PL 61 · cols. 382–390

Paulinus of Nola, Letters

Letters XLIII–XLIV

cessurum praesumam; non ambigens tantam habere te patientiam, quantam habes caritatem.

from your indulgence; not doubting that you have as much patience as you have charity.

EPISTOLA XLIII.

LETTER XLIII.

Sancto et merito venerabili fratri, et desideratissimo Desiderio desideriorum meorum, Paulinus et Therasia peccatores, in Christo Domino salutem.

To their holy and deservedly venerable brother, Desiderius (see note 185), most desired of all my desires, Paulinus and Therasia, sinners, greeting in Christ the Lord.

1. Ad te brevem epistolam (Non exstat haec epistola) jam diu ante fratri Victori dederamus, quam et ipsam perferri ad sanctitatem tuam volui, ut ipsi perlatori suo testimonium perhiberet non voluntariae apud nos remorationis. Haec enim causa brevitatis ejus fuit, quod post modicum adventus sui tempus Victor a nobis ad vos refestinans, tanta se ad iter relegendum obstinatione duraverat, ut vix vel brevium ad te litterarum nobis tribueret facultatem. Interea proficiscentem subito rerum obices retraxerunt, cum hiems navigationem, et itinera metus clauderent: quibus impeditus atque revocatus necessitati praestitit longam dilationem, qui procrastinationem rogatus negaverat caritati. Inter has moras etiam aeger fuit, et quidem ita graviter laboravit, ut a portis mortis reductus plus temporis in reficienda valetudine consumserit, quam aegritudine tolerata produxerat. Postea jam vicino apostolorum natali dimittere eum inhumanum putavimus. Itaque longioribus ejus moris, quas supradictis necessitatibus dederat, brevem hanc illi moram de nostra voluntate adjecimus, ut, cum apostolicam solemnitatem voti nostri et itineris annui socius celebrasset, hujus quoque ad vos negotii nostri nuntius reverteretur.

1. We had given a short letter for you (this letter is not extant) to brother Victor a long while ago, and I wished it too to be carried to your holiness, so that it might bear witness for its bearer himself that his staying on with us was not of his own will. For the cause of its brevity was this: that Victor, hastening back from us to you only a short time after his arrival, had so hardened himself in his determination to retrace his road that he scarcely allowed us the chance even of a short letter to you. Meanwhile, as he was setting out, sudden obstacles drew him back, since winter closed the sea-passage and fear closed the roads: hindered and called back by these, he granted to necessity a long delay, he who, when asked, had refused to charity a postponement. During these delays he also fell sick, and indeed suffered so gravely that, brought back from the gates of death, he spent more time in restoring his health than he had drawn out in enduring the illness. Afterwards, with the birthday of the apostles now close, we thought it inhuman to send him away. So to his longer delays, which he had given to the necessities mentioned above, we added this short delay of our own will, so that when he had celebrated with us, as companion of our vow and of our yearly journey, the apostles' solemnity, he might return to you as messenger of this business of ours as well.

2. Sane epistolas, quas ad benedictum Dei hominem fratrem nostrum Severum habet, diverso tempore, prout impetus festinationum habebat, fecimus, sicut ipsarum varia lectione monstrabitur: nam breviores (Illae epistolae perierunt) earum quasi properans et in profectionis januis pendens Victor exegit: prolixiores autem cum de longa ejus remansione securi esse coepissemus, tamquam remissa atque laxata in otium mente scripsimus. Scripserat autem nobis frater noster Severus, ut eum vobis illico remitteremus, atque ita praescripserat tempus, ut ad vindemiae dies remissus occurreret. In quo, quia non potuimus illi parere, hac saltem specie obedientiam

2. The letters, indeed, which he carries to our brother Severus, the blessed man of God, we wrote at different times, as the impulses of his haste allowed, as the varied reading of them will show: for the shorter of them (those letters have perished) Victor exacted as though in a hurry and hovering on the threshold of departure; but the longer we wrote when we had begun to feel sure of his long stay, as with a mind relaxed and let loose into leisure. Now our brother Severus had written to us that we should send him back to you at once, and had so fixed the time that, sent back, he should arrive for the days of the vintage. In this, since we could not obey him, at least in this form [we have shown] obedience

Editors' notes and page, col. 382

Footnotes

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 382

Ms. Vien., desiderantissimo; ms. Reg. hunc titulum habet : Incipit ad Desiderium secunda. Abest tamen a ms. codice Regio prima ad Desiderium epistola, cujus meminit Paulinus in hujusce epistolae 43 exordio, et haec desideratur. Vide Vit. c. 47, n. 1 et 3.

The Vienna manuscript: "desiderantissimo"; the Regius manuscript has this title: "Here begins the second to Desiderius". Yet the first letter to Desiderius, which Paulinus mentions at the opening of this Letter 43, is absent from the Regius manuscript codex, and it is lost. See the Life, chapter 47, nos. 1 and 3.

(printed under page 194)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 382

Manuscriptus codex Viennensis, per fratrem Victorem.

The Vienna manuscript codex: "per fratrem Victorem".

(printed under page 194)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 382

Mss. Reg. et Vien., clauderet.

The Regius and Vienna manuscripts: "clauderet".

(printed under page 194)

(g) ‹anchor: in otium mente› · call in col 382

Ms. codex Vien., curavimus.

The Vienna manuscript codex: "curavimus".

(printed under page 194)

Editors' prose

Excusat Victorem quod serius sit reversus, causans hiemis tempestatem, et adversam ejus valetudinem: tum propositam sibi a Desiderio presbytero explicationem benedictionum patriarcharum excellenti humilitate ad ipsummet rejicit; et ipse maledictionem ficulneae a Domino irrogatum sapienter exponit.

He excuses Victor for having returned rather late, pleading the stormy winter and his poor health. Then, with outstanding humility, he hands back to the priest Desiderius himself the explanation of the blessings of the patriarchs which Desiderius had set before him; and he himself wisely expounds the curse laid by the Lord on the fig tree (Matt. 21:19).

Page

running head: EPISTOLA XLIII. 382
marginal letters: A ‹cessurum praesumam›; B ‹perlatori suo testimonium›; C ‹mittere eum inhumanum›; D ‹bis frater noster Severus›
old-edition numerals: 254 after ‹procrastinationem›

PL 61:383

praebere tentavimus, ut illum si non eodem anno quo speraverat, tamen eodem tempore quo jusserat, occursurum recipiat: et si tarditatem illius necessitatibus, quas exposui, non vult imputare, meo delicto reputet quod remansit, suis tamen orationibus debeat vel tardum istius reditum; quia cum jam omnino depositus aegrotaret, de Severi fide speravi sanitatem ejus, quam de meis meritis desperabam. Quibus videbam Victoris innocentiam verberari, ut in illo mea iniquitas plecteretur, in quo divina justitia vindicabat, quod in dilectione peccatoris errabat. Nam et mihi poenam caritas excitabat, ut tribulationem, quam unanimus mihi homo patiebatur in corpore, cruciatu viscerum animique compatiens sustinerem.

we have tried to offer, so that he may receive him, if not in the same year in which he had hoped, yet at the same season at which he had bidden him to come and meet him; and if he will not lay his lateness to the necessities which I have set out, let him reckon it to my fault that he stayed behind, yet let him owe to his own prayers this man's return, however late; for when he lay sick, wholly given up, I hoped for his recovery from the faith of Severus, which I despaired of from my own merits. For I saw the innocence of Victor scourged by them, so that my iniquity might be punished in him, in whom the divine justice was avenging the error he made in loving a sinner. For charity stirred up a punishment for me too, so that the tribulation which a man of one mind with me was suffering in the body I bore, suffering with him in torment of heart and soul.

3. De quo autem mihi per ipsum scripseras, aquam dulcem et copiosam in amaro et arente rivulo quaerens, tuae potius gratiae explicandum refundo: nam me fateor tantorum nominum et mysteriorum pondera nec digito ausum tangere. Legi enim, quia in malevolam animam non introibit sapientia; et ideo malitiae meae conscius non potui divinae revelationis habere fiduciam, cum prudentiae lucem tenebroso corde non caperem. Tu vero benedicte, vas mundum et aptum Deo, si accepisti intellectum benedictionis illius, qua filios suos prophetico spiritu patriarcha in caecitate corporis luminatus alloquitur, expone mihi rescripto mysteria regni, et sacramenta a seculis reposita, et pro seculis revelata in Christo Jesu; in quo concurrit diversa omnium forma sanctorum; qui in patriarchis figuratur, in prophetis loquitur; in apostolis operatur, et omnia in omnibus adimpletur: quia in ipso placuit inhabitare omnis plenitudo, qui omnium initium et finis est. Quod si necdum accepisti, quia forte dum proximo tuo mihi donata credis, quasi jam in tuo parata promptuario, petere tibi specialiter a Domino distulisti, pete et accipies secundum fidem et animam tuam: quae quanto castior membris, tanto vivacior sensibus: et quanto mundior corde, tanto capacior Christi est; qui ab humili possidetur, et a mundo corde conspicitur.

