reginae fidem, alta egestione reseratis terrae sinibus, abditae crucis arcana patuerunt. Sed cum tres pariter cruces, ut quondam fixae Domino et latronibus steterant, repertae fuissent; gratulatio repertarum coepit anxia dubitatione confundi, justo piorum metu, ne forsitan aut pro cruce Domini patibulum latronis eligerent, aut salutare lignum pro stipite latronis abjiciendo violarent. Respexit pias fideliter aestuantium curas Dominus, et ipsi potissimum quae tam piae sollicitudinis princeps erat hujus consilii lumen infudit, ut aliquem recens mortuum inquiri et inferri juberet. Nec mora, verbum factum: cadaver illatum est; deponitur, jacenti una de crucibus admovetur, et altera: sed reorum ligna mors sprevit. Postremo dominicam crucem prodit resurrectio, et ad salutaris ligni tactum morte profuga funus (id est cadaver, vel mortuus excitatus est) excussum, et corpus erectum est; tremefactisque viventibus stetit mortuus; et funebribus, ut Lazarus quondam, vinculis expeditus, illico inter exspectatores suos redivivus incessit.

in a short time took up the labour of this undertaking; and against the hope of all, but in accordance with the faith of the queen herself alone, when the recesses of the earth had been laid open by deep digging, the secrets of the hidden cross came to light. But when three crosses had been found together, as once they had stood fixed for the Lord and the robbers, the rejoicing over their finding began to be troubled by anxious doubt, with the just fear of the devout lest perhaps they should either choose a robber's gibbet in place of the Lord's cross, or violate the saving wood by casting it away as a robber's stake. The Lord looked upon the devout cares of those faithfully troubled, and poured the light of this counsel above all into her who was the leader in so devout a solicitude: that she should order some man recently dead to be sought out and brought in. Without delay the word was done: the corpse was brought in; it is laid down; one of the crosses is brought near to it as it lies, and then another: but death scorned the wood of the guilty. At last resurrection disclosed the Lord's cross, and at the touch of the saving wood, death fleeing, the corpse (that is, the cadaver, or the dead man was roused) was shaken awake, and the body stood upright; and, while the living trembled, the dead man stood; and, freed like Lazarus of old from his funeral bands (John 11:44), he at once walked, alive again, among those who watched him.

6. Ergo crux Domini tot operta aetatibus, et Judaeis in tempore passionis abscondita, neque gentibus in aedificatione fani terram sine dubio ad ipsam fabricam egerentibus revelata, nonne manu latuit, ut nunc inveniretur cum religiose quaereretur? Ita, ut crucem Christi decuit, experimento resurrectionis inventa et probata crux Christi est; dignoque mox ambitu (id est honore et pompa) consecratur, condita in passionis loco basilica, quae auratis corusca laquearibus, et aureis dives altaribus, arcano positam sacrario crucem servat: quam episcopus urbis ejus quotannis, cum Pascha Domini agitur, adorandam populo princeps ipse venerantium promit. Neque praeter hanc diem, qua crucis ipsius mysterium celebratur, ipsa, quae sacramentorum causa est, quasi quoddam sacrae solemnitatis insigne profertur, nisi interdum religiosissimi postulent, qui hac tantum causa illo peregrinati advenerint, ut sibi ejus revelatio quasi in pretium longinquae peregrinationis deferatur. Quod solum episcopi beneficio obtineri ferunt: cujus et tantum munere de eadem cruce haec minuta sacri ligni ad magnam fidei et benedictionis gratiam haberi datur. Quae quidem crux in materia insensata vim vivam tenens, ita ex illo tempore innumeris pene quotidie hominum votis lignum suum commodat, ut detrimenta non sentiat, et quasi intacta permaneat quotidie dividua sumentibus, et