3. But the matter about which you had written to me through him, seeking sweet and plentiful water in a bitter and dry rivulet (Jas. 3:11), I hand back rather to your grace to be unfolded: for I confess that I have not dared to touch even with a finger the weight of names and mysteries so great. For I have read that wisdom will not enter into a malevolent soul (Wis. 1:4); and therefore, conscious of my malice, I could not have confidence in a divine revelation, since with a darkened heart I could not take in the light of prudence. But you, blessed one, a vessel clean and fit for God, if you have received the understanding of that blessing with which the patriarch, enlightened in the blindness of his body, addresses his sons in the prophetic spirit (Gen. 49:2), expound to me in your reply the mysteries of the kingdom, and the sacraments laid up from the ages and revealed for the ages in Christ Jesus; in Whom the diverse form of all the saints meets together; Who is figured in the patriarchs, speaks in the prophets, works in the apostles, and is fulfilled all in all (Eph. 1:23): for in Him it pleased all fullness to dwell (Col. 1:19; 2:9), Who is the beginning and end of all things (Rev. 1:8). But if you have not yet received it, because perhaps, believing that what is given to me, your neighbour, is already as it were laid up ready in your own storehouse, you have put off asking it of the Lord specially for yourself, ask and you will receive according to your faith and your soul: which, the more chaste it is in its members, the more lively it is in its senses; and the cleaner it is in heart, the more capable it is of Christ; Who is possessed by the humble, and beheld by the clean of heart (Isa. 66:2; Matt. 5:8).

4. Te autem, ut tua opinione deceptum ab inopia mea minus moleste feras, sic habe, tamquam idem de me passus sis, quod ipse Dominus ab illa ficu, ad quam esuriens accessit, et sine fructu inventam percussit verbo oris sui; ut quae sterilis fuerat benedicto Domini, fieret arida maledicto. Sed obsecro fraternitatem tuam, ne me, licet similem illi arbori infelici inveneris, simili voce percutias; ne penitus arescam et vacuus debito fructu, etiam foliorum amictu, id est gratiae fronde despolier. Sed iterum cogitans, quia misericors

4. But as for you, that you may bear it less grievously to have been deceived in your opinion by my poverty, consider it thus: as though you had suffered from me the same thing that the Lord Himself suffered from that fig tree, to which He came when hungry, and, finding it without fruit, struck it with the word of His mouth; so that what had been barren under the Lord's blessing became withered by His curse (Matt. 21:19; Mark 11:14). But I beseech your brotherliness, though you have found me like that unhappy tree, not to strike me with a like word; lest I wither utterly and, empty of the fruit I owe, be stripped even of the covering of leaves, that is, of the foliage of grace (see Poem XXXII, line 46, and Letter XXX, §4). But again, considering that the Lord is merciful

Editors' notes and page, col. 383

Scripture references

(printed under page 195)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 383

Jac. III, 11.

James 3:11.

(printed under page 195)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 383

Sap. I, 4.

Wisdom 1:4.

(printed under page 195)

Gen. XLIX, 2.

Genesis 49:2.

(printed under page 195)

(d) ‹anchor: adimpletur› · call in col 383

Ephes. I, 23.

Ephesians 1:23.

(printed under page 195)

(e) ‹anchor: omnis plenitudo› · call in col 383

Col. I, 19, et ii, 9.

Colossians 1:19, and 2:9.

(printed under page 195)

(f) ‹anchor: initium et finis est› · call in col 383

Apoc. I, 8.

Revelation 1:8.

(printed under page 195)

(g) ‹anchor: corde conspicitur› · call in col 383

Isai. LXVI, 2; Matth. V, 8.

Isaiah 66:2; Matthew 5:8.

(printed under page 195)

(h) ‹anchor: arida maledicto› · call in col 383

Matth. XXI, 19. Marc. XI, 14.

Matthew 21:19. Mark 11:14.

(printed under page 195)

(i) ‹anchor: fronde despolier› · call in col 383

Ezech. XVIII, 31.

Ezekiel 18:31.

(printed under page 195)

(a) ‹anchor: omnia in omnibus› · call in col 383

Ita ms. codex Regius cum editis Grav. et Schot. Alii, adimplet. Sed et adimpletur pro adimplet alibi usurpat Paulinus. Vide epist. 40, n. 9, et 42, n. 2.

So the Regius manuscript codex, with the editions of Gravius and Schott. Others: "adimplet". But elsewhere too Paulinus uses "adimpletur" for "adimplet". See Letter 40, no. 9, and 42, no. 2.

(printed under page 195)

(b) ‹anchor: sterilis fuerat› · call in col 383

Benedicto, id est benedictione, ut respondeat maledicto quod sequitur. Mss. Reg. et Vien. cum edit. Schot., benedicto Domino, mendose.

"Benedicto", that is, "by the blessing", to answer to "maledicto" which follows. The Regius and Vienna manuscripts, with Schott's edition: "benedicto Domino", wrongly.

(printed under page 195)

Ita mss. Vatic. et Vien. cum ed. Grin., id est, neminem vult morte aeterna mori, licet naturaliter moriatur. Alii codices, vult morte morientem.

So the Vatican and Vienna manuscripts, with the Gryphius edition: that is, he wills no one to die the eternal death, though he dies by nature. Other codices: "vult morte morientem".

(printed under page 195)

Page

running head: 383 | S. PAULINI NOLANI EPI[SCOP.] (running head cut at the image edge; completed from col. 384)
marginal letters: A ‹praebere tentavimus, ut illum›; B ‹aquam dulcem et copiosam›; C ‹phetis loquitur; in apostolis›; D ‹dicto Domini, fieret arida›
old-edition numerals: 255 after ‹prudentiae›

PL 61:384

et miserator Dominus, neminem vult mori morientem; neque creaturam suam in illa arbore, sed inimicum plantationi suae vitium arboris maledicendo damnavit: oro te potius, ut maledicas sterilitati meae, ne unquam ex illa fructus nascatur, ut possit ex me ipso fructus nasci Deo. Expedit enim mihi interitus sterilitatis meae, ut in me plantationis dominicae foecunditas reviviscat; et moriente vitio, quo infructuosus efficior, agricolae meo revirescam reditu bonae voluntatis; ut esuriens vitam meam Dominus, ipse inveniat me feracibus ramis fructus sibi debitos offerentem.

and compassionate, and wills no one who is dying to die (Ezek. 18:31), and that in that tree He did not condemn His own creature by cursing it, but the fault of the tree, hostile to His planting: I rather pray you to curse my barrenness, that no fruit may ever be born of it, so that fruit may be born to God from my own self. For the death of my barrenness is expedient for me, that the fruitfulness of the Lord's planting may revive in me; and that, as the fault by which I am made unfruitful dies, I may grow green again for my husbandman by the return of good will; so that the Lord, hungering for my life, may Himself find me offering on fruitful branches the fruits owed to Him.

5. Sed in hac eadem arbore non modicae quaestionis argumentum Marcus adjecit. Nam alii evangelistae de maledicta et arefacta ficu consonans, hoc altius est locutus, quod cum dixisset non invenisse Dominum in arbore illa fructum, id, quod arborem excusare videatur, apposuit, dicens: Non enim erat tempus ut fructum haberet. Quod si ita est, sine causa videtur arbor excepisse maledictum, quae culpa sterilitatis carebat, si adhuc per anni tempus alienum fructus non habebat paratos, non infecunda de vitio, sed immatura de tempore. Sed quod de pecore Apostolus ait, et de ligno possumus usurpare, ut dicamus: Numquid de arboribus cura est Deo? Propter nos utique scriptum est, in quibus escam suam Deus semper vult invenire. Nam et agrum et vineam in nobis habet. Nos in area sua ventilat, in nobis purgat triticum, dissicit (id est separat. V. not. 186) paleas, urit zizania. Itaque in illa arbore salutem hominis esuriebat, et ab homine debitum sibi fructum petebat. Sed et cum in sua propria venisset, sui eum non receperunt; et debitam fidei frugem, quam per legem et prophetas in eos seminaverat, sterilis infidelium Judaeorum Synagoga non reddidit. Venit ad arborem eorum, quaerens a filiis plantationis suae exspectati germinis dulcem cibum: at illa, subductis pietatis fructibus, dedit in escam illius fel, et uvas petenti obtulit spinas, et ipsum bonae vineae plantatorem, ipsum veram vitem et botrum suavitatis aceto urente potavit. Unde conversa est ipsis mensa eorum in laqueum, et uva eorum amaritudinis facta est, et ira draconum insanabilis vinum eorum.

5. But concerning this same tree Mark has added matter for no small question. For while agreeing with the other evangelists about the fig tree cursed and withered, he said this further thing: that having said the Lord found no fruit on that tree, he added something which seems to excuse the tree, saying: For it was not the season for it to have fruit (Mark 11:13). If this is so, the tree seems to have received the curse without cause, being free of the guilt of barrenness, if it did not yet have fruit ready in a season of the year not its own, not unfruitful through fault but unripe through time. But what the Apostle says of cattle we may apply to the tree also, and say: Does God care for trees? (1 Cor. 9:9). It was written surely for our sakes, in whom God always wishes to find His food. For in us He has both a field and a vineyard. He winnows us on His threshing floor, in us He cleans the wheat, scatters (that is, separates; see note 186) the chaff, burns the tares (Matt. 3:12; Luke 3:17). So in that tree He hungered for the salvation of man, and from man He sought the fruit owed to Him. But when He came to His own, His own did not receive Him (John 1:11); and the barren Synagogue of the unbelieving Jews did not render the harvest of faith that was owed, which He had sown in them through the law and the prophets. He came to their tree, seeking from the children of His planting the sweet food of the expected growth: but it, withholding the fruits of piety, gave Him gall for His food, and offered thorns to Him who asked for grapes, and gave the very planter of the good vineyard, the very true vine and cluster of sweetness, burning vinegar to drink (Matt. 27:34; Mark 15:36; John 15:1). Whence their table has been turned for them into a snare (Ps. 68:23), and their grape has become one of bitterness, and their wine the incurable wrath of dragons (Deut. 32:32–33).

6. Tu vero, mi frater, ora Dominum ne ex vinea talium vitis nostra procedat, quia propago eorum ex vinea Domini Sabaoth degeneravit in vineam Sodomorum. Et nisi Dominus in apostolorum palmitibus, de patriarcharum radicibus reliquisset nobis seminarium vitae, de quo salus gentium pullularet, et in quo seminis benedicti vena duraret; tota malitiae plenitudine Sodomis et Gomorrhae similes fuissemus.

6. But you, my brother, pray the Lord that our vine may not spring from the vineyard of such men, since their stock has degenerated from the vineyard of the Lord of Sabaoth into the vineyard of the Sodomites (Isa. 5:7). And unless the Lord, in the branches of the apostles, had left us from the roots of the patriarchs a seedbed of life, from which the salvation of the nations might spring up, and in which the vein of the blessed seed might endure, we should have been like Sodom and Gomorrah in the whole fullness of malice (Rom. 9:29; Isa. 1:9).

Editors' notes and page, col. 384

Footnotes

(j) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 384

Marc. XI, 13.

Mark 11:13.

(printed under page 195)

(k) ‹anchor: cura est Deo› · call in col 384

I Cor. IX, 9.

1 Corinthians 9:9.

(printed under page 195)

(l) ‹anchor: urit zizania› · call in col 384

Matth. III, 12; Luc. III, 17.

Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17.

(printed under page 195)

(m) ‹anchor: non receperunt› · call in col 384

Johan. i, 11.

John 1:11.

(printed under page 195)

(n) ‹anchor: illius fel› · call in col 384

Matth. XXVII, 34; Marc. XV, 36.

Matthew 27:34; Mark 15:36.

(printed under page 195)

(o) ‹anchor: aceto ureate potavit› · call in col 384

Johan. xv, 1; Luc. XXIII, 36.

John 15:1; Luke 23:36.

(printed under page 195)

(p) ‹anchor: in laqueum› · call in col 384

Psal. LXVIII, 23.

Psalm 68 (Vulg.):23.

(printed under page 195)

(q) ‹anchor: vinum eorum› · call in col 384

Deut. XXXII, 32, sec. LXX.

Deuteronomy 32:32, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 195)

(r) ‹anchor: vineam Sodomorum› · call in col 384

Isai. V, 7.

Isaiah 5:7.

(printed under page 195)

(s) ‹anchor: similes fuissemus› · call in col 384

Rom. IX, 29; Isai. I, 9.

Romans 9:29; Isaiah 1:9 (last numeral blurred in the print).

Editors' notes

(printed under page 195)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 384

Sic emendavimus ex codice ms. Vien. Quae correctio confirmatur ex ep. 40 ad Sanctum et Amandum, n. 7, inimicam serpentibus volucrem. Ante erat plantationis.

So we have corrected from the Vienna manuscript codex. This correction is confirmed by Letter 40 to Sanctus and Amandus, no. 7, "the bird hostile to serpents". Before, it read "plantationis".

(printed under page 195)

(e) ‹anchor: purgat triticum,› · call in col 384

Ita mss. codices. Editi, disjicit. Vide not. 186.

So the manuscript codices. The printed editions: "disjicit". See note 186.

(printed under page 195)

Page

running head: [S. PAULI]NI NOLANI EPISCOP. | 384
marginal letters: A ‹ricors et miserator Dominus›; B ‹est locutus, quod cum dixisset›; C ‹hominis esuriebat, et ab homine›; D ‹ex vinea Domini Sabaoth›
old-edition numerals: 256 after ‹Non›

PL 61:385

Verum quia novissima hora est, et securis jam ad radices arborum posita, aridis et infelicibus lignis justum minatur excidium, quaeso te, ut indulgentiam mihi et laxamentum temporis depreceris; ut morte dilata forsitan succum feracitatis accipiam de caritatis tuae diligentia et sollicitudinis meae cultu; ut cor meum divinus timor fodiat, et stirpem meam necessaria poenitudo stercore humilitatis impinguet: deinde ego ad vigilantiam sollicitudinis excitatus, omni hora paratus assistam, et Domino absente sim trepidus, ut adveniente securus sim; omni tempore, omni die me fertilem sibi Christus inveniat, id est, ut numquam cuiquam operi voluntatis illius immaturus appaream: sed si forte in tempore iracundiae desideraverit a me pacem suam, non sit mens mea per iracundiae acerbitatem cruda concordiae; nec exspectem ut sol occidat super iram meam, ne occidat vita mea, si ante clauserit vesper diem, quam exstinxerit pax furorem.

But since it is the last hour (1 John 2:18), and the axe, already laid to the roots of the trees (Luke 3:9), threatens a just cutting down to dry and unhappy wood, I beg you to entreat for me indulgence and a respite of time; so that, death being put off, I may perhaps receive the sap of fruitfulness from the diligence of your charity and the tilling of my own care; that the fear of God may dig about my heart, and necessary penitence may fatten my stock with the dung of humility (Luke 13:8); then that I, roused to watchful care, may stand ready at every hour (Luke 12:40), and be anxious while the Lord is absent, so as to be secure when He comes; that at every season, every day, Christ may find me fruitful for Him, that is, that I may never appear unripe for any work of His will: but if perchance in a time of anger He should desire His peace from me, my mind may not be unripe for concord through the bitterness of anger; nor may I wait for the sun to go down upon my anger (Eph. 4:26), lest my life go down, if evening closes the day before peace has put out my fury.

7. Quod autem de iracundia posui, de omni vitiorum genere dictum puta. Hoc enim arbitror esse illud, quod Dominus in arbore illa ante tempus suum poma quaesivit. Neque enim ille qui novit occulta cordis, et qui cogitationes hominum perspiciebat, id quod in hominum oculis erat positum, non videbat, aut etiam humano sensu minor erat, ut etiam in parvulorum scientia positum anni tempus ignoraret, et autumni fructum vere deposceret? Sed artifex salutis nostrae, Creator, cujus vita et actus omnis in terris forma nobis conversationis et morum fuit, ideo visibiliter invisibilia sua consilia disposuit, et in creaturis irrationabilibus animae rationali speciem suae conformationis expressit, ut nos ad omnia nobis salutaria scriptis operum suorum atque verborum insignibus erudiret. Et hoc est quod voluit intelligi per evangelistam nobis indicando non suo tempore fructum ab arbore se petisse, ut omni tempore homo se fructum Deo debere cognoscat; quia bonus Dominus, qui hominem mortalem immortalitati praeparat, jam et in hoc seculo vult eum speciem perpetuitatis induere, ut fructum non accipiat de tempore, sed omni tempore sit maturus illi, cum quo vel in quo mansurus est sine tempore.