6. So the cross of the Lord, covered through so many ages, hidden from the Jews at the time of the Passion, and not revealed to the gentiles when, in building their shrine, they doubtless dug out the earth for the very structure: did it not lie hidden by a [divine] hand, so that it might be found now, when it was devoutly sought? Thus, as befitted the cross of Christ, the cross of Christ was found and proved by the test of a resurrection; and soon it is consecrated with fitting ceremony (that is, honour and pomp), a basilica being built on the place of the Passion, which, gleaming with gilded ceilings and rich with golden altars, keeps the cross laid in a secret sanctuary: and each year, when the Lord's Pasch is kept, the bishop of that city, himself the foremost of its venerators, brings it out to be adored by the people. Nor, apart from this day, on which the mystery of the cross itself is celebrated, is the cross itself, which is the cause of the sacraments, brought out as a kind of emblem of sacred solemnity, unless now and then the most devout ask for it, who have come there as pilgrims for this reason alone, that its showing may be granted them as the reward, as it were, of their long pilgrimage. This, they say, is obtained only by the bishop's favour: and by his gift alone, too, it is granted that these tiny pieces of the sacred wood from the same cross are had, to the great grace of faith and blessing. Indeed this cross, holding living power in senseless matter, has from that time so lent its wood to the almost daily prayers of countless people that it feels no loss (see note 143), and remains as if untouched, though daily divided by those who take of it, and

Editors' notes and page, col. 329

Footnotes

Scripture references (printed under page 168)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 329 or 330

Johan. XI, 44.

John 11:44.

(printed under page 168)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 329 or 330

Psal. XV, 10; Act. II, 27.

Psalm 15:10; Acts 2:27.

(printed under page 168)

Luc. XXIII, 43.

Luke 23:43.

(printed under page 168)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 329 or 330

Matth. XXV, 34.

Matthew 25:34.

(printed under page 168)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 329 or 330

Luc. XXIV, 39; Johan. XX, 27.

Luke 24:39; John 20:27.

(printed under page 168)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 329

Ms. Vien., earum. Ms. Reg. cum editis quatuor, eorum.

The Vienna manuscript has "earum"; the Royal manuscript, with four editions, "eorum".

(printed under page 168)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 329

Ita ms. Reg. cum tribus editis. Vera lectio. Alii codices, spectatores. Vide epist. 6, n. 3.

So the Royal manuscript, with three editions. It is the true reading. Other manuscripts have "spectatores" (spectators). See Letter 6, no. 3.

(printed under page 168)

Sic ms. Reg. et Latinius: vera lectio. Alii codices, dividuam sumentibus, et semper totam venerantibus.

So the Royal manuscript and Latinius: the true reading. Other manuscripts have "dividuam sumentibus, et semper totam venerantibus" (to those who take it divided, and always venerate it whole).

(printed under page 168)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 329 or 330

Ms Reg., futuram. Ms. Vatic., fructum, in qua lectione monimento et seminario erunt sexti casus. SACCHIN.

The Royal manuscript has "futuram"; the Vatican manuscript, "fructum", and in that reading "monimento" and "seminario" will be ablatives. Sacchini.

(printed under page 168)

Page

running head: 329 EPISTOLA XXXII. 330 (one head across the page)
marginal letters: A ‹brevi laborem istius› (between the columns); B ‹et altera: sed reorum ligna›; C ‹ambitu (id est honore et pompa)›; D ‹haberi datur. Quae quidem crux›
old-edition numerals: 193 after ‹laborem›; 194 after ‹detrimenta›
other: UNSURE: 'nonne manu latuit' read as printed (sense suggests a word may be missing); English supplies [divine]. Note number read as 143 (the scan shows 145; 3 and 5 look alike and the notes run 142, 143). Inline editors' glosses '(id est cadaver, vel mortuus excitatus est)', '(id est honore et pompa)', '(V. not. 143)' set as printed. Numbered note calls 10-11 omitted. Printer's signature 'PATROL. LXI.' at the page foot excluded.