7. And what I have put about anger, take as said of every kind of vice. For I think this is what is meant by the Lord's seeking fruit on that tree before its season. For did He who knows the secrets of the heart (Ps. 43:22), and who saw through the thoughts of men, not see what lay before the eyes of men, or was He even inferior to human sense, so as to be ignorant of the season of the year, which lies within the knowledge of little children, and to demand autumn's fruit in spring? But the Maker of our salvation, the Creator, whose whole life and action on earth was a pattern of conduct and manners for us, therefore arranged His invisible counsels visibly, and in irrational creatures expressed to the rational soul the likeness of its own forming, so that He might instruct us in all things saving for us by the written signs of His works and words. And this is what He wished to be understood when He showed us through the evangelist that He had sought fruit from the tree out of its season: that man should recognize that he owes fruit to God at every season; since the good Lord, who prepares mortal man for immortality, wills him even now in this world to put on the likeness of everlastingness, so that he may not take his fruit from the season, but be ripe at every season for Him with whom, or in whom, he is to abide without time.

EPISTOLA XLIV.

LETTER XLIV.

Sanctis et merito venerandis ac dilectissimis

To the holy, deservedly venerable and most beloved

Editors' notes and page, col. 385

Scripture references

(printed under page 196)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 385

I Johan. ii, 18.

1 John 2:18.

(printed under page 196)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 385

Luc. III, 9.

Luke 3:9.

(printed under page 196)

Luc. XIII, 8.

Luke 13:8.

(printed under page 196)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 385

Luc. XII, 40.

Luke 12:40.

(printed under page 196)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 385

Ephes. IV, 26.

Ephesians 4:26.

(printed under page 196)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 385

Psal. XLIII, 22, juxta LXX.

Psalm 43 (Vulg.):22, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 196)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 385

Deut. XXXII, 15; I Cor. X, 4; I Cor. III, 12.

Deuteronomy 32:15; 1 Corinthians 10:4; 1 Corinthians 3:12.

(printed under page 196)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 385

Manuscriptus codex Viennensis, iracundiam.

The Vienna manuscript codex: "iracundiam".

(printed under page 196)

(b) ‹anchor: irrationabilibus animae› · call in col 385

Sic emendatum ex ms. codice Vien. Haec correctio confirmatur ex epist. 44 ad Aprum et Amandam, num. 2 : Expresserunt mihi faciem cordis tui litterae tuae. Alii codices, rationalis, ob concursum sequentis litterae s.

So corrected from the Vienna manuscript codex. This correction is confirmed by Letter 44 to Aper and Amanda, no. 2: "Your letter has shown me the face of your heart." Other codices: "rationalis", because of the following letter s running into it.

(printed under page 196)

In edit. Rosv. desunt voces ac dilectissimis..... peccatores. Editi codices quatuor praeferunt, Sancto et merito venerando ac dilectissimo fratri Apro, Paulinus et Therasia.

In Rosweyde's edition the words "ac dilectissimis ... peccatores" are missing. Four printed editions offer: "To his holy and deservedly venerable and most beloved brother Aper, Paulinus and Therasia."

(printed under page 196)

Editors' prose

Pulcherrime laudat spirantem in litteris Apri divinae gratiae vim ac suavitatem nec minus venuste Amandae olim conjugis Apri, jam sororis, industriam celebrat, per quam res domesticas procurans otium viro ad divina praestabat. Simul admonet quibus modis instituendi sint filii. Ex ea epistola liquet quomodo viverent presbyterorum uxores.

He praises most beautifully the power and sweetness of divine grace that breathes in Aper's letter, and no less gracefully he extols the diligence of Amanda, once Aper's wife and now his sister, by whose management of the household affairs she gave her husband leisure for divine things. At the same time he advises in what ways their sons are to be brought up. From this letter it is clear how the wives of priests lived.

Page

running head: 385 | EPISTOLA XLI[II]. (running head cut at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹Verum quia novissima hora›; B ‹nec exspectem ut sol occidat›; C ‹creaturis irrationabilibus›; D ‹olim conjugis Apri› (beside the editors' summary)
old-edition numerals: 257 after ‹forte›

PL 61:386

fratribus Apro et Amandae, Paulinus et Therasia peccatores.

brothers Aper and Amanda, Paulinus and Therasia, sinners.

1. Quis daret mihi fontem litterarum tuarum, ut respondere possem litteris tuis vario gratiarum spiritalium flore consertis, nec jam scholastico magis quam divino sermone facundis et affluentibus quasi de terra repromissionis divinae lacte pietatis et melle sapientiae, cujus et mel et oleum suxisti de firma petra, id est Christo Domino, qui est fundamentum aeternae domus, super quod vivis operibus struere aedificium salutis exorsus, non ligna, nec fenum et stipulam, sed aurum, argentum, et lapides pretiosos superaedificare moliris; quia praeteriti cordis duritiam, ariditatem atque levitatem, cum veteri homine deponens, effectus es lignum humidum, quod vicinis aquarum decursibus virens, fructum suum dabit in tempore suo; neque unquam privabitur honore foliorum. Sensus tuus aurum est igne examinatum, et sermo tuus argentum est purgatum septuplum, qui gratia spiritali renidens, eloquia Domini casta de corde puro et lingua indice cordis expromit. Bonum tu firmumque thesaurum in vase fictili, non fragili fide servas; quia commissae tibi gratiae vas mens tua est, quae intra corpoream fragilitatem confirmata spiritu principali, solidam divino muneri custodiam praebet. Pauper ego, et dolens, quomodo parebo sapientiae, quae me ad mensam potentis hac conditione praecepit mittere manum, ut me sciam similis apparatus fieri debitorem? Ecce enim tu mihi mensa potentis factus es; apposuisti mihi divites escas quae me esurientem facile in omnia verborum tuorum, quasi in varia electarum gustu et aspectu dapum scitamenta rapuerunt, ut gulae potius meae quam inopiae memor auderem sumere, quibus paria praeparare non possum. Quid igitur agam, a quo mihi tribui vel commodari petam vel supellectilem, qua possim digno ambitu triclinium divitis aemulari; vel impendia, quibus possim divitem pauper repascere? Quis mihi in hujus debiti obligatione subveniet, nisi tu, Domine Jesu, qui te omni pauperi tuo semper obligas commodanti, et pro his retributorem fore spondes, qui nunc non habeant retribuendi facultatem. Adesto nunc mihi, et pro inopia mea Apro tuo de tuis meum debitum solve divitiis; rivos ejus inebria, et multiplica in illo generationes tuas, ut existat in domo tua sicut oliva fructifera, florescat ut palma, et multiplicetur ut cedrus Libani.

1. Who would give me the fountain of your letters, that I might be able to answer your letters, woven with the varied flower of spiritual graces, eloquent now no longer with a schoolman's speech (see Letter XXVIII, §5) so much as with a divine one, and flowing, as from the land of the divine promise, with the milk of piety and the honey of wisdom, whose honey and oil too you have sucked from the firm rock (Deut. 32:15; 1 Cor. 10:4), that is, from Christ the Lord, who is the foundation of the eternal house, upon which, having begun to build the edifice of salvation with living works, you strive to build up not wood, nor hay and stubble, but gold, silver and precious stones (1 Cor. 3:12); for, putting off with the old man the hardness, dryness and lightness of your former heart, you have become a moist tree, which, green beside the neighbouring courses of the waters, will give its fruit in its season; nor will it ever be deprived of the honour of its leaves (Ps. 1:3). Your mind is gold tried by fire, and your speech is silver purified seven times, which, shining with spiritual grace, brings forth the chaste words of the Lord (Ps. 11:7) from a pure heart and a tongue that shows the heart. You keep a good and firm treasure in an earthen vessel, with no fragile faith; for your mind is the vessel of the grace entrusted to you, which, strengthened within the frailty of the body by the princely spirit (Ps. 50:14), provides a solid keeping for the divine gift. I, poor and sorrowful (Ps. 68:30), how shall I obey wisdom, which has bidden me put my hand to the table of the mighty (see note 187) on this condition, that I should know myself become debtor for a like provision? For see, you have become to me the table of the mighty; you have set before me rich foods, which easily carried me off in my hunger into all the delicacies of your words, as into the varied dainties of dishes choice in taste and look, so that, mindful rather of my gluttony than of my poverty, I dared to take what I cannot match in preparing. What then shall I do? From whom shall I ask to be given or lent either the furnishings with which I might rival the rich man's dining hall in fitting display, or the means with which I, a poor man, might feast the rich man in return (see Poem XXIV, line 853)? Who will help me in the bond of this debt, but Thou, Lord Jesus, who always makest Thyself debtor to every poor man of Thine who lends (Prov. 19:17), and dost promise to be the repayer for those who now have not the means of repaying (Luke 14:14)? Be present to me now, and for my poverty pay my debt to Thy Aper out of Thy riches; drench his streams, and multiply Thy generations in him (Ps. 64:11), that he may stand in Thy house as a fruitful olive (Ps. 51:10), may flourish like the palm, and be multiplied like the cedar of Lebanon.

2. Sed revertar ad litteras tuas, in quibus laetor sicut qui invenit spolia multa: et licet de meis verbis nihil simile possim referre, tamen ut famelici

2. But I shall return to your letters, in which I rejoice as one who has found great spoil (Ps. 118:162): and though I can return nothing like them from my own words, yet, like the famished

Editors' notes and page, col. 386

Footnotes

(h) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 386

Ps. I, 3.

Psalm 1:3.

(printed under page 196)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 386

Psal. XI, 7.

Psalm 11 (Vulg.):7.

(printed under page 196)

(j) ‹anchor: spiritu principali› · call in col 386

Psal. L, 14.

Psalm 50 (Vulg.):14.

(printed under page 196)

(k) ‹anchor: Pauper ego, et dolens› · call in col 386

Psal. LXVIII, 30.

Psalm 68 (Vulg.):30.

(printed under page 196)

(l) ‹anchor: tuo semper obligas commodanti› · call in col 386

Prov. XIX, 17.

Proverbs 19:17.

(printed under page 196)

(m) ‹anchor: retribuendi facultatem› · call in col 386

Luc. XIV, 14.

Luke 14:14.

(printed under page 196)

(n) ‹anchor: generationes tuas› · call in col 386

Psal. LXIV, 11, sec. Psalt. Rom. et vet.

Psalm 64 (Vulg.):11, according to the Roman and the Old Psalter.

(printed under page 196)

(o) ‹anchor: oliva fructifera› · call in col 386

Psal. LI, 10.

Psalm 51 (Vulg.):10.

(printed under page 196)

(p) ‹anchor: spolia multa› · call in col 386

Psal. CXVIII, 162.

Psalm 118 (Vulg.):162.

Editors' notes

(*) ‹anchor: EPISTOLA› · call in col 385 Alias 31; quae autem erat 44, nunc 45. Scripta videtur anno 406.

Otherwise numbered 31; and the one that was 44 is now 45. It appears to have been written in the year 406.

(printed under page 196)

Page

running head: EPISTOLA XLIV. | 386
marginal letters: A ‹fratribus Apro et Amandae›; B ‹humidum, quod vicinis›; C ‹es; apposuisti mihi›; D ‹inebria, et multiplica›
old-edition numerals: 258 after ‹divinae›

PL 61:387

faciunt, cum epulis opimi convivii digestis iterum de sua inopia esurire coeperint, famem suam praeteritae saturitatis recordatione solantur, et animam inanem praesenti cogitatione absentis convivii pascunt; ita ego hanc epistolam in tui sermonis retractatione contexam, et voluptatem meam referam, nihil tibi largiens; nec votum erga te meum potius quam de te experimentum loquar. Expresserunt enim mihi faciem cordis tui litterae tuae, illae litterae spei bonae, litterae fidei non fictae, litterae purae caritatis, quid amoris sanctissimi spirant; quam suavis in his et quantus Christi odor fragrat, quanta opulentia sinceri cordis exaestuat? quomodo nobis anhelant sitim tuam, et desiderium defectumque animae tuae in atria Domini? quas agunt gratias Deo? quas impetrant a Deo? quae legenti mihi florescentium in te gratiarum Dei, jamque operantium virtutum praebent spectacula?

do, who, when the dishes of a rich banquet have been digested and they have begun to hunger again from their own want, console their hunger with the remembrance of past fullness, and feed an empty soul with the present thought of an absent banquet; so I shall weave this letter by going over your discourse again, and shall recount my own delight, bestowing nothing on you; nor shall I speak of my wish towards you so much as of my experience of you. For your letter has shown me the face of your heart, that letter of good hope, letter of unfeigned faith, letter of pure charity: what holiest love it breathes! how sweet and how great the fragrance of Christ that rises from it, what wealth of a sincere heart wells up in it! how it pants out to us your thirst, and the longing and fainting of your soul for the courts of the Lord! what thanks it gives to God! what it begs of God! what spectacles it offers me as I read, of the graces of God flowering in you, and of the virtues already at work!

3. Ibi parvuli, sive etiam adultuli Babylonis filii eliduntur ad petram, vitia scilicet confusionis superbiaeque secularis, quae proclivius fides congressa superabit, si in primordiis ad Christum illidere anticipata crescentium infirmitate praecaverit. Ibi et cedri Libani ad terram depositae, et in arcae fabricam compagine caritatis erectae, mundi hujus fluctus imputribili robore secant. Ibidem excitatus Christus, ut directionis tuae cursum ad stabilitatem suam ducat, ventos et maria tibi placans videtur. Cui jam in corporis tui nave vectatio, et in tuo corde cervical est, quia invenit illic passer domum sibi, et habet in te, ubi reclinet caput suum. Illic et conjux, non dux ad mollitudinem vel avaritiam viro suo, sed ad continentiam et fortitudinem redux in ossa viri sui, magna illa divini cum Ecclesia conjugii aemulatione, mirabilis est: quam in tuam unitatem redactam ac redditam, et spiritalibus tibi tanto firmioribus, quanto castioribus nexibus caritas Christi copulat, in cujus corpus transistis a vestro.

3. There the little ones, or even the half-grown children of Babylon, are dashed against the rock (Ps. 136:9), that is, the vices of confusion and of worldly pride, which faith will overcome the more easily in the encounter if it takes care to dash them against Christ in their beginnings, forestalling them while still weak as they grow. There too the cedars of Lebanon, laid low to the ground (Ps. 28:5) and raised up into the fabric of the ark by the joinery of charity, cleave the waves of this world with their incorruptible strength. There likewise Christ, roused, is seen calming the winds and seas for you (Matt. 8:26; Luke 8:24), that He may bring the course of your steering to His own steadiness. He now has passage in the ship of your body, and a pillow in your heart, because there the sparrow has found itself a house (Ps. 83:4), and He has in you where He may lay His head (Matt. 8:20). There too your wife, not a leader to softness or avarice for her husband, but brought back to continence and fortitude into the bones of her husband (Gen. 2:23), is wonderful, in emulation of that great marriage of God with the Church (Eph. 5:32): whom, brought back and restored into unity with you, the charity of Christ joins to you with spiritual bonds, the firmer for you the more chaste they are, Christ into whose body you have passed from your own.

4. Benedicti vos Domino, qui fecit utrumque unum, condens in semetipsum duo, faciens mirabilia solus, qui convertit non solum animas, sed et affectus, temporalia in aeterna. Manetis ecce iidem conjuges, qui fuistis, sed non ita conjuges ut fuistis; estis ipsi, nec ipsi: et sicut Christum, ita et vosmetipsos jam secundum carnem non nostis. Haec mutatio

4. Blessed are you to the Lord, who has made both one, founding the two in Himself (Eph. 2:14–15), who alone does wonders (Ps. 71:18), who has converted not only souls (Ps. 22:3) but affections too, things temporal into things eternal. See, you remain the same spouses that you were, but not spouses as you were; you are yourselves, and not yourselves: and as you no longer know Christ according to the flesh, so you no longer know yourselves either (2 Cor. 5:16). This change

Editors' notes and page, col. 387

Scripture references

(printed under page 197)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 387

Psal. CXXXVI, 9.

Psalm 136 (Vulg.):9.

(printed under page 197)

(b) ‹anchor: ad terram depositae› · call in col 387

Psal. XXVIII, 5.

Psalm 28 (Vulg.):5.

(printed under page 197)

Matth. VIII, 26; Luc. VIII, 24.

Matthew 8:26; Luke 8:24.

(printed under page 197)

(d) ‹anchor: passer domum sibi› · call in col 387

Psal. LXXXIII, 4.

Psalm 83 (Vulg.):4.

(printed under page 197)

(e) ‹anchor: reclinet caput suum› · call in col 387

Matth. VIII, 20.

Matthew 8:20.

(printed under page 197)

(f) ‹anchor: in ossa viri sui› · call in col 387

Gen. II, 23.

Genesis 2:23.

(printed under page 197)

(g) ‹anchor: mirabilis est› · call in col 387

Ephes. V, 32.

Ephesians 5:32.

(printed under page 197)

(h) ‹anchor: fecit utrumque unum› · call in col 387

Eph. II, 14, et 15.

Ephesians 2:14, and 15.

(printed under page 197)

(i) ‹anchor: faciens mirabilia solus› · call in col 387

Psal. LXXI, 18.

Psalm 71 (Vulg.):18.

(printed under page 197)

(j) ‹anchor: non solum animas› · call in col 387

Psal. XXII, 3.

Psalm 22 (Vulg.):3.

(printed under page 197)

(k) ‹anchor: carnem non nostis› · call in col 387

II Cor. V, 16.

2 Corinthians 5:16.

(printed under page 197)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 387

Apud Augustinum epist. 27 ad Paulinum, num. 3, legitur quantam opulentiam sinceri cordis exaestuant?

In Augustine, Letter 27 to Paulinus, no. 3, one reads: "what wealth of a sincere heart do they pour out?"

(printed under page 197)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 387

Manuscriptus codex Viennensis, adulti.

The Vienna manuscript codex: "adulti".

(printed under page 197)

Addidimus dux ex 21 mss. codicibus, ad quos collata est S. Augustini epist. 27 in edit. Bened. Aberat haec vox (inquit Sacchinus), sed et sententia visa est postulare, et habet epist. 32 (nunc 27) S. Augustini, unde totus hic locus pulcherrimus sumtus est, conversis in Aprum et conjugem laudibus quas S. Augustinus Paulino et Therasiae tribuerat.

We have added "dux" from the 21 manuscript codices against which St Augustine's Letter 27 was collated in the Benedictine edition. "This word was missing," says Sacchini, "but the sense seemed to call for it, and St Augustine's Letter 32 (now 27) has it, from which this whole most beautiful passage was taken, the praises St Augustine had given Paulinus and Therasia being turned to Aper and his wife."

(printed under page 197)

(d) ‹anchor: in tuam unitatem› · call in col 387

Sic Augustinus in epist. 32, n. 2, unde haec desumsit Paulinus. In edit. Rosv. erat reductam. Utraque lectio bona.

So Augustine in Letter 32, no. 2, from which Paulinus took these words. In Rosweyde's edition it was "reductam". Both readings are good.

(printed under page 197)

(e) ‹anchor: temporalia in aeterna.› · call in col 387

Ita mss. codices Reg. et Vien. Quae lectio venustior est vulgata, in qua temporalia in aeterna mutans. Ecce iidem conjuges qui fuistis.

So the Regius and Vienna manuscript codices. This reading is more graceful than the common one, in which it reads "temporalia in aeterna mutans. Ecce iidem conjuges qui fuistis".

(printed under page 197)

Page

running head: 387 | S. PAULINI NOLANI EPI[SCOPI] (cut at the image edge; completed from col. 388)
marginal letters: A ‹faciunt, cum epulis opimi›; B ‹petrant a Deo? quae legenti›; C ‹te, ubi reclinet caput suum›; D ‹jam secundum carnem non nostis›
old-edition numerals: 259 after ‹convivii›

PL 61:388

dexterae Excelsi, quae in se manens omnia innovat, et convertit mare in aridam, ad continentiae siccitatem stringens fluenta vitiorum. Benedicta haec inter mulieres, et hac quoque devotione fidelis et acceptissima Domino, qua se necessitatibus seculi pro te, velut quaedam procellis in immobili scopulo stabilita turris, opposuit. Vere in ipsa petra illa, super quam aedificata domus non cadet, solido strenuae mentis fundata vestigio, facta est tibi turris protectionis (al. fortitudinis) a facie inimici, undas et turbines seculi frangens piae servitutis objectu; ut tu seclusus a pelago, tutam in Ecclesiae portu mentis inconcussae ratem meditatione continua studiorum operumque coelestium quasi quodam remigio salutis exerceas. Corporalis enim, inquit, exercitatio ad modicum, nam pietas ad omnia utilis est, quae te subdidit Christo, praeferentem vel jacere in domo Domini, quam in peccatorum tabernaculis eminere, et conservam tuam in labores corporeos ex affectu spiritali pro tua anima pignoravit, ut pretium libertatis tuae faceret servitutem suam; non illa in secularibus negotiis mundo, sed Christo serviens, propter quem mundum patitur, ne ut patiaris. Vere, juxta divinum opus et verbum, facta in adjutorium tibi, et ad te habens conversionem suam de nutu tuo pendet, et in tuo statu sistit, in vestigiis tuis ambulat, in anima tua animatur, pro vita tua deficit, ut in tua vita reficiatur. Curat illa seculi curas, ne tu cures; possidere videtur, ne tu possidearis a mundo, et ut possidearis a Christo. Non illam a proposito tuo discors abjungit voluntas, sed quod magis mirum est, concors fides opere dividit voluntate conjunctam. Nam sine animi captivitate rem captivitatis in libertate spiritus administrans, firmavit manus suas in opera virtutis; brachia sua extendit ad utilia, accincta fortiter lumbos suos, et escas pigritiae non edens, facta est tibi tanquam navis, quae mercatur a longinquo; necessaria divisione reddens per se Caesari quae sunt Caesaris; ut, quae Dei sunt, per te ministret Deo. Nam cum tributum, sicut scriptum est, dederit cui debet tributum, tunc et manus suas adaperiens pauperi, et fructum operae suae porrigens inopi, spiritale vectigal pensitat; et reditum possessionis in tuae militiae stipendium suggerit, salutaris damni avarior quam letalis lucri. Quae talis est, fidit in ea cor mariti ejus. Operatur enim, ut scriptum

of the right hand of the Most High (Ps. 76:11), which, abiding in itself, renews all things, and turns the sea into dry land (Ps. 65:6), binding up the streams of the vices into the dryness of continence. Blessed is she among women, faithful and most acceptable to the Lord by this devotion too, by which she has set herself against the necessities of the world for you, like a tower founded on an immovable rock against the storms. Truly, founded with the solid footing of a strenuous mind on that very rock upon which the house that is built will not fall (Matt. 7:24), she has become for you a tower of protection (another reading: of strength) against the face of the enemy (Ps. 60:4), breaking the waves and whirlwinds of the world by the barrier of her loving service; so that you, shut off from the open sea, may ply the safe ship of an unshaken mind in the harbour of the Church, with continual meditation on heavenly studies and works as with oars of salvation. For bodily exercise, he says, is of little profit, but piety is profitable for all things (1 Tim. 4:8): piety, which has subjected you to Christ, preferring even to lie in the house of the Lord rather than to stand high in the tents of sinners (Ps. 83:11), and has pledged your fellow servant, from spiritual affection, to bodily labours for your soul, so that she made her servitude the price of your freedom; serving not the world in secular business (2 Tim. 2:4), but Christ, for whose sake she suffers the world, so that you may not suffer it. Truly, according to the divine work and word, she has been made a help for you (Gen. 2:18), and, having her turning towards you (Gen. 3:16), she hangs on your nod, stands in your standing, walks in your footsteps, is quickened in your soul, fails for your life, so as to be refreshed in your life. She cares for the cares of the world so that you may not care for them; she seems to possess, so that you may not be possessed by the world, and so that you may be possessed by Christ. No discordant will separates her from your purpose; but, what is more wonderful, a concordant faith divides in work her who is joined to you in will. For, managing a matter of captivity in the freedom of the spirit without captivity of mind, she has strengthened her hands for the works (see note 189) of virtue; she has stretched out her arms to useful things, has girded her loins strongly, and, not eating the bread of idleness, has become to you like a ship that trades from afar; by a needful division rendering through herself to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, so that through you she may minister to God the things that are God's (Matt. 22:21; Mark 12:17; Luke 20:25). For when she has paid tribute, as it is written, to whom tribute is owed (Rom. 13:7), then, opening her hands to the poor (Prov. 31:20) and holding out the fruit of her labour to the needy, she pays a spiritual tax; and she supplies the revenue of the estate for the pay of your warfare, greedier of a saving loss than of a deadly gain. She who is such, the heart of her husband trusts in her. For she works, as it is written,

Editors' notes and page, col. 388

Footnotes

(l) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 388

Psal. LXXVI, 11.

Psalm 76 (Vulg.):11.

(printed under page 197)

(m) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 388

Psal. LXV, 6.

Psalm 65 (Vulg.):6.

(printed under page 197)

(n) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 388

Matth. VII, 24.

Matthew 7:24.

(printed under page 197)

(o) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 388

Psal. LX, 4.

Psalm 60 (Vulg.):4.

(printed under page 197)

(p) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 388

I Tim. IV, 8.

1 Timothy 4:8.

(printed under page 197)

(q) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 388

Psal. LXXXIII, 11.

Psalm 83 (Vulg.):11.

(printed under page 197)

(r) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 388

II Tim. II, 4.

2 Timothy 2:4.

(printed under page 197)

(s) ‹anchor: in adjutorium tibi› · call in col 388

Gen. II, 18.

Genesis 2:18.

(printed under page 197)

(t) ‹anchor: vita reficiatur› · call in col 388

Gen. III, 16.

Genesis 3:16.

(printed under page 197)

(u) ‹anchor: ministret Deo› · call in col 388

Matth. XXII, 21; Marc. XII, 17, Luc. XX, 25.

Matthew 22:21; Mark 12:17, Luke 20:25.

(printed under page 197)

(v) ‹anchor: sicut scriptum est› · call in col 388

Rom. XIII, 7.

Romans 13:7.

(printed under page 197)

(x) ‹anchor: adaperiens pauperi› · call in col 388

Prov. XXXI, 20, sec. LXX.

Proverbs 31:20, according to the Septuagint.

Editors' notes

(printed under page 197)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 388

Expunximus particulam in, quae aberat a ms. codice Vatic. et edit. Grin.

We have struck out the particle "in", which was missing from the Vatican manuscript codex and the Gryphius edition.

(printed under page 197)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 388

Manuscripti codices Vatic. et Vien. cum ed. Grin., in labore corporeo, sed affectu spiritali.

The Vatican and Vienna manuscript codices, with the Gryphius edition: "in labore corporeo, sed affectu spiritali".

(printed under page 197)

(h) ‹anchor: ne tu cures;› · call in col 388

Mss. Reg., Vien. et edit. Grin. hic addunt, curat ut cures.

The Regius and Vienna manuscripts and the Gryphius edition add here: "curat ut cures".

(printed under page 197)

Page

running head: [S. PAUL]INI NOLANI EPISCOPI | 388
marginal letters: A ‹dexterae Excelsi›; B ‹dicum, nam pietas ad omnia›; C ‹discors abjungit voluntas›; D ‹est, fidit in ea cor mariti›
old-edition numerals: 260 after ‹devotione›

PL 61:389

est, viro suo bona tota vita sua, et non mala: et ideo non sollicitus agis quae in domo tua terrena aguntur; quod in domo coelesti agitur, strenue liber exsequeris. Nec confunderis cum loqueris inimicis tuis in porta, quia sapientiae mulier, qualis tibi donata est, pretiosior lapidibus pretiosis, circumspectum te facit in foribus Ecclesiae. Et duplicia pallia, inquit, fecit viro suo. Nonne tibi videtur et haec duplicia tibi pallia, ac purpurea vel byssina sibi vestimenta contexere, cum et illius fides gratiam tuam duplicat, quia mulier bona corona est viro suo; et vicissim illi honor tuus purpura est, quia temperante Domini gratia, simpliciter fidei unitate vestiti, superinduitis vos invicem spiritalium operatione virtutum. Tu illi in Christo caput, et illa fundamentum tibi, cujus opere pes tuus stat in via Domini, et quam capitis tui participem faciet commembrata in Domini corpore fidei compago; quia et in sollicitudinis diversitate, salvo tamen consonae mentis assensu, ac propositi tui juncta sententia, dum tu creditam tibi dispensationem fidelis et solers talentorum herilium multiplicator exerces: nec illa, quod de terrenis elaborat fructibus, thesaurizat in terra, sed tuis potius operibus quam damnosis avaritiae quaestibus feneratur. Et ideo dabitur illi fructus a manibus suis, et laudabitur in portis filiae Sion maritus ejus in Domino, qui vobis ab operis ejusdem labore diverso, sed pari studio consitam segetem in communem praeparat messem, ut in illa die pariter in exsultatione veniatis afferentes manipulos vestros, ministra illa seminis, et tu ministerii seminator. Non enim defraudabitur consortio mercedis tuae per meritum compensationis istius, qua non voluntati suae obtemperans, sed saluti tuae, hujus ipsius operis documento probat judicium fidei suae, satis indicans, quanto et ipsa potiorem seculi contemtum quam usum judicet, quae spiritalia tibi maluit, non hoc seculum Christo, sed te sibi praeferens.

good to her husband all the days of her life, and not evil (Prov. 31:12–13): and therefore you do not anxiously handle what is done in your earthly house; what is done in the heavenly house you carry out vigorously and as a free man. Nor are you put to shame when you speak with your enemies in the gate (Ps. 126:5), because a woman of wisdom, such as has been given to you, more precious than precious stones, makes you circumspect at the doors of the Church. And she has made, he says, double cloaks for her husband (Prov. 31:22). Does it not seem to you that she is weaving both these double cloaks for you and purple or linen garments for herself, since her faith doubles your grace, for a good woman is a crown to her husband (Prov. 12:4); and in turn your honour is purple to her, because, by the tempering grace of the Lord, clothed simply in the unity of faith, you clothe each other over with the working of the spiritual virtues. You are her head in Christ (1 Cor. 11:3), and she is a foundation for you, by whose work your foot stands in the way of the Lord, and whom the framework of faith, joined as members in the body of the Lord, will make partaker of your head; since even in the difference of your cares, the agreement of one-voiced minds being kept, and her judgement joined to your purpose, while you exercise the stewardship entrusted to you as a faithful one (1 Cor. 9:17) and skilful multiplier of your master's talents (Matt. 25:15), she too does not treasure up on earth (Matt. 6:19) what she works out of earthly fruits, but lends it at interest to your works rather than to the ruinous gains of avarice. And therefore she will be given the fruit of her hands, and her husband will be praised in the gates of the daughter of Sion in the Lord (Prov. 31:31): He who prepares for you, for a common harvest, a crop sown by different labour in the same work but with equal zeal, so that on that day you may come together with exultation bringing your sheaves (Ps. 125:6), she the minister of the seed, and you the sower of the ministry. For she will not be defrauded of a share in your reward by the merit of that exchange, in which, complying not with her own will but with your salvation, she proves by the evidence of this very work the judgement of her faith, showing well enough how much better she too judges contempt of the world than its use, preferring spiritual things for you, not this world to Christ, but you to herself.

5. Adjiciat Dominus super vos et filios vestros. Misericordia enim Domini promerita parentibus suscitabit, ut scriptum est, filios eorum, et locupletabuntur in bonis Domini. Spero autem, quod sicut uxor tua in lateribus domus tuae sicut vitis abundans est, fructibus tibi pietatis exuberans, ut

5. May the Lord add upon you and your children (Ps. 113:14). For the mercy (see note 190) of the Lord, deserved by the parents, will raise up their children, as it is written, and they will be enriched in the good things of the Lord. And I hope that, as your wife is like an abundant vine on the sides of your house (Ps. 127:3), overflowing for you with the fruits of piety, so

Editors' notes and page, col. 389

Scripture references

(printed under page 198)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 389

Prov. XXXI, 12 et 13, juxta LXX.

Proverbs 31:12 and 13, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 198)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 389

Psal. CXXVI, 5.

Psalm 126 (Vulg.):5.

(printed under page 198)

Prov. XXXI, 22, sec. LXX.

Proverbs 31:22, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 198)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 389

Prov. XII, 4.

Proverbs 12:4.

(printed under page 198)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 389

I Cor. XI, 3.

1 Corinthians 11:3.

(printed under page 198)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 389

I Cor. IX, 17.

1 Corinthians 9:17.

(printed under page 198)

(g) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 389

Matth. XXV, 15.

Matthew 25:15.

(printed under page 198)

(h) ‹anchor: thesaurizat in terra› · call in col 389

Matth. VI, 19.

Matthew 6:19.

(printed under page 198)

(i) ‹anchor: ejus in Domino› · call in col 389

Prov. XXXI, 31, sec. LXX.

Proverbs 31:31, according to the Septuagint.

(printed under page 198)

(j) ‹anchor: manipulos vestros› · call in col 389

Psal. CXXV, 6.

Psalm 125 (Vulg.):6.

(printed under page 198)

(k) ‹anchor: filios vestros› · call in col 389

Psal. CXIII, 14.

Psalm 113 (Vulg.):14.

(printed under page 198)

(l) ‹anchor: sicut vitis abundans› · call in col 389

Psal. CXXVII, 3.

Psalm 127 (Vulg.):3.

(printed under page 198)

(a) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 389

Ita mss. codices : id est mulier de qua loquitur Sapiens in Proverbiis. Editi, sapiens mulier.

So the manuscript codices: that is, the woman of whom the Wise Man speaks in Proverbs. The printed editions: "sapiens mulier".

(printed under page 198)

(b) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 389

LXX, duplices vestes fecit viro suo. S. Ambrosius lib. ii de Fide, binas vestes. Aquila et Theodotio, peristromata; Symmachus, tapetia. Paulinus noster dixit pallia : sunt enim vestes propriae crassae, ut chlamydes aut penulae, inquit Nobilius in scholiis ad versionem LXX : hoc enim videtur valere χλαίνας.

The Septuagint: "she made double garments for her husband". St Ambrose, On the Faith, book 2: "binas vestes". Aquila and Theodotion: "peristromata" (coverlets); Symmachus: "tapetia" (rugs). Our Paulinus said "pallia" (cloaks): "for they are properly thick garments, like mantles or travelling cloaks," says Nobilius in his scholia on the Septuagint version, "for this seems to be the force of χλαίνας."

(printed under page 198)

Ita reposuimus ex ms. codice Viennensi. Vide ea quae praecedunt et subsequuntur. Ante erat tibi.

So we have restored from the Vienna manuscript codex. See what precedes and follows. Before, it read "tibi".

(printed under page 198)

(d) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 389

LXX, Mulier fortis. Theodotio, fortitudinis. Symmachus, abundantiae. Vulgata, diligens.

The Septuagint: "Mulier fortis". Theodotion: "fortitudinis". Symmachus: "abundantiae". The Vulgate: "diligens".

(printed under page 198)

(e) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 389

Manuscripti codices Vatic. et Vien., temperante Domino gratiam. Utraque lectio recepta.

The Vatican and Vienna manuscript codices: "temperante Domino gratiam". Both readings are accepted.

(printed under page 198)

(f) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 389

Ms. codex Vaticanus, ad propositi tui juncta sententiam. Ms. Reg., ad.... juncta sententia.

The Vatican manuscript codex: "ad propositi tui juncta sententiam". The Regius manuscript: "ad ... juncta sententia".

(printed under page 198)

(g) ‹anchor: avaritiae quaestibus› · call in col 389

Manuscriptus codex Vien. et edit. Grin., fenerat. Utraque lectio bona.

The Vienna manuscript codex and the Gryphius edition: "fenerat". Both readings are good.

(printed under page 198)

(h) ‹anchor: promerita parentibus› · call in col 389

Ita emendavimus ex ms. codice Vien. Ante erat suscitavit. Vide seqq.

So we have corrected from the Vienna manuscript codex. Before, it read "suscitavit". See what follows.

(printed under page 198)

Page

running head: 389 | EPISTOLA XLI[V]. (cut at the image edge)
marginal letters: A ‹ptum est, viro suo bona›; B ‹Domini, et quam capitis tui›; C ‹tes manipulos vestros›; D ‹abundans est, fructibus tibi›
old-edition numerals: 261 after ‹domo›

PL 61:390

cadant a latere tuo mille, et decem millia a dextris tuis; ita et filii tui mensam Domini tecum sicut novellae olivarum circumsistere merebuntur quos nunc arbitror divinae sapientiae, bonae conversationis vestrae escis, ut pullos aquilarum cibari, ut depopulatas praeda parentum carnes, id est, carnales inimicitias, quae adversantur spiritui, jam nunc edere discant, et spiritali voracitate consumere, et in superna virtutum confirmatis alarum remigiis evolare. Educentur sicut filii prophetarum, qui tumultuosam civitatis habitationem, ad componendam pace silentii animam, declinantes, juxta Jordanis alveum sibi habitacula secreta metati sunt. Consecrentur sicut filii Aaron, non tamen illi qui ignem alienum Domino accendentes exusti sunt igne divino, quo ipsi carebant; sed ut Eleazar et Ithamar merito perpetui successores dignitatis paternae, quia non degeneres sanctitatis heredes.

a thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand (Ps. 90:7); so also your sons will deserve to stand around the table of the Lord with you like young olive shoots: whom I think are now fed, like the young of eagles, on the food of divine wisdom and of your good way of life, so that they may even now learn to eat flesh laid waste as their parents' prey, that is, the carnal enmities which are opposed to the spirit, and to consume them with a spiritual voracity, and to fly up to the heights of the virtues on the strengthened oarage of their wings. Let them be brought up like the sons of the prophets, who, turning aside from the tumultuous dwelling of the city to settle the soul in the peace of silence, marked out for themselves secret dwellings beside the bed of the Jordan (2 Kgs. 6:2). Let them be consecrated like the sons of Aaron, yet not those who, kindling strange fire to the Lord, were burned up by the divine fire which they themselves lacked (Lev. 10:1); but like Eleazar and Ithamar, deservedly perpetual successors of their father's dignity, because heirs of his holiness not degenerate.

6. Ignem autem mihi alienum videtur accendere, quisquis corporeae vel secularis alicujus cupiditatis ignem in sacrario sui cordis accendens audeat appropinquare altaribus Domini, quae non recipiunt nisi illius ignis accensionem, de quo ait: Ignem veni mittere in terram; et quid volo si jam accensus est? Hoc igne nos, Domine Jesu, semper accende, ut illuminemur sensibus, deflagremus in vitiis; hic enim solus, qui a te est ignis, igni resistet aeterno. Habentes autem cor ardens in via Domini, non alienum, sed suum ignem Domino accendimus, et inter ignes seculi, hoc igne muniti, sicut illi in camino pueri inter sibilantes impetu flammas rorabimur, et hymnum Domino inter incendia refrigerantia Dei Filio concinente cantabimus. Ipse enim dixit in duorum quoque vel trium concordia se semper interfuturum. Unde confidimus, quia et in medio domus tuae diversatur, ubi et in vobis et in filiis unus numerosarum agitur coetus animarum. In quo nos quoque, solo absentes corpore, spiritali praesentia conseratis precamur, ut animae nostrae hortulum sitientem non solum verbo, sed et precatu rigetis, quem neque nostris manibus, ut infirmi, neque conductis, ut inopes excolere possumus; et qua via tuam viam quaeramus non invenimus: quia fodere non valemus, et mendicare erubescimus. Unde impensius adjutorio orationum vestrarum

6. But that man seems to me to kindle strange fire who, kindling the fire of some bodily or worldly desire in the sanctuary of his heart, dares to approach the altars of the Lord, which receive no kindling but of that fire of which He says: I came to send fire on the earth; and what do I will, if it is already kindled? (Luke 12:49). With this fire, Lord Jesus, kindle us always, that we may be enlightened in our senses and burn out in our vices; for this fire alone, which is from Thee, will withstand the eternal fire. And having a heart burning in the way of the Lord (Luke 24:32), we kindle to the Lord not a strange fire but His own, and among the fires of the world, fortified by this fire, we shall be bedewed like those boys in the furnace among the flames hissing in their onset (Dan. 3:24), and shall sing a hymn to the Lord amid the cooling blazes, the Son of God singing with us. For He Himself said that He would always be present in the concord even of two or three (Matt. 18:20). Hence we trust that He dwells also in the midst of your house, where, both in you and in your children, one company of many souls is gathered. In which company we too, absent in body alone, beg you, joined with us in spiritual presence, to water the thirsty little garden of our soul not only with word but with prayer too, which we can till neither with our own hands, being weak, nor with hired ones, being poor; and we do not find by what way to seek your way: for we are not able to dig, and we are ashamed to beg (Luke 16:3). Hence the more earnestly, of the help of your prayers,

Editors' notes and page, col. 390

Footnotes

(m) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 390

Psal. XC, 7.

Psalm 90 (Vulg.):7.

(printed under page 198)

(n) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 390

IV Reg. VI, 2.

2 Kings (4 Kings, Vulg.) 6:2.

(printed under page 198)

(o) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 390

Lev. X, 1.

Leviticus 10:1.

(printed under page 198)

(p) ‹anchor: si jam accensus est› · call in col 390

Luc. XII, 49.

Luke 12:49.

(printed under page 198)

(q) ‹anchor: in via Domini› · call in col 390

Luc. XXIV, 32.

Luke 24:32.

(printed under page 198)

(r) ‹anchor: flammas rorabimur› · call in col 390

Dan. III, 24.

Daniel 3:24.

(printed under page 198)

(s) ‹anchor: concinente cantabimus› · call in col 390

Matth. XVIII, 20.

Matthew 18:20.

(printed under page 198)

(t) ‹anchor: mendicare erubescimus› · call in col 390

Luc. XVI, 3.

Luke 16:3.

Editors' notes

(printed under page 198)

(i) ‹anchor: not visible› · call in col 390

Ms. Reg. cum editis quatuor, pacem; mendose. Ms. Vien., pacem silentii, a mari declinantes.

The Regius manuscript, with four printed editions: "pacem", wrongly. The Vienna manuscript: "pacem silentii, a mari declinantes".

(printed under page 198)

(j) ‹anchor: et quid volo› · call in col 390

Sic ubique legit Paulinus noster. Vulgata, nisi ut accendatur.

So our Paulinus reads everywhere. The Vulgate: "nisi ut accendatur".

(printed under page 198)

(k) ‹anchor: est ignis, igni› · call in col 390

Ms. Vien., resistit.

The Vienna manuscript: "resistit".

(printed under page 198)

(l) ‹anchor: spiritali praesentia› · call in col 390

Ms. codex Vien., conserti.

The Vienna manuscript codex: "conserti".

(printed under page 198)

(m) ‹anchor: possumus; et› · call in col 390

Ita ms. codex Vien., cum editis quatuor. Alii, ita.

So the Vienna manuscript codex, with four printed editions. Others: "ita".

(printed under page 198